A Republic Without a President, and Other StoriesWard, Herbert D. (Herbert Dickinson)
Science
A Republic Without a President, and Other Stories
Ward, Herbert D. (Herbert Dickinson)
Science fiction, American; Short stories
The coachman's testimony amounted to this: The driver was walking his
horses to the stable in the fog when he saw a man beckon him from the
sidewalk. Not a soul was on the street. Beyond was a dark, private lane.
He stopped, and, to his surprise, saw, as he thought, his master
standing and motioning him to come to a halt and get down. The
Secretary's face was turned toward the dark. The voice sounded muffled.
When the coachman alighted his master produced a silver flask and told
him to take a drink as it was so damp. He dared not disobey, though full
of wonder at this unprecedented favor. As soon as he had taken a pull he
felt dizzy. Two or three more black figures appeared like ghosts before
his eyes. He thought he struck out or tried to run to the coach, he
didn't know which. A queer odor mounted to his head. Then he lost
consciousness. He came to, early in the morning, a little after four,
and staggered to the stable. The team was not there. He fell into a
stupor of despair. About an hour after, an acquaintance of his drove the
span up, and said they had been found unchecked, grazing near the
Smithsonian Institute. He supposed that they had run away. The
Secretary's coachman had then given the fellow five dollars for his
services and to hold his tongue. He was afraid of being discharged. He
had just heard of the disappearance of the President and he feared being
implicated in the affair. After the name of the person who found the
horses was taken down, and after a searching cross-examination, the
frightened man was sent away to rest, with assurance of continued favor.
Subsequent examinations failed to find any traces of the catastrophe in
the coupe. It had been carefully cleaned when it came back to the
stable. There was no blood visible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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