Adventures in the Far Future & Tales of Outer Space — page 165: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“Well,” he started-over, after a while, “as you know, this evacuation was forced on us, too. We don’t want to move you, but we must.” “Oh, yes,” said Kormt. “You have been very nice about it. lt would have been easier, in a way, if you’d come with fire and gun and chains for us, like the barbarians did long ago. We could have understood you better then.” “At best, it will be hard for your people,” said Jorun. “It will be a shock, and they’ll need leaders to guide them through it. You have a duty to help them out there, good sir.” “Maybe.” Kormt blew a series of smoke rings at his youngest descendant, three years old, who crowed with laughter and climbed up on his knee. “But they'll manage.” “You can't seem to realize,” said Jorun, “that you are the last man on Earth who refuses to go. You will be alone. For the rest of your life! We couldn’t come back for you later under any circumstances, because there'll be Hulduvian colonies between Sol and Sagittarius which we would disturb in passage. You'll be alone, | say!” Kormt shrugged. “I’m too old to change my ways; there can’t be many years left me, anyway. | can live well, just off the food-stores that'll be left here.” He ruffled the child’s hair, but his face drew into a scowl. “Now, no more of that, good sir, if you please; I’m tired of this argument.” Jorun nodded and fell into the silence that held the rest. Terrans would sometimes sit for hours without talking, content to be in each other’s nearness. He thought of Kormt, Gerlaug’s son, last man on Earth, altogether alone, living alone and dying alone; and yet, he reflected, was that solitude any greater than the one in which all men dwelt all their days? Presently the Speaker set the child down, knocked out his pipe and rose. “Come, good sir,” he said, reaching for his Staff. “Let us go.” They walked side by side down the street, under the dim lamps and past the yellow windows. The cobbles gave back CORniclooo SS CO