Others came in from the fields, drawn
by the sound. They, too, came up and squatted, until there was a
semicircle of them. The tank took a long time to fill; until it did,
they all sat immobile and fascinated. Even after it stopped, many
remained, hoping that it would start again. Paul Meillard began
wondering, a trifle uneasily, if that would happen every time
the pump went on.
"They get a positive pleasure from it. It affects them the same way
Luis' voice does."
"Mean I have a voice like a pump?" Gofredo demanded.
"Well, I'm going to find out," Ayesha Keithley said. "The next time
that starts, I'm going to make a recording, and compare it with your
voice-recording. I'll give five to one there'll be a similarity."
Questell got the foundation for the sonics lab dug, and began
pouring concrete. That took water, and the pump ran continuously
that afternoon. Concrete-mixing took more water the next day, and
by noon the whole village population, down to the smallest child,
was massed at the pumphouse, enthralled. Mom was snared by the sound
like any of the rest; only Sonny was unaffected.
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