er disdainfully. "Arms of nothing? Hands of
vacuum? A breeze against his cheek? A rustle of leaves? A meaningless
whistle in his ear?"

"Let us try. Let us try! This empty watchfulness is destroying us. Let
us move him, Buos. Come!"

Faster than the sky-sweeping clouds they flew, over the gently swelling
hills, over the yearning branches of the trees, over the calm blue
waters of the lakes. Swifter than the flight of birds they came,
searching for a thinking mind ...

They found him at last.

"He knows, he knows," said Laloi. "Only now to say 'this is so because'
and 'this must happen when'! Only to think--to understand--"

They hovered over his head, in a pandemonium of helplessness. They
whirled, and tumbled, and shrilly circled. And then to Laloi the
inspiration came.

The apple, caught by a sudden gust of wind, twisted from the tenuous
hold of the tree and fell to the ground.

The man, startled, picked it up.

He gazed at it, deep in thought.

THE END

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ January 1957.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.

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