‘It dodged. So help me, mister. When I put my hand out to stop it, it dodged out of the way so I couldn’t catch it. As if it knew I was trying to catch it, see, and it didn’t want to be caught. So it dodged out of the way and went around me and down the street as fast as it could go, picking up speed as it went. And when it got to the corner, it turned the corner as slick as you please and — ‘
‘What’s your address?’ asked Crane.
‘My address? Say, what do you want my address for? I was telling you about this sewing machine. I called you up to give you a story and you keep interrupting — ‘
‘I’ve got to have your address,’ Crane told him, ‘if I’m going to write the story.’
‘Oh, all right then, if that’s the way it is. I live at 203 North Hampton and I work at Axel Machines. Run a lathe, you know. And I haven’t had a drink in weeks. I’m cold sober now.’
‘All right,’ said Crane. ‘Go ahead and tell me.’
‘Well, there isn’t much else to tell. Only when this machine went past me I had the funny feeling that it was watching me. Out of the corner of its eyes, kind of. And how is a sewing machine going to watch you? A sewing machine hasn’t got any eyes and …’
‘What made you think it was watching you?’
‘I don’t know, mister. Just a feeling. Like my skin was trying to roll up my back.’
‘Mr Smith,’ asked Crane, ‘have you ever seen a thing like this before? Say, a washing machine, or something else?’