“Be good enough,” he said addressing them in his most polite manner, “to observe me very closely.  I am about to give you a few further examples of what intense mental concentration can do, thus proving to you to what an unlimited extent mind can gain dominion over matter.  You all know that will-power can overcome any of the internal physical forces; for instance, when you have tooth or ear ache—­you have only to say to yourselves:  ’I shan’t suffer’—­and the suffering ceases.  But what you may not know—­what you may not have realized, is that will-power can over-rule external forces and principles—­as for example—­gravity.  As a matter of fact, airships and aeroplanes are absolutely superfluous—­and the time, money and labour they involve is a prodigious waste.  Any man with strong mental capacity can fly without the aid of mechanism.  He has only to will himself to be in the air—­and he is there.  Look!” And to the amazement—­the indescribable, unparalleled amazement—­of all present, Mr. Kelson knit his brows, as if engaged in intense thought, and, jumping off his feet, remained in the air, at a height of some four feet from the floor.

At his request members of the audience came up to him, and passed their hands under, over and all around him, to make sure there were no wires.  He then struck out with his hands and legs after the manner of a swimmer, and moving first of all round the stage, and then over the stalls and pit, gradually ascended higher and higher, till he reached the level of the boxes, to the occupants of which he spoke.

Such an extraordinary spectacle—­which apparently gives the lie to all our preconceived notions of gravity—­has certainly never before been witnessed, and the effect it had on those who saw it, baffles description.  When Mr. Kelson returned to the stage, and the terrific applause that greeted his arrival there had subsided, he gave the audience a few valuable hints as to how they, too, might accomplish this feat.

“Practise concentration,” he said, “and develop your will power, if only by a very little, every day.  Jump off a stool to begin with, saying to yourself as you do so:  ’I will remain in the air.  I won’t touch the ground,’—­and though you may fail for the hundredth time, if only you keep on trying you will eventually succeed.  To keep your equilibrium on a bicycle is a feat which would have been pronounced utterly impossible by your ancestors of two hundred years ago; but just as that power came to you—­after many futile efforts, all at once—­so, in the end, will flying come to you.  See, I am now going to rise to the highest point in the building.  Gravity pulls me back, but I say to myself:  ’I will rise—­I will fly there’—­and fly there I do!”—­and, springing off the ground, he struck out with his arms and legs, flew swiftly and easily to the dome of the hall, which he touched—­and then flew back again to the stage.

This completed the evening’s entertainment.  If only on the strength of its first performance, the Modern Sorcery Company, in our opinion, has more than justified its name; and although we understand they will give no more performances gratis, we feel confident in prophesying that, for many a long night, there will be no falling off in the attendance.