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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..356ff6f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51460 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51460) diff --git a/old/51460-h.zip b/old/51460-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 291926f..0000000 --- a/old/51460-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51460-h/51460-h.htm b/old/51460-h/51460-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 00a21f5..0000000 --- a/old/51460-h/51460-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1162 +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 A Husband For My Wife, by William W. 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Stuart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A Husband for My Wife - -Author: William W. Stuart - -Release Date: March 15, 2016 [EBook #51460] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUSBAND FOR MY WIFE *** - - - - -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="383" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>A HUSBAND FOR MY WIFE</h1> - -<p>By WILLIAM W. STUART</p> - -<p>Illustrated by BURNS</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Magazine August 1960.<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>I admit it—he beat my time. But my day is coming.<br /> -Any minute now time is about to run out on him!</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Soon, very soon now, the time will come for me to meet my wife's -husband. I can hardly wait. Every dog has his day and Professor Thurlow -Benjamin has just about had it. Every day has its dog, too, and I am -going to return to him with full five years' interest the bad time he -gave to me. The dog.</p> - -<p>Dog? Look, he stole my girl not once but twice. The second time he, you -might say, took his time to beat my time—and left me behind to the -bad time that belonged to him. Benji is—or he was and he will be—a -scientifically sneaky, two-timing dog, and a dog's life is what he gave -me. But now, after nearly five years, time is on my side. He will get -what, minute by minute, is coming to him not soon enough, but soon.</p> - -<p>Benji—Professor Thurlow Benjamin—was my oldest, closest friend. I -was his. We hated each other dearly in the way that only two boyhood -pals can and by chance or mischance that quality of bitter-friendly, -boyish rivalry never left our relationship. Why? A woman, naturally.</p> - -<p>The first time we met, he was a tall, gangling, red-headed, big-nosed -kid of nine. I, Bull (for Boulard) Benton, was shorter, stockier, -heavier. Maybe not handsome exactly, but clean cut, very clean cut. -Benji knocked a chip off my shoulder and I knocked his block off, but -not without collecting a few lumps doing it. From then on, we fought -together against anyone else. When no one else was handy, we fought -each other. And naturally we each wanted what the other had.</p> - -<p>After high school, we roomed together at Burnington University right -there in our home town, Belt City. Benji was a brain, a scholar. I was -an athlete. So he broke nearly every bone in his body trying to be a -six-foot-three, one-hundred-and-thirty-nine-pound scatback, while I -nearly sprained a brain that was deep, definitely deep, but maybe not -quite as quick on its feet as some, trying for scholarship.</p> - -<p>The last year and a half at the university, the competition between -us narrowed down to a battle for Vera Milston, old Dean Milston's -statuesque daughter. That was all a mistake. I can see it now. So can -Benji. But not then.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dean Milston was the dourest, sourest, meanest old tyrant ever to -suspend a football captain for a couple of unimportant "D"s. One -afternoon in junior year at basketball practice—Benji was out, -dragging around a cast—Jocko Bunter bet me ten I didn't have the -nerve to date the dean's daughter. Well, hell, I'd seen her around, -visiting the dean as regularly as I had to. She was a lot of girl. -Tall, honey-blonde—a little on the regal, commanding side, and maybe -her lips were a mite set over a chin that the old man should have kept -to himself—but there are times when a young man doesn't analyze the -details as carefully as he might. She was built like nothing I had -tackled all fall.</p> - -<p>So I took a chance, got a date, won ten, and that might and should -have been that. She had a way of saying "No!" that made me think of -her father. But, the thing was, Benji didn't know about the bet. I -dated her once. So he had to date her twice. Again, I didn't analyze. I -jumped to the conclusion Benji had the hots for her and went to work -to cut him out.</p> - -<p>That kept us busy the next year and a half and I led all the way. -Vera and I got engaged at the spring prom to be married right after -my graduation—which improved the odds on my graduating considerably. -The dean was a grim old devil who considered Hamlet a comedy and could -refuse anything to anyone—except Vera, and how could I have known it -was fear rather than affection that made him give in to her?</p> - -<p>Anyway, perhaps the strain of passing me a diploma was too great. The -next day the old devil passed on himself, and no matter where he may be -sitting, I know he is happy as long as he can watch the others fry. But -I shouldn't grumble. He saved me, unintentional though it was.</p> - -<p>Vera, possibly having second thoughts as she looked over the Dean's -List, said she couldn't marry me till after a reasonable period of -mourning. The Army took me and rejected Benji. He stayed on for -post-graduate study in physics. I told you he was a brain.</p> - -<p>A brain, but not equally acute in all fields. When I got back to Belt -City three years later, Benji was already an assistant professor of -physics—and Vera's husband. They were settled in the old dean's -big, ancient house just off the campus and Benji was aiming—or being -aimed—at a distinguished academic career. I came back to town with the -idea of winding up the family insurance and real estate business and -pulling out, mostly to keep away from them.</p> - -<p>It wasn't, you understand, that I was carrying such a heavy torch for -Vera. She hadn't blighted my life; not then, that is. But it seemed -to me that living in town with her and Professor Thurlow Benjamin—a -gloating, triumphant Benji, laughing at me because he'd succeeded in -marrying my girl—would be a real annoyance. But, of course, when I hit -town I had to call them and they had to invite me to dinner.</p> - -<p>For one time, anyway, I figured I had to accept. I gritted my teeth and -went. I never had a sweeter, more enjoyable evening in all my life.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I got there about seven in the evening and walked up the steps to the -big old porch on the dean's house feeling a bit nervous and upset. I'd -walked up those same steps often enough before, feeling nervous and -upset, but this was different. I lifted the oversized brass knocker and -rapped. Vera's voice, coming from the back of the house someplace, cut -through the evening air. "Thurlow! Answer the door!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sweets. I'm on my way, Vera hun bun." That was Benji. Hun bun, -yet! And his voice was misery. It cringed and whined. I grinned to -myself and began to feel more cheerful.</p> - -<p>Benji let me in. His glasses were thicker and his hair thinner and he -looked a lot older. But it was Benji, the same old lanky, gangling -redhead; yet not the same, too. He had a hang-dog look that was new -and suddenly I felt so good, I punched him playfully in the ribs. He -winced—and didn't even counter. If the fight hadn't gone out of him, -it had sure been watered down. We went on in to the parlor across -the hall from the dean's old study. Vera joined us. She didn't look -bad—at a glance. But if you checked right close, and I did, there was -something in her look—a sharpness I hadn't noticed before; her nose -seemed bigger, beak-like; the broad, solid shoulders; deep-down grooves -at the corners of her mouth.</p> - -<p>She threw her arms around me and kissed me. My temperature stayed -steady and cool.</p> - -<p>"Boulard! Boulard, darling! You look marvelous!"</p> - -<p>I felt great, too. "Vera, girl. You're as gorgeous as ever, radiant, -blooming, still the campus goddess. And Mrs. Thurlow Benjamin now, -hm-m? Old Benji is sure a lucky dog."</p> - -<p>Benji forced a hollow laugh. Vera smiled a positive agreement.</p> - -<p>Then Benji sort of coughed out a faint note of hope and pleaded, -"Vera, sweet, this is a—uh—an occasion, don't you agree, dear? Don't -you—ah—do you think maybe I ought to—fix us all a drink?"</p> - -<p>"Thurlow! You drink far too much! You had a highball before dinner at -Professor Dorman's only night before last."</p> - -<p>Almost—but not quite—I felt sorry for him.</p> - -<p>"Ah, well, Vera doll," I said, "this <i>is</i> an occasion, after all. And I -<i>do</i> want to drink a toast to you and Benji."</p> - -<p>"Hmph."</p> - -<p>"Especially you, the love of my life, lost now, but lovelier than ever."</p> - -<p>"Boulard!... Well, Thurlow, don't stand there like an idiot. Go mix us -some drinks. And mind the line on the bottle."</p> - -<p>And then she turned back with some more gush for me. I enjoyed it, -knowing now what I had been saved from. In fact, as I said, I enjoyed -the whole evening; my playing up to Vera made her just that much -rougher on Benji. Revenge on Benji plus relief at what I had escaped -made life seem pleasant, and right there and then I changed my mind -about leaving town. I decided to stay and settled down.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Well, I did settle, but not too far down. Instead of selling out Uncle -George's insurance and real estate firm, I went to work in it. It was -prosperous enough and light work. There were plenty of girls around -town if you got around, and I did.</p> - -<p>Looking back, those were the happy years. Naturally I kept seeing quite -a bit of Vera and Benji. Rubbing it in? Sure, why not? Hell, half the -pleasure in any success comes from giving a hard time to those who gave -you a hard time. It may not be nice, but it is normal.</p> - -<p>I lolled in the shade and laughed; Benji sweated and suffered. His -boss's whip cracked merrily. He plodded ahead in the University Physics -Department and fiddled around his lab whenever he could escape into it.</p> - -<p>Then there came a black Friday evening in early autumn. I was due at -Benji's for dinner, just him and me. Vera had gone up to Chicago that -morning to see her ever-dying Aunt Bella and do some shopping. She -would not be back till the next day so she called on me to keep an eye -on Benji.</p> - -<p>So I was due for a quietly pleasant early evening listening to Benji -talk about his sorrows. Then, I figured, Benji would go to his lab in -the old dean's study and I would go out on the town. I had a date, one -of the very best, Starlight Glowe, formerly Daisy Hanzel, formerly an -office clerk. She was a pert little strawberry blonde, cute, with a lot -of good humor and a lot of everything else too; about as unlike Vera -as a girl could be. That week she was between nightclub engagements, -back in her old home town. And back in the old groove with me, too. I -looked forward to the evening—first Benji's troubles and then my own -pleasures.</p> - -<p>I pulled up in front of Benji's old place just at dusk. A late working -lineman from Beltsville Power was fiddling around on the pole outside -Benji's lab room. "Hey, Mac," he hollered, "you going in there? Look, -tell the prof they'll cut it in at seven ayem, huh? Can't make it a -minute sooner."</p> - -<p>I nodded as I went up the steps and across the porch; knocked once. -Walked on in—and stopped dead in the hallway to stare up the stairs. -It was Benji, but not the Vera's Benji I was used to. He was dressed -in the evening clothes Vera got him to wear only at major faculty -functions. He carried a cane, wore a flower. Tonight he was Benji, man -about town, knight of the evening. Sharp. Cool. Cocky.</p> - -<p>He strutted on down the stairs and past me. He winked, grinned that -dirty, sneaky grin of his I remembered all too well from the old days. -At the door, he looked back over his shoulder, still grinning, and -said, "Stick around a minute, Bull boy. I have something to show you." -The door slammed shut.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I couldn't believe it; he wouldn't dare. Then I heard my car, my new -sport car, starting outside and I swore, grabbing the doorknob.</p> - -<p>"Wait, Bull. You couldn't catch me."</p> - -<p>I spun around. Damned if it wasn't old Benji, coming down the stairs -again just as though it wasn't impossible. This time he looked himself, -but worse. He had on an old lab smock and a new hangover. He looked -awful—but with a hint of satisfaction too, like remembering the time -he'd had getting into such lousy shape.</p> - -<p>"Well, Bull boy," he mumbled, wavering on down the steps, holding the -top of his head on with one hand, "come on out in the lab. Maybe we -could find a little nip. And I have something to show you."</p> - -<p>"So you said."</p> - -<p>"Eh? Oh, yes, so I did. Last night, when I was going out."</p> - -<p>"It was just now—only you went out all dressed up, and here you are -all beat up. What's this all about?"</p> - -<p>"Come <i>on</i>," he said with a flash of temper. "When I get a hair or two -of the dog, I'll explain it to you."</p> - -<p>I followed him into his lab, the dean's old study. It was the only -thing Benji could call his own. Vera let him have it on the off-chance -that he might find something important enough to give their social and -financial position a boost.</p> - -<p>In the lab, Benji fished an amber-filled flask from the wastebasket -under the old rolltop desk and poured himself a double, me a single, in -a couple of big test tubes. I only half saw him out of a corner of the -eye.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="600" height="485" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>What I was really looking at was a damned peculiar rig that filled up -about a third of the space along the side wall next to the kitchen. It -was—I couldn't figure it. It looked something like one of those jungle -gym outfits in the kids' playgrounds. But there were wires running from -it to half a dozen wall plugs, and a seat up in the middle with a bunch -of dials and things.</p> - -<p>It was all odd, and oddest was the way it all sort of shimmered and -blurred as I watched it.</p> - -<p>"What in hell is that?" I walked across the lab toward it, reaching out.</p> - -<p>"Better not touch it, Bull. You might knock something out."</p> - -<p>Since he put it like that, I raised my hand to grab hold of one of -the cross bars by the seat in the center of the thing—and there I -was resting comfortably on a small cloud in far outer space, watching -a great spiral nebula whirling in infinite majesty through the vast, -empty blackness, and I thought about the mystery of the universe. I -felt that if I could just reach out, I would have in my grasp the final -answer. But then it drifted away and the nebula slowly narrowed and -evolved into a great system of suns, planets, moons—and finally into -the big, old chandelier in the dean's study.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When it all seemed to stabilize at that point, I sat up a little -shakily. The room, Benji's lab now, was still there. I stood up and -felt lousy. My head ached. I looked around. Benji was sitting at the -desk slumped over, his head on his folded arms. The flask of whiskey, -half gone, was on the desk beside him. I emptied it out a little more, -into me, and checked my watch. Six o'clock and the sky showed gray -outside. I had been out all night.</p> - -<p>I put my foot on the base of Benji's swivel chair and shoved hard. The -chair rolled back, out from under him. He slumped down with a pleasing -thud on the floor. He woke up with a pained expression that helped my -headache a little.</p> - -<p>"Damn you, Benji," I said, "you did that out of spite, to break my date -with Daisy, I bet."</p> - -<p>He yawned. "I told you you'd better not touch it."</p> - -<p>"Because you knew then I'd have to go ahead and do it. It's a wonder, -with me knocked out, you didn't go try to steal my girl."</p> - -<p>"I did. I am."</p> - -<p>"You what?"</p> - -<p>"I did go out with Daisy. I am with her now."</p> - -<p>"Are you cracked? You are right here with me."</p> - -<p>"True, but I am simultaneously with Daisy." He grinned reflectively. -"And I don't mind saying Daisy is much better company than you.... Now -wait, Bull. I know this is difficult for you to grasp, but it is a fact -that I am in two places at the same time—only on different circuits. -This is big, Bull, really big! After you help me with one or two -details, I am going to share it with you. Listen to me."</p> - -<p>Sometimes I can be sickeningly gullible. "All right. Start explaining."</p> - -<p>"Think, Bull! Last night you saw me go out the front door. At -substantially the same time, you also saw me, dressed quite -differently, come down the hall stairs. It should be obvious. I have -built a time machine."</p> - -<p>I looked down at my watch and then back at him, with raised eyebrows.</p> - -<p>"No, Bull. Not a machine for telling time; a machine for traveling -through time or, actually, more or less around it. You see my machine -there."</p> - -<p>The jungle gym rig was still at the side of the room, blurred and -shimmering. "Yeah, I see it. And don't bother telling me not to touch -it again. I won't."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Your own fault. Ordinarily you could touch even one of the bars; it is -perfectly safe. But just now the machine is there twice. That creates -further static force fields."</p> - -<p>"Benji—"</p> - -<p>"Look at it. Looks as though you were seeing double, hm-m? And you -are. You see, Bull, this coming morning at ten to seven, I took—and -will take—the machine and I traveled back to ten to five yesterday -afternoon. At that time the machine was already there. Actually, I -should have moved it just before I used it this morning, to limit -the overlaps. But I was rushed. You'll see. Daisy and I will be here -shortly." He grinned. It was an expression I had never particularly -cared for. "Have another drink, Bull."</p> - -<p>That was an expression I liked better. I did have one. His story was -unbelievable. But I was beginning to believe it—partly because of the -machine there and the fact that I had seen two of him practically at -once the evening before, partly because I knew Benji would be capable -of almost anything if it would let him steal a girl from me and get -away from Vera besides.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He took a short nip himself and went on. "I won't strain your limited -facilities by trying to give you the technical side of it. More or -less, it is a matter of setting up the proper number of counteracting -magnetic force fields, properly focused, in a proper relationship each -with the other to bend the normal space factors in such a way as to -circumvent time. Is that clear?"</p> - -<p>"Not to me," I said. "Is it to you?"</p> - -<p>"Not altogether. But what is clear is this. My machine works. I can -jump through time. To any time."</p> - -<p>"Got any special messages from Cleopatra?"</p> - -<p>"The amount or period of time is a question of power. With only the -regular house current I have connected now, about a day at a step is -the limit. That is as far as I have gone. Of course I could go one day -and then another and then another, forward or back, indefinitely. With -more current, there would be no such limitations."</p> - -<p>"How about taking a run up to the end of the week and let me know how -the World Series is going to come out?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, now you begin to see! I told you this is a big thing—tremendous! -And all I ask is just a little help from you, and you will share in the -proceeds."</p> - -<p>"What, me help? How?"</p> - -<p>"I had the power company run in a special power line yesterday. It will -cut in this morning at seven. With this added power, the machine can -travel five years. Five years at a jump, which as far as I—we, that -is—want to go."</p> - -<p>"Well, just suppose what you say is true, Benji. If it is, then you -used your sneaky machine to two-time me with Daisy last night, eh? I -like that. Vera will like that, too. But you expect to bribe me with a -share in your rig to help you out. How? With what?"</p> - -<p>"Bull, it's like this. I did go out last night, my first time in a -long time. You know Vera. So, considering the past few years, you can -understand that I was—uh—maybe a bit reckless last night, ran into a -few little problems. Nothing serious, of course. And besides, with your -help, the police won't be able—"</p> - -<p>"The police?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. But, Bull, you've been right here with me all night. You can -swear to that. So I couldn't possibly have driven your car up the steps -and through the glass doors into the ancient history section of the -museum."</p> - -<p>"My car!"</p> - -<p>"Now, Bull, we'll make money—you can get <i>lots</i> of cars. And I didn't -mean to smash up yours. I simply wanted to give Daisy a rough idea -of a time trip back into the past. But you can tell the police I was -right here when someone broke out through the window by the Neanderthal -exhibit while the police were coming in the front door after us. So -someone else must have driven off in the police car."</p> - -<p>"You stole the police car?" I yelped.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Oh, we won't keep it," he said airily. "But perhaps they are upset -about our borrowing it and about the duet of 'As Time Goes By' that -Daisy and I sang over the police radio."</p> - -<p>"Lord! And when did you finish all this fun and games?" I demanded.</p> - -<p>"When? Let's see. It's 6:40 A.M. So we—Daisy and I—are on our way -back here now. In the patrol car."</p> - -<p>"Now? You and Daisy? In the patrol car?"</p> - -<p>"The one we borrowed. The police—they seem to have a lot of cars—are -not far behind. I believe they think they recognized me. You can tell -them how wrong they are."</p> - -<p>He stopped to listen. I heard it too, a sound of sirens in the -distance, coming closer.</p> - -<p>"So, Benji. In a minute or so, you—a second edition of you, when one -has always been plenty—you are coming here, with all the cops in town -on your tail, <i>and</i> with my girl. And you expect me to step forward -and, lying in my teeth, tell these enraged cops that you are innocent. -This is quite a request, Benji."</p> - -<p>There was the roar of a car racing down the quiet, Saturday-dawn -street. Benji looked at me anxiously. "Here we come. Bull, please! You -wouldn't turn me over to the police. Would you?"</p> - -<p>No, I didn't want the cops to get him. I wanted to get him myself—and -let Vera finish him.</p> - -<p>There was a sound of running footsteps up the porch stairs. The hallway -door opened. Arm in arm, laughing like a pair of idiots, in came -Benji—Benji II—and my girl, Daisy. They staggered across the room. -Benji II threw his arms around Daisy and kissed her with conviction and -assurance. Then, quickly, he stepped away from her and walked over to -the time-machine rig.</p> - -<p>"Hurry it up," said the first Benji, "quick. The power will cut off any -second now, until they switch in the new line."</p> - -<p>Drunk or not, Benji II knew what he was doing. He dragged the straight -chair by the wall to the side of the machine and climbed it. He swayed, -almost fell. Then, without touching any of the bars, he managed to -step from the chair into the seat of the machine rig. He fiddled with -a dial or knob—and vanished. The double exposure look of the machine -disappeared too.</p> - -<p>"Benji," said Daisy, staring blankly at the machine.</p> - -<p>"Daisy," said the leftover Benji, walking toward her. The sound of -sirens outside sounded loud and louder—and then moaned to a stop in -front of the house.</p> - -<p>"Benji," Daisy said again, giving me and the sirens about as much -attention as an individual ant gets at a family picnic, "Benji, it was -<i>true</i> then! All that you were telling me about going through time was -true! And we can—"</p> - -<p>"Of course, sweet. I told you I'd be with you, that everything will be -all right, with good old Bull to help us. What time have you, Bull?"</p> - -<p>"Hah?" I was dazed.</p> - -<p>"The time? What time is it?"</p> - -<p>"It's just about seven. But—"</p> - -<p>Heavy footsteps pounded up the front stairs and across the porch. The -front door knocker thundered.</p> - -<p>"Bull," said Benji, "Bull, old friend. I think there may be someone at -the door. Would you see who it is?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I don't know why I didn't make him go answer. I still don't know. But -I walked out into the hall from the lab and opened the front door—and -nearly got trampled by a squad of four cops, headed by big, tough -Sergeant Winesap. There were, I saw through the open door, two squad -cars parked out front and another coming down the block, just behind a -taxi.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Winesap, "it's you, Benton. Say, you weren't in this crime -wave, too, were you? We only saw two, that madman friend of yours, -Professor Benjamin, and the girl, in your car.... Look, you know what -they did? They knocked off three hydrants whooping about time and the -fountain of youth, and wrecked the museum; and the police car—and what -they did to Officer Durlin.... Maybe you weren't in on it, Benton, but -we know they came in here. Friend or no friend, don't try to obstruct -justice. Where are they?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, officer?" inquired Benji, bland as could be, from the lab door. -"What seems to be the trouble? Did you wish to see me?"</p> - -<p>His manner must have been disarming. At least they didn't shoot him -on the spot. They just advanced, loosening guns in holsters, like a -thoughtful lynching party. Benji strolled back into the lab and over to -Daisy, who was standing by the machine at the side of the room.</p> - -<p>The officers were confused. Benji, sober or nearly so, in his old lab -smock, looked a good deal different to them from the wild man they'd -been chasing all over town. But there was Daisy in her evening gown.</p> - -<p>"That's them, all right," said a young rookie with a fine-blooming -shiner. "She's the one that threw the eggplants. I'd know her anywhere."</p> - -<p>"And that's Benjamin," said Winesap, grimly. "Okay, both of you, don't -try to run. Come along and no more nonsense."</p> - -<p>Benji held up one hand—and slipped the other arm around Daisy's waist. -"Gentlemen, please! I have no idea what this is about. But surely it -can have nothing to do with me. Mr. Benton and I have been right here -in my laboratory all night, working. He can verify that."</p> - -<p>They looked at me. I opened my mouth. I didn't say a word.</p> - -<p>Vera did. She stood there in the doorway. It must have been her in the -cab, coming back bright and early from Chicago. She took in the whole -scene. Benji. Daisy. Police. Me.</p> - -<p>"Benji!!!" she said. You couldn't imagine what she put into that one -word.</p> - -<p>Everyone turned then to look at her. Slowly and with infinite menace, -she started across the room.</p> - -<p>"Now, dear," said Benji nervously, "now, sweet, take it easy. This is -only a little experiment. Not what you are thinking at all."</p> - -<p>We swung back toward Benji. He had boosted Daisy onto the seat of his -time rig and swung up beside her. Vera yelled and started to run toward -them.</p> - -<p>Benji twisted a knob and grinned. "Good-by now," he said. And they were -gone.</p> - -<p>Benji was gone again. Daisy was gone. The whole rig was gone.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Vera, looking a little forlorn and foolish, ended up her dash stumbling -into the empty space where the thing had been. I expect we all looked a -little foolish, standing there, gaping. But I had to carry foolishness -to the ultimate of idiocy.</p> - -<p>Vera at that single moment seemed sort of sad and helpless. And, Lord -knows, I was mixed up. I walked over and put an arm around Vera, -saying, "There, there, Vera, hon. It's all right. I'm here."</p> - -<p>I should never have called her attention to it. There I was—and, the -hell of it was I had kept playing up to her all this time just to -needle Benji. When, that morning, I put my arm around her, I never had -a chance.</p> - -<p>I was married. To Vera. I still am. It has been a long, long time. -Almost five years by the calendar, centuries by subjective time.</p> - -<p>I am Vera's husband, sitting by the light of a kerosene lamp in Dean -Milston's old study, which had been Benji's lab, writing. Benji and -Daisy got away and I got caught. But now I can smile about it. Now, -after nearly five years.</p> - -<p>You understand?</p> - -<p>With the power he got into his machine from the new power line, he -said he could go just five years at a jump. Of course, away from Vera. -Probably he figured on going further, that he would go the power limit -of five years, stop, and then jump again, and again, far enough for -complete safety.</p> - -<p>But I have had a lot more time to figure than he did. I am figuring on -a little party; a little reception in honor of our first intrepid time -traveler. A surprise party.</p> - -<p>It will be five years to the hour since Daisy and Benji left. Benji -will be the surprise, since only I know that he will pop up in our -midst. It will surprise Benji. It will surprise Vera—and our guests, -among whom I have included Sergeant (Captain now) Winesap and the -others of his squad.</p> - -<p>Eccentric, a party like that? I suppose. But, to Vera and the others, -it is a breakfast anniversary party—the anniversary of the very moment -of our engagement. Vera is flattered enough to be tolerant and even -pleased at this romantic notion. And, since I know I have only one -out and that it is coming, I am a dutiful—cringing and servile, that -is—husband. So Vera indulges me in a harmless eccentricity or two.</p> - -<p>My other little eccentricity is electric power—I don't favor it. I use -Benji's lab, the old dean's study, as my den. I claim to be writing a -historical novel. I need realism, atmosphere. I have had all electric -power lines removed from that entire section of the house. There is no -power. None.</p> - -<p>That's why I'm writing by lamplight.</p> - -<p>Our anniversary party will be here. The lamps and candles and the -dawn of a bright new day will be light enough when, to the total -astonishment of Vera and our guests, Benji and Daisy and the time rig -suddenly appear among us. I will greet them with enthusiasm—but this -will be as nothing to the greeting they will get from other sources. -Benji will work his dials and controls, frantically. Nothing will -happen. No power.</p> - -<p>Vera will step forward. The hell with whether the statute of -limitations may or may not have run out on Benji's assorted legal -crimes and misdemeanors. The wrath of Vera accepts no limitations.</p> - -<p>Benji will have run out of time and it will be my time then.</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Husband for My Wife, by William W. 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Stuart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A Husband for My Wife - -Author: William W. Stuart - -Release Date: March 15, 2016 [EBook #51460] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUSBAND FOR MY WIFE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - A HUSBAND FOR MY WIFE - - By WILLIAM W. STUART - - Illustrated by BURNS - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Magazine August 1960. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - - I admit it--he beat my time. But my day is coming. - Any minute now time is about to run out on him! - - -Soon, very soon now, the time will come for me to meet my wife's -husband. I can hardly wait. Every dog has his day and Professor Thurlow -Benjamin has just about had it. Every day has its dog, too, and I am -going to return to him with full five years' interest the bad time he -gave to me. The dog. - -Dog? Look, he stole my girl not once but twice. The second time he, you -might say, took his time to beat my time--and left me behind to the -bad time that belonged to him. Benji is--or he was and he will be--a -scientifically sneaky, two-timing dog, and a dog's life is what he gave -me. But now, after nearly five years, time is on my side. He will get -what, minute by minute, is coming to him not soon enough, but soon. - -Benji--Professor Thurlow Benjamin--was my oldest, closest friend. I -was his. We hated each other dearly in the way that only two boyhood -pals can and by chance or mischance that quality of bitter-friendly, -boyish rivalry never left our relationship. Why? A woman, naturally. - -The first time we met, he was a tall, gangling, red-headed, big-nosed -kid of nine. I, Bull (for Boulard) Benton, was shorter, stockier, -heavier. Maybe not handsome exactly, but clean cut, very clean cut. -Benji knocked a chip off my shoulder and I knocked his block off, but -not without collecting a few lumps doing it. From then on, we fought -together against anyone else. When no one else was handy, we fought -each other. And naturally we each wanted what the other had. - -After high school, we roomed together at Burnington University right -there in our home town, Belt City. Benji was a brain, a scholar. I was -an athlete. So he broke nearly every bone in his body trying to be a -six-foot-three, one-hundred-and-thirty-nine-pound scatback, while I -nearly sprained a brain that was deep, definitely deep, but maybe not -quite as quick on its feet as some, trying for scholarship. - -The last year and a half at the university, the competition between -us narrowed down to a battle for Vera Milston, old Dean Milston's -statuesque daughter. That was all a mistake. I can see it now. So can -Benji. But not then. - - * * * * * - -Dean Milston was the dourest, sourest, meanest old tyrant ever to -suspend a football captain for a couple of unimportant "D"s. One -afternoon in junior year at basketball practice--Benji was out, -dragging around a cast--Jocko Bunter bet me ten I didn't have the -nerve to date the dean's daughter. Well, hell, I'd seen her around, -visiting the dean as regularly as I had to. She was a lot of girl. -Tall, honey-blonde--a little on the regal, commanding side, and maybe -her lips were a mite set over a chin that the old man should have kept -to himself--but there are times when a young man doesn't analyze the -details as carefully as he might. She was built like nothing I had -tackled all fall. - -So I took a chance, got a date, won ten, and that might and should -have been that. She had a way of saying "No!" that made me think of -her father. But, the thing was, Benji didn't know about the bet. I -dated her once. So he had to date her twice. Again, I didn't analyze. I -jumped to the conclusion Benji had the hots for her and went to work -to cut him out. - -That kept us busy the next year and a half and I led all the way. -Vera and I got engaged at the spring prom to be married right after -my graduation--which improved the odds on my graduating considerably. -The dean was a grim old devil who considered Hamlet a comedy and could -refuse anything to anyone--except Vera, and how could I have known it -was fear rather than affection that made him give in to her? - -Anyway, perhaps the strain of passing me a diploma was too great. The -next day the old devil passed on himself, and no matter where he may be -sitting, I know he is happy as long as he can watch the others fry. But -I shouldn't grumble. He saved me, unintentional though it was. - -Vera, possibly having second thoughts as she looked over the Dean's -List, said she couldn't marry me till after a reasonable period of -mourning. The Army took me and rejected Benji. He stayed on for -post-graduate study in physics. I told you he was a brain. - -A brain, but not equally acute in all fields. When I got back to Belt -City three years later, Benji was already an assistant professor of -physics--and Vera's husband. They were settled in the old dean's -big, ancient house just off the campus and Benji was aiming--or being -aimed--at a distinguished academic career. I came back to town with the -idea of winding up the family insurance and real estate business and -pulling out, mostly to keep away from them. - -It wasn't, you understand, that I was carrying such a heavy torch for -Vera. She hadn't blighted my life; not then, that is. But it seemed -to me that living in town with her and Professor Thurlow Benjamin--a -gloating, triumphant Benji, laughing at me because he'd succeeded in -marrying my girl--would be a real annoyance. But, of course, when I hit -town I had to call them and they had to invite me to dinner. - -For one time, anyway, I figured I had to accept. I gritted my teeth and -went. I never had a sweeter, more enjoyable evening in all my life. - - * * * * * - -I got there about seven in the evening and walked up the steps to the -big old porch on the dean's house feeling a bit nervous and upset. I'd -walked up those same steps often enough before, feeling nervous and -upset, but this was different. I lifted the oversized brass knocker and -rapped. Vera's voice, coming from the back of the house someplace, cut -through the evening air. "Thurlow! Answer the door!" - -"Yes, sweets. I'm on my way, Vera hun bun." That was Benji. Hun bun, -yet! And his voice was misery. It cringed and whined. I grinned to -myself and began to feel more cheerful. - -Benji let me in. His glasses were thicker and his hair thinner and he -looked a lot older. But it was Benji, the same old lanky, gangling -redhead; yet not the same, too. He had a hang-dog look that was new -and suddenly I felt so good, I punched him playfully in the ribs. He -winced--and didn't even counter. If the fight hadn't gone out of him, -it had sure been watered down. We went on in to the parlor across -the hall from the dean's old study. Vera joined us. She didn't look -bad--at a glance. But if you checked right close, and I did, there was -something in her look--a sharpness I hadn't noticed before; her nose -seemed bigger, beak-like; the broad, solid shoulders; deep-down grooves -at the corners of her mouth. - -She threw her arms around me and kissed me. My temperature stayed -steady and cool. - -"Boulard! Boulard, darling! You look marvelous!" - -I felt great, too. "Vera, girl. You're as gorgeous as ever, radiant, -blooming, still the campus goddess. And Mrs. Thurlow Benjamin now, -hm-m? Old Benji is sure a lucky dog." - -Benji forced a hollow laugh. Vera smiled a positive agreement. - -Then Benji sort of coughed out a faint note of hope and pleaded, -"Vera, sweet, this is a--uh--an occasion, don't you agree, dear? Don't -you--ah--do you think maybe I ought to--fix us all a drink?" - -"Thurlow! You drink far too much! You had a highball before dinner at -Professor Dorman's only night before last." - -Almost--but not quite--I felt sorry for him. - -"Ah, well, Vera doll," I said, "this _is_ an occasion, after all. And I -_do_ want to drink a toast to you and Benji." - -"Hmph." - -"Especially you, the love of my life, lost now, but lovelier than ever." - -"Boulard!... Well, Thurlow, don't stand there like an idiot. Go mix us -some drinks. And mind the line on the bottle." - -And then she turned back with some more gush for me. I enjoyed it, -knowing now what I had been saved from. In fact, as I said, I enjoyed -the whole evening; my playing up to Vera made her just that much -rougher on Benji. Revenge on Benji plus relief at what I had escaped -made life seem pleasant, and right there and then I changed my mind -about leaving town. I decided to stay and settled down. - - * * * * * - -Well, I did settle, but not too far down. Instead of selling out Uncle -George's insurance and real estate firm, I went to work in it. It was -prosperous enough and light work. There were plenty of girls around -town if you got around, and I did. - -Looking back, those were the happy years. Naturally I kept seeing quite -a bit of Vera and Benji. Rubbing it in? Sure, why not? Hell, half the -pleasure in any success comes from giving a hard time to those who gave -you a hard time. It may not be nice, but it is normal. - -I lolled in the shade and laughed; Benji sweated and suffered. His -boss's whip cracked merrily. He plodded ahead in the University Physics -Department and fiddled around his lab whenever he could escape into it. - -Then there came a black Friday evening in early autumn. I was due at -Benji's for dinner, just him and me. Vera had gone up to Chicago that -morning to see her ever-dying Aunt Bella and do some shopping. She -would not be back till the next day so she called on me to keep an eye -on Benji. - -So I was due for a quietly pleasant early evening listening to Benji -talk about his sorrows. Then, I figured, Benji would go to his lab in -the old dean's study and I would go out on the town. I had a date, one -of the very best, Starlight Glowe, formerly Daisy Hanzel, formerly an -office clerk. She was a pert little strawberry blonde, cute, with a lot -of good humor and a lot of everything else too; about as unlike Vera -as a girl could be. That week she was between nightclub engagements, -back in her old home town. And back in the old groove with me, too. I -looked forward to the evening--first Benji's troubles and then my own -pleasures. - -I pulled up in front of Benji's old place just at dusk. A late working -lineman from Beltsville Power was fiddling around on the pole outside -Benji's lab room. "Hey, Mac," he hollered, "you going in there? Look, -tell the prof they'll cut it in at seven ayem, huh? Can't make it a -minute sooner." - -I nodded as I went up the steps and across the porch; knocked once. -Walked on in--and stopped dead in the hallway to stare up the stairs. -It was Benji, but not the Vera's Benji I was used to. He was dressed -in the evening clothes Vera got him to wear only at major faculty -functions. He carried a cane, wore a flower. Tonight he was Benji, man -about town, knight of the evening. Sharp. Cool. Cocky. - -He strutted on down the stairs and past me. He winked, grinned that -dirty, sneaky grin of his I remembered all too well from the old days. -At the door, he looked back over his shoulder, still grinning, and -said, "Stick around a minute, Bull boy. I have something to show you." -The door slammed shut. - - * * * * * - -I couldn't believe it; he wouldn't dare. Then I heard my car, my new -sport car, starting outside and I swore, grabbing the doorknob. - -"Wait, Bull. You couldn't catch me." - -I spun around. Damned if it wasn't old Benji, coming down the stairs -again just as though it wasn't impossible. This time he looked himself, -but worse. He had on an old lab smock and a new hangover. He looked -awful--but with a hint of satisfaction too, like remembering the time -he'd had getting into such lousy shape. - -"Well, Bull boy," he mumbled, wavering on down the steps, holding the -top of his head on with one hand, "come on out in the lab. Maybe we -could find a little nip. And I have something to show you." - -"So you said." - -"Eh? Oh, yes, so I did. Last night, when I was going out." - -"It was just now--only you went out all dressed up, and here you are -all beat up. What's this all about?" - -"Come _on_," he said with a flash of temper. "When I get a hair or two -of the dog, I'll explain it to you." - -I followed him into his lab, the dean's old study. It was the only -thing Benji could call his own. Vera let him have it on the off-chance -that he might find something important enough to give their social and -financial position a boost. - -In the lab, Benji fished an amber-filled flask from the wastebasket -under the old rolltop desk and poured himself a double, me a single, in -a couple of big test tubes. I only half saw him out of a corner of the -eye. - -What I was really looking at was a damned peculiar rig that filled up -about a third of the space along the side wall next to the kitchen. It -was--I couldn't figure it. It looked something like one of those jungle -gym outfits in the kids' playgrounds. But there were wires running from -it to half a dozen wall plugs, and a seat up in the middle with a bunch -of dials and things. - -It was all odd, and oddest was the way it all sort of shimmered and -blurred as I watched it. - -"What in hell is that?" I walked across the lab toward it, reaching out. - -"Better not touch it, Bull. You might knock something out." - -Since he put it like that, I raised my hand to grab hold of one of -the cross bars by the seat in the center of the thing--and there I -was resting comfortably on a small cloud in far outer space, watching -a great spiral nebula whirling in infinite majesty through the vast, -empty blackness, and I thought about the mystery of the universe. I -felt that if I could just reach out, I would have in my grasp the final -answer. But then it drifted away and the nebula slowly narrowed and -evolved into a great system of suns, planets, moons--and finally into -the big, old chandelier in the dean's study. - - * * * * * - -When it all seemed to stabilize at that point, I sat up a little -shakily. The room, Benji's lab now, was still there. I stood up and -felt lousy. My head ached. I looked around. Benji was sitting at the -desk slumped over, his head on his folded arms. The flask of whiskey, -half gone, was on the desk beside him. I emptied it out a little more, -into me, and checked my watch. Six o'clock and the sky showed gray -outside. I had been out all night. - -I put my foot on the base of Benji's swivel chair and shoved hard. The -chair rolled back, out from under him. He slumped down with a pleasing -thud on the floor. He woke up with a pained expression that helped my -headache a little. - -"Damn you, Benji," I said, "you did that out of spite, to break my date -with Daisy, I bet." - -He yawned. "I told you you'd better not touch it." - -"Because you knew then I'd have to go ahead and do it. It's a wonder, -with me knocked out, you didn't go try to steal my girl." - -"I did. I am." - -"You what?" - -"I did go out with Daisy. I am with her now." - -"Are you cracked? You are right here with me." - -"True, but I am simultaneously with Daisy." He grinned reflectively. -"And I don't mind saying Daisy is much better company than you.... Now -wait, Bull. I know this is difficult for you to grasp, but it is a fact -that I am in two places at the same time--only on different circuits. -This is big, Bull, really big! After you help me with one or two -details, I am going to share it with you. Listen to me." - -Sometimes I can be sickeningly gullible. "All right. Start explaining." - -"Think, Bull! Last night you saw me go out the front door. At -substantially the same time, you also saw me, dressed quite -differently, come down the hall stairs. It should be obvious. I have -built a time machine." - -I looked down at my watch and then back at him, with raised eyebrows. - -"No, Bull. Not a machine for telling time; a machine for traveling -through time or, actually, more or less around it. You see my machine -there." - -The jungle gym rig was still at the side of the room, blurred and -shimmering. "Yeah, I see it. And don't bother telling me not to touch -it again. I won't." - -"Your own fault. Ordinarily you could touch even one of the bars; it is -perfectly safe. But just now the machine is there twice. That creates -further static force fields." - -"Benji--" - -"Look at it. Looks as though you were seeing double, hm-m? And you -are. You see, Bull, this coming morning at ten to seven, I took--and -will take--the machine and I traveled back to ten to five yesterday -afternoon. At that time the machine was already there. Actually, I -should have moved it just before I used it this morning, to limit -the overlaps. But I was rushed. You'll see. Daisy and I will be here -shortly." He grinned. It was an expression I had never particularly -cared for. "Have another drink, Bull." - -That was an expression I liked better. I did have one. His story was -unbelievable. But I was beginning to believe it--partly because of the -machine there and the fact that I had seen two of him practically at -once the evening before, partly because I knew Benji would be capable -of almost anything if it would let him steal a girl from me and get -away from Vera besides. - - * * * * * - -He took a short nip himself and went on. "I won't strain your limited -facilities by trying to give you the technical side of it. More or -less, it is a matter of setting up the proper number of counteracting -magnetic force fields, properly focused, in a proper relationship each -with the other to bend the normal space factors in such a way as to -circumvent time. Is that clear?" - -"Not to me," I said. "Is it to you?" - -"Not altogether. But what is clear is this. My machine works. I can -jump through time. To any time." - -"Got any special messages from Cleopatra?" - -"The amount or period of time is a question of power. With only the -regular house current I have connected now, about a day at a step is -the limit. That is as far as I have gone. Of course I could go one day -and then another and then another, forward or back, indefinitely. With -more current, there would be no such limitations." - -"How about taking a run up to the end of the week and let me know how -the World Series is going to come out?" - -"Ah, now you begin to see! I told you this is a big thing--tremendous! -And all I ask is just a little help from you, and you will share in the -proceeds." - -"What, me help? How?" - -"I had the power company run in a special power line yesterday. It will -cut in this morning at seven. With this added power, the machine can -travel five years. Five years at a jump, which as far as I--we, that -is--want to go." - -"Well, just suppose what you say is true, Benji. If it is, then you -used your sneaky machine to two-time me with Daisy last night, eh? I -like that. Vera will like that, too. But you expect to bribe me with a -share in your rig to help you out. How? With what?" - -"Bull, it's like this. I did go out last night, my first time in a -long time. You know Vera. So, considering the past few years, you can -understand that I was--uh--maybe a bit reckless last night, ran into a -few little problems. Nothing serious, of course. And besides, with your -help, the police won't be able--" - -"The police?" - -"Yes. But, Bull, you've been right here with me all night. You can -swear to that. So I couldn't possibly have driven your car up the steps -and through the glass doors into the ancient history section of the -museum." - -"My car!" - -"Now, Bull, we'll make money--you can get _lots_ of cars. And I didn't -mean to smash up yours. I simply wanted to give Daisy a rough idea -of a time trip back into the past. But you can tell the police I was -right here when someone broke out through the window by the Neanderthal -exhibit while the police were coming in the front door after us. So -someone else must have driven off in the police car." - -"You stole the police car?" I yelped. - - * * * * * - -"Oh, we won't keep it," he said airily. "But perhaps they are upset -about our borrowing it and about the duet of 'As Time Goes By' that -Daisy and I sang over the police radio." - -"Lord! And when did you finish all this fun and games?" I demanded. - -"When? Let's see. It's 6:40 A.M. So we--Daisy and I--are on our way -back here now. In the patrol car." - -"Now? You and Daisy? In the patrol car?" - -"The one we borrowed. The police--they seem to have a lot of cars--are -not far behind. I believe they think they recognized me. You can tell -them how wrong they are." - -He stopped to listen. I heard it too, a sound of sirens in the -distance, coming closer. - -"So, Benji. In a minute or so, you--a second edition of you, when one -has always been plenty--you are coming here, with all the cops in town -on your tail, _and_ with my girl. And you expect me to step forward -and, lying in my teeth, tell these enraged cops that you are innocent. -This is quite a request, Benji." - -There was the roar of a car racing down the quiet, Saturday-dawn -street. Benji looked at me anxiously. "Here we come. Bull, please! You -wouldn't turn me over to the police. Would you?" - -No, I didn't want the cops to get him. I wanted to get him myself--and -let Vera finish him. - -There was a sound of running footsteps up the porch stairs. The hallway -door opened. Arm in arm, laughing like a pair of idiots, in came -Benji--Benji II--and my girl, Daisy. They staggered across the room. -Benji II threw his arms around Daisy and kissed her with conviction and -assurance. Then, quickly, he stepped away from her and walked over to -the time-machine rig. - -"Hurry it up," said the first Benji, "quick. The power will cut off any -second now, until they switch in the new line." - -Drunk or not, Benji II knew what he was doing. He dragged the straight -chair by the wall to the side of the machine and climbed it. He swayed, -almost fell. Then, without touching any of the bars, he managed to -step from the chair into the seat of the machine rig. He fiddled with -a dial or knob--and vanished. The double exposure look of the machine -disappeared too. - -"Benji," said Daisy, staring blankly at the machine. - -"Daisy," said the leftover Benji, walking toward her. The sound of -sirens outside sounded loud and louder--and then moaned to a stop in -front of the house. - -"Benji," Daisy said again, giving me and the sirens about as much -attention as an individual ant gets at a family picnic, "Benji, it was -_true_ then! All that you were telling me about going through time was -true! And we can--" - -"Of course, sweet. I told you I'd be with you, that everything will be -all right, with good old Bull to help us. What time have you, Bull?" - -"Hah?" I was dazed. - -"The time? What time is it?" - -"It's just about seven. But--" - -Heavy footsteps pounded up the front stairs and across the porch. The -front door knocker thundered. - -"Bull," said Benji, "Bull, old friend. I think there may be someone at -the door. Would you see who it is?" - - * * * * * - -I don't know why I didn't make him go answer. I still don't know. But -I walked out into the hall from the lab and opened the front door--and -nearly got trampled by a squad of four cops, headed by big, tough -Sergeant Winesap. There were, I saw through the open door, two squad -cars parked out front and another coming down the block, just behind a -taxi. - -"Oh," said Winesap, "it's you, Benton. Say, you weren't in this crime -wave, too, were you? We only saw two, that madman friend of yours, -Professor Benjamin, and the girl, in your car.... Look, you know what -they did? They knocked off three hydrants whooping about time and the -fountain of youth, and wrecked the museum; and the police car--and what -they did to Officer Durlin.... Maybe you weren't in on it, Benton, but -we know they came in here. Friend or no friend, don't try to obstruct -justice. Where are they?" - -"Yes, officer?" inquired Benji, bland as could be, from the lab door. -"What seems to be the trouble? Did you wish to see me?" - -His manner must have been disarming. At least they didn't shoot him -on the spot. They just advanced, loosening guns in holsters, like a -thoughtful lynching party. Benji strolled back into the lab and over to -Daisy, who was standing by the machine at the side of the room. - -The officers were confused. Benji, sober or nearly so, in his old lab -smock, looked a good deal different to them from the wild man they'd -been chasing all over town. But there was Daisy in her evening gown. - -"That's them, all right," said a young rookie with a fine-blooming -shiner. "She's the one that threw the eggplants. I'd know her anywhere." - -"And that's Benjamin," said Winesap, grimly. "Okay, both of you, don't -try to run. Come along and no more nonsense." - -Benji held up one hand--and slipped the other arm around Daisy's waist. -"Gentlemen, please! I have no idea what this is about. But surely it -can have nothing to do with me. Mr. Benton and I have been right here -in my laboratory all night, working. He can verify that." - -They looked at me. I opened my mouth. I didn't say a word. - -Vera did. She stood there in the doorway. It must have been her in the -cab, coming back bright and early from Chicago. She took in the whole -scene. Benji. Daisy. Police. Me. - -"Benji!!!" she said. You couldn't imagine what she put into that one -word. - -Everyone turned then to look at her. Slowly and with infinite menace, -she started across the room. - -"Now, dear," said Benji nervously, "now, sweet, take it easy. This is -only a little experiment. Not what you are thinking at all." - -We swung back toward Benji. He had boosted Daisy onto the seat of his -time rig and swung up beside her. Vera yelled and started to run toward -them. - -Benji twisted a knob and grinned. "Good-by now," he said. And they were -gone. - -Benji was gone again. Daisy was gone. The whole rig was gone. - - * * * * * - -Vera, looking a little forlorn and foolish, ended up her dash stumbling -into the empty space where the thing had been. I expect we all looked a -little foolish, standing there, gaping. But I had to carry foolishness -to the ultimate of idiocy. - -Vera at that single moment seemed sort of sad and helpless. And, Lord -knows, I was mixed up. I walked over and put an arm around Vera, -saying, "There, there, Vera, hon. It's all right. I'm here." - -I should never have called her attention to it. There I was--and, the -hell of it was I had kept playing up to her all this time just to -needle Benji. When, that morning, I put my arm around her, I never had -a chance. - -I was married. To Vera. I still am. It has been a long, long time. -Almost five years by the calendar, centuries by subjective time. - -I am Vera's husband, sitting by the light of a kerosene lamp in Dean -Milston's old study, which had been Benji's lab, writing. Benji and -Daisy got away and I got caught. But now I can smile about it. Now, -after nearly five years. - -You understand? - -With the power he got into his machine from the new power line, he -said he could go just five years at a jump. Of course, away from Vera. -Probably he figured on going further, that he would go the power limit -of five years, stop, and then jump again, and again, far enough for -complete safety. - -But I have had a lot more time to figure than he did. I am figuring on -a little party; a little reception in honor of our first intrepid time -traveler. A surprise party. - -It will be five years to the hour since Daisy and Benji left. Benji -will be the surprise, since only I know that he will pop up in our -midst. It will surprise Benji. It will surprise Vera--and our guests, -among whom I have included Sergeant (Captain now) Winesap and the -others of his squad. - -Eccentric, a party like that? I suppose. But, to Vera and the others, -it is a breakfast anniversary party--the anniversary of the very moment -of our engagement. Vera is flattered enough to be tolerant and even -pleased at this romantic notion. And, since I know I have only one -out and that it is coming, I am a dutiful--cringing and servile, that -is--husband. So Vera indulges me in a harmless eccentricity or two. - -My other little eccentricity is electric power--I don't favor it. I use -Benji's lab, the old dean's study, as my den. I claim to be writing a -historical novel. I need realism, atmosphere. I have had all electric -power lines removed from that entire section of the house. There is no -power. None. - -That's why I'm writing by lamplight. - -Our anniversary party will be here. The lamps and candles and the -dawn of a bright new day will be light enough when, to the total -astonishment of Vera and our guests, Benji and Daisy and the time rig -suddenly appear among us. I will greet them with enthusiasm--but this -will be as nothing to the greeting they will get from other sources. -Benji will work his dials and controls, frantically. Nothing will -happen. No power. - -Vera will step forward. The hell with whether the statute of -limitations may or may not have run out on Benji's assorted legal -crimes and misdemeanors. The wrath of Vera accepts no limitations. - -Benji will have run out of time and it will be my time then. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Husband for My Wife, by William W. 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