The third generation of fowl were distinctly a fifth larger than their
ancestors. The cocks, which normally should weigh 10 lbs., now weighed
between 10 and 14. The hens in proportion kept a couple of pounds under
this; they matured faster, they bred much more vigorously than any
Plymouth Rock ever had. The eggs were consistently larger.
Harvey early decided against hatching incubators because the hens,
untroubled by vermin or other influences such as bad weather which
could make them neurotic, paid tranquil attention to their jobs. He
did, however, have open electric brooders constantly going so that the
chicks could go to them for warmth if necessary.
Lowering the gravity had a similar effect on his corn, oats and
wheat crops. They sprang up, maturing in a remarkably short time.
There was plenty of feed for the fowl. Plymouth was rapidly becoming
self-supporting.
Harvey was pleased. He explained again: "Pressure can be considered
as a gravitational effect, and vice versa. Pressure chemistry causes
certain chemical reactions to speed up, others to slow down. I figure
that by Thanksgiving I can find the correct variation of gravitational
pressure that will give me a breed of Plymouth Rocks never seen in this
universe."
* * * * *
By the time the fourth swift generation came along he had almost
reached his goal. Furthermore, the flesh was tenderer than any of these
men had thought possible. When the time came for Harvey to take them
back to Venus, he promised them they would be well supplied by the time
Thanksgiving rolled around.
Harvey was somewhat loathe to leave the planet Plymouth alone. He had
a certain fear in the back of his head that things would happen if he
did. He intended to return as soon as he and Anna got married.
He showed up at the Hotel de Mars a week ahead of time. At Anna's place
behind the Registration desk stood a white haired little old lady.
A chill started deep in his stomach when she told him Anna left a
month--no, two months ago. She produced a letter Anna had left him. It
was brief and pointed.
"Harvey," the letter read, "I know you lied to me. There isn't any
planet called Plymouth. I looked it up in the star atlases. Nobody ever
heard of it. I'm not going to stay here and be bitterly disappointed
when you don't show up at the end of ten months. Goodbye."
Harvey threw the letter away. It had served its purpose.
"Ma'am," he said, "I'm a man of action and few words. What is Miss
Morley's Oregon address?"
Nobody knew Anna's Oregon address. Harvey instantly left for Oregon.
Landing there, he began looking. He had found juncture faults; he
would find Anna. It took him over a month. He ran across her quite by
accident behind the cigar counter in a drugstore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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