Avon Fantasy Reader No. 12 — page 123: what you’re looking at

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

ing apart the giant plane began. The wings were carefully taken off, each individual plate tagged and marked, Not one screw was wasted. Nothing was lost. “Til be damned?” Johuson said, astonished. The three men gathered around and watched, There could be no doubt as to what was being done. The bomber, just finished, was now being taken apart. Its component parts would be packed and sent to the first factory where it would be rebuilt. “An insane vicious circle!” Weaver said. “They must be crazy!" Johnson said, “There’s no sense in that!” F Ile stepped feral and seized oue of the workmen by the shoul- crs. “Hey you!” he shouted, “I want to talk to you! What's going on here?” The man resisted and tried to get back to his position. When John- son would not Jet go he turned quickly and strck at Johnson with his wrench. Johnson yelped a cry of surprised pain and Iet go. The man immediately went back to his spot by the plane as if nothing had happened. “Dammit!” Johnson shouted to Millet and Weaver. “He struck me! He’s crazy! They're all crazy!” “In a way,” Millet said soberly. “Yes. But let’s get out of here first.” They left the factory and entered one of the uearby homes where the glowing warinth of the fireplace soothed them. “All right, Millet,” Johnson said. “You seein to know the answers. What's wrong with the city? Everybody seems to be mad, They wou't do anything. They just work—work—work! That's enough to drive anybody mad!” ‘And the rhythml” Weaver said. “That mechanical voice in cach factory roaring over and over again—work—work—-work! Be careful! Be careful! Be careful! What is it all?” “It’s our heritage,” Millet said cryptically. “Heritage? What heritage?” “Do you remember your history? The story of the Second World War and even the Third?” “Of course. Of course,” Weaver said, “But this mad city—what has that to do with the wars that took place two centuries ago?” “Two centuries!” Millet said, “That’s it exactly! For more than two . hundred years that factory has been building bombing planes for a “war that ended two bundred ycars ago!” “You're crazy yourself!” “Crazy, el? Not as crazy as the facts of history!” Millet said, “Do you remember the bombings of the Third World War? Wave after ©: wave of enemy planes came, blowing up the factories and industrial » centers of the enemy. Coventry, Hamburg, Detroit! All of them 121 comlichbooks.com