This was a Mrs. O’Brien, a woman, worldly wise and one who had married young and often. Sana had met her on the steamer “George Washington,” on her way from Cherbourg to New York. Mrs. O’Brien was returning from her latest honeymoon, and the chance meeting between the two had ripened into a most intimate friendship. Regardless of what gossip may have said about her, Mrs. O’Brien was real in every sense of the word. It was to her, therefore, that Sana turned in her trouble. Mrs. O’Brien listened to Sana’s tale with a motherly interest, and explaining in part her intentions, she took Sana to the office of the famous Dr. White, on the same block. The doctor, an elderly and affable gentleman, had been in New York for many years, and the fame that had preceded him from Europe, where he had been a professor at the University of Heidelberg, increased with his years of practice in America. He and Mrs. O’Brien were well acquainted and with a cheery “Good evening” he led the two women from the reception room, into his office, which was splendidly furnished and embellished with numerous books, charts and artistic curiosities. There was nothing about the place to give the visitor the chill that generally comes on entering a doctor’s office. Instead the room seemed to be pervaded with an atmosphere of congenial warmth. The three seated themselves preparatory to the consultation. Sana broke the momentary silence by speaking clearly and calmly. “My fiancé, François de Rochelle, for whom I also work as secretary, induces me daily to walk across the bridge to get fresh air. Whenever I do so I always feel a great desire to jump over the rail and drown myself in the waters below. This sensation increases, like my love for him, as the days go by. Why it is, I do not know. I love my fiancé dearly and he returns my love with equal fervor. We intend to be married immediately upon our return to Paris. I do not wish François to be worried over me, and for that reason I have never confided in him my desire to commit suicide. Neither have I mentioned to him my intention to consult a doctor.” She paused, but Dr. White said only “Yes, go on.” “Once in a while, of an evening, as a matter of amusement François hypnotizes me. It always makes me feel much better. But the following day, when I walk across the bridge, the horrible impulse to do away with myself, forces itself upon me. Day by day the desire increases in intensity. I should have killed myself today if it had not been for a man who spoke to me just as I was about to leap over the rail. Can you tell me what the trouble is, doctor?” Dr. White was deep in thought. He had often practised the subtle art of hypnotism as an aid to his medical work. He knew, therefore, the sinister truth that lay behind Sana’s words. Rousing himself at her question, he looked at Sana closely and asked, “Will you consent to enter the hypnotic state under my influence?”