The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1894-07-28

quietly, struggling his shoulders. He
looked fatigued, and staggered as he
crossed the room.
Aren't you well:' l asked
Quite well, thanks, he replied,
'but these experiments weaken me for
a time-it i nothing. Good night
So saying, he sank into a chair, and
we left him to finish his cigar by the
freslde while we wended our ways TO
bed, all wondering how he would CON
vince me that l was hypnotized.
L intended 10 turn in at once; but, to
my dismay, I could not do so. l tried
to undress, but l was by some strange
force 1mpelled TO open my trunk and
take from 1t curious old hunting knife
L once frequently used as a property"
l never use it now. / exerted all the
will power I possessed and endeavored
to replace the weapon, for a sense Of
impending danger was upon me, but
my Will seemed paralyzed, and 1 care
fully drew the knife from its sheath,
feeling its keen edge with my thumb.
BY the same mysterious influence l
was next forced to remove my slippers
and creep stealthily to my sisters bed
room. A hundred times l tried to re-
trace my steps, but still the awful force
impelled me Onward until l silently
entered Vcre's chamber. Closing the
door nOiselessly behind me, | advanced
on tiptoe to the bedside. The room was
in semidarkness, but the light of the
shaded lamp on the dressing table
showed me that my sister was sleeping
peacefully, though there were traces of
recent tears upon her pale face.
Every detail of the room is stamped
upOn my memory, and l remember no.
ticing that the fingers of the tiny clock
ON the mantelshelf pointed to 10 min
utes to 2.
Good heavens" | thought, why
am l here? What dreadful influence is
it that deprives me of my will?"
Then in a flash l knew that my pur-
pose was murder-to murder my own
sister!
"Why does she not awake?" l Thought
in my agony. why does not her hus-
band save her from this death and me
from this Crime?
Her husband! That was the solution
Of the mystery. He had hypnotized me
after all, and l was the agent of his
will. But why was l to kill his wife,
my darling sister We're?
Then l remembered the words he had
whispered to me during my brief hyp-
motto sleep.
you doubted my power, " he said or
rather Kissed. Fool! But greater fool
to think to win Alcida. She is for me-
do you hear?-for me. Your pulling,
white faced sister must be removed, and
you shall do it. Yes, you shall kill her
and suffer for the crime, leaving me
free for love-and Alcida."
All was plain to me. l knew that I
was compelled to shed my innocent sis
ter's blood. All this I knew, yet had no
power to stay my own murderOus hand.
Think of my position, and imagine, if
you can, the mental agony l endured.
Advancing closer to the bedside and
carefully drawing back the coverlet, l
raised the knife to strike. Then the lit
tie clock on the mantelshelf chimed 2.
l had regained my will. With a cry
of infinite relief l flung the knife from
me and rushed out of the room. Hather-
leigh was still seated beside the fire
when l burst, b~reathless, into the smok-
ing room.
I called him by name. But he return
ed no answer. He was dead
No doubt my brother-in-law had died
at 2 o'clock precisely, his death being
due to the intense excitement conse-
quent upon the strain he had, by hyp-
nothing me, put upon himself. If SO,
the reason of my sudden recovery of
will power is plain enough, for with his
death his influence over my will natur-
ally ceased. Anyhow l am more than
thankful that something between heav-
en- and earth, until then undreamed Of
in my philosophy, saved me from COM
hitting a crime Of which my moral in
nOcence would have availed me little in
a cOurt of justice.
What became Of the SenOrita Alcida?
Oh, she is now my ife.-London Tit