He thoughtfully rolled his cigar in his fingers for a few minutes before replying. “I do not quite know; Henry was certainly asleep. Now the question is just this; could he hypnotize your aunt at such a distance, himself being in a somnambulistic state?”
“I do not think that he is conscious of possessing hypnotic power,” said Marjy.
“No, he would doubtless be indignant if one suggested such a thing; but he certainly has that power, and really, I cannot see why he could not use the force just as well in that state as though awake, so long as his mind intelligently directed it; the will power is just as strong as at any time.”
“It is all very strange! Now that we know where the money is, what are we to do about it?”
“I suppose the proper thing to do would be to tell Aunt Hattie all about to-night’s free show!” and he laughed at the recollection.
“I should really be afraid to tell Aunt Hattie; in her present mood there is no saying what she would, or would not do,” said Marjy.
James replied thoughtfully: “That is true; we had best sleep over it; we will talk it over again in the morning.”
James did not return to Henry’s room, he wished to be alone, that he might better solve the problem which confronted him.
He arose the following morning tired, worn out with sleeplessness, and no nearer a solution than when he retired.
Auntie was in a terrible ill humor, the atmosphere seemed surcharged with discord; throughout the whole day everything seemed to go amiss. Marjy was burning with a desire to tell her aunt, alternated with a shivering fear of her disbelief, and consequent sarcastic remarks. James made a vain endeavor to see Henry; no one knew his whereabouts all day; late in the evening he came to the house, looking pale and dispirited. Marjy clasped his hand in cordial greeting; this elicited an angry ejaculation from Aunt Hattie, beyond which she gave no sign that she knew of his presence.