"Leinster, Murray - The Fourth-dimensional Demonstrator" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leinster Murray)

Thomas vanished. Pete turned off the demonstrator. He risked a nickel, placing it firmly on the inch-thick glasi plate. The machine went on again. It clucked, bummed, ceased to humЧand there were two nickels. Pete added a dime to the second nickel. At the end of another cycle he ran his hand rather desperately through his hair and added his entire remaining wealthЧa quarter. Then, after incredulously watching what happened, he began to pyramid.
Thomas tapped decorously some ten minutes later. УBeg pardon, sir,Ф he said hopefully. УAbout lunch,-sirЧФ
Pete turned off the demonstrator. He gulped.
УThomas,Ф he said in careful calm, УI shall let you, write the menu for lunch. Take a basketful of this small change and go shopping. AndЧThomas, have you any item of currency larger than a quarter? A fifty-cent piece would be about right. IТd like to have something really impressive to show to Daisy when she comes.Ф

Miss Daisy Manners of the Green Paradise floor show was just the person to accept the fourthdimensional demonstrator without question and to make full use of the results of modern scientific research. She greeted Pete abstractedly and uninterestedly asked just how much heТd inherited. And Pete took her to the laboratory. He unveiled the demonstrator.
УThese are my jewels,Ф said Pete impressively. УDarling, itТs going to be a shock, butЧhave you got a quarter?Ф
УYouТve got nerve, asking me for money,Ф said Daisy. УAnd if you lied about inheriting some money.ЧФ
Pete smiled tenderly upon her. He produced a quarter of his own.
УWatch, my dear! IТm doing this for you!Ф
He turned on the demonstrator and explained complacently as the first cluckings came from the base. The glass plate moved, a second quarter appeared, and Pete pyramided the two while he continued to explain. In the fraction of a minute, there were four quarters. Again Pete pyramided. There were eight quartersЧsixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred twenty-eightЧ-ЧAt this point the stack collapsed and Pete shut off the switch.
УYou see, my dear? Out of the fourth dimension to you! Uncle invented it, I inherited it, andЧshall I change your money for you?Ф
Daisy did not look at all absent-minded now. Pete gave her a neat little sheaf of bank notes.
УAud from now on, darling,Ф he said cheerfully, Уwhenever you want money just come in here, start the machineЧand there you are! IsnТt that nice?Ф
УI want some more money now,Ф said Daisy. УI have to buy a trousseau.Ф -
УI hoped youТd feel that way!Ф said Pete enthusiastically. УHere goes! And we have a reunion while the pennies roll in.Ф
The demonstrator began to cluck and clatter with bills instead of quarters on the plate. Once, to be sure, it suspended all operations and the refrigeration unit purred busily for a time. Then it resumed its self-satisfied delving into the immediate past.
УI havenТt been making any definite plans,Ф explained Peie, Уuntil I talked to you. Just getting things in line. But IТve looked after Arthur carefully. You know bow he loves cigarettes. He eats them, and though it may be eccentric in a kangaroo, they seem to agree with him. IТve used the demonstrator to lay up a huge supply of cigarettes for himЧhis favorite brand, too. And IТveТ been trying to build up a bank account. I thought it would seem strange if we bought a house on Park Avenue and just casually offered a trunkful of bank notes in payment. It might look as if weТd been running a snatch racket.Ф
УStupid!Ф said Daisy.
УWhat?Ф
УYou could be pyramiding those bills like you did quarters,Ф said Daisy. УThen thereТd be lots more them!Ф
УDarling,Ф said Pete fondly, Уdoes it matter bol much you have when I have so much?Ф
УYes,Ф said Daisy. УYou might get angry with me.
УNever!Ф protested Pete. Then he addeчl reminiscently, УBefore we thought of the banknote idea, Thomas and I filled up the coal bin with quarters and half dollars. TheyТre still there.Ф
УGold pieces would be nice,Ф suggested Daisy, thinking hard, Уif you could get hold of some. Maybe we could.Ф
УAh!Ф said Pete. УBut Thomas had a gold filling in one tooth. We took it out and ran it up to half a pound or so. Then we melted that into a little brick and put it on the demonstrator. Darling, youТd really be surprised if you looked in the woodshed.Ф
УAnd thereТs jewelry,Ф said Daisy. УIt would be fast still!Ф
УIf you feel in the mood for jewelry,Ф said Pete tenderly, Уjust look in the vegetable bin. WeТd about run out of storage space when the idea occurred to us.Ф
УI think,Ф said Daisy enthusiastically, УweТd better get married right away. DonТt you?Ф
УSure! LetТs go and do it now! IТll get the car around!Ф
УDo, darling,Ф said Daisy. УIТll watch the demonstrator.Ф
Beaming, Pete kissed her ecstatically and rushed from the laboratory. He rang for Thomas, and rang again. It was not until the third ring that Thomas appeared. And Thomas was very pale. He said agitatedly:
УBeg pardon, sir, but shall I pack your bag?Ф
УIТm going to beЧЧЧ Pack my bag? What for?Ф
УWeТre going to be arrested, sir,Ф said Thomas. He gulped. УI thought you might want it, sir. An acquaintance in the village, sir, believes we are among the lower-numbered public enemies, sir, and respects us accordingly. He telephoned me the news.Ф
УThomas, have you been drinking?Ф
УNo, sir,Ф said Thomas pallidly. УNot yet, sir. But it is a splendid suggestion, thank you, sir.Ф Then he said desperately: УItТs the money, sirЧthe bank notes. If you recall, we never changed but one lot of silver into notes, sir. We got a one, a five, a ten and so on, sir.Ф
УOf course,Ф said Pete. УThat was all we needed. Why not?Ф -
УItТs the serial number, sir! All the one-dollar bills the demonstrator turned out have the same serial numberЧand all the fives and tens and the rest, sir. Some person with a hobby for looking for kidnap bills, sir, found he had several with the same number. The secret service has traced them back. TheyТre coming for us, sir. The penalty for counterfeiting is twenty years, sir. MyЧmy friend in the village asked if we intended to shoot it out with them, sir, because if so heТd like to watch.Ф
Thomas wrung his hands. Pete stared at him.
УCome to think of it,Ф he said meditatively, Уthey are counterfeits. It hadnТt occurred to me before. WeТll have to plead guilty, Thomas. And perhaps Daisy wonТt want to marry me if IТm going to prison. IТll go tell her the news.Ф
Then he started. He heard DaisyТs voice, speaking very angrily. An instant later the sound grew louder. It became a continuous, shrill, soprano babble. It grew louder yet. Pete ran.
He burst into the laboratory and was stunned. The demonstrator was still running. Daisy had seen him piling up the bills as they were turned out, pyramiding to make the next pile larger. She had evidently essayed the same feat. But the pile was a bit unwieldy, now, and Daisy had climbed on the glass plate. She had come into the scope of the demonstratorТs action.
There were three of her in the laboratory when Pete first entered. As he froze in horror, the three became four. The demonstrator clucked and hummed what was almost a hoot of triumph. Then it produced a fifth Daisy. Pete dashed frantically forward and turned off the switch just too late to prevent the appearance of a sixth copy of Miss Daisy Manners of the Green Paradise floor show. She made a splendid sister act, but Pete gazed in paralyzed horror at this plethora of his heartТs desire.
Because all of Daisy was identical, with not only the same exterior andЧso to speakЧthe same serial number, but with the same opinions and convictions. And all six of Daisy were convinced that they, individually, owned the heap of bank notes now on the glass plate. All six of her were trying to get it. And Daisy was quarreling furiously with herself. She was telling herself what she thought of herself, in fact, and on the whole her opinion was not flattering.

Arthur, like Daisy, possessed a fortunate disposition. He was not one of those kangaroos who go around looking for things to be upset about. He browsed peacefully upon the lawn, eating up the dahlias and now and again hopping over the six-foot hedge in hopes that there might be a dog come along the lane to bark at him. Or, failing to see a dog, that somebody might have come by who would drop a cigarette butt that he might salvage.
At his first coming to this place, both pleasing events had been frequent. The average unwarned passer-by, on seeing a five-foot kangaroo soaring toward him in this part of the world, did have a tendency to throw down everything and run. Sometimes, among the things he threw down was a cigarette.
There had been a good supply of dogs, too, but they didnТt seem to care to play with Arthur any more. ArthurТs idea of playfulness with a strange dogЧespecially one that barked at himЧwas to grab him with both front paws and then kick the living daylights out of him.
Arthur browsed, and was somewhat bored. Because of his boredom he was likely to take a hand in almost anything that turned up. There was a riot going on in the laboratory, but Arthur did not care for family quarrels. He was interested, however, in the government officersТ when they arrived. There were two of them and they came in a roadster. They stopped at the gate and marched truculently up to the front door.