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FIRST OF ALL, PHIL ASKED THAT ALL THE lights be put out except for one dim wall lamp over the fireplace Then he had me stretch out on the sofa while Ron went into the kitchen to get extra chairs Gradually, everyone settled down When the rustlings, cohs had finally ceased, Phil spoke

"Now I can’t proh all this for nothing?" Elsie asked

"Some people are harder to hypnotize than others, that’s all," Phil said "I don’t know about Toood subject, I’et you nowhere," Elsie said "You just hypnotize your brother-in-law" Phil turned back to ht, brother liostro"

Phil pointed atyou’re going to be a good subject"

"That’s me," I said

"Okay" Phil shifted in his chair "Now everybody get quiet, please Any distraction will break it up until the actual hypnosis takes place" He leaned forward and held out his forefinger again

"Look at it," he said to er," I said Frank snickered

"Quiet, please," Phil said He held the finger about six inches fro at it Don’t look at anything else, just onna do?" I asked

"Poke you right in the eye if you don’t ferer at ht," Phil said, "open ’eain"

"Yes, sir," I said

"Now look at the finger Just the finger Don’t look at anything else Keep looking at the finger, the finger I don’t want you to look at anything but the finger"

"Your nail is dirty," I said

Everybody laughed Phil sank back in his chair with a grier to his eyes

"Like I said," he said, "a lousy subject"

He looked over at Elsie

"How about it?" he said "I’m sure I could hypnotize you"

"Uh-uh" Elsie shook her close-cropped head vigorously

"Let hilared at hi vile

"Come on, chaonna play it straight," he asked, "or you gonna play it for the gallery?"

"I’ll be good, sir, Mr Mesain, then settled back "Well, let’s forget the finger," he said

"Close your eyes"

"Close my eyes," I said I did

"Dark, isn’t it?" said Frank

I opened my eyes "Not now," I said

"Will you close your eyes, you clunk," Phil said I did I took a deep breath and settled back on the pillow I could hear the slight breathings and chair-creaking’s of the others

"All right," said Phil, "I want you to listen to iggle; then I opened ht, all right," I proood" I closed ood"

"Honest Indian?" Phil enunciated

"That’s pretty strong language to use in the company of these fine women," I said "However, honest, as you say, Indian"

"All right Shut your eyes then, you bum"

"Now that’s a poor way to win my confidence," I said "How am I supposed to venerate you when you talk to me like that? Alan Porter doesn’t-"

"Will you shut your fat eyes?" Phil interrupted

"Shut Shut," I said "You riddy, Redley" Phil took a deep and weary breath "Oh, well," he said Then he started talking again

"I want you to pretend you’re in a theatre," he said "An enor near the front It’s completely black inside"

Across the roo

"There’s no light in the theatre," Phil went on "It’s completely dark-like black velvet The walls are covered with black velvet The seats are all hed "Oh shoot," Phil said I opened rinned at him

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry," I said

"Oh the heck you are"

"Yes, I aht "See? See? I’es What’s playing?"

"You are a son of a b," said Phil

"Sir," I said, "control Go ahead If I don’t stay quiet, I give you permission to hit me on the head"

"Don’t think I won’t," Phil said "Someone hand me that lamp" He was quiet a o on with it?"

"Brother ht," he said, patiently I won’t go into the coet serious when you’re in a group like that Especially when Phil and I were so used to heckling each other I’ht he had et food ready Frank began to talk softly with Anne and direct an occasional, acidulous coood hour must have passed and ere still nowhere I don’t knohy Phil kept on He e At any rate, he wouldn’t give up He kept on with that theatre bit and, after a while, Frank stopped talking and watched and, except for a slight clinking of dishes in the kitchen, there was only theat me

"The walls are dark velvet, the floors are covered with dark velvet rugs It’s black inside, absolutely black Except for one thing In the whole pitch-black theatre there’s only one thing you can see The letters up on the screen Tall, thin, white letters on the black, black screen They spell sleep Sleep You’re very co there and looking at the screen, looking, looking at that single word up there Sleep Sleep Sleep"

I’ll never knohat in to work on me unless it was sheer repetition I suspect my assurance that I couldn’t be hypnotized helped too; an assurance of such illogical ranted I didn’t even try to get hypnotized To quote Elsie-I just played along with the gag

"You’re relaxing," Phil said "Your feet and ankles are relaxed Your legs are relaxed, so relaxed Your hands are limp and heavy Your ar to relax all over Relax Relax You’re going to sleep To sleep You’re going to sleep"

And I was I started slipping away By the tihtest trickle of awareness as to as happening to me, it was too late It was as ifset into congealing wax There was a faint fluttering as I tried to escape; but all in vain I began to feel as I had once when I had an ieon had jabbed a needle into the exposed vein on my left arm I’d asked him what it was for and he’d said it was to stop excess salivation I guess that’s what they always say so the patient won’t be afraid Because it wasn’t for that, it was a fast-acting general anesthetic The rooot watery in front ofat theh lenses of jelly And then I woke up; it was that fast I didn’t even realize when I’d lost consciousness It seemed as if I’d closed my eyes only a second or two I’d been out cold for forty-five ain I openedat me I blinked at him

"What’d I do, doze off?" I asked

Phil chuckled I looked around They were all looking at me in different ways; Frank, curious; Ron, baffled; Elizabeth blank; Elsie half afraid Anne looked concerned

"Are you all right, honey?" she asked me

"Sure Why?" I looked at her a moment Then I sat up "You don’t mean to tell me it took?" I said, incredulously