As captured January 23, 2025

8 files changed, 2730 insertions, 1784 deletions

diff --git a/65035-0.txt b/65035-0.txt
index c6b3fee..34cec60 100644
--- a/65035-0.txt
+++ b/65035-0.txt
@@ -1,794 +1,423 @@
-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig

-

-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

-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before

-using this eBook.

-

-Title: Inheritance

-

-Author: Edward W. Ludwig

-

-Release Date: April 09, 2021 [eBook #65035]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: UTF-8

-

-Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

-             Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

-

-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***

-

-

-

-

-           He had been in the cave for only a short time it

-           seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he

-          knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange--

-

-                              INHERITANCE

-

-                          By Edward W. Ludwig

-

-           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

-              Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy

-                             October 1950

-         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that

-         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

-

-

-It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of

-the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone

-as a symbol of His mercy.

-

-Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and

-letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as

-consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.

-

-"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you

-and me and the pup!"

-

-His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living

-warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet

-came a feeble bark.

-

-Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,

-Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"

-

-He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the

-thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.

-

-But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly

-there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic

-barking.

-

-"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"

-

-Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock

-in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into

-his face, and a strength returned to him.

-

-Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a

-hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light

-of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his

-aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the

-clean sweet air deep into his lungs.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that

-hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and

-you have to start exploring caves."

-

-He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I

-got lost, too."

-

-Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.

-

-"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."

-

-Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away

-by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing

-hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as

-ancient parchment.

-

-As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and

-little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't

-so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world

-with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of

-atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.

-He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling

-automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,

-senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.

-

-That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the

-outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip

-every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with

-his pension check from World War II.

-

-But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the

-green, growing things of Earth.

-

-Sandy barked again.

-

-"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."

-

-But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His

-barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.

-

-"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"

-

-Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at

-the dog, not understanding. To him came a _feeling_. Something _was_

-wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was

-intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.

-

-He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his

-mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared

-boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."

-

-He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that

-stretched across the valley. He sang:

-

-    "We're happy, so happy,

-    Don't want to reach a star;

-    We're happy, always happy,

-    Just the way we are."

-

-Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in

-a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand

-battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap

-commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the

-woods, but that tune--of all the dubious products of civilization--had

-somehow stuck in his memory.

-

-Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had

-seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet--so

-incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the

-highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of

-elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.

-

-And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no

-skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of

-gyro-planes. There was only silence.

-

-He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars

-were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side

-of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly

-little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But

-all were motionless.

-

-"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"

-

-Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,

-whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup

-in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.

-

-There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were

-as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But

-their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were

-dead.

-

-"We--We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the

-village."

-

-He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent

-occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen

-cattle and sheep and horses.

-

-There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was

-a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision

-and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think

-and reason, for thought and reason could bring only--madness.

-

-"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.

-

-At the village he found out--nothing. Because there, too, was only a

-silence and the white, still people.

-

-"Perhaps in the city--" he murmured. "Yes, the city."

-

-The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which

-there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,

-nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance

-came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he

-drove....

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no

-reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no

-movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad

-avenues, the theatres, the parks--all seemed hollow and unreal, like a

-desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering

-touch of a breeze.

-

-Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They

-headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."

-

-He spied the office of _The Times_. "Maybe we can find out something in

-there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."

-

-He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,

-typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.

-

-Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a

-chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one

-stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.

-

-Martin read the typewritten words aloud:

-

-"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,

-tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has

-reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we

-are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas

-is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because

-of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity

-is--" The message broke off.

-

-Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's

-accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here

-into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's

-love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side

-by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's

-divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and

-a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great

-men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by

-silence.

-

-Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder

-why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the

-others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the _last_ news story ever

-written--and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."

-

-Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy

-welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to

-lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.

-

-"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.

-"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes

-widened slightly. "Course, there _might_ be somebody else, somewhere.

-The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,

-somehow."

-

-He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand

-to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds

-that we're the last ones alive."

-

-_The last ones alive._ The thought was like flame in his mind. The

-numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there

-came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he

-dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.

-

-_A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without

-seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two

-choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or

-madness, suicide or madness...._

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at

-last he thought, _I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll

-make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way._

-

-But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as

-though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.

-

-"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."

-And to himself he said, _This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever

-have._

-

-He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign

-not far away--_Cafe Royale_. It was a magnificent restaurant, the

-carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's

-palace. Three days ago--if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City

-then--he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,

-hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned

-waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.

-

-But now--well, why not?

-

-He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of

-white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.

-The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals

-depicting the rise of Western Civilization--first, the pioneers, the

-cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of

-spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.

-

-Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?

-We should have come here a long time ago."

-

-Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines--and

-it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."

-

-Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,

-were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean

-much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well

-enjoy it."

-

-He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and

-that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest

-hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic--not at all like the screeching from the

-second-hand video he'd owned once.

-

-While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking

-man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was

-all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before

-him--"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.

-

-He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.

-"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see

-what's in that kitchen."

-

-Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze

-wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,

-turkeys, rabbits, hams.

-

-"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess

-T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"

-

-Sandy barked.

-

-Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark

-gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with

-strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,

-tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.

-

-Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it

-wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any

-more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."

-

-He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was

-not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or

-two--if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not

-an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.

-

-He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,

-transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.

-

-"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be

-thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the

-men and women and children--"

-

-For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening

-grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.

-It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of

-crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a

-thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.

-

-"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't

-try very hard to stop it."

-

-He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it

-runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves

-first."

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns

-and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright

-woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and--

-

-"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as

-how there's nothing left alive--'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em

-though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of

-old houses." He chuckled softly.

-

-His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet

-there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the

-cave. I'll bet the fish--or a lot of 'em--escaped, too!"

-

-He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki

-trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes

-in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.

-

-"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.

-How'd you like that, Sandy?"

-

-Sandy barked eagerly.

-

-       *       *       *       *       *

-

-He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea

-of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old

-Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington

-Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel

-Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone

-Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime

-to see them all!

-

-"You know, Sandy, if a man _didn't_ go mad from being alone, he could

-see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a

-car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,

-get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,

-'nough to last a lifetime--a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right

-into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President

-lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or

-go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be

-bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept

-the bones which never hurt nobody."

-

-He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on

-this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast

-to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.

-And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.

-Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"

-

-Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark

-that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.

-

-"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,

-really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years

-old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.

-Maybe longer than I will."

-

-He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness

-within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,

-there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and

-a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest

-of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed

-of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey

-through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.

-

-He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at

-his heels, and he was singing:

-

-    "We're happy, so happy,

-    Don't want to reach a star;

-    We're happy, always happy,

-    Just the way we are...."

-

-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***

-

-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 an eBook, except by following

-the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use

-of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for

-copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very

-easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation

-of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project

-Gutenberg eBooks 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 other than 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 will 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 website

-(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 the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager 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 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 website

-and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

-

-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg

-Literary Archive Foundation

-

-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without

-widespread 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 website which has the main PG search

-facility: www.gutenberg.org

-

-This website 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.

+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 65035 ***
+
+           He had been in the cave for only a short time it
+           seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he
+          knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange--
+
+                              INHERITANCE
+
+                          By Edward W. Ludwig
+
+           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+              Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
+                             October 1950
+         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
+
+
+It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of
+the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone
+as a symbol of His mercy.
+
+Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and
+letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as
+consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.
+
+"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you
+and me and the pup!"
+
+His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living
+warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet
+came a feeble bark.
+
+Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,
+Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"
+
+He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the
+thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.
+
+But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly
+there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic
+barking.
+
+"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"
+
+Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock
+in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into
+his face, and a strength returned to him.
+
+Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a
+hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light
+of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his
+aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the
+clean sweet air deep into his lungs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that
+hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and
+you have to start exploring caves."
+
+He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I
+got lost, too."
+
+Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.
+
+"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."
+
+Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away
+by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing
+hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as
+ancient parchment.
+
+As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and
+little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't
+so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world
+with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of
+atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.
+He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling
+automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,
+senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.
+
+That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the
+outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip
+every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with
+his pension check from World War II.
+
+But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the
+green, growing things of Earth.
+
+Sandy barked again.
+
+"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."
+
+But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His
+barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.
+
+"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"
+
+Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at
+the dog, not understanding. To him came a _feeling_. Something _was_
+wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was
+intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.
+
+He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his
+mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared
+boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."
+
+He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that
+stretched across the valley. He sang:
+
+    "We're happy, so happy,
+    Don't want to reach a star;
+    We're happy, always happy,
+    Just the way we are."
+
+Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in
+a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand
+battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap
+commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the
+woods, but that tune--of all the dubious products of civilization--had
+somehow stuck in his memory.
+
+Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had
+seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet--so
+incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the
+highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of
+elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.
+
+And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no
+skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of
+gyro-planes. There was only silence.
+
+He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars
+were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side
+of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly
+little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But
+all were motionless.
+
+"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"
+
+Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,
+whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup
+in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.
+
+There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were
+as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But
+their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were
+dead.
+
+"We--We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the
+village."
+
+He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent
+occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen
+cattle and sheep and horses.
+
+There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was
+a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision
+and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think
+and reason, for thought and reason could bring only--madness.
+
+"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.
+
+At the village he found out--nothing. Because there, too, was only a
+silence and the white, still people.
+
+"Perhaps in the city--" he murmured. "Yes, the city."
+
+The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which
+there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,
+nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance
+came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he
+drove....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no
+reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no
+movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad
+avenues, the theatres, the parks--all seemed hollow and unreal, like a
+desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering
+touch of a breeze.
+
+Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They
+headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."
+
+He spied the office of _The Times_. "Maybe we can find out something in
+there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."
+
+He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,
+typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.
+
+Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a
+chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one
+stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.
+
+Martin read the typewritten words aloud:
+
+"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,
+tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has
+reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we
+are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas
+is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because
+of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity
+is--" The message broke off.
+
+Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's
+accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here
+into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's
+love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side
+by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's
+divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and
+a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great
+men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by
+silence.
+
+Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder
+why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the
+others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the _last_ news story ever
+written--and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."
+
+Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy
+welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to
+lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.
+
+"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.
+"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes
+widened slightly. "Course, there _might_ be somebody else, somewhere.
+The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,
+somehow."
+
+He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand
+to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds
+that we're the last ones alive."
+
+_The last ones alive._ The thought was like flame in his mind. The
+numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there
+came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he
+dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.
+
+_A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without
+seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two
+choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or
+madness, suicide or madness...._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at
+last he thought, _I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll
+make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way._
+
+But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as
+though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.
+
+"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."
+And to himself he said, _This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever
+have._
+
+He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign
+not far away--_Cafe Royale_. It was a magnificent restaurant, the
+carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's
+palace. Three days ago--if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City
+then--he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,
+hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned
+waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.
+
+But now--well, why not?
+
+He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of
+white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.
+The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals
+depicting the rise of Western Civilization--first, the pioneers, the
+cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of
+spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.
+
+Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?
+We should have come here a long time ago."
+
+Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines--and
+it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."
+
+Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,
+were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean
+much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well
+enjoy it."
+
+He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and
+that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest
+hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic--not at all like the screeching from the
+second-hand video he'd owned once.
+
+While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking
+man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was
+all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before
+him--"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.
+
+He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.
+"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see
+what's in that kitchen."
+
+Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze
+wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,
+turkeys, rabbits, hams.
+
+"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess
+T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"
+
+Sandy barked.
+
+Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark
+gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with
+strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,
+tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.
+
+Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it
+wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any
+more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."
+
+He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was
+not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or
+two--if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not
+an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.
+
+He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,
+transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.
+
+"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be
+thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the
+men and women and children--"
+
+For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening
+grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.
+It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of
+crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a
+thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.
+
+"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't
+try very hard to stop it."
+
+He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it
+runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves
+first."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns
+and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright
+woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and--
+
+"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as
+how there's nothing left alive--'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em
+though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of
+old houses." He chuckled softly.
+
+His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet
+there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the
+cave. I'll bet the fish--or a lot of 'em--escaped, too!"
+
+He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki
+trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes
+in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.
+
+"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.
+How'd you like that, Sandy?"
+
+Sandy barked eagerly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea
+of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old
+Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington
+Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel
+Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone
+Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime
+to see them all!
+
+"You know, Sandy, if a man _didn't_ go mad from being alone, he could
+see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a
+car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,
+get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,
+'nough to last a lifetime--a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right
+into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President
+lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or
+go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be
+bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept
+the bones which never hurt nobody."
+
+He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on
+this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast
+to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.
+And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.
+Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"
+
+Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark
+that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.
+
+"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,
+really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years
+old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.
+Maybe longer than I will."
+
+He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness
+within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,
+there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and
+a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest
+of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed
+of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey
+through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.
+
+He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at
+his heels, and he was singing:
+
+    "We're happy, so happy,
+    Don't want to reach a star;
+    We're happy, always happy,
+    Just the way we are...."
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 65035 ***
diff --git a/65035-h/65035-h.htm b/65035-h/65035-h.htm
index 87fb338..0c26931 100644
--- a/65035-h/65035-h.htm
+++ b/65035-h/65035-h.htm
@@ -1,990 +1,523 @@
-<!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 Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig.

-    </title>

-    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />

-

-    <style type="text/css">

-

-body {

-    margin-left: 10%;

-    margin-right: 10%;

-}

-

-    h1,h2 {

-    text-align: center; /* all headings centered */

-    clear: both;

-}

-

-p {

-    margin-top: .51em;

-    text-align: justify;

-    margin-bottom: .49em;

-}

-

-hr {

-    width: 33%;

-    margin-top: 2em;

-    margin-bottom: 2em;

-    margin-left: 33.5%;

-    margin-right: 33.5%;

-    clear: both;

-}

-

-hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}

-hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;}

-

-.center   {text-align: center;}

-

-.right   {text-align: right;}

-

-/* Images */

-.figcenter   {

-    margin: auto;

-    text-align: center;

-}

-

-.poetry .stanza

-{

-  margin: 1em auto;

-}

-

-.poetry .verse

-{

-  padding-left: 3em;

-}

-

-div.titlepage {

-  text-align: center;

-  page-break-before: always;

-  page-break-after: always;

-}

-

-div.titlepage p {

-  text-align: center;

-  text-indent: 0em;

-  font-weight: bold;

-  line-height: 1.5;

-  margin-top: 3em;

-}

-

-    </style>

-  </head>

-<body>

-

-<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you

-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the

-country where you are located before using this eBook.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Inheritance</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward W. Ludwig</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 09, 2021 [eBook #65035]</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div>

-

-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***</div>

-

-

-<div class="titlepage">

-

-<p>He had been in the cave for only a short time it<br />

-seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he<br />

-knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange&mdash;</p>

-

-<h1>INHERITANCE</h1>

-

-<h2>By Edward W. Ludwig</h2>

-

-<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />

-Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br />

-October 1950<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>It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of

-the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone

-as a symbol of His mercy.</p>

-

-<p>Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and

-letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as

-consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.</p>

-

-<p>"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you

-and me and the pup!"</p>

-

-<p>His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living

-warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet

-came a feeble bark.</p>

-

-<p>Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,

-Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"</p>

-

-<p>He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the

-thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.</p>

-

-<p>But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly

-there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic

-barking.</p>

-

-<p>"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"</p>

-

-<p>Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock

-in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into

-his face, and a strength returned to him.</p>

-

-<p>Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a

-hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light

-of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his

-aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the

-clean sweet air deep into his lungs.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that

-hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and

-you have to start exploring caves."</p>

-

-<p>He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I

-got lost, too."</p>

-

-<p>Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.</p>

-

-<p>"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."</p>

-

-<p>Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away

-by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing

-hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as

-ancient parchment.</p>

-

-<p>As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and

-little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't

-so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world

-with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of

-atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.

-He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling

-automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,

-senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.</p>

-

-<p>That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the

-outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip

-every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with

-his pension check from World War II.</p>

-

-<p>But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the

-green, growing things of Earth.</p>

-

-<p>Sandy barked again.</p>

-

-<p>"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."</p>

-

-<p>But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His

-barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.</p>

-

-<p>"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"</p>

-

-<p>Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at

-the dog, not understanding. To him came a <i>feeling</i>. Something <i>was</i>

-wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was

-intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.</p>

-

-<p>He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his

-mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared

-boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."</p>

-

-<p>He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that

-stretched across the valley. He sang:</p>

-

-<div class="poetry">

-  <div class="stanza">

-    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are.</i>"</div>

-</div></div>

-

-<p>Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in

-a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand

-battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap

-commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the

-woods, but that tune&mdash;of all the dubious products of civilization&mdash;had

-somehow stuck in his memory.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had

-seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet&mdash;so

-incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the

-highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of

-elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.</p>

-

-<p>And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no

-skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of

-gyro-planes. There was only silence.</p>

-

-<p>He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars

-were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side

-of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly

-little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But

-all were motionless.</p>

-

-<p>"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"</p>

-

-<p>Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,

-whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup

-in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.</p>

-

-<p>There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were

-as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But

-their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were

-dead.</p>

-

-<p>"We&mdash;We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the

-village."</p>

-

-<p>He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent

-occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen

-cattle and sheep and horses.</p>

-

-<p>There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was

-a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision

-and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think

-and reason, for thought and reason could bring only&mdash;madness.</p>

-

-<p>"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.</p>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<div class="figcenter">

-  <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/>

-</div>

-

-<hr class="chap" />

-

-<p>At the village he found out&mdash;nothing. Because there, too, was only a

-silence and the white, still people.</p>

-

-<p>"Perhaps in the city&mdash;" he murmured. "Yes, the city."</p>

-

-<p>The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which

-there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,

-nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance

-came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he

-drove....</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no

-reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no

-movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad

-avenues, the theatres, the parks&mdash;all seemed hollow and unreal, like a

-desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering

-touch of a breeze.</p>

-

-<p>Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They

-headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."</p>

-

-<p>He spied the office of <i>The Times</i>. "Maybe we can find out something in

-there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."</p>

-

-<p>He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,

-typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.</p>

-

-<p>Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a

-chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one

-stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.</p>

-

-<p>Martin read the typewritten words aloud:</p>

-

-<p>"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,

-tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has

-reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we

-are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas

-is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because

-of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity

-is&mdash;" The message broke off.</p>

-

-<p>Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's

-accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here

-into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's

-love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side

-by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's

-divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and

-a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great

-men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by

-silence.</p>

-

-<p>Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder

-why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the

-others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the <i>last</i> news story ever

-written&mdash;and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."</p>

-

-<p>Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy

-welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to

-lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.</p>

-

-<p>"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.

-"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes

-widened slightly. "Course, there <i>might</i> be somebody else, somewhere.

-The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,

-somehow."</p>

-

-<p>He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand

-to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds

-that we're the last ones alive."</p>

-

-<p><i>The last ones alive.</i> The thought was like flame in his mind. The

-numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there

-came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he

-dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.</p>

-

-<p><i>A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without

-seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two

-choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or

-madness, suicide or madness....</i></p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at

-last he thought, <i>I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll

-make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way.</i></p>

-

-<p>But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as

-though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.</p>

-

-<p>"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."

-And to himself he said, <i>This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever

-have.</i></p>

-

-<p>He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign

-not far away&mdash;<i>Cafe Royale</i>. It was a magnificent restaurant, the

-carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's

-palace. Three days ago&mdash;if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City

-then&mdash;he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,

-hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned

-waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.</p>

-

-<p>But now&mdash;well, why not?</p>

-

-<p>He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of

-white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.

-The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals

-depicting the rise of Western Civilization&mdash;first, the pioneers, the

-cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of

-spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.</p>

-

-<p>Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?

-We should have come here a long time ago."</p>

-

-<p>Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines&mdash;and

-it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."</p>

-

-<p>Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,

-were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean

-much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well

-enjoy it."</p>

-

-<p>He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and

-that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest

-hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic&mdash;not at all like the screeching from the

-second-hand video he'd owned once.</p>

-

-<p>While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking

-man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was

-all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before

-him&mdash;"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.</p>

-

-<p>He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.

-"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see

-what's in that kitchen."</p>

-

-<p>Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze

-wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,

-turkeys, rabbits, hams.</p>

-

-<p>"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess

-T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"</p>

-

-<p>Sandy barked.</p>

-

-<p>Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark

-gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with

-strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,

-tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.</p>

-

-<p>Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it

-wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any

-more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."</p>

-

-<p>He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was

-not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or

-two&mdash;if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not

-an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.</p>

-

-<p>He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,

-transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.</p>

-

-<p>"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be

-thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the

-men and women and children&mdash;"</p>

-

-<p>For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening

-grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.

-It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of

-crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a

-thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.</p>

-

-<p>"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't

-try very hard to stop it."</p>

-

-<p>He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it

-runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves

-first."</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns

-and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright

-woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as

-how there's nothing left alive&mdash;'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em

-though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of

-old houses." He chuckled softly.</p>

-

-<p>His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet

-there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the

-cave. I'll bet the fish&mdash;or a lot of 'em&mdash;escaped, too!"</p>

-

-<p>He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki

-trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes

-in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.</p>

-

-<p>"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.

-How'd you like that, Sandy?"</p>

-

-<p>Sandy barked eagerly.</p>

-

-<hr class="tb" />

-

-<p>He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea

-of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old

-Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington

-Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel

-Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone

-Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime

-to see them all!</p>

-

-<p>"You know, Sandy, if a man <i>didn't</i> go mad from being alone, he could

-see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a

-car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,

-get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,

-'nough to last a lifetime&mdash;a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right

-into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President

-lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or

-go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be

-bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept

-the bones which never hurt nobody."</p>

-

-<p>He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on

-this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast

-to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.

-And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.

-Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"</p>

-

-<p>Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark

-that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.</p>

-

-<p>"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,

-really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years

-old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.

-Maybe longer than I will."</p>

-

-<p>He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness

-within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,

-there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and

-a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest

-of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed

-of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey

-through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.</p>

-

-<p>He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at

-his heels, and he was singing:</p>

-

-<div class="poetry">

-  <div class="stanza">

-    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>

-    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are....</i>"</div>

-</div></div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***</div>

-<div style='text-align:left'>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Updated editions will replace the previous one&#8212;the old editions will

-be renamed.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG&#8482;

-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,

-and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following

-the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use

-of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for

-copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very

-easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation

-of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project

-Gutenberg eBooks 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br />

-<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br />

-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span>

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-To protect the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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 &#8220;Project

-Gutenberg&#8221;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; License available with this file or online at

-www.gutenberg.org/license.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>

-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-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&#8482; electronic works in your

-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.B. &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; 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&#8482; 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&#8482; electronic works if you follow the terms of this

-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&#8220;the

-Foundation&#8221; or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection

-of Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; mission of promoting

-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; License when

-you share it without charge with others.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; work. The Foundation makes no

-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any

-country other than the United States.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other

-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License must appear

-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg&#8482; work (any work

-on which the phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; appears, or with which the

-phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; is associated) is accessed, displayed,

-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

-</div>

-

-<blockquote>

-  <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-    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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you

-    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws

-    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

-  </div>

-</blockquote>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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 &#8220;Project

-Gutenberg&#8221; 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&#8482;

-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; License for all works

-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the

-beginning of this work.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this

-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg&#8482;.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; License.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; work in a format

-other than &#8220;Plain Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other format used in the official

-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg&#8482; website

-(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 &#8220;Plain

-Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other form. Any alternate format must include the

-full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg&#8482; works

-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works

-provided that:

-</div>

-

-<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'>

-    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>

-        &bull; You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from

-        the use of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works calculated using the method

-        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed

-        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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, &#8220;Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg

-        Literary Archive Foundation.&#8221;

-    </div>

-

-    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>

-        &bull; 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&#8482;

-        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&#8482;

-        works.

-    </div>

-

-    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>

-        &bull; 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.

-    </div>

-

-    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>

-        &bull; You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free

-        distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works.

-    </div>

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project

-Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work or group of works on different terms than

-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing

-from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of

-the Project Gutenberg&#8482; trademark. Contact the Foundation as set

-forth in Section 3 below.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.F.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may

-contain &#8220;Defects,&#8221; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &#8220;Right

-of Replacement or Refund&#8221; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project

-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project

-Gutenberg&#8482; trademark, and any other party distributing a Project

-Gutenberg&#8482; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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 &#8216;AS-IS&#8217;, WITH NO

-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT

-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8482; electronic works in

-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the

-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-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&#8482; work, (b) alteration, modification, or

-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg&#8482; work, and (c) any

-Defect you cause.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>

-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg&#8482;

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg&#8482;&#8217;s

-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>

-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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&#8217;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&#8217;s laws.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-The Foundation&#8217;s 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&#8217;s website

-and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>

-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; depends upon and cannot survive without widespread

-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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-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

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>

-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project

-Gutenberg&#8482; concept of a library of electronic works that could be

-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and

-distributed Project Gutenberg&#8482; eBooks with only a loose network of

-volunteer support.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-Most people start at our website which has the main PG search

-facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.

-</div>

-

-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>

-This website includes information about Project Gutenberg&#8482;,

-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.

-</div>

-

-</div>

-

-</body>

-</html>

+<!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=UTF-8" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig.
+    </title>
+    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />
+
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {
+    margin-left: 10%;
+    margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+    h1,h2 {
+    text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+p {
+    margin-top: .51em;
+    text-align: justify;
+    margin-bottom: .49em;
+}
+
+hr {
+    width: 33%;
+    margin-top: 2em;
+    margin-bottom: 2em;
+    margin-left: 33.5%;
+    margin-right: 33.5%;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}
+hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;}
+
+.center   {text-align: center;}
+
+.right   {text-align: right;}
+
+/* Images */
+.figcenter   {
+    margin: auto;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+.poetry .stanza
+{
+  margin: 1em auto;
+}
+
+.poetry .verse
+{
+  padding-left: 3em;
+}
+
+div.titlepage {
+  text-align: center;
+  page-break-before: always;
+  page-break-after: always;
+}
+
+div.titlepage p {
+  text-align: center;
+  text-indent: 0em;
+  font-weight: bold;
+  line-height: 1.5;
+  margin-top: 3em;
+}
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 65035 ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<p>He had been in the cave for only a short time it<br />
+seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he<br />
+knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange&mdash;</p>
+
+<h1>INHERITANCE</h1>
+
+<h2>By Edward W. Ludwig</h2>
+
+<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />
+Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br />
+October 1950<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>It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of
+the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone
+as a symbol of His mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and
+letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as
+consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.</p>
+
+<p>"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you
+and me and the pup!"</p>
+
+<p>His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living
+warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet
+came a feeble bark.</p>
+
+<p>Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,
+Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"</p>
+
+<p>He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the
+thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.</p>
+
+<p>But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly
+there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic
+barking.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"</p>
+
+<p>Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock
+in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into
+his face, and a strength returned to him.</p>
+
+<p>Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a
+hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light
+of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his
+aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the
+clean sweet air deep into his lungs.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that
+hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and
+you have to start exploring caves."</p>
+
+<p>He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I
+got lost, too."</p>
+
+<p>Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."</p>
+
+<p>Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away
+by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing
+hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as
+ancient parchment.</p>
+
+<p>As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and
+little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't
+so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world
+with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of
+atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.
+He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling
+automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,
+senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.</p>
+
+<p>That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the
+outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip
+every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with
+his pension check from World War II.</p>
+
+<p>But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the
+green, growing things of Earth.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked again.</p>
+
+<p>"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."</p>
+
+<p>But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His
+barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.</p>
+
+<p>"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at
+the dog, not understanding. To him came a <i>feeling</i>. Something <i>was</i>
+wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was
+intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his
+mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared
+boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that
+stretched across the valley. He sang:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are.</i>"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in
+a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand
+battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap
+commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the
+woods, but that tune&mdash;of all the dubious products of civilization&mdash;had
+somehow stuck in his memory.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had
+seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet&mdash;so
+incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the
+highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of
+elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.</p>
+
+<p>And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no
+skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of
+gyro-planes. There was only silence.</p>
+
+<p>He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars
+were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side
+of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly
+little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But
+all were motionless.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,
+whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup
+in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.</p>
+
+<p>There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were
+as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But
+their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>"We&mdash;We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the
+village."</p>
+
+<p>He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent
+occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen
+cattle and sheep and horses.</p>
+
+<p>There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was
+a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision
+and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think
+and reason, for thought and reason could bring only&mdash;madness.</p>
+
+<p>"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+  <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p>At the village he found out&mdash;nothing. Because there, too, was only a
+silence and the white, still people.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps in the city&mdash;" he murmured. "Yes, the city."</p>
+
+<p>The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which
+there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,
+nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance
+came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he
+drove....</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no
+reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no
+movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad
+avenues, the theatres, the parks&mdash;all seemed hollow and unreal, like a
+desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering
+touch of a breeze.</p>
+
+<p>Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They
+headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."</p>
+
+<p>He spied the office of <i>The Times</i>. "Maybe we can find out something in
+there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."</p>
+
+<p>He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,
+typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a
+chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one
+stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.</p>
+
+<p>Martin read the typewritten words aloud:</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,
+tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has
+reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we
+are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas
+is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because
+of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity
+is&mdash;" The message broke off.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's
+accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here
+into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's
+love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side
+by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's
+divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and
+a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great
+men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder
+why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the
+others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the <i>last</i> news story ever
+written&mdash;and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy
+welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to
+lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.
+"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes
+widened slightly. "Course, there <i>might</i> be somebody else, somewhere.
+The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,
+somehow."</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand
+to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds
+that we're the last ones alive."</p>
+
+<p><i>The last ones alive.</i> The thought was like flame in his mind. The
+numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there
+came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he
+dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.</p>
+
+<p><i>A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without
+seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two
+choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or
+madness, suicide or madness....</i></p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at
+last he thought, <i>I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll
+make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way.</i></p>
+
+<p>But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as
+though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."
+And to himself he said, <i>This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever
+have.</i></p>
+
+<p>He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign
+not far away&mdash;<i>Cafe Royale</i>. It was a magnificent restaurant, the
+carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's
+palace. Three days ago&mdash;if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City
+then&mdash;he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,
+hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned
+waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.</p>
+
+<p>But now&mdash;well, why not?</p>
+
+<p>He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of
+white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.
+The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals
+depicting the rise of Western Civilization&mdash;first, the pioneers, the
+cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of
+spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.</p>
+
+<p>Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?
+We should have come here a long time ago."</p>
+
+<p>Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines&mdash;and
+it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."</p>
+
+<p>Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,
+were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean
+much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well
+enjoy it."</p>
+
+<p>He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and
+that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest
+hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic&mdash;not at all like the screeching from the
+second-hand video he'd owned once.</p>
+
+<p>While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking
+man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was
+all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before
+him&mdash;"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.
+"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see
+what's in that kitchen."</p>
+
+<p>Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze
+wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,
+turkeys, rabbits, hams.</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess
+T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark
+gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with
+strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,
+tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it
+wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any
+more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."</p>
+
+<p>He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was
+not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or
+two&mdash;if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not
+an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.</p>
+
+<p>He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,
+transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.</p>
+
+<p>"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be
+thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the
+men and women and children&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening
+grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.
+It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of
+crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a
+thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.</p>
+
+<p>"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't
+try very hard to stop it."</p>
+
+<p>He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it
+runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves
+first."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns
+and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright
+woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as
+how there's nothing left alive&mdash;'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em
+though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of
+old houses." He chuckled softly.</p>
+
+<p>His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet
+there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the
+cave. I'll bet the fish&mdash;or a lot of 'em&mdash;escaped, too!"</p>
+
+<p>He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki
+trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes
+in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.</p>
+
+<p>"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.
+How'd you like that, Sandy?"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked eagerly.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea
+of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old
+Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington
+Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel
+Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone
+Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime
+to see them all!</p>
+
+<p>"You know, Sandy, if a man <i>didn't</i> go mad from being alone, he could
+see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a
+car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,
+get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,
+'nough to last a lifetime&mdash;a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right
+into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President
+lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or
+go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be
+bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept
+the bones which never hurt nobody."</p>
+
+<p>He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on
+this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast
+to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.
+And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.
+Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark
+that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,
+really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years
+old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.
+Maybe longer than I will."</p>
+
+<p>He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness
+within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,
+there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and
+a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest
+of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed
+of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey
+through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.</p>
+
+<p>He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at
+his heels, and he was singing:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are....</i>"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 65035 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/65035-0.txt b/old/65035-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20cff20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/65035-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,794 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig
+
+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
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Inheritance
+
+Author: Edward W. Ludwig
+
+Release Date: April 09, 2021 [eBook #65035]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+           He had been in the cave for only a short time it
+           seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he
+          knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange--
+
+                              INHERITANCE
+
+                          By Edward W. Ludwig
+
+           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+              Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
+                             October 1950
+         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
+
+
+It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of
+the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone
+as a symbol of His mercy.
+
+Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and
+letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as
+consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.
+
+"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you
+and me and the pup!"
+
+His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living
+warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet
+came a feeble bark.
+
+Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,
+Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"
+
+He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the
+thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.
+
+But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly
+there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic
+barking.
+
+"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"
+
+Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock
+in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into
+his face, and a strength returned to him.
+
+Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a
+hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light
+of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his
+aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the
+clean sweet air deep into his lungs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that
+hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and
+you have to start exploring caves."
+
+He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I
+got lost, too."
+
+Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.
+
+"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."
+
+Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away
+by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing
+hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as
+ancient parchment.
+
+As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and
+little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't
+so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world
+with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of
+atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.
+He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling
+automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,
+senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.
+
+That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the
+outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip
+every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with
+his pension check from World War II.
+
+But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the
+green, growing things of Earth.
+
+Sandy barked again.
+
+"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."
+
+But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His
+barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.
+
+"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"
+
+Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at
+the dog, not understanding. To him came a _feeling_. Something _was_
+wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was
+intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.
+
+He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his
+mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared
+boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."
+
+He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that
+stretched across the valley. He sang:
+
+    "We're happy, so happy,
+    Don't want to reach a star;
+    We're happy, always happy,
+    Just the way we are."
+
+Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in
+a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand
+battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap
+commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the
+woods, but that tune--of all the dubious products of civilization--had
+somehow stuck in his memory.
+
+Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had
+seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet--so
+incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the
+highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of
+elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.
+
+And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no
+skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of
+gyro-planes. There was only silence.
+
+He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars
+were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side
+of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly
+little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But
+all were motionless.
+
+"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"
+
+Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,
+whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup
+in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.
+
+There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were
+as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But
+their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were
+dead.
+
+"We--We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the
+village."
+
+He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent
+occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen
+cattle and sheep and horses.
+
+There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was
+a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision
+and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think
+and reason, for thought and reason could bring only--madness.
+
+"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.
+
+At the village he found out--nothing. Because there, too, was only a
+silence and the white, still people.
+
+"Perhaps in the city--" he murmured. "Yes, the city."
+
+The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which
+there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,
+nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance
+came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he
+drove....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no
+reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no
+movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad
+avenues, the theatres, the parks--all seemed hollow and unreal, like a
+desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering
+touch of a breeze.
+
+Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They
+headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."
+
+He spied the office of _The Times_. "Maybe we can find out something in
+there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."
+
+He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,
+typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.
+
+Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a
+chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one
+stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.
+
+Martin read the typewritten words aloud:
+
+"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,
+tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has
+reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we
+are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas
+is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because
+of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity
+is--" The message broke off.
+
+Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's
+accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here
+into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's
+love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side
+by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's
+divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and
+a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great
+men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by
+silence.
+
+Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder
+why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the
+others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the _last_ news story ever
+written--and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."
+
+Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy
+welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to
+lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.
+
+"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.
+"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes
+widened slightly. "Course, there _might_ be somebody else, somewhere.
+The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,
+somehow."
+
+He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand
+to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds
+that we're the last ones alive."
+
+_The last ones alive._ The thought was like flame in his mind. The
+numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there
+came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he
+dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.
+
+_A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without
+seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two
+choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or
+madness, suicide or madness...._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at
+last he thought, _I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll
+make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way._
+
+But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as
+though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.
+
+"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."
+And to himself he said, _This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever
+have._
+
+He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign
+not far away--_Cafe Royale_. It was a magnificent restaurant, the
+carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's
+palace. Three days ago--if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City
+then--he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,
+hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned
+waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.
+
+But now--well, why not?
+
+He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of
+white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.
+The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals
+depicting the rise of Western Civilization--first, the pioneers, the
+cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of
+spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.
+
+Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?
+We should have come here a long time ago."
+
+Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines--and
+it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."
+
+Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,
+were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean
+much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well
+enjoy it."
+
+He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and
+that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest
+hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic--not at all like the screeching from the
+second-hand video he'd owned once.
+
+While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking
+man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was
+all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before
+him--"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.
+
+He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.
+"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see
+what's in that kitchen."
+
+Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze
+wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,
+turkeys, rabbits, hams.
+
+"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess
+T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"
+
+Sandy barked.
+
+Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark
+gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with
+strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,
+tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.
+
+Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it
+wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any
+more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."
+
+He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was
+not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or
+two--if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not
+an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.
+
+He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,
+transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.
+
+"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be
+thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the
+men and women and children--"
+
+For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening
+grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.
+It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of
+crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a
+thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.
+
+"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't
+try very hard to stop it."
+
+He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it
+runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves
+first."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns
+and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright
+woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and--
+
+"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as
+how there's nothing left alive--'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em
+though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of
+old houses." He chuckled softly.
+
+His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet
+there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the
+cave. I'll bet the fish--or a lot of 'em--escaped, too!"
+
+He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki
+trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes
+in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.
+
+"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.
+How'd you like that, Sandy?"
+
+Sandy barked eagerly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea
+of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old
+Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington
+Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel
+Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone
+Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime
+to see them all!
+
+"You know, Sandy, if a man _didn't_ go mad from being alone, he could
+see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a
+car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,
+get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,
+'nough to last a lifetime--a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right
+into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President
+lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or
+go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be
+bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept
+the bones which never hurt nobody."
+
+He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on
+this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast
+to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.
+And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.
+Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"
+
+Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark
+that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.
+
+"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,
+really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years
+old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.
+Maybe longer than I will."
+
+He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness
+within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,
+there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and
+a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest
+of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed
+of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey
+through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.
+
+He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at
+his heels, and he was singing:
+
+    "We're happy, so happy,
+    Don't want to reach a star;
+    We're happy, always happy,
+    Just the way we are...."
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***
+
+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 an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks 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 other than 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 will 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 website
+(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 the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager 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 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 website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
+widespread 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 website which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This website 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.
diff --git a/65035-0.zip b/old/65035-0.zip
index 203b47b..203b47b 100644
--- a/65035-0.zip
+++ b/old/65035-0.zip
diff --git a/65035-h.zip b/old/65035-h.zip
index 08cb0b5..08cb0b5 100644
--- a/65035-h.zip
+++ b/old/65035-h.zip
diff --git a/old/65035-h/65035-h.htm b/old/65035-h/65035-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54e32c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/65035-h/65035-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,990 @@
+<!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 Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig.
+    </title>
+    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />
+
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {
+    margin-left: 10%;
+    margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+    h1,h2 {
+    text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+p {
+    margin-top: .51em;
+    text-align: justify;
+    margin-bottom: .49em;
+}
+
+hr {
+    width: 33%;
+    margin-top: 2em;
+    margin-bottom: 2em;
+    margin-left: 33.5%;
+    margin-right: 33.5%;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}
+hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;}
+
+.center   {text-align: center;}
+
+.right   {text-align: right;}
+
+/* Images */
+.figcenter   {
+    margin: auto;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+.poetry .stanza
+{
+  margin: 1em auto;
+}
+
+.poetry .verse
+{
+  padding-left: 3em;
+}
+
+div.titlepage {
+  text-align: center;
+  page-break-before: always;
+  page-break-after: always;
+}
+
+div.titlepage p {
+  text-align: center;
+  text-indent: 0em;
+  font-weight: bold;
+  line-height: 1.5;
+  margin-top: 3em;
+}
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Inheritance, by Edward W. Ludwig</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Inheritance</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward W. Ludwig</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 09, 2021 [eBook #65035]</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div>
+
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<p>He had been in the cave for only a short time it<br />
+seemed. But when he finally emerged the world he<br />
+knew was gone. And it had left him with a strange&mdash;</p>
+
+<h1>INHERITANCE</h1>
+
+<h2>By Edward W. Ludwig</h2>
+
+<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br />
+Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br />
+October 1950<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>It shone as a pin-point of silver far away in the midnight-blackness of
+the cave. It shone as a tiny island of life in a sea of death. It shone
+as a symbol of His mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Martin stood swaying, staring wide-eyed at that wonderful light and
+letting its image sink deep into his vision. His eyes lidded as
+consciousness faded for an instant, then opened.</p>
+
+<p>"We've almost made it," he gasped. "We've almost made it, Sandy, you
+and me and the pup!"</p>
+
+<p>His hand passed tenderly over the puppy, a soft, hairy ball of living
+warmth cradled in his arm. And from out of the darkness at his feet
+came a feeble bark.</p>
+
+<p>Martin choked on the ancient, tomb-stale air. "We can't stop now,
+Sandy," he wheezed. "We're almost there, almost at the entrance!"</p>
+
+<p>He shuffled forward over the cold stone floor of the little cave, the
+thick, dead air a solid thing, a wall that pressed him back, back, back.</p>
+
+<p>But the light grew larger, expanding like a balloon, and suddenly
+there was a skittering of dog-paws over stone and a joyous, frantic
+barking.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Sandy, go ahead. Breathe that air, that fresh air!"</p>
+
+<p>Martin staggered once, his lean, tall body thudding against sharp rock
+in the side of the cave. Then a draft of air blew cool and fresh into
+his face, and a strength returned to him.</p>
+
+<p>Abruptly, he was at the source of the light, at the cave's entrance, a
+hole barely large enough for him to squeeze through. The blinding light
+of day fell upon him like a gigantic, crashing sea wave. He closed his
+aching eyes and fell to the side of the rock-strewn hill, sucking the
+clean sweet air deep into his lungs.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>At length he sat up, holding the pup in his arms. "Two days in that
+hole of hell," he murmured, "and it's all your fault. A month old, and
+you have to start exploring caves."</p>
+
+<p>He cocked his head. "Still, I guess it's partly my fault. After all, I
+got lost, too."</p>
+
+<p>Sandy, a black and white fox terrier, barked impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"Okay, Sandy, okay. We'll go home."</p>
+
+<p>Shakily, Martin rose. His mind was clear now, the fogginess washed away
+by the cool morning air. There was only hunger, that great gnawing
+hunger, and thirst that made his throat and mouth seem as dry as
+ancient parchment.</p>
+
+<p>As he stood overlooking the valley below with its green fields and
+little groves of trees, a realization came to him. The world wasn't
+so bad after all! Up to this moment, he'd almost hated the world
+with its wars, its threats of mass destruction, its warnings of
+atomic dusts and plagues that could wipe out humanity within an hour.
+He'd most certainly hated the cities with their blaring, rumbling
+automobile-monsters, with their mad rushing, their greedy, frantic,
+senseless, superficial living that was really not living at all.</p>
+
+<p>That was why he had chosen to live in the hill country, on the
+outskirts of the village, raising his few vegetables and making a trip
+every few days to the village store to purchase other necessities with
+his pension check from World War II.</p>
+
+<p>But now, he realized, it was good to be alive and to be a part of the
+green, growing things of Earth.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked again.</p>
+
+<p>"Okay, okay, Sandy. We'll go."</p>
+
+<p>But Sandy came sidling up to him now, tail between his legs. His
+barking faded to a low, shrill whimper.</p>
+
+<p>"Sandy! What's the matter? What's wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>Even the whimpering ceased, and there was silence. Martin stared at
+the dog, not understanding. To him came a <i>feeling</i>. Something <i>was</i>
+wrong. A nameless fear rose within him, but the cause of that fear was
+intangible, locked just below the surface of consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>He took the fear, crushed it, pushed it back into the caverns of his
+mind that held only forgotten things. "Nothing's wrong," he declared
+boldly. "We're just tired and hungry, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>He strode down the quiet hillside toward the broad highway that
+stretched across the valley. He sang:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are.</i>"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Strange about that tune, he thought. He hated popular music, but in
+a regrettable moment of optimism he'd once purchased a second-hand
+battery video. After a three-day saturation with tooth paste and soap
+commercials he'd consigned the monstrosity to a remote corner of the
+woods, but that tune&mdash;of all the dubious products of civilization&mdash;had
+somehow stuck in his memory.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly he stopped singing, as if some inexplicable pressure had
+seized his throat, stopping the flow of words. It was quiet&mdash;so
+incredibly, alarmingly, terrifyingly quiet. Just ahead of him was the
+highway, its gray smooth ribbon clearly visible through a thin wall of
+elms. But there was no swish-swish of speeding cars.</p>
+
+<p>And there were no bird twitterings and no insect hummings and no
+skitterings of squirrels at the bases of trees and no droning of
+gyro-planes. There was only silence.</p>
+
+<p>He broke out onto the highway which was dotted with cars, and the cars
+were motionless. Some of them were crushed, charred wrecks on the side
+of the road; some had collided in the center of the road to become ugly
+little mountains of twisted metal, and others were simply parked. But
+all were motionless.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, Sandy. Something's happened!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy wouldn't come. He arched his trembling body across Martin's legs,
+whimpering. Martin picked him up. Sandy in one arm, the drowsy-eyed pup
+in the other, he walked to the nearest car, which appeared undamaged.</p>
+
+<p>There were three occupants. A man, a woman, a girl-child, and they were
+as if sleeping. No wounds, no discolorations were on their flesh. But
+their flesh was cold, cold, and there were no heart beats. They were
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>"We&mdash;We won't go home yet," Martin said softly. "We'll go to the
+village."</p>
+
+<p>He walked. He walked past a hundred, a thousand silent cars with silent
+occupants, past green meadows that were dotted with silent, fallen
+cattle and sheep and horses.</p>
+
+<p>There was a new fear within him now, but even greater than the fear was
+a numbness that like a sleep-producing drug had dulled mind and vision
+and hearing. He walked stiffly, automatically. He was afraid to think
+and reason, for thought and reason could bring only&mdash;madness.</p>
+
+<p>"At the village we'll find out what happened," he mumbled.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+  <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p>At the village he found out&mdash;nothing. Because there, too, was only a
+silence and the white, still people.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps in the city&mdash;" he murmured. "Yes, the city."</p>
+
+<p>The City was 20 miles away, and he selected an automobile, one in which
+there were no still people. It had been a long time since he'd driven,
+nearly ten years, but after a few moments of fumbling, remembrance
+came easily. With Sandy and the pup on the front seat beside him, he
+drove....</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The City was as empty as an ancient skull. There was no life and no
+reminder of life. There were no still people and no automobiles and no
+movement and no sound. The towering white office buildings, the broad
+avenues, the theatres, the parks&mdash;all seemed hollow and unreal, like a
+desert mirage that would dissolve into nothingness at the whispering
+touch of a breeze.</p>
+
+<p>Martin mumbled, "I reckon, Sandy, that everybody left the City. They
+headed for the country. That's why we passed so many cars."</p>
+
+<p>He spied the office of <i>The Times</i>. "Maybe we can find out something in
+there," he said. "Come on, Sandy. Pup, you stay here."</p>
+
+<p>He parked the car and strode into the building, past desks, cabinets,
+typewriters, stacked bundles of newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw the man. He was one of the silent men, sprawled back in a
+chair, a typewriter before him. He had been writing, evidently, for one
+stiff, white hand was still poised over the keys.</p>
+
+<p>Martin read the typewritten words aloud:</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy had apparently underestimated the power of the odorless,
+tasteless gas. A Nitrogen compound of extreme volutility, it has
+reached virtually every inch of the Earth. The enemy is destroyed as we
+are destroyed. Gas masks and air filters have proved useless. The gas
+is highly unstable and should disintegrate within 48 hours, yet because
+of the suddenness of the attack, we can conclude only that humanity
+is&mdash;" The message broke off.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the newsroom was like a tomb, a burial of all mankind's
+accomplishments and frustrations, his good-doings and evil-doings. Here
+into this room had flowed, ceaseless as a river, the stories of man's
+love, hate, struggle, fear, grasping, success, and disappointment. Side
+by side they lay in the labyrinth of files, the stories of Mrs. Smith's
+divorce and a dictator's defeat, the sagas of a child losing a pet and
+a scientist discovering a star. All equal now, as skeletons of great
+men and little men are equal, all buried in steel drawers and sealed by
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>Martin looked at the stiffened figure of the reporter. "I wonder
+why you stayed," he mused. "I wonder why you didn't flee like the
+others. Maybe, maybe you wanted to write the <i>last</i> news story ever
+written&mdash;and the most important one. Yes, I reckon that was it."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly, Martin walked out of the building and slid into the car. Sandy
+welcomed him with a joy-filled barking and tail-wagging and tried to
+lick his face, and the pup attempted to waddle across his legs.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Sandy, don't." He stared unseeingly through the windshield.
+"Everybody's gone, Sandy, everybody on Earth, except me." His eyes
+widened slightly. "Course, there <i>might</i> be somebody else, somewhere.
+The gas never got to us in the cave. Maybe somebody else escaped,
+somehow."</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head. "Nope, no use hoping for that. Odds'd be a thousand
+to one 'gainst my finding 'em. No, we just got to make up our minds
+that we're the last ones alive."</p>
+
+<p><i>The last ones alive.</i> The thought was like flame in his mind. The
+numbness was gone now, as coldness thaws from a warmed body, but there
+came to him a second thought, a horrible, fear-born thought which he
+dared not say aloud, even to Sandy.</p>
+
+<p><i>A man can't live alone, without hearing another human voice, without
+seeing another human form. A man isn't made that way. You've got two
+choices now, just two: Suicide or madness. Which will it be? Suicide or
+madness, suicide or madness....</i></p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>He sat for a long, long time, his mind a jumble of indecision. Then at
+last he thought, <i>I don't want to go mad, the other way is best. We'll
+make it easy. Carbon monoxide would be the easiest way.</i></p>
+
+<p>But suddenly there was a churning and a twisting in his stomach, as
+though it were being squeezed by a giant hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Golly, Sandy, we forgot to eat. And we haven't eaten for two days."
+And to himself he said, <i>This'll be our last meal, the last we'll ever
+have.</i></p>
+
+<p>He took the pup in his arms and Sandy followed. He spied a huge sign
+not far away&mdash;<i>Cafe Royale</i>. It was a magnificent restaurant, the
+carpeted, canopied entrance reminding him of the front of a sultan's
+palace. Three days ago&mdash;if he'd been foolish enough to come to the City
+then&mdash;he'd have rushed past it with his hand protecting his pocketbook,
+hardly daring to look within lest the stiff-shirted, high-chinned
+waiters and patrons think him a country bumpkin.</p>
+
+<p>But now&mdash;well, why not?</p>
+
+<p>He ambled through the vast dining hall with its multitude of
+white-clothed tables, its potted palms, its modernistic, chromium bar.
+The high walls were decorated with soft-hued, multi-colored murals
+depicting the rise of Western Civilization&mdash;first, the pioneers, the
+cowboys, then a factory scene and a war scene, and finally a group of
+spacemen entering a moon-bound rocket.</p>
+
+<p>Martin made a wheezing sound of admiration. "What a place, eh, Sandy?
+We should have come here a long time ago."</p>
+
+<p>Then he spied the juke box. "There's one of them music machines&mdash;and
+it's lit up. Reckon the power's still on."</p>
+
+<p>Martin had always wanted to play a juke box, but nickels, back home,
+were scarce. He pursed his lips. "Why not, Sandy? Nickels don't mean
+much now, and if this is going to be our last meal, we might as well
+enjoy it."</p>
+
+<p>He inserted a quarter, and after a few moments of pushing this and
+that button, music played. It was "Song of The Stars," the latest
+hit, vibrant, full, rhythmic&mdash;not at all like the screeching from the
+second-hand video he'd owned once.</p>
+
+<p>While he listened, he strode to the bar. Not that he was a drinking
+man. He occasionally had a cold beer on Saturday evening; that was
+all. But now, with that dazzling array of bottles glittering before
+him&mdash;"Nobody'll miss it now," he told Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>He poured himself three fingers of Scotch and downed it thirstily.
+"Ahhhh! Been a long time since I had anything like that. Now let's see
+what's in that kitchen."</p>
+
+<p>Electricity was still on. Refrigerators were humming, and Martin's gaze
+wandered appraisingly over red, juicy T-bones, over dressed chickens,
+turkeys, rabbits, hams.</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon we're too hungry to wait for chicken," he drawled. "Guess
+T-bones'd be nice for a last meal. How about it, Sandy?"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked.</p>
+
+<p>Dinner was soon ready. Fried T-bone, mashed potatoes and dark
+gravy, caviar, some kind of soup with a fishy taste, apple pie with
+strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, maple nut,
+tuiti-fruiti and pineapple ice cream, and coffee.</p>
+
+<p>Martin settled back and puffed on a 50c cigar. "You know, Sandy, it
+wouldn't always be like this. In a couple of weeks there won't be any
+more power. Food will spoil, there'll be only canned stuff."</p>
+
+<p>He frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps suicide was
+not the best way. He could have a few pleasures in the next day or
+two&mdash;if madness didn't come. And if madness did start to come, well....</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>It was a sleek, streamlined jet job, the automobile of automobiles. Not
+an antiquated monstrosity like the '51 coupe he'd been driving.</p>
+
+<p>He stared through the window at its tear-drop lines, at its broad,
+transparent top, at the shiny chrome and gold.</p>
+
+<p>"We shouldn't be thinking about such things, Sandy. We should be
+thinking about all those people, those poor people who died. All the
+men and women and children&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>For an instant, grief welled up within him, a cold, almost sickening
+grief. But abruptly, it became an impersonal, remote kind of grief.
+It was like a Fourth of July rocket shooting out a blinding tail of
+crimson and then bursting, its body crumbling into a thousand pieces, a
+thousand tiny sparks falling and fading and dying.</p>
+
+<p>"Still, they knew it was coming, didn't they, Sandy? And they didn't
+try very hard to stop it."</p>
+
+<p>He looked again at the car. "Reckon it won't do any harm to see how it
+runs. After all, if we're goin' mad, we might as well enjoy ourselves
+first."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The window display in the sport shop fascinated him. There were guns
+and fishing rods and fur-lined jackets and shiny boots and bright
+woolen shirts and sun goggles and camp stoves and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Don't reckon the guns'd do us much good," Martin murmured, "seein' as
+how there's nothing left alive&mdash;'cept us. Might be fun to shoot 'em
+though. I remember when I was a kid, how I used to shoot windows out of
+old houses." He chuckled softly.</p>
+
+<p>His gaze traveled to the fishing equipment. "Golly, Sandy, I'll bet
+there's fish left in the oceans! The gas never touched us there in the
+cave. I'll bet the fish&mdash;or a lot of 'em&mdash;escaped, too!"</p>
+
+<p>He glanced disapprovingly at his thin, faded shirt, dirty khaki
+trousers, and worn, scuffed shoes. Those clean, bright, woolen clothes
+in the window would be nice, very nice, on cool nights.</p>
+
+<p>"Might even have dog clothes in there," he said. "Maybe a dog sweater.
+How'd you like that, Sandy?"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy barked eagerly.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>He squatted on the floor of the travel office, surrounded by a sea
+of crisp, gaudy-colored posters and pamphlets. What a place this old
+Earth was! The pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of London, the Washington
+Monument, the Florida Everglades, the Arch of Triumph, the Eiffel
+Tower, Yosemite Valley, Boulder Dam, the Wall of China, Yellowstone
+Park, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Niagara. Why, it would take a lifetime
+to see them all!</p>
+
+<p>"You know, Sandy, if a man <i>didn't</i> go mad from being alone, he could
+see a lot of things. He could travel anywhere on this continent in a
+car. If something went wrong, he could get parts out of other cars,
+get gas out of other tanks. There's plenty of canned food everywhere,
+'nough to last a lifetime&mdash;a dozen lifetimes. Why, he could walk right
+into Washington, right into the White House and see how the President
+lived, or go to Hollywood and see how they used to make pictures, or
+go to them telescope places and look at the stars. Course, there'd be
+bodies almost everywhere, but in a year or so they'd be gone, all 'cept
+the bones which never hurt nobody."</p>
+
+<p>He scratched his neck thoughtfully. "Why, you wouldn't have to stay on
+this continent even. You could find a little boat and sail up the coast
+to Alaska and then cut across to Asia. It's only fifty miles, they say.
+And then you could go down to China and India and Africa and Europe.
+Why, a man could go any place in the world alone!"</p>
+
+<p>Sandy began to lick his face and the pup released a nervous, eager bark
+that was more like "Yip! Yip!" than a bark.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Sandy. I'm not alone, am I? No more than I ever was,
+really. Never liked to talk to people anyway. You're only two years
+old, you'll live for ten, maybe twelve years yet, you and the pup.
+Maybe longer than I will."</p>
+
+<p>He rose, frowning. It was strange. There was a grief and a loneliness
+within him and he knew they would be within him forever. But, too,
+there was an ever-growing peace and contentment and a satisfaction, and
+a sense of still belonging to Earth and being a part of it. Strangest
+of all, he realized that there was no madness in his mind and no seed
+of madness. He felt like a boy again, about to begin a wondrous journey
+through unexplored and enchanted lands to discover new marvels.</p>
+
+<p>He left the travel office, Sandy and the pup barking and clammering at
+his heels, and he was singing:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse">"<i>We're happy, so happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Don't want to reach a star;</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>We're happy, always happy,</i></div>
+    <div class="verse"><i>Just the way we are....</i>"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INHERITANCE ***</div>
+<div style='text-align:left'>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Updated editions will replace the previous one&#8212;the old editions will
+be renamed.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG&#8482;
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br />
+<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br />
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span>
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+To protect the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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 &#8220;Project
+Gutenberg&#8221;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+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&#8482; electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.B. &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; 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&#8482; 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&#8482; electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&#8220;the
+Foundation&#8221; or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country other than the United States.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg&#8482; work (any work
+on which the phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; appears, or with which the
+phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+  <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+    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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
+    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
+  </div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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 &#8220;Project
+Gutenberg&#8221; 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&#8482;
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg&#8482;.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; License.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; work in a format
+other than &#8220;Plain Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg&#8482; website
+(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 &#8220;Plain
+Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg&#8482; works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+provided that:
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'>
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+        the use of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works calculated using the method
+        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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, &#8220;Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+        Literary Archive Foundation.&#8221;
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; 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&#8482;
+        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&#8482;
+        works.
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; 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.
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+        distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works.
+    </div>
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
+the Project Gutenberg&#8482; trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
+forth in Section 3 below.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain &#8220;Defects,&#8221; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &#8220;Right
+of Replacement or Refund&#8221; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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 &#8216;AS-IS&#8217;, WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8482; electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+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&#8482; work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg&#8482; work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg&#8482;&#8217;s
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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&#8482; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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&#8217;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&#8217;s laws.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+The Foundation&#8217;s 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&#8217;s website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
+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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+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
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg&#8482; eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; 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.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
+facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This website includes information about Project Gutenberg&#8482;,
+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.
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/65035-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/65035-h/images/cover.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4adfbfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/65035-h/images/cover.jpg
diff --git a/old/65035-h/images/illus.jpg b/old/65035-h/images/illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62f4c46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/65035-h/images/illus.jpg