of her father's rare humour,
went immediately to the dentist and had the objectionable tooth
removed. There had been a calf's head on the dinner-table that day,
and the young lady, on her return, obtained from the cook one of the
large molars from the jaw of the calf, which, having been carefully
wrapped in paper, was presented to her father as her own. He saw
through the trick in an instant, and affecting great astonishment at
its enormous size, he put it in his waistcoat pocket, as a curiosity,
forming in his own mind a little plot for the following day, when he
had an engagement to dine out. The dinner party was at Walter Lyndon's
house at Moseley, and here he met Gillott. Lawson, at table, was
seated next to a gentleman from London, who wore on his forefinger a
ring containing a very magnificent diamond; so large, indeed, as to
excite Lawson's attention so much that at length he spoke, "You must
really excuse me, but I cannot help admiring the splendid diamond in
your ring." "Yes, it's a pretty good one," said the gentleman, handing
it to Lawson for inspection. It was passed round the table until it
reached Gillott, who carefully inspected it and said, "It's a very
good one; but I think I have one that'll 'lick' it." Putting his
hand into the breast pocket of his coat, he brought out two or three
shabby-looking screwed-up bits of paper. Selecting one of these, he
opened it, and produced therefrom an unmounted diamond, far surpassing
in size and purity the one in the ring. Precious stones generally
became at once the topic of conversation, and it was wondered whether
an emerald of equal size would be of equal or, as one contended, even
greater value. One gentleman present said that an emerald so large had
never yet been seen. Gillott's eye twinkled with a merry humour, as,
from another bit of paper, he produced an emerald larger than the
diamond, and a minute afterwards trumped both these with a splendid
ruby. It was now Lawson's turn. Assuming a serious look, he said that
Mr. Gillott's specimens were certainly very remarkable, but he could
"beat them hollow." Then, with an air of great mystery and care,
he produced from his pocket the carefully-enveloped tooth, which he
exhibited to his astonished friends as the identical tooth taken from
his daughter's jaw the day before.

It is well known that Mr. Gillott had accumulated a very large and
fine collection of violins and other stringed musical instruments.
These, wh