"Oh, I have," said Jack. "I bought several suits of clothes at a dollar each. They didn't have any in stock except those funny outfits they wear in the store, but I took them a picture from a magazine advertisement and they made me some suits to order." "Is that one of them?" asked Lorene, gazing critically at the somewhat baggy suit he was wearing. "No," said Jack sheepishly. "I thought they were too nice to wear to work. They're that spun glass, or whatever it is. Go dancing with me tonight and I'll wear one." "Can't," said Lorene. "I've got a date with Ken." "I never get to go out with you any more, Lorene," Jack said glumly. "What have I done to make you turn me down every time?" "Nothing," said Lorene candidly. "I like you as a friend, Jack. But Ken--well, he's got that extra something I can't resist. We're going to get married, you know." "No, I didn't," said Jack, but he wasn't very surprised. Just then Ken breezed in. "Hi, honey," he said. "Hello, Jack. Say, you two, come out and take a look at my new car." "New car!" squealed Lorene. "Oh, Ken! But I can't leave the store. I'll have to look from the door." "It's down the block," said Ken. "I'll drive by, and you can get a good look tonight. Come on, Jack." Jack went with him. The automobile was one of those low-slung, half-block-long affairs like one Jack vaguely remembered seeing pictured in a foreign car magazine. "That's not yours," he said flatly. "Those things cost ten or fifteen thousand dollars." "Cost me fifty," said Ken smugly. "I got it at our friend Edigo's store. Fifty bucks." "You mean they carry things like that?" "I took them a picture and they made it for me," said Ken. "Had to widen that door and put runways up the steps to drive it out of there. It cost me twice as much as the car to get the door widened and then bricked back the way it was. They worked on the inside and I got a crew to work on the outside." "Seems to me they'd have had it out in the street for you, instead of building it in the basement and then having to get it out," said Jack critically, gazing up and down the gleaming length of black and chrome. "Ha!" said Ken slyly. "That's just it, son. They couldn't. I've found out the secret of our friends in the bargain basement." "Secret? You mean there _is_ something phony about it?" "I'll tell you while we're driving around in this dream wagon. But first let me show you something." He went to the front of the car and raised the hood. Inside was the strangest little engine Jack had ever seen. "What is it?" he asked. "Turbo-jet," said Ken proudly. "And if you'll notice, you can't see inside the car--one-way glass. And it's got radar brakes and a hundred other new gadgets on it." "But I thought the turbo-jet engine was still in the future," protested Jack. "It is," said Ken solemnly. "That's where our bargain basement is--in the future." * * * * *