Thone said warmly, "That is where you of your Earth--as you call it--are wholly mistaken. And indeed, I begin to see where there is not so much difference between your world and mine as we suppose. Let us assume we have the same Creator, his thought to bring us and all that we call our Universe into being." "Granted," said Will. "But there the similarity ends. You start with a Thought? We start--" "With what?" Thone demanded. "Scientifically speaking," Will answered lamely, "we have no beginning. At least, we have not yet been able to explain it." "We then are more logical than you," Ala put in with a gentle smile. "Perhaps," agreed Will. "But you cannot connect your Thought with your Science--or at least you have not, to me as yet." "But I will," declared Thone. "We take this Thought and find it to be a vibration of Nothingness. Of what is your basic substance composed?" "The same," said Will. "Quite naturally. We are then of a similar origin--constructed only to a different result. Our substance, in its final state, remains to our consciousness a vibration of Thought. It is quite tangible. Let me show you. Touch me--your hand feels me? That is the physical--cohesive Thought--matter, persisting in Space and Time throughout my existence. Distinct from that, there is my material--mentality. It also persists in Space and Time, but to a lesser degree. More transitory. More varied in its outward qualities, since I can fling out thought--vibrations of good or ill--of many kinds and types. "Understand me, my friend. This is Matter of temporary duration which I can create myself at will. Or--in terms of your own realm, if you prefer--I can set into vibration, into motion, intangible matter already existing, and by its very motion bring it to tangibility. Can you understand that?" * * * * * "Yes," agreed Will readily. "And you surprise me with constant similarities to my own world. We believe our own thoughts to be vibrations of some substance intangible. And when you speak of creating an appearance of substance by imparting motion to something otherwise unsubstantial, that too we see in our world. Water is a fluid. A stream of water slowly flowing from a pipe offers no solidity to a blow from a rod of iron. But if that water comes from the pipe with a swift enough motion, a blow struck against the jet with an iron bar seems to be repulsed.