* * * *

The servants think I am crazy. That is but to be expected, and it is why
I have never called in a physician.

* * * * *

I am resolved. Henceforth this hallucination ceases. From now on I shall
remain in the chair. I shall never leave it. I shall remain in it night
and day and always.

* * * * *

I have succeeded. For two weeks I have not seen him. Nor shall I ever
see him again. I have at last attained the equanimity of mind necessary
for philosophic thought. I wrote a complete chapter to-day.

* * * * *

It is very wearisome, sitting in a chair. The weeks pass, the months
come and go, the seasons change, the servants replace each other, while
I remain. I only remain. It is a strange life I lead, but at least I am
at peace.

* * * * *

He comes no more. There is no eternity of forms. I have proved it. For
nearly two years now, I have remained in this chair, and I have not seen
him once. True, I was severely tried for a time. But it is clear that
what I thought I saw was merely hallucination. He never was. Yet I do
not leave the chair. I am afraid to leave the chair.

TOLD IN THE DROOLING WARD

Me? I'm not a drooler. I'm the assistant, I don't know what Miss Jones
or Miss Kelsey could do without me. There are fifty-five low-grade
droolers in this ward, and how could they ever all be fed if I wasn't
around? I like to feed droolers. They don't make trouble. They can't.
Something's wrong with most of their legs and arms, and they can't talk.
They're very low-grade. I can walk, and talk, and do things. You must be
careful with the droolers and not feed them too fast. Then they choke.
Miss Jones says I'm an expert. When a new nurse comes I show her how to
do it. It's funny watching a new nurse try to feed them. She goes at it
so slow and careful that supper time would be around before she finished
shoving down their breakfast. Then I show her, because I'm an expert.
Dr. Dalrymple says I am, and he ought to know. A drooler can eat twice
as fast if you know how to make him.

My name's Tom. I'm twenty-eight years old. Everybody knows me in the
institution. This is an institution, you know. It belongs to the State
of California and is run by politics. I know. I've been here a long
time. Everybody trusts me. I run errands all over the place, when I'm
not b