“You know as well as I do. That kid’s a telepath!”
They both looked down the beach at a small, skinny, busy silhouette. “I know how the hen felt that hatched the ducks,” said Phyllis softly. She got quickly to her feet. “I’m going in and get some salt on me, and let it dry. I’ve got to find out about this.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Probably a blind alley — ”
HAMILTON FELIX took his son into the city the next day. There were men attached to the Great Research who knew much more about such things than either he or Phyllis; he wished them to examine the boy. He took Theobald to his office, supplied him with a scroll and a reader, a dodge that would tie him to one spot almost as effectively as if he were chained down, and called Jacobstein Ray by telephone. Jacobstein was in charge of a team investigating telepathy and related phenomena.
He explained to Jake that he was unable to leave his own office at the moment. Could Jake drop over, or was he tied up? Jake could and would; he arrived a few minutes later. The two men stepped into an adjoining room, out of earshot of the child. Felix explained what had taken place on the beach and suggested that Jake look into it.
Jake was willing and interested. “But don’t expect too much from it,” he cautioned. “We’ve demonstrated telepathy in young children time and again, under circumstances which made it a statistical certainty that they were receiving information by no known physical means. But there was never any control in the business, the child was never able to explain what was going on, and the ability faded away to nothing as the child grew up and became more coherent. It seems to shrivel away just like the thymus gland.”
Hamilton looked alert. “Thymus gland? Any correlation?”
“Why, no. I just used that as a figure of speech.”
“Mightn’t there be?”
“It seems most unlikely.”
“Everything about this business seems most unlikely. How about putting a crew on it? A good biostatician and one of your operators?”
“I will if you wish.”
“Good. I’ll stat an open voucher to your office. It’s probably a blind alley, but you never know!”
Let us add that it was a blind alley. Nothing ever came of it, but a slight addition to the enormous mass of negative information constituting the main body of scientific knowledge.
Felix and Jake went back into the room where Theobald sat reading. They seated themselves first, in order to be on the same level as the child, and Felix performed the introduction with proper attention to the enormous and vulnerable dignity of a child. He then said:
“Look, sport, Dad wants you to go with Jake and help him with some things for an hour or so. How about it?”
“Why?”
That was a tough one. With less-than-adult minds it had been found to be optimum procedure to keep them from knowing the purpose of the experimentation. “Jake wants to find out some things about the way your mind works. He’ll talk with you about it. Well…will you help him?”
Theobald thought about it.
“It will be a favor to Dad.” Phyllis could have warned him against that approach. Theobald had been rather slow in reaching the degree of social integration necessary to appreciate the cool pleasure of conferring benefits on others.
“Will you do me a favor?” he countered.
“What do you want?”
“A flop-eared buck.” The boy had been raising rabbits, with some adult assistance; but his grandiose plans, if unchecked, would have resulted in their entire home being given over to fat, furry rodents. Nevertheless, Hamilton was somewhat relieved to find the favor desired was no larger.
“Sure thing, sport. You could have had one anyhow.”
Theobald made no answer, but stood up, signifying his willingness to get on with it.
After they had gone Hamilton considered the matter for a moment. A new buck rabbit was all right; he did not mind that as much as he would have minded a new doe. But something had to be done fairly soon, or else his garden would have to be abandoned.