"C M Kornbluth - Time Bum" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

"Certainly, Mr. Clurg," Walter Lacblan said. "I'm sure we can suit you. Wife and family?"



"No," said Clurg. "They are ... far away." He seemed to get some secret amusement from the thought
And then, to Walter's horror, he sat down calmly in empty air beside the desk and, of course, crashed to
the floor looking ludicrous and astonished.



Walter gaped and helped him up, sputtering apologies and wondering privately what was wrong with the
man. There wasn't a chair there. There was a chair on the other side of the desk and a chair against the
wall. But there just wasn't a chair where Clurg had sat down.



Clurg apparently was unhurt; he protested against Walter's apologies, saying: "I should have known,
Master Lachlan. It's quite all right; it was all my fault What about the bang—the bungalow?"



Business sense triumphed over Walter's bewilderment. He pulled out his listings and they conferred on
the merits of several furnished bungalows. When Walter mentioned that the Curran place was especially
nice, in an especially nice neighborhood—he lived up the street himself—Clurg was impressed. 'Til take
that one," he said. "What is the... feoff?" Walter had learned a certain amount of law for his real-estate
license examination; he recognized the word. "The rent is seventy-five dollars," he said. "You speak
English very well, Mr. Clurg." He hadn't been certain that the man was a foreigner until the dictionary
word came out "You have hardly any accent."



"Thank you," Clurg said, pleased. "I worked hard at it Let me see—seventy-five is six twelves and
three." He opened one of his shiny-new leather suitcases and calmly laid six heavy little paper rolls on
Walter's desk. He broke open a seventh and laid down three mint-new silver dollars. "There I am," he
said. "I mean, there you are."



Walter didn't know what to say. It had never happened before. People paid by check or in bills. They
just didn't pay in silver dollars. But it was money—why shouldn't Mr. Clurg pay in silver dollars if he
wanted to? He shook himself, scooped the rolls into his top desk drawer and said: "111 drive you out
there if you like. It's nearly quitting time anyway."



Walter told his wife Betty over the dinner table: "We ought to have him in some evening. I can't imagine
where on Earth he comes from. I had to show him how to turn on the kitchen range. When it went on he