"William Morrison - Bad Medicine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrison William)

 "This intelligence remedy, discovered by an old Indian with one-fourth Martian blood in Oklahoma,
U.S.A., Earth, while digging far roots, has a record of one hundred percent success! It is radio-active, as
you can see when I bring a bottle close to this electroscope. It has all the vitamins in the world, and it
contains that magic element, carbon isotope seventeen-B the form of carbon responsible for the genius of
our greatest thinkers. Results guaranteed, or your money back."

O'HARA had them going, and he knew it. Stupid as they were, the Saturnians differed from other
stupid people, in that they were aware of their deficiency. They had a tremendous respect for intelligence
and learning, and would do anything to improve their minds. O'Hara did not tell them that on Earth, the
same Radio-active Herb Remedy, consisting of little more than a trace of chemical and some colored
water, had been advertised as a purifier of the blood stream and a cure for various disease. On Mercury
they had guaranteed it to increase the strength of the muscles. The remedy had an unpleasant taste, and
that made people believe in it. And for occasional doubters, he and Trenholm could refer to that Martian
doctor who had written a crazy article solemnly asserting that they could improve the intelligence.
Sometimes O'Hara could not help grinning when he realized that despite all advances in science,
people had the same old weaknesses and desires, and fell for the same old tricks.
"Results guaranteed, or your money back!" he repeated.
"The price, you idiot, the price !" Trenholm whispered. "Tell them the price!" O'Hara had a tendency
to become intoxicated with his own words.
"And what do we charge for our magic Radio-active Herb Remedy?" declaimed O'Hara. "Not one
thousand Interplanetary Lead Standard dollars, which it is well worth, ladies and gentlemen, which it is
well worth. Not one hundred dollars. Not even ten dollars! No, all we ask for five bottles of this
wonderful brain stimulator is one small necklace of pink beads.
"Think of it, just one small necklace of worthless pink beads for five bottles! And as an extra added
bonus, to the first ten purchasers buying this wonderful Radio-active Herb Remedy with all the vitamins,
we intend to give away, absolutely free of charge, one pair of beautiful, hand-made, guaranteed plastic
spectacles that will make you look as intelligent as you are going to be!"
If the Saturnians had been impatient to buy the remedy before, the offer of the spectacles stampeded
them. They pressed forward in so dense a mass that O'Hara was forced to plead with them.
"Just a moment, ladies and gentle men, just a moment!" he boomed. "There is enough of the
Radio-active Herb Remedy for all. And my brother and partner, Mr. Jones, authorizes me to state that
our offer of spectacles to the first ten purchasers will be extended to every purchaser!"
It was an hour before the buying spree had ended and the last Saturnian had gone, his five bottles of
Radioactive Herb Remedy clutched firmly to his breast, and his spectacles with their lenses of plain,
green-tinted translucite suspended from his ears. O'Hara was dancing around the ship.
"Almost half the stock gone !" he gloated, fondling the necklaces. "Trenholm, one more evening like
this, and we're getting out of this place. We'll have enough to be rich!"

TRENHOLM was more restrained. "Tomorrow's haul won't be as good as this one," he warned.
"We got the cream of the crop tonight."
"If only I had thought to take more bottles," O'Hara groaned. He looked around the ship. "Where's
Waloo?" he asked suddenly.
Waloo was gone.
"He's out there in the open country," observed Trenholm. "We'll have to go after him."
O'Hara nodded, and went into the ship. He returned with a small round metal object in his hand.
"For the stinger prongs," he explained, and they set out.
Overhead the rings of Saturn cast a faint, reflecting light, and they could see without using their
electric rays. The countryside had an eerie appearance in the semi-darkness. The plants were pyramidal
in shape, rising from a broad base, and coming almost to a point, so that they might conserve their heat
against the freezing temperatures that would come during the long night. They were almost all dark red