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The white-clothed soldiers carried in branches and narrow logs and set them over the bodies. Then they
threw buckets of alcohol and oil on the wood.
The wounded birds were being treated with watered alcohol. Some of them screamed with pain.
 I don t think that s necessary, Hank said.  I doubt very much if any... of my people... were diseased.
 I don t want to take any chances.
Hank returned to his suite in the castle, put paper, ink bottle, and pen on the desk, and then walked for a
while around the room, his lips moving. Having composed his text roughly, he sat down and began
writing.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
July 10, 1923
Henry Lincoln Stover
American Citizen
Castle of Queen Glinda Quadlingland, Amariiki
Warren Gamaliel Harding
President of the United States of America
White House
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Earth
Dear Mr. President:
Doubtless, you will know in a few days what happened to the soldiers who invaded this world.
As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the U.S. A., you are responsible for the invasion and (heir
deaths.
You were ill-advised to permit this, but you are the one with the final responsibility.
Surely, you were fully informed of the possible, indeed, inevitable, consequences of this invasion. My
report must have been sent to you, sir.
I just cannot understand why the project was not terminated, why there was not only a failure to cease
communication but why this criminal invasion was ordered.
I am very angry, and I am very ashamed, and I grieve deeply.
I feel that the officers and the civilian scientists and the government officials who have participated in this
project are guilty of a crime. But their guilt is little compared to yours, sir.
I have always been proud of being an American, though I realize that we Americans have done and are
doing certain things that we should be deeply ashamed of. But I ve always felt that, though we are far
from perfect, there is something in the American spirit that is always struggling to rectify the evils in our
society. I ve always felt that we were not the only ones distinguished by these evils. That is, that all other
nations have their evils, some like ours, some of a different nature.
My mother taught me that, though I like to think that I would have been objective enough to realize that
myself when I became an adult.
I am speaking, of course, of the position of the Negro, of the treatment of Chinese, Japanese, and the
American Indian, of the vast and deep corruption in our government, federal, state, municipal, of the
corruption and deaths and ruined lives resulting from the stupid Prohibition law, and... but why go on?
These are our problems, and I have faith enough in our political system and in the spirit of the times to
feel that, with time, we ll solve them.
It s what s going on now with this world that concerns me.
I have tried to find excuses for the invasion, but I have absolutely failed. There are no acceptable ones.
They are unacceptable to me as an American and a human being. There should not be any differentiation
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
in those words, to be an American should mean to be a human being. Sometimes the two terms are
synonymous; more often, they re not. But I am an individual, a person, my own self, and I strive to be
both. That means that I don t support the slogan,  My country, right or wrong. I want it to be always
right, and, if it sees that it s wrong, to become right.
I would think the same if I were a Frenchman or a Russian or a Chinese or a British citizen or a Siamese.
Queen Glinda does not want you to enter this world. She wants all entrance and communication stopped.
She does not want, and I don t want it, either, plagues that will kill hundreds of thousands, perhaps
millions, of the citizens of this world. She speaks only for one of the nations here, but I am one hundred
percent certain that the other governments here would feel exactly as she does.
I am not a traitor because I oppose you or whoever might succeed you. I had no part in the destruction
of the invasion force that you sent, and I did my best to find some other way of dealing with the force. I
still think of myself as a citizen of the U.S.A., a loyal citizen. But one who s deeply ashamed and grieved
because of what his country is doing now.
I beg you, sir, I beg as an American and a human being, that you close down this project. That all activity
concerning it cease.
The dangers are not only for the people of this world. If you persist, you may open America the
world to things which would be even more dangerous, fatal, to the people of Earth.
The implications of these dangers are in my reports. I have not exaggerated or lied. Please, I beg of you,
consider them.
Respectfully and sincerely, Henry Lincoln Stover
While the ink dried, Hank paced back and forth. Were his efforts to be wasted?
He sent a hawk with a message to Glinda. A few minutes later, the hawk returned and said that Glinda
could see him at once. When he got to the conference chamber, he told her he had written a letter, and
he translated it aloud for her.
She said,  I hope that it will convince your leader to change his mind. I doubt it, though.
 I suppose you re right, he said.  I wish it could be delivered now before they try something else.
Glinda smiled and said,  I ll deliver it. Tonight.
Hank was startled.  But...?
 Oh, it ll cost me, but I know that Erakna is in no position, at this moment, anyway, to attack me while
I m weakened. Besides, it ll be easier and so cost less to me to go through the opening your people
made. The more the passageway is used, the less energy needed to go through it.
Hank thought that he need not have been so surprised. She must have a barrel of tricks up that sleeve.
 Do you know exactly where to place the message? he said.
 I have the letters and other items they sent you. These will enable me to track back to the senders.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
 How...? Hank said. He stopped because her smile made it evident that she would not answer him. It
seemed to him, however, that the letters and the items must leave some sort of vibrational spoor behind
them during their passage in space. Psychic tracks?
He sighed. He would probably never know unless he became a wizard.
To do that, he would have to stay here and to become a citizen. Abandon his American citizenship and
apply for naturalization papers to Oz.
In that moment, he knew that that was what he intended. What his unconscious had intended for some
time. That is, he had wished to be a citizen. He was not sure that he cared to be a wizard.
The next day, Hank Stover was eager to ask Glinda if she had delivered his letter. He was told, however,
that she had left word that she was not to be disturbed until three o clock that afternoon.
 The queen is sleeping, the messenger said.
One hour after the sun had reached its zenith, the green haze appeared. The aircraft that shot from it was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]