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and on, indifferent to my plea for knowledge. Just bubbles in the Ether, yet so hard to really comprehend.’ “He set the glass down on the table and began eating the sandwich. He felt a little better. The wind had died down to a whisper outside. The ache in his head was lessening as he relaxed. The kitchen in which he sat seemed to be receding, becoming surroundings more rare, more unfamiliar than wood and plaster. Once more he lifted up the glass to look into the ‘ether’ and the bubbles in it. Once more he pleaded, this time to a universe which was becoming more alive around him. ‘Why, why can’t I know? After all, every atom is only a bubble in the ether’. He had finished his sandwich and was now holding the glass with both hands. “At that instant it struck him. His entire being fused explosively with a flash of glorious light, as white as the sun but casting no heat. Glory of glories! He had hit on the answer the first time. Yes, bubbles in the ether. Atoms were in reality bubbles in the ether! “His head ceased to ache. His entire body now felt completely healthy, completely relaxed. There was strange but lovely music he could hear, and looking straight up into the air, he could see dazzling little faces smiling. They were as tiny as the bubbles in the glass, but much more dazzling. The hosts of the universe were acclaiming the fact that he had finally been ushered into a better concept of all Nature. He felt it so completely there was no doubt in his mind that the simple idea was being confirmed by actual Intelligence of some sort.” As Mercury finished, Adam lifted his own glass to his eyes once more, this time with something noble in his manner. Launie was carried away with the feeling that she was about to witness a man enter into the Cosmic Splendor. She thrilled from head to foot. Mercury, careful not to obstruct such a possibility or to force it, we went on as if noticing nothing. “At first, the music he thought he heard was in his own mind, but then we produced some real music for him, barely 132 SON OF THE SUN