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Hypnotism. I wish I bad never seen him. I wish I didn't always want to know the reason why. I wish I wasn't perpetually troubled by an impertinent curiosity. Why couldn't I have been content with what 1 had got in the "Encyclopedia Britannica" and" Inquire Within Upon Everything"? Why should I be always posing as an intelligent mquirer ? It has cost me exactly ten thousand pounds. I am his only nephew, and I corresponded with Uncle houlthy ever since he emigrated an A flteeraera pj»s>eiiflrer seventeen J 6A1'S ago. Yon see Uncle Boultby had been very kind to me as a boy. lie used to take me out fiahiDg with him and give mhiUiT0^f is the kind of uncle a boy likes. And when Uncle Boultby was shipped off to America with a single £ 5 note in his pocket, to take bis chance, I believe I was the only Person I who was genuinely sorry for him. And Uncle Boultby was quite aware of the fact. The reason of Uncle Boultby's expatriation was as grandfather put it, that he didn t know how to say "No." Uncle B was nobody's enemy but his own-that is to say, he got drunk whenever he had the chance. /or ten years Uncle Boultby worked as a common navvy. In America, you know, you have to work or starve; there are no soc.et.es • Amprica 89 there are in England for making the' life of the working man beau- Sul" it simply that-work or sta.ve^ TTn„]e Boultby, after ten years, had a l- f lnf>k • he bought a share of a mining was to be his heir. tje j,a<} bad He >7" brought one at'.ack of de.mm. m my adrice, he bira to death a do t under the &fSSSX SiVTa. r «?'" »f rh°,frUWhn' K ieve ESSSS-svs sitting in a first-class carriage m the n f Wpstern express with an uncommuni Q'f» °'0T „ a tweed .ait. H» ,1'W oativo person ,U{ed „f a Gladstone was I lab«l on the Gladstone bag bag, tnc r under the pretence of I stood up » leg itM i rea/the name opening w&g rat)jer pleased I rofessor ixTKat a ]0t of information than otherwise. What a^ot o^ tho Professor if I only w.nt „n 1 T remarked that it was a fine day. Pressor T.Xer nodded. 1 ««« v^rv little in the paper. Again tne rio feasor nodded. I tried to get into convei^"°" • u uim iiv all the usual devices. I oould get with him by aH tne usu the use noth^ « nrofe^sor if youdon't profess ? Fer- h m'l thon*bt, after all the fellow is just a haps, I thotv", corn-cutter or a hau- oommon conjurer o th<jra8ehfe9 profes3ors. dresser. Thej oft ofeMOV had been reaa- For a whole hour tne J. roicoa Aii i ing silently a black book m G?e • oould make oat was that the au y was Moll: if I had only known Qerawl could have found out what the book was about. Suddenly a very extraordinary thing happened. Professor Tadger began to sta at me in an excessively rude manner. I turned my eyes away. NN hen I looked again m his direction, he was still staring-atarin,, in a way that made my flesh creep. W as he mad H« me like that, sir," I cried. Aren't you well ?" and I was about to seize the handle by which you communicate with tb?< fwfc' alarm yourself," said Professor 3 it ans vplv • 1 only wanted to see if th8 in"r v J y°n r^t T0U would make a good subject; fancied that yo didu*t resist. Then he no you would if y k t interest explained to me that he tm,K «g^ 1 in what he oalle> n> & ghow if it-9 at pT/^ill patronise you. I'm to Plymouth/ w Professor Tadger; but I h show I take an interest in the haven t got a sho vgr j am a biologist.' s, I)o you mean to seri,,)Usly Say that it iin't btofeiofT.dger only glared at «. "StSC ilT'^NSBE'w/I found .ny.elf IhatS ail I rack in front of Professor Tadger, for all the world as if I had been a performing monkey. Why don't you come down ?" said Pro- fessor Tadger, "Do you believe in bypo- tism now ?" It was a very curious thing, I remembered perfectly well our conversation up to the point when the Professor had eaid" Sleep," but I remembered nothing more. I felt very indignant indeed, and I came down from the luggage-rack then I felt for my watch and I felt for my purse. They were all right. I; You have played a very unjustifiable trick upon me," I said. "Not at all," said the Professor; "not at all; it was no trick, it was an experiment. I am successful with about 80 per cent. of ordinary subjects." It is not nice to be oalled an ordinary subject. Then he began to talk about hypno- tism. I didn't believe half he said at first. 41 You should get over that feeling," said the Professor. "Hypnotism is a very inte- resting subject, as you would acknowledge if you had seen any of our expriments at Oxford. If you had a logical mind, you would see that you didn't get up in the luggage rack, as you did juat now, of your own free will. That ought to be sufficient to convince you that hypnotism is not nonsense. Were I so in- clined," he added, with a little laugh, I could relegate you to the luggage-rack till we reached Plymouth. There was DO wilhstanding that argament; I caved in at once. You see there is nothing wicked or un- canny or diabolical about hypnotism," said Professor Tadger; "you should disabuse your mind of any silly idea of that sort. It is a subject we know very little about; but we should approach it seriously, because, you know, it is a thing that will, sooner or later, be probably introduced into ordinary medical practice. I am not a doctor; but I have hypnotised a great number of people, and I have often been able to relieve pain. I'll give you instances. A person comes to me suffering from neuralgia. I hypnotise him. There is no mistake whatever about the neuralgia; it has perhaps lasted several days; the face is swollen. I can remove a severe headache in the same way." [ don't like the thing," I said. There is a good deal too much hanky-panky for me. Besides, I have seen lots of the so-called ex- periments, and it always appeared to me that the poor devils who aoted as subjects were simply accomplices who received payment to make themselves ridiculous." That may or may not be the case," said Professor Tadger. "I look upon it as a very sad thing that people should be hypnotised for the amusement of their fellow-men; but there is certainly some good to begot out of hypno- tism, and the study of the subject, the ultimate benefit of the human race being the object in view, can do no harm. There is nothing like a crucial test," said the Professor. 6, W e are both going to Plymouth. I am stopping at the Royal. Here is my card." He gave me a card on which was inscribed PROFESSOR TADGER, ——— College, Oxford. Now, I'll tell you what I will do for you. If you will present yourself at my hotel with three ordinary individuals between the ages of eleven and five-and-forty-old people and young children are bad subjects, that is why I make the suggestion as to age-I will show vou a very extraordinary experiment. You shall bring with you a new pack of oards in its wrapper. 1 will hypnotise one of the subjects. You shall select a oard yourself whose face I shall not see. I will place the card in the hand of the subject, back towards him; I will tell him that it is a photo- graph, of, say, the Prince of Wales. He I will obey my 'suggestion,' which I make iu a sufficiently athoritative manner, and He ia a photo- graph of the Prince of Vv aloa; and to him, please to UnAerstand, it bas oeMed to be a playing-card, and, after my 'mandatory act,' to him it is a photograph of the Prince of Wales, and nothing else. I will direct him to throw it upon the table. You shall fling down the rest of the pack, backs upwards, upon it; and, well mixing the cards, you will watch us both as narrowly as you like. I will then simply say to the subject, Which of these photographs is that of the Prince of Wales?" He will unhesitatingly select the card originally handed to him." Professor Tadger," said I, If you will do that I will believe all you say—nay, more, I will give you a testimonial." It is very good of you," said the Professor; ;1 but I am not; in need of a testimonal." Can you tell me," I said a little severely, of any permanent benefit to anybody which has ever been produced by hypnotism ? Oh, certainly," said the Professor affably ",there are innumerable recorded cases. 1 am not a doctor, as I have told you, but I have cured three habitual drunkards." "The cures took sometime,! should think?' remarked, derisively. ie <• One sitting was enough, rophed the Professor, with a smile. .,T*« "If you do the card trick," said I, you shall try your hand on Uncle Boultby.' The Professor expressed his readiness to undertake what he called H the experiment with the playing-cards," and suddenly took an immense interest in Uncle Boultby. We reached Plymouth. I went to see Uncle Boultbv. jSly uncle's doctor told me he didn't think he would pull through. The same even- ing I cailed upon the Professor with three "subjects," chosen haphazard. The Pro- fessor's triumph was complete. The. experi- ment with the playing-cards came off at the first time. I took the Professor straight over to Uncle Boultby's place. Uncle Boultby was very bad indeed-he didn't even recognise me; he called me Julius Cseaar. And when I introdueed the Pr. fessor, my poor uncle said, Oh, Professor Pepper, of course. I hope he hasn't brought his gnost. Professor Tadger stared at him rather ateriily. "Sleep 1" he said in a firm voice, "Slwep!" Therd were no passes—no hanky- panky of any kind. Uncle Boultby's head dropped back, and he went off as sound as a house in an instant. Open your eyes and listen to me," said the Professor in an awful tone. Uncle Boultby opened his eyes, and the Professor shook his forefinger at him. When you wake," continued Professor Tadger, f< you will hate all kinds of wines, spirits, or fermented drinks; the smallest quantity will make you horribly sick. You will turn teetotaler Wake!" added the Pro- felaof-" wake 1"' Uocle Boultby did wake as though from a refreshing sleep. I wish you good evening," said the Professor. "1 hope you'll get better." Then he marched out of the room, and I haven't seen his face since. Uncle Boultby did get better-he got well he turned teetotaler; he ate his Christmas dinner with us. There was just a little brandy in the pudding which we had forgotten. It made Uncle Boultby horribly ill. Uncle Boultby is going to be married to- morrow. I am going to the wedding. I feel as if I were going to my own funeral. If it hadn't been for my cursed curiosity about hypnotism. I should have been the better by £ 10,000. 4. „ As for Professor Tadger—bother 1 iofes»or Tadger I—St. James's Gazette. I

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A Whitechapel Heroine. I only saw her twice in my life, once alive, and once dead." It was a policeman who spoke, and as he said the concluding words his voice almost unconsciously sank to a whisper. Tell us about it, old fellow," said Tom Hughes, re- filling his pipe, for we three were sitting round the fire in a mechanics' club in Holborn, on a winter's night, with the wind howling and the rain beating in great gusts against the windows. Policeman B was invalided, and, therefore, off duty, and we young fellows loved nothing so much as to listen to some of his thrilling experiences. Truth to tell, he was generally nothing loth to accept the office of narrator, but to-night he seemed to find a difficulty in '8 beginning his yarn he fixed his eyes thought- fully on the fire, and a sad expression stole over his rugged face. "Was she young when she died?" asked Tom, seeking to rouse him from his reverie. "She did not die; she was killed," he replied, almost fiercely, killed by a bitter world that trampled on her poverty and let her starve day by day while thousands were wallowing in luxury. It was hard, my boys, terribly hard." This outburst was eo unexpected from our usually stolid friend that we were too much taken aback to reply, and after a pause he went on. You see, a deal of nonsense is talked about Whitechapel. Bad enough people live there, God knows but little account is made of the numbers of honest, hard-working, toiling slaves, who from dawn to sunset drag on a weary existence, always hungry, always tired, working to desperation to keep body and soul together, and only just doing it after all. Of that sort was Madge. She had no other name; no one knew her as anything but Madge. She was born in one of the lowest parts of White- chapel, and had grown up there a tall slip of a young woman, with a heap of uatidy, dark hair, and great black eyes. If Madge had ever had enough to eat she would have been a fine lass. Her shoulders were broad, and her arms were long, but her chest was hollow, and she was so thin you wondered how she walked. She had never been to school, but she knew a lot more than scholars ever learn. She had played in the gutter, then been a flower-girl, and then gone m for fancy box making. Madge had a perfect mania for work. She was always doing something, and when times were slack and no amount of willingness could put bread into hungry mouths, Madge would trudge from place to place with a sullen look on her face which gave a kind of fierce beauty to her and made fellows almost afraid of her, for Madge always kept straight, as hundreds do down there, in spite of their surroundings and in spite of their temptations. Dan Murray and Madge had been insepa- rable from the time they were boy and girl; when she was a flower girl be used to carry the basket for her, and when her day's work was done they would go contentedly arm-in- arm along the muddy evil-smelling streets to a penny pop," where for that moderate sum they could enjoy music and songs of a certain kind. She was only fifteen, and he but two years older, when they made up their minds to start life together. Marriage! Who could afford to be married? That was a luxury for the rich. Religion What did they know of religion except what they heard ranted at street corners ? Very proudly they took possession of one unfurnished cellar-kitchen, for which they were to pay 3s. a week. Their wedding breakfast, which consisted of whelks and dripping bread, was eaten off the floor, and the young cuu^io aim-toil si lighter licads and more sanguine expectations. "Bat Dan Murray, though not a bad fellow, was lazy and shiftless. lie never kept work when he got it, and no firm ever retained his services long. Madge kept him when she could, and when she could not he loitered about street corners, letting who would treat him, and picking up a job here and there. He was a pretty boy to look at, with fair hair and blue eyes, but very weak, not at all the chap you would have thought Madge would have taken up with. But women are curious creatures, and there is no reason m their likes. "Madge cared for that poor weak lad with a desperate devotion far surpassing words. I don't believe she ever spoke an angry word to him; she slaved for him, waited on him when he was ill, worked for him, and would follow him from gin palace to public-house, patiently waiting till she could persuade him to accom- pany her to their miserable home. She never reproached him for his drinking habits, nor did she think the worse of him for them. I think Dan was fond of her in his feeble, listless way; they were always true to each other, but he could not understand the almost savage depth of her love, which made all pain seem a pleasure as long as that pain was for him. It doesn't take learning to teach that, and it seems to me the so-called lower classes have even a greater capacity for love than the higher ranks. I- Such griping want has its temptations for men as well as for vom3n, and what Madge could bear with a kind of passive endurance poor Dan could not. It began with low company, as all such things do; there are grades of society in Whiteohapel as well as anywhere else, and Dan, out of very want, was not particular as to the choice of his associates, and so I ho fell among thieves in every sense of the word.' They taught him a trick or two, and then he tried one or two fcr himself. At first he was successful, but he was not made of the bold stuff to shine in a profession which re- quires the greatest skill and audacity. He was a marked man, and if he slipped again and again through our fingers, it was not from negligence on our part, but because for Madge's sake we let him go scot free. "And it was suoh petty pilfering, too—a shirt here, a coat there, a few ooppers from a man, a handkerchief k.-om a lady. He would have made more if he had been a downright professional beggar. When hearing these things from my pals, I often wondered if Madge was not filled with contemptuous in- dignation at the very poorness of his attempts. He risked so much for so little, and yet he bad to live, and could do it no other way. One could not blame him, he did his very best to keep life in himself, and the woman was starving before his eyes in the prime of her youth and beauty, and starving because she was honest and kept 'straight.' This undeterred poverty is a thing that wiser heads than Dan's have failed to grapple, and why should we be surprised that he gave it up and joined the others. But the end came, as it was bound to do sooner or later. He and two or three others tried a bolder game, and were caught in the very act. They entered a shop one night, but their clumsy movements arrested attention; the alarm was raised, and though Dan managed to give us the slip and reach home, the act was two flagrant for us to pretend to be blind this time. I was one of the party who went to his home to carry him off to quod. Such a'home it was no furniture but a broken chair, every pane of glass broken or cracked; uo fire, though it was mid-winter, and some dirty straw in a corner for a bed. She would have made a fight even then, but he would fist let her. Be quiet, 'Vadge,' he said sulkily. I It is nn trntid. J tmify^ 1 He looked such a delioate, slight boy, with his light hair and clear blue eyes, as ha stood there perfectly calm, with just a tinge of colour on the waxen cheeks. And she, I shall never forget her she was magnificent in spite of the ravages which want and grief had made. Her eyes flashed anger at us, and the heavy masses of hair, which she bad not taken the trouble to band, framed a countenance whiclt any Belgravian belle might have been proud to own. The intensity of her pain was tragic from its very reserve. She did not speak much, but she threw her arms round his neck and kissed him again and again on brow, on cheek, on lips, with passionate abandon that brought tears to my eyes. It was like the protecting fondness of a mother for her favourite and helpless ohild. Then she pushed him gently from her, and with a low I Take him,' she threw herself on the floor and gave way to a violent burst of sobs. Dan remained passive, looking stunned and bewildered, and let us take him away without any further parting. He was tried and sentenced to five yearg, I and people said what a good thing for her to be rid of such a worthless fellow, &o. But I had my own thoughts about that. Her white, haggard face, haunted me with its set despe- ration, and I knew that whatever faults poor Dan Murray had he stood between Madge and destruction. 1 heard how the faithful girl haunted those prison walls, how she came to be known by all in the neighbourhood, and the sight of her wild, white face struck even the warders with compassion, and when, ten months later, they had to tell her Dan wu dead, they one and all dreaded the effeot of the terrible words. "She took it very quietly, too quietly as those who fathomed her deep, passionate love knew. She turned away without aob or sigh and the prison saw her no more. Some months passed, and Madge, who had left her old haunts, had slipped from the memory of most of us. I had changed my beat, and was at Shoreditoh, when one evening I was summoned to a very low quarter, and ai 1 went along my informant told me that in Hanger's-court, which I knew well,an accident had taken place. In one corner of the dingy road was an old well choked up with every- thing most foul; to breathe the air in the vicinity was enough to give an ordinary person fever, yet around this pool of stagnant water and heaped-up rubbish, women and children lived and worked and loitered. A child had been playing in its vicinity and had tumbled in. The mother's ories had drawn many to the spot, among them seamen dockers, and the usual loungers that are to be found everywhere. They came and looked, and shrank away dismayed; not one dared descend that awful pit, in spite of the mother's heartrending- entreaties, for at least the body of her little one. To breathe such foul air would be certain death, and so they huddled together and spoke in whispers, but could not bring themselves to do more. M At last the policeman on duty ( you will understand why I do not give his name) felt he must do something, and he said in a shaky voice I I will give a shilling to any one who will go down that well. It was not a very magnificent offer; but can you blame him ? He had a wife and children, and what was life worth to most of that hunger-stricken orew. No answer came at first; they were still appalled at the tra- gedy which had just taken place. Then < woman pushed her way through the orowd- a gaunt, wild-eyed creature, with a voioe hoarse from exhaustion. "'It is not much, peeler,' she said; I bat one death is as good as another. 1 am your man.' I "He hesitated, but she went on ial< patiently Keep your word, master. I've not tooohed food for two days, and It is long sino. rve earned a shilling. But play fair; hand over the money first.' "Meohanically he did as ahe asked, and mechanically he watched them tie a rop( round her, and saw her slowly descend. "Do you blame him P It is not for us tt judge. She would not have lived many dayi in any case, and he owed his life to thost nearest and dearest to him." The narrator paused and covered his faof with his hands, then went on hurriedly: I need not dwell on the end of my talq When the rope was pulled up Madge wat dead, and when I came upon the scene it wai to see a oorpse, disfigured and stained, lying with her face upturned and uncovered, on the dank ground of that court-yard. There W81 no one to recognise her, no one to mourn her- heroic death; she was a stranger and wan- derer on the face of the earth. I alone knew that that was the end of Madge."—Eveniva World.

The Wrong Ticket. An amusing scene took place the other da) at one of the principal Scotch railway stations. A gentleman arrived at the booking office window just as it closed. By Jove he said, I must go to P- to-day 1" A bystander approaohed and addressed him. Pardon me, sir, but I have a ticket for P-- which I cannot use. I shall be delighted to let you have it for what it cost me. Very well, let me have it-much obliged," and the gentleman hurriedly took his seat. Before starting the collector came to examine the tickets. The gentleman banded him the ticket. The collector looked at it and said, Now your own, air, if yon please ?" "Mf own ? Why, yoa have it! "Have yon any idea of travelling with this ticket?" "Cer- tainly, why not ?'' 11 It is a ticket for a dog."

A BLACK FEMALE SAMSON. Frewlruan'a Town, a suburb of Houston lTexul boasts of a female Samson, who haa repeatedly proved herself a match for any three men that have pitted their united strength against fiers, and who recency successfully routed Officer John iiuxter and three of liis assistants, all men of fine physique. The woman is n negress as black as night, and of a stature sHglitly above average, but magnificently built and extraordinarily active. Her grip is sucb Uiat she was able to break two of the bones of the hand of a women with whom she had a fracas recently, and it was on the police attempt. ing to arrest her that she not only was able to prevent them from putting the handcuffs on her, but taking the officer and his posse one fur ODe. flung them out of the house, and closed and locked the door. Btxter, in particular, is accounted anus of unusual strength, and is of large build, but he says his muscles were as a child's when Com. pared with those of the black Amnzon. Tin woman, whose name is Caroline Jenkins, is about thirty years of age, and is the mother of seven children. She has been seen to pick up a barrel of flour and carry it a distance of some yards without appearing to over-exert herself; and when tested waa found to be able to break with ease a new g. ass rope lin. in diameler. Since her exploit with the police it is said that a party of gentlemen propose travelling with her if she will go and give exhibitions of her strength, which is to be ascriked to no electrical or mag. netic process, but to her muscular development alone.

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