I had to be content with his sign-
talk, by which he assured me he was a real man, material, of life
and the living.
"I made my announcement. You know most of what followed. The
Rhamda came to Berkeley; together we returned to Chatterton Place,
for it was imperative that we hold the Spot open or at least
maintain the phenomenon at such a point that we could reopen it at
will. Both of us were guessing.
"Neither of us knew, at the time, just how long the Rhamda could
endure our atmosphere. He had risked his life to come through; it
was no more than fair that I should accede to his caution and
insure him a safe return to his own world.
"But things went wrong. It was ignorance as much as accident. At
Chatterton Place I was caught in the Blind Spot, and without a
particle of preparation was tossed into the Thomahlia.
"When I came through, the Nervina went out. Thus I found myself in
this strange place with no one to guide me. And unfortunately, or
rather, fortunately, I fell into the hands of the Bar Senestro.
"Now, for all that he is a sceptic, the Senestro is a brave man;
and like many another unbeliever, he has a sense of humour. My
coming had been promised by Avec; so he knew that somehow I was a
part of the Prophecy--the prophecy which, for reasons of his own,
he did not want fulfilled.
"So he isolated me here in the house of the Jarados. A bold sort
of humor, I call it--to defy the Prophecy in the very spot where
it was written!
"But it was fortunate.
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