Latest / Weird Fiction Audiobooks: Cosmic Horror, Strange Realities & Uncanny Tales / 🟡 Lot No. 249 (Full Audiobook) | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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🟡 Lot No. 249 (Full Audiobook) | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Weird Fiction Audiobooks: Cosmic Horror, Strange Realities & Uncanny Tales

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: PART ONE of the dealings of Edward Bellingham with William
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Monkhouse Lee, and of the cause of the great terror
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: of Abercrombie Smith, it may be that no absolute and
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: final judgment will ever be delivered. It is true that
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: we have the full and clear narrative of Smith himself,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and such corroboration as he could look for from Thomas Stiles,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the servant, from the Reverend Plumptree Peterson, fellow of old's,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and from such other people as chanced to gain some
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: passing glance at this or that incident in a singular
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: chain of events. Yet, in the main, the story must
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: rest upon Smith alone, and the most will think that
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: it is more likely that one brain, however outwardly sane,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: has some subtle warp in its texture, some strange flaw
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: in its workings, than that the path of nature has
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: been overstepped in open day in so famed a centre
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: of learning and light as the University of Oxford. Yet,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: when we think how narrow and how devious this path
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: of nature is, how dimly we can trace it, for
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: all our lamps of science, and how from the darkness
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: which girds it round great and terrible possibilities loom ever
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: shadowly upwards, It is a bold and confident man who
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: will put a limit to the strange by-paths into which
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the human spirit may wander. In a certain wing of
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: what we will call Old College in Oxford, there is
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: a corner turret of an exceeding great age. The heavy
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: arch which spans the open door has bent downwards in
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the centre under the weight of its years. and the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: grey lichen-blotched blocks of stone are bound and knitted together
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: with withies and strands of ivy, as though the old
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: mother had set herself to brace them up against wind
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and weather. From the door a stone stair curves upward spirally,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: passing two landings and terminating in a third one, its
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: steps all shapeless and hollowed by the tread of so
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: many generations of the seekers after knowledge. Life has flowed
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: like water down this winding stair, and, water-like, has left
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: these smooth-worn grooves behind it. From the long-gowned pedantic scholars
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: of Plantagenet days down to the young bloods of a
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: later age, how full and strong had been that tide
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: of young English life! And what was left now of
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: all those hopes, those strivings, those fiery energies, save here
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: and there in some old-world churchyard a few scratches upon
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: a stone and perchance a handful of dust in a
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: mouldering coffin. Yet here were the silent stair and the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: grey old wall, with bend and saltire and many another
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: heraldic device still to be read upon its surface, like
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: grotesque shadows thrown back from the days that had passed.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: In the month of May in the year 1884, three
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: young men occupied the sets of rooms which opened onto
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the separate landings of the old stair. Each set consisted
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: simply of a sitting room and of a bedroom, while
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: the two corresponding rooms upon the ground floor were used,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: the one as a coal cellar, and the other as
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: the living room of the servant, or dip, Thomas Stiles,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: whose duty it was to wait upon the three men
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: above him. To right and to left was a line
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: of lecture rooms and of offices, so that the dwellers
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: in the old turret enjoyed a certain seclusion, which made
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: the chambers popular among the more studious undergraduates. Such were
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the three who occupied them now, Abercrombie Smith above, Edward
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Bellingham beneath him, and William Monkhouse Lee upon the lowest story.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: It was ten o'clock on a bright spring night, and
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith lay back in his armchair, his feet upon
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: the fender, and his prior root-pipe between his lips. In
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: a similar chair, and equally at his ease, there lounged
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the fireplace his old school-friend
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Jeffro Hastie. Both men were in flannels, for they had
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: spent their evening upon the river, But apart from their dress,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: no one could look at their hard-cut, alert faces without
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: seeing that they were open-air men, men whose minds and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: tastes turned naturally to all that was manly and robust. Hasty, indeed,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: was stroke of his college boat, and Smith was an
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: even better oar, but a coming examination had already cast
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: its shadow over him and held him to his work,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: save for the few hours a week which health demanded.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: A litter of medical books upon the table, with scattered bones, models,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: and anatomical plates, pointed to the extent as well as
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: the nature of his studies, while a couple of single
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: sticks and a set of boxing gloves above the mantelpiece
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: hinted at the means by which, with hasty's help, he
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: might take his exercise in its most compressed and least
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: distant form. They knew each other very well. so well
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: that they could sit now in that soothing silence which
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: is the very highest development of companionship. Have some whisky,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: said Abercrombie Smith at last, between two cloudbursts. Scotch is
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: in the jug and Irish in the bottle. No, thanks.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I'm in for the skulls. I don't liquor when I'm training.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: How about you? I'm reading hard. I think it best
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: to leave it alone. Hasty nodded, and they relapsed into
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: a contented silence. By the way, Smith, asked Hasty presently,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: have you made the acquaintance of either of the fellows
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: on your stair yet? Just a nod when we pass,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: nothing more. Hum. I should be inclined to let it
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: stand at that. I know something of them both. Not much,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: but as much as I want. I don't think I
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: should take them to my bosom if I were you,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Not that there's much amiss with Monkhouse Lee. Meaning the
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: thin one? Precisely. He's a gentlemanly little fellow. I don't
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: think there is any vice in him. But then you
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: can't know him without knowing Bellingham. Meaning the fat one? Yes,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: the fat one. And he's a man whom I, for one,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: would rather not know. Abercrombie Smith raised his eyebrows and
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: glanced across at his companion. What's up, then? he asked. Drink? Cards? Cad?
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: You used not to be censorious. Ah, you evidently don't
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: know the man, or you wouldn't ask. There's something damnable
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: about him, something reptilian. My gorge always rises at him.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I should put him down as a man with secret mices,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: an evil liver. He's no fool, though. They say that
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: he is one of the best men in his line
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: that they have ever had in the college. Medicinal classics?
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Eastern languages. He's a demon at them. Chillingworth met him
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: somewhere above the second cataract last long, and he told
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: me that he just prattled to the Arabs as if
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: he had been born and nursed and weaned among them.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: He talked Coptic to the Copts and Hebrew to the
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Jews and Arabic to the Bedouins. and they were all
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: ready to kiss the hem of his frock coat. There
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: are some old hermit johnnies up in those parts who
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: sit on rocks and scowl and spit at the casual stranger. Well,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: when they saw this chap Bellingham, before he had said
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: five words, they just lay down on their bellies and wriggled.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Chillingworth said that he never saw anything like it. Bellingham
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: seemed to take it as his right, too, and strutted
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: about among them and talked down to them like a
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Dutch uncle. Pretty good for an undergraduate of old, wasn't it? Ah,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: that sort of thing doesn't mean much in the East, though.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: It was just their way of saying that they were
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: surprised and pleased to find a foreigner who knew something
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: of their history and language. But how do you come
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to know this fellow? Well, I come from Applesford, you know,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and so does young Monkhouse Lee. His father is vicar there,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: and he has a sister, Evelyn Lee. who is as
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: nice a little girl as you would wish to see.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: When Lee began to be chummy with Bellingham, he asked
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: him down to stay at the vicarage, and I saw
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: something of him. The mischief of it is that he's
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: managed in some way to get the better of little Evelyn,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: and she's engaged to him. Huh, what she can see
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: in the fellow! But it's my belief that there are
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: many women, and Evelyn Lee is among them, who are
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: so unselfish and so gentle... and so frightened of giving
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: pain that if their father's gardeners were to propose to
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: them they would accept them for fear of hurting their
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: feelings if they refused. Well, I suppose they know their
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: own business best, but it makes a man grind his teeth.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: A dove and a toad, that's what I always think of.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith grinned and knocked his ashes out against the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: side of the grate. You show every card in your hand,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: old chap, said he, What a prejudiced green. evil-thinking old
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: man it is. You have really nothing against a fellow
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: except that. Well, I have known her ever since she
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: was so long as that cherry-wood pipe, and I don't
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: like to see her taking risks. And it is a risk.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: He looks beastly. And he has a beastly temper, a
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: venomous temper. You remember his row with Long Norton? No,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: you always forget that I'm a freshman. Ah, it was
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: last winter, of course. Well, you know the towpath along
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: by the river? There were several fellows going along it,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Bellingham in front, when they came on an old market
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: woman coming the other way. It had been raining. You
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: know what those fields are like when it has rained?
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: and the path ran between a river and a great
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: puddle that was nearly as broad. Well, what does the
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: swine do but keep the path and push the old
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: girl into the mud where she and her marketings came
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: to terrible grief? It was a blackguard thing to do,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: and Long Norton, who is a gentlest fellow as ever stepped,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: told him what he thought of it. One word led
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: to another, and it ended in Norton laying his stick
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: across the fellow's shoulders. There was the deuce of a
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: fuss about it, And it's a treat to see the
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: way in which Bellingham looks at Norton when they meet now.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: By Jove, Smith, it's nearly eleven o'clock. No hurry. Light
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: your pipe again. Not I. I'm supposed to be in training.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Here I've been sitting gossiping like a old woman when
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I ought to have been safely tucked up. I'll borrow
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: your skull if you can spare it. Williams has had
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: mine for a month. I'll take the little bones of
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: your ear, too, if you are sure you won't need them.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Thanks very much. Never mind a bag. I can carry
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: them very well under my arm. Good night, my son,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: and take my tip as to your neighbor. When Hasty,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: bearing his anatomical plunder, had clattered off down the winding stair,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith hurled his pipe into the waste-paper basket, and,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: drawing his chair nearer to the lamp, plunged into a
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: formidable green-covered volume, adorned with great-coloured maps of that strange
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: internal kingdom of which we are the hapless and helpless monarchs.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Though a freshman at Oxford, the student was not so
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: in medicine, for he had worked for four years at
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Glasgow and at Berlin, and this coming examination would place
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: him finally as a member of his profession. With his
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: firm mouth, broad forehead, and clear-cut, somewhat hard-featured face, He
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: was a man who, if he had no brilliant talent,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: was yet so dogged, so patient and so strong that
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: he might in the end overtop a more showy genius.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: A man who can hold his own among Scotsmen and
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: North Germans is not a man to be easily set back.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: Smith had left a name at Glasgow and at Berlin
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: and he was bent now upon doing as much as
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Oxford if hard work and devotion could accomplish it. He
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: had sat reading for about an hour, and the hands
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of the noisy carriage clock upon the side table were
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: rapidly closing together upon the twelve, when a sudden sound
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: fell upon the student's ear, a sharp, rather shrill sound,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: like the hissing intake of a man's breath who gasps
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: under some strong emotion. Smith laid down his book and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: slanted his ear to listen. There was no one on
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: either side or above him, so that the interruption came
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: certainly from the neighbour beneath him, the same neighbor of
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: whom Hasty had given so unsavory an account. Smith knew
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: him only as a flabby, pale-faced man of silent and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: studious habits, a man whose lamp threw a golden bar
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: from the old turret even after he had extinguished his own.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: This community in lateness had formed a certain silent bond
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: between them. It was soothing to Smith when the hours
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: stole on towards dawning, to feel that there was another
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: so close who set as small a value upon his
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: sleep as he did. He could even see him at times,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: for when the moon lay behind the turret and cast
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: its black length across the green quadrangle lawn, each window
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: stood out upon the shadow as a yellow, glimmering square,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: and there, in the centre of this golden frame, Smith
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: could sometimes see the blurred outline of the sunken head
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: and rounded shoulders of the worker beneath him. Even now,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: as his thoughts turned towards him, Smith's feelings were kindly.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Hasty was a good fellow, but he was rough, strong-fibred,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: with no imagination or sympathy. He could not tolerate departures
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: from what he looked upon as the model type of manliness.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: If a man could not be measured by a public
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: school standard, then he was beyond the pale with Hasty.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Like so many who are themselves robust, he was apt
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: to confuse the constitution with the character, to ascribe to
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: want of principle what was really a want of circulation. Smith,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: with his stronger mind, knew his friend's habit, and made
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: allowance for it now as his thoughts turned towards the
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: man beneath him. There was no return of the singular sound,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: and Smith was about to turn to his work once more,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: when suddenly there broke out in the silence of the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: night a hoarse cry, a positive scream. the call of
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: a man who is moved and shaken beyond all control.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Smith sprang out of his chair and dropped his book.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: He was a man of fairly firm fibre, but there
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: was something in this sudden, uncontrollable shriek of horror which
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: chilled his blood and prinkled in his skin. Coming in
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: such a place and at such an hour, it brought
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: a thousand fantastic possibilities into his head. Should he rush down,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: or was it better to wait? He had all the
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: national hatred of making a scene, and he knew so
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: little of his neighbour that he would not lightly intrude
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: upon his affairs. For a moment he stood in doubt,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: and even as he balanced the matter there was a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: quick rattle of footsteps upon the stairs, and young Monkhouse Lee,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: half-dressed and as white as ashes, burst into his room.'
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Come down!' he grasped.' Bellingham' s ill!' Abercrombie Smith followed him
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: closely downstairs into the sitting-room which was beneath his own,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: and intent as he was upon the matter in hand,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: he could not but take an amazed glance around him
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: as he crossed the threshold. It was such a chamber
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: as he had never seen before, a museum rather than
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: a study. Walls and ceiling were thickly covered with a
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: thousand strange relics from Egypt and the East. tall angular
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: figures bearing burdens or weapons stalked in an uncouth frieze
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: round the apartments. Above were bull-headed, stork-headed, cat-headed, owl-headed statues,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: with viper-crowned, almond-eyed monarchs and strange beetle-like deities cut out
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: of the blue Egyptian lapis lazuli. Horus and Isis and
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Osiris peeped down from every niche and shelf, while across
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: the ceiling a true son of Old Nile, a great
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: hanging-jawed crocodile, was hung in a double noose. In the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: centre of this singular chamber was a large square table,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: littered with papers, bottles, and the dried leaves of some
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: graceful palm-like plant. These varied objects all had been heaped
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: together in order to make room for a mummy case,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: which had been conveyed from the wall, as was evident
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: from the gap there. and laid across the front of
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: the table. The mummy itself, a horrid black withered thing,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: like a charred head on a gnarled bush, was lying
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: half out of the case, with its claw-like hand and
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: bony forearm resting upon the table. Propped up against the
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: sarcophagus was an old yellow scroll of papyrus, and in
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: front of it, in a wooden armchair, sat the owner
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: of the room, his head thrown back, his widely opened
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: eyes directed in a horrified stare to the crocodile above him,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: and his blue thick lips puffing loudly with every expiration.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: My God, he's dying! cried Monkhouse Lee distractedly. He was
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: a slim, handsome young fellow, olive-skinned and dark-eyed, of a
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Spanish rather than of an English type. with a Celtic
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: intensity of manner which contrasted with the Saxon fling of
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith. Only a faint, I think, said the medical student.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Just give me a hand with him. You take his feet. Now,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: on to the sofa. Can you kick all those little
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: wooden devils off? What a litter it is! Now, he
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: will be all right if we undo his collar and
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: give him some water. What has he been up to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: at all?' I don't know. I heard him cry out
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: as I ran up. I know him pretty well, you know.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: It is very good of you to come down. His
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: heart is going like a pair of castanets, said Smith,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: laying his hand on the breast of the unconscious man.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: He seems to me to be frightened all to pieces.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Chuck the water on him. What a face he has
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: got on him! It was indeed a strange and most
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: repellent face, for colour and outline were equally unnatural. It
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: was white, not with the ordinary pallor of fear, but
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: with an absolutely bloodless white, like the underside of a sword.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: He was very fat, but gave the impression of having
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: at some time been considerably fatter, for his skin hung
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: loosely in creases and folds, and was shot with a
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: meshwork of wrinkles. Short, stubbly brown hair bristled up from
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: his scalp, with a pair of thick wrinkled ears protruding
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: on either side. His light grey eyes were still open,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: the pupils dilated, and the balls projecting in a fixed
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: and horrid stare. It seemed to Smith, as he looked
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: down upon him, that he had never seen nature's danger
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: signals flying so plainly upon a man's countenance, and his
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: thoughts turned more seriously to the warning which Hasty had
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: given him an hour before. What the deuce can have
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: frightened him so? he asked. It's the mummy. The mummy?
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: How then? I don't know. It's beastly and morbid. I
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: wish he would drop it. It's the second fright he
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: has given me. It was the same last winter. I
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: found him just like this, with that horrid thing in
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: front of him. What does he want with the mummy, then? Oh,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: he's a crank, you know. It's his hobby. He knows
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: more about these things than any man in England. But
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: I wish he wouldn't. Ah, he's beginning to come to.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: A faint tinge of colour had begun to steal back
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: into Bellingham's ghastly cheeks, and his eyelids shivered like a
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: sail after a calm. He clasped and unclasped his hands,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: drew a long thin breath between his teeth, and suddenly
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: jerking up his head threw a glance of recognition around him.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: As his eyes fell upon the mummy, he sprang off
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: the sofa, seized the roll of papyrus, thrust it into
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: a drawer, locked the drawer, and then staggered back onto
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: the sofa. What's up? he asked. What do you chaps want?
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: You've been shrieking out and making no end of a fuss,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: said Monk House Lee. If our neighbour here from above
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: hadn't come down, I'm sure I don't know what I
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: should have done with you. Ah, it's Mr. Abercrombie Smith,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: said Bellingham, glancing up at him. How very good of
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: you to come in. What a fool I am. Oh,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: my God, what a fool I am. He sunk his
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: head onto his hands and burst into peel after peel
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: of hysterical laughter. Look here, drop it, cried Smith, shaking
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: him roughly by the shoulder. Your nerves are all in
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: a jangle. You must drop these little midnight games with mummies,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: or you'll be going off your chump. You're all on
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: wires now.'' I wonder,' said Bellingham,' whether you would be
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: as cool as I am if you had seen—'' What, then?'' Oh, nothing.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I mean that I wonder if you could sit up
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: at night with a mummy without trying your nerves. I
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: have no doubt that you are quite right. I dare
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: say that I have been taking it out of myself
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: too much lately.' But I'm all right now. Please don't go, though.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Just wait for a few minutes until I am quite myself.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: The room is very close, remarked Lee, throwing open the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: window and letting in the cool night air. It's balsamic resin,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: said Bellingham. He lifted up one of the dried palmate
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: leaves from the table and frizzled it up over the
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: chimney of the lamp. It broke away into heavy smoke wreaths,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and a pungent, biting odour filled the chamber. It's the
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: sacred plant, the plant of the priests, he remarked. Do
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: you know anything of Eastern languages, Mr. Smith? Nothing at all.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Not a word. The answer seemed to lift the weight
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: from the Egyptologist's mind. By the way, he continued, how
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: long was it from the time that you came down
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: until I came to my senses? Not long, some four
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: or five minutes. I thought it could not be very long.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: said he, drawing a long breath. But what a strange
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: thing unconsciousness is! There is no measurement to it. I
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: could not tell from my own sensations if it were
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: seconds or weeks. Now, that gentleman on the table was
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: packed up in the days of the Eleventh Dynasty, some
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: forty centuries ago, and yet, if he could find his tongue,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: he would tell us that this lapse of time has
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: been but a closing of the eyes and a reopening
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: of them. He's a singularly fine mummy, Mr. Smith,' Smith
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: stepped over to the table and looked down with a
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: professional eye at the black and twisted form in front
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: of him. The features, though horribly discoloured, were perfect, and
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: two little nut-like eyes still lurked in the depths of
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the black hollow sockets. The blotched skin was drawn tightly
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: from bone to bone, and a tangled wrap of black
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: coarse hair fell over the ears. Two thin teeth, like
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: those of a rat, overlaid the shrivelled lower lip. In
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: its crouching position, with bent joints and craned head, there
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: was a suggestion of energy about the horrid thing which
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: made Smith's gorge rise. The gaunt ribs, with their parchment-like covering,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: were exposed, and the sunken, leaden-hued abdomen was the long
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: slit where the embalmer had left his mark, but the
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: lower limbs were wrapped round with coarse yellow bandages. A
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: number of little, clove-like pieces of myrrh and of cassia
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: were sprinkled over the body and lay scattered on the
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: inside of the case. I don't know his name, said Bellingham,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: passing his hand over the shriveled head. You see, the
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: outer sarcophagus with the inscriptions is missing. Lot 249 is
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: all the title he has now. You see it printed
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: on the case. That was his number in the auction
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: at which I picked him up. He has been a
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: very pretty sort of fellow in his day, remarked Abercrombie Smith.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: He has been a giant. His mummy is six feet
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: seven in length, and that would be a giant over there,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: for they were never a very robust race. Feel these
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: great knotted bones, too. He would be a nasty fellow
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: to tackle. Perhaps these very hands helped to build the
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: stones into the pyramids, suggested Monk House Lee, looking down
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: with disgust in his eyes at the crooked, unclean talons.'
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: No fear. This fellow has been pickled in natron and
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: looked after in the most approved style. They did not
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: serve hodsmen in that fashion. Salt or bitumen was enough
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: for them. It has been calculated that this sort of
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: thing cost about seven hundred and thirty pounds in our money.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Our friends was a noble at the least.' What do
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you make of that small inscription near his feet, Mr. Smith?
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: I told you that I know no Eastern tongue. Ah,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: so you did. It is the name of the embalmer,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: I take it. A very conscientious worker he must have been.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I wonder how many modern works will survive four thousand years.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: He kept on speaking lightly and rapidly, but it was
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: evident to Abercrombie Smith that he was still palpitating with fear.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: His hands shook, his lower lip trembled, and look where
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: he would, his eye always came sliding round to his
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: gruesome companion. Through all his fear, however, there was a
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: suspicion of triumph in his tone and manner. His eye shone,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: and his footstep, as he paced the room, was brisk
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: and jaunty. He gave the impression of a man who
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: has gone through an ordeal, the marks of which he
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: still bears upon him, but which has helped him to
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: his end.' You' re not going yet?' he cried as Smith
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: rose from the sofa. At the prospect of solitude, his
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: fears seemed to crowd back upon him, and he stretched
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: out a hand to detain him. Yes, I must go.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I have my work to do. You're all right now.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: I think that with your nervous system you should take
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: up some less morbid study. Oh, I am not nervous
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: as a rule, and I have unwrapped mummies before. You
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: fainted last time, observed Monkhouse Lee. Ah, yes, so I did. Well,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I must have a nerve tonic or a course of electricity.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: You are not going, Lee? I'll do whatever you wish, Ned.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Then I'll come down with you and have a shakedown
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: on your sofa. Good night, Mr. Smith. I am so
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: sorry to have disturbed you with my foolishness. They shook hands,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: and as the medical student stumbled up the spiral and
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: irregular stair, he heard a key turn in a door,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: and the steps of his two new acquaintances as they
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: descended to the lower floor. Recording by Abayi In this
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: strange way began the acquaintance between Edward Bellingham and Abercrombie Smith,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: an acquaintance which the latter, at least, had no desire
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: to push further. Bellingham, however, appeared to have taken a
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: fancy to his rough-spoken neighbour, and made his advances in
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: such a way that he could hardly be repulsed without
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: absolute brutality. Twice he called to thank Smith for his assistance,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and many times afterwards he looked in with books, papers,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: and such other civilities as two bachelor neighbours can offer
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: each other. He was, as Smith soon found, a man
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: of wide reading, with Catholic tastes and an extraordinary memory.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: His manner, too, was so pleasing and suave that one came,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: after a time— to overlook his repellent appearance. For a
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: jaded and wearied man, he was no unpleasant companion, and
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Smith found himself, after a time, looking forward to his visits,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and even returning them. Clever as he undoubtedly was, however,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: the medical student seemed to detect a dash of insanity
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: in the man. He broke out at times into a high,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: inflated style of talk, which was in contrast with the
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: simplicity of his life. It is a wonderful thing, he cried,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to feel that one can command powers of good and
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: of evil, a ministering angel or a demon of vengeance.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: And again, of Monkhouse Lee, he said, Lee is a
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: good fellow, an honest fellow, but he is without strength
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: or ambition. He would not make a fit partner for
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: a man with a great enterprise. He would not make
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: a fit partner for me. At such hints and in-windows,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: stolid Smith, puffing solemnly at his pipe, would simply raise
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: his eyebrows and shake his head, with little interjections of
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: medical wisdom, as to earlier hours and fresher air. One
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: habit Bellingham had developed of late, which Smith knew to
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: be a frequent herald of a weakening mind. He appeared
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: to be forever talking to himself. At late hours of
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: the night, when there could be no visitor with him,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: Smith could still hear his voice beneath him in a low,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: muffled monologue, sunk almost to a whisper, and yet very
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: audible in the silence. This solitary babbling annoyed and distracted
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: the student so that he spoke more than once to
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: his neighbour about it. Bellingham, however, flushed up at the
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: charge and denied curtly that he had uttered a sound. Indeed,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: he showed more annoyance over the matter than the occasion
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: seemed to demand. Had Abercrombie Smith had any doubt as
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: to his own ears, he had not to go far
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: to find corroboration. Tom Stiles, the little wrinkled manservant who
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: had attended to the wants of the lodgers in the
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: turret for a longer time than any man's memory could
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: carry him, was sorely put to it over the same matter.'
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: If you please, sir,' said he as he tidied down
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: the top chamber one morning, 'do you think Mr. Bellingham
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: is all right, sir?' All right, Stiles? Yes, sir. Right
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: in his head, sir. Why should he not be, then?
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know, sir. His habits has changed of late.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: He's not the same man he used to be, though
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: I make free to say that he was never quite
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: one of my gentlemen, like Mr. Hastie or yourself, sir.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: He's took to talking to himself something awful. I wonder
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: it don't disturb you. As for days, sometimes he'll keep
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: his door locked, so as I can't even make the bed,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: and then again he'll have it open the same as ever,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: wide open, so as all who pass can see his
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: mummies and things. I don't know what to make of him, sir.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know what business it is of yours, Stiles. Well,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: I takes an interest, Mr. Smith. It may be forward
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: of me, but I can't help it. I feel sometimes
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: as if I was mother and father to my young gentleman.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: It all falls on me when things go wrong and
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: the relations come. There was poor Mr. Williams, who went
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: mad in 47, and Mr. McAllister in 62. Brain-softening from overwork,
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: they said. He lived in this very room. I don't
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: speak of the delirium tremensis which I've had, three on
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: each floor and four on the lowest. But Mr. Bellingham, sir,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I want to know what it is that walks about
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: his room sometimes when he's out and when the door's
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: locked on the outside. Eh? You're talking nonsense, Stiles. Maybe so, sir,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: but I heard it more than once with my own ears. Rubbish, Stiles.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Very good, sir. You'll ring the bell if you want me.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith gave little heed to the gossip of the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: old manservant, but a small incident occurred a few days
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: later which left an unpleasant effect upon his mind and
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: brought the words of Stiles forcibly to his memory. Bellingham
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: had come up to see him late one night and
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: was entertaining him with an interesting account of the rock
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: tombs of Beni Hassan in Upper Egypt, when Smith, whose
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: hearing was remarkably acute, distinctly heard the sound of a
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: door opening on the landing below. There's some fellow gone
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: in or out of your room, he remarked. Bellingham sprang
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: up and stood helpless for a moment with the expression
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: of a man who is half incredulous and half afraid.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: I surely locked it. I'm almost positive that I locked it,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: he stammered. No one could have opened it. Why, I
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: hear someone coming up the steps now, said Smith. Bellingham
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: rushed out through the door, slammed it loudly behind him,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: and hurried down the stairs. About halfway down, Smith heard
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: him stop and thought he caught the sound of whispering.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: A moment later, the door beneath him shut, a key
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: creaked in a lock, and Bellingham, with beads of moisture
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: upon his pale face, ascended the stairs once more and
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: re-entered the room.' It' s all right,' he said, throwing himself
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: down in a chair. It was that fool of a dog.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: He had pushed the door open. I don't know how
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: I came to forget to lock it. I didn't know
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: you kept a dog, said Smith, looking very thoughtfully at
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: the disturbed face of his companion. Yes, I haven't had
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: him long. I must get rid of him. He's a
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: great nuisance. He must be, if you find it so
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: hard to shut him up. I should have thought that
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: shutting the door would have been enough without locking it.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I want to prevent old Stiles from letting him out.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: He's of some value, you know, and it would be
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: awkward to lose him. I'm a bit of a dog
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: fancier myself, said Smith, still gazing hard at his companion
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: from the corner of his eyes. Perhaps you'll let me
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: have a look at it? Certainly, but I'm afraid it
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: cannot be tonight. I have an appointment. Is that clock right?
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: That I'm a quarter of an hour late already? You'll
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: excuse me, I'm sure. he picked up his cap and
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: hurried from the room. In spite of his appointment, Smith
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: heard him re-enter his own chamber and lock his door
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: upon the inside. This interview left a disagreeable impression upon
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: the medical student's mind. Bellingham had lied to him, and
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: lied so clumsily that it looked as if he had
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: desperate reasons for concealing the truth. Smith knew that his
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: neighbour had no dog, He knew also that the step
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: which he had heard upon the stairs was not the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: step of an animal. But if it were not, then
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: what could it be? There was old Stiles' statement about
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: the something which used to pace the room at times
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: when the owner was absent. Could it be a woman?
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Smith rather inclined to the view. If so, it would
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: mean disgrace and expulsion to Bellingham if it were discovered
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: by the authorities. so that his anxiety and falsehoods might
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: be accounted for. And yet it was inconceivable that an
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: undergraduate could keep a woman in his rooms without being
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: instantly detected. Be the explanation what it might, there was
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: something ugly about it, and Smith determined, as he turned
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: to his books, to discourage all further attempts at intimacy
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: on the part of his soft-spoken and ill-favoured neighbour. But
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: his work was destined to interruption that night. He had
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: hardly caught up the broken threads when a firm, heavy
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: footfall came three steps at a time from below, and hasty,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: in blazer and flannels, burst into the room. Still at it,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: said he, plumping down into his wanted armchair. What a
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: chap you are to stew! I believe an earthquake might
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: come and knock Oxford into a cocked hat, and you
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: would sit perfectly placid with your books among the ruins. However,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: I won't bore you long. Three whiffs of backy and
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: I'm off. What's the news then? asked Smith, cramming a
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: plug of bird's eye into his briar with his forefinger.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Nothing very much. Wilson made 70 for the freshman against
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the 11. They say that they will play him instead
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: of Buddycomb, for Buddycomb is clean off colour. He used
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: to be able to bowl a little, but it's nothing
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: but half volleys and long hops now. Medium right. suggested Smith,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: with the intense gravity which comes upon a varsity man
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: when he speaks of athletics. Inclining too fast with a
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: work from leg. Comes with the arm about three inches
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: or so. He used to be nasty on a wet wicket. Oh,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: by the way, have you heard about Long Norton? What's that?
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: He's been attacked. Attacked? yes just as he was turning
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: out of the high street and within a hundred yards
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: of the gate of olds but who ah that's the
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: rub if you said what you would be more grammatical
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Norton swears that it was not human, and indeed, from
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the scratches on his throat, I should be inclined to
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: agree with him. What, then? Have we come down to spooks?
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith puffed his scientific contempt. Well, no, I don't
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: think that is quite the idea either. I am inclined
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: to think that if any showman has lost a great
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: ape lately— and the brute is in these parts, a
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: jury would find a true bill against it. Norton passes
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: that way every night, you know, about the same hour.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: There's a tree that hangs low over the path, the
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: big elm from Rainey's garden. Norton thinks the thing dropped
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: on him out of the tree. Anyhow, he was nearly
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: strangled by two arms, which, he says, were as strong
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: and as thin as steel bands. He saw nothing. only
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: these beastly arms that tightened and tightened on him. He
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: yelled his head nearly off, and a couple of chaps
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: came running, and the thing went over the wall like
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: a cat. He never got a fair sight of it
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: the whole time. It gave Norton a shake-up, I can
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: tell you. I tell him it has been as good
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: as a change at the seaside for him.' A garretter,
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: most likely,' said Smith.' Very possible.' Norton says not, but
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: we don't mind what he says. The garretter had long
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: nails and was pretty smart at swinging himself over walls.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: By the way, your beautiful neighbour would be pleased if
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: he heard about it. He had a grudge against Norton,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: and he's not a man, from what I know of him,
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: to forget his little debts. But hollo, old chap, what
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: have you got in your noddle? Nothing. Nothing? Smith answered, curtly.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: He had started in his chair, and a look had
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: flashed over his face which comes upon a man who
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: is struck suddenly by some unpleasant idea. You looked as
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: if something I had said had taken you on the raw.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: By the way, you have made the acquaintance of Master B.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: since I looked in last, have you not? Young Monkhouse
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Lee told me something to that effect. Yes, I know
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: him slightly. He has been up here once or twice. Well,
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: you're big enough and ugly enough to take care of yourself.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: He's not what I should call exactly a healthy sort
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: of Johnny, though no doubt he's very clever and all that.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: But you'll soon find out for yourself. Lee is all right.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: He's a very decent little fellow. Well, so long, old chap.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: I row mullins for the Vice-Chancellor's pot on Wednesday week,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: so mind you come down in case I don't see
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: you before. he clattered off with a trail of smoke
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: behind him like a steamer, while Bovine Smith laid down
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: his pipe and turned stolidly to his books once more.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: But with all the will in the world, he found
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: it very hard to keep his mind upon his work.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: It would slip away to brood upon the man beneath
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: him and upon the little mystery which seemed to hang
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: round his chambers. Then his thoughts turned to this singular
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: attack of which Hasty had spoken— and to the grudge
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: which Bellingham was set to owe the object of it.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: The two ideas would persist in rising together in his mind,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: as though there were some close and intimate connection between them.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: And yet the suspicion was so dim and vague that
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: it could not be put down in words. Confound the chap,
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: cried Smith, as he shied his book on pathology across
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the room. He has spoiled my night's reading, and that's
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: reason enough if there were no other why I should
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: steer clear of him in the future. For ten days
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: the medical student confined himself so closely to his studies
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: that he neither saw nor heard anything of either of
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: the men beneath him. At the hours when Billingham had
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: been accustomed to visit him, he took care to sport
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: his oak, and though he more than once heard a
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: knocking at his outer door, he resolutely refused to answer it.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: One afternoon, however, he was descending the stairs when, just
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: as he was passing it, Bellingham's door flew open and
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: young Monkhouse Lee came out with his eyes sparkling and
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: a dark flush of anger upon his olive cheeks. Close
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: at his heels followed Bellingham, his fat, unhealthy face all
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: quivering with malignant passion. You fool, he hissed. You'll be sorry.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: Very likely, cried the other. Mind what I say. It's off.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: I won't hear of it. You've promised, anyhow. Oh, I'll
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: keep that. I won't speak. But I'd rather little Eva
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: was in her grave. Once for all, it's off. She'll
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: do what I say. We don't want to see you again.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: So much Smith could not avoid hearing, but he hurried on,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: for he had no wish to be involved in their dispute.
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: There had been a serious breach between them, that was
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: clear enough, and Lee was going to cause the engagement
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: with his sister to be broken off. Smith thought of
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: Hastie's comparison of the toad and the dove, and was
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: glad to think that the matter was at an end.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Bellingham's face, when he was in a passion, was not
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: pleasant to look upon. He was not a man to
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: whom an innocent girl could be trusted for life. As
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: he walked, Smith wondered languidly what could have caused the quarrel,
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: and what the promise might be which Bellingham had been
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: so anxious that Monkhouse Lee should keep. It was the
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: day of the sculling match between Hastie and Mullins, and
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: a stream of men were making their way down to
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: the banks of the Isis. A May sun was shining brightly,
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: and the yellow path was barred with the black shadows
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: of the tall elm-trees. On either side the grey colleges
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: lay back from the road, the hoary old mothers of
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: minds looking out from their high-millioned windows at the tide
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: of young life which swept so merrily past them. Black-clad tutors,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: prim officials, pale reading men, brown-faced, straw-hatted young athletes in
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: white sweaters or many-coloured blazers, all were hurrying towards the
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: blue winding river which curves through the Oxford meadows. Abercrombie Smith,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: with the intuition of an old oarsman, chose his position
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: at the point where he knew that the struggle, if
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: there were a struggle, would come. Far off he heard
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: the hum which announced the start, the gathering roar of
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: the approach, the thunder of running feet, and the shouts
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: of the men in the boats beneath him. A spray
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: of half-clad, deep-breathing runners shot past him, and, craning over
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: their shoulders, he saw Hasty pulling a steady thirty-six and
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: while his opponent, with a jerky forty, was a good
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: boat's length behind him. Smith gave a bellow of approval, and,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: pulling out his watch, was starting off again for his
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: chambers when he felt a touch upon his shoulder and
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: found that young Monkhouse Lee was beside him.' I saw
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: you there,' he said in a timid, deprecating way.' I
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: wanted to speak to you if you could spare me
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: a half-hour,' This cottage is mine. I share it with
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Harrington of Kings. Come in and have a cup of tea.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: I must be back presently, said Smith. I'm hard on
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: the grind at present. But I'll come in for a
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: few minutes with pleasure. I wouldn't have come out. Only
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: Hasty is a friend of mine. So he is of mine.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: Hasn't he a beautiful style? Mullins wasn't in it. But
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: come into the cottage. It's a little den of a place,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: but it is pleasant to work in during the summer months.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: It was a little square white building with green doors
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and shutters, and a rustic trellis-work porch, with a drapery
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: of creepers over it, standing back some fifty yards from
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: the river's bank. Inside, the main room was roughly fitted
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: up as a study, deal table, unpainted shelves with books,
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: and a few cheap oleographs upon the walls. A kettle
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: sang upon a spirit stove, and there were tea things
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: upon a tray on the table. Try that chair and
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: have a cigarette, said Lee. Let me pour you out
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: a cup of tea. It's so good of you to
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: come in, for I know that your time is a
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: good deal taken up. I wanted to say to you
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: that if I were you, I would change my rooms
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: at once. Eh? Smith sat staring with a lighted match
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: in one hand, and his unlit cigarette in the other. Yes,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: it must seem very extraordinary, and the worst of it
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: is that I cannot give my reasons, for I am
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: under solemn promise, a very solemn promise. But I may
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: go so far as to say that I don't think
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Bellingham is a very safe man to live near. I
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: intend to camp out here as much as I can
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: for a time. Not safe? What do you mean? Ah,
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: that's what I mustn't say. But do take my advice
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: and move your rooms. We had a grand row today.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: You must have heard us, for you came down the stairs.
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: I saw that you had fallen out. He's a horrible chap, Mr. Smith.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: That is the only word for him. I have had
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: doubts about him ever since that night when he fainted.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: You remember, when you came down? I taxed him today,
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: and he told me things that made my hair rise.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: and wanted me to stand in with him. I'm not straight-laced,
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: but I am a clergyman's son, you know, and I
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: think there are some things which are quite beyond the pale.
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: I only thank God that I found him out before
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: it was too late, for he was to have married
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: into my family.'' This is all very finely,' said Abercrombie
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: Smith curtly,' but either you are saying a great deal
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: too much or a great deal too little.' I give
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: you a warning. If there is real reason for warning,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: no promise can bind you. If I see a rascal
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: about to blow a place up with dynamite, no pledge
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: will stand in my way of preventing him. But I
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: cannot prevent him, and I can do nothing but warn you.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: Without saying what you warn me against. Against Bellingham. But
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: that is childish. Why should I fear him, or any man?
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: I can't tell you. I can only entreat you to
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: change your rooms. You are in danger where you are.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: I don't even say that Bellingham would wish to injure you,
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: but it might happen, for he is a dangerous neighbour
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: just now.'' Perhaps I know more than you think,' said Smith,
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: looking keenly at the young man's boyish, earnest face.' Suppose
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: I tell you that someone else shares Bellingham's rooms?' Monkhouse
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: Lee sprang from his chair in incontrollable excitement.' You know, then?'
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: he grasped.' A woman.' Lee dropped back again with a groan.'
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: My lips are sealed,' he said.' I must not speak.'' Well, anyhow,'
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: said Smith, rising,' it is not likely that I would
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: allow myself to be frightened out of rooms which suit
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: me very nicely.' It would be a little too feeble
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: for me to move out all my goods and chattels,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: because you say that Bellingham might in some unexplained way
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: do me an injury. I think that I'll just take
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: my chance and stay where I am, and as I
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: see that it's nearly five o'clock, I must ask you
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: to excuse me. He bade the young student adieu in
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: a few curt words, and made his way homeward through
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: the sweet spring evening, feeling half-ruffled, half-amused. as any other strong,
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: unimaginative man might, who has been menaced by a vague
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: and shadowy danger. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: Recording by Abaii. There was one little indulgence which Abercrombie
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: Smith always allowed himself, however closely his work might press
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: upon him. Twice a week, on the Tuesday and the Friday,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: it was his invariable custom to walk over to Farlingford,
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: the residence of the Reverend Plumptree Peterson, situated about a
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: mile and a half out of Oxford. Peterson had been
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: a close friend of Smith's elder brother Francis, and as
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: he was a bachelor, fairly well-to-do, with a good cellar
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: and a better library, his house was a pleasant goal
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: for a man who was in need of a brisk walk.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: Twice a week, then, the medical student would swing out
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: there along the dark country roads and spend a pleasant
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: hour in Peterson's comfortable study, discussing, over a glass of
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: Old Port, the gossip of the varsity or the latest
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: black letter which the book-dealers had sent to his host.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: On the day which followed his interview with Monkhouse Lee,
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: Smith shut up his books at a quarter past eight,
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: the hour when he usually started for his friend's house.
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: As he was leaving his room, however, his eyes happened
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: to fall upon one of the books which Bellingham had
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: lent him, and his conscience pricked him for not having
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: returned it. However repellent the man might be, he should
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: not be treated with discourtesy. Taking the book, he walked
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: downstairs and knocked at his neighbour's door. There was no answer,
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: but on turning the handle he found that it was unlocked.
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: Pleased at the thought of avoiding an interview, he stepped
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: inside and placed the book with his card upon the table.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: The lamp was turned half down, but Smith could see
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: the details of the room plainly enough. It was all
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: much as he had seen it before. The frieze, the
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: animal-headed gods, the hanging crocodile, and the table littered over
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: with papers and dried leaves. The mummy case stood upright
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: against the wall, but the mummy itself was missing. There
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: was no sign of any second occupant of the room,
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: and he felt as he withdrew that he had probably
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: done Bellingham an injustice. Had he a guilty secret to preserve,
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: he would hardly leave his door open so that all
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the world might enter. The spiral stair was as black
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: as pitch, and Smith was slowly making his way down
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: its irregular steps, when he was suddenly conscious that something
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: had passed him in the darkness. There was a faint sound,
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: a whiff of air, a light brushing past his elbow,
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: but so slight that he could scarcely be certain of it.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: He stopped and listened, but the wind was rustling among
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: the ivy outside, and he could hear nothing else. Is
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: that you, Stiles? he shouted. There was no answer, and
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: all was still behind him. It must have been a
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: sudden gust of air, for there were crannies and cracks
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: in the old turret. And yet he could almost have
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: sworn that he heard a footfall by his very side.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: He had emerged into the quadrangle, still turning the matter
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: over in his head, when a man came running swiftly
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: across the smooth-cropped lawn. Is that you, Smith? Hello, Hasty.
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: For God's sake, come at once. Young Lee is drowned.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: Here's Harrington of King's with the news. The doctor is out.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: You'll do, but come along at once. There may be
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: life in him. Have you brandy? No. I'll bring some.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: There is a flask on my table. Smith bounded up
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: the stairs, taking three at a time, seized the flask
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: and was rushing down with it, when, as he passed
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: Bellingham's room, his eyes fell upon something which left him
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: gasping and staring upon the landing. The door which he
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: had closed behind him was open now, and right in
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: front of him, with the lamplight shining upon it, was
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: the mummy case. Three minutes ago it had been empty.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: He could swear to that. Now it framed the lank
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: body of its horrible occupant, who stood, grim and stark,
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: with his black shriveled face towards the door. The form
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: was lifeless and inert, but it seemed to Smith as
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: he gazed that there still lingered a lurid spark of vitality,
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: some faint sign of consciousness in the little eyes which
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: lurked in the depths of the hollow sockets. So astounded
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: and shaken was he that he had forgotten his errand,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: and still stood staring at the lean, sunken figure when
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: the voice of his friend below recalled him to himself.
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: Come on, Smith, he shouted. It's life and death, you know.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: Hurry up! Now then, he added, as the medical student reappeared,
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: let us do a sprint. It is well under a mile,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: and we should do it in five minutes. A human
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: life is better worth running for than a pot. Away
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: they dashed, neck and neck, through the darkness, and did
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: not pull up until, panting and spent, they had reached
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: the little cottage by the river. Yang Li, limp and
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: dripping like a broken water plant, was stretched upon the sofa,
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: the green scum of the river upon his black hair,
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: and a fringe of white foam upon his leaden-hued lips.
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: Beside him knelt his fellow-student Harrington and their old housekeeper,
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: endeavouring to chafe some warmth back into his rigid limbs.
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: I think there's life in him, said Smith, with his
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: hand to his side. Put your watch-glass to his lips. Yes,
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: there is dimming on it. You take one arm hasty.
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: Now work as I do, and we'll soon pull him round.
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: For ten minutes they worked in silence, inflating and depressing
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: the chest of the unconscious man. At the end of
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: that time a shiver ran through his body, his lips trembled,
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: and he opened his eyes. The three students burst out
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: into an irrepressible cheer. Wake up, old chap, you've frightened
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: us quite enough. Have some brandy, take a sip from
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: the flask. He's all right now, said his companion, Harrington. Heavens,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: what a fright I got! I was reading here, and
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: he went out for a stroll as far as the river,
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: when I heard a scream and a splash. Out I ran,
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: and by the time I could find him and fish
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: him out, all life seemed to have gone out of him.
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: Then Mrs. Simpson couldn't get a doctor, for she had
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: a game leg, and I had to run, and I
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: don't know what I'd have done without you fellows. That's right,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: old chap, sit up.' Monkhouse Lee had raised himself on
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: his hands and looked wildly about him.' What' s up?' he asked.'
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: I' ve been in the water,' Ah, yes, I remember. A
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: look of fear came into his eyes and he sank
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: his face in his hands. How did you fall in?
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: I didn't fall in. How then? I was thrown in.
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: I was standing by the bank and something from behind
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: picked me up like a feather and hurled me in.
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: I heard nothing and I saw nothing, but I know
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: what it was for all that. And so do I,
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: whispered Smith. Lee looked up with a quick glance of surprise.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: You've learned, then? he said. You remember the advice I
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: gave you? Yes, and I begin to think that I
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: shall take it. I don't know what the deuce you
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: fellows are talking about, said Hasty, but I think if
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: I were you, Harrington, I would get Lee to bed
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: at once. It will be time enough to discuss the
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: why and the wherefore when he is a little stronger.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: I think, Smith, you and I can leave him alone now.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: I am walking back to college. If you are coming
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: in that direction, we can have a chat. But it
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: was little chat that they had upon their homeward path.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: Smith's mind was too full of the incidents of the evening,
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: the absence of the mummy from his neighbor's rooms, the
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: step that passed him on the stair, the reappearance, the extraordinary,
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: inexplicable reappearance of the grisly thing, and then this attack
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: upon Lee, corresponding so closely to the previous outrage upon
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: another man against whom Bellingham bore a grudge. All this
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: settled in his thoughts, together with the many little incidents
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: which had previously turned him against his neighbour, and the
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: singular circumstances under which he was first called into him.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: What had been a dim suspicion a vague fantastic conjecture,
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: had suddenly taken form and stood out in his mind
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: as a grim fact, a thing not to be denied.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: And yet, how monstrous it was, how unheard of, how
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: entirely beyond all bounds of human experience! An impartial judge,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: or even the friend who walked by his side, would
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: simply tell him that his eyes had deceived him, that
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: the mummy had been there all the time, that young
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: Lee had tumbled into the river as any other man
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: tumbles into a river, and that a blue pill was
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: the best thing for a disordered liver. He felt that
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: he would have said as much if the positions had
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: been reversed. And yet he could swear that Bellingham was
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: a murderer at heart, and that he wielded a weapon
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: such as no man had ever used in all the
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: grim history of crimes. Hasty had branched off to his
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: rooms with a few crisp and emphatic comments upon his
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: friend's unsociability, and Abercrombie Smith crossed the quadrangle to his
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: corner turret with a strong feeling of repulsion for his
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: chambers and their associations. He would take Lee's advice and
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: move his quarters as soon as possible, for how could
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: a man study when his ear was ever straining for
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: every murmur or footstep in the room below? He observed
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: as he crossed over the lawn that the light was
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: still shining in Bellingham's window, and as he passed up
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: the staircase the door opened and the man himself looked
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: out at him. With his fat evil face he was
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: like some bloated spider fresh from the weaving of his
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: poisonous web.' Good evening,' said he.' Won' t you come in?'' No,'
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: cried Smith fiercely.' No? You are as busy as ever?'
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about Lee. I was sorry
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: to hear that there was a rumour that something was
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: amiss with him. His features were grave, but there was
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: the gleam of a hidden laugh in his eyes as
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: he spoke. Smith saw it, and he could have knocked
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: him down for it. You'll be sorrier still to hear
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: that Mr. Monkhouse Lee is doing very well and is
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: out of all danger, he answered. Your hellish tricks have
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: not come off this time. Oh, you needn't try to
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: brazen it out. I know all about it. Bellingham took
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: a step back from the angry student and half closed
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: the door as if to protect himself. You are mad,
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: he said. What do you mean? Do you assert that
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: I had anything to do with Lee's accident? Yes, thundered Smith.
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: You and that bag of bones behind you, you worked
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: it between you. I tell you what it is, Master B.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: They have given up burning folk like you, but we
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: still keep a hangman, and by George, If any man
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: in this college meets his death while you are here,
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: I'll have you up, and if you don't swing for it,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: it won't be my fault. You'll find that your filthy
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: Egyptian tricks won't answer in England. You're a raving lunatic,
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: said Bellingham. All right, you just remember what I say,
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: for you'll find that I'll be better than my word.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: The door slammed, and Smith went fuming up to his chamber,
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: where he locked the door upon the inside, and spent
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: half the night in smoking his old briar and brooding
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: over the strange events of the evening. On the next
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: day Abercrombie Smith heard nothing of his neighbour, but Harrington
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: called upon him in the afternoon to say that Lee
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: was almost himself again. All day Smith stuck fast to
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: his work, but in the evening he determined to pay
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: the visit to his friend Peterson, which he had started
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: upon the night before. It was the first time that
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: he had ever failed to put in an appearance, and
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: he knew that Peterson would be expecting an explanation for
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: his absence the previous evening. A good walk and a
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: friendly chat would be welcome to his jangled nerves after
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: all that had occurred. Bellingham's door was shut as he passed,
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: but glancing back when he was some distance from the turret,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: he saw his neighbour's head at the window outlined against
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: the lamplight, his face pressed apparently against the glass as
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: he gazed out into the darkness. It was a blessing
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: to be away from all contact with him, if but
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: for a few hours, and Smith stepped out briskly and
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: breathed the soft spring air into his lungs. The half-moon
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: lay in the west between two gothic pinnacles and threw
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: upon the silvered street a dark tracery from the stonework above.
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: There was a brisk breeze, and light, fleecy clouds drifted
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: swiftly across the sky. Olds was on the very border
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: of the town, and in five minutes Smith found himself
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: beyond the houses and between the hedges of a maze-centred
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: Oxfordshire lane. It was a lonely and little-frequented road which
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: led to his friend's house. Early as it was, Smith
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: did not meet a single soul upon his way. He
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: walked briskly along until he came to the avenue gate,
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: which opened into the long gravel drive leading up to Farlingford.
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: In front of him he could see the cosy red
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: light of the windows glimmering through the foliage. He stood
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: with his hand upon the iron latch of the swinging gate,
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: and he glanced back at the road along which he
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: had come. Something was coming swiftly down it. It moved
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: in the shadow of the hedge, silently and furtively, a dark,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: crouching figure, dimly visible against a black background. Even as
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: he gazed back at it, it had lessened its distance
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: by twenty paces and was fast closing upon him. Out
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: of the darkness he had a glimpse of a scraggy
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: neck and of two eyes that will ever haunt him
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: in his dreams. He turned, and with a cry of
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: terror he ran for his life up the avenue. There
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: were the red lights, the signals of safety, almost within
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: a stone's throw of him. He was a famous runner,
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: but never had he run as he ran that night.
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: The heavy gate had swung into place behind him, but
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: he heard it dash open again before his pursuer. As
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: he rushed madly and wildly through the night, he could
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: hear a swift dry patter behind him, and could see,
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: as he threw back a glance, that this horror was
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: bounding like a tiger at his heels, with blazing eyes
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: and stringy arms outthrown. Thank God the door was ajar.
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: He could see the thin bar of light which shot
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: from the lamp in the hall. Nearer yet sounded the
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: clatter from behind. He heard a horse gurgling at his
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: very shoulder. With a shriek he flung himself against the door,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: slammed and bolted it behind him, and sank half-fainting onto
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: the hall chair.' My goodness, Smith, what's the matter?' asked Peterson,
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: appearing at the door of his study. Give me some brandy.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: Peterson disappeared and came rushing out again with a glass
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: and a decanter. You need it, he said as his
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: visitor drank off what he poured out for him. Why, man,
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: you are as white as a cheese. Smith laid down
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: his glass, rose up and took a deep breath. I
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: am my own man again now, said he. I was
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: never so unmanned before.' But with your leave, Peterson, I
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: will sleep here to-night,' for I don't think I could
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: face that road again except by daylight.' It' s weak, I know,
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: but I can't help it.' Peterson looked at his visitor
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: with a very questioning eye.' Of course you shall sleep
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: here if you wish,' I'll tell Mrs. Burney to make
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: up the spare bed. Where are you off to now?
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: Come up with me to the window that overlooks the door.
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: I want you to see what I have seen. They
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: went up to the window of the upper hall, whence
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: they could overlook the whole front of the house. The
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: drive and the fields on either side lay quiet and still,
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: based in the peaceful moonlight. Well, really, Smith, remarked Petersen,
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: It is well that I know you to be an
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: abstemious man. What in the world can have frightened you?
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you presently. But where can it have gone? Ah, look, look!
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: See the curve of the road just beyond your gate. Yes,
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: I see you needn't pinch my arm off. I saw
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: someone pass. I should say a man, rather thin, apparently,
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: but tall, very tall. But what of him? And what
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: of yourself? You are still shaking like an aspen leaf.
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: I have been within hand-grip of the devil, that's all.
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: But come down to your study, and I shall tell
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: you the whole story. He did so. Under the cheery lamplight,
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: with a glass of wine on the table beside him,
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: and the portly form and florid face of his friend
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: in front, he narrated, in their order, all the events,
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: great and small, which had formed so singular a chain,
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: from the night on which he had found Bellingham fainting
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: in front of the mummy case until his horrid experience
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: of an hour ago. There now, he said as he concluded,
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: that's the whole black business. It is monstrous and incredible,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: but it is true. the Reverend Plumptree Peterson sat for
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: some time in silence with a very puzzled expression upon
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: his face.' I never heard of such a thing in
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: my life. Never,' he said at last.' You have told
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: me the facts. Now tell me your inferences. You can
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: draw your own. But I should like to hear yours.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: You have thought over the matter, and I have not.'' Well,'
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: It must be a little vague in detail, but the
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: main points seem to me to be clear enough. This
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: fellow Bellingham in his Eastern Studies has got hold of
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: some infernal secret by which a mummy, or possibly only
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: this particular mummy, can be temporarily brought to life. He
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: was trying this disgusting business on the night when he fainted.
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: No doubt the sight of the creature moving had shaken
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: his nerve, even though he had expected it. You remember
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: that almost the first words he said was to call
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: out upon himself as a fool. Well, he got more
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: hardened afterwards, and carried the matter through without fainting. The
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: vitality which he could put into it was evidently only
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: a passing thing, for I have seen it continually in
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: its cases dead at this table. He has some elaborate process,
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: I fancy, by which he brings the thing to pass.'
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: Having done it, he naturally bethought him that he might
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: use the creature as an agent. It has intelligence, and
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: it has strength. For some purpose he took Lee into
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: his confidence, but Lee, like a decent Christian, would have
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with such a business. Then they had
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 1: a row, and Lee vowed that he would tell his
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: sister of Bellingham's true character. Bellingham's game was to prevent him,
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: and he nearly managed it, by setting this creature of
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: his on his track. He had already tried its powers
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: upon another man, Norton, towards whom he had a grudge.
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: It is the merest chance that he has not two
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: murders upon his soul. Then, when I taxed him with
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: the matter, he had the strongest reasons for wishing to
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: get me out of the way before I could convey
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: my knowledge to anyone else. He got his chance when
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: I went out, for he knew my habits and where
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: I was bound for. I have had a narrow shave, Petersen,
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: and it is mere luck you didn't find me on
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: your doorstep in the morning. I am not a nervous
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: man as a rule, and I never thought to have
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: the fear of death put upon me as it was to-night.''
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: My dear boy, you take the matter too seriously,' said
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: his companion.' Your nerves are out of order with your work,
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: and you make too much of it. How could such
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: a thing as this stride about the streets of Oxford?'
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: even at night, without being seen. It has been seen.
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: There is quite a scare in the town about an
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: escaped ape, as they imagine the creature to be. It
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: is the talk of the place. Well, it's a striking
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: chain of events. And yet, my dear fellow, you must
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: allow that each incident in itself is capable of a
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: more natural explanation. What? Even my adventure of tonight? Certainly.
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: You come out with your nerves all unstrung and your
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: head full of this theory of yours. Some gaunt, half-famished
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: tramp steals after you, and seeing you run is emboldened
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: to pursue you. Your fears and imagination do the rest.
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: It won't do, Peterson, it won't do. And again, in
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: the instance of your finding the mummy case empty, and
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: then a few moments later with an occupant, You found
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: that it was lamplight, that the lamp was half turned down,
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: and that you had no special reason to look hard
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: at the case. It is quite possible that you may
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: have overlooked the creature in the first instance. No, no,
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: it is out of the question. And then Lee may
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: have fallen into the river, and Norton been garroted. It
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: is certainly a formidable indictment that you have against Bellingham,
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: But if you were to place it before a police magistrate,
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: he would simply laugh in your face. I know he would.
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: This is why I mean to take the matter into
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: my own hands. Eh? Yes, I feel that a public
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: duty rests upon me. And besides, I must do it
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: for my own safety, unless I choose to allow myself
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: to be hunted by this beast out of the college,
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: and that would be a little too feeble. I have
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: quite made up my mind what I shall do. And
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: first of all, may I use your paper and pens
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: for an hour? Most certainly. You will find all that
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: you want upon that side table. Abercrombie Smith sat down
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: before a sheet of fool's cap, and for an hour,
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: and then for a second hour, his pen travelled swiftly
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: over it. Page after page was finished and tossed aside,
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: while his friend leaned back in his armchair, looking across
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: at him with patient curiosity. At last, with an exclamation
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: of satisfaction, Smith sprang to his feet, gathered his papers
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: up into order, and laid the last one upon Peterson's desk.
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: Kindly sign this as a witness, he said. A witness?
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: Of what? Of my signature and of the date. The
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: date is the most important. Why, Peterson, my life might
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: hang upon it. My dear Smith, you are talking wildly.
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: Let me beg you to go to bed. On the contrary,
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: I never spoke so deliberately in my life, and I
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: will promise to go to bed the moment you have
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: signed it. But what is it? It is a statement
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: of all that I have been telling you tonight. I
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: wish you to witness it. Certainly, said Peterson, signing his
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: name on the dart of his companion. There you are.
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: But what is the idea? You will kindly retain it
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: and produce it in case I am arrested. Arrested? For what?
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: For murder. It's quite on the cards. I wish to
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: be ready for every event. There is only one course
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: open to me, and I am determined to take it.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: For heaven's sake, don't do anything rash. Believe me, it
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: would be far more rash to adopt any other course.
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: I hope that we won't need to bother you, but
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: it will ease my mind to know that you have
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: this statement of my motives. And now I am ready
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: to take your advice and to go to roost, for
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: I want to be at my best in the morning.
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie Smith was not an entirely pleasant man to have
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: as an enemy. Slow and easy-tempered, he was formidable when
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: driven to action. he brought to every purpose in life
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: the same deliberate resoluteness which had distinguished him as a
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: scientific student. He had laid his studies aside for a day,
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: but he intended that the day should not be wasted.
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: Not a word did he say to his host as
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: to his plans, but by nine o'clock he was well
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: on his way to Oxford. In the high street he
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 1: stopped at Clifford's, the gunmaker's, and bought a heavy revolver
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: with a box of central fire cartridges. Six of them
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: he slipped into the chambers, and, half cocking the weapon,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: placed it in the pocket of his coat. He then
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: made his way to Hastie's rooms, where the big oarsman
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: was lounging over his breakfast, with the sporting times propped
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: up against a coffee pot.' Hello! What's up?' he asked.'
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: Have some coffee?'' No, thank you. I want you to
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: come with me, Hasty, and do what I ask you.'' Certainly,
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: my boy.'' And bring a heavy stick with you.'' Hello!'
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: Hasty stared.' Here is a hunting crop that would fell
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: an ox.' One other thing. You have a box of
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: amputating knives.' Give me the longest of them. There you are.
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: You seem to be fairly on the war trail. Anything else? No,
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: that will do. Smith placed a knife inside his coat
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: and led the way to the quadrangle. We're neither of
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: us chickens, Hasty, said he. I think I can do
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: this job alone, but I take you as a precaution.
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: I'm going to have a little talk with Bellingham. If
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: I have only him to deal with, I won't, of course,
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: need you. If I shout, however, up you come and
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: lamb out with your whip as hard as you can lick.
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: Do you understand? All right. I'll come if I hear
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: you bellow. Stay here, then. I may be a little time,
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: but don't budge until I come down. I'm a fixture.
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: Smith ascended the stairs, opened Bellingham's door, and stepped in.
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: Bellingham was seated behind his table, writing. Beside him, among
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: his litter of strange possessions, towered the mummy case, with
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: its sale number 249 still stuck upon its front and
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: its hideous occupant stiff and stark within it. Smith looked
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: very deliberately round him, closed the door, locked it, and
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: took the key from the inside, and then, stepping across
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: to the fireplace, struck a match and set the fire alight.
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: Bellingham sat staring, with amazement and rage upon his bloated face. Well,
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: really now, you make yourself at home, he gasped. Smith
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: sat himself deliberately down, placed his watch upon the table,
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: drew out his pistol, cocked it, and laid it in
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: his lap. Then he took the long amputating knife from
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: his bosom and threw it down in front of Bellingham.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Now then, said he, Just get to work and cut
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: up that mummy. Oh, is that it? said Bellingham with
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: a sneer. Yes, that is it. They tell me that
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: the law can't touch you, but I have a law
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: that will set matters straight. If in five minutes you
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: have not set to work, I swear by the God
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: who made me that I will put a bullet through
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: your brain. You would murder me? Bellingham had half risen,
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: and his face was the colour of clay. Yes. And
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: for what? To stop your mischief. One minute has gone.
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: But what have I done? I know, and you know.
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: This is mere bullying. Two minutes are gone. But you
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: must give reasons. You are a madman, a dangerous madman.
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 1: Why should I destroy my own property? It is a
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: valuable mummy.' You must cut it up and you must
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: burn it. I will do no such thing. Four minutes
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: are gone. Smith took up the pistol and he looked
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: towards Bellingham with an inexorable face. As the second hand
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: stole round, he raised his hand and the finger twitched
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: upon the trigger. There, there, I'll do it, screamed Bellingham.
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: In frantic haste he caught up the knife and hacked
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: at the figure of the mummy, ever glancing round to
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: see the eye and the weapon of his terrible visitor
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: bent upon him. The creature crackled and snapped under every
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: stab of the keen blade. A thick yellow dust rose
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: up from it. Spices and dried essences rained down upon
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: the floor. Suddenly, with a rending crack, its backbone snapped asunder,
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: and it fell, a brown heap of sprawling limbs, upon
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: the floor. Now, into the fire, said Smith. The flames
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: leaped and roared as the dried and tinder-like debris was
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: piled upon it. The little room was like the stokehole
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: of a steamer, and a sweat ran down the faces
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: of the two men. But still the one stooped and worked,
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: while the other sat watching him with a set face.
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: A thick fat smoke oozed out from the fire, and
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: a heavy smell of burned rosin and singed hair filled
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: the air. In a quarter of an hour a few
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: charred and brittle sticks were all that was left of
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: lot number 249. Perhaps that will satisfy you, snarled Bellingham
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: with hate and fear in his little grey eyes as
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: he glanced back at his tormentor. No, I must make
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: a clean sweep of all your materials. We must have
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: no more devil's tricks. In with all these leaves, they
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: may have something to do with it. And what now?
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: asked Bellingham when the leaves also had been added to
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: the blaze. Now the roll of papyrus which you had
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: on the table that night. It is in that drawer,
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: I think. No, no, shouted Bellingham. Don't burn that. Why, man,
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: you don't know what you do. It is unique. It
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: contains wisdom which is nowhere else to be found. Out
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: with it. But look here, Smith, you can't really mean it.
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: I'll share the knowledge with you. I'll teach you all
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: that is in it. Or stay. Let me only copy
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: it before you burn it. Smith stepped forward and turned
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: the key in the drawer. Taking out the yellow-curled roll
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 1: of paper, he threw it into the fire and pressed
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: it down with his heel. Bellingham screamed and grabbed at it,
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: but Smith pushed him back and stood over it until
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: it was reduced to a formless grey ash. Now, Master B.,
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: said he, I think I have pretty well drawn your teeth.
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: You'll hear from me again if you go back to
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: your old tricks. And now, good morning, for I must
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 1: go back to my studies. And such is the narrative
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: of Abercrombie Smith as to the singular events which occurred
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: in Old College, Oxford, in the spring of eighty-four. As
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: Bellingham left the university immediately afterwards and was last heard
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: of in the Sudan, there is no one who can
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: contradict his statement. But the wisdom of men is small,
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: and the ways of nature are strange, and who shall
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: put a bound to the dark things which may be
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: found by those who seek for them? Thanks for listening.