he table. He
reached for them slowly, and when he had grasped both began to eat
ravenously. He finished without looking up, and when the last morsel was
eaten stared about, and a faint smile appeared, which was the first
facial change that had crossed his features since they met him.

He was conducted to a reclining chair, and such articles of clothing as
they could find were brought out and laid before him. He gazed on them,
and slowly picked up one after the other. His feet were bare, and
appeared to have been scratched and torn, but they were hardened by
contact with the earth. An old pair of shoes, the ones discarded by the
Professor, when they turned out the first lot of shoes, was set before
him.

He picked them up and mechanically put them on. "Now let us leave him
alone for a while." They went out, closing the door, and Harry stole
around to the small port which he had opened, and watched the stranger.

His demeanor did not change after they left; he simply glanced about the
room. When his eyes fell on the table, he arose and cautiously
approached, and suddenly seized the table knife, with just a slight
change of countenance. This he attempted to secrete beneath his ragged
shirt.

"Do you think he is dangerous?"

"His malady is a peculiar one, and arises from various causes. I do not
think we need fear him."

"But see how he took that knife."

"That was simply an instinct; that of self-protection. Any other
implement would have been as acceptable as a knife. Possibly, the sight
of the knife, temporarily, may have brought back some glimmering
remembrance of his sane moments."

"Do you think he is insane?"

"No; it does not appear to be of such a character. He seems to exhibit
loss of memory. Imbecility, idiocy, and lunacy exhibit marked
tendencies, and have been made the careful study of many eminent men,
and it is even now one of the disorders least understood by the medical
fraternity."

"What is a lunatic?"

"Blackstone, the great English authority on law, defines it as 'one that
hath had understanding, but by grief, disease, or other accident hath
lost the use of his reason.' This eminent authority also stated that
lunatics may have frequent lucid intervals, and might enjoy the use of
their senses during certain periods of the moon. It is from that source
we are indebted to the still prevailing idea of the moon's influence on
the human mind. That view was exploded long ago, and shown to have no