human
Rodman, he called,
gpt
I'm putting you on our relay team.
human
I'll try, of course, but you know as well as I do that I can't run to amount to anything.
gpt
All you have to do is your best. Nobody wants any more of you than that. Three of us are better than any three on their team. You will start the third relay with a lead, sure, and if you lose it on your lap, I'll try to gain it back the last time around.
human
I am going to do all I can, he said in a low voice.
gpt
And you don't know how much I want to help you win.
human
Look here, whispered the excited Specs, as he pulled Bunny to one side.
gpt
Do you mean that you are going to trust him to run in this race?
human
There's nobody else.
gpt
He'll lose the race for us.
human
Not if we other three gain on our laps as we should.
gpt
He'll lose the race for us, repeated Specs despairingly,
human
Places for the relay!
gpt
It wasn't much of an argument, Scout Master Hibbs confessed to his relay team.
human
I simply suggested that we have each runner pass the little block to the next, rather than merely touch hands. Buck Claxton was the only one to raise any objection. He runs the last lap.
gpt
Probably figured that if the race was close, he could get away before the third runner touched him,
human
Oh, you're wrong there. The speaker was Rodman Cree.
gpt
I'm sure you're wrong. I know Buck. He isn't that sort at all. He wouldn't even think of taking an unfair advantage.
human
I suppose not, agreed the Scout Master, in a tone that was not wholly reassuring.
gpt
Anyhow, the use of the block makes trickery impossible; that's why it has been adopted so widely. Well, let's get over to the track.