The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-09-10

OF commanding figure and soldierly
bearing, with deep-set eyes, hollow, ca
daverous cheeks, and mustache and
hair an intense blue black, his singu-
lar personality alone had anywhere
and at all times attracted special atten-
tion to the man; but coupled with this
distinguished personality, and sin
Cling him out as remarkable in the
highest degree, was the fact that he
lived in duplicate.
Thus-if on Monday he arose early,
breakfasted on coffee, toast and eggs,
afterwards retired to his rooms to
occupy himself until noon at his desk;
then, after partaking Of lunch, quit his
rooms to ramble about the city, giving
aims to the old blind organ woman,
going up and down particular streets
and through particular quarters, thence
back to his hotel, to his dinner, to his
desk after dinner, and finally to bed
on Tuesday he would go through
precisely the same regime.
On Wednesday he perhaps would
spend the day quite differently, arising
late, going out on horseback for the
entire day, attending the theater at
night, and to bed at midnight or later;
but howsoever he spent Wednesday,
Thursday-or the day following-was
sure to be a repetition down to the
smallest detail.
Friday would see commenced new
series of action for Saturday to dupli,
cate.
He was the echo-as it were-of
himself, and a consummate echo at
that, for time and time again he had
been watched to see whether he would
not make some mistake or fail in his
series of duplication, but whenever ii
was possible for an act to be dupli.
Gated he never had been known to fail
in its duplication; and, indeed, he
had grown so shrewd in the matter
that ne never did on one day what
could not reasonably be duplicated
upon the next-if that succeeding day
was to be a duplication Of the pre-
ceding one, and not the beginning of 9
new series of action.
Living his own life in his own re
served way, cultured and studious
troubling no one, offending none;
doubly liberal in his expenditures and
never pressed for means, steadfast in
his chosen eccentricity-if such it were
and in his face and manner no Ques
tioning doubt of himself, perhaps iI
time Henry Hobart had been accepted
like any other man, the curious haC
ceased to be curious, and his mysteri
GUS character, without any further ol
deeper scrutiny, had become one of the
mysteries of human life, had not the
man been suddenly struck down as BY
an invisible hand and the appalling
mystery Of his death heightened ten
fold the mystery of his life.
On Tuesday morning, at Is min
utes of ten o'clock, an attendant wa!
summoned by the call-bell to room
63 of the Sumner house, and upoI
obeying the call found Henry Hobar
struggling in the throes of strang'
and unnatural death
The Man Who Did Things Twice
half dressed, standing in the cente
of his outer room, was battling witt
the invisible air about him for breath
or, as the attendant put 1t later, "Lik
he was fightin' with something tina
weren't there"
The hotel was aroused, DIR. THE
was hastily summoned from his offic
on the next floor, and everything wa
done that science could suggest o
despair persuade, yet in less than tel
minutes Henry Hobart lay dead on tn
floor, within his stilled brain hiddel
the profound mystery of his life, an
still echoing in the death room hi
one strangled cry ere death sealed hi
blue lips-"To-morrow!"
1t was strange case, questionable
case, a frightful case, but beyond al
1t proved battling case, for the polio
came, removed the body to the morgut
intimating death by poison or othe
foul play, and examined the rooms an
Overhauled the possessions of the dea
man, but who the deceased was, VIII
his kindred or what his former res
dence, or the cause of his death, the
could not discover. The scholarly tome
that filled his shelves bore no sigma
lures or bookmarks, and private pa
pers Of any kind there were none. TIL
autopsy made the same day-aftel
noon--upon the body of the decease
failed to discover any poison, and Dl
ThieFs belief that the man had bee
strangled seemed without support, a
no foreign substance or growth of an
kind was found in the windpipe or al
passages.
One thing only seemed certain, on
thing only was undisputed-T Ma
Who Did Things Twice, with severe
windpipe and autopsy -marred body
would not duplicate his own deaf
upon the morrow. He had come to hi
death on a Tuesday, a Tuesday wit
which---had he lived-he would hav
begun new course Of action to b
duplicated on Wednesday. But he ha
died, and now for once The Man VIII
Did Things Twice would fail in his eC
centricity. Perhaps for that his spiri
would be troubled.
Next morning, while the attendan
who had been first on the death seen
of the previous day was holding fort
at length on the tragedy with certai
servant-cronies, the call-bell suddenl
rang and the hand OF the call dis