meone to set it?

But that the someone had to be Claerten, with his caution and his
old-woman worry--

Jonas sighed and set about the business of falling asleep.

* * * * *

The days passed slowly, with great boredom. Jonas made contact twice
with Claerten, who told him over and over to wait, to do nothing: "The
next move is coming soon; do nothing to hurry it. You can only upset the
natural course of events."

"Which is unwise," Jonas thought bitterly, "and risky, and very probably
impious as well."

"As for the piety," Claerten thought, "I leave that to the priests and
the women. But wisdom and caution are my task, Jonas, as they must be
yours."

"I--"

"You are a hero, out on an adventure," Claerten thought witheringly.
"But set your course with sense, travel it with caution; you will the
more certainly arrive."

"Philosophy for a dull plodder," Jonas thought.

"Philosophy for one of the Brotherhood," Claerten thought back. "We are
tiny as yet; we have no force. You can add to that force, add greatly;
but you must be wise."

"I must be slow, you mean."

"I mean what I have told you," Claerten thought. "And--one more thing,
Jonas."

"Yes?"

"The daughter," Claerten thought. "I have seen her in your mind. Ignore
the wench. Is she worth what your task is worth?"

"I never--"

"Then my caution is unnecessary," Claerten thought. "But, in the
unlikely case that she might tempt you to folly--remember it."

Jonas, who disliked irony, sighed and cut off.

That was the third night. During the days he had done the things he had
planned; he did no work with the Scharpes, but let them find him, when
they returned to the hut of an evening, reciting strange words. Once he
built a small outdoor fire and walked around it, widdershins, for
several minutes. Then he put the fire out and went inside. He wasn't
sure whether or not anyone was watching him, that time.

But sooner or later it had to happen.

And it happened, as Jonas had suspected it would, through the wife. Mrs.
Scharpe came back to the hut early one day, threw a frightened glance at
Jonas sitting in a corner doing nothing at all, and left.

He hardly needed to see into her mind to know where she was going.

And twenty minutes later two men came to the hut. They stood in the
opened doorway, Mrs. Scharpe behind them twittering like an ancient
bird, and Jonas watched them boredly. They were giants, for this part of