The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1894-06-08
LIGHLY'S SUCCESS.


How he Conbinea Hypnotisn and
Literature, bat Ovefshot the
Mark.
When went into the club the other
night. found Lightly turning over the
pages Of Christmas number of All
the World. His face would have If
forded q fine study for picture Of
cententment, and my first thought was
that he must have an actlcle or story in
the magazine. For Lightly is some
thing Of writer. and whenever he gets
anything published-which is not very
Often-i~ hOres us oil for weeks after
ward, telling how It happened.
As soon Rs IL. caught dght of me, he
beck0ned Inc to his table, and thought
that Wits in for Mt least half-hour's
punishment. But it turned out for once
TINT was interested in his talk.
"Have you seen it," he asked, tap
ping the cover of the magazine Ind CIV
ing little eager laugh rs he spoke,
which confirmed my impression that
he must he in luck.
NO." answered; "have you any
thing In it,"
.Anything?" he almost shouted.
''Why, man, I wrote the whole num-
ber."
At this 1 began to wonder II his
brain-never too stronghold not sud-
denly given way. AS you we'll know,
AN the World Is one Of the most con-
sentative periodicals-as i will admit
that have found to my sorrow in the
past-and it was preposterous that it
should make up the whole number, and
Christmas number Mt that, from the
work Of one man. And 1t was clear to
my mind that Lightly would not have
been that one man, in any event.
While trying to think Of something
quieting to say, took the magazine
and glanced over the table of contents.
It was one of Lightly's fanclcs-which
did him no good in a literary way-to
have a dozen or more pen names. He
used these indiscriminately, as the hui
NOR moved him, and 1t happened that I
knew most of them. So you may judge
OF my surprise when tell you that
every poem, story, article, and essay in
the entire magazine was signed by
some one Of the many names that l
knew he used. The first was a Christ
mas poem, signed G. o. Lightly. Then
Christmas story, signed 7. $. Weaver
this. he had once explained to me,
stood for The Story Weayer0 Then an
dred Years Ago." "Christmls-Pasta and
material as editors have fallen into
the habit Of serving up for the holt
day issue. None of the topics were
On Rn,,11 Tn,
hasty glance, were they treated with
much brilliancy. The signatures were
oil composed upon the same pucrile
plan us the one have given.
Poor as much of the stuff probably
was, still could not believe that Light
ly had written all, much less secured
its publication in a single number of
All the World. I turned to him for an
explanation.
Draw up chair" he said, with
what thought an air of some conle-
scension. II can afford to fT high to-
night. SO let us have bird and a bottle
quietly In this corner, while tell you
oil ab06t II.
"Of course" he said, rs soon rs We
we're fairly settled. this is all ON the
quiet. I should not tell even you. IL
you wefc not one Of my best friends,
s,nd II did not mean presently to ask
a favor of you. You know" he con-
tinued, "how people have been talking
about the science Of hypnotisn for
months past?"
nodded my assent, and he went on
with IN uninterrupted flow Of words:
!:.Well," he said, Il CHANGED some time
ago to be thrown in contact with ON
adept In this art, or science, or what
ever you are minded to call 1t. l rec
Ognized Mt once the value that 4 knowl-
edge of it might be to me in making f1c-
ticn, and I asked the fellow to give me
some insight into 1t. This he did, for q
consideration, and to such good pur-
ICee that I was soon able to practice
the science to some extent. present
ly found that 1t was not difficult for me
to gain n hypnotic influence over any
man of less robust physique than my
self, but rarely attempted to use the
power.
"When I finally did, 1t was wholly
without generalization, and it happened
in this way. A few weeks ago-in fact,
just as they were making up the Christ
INNS numberI happened into the office
of All the World, and while there offer
ed ADDISON this p0em," Lightly put his
finger ON the printed page as he spoke,
but went on without pause.
"Aldescn put me Off with some stock
remark about being full Of material, Of
having more than he could handle, and
did not even look ut the poem. This
nettled me considerably, and it sudden
ly occurred to me that ADDISON was n
smaller man than myself, and that /
ought to give him good thrashing for
his impotence. Then it came to me all
at once that could hypnotic him and
make him accept my poem. l asked
him to send his assistant away, as /
wanted to speak TO him privately.
When we were alone. ut once began
the effort to make him subject to my
win. In less time than l am telling
you, I had him completely under my
influence, and he had accepted the
poem and promised it the initial place
In the number.
"Then the thought came to me to try
my power q little further. Calling a
messenger, sent to my rooms for Il
bundle of manuscript, and sorted out
from It everything that would do for q
Christmas number. You KNOW" he
added, parenthctically, that always
keep q stock of material on hand, ready
for all needs and seasons. took these
Christmas things up. one by one, and
brought them to his attention, and lie
accepted each one and made place
for It in this holiday number. Then he
called his assistant In and gave instruc-
lions for making up the copy-and l
took him away with me and gave him a
royal good time for week. When lie
got back to the office it was too late to
make any changes. and SO you see the
number has come out with nothing but
my work. And Il very good number 1t
q, too" he concluded, compiacently.
But what do you expect to gain by
it?" I asked; 1.-THE story will surely
come out, and 1t will DO You no good,
but quite the reverse"
"You are wrong" replied Lightly,
quietly; 1.-THE story will not come out.
You con see that ADDISON must be the
Last man to tell 1t. And he could have
no object In doing SO, especially as the
number has already made such good
impression"
with that he took from his pocket
copies of q half-dozen leading papers
and reviews and showed me comments
that were not only favorable but fiat
tering In the extreme.
paid fOry' said I, not little dis
gusted with the whole business, and
particularly ut being made confidant
Of.
Yes" he laughed; but 1t goes Just