The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hard Guy, by H. B. Carleton

  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

  almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

  re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

  with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

  Title: Hard Guy

  Author: H. B. Carleton

  Release Date: October 9, 2008 [EBook #26855]

  Language: English

  *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARD GUY ***

  Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online

  Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

  There will be fine, glittering, streamlined automobiles in 2000 A.D. Possibly they will run themselves while the driver sits back with an old-fashioned in his hands. Perhaps they will carry folks down the highways at ninety miles an hour in perfect safety. But picking up a hitch-hiker will still be as dangerous as it is today.

  HARD

  GUY

  By H. B. CARLETON

  He was standing at the side of the glassite super-highway, his arm half-raised, thumb pointed in the same direction as that of the approaching rocket car. Ordinarily Frederick Marden would have passed a hitch-hiker without stopping, but there was something in the bearing and appearance of this one that caused him to apply his brakes.

  Marden opened the door next to the vacant seat beside him.

  "Going my way?" he asked.

  A pair of steady, unsmiling blue eyes looked him over. "Yeah."

  "All right, then. Hop in."

  The hitch-hiker took his time. He slid into the seat with casual deliberateness and slammed the car door shut. The rocket car got under way once more.

  They rode in silence for half a mile or so. Finally Marden glanced questioningly at his companion's expressionless profile.

  "Where are you headed for?" he asked.

  "Dentonville." He spoke from the corner of his mouth, without turning his head.

  "Oh, yes. That's the next town, isn't it?"

  "Yeah."

  Not very communicative, reflected Marden, noticing the rather ragged condition of the other's celo-lex clothing.

  "Have much trouble getting rides?"

  The passenger turned his head, his blue eyes without emotion.

  "Yeah. Most guys are leery about pickin' up hitch-hikers. Scared they'll get robbed."

  Marden pursed his lips, nodded.

  "Something to that, all right. I'm usually pretty careful myself; but I figured you looked okay."

  "Can't always tell by looks," was the calm reply. "'Course us guys mostly pick out some guy with a swell atomic-mobile if we're goin' to pull a stick-up. When we see a old heap like this one there's usually not enough dough to make it pay."

  Marden felt his jaw drop.

  "Say, you sound, like you go in for that sort of thing! I'm telling you right now, I haven't enough cash on me to make it worth your while. I'm just a salesman, trying to get along."

  "You got nothin' to worry about," his passenger assured him. "Stick-ups ain't my racket."

  An audible sigh of relief escaped Marden.

  "I'm certainly glad to hear that! What is your—er—racket, anyway?"

  The blue eyes frosted over.

  "Look, chum, sometimes it ain't exactly healthy to ask questions like that."

  "Pardon me," Marden said hastily. "I didn't mean anything. It's none of my business, of course."

  The calm eyes flicked over his contrite expression.

  "Skip it, pal. You look like a right guy. I'll put you next to somethin'. Only keep your lip buttoned, see?"

  "Oh, absolutely."

  "I'm Mike Eagen—head of the Strato Rovers."

  "No!" Marden was plainly awed. "The Strato Rovers, eh? I've heard of them, all right."

  The other nodded complacently.

  "Yeah. We're about the toughest mob this side of Mars. We don't bother honest people, though. We get ours from the crooks and racketeers. They can't squeal to the Interplanetary Police."

  "There's a lot in what you say," agreed Marden. "And of course that puts your ... mob in the Robin Hood class."

  "Robin Hood—nuts! That guy was a dope! Runnin' around with bows and arrows. Why, we got a mystery ray that paralyzes anybody that starts up with us. They're all right when it wears off, but by that time we get away."

  Marden was properly impressed.

  "A mystery ray! With a weapon like that, you should be able to walk into a bank and clean it out without any trouble."

  His passenger's lips curled.

  "I told you, we don't bother honest people. We even help the S.P. sometimes. Right now we're workin' with the Earth-Mars G-men in roundin' up a gang of fifth-columnists that are plannin' on takin' over the gov'ment. They're led by the Black Hornet. This Black Hornet goes around pretendin' like he's a big business man, but he's really a internatural spy."

  "A—what?"

  "A internatural spy," repeated Marden's companion, shortly. "The E-M G-men say he's the most dangerous man in the country. But he won't last long with the Strato Rovers on his trail."

  Marden nodded.

  "I can believe that. Tell me, Eagen, what are you doing out here around a small Earth town like Dentonville?"

  "The gov'ment's buildin' some kind of a ammunition place near here, and I understand the Black Hornet's figurin' on wreckin' everything. 'Course he won't get away with it."

  Scattered plasticade houses on either side of the road indicated they had reached the outskirts of Dentonville. Mike Eagen pointed ahead to a small white house set back among a cluster of trees.

  "There's where I'm holed up. Drop me off in front."

  A young woman in a faded blue satin-glass house-dress was standing at the gate of the white picket fence. She watched in silence as the passenger stepped from the rocket car and lifted his hand to the driver in careless farewell.

  "Thanks for the lift, chum," said Mike Eagen.

  "Not at all," replied Marden. "Glad to have been of service to Mike Eagen."

  The woman smiled to him.

  "He's told you his name, I see."

  Marden lifted his hat.

  "Indeed he has."

  "Michael is all right," she said. "I do think, though, that he reads too many Buck Gordon Interplanetary comic books for a boy of eleven."

  THE END

  Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories April 1956 and was first published in Amazing Stories November 1942. 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.

  End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hard Guy, by H. B. Carleton

  *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARD GUY ***

  ***** This file should be named 26855-h.htm or 26855-h.zip *****

  This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:

  http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/8/5/26855/

  Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online

  Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

  Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions

  will be renamed.

  Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no

  one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation

  (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without

  permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,

  set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to

  copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to

  protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project

  Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you

  charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you

  do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the

  rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose

  such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and

  research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do

  practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is

  subject to the trademark license, especially commercial

  redistribution.

  *** START: FULL LICENSE ***

  THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

  PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

  To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free

  distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work

  (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at

  http://gutenberg.org/license).

  Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic works

  1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to

  and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property

  (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all

  the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
  all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.

  If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the

  terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or

  entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

  1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be

  used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who

  agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few

  things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works

  even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See

  paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement

  and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic

  works. See paragraph 1.E below.

  1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"

  or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the

  collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an

  individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are

  located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from

  copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative

  works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg

  are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project

  Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by

  freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of

  this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with

  the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by

  keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

  1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern

  what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in

  a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check

  the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement

  before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or

  creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project

  Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning

  the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United

  States.

  1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

  1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate

  access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently

  whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the

  phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,

  copied or distributed:

  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

  almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

  re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

  with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

  1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived

  from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is

  posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied

  and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees

  or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work

  with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the

  work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1

  through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the

  Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or

  1.E.9.

  1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted

  with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution

  must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional

  terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked

  to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the

  permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

  1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this

  work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

  1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this

  electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without

  prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with

  active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project

  Gutenberg-tm License.

  1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,

  compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any

  word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or

  distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than

  "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version

  posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),

  you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a

  copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon

  request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other

  form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

  1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

  performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works

  unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

  1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

  access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided

  that

  - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from

  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method

  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is

  owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he

  has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the

  Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments

  must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you

  prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax

  returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and

  sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the

  address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to

  the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

  - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies

  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he

  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License. You must require such a user to return or

  destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium

  and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of

  Project Gutenberg-tm works.

  - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any

 

1 2