“You win with us, anyway,” laughed Bob. “Will you promise to leave Jimmy alone if we let you go, Herb?”
“Oh, I suppose so,” grunted Herb. “To get even, I’d have to lick the whole bunch of you, and I don’t feel strong enough for that just now. I’ll wait till we get back in Clintonia, and then I’ll tell you all what I think of you—over the telephone.”
“That will be the safest way, if you care to live a little longer,” Joe returned. “Even then, though, I’d advise you to start for Canada and points north as soon as you hang up the receiver.”
“Well, it might be worth the trip for the sake of giving you a good earful, but I’ll have to think it over,” replied Herb, with a grin. “In the meantime, here’s a good riddle for you. You might use it, Bob, in case you do some more radio broadcasting some day.”
“It hardly seems possible that I’d ever want to repeat one of your riddles, Herb; but let’s hear it, anyway,” observed Bob. “We’ve still got a long way to go, and I suppose we might as well kill time that way as any other.”
“Well, then, here goes,” said Herb, grinning happily in anticipation of his friends’ bewilderment. “What is it that sings, has four legs, and flies through the air?”
“Good night!” exclaimed Jimmy. “That sounds too complicated for me. I’m going to take a nap while you fellows puzzle it out.”
“Talk about brains!” exclaimed Herb. “You always duck out of any kind of headwork by taking a nap, Doughnuts. Why don’t you give that imitation mind of yours a little exercise once in a while?”
The only answer Herb received, however, was a gentle snore from his fat friend, so he turned expectantly to Bob and Joe, who were both cudgeling their brains for the answer to his riddle.
“Haven’t you thought of it yet?” asked Herb. “It’s so simple, that I thought you would guess the answer right off the reel.”