No further particulars of the invalid's second attack were known than those furnished by Don Caesar's brief statement,that he had found him lying insensible on the boulder.This seemed perfectly consistent with the theory of Dr.Duchesne;and as the young Spaniard left Los Gatos the next day,he escaped not only the active reporter of the "Record,"but the perusal of a grateful paragraph in the next day's paper recording his prompt kindness and courtesy.Dr.Duchesne's prognosis,however,seemed at fault;the elder Slinn did not succumb to this second stroke,nor did he recover his reason.He apparently only relapsed into his former physical weakness,losing the little ground he had gained during the last month,and exhibiting no change in his mental condition,unless the fact that he remembered nothing of his seizure and the presence of Don Caesar could be considered as favorable.Dr.
Duchesne's gravity seemed to give that significance to this symptom,and his cross-questioning of the patient was characterized by more than his usual curtness.
"You are sure you don't remember walking in the garden before you were ill?"he said."Come,think again.You must remember that."The old man's eyes wandered restlessly around the room,but he answered by a negative shake of his head."And you don't remember sitting down on a stone by the road?"The old man kept his eyes resolutely fixed on the bedclothes before him."No!"he said,with a certain sharp decision that was new to him.
The doctor's eye brightened."All right,old man;then don't."On his way out he took the eldest Miss Slinn aside."He'll do,"he said,grimly:"he's beginning to lie.""Why,he only said he didn't remember,"responded Esther.
"That was because he didn't want to remember,"said the doctor,authoritatively."The brain is acting on some impression that is either painful and unpleasant,or so vague that he can't formulate it;he is conscious of it,and won't attempt it yet.It's a heap better than his old self-satisfied incoherency."A few days later,when the fact of Slinn's identification with the paralytic of three years ago by the stage-driver became generally known,the doctor came in quite jubilant.