accomplishment. Such is the feeling of the confirmed stutterer or
stammerer during the time of this pseudo-freedom from his speech
disorder.

In his own mind, the sufferer is quite sure that his malady has
disappeared over-night, like a bad dream and that freedom of
speech has been bestowed upon him as a gift from the gods on high.

The higher the hopes of the sufferer and the greater the assurance
with which he pursues the activities of his day, the greater is
his disappointment and despair when the inevitable relapse
overtakes him.

For disappointment and despair are sure to come--just as sure as
the sun is to rise in the heavens in the morning. The condition of
relief is but temporary, and will soon pass away to be followed by
a return of his old trouble in a form more aggravated than ever
before.

Fate seems to play with the stammerer's affliction as a cat plays
with a mouse, allowing him to be free for a few hours, a few days
or a few weeks as the case may be, only to drag the dejected
sufferer back to his former condition--or, as is true in many
cases, worse than before.

THE RECURRENCE: With the return of the trouble, the bodily and
mental reaction are almost too great for the human mechanism to
withstand. Hope seems to be a word which has been lost from the
life of the stammerer. The fear of failure returns with an
overwhelming force mocking the sufferer with the thought of "Oh,