With the United States on the verge of atomic war with the Communists, a handsome, naked
man—let’s call him John Smith—walks out of the ocean with a bag full of money and,
according to eyewitnesses, a mind to buy the Mona Lisa and a long list of other masterpieces.
Then he began writing titles. I’m afraid I gasped. “Really,” I said. “You can’t
actually expect to buy the ‘Mona Lisa’!”
DEBUT
“The Past Master,” in Bluebook,January 1955.
VARIANTS
Debut. “The Past Master,” in Bluebook,January 1955.
Then he began writing titles. I’m afraid I gasped. “Really,” I said. “You can’t
actually expect to buy the ‘Mona Lisa’!”
1 English variant