The Project Gutenberg EBook of "To Invade New York....", by Irwin Lewis

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Title: "To Invade New York...."

Author: Irwin Lewis

Illustrator: Leo Summers

Release Date: January 4, 2010 [EBook #30844]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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"TO
INVADE
NEW YORK...."

It would be foolish to do a thing a hard way, when there is such an
easy way. In a technically dependent culture, people become quite
helpless, really....

BY IRWIN LEWIS

ILLUSTRATED BY LEO SUMMERS

He was a tall, learned-looking man, about fifty, slightly stooped, with
a bulging midriff, tortoise-shell glasses, graying hair, and a strange
look in his eyes. I'd noticed him standing outside Shannon's Bar for
about ten minutes, pacing back and forth. Then he came in and sat down
next to me. It was late afternoon, before the rush hour, and we were the
only customers in the place.

Jimmy, the bartender, put down the towel with which he'd been idly
wiping glasses, and came over. "What'll it be?"

The stranger jumped nervously and looked blank for a moment. "Uh ... er
... a glass of beer, please. _Root_ beer."

Jimmy snorted. "Try the candy store down the block."

"Oh," said the stranger, obviously upset. "Then let me have a glass of
regular beer--mild, please."

I smiled at Jimmy as he filled a glass. All sorts came into Shannon's.
Outside, the traffic on Third Avenue was only a faint hum.

The stranger licked the foam tentatively and wrinkled his nose in
distaste. He put the glass back on the bar and shook his head.

"_Pro superi! quantum mortalia pectora caecae, Noctis habent._"

"Huh?" said Jimmy.

The stranger smiled briefly. "That is Latin. It means, Oh, ye gods, what
darkness of night there is in mortal minds."

Jimmy shrugged and went back to wiping glasses. The stranger nodded to
me. "Ovid said that. He was a wise man."

"Friend of yours?" I asked, just to be polite.

"He died nearly two thousand years ago." He tasted the beer again and
pus