In words and images like these the young mystic poured forth his soul.  There were no flights of oratory, and only occasional bursts of anything that could be called eloquence.  But in an inexplicable manner it moved the heart to tenderness and thrilled the deepest feelings of the soul.  Much of the effect on those who understood him was due to the truths he uttered; but even those who, like the two strangers, were unfamiliar with the ideas advanced, or indifferent to them, could not escape that nameless influence with which all true orators are endowed, and were thrilled by what he said.  In our ignorance we have called this influence by the name of “magnetism.”  Whatever it may be, this young man possessed it in a very high degree, and when to it was added his personal beauty, his sincerity, and his earnestness, it became almost omnipotent over the emotions, if not over the reason.  It enslaved Pepeeta completely.

It was impossible that in so small a room a speaker should be unconscious of the presence of strangers.  David had noticed them at once, and his glance, after roaming about the room, invariably returned and fixed itself upon the face of the Fortune Teller.  Their fascination was mutual.  They were so drawn to each other by some inscrutable power, that it would not have been hard to believe that they had existed as companions in some previous state of being, and had now met and vaguely remembered each other.

When at length David stopped speaking, it seemed to Pepeeta as if a sudden end had come to everything; as if rivers had ceased to run and stars to rise and set.  She drew a long, deep breath, sighed and sank back in her seat, exhausted by the nervous tension to which she had been subjected.

The effect upon the quack was hardly less remarkable.  He, too, had listened with breathless attention.  He tried to analyze and then to resist this mesmeric power, but gradually succumbed.  He felt as if chained to his seat, and it was only by a great effort that he pulled himself together, took Pepeeta by the arm and drew her out into the open air.

For a few moments they walked in silence, and then the doctor exclaimed:  “P-p-peeta, I have found him at last!”

“Found whom?” she asked sharply, irritated by the voice which offered such a rasping contrast to the one still echoing in her ears.

“Found whom?  As if you didn’t know!  I mean the man of d-d-destiny!  He is a snake charmer, Pepeeta!  He just fairly b-b-bamboozled you!  I was laughing in my sleeve and saying to myself, ’He’s bamboozled Pepeeta; but he can’t b-b-bamboozle me!’ When he up and did it!  Tee-totally did it!  And if he can bamboozle me, he can bamboozle anybody.”

“Did you understand what he said?” Pepeeta asked.

“Understand?  Well, I should say not!  The d-d-devil himself couldn’t make head nor tail out of it.  But between you and me and the town p-p-pump it’s all the better, for if he can fool the people with that kind of g-g-gibberish, he can certainly f-f-fool them with the Balm of the B-B-Blessed Islands!  First time I was ever b-b-bamboozled in my life.  Feels queer.  Our fortune’s made, P-p-pepeeta!”