Mimsy's Joke

By MILLARD GRIMES
Nance smiled foolishly. The long trip back to Earth from Mars wouldn't be at all dull. It might well be one long delicious chuckle over a great, grim and incredible joke. And wouldn't Nance's little cocker spaniel appreciate it most of all?
He was lying in the grass and his cute little cocker spaniel was nibbling on his ear when the message came. He was breathing the fragrant air of spring and feeling cool spring breeze and the solid earth under the grass beneath him, while the dog with doleful eyes delighted him with her tricks.
His name was Oscar Nance, and he was the world's top archaeologist. That was why the message came to him when the UN began selecting a crew for Earth's first expedition to Mars.
We want you, the message read. It was an invitation that was difficult to refuse. He cuffed the cocker on the ear. She barked softly and let her tongue hang out at the cutest angle. Good-bye, Mimsy, he said. The dog was all he had on this world. I'll miss you, lady, Nance told the dog. She licked his hand.
Then Nance raised his six-three form from the soft grass and started with a careless gait toward the boarding house where he lived during infrequent visits to his home town. Usually he took Mimsy with him on his trips but he knew this trip would not be available for pets.
He stopped at the house and told his landlady to be sure and take care of the dog while he was gone. I sure will, the landlady told him. She already had Mimsy's supper of liver and dog biscuits waiting on the hearth.
A day later, Oscar Nance became a part of man's grandest adventure....
The place where the first earth ship to Mars landed was very cold and very dead. The commander of the expedition was a gruff, retired Army general who had a smattering of science and a great deal of command. His crew, with the exception of two handy men, was composed of the leading persons in all branches of Terran science. None of them were women, and most of them were young.