NormalizeHEADmain

1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1137 deletions

diff --git a/old/51305.txt b/old/51305.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index e56e1cb..0000000
--- a/old/51305.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,1137 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Confidence Game, by Jim Harmon
-
-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: Confidence Game
-
-Author: Jim Harmon
-
-Release Date: February 26, 2016 [EBook #51305]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFIDENCE GAME ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                            Confidence Game
-
-                             By JIM HARMON
-
-                        Illustrated by EPSTEIN
-
-           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
-                   Galaxy Science Fiction June 1957.
-         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
-         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-
-
-             I admit it: I didn't know if I was coming or
-             going--but I know that if I stuck to the old
-             man, I was a comer ... even if he was a goner!
-
-
-Doc had this solemn human by the throat when I caught up with him.
-
-"Tonight," Doc was saying in his old voice that was as crackled and
-important as parchment, "tonight Man will reach the Moon. The golden
-Moon and the silver ship, symbols of greed. Tonight is the night when
-this is to happen."
-
-"Sure," the man agreed severely, prying a little worriedly at Doc's
-arthritic fingers that were clamped on his collar. "No argument. Sure,
-up we go. But leave me go or, so help me, I'll fetch you one in the
-teeth!"
-
-I came alongside and carefully started to lever the old man loose,
-one finger at a time. It had to be done this way. I had learned that
-during all these weeks and months. His hands looked old and crippled,
-but I felt they were the strongest in the world. If a half dozen winos
-in Seattle hadn't helped me get them loose, Doc and I would have been
-wanted for the murder of a North American Mountie.
-
-It was easier this night and that made me afraid. Doc's thin frame,
-layered with lumpy fat, was beginning to muscle-dance against my side.
-One of his times was coming on him. Then at last he was free of the
-greasy collar of the human.
-
-"I hope you'll forgive him, sir," I said, not meeting the man's eyes.
-"He's my father and very old, as you can see." I laughed inside at the
-absurd, easy lie. "Old events seem recent to him."
-
-The human nodded, Adam's apple jerking in the angry neon twilight.
-"'Memory Jump,' you mean. All my great-grandfathers have it. But
-Great-great-grandmother Lupos, funny thing, is like a schoolgirl.
-Sharp, you know. I.... Say, the poor old guy looks sick. Want any help?"
-
-I told the human no, thanks, and walked Doc toward the flophouse three
-doors down. I hoped we would make it. I didn't know what would happen
-if we didn't. Doc was liable to say something that might nova Sol, for
-all I knew.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Martians approaching the corner were sensing at Doc and me. They
-were just cheap tourists slumming down on Skid Row. I hated tourists
-and especially I hated Martian tourists because I especially hated
-Martians. They were _aliens_. They weren't _men_ like Doc and me.
-
-Then I realized what was about to happen. It was foolish and awful and
-true. I was going to have one of mine at the same time Doc was having
-his. That was bad. It had happened a few times right after I first
-found him, but now it was worse. For some undefinable reason, I felt we
-kept getting closer each of the times.
-
-I tried not to think about it and helped Doc through the fly-specked
-flophouse doors.
-
-The tubercular clerk looked up from the gaudy comics sections of one of
-those little tabloids that have the funnies a week in advance.
-
-"Fifteen cents a bed," he said mechanically.
-
-"We'll use one bed," I told him. "I'll give you twenty cents." I felt
-the round hard quarter in my pocket, sweaty hand against sticky lining.
-
-"Fifteen cents a bed," he played it back for me.
-
-Doc was quivering against me, his legs boneless.
-
-"We can always make it over to the mission," I lied.
-
-The clerk turned his upper lip as if he were going to spit. "Awright,
-since we ain't full up. In _ad_vance."
-
-I placed the quarter on the desk.
-
-"Give me a nickel."
-
-The clerk's hand fell on the coin and slid it off into the unknown
-before I could move, what with holding up Doc.
-
-"You've got your nerve," he said at me with a fine mist of dew. "Had a
-quarter all along and yet you Martian me down to twenty cents." He saw
-the look on my face. "I'll give you a _room_ for the two bits. That's
-better'n a bed for twenty."
-
-I knew I was going to need that nickel. _Desperately._ I reached across
-the desk with my free hand and hauled the scrawny human up against the
-register hard. I'm not as strong in my hands as Doc, but I managed.
-
-"Give me a nickel," I said.
-
-"What nickel?" His eyes were big, but they kept looking right at me.
-"You don't have any nickel. You don't have any quarter, not if I say
-so. Want I should call a cop and tell him you were flexing a muscle?"
-
-I let go of him. He didn't scare me, but Doc was beginning to mumble
-and that _did_ scare me. I had to get him alone.
-
-"Where's the room?" I asked.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The room was six feet in all directions and the walls were five feet
-high. The other foot was finished in chicken wire. There was a wino
-singing on the left, a wino praying on the right, and the door didn't
-have any lock on it. At last, Doc and I were alone.
-
-I laid Doc out on the gray-brown cot and put his forearm over his face
-to shield it some from the glare of the light bulb. I swept off all the
-bedbugs in sight and stepped on them heavily.
-
-Then I dropped down into the painted stool chair and let my burning
-eyes rest on the obscene wall drawings just to focus them. I was so
-dirty, I could feel the grime grinding together all over me. My shaggy
-scalp still smarted from the alcohol I had stolen from a convertible's
-gas tank to get rid of Doc's and my cooties. Lucky that I never needed
-to shave and that my face was so dirty, no one would even notice that I
-didn't need to.
-
-The cramp hit me and I folded out of the chair onto the littered,
-uncovered floor.
-
-It stopped hurting, but I knew it would begin if I moved. I stared at a
-jagged cut-out nude curled against a lump of dust and lint, giving it
-an unreal distortion.
-
-Doc began to mumble louder.
-
-I knew I had to move.
-
-I waited just a moment, savoring the painless peace. Then, finally, I
-moved.
-
-I was bent double, but I got from the floor to the chair and found
-my notebook and orb-point in my hands. I found I couldn't focus both
-my mind and my eyes through the electric flashes of agony, so I
-concentrated on Doc's voice and trusted my hands would follow their
-habit pattern and construct the symbols for his words. They were
-suddenly distinguishable.
-
-"_Outsider_ ... _Thoth_ ... _Dyzan_ ... _Seven_ ... _Hsan_ ...
-_Beyond Six, Seven, Eight_ ... _Two boxes_ ... _Ralston_ ... _Richard
-Wentworth_ ... _Jimmy Christopher_ ... _Kent Allard_ ... _Ayem_ ...
-_Oh, are_ ... _see_...."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-His voice rose to a meaningless wail that stretched into non-existence.
-The pen slid across the scribbled face of the notebook and both dropped
-from my numb hands. But I knew. Somehow, inside me, _I knew_ that these
-words were what I had been waiting for. They told everything I needed
-to know to become the most powerful man in the Solar Federation.
-
-That wasn't just an addict's dream. I knew who Doc was. When I got
-to thinking it was just a dream and that I was dragging this old man
-around North America for nothing, I remembered who he was.
-
-I remembered that he was somebody very important whose name and work I
-had once known, even if now I knew him only as Doc.
-
-Pain was a pendulum within me, swinging from low throbbing bass to high
-screaming tenor. I had to get out and get some. But I didn't have a
-nickel. Still, I had to get some.
-
-I crawled to the door and raised myself by the knob, slick with greasy
-dirt. The door opened and shut--there was no lock. I shouldn't leave
-Doc alone, but I had to.
-
-He was starting to cry. He didn't always do that.
-
-I listened to him for a moment, then tested and tasted the craving that
-crawled through my veins. I got back inside somehow.
-
-Doc was twisting on the cot, tears washing white streaks across his
-face. I shoved Doc's face up against my chest. I held onto him and let
-him bellow. I soothed the lanks of soiled white hair back over his
-lumpy skull.
-
-He shut up at last and I laid him down again and put his arm back
-across his face. (You can't turn the light off and on in places like
-that. The old wiring will blow the bulb half the time.)
-
-I don't remember how I got out onto the street.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-She was pink and clean and her platinum hair was pulled straight back,
-drawing her cheek-bones tighter, straightening her wide, appealing
-mouth, drawing her lean, athletic, feminine body erect. She was wearing
-a powder-blue dress that covered all of her breasts and hips and the
-upper half of her legs.
-
-The most wonderful thing about her was her perfume. Then I realized it
-wasn't perfume, only the scent of soap. Finally, I knew it wasn't that.
-It was just healthy, fresh-scrubbed skin.
-
-I went to her at the bus stop, forcing my legs not to stagger. Nobody
-would help a drunk. I don't know why, but nobody will help you if they
-think you are blotto.
-
-"Ma'am, could you help a man who's not had work?" I kept my eyes down.
-I couldn't look a human in the eye and ask for help. "Just a dime for a
-cup of coffee." I knew where I could get it for three cents, maybe two
-and a half.
-
-I felt her looking at me. She spoke in an educated voice, one she used,
-perhaps, as a teacher or supervising telephone operator. "Do you want
-it for coffee, or to apply, or a glass or hypo of something else?"
-
-I cringed and whined. She would expect it of me. I suddenly realized
-that anybody as clean as she was had to be a tourist here. I hate
-tourists.
-
-"Just coffee, ma'am." She was younger than I was, so I didn't have to
-call her that. "A little more for food, if you could spare it."
-
-I hadn't eaten in a day and a half, but I didn't care much.
-
-"I'll buy you a dinner," she said carefully, "provided I can go with
-you and see for myself that you actually eat it."
-
-I felt my face flushing red. "You wouldn't want to be seen with a bum
-like me, ma'am."
-
-"I'll be seen with you if you really want to eat."
-
-It was certainly unfair and probably immoral. But I had no choice
-whatever.
-
-"Okay," I said, tasting bitterness over the craving.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The coffee was in a thick white cup before me on the counter. It was
-pale, grayish brown and steaming faintly. I picked it up in both hands
-to feel its warmth.
-
-Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the woman sitting on the stool
-beside me. She had no right to intrude. This moment should be mine, but
-there she sat, marring it for me, a contemptible _tourist_.
-
-I gulped down the thick, dark liquid brutally. It was all I could
-do. The cramp flowed out of my diaphragm. I took another swallow and
-was able to think straight again. A third swallow and I felt--good.
-Not abnormally stimulated, but strong, alert, poised on the brink of
-exhilaration.
-
-That was what coffee did for me.
-
-I was a caffeine addict.
-
-Earth-norm humans sometimes have the addiction to a slight extent, but
-I knew that as a Centurian I had it infinitely worse. Caffeine affected
-my metabolism like a pure alkaloid. The immediate effects weren't the
-same, but the _need_ ran as deep.
-
-I finished the cup. I didn't order another because I wasn't a pure
-sensualist. I just needed release. Sometimes, when I didn't have the
-price of a cup, I would look around in alleys and find cola bottles
-with a few drops left in them. They have a little caffeine in
-them--not enough, never enough, but better than nothing.
-
-"Now what do you want to eat?" the woman asked.
-
-I didn't look at her. She didn't know. She thought I was a human--an
-_Earth_ human. I was a _man_, of course, not an _alien_ like a Martian.
-Earthmen ran the whole Solar Federation, but I was just as good as an
-Earthman. With my suntan and short mane, I could pass, couldn't I? That
-proved it, didn't it?
-
-"Hamburger," I said. "Well done." I knew that would probably be all
-they had fit to eat at a place like this. It might be horse meat, but
-then I didn't have the local prejudices.
-
-I didn't look at the woman. I couldn't. But I kept remembering how
-clean she looked and I was aware of how clean she smelled. I was so
-dirty, so very dirty that I could never get clean if I bathed every
-hour for the rest of my life.
-
-The hamburger was engulfed by five black-crowned, broken fingernails
-and raised to two rows of yellow ivory. I surrounded it like an ameba,
-almost in a single movement of my jaws.
-
-Several other hamburgers followed the first. I lost count. I drank a
-glass of milk. I didn't want to black out on coffee with Doc waiting
-for me.
-
-"Could I have a few to take with me, miss?" I pleaded.
-
-She smiled. I caught that out of the edge of my vision, but mostly I
-just felt it.
-
-"That's the first time you've called me anything but 'ma'am'," she
-said. "I'm not an old-maid schoolteacher, you know."
-
-That probably meant she was a schoolteacher, though. "No, miss," I said.
-
-"It's Miss Casey--Vivian Casey," she corrected. She was a
-schoolteacher, all right. No other girl would introduce herself as Miss
-Last Name. Then there was something in her voice....
-
-"What's your name?" she said to me.
-
-I choked a little on a bite of stale bun.
-
-I _had_ a name, _of course_.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Everybody has a name, and I knew if I went off somewhere quiet and
-thought about it, mine would come to me. Meanwhile, I would tell the
-girl that my name was ... Kevin O'Malley. Abruptly I realized that that
-_was_ my name.
-
-"Kevin," I told her. "John Kevin."
-
-"Mister Kevin," she said, her words dancing with bright absurdity like
-waterhose mist on a summer afternoon, "I wonder if you could help _me_."
-
-"Happy to, miss," I mumbled.
-
-She pushed a white rectangle in front of me on the painted maroon bar.
-"What do you think of this?"
-
-I looked at the piece of paper. It was a coupon from a magazine.
-
-    Dear Acolyte R. I. S.:
-
-    Please send me FREE of obligation, in sealed wrapper, "The
-    Scarlet Book" revealing to me how I may gain Secret Mastery of the
-    Universe
-
-    Name: ........................
-
-    Address: .....................
-
-The world disoriented itself and I was on the floor of the somber diner
-and Miss Vivian Casey was out of sight and scent.
-
-There was a five dollar bill tight in my fist. The counterman was
-trying to pull it out.
-
-I looked up at his stubbled face. "I had half a dozen hamburgers, a
-cup of coffee and a glass of milk. I want four more 'burgers to go and
-a pint of coffee. By your prices, that will be one sixty-five--if the
-lady didn't pay you."
-
-"She didn't," he stammered. "Why do you think I was trying to get that
-bill out of your hand?"
-
-I didn't say anything, just got up off the floor. After the counterman
-put down my change, I spread out the five dollar bill on the vacant
-bar, smoothing it.
-
-I scooped up my change and walked out the door. There was no one on the
-sidewalk, only in the doorways.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-First I opened the door on an amber world, then an azure one. Neon
-light was coming from the chickenwire border of the room, from a window
-somewhere beyond. The wino on one side of the room was singing and
-the one on the other side was praying, same as before. Only they had
-changed around--prayer came from the left, song from the right.
-
-Doc sat on the floor in the half-darkness and he had made a _thing_.
-
-My heart hammered at my lungs. I _knew_ this last time had been
-different. Whatever it was was getting closer. This was the first time
-Doc had ever made anything. It didn't look like much, but it was a
-start.
-
-He had broken the light bulb and used the filament and screw bottom.
-His strong hands had unraveled some of the bed "springs"--metal
-webbing--and fashioned them to his needs. My orb-point pen had
-dissolved under his touch. All of them, useless parts, were made into a
-meaningful whole.
-
-I knew the thing had meaning, but when I tried to follow its design, I
-became lost.
-
-I put the paper container of warm coffee and the greasy bag of
-hamburgers on the wooden chair, hoping the odor wouldn't bring any
-hungry rats out of the walls.
-
-I knelt beside Doc.
-
-"An order, my boy, an order," he whispered.
-
-I didn't know what he meant. Was he suddenly trying to give me orders?
-
-He held something out to me. It was my notebook. He had used my pen,
-before dismantling it, to write something. I tilted the notebook
-against the neon light, now red wine, now fresh grape. I read it.
-
-"Concentrate," Doc said hoarsely. "Concentrate...."
-
-I wondered what the words meant. Wondering takes a kind of
-concentration.
-
-The words "First Edition" were what I was thinking about most.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The heavy-set man in the ornate armchair was saying, "The bullet struck
-me as I was pulling on my boot...."
-
-I was kneeling on the floor of a Victorian living room. I'm quite
-familiar with Earth history and I recognized the period immediately.
-
-Then I realized what I had been trying to get from Doc all these
-months--time travel.
-
-A thin, sickly man was sprawled in the other chair in a rumpled
-dressing gown. My eyes held to his face, his pinpoint pupils and
-whitened nose. He was a condemned snowbird! If there was anything I
-hated or held in more contempt than tourists or Martians, it was a
-snowbird.
-
-"My clients have occasioned singular methods of entry into these
-rooms," the thin man remarked, "but never before have they used
-instantaneous materialization."
-
-The heavier man was half choking, half laughing. "I say--I say, I would
-like to see you explain this, my dear fellow."
-
-"I have no data," the thin man answered coolly. "In such instance, one
-begins to twist theories into fact, or facts into theories. I must ask
-this unemployed, former professional man who has gone through a serious
-illness and is suffering a more serious addiction to tell me the place
-and _time_ from which he comes."
-
-The surprise stung. "How did you know?" I asked.
-
-He gestured with a pale hand. "To maintain a logical approach, I must
-reject the supernatural. Your arrival, unless hallucinatory--and
-despite my voluntary use of one drug and my involuntary experiences
-recently with another, I must accept the evidence of my senses or
-retire from my profession--your arrival was then super-normal. I might
-say super-scientific, of a science not of my or the good doctor's time,
-clearly. Time travel is a familiar folk legend and I have been reading
-an article by the entertaining Mr. Wells. Perhaps he will expand it
-into one of his novels of scientific romance."
-
-I knew who these two men were, with a tormenting doubt. "But the
-other--"
-
-"Your hands, though unclean, have never seen physical labor. Your
-cranial construction is of a superior type, or even if you reject my
-theories, concentration does set the facial features. I judge you have
-suffered an illness because of the inhibition of your beard growth.
-Your over-fondness for rum or opium, perhaps, is self-evident. You
-are at too resilient an age to be so sunk by even an amour. Why else
-then would you let yourself fall into such an underfed and unsanitary
-state?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-He was so smug and so sure, this snowbird. I hated him. Because I
-couldn't trust to my own senses as he did.
-
-"You don't exist," I said slowly, painfully. "You are fictional
-creations."
-
-The doctor flushed darkly. "You give my literary agent too much credit
-for the addition of professional polish to my works."
-
-The other man was filling a large, curved pipe from something that
-looked vaguely like an ice-skate. "Interesting. Perhaps if our visitor
-would tell us something of his age with special reference to the theory
-and practice of temporal transference, Doctor, we would be better
-equipped to judge whether we exist."
-
-There was no theory or practice of time travel. I told them all I had
-ever heard theorized from Hindu yoga through Extra-sensory Perception
-to Relativity and the positron and negatron.
-
-"Interesting." He breathed out suffocating black clouds of smoke.
-"Presume that the people of your time by their 'Extra-sensory
-Perception' have altered the past to make it as they suppose it to be.
-The great historical figures are made the larger than life-size that we
-know them. The great literary creations assume reality."
-
-I thought of Cleopatra and Helen of Troy and wondered if they would be
-the goddesses of love that people imagined or the scrawny, big-nosed
-redhead and fading old woman of scholarship. Then I noticed the
-detective's hand that had been resting idly on a round brass weight of
-unknown sort to me. His tapered fingertips had indented the metal.
-
-His bright eyes followed mine and he smiled faintly. "Withdrawal
-symptoms."
-
-The admiration and affection for this man that had been slowly building
-up behind my hatred unbrinked. I remembered now that he had stopped. He
-was not _really_ a snowbird.
-
-After a time, I asked the doctor a question.
-
-"Why, yes. I'm flattered. This is the first manuscript. Considering my
-professional handwriting, I recopied it more laboriously."
-
-Accepting the sheaf of papers and not looking back at these two great
-and good men, I concentrated on my own time and Doc. Nothing happened.
-My heart raced, but I saw something dancing before me like a dust mote
-in sunlight and stepped toward it....
-
-... into the effective range of Miss Casey's tiny gun.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-She inclined the lethal silver toy. "Let me see those papers, Kevin."
-
-I handed her the doctor's manuscript.
-
-Her breath escaped slowly and loudly. "It's all right. It's all right.
-It exists. It's real. Not even one of the unwritten ones. I've read
-this myself."
-
-Doc was lying on the cot, half his face twisted into horror.
-
-"Don't move, Kevin," she said. "I'll have to shoot you--maybe not to
-kill, but painfully."
-
-I watched her face flash blue, red, blue and knew she meant it. But I
-had known too much in too short a time. I had to help Doc, but there
-was something else.
-
-"I just want a drink of coffee from that container on the chair," I
-told her.
-
-She shook her head. "I don't know what you think it does to you."
-
-It was getting hard for me to think. "Who are you?"
-
-She showed me a card from her wrist purse. Vivian Casey, Constable,
-North American Mounted Police.
-
-I had to help Doc. I had to have some coffee. "What do you want?"
-
-"Listen, Kevin. Listen carefully to what I am saying. Doc found
-a method of time travel. It was almost a purely mathematical,
-topographical way divorced from modern physical sciences. He kept it
-secret and he wanted to make money with it. He was an idealist--he had
-his crusades. How can you make money with time travel?"
-
-I didn't know whether she was asking me, but I didn't know. All I knew
-was that I had to help Doc and get some coffee.
-
-"It takes money--money Doc didn't have--to make money," Miss Casey
-said, "even if you know what horse will come in and what stock will
-prosper. Besides, horse-racing and the stock market weren't a part of
-Doc's character. He was a scholar."
-
-Why did she keep using the past tense in reference to Doc? It scared
-me. He was lying so still with the left side of his face so twisted. I
-needed some coffee.
-
-"He became a book finder. He got rare editions of books and magazines
-for his clients in absolutely mint condition. That was all right--until
-he started obtaining books that _did not exist_."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-I didn't know what all that was supposed to mean. I got to the chair,
-snatched up the coffee container, tore it open and gulped down the
-soothing liquid.
-
-I turned toward her and threw the rest of the coffee into her face.
-
-The coffee splashed out over her platinum hair and powder-blue dress
-that looked white when the neon was azure, purple when it was amber.
-The coffee stained and soiled and ruined, and I was fiercely glad,
-unreasonably happy.
-
-I tore the gun away from her by the short barrel, not letting my filthy
-hands touch her scrubbed pink ones.
-
-I pointed the gun generally at her and backed around the _thing_ on the
-floor to the cot. Doc had a pulse, but it was irregular. I checked for
-a fever and there wasn't one. After that, I didn't know what to do.
-
-I looked up finally and saw a Martian in or about the doorway.
-
-"Call me Andre," the Martian said. "A common name but foreign. It
-should serve as a point of reference."
-
-I had always wondered how a thing like a Martian could talk. Sometimes
-I wondered if they really could.
-
-"You won't need the gun," Andre said conversationally.
-
-"I'll keep it, thanks. What do _you_ want?"
-
-"I'll begin as Miss Casey did--by telling you things. Hundreds of
-people disappeared from North America a few months ago."
-
-"They always do," I told him.
-
-"They ceased to exist--as human beings--shortly after they received a
-book from Doc," the Martian said.
-
-Something seemed to strike me in the back of the neck. I staggered, but
-managed to hold onto the gun and stand up.
-
-"Use one of those sneaky Martian weapons again," I warned him,
-"and I'll kill the girl." Martians were supposed to be against the
-destruction of any life-form, I had read someplace. I doubted it, but
-it was worth a try.
-
-"Kevin," Andre said, "why don't you take a bath?"
-
-The Martian weapon staggered me again. I tried to say something. I
-tried to explain that I was so dirty that I could never get clean no
-matter how often I bathed. No words formed.
-
-"But, Kevin," Andre said, "you aren't _that_ dirty."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The blow shook the gun from my fingers. It almost fell into the _thing_
-on the floor, but at the last moment seemed to change direction and
-miss it.
-
-I knew something. "I don't wash because I drink coffee."
-
-"It's all right to drink coffee, isn't it?" he asked.
-
-"Of course," I said, and added absurdly, "That's why I don't wash."
-
-"You mean," Andre said slowly, ploddingly, "that if you bathed, you
-would be admitting that drinking coffee was in the same class as any
-other solitary vice that makes people wash frequently."
-
-I was knocked to my knees.
-
-"Kevin," the Martian said, "drinking coffee represents a major vice
-only in Centurian humanoids, not Earth-norm human beings. _Which are
-you?_"
-
-Nothing came out of my gabbling mouth.
-
-"_What is Doc's full name?_"
-
-I almost fell in, but at the last instant I caught myself and said,
-"Doctor Kevin O'Malley, Senior."
-
-From the bed, Doc said a word. "Son."
-
-Then he disappeared.
-
-I looked at that which he had made. I wondered where he had gone, in
-search of what.
-
-"He didn't use that," Andre said.
-
-So I was an Earthman, Doc's son. So my addiction to coffee was all in
-my mind. That didn't change anything. They say sex is all in your mind.
-I didn't want to be cured. I wouldn't be. Doc was gone. That was all I
-had now. That and the _thing_ he left.
-
-"The rest is simple," Andre said. "Doc O'Malley bought up all the stock
-in a certain ancient metaphysical order and started supplying members
-with certain books. Can you imagine the effect of the _Book of Dyzan_
-or the _Book of Thoth_ or the _Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan_ or the
-_Necronomican_ itself on human beings?"
-
-"But they don't exist," I said wearily.
-
-"Exactly, Kevin, exactly. They have never existed any more than your
-Victorian detective friend. But the unconscious racial mind has reached
-back into time and created them. And that unconscious mind, deeper than
-psychology terms the subconscious, has always known about the powers
-of ESP, telepathy, telekinesis, precognition. Through these books,
-the human race can tell itself how to achieve a state of pure logic,
-without food, without sex, without conflict--just as Doc has achieved
-such a state--a little late, true. He had a powerful guilt complex,
-even stronger than your withdrawal, over releasing this blessing on
-the inhabited universe, but reason finally prevailed. He had reached a
-state of pure thought."
-
-"The North American government _has_ to have this secret, Kevin," the
-girl said. "You can't let it fall into the hands of the Martians."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Andre did not deny that he wanted it to fall into his hands.
-
-I knew I could not let Doc's--Dad's--time travel _thing_ fall into
-anyone's hands. I remembered that all the copies of the books had
-disappeared with their readers now. There must not be any more, I knew.
-
-Miss Casey did her duty and tried to stop me with a judo hold, but I
-don't think her heart was in it, because I reversed and broke it.
-
-I kicked the _thing_ to pieces and stomped on the pieces. Maybe you
-can't stop the progress of science, but I knew it might be millenniums
-before Doc's genes and creative environment were recreated and time
-travel was rediscovered. Maybe we would be ready for it then. I knew we
-weren't now.
-
-Miss Casey leaned against my dirty chest and cried into it. I didn't
-mind her touching me.
-
-"I'm glad," she said.
-
-Andre flowed out of the doorway with a sigh. Of relief?
-
-I would never know. I supposed I had destroyed _it_ because I didn't
-want the human race to become a thing of pure reason without purpose,
-direction or love, but I would never know for sure. I thought I could
-kick the habit--perhaps with Miss Casey's help--but I wasn't really
-confident.
-
-Maybe I had destroyed the time machine because a world without material
-needs would not grow and roast coffee.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Confidence Game, by Jim Harmon
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFIDENCE GAME ***
-
-***** This file should be named 51305.txt or 51305.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/3/0/51305/
-
-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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  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.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-