Year of the Jackpot 17

"Yes. But take a look at your chart."
Nevertheless he took the next afternoon off, spent it in
the reference room oi the main library, confirmed his opin-
ion of soothsayers. Nostradamus was pretentiously silly,
Mother Shippey was worse. In any of them you could find
what you looked for.
He did find one item in Nostradamus that he liked: "The
Oriental shall come forth from his seat . . . he shall pass
through the sky, through the waters and the snow, and he
shall strike each one with his weapon."
That sounded like what the Department of Defense ex-
pected the commies to try to do to the Western Allies.
But it was also a description of every invasion that had
come out of the "heartland" in the memory of mankind.
Nuts!
When he got home he found himself taking down his
father's Bible and turning to Revelations. He could not find
anything that he could understand but he got fascinated by
the recurring use of precise numbers. Presently he thumbed
through the Book at random; his eye lit on: "Boast not thy-
self of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may
bring forth." He put the Book away, feeling humbled but
not cheered.
The rains started the next morning. The Master Plumbers
elected Miss Star Morning "Miss Sanitary Engineering" on
the same day that the morticians designated her as "The
Body I would Like Best to Prepare," and her option was
dropped by Fragrant Features. Congress voted $1.37 to
compensate Thomas Jefferson Meeks for losses incurred
while an emergency postman for the Christmas rush of i936>
approved the appointment of five lieutenant generals and
one ambassador and adjourned in eight minutes. The fire
extinguishers in a midwest orphanage turned out to be
filled with air. The chancellor of the leading football in-
stitution sponsored a fund to send peace messages and vita-
mins to the Politburo. The stock market slumped nineteen
points and the tickers ran two hours late. Wichita, Kansas,
remained flooded while Phoenix, Arizona, cut off drinking
water to areas outside city limits. And Potiphar Breen found
that he had left his raincoat at Meade Barstow's rooming
house.
He phoned her landlady, but Mrs. Megeath turned him
over to Meade. "What are you doing home on a Friday?"
he demanded.
"The theater manager laid me off. Now you'll have to
marry me."