"Since I am here," said the patient submissively, "I will hear
you."

"Very well, then. I tell you that if you have the will and the
perseverance, none of the things you fear will happen to you."

"Of course, it is your duty to tell me that."

"I will tell you that there are one hundred thousand like you in
Paris, alert, and seemingly well. Come, take what you were just
saying--wheel-chairs. One doesn't see so many of them."

"No, that's true," said George.

"And besides," added the doctor, "a good many people who ride in
them are not there for the cause you think. There is no more
reason why you should be the victim of a catastrophe than any of
the one hundred thousand. The disease is serious, nothing more."

"You admit that it is a serious disease?" argued George.

"Yes."

"One of the most serious?"

"Yes, but you have the good fortune--"

"The GOOD fortune?"