“How interesting!” one of the women sighed.
“Must be like writing poetry, only far more exciting,” another murmured.
“Tell me,” a girl asked him, as he stooped over her fingers to say good night, “is it really true, Mr. Saton, that if you liked you could make me do things even against my will—that you could put ideas into my head which I should be forced to carry out?”
“Certainly.”
“And you never make use of your power?”
“Very seldom,” he answered. “That is the chicanery of science. It is because people when they have discovered a little are so anxious to exploit their knowledge, that they never go any further. It is very easy indeed to dominate the will of certain individuals, but what we really want to understand before we use our power, is the law that governs it. Good night, once more!”
“A wonderful man!” they sighed one to another as he passed out.
“I am one of the few,” the Duchess remarked complacently, “who has seen a real manifestation of his powers. It is true,” she added, with a little shudder, “there was a mistake toward the end. The experiment wasn’t wholly successful, but it was wonderful, all the same—wonderful!”