The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dearest, by Henry Beam Piper

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Title: Dearest

Author: Henry Beam Piper

Illustrator: Vincent Napoli

Release Date: August 22, 2006 [EBook #19102]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from Weird Tales March 1951. Extensive research
did not uncover any evidence that the copyright on this publication was
renewed.

[Illustration: "Get him to tell you about this invisible playmate of
his."]

Heading by Vincent Napoli

DEAREST

BY

H. BEAM PIPER

Colonel Ashley Hampton chewed his cigar and forced himself to relax, his
glance slowly traversing the room, lingering on the mosaic of
book-spines in the tall cases, the sunlight splashed on the faded pastel
colors of the carpet, the soft-tinted autumn landscape outside the
French windows, the trophies of Indian and Filipino and German weapons
on the walls. He could easily feign relaxation here in the library of
"Greyrock," as long as he looked only at these familiar inanimate
things and avoided the five people gathered in the room with him, for
all of them were enemies.

There was his nephew, Stephen Hampton, greying at the temples but
youthfully dressed in sports-clothes, leaning with obvious if slightly
premature proprietorship against the fireplace, a whiskey-and-soda in
his hand. There was Myra, Stephen's smart, sophisticated-looking blonde
wife, reclining in a chair beside the desk. For these two, he felt an
implacable hatred. The others were no less enemies, perhaps more
dangerous enemies, but they were only the tools of Stephen and Myra. For
instance, T. Barnwell Powell, prim and self-satisfied, sitting on the
edge of his chair and clutching the briefcase on his lap as though it
were a restless pet which might attempt to escape. He was an honest man,
as lawyers went; painfully ethical. No doubt he had convinced himself
that his clients were acting from the noblest and most disinterested
motives. And Doctor Alexi