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I opened my eyes again. I swallowed and found my mouth and throat to be quite dry. I licked my lips as if search of any extra liquid that might be hanging around.

"Would you like something to drink or eat?" the man asked.

I nodded my head and raised myself to a sitting position. I felt a twinge of wooziness which quickly evaporated.

"Something cold," I croaked.

The man made a gesture - apparently to someone in the next room. He returned his attention to me.

"How are you feeling?" he said with a tone of genuine solicitude.

"Like Alice in Wonderland," I answered. Then, I added, "What's going on exactly?"

The man smiled. "That's a very good question," he asserted. "Apparently, someone tried to kidnap you."

The man elaborated a little. "I had been watching the scene develop from the stairs where I had been sitting.

"You looked like you needed some help, so I made a lot of shouting noises and loud stomping sounds as I ran toward you, hoping to scare your would-be captors away in the process. Fortunately, my bluster worked.

"I don't know what I would have done if those guys still had been near the corner when I arrived," he indicated. "The situation could have proved quite embarrassing to me and not of much assistance to you.

"If those guys hadn't moved on, I would have had little more than spit with which to defend us. And, between you and me, I've never been able to spit with much authority."

A woman came into the room with a tray on which, among other things, was a container of fruit drink and a glass filled with ice. She took some cloth material from the tray, unfolded it, and spread it over the top of a side table by the couch. On top of the material, she placed the fruit drink container and the glass from the tray, then she left the room.

I opened the container and poured some of its contents into the glass. I took a long drink that drained most of the liquid from the glass and proceeded to pour the remainder of the contents of the fruit drink container into the glass.

After refreshing my parched throat, I leaned back and rested my head against the top of the couch. I closed my eyes momentarily.

Opening my eyes, I looked at the man. "I'm sorry," I apologized, "I forgot to thank you for your help.

"I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't intervened on my behalf, but I don't believe my future with the people you ran off would have been a pleasant experience."

I got up, a little unsteadily, and reached out my hand to the man in order to shake his hand in thanks and also to introduce myself. "I'm David Phelps," I informed him."

The man took my extended hand and said: "People around here call me Rip. There's no last name, just Rip."

As I returned to the couch and sat down again, he said: "I was never sure if the name was given to me in honor of Rip Van Winkle because of my legendary sleeping habits, or in memory of Ripley's Believe It Or Not because of some of my excursions into, shall we say, the realm of the extraordinary. Then, again, the name may have something to do with my tendency to rush headlong into things and let 'em rip, so to speak, or, perhaps, the name is a shortened form of riptide since I'm sometimes accused of giving vent to contradictory actions and moods."

Rip was silent for a moment. "Or," he said, "if we move into the darker realm of things, perhaps, for whatever reason, I reminded someone of Jack the Ripper."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Take your pick, David."

Smiling, I observed: "With the exception of the Rip Van Winkle angle, those characters who attacked me tonight seemed to be on the receiving end of most of the possibilities which you've listed, including, at least from their vantage point, JtR. However, personally, I like 'just Rip', he of no last name."

Taking another drink from the glass on the side table, I began, for the first time, to take a look at my surroundings. The place didn't have the appearance of an apartment, but it didn't quite seem like a normal house residence either.

I wasn't quite sure what made me feel this way. I decided to try to find out in a round about manner.

"Where am I anyway?" I inquired.

"I guess," Rip said, "one might refer to this as a sort of community center. We attempt to tend to the needs of the needy here. If you like, a little later on, I'll give you the grand tour."

"I'd like that," I replied. "Does this center have any official name?" I probed.

"Like my name," he responded, "the name of the center has a variety of possible etymologies. Unlike my name, these different possibilities go by various designations."

"Some people refer to us as the Bearers. Some individuals know us as People of the Cloth. Others call us the Bearers of the Cloth. And, still other people refer to us by other names, not all of which are complimentary."

"When you say 'cloth'," I asked, "are you using this in the same sense in which, say, some Protestants and Catholics refer to their clergy as people of the cloth? Are you a religious organization?"

"Not really," Rip indicated. "Nonetheless, I would say we do share quite a few of the values and interests to which some of the clergy are committed."

"I guess I don't understand," I admitted. "What is the significance of the reference to People or Bearers of the Cloth?"

"Generally speaking," Rip began, "when someone makes reference to members of the clergy as people of the cloth, that individual is referring to the garments which members of the clergy wear indicating, among other things, their membership in some given religious order or denomination. Often times, as well, the nature of the garment will give some indication of the kind of role that the individual fulfils, or the status which the person has, within the order or denomination to which the individual belongs.

"In the case of the Bearers," he continued, "the significance of our relationship to cloth entirely has to do with the kinds of things that can be done, and the functions that can be performed, with such material. For example, when one needs to bind wounds, a cloth can be of assistance. If one wishes to tend to the fever of a sick person, then, among other things, a damp cloth may be applied.

"Cloth can be used to make garments for those who are poor and cannot afford to buy clothes. Or," and he pointed toward the side table on which my drink was resting, "when hospitality manifests itself in the form of serving food or drink to a guest, then a cloth of some kind may be spread.

"If someone's tears need to be dried, a cloth can be offered. Should there be a need to conceal something, such as a person's nakedness, vulnerability or faults, various, special kinds of cloth may be utilized.

"When a mirror, like the heart, is to be polished a cloth designed for that purpose is available. If feats of, let us say, spiritual mystery - some might say 'magic', are indicated, a cloth or veil often conceals the nature of the secret from probing eyes.

"Certain kinds of cloth may be involved in the fashioning of a shelter or tent that protects one from the sun and wind. Furthermore, a person in need of sleep, may require a piece of cloth on which to lie or with which to cover himself or herself, or both. Or, when a person seeks to remove the grime and dirt of the world from one's countenance, she or he may require a face cloth.

"In days gone by, gifts were sometimes wrapped in cloth. The newly born, blessed child of Bethlehem was placed in swaddling cloth.

"Human beings often need different kinds of cloth to mark important stages of development in their lives - from birth, to confirmation, to graduation to marriage to maternity. When a person dies, the individual may be given a burial cloth.

"The nature of our journey through life depends, in different ways, on the kind of cloth we use to make the sails that we hope will move our ship, with the assistance of the wind, toward whatever our destination may be. In reality, from the cradle to the grave, cloth plays a variety of fundamental roles in our lives."

Rip grasped the pointed part of the right collar of his sport jacket and drew my attention to a small white piece of ragged cloth with, what appeared to be, a black-threaded needle running through it which attached the little piece of cloth to the collar of the coat. In an evident attempt to explain the significance of the ragged cloth, needle and thread, he said: "The People of the Cloth are those who are dedicated to helping individuals, families and collectives stitch and sew back together again the torn fabric of tattered souls that have been rent asunder by the battering of the developmental process of life.

"So, you see, David, in our sense, 'people of the cloth' refers more to meeting the needs of people by means of the different functions which cloth can serve, than it does to identifying the order, denomination, metaphysical orientation or status of the person wearing some kind of cloth. In fairness, however, to some people of the cloth in the clerical sense you spoke of earlier, David, I am sure they would agree with us, or we with them, about where the emphasis should be given in the matter of the significance of the term:'people of the cloth'. In other words, service to creation and humanity should be the priority.

"Nonetheless, there is a difference in orientation between the two uses of this term. In one case, the emphasis tends to be on the identity of the one who wears the cloth, and only secondarily, and by implication, on what the cloth being worn signifies. In the other case, the primary emphasis is on the duties and responsibilities entailed by the uses to which the cloth is put, and only secondarily, if at all, on the identity or status of the people who provide the cloth to be used in these different manners.

"Unfortunately, there sometimes is a tendency for a person to start out with the intention of being among the people of the cloth in the sense of service to others and, yet, end up acquiring the robes of personal identification, community status, career enhancement, monetary gain and hierarchical power. At just what moment an individual slides away from being among the people of the cloth in the former sense and starts becoming among the people of the cloth in the second sense, is not always easy for a person to discern."

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