Avon Fantasy Reader No. 14 — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

The father stood up and squared his shoulders and said, “Yes, Young Jim, we must stay and fight it here, and maybe if—when he comes back again— you tell me, then maybe I can put my mind alongside of yours and help you to resist him.” He gripped his son’s shoulders tightly. “Weve got to fight him, son, we've just got to!” So they started to unpack the equipment again, until suddenly the boy said, without emotion, “You will prepare the ship for flight,” and the gun in his hand was trained steady as a rock on his father’s heart, and there could be no doubt at all that he would use it. The father looked at bis son and said, “Yes,” almost in a whisper, and he could not say anything else because of the gun and because of the grief that tore at his heart as he realized that he had lost his son. He moved heavily towards the air lock, and then fie leaped like an uncoiled spring and bore the boy to the ground, and the flat report of the gun echoed away over the endless red plains. After a moment he climbed shakily to his feet and stood looking down at his son with the tears rolling down his cheeks, and then he stooped and gently drew the harmonica from the vest pocket. It was twisted with the force of the explosion and riven by the bullet, and it was the one he had bought Young Jim five . .. no, six years ago when he was at Cal. Tech, and the one on which his son had played “Sweet Adeline” the first evening after they had landed. And then he forget about the harmonica, because, although no sound broke the terrible silence, somebody said, quite distinctly, “Now prepare your ma- chine for departure.” Te Ae i ee ee ee 65 comicbooks.com |