The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Jones's Dollar, by Harry Stephen Keeler

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Title: John Jones's Dollar

Author: Harry Stephen Keeler

Release Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #26867]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration]

JOHN JONES'S DOLLAR

By HARRY STEPHEN KEELER

_Take a board with 64 squares on it. Put a grain of wheat on the
first square--two on the second--four on the third. Keep doubling in
this manner and you will find there isn't enough wheat in the world
to fill the sixty-fourth square. It can be the same with compound
interest._

On the 201st day of the year 3221 A.D., the professor of history at the
University of Terra seated himself in front of the Visaphone and
prepared to deliver the daily lecture to his class, the members of which
resided in different portions of the earth.

The instrument before which he seated himself was very like a great
window sash, on account of the fact that there were three or four
hundred frosted glass squares visible. In a space at the center, not
occupied by any of these glass squares, was a dark oblong area and a
ledge holding a piece of chalk. And above the area was a huge brass
cylinder; toward this brass cylinder the professor would soon direct
his subsequent remarks.

In order to assure himself that it was time to press the button which
would notify the members of the class in history to approach their local
Visaphones, the professor withdrew from his vest pocket a small
contrivance which he held to his ear. Upon moving a tiny switch attached
to the instrument, a metallic voice, seeming to come from somewhere in
space, repeated mechanically: "Fifteen o'clock and one minute--fifteen
o'clock and one minute--fifteen o'clock and one min--" Quickly, the
professor replaced the instrument in his vest pocket and pressed a
button at the side of the Visaphone.

As though in answer to the summons, the frosted squares began, one by
one, to show the faces and shoulders of a