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08 - The House of Arden - E Nesbit · Daily Classic Science Fiction Books

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter six, the secret panel, Where shall we hide him,
0:05
Speaker 1: Elfrida asked, impatiently. Cousin bet fired by Elfrida's enthusiasm, jumped
0:11
Speaker 1: up and began to finger the carved flowers about the
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Speaker 1: chimney piece. The secret room, she said, But slip the
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Speaker 1: ball to and turned the key in the lock. Elfrida
0:22
Speaker 1: locked the room door and turned to see the carved
0:25
Speaker 1: mantelpiece open like a cupboard. Then Elfrida flew to the
0:30
Speaker 1: window and set back the casement very wide, and in
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Speaker 1: climbed the beautiful gentleman, and stood there, very handsome and tall,
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Speaker 1: bowing to Miss Betty, who sank on her knees and
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Speaker 1: kissed the white jeweled hand he held out. Quick, said Elfrida,
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Speaker 1: get into the hole. There are stairs, said Betty, snatching
0:50
Speaker 1: a candle in his silver candlestick and holding it high.
0:54
Speaker 1: The Chevalier Saint George sprang to a chair, got his
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Speaker 1: knee on the mantelpiece, and went into the hole, just
1:01
Speaker 1: as Alice goes through the looking glass in mister Taniel's picture.
1:05
Speaker 1: Betty handed him the candle, which his white hand reached
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Speaker 1: down to take. Then Elfrida jumped on the chair and
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Speaker 1: shut the panel, leaped down and opened the room door,
1:16
Speaker 1: just as the maid reached his other side with a
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Speaker 1: supper tray. When the cousins were alone, Bet threw her
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Speaker 1: arms round Elfrida. Don't be afraid, little cousin, she whispered,
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Speaker 1: Your cousin, Bet will see that no harm comes to
1:31
Speaker 1: you from this adventure. Well, I do think, said Elfrida,
1:36
Speaker 1: getting out of the embrace most promptly. When it was
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Speaker 1: me let him in, and you'd have screamed the house
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Speaker 1: down if I hadn't stopped you. Stop chattering, child, said Bet,
1:47
Speaker 1: drawing a distracted hand over her pretty forehead. And let
1:51
Speaker 1: me set my wits to work. How I may serve
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Speaker 1: my king, ay, said Elfrida, scornfully. Should give him something
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Speaker 1: to eat and see that tis beds aired. But I
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Speaker 1: suppose that would be too vulgar and common for you.
2:05
Speaker 1: The two looked at each other across the untasted supper.
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Speaker 1: Impertinent chit said, Bet, cheat yourself, said Elfrida. Then she laughed,
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Speaker 1: Come cousin, Bet, she said, your uncle's away and you're
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Speaker 1: grown up. I'll tell you what to do. You just
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Speaker 1: be wise and splendid so that your portrait will be
2:25
Speaker 1: in the illustrated Christmas numbers in white satin and an
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Speaker 1: anxious expression, the savior of our king. That's what it
2:33
Speaker 1: will say. Don't wonder in your speech, child, said cousin Bet,
2:39
Speaker 1: pressing her hand to her brow. I've enough to distract
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Speaker 1: me without that. And if you desire to ask my pardon,
2:46
Speaker 1: do so. Oh well, I beg your pardon. There, said
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Speaker 1: Elfrida with extreme irritation. Now perhaps you'll give your king
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Speaker 1: something to eat. Climb into that hold with the tray,
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Speaker 1: and the servants perhaps coming in any minute. What would
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Speaker 1: you say to them? If they did? All right, then
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Speaker 1: I'll go, said Elfrida, only too glad of the chance.
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Speaker 1: Bet touched the secret spring, and when Elfrida had climbed
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Speaker 1: into the dark hole, which she did quite easily handed
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Speaker 1: her the supper tray. Oh bother, said Elfrida, setting it
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Speaker 1: down at her feet with great promptness. It's too heavy.
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Speaker 1: He'll have to come down and fetch it. Give me
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Speaker 1: a candle and shut the panel, and tell me which
3:35
Speaker 1: way to go to the right and up the steps.
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Speaker 1: Be sure you kneel and kiss his hand before you
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Speaker 1: say a word. Elfrida reached down for the candle. In
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Speaker 1: its silver candlestick. The panel clicked into place, and she
3:49
Speaker 1: stood there among the cobwaby shadows of the secret passage,
3:54
Speaker 1: the light in her hand, and the tray at her feet.
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Speaker 1: It's only a moldy wall, magic adventure, she said to
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Speaker 1: hearten herself, turned to the right and went up the stairs.
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Speaker 1: They were steep and narrow. At the top, she saw
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Speaker 1: the long light line of a slightly open door. To
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Speaker 1: knock seemed unwise. Instead, she spoke softly, her lips against
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Speaker 1: the line of light. It's me, she said, and instantly
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Speaker 1: the door opened, and the beautiful gentleman stood before her.
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Speaker 1: The secret room had a little furniture, a couch, a table, chairs,
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Speaker 1: all old fashioned, and their shapes showed beautiful even in
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Speaker 1: the dim light of the two candles. Your supper, said Elfrida,
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Speaker 1: is at the bottom of the stairs. The tray was
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Speaker 1: too heavy for me. Do you mind fetching it up
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Speaker 1: if you'll show me a light, he said, and went.
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Speaker 1: You'll stay and eat with me, said he. When she
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Speaker 1: had lighted him back to the secret room, and he
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Speaker 1: set the tray on the table. I mustn't, said Elfrida,
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Speaker 1: cousin bets such a muff. She wouldn't know where to
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Speaker 1: say I was if the servants came in, Oh, I say,
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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. I forgot. She told me to kneel
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Speaker 1: and kiss your hand before I said anything about supper.
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Speaker 1: I'll do it now, nay, said he. I'll kiss thy cheek,
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Speaker 1: little lady, and drink a health to him who shall
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Speaker 1: have thy lips? When thout seventeen and I am what
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Speaker 1: was it? Five hundred two hundred and thirty, said Elfrida,
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Speaker 1: returning his kiss cordially. You are nice, you know. I
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Speaker 1: wish you were real. I'd better go back to bed
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Speaker 1: now real, he said. Oh I'm talking nonsense, I know,
5:46
Speaker 1: said Elfrida. I'll go now. The absent tray will betray you,
5:50
Speaker 1: said he, taking food and wine from it and setting
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Speaker 1: them on the table. Now I will carry this down again.
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Speaker 1: You have all the curriage, but not quite the cunning
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Speaker 1: of a conspirator. How long are you going to stay here,
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Speaker 1: Elfrida asked. I suppose you're escaping from someone or something
6:10
Speaker 1: like in history. I shall not stay long, he said.
6:14
Speaker 1: If any one should ask you if you have seen
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Speaker 1: the king, what would you say? I should say no,
6:20
Speaker 1: said Elfrida, boldly. You see, I can't possibly know that
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Speaker 1: you're the king. You just say so, that's all. Perhaps,
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Speaker 1: really you aren't exquisite, said he. So you don't believe me. Oh,
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Speaker 1: yes I do, said Elfrida. But I needn't you know, slive,
6:38
Speaker 1: he said, But I wish I were. There'd be a
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Speaker 1: coronet for somebody. You wish you were safely away, my
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Speaker 1: little lady. And as for coronets, the jewels are safe.
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Speaker 1: See I have set them in the cupboard in the corner,
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Speaker 1: and he had. Then he carried down the tray, and
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Speaker 1: Elfrida was very hungry. Try to persuade Bet that she
7:02
Speaker 1: must eat, if only to keep up her strength for
7:05
Speaker 1: the deeds of daring that might want doing at any moment.
7:09
Speaker 1: But Bet declared that she could not eat the least
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Speaker 1: morsel would choke her. And as for going to bed,
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Speaker 1: she was assuring her cousin that she knew her duty
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Speaker 1: to her king better than that, and that she would
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Speaker 1: defend her sovereign with her life if need were. When
7:25
Speaker 1: her loyal ecstasies were suddenly interrupted, for the quiet of
7:29
Speaker 1: the night was broken by a great knocking at the
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Speaker 1: castle door, and the heavy voice of a man crying
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Speaker 1: open in the Queen's name. They've come for him. All
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Speaker 1: is lost, We are betrayed. What shall we do? Eat,
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Speaker 1: said Elfrida. Eat for your life. She pushed bet into
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Speaker 1: a chair and thrust a plate before her, put a
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Speaker 1: chunk of meat pie on her plate and another on
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Speaker 1: her own. Get your mouth full, she whispered, feeling her
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Speaker 1: own as she spoke, So fool, you can't speak. It'll
8:01
Speaker 1: give you time to think. And then the door opened,
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Speaker 1: and in a moment the room was full of gentlemen
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Speaker 1: in riding dress, with very stern faces, and they all
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Speaker 1: had swords. Betty, with her mouth quite full, was trying
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Speaker 1: not to look towards the panel. Elfrida's mouth was equally full,
8:20
Speaker 1: looked at the gentleman who seemed to be leading the others,
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Speaker 1: and remarked, this is a knife's time of night to
8:27
Speaker 1: come knocking people up. All hours are alike to a
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Speaker 1: loyal subject, said a round, fat, blue eyed gentleman in
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Speaker 1: a green suit. Have you any stranger under your roof
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Speaker 1: to night? Oh, cried bet, all is lost. The gentleman
8:43
Speaker 1: exchanged glasses and crowded round her. Elfrida shrugged the shoulders
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Speaker 1: of her mind if a mind has shoulders, and told
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Speaker 1: herself that it didn't matter. History knew best, no doubt,
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Speaker 1: and whatever seemed to be happening now was only history.
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Speaker 1: You have a stranger here, they asked, And where is he?
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Speaker 1: You cannot refuse to give him up? My heart told me, so,
9:10
Speaker 1: cried Bet. I knew it was he you were seeking.
9:13
Speaker 1: And with that she fainted elegantly into the arms of
9:17
Speaker 1: the nearest gentleman, who was dressed in plumb color and
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Speaker 1: seemed to be struggling with some emotion which made him
9:24
Speaker 1: look as if he were laughing. Ask the child, Children
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Speaker 1: and fools speak the truth, said the fat, blue eyed gentleman.
9:33
Speaker 1: Elfrida found herself suddenly lifted on to the table, from
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Speaker 1: which she could see over the heads of the gentleman
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Speaker 1: who stood all round her. She could see Bet reclining
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Speaker 1: on the sofa, and the open door with servants crowding
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Speaker 1: in it, all eyes and ears. No, said a dozen voices,
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Speaker 1: the truth, little miss, What do you want to know,
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Speaker 1: she asked, and in a much lower tone, I shan't
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Speaker 1: tell you anything unless you send the servants away. The
10:02
Speaker 1: door was closed, and the truth was asked for again.
10:06
Speaker 1: If you'll only tell me what you want to know,
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Speaker 1: she said again. Does any stranger lie here to night? No,
10:13
Speaker 1: said Elfrida. She knew that the beautiful gentleman in the
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Speaker 1: secret chamber was not lying down, but sitting to his supper.
10:22
Speaker 1: But miss Arden said all is lost, and she knew
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Speaker 1: twas he whom we sought. Well, Elfrida carefully explained, it
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Speaker 1: is like this. You see, we were robbed by a
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Speaker 1: highwayman to day, and I think that upset my cousin.
10:38
Speaker 1: She's rather easily upset. I'm afraid, very easily. Several voices agreed,
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Speaker 1: and some one added that it was a hair brained business,
10:48
Speaker 1: the shortest waste, the best, said the plum colored gentleman
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Speaker 1: is Sir Edward Talbot here. No he isn't, said Elfrida, downrightly.
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Speaker 1: And I don't believe you've got any business coming into
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Speaker 1: people's houses and frightening other people into fits. And I
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Speaker 1: shall tell Lord Arden when he comes home. So now
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Speaker 1: you know sucks. Someone cried the child's got the spirit,
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Speaker 1: and she's right too. Strike me if she isn't, but
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Speaker 1: snails exclaimed another.
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Speaker 2: We do but protect Lord Arden's house in his absence,
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Speaker 2: if said Elfrida, you think your talbot's playing hide and
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Speaker 2: seek here, and if he's done anything wrong, you can
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Speaker 2: look for him if you like.
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Speaker 1: But I don't believe Lord Arden will be pleased. That's
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Speaker 1: all I should like to get down on to the floor,
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Speaker 1: if you please. I don't know whether Elfrida would have
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Speaker 1: had the courage to say all this if she had
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Speaker 1: not remembered that this was history times and not now times.
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Speaker 1: But the gentleman seemed delighted with her bravery. They lifted
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Speaker 1: her gently down, and with many apologize for having discommoded
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Speaker 1: the ladies, they went out of the room and out
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Speaker 1: of the castle. Through the window, Elfrida heard the laughing
12:02
Speaker 1: voices and clatter and stamp of their horses hoofs as
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Speaker 1: they mounted and rode off. They all seemed to be laughing,
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Speaker 1: and she felt that she moved in the midst of mistress.
12:14
Speaker 1: She could not bear to go back into her own
12:16
Speaker 1: time without seeing the end of the adventure, so she
12:20
Speaker 1: went to bed in a large four poster with cousin
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Speaker 1: bed for company. The fainting fit lasted exactly as long
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Speaker 1: as the strange gentlemen were in the house, and no longer,
12:31
Speaker 1: which was very convenient. Elfrida got up extremely early in
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Speaker 1: the morning and went down into the parlor. She had
12:40
Speaker 1: meant to go and see how the king was and
12:43
Speaker 1: whether he wanted his shaving water first thing, as her
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Speaker 1: daddy used to do, but it was so very, very
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Speaker 1: early that she decided that it would be better to
12:53
Speaker 1: wait a little. The king might be sleepy, and sleepy
12:57
Speaker 1: people were not always grateful, she knew for early shaving water.
13:02
Speaker 1: So she went out into the fields, where the dew
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Speaker 1: was gray on the grass, and up on to Arden Knoll.
13:09
Speaker 1: And she stood there and heard the skylarks, and looked
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Speaker 1: at the castle, and thought how new the mortar looked
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Speaker 1: in the parts about the living house. And presently she
13:20
Speaker 1: saw two figures coming across the fields from where the
13:23
Speaker 1: spire of Arden Church rose out of the tops of trees,
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Speaker 1: as round and green as the best double curled parsley.
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Speaker 1: And one of the gentlemen wore a green coat and
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Speaker 1: the other a purple coat. And she thought to herself
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Speaker 1: how convenient it was to recognize people half a mile
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Speaker 1: away by the color of their clothes. Quite plainly they
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Speaker 1: were going to the castle. So she went down too,
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Speaker 1: and met them at the gate with a civil good morning.
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Speaker 1: You are nolia bed at least, said the green gentleman.
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Speaker 1: And so no stranger lay at arden last night. Eh
14:00
Speaker 1: Elfrida found this difficult to answer. No doubt, the king
14:04
Speaker 1: had Lain was probably still lying in the secret chamber.
14:09
Speaker 1: But was he stranger? No, of course he wasn't, so no,
14:14
Speaker 1: she said. And then through the open window of the
14:17
Speaker 1: parlor came very unexpectedly, and suddenly her leg in a
14:21
Speaker 1: riding boot, then another leg, and the whole of the
14:25
Speaker 1: beautiful gentleman stood in front of them. So ho, he said,
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Speaker 1: Speak softly, for the servants are not yet about they are,
14:35
Speaker 1: said Elfrida. Only they are at the back. Creep along
14:38
Speaker 1: under the wall. You will get away without their seeing you. Then,
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Speaker 1: always so wonderful counselor, said the beautiful gentleman, bowing gracefully,
14:48
Speaker 1: Come with us, little maid. I have no secrets from thee.
14:52
Speaker 1: So they all crept along close to the castle wall,
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Speaker 1: to that corner, from which between two shoulders of down
14:59
Speaker 1: you can see the sea. There they stopped, and the
15:03
Speaker 1: wager's mine, said the beautiful gentleman. For all you tried
15:08
Speaker 1: to spoil it, that was not in the Bond Fitzgerald
15:12
Speaker 1: entering Ardnate night at nine of the clock to ferret
15:16
Speaker 1: me out like a pack of hounds after Renner. There
15:19
Speaker 1: was nothing bad, said the green gentleman. We tried waylaying
15:23
Speaker 1: you on the road, but you were an hour early. Ah,
15:28
Speaker 1: said the beautiful gentleman, putting back clocks his easy work.
15:32
Speaker 1: And the ostler at the bull loves a handsome wager
15:35
Speaker 1: nigh as well as he loves a guinea. I do
15:39
Speaker 1: wish you'd explain, said Elfrida, almost stamping with curiosity and impatience.
15:45
Speaker 1: And so I will, my pretty said he, laughing. Aren't
15:50
Speaker 1: you the king? You said you were? Nay, nay, not
15:54
Speaker 1: so fast, I asked thee what thou wouldst say if
15:57
Speaker 1: I told you I was King James? Then who are you,
16:01
Speaker 1: she asked, Lain Edward Talbot, Baronet at your Ladyship's service,
16:08
Speaker 1: he said, with another of his fine bows. But I
16:11
Speaker 1: don't understand, she said, Do tell me all about it
16:15
Speaker 1: from the beginning. So he told her, and the other
16:19
Speaker 1: gentleman stood by laughing. The other night I was dining
16:23
Speaker 1: with mister Fitzgerald here, and the talk turned on highway
16:26
Speaker 1: robbery and on Arden Castle. Here with other matters. And
16:31
Speaker 1: these gentlemen, with others of the party, laid me a
16:35
Speaker 1: wager five hundred guineas it was that I would not
16:38
Speaker 1: rob a coach. I took the wager, and I waited
16:42
Speaker 1: beside that I would rob a coach of the Arden Jewels,
16:46
Speaker 1: and that I would lie a night at Arden beside,
16:50
Speaker 1: and no one should know my name there. And I
16:53
Speaker 1: have done all three and won my wager. I'm but
16:57
Speaker 1: newly come home from foreign parts, so your cousin could
17:01
Speaker 1: not know my face but Sound's child. Had it not
17:05
Speaker 1: been for Thee, I had lost my wager. I counted
17:08
Speaker 1: on Miss Arden's help, and a pale faced, fainting, useless,
17:12
Speaker 1: fine lady I should have found her. But thou thou'rt
17:17
Speaker 1: a girl in a thousand, and I'll buy thee the
17:20
Speaker 1: finest faring I can find next time I go to London.
17:24
Speaker 1: We are all friends. Tell pretty miss to hold that
17:28
Speaker 1: tongue of hers, and none shall hear the tale from us.
17:32
Speaker 1: But all these gentlemen coming last night, all the servants
17:36
Speaker 1: know the gentleman came no doubt to protect Miss Arden
17:40
Speaker 1: in case the villainous highwayman should have hidden behind the
17:44
Speaker 1: window curtain. Oh, but the wise child it is, has
17:48
Speaker 1: a care for every weak point in our armor. Then
17:52
Speaker 1: he told his friends the whole of the adventure, and
17:55
Speaker 1: they laughed very merrily for all they had lost their wager,
17:59
Speaker 1: and went home to breakfast across the dewy fields. It's
18:04
Speaker 1: nice of him to think me brave and all that,
18:08
Speaker 1: Elfrida told herself, But I do wish he'd really been
18:12
Speaker 1: the king. When she had told Betty what had happened,
18:15
Speaker 1: everything seemed suddenly to be not worth while. She did
18:19
Speaker 1: not feel as though she cared to stay any longer
18:22
Speaker 1: in that part of the past. So she ran upstairs,
18:25
Speaker 1: through the attic and the pigeon noises, back into her
18:28
Speaker 1: own times, and went down and found Edrid sitting on
18:32
Speaker 1: the second hand of the daisy clock. And he did
18:35
Speaker 1: not believe that she had been away at all, for
18:38
Speaker 1: all the time she had been away seemed no time
18:41
Speaker 1: to him, because he had been sitting on that second hand.
18:46
Speaker 1: So when the moliwarp told them to go along, in
18:49
Speaker 1: they went. And the way they went was not in,
18:53
Speaker 1: but out and round under the castle wall, to the
18:56
Speaker 1: corner from which you could see the sea. And there
18:59
Speaker 1: they lay on the warm grass, and Elfrida told Edred
19:03
Speaker 1: the whole story, and at first he did not believe
19:06
Speaker 1: a word of it. But it is true, I tell you,
19:10
Speaker 1: said she. You don't suppose I should make up a
19:13
Speaker 1: whole tale like that, do you No? Said Edred. Of
19:17
Speaker 1: course you're not clever enough. But you might have read
19:21
Speaker 1: it in a book. Well I didn't, said Elfrida. So there,
19:26
Speaker 1: if it was really true, you might have come back
19:28
Speaker 1: for me. You know how I've always wanted to meet
19:31
Speaker 1: a highwayman, you know you do? How could I come back?
19:36
Speaker 1: How was I to get off the horse and run
19:38
Speaker 1: home and get in among the chests and the pigeon
19:42
Speaker 1: noises and come out here and take you back? The
19:45
Speaker 1: highwayman Talbot, I mean would have been gone long before
19:48
Speaker 1: we got back. No, he wouldn't, said Edid Obstinately, you
19:53
Speaker 1: forget I was sitting on the clock and stopping it.
19:56
Speaker 1: There wasn't any time while you were gone. If you
19:59
Speaker 1: were there was with me, said Elfrida. Don't you see
20:05
Speaker 1: there wouldn't have been if you'd come back where I was.
20:08
Speaker 1: Edred interrupted, how can you be so aggravating? Elfrida found
20:13
Speaker 1: suddenly that she was losing her temper. You can't be
20:17
Speaker 1: as stupid as that, really, Oh can't, I said Edred.
20:21
Speaker 1: I can, though, if I like and stupider, much stupider,
20:25
Speaker 1: he added darkly. You wait, Edred, said his sister, slowly
20:30
Speaker 1: and fervently. Sometimes I feel as if I must shake you,
20:34
Speaker 1: you darned, said Edid do you tear me too? Yes,
20:39
Speaker 1: said Edred fiercely. Of course you're aware that after that,
20:44
Speaker 1: by all family laws, Elfrida was obliged to shake him.
20:49
Speaker 1: She did, and burst into tears. He looked at her
20:52
Speaker 1: for a moment, and but no tears are unmanly. I
20:57
Speaker 1: would not betray the weakness of my hero. Let us
21:00
Speaker 1: draw a veil, or take a turn round the castle
21:03
Speaker 1: and come back to them. Presently. It is just as
21:07
Speaker 1: well that we went away when we did, for we
21:10
Speaker 1: really turned our backs on a most unpleasant scene. And
21:14
Speaker 1: now that we come back to them, though, crying is
21:17
Speaker 1: still going on, Elfrida is saying that she's very sorry,
21:21
Speaker 1: and is trying to find her handkerchief to lend to Edred,
21:25
Speaker 1: whose own is unexpectedly mislaid. Oh all right, yissays I'm
21:32
Speaker 1: sorry too, there, But us saying we're sorry won't make
21:37
Speaker 1: us unquarrel. That's the worst of it. We shan't be
21:42
Speaker 1: able to find the door for three days. Now I
21:46
Speaker 1: do wish we hadn't. It is sickening. Never mind, said Elfrida,
21:52
Speaker 1: we didn't have real I'll never speak to you again.
21:55
Speaker 1: You see, if I do quarrel, did we I don't
21:59
Speaker 1: suppose it matters what sort of quarrel you had, said
22:03
Speaker 1: the boy in a loom. Look here, I'll tell you
22:06
Speaker 1: what you tell me, all about it over again, and
22:09
Speaker 1: I'll try to believe you. I really will, on the
22:12
Speaker 1: honor of an Arden. So she told him all over again.
22:17
Speaker 1: And where said he? When she had quite finished. Where
22:21
Speaker 1: did you put the jewels? I they He put them
22:26
Speaker 1: in the corner cupboard in the secret room, said Elfrida.
22:30
Speaker 1: If you'd taken me and not been in such a hurry. No,
22:34
Speaker 1: I'm not quarreling. I'm only reasoning with you, Like Aunt Edith.
22:38
Speaker 1: If i'd been there, I should have buried those jewels
22:41
Speaker 1: somewhere and then come back for me, and we'd have
22:45
Speaker 1: dug them up and been rich beyond the dreams of
22:48
Speaker 1: what do they call it? But I never told Betty
22:51
Speaker 1: where they were. Perhaps they are there now. Let's go
22:55
Speaker 1: and look if they are, said he, I'll believe everything
22:59
Speaker 1: you've been to telling me without trying at all. You'll
23:02
Speaker 1: have to do that if there's a secret room, won't you, perhaps,
23:06
Speaker 1: said Edred. Let's go and see. I expect I shall
23:10
Speaker 1: have got a headache. Presently you didn't ought to have
23:13
Speaker 1: shaken me. Missus Honeyset says. It's very bad for people
23:17
Speaker 1: to be shaken. It mixes up their brains inside their
23:20
Speaker 1: heads so that they ache, and you're stupid. I expect
23:25
Speaker 1: that's what made you say I was stupid, Oh dear,
23:29
Speaker 1: said Elfrida despairingly. You know that was before I shook you,
23:34
Speaker 1: and I did say I was sorry. I know it was,
23:38
Speaker 1: But it comes to the same thing. Come on, let's
23:41
Speaker 1: have a squint at your own secret room. But unfortunately
23:46
Speaker 1: it was now dinner time. If you do happen to
23:49
Speaker 1: know the secret of a card panel with the staircase
23:52
Speaker 1: hidden away behind it, you don't want to tell that
23:56
Speaker 1: secret lightly, as though it were the day of the week,
23:59
Speaker 1: or the date of the Battle of Waterloo, or what
24:02
Speaker 1: nine times seven is not even to grown up so
24:06
Speaker 1: justly like as missus Honeyset and Besides, a hot beefsteak,
24:11
Speaker 1: pudding and greens do not seem to go well with
24:15
Speaker 1: the romances of old days. To have looked for the
24:18
Speaker 1: spring of that panel, while that dinner smoked on the
24:22
Speaker 1: board would have been as unseemly as to try on
24:26
Speaker 1: a new gold crown over curl papers. Elfrida felt this,
24:31
Speaker 1: and Idri did not more than half believe in the
24:34
Speaker 1: secret anyway, And besides, he was very hungry. Wait till afterwards,
24:41
Speaker 1: was what they said to each other in whispers while
24:44
Speaker 1: missus Honeyset was changing the plates. You do beautiful cooking,
24:50
Speaker 1: Edith remarked, as the gooseberry pie was cut open and
24:54
Speaker 1: revealed its cry so press colored contents. Yodo beautiful eating them,
25:00
Speaker 1: said missus Honeyset. And you'll be quick about it. You
25:04
Speaker 1: ain't got into no mischief this morning, have you? You look
25:07
Speaker 1: as though butter wouldn't melt in either of your mouth,
25:10
Speaker 1: and that's always a sign of something being up with
25:13
Speaker 1: most children. No, indeed, we haven't, said Elfrida earnestly, and
25:19
Speaker 1: we don't mean to either, and are looking like that's
25:23
Speaker 1: only because we've brushed our hairs with wet brushes. Most
25:27
Speaker 1: likely it does make you look good somehow, I've often
25:31
Speaker 1: noticed it. I've been flying round this morning, missus Honey said,
25:35
Speaker 1: went on so as to get down to my sister's
25:38
Speaker 1: for a bit this afternoon. She's not so well again,
25:41
Speaker 1: poor old dear, and I might be kept late. But
25:45
Speaker 1: my niece Emily's coming up to take charge. She's a nice,
25:49
Speaker 1: lively young girl. She'll get you your teeth and look
25:52
Speaker 1: after you as nice as nice. Now, don't you go
25:55
Speaker 1: doing anything what you wouldn't if I was behind of you.
26:00
Speaker 1: Will you that stairs? Nothing could have happened better. Both
26:04
Speaker 1: children felt that Emily, being a young girl, would be
26:07
Speaker 1: more easy to manage than missus Honey said. As soon
26:11
Speaker 1: as they were alone, they talked it over comfortably and
26:14
Speaker 1: decided that the best thing would be to ask Emily
26:18
Speaker 1: if she would go down to the station and see
26:20
Speaker 1: if there was a parcel therefore the Master Arden or
26:23
Speaker 1: miss Arden, and if there isn't, Elfrida jiggled, We'll say
26:29
Speaker 1: she'd better wait till it comes. We'll run down and
26:32
Speaker 1: fetch her. As soon as we've explored the secret chamber,
26:36
Speaker 1: I say, Edrid remarked, thoughtfully, we haven't bothered much about
26:41
Speaker 1: finding the treasure? Have we? I thought that was what
26:44
Speaker 1: we were going into history for now, Edred said his sister.
26:49
Speaker 1: You know very well we didn't go into history on purpose. No,
26:54
Speaker 1: but said Edred, we ought to have. Suppose the treasure
26:59
Speaker 1: is really those jewels, we'd sell them and rebuild Arden
27:03
Speaker 1: Castle like it used to be, wouldn't we. We'd give
27:06
Speaker 1: Aunt to edit a few Jules, I think, wouldn't we.
27:09
Speaker 1: She's such a dear you know, yes, she should have
27:13
Speaker 1: first choice. I do believe we're on the brink, and
27:17
Speaker 1: I feel just exactly like as if something really was
27:20
Speaker 1: going to happen, not in history, but here at Arden
27:23
Speaker 1: now Arden. I do hope we find the jewels, said Elfrida.
27:29
Speaker 1: Oh I do, and I do hope we manage the
27:33
Speaker 1: lively young girl, all right, missus Honicet's pestress was a
27:39
Speaker 1: nice bright red, the kind of color you can see
27:42
Speaker 1: a long way off. They watched it till it disappeared
27:45
Speaker 1: round a shoulder of the downs, and then set about
27:49
Speaker 1: the task of managing Emily. The lively young girl proved
27:53
Speaker 1: quite easy to manage. The idea of popping on her
27:56
Speaker 1: hat and running down to the station was naturally much
28:00
Speaker 1: pleasanter to her than the idea of washing the plates
28:04
Speaker 1: that had been used for beefsteak pudding and gooseberry pie,
28:08
Speaker 1: and then giving the kitchen a thorough scrub out, which
28:11
Speaker 1: was the way missus Honeysett had meant her to spend
28:14
Speaker 1: the afternoon. Her best dress, she had slipped the skirt
28:17
Speaker 1: over her print count so as to look smart. As
28:21
Speaker 1: she came up through the village was a vivid violet,
28:24
Speaker 1: another good distance color. It also was watched till it
28:28
Speaker 1: dipped into the lane. And now, cried Elfrida. We're all
28:33
Speaker 1: alone and we can explore the great secret. But suppose
28:38
Speaker 1: somebody comes, said Edred, and interrupts and finds it out
28:42
Speaker 1: and grabs the jewels, and all is lost. There's tramps,
28:46
Speaker 1: you know, and gipsy women with baskets. Yes, or a
28:50
Speaker 1: drink of water, or to ask the time? I tell
28:54
Speaker 1: you what? We lock up the doors back in front.
28:58
Speaker 1: They did, but even this did not satisfy the suddenly
29:02
Speaker 1: cautious Edred. The parlor door two, he said. So they
29:06
Speaker 1: locked the parlor door, and Elfrida put the key in
29:09
Speaker 1: a safe place for fear of accidents. She said, I
29:14
Speaker 1: do not at all know what she meant, And when
29:16
Speaker 1: she came to think it over, she did not know either,
29:20
Speaker 1: but it seemed all right. At the time they had
29:23
Speaker 1: provided themselves with a box of matches and a candle,
29:27
Speaker 1: and now the decisive moment had come. As they say
29:30
Speaker 1: about battles, Elfrida fumbled for the secret spring. How does
29:36
Speaker 1: it open, asked the boy. I'll show you, presently, said
29:40
Speaker 1: the girl. She could not show him then, because, in
29:43
Speaker 1: point of fact, she did not know. She only knew
29:47
Speaker 1: there was a secret spring, and she was feeling for
29:50
Speaker 1: it with both hands among the carved dress of the
29:52
Speaker 1: panels as she stood with one foot on each of
29:55
Speaker 1: the arms of a very high chair, the only chair
29:59
Speaker 1: in the room high enough for her to be able
30:01
Speaker 1: to reach all round the panel. Suddenly, something clicked and
30:06
Speaker 1: the secret door flew open. She just had time to
30:10
Speaker 1: jump to the floor or it would have knocked her down.
30:13
Speaker 1: Then she climbed up again and got into the hole
30:16
Speaker 1: and edred handed her the candle. Where's the matches, she asked,
30:21
Speaker 1: in my pocket, said he firmly. I'm not going to
30:24
Speaker 1: have your starting off without me again. Well, come on, then,
30:29
Speaker 1: said Elfrida, ignoring the injustice of this speech? All right,
30:34
Speaker 1: said Edred, climbing on the chair. How does it open?
30:38
Speaker 1: He had half closed the door and was feeling among
30:41
Speaker 1: the carved leaves as he had seen her do. Oh
30:45
Speaker 1: come on, said Elfrida. Oh look out? Well might she
30:49
Speaker 1: request her careless brother to look out? As he reached
30:53
Speaker 1: up to touch the carving, the chair tilted. He was
30:56
Speaker 1: jerked forward, caught at the carving to save himself, missed
31:00
Speaker 1: it and fell forward with all his weight against the
31:03
Speaker 1: half open door. It shut with a loud bang. Then
31:07
Speaker 1: every sounding crash echoed through the quiet house as Edred
31:11
Speaker 1: and the big chair fell to the floor in so
31:14
Speaker 1: to speak each other's arms. There was a stricken pause.
31:17
Speaker 1: Then Elfrida, from the other side of the panel, beat
31:20
Speaker 1: upon it with her fists and shouted open the door.
31:24
Speaker 1: You aren't hurt, are you? Yes? I am very much,
31:29
Speaker 1: said Edred from the outside of the secret door, and
31:32
Speaker 1: also from the hearth rug. I've twisted my leg in
31:36
Speaker 1: the knickerbocker part, and I've got a great bump on
31:39
Speaker 1: my head, and i think I'm going to be very
31:42
Speaker 1: poorly well. Open the panel first, said Elfrida, rather unfeelingly,
31:49
Speaker 1: But then she was alone in the dark on the
31:51
Speaker 1: other side of the panel. I don't know how to,
31:56
Speaker 1: said Edred, and Elfrida heard the sound of someone picking
31:59
Speaker 1: himself up from among disordered furniture. Feel among the leaves
32:04
Speaker 1: like I did. She said, it's quite easy. You'll soon
32:09
Speaker 1: find it. Silence end of section eight.