"Do you solemnly swear that the affidavit subscribed by you is true?" Max went on.
"What affidavit?" Abe asked.
"Why, the one Weinschenck is going to draw when he comes back from lunch, of course," Max replied.
"Sure it's true," said Abe.
"All right," Max concluded briskly.
"Now give me a check for fifty dollars for my fees, five dollars for a surety company bond, and five dollars sheriff's fees, and I'll get out a replevin order on the strength of that affidavit in half an hour, and have a deputy around to the store at three o'clock to transfer the goods from Hymie to you."
"Sixty dollars is pretty high for a little thing like that, ain't it, Max?" said Hymie.
"High?" Max cried indignantly. "High? Why, if you wasn't a lodge brother of mine, Hymie, I wouldn't have stirred a hand for less than a hundred."
Thus rebuked, Abe paid over the sixty dollars, and Hymie and he went back to the store. Precisely at three a deputy sheriff entered the front door and flashed a gold badge as big as a dinner-plate. His stay was brief, and in five minutes he had relieved Abe of all his spare cigars and departed, leaving only a certified copy of the replevin order and a strong smell of whisky to signalize the transfer of the Empire gowns from Hymie to Abe.
Hardly had he banged the door behind him when a messenger boy entered and handed a telegram to Abe.