A moment later he, too, was himself again. He was conscious of feeling
curiously uplifted and thrilled, as if the world had suddenly become
charged with ozone and electricity, and for some reason he felt capable
of great feats of muscle and energy; but the aphasia had left him, and
he addressed himself with a clear brain to the task of entertaining his
visitors.
'George is better to-day,' he reported.
'He never was bad,' said Mrs. Porter succinctly.
'He doesn't think so.'
'Possibly not. He is hopelessly weak-minded.'
Ruth laughed. Kirk thrilled at the sound.
'Poor George!' she observed.
'Don't waste your sympathy, my dear,' said Mrs. Porter. 'That he is
injured at all is his own fault. For years he has allowed himself to
become gross and flabby, with the result that the collision did damage
which it would not have done to a man in hard condition. You, Mr.
Winfield,' she added, turning abruptly to Kirk, 'would scarcely have
felt it. But then you,' went on Mrs. Porter, 'are in good condition.
Cold baths!'
'I beg your pardon?'
'Do you take cold baths?'
'I do.'
'Do you do Swedish exercises?'
'I go through a series of evolutions every morning, with the utmost
loathing. I started them as a boy, and they have become a habit like
dram-drinking. I would leave them off if I could, but I can't.'
'Do nothing of the kind. They are invaluable.'
'But undignified.'
'Let me feel your biceps, Mr. Winfield,' said Mrs. Porter. She nodded
approvingly. 'Like iron.' She poised a finger and ran a meditative
glance over his form. Kirk eyed her apprehensively. The finger darted
forward and struck home in the region of the third waistcoat button.
'Wonderful!' she exclaimed. 'Ruth!'
'Yes, aunt.'
'Prod Mr. Winfield where my finger is pointing. He is extraordinarily
muscular.'
'I say, really!' protested Kirk. He was a modest young man, and this
exploration of his more intimate anatomy by the finger-tips of the girl
he loved was not to be contemplated.
'Just as you please,' said Mrs. Porter. 'If I were a man of your
physique, I should be proud of it.'
'Wouldn't you like to go up and see George?' asked Kirk. It was hard on
George, but it was imperative that this woman be removed somehow.
'Very well. I have brought him a little book to read, which will do him
good. It is called 'Elementary Rules for the Preservation of the
Body'.'
'He has learned one of them, all right, since yesterday,' said Kirk.
'Not to walk about in front of automobiles.'
'The rules I refer to are mainly concerned with diet and wholesome
exercise,' explained Mrs. Porter. 'Careful attention to them may yet
