“Waiting?”

“Yes, sooner or later, the memory will return—­as suddenly as it went.  But in all probability the girl will have entirely forgotten the intervening period, and will take up life where she left off—­at the sinking of the Lusitania.”

“And when do you expect this to happen?”

The doctor shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah, that I cannot say.  Sometimes it is a matter of months, sometimes it has been known to be as long as twenty years!  Sometimes another shock does the trick.  One restores what the other took away.”

“Another shock, eh?” said Julius thoughtfully.

“Exactly.  There was a case in Colorado——­” The little man’s voice trailed on, voluble, mildly enthusiastic.

Julius did not seem to be listening.  He had relapsed into his own thoughts and was frowning.  Suddenly he came out of his brown study, and hit the table such a resounding bang with his fist that every one jumped, the doctor most of all.

“I’ve got it!  I guess, doc, I’d like your medical opinion on the plan I’m about to outline.  Say Jane was to cross the herring pond again, and the same thing was to happen.  The submarine, the sinking ship, every one to take to the boats—­and so on.  Wouldn’t that do the trick?  Wouldn’t it give a mighty big bump to her subconscious self, or whatever the jargon is, and start it functioning again right away?”

“A very interesting speculation, Mr. Hersheimmer.  In my own opinion, it would be successful.  It is unfortunate that there is no chance of the conditions repeating themselves as you suggest.”

“Not by nature, perhaps, doc.  But I’m talking about art.”

“Art?”

“Why, yes.  What’s the difficulty?  Hire a liner——­”

“A liner!” murmured Dr. Hall faintly.

“Hire some passengers, hire a submarine—­that’s the only difficulty, I guess.  Governments are apt to be a bit hidebound over their engines of war.  They won’t sell to the firstcomer.  Still, I guess that can be got over.  Ever heard of the word ‘graft,’ sir?  Well, graft gets there every time!  I reckon that we shan’t really need to fire a torpedo.  If every one hustles round and screams loud enough that the ship is sinking, it ought to be enough for an innocent young girl like Jane.  By the time she’s got a life-belt on her, and is being hustled into a boat, with a well-drilled lot of artistes doing the hysterical stunt on deck, why—­she ought to be right back where she was in May, 1915.  How’s that for the bare outline?”

Dr. Hall looked at Julius.  Everything that he was for the moment incapable of saying was eloquent in that look.

“No,” said Julius, in answer to it, “I’m not crazy.  The thing’s perfectly possible.  It’s done every day in the States for the movies.  Haven’t you seen trains in collision on the screen?  What’s the difference between buying up a train and buying up a liner?  Get the properties and you can go right ahead!”