Suddenly a thought struck him. Could this last have been hypnotism?
He put the question straight to Ah Ben. The man passed his withered
hand over his face thoughtfully as he answered:

"Hypnotism, Mr. Henley, is a name that is used in the West for a
condition that has been known in the East for thousands of years as
the underlying principle of _all phenomena_."

"And what is that condition?" Paul inquired.

"_Sympathetic vibration_," answered the elder man.

"Vibration of what?" asked Paul.

"Of the mind," said Ah Ben. "The condition of the universal mind
vibrating in our material plane, or within the range of our physical
senses, is represented in the trees and the rocks, in the earth and
the stars. Our physical senses, being attuned to his form of
vibration, are in sympathy with it, and apprehend all its phenomena.
There is but one mind, of which man is a part. Thought is a product
of mind. Thought is real, and, when sufficiently concentrated,
becomes tangible and visible to those who can be brought into
sympathy with its vibrations. There is but one primal substance,
which is mind. Mind creates all things out of itself; therefore, to
change the world we look at, it is only necessary to change our
minds."

"Let me ask if what I saw was hypnotism?" repeated Henley. "I ask
this, first, because I know it is impossible to see through a brick
wall, even if there should be such a room in the house; and,