go with him to his office, where we could talk without
fear of interruption. Arrived there, I calmly sat down and prepared to
prove my whole case. I had scarcely "opened fire" when in walked a
stranger--a strapping fellow, to whom my brother immediately introduced
me. I instinctively felt that it was by no mere chance that this third
party had so suddenly appeared. My eyes at once took in the dark blue
trousers worn by the otherwise conventionally dressed stranger. That
was enough. The situation became so clear that the explanations which
followed were superfluous. In a word, I was under arrest, or in
imminent danger of being arrested. To say that I was not in the least
disconcerted would scarcely be true, for I had not divined my brother's
clever purpose in luring me to his office. But I can say, with truth,
that I was the coolest person in the room. I knew what I should do
next, but my brother and the officer of the law could only guess. The
fact is I did nothing. I calmly remained seated, awaiting the verdict
which I well knew my brother, with characteristic decision, had already
prepared. With considerable effort--for the situation, he has since
told me, was the most trying one of his life--he informed me that on
the preceding day he had talked with the doctors to whom I had so
opportunely exhibited myself a week earlier. All agreed that I was in a
state of elation which might or might not become more pronounced. They
had advised that I be persuaded to submit voluntarily to treatment in a
hospital, or that I be, if necessary, forcibly committed. On this
advice my brother had proceeded to act. And it was well so; for, though
I appreciated the fact that I was by no means in a normal state of
mind, I had not a clear enough insight into my condition to realize
that treatment and a restricted degree of liberty were what I needed,
since continued freedom might further inflame an imagination already
overwrought.

A few simple statements by my brother convinced me that it was for my
own good and the peace of mind of my relatives that I should
temporarily surrender my freedom. This I agreed to do. Perhaps the
presence of two hundred pounds of brawn and muscle, representing the
law, lent persuasiveness to my brother's words. In fact, I did assent
the more readily because I admired the thorough, sane, fair, almost
artistic manner in which my brother had brought me to bay. I am
inclined to believe that, had I suspected that a r