We shook hands, and then I sat down and lighted the mate of the cigar Croft held between his strong, even teeth. Then, as I threw away the match, I looked straight into his eyes. And, believe me or not, it was as though the man read my thoughts. He shook his head. "I really told you the truth, Murray, you know," he said. "About--Palos?" I smiled. He nodded. "Yes, I was really there, and--I went back after we had our talk." "Rather quick work," I remarked, and puffed out some smoke. "Have you figured out how long it takes even light to reach the earth from that distant star, Mr. Croft?" "Light?" He half-knit his brows, then suddenly laughed without sound. "Oh, I see--you refer to the equation of time?" "Well, yes. The distance is considerable, as you must admit." He shook his head. "How long does it take you to think of Palos--of Sirius?" he asked. "Not long," I replied. He leaned back in his seat. "Murray," he went on, staring straight before him, "time is but the measure of consciousness. Outside the atmospheric envelopes of the planets--outside the limit of, well--say--human thought--time ceases to exist. And--if between the planets there is no time beyond the depths of their surrounding atmosphere--how long will it take to go from here to there?" I stared. His statement was startling, at least. "You mean that time is a mental conception?" I managed at last. "Time is a mental measure of a span of eternity," he said slowly. "Past planetary atmospheres, eternity alone exists. In eternity there is no time. Hence, I cannot use what _is not_, either in going to or returning from that planet I have named. You admit you can think instantly of Palos. I allege that I can _think_ myself, carry my astral consciousness instantly to Palos. Do you see?" I saw what he meant, of course, and I indicated as much by a nod. "But," I objected, "you told me you had to return to Palos. Now you tell me you had projected your astral body to that star. What could you do there in the astral state?" He smiled. "Very little. I know. I have passed through that stage. As a matter of fact, I have a body there now." "You have what--" As I remember, I came half out of my chair, and then sank back. The thing hit me as nothing else in my whole life had done before. His calm avowal was unbelievable on its face--impossible--a man with a double corporeal existence on two separate planets at one and the same time. "A body--a living, breathing body," he repeated his declaration. "Oh, man, I know it overthrows all human conceptions of life, but--last night you asked me a question concerning _this_ body of mine--and I told you I knew what I was doing. And I know you must have studied some of the teachings of the higher cult--the esoteric philosophies, if you will. And therefore you must have read of the ability of a spirit to dispossess a body of its original spiritual tenant and occupy its place--" "Obsession," I interrupted. "You are practicing that--up there?"