Chicken Farm
"All right," she said in a small voice.

"Furthermore," he added, "inform your father this is a business venture. I shall keep him supplied, as middleman, with a new breed of Plymouth Rocks which are considerably larger than turkeys, are more succulent, more tasty and tender, lay larger eggs with possibly larger yolks—"

"How?"

"I have some knowledge of biology and pressure chemistry, Anna. Plymouth will be ideal."

"What's Plymouth?"

"The name of the planet."

Harvey cocked his ear at the silence. Then there were sounds of sniffles. "I have to take care of a registration, Harvey," Anna said. "I have to go. I'm very proud that you love me, Harvey. I'll wait for you. And I'll convince Dad. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," said Harvey. He hung up. "She misses me," he told Gramenger. "Poor girl. Would you like me to take the ten thousand credits in cash or as a check?"

"A check," said Gramenger. He wrote it out. Harvey took it, and started toward the door. He called back:

"Thanks for the use of your 'phone," and walked out. Gramenger had nothing to say.

Harvey went back to Plymouth some two weeks later. He now owned a much larger ship. It was crammed to the brim with chemical fertilizers to improve the soil. There were also seed grains such as oats, wheat and corn. There was lumber for building, plumbing fixtures, windows, doors, everything needed to build several sheds plus a long, low rambling ranch-type house. The hens and the cock were aboard. There were six men also who would do the building, and help in any other way necessary.

Plymouth was a beautiful, emerald planet as they hove in close to it. As they landed, a pleasant, sunny atmosphere swirled around the ship. The gravitic machinery kept the gravity at Earth normal. The ground was already thawed, and was surprisingly like the rich, life-filled loam found in Iowa cow country. An engineer was waiting for Harvey, showed him the gravitic controls, explained the planet had been moved a million miles out of its orbit so that the Hermes could plow past without harming it.

By shutting off gravitic energy from one side, he explained, pressing buttons on the control panel, the planet could be made to move in any direction.


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