by appearances? Was the new patient only a hypochondriacal woman,
whose malady was a disordered stomach and whose misfortune was a
weak brain? 'Why do you come to me?' he asked sharply. 'Why don't
you consult a doctor whose special employment is the treatment of
the insane?'

She had her answer ready on the instant.

'I don't go to a doctor of that sort,' she said, 'for the very
reason that he is a specialist: he has the fatal habit of judging
everybody by lines and rules of his own laying down. I come to you,
because my case is outside of all lines and rules, and because you are
famous in your profession for the discovery of mysteries in disease.
Are you satisfied?'

He was more than satisfied--his first idea had been the right idea,
after all. Besides, she was correctly informed as to his
professional position. The capacity which had raised him to fame
and fortune was his capacity (unrivalled among his brethren)
for the discovery of remote disease.

'I am at your disposal,' he answered. 'Let me try if I can find
out what is the matter with you.'

He put his medical questions. They were promptly and plainly answered;
and they led to no other conclusion than that the strange lady was,
mentally and physically, in excellent health. Not satisfied
with questions, he carefully examined the great organs of life.
Neither his hand nor his stethoscope could discover anything that
was amiss. With the admirable patience and devotion to his art