Latest / Famous Sci-Fi Stories Collection / 19 - Ham Sandwich

Transcript

19 - Ham Sandwich · Famous Sci-Fi Stories Collection

0:00
Speaker 1: Ham Sandwich by James H. Smith. This is a LibriVox recording.
0:08
Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
0:12
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Ham
0:18
Speaker 1: Sandwich by James H. Smith. There was no one standing
0:24
Speaker 1: or sitting around in the tastefully furnished entry hall of
0:27
Speaker 1: the Institute of Insight when Wallace Cavender walked into it.
0:32
Speaker 1: He was almost half an hour late for the regular
0:34
Speaker 1: Sunday night meeting of advanced students, and even Mavis Greenfield,
0:40
Speaker 1: doctor Ormond's secretary, who always stayed for a while at
0:44
Speaker 1: her desk in the hall to sign in the stranglers,
0:47
Speaker 1: had disappeared. However, she had left the attendance book lying
0:52
Speaker 1: open on the desk with a pen placed invitingly beside it.
0:57
Speaker 1: Wallace Cavender dutifully entered his name in the book. The distant,
1:02
Speaker 1: deep voice of doctor Alloy's Ormond was dimly audible coming
1:07
Speaker 1: from the direction of the lecture room, and Cavender followed
1:10
Speaker 1: its faint reverberations down a narrow corridor until he reached
1:15
Speaker 1: the closed door. He eased the door open and slipped
1:19
Speaker 1: unobtrusively into the back of the lecture room. As usual,
1:24
Speaker 1: most of the thirty odd advanced students present had seated
1:28
Speaker 1: themselves on the right side of the room, where they
1:31
Speaker 1: were somewhat closer to the speaker. Cavender started towards the
1:36
Speaker 1: almost vacant rows of chairs on the left, smiling apologetically
1:40
Speaker 1: to doctor Ormond, who, as the door opened, had glanced
1:44
Speaker 1: up without interrupting his talk. Three other faces turned towards
1:49
Speaker 1: Cavender from across the room. Reuben Jeffries, a heavy set
1:53
Speaker 1: man with a thin fringe of black hair circling an
1:56
Speaker 1: otherwise bald scalp, nodded soberly and looked away again. Mayvie's Greenfield,
2:03
Speaker 1: a few rows further up, produced a smile and a
2:06
Speaker 1: reproachful little headshake. During the coffee break, she would carefully
2:10
Speaker 1: explain to Cavender once more that students too tardy to
2:14
Speaker 1: take in doctor Owl's introductory lecture missed the most valuable
2:19
Speaker 1: part of these meetings. From old missus Falsom in the
2:23
Speaker 1: front row on the right, Cavender's belated ar rival due
2:26
Speaker 1: a more definite rebuke. She stared at him for half
2:29
Speaker 1: a dozen seconds with a coldly severe frown mouth packered
2:34
Speaker 1: in disapproval. Before returning her attention to doctor Ormond, Cavender
2:39
Speaker 1: sat down in the first chair he came to and
2:41
Speaker 1: let himself go comfortably limp. He was dead tired, had
2:46
Speaker 1: even hesitated overcoming to the Institute of Insight to night,
2:50
Speaker 1: but it wouldn't do to skip the meeting. A number
2:53
Speaker 1: of his fellow students, notably missus Falsom, already regarded him
2:57
Speaker 1: as a black ship, and if enough of them complained
3:01
Speaker 1: to doctor Ormond that Cavender's luxness threatened to retard the
3:04
Speaker 1: overall advance of the group towards the goal of total insight,
3:09
Speaker 1: Ormond might decide to exclude him from further study. At
3:12
Speaker 1: a guess, Cavender thought cynically, it would have happened by
3:16
Speaker 1: now if the confidential report the Institute had obtained and
3:20
Speaker 1: his financial status had been less impressive. A healthy bank
3:24
Speaker 1: balance wasn't an absolute requirement for membership, but it helped.
3:28
Speaker 1: It helped. All but a handful of the advanced students
3:32
Speaker 1: were in the upper income brackets. Cavender let his gaze
3:36
Speaker 1: shift unobtrusively about the group, while some almost automatic part
3:40
Speaker 1: of his mind began to pick up the thread of
3:42
Speaker 1: doctor Owl's discourse. After a dozen or so sentences, he
3:46
Speaker 1: realized that the evening's theme was the relationship between subjective
3:51
Speaker 1: and objective reality, as understood in the light of total insight.
3:55
Speaker 1: It was a well worn subject, Doctor al repeated himself
4:00
Speaker 1: a great deal. Most of his audience, nevertheless, was following
4:03
Speaker 1: his words with intent interest, many taking notes and frowning
4:07
Speaker 1: in concentration. As Mavis Greenfield liked to express it, quoting
4:12
Speaker 1: the doctor himself, the idea he didn't pick up when
4:15
Speaker 1: it was first presented might come clear to you the
4:19
Speaker 1: fifth or sixth time around. Cavender suspected, however, that as
4:24
Speaker 1: far as he was concerned, much of the theory of
4:26
Speaker 1: total insight was doomed to remain forever obscure. He settled
4:31
Speaker 1: his attention on the only two students on this side
4:34
Speaker 1: of the room with him. Dexter Jones and Perry Rochelle
4:38
Speaker 1: were sitting side by side in front road chairs, the
4:41
Speaker 1: same chairs they usually occupied during these meetings. They were
4:45
Speaker 1: exceptions to the general run of the group in a
4:48
Speaker 1: number of ways. Younger, for one thing, Dexter was twenty
4:52
Speaker 1: nine and Perry twenty three, while the group averaged out
4:56
Speaker 1: at around forty five, which happened to be Cavender's age.
5:00
Speaker 1: Neither was blessed with worldly reaches. In fact, it was
5:04
Speaker 1: questionable whether the Rochelle girl, who described herself as a
5:07
Speaker 1: commercial artist, even had a bank account. Dexter Jones, a
5:12
Speaker 1: great school teacher, did have one, but was able to
5:15
Speaker 1: keep it barely high enough to cover his rent and
5:18
Speaker 1: car payment checks. Their vie to the Institute was of
5:21
Speaker 1: a different kind. Both possessed esoteric mental talents, rather modest ones,
5:27
Speaker 1: to be sure, but still very interesting, so that on
5:30
Speaker 1: occasion they could state accurately what was contained in a
5:34
Speaker 1: sealed envelope, or give a recognizable description of the photograph
5:38
Speaker 1: of a loved one hidden in another student's wallet. This
5:42
Speaker 1: provided the group with encouraging evidence that such abilities were
5:46
Speaker 1: indeed no fable, and somewhere along the difficult road to
5:49
Speaker 1: total insight might be attained by all. In addition, Perry
5:54
Speaker 1: and Dexter were volunteers for what doctor Alloy's Ornament referred
5:58
Speaker 1: to cryptically as their advanced experimentation. This group at large
6:03
Speaker 1: had not been told the exact nature of these experiments,
6:07
Speaker 1: but the implication was that they were mental exercises of
6:10
Speaker 1: such power that doctor al did not wish other advanced
6:14
Speaker 1: students to try them until the brave pioneer work being
6:17
Speaker 1: done by Perry and Dexter was concluded and he had
6:21
Speaker 1: evaluated the results. Headaches, Doctor All said, Perry Rochelle sometimes
6:27
Speaker 1: quite bad headaches. She hesitated. She was a thin, pale
6:32
Speaker 1: girl with untidy arranged brown hair, who vacillated between periods
6:37
Speaker 1: of vacuous alertness and activity and somewhat shorter periods of
6:41
Speaker 1: blank faced withdrawal. And then she went on, there are
6:46
Speaker 1: times during the day when I get to feeling sort
6:49
Speaker 1: of confused and not quite sure whether I'm asleep or awake,
6:53
Speaker 1: you know. Doctor Ormond nodded, gazing at her reflectively from
6:58
Speaker 1: the little lectern on which he leave. His composed smile
7:02
Speaker 1: indicated that he was not in the least surprised or
7:05
Speaker 1: disturbed by her report on the results of the week's experiments,
7:10
Speaker 1: that they were, in fact, precisely the results he had expected.
7:14
Speaker 1: I'll speak to you about it later, Perry, he told
7:17
Speaker 1: her gently. Dexter, what experiences have you had? Dexter Jones
7:22
Speaker 1: cleared his throat. He was a serious young man who
7:25
Speaker 1: appeared at meetings, conservatively and neatly dressed and shaved to
7:29
Speaker 1: the quak and rarely spoken less spoken to well, nothing
7:34
Speaker 1: very dramatic, doctor All He said, diffidently, I did have
7:38
Speaker 1: a few nightmares during the week, but I'm not sure
7:41
Speaker 1: there's any connection between them and what you were having
7:44
Speaker 1: us do. Doctor Ormond stroked his chin and regarded Dexter
7:49
Speaker 1: with benevolence. A connection seems quite possible, Dexter. Let's assume
7:55
Speaker 1: it exists. What can you tell us about those nightmares?
7:59
Speaker 1: Dexter's said he was afraid he couldn't actually tell them anything.
8:03
Speaker 1: By the time he was fully awake, it had only
8:06
Speaker 1: a very vague impression of what the nightmares were about,
8:09
Speaker 1: and the only part he could remember clearly now was
8:13
Speaker 1: that they had been quite alarming. Old missus Folsom, who
8:17
Speaker 1: was more than a little jealous of the special attention
8:19
Speaker 1: enjoyed by Dexter and Perry, broke in eagerly at that
8:22
Speaker 1: point to tell about a nightmare she'd had during the
8:25
Speaker 1: week and which she could remember fully, and Cavender's attention
8:29
Speaker 1: drifted away from the talk. Missus Fulsom was an old
8:32
Speaker 1: boar at best, but a very wealthy old boar, which
8:36
Speaker 1: was why doctor Ormond usually let her ramble on a
8:39
Speaker 1: while before stirring the conversation back to the business of
8:42
Speaker 1: the meeting. But Cavender didn't have to pretend to listen.
8:47
Speaker 1: From his vantage point behind most of the group, he
8:50
Speaker 1: let his gaze and thoughts wander from one to the
8:53
Speaker 1: other of them. Again, for the majority of the advanced students,
8:57
Speaker 1: he reflected, the Institute of Insight wasn't really too healthy
9:00
Speaker 1: a place, but it offered compensations. Middle aged or passed
9:05
Speaker 1: it on the average financially secure, vaguely disappointed in life.
9:10
Speaker 1: They'd found in doctor All a friendly and eloquent guide
9:13
Speaker 1: to lead them into the fascinating worlds of their own minds.
9:17
Speaker 1: And doctor Al was good at it. He had borrowed
9:21
Speaker 1: as heavily from yoga and Western mysticism as from various
9:25
Speaker 1: orthodox and unorthod psychological disciplines, and composed his own system,
9:30
Speaker 1: almost his own cosmology. His exercises would have made conservative
9:35
Speaker 1: psychiatrists shudder, but he was clever enough to avoid getting
9:39
Speaker 1: his flock into two serious mental difficulties. If some of
9:43
Speaker 1: them suffered a bit now and then, it made the
9:46
Speaker 1: quest of total insight and the thought that they were
9:49
Speaker 1: progressing towards that goal more real and convincing, and meeting
9:54
Speaker 1: after a meeting, doctor al came up with some intriguing
9:58
Speaker 1: new twist or device, some fresh experience to keep their
10:01
Speaker 1: interest level high. Always bear in mind, he was saying,
10:05
Speaker 1: earnestly the moment, that an advance made by any member
10:09
Speaker 1: of the group benefits the group as a whole. Thus,
10:12
Speaker 1: because of the work done by our young pioneers this week,
10:16
Speaker 1: I see indications tonight that the group is ready to
10:19
Speaker 1: attempt a new experiment, an experiment at a level I
10:24
Speaker 1: frankly admit I hadn't anticipated you would achieve for at
10:28
Speaker 1: least another two months. Doctor Ormond posed significantly, the pause
10:33
Speaker 1: underlying his words. There was an expectant steering among the students.
10:38
Speaker 1: But I must caution you, he went on, we cannot,
10:42
Speaker 1: of course, be certain that the experiment will succeed. In fact,
10:46
Speaker 1: it would be a very remarkable thing if it did
10:49
Speaker 1: succeed at a first attempt. But if it should, you
10:53
Speaker 1: will have had a rather startling experience. You will have
10:56
Speaker 1: seen a thing generally considered to be impossible, He smiled reassuringly,
11:02
Speaker 1: stepping down from the electron naturally, there will be no danger.
11:07
Speaker 1: You know me well enough to realize that I never
11:09
Speaker 1: permit the group or individuals to attempt what lies beyond
11:12
Speaker 1: their capability. Cavenders stifled a yawn blinked water from his eyes,
11:19
Speaker 1: watching Ormond walk over to a small polished table on
11:22
Speaker 1: the left side of the room, in front of the
11:24
Speaker 1: rows of chairs. On it, Mavis Greenfield had placed a
11:28
Speaker 1: number of enigmatic articles, some of which would be employed
11:31
Speaker 1: as props in one manner or another during the evening's work.
11:35
Speaker 1: The most prominent item was a small suitcase in red
11:38
Speaker 1: alligator hide. Doctor Ormond, however, passed up the suitcase, took
11:42
Speaker 1: a small flat wooden plate from the table, and returned
11:45
Speaker 1: to the center of the room. On this he sat,
11:49
Speaker 1: holding up the plate. There rests at this moment the
11:53
Speaker 1: air of this planet, and nothing else. But in a
11:57
Speaker 1: minute or two, for each of you, in his or
12:00
Speaker 1: her world of subjective reality, something else will appear on it.
12:06
Speaker 1: The students noted comprehendingly, so far the experiment was on
12:10
Speaker 1: familiar ground. Doctor Ormond gave them all a good humored
12:13
Speaker 1: wink to emphasize. He went on that we deal here
12:18
Speaker 1: with practical down to earth real matters, not some mystical nonsense.
12:23
Speaker 1: To emphasize that, let us say that the object each
12:27
Speaker 1: of you will visualize on this plate will be a
12:32
Speaker 1: ham sandwich. There were appreciative chuckles, but Cavender felt a
12:37
Speaker 1: twinge of annoyance at the moment, when, along with fighting
12:41
Speaker 1: off fatigue, he'd been trying to forget that he hadn't
12:44
Speaker 1: eaten since noon. Doctor Al's choice looked like an unfortunate one.
12:49
Speaker 1: Cavender happened to be very fond of ham. Now Here,
12:54
Speaker 1: Ormond continued, putting the plate down is where this experiment
12:58
Speaker 1: begins to differ from anything we have done before. For
13:02
Speaker 1: all of us will try to imagine, to visualize as
13:06
Speaker 1: being on this plate the same ham sandwich, and so
13:11
Speaker 1: there will be no conflict in our projections. Let's decide
13:15
Speaker 1: first on just what ingredients we want to put on it,
13:19
Speaker 1: he smiled. We'll make this the finest ham sandwich or
13:23
Speaker 1: collective imagination can produce. There were more chuckles. Cavender cursed
13:29
Speaker 1: under his breath, his mouth beginning to water. Suggestions came promptly, mustard.
13:35
Speaker 1: Doctor Ormond said, of course, not too sharp, though, Elinor.
13:40
Speaker 1: He smiled, missus fulsom I agree, A light touch of
13:43
Speaker 1: delicate salad, mustard, crisp lettuce, finely chopped gherkins, very well.
13:49
Speaker 1: Put it all on rye, Cavender said, helplessly. Toasted ry
13:54
Speaker 1: toasted dry. Ormond smiled at him, looked round. Any objections, No,
14:00
Speaker 1: doast it right, shall be wally, and I believe that
14:02
Speaker 1: completes our selection. He paused, his face turning serious. Now
14:09
Speaker 1: as to that word of caution I gave you, for
14:12
Speaker 1: three minutes, each of you will visualize the object we
14:15
Speaker 1: have chosen on the plate I will be holding up
14:18
Speaker 1: before me. You will do this with your eyes open,
14:22
Speaker 1: and to each of you in your own subjective reality.
14:26
Speaker 1: The object will become, as you know, more or less
14:29
Speaker 1: clearly discernible. But let me tell you this, do not
14:34
Speaker 1: be too surprised if at the end of that time,
14:37
Speaker 1: when the exercise is over, the object remains visible to you,
14:41
Speaker 1: does not disappear. There was silence for a moment, then
14:46
Speaker 1: renewed chuckles, but slightly nervous ones, and not too many.
14:50
Speaker 1: Doctor Ormond said sternly, I am serious about that. The possibility,
14:56
Speaker 1: though it may be small to night, is there. You
14:59
Speaker 1: have learned that by the laws of insight. Any image
15:02
Speaker 1: of subjective reality, if it can be endowed with all
15:05
Speaker 1: the attributes of objective reality by its human creator, must
15:09
Speaker 1: spontaneously become an image in objective reality. In this case,
15:13
Speaker 1: our collective ham sandwich, if it were perfectly visualized, could
15:17
Speaker 1: not only be seen by you, but failed its weight
15:21
Speaker 1: and the texture of each of its ingredients perceived, their
15:24
Speaker 1: appetizing fragrance, savored, cavender, groaned mentally, and more. If one
15:30
Speaker 1: of you were to eat this sandwich, he would find
15:33
Speaker 1: it exactly as nourishing as any produced by the more
15:36
Speaker 1: ordinary methods of objective reality. There are people in the
15:40
Speaker 1: world today, doctor Ormond concluded, speaking very earnestly now who
15:45
Speaker 1: can do this. There always have been people who could
15:49
Speaker 1: do this, and you are following in their footsteps, being
15:53
Speaker 1: trained in even more advanced skills. I am aware, to
15:57
Speaker 1: a greater extent than any of you of the latent
16:00
Speaker 1: power that is developing has developed in this group tonight
16:05
Speaker 1: for the first time, that power will be focused, drawn
16:09
Speaker 1: down to a pinpoint, to accomplish one task. Again, I
16:13
Speaker 1: do not say that at the end of our exercise,
16:15
Speaker 1: a hemp sandwich will lie on this plate frankly, I
16:18
Speaker 1: don't expect it, but I suggest very strongly that you
16:22
Speaker 1: don't let his surprise or startle you too much if
16:26
Speaker 1: we find it here. There was dead stillness. When he
16:29
Speaker 1: finished speaking. Cavender had a sense that the lecture room
16:33
Speaker 1: had come alive with eerie little chills. Doctor Ormond lifted
16:37
Speaker 1: the plate solemnly up before him, holding it between the
16:40
Speaker 1: fingertips of both hands. Now, if you will direct your
16:45
Speaker 1: attention here no eleanor with your eyes open, let us begin.
16:51
Speaker 1: Cavender's side straightened up in his chair, eyes fixed obediently
16:55
Speaker 1: on the wooden plate and band ham sandwiches and every
16:59
Speaker 1: other kind of food firmly from his thoughts. There was
17:03
Speaker 1: no point in working his appetite up any further when
17:06
Speaker 1: he couldn't satisfy it, and he would have to be
17:09
Speaker 1: on guard a little against simply falling asleep. During the
17:12
Speaker 1: next three minutes, the cloudiness of complete fatigue wasn't too
17:17
Speaker 1: far away. At the edge of his vision, he was
17:20
Speaker 1: aware of his fellow students across the room, arranged in
17:23
Speaker 1: suddenly motionless rows, like staring zombies. His eyelids began to
17:27
Speaker 1: feel laden. The three minutes dragged on came to an end.
17:32
Speaker 1: Ormond slowly lowered his hands. Cavender drew a long breath
17:36
Speaker 1: of relief. The wooden plate, he nodded with no surprise,
17:40
Speaker 1: was still empty. You may stop visualizing, Ormond announced. There
17:47
Speaker 1: was a concerted sighing, a creaking of chairs. The students
17:51
Speaker 1: came out of their semitrances, blinked, smiled, settled into more
17:55
Speaker 1: comfortable positions, waiting for Doctor Al's comments. No miracles this time,
18:02
Speaker 1: Ormond began briskly. He smiled. Missus Falsom, said doctor Al.
18:08
Speaker 1: He looked over at her. Yes, Elinor Eleinor Falsom hesitated,
18:13
Speaker 1: shook her head. No, she said, go on, I'm sorry,
18:16
Speaker 1: I interrupted. That's all right. Doctor Ale gave her a
18:20
Speaker 1: warm smile. It had been, he continued, a successful exercise,
18:25
Speaker 1: a very promising first attempt. In spite of the lack
18:27
Speaker 1: of an immediate materialization, which of course had been only
18:31
Speaker 1: a remote possibility to start with, He had no fault
18:34
Speaker 1: to find with the quality of the group's effort. He
18:37
Speaker 1: had sensed it, as they too presently would be able
18:40
Speaker 1: to sense it, as a smooth flow of directed energy.
18:44
Speaker 1: With a little more practice. One of these days, Cavender
18:48
Speaker 1: stifled one yawn, concealed another which did not allow itself
18:52
Speaker 1: to be stifled behind a casually raised hand. He watched
18:56
Speaker 1: Ormond move over to the prop table, put the wooden
18:59
Speaker 1: plate down beside the red suit case without interrupting his
19:02
Speaker 1: encouraging summary of the exercise hesitate, then pick up something else,
19:07
Speaker 1: something which looked like a flexible copper trident, and start
19:11
Speaker 1: back to the center of the room with it. Missus
19:14
Speaker 1: Falsom's voice said shrilly. Doctor Al, Yes, elinor what is it?
19:19
Speaker 1: Just now, Missus Fossom said, her voice still holding the
19:22
Speaker 1: shrill note. Just a moment ago on the plate over there.
19:26
Speaker 1: I'm certain, I'm almost certain I saw the ham sandwich,
19:30
Speaker 1: she added breathlessly. And that's what I was going to
19:33
Speaker 1: say before, doctor Al, right after you told us to
19:35
Speaker 1: stop visualizing. I thought I saw the sandwich on the plate,
19:39
Speaker 1: but it was only for a moment, and I wasn't sure.
19:41
Speaker 1: But now I'm sure, almost sure that I saw it
19:45
Speaker 1: again on the plate on the table. The old woman
19:48
Speaker 1: was pointing a trembling finger towards the table. Her cheeks
19:51
Speaker 1: shoved spots of hectic red in the rows behind her.
19:55
Speaker 1: The students looked at one another, shook their heads in resignation,
19:59
Speaker 1: some odd viously suppressing amusement, others looked annoyed. They were
20:03
Speaker 1: all familiar with Eleanor Falsom's tendency to produce such little
20:07
Speaker 1: sensations during the meetings. If the evening didn't promise to
20:11
Speaker 1: bring enough excitement, Eleanor always could be counted on to
20:14
Speaker 1: take a hand in events. Cavender felt less certain about
20:18
Speaker 1: it this time. Missus Falsom sounded genuinely excited, and if
20:23
Speaker 1: she actually believed she'd seen something materialize, she might be
20:27
Speaker 1: fairly close to getting one of those little heart attacks
20:29
Speaker 1: she kept everyone informed about. Doctor l could have had
20:34
Speaker 1: the same thought. He glanced back at the prop table
20:37
Speaker 1: asked gravely. You don't see it there now, do you, Eleanor.
20:42
Speaker 1: Missus Falsam shook her head. No, no, of course not.
20:45
Speaker 1: It disappeared again. It was only there for a second,
20:48
Speaker 1: but I'm sure I saw it now. This is very interesting,
20:52
Speaker 1: Ormond said, seriously, has anyone else observed anything at all unusual?
20:56
Speaker 1: During the last few minutes There was a murmur ad
21:00
Speaker 1: chorus of dissent, but Cavender noticed that the expressions of
21:03
Speaker 1: amusement and annoyance had vanished. Doctor Al had changed the
21:07
Speaker 1: tune and the students who were listening intently. He turned
21:11
Speaker 1: back to missus Falsom. Let us consider the possibilities here, Eleanor,
21:16
Speaker 1: He said, For one thing, you should be congratulated in
21:19
Speaker 1: any case, because your experience shows that your visualization was
21:24
Speaker 1: clear and truth throughout their exercise. If it hadn't been,
21:28
Speaker 1: nothing like this could have occurred. But precisely what was
21:32
Speaker 1: the experience? There? We are as of this moment on
21:36
Speaker 1: uncertain ground. You saw something that no one else saw
21:40
Speaker 1: the same thing might mean simply that no one else
21:44
Speaker 1: happened to be looking at the plate at those particular
21:46
Speaker 1: instances in time, A, for example, certainly gave it no
21:50
Speaker 1: further attention. After the exercise was over. You may then
21:54
Speaker 1: have observed a genuine materialization. Missus Falsom nodded vigorously, yes I.
22:01
Speaker 1: But Ormond went on. Under the circumstances, the scientific attitude
22:06
Speaker 1: we maintain at this institute demands that we leave the
22:09
Speaker 1: question open for now, because you might, also, you understand,
22:14
Speaker 1: have projected for yourself only a vivid momentary impression of
22:18
Speaker 1: the image you had created during our exercise, and were
22:21
Speaker 1: still holding in your mind, missus, Folsom looked doubtful. The
22:25
Speaker 1: flash of excitement began to leave your face. Why, well, yes,
22:29
Speaker 1: I suppose so, she acknowledged. Unwillingly. Of course, Ormond said,
22:35
Speaker 1: so to night, we shall leave it at that. The
22:38
Speaker 1: next time we engage in a similar exercise. Well, who knows,
22:42
Speaker 1: He gave her a reassuring smile. I must say, Eleanor
22:46
Speaker 1: that this is a very encouraging indication of the progress
22:49
Speaker 1: you have made. He glanced over the group, gathering their attention,
22:53
Speaker 1: and raised the tredent like device he had taken from
22:56
Speaker 1: the table. And now for our second experience this evening.
23:02
Speaker 1: Looking disappointed and somewhat confused, Elinor Folsom settled back in
23:06
Speaker 1: her chair. Cavender also settled back, his gaze shifting sleepily
23:10
Speaker 1: to the remaining items on the prop table. He was
23:13
Speaker 1: frowning a little. It wasn't his business, but if the
23:17
Speaker 1: old woman had started to hypnotize herself into having hallucinations,
23:21
Speaker 1: doctor al had better turn to a different type of
23:24
Speaker 1: meeting exercises, and that probably was exactly what Ormond would do.
23:29
Speaker 1: He seemed very much aware of danger signals. Cavender wondered,
23:33
Speaker 1: vaguely what the red suitcase on the table contained. There
23:37
Speaker 1: was a blurry shimmer on the wooden plate beside the suitcase.
23:40
Speaker 1: Then something thickened there suddenly, as if drawing itself together
23:45
Speaker 1: out of the air. Perry Rochelle, sitting only ten feet
23:49
Speaker 1: back from the table, uttered a yelp somewhere between surprise
23:53
Speaker 1: and alarm. Dexter Jones, beside her, abruptly pushed back his
23:57
Speaker 1: chair made a loud, incoherent lammation of some kind. Cavender
24:02
Speaker 1: had started upright heart hammering. The thing that had appeared
24:06
Speaker 1: on the wooden plate vanished again, but it had remained
24:09
Speaker 1: visible there for two full seconds, and there was no
24:13
Speaker 1: question at all of what it had been. For several minutes,
24:17
Speaker 1: something resembling pandemoniums ruled about the walls of the lecture
24:21
Speaker 1: room of the Institute of Inside. The red suitcase had
24:24
Speaker 1: concealed the wooden plate on the prop table from the
24:26
Speaker 1: eyes of most of the students sitting on the right
24:29
Speaker 1: side of the room, but a number of those who
24:31
Speaker 1: could see it felt they had caught a glimpse of
24:34
Speaker 1: something of just what they were insured at first, or
24:37
Speaker 1: perhaps they preferred not to say. Perry and Dexter, However,
24:42
Speaker 1: after getting over their first shock, had no such doubts. Perry, voice,
24:47
Speaker 1: vibrant with excitement, answered the questions flunged her from across
24:50
Speaker 1: the room, giving a detailed description of the ham sandwich,
24:54
Speaker 1: which had appeared out of nowhere on the polished little
24:57
Speaker 1: table and stayed there for an incredible instant before it vanished.
25:02
Speaker 1: Dexter Jones, his usually impassive face glowing and animated laughing,
25:08
Speaker 1: confirmed the description on every point. On the opposite side
25:12
Speaker 1: of the room, Elinor Folsom, surrounded by her own group
25:15
Speaker 1: of questioners, was also having her hour of triumph, in
25:18
Speaker 1: the warmth of which a trace of bitterness that her
25:21
Speaker 1: first report of the phenomenon had been shrugged off by everyone,
25:25
Speaker 1: even in a way by doctor Al, gradually dissolved. Doctor
25:29
Speaker 1: Al himself, Cavender thought, remained remarkably quiet at first, though
25:34
Speaker 1: in the excitement this wasn't generally noticed. He might even
25:38
Speaker 1: have turned a little pale. However, before things began to
25:41
Speaker 1: slow down, he had himself well in hand again, calling
25:45
Speaker 1: the group to a semblance of order. He began smilingly
25:48
Speaker 1: to ask specific questions the witnesses on the right side
25:52
Speaker 1: of the room seemed somewhat more certain now of what
25:54
Speaker 1: they had observed. Doctor Ormond looked over at Cavender, and you, Wally,
26:00
Speaker 1: you were sitting rather far back to be sure. Cavender
26:04
Speaker 1: smiled and shrugged. Sorry, doctor All, I just wasn't looking
26:07
Speaker 1: at that direction at the moment. The first suggestion I
26:11
Speaker 1: had that anything unusual was going on was when Perry
26:14
Speaker 1: let out that wild squawk. There was general laughter. Perry
26:18
Speaker 1: grinned and flashed. Well, i'd have liked to hear your squawk,
26:22
Speaker 1: she told Cavender, if you'd seen a miracle happen right
26:25
Speaker 1: before your nose. Not a miracle, Perry Ormond said gently.
26:30
Speaker 1: We must remember that we are walking here with natural
26:33
Speaker 1: forces which produced natural phenomena, insufficiently understood phenomena perhaps, but
26:39
Speaker 1: never miraculous ones. Now, how closely did this materialization appear
26:44
Speaker 1: to conform to the subjective group image we had decided
26:47
Speaker 1: on for our exercise. Well, I could only see it,
26:51
Speaker 1: of course, doctor all. But as far as I saw it,
26:55
Speaker 1: it was exactly what we'd No. Wait, Perry frowned, wrinkling
27:00
Speaker 1: her nose. There was something added, she giggled. At Least,
27:04
Speaker 1: I don't remember anyone saying we should imagine the sandwich
27:07
Speaker 1: wrapped in a paper napkin. Across the room, a woman's
27:10
Speaker 1: voice said, breathlessly, Oh, a green paper napkin. Perry. Perry
27:15
Speaker 1: looked around, surprised. Yes, it was Mayvis. Mayvie's grinfeld hesitated, said,
27:21
Speaker 1: with a nervous little laugh. I suppose I did that.
27:24
Speaker 1: I added a green napkin after we studded the exercise.
27:27
Speaker 1: Her voice quavered for an instant. I thought the image
27:30
Speaker 1: looked neaterer that way. She looked, appealing to the students
27:34
Speaker 1: around her. This is really incredible, isn't it, They gave
27:38
Speaker 1: her vague smiles. They were plainly still floating on a
27:42
Speaker 1: cloud of collective achievement. If they hadn't created that sandwich,
27:46
Speaker 1: there could have been nothing to see. It seemed to
27:50
Speaker 1: Cavender that doctor Orman's face showed a flicker of strain
27:53
Speaker 1: when he heard Mavis's explanation, but he couldn't be sure,
27:57
Speaker 1: because the expression, if it had been, there, was smoothed
28:00
Speaker 1: away at once. Ormond cleared his throat, said firmly, and
28:05
Speaker 1: somewhat chidingly, No, not incredible, Mayvis. Although he turned on
28:10
Speaker 1: his smile. My friends, I must admit that you have
28:14
Speaker 1: surprised me very pleasantly, of course, But what happened here
28:18
Speaker 1: is something I considered to be only a very remote
28:21
Speaker 1: possibility to night. You are truly more advanced than I realized.
28:26
Speaker 1: For note this, If even one of you had been
28:29
Speaker 1: lagging behind the others, if there had been any unevenness
28:33
Speaker 1: in the concentration each gave to the exercise tonight, this
28:37
Speaker 1: materialization simply could not have occurred. And that fact forces
28:42
Speaker 1: me now to a very important decision. He went over
28:45
Speaker 1: to the prop table took the suit case from it. Mayvis,
28:49
Speaker 1: He said, gravely, you may put away these other devices.
28:54
Speaker 1: We will have no further need for them in this group.
28:57
Speaker 1: Dexter moved the table to the center of the room
29:00
Speaker 1: for me, please. He waited while his instructions were hastily
29:03
Speaker 1: carried out, then laid the suitcase on the table, drew
29:07
Speaker 1: up a chair, and sat down. The buzz of excited
29:10
Speaker 1: conversation among the students hashed. They started him in anticipatory silence.
29:16
Speaker 1: It appeared that the evening's surprises were not yet over,
29:20
Speaker 1: and they were ready for anything. Now there is a point,
29:26
Speaker 1: doctor Ormond began, in a solemn voice, riveting their eager
29:29
Speaker 1: attention on him. A point in the orderly advance towards
29:33
Speaker 1: Stuttle inside, at which further progress becomes greatly simplified and accelerated,
29:39
Speaker 1: because the student has now developed the capability to augment
29:42
Speaker 1: his personal efforts by the use of certain instruments. Cavender
29:46
Speaker 1: thoughtfully reached inside his coat, brought out a cigarette case,
29:50
Speaker 1: opened it, and slowly put a cigarette to his lips,
29:54
Speaker 1: about to flick on a lighter. He saw Reuben Jeffreys
29:57
Speaker 1: watching him with an expression of disapproval from across the ear.
30:00
Speaker 1: Jeffrey shook his head indicated the nose smocking sign on
30:04
Speaker 1: the wall. Govern dear nodded, smiling a rueful apology for
30:08
Speaker 1: his absent mindedness, and returned the cigarette to its case.
30:12
Speaker 1: He shoved his hands into his trousers pockets slouched back
30:16
Speaker 1: in the chair. I have told you, Ormond was saying
30:20
Speaker 1: that the contributions many of you so generously made to
30:23
Speaker 1: the Institute were needed for and being absorbed by vital research.
30:28
Speaker 1: Tonight I had intended to give you a first inkling
30:31
Speaker 1: of what that research was accomplishing. He tapped the suit
30:35
Speaker 1: case on the table before him. In there is an
30:38
Speaker 1: instrument of the kind I have mentioned. The beneficial forces
30:42
Speaker 1: of the cosmos are harnessed by it, flow through it,
30:46
Speaker 1: and I believe I can say that my efforts in
30:49
Speaker 1: risen months have produced the most effective such device ever seen,
30:55
Speaker 1: doctor Al, missus Folsom interrupted firmly, I think you should
30:59
Speaker 1: let them know how the instrument cured my heart condition.
31:03
Speaker 1: Faces shifted towards her, then back to doctor Al. The
31:07
Speaker 1: middle aged majority of the students pricked their ears, for
31:11
Speaker 1: each of them, conscious of the years of increasingly uncertain
31:14
Speaker 1: health to come. Missus Folsom's words contained a personal implication,
31:19
Speaker 1: one that hit home. But in spite of the vindication
31:22
Speaker 1: of her claim to have cinematerialized hemp sandwich, they weren't
31:26
Speaker 1: quite ready to trust her about this. Doctor Ormand's face
31:30
Speaker 1: was grave, eleanor, he said, reprovingly, that was letting the
31:34
Speaker 1: cut out of the bag, wasn't it. I hadn't intended
31:37
Speaker 1: to discuss that part of the matter just yet. He hesitated, frowning,
31:42
Speaker 1: tapping the table top lightly with his knuckles. Missus Folsom
31:46
Speaker 1: looked unabashed. She had produced another sensation and knew it
31:50
Speaker 1: since it was mentioned Ormond said, with deliberation. At last,
31:54
Speaker 1: it would be unfair not to tell you, at least
31:57
Speaker 1: in brief, the facts to which Eleanor was eluding. Very well, then,
32:03
Speaker 1: Eleanor has served during the past several weeks as the
32:06
Speaker 1: subject of certain experiments connected with his instrument. She reports
32:10
Speaker 1: that after her first use of it, her periodically recurring
32:14
Speaker 1: heart problem ceased to trouble her. Missus Folsom smiled, nodded vigorously.
32:20
Speaker 1: I have not, she announced, had one single touch of
32:24
Speaker 1: pain or dizziness in all this time. But one should,
32:28
Speaker 1: of course, Doctor Ormond added, objectively, hesitate to use the
32:32
Speaker 1: word cure under such circumstances. In the front row, someone asked, Doctoral,
32:38
Speaker 1: will the instrument heal well other physical conditions? Ormond looked
32:44
Speaker 1: at the speaker with dignity, John, The instrument does and
32:49
Speaker 1: is supposed to do one thing. Providing, as I've said,
32:53
Speaker 1: that the student working with it has attained a certain
32:55
Speaker 1: minimum level of insight, it greatly accelerates his progress towards
33:00
Speaker 1: total insight, very greatly. Now, as I have implied before,
33:05
Speaker 1: as one approaches the goal of total insight, the ailments
33:09
Speaker 1: and diseases which commonly afflict humanity simply disappear. Unfortunately, I
33:15
Speaker 1: am not yet free to show you proof for this,
33:17
Speaker 1: although I have the proof and believe it will not
33:20
Speaker 1: be long before it can be revealed at least of
33:22
Speaker 1: the members of this group. For this reason, I have
33:25
Speaker 1: preferred not to say too much on the point. Yes, Reuben,
33:29
Speaker 1: you have a question. Two questions, Doctor al Reuben. Jeffrey said, First,
33:35
Speaker 1: is it your opinion that our group has now reached
33:37
Speaker 1: the minimum level of insight that makes it possible to
33:40
Speaker 1: work with those instruments. Ormond nodded in fatity, Yes, it
33:45
Speaker 1: has after tonight's occurrence. There is no further question about that. Then,
33:51
Speaker 1: Jeffrey said, my second question is simply when do we start?
33:55
Speaker 1: There was laughter, a scattering of applause. Ormond smiled, said,
34:01
Speaker 1: an excellent question, Reuben. The answer is that a number
34:04
Speaker 1: of you will start immediately a limited quantity of the
34:08
Speaker 1: instruments fifteen I believe are available now on the premises
34:12
Speaker 1: stored in my office. Within a few weeks I will
34:15
Speaker 1: have enough on hand to supply as many of you
34:18
Speaker 1: as wish to speed up their progress by this method.
34:21
Speaker 1: Since the group's contributions paid my research expenses, I cannot
34:25
Speaker 1: in justice ask more from you individually now than the
34:29
Speaker 1: actual costs and material and labor for each instrument. The
34:33
Speaker 1: figure I have it somewhere. Oh yes, Ormond pulled a
34:37
Speaker 1: notebook from his pocket, consulted it, looked up, and said, mildly,
34:42
Speaker 1: twelve hundred dollars will be adequate. I think Cavender's lips
34:47
Speaker 1: twitched sardonically. Three or four of the group might have
34:50
Speaker 1: flinched inwardly at the price tag, but on the whole
34:54
Speaker 1: there were simply too well healed to give such detail.
34:57
Speaker 1: Another thought. Check Books were coming hurriedly into sight all
35:01
Speaker 1: round the lecture room. Ruben Jeffries, unfolding his announced Doctor All,
35:07
Speaker 1: I'm taking one of the fifteen. Have the students turned
35:10
Speaker 1: indignantly to stare at him. Now wait a minute, Reuben.
35:14
Speaker 1: Someone said that isn't fair. It's obvious there aren't enough
35:18
Speaker 1: to go round. Jeffrey smiled at him. That's why I
35:22
Speaker 1: spoke up Warren, He appealed to Ormond. How about it,
35:26
Speaker 1: doctor all, Ormond observed judiciously, It seems fair enough to me. Eleanor,
35:32
Speaker 1: of course, is retaining the instrument with which she has
35:35
Speaker 1: been working. As for the rest of you, first come
35:39
Speaker 1: first served, you know if others would like to have
35:42
Speaker 1: Mavis put down their names. There was a brief hubbab
35:46
Speaker 1: as this suggestion was acted on. Mayvis Dexter, Jones and
35:51
Speaker 1: Perry Rochelle then went to the office to get the instruments,
35:55
Speaker 1: while doctor Ormond consoled the students who had found themselves
35:58
Speaker 1: left out. It would be merely a matter of days
36:01
Speaker 1: before the new instruments began to come in, and yes,
36:04
Speaker 1: they could leave their checks in advance. When he suggested
36:08
Speaker 1: tactfully that financial arrangements could be made if necessary, the
36:12
Speaker 1: less affluent also brightened up. Fifteen identical red alligator hide
36:17
Speaker 1: suitcases appeared and were lined up beside Ormond's table. He
36:22
Speaker 1: announced that a preliminary demonstration with the instrument would be
36:25
Speaker 1: made as soon as those on hand had been distributed.
36:28
Speaker 1: Naviess Greenfield, standing beside him, began to read of the
36:32
Speaker 1: names she had taken down. Reuben Jeffreys was the fifth
36:35
Speaker 1: to come up to the table, hand Ormond his check
36:39
Speaker 1: and receive a suitcase from the secretary. Then covendor got
36:43
Speaker 1: unhurriedly to his feet Doctor Ormond, he said loudly enough
36:48
Speaker 1: to under the attention of everyone in the room on him.
36:51
Speaker 1: May I have the floor for a moment? Ormond appeared surprised,
36:55
Speaker 1: then startled. His glance went up to Ruben Jeffries, still
36:59
Speaker 1: standing stolidly beside him, and his face slowly whitened. Why well, yes, Wally.
37:06
Speaker 1: His voice seemed unsteady. What's on your mind? Cavender faced
37:10
Speaker 1: the right side of the room, and the questioning faces
37:13
Speaker 1: turned towards him. My name, as you know, he told
37:16
Speaker 1: the advanced students, is Wallace Cavender. What you haven't known
37:21
Speaker 1: so far is that I am a police detective rang
37:24
Speaker 1: of lieutenant, currently attached to the police force of this
37:27
Speaker 1: city and in temporary charge of its bunker squad. He
37:31
Speaker 1: shifted his gaze towards the front of the room. Ormond's
37:34
Speaker 1: eyes met his for a moment, then dropped. Doctor Ormond,
37:39
Speaker 1: Cavender said, you're under arrest. The immediate charge, let's say,
37:43
Speaker 1: is practicing medicine without a license. Don't worry about whether
37:47
Speaker 1: we can make it stick or not. We'll have three
37:50
Speaker 1: or four others worked up by the time we get
37:52
Speaker 1: you downtown. For a moment, there was a shocked, frozen
37:56
Speaker 1: stillness in the lecture room. Doctor Ormond's hand began to
38:00
Speaker 1: move out quietly towards the checks lying on the table
38:03
Speaker 1: before him. Reuben Jeffrey's big hand got there first. I'll
38:08
Speaker 1: take care of these for now, doctor u Jeoffrey said,
38:11
Speaker 1: with a friendly smile. The Lieutenant thinks he wants them
38:15
Speaker 1: not much more than thirty minutes later, Cavender unlocked the
38:19
Speaker 1: door to doctor Ormand's private office, went inside, leaving the
38:22
Speaker 1: door open behind him, and sat down at Ormond's desk.
38:26
Speaker 1: He rubbed his aching eyes, yawned, lit a cigarette, looked
38:29
Speaker 1: about in vain for an ashtray, finally emptied a small
38:33
Speaker 1: dish of paper clips on the desk and placed the
38:35
Speaker 1: dish conveniently close to him. There had been an indignant
38:39
Speaker 1: a prow about Doctoral's arrest for a while, but it
38:42
Speaker 1: ended abruptly when uniformed policemen appeared in the two exit doors,
38:47
Speaker 1: and the sobering thought struck the students that any publicity
38:50
Speaker 1: given the Mutter could make them look personally ridiculous and
38:54
Speaker 1: do damage to their business and social standing. Cavender had
38:58
Speaker 1: calmed their fears. It was conceivable, he said, that the
39:01
Speaker 1: District Attorney's office would wish to confer with some of
39:05
Speaker 1: them privately in connection with charges to be brought against
39:08
Speaker 1: William Fitgerald Grady, which so far as the police had
39:12
Speaker 1: been able to establish, was doctor Ormond's real name. However,
39:16
Speaker 1: their association with the Institute of Insight would not be
39:19
Speaker 1: made public, and any proceedings would be carried out with
39:23
Speaker 1: a discretion that could be fully expected by blaming the
39:26
Speaker 1: citizens of their status in the community, they were fortunate,
39:30
Speaker 1: Cavender went on. In another respect, probably none of them
39:33
Speaker 1: had been aware of just how much Grady had milked
39:36
Speaker 1: from the group, chiefly through quiet private contributions and donations,
39:40
Speaker 1: during the two years he was running the institute. The
39:43
Speaker 1: sum came to better than two hundred thousand dollars. Grady
39:46
Speaker 1: naturally had wasted none of these in research, and he
39:49
Speaker 1: was not a spendthrift in other ways. Cavender was therefore
39:53
Speaker 1: happy to say that around two thirds of this money
39:56
Speaker 1: was known to be still intact in various bank accounts,
40:00
Speaker 1: that it would be restored eventually to the generous but
40:02
Speaker 1: misled donors. Doctor Alf's ex students were beginning to look
40:08
Speaker 1: both chastened and very much relieved. Cavender briefly covered a
40:12
Speaker 1: few more points to eliminate remaining doubts. He touched on
40:16
Speaker 1: Grady's early record as a confidence man and blackmailer, mentioned
40:21
Speaker 1: the two terms he had spent in prison, and the
40:23
Speaker 1: fact that for the last eighteen years he had confined
40:27
Speaker 1: himself to operations like the Institute of Insight, where risks
40:30
Speaker 1: were less the profits, if anything, had been higher, because
40:34
Speaker 1: Grady had learned that it paid off in the long
40:37
Speaker 1: run to deal exclusively with wealthy citizens, and he was
40:41
Speaker 1: endowed with a kind of personality needed to overcome the
40:44
Speaker 1: caution natural to that class. As for the unusual experiences
40:48
Speaker 1: about which some of them might be now thinking, these
40:52
Speaker 1: Candor concluded should be considered in the light of the
40:55
Speaker 1: fact that Grady had made his living at one time
40:58
Speaker 1: as a stage magician and hypnotist, working effectively both with
41:03
Speaker 1: and without trained accomplices. The lecture had gone over very
41:07
Speaker 1: well as he'd known it would. The ex students left
41:10
Speaker 1: for their homes, a subdued and shaken group, grateful for
41:14
Speaker 1: having been rescued from an evil man's toils. Even missus Folsom,
41:18
Speaker 1: who had announced at one point that she believed she
41:20
Speaker 1: had a heart attack coming on, recovered sufficiently to thank
41:24
Speaker 1: Cavender and assure him that in future she would take
41:27
Speaker 1: her problems only to a reliable physician. Footsteps were coming
41:31
Speaker 1: down the short hall from the back of the building.
41:35
Speaker 1: Then Reuben Jeffrey's voice said, go into the office. The
41:39
Speaker 1: Lieutenant's waiting for you there. Cavender stubbed out his cigarette
41:43
Speaker 1: as Dexter Jones, Perry Rochelle, and Mayvie's Greenfield filed into
41:48
Speaker 1: the office. Jeffries closed the door behind them from the
41:51
Speaker 1: hall and went off. Sit down, Cavender said, lighting a
41:55
Speaker 1: fresh cigarette. They selected chairs and settled down stiffly facing him.
42:01
Speaker 1: All three looked anxious and pale, and Parry's face was
42:04
Speaker 1: tear stained. Cavender said, I suppose you've been wondering why
42:09
Speaker 1: I had Sergeant Jeffreys tell you three to stay behind.
42:12
Speaker 1: Parry began her eyes and voice rather wild, Mister Cavender,
42:17
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Cavender, either will do, Cavendor said, Mister Cavender, I
42:23
Speaker 1: swear you're wrong. We didn't have anything to do with
42:26
Speaker 1: doctor Owl's m Mister Grady is cheating those people. At
42:29
Speaker 1: least I didn't. I swear it. I didn't say you
42:32
Speaker 1: had anything to do with it. Perry Cavener remarked personally,
42:36
Speaker 1: I think none of you had anything to do with it,
42:39
Speaker 1: not voluntarily at any rate. He could almost fill them
42:42
Speaker 1: go limp with relief. He waited. After a second or two,
42:46
Speaker 1: Parry's eyes got the wild look back. But yes, Cavendor asked.
42:51
Speaker 1: Parry glanced at Dexter Jones at Mavi's. But then, what
42:55
Speaker 1: did happen? She asked, bewildered of the other two as
42:59
Speaker 1: much as of Cavender. Mister Cavender, I saw something appear
43:03
Speaker 1: on the plate. I know it did. It was a sandwich.
43:06
Speaker 1: It looked perfectly natural. I don't think it could have
43:09
Speaker 1: possibly been something mister Grady did with mirrors. And how
43:13
Speaker 1: could it have had the paper napkin Mavis had just
43:16
Speaker 1: been thinking about wrapped around it. Unless unless it actually
43:20
Speaker 1: was the materialization of a mental image you'd created between you,
43:24
Speaker 1: Cavender said, Now, settle back and relax. Perry, there was
43:28
Speaker 1: a more reasonable explanation for what happened to night than that.
43:31
Speaker 1: He waited. A moment went on. Grady's one real interest
43:35
Speaker 1: is manny, and since none of you had any to
43:38
Speaker 1: speak of, his interest in you was that you could
43:41
Speaker 1: help him get it. Perry and Dexter showed some genuine
43:44
Speaker 1: talent to start with, in the line of guessing what
43:46
Speaker 1: card somebody was thinking about and the like. It's not
43:49
Speaker 1: too unusual an ability, and in itself it wasn't too
43:52
Speaker 1: useful to Grady, but he worked on your interest in
43:55
Speaker 1: the subject. All the other students, the paying students, had
43:59
Speaker 1: to lose was a sizeable amount of cash, with the
44:02
Speaker 1: exception of missus Folsom, who's been the next thing to
44:06
Speaker 1: flip for years. Anyway, she was in danger, and you
44:09
Speaker 1: three stood a good chance of letting Grady wreck your lives.
44:13
Speaker 1: I said, he's a competent hypnotist. He is also a
44:17
Speaker 1: completely ruthless one. He looked at Mayvis. As far as
44:21
Speaker 1: I know, Mayvis, you haven't ever demonstrated that you have
44:24
Speaker 1: any interesting extrasensory talents like Dexter's and Perry's. Rather the contrary, right,
44:31
Speaker 1: She nodded her eyes huge. I've always tested negative, way
44:36
Speaker 1: down negative. That's why I was really rather shocked when that.
44:40
Speaker 1: Of course, I've always been fascinated by such things. And
44:44
Speaker 1: he insisted it would show up in me some time,
44:47
Speaker 1: And Cavender said, several times a week, you had special
44:51
Speaker 1: little training sessions with him, just as his two star
44:54
Speaker 1: pupils here did to help it show up. You were
44:57
Speaker 1: another perfect stooge from greatest point, well, what it amounts
45:02
Speaker 1: to is that Grady was preparing to make his big
45:05
Speaker 1: final killing off this group. Before he disappeared from the city,
45:09
Speaker 1: he would have collected close to thirty thousand dollars to night,
45:12
Speaker 1: and probably twice as much again within the next month
45:15
Speaker 1: or so, before any of the students began to suspect
45:18
Speaker 1: seriously that doctor Al's instruments could be the meaningless contraptions
45:22
Speaker 1: they are. You three have been hypnotically conditioned to a
45:26
Speaker 1: fare you well in those little private sessions you've had
45:29
Speaker 1: with him during the past week. You were set up
45:32
Speaker 1: for the role you were to play tonight when you
45:35
Speaker 1: got your cue. But a guess it was missus Folsom's
45:38
Speaker 1: claim that she'd seen the ham Sandwich materialize. You started
45:42
Speaker 1: seeing saying, acting and thinking exactly as you'd been told
45:46
Speaker 1: to see, say, act and think. There is no more
45:50
Speaker 1: mystery about it than that. And in my opinion, your
45:53
Speaker 1: three extremely fortunate young people in that we were ready
45:57
Speaker 1: to move in on Grady. When we were, there was
46:00
Speaker 1: silence for a moment, then Perry Rochelle said hesitantly, Then
46:04
Speaker 1: missus Fulsom. Missus Falsom, Caverner said, has also enjoyed the
46:09
Speaker 1: benefits of many private sessions with Grady. She of course,
46:13
Speaker 1: was additionally paying very handsomely for them. To night, she
46:16
Speaker 1: reported seeing what she had been told to report, saying
46:19
Speaker 1: to set up the hypnotic chain reaction. But Parry said
46:23
Speaker 1: she said her heart attacks stopped after she started using
46:26
Speaker 1: the instrument. I really don't see how that could have
46:29
Speaker 1: been just her imagination very easily, Cavetorus said, I've talked
46:34
Speaker 1: with her physician. Missus Falsom belongs to a not uncommon
46:38
Speaker 1: type of people whose stickers are as sound as yours
46:41
Speaker 1: or mine, but who are convinced they have a serious
46:44
Speaker 1: heart ailment and can dish up symptoms impressive enough to
46:48
Speaker 1: fool any one, but an informed professional they can stop
46:51
Speaker 1: dishing them just as readily if they think they've been cured.
46:55
Speaker 1: He smiled faintly. You look as if you might be
46:59
Speaker 1: finally convinced, Perry. She nodded, I yes, I guess so,
47:04
Speaker 1: I guess I am all right, Governder said, he stood up.
47:09
Speaker 1: You three can run along, then, you won't be officially
47:11
Speaker 1: involved in this matter, and no one's going to bother you.
47:14
Speaker 1: If you want to go on playing around with ESB
47:17
Speaker 1: and so forth, that's your business. But I trust that
47:20
Speaker 1: in future you'll have the good sense to keep away
47:23
Speaker 1: from characters like Grady. Periods of confusion, chronic nightmares, even
47:27
Speaker 1: chronic headaches are a good sign you're asking for bad
47:31
Speaker 1: trouble in that area. They thanked him started out of
47:35
Speaker 1: the office in obvious relief. At the door, Perry Rochelle hesitated,
47:39
Speaker 1: looked back, mister Cavender. Yes, you don't think I I
47:44
Speaker 1: need psychiatric help. No, but I understand. Cavender said that
47:50
Speaker 1: you have a sister in Maine who's been wanting you
47:52
Speaker 1: to spend the summer with her. I think that's a
47:55
Speaker 1: fine idea. A month or two of sun and salt
47:58
Speaker 1: water is exactly what you use to drive the lust
48:01
Speaker 1: of the nonsense out of your mind. Again, So good
48:04
Speaker 1: night to the three of you, and good luck. Cavenders
48:08
Speaker 1: snapped the top of the squat little thermous flask back
48:11
Speaker 1: in place and restored it to the glove compartment of
48:14
Speaker 1: Jeffries's car. He brushed a few crumbs from the knees
48:18
Speaker 1: of his trousers and settled back in the seat, discovering
48:22
Speaker 1: he no longer felt nearly as tired and washed out
48:25
Speaker 1: as he had been an hour ago in the lecture room.
48:28
Speaker 1: A few cups of coffee and a little nourishment could
48:30
Speaker 1: do wonders for a man, even at the tail end
48:33
Speaker 1: of a week of hard work. The last light in
48:36
Speaker 1: the institute building across the street went out, and Cavender
48:40
Speaker 1: heard the click of the front door. The bulky figure
48:43
Speaker 1: of Detective Sergeant Reuben Jeffries stood silhouetted for a moment
48:46
Speaker 1: in the street lights on the entrance steps. Then Jeffreys
48:49
Speaker 1: came down the steps and crossed the street to the car.
48:53
Speaker 1: All done, Cavender asked, All done, Jeffreys said through the window.
48:58
Speaker 1: He opened the door, eased to himself in behind the wheel,
49:01
Speaker 1: and closed the door. They took Grady away by the
49:04
Speaker 1: back entrance. He told Cavender the records in his files.
49:09
Speaker 1: He wasn't keeping much, of course, and the stuff in
49:12
Speaker 1: the safe and those instruments went along with him. He
49:16
Speaker 1: was very co operative. He's had a real scare, Cavender granted,
49:21
Speaker 1: he'll get over it. Jeffrey suscitated, said, I'm something of
49:26
Speaker 1: a Johnny Coum lately in this line of work. You know,
49:29
Speaker 1: I'd be interested in hearing how it's handled from here on.
49:32
Speaker 1: In this case, it will be pretty well stunded procedure,
49:36
Speaker 1: Cavender said. Tomorrow, around noon, I'll have Grady brought in
49:41
Speaker 1: to see me. I'll be in a curt and bitter mood,
49:44
Speaker 1: the frustrated, honest cup I'll tell him he's in luck.
49:48
Speaker 1: The DA's office has informed me that because of the
49:51
Speaker 1: important names involved in this fraud case, and because all
49:54
Speaker 1: but around forty thousand dollars of the money he collected
49:57
Speaker 1: in this town have been recovered, they decided not to prosecute.
50:01
Speaker 1: He'll have till midnight to clear out. If he ever
50:04
Speaker 1: shows up again, he gets the book, Why leave him
50:08
Speaker 1: there forty thousand, Jeffries asked, I understood they no darn
50:13
Speaker 1: well were it's stashed. Cavender shrugged. The man's put in
50:17
Speaker 1: two years of work, Rubin. If we clean him, he
50:20
Speaker 1: might get discouraged enough to get out of the racket
50:23
Speaker 1: and try something else. As it is, he'll have something
50:27
Speaker 1: like the Institute of Insight going again in another city
50:30
Speaker 1: three months from now in an area that hasn't been
50:33
Speaker 1: cropped over recently. He's good in that line, one of
50:36
Speaker 1: the best. In fact, Jeffries thoughtfully started the car pulled
50:41
Speaker 1: out from the curb. Halfway down the block. He remarked,
50:45
Speaker 1: you gave me the go ahead sign with a cigarette
50:47
Speaker 1: right after the Greenfield girl claimed she'd put the paper
50:50
Speaker 1: napkin into that image. Does that mean you finally came
50:54
Speaker 1: to decision about her? Uh huh. Jeffreys glanced over at
50:58
Speaker 1: him asked, is there any secret about how you're able
51:01
Speaker 1: to spot them? No, except that I don't know. If
51:05
Speaker 1: I could ascribe to anyone how to go about it,
51:08
Speaker 1: we might have our work cut in half. But I can't,
51:11
Speaker 1: and neither can any other spotter. It's simply a long,
51:15
Speaker 1: tedious process of staying in contact with people you have
51:18
Speaker 1: some reason to suspect of being the genuine article. If
51:21
Speaker 1: they are, you know it eventually. But if it weren't
51:24
Speaker 1: that men with greatest type of personality attract them somehow
51:27
Speaker 1: from ten miles around, we'd have no practical means at
51:30
Speaker 1: present of screening prospects out of the general population. You
51:34
Speaker 1: can't distinguish one of them from anyone else if he's
51:37
Speaker 1: just walking past you on the street. Jeffreys brought the
51:41
Speaker 1: car to a halt at a stop light. That's about
51:44
Speaker 1: the way i'd heard it. He acknowledged, what about negative spotting.
51:48
Speaker 1: Is there a chance there might be an undiscovered latent
51:51
Speaker 1: left among our recent fellow students? No chance at all,
51:55
Speaker 1: Carventres said, the process works both ways. If they aren't,
51:59
Speaker 1: you also know it of eventually, And I was sure
52:01
Speaker 1: of everyone but Greenfield over three weeks ago. She's got
52:05
Speaker 1: as staff a set of obscuring defenses as I've ever
52:08
Speaker 1: worked against. But after the jolts she got tonight, she
52:11
Speaker 1: came through clear immediately the light change in the cars
52:16
Speaker 1: started up. Jeffries asked, you fill both of them can
52:19
Speaker 1: be rehabilitated, definitely, Cavender said, another three months her greatest
52:25
Speaker 1: shudo yoga might have ruined them for good. But give
52:28
Speaker 1: them around a year to settle out and they'll be
52:31
Speaker 1: all right. Then they'll get the call. It's been worth
52:34
Speaker 1: the trouble. Jones's good medium grade, and that Greenfield, she'll
52:39
Speaker 1: be a powerhouse before she's half developed. Easily the most
52:43
Speaker 1: promising prospect I've come across in six years. You're just
52:47
Speaker 1: as certain about Perry Rochelle. Uh huh, Pradosi fairly typical.
52:52
Speaker 1: She's developed as far as she ever will. It would
52:55
Speaker 1: be a complete waste of time to call her. You
52:57
Speaker 1: can't train something that just isn't there. Jeffreys grunted. Never
53:01
Speaker 1: made a mistake, eh, Cavernor yawned, smiled, Never have yet, Reuben,
53:07
Speaker 1: not in that area. How did you explain the sandwich
53:10
Speaker 1: to them? And Grenfield's napkin. They couldn't have bought your
53:14
Speaker 1: stage magic idea. No, told them those were doctor Olif's
53:18
Speaker 1: post hypnotic suggestions. It's the others standard rationalization. They drove
53:24
Speaker 1: on in silence for a while. Then Jeffreys cleared his throat. Incidentally,
53:29
Speaker 1: he said, I should apologize for the slip with the sandwich,
53:32
Speaker 1: even though it turned out to our advantage. I can't
53:35
Speaker 1: quite explain it. I was thinking of other matters at
53:38
Speaker 1: the moment, and I suppose Cavender, who had been gazing
53:42
Speaker 1: drowsily through the windshield, shook his head. As you say,
53:46
Speaker 1: it turned out very well, Reuben. Aside from putting the
53:49
Speaker 1: first scrack in Mavie's Grinfield's defenses, it shook up doctor
53:53
Speaker 1: al to the point where he decided to collect as
53:56
Speaker 1: much as he could to night, cash the checks and
53:58
Speaker 1: clear out, so he set himself up for the pinch.
54:01
Speaker 1: We probably gained as much as three or four weeks
54:04
Speaker 1: on both counts. Jeffreys nodded. I realized that, but well,
54:09
Speaker 1: you'd have no reason to blame yourself for the sleep
54:12
Speaker 1: in any case, Cavender went on. The fact is I'd
54:15
Speaker 1: been so confoundedly busy all afternoon and evening I forgot
54:19
Speaker 1: to take time out for dinner. When that sandwich was
54:22
Speaker 1: being described in those mouth watering terms, I realized I
54:26
Speaker 1: was really ravenous. At the same time I was fighting
54:30
Speaker 1: off sleep. Between the two, I went completely off guard
54:33
Speaker 1: for a moment, and it simply happened. He griened, as
54:38
Speaker 1: described by the way, it was a terrific sandwich. That
54:42
Speaker 1: group had real imagination. He hesitated, then put out his
54:46
Speaker 1: hand palm up before him. As a matter of fact,
54:50
Speaker 1: just talking about it again seems to be putting me
54:53
Speaker 1: in a mood for seconds. Something shimmered for an instant
54:57
Speaker 1: in the dem air, wrapped in its green tissue up,
55:00
Speaker 1: a second ham sandwich appeared, and of ham sandwich by
55:06
Speaker 1: James H. Schmidts