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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd63b12 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51092 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51092) diff --git a/old/51092-h.zip b/old/51092-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f4b055a..0000000 --- a/old/51092-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51092-h/51092-h.htm b/old/51092-h/51092-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 2413258..0000000 --- a/old/51092-h/51092-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1453 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rattle Ok, by Harry Warner, Jr.. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rattle OK, by Harry Warner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Rattle OK - -Author: Harry Warner - -Release Date: January 31, 2016 [EBook #51092] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATTLE OK *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="398" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>RATTLE OK</h1> - -<p>By HARRY WARNER, JR.</p> - -<p>Illustrated by FINLAY</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Science Fiction December 1956.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph3"><i>What better way to use a time machine than<br /> -to handle department store complaints? But<br /> -pleasing a customer should have its limits!</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The Christmas party at the Boston branch of Hartshorne-Logan was -threatening to become more legendary than usual this Christmas.</p> - -<p>The farm machinery manager had already collapsed. When he slid under -the table containing the drinks, Miss Pringle, who sold millinery, had -screamed: "He'll drown!"</p> - -<p>One out of every three dirty stories started by party attendees had -remained unfinished, because each had reminded someone else of another -story.</p> - -<p>The recently developed liquors which affected the bloodstream three -times faster had driven away twinges of conscience about untrimmed -trees and midnight church services.</p> - -<p>The star salesman for mankies and the gentleman who was in charge of -the janitors were putting on a display of Burmese foot-wrestling in -one corner of the general office. The janitor foreman weighed fifty -pounds less than the Burma gentleman, who was the salesman's customary -opponent. So the climax of one tactic did not simply overturn the -foreman. He glided through the air, crashing with a very loud thump -against the wall.</p> - -<p>He wasn't hurt. But the impact knocked the hallowed portrait of H. H. -Hartshorne, co-founder, from its nail. It tinkled imposingly as its -glass splintered against the floor.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The noise caused a temporary lull in the gaiety. Several employes even -felt a passing suspicion that things might be getting out of hand.</p> - -<p>"It's all in the spirit of good, clean fun!" cried Mr. Hawkins, the -assistant general manager. Since he was the highest executive present, -worries vanished. Everyone felt fine. There was a scurry to shove the -broken glass out of sight and to turn more attention to another type of -glasses.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins himself, acting by reflex, attempted to return the portrait -to its place until new glass could be obtained. But the fall had sprung -the frame at one corner and it wouldn't hang straight.</p> - -<p>"We'd better put old H. H. away for safekeeping until after the -holiday," he told a small, blonde salesclerk who was beneath his -attention on any working day.</p> - -<p>With the proper mixture of respect and bonhommie, he lifted the heavy -picture out of its frame. A yellowed envelope slipped to the floor as -the picture came free. Hawkins rolled the picture like a scroll and put -it into a desk drawer, for later attention. Then he looked around for a -drink that would make him feel even better.</p> - -<p>A sorting clerk in the mail order department wasn't used to liquor. She -picked up the envelope and looked around vaguely for the mail-opening -machine.</p> - -<p>"Hell, Milly, you aren't working!" someone shouted at her. "Have -another!"</p> - -<p>Milly snapped out of it. She giggled, suppressed a ladylike belch and -returned to reality. Looking at the envelope, she said: "Oh, I see. -They must have stuck it in to tighten the frame. Gee, it's old."</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins had refreshed himself. He decided that he liked Milly's -voice. To hear more of it, he said to her: "I'll bet that's been in -there ever since the picture was framed. There's a company legend that -that picture was put up the day this branch opened, eighty years ago."</p> - -<p>"I didn't know the company ever used buff envelopes like this." Milly -turned it over in her hands. The ancient glue crackled as she did so. -The flap popped open and an old-fashioned order blank fell out.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins' eyes widened. He bent, reached painfully over his potbelly -and picked up the order form.</p> - -<p>"This thing has never been processed!" Raising his voice, he shouted -jovially, "Hey, people! You're all fired! Here's an order that -Hartshorne-Logan never filled! We can't have such carelessness. This -poor woman has waited eighty years for her merchandise!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Milly was reading aloud the scrawled words on the order form:</p> - -<p>"Best electric doorbell. Junior detective kit. Disposable sacks for -vacuum cleaner. Dress for three-year-old girl." She turned to the -assistant general manager, struck with an idea for the first time in -her young life. "Let's fill this order right now!"</p> - -<p>"The poor woman must be dead by now," he objected, secretly angry -that he hadn't thought of such a fine party stunt himself. Then he -brightened. "Unless—" he said it loud enough for the employes to scent -a great proposal and the room grew quiet—"unless we broke the rules -just once and used the time warp on a big mission!"</p> - -<p>There was a silence. Finally, from an anonymous voice in one corner: -"Would the warp work over eighty years? We were always told that it -must be used only for complaints within three days."</p> - -<p>"Then let's find out!" Mr. Hawkins downed the rest of his drink and -pulled a batch of keys from his pocket. "Someone scoot down to the -warehouse. Tell the watchman that it's on my authority. Hunt up the -stuff that's on the order. Get the best of everything. Ignore the -catalogue numbers—they've changed a hundred times in all these years."</p> - -<p>Milly was still deciphering the form. Now she let out a little squeal -of excitement.</p> - -<p>"Look, Mr. Hawkins! The name on this order—it's my great-grandmother! -Isn't that wonderful? I was just a little girl when she died. I can -barely remember her as a real old woman. But I remember that my -grandmother never bought anything from Hartshorne-Logan because of some -trouble her mother had once with the firm. My mother didn't want me to -come to work here because of that."</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins put his arm around Milly in a way that he intended to -look fatherly. It didn't. "Well, now. Since it's your relative, let's -thrill the old girl. We wouldn't have vacuum sacks any more. So we'll -substitute a manky!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ann Hartley was returning from mailing the letter when she found the -large parcel on her doorstep. She put her hands on her hips and stared -pugnaciously at the bundle.</p> - -<p>"The minute I write a letter to complain about you, you turn up!" she -told the parcel. She nudged her toe peevishly against the brown paper -wrappings that were tied with a half-transparent twine she had never -seen before.</p> - -<p>The label was addressed in a wandering scrawl, a sharp contrast to -the impersonal typing on the customary Hartshorne-Logan bundles. But -the familiar RATTLE OK sticker was pasted onto the box, indicating to -the delivery man that the contents would make a rattling sound and -therefore hadn't been broken in shipment.</p> - -<p>Ann sighed and picked up her bundle. With a last look at the lovely -spring afternoon and the quiet suburban landscape, she went into the -house.</p> - -<p>Two-year-old Sally heard the box rattling. She waddled up on chubby -legs and grabbed her mother's skirt. "Want!" she said decisively.</p> - -<p>"Your dress ought to be here," Ann said. She found scissors in her -sewing box, tossed a cushion onto the floor, sat on it, and began to -open the parcel.</p> - -<p>"Now I'll have to write another letter to explain that they should -throw away my letter of complaint," she told her daughter. "And by the -time they get my second letter, they'll have answered my first letter. -Then they'll write again." Out of consideration for Sally, she omitted -the expletives that she wanted to add.</p> - -<p>The translucent cord was too tough for the scissors. Ann was about to -hunt for a razor blade when Sally clutched at an intersection of the -cord and yanked. The twine sprang away from the carton as if it were -alive. The paper wrappings flapped open.</p> - -<p>"There!" Sally said.</p> - -<p>Ann repressed an irrational urge to slap her daughter. Instead, she -tossed the wrappings aside and removed the lid from the carton. A -slightly crushed thin cardboard box lay on top. Ann pulled out the -dress and shook it into a freely hanging position. Then she groaned.</p> - -<p>It was green and she had ordered blue. It didn't remotely resemble -the dress she had admired from the Hartshorne-Logan catalogue -illustration. Moreover, the shoulders were lumpier than any small -girl's dress should be.</p> - -<p>But Sally was delighted. "Mine!" she shrilled, grabbing for the dress.</p> - -<p>"It's probably the wrong size, too," Ann said, pulling off Sally's -dress to try it on. "Let's find as many things to complain about as we -can."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The dress fitted precisely, except for the absurd shoulder bumps. Sally -was radiant for a moment. Then her small face sobered and she started -to look vacantly at the distant wall.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to send it back," Ann said, "and get the one we ordered."</p> - -<p>She tried to take it off, but the child squawked violently. Ann grabbed -her daughter's arms, held them above her head and pulled at the dress. -It seemed to be stuck somewhere. When Ann released the child's arms to -loosen the dress, Sally squirmed away. She took one step forward, then -began to float three inches above the ground. She landed just before -she collided with the far wall.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" width="600" height="384" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Sally looked scared until she saw her mother's face. Then she squealed -in delight.</p> - -<p>Ann's legs were rubber. She was shaking her head and wobbling -uncertainly toward her daughter when the door opened behind her.</p> - -<p>"It's me," her husband said. "Slow day at the office, so I came home -early."</p> - -<p>"Les! I'm going crazy or something. Sally just—"</p> - -<p>Sally crouched to jump at her father. Before she could leap, he grabbed -her up bodily and hugged her. Then he saw the box.</p> - -<p>"Your order's here? Good. What's this thing?" He was looking at a small -box he had pulled from the carton. Its lid contained a single word: -MANKY. The box rattled when he shook it.</p> - -<p>Les pulled off the lid and found inside a circular, shiny metal object. -A triangular trio of jacks stuck out from one end.</p> - -<p>"Is this the doorbell? I've never seen a plug like this. And there's no -wire."</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Ann said. "Les, listen. A minute ago, Sally—"</p> - -<p>He peered into the box for an instruction sheet, uselessly. "They must -have made a mistake. It looks like some kind of farm equipment."</p> - -<p>He tossed the manky onto the hassock and delved into the carton again. -Sally was still in his arms.</p> - -<p>"That's the doorbell, I think," he said, looking at the next object. It -had a lovely, tubular shape, a half-dozen connecting rods and a plug -for a wall socket.</p> - -<p>"That's funny," Ann mused, her mind distracted from Sally for a moment. -"It looks terribly expensive. Maybe they sent door chimes instead of -the doorbell."</p> - -<p>The bottom of the carton contained the detective outfit that they had -ordered for their son. Ann glanced at its glaringly lithographed cover -and said: "Les, about Sally. Put her down a minute and watch what she -does."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Les stared at his wife and put the child onto the rug. Sally began to -walk, then rose and again floated, this time toward the hassock on -which the manky lay.</p> - -<p>His jaw dropped. "My God! Ann, what—"</p> - -<p>Ann was staring, too, but not at her daughter. "Les! The hassock! It -used to be brown!"</p> - -<p>The hassock was a livid shade of green. A neon, demanding, screaming -green that clashed horribly with the soft browns and reds in which Ann -had furnished the room.</p> - -<p>"That round thing must be leaking," Les said. "But did you see Sally -when she—"</p> - -<p>Ann's frazzled nerves carried a frantic order to her muscles. She -jumped up, strode to the hassock and picked up the manky with two -fingers. She tossed it to Les. Immediately, she regretted her action.</p> - -<p>"Drop it!" she yelled. "Maybe it'll turn you green, too!"</p> - -<p>Les kicked the hassock into the hall closet, tossed the manky in after -it and shut the door firmly. As the door closed, he saw the entire -interior of the dark closet brighten into a wet-lettuce green.</p> - -<p>When he turned back to Ann, she was staring at her left hand. The -wedding band that Les had put there a dozen years ago was a brilliant -green, shedding its soft glow over the finger up to the first knuckle.</p> - -<p>Ann felt the scream building up inside her. She opened her mouth to let -it out, then put her hand in front of her mouth to keep it in, finally -jerked the hand away to prevent the glowing ring from turning her front -teeth green.</p> - -<p>She collapsed into Les's arms, babbling incomprehensibly.</p> - -<p>He said: "It's all right. There must be balloons or something in the -shoulders of that dress. I'll tie a paperweight to Sally's dress and -that'll hold her down until we undress her. Don't worry. And that green -dye or whatever it is will wash off."</p> - -<p>Ann immediately felt better. She put her hands behind her back, pulled -off her ring and slipped it into her apron pocket. Les was sentimental -about her removing it.</p> - -<p>"I'll get dinner," she said, trying to keep her voice on an even keel. -"Maybe you'd better start a letter to Hartshorne-Logan. Let's go into -the kitchen, Sally."</p> - -<p>Ann strode resolutely toward the rear of the house. She kept her eyes -determinedly off the tinge of green that was showing through the apron -pocket and didn't dare look back at her daughter's unsettling means of -propulsion.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A half-hour later, when the meal was almost ready, two things happened: -Bob came home from school through the back door and a strange voice -said from the front of the house, "Don't answer the front door."</p> - -<p>Ann stared at her son. He stared back at her, the detective outfit -under his arm.</p> - -<p>She went into the front room. Her husband was standing with fists on -hips, looking at the front door, chuckling. "Neatest trick I've seen -in a long time. That voice you heard was the new doorbell. I put it up -while you were in the kitchen. Did you hear what happened when old lady -Burnett out there pushed the button?"</p> - -<p>"Oh. Something like those name cards with something funny printed on -them, like 'Another hour shot.' Well, if there's a little tape in there -repeating that message, you'd better shut that part off. It might get -boring after a while. And it might insult someone."</p> - -<p>Ann went to the door and turned the knob. The door didn't open. The -figure of Mrs. Burnett, half-visible through the heavy curtain, shifted -impatiently on the porch.</p> - -<p>Les yanked at the doorknob. It didn't yield for him, either. He looked -up at the doorbell, which he had installed just above the upper part -of the door frame.</p> - -<p>"Queer," he said. "That isn't in contact with the door itself. I don't -see how it can keep the door from opening."</p> - -<p>Ann put her mouth close to the glass, shouting: "Won't you come to the -back door, Mrs. Burnett? This one is stuck."</p> - -<p>"I just wanted to borrow some sugar," the woman cried from the porch. -"I realize that I'm a terrible bother." But she walked down the front -steps and disappeared around the side of the house.</p> - -<p>"Don't open the back door." The well-modulated voice from the small -doorbell box threatened to penetrate every corner of the house. Ann -looked doubtfully at her husband's lips. They weren't moving.</p> - -<p>"If this is ventriloquism—" she began icily.</p> - -<p>"I'll have to order another doorbell just like this one, for the -office," Les said. "But you'd better let the old girl in. No use -letting her get peeved."</p> - -<p>The back door was already open, because it was a warm day. The screen -door had no latch, held closed by a simple spring. Ann pushed it open -when Mrs. Burnett waddled up the three back steps, and smiled at her -neighbor.</p> - -<p>"I'm so sorry you had to walk around the house. It's been a rather -hectic day in an awful lot of ways."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Something seemed to impede Mrs. Burnett as she came to the threshold. -She frowned and shoved her portly frame against something invisible. -It apparently yielded abruptly, because she staggered forward into -the kitchen, nearly falling. She stared grimly at Ann and looked -suspiciously behind her.</p> - -<p>"The children have some new toys," Ann improvised hastily. "Sally is -so excited over a new dress that she's positively feverish. Let's see -now—it was sugar that you want, wasn't it?"</p> - -<p>"I already have it," Bob said, handing a filled cup to his mother. -The boy turned back to the detective set which he had spread over the -kitchen table.</p> - -<p>"Excitement isn't good for me," Mrs. Burnett said testily. "I've had a -lot of troubles in my life. I like peace and quiet."</p> - -<p>"Your husband is better?"</p> - -<p>"Worse. I'm sure I don't know why everything happens to me." Mrs. -Burnett edged toward the hall, trying to peer into the front of the -house. Ann stood squarely in front of the door leading to the hall. -Defeated, Mrs. Burnett left. A muffled volley of handclapping, mixed -with a few faint cheers, came from the doorbell-box when she crossed -the threshold.</p> - -<p>Ann went into the hall to order Les to disconnect the doorbell. She -nearly collided with him, coming in the other direction.</p> - -<p>"Where did this come from?" Les held a small object in the palm of -his hand, keeping it away from his body. A few drops of something -unpleasant were dripping from his fingers. The object looked remarkably -like a human eyeball. It was human-size, complete with pupil, iris and -rather bloodshot veins.</p> - -<p>"Hey, that's mine," Bob said. "You know, this is a funny detective kit. -That was in it. But there aren't instructions on how it works."</p> - -<p>"Well, put it away," Ann told Bob sharply. "It's slimy."</p> - -<p>Les laid the eyeball on the table and walked away. The eyeball rolled -from the smooth, level table, bounced twice when it hit the floor, then -rolled along, six inches behind him. He turned and kicked at it. The -eyeball rolled nimbly out of the path of the kick.</p> - -<p>"Les, I think we've made poor Mrs. Burnett angry," Ann said. "She's so -upset over her poor husband's health and she thinks we're insulting -her."</p> - -<p>Les didn't hear her. He strode to the detective set, followed at a safe -distance by the eyeball, and picked up the box.</p> - -<p>"Hey, watch out!" Bob cried. A small flashlight fell from the box, -landed on its side and its bulb flashed on, throwing a pencil of light -across Les's hands.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Bob retrieved the flashlight and turned it off while Les glanced -through an instruction booklet, frowning.</p> - -<p>"This toy is too complicated for a ten-year-old boy," Les told his -wife. "I don't know why you ordered such a thing." He tossed the -booklet into the empty box.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to return it, if you don't smudge it up," she replied. "Look -at the marks you made on the instructions." The black finger-marks -stood out clearly against the shiny, coated paper.</p> - -<p>Les looked at his hands. "I didn't do it," he said, pressing his clean -fingertips against the kitchen table.</p> - -<p>Black fingerprints, a full set of them, stood out against the sparkling -polished table's surface.</p> - -<p>"I think the Detectolite did it," Bob said. "The instructions say -you've got to be very careful with it, because its effects last for a -long time."</p> - -<p>Les began scrubbing his hands vigorously at the sink. Ann watched him -silently, until she saw his fingerprints appear on the faucet, the soap -and the towel. She began to yell at him for making such a mess, when -Sally floated into the kitchen. The girl was wearing a nightgown.</p> - -<p>"My God!" Ann forgot her tongue before the children. "She got out of -that dress herself. Where did she get that nightgown?"</p> - -<p>Ann fingered the garment. She didn't recognize it as a nightgown. But -in cut and fold, it was suspiciously like the dress that had arrived in -the parcel. Her heart sank.</p> - -<p>She picked up the child, felt the hot forehead, and said: "Les, I think -it's the same dress. It must change color or something when it's time -for a nap. It seems impossible, but—" She shrugged mutely. "And I -think Sally's running a temperature. I'm going to put her to bed."</p> - -<p>She looked worriedly into the reddened eyes of the small girl, who -whimpered on the way to the bedroom. Ann carried her up the stairs, -keeping her balance with difficulty, as Sally threatened to pop upward -out of her arms.</p> - -<p>The whole family decided that bed might be a good idea, soon after -dinner. When the lights went out, the house seemed to be nearly normal. -Les put on a pair of gloves and threw a pillowcase over the eyeball. -Bob rigged up trestles to warn visitors from the front porch. Ann -put small wads of cotton into her ears, because she didn't like the -rhythmic rattle, soft but persistent, that emerged from the hall -closet where the manky sat. Sally was whining occasionally in her sleep.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When daylight entered her room, Sally's nightgown had turned back into -the new dress. But the little girl was too sick to get out of bed. -She wasn't hungry, her nose was running, and she had a dry cough. Les -called the doctor before going to work.</p> - -<p>The only good thing about the morning for Ann was the fact that the -manky had quieted down some time in the night. After she got Bob to -school, she gingerly opened the closet door. The manky was now glowing -a bright pink and seemed slightly larger. Deep violet lettering stood -out on its side:</p> - -<p>"<i>Today is Wednesday. For obvious reasons, the manky will not operate -today.</i>"</p> - -<p>The mailman brought a letter from Hartshorne-Logan. Ann stared stupidly -at the envelope, until she realized that this wasn't an impossibly -quick answer to the letter she had written yesterday. It must have -crossed in the mail her complaint about the non-arrival of the order. -She tore open the envelope and read:</p> - -<p>"We regret to inform you that your order cannot be filled until the -balance you owe us has been reduced. From the attached form, you will -readily ascertain that the payment of $87.56 will enable you to resume -the purchasing of merchandise on credit. We shall fill your recent -order as soon...."</p> - -<p>Ann crumpled the letter and threw it into the imitation fireplace, -knowing perfectly well that it would need to be retrieved for Les after -work tonight. She had just decided to call Hartshorne-Logan's complaint -department when the phone rang.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I must ask you to come down to the school, Mrs. Morris," a -voice said. "Your son is in trouble. He claims that it's connected with -something that his parents gave him."</p> - -<p>"My son?" Ann asked incredulously. "Bob?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. It's a little gadget that looks like a water pistol. Your son -insists that he didn't know it would make clothing transparent. He -claims it was just accident that he tried it out when he was walking -by the gym during calisthenics. We've had to call upon every family -in the neighborhood for blankets. Bob has always been a good boy and -we believe that we can expel him quietly without newspaper publicity -involving his name, if you'll—"</p> - -<p>"I'll be right down," Ann said. "I mean I won't be right down. I've got -a sick baby here. Don't do anything till I telephone my husband. And -I'm sorry for Bob. I mean I'm sorry for the girls, and for the boys, -too. I'm sorry for—for everything. Good-by."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Just as she hung up the telephone, the doorbell rang. It rang with a -normal buzz, then began to play soft music. Ann opened the door without -difficulty, to admit Dr. Schwartz.</p> - -<p>"You aren't going to believe me, Doctor," Ann said while he took the -child's temperature, "but we can't get that dress off Sally."</p> - -<p>"Kids are stubborn sometimes." Dr. Schwartz whistled softly when he -looked at the thermometer. "She's pretty sick. I want a blood count -before I try to move her. Let me undress her."</p> - -<p>Sally had been mumbling half-deliriously. She made no effort to resist -as the doctor picked her up. But when he raised a fold of the dress and -began to pull it back, she screamed.</p> - -<p>The doctor dropped the dress and looked in perplexity at the point -where it touched Sally's skin.</p> - -<p>"It's apparently an allergy to some new kind of material. But I don't -understand why the dress won't come off. It's not stuck tight."</p> - -<p>"Don't bother trying," Ann said miserably. "Just cut it off."</p> - -<p>Dr. Schwartz pulled scissors from his bag and clipped at a sleeve. When -he had cut it to the shoulder, he gently began to peel back the edges -of the cloth. Sally writhed and kicked, then collapsed in a faint. The -physician smoothed the folds hastily back into place.</p> - -<p>He looked helpless as he said to Ann: "I don't know quite what to do. -The flesh starts to hemorrhage when I pull at the cloth. She'd bleed to -death if I yanked it off. But it's such an extreme allergy that it may -kill her, if we leave it in contact with the skin."</p> - -<p>The manky's rattle suddenly began rhythmically from the lower part of -the house. Ann clutched the side of the chair, trying to keep herself -under control. A siren wailed somewhere down the street, grew louder -rapidly, suddenly going silent at the peak of its crescendo.</p> - -<p>Dr. Schwartz glanced outside the window. "An ambulance. Looks as if -they're stopping here."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," Ann breathed. "Something's happened to Les."</p> - -<p>"It sure will," Les said grimly, walking into the bedroom. "I won't -have a job if I can't get this stuff off my fingers. Big black -fingerprints on everything I touch. I can't handle correspondence or -shake hands with customers. How's the kid? What's the ambulance doing -out front?"</p> - -<p>"They're going to the next house down the street," the physician said. -"Has there been sickness there?"</p> - -<p>Les held up his hands, palms toward the doctor. "What's wrong with me? -My fingers look all right. But they leave black marks on everything I -touch."</p> - -<p>The doctor looked closely at the fingertips. "Every human has natural -oil on the skin. That's how detectives get results with their -fingerprint powder. But I've never heard of nigrification, in this -sense. Better not try to commit any crimes until you've seen a skin -specialist."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ann was peering through the window, curious about the ambulance despite -her own troubles. She saw two attendants carry Mr. Burnett, motionless -and white, on a stretcher from the house next door into the ambulance. -A third member of the crew was struggling with a disheveled Mrs. -Burnett at the door. Shrieks that sounded like "Murder!" came sharply -through the window.</p> - -<p>"I know those bearers," Dr. Schwartz said. He yanked the window open. -"Hey, Pete! What's wrong?"</p> - -<p>The front man with the stretcher looked up. "I don't know. This guy's -awful sick. I think his wife is nuts."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burnett had broken free. She dashed halfway down the sidewalk, -gesticulating wildly to nobody in particular.</p> - -<p>"It's murder!" she screamed. "Murder again! He's been poisoned! He's -going to die! It means the electric chair!"</p> - -<p>The orderly grabbed her again. This time he stuffed a handkerchief into -her mouth to quiet her.</p> - -<p>"Come back to this house as soon as you deliver him," Dr. Schwartz -shouted to the men. "We've got a very sick child up here."</p> - -<p>"I was afraid this would happen," Les said. "The poor woman already has -lost three husbands. If this one is sick, it's no wonder she thinks -that somebody is poisoning him."</p> - -<p>Bob stuck his head around the bedroom door. His mother stared -unbelievingly for a moment, then advanced on him threateningly. -Something in his face restrained her, just as she was about to start -shaking him.</p> - -<p>"I got something important to tell you," Bob said rapidly, ready to -duck. "I snuck out of the principal's office and came home. I got to -tell you what I did."</p> - -<p>"I heard all about what you did," Ann said, advancing again. "And -you're not going to slip away from me."</p> - -<p>"Give me a chance to explain something. Downstairs. So he won't hear," -Bob ended in a whisper, nodding toward the doctor.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ann looked doubtfully at Les, then followed Bob down the stairs. The -doorbell was monotonously saying in a monotone: "Don't answer me, -don't answer me, don't go to the door."</p> - -<p>"Why did you do it?" Ann asked Bob, her anger suddenly slumping into -weary sadness. "People will suspect you of being a sex maniac for the -rest of your life. You can't possibly explain—"</p> - -<p>"Don't bother about the girls' clothing," Bob said, "because it was -only an accident. The really important thing is something else I did -before I left the house."</p> - -<p>Les, cursing softly, hurried past them on the way to answer the -knocking. He ignored the doorbell's pleas.</p> - -<p>"I forgot about it," Bob continued, "when that ray gun accidentally -went off. Then when they put me in the principal's office, I had time -to think, and I remembered. I put some white stuff from the detective -kit into that sugar we lent Mrs. Burnett last night. I just wanted to -see what would happen. I don't know exactly what effect—"</p> - -<p>"He put stuff in the sugar?" A deep, booming voice came from the front -of the house. Mother and son looked through the hall. A policeman stood -on the threshold of the front door. "I heard that! The woman next door -claims that her husband is poisoned. Young man, I'm going to put you -under arrest."</p> - -<p>The policeman stepped over the threshold. A blue flash darted from -the doorbell box, striking him squarely on the chest. The policeman -staggered back, sitting down abruptly on the porch. A scent of ozone -drifted through the house.</p> - -<p>"Close the door, close the door," the doorbell was chanting urgently.</p> - -<p>"Where's that ambulance?" Dr. Schwartz yelled from the top of the -steps. "The child's getting worse."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Something splintered in the hall closet door. The manky zoomed through -the hole it had broken and began ricocheting wildly through the house -like a crazed living creature, smashing ornaments, cracking the plaster.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="173" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Les rushed through the front door to try to pick up the policeman. The -officer drew his gun. An unearthly scream of "Help!" shrieked out of -the doorbell.</p> - -<p>Ann put her hands over her eyes, as if that would make the unbelievable -scene vanish.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Three days after the Christmas party, in the middle of inventory, when -her headache had completely vanished, Milly began to worry.</p> - -<p>She talked the situation over for one whole afternoon with her best -friend at Hartshorne-Logan, a girl in the complaint department. That -same evening, after work, Milly went to the public library for the -first time in her life. She borrowed a thick tome on the theory of -time travel. But only three sentences in the first ten pages were -comprehensible to her. She turned to her manky for comfort before going -to bed.</p> - -<p>The next morning, she braved the protective screen of secretaries, -receptionists and sub-officials who ordinarily protected Mr. Hawkins -from minor annoyances, and penetrated to his office.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins didn't recognize her when she walked in. His attitude -became much more formal when she reminded him of their actions on -Christmas Eve.</p> - -<p>"So you see, Mr. Hawkins," Milly concluded earnestly, "I'm worried. We -had so much fun at that party that we didn't think about what we might -do to those folks in the past."</p> - -<p>"You should understand," Mr. Hawkins firmly replied, "that I was not -enjoying myself at the party. Definitely not. I must engage in the -painful duty of assuming a pose of gaiety on special occasions, such as -the annual office party."</p> - -<p>Milly shot him a withering look, but didn't argue that particular -point. She continued: "So I've been thinking. We might have done -a terrible thing. Sending that dress to a kid without the right -underclothing could be real dangerous. Maybe even fatal."</p> - -<p>"We cannot harm people in the long ago, any more than the past could -conceivably harm us."</p> - -<p>"But don't you see?" Milly fought to restrain tears of fright and -frustration. "I'm not <i>sure</i>! And it's the most important thing in the -world to me. That little girl who got the dress is my grandmother. If -she died while she was a little girl, there wouldn't be any me. I can't -be born, if my grandmother died before she was three years old."</p> - -<p>"The paradoxes of time travel have been greatly exaggerated," Mr. -Hawkins said. "Perhaps a genealogist would be able to clear up the -question."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Milly rose to her full five-foot height, suddenly furious. "You don't -care if I just vanish all of a sudden! All that you care about is -keeping yourself out of a lot of bother!" She turned on her heel, -walked to the door, and added: "After I've helped to fill forty orders -every working day for the past three years!"</p> - -<p>Milly stalked out and slammed the door behind her. Then she stopped, -just outside the door, waiting for a chain reaction to occur. It did, -about five seconds later.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins popped through the door with a shout: "Where's that girl?" -He was through the reception room and halfway down the hall when Milly -called him back.</p> - -<p>"Here I am," she said sweetly.</p> - -<p>He grabbed her arm and yanked her into his office.</p> - -<p>"You know," he said, "I've been thinking about those poor, unfortunate -people in the past, too. Now that you mention it, I believe we should -do something for them." He wiped his forehead.</p> - -<p>"You've been thinking about a poor, unfortunate manager right here -in the present," Milly retorted, sure of her position now. "All of a -sudden, you've figured out what it will mean if I vanish because my -grandmother never had any children. You realize that if I've never -existed, all of a sudden Hartshorne-Logan will have thousands of -complaint letters, lawsuits about orders over the past three years. -You're thinking about what's going to happen to your position, if -you're to blame for all those customers not getting their merchandise."</p> - -<p>Mr. Hawkins turned away until he got his face under control. "We'll -talk about that later," he said mildly at last. "Let's agree that -everyone will be happier if we straighten up matters. And don't you -think that <i>just we two</i> should do the straightening up ourselves? -It'll be simpler if—uh—other officials don't hear about this."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Ann took her hands away from her eyes the mess was still more -complicated. The new factor was a short young girl who was walking -up to the house. She was looking about, like a country girl suddenly -whisked to Times Square.</p> - -<p>The policeman whirled when he heard footsteps behind him. "What do you -want?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid that I'm to blame for the whole thing," Milly told the -officer. "I represent Hartshorne-Logan. We've just discovered that we -made several mistakes when we filled an order for this family. I've -come to pick up the wrong merchandise."</p> - -<p>The doorbell made ominous clucking sounds, as Milly reached the -threshold.</p> - -<p>She looked up at the box and told Ann: "I'm afraid that I can't get in -while that defective doorbell is working. Will you cut off the house -current for a minute, while I disconnect it?"</p> - -<p>Les blinked at her, then began to curse, loudly and bitterly. "Why -didn't I think of that?"</p> - -<p>Les dodged the manky's careening and headed for the fuse box.</p> - -<p>Milly called after him: "Maybe there are bananas in the refrigerator. -Take them out right away, if there are. The manky will quiet down then."</p> - -<p>Ann rushed to the kitchen, yanked out the three bananas and threw them -through the open window. She heard the dull thud from the front room as -the manky fell to the carpet and lay motionless.</p> - -<p>"I've pulled the switch!" Les yelled.</p> - -<p>The policeman warily stepped through the door, looking at Les. Dr. -Schwartz intercepted the policeman.</p> - -<p>"Officer," Dr. Schwartz said, "there's a very sick little girl -upstairs. I think you'll do your duty best by trying to hurry up an -ambulance."</p> - -<p>"But there's a murder charge floating around and I practically heard a -confession," the policeman protested, slightly dazed.</p> - -<p>Milly had pulled down the doorbell assembly. She put it beside the -manky, then scooped up the remaining sections of Bob's detective kit -and put them on the pile. She headed for the stairs, calling over her -shoulder: "Don't worry about your detective set troubles. Those things -wear off in twenty-four hours."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Staggering slightly under the load of merchandise, Milly tiptoed into -her grandmother's room. When she heard Dr. Schwartz trailing her -curiously, she turned to him, whispering: "I'll watch over the little -girl. You go down and explain to that policeman that there wasn't -anything harmful in the chemicals in the detective set, and there was a -short circuit in the doorbell, and that the child must be allergic to -the dress. It was all Hartshorne-Logan's fault, not this family's."</p> - -<p>"But what about that thing?" Dr. Schwartz said, pointing to the manky.</p> - -<p>Milly tried frantically to think of a believable explanation and -changed the subject: "The policeman said something about a murder -confession. There was genuine truthtalk in the detective set. If -someone swallowed any of it, it might be a genuine confession."</p> - -<p>"My goodness!" Dr. Schwartz raced downstairs.</p> - -<p>Milly bent over the child who would become her grandmother. Sally lay -flushed and feverish on the big bed, sunk into a deep coma. Milly bent -and kissed her grandmother, then quickly deactivated the anti-grav pads -in the shoulders. After that, it took only a moment to decamouflage the -zippers which held the crosh force. The dress then slipped right off.</p> - -<p>Sally sighed the instant the dress fell free. Her skin was already -returning to its normal hue by the time Milly had taken another dress -from a bureau drawer. Milly slipped it onto Sally and covered her up to -prevent a chill.</p> - -<p>Milly kissed the child again and looked at the ancestor whom she -had known only as a tiny old lady. Then she gathered up her pile of -merchandise, tossing on top the dress, with its shoulder pads again -activated.</p> - -<p>The commotion downstairs was still loud, but it no longer sounded -hysterical. Milly ticked off the order list on her fingers, to make -sure she had collected everything. Then she opened the bedroom window. -Buoyed by the anti-grav force, she floated to the ground, landing with -only a slight jar.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus4.jpg" width="392" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>She darted through the back-yard, away from the house, attracting no -attention. Everyone in the block had convened at the front of the -house, where Mrs. Burnett was screaming out a full confession and the -policeman was sweatingly scribbling it down.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burnett was explaining in trying detail the exact manner in which -she had poisoned her four husbands in the past seven years, to collect -their insurance.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Milly returned to Hartshorne-Logan of the future, she sank wearily -into a chair. She held her hand out and watched it quiver.</p> - -<p>"Golly, I didn't realize how scared I was, until I got back," she told -Mr. Hawkins. "But I think I did only one thing wrong. I forgot to -figure out some alibi for my great-uncle to use for his accident with -the clothes penetration ray."</p> - -<p>"Your ancestors will forget all about that in their excitement over the -insurance company rewards," Mr. Hawkins assured her. "I checked way -back on the old records. I see that your great-grandmother paid her -bill, right after the date when all this trouble came up. But she never -bought another thing from Hartshorne-Logan."</p> - -<p>"Well, it's a good thing that time travel can't cause trouble both -ways," Milly reflected. "I don't think I'll even go to next year's -Christmas party."</p> - -<p>"No danger of time travel bothering us. Nothing could come from the -past into the present that could possibly hurt us."</p> - -<p>"Gee, I'm glad," Milly said, and sneezed. It frightened her because -sneezes were unknown in this world from which the cold virus had been -eradicated. Then she sneezed again.</p> - -<p>A little later, Mr. Hawkins began to sneeze.</p> - -<p>Three billion sniffling, coughing, nose-blowing persons throughout the -world were soon proof that Mr. Hawkins had blundered again.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rattle OK, by Harry Warner - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATTLE OK *** - -***** This file should be named 51092-h.htm or 51092-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/0/9/51092/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Rattle OK - -Author: Harry Warner - -Release Date: January 31, 2016 [EBook #51092] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATTLE OK *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - RATTLE OK - - By HARRY WARNER, JR. - - Illustrated by FINLAY - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Science Fiction December 1956. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - What better way to use a time machine than - to handle department store complaints? But - pleasing a customer should have its limits! - - -The Christmas party at the Boston branch of Hartshorne-Logan was -threatening to become more legendary than usual this Christmas. - -The farm machinery manager had already collapsed. When he slid under -the table containing the drinks, Miss Pringle, who sold millinery, had -screamed: "He'll drown!" - -One out of every three dirty stories started by party attendees had -remained unfinished, because each had reminded someone else of another -story. - -The recently developed liquors which affected the bloodstream three -times faster had driven away twinges of conscience about untrimmed -trees and midnight church services. - -The star salesman for mankies and the gentleman who was in charge of -the janitors were putting on a display of Burmese foot-wrestling in -one corner of the general office. The janitor foreman weighed fifty -pounds less than the Burma gentleman, who was the salesman's customary -opponent. So the climax of one tactic did not simply overturn the -foreman. He glided through the air, crashing with a very loud thump -against the wall. - -He wasn't hurt. But the impact knocked the hallowed portrait of H. H. -Hartshorne, co-founder, from its nail. It tinkled imposingly as its -glass splintered against the floor. - - * * * * * - -The noise caused a temporary lull in the gaiety. Several employes even -felt a passing suspicion that things might be getting out of hand. - -"It's all in the spirit of good, clean fun!" cried Mr. Hawkins, the -assistant general manager. Since he was the highest executive present, -worries vanished. Everyone felt fine. There was a scurry to shove the -broken glass out of sight and to turn more attention to another type of -glasses. - -Mr. Hawkins himself, acting by reflex, attempted to return the portrait -to its place until new glass could be obtained. But the fall had sprung -the frame at one corner and it wouldn't hang straight. - -"We'd better put old H. H. away for safekeeping until after the -holiday," he told a small, blonde salesclerk who was beneath his -attention on any working day. - -With the proper mixture of respect and bonhommie, he lifted the heavy -picture out of its frame. A yellowed envelope slipped to the floor as -the picture came free. Hawkins rolled the picture like a scroll and put -it into a desk drawer, for later attention. Then he looked around for a -drink that would make him feel even better. - -A sorting clerk in the mail order department wasn't used to liquor. She -picked up the envelope and looked around vaguely for the mail-opening -machine. - -"Hell, Milly, you aren't working!" someone shouted at her. "Have -another!" - -Milly snapped out of it. She giggled, suppressed a ladylike belch and -returned to reality. Looking at the envelope, she said: "Oh, I see. -They must have stuck it in to tighten the frame. Gee, it's old." - -Mr. Hawkins had refreshed himself. He decided that he liked Milly's -voice. To hear more of it, he said to her: "I'll bet that's been in -there ever since the picture was framed. There's a company legend that -that picture was put up the day this branch opened, eighty years ago." - -"I didn't know the company ever used buff envelopes like this." Milly -turned it over in her hands. The ancient glue crackled as she did so. -The flap popped open and an old-fashioned order blank fell out. - -Mr. Hawkins' eyes widened. He bent, reached painfully over his potbelly -and picked up the order form. - -"This thing has never been processed!" Raising his voice, he shouted -jovially, "Hey, people! You're all fired! Here's an order that -Hartshorne-Logan never filled! We can't have such carelessness. This -poor woman has waited eighty years for her merchandise!" - - * * * * * - -Milly was reading aloud the scrawled words on the order form: - -"Best electric doorbell. Junior detective kit. Disposable sacks for -vacuum cleaner. Dress for three-year-old girl." She turned to the -assistant general manager, struck with an idea for the first time in -her young life. "Let's fill this order right now!" - -"The poor woman must be dead by now," he objected, secretly angry -that he hadn't thought of such a fine party stunt himself. Then he -brightened. "Unless--" he said it loud enough for the employes to scent -a great proposal and the room grew quiet--"unless we broke the rules -just once and used the time warp on a big mission!" - -There was a silence. Finally, from an anonymous voice in one corner: -"Would the warp work over eighty years? We were always told that it -must be used only for complaints within three days." - -"Then let's find out!" Mr. Hawkins downed the rest of his drink and -pulled a batch of keys from his pocket. "Someone scoot down to the -warehouse. Tell the watchman that it's on my authority. Hunt up the -stuff that's on the order. Get the best of everything. Ignore the -catalogue numbers--they've changed a hundred times in all these years." - -Milly was still deciphering the form. Now she let out a little squeal -of excitement. - -"Look, Mr. Hawkins! The name on this order--it's my great-grandmother! -Isn't that wonderful? I was just a little girl when she died. I can -barely remember her as a real old woman. But I remember that my -grandmother never bought anything from Hartshorne-Logan because of some -trouble her mother had once with the firm. My mother didn't want me to -come to work here because of that." - -Mr. Hawkins put his arm around Milly in a way that he intended to -look fatherly. It didn't. "Well, now. Since it's your relative, let's -thrill the old girl. We wouldn't have vacuum sacks any more. So we'll -substitute a manky!" - - * * * * * - -Ann Hartley was returning from mailing the letter when she found the -large parcel on her doorstep. She put her hands on her hips and stared -pugnaciously at the bundle. - -"The minute I write a letter to complain about you, you turn up!" she -told the parcel. She nudged her toe peevishly against the brown paper -wrappings that were tied with a half-transparent twine she had never -seen before. - -The label was addressed in a wandering scrawl, a sharp contrast to -the impersonal typing on the customary Hartshorne-Logan bundles. But -the familiar RATTLE OK sticker was pasted onto the box, indicating to -the delivery man that the contents would make a rattling sound and -therefore hadn't been broken in shipment. - -Ann sighed and picked up her bundle. With a last look at the lovely -spring afternoon and the quiet suburban landscape, she went into the -house. - -Two-year-old Sally heard the box rattling. She waddled up on chubby -legs and grabbed her mother's skirt. "Want!" she said decisively. - -"Your dress ought to be here," Ann said. She found scissors in her -sewing box, tossed a cushion onto the floor, sat on it, and began to -open the parcel. - -"Now I'll have to write another letter to explain that they should -throw away my letter of complaint," she told her daughter. "And by the -time they get my second letter, they'll have answered my first letter. -Then they'll write again." Out of consideration for Sally, she omitted -the expletives that she wanted to add. - -The translucent cord was too tough for the scissors. Ann was about to -hunt for a razor blade when Sally clutched at an intersection of the -cord and yanked. The twine sprang away from the carton as if it were -alive. The paper wrappings flapped open. - -"There!" Sally said. - -Ann repressed an irrational urge to slap her daughter. Instead, she -tossed the wrappings aside and removed the lid from the carton. A -slightly crushed thin cardboard box lay on top. Ann pulled out the -dress and shook it into a freely hanging position. Then she groaned. - -It was green and she had ordered blue. It didn't remotely resemble -the dress she had admired from the Hartshorne-Logan catalogue -illustration. Moreover, the shoulders were lumpier than any small -girl's dress should be. - -But Sally was delighted. "Mine!" she shrilled, grabbing for the dress. - -"It's probably the wrong size, too," Ann said, pulling off Sally's -dress to try it on. "Let's find as many things to complain about as we -can." - - * * * * * - -The dress fitted precisely, except for the absurd shoulder bumps. Sally -was radiant for a moment. Then her small face sobered and she started -to look vacantly at the distant wall. - -"We'll have to send it back," Ann said, "and get the one we ordered." - -She tried to take it off, but the child squawked violently. Ann grabbed -her daughter's arms, held them above her head and pulled at the dress. -It seemed to be stuck somewhere. When Ann released the child's arms to -loosen the dress, Sally squirmed away. She took one step forward, then -began to float three inches above the ground. She landed just before -she collided with the far wall. - -Sally looked scared until she saw her mother's face. Then she squealed -in delight. - -Ann's legs were rubber. She was shaking her head and wobbling -uncertainly toward her daughter when the door opened behind her. - -"It's me," her husband said. "Slow day at the office, so I came home -early." - -"Les! I'm going crazy or something. Sally just--" - -Sally crouched to jump at her father. Before she could leap, he grabbed -her up bodily and hugged her. Then he saw the box. - -"Your order's here? Good. What's this thing?" He was looking at a small -box he had pulled from the carton. Its lid contained a single word: -MANKY. The box rattled when he shook it. - -Les pulled off the lid and found inside a circular, shiny metal object. -A triangular trio of jacks stuck out from one end. - -"Is this the doorbell? I've never seen a plug like this. And there's no -wire." - -"I don't know," Ann said. "Les, listen. A minute ago, Sally--" - -He peered into the box for an instruction sheet, uselessly. "They must -have made a mistake. It looks like some kind of farm equipment." - -He tossed the manky onto the hassock and delved into the carton again. -Sally was still in his arms. - -"That's the doorbell, I think," he said, looking at the next object. It -had a lovely, tubular shape, a half-dozen connecting rods and a plug -for a wall socket. - -"That's funny," Ann mused, her mind distracted from Sally for a moment. -"It looks terribly expensive. Maybe they sent door chimes instead of -the doorbell." - -The bottom of the carton contained the detective outfit that they had -ordered for their son. Ann glanced at its glaringly lithographed cover -and said: "Les, about Sally. Put her down a minute and watch what she -does." - - * * * * * - -Les stared at his wife and put the child onto the rug. Sally began to -walk, then rose and again floated, this time toward the hassock on -which the manky lay. - -His jaw dropped. "My God! Ann, what--" - -Ann was staring, too, but not at her daughter. "Les! The hassock! It -used to be brown!" - -The hassock was a livid shade of green. A neon, demanding, screaming -green that clashed horribly with the soft browns and reds in which Ann -had furnished the room. - -"That round thing must be leaking," Les said. "But did you see Sally -when she--" - -Ann's frazzled nerves carried a frantic order to her muscles. She -jumped up, strode to the hassock and picked up the manky with two -fingers. She tossed it to Les. Immediately, she regretted her action. - -"Drop it!" she yelled. "Maybe it'll turn you green, too!" - -Les kicked the hassock into the hall closet, tossed the manky in after -it and shut the door firmly. As the door closed, he saw the entire -interior of the dark closet brighten into a wet-lettuce green. - -When he turned back to Ann, she was staring at her left hand. The -wedding band that Les had put there a dozen years ago was a brilliant -green, shedding its soft glow over the finger up to the first knuckle. - -Ann felt the scream building up inside her. She opened her mouth to let -it out, then put her hand in front of her mouth to keep it in, finally -jerked the hand away to prevent the glowing ring from turning her front -teeth green. - -She collapsed into Les's arms, babbling incomprehensibly. - -He said: "It's all right. There must be balloons or something in the -shoulders of that dress. I'll tie a paperweight to Sally's dress and -that'll hold her down until we undress her. Don't worry. And that green -dye or whatever it is will wash off." - -Ann immediately felt better. She put her hands behind her back, pulled -off her ring and slipped it into her apron pocket. Les was sentimental -about her removing it. - -"I'll get dinner," she said, trying to keep her voice on an even keel. -"Maybe you'd better start a letter to Hartshorne-Logan. Let's go into -the kitchen, Sally." - -Ann strode resolutely toward the rear of the house. She kept her eyes -determinedly off the tinge of green that was showing through the apron -pocket and didn't dare look back at her daughter's unsettling means of -propulsion. - - * * * * * - -A half-hour later, when the meal was almost ready, two things happened: -Bob came home from school through the back door and a strange voice -said from the front of the house, "Don't answer the front door." - -Ann stared at her son. He stared back at her, the detective outfit -under his arm. - -She went into the front room. Her husband was standing with fists on -hips, looking at the front door, chuckling. "Neatest trick I've seen -in a long time. That voice you heard was the new doorbell. I put it up -while you were in the kitchen. Did you hear what happened when old lady -Burnett out there pushed the button?" - -"Oh. Something like those name cards with something funny printed on -them, like 'Another hour shot.' Well, if there's a little tape in there -repeating that message, you'd better shut that part off. It might get -boring after a while. And it might insult someone." - -Ann went to the door and turned the knob. The door didn't open. The -figure of Mrs. Burnett, half-visible through the heavy curtain, shifted -impatiently on the porch. - -Les yanked at the doorknob. It didn't yield for him, either. He looked -up at the doorbell, which he had installed just above the upper part -of the door frame. - -"Queer," he said. "That isn't in contact with the door itself. I don't -see how it can keep the door from opening." - -Ann put her mouth close to the glass, shouting: "Won't you come to the -back door, Mrs. Burnett? This one is stuck." - -"I just wanted to borrow some sugar," the woman cried from the porch. -"I realize that I'm a terrible bother." But she walked down the front -steps and disappeared around the side of the house. - -"Don't open the back door." The well-modulated voice from the small -doorbell box threatened to penetrate every corner of the house. Ann -looked doubtfully at her husband's lips. They weren't moving. - -"If this is ventriloquism--" she began icily. - -"I'll have to order another doorbell just like this one, for the -office," Les said. "But you'd better let the old girl in. No use -letting her get peeved." - -The back door was already open, because it was a warm day. The screen -door had no latch, held closed by a simple spring. Ann pushed it open -when Mrs. Burnett waddled up the three back steps, and smiled at her -neighbor. - -"I'm so sorry you had to walk around the house. It's been a rather -hectic day in an awful lot of ways." - - * * * * * - -Something seemed to impede Mrs. Burnett as she came to the threshold. -She frowned and shoved her portly frame against something invisible. -It apparently yielded abruptly, because she staggered forward into -the kitchen, nearly falling. She stared grimly at Ann and looked -suspiciously behind her. - -"The children have some new toys," Ann improvised hastily. "Sally is -so excited over a new dress that she's positively feverish. Let's see -now--it was sugar that you want, wasn't it?" - -"I already have it," Bob said, handing a filled cup to his mother. -The boy turned back to the detective set which he had spread over the -kitchen table. - -"Excitement isn't good for me," Mrs. Burnett said testily. "I've had a -lot of troubles in my life. I like peace and quiet." - -"Your husband is better?" - -"Worse. I'm sure I don't know why everything happens to me." Mrs. -Burnett edged toward the hall, trying to peer into the front of the -house. Ann stood squarely in front of the door leading to the hall. -Defeated, Mrs. Burnett left. A muffled volley of handclapping, mixed -with a few faint cheers, came from the doorbell-box when she crossed -the threshold. - -Ann went into the hall to order Les to disconnect the doorbell. She -nearly collided with him, coming in the other direction. - -"Where did this come from?" Les held a small object in the palm of -his hand, keeping it away from his body. A few drops of something -unpleasant were dripping from his fingers. The object looked remarkably -like a human eyeball. It was human-size, complete with pupil, iris and -rather bloodshot veins. - -"Hey, that's mine," Bob said. "You know, this is a funny detective kit. -That was in it. But there aren't instructions on how it works." - -"Well, put it away," Ann told Bob sharply. "It's slimy." - -Les laid the eyeball on the table and walked away. The eyeball rolled -from the smooth, level table, bounced twice when it hit the floor, then -rolled along, six inches behind him. He turned and kicked at it. The -eyeball rolled nimbly out of the path of the kick. - -"Les, I think we've made poor Mrs. Burnett angry," Ann said. "She's so -upset over her poor husband's health and she thinks we're insulting -her." - -Les didn't hear her. He strode to the detective set, followed at a safe -distance by the eyeball, and picked up the box. - -"Hey, watch out!" Bob cried. A small flashlight fell from the box, -landed on its side and its bulb flashed on, throwing a pencil of light -across Les's hands. - - * * * * * - -Bob retrieved the flashlight and turned it off while Les glanced -through an instruction booklet, frowning. - -"This toy is too complicated for a ten-year-old boy," Les told his -wife. "I don't know why you ordered such a thing." He tossed the -booklet into the empty box. - -"I'm going to return it, if you don't smudge it up," she replied. "Look -at the marks you made on the instructions." The black finger-marks -stood out clearly against the shiny, coated paper. - -Les looked at his hands. "I didn't do it," he said, pressing his clean -fingertips against the kitchen table. - -Black fingerprints, a full set of them, stood out against the sparkling -polished table's surface. - -"I think the Detectolite did it," Bob said. "The instructions say -you've got to be very careful with it, because its effects last for a -long time." - -Les began scrubbing his hands vigorously at the sink. Ann watched him -silently, until she saw his fingerprints appear on the faucet, the soap -and the towel. She began to yell at him for making such a mess, when -Sally floated into the kitchen. The girl was wearing a nightgown. - -"My God!" Ann forgot her tongue before the children. "She got out of -that dress herself. Where did she get that nightgown?" - -Ann fingered the garment. She didn't recognize it as a nightgown. But -in cut and fold, it was suspiciously like the dress that had arrived in -the parcel. Her heart sank. - -She picked up the child, felt the hot forehead, and said: "Les, I think -it's the same dress. It must change color or something when it's time -for a nap. It seems impossible, but--" She shrugged mutely. "And I -think Sally's running a temperature. I'm going to put her to bed." - -She looked worriedly into the reddened eyes of the small girl, who -whimpered on the way to the bedroom. Ann carried her up the stairs, -keeping her balance with difficulty, as Sally threatened to pop upward -out of her arms. - -The whole family decided that bed might be a good idea, soon after -dinner. When the lights went out, the house seemed to be nearly normal. -Les put on a pair of gloves and threw a pillowcase over the eyeball. -Bob rigged up trestles to warn visitors from the front porch. Ann -put small wads of cotton into her ears, because she didn't like the -rhythmic rattle, soft but persistent, that emerged from the hall -closet where the manky sat. Sally was whining occasionally in her sleep. - - * * * * * - -When daylight entered her room, Sally's nightgown had turned back into -the new dress. But the little girl was too sick to get out of bed. -She wasn't hungry, her nose was running, and she had a dry cough. Les -called the doctor before going to work. - -The only good thing about the morning for Ann was the fact that the -manky had quieted down some time in the night. After she got Bob to -school, she gingerly opened the closet door. The manky was now glowing -a bright pink and seemed slightly larger. Deep violet lettering stood -out on its side: - -"_Today is Wednesday. For obvious reasons, the manky will not operate -today._" - -The mailman brought a letter from Hartshorne-Logan. Ann stared stupidly -at the envelope, until she realized that this wasn't an impossibly -quick answer to the letter she had written yesterday. It must have -crossed in the mail her complaint about the non-arrival of the order. -She tore open the envelope and read: - -"We regret to inform you that your order cannot be filled until the -balance you owe us has been reduced. From the attached form, you will -readily ascertain that the payment of $87.56 will enable you to resume -the purchasing of merchandise on credit. We shall fill your recent -order as soon...." - -Ann crumpled the letter and threw it into the imitation fireplace, -knowing perfectly well that it would need to be retrieved for Les after -work tonight. She had just decided to call Hartshorne-Logan's complaint -department when the phone rang. - -"I'm afraid I must ask you to come down to the school, Mrs. Morris," a -voice said. "Your son is in trouble. He claims that it's connected with -something that his parents gave him." - -"My son?" Ann asked incredulously. "Bob?" - -"Yes. It's a little gadget that looks like a water pistol. Your son -insists that he didn't know it would make clothing transparent. He -claims it was just accident that he tried it out when he was walking -by the gym during calisthenics. We've had to call upon every family -in the neighborhood for blankets. Bob has always been a good boy and -we believe that we can expel him quietly without newspaper publicity -involving his name, if you'll--" - -"I'll be right down," Ann said. "I mean I won't be right down. I've got -a sick baby here. Don't do anything till I telephone my husband. And -I'm sorry for Bob. I mean I'm sorry for the girls, and for the boys, -too. I'm sorry for--for everything. Good-by." - - * * * * * - -Just as she hung up the telephone, the doorbell rang. It rang with a -normal buzz, then began to play soft music. Ann opened the door without -difficulty, to admit Dr. Schwartz. - -"You aren't going to believe me, Doctor," Ann said while he took the -child's temperature, "but we can't get that dress off Sally." - -"Kids are stubborn sometimes." Dr. Schwartz whistled softly when he -looked at the thermometer. "She's pretty sick. I want a blood count -before I try to move her. Let me undress her." - -Sally had been mumbling half-deliriously. She made no effort to resist -as the doctor picked her up. But when he raised a fold of the dress and -began to pull it back, she screamed. - -The doctor dropped the dress and looked in perplexity at the point -where it touched Sally's skin. - -"It's apparently an allergy to some new kind of material. But I don't -understand why the dress won't come off. It's not stuck tight." - -"Don't bother trying," Ann said miserably. "Just cut it off." - -Dr. Schwartz pulled scissors from his bag and clipped at a sleeve. When -he had cut it to the shoulder, he gently began to peel back the edges -of the cloth. Sally writhed and kicked, then collapsed in a faint. The -physician smoothed the folds hastily back into place. - -He looked helpless as he said to Ann: "I don't know quite what to do. -The flesh starts to hemorrhage when I pull at the cloth. She'd bleed to -death if I yanked it off. But it's such an extreme allergy that it may -kill her, if we leave it in contact with the skin." - -The manky's rattle suddenly began rhythmically from the lower part of -the house. Ann clutched the side of the chair, trying to keep herself -under control. A siren wailed somewhere down the street, grew louder -rapidly, suddenly going silent at the peak of its crescendo. - -Dr. Schwartz glanced outside the window. "An ambulance. Looks as if -they're stopping here." - -"Oh, no," Ann breathed. "Something's happened to Les." - -"It sure will," Les said grimly, walking into the bedroom. "I won't -have a job if I can't get this stuff off my fingers. Big black -fingerprints on everything I touch. I can't handle correspondence or -shake hands with customers. How's the kid? What's the ambulance doing -out front?" - -"They're going to the next house down the street," the physician said. -"Has there been sickness there?" - -Les held up his hands, palms toward the doctor. "What's wrong with me? -My fingers look all right. But they leave black marks on everything I -touch." - -The doctor looked closely at the fingertips. "Every human has natural -oil on the skin. That's how detectives get results with their -fingerprint powder. But I've never heard of nigrification, in this -sense. Better not try to commit any crimes until you've seen a skin -specialist." - - * * * * * - -Ann was peering through the window, curious about the ambulance despite -her own troubles. She saw two attendants carry Mr. Burnett, motionless -and white, on a stretcher from the house next door into the ambulance. -A third member of the crew was struggling with a disheveled Mrs. -Burnett at the door. Shrieks that sounded like "Murder!" came sharply -through the window. - -"I know those bearers," Dr. Schwartz said. He yanked the window open. -"Hey, Pete! What's wrong?" - -The front man with the stretcher looked up. "I don't know. This guy's -awful sick. I think his wife is nuts." - -Mrs. Burnett had broken free. She dashed halfway down the sidewalk, -gesticulating wildly to nobody in particular. - -"It's murder!" she screamed. "Murder again! He's been poisoned! He's -going to die! It means the electric chair!" - -The orderly grabbed her again. This time he stuffed a handkerchief into -her mouth to quiet her. - -"Come back to this house as soon as you deliver him," Dr. Schwartz -shouted to the men. "We've got a very sick child up here." - -"I was afraid this would happen," Les said. "The poor woman already has -lost three husbands. If this one is sick, it's no wonder she thinks -that somebody is poisoning him." - -Bob stuck his head around the bedroom door. His mother stared -unbelievingly for a moment, then advanced on him threateningly. -Something in his face restrained her, just as she was about to start -shaking him. - -"I got something important to tell you," Bob said rapidly, ready to -duck. "I snuck out of the principal's office and came home. I got to -tell you what I did." - -"I heard all about what you did," Ann said, advancing again. "And -you're not going to slip away from me." - -"Give me a chance to explain something. Downstairs. So he won't hear," -Bob ended in a whisper, nodding toward the doctor. - - * * * * * - -Ann looked doubtfully at Les, then followed Bob down the stairs. The -doorbell was monotonously saying in a monotone: "Don't answer me, -don't answer me, don't go to the door." - -"Why did you do it?" Ann asked Bob, her anger suddenly slumping into -weary sadness. "People will suspect you of being a sex maniac for the -rest of your life. You can't possibly explain--" - -"Don't bother about the girls' clothing," Bob said, "because it was -only an accident. The really important thing is something else I did -before I left the house." - -Les, cursing softly, hurried past them on the way to answer the -knocking. He ignored the doorbell's pleas. - -"I forgot about it," Bob continued, "when that ray gun accidentally -went off. Then when they put me in the principal's office, I had time -to think, and I remembered. I put some white stuff from the detective -kit into that sugar we lent Mrs. Burnett last night. I just wanted to -see what would happen. I don't know exactly what effect--" - -"He put stuff in the sugar?" A deep, booming voice came from the front -of the house. Mother and son looked through the hall. A policeman stood -on the threshold of the front door. "I heard that! The woman next door -claims that her husband is poisoned. Young man, I'm going to put you -under arrest." - -The policeman stepped over the threshold. A blue flash darted from -the doorbell box, striking him squarely on the chest. The policeman -staggered back, sitting down abruptly on the porch. A scent of ozone -drifted through the house. - -"Close the door, close the door," the doorbell was chanting urgently. - -"Where's that ambulance?" Dr. Schwartz yelled from the top of the -steps. "The child's getting worse." - -Something splintered in the hall closet door. The manky zoomed through -the hole it had broken and began ricocheting wildly through the house -like a crazed living creature, smashing ornaments, cracking the plaster. - -Les rushed through the front door to try to pick up the policeman. The -officer drew his gun. An unearthly scream of "Help!" shrieked out of -the doorbell. - -Ann put her hands over her eyes, as if that would make the unbelievable -scene vanish. - - * * * * * - -Three days after the Christmas party, in the middle of inventory, when -her headache had completely vanished, Milly began to worry. - -She talked the situation over for one whole afternoon with her best -friend at Hartshorne-Logan, a girl in the complaint department. That -same evening, after work, Milly went to the public library for the -first time in her life. She borrowed a thick tome on the theory of -time travel. But only three sentences in the first ten pages were -comprehensible to her. She turned to her manky for comfort before going -to bed. - -The next morning, she braved the protective screen of secretaries, -receptionists and sub-officials who ordinarily protected Mr. Hawkins -from minor annoyances, and penetrated to his office. - -Mr. Hawkins didn't recognize her when she walked in. His attitude -became much more formal when she reminded him of their actions on -Christmas Eve. - -"So you see, Mr. Hawkins," Milly concluded earnestly, "I'm worried. We -had so much fun at that party that we didn't think about what we might -do to those folks in the past." - -"You should understand," Mr. Hawkins firmly replied, "that I was not -enjoying myself at the party. Definitely not. I must engage in the -painful duty of assuming a pose of gaiety on special occasions, such as -the annual office party." - -Milly shot him a withering look, but didn't argue that particular -point. She continued: "So I've been thinking. We might have done -a terrible thing. Sending that dress to a kid without the right -underclothing could be real dangerous. Maybe even fatal." - -"We cannot harm people in the long ago, any more than the past could -conceivably harm us." - -"But don't you see?" Milly fought to restrain tears of fright and -frustration. "I'm not _sure_! And it's the most important thing in the -world to me. That little girl who got the dress is my grandmother. If -she died while she was a little girl, there wouldn't be any me. I can't -be born, if my grandmother died before she was three years old." - -"The paradoxes of time travel have been greatly exaggerated," Mr. -Hawkins said. "Perhaps a genealogist would be able to clear up the -question." - - * * * * * - -Milly rose to her full five-foot height, suddenly furious. "You don't -care if I just vanish all of a sudden! All that you care about is -keeping yourself out of a lot of bother!" She turned on her heel, -walked to the door, and added: "After I've helped to fill forty orders -every working day for the past three years!" - -Milly stalked out and slammed the door behind her. Then she stopped, -just outside the door, waiting for a chain reaction to occur. It did, -about five seconds later. - -Mr. Hawkins popped through the door with a shout: "Where's that girl?" -He was through the reception room and halfway down the hall when Milly -called him back. - -"Here I am," she said sweetly. - -He grabbed her arm and yanked her into his office. - -"You know," he said, "I've been thinking about those poor, unfortunate -people in the past, too. Now that you mention it, I believe we should -do something for them." He wiped his forehead. - -"You've been thinking about a poor, unfortunate manager right here -in the present," Milly retorted, sure of her position now. "All of a -sudden, you've figured out what it will mean if I vanish because my -grandmother never had any children. You realize that if I've never -existed, all of a sudden Hartshorne-Logan will have thousands of -complaint letters, lawsuits about orders over the past three years. -You're thinking about what's going to happen to your position, if -you're to blame for all those customers not getting their merchandise." - -Mr. Hawkins turned away until he got his face under control. "We'll -talk about that later," he said mildly at last. "Let's agree that -everyone will be happier if we straighten up matters. And don't you -think that _just we two_ should do the straightening up ourselves? -It'll be simpler if--uh--other officials don't hear about this." - - * * * * * - -When Ann took her hands away from her eyes the mess was still more -complicated. The new factor was a short young girl who was walking -up to the house. She was looking about, like a country girl suddenly -whisked to Times Square. - -The policeman whirled when he heard footsteps behind him. "What do you -want?" - -"I'm afraid that I'm to blame for the whole thing," Milly told the -officer. "I represent Hartshorne-Logan. We've just discovered that we -made several mistakes when we filled an order for this family. I've -come to pick up the wrong merchandise." - -The doorbell made ominous clucking sounds, as Milly reached the -threshold. - -She looked up at the box and told Ann: "I'm afraid that I can't get in -while that defective doorbell is working. Will you cut off the house -current for a minute, while I disconnect it?" - -Les blinked at her, then began to curse, loudly and bitterly. "Why -didn't I think of that?" - -Les dodged the manky's careening and headed for the fuse box. - -Milly called after him: "Maybe there are bananas in the refrigerator. -Take them out right away, if there are. The manky will quiet down then." - -Ann rushed to the kitchen, yanked out the three bananas and threw them -through the open window. She heard the dull thud from the front room as -the manky fell to the carpet and lay motionless. - -"I've pulled the switch!" Les yelled. - -The policeman warily stepped through the door, looking at Les. Dr. -Schwartz intercepted the policeman. - -"Officer," Dr. Schwartz said, "there's a very sick little girl -upstairs. I think you'll do your duty best by trying to hurry up an -ambulance." - -"But there's a murder charge floating around and I practically heard a -confession," the policeman protested, slightly dazed. - -Milly had pulled down the doorbell assembly. She put it beside the -manky, then scooped up the remaining sections of Bob's detective kit -and put them on the pile. She headed for the stairs, calling over her -shoulder: "Don't worry about your detective set troubles. Those things -wear off in twenty-four hours." - - * * * * * - -Staggering slightly under the load of merchandise, Milly tiptoed into -her grandmother's room. When she heard Dr. Schwartz trailing her -curiously, she turned to him, whispering: "I'll watch over the little -girl. You go down and explain to that policeman that there wasn't -anything harmful in the chemicals in the detective set, and there was a -short circuit in the doorbell, and that the child must be allergic to -the dress. It was all Hartshorne-Logan's fault, not this family's." - -"But what about that thing?" Dr. Schwartz said, pointing to the manky. - -Milly tried frantically to think of a believable explanation and -changed the subject: "The policeman said something about a murder -confession. There was genuine truthtalk in the detective set. If -someone swallowed any of it, it might be a genuine confession." - -"My goodness!" Dr. Schwartz raced downstairs. - -Milly bent over the child who would become her grandmother. Sally lay -flushed and feverish on the big bed, sunk into a deep coma. Milly bent -and kissed her grandmother, then quickly deactivated the anti-grav pads -in the shoulders. After that, it took only a moment to decamouflage the -zippers which held the crosh force. The dress then slipped right off. - -Sally sighed the instant the dress fell free. Her skin was already -returning to its normal hue by the time Milly had taken another dress -from a bureau drawer. Milly slipped it onto Sally and covered her up to -prevent a chill. - -Milly kissed the child again and looked at the ancestor whom she -had known only as a tiny old lady. Then she gathered up her pile of -merchandise, tossing on top the dress, with its shoulder pads again -activated. - -The commotion downstairs was still loud, but it no longer sounded -hysterical. Milly ticked off the order list on her fingers, to make -sure she had collected everything. Then she opened the bedroom window. -Buoyed by the anti-grav force, she floated to the ground, landing with -only a slight jar. - -She darted through the back-yard, away from the house, attracting no -attention. Everyone in the block had convened at the front of the -house, where Mrs. Burnett was screaming out a full confession and the -policeman was sweatingly scribbling it down. - -Mrs. Burnett was explaining in trying detail the exact manner in which -she had poisoned her four husbands in the past seven years, to collect -their insurance. - - * * * * * - -When Milly returned to Hartshorne-Logan of the future, she sank wearily -into a chair. She held her hand out and watched it quiver. - -"Golly, I didn't realize how scared I was, until I got back," she told -Mr. Hawkins. "But I think I did only one thing wrong. I forgot to -figure out some alibi for my great-uncle to use for his accident with -the clothes penetration ray." - -"Your ancestors will forget all about that in their excitement over the -insurance company rewards," Mr. Hawkins assured her. "I checked way -back on the old records. I see that your great-grandmother paid her -bill, right after the date when all this trouble came up. But she never -bought another thing from Hartshorne-Logan." - -"Well, it's a good thing that time travel can't cause trouble both -ways," Milly reflected. "I don't think I'll even go to next year's -Christmas party." - -"No danger of time travel bothering us. Nothing could come from the -past into the present that could possibly hurt us." - -"Gee, I'm glad," Milly said, and sneezed. It frightened her because -sneezes were unknown in this world from which the cold virus had been -eradicated. Then she sneezed again. - -A little later, Mr. Hawkins began to sneeze. - -Three billion sniffling, coughing, nose-blowing persons throughout the -world were soon proof that Mr. Hawkins had blundered again. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rattle OK, by Harry Warner - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATTLE OK *** - -***** This file should be named 51092.txt or 51092.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/0/9/51092/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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