And he chuckles again, “No!”
Mr. Alton closes in then for a confidential talk with Ned; and Jane, in a minute, grabs my sleeve and pulls me a little bit aside.
“Benny, will you do somethin’ for me?”
“Jane,” I says, “All you’ve got to do is ask.”
She pulls me aside a little farther. “Would you do it for me, even if it meant a lot to you?”
“Well, Jane,” I say, “I guess I can equal anybody so far as doin’ things for you is concerned. You know that.”
She tugs me still farther, and we’re gettin’ close to the locker room.
“Benny,” she says then, “I want to fly in this race with Ned.”
I choke up at that unexpected request, but I might ’a’ known Jane would ’ve been dyin’ to get up in the air on this big occasion.
“Gosh, Jane!” I say. “We couldn’t stow you away. It’d overweight the plane and hurt our chances to—”