THE LOST JOKE 131 
Jimmy had on a hickory shirt and the vest. Asa 
warmth producer, the vest was a corker; cut low in front, 
with all but one button gone, it hardly looked the part 
that Jimmy assigned it. 
‘‘All the ducks are in the boat; is everything else in?’’ 
said Jimmy. ‘‘The water is blowing back here now 
and we won’t have any trouble rowing to the canal.’’ 
It was freezing hard. We had to smash shore ice 
half an inch thick before we could get into the canal 
and the mile to the river through the canal seemed five. 
It was frozen over, but the ice was not strong enough to 
hold up the boat and it was slow work smashing the ice, 
before the boat could pass. 
The ice was extra thick under the bridge that crossed 
the canal just before the river was reached. The ice 
would not allow the boat to pass and it was a job to get 
under the bridge and break the ice in the dark. There 
was a big pile of driftwood near the bridge and I made 
a roaring fire of it. 
‘“That’s great,’’ said Jimmy as the flames brightened 
things up. ‘‘I can see first rate now.’’ The boat soon 
came from under the shadows into the running water 
of the river. 
‘‘Let’s sit by the fire, smoke a cigarette, rest a little, 
and get warmed through before starting home,’’ said 
Jimmy. The wind made the fire burn fiercely and it 
was very warm. Turning to Jimmy I asked, ‘‘What 
was it you wished to say to me two or three times this 
morning ?”’ 
“Oh!” said Jimmy, “not much. You know Fat 
Johnson; well, he was down here not long ago and told. 
me a story.”’ 
‘“‘It wasn’t one of his ‘Faded leaf’ stories was it?” I 
asked. ‘‘If it was I don’t care particularly to hear it.” 
