They walked down the ball. I locked the nursery up, explained the father, and the children broke back into it during the night. I let them stay so they could form the patterns for you to see.

There was a terrible screaming from the nursery.

There it is, said George Hadley. See what you make of it.

They walked in on the children without rapping.

The screams had faded. The lions were feeding.

Run outside a moment, children, said George Hadley. No, don't change the mental combination. Leave the walls as they are. Get!

With the children gone, the two men stood studying the lions clustered at a distance, eating with great relish whatever it was they had caught.

I wish I knew what it was, said George Hadley. Sometimes I can almost see. Do you think if I brought high-powered binoculars here and -

David McClean laughed dryly. Hardly. He turned to study all four walls. How long has this been going on?

A little over a month.

It certainly doesn't feelgood.

I want facts, not feelings.

My dear George, a psychologist never saw a fact in his life. He only hears about feelings; vague things. This doesn't feel good, I tell you. Trust my hunches and my instincts. I have a nose for something bad. This is very bad. My advice to you is to have the whole damn room torn down and your children brought to me every day during the next year for treatment.

Is it that bad?

I'm afraid so. One of the original uses of these nurseries was so that we could study the patterns left on the walls by the child's mind, study at our leisure, and help the child. In this case, however, the room has become a channel toward-destructive thoughts, instead of a release away from them.

Didn't you sense this before?

I sensed only that you bad spoiled your children more than most. And now you're letting them down in some way. What way?