Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 106: what you’re looking at

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

THIRD HAND And he felt as though he should weep. ; It was a hot day. The sun shone in the sky and burned all below. Nothing moved. Even the hound dog couldn’t summon up the strength to wag his tail as Lessinger walked across the porch. ' Lessinger thought that this was just the day for him. Everyone would be indoors on a day like this. The heat out- side was oppressive. It hit you like a slam from a _ heavy- weight boxer. On a day like this you wanted cool drinks in a darkened room. That suited Lessinger. The day might have been made to order. Everything was in position. He knew exactly where every- thing was, and he’d even timed himself. It would take him only a matter of seconds to heave Mike over the edge. He’d stun him first. The dyna- mite was in place, and exactly thirty seconds after Mike had gone down Lessinger could be under cover and the mine top could be blown in. After that it would be an hour’s job to get the cement into place. He could use the truck, but it 105 would still take some time. It shouldn’t matter. Even if Mike survived the fall, even if he survived the blast, he would still be there when the cement came down. And he’d never get out of that. There was no other way out of the mine. It was a dead end shaft. It had never been anything. Mike was as good as dead and buried! He went inside the house. Molly was resting. She looked tired and strained. He said: “Think I'll do some blasting.” “Oh, must you? Can’t you just come in and laze for a while? Why don’t you take it easy? You'll kill yourself, working in this sun.” ““Reckon I'd better get it over and done with. Mike isn’t staying with us for much longer. He said he’d fancy a change.” “IT thought he was happy here ?”’ **So he is, but you know... the itch to travel...” He grinned at her. “He won’t be going all that soon, surely!” *“You never know. It might be tonight. It might be to- comiclooks.conn