"Alex runs much faster than any of us—she'd better be captain for one side, and Noel the other."
Noel looked as though his own headship were a matter of course, but Alex felt constrained to say:
"Oh, no, not me—You, Diana."
"Would you rather not? Very well. Cedric, then. Hurry up and choose your sides, boys. You start, Cedric."
"I'll have Marie," said Cedric unhesitatingly, and the little red-haired girl skipped over beside him with undisguised alacrity.
"Noel?"
Noel jerked his head in the direction of Alex.
"You," he said.
She was immensely surprised and flattered, connecting his choice with the same attraction that had made him sit beside her at lunch, and not with her own reported prowess as a runner.
Cedric's reputation for gallantry suffered somewhat in his next selections, which fell with characteristic common sense on Noel's brother Eric, and upon Barbara. Noel took Sadie and Diana, and they drew lots for Archie.