"Oh!" Captain Marven laughed. "I am afraid you would not find me an amenable subject," he said.
"I don't know," replied Guy. "It is astonishingly easy to induce hypnotic sleep."
Marven smiled doubtingly. He held the belief that hypnotism was a mere vulgar device of charlatans to impose upon the gullible. He expounded his views to Guy at length. The young man, stimulating opposition, by assertion and counter-assertion, at last declared that if Captain Marven would only lend himself to the experiment he would speedily prove to his satisfaction that there was substantial grounds for belief in the realty of hypnotic force.
Captain Marven, serenely satisfied of his invulnerability and amused at Guy's obstinacy, professed his willingness to submit to any experiment Guy might suggest. Guy appeared to hesitate at the prompt acceptance. He declared that he was unprovided with the necessary materials. Marven chaffed him, seeing in his reluctance doubt in his own beliefs. Guy remembered that he had in his handbag a small electric torch with a reflector attached which might serve the purpose of the mesmeric disc commonly used. He produced it.
Marven, lounging comfortably in his corner, was bidden to divest his mind of all thought and gaze intently upon the glowing point of light. With a keen sense of the absurdity of the proceeding, the King's messenger conscientiously endeavoured to obey the instructions given him. Silence reigned in the compartment, for two, three, four minutes. Then Guy rose from his corner, and stood over his companion, every nerve quivering with the intensity of his purpose. He laid his hand lightly on Marven's head.
"You are beginning to feel sleepy," he said.
Marven did not contradict him. Already his brain had wandered far afield from the thoughts which had employed it when he had first fixed his gaze on the brilliant point of light. He had forgotten that he was the subject of an experiment. He was dreaming again, dreaming that his son was found, and that they were going home together. It was such a pleasant dream that he would not raise his eyes lest it should be shattered, as such dreams had always been shattered before. Perhaps he was feeling sleepy. Well, what of it? Surely there was no reason why he should not sleep?
"You are feeling very sleepy," said Guy. He was watching Marven's eyes closely, and observed that their lids drooped heavily.
"You will not keep awake much longer," he said.
The point of light seemed suddenly enlarged. It filled Marven's field of vision. No, he would not be able to keep awake much longer.