Bright and Broad swung their heads around and looked at each other again.
“What do you suggest?” Broad inquired of Bright and Bright inquired of Broad.
“Why not let him walk behind us?” each replied to the other.
“’Cause why?” Mistah Mule broke in.
“Don’t you see? It will be more than fair to you,” they explained. “So long as you keep behind us, you’ll know that you aren’t going to reach the pine tree until after we get there. Only, of course, you mustn’t stop walking. If you find you can’t walk slowly enough, just swerve aside and pass us.”
Mistah Mule quickly agreed to this plan. He couldn’t see, now, how he could possibly lose the race.
“I hopes—” he remarked, as he took his place behind the oxen—“I hopes you-all doesn’t kick.”
“Never!” they assured him. And each whispered to the other, “That’s more than he can say about himself.”
“Are you ready?” Bright and Broad then boomed in their deep tones.
“Yes, sah! Yes, sah!” Mistah Mule replied. He answered twice, because he was talking to them both, and he wanted to be polite.