mind. It seemed to him that he
had been lying there for years, lost in a labyrinth of demented fancies.
Looking back at that time, now that his reason had been restored to him,
he was able to recall his delusions one by one, and it was very difficult
for him to understand, even now, that they were all utterly groundless,
the mere vagabondage of a wandering brain; that the people he had fancied
close at hand, lurking in the next room--he had rarely seen them close
about his bed, but had been possessed with a vivid sense of their
neighbourhood--had been never near him; that the old friends and
associates of his boyhood, who had been amongst these fancied visitors,
were for the greater number dead and passed away long before this time;
that he had been, in every dream and every fancy of that weary interval,
the abject slave of his own hallucinations. Little by little his strength
came back to him by very slow degrees--so slowly, indeed, that the
process of recovery might have sorely tried the patience of any man less
patient than Gilbert. There came a day at last when the convalescent was
able to leave his bed for an hour or so, just strong enough to crawl into
the sitting-room with the help of Gilbert's arm, and to sit in an
easy-chair, propped up by pillows, very feeble of aspect, and with a wan
haggard countenance that pleaded mutely for pity. It was impossible to
harbour revengeful feelings against a wretch so stricken.

Mr. Mew was much elated by this gradual improvement in his patient, and
confessed to Gilbert, in private, that he had never hoped for so happy a
result. "Nothing but an iron constitution, and your admirable care, could
have carried our friend through such an attack, sir," he said decisively.
"And now that we are getting round a little, we must have change of
air--change of air and of scene; that is imperatively necessary. Mr.
Saltram talks of a loathing for these rooms; very natural under the
circumstances. We must take him away directly he can bear the removal."

"I rather doubt his willingness to stir," Gilbert answered, thoughtfully.
"He has anxieties that are likely to chain him to London."

"If there is any objection of that kind it must be conquered," Mr. Mew
said. "A change will do your friend more good than all the physic I can
give him."

"Where would you advise me to take him?"

"Not very far. He couldn't stand the fatigue of a long journey. I should
take him to some quiet little place n