Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-04-02
"A iar 81
"A Iunahc
By F. a. mitchell

around q table In the care OF q New
York club. The subject turned oh 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.
when Ned Garland told the following:
you've hit on q subject that ome
very near home to me-" he said, FOR
one of my family was operated on by
one OF these Indians many years ago
with a result that has recently made
my hair curl.
During the last WAY with England
in 1914 or thereabouts-my ancestors
lived on the family estate or farm, for
that's all it was, not halt q mile from
where we are now sitting. One day
my great-grandfather, Timothy Gar
land, a young bridegroom, had a quar-
rel with his wife and told her he wish
ed he might not see her again In d hum
dred years. Then he left the house
with a 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 wife's
pardon, He found her lying in a com
atose condition, from which it was i'm,
possible to arouse her. She had left
with the servants a paper for him on
which was written:
you have wished you might not see me
again In q hundred years. You Won see
me as Twas till that time has passed.
THE upshot of it was that when he
had gone down to the tavern one of
these Indian heathens came along, Of
fering to tell my Observation-Disclosures
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 a stocking II he would
put her to sleep for q hundred years.
The rascal took her at her word and
performed the trick.
aHer husband kept watching for her
to come to herself. He said nothing
about her condition, not caring TO have
1t known that 1t was through his
harshness that she had come into IT..
But she remained as she was, and aft
er awhile he locked her up in a room,
and since he made no mention of her
she was, at last forgotten.
when the farm was sold the family
vault was retained and the ground un-
derneath which it was ~excavated de-
scended to me. When / came OF age
a few weeks ago and took possession
of it with other property Il concluded
to inspect 1t. found a grewsome.
place full of collins, some of which had
partly rotted away. One that had been.
made of marble interested me. From
a crack in the lid protruded a paper.
| pulled 1t out and found that it had
been written in a language / knew
nothing about.
Il took the thing to a professor OF UNI
known tongues in Columbia college,
and he told me it was written Id one
of the languages Of India and ! had
to get an Indian of that province to
i~nterpretit. 1 hunted all over the east
side among the slums for such a per
son and at last found o1ie. 1t read In
English:
This lady is to be brought to life at the
expiration of a hundred years. or in Mo-:
vember, 1913.
Il was told by the translator that
only an Indian fakir could do the job,
but luckily nj 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
great-grandmother to life If ! would
pay him 500 in case he succeeded. /
agreed to the; terms, had the sarcopha-
gus removed to the top floor OF a.
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 a lounge
was a oma about t~wenty-three
years of age. She seemed only half
alive, but was sufficiently resuscitated
to speak feebly.
Jim she said, how could you?
I'm not Jim,' Il said. I'm Ned.
".Oh, dear! What's the matter with
you, or Is anything the matter with
me? / feel SO weak
"sShe had evidently taken me for her
husband. my great-grandfather, who
was just my age in 1873.
II looked about for the Indian, and.
he had gone. It struck me that I'd
better have some one about, and ! said
to my great-grandmother:
PLEASE excuse me a moment. You
are o well and need attention. / am
going to summon assistance.
do you know that while / was
looking at her, eyen during this short.
time, she seemed to have grown older.
Without waiting for her consent ran
downstairs, but as / went 1t occurred
to me that had better not be in a
hurry about the matter; there were
many dangers connected with ii. /
paused. ~pondered and went back to the
room. / suppose / had been gone
twenty minutes. And yet while I had
been absent the resuscitated bride of
81 txuarfy-fhraa had provsn IA hn nm old