kind man, too. I didn't quite get the connection, until I
remembered there are some patterns which believe a human being would be
incapable of being kind unless through hope of reward or fear of
punishment.

But when I asked her to go to the hotel and persuade the Swami to give
her a reading, she was reluctant. I thought my plan was going to be
frustrated, but it turned out that her reluctance was only because she
did not have a thing to wear, going into a high-toned place like that.

Sara wasn't the right size, but one of the older girls in the outer
office would lend Annie some clothes if I would let her go see the
Swami, too. It developed that her own teacher was a guest of Los Angeles
County for a while, purely on a trumped-up charge, you understand, Mr.
Kennedy. Not that she was a cop hater or anything like that. She was
perfectly aware of what a fine and splendid job those noble boys in blue
did for us all, but--

In my own office! Well, you never knew.

Yet, what was the difference between her and me? We were both trying to
get hold of and benefit by psi effects, weren't we? So I didn't comment.
Instead, I found myself much farther ahead with my tentative plans than
I'd anticipated at this stage.

Yes, my interviewer's teacher had quite a large following, and now they
were all at loose ends. If the Swami were willing, she could provide a
large and ready-made audience for him. She would be glad to talk to him
about it.

Annie hurriedly said that she would be glad to talk to him about it,
too; that she could get up a large audience, too. So, even before it got
started, I had my rival factions at work. I egged them both on, and
promised that I'd get Army Intelligence to work with the local boys in
blue to hold off making any raids.

Annie told me again what a kind man I was. My interviewer spoke up
quickly and said how glad she was to find an opportunity for expressing
how grateful she was for the privilege of working right in the same
department with such an understanding, really intellectually developed
adult. She eyed Annie sidelong, as if to gauge the effects of her
attempts to set me up on a pedestal, out of Annie's reach.

I hoped I wouldn't start believing either one of them. I hoped I wasn't
as inaccurate in my estimates of people as was my interviewer. I
wondered if she were really qualified for the job she held. Then I
realized this was a contest between two women and I, a mere male, was
simply