required to define it. All that
is required is that the meanings of the symbols be understood.

The ability to manipulate symbols is the most powerful tool of the
human mind; a mind which can manipulate them _effectively_ is, in
every sense of the word, truly human.

Even without telepathy, it was possible for two S.M.M.R. agents to
carry on a conversation above and around ordinary chit-chat. It took
longer, naturally; when speaking without the chit-chat, it was
possible to convey in seconds information that would have taken
several minutes to get over in ordinary conversation.

* * * * *

Senator Kerotski only listened to a small part of the phone
discussion. He knew most of the story.

In the past eight months, six anonymous letters had been received by
various companies. As Taggert had once put it, in quotes, "We seem to
have an Abudah chest containing a patent Hag who comes out and
prophesies disasters, with spring complete."

The Big Bend Power Reactor, near Marfa, Texas, had been warned that
their stellarator would blow. The letter was dismissed as "crackpot,"
and no precautions were taken. The explosion killed nine men and cut
off the power in the area for three hours, causing other accidents due
to lack of power.

The merchant submarine _Bandar-log_, plying her way between Ceylon and
Japan, had ignored the warning sent to her owners and had never been
heard from again.

In the Republic of Yemen, an oil refinery caught fire and destroyed
millions of dollars worth of property in spite of the anonymous letter
that had foretold the disaster.

The Prince Charles Dam in Central Africa had broken and thousands had
drowned because those in charge had relegated a warning letter to the
cylindrical file.

A mine cave-in in Canada had extinguished three lives because a
similar letter had been ignored.

By the time the fifth letter had been received, the S.M.M.R. had
received the information and had begun its investigation. As an _ex
officio_ organ of the United States Government, it had ways and means
of getting hold of the originals of the letters which had been
received by the responsible persons in each of the disasters. All had
been sent by the same man; all had been typed on the same machine; all
had been mailed in New York.

When the sixth warning had come to the offices of Caribbean Trans-Air,
the S.M.M.R., working through the FBI, had persuaded the company's
officials