hich was found in his pocket.

It was a small triangular prism of what I believe is called soapstone.
It was perhaps four inches long, and the face at the end corresponded
with the mark that Hewitt had seen on the forehead of Mr. Jacob Mason.
It fitted closely in a leather case, in the end of which was a small,
square metal box full of the red, greasy pigment with which the mark had
been impressed.

It was from Broady Sims that we learnt the exact use and meaning of this
implement: though he would not say a word till he had seen with his own
eyes Mayes lying dead in the mortuary. Then he gasped his relief and
said, "That's the end of something worse than slavery for me! I'll turn
straight after this."

Sims's story was long, and it went over ground that concerns none of
Hewitt's adventures. But what we learned from it was briefly this. It
had been Mayes's way to meet clever criminals as they left gaol after a
term of imprisonment. In this manner he had met Sims. He had made great
promises, had spoken of great ideas which they could put into execution
together, had lent him money, and then at last had "initiated" him, as
he called it. He had put him to lie back in a chair and had directed his
gaze on the Red Triangle held in the air before him: and then the
Triangle had descended gently, and he felt sleepy, till at the cold
touch of the thing on his forehead his senses had gone. This was done
more than once, and in the end the victim found that Mayes had only to
raise the Triangle before him to send him to sleep instantly. Then he
found that he must do certain things, whether he wanted or not. And it
ended in complete subservience; so that Mayes could set him to
perpetrate a robbery and then appropriate the proceeds for himself, for
by post-hypnotic suggestion he could force him to bring and hand over
every penny. More, the poor wretch was held in constant terror, for he
knew that his very life depended on the lift of his master's hand. He
could be sent into lethargy by a gesture and killed in that state. That
very thing was done, in fact, as we have seen, in two cases.

Sims was but one of a gang of such criminals, brought to heel and made
victims. Their minds and souls, such as they were, had passed into the
miscreant's keeping, and terror reinforced the power of hypnotism. They
committed crimes, and when they failed they took the punishment; when
they succeeded Mayes took the gains, or at any rate the greater part