human
Why didn’t you wait till you could rig cranks, or whatever they are, on a decent car instead of this ramshackle old piece of antiquity?
gpt
Sorry, old man, said Templeton;
human
I’ll go a bit slower.
gpt
Besides, Eves went on,
human
All right, said Templeton, with composure, turning round.
gpt
It’s only a slight hitch. Of course, the clutch connection is roughly made; I did the best I could with my materials; but you see the idea’s all right, and it’ll be easy enough to correct the defects.
human
You won’t think of showing the thing to O’Reilly in its present state?
gpt
Why not? He’s a practical man. Templeton began to get a little warm.
human
It’s chaps like you who know nothing about machinery that lose heart at a trifling setback. And very likely another half-hour’s work in the shed will greatly improve things. This is a trial spin; you can’t expect everything to go like clockwork first go off.
gpt
Jolly good speech, old man. Best I’ve heard of yours. My faith in you is restored. By all means run the thing back to the shed; but, if you don’t mind, I’ll dismount when we come to the lane. I don’t mind a shower-bath from above, but from below—no, thank you. I’ve swallowed enough mud in Flanders.