roughout the ages to a full acceptance of psi is the lack of permanent
evidence? It has always been evanescent, perishable. It always rests
solely upon the word of witnesses. But if I could show you a film print,
then you could not doubt the existence of photography, could you?"

I opened my lower desk drawer and pulled out a couple of the Auerbach
cylinders which we had used the night before. I laid them on top of the
desk.

"These cylinders," I said, "act like the photographic film. They will
record, in permanent form, the psi effects you command. At last, for all
mankind the doubt will be stilled; man will at once know the truth; and
you will take your place among the immortals."

[Illustration]

I thought it was pretty good, and that, with his overweening ego, it
would surely do the trick. But the Swami was staring at the cylinders
first in fascination, then fear, then in horror. He jumped to his feet,
without bothering to swirl his robe majestically, rushed over to the
door, fumbled with the knob as if he were in a burning room, managed to
get the door open, and rushed outside. The lieutenant gave me a puzzled
look, and went after him.

* * * * *

I drew a deep breath, and exhaled it audibly. My testing procedures
hadn't produced the results I'd expected, but the last one had revealed
something else.

The Swami believed himself to be a fraud!

As long as he could razzle-dazzle with sonorous phrases, and depend upon
credulous old women to turn them into accurate predictions of things to
come, he was safe enough. But faced with something which would prove
definitely--

Well, what would he do now?

And then I noticed that both cylinders were pointing toward the door. I
watched them, at first, not quite sure; then I grew convinced by the
change in their perspective with the angles of the desk. Almost as
slowly as the minute hand of a watch, they were creeping across the desk
toward the door. They, too, were trying to escape from the room.

I nudged them with my fingers. They hustled along a little faster, as if
appreciative of the help, even coming from me. I saw they were moving
faster, as if they were learning as they tried it. I turned one of them
around. Slowly it turned back and headed for the door again. I lifted
one of them to the floor. It had no tendency to float, but it kept
heading for the door. The other one fell off the desk while I was
fooling with the first on