Ira nodded promptly. “I could,” he replied.
“Well—er—will you?”
Ira shook his head. “No, I won’t.”
“Oh! Why? I’ll pay it back.”
“I know it, but you couldn’t pay it back for a month of Sundays, Mart, and while you owed it you’d be no use to me as a friend. That’s so, isn’t it?”
“How do you mean, no use?”
“I mean that you’d have it on your mind and you’d be wondering whether I was getting impatient and you’d get so you’d dislike me because you owed me money. How would twenty dollars do?”
Mart laughed. “It wouldn’t do, old Mr. Solomon. Nor ten. Nor five. But I will borrow a half if you’ve got it.”
“What’s the idea?” asked Ira. “Were you fooling?”