of
various methods of conquering and dominating the minds of others.

There are other strong points belonging to those who cultivate poise,
which, judiciously employed, unite in giving them an incontestable
superiority over the majority of the people they meet.

The man of poise will not be overgay or too boisterous. Still less will
he be taciturn. Moody people are nearly always those who are convinced
of their own lack of ability and quite certain that the rest of the
world is in a conspiracy to make them miserable.

They lack all pride and make no bones about admitting themselves to be
defeated.

These, we must admit, are rather difficult conditions in which to effect
anything worth while.

In "Timidity: How to Overcome It," M.B. Dangennes tells us that one day
a party of men agreed to undertake a journey, the object of which was to
attain a most wonderful country.

"There were a great many of them at the start, but only a few days had
passed when their ranks became sensibly depleted.

"Certain members of the party, the timid ones, who were encumbered with
a load of useless scruples, soon succumbed to the weight of their
burdens.

"Others, the fearful ones, became panic-stricken at the difficulties
they encountered in battling with the earlier stages of the journey.

"The modest, after several days' marching, fell to the rear, from fear
of attracting too much attention, and were very soon lost sight of.

"The careless, wearied by their efforts, took to resting in the ditches
along the road, and ate all their store of provisions for the journey
without worrying at all about the time when they might be hungry.

"The braggarts and the boasters, after exhibiting a temporary
enthusiasm, gave out at the first dangers encountered on the march.

"The curious, instead of striving to maintain the courage of those who
walked at the head of the column, kept leading them into difficulties,
in which many of the foremost were lost.

"The rash were greatly reduced in numbers by their own foolhardiness.

"The final result was that only a handful of men, after many weary days
and nights, reached the Eden that they had set out to attain.

"These men were disciples of energy, those to whom this virtue had given
courage, ambition, the self-control and the self-mastery needed to
vanquish and overcome the perils of the way; those who, by their cool
and courageous bearing, had been able to impress upon their companions,
now