"It may be that one or more of the other fellows will be taking advantage of that same old road, and there's safety in numbers, you know, they say.
Nick is likely to get his fingers burned if he attempts any of his silly tricks.

What do you suppose now he could plan to have those chaps do?
They wouldn't want to really hurt you, because that might get them in bad with Captain Wambold, our police head.

Can you think of any fool play he'd be apt to conjure up, such as might make Tip say it was the best and slickest scheme he'd ever heard about ?" "Nick has so many wild ideas that he's likely to attempt nearly anything," said Hugh.

"If he could find a good place where a runner would have to keep to the road I even believe he'd try to dig a deep pit, and cover the same over, just as the wild-animal catchers do in Africa, when they go out after big game for the menageries and zoos." "Why, would that work, do you think, Hugh ?" cried the startled Thad, mentally picturing his chum crashing through a false roadbed, and dropping down into a deep hole from which, alone and unaided, he could not hope to escape until much time had elapsed, and all hope of winning the big Marathon was lost.
"It might have done so if I hadn't chanced to possess a wide-awake chum, who gave me due warning, and caused me to keep a sharp lookout.
As it is, if I glimpse a suspicious spot in my path I'll fight mighty shy of the same; or by a big leap give it the go-by.

Of course, there might be other ways in which they could hope to detain me, such as dropping down on my shoulders from a tree, and with their faces covered so I couldn't recognize them." Thad looked grave.
"Yes, they could do that, for a fact," he admitted.