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diff --git a/22346.txt b/22346.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5227a3d --- /dev/null +++ b/22346.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1078 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Exile, by Horace Brown Fyfe + +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: Exile + +Author: Horace Brown Fyfe + +Release Date: August 16, 2007 [EBook #22346] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXILE *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + EXILE + + BY H. B. FYFE + + ILLUSTRATED BY EMSH + + + The Dome of Eyes made it almost impossible for Terrans + to reach the world of Tepokt. For those who did land + there, there was no returning--only the bitterness of + respect--and justice! + + +The Tepoktan student, whose blue robe in George Kinton's opinion clashed +with the dull purple of his scales, twiddled a three-clawed hand for +attention. Kinton nodded to him from his place on the dais before the +group. + +"Then you can give us no precise count of the stars in the galaxy, +George?" + +Kinton smiled wrily, and ran a wrinkled hand through his graying hair. +In the clicking Tepoktan speech, his name came out more like "Chortch." + +Questions like this had been put to him often during the ten years since +his rocket had hurtled through the meteorite belt and down to the +surface of Tepokt, leaving him the only survivor. Barred off as they +were from venturing into space, the highly civilized Tepoktans +constantly displayed the curiosity of dreamers in matters related to the +universe. Because of the veil of meteorites and satellite fragments +whirling about their planet, their astronomers had acquired torturous +skills but only scraps of real knowledge. + +"As I believe I mentioned in some of my recorded lectures," Kinton +answered in their language, "the number is actually as vast as it seems +to those of you peering through the Dome of Eyes. The scientists of my +race have not yet encountered any beings capable of estimating the +total." + +[Illustration] + +He leaned back and scanned the faces of his interviewers, faces that +would have been oddly humanoid were it not for the elongated snouts and +pointed, sharp-toothed jaws. The average Tepoktan was slightly under +Kinton's height of five-feet-ten, with a long, supple trunk. Under the +robes their scholars affected, the shortness of their two bowed legs was +not obvious; but the sight of the short, thick arms carried high before +their chests still left Kinton with a feeling of misproportion. + +He should be used to it after ten years, he thought, but even the reds +or purples of the scales or the big teeth seemed more natural. + +"I sympathize with your curiosity," he added. "It is a marvel that your +scientists have managed to measure the distances of so many stars." + +He could tell that they were pleased by his admiration, and wondered yet +again why any little show of approval by him was so eagerly received. +Even though he was the first stellar visitor in their recorded history, +Kinton remained conscious of the fact that in many fields he was unable +to offer the Tepoktans any new ideas. In one or two ways, he believed, +no Terran could teach their experts anything. + +"Then will you tell us, George, more about the problems of your first +space explorers?" came another question. + + * * * * * + +Before Kinton had formed his answer, the golden curtains at the rear of +the austerely simple chamber parted. Klaft, the Tepoktan serving the +current year as Kinton's chief aide, hurried toward the dais. The +twenty-odd members of the group fell silent on their polished stone +benches, turning their pointed visages to follow Klaft's progress. + +The aide reached Kinton and bent to hiss and cluck into the latter's ear +in what he presumably considered an undertone. The Terran laboriously +spelled out the message inscribed on the limp, satiny paper held before +his eyes. Then he rose and took one step toward the waiting group. + +"I regret I shall have to conclude this discussion," he announced. "I +am informed that another ship from space has reached the surface of +Tepokt. My presence is requested in case the crew are of my own planet." + +Klaft excitedly skipped down to lead the way up the aisle, but Kinton +hesitated. Those in the audience were scholars or officials to whom +attendance at one of Kinton's limited number of personal lectures was +awarded as an honor. + +They would hardly learn anything from him directly that was not +available in recordings made over the course of years. The Tepoktan +scientists, historians, and philosophers had respectfully but eagerly +gathered every crumb of information Kinton knowingly had to offer--and +some he thought he had forgotten. Still ... he sensed the disappointment +at his announcement. + +"I shall arrange for you to await my return here in town," Kinton said, +and there were murmurs of pleasure. + +Later, aboard the jet helicopter that was basically like those Kinton +remembered using on Terra twenty light years away, he shook his head at +Klaft's respectful protest. + +"But George! It was enough that they were present when you received the +news. They can talk about that the rest of their lives! You must not +waste your strength on these people who come out of curiosity." + +Kinton smiled at his aide's earnest concern. Then he turned to look out +the window as he recalled the shadow that underlay such remonstrances. +He estimated that he was about forty-eight now, as nearly as he could +tell from the somewhat longer revolutions of Tepokt. The time would come +when he would age and die. Whose wishes would then prevail? + +Maybe he was wrong, he thought. Maybe he shouldn't stand in the way of +their biologists and surgeons. But he'd rather be buried, even if that +left them with only what he could tell them about the human body. + + * * * * * + +To help himself forget the rather preoccupied manner in which some of +the Tepoktan scientists occasionally eyed him, he peered down at the big +dam of the hydro-electric project being completed to Kinton's design. +Power from this would soon light the town built to house the staff of +scientists, students, and workers assigned to the institute organized +about the person of Kinton. + +Now, there was an example of their willingness to repay him for whatever +help he had been, he reflected. They hadn't needed that for themselves. + +In some ways, compared to those of Terra, the industries of Tepokt were +underdeveloped. In the first place, the population was smaller and had +different standards of luxury. In the second, a certain lack of drive +resulted from the inability to break out into interplanetary space. +Kinton had been inexplicably lucky to have reached the surface even in +a battered hulk. The shell of meteorites was at least a hundred miles +thick and constantly shifting. + +"We do not know if they have always been meteorites," the Tepoktans had +told Kinton, "or whether part of them come from a destroyed satellite; +but our observers have proved mathematically that no direct path through +them may be predicted more than a very short while in advance." + +Kinton turned away from the window as he caught the glint of Tepokt's +sun upon the hull of the spaceship they had also built for him. Perhaps +... would it be fair to encourage the newcomer to attempt the barrier? + +For ten years, Kinton had failed to work up any strong desire to try it. +The Tepoktans called the ever-shifting lights the Dome of Eyes, after +a myth in which each tiny satellite bright enough to be visible was +supposed to watch over a single individual on the surface. Like their +brothers on Terra, the native astronomers could trace their science back +to a form of astrology; and Kinton often told them jokingly that he felt +no urge to risk a physical encounter with his own personal Eye. + + * * * * * + +The helicopter started to descend, and Kinton remembered that the city +named in his message was only about twenty miles from his home. The +brief twilight of Tepokt was passing by the time he set foot on the +landing field, and he paused to look up. + +The brighter stars visible from this part of the planet twinkled back at +him, and he knew that each was being scrutinized by some amateur or +professional astronomer. Before an hour had elapsed, most of them would +be obscured by the tiny moonlets, some of which could already be seen. +These could easily be mistaken for stars or the other five planets of +the system, but in a short while the tinier ones in groups would cause +a celestial haze resembling a miniature Milky Way. + +Klaft, who had descended first, leaving the pilot to bring up the rear, +noticed Kinton's pause. + +"Glory glitters till it is known for a curse," he remarked, quoting a +Tepoktan proverb often applied by the disgruntled scientists to the Dome +of Eyes. + +Kinton observed, however, that his aide also stared upward for a long +moment. The Tepoktans loved speculating about the unsolvable. They had +even founded clubs to argue whether two satellites had been destroyed or +only one. + +Half a dozen officials hastened up to escort the party to the vehicle +awaiting Kinton. Klaft succeeded in quieting the lesser members of the +delegation so that Kinton was able to learn a few facts about the new +arrival. The crash had been several hundred miles away, but someone had +thought of the hospital in this city which was known to have a doctor +rating as an expert in human physiology. The survivor--only one occupant +of the wreck, alive or dead, had been discovered--had accordingly been +flown here. + +With a clanging of bells, the little convoy of ground cars drew up in +front of the hospital. A way was made through the chittering crowd +around the entrance. Within a few minutes, Kinton found himself looking +down at a pallet upon which lay another Terran. + +A man! he thought, then curled a lip wrily at the sudden, unexpected +pang of disappointment. Well, he hadn't realized until then what he was +really hoping for! + + * * * * * + +The spaceman had been cleaned up and bandaged by the native medicos. +Kinton saw that his left thigh was probably broken. Other dressings +suggested cracked ribs and lacerations on the head and shoulders. The +man was dark-haired but pale of skin, with a jutting chin and a nose +that had been flattened in some earlier mishap. The flaring set of his +ears somehow emphasized an overall leanness. Even in sleep, his mouth +was thin and hard. + +"Thrown across the controls after his belt broke loose?" Kinton guessed. + +"I bow to your wisdom, George," said the plump Tepoktan doctor who +appeared to be in charge. + +Kinton could not remember him, but everyone on the planet addressed the +Terran by the sound they fondly thought to be his first name. + +"This is Doctor Chuxolkhee," murmured Klaft. + +Kinton made the accepted gesture of greeting with one hand and said, +"You seem to have treated him very expertly." + +Chuxolkhee ruffled the scales around his neck with pleasure. + +"I have studied Terran physiology," he admitted complacently. "From your +records and drawings, of course, George, for I have not yet had the good +fortune to visit you." + +"We must arrange a visit soon," said Kinton. "Klaft will--" + +He broke off at the sound from the patient. + +"A Terran!" mumbled the injured man. + +He shook his head dazedly, tried to sit up, and subsided with a groan. + +_Why, he looked scared when he saw me_, thought Kinton. + +"You're all right now," he said soothingly. "It's all over and you're in +good hands. I gather there were no other survivors of the crash?" + +The man stared curiously. Kinton realized that his own language +sputtered clumsily from his lips after ten years. He tried again. + +"My name is George Kinton. I don't blame you if I'm hard to understand. +You see, I've been here ten years without ever having another Terran to +speak to." + +The spaceman considered that for a few breaths, then seemed to relax. + +"Al Birken," he introduced himself laconically. "Ten years?" + +"A little over," confirmed Kinton. "It's extremely unusual that anything +gets through to the surface, let alone a spaceship. What happened to +you?" + + * * * * * + +Birken's stare was suspicious. + +"Then you ain't heard about the new colonies? Naw--you musta come here +when all the planets were open." + +"We had a small settlement on the second planet," Kinton told him. "You +mean there are new Terran colonies?" + +"Yeah. Jet-hoppers spreadin' all over the other five. None of the +land-hungry poops figured a way to set down here, though, or they'd be +creepin' around this planet too." + +"How did you happen to do it? Run out of fuel?" + +The other eyed him for a few seconds before dropping his gaze. Kinton +was struck with sudden doubt. The outposts of civilization were followed +by less desirable developments as a general rule--prisons, for instance. +He resolved to be wary of the visitor. + +"Ya might say I was explorin'," Birken replied at last. "That's why I +come alone. Didn't want nobody else hurt if I didn't make it. Say, how +bad am I banged up?" + +Kinton realized guiltily that the man should be resting. He had lost +track of the moments he had wasted in talk while the others with him +stood attentively about. + +He questioned the doctor briefly and relayed the information that +Birken's leg was broken but that the other injuries were not serious. + +"They'll fix you up," he assured the spaceman. "They're quite good at +it, even if the sight of one does make you think a little of an iguana. +Rest up, now; and I'll come back again when you're feeling better." + +For the next three weeks, Kinton flew back and forth from his own town +nearly every day. He felt that he should not neglect the few meetings +which were the only way he could repay the Tepoktans for all they did +for him. On the other hand, the chance to see and talk with one of his +own kind drew him like a magnet to the hospital. + +The doctors operated upon Birken's leg, inserting a metal rod inside the +bone by a method they had known before Kinton described it. The new +arrival expected to be able to walk, with care, almost any day; although +the pin would have to be removed after the bone had healed. Meanwhile, +Birken seemed eager to learn all Kinton could tell him about the planet, +Tepokt. + +About himself, he was remarkably reticent. Kinton worried about this. + +"I think we should not expect too much of this Terran," he warned Klaft +uneasily. "You, too, have citizens who do not always obey, your laws, +who sometimes ... that is--" + +"Who are born to die under the axe, as we say," interrupted Klaft, as if +to ease the concern plain on Kinton's face. "In other words, criminals. +You suspect this Albirken is such a one, George?" + +"It is not impossible," admitted Kinton unhappily. "He will tell me +little about himself. It may be that he was caught in Tepokt's gravity +while fleeing from justice." + +To himself, he wished he had not told Birken about the spaceship. He +didn't think the man exactly believed his explanation of why there was +no use taking off in it. + + * * * * * + +Yet he continued to spend as much time as he could visiting the other +man. Then, as his helicopter landed at the city airport one gray dawn, +the news reached him. + +"The other Terran has gone," Klaft reported, turning from the +breathless messenger as Kinton followed him from the machine. + +"Gone? Where did they take him?" + +Klaft looked uneasy, embarrassed. Kinton repeated his question, +wondering about the group of armed police on hand. + +"In the night," Klaft hissed and clucked, "when none would think to +watch him, they tell me ... and quite rightly, I think--" + +"Get on with it, Klaft! Please!" + +"In the night, then, Albirken left the chamber in which he lay. He can +walk some now, you know, because of Dr. Chuxolkhee's metal pin. He--he +stole a ground car and is gone." + +"He did?" Kinton had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Is it +known where he went? I mean ... he has been curious to see some of +Tepokt. Perhaps--" + +He stopped, his own words braying in his ears. Klaft was clicking two +claws together, a sign of emphatic disagreement. + +"Albirken," he said, "was soon followed by three police constables in +another vehicle. They found him heading in the direction of our town." + +"Why did he say he was traveling that way?" asked Kinton, thinking to +himself of the spaceship! Was the man crazy? + +"He did not say," answered Klaft expressionlessly. "Taking them by +surprise, he killed two of the constables and injured the third before +fleeing with one of their spears." + +"_What?_" + +Kinton felt his eyes bulging with dismay. + +"Yes, for they carried only the short spears of their authority, not +expecting to need fire weapons." + + * * * * * + +Kinton looked from him to the messenger, noticing for the first time +that the latter was an under-officer of police. He shook his head +distractedly. It appeared that his suspicions concerning Birken had been +only too accurate. + +Why was it one like him who got through? he asked himself in silent +anguish. After ten years. The Tepoktans had been thinking well of +Terrans, but now-- + +He did not worry about his own position. That was well enough +established, whether or not he could again hold up his head before the +purple-scaled people who had been so generous to him. + +Even if they had been aroused to a rage by the killing, Kinton told +himself, he would not have been concerned about himself. He had reached +a fairly ripe age for a spaceman. In fact, he had already enjoyed a +decade of borrowed time. + +But they were more civilized than that wanton murderer, he realized. + +He straightened up, forcing back his early-morning weariness. + +"We must get into the air immediately," he told Klaft. "Perhaps we may +see him before he reaches--" + +He broke off at the word "spaceship" but he noticed a reserved +expression on Klaft's pointed face. His aide had probably reached a +conclusion similar to his own. + +They climbed back into the cabin and Klaft gave brisk orders to the lean +young pilot. A moment later, Kinton saw the ground outside drop away. + +Only upon turning around did he realize that two armed Tepoktans had +materialized in time to follow Klaft inside. + +One was a constable but the other he recognized for an officer of +some rank. Both wore slung across their chests weapons resembling +long-barreled pistols with large, oddly indented butts to fit Tepoktan +claws. The constable, in addition, carried a contraption with a +quadruple tube for launching tiny rockets no thicker than Kinton's +thumb. These, he knew, were loaded with an explosive worthy of respect +on any planet he had heard of. + +To protect him, he wondered. Or to get Birken? + +The pilot headed the craft back toward Kinton's town in the brightening +sky of early day. Long before the buildings of Kinton's institute came +into view, they received a radio message about Birken. + +"He has been seen on the road passing the dam," Klaft reported soberly +after having been called to the pilot's compartment. "He stopped to +demand fuel from some maintenance workers, but they had been warned and +fled." + +"Couldn't they have seized him?" demanded Kinton, his tone sharp with +the worry he endeavored to control. "He has that spear, I suppose; but +he is only one and injured." + +Klaft hesitated. + +"Well, couldn't they?" + +The aide looked away, out one of the windows at some sun-dyed clouds +ranging from pink to orange. He grimaced and clicked his showy teeth +uncomfortably. + +"Perhaps they thought you might be offended, George," he answered at +last. + +Kinton settled back in the seat especially padded to fit the contours +of his Terran body, and stared silently at the partition behind the +pilot. + +In other words, he thought, he was responsible for Birken, who was a +Terran, one of his own kind. Maybe they really didn't want to risk +hurting his feelings, but that was only part of it. They were leaving +it up to him to handle what they considered his private affair. + +He wondered what to do. He had no actual faith in the idea that Birken +was delirious, or acting under any influence but that of a criminally +self-centered nature. + +"I _shouldn't_ have told him about the ship!" Kinton muttered, gnawing +the knuckle of his left thumb. "He's on the run, all right. Probably +scared the colonial authorities will trail him right down through the +Dome of Eyes. Wonder what he did?" + +He caught himself and looked around to see if he had been overheard. +Klaft and the police officers peered from their respective windows, in +calculated withdrawal. Kinton, disturbed, tried to remember whether he +had spoken in Terran or Tepoktan. + +Would Birken listen if he tried reasoning, he asked himself. Maybe if +he showed the man how they had proved the unpredictability of openings +through the shifting Dome of Eyes-- + +An exclamation from the constable drew his attention. He rose, and room +was made for him at the opposite window. + + * * * * * + +In the distance, beyond the town landing field they were now +approaching, Kinton saw a halted ground car. Across the plain which was +colored a yellowish tan by a short, grass-like growth, a lone figure +plodded toward the upthrust bulk of the spaceship that had never flown. + +"Never mind landing at the town!" snapped Kinton. "Go directly out to +the ship!" + +Klaft relayed the command to the pilot. The helicopter swept in a +descending curve across the plain toward the gleaming hull. + +As they passed the man below, Birken looked up. He continued to limp +along at a brisk pace with the aid of what looked like a short spear. + +"Go down!" Kinton ordered. + +The pilot landed about a hundred yards from the spaceship. By the time +his passengers had alighted, however, Birken had drawn level with them, +about fifty feet away. + +"Birken!" shouted Kinton. "Where do you think you're going?" + +Seeing that no one ran after him, Birken slowed his pace, but kept +walking toward the ship. He watched them over his shoulder. + +"Sorry, Kinton," he shouted with no noticeable tone of regret. "I figure +I better travel on for my health." + +"It's not so damn healthy up there!" called Kinton. "I told you how +there's no clear path--" + +"Yeah, yeah, you told me. That don't mean I gotta believe it." + +"Wait! Don't you think they tried sending unmanned rockets up? Every one +was struck and exploded." + +Birken showed no more change of expression than if the other had +commented on the weather. + +Kinton had stepped forward six or eight paces, irritated despite his +anxiety at the way Birken persisted in drifting before him. + +Kinton couldn't just grab him--bad leg or not, he could probably break +the older man in two. + +He glanced back at the Tepoktans beside the helicopter, Klaft, the +pilot, the officer, the constable with the rocket weapon. + +They stood quietly, looking back at him. + +The call for help that had risen to his lips died there. + +"Not _their_ party," he muttered. He turned again to Birken, who still +retreated toward the ship. "But he'll only get himself killed _and_ +destroy the ship! Or if some miracle gets him through, that's worse! +He's nothing to turn loose on a civilized colony again." + + * * * * * + +A twinge of shame tugged down the corners of his mouth as he realized +that keeping Birken here would also expose a highly cultured people to +an unscrupulous criminal who had already committed murder the very first +time he had been crossed. + +"Birken!" he shouted. "For the last time! Do you want me to send them to +drag you back here?" + +Birken stopped at that. He regarded the motionless Tepoktans with a +derisive sneer. + +"They don't look too eager to me," he taunted. + +Kinton growled a Tepoktan expression the meaning of which he had deduced +after hearing it used by the dam workers. + +He whirled to run toward the helicopter. Hardly had he taken two steps, +however, when he saw startled changes in the carefully blank looks of +his escort. The constable half raised his heavy weapon, and Klaft sprang +forward with a hissing cry. + +By the time Kinton's aging muscles obeyed his impulse to sidestep, the +spear had already hurtled past. It had missed him by an error of over +six feet. + +He felt his face flushing with sudden anger. Birken was running as best +he could toward the spaceship, and had covered nearly half the distance. + +Kinton ran at the Tepoktans, brushing aside the concerned Klaft. He +snatched the heavy weapon from the surprised constable. + +He turned and raised it to his chest. Because of the shortness of +Tepoktan arms, the launcher was constructed so that the butt rested +against the chest with the sighting loops before the eyes. The little +rocket tubes were above head height, to prevent the handler's catching +the blast. + +The circles of the sights weaved and danced about the running figure. +Kinton realized to his surprise that the effort of seizing the weapon +had him panting. Or was it the fright at having a spear thrown at him? +He decided that Birken had not come close enough for that, and wondered +if he was afraid of his own impending action. + +It wasn't fair, he complained to himself. The poor slob only had a +spear, and a man couldn't blame him for wanting to get back to his own +sort. He was limping ... hurt ... how could they expect him to +realize--? + +Then, abruptly, his lips tightened to a thin line. The sights steadied +on Birken as the latter approached the foot of the ladder leading to the +entrance port of the spaceship. + +Kinton pressed the firing stud. + +Across the hundred-yard space streaked four flaring little projectiles. +Kinton, without exactly seeing each, was aware of the general lines of +flight diverging gradually to bracket the figure of Birken. + +One struck the ground beside the man just as he set one foot on the +bottom rung of the ladder, and skittered away past one fin of the ship +before exploding. Two others burst against the hull, scattering metal +fragments, and another puffed on the upright of the ladder just above +Birken's head. + + * * * * * + +The spaceman was blown back from the ladder. He balanced on his heels +for a moment with outstretched fingers reaching toward the grips from +which they had been torn. Then he crumpled into a limp huddle on the +yellowing turf. + +Kinton sighed. + +The constable took the weapon from him, reloaded deftly, and proffered +it again. When the Terran did not reach for it, the officer held out a +clawed hand to receive it. He gestured silently, and the constable +trotted across the intervening ground to bend over Birken. + +"He is dead," said Klaft when the constable straightened up with a curt +wave. + +"Will ... will you have someone see to him, please?" Kinton requested, +turning toward the helicopter. + +"Yes, George," said Klaft. "George...?" + +"Well?" + +"It would be very instructive--that is, I believe Dr. Chuxolkhee would +like to--" + +"All right!" yielded Kinton, surprised at the harshness of his own +voice. "Just tell him not to bring around any sketches of the various +organs for a few months!" + +He climbed into the helicopter and slumped into his seat. Presently, he +was aware of Klaft edging into the seat across the aisle. He looked up. + +"The police will stay until cars from town arrive. They are coming now," +said his aide. + + * * * * * + +Kinton stared at his hands, wondering at the fact that they were not +shaking. He felt dejected, empty, not like a man who had just been at +a high pitch of excitement. + +"Why did you not let him go, George?" + +"What? Why ... why ... he would have destroyed the ship you worked so +hard to build. There is no safe path through the Dome of Eyes." + +"No predictable path," Klaft corrected. "But what then? We would have +built you another ship, George, for it was you who showed us how." + +Kinton flexed his fingers slowly. + +"He was just no good. You know the murder he did here; we can only guess +what he did among my own ... among Terrans. Should he have a chance to +go back and commit more crimes?" + +"I understand, George, the logic of it," said Klaft. "I meant ... it is +not my place to say this ... but you seem unhappy." + +"Possibly," grunted Kinton wrily. + +"We, too, have criminals," said the aide, as gently as was possible in +his clicking language. "We do not think it necessary to grieve for the +pain they bring upon themselves." + +"No, I suppose not," sighed Kinton. "I ... it's just--" + +He looked up at the pointed visage, at the strange eyes regarding him +sympathetically from beneath the sloping, purple-scaled forehead. + +"It's just that now I'm lonely ... again," he said. + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This e-text was produced from Space Science Fiction February + 1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Exile, by Horace Brown Fyfe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXILE *** + +***** This file should be named 22346.txt or 22346.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/3/4/22346/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Alexander Bauer and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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