"Oh, yes." Ernie nodded again and smiled grimly. "The man in white?" She laughed. "Exactly, the man in white. For a long time, I've thought it was just too much bother for either of us to carry the milk home, and the eggs and my yogurt too. So I decided to have the milkman that Mr. Jones uses make deliveries. Mr. Jones brought him over half an hour ago and it's all arranged. Four quarts a week, one dozen eggs, and yogurt Tuesdays and Fridays." * * * * * The Invisible Being and his Coadjutor, backtracking for a checkup, summarized the situation. The latter said, "So he's already thrown away the Everlasting Cosmetic Knife and the Water Splitter; he seems to be trying to reject the third Little Gift and the first Big One, while he still isn't even conscious of the other two Gifts." "Cheer up," said the Invisible Being. "It's his life and he's doing what he thinks best." "Yes," the Coadjutor said, "but he doesn't know he's making these decisions for his race as well as himself. Sometimes I think Galaxy Center makes it too hard for chaps like him. For instance, that trick of having the images on the box fade back to the old ones." "Nonsense! We have to take all reasonable precautions that our activities remain secret. He knew that the powder worked. He should have had faith." "Sometimes it takes a lot of faith." "You're right, it does." The Invisible Being smiled his Cheshire smile. "You feel a lot for these test subjects, don't you? That's fine, but you've got to remember you can't accept the Gifts for them; that's one thing they have to do themselves, however long they take about it. Which reminds me, I think we ought to set up a recorder here to report the final outcome of the test to Galaxy Center." "Good idea." "And cheer up, I say. This test isn't over yet and our featherless biped isn't necessarily licked. If he thinks to link up the third Little Gift with the two Big Ones, he has a pretty sweet setup for making psychic progress--and his race will be Galactic Citizens in a jiffy." "You're right." "Moreover, it stands to reason he's soon going to become aware of the Great Gift, and that generally gives a person a jolt and makes him think seriously about other things." "True enough--though I still have the feeling you intend some sardonic trick in conjunction with the Great Gift. Are you sure you're not planning to leave some other setup here along with the recorder? I notice you've got a spare Juxtaposer in the ship and it bothers me." "That, dear Coadjutor, is my business. Whatever I do, it won't interfere in any way with the fairness of the tests." "Sometimes I think the tests are _too_ fair," the Coadjutor observed. "I'd like to be able to ease them up a bit in special cases." "Confidentially, my friend, so would I." * * * * *