lucky thinker in the vault--all save this
estate itself, an item of trifling value in comparison to the rest,
which I bequeath to the State with the stipulation that the other terms
of the will are rigidly carried out._

"_And so, good luck to everyone in the world. May one of you succeed in
opening my vault--although I doubt it. Samuel B. Chipfellow. P.S. The
thought-throwing shall begin one week after the reading of the will. I
add this as a precaution to keep everyone from rushing to the vault
after this will is read. You might kill each other in the stampede. S.
B. C._"

There was a rush regardless. Reporters knocked each other down getting
to the battery of phones set up to carry the news around the world. And
Sam Chipfellow's will pushed all else off the video screens and the
front pages.

* * * * *

During the following weeks, millions were made through the sale of
Chipfellow's thought to the gullible. Great commercial activity began in
the area surrounding the estate as arrangements were made to accommodate
the hundreds of thousands who were heading in that direction.

A line began forming immediately at the gate to Chipfellow's Folly and a
brisk market got under way in positions therein. The going figure of the
first hundred positions was in the neighborhood of ten thousand dollars.
A man three thousand thoughts away was offered a thousand dollars two
days before the week was up, and on the last day, the woman at the head
of the line sold her position for eighteen thousand dollars.

There were many learned roundtables and discussions as to the nature of
Chipfellow's thought. The majority leaned to the belief that it would be
scientific in nature because Chipfellow was the world's greatest
scientist.

This appeared to give scientifically trained brains the edge and those
fortunate in this respect spent long hours learning what they could of
Chipfellow's life, trying to divine his performance in the realm of
thought.

So intense was the interest created that scarcely anyone paid attention
to the activities of Chipfellow's closer relatives. They sued to break
the will but met with defeat. The verdict was rendered speedily, after
which the judge who made the ruling declared a recess and bought the
eleven thousandth position in line for five hundred dollars.

On the morning of the appointed day, the gates were opened and the line
moved toward the vault. The first man took h