The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1894-06-02
LIGHLY'S SUCCESS.

How he Combined IIypnotlxm and
Literature, but Overshot the
Mark.
When [ went into the club the other
night. l found Lightly turning over the
pages of Il Christmas number Of All
the World. His face would have at
forded Il fine study for a picture of
cCntcntmcnt, and my first thought was
that he must have an Article or story in
the magazine. For Lightly is some
thing Of a writer. and whenever he gets
anything published-which is not very
often-he hores us all for weeks after
ward, telling how it happened.
AS Dol as he caught sight of me, he
beckOncd me to his table, and I thought
that l was in for Mt least a half-hour's
punishment. But it turned out for once
that l was interested in his talk.
Have you seen it," he asked, tap
ping the cover Of the magazine and Civ
ing a little eager laugh rs he spoke,
which confirmed my impression that
he must be in luck.
NO" I answered; shave you any
thing in it,"
"Anything:" he almost shouted.
"Why, man, 1 wrote the whole num-
ber."
At this I began to wonder if his
brain-never too stronghold not sud
denly given way. AS you we'll know,
All the World is one of the most con
sentative periodicals--as l will admit
that 1 have found to my sorrow in the
past-and it was prcposterous that it
should make up the whole number. and
a Christmas number at that, from the
work Of one man. And it was clear to
my mind that Lightly would not have
been that n man, in any event.
While trying to think Of something
Quicting to say. l took the magazine
and glanced over the table Of contents.
1t was one Of Lightly's fancies--which
did him no good in Il literary way-to
have a dozen or more pen III"
used these indiscriminatcly. as the 7! 4
NOR moved him. and it happened i',n !
knew most of them. So you may i"lg,.
Of my surprise when I tell YOU II, {
every poem, story, article, and essay in
the entire magazine was signed Ivy
some Il of the many names that l
knew he used. The first was Il Christ
mas poem, signed G. o. Lightly. Then
a Christmas story. signed I. S. Weaver
this, he had once explained to me,
stood for Tho Story Wcavcr.) Then an
article on Observation-Disclosures Hun
dred Years Ago." "Christm ls-Past and
Present. and the usual run of such
material rs editors have fallen into
the habit Of serving up for the holt
day issue. None of the topics were
new. nor. so far as l could discover in
IL hasty glance, were they treated with
much %brilliancy. The signatures were
all composed upon the same puerile
plan us the one I have given.
Poor as much Of the stuff probably
was, l still could not believe that Light
ly had written all, much less secured
it's publication in a single number of
All the World. l turned to him for an
explanation.
DRAW up a chair" he said, with
what 1 thought. an air of some conde-
scension. II can afford to fly high to-
night. so let us have Il bird and Il bottle
quietly in this corner, while I tell you
all about it.
"Of course" he said. as soon as we
we're fairly settled. this is all on the
quiet. l should not tell even you. il
you were Lot n Of my best friends,
and if 1 did not mean presently to ask
a favor of you. You know" he con-
tinued, ''how people have BEEN talking
about the science Of hypn0tis:n for
months past:"
1 nodded my assent. and he went on
with an uninterrupted flow of words:
WELL" he said. Il Glanced some time
age to be thrown in contact with an
adept in this art, OF science. or what
ever you + minded to call 1t. 1 rec
ognized at ono the value that 4 knowl-
edge of it might be to me in making fc-
ticn, and I asked the fellow to give me
some insight into it. THIS he did. for a
consideration, and to such good rur-
EGse that l was soon able to practice
the science to some cXt"''. 1 Pre- t.
~ found that it was not di icult for ne
to gain n hypnotic influence over any
nan of less robust physique than my
self, but I rarely attempted to use the
power.
"When 1 finally did, it was wholly
without generalization, and it happened
in this way. A few weeks ago-in fact,
just as they We're making up the Christ
mas numl@r-I happened ihto the office
of All the World, and while there Offer
cu alueSOli lAAo pOclu, 1A;S1AllS PuI Ills
finger on the printed page as he spoke.
but went Oh without pause.
"Aldeson put me of with scme stock
remark about being full ct material. Of
having more than he could handle, and
did not even look at the poem. This
nettled me considerably, ind it sudden
ly. occurred to me that ADDISON was a
smaller 4 than myself, and that l
ought to give him n good %thrashing for
his impotence. Then 1t came to me all
ut once that l could hypnotic him and
make him accept my poem. l asked
him to send his assistant away. as I
wanted to speak to him privately.
When we were alone, l at once began
the effort to make him subject to my
will. In less time than I 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 a little further. Calling a
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