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08 - The Scorpion. · The Scorpion by Anna Elisabet Weirauch.

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: When Myra awoke the next morning, she found a bright,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: cheerful winter sunshine in the room. Her first thought was
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: of Olga. She was not there. Her coat, too, was
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: gone from its hook. Myra felt a sudden pang of terror.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Olga was gone, forever would not return, was lost, irretrievably lost.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Myra sprang out of bed, suddenly wide awake. Then she
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: saw Olga's hat and gloves. She picked up the gloves
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: and stroked them, pressing them against her cheek. A sense
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of joy and tranquility seemed to emanate from the soft
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: gray leather. So it was no dream, no witchery. Olga
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: had really been there, Olga would return. The gloves retained
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the shape of her beautiful slender hands, were still filled
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: with their life. From below came a familiar grinding and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: scraping sound. Myra ran in her bare feet to the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: window and drew the heavy white tulle curtain a little
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: to one side. On the window ledge lay a thick
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: cushion of white snow. The houses below all had roofs
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of dazzling white, while above, flashed a sky of the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: purest blue. In front of the hotel, the servant of
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the house was scraping a dark path with his shovel
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: through the white carpet. Beside him stood Olga, her coat open,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: both hands plunged in its pockets, her head thrust somewhat
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: forward in the intentness of her conversation with the old man.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Myra gazed down for a while, delighting in every line
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of Olga's figure. She watched her speak, seeming to hear
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the intonations of her voice. She wondered what she could
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: find to talk about with the servant. She admired her
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: talent for embarking on conversations with all kinds of people
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: and giving each just the proper tone. Myra knew that
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: talent of hers. If Olga were in the mood, she
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: could make the grouchiest waiter or conductor beam at her.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: After a few moments Olga suddenly glanced up. She must
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: have felt Myra's gaze. She saw her standing at the window,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: or perhaps only the trembling curtain. She waved and ran
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: into the house. Olga brought a breath of cool snowy
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: air into the room. Her eyes were as clear and
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: as transparent as ice, while a very faint rosy flush
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: mantled her cheeks. Where have you been you gadabout? asked Myra.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Have a nice long sleep, my wench? Olga inquired by
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: way of reply. I've been walking. I was in town.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I wanted to get some flowers for your breakfast table.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: But flowers in winter. Such sinful things are unheard of here.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: But there's a bake shop below. One of those with
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: steps and a railing in front of the door. You
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: know the kind. And a gold pretzel up above. And
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: it smells of fresh bread. Hurry up. I've got a
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: ravening appetite. They breakfasted in their room. Then Myra urged
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: that they go walking. Snow and sunshine beckoned them out.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: First you must write to your father, said Olga seriously. Yes,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: said Myra, making a face. You don't want to accept
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: any responsibility, I know without your saying it. She sat
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: down and wrote a long well-considered letter. She described the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: incidents at Uncle George's with much humor. She told where
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: she was stopping, earnestly begged her father to let her
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: remain where she felt happy and was in no one's way.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: She begged him too to believe that she was a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: mature and intelligent person and knew exactly what was best
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: for her. And she begged him to pay back the
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: money which she had unwillingly borrowed from Uncle George, and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: to support her for the short period until she came
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: of age, or else to give her an advance against
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: her grandmother's legacy. But of the fact that she was
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: not alone, she did not write him a word. They
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: took the letter together to be mailed. Olga already knew
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: the way. When the letter had dropped into the blue box,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: she breathed more freely and took Myra's arm. Come, she said.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: What had to be done is done. In three days
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: you may get an answer. But let us enjoy those
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: three days. Do you suppose, said Myra, glowering, that any
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: power on earth could compel me to return home? If
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: they won't send me money, I'll hire out to do
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: washing or sewing, or I'll run up debts. I don't know,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: said Olga. I only know that as long as that
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: letter is on its way we are safe. No living
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: soul knows where we are. That's a glorious feeling. As
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: if one were safe behind walls and moats. But once
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: that letter arrives the drawbridge will be lowered. What will
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: happen then I do not know. I know nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: But it's always possible that we'll be torn into little pieces.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: Then why did we lower the drawbridge? Asked Myra, stopping short.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Why did you force me to write? Olga smiled rather gloomily.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Because I will not accept responsibility, she said, making an
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: effort to jest. They walked along the broad streets with
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the little low houses. The show windows were strangely fascinating.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: As they entered the woods it was suddenly still and
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: warm about them, so warm that their faces, lashed by
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the wind, began to burn. In the branches high above them,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: the wind murmured, now and again shaking down a silvery
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: star to the dark ground. But they did not feel
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the cold rush of its fall. They wandered plunged in silence.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Only when gay titmice flitted past, or a squirrel dashed
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: up a tree trunk, did they indicate it to one
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: another by a gesture, a whisper. And when their glances met,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: they remained fixed on one another till they smiled and
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: closed their eyes. Aha, there it is, said Olga at last. What? Where?
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: asked Myra in surprise. Olga pointed ahead. A red brick
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: wall was suddenly visible between the tree trunks. Did you
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: know all the time where we were going? Myra was
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: filled with wonder. Of course, child. I would not lead
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: you through here at random. By all human computations, this
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: should be the wild cat's lair. In summer there's coffee, music,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and dancing here. In winter we may get a bite
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: to eat, if we're lucky. The servant at the hotel
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: told me all about it this morning. Such a lovely
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: story about a haunted mill where there are only a donkey,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: a cat and a dove, and one other animal. Look,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: there goes the dove and there's the cat, but not
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: a soul to be seen. Are you frightened, Myra? Wait
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: and see, the cat will say something to us. They
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: crossed a kind of in courtyard and shook a couple
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: of locked doors. They can't have died, said Olga. pointing
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: to the wisp of smoke that arose from the chimney.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Or perhaps the cat made the fire. But if she
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: can do that, she can also cook us something to eat.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: They found one door open. Through a cold and empty hall,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: from the ceiling of which hung strips of torn and
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: dusty paper, they reached another door that gave when they
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: lifted the latch. The room they next entered was filled
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: with a comfortable warmth and a penetrating smell of cabbage.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: An iron stove was giving off a glowing heat, while
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: on top a blue enamel pot was bubbling and steaming.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: At one of the tables a big-boned maid was sitting sprawled,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: eating her mess of cabbage with her knife. Good day, Anna,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: said Olga, beaming affably. Well, how goes it? Does it
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: taste good? The girl rose slowly, grinning. I'm not Anna,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: she said. The girl before me was Anna. I'm Bertha.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: It's lovely and warm in here, Bertha. Olga drew off
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: her gloves and spread her fingers before the fire. And
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: it smells wonderfully of cabbage. Will you give us a
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: little of your lunch? If the ladies would like something
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: to eat, I'll ask the mistress. The black and white
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: spotted cat stole into the room. There's the wild cat,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: said Olga. Come here, Mize. Come to me. The cat
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: let her pick him up and hold him. Olga stroked
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: him and pressed him to her while she talked to
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: him in a whisper. asking sympathetic questions. Strange that you
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: like cats so much and can't bear dogs, said Myra
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: a little disapprovingly. It's certainly typical of you. Olga raised
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: her head quickly and her brows were lifted. In what
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: way is it typical? Because you set more value on
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: grace than on faithfulness, said Myra with a melancholy smile.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Because you love what scratches you unexpectedly more than what
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: lets itself be whipped and then licks your hand. I
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: guess I'll have to take care that you don't grow
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: to despise me. Olga pushed the cat off her lap. No, Myra,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: she said, her big eyes grave. There you misunderstand me completely.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I have an antipathy to dogs not because they are faithful,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: but because they are shameless. Because they carry on their
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: love affairs on the street. Again that crimson flush overspread
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: her features. Cats are more cultured about such things, if
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I may use that much misused word. There are insects
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: that mate only in the darkest nights, in the most
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: forsaken corners, so that no forester has ever succeeded in
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: observing them. I've always held that there will come a
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: time when we will speak of the barbarous practices of
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: this century, or the last ten centuries, as if they
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: were a fairy tale. Just think how tremendously funny it
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: must strike any sensitive person when two people, having conceived
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: a certain desire to go to bed with one another,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: set a special date for the event. they inform certain
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: public institutions the state the church they tell their friends
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: and relations their own parents their own brothers and sisters
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: on the day which is to end in that night
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: they gather everybody they know about them let themselves be
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: observed by persons who stuffed and drink until they are sick,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: listen to suggestive songs and suggestive speeches, and yet do
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: not get sick themselves. I've always had a feeling that
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: marriage as it is practiced today would be fit punishment
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: for a hardened criminal. It is such a cruel such
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: an exquisite torture. Myra, my child, oblige me and if
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you ever decide to marry, do it when you desire
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: and not on some appointed day. Do it in utter
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: secrecy so that no living soul can suspect the possibility
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: of such a thing. Aye, cried Myra, her eyes filled
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: with the horror of a shattered dream. Aye. Yes, you,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: said Olga, smiling. Ah, my child, do you fancy that
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: you even begin to suspect all the things that can
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: still happen in your life? The next day they went
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: to see if there was a letter. Olga was relieved
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: to find none. This blessed postal service, she said. The
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: mail comes here only once a day. Myra shook her head.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I don't understand you. I shan't really be able to
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: rest until the answer comes. Until then we're always on
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the covive, sitting on a volcano or some such thing.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Once we know where we're at, then we can arrange matters. Eventually...
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I'll have to write to the attorney who is my
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: grandmother's executor. He will surely advance me some money on
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: which we can live for the six months until I'm
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: of age. But I wish I were finished with all
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: these things. Olga played with the fringe of the tablecloth
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: and smiled. Why do you keep smiling? asked Myra. Because
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: you make such elaborate plans. Your father will write come
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: and you will go. You know very well that that
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: is impossible. said Myra almost angrily. Olga rose with a
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: shrug of her shoulders and walked to the window. Perhaps
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: I will send you, she said in a hard voice.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: That afternoon they took another long walk across the fields.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: The early nightfall surprised them, and they did not reach
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the hotel until dark. They trudged along the highway, struggling
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: hard against the wind, and saw the lights of the
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: town beginning to twinkle in the blue dusk. Strange, said Olga.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: We're going home. There is a town ahead of us
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: whose name I had never heard of three days ago,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: and yet it is home to me. There is a
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: hotel room in which some salesmen may have slept three
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: days ago, a room in which there is not a picture,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: not a book to attract me, and yet I call
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: it home. When I think of our gas heater and
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: its reflection of the worn carpet, I feel so warm
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: that I scarcely notice the wind. How happy a person
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: must be who really has her own home. and loves
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: each chair in the color of the carpet and the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: light of the lamp in each picture in each cup.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: You could have that, said Myra. I? Never. Never. Never.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: But you can. Myra objected somewhat timidly. If you have
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: the patience, in six months. Olga laughed abruptly. Child! She
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: cried and hugged Myra's arm tighter. My dear, sweet, wonderful
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: little creature. In six months. Where will you be then
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: and where will I? You will be married perhaps and
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: I dead. As they entered the room, something white was
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: lying upon the dark table cover. Myra seized it and
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: ran to the window. The lantern outside shed a faint light.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: It was an urgent telegram. Turn on the light, please,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: she asked in a rather shaky voice. She tore the
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: message out of the envelope and read it in the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: dusk by the window. She read it again by the
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: bright gas light. It was no different. Your father has
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: suffered a stroke, and expected hourly. Without a word, Myra
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: handed the open telegram to Olga, and walked past her
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: to the heater. She held her hands in front of
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the flame, and was filled with the strangely painful sensation
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: of not knowing how she ought to behave, for no
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: feeling welled up irresistibly from the depths of her being,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: darkening every thought, neither grief nor fear, nor yet love.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: only ugly, painful thoughts. Now I'll have to go away
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: and arrive too late anyhow, so that it's quite useless
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: for me to go at all. If he really is
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: going to die, why couldn't I have just received word
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: that he's dead instead? Then no power on earth could
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: drag me away from here. She cast a stealthy glance
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: at Olga whose back was still toward her. She'll wait
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: for me to do something, she thought. I'll have to
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: say something or other. I suppose the most natural thing
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: for me to do would be to cry. But I
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: simply can't. Of course I think it's dreadful. But it's
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: nothing to weep about. What would Olga do in my place?
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Strange how little we actually know of one another. I
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: don't know what she would do. And I don't know
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: what she expects me to do. At last Olga turned,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: laying the paper on the table with a beautiful and
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: extraordinarily discreet gesture. Her face was calm but very pale.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: I'll go ask about the trains, she said and went
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: out quietly. Myra was glad to be left alone for
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: a moment. She could now consider in quiet what was
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: to be done. If Olga were going to inquire about
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: the trains, she must accept it as a foregone conclusion
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: that Myra would leave at once for home. And it
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: probably was a foregone conclusion, of course it was. She
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: rose with a sigh from her easy chair by the fire,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: opened her suitcase and began to pack. Meanwhile her thoughts
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: kept flying hither and thither. Perhaps it was not true.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Perhaps Aunt Emily had thought it up to lure her
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: back home. To shut her up in prison. If only
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: a telegram would come from her father. Denying the first.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Or supposing it were true. If only a telegram would
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: come from Aunt Emily saying that all was over. Then
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: she would not have to go. Or would Olga demand
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: that she go. If only Olga would come back now
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: and say. There is no train, not today, not tomorrow,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: not ever. The trains are snowbound. Or there's been a washout.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Or if Olga would return and say, Don't go. Don't
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: leave me. Let us go somewhere else, anywhere they can't
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: find us. Prove to me how much you love me.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Give up everything for me. What is that strange dead
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: man to you? Nothing. You belong to me or mine.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: I demand of you that you remain with me. I
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: don't want to be parted from you, not for a
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: single hour. Yes, that would be the most beautiful way,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: but of all impossible things, the most impossible. Olga opened
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: the door. Her movements, though quick, were as gentle as
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: if she were entering a sick room. At 9.45, she
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: said and glanced at her wristwatch. So we have plenty
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: of time to pack and eat a bite. Myra felt
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: a twinge of something like resentment. She had to go.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: She was simply being sent. Would Olga have gone in
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: her place? Olga acted freely and flew in the face
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: of everything that was considered convention. But Myra must be
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: bound by what was normal commonplace proper. The train left
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: at 9.45. She was not even asked if she wanted
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: to take it. It was the next train therefore she
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: was to go on it. She continued to pack her
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: suitcase with a sullen expression. Can I help you? asked
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Olga gravely and gently. Thanks no, said Myra curtly. Olga's
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: compassionate tone tormented her. She would have liked so much
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: to speak the brutal truth. You don't need to treat
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: me as if I were an invalid. The worst of
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: this business for me is that we have to part,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: that I have to go away from here, that our
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: fairytale life here must end. But she did not possess
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: the courage to say so. Yet she felt that Olga
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: was withdrawing herself almost timidly, as if she had no
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: right to disturb Myra in her sacred, childish grief. In packing,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Myra's hand accidentally touched something carefully wrapped in tissue paper
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: on the bottom of the suitcase. She tore off the wrapping,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: so that the shreds fluttered to the floor and held
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: the gold cigarette case in her hand. Oh, Myra! cried
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Olga with a soft exclamation of surprise. There it is again.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: How long has it been there? It has never been
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: anywhere else. said Myra with a rather strained smile. I
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: could never bring myself to give it into a stranger's
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: dirty hands. I really did not want to say anything
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: about it to you. I intended to send it to
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: you at Christmas. But that's all silliness. I'd rather give
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: it to you now. Myra walked over and placed it
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: in Olga's hands. Olga held the case very quietly on
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: her fingers without closing them over it while she regarded
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: it with a profoundly thoughtful smile. Strange! she said without
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: raising her eyes. Why now? Why today? One must not
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: be superstitious, but sometimes it is hard. At home there
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: was the odor of sickness and death. The maid sat
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: about drunk with sleep, with swollen eyes and stupid faces.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Everywhere there were lights burning. Not bright, cheerful, radiant lights,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: but individual lamps casting a faint glow in one or
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: two rooms. The doors stood open or ajar so that
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: one could see that it was not night in this house,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: that no one was sleeping, that people were constantly hurrying
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: to and fro. And through the open doors, too, came
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: the monotonous rattling in the throat of the dying man.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: It filled all the rooms, her olish eyes wide open
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: in her puckered face. Aunt Emily flitted about like a spook.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: You come too late, she said with icy triumph as
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: she confronted Myra. There is no more hope. Myra felt
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: as if something dreadful ought to happen to her, and
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: the sudden consciousness of being so depraved, so unfeeling that
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: nothing could happen to her, that even this woman's immeasurable
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: hate implied too high an opinion of her, brought the
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: tears to her eyes, for she was tired and overexcited.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Aunt Emily, of course, could not divine these thoughts. Your
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: tears are too late, too, she said meanly. Each of
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the twenty hours that followed had a thousand minutes. Myra
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: paced to and fro, or sat now in one chair,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: now in another. Everywhere she felt out of place, in
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the way, and observed by evil eyes. She was worn
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: out in every limb and felt the need, if only
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: for an hour, to lock herself into her room and
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: throw herself on her bed. But she lacked the courage.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: She knew they expected her to stand flooding repentant tears
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: or to sit by her father's deathbed, or better yet,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: to kneel. She endeavored to control the horror that from
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: time to time shook her, and went in. The heavy
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: air smelt of decomposition and medicines. Among the many white
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: pillows lay a small strangely bony skull with closed eyes,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: an alien distorted mask, whose yellowish lips moved gently as
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: it gasped. Myra sat for a while beside the bed,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: terrified lest that dreadful rattle in the throat should cease suddenly,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: terrified still more lest that strange something should suddenly open
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: its eyes and begin speaking. Doctors entered, conferred in whispers,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: bestowed sympathetic glances on her, and went out again. The
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: maid spread the table at the usual time and urged
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: her to eat something. Aunt Emily left all the connecting
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: doors open, listening intently while she spooned her soup, for
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: any change in that monotonously rattling throat. It was all
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Myra could do to choke down a bite. The twilight
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: set in early and again the lamps were lit. Myra
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: picked up a book, but encountered so furious a glance
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: from Aunt Emily that she laid it down again and
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: folded her hand spiritlessly in her lap. Toward evening the
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: rattlings grew feebler. The bridge of the nose stood out
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: sharply against the tiny shrunken face. The doctor who came
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: at night did not go away again. Now there was
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: one more to sit in silence or pace noiselessly to
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: and fro across the thick carpets, waiting. The rattlings grew
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: more and more feeble. Then a louder grating expiration of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the breath twice with short pauses. Then suddenly silence. And
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: suddenly too as if it had just begun. They heard
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: the ticking of every clock in the house. The doctor
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: bent over the bed, then drew himself up and walked
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: over to Myra to give her his hand. Aunt Emily
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: dabbed her dry eyes and the maids outside sobbed. Myra
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: saw and heard it all as if through a dense veil.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: She was afraid of fainting. The doctor probably observed her greenish,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: livid appearance and laid his hand on her hair.' Go
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: lie down, my child,' he said gently. You can be
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: of no further use here. You have sad days behind
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: you and before you. Youth needs sleep. Myra was glad
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: to be in her room, but she did not think
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: of lying down. When, after an interval, she heard the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: doctor go a nameless dread seized on her. She was
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: so tired and yet so afraid to sleep lest horrible
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: dreams torment her once she relaxed control of her thoughts.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: If her heavy eyelids shut for a moment, she saw
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: the dying man's distorted features, or Aunt Emily trying to
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: seize her with her claws to strangle her, or Uncle
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: George raising his arm to strike her with an enormous
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: bunch of keys that would crush her aching head. Myra
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: reached out longingly for another hand that would clasp hers
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: warmly and firmly, but her cold fingers remained empty. Finally,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: she could not endure her terrors any longer. Slipping into
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: her coat, she stole down the rear stairs and out
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of the house. The cold night air awoke her from
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: her trance. She ran rather than walked through the streets
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to Olga's house. The house was locked. Myra stood for
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: a while undecided. Perhaps someone who lived there would be
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: coming home late. Or the watchman would unlock the door
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: for her for a tip. She waited a long time.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: She was shivering with cold. At last she woke up
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the doorman. But at the top of the first stairs,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: she hesitated again before she dared ring. She sat down
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: on the steps and laid her forehead against the wooden
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: door jam. She endeavored to awaken Olga, to summon her
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: by thinking intensely of her, by ardent entreaty, by fierce willing.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: From time to time she thought she heard her light
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: step approaching the door and she listened breathlessly, only to
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: perceive that she was mistaken. At last she had to
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: make up her mind to ring. It was a long
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: time before a very sleepy half-dressed girl opened the door.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: She told some tale of having just come from the
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: train and of being unable to go home because she
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: had left her key with Miss Rado. She laughed as
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: she was saying it and had a feeling that the
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: girl thought her positively demented. She groped her way along
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: the familiar hall, fearing, for some incomprehensible reason, to strike
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: a light. Perhaps she was afraid that the noise or
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: the illumination would wake someone, or perhaps she had some
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: unconscious dread of being seen, and felt herself safer in
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: the dark. As she stood in front of Olga's door
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: she felt suddenly, and with a painful intensity so strong
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: that she thought it must be premonition, that Olga was
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: not alone, that this horrible day was to have a
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: still more horrible close. She leaned against the wall, not
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: daring to knock or to lift the latch. A voice
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: which she seemed to hear speaking distinctly outside her said,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: What are you seeking here? What right have you to
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: force your way in here? Where did you acquire the
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: boundless audacity to feel at home here? The door opened
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: noiselessly and a feeble ray of light appeared. In its
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: glow stood Olga Rado, tall and slender in a varicolored
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: dark kimono, one hand on the latch, peering sharply from
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: under her knitted brows. She saw and recognized Myra at once. Myra!
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: she exclaimed softly, and closed her eyes a moment as
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: if frightened. I knew it! What has happened, child? How
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: did you get up here? Myra did not walk, she staggered.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: She went into the room, looking at the soft light
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: of the shaded lamp on the papers, on the desk,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: on the backs of the books, on the silk cushions.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Colors and shapes were a marvelous exhilaration. She let herself
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: slide to the floor, laying her head against the easy chair,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: and saying between tears and a laugh between waking and sleeping,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Let me stay here, it is so good. Olga raised her.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: undressed her like a little child and laid her in
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: the bed. As the cold sheets touched her body, horror
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: set her trembling again. Once more she was wide awake
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: and sat bolt upright in the bed, striving to control
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: the chattering of her teeth. Lie beside me, she pleaded.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I must feel that I'm not alone. I'm so dreadfully frightened.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Olga did not answer. She bolted the door, she set
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: the lamp behind the bed, spread another silken veil over
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: the light and let the kimono fall from her shoulders,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: all with a sad smile and slow, languid movements as
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: if she were preparing for a sacrifice. Then she put
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: her arm under Myra's neck, tucked the coverlet more tightly
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: around her and stroked the tangled hair from her forehead.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: And as Myra felt the warmth of that beloved life,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: the strong pulse of that heart, she began to weep
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: quietly released from pain. She cried herself to sleep. After
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: an interval, she did not know if it were hours
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: or minutes, she awoke again. The light was still burning.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Olga lay motionless beside her, her eyes wide open. Myra
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: sat up and released her arm. Why didn't you wake me?
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: She said reproachfully. Poor thing, I must have broken your arm,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: that's why you can't sleep. Olga turned her head a little.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: I should not have slept anyway. I'm so wide awake.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: What were you thinking of? asked Myra, trying to fathom
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: her eyes. Olga smiled a little wearily. I was thinking
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: that your people are probably searching the whole house by now.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: I should like to know, or better, I'd rather not know,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: what is going on in Aunt Emily's head at this moment.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: She certainly must think you've been bitten by a tarantula.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Myra laughed softly and put her arm around Olga. By
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: a scorpion, she said tenderly. There is no antidote but
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: its own poison. You know that very well. Olga sat
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: up and clasped her hands about her knees. Her glossy
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: black curls fell luxuriantly about her shoulders. Her eyes gazed
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: straight ahead and her wide pupils darkened the irises. What
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: a strange fate, she said in a vibrant tone as
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: soft and deep as a cello's, that I must be
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: stung by the scorpion and yet look for healing to
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: the same creature. Her pale beautiful features assumed an expression
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: of fierce, of sorrowful, of almost weird energy. Myra was
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: so terrified that her heart seemed to miss a beat.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: She did not have the courage to touch Olga, to
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: embrace her. Olga! she cried in fear and pain and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: stretched out her hands to her. Again that troubled smile
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: played about those pale lips. Olga threw both her arms
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: around Myra and clasped her to her as if her
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: embrace must smother, must annihilate, must destroy. Ah, little Myra,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: she said with a little explosive laugh. It's all no good.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: You'll have to let me take the easy road first,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: then perhaps everything will be all right.