"Wrap it up, my boy, I wasn't born yesterday. I'm an old hand at this kind of thing." * * * * * Biff Hawton sprang it at the next Thursday-night poker party. The gang were all missile men and they cheered and jeered as he hammed up the introduction. "Let me copy the diagram, Biff, I could use some of those magnetic waves in the new bird!" "Those flashlight batteries are cheaper than lox, this is the thing of the future!" Only Teddy Kaner caught wise as the flight began. He was an amateur magician and spotted the gimmick at once. He kept silent with professional courtesy, and smiled ironically as the rest of the bunch grew silent one by one. The colonel was a good showman and he had set the scene well. He almost had them believing in the Space Wave Tapper before he was through. When the model had landed and he had switched it off he couldn't stop them from crowding around the table. "A thread!" one of the engineers shouted, almost with relief, and they all laughed along with him. "Too bad," the head project physicist said, "I was hoping that a little Space Wave Tapping could help us out. Let me try a flight with it." "Teddy Kaner first," Biff announced. "He spotted it while you were all watching the flashing lights, only he didn't say anything." Kaner slipped the ring with the black thread over his finger and started to step back. "You have to turn the switch on first," Biff said. "I know," Kaner smiled. "But that's part of illusion--the spiel and the misdirection. I'm going to try this cold first, so I can get it moving up and down smoothly, then go through it with the whole works." [Illustration: ILLUSTRATED BY BREY] He moved his hand back smoothly, in a professional manner that drew no attention to it. The model lifted from the table--then crashed back down. "The thread broke," Kaner said. "You jerked it, instead of pulling smoothly," Biff said and knotted the broken thread. "Here let me show you how to do it." The thread broke again when Biff tried it, which got a good laugh that made his collar a little warm. Someone mentioned the poker game. This was the only time that poker was mentioned or even remembered that night. Because very soon after this they found that the thread would lift the model only when the switch was on and two and a half volts flowing through the joke coils. With the current turned off the model was too heavy to lift. The thread broke every time. * * * * * "I still think it's a screwy idea," the young man said. "One week getting fallen arches, demonstrating those toy ships for every brat within a thousand miles. Then selling the things for three bucks when they must have cost at least a hundred dollars apiece to make." "But you _did_ sell the ten of them to people who would be interested?" the older man asked.