He was looking worn and ill.
"Why, Jimmy," I said, "what's the matter?
Why didn't you come back this morning ?" "I couldn't, sir," Jimmy answered, "I was so queer.

Mother made me go to bed." "You seemed all right in the morning," I said; "what's made you queer ?" "What Mr.Jones give me, sir: it upset me awful." A light broke in upon me.
"What did you say, Jimmy, when you got to Mr.Jones's shop ?" I asked.
"I told 'im what you said, sir, that 'e was to give me something to counteract the effects of vegetable poisoning.

And that it was to be very strong, and enough for four." "And what did he say ?" "'E said that was only your nonsense, sir, and that I'd better have enough for one to begin with; and then 'e asked me if I'd been eating green apples again." "And you told him ?" "Yees, sir, I told 'im I'd 'ad a few, and 'e said it served me right, and that 'e 'oped it would be a warning to me.

And then 'e put something fizzy in a glass and told me to drink it." "And you drank it ?" "Yees, sir." "It never occurred to you, Jimmy, that there was nothing the matter with you--that you were never feeling better in your life, and that you did not require any medicine ?" "No, sir." "Did one single scintilla of thought of any kind occur to you in connection with the matter, Jimmy, from beginning to end ?" "No, sir." People who never met Jimmy disbelieve this story.

They argue that its premises are in disaccord with the known laws governing human nature, that its details do not square with the average of probability.