FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   >>  
ked a thumb at a small bale of heavy copper wire. "Bring it over and we'll try it." Miller was halfway to it when he brought up short. Then a sheepish grin spread over his features. "I get it," he chuckled. "That bale of wire might be the Empire State Building, as far as we're concerned. Forgive my stupidity." Erickson suddenly became serious. "I'd like to be optimistic, Dave," he muttered, "but in all fairness to you I must tell you I see no way out of this. The machine is, of course, still working, and with that extra stage of power, the uncertainty would be over. But where, in this world of immovable things, will we find a piece of wire twenty-five feet long?" * * * * * There was a warm, moist sensation against Miller's hand, and when he looked down Major stared up at him commiseratingly. Miller scratched him behind the ear, and the dog closed his eyes, reassured and happy. The young druggist sighed, wishing there were some giant hand to scratch him behind the ear and smooth _his_ troubles over. "And if we don't get out," he said soberly, "we'll starve, I suppose." "No, I don't think it will be that quick. I haven't felt any hunger. I don't expect to. After all, our bodies are still living in one instant of time, and a man can't work up a healthy appetite in one second. Of course, this elastic-second business precludes the possibility of disease. "Our bodies must go on unchanged. The only hope I see is--when we are on the verge of madness, suicide. That means jumping off a bridge, I suppose. Poison, guns, knives--all the usual wherewithal--are denied to us." Black despair closed down on Dave Miller. He thrust it back, forcing a crooked grin. "Let's make a bargain," he offered. "When we finish fooling around with this apparatus, we split up. We'll only be at each other's throat if we stick together. I'll be blaming you for my plight, and I don't want to. It's my fault as much as yours. How about it?" John Erickson gripped his hand. "You're all right, Dave. Let me give you some advice. If ever you do get back to the present ... keep away from liquor. Liquor and the Irish never did mix. You'll have that store on its feet again in no time." "Thanks!" Miller said fervently. "And I think I can promise that nothing less than a whiskey antidote for snake bite will ever make me bend an elbow again!" * * * * * For the next couple
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   >>  



Top keywords:

Miller

 
closed
 

bodies

 
suppose
 

Erickson

 

crooked

 
unchanged
 

offered

 

finish

 

possibility


fooling

 
disease
 

forcing

 

bargain

 

bridge

 

jumping

 

Poison

 
wherewithal
 

knives

 

suicide


despair

 

thrust

 

denied

 

madness

 

Thanks

 
fervently
 
liquor
 

Liquor

 
promise
 

couple


whiskey
 

antidote

 

blaming

 

plight

 
throat
 

apparatus

 

advice

 

present

 
precludes
 

gripped


troubles

 
fairness
 

muttered

 

optimistic

 

machine

 
working
 

immovable

 
things
 

uncertainty

 

suddenly