Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-02-17
~. TRANCE.

Like a claptrap illusion Of the cine
ma the shadows of her dream dis
solved into the substance Of her
waking life. But that terror which
had clutched at the heart of Leonora
in the wholesome freedom of the hills
lived on in the heart of Priscilla. COM
ing awake in the inviolable and con-
fined security of her bedchamber.
It lay upon her soul like cloud of
darkness that no will of hers might
lift. She appealed in vain to reason,
to common sense. The inartieulate
menace of the woods that had been so
eloquent to the senses of LeoIora con-
tinued to oppress Priscilla with a pre-
monition of predestined evil, from
whose imminent fall there could be no
escape.
She rose, bathed, dressed, break
tasted, all mechanically. PROPOSES
sion with that feeling Of impending
disaster weighed more and more
heavily upon her mind as The day
aged. More and more strongly she
felt herself incapable of coping with
the routine duties of its course. She
went to and fro like an automatOn,
aware of one thing only: that danger
of some sort threatened Leonora, that
she was powerless to avert it-who
could not even name it.
What otherwise had held place of
first importance n her consideration,
her encounter with Harry ChiIvers of
the day before and her appointment
to meet him at the Plaza today for
tea, was displaced, relegated to a
gotten altogether.
At four O'Clock, indeed, she was
pacing up and down the waiting room
of DR.. Philip Fosdick, digging nails
into her palms and teeth into her un-
derlip in the endeavor to keep from
giving away to hysteria.
One glance at her face of suffering,
one look into those eyes of pitiful ap-
peal-Fosdick drew her into his con-
sultatfOn room. There she collapsed
utterly, going with childlike trust into
his arms, hiding her face in his shoul-
der, shaken by that tempest of emo
tion against which her last, slight
guard had been beaten down upon his
arrival.
She told her story eagerly, but in
fragments only; she was powerless
long to follow any one train of
thought because, invariably, when she
seemed on the very verge of losing
herself in the interest of narration, a
chill breath of fear would numb her
confidence, her eyes would film with
daze, her voice break in the middle of
a sentence, her relaxing grasp on Fos-
dicks hand tighten convulsively, her
thoughts falter into momentary in
conference.
Again and again he needed to exert
himself to the utmost in order to re-
store the mean balance of her self
command. Only the tenderness and
solicitude of the lover allied with the
knowledge, the patience, the compass
sion of the physician served.
"But what am I to do?" she de-
manded in a calmer phase. 81 tell
l.
on like this knowing she's in deadly
peril, not knowing what to do, know
ing she needs me, not knowing how to
get to her, to help her 1t isn't
imagination, Philip-its so. 1 know
it's so, that she's in danger, threat
ened, afraid; something in me knows
and shares her sufferings and won't
can't be still Philip, won't
you help me?"
His head described a slow sign of
regret. I'm doing my best, Priscilla"
Il mean, hypnotism-"
"NO-"
"YOu must, Philip, you mustI Pm
not afraid of being hypnotized by you.
You've explained everything so cleaR-
ly, know it's nothing but the utiliza-
tiOn of natural means to remove the
barrier between the two states of con-
sciOusness, so that the imprisoned sub
conscious can find expression. Philip,
you won't refuse me this once? You
see what this thing is doing to me, you
know I'll go mad if 1 don't find re-
lief"
He gave a gesture of surrender, and
got up from his chair.
"As you WILL" he said. "Perhaps.
after all, you know best"
He arranged pillows at the head of
couch. 'cLie down here-rest-re-
lax. Remember that, as you've just