“What’s that?” Norah asked blankly.
“Why, you each drive an animal,” explained Wally, the words tumbling over one another in his haste. “Say you drive the kangaroo, ’n me the wallabies, ’n Jim the Orpington rooster, ’n we’ll give old Harry the tortoise—turloise, I beg pardon!”
“Thanks,” said Harry dryly. “The tortoise scored once, you know, young Wally!”
“Well, old man, you take him,” Wally said kindly. “Wouldn’t stand in your way for a moment. We can use harness, can’t we?”
“Don’t know,” Jim said. “I never studied the rules of menagerie racing. Use bridles, anyhow. It’s a good idea, I think. Let’s see how many starters we can muster.”
They cruised round. Dogs were barred as being too intelligent—horses were, of course, out of the question. Finally they fixed on the possible candidates. They were the kangaroo, the wallabies, a big black Orpington “rooster,” Fudge the parrot, Caesar the cockatoo, Mrs. Brown’s big yellow cat, Tim, and the “turloise.”
“Eight,” said Harry laconically. The starters were all mustered in one enclosure, and were on the worst of terms. “We’ll need more jockeys—if you call ’em jockeys.”
“Well, there’s black Billy,” Jim said; “he’s available, and he’ll drive whichever he’s told, and that’s a comfort. That’s five. And we’ll rouse out old Lee Wing, and Hogg, that’s a ripping idea, ’cause they hate each other so. Seven. Who’s eight? Oh, I know! We’ll get Mrs. Brown.”
Mrs. Brown was accordingly bearded in her den and, protesting vigorously that she had no mind for racing, haled forth into the open. She was a huge woman, as good-natured as she was fat, which said a good deal. In her print dress, with enormous white apron and flapping sun bonnet, she looked as unlikely a “jockey” as could be imagined.
Lee Wing, discovered in the onion bed, was presently brought to the scratch, despite his protests. He said he “couldn’t lun,” but was told that in all probability no running would be required of him. He also said “no can dlive” many times, and further remarked, “Allee same gleat bosh.” When he saw his arch enemy Hogg among the competitors his resentment was keen, and Wally was told off to restrain him from flight. Wally’s own idea was to tie him up by the pigtail, but this Jim was prudent enough to forbid.