The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-12-09
Magic Of
the Fakir
The Tricks of an Indian Fakir and
How he Mystlfied All
With his Art.

speaking of magic" sighed the Col
mel as he leaned back in his chair and
,uffed placidly at cheroOt, reminds
ne of an affair witnessed in India some
Iears ago. had just been assigned to
he command of native regiment sta
Toned at one of the .outlying posts on
;he Northwest frontier. There was
much talk at the time about a certain
fakir. known as Mullah, who was de-
clared to be poss sessed of wondrous
occult power. had seen enough of the
Hindus' ability in this direction to in
terest me and l determined to seize the
first opportunity to pay this particular
gentleman visit.
"His rendezvous was a small oasis
about fifty miles due north from where
l was stationed and as most of the in
towering distance was desert the only
way to reach him was by the camel
route. The opportunity came during
fortnight's furlough in the spring fol-
lowing my appointment, which enabled
me :" attach myself to party of four
European officers under competent
guide bound in that direction. The
weather and travel were good so that
we arrived at our destination about 8
a. M, the fourth morning after starting.
The Mullah's home consisted Of tent
of good dimensions, scrupulously clean
and we'll furnished after the Oriental
fashion with rugs, etc., and containing
a fairly good supply of books and scien-
tific apparatus.
"In person the Mullah was fitting
adjunct to his surroundings. Of. tall,
commanding appearance, nth black
hair and beard, dressed in white with
purple overman,le that gave him truly
regal appearance. He ret eived us with
quiet, court cons selfpossession, evinced
DO surprise at our appearance or the
purpose of our mission, invited us to-
partake of meal that had evidently
been prepared in anticipation Ofou ar
rival and promised to satisfy our curl
osity at its conclusion.
"Break fact over our host led the way
to an open space about twenty yards
from the tent where lay large coil of
finely plated cord. Picking up one end
he looped it in much the same manner
as the cowboy does the lasso, prepara-
tory to III ow, balanced it a while,
then gave it an upward fling that sent
it spinning skyward with the spe ed and
accuracy of an arrow. Coil after coil
unwound as it rose, until eventually it
stood, perpendicular with one end rest
ing lightly on the ground-the other
one apparently in the sky. This move
ment completed, the Mullah clapped
his hands, wheIeupon lad of about fif-
teen or sixteen years of age appeared,
salaamed and stood attentively awaiting
further orders. The magician looked
at him for moment, then pointed to
the rope and said, 'climbv Without a
word the boy obeyed. Selling the rope
!, at arms length above his head he pro-
: monkey. Hand over hand he rose grow
ing gradually smaller as he ascended
} till the eye could no longer follow and
he disappeared from our view.
"The Mullah waited few seconds,
then called, Omar There was no
answer. Twice he repeated the name
and received no response. Evidently
satisfied with the result he picked up
9 the end of the cord and tucked 1t into
Q his waist sash and then with a slight
: leap seized the rope few feet above
). and commenced to climb taking tht
q rope with him as he ascended.
le "With strained eyes we watched hi
r every movement as he rose until he
re too, passed beyond our vision and no
le thing remained between US n d th
T. heavens but the atmosphere. Mystife'
we hung around tiIl dusk thinking th
] (ContSnued IN column this poos.)