that be all right?"

"Sure. Makes no difference where you try it," said Ellerbee. "One place
is as good as another."

Baker waved a hand as they went out. "Good luck," he said. He smiled
confidently at Fenwick.

As far as Fenwick could see, the crystal was not even potted or cased in
any way. The raw crystal lay in his hand. The striations of the
multitude of layers in which it was laid down were plainly visible.

Ellerbee dropped Fenwick off by the Jefferson memorial, then drove on
about a mile. Still in sight, he stopped the car and got out. Fenwick
saw him wave a hand. Nothing happened.

Fenwick glanced down at the crystal in his hand. About the size of a
child's toy block. He could almost understand Baker's position. It _was_
pretty silly to suppose this thing could have the powers Ellerbee said
it had. No electric energy applied. It merely amplified the normal
telepathic impulses existing in every human mind, Ellerbee said. Fenwick
sighed. You just couldn't tell ahead of time that a thing wasn't going
to pan out. He knew his philosophy was right. These had to be
investigated--every lousy, crackpot one of them. You could never tell
what you were missing out on unless you did check.

He squeezed harder on the crystal, as Ellerbee had told him to do.

It was just a little fuzzy at first, fading and coming back. Then it was
there, shimmering a little, but steady. The image of Ellerbee standing
in front of him, grinning.

Fenwick glanced down the road. Ellerbee was still there, a mile away.
But he was also right there in front of him, about four feet away.

"It shakes you up a little bit at first," said Ellerbee. "But you get
used to it after a while. Anyway, this is it. Are you convinced my
device works?"

Fenwick shook his head to try to clear it rather than to give a negative
answer. "I'm convinced _something_ is working," he said. "I'm just not
quite sure what it is."

"I'll drive across town," Ellerbee offered. "You can see that distance
makes no difference at all. Later, I'll prove it works clear across the
country if you want me to."

They arranged that proof of Ellerbee's presence on the other side of the
city could be obtained by Fenwick's calling him at a drug store pay
phone. Then they would communicate by means of the cubes.

It was no different than before.

The telephone call satisfied Fenwick that Ellerbee was at least ten
miles away. Then, within a second, he also appeared to be standin