seemed to imply that humans didn’t count; everything was chance; that the cosmos did not make sense, after all.
Which was deplorable.
6
Carroll made a definitely handsome figure in the costume of a well-to-do traveller in the France of an earlier time. He did not seem as ornamental as Harrison expected, but that was because he wore travelling-clothes. There were hessian-cloth breeches and high boots, and he wore an enormous cloak and a three-cornered hat. He didn’t wear a periwig; such things went out of style during the 1790’s. But he was impressive enough so that Harrison felt a little less foolish in his own get-up. He decided that nobody would look .at him while Carroll was around.
Pepe, in a sports costume strictly of the present, regarded the two of them with uneasy eyes.
“I don’t like this business of you going to Paris and me staying behind!” he said bitterly. “After all, it’s my great-great-grandparents who’re in Paris! And if anything happens—”
“Look!” said Harrison, fiercely. “Valerie went through a temporarily changed present—a time-shift—like we did. And in it there wasn’t any shop of Carroll, Dubois et Cie! It was a pots-and-pans shop! And Valerie’d never met me! She didn’t know I existed! Maybe I didn’t! The normal past came back to her, as it did to us, but I can’t have that sort of thing happening! We’ve got to get to Paris and find de Bassompierre! Fast!”
“But my great-great-”
“Dammit!” snapped Harrison. “If anything happened to your great-great-grandfather you’d never have existed and you wouldn’t have spotted that shop and I’d never have seen Valerie again! I’ll take better care of your great-great-grandfather than you would! But we can’t waste time! We’ve lost enough waiting for these clothes!”
There came a knock on the outside door of the cottage. There should be no callers here. Pepe jumped. Carroll said irritably:
“My wife can’t have gotten here this soon! Answer the door, Ybarra, and get rid of whoever’s there.”
Pepe went uneasily into the next room. Harrison drew a deep breath. He was feverishly anxious to start the search for de Bassompierre and the rival time-tunnel which obviously wasn’t being used with proper regard to the elastic limits of history. It must be that de Bassompierre didn’t realize the damage be was doing and the destruction he must cause, by passing out twentieth-century information in the early nineteenth. A reasoned explanation would certainly make him stop. Harrison was prepared to make any imaginable bargain as an inducement.
He heard the door open in the other room. There was a murmur of voices. Pepe tried to dismiss someone. That someone objected. Pepe was impatient. The someone else was firm. The door closed. Two sets of footsteps sounded inside. Pepe said, from the other room:
“Stay here! I will speak to M. Carroll—”
The voice of Albert the burglar said respectfully:
“Say that Albert needs most urgently to make a proposal of interest to him.”
Carroll raised his eyebrows. He said angrily:
“Bring him in, Ybarra!”
Pepe came in, excessively uneasy. Behind him marched the reedy small burglar. He carried a parcel wrapped in newspaper and tied with string. His eyes widened as he saw Carroll’s attire. He beamed when he saw Harrison similarly clad.
“What the devil do you want?” demanded Carroll.
“ M’sieur ,” said Albert politely, “I came to make a proposal. Beyond that door I had an experience which you know about. I made a splendid haul, of which you are aware. You, m’sieur, purchased some small things I brought back. N’est-ce pas? ”
“I told you not to come back here again!” snapped Carroll.
“But m’sieur ,” protested Albert. “It is a matter of business! You cannot dream how primitive, how foolish are the locks of the citizens of—beyond that doorway! It would be ridiculous to abandon such an opportunity! So I have come, m’sieur, to
Which was deplorable.
6
Carroll made a definitely handsome figure in the costume of a well-to-do traveller in the France of an earlier time. He did not seem as ornamental as Harrison expected, but that was because he wore travelling-clothes. There were hessian-cloth breeches and high boots, and he wore an enormous cloak and a three-cornered hat. He didn’t wear a periwig; such things went out of style during the 1790’s. But he was impressive enough so that Harrison felt a little less foolish in his own get-up. He decided that nobody would look .at him while Carroll was around.
Pepe, in a sports costume strictly of the present, regarded the two of them with uneasy eyes.
“I don’t like this business of you going to Paris and me staying behind!” he said bitterly. “After all, it’s my great-great-grandparents who’re in Paris! And if anything happens—”
“Look!” said Harrison, fiercely. “Valerie went through a temporarily changed present—a time-shift—like we did. And in it there wasn’t any shop of Carroll, Dubois et Cie! It was a pots-and-pans shop! And Valerie’d never met me! She didn’t know I existed! Maybe I didn’t! The normal past came back to her, as it did to us, but I can’t have that sort of thing happening! We’ve got to get to Paris and find de Bassompierre! Fast!”
“But my great-great-”
“Dammit!” snapped Harrison. “If anything happened to your great-great-grandfather you’d never have existed and you wouldn’t have spotted that shop and I’d never have seen Valerie again! I’ll take better care of your great-great-grandfather than you would! But we can’t waste time! We’ve lost enough waiting for these clothes!”
There came a knock on the outside door of the cottage. There should be no callers here. Pepe jumped. Carroll said irritably:
“My wife can’t have gotten here this soon! Answer the door, Ybarra, and get rid of whoever’s there.”
Pepe went uneasily into the next room. Harrison drew a deep breath. He was feverishly anxious to start the search for de Bassompierre and the rival time-tunnel which obviously wasn’t being used with proper regard to the elastic limits of history. It must be that de Bassompierre didn’t realize the damage be was doing and the destruction he must cause, by passing out twentieth-century information in the early nineteenth. A reasoned explanation would certainly make him stop. Harrison was prepared to make any imaginable bargain as an inducement.
He heard the door open in the other room. There was a murmur of voices. Pepe tried to dismiss someone. That someone objected. Pepe was impatient. The someone else was firm. The door closed. Two sets of footsteps sounded inside. Pepe said, from the other room:
“Stay here! I will speak to M. Carroll—”
The voice of Albert the burglar said respectfully:
“Say that Albert needs most urgently to make a proposal of interest to him.”
Carroll raised his eyebrows. He said angrily:
“Bring him in, Ybarra!”
Pepe came in, excessively uneasy. Behind him marched the reedy small burglar. He carried a parcel wrapped in newspaper and tied with string. His eyes widened as he saw Carroll’s attire. He beamed when he saw Harrison similarly clad.
“What the devil do you want?” demanded Carroll.
“ M’sieur ,” said Albert politely, “I came to make a proposal. Beyond that door I had an experience which you know about. I made a splendid haul, of which you are aware. You, m’sieur, purchased some small things I brought back. N’est-ce pas? ”
“I told you not to come back here again!” snapped Carroll.
“But m’sieur ,” protested Albert. “It is a matter of business! You cannot dream how primitive, how foolish are the locks of the citizens of—beyond that doorway! It would be ridiculous to abandon such an opportunity! So I have come, m’sieur, to
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