Latest / A Drop in Infinity / Ye of Little Faith-Rog Phillips

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Ye of Little Faith-Rog Phillips · A Drop in Infinity

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  Speaker 1: Part one of Ye of Little Faith by rog Phillips.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Ben Tucker. Ye of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Little Faith by rog Phillips, Part one. The disappearance of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: John Henderson was most spectacular. It occurred while he was
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  Speaker 1: at the blackboard working an example in multiple integration for
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  Speaker 1: his ten o'clock class. The incompleted problem remained on the
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  Speaker 1: board for three days while the police worked on the case.
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  Speaker 1: It A wristwatch and a Sterling silver monogrammed belt buckle
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  Speaker 1: lying on the floor near where he had stood were
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  Speaker 1: all the physical evidence they had to go on. There
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: was plenty of eye witness evidence. The class consisted of
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  Speaker 1: forty three pupils. They all had their eyes on him
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  Speaker 1: in varying degrees of attention when it happened. Their accounts
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  Speaker 1: of what happened all agreed in important details, even as
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  Speaker 1: to what he had been saying. In the reports that
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  Speaker 1: went into the police files, he was quoted with a
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  Speaker 1: high degree of certainty as having said integration always brings
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  Speaker 1: into the picture a constant which was not present. This
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  Speaker 1: constant of integration is innocence a variable, but a different
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  Speaker 1: type of variable than the mathematical unknown. It might be
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  Speaker 1: said to be a logical variable. The students were in
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  Speaker 1: unanimous agreement, and at this point doctor Henderson came to
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  Speaker 1: an abrupt stop in his lecture. Suddenly, an expression of
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  Speaker 1: surprise appeared on his face. It was succeeded by an
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  Speaker 1: exclamation of triumph, and he simply vanished from the spot.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't fade away, rise, drop into the floor, or
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  Speaker 1: take any time in vanishing. He simply stopped being there.
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  Speaker 1: The police searched his room in the nearby Vanderbilt Arms Hotel.
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  Speaker 1: They turned a portrait of the missing math professor to
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  Speaker 1: the newspapers to publish. Arbright University offered a reward of
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  Speaker 1: one hundred dollars to anyone who had seen him. The
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  Speaker 1: police also found a savings pass book in his room.
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  Speaker 1: It had a balance of three thousand, eight hundred month
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  Speaker 1: forty dollars, which had been built up to that figure
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  Speaker 1: by steady monthly deposits over a period of years. It
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  Speaker 1: also had a withdrawal of three hundred and twenty dollars.
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  Speaker 1: Two days before the disappearance, they were sure they were
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  Speaker 1: on the path to a motive. This avenue of exploration
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  Speaker 1: came to an abrupt end with the discovery that he
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  Speaker 1: had traded in his last year's car on a new one,
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  Speaker 1: and that sum had been necessary to complete the deal.
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  Speaker 1: After the third day, the blackboard had been erased and
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  Speaker 1: the class room released for its regular classes. Police enthusiasm
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  Speaker 1: dropped to the norm of what they called legwork, finding
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  Speaker 1: out who the missing man's acquaintances and friends were, calling
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  Speaker 1: on them and talking to them in hopes of picking
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  Speaker 1: up something they could go on. They passed Martin Grant
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  Speaker 1: by because they had heard from him in their initial work.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, he had been a little too present for
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  Speaker 1: their tastes. After ten days, they dropped a case from
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  Speaker 1: the active blotter. The university, seeing that there was little
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  Speaker 1: likelihood of having to shell out the reward money, increased
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  Speaker 1: it to five hundred dollars. Martin Grant continued to ponder
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: over a conversation he himself had had with John Henderson
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  Speaker 1: during a dinner six weeks to the day before his
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  Speaker 1: old friend had vanished. He remembered his own words, and
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: so you see John by Following this trail. I've arrived
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  Speaker 1: at a theory that has to do with the basic
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: nature of the universe, of all reality. Yet things don't
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  Speaker 1: behave as they would if my theory were operating. John
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  Speaker 1: Hinderson frowned into space, disturbed. Visibly disturbed. Martin watched him
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  Speaker 1: with a twinkle in his eyes. You must have gone
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  Speaker 1: off the track on it somewhere, martin, John said suddenly,
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  Speaker 1: as though trying more to convince himself than his listener.
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  Speaker 1: Martin shook his head with slow positiveness. You followed every step.
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  Speaker 1: We spent four hours on it. He took pity on
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  Speaker 1: his friend. Don't let it bother you. I regard it
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  Speaker 1: as just an intellectual curiosity. I've included it in my
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  Speaker 1: next book on that basis. A new voice broke in.
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  Speaker 1: What is it? Dad? When he are ten thousand words?
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  Speaker 1: Shaggy dog jokes This from Grant, sixteen, student in the
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  Speaker 1: senior grade at the Horton's Bartholomew High School and an
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  Speaker 1: only child of Martin. Grant a little more respect towards
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  Speaker 1: your father, Martin said, with much sternness. Yes, father, it
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  Speaker 1: was my theory. John Henderson said, But Martin, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know what to think now, of course, there must be
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  Speaker 1: some fallacy that I've missed the way things stand, though,
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  Speaker 1: I he chuckled uncomfortably, I begin to doubt myself. I
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  Speaker 1: can't quite classify it as an intellectual curiosity. What else
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  Speaker 1: can you do with it? Martin said, I know your trouble.
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  Speaker 1: It's a common one. You have a tendency to believe
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  Speaker 1: things or disbelieve them. Now you've been presented with something
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  Speaker 1: your intellect demands that you believe while your experience shouts lie.
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  Speaker 1: Is spread able to understand it? John asked, smiling at
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  Speaker 1: the youngster with fond and unconscious condescension. Not yet, Brett smiled,
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  Speaker 1: I'm still in high school, and if you don't want
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  Speaker 1: to flunk out, you'd better be off to bed at once,
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  Speaker 1: Martin told him, yes, father, good night, Doctor Henderson. Fred's
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  Speaker 1: departure left a vacuum in the conversation that took a
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  Speaker 1: minute to phil John Henderson frowned himself back to where
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  Speaker 1: he had been before the boy had arrived. When he
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  Speaker 1: got there, he frowned even more because it was a
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  Speaker 1: state of mental confusion that seemed to have no way
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  Speaker 1: of being resolved. Maybe we can get at it this way,
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  Speaker 1: he said, let's postulate that your theory is the only
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  Speaker 1: logical basis on which reality can rest. B quite obviously
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: reality does not rest on this basis. We could make
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  Speaker 1: c therefore that reality doesn't rest on a logical basis,
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't seem to satisfy me. Maybe see he
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  Speaker 1: could be No. He glanced at his watch, lifted his eyebrows,
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  Speaker 1: and stood up. I really didn't know it was so late.
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  Speaker 1: I'll have to be going, Martin an eight o'clock lecture
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  Speaker 1: in the morning. Martin made a wry face. You've awakened
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  Speaker 1: my own conscience. I have an hour or two work
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  Speaker 1: yet before bedtime. The two men went to the front door.
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  Speaker 1: John said, thank your wife again for me wonderful dinner.
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  Speaker 1: You're lucky, Martin to have such a good cook. That
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  Speaker 1: had been six weeks before John Henderson vanished. Martin Grant
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  Speaker 1: mentioned this visit to Horace Smith, one of the teachers
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  Speaker 1: in his department, and got himself and his wife invited
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  Speaker 1: for dinner on the following Friday. Dinner over, the two
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  Speaker 1: professors retired to the library two and a half hours later.
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  Speaker 1: Horace had assimilated and grasped every detail of the theory.
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  Speaker 1: He then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes,
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  Speaker 1: fingertips to temples, trying to find some flaw. Finally, he
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  Speaker 1: shook his head. It's no use, he said. Your theory
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  Speaker 1: is logically inescapable. But he frowned. Where does this place us?
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  Speaker 1: Probably where some schools of thought have always expected we
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  Speaker 1: would wind up eventually with the realization that the basic
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  Speaker 1: laws of the universe can't be reached by logic or
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  Speaker 1: even by experiment based on logic. I wouldn't say that,
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  Speaker 1: Martin objected. My theory is an intellectual curiosity, that's all.
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  Speaker 1: That's the way I present it in my latest book,
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  Speaker 1: By the way, it's coming out soon signed the contract
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  Speaker 1: a month ago. He pulled his thoughts back to the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: After all, one must hold on to the pragmatic approach
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  Speaker 1: to reality. Here is a theory that logic says must
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  Speaker 1: be the only possible way universe can be constructed and operate.
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  Speaker 1: It's beautiful and logically complete, but not applicable. No pragmatic value.
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  Speaker 1: Congratulations on the book, but damn it, Horace said, it
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  Speaker 1: attacks my most basic faith, logic reason faith, Martin echoed, amused, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps you're right. That's a word that's foreign to my thinking.
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  Speaker 1: Belief is so unnecessary. You don't mean that, but I do,
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  Speaker 1: Horace pondered, I can prove otherwise. You believe, as an example,
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  Speaker 1: that your wife is faithful to you. It was a
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  Speaker 1: statement rather than a question. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: I don't I act upon the greater probability that she is.
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  Speaker 1: I don't hire detectives to follow her, nor do I
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  Speaker 1: throw her into situations to test her faithfulness. I admit
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  Speaker 1: the possibility that she's unfaithful to me. If evidence came
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  Speaker 1: that she was, I might confront her with the evidence.
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  Speaker 1: Where does belief become necessary? Do you believe your son
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  Speaker 1: will become a success in life? Horace asked no. I've
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  Speaker 1: done everything I could think of to increase the probability
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  Speaker 1: that he will. One of the things I've done is
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  Speaker 1: to instill in him the realization that belief is unnecessary
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  Speaker 1: in thinking. Surely, as a scientist, you realize that nothing
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  Speaker 1: we use in science finds its value or validity from
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  Speaker 1: human belief. If tomorrow evidence were brought forth that trigonometry
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  Speaker 1: is based on fallacy, I'm sure that mathematicians would use
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  Speaker 1: that evidence to revise their entire field. But belief is instinctive,
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  Speaker 1: as instinctive as thought itself. I admit it's a natural
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  Speaker 1: way of thinking. It has to be weeded out. So
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  Speaker 1: you're sure you don't believe in anything, Horace said slightly.
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  Speaker 1: Such statements are verbal traps, Martin said, they mean nothing.
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  Speaker 1: You want me to imply that I believe. I believe nothing,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore I have at least one belief. But as
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  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, I've built up a sort of
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  Speaker 1: mental mechanism for discovering beliefs in my thinking and dispelling
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  Speaker 1: them by going to the roots and showing myself why
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  Speaker 1: I believed. Belief springs up in the mind like weeds
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  Speaker 1: in a garden. Constant weeding is the only solution. He
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  Speaker 1: glanced at his watch and frowned uneasily. Eleven o'clock. We'd
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  Speaker 1: better break this up and join the women. We'll have
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  Speaker 1: to get together again soon. By the way, do you
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  Speaker 1: or your wife play Canasta? My wife loves it. They
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  Speaker 1: had been moving toward the door. Now they entered the
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  Speaker 1: living room to find the two women playing the game.
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  Speaker 1: Time we were going, dear Martin said, And sometime soon
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  Speaker 1: make plans to have Horace and Ethel over for an
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  Speaker 1: evening of forehanded Canasta at the front door. Vows of
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  Speaker 1: an early reunion were repeated, but they were never to
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  Speaker 1: be fulfilled. On the following Tuesday, Horace vanished. This time
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  Speaker 1: there were no actual eye witnesses. The time was somewhere
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  Speaker 1: between seven and seven ten Tuesday morning. The place Horace
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  Speaker 1: Smith's bathroom. Ethel Smith was in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
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  Speaker 1: Horace was in the bathroom. He called out, Oval, I've
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  Speaker 1: got it, What have you got? But even as Ethel
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  Speaker 1: called out, she heard the sound of the electric razor
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  Speaker 1: falling to the tile floor, and there was no answer
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  Speaker 1: from the bathroom, nothing but silence, and, as she described
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  Speaker 1: it later, a feeling that she was alone in the
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  Speaker 1: house at the time. However, she wasn't alarmed. She half
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: expected some muttered profanity over the dropping of the razor.
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  Speaker 1: She didn't wait for it exactly. Instead, she picked up
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  Speaker 1: this spatula and expertly scooped the eggs onto their two
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  Speaker 1: plates and carried them to the breakfast nook. Next, she
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  Speaker 1: poured the coffee, then placing some bread in the toaster,
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  Speaker 1: she started back to the stove, calling come and get it.
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  Speaker 1: Horace at the stove. She started to pick up the
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  Speaker 1: aluminum dish containing the bacon. She paused and repeated her call, Horace.
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  Speaker 1: It wasn't until then that it occurred to her the
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  Speaker 1: falling of the razor might have been an ominous sound.
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  Speaker 1: Her mind filled with worried images, she rushed out of
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  Speaker 1: the kitchen into the hall leading to the bathroom. The
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  Speaker 1: door was locked, Horace. She called, are you all right?
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: When there was no answer, she pounded on the door, Horace,
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  Speaker 1: speak to me. After that, she ran outside and around
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  Speaker 1: to the bathroom window. It was shut and locked, as
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  Speaker 1: she already knew, not only that it had been stuck
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  Speaker 1: for years. With an urgency born of a realization that
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  Speaker 1: every second might mean the difference between life and death,
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  Speaker 1: she ran back into the house and called the fire department,
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  Speaker 1: also the family doctor. By nine thirty, the police had
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  Speaker 1: been called in. By eleven thirty, they had seen the
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  Speaker 1: parallel between this disappearance and that of John Henderson Martin.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Grant's first reaction was concerned for Ethel. His second reaction
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  Speaker 1: was that twice he had presented his theory to someone
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  Speaker 1: and that person had vanished. His third was accompanied by
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  Speaker 1: a twinge of fear. He had just finished presenting his
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: theory to the senior physics class. This was followed by
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  Speaker 1: an amazing realization. He was conceding that there might be
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  Speaker 1: a connection between his theory and the disappearances. He laughed
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: it off, but it returned. It disturbed him. It continued
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  Speaker 1: to bother him on Wednesday, so he began to search
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  Speaker 1: his mind for reasons. Eventually he found them. There was
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  Speaker 1: a distinct analogy between a theory that didn't agree with
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  Speaker 1: observable reality and a pair of disappearances which violated known
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: methods of disappearing. The analogy was so clear that he
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: began to feel there might be a functional relation between
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the two. Of course, he concluded it would be reasonably
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  Speaker 1: certain if a large number of the students and the
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  Speaker 1: senior group were to vanish. Also, this intellectual conclusion became
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  Speaker 1: an anxiety neurosis. So on Wednesday, after he had scanned
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the room anxiously to see how many students were absent,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: and discovered, to his intense relief, that they were all there,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: he spent the full hour lecturing on the necessity, the
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: vital necessity of unbelief in all things, especially scientific theories,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: but would it work? He vaguely remembered giving Horace a
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: similar lecture Wednesday night, just before retiring. He had another
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: disturbing thought. He had explained the theory to his son,
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  Speaker 1: but that had been weeks before, and Fred was steeped
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  Speaker 1: in the mechanism of unbelief. Good thing, or he might
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  Speaker 1: have been the first to disappear. What's the matter with you, Martin?
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  Speaker 1: Can't you even answer? When the rest of what his
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  Speaker 1: wife was saying faded in the startled realization that he
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: was eating debtor. Sorry, dear, he murmured, I was thinking.
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  Speaker 1: He was trying to recall something that might tell him
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: what day it was. It was obviously evening, or they
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be eating dinner. Ahm, he said, casually. What day
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: is today? Saturday? Fred said, Now, Fred, don't tease your
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: father about his absent mightdedness. This is Thursday, Thursday. That
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: was right. He had given the lecture on the necessity
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: of unbelief. Today. There was tomorrow when he could see
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: if any of the class had disappeared. Yet he couldn't
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: be certain. Of course, just because a student didn't show
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: up didn't mean he or she had vanished. He fixed
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: his eyes on Fred across the table and smiled. Fred
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: at least was a source of comfort. He knew the
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  Speaker 1: theory and hadn't vanished. Dad. Fred said, I've been wondering
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: if he saw a point of similarity in the two disappearances.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Martin thought, good, heavens, does he have any inkling of
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  Speaker 1: what I've been thinking. Of course not, he's just fumbling.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Better to discourage him. Uh, sorry, son, There aren't any
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  Speaker 1: similarities except accidental ones. I've had the confidence of the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: police on this. The cases are quite unrelated. Fred refused
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  Speaker 1: to be sidetrack. Doctor Henderson's face lit up, as though
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: a sudden idea had struck him. I talked with some
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: of his students. That's what they all thought, and Horace
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Smith shouted to his wife Ethel, I've got it. The
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: next instant in each case they vanished into thin air.
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean a thing in the privacy of
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: his study. Martin Grant allowed himself to become excited. Fred
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: had unwittingly come upon the vital clue to the two disappearances.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Let's be clear about this, he said to himself, drumming
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: on his desk nervously with his fingers. Undoubtedly, there's a
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: connection between the vanishing and my theory. Both Horace and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: John arrived at something I've missed, and since my theory
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: is exhaustive, it can't be there. It must be. Yes,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: it must be that they went a step further. He
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: pondered this a moment and added, grudgingly, a step I
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: have missed, Then, even more grudgingly, an obvious step. Automatically,
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: he opened a drawer and brought out a sheet of
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: paper and a pencil. He wrote, the theory contains within
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: itself the proof that the universe must, by logical necessity,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: be constructed according to said theory. But observation and experience
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: say this is not true. He frowned at what he
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: had written. This was the conclusion to which he had
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: led both men. It was the conclusion upon which he
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: had rested. They obviously had not rested there. They had
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: gone on under what he had written. He wrote either
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: on the left hand margin, two inches under it, he wrote,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: or Then he frowned at them. Suddenly he began writing
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: rapidly after the either the universe is not constructed according
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: to logical necessity. He hesitated, studying what he had written.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Then Pursing his lips, he slowly wrote, after the ore,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the observable universe is not the uni. He nodded to
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: himself that hit at the core of the matter. A
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: was X, B was not X. Therefore B was not A,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: even though A and B were both called universe. The
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: question was, then, did the universe of logical necessity exist?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: If so, what relationship did it have to the observable universe,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: which quite obviously did exist. Was that the question, the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: answer to which gained in a moment of insight, had
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: caused two men to utterly vanish. He sighed with real regret.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: There was no way of knowing. Possibly a mechanical brain
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: of the most advanced type could come out with a
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: comprehensive picture after solving thousands of successive equations. Knowledge of
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: simple basics was a far cry from a fully expanded system.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: He pushed the sheet of paper away with a show
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: of irritation. He was missing something, He was on the
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: wrong track. Neither John nor Horace had the mental equipment
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: to make more than a simple step beyond what he
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: had accomplished. That was certain. It was equally certain that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: he could and would make it. A startled expression appeared
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: on his face. Oh good lord, he groaned, my book.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I must do something about that the first thing tomorrow.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: I He opened the drawer of his desk and took
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: out an oblong of paper, the check against advance royalties.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I'll return this and not let them publish it first
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: thing in the morning, and from now on I resolved
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: not to think of my theory or what caused John
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and Horace to vanish. Folding the check neatly, he stuck
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: it in his billfold and then started to read a
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: book that interested him. He became engrossed in it. Half
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: an hour later he came too enough to realize he
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: was on safe ground, sigh with relief, and sink back
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: into the trains of thought of the book. It was
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: a nice feeling to know he was safe. It was Friday,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: The sun was shining brightly, and the monotony of the
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: blue sky was relieved here and there by filmy white
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: clouds that gave it a pleasing three dimensionalness. But to
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Martin Grant, there was something unreal about things. He decided
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: it must be the light. Things stood out with too
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: sharp clarity. When he reached his office at the university,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: he made arrangements for a substitute to take his ten
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: o'clock class. Then he called the publishing company and made
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: an appointment for ten fifteen. The hour from nine to
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: ten seemed interminably long. He found it almost impossible to
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: concentrate on such an unimportant subject as the application of
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: tins or analysis to electronic circuits. Ten o'clock came. He
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: hurried to the parking lot and got in his car.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: It was real and comforting, but once again, everything outside
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: the windshield seemed too sharply defined. He timed himself on
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: the way across town to the publishing house. He would
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: have to allow himself the same time to return for
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: his eleven o'clock class. It took twelve minutes plus another
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: two to find a parking space, two minutes from the
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: car to the eleventh floor. He was frowning at his
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: watch as he entered the publisher's office. Well, well, doctor
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Grant's glad to see you. I suppose you're anxious to
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: see your book ready for market. It's coming very well.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Just came back from the type setters and is going
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: into its first printing right away. Huh, Martin said, completing
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: his mental arithmetic and jerking into an awareness of his surroundings. Oh, hello,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: mister Brown, he said, I was just figuring my time.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: I have an eleven o'clock class. I can only stay
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: twenty seven minutes. That gives me three minute margin of
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: error for traffic delays. I see, the publisher, said a
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: twinkle in his eye. As I was just saying, your book, Oh, yes,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: my book, Martin interrupted. Just a minute. He took out
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: his billfold and extracted the check, handing it to mister Brown.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: What's this for, mister Brown asked, unfolding it. Oh, the
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: advanced royalty check. Is something wrong with it? I'm returning it.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Martin said, I can't let you publish my book. Can't
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: let me publish it? Brown exclaimed, why not? Don't tell
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: me it's in fringes on someone else's copyright. No, nothing
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: like that. I've merely decided I don't want it published.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: I'm returning your check. Well, now, look, Brown said, we're
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: a business establishment. You signed a contract. We signed one too.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: It protects both of us against just this sort of thing.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: You know, he studied. Martin thoughtfully, sit down and relax,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: he invited. I'm human. Tell me why you don't want
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: it published. Maybe I can agree with you. We have
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: over one thousand dollars tied up already in typesetting. But
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Martin took the seat and glanced nervously at his watch
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: to make sure the twenty seven minutes hadn't elapsed. I've
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: just changed my mind, he said curtly. There are certain things.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: I'm the head of a department, you know, I must
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: watch my reputation. That's it, my reputation. On due reflection,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I believe the book might hurt my standing in what way?
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Brown asked to tell you the truth? Your other book
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: did so well. I didn't bother reading this one. There's
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: a Martin brought himself up short. So Brown hadn't read
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: it so much the better. At least he wouldn't vanish.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I'm afraid, he added, with a self conscious chuckle that
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: he hoped was genuine enough to pass. The subject matter
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: is a little too crackpottish in spots. That's the whole thing.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: It would reflect on my reputation. Maybe we could do
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: a little editing on it, Brown said, cut out the
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: parts you think crackpottish and substitute something else in those pages.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: I'll get the galleys and we can look at them. No,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Martin said, no, I'm afraid we would have to cut
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: out at least half of the book. No, the best
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: thing is to forget it. But i'll make good your
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: type setting loss. I can pay you two hundred dollars
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: right away and fifty dollars a month. Brown lit a
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: cigarette slowly, his eyes on Martin. You're serious, aren't you,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: he said, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll let
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the whole thing ride for the present, maybe later. No,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Martin said, it must never be published. It's very vital
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: that it never be published. O kay. Brown said, we
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: won't publish it. We have the contract, but we won't
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: publish it. Thanks very much, Martin said, I must hurry back.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: The publisher stared thoughtfully at the closed door. After Martin
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: had gone, he glanced down at the check Lecture room
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: three O four was very large, capable of holding four
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: hundred students in its successive tiers of seats, plus the
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: teacher on his raised platform immediately in front of the
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: large blackboard. In previous years, there had been instances of
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: students slipping out after roll call. In spite of everything,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: it had happened. Therefore, a new system had been inaugurated
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: before roll call. Martin marched to the back of the
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: room to the only exit and locked it. Pocketing the key,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: he returned to his podium. It had been going on
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: this way for two years and was now automatic. The
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: day watchman, making his rounds, approached this door precisely two
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: thirty four. He heard violent pounding. Along with the pounding,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: there was a loud, hoarse voice gasping, let me out,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Let me out. The watchman consulted his clock, the one
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: he used to make a record of his rounds, and
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: determined that it was two thirty four. He knew that
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: it was doctor Grant's senior theoretical physics lecture period. He
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: recalled that a couple of years before, doctor Grant had
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: had trouble with students slipping out after roll call, but
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: it occurred to him that it was hardly possible to
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: sneak out, even on doctor Grant, absent minded as he was,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: by pounding on the door and shouting, lem me out
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: in a terrified tone of voice. He therefore stopped and
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: knocked on the door, calling what's going on in there?
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Whoever was doing the pounding and shouting evidently didn't hear
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: him waiting no longer. The day watchman used his master
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: key on the door. A smallish young man, later identified
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: as Mark Smith, attempted to run Pa asked him into
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: the hall. The watchman blocked Mark's escape and looked toward
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the podium in an automatic appeal to doctor Grant. Doctor
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Grant was not there. The podium was unoccupied, so were
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: all four hundred seats. There was in fact no one
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: in Room three or four except the one terrified student.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: In due course, the police arrived along with the regents.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: By five o'clock it had become certain that the greatest
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: masked disappearance of all times had occurred, with Mark Smith
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: as the sole witness. He stuck to his story through
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: repeated detailed questionings, and in the end the police were
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: stuck with it. According to Smith, class had begun as usual.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Doctor Grant had waited until one minute after the bell
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: had sounded, then had marched back and locked the door
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: and returned to the front. He had rapidly scanned the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: room to see if there were any absences, quickly called
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: half a dozen names he was uncertain of, and marked
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the attendant's slip. The police found it still resting on
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: the table where he had placed it. Then he had
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: begun his lecture by remarking that they were behind schedule
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: and would have to catch up. He had been speaking
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: less than five minutes when a student by the name
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: of Marvin Green jumped to his feet in great excitement,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: waving his hand and shouting, Doctor Grant, Doctor Grant. Doctor
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Grant had stopped his lecture and frowned darkly, then said,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: if you will, please take your seat, But doctor Grant,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Marvin Green had interrupted him excitedly, I've got it, I've
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: got it. What had happened then was impossible for the
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: mind to accept. Marvin Green had simply ceased to be.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: There been a stunned silence, and in that silence it
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: went on, student after student, popping out of existence in
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: what seemed to be a chain reaction. He wasn't aware
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: when doctor Grant vanished. All he knew was that when
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: at last he was alone, he looked toward the podium,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: and the professor was also gone. He kept waiting to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: go himself. When he didn't, he lost the fear that
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: had rooted him to the spot and rushed to the
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: exit where he had first tried to break down the
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: door and make his escape, then subsided into pounding and
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: shouting for help when he realized his physical strength was
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: insufficient for the questioning didn't bring out any additional fact
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: nor alter any statement. There'd been no sounding to the vanishing,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: no movement of the person that could be considered significant,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: no flashes of light, no strange odors. Nothing. End of
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: part one, Part two of Ye of Little Faith by ROJ. Phillips.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recordings in the public domain read by Ben Tucker.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Ye of Little Faith, Part two. Fred Grant got the
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: flash on his hot rod radio on the way home
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: from high school. At the end of the report, Fred
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: wrote down Mark Smith's address on a scrap of paper
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and drove home to be with his mother. It was
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: three days before he could get away. On the morning
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: of the third day, his aunt Emily arrived to take
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: charge of things and he was able to slip away.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: He drove immediately to Mark Smith's address. It was one
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: of the better class rooming houses near the campus. The
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: landlady wasn't going to let him in. Nora announce him
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: until he explained he was the son of the professor
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: who had vanished. She immediately swung to the other extreme
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: and didn't bother to find out if Mark wanted to
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: see him. My father was your teacher, Fred said, Oh,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: come on in. There were tennis rackets on the bookshelves,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: there were tennis books on a table. There was a
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: tennis trophy. Otherwise there was just a bed, a rug
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: and two or three chairs. I don't know what I
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: can tell you more than I've already told the police
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: and the reporters. Mark said, apologetically. I guess it's tough
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: losing your father. Yeah, Fred agreed. I wanted to ask
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: you something though. Dad gave a lecture on his new
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: theory a few days ago, didn't he Mark looked at
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: him blankly. Then, oh, I guess he did. As a
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, I didn't pay much attention to it.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: He grinned. Then he remembered he should be solemn and
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: stopped grinning. I sort of slipped by it. He made
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the mistake of telling us ahead of time it was
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: off the course and no questions on it would be
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: in the finals. So I'm more or less rested up
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: during the period for a tennis match afterwards. Why didn't
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: you get any of what he said? Fred persisted, Oh
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: a little. Mark admitted. It was about some system of
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: arriving at the basic laws of nature by pure logic.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Only what you arrived at didn't agree with the facts,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: some kind of intellectual curiosity, he thought a minute, Oh,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: he said, I see what you want. Didn't he leave
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: any notes on it? It would be too bad if
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: his theory was lost to the world. Now that he left,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the rest, unsaid, maybe you can remember something Fred coached anything.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Did he talk about his theory again? Next day he
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: gave a lecture on the necessity of unbelief in modern science.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: It was pretty good. He overemphasized it, though some of
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: the kids thought he was making a religion of unbelief.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: What did they say about his theory? Fred asked quickly, Oh,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: they were quite impressed. Two of them lived here in
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: the rooming house. They were up here that evening, tossing
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: it back and forth. I was too tired from the
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: tag match. I'd let them talk. What did they think
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: about it? Mark frowned in an effort to recall. Oh,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: it had to do with this universe being basically illogical,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: or at least seeming to be because it didn't agree
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: with your father's theory. They started building up fantasies on it.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: One I remember was a good one. What was that?
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I think it was Jimmy. He said, it would be
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: funny if we were here because we believed this universe
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: was the only real one. Something about inherited memory. Are
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: coming from a long line of people who believe this
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: was the only place because all our ancestors who didn't
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: believe it shot off into some other universe and had
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: their children there. That really crazy, you know? Yeah? I know?
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Fred agreed. Are you going to be around in case
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I want to see you again? God? I hope so,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Mark said. It makes me nervous. You're safe enough. Fred said, well, thanks,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: I'll be seeing you. He smoothed out the crumple sheet
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: of paper and glanced at it. What do you hope
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: to find, Fred, his mother asked, I don't know, he
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: said anything. I maybe this is something. Look together they
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: read either the universe is not constructed according to logical
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: necessity or the observable universe is not the universe. There
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: were doodlings along the right margin that meant nothing. What
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: does it mean, missus? Grant asked, Ah, probably just something
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: connected with his classes. Fred shrugged. He went on searching
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: the waste basket, giving his mother no hint that he
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: had already found what he was searching for. From the
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: position of the paper in the waste basket, he felt
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: reasonably sure it had been recently written. It was probably
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: a voicing of thoughts gained from the disappearance of Horace
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: and John, because up to that time his father had
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: assumed his theory was just an intellectual curiosity. His father
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: couldn't have asked himself if the observable universe might not
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: be the universe unless something had happened to raise a
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: doubt or suggest an alternative as a possibility. Missus Grant's
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: interest lessened. She wandered about the room, perhaps reliving memories.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: It gave Fred a chance to put the piece of
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: paper in his pocket, so that when he put everything
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: back in the waste basket his mother would dismiss the
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: whole search. There was, of course, the file with the
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: entire theory in it. He knew the theory by heart, however,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: and had no need of that file. I think I'll
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: go out for a while, mom, he said, all right, Fred,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: she said disinterestedly. Outside, he climbed behind the wheel of
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: his hot rod and sat there, making no motion to
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: start the motor. He was thinking. Mark Smith had said
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: that he overheard two of his fellow classmen discussing the theory,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: one of them remarking that it would be funny if
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: we were here just because we were descended from a
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: long line of people who believed this was the only place.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Could that be the key? Take gravitation, for instance, If
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: it were something that some vital part of you had
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: to believe, and that vital part didn't believe, would the
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: entire person go flying off into space? What about inanimate
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: matter did it have to believe too? And what about
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: other forms of life? Or was everything except human beings
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: just part of the prompts? He shook his head. That
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: didn't seem like quite the right track. He took another.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: The human mind builds up a picture of the outside
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: universe through its senses. Sometimes its ideas are wrong, right
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: or wrong. Inside everyone's mind is universe derive from the
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: outside universe. What if the outside universe were derived from
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: something derive from what the real, logically necessary universe? That
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: could be At least it seemed to have some values
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: a starting point. He tried to reason From that point,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: frustration grew in him. He wished he were older, had
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: his university education behind him. There were so many things
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: he couldn't begin to deal with. Maybe he could take
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the entire problem to some of his father's friends. He
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: shook his head over this thought. From all that had
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: gone on, it was too likely that the minute one
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: of them discovered something that would be of heap, he
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: would disappear before he could tell it. That raised another point.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Why didn't he himself vanish? What was there different about him?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: A lot his father had instilled in him, A lot
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: of the things he himself could only aspire to. Unbelief
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: was the major thing, or perhaps it was the other
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: major thing. Remembrance his father's voice came into consciousness, saying
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: something he had said so many times it was grooved
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: deeply in memory, even to the inflections of voice. All
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: psychoses and mental troubles are caused by walled off unpleasant memories.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: The child who trains himself to recall all unpleasant things
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: and deliberately associate them with the feeling that they are
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: valuable lessons but harmless, will grow up in perfect balance.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: He smiled. He could let flow through consciousness dozens of
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: incidents he had taken up with his father. He was
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: definitely different than others around him, so different he had
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: systematically disguised it by affront of accepted behavior thematically and
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: consciously under his father's guidance. There was a chance those
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: differences made him safe. There was a chance those differences
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: would make it possible for him to find out what
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: caused the others to vanish without he himself vanishing. The
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: other train of thought inserted itself into consciousness again was belief.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: The key to the disappearances. Mark Smith hadn't paid any
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: attention when the theory was being explained. The others had
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: undoubtedly lapped it up. The peculiar thing about the theory
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: was that it was so logical and so inevitable that
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: the mind tended to accept it, believe it to be
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: true in spite of the evidence of the senses. Let
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: us suppose Fred mused that deep within the mind there
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: is some matrix of thought that ties the human to
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: this universe, a matrix that could conceivably be altered, and
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: when altered, would automatically shift the person to another universe.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: That the altered matrix fitted. The subconscious usually took time
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: to absorb and react. That was another thing his father
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: had taught him. To observe learned something, and it takes
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: from days to months for it to become lodged in
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the subconscious and to rise into operation naturally from there.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: John Henderson had taken six weeks to vanish after having
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: learned the theory. It had taken Horace Smith three and
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: a half days, but he had the added factor of
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: doctor Henderson's disappearance to trigger reactions. The theoretical physics class
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: had taken three days exactly, and its vanishing had been
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: a sort of group action or chain reaction, with intensely
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: emotional reaction. After the first student had vanished before the
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: eyes of the others, his own father, originator of the theory,
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: had probably fallen into the trap of starting to believe
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: after Horace had vanished, so it became a greater probability
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: that the disappearance was related to knowledge of the theory.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Seeing the student's vanish had probably set up an emotional
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: state where complete belief was precipitated. In the whole series,
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: the only improbable part was that so many students would
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: react in the same short time. That was partly nullified
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: by the fact that it was a special class in
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: only high IQ students with excellent records were accepted. They
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: would tend to be somewhat identical in reaction times. He
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: straightened up and stared through the windshield at the dark street.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: So there it was the probable mechanism of vanishment. A
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: system was fed into the conscious mind, the conscious mind
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: accepted it. In due time, that system was transferred down
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: into the matrix that held the person in this reality
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: or universe. Once there, it made the whole person transfer
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: to a system where the altered matrix fitted. It might
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: not be the system pictured in his father's theory. It
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: might be a compromise system where and when probably had
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: no meeting in relation to the two systems. That was
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: why when the shift came, the person vanished instantly, without
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: any strange manifestations of any kind. Was it reversible? If so,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: then some of those who had vanished would reappear eventually.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: A sudden startling thought made Fred sit up straight, his
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: eyes shining with excitement. So far he had been safe,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: mainly because he habitually didn't attach belief to anything. His
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: other facet of difference might be the means of his
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: testing this without real danger of vanishing. Could he dredge
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: up from the deepest layers of unconscious thought, the threads
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: leading directly to the matrix that held him in his surroundings,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: and learn consciously what it was? A thought. He reflected
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: on it, then decided before he made any decisions, he
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: would explore the other avenue, the one the police had
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: naturally thought of. Was there some person or persons unknown
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: in back of the disappearances, some non human? Perhaps it
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: could fit into the same theory of disappearance another universe,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: beings in that universe, beings who perhaps didn't want knowledge
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: of their universe to become known on this side of
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: the veil. If so, why hadn't they snatched him too?
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: Maybe they didn't. Though he knew about the theory, he'd
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: never talked about it to anyone, but his father had
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: drilled it into him as a supreme example of the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: reasons why belief in anything was a trap. He shook
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: his head. It didn't seem likely that the disappearances had
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: been engineered by anyone. They smacked too much of an
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: inner pattern, an inner mechanism. So he came back to
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the other theory. What could he try to accomplish by
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: exploring into his deepest substratum of thought. The ideal he
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: could aim for would be conscious transfer into the other system,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: with the assurance beforehand that he could transfer back again.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: If he could do that, and if he could find
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: those who had vanished, maybe he could teach them how
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: to return. It was something that might take a long time.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: He realized his first objective was to penetrate deeper into
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: his mind than anyone had ever consciously gone before. That
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: alone could take a lifetime, or it might be accomplished overnight.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: How would he begin, Where would he begin? He shrugged.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter. He would have to systematically extend his
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: ability to be aware in every direction, physical and temporal,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: until he could be conscious of his individual blood cells
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: if it were possible, and completely and vividly conscious at
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: will of every second of his past life. If that
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: didn't lead him to his objective, it might at least
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: point the way and increase his ability to reach his goal.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: That evening, Fred arrived home to find a stranger seated
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: in the library. There was the usual moment of clumsiness
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: such encounters generate, but Fred's mother returned with a tea tray.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Before self introductions became necessary, she said, mister Guard, this
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: is my son Fred. The man smiled easily as Missus
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Grant continued speaking. Now to Fred, this is kurk Gard. Fred.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: I called on him today, and what do you think
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: I discovered he was a friend, a very old friend
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: of your father. Missus Grant stopped, a certain inward uncertainty
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: showing through. Fred stood mute, giving voice to none of
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: the questions which sprang up in his mind. Kirk Guard,
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: completely at ease, took up the lead, even as a
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: feeling of familiarity sprang into Fred's mind. Guard said, I
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: knew your father met him several times, but we weren't
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: as close as your mother's words might imply. Then Fred
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: knew he spoke suddenly, you're a psychiatrist. The pieces fell
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: into place. Fred's father had mentioned this man several times,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: and the boy knew he was not there by chance
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: that his mother had contacted the psychiatrist this particular one,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: because she too had remembered the acquaintanceship. For a moment,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Fred was annoyed with his mother. Why on earth had
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: she brought a psychiatrist into this then he softened as
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: he realized she felt it to be her son's best interests. Yes,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: I'm a psychiatrist, Guard said then, as though he could
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: read Fred's mind. Your mother did send for me, But
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: so far as I am concerned, it's more than just
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: a professional visit. I knew your father and liked him.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: I'd like to be your friend. You planned to psychoanalyze me.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Don't be so grim about it, kurk Gard smiled. Just
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: let's make this a social visit. There will be plenty
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: of time for other things later. Perhaps you can drop
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: in at my office, perhaps, Fred said, almost absently. A
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: short time later, he excused himself and went to his room.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Missus Grant, mister Brown said, smiling at the woman behind
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: the screen door. I'm mister Brown, the publisher Brown, she said, Oh, yes,
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: my hu husband has mentioned you favorably. I hope. Brown
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: was wondering if doctor Grant had told her of his
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: decision not to let the book be published. Oh, yes,
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: very favorably, she frowned. Which reminds me. He received a
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: check from you for the advanced royalties. I'm sure he
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: didn't cash it because there was no deposit at the bank.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: That large. I can't find the check anywhere. He must
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: have had it with him. When she had opened the
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: green door, Brown went in and followed her into the study.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: He looked around at the wall of books, almost feeling
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: the presence of the man whose retreat this had been.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: That's what I've come here to see you about, Brown said.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: You see he called on me at my office the
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: morning of the day he had vanished. He did. Yes,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be quite frank with you. He returned
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: the check to me. Why he said nothing to me
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: about it? I rather imagine he didn't have time. I've waited,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: knowing you wouldn't care to discuss the business. So soon
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: after he waited for her reaction. When she said nothing,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: he continued. He returned the check and said he didn't
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: want the book to be published after all. I couldn't
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: quite understand his reasons, but they are no longer valid
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: as I see it. What were his reasons? This surprises
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: me very much. Just the day before that he mentioned
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: his book and expressed pleasure that it was being published.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: The reasons he gave were that the book contained some
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: things that were, to use his own words, a trifle
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: crack pottish. He thought they might reflect on him in
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: some way. Oh my goodness, he was always doing something
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: like that, mister Brown. He leaned over backwards. Scientific integrity
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: was a fetish with him. I haven't read the book,
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: mister Brown said. The reader reported it was far better
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: than doctor Grant's first one. That was good enough for me.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: The reader is no longer with us. He frowned in
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: irritation at the memory, laughed us without giving notice. But
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: he was a good man, excellent judgment. I'd like to
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: go ahead with the book, unless you object. I don't know, missus.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: Grant hesitated if he didn't want it published. But he's
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: gone now, Browne reminded her, I know, but she wept
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: softly into a crumpled kerchief. The publisher remained silent. After
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: a moment, she pulled herself together. He was always so
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: absent minded. I was sure he had mislaid the check,
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: used it to scribble some problem on. He did that once,
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: several years ago. Brown reached into his breast pocket and
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: brought out a long envelope and extended it toward her.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: I he had another check made out for advanced royalties.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: He said, if you decide to let me go ahead
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: with the book. I don't think I should, mister Brown.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: She withdrew the check from the envelope and looked at it,
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: her eyebrows lifting at the size of the figure. It's
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: substantially more than the original check. Brown said, I thought
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: perhaps you might be in need of money, and I
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: feel confident the book will sell exceptionally well. It is
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: a lot of money, missus Grant said, but I'm so confused.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: I wish I knew what to do. Brown leaned forward.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Your husband was a great man. I feel it as
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: an obligation on my part to make public his last work.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: Missus Grant nodded slowly. You may be right. I hadn't
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: thought of it that way, and you can undoubtedly use
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: the money. Brown added, there'll be more. How much more
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: depends on how the book sells. It may be a
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: steady income for a few years. All right, Missus Green said,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: making up her mind. I'll let you publish it. Fine,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: mister Brown said heartily. I felt you would, And at
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: any time you need money, just call me. End of
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Part two, Part three of Ye of Little Faith by
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: rog Phillips. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: read by Ben Tucker Ye of Little Faith, Part three.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: Fred's birthday came in February. He was seventeen now, and
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: the knowledge filled him with dismay. It had been months
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: since his father had vanished, or had his father vanished.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Maybe his memory of those people vanishing was as wrong
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: as his memory of which way his door opened. To
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: check it, he spent an afternoon in a newspaper office,
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: searching back papers until he found the accounts. He read
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: them all carefully. They were as he remembered them, and
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: in him slowly grew the realization that he was going
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: to use someone. He was going to choose someone and
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: try to make that person disappear more. He knew that
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: that person was going to be Kurt Guard. He decided
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: against calling and making an appointment. He would go to
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: the man's office and put over the sixteen year old act.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: With a great deal of shyness, he confided to the
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: receptionist that Kurt was a very special friend of his mother's.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: She talked into the inter office phone, did a lot
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: of listening and yessing. Finally, she told Fred that doctor
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: Guard wanted him to wait a few moments. Then she
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: dialed an outside number. Fred listened to the clicks and
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: knew it was his home phone. The psychiatrist was going
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: to talk to his mother. He hadn't wanted that, but
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: it wouldn't matter materially. The weight lasted almost half an hour. Then,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: with heart pounding, Fred was walking toward the dark walnut
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: door to the inner office. Inside he caught a comprehensive
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: glimpse of the rumored couch, luxurious desk and chairs, thick
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: expensive rug, and an assortment of floor lamps and oil paintings.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: Then the psychiatrist was upon him, heartily welcoming him. There
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: were time marking conversational exchanges about school, the hot rod,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: and life in general. There was the pause while each
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: sized the other up. Then I'm glad you dropped in, Fred,
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: Doctor Guard smiled casually. I'm all mixed up, Fred said,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: I know something's wrong with me. I wanted someone to
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: talk to now that dad is gone. I thought of you.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: I didn't want to bother mom. Do you really straighten
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: out crazy people? Not exactly, Kurt chuckled. A psychologist finds
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: most of his patients among people who are just upset
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: about things. They aren't insane, They just need someone who
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: has experience to help them get their thoughts straightened out.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's all I need. Fred said, I don't think
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: I'm crazy. Of course you aren't. You are a very
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: healthy minded young man. I don't want mom to know
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: about this. Kurk frowned, jotted something down on a note pad.
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: It was Fred guessed a notation to call his mother
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: and warn her to keep quiet. Don't worry about your mother.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: Now tell me just what seems to be the trouble.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Kurt smiled encouragingly. Are you married, Fred asked, with teenage frankness. No,
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: Kurt smiled. Would you marry my mother? Fred asked bluntly,
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: I would like for you to be my father. Kerk
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: guard stared at him a moment. I really believe you
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: mean that, he said, slowly. You know, don't you? That
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: it will be two years before she can be free
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: to marry your father. Can't be declared legally, Ah departed
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: for two years. No, I didn't know, Fred said, real
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: dismay on his face. He hadn't known about that. He
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: thought rapidly, then can I come live with you just
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: until mom can marry you? Inwardly, he was enjoying this,
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: and he hoped he wasn't overdoing it. We can't do that,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: Kurt said, I'll tell you what we can do, though,
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: I'll invite myself out to dinner tomorrow evening. Don't say anything.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: I'll surprise you, mother, and we'll see a lot of
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: each other from now on. O kay. Fred nodded. It
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: was definitely okay. He wanted to be present when Kirk
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: Guard disappeared into thin air, and this way he had
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: a chance. He left Kurt's office highly exhilarated, almost drunk
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: with the emotion of things working right. It lasted until
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the following evening, when the doctor showed up and he
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: and Fred's mother put on their little act. Then his
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: emotions swung the other way. He experienced a reluctance to
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: go through with his plans. There was too much that
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: was likable about the men, and his mother did like him,
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: poor dad, Fred thought. After dinner the next evening, Kurk
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: kept the conversation on Fred's father. It was Fred since
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: the right time to bring up the theory. Kurt would
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: do anything to please him, to draw him out, but
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: he hesitated, stretching elaborately, he said, Ugh, I'm sleepy, Why
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: don't you and mom play can ask to her something.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: I'm going to be much too busy, his mother said,
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: I have to finish proof reading your father's book for
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: the publisher. Mister Brown is finally going to print it
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: and wants it back right away. When did that happen?
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Fred demanded, Can I read it? You can read it
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: when it comes out. Now, you and Kurt go into
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: the study and leave me alone. She heard them out
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: of the room. The interlude had served to strengthen Fred's resolve.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Alone with the psychiatrist, He let slip that he knew
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: of a wonderful theory his father had originated, then tried
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: to cover up. Kurt used flattery. Fred took his cue
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: and slyly bragged that it was a theory for you
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: college professors could understand even but he understood it more coaxing,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: and he was ready to start in. But his conscience
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: got the better of him. He balked, and even as
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: he tried to score him out of it, he realized
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: that it was too late. Doctor Guard would never rest
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: until the theory had been told. I'll tell you next
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: time you come, he suggested, as a last retreat. Tonight,
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: Kurt said, even if it takes all night. You can
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: miss school tomorrow, he winked. I can okay it with
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: the teacher. All right, Fred said, in a sudden crystallization
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: of decision, But only if you agree to master every
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: step of it, stopping me until you have. Kurt agreed.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: He started in. After half an hour, it settled into
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: serious listening on Kurt's part and pertinent questions that made
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: Fred realize he was dealing with a mind of more
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: than average keenness. Fred's mother wandered in occasionally and out
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: again without being noticed by either of them. An hour
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: passed two The final steps were drawing nearer. At times,
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: Kurt was even anticipating some of them. It was midnight
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: when it was finished. The mind of kurk Guard held
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: the entire pattern. Fred couldn't take his eyes off the
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: man's face, the face that was mirroring the rapid flow
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: of thoughts as it reviewed and attacked every brick in
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: the structure, finding it solid and solidly cemented to its neighbors.
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: Then it saw a change come over the man's face.
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: He had accepted the theory. Now he was trying to
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: integrate it into the problem of Fred Grant. He hadn't
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: yet seen the connection between the theory and the mysterious disappearances,
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: and perhaps he wouldn't. If he did, he might go
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: the final step and realize what was going to happen
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: to him. Fred hoped that wouldn't happen. He didn't want
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: his victim to be conscious of being a victim. You
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: are intelligent, Fred Kerk probed, to be able to master
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: such an advanced theory. He glanced at his watch. It's
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: getting pretty late. I'll tell you what. After school tomorrow.
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: Dropped down to my office. We'll come out for dinner
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: here together. Say that'd be swell. Fred enthused. I'll get
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: right to bed so I can get enough sleep. He
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: leaped up and called mom, I'm going to bed now.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: He winked broadly at Kurt to let him know he
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: was getting out of his way so they could be
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: alone together for a few minutes. And that was that.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: The die was cast, and all that remained was to
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: try and use it to make progress, rather than letting
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: it be just another disappearance that pointed to nothing constructive.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: There was no way of telling how fast it would work.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: The next afternoon and evening, there was little to provide
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: an indication other than an occasional look that came over
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Kurt for moments at a time. A date was made
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: for Saturday. It was to be a picnic in the country.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: That meant skipping Friday. Fred violently objected, but Kurt and
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: his mother overrode his objections, so in the end it
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: had to be Saturday unless Kurt disappeared before then. He didn't.
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: But ten minutes before school was out Friday, a note
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: was brought into the class room from the principal's office.
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: Kurt had called to ask Fred to come to his
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: office directly from school. Torn between excited anticipation that the
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: psychiatrist had made an important discovery and feared that the
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: man would have vanished before he could get to him,
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: Fred ran from the school building and caught the bus
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: at Kurt's office. The receptions smiled and told him to
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: go right in. His sigh of relief was genuine. Kurt
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: was sitting at his desk. Come in, son, He said,
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: there were the amenities. How did school go to day? Okay,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: anything happened? Fred waited impatiently. Then I've been thinking a
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: lot about your father's theory, Fred, and I would like
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: to ask a few questions if it won't upset you.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Of course not, Fred said, Okay, here's a question, Kurt said,
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: or rather a statement. You can answer yes or no.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: You believe the theory is at the root of the disappearances,
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: that in some unknown fashion, knowing the theory will cause
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: a person to vanish. So there it was. Fred debated rapidly.
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: In his mind, it might be better to admit it, yes,
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: he said, hum, then let me ask you this. How
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: do you account for the fact that you know it
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: and haven't disappeared? Fred decided to be completely truthful, and
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: see what happened. It's because I don't let belief form
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: a part of my thinking, sir. That instilled that in me.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: But those that disappeared, logic was their groundwork of belief.
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: But you believe knowing the theory caused them to vanish.
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: Fred smiled, I see what you mean. No, I don't.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: It's just that no other alternative seems probable, so so
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: you work with the one that does. Kurt said, nodding,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: All right, let's work with it for the moment. You
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: have probably done some thinking on what mechanism might be
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: involved in the process of banishing would you care to
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: tell me about it. There's no reason why not, sir.
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: It takes time for conscious beliefs to sink into the
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: subconscious and integrate there. The time varies with the person
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: and the emotions involved. That makes sense, Kurt said, nodding.
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: I postulated that down underneath even the subconscious, at the
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: very roots of being, is what I named the basic
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: thought matrix. In order for us to be here in
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: this existence at all, it must have a certain form.
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: Change the form, and presto, the person slips out of
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: this existence, perhaps into another. I see. Kerk drummed his
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: fingers on the desk for a long minute. I see,
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: he repeated. Has it occurred to you that you have
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: already rejected your theory? It's quite obvious you have, you know,
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: How is it obvious? Fred asked, wondering what Kurt meant
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: because you told me the theory. You wouldn't have, of course,
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: if you believed it would cause me to vanish like
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: the others. Fred opened and closed his mouth several times,
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: unable to cope with this. It was unexpected. We've gotten
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: to the root of your trouble, Kurt went on. It
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: was a real trouble. To you. In a few months,
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: you will look back on it and marvel at it.
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: Right now, it seems real. You feeled it somewhere. Your
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: father still exists. You would like to go to him,
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: or perhaps bring him back. Believe me, such mysterious vanishings
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: aren't uncommon. The history of the world is full of
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: such incidents. In some cases, hole groups have vanished. Authenticated cases.
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: In Southeast Asia, the people of an entire city of
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: over a million inhabitants vanished over night. In the last century,
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: an entire trainload of people, including the train, vanished while
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: going from one city to another a few miles away.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: And there have been vanishments with reappearances too. In England,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: there was an old woman who suddenly vanished before the
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: eyes of her family. At the same instant, she reappeared
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: in a room in London, miles away in front of
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: other people. Did she know your father's theory? Did the
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: train that vanished know that theory? Kurt was smiling. No,
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: you see, it's something unrelated to your father's theory. Fred
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: was nodding. You may be right, he said, I didn't
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: know about those. You may go now, son, Kurt said,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: I'll be out around eleven o'clock in the morning. Fred
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: rose quickly oka Kurt, he said, I'll see you, he
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: hurried out. It was too much of an effort to
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: hide this sudden trembling. He hadn't known about other cases
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: of vanishing. They provided data to expand the whole thing,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: while not in the slightest detracting from the validity of
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: anything else. And if the talk had been prolonged much more,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: Kurt would have inevitably tumbled to his motive for telling
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: him the theory. Promptly at eleven Kurt arrived. Fred's mother
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: had already prepared the large basket of food. There were
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: ten minutes of last minute bustle. Then they were off,
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: with Kurt skillfully tooling his Cadillac in and out of
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: traffic until they were on the open highway. I know
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: just the place, he told them, woods Meadow Brook, even
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: a couple of cows, and he did. When they arrived
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: shortly before twelve thirty. It was all that Fred relaxed
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: as the car came to a stop. Every second of
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: the trip he had been ready to seize the wheel
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: and keep the car from crashing if Kurk vanished. Still
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: a little nervous, Kurt asked him as they got out.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: No now, of course not, Fred said. Kurt didn't pursue
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: the subject. Instead, he became something utterly different than he
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: had been before, a carefree, thoroughly likable man full of humor.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: Fred began to regret that he had chosen him as
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: his victim. He began to hope that the process might
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: not be automatic, that Kurt wouldn't vanish, But he stayed
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: close to him and listened to his every word, and
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: watched his face as much as he dared without staring,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: so that if the moment came, he could get whatever
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: there was to get a value from it. For the
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: first time in years, his mother began to be care free.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: She even joked back at Kurt occasionally, something she had
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: never done with Martin and Fred's memory. Her joking was
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: clumsy and uncertain. Fred laughed uproariously to encourage her and
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: to hide his uncomfortable feeling. Oh I haven't felt so
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: good in ages, she said, when they were seated around
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: the tablecloths bred with sandwiches and salads and cakes. It's
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: wonderful getting out like this. We'll have to do it often.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: We will Kurt said, at least once a week. Fred's
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: mother picked up a sandwich. She started to raise it
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: to her mouth. She was smiling at Kurt and about
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: to say something to him. Both Kurt and Fred were
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: watching her. Abruptly, she wasn't there. The sandwich seemed to
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: remain stationary for a long second, then it dropped to
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: the tablecloth. Kurt was holding a paper cup filled with
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: hot coffee. His hand constructed, the cup collapsed, spilling steaming
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: coffee over his legs. Fred stared at the space his
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: mother had just occupied. Abruptly, he squawked. No. He turned
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: accusing eyes on Kurt. You told her. Something seemed to
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: go out of the man. He seemed to become visibly smaller. Yes,
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: he whispered, I told her. Fred was crying, but you
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: shouldn't have. He sobbed. I told you because I wanted
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: you to vanish. I didn't want her to, and now
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: she has, and nothing happened that I could use. Kurt
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: blinked at him, absorbing this new bit of information. You
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: wanted me to vanish. Yes, I can see that now.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: I didn't know. It seemed too absurd. I thought you
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: were just imagining things. Yes, I went out while you
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: were at school and spent the whole morning teaching her
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: every step. It was fairly easy. We had planned on
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: coaxing you to explain it to her. Knowing it ahead
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: of time, she could pretend to grasp it that much
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: more easily. We were planning on coaxing you into a
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: more social relationship. Actually, she had already read the theory
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: in your father's book. She was reading for the publisher.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: A glassy look came into his eyes. The book. If
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: the theory is at the root of the disappearances, the
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: book shouldn't be published. Yes, by God, that's what your
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: father was driving at. Your mother told me the publisher
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: had told her your father tried to get him not
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: to publish it. The book has the theory in it.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: Fred said, it mustn't get published. Why thousands of people
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: would read it and vanish. We've got to stop them.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: Kurt was shaking his head in bewilderment. But we can't
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: be sure. It must be something else, though what I
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: don't know, no, Fred said bitterly. There was a long silence.
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: Kurt broke it by saying, what did you expect to
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: accomplish by my vanishing? Fred told him of Horace's shouting
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: to his wife Ethel, I've got it, and the other
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: seeming to have a flash of divination or insight just
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: before they vanished. I wanted, he explained, dully, to be
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: with you when it happened, in the hopes I could
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: get something more than I have to go on. In
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: that way, I might be able to find out something
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: so I could bring my father back. And maum, he
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: began to cry. I see, Kurt said, calm and a
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: little subdued. It's possible that may come. After what I've
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: seen happen, I can admit it's a possibility. Then you
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: will make every effort to tell me, Fred asked. Kurt
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: smiled wryly. You make it sound inevitable, but yes I will.
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: Fred's eyes were large and round. I've got to find
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: the mechanism. I've got to go where they're vanished to
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: and show them how to get back. He turned his
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: eyes on Kurt. Don't you hate me, he pleaded, I'm
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: just the same as a murderer. No, my son, Kurt
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: said gently, Wherever your father is, your mother is with him.
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: Now if a startled expression appeared on his face, So
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: that's it. He almost whispered, what's it? Fred asked, tell me,
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: please tell me. I've gotta know you know, you promised.
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: Kurt frowned in a visible effort to jerk himself back.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: His eyes holding a far away look rested on Fred's face.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: Looked at it and threw it. You promised, Fred screamed,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: tell me. Kurt opened his mouth as though to speak,
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: his lips smiled, and he was no longer there. Fred
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: was alone with the picnic lunch on the white square
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: of tablecloth, with the gleaming cadillac a few yards away,
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: with the two white and black spotted cows grazing a
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: short distance away, with the noisy little brook nearby. Alone.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: End of part three, Part four of Ye of Little
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: Faith by RAJ. Phillips. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: public domain. Read by Ben Tucker, Ye of Little Faith,
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: Part four. He became aware of a police siren growing louder.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: He became aware he was behind a wheel, that there
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: were cars in front of him, veering wildly out of
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: his way. The spadometer needle pointed at ninety How had
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: he arrived here? He took his foot off the gas.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: He was driving a cadillac Kurts, but Kurt was gone.
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: That was it. He had started out to look for
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: the police. He pulled over to the side of the
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: road as the police car came, screaming up. Shakily, he
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: told them about the disappearances, and he doubts they might
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: have had were held in reserve by the obvious sincerity
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: of his grief. He led them back to the picnic grove.
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: The tablecloth with the food on it was still there, untouched.
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: One of the cows was grazing beside it. They listened
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: while he told again of his mother and Kurt vanishing
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: before his eyes. The reserved skepticism was thrust out of
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: their minds when he identified himself as the son of
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: doctor Martin Grant, who had disappeared. They used their car radio.
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: In a surprisingly short time, several other cars were coming
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: through the gate into the pasture. Fred, his mind paralyzed
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: with grief, stood forlornly near the cadillac. He answered the
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: questions they put to him. He wasn't aware of the
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: news cameras that took shots of him, which were to
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: appear in the evening papers all over the country. Eventually
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: it was all over The police gathered up the picnic lunch,
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: his mother's purse and everything else. A gray haired man
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: in a dark brown suit, who introduced himself as Captain Waters,
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: told him to get into the cadillac. I'll drive, Waters said,
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: entirely submissive. Fred obeyed. On the way into town, Captain
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: Waters said he would take Fred home if he wanted
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: to go there, but it would be really better if
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: he accepted an invitation to stay at the Water's home
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: for a few days until things were straightened out. All right,
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: Fred said eternities Later, he was in a house with
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: comfortable furnishings. A motherly old lady was hovering around him.
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: Captain Waters was on the phone calling some one. There
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: was a steaming dinner on blue designed sweetish dishes. Under coaxing,
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: Fred nibbled. Door chimes sounded. Captain Waters pushed back his
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: chair and went away. He came back with another gray
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: haired man who pressed a thumb against Fred's cheek, listened
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: to words Captain Waters was saying. Then ordered Fred to
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: roll up his sleeve. He swabbed a spot with alcohol
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: and inserted a hYP o'needle. Fred watched with listless eyes
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: get him undressed and to bed. The doctor said, poor
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: kid suffering from shock. Have to watch him the next
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: few days. Shock Fred tried to concentrate on the meaning
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: of the word. The bed was an enormous expanse of fresh,
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: smelling sheets and luxurious blankets. The pillows were mountainous and
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: so soft. The sun was streaming in through open French doors,
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: filtered through bronze screen doors. An electric clock on the
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: dresser pointed at eleven. He lay there without moving, remembering
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: everything that had happened the day before, and he had
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: a feeling that in his sleep he had been doing
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: a lot of thinking or was it dreaming? Poor boy,
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: A melodious voice purred. He opened his eyes. It was
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: the motherly woman with a tray of toast and eggs
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: and steaming coffee. The sight of it made him aware
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: that there was a huge emptiness in his stomach. He
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: ate gratefully. Missus Waters busied herself about the room, humming
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: soft tunes, smiling at him whenever he looked at her.
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: When he had finished, she took the tray. You jes
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: relax and sleeps him more. She said, The bathroom is
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: through that door over there. If you want me for anything,
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: just call I'll hear you, and if you want to
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: get up and wander about the house, just do so.
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: She departed, leaving the door part way open an invitation.
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: Fred sighed and closed his eyes, and that moment of relaxation,
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: the thinking he had done during the night rose into consciousness,
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: for he knew now what he had to do. There
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: was no other avenue of exploration. It might not even
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: be possible, but if it was possible, he was going
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: to do it. He was going to vanish. There alone
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: lay the solution. He should have realized it once he vanished,
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: as had the others, he would have experienced with the
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: mystery personal experience. He would have all the data he
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: required instead of just data from the world he was in.
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: If he had the ability to solve the problem of reappearance,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: he would then be able to return and go back
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: again and show the others how to return. The key
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: to vanishing was belief, that quality of thought which his
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: father had systematically weeded from his mind since earliest infancy.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: He might take time to overcome that, but it should
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: be possible. Already he believed some things, or did he
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: was it merely a realization that those things had a
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: probability that approached certainty. His patterns of thinking were too ingrained.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: His mind was too well integrated. If he had become irritated,
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: the irritation immediately brought up the memories of the factors
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: that made him react that way. If he became happy,
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: he consciously knew the pattern, stretching back to early infancy.
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: It was ingrained within him. He began to realize, with
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: a sinking sensation that he didn't actually know what belief was.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: If in some way it was presented anywhere in his makeup,
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: he didn't know how to recognize it. His mental pattern
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: was one of unbelief. Not disbelief, the believing that something
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: isn't true, but unbelief the using of something in the
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: pragmatic sense for its workability. He let his thoughts wander
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: in the past. He could remember vaguely a moment when
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: he had felt unreasoning terror, a sense of being lost.
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: He could remember his father saying many times, belief is
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: the lazy assuming that something is true. It is or isn't,
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: and the fundamental postulate of inductive logic tells us that
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 1: its truth or lack of it is forever beyond our reach.
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: So why reach for it. Use a theory if it
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: works for you, discard it if it doesn't. Don't use
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: it even to the point of absurdity, while clinging to
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: a belief that it's true. It was that way with
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: facts too. Something that happened or seemed to happen needed
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: no tag of belief attached to it. If you saw
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: it happen, it didn't necessarily happen. There was such a
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: thing as illusion, except it as though it had happened
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: until events pointed otherwise. His playmates and teachers had been
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: frankly skeptical of this point of view, doubting he could
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: have actually attained it. They were quick to agree it
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: was desirable. They just thought no one could use a
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: thing without attaching a degree of belief or unbelief to it.
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: Now what should he believe? As in the attempts to
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: reach the basic matrix by conscious extension, he had to
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: start somewhere. It was mid afternoon when Captain Waters entered
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: the bedroom with a cheery hello, I Fred said, he
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: had been lying in bed with his eyes closed. Did
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: I wake you? Waters said, sorry? He grinned, you can
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: go back to sleep again. I'll drop in later. Captain
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: Waters ducked out. He started to close the door, then
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: left it open. A few minutes later, the rumble of
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: his voice came from another part of the house. Fred
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: tried to catch what he was saying, but couldn't. Half
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: an hour later, he heard the front door chimes. The
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: rumble of deep voices came again. The doctor appeared in
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: the doorway. Well well, he said, smiling. I heard you
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: had a very RESTful night. How do you feel to
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: day better? He was advancing toward the bed as he talked.
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: Setting his black bag down. He reached out and took
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: Fred's pulse. A little rabbit, he said, putting his watch away.
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: Reaching inside his coat, he took out a thermometer. He
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: put it under Fred's tongue. Had anything to eat or
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: drink in the past fifteen minutes, he asked. Fred shook
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: his head. The doctor stood quietly. After a while, he
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: lifted the thermometer, glanced at it, and put it away.
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: Looks like you are going to be fit as a fiddle,
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: he said. I'll be back in a few minutes. Missus
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: Waters told me on the way in, she was pouring
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: me a cup of coffee. Fred remained motionless until the
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: doctor had left the room. Then he slipped out of
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: bed and went to the door. On the other side
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: of it was a living room. A swinging door of
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: the type that opens into kitchens, was just swinging closed.
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: No one was in sight. Quickly Fred stole across to
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: the door. He put his ear close to it and
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: listened doctor Harvey speaking. He heard the doctor say, connect
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: me with thirteen. Please. Is he going to be all right?
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: Missus Waters's anxious voice sounded I think so, The doctor said, calmly,
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: Hello thirteen. Who's speaking? Oh hello Giles, doctor Hovey, do
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: you have a vacancy observation? Yes? Oh, dear Missus Waters said, unhappily,
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: it will be for the best. Captain Waters said, they'll
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: know how to take care of him. Fred waited for
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: no more. He went back to the bedroom. His clothes
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: were in the closet, and seconds he had them on.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: He could tie his shoes and button up. Later, he
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: unfastened one of the screen doors and stepped out on
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: to a flagstone path that wound around the corner of
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: the house toward the front. There were people on the sidewalk,
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: but none very near. It would be hours before dark,
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: and there was no place to hide. There were two
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: cars parked at the curb. One was a police car,
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: the other a black Chrysler Sedan, probably the doctor's car.
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: The police car had the key in the ignition. Fred
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: didn't hesitate. He jerked open the door and slid behind
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: the wheel. Missus Water's anxious voice sounded, calling Fred, where
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: are you? Then the starter was whirring, the motor caught.
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: As he shot away from the kurb. Fred caught a
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: glimpse in the rear view mirror of Captain Waters running
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: down the walk from the house as he took the
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: first corner, touching the siren button. Briefly, he wondered why
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: he had run. It had been an impulse, Maybe it
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: was the wrong one. Maybe he could accomplish what he
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: had to do better in some kind of institution. Maybe not.
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: He compressed his lips grimly. The die was cast. Now
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: he would abandon the police car some place, then slip
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: quietly out of town on foot. He would be caught
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: if he tried to go home. He had no money
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: except a few dollars in change. Maybe this was all
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: part of the new pattern that seemed to possess him.
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: He kept the siren going, not trusting his ability to
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: avoid traffic. Its mad scream blended into his thoughts. He
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: was the hunted, He was sane, but the truce would
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: brand him as insane? Or was he sane? Had any
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: one vanished? Was his father at home, sitting in his
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: chair and his study, expounding his theories to his colleagues.
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: Was his mother at home in the kitchen preparing dinner.
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: His lip trembled home sickness welled up in him. He
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: was near a bus line that went to the outskirts
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: of the city. He shut off the siren and slowed down.
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: After a few blocks and two turns, he felt safe
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: in ditching the car. He pulled quietly to the curb.
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: He tied his shoelaces, buttoned his shirt, combed his hair.
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: Then he got out. No one paid any attention to him.
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: He walked to the corner. Two minutes later, the bus stopped.
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: The night was clear. The moon was a lesser sun
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: whose light made things visible and somehow unreal and mysterious.
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: In the ditch to the right of the road, two
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: bright points of light blinked on, held for a moment,
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: and vanished. A cat, a silent dog, appeared out of
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: the gloom, wagged its tail in half, its body and friendliness.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: Nice doggy, Fred said nervously. It sniffed his trouser leg,
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: lost interest, and moved off into the darkness. It was
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 1: after midnight. How long after he didn't know. Once a
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: police car had come, speeding by, its red lights, oggling insanely,
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: its spotlight weaving into the bushes at the side of
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: the road. He had lain very still in the dey
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: until it passed. It hadn't slowed down. Later it had
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: come back, and he had again pressed his body into
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: the earth beside the road. Off to the right. Now
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: he saw the silhouette of the giant tree that had
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: been the landmark of the picnic spot. A few minutes
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: later he could see the gate that led to the meadow.
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: He squeezed through it and picked out the path worn
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 1: by the cars the day before. Some winged creature dipped down,
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: shied away from him, and swept off into the darkness.
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: A soft gurgling sound became audible. The brook, the spot
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: where his mother and Kurt had vanished, was ahead. He
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: reached it. He wasn't quite sure until he studied the
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: ground and went back in memory to check on little details.
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: Then he was certain he had reached his goal. He
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: knew why he had come. Of course, here he was
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: closer to his mother than any place else. Here, in
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: some unguessed way, he might get to her. What would
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: he do when morning came? He sat down and pulled
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: his knees up under his chin, wrapping his arms around them.
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: Morning was far away. It might never come for him.
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: If and when it did, he would cope with it. Mom,
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: he whispered, Mom. Croak. The sound of the frog broke
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: the silence, the croak of a frog that was part
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: of the universe, the universe that was basically illogical. More
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: Fred sobbed, the universe was insane. Police looking for you,
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: doctors with their standards of sanity and insanity. Right now.
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 1: They were looking for him to protect him from himself.
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: They didn't want to know why things were done to them,
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: even the reason would be part of the insanity they dealt.
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: In tags words, their science was an illusion within an illusion,
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: meaningless inside a universe of meaninglessness. The frog said cautiously,
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: and the night creature came down on silent wings to
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: weave back into the darkness. That was the reason for pragmatism.
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: He could see it now. He had always thought his
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: father made pragmatism his god because it was the intellectual
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: thing to do, but he could see the reason for it.
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: Reality was a jungle in which reason had to cope
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: with unreason, and there was no criterion except workability. Belief
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: was an instinctive way of thought. It was like the appendix.
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: Scientists claimed that long ago man ate tree bark and
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: the appendix had had a use. If so, that use
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: was gone, but the appendix remained. Before surgery had become
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: a common thing, thousands of people died from appendicitis. The
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: organ that had once been necessary had become a hazard
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: to living. Belief was something like that. He jerked out
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: of his thoughts to listen to a car on the road.
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: It slowed down, it stopped by the gate. A car
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: door slammed. A man appeared briefly in the light of
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: the head lamps, Captain Waters alone. He loomed a moment
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: later inside the pasture in the light of a flashlight.
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: He occasionally flashed it on his face so he would
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: be recognizable. Fred felt an impulse to slip away into
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: the darkness. He hadn't been seen. Captain Waters was just
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: hoping he might be here. A strong impulse made him
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: remain as he was. The entire pattern of Captain Water's
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: approach indicated understanding, or at least the willingness to understand.
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: The bobbing flashlight came closer. It speared out and touched him,
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: then abruptly went out. Footsteps approached. A dark form emerged
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: from the gloom. Hello, Fred, Captain Waters said quietly. I
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: came to keep you company. I'll just sit quiet and
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 1: not bother you. Okay, Fred said. There were movements. A
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: small flame illuminated Captain Water's features as he lit his pipe.
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: The flame went out, then only the occasional glow of
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: the pipe, briefly illuminating the police Captain's face. The frog
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: greeted this newest arrival in his domain. Fred could not think.
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: He was too conscious of the man sitting near him.
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: He fought down the impulse to jump up and run
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: away into the darkness, he thought, the desire to scream
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: at the man to leave him alone. Perhaps the police
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: captain sensed this, or perhaps he could see Fred's express
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: when the coal and his pipe glowed brightest. Tell you
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: what he said suddenly, you may would feel better alone.
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: I'll wait in the car when you get ready. You
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: can come home no more doctors. Mom gave me a
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: good talking to. She wants you to come back. Waters
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: got up and walked away into the night. Minutes later,
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: there was the sound of a car door slamming shut.
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: Fred was alone again alone. It was a feeling, almost
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: an emotion. Intellectually, he knew that nearby was a frog.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: A block away across the meadow was the police captain,
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: sitting in his car. Abruptly, without warning, a flash of
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: insight spread through his entire mind. He knew suddenly what
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: belief was. He knew it instinctively and without question, and
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: knowing it, he knew that his foundations of unbelief were
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: a semantic illusion that had been built up within him.
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: The panorama of his mind, his entire life, stood clearly
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: before him. The cute little tags of probability were superficial.
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: They had a pragmatic value in keeping the mind open,
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: but their function was to guide the judgment in tagging
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: thoughts with belief or disbelief. He retreated into his a
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 1: lonness until there was nothing but himself. He marveled at
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: the unfoldment of this new understanding. He could see things
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: in this new light of understanding. But then a question loomed.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: If that were so, why hadn't he vanished like the others?
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: Belief was an automatic process. Why hadn't it permeated to
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 1: the basic matrix of his mind as it had with
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: the others? Was he then still on the wrong track?
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: But there was no other He saw the trap he
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: had set for himself. He had believed with all his
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: being that belief was the key he was searching for.
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: He had been on the wrong track. His beautiful theory
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: of belief that spread downward into the subconscious, then down
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: lower and lower into the basic matrix that held a
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: person in this reality was wrong. The evidence he had
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: basted on was still there, but it was evidence of
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: something else, of what The eastern horizon was suffused with light.
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: It grew stronger, dimming the light of the moon. From
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: somewhere in the depths of his being rose a feeling
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: that soon he would know, and when he did, he
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: would be close to crossing the threshold. He unclasped his
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 1: arms and straightened out his legs, feeling stabs of pain
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: in his weary muscles. He got to his feet, tingling
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: with weariness. By the side of the road, he could
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: see the police car he had stolen infinite ages ago.
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: He walked toward it, and when he reached it, he
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: climbed in and closed the door. Beautiful morning, Captain Waters said,
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: starting the motor. Fred awoke and opened his eyes. Across
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: the room, the French doors were open. Sunlight was filtering
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: through the copper screens. A breeze was playing gently with
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: the drapes. For a moment, the flight, the long walk
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: into the country, his rendezvous with a loneness, Captain Waters
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: coming to bring him back, all seemed the stuff of dreams.
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: He had the feeling that he had never left this
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: enormous bed. Then it returned reality, the miracle of his
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: reorientation to belief, the new vistas that went with it,
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: the full realization of the true nature of the vanishments.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: He became aware of a figure in the doorway watching him.
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: It was missus Waters. Away. She asked cheerfully, yes, Fred said,
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: wants some breakfast? He nodded. She went away. He raised
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: his head and looked about the room, at the homey touches,
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: the family pictures on the dresser, and the walls, the
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: hand sewed knick knacks and frills. This was probably the
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: Water's own bedroom that they had given up for him.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: He could vanish while Missus Waters was away. She would
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: come in with the breakfast tray and find him gone.
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: When would the moment of reorientation come? He frowned in
• 1:24:44
  Speaker 1: thought that had stirred up something about what he had
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: dreamed or thought while he was asleep, something that had
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: the flavor of being very important. Here you are, Missus
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: Waters said, sweeping into the room with the tray and
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: its sweetish design, dishes and steaming coffee and hot cereal.
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: As she bent over to set the tray on the bed,
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: there came the sound of the front door opening. There's
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: Pa home already, she smiled worriedly at Fred. Will you
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: be all right? I'll tell Pa to come in and
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: keep you company while I fix his supper. Yes, ma'am,
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: Fred said, eyeing the food hungrily. Only she was at
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: the door. She stopped and looked around questioningly. I I
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: think I'd like to be alone while I eat. All right,
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: she said, and hurried away, But Captain Waters had brushed
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: in without giving her a chance to tell him to
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: stay away. Hello, son, he said, warmly, have a good sleep.
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: Missus Waters said, you let him alone while he eats.
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: It's all right, Fred said, hastily, Sure, it's all right,
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: the police captain said. He sat down and took out
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: his pipe. He concerned himself with filling it and lighting it,
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: saying nothing, Fred picked up a piece of golden toast
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: and bit into one corner, absently the thoughts he had
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: had during sleep or filtering into consciousness. He recalled how
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: his mother looked. There had been a fleeting expression just
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: before she had vanished. She had been going to say something.
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: She had changed her mind and had vanished instead. And
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: Kurt he had had his reorientation at least several seconds
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: before vanishing. He had had it, and then, with his
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: new perspective, had said, so that's it. It was as
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: though the new orientation made everything else unimportant. One common
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: factor stood out in every case, those two he had
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: personally witnessed, and the others he hadn't seen. One common factor.
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: Vanishing or whatever happened that produced the vanishing had been
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: an impulse. There had been time for thought. For example,
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: Kurt might have considered the practicality of telling Fred what
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: had happened to him, but he might have reflected that
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: eventually Fred would discover what he had just discovered, so
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: why bother In the office, Kurt told him of a
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: whole city of a million people vanishing, leaving empty houses
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: and streets. Had the cause been the same? A true orientation?
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: Fred looked at Captain Waters, sitting quietly, puffing slowly on
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: his pipe. With deliberation. Waters uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: You know, son, when you get around to it, that is,
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: if you fill up to it sometime, I wish you'd
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: tell me about it, what it is that's troubling you.
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: I'll try to understand. You'll try, Fred echoed, and the
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: police Captain's words started a train of thought. The others
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 1: had the place they'd gone been a heaven or a hell?
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: So many of them? Fred started suddenly the book, He cried,
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: what book. I've got to see the publisher about my
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: father's book. It's very important. You can wait until you're
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: feeling better. Waters said, no, I've got to see mister Brown.
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: Why I I can't tell you? All right, Captain Waters
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: gave in, I'll take you down and bring you back
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: It was half an hour later. In the reception room
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: at the publishing company. Fred stared numbly at the big
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: poster on the wall advertising his father's book. Mister Brown
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: will see you, the receptionist said. Wait here. Fred told
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: Captain Waters, I want to talk to him alone. He
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: went to the door and opened it, stepping inside and
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: closing it behind him. Fred Grant Brown said, getting up
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: from his desk and coming toward him, hand outstretched, What
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 1: can I do for You need some money? Fred was
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: shaking his head. I don't want any money, he said.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: I want you to stop my father's book. You can't
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: publish it now. Wait. Brown said, we aren't going through
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: that again, are we. You can't, Fred said, people will
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: read it and vanish. Huh, people will read it and vanish.
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: You've got to believe me. The cause of those disappearances
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: is in that book. Brown stared for a moment, then
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: dragged over a notepad, wondering how his publicity boys had
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: missed this one. He stood up and came around his desk.
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: You leave it to me, he said, you won't have
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: a thing to worry about. I'll take care of everything.
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: Then you won't publish it. Brown was guiding him toward
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: the door. You leave it to me. Drop in again soon.
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: If you need money, just drop in any time and
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: I'll fix you up. Fred found himself outside the door,
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: not quite sure what mister Brown had promised, and sighed.
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: Brown went back to his desk, muttering, what a killing
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: have to tell Nichols about it tomorrow at lunch. That
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: vanishing stuff is a terrific publicity angle. You still don't
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: want to tell me what's troubling you, Police Captain Waters
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: said wistfully. A frown crossed Fred's features and vanished into
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: a smile. Nothing's troubling me, he lied. I'm all right,
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: I'll be all right. You'll stay with us a while longer, sure, Sure,
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: you make me feel okay. I'm just going out for
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: a ride, be back for supper. It had been two
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: months now since his mother and Kurt had vanished. In
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: that two months, he had come to realize something he
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: didn't quite know how to express it even in his thoughts.
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that he didn't want to vanish. He would
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: some day, but he had given up trying. It was
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 1: the wrong way. The others hadn't tried. It had just
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: come to them out of a clear sky. Some day
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: it would come to him that way, and he would
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: welcome it. He drove down town and parked. A block
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: away was a show he wanted to see. He started
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: toward it. Abruptly he stopped. In front of him was
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: a book store, and its window was a large display,
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: and every book had his father's picture on the front
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: under the title Theory for the Millions. In the back
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 1: of the display was a large poster with a still
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: larger picture, and the teaser do you dare read this book?
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: Anger flamed in Fred's mind. The anger died as abruptly
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: as it had come. It was replaced by a homesickness,
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: a longing. Unconsciously, his footsteps carried him into the store.
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: A man had the book in his hands. You aren't
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: going to buy that, George, the woman beside him was saying,
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: And why not? The man asked, laughing, I've never turned
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: down a dare in my life. He looked at the
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: girl waiting on him. Do you think I'll vanish? Miss?
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: The clerk smiled, I wouldn't know. I have strict orders
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: not to read the book. A solemn faced man appeared
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: out of nowhere and thrust a copy of the book
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: at the clerk. I want this, please, he said, I'll
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: be with you in a moment, sir, the clerk said.
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: Others were waiting also. Fred stumbled from the store, bumping
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: into some one in the doorway as he went through,
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: and too confused and frightened to stop and apologize, there
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: was no way of stopping. Maybe the police would become
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: alarmed at the disappearances. What's wrong with me, he mumbled,
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: walking blindly in the crowds on the sidewalks. Maybe I
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 1: do like the ability to believe. I think I believe.
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: What have I missed? Only he, of all those who
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: had learned the theory had not vanished. Was faith then,
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: something so common and yet impossible for he himself to reach?
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: Ahead was another book store, and its windows were the
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: same displays. He stopped. People were pushing through the doors.
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: Inside they were picking up the book and looking for
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: a clerk. The clerks were smiling and saying things Fred
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: couldn't hear, and wrapping the books and handing them to
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: their new owners, people who would take them home and
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: read and vanish into what something they would see and
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: smile at and say why of course, and with a
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: simple acceptance they would enter it. He watched them, and
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: from the depths of his being, Fred longed to be
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: one of them, to be able to go in and
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: buy the book and read it. And on the other
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: side of the window in the store, a clerk was
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: waiting on a customer. The customer turned to look at
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: him with his nose flattened against the glass. He didn't
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 1: see them. In his eyes was a far away look,
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: a startled light. Why, of course, he said in quiet wonder,
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: There was just a little blur where a nose had
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: pressed against the window. Then the customer frowned and said
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: to the clerk, the young man outside, he he there
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: he fifty please. The clerk said, ah, oh, oh, oh sure.
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: In the part four end of Ye of Little Faith
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: by rog Phillips,