7. Doubled in Brass

(by Lester del Key)

Ellowan Coppersmith stopped outside the building and inspected the sign with more than faint pleasure. It was a new one, gleaming copper letters on a black background catching the first rays of the sun, and showing up clearly against the newly painted walls. It read:

DONAHUE & COPPERSMITH

BlacksmithingAuto Repairs All Work in Copper:

RADIATORS A SPECIALTY

To be sure, it was not his idea to join Michael Donahue in partnership, but the smith had insisted when the shop was remodeled, and the elf’s protests had not been too loud. Now that the sign was up, he found the sight a pleasant one. But there was work to be done, as usual, and Ellowan was not one to waste his time. He unlocked the shop and went back to his workroom, the little bells on his shoes tinkling in time to his whistling. ,

“Eh, now,” he chuckled at the sight of the radiators waiting his work. “It’s a fortune we’ll be making yet, and never the need of hunting my work. I’ll be wanting no more than to stay here.”

The elf picked up the first radiator and placed it in the clamps on his worktable, arranged his charcoal brazier and cunning little tools, and raised his three-foot body up onto the stool. Things had indeed changed since the day when he awoke in the hills where his people had retired in sleep to escape the poisonous fumes of coal. He had found that there was little use for his skill in copper and brass; the

people no longer used copper utensils, and it had been hard with him until he drifted into this town and found the smithy.

Michael Donahue had given him a copper radiator to mend, and the excellence of his work had suggested a permanent job working on the brass and copper parts of the autos and making little ornaments for the radiator caps. And though the fumes of the autos were as bad as the coal smoke which had poisoned his people, he had found pleasure in the thought that someday all the coal and gas must be used up, and his people could once more come out into the world.

As his skill had become known, more work was found. Donahue bought old radiators, Ellowan mended them better than their original, and they resold them for an excellent profit. Now the shop had been repaired, and the elf had a workroom to himself. His old clothes had given place to a modern style of dress, except for the little turned-up sandals with their copper bells; modern shoes hurt his feet. And the people of the town had become used to him, and accepted him as merely a pleasant little midget who did unusually fine work.

Under his hands, the twisted shell of the radiator which had been smashed in an accident became whole again. His little tools straightened the fins, and the marvelous flux and solder he used made the tubes watertight once more, until it was gleaming and perfect. He set it aside, and the bright glow of his brazier sank instantly into blackness as its work was done. The clock, whose hands pointed at seven, indicated it was breakfast time, and his cereal and milk would be waiting in the little lunchroom down the street.

Ellowan was coming from his own workroom to the smithy when he saw the battered little car drive up. A red-headed young man one size too large for the car climbed out. His face was pleasant and open, and he wore a wide smile, but still managed to convey the impression that whatever he had to do left him highly uncomfortable.

“Is Mr. Donahue here?” he asked of the elf.

“That Donahue is not. He’ll not be coming in until the hour of eight.” Ellowan studied the other and decided he liked what he saw. “And you should be the one to know that, too, Patrick.”

“So you recognize me? I suppose you’re Ellowan Coppersmith that my father wrote me about?”

“Aye, I’m Ellowan. Eh, now, it’s thinking I was that you’d be at the college studying to be the great engineer.”

“Uh-huh.” The grin was distinctly sheepish now. “I couldn’t stand

the math. As an engineer, I’m a fine machinist, and that’s all; so they told me I could come home. Now I’ll have to face the music and tell Dad what happened to his plans.”

“Eh, so? Now that’s a shame, indeed, but not one that a good breakfast won’t make better.” Ellowan locked the shop carefully and started down the street, his short, stubby hand plucking at the boy. “A man takes things best at his work, and your father isn’t the one to spoil a good rule. It’s hungry you must be after the night of driving, and a pretty waitress to serve the food will do you no harm.”

Patrick fell in behind. His face was incapable of looking anything but good-natured, nor could his worry ruin his appetite. But the waitress failed to draw more than a casual glance from him. The elf watched him carefully for signs of the normal male curiosity, then searched through his memory of Donahue’s conversations for some clue.

His brown eyes twinkled as he found it, and his rough bronzed skin crinkled up until his beard threatened to stand out straight before him. “Now I’m minded that young men have a habit of not coming home when there’s trouble they’re in,” he said calmly. “And it’s not the like of what you’d do except for good reason, when there’s work to be found at all. Now who might the girl be, Patrick?”

“People call me Pat, Ellowan.” He took three times too long in eating the food on his fork, then answered indirectly. “I heard that Mary Kroning was seeing quite a lot of young Wilson. I don’t like him, andwell, I do like her. Know them?”

“Eh, that I do. A sweet lass, and a pretty one. It’s a shame, to be sure, that her father can work no more from the stroke that he had. And Hubert Wilson has the money, though I’m not saying he’s the man for the girl. It’s nothing but trouble we’ve had since his car came to the shop for our work.”

Pat nodded heavy agreement. “Wilson’s a swine, and looks lifce one.”

“That may be. But I’d not be telling the girl of that,” the elf advised. He counted out the price of the breakfast and carefully left the proper tip for the waitress. It had taken time, but he had finally learned that money was much cheaper than that he had used a hundred and twenty years before. Then they headed back to the shop, and the elf returned to his workbench.

But this time he did not glance at the radiators, nor did the little brazier glow brightly as he sat down. Ellowan liked the smith for his broad common sense and good-humored fellowship, and he owed

him gratitude for the work and the partnership. From what he had seen, he liked the boy as wellcertainly better than the greasy superiority of Hubert Wilson.

Eh, well, there was only one answer. Pat must win Mary, and to keep her, he must secure work from which he was sure of a good living. The elf chuckled suddenly, and dropped down to go over to his bag that still hung on the wall of the smithy. From within it, he produced an ingot of brass that had retained its luster through the years of his sleep, and sped back into his workshop.

There were new tools there, in addition to the old ones he had carried, tools that he polished and cared for as if they were living things. Now he switched on the motor and inserted the brass bar into a small lathe, working it deftly into the rough shape he desired. Always to Ju’m, the turning lathe partook of magic, though he understood the mechanical principles well enough. But that men should make metal serve them so easily was in itself magic, and good magic that he did not hesitate to use.

Satisfied with the rough form, he climbed back on the stool and began cutting and scraping with his instruments, breaking the bar apart in the middle to make two identical pieces. Donahue came into the smithy as he worked, and he could hear the mutter of voices after the first surprised exclamation. His sharp ears made out most of their speech, but it was the same in nature as what Pat had told him, and he went on with his work, paying them little attention. The metal was shaping up beautifully.

Again he put them on the lathe, shaping up the base of the figurines and cutting threads on them. Completed, they were little statues, a few inches high, molded above a conventional radiator cap. But they were unusual in lacking the conventional streamline greyhound or bird; instead they carried small replicas of Ellowan himself, as he had looked in the old jerkin and tights when he first came to town, and the eyes seemed to twinkle back at him. He chuckled.

“It’s neat copies you are, if I do say it myself, and it’s good material you have in you. I’m thinking there were never yet better ornaments nor more useful,” he told them. “Almost I’m sorry to silver the one of you.”

Donahue and Pat came into the room as he finished the silvering. “The boy’s staying with us for the time,” Donahue informed the elf. “But I’ll not be moving you; he’s taking the guest room until he finds a job. When might you be done with the Wilson car?”

Ellowan was unscrewing the old cap and putting the silvered copy

of himself in its place. “Finished it is now, all new wires. And a free cap I’ll give him for the money it costs.” He looked at the ornament in place and nodded, well pleased. Surely Hubert Wilson would like it. It was novel and shiny enough to please his love of display.

Pat examined the copper one thoughtfully. “You’re an artist, Ellowan. But I prefer this to the other; the color suits you better, and I think the face is more cheerful. Who’s this for?”

“Who but yourself, lad? There’s never a bright spot on the car that you drive, and this will serve, I’m thinking.”

“And more than he deserves,” Donahue said. “Now be off, you young fool, and don’t bother honest men at their labors. There’s food in the icebox, and your credit will be good at the store. Since it’s loafing you’ll be, loaf at home.” When Pat had gone, he winked at Ellowan and grinned.

“Now there’s a boy for you, Coppersmith. And it’s glad I am that he’ll be wasting no more time at school. Foosh! ‘Twas time and money wasted, that it was.” The ways of a father and son change little with the passing of time.

Ellowan nodded silently and went back to his work, while Donahue stepped into the smithy and began hammering out iron on the anvil. If a man had work, there was little more he needed, save a wife for the young and a son for the old.

The moon was full and the air was cool and sweet. Ellowan sat on the back porch with Donahue, each smoking thoughtfully and saying little. Out in the garden there was a sudden rustling sound, then a faint plop-plop on the grass before them. The smith looked down.

“More rabbits,” he said. “Now where would they all be coming from, this near the town? Shool Go along with you! I’d have no rabbits eating my vegetables.”

The rabbits looked up at him, and one of them thumped a hind leg nervously on the ground, but they refused to move. Ellowan caught Donahue’s arm as he started to rise. “They’ll not harm the garden.” He made a little clucking sound in his throat and the rabbits drew closer. “It’s to see me they’ve come, and there’s not a leaf of the place they’ll touch, except such weeds as they like.”

“Friends of yours?”

“Now that they are, as you should know. Haven’t the Little People and rabbits been friends since they hid together in the same burrows from the giants? But I’ll send them away and let you say the words you’d be thinking.” Again he made the clucking sounds, and the rabbits kicked out a little thudding chorus on the grass, then

turned and hopped peacefully awayall except one that went out into the yard to examine some weeds that looked edible.

Donahue watched it for a few minutes, then turned back to the elf. “I’m sony for the boy. His heart’s set on the girl, but it’s only right that she’d be thinking of her father needing care and the mother with hardly enough to live on. And money comes hard to a young man here. Never a chance does he have.”

“Eh, so; but there’s many a girl who thinks of money but doesn’t choose it. I’d not be worrying about the boy.” The elf picked up a package at his feet and brought out three small articles that looked like dust filters to be worn over the nose. “What might ozone be?”

“Eh? Oh, ozone. Have you smelled the air close to the big electric motor? Well, that’ll be the stuff. Why, now?”

“I bouglit these at the drugstore and the clerk was telling me they settled the dust, cleaned the air, and gave off ozone. See, there’s a battery that’s to be worn on the waist, and a wire to run to the thing. Do you think it might make bad air good?”

“It might that. But precious little ozone you’ll get from those batteries, though some there might be. I’ve seen the like of it used for hay fever.”

“Aye. That he told me. And that there were big machines to make more of it for an office. I was for trying it on, and he let me. ‘Tis a wonderful invention, I’m thinking.”

“Maybe.” The smith rose, stretching his big frame. “Though there’s more interest in bed, to be sure, that I have. A good night to you.” He turned into the house.

Ellowan whistled softly, and two rabbits stuck their heads out of the bushes and came closer.

“Now, maybe you’d like a ride?” he asked them, and listened to the thudding of their feet. “So? Then come along.” He headed for a shed, their little bodies following quietly. For a second he disappeared, while they waited patiently, to come out with a small-framed bicycle. Since the time when a boy had carried him into the town on a wheel, the elf had been fascinated with such an easy way of traveling, and his first money had gone into the purchase of one, built specially to fit him, and equipped with a three-speed device.

He put his bundle into the basket and picked up the rabbits. They were familiar with such rides and made no protest as he put them beside the bundle. He chuckled. “Now, it’s a longer ride you’ll get this night. I’ve five hours before the boy’ll be coming home, or he’s

not what I’m thinking, and there’s more than a little road to be covered in that time.”

They flattened out, little noses quivering with excitement, and he mounted quickly. There were strong muscles in his corded short legs, and the speed that he made would have surprised the boys who saw him riding only around the town. The road slipped by him smoothly and silently, his faint whistling broken only by a few muttered words. “And they’ll be filling the air with poison when there’s the like of this to be ridden. Eh, well.”

Ellowan’s guess as to the time of Pat’s return was a shrewd one. The little elf had barely put his bicycle away and turned the rabbits loose when the battered car came chugging along. He settled back on a seat and watched the auto, paying no attention to the rabbits that scampered back and forth across the driveway.

Nor did Pat; his thoughts were not on the driving, and his eyes were only focused enough to enable him to reach the garage. Sure of the elf’s protection, the rabbits gave no more thought to the car than the man did to them.

Since no one else bothered, the car seemed to take matters into its own hands. A rabbit sat placidly chewing a leaf until the wheels were within a few feet of it. The little car jerked, bucked sideways, and left the driveway for the lawn, only to run toward another squatting there. Again it bucked, seemed to consider, and found no opening. The motor roared, and it darted forward, straight toward the animal. Then the wheels left the ground abruptly, front first, followed by the rear, and the auto headed for the garage, leaving the rabbit eating steadily where he had first been.

Ellowan chuckled as Pat came out of the garage, swearing under his breath. ” ‘Tis a pleasant car you have, methinks,” the elf observed.

“Must have hit a rock somewhere. I thought sure I’d hit one of those silly animals, but it seems I didn’t.” Pat pulled at one ear and stared back at the garage. “I’ve had trouble with the car all evening. First it backfired; almost seemed to pick the times when Mary and I started to quarrel. Then it stopped out in the country, and I couldn’t start it for an hour.”

“Now it’s little trouble I’d call that. Was she minding the stop?”

“Well,” the boy admitted, “she didn’t seem to. But it’s no go, lillowan. She even told me she wished I’d never come back.”

“Eh, so? Now there are many reasons she could have for that, indeed. When a girl likes a boy, and there’s money she needs that he’ll

not be having, perchance she’d welcome him less because of the liking she has.” The elf smiled at some joke of his own.

Pat nodded slowly. “Maybe you’re right, at that. But money doesn’t grow on trees.”

“It depends on the man who owns the tree. There’s a wonderful demand for ornaments of brass, wrought by true craftsmen. I’d a letter from a man who’d been seeing some of the work I do, and it was wanting me to make more for his trade, and at good prices, too. Now, if you were to start a small factory for the making of hinges and doorknobs, ashtrays and fruit bowls, there’d be money for you.” “Uh-huh. I thought of that when I saw your radiator cap. But it takes money to start, and workmen in brass are rare. I’d need money, some machinery, a building, and meneven if you know of a market. That’s a tall order.”

“Mayhap. Don’t be worrying your head with it, lad. The sleep’s more needed than the money. And I’ll be getting a bit myself.” Ellowan nodded good night as they passed inside and turned to his own room, still chuckling over the action of the car. Eh, now, that was good brass in the ornament, and unusual, too.

It was another night, and the elf had finished supper and gone to his own room. From a bureau drawer he drew out a handful of thin sticks and tossed them on the floor, studying them thoughtfully until they made sense to him. “Now, they’re not the equal in prediction to the future itself, but they seem sure enough,” he muttered. “And the boy’s been telling me his Mary was seeing the Wilson pup this night. I’m thinking a ride might do me no harm.”

He pocketed the runes, hoping their information might be accurate, as it sometimes was, and went out to his bicycle, tossing a small bag in the basket. Rabbits hopped around, thumping out their desire to go with him, but he shooed them off and set out alone. He slipped out of the town in short order, and out through the pleasant moonlit country around, until he came to a little winding lane that led back through a wooded section. There was a tiny clearing a way farther on, and tire marks on the dirt indicated that it was not unknown to the boys of the town.

Ellowan turned back into the woods, some distance below the clearing, and concealed his wheel. From the bag he pulled out a large cloth and tied it about his face, over his nose. Then he whistled shrilly, and sat down to wait until the rabbits could respond, studying the runes again. Satisfied with them, he looked up at the circle of

gray bodies and bright eyes around him. Little muttered words came to his lips, while the noses of the rabbits twitched excitedly.

They started off obediently, if somewhat reluctantly, each going in a direction slightly different from the others. There was another wait before two returned. Then he whistled the others to cease and followed the first rabbit, the second hopping along behind. They passed through most of the woods before they reached their objective.

A small animal with a bushy tail was sedately looking under a log for insects, and the stripes along its back identified it clearly. Ellowan muttered unhappily, and the rabbits refused to go farther. The elf sidled in cautiously, careful not to make a hostile move, and began dropping the food from the bag to the ground, making a trail back toward the clearing. Watching him carefully, the skunk moved over and investigated the line of food, moving along slowly, in no haste to go anywhere.

The second rabbit led off a short distance to another skunk, and the process was repeated until both trails joined and were connected to the clearing. There the elf scattered the remainder of the bag’s contents and moved hurriedly away, seeking a position upwind from the spot, but well within range of his sharp eyes and ears.

He felt nauseated and cursed his own dumbness for being unable to plan a better scheme. “Aghh!” he grunted. “It’s bad enough the fumes of coal may be, but this smell is worse. If I’d not met one once before, I’d never believe there’d be such beasts. In that, the Old Country is better than the new. Ehu!”

The wait was longer this time, and the moon crept up until its light shone full on the clearing. Ellowan tossed the runes again, but they were still in the same pattern, and he muttered. Three times should be proof enough, but their prediction had still not come true. Then the faint sound of a car came from down the lane, and he watched tensely until it appeared.

It was the right one, with the little silvered figure shining on the top of the radiator. A low, heavy convertible it was, chosen with the obvious bad taste and love of display that were typical of the Wilsons, but money in goodly quantity had gone into its purchase. Inside, the elf made out the fat, smirking face of Hubert Wilson, and the troubled face of Mary Kroning.

Wilson swung it up in a rush, braked sharply where the wheel marks were thickest, gunned the motor, and cut it off. Out of the car came words in Wilson’s pompous voice.

“Runs pretty sweet now. But the way Donahue fixes cars, I suppose it’ll go to pieces again in a week. Charged me sixty bucks for the work, and probably palmed off the shoddiest material he could find. I told him so, too.”

Mary’s weak protest sounded tired and Ellowan guessed that there had been little sleep for her the night before. “I don’t think Mr. Donahue would do that to you. He’s always been very careful in the work he did for us, and his prices are lower than we can get elsewhere.”

“Sure, why wouldn’t they be when it’s the only way he can get work? Anyway, he’s crazy enough to think you’ll marry that dumb son of his.” Wilson moved slightly on the seat and Mary drew back into a corner. “And that reminds me; I heard you were out with him last night, and I don’t like it. Probably got in trouble and kicked out of college, so he comes sneaking back here to his father. You keep away from him, understand? I don’t want my girl going with such people.”

“He’s not dumb, and he didn’t get in trouble. I think” She checked the words quickly and deliberately softened her voice. “I’m not engaged to you yet, Hubert, and I don’t think you should try to dictate my choice of friends. I’ve known Pat for years. Why shouldn’t I see him when he returns?”

“Because I don’t like it and won’t have it! I used to think you were sweet on him, but thaf s all done. Anyway, he couldn’t take you to the movies now, even the cheap ones. His old man’s spent most of his money fixing up the shop and just paid back the loan from our bank.”

“Let’s not argue, Hubert. I’m tired, too tired for another quarrel. I wish you’d take me home.”

“Aw, it’s only eleven. Stay here a little while and we’ll go over to the Brown Pudding Inn. It’s the most expensive place around, and they’ve got an orchestra that’s really hot!”

“I’m tired, Hubert, and I don’t want to go to the inn. I’ve been looking for work all day. Take me home and I’ll see you tomorrow and let you take me to the inn if you want.”

“If that’s the way you feel.” He straightened up slowly, a petulant frown on his face. “Anyway, I told you you didn’t need work; 111 send your dad to the hospital and take care of you if you’ll promise to marry me. Oh, all right. But why don’t you let me get you a job in the bank? All I gotta do is say the word and you’re hired.”

Ellowan saw that Wilson was making slow signs of giving in and

leaving, and he decided it was time to act. The big rabbit at his feet thumped heavily at his orders, then loyalty conquered instinct, and it moved off. As it left, the elf saw two pairs of eyes shining in the underbrush, and the skunks poked sharp little heads through to gaze at the quantity of food nearer the car. They moved forward slowly, uncertain of the auto, but fairly confident of their natural protection.

Wilson was grabbing for the brake when the rabbit scampered out of the woods into the clearing and headed for the car. With a bound, it hopped to the running board, jumped from there to the hood of the engine, and cleared the windshield to land in Wilson’s lap. His clawing hands missed it, and it was in the back seat, leaving a streak of mud on the newly laundered suit and a scratch from a sharp toe-nail on his forehead. The words he said were ones no lady should hear from a man.

Again it bounced, landing on his head, then thumping down on the hood again. Wilson sprawled out, diving for it, and the rabbit hit the ground and began circling the man, just out of reach. “Get out of that car and help me catch this thing!” he shouted at Mary. “For the love of Peter, don’t sit there like a bump on a log! Aren’t there any brains under your hair?”

“Leave it alone and come back to the car. You can’t catch it, and I want to go back.”

“I don’t care what you want; I’ll fix this fellow.” He stopped his frantic attempts and climbed back in the car. “Maybe I can’t catch it, but we’ll see what the car can do.”

Ellowan’s eyes turned back to the skunks, moving along toward the manna from heaven they saw and smelled in the clearing. They knew perfectly well that the insane hoppings of the rabbit were harmless, and took no notice of them.

Wilson gunned the motor and threw the machine into second^ savagely. It jerked forward, straight at the rabbitand straight for the skunks. This was a new menace to them, and they jerked their heads up and erected the danger signal of their tails. Wilson did not ice them, nor did he notice a sudden change in the radiator cap. The two brass hands were creeping slowly up over the little nose.

The car bucked and backfired, and the wheels seemed filled with life, trying to drag the car to the right. The gear lever suddenly shifted to neutral and the car stopped. Alert and poised for action, the ikunks were waiting on a hair-trigger balance; the rabbit decided it was time to leave.

But now Wilson’s anger was transferred to the car, and he fought it fiercely, jamming it back into gear. It backfired again, and the skunks decided they had waited long enough. With a unison of action that seemed preplanned, they opened fire and the wind favored them. Mary took her frightened eyes off Wilson and tried to hide her nose from the stench. Wilson let go of the wheel, and his face turned pale and sick.

But the car, left without a guiding hand, took matters onto itself. The front end jumped up and twisted around, and the machine bobbed in a crazy circle, streaking away from the skunks. It slowed and the engine sputtered and coughed, then seemed to decide things could be no worse than they were, and stopped.

Wilson opened his mouth and spilled out words, first at the car, then at Mary. She bore it in stolid silence for a few minutes, but there are limits to all things, even the need of money. Ellowan grinned as she reached for the door and climbed out, turning down the lane toward the general highway and leaving young Wilson ranting to himself.

Then a vagary of the wind let a few whiffs of the air from the clearing reach the elf, and he ran back toward his bicycle. His work was done, and it was an excellent time to leave.

Business in the smithy was slack the next day, and Donahue was across the street, playing billiards, when Pat came into the shop in the early afternoon, looking much more cheerful than previously. “Mary’s given up Wilson,” he announced, as he might have spoken of discovering perpetual motion. “She called me up this morning, and we’ve been talking things over since then. I don’t know what happened, but she’s through with him.”

“Eh, now, and it’s glad I am to hear that.” Ellowan dropped his work and squatted on a bench across from the boy, wondering how well she had rid herself of the smell of skunk. “And did she tell you she’d be marrying you?”

Some of the joy went out of Pat’s face. “No, but she practically did. I’ve got to get a job, though, paying enough to support her and help the family along. She’ll probably find work for a while, and it won’t take so terribly much. They’ve almost enough to live on. But I’ll need at least twice as much as I can make here.”

“There’d be money in the selling of handmade brass trinkets,” the elf pointed out again. “A very good sum, indeed, and immediately. Now, I’ve been doing some work with figures, and I’m thinking you’d be making more than you need, and could pay back the expense of

the shop in little time, if your craftsmen knew the knack of the material.”

“I figured it up too, from the letter you got giving prices, and there’s a gold mine in it for a plant with a few workers. But where can I get men who can do the type of work you turn out? That’s where the money is. And where would I get the initial outlay?”

“All in good time now.” Ellowan filled his pipe and puffed at it thoughtfully. “It seems that the Wilsons have arrived as they telephoned. A bit of business and we’ll talk this over afterwards, lad.”

The Wilsons had indeed arrived, Hubert’s car in front, driven by the chauffeur, and the banker driving his own car at a good distance off. Hubert Wilson stood on the front bumper of his auto, looking more miserable than seemed possible; his hand rested on the silvered radiator cap, and his thumb was caught between the little brass arms. The boys along the street added nothing to his comfort.

The older Wilson came bristling in, growling gruff words. “I’ll slap a suit on you that’ll make your ears ring,” he threatened. “Hubert’s caught in that thing you made, and can’t get loose, unless we amputate his thumb. The metal simply can’t be cut, for some reason.”

“That suit now,” the elf answered. “It might not help the thumb, and there’s little fault I have in the matter. Tis his own carelessness. You should know that.”

Since bluffing didn’t work, Wilson tried the only other argument he knew. “All right, but get him loose. I’ll give you fifty dollars for it and forget the whole thing.”

Ellowan demurred. “There’s a most unpleasant odor about the car,” he pointed out. “I’m overly sensitive to such an odor, and there’s fear in my heart that it might be poisonous to me. But if you’ll come into the garage, I’ll be glad indeed to talk of the matter with you.”

Back in the building, the banker stormed and ranted, but it did him no good. The quiet words of the elf, inaudible to Pat, conquered In the end. “And I’ll have it in cash, you understand,” he finished. “I’m not used to these checks, nor liking of them.”

Wilson looked through the window at the sight of his son caught In that humiliating position and gave in. “Robbed” he growled. “I’ll send a boy with it, and to fetch your note.” He stalked out of the shop quickly, climbed into his car, and drove off toward the bank.

Ellowan waited until the boy showed up, and exchanged a package for a piece of paper from the elf. Then he wrapped his face in moist cloths and took his tools out where Hubert Wilson stood. With

a direction of purpose that gave no heed to the swearing and pleading of the man, he applied his little pinchers and pulled the arms loose from the thumb; the brass responded easily to his tug.

“And now,” he said, unscrewing the cap and substituting one with a greyhound on it, “you’d best be off. We’ll not be wanting your trade hereafter.” He swung quickly into the shop, unmindful of the retort that reached his ears, and watched the car pull away. When the sickness from the stench left him, he turned back to Pat

“Now as I was saying, there’s money in copper artistry. And there’s a building down the street that’ll be lending itself perfectly to the work. It’s quite cheap you could get it. As for the tools you’d need, they’d be few, since handwork is better for this than the cleverness of many machines.”

“It would take at least three thousand dollars to start, and I’d have to get workers and pay them.” Pat shook his head sadly. “Better forget it, Ellowan.”

“Eh, so? And if s mistaken you are. In this pile you’ll find the sum of five thousand of your dollars, which should start the shop and let you marry the girl when she will.” He tossed the package over casually.

Pat grinned, but shoved it back. “So you blackmailed Wilson, did you? That’s a high price for letting the youngster loose.”

“It’s not too high, I’m thinking, since it’s but a loan. You’ll be paying me, and I’ll give it to himwith five percent interest, to be sure. And perhaps you’d turn up your nose at a chance to marry the girl when it’s only a business agreement?”

Pat pocketed the money. “That way, I’ll take it, provided you let me pay you at six percent. How long does your note run?”

“Five years, and you’ll pay me but five percent, as I pay the banker. I’m tired indeed of the arguing you’d be doing.” Ellowan turned back to his workroom. “Now it’s workers you need, eh?”

“And it’s workers I won’t find, probably. Where can brass craftsmen be found who can do any amount of work by hand?”

The elf grinned and disappeared into the shop. He whistled once and reappeared, but not alone. Behind him were three others like him, differing but little, and all clearly of the Little People. They were dressed in brown leather clothes of a cut older than the mechanical age, but about their noses were filters with wires leading down to little batteries at their belts. Ellowan chuckled.

“Here, now, are the workers I brought back for you,” he told Pat. “You’ll find them quick with their hands and good workers, not greedy for money. But you’ll be needing one of those machines

that’d make ozone for the whole shoponly a little, but enough to counteract the poison of the air. ‘Tis a marvelous invention. Now be off with you, and leave me with my friends. I’d have none of your thanks.”

As Pat went out, shaking his head but smiling, the four elves turned back to the workroom, and Ellowan knew his task was well done. The boy would have the girl and his work would prosper, while the elf would no longer be alone in a world of men.

One of the others drew off his filter and tested the air. “Bad,” he grunted. “But now that you’ve wakened us, there seems little enough harm in it. Perchance the years of sleep have given us strength against the poison fumes.”

More likely it was the call to work, Ellowan reflected, stronger even than the poisons of the air. And someday when the boy’s plant expanded, the call would be greater, and others might be awakened until the Little People could come into their own again. They were sleeping in the hills now, but not for long.

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