do!"

CHAPTER XXII

"A MOST INTERESTING CASE!"

Nine o'clock of the next evening came and passed. Dr. Annister
dismissed his last patient, looked into his waiting room and found it
empty, then sat down to wait for a few minutes, unwilling to take from
Felix Brand what he feared might be his last chance.

"If I can give him some help tonight," the physician's thoughts ran,
"if I can restore his self-confidence and his grip on himself, that
will be just the impulse in the right direction that he needs. After
that it will be easier for him and he may win yet. A most interesting
case! More interesting even than Dr. Prince's Miss Beauchamp! The
cleavage is complete and clean. If I can cure it, it will be the most
remarkable case on record!"

There was a tap at the open door behind him and he heard Brand's voice
saying, "Are you here, Dr. Annister?"

"Come in, Felix, come in," the doctor replied, rising, with more of
professional interest than personal friendliness in his tones. "You've
come for your first treatment, I suppose? Well, we'll see what we can
do."

Brand was moving about the room with seemingly aimless steps, a
curious unwillingness upon his face. Within himself he was feeling a
sense of compulsion that was moving him against his will. Within his
brain he seemed not so much to hear as to feel a voice saying, "Tell
him! Tell him!" And with all his strength he was battling against
these inward commands.

Dr. Annister noticed his stubborn look and the defiant poise of his
head. "What is it, Felix?" queried the physician. "Don't you want to
take the treatment? Have you changed your mind?"

"No, sir. I've not changed my mind. I'm more anxious than ever about
it. Shall we begin at once?"

Suddenly his ears seemed to roar with the sound of "Tell him! Tell
him! Tell him!" He started and glanced fearfully about the room.

"I will not! I will not! I will not!" His tongue formed the words of
refusal behind closed lips, pressed together in a hard line.

Dr. Annister drew a quick, deep breath. "I'm not in very good shape
tonight, Felix, but I'll do the best I can for you," he said, as he
stepped to a cabinet at the back of the room, where he measured out
and swallowed a dose of medicine. "Now, if you're ready, we'll begin,"
he went on, and was surprised to see his companion stagger back a step
or two and pass his hand irresolutely over his face.

"Yes, Dr. Annister, at once. But there is something--"