“I am. And perhaps—who knows?—in the most difficult problem the civilized world has yet had to face.”
“As you say, who knows?” said Dr. Thorp, a cloud growing on his sensitive face.
“In other words,” said Brandon, “you are ready to admit that a man of very profound and beautiful genius is being held here.”
“Those are big words,” was the reply of professional caution. “And genius is of many kinds. But speaking of John Smith as I have found him, I will make an admission which you are entitled to use as you think fit. We all bless the day he came here.”
A look of startled pleasure came into Brandon’s face. “One somehow expected to hear that,” he said.
“Whatever his mentality may be, and of its range I am not competent to judge, the man has what I can only call a largeness of soul which has an effect upon others. One of our old men, one of our deranged fine intellects, of whom we have several, and very pathetic they are, has christened him the Light-Bringer, and somehow we feel it is a title that he thoroughly deserves.”
“That is to say, he is a good influence among your patients?”
“Yes; in fact a moral force. The staff tell me that since he came here their work is less by one-half. As an instance of what I mean, let me give you a little anecdote which our head attendant told me only this morning. We have an old German professor, who has been here some time. He is apt to be very cantankerous and now and again gives a great deal of trouble. On his bad days no one can do anything with him. But it seems that John is now an established exception to the rule and that he can simply make him do anything. This morning it appears the Herr Professor had decided that he would no longer wear a tie. ‘Put it on at once,’ said Boswell, our head attendant. ‘I shall not,’ said the Herr Professor, ‘except by the command of God and the Emperor.’ ‘Very well,’ said the head attendant, ‘then I shall ask the Master to come to you.’ Well, the Master came—that, by the way, is the name the patients have given him. The head attendant stated his case and the Master said to the Herr Professor, ‘Put on your tie, my dear friend. It is the rule here in Elysium and you are bound to obey it. Otherwise the gods will turn you out and you may find yourself wandering in outer darkness for another hundred years or so.’”
“And did the Herr Professor put on his tie?” asked Brandon.
“He put it on at once,” said Dr. Thorp with a laugh. “Of course it’s a very trivial anecdote. But to me the whole thing is a remarkable piece of make-believe.”