By His Bootstraps
By Robert A.
Heinlein
First publication (pseudonym Anson MacDonald): Astounding Science Fiction
(October 1941)
Bob Wilson did not see the circle grow.
Nor, for that matter, did he see the stranger who stepped out of the circle and
stood...
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By His Bootstraps
By Robert A.
Heinlein
First publication (pseudonym Anson MacDonald): Astounding Science Fiction
(October 1941)
Bob Wilson did not see the circle grow.
Nor, for that matter, did he see the stranger who stepped out of the circle and
stood staring at the back of Wilson s neck-stared, and breathed heavily, as if
laboring under strong and unusual emotion.
Wilson had no reason to suspect that anyone else was in his room; he had every
reason to expect the contrary.
He had locked himself in his room for the purpose of
completing his thesis in one sustained drive.
He had to-tomorrow was the last day
for submission, yesterday the thesis had been no more than a title: "An
Investigation Into Certain Mathematical Aspects of a Rigor of Metaphysics.
"
Fifty-two cigarettes, four pots of coffee and thirteen hours of continuous work had
added seven thousand words to the title.
As to the validity of his thesis he was far
too groggy to give a damn.
Get it done, was his only though
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