The Brass Bottle Page #7

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by union labor.

When the Pharaohs

put up the pyramids,

they had no such problems.

In those days--

- These aren't those days,

they're these days.

There is no room for magic now.

Everything must be done

legitimately today.

I promise.

From now on,

you shall tell me what to do,

where to buy the land,

how to build the houses--

There will be no from now on.

All I ask is that you change

Professor Kenton back to normal,

then I want nothing further

to do with you, ever.

I have taken oath

to reward thee.

And thou shalt be rewarded

in spite of thyself.

I have a proposition for thee.

When you start with that

thee-and-thou talk,

I smell trouble.

What proposition?

You and I enter

into partnership.

Fakrash and Ventimore.

Real estate.

Go into business with you?

Not if you were the last

genie on Earth.

Then, turn the Professor

out to graze.

You've just doomed him

to be a jackass

the rest of his life.

Oh, that's blackmail.

True.

Doesn't it shame you

the things you make me do

to help you?

The answer is still no.

I'm sorry, Professor,

I just can't.

Please don't look at me

like that.

May-- maybe we'll find

some other way

of changing you back.

Maybe an African witch doctor

or plastic surgery?

Hmm?

Oh, all right, you win.

A wise decision.

It will make you rich

and famous.

As for thee O thou

of hideous aspect,

thy present appearance

is much more suited

to thy nature.

But return to thy former state

and let all of this be erased

forever from thy mind.

Professor Kenton

is now approaching

his front door step.

Oh, I wanted to take him home,

I promised.

Besides, I wanted to see

Sylvia once more.

She's leaving

for Europe in a few hours.

Look into my eye.

They will have

to sober him up quickly

if they expect to get

to the airport on time.

Why'd you have

to send him home drunk?

Well, he deserved

some kind of punishment.

And besides,

they expected to find him

in that condition.

Behold, Partner!

Never has Los Angeles witnessed

anything like this.

Ever since the morning

newspapers hit the street,

thousands of people have swarmed

into Ventimore City paralyzing--

Mr. Fakrash,

I'd like an explanation of this.

Shhh.

Wonderful, isn't it, Harold?

Look at the crowd.

- I know about the crowds,

I tried driving out

to our tract office

and had to turn back,

then I saw this.

I called the papers and they

said it wasn't a mistake,

that you changed the ads.

Well, it was only

a slight change.

Slight?

All I did

was take off the "one."

All you did was change

14,000 to 4,000.

Well, you always kept telling me

that the cheaper

we sell our homes,

the more people could buy them.

Mr. Fakrash,

those houses cost us

over $13,000 apiece.

Selling them at $4,000,

we lose $9,000 a house.

Wonderful, isn't it?

No one else can do that.

Before this day is over,

you're going to be

the most famous architect

in America.

- Before this day is over,

we'll be bankrupt.

Nonsense.

The stock market will take care

of everything.

It's been very good

to us lately.

Lately?

You haven't guessed wrong once

in since six months,

that's another thing.

When we went

into this partnership,

you promised, no hocus-pocus.

I've kept my word.

Every move that I've made

has been absolutely legitimate.

Can I help it

if I know which stocks

are going to go up?

Look, I brought

ten thousand shares

of Colfax Super Steel

last week at a hundred three,

now it's a hundred and eighteen.

And next Wednesday at noon,

it will be a hundred

and thirty five

and that's when I sell.

Relax, my boy.

Let's get started

on our next thousand homes,

so that we can make

more people happy.

I repeat,

police request the public

to stay away

from Ventimore City.

Riots have broken out

as thousands of persons

continue to besiege

the tract office

of Fakrash and Ventimore.

Perhaps we should have built

10,000 homes.

It would have

just made it worse.

Here are more late bulletins.

Washington D.C.

The FBI

and other Federal authorities

have joined with City,

County, and State officials

in investigating

Fakrash and Ventimore.

Sacramento.

The State Attorney General

has petitioned the courts

for an injunction

stopping all sales

at Ventimore City.

What does it mean?

It means we'd better

get our lawyer over here.

We're in trouble.

Why should they be angry at us?

It's not our fault they stopped

the sale of our homes.

I heard of a man

once who tried to sell

$10 bills for a dollar,

they arrested him as a swindler.

Are you just going to stand

there, do nothing?

I'm gonna stand here

and make sure you do nothing.

Fakrash.

Well, it-- it just slipped out.

Isn't there some way of getting

rid of those reporters?

No.

Don't worry about them.

It's the crowd in the other room

you've got to worry about.

What crowd?

Oh, about a dozen Federal State,

County, and City officials

are fighting over

who's gonna take you two

into custody.

As your legal counsel,

I've accepted service

on all subpoenas.

What is a subpoena?

These.

Bureau of Internal Revenue,

Department of Justice,

County Grand Jury,

the FBI,

Security Exchange Commission,

Special Congressional

Crime Commission.

Crime Commission?

What do you mean disappeared?

Just that, Senator Grindle,

Mr. Fakrash disappeared.

Oh,

vanished into thin air?

Just like that?

Yes, sir.

Mr. Fakrash is in contempt

of this committee.

Issue a warrant.

Won't do any good.

Why not?

I'd rather not answer that.

I insist you do answers,

Mr. Ventimore.

Well, sir, if you must know,

Mr. Fakrash isn't human.

He's a genie.

A genie?

Uh, you-- you mean like the--

like the one--

- Yes, sir,

like the one that came out

of Aladdin's lamp.

Only this one came out

of a brass bottle.

Order.

Order in the room here.

Order.

Order.

There's nothing wrong with me.

There's nothing wrong with me.

There's nothing wrong with me.

Then, why humiliate yourself

by pretending insanity?

I'm not pretending, Sylvia.

I am insane.

They've even got me so confused

I don't know what I'm saying.

Why did you come back

from Europe?

Why did you get

mixed up in all this?

Because I love you.

Whatever you've done,

I know that man made you do it.

And I'm sure it'll all clear up

the moment the police find him.

Never find him.

He could be any place

and they wouldn't know it.

He can make himself invisible.

Oh, you poor dear.

You really believe it.

You are sick.

I tell-- all right.

I'm sick and if I weren't

in a strait jacket,

I'd be cutting out paper dolls.

That-- don't-- don't--

don't worry, dear.

Dr. Travisley is on the Board

of Psychiatrists and...

he'll be at your sanity

hearing tomorrow.

I thought she would never leave.

Oh.

That padding.

- Well, what brings you back?

I thought you were thousands

of miles away.

I was.

A delightful South Sea island.

I came back for you.

You must be ready

to join me now.

Oh, let's not go through

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