Sixth Column Read Online Free PDF Page B

the United States.
    Transports, it was rumored, arrived daily on the West coast, bringing
    thousands of administrative civil servants, most of whom were veterans of
    the amalgamation of India. Whether or not they could be considered as
    augmenting the armed forces who had conquered and now policed the
    country it was difficult to say, but it was evident that they would replace the
    white minor officials who now assisted in civil administration at pistol point.
    When those white officials were "eliminated" it would be still more difficult to
    organize resistance.
    Thomas found the means to enter the cities in one of the hobo jungles.
    Finny-surname unknown-was not, properly speaking, a knight of the
    road, but one who had sought shelter among them and who paid his way by
    practicing his talent. He was an old anarchist comrade who had served his
    concept of freedom by engraving really quite excellent Federal Reserve
    notes without complying with the formality of obtaining permission from the
    treasury department. Some said that his name had been Phineas; others
    connected his moniker with his preference for manufacturing five-dollar bills"big enough to be useful; not big enough to arouse suspicion."
    He made a registration card for Thomas at the request of one of the 'bos.
    He talked while Thomas watched him work. "It's only the registration number
    that we really have to worry about, son. Practically none of the Asiatics you
    will run into can read English, so it really doesn't matter a lot we say about
    you. `Mary had a little lamb-' would probably do.
    Same for the photograph. To them, all white men look alike." He picked
    up a handful of assorted photographs from his kit and peered at them
    nearsightedly through thick spectacles. "Here -pick out one of these that looks
    not unlike you and we will use it. Now for the number-"
    The old man's hands were shaky, almost palsied, yet they steadied down
    to a deft sureness as he transferred India ink to cardboard in amazing
    simulation of machine printing. And this he did without proper equipment,
    without precision tools, under primitive conditions. Thomas understood why
    the old artist's masterpieces caused headaches for bank clerks. "There!" he
    announced. "I've given you a serial number which states that you were
    registered shortly after the change, and a classification number which permits
    you to travel. It also says that you are physically unfit for manual labor, and
    are permitted to peddle or beg. It's the same thing to their minds."
    "Thanks, awfully," said Thomas. "Now. . . uh . . . what do I owe you for
    this?"
    Finny's reaction made him feel as if he had uttered some indecency.
    "Don't mention payment, my son! Money is wrong-it's the means whereby
    man enslaves his brother."
    "I beg your pardon, sir," Thomas apologized sincerely. "Nevertheless, I
    wish there were some way for me to do something for you."
    "That is another matter. Help your brother when you can, and help will
    come to you when you need it. "
    Thomas found the old anarchist's philosophy confused, confusing, and
    impractical, but he spent considerable time drawing him out, as he seemed to
    know more about the PanAsians than anyone else he had met. Finny
    seemed unafraid of them and completely confident of his own ability to cope
    with them when necessary. Of all the persons Thomas had met since the
    change, Finny seemed the least disturbed by it in fact, disturbed not at all,
    and completely lacking in any emotion of hate or bitterness. This was hard for
    him to understand at first in a person as obviously warm-hearted as Finny,
    but he came to realize that, since. the anarchist believed that all government
    was wrong and that all men were to him in fact brothers, the difference to him
    was one of degree only. Looking at the PanAsians through Finny's eyes there
    was nothing to hate; they were simply more misguided souls whose
    excesses were deplorable.
    Thomas did not see it from such Olympian detachment.