"The Sharpies."
By John Murphy (?-?).
First appearance: Astounding Science Fiction, November 1953.
Illustration by Frank Kelly Freas (as by Freas) (1922-2005; ISFDb HERE).
Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).
Short story (9 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE).
"The advantage of trading with a crook is that he is in no position to ask questions. And sometimes he'd be much happier if he didn't!"
MAKING a living is beset with a multitude of difficulties, as Hugh and George, "businessmen" on the shady side of commerce, well know. In their precarious situation, it's best not to inquire too much about their "customers"; just take the money and run. So when two mysterious individuals show up and make an offer they can't refuse, concerns about making rent payments are looking to be a thing of the past. Hugh and George are predisposed to ignore that proverb about something seeming to be too good to be true. And it's almost certain they're not considering what the Bard told the world: "He that dies pays all debts" . . .
Main characters:
~ Senor Perez ("the late lamented"), Hugh Corr ("felt a wonder even through the terror that gripped him"), George Hanley ("What happened?"), John and Jesse Smith ("Gold. We have here about four hundred pounds"), and five men ("completely bald").
Resource:
- We couldn't find anything about this "John Murphy"; "The Sharpies" is his only credit on FictionMags and the ISFDb.
The bottom line:
"Some of these pre-utopian worlds, not malignant but incapable of further advance, were left in peace, and preserved, as we preserve wild animals in national parks, for scientific interest."
Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.
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