It was night by this time, and she could not conveniently come, but sent word that it was no matter, there was no hurry, she would give me "absent treatment" now, and come in the morning; meantime she begged me to make myself tranquil and comfortable and remember that there was nothing the matter with me.

I thought there must be some mistake.
"Did you tell her I walked off a cliff seventy-five feet high ?" "Yes." "And struck a boulder at the bottom and bounced ?" "Yes." "And struck another one and bounced again ?" "Yes." "And struck another one and bounced yet again ?" "Yes." "And broke the boulders ?" "Yes." "That accounts for it; she is thinking of the boulders.

Why didn't you tell her I got hurt, too ?" "I did.

I told her what you told me to tell her: that you were now but an incoherent series of compound fractures extending from your scalp-lock to your heels, and that the comminuted projections caused you to look like a hat-rack." "And it was after this that she wished me to remember that there was nothing the matter with me ?" "Those were her words." "I do not understand it.

I believe she has not diagnosed the case with sufficient care.