The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume VI: An Anthology of 50 Short Stories
Page 157
"To return to the circumstances that occasioned my late arrival: I ... I must confess, gentlemen, that I became quite attached to the 'mistress' into whose house I sought entry when we first established our field and who subsequently adopted me when I convinced her real dog that he would find greener pastures elsewhere. So greatly attached did I become, in fact, that when the opportunity of ostracizing her loneliness presented itself, I could not refrain from taking advantage of it. The person to whom she was most suited and who was most suited to her appeared virtually upon her very doorstep; but in her stubbornness and in her pride she aggravated rather than encouraged him, causing him to rebel against the natural attraction he felt toward her. I am happy to report that, by means of a number of subterfuges--the final one of which necessitated the use of our original doorway--I was able to set this matter right, and that these two once-lonely people are about to embark upon a relationship which in their folklore is oftentimes quaintly alluded to by the words, 'They lived happily ever after.'
"And now, gentlemen, the best of luck to you and your constituents, and may you end up with servants as excellent as ours. I hereby declare this meeting adjourned."
Table of Contents
HAPPY ENDING by Mack Reynolds and Fredric Brown
TEETHING RING by James Causey
MILLENNIUM by Everett B. Cole
BEYOND THE DOOR by Philip K. Dick
THE SILK AND THE SONG by Charles L. Fontenay
FLAMEDOWN by H. B. Fyfe
ANCHORITE by Randall Garrett
THE AFFAIR OF THE BRAINS by Anthony Gilmore
WE'RE FRIENDS, NOW by Henry Hasse
CHARLEY de MILO by Laurence Mark Janifer
THE FIRST ONE by Herbert D. Kastle
IT COULD BE ANYTHING by Keith Laumer
WHAT'S HE DOING IN THERE? By Fritz Leiber
EVIDENCE by Murray Leinster
THE MAN THE MARTIANS MADE by Frank Belknap Long
MY SHIPMATE—COLUMBUS by Stephen Marlowe
COLD LIGHT by S. P. Meek
CIRCUS by Alan E. Nourse
FLIGHT FROM TOMORROW by H. Beam Piper
EXPEDITER by Mack Reynolds
HAM SANDWICH by James H. Schmitz
THE HELPFUL ROBOTS by Robert J. Shea
BESIDE STILL WATERS by Robert Sheckley
THE HUNTED HEROES by Robert Silverberg
THE SPACE ROVER by Edwin K. Sloat
BENEFACTOR by George H. Smith
THE MARTIAN CABAL by R. F. Starzl
THE REAL HARD SELL by William W. Stuart
THE BLUE GERM by Martin Swayne
FAITHFULLY YOURS by Lou Tabakow
VALLEY OF THE CROEN by Lee Tarbell
CEREBRUM by Albert Teichner
THE MAN WHO ROCKED THE EARTH by Arthur Train
WANTED: 7 FEARLESS ENGINEERS! by Frederick Orlin Tremaine
EQUATION OF DOOM by Gerald Vance
THE OBSERVERS by G. L. Vandenburg
GROVE OF THE UNBORN by Lyn Venable
GRAY DENIM by Harl Vincent
WANDERER OF INFINITY by Harl Vincent
SHOCK ABSORBER by E. G. Von Wald
The 4-D DOODLER by Graph Waldeyer
A MATTER OF PROPORTION by Anne Walker
BOLDEN'S PETS by F. L. Wallace
RAIDERS OF THE UNIVERSES by Donald Wandrei
ATTRITION by Jim Wannamaker
THE HEADS OF APEX by George Henry Weiss
THE INHABITED by Richard Wilson
LONGEVITY by Therese Windser
THE MINUS WOMAN by Russ Winterbotham
THE SERVANT PROBLEM by Robert J. Young
Contents