he
process of remaining incognito was so elementary that it was almost
subconscious.

Arriving at his destination, he paused on the sidewalk to light a
cigarette, shielding it against the wind and drizzle with cupped
hands while his mind made one last check on the surroundings. Then he
strode quickly up the five steps to the double doors which were
marked: _The Society For Mystical And Metaphysical Research, Inc._

Just as he stepped in, he flipped the face shield up and put on an
old-fashioned pair of thick-lensed, black-rimmed spectacles. Then, his
face assuming a bland smile that would have been completely out of
place on Senator Gonzales, he went from the foyer into the front
office.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Jesser," he said, in a high, smooth, slightly
accented voice that was not his own. "I perceive by your aura that you
are feeling well. Your normal aura-color is tinged with a positive
golden hue."

Mrs. Jesser, a well-rounded matron in her early forties, rose to the
bait like a porpoise being hand-fed at a Florida zoo. "_Dear_ Swami
Chandra! How perfectly wonderful to see you again! You're looking
_very_ well your-_self_."

The Swami, whose Indian blood was of the Aztec rather than the Brahmin
variety, nonetheless managed to radiate all the mystery of the East.
"My well-being, dear Mrs. Jesser, is due to the fact that I have been
communing for the past three months with my very good friend, the
Fifth Dalai Lama. A most refreshingly wise person." Senator Gonzales
was fond of the Society's crackpot receptionist, and he knew exactly
what kind of hokum would please her most.

"Oh, I _do_ hope you will find time to tell me _all_ about it," she
said effusively. "Mr. Balfour isn't in the city just now," she went
on. "He's lecturing in New York on the history of flying saucer
sightings. Do you realize that this is the fortieth anniversary of the
first saucer sighting, back in 1944?"

"The first _photographed_ sighting," the Swami corrected
condescendingly. "Our friends have been watching and guiding us for
far longer than that, and were sighted many times before they were
photographed."

Mrs. Jesser nodded briskly. "Of course. You're right, as always,
Swami."

"I am sorry to hear," the Swami continued smoothly, "that I will not
be able to see Mr. Balfour. However, I came at the call of Mr. Brian
Taggert, who is expecting me."

Mrs. Jesser glanced down at her appointment sheet. "He didn't mention
an appoint