“The Third Level” is set in 1950s New York, largely in Grand Central Station. Even though Grand Central Station only has two levels, the protagonist, Charley, believes that it has a secret third level. Although his psychiatrist believes Charley imagined the event due to his dissatisfaction with modern society, Charley disagrees with this assessment, claiming that everyone is dissatisfied with modern society and, thus, that he is not uniquely vulnerable to escapist daydreaming. Charley’s psychiatrist—as well as his other friends—point to Charley’s penchant for collecting stamps as evidence of his escapist nature, but Charley disagrees with this as well, since his grandfather grew up in peaceful times but started Charley’s current stamp collection.
To prove his point, Charley recounts his experience of discovering the third level. He describes himself as a perfectly ordinary man. His only reason for being in Grand Central is to get home quickly to his wife, Louisa. However, in attempting to catch his train, he gets lost. While recounting this experience, Charley muses about the size and convoluted structure of the station and confesses that sometimes he believes the station is continuously growing new corridors like roots of a tree, with many tunnels that people don’t even know about. Eventually, though, Charley reaches the end of the corridor he’s in, where he discovers the third level.
Charley quickly realizes that the third level is unusual, owing to details such as open-flame gaslights, old-style attire, and an old locomotive. He checks the newspapers on the level and discovers that he’s been transported back to the 19th century—specifically, the year 1894. Immediately, Charley realizes that buying tickets on the third level can transport him to the past permanently. He resolves to buy two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois—one for him, one for Louisa—since he loves the town in the present and imagines it will be even more lovely in 1894, back when people were friendlier and the World Wars were still many years away. However, when he attempts to buy the tickets, his modern currency is rejected by the suspicious clerk, and Charley quickly leaves to avoid arrest.
Afterwards, Charley spends $300 to obtain $200 of old currency, more than enough to live comfortably in 1894. Unfortunately, however, he is unable to find the third level again. While Louisa initially discourages him from pursuing it, both she and Charley resume the search after their friend Sam disappears. Charley suspects Sam made it to 1894 and is proven correct when, one night, he finds a letter in his stamp collection addressed to his grandfather. Charley opens it to find a letter from Sam, who says he’s living in 1894 Galesburg and loves it. Later, Charley discovers that Sam bought the equivalent of $800 in old currency, which is more than enough money to fulfill his dream of opening a business. Sam, according to Charley, can’t continue his modern-day job in 1894, since it doesn’t exist yet. This, Charley reveals, is because Sam was his psychiatrist.
