Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-06-19
w HOS w ff8 ?
BY HUGO ST. FINISTERE, M. D.

T had been thinking hard ever since
we first spoke to each other. The cir
cumstances were so incredible, so mar
velous, that I determined to make a
confidant of Harold O. Westcott.
After all, was he not myself? Was it
not safe to whisper my secrets in my
own ear? He was eager to be confden-
tial. Why should not I advance to meet
him?
He had smoked awhile in silence,
during which he eyed me with an
amused and yet awed curiosity. Then
he broke out abruptly:
"It passes my comprehension. I have
pinched myself several times to make
sure am not dreaming"
II can explain it all to you"
"For heavens sake do so.
then told everything that has been
related in the preceding chapters, ex-
pounding the theory Of the late Pro-
fessor Gorgensen, of which I was the
living verifcation. My companion lis
tened with open mouthed amazement.
"Do you tell me-" he asked, as soon
as he could swallow his emotions, "that
you have the strength Of Samson Of the
olden times?'
"Well," I replied with keen enjoy
ment, "there is no way Of telling pre-
cisely the strength of that miraculous
man, but he must have had considera-
BILE muscular development to overcome
80 strapping fellows, to tear the jaws
of lion apart, to kill 1000 men with
the jawbone of an ass and finally to
pull down the pillars of an immense
structure so that he killed more people
than in all his life before I cannot
claim to possess similar inconceivable
power, but of one fact am assured-1
am the strongest man in the world un-
less somewhere else there is another
Samson living out his life'i in obscurity.
But how is it as to your strength? You
and being duplicates so far as the eye
can show ought to be so in every re-
spect."
He shook his head.
eff anything, my strength is less
than usual. I lead a temperate life /;
take regular exercise; have studied box
ing and fencing for years; have rowed,
played tennis, golf and done my utmost
to strengthen my limbs and frame, but
any ordinary man can handle me with
out difficulty. How does all that affect
Professor Gorgensen's theory?'
"No doubt, if he were alive he could
explain it. In truth, it is easier to un-
derstand that fact than it is that l
should possess this amazing gift. His
theory is that after something more than
100, 900, 900 persons are created the va
riations of the face and figure are ex-
hausted and nature goes back to the be-
ginning and starts over again; that she
has been doing this ever since creation,
80 that the double or rather the doubles
of every man and woman of the past
have been reproduced again and again
and are now walking up and down the
earth. This is not reincarnation; neither
of US has existed before, as some claim.
We are nobody but our individual selves,
but nevertheless exact copies of Samson
of old"
"All this might be, and perhaps is,
but Samson, like many characters Of
the Bible, is exceptional; so when his
double appeared, probably 100 years or
70 after the falling of the pillars Of
GAIA, to come up again and again
through the succeeding centuries, he re-
sembled him in every respect except in
his appalling strength.
"That is my theory"
"Then why, in your case, should the
incredible power come to you?'
"It passes my ken, and yet when
Professor Gorgensen said that Samson
was reproduced in me he meant that
the same marvellous power would re-
pose in my frame, and he warned me
against making unnecessary use of it.
I was so sparing in putting it forth
that, with the exception of the teacher
whom smote to the earth, my mother
was the single person that knew the
truth. You are the only living man be-
sides myself who knows my secret, and
you do not believe il"
He laughed in his light, pleasing
way.
"I want to believe it, but I can't
without demonstration. If our situa-
tions were reversed, would you not ask
for sign?'
"Most assuredly, and you shall have
it."
was prepared for this skepticism
from the first and he'd made ready for
it. While conversirg, my eyes roved
about the apartment. Through the open
door saw large safe standing in one
corner of the adjoining room.
:What is the weight Of that?'
He turned his head to make sure he
did not misunderstood me.
II don't know precisely, but between
one and two TONS"
Twill you per1nit?" 1 asked, rising
from my chair and moving hesitatingly
forward
"Do exactly what you wish"
did not remove my coat but paused
in front of the massive iron structure
and studied it for moment.
The difficulty lay in getting hold Of