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haunts the mountaintops and comes down to hunt and kill. Not civilized like the electricity in the wires,
though it will be some day.
For civilized electricity s a great teacher. Shows us how to live clean and hi unity and brother-love.
Power fails one place, electricity s rushing in from everywhere to fill the gap. Serves Georgia same as
Vermont, Los Angeles same as Boston. Patriotic too only revealed its greatest secrets to true-blue
Americans like Edison and Franklin. Did you know it killed a Swede when he tried that kite trick? Yep,
electricity s the greatest power for good in all the U.S.A.
Mr. Scott thought sleepily of what a neat little electricity cult Mr. Leverett could set up, every bit as
good as Science of Mind or Krishna Venta or the Rosicrucians. He could imagine the patio full of
earnest seekers while Krishna Leverett or maybe High Electro Leverett dispensed wisdom from his
rocker, interpreting the words of the humming wires. Better not suggest it, though in Southern
California such things had a way of coming true.
Mr. Scott felt quite easy at heart as he went down the hill, though he did make a point of telling Bobby
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruisw...Fritz%20Leiber%20-%20Best%20of%20Fritz%20Leiber.html (216 of 242)22-2-2006 0:35:39
best of fritz leiber
not to bother Mr. Leverett any more.
But the prohibition didn t apply to himself. During the next months Mr. Scott made a point of dropping
in at Peak House from time to time for a dose of electric wisdom. He came to look forward to these
restful, amusingly screwy breaks in the hectic round. Mr. Leverett appeared to do nothing whatever
except sit in his rocker on the patio, yet stayed happy and serene. There was a lesson for anybody in that,
if you thought about it.
Occasionally Mr. Scott spotted amusing side effects of Mr. Leverett s eccentricity. For instance,
although he sometimes let the gas and water bills go, he always paid up phone and electricity on the dot.
And the newspapers eventually did report short but severe electric breakdowns in Chicago and San
Francisco. Smiling a little frowningly at the coincidences, Mr. Scott decided he could add fortune-telling
to the electricity cult he d imagined for Mr. Leverett. Your life s story foretold in the wires! more
novel, anyway, than crystal balls or Talking with God.
Only once did the touch of the gruesome, that had troubled Mr. Scott hi his first conversation with Mr.
Leverett, come briefly back, when the old man chuckled and observed, Recall what I told you about
whipping a copper wire up there? I ve thought of a simpler way, just squirt the hose at those H-T lines in
a hard stream, gripping the metal nozzle. Might be best to use the hot water and throw a box of salt hi
the heater first. When Mr. Scott heard that he was glad that he d warned Bobby against coming around.
But for the most part Mr. Leverett maintained his mood of happy serenity.
When the break in that mood came, it did so suddenly, though afterwards Mr. Scott realized there had
been one warning note sounded when Mr. Leverett had added onto a rambling discourse, By the way,
I ve learned that power electricity goes all over the world, just like the ghost electricity in radios and
phones. It travels to foreign shores in batteries and condensers. Roams the lines in Europe and Asia.
Some of it even slips over into Soviet territory. Wants to keep tabs on the Communists, I guess. Electric
freedom-fighters.
On his next visit Mr. Scott found a great change. Mr. Leverett had deserted his rocking chair to pace the
patio on the side away from the pole, though every now and then he would give a quick funny look up
over his shoulder at the dark muttering wires.
Glad to see you, Mr. Scott. I m real shook up. Reckon I better tell someone about it so if something
happens to me they ll be able to tell the FBI. Though I don t know what tfzey ll be able to do.
Electricity just told me this morning it s got a world government it had the nerve to call it that and
that it doesn t care a snap for either us or the Soviets and that there s Russian electricity in our wires and
American electricity in theirs it shifts back and forth with never a quiver of shame.
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