The Man Who Lost HimselfStacpoole, H. De Vere (Henry De Vere)
General
The Man Who Lost Himself
Stacpoole, H. De Vere (Henry De Vere)
Mistaken identity -- Fiction
Simms, Cavendish, the fact that he had been doped, the place where he
was, and the young man. He had been taken here in that conveyance,
whatever it was; they had thought him mad--they had carted him off to a
mad-house, this was a mad-house, that guy in the chair was an attendant.
He recognized these probabilities very clearly, but he felt no anger and
little surprise. His mind, absolutely set up and almost renewed by
profound slumber, saw everything clearly and in a true light.
It was quite logical that, believing him mad, they had put him in a
mad-house, and he had no fear at all of the result simply because he
knew that he was sane. The situation was amusing, it was also one to get
free from--but there was plenty of time, and there was no room for
making mistakes.
Curiously enough, now, the passionate or almost passionate desire to
recover his own personality had vanished, or at least, was no longer
active in his mind; his brain, renewed by that tremendous sleep, was no
longer tainted by that vague dread, no longer troubled by that curious
craving to have others believe in his story and to have others recognize
him as Jones.
No, it did not matter to him just now whether he recovered his
personality in the eyes of others; what did matter to him was the
recovery of his bodily freedom. Meanwhile, caution. Like Brer Rabbit, he
determined to "lie low."
"Say," said Jones.
The young man by the window started slightly, rose, and came to the
bedside.
"What o'clock?" said the patient.
"It has just gone half past eight, sir," replied the other. "I hope you
have slept well."
Jones noticed that this person did not "my Lord" him.
"Not a wink," said he, "tossed and tumbled all night--oh, say--what do
_you_ think--"
The young man looked puzzled.
"And would you like anything now, sir?"
"Yes--my pants. I want to get up."
"Certainly, sir, your bath is quite ready," replied the other.
He went to the fire-place and touched an electric button, then he
bustled about the room getting Jones' garments together.
The bed-room had two doors, one leading to a sitting-room, one to a
bath-room; in a minute the bath-room door opened and a voice queried,
"Hot or cold?"
"Hot," said Jones.
"Hot," said the attendant.
"Hot," said the unseen person in the bath-room, as if registering the
order in his mind. Then came the fizzling of water and in a couple of
minutes the voice:
"Gentleman's bath ready."
Jones bathed, and though the door of the bath-room had been shut upon him
and there was no person present, he felt all the time that someone was
watching him. When he was fully dressed, the attendant opened the other
door, and ushered him into the sitting-room, where breakfast was laid on
a small table by the window. He had the choice between eggs and bacon
and sausages, he chose the former and whilst waiting, attracted by the
pleasant summery sound of croquet balls knocking together, he looked out
of the window.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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