You are the first one he has made friends with. I will give you a trial.’ ”[27] The result was that Kellar became acolyte or familiar to the Fakir of Ava, and all because of a dog. This was reversing the old proverb, “Love me, love my dog” to that of “Whom my dog loves, I love.” The reader will remember that Mephistopheles first appears to Faust in the shape of a dog. Perhaps the Fakir’s canine was possessed with the Devil, and recognized a future master of the black art in Kellar. [Illustration: HARRY KELLAR] [27] _A Magical Tour._ Chicago, 1886. After traveling several seasons with the good old Fakir, Kellar started out on his own account. It was an uphill fight. He met the Davenport Brothers and Fay, alleged spirit mediums but in reality clever conjurers, and joined them, first as assistant, then as agent, and afterwards as business manager. He traveled {241} with them over the greater part of the United States (including California) and Canada, over the Continent of Europe, through Russia, via Riga, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nijni-Novgorod and Odessa; thence back again to the United States. In the summer of 1871 he piloted them through Texas. They traveled all over that State in wagons. There was no railroad beyond Hearne then, and their route was from Galveston to Houston, Columbus, San Antonio, Austin, Lampasas Springs, Dallas, and Shreveport, and thence by boat down the river to New Orleans. In the spring of 1873, he left the Davenports, from whom he learned the secrets of rope-tying and the cabinet act, and formed a combination called Fay and Kellar. Eventually he went into partnership with two Chinese magicians. This company was known as the Royal Illusionists. After touring Australia, India and China, Kellar dissolved partnership and came to the United States. During his stay at Calcutta, India, the _Asian_ of Jan. 3, 1882, printed the following effusion, a paraphrase on Robert Heller’s verse about himself and Anderson: “For many a day, We have heard people say That a wondrous magician was Heller; Change the H into K, And the E into A, And you have his superior in Kellar.” Kellar has written several monographs on his art—mainly contributions to magazines; all highly suggestive and entertaining. He says: “There are six qualifications which are the essence of the successful magician, prestidigitateur, necromancer—call him what you may. They are: The will, manual dexterity, physical strength, the capacity to perform things automatically, an accurate, perfectly ordered and practically automatic memory, and a knowledge of a number of languages, the more the better.”