in my absence. Her friends
have used every device to make her take nourishment. Food has been
forced upon her, and artificial means have been resorted to that it
might be carried to her stomach. Nevertheless, the amount in the
aggregate must have been very small in all these years.'

"'You have considered the case of such extraordinary importance as to
take many physicians to see it?'

"'I have, and it has excited very much of attention. I have letters
about it from far and near, and the medical journals have asked for
information.'"

And this with Dr. Ormiston:

"Dr. Robert Ormiston, who has been one of Miss Fancher's physicians from
the first, who has seen her constantly in all the different conditions
of her system, said yesterday that he was convinced that there could be
no deception. He could find no motive for it, and he did not believe
that she had attempted it. As to her not partaking of food, he had with
Dr. Speir made tests that satisfied him that she ate no more than she
pretended to, and in the aggregate it had not, in all these years,
amounted to more than the amount eaten at a single meal by a healthy
man. Dr. Ormiston narrated many curious incidents of the girl's illness,
and verified the facts of her physical condition as narrated elsewhere."

In order that no injustice may be done to these gentlemen, I quote the
following from the _Sun_ of November 26th:

"Dr. R. Fleet Speir, one of Miss Fancher's physicians, smiled last
evening when the _Sun_ reporter asked him what he thought of Dr.
Hammond's opinions on the case. 'I probably have just as high an opinion
of Dr. Hammond's opinions as Dr. Hammond has of mine,' he said. 'My
opinion on the case of Miss Fancher I have always refused to give to any
one. When I first took the case, years ago, I told the family that I
would not give them an opinion on it; that I would do what I could with
it, and that I hoped to bring about a cure. I do not believe in
clairvoyance or second sight, or anything of the kind. I think I stand
with the most rigid school on that subject.'

"'But do you think Miss Fancher deceives or endeavors to?'

"The Doctor smiled again. 'Now I do not want you to interview me on
that. My theory has along been to do nothing to irritate my patient; I
humored her, and have endeavored in that way to get her confidence, to
get complete control of her, if possible. In that way I may get her
mind diverted, and by and by get her out of bed. I h