The Diamond Full-Point.

It was away back in the sixties I think, when the incident I am about to relate took place. There was a venerable comp, much given to snuff and beer, and who was not very prompt in his payments to his landlady—may his sins be forgiven him—and when pressed one day for the settlement of his just debt, the old fellow put on a woful look and told a pathetic tale of how he had accidentally broken a diamond full-point in the office. « You see, » the old rogue said, « I have to make this good, and as it is of great value, it takes nearly the whole of my earnings every week to meet the payments. » The old fellow worked his case so well, I am told, that he even persuaded the landlady to lend him a trifle to meet the claim. The old sinner was proud of his ingenuity, and could not keep the story to himself; and the tradition thereof still lingers in the office.