s diamonds all over myself, Abe, and I don't buy no tchampanyer
wine one day and come around trying to lend it from people a thousand
dollars the next day, Abe."

"It was my wife's birthday," Hymie explained; "and if I got to spend it
my last cent, Mawruss, I always buy tchampanyer on my wife's birthday."

"All right, Hymie," Morris retorted; "if you think it so much of your
wife, lend it from her a thousand dollars."

"Make an end, make an end," Abe cried; "I hear it enough already. Put
them diamonds in the safe and we give Hymie a check for a thousand
dollars."

Morris shrugged his shoulders.

"All right, Abe," he said. "Do what you please, but remember what I tell
it you now. I don't know nothing about diamonds and I don't care nothing
about diamonds, and if it should be that we got to keep it the diamonds
I don't want nothing to do with them. All I want it is my share of the
thousand dollars."

He turned on his heel and banged the show-room door behind him, while
Abe pulled up the shades and Hymie turned off the lights.

"That's a fine crank for you, Abe," Hymie exclaimed.

Abe said nothing, but sat down and wrote out a check for a thousand
dollars.

"I hope them diamonds is worth it," he murmured, handing the check to
Hymie.

"If they ain't," Hymie replied as he made for the door, "I'll eat 'em,
Abe, and I ain't got too good a di-gestion, neither."

At intervals of fifteen minutes during the remainder of the afternoon
Morris visited the safe and inspected the diamonds until Abe was moved
to criticise his partner's behavior.

"Them diamonds ain't going to run away, Mawruss."

"Maybe they will, Abe," Morris replied, "if we leave the safe open and
people comes in and out all the time."

"So far, nobody ain't took nothing out of that safe, Mawruss," Abe
retorted; "but if you want to lock the safe I'm agreeable."

"What for should we lock the safe?" Morris asked. "We are all the time
getting things out of it what we need. Ain't it? A better idee I got it,
Abe, is that you should put on the ring and I will wear the pin, or you
wear the pin and I will put on the ring."

"No, siree, Mawruss," Abe replied. "If I put it on a big pin like that
and I got to take it off again in a week's time might I would catch a
cold on my chest, maybe. Besides, I ain't built for diamonds, Mawruss.
So, you wear 'em both, Mawruss."

Morris forced a hollow laugh.

"Me wear 'em, Abe!" he exclaimed. "No, siree, Abe, I'm not