"Murray Leinster - Time Tunnel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Leinster Murray)

confused, do you mean that during those few moments
history waswas other than as it is? That something else
was temporarily true?"
"No-o-o-o," admitted Harrison. "But if it had been, who'd
have noticed it? I agree that we went through a freak
occurrence, a shared delusion, you might say. But if it bad
been real, how many people would have been talking about a
thing when their memories changed and they could notice
it?"
"That is nonsense," said Pepe with decision, "and it is
not even amusing nonsense. You don't believe it any more
than I do."
"Of course not," said Harrison. But he added unhappily,
"At least I hope not. But this de Bassompierre business does
stretch the long arm of coincidence completely out of joint.
It's all in the library. I wish it weren't."
They strolled together. Pigeons flew overhead, careened
and came back, and coasted down to where two or three
energetic flappings would land them lightly. They began to
inspect a place where a tiny wind-devil had heaped fallen
leaves into a little pile. They moved suspiciously aside when
Harrison and Pepe walked by.
"No," said Pepe firmly. "It is all quite ridiculous! I shall
take you to the shop I mentioned, which reminded me of
Professor Carroll. It is foolish that anyone should pretend
to be in the business of importing and exporting commercial
articles between now and the year eighteen hundred and
four! Yet if time-traveUwere possible, there would certainly
be somebody to make a business of it! And I have a grand-
mother who adores snuffboxes. We will go to the shop. If
the snuffboxes are not too bad, I will buy her one, and you
will see if they still claim to import and export to 1804. But
I will bet the snuffboxes are marked made in Japan!"
Harrison shrugged. He'd been worried. He'd come very
close to being frightened. In fact, he had been frightened. But
anticipations of modem discoveries had been made before.
There'd been a bronze, planetary-gear computer brought up
by a scuba diver from a Greek ship wrecked in the year
100, B.C. It could compute sunrise and sunset times and
even eclipses. There'd been objects discovered near Damascus
which were at least seven centuries old, and which were
definitely and inexplicably electroplated. A craftsman pre-
sented a crystal goblet to the Emperor Nero, and then
dashed it to the ground. It dented, but did not break. He
hammered out the dent and gave it to the Emperor, who had
him executed because his discovery would ruin the glass
blowers of Rome. The goblet was possibly a plastic one.***
Yes. Anticipations of modern knowledge were not uncom-
mon. But this was unusually disturbing.
It was a relief to have told Pepe about it, though. It