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STF-Ette, issue 1, September 1940
Page 10
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INSIDIOUS PLOT by Mary G. Byers The three young reporters hailed the flood of memories with which old Jonath was entertaining whem as a sure sign that before long he would be deep in one of his famous stories of the world of fifty years ago, a world that to them held a lure and a charm unequalled by anything their own highly scientific civilization had to offer. And before five more minutes had passed, Jonath began to relate one of the stories that made him famous, stopping only to glance out over the pale towers of the vast city that was visible from the large window. "Well," he began, surveying the group of young faces before him. "That was a story as was a story. Not like the routine reports of the colonization of Venus of the latest meeting of the Science Council that you youngsters have to turn in. That was one of the few times in history when the whole world became conscious of Science Fiction and all due to two mistakes. The first was due to the fan who stenciled the issue of the Science Fiction Gazette. Unintentionally this fellow, who was mild enough and certainly not the sort to do a thing like that deliberately, struck l for h with the results that a line which was supposed to read "The latest meeting was held at Selden's, the house so well-known to Sf.fans" but when it came out the h was an l and Selden suddenly appeared a louse. There was consternation when that mag appeared and for months wild rumours and accusations flew back and forth from one planet to another. Selden's friends were ready to take weapons and fight an actual battle with their enemies whom they blamed for the unfortunate occurence. But their enemies, led by one fellow named Wendell, merely laughed at them and refused to say anything about it. Wendell began to do a bit of underhanded thinking. "Look here," he says at the meeting of his group one night. "You all know we've been trying to run this Selden and his gang out of fandom for years. This is the perfect chance to get him kicked to the penitentiary on the moon and out of our way forever. Everybody in New York knows we read Macabre Tales because several times when we got dragged to the hoose-gow for fighting with them, we've given that reason as the start of the fight and we're on record as starting a fight in the court room because Selden said MT was no good. Now we'll sneak into the Earth-Mars warehouse and steal a lot of stuff and as we go out we'll drop a copy of Horrific Stories by the door. That'll take care of Selden because when they see that they'll know it was that bunch and not us. Selden'll be kicked to the moon. How about it? The rest of the gang agreed with him and after they had worked out the details of the plot, they suddenly changed their tactics with Selden. Every time the met Selden, Wendell would smirk and bow and say something about the weather. "This is a fine day. Don't you think so, too?" or, "Earth looks better every day, doesn't she Selden? Yes, Sir, there's no place like good ol' mother earth." When this unusual politeness had gone on for several weeks, Selden got suspicious. "Wendell's got something up his sleeve," Selden said one morning to his followers. "Why not shadow 'em and find out what it is?" asked one bright lad. "Yes, why not?" asked another. "Well, who's doing the asking," Selden said. "Why not?" They did shadow Wendell's but it didn't work very well. Their feet got tired too soon and before they could do much, they decided to stop and think things over. Thinking it over took the form of getting drunk and while Wendell polished off his plans, Selden and his group were holding their heads and yelling for icepacks. Selden lifted his glass, he saw Wendell and his friends over in a corner talking busily, their heads close together over the table, grinning and smiling in a way that indicated quite clearly that nothing good would come to him from it. "We've got to see what they're up to," Selden says. "There they go. Let's step on it." (Continued next issue.)
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INSIDIOUS PLOT by Mary G. Byers The three young reporters hailed the flood of memories with which old Jonath was entertaining whem as a sure sign that before long he would be deep in one of his famous stories of the world of fifty years ago, a world that to them held a lure and a charm unequalled by anything their own highly scientific civilization had to offer. And before five more minutes had passed, Jonath began to relate one of the stories that made him famous, stopping only to glance out over the pale towers of the vast city that was visible from the large window. "Well," he began, surveying the group of young faces before him. "That was a story as was a story. Not like the routine reports of the colonization of Venus of the latest meeting of the Science Council that you youngsters have to turn in. That was one of the few times in history when the whole world became conscious of Science Fiction and all due to two mistakes. The first was due to the fan who stenciled the issue of the Science Fiction Gazette. Unintentionally this fellow, who was mild enough and certainly not the sort to do a thing like that deliberately, struck l for h with the results that a line which was supposed to read "The latest meeting was held at Selden's, the house so well-known to Sf.fans" but when it came out the h was an l and Selden suddenly appeared a louse. There was consternation when that mag appeared and for months wild rumours and accusations flew back and forth from one planet to another. Selden's friends were ready to take weapons and fight an actual battle with their enemies whom they blamed for the unfortunate occurence. But their enemies, led by one fellow named Wendell, merely laughed at them and refused to say anything about it. Wendell began to do a bit of underhanded thinking. "Look here," he says at the meeting of his group one night. "You all know we've been trying to run this Selden and his gang out of fandom for years. This is the perfect chance to get him kicked to the penitentiary on the moon and out of our way forever. Everybody in New York knows we read Macabre Tales because several times when we got dragged to the hoose-gow for fighting with them, we've given that reason as the start of the fight and we're on record as starting a fight in the court room because Selden said MT was no good. Now we'll sneak into the Earth-Mars warehouse and steal a lot of stuff and as we go out we'll drop a copy of Horrific Stories by the door. That'll take care of Selden because when they see that they'll know it was that bunch and not us. Selden'll be kicked to the moon. How about it? The rest of the gang agreed with him and after they had worked out the details of the plot, they suddenly changed their tactics with Selden. Every time the met Selden, Wendell would smirk and bow and say something about the weather. "This is a fine day. Don't you think so, too?" or, "Earth looks better every day, doesn't she Selden? Yes, Sir, there's no place like good ol' mother earth." When this unusual politeness had gone on for several weeks, Selden got suspicious. "Wendell's got something up his sleeve," Selden said one morning to his followers. "Why not shadow 'em and find out what it is?" asked one bright lad. "Yes, why not?" asked another. "Well, who's doing the asking," Selden said. "Why not?" They did shadow Wendell's but it didn't work very well. Their feet got tired too soon and before they could do much, they decided to stop and think things over. Thinking it over took the form of getting drunk and while Wendell polished off his plans, Selden and his group were holding their heads and yelling for icepacks. Selden lifted his glass, he saw Wendell and his friends over in a corner talking busily, their heads close together over the table, grinning and smiling in a way that indicated quite clearly that nothing good would come to him from it. "We've got to see what they're up to," Selden says. "There they go. Let's step on it." (Continued next issue.)
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