Circus

Circus, by Alan Edward Nourse

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Title: Circus
Author: Alan Edward Nourse
Release Date: October 3, 2007 [EBook #22875]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from The Counterfeit Man More Science
Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse published in 1963. Extensive
research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this
publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have

been corrected without note.

Circus

"Just suppose," said Morgan, "that I did believe you. Just for
argument." He glanced up at the man across the restaurant table.
"Where would we go from here?"
The man shifted uneasily in his seat. He was silent, staring down at his
plate. Not a strange-looking man, Morgan thought. Rather ordinary, in
fact. A plain face, nose a little too long, fingers a little too dainty, a suit
that doesn't quite seem to fit, but all in all, a perfectly ordinary looking
man.
Maybe too ordinary, Morgan thought.
Finally the man looked up. His eyes were dark, with a hunted look in
their depths that chilled Morgan a little. "Where do we go? I don't
know. I've tried to think it out, and I get nowhere. But you've got to
believe me, Morgan. I'm lost, I mean it. If I can't get help, I don't know
where it's going to end."
"I'll tell you where it's going to end," said Morgan. "It's going to end in
a hospital. A mental hospital. They'll lock you up and they'll lose the
key somewhere." He poured himself another cup of coffee and sipped it,
scalding hot. "And that," he added, "will be that."
* * * * *
The place was dark and almost empty. Overhead, a rotary fan swished
patiently. The man across from Morgan ran a hand through his dark
hair. "There must be some other way," he said. "There has to be."
"All right, let's start from the beginning again," Morgan said. "Maybe
we can pin something down a little better. You say your name is

Parks--right?"
The man nodded. "Jefferson Haldeman Parks, if that helps any.
Haldeman was my mother's maiden name."
"All right. And you got into town on Friday--right?"
Parks nodded.
"Fine. Now go through the whole story again. What happened first?"
The man thought for a minute. "As I said, first there was a fall. About
twenty feet. I didn't break any bones, but I was shaken up and limping.
The fall was near the highway going to the George Washington Bridge.
I got over to the highway and tried to flag down a ride."
"How did you feel? I mean, was there anything strange that you
noticed?"
"Strange!" Parks' eyes widened. "I--I was speechless. At first I hadn't
noticed too much--I was concerned with the fall, and whether I was
hurt or not. I didn't really think about much else until I hobbled up to
that highway and saw those cars coming. Then I could hardly believe
my eyes. I thought I was crazy. But a car stopped and asked me if I was
going into the city, and I knew I wasn't crazy."
Morgan's mouth took a grim line. "You understood the language?"
"Oh, yes. I don't see how I could have, but I did. We talked all the way
into New York--nothing very important, but we understood each other.
His speech had an odd sound, but--"
Morgan nodded. "I know, I noticed. What did you do when you got to
New York?"
"Well, obviously, I needed money. I had gold coin. There had been no
way of knowing if it would be useful, but I'd taken it on chance. I tried
to use it at a newsstand first, and the man wouldn't touch it. Asked me
if I thought I was the U.S. Treasury or something. When he saw that I

was serious, he sent me to a money lender, a hock shop, I think he
called it. So I found a place--"
"Let me see the coins."
Parks dropped two small gold discs on the table. They were perfectly
smooth and perfectly round, tapered by wear to a thin blunt edge. There
was no design on them, and no printing. Morgan looked up at the man
sharply. "What did you get for these?"
Parks shrugged. "Too little, I suspect. Two dollars