"Hullo, Bub! What're you doin' out here?"
Bobby was so astounded that he blurted out the truth without thinking.
"Hunting for my birthdays."
"Huntin' for your birthday, huh? Well, now, what do you think of that, Steve?" And the rough, bearded man who had spoken to him, winked prodigiously at the youth who was helping him mend a broken place in the fence.
"Where'd-ja lose it?" asked the youth.
"Don't know," confessed Bobby.
"That's a funny thing to lose," said the rough, bearded man. "Sure you had one?"
"Don't perzactly 'member," replied Bobby. Then a dreadful thought came to him: he was thinking about his birthdays! "Please, I musn't not think about it."
The bearded man burst out laughing.
"You're a funny codger! Huntin' for something you mustn't think about! What do you think of that, Steve?"