What for?"
"We're going to be arrested, sir," said Thomas. He gulped.
"I thought you might want it, sir. An acquaintance in the village, sir, believes we are among the lower-numbered public enemies, sir, and respects us accordingly. He telephoned me the news." "Thomas, have you been drinking?" "No, sir," said Thomas pallidly. "Not yet, sir. But it is a splendid suggestion, thank you, sir." Then he said desperately: "It's the money, sir—the bank notes.
If you recall, we never changed but one lot of silver into notes, sir.
We got a one, a five, a ten and so on, sir."
"Of course," said Pete.
"That was all we needed.
Why not?"
"It's the serial number, sir!
All the one-dollar bills the demonstrator turned out have the same serial number—and all the fives and tens and the rest, sir.
Some person with a hobby for looking for kidnap bills, sir, found he had several with the same number.
The Secret Service has traced them back.
They're coming for us, sir.
The penalty for counterfeiting is twenty years, sir.
My—my friend in the village asked if we intended to shoot it out with them, sir, because if so he'd like to watch."
Thomas wrung his hands.
Pete stared at him.
"Come to think of it," he said meditatively, "they are counterfeits.
It hadn't occurred to me before.
We'll have to plead guilty, Thomas.
And perhaps Daisy won't want to marry me if I'm going to prison.
I'll go tell her the news."
Then he stared.
He heard Daisy's voice, speaking very angrily.
An instant later the sound grew louder.
It became a continuous, shrill, soprano babble.
It grew louder yet.
Pete ran. He burst into the laboratory and was stunned.
The demonstrator was still running.
Daisy had seen Pete piling up the bills as they were turned out, pyramiding to make the next pile larger.
She had evidently essayed the same feat.
But the pile was a bit unwieldy, now, and Daisy had climbed on the glass plate. She had come into the scope of the demonstrator's action.
There were three of her in the laboratory when Pete first entered.
As he froze in horror, the three became four.
The demonstrator clucked and hummed what was almost a hoot of triumph.
Then it produced a fifth Daisy.
Pete dashed frantically forward and turned off the switch just too late to prevent the appearance of a sixth copy of Miss Daisy Manners of the Green Paradise floor show. She made a splendid sister act, but Pete gazed in paralyzed horror at this plethora of his heart's desire.
Because all of Daisy was identical, with not only the same exterior and—so to speak—the same serial number, but with the same opinions and convictions.
And all six of Daisy were convinced that they, individually, owned the heap of bank notes now on the glass plate.
All six of her were trying to get it. And Daisy was quarreling furiously with herself. She was telling herself what she thought of herself, in fact, and on the whole her opinion was not flattering.
Arthur, like Daisy, possessed a fortunate disposition.
He was not one of those kangaroos who go around looking for things to be upset about. He browsed peacefully upon the lawn, eating up the dahlias and now and again hopping over the six-foot hedge in hopes that there might be a dog come along the lane to bark at him.
Or, failing to see a dog, that somebody might have come by who would drop a cigarette butt that he might salvage.
At his first coming to this place, both pleasing events had been frequent.
The average unwarned passer-by, on seeing a five-foot kangaroo soaring toward him in this part of the world, did have a tendency to throw down everything and run.
Sometimes, among the things he threw down was a cigarette. There had been a good supply of dogs, too, but they didn't seem to care to play with Arthur any more. Arthur's idea of playfulness with a strange dog—especially one that barked at him—was to grab him with both front paws and then kick the living daylights out of him.
Arthur browsed, and was somewhat bored.
Because of his boredom he was likely to take a hand in almost anything that turned up.
There was a riot going on in the laboratory, but Arthur did not care for family quarrels.
He was interested, however, in the government officers when they arrived.