"Heinlein, Robert A - Magic Inc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

some small metal objects - nails, screws, and the like.
Nothing in particular. This is where the hardware bins were located; that's some
of the stuff that didn't burn.'
Yes, I know,' he said impatiently, but don't you see anything else? Didn't you
stock a lot of brass fittings?'
Yes.'
Well, find one!'
I poked around with my toe in a spot where there should have been a lot of brass
hinges and drawer pulls mixed in with the ashes. I did not find anything but the
nails that had held the bins together. I oriented myself by such landmarks as I
could find, and tried again. There were plenty of nuts and bolts, casement
hooks, and similar junk, but no brass.
Jedson watched me with a sardonic grin on his face.
Well?' I said, somewhat annoyed at his manner.
Don't you see?' he answered. It's magic, all right. In this entire yard there is
not one scrap of metal left, except cold iron!'
It was plain enough. I should have seen it myself.
He messed around awhile longer. Presently we came across an odd thing. It was a
slimy, wet track that meandered through my property, and disappeared down one of
the drains. It looked as if a giant slug, about the size of a Crosley car, had
wandered through the place.
Undine,' Jedson announced, and wrinklcd his nose at the smell. I once saw a
movie, a Megapix super production called the Water King's Daughter. According to
it undines were luscious enough to have interested Earl Carroll, but if they
left trails like that I wanted none of them.
He took out his handkerchief and spread it for a clean place to sit down on what
had been sacks of cement - a fancy, quick- setting variety, with a trade name of
Hydrolith. I had been getting eighty cents a sack for the stuff; now it was just
so many big boulders.
He ticked the situation off on his fingers. Archie, you've been kicked in the
teeth by at least three of the four different types of elementals - earth, fire,
and water. Maybe there was a sylph of the air in on it, too, but I can't prove
it. First the gnomes came and cleaned out everything you had that came out of
the ground, except cold iron. A salamander followed them and set fire to the
place, burning everything that was burnable, and scorching and smoke-damaging
the rest. Then the undine turned the place into a damned swamp, ruining anything
that wouldn't burn, like cement and lime. You're insured?'
Naturally.' But then I starred to think. I carried the usual fire, theft, and
flood insurance, but business-risk insurance comes pretty high; I was not
covered against the business I would lose in the meantime, nor did I have any
way to complete current contracts. It was going to cost me quite a lot to cover
those contracts; if I let them slide it would ruin the good will of my business,
and lay me open to suits for damage.
The situation was worse than I had thought, and looked worse still the more I
thought about it. Naturally I could not accept any new business until the mess
was cleaned up, the place rebuilt, and new stock put in. Luckily most of my
papers were in a fireproof steel safe; but not all, by any means. There would be
accounts receivable that I would never collect because I had nothing to show for
them. I work on a slim margin of profit, with all of my capital at work. It
began to look as if the firm of Archibald Fraser, Merchant and Contractor, would