Not a professional, séance-giving operator. I simply took the subject
up as one would any other scientific pursuit, such as geology, botany,
or electricity, and in a couple of years became remarkably expert in
the fascinating diversion. I say _diversion_ purposely, as it _is_ my
diversion, wherever I wander during my nomadic life.
When a lad I read, and was enchanted with the wonderful stories of _The
Thousand and One Tales, or Arabian Nights’ Entertainments_, and now
that I have arrived at years of sober discretion, I look upon it as my
undoubted right to have a story told to me by every person I may induce
to share the hospitality of my caravan.
The Sultan Schahriyar was told a thousand and one tales by his
beautiful young bride Shahrazad, but as I have no beautiful young
consort to spin me nightly yarns--which, coming from one brain, must
necessarily have had a sameness--I have recourse to persons I meet in
my peregrinations, who, after an enjoyable meal and a pipe, allow me,
as a favour, to hypnotize them. The trance state having been induced
in a very brief time, I then exert my will-force, and request my
subject to tell me a story of anything remarkable that has happened in
his experience, or with which he was connected. By this means I have
listened to nearly as many recitals as Schahriyar himself; some good,
some commonplace, some not worth listening to; while a few of them
struck me as being very remarkable and quite out of the ordinary run of
book stories. It is a selection from these which I have collected in
this volume.
I must point out that in giving publicity to these stories I do not
betray any trust; as, apart from having the sanction of my guests, or,
as some would term them, victims--I have so altered names, places, and
dates as to make the individuality of the narrators quite secure from
discovery and consequent annoyance.
It may be asked, “Why do you go to the trouble of hypnotizing your
guests, when they would probably tell you a story without being placed
under mesmeric control?”
Now I am quite aware that “The Ancient Mariner” “stopped one of
three,” because the said one was _unwilling_, and therefore had to be
fixed with his “glittering eye,” but _my_ guests are _willing_ ones.
They would probably, out of courtesy to me, as host, tell me a story
in a sociable manner enough, but then, would they tell me the whole
truth? Would they not be liable to gloss over certain incidents, to
suppress others, and to add (for the sake of embellishment) many little
touches, which, however interesting and probable, might not be strictly
veracious?
Probably they would; and loving as I do to hear a _true_ story, I
always prefer to hypnotize my guest, who then gives me the facts just
as they come uppermost in his mind, and his narration is free from
flourishes or any great amount of extraneous or interpolated matter.
I do not know that I have anything else of a personal nature to place
before the reader, but will commence the first story after I have
premised it by a few words upon the narrator.
Dr. Nosidy is what many persons would term “a genius deranged.”
It must, however, be remembered, that frequently only a very thin
partition divides the genius from the madman, and one can recall the
names of many great geniuses, who in their day were looked upon rather
as lunatics than as shining lights of the world. The Doctor, by his
personal appearance and conversation, did not in the least impress me
with the idea that he was suffering from any mental aberration, but I
must admit his remarkable story gave me grounds for surmising, that he
was either a man far in advance of the times, or else one who would,
at no distant period, be likely to end his career under lock and key.
He was a small man with a bald head, round the circumference of which
grew a fringe of curly grey hair. His eyes were dark and sparkling, his
nose large and aquiline, and his mouth broad and thin, indicative of
volubility and power, with perhaps some acerbity of temper.
When I explained to him my hypnotic powers he fell in with my humour at
once, and in a few minutes, being placed in the trance state, commenced
the following curious recital, which I will call “The Strange Discovery
of Doctor Nosidy.”