Argosy: The Short Story Magazine — page 108: what you’re looking at

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

=o: 108 JOHN WYNDHAM “* 'You—and Rosalind Morton.” “Oh,” I said uneasily. ‘* Still, if it’s only Joe Darley...” ** Joe,” said my Uncle Axel, “ Joe is a fellow that the Inspector has used before now, when he wants a few inquiries made without showing himself. I don’t like it.” I did not care for it, either. However, I had managed to find out that we did not come within the Inspector’s categories of Scheduled Deviations. I told him so, but he shook his head. ‘““’'Those lists are not exhaustive,” he said. ‘‘ You can’t regulate for the million things that may happen. You’ve got to have test cases for new ones when they crop up.” ‘ “T’ve been thinking it over,” I said. ‘‘ They can’t be clear what they’re looking for. If there’s any question, all we have to do is act bewildered, just as a norm would.” He didn’t seem reassured by that. ‘““'They’d not bring a charge at all if they weren’t pretty damn sure,” he said. ‘‘ The Inspector wouldn’t put himself in a weak spot with your father and Angus Morton. How do you reckon it could have started, anyway?” I did not know for sure. The affair of Petra’s pony seemed the most likely point, but I didn’t want to tell him about that; it would have involved telling him about Petra herself, too. We had a tacit understanding that the less he knew, the less he’d have to hide. We all conferred that night: not very satisfactorily. As Michael put it, “‘ If you and Rosalind are quite certain that there’s been nothing to start suspicion at your end, then it’s very likely traceable to that man in the forest. What’s his name, Sally? ” Knowing the thought-shape of him so well, we hadn’t bothered about his name before. Sally.spelt it out in letter-forms, ‘‘ John Rawley.” “Well, if he’s the source, he must have notified the Inspector of this district, and it will have been handed on to your Inspector. That'll mean that half a dozen or more people are wondering about it already, and there’ll be questions going on here about Sally © and Katherine. The devil of it is that everybody’s twice as sus- picious as usual because they’re all panicked about trouble from the Fringes. I'll find out what I can tomorrow, and let you know.” ‘“ But what is it best to do?”’ Rosalind put in, worriedly. ** Nothing, for the moment,” Michael said, ‘if we are right about the source. I’m still all right as he didn’t see me. The rest of you are in two groups: Sally and Katherine; Rosalind, David, and Petra. ** Petra’s the weak spot; she’s too young to understand. If they start on her and trick her and trap her, it might end up in sterilization and the Fringes for all of us. ‘That makes her the key point. They must not get hold of her. There may be no sus- picion attaching to her yet—but she was there when the man Rawley saw you, so she is suspect. They must not be allowed to start on her, or they’ll have it out of her somehow. “This is where we'll depend on you, David. Your job is to comiclooks.conn