TROUBLE WITH WATER
  Unknown, March 1939 by H. L. Gold (1914- )

   Greenberg did not deserve his surroundings. He was the first fisherman of the season, whi
guaranteed him a fine catch; he sat in a dry boat—one without a single leak—far out on a lake th
was ruffled only enough to agitate his artificial fly.
   The sun was warm, the air was cool; he sat comfortably on a cushion; he had brought a hear
lunch; and two bottles of beer hung over the stern in the cold water.
   Any other man would have been soaked with joy to be fishing on such, a splendid da
Normally, Greenberg himself would have been ecstatic, but instead of relaxing and waiting for
nibble, he was plagued by worries.
   This short, slightly gross, definitely bald, eminently respectable businessman lived a gypsy li
During the summer he lived in a hotel with kitchen privileges in Rockaway; winters he lived in
hotel with kitchen privileges in Florida; and in both places he operated concessions. For yea
now, rain had fallen on schedule every week end, and there had been storms and floods o
Decoration Day, July 4th and Labor Day. He did not love his life, but it was a way of making
living.
   He closed his eyes and groaned. If he had only had a son instead of his Rosie! Then thin
would have been mighty different.
   For one thing, a son could run the hot dog and hamburger griddle, Esther could draw beer, an
he would make soft drinks. There would be small difference in the profits, Greenberg admitted
himself; but at least those profits could be put aside for old age, instead of toward a dowry for h
miserably ugly, dumpy, pitifully eager Rosie.
   "All right—so what do I care if she don't get married?" he had cried to his wife a thousan
times. "I'll support her. Other men can set up boys in candy stores with soda foun-tains that ha
only two spigots. Why should I have to give a boy a regular International Casino?"
   "May your tongue rot in your head, you no-good piker!" she would scream. "It ain't right for
girl to be an old maid. If we have to die in the poorhouse, I'll get my poor Rosie a husband. Eve
penny we don't need for living goes to her dowry!"
   Greenberg did not hate his daughter, nor did he blame her for his misfortunes; yet, because
her, he was fishing with a broken rod that he had to tape together.
   That morning his wife opened her eyes and saw him pack-ing his equipment. She instantly cam
awake. "Go ahead!" she shrilled—speaking in a conversational tone was not one of h
accomplishments—"Go fishing, you loafer! Leave me here alone. I can connect the beer pip
and the gas for soda water. I can buy ice cream, frankfurters, rolls, sirup, and watch the gas an
electric men at the same time. Go ahead—go fishing!"
   "I ordered everything," he mumbled soothingly. "The gas and electric won't be turned o
today. I only wanted to go fishing—it's my last chance. Tomorrow we open the conces-sion. T
the truth, Esther, can I go fishing after we open?"
   "I don't care about that. Am I your wife or ain't I, that you should go ordering everythin
without asking me—"
   He defended his actions. It was a tactical mistake. While she was still in bed, he should ha
picked up his equipment and left. By the time the argument got around to Rosie's dowry, s
stood facing him.
   "For myself I don't care," she yelled. "What kind of a monster are you that you can go fishin
while your daughter eats her heart out? And on a day like this yet! You should only have to ma
supper and dress Rosie up. A lot you care that a nice boy is coming to supper tonight and may
take Rosie out, you no-good father, you!"
    From that point it was only one hot protest and a shrill curse to find himself clutching half
broken rod, with the other half being flung at his head.
    Now he sat in his beautifully dry boat on an excellent game lake far out on Long Islan
desperately aware that any average fish might collapse his taped rod.
    What else could he expect? He had missed his train; he had had to wait for the boathou
proprietor; his favorite dry fly was missing; and, since morning, not a fish struck at the bait. Not
single fish!
    And it was getting late. He had no more patience. He ripped the cap off a bottle of beer an
drank it, in order to gain courage to change his fly for a less sporting bloodworm. It hurt him, b
he wanted a fish.
    The hook and the squirming worm sank. Before it came to rest, he felt a nibble. He sucked
his breath exultantly and snapped the hook deep into the fish's mouth. Sometimes, he thoug
philosophically, they just won't take artificial bait. He reeled in slowly.
    "Oh, Lord," he prayed, "a dollar for charity—just don't let the rod bend in half where I tap
it!"
    It was sagging dangerously. He looked at it unhappily and raised his ante to five dollars; even
that price it looked im-possible. He dipped his rod into the water, parallel with the line, to remo
the strain. He was glad no one could see him do it. The line reeled in without a fight.
    "Have I—God forbid!—got an eel or something not ko-sher?" he mumbled. "A plague o
you—why don't you fight?"
    He did not really care what it was—even an eel—anything at all.
    He pulled in a long, pointed, brimless green hat.
    For a moment he glared at it. His mouth hardened. Then, viciously, he yanked the hat off t
hook, threw it on the floor and trampled on it. He rubbed his hands together in anguish.
    "All day I fish," he wailed, "two dollars for train fare, a dollar for a boat, a quarter for bait,
new rod I got to buy—and a five-dollar-mortgage charity has got on me. For what? For you, yo
hat, you!"
    Out in the water an extremely civil voice asked politely: "May I have my hat, please?"
    Greenberg glowered up. He saw a little man come swim-ming vigorously through the wat
toward him: small arms crossed with enormous dignity, vast ears on a pointed face propelling hi
quite rapidly and efficiently. With serious determination he drove through the water, and, at t
starboard rail, his amazing ears kept him stationary while he looked gravely at Greenberg.
    "You are stamping on my hat," he pointed out without an-ger.
    To Greenberg this was highly unimportant. "With the ears you're swimming," he grinned in
superior way. "Do you look funny!"
    "How else could I swim?" the little man asked politely.
    "With the arms and legs, like a regular human being, of course."
    "But I am not a human being. I am a water gnome, a relative of the more common mini
gnome. I cannot swim with my arms, because they must be crossed to give an appearance
dignity suitable to a water gnome; and my feet are used for writing and holding things. On t
other hand, my ears are perfectly adapted for propulsion in water. Conse-quently, I employ the
for that purpose. But please, my hat—there are several matters requiring my immediate atten-tio
and I must not waste time."
    Greenberg's unpleasant attitude toward the remarkably civil gnome is easily understandable. H
had found someone he could feel superior to, and, by insulting him, his depressed ego cou
expand. The water gnome certainly looked inoffen-sive enough, being only two feet tall.
   "What you got that's so important to do, Big Ears?" he asked nastily.
   Greenberg hoped the gnome would be offended. He was not, since his ears, to him, we
perfectly normal, just as you would not be insulted if a member of a race of atrophied beings we
to call you "Big Muscles." You might even feel flattered.
   "I really must hurry," the gnome said, almost anx-iously. "But if I have to answer yo
questions in order to get back my hat—we are engaged in restocking the Eastern waters with fis
Last year there was quite a drain. The bu-reau of fisheries is cooperating with us to some exten
but, of course, we cannot depend too much on them. Until the population rises to normal, eve
fish has instructions not to nibble. "
   Greenberg allowed himself a smile, an annoyingly skeptical smile.
   "My main work," the gnome went on resignedly, "is con-trol of the rainfall over the Easte
seaboard. Our fact-find-ing committee, which is scientifically situated in the meteorological cent
of the continent, coordinates the rainfall needs of the entire continent; and when they determine t
amount of rain needed in particular spots of the East, I make it rain to that extent. Now may I ha
my hat, please?"
   Greenberg laughed coarsely. "The first lie was big enough—about telling the fish not to bi
You make it rain like I'm President of the United States!" He bent toward the gnome slyly. "How
about proof? "
   "Certainly, if you insist." The gnome raised his patient, triangular face toward a particularly cle
blue spot in the sky, a trifle to one side of Greenberg. "Watch that bit of the sky."
   Greenberg looked up humorously. Even when a small dark cloud rapidly formed in t
previously clear spot, his grin re-mained broad. It could have been coincidental. But then lar
drops of undeniable rain fell over a twenty-foot circle; and Greenberg 's mocking grin shrank an
grew sour.
   He glared hatred at the gnome, finally convinced. "So you're the dirty crook who makes it ra
on week ends! "
   "Usually on week ends during the summer," the gnome ad-mitted. "Ninety-two percent of wat
consumption is on weekdays. Obviously we must replace that water. The week ends, of cours
are the logical time."
   "But, you thief!" Greenberg cried hysterically, "you mur-derer! What do you care what you d
to my concession with your rain? It ain't bad enough business would be rotten even without rai
you got to make floods!"
   "I'm sorry," the gnome replied, untouched by Greenberg's rhetoric. "We do not create rainf
for the benefit of men. We are here to protect the fish.
   "Now please give me my hat. I have wasted enough time, when I should be preparing t
extremely heavy rain needed for this coming week end."
   Greenberg jumped to his feet in the unsteady boat. "Rain this week end—when I can may
make a profit for a change! A lot you care if you ruin business. May you and your fish die
horrible, lingering death."
   And he furiously ripped the green hat to pieces and hurled them at the gnome.
   "I'm really sorry you did that," the little fellow said calmly, his huge ears treading water witho
the slightest increase of pace to indicate his anger. "We Little Folk have no tempers to los
Nevertheless, occasionally we find it neces-sary to discipline certain of your people, in order
retain our dignity. I am not malignant; but, since you hate water and those who live in it, water an
those who live in it will keep away from you."
   With his arms still folded in great dignity, the tiny water gnome flipped his vast ears an
disappeared in a neat surface dive.
   Greenberg glowered at the spreading circles of waves. He did not grasp the gnome's fin
restraining order; he did not even attempt to interpret it. Instead he glared angrily out of the corn
of his eye at the phenomenal circle of rain that fell from a perfectly clear sky. The gnome mu
have remem-bered it at length, for a moment later the rain stopped. Like shutting off a fauce
Greenberg unwillingly thought.
   "
    Good-by, week-end business," he growled. "If Esther finds out I got into an argument with t
guy who makes it rain—"
   He made an underhand cast, hoping for just one fish. The line flew out over the water; then t
hook arched upward and came to rest several inches above the surface, hanging quite steadily an
without support in the air.
   "Well, go down in the water, damn you!" Greenberg said viciously, and he swished his ro
back and forth to pull the hook down from its ridiculous levitation. It refused.
   Muttering something incoherent about being hanged before he'd give in, Greenberg hurled h
useless rod at the water. By this time he was not surprised when it hovered in the air above t
lake. He merely glanced red-eyed at it, tossed out the remains of the gnome's hat, and snatched u
the oars.
   When he pulled back on them to row to land, they did not touch the water—naturally. Inste
they flashed unimpeded through the air, and Greenberg tumbled into the bow.
   "A-ha!" he grated. "Here's where the trouble begins." He bent over the side. As he h
suspected, the keel floated a re-markable distance above the lake.
   By rowing against the air, he moved with maddening slow-ness toward shore, like a mediev
conception of a flying machine. His main concern was that no one should see him in h
humiliating position.
   At the hotel he tried to sneak past the kitchen to the bathroom. He knew that Esther waited
curse him for fish-ing the day before opening, but more especially on the very day that a nice bo
was coming to see her Rosie. If he could dress in a hurry, she might have less to say.
   "Oh, there you are, you good-for-nothing! "
   He froze to a halt.
   "Look at you!" she screamed shrilly. "Filthy—you stink from fish!"
   "I didn't catch anything, darling," he protested timidly.
   "You stink anyhow. Go take a bath, may you drown in it! Get dressed in two minutes or les
and entertain the boy when he gets here. Hurry!"
   He locked himself in, happy to escape her voice, started the water in the tub, and stripped fro
the waist up. A hot bath, he hoped, would rid him of his depressed feeling.
   First, no fish; now, rain on week ends! What would Esther say—if she knew, of course. An
of course, he would not tell her.
   "Let myself in for a lifetime of curses!" he sneered. "Ha!"
   He clamped a new blade into his razor, opened the tube of shaving cream, and star
objectively at the mirror. The dominant feature of the soft, chubby face that stared back was
ugly black stubble; but he set his stubborn chin and glowered. He really looked quite fierce an
indomitable. Un-fortunately, Esther never saw his face in that uncharacteristic pose, otherwise s
would speak more softly.
   "
    Herman Greenberg never gives in!" he whispered between savagely hardened lips. "Rain o
week ends, no fish—any-thing he wants; a lot I care! Believe me, he'll come crawling to me befo
I go to him."
    He gradually became aware, that his shaving brush was not getting wet. When he looked dow
and saw the water divid-ing into streams that flowed around it, his determined face slipped an
grew desperately anxious. He tried to trap the water—by catching it in his cupped hands, b
creeping up on it from behind, as if it were some shy animal, and shoving his brush at it—but
broke and ran away from his touch. Then he jammed his palm against the faucet. Defeated,
heard it gurgle back down the pipe, probably as far as the main.
    "What do I do now?" he groaned. "Will Esther give it to me if I don't take a shave! But how?
. I can't shave without water."
    Glumly, he shut off the bath, undressed and stepped into the tub. He lay down to soak. It too
a moment of horrified stupor to realize that he was completely dry and that he lay in a waterle
bathtub. The water, in one surge of revulsion, had swept out onto the floor.
    "Herman, stop splashing!" his wife yelled. "I just washed that floor. If I find one little puddle I
murder you!"
    Greenberg surveyed the instep-deep pool over the bathroom floor. "Yes, my love," he croake
unhappily.
    With an inadequate washrag he chased the elusive water, hoping to mop it all up before it cou
seep through to the apartment below. His washrag remained dry, however, and he knew that t
ceiling underneath was dripping. The water was still on the floor.
    In despair, he sat on the edge of the bathtub. For some time he sat in silence. Then his wi
banged on the door, urg-ing him to come out. He started and dressed moodily.
    When he sneaked out and shut the bathroom door tightly on the flood inside, he was extreme
dirty and his face was raw where he had experimentally attempted to shave with a dry razor.
    "Rosie!" he called in a hoarse whisper. "Sh! Where's mamma?"
    His daughter sat on the studio couch and applied nail-pol-ish to her stubby fingers. "You loo
terrible," she said in a conversational tone. "Aren't you going to shave?"
    He recoiled at the sound of her voice, which, to him, roared out like a siren. "Quiet, Rosie! Sh
And for further emphasis, he shoved his lips out against a warning finger. He heard his wi
striding heavily around the kitchen. "Rosie," he cooed, "I'll give you a dollar if you'll mop up t
water I spilled in the bathroom."
    "I can't papa," she stated firmly. "I'm all dressed."
    "Two dollars, Rosie—all right, two and a half, you blackmailer."
    He flinched when he heard her gasp in the bathroom; but, when she came out with soake
shoes, he fled downstairs. He wandered aimlessly toward the village.
    Now he was in for it, he thought; screams from Esther, tears from Rosie—plus a new pair
shoes for Rosie and two and a half dollars. It would be worse, though, if he could not get rid
his whiskers.
    Rubbing the tender spots where his dry razor had raked his face, he mused blankly at
drugstore window. He saw nothing to help him, but he went inside anyhow and stood hopefully
the drug counter. A face peered at him through a space scratched in the wall case mirror, and t
druggist came out. A nice-looking, intelligent fellow, Greenberg saw at a glance.
    "What you got for shaving that I can use without water?" he asked.
    "Skin irritation, eh?" the pharmacist replied. "I got something very good for that."
    "No. It's just— Well, I don't like to shave with water."
    The druggist seemed disappointed. "Well, I got brushless shaving cream." Then he brightene
"But I got an electric razor—much better."
   "How much?" Greenberg asked cautiously.
   "Only fifteen dollars, and it lasts a lifetime."
   "Give me the shaving cream," Greenberg said coldly.
   With the tactical science of a military expert, he walked around until some time after dark. On
then did he go back to the hotel, to wait outside. It was after seven, he was getting hungry, and t
people who entered the hotel he knew as permanent summer guests. At last a stranger passed hi
and ran up the stairs.
   Greenberg hesitated for a moment. The stranger was scarcely a boy, as Esther had definite
termed him, but Greenberg reasoned that her term was merely wish-ful-fillment, and he jauntily r
up behind him.
   He allowed a few minutes to pass, for the man to introduce himself and let Esther and Ros
don their company manners. Then, secure in the knowledge that there would be no scene until t
guest left, he entered.
   He waded through a hostile atmosphere, urbanely shook hands with Sammie Katz, who was
doctor—probably, Greenberg thought shrewdly, in search of an office—and excused himself.
   In the bathroom he carefully read the direction for using brushless shaving cream. He felt le
confident when he real-ized that he had to wash his face thoroughly with soap and water, b
without benefit of either, he spread the cream on, patted it, and waited for his beard to soften.
did not, as he discovered while shaving. He wiped his face dry. The towel was sticky and blac
with whiskers suspended in paste, and, for that; he knew, there would be more hell to pay. H
shrugged resignedly. He would have to spend fifteen dollars for an electric razor after all; th
foolishness was costing him a fortune!
   That they were waiting for him before beginning supper, was, he knew, only a gesture for t
sake of company. Without changing her hard, brilliant smile, Esther whispered: "Wait! I'll get yo
later—"
   He smiled back, his tortured, slashed face creasing painfully. All that could be changed by h
being enormously pleasant to Rosie's young man. If he could slip Sammie a few dollars—mo
expense, he groaned—to take Rosie out, Es-ther would forgive everything.
   He was too engaged in beaming and putting Sammie at ease to think of what would happ
after he ate caviar canapes. Under other circumstances Greenberg would have been repulsed b
Sammie's ultra-professional waxed mustache—an offensively small, pointed thing—and h
com-mercial attitude toward poor Rosie; but Greenberg regarded him as a potential savior.
   "You open an office yet, Doctor Katz?"
   "Not yet. You know how things are. Anyhow, call me Sammie."
   Greenberg recognized the gambit with satisfaction, since it seemed to please Esther so muc
At one stroke Sammie had ingratiated himself and begun bargaining negotiations.
   Without another word, Greenberg lifted his spoon to attack the soup. It would be easy to sna
this eager doctor. A doc-tor! No wonder Esther and Rosie were so puffed with joy.
   In the proper company way, he pushed his spoon away from him. The soup spilled onto t
tablecloth.
   "Not so hard, you dope," Esther hissed.
   He drew the spoon toward him. The soup leaped off it like a live thing and splashed ov
him—turning, just before contact, to fall on the floor. He gulped and pushed the bowl away. Th
time the soup poured over the side of the plate and lay in a huge puddle on the table.
   "I didn't want any soup anyhow," he said in a horrible attempt at levity. Lucky for him,
thought wildly, that Sam-mie was there to pacify Esther with his smooth college talk—not a ba
fellow, Sammie, in spite of his mustache; he'd come in handy at times.
   Greenberg lapsed into a paralysis of fear. He was thirsty after having eaten the caviar, whi
beats herring any time as a thirst raiser. But the knowledge that he could not touch water witho
having it recoil and perhaps spill, made his thirst a monumental craving. He attacked the proble
cunningly.
   The others were talking rapidly and rather hysterically. He waited until his courage was equal
his thirst; then he leaned over the table with a glass in his hand. "Sammie, do you mind—a lit
water, huh?"
   Sammie poured from a pitcher while Esther watched for more of his tricks. It was to
expected, but still he was shocked when the water exploded out of the glass directly at Sammie
only suit.
   "If you'll excuse me," Sammie said angrily, "I don't like to eat with lunatics."
   And he left, though Esther cried and begged him to stay. Rosie was too stunned to move. B
when the door closed, Greenberg raised his agonized eyes to watch his wife stalk murderous
toward him.

   Greenberg stood on the boardwalk outside his concession and glared blearily at the peacefu
blue, highly unpleasant ocean. He wondered what would happen if he started at the edge of t
water and strode out. He could probably walk right to Europe on dry land.
   It was early—much too early for business—and he was tired. Neither he nor Esther had slep
and it was practically certain that the neighbors hadn't either. But above all he was incredib
thirsty.
   In a spirit of experimentation, he mixed a soda. Of course its high water content made it slo
onto the floor. For breakfast he had surreptitiously tried fruit juice and coffee, without success.
   With his tongue dry to the point of furriness, he sat weakly on a boardwalk bench in front of h
concession. It was Friday morning, which meant that the day was clear with a promise of inten
heat. Had it been Saturday, it naturally would have been raining.
   "This year," he moaned, "I'll be wiped out. If I can't mix sodas, why should beer stay in a gla
for me? I thought I could hire a boy for ten dollars a week to run the hot-dog griddle; I cou
make sodas, and Esther could draw beer; but twenty or maybe twenty-five a week I got to pay
sodaman. I won't even come out square—a fortune I'll lose!"
   The situation really was desperate. Concessions depend on too many factors to be anything b
capriciously profitable.
   His throat was fiery and his soft brown eyes held a fierce glaze when the gas and electric we
turned on, the beer pipes connected, the tank of carbon dioxide hitched to the pump, and t
refrigerator started.
   Gradually, the beach was filling with bathers. Greenberg writhed on his bench and envied them
They could swim and drink without having liquids draw away from them as if in horror. Th
were not thirsty.
   And then he saw his first customers approach. His business experience was that mornin
customers buy only soft drinks. In a mad haste he put up the shutters and fled to the hotel.
   "Esther!" he cried. "I got to tell you! I can't stand it—"
   Threateningly, his wife held her broom like a baseball bat. "Go back to the concession, yo
crazy fool. Ain't you done enough already?"
   He could not be hurt more than he had been. For once he did not cringe. "You got to help m
Esther."
   "Why didn't you shave, you no-good bum? Is that any way—"
   "That's what I got to tell you. Yesterday I got into an ar-gument with a water gnome—"
   "A what?" Esther looked at him suspiciously.
   "A water gnome," he babbled in a rush of words. "A little man so high, with big ears that
swims with, and he makes it rain—"
   "Herman!" she screamed. "Stop that nonsense. You're crazy!"
   Greenberg pounded his forehead with his fist. "I ain't crazy. Look, Esther. Come with me in
the kitchen."
   She followed him readily enough, but her attitude made him feel more helpless and alone th
ever. With her fists on her plump hips and her feet set wide, she cautiously watched him try to f
a glass of water.
   "Don't you see?" he wailed. "It won't go in the glass. It spills over. It runs away from me."
   She was puzzled. "What happened to you?"
   Brokenly, Greenberg told of his encounter with the water gnome, leaving out no sing
degrading detail. "And now I can't touch water," he ended. "I can't drink it. I can't make soda
On top of it all, I got such a thirst, it's killing me."
   Esther's reaction was instantaneous. She threw her arms around him, drew his head down to h
shoulder, and patted him comfortingly as if he were a child. "Herman, my poor Herman!" s
breathed tenderly. "What did we ever do to deserve such a curse?"
   "What shall I do, Esther?" he cried helplessly.
   She held him at arm's length. "You got to go to a doctor," she said firmly. "How long can yo
go without drinking? Without water you'll die. Maybe sometimes I am a little hard on you, but yo
know I love you—"
   "I know, mamma," he sighed. "But how can a doctor help me?"
   "Am I a doctor that I should know? Go anyhow. What can you lose?"
   He hesitated. "I need fifteen dollars for an electric razor," he said in a low, weak voice.
   "So?" she replied. "If you got to, you got to. Go, darling. I'll take care of the concession."
   Greenberg no longer felt deserted and alone. He walked almost confidently to a doctor's offic
Manfully, he explained his symptoms. The doctor listened with professional sympathy, un
Greenberg reached his description of the water gnome.
   Then his eyes glittered and narrowed. "I know just the thing for you, Mr. Greenberg,"
interrupted. "Sit there until I come back."
   Greenberg sat quietly. He even permitted himself a surge of hope. But it seemed only a mome
later that he was vaguely conscious of a siren screaming toward him; and then he w
overwhelmed by the doctor and two internes who pounced on him and tried to squeeze him into
bag.
   He resisted, of course. He was terrified enough to punch wildly. "What are you doing to me
he shrieked. "Don't put that thing on met"
   "Easy now," the doctor soothed. "Everything will be all right. "
   It was on that humiliating scene that the policeman, re-quired by law to accompany publ
ambulances, appeared. "What's up?" he asked.
   "Don't stand there, you fathead," an interne shouted. "This man's crazy. Help us get him in
this strait jacket."
   But the policeman approached indecisively. "Take it easy, Mr. Greenberg. They ain't gonna hu
you while I'm here. 'What's it all about?"
    "Mike!" Greenberg cried, and clung to his protector's sleeve. "They think I'm crazy— "
    "Of course he's crazy," the doctor stated. "He came in here with a fantastic yarn about a wat
gnome putting a curse on him."
    "What kind of a curse, Mr. Greenberg?" Mike asked cau-tiously.
    "I got into an argument with the water gnome who makes it rain and takes care of the fish
Greenberg blurted. "I tore up his hat. Now he won't let water touch me. I can't drink,
anything—"
    The doctor nodded. "There you are. Absolutely insane."
    "Shut up." For a long moment Mike stared curiously at Greenberg. Then: "Did any of yo
scientists think of testing him? Here, Mr. Greenberg." He poured water into a paper cup and he
it out.
    Greenberg moved to take it. The water backed up against the cup's far lip; when he took it
his hand, the water shot out into the air.
    "Crazy, is he?" Mike asked with heavy irony. "I guess you don't know there's things li
gnomes and elves. Come with me, Mr. Greenberg."
    They went out together and walked toward the boardwalk. Greenberg told Mike the entire sto
and explained how, besides being so uncomfortable to him personally, it would ruin hi
financially.
    "Well, doctors can't help you," Mike said at length. "What do they know about the Little Fol
And I can't say I blame you for sassing the gnome. You ain't Irish or you'd have spoke with mo
respect to him. Anyhow, you're thirsty. Can't you drink anything?"
    "Not a thing," Greenberg said mournfully.
    They entered the concession. A single glance told Greenberg that business was very quiet, b
even that could not lower his feelings more than they already were. Esther clutched him as soon
she saw them.
    "Well?" she asked anxiously.
    Greenberg shrugged in despair. "Nothing. He thought I was crazy."
    Mike stared at the bar. Memory seemed to struggle behind his reflective eyes. "Sure," he sa
after a long pause. "Did you try beer, Mr. Greenberg? When I was a boy my old mother told m
all about elves and gnomes and the rest of the Little Folk. She knew them, all right. They don
touch alcohol, you know. Try drawing a glass of beer—"
    Greenberg trudged obediently behind the bar and held a glass under the spigot. Suddenly h
despondent face brightened. Beer creamed into the glass—and stayed there! Mike and Esth
grinned at each other as Greenberg threw back his head and furiously drank.
    "Mike!" he crowed. "I'm saved. You got to drink with me!"
    "Well—" Mike protested feebly.
    By late afternoon, Esther had to close the concession and take her husband and Mike to t
hotel.
    The following day, being Saturday, brought a flood of rain. Greenberg nursed an imposin
hangover that was constantly aggravated by his having to drink beer in order to satisfy h
recurring thirst. He thought of forbidden icebags and alkaline drinks in an agony of longing.
    "I can't stand it!" he groaned. "Beer for breakfast—phooey!"
    "It's better than nothing, " Esther said fatalistically.
    "So help me, I don't know if it is. But, darling, you ain't mad at me on account of Sammie, a
you? "
    She smiled gently, "Poo! Talk dowry and he'll come back quick."
  "That's what I thought. But what am I going to do about my curse?"

   Cheerfully, Mike furled an umbrella and strode in with a little old woman, whom he introduc
as his mother. Greenberg enviously saw evidence of the effectiveness of icebags and alkali
drinks, for Mike had been just as high as he the day before.
   "Mike told me about you and the gnome," the old lady said. "Now I know the Little Folk we
and I don't hold you to blame for insulting him, seeing you never met a gnome before. But
suppose you want to get rid of your curse. Are you repentant?"
   Greenberg shuddered. "Beer for breakfast! Can you ask?" "Well, just you go to this lake an
give the gnome proof." "What kind of proof?" Greenberg asked eagerly.
   "Bring him sugar. The Little Folk love the stuff—"
   Greenberg beamed. "Did you hear that, Esther? I'll get a barrel—"
   "They love sugar, but they can't eat it," the old lady broke in. "It melts in water. You got
figure out a way so it won't. Then the little gentleman'll know you're repentant for real."
   There was a sympathetic silence while his agitated mind attacked the problem from all angle
Then the old lady said in awe: "The minute I saw your place I knew Mike had told the truth.
never seen a sight like it in my life—rain coming down, like the flood, everywhere else; but
around this place, in a big circle, it's dry as a bone!"
   While Greenberg scarcely heard her, Mike nodded and Es-ther seemed peculiarly interested
the phenomenon. When he admitted defeat and came out of his reflected stupor, he was alone
the concession, with only a vague memory of Esther's saying she would not be back for sever
hours.
   "What am I going to do?" he muttered. "Sugar that won't melt—" He drew a glass of beer an
drank it thoughtfully. "Particular they got to be yet. Ain't it good enough if I bring simp
sirup—that's sweet."
   He pottered about the place, looking for something to do. He could not polish the fountain o
the bar, and the few frankfurters boiling on the griddle probably would go to waste. The floor h
already been swept. So he sat uneasily and worried his problem.
   "Monday, no matter what," he resolved, "I'll go to the lake. It don't pay to go tomorrow. I
only catch a cold because it'll rain."
   At last Esther returned, smiling in a strange way. She was extremely gentle, tender an
thoughtful; and for that he was appreciative. But that night and all day Sunday he under-stood t
reason for her happiness.
   She had spread word that, while it rained in every other place all over town, their concessio
was miraculously dry. So, besides a headache that made his body throb in rhythm to its va
pulse, Greenberg had to work like six men satisfying the crowd who mobbed the place to see t
miracle and enjoy the dry warmth.
   How much they took in will never be known. Greenberg made it a practice not to discuss suc
personal matters. But it is quite definite that not even in 1929 had he done so well over a sing
week end.

   Very early Monday morning he was dressing quietly, not to disturb his wife. Esther, howeve
raised herself on her elbow and looked at him doubtfully.
   "Herman," she called softly, "do you really have to go?" He turned, puzzled. "What do yo
mean—do I have to go?"
   "Well—" She hesitated. Then: "Couldn't you wait until the end of the season, Herman, darling
   He staggered back a step, his face working in horror. "What kind of an idea is that for my ow
wife to have?" he croaked. "Beer I have to drink instead of water. How can I stand it? Do yo
think I like beer? I can't wash myself. Already people don't like to stand near me; and how w
they act at the end of the season? I go around looking like a bum because my beard is too toug
for an electric razor, and I'm all the time drunk—the first Greenberg to be a drunkard. I want to
respected—"
   "I know, Herman, darling," she sighed. "But I thought for the sake of our Rosie— Such
business we've never done like we did this week end. If it rains every Saturday and Sunday, b
not on our concession, we'll make a fortune!"
   "Esther!" Herman cried, shocked. "Doesn't my health mean anything?"
   "Of course, darling. Only I thought maybe you could stand it for—"
   He snatched his hat, tie, and jacket, and slammed the door. Outside, though, he stoo
indeterminedly. He could hear his wife crying, and he realized that, if he succeeded in getting t
gnome to remove the curse, he would forfeit an oppor-tunity to make a great deal of money.
   He finished dressing more slowly. Esther was right, to a certain extent. If he could tolerate h
waterless condition
   "No!" he gritted decisively. "Already my friends avoid me. It isn't right that a respectable m
like me should always be drunk and not take a bath. So we'll make less money. Money is
everything—"
   And with great determination he went to the lake.
   But that evening, before going home, Mike walked out of his way to stop in at the concessio
He found Greenberg sit-ting on a chair, his head in his hands, and his body rocking slowly
anguish.
   "What is it, Mr. Greenberg?" he asked gently.
   Greenberg looked up. His eyes were dazed. "Oh, you, Mike," he said blankly. Then his ga
cleared, grew more in-telligent, and he stood up and led Mike to the bar. Silently, they drank bee
"I went to the lake today," he said hollowly. "I walked all around it hollering like mad. The gnom
didn't stick his head out of the water once."
   "I know," Mike nodded sadly. "They're busy all the time."
   Greenberg spread his hands imploringly. "So what can I do? I can't write him a letter or sen
him a telegram; he ain't got a door to knock on or a bell for me to ring. How do I get him to com
up and talk?"
   His shoulders sagged. "Here, Mike. Have a cigar. You been a real good friend, but I gue
we're licked."
   They stood in an awkward silence. Finally Mike blurted: "Real hot, today. A regular scorcher.
   "Yeah. Esther says business was pretty good, if it keeps up."
   Mike fumbled at the Cellophane wrapper. Greenberg said: "Anyhow, suppose I did talk to t
gnome. What about the sugar?"
   The silence dragged itself out, became tense and uncom-fortable. Mike was distinct
embarrassed. His brusque nature was not adapted for comforting discouraged friends. Wi
im-mense concentration he rolled the cigar between his fingers and listened for a rustle.
   "Day like this's hell on cigars," he mumbled, for the sake of conversation. "Dries them li
nobody's business. This one ain't, though."
   "Yeah," Greenberg said abstractedly. "Cellophane keeps them—"
   They looked suddenly at each other, their faces clean of expression.
   "Holy smoke!" Mike yelled.
   "Cellophane on sugar!" Greenberg choked out.
   "Yeah," Mike whispered in awe. "I'll switch my day off with Joe, and I'll go to the lake with yo
tomorrow. I'll call for you early."
   Greenberg pressed his hand, too strangled by emotion for speech. When Esther came to relie
him, he left her at the concession with only the inexperienced griddle boy to assist her, while
searched the village for cubes of sugar wrapped in Cellophane.
   The sun had scarcely risen when Mike reached the hotel, but Greenberg had long been dresse
and stood on the porch waiting impatiently. Mike was genuinely anxious for his friend. Greenbe
staggered along toward the station, his eyes almost crossed with the pain of a terrific hangover.
   They stopped at a cafeteria for breakfast. Mike ordered orange juice, bacon and eggs, an
coffee half-and-half. When he heard the order, Greenberg had to gag down a lump in his throat.
   "What'll you have?" the counterman asked.
   Greenberg flushed. "Beer," he said hoarsely.
   "You kidding me?" Greenberg shook his head, unable to speak. "Want anything with it? Cere
pie, toast—"
   "Just beer." And he forced himself to swallow it. "So help me," he hissed at Mike, "anoth
beer for breakfast will kill me!"
   "I know how it is," Mike said around a mouthful of food.
   On the train they attempted to make plans. But they were faced by a phenomenon that neith
had encountered before, and so they got nowhere. They walked glumly to the lake, fully aware th
they would have to employ the empirical method of discarding tactics that did not work.
   "How about a boat?" Mike suggested.
   "It won't stay in the water with me in it. And you can't row it."
   "Well, what'll we do then?"
   Greenberg bit his lip and stared at the beautiful blue lake. There the gnome lived, so near
them. "Go through the woods along the shore, and holler like hell. I'll go the opposite way. We
pass each other and meet at the boathouse. If the gnome comes up, yell for me."
   "O. K.," Mike said, not very confidently.
   The lake was quite large and they walked slowly around it, pausing often to get the prop
stance for particularly em-phatic shouts. But two hours later, when they stood opposite each oth
with the full diameter of the lake between them, Greenberg heard Mike's hoarse voice: "He
gnome!"
   "Hey, gnome!" Greenberg yelled. "Come on up!"
   An hour later they crossed paths. They were tired, discour-aged, and their throats burned; an
only fishermen disturbed the lake's surface.
   "The hell with this," Mike said. "It ain't doing any good. Let's go back to the boathouse."
   "What'll we do?" Greenberg rasped. "I can't give up!"
   They trudged back around the lake, shouting half-heart-edly. At the boathouse, Greenberg h
to admit that he was beaten. The boathouse owner marched threateningly toward him.
   "Why don't you maniacs get away from here?" he barked. "What's the idea of hollering an
scaring away the fish? The guys are sore—"
   "We're not going to holler any more," Greenberg said. "It's no use."
   When they bought beer and Mike, on an impulse, hired a boat, the owner cooled off wi
amazing rapidity, and went off to unpack bait.
   "What did you get a boat for?" Greenberg asked. "I can't ride in it."
   "You're not going to. You're gonna walk."
   "Around the lake again?" Greenberg cried.
   "Nope. Look, Mr. Greenberg. Maybe the gnome can't hear us through all that water. Gnom
ain't hardhearted. If he heard us and thought you were sorry, he'd take his curse off you in a jiffy
   "Maybe." Greenberg was not convinced. "So where do I come in?"
   "The way I figure it, some way or other you push water away, but the water pushes you aw
just as hard. Anyhow, I hope so. If it does, you can walk on the lake." As he spoke, Mike h
been lifting large stones and dumping them on the bottom of the boat. "Give me a hand wi
these."
   Any activity, however useless, was better than none, Greenberg felt. He helped Mike fill t
boat until just the gunwales were above water. Then Mike got in and shoved off.
   "Come on," Mike said. "Try to walk on the water."
   Greenberg hesitated. "Suppose I can't?"
   "Nothing'll happen to you. You can't get wet; so you won't drown."
   The logic of Mike's statement reassured Greenberg. He stepped out boldly. He experienced
peculiar sense of ac-complishment when the water hastily retreated under his feet into pressu
bowls, and an unseen, powerful force buoyed him upright across the lake's surface. Though h
footing was not too secure, with care he was able to walk quite swiftly.
   "Now what?" he asked, almost happily.
   Mike had kept pace with him in the boat. He shipped his oars and passed Greenberg a roc
"We'll drop them all over the lake—make it damned noisy down there and upset the place. Tha
get him up."
   They were more hopeful now, and their comments, "Here's one that'll wake him," and "I'll h
him right on the noodle with this one," served to cheer them still further. And less than half t
rocks had been dropped when Greenberg halted, a boulder in his hands. Something inside hi
wrapped itself tightly around his heart and his jaw dropped.
   Mike followed his awed, joyful gaze. To himself, Mike had to admit that the gnome, propellin
himself through the water with his ears, arms folded in tremendous dignity, was a funny sight.
   "Must you drop rocks and disturb us at our work?" the gnome asked.
   Greenberg gulped. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gnome," he said ner-vously. "I couldn't get you to come u
by yelling."
   The gnome looked at him. "Oh. You are the mortal who was disciplined. Why did you return?
   "To tell you that I'm sorry, and I won't insult you again." "Have you proof of your sincerity
the gnome asked qui-etly.
   Greenberg fished furiously in his pocket and brought out a handful of sugar wrapped
Cellophane, which he trem-blingly handed to the gnome.
   "Ah, very clever, indeed," the little man said, unwrapping a cube and popping it eagerly into h
mouth. "Long time since I've had some."
   A moment later Greenberg spluttered and floundered un-der the surface. Even if Mike had n
caught his jacket and helped him up, he could almost have enjoyed the sensation of being able
drown.