"No, but he is not himself—or rather, he is himself—in a different way; but a sudden check might make him mad. You have heard of people walking in their sleep—well, this is something akin to that. You know it is highly dangerous to awaken a sleep-walker suddenly. Well, it's just the same with Mr. Pettigrew; it might imbalance his mind for good."
"What am I to do?"
"Just keep watch on him."
"But suppose he don't know me?"
"He won't know you, but if you are kind to him he will accept you into his environment, and then you will link on to his mental state."
"He's out now, and God knows where, or doing what," said Mudd; "but I'll be on the watch for him coming in—if he ever comes."
"Oh, he will come home right enough."
"Is there any fear of those women getting hold of him?" asked Mudd, returning to his old dread.
"That's just what there is—every fear; but you must be very careful not to interpose your will violently. Get gently between, gently between. You understand me. Suggestion does a lot in these cases. Another thing, you must treat him as one treats a boy. You must imagine to yourself that your master is only twenty, for that, in truth, is what he is. He has gone back to a younger state—or rather, a younger state has come to meet him, having lain dormant, just as a wisdom tooth lies dormant, then grows."