"No," Nicholas said, truthfully. All he did was listen to exotic rare foreign vocal records, especially those of Tiana Lemnitz, Erna Berger, and Gerhard Husch.

"Would you like to be?" the lesser agent asked.

"Um," Nicholas said.

"You're familiar with the International People's Party," the greater agent said. "Had you ever considered attending meetings of it? They hold them about a block from here, on the other side of San Pablo Avenue."

"We could use someone in there at the local group meeting," the lesser agent said. "Are you interested?"

"We can finance you," his colleague added.

Nicholas blinked, gulped, and then gave the first speech of his life. The agents were not pleased, but they listened.

Later on that day, after the agents had left, Rachel arrived home, loaded down with textbooks and looking cross.

"Guess who was here today looking for you," Nicholas said. He told her who.

"Bastards!" Rachel cried out. "Bastards!"

It was two nights later that Nicholas had his mystical experience.

He and Rachel lay in bed, asleep. Nicholas was on the left, nearer the door of their bedroom. Still disturbed by the recent visit of the FBI agents, he slept lightly, tossing a lot, having vague dreams of an unpleasant nature. Toward dawn, just when the first false white light was beginning to fill the room, he lay back on a nerve, awoke from the pain, and opened his eyes.

A figure stood silently beside the bed, gazing down at him. The figure and Nicholas regarded each other; Nicholas grunted in amazement and sat up. At once Rachel awoke and began to scream

"Ich bin's!" Nicholas told her reassuringly (he had taken German in high school). What he meant to tell her was that the figure was himself, "Ich bin's" being the German idiom for that. However, in his excitement he did not realize he was speaking a foreign language, albeit one Mrs Altecca had taught him in the twelfth grade. Rachel could not understand him. Nicholas began to pat her, but he kept on repeating himself in German. Rachel was confused and frightened. She kept on screaming. Meanwhile, the figure disappeared.