To Long Tim’s surprise, Toby burst into laughter. His first impulse to claim the money for Arnold lasted only a second. It would be a great pity to spoil Long Tim’s romance for the sake of two dollars! But the funny side of it struck him forcibly. Neither he nor Arnold had thought to look for the lost bill. They had both taken it for granted that it had sunk, whereas, had they reasoned a little, they would have known that a piece of paper would float until saturated with water. They had really deserved to lose it!
“I calculate you don’t believe it,” said Long Tim mildly.
“Oh, yes, I do,” answered Toby, conquering his laughter.
“Oh! Then what was you laughin’ at, may I ask?”
“Just—just something I remembered,” chuckled Toby. “I—I hope you find some more, Tim!”
“Well, I ain’t yet, but there’s no tellin’ when I will. I’m sort of hopin’ that the next time it’ll be a five or a ten. I calculate there ain’t no law limitin’ the de-nom-ination of flotsam money!”
When Toby told Arnold about Long Tim’s find, later in the day, Arnold was as much amused as Toby had been. “Say,” he gasped, “wouldn’t it be funny to drop a dollar over the side of the wharf some day when he was looking? Wouldn’t he be surprised?”
“I guess he would,” Tony agreed, “but I guess it would be pretty funny. When do you want to do it?”
Arnold sobered. “Huh,” he answered, “I guess it wouldn’t be so funny after all! Dollars are sort of scarce these days.”