И проиграли бой

           "Sure.Comeonin,boys."

           Theystoodinthetentlikepupilspreparingtorecite.Eachlookedtotheothertobegin.Onesaid,"Themenoutthere—theywanttocallameeting."

           "Yeah?Whatfor?"

           Theotheransweredquickly,"Thosemensaytheyvotethestrike,theycanvoteagain.TheysayWhat’stheuseallthemengetkilled?’Theysaytheycan’tstrikenomore."Theyweresilent,waitingforLondon’sanswer.

           London’seyesaskedadvicefromMac."Ofcourseyou’llcallameeting,"Macsaid."Themenarethebosses.Whattheysaygoes."Helookedupatthewaitingemissaries."GooutandtelltheguysLondoncallsameetinginabouthalfanhour,tovotewhetherwefightorrun."

           TheylookedatLondonforcorroboration.Henoddedhisheadslowly."That’sright,"hesaid."Inahalfhour.Wedowhattheguysvotetodo."Thelittlemenmadeforeignbows,andwheeledandleftthetent.

           Maclaughedloudly."Whythat’sfine,"hesaid."Whythatmakesitbetter.Ithoughttheymightsneakout.Butiftheywanttovote,thatmeansthey’restillworkingtogether.Oh,that’sfine.Theycanbreakup,iftheydoitbytheirownconsent."

           Jimasked,"Butaren’tyougoingtotrytomakethemfight?"

           "Oh,sure.Wehavetomakeplansaboutthat.Butiftheywon’tfight,wellanywaytheydon’tjustsneakofflikedogs.It’smorelikearetreat,yousee.Itisn’tjustgettingchased."

           "What’llwedoatthemeeting?"Londondemanded."Well,let’ssee.It’sjustaboutdarknow.