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20 - Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham · Moon and Sixpence

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  Speaker 1: Chapters fifty five and fifty six of The Moon and Sixpence.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Barryeades. The Moon and
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  Speaker 1: Sixpence by William Somerset Maum, Chapter fifty five. Mister Coutras
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  Speaker 1: was an old Frenchman of great stature and exceeding bulk.
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  Speaker 1: His body was shaped like a huge duck's egg, and
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  Speaker 1: his eyes sharp blue and good natured, rested now and
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  Speaker 1: then with satisfaction on his enormous paunch. His complexion was
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  Speaker 1: florid and his hair white. He was a man to
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  Speaker 1: attract immediate sympathy. He received us in a room that
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  Speaker 1: might have been in a house in a provincial town
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  Speaker 1: in France, and the one or two Polynesian curios had
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  Speaker 1: an odd look. He took my hand in both of
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  Speaker 1: his they were huge, and he gave me a heart look,
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  Speaker 1: in which, however, was great shrewdness. When he shook hands
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  Speaker 1: with capitomt Brunal, he inquired politely after Madame ellisent fants
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  Speaker 1: for some minutes. There was an exchange of courtesies, and
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  Speaker 1: some local gossip about the island, the prospects of Copra
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  Speaker 1: and the vanilla crop. Then we came to the object
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  Speaker 1: of my visit. I shall not tell what Doctor Cutrace
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  Speaker 1: related to me in his words but in my own,
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  Speaker 1: for I cannot hope to give at second hand any
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  Speaker 1: impression of his vivacious delivery. He had a deep, resonant
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  Speaker 1: voice fitted to his massive frame, and a keen sense
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  Speaker 1: of the dramatic. To listen to him was, as the
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  Speaker 1: phrase goes, as good as a play, and much better
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  Speaker 1: than most. It appears that doctor Coutras had gone one
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  Speaker 1: day to te A Vale in order to see an
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  Speaker 1: old chiefess who was ill, and he gave a vivid
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  Speaker 1: picture of the obese old lady lying in a huge bed,
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  Speaker 1: smoking cigarettes and surrounded by a crowd of dark retainers.
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  Speaker 1: When he had seen her, he was taken into another
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  Speaker 1: room and given dinner raw fish, fried bananas and chicken casage,
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  Speaker 1: the typical dinner of the Andijan. And while he was
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  Speaker 1: eating it, he saw a young girl being driven away
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  Speaker 1: from the door in tears. He thought nothing of it,
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  Speaker 1: but when he went out to get into his trap
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  Speaker 1: and drive home, he saw her again, standing a little
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  Speaker 1: way off. She looked at him with a woebegone air,
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  Speaker 1: and tears streamed down her cheeks. He asked someone what
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: was wrong with her, and was told that she had
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  Speaker 1: come down from the hills to ask him to visit
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  Speaker 1: a white man who was sick. They had told her
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: that the doctor could not be disturbed. He called her
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  Speaker 1: and himself asked what she wanted. She told him that
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  Speaker 1: Ata had sent her, she who used to be at
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  Speaker 1: the Hotel de la Fleur, and that the red one
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  Speaker 1: was ill. She thrust into his hand a crumpled piece
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  Speaker 1: of newspaper, and when he opened it he found in
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  Speaker 1: it a hundred franc note. Who is the red one,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: he asked one of the bystanders. He was told that
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  Speaker 1: that was what they called the Englishman, a painter who
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  Speaker 1: lived with Ata up in the valley, seven kilometers from
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  Speaker 1: where they were. He recognized Strickland by the description. But
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  Speaker 1: it was necessary to walk. It was impossible for him
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  Speaker 1: to go. That was why they had sent the girl away.
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  Speaker 1: I confess, said the doctor, turning to me, that I hesitated.
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  Speaker 1: I did not relish fourteen kilometers over a bad pathway,
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  Speaker 1: and there was no chance that I could get back
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  Speaker 1: to Papyeti that night. Besides, Strickland was not sympathetic to me.
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  Speaker 1: He was an idle, useless scoundrel who preferred to live
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  Speaker 1: with a native woman rather than work for his living
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  Speaker 1: like the rest of us. Mon dieu, How was I
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  Speaker 1: to know that one day the world would come to
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  Speaker 1: the conclusion that he had genius? I asked the girl
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  Speaker 1: if he was not well enough to have come down
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  Speaker 1: to see me. I asked her what she thought was
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  Speaker 1: the matter with him. She would not answer. I pressed
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  Speaker 1: her angrily, perhaps, but she looked down on the ground
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  Speaker 1: and began to cry. Then I shrugged my shoulders. After all,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps it was my duty to go, and in a
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  Speaker 1: very bad temper, I bade her lead the way. His
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  Speaker 1: temper was certainly no better when he arrived, perspiring freely
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  Speaker 1: and thirsty. Ada was on the lookout for him, and
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  Speaker 1: came a little way along the path to meet him.
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  Speaker 1: Before I see any one, give me something to drink,
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  Speaker 1: or I shall die of thirst, he cried out. Pour
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  Speaker 1: le mord dejeu, give me a cocoanut, she called out,
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  Speaker 1: and a boy came running along. He swarmed up a
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  Speaker 1: tree and presently threw down a ripe nut. Ada pierced
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  Speaker 1: a hole in it, and the doctor took a long,
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  Speaker 1: refreshing draft. Then he rolled himself a cigarette and felt
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  Speaker 1: in a bitter humor. Now where is the red one,
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  Speaker 1: he asked. He is in the house painting. I have
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  Speaker 1: not told him you were coming. Go in and see him.
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  Speaker 1: But what does he complain of If he is well
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  Speaker 1: enough to paint, he is well enough to have come
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  Speaker 1: down to Terra Vale and save me this confounded walk.
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  Speaker 1: I presume time is no less valuable than his. Ada
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  Speaker 1: did not speak, but with the boy, followed him to
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  Speaker 1: the house. The girl who had brought him was by
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  Speaker 1: this time sitting on the verandah, and here was lying
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  Speaker 1: an old woman with her back to the wall, making
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  Speaker 1: native cigarettes. Ada pointed to the door. The doctor, wondering
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: irritably why they behaved so strangely, entered and there found
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  Speaker 1: Strickland cleaning his palate. There was a picture on the easel. Strickland,
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  Speaker 1: clad only in a pario, was standing with his back
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  Speaker 1: to the door, but he turned round when he heard
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  Speaker 1: the sound of boots. He gave the doctor a look
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  Speaker 1: of vexation. He was surprised to see him and resented
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  Speaker 1: the intrusion. But the doctor gave a gasp. He was
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  Speaker 1: rooted to the floor, and he stared with all his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: This was not what he expected. He was seized with horror.
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  Speaker 1: You enter without ceremony, said Strickland. What can I do
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  Speaker 1: for you? The doctor recovered himself, but it required quite
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: an effort for him to find his voice. All his
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: irritation was gone, and he felt and then we genle Neppa.
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  Speaker 1: He felt an overwhelming pity. I am doctor Cutrace. I
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  Speaker 1: was down at Terravo to see the Chiefess, and Ada
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  Speaker 1: sent for me to see you. She's a damned fool.
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  Speaker 1: I have had a few aches and pains lately, and
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  Speaker 1: a little fever, but that's nothing. It will pass off.
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  Speaker 1: Next time anyone went to Papy eighty, I was going
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  Speaker 1: to send for some quinine. Look at yourself in the glass.
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  Speaker 1: Strickland gave him a glance, smiled, and went over to
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  Speaker 1: a cheap mirror in a wooden frame that hung on
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  Speaker 1: the wall. Well, do you not see a strange change
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  Speaker 1: in your face? Do you not see the thickening of
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  Speaker 1: your features? And a look? How shall I describe it?
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  Speaker 1: The books call it lion faced mont provey, O me,
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  Speaker 1: must I tell you that you have a terrible disease?
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  Speaker 1: I when you look at yourself in the glass, you
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  Speaker 1: see the typical appearance of the leper. You are jesting,
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  Speaker 1: said Strickland. I wish to god I were. Do you
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  Speaker 1: intend to tell me that I have leprosy? Unfortunately there
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  Speaker 1: can be no doubt of it. Doctor Coutras had delivered
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  Speaker 1: sentence of death on many men, and he could never
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  Speaker 1: overcome the horror with which it filled him. He felt
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  Speaker 1: always the furious hatred that must seize a man condemned.
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  Speaker 1: When he compared himself with the doctor, saying and healthy,
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  Speaker 1: who had the inestimable privilege of life, Strickland looked at
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  Speaker 1: him in silence. Nothing of emotion could be seen on
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  Speaker 1: his face, disfigured already by the loathsome disease. Do they know?
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  Speaker 1: He asked at last, pointing to the persons on the verandah,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: now sitting in unusual, unaccountable silence. These natives know the
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  Speaker 1: signs so well, said the doctor. They were afraid to
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  Speaker 1: tell you. Strickland stepped to the door and looked out.
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  Speaker 1: There must have been something terrible in his face, for
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  Speaker 1: suddenly They all burst out into loud cries and lamentation.
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  Speaker 1: They lifted up their voices and they wept. Strickland did
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  Speaker 1: not speak. After looking at them for a moment, he
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  Speaker 1: came back into the room. How long do you think
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  Speaker 1: I can last? Who knows? Sometimes the disease continues for
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  Speaker 1: twenty years. It is a mercy when it runs its
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  Speaker 1: course Quickly. Strickland went to his easel and looked reflectively
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  Speaker 1: at the picture that stood on it. You have had
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  Speaker 1: a long journey. It is fitting that the bearer of
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  Speaker 1: important tidings should be rewarded. Take this picture. It means
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  Speaker 1: nothing to you now, but it may be that one
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  Speaker 1: day you will be glad to have it. Doctor Coutras
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  Speaker 1: protested that he needed no payment for his journey. He
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  Speaker 1: had already given back to Aida the hundred franc note,
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  Speaker 1: but Strickland insisted that he should take the picture. Then
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  Speaker 1: together they went out on the verandah. The natives were
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  Speaker 1: sobbing violently. Be quiet, woman, dry thy tears, said Strickland,
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  Speaker 1: addressing Ada, There is no great harm. I shall leave
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  Speaker 1: thee very soon. They are not going to take thee away,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: she cried. At that time, there was no rigid sequestration
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  Speaker 1: on the islands and lepers. If they chose were allowed
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  Speaker 1: to go free, I shall go up into the mountain,
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  Speaker 1: said Strickland. Then Ada stood up and faced him. Let
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  Speaker 1: the others go if they choose, But I will not
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  Speaker 1: leave thee. Thou art my man, and I am thy woman.
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  Speaker 1: If thou leavest me, I shall hang myself on the
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  Speaker 1: tree that is behind the house. I swear it by God.
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  Speaker 1: There was something immensely forcible in the way she spoke.
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  Speaker 1: She was no longer the meek, soft native girl, but
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  Speaker 1: a determined woman. She was extraordinarily transformed. Why shouldst thou
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  Speaker 1: stay with me? Thou canst go back to papy EIGHTI
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  Speaker 1: and thou wilt soon find another white man. The old
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  Speaker 1: woman can take care of thy children, and Tierre will
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  Speaker 1: be glad to have thee back. Thou art my man,
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  Speaker 1: and I am thy woman. Whither thou goest, I will
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  Speaker 1: go too. For a moment, Strickland's fortitude was shaken, and
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  Speaker 1: a tear filled each of his eyes and trickles slowly
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  Speaker 1: down his cheeks. Then he gave the sardonic smile which
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  Speaker 1: was usual with him. Women are strange little beasts, he
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  Speaker 1: said to doctor Coutras. You can treat them like dogs.
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  Speaker 1: You can beat them till your arm aches, and still
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  Speaker 1: they love you. He shrugged his shoulders. Of course, it
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  Speaker 1: is one of the most absurd illusions of Christianity that
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  Speaker 1: they have souls. What is it that thou art saying
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  Speaker 1: to the doctor, asked Ada suspiciously, thou wilt not go?
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  Speaker 1: If it please THEE, I will stay, poor child. Ada
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  Speaker 1: flung herself on her knees before him and clasped his
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  Speaker 1: legs with her arms and kissed them. Strickland looked at
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  Speaker 1: doctor Coutras with a faint smile. In the end, they
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  Speaker 1: get you, and you are helpless in their hands. White
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  Speaker 1: or brown, they are all the same. Doctor Coutras felt
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  Speaker 1: that it was absurd to offer expressions of regret in
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  Speaker 1: so terrible a disaster, and he took his leave. Strickland
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  Speaker 1: told Tane the boy to lead him to the village.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Doctor Coutras paused for a moment, and then he addressed
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  Speaker 1: himself to me. I did not like him. I have
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: told you he was not sympathetic to me. But as
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I walked slowly down to Terravao, I could not prevent
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  Speaker 1: an unwilling admiration for the stoical courage which enabled him
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  Speaker 1: to bear perhaps the most dreadful of human afflictions. When
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  Speaker 1: Taine left me, I told him I would send some
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  Speaker 1: medicine that might be of service. But my hope was
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  Speaker 1: small that Strickland would consent to take it, and even
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  Speaker 1: smaller that if he did, it would do him good.
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  Speaker 1: I gave the boy a message for Ada that I
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  Speaker 1: would come whenever she sent for me. Life is hard,
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  Speaker 1: and nature takes sometimes a terrible delight in torturing her children.
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  Speaker 1: It was with a heavy heart that I drove back
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  Speaker 1: to my comfortable home in Papiete. For a long time,
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  Speaker 1: none of us spoke, but Ada did not send for me.
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  Speaker 1: The doctor went on at last, and it chanced that
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  Speaker 1: I did not go to that part of the island
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  Speaker 1: for a long time. I had no news of Strickland.
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  Speaker 1: Once or twice I heard that Ada had been to
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  Speaker 1: Papyetti to buy painting materials, but I did not happen
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  Speaker 1: to see her. More than two years passed before I
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: went to Terravo again, and then it was once more
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  Speaker 1: to see the old chiefess. I asked them whether they
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: had heard anything of Strickland. By now it was known
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  Speaker 1: everywhere that he had leprosy. First tame the boy had
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: left the house, and then a little time afterwards the
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  Speaker 1: old woman and her grandchild, Strickland and Ada were left
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  Speaker 1: alone with their babies. No one went near the plantation, for,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: as you know, the natives have a very lively horror
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: of the disease, and in the old days, when it
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: was discovered, the sufferer was killed. But sometimes when the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: village boys were scrambling about the hills, they would catch
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: sight of the white man with his great red beard
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: wandering about. They fled in terror. Sometimes Ada would come
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: down to the village at night and arouse the trader
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: so that he might sell her various things of which
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: she stood in need. She knew that the natives looked
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: upon her with the same horrified aversion as they looked
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: upon Strickland, and she kept out of their way. Once
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: some women venturing nearer than usual to the plantation saw
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: her washing clothes in the brook, and they threw stones
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: at her. After that the trader was told to give
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: her the message that if she used the brook again,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: men would come and burn down her house. Brutes, I said,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: may known moncheer monsieur men are always the same. Fear
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: makes them cruel. I decided to see Strickland, and when
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: I had finished with the Chiefess, asked for a boy
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  Speaker 1: to show me the way, But none would accompany me,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: and I was forced to find it alone. When Doctor
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Cutrace arrived at the plantation, he was seized with a
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: feeling of uneasiness. Though he was hot from walking, he shivered.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: There was something hostile in the air which made him hesitate,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: and he felt that invisible forces barred his way. Unseen
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: hands seemed to draw him back. No one would go
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: near now to gather the cocoanuts, and they lay rotting
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: on the ground. Everywhere was desolation. The bush was encroaching,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: and it looked as though very soon the prime evil
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: force would regain possession of that strip of land which
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: had been snatched from it at the cost of so
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: much labor. He had the sensation that here was the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: abode of pain. As he approached the house, he was
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: struck by the unearthly silence, and at first he thought
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: it was deserted. Then he saw Ada. She was sitting
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: on her haunches in the lean to that served as
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: her kitchen, watching some mess cooking in a pot. Near her.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: A small boy was playing silently in the dirt. She
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: did not smile when she saw him. I have come
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: to see Strickland, he said, I will go and tell him.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: She went to the house, ascended the few steps that
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: led to the verandah, and entered. Doctor Cutras followed her,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: but waited outside in obedience to her gesture. As she
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: opened the door, he smelt the sickly sweet smell which
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: makes the neighborhood of the leper nauseus. He heard her speak,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: and then he heard Strickland's answer, but he did not
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: recognize the voice. It had become hoarse and indistinct. Doctor
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Coutras raised his eyebrows. He judged that the disease had
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: already attacked the vocal cords. Then Ada came out again.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: He will not see you. You must go away, doctor
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Coutras insisted, but she would not let him pass. Doctor
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Coutrace shugged his shoulders, and, after a moment's rejection, turned away.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: She walked with him. He felt that she too wanted
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: to be rid of him. Is there nothing I can
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: do at all? He asked? You can send him some paints?
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: She said, there is nothing else he wants. Can he paint? Still?
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: He is painting the walls of the house. This is
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: a terrible life for you, my poor child. Then at
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: last she smiled, and there was in her eyes a
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: look of superhuman love. Doctor Coutras was startled by it
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and amazed, and he was awed. He found nothing to say.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: He is my man, she said, Where is your other child?
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: He asked, When I was here last, you had two? Yes,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: it died. We buried it under the mango. When Ada
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: had gone with him a little way, she said she
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: must turn back. Doctor Coutras surmised she was afraid to
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: go farther in case she met any of the people
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: from the village. He told her again that if she
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: wanted him, she had only to send, and he would
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: come at once. So ends Chapter fifty five Chapter fifty six.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Then two years more went by, or perhaps three, for
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: time passes imperceptibly Intohiti, and it is hard to keep
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: count of it. But at last a message was brought
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: to doctor Coutras that Strickland was dying. Ada had waylaid
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the cart that took the mail to Papa eighty and
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: besought the man who drove it to go at once
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: to the doctor, but the doctor was out when the
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: summons came, and it was evening when he received it.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: It was impossible to start at so late an hour,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: and so it was not till next day, soon after dawn,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: that he sent out. He arrived at Terravao, and for
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: the last time tramped the seven kilometers that led to
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: AIDA's house. The path was overgrown, and it was clear
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: that for years now it had remained all but untrodden.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: It was not easy to find the way. Sometimes he
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: had to stumble along the bed of the stream, and
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: sometimes he had to push through shrubs dense and thorny.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Often he was obliged to climb over rocks in order
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: to avoid the hornets nests that hung on the trees
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: over his head. The silence was intense. It was with
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: a sigh of relief that at last he came upon
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: the little, unpainted house, extraordinarily bedraggled now and unkempt. But
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: here too was the same intolerable silence. He walked up,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and a little boy playing unconcernedly in the sunshine started
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: at his approach and fled quickly away to him. The
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: stranger was the enemy doctor Coutras had a sense that
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: the child was stealthily watching him from behind a tree.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: The door was wide open. He called out, but no
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: one answered. He stepped in. He knocked at a door,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: but again there was no answer. He turned the handle
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and entered. The stench that assailed him turned him horribly sick.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: He put his handkerchief to his nose and forced himself
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: to go in. The light was dim and after the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: brilliant sunshine, for a while he could see nothing. Then
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: he gave a start. He could not make out where
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: he was. He seemed, on a sudden to have entered
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: a magic world. He had a vague impression of a
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: great primeval forest and of naked people walking beneath the trees.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Then he saw that there were paintings on the walls.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: An dieu. I hope the sun hasn't affected me, he muttered.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: A slight movement attracted his attention, and he saw that
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Ada was lying on the floor, sobbing quietly. Ada, he
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: called Aida. She took no notice. Again, the beastly stench
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: almost made him faint, and he lit a cheroot. His
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, and now he was
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: seized by an over overwhelming sensation as he stared at
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: the painted walls. He knew nothing of pictures, but there
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: was something about these that extraordinarily affected him. From floor
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: to ceiling, the walls were covered with a strange and
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: elaborate composition. It was indescribably wonderful and mysterious. It took
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: his breath away. It filled him with an emotion which
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: he could not understand or analyze. He felt the awe
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: and the delight which a man might feel who watched
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the beginning of a world. It was tremendous, sensual, passionate,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and yet there was something horrible there too, something which
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: made him afraid. It was the work of a man
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: who had delved into the hidden depths of nature and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: had discovered secrets which were beautiful and fearful too. It
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: was the work of a man who knew things which
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: it was unholy for men to know. There was something
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: prime evil there and terrible. It was not human. It
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: brought to his mind vague recollections of black magic. It
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: was beautiful and obscene. Mon dieu, this is genius. The
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: words were wrung from him, and he did not know
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: he had spoken. Then his eyes fell on the bed
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: of mats in the corner. And he went up, and
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: he saw the dreadful, mutilated, ghastly object which had been Strickland.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: He was dead. Doctor Cutrace made an effort of will
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: and bent over that battered horror. Then he started violently,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: and terror blazed in his heart, for he felt that
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: some one was behind him. It was Ada. He had
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: not heard her get up. She was standing at his elbow,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: looking at what he looked at. Good Heavens, my nerves
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: are all distraught, he said. You nearly frighten me out
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: of my wits. He looked again at the poor dead
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: thing that had been man, and then he started back
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: in dismay. But he was blind, Yes, he had been
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: blind for nearly a year. So ends Chapter fifty six.