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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50c3e7a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65489 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65489) diff --git a/old/65489-0.txt b/old/65489-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fe87df8..0000000 --- a/old/65489-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,895 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of It Might Have Happened Otherwise, by -Hugh Pendexter - -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: It Might Have Happened Otherwise - -Author: Hugh Pendexter - -Release Date: June 2, 2021 [eBook #65489] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank. (This file was produced from Adventure - Magazine, October 1915 images generously made available by - The Pulp Magazine Project) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED -OTHERWISE *** - - - - - -IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED OTHERWISE - -By Hugh Pendexter - -Author of “The Chelsea Vase,” “The Crimson Track,” etc. - - -The growth of the thing in his mind had been gradual. When it had -obtruded upon his consciousness at first he had drawn back in mingled -fear and anger. By degrees, however, he tolerated the thought, only -always at a distance, and concluded by allowing it to make a -rendezvous of his idle meditations, receiving it much as one might -welcome an unwholesome but highly fascinating acquaintance. All the -time he knew its real name was Theft. - -For three years Parsly had served as station agent and telegraph-operator -at the Junction. Each day he had observed the transient bustling by the -long platform, the spectacle never varying. Long vestibuled trains -halted impatiently, and always the same curious or apathetic faces -peered out at him from the Pullmans. - -It was the branch line, tapping the lumber country, that contributed -humanism, consisting of a nodding acquaintance with timber operators -and forlorn commercial travelers. The first were always in a hurry to -make the big city connection; the latter lingered in his company for -the sake of gaining an audience while they cursed the country. - -The last because the Junction was not the liveliest place in the -world to put in an hour or two of waiting. Situated where the -engineering problem had been the simplest, it was surrounded by -blueberry plains, dotted at intervals with scrub pine. As the -locomotives annually set the pines afire, the immediate foreground -continuously presented a dead, charred appearance. Far-off, the -objective point of the Pullmans, loomed the cool silhouettes of -mountains, guardians of inland lakes and famous fishing. - -More than once Parsly compared himself with Robinson Crusoe in his -isolation; only he had no man Friday to enliven his dull routine. He -saw much of the passing world but was never of it. Thus, at the end -of three years, the hurrying by of the heavy trains aroused a species -of resentment. Everyone was at liberty to take flight but him. Then -again, fifty dollars a month for his combined duties was hardly a -compensating solace. - -It was the matter of salary that caused the idea to germinate while -he was sullenly working the semaphore one day. He had just received -from the night branch some four hundred dollars express money which -he must deliver to the agent on the morning city-passenger. Having -just received his monthly wages he could not help but contrast its -meager total with the bulking roll in his hip-pocket. - -If he had four hundred dollars, all his own, he would throw up the -job and use it in one delicious round of travel. By the time it was -exhausted he could obtain another position in a pleasing environment. -In logical sequence he decided he might as well allow his imagination -a wider range and play at taking a vacation with the largest sum ever -entrusted to his care for a single night. He remembered this to be an -even thousand dollars, sent down by a big operator in payment for -horses in the lumber camps. - -A thousand dollars offered his fancy vastly more possibilities to -work with. The four hundred became insignificant. As his duties -permitted him much time for reflection, he carried the thought back -to his dingy office and entertained it by consulting maps in the -railroad folders. In this fashion he took a hurried excursion across -the continent and spied out the land. Then he became critical and -weighed and balanced different localities. - -The Southwest, free from cold, gray Autumnal rains, howling snows and -Spring inundations, finally appealed to him as being ideal. Of -course, there might be two thousand dollars entrusted to him any -night, especially now that it was Autumn and the lumbermen were -stocking up for the Winter campaign. - -It was at that precise point that his cheek reddened and he felt a -touch of alarm as he angrily told himself such imagining was immoral, -for it was based on the suggestion that he steal the money. He -condemned the suggestion wrathfully as he walked a quarter of a mile -to the lonely home where he boarded, and yet he was more downcast -than ever over his colorless place in life. - -On returning to the station to close up for the night, which meant a -weary wait for the up-passenger to pull in, he returned to the -suggestion abruptly and recklessly. It was the sight of the porters -making up the berths, the comradeship in the smoking compartment, -that plunged him into full revolt; only now he proceeded on the -theory the money was legitimately his. - -“Well, I guess I’ve earned it. What if I should take it, providing I -could get away with it? How would I spend it?” - -This surrender eased him much. Of course he wouldn’t take it, not a -penny; but it’s impossible to picture a career of spending until the -imagination has logically furnished the requisite possession. Now he -had mentally satisfied his imagination as to possession, although the -technique was illegal. Fortunately there is no law punishing a man -for inwardly discussing the possible assets of a crime. - -Of course, Parsly merely intended to pursue his day-dreams unhampered -by any irritating self-criticism. He had systematically arranged his -data and could spend a million a day, should he choose. That was -where he erred. His imagination became a hard taskmaster, very -exacting. Once he accepted the suggestion that the money was to come -to him through theft, his methodical mind insisted on reviewing the -possibilities of detection before permitting him to enjoy the fruits. - -“Wouldn’t you be caught and arrested before you could make a -beginning?” was the cautious query he was forced to put to himself. - -Such nagging is very annoying, and to satisfy his mysterious Pyrrhonist -and continue with his Spanish architecture, he set himself about -planning how the trick could be done without his being detected. - -This was a hopeless morass at first, and very unpleasant; for instead -of picturing innocent expenditures he found himself sweating and -struggling with the problem of how he could keep the money once he -secured it. The more he labored the more nimble became his other self -in raising pertinent objections, exploding seemingly sound theories -and ridiculing his most astute hypotheses. - -To merely appropriate the money and disappear was quickly shown to be -the height of idiocy. That spelled a life of slinking and fear, the -flying from phantoms. It took some thought to clear the foreground of -discarded theories and plans and approach the realm of finesse; but at -last he seemed to be building on a firmer foundation. - -Probably the frequent raids by yeggmen on rural post-offices and -isolated railroad stations stimulated this office of his imagination. -For in reading the paper, presented him gratis each evening by the -newsboy on the up-passenger, he noted the yeggmen always securely -tied whoever stood between them and loot, cut the tell-tale wires and -escaped. - -Then came the great idea; and slapping the paper he glanced -apprehensively around the small office, and whispered: - -“If I faked a holdup the yeggs would get the credit and I’d get the -dough. It would be a cinch, if a man wanted to play crooked.” - -Stay! Was it so easy? The various precautions necessary for -counterfeiting a robbery, each simple in itself, quickly loomed into -mountains. Then he derided on just how the furniture should be broken -and overturned to approximate realism; just when the wires should be -cut; whether the station door should be left open or closed, and the -condition of his clothing and pockets. As there was no safe in the -office the agent carried the moneys upon his person. At first he -imagined his pockets turned inside out, then repudiated the thought -as being too clumsy. - -But what about the tying-up portion of the programme? Could a man tie -himself so as to convince his rescuers that his predicament was -genuine? Of course, there was a chance, rather a good one, too, of -his landlord, foreman of the section crew, coming to his aid and -cutting the cords without making any particular observations. Still, -only perfection of detail would satisfy his exacting critic. - -Now, Parsly, if slow of thought at times, was dogged in his -persistence once he grappled with a problem. He now gave his spare -time to studying ropes and knots. - -The newspapers had charged up the various robberies to Fresno Red and -his gang, and had dwelt at length on the method used in each case in -tying up watchman or agent. Invariably one end of the rope was made -fast about the feet and ankles of the captive, then parsed up and -around the waist, the hands being caught and tied behind the back; -the loose end finally being made fast about the captive’s neck in a -slip-noose. - -It was done very quickly, each victim had averred, and so hampered a -man that the more he struggled the more he endangered his life by -self-strangulation. It was a method worthy of the redoubtable Fresno -Red, and one Parsly now attacked to satisfy his insistence on correct -detail. - - * * * * * - -That night he surreptitiously carried a piece of new rope home. He -had already discovered that new rope would not slip like old, -smoothly worn rope. In the secrecy of his small chamber he essayed -the simple task of tying his own feet. His heart beat rapidly as he -pulled the knot tight; then he laughed vacuously and told himself it -was all a game. It ended where it began, merely a pastime. He did not -attempt to duplicate the yeggmen’s knots further that night. - -He would not concede that he stood in fear of the trooping -suggestions now besetting him and eagerly offering aid. Yet he fought -hard to put the thoughts from his mind during the morning hours and -felt extremely virtuous as he handed the down agent the customary -parcel of money. - -That night he relaxed and deftly tied his feet, passed the line about -his waist and clumsily wound it around his wrists. He remained awake -more than an hour trying to solve the rest of the problem--how to -fasten the rope about his wrists so it would be impossible to free -himself and then secure the end about his neck. He decided it -couldn’t be done, and fell asleep. - -Toward morning, when but half awake, he heard a voice advise-- - -“Tie the rope first about the neck.” - -He popped up to a sitting posture and stared wildly about the dark -chamber. He knew it was a suggestion from his inner self, yet so -distinctly did he hear the words it seemed as if they must have been -voiced aloud. Throughout the early morning he brooded over the -suggestion. At first he could not discern any sense in it. -Subconsciously, however, he had often noticed the lumberman’s trick -of using a dove-hitch--two half-hitches--and gradually the -recollection thrust itself above the threshold of consciousness. He -believed he had succeeded. - -He must make the rope fast about his neck while standing, then secure -it about his ankles with practically no slack, continuing the loose -end to his waist and tying it, taking care to have it pass outside -the rope running from neck to heels. Then by throwing back his head -and heels he would obtain enough slack to make the two double loops, -or half-hitches, through which he could work his wrists. - -The last operation, he realized, would demand great care, as he must -thrust his hands in from opposite directions until wrist overlapped -wrist. If it would work he would dismiss the matter and resume the -pleasing visions of spending the money. - -The morning’s paper contained a glaring account of a daring yegg -robbery at the Centerville station. The agent had been trussed up and -some fifteen hundred dollars taken. - -“Those guys certainly got the nerve,” commented the newsboy as the -agent was reading the item. “Didn’t even gag Roberts. Just corded him -up like a bale of hay, copped his roll and beat it. Roberts is so -scared he’s working his notice.” - -That afternoon Parsly was curious to examine all baggage fastened -with ropes. Several parcels of sample dowels, sent by express from -the up-country mill, held his attention the closest. They were tied -with new rope and the dove-hitch held tightly, even when he worked an -end loose. Just before he closed up for supper the branch train -brought in a hundred-odd dollars, but the agent confidentially -assured: - -“Tomorrer’ll be a record breaker. Two parties I know of are going to -send down a thousand per. Together with the other money you’ll have -close to three thousand bones to nurse over night. The danged company -ought to put a safe in your office.” - -Off duty for the night, he hastened to his room where the supreme -test awaited him. If he succeeded there was nothing to prevent a man -from robbing himself and leaving no clues. When from the open door he -could catch the sound of his landlord’s heavy, regular breathing, he -removed his shoes, seated himself on the edge of the bed, and began -experimenting with the cord. - -He fastened the noose about his neck and stood up and noted where the -rope in a direct line touched the floor. Then seating himself he tied -it tightly about his ankles and brought the loose end up to and -around his waist. There was scarcely any slack when he straightened -out his legs. At first he feared he had drawn the cord too tight and, -anxiously turning on his face, threw back his head and heels. - -With a thrill of elation he found the slack would enable him, by an -effort, to form the hitch. After a moment’s fumbling he succeeded, -and even wriggled his hands through the loops until the tips of the -fingers rested on the upper forearm. It wearied him, and with a sigh -of physical relief he extended his legs. - -In an instant his tongue felt too large for his mouth, and with a -gasp of horror he decided he was choking to death. He did not lose -his nerve as he remembered the remedy, and he drew back his legs. But -although this gave a bit of slack to the rope he could not induce the -hitch to loosen. From the satisfaction of having proven his theory he -quickly glided into the fear that he had calculated too nicely. - -Had the rope been old and smooth, or had his hands been imprisoned -palm to palm, finger tip to fingertip, he might have secured a -leverage and by working them apart have succeeded in wrenching one -free. But the new rope refused to give, and for a minute he lay -quiet, panting for breath, and taking great care to bring no strain -on his neck. - -Down-stairs the old clock was ponderously ticking off the seconds; and -he remained a prisoner. His heart chilled as he feared he must summon -the foreman to come to his rescue. But how could he explain his -peculiar plight? What suspicions might not his predicament arouse? - -This dread quickly gave way before one more chance. The noose seemed -to be tightening about his neck, and he remembered the foreman was a -heavy sleeper. His wife occupied a room with her small children at -the other end of the house. He doubted his ability to call help; if -he did not he might slowly strangle to death. - -Already the cold sweat was trickling into his eyes and it required a -mighty effort of the will to restrain himself from thrashing about. -He knew, however, that the moment he lost control of his nerves and -moved incautiously his wind would be shut off. Gritting his teeth he -drew his heels far back like an acrobat. He was lying face down with -the bedclothes half smothering him. Then he gently picked at the rope -with his finger tips. Useless. The cords held his wrists like bands -of iron. - -Finally he managed to work the cord between the fingers of his left -hand and exert a pressure upward, hoping to loosen the hitch. His -essay was barren of results for some moments, and it was not until he -was about to collapse that he felt his right hand moving more freely. -With an inarticulate cry of triumph he wrenched his wrist smartly, -and instantly felt the cord renew its grip like a sentient thing. It -was like a cat playing with a mouse. - -Breathing in dry sobs he slowly sought to recover the lost ground and -persevered until he again was pushing upward on the cord. For the -second time he felt the right hand move a bit; this time he worked it -back and forth most gently and at last managed to pull it free. Even -then it required some minutes to remove the rope from his throat. - -“---- the thing!” he choked, sinking back exhausted. “It nearly got -me!” - -That night he dreamed of the money brought in by the branch train; -only there were cars and cars loaded with it, and it was all in gold, -and men were removing it with huge scoops, just as they shovel out -yellow corn. - -By morning he had regained his normal tone and even felt inclined to -laugh at himself. After all, had he not done what he set out to -accomplish--to prove a man could effectually make himself a prisoner? -Had he been engaged in a _bona fide_ robbery he would not have -attempted to free himself. His success in escaping detection would be -his utter inability to do so. In that case, of course, he would -expect to endure the torture till help reached him. - -What odds if a man suffered a few hours of physical agony, if it -resulted in supplying him with several thousand dollars? He now -clearly appreciated that had his experiment been less successful he -would have been grievously disappointed; the problem would have -remained an obstacle to his imagination, and his dangerous, although -alluring, fancies needs must be postponed. On the whole he felt -rather proud of his achievement. - -All day the great idea kept pounding through his head. He had it in -his power to obtain more than two thousand, possibly three thousand, -dollars without being suspected. His temples throbbed and ached as -the thought assailed him. Once or twice during the afternoon he was -called to the baggage-room to check a trunk. Each time his gaze -involuntarily sought the coil of new rope hanging behind the door. - -It was well known to students of crime that yeggmen pick up their -tools on the premises of the place robbed, traveling unhampered by -the burglar’s usual outfit. How natural that they should appropriate -a piece of this very cord to bind him with! That would necessitate -the shattering of the lock, but the door was old and weak and a -well-delivered kick would smash it loose. He had no appetite for -supper and heard but little of the foreman’s gossip. - -“I was saying I’d like to play you a game of crib tonight if you -feel in trim,” repeated the foreman. - -“Crib? Oh, of course. Sure, Danny. I’ll play crib. I’ll be home right -after the up-train pulls out. I’ll be home in good season,” eagerly -promised Parsly, suddenly realizing the foreman might get impatient -waiting, might take alarm at his boarder failure to reach home, and -go in search of him. That would eliminate long, slow hours of torture -on the office floor. - -“Yes, I’ll be home right after the nine-o’clock goes up,” he said. “I -won’t keep you waiting.” - -While returning through the woods it suddenly came home to him that -he had planned to steal the money. For a moment he felt strongly -moved and made a feeble pretense of denying the accusation. Then with -a drawn face he muttered: - -“---- it! Why sidestep? It’s been in my nut for days. I’ll never get -another chance like this--so much dough and the yeggs near.” - -He sought to distract his mind by bitterly assailing the railroad and -express companies and assuring himself the thought would never have -occurred to him had he been paid something beyond a starvation wage -for a fourteen-hour day. It really wasn’t robbery. Laws were made by -men. It was reprisal. When it came to the ethics of it--only Parsly -didn’t know what the word meant--he’d earned the money, at least a -part of it. - -The night connived at his purpose, blowing up cold and desolate and -on the verge of a storm. By the time the branch pulled in, the -platform was streaming rivulets from the heavy downpour, and the -express agent made the office on the run. - -“Here’s the stuff!” he yelped, tossing a package on the table. -“Nothing to hold us and we’re going right back. So long.” Parsly -breathed more freely. Sometimes a mixup over freight, or a hot-box, -kept the train, with the men careless of the passing minutes, as they -had no schedule to make on the return run to Waverly, the first -station, where they would hold the siding for the night. - -Outside, the rain was falling with a thunderous clamor, smearing the -window panes till it was impossible to make out the switch-lights -directly in front of the station. Parsly rose, his eyes glittering. -The money must be concealed safely till the morrow. - -He had never read Poe’s story of the purloined letter, yet instinct -urged a simple hiding-place. He decided on the greasy canvas coat, -hung back of the door. He wore it only when cleaning the -switch-lamps. The package fitted nicely into one capacious pocket. -No one would ever find it there. Now to arrange the stage settings, -the overturned furniture, the open door-- - -The door opened. Four men were crowding in through the miniature -waterfall released from the loaded eaves. Parsly eyed them as one -entranced, his gaze frozen with horror. It was no physical fear he -dreaded, but for the moment it seemed as if his evil purpose had -escaped him and now stood crystallized into tangible shapes, each a -unit of wickedness. - -“Nail the mutt!” sharply ordered the leader, a man with a heavy shock of -red hair. - -One of the men twisted Parsly’s arm behind him and thrust an iron wrist -under his chin. Two others stood near, one holding a revolver, the other -caressing a “life-preserver.” The leader was glancing about the office. - -All this occurred in a single motion, yet it seemed to cover ages to -the stupefied agent. It was the red-headed man’s prowling gaze that -brought Parsly to his senses. They were yeggmen--Fresno Red and his -gang. They were after the money and the leader was seeking the safe. - -The man who had seized the agent was deciding he had never in all of -his strong-arm jobs encountered so thoroughly frightened a victim as -now, when Parsly’s chin hugged in and his strong teeth bit deeply -into his captor’s wrist, causing him to scream with pain. At the same -instant, the agent’s long leg kicked out, overturning the table and -the one lamp. - -The room was plunged in darkness and the man with the revolver -discharged his weapon, evoking a shriek of mortal agony, but not from -the agent. Fresno Red called loudly for a light while he attempted to -strike a match. Parsly had the advantage; he knew one of the robbers -was dead or seriously wounded, and while every man was his enemy in -the darkness, the yeggmen feared to injure a pal. - -“Block the door and window!” roared Fresno Red. - -During this brief leeway Parsly’s groping hands found, the office -stool and he swung it around his head in a deadly circle. By the -sickening crunch he knew at least one of the enemy was off the active -list. Then a match flared up for a second and the leader’s revolver -exploded, the agent experiencing a stinging sensation in the side. - -For an instant Parsly felt strangely numb; then the stool rose like a -flail and the man with the “life-preserver” sank to the floor. - -Somehow the agent now felt a riotous elation. Fear was a very distant -emotion. His veins were filled with molten lead instead of blood. He -breathed hate rather than the smoky air. It was a monstrous thing -that these murderers should seek to rob his employers. - -With a wild howl of rage he plunged into the remaining two men, -lucking and smashing like a maniac with the fragment of the stool. -Out through the door they poured, another of the gang falling with -a fractured skull. Then Parsly discovered he was alone. - -He stood stupidly for a few moments, weaving back and forth. He -aroused himself as his dull ears caught a familiar sound. A hand-car -was being pumped down the grade. His mind cleared to supernormal -lucidity. He saw his advantage. He had been brutally attacked and -seriously wounded. The one man escaping would be charged with having -stolen the money; they wrested it from him in the struggle. He had -fought hard; he’d earned it. And yet, should he pull the lever close -by his right hand, he could throw open the switch down the line and -send Fresno Red crashing into the empty coal-cars on the siding. - -“You’ll never get a better chance! It simply can’t be known and--” - -“No!” he yelled, springing to the lever and pulling it back -with his last ounce of strength. - -“No, ---- you! No!” - -Within the next minute he heard a dull crash and knew the yegg leader -had collided with the coal-cars. Then he concluded the wet platform -would be an ideal place for a red-hot body to rest on. - - * * * * * - -“For the love of Mike! Parsly down and out! One man groaning and -another dead in the office, one stiff out here! Good Heavens!” -exclaimed the horrified foreman as he held up the lantern. He had -come because Parsly had failed to keep his promise as to the game of -cribbage. - -As he read the full story in the four prostrate forms he collected -his wits and dragged Parsly into the office, meanwhile begging him to -“Wake up,” and “Get back his nerve.” - -“What’s the row?” feebly asked Parsly. Then he remembered. - -“I’ve been shot. Find the instrument and see if the wires are O. K. -Hold me up where I can reach it. I must send in the alarm. The leader -is down on the siding somewhere. I shunted him off into the -empties.” - -“The desperate devils was going to make sure,” panted the foreman as -he hunted for the instrument. “They fetched two coils of rope.” - -The papers made a great hero of Parsly. Fresno Red, who was found -with a broken shoulder, gave him a brave record for being game. The -railroad sent a superintendent to tell him he was in line for -promotion and the express company guardedly considered presenting him -with a reward. - -“I don’t want any money,” growled Parsly as the agent sat by his bed -in the little house. - -“Cut that out. I did nothing but what’s in the day’s work. But I’d -like the Centerville job. Roberts, they say, is going to quit. That -pays a hundred a month.” - -He was appointed two days later. Only now he hates the sight of -coiled rope and looks upon express money as so much junk. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED -OTHERWISE *** - -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. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <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:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> - <div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Title:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>It Might Have Happened Otherwise</div> - </div> -</div> -<div style='display:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> -<div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em'>Author:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>Hugh Pendexter</div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 2, 2021 [eBook #65489]</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:table; margin-bottom:1em;'> - <div style='display:table-row'> - <div style='display:table-cell; padding-right:0.5em; white-space:nowrap;'>Produced by:</div> - <div style='display:table-cell'>Roger Frank. (This file was produced from Adventure Magazine, October 1915 images generously made available by The Pulp Magazine Project)</div> - </div> -</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED OTHERWISE ***</div> - -<div class='figcenter landscape'> - <img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' /> -</div> - -<div class='section' style='text-align:center'> - <h1 style='margin-bottom:0;'>IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED OTHERWISE</h1> - <div style='margin-top:0.3em;'>By Hugh Pendexter</div> - <div style='margin-bottom:2em; font-size:0.9em;'>Author of “The Chelsea Vase,” “The Crimson Track,” etc.</div> -</div> - -<p>The growth of the thing in his mind had been gradual. When it had obtruded -upon his consciousness at first he had drawn back in mingled fear and anger. By -degrees, however, he tolerated the thought, only always at a distance, and -concluded by allowing it to make a rendezvous of his idle meditations, receiving -it much as one might welcome an unwholesome but highly fascinating acquaintance. -All the time he knew its real name was Theft.</p> - -<p>For three years Parsly had served as station agent and telegraph-operator at -the Junction. Each day he had observed the transient bustling by the long -platform, the spectacle never varying. Long vestibuled trains halted -impatiently, and always the same curious or apathetic faces peered out at him -from the Pullmans.</p> - -<p>It was the branch line, tapping the lumber country, that contributed -humanism, consisting of a nodding acquaintance with timber operators and forlorn -commercial travelers. The first were always in a hurry to make the big city -connection; the latter lingered in his company for the sake of gaining an -audience while they cursed the country.</p> - -<p>The last because the Junction was not the liveliest place in the world to put -in an hour or two of waiting. Situated where the engineering problem had been -the simplest, it was surrounded by blueberry plains, dotted at intervals with -scrub pine. As the locomotives annually set the pines afire, the immediate -foreground continuously presented a dead, charred appearance. Far-off, the -objective point of the Pullmans, loomed the cool silhouettes of mountains, -guardians of inland lakes and famous fishing.</p> - -<p>More than once Parsly compared himself with Robinson Crusoe in his isolation; -only he had no man Friday to enliven his dull routine. He saw much of the -passing world but was never of it. Thus, at the end of three years, the hurrying -by of the heavy trains aroused a species of resentment. Everyone was at liberty -to take flight but him. Then again, fifty dollars a month for his combined -duties was hardly a compensating solace.</p> - -<p>It was the matter of salary that caused the idea to germinate while he was -sullenly working the semaphore one day. He had just received from the night -branch some four hundred dollars express money which he must deliver to the -agent on the morning city-passenger. Having just received his monthly wages he -could not help but contrast its meager total with the bulking roll in his -hip-pocket.</p> - -<p>If he had four hundred dollars, all his own, he would throw up the job and -use it in one delicious round of travel. By the time it was exhausted he could -obtain another position in a pleasing environment. In logical sequence he -decided he might as well allow his imagination a wider range and play at taking -a vacation with the largest sum ever entrusted to his care for a single night. -He remembered this to be an even thousand dollars, sent down by a big operator -in payment for horses in the lumber camps.</p> - -<p>A thousand dollars offered his fancy vastly more possibilities to work with. -The four hundred became insignificant. As his duties permitted him much time for -reflection, he carried the thought back to his dingy office and entertained it -by consulting maps in the railroad folders. In this fashion he took a hurried -excursion across the continent and spied out the land. Then he became critical -and weighed and balanced different localities.</p> - -<p>The Southwest, free from cold, gray Autumnal rains, howling snows and Spring -inundations, finally appealed to him as being ideal. Of course, there might be -two thousand dollars entrusted to him any night, especially now that it was -Autumn and the lumbermen were stocking up for the Winter campaign.</p> - -<p>It was at that precise point that his cheek reddened and he felt a touch of -alarm as he angrily told himself such imagining was immoral, for it was based on -the suggestion that he steal the money. He condemned the suggestion wrathfully -as he walked a quarter of a mile to the lonely home where he boarded, and yet he -was more downcast than ever over his colorless place in life.</p> - -<p>On returning to the station to close up for the night, which meant a weary -wait for the up-passenger to pull in, he returned to the suggestion abruptly and -recklessly. It was the sight of the porters making up the berths, the -comradeship in the smoking compartment, that plunged him into full revolt; only -now he proceeded on the theory the money was legitimately his.</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess I’ve earned it. What if I should take it, providing I could -get away with it? How would I spend it?”</p> - -<p>This surrender eased him much. Of course he wouldn’t take it, not a penny; -but it’s impossible to picture a career of spending until the imagination has -logically furnished the requisite possession. Now he had mentally satisfied his -imagination as to possession, although the technique was illegal. Fortunately -there is no law punishing a man for inwardly discussing the possible assets of a -crime.</p> - -<p>Of course, Parsly merely intended to pursue his day-dreams unhampered by any -irritating self-criticism. He had systematically arranged his data and could -spend a million a day, should he choose. That was where he erred. His -imagination became a hard taskmaster, very exacting. Once he accepted the -suggestion that the money was to come to him through theft, his methodical mind -insisted on reviewing the possibilities of detection before permitting him to -enjoy the fruits.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t you be caught and arrested before you could make a beginning?” was -the cautious query he was forced to put to himself.</p> - -<p>Such nagging is very annoying, and to satisfy his mysterious Pyrrhonist and -continue with his Spanish architecture, he set himself about planning how the -trick could be done without his being detected.</p> - -<p>This was a hopeless morass at first, and very unpleasant; for instead of -picturing innocent expenditures he found himself sweating and struggling with -the problem of how he could keep the money once he secured it. The more he -labored the more nimble became his other self in raising pertinent objections, -exploding seemingly sound theories and ridiculing his most astute -hypotheses.</p> - -<p>To merely appropriate the money and disappear was quickly shown to be the -height of idiocy. That spelled a life of slinking and fear, the flying from -phantoms. It took some thought to clear the foreground of discarded theories and -plans and approach the realm of finesse; but at last he seemed to be building on -a firmer foundation.</p> - -<p>Probably the frequent raids by yeggmen on rural post-offices and isolated -railroad stations stimulated this office of his imagination. For in reading the -paper, presented him gratis each evening by the newsboy on the up-passenger, he -noted the yeggmen always securely tied whoever stood between them and loot, cut -the tell-tale wires and escaped.</p> - -<p>Then came the great idea; and slapping the paper he glanced apprehensively -around the small office, and whispered:</p> - -<p>“If I faked a holdup the yeggs would get the credit and I’d get the dough. It -would be a cinch, if a man wanted to play crooked.”</p> - -<p>Stay! Was it so easy? The various precautions necessary for counterfeiting a -robbery, each simple in itself, quickly loomed into mountains. Then he derided -on just how the furniture should be broken and overturned to approximate -realism; just when the wires should be cut; whether the station door should be -left open or closed, and the condition of his clothing and pockets. As there was -no safe in the office the agent carried the moneys upon his person. At first he -imagined his pockets turned inside out, then repudiated the thought as being too -clumsy.</p> - -<p>But what about the tying-up portion of the programme? Could a man tie himself -so as to convince his rescuers that his predicament was genuine? Of course, -there was a chance, rather a good one, too, of his landlord, foreman of the -section crew, coming to his aid and cutting the cords without making any -particular observations. Still, only perfection of detail would satisfy his -exacting critic.</p> - -<p>Now, Parsly, if slow of thought at times, was dogged in his persistence once -he grappled with a problem. He now gave his spare time to studying ropes and -knots.</p> - -<p>The newspapers had charged up the various robberies to Fresno Red and his -gang, and had dwelt at length on the method used in each case in tying up -watchman or agent. Invariably one end of the rope was made fast about the feet -and ankles of the captive, then parsed up and around the waist, the hands being -caught and tied behind the back; the loose end finally being made fast about the -captive’s neck in a slip-noose.</p> - -<p>It was done very quickly, each victim had averred, and so hampered a man that -the more he struggled the more he endangered his life by self-strangulation. It -was a method worthy of the redoubtable Fresno Red, and one Parsly now attacked -to satisfy his insistence on correct detail.</p> - -<hr class='tb' /> - -<p>That night he surreptitiously carried a piece of new rope home. He had -already discovered that new rope would not slip like old, smoothly worn rope. In -the secrecy of his small chamber he essayed the simple task of tying his own -feet. His heart beat rapidly as he pulled the knot tight; then he laughed -vacuously and told himself it was all a game. It ended where it began, merely a -pastime. He did not attempt to duplicate the yeggmen’s knots further that -night.</p> - -<p>He would not concede that he stood in fear of the trooping suggestions now -besetting him and eagerly offering aid. Yet he fought hard to put the thoughts -from his mind during the morning hours and felt extremely virtuous as he handed -the down agent the customary parcel of money.</p> - -<p>That night he relaxed and deftly tied his feet, passed the line about his -waist and clumsily wound it around his wrists. He remained awake more than an -hour trying to solve the rest of the problem—how to fasten the rope about his -wrists so it would be impossible to free himself and then secure the end about -his neck. He decided it couldn’t be done, and fell asleep.</p> - -<p>Toward morning, when but half awake, he heard a voice advise—</p> - -<p>“Tie the rope first about the neck.”</p> - -<p>He popped up to a sitting posture and stared wildly about the dark chamber. -He knew it was a suggestion from his inner self, yet so distinctly did he hear -the words it seemed as if they must have been voiced aloud. Throughout the early -morning he brooded over the suggestion. At first he could not discern any sense -in it. Subconsciously, however, he had often noticed the lumberman’s trick of -using a dove-hitch—two half-hitches—and gradually the recollection thrust itself -above the threshold of consciousness. He believed he had succeeded.</p> - -<p>He must make the rope fast about his neck while standing, then secure it -about his ankles with practically no slack, continuing the loose end to his -waist and tying it, taking care to have it pass outside the rope running from -neck to heels. Then by throwing back his head and heels he would obtain enough -slack to make the two double loops, or half-hitches, through which he could work -his wrists.</p> - -<p>The last operation, he realized, would demand great care, as he must thrust -his hands in from opposite directions until wrist overlapped wrist. If it would -work he would dismiss the matter and resume the pleasing visions of spending the -money.</p> - -<p>The morning’s paper contained a glaring account of a daring yegg robbery at -the Centerville station. The agent had been trussed up and some fifteen hundred -dollars taken.</p> - -<p>“Those guys certainly got the nerve,” commented the newsboy as the agent was -reading the item. “Didn’t even gag Roberts. Just corded him up like a bale of -hay, copped his roll and beat it. Roberts is so scared he’s working his -notice.”</p> - -<p>That afternoon Parsly was curious to examine all baggage fastened with ropes. -Several parcels of sample dowels, sent by express from the up-country mill, held -his attention the closest. They were tied with new rope and the dove-hitch held -tightly, even when he worked an end loose. Just before he closed up for supper -the branch train brought in a hundred-odd dollars, but the agent confidentially -assured:</p> - -<p>“Tomorrer’ll be a record breaker. Two parties I know of are going to send -down a thousand per. Together with the other money you’ll have close to three -thousand bones to nurse over night. The danged company ought to put a safe in -your office.”</p> - -<p>Off duty for the night, he hastened to his room where the supreme test -awaited him. If he succeeded there was nothing to prevent a man from robbing -himself and leaving no clues. When from the open door he could catch the sound -of his landlord’s heavy, regular breathing, he removed his shoes, seated himself -on the edge of the bed, and began experimenting with the cord.</p> - -<p>He fastened the noose about his neck and stood up and noted where the rope in -a direct line touched the floor. Then seating himself he tied it tightly about -his ankles and brought the loose end up to and around his waist. There was -scarcely any slack when he straightened out his legs. At first he feared he had -drawn the cord too tight and, anxiously turning on his face, threw back his head -and heels.</p> - -<p>With a thrill of elation he found the slack would enable him, by an effort, -to form the hitch. After a moment’s fumbling he succeeded, and even wriggled his -hands through the loops until the tips of the fingers rested on the upper -forearm. It wearied him, and with a sigh of physical relief he extended his -legs.</p> - -<p>In an instant his tongue felt too large for his mouth, and with a gasp of -horror he decided he was choking to death. He did not lose his nerve as he -remembered the remedy, and he drew back his legs. But although this gave a bit -of slack to the rope he could not induce the hitch to loosen. From the -satisfaction of having proven his theory he quickly glided into the fear that he -had calculated too nicely.</p> - -<p>Had the rope been old and smooth, or had his hands been imprisoned palm to -palm, finger tip to fingertip, he might have secured a leverage and by working -them apart have succeeded in wrenching one free. But the new rope refused to -give, and for a minute he lay quiet, panting for breath, and taking great care -to bring no strain on his neck.</p> - -<p>Down-stairs the old clock was ponderously ticking off the seconds; and he -remained a prisoner. His heart chilled as he feared he must summon the foreman -to come to his rescue. But how could he explain his peculiar plight? What -suspicions might not his predicament arouse?</p> - -<p>This dread quickly gave way before one more chance. The noose seemed to be -tightening about his neck, and he remembered the foreman was a heavy sleeper. -His wife occupied a room with her small children at the other end of the house. -He doubted his ability to call help; if he did not he might slowly strangle to -death.</p> - -<p>Already the cold sweat was trickling into his eyes and it required a mighty -effort of the will to restrain himself from thrashing about. He knew, however, -that the moment he lost control of his nerves and moved incautiously his wind -would be shut off. Gritting his teeth he drew his heels far back like an -acrobat. He was lying face down with the bedclothes half smothering him. Then he -gently picked at the rope with his finger tips. Useless. The cords held his -wrists like bands of iron.</p> - -<p>Finally he managed to work the cord between the fingers of his left hand and -exert a pressure upward, hoping to loosen the hitch. His essay was barren of -results for some moments, and it was not until he was about to collapse that he -felt his right hand moving more freely. With an inarticulate cry of triumph he -wrenched his wrist smartly, and instantly felt the cord renew its grip like a -sentient thing. It was like a cat playing with a mouse.</p> - -<p>Breathing in dry sobs he slowly sought to recover the lost ground and -persevered until he again was pushing upward on the cord. For the second time he -felt the right hand move a bit; this time he worked it back and forth most -gently and at last managed to pull it free. Even then it required some minutes -to remove the rope from his throat.</p> - -<p>“⸺ the thing!” he choked, sinking back exhausted. “It nearly got me!”</p> - -<p>That night he dreamed of the money brought in by the branch train; only there -were cars and cars loaded with it, and it was all in gold, and men were removing -it with huge scoops, just as they shovel out yellow corn.</p> - -<p>By morning he had regained his normal tone and even felt inclined to laugh at -himself. After all, had he not done what he set out to accomplish—to prove a man -could effectually make himself a prisoner? Had he been engaged in a <em>bona -fide</em> robbery he would not have attempted to free himself. His success in -escaping detection would be his utter inability to do so. In that case, of -course, he would expect to endure the torture till help reached him.</p> - -<p>What odds if a man suffered a few hours of physical agony, if it resulted in -supplying him with several thousand dollars? He now clearly appreciated that had -his experiment been less successful he would have been grievously disappointed; -the problem would have remained an obstacle to his imagination, and his -dangerous, although alluring, fancies needs must be postponed. On the whole he -felt rather proud of his achievement.</p> - -<p>All day the great idea kept pounding through his head. He had it in his power -to obtain more than two thousand, possibly three thousand, dollars without being -suspected. His temples throbbed and ached as the thought assailed him. Once or -twice during the afternoon he was called to the baggage-room to check a trunk. -Each time his gaze involuntarily sought the coil of new rope hanging behind the -door.</p> - -<p>It was well known to students of crime that yeggmen pick up their tools on -the premises of the place robbed, traveling unhampered by the burglar’s usual -outfit. How natural that they should appropriate a piece of this very cord to -bind him with! That would necessitate the shattering of the lock, but the door -was old and weak and a well-delivered kick would smash it loose. He had no -appetite for supper and heard but little of the foreman’s gossip.</p> - -<p>“I was saying I’d like to play you a game of crib tonight if you feel in -trim,” repeated the foreman.</p> - -<p>“Crib? Oh, of course. Sure, Danny. I’ll play crib. I’ll be home right after -the up-train pulls out. I’ll be home in good season,” eagerly promised Parsly, -suddenly realizing the foreman might get impatient waiting, might take alarm at -his boarder failure to reach home, and go in search of him. That would eliminate -long, slow hours of torture on the office floor.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ll be home right after the nine-o’clock goes up,” he said. “I won’t -keep you waiting.”</p> - -<p>While returning through the woods it suddenly came home to him that he had -planned to steal the money. For a moment he felt strongly moved and made a -feeble pretense of denying the accusation. Then with a drawn face he -muttered:</p> - -<p>“⸺ it! Why sidestep? It’s been in my nut for days. I’ll never get another -chance like this—so much dough and the yeggs near.”</p> - -<p>He sought to distract his mind by bitterly assailing the railroad and express -companies and assuring himself the thought would never have occurred to him had -he been paid something beyond a starvation wage for a fourteen-hour day. It -really wasn’t robbery. Laws were made by men. It was reprisal. When it came to -the ethics of it—only Parsly didn’t know what the word meant—he’d earned the -money, at least a part of it.</p> - -<p>The night connived at his purpose, blowing up cold and desolate and on the -verge of a storm. By the time the branch pulled in, the platform was streaming -rivulets from the heavy downpour, and the express agent made the office on the -run.</p> - -<p>“Here’s the stuff!” he yelped, tossing a package on the table. “Nothing to -hold us and we’re going right back. So long.” Parsly breathed more freely. -Sometimes a mixup over freight, or a hot-box, kept the train, with the men -careless of the passing minutes, as they had no schedule to make on the return -run to Waverly, the first station, where they would hold the siding for the -night.</p> - -<p>Outside, the rain was falling with a thunderous clamor, smearing the window -panes till it was impossible to make out the switch-lights directly in front of -the station. Parsly rose, his eyes glittering. The money must be concealed -safely till the morrow.</p> - -<p>He had never read Poe’s story of the purloined letter, yet instinct urged a -simple hiding-place. He decided on the greasy canvas coat, hung back of the -door. He wore it only when cleaning the switch-lamps. The package fitted nicely -into one capacious pocket. No one would ever find it there. Now to arrange the -stage settings, the overturned furniture, the open door—</p> - -<p>The door opened. Four men were crowding in through the miniature waterfall -released from the loaded eaves. Parsly eyed them as one entranced, his gaze -frozen with horror. It was no physical fear he dreaded, but for the moment it -seemed as if his evil purpose had escaped him and now stood crystallized into -tangible shapes, each a unit of wickedness.</p> - -<p>“Nail the mutt!” sharply ordered the leader, a man with a heavy shock of red -hair.</p> - -<p>One of the men twisted Parsly’s arm behind him and thrust an iron wrist under -his chin. Two others stood near, one holding a revolver, the other caressing a -“life-preserver.” The leader was glancing about the office.</p> - -<p>All this occurred in a single motion, yet it seemed to cover ages to the -stupefied agent. It was the red-headed man’s prowling gaze that brought Parsly -to his senses. They were yeggmen—Fresno Red and his gang. They were after the -money and the leader was seeking the safe.</p> - -<p>The man who had seized the agent was deciding he had never in all of his -strong-arm jobs encountered so thoroughly frightened a victim as now, when -Parsly’s chin hugged in and his strong teeth bit deeply into his captor’s wrist, -causing him to scream with pain. At the same instant, the agent’s long leg -kicked out, overturning the table and the one lamp.</p> - -<p>The room was plunged in darkness and the man with the revolver discharged his -weapon, evoking a shriek of mortal agony, but not from the agent. Fresno Red -called loudly for a light while he attempted to strike a match. Parsly had the -advantage; he knew one of the robbers was dead or seriously wounded, and while -every man was his enemy in the darkness, the yeggmen feared to injure a pal.</p> - -<p>“Block the door and window!” roared Fresno Red.</p> - -<p>During this brief leeway Parsly’s groping hands found, the office stool and -he swung it around his head in a deadly circle. By the sickening crunch he knew -at least one of the enemy was off the active list. Then a match flared up for a -second and the leader’s revolver exploded, the agent experiencing a stinging -sensation in the side.</p> - -<p>For an instant Parsly felt strangely numb; then the stool rose like a flail -and the man with the “life-preserver” sank to the floor.</p> - -<p>Somehow the agent now felt a riotous elation. Fear was a very distant -emotion. His veins were filled with molten lead instead of blood. He breathed -hate rather than the smoky air. It was a monstrous thing that these murderers -should seek to rob his employers.</p> - -<p>With a wild howl of rage he plunged into the remaining two men, lucking and -smashing like a maniac with the fragment of the stool. Out through the door they -poured, another of the gang falling with a fractured skull. Then Parsly -discovered he was alone.</p> - -<p>He stood stupidly for a few moments, weaving back and forth. He aroused -himself as his dull ears caught a familiar sound. A hand-car was being pumped -down the grade. His mind cleared to supernormal lucidity. He saw his advantage. -He had been brutally attacked and seriously wounded. The one man escaping would -be charged with having stolen the money; they wrested it from him in the -struggle. He had fought hard; he’d earned it. And yet, should he pull the lever -close by his right hand, he could throw open the switch down the line and send -Fresno Red crashing into the empty coal-cars on the siding.</p> - -<p>“You’ll never get a better chance! It simply can’t be known and—”</p> - -<p>“No!” he yelled, springing to the lever and pulling it back with his last -ounce of strength.</p> - -<p>“No, ⸺ you! No!”</p> - -<p>Within the next minute he heard a dull crash and knew the yegg leader had -collided with the coal-cars. Then he concluded the wet platform would be an -ideal place for a red-hot body to rest on.</p> - -<hr class='tb' /> - -<p>“For the love of Mike! Parsly down and out! One man groaning and another dead -in the office, one stiff out here! Good Heavens!” exclaimed the horrified -foreman as he held up the lantern. He had come because Parsly had failed to keep -his promise as to the game of cribbage.</p> - -<p>As he read the full story in the four prostrate forms he collected his wits -and dragged Parsly into the office, meanwhile begging him to “Wake up,” and “Get -back his nerve.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the row?” feebly asked Parsly. Then he remembered.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been shot. Find the instrument and see if the wires are O. K. Hold me -up where I can reach it. I must send in the alarm. The leader is down on the -siding somewhere. I shunted him off into the empties.”</p> - -<p>“The desperate devils was going to make sure,” panted the foreman as he -hunted for the instrument. “They fetched two coils of rope.”</p> - -<p>The papers made a great hero of Parsly. Fresno Red, who was found with a -broken shoulder, gave him a brave record for being game. The railroad sent a -superintendent to tell him he was in line for promotion and the express company -guardedly considered presenting him with a reward.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want any money,” growled Parsly as the agent sat by his bed in the -little house.</p> - -<p>“Cut that out. I did nothing but what’s in the day’s work. But I’d like the -Centerville job. Roberts, they say, is going to quit. That pays a hundred a -month.”</p> - -<p>He was appointed two days later. Only now he hates the sight of coiled rope -and looks upon express money as so much junk.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED OTHERWISE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—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™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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