Omaha daily bee., 1888-07-01

significant person as Aurln Rowland.
Therefore devoted considerable time to
attentivcly studying the faces of those
about me, and if a particularly evil
appearing person passed me on the
street, and | wished to gain an init
mate knowledge of his character, |
usually encountered no trouble in strik-
ING an acquaintance. But in all whom
| thus interviewed, there was %lnvaria-
bly, some ~rcdceming quality that led me
TO believe theminnOccnt. Sometimes |
would shadow II man an entire day TO
note his habits and individual peculiar
tiles, but to no purpose.
| had about given up the search in
despair. when my interest was again
stimulated.
one evening at n social gathering |
was introduced to Il local school master
named Valance Morton. His manner
mt once p~rcjudiccd me against him. He
was excessively polite to every one, IA
lover OF scandal. He did not once look
me fairly in the eyes, but kept his
glance. which was n side look, eXclu-
sively upon my face. In appearance he
was we'll formed, of medium height,
black hair, black mustache covering
sensual lips, y slightly feminine nose,
an oval face and somewhat Sallow COM
~pleXiou. He impressed me as being a
cold, sinister scOundrcl, who YOU not
hesitate to commit the most revolving
crime to further his own welfare. ! re-
solved To know more OF this man, and,
with that purpose in view, used lay ut
most cndeavOr to be entertaining. |
succeeded in cliciting from him an in
vitation to call at his home, where, he
assured me, | would be heartily well
coined by himself and family.
Although decidedly inpatient TO call
upon the school master, | did not dare
to appear in haste, and allowed IL week
TO pass before taking advantage Of his
invitation. | had heard that he worked
late at night as book keeper, whenever
opportunity offered, to increase his
monthly earnings, and was conse-
quently surprised when ] saw how
sumptuously his house was furnished,
and how richly his wife and children
were attired. He evidently expended
all he could raise to appear on an equal
footing with his SuperiOrs in wealth and
social position, and had an Unborn
hatred of honest poverty. The more /
beheld of him, the more positive |
became that my first surmise as to his
real character was correct. People
whom be greeted with marked cordial
ity he ridiculcd when they were not
present, and related all he knew Of
them that was in any way ~derogatory TO
their good standing. No wonder his
low, broad forehead rescmblcd "A rep
tiles; | believed that | read beneath
his polished exterior Il nervous fear Of
some exposure; but as his hourly exist
ence was a lie, this did not seem extra
ordinary.
The problem I sought to solve, how
ever, | |unriddled in a way which ! had
not at first remotely planned.
/ became acquainted with a professor
of mesmorism and was fortunate enough
to win his regard. His regard for me,
seemingly, was sincere, and he finally
admitted That he was attracted toward
me because he p perceived that |. TOO, was
endowed with mesmeric influence, In
proof Of this assertion, he instructed me
in the passes necessary to produce ODE
dience of will in others, and the first eX-
pertinent made was SUGGEST III.
/ practiced this art often among my
friends for their amusement and be-
came quite expert. One evening | in
yited a number Of my acquaintance
among whom was MOrton-to come to
my bachelor apartments to while away
the time.
During the evening, as | had eX-
pected, one OF the guests requested that
/ should to mesmerize some one pres
ent. To this | gave an apparently re-
~luctant consent, but in reality | was
eager to get the schooimaster under my
control. 1 purPOsely failed in my first
effort upon a young fellow, alleging that
his force OF will was too strong TO be ov-