e evidence as to the passage of matter
through matter. All this he poured into my ears in a single gust.

"But you!" he cried at last. "You are not looking well. And Miss
Penclosa is quite prostrated to-day. How about the experiments?"

"I have abandoned them."

"Tut, tut! Why?"

"The subject seems to me to be a dangerous one."

Out came his big brown note-book.

"This is of great interest," said he. "What are your grounds for
saying that it is a dangerous one? Please give your facts in
chronological order, with approximate dates and names of reliable
witnesses with their permanent addresses."

"First of all," I asked, "would you tell me whether you have collected
any cases where the mesmerist has gained a command over the subject and
has used it for evil purposes?"

"Dozens!" he cried exultantly. "Crime by suggestion----"

"I don't mean suggestion. I mean where a sudden impulse comes from a
person at a distance--an uncontrollable impulse."

"Obsession!" he shrieked, in an ecstasy of delight. "It is the rarest
condition. We have eight cases, five well attested. You don't mean to
say----" His exultation made him hardly articulate.

"No, I don't," said I. "Good-evening! You will excuse me, but I am
not very well to-night." And so at last I got rid of him, still
brandishing his pencil and his note-book. My troubles may be bad to
hear, but at least it is better to hug them to myself than to have
myself exhibited by Wilson, like a freak at a fair. He has lost sight
of human beings. Every thing to him is a case and a phenomenon. I
will die before I speak to him again upon the matter.

April 12. Yesterday was a blessed day of quiet, and I enjoyed an
uneventful night. Wilson's presence is a great consolation. What can
the woman do now? Surely, when she has heard me say what I have said,
she will conceive the same disgust for me which I have for her. She
could not, no, she COULD not, desire to have a lover who had insulted
her so. No, I believe I am free from her love--but how about her hate?
Might she not use these powers of hers for revenge? Tut! why should I
frighten myself over shadows? She will forget about me, and I shall
forget about her, and all will be well.

April 13. My nerves have quite recovered their tone. I really believe
that I have conquered the creature. But I must confess to living in
some suspense. She is well again, for I hear that she was driving with
Mrs. Wil