Lest Darkness Fall (39 page)

            Girls were okay, and he'd
probably fall one of these days. But he had more important things to worry
over. His success so far in the business of civilization outweighed any little
failures in personal relationships.

            His job wasn't over. It
never would be — until disease or old age or the dagger of some local enemy
ended it. There was so much to do, and only a few decades to do it in;
compasses and steam engines and microscopes and the writ of habeas corpus.

            He'd teetered along for over
a year and a half, grabbing a little power here, placating a possible enemy
there, keeping far enough out of the bad graces of the various churches,
starting some little art such as spinning of sheet copper. Not bad for Mouse
Padway! Maybe he could keep it up for years.

            And if he couldn't — if
enough people finally got fed up with the innovations of Mysterious Martinus — well,
there was a semaphore telegraph system running the length and breadth of Italy,
some day to be replaced by a true electric telegraph, if he could find time for
the necessary experiments. There was a public letter post about to be set up.
There were presses in Florence and Rome and Naples pouring out books and
pamphlets and newspapers. Whatever happened to him, these things would go on.
They'd become too well rooted to be destroyed by accident.

            History had, without
question, been changed.

            Darkness would not fall.

The End

* * * * * *

WHAT WOULD YOU
DO

if you were suddenly dropped back to the
distant past — say, ancient Rome?

"Invent" gunpowder and take
over the Empier?

Use your knowledge of history to make a
fortune as a "prophet"?

Build an airplane?

Discover America a thousand years ahead
of Columbus?

It's fun to think about ... but it's not
that easy —

 — as Martin Padway found out when it
happened to him!

To

CATHERINE

LEST DARKNESS
FALL

A PYRAMID BOOK

Published by
arrangement with the Author

PRINTING HISTORY

Henry Holt and Company edition published
1941

Prime Press edition published 1949

Pyramid edition published February 1963

This story in a shorter version,
appeared in the December, 1939 issue of
Unknown
.

Copyright, 1939, by Street & Smith
Publications, Inc.

Copyright, 1941, by Henry Holt and
Company, Inc.

Copyright, 1949, by L. Sprague de Camp

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

PYRAMID BOOKS
are published by Pyramid Publications, Inc.

444 Madison
Avenue, New York, New York 10022, U.S.A.

* * * * * *\

Back cover

WHEN AM I?

Padway asked himself after the
lightning-flash knocked him down.

He knew where he was — Rome. He was
there to study archaeology, and even though the lightning had left him dazed,
he could see the familiar Roman buildings ...

But the buildings looked newer ... and
the crowds in the street were wearing tunics, not suits! And a rich barnyard
smell had replaced the gasoline-and-garlic aroma of modern Rome ...

So ... when was he? And he was suddenly
cold with fear of the answer ...