The doctor made an internal note of the man's halting description; he
was pleased that the slight signs of psychic intuition which had induced
him to engage Barker had not entirely failed at the first trial. Dr.
Silence sought for this qualification in all his assistants, from
secretary to serving man, and if it surrounded him with a somewhat
singular crew, the drawbacks were more than compensated for on the whole
by their occasional flashes of insight.
"So the gentleman made you feel queer, did he?"
"That was it, I think, sir," repeated the man stolidly.
"And he brings no kind of introduction to me--no letter or anything?"
asked the doctor, with feigned surprise, as though he knew what was
coming.
The man fumbled, both in mind and pockets, and finally produced an
envelope.
"I beg pardon, sir," he said, greatly flustered; "the gentleman handed
me this for you."
It was a note from a discerning friend, who had never yet sent him a
case that was not vitally interesting from one point or another.
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