Rains read silently, "Experience one year." Too bad. His mission couldn't be trusted to a beginner. "I'll think about it," he said, handing back the card. "If you don't find anything else, be here tomorrow. I may come out." Tomorrow he'd be on his way to Benares. The native folded the license into his turban and went back. He was now at the very end of the line because he'd left his place to follow Rains. He'd get little tossed to him today, and the coins Rains had given him wouldn't buy much. Rains could sense despair. Rains beckoned him back. "Do you have any other skills that might be useful?" he asked. "What did you do before you became a guide?" The eyes brightened, then faded in quick defeat. "Nothing you'd want," he mumbled. "For ten years I was a dyeman." Rains thought back to the scene of the mental ambush. Beards. Green beards. The dyeman had been near at the time. "Dyeman?" he repeated, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. Even if it actually had taken place as he thought, it was only a minor talent. But there was always empathy between psipeople, even though their abilities might be unrelated. He could expect closer cooperation from this man than from any other guide he might hire. "I may be able to use you," he said. "Come in. We'll talk." He'd discovered a new field for Rhine investigation. They'd mention it in history books, after they described how he saved the world. * * * * * Gowru Chandit accepted the drink gratefully. Rains leaned back and said, "Is this what you're trying to say? You first noticed your ability when the dye didn't arrive at the textile factory. You had a quota to meet. In panic you ran the cloth through anyway, and it came out the color you wanted." Gowru nodded. "Can you tell me how you do it?" The Hindu looped his hand near his head and shrugged. Rains nodded. Any other answer would have been surprising. "What did they say at the factory when you told them?" Gowru grinned slyly. "Alas, I'm a poor man. I didn't tell them." Rains could follow the man's thoughts as long as they were composed in English. Alloted chemicals, Gowru smuggled everything out of the plant that wasn't used and sold it to other firms. It should have been profitable. "Why aren't you still with them?" Actually he knew the answer. A new process had displaced the dyeman. "I soon became foreman of the entire plant. I alone had charge of all coloring. I was wildly prosperous, what with one thing and another. It was my downfall." "I don't understand." He did, but it was best to lead the man on, to explore all possibilities. "I drank," said Gowru. "I had money for it and I drank too much." "And lost your ability?"