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

Arthur came hopping around from the back just as they knocked thunderously. HeТd been back there digging up a few incipient cabbages of ThomasТ planting, to see why they didnТt grow faster. He soared at least an easy thirty feet, and propped himself on his tail to look interestedly at the visitors.
УM-my heavens!Ф said the short, squat officer. He had been smoking a cigarette. He threw it down and grabbed his gun.
That was his mistake. Arthur liked cigarettes. This one was a mere fifteen feet from him. He soared toward it.
The government maii squawked, seeing Arthur in mid-air and heading straight for him. Arthur looked rather alarming, just then. The officer fired recklessly, missing Arthur. And Arthur remained calm. To him, the shots were not threats. They were merely the noises made by an automobile whose carburetor needed adjustment. He landed blandly, almost on the officerТs toesЧand the officer attacked him hysterically with fist and clubbed gun.
Arthur was an amiable kangaroo, but he resented the attack, actively.
The short, squat officer squawked again as Arthur grabbed him with his forepaws. His companion backed against the door, prepared to sell his life dearly. But thenЧand the two things happened at once-wbile Arthur proceeded to kick the living daylights out of the short, squat officer, Thomas resignedly opened the door behind the other and he fell backward suddenly and knocked himself cold against the doorstop.
Some fifteen minutes later the short, squat officer said gloomily: УIt was a bum steer. Thanks for pulling that critter off me, and CaseyТs much obliged for the drinks. But weТre hunting a bunch of counterfeiters that have been turning out damn good phony bills. The line led straight to you. But if it had been you, youТd have shot us. You didnТt. So we got to dO the work all over.Ф
УIТm afraid,Ф admitted Pete, Уthe trail would lead right back. Perhaps, as government officials, you can do something about the fourth-dimensional demonstrator. ThatТs the guilty party. IТll show you.Ф
He led the way to the laboratory. Arthur appeared, looking vengeful. The two officers looked apprehensive.
УBetter give him a cigarette,Ф said Pete. УHe eats them. Then heТll be your friend for life.Ф
УHell, no!Ф said the short, squat man. УYou keep between him and me! Maybe CaseyТll want to get friendly.Ф -
УNo cigarettes,Ф said Casey apprehensively. УWould a cigar do?Ф
УRather heavy, for so early in the morning,Ф considered Pete, Уbut you might try.Ф
Arthur soared. He landed within two feet of Casey. Casey thrust a cigar at him. Arthur sniffed at it and accepted it. He put one end in- his mouth and bit off the tip.
УThere!Ф said Pete cheerfully. УHe likes it. Come on!
They moved on to the laboratory. They enteredЧ and tumult engulfed them. The demonstrator was running and ThomasЧpale and despairingЧsupervised its action. The demonstrator was turning out currency by what was, approximately, wheelbarrow loads. As each load materialized from the fourth dimension, Thomas gathered it up and handed it to Daisy, who in theory was standing in line to receive it in equitable division. But Daisy was having a furious quarrel among herself, because some one or other of her had tried to cheat.
УThese,Ф said Pete calmly, Уare my fiancщe.Ф
But the short, squat man saw loads of greenbacks appearing from nowhere. He drew out a short, squat revolver.
УYou got a press turning out the stuff behind that wall, huh?Ф he said shrewdly. УIТll take a look!Ф
He thrust forward masterfully. He pushed Thomas aside and mounted the inch-thick glass plate. Pete reached, horrified, for the switch. But it -was too late. The glass plate revolved one-eighth of a revolution. The demonstrator hummed gleefully; and the officer appeared in duplicate just as PeteТs nerveless fingers cut off everything.
Both of the officers looked at each other in flat, incredulous stupefaction. Casey stared, and the hair rose from his head. Then Arthur put a front paw tentatively upon CaseyТs shoulder. Arthur had liked the cigar. The door to the laboratory had been left open. He had come in to ask for another cigar. But Casey was hopelessly unnerved. He yelled and fled, imagining Arthur in hot pursuit. He crashed into the model of a tesseract and entangled himself hopelessly.
Arthur was an amiable kangaroo, but he was sensitive. CaseyТs squeal of horror upset him. He leaped blindly, knocking Pete over on the switch and turning it on, and landing between the two stupefied copies of the other officer. They, sharing memories of Arthur, moved in panic just before the glass plate turned.
Arthur bounced down again at the demonstratorТs hoot. The nearest copy of the short, squat man made a long, graceful leap and went flying out of the door. Pete struggled with the other, who waved his gun and demanded explanations, growing hoarse from his earnestness.
Pete attempted to explain in terms of pretty girls stepping on banana peels, but it struck the officer as irrelevant. He shouted hoarsely while another Arthur hopped down from the glass plateЧwhile a third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh Arthur appeared on the scene.
He barked at Pete until screams from practically all of Daisy made him turn to see the laboratory overflowIng with five-foot Arthurs, all very pleasantly astonished and anxious to make friends with himself so he could play.
Arthur was the only person who really approved the course events had taken. He had existed largely in his own society. But now his own company was numerous. From a solitary kangaroo, in fact, Arthur had become a good-sized herd. And in his happy excitement over the fact, Arthur forgot all decorum and began to play an hysterical form of disorganized leapfrog all about the laboratory.
The officer went down and became a take-off spot for the game. Daisy shrieked furiously. And ArthurЧ all of himЧchose new points of vantage for his leaps until one of him chose the driving motor of the demonstrator. That industrioua mechanism emitted bright sparks and bit him. And Arthur soared in terror through the window, followed by all the rest of himself, who still thought it part of the game.
In seconds, the laboratory was empty of Arthurs. But the demonstrator was making weird, pained noises. Casey remained entangled in the bars of the tesseract, through which he gazed with much the expression of an inmate of a padded cell. Only one of the short, squat officers remained in the building. He had no breath left. And Daisy was too angry to make a soundЧall six of her. Pete alone was sanely calm.
УWell,Ф he said philosophically, Уthings seem to have settled down a bit. But somethingТs happened to the demonstrator.Ф
УIТm sorry, sir,Ф said Thomas, pallidly, УIТm no hand at machinery.Ф
One of Daisy said angrily to another of Daisy:
УYouТve got a nerve! That money on the plate is mine!Ф
Both advanced. Three more, protesting indignantly, joined in the rush. The sixthЧand it seemed to Pete that she must have been the original DaisyЧhastily began to sneak what she could frqm the several piles accumulated by the others.
Meanwhile, the demonstrator made queer noises. And Pete despairingly investigated. He found where ArthurТs leap had disarranged a handle which evidently controlled the motor speed of the demonstrator. At random, he pushed the handle. The demonstrator clucked relievedly. Then Pete realized in sick terror that five of Daisy were on the glass plate. He tried to turn it offЧ but it was too late.
He closed his eyes, struggling to retain calmness, but admitting despair. He had been extremely fond of one Daisy. But six Daisies had been too much. Now, looking forward to eleven andЧ
A harsh voice grated in his ear.
УHuh! ThatТs, where you keep the press and the queer, huhЧand trick mirrors so I see double? IТm going through that trapdoor where those girls went! And if thereТs any funny business on the other side, somebody gets hurt!Ф
The extra officer stepped up on the glass plate, inexplicably empty now. The demonstrator clucked. It hummed. The plate movedЧbackward! The officer vanishedЧat once, utterly. As he had come out of the past, he returned to it, intrepidly and equally by accident. Because one of Arthur had kicked the drive lever into neutral, and Pete had inadvertently shoved it into reverse. He saw the officer vanish and he knew where the supernumerary Daisies had goneЧalso where all embarrassing bank notes would go. He sighed in relief.
But CaseyЧuntangled from the tesseractЧwas not relieved. He tore loose from ThomasТs helpful fingers and fled to the car. There he found his companion, staring at nineteen Arthurs playing leapfrog over the garage. After explanations they would be more upset still. Pete saw the roadster drive away, wabbling.
УI donТt think theyТll come back, sir,Ф said Thomas hopefully.
УNeither do I,Ф said Pete in a fine, high calm. He turned to the remaining Daisy, scared but still acquisitive. УDarling,Ф he said tenderly, Уall those bank notes are counterfeit, as it develops. WeТll have to put them all back and struggle along with the contents of the woodshed and the vegetable bin.Ф
Daisy tried to look absent-minded, and failed.
УI think youТve got nerve!Ф said Daisy indignantly.