Tell me about yourself, and let me see what I can
do."
"You can do nothing," said Julius, sadly shaking his head. "Understand
me; I am not going to state a case for diagnosis. Put that idea aside; I
merely wish to confess myself to my friend."
"But surely," said Lefevre, "I may be your physician as well as your
friend. As long as you have life there is hope of life."
"No, no, no, Lefevre! There is a depth of life--life on the lees--that
is worse than death! If I could retrace my steps to the beginning of
this, taking my knowledge with me, then--! But no, I must go my
appointed way, and face what is beyond.... But let me tell you my story.
"You have heard something of my parentage from Dr Rippon, I believe. My
father was Spanish, and my mother was English. I think I was born
without that sense of responsibility to a traditional or conventional
standard which is called Conscience, and that sense of obligation to
consider others as important as myself, which, I believe, they call
Altruism. I do not know whether the lack of these senses had been
manifest in my mother's family, but I am sure it had been in my
father's.
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