"Yes. But the objection to that is the very complete recovery that seems
to take place in the intervals."

"I would not say very complete," said Mr. Weiss. "The recovery is rather
comparative. He is lucid and fairly natural in his manner, but he is
still dull and lethargic. He does not, for instance, show any desire to
go out, or even to leave his room."

I pondered uncomfortably on these rather contradictory statements.
Clearly Mr. Weiss did not mean to entertain the theory of opium
poisoning; which was natural enough if he had no knowledge of the drug
having been used. But still--

"I suppose," said Mr. Weiss, "you have experience of sleeping sickness?"

The suggestion startled me. I had not. Very few people had. At that time
practically nothing was known about the disease. It was a mere
pathological curiosity, almost unheard of excepting by a few
practitioners in remote parts of Africa, and hardly referred to in the
text-books. Its connection with the trypanosome-bearing insects was as
yet unsuspected, and, to me, its symptoms were absolutely unknown.

"No, I have not," I replied. "The disease is nothing more than a name to
me. But why do you ask? Has Mr. Graves been abroad?"

"Yes. He has been travelling for the last three or four years, and I
know that he spent some time recently in West Africa, where this disease
occurs. In fact, it was from him that I first heard about it."