"
"Oh, don't bother, that's plenty," laughed Herb. "It doesn't take
many of those to satisfy me."
"Well, I'll have to leave you to your troubles," said Joe. "Now that
I've got this idea in my noodle, I won't be able to rest until I get
it worked up.
"Say, wait a minute," said Herb. "I heard a swell joke to-day, and
I know you'll enjoy it. There was an Irishman and a Jew--" but at
this formidable opening Joe rushed out, slamming the door behind him.
"Well, it's his loss," thought Herb. "But it is a crackerjack story,
just the same. I'll have to go and find Bob and tell it to him."
He found Bob hard at work at his bench downstairs.
"Hey, Bob, want to hear a good joke?" he asked.
"Nope," said his friend, with discouraging brevity.
"Gee!" exclaimed Herb, "you're as bad as Joe. You neither of you
seem to appreciate high-class humor any more."
"Oh, we appreciate high-class humor all right," said Bob, with a
wicked grin. "It's only your kind that we can't stand for."
"Bang!" exclaimed Herbert. "That settles it. Any one of you knockers
who wants to hear that story now will have to come to me and ask for
it."
"That's all right, Herb. Just you hold on to it until we do. Maybe
it will improve with a little aging."
"This story is so good that it can't be improved. But I'm going home
now, so if you want to give yourself the pleasure of hearing it,
you'd better say so right away.
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