"Pohl, Frederik - Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pohl Frederick)

have to pay in the usual way; they bought their tickets in their country of
origin, with valuable foreign exchange, and then everything was free for them.
Of course it wasn't like that for the regular American fairgoers. They had to
pay. You could see each family group moving up toward the ticket windows. They
would slow down as they got closer and finally stop, huddling together while
they decided how to pay, and then one or two of them, or all of them, would move
on to the window and reach into the admissions cuff for their tickets. Randolph
Baxter had long before made up his mind that there would be no such wrangles on
this day for his family. He said simply, "Wait here a minute, and strode up to
the window by himself. He put his arm into the cuff, smiled at the ticket
attendant, and said grandly, "I'll take five, please.
The ticket seller looked at him admiringly. "You know, she offered, "there
aren't that many daddies who'll take all the little fellows in like that.
Sometimes they make even tiny babies get their own tickets. Baxter gave her a
modest I-do-what-I-can shrug, though he could not help that his smile was a
little strained until all five tickets had clicked out of the roll. He bore them
proudly back to his family and led them through the turnstiles.
"My, what a crowd, sighed Millicent Baxter happily as she gazed around. "Now,
what shall we do first?
The response was immediate. "See the old automobiles, yelled Simon, and, "No,
the animals! and, "No, the stiffs! cried his sisters.
Randolph Baxter spoke sharply to them-not angrily but firmly. "There will be no
fighting over what we do, he commanded. "We'll vote on what we do, the
demo-cratic way. No arguments and no exceptions. Now, he added, "the first thing
we're going to do is that you kids will stay right here while your mother and I
get tickets for the job lottery. The parents left the children arguing viciously
among themselves and headed for the nearest lottery booth. Randolph Baxter could
not help a tingle of excitement, and his wife's eyes were gleaming, as they
studied the prize list. The first prize was the management of a whole apartment
building-twenty-five thousand dollars a year salary and a free three-room condo
thrown in!
Millicent read his thoughts as they stood in line. "Don't you just wish! she
whispered. "But personally I'd settle for any of the others. Look, there's even
a job for an English teacher! Randolph shook his head wordlessly. It was just
marvelous-five full-time jobs offered in this one raftle, and that not the
biggest of the day. The last one, after the fireworks, always had the grandest
of prizes. "Aren't you glad we came? Millicent asked, and her husband nodded.
But in fact he wasn't, altogether, at least until they safely got their tickets
and were on their way back to the children, and then he was quickly disconcerted
to see that the kids weren't where they had been left. "Oh, hell, groaned
Randolph. It was early in the day for them to get lost.
But they weren't very far. His wife said sharply, "There they are. And look what
they're doing! They were at a refreshment stand. And each one of them had a huge
cone of frozen custard. "L told them not to make any purchases when we weren't
with them! Millicent cried, but in fact it was worse than that. The children
were talking to a pair of strange grownups, a lean, fair, elderly woman with a
sharp, stern face and a round, dark-skinned man with a bald head and immense
tortoise-shell glasses.
As the Baxters approached, the woman turned to them apologetically. "Oh, hullo,
she said, "you must be the parents. I do hope you'll forgive us. Mr. Katsubishi