pon her sanity. This she waived, but
from this point on throughout the inquiry she steadfastly declined to
make answers to the questions propounded to her by the members of the
commission in an effort to ascertain her mental status, but on the
contrary persistently maintained a silence which they interpreted as a
phase of insane cunning characteristic of a type of abnormality not
often encountered, but in their opinion the more sinister and
significant because of its rarity.

"They accordingly drew up a finding setting forth that in their opinion
and deliberate judgment the unfortunate young woman was suffering from a
progressive and therefore probably incurable form of dementia. The
justice immediately signed the necessary orders for her detention and
commitment. To save the daughter from being sent to a state institution
the mother provided funds sufficient for her care at Doctor Shorter's
sanitarium, an establishment of unimpeachable reputation, and she
accordingly was taken there in proper custody, as you yourself are
aware.

"My information from the sanitarium, which I procured in response to
your request, and the governor's instructions to me for a full inquiry
into all the circumstances is that since her confinement Miss
Vinsolving has been under constant observation. She has been orderly and
obedient and except for slightly melancholic tendencies, which might
easily be provoked by the nature of her environment, is quite natural in
her behavior. I draw the inference, however, that this docility may be
merely the forerunner of an outburst at any time.

"Altogether my investigation convinces me that no miscarriage of the law
could possibly have occurred in this instance. There is certainly no
ground for suspecting that the mother had any ulterior or improper
motive in seeking to have her daughter and sole companion deprived of
liberty. Neither the mother nor any other person alive can hope to
profit in a financial sense by reason of the girl's temporary or
permanent detention.

"The girl herself is without means of her own. The mother for her
maintenance is largely dependent upon the pension she receives from the
United States Government. The girl had no income or estate of her own
and no expectancy of any inheritance from any imaginable source other
than the small estate she will legally inherit at the death of her
mother. Finally I may add that nowhere in the case has there developed
any suggestion of a scan