CHAPTER XXII
“A Most Interesting Case!”
Nine o’clock of the next evening came and passed. Dr. Annister dismissed his last patient, looked into his waiting room and found it empty, then sat down to wait for a few minutes, unwilling to take from Felix Brand what he feared might be his last chance.
“If I can give him some help tonight,” the physician’s thoughts ran, “if I can restore his self-confidence and his grip on himself, that will be just the impulse in the right direction that he needs. After that it will be easier for him and he may win yet. A most interesting case! More interesting even than Dr. Prince’s Miss Beauchamp! The cleavage is complete and clean. If I can cure it, it will be the most remarkable case on record!”
There was a tap at the open door behind him and he heard Brand’s voice saying, “Are you here, Dr. Annister?”
“Come in, Felix, come in,” the doctor replied, rising, with more of professional interest than personal friendliness in his tones. “You’ve come for your first treatment, I suppose? Well, we’ll see what we can do.”
Brand was moving about the room with seemingly aimless steps, a curious unwillingness upon his face. Within himself he was feeling a sense of compulsion that was moving him against his will. Within his brain he seemed not so much to hear as to feel a voice saying, “Tell him! Tell him!” And with all his strength he was battling against these inward commands.