“I shall be glad to listen to any explanation you have to offer,” said our hero.
“I will explain it all to you, in time,” said the professor, recovering his old assurance. “In the meantime, I have a proposition to make to you.”
“What is it?”
“Suppose we give an entertainment in Knoxville—on the same terms as the last.”
“I shouldn’t think you would like to appear before an audience here, Professor Riccabocca.”
“Why not?”
“Before night everybody will have heard of your running away with the proceeds of the last concert.”
“Public men are always misjudged. They must expect it,” said the professor, with the air of a martyr.
“I should think you would be more afraid of being justly judged.”
“Mr. Gray,” said the professor, “I have done wrong, I admit; but it was under the influence of neuralgia. When I have a neuralgic headache, I am not myself. I do things which, in a normal condition, I should not dream of. I am the victim of a terrible physical malady.”