But instead of making any
remittances to her mother (such as she asserted at one time) she
requested her parents to send her $5 to tide her over. We
counted no less than nine definite falsehoods in this epistle.
We were keen to know if Janet could remember her own
prevarications and so asked her if she could recall what she had
written to her mother. She trimmed her statements most curiously
then, being aware we knew her salary to be $8 a week. She said
she had told her mother her salary was $10, but in answer to our
reply, ``Oh, you said more than that,'' she blurted out, ``Well,
I said $14.'' It was quite evident she remembered this, as well
as certain other exaggerated statements and figures in the
letter.
We were fortunate enough to be able to analyze out much of the
genesis of this girl's career as a pathological liar. After the
immediate situation was somewhat cleared and Janet asserted she
was anxious to make a new start in life, we began our inquiry
into beginnings. Janet showed willingness to enter into the
question of her mental antecedents and tendencies which she
maintained she heartily deplored. To be sure we had evidence
that even in her most sincere moments she was unable to refrain
from occasional falsifying, but the main facts seemed
self-evidently true, and some of them were corroborated at
interviews with the parents.
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