"Not by a long shot!" says Ira. "Dinged if I don't know someone
that'll be glad to take a ring from me, and that's Maggie!"

"Whew!" says I. "Well, that's some quick shift. Then you ain't goin'
to linger round with a busted heart?"

"Not much!" says Ira. "Guess I've played fool about long enough. I'm
goin' home."

"That's gen'rally a safe bet too," says I. "But how about buildin'
that boat for Mr. Robert?"

"I'll build it," says he; "that is, soon as I can fix it up with
Maggie."

"Then it's a cinch," says I; "for you look to me, Ira, like one of the
kind that can come back strong."

So, you see, I had somethin' definite to report next mornin'.

"He will, eh? Bully!" says Mr. Robert. "But why couldn't he have said
as much to me yesterday? What was the trouble?"

"Case of moth chasin'," says I, "from the kerosene circuit to the white
lights. But, say, I didn't know before that Broadway had so many
recruitin' stations. They ought to put Boothbay Harbor on the map for
this."