The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martian V.F.W., by G.L. Vandenburg

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Martian V.F.W.

Author: G.L. Vandenburg

Release Date: July 20, 2007 [EBook #22110]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIAN V.F.W. ***

Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

MARTIAN V. F. W.

By G. L. VANDENBURG

_There's nothing like a parade, I always
say. Of course, I'm a Martian._

Mr. Cruthers was a busy man. Coordinating the biggest parade in New
York's history is not easy. He was maneuvering his two hundred pounds
around Washington Square with the agility of a quarterback. He had his
hands full organizing marchers, locating floats, placing the many brass
bands in their proper order and barking commands to assistants. But Mr.
Cruthers approached the job with all the zeal of an evangelist at a
revival meeting.

As he approached the south-west corner of the square he saw something
that jarred his already frayed nerves. He stopped abruptly. The mass of
clipboards and papers he was carrying fell to the street. There before
him were one hundred and fifty ants, each of them at least six feet
tall. His first impulse was to turn and run for the nearest doctor. He
was certain that the strain of his job was proving too much for him. But
one of the ants approached him. It seemed friendly enough, so Mr.
Cruthers stood his ground.

"My group is waiting for their assignment." The ant's voice seemed to be
coming from the very core of its thorax which was a violent red.

"Good Lord!" Mr. Cruthers' mouth opened up as wide as an oven door.

"Mr. Cruthers, I believe the parade is about to start and my group--"

Mr. Cruthers managed to blurt out. "What the devil _are_ you anyway!"

"This _is_ the parade marking the International Geophysical Year, is it
not?" The ant had a pleasant, friendly voice.

"Well, yes, but--"

"And you are Mr. Cruthers, the manager of the parade, is that not
correct?"

* * * * *

Mr. Cruthers rubbed his eyes and took another look at the str