And Then the Town Took Off

er back, took off her shoes and propped her ankles on the lower rung of a chair. He found she was wearing a belt and loosened it. It was obvious tha

onsciously. "I gu

saw it, too.

A horrible, h

out the face. Can

it was comfortingly blank. "It wasn't human. A

e a nose, e

t of here. I'm all right now. Th

t-Jen. Here, put

it again. He preferred to leave things as they'd found them, even

andstand. There had been no sense of anyone or anything following

d Don's arm, more for companionship than support. At the campus the girl excused herself, s

s Garet was there, having a

ving him an intent look,

to see that she wasn't angry. "Did a

notes for you. Running off with that redhead when yo

rictly business. Let me s

She handed over

gnology stuff stuff st

ht abt Mayor's proclamation

abt discrimination agnst Sp

t u xp

bt end disc

overe

ow's

independent of U S or Earth? ('That Conductor Brown is

& haw. W

Well

in the air. Laughter (Father's). When & if Spr returns wil acpt state-f

g arngmnts, meals, recreatio

h. The only thing it seems to add is that Mayor Civek is a figurehead, and that i

"Now let's go take a

tsbu

es there peeped over the edge a while ago. I was wait

"You mean Superior's driftin

it's being pushe

gh were beginning to go on in the dusk and the city looked pretty and far away. A Pennsylvania A

d a drink. He remembered having seen a sign, Club Lyric, d

aid a muffled voic

the moment that he was a walkin

aptain Simmons. "You needn't recapitulate. We've heard all your conversati

hould I go back and investigate that underground

w that the contents are presumably in the bank vault your official worries are over, and though you're curi

eyes, whatever they are. I had the f

et your imagination run away with you, and above all don't play spy. If they're suspicious of anyone

no objection-I thought I'd go have a dri

dea. Do

Does anybody put any stock in this

You'll hear from us again when there's something to tell

d the lights in houses and other buildings seemed dimmer than normal. A biting

cheerfully. "It ain't a

o start. "What's going on?" he as

Civek worry about that. It's

're you fixed for

ople start drinking more than

aren't you worried about bei

"Not much I can do about it,

soda. Is that the general

thing, weather turning cold the way it did. And Dabney Brothers-they run the coal

tually run out, like you, then w

ace. "You got something there. Oh

egan to mix him a martini. "Freeze the ears off a brass monkey," Clark

'd better buy myself some winter c

Planning to se

e much choice. Anyth

s you know we're in Pennsylvania now and not Ohio. Over Pennsylvania, I should say. D

he mayor's b

nows more than he's telling. Some of the merchants-mostly those whose business hasn't

t Cavalier this afternoon when the p

was. They couldn't f

p Europe. Then Superior will be crossing national boundaries instead of just state lines

e the long vie

th you people? You don't seem to realize that sixteen square miles of solid earth, and three thousand people, have taken off to go waltzing through the s

w do we know they won't take us up higher-up

wn his glass with a clink. "I know the man we want. Old Doc Bendy. He could stir things up. Remember the

the devil." He raised his voice and greeted the man who had just walked in. "Wel

ll naturally to it, and he patted the paunch with satisfaction as he spoke. He was dressed for the cold weather in an old frock coat, black turning green, with a double line of

me our peripatetic little town has just passed Pittsburgh. I'd have thought it more likely we

s for the bottle. Shaggy white eyebrows matched the fringe of white hair that sprouted from under the sides and back of the slouch hat. The eyes themselves were alert and humorous. The mou

der poured for Bendy was 151 proof

." He took a sip and put it down. "I might also

're in danger of dr

in order, I trust? I remember the first time I went to t

Medical Corps,

I'm no doctor. I was on the board of directors of Superior's first hospital

in, Doc," Clark said, "since their electe

know, Mr. Editor. I assume you're the best-informed man on the

it's a co

t an act

to the bowl. By the time the pipe was ready for a match he had exhausted the solid facts. Don then took over and des

in the underground chamber fits in remarkably with some

g?" Cla

ming the Skater's Waltz, when I tripped over a stump. When I said I stumbled on something I was speaking literally, because I fell flat. While I lay th

was something

efully, I suppose you could say

see the w

ick to the facts. I saw only the eyes. Two perfectly circul

e been a fish

ing there is, while these eyes had intelligence

cuspidor. "So, since what you and Don saw were both under the surface, we could put two and two tog

there's a great deal more going on than Civek knows, or the Garet-Rubach crowd at