uld have taken off the glittering gauds, "you
don't often give the good Bishopsthorpe folk a chance of admiring the
Anstruther heirlooms. They look so lovely! Don't take them off,
_please_. What is the use of having beautiful things if they are always
to be hidden away in a jewellery case? There now," I went on; "I hear
the carriage at the door; here is your fur cloak: you must wrap yourself
up well for it is a cold night," and so saying I muffled her up, and
hustled her downstairs before she could remonstrate, even had she wished
to do so.

The little Town Hall was already crowded when we arrived, but seats had
been reserved for us in one of the front rows of benches. Many eyes were
turned on us as we made our way to our places, for Aunt Phoebe was
looked up to as one of the cornerstones of aristocracy in Bishopsthorpe,
and I fancied that I caught an expression of relief on the faces of some
of those present, who, until the entertainment had been sanctioned by
her presence, had probably felt doubtful as to its complete orthodoxy.
But of course I may have been wrong. Aunt Phoebe is always telling me
I am too imaginative.

It seemed as though the Professor had awaited our arrival to begin the
performance, for we had hardly taken our seats than the curtain, which
had hitherto hidden the stage from our view, rolled up and discovered
the Professor standing with his hand resting upon an easel, on which was
placed a large blackboard.

I think the general feeling in the room was that of disappointment. I
know that I, for one, had hoped to see something more interesting than
the usual paraphernalia of a lecture on astronomy or geology.

Professor Sclamowsky, too, was not at all as impressive a person as his
name had led me to expect. He was short and thick-set. His close-cropped
hair was of the undecided colour which fair hair assumes when it is
beginning to turn grey, and a heavy moustache of the same uninteresting
hue hid his mouth. His jaw was heavy and slightly underhung, and his
neck was thick and coarse.

Altogether his appearance was remarkably unprepossessing and
commonplace.

In a short speech, spoken with a slight foreign accent, which some way
or other struck me as being assumed, he begged to disclaim all intention
of _conjuring_. His performance was solely and entirely a series of
experiments in and illustrative of the wonderful science of Hypnotism; a
science still in its infancy, but destined to take its pl