Doctor Mandeville had his place. I
walked right into his office. He didn't know me. "Hello," he said, "this
ain't visiting day." "I ain't a visitor," I said. "I'm Tom. I belong
here." Then he whistled and showed he was surprised. I told him all
about it, and showed him the marks of the strap halter, and he got
madder and madder all the time and said he'd attend to Mr. Peter Bopp's
case.

And mebbe you think some of them little droolers weren't glad to see me.

I walked right into the ward. There was a new nurse feeding little
Albert. "Hold on," I said. "That ain't the way. Don't you see how he's
twisting that left eye? Let me show you." Mebbe she thought I was a new
doctor, for she just gave me the spoon, and I guess I filled little
Albert up with the most comfortable meal he'd had since I went away.
Droolers ain't bad when you understand them. I heard Miss Jones tell
Miss Kelsey once that I had an amazing gift in handling droolers.

Some day, mebbe, I'm going to talk with Doctor Dalrymple and get him to
give me a declaration that I ain't a feeb. Then I'll get him to make me
a real assistant in the drooling ward, with forty dollars a month and my
board. And then I'll marry Miss Jones and live right on here. And if
she won't have me, I'll marry Miss Kelsey or some other nurse. There's
lots of them that want to get married. And I won't care if my wife gets
mad and calls me a feeb. What's the good? And I guess when one's learned
to put up with droolers a wife won't be much worse.

I didn't tell you about when I ran away. I hadn't no idea of such a
thing, and it was Charley and Joe who put me up to it. They're
high-grade epilecs, you know. I'd been up to Doctor Wilson's office with
a message, and was going back to the drooling ward, when I saw Charley
and Joe hiding around the corner of the gymnasium and making motions to
me. I went over to them.

"Hello," Joe said. "How's droolers?"

"Fine," I said. "Had any fits lately?"

That made them mad, and I was going on, when Joe said, "We're running
away. Come on."

"What for?" I said.

"We're going up over the top of the mountain," Joe said.

"And find a gold mine," said Charley. "We don't have fits any more.
We're cured."

"All right," I said. And we sneaked around back of the gymnasium and in
among the trees. Mebbe we walked along about ten minutes, when I
stopped.

"What's the matter?" said Joe.

"Wait," I said. "I got to go back."

"What for?" said Joe.