The Project Gutenberg EBook of Forsyte's Retreat, by Winston Marks

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Title: Forsyte's Retreat

Author: Winston Marks

Illustrator: Kelly Freas

Release Date: June 7, 2010 [EBook #32735]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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FORSYTE'S RETREAT

By Winston Marks

Illustration by Kelly Freas

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science
Fiction May 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: _Sextus Rollo Forsyte had his trouble with the bottle, but
nothing out of a bottle ever produced such a hotel as the Mahoney-Plaza:
only 260 rooms ... only two guests to a room ... but accommodating 5200
guests--all at the same time!... Floor please?_]

At last he was second in line. He squared his shoulders and pulled at
the lower edges of his black double-breasted suitcoat to erase the
travel wrinkles. The applicant ahead of him exploded the words, "Nuts!
I'll leave town first. I just _came_ from the Phony-Plaza. You can take
that squirrel-cage and--"

"Next!" the employment agent called sadly. Sextus Rollo Forsyte moved up
and sat in the oak chair before the oak desk and faced the oak-featured
man with the jobs.

"Forsyte is the name," Sextus reminded. The man riffled through the
application cards.

"Yes. Indeed. Lucky you came back. I have a fine position for you, Mr.
Forsyte. Right in your line." He held out a blue slip. "The general
manager's position is open at the Mahoney-Plaza. Six hundred a month,
board and room. Now if you will...."

Sextus staggered from the employment office stunned.

He could handle the job, all right. As he'd said on the application
form, in his forty years he had managed half a dozen large hotels. But
they were handing him this plum without comment on his failure to fill
in the spaces marked: COMPLETE REFERENCES (names and addresses).

He shrugged. They did a