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and me. For ages it had never failed to rise, nor to set. Everything else had some flaw, but not the rising and the setting of the sun. How beautifully earth spun on its axis! I thought, as I went back into the cottage. Yes, mankind slowly and painfully unfolded unto the glories nestled in its bosom, for man alone was the destined heir to all that lay just beyond his primitive vision. For man alone earth turned steadily and danced on in its own orbit, hugging that sun. The wealth of the earth came from the sun, and that of the sun came from the Milky Way, and that of the Milky Way, from... from where? Even these space visitors came only from a stone’s throw from our sun. They had not yet fathomed the Milky Way. Why, then, should I try to ponder it? A cup of coffee, yes, warm up a cup of coffee. That would be a more practical thing to do. And then sleep. I awoke about 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, refreshed, in- vigorated and peaceful. A new well-being made the desert sands more meaningful to me than they had ever been before. The life around seemed like the surface activity of a sea with hidden depths. I felt more in communion with the huge life of its silence than with the small life of its surface. I had not known the mystic spell of the desert before, nor of the sea, nor of the river, nor of the mountain, nor of the meadow, nor of the sky. Below all surfaces are quiet but steady messages, having one ultimate thing in common, the sense of eternity. I went into town about an hour later. There I found the bustle of tourist activity, people coming and going. I saw nothing of Adam, and did not look for him. Rather, I used the late afternoon mingling with friends and tourists. It is easy to start a conversation in Twentynine Palms. A stray marine is glad to speak to anything that moves. A widow in retirement has yet to meet the purpose of living in human form. A hotel or motel keeper greets your hello with the rate of rooms, overnight or weekly. A real estate operator thinks you are a millionaire in pauper’s clothing, ready to buy up acres and tourists. of human form. in to purpose 105 LANDING ABOARD ANDROMEDA