Avon Fantasy Reader No. 14 — page 88: what you’re looking at

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

no face, with spade-like hands without fingers, and instead of two legs and feet, simply—simply a body like a skirt which rested firmly on the ground on a two-footed base. It was the convulsive movement of this base and the mass of fermenting yeast above it that in some way enabled it to move slowly over the ground. [t was such a creature, with a broad canvas band around its waist, that the Moronians saw being led around the track. Mr. Billings ran forward eagerly and conierred with his men. Then he returned to the group of officers surrounding the King. “They report that it has gone around the track ninety-nine times. That is twenty-three miles, nearly twenty-four. It was four feet tall at the end of the first day and at the end of the second day it was full grown. It is now nearly three days old, and if our calculations are correct, it will soon die.” The Yeast Man continued to move slowly around the track. Just in front of the tumbled-down grandstand it stopped, Billings instructed his men to remove the canvas belt. The party gathered around the motionless figure. Suddenly it began to grow shorter and stouter. [t swayed, and finally out of balance, started to fall forward, bending at the waist. An unpleasant odor filled the air. Abruptly it bent double, and literally melted into a pool of greenish yellow slime. The odor grew increasingly frightful, so that it drove the observers further and yet further away. The grass touched by the slime withered and died. The King turned to the professor of mathematics. “Professor,” he said, “estimate the size of that puddle. Multiply it by five billion, Estimate the territory permeated by the odor. Suppose such masses, five billion such masses, were scattered equally over Eupenia. What would be the result?” The professor figured on the back on an old envelope, using the stub of a pencil which he nervously stuck in his mouth alter each filth figure. Finally he said: “If you could arrange to haye them die at different places, the whole of Eupenia would be covered six inches deep.” The King turned to his staff. “lam satished, gentlemen. We will have hundreds of these machines made, and when we are ready to begin operations, Mr. Billings can make five thousand Yeast Men to start with. Our soldiers will lead them to the border and turn them loose on all highways and open spaces leading to Eupenia. At the same time, we will continue making them by the million. Our attack will come before the enemy is ready. If it works, we will win a bloodless victory. The only way we can make it a success is to make the attack a total surprise. Cut all the wires leading to Eupenia. Confiscate all the radio sets at once. Be more than ever careful watching the suspected spies. It would not be a bad idea to imprison them until this is over. Triple the border patrol. Permit no intercommunication. Turn over the entire resources of the king- dom to Mr. Billings and his assoctates, At the same time do not omit a single item leading to the preparedness of our little army. I understood Van Dort to say that we will be attacked on the first of October. We will attack before then—just as soon as Billings is ready. Have any of you a suggestion?” “Yes,” said the Chief of Artillery, still pale and sweating from his recent nausea. “Why not let me follow the Yeast Men and blow them to pieces with 86 comiclsooks.com