‘I have been slowly recovering for several days; but this is the first time that I have felt any inclination to rouse myself and let it be known. You have doubtless known similar cases?’ Dr. Schneeberger assented readily, and talked a good deal of the brain and its various developments. Phil listened with praiseworthy patience, until a pause gave him the opportunity to proceed. ‘When this friend of mine informed you that he considered it probable I should claim the name of Debenham upon my recovery, did it not strike you as a very odd thing for him to suppose?’ ‘Well, yes; certainly it was a remarkable symptom, one which interested me greatly.’ ‘Did you ever know of a case in which, after the brief confusion of ideas on first recovery, a man did not know his own name?’ ‘Well, no; I certainly have not known of such a case; but one is always making fresh discoveries in the book of Nature.’ ‘Or of art,’ suggested Phil. ‘And now, doctor, your candid opinion: do you think it likely, do you consider it practically possible, for a man to recover the full use of his faculties, and yet not to know who he is?’ The doctor hummed and hawed a little, but admitted that it seemed rather an improbable idea, when looked at in that light. ‘I want you to look at it in this light; not simply from a medical point of view. Treat me as a man, not as a patient, and tell me if it never occurred to you what could be the reason for such a statement on the part of my friend.’ ‘He said it had occurred before, and might recur in this instance.’ ‘And it never struck you as possible that I might really be Philip Debenham, and he the Torwood he wished to make me out?’ The doctor stared, and eyed him suspiciously. ‘No, certainly; such an idea as that never occurred to me for a moment.’ ‘Think over the idea for a moment, doctor, and see what you make of it.’ Dr. Schneeberger looked puzzled, and seemed to turn the matter over in his mind, looking all the while meditatively at Phil. ‘You see that I know what I am saying?’ ‘Yes, you certainly do that.’ ‘I am talking to you now in a foreign tongue. I am ready to answer any and every question you like to put upon any subject with which I am acquainted. I can tell you, as I mean to do, the whole of my past history, or talk to you in half a dozen languages. Do you think it is possible that I do not know my own name?’ ‘It seems improbable; but we will have your friend over, and hear all he has to say. Why should he say he is a Debenham if he is not?’ ‘He had a very adequate motive, as I will show you. My name gained for him wealth and position, and landed property of considerable value. I will tell you all about it immediately; but first promise me one thing—not to write yet to my friend to tell him of the change in my state. You must promise me this.’ ‘But I promised him——’