Free, I tell you. Free,
most of all from shackles of empty ideas. What I wanted I would take."
She looked at him helplessly, his dominant vigor for the moment seeming
a thing not to be restricted or tamed.
"What you have done," she told him gently, "is to find argument to
bolster up impulse. That is generally very easy to do, isn't it? If
one wants a thing, it is not hard convincing himself that it is right
that he should have it."
"At least I have decided sanely what I wanted, there is no call for
hospitals."
"You sustained a fracture of the skull. That fracture had improper
treatment. It is a wonder you did not die. The wound healed and there
remains a pressure of a bit of bone upon the brain. Until that
pressure is removed by an operation you are doomed to be a criminal. A
kleptomaniac," she said steadily, "if not much worse."
"I believe that you mean what you say. You are just mistaken, that is
all. I'd know if there were anything physically wrong."
She came closer, laid her hand upon his arm, and lifted her eyes
pleadingly to his.
"I have had the best of medical training," she said slowly. "I have
specialized in brain disorders, interested in that branch of my work
until I decided to bring Elmer out here. I know what I am saying.
Will you at least promise to do as I ask? Have a thorough examination
by a specialist? And have the operation if he advises it?"
"Such an operation is a serious matter?"
"Yes.
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