Spaniard left Los Gatos the next day, he escaped not only the
active reporter of the "Record," but the perusal of a grateful
paragraph in the next day's paper recording his prompt kindness and
courtesy. Dr. Duchesne's prognosis, however, seemed at fault; the
elder Slinn did not succumb to this second stroke, nor did he
recover his reason. He apparently only relapsed into his former
physical weakness, losing the little ground he had gained during
the last month, and exhibiting no change in his mental condition,
unless the fact that he remembered nothing of his seizure and the
presence of Don Caesar could be considered as favorable. Dr.
Duchesne's gravity seemed to give that significance to this
symptom, and his cross-questioning of the patient was characterized
by more than his usual curtness.

"You are sure you don't remember walking in the garden before you
were ill?" he said. "Come, think again. You must remember that."
The old man's eyes wandered restlessly around the room, but he
answered by a negative shake of his head. "And you don't remember
sitting down on a stone by the road?"

The old man kept his eyes resolutely fixed on the bedclothes before
him. "No!" he said, with a certain sharp decision that was new to
him.

The doctor's eye brightened. "All right, old man; then don't."

On his way out he took the eldest Miss Slinn aside. "He'll do," he
said, grimly: "he's beginning to lie."

"Why, he only said he didn't remember," responded Esther.