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true Lohvians. Presently he stood back and without a sound sat down in his chair. The silence grew oppressive. I did not drink the fine red wine. I wondered what was going on in Xinthe’s pretty head. As for her tutor, his gaze remained fastened upon her face.
    At last her lips moved and in a whisper she said: “The corner is true. I am holding it. Fast.”
    Wanlicheng said: “Good. Fix it and then return.”
    When at last Xinthe opened her eyes the smile with which she favored her teacher was a wonderful sunburst of beauty. “Yes.” she said. “Oh, yes!”
    His austere face revealed pleasure. Whatever his history might have been in the recent past, here was a man who understood the finer things of life. Speaking in that well-modulated voice he began a general conversation. Like most people meeting new acquaintances, he wanted to know all about me. For, as he observed: “One can tell you are not of Loh.”
    Xinthe continued to sit and I surmised she was recovering from whatever she had been doing inside her own skull.
    I gave my usual farrago of lies concerning myself and then ventured a question about the scene I had just witnessed.
    “There is no such thing as the One True Path. You must find your way as best you can, using whatever means you are able. This sometimes means you may have to deny a certain god, or embrace another. So far no one has been able to convince me that One True God exists, any more than One True Way.” I did not wish to contradict him on his point about gods; but I admit I felt this to be a serious chink in whatever theory he was expounding.
    He went on to say that his belief in magic and in gods had failed him so often that he had looked around for a better way. He had been fortunate enough to meet a wise woman — he called her Lisa the Forthright, although that was not her real name — who had opened his eyes to Alternative Magic.
    “We call our movement Alternative Magic, for it is that, in a real sense. But it is much much more than a mere alternative to magic and gods. We seek to perform the same work as that done by sorcerers — magic — and by gods — miracles — solely through our own human powers. This may sound impious, blasphemous, even. But I assure you, Drajak, a man or woman has the power there in their heads. Through the Paths we move forward to our goal. We can unleash the powers of the human mind and spirit and have no need of sorcerers. As to gods, they have other uses.”
    “There are then many of you?”
    “Not as many as we would like. We have a goodly number of members, all the same, scattered about here and there.”
    “And you are not persecuted?”
    “No, why should we be, since we do not spout our beliefs from statues in the main kyro of town.”
    Xinthe threw me a sharp glance. I shook my head.
    “All this is completely new to me, Lady Xinthe. I am no spy.”
    Well, it wasn’t completely new, of course. There are the two well-known ways to God: Rejection of Images or Affirmation of Images. In addition I had spoken to Kregen philosophers and mystics who recognized the three Paths Wanlicheng had mentioned plus the Path of Afflatus. What this mystic was trying to do was the new thing. If he could perform magic and miracles without any mumbo-jumbo, straight out of his head, then he would, indeed, be a remarkable fellow. And Xinthe and the mystic he called Lisa the Forthright would add their peculiarly feminine slant to the proceedings. If between them they could win through all the corners on the paths then I’d be the first to be interested.
    They called themselves the Pilgrims.
    Sometimes they were known as Wayfarers or Pathfinders.
    They were out to perfect Alternative Magic for the good of humanity.
    I wished them well.
    Then I asked about the woman fanatic Mul-lu-Manting.
    “She seeks to achieve her desires by ranting, preaching, trying to arouse the people to past glories. I fear she has no joy in her task.”
    What Mul-lu-Manting wanted was a new