The brushboy turned to the vacant row of hooks. "No gotta da vest," he said. "What!" Morris gasped. "You didn't have no vest on, did you, Mr. Perlmutter?" the proprietor asked. "Sure I had a vest," Morris cried. "Where is it?" On the wall hung a sign which advised customers to check their clothing with the cashier or no responsibility would be assumed by the management, and it was to this notice that the proprietor pointed before answering. "I guess somebody must have pinched it," he replied nonchalantly. It was not until two hours after the disappearance of his waistcoat that Morris returned to the store. In the meantime he had been to police headquarters and had inserted an advertisement in three daily newspapers. Moreover he had consulted a lawyer, the eminent Henry D. Feldman, and had received no consolation either on the score of the barber's liability to Potash & Perlmutter or of his own liability to Kotzen. "Well, Mawruss," Abe said, "how much are them diamonds worth?" Then he looked up and for the first time saw his partner's haggard face. "Holy smokes!" he cried. "They're winder-glass." Morris shook his head. "I wish they was," he croaked. "You wish they was!" Abe repeated in accents of amazement. "What d'ye mean?" "Somebody pinched 'em on me," Morris replied. "What!" Abe shouted. "S-sh," Morris hissed as the door opened. It was Hymie Kotzen who entered. "Well, boys," he cried, "every cloud is silver-plated. Ain't it? No sooner did I get back to my store than I get a letter from Henry D. Feldman that Cohen & Schondorf want to settle for forty cents cash. On the head of that, mind you, in comes Rudolph Heller from Cincinnati, and when I tell him about the check what they sent it me he fixes it up on the spot." He beamed at Abe and Morris. "So, bring out them diamonds, boys," he concluded, "and we'll settle up C. O. D." He pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and toyed with them, but neither Abe nor Morris stirred. "What's the hurry, Hymie?" Abe asked feebly. "What's the hurry, Abe!" Hymie repeated. "Well, ain't that a fine question for you to ask it of me! Don't sit there like a dummy, Abe. Get the diamonds and we'll fix it up." "But wouldn't to-morrow do as well?" Morris asked. Hymie sat back and eyed Morris suspiciously. "What are you trying to do, Mawruss?" he asked. "Make jokes with me?" "I ain't making no jokes, Hymie," Morris replied. "The fact is, Hymie, we got it the diamonds, now--in our--now--safety-deposit box, and it ain't convenient to get at it now." "Oh, it ain't, ain't it?" Hymie cried. "Well, it's got to be convenient; so, Abe, you get a move on you and go down to them safety-deposit vaults and fetch them." "Let Mawruss fetch 'em," Abe replied wearily. "The safety deposit is his idee, Hymie, not mine." Hymie turned to Morris. "Go ahead, Mawruss," he said, "you fetch 'em." "I was only stringing you, Hymie," Morris croaked. "We ain't got 'em in no safety-deposit vault at all."