"Charles L. Harness-George Washington Slept Here" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harness Charles L)

"He came here?"
"It wasn't the first time. We were... old friends."
Potts found himself blushing. "I understand."
She reflected. "That summer, when he was still in Philadelphia, the Director of the Mint, David
Rittenhouse, gave him that first gold eagle, struck specially for George's approval. George gave it to me.
The Dhorans used it a few weeks later to make the eight hundred copies."
Oliver Potts found himself dreaming. George Washington, General of the Armies, First President,
Father of his Country, Model of Morality and Rectitude, easing his fading days with this beautiful woman.
Ah, me. "Go on," he said.
"Well, he went back to Philadelphia and signed the Treaty, and so your United States got off to a
good start. A few years later he was dead. Do you believe me, Oliver?"
He didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the leather bag. On the near side, something in
mottled gold letters. "G.W.," he whispered. "His saddle bag?"
"He forgot it. Today, I guess you'd call it a Freudian wish to return. It made a good coin case."
Potts stared at the bag a long time. Finally he said, "I can't stop the bridge." He pushed at the bag with
his toe. "Even with all this."
"No, I guess you can't."
He was frowning, and concentrating. An idea was trying to form. If he could just get it to crystallize...
"Those men up there on the tower. When the next load of girders is brought up, the cantilever collapses,
and they will all be killed." (After he said it, he realized he was not asking a question, but making a
statement.)
She watched his face with great interest.
He continued: "And 'George' collapses whether or not the workmen are out on the cantilever arm."
"Yes."
"So it would be a humane act to keep the workmen off the tower until the elevators go up?"
"That's what I've been telling you. But you said you couldn't get an order from the judge-- "
"Not the judge. Badging. Maybe." His idea was now almost complete. There was just one more thing.
"Is it possible to show that these coins were in fact made in 1795?"
"Yes. By measurement of the copper oxide coating. X-ray apparatus is required, but it's readily
available, and the test is simple and non-destructive. It's quite similar to Bragg x-ray crystal analysis."
"Would Badging be likely to have the equipment?"
"I'm sure he would." She studied him with growing surmise. "You have hidden depths, Oliver."
"Why, thank you." He beamed in gratitude. "I could be a real S.O.B. if I put my mind to it. I'll call him
now."
A few minutes later he said, "He's home, and he's expecting me."
"Just you?"
"I want to talk to him alone. A thing is going to happen that you shouldn't watch."
"You're the doctor."
"Lawyer."
***


5. THE COIN ROOM

Barton Badging's eyes flicked from Potts's face to the bag he cradled in his arms. He stared at the bag,
speechless.
(He's our chief bugger, thought Potts. Of course, the judge is in on it, too.) "May I come in, Mr.
Badging?"
"Oh, of course, of course. I was a bit startled, that was all."
(So you were; but you haven't seen anything yet.)