Now, many of you will say that you would like this plan to work in cases in which you have not the time to sleep over it.  In such cases we will say that it is possible to cultivate a rapid method of sub-consciousing, and in fact many business men and men of affairs have stumbled upon a similar plan, driven to the discovery by necessity.  They will give a quick, comprehensive, strong flash of attention upon the subject, getting right to the heart of it, and then will let it rest in the sub-conscious mind for a moment or two, killing a minute or two of time n “preliminary conversation,” until the first flash of answer comes to them.  After the first flash, and taking hold of the first loose end of the subject that presents itself to them, they will unwind a string of information and “talk” about the subject that will surprise even themselves.  Many lawyers have acquired this knowledge, and are what is known as “resourceful.”  Such men are often confronted with questions of conditions utterly unsuspected by them a moment before.  Practice has taught them the folly of fear and loss of confidence at such moments, and has also impressed upon them the truth that something within them will come to the rescue.  So, presenting a confident air, they will manage to say a few platitudes or commonplaces, while the sub-conscious mind is most rapidly gathering its materials for the answer.  In a moment an opening thought “flashes upon” the man, and as he continues idea after idea passes before his conscious and eager attention, sometimes so rapidly that it is almost impossible to utter them and lo! the danger is over, and a brilliant success is often snatched from the jaws of an apparent failure and defeat.  In such cases the mental demand upon the sub-conscious mind is not voiced in words, but is the result of a strong mental need.  However, if one gives a quick verbal command “Attend to this,” the result will be heightened.

We have known of cases of men prominent in the world’s affairs who made a practice of smoking a cigar during important business interviews, not because they particularly cared for tobacco, but because they had learned to appreciate the value of a moment’s time for the mind to “gather itself together,” as one man expressed it.  A question would be asked, or a proposition advanced suddenly, demanding an immediate answer.  Under the watchful eyes of the other party the questioned party tried not to show by his expression any indication of searching for an answer, for obvious reasons.  So, instead, he would take a long puff at the cigar, then a slow attentive look at the ashes on its tip, and then another moment consumed in flicking the ash into the receptacle, and then came the answer, slowly, “Well, as to that—­” or some other words of that kind, prefacing the real answer which had been rapidly framed by the sub-conscious mind in time to be uttered in its proper place.  The few moments of time gained had been sufficient