“He doesn’t seem to mind. He walks a good deal ... it’s a big place and he’s used to the cold. He reads a little, mostly detective stories ... and then of course there’s the mail that Paul sends on. He works at that off and on all day. I help him and when we’re stuck (you should see the questions!) we consult Stokharin who’s very good on some things, on problems....” “And a bore the rest of the time.” “That’s right,” Iris giggled. “I couldn’t have been more furious the other night, but, since then, I’ve seen a good deal of him and he’s not half bad. We’ve got him over the idea that John should become a lay analyst: the response to the telecast finally convinced Stokharin that here was a racial 'folk-father-figure’ ... his very own words. Now he’s out to educate the father so that he will fulfill his children’s needs on the best post-Jungian lines.” “Does Cave take him seriously?” “He’s bored to death with him. Stokharin’s the only man who’s ever had the bad sense to lecture John ... who absolutely hates it; but he does feel that Stokharin’s answers to some of the problems we’re confronted with are ingenious. All that ... hints to the lovelorn is too much for John, so we need the Stokharins to take care of details.” “I hope he’s careful not to get too involved.” “John’s incorruptible. Not because he is so noble or constant but because he can only think a certain way and other opinions, other evidence, can’t touch him.” I paused, wondering if this was true; then: “I’m going to make a scene on Friday. I’m going to suggest that Paul is moving in a dangerous direction, toward organization and dogma and that if something is not done soon we’ll all be ruined by that which we most detest: a militant absolutist doctrine.” Iris looked at me curiously. “Tell me, Gene, what _do_ you want? Why are you still with Cave, with all of us when you so apparently suspect the general direction? You’ve always been perfectly clear about what you did _not_ want (I can recall, I think, every word you said at the farm that night) but, to be specific, what would you like all this to become? How would you direct things if you could?” I’d been preparing myself for such a question for several months yet I still had no single answer to make which would sharply express my own doubts and wishes. But I made an attempt. “I would not organize, for one thing. I’d have Cave speak regularly, all he likes, but there would be no Cavite, Inc., no Paul planting articles and propagandizing. I’d keep just Cave, nothing more. Let him do his work. Then, gradually, there will be effects, a gradual end to superstition....” Iris looked at me intently. “_If_ it were possible, I would say we should do what you suggest, even though it would be ruinous not only for us but for everyone....” “Why ruinous? A freedom to come to a decision on one’s own without....”