The Searchers are, next to the town radio stations, the only source of
information we have now, so it's no wonder they're so warmly greeted
wherever they stop.

Soon as he'd finished telling about the Rockies, I said we'd appreciate
it if he would stay for supper. He said he would, and later, while he
and Tommy, my eight-year-old son, and I were walking home, I asked him
if he'd stay with us for a while.

For a moment he looked wistful, as if wishing he could stay here, and
forget whoever he was trying to find. Then he smiled and said, thanks,
he would stay for a week or so.

He was real helpful, too, cutting stove and fireplace wood for the
coming winter, running errands, hunting for game animals, and teaching
at the school. Almost all Searchers teach when they can be persuaded to
stay in town for a spell. Since there are no more colleges to produce
teachers, anyone who knows something useful takes a turn at teaching.
'Fore the war, I was a mathematics major in college, so twice a week I
teach all kinds of math at school, from numbers through calculus.
Mostly, Searchers teach about what the places they had passed through
are like.

Then, when I opened the door to the shed that day, and saw the axe
suspended in mid-air, I suddenly realized why he had that sad, tired
look about him all the time.

He picked up the axe from where it had fallen, and stood it against the
wall. Reaching for his jacket, he said, "I--I guess I'd better be moving
along, Mr. Tranton. I'm really sorry if I've caused you any trouble." He
started past me for the door.

"Hold on, son." I grabbed his arm. "Why the rush?"

"I don't want to cause you any trouble. Now that you know what I am--"
he gritted the words out bitterly, "the word will get around. I wouldn't
want the others in town to be angry with you because of me. You and Mrs.
Tranton have been swell to me. Thanks for everything." He tried to pull
his arm loose, but I held fast.

"Let's go inside and have a cup of coffee," I suggested. "I don't know
about the other towns you've been through, but here we don't hate a
person because he might happen to have powers we don't."

"Yesterday I was down at the store, and I heard one of the men sounding
off about us," he said. "He didn't sound like he cared much for us."

"Must have been John Atherson. He never could understand ESP, and he
blames the war on it. We just let him talk; can't change a person like
that." We went up the back step