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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..7fdd057 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66760 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66760) diff --git a/old/66760-0.txt b/old/66760-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0f6284e..0000000 --- a/old/66760-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,821 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Next Stop, Nowhere!, by Dick Purcell - -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: Next Stop, Nowhere! - -Author: Dick Purcell - -Release Date: November 17, 2021 [eBook #66760] - -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 NEXT STOP, NOWHERE! *** - - - - - "NEXT STOP, NOWHERE!" - - By Dick Purcell - - It's logical to assume that an elevator - only travels from one floor to another; yet if - you think about it--what's between the floors? - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - August 1956 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Four persons disappearing from an elevator should have caused -concern--even excitement. Especially when the elevator was stuck -between two floors. But the thing was handled quite casually. And with -good reason. After all, when a thing is not understood the best defense -against acknowledging ignorance is to insist that nothing extraordinary -happened. - -In this case, four persons, a girl and three men, stepped into an -elevator in the Kendall Building. They were all headed for the same -suite--offices occupied by several medical men. The elevator jammed -between the sixth and seventh floors and refused to budge. - -The operator, a salty little Brooklynite, swore quietly to himself -and pushed the emergency signal. It rang but nothing happened. The -operator waited for a few minutes, then spoke in a carefully casual -voice, "The blessed engineer is out to supper. Now ain't that the way -things always happen? When the blessed engineer goes out to supper the -blessed elevator does a blessed sit-down between two floors." - -"What--what are we going to do?" This from the very pretty female -passenger named Peggy Wilson who was afraid of almost everything and -was going to a psychiatrist who was trying to root a dominating mother -out of the poor girl's subconscious and put the old lady back in her -grave where she belonged. - -"We aren't in any danger, miss. We could wait for the engineer but it -might be quite a while." - -"It looks to me as though we'll have to wait for him," Walter -Maltby said. Maltby was an ingrown little man who had had a toothache -for three weeks and had finally been driven to the dentist by his -dominating wife. - -"Oh, no. If one of you guys--men--will boost me through the trap in the -roof of the car, I can get to the seventh floor door. I'll crawl out -and go down in the basement and move the blessed car to seven by hand." - -"Okay," Wilmer Payton said. He was a six-feet-four Greek god with a -body close to perfection and a handsome, intelligent face that was -nothing more than a spate of false advertising pasted across the front -of a vacant head. Wilmer was pretty much of a mental bankrupt. He -didn't even own the furniture in his own cerebral attic, the pieces -having been placed there by others. He had the look of a rising young -executive and was the assistant mail room boy in a large publishing -company. And a good one, too. Lately, they had been entrusting him with -special delivery letters. - -He braced himself and the operator climbed on his shoulders and -vanished through the ceiling. A moment later there was a sound of an -opening door and a few grunts and scramblings after which the door -closed and silence again prevailed. - -The three passengers glanced at each other fearfully. The fourth, a -small, white-haired man in his late sixties had stood quietly in one -corner during the whole procedure. He had a pair of bright black eyes -and a look remindful of an alert fox terrier in a basement known to -house rats. He was Fleming Carter, a psychiatrist by profession and a -student of almost everything by choice. He was an accomplished linguist -among other things and translated Sanskrit and Hebrew for the pleasure -of it. He was an amateur chemist and also conducted himself ably on a -pair of skis. - -So the quartette was not lacking in brilliance, Fleming Carter having -enough to burnish all four. - -He had mentally taken his three fellow-prisoners apart and put them -together again when he noticed the girl's trembling and saw her first -tears. Only then did he step forward. - -"There is no cause for alarm, my dear--none at all. These lifts fairly -bristle with safety devices. The insurance companies demand it." - -Peggy Wilson turned to him gratefully, a little like a kitten, he -thought, which yearned for the reassurance of a soothing hand. _She -would make a beautiful Persian_, he thought. A perfect house pet. - -"But to be trapped here--like--like animals," Peggy whimpered. "It's -terrible!" She was moving toward Fleming Carter's shoulder, but Wilmer -Payton took a single step forward and her head turned quite naturally -to _his_ bosom. Fleming Carter smiled and estimated to a nicety the -intelligence of any offspring that would result from a mating of these -two vacuums. - -"It's all right, baby," Wilmer said. "I'll take care of you." - -Walter Maltby had troubles of his own. He now voiced them: "Jenny will -be furious if we don't get out of here pretty quick. I'm always home -for Television Theater and if I don't make it--" - -He got no further because at that moment the foundations of the world -seemed to give way and the four of them were hurled into a heap on the -floor. - -Or were they? - -This question was in Fleming Carter's mind as Peggy Wilson screamed, -Walter Maltby whimpered, and Wilmer Payton bellowed in terror. _Had_ -the lift fallen--the building collapsed--an atom bomb exploded? -His instincts told him no. This because--while all the outward -manifestations of such catastrophes seemed apparent--there was -something strangely different about the sudden chaos into which the -group had been thrown. - -Fleming Carter felt they should all be dead. But they remained very -much alive. They should have been at least mangled and maimed. None -appeared even scratched. - -All this, Carter told himself firmly, was a chaos of the mind and -nothing more. It was mental panic of such violence that it was -manifesting in the physical. He told himself this while he sought to -maintain equilibrium while standing upon nothing and wondering where -such a terrific wind could come from in a sheltered elevator shaft. - -Then it was over. The hurricane subsided; the floor stiffened beneath -them and they were lying in a heap--a heap made interesting by Peggy -Wilson's legs sprawled above the others in a very unladylike manner. - -Wilmer Payton groaned. - -"Shut up," Fleming Carter said sharply. "Don't start a wave of panic -and hysteria. You aren't hurt!" - -"How the hell do you know I ain't?" Wilmer Payton demanded with -childlike docility. - -"Because I'm not and no one else seems to be and we all fell the same -distance." - -Fleming Carter began to extricate himself from the pack. This -necessitated pressing rather personally against Peggy Wilson. He did -what he had to do and then drew the girl's skirt down as gently and -hastily as possible. He was relieved to find she was in no shape to -care what anyone did with her skirt. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile, the elevator operator, upon finding he could not move the -elevator, returned to reassure the occupants. He went to the seventh -floor and called down very cheerily, "Everything's all right, folks. If -this'd happened before six o'clock there'd be plenty of blessed people -around, but it's almost seven and the engineer ain't back from supper -yet. It won't be but a little while though, and then--" - -The operator became aware that only silence answered him. Had they been -scared dumb? "You--hey you--down there--" - -More silence. The operator frowned and crawled down into the shaft. He -looked through the trap. Empty. "Well I'll be damned!" he said. And -because an obvious situation was covered by an obvious answer, added, -"All four of them crawled out and went home. Funny they couldn't stick -around a few minutes." - -He did not ponder the difficulties involved in such an escape. The only -direction they could have gone was up and out on the seventh floor. He -thus accepted the obvious. And his only thought on the subject was that -he'd like to have been the one to boost the girl up. - -Later, he bawled the engineer out and that was that so far as he was -concerned. - -But the situation was far less simple for the four passengers. As -Fleming Carter struggled to his feet, Walter Maltby used his leg for a -ladder and came erect also and said, "I'll bet Jenny will sue somebody -for this! Jenny won't let them get away with it! Not for a minute." - -Wilmer Payton was also on his feet looking dully about him. Fleming -Carter said, "Why don't you help the lady, young man? I'm sure she -would appreciate the courtesy from you more than myself or--?" - -He looked questioningly at the other male member of the quartette. - -"Walter Maltby--and as I was saying, Jenny will never--" - -"I'm sure she won't." - -"What happened?" Wilmer Payton asked of no one in particular as he -hauled Peggy Wilson to her feet. - -The girl was biting her lip, trying hard to be brave. "The elevator -must have fallen. It's a wonder we weren't all killed!" - -They agreed. All save Fleming Carter who was looking around with bright -interest. "It seems to me that we are no longer in the elevator." - -Walter Maltby's jaw dropped. "No longer in the--" - -"This is a somewhat larger area. And I fail to see any walls. Also, the -ceiling seems to have vanished." - -The other three gazed about in shocked silence and the truth of Fleming -Carter's statements dawned on them. No walls, no ceiling. Nothing but -hard earth under their feet and a high blue sky above. - -"Why we're out--out in the country!" Peggy Wilson babbled. - -"I agree," Fleming Carter said. "But let's not get panicky. We are -still alive and unhurt." - -"But I don't understand it," Walter Maltby said, plaintively. "I just -don't understand it." - -Fleming Carter regarded the little man with pity. No Jenny around to -reassure the little man with her domineering bulk. Carter knew as a -matter of course that Jenny would be both bulky and domineering. - -Carter looked about him. They were out in open country--that was -obvious. There was a huge sun and a huge blue sky and huge clouds -floating overhead. Everything in place but something very wrong. - -Things were just too big. - -That was it, Carter told himself. The size of this new world was far -out of proportion to the size of him and his new friends. They were -all standing in coarse grass that reached their knees--high grass--but -Carter realized instantly that the grass was not high. They themselves -were short! - - * * * * * - -Wilmer Payton, holding Peggy Wilson in the crook of one arm, looked -about through eyes that obviously sent no intelligent messages to his -brain. He turned them on Carter and said, "I don't get any of this." - -"I think I know what happened," Carter said. - -This even caught the interest of Walter Maltby who was wondering what -Jenny would have to say about his not arriving home on schedule. "What -_did_ happen?" - -"We've fallen--or were snatched--through some sort of a space-time -warp." - -Wilmer Payton gaped idiotically and said, "We did _which_ through a -_what_?" - -Fleming Carter seemed not to hear. He was staring pensively at the -thick blades of grass that brushed his knees. "There are more things in -heaven and earth, Horatio--" he mused. - -"There ain't nobody here named Horatio," Wilmer said sullenly. - -"Excuse me. My mind was wandering," Carter's mind was not wandering at -all, however. He said, "There are certain unexplained phenomena that -are believed to have happened in our world. People have been known to -disappear mysteriously and those who remain behind formulate theories -as to the how and the why of their vanishing. It is believed by some -that people can be moved, under certain conditions from one plane of -existence to another--that there are many of these so-called planes of -existence where many and varied peoples live and breathe upon them. - -"Of course, no proof has ever been found for these theories because -the vanished persons never came back to testify, but--" Carter stopped -suddenly and regarded the three with a touch of compassion. "You -haven't the least idea what I'm talking about, do you?" - -"I'm afraid not," Walter Maltby said timidly. - -"Well, never mind. Perhaps I don't either. In any case, existence is -its own excuse for accepting any locale. Suffice it to say we are now -in a world that was not built for us--a world for creatures of far -greater dimensions than ourselves--and how we got here is really of -little importance." - -Peggy Wilson was now snugly in Wilmer Payton's arms, her head tight -against his chest. Wilmer was just opening his mouth to say something -when, over the slope of the land, a huge form appeared. There was -nothing mystifying about it. The creature was obviously a man. He -wore rather strange loose clothing that, Carter thought, had some -resemblance to those of the ancient Greeks. But otherwise there was -nothing different about him except his size. As he approached, Fleming -Carter estimated that Wilmer Payton--the tallest of the four--would -about come to the top of his odd sandal-like footgear. - -There was no panic now--the three being completely frozen with terror -and Carter statue-quiet and sharply alert. The giant, he was sure, -would pass within two hundred yards of them. A distance dangerously -close considering the man's size. - -Still, Carter was optimistic. There was no reason why the giant should -see them. As things were, they could certainly hope to be overlooked. - -But Peggy Wilson dashed this hope as the pressure within her became too -strong to contain and broke out in the form of a scream. - -The giant stopped, took a few quick steps in their direction and was -upon them. Carter knew then, that they were lost. A huge hand swooped -down and lifted Walter Maltby into the air. Far above, Carter saw the -terrified Maltby being transferred carefully to the giant's other -hand. Now Wilmer Payton and Peggy Wilson were running blindly in two -directions, Peggy having been suddenly deserted by her protector. Twice -more the huge hand descended and the two also vanished into the vast -palm. - -Apparently, the giant overlooked Fleming Carter who had stood quite -still during the whole time. But Carter made a swift decision based -more on charity than good sense. Somehow, he could not leave those -three to their fate. So he cried out and waved his arms. "Just a -moment! You overlooked me!" - -The hand swooped down again as the giant saw him. - - * * * * * - -Carter Fleming found himself resting comfortably with his face against -someone's back. Otherwise he was completely surrounded by soft flesh. -He realized they were being handled carefully however so he felt that -death, while definitely a threat had been at least postponed. He -wondered about the others, so close to him and yet so far away so far -as contact was concerned. He knew the terror that raced through their -minds and he pitied them.... - -The giant was continuing on, Carter decided, and he endured the ride as -best he could. - -Then it terminated suddenly as Carter and the others were very gently -tumbled into a room. The room had no ceiling but this situation was -speedily remedied when a ceiling was lowered and set into place above -them. In the resulting darkness, Carter heard Peggy Wilson sobbing and -various unintelligible noises from Maltby and Payton. Then the room -began suddenly to move in haphazard directions. - -Possibly this was finally the end, but Fleming Carter could not bring -himself to think so. Because even though the room pitched and tossed, -Carter felt it was being done rather gently by the giant hands. - -Then it was over. The room settled down and remained on solid base. -Immediately there was a rending sound and a vast finger was thrust -through the wall just below ceiling level. The finger was withdrawn but -only to reappear when thrust through the other side. - -It vanished again and the two resulting holes let in ample air and -light. - -For a few moments Carter and the other three sat motionless, waiting. -Something was going on outside the room--the room itself moving -slightly--but the violent tossing was evidently over. - -Peggy Wilson spoke first--or rather, sobbed. "Where are we?" - -"I'm sure I don't know, my dear, but if I stood on the young man's -shoulders I could look out through one of those openings and perhaps -learn a little something." - -"You want me to lift you?" Wilmer Payton said dully. - -"That is the general idea," Carter replied in a gentle voice. - -Wilmer braced himself against the wall and Carter clambered to his -shoulders and cautiously pushed his head through the opening. He -remained thus for quite a while--until Wilmer Payton began moving -restlessly. Then he clambered down. - -They waited for him to speak but he said nothing. He stared at the hole -with a look of amazement upon his face as though, for the first time -the wonder of this strange transition had struck him forcibly. Then -he turned his eyes upon his three companions and there was a look in -his eyes that had not been there before; personal, yet impersonally -analytical. A hard look to read, so they could have no way of knowing -that he was trying to forecast how they would react to the fate that -awaited them. - -"Well," Wilmer Payton demanded impatiently. "Did you see anything?" - -"Yes. This is not a room. It is a huge box of some sort. It is bound -around on all sides by what looks like red carpeting of a width used -in hallways. I believe such carpetings are called runners. Attached to -the top is a large white sail although it appears to be made of paper -rather than canvas." He was watching them closely as he spoke. - -"It took you all that time to see those things?" Walter Maltby asked a -trifle plaintively. - -"No. There were other things." - -At this point Peggy Wilson, coming out of her shock, began to -cry hysterically. "My God! What's to become of us? We'll all be -killed--murdered!" - -"I don't think so," Carter said. - -"Then we'll be held prisoner. That will be just as bad!" - -"In a sense, you will be held prisoner--but I don't think it will be -bad. I think our jailer will probably be a rather kindly person who -will give us every consideration." - -"How could a jailer do that?" Peggy Wilson moaned. - - * * * * * - -Carter laid a hand upon her shoulder. "Consider, my dear. All your life -you have needed a mother. Now you will have the equivalent of one." He -turned to Walter Maltby. "And you. You have learned to function only as -a result of a dominating wife's promptings. Our jailer will fill that -role for you." - -Lastly he regarded Wilmer Payton. "You, young man will be directed and -guided. You will not have need of the brain power with which you are -not equipped. - -"All of you will be content. None will have any decisions to make--all -will be taken care of. Can you think of a more pleasant destiny?" - -Walter Maltby said, "You're talking in circles. Talking but not saying -anything!" - -Carter had turned away, smiling. "This is very strange. We were -transported to another plane, but not snatched up willy-nilly. There -was a pattern behind it. Three people admirably suited to their new -fate." - -Wilmer Payton seized Fleming Carter by the arm and whirled him around. -"Will you please tell us what you're talking about?" - -"Of course," Carter said quietly. "To speak the absolute truth, we are -in a box. The box is tied with a wide red ribbon. The thing I called -a sail is in reality a greeting card upon which certain words are -written; words not too difficult to decipher." - -"Well, go on--what are the words." - -"In English, they would read--'Happy Birthday, Darling.' You are -someone's birthday present." - -Peggy's face was ashen. "You speak of _us_," she whispered. "How well -suited _we_ are for this fate. What about yourself?" - -Carter smiled. "I expect this to be the most interesting period of my -life," he said. "You see, the present is for me. I picked it out." - -And as they watched in stunned amazement, Carter began to grow. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEXT STOP, NOWHERE! *** - -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> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Next Stop, Nowhere!</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Dick Purcell</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 17, 2021 [eBook #66760]</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 NEXT STOP, NOWHERE! ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>"NEXT STOP, NOWHERE!"</h1> - -<h2>By Dick Purcell</h2> - -<p>It's logical to assume that an elevator<br /> -only travels from one floor to another; yet if<br /> -you think about it—what's between the floors?</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -August 1956<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Four persons disappearing from an elevator should have caused -concern—even excitement. Especially when the elevator was stuck -between two floors. But the thing was handled quite casually. And with -good reason. After all, when a thing is not understood the best defense -against acknowledging ignorance is to insist that nothing extraordinary -happened.</p> - -<p>In this case, four persons, a girl and three men, stepped into an -elevator in the Kendall Building. They were all headed for the same -suite—offices occupied by several medical men. The elevator jammed -between the sixth and seventh floors and refused to budge.</p> - -<p>The operator, a salty little Brooklynite, swore quietly to himself -and pushed the emergency signal. It rang but nothing happened. The -operator waited for a few minutes, then spoke in a carefully casual -voice, "The blessed engineer is out to supper. Now ain't that the way -things always happen? When the blessed engineer goes out to supper the -blessed elevator does a blessed sit-down between two floors."</p> - -<p>"What—what are we going to do?" This from the very pretty female -passenger named Peggy Wilson who was afraid of almost everything and -was going to a psychiatrist who was trying to root a dominating mother -out of the poor girl's subconscious and put the old lady back in her -grave where she belonged.</p> - -<p>"We aren't in any danger, miss. We could wait for the engineer but it -might be quite a while."</p> - -<p>"It looks to me as though we'll have to wait for him," Walter -Maltby said. Maltby was an ingrown little man who had had a toothache -for three weeks and had finally been driven to the dentist by his -dominating wife.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no. If one of you guys—men—will boost me through the trap in the -roof of the car, I can get to the seventh floor door. I'll crawl out -and go down in the basement and move the blessed car to seven by hand."</p> - -<p>"Okay," Wilmer Payton said. He was a six-feet-four Greek god with a -body close to perfection and a handsome, intelligent face that was -nothing more than a spate of false advertising pasted across the front -of a vacant head. Wilmer was pretty much of a mental bankrupt. He -didn't even own the furniture in his own cerebral attic, the pieces -having been placed there by others. He had the look of a rising young -executive and was the assistant mail room boy in a large publishing -company. And a good one, too. Lately, they had been entrusting him with -special delivery letters.</p> - -<p>He braced himself and the operator climbed on his shoulders and -vanished through the ceiling. A moment later there was a sound of an -opening door and a few grunts and scramblings after which the door -closed and silence again prevailed.</p> - -<p>The three passengers glanced at each other fearfully. The fourth, a -small, white-haired man in his late sixties had stood quietly in one -corner during the whole procedure. He had a pair of bright black eyes -and a look remindful of an alert fox terrier in a basement known to -house rats. He was Fleming Carter, a psychiatrist by profession and a -student of almost everything by choice. He was an accomplished linguist -among other things and translated Sanskrit and Hebrew for the pleasure -of it. He was an amateur chemist and also conducted himself ably on a -pair of skis.</p> - -<p>So the quartette was not lacking in brilliance, Fleming Carter having -enough to burnish all four.</p> - -<p>He had mentally taken his three fellow-prisoners apart and put them -together again when he noticed the girl's trembling and saw her first -tears. Only then did he step forward.</p> - -<p>"There is no cause for alarm, my dear—none at all. These lifts fairly -bristle with safety devices. The insurance companies demand it."</p> - -<p>Peggy Wilson turned to him gratefully, a little like a kitten, he -thought, which yearned for the reassurance of a soothing hand. <i>She -would make a beautiful Persian</i>, he thought. A perfect house pet.</p> - -<p>"But to be trapped here—like—like animals," Peggy whimpered. "It's -terrible!" She was moving toward Fleming Carter's shoulder, but Wilmer -Payton took a single step forward and her head turned quite naturally -to <i>his</i> bosom. Fleming Carter smiled and estimated to a nicety the -intelligence of any offspring that would result from a mating of these -two vacuums.</p> - -<p>"It's all right, baby," Wilmer said. "I'll take care of you."</p> - -<p>Walter Maltby had troubles of his own. He now voiced them: "Jenny will -be furious if we don't get out of here pretty quick. I'm always home -for Television Theater and if I don't make it—"</p> - -<p>He got no further because at that moment the foundations of the world -seemed to give way and the four of them were hurled into a heap on the -floor.</p> - -<p>Or were they?</p> - -<p>This question was in Fleming Carter's mind as Peggy Wilson screamed, -Walter Maltby whimpered, and Wilmer Payton bellowed in terror. <i>Had</i> -the lift fallen—the building collapsed—an atom bomb exploded? -His instincts told him no. This because—while all the outward -manifestations of such catastrophes seemed apparent—there was -something strangely different about the sudden chaos into which the -group had been thrown.</p> - -<p>Fleming Carter felt they should all be dead. But they remained very -much alive. They should have been at least mangled and maimed. None -appeared even scratched.</p> - -<p>All this, Carter told himself firmly, was a chaos of the mind and -nothing more. It was mental panic of such violence that it was -manifesting in the physical. He told himself this while he sought to -maintain equilibrium while standing upon nothing and wondering where -such a terrific wind could come from in a sheltered elevator shaft.</p> - -<p>Then it was over. The hurricane subsided; the floor stiffened beneath -them and they were lying in a heap—a heap made interesting by Peggy -Wilson's legs sprawled above the others in a very unladylike manner.</p> - -<p>Wilmer Payton groaned.</p> - -<p>"Shut up," Fleming Carter said sharply. "Don't start a wave of panic -and hysteria. You aren't hurt!"</p> - -<p>"How the hell do you know I ain't?" Wilmer Payton demanded with -childlike docility.</p> - -<p>"Because I'm not and no one else seems to be and we all fell the same -distance."</p> - -<p>Fleming Carter began to extricate himself from the pack. This -necessitated pressing rather personally against Peggy Wilson. He did -what he had to do and then drew the girl's skirt down as gently and -hastily as possible. He was relieved to find she was in no shape to -care what anyone did with her skirt.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Meanwhile, the elevator operator, upon finding he could not move the -elevator, returned to reassure the occupants. He went to the seventh -floor and called down very cheerily, "Everything's all right, folks. If -this'd happened before six o'clock there'd be plenty of blessed people -around, but it's almost seven and the engineer ain't back from supper -yet. It won't be but a little while though, and then—"</p> - -<p>The operator became aware that only silence answered him. Had they been -scared dumb? "You—hey you—down there—"</p> - -<p>More silence. The operator frowned and crawled down into the shaft. He -looked through the trap. Empty. "Well I'll be damned!" he said. And -because an obvious situation was covered by an obvious answer, added, -"All four of them crawled out and went home. Funny they couldn't stick -around a few minutes."</p> - -<p>He did not ponder the difficulties involved in such an escape. The only -direction they could have gone was up and out on the seventh floor. He -thus accepted the obvious. And his only thought on the subject was that -he'd like to have been the one to boost the girl up.</p> - -<p>Later, he bawled the engineer out and that was that so far as he was -concerned.</p> - -<p>But the situation was far less simple for the four passengers. As -Fleming Carter struggled to his feet, Walter Maltby used his leg for a -ladder and came erect also and said, "I'll bet Jenny will sue somebody -for this! Jenny won't let them get away with it! Not for a minute."</p> - -<p>Wilmer Payton was also on his feet looking dully about him. Fleming -Carter said, "Why don't you help the lady, young man? I'm sure she -would appreciate the courtesy from you more than myself or—?"</p> - -<p>He looked questioningly at the other male member of the quartette.</p> - -<p>"Walter Maltby—and as I was saying, Jenny will never—"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure she won't."</p> - -<p>"What happened?" Wilmer Payton asked of no one in particular as he -hauled Peggy Wilson to her feet.</p> - -<p>The girl was biting her lip, trying hard to be brave. "The elevator -must have fallen. It's a wonder we weren't all killed!"</p> - -<p>They agreed. All save Fleming Carter who was looking around with bright -interest. "It seems to me that we are no longer in the elevator."</p> - -<p>Walter Maltby's jaw dropped. "No longer in the—"</p> - -<p>"This is a somewhat larger area. And I fail to see any walls. Also, the -ceiling seems to have vanished."</p> - -<p>The other three gazed about in shocked silence and the truth of Fleming -Carter's statements dawned on them. No walls, no ceiling. Nothing but -hard earth under their feet and a high blue sky above.</p> - -<p>"Why we're out—out in the country!" Peggy Wilson babbled.</p> - -<p>"I agree," Fleming Carter said. "But let's not get panicky. We are -still alive and unhurt."</p> - -<p>"But I don't understand it," Walter Maltby said, plaintively. "I just -don't understand it."</p> - -<p>Fleming Carter regarded the little man with pity. No Jenny around to -reassure the little man with her domineering bulk. Carter knew as a -matter of course that Jenny would be both bulky and domineering.</p> - -<p>Carter looked about him. They were out in open country—that was -obvious. There was a huge sun and a huge blue sky and huge clouds -floating overhead. Everything in place but something very wrong.</p> - -<p>Things were just too big.</p> - -<p>That was it, Carter told himself. The size of this new world was far -out of proportion to the size of him and his new friends. They were -all standing in coarse grass that reached their knees—high grass—but -Carter realized instantly that the grass was not high. They themselves -were short!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Wilmer Payton, holding Peggy Wilson in the crook of one arm, looked -about through eyes that obviously sent no intelligent messages to his -brain. He turned them on Carter and said, "I don't get any of this."</p> - -<p>"I think I know what happened," Carter said.</p> - -<p>This even caught the interest of Walter Maltby who was wondering what -Jenny would have to say about his not arriving home on schedule. "What -<i>did</i> happen?"</p> - -<p>"We've fallen—or were snatched—through some sort of a space-time -warp."</p> - -<p>Wilmer Payton gaped idiotically and said, "We did <i>which</i> through a -<i>what</i>?"</p> - -<p>Fleming Carter seemed not to hear. He was staring pensively at the -thick blades of grass that brushed his knees. "There are more things in -heaven and earth, Horatio—" he mused.</p> - -<p>"There ain't nobody here named Horatio," Wilmer said sullenly.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me. My mind was wandering," Carter's mind was not wandering at -all, however. He said, "There are certain unexplained phenomena that -are believed to have happened in our world. People have been known to -disappear mysteriously and those who remain behind formulate theories -as to the how and the why of their vanishing. It is believed by some -that people can be moved, under certain conditions from one plane of -existence to another—that there are many of these so-called planes of -existence where many and varied peoples live and breathe upon them.</p> - -<p>"Of course, no proof has ever been found for these theories because -the vanished persons never came back to testify, but—" Carter stopped -suddenly and regarded the three with a touch of compassion. "You -haven't the least idea what I'm talking about, do you?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid not," Walter Maltby said timidly.</p> - -<p>"Well, never mind. Perhaps I don't either. In any case, existence is -its own excuse for accepting any locale. Suffice it to say we are now -in a world that was not built for us—a world for creatures of far -greater dimensions than ourselves—and how we got here is really of -little importance."</p> - -<p>Peggy Wilson was now snugly in Wilmer Payton's arms, her head tight -against his chest. Wilmer was just opening his mouth to say something -when, over the slope of the land, a huge form appeared. There was -nothing mystifying about it. The creature was obviously a man. He -wore rather strange loose clothing that, Carter thought, had some -resemblance to those of the ancient Greeks. But otherwise there was -nothing different about him except his size. As he approached, Fleming -Carter estimated that Wilmer Payton—the tallest of the four—would -about come to the top of his odd sandal-like footgear.</p> - -<p>There was no panic now—the three being completely frozen with terror -and Carter statue-quiet and sharply alert. The giant, he was sure, -would pass within two hundred yards of them. A distance dangerously -close considering the man's size.</p> - -<p>Still, Carter was optimistic. There was no reason why the giant should -see them. As things were, they could certainly hope to be overlooked.</p> - -<p>But Peggy Wilson dashed this hope as the pressure within her became too -strong to contain and broke out in the form of a scream.</p> - -<p>The giant stopped, took a few quick steps in their direction and was -upon them. Carter knew then, that they were lost. A huge hand swooped -down and lifted Walter Maltby into the air. Far above, Carter saw the -terrified Maltby being transferred carefully to the giant's other -hand. Now Wilmer Payton and Peggy Wilson were running blindly in two -directions, Peggy having been suddenly deserted by her protector. Twice -more the huge hand descended and the two also vanished into the vast -palm.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Apparently, the giant overlooked Fleming Carter who had stood quite -still during the whole time. But Carter made a swift decision based -more on charity than good sense. Somehow, he could not leave those -three to their fate. So he cried out and waved his arms. "Just a -moment! You overlooked me!"</p> - -<p>The hand swooped down again as the giant saw him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Carter Fleming found himself resting comfortably with his face against -someone's back. Otherwise he was completely surrounded by soft flesh. -He realized they were being handled carefully however so he felt that -death, while definitely a threat had been at least postponed. He -wondered about the others, so close to him and yet so far away so far -as contact was concerned. He knew the terror that raced through their -minds and he pitied them....</p> - -<p>The giant was continuing on, Carter decided, and he endured the ride as -best he could.</p> - -<p>Then it terminated suddenly as Carter and the others were very gently -tumbled into a room. The room had no ceiling but this situation was -speedily remedied when a ceiling was lowered and set into place above -them. In the resulting darkness, Carter heard Peggy Wilson sobbing and -various unintelligible noises from Maltby and Payton. Then the room -began suddenly to move in haphazard directions.</p> - -<p>Possibly this was finally the end, but Fleming Carter could not bring -himself to think so. Because even though the room pitched and tossed, -Carter felt it was being done rather gently by the giant hands.</p> - -<p>Then it was over. The room settled down and remained on solid base. -Immediately there was a rending sound and a vast finger was thrust -through the wall just below ceiling level. The finger was withdrawn but -only to reappear when thrust through the other side.</p> - -<p>It vanished again and the two resulting holes let in ample air and -light.</p> - -<p>For a few moments Carter and the other three sat motionless, waiting. -Something was going on outside the room—the room itself moving -slightly—but the violent tossing was evidently over.</p> - -<p>Peggy Wilson spoke first—or rather, sobbed. "Where are we?"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I don't know, my dear, but if I stood on the young man's -shoulders I could look out through one of those openings and perhaps -learn a little something."</p> - -<p>"You want me to lift you?" Wilmer Payton said dully.</p> - -<p>"That is the general idea," Carter replied in a gentle voice.</p> - -<p>Wilmer braced himself against the wall and Carter clambered to his -shoulders and cautiously pushed his head through the opening. He -remained thus for quite a while—until Wilmer Payton began moving -restlessly. Then he clambered down.</p> - -<p>They waited for him to speak but he said nothing. He stared at the hole -with a look of amazement upon his face as though, for the first time -the wonder of this strange transition had struck him forcibly. Then -he turned his eyes upon his three companions and there was a look in -his eyes that had not been there before; personal, yet impersonally -analytical. A hard look to read, so they could have no way of knowing -that he was trying to forecast how they would react to the fate that -awaited them.</p> - -<p>"Well," Wilmer Payton demanded impatiently. "Did you see anything?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. This is not a room. It is a huge box of some sort. It is bound -around on all sides by what looks like red carpeting of a width used -in hallways. I believe such carpetings are called runners. Attached to -the top is a large white sail although it appears to be made of paper -rather than canvas." He was watching them closely as he spoke.</p> - -<p>"It took you all that time to see those things?" Walter Maltby asked a -trifle plaintively.</p> - -<p>"No. There were other things."</p> - -<p>At this point Peggy Wilson, coming out of her shock, began to -cry hysterically. "My God! What's to become of us? We'll all be -killed—murdered!"</p> - -<p>"I don't think so," Carter said.</p> - -<p>"Then we'll be held prisoner. That will be just as bad!"</p> - -<p>"In a sense, you will be held prisoner—but I don't think it will be -bad. I think our jailer will probably be a rather kindly person who -will give us every consideration."</p> - -<p>"How could a jailer do that?" Peggy Wilson moaned.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Carter laid a hand upon her shoulder. "Consider, my dear. All your life -you have needed a mother. Now you will have the equivalent of one." He -turned to Walter Maltby. "And you. You have learned to function only as -a result of a dominating wife's promptings. Our jailer will fill that -role for you."</p> - -<p>Lastly he regarded Wilmer Payton. "You, young man will be directed and -guided. You will not have need of the brain power with which you are -not equipped.</p> - -<p>"All of you will be content. None will have any decisions to make—all -will be taken care of. Can you think of a more pleasant destiny?"</p> - -<p>Walter Maltby said, "You're talking in circles. Talking but not saying -anything!"</p> - -<p>Carter had turned away, smiling. "This is very strange. We were -transported to another plane, but not snatched up willy-nilly. There -was a pattern behind it. Three people admirably suited to their new -fate."</p> - -<p>Wilmer Payton seized Fleming Carter by the arm and whirled him around. -"Will you please tell us what you're talking about?"</p> - -<p>"Of course," Carter said quietly. "To speak the absolute truth, we are -in a box. The box is tied with a wide red ribbon. The thing I called -a sail is in reality a greeting card upon which certain words are -written; words not too difficult to decipher."</p> - -<p>"Well, go on—what are the words."</p> - -<p>"In English, they would read—'Happy Birthday, Darling.' You are -someone's birthday present."</p> - -<p>Peggy's face was ashen. "You speak of <i>us</i>," she whispered. "How well -suited <i>we</i> are for this fate. What about yourself?"</p> - -<p>Carter smiled. "I expect this to be the most interesting period of my -life," he said. "You see, the present is for me. I picked it out."</p> - -<p>And as they watched in stunned amazement, Carter began to grow.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEXT STOP, NOWHERE! ***</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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