"What I have in mind," he said, "is something Mike said the other night,
just before the cops barged in. He said something about having tried to
teach you the Vanish. And that's why I asked you to come here. Did he
teach you?"

"Well, he tried," Dorothea said. "But I couldn't do anything with it. I
haven't got the Talent, Mike says." She paused. "Is that why you figured
I had a notebook like his?"

"Sure," Malone said. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Mike's
notebook was full of symbols--and that was all they could be. Symbols.
If you see what I mean."

"Not exactly," Dorothea said.

"Symbolism--anyhow, that's what Dr. O'Connor says--is one of the
primary factors in psionics."

"Dr.... oh, yes," Dorothea said. "Westinghouse. I've heard about him."

"Good," Malone said. "Anyhow, I decided the pictures in Mike's notebook
were just that--symbols. Things he wanted. And the little squiggles
after the names were symbols, too. You know," Malone said, "the boy's
pretty smart. Nobody else that I know of has ever figured out a way to
teach psionics--at least, not on that level. But Mike has."

"He's a good boy," Dorothea said. "Basically."

"Fine," Malone said. "Anyhow, if that were true, then the notebook was
some sort of guide. And if he tried to teach you the technique, then you
had to have a notebook, too. Clear?"

"Perfectly," Dorothea said, "so what do you want me to do?"

"Teach me," Malone said.

There was a silence.

"That's silly," Dorothea said. "How can I teach you something I can't do
myself? Besides, how do you know you have the Talent?"

"As far as the second question goes, I don't know. But I can try, can't
I? And as far as the first question goes, that might not be so simple.
But I think it can be done--if you remember what Mike tried to teach
you."

"Oh, I can remember all of that," she said, "but it's just that it
didn't do me any good. I couldn't use it."

"A man who's paralyzed from the waist," Malone said hopefully, "can't
play football. But if he knows how the game's played, he can teach
others--anyhow, he can teach the fundamentals. Want to try?"

Dorothea smiled. "All right, Ken," she said. "It's a great idea, at
that: the blind teaching the possibly-blind to read. Give me the
notebook, and I'll explain the first principles. Later, you'll have to
get a notebook of your own, because these symbols are very
personalized."

Malone grinned and pulled a black book from his pocket. "I