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DIAMONDS TO SIT ON

Never mind/ said Bender. ' At any rate we’ve found something.’ Hippolyte pulled the little box out of his pocket and looked at it stupidly. Come on ; pass it over ! What’s the use of staring at It hke that ? ’ ® They opened the little box and they found inside it a small brass disk on which was written :

With this chair Master Gambs begins his new design. St. Petersburg, 1863. Bender read the inscription. ' But where are the diamonds ? ’ asked Hippolyte. You are amazingly intuitive, my dear friend,’ said Bender. As you see, there are no diamonds here.’ pathetic sight. His moustache was trembling, his glasses were misty, his face was drawn, he looked desperate. ‘Never mind. Pussy, never mind! Stifle your sorrow One of these days, we’ll have a good laugh over the eighth chair. Pull yourself together. There are three more chairs here and ninety-nine chances to a hundred. Let the good work go on.’