136 RACEALONG 



it to annoy me and see if I would not pull up and 

 go to a more congenial resort. Instead of doing that, 

 however, I decided to give him a jar. 



"Before leaving Philadelphia, Frank Herdic gave 

 me a package of small Chinese firecrackers. I threw 

 them into a trunk when packing my kit and after 

 thinking it over I decided to let Larry have one of 

 them. Getting a few cigars at the hotel office, I 

 loaded two and put them in my vest pocket with a 

 good one. Larry with a smile helped himself as usual 

 and sat down in a chair in front of a big window. I 

 offered him a match and waited for the blow. 



'The cigar either burned slowly or the insert was 

 deeper than I supposed as it seemed a quarter of an 

 hour before it came. When it did, Larry plunged 

 backward through the window and landed inside 

 the room. All of the other guests followed his two 

 hundred and odd pounds with a wave of laughter 

 while during the balance of the trip he did not take 

 any more of my cigars, not even when I offered 

 them.'' 



**Larry Jerome was a clever fisherman and one 

 summer when a few of us were at Saratoga, Car- 

 mack and I decided to go with him and catch a few 

 bass at a lake in the mountains. In order to make the 

 trip, we had to lay over for a few hours at a junc- 

 tion where there was a small hotel. There was no 

 way to put in the time except by sitting on the porch. 

 While we were occupying the chairs, about a dozen 

 small boys lined up looking at us. They made Car- 

 mack nervous. He wanted to chase them away but 



