"'I forgot to tell you, Tim,' he came back to say, 'that you mustn't put on your black evening clothes.' (Tim hadn't any, as Sam knew.) 'I'm going in my rough togs, so as to let everybody see me as I am every day, and the others will dress the same, and I want you to oblige me by not wearing yours. It will help me in my deal.' "So Tim went, the only addition to his toilet being a new black tie which Miss Ann had made for him. "The dinner was upstairs on the third floor, in Solari's back room--you all know it--same room Lonnegan had last year for that supper he gave us. Sam had told Solari to spare no expense, and to keep setting things up as long as anybody wanted them; and Solari carried out Collins's orders to the last bottle--way down to Chartreuse and Reina Victorias. There were oysters on the half-shell, and crab soup and an entrée of mushrooms, and a filêt with trimmings, and plump little quail on dry toast, salads, desserts, and so on. "Tim, to the delight of everybody, and especially Sam, thawed out under the influence of the first bottle, and sang a comic song he had not sung since he and Sam had parted, and took every dish in its turn--he was twice helped to quail--and was so happy that Sam could hardly wait for the time to come when the secret he had up his sleeve was to be slipped out and exploded. "When the coffee was served Sam got up on his feet, and in welcoming his guests took out the opal that Tiffany wanted to buy, and saying how confident he was that before the year was out he would be able to ship to them many more of even greater value and brilliancy, passed it to Tim to hand around the table, some of his old friends never having seen it. "Tim passed it across the young millionnaire to a man next him, and after everybody had said how beautiful it was, and how they each wanted one just like it, it was handed back to Tim, who laid it on the table beside his plate. There was no mistake about this part of the story, for the millionnaire called the retired physician's attention to it, remarking that as it lay on the white cloth by Tim's hand it looked like a drop of frozen absinthe--which wasn't bad for a millionnaire. "Sam had the secret now well in hand--fuse all lighted, ready to be touched off: "'Gentlemen,' he began, 'there are some men you have known for a short time, and you like them, and some go back to your boyhood, and those you love. I've got a friend here who is like that opal--clear as crystal and--Hand me the opal, Tim; I just want to dilate on it, and I can do it better if I have it in my hand and look into its eyes and yours.' "Tim colored scarlet, and moved his arm quickly. The friend from boyhood, he knew, was himself, and he was not accustomed to praise. "'Pass it along, old man!' "'I haven't got it, Sam,' came the reply. "'Yes, you have,' called out the young millionnaire. 'It's right there beside your glass; I saw it there a minute ago.'