Graham guardian., 1913-12-26
A Liar or
A Lunatic
By F. A, Mitchell
By F. A, Mitchell

A party of young men were sitting
around table In the cafe of a New
York club. The subject turned on the
marvellous feats that are said to be
performed by the fakirs of India. A
number of these feats were described,
each one more wonderful than the last,
-aVhen Ned Garland told the following:
NSYor've hit on a subject that comes
w ~ near home to me-" he said, for
0Ae of my family was operated on by
one of these Indians many years ago
with result that has recently made
my hair curl.
During the last war with England
in 1914 or thereabouts-my ancestors
lived on the family estate or farm, for
that's all it was. not half mile from
where we are now sitting. One day
my great-grandfather, Timothy Gar
land. young bridegroom, had a quar-
rel with his wife and told her he wish.
ed he might not see her again in hun
dred years. Then he left the house
with bang of the door and, mounting
a horse, rode down to Fraunces' tavern.
where he proceeded to get gloriously
. drunk,
"The next day, when he was sober.
he was beside himself with remorse
and rode back home to beg his wifes
pardon. He found her lying in a com
atosA sAccndition, from which it was i'm
posN 70 arouse her. She had left
= Servants paper for him on
~ Vas written:
have wished you might not see me
IN hundred years You won't see
l was till that time has passed
= ne upshot of it was that when he
~ gone down to the tavern one of
these Indian heathens came along, Of
fering to tell my great-grandmother's
fortune and do many wonderful things
She was full Of anger at the time and
told him she would give him all the
gold she had in stocking if he would
put her to sleep for hundred years.
The rascal took her at her word and
performed the trick.
"Her husband kept watching for her
to come to herself. He said nothing
f35out her condition. not caring to have
~ known that 1t was through his
4. a'shness that she had come into it.
she remained as she was, and aft
a. nile he locked her up in room,
anu since he made no mention of her
she was at last forgotten.
-'"When the farm was sold the family
sault was retained and the ground un-
derneath which il was eXcavated de
scended to me. When | came Of age
a few weeks ago and took possession
of 1t with other property | concluded
to inspect It, found a grewsome
place full of collins, some of which had
partly rotted away One that had been
made of marble interested me. From
acFack in the lid protruded paper
Ie.plled 1t out and found that it had
been written in language ! knew
nothing about
II took the thing to professor Of un-
known tongues in Columbia college,
and he told me 1t was written in one
of the languages of India and had
to get an Indian of that province to
interpret 1t. hunted all over the east
side among the slums for such per
son and at last found one, 1t read in
English
This lady is to be brought to life at the
expiration of hundred years. or in No
vember, 1913
NOIH hyy fhn tran latn
only an Indian fakir could do the job,
but luckily one had just arrived from
Bombay. and | was informed where
he was to be found He read the pa
per and said he would try to bring my
observation-disclosures to life II / would
pay him 500 In case he succeeded.
agreed to the terms, had the sarcopha-
gus removed to the top floor Of
building owned, paid In advance,
and the Indian went to work.
"He wouldn't permit me to be pres
ent during his manipulations, but call
ed me In after six hours. On lounge
was woman about twenty-three
years Of age. She seemed only half
a. ne, but was sufficiently resuscitated
IT, speak feebly.
"Jim. she said, how could you|
'"Tm not Jim said. I'm Ned
"'oh, dear! What's the matter with
you. or is anything the matter with
me? / feel so weak
"She had evidently taken me for her
husband. my great-grandfather, who
was just my age In 1918.
II looked about for the indian, and
he had gone. 1t struck me that I'd
better have some one about, and said
to my great grandmother:
please excuse me moment. You
3 not well and need attention. | am
ing to summon assistance.
ADO you know that while | was
.pking at her, even during this short
Inc. she seemed to have grown older,
islthout waiting for her consent ran
L Vs. but as ! went 1t occurred
sat I had better not be In a
Gsv bout the matter; there were
: sanJ Managers connected with 1t. !
pause4v pohdered and went back to the
room. suppose had been gone
twenty minutes. And yet while | had
been absent the resuscitated bride Of
twenty-threc had grown to be an old
woman Of 1913. And as looked she
gave gasp and within a minute had
become shriveled mummy"
There was brief silence, which was
broken by one of the party, who said: