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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:57:57 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:57:57 -0700 |
| commit | 63b49c8165d6709078a98639b1c65528fb6a0857 (patch) | |
| tree | 5dc6d04e9865e364946c04199fc23783150604d2 | |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32633-0.txt b/32633-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a8ff72 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,273 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + +Transcriber's Note: + +This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright +on this publication was renewed. + + + + + _The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis it + meant something far different--a thing to appreciate and enjoy._ + + + + + Time Enough At Last + + By Lynn Venable + + +For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book. Not +just the title or the preface, or a page somewhere in the middle. He +wanted to read the whole thing, all the way through from beginning to +end. A simple ambition perhaps, but in the cluttered life of Henry +Bemis, an impossibility. + +Henry had no time of his own. There was his wife, Agnes who owned that +part of it that his employer, Mr. Carsville, did not buy. Henry was +allowed enough to get to and from work--that in itself being quite a +concession on Agnes' part. + +Also, nature had conspired against Henry by handing him with a pair of +hopelessly myopic eyes. Poor Henry literally couldn't see his hand in +front of his face. For a while, when he was very young, his parents +had thought him an idiot. When they realized it was his eyes, they got +glasses for him. He was never quite able to catch up. There was never +enough time. It looked as though Henry's ambition would never be +realized. Then something happened which changed all that. + +Henry was down in the vault of the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few moments from the duties of his teller's +cage to try to read a few pages of the magazine he had bought that +morning. He'd made an excuse to Mr. Carsville about needing bills in +large denominations for a certain customer, and then, safe inside the +dim recesses of the vault he had pulled from inside his coat the +pocket size magazine. + +He had just started a picture article cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To YOU", when all the noise in the world +crashed in upon his ear-drums. It seemed to be inside of him and +outside of him all at once. Then the concrete floor was rising up at +him and the ceiling came slanting down toward him, and for a fleeting +second Henry thought of a story he had started to read once called +"The Pit and The Pendulum". He regretted in that insane moment that he +had never had time to finish that story to see how it came out. Then +all was darkness and quiet and unconsciousness. + + * * * * * + +When Henry came to, he knew that something was desperately wrong with +the Eastside Bank & Trust. The heavy steel door of the vault was +buckled and twisted and the floor tilted up at a dizzy angle, while +the ceiling dipped crazily toward it. Henry gingerly got to his feet, +moving arms and legs experimentally. Assured that nothing was broken, +he tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. His precious glasses were +intact, thank God! He would never have been able to find his way out +of the shattered vault without them. + +He made a mental note to write Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair made +and mailed to him. Blasted nuisance not having his prescription on +file locally, but Henry trusted no-one but Dr. Torrance to grind those +thick lenses into his own complicated prescription. Henry removed the +heavy glasses from his face. Instantly the room dissolved into a +neutral blur. Henry saw a pink splash that he knew was his hand, and a +white blob come up to meet the pink as he withdrew his pocket +handkerchief and carefully dusted the lenses. As he replaced the +glasses, they slipped down on the bridge of his nose a little. He had +been meaning to have them tightened for some time. + +He suddenly realized, without the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing up, something worse than a gas main +exploding, something worse than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because it was so quiet. There was no whine +of sirens, no shouting, no running, just an ominous and all pervading +silence. + + * * * * * + +Henry walked across the slanting floor. Slipping and stumbling on the +uneven surface, he made his way to the elevator. The car lay crumpled +at the foot of the shaft like a discarded accordian. There was +something inside of it that Henry could not look at, something that +had once been a person, or perhaps several people, it was impossible +to tell now. + +Feeling sick, Henry staggered toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled back upon one another that it +was more like climbing the side of a mountain than mounting a +stairway. It was quiet in the huge chamber that had been the lobby of +the bank. It looked strangely cheerful with the sunlight shining +through the girders where the ceiling had fallen. The dappled sunlight +glinted across the silent lobby, and everywhere there were huddled +lumps of unpleasantness that made Henry sick as he tried not to look +at them. + +"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And then +he saw an arm and shoulder extending out from under a huge fallen +block of marble ceiling. In the buttonhole was the white carnation Mr. +Carsville had worn to work that morning, and on the third finger of +that hand was a massive signet ring, also belonging to Mr. Carsville. +Numbly, Henry realized that the rest of Mr. Carsville was under that +block of marble. + +Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff--Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Emory and Mr. Prithard, +and the same with Pete and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter and Pat the +guard and Willie the doorman. There was no one to say what was to be +done about the Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry Bemis, and Henry +wasn't worried about the bank, there was something he wanted to do. + +He climbed carefully over piles of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched and squashed beneath his feet and he +set his teeth on edge to keep from retching. The street was not much +different from the inside, bright sunlight and so much concrete to +crawl over, but the unpleasantness was much, much worse. Everywhere +there were strange, motionless lumps that Henry could not look at. + +Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered a poster he had seen that said, "In event +of emergency do not use the telephone, your loved ones are as safe as +you." He wondered about Agnes. He looked at the smashed automobiles, +some with their four wheels pointing skyward like the stiffened legs +of dead animals. He couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, if she was safe, +then, she was safe, otherwise ... of course, Henry knew Agnes wasn't +safe. He had a feeling that there wasn't anyone safe for a long, long +way, maybe not in the whole state or the whole country, or the whole +world. No, that was a thought Henry didn't want to think, he forced it +from his mind and turned his thoughts back to Agnes. + + * * * * * + +She had been a pretty good wife, now that it was all said and done. It +wasn't exactly her fault if people didn't have time to read nowadays. +It was just that there was the house, and the bank, and the yard. +There were the Jones' for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta and +charades with the Bryants. And the television, the television Agnes +loved to watch, but would never watch alone. He never had time to read +even a newspaper. He started thinking about last night, that business +about the newspaper. + +Henry had settled into his chair, quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded the newspaper slowly and carefully, the +sharp crackle of the paper would have been a clarion call to Agnes. He +had glanced at the headlines of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon Predicts War Only Days Away." He +flipped through the pages faster, reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much time on any one item. On a back page +was a brief article entitled, "Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be interesting, he would read all of +it. Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper out of his hands and into the +fireplace. He saw the flames lick up and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, "Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... _reading_." She had emphasized the last word as +though it were an unclean act. "Hurry and shave, you know how smooth +Jasper Jones' chin always looks, and then straighten up this room." +She glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. "Oh dear, that paper, +the television schedule ... oh well, after the Jones leave there won't +be time for anything but the late-late movie and.... Don't just sit +there, Henry, hurrreeee!" + +Henry was hurrying now, but hurrying too much. He cut his leg on a +twisted piece of metal that had once been an automobile fender. He +thought about things like lock-jaw and gangrene and his hand trembled +as he tied his pocket-handkerchief around the wound. In his mind, he +saw the fire again, licking across the face of last night's newspaper. +He thought that now he would have time to read all the newspapers he +wanted to, only now there wouldn't be any more. That heap of rubble +across the street had been the Gazette Building. It was terrible to +think there would never be another up to date newspaper. Agnes would +have been very upset, no television schedule. But then, of course, no +television. He wanted to laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't have been +fitting, not at all. + +He could see the building he was looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one of the great wings of the +building had fallen in upon itself. A sudden panic gripped Henry +Bemis. What if they were all ruined, destroyed, every one of them? +What if there wasn't a single one left? Tears of helplessness welled +in his eyes as he painfully fought his way over and through the +twisted fragments of the city. + + * * * * * + +He thought of the building when it had been whole. He remembered the +many nights he had paused outside its wide and welcoming doors. He +thought of the warm nights when the doors had been thrown open and he +could see the people inside, see them sitting at the plain wooden +tables with the stacks of books beside them. He used to think then, +what a wonderful thing a public library was, a place where anybody, +anybody at all could go in and read. + +He had been tempted to enter many times. He had watched the people +through the open doors, the man in greasy work clothes who sat near +the door, night after night, laboriously studying, a technical journal +perhaps, difficult for him, but promising a brighter future. There had +been an aged, scholarly gentleman who sat on the other side of the +door, leisurely paging, moving his lips a little as he did so, a man +having little time left, but rich in time because he could do with it +as he chose. + +Henry had never gone in. He had started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered Agnes, her questions and shouting, +and he had turned away. + +He was going in now though, almost crawling, his breath coming in +stabbing gasps, his hands torn and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his leg had soaked through the +handkerchief. It was throbbing badly but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination. + +Part of the inscription was still there, over the now doorless +entrance. P-U-B--C L-I-B-R---. The rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in disorder upon the floor. A lot of +the books, Henry noted gleefully, were still intact, still whole, +still readable. He was literally knee deep in them, he wallowed in +books. He picked one up. The title was "Collected Works of William +Shakespeare." Yes, he must read that, sometime. He laid it aside +carefully. He picked up another. Spinoza. He tossed it away, seized +another, and another, and still another. Which to read first ... there +were so many. + +He had been conducting himself a little like a starving man in a +delicatessen--grabbing a little of this and a little of that in a +frenzy of enjoyment. + +But now he steadied away. From the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on an overturned shelf, and opened the +book. + +Henry Bemis smiled. + +There was the rumble of complaining stone. Minute in comparison with +the epic complaints following the fall of the bomb. This one occurred +under one corner of the shelf upon which Henry sat. The shelf moved; +threw him off balance. The glasses slipped from his nose and fell with +a tinkle. + +He bent down, clawing blindly and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis. + +He stared down at the blurred page before him. + +He began to cry. + + + THE END + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST ***
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/32633-h/32633-h.htm b/32633-h/32633-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a20e18a --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/32633-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,565 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Time Enough at Last, by Lynn Venable + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; background-color: #FFFFFF; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + + +.tr {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 2em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} + +.img1 {border:solid 1px; } + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.p1 { margin-left: 40%; } + +.caption {font-weight: bold; font-size:smaller;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft1 { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; + margin-top: 0.2em; + margin-right: 0.25em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST ***</div> + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. Extensive +research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img class="img1" src="images/cover.png" width="400" height="580" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end.<br /> +To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a +thing to appreciate and enjoy.</i></p></div> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Time Enough At Last</h1> + +<h2>By Lynn Venable</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/f1.png" alt="F" width="34" height="50" /></div> +<p>or a long time, Henry +Bemis had had an ambition. +To read a book. Not just the title +or the preface, or a page somewhere +in the middle. He wanted +to read the whole thing, all the way +through from beginning to end. A +simple ambition perhaps, but in the +cluttered life of Henry Bemis, an +impossibility.</p> + +<p>Henry had no time of his own. +There was his wife, Agnes who +owned that part of it that his employer, +Mr. Carsville, did not buy. +Henry was allowed enough to get to +and from work—that in itself being +quite a concession on Agnes' part.</p> + +<p>Also, nature had conspired +against Henry by handing him with +a pair of hopelessly myopic eyes. +Poor Henry literally couldn't see his +hand in front of his face. For a +while, when he was very young, his +parents had thought him an idiot. +When they realized it was his eyes, +they got glasses for him. He was +never quite able to catch up. There +was never enough time. It looked +as though Henry's ambition would +never be realized. Then something +happened which changed all that.</p> + +<p>Henry was down in the vault of +the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few +moments from the duties of his +teller's cage to try to read a few +pages of the magazine he had +bought that morning. He'd made +an excuse to Mr. Carsville about +needing bills in large denominations +for a certain customer, and +then, safe inside the dim recesses of +the vault he had pulled from inside +his coat the pocket size magazine.</p> + +<p>He had just started a picture article +cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To +YOU", when all the noise in the +world crashed in upon his ear-drums. +It seemed to be inside of +him and outside of him all at once. +Then the concrete floor was rising +up at him and the ceiling came +slanting down toward him, and for +a fleeting second Henry thought of +a story he had started to read once +called "The Pit and The Pendulum". +He regretted in that insane +moment that he had never had +time to finish that story to see how +it came out. Then all was darkness +and quiet and unconsciousness.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/w2.png" alt="W" width="54" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen Henry came to, he +knew that something was +desperately wrong with the Eastside +Bank & Trust. The heavy steel +door of the vault was buckled and +twisted and the floor tilted up at a +dizzy angle, while the ceiling +dipped crazily toward it. Henry +gingerly got to his feet, moving +arms and legs experimentally. Assured +that nothing was broken, he +tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. +His precious glasses were intact, +thank God! He would never have +been able to find his way out of the +shattered vault without them.</p> + +<p>He made a mental note to write +Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair +made and mailed to him. Blasted +nuisance not having his prescription +on file locally, but Henry trusted +no-one but Dr. Torrance to +grind those thick lenses into his +own complicated prescription. Henry +removed the heavy glasses from +his face. Instantly the room dissolved +into a neutral blur. Henry +saw a pink splash that he knew was +his hand, and a white blob come up +to meet the pink as he withdrew his +pocket handkerchief and carefully +dusted the lenses. As he replaced +the glasses, they slipped down on +the bridge of his nose a little. He +had been meaning to have them +tightened for some time.</p> + +<p>He suddenly realized, without +the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something +momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing +up, something worse than a gas +main exploding, something worse +than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because +it was so quiet. There was no +whine of sirens, no shouting, no +running, just an ominous and all +pervading silence.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h2.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>enry walked across the slanting +floor. Slipping and stumbling +on the uneven surface, he +made his way to the elevator. The +car lay crumpled at the foot of the +shaft like a discarded accordian. +There was something inside of it +that Henry could not look at, something +that had once been a person, +or perhaps several people, it was +impossible to tell now.</p> + +<p>Feeling sick, Henry staggered +toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled +back upon one another that it was +more like climbing the side of a +mountain than mounting a stairway. +It was quiet in the huge chamber +that had been the lobby of the +bank. It looked strangely cheerful +with the sunlight shining through +the girders where the ceiling had +fallen. The dappled sunlight glinted +across the silent lobby, and everywhere +there were huddled lumps +of unpleasantness that made Henry +sick as he tried not to look at them.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was +very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, +right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know +what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked +hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And +then he saw an arm and shoulder +extending out from under a huge +fallen block of marble ceiling. In +the buttonhole was the white carnation +Mr. Carsville had worn to +work that morning, and on the +third finger of that hand was a massive +signet ring, also belonging to +Mr. Carsville. Numbly, Henry realized +that the rest of Mr. Carsville +was under that block of marble.</p> + +<p>Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. +Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff—Mr. Wilkinson +and Mr. Emory and Mr. +Prithard, and the same with Pete +and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter +and Pat the guard and Willie the +doorman. There was no one to say +what was to be done about the +Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry +Bemis, and Henry wasn't worried +about the bank, there was something +he wanted to do.</p> + +<p>He climbed carefully over piles +of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched +and squashed beneath his feet and +he set his teeth on edge to keep +from retching. The street was not +much different from the inside, +bright sunlight and so much concrete +to crawl over, but the unpleasantness +was much, much worse. +Everywhere there were strange, motionless +lumps that Henry could not +look at.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. +He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered +a poster he had seen that said, "In +event of emergency do not use the +telephone, your loved ones are as +safe as you." He wondered about +Agnes. He looked at the smashed +automobiles, some with their four +wheels pointing skyward like the +stiffened legs of dead animals. He +couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, +if she was safe, then, she was safe, +otherwise ... of course, Henry +knew Agnes wasn't safe. He had a +feeling that there wasn't anyone +safe for a long, long way, maybe +not in the whole state or the whole +country, or the whole world. No, +that was a thought Henry didn't +want to think, he forced it from his +mind and turned his thoughts back +to Agnes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/s3.png" alt="S" width="32" height="50" /></div> +<p>he had been a pretty good +wife, now that it was all said +and done. It wasn't exactly her +fault if people didn't have time to +read nowadays. It was just that +there was the house, and the bank, +and the yard. There were the Jones' +for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta +and charades with the +Bryants. And the television, the +television Agnes loved to watch, but +would never watch alone. He never +had time to read even a newspaper. +He started thinking about last +night, that business about the newspaper.</p> + +<p>Henry had settled into his chair, +quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention +the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded +the newspaper slowly and carefully, +the sharp crackle of the paper +would have been a clarion call to +Agnes. He had glanced at the headlines +of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't +have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon +Predicts War Only Days Away." +He flipped through the pages faster, +reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much +time on any one item. On a back +page was a brief article entitled, +"Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself +and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be +interesting, he would read all of it. +Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" +And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper +out of his hands and into the fireplace. +He saw the flames lick up +and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, +"Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes +and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... <i>reading</i>." She had +emphasized the last word as though +it were an unclean act. "Hurry and +shave, you know how smooth Jasper +Jones' chin always looks, and then +straighten up this room." She +glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. +"Oh dear, that paper, the +television schedule ... oh well, after +the Jones leave there won't be time +for anything but the late-late +movie and.... Don't just sit there, +Henry, hurrreeee!"</p> + +<p>Henry was hurrying now, but +hurrying too much. He cut his leg +on a twisted piece of metal that had +once been an automobile fender. +He thought about things like lock-jaw +and gangrene and his hand +trembled as he tied his pocket-handkerchief +around the wound. In +his mind, he saw the fire again, +licking across the face of last night's +newspaper. He thought that now +he would have time to read all the +newspapers he wanted to, only now +there wouldn't be any more. That +heap of rubble across the street had +been the Gazette Building. It was +terrible to think there would never +be another up to date newspaper. +Agnes would have been very upset, +no television schedule. But then, of +course, no television. He wanted to +laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't +have been fitting, not at all.</p> + +<p>He could see the building he was +looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great +circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one +of the great wings of the building +had fallen in upon itself. A sudden +panic gripped Henry Bemis. What +if they were all ruined, destroyed, +every one of them? What if there +wasn't a single one left? Tears of +helplessness welled in his eyes as he +painfully fought his way over and +through the twisted fragments of +the city.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h4.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>e thought of the building +when it had been whole. He remembered +the many nights he had +paused outside its wide and welcoming +doors. He thought of the +warm nights when the doors had +been thrown open and he could see +the people inside, see them sitting +at the plain wooden tables with the +stacks of books beside them. He +used to think then, what a wonderful +thing a public library was, a +place where anybody, anybody at +all could go in and read.</p> + +<p>He had been tempted to enter +many times. He had watched the +people through the open doors, the +man in greasy work clothes who +sat near the door, night after night, +laboriously studying, a technical +journal perhaps, difficult for him, +but promising a brighter future. +There had been an aged, scholarly +gentleman who sat on the other side +of the door, leisurely paging, moving +his lips a little as he did so, a +man having little time left, but rich +in time because he could do with it +as he chose.</p> + +<p>Henry had never gone in. He had +started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered +Agnes, her questions and +shouting, and he had turned away.</p> + +<p>He was going in now though, almost +crawling, his breath coming +in stabbing gasps, his hands torn +and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his +leg had soaked through the handkerchief. +It was throbbing badly +but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination.</p> + +<p>Part of the inscription was still +there, over the now doorless entrance. +P-U-B—C L-I-B-R—-. The +rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were +overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in +disorder upon the floor. A lot of the +books, Henry noted gleefully, were +still intact, still whole, still readable. +He was literally knee deep in +them, he wallowed in books. He +picked one up. The title was "Collected +Works of William Shakespeare." +Yes, he must read that, +sometime. He laid it aside carefully. +He picked up another. Spinoza. He +tossed it away, seized another, and +another, and still another. Which +to read first ... there were so many.</p> + +<p>He had been conducting himself +a little like a starving man in a delicatessen—grabbing +a little of this +and a little of that in a frenzy of +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>But now he steadied away. From +the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on +an overturned shelf, and opened +the book.</p> + +<p>Henry Bemis smiled.</p> + +<p>There was the rumble of complaining +stone. Minute in comparison +with the epic complaints following +the fall of the bomb. This +one occurred under one corner of +the shelf upon which Henry sat. +The shelf moved; threw him off +balance. The glasses slipped from +his nose and fell with a tinkle.</p> + +<p>He bent down, clawing blindly +and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction +stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But +the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis.</p> + +<p>He stared down at the blurred +page before him.</p> + +<p>He began to cry.</p> + +<p class="p1">——<b>THE END</b>——</p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/32633-h/images/cover.png b/32633-h/images/cover.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..263c7e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/cover.png diff --git a/32633-h/images/f1.png b/32633-h/images/f1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d26214 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/f1.png diff --git a/32633-h/images/h2.png b/32633-h/images/h2.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9aad58 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/h2.png diff --git a/32633-h/images/h4.png b/32633-h/images/h4.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e76a84b --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/h4.png diff --git a/32633-h/images/s3.png b/32633-h/images/s3.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33549f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/s3.png diff --git a/32633-h/images/w2.png b/32633-h/images/w2.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..64b98d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/32633-h/images/w2.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Time Enough at Last + +Author: Lyn Venable + +Release Date: June 1, 2010 [EBook #32633] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. Extensive +research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img class="img1" src="images/cover.png" width="400" height="580" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end.<br /> +To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a +thing to appreciate and enjoy.</i></p></div> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Time Enough At Last</h1> + +<h2>By Lynn Venable</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/f1.png" alt="F" width="34" height="50" /></div> +<p>or a long time, Henry +Bemis had had an ambition. +To read a book. Not just the title +or the preface, or a page somewhere +in the middle. He wanted +to read the whole thing, all the way +through from beginning to end. A +simple ambition perhaps, but in the +cluttered life of Henry Bemis, an +impossibility.</p> + +<p>Henry had no time of his own. +There was his wife, Agnes who +owned that part of it that his employer, +Mr. Carsville, did not buy. +Henry was allowed enough to get to +and from work—that in itself being +quite a concession on Agnes' part.</p> + +<p>Also, nature had conspired +against Henry by handing him with +a pair of hopelessly myopic eyes. +Poor Henry literally couldn't see his +hand in front of his face. For a +while, when he was very young, his +parents had thought him an idiot. +When they realized it was his eyes, +they got glasses for him. He was +never quite able to catch up. There +was never enough time. It looked +as though Henry's ambition would +never be realized. Then something +happened which changed all that.</p> + +<p>Henry was down in the vault of +the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few +moments from the duties of his +teller's cage to try to read a few +pages of the magazine he had +bought that morning. He'd made +an excuse to Mr. Carsville about +needing bills in large denominations +for a certain customer, and +then, safe inside the dim recesses of +the vault he had pulled from inside +his coat the pocket size magazine.</p> + +<p>He had just started a picture article +cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To +YOU", when all the noise in the +world crashed in upon his ear-drums. +It seemed to be inside of +him and outside of him all at once. +Then the concrete floor was rising +up at him and the ceiling came +slanting down toward him, and for +a fleeting second Henry thought of +a story he had started to read once +called "The Pit and The Pendulum". +He regretted in that insane +moment that he had never had +time to finish that story to see how +it came out. Then all was darkness +and quiet and unconsciousness.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/w2.png" alt="W" width="54" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen Henry came to, he +knew that something was +desperately wrong with the Eastside +Bank & Trust. The heavy steel +door of the vault was buckled and +twisted and the floor tilted up at a +dizzy angle, while the ceiling +dipped crazily toward it. Henry +gingerly got to his feet, moving +arms and legs experimentally. Assured +that nothing was broken, he +tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. +His precious glasses were intact, +thank God! He would never have +been able to find his way out of the +shattered vault without them.</p> + +<p>He made a mental note to write +Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair +made and mailed to him. Blasted +nuisance not having his prescription +on file locally, but Henry trusted +no-one but Dr. Torrance to +grind those thick lenses into his +own complicated prescription. Henry +removed the heavy glasses from +his face. Instantly the room dissolved +into a neutral blur. Henry +saw a pink splash that he knew was +his hand, and a white blob come up +to meet the pink as he withdrew his +pocket handkerchief and carefully +dusted the lenses. As he replaced +the glasses, they slipped down on +the bridge of his nose a little. He +had been meaning to have them +tightened for some time.</p> + +<p>He suddenly realized, without +the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something +momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing +up, something worse than a gas +main exploding, something worse +than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because +it was so quiet. There was no +whine of sirens, no shouting, no +running, just an ominous and all +pervading silence.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h2.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>enry walked across the slanting +floor. Slipping and stumbling +on the uneven surface, he +made his way to the elevator. The +car lay crumpled at the foot of the +shaft like a discarded accordian. +There was something inside of it +that Henry could not look at, something +that had once been a person, +or perhaps several people, it was +impossible to tell now.</p> + +<p>Feeling sick, Henry staggered +toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled +back upon one another that it was +more like climbing the side of a +mountain than mounting a stairway. +It was quiet in the huge chamber +that had been the lobby of the +bank. It looked strangely cheerful +with the sunlight shining through +the girders where the ceiling had +fallen. The dappled sunlight glinted +across the silent lobby, and everywhere +there were huddled lumps +of unpleasantness that made Henry +sick as he tried not to look at them.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was +very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, +right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know +what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked +hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And +then he saw an arm and shoulder +extending out from under a huge +fallen block of marble ceiling. In +the buttonhole was the white carnation +Mr. Carsville had worn to +work that morning, and on the +third finger of that hand was a massive +signet ring, also belonging to +Mr. Carsville. Numbly, Henry realized +that the rest of Mr. Carsville +was under that block of marble.</p> + +<p>Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. +Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff—Mr. Wilkinson +and Mr. Emory and Mr. +Prithard, and the same with Pete +and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter +and Pat the guard and Willie the +doorman. There was no one to say +what was to be done about the +Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry +Bemis, and Henry wasn't worried +about the bank, there was something +he wanted to do.</p> + +<p>He climbed carefully over piles +of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched +and squashed beneath his feet and +he set his teeth on edge to keep +from retching. The street was not +much different from the inside, +bright sunlight and so much concrete +to crawl over, but the unpleasantness +was much, much worse. +Everywhere there were strange, motionless +lumps that Henry could not +look at.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. +He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered +a poster he had seen that said, "In +event of emergency do not use the +telephone, your loved ones are as +safe as you." He wondered about +Agnes. He looked at the smashed +automobiles, some with their four +wheels pointing skyward like the +stiffened legs of dead animals. He +couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, +if she was safe, then, she was safe, +otherwise ... of course, Henry +knew Agnes wasn't safe. He had a +feeling that there wasn't anyone +safe for a long, long way, maybe +not in the whole state or the whole +country, or the whole world. No, +that was a thought Henry didn't +want to think, he forced it from his +mind and turned his thoughts back +to Agnes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/s3.png" alt="S" width="32" height="50" /></div> +<p>he had been a pretty good +wife, now that it was all said +and done. It wasn't exactly her +fault if people didn't have time to +read nowadays. It was just that +there was the house, and the bank, +and the yard. There were the Jones' +for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta +and charades with the +Bryants. And the television, the +television Agnes loved to watch, but +would never watch alone. He never +had time to read even a newspaper. +He started thinking about last +night, that business about the newspaper.</p> + +<p>Henry had settled into his chair, +quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention +the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded +the newspaper slowly and carefully, +the sharp crackle of the paper +would have been a clarion call to +Agnes. He had glanced at the headlines +of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't +have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon +Predicts War Only Days Away." +He flipped through the pages faster, +reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much +time on any one item. On a back +page was a brief article entitled, +"Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself +and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be +interesting, he would read all of it. +Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" +And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper +out of his hands and into the fireplace. +He saw the flames lick up +and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, +"Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes +and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... <i>reading</i>." She had +emphasized the last word as though +it were an unclean act. "Hurry and +shave, you know how smooth Jasper +Jones' chin always looks, and then +straighten up this room." She +glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. +"Oh dear, that paper, the +television schedule ... oh well, after +the Jones leave there won't be time +for anything but the late-late +movie and.... Don't just sit there, +Henry, hurrreeee!"</p> + +<p>Henry was hurrying now, but +hurrying too much. He cut his leg +on a twisted piece of metal that had +once been an automobile fender. +He thought about things like lock-jaw +and gangrene and his hand +trembled as he tied his pocket-handkerchief +around the wound. In +his mind, he saw the fire again, +licking across the face of last night's +newspaper. He thought that now +he would have time to read all the +newspapers he wanted to, only now +there wouldn't be any more. That +heap of rubble across the street had +been the Gazette Building. It was +terrible to think there would never +be another up to date newspaper. +Agnes would have been very upset, +no television schedule. But then, of +course, no television. He wanted to +laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't +have been fitting, not at all.</p> + +<p>He could see the building he was +looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great +circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one +of the great wings of the building +had fallen in upon itself. A sudden +panic gripped Henry Bemis. What +if they were all ruined, destroyed, +every one of them? What if there +wasn't a single one left? Tears of +helplessness welled in his eyes as he +painfully fought his way over and +through the twisted fragments of +the city.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h4.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>e thought of the building +when it had been whole. He remembered +the many nights he had +paused outside its wide and welcoming +doors. He thought of the +warm nights when the doors had +been thrown open and he could see +the people inside, see them sitting +at the plain wooden tables with the +stacks of books beside them. He +used to think then, what a wonderful +thing a public library was, a +place where anybody, anybody at +all could go in and read.</p> + +<p>He had been tempted to enter +many times. He had watched the +people through the open doors, the +man in greasy work clothes who +sat near the door, night after night, +laboriously studying, a technical +journal perhaps, difficult for him, +but promising a brighter future. +There had been an aged, scholarly +gentleman who sat on the other side +of the door, leisurely paging, moving +his lips a little as he did so, a +man having little time left, but rich +in time because he could do with it +as he chose.</p> + +<p>Henry had never gone in. He had +started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered +Agnes, her questions and +shouting, and he had turned away.</p> + +<p>He was going in now though, almost +crawling, his breath coming +in stabbing gasps, his hands torn +and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his +leg had soaked through the handkerchief. +It was throbbing badly +but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination.</p> + +<p>Part of the inscription was still +there, over the now doorless entrance. +P-U-B—C L-I-B-R—-. The +rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were +overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in +disorder upon the floor. A lot of the +books, Henry noted gleefully, were +still intact, still whole, still readable. +He was literally knee deep in +them, he wallowed in books. He +picked one up. The title was "Collected +Works of William Shakespeare." +Yes, he must read that, +sometime. He laid it aside carefully. +He picked up another. Spinoza. He +tossed it away, seized another, and +another, and still another. Which +to read first ... there were so many.</p> + +<p>He had been conducting himself +a little like a starving man in a delicatessen—grabbing +a little of this +and a little of that in a frenzy of +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>But now he steadied away. From +the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on +an overturned shelf, and opened +the book.</p> + +<p>Henry Bemis smiled.</p> + +<p>There was the rumble of complaining +stone. Minute in comparison +which the epic complaints following +the fall of the bomb. This +one occurred under one corner of +the shelf upon which Henry sat. +The shelf moved; threw him off +balance. The glasses slipped from +his nose and fell with a tinkle.</p> + +<p>He bent down, clawing blindly +and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction +stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But +the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis.</p> + +<p>He stared down at the blurred +page before him.</p> + +<p>He began to cry.</p> + + +<p class="p1">——<b>THE END</b>——</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Time Enough at Last, by Lyn Venable + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + +***** This file should be named 32633-h.htm or 32633-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/6/3/32633/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Time Enough at Last + +Author: Lyn Venable + +Release Date: June 1, 2010 [EBook #32633] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright +on this publication was renewed. + + + + + + + _The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis it + meant something far different--a thing to appreciate and enjoy._ + + + + + Time Enough At Last + + By Lynn Venable + + +For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book. Not +just the title or the preface, or a page somewhere in the middle. He +wanted to read the whole thing, all the way through from beginning to +end. A simple ambition perhaps, but in the cluttered life of Henry +Bemis, an impossibility. + +Henry had no time of his own. There was his wife, Agnes who owned that +part of it that his employer, Mr. Carsville, did not buy. Henry was +allowed enough to get to and from work--that in itself being quite a +concession on Agnes' part. + +Also, nature had conspired against Henry by handing him with a pair of +hopelessly myopic eyes. Poor Henry literally couldn't see his hand in +front of his face. For a while, when he was very young, his parents +had thought him an idiot. When they realized it was his eyes, they got +glasses for him. He was never quite able to catch up. There was never +enough time. It looked as though Henry's ambition would never be +realized. Then something happened which changed all that. + +Henry was down in the vault of the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few moments from the duties of his teller's +cage to try to read a few pages of the magazine he had bought that +morning. He'd made an excuse to Mr. Carsville about needing bills in +large denominations for a certain customer, and then, safe inside the +dim recesses of the vault he had pulled from inside his coat the +pocket size magazine. + +He had just started a picture article cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To YOU", when all the noise in the world +crashed in upon his ear-drums. It seemed to be inside of him and +outside of him all at once. Then the concrete floor was rising up at +him and the ceiling came slanting down toward him, and for a fleeting +second Henry thought of a story he had started to read once called +"The Pit and The Pendulum". He regretted in that insane moment that he +had never had time to finish that story to see how it came out. Then +all was darkness and quiet and unconsciousness. + + * * * * * + +When Henry came to, he knew that something was desperately wrong with +the Eastside Bank & Trust. The heavy steel door of the vault was +buckled and twisted and the floor tilted up at a dizzy angle, while +the ceiling dipped crazily toward it. Henry gingerly got to his feet, +moving arms and legs experimentally. Assured that nothing was broken, +he tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. His precious glasses were +intact, thank God! He would never have been able to find his way out +of the shattered vault without them. + +He made a mental note to write Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair made +and mailed to him. Blasted nuisance not having his prescription on +file locally, but Henry trusted no-one but Dr. Torrance to grind those +thick lenses into his own complicated prescription. Henry removed the +heavy glasses from his face. Instantly the room dissolved into a +neutral blur. Henry saw a pink splash that he knew was his hand, and a +white blob come up to meet the pink as he withdrew his pocket +handkerchief and carefully dusted the lenses. As he replaced the +glasses, they slipped down on the bridge of his nose a little. He had +been meaning to have them tightened for some time. + +He suddenly realized, without the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing up, something worse than a gas main +exploding, something worse than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because it was so quiet. There was no whine +of sirens, no shouting, no running, just an ominous and all pervading +silence. + + * * * * * + +Henry walked across the slanting floor. Slipping and stumbling on the +uneven surface, he made his way to the elevator. The car lay crumpled +at the foot of the shaft like a discarded accordian. There was +something inside of it that Henry could not look at, something that +had once been a person, or perhaps several people, it was impossible +to tell now. + +Feeling sick, Henry staggered toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled back upon one another that it +was more like climbing the side of a mountain than mounting a +stairway. It was quiet in the huge chamber that had been the lobby of +the bank. It looked strangely cheerful with the sunlight shining +through the girders where the ceiling had fallen. The dappled sunlight +glinted across the silent lobby, and everywhere there were huddled +lumps of unpleasantness that made Henry sick as he tried not to look +at them. + +"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And then +he saw an arm and shoulder extending out from under a huge fallen +block of marble ceiling. In the buttonhole was the white carnation Mr. +Carsville had worn to work that morning, and on the third finger of +that hand was a massive signet ring, also belonging to Mr. Carsville. +Numbly, Henry realized that the rest of Mr. Carsville was under that +block of marble. + +Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff--Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Emory and Mr. Prithard, +and the same with Pete and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter and Pat the +guard and Willie the doorman. There was no one to say what was to be +done about the Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry Bemis, and Henry +wasn't worried about the bank, there was something he wanted to do. + +He climbed carefully over piles of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched and squashed beneath his feet and he +set his teeth on edge to keep from retching. The street was not much +different from the inside, bright sunlight and so much concrete to +crawl over, but the unpleasantness was much, much worse. Everywhere +there were strange, motionless lumps that Henry could not look at. + +Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered a poster he had seen that said, "In event +of emergency do not use the telephone, your loved ones are as safe as +you." He wondered about Agnes. He looked at the smashed automobiles, +some with their four wheels pointing skyward like the stiffened legs +of dead animals. He couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, if she was safe, +then, she was safe, otherwise ... of course, Henry knew Agnes wasn't +safe. He had a feeling that there wasn't anyone safe for a long, long +way, maybe not in the whole state or the whole country, or the whole +world. No, that was a thought Henry didn't want to think, he forced it +from his mind and turned his thoughts back to Agnes. + + * * * * * + +She had been a pretty good wife, now that it was all said and done. It +wasn't exactly her fault if people didn't have time to read nowadays. +It was just that there was the house, and the bank, and the yard. +There were the Jones' for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta and +charades with the Bryants. And the television, the television Agnes +loved to watch, but would never watch alone. He never had time to read +even a newspaper. He started thinking about last night, that business +about the newspaper. + +Henry had settled into his chair, quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded the newspaper slowly and carefully, the +sharp crackle of the paper would have been a clarion call to Agnes. He +had glanced at the headlines of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon Predicts War Only Days Away." He +flipped through the pages faster, reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much time on any one item. On a back page +was a brief article entitled, "Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be interesting, he would read all of +it. Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper out of his hands and into the +fireplace. He saw the flames lick up and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, "Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... _reading_." She had emphasized the last word as +though it were an unclean act. "Hurry and shave, you know how smooth +Jasper Jones' chin always looks, and then straighten up this room." +She glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. "Oh dear, that paper, +the television schedule ... oh well, after the Jones leave there won't +be time for anything but the late-late movie and.... Don't just sit +there, Henry, hurrreeee!" + +Henry was hurrying now, but hurrying too much. He cut his leg on a +twisted piece of metal that had once been an automobile fender. He +thought about things like lock-jaw and gangrene and his hand trembled +as he tied his pocket-handkerchief around the wound. In his mind, he +saw the fire again, licking across the face of last night's newspaper. +He thought that now he would have time to read all the newspapers he +wanted to, only now there wouldn't be any more. That heap of rubble +across the street had been the Gazette Building. It was terrible to +think there would never be another up to date newspaper. Agnes would +have been very upset, no television schedule. But then, of course, no +television. He wanted to laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't have been +fitting, not at all. + +He could see the building he was looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one of the great wings of the +building had fallen in upon itself. A sudden panic gripped Henry +Bemis. What if they were all ruined, destroyed, every one of them? +What if there wasn't a single one left? Tears of helplessness welled +in his eyes as he painfully fought his way over and through the +twisted fragments of the city. + + * * * * * + +He thought of the building when it had been whole. He remembered the +many nights he had paused outside its wide and welcoming doors. He +thought of the warm nights when the doors had been thrown open and he +could see the people inside, see them sitting at the plain wooden +tables with the stacks of books beside them. He used to think then, +what a wonderful thing a public library was, a place where anybody, +anybody at all could go in and read. + +He had been tempted to enter many times. He had watched the people +through the open doors, the man in greasy work clothes who sat near +the door, night after night, laboriously studying, a technical journal +perhaps, difficult for him, but promising a brighter future. There had +been an aged, scholarly gentleman who sat on the other side of the +door, leisurely paging, moving his lips a little as he did so, a man +having little time left, but rich in time because he could do with it +as he chose. + +Henry had never gone in. He had started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered Agnes, her questions and shouting, +and he had turned away. + +He was going in now though, almost crawling, his breath coming in +stabbing gasps, his hands torn and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his leg had soaked through the +handkerchief. It was throbbing badly but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination. + +Part of the inscription was still there, over the now doorless +entrance. P-U-B--C L-I-B-R---. The rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in disorder upon the floor. A lot of +the books, Henry noted gleefully, were still intact, still whole, +still readable. He was literally knee deep in them, he wallowed in +books. He picked one up. The title was "Collected Works of William +Shakespeare." Yes, he must read that, sometime. He laid it aside +carefully. He picked up another. Spinoza. He tossed it away, seized +another, and another, and still another. Which to read first ... there +were so many. + +He had been conducting himself a little like a starving man in a +delicatessen--grabbing a little of this and a little of that in a +frenzy of enjoyment. + +But now he steadied away. From the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on an overturned shelf, and opened the +book. + +Henry Bemis smiled. + +There was the rumble of complaining stone. Minute in comparison which +the epic complaints following the fall of the bomb. This one occurred +under one corner of the shelf upon which Henry sat. The shelf moved; +threw him off balance. The glasses slipped from his nose and fell with +a tinkle. + +He bent down, clawing blindly and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis. + +He stared down at the blurred page before him. + +He began to cry. + + + THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Time Enough at Last, by Lyn Venable + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + +***** This file should be named 32633.txt or 32633.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/6/3/32633/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Time Enough at Last + +Author: Lyn Venable + +Release Date: June 1, 2010 [eBook #32633] +[Most recently updated: May 28, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright +on this publication was renewed. + + + + + _The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end. To Henry Bemis it + meant something far different--a thing to appreciate and enjoy._ + + + + + Time Enough At Last + + By Lynn Venable + + +For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book. Not +just the title or the preface, or a page somewhere in the middle. He +wanted to read the whole thing, all the way through from beginning to +end. A simple ambition perhaps, but in the cluttered life of Henry +Bemis, an impossibility. + +Henry had no time of his own. There was his wife, Agnes who owned that +part of it that his employer, Mr. Carsville, did not buy. Henry was +allowed enough to get to and from work--that in itself being quite a +concession on Agnes' part. + +Also, nature had conspired against Henry by handing him with a pair of +hopelessly myopic eyes. Poor Henry literally couldn't see his hand in +front of his face. For a while, when he was very young, his parents +had thought him an idiot. When they realized it was his eyes, they got +glasses for him. He was never quite able to catch up. There was never +enough time. It looked as though Henry's ambition would never be +realized. Then something happened which changed all that. + +Henry was down in the vault of the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few moments from the duties of his teller's +cage to try to read a few pages of the magazine he had bought that +morning. He'd made an excuse to Mr. Carsville about needing bills in +large denominations for a certain customer, and then, safe inside the +dim recesses of the vault he had pulled from inside his coat the +pocket size magazine. + +He had just started a picture article cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To YOU", when all the noise in the world +crashed in upon his ear-drums. It seemed to be inside of him and +outside of him all at once. Then the concrete floor was rising up at +him and the ceiling came slanting down toward him, and for a fleeting +second Henry thought of a story he had started to read once called +"The Pit and The Pendulum". He regretted in that insane moment that he +had never had time to finish that story to see how it came out. Then +all was darkness and quiet and unconsciousness. + + * * * * * + +When Henry came to, he knew that something was desperately wrong with +the Eastside Bank & Trust. The heavy steel door of the vault was +buckled and twisted and the floor tilted up at a dizzy angle, while +the ceiling dipped crazily toward it. Henry gingerly got to his feet, +moving arms and legs experimentally. Assured that nothing was broken, +he tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. His precious glasses were +intact, thank God! He would never have been able to find his way out +of the shattered vault without them. + +He made a mental note to write Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair made +and mailed to him. Blasted nuisance not having his prescription on +file locally, but Henry trusted no-one but Dr. Torrance to grind those +thick lenses into his own complicated prescription. Henry removed the +heavy glasses from his face. Instantly the room dissolved into a +neutral blur. Henry saw a pink splash that he knew was his hand, and a +white blob come up to meet the pink as he withdrew his pocket +handkerchief and carefully dusted the lenses. As he replaced the +glasses, they slipped down on the bridge of his nose a little. He had +been meaning to have them tightened for some time. + +He suddenly realized, without the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing up, something worse than a gas main +exploding, something worse than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because it was so quiet. There was no whine +of sirens, no shouting, no running, just an ominous and all pervading +silence. + + * * * * * + +Henry walked across the slanting floor. Slipping and stumbling on the +uneven surface, he made his way to the elevator. The car lay crumpled +at the foot of the shaft like a discarded accordian. There was +something inside of it that Henry could not look at, something that +had once been a person, or perhaps several people, it was impossible +to tell now. + +Feeling sick, Henry staggered toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled back upon one another that it +was more like climbing the side of a mountain than mounting a +stairway. It was quiet in the huge chamber that had been the lobby of +the bank. It looked strangely cheerful with the sunlight shining +through the girders where the ceiling had fallen. The dappled sunlight +glinted across the silent lobby, and everywhere there were huddled +lumps of unpleasantness that made Henry sick as he tried not to look +at them. + +"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And then +he saw an arm and shoulder extending out from under a huge fallen +block of marble ceiling. In the buttonhole was the white carnation Mr. +Carsville had worn to work that morning, and on the third finger of +that hand was a massive signet ring, also belonging to Mr. Carsville. +Numbly, Henry realized that the rest of Mr. Carsville was under that +block of marble. + +Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff--Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Emory and Mr. Prithard, +and the same with Pete and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter and Pat the +guard and Willie the doorman. There was no one to say what was to be +done about the Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry Bemis, and Henry +wasn't worried about the bank, there was something he wanted to do. + +He climbed carefully over piles of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched and squashed beneath his feet and he +set his teeth on edge to keep from retching. The street was not much +different from the inside, bright sunlight and so much concrete to +crawl over, but the unpleasantness was much, much worse. Everywhere +there were strange, motionless lumps that Henry could not look at. + +Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered a poster he had seen that said, "In event +of emergency do not use the telephone, your loved ones are as safe as +you." He wondered about Agnes. He looked at the smashed automobiles, +some with their four wheels pointing skyward like the stiffened legs +of dead animals. He couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, if she was safe, +then, she was safe, otherwise ... of course, Henry knew Agnes wasn't +safe. He had a feeling that there wasn't anyone safe for a long, long +way, maybe not in the whole state or the whole country, or the whole +world. No, that was a thought Henry didn't want to think, he forced it +from his mind and turned his thoughts back to Agnes. + + * * * * * + +She had been a pretty good wife, now that it was all said and done. It +wasn't exactly her fault if people didn't have time to read nowadays. +It was just that there was the house, and the bank, and the yard. +There were the Jones' for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta and +charades with the Bryants. And the television, the television Agnes +loved to watch, but would never watch alone. He never had time to read +even a newspaper. He started thinking about last night, that business +about the newspaper. + +Henry had settled into his chair, quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded the newspaper slowly and carefully, the +sharp crackle of the paper would have been a clarion call to Agnes. He +had glanced at the headlines of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon Predicts War Only Days Away." He +flipped through the pages faster, reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much time on any one item. On a back page +was a brief article entitled, "Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be interesting, he would read all of +it. Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper out of his hands and into the +fireplace. He saw the flames lick up and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, "Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... _reading_." She had emphasized the last word as +though it were an unclean act. "Hurry and shave, you know how smooth +Jasper Jones' chin always looks, and then straighten up this room." +She glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. "Oh dear, that paper, +the television schedule ... oh well, after the Jones leave there won't +be time for anything but the late-late movie and.... Don't just sit +there, Henry, hurrreeee!" + +Henry was hurrying now, but hurrying too much. He cut his leg on a +twisted piece of metal that had once been an automobile fender. He +thought about things like lock-jaw and gangrene and his hand trembled +as he tied his pocket-handkerchief around the wound. In his mind, he +saw the fire again, licking across the face of last night's newspaper. +He thought that now he would have time to read all the newspapers he +wanted to, only now there wouldn't be any more. That heap of rubble +across the street had been the Gazette Building. It was terrible to +think there would never be another up to date newspaper. Agnes would +have been very upset, no television schedule. But then, of course, no +television. He wanted to laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't have been +fitting, not at all. + +He could see the building he was looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one of the great wings of the +building had fallen in upon itself. A sudden panic gripped Henry +Bemis. What if they were all ruined, destroyed, every one of them? +What if there wasn't a single one left? Tears of helplessness welled +in his eyes as he painfully fought his way over and through the +twisted fragments of the city. + + * * * * * + +He thought of the building when it had been whole. He remembered the +many nights he had paused outside its wide and welcoming doors. He +thought of the warm nights when the doors had been thrown open and he +could see the people inside, see them sitting at the plain wooden +tables with the stacks of books beside them. He used to think then, +what a wonderful thing a public library was, a place where anybody, +anybody at all could go in and read. + +He had been tempted to enter many times. He had watched the people +through the open doors, the man in greasy work clothes who sat near +the door, night after night, laboriously studying, a technical journal +perhaps, difficult for him, but promising a brighter future. There had +been an aged, scholarly gentleman who sat on the other side of the +door, leisurely paging, moving his lips a little as he did so, a man +having little time left, but rich in time because he could do with it +as he chose. + +Henry had never gone in. He had started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered Agnes, her questions and shouting, +and he had turned away. + +He was going in now though, almost crawling, his breath coming in +stabbing gasps, his hands torn and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his leg had soaked through the +handkerchief. It was throbbing badly but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination. + +Part of the inscription was still there, over the now doorless +entrance. P-U-B--C L-I-B-R---. The rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in disorder upon the floor. A lot of +the books, Henry noted gleefully, were still intact, still whole, +still readable. He was literally knee deep in them, he wallowed in +books. He picked one up. The title was "Collected Works of William +Shakespeare." Yes, he must read that, sometime. He laid it aside +carefully. He picked up another. Spinoza. He tossed it away, seized +another, and another, and still another. Which to read first ... there +were so many. + +He had been conducting himself a little like a starving man in a +delicatessen--grabbing a little of this and a little of that in a +frenzy of enjoyment. + +But now he steadied away. From the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on an overturned shelf, and opened the +book. + +Henry Bemis smiled. + +There was the rumble of complaining stone. Minute in comparison with +the epic complaints following the fall of the bomb. This one occurred +under one corner of the shelf upon which Henry sat. The shelf moved; +threw him off balance. The glasses slipped from his nose and fell with +a tinkle. + +He bent down, clawing blindly and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis. + +He stared down at the blurred page before him. + +He began to cry. + + + THE END + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Time Enough at Last</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Lyn Venable</div> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 1, 2010 [eBook #32633]<br /> +[Most recently updated: May 28, 2023]</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> + <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: + Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</p> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST ***</div> + + +<div class="tr"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p class="center">This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction January 1953. Extensive +research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was +renewed.</p></div> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img class="img1" src="images/cover.png" width="400" height="580" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<p> </p> + + + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The atomic bomb meant, to most people, the end.<br /> +To Henry Bemis it meant something far different—a +thing to appreciate and enjoy.</i></p></div> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Time Enough At Last</h1> + +<h2>By Lynn Venable</h2> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/f1.png" alt="F" width="34" height="50" /></div> +<p>or a long time, Henry +Bemis had had an ambition. +To read a book. Not just the title +or the preface, or a page somewhere +in the middle. He wanted +to read the whole thing, all the way +through from beginning to end. A +simple ambition perhaps, but in the +cluttered life of Henry Bemis, an +impossibility.</p> + +<p>Henry had no time of his own. +There was his wife, Agnes who +owned that part of it that his employer, +Mr. Carsville, did not buy. +Henry was allowed enough to get to +and from work—that in itself being +quite a concession on Agnes' part.</p> + +<p>Also, nature had conspired +against Henry by handing him with +a pair of hopelessly myopic eyes. +Poor Henry literally couldn't see his +hand in front of his face. For a +while, when he was very young, his +parents had thought him an idiot. +When they realized it was his eyes, +they got glasses for him. He was +never quite able to catch up. There +was never enough time. It looked +as though Henry's ambition would +never be realized. Then something +happened which changed all that.</p> + +<p>Henry was down in the vault of +the Eastside Bank & Trust when it +happened. He had stolen a few +moments from the duties of his +teller's cage to try to read a few +pages of the magazine he had +bought that morning. He'd made +an excuse to Mr. Carsville about +needing bills in large denominations +for a certain customer, and +then, safe inside the dim recesses of +the vault he had pulled from inside +his coat the pocket size magazine.</p> + +<p>He had just started a picture article +cheerfully entitled "The New +Weapons and What They'll Do To +YOU", when all the noise in the +world crashed in upon his ear-drums. +It seemed to be inside of +him and outside of him all at once. +Then the concrete floor was rising +up at him and the ceiling came +slanting down toward him, and for +a fleeting second Henry thought of +a story he had started to read once +called "The Pit and The Pendulum". +He regretted in that insane +moment that he had never had +time to finish that story to see how +it came out. Then all was darkness +and quiet and unconsciousness.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/w2.png" alt="W" width="54" height="50" /></div> +<p>hen Henry came to, he +knew that something was +desperately wrong with the Eastside +Bank & Trust. The heavy steel +door of the vault was buckled and +twisted and the floor tilted up at a +dizzy angle, while the ceiling +dipped crazily toward it. Henry +gingerly got to his feet, moving +arms and legs experimentally. Assured +that nothing was broken, he +tenderly raised a hand to his eyes. +His precious glasses were intact, +thank God! He would never have +been able to find his way out of the +shattered vault without them.</p> + +<p>He made a mental note to write +Dr. Torrance to have a spare pair +made and mailed to him. Blasted +nuisance not having his prescription +on file locally, but Henry trusted +no-one but Dr. Torrance to +grind those thick lenses into his +own complicated prescription. Henry +removed the heavy glasses from +his face. Instantly the room dissolved +into a neutral blur. Henry +saw a pink splash that he knew was +his hand, and a white blob come up +to meet the pink as he withdrew his +pocket handkerchief and carefully +dusted the lenses. As he replaced +the glasses, they slipped down on +the bridge of his nose a little. He +had been meaning to have them +tightened for some time.</p> + +<p>He suddenly realized, without +the realization actually entering his +conscious thoughts, that something +momentous had happened, something +worse than the boiler blowing +up, something worse than a gas +main exploding, something worse +than anything that had ever happened +before. He felt that way because +it was so quiet. There was no +whine of sirens, no shouting, no +running, just an ominous and all +pervading silence.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h2.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>enry walked across the slanting +floor. Slipping and stumbling +on the uneven surface, he +made his way to the elevator. The +car lay crumpled at the foot of the +shaft like a discarded accordian. +There was something inside of it +that Henry could not look at, something +that had once been a person, +or perhaps several people, it was +impossible to tell now.</p> + +<p>Feeling sick, Henry staggered +toward the stairway. The steps were +still there, but so jumbled and piled +back upon one another that it was +more like climbing the side of a +mountain than mounting a stairway. +It was quiet in the huge chamber +that had been the lobby of the +bank. It looked strangely cheerful +with the sunlight shining through +the girders where the ceiling had +fallen. The dappled sunlight glinted +across the silent lobby, and everywhere +there were huddled lumps +of unpleasantness that made Henry +sick as he tried not to look at them.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Carsville," he called. It was +very quiet. Something had to be +done, of course. This was terrible, +right in the middle of a Monday, +too. Mr. Carsville would know +what to do. He called again, more +loudly, and his voice cracked +hoarsely, "Mr. Carrrrsville!" And +then he saw an arm and shoulder +extending out from under a huge +fallen block of marble ceiling. In +the buttonhole was the white carnation +Mr. Carsville had worn to +work that morning, and on the +third finger of that hand was a massive +signet ring, also belonging to +Mr. Carsville. Numbly, Henry realized +that the rest of Mr. Carsville +was under that block of marble.</p> + +<p>Henry felt a pang of real sorrow. +Mr. Carsville was gone, and so was +the rest of the staff—Mr. Wilkinson +and Mr. Emory and Mr. +Prithard, and the same with Pete +and Ralph and Jenkins and Hunter +and Pat the guard and Willie the +doorman. There was no one to say +what was to be done about the +Eastside Bank & Trust except Henry +Bemis, and Henry wasn't worried +about the bank, there was something +he wanted to do.</p> + +<p>He climbed carefully over piles +of fallen masonry. Once he stepped +down into something that crunched +and squashed beneath his feet and +he set his teeth on edge to keep +from retching. The street was not +much different from the inside, +bright sunlight and so much concrete +to crawl over, but the unpleasantness +was much, much worse. +Everywhere there were strange, motionless +lumps that Henry could not +look at.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he remembered Agnes. +He should be trying to get to Agnes, +shouldn't he? He remembered +a poster he had seen that said, "In +event of emergency do not use the +telephone, your loved ones are as +safe as you." He wondered about +Agnes. He looked at the smashed +automobiles, some with their four +wheels pointing skyward like the +stiffened legs of dead animals. He +couldn't get to Agnes now anyway, +if she was safe, then, she was safe, +otherwise ... of course, Henry +knew Agnes wasn't safe. He had a +feeling that there wasn't anyone +safe for a long, long way, maybe +not in the whole state or the whole +country, or the whole world. No, +that was a thought Henry didn't +want to think, he forced it from his +mind and turned his thoughts back +to Agnes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/s3.png" alt="S" width="32" height="50" /></div> +<p>he had been a pretty good +wife, now that it was all said +and done. It wasn't exactly her +fault if people didn't have time to +read nowadays. It was just that +there was the house, and the bank, +and the yard. There were the Jones' +for bridge and the Graysons' for canasta +and charades with the +Bryants. And the television, the +television Agnes loved to watch, but +would never watch alone. He never +had time to read even a newspaper. +He started thinking about last +night, that business about the newspaper.</p> + +<p>Henry had settled into his chair, +quietly, afraid that a creaking +spring might call to Agnes' attention +the fact that he was momentarily +unoccupied. He had unfolded +the newspaper slowly and carefully, +the sharp crackle of the paper +would have been a clarion call to +Agnes. He had glanced at the headlines +of the first page. "Collapse Of +Conference Imminent." He didn't +have time to read the article. He +turned to the second page. "Solon +Predicts War Only Days Away." +He flipped through the pages faster, +reading brief snatches here and +there, afraid to spend too much +time on any one item. On a back +page was a brief article entitled, +"Prehistoric Artifacts Unearthed In +Yucatan". Henry smiled to himself +and carefully folded the sheet of +paper into fourths. That would be +interesting, he would read all of it. +Then it came, Agnes' voice. "Henrrreee!" +And then she was upon +him. She lightly flicked the paper +out of his hands and into the fireplace. +He saw the flames lick up +and curl possessively around the +unread article. Agnes continued, +"Henry, tonight is the Jones' bridge +night. They'll be here in thirty minutes +and I'm not dressed yet, and +here you are ... <i>reading</i>." She had +emphasized the last word as though +it were an unclean act. "Hurry and +shave, you know how smooth Jasper +Jones' chin always looks, and then +straighten up this room." She +glanced regretfully toward the fireplace. +"Oh dear, that paper, the +television schedule ... oh well, after +the Jones leave there won't be time +for anything but the late-late +movie and.... Don't just sit there, +Henry, hurrreeee!"</p> + +<p>Henry was hurrying now, but +hurrying too much. He cut his leg +on a twisted piece of metal that had +once been an automobile fender. +He thought about things like lock-jaw +and gangrene and his hand +trembled as he tied his pocket-handkerchief +around the wound. In +his mind, he saw the fire again, +licking across the face of last night's +newspaper. He thought that now +he would have time to read all the +newspapers he wanted to, only now +there wouldn't be any more. That +heap of rubble across the street had +been the Gazette Building. It was +terrible to think there would never +be another up to date newspaper. +Agnes would have been very upset, +no television schedule. But then, of +course, no television. He wanted to +laugh but he didn't. That wouldn't +have been fitting, not at all.</p> + +<p>He could see the building he was +looking for now, but the silhouette +was strangely changed. The great +circular dome was now a ragged +semi-circle, half of it gone, and one +of the great wings of the building +had fallen in upon itself. A sudden +panic gripped Henry Bemis. What +if they were all ruined, destroyed, +every one of them? What if there +wasn't a single one left? Tears of +helplessness welled in his eyes as he +painfully fought his way over and +through the twisted fragments of +the city.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"><img src="images/h4.png" alt="H" width="39" height="50" /></div> +<p>e thought of the building +when it had been whole. He remembered +the many nights he had +paused outside its wide and welcoming +doors. He thought of the +warm nights when the doors had +been thrown open and he could see +the people inside, see them sitting +at the plain wooden tables with the +stacks of books beside them. He +used to think then, what a wonderful +thing a public library was, a +place where anybody, anybody at +all could go in and read.</p> + +<p>He had been tempted to enter +many times. He had watched the +people through the open doors, the +man in greasy work clothes who +sat near the door, night after night, +laboriously studying, a technical +journal perhaps, difficult for him, +but promising a brighter future. +There had been an aged, scholarly +gentleman who sat on the other side +of the door, leisurely paging, moving +his lips a little as he did so, a +man having little time left, but rich +in time because he could do with it +as he chose.</p> + +<p>Henry had never gone in. He had +started up the steps once, got almost +to the door, but then he remembered +Agnes, her questions and +shouting, and he had turned away.</p> + +<p>He was going in now though, almost +crawling, his breath coming +in stabbing gasps, his hands torn +and bleeding. His trouser leg was +sticky red where the wound in his +leg had soaked through the handkerchief. +It was throbbing badly +but Henry didn't care. He had +reached his destination.</p> + +<p>Part of the inscription was still +there, over the now doorless entrance. +P-U-B—C L-I-B-R—-. The +rest had been torn away. The place +was in shambles. The shelves were +overturned, broken, smashed, tilted, +their precious contents spilled in +disorder upon the floor. A lot of the +books, Henry noted gleefully, were +still intact, still whole, still readable. +He was literally knee deep in +them, he wallowed in books. He +picked one up. The title was "Collected +Works of William Shakespeare." +Yes, he must read that, +sometime. He laid it aside carefully. +He picked up another. Spinoza. He +tossed it away, seized another, and +another, and still another. Which +to read first ... there were so many.</p> + +<p>He had been conducting himself +a little like a starving man in a delicatessen—grabbing +a little of this +and a little of that in a frenzy of +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>But now he steadied away. From +the pile about him, he selected one +volume, sat comfortably down on +an overturned shelf, and opened +the book.</p> + +<p>Henry Bemis smiled.</p> + +<p>There was the rumble of complaining +stone. Minute in comparison +with the epic complaints following +the fall of the bomb. This +one occurred under one corner of +the shelf upon which Henry sat. +The shelf moved; threw him off +balance. The glasses slipped from +his nose and fell with a tinkle.</p> + +<p>He bent down, clawing blindly +and found, finally, their smashed +remains. A minor, indirect destruction +stemming from the sudden, +wholesale smashing of a city. But +the only one that greatly interested +Henry Bemis.</p> + +<p>He stared down at the blurred +page before him.</p> + +<p>He began to cry.</p> + + +<p class="p1">——<b>THE END</b>——</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TIME ENOUGH AT LAST ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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