“Was THAT Phil?” he hollers, and then the three of 'em just roared.
“Oh, by Jove, you know!” says Archie, “that's the funniest thing I ever
saw. And on Phil, too! He'll never hear the last of it at the club--hey,
boys?” And then they just bellered and laughed again.
When they'd gone, Jonadab turned to Ebenezer and he says: “That taking
us out on this boat was another case of having fun with the countrymen.
Hey?”
“I guess so,” says Dillaway. “I b'lieve he told one of the guests that
he was going to put Cape Cod on ice this morning.”
I looked away up the river where a little black speck was just getting
to shore. And I thought of how chilly the wind was out there, and how
that ice-water must have felt, and what a long ways 'twas from home.
And then I smiled, slow and wide; there was a barge load of joy in every
half inch of that smile.
“It's a cold day when Phil loses a chance for a joke,” says Ebenezer.
“'Tain't exactly what you'd call summery just now,” I says. And we
hauled down sail, run the ice-boat up to the wharf, and went up to our
room to pack our extension cases for the next train.
“You see,” says Jonadab, putting in his other shirt, “it's easy enough
to get the best of Cape folks on wash sales and lying, but when it comes
to boats that's a different pair of shoes.”
“I guess Phil'll agree with you,” I says.