I exchanged a few words with him after the
examination and was struck myself with the strangeness of his tone.
Won't you see him?"
"I think that any talk is bad for him," the doctor said. "I have
put a strong dose of opium in this tea, and I hope it will send
him off to sleep. When he recovers I will see him."
"I think, doctor," the constable said significantly, "it would be
a good thing if you were to see him at once. You see, if things go
against him, and between ourselves the case is a very ugly one, if
you could get in the box and say that you saw him here, and that,
in your opinion, his mind was shaken, and that as likely as not
he had not been responsible for his actions from the time he left
his mother's house, it might save his life."
"That is a capital idea," Dr. Green said, "and Porson's evidence
would back mine. Yes, I will go in and see him even if my visit
does do him harm."
"I will move him into his new quarters first," the officer said;
"then if he drinks the tea he may, if he feels sleepy, throw himself
on the bed and go off. He will be quiet and undisturbed there."
Two or three minutes later the doctor was shown into a comfortable
room. A fire was burning brightly, and the tea was placed on a
little tray with a new roll and a pat of butter.
Ned's mood had somewhat changed. He received the doctor with a
boisterous laugh.
"How are you, doctor? Here I am, you see, monarch of all I survey.
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