“We’ll have to stop? Thank God!”

“It’s to be hoped that God won’t keep us long. We’ve very little time. You were slow coming to that ice cream shop, which made me think I might have misjudged you.”

“I’m glad you said that. Now I know what my next question will be, if you ever answer my first one.”

“How I’ll make you a star? It’s almost easier to do than it is to explain. Every human being contains a whole grab bag of qualities. Some are inactive, others active. You have the quality that makes stars, but it is latent. The old mesmerists called it personal magnetism. We who think ourselves so much wiser have no better term for it.”

He sipped more coffee and handed her the cup. “One of my own qualities is the ability to manipulate qualities in others. With difficulty, and only to a limited degree, but I can do it. Tonight I’ll try to awaken your star quality. To change it from a latent quality to an active one. As active as I can make it. My mind will reach into yours, find that quality there, and drag it into the light.”

After that Cassie was quiet for a good three minutes. At last she said, “Why do I believe you?”

“Because you sense my honesty. Honesty is a powerful force.”

“You mean that.”

Gideon nodded. “With all my heart.”

“All right. I’d walk barefoot all night and all day if it would make me a star. If there’s a ghost of a chance that it will.”

“There’s an excellent chance,” he told her, “and it’s not a terribly high mountain. A couple of hours should be more than sufficient.”

“We’ll drive up as far as we can?”

“Correct.” He braked, seeing the lights of the checkpoint ahead.

THE MAGIC MOUNTAINAND BEYOND

Gideon Chase got out of the car. Cassie Casey watched him talking to somebody who might have been a Mounty and to somebody else who might have been a customs officer. After speaking with Gideon for a minute or two, the Mounty came to her window and tapped on the glass. She lowered it, admitting night air that held a spring chill.