MS-HRC-SB-4-3

[1962] to again, once again, in a kind of asylum. [1963] At first he did not
know it was one, being plunged within it, but he was told so as
soon as he was in a condition to receive news. [1964] They said in sub-
stb ^{[place = overwritten] n [place = overwritten] a}nce, You are now in the House of Saint John of God, with the
number one hundred and sixty-six. [1965] Fear nothing, you are among
friends. [1966] Friends! ^{[place = overwritten] !} Well well. [1967] Take no thought for anything, it is
we shall think and act for you, from now forward. [1968] We like it.

[1969] Do not thank us therefore. [1970] In addition to the nourishment care-
fully calculated to keep you alive, and even well, you will re-
ceive, every Saturday, in honour of our patron, an imperial half-
pint of porter and a plug of tobacco. [1971] Then follow" ^{[place = overwritten] e}d instructions
regarding his duties and prerogatives, for he was credited with a
certain number of prerogatives, notwithstanding the bounties
showered upon him.

[1972] Stunned by this torrent of civility, for he
had eluded charity all his days, Macmann did not immediately grasp
that he was being spoken to. [1973] The room, or cell, in which he lay,
was thronged with men and women dressed in white. [1974] They swarl ^{[place = overwritten] m}ed
about his bed, those in the rear rising on tiptoe and craning their
necks, to get a better view of him.

[1975] The speaker was a man, natur-
ally, in the flower and the prime of life, his features stamped
with mildness and severity in equal proportions, and he wore a
scraggy beard no doubt intended to heighten his resemblance to the
Messiah. [1976] To tell the truth, yet again, he did not so much read as
improvise, or recite, to judge by the paper he held in his hand
and on which from time to time he cast an anxious eye. [1977] He finally