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04 - Nightmare Tales by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Nightmare Tales

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  Speaker 1: Section three of Nightmare Tales by Helena P. Bolvotsky. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Bin Tucker,
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  Speaker 1: The Cave of the Echoes a strange but true story footnote.
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  Speaker 1: The stories given from the narrative of an eye witness,
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  Speaker 1: a Russian gentleman, very pious and fully trustworthy. Moreover, the
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  Speaker 1: facts are copied from the police records of p The
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  Speaker 1: eye witness in question attributes it, of course, partly to
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  Speaker 1: divine interference and partly to the evil one H. P.
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  Speaker 1: B In footnote. In one of the distant governments of
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  Speaker 1: the Russian Empire, in a small town on the borders
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  Speaker 1: of Siberia, a mysterious tragedy occurred more than thirty years
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  Speaker 1: ago about six versts from the little town of p
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  Speaker 1: famous for the wild beauty of its scenery and for
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  Speaker 1: the wealth of its inhabitants, generally proprietors of mines and
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  Speaker 1: of iron foundries, stood an aristocratic mansion. Its household consisted
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  Speaker 1: of the master, a rich old bachelor, and his brother,
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  Speaker 1: who was a widower and the father of two sons
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  Speaker 1: and three daughters. It was known that the proprietor, mister
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  Speaker 1: Izvertzov had adopted his brother's children, and having formed an
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  Speaker 1: especial attachment for his eldest and nephew, Nicholas, he had
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  Speaker 1: made him the sole heir of his numerous estates. Time
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  Speaker 1: rolled on. The uncle was getting old, the nephew was
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  Speaker 1: coming of age. Days and years had passed in monotonous serenity,
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  Speaker 1: when on the hitherto clear horizon of the quiet family
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  Speaker 1: appeared a cloud. On an unlucky day, one of the
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  Speaker 1: nieces took it into her head to study the zither.
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  Speaker 1: The instrument being of purely Teutonic origin and no teacher
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  Speaker 1: of it residing in the neighborhood, the indulgent uncle sent
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  Speaker 1: to Saint Petersburg for both. After diligent search, only one
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  Speaker 1: professor could be found willing to trust himself in such
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  Speaker 1: close proximity to Siberia. It was an old German artist, who,
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  Speaker 1: sharing his affections equally between his instrument and a pretty
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  Speaker 1: blond daughter, would part with neither. And thus it came
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  Speaker 1: to pass that one fine morning the year the old
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  Speaker 1: professor arrived at the mansion with his music box under
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  Speaker 1: one arm and his fair munchin leaning on the other.
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  Speaker 1: From that day the little cloud began growing rapidly, for
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  Speaker 1: every vibration of the melodious instrument found a responsive echo
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  Speaker 1: in the old bachelor's heart. Music awakens love, they say,
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  Speaker 1: and the work begun by the zither was completed by
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  Speaker 1: Munchin's blue eyes. At the expiration of six months, the
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  Speaker 1: niece had become an expert zither player, and the uncle
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  Speaker 1: was desperately in love. One morning, gathering his adopted family
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  Speaker 1: around him, he embraced them all very tenderly, promised to
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  Speaker 1: remember them in his will, and wound up by declaring
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  Speaker 1: his unalterable resolution to marry the blue eyed Munchin. After this,
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  Speaker 1: he fell upon their necks and wept in silent rapture.
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  Speaker 1: The family, understanding that they were cheated out of the inheritance,
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  Speaker 1: also wept, but it was for another cause. Having thus wept,
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  Speaker 1: they consoled themselves and tried to rejoice, for the old
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  Speaker 1: gentleman was sincerely beloved by all. Not all of them rejoiced,
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  Speaker 1: though Nicholas, who had himself been smitten to the heart
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  Speaker 1: by the pretty German, and who found himself defrauded at
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  Speaker 1: once of his bell and of his uncle's money, neither
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  Speaker 1: rejoiced nor consoled himself, but disappeared for a whole day. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: mister Izvertzov had given orders to prepare his traveling carriage
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  Speaker 1: on the following day, and it was whispered that he
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  Speaker 1: was going to the chief town of the district, at
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  Speaker 1: some distance from his home, with the intention of altering
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  Speaker 1: his will. Though very wealthy, he had no superintendent on
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  Speaker 1: his estate, but kept his books himself. The same evening,
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  Speaker 1: after supper, he was heard in his room angrily scolding
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  Speaker 1: his servant, who had been in his service for over
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  Speaker 1: thirty years. This man, Ivan, was a native of Northern
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  Speaker 1: Asia from kung Shatka. He had been brought up by
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  Speaker 1: the family in the Christian religion and was thought to
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  Speaker 1: be very much attached to his master. A few days later,
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  Speaker 1: when the first tragic circumstance I am about to relate
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  Speaker 1: had brought all the police force to the spot, it
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  Speaker 1: was remembered that on that night Ivan was drunk, that
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  Speaker 1: his master, who had a horror of this vice, had
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  Speaker 1: paternally thrashed him and turned him out of his room,
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  Speaker 1: and that Ivan had been seen reeling out of the
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  Speaker 1: door and had been heard to mutter threats on the
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  Speaker 1: vast domain of mister Izbertsov, there was a curious cavern
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  Speaker 1: which excited the curiosity of all who visited it. It
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  Speaker 1: exists to this day as well known to every inhabitant
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  Speaker 1: of Pea. A pine forest, commencing a few feet from
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  Speaker 1: the garden gate, climbs in steep terraces up a long
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  Speaker 1: range of rocky hills, which it covers with a broad
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  Speaker 1: belt of impenetrable vegetation. The grotto leading into the cavern,
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  Speaker 1: which is known as the Cave of the Echoes, is
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  Speaker 1: situated about half a mile from the site of the mansion,
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  Speaker 1: from which it appears as a small excavation in the hillside,
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  Speaker 1: almost hidden by luxuriant plants, but not so completely as
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  Speaker 1: to prevent any person entering it from being readily seen
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  Speaker 1: from the terrace in front of the house. Entering the grotto,
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  Speaker 1: the explorer finds at the rear a narrow cleft, having
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  Speaker 1: passed through which he emerges into a lofty cavern, feebly
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  Speaker 1: lighted through fissures and the vaulted roof fifty feet from
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  Speaker 1: the ground. The cavern itself is immense and would easily
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  Speaker 1: hold between two and three thousand people. A part of
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  Speaker 1: it in the days of mister Izvertsov was paved with
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  Speaker 1: flagstones and was often used in the summer as a
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  Speaker 1: ball room by picnic parties. Of an irregular oval. It
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  Speaker 1: gradually narrows into a broad corridor which runs for several
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  Speaker 1: miles underground, opening here and there into other chambers as
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  Speaker 1: large and lofty as the ball room, but unlike this,
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  Speaker 1: impassable otherwise than in a boat, as they are always
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  Speaker 1: full of water. These natural basins have the reputation of
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  Speaker 1: being unfathomable. On the margin of the first of these
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  Speaker 1: is a small platform with several mossy rustic seats arranged
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  Speaker 1: on it, and it is from this spot that the
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  Speaker 1: phenomenal echoes which give the cavern its name are heard,
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  Speaker 1: in all their weirdness. A word pronounced in a whisper
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  Speaker 1: or even a sigh is caught up by endless mocking voices,
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  Speaker 1: and instead of diminishing in volume as honest echoes do,
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  Speaker 1: the sound grows louder and louder at every successive repid titian,
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  Speaker 1: until at last it bursts forth like the repercussion of
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  Speaker 1: a pistol shot, and recedes in a plaintive wail down
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  Speaker 1: the corridor. On the day in question, mister Itzbertzov had
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  Speaker 1: mentioned his intention of having a dance party in this
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  Speaker 1: cave on his wedding day, which he had fixed for
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  Speaker 1: an early date. On the following morning, while preparing for
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  Speaker 1: his drive, he was seen by his family entering the grotto,
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  Speaker 1: accompanied only by his Siberian servant. Half an hour later,
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  Speaker 1: Ivan returned to the mansion for a snuff box which
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  Speaker 1: his master had forgotten in his room, and went back
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  Speaker 1: with it to the cave. An hour later, the whole
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  Speaker 1: house was startled by his loud cries. Pale and dripping
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  Speaker 1: with water, Ivan rushed in like a madman and declared
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  Speaker 1: that mister Itzbertzov was nowhere to be found in the cave.
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  Speaker 1: Thinking he had fallen into the lake, he had dived
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  Speaker 1: into the first basin in search of him and was
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  Speaker 1: nearly drowned himself. The day passed in vain attempts to
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  Speaker 1: find the body. The police filled the house, and louder
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  Speaker 1: than the rest in his despair was Nicholas, the nephew,
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  Speaker 1: who had returned home only to meet the sad tidings.
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  Speaker 1: A dark suspicion fell upon Ivan the Siberian. He had
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  Speaker 1: been struck by his master the night before, and had
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  Speaker 1: been heard to swear revenge. He had accompanied him alone
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  Speaker 1: to the cave, and when his room was searched, a
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  Speaker 1: box full of rich family jewelry, known to have been
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  Speaker 1: carefully kept in mister Izvertzov's apartment, was found under Ivan's bedding.
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  Speaker 1: Vainly did the serf call God to witness that the
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  Speaker 1: box had been given to him in charge by his
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  Speaker 1: master himself just before they proceeded to the cave, that
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  Speaker 1: it was the latter's purpose to have the jewelry reset
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  Speaker 1: as he intended it for a wedding present to his bride,
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  Speaker 1: and that he Ivan would willingly give his own life
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  Speaker 1: to recall that of his master if he knew him
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  Speaker 1: to be dead. No heed was paid to him, however,
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  Speaker 1: and he was arrested and thrown into prison upon a
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  Speaker 1: charge of murder. There he was left for under the
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  Speaker 1: Russian law, a criminal cannot at any rate. He could not,
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  Speaker 1: in those days be sentenced for a crime, however conclusive
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  Speaker 1: the circumstantial evidence, unless he confessed his guilt. After a
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  Speaker 1: week had passed in useless search, the family arrayed themselves
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  Speaker 1: in deep mourning, and as the will as originally drawn
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  Speaker 1: remained without a courtaicil. The whole of the property passed
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  Speaker 1: into the hands of the nephew. The old teacher and
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  Speaker 1: his daughter bore this sudden reverse of fortune with true
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  Speaker 1: Germanic phlegm, and prepared to depart, taking again his thither
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  Speaker 1: under one arm. The old man was about to lead
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  Speaker 1: away his muncheon by the other when the nephew stopped
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  Speaker 1: him by offering himself as the fair damsel's husband in
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  Speaker 1: the place of his departed uncle. The change was found
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  Speaker 1: to be an agreeable one, and without much ado, the
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  Speaker 1: young people were married. Ten years roll away, and we
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  Speaker 1: meet the happy family once more. At the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine, the fair muncheon had grown fat and vulgar.
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  Speaker 1: From the day of the old man's disappearance. Nicholas had
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  Speaker 1: become morose and retired in his habits, and many wondered
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  Speaker 1: at the change in him. For now he was never
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  Speaker 1: seen to smile. It seemed as if his only aim
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  Speaker 1: in life were to find out his uncle's murderer, or
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  Speaker 1: rather to bring Ivan to confess his guilt, But the
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  Speaker 1: man still persisted that he was innocent. An only son
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  Speaker 1: had been born to the young couple, and a strange child.
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  Speaker 1: It was small, delicate, and ever ailing. His frail life
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  Speaker 1: seemed to hang by a thread when his features were
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  Speaker 1: in repose. His resemblance to his uncle was so striking
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  Speaker 1: that the members of the family often shrank from him
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  Speaker 1: in terror. It was the pale, shriveled face of a
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  Speaker 1: man of sixty upon the shoulders of a child nine
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  Speaker 1: years old. He was never seen either to laugh or
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  Speaker 1: to play, but, perched in his high chair, would gravely
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  Speaker 1: sit there, folding his arms in a way peculiar to
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  Speaker 1: the late mister Izuertzoff, and thus he would remain for hours,
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  Speaker 1: drowsy and motionless. His nurses were often seen furtively crossing
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  Speaker 1: themselves at night upon approaching him, and not one of
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  Speaker 1: them would consent to sleep alone with him in the nursery.
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  Speaker 1: His father's behavior towards him was still more strange. He
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  Speaker 1: seemed to love him passionately and at the same time
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  Speaker 1: to hate him bitterly. He seldom embraced or caressed the child,
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  Speaker 1: but would livid cheek and staring eye. He would pas
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  Speaker 1: past long hours watching him as the child sat quietly
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  Speaker 1: in his corner in his goblin like old fashioned way.
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  Speaker 1: The child had never left the estate, and few outside
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  Speaker 1: the family knew of his existence. About the middle of July,
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  Speaker 1: a tall Hungarian traveler preceded by a great reputation for eccentricity,
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  Speaker 1: wealth and mysterious powers, arrived at the town of Pea
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  Speaker 1: from the north, where it was said he had resided
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  Speaker 1: for many years. He settled in the little town and
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  Speaker 1: company with a shaman or South Siberian magician, on whom
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  Speaker 1: he was said to make mesmeric experiments. He gave dinners
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  Speaker 1: and parties, and invariably exhibited his shaman, of whom he
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  Speaker 1: felt very proud for the amusement of his guests. One day,
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  Speaker 1: the notables of p made an unexpected invasion of the
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  Speaker 1: domains of Nicholas itsvertsov and requested the loan of his
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  Speaker 1: cave for an evening entertainment. Nicholas consented with great reluctance,
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  Speaker 1: and only after still greater hesitancy was he prevailed upon
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  Speaker 1: to join the party. The first cavern and the platform
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  Speaker 1: beside the bottomless lake glittered with lights. Hundreds of flickering
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  Speaker 1: candles and torches stuck in the clefts of the rocks
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  Speaker 1: illuminated the place and drove the shadows from the mossy
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  Speaker 1: nooks and corners where they had crouched undisturbed for many years.
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  Speaker 1: The stalagtites on the walls sparkled brightly, and the sleeping
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  Speaker 1: echoes were suddenly awakened by a joyous confusion of laughter
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  Speaker 1: and conversation. The shaman, who was never lost sight of
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  Speaker 1: by his friend and patron, sat in a corner entranced
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  Speaker 1: as usual, crouched on a projecting rock about midway between
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  Speaker 1: the entrance and the water. With his lemon yellow, wrinkled face,
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  Speaker 1: flat nose, and thin beard, he looked more like an
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  Speaker 1: ugly stone idol than a human being. Many of the
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  Speaker 1: company pressed around him and received correct answers to their questions.
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  Speaker 1: The Hungarian cheerfully submitted his mesmerized subject to cross examination.
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  Speaker 1: Suddenly one of the party, a lady, remarked that it
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  Speaker 1: was in that very cave that old mister Itzertsov had
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  Speaker 1: so unaccountably disappeared tim years before. The foreigner appeared interested
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  Speaker 1: and desired to learn more of the circumstances. So Nicholas
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  Speaker 1: was sought amid the crowd and led before the eager group.
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  Speaker 1: He was the host, and he found it impossible to
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  Speaker 1: refuse the demanded narrative. He repeated the sad tale in
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  Speaker 1: a trembling voice with a pallid cheek, and tears were
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  Speaker 1: seen glittering in his feverish eyes. The company were greatly affected,
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  Speaker 1: and in communs upon the behavior of the loving nephew
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  Speaker 1: and honoring the memory of his uncle and benefactor, were
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  Speaker 1: freely circulating in whispers. When suddenly the voice of Nicholas
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  Speaker 1: became choked. His eyes started from their sockets, and with
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  Speaker 1: a suppressed groan, he staggered back every eye. The crowd
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  Speaker 1: followed with curiosity his haggard look as it fell, and
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  Speaker 1: remained riveted upon a weazened little face that peeped from
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  Speaker 1: behind the back of the Hungarian. Where do you come from?
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  Speaker 1: Who brought you here? Child? Gasped out Nicholas, as pale
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  Speaker 1: as death. I was in bed, Papa. This man came
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  Speaker 1: to me and brought me here in his arms, answered
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  Speaker 1: the boy, some pointing to the shaman beside whom he
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  Speaker 1: stood upon the rock, and who, with his eyes closed,
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  Speaker 1: kept swaying himself to and fro like a living pendulum.
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  Speaker 1: That is very strange, remarked one of the guests, For
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  Speaker 1: the man has never moved from his place. Good God,
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  Speaker 1: what an extraordinary resemblance, muttered an old resident of the town,
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  Speaker 1: a friend of the lost man. You lie, child, fiercely
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed the father. Go to bed. This is no place
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  Speaker 1: for you. Come. Come, interposed the Hungarian, with a strange
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  Speaker 1: expression on his face, and encircled with his arm the slender,
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  Speaker 1: childish figure. The little fellow has seen the double of
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  Speaker 1: my shumman, which roams sometimes far away from his body,
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  Speaker 1: and has mistaken the phantom for the man himself. Let
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  Speaker 1: him remain with us for a while. At these strange words,
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  Speaker 1: the guests stared at each other in mute surprise, while
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  Speaker 1: some piously made the sign of the cross, spitting aside,
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  Speaker 1: presumably at the devil in all his works. By the bye,
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  Speaker 1: continued the Hungarian, with a peculiar firmness of accent, and
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  Speaker 1: addressing the company rather than any one in particular. Why
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  Speaker 1: should we not try, with the help of my shaman
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  Speaker 1: to unravel the mystery hanging over the tragedy? Is the
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  Speaker 1: suspected party still lying in prison? What he has not
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  Speaker 1: confessed up to now? This is surely very strange, But
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  Speaker 1: now we will learn the truth in a few minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Let us all keep silent. He then approached the tehuk
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  Speaker 1: Chenne and immediately began his performance, without so much as
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  Speaker 1: asking the consent of the master of the place. The
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  Speaker 1: latter stood rooted to the spot, as if petrified with
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  Speaker 1: horror and unable to articulate a word. The suggestion met
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  Speaker 1: with general approbation, save from him and the police inspector.
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  Speaker 1: Colonel s especially approved of the idea. Ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: said the mesmerizer in soft tones, allow me for this
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  Speaker 1: once to proceed. Otherwise than in my general fashion, I
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  Speaker 1: will employ the method of native magic. It is more
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  Speaker 1: appropriate to this wild place and far more effective, as
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  Speaker 1: you will find, than our European method of mesmerization. Without
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  Speaker 1: waiting for an answer, he drew from a bag that
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  Speaker 1: never left his person, first a small drum, and then
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  Speaker 1: two little files, one full of fluid, the other empty
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  Speaker 1: with the contents of the former. He sprinkled the shaman,
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  Speaker 1: who fell to trembling and nodding more violently than ever.
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  Speaker 1: The air was filled with the perfume of spicy odors,
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  Speaker 1: and the atmosphere itself seemed to become clearer. Then, to
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  Speaker 1: the horror of those present, he approached the Tibetan, and,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: taking a miniature stiletto from his pocket, he plunged the
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  Speaker 1: sharp steel into the man's forearm and drew blood from it,
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  Speaker 1: which he caught in the empty file. When it was
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  Speaker 1: half filled, he pressed the orifice of the wound with
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  Speaker 1: his thumb and stopped the flow of blood as easily
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  Speaker 1: as if he had corked a bottle, after which he
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  Speaker 1: sprinkled the blood over the little boy's head. He then
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  Speaker 1: suspended the drum from his neck, and with two ivory drumsticks,
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  Speaker 1: which were covered with magic signs and letters, he began
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  Speaker 1: beating a sort of ravail to drum up the spirits.
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  Speaker 1: As he said. The bystanders, half shocked and half terrified
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  Speaker 1: by these extraordinary proceedings, eagerly crowded round him, and for
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  Speaker 1: a few moments a dead silence reigned throughout the lofty cavern. Nicholas,
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  Speaker 1: with his face livid and corpselike, stood speechless. As before.
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  Speaker 1: The Mesmerizer had placed himself between the shaman and the platform.
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  Speaker 1: When he began slowly drumming, the first notes were muffled
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  Speaker 1: and vibrated so softly in the air that they awakened
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  Speaker 1: no echo, but the shaman quickened his pendulum like motion,
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  Speaker 1: and the child became restless. The drummer then began a
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  Speaker 1: slow chant, low, impressive, and solemn. As the unknown words
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  Speaker 1: issued from his lips. The flames of the candles and
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  Speaker 1: torches wavered and flickered until they began dancing in rhythm
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  Speaker 1: with the chant. A cold wind came wheezing from the
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  Speaker 1: dark corridors beyond the water, leaving a plaintive echo and
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  Speaker 1: its trail. Then a sort of nebulous vapor, seeming to
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  Speaker 1: ooze from the rocky ground and walls gathered about the
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  Speaker 1: shaman and the boy around the latter. The oro was
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  Speaker 1: silvery and transparent, but the cloud which enveloped the former
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  Speaker 1: was red and sinister. Approaching nearer to the platform, the
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  Speaker 1: magician beat a louder roll upon the drum, and this
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  Speaker 1: time the echo caught it up with terrific effect. It
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  Speaker 1: reverberated near and far in incessant peals. One wail followed another,
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  Speaker 1: louder and louder, until the thunderous roar seemed the chorus
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  Speaker 1: of a thousand demon voices rising from the fathomless depths
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  Speaker 1: of the lake, the water itself whose surface, illuminated by
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  Speaker 1: many lights, had previously been smooth as a sheet of glass,
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  Speaker 1: became suddenly agitated, as if a powerful gust of wind
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  Speaker 1: had swept over its unruffled face. Another chant and a
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: roll of the drum, and the mountain trembled to its
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: foundation with the cannon like peals which rolled through the
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: dark and distant corridors. The shaman's body rose two yards
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: in the air, and, nodding and swaying, sat self suspended
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: like an apparition. But the transformation which which now occurred
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: and the boy, chilled every one as they speechlessly watched
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: the scene. The silvery cloud about the boy now seemed
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: to lift him too, into the air, but unlike the shaman,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: his feet never left the ground. The child began to grow,
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: as though the work of years was miraculously accomplished. In
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: a few seconds, he became tall and large, and his
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: senile features grew older with the aging of his body.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: A few more seconds in the youthful form had entirely disappeared.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: It was totally absorbed in another individuality, and to the
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: horror of those present who had been familiar with his appearance,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: this individuality was that of old mister Itzbertsov, and on
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: his temple was a large gaping wound, from which trickled
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: great drops of blood. This phantom moved towards Nicholas till
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: it stood directly in front of him, while he, with
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: his hair standing erect, with the look of a madman,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: gazed at his own son transformed into his uncle. The
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: separoquarrel silence was broken by the Hungarian, who dressed the
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: child bentem asked him in solemn voice, in the name
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: of the Great Master of him who has all power,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: answer the truth, and nothing but the truth, restless spirit,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: hast thou been lost by accident or foully murdered? The
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: specter's lips moved, but it was the echo which answered
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: for them in lugubrious shouts. Murdered, murdered, murdered, Where how
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: by whom asked the conjuror. The apparition pointed a finger
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: at Nicholas, and, without removing its gaze or lowering its arm,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: retreated backwards slowly towards the lake. At every step it
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: took the young itsverts off, as if compelled by some
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: irresistible fascination, advanced a step towards it, until the phantom
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: reached the lake, and the next moment was seen gliding
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: on its surface. It was a fearful, ghostly scene. When
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: he had come within two steps of the brink of
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the watery Abyss, a violent convulsion ran through the frame
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: of the guilty man. Flinging himself upon his knees, he
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: clung to one of the rustic seats with a desperate clutch, and,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: staring wildly, uttered a long piercing cry of agony. The
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: phantom now remained motionless on the water, and bending its
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: extended finger, slowly beckoned him to come. Crouched in abject terror,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the wretched man shrieked until the cavern rang again and again.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: I did not no, I did not murder you. Then
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: came a splash, and now it was the boy who
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: was in the dark water, struggling for his life in
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the middle of the lake, with the same motionless stern
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: apparition brooding over him. Papa, Papa, save me. I am drowning,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: cried a piteous little voice amid the uproar of the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: mocking echoes. My boy shrieked, Nicholas, in the accents of
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: a maniac, springing to his feet, My boy save him, Oh,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: save him. Yes, I confess I am the murderer. It
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: is I who killed him. Another splash, and the phantom disappeared.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: With a cry of horror. The company rushed towards the platform,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: but their feet were suddenly rooted to the ground as
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: they saw amid the swirling eddies, a whitish, shapeless mass,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: holding the murderer and the boy in tight embrace, and
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: slowly sinking into the bottomless lake. On the morning after
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: these occurrences, when after a sleepless night, some of the
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: party visited the residence of the Hungarian gentlemen, they found
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: it closed and deserted. He and the shaman had disappeared.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Many are among the old inhabitants of p who remember him.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: The police inspector, Colonel s dying a few years ago,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: in the full assurance that the noble traveler was the devil.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: To add to the general consternation, the Itzvertzoff mansion took
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: fire on that same night and was completely destroyed. The
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: archbishop performed the ceremony of exorcism, but the locality is
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: considered accursed to this day. The government investigated the facts
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: and ordered silence. End of Section three