"Aw, forget it," advised Joe. "If I don't get anything out of it but the experience, I won't think that I've wasted my time."
"Well, that's the spirit, all right," said Herb. "Go to it. But you ought to have heard the concert I heard last evening while you slaves were working your heads off."
"Yes, but when I get this outfit of mine working, I'll be able to hear everything a lot better than you can with the set we've got now," said Joe. "I've got some good kinks out of a radio magazine that I'm going to put in mine, and it's going to be a regular humdinger."
"Oh, all right, all right," said Herb, laughing. "That's the very thing that Jimmy was telling me only this afternoon. He's putting a lot of sure fire extras on his set, too. I don't think there will be enough prizes to go around."
"I don't care whether there are or not, so long as I get one," said
Joe, with frank selfishness. "One is all I want."
"That's probably exactly one more than you'll get," grinned Herb.
"But you may astonish us all by working up something really decent.
Funny things like that do happen, sometimes."
"'It's easier to criticize than to create,'" quoted Joe. "Likewise, 'he who laughs last, irritates.' If those two wise old sayings don't hold you for a while, I'll try to think up a few more for you."
"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."