"You, gentlemen, perhaps cannot conceive of crossing that time. But if it were a mile of space, or a thousand miles, you could imagine crossing it very easily. Yet we know that time is a property of space; not one iota different from length, breadth and thickness except that we think of it differently." Loto's flashing eyes held his little audience. "Gentlemen, suppose you--with your human intelligence--were trees, rooted to one spot here in America. And suppose that the accustomed order of things was that Asia would come slowly and steadily toward you and pass before you. That is what time does for us. Do you suppose, under those circumstances, that you could readily conceive of going across space and reaching Asia? Think about that, gentlemen! It's easy for us to imagine moving through space, because we've always done it. But a tree with your intelligence would not feel that way about it. The tree would say: 'Asia will be here.' And if you said: 'That's true. But Asia exists just the same in a different part of space from you. If you go there, you will not have to wait for it to come to you,' the tree--even if it had your present intelligence in every other way--wouldn't understand that. Simply because the tree had always conceived space as we are accustomed to conceiving time. That conception of ours does not fit the real facts, for--except for the way space and time affect us personally--there is actually no distinction to be made between them. That is no original theory of mine; it is modern scientific thought--mathematically proven and accepted ever since Albert Einstein first made his theory public." A silence followed Loto's outburst. Rogers broke it: "We would like to have you gentlemen meet us here two weeks from tonight. We are not quite ready yet. Will you do that?" Every one in the room signified assent. "But what for?" George asked earnestly. "Of course we will, but has Loto discovered anything? Has he--" Loto interrupted him. "I have been working and experimenting for two years." He had fallen back to his quiet manner. "Father has helped me, of course. And given me money--more than he could afford." He smiled at Rogers, who returned it with a gaze of affection. "In two weeks I will be completely ready. Don't you think so, father?" "Yes," said Rogers, and a sudden cloud of anxiety crossed his face. He was a scientist, but he was a father as well, and even his scientific enthusiasm could not allay the fear for his son that was in his heart. "Yes," he repeated. "I think you will be quite ready, Loto." "Ready for what?" growled the Banker. He was mopping his forehead with a huge white handkerchief.