Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1881-01-21

| bored, and dun, stony glare camo into the
look, that told me that consciousness was 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 backward, and
imperioisly bcckonod him, never relaxing
my fixed stare, which seemed to scintillate
and flash. AS rose, he rose, cutching the
| edge of the table TO guide his trembling steps.
Slowly moved, he following, seemingly i'm
PEELED by an involuntary but resistless Inn
pulse. stopped suddenly; he stopped.
"What is your nameY' 1 asked, impera-
lively. 'IsI.I-1 NV. WI
In q forced, hollow voice he gave one, that
| l afterward discovered was his family name,
Arnold being only theatrical sobriquet.
| At this one OF the gentlemen broke In, pro-
testing; Hfs ~ 1 30
"No, no; that is against the bargain-no
| questions"
at Is time to put an end to it; don't like
It," said another.
rible +" - ~ l.-.l -.II
| The interruption seemed to exercise the
| ficnd that possessed me, and call me back to
myself; with an effort 1wrenched my gaze
from that ghastly face. As l did so,. Ar
mold, as though he had been only upheld by
my eyes, fell upon the fnor In strong con-
| vulsions.
| Our experiment in mesmerism spoiled the
copious outward application Of cold water,
and n judicious inward one of neat brandy,
he soon recovered and tried to laugh off his
| illness, 1t left q creepy, disagrceabe depres-
sion upon all, which no amount Of hot
| spirits and water and forced jollity could sue
coed in dispcling. H
| As 1t may be supposed, the effect was
strongest upon me, and 1t chiefly took the
| form of intense annoyance at the part l had
played; would have given anything to
| hn.to ta1 t1,nt fpt mi ttna
Arnold's recovery, by tacit understanding,
| no one made any reference to his strange i'll
ness, indeed, all seemed desirous for time
OF putting it out OF their thoughts-and none
| so much MS the principal actor In 1t, who
| laughed and jested in feverish manner and
never allowed the conversation to flag for
single moment, as though he feared the sub
ject might crop up again.
Everybody, however, was eagerly discuss
ing the singular event next morning ut re-
hearsal. avoided the gossiping groups, for
the remembrance of the scene was q horror
to me; so did Arnold, whom / strdiousy
attempted TO avoid, but he took an exactly
opposite course, following me wherever
went, trying to engage me In conversation,
and to catch my eye, as though some Of the
fascination OF the previous night still sur
rounded me.
After rather late dinner, for the rehearsal
was very long, was doing In my chair
when there came soft tap at t, the door, and
upon the threshold the tall, gaunt figure of
the man whom of all others least desired to
see. 1t gave me quite q shock. 1t was the
first time he had ever called ut my lodgings.
In common courtesy was obliged to ask
him to take seat and draw near the fire, as
| the weather was cold In vague, listess
manner he placed chair In such position
that it exactly faced mine, dropped into it
withouta word, and tried to fix my eyes. |
Immediately shifted them and stared into
the fire. ir..a, 70"
He made no attempt to account for this
visit; he talked very little, and i'm an absent
manner-that betrayed his thoughts were
not ON his tongue-about the business OF the
theater. / felt very embarrassed by his
presence, and presently rose and rang for
tea. What could do but ask him to remain,
and take 1t with me? He said +" Thank you,'
and kept his seat. felt quite terrified by
the change that had come over him-from n
noisy, jesting, rollicking kind of fellow, who
had always gibe for me, to this silent sub
dued man, with those dreadful eyes ever
yearningly seeking mine. t... ...g a.l4t
Atlength he went away, and never in my
life did feel so thankful for anybody's de-
parture.
But he came the next day, about the same
time, and acted in Just the same manner,
until the lights were brought in; then all at
once he rose from his chair, crossed over to
where was sitting, and, laying his hand up
on my arm, said, in hoarse whisper:
Mesmerize me!p lit -.it
/ started back and answered, shllddering-
ly: "Not for worlds'' fr-
" You must,o he answered, passionatey. /
And somehow or other, can not tell how,
a few minutes afterward we were sitting
rts "A -uts staring into each others eyes. In
less than minute there was in his the dull
stony vagueness Of nsensibility. is
i covered my face with my hands, but
Withdrew them, rs l heard something fall
heavilyupon the floor, to see him huddled
at my feet in conyulsions, the froth bubbling
upon his lips.
/ did not call for assistance; luckily had
some water and some brandy in the room.
knelt down and copiously bathed his head
and face, and then with some difficulty
forced little Of the spirit between his
| clenched teeth.
| When he recovered I nearly tainted my
self; but, rallying by an effort, / told him
very positively that he must not come any
more.
"I can not stay away; must come," was
| his answer. And again the dilated eyes
began to wander cravingly in search Of mine.
| can not describe the horror felt at these
visits, and at length begged a lady friend /
had In the theater to come and stay with me.
The following afternoon he strolled in as
usual, but finding | had companion he
looked very annoyed and remained only
few minutes. . ,
! Several days passed and | met him only in
business. His manner was sullen, almost
rude to me, at which was much relieved,
for now began to entertain hopes that he
would persecute me no more. The change
that had come over him was q constant sub
ject of green-rOom comment; he had always
been extremely thin, now he seemed to waste
day by day, like man consumed by an in
ward fire; his cheeks were sunk In deeper
holows, and there were black rims round
his eyes.
After few days my friend returned to
her own lodgings. The next afternoon, at
the usual hour, Arnold came as before.
As soon as the lights were brought in he
again besought me TO mesmeriZe him.
firmly refused; but could not rest my eyes
upon him for a moment without his face be-
ginning to culver and his pupils to dilate,
and the very feeling that must not look ut
him made the desire almost unconquerabe.
Matters went on thus for upward OF a
week.
But surely, 1t will be said, you could have
devised some means of keeping him away; {;
you might have requested your landlady to
refuse him admittance. Truly, could have
done so, but-well, must confess 1t even in
my own defense-ArnOldha had begun to throw
u strange glamour over me; dreaded his
coming, yet experienced vague yearning
when he was absent. had fallen myself
within the meshes Of the spell had uncon-
sciously cast upon him.
One afternoon he arrived rather earlier
than usual; there was certainly some occult
sympathy between us, for the moment he
entered the room | felt that crisis was
come. -1r ltf.-.r9Y. I,rn trrt.. e
He was In very weak health, and he sank
down in a chair looking pale and exhausted,
and wiped the damp from his forehead,
while his breathing was very labored; and
there was feyerish glitter in the restless
eyes and red spot In each hollow cheek.
4" How very III youlook," said, pityingly;
"let me give you glass OF wine.o
"No, want nothing,' he said In gasp
ing tone, ''there's quite fire enough within
me now; am being slowly burned up"
Shave you seen doetor" asked, grow
Ing very nervous.
IA Doctor" he echoed, with mockine
laugh. "oh, yes, l have seen doctor, bul
he can do me no good. 1t is you who are
killing me.' -.
"Ip' answered family. ~
Yes" he answered.; "since the might
you tore the heart and soul out OF my body
j can not live without you, and WON'T"
] wasyery much terrified by his wild, eX.