“Watch carefully now. Hokus! Mokus! Pokus! and PRESTO! You have the Bramble Bush Man.”
There was a flash of light and a booming sound. The headless man had disappeared and there, in his place, stood the Bramble Bush Man himself. He wore a golden robe with black stars on it and a tall black silk hat. He had a black moustache and black glasses but he was about the size of the headless man.
“I bet he’s the headless man with a black and gold robe and a make-believe moustache,” Tommy whispered.
He looked around, expecting Mary to say, “he is not,” but she and Muffs were both busy watching the magician. He had pulled a hair from his moustache. It couldn’t have been more than an inch long when he pulled it out but now he was stretching, stretching it until it became the length of his arm.
“There,” he said. “That is how we stretch a hair. Now that it is long enough, I shall proceed to thread it through my hands.”
This he did, to the amazement and mystification of all who were watching.
“Now,” he continued, “I shall sew it through my head.”
He put the needle, hair and all, into his mouth.
“He’s swallowed it,” cried Tommy.
This time Mary did contradict him. “No, he hasn’t! He’s sewing it through his head. Watch now! He’s taking his hat off!”