San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-12-11

he raised his own TO meet the look
frankly, as was his wont. For the
first time he had entered her presence
he felt that there was more than a
mere disquieting attraction in her
steady gaze; there was a strong, re-
sistless fascination, from which he
had no power to withdraw himself
Almost unconsciously he resumed his
seat still looking at her, while telling
himself with a severe effort, that he
would look but one instant longer,
and then turn away. Ten seconds
passed. 20, half minute, in total 81
lence. He was confused, disturbed,
and yet wholly unable to shut out her
penetrating glance. His fast ebbing
consciousness barely allowed him to
wonder whether he was weakened by
the strong emotions he had felt in the
church. or by the first beginning of
some unknown and unexpected
malady. He was utterly weak
and unstrung. He could
neither rise from his seat nor lift his
hand nor close the lids of his eyes. 1t
was as though an irresistible force
were drawing him into the depths of
a fathomless whirlpool, down, down,
by its endless giddy spirals. robbing
him of a portion of his consciousness
at every gyration, so that he left be-
hind him at every instant something
of his individuality, something of the
central faculty of self-recognition.
He felt no pain, but he did not feel
that inexpressible delight of peace
which already twice had descended
upon him. He experienced rapid
diminution of all perception, of all
feeling, of all intelligence. Thought,
! and the memory of thought, ebbed
from his brain and left it vacant, as
the waters of lock subside when the
gates are opened, leaving emptineis in
its place.
Unorna's eyes turned from him, and
she raised her hand a moment, letting
it fall again upon her knee. Instantly
the strong man was restored to him
self; his weakness vanished, his sight
was clear his intelligence was awake.
Instantly the certainty flashed upon
him that Unorna possessed the power
of imposing hypnotic sleep and had
exercised that gift upon him, unex-
pectedly and against his will. He
would have more willingly supposed
! that he had been the victim of a mo-
mentary physical faintness, for the
idea of having been thus subjected to
| the influence of a woman, and Of a
woman whom he hardly knew was re-
pugnant to him, and had In it some
thing humiliating to his pride, or at
least to his vanity. But he could not
escape the conviction forced upon him
by the circumstances.
DO not go, for 1 may yet help
you," said Unorna, quietly. Let us
talk of this matter and consult what
is best to be done. Will you accept a
woman's help?"
Readily. But can not accept her
will as mine, nor resign my conscious
ness into her keeping"
mot for the sake of seeing her
whom you say you loveP'
The Wanderer was silent, being yet
undetermined how to act and still un-
steadied by what he had experienced.
| But he was able to reason, and he
asked of his judgment what he should
do, wondering what manner OF woman
Unorna might prove to be, and
whether she were anything more than
| one of those who live and even enrich
themselves by the exercise of the
unusual faculties or powers nature
has given them. He had seen many
| of that class, and he considered most
| of them to be but half fanatics, half
charlatans, worshipping in themselves
as something almost divine that which
was but a physical power, or weak
ness beyond their own limited COM
| prehension. Though a whole shock
! of wise and thoughtful men had al
! ready produced remarkable results
and ELECTED astounding facts by sift-
ing the truth through fine web of
| closely logical experiment it did
not follow that either Unorna,
or any other self-convinced,
self-taught operator could do more.
than grope blindly toward the light,
guided by intuition alone, among the
varied and misleading phenomena of
hypnotism. The thought of accepting
the help Of one who was probably.
like most of her kind, a deceiver of
herself, and therefore and thereby of
others, was an affront to the dignity
of his distress, a desecration of his
loves sancity, a frivulous invasion of
| loves hottest ground. But on the
other hand he was stimulated to catch
at the veriest shadows of possibility
by the certainty that he was at last
within the same city with her he
loved and hn knnrr that hunnntin 81 b.