He seemed waiting for a reply, so I humoured him.
“Well—according to the drift of your argument, I presume I would have to build it out of other personalities. Is that what you’re driving at?”
“Pre‑cisely!” he shouted. “But—not ‘out of!’ … Into! … Glad you said that, though; for it gives me a chance to show you the exact difference between the right and wrong methods of making use of other people’s personalities in improving one’s own … Everybody is aware, instinctively, that his personality is modified by others. Most people go about imitating various scraps and phases of the personalities that have attracted them—copying one man’s walk, another’s accent, another’s laugh, another’s trick of gesture—making mere monkeys of themselves … This theory I am talking about doesn’t ask you to build your personality out of other personalities, but into them!”
“I’m afraid all that’s too deep for me,” I admitted befuddledly.
He rose and stamped back and forth in front of the grate, shaking his shaggy mop of grizzled hair, and waving his long-stemmed pipe as if trying to conjure a better explanation.
“See here! You know all about blood transfusion. That’s in your line. Superb! … One man puts his life into another man … Doctor—how do you accomplish a blood transfusion? Tell me in detail!”
Merrick glanced up as the door opened.
“Is he gone?”
Nancy nodded, soberly.
“What has been happening since I left?” she asked, drawing up a chair beside him.
He pushed his notes toward her and watched her face as she read.
“Just what is the best process of blood transfusion? Let’s see how much you know!”
“Well—it’s simple enough, except for one obstacle. The blood must be kept from coagulation as it passes from the donor to the recipient. Even when the artery and the vein are attached by a little cannula, the blood soon clogs the glass; so, to avoid that stoppage, the vein of the recipient is passed through the cannula and cuffed back over the end of it. Then the cannula, carrying the vein, is inserted into the artery of the donor. The point is, you see, to insure against any outside contact.”
“Bobby—what was on that page?”
“I haven’t learned yet.”
“Do you think he is ever going to tell us?”
“He’s got to, sooner or later. Let’s read on. I imagine we’re close to it now.”
Nancy took the pencil and began to copy from his rapid dictation.
I explained the principles of transfusion, briefly, and Randolph seemed mightily pleased, especially with that feature of it which concerned the problem of coagulation.
“Bright boy—Bobby!” cried Nancy. “You did know, didn’t you?”
He acknowledged her sally with a grimace and continued dictating.
“You will notice there,” pointing to the page in my hand, “that this first step toward the achievement of power is an expansion—a projection of one’s self into other personalities. You will see that it has to be done with such absolute secrecy that if, by any chance, the contact is not immediate and direct—if, by any chance, there is a leak along the line of transfer—the whole effect of it is wasted! You have to do it so stealthily that even your own left hand—”
Nancy tossed her pencil down on the desk, and relaxed in her chair.
“Bobby! I’ve got it! I can find the page!”
“Is there a Bible handy?”
“I’m afraid I haven’t one, dear.”
“Well—that can come later, then. Continue!”
Randolph returned to his chair, and went on, in a lowered voice:
“Hudson—the first time I tried it—I can tell you the incident freely because nothing ever came of it, although it had cost me more than I could afford, at the time, to do it—the chap was so grateful he told a neighbour of mine, in spite of my swearing him in. He had been out of work and there had been a long run of sickness in the family, and he was too shabby and down at heel to make a presentable appearance in asking for a job. I outfitted him. He told it. A neighbour felicitated me, next day. So there was more than sixty dollars of my hard-earned cash squandered!”
“Squandered!” I shouted, in amazement. “How squandered? Didn’t he get the job?”
Randolph sighed.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “He found a job. I was glad enough for that, of course. But—that didn’t do me any good! You’d better believe—the next time I made an outlay I informed the fellow that if I ever heard of his telling anybody, I would break his neck.”
“Did you ever hear of anything more diabolical?” broke in Nancy, indignantly. “Can you imagine such fiendish selfishness? … Just doing it to benefit himself! Not even willing the other fellow should be grateful! … And yet he thought he was getting himself connected with God, that way! … It gives you the creeps!”
“Well—keep it in mind he’s obsessed with a delusion.”
“Possessed of a devil—I’d rather believe!”
“Maybe Doctor Hudson will explain it … Let’s proceed.”
He laughed merrily at the remembrance of the incident.
“The man thought I was crazy!” he added, wiping his eyes.
“And you weren’t?” I inquired in a tone that sobered him.
“Really—it does sound foolish, doesn’t it? I mean—when you first hear of it. I don’t wonder you’re perplexed.”
“I am worse than perplexed,” I admitted, bluntly. “I’m disgusted!”
“You and me—both!” interpolated Bobby, under his breath.
“You might well be,” admitted Randolph, “if I were trying to get power, that way, to stack up a lot of money for my own pleasure. All I wanted was the effective release of my latent ability to do something fine! … And, as for being disgusted because I requested the man not to tell anybody what I had done for him, if that offends you, you wouldn’t like the Lord himself! … For he often said that to people he
