yours. You
have been drinking in the grandeur of the world about us, until you
were so enthralled that you had forgotten all except the emotions by
which you were moved. You were not asleep, but you were in an
abstraction so deep that it was akin to sleep. I yielded to the
temptation of saying what I did, merely to see what effect it would
produce. I was certainly surprised at the result. That you should have
been startled is natural enough, but how the idea of mesmerism
occurred to you, bewilders me. What do you know about that mysterious
subject?"

"Not very much," said Leon, with some diffidence. "As you may imagine,
Doctor, I have not had a large library from which to choose. But I
have read a translation of a work by Deleuze, which appears to discuss
the subject thoroughly."

"Ah! I see. You have read Deleuze. I am familiar with the work. Well,
then, tell me. After weighing the matter thoroughly in your own mind,
do you believe it is possible for one person to mesmerize another?"

"I do not. Most emphatically I do not," said Leon.

"Most emphatically you do not. A strong way to express your views, for
which you must of course have convincing reasons. But if so, why were
you afraid that I would do what you emphatically believe to be an
impossibility?" The Doctor smiled indulgently as he asked this
embarrassing question.

"Because, as you have said, I was only half-awake," replied Leon,
apologetically.

The Doctor was now assured that Leon, even when he should come to
think over the occurrences of the night when alone, would harbor no
suspicion against him. So all would be safe.

"Well, then," continued the Doctor, "tell me why you are so sure that
mesmerism is not possible. You say you have read Deleuze. He claims
that wonderful things may be accomplished."

"So wonderful that a thinking man cannot believe them to be true."

"But surely Deleuze was honest, and he relates many remarkable cases
which he assures his readers occurred within his own cognizance."

"That is very true. No one who reads the author's book could doubt the
sincerity of his purpose and the truth of what he relates. Or rather I
should say, one must believe that he does not wilfully deceive. But it
must be equally evident that the man was deluded."

"Why so?"

"It is difficult to tell exactly. But I know this, that after reading
his work, which is intended to convince the skeptic, not only did his
words leave me unconvinced, but a