Read "The Man Who Fell Through the Earth" by Carolyn Wells online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
So absorbed was I in the new interests that had come into my life, so anxious to be of assistance to Olive Raynor, and so curious to watch the procedure of Pennington Wise, that I confess I forgot all about the poor chap I had seen at Bellevue Hospital, -- the man who "fell through the earth"! And I'm not sure I should ever have thought of him again, save as a fleeting memory, if I hadn't received a letter from him.
My dear Brice [he wrote]: I've no right to pilfer your time, but if you have a few minutes to squander, I wish you'd give them to me. I'm about to be discharged from the hospital, with a clean bill of health, -- but with no hint or clew as to my cherished identity. The doctors -- drat 'em! -- say that some day my memory will spring, full-armed, back at me, but meanwhile, I must just sit tight and wait. Not being of a patient disposition, I'm going to get busy at acquiring a new identity, then, if the old one ever does spring a come-back, I'll have two, -- and can lead a double life! No, I'm not flippant, I'm philosophical. Well, if your offer didn't have a string tied to it come in to see me, -- please.