down here in the Village, and an innocent tourist like Boris could be fleeced out of his eye teeth and never even know it. It’s my duty, as a typical New Yorker, to protect him. After all he’s done for us, it’s the least I can do.”
The interior of the Idyll Hour was dimly lit. Heavy drapery kept the sunlight out. Max squinted into the dimness and saw a long counter that held a number of espresso machines and a clutter of tables and chairs, all of which seemed to be occupied by young men and women in various modes of eccentric dress.
“I don’t see Boris,” he said.
The hostess approached them. She was a gorgeous brunette, dressed in tight-fitting pants and a heavy-knit sweater. She looked remarkably like Noel, the girl guide and secretary to the ambassador from Fredonia.
“Don’t tell me,” Max said. “Paree, Illinois, right?”
“ Oui! Summer of ’61?”
“Could be,” Max replied. “Frankly, the summer of ’61 is not very clear in my mind. So much was happening. But, enough of this chit-chat. I’m here, first, on a mission of mercy, and, second, on a mission of grave importance to the entire civilized world. So… number one… have you by any chance seen a little fat tourist from Zinzinotti, Alleybama?”
Noel shook her head. “Non.”
“Then try this one. How about a tall, skinny computer with revolving eyeballs?”
Noel brightened. “Oui, oui!”
Max turned to Blossom. “The translation of that is ‘yes and no.’ No, she hasn’t seen Boris, but, yes, she has seen Fred.” Then, facing Noel again, he said, “There’s more to this than meets the eyeballs, but, for the sake of expediency, let’s just say that this computer with the revolving orbs-who shall remain nameless-is a cousin of mine whom I’m trying to track down to deliver a message from his draft board.” He winked. “Get it?”
“Oh, oui! We are speaking, of course, of your Cousin Fred.”
“Exactly. Now, since you say you’ve seen him, could you tell us which way he went?”
“He went ‘Peep-a-dotta, poop-a-dotta, dippa-dotta-boop!’ ”
“I’m referring to direction.”
Noel pointed toward a door at the rear of the Idyll Hour. “He go thataway,” she said.
“Through that door, eh? I wonder if that could be a trap?”
“Oh, no.”
“Just to be on the safe side,” Max said, “you go first, and we’ll follow.”
“Oui.”
Noel threaded her way between the tables. Max, Blossom and Fang trailed after her.
When they reached the door, Noel glanced back over her shoulder cautiously, then pushed it open.
Beyond her, Max saw a row of slot machines. Facing them, playing them, were men and women of varying ages and shapes. They all had a dazed, distant look in their eyes. Here and there were persons whose eyes were revolving.
Max stepped inside, past Noel. “I don’t see Fred.”
“Not the people,” Noel said. “The machines. I’m certain that one of them is your cousin.”
“Possible.” He signalled to Blossom and Fang. “Let’s check it out.”
Blossom and Fang followed him into the room. The door closed. They waited as Max went from machine to machine, staring each one straight in the eye. After a few minutes, he returned.
“No Fred,” he said. “These machines are all too short.”
“I don’t know,” Blossom said. “That one over there… the one that no one’s playing. It looks a little familiar.”
“Let’s give it a double-check,” Max said.
They went to the machine.
Max peered at it closely. “Fred?”
No answer.
“No, on second thought,” Blossom said, “that isn’t Fred. As you say, Fred is taller. He’s also thinner.”
Max glanced around. “I wonder why no one’s playing this machine?”
“I’m sure there’s a reason,” Blossom said.
“It looks ripe for a jackpot to me,” Max said.
“Max, you can’t win on those things.”
“Normally, no,” Max said. “I happen to have a system, however.”
“That’s silly. You’ll just lose your money.”
“A foolproof system.”
“Rorff!”
“Stick to your liverwurst!” Max snapped.
“Come on, let’s go,” Blossom urged.
“I’ll just try one quarter,” Max said. “You see, my system is this: I figure that the people who play these machines, as a group, have the worst luck that it’s possible to have. So, naturally, they play the wrong machines. Consequently, the machine they’re not playing is the one that’s due to pay off.”
“That’s silly. I’m sure there’s some other reason why this machine isn’t being played.”
“All right… we’ll put it to the test,” Max said, taking a quarter from his pocket. He dropped the coin into the slot. “It’s my guess that somebody is going to be very surprised.” He pulled the lever.
The floor gave way, and Max, Blossom and Fang went hurtling downward into space.
“Surprised, aren’t you?” Max said smugly.
“HELP!”
“Well, now, at least, we know why that machine wasn’t being played,” Max said. “It was installed over a trap door.”
They landed abruptly, becoming a spaghetti of arms and legs-more legs than arms, since Fang was with them. They found themselves in total darkness.
“HELP!” Blossom screamed again.
Above them, the trap door banged shut.
“I don’t think they can hear you,” Max said.
“HELP!”
“Quiet!” Max snapped. “I’m looking for my fountain pen.”
“If they can’t even hear me, what good will writing do?”
“My fountain pen happens to be a flashlight at one end,” Max explained. “Ah… here it is. Now, I just press this… oops!”
“What happened?” Blossom asked.
“Wrong end. I just shot myself in the face with a squirt of ink!”
“Turn it around, you fool!” said a voice.
In the darkness, Max said, “Blossom? Was that you?”
“Noooo,” she answered, her voice trembling.
“Is me!” said the voice-male.
A beam of light suddenly cut into the darkness. Illuminated in the beam was Boris!
“Don’t tell me!” Max said. “Zinzinotti, Alleybama!”
“So we meet again,” Boris smiled.
“Boy, are we glad to see you,” Max said. “We were worried. We saw you sitting in that limousine that was shooting at us earlier, and we thought you were in danger. We tried to talk to you, but we missed you. Incidentally, how did you get into that limousine?”
“Nyet!”
“No what?”
“Is not limousine,” Boris said. “Is sight-seeing bus. I was on sight-seeing tour, and I got separated from the group.”
“I see,” Max said. “That explains why you’re down here in this hole.” He turned to Blossom. “That explains everything. Know what we’ve blundered into? A tourist trap!”
“What I’d like to have explained is how we’re going to get out of here,” she said.
