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                            Pretty Quadroon

                          BY CHARLES FONTENAY

           _Once a man has chosen a path to follow, there's
             no turning back. But what if the die could be
             recast and we could retrace our steps when we
             chose the wrong one ... and choose another?_

           [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
               Worlds of If Science Fiction, June 1957.
         Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
         the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]


General Beauregard Courtney sat in his staff car atop a slight rise and
watched the slow, meshing movement of his troops on the plains south
of Tullahoma, Tennessee. Clouds of dust drifted westward in the lazy
summer air, and the dull boom of enemy artillery sounded from the north.

"You damn black coon," he s