Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-05

his voice slightly, 'one feature of the
business is to warn you that your
devilish temper is liable to ruin every
thing. Another is to tell you that
you've got to make haste. A sensible
man in your place would have had the
girl by this time. You've got to make
her accept you-and do it right away
or the game is lost, The conditions
could not be better. The old fossil of a
/ Wharton Is helpless and the young
gamecock of a Treasury agent has been
discredited. She'll have no more time
for him. SO IL you have an ounce of
cleverness in your thick skull you'll
bring the thing to conclusion,
The reference to thick skull did not
seem to please Jayne and he answered
in a surly fashion.
Gut out the talk about my brains.
You're supposed to have all the talent
in the combination. But | want to ask
you question. How do you know that
Wharton may not recover and spoil the
whole business p
There is not the slightest danger.
can give you my personal assurance
that he cannot possibly recover his
speech-that is ineligible speech
within the next forty eight hours"
What do you know about itE''
'Ah, my dear Victor, that is where
the knowledge Of your dcspised Brazilian
comes into play. | studied medicine for
four years and / made speciality of
mental diseases. ] did not get my
diploma, but l can assure you that |
know more than many practicing
physicians.
Has Wharton mental trouble?'
Not yet-but who can tell what may
happen? At present he is suffering from
what is known as ataxic aphasia in
which the function Of articulation is lost
or perverted. There are two kinds of
aphasia-amnesic aphasia and ataxic
aphasia. In the first the memory of
words is lost or perverted, and in the
seeond--with which Wharton is now
atfiicted-there Is usually a total loss
of speech. This comes about by reason
of lesion of the brain, and often leads
to insanity.
Everything depends upon the treat
ment. Henderson, who is looking after
Wharton, is an unusually able man. He
understands the case thoroughly and il
the improvement continues he may have
him talking within the next three days"
Talking" gasped Jayne, then he
say things that
That we do not want him to say"
finished the Brazilian. well, that
sounds serious. but it is not so serious
as you would imagine. But even if
Wharton gets better he will not be
able to pronounce words distinctly for
weeks. The best he can do will be
to maks signs to indicate that he un-
derstands what is being said to him.
After that he may be able to pronounce
words of one syllable -
Like child learning to speak,"
Yes, only much worse. It's curl
GUS disease, Victor, and most fascinat-
ing. ] remember one case in Brazil
when patient. an engine driver, on
being asked his trade could only an
swer by saying. 'hish. hish. hish,' TO
indicate the sound made by an engine
in starting. But"
"Oh, blast your medical talk"
growled Jayne. II didn't come out
here to listen to a lecture
Nevertheless you are getting it."
was the bland retort. land if you'v
got the sense of one of those little ants
out in the garden, you profit bv it.
Now we've got to act quickly. Do you
understand? Make yourself agreeable to
the young woman. Be kind. be sym
pathetic. She is just in the mood when