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hovered several inches in the air.
    “Push it down,” said Daniel Home. He stood nearby, arms raised. He was thirty-four, a man of striking appearance, cleanshaven except for his mustache, his reddish-blonde hair, bushy and curly.
    The four men pressed down on the piano. To their astonishment, instead of lowering, the instrument began to rise.
    “Try harder,” Home told them. He smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Jencken who were watching from the sofa of their sitting room. They smiled in response, totally entranced by what they were witnessing.
    The piano kept rising. The four men leaned their elbows on its ebony top and forced their weight downward. All in vain. The piano continued to rise and they were forced to pull back or be lifted with it, their boots thumping on the rug as they dropped free. Reaching up, they gripped the upper edges of the piano with their hands and continued their teeth-clenching effort to stop the levitation of the heavy instrument.
    Moments later, the bottom of the piano was above their heads, its top mere inches from the ceiling.
    Mr. and Mrs. Jencken laughed softly. Although the room was not brightly lit, several lamps cast soft illumination and the flickering light of the fire was clearly visible on the underside of the piano.
    After several more seconds, Home lowered his arms and the piano sank to the floor, making no sound as it touched the rug.
    All four men applauded softly as well as Mr. and Mrs. Jencken. “Extraordinary!” cried Mr. Hurt.
    The beaming Home turned to his host. “Mr. Jencken, would you join me, please?” he asked.
    Mr. Jencken rose and crossed to the young Scotsman.
    “Watch,” Home told him. “Very closely now.”
    Jencken stared at him as Home drew in a deep, shuddering breath and began to stretch himself upward. Jencken’s expression became one of startled disbelief.
    Home was growing taller.
    Jencken’s mouth slipped open as he listened to the faint, crackling noises emanating from the Scotsman’s body. He, himself, was six foot tall and, already, the top of Home’s head was higher than his own.
    Across the room, he heard his wife catch her breath and one of the men murmur, “Oh my God.”
    Before the incredulous gaze of his sitters, Daniel Home extended himself to a height of six foot six inches, his face tight and strained, his expression one of pain.
    Jencken started as Lord Adare spoke quietly “Daniel, will you show us how it is?” he asked.
    Slowly, as though each movement agonized him, Home unbuttoned his coat to reveal a gap of six inches between the bottom of his waistcoat and the waistband of his trousers.
    Jencken looked more closely at the Scotsman. Unless his eyes deceived him, Home had grown in breadth as well, appearing, now, a veritable giant.
    Abrupdy, Home released a hissing breath and Jencken watched in awe as the young man slowly decreased in size. In less than two minutes, he had regained his normal height and breadth.
    Home wavered then. Jencken felt himself twitch in surprise as Lord Adare stepped quickly from the shadows and grabbed the Scotsman’s right arm, leading him to a chair.
    “This is a feat which drains him terribly,” he explained, seating Home in the chair.
    Home sat with his eyes closed, filling his lungs with air. The group watched in silence.
    “He’ll be all right soon,” Lord Adare reassured them.
    Six minutes passed. The others seated themselves and waited, not speaking, their attention fixed on the young Scotsman who sat with his head back, his eyes closed, breathing deeply, working to regain his strength.
    At last, he opened his eyes with a smile and looked around at them.
    “Well, then,” he said.
    Pushing to his feet, he walked to the hearth and removed the poker from its rack. Jabbing at the coals, he made them spark and flare, the red coals whitening.
    He placed the poker back into its rack and kneeled before the now crackling fire. As they watched, he drew in a long, deep breath.
    Then reached into the fire