If you gotta go you gotta go, I guess. But Little Max is really disappointed. I saw him at lunch, eating some stumps ("For roughage," he said) and he said to tell you that he'll do the job free for nothing and to let him know if the operation doesn't work. He'll hitchhike all the way to your place to break up that stone for you.

(Few people refuse Little Max a ride. Say he's standing there hitchin' and a pickup truck whips by at 80 mph. He just grabs it and hauls it to a stop and gets it. Sometimes he had to set his heels a bit.)