dy had been broken, and I was taking these bones from their
places and trying to repair them. Then I imagined that I had several
different bodies, and all of them were bruised and mangled. These forms
increased in numbers until I could see nothing else but them, and they
appeared to be struggling to extricate themselves from beneath a huge
object which seemed to grow in size until it was as large as a mountain.
Finally released, they began climbing up the mountain until the summit
was reached and then gradually decreased until there was but one left.

"What is the matter with me?" I wondered. "Who am I, what am I, and
where do I belong?" I tried to think coherently, but my mind was feeble
and incapable of grasping an intelligent thought. Day and night went and
came many times, but still I remained on that mountain wondering,
wondering, wondering. Sometimes I would expand until I felt larger than
the mountain itself; then again I would shrink to the size of a flea.
One time I would feel as if I were up near the North Pole, surrounded by
ice and freezing to death. At another time I would imagine that I was in
the middle of the Sahara Desert, being roasted alive by the scorching
rays of the sun. And, still again, I would feel that I was shipwrecked
upon a barren island, and was slowly dying for the want of food and
water. Sometimes I fancied that I could see ships all about me, and I
would yell, and roar at the top of my voice to attract attention, but
without results, as they would pass beyond view without taking any
notice of me. At other times it seemed that ships would cast their
anchors right in front of my eyes, and apparently remain stationed there
for weeks and months at a time, and yet no one would come to my
assistance. At last there appeared to be ten thousand ships all of the
same pattern lowering small boats into the water, and these boats manned
by stalwart oarsmen started to race with each other in my direction.
What an evenly matched contest. On, on, on they came, bunched closely
together, each using the same uniform stroke as if all were guided by
the same coxswain. Now they were right upon me. "Great race," I shouted,
as they came within hearing distance. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" "The
poor devil is mad," I fancied I heard someone exclaim, and my mind
became a blank.

CHAPTER XXIII

FIRST VOICE: "This is a most peculiar case of enteric fever, in which
the patient baffles all medical aid towards a cure.