Verner
Hughes thrust his pipe into the toe of the moccasin and filled
it. Finally, the Tenant drank about half the clear, wild-plum
brandy.

"Gentlemen, I am baffled," he confessed. "We have three alternate
possibilities here and we dare not disregard any of them.

"Either this man who calls himself Altamont is truly He, or his
is merely what we are asked to believe, one of a community of men
like ours, with more of the old knowledge than we possess."

"You know my views," Verner Hughes said. "I cannot believe that
He was more than a man, as we are. A great, a good, a wise man,
but a man and mortal."

"Let's not go into that, now." The Reader emptied his cup and
took the bottle, filling it again. "You know my views, too. I
hold that He is no longer upon earth in the flesh, but lives in
the spirit and is only with us in the spirit.

"But you said there were three possibilities, none of which can
be eliminated. What was your third possibility, Tenant?"

"That they are creatures of the Enemy, perhaps that one or the
other of them is the Enemy."

Reader Rawson, lifting his cup to his lips, almost strangled. The
Hugheses, father and son stared at Tenant Jones in horror.

"The Enemy--with such weapons and resources!" Murray Hughes
gasped. Then he emptied his cup and refilled it. "No! I can't
believe that: he would have struck before this and wiped us all
out!"

"Not necessarily, Murray," the Tenant replied. "Until he became
convinced that his agents, the Scowrers, could do nothing
against us, he would bide his time. He sits motionless, like a
spider, at the center of the web; he does little himself; his
agents are numerous.

"Or, perhaps, he wishes to recruit us into this hellish
organization."

"It is a possibility," the Reader admitted, "and one which we can
neither accept or reject safely. And we must learn the truth as
soon as possible. If this man is really He, we must not spurn Him
on mere suspicion. If he is a man, come to help us, we must
accept his help; if he is speaking the truth, the people who sent
him could do wonders for us, and the greatest wonder would be to
make us again a part of a civilized community.

"And if he is the Enemy...." Rawson left the sentence unfinished,
but his face was grim.

"But if he is really He," Murray said, a little diffidently, for
he was not yet accustomed to being included in the council of the
elders, "I think we are on trial."

"What do you mean, son? Oh, I