The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-12-10

A shout of laughter hailed this CON
fession OF defeat. and throwing OF my
drapery jumped up and joined hearth.
Is IN the chorus.
Arnold was white as death and ex
tremely sgitated. He made no reply 10
the voHcys of .chaiia' that assaiied him
on all sides. but again turning To me.
said in a tone of intense earnestness: II
cannot nesIHeriZe you, but you can u G:
those strong, steel gray eyes of yours,
with their metallic lusire, are far more
potent than mine. Come, will YOU ;ry: 81
did not need the Indictment of hand
cfapping and the chorus of oh, dor
that greeted the proposition, Ia prompt
II consent. began TO be deeply infer
esied in the experiment, and n;,S that /
was myself accredited wifi possessing
this occult power my scep.ieism began
IA waYer.
But before we. 60 any further,. lac
said. 81 must make one cundition-and
that is, that should fall iuto comatose
state you will not put TO me any question
of a private naturc-as shall be COM
PEELED 10 answer truthfaliy, literally,
whatever it may be-
l promised faithfully not to do so.
The previous disposition was now re-
yeEsed, the lamp was set sothat the light
should shine upon my face, and Arnold
was enyelOped in the cloak as / had
been.
And now, with all the nerve power l
possessed, fastened my eyes upon Ar
nold's. White and CHASTITY lookel his
face rising out of the blacknes of the
drapery, which gave it almost the
appearance of being divided from the
body and suspended in space. His lips
were wide apart, and the greenish eyes
were dilated to their utmost extent, with
strained fascinated look, such as they
might have worn under the influence of
ratIlesnake. / could scarcely suppress
a shiver at this uncanny-looking pic
ture; but wild spirit took possession
of me that night which soon sweptaway
all such 'compunctious yisitings of nat
ure.' Everybody seemed TO be thorough
ly impressed by the weirdness of the Sit
uation; there was no giggling. no
whispering, all was silent as death. AZ
ter about minute my eyes grew rigid
in their intense stare, until it seemed to
me that I no longer had the power to
move or close them, or even wink lid !;
gradually could feel the pupils dilate,
until they seemed to become two huge
discs glowing with lambert and me-
tallic fire. | could see that every nerve
of the white face was quiYering, the
breathing was short and labored. and a
dull, stony glare came into the starting
eyebails, far away trance-like look. that
told me consciousness was gone, and
that the very soul of the man had passed
over to my keeping. And l felt cold,
cruel, hard triumph in this, a desire to
strain my mastery to the utmost. | rose
from my seat, slowly moved backwards
and imperiousiy beconked him, never
relaxing my fixed stare, which seemed to
scintillate and fash. AS rose, he rose,
clutching the edge of the table to guide
his trembling steps. Slowly / moved,
he following, seemingly imppelled by
an involuntary, but resistIess impulse
stopped suddenly; he stopped
"What is your name?' % asked imper-
atively.
In forced, hollow voice, he gave one,
that / afterward discovered was his fam
lily name, Arnold being only theatrical
sobriquet
AT this one of the gentlemen, broke in.
mo. no, that is against the bargain
no questions"
1T is time to put an end to it don't
like it," said another.
oh! yes" added a lady, at is too
horrible
This interruption seemed to exercise
the fiend that possessed me, and called
me back 10 myself; with an effort I
wrenched my gaze fiom that CHASTITY
face. AS did SO, Arnold, as though he
had been only upheld by my eyes, fell
upon the floor in strong commissions.
Our experiment in mesmerism spoil
ed the rest of the evening; for although
after u copious outward application OF
cold water, and judicious inward one
| Of neat brandy, he soon recovered and
tried to laugh off his illness, it left a
creepy, disagreeable depression upon all,
which no amount of hot spirits and wa
ter and forced joility could succeed in
dispeIling.
As it may be supposed the effect was
strongest upon me, and it chiefly took
the form of intense annoyance at the
part | had played; would have given
anything to have recalled the past few
minutes. After Arnold's recovery, by q
tacit understanding, no one made any
reference to his strange illness, indeed all
seemed DESTROYS for time OF putting il
out of their thoughts-and none SC
much as the principal actor in It, whc
laughed and tested in feverish manner
and never allowed the conversation &c
flag for a single moment, as though he
feared the subject might crop up again
Everybody, however, was eargerly dis
cussing the singular event the next morn
ing at rehearsal. / avoided the gossip
ing groups, for the remembrance of thu
scene was horror to me; so did Arnold
whom | studiousiy attempted 10 avoid
but he took an exactly opposite course
following me wherever | went, trying Il
engage me in conversation, and to catel
: my eye, as though some of the fascina
ton of the previous night still surround
ed me.
After rather late dinner, for the re
hearsal was very long, was doing il
my chair when there came a soft tap a
the door, and to my sleepy "come in
|, there appeared upon the threshold tn,
tall, gaunt figure of the man whom of al
, others least desired to see. 1t gave me
quite shock. 1t was the first time b
had ever called at my lodgings.
In common courtesy was obliged t
ask him to take q seat and draw near th
e fire as the weather was cold. In yagut
e listless manner he placed chair in sue
: position that it exactly faced min
( dropped into it without a word, an
t tried to fix my eyes. immedlatel
q shifted them and gazed into the fire.
He made no attempt TO account fl
q this visit; he talked very little, and in q
absent manner-that betrayed that hi
q thoughts were not on his tongue-aboJ
the business of the theater. l felt yer
embarrassed by his presence, an
9 presently rose and rang II
: tea. What could I do but ask him
remain, and take it with me. He sal
| Thank you,' and kept his seat. ! fe
q quite terrified by the change that la
q come over him-from q noisy, jestin
e rollicking kind of fellow, who had q
L ways gibe for me, TO this silent, SUI
dued man, with those dreadful eyes evi
q yearningly seeking mine.
Z At length he went away, and never
: my life did feel SO thankful for an
!, body's departure.
Il But he came the next day about I'll
= same time, and acted in just the san
manner, until the lights were brougl
s in; then all at once he rose from h
\ chair, crossed over to where I was 81
~ ting, and laying his hand upon my arm
said, in a hoarse whisper: 'Mesmerii
mel
q started back and answered shudde
= ingly: "Not for worlds.n
+ .sYou must - he answered passionatel
o. And somehow or other, l cannot te
p how, a few minutes afterward we we
% sitting ris-d-cts staring into each other
g eyes. In less than minute there VI
in his the dull, stony vagueness OF
,e sensibillty.
/ covered my face with my hands, b
ID withdrew them as / heard someihII
I'd fall heavily upon the floor, to sec hi
II huddled at my feet IN commissions, q
N frotb bubbiing upon his lips.
I did not call for assistance; luckily
"a had some water and some brandy ia 1
ly room. / knelt down and copious
baihed his head and face, and then wi
Id some difficulty forced little of the sp
il between his clenched teeth.
Y, When he recovered / nearly faint
" myself; bat Iallying by an effort, | TO
y. him very positively that he must n
"a come any more
1n 81 cannot stay away; must come
ed was his answer. And again the dIlat'