“Now thought-waves are attracted by water, as if gravity kept them down low. They travel close to the surface of the sea. The bigger the expanse of water, the more the main body and force of the wave is centred low down. But land has the opposite effect. It throws the main body of the wave high in the air. See?”
Moïse. “Yes, Sir.”
Spook. “The bigger the expanse of land and the higher the mountains and the drier the surface, the higher becomes the main body of the wave, so by the time a thought transmitted from Paris reaches the middle of China it is very high and only the ragged edges are within reach. Now the only thing that will bring it down again is a big expanse of water, and the descent is gradual like the trajectory of a bullet.”
A glance at a map will show whither all this rigmarole was tending. At Yozgad it would be difficult to read AAA’s thoughts because the thought-wave, starting in a left-hand spiral from Constantinople, would be bumped up by the Taurus mountains and the dryness of the desert to the north of them, and would pass very high over Yozgad. Down at the Mediterranean coast things would be simple, for the wave would pass low down over the surface of the sea. The Black Sea would be almost as hopeless as Yozgad, unless we went out a long way from shore to where the wave had again reached the surface of the water. The best time to pick it up would be when it was at its strongest, i.e., in the night.
The next step was to dangle a fresh bait in front of the Turks. We had got the sea—we wanted the boat.
“I have an idea of trying the ‘Four Cardinal Point Receiver’ if you will help,” said the Spook.
Moïse naturally asked what the “Four Cardinal Point Receiver” might be.
The Spook told us it was a secret method of thought-reading not known in our sphere. It had once been known to the ancient Egyptians (the Pimple pricked up his ears at the mention of Egypt) but the knowledge had been lost. It was based on the principle which we had already learned—“that once a thought has been thought it is always there,” or, in more technical language, the thought-wave once created becomes telechronistic and travels in an eternal spiral in the fourth dimension of space. The method of the Four Cardinal Point Receiver was infinitely preferable to our cumbersome “trance-talk” and “Ouija” methods of thought-reading, because by them you could only read the thoughts of persons you knew existed, whereas by the Egyptian method every thought was accessible to us. “That is to say,” said the Spook, “you can know anything that has ever happened anywhere and at any time. Not only this treasure but all treasures and all knowledge will be revealed.” If we promised to try it, the Spook agreed to tell us how it was done, but it must be kept a profound secret.
We promised, and the secret was revealed. I present it, free of charge, to all mediums, amateur and professional, who happen to be at a loss to invent some fresh leg-pull. Here it is:
Get on to the surface of the sea—preferably in a boat—so as to be on a level with the main body of the thought-wave. Go at night when the wave is at its strongest. Take with you, ready prepared, a drink that is stimulating to the nerves—e.g., coffee. Four of you, facing in different directions, drink quickly and in silence. Then lie down, and pillow your heads on vessels of pure water[[39]]—which will help to concentrate the telechronistic wave. Then count three hundred and thirty-three. Having counted, think of a pleasant memory for five minutes. All this to be done with your eyes open. The counting should be aloud, but in a low murmuring tone, and the process of counting up to three hundred and thirty-three and thinking for five minutes must be repeated three times in all, for three is the mystic number in the system. The object so far is to make the mind “receptive.” You next think hard of what you want to discover.