"Funny," remarked Doctor Jack, pensively, "that nobody has thought of
doing that before. If I hadn't come just as I did, you'd soon have
looked like a chimpanzee, and, eventually, you'd have been beyond the
reach of anything but a lawn-mower. They didn't even think to braid your
hair and tie it with a blue ribbon."
The nurse laughed; so did Allison, but the pensive expression of the
young man's face did not change.
"I've had occasion lately," he continued, "to observe the powerful tonic
effect of clothes. A woman patient told me once that the moral support,
afforded by a well-fitting corset was inconceivable to the mind of a
mere man. She said that a corset is to a woman what a hat is to a man--
it prepares for any emergency, enables one to meet life on equal terms,
and even to face a rebellious cook or janitor with 'that repose which
marks the caste of Vere de Vere.'"
"I've often wondered," returned Allison, "why I felt so much--well, so
much more adequate with my hat on."
"Clear case of inherited instincts. The wild dog used to make himself a
smooth bed in the rushes of long grass by turning around several times
upon the selected spot.
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