"If you gentlemen will kindly help me with this stone," I say, turning to the blacksmith and the members of my stage party, "I will be greatly obliged".

The physicians have remained on the stage to watch this phase of the performance, and they stand around when the stone is lifted on the sleeper. in the meantime I have placed a heavy piece of carpet, folded many times. on the sleeper's chest. This is to insure the safety of the subject when it comes to the striking of the heavy blows.

As I stated when we reached Belleville and when I sent the boys to get a stone, the heavy stone is the one that takes up all the jar, the lighter one being the one that will transmit the effect of the blows to the sleeper. When the stone is placed on the boy I again give him powerful suggestions of sleep: "Sounder and sounder asleep. You can feel nothing of this weight, you are rigid, perfectly rigid, you can not bend. When this stone is broken you will feel nothing of it. Sleep, rigid, sleep!"

I do not do this as a grand-stand play, but because it is necessary. There is a weight of over two hundred pounds on Harry and I want to be sure that he does not give way at the last moment.

I then call forth the blacksmith, who seizes the heavy sledge. Every one gets out of his way. Silence has settled on every being present. "All right," I say, "strike until you break the stone." The heavy sledge swings, once, twice, three times - four times and the stone breaks and falls in a hundred pieces. There is an immense cheer from the audience and I lose no time in again placing Harry on his feet, giving him suggestions that his muscles would not be sore and that he will feel all right. He awakens and I am now ready to close the entertainment.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I say, "I wish to thank you for your kind and liberal patronage and for your attention during the entertainment. I trust that you will see the deeper side of hypnotism and that it will furnish you with food for thought. I also wish to thank these ladies and gentlemen who have so kindly given their time to the carrying out of the entertainment and to the physicians for their kindness in the several experiments conducted, and I also wish to thank the gentleman who loaned his strength in breaking the stone on the chest of the sleeper. Thank you!"

And I bow and retire. The entertainment is closed.

***********

I now wish to call the attention of the student to several points of interest and importance. In the first place, I have endeavored to explain, by the use of the narrative, the procedure of a hypnotic entertainment. I have stated that this entertainment may vary in many ways and that the operator must always be ready for emergencies. There are sometimes some very unpleasant things that occur on the stage. For example: There is usually the smart boy, sometimes several of them. The best way to deal with these people is to make them feel heartily ashamed of themselves. This cannot always be done. The professor will sometimes get into university or college towns where students have been waiting for him. They go upon the stage with the avowed intention of making the entertainment a failure. Such idiots must be dealt with with a strong hand and it may even be necessary to ask the protection of the law to quiet them. I do not offer this to discourage the aspirant for stage honors, but I offer it merely as a warning. These things sometimes do happen; it is the duty of this work to tell the student so.

Again, all the "properties" that I carried in this Belleville entertainment need not be carried. Most of the things needed can be found around an opera house. But, as in the case of the "banquet," there is a great deal of light added to the scene where something out of the ordinary is introduced.

The entertainment can always vary from this model. But by giving the acts from a carefully selected list, giving the little speeches as they should be worked in, and the many other little details of the show, I believe that all points have been successfully covered. The entertainer who is on the road for a short time will begin to see how he can be exclusively original. The original man is the one who succeeds. He always is equal to everything that may come up.

Good advertising, neatness and an undisputed interest in your work will win more success than anything else. If you are a professor, do not offer a dirty, greasy looking card. Have things neat or else keep off the road.

Those hypnotists who have not been in the work long and who have never branched into any other phases of psychology are intolerable bores. They labor under the delusion that they are good entertainers, excellent instructors and wonderful people generally. Some will make the statement that they are as competent to teach any branch of hypnotism or psychology as some man who has been in the business for years and who has won success and money through his clever ways. They believe that they can do all they say, yet the truth of the matter is they cannot carry on a conversation that would do credit to a boy of seven.

If you are a young student, go into this work with the understanding that you have superiors. If you meet those superiors, listen to their advice, but if you know that you are right, let no one dictate to you. The way of the stage hypnotist is not as smooth as it might be, yet there is enough of interest in the work that will serve to stimulate him in his efforts.

Life on "the road" costs money. Be saving. Don't go in with the idea that, because you have cleared fifty dollars in a town, you can immediately put forty of it into circulation. You are out on the road as a professor. That means that you are in this line of business for the money there is in it. A man cannot live on a name alone. There are expenses to meet, there are obligations on every hand that must be cancelled each day. You are out for the profit; at the same time you want to give people what they pay for. You should carry on your private studies in all branches of psychology and above all things avoid being a crank! Cranks in any line of business or in any phase of life are never welcome. If you believe that there is anything in hypnotism that is helpful to humanity, give that part to them. Do not get a lot of subjects up on the stage and, when they are in the somnambulistic state, make them eat potatoes for apples, or make them wash their hands and faces in flour. This often ruins their clothing and can certainly do the subjects no good. There are other things that are just as funny and are a great deal more the act of a gentleman.

The pictures I have presented are taken back of the scenes, in a country opera house. In giving but two subjects in an act, I have considered it best to present details rather than stage effects. If you see the stage manner of presenting two subjects, I consider it far better than trying to grasp too much and thereby run chances of failure. Learn details - the effects of "breadth" naturally follow.

In the next part of this work, I will enter into the presentation of the higher phenomena on the stage, showing how an entertainment can be varied and how the operator should present his acts.

For the man or woman who wants nothing aside from hypnotism, there is information sufficient contained in this second part to guide him on the path of the professional hypnotist.