Inventions -- Fiction; Older men -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
There were shots in glorious color by the hundreds, originals and
prints alike. But, there wasn't among them one single view of the Grand
Canyon. Nor even a solitary Indian astride a tired horse, looking
pensively out over the prairie. There _was_ a red-skinned maiden, mind
you, but she wasn't sitting a horse, and she certainly wasn't staring
laconically out over any prairie, either. Rather, she appeared to
be testing with her toe the water temperature of a tree-shaded brook
somewhere, and she was clad in a lone, strategically-located feather.
On the tea table, in the bookshelves, in the magazine rack, and all
through his rooms, one might find other evidence of this evil and
obscene old man's preoccupation with womankind. But the kind of woman
he was preoccupied with often wasn't the kind that married dear old
dad. He subscribed to every girlie publication in the country and to
several in France.
* * * * *
So you see, Nathanial Evergood was not only a connoisseur, he was also
an avid collector. There were books and there were magazines, and there
was even a deck of playing cards backed with the most astounding set of
pictures you ever saw. That anyone could sit down to a game of Old Maid
or Snap with _that_ deck of cards is inconceivable, to say the least.
But such an evil and obscene old man as Nathanial Evergood likely never
played games with his cards, anyway. He would much prefer to just sit
and look at them; the reverse side, of course.
He later said he probably spent almost half his really quite meager
earnings for up-to-date additions to his extensive collection. The
girlie magazines, playing cards and prints he received from various
mail order houses, sent, as the advertisements testified, "in a plain,
unmarked envelope".
But the other half of his collection--the photographs, mounted,
unmounted, matte and glossy enlargements and contact prints--Nathanial
Evergood came by in an entirely different--and somewhat novel--manner.
These resulted from his ability as a fairly advanced amateur
photographer. Over the years, Nathanial had acquired three fine
cameras, an excellent enlarger, two contact printers, electronic
flash units, interchangeable lenses, filters, sun shades and lens
caps, extension tubes and tripods. In short, Nathanial Evergood was
well-equipped to take photographs of just about everything.
He had the equipment, and he had the necessary technical knowledge
and facility. But, invariably, he passed up the usual pictorial,
architectural, human interest, interpretive and abstract photographs,
even when the opportunities for truly fine shots were there. Instead,
he took roll after roll, pack after pack and cartridge upon cartridge
of girls. _Nothing_ but girls. All _sorts_ of girls. _Just girls!_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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