WEBVTT

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Story one of the Loot of Cities. This is a LibriVox recording. All

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LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,

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please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by David Wales. The Loot of Cities

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by Arnold Bennett. Story one,
The Loot of Cities, Chapter one,

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The Fire of London. You are
wanted on the telephone, Sir mister Bruce

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Bowering, managing director of a consolidated
mining and Investment Corporation Limited capital two millions

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in one pound shares which stood at
twenty seven and six, turned and gazed

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querilously across the electrically spaces of his
superb private office. Had the confidential clerk,

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who addressed him mister Bowing in shirt
sleeves before a Florentine mirror, was

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brushing his hair with the solicitude of
a mother who has failed to rear most

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of a large family. Who is
it? He asked, as if that

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demand for him were the last straw, but one nearly seven on Friday evening,

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he added, martyrrized, I think
a friend, Sir. The middle

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aged financier dropped his gold mounted brush
and waded through the deep pile of the

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oriental carpet, passed into the telephone
cabinet and shut the door. Hello,

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he accosted the transmitter, resolved not
to be angry with it. Hello,

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are you there? Yes, I'm
bowing. Who are you? Nah?

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The faint, unhuman voice of the
receiver whispered in his ear ner clock.

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I'm a friend. What name?
No name? I thought you might like

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to know that a determined robbery is
going to be attempted to night at your

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house in Lound Square, a robbery
of cash, and before nine o'clock nor,

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I thought you might like to know, ah, said mister bowring to

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the transmitter. The feeble exclamation was
all he could achieve at first in the

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confined, hot silence of the telephone
cabinet. This message, coming to him

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mysteriously out of the vast unknown of
London, struck him with a sudden sick

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fear that perhaps his wondrously organized scheme
might yet miscarry, even at the final

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moment. Why that night of all
nights, and why before nine o'clock?

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Could it be that the secret was
out? Then? Any further interesting details?

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He inquired, bracing himself to an
assumption of imperturbable and gay coolness.

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But there was no answer, and
when, after some difficulty, he got

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the exchange girl to disclose the number
which had wrung him up, he found

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that his interlocutor had been using a
public call office in Oxford Street. He

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returned to his room, donned his
frock coat, took a large envelope from

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a locked drawer and put it in
his pocket, and sat down to think

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a little. At that time,
mister Bruce Bowing was one of the most

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famous conjurers in the city. He
had begun ten years earlier with nothing but

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a silk hat, and out of
that empty hat had been produced, First

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the Hooplaw limited a South African gold
mine of numerous stamps and frequent dividends,

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then the Hooplaw number two limited a
mine with as many reincarnations as Buddha,

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and then a dazzling succession of mines
and combination of mines. The more the

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hat emptied itself, the more it
was full, and the emerging objects,

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which now included the house in Lounge
Square and a perfect dream of a place

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in Hampshire, grew constantly larger,
and the conjurer more impressive and persuasive and

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the audience more enthusiastic in its applause. At last, with a unique flourish

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and a new turning up of sleeves
to prove that there was no h deception,

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had come out of the hat.
The cmice, a sort of incredibly

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enormous union jack, which enwrapped all
the other objects in its splendid folds.

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The shares of the cmice were affectionately
known in the Kafer circus as solids.

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They yielded handsome, though irregular dividends, earned chiefly by flotation and speculation.

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The circus believed in them, and, in view of the annual meeting of

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shareholders to be held on the following
Tuesday afternoon, the conjurer in the chair

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and his hat on the table,
the market price, after a period of

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depression, had stiffened. Mister Bowring's
meditations were soon interrupted by a telegram.

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He opened it and read, cook
drunk again, will dine with you Devonshire

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seven thirty impossible here have arranged about
luggage. Marie. Marie was mister Bowring's

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wife. He told himself that he
felt greatly relieved by that telegram. He

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clutched at it, and his spirits
seemed to rise at any rate. Since

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he could not now go near Lound
Square, he could certainly laugh at the

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threatened robbery. He thought, what
a wonderful thing providence was, after all.

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Just look at that, he said
to us clerk, showing the telegram,

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with a humorous affectation of dismay.
Tat tut, said the clerk,

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discreetly sympathetic towards his employer, thus
victimized by debauched cooks. I suppose you

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are going down to Hampshire to night
as usual, Sir mister Bowring replied that

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he was, and that everything appeared
to be in order for the meeting,

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and that he should be back on
Monday afternoon, or at the latest very

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early on Tuesday. Then with a
few parting instructions, and with that eagle

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glance round his own room and into
circumjacent rooms which a truly efficient head of

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affairs never omits. On leaving business
for the weekend, mister Bowring sedately yet

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magnificently departed from the noble registered office
of the CMIC. Why didn't Marie telephone

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instead of wiring, he mused,
as his pair of grays whirled him and

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his coachman and his Footman off to
the Devonshire two. The Devonshire Mansion,

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a bright edifice of eleven stories in
the Foster and Dixie style constructional ironwork by

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Homan, lifts by waygood decorations by
Wearing and terra cotta by the Rood,

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is situate on the edge of Hyde
Park. It is a composite building.

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Its foundations are firmly fixed in the
tube railway. Above that comes the wine

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cellar ridge, then the vast laundry, and then a row of windows scarcely

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level with the street, a sporting
club, a billiard room, a grill

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room, and a cigarette merchant whose
ends an opulas. On the first floor

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is the renowned Devonshire Mansion restaurant.
Always in London there is just one restaurant

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where, if you are an entirely
correct person you can get a decent meal.

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The place changes from season to season, but there is never more than

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one of it at a time.
That season had happened to be the Devonshire.

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The Chef of the Devonshire had invented
tripe suppers trips a la Moude de

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Can, and these suppers seven and
six had been the rage. Consequently,

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all entirely correct. People fed as
a matter of course at the Devonshire,

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since there was no other place fit
to go to. The vogue of the

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restaurant a favorably affected the vogue of
the nine floors of furnished suites above the

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restaurant. They were always full,
and the heavenward attics, where the servants

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took off their smart liveries and became
human, held much wealth. The vogue

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of the restaurant also exercised a beneficial
influence over the status of the KitKat Club,

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which was a cock and hen club
of the latest pattern, and had

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its house on the third floor.
It was a little after half past seven

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when mister Bruce Bowing haughtily ascended the
grand staircase of this resort of opulence and

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paused for an instant near the immense
fireplace at the summit. September was inclement

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and a fire burned nicely. To
inquire from the head waiter whether missus Bowring

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had secured a table, but Marie
had not arrived. Marie, who was

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never late, uneasy and chagrined,
he proceeded under the escort of the head

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waiter to the glittering saw. Louis
catoors, and selected because of his morning

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attire. A table half hidden behind
an onyx pillar. The great room was

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moderately full of fair women and possessive
men, despite the month. Immediately afterwards,

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a youngish couple, the man handsomer
and better dressed than the woman,

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took the table on the other side
of the pillar. Mister Bowring waited five

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minutes. Then he ordered soul mornaz
and a bottle of ruminis comti, And

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then he waited another five minutes.
He went somewhat in fear of his wife

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and did not care to begin without
her. Can't you read? It?

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Was the youngish man at the next
table, speaking in a raised voice to

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a squinting lackey with a telegraph form
in his hand. Solid's solids, my

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friend, sell solids to any amount
tomorrow and monday. Got it? Well,

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send it off at once. Quite
clear, my lord, said the

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lackey, and fled. The youngish
man gazed fixedly but absently at mister Bowering,

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and seemed to see through him to
the tapestry behind mister Bowring to his

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own keen annoyance reddened, partly to
conceal the blush and partly because it was

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a quarter to eight, and there
was the train to catch. He lowered

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his face and began upon the soul. A few minutes later, the lackey

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returned, gave some change to the
youngish man, and surprised mister Bowring by

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advancing towards him and handing him an
envelope, an envelope which bore on its

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flap the legend kitcat Club. The
note within was scribbled in pencil in his

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wife's handwriting. And ran just arrived, delayed by luggage, and too nervous

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to face the restaurant, and am
eating a chop here alone. The place

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is fortunately empty. Come and fetch
me as soon as you're ready, mister

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Bowring sighed angrily. He hated his
wife's club, and this succession of messages

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telephonic, telegraphic and calligraphic was exasperating
him. No answer, he ejaculated,

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and then he beckoned the lackey closer, who's that gentleman at the next table

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with the lady. He murmured,
I'm not rightly sure, sir, was

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the whispered reply. Some authorities say
he's the strong man at the hippodrome,

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while others affirm he's a sort of
American millionaire. But you addressed him as

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Malloyd. Just then I thought he
was the strong man, sir, said

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the lackey, retiring my bill.
Mister Bowering demanded fiercely of the waiter,

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and at the same time the youngest
gentleman and his companion rose and departed.

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At the lift, mister Bowring found
the squinting lackey in charge. You're the

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liftman too, to night, sir, I am many things. The fact

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is the regular liftman has got a
couple of hours off, being the recent

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father of twins Well Kit cat Club. The lift seemed to shoot far upwards,

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and mister Bowring thought the lackey had
mistaken the floor, but on gaining

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the corridor, he saw across the
portals in front of him the remembered gold

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sign Kit Cat Club member's own.
He pushed the door open and went in

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three Instead of the familiar vestibule of
his wife's club, mister Bowering discovered a

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small ante chamber, and beyond through
a doorway half screened by a portier.

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He had glimpses of a rich,
rose lit drawing room in the doorway.

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With one hand raised to the portier, stood the youngish man who had forced

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him to blush in the restaurant.
I beg your pardon, said mister Bowering

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stiffly. Is this the Kitcat Club? The other man advanced to the outer

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door, his brilliant eyes fixed on
mister Bowring's. His arm crept round the

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cheek of the door and came back
bearing the gold sign. Then he shut

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the door and locked it. No, this isn't the Kitcat Club at all,

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he replied, It is my flat. Come and sit down. I

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was expecting you. I shall do
nothing of the kind, said mister Bowering

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disdainfully. But when I tell you
that I know that you are going to

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DeCamp tonight, mister Bowring, the
youngish man smiled affably to camp. The

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spine of the financier suddenly grew flaxed. I use the word, who the

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devil are you? Snapped the financier, forcing his spine to rigidity. I

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am the friend on the telephone.
I specially wanted you at the Devonshire tonight,

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and I thought that the fear of
a robbery at Lound Square might make

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your arrival here more certain. I
am he who devised the story of the

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inebriated cook and favored you with a
telegram signed Marie. I am the humorist

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who pretended in a loud voice to
send off telegraphic instructions to sell solids in

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order to watch your demeanor under the
test. I am the expert who forged

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your wife's handwriting in a note from
the KitKat. I am the patron of

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the cross eyed menial who gave you
the note, and who afterwards raised you

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too high in the lift. I
am the artificer of this gold sign,

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an exact duplicate of the genuine one
two floors below, which induced you to

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visit me. The sign alone cost
me nine and six. The servant's livery

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came to two pounds fifteen. But
I never consider expense when by debt of

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a generous outlay I may avoid a
violence. I hate violence. He gently

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waved the sign to and fro then
my wife. Mister Bowring stammered in a

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panic. Rage is probably at Lound
Square, wondering what on earth has happened

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to you. Mister Bowing took breath, remembered that he was a great man,

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and steadied himself. You must be
mad, he remarked, quietly,

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opened this door at once, perhaps, the stranger judicially admitted, perhaps a

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sort of madness. But do come
and sit down. We have no time

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to lose. Mister Bowing gazed at
that handsome face, with the fine nostrils,

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large mouth and square clean chin,
and the dark eyes, the black

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hair and long black mustache, and
he noticed the long, thin hands decadent

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he decided nevertheless, And though it
was with the air of indulging the caprice

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of a lunatic, he did in
fact obey the stranger's request. It was

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a beautiful Chippendale drawing room that he
entered. Near the hearth, to which

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a morsel of fire gave cheerfulness,
were two easy chairs, and between them

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a small table. Behind was extended
a fourfold draft screen. I can give

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you just five minutes, said mister
Bowing, magisterially, sitting down, They

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will suffice. The stranger responded,
sitting down. Also, you have in

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your pocket, mister Bowing, probably
your breast pocket, fifty Bank of England

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and os for a thousand pounds each, and a number of smaller notes amounting

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to another ten thousand. Well,
I must demand from you the first named

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fifty. Mister Bowing in the silence
of the roselit drawing room. Thought of

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all the Devonshire mansion, with its
endless corridors and innumerable rooms, its acres

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of carpets, its forests of furniture, its gold and silver and its jewels,

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and its wines, its pretty women
and possessive men. The whole humming

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microcosm founded on a unanimous pretense that
the sacredness of property was natural law.

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And he thought how disconcerting it was
that he should be trapped there, helpless,

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in the very middle of the vast
pretense, and forced to admit that

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the sacredness of property was a purely
artificial convention. By what right do you

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make this demand, he inquired,
bravely sarcastic, By the right of my

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unique knowledge, said the stranger,
with a bright smile. Well, listen

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to what you and I alone know. You are at the end of the

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tether. The consolidated is at the
same spot. You have a past consisting

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chiefly of nineteen fraudulent flotations. You
have paid dividends out of capital till there

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is no capital left. You have
speculated and lost, You have cooked balance

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sheets to a turn, and ruined
the eye sight of auditors with dust.

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You have lived like ten lords.
Your houses are mortgaged, You own an

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unrivaled collection of unrecepted bills. You
are worse than a common thief. Excuse

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these personalities, my dear good Sir
mister Bowering interrupted, grandly, permit me

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what is more serious? Your self
competence has been gradually deserting you, at

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last perceiving that some blundering person was
bound soon to put his foot through the

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brittle shop of your ostentation and tread
on nothing, and for seeing for yourself

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an immediate future consisting chiefly of holloway. You have, by a supreme effort

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of your genius, borrowed sixty thousand
pounds from a bank on CMI see script

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for a week, and you have
arranged you and your wife to melt into

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thin air. You will affect to
set out as usual for your country place

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in Hampshire. But it is Southampton
that will see you tonight, and Ave

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will see you tomorrow. You may
run over to Paris to change some notes,

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but by Monday you will be on
your way to Frankly, I don't

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know where, perhaps Mata Adale.
Of course, you take the risk of

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extradition, but the risk is preferable
to the certainty that awaits you in England.

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I think you will elude extradition.
If I thought otherwise, I would

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not have had you here tonight,
because once extradite, you might begin to

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amuse yourself by talking about me.
So it's blackmail, said mister bowering grim

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The dark eyes opposite to him sparkled
gaily. It desolates me, the young

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man observed, to have to commit
you to the deep with only ten thousand,

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but really not less than fifty thousand
will requite me for the brain tissue

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which I have expended in the study
of your interesting situation. Mister Bowring consulted

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his watch. Come now, he
said, huskily, I'll give you ten

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thousand. I flatter myself. I
can look facts in the face, and

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so I'll give you ten thousand.
My friend answered the spider. You are

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a judge of character. Do you
honestly think I don't mean precisely what I

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say to sixpence? It is eight
thirty. You are, if I may

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be allowed the remark, running it
rather fine. And suppose I refuse to

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part mister Bowing upon reflection, what
then, why I have confessed to you

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00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:10.839
that I hate violence. You would
therefore leave this room unmolested, but you

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wouldn't step off the island. Mister
Bowring scanned the agreeable features of the stranger.

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Then, while the lifts were ascending
and descending, and the wine was

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sparkling, and the jewels flashing,
and the gold clinking, and the pretty

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women being pretty in all the four
quarters of the Devonshire, mister Bruce Bowing

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in the silent parlor, counted out
fifty notes on to the table. After

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00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.920
all, it was a fortune that
little pile of white on the crimson polished

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wood, bon Voyage, said the
stranger. Don't imagine that I am not

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00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:51.000
full of sympathy for you. I
am. You have only been unfortunate,

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00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:56.039
bon Voyage. No, by heaven, mister Bowring almost shouted, rushing back

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00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.079
from the door and drawing a revolver
from his hip. Pop, it's too

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00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.880
much. I don't mean to,
but confound it. What's a revolver for?

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00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.319
The youngish man jumped up quickly and
put his hands on the notes.

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Violence is always foolish, mister Bowring. He murmured, will you give them

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00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:19.160
up? Or won't you? I
won't The stranger's fine eyes seemed to glint

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00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:25.440
with joy in the drama. Then
the revolver was raised, but in the

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00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:30.599
same instant a tiny hand snatched it
from the hand of mister Bowring, who

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00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:36.400
turned and beheld by his side a
woman. The huge screen sank slowly and

246
00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:41.640
noiselessly to the floor, in the
surprising manner peculiar to screens that have been

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00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:48.039
overset. Mister Bowring cursed an accomplice, I might have guessed, he grumbled.

248
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:52.640
In final disgust. He ran to
the door, unlocked it, and

249
00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:59.039
was no more seen. Four.
The lady was aged twenty seven or so,

250
00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:03.640
of meeting height, and slim,
with a plain, very intelligent and

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00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:08.799
expressive face, lighted by courageous gray
eyes, and crowned with loose, abundant,

252
00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:14.319
fluffy air. Perhaps it was the
fluffy hair, Perhaps it was the

253
00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:18.960
mouth that twitched as she dropped the
revolver. Who can say, But the

254
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:25.680
whole atmosphere of the rose lit chamber
was suddenly changed. The incalculable had invaded

255
00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:30.440
it. You seem surprised, miss
Fincastle, said the possessor of the bank

256
00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:36.440
notes, laughing gaily. Surprised,
echoed the lady controlling that mouth, My

257
00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:41.640
dear mister Thorold, when strictly as
a journalist, I accepted your invitation,

258
00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:47.200
I did not anticipate this sequel.
Frankly I did not. She tried to

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00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:52.759
speak coldly and evenly on the assumption
that a journalist has no sex during business

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hours. But just then she happened
to be neither less nor more a woman

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than a woman always is. If
I have had the misfortune to annoy you

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00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:07.839
thorough that threw up his arms in
gallant despair, Annoy is not the word,

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00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.799
said Miss Fincastle, nervously smiling.
May I sit down? Thanks.

264
00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:19.279
Let us recount you arrive in England
from somewhere as the son and heir of

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00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:26.799
the late Ahasuras Thorold, the New
York operator who died worth six million dollars.

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It becomes known that while in Algiers
in the spring, you stayed at

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the hotel Saint Jam's, famous as
the scene of what is called the Algiers

268
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mystery, familiar to English newspaper readers
since last April. The editor of my

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journal therefore instructs me to obtain an
interview with you. I do so.

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00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:52.200
The first thing I discover is that
though an American, you have no American

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accent. You explain this by saying
that since infancy you have always lived in

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00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:02.039
Europe with your mother. But surely
you do not doubt that I am Cecil

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00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:07.480
Thoroled, said the man. Their
faces were approximate over the table, of

274
00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:11.880
course, not I merely recount.
To continue, I interview you as to

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00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:18.680
the Algerian mystery and get some new
items concerning it. Then you regale me

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00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:23.000
with tea and your opinions, and
my questions grow more personal. So it

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00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:27.720
comes about that, strictly on behalf
of my paper, I inquire what your

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00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:34.000
recreations are, and suddenly you answer, ah, my recreations. Come to

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00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:38.359
dinner to night, quite informally,
and I will show you how I amuse

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00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:44.720
myself. I come, I dine. I am stuck behind that screen and

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00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:49.039
told to listen, and the millionaire
proves to be nothing but a blackmailer.

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00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:55.440
You must understand, my dear lady. I understand everything, mister Thoroled,

283
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except your object in admitting me to
the scene. Oh whem, cried Thorole,

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00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:06.240
vivaciously. A freak of mine,
possibly due to the eternal and universal

285
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:11.480
desire of man to show off before
woman. The journalist tried to smile,

286
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:15.200
but something in her face caused Thorough
to run to a Chiffonier drink this,

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00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:19.920
he said, returning with a glass. I need nothing. The voice was

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00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:26.240
a whisper oblige me. Miss Fincastle
drank and coughed. Why do you do

289
00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.920
it? She asked, sadly,
looking at the notes. You don't mean

290
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:36.000
to say, Thorough burst out that
you are feeling sorry for mister Bruce Bowing.

291
00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:40.640
He has merely parted with what he
stole and the people from whom he

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00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:47.039
stole stole. All the activities which
center about the stock exchange are simply various

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00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:53.640
manifestations of one prime evil instinct.
Suppose I had not had not interfered,

294
00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:59.039
no one would have been a penny
the better off, except mister Bruce Bowring.

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00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:03.400
Whereas as you intend to restore this
money to the Consolidated, said Miss

296
00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:11.200
Fincastle, eagerly. Not quite.
The Consolidated doesn't deserve it. You must

297
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.160
not regard its shareholders as a set
of innocent, shorn lambs. They knew

298
00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:18.920
the game. They went in for
what they could get. Besides, how

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00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:23.519
could I restore the money without giving
myself away. I want the money myself,

300
00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:29.960
but you are a millionaire. It
is precisely because I am a millionaire

301
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.440
that I want more. All millionaires
are like that. Oh, I'm sorry

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00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.799
to find you a thief, mister
Thorold, a thief. No, I

303
00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:44.160
am only direct, I only avoid
the middleman. At dinner, Miss Fincastle,

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00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:51.079
you displayed somewhat advanced views about property, marriage and the aristocracy of brains.

305
00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:55.920
You said that labels were for the
stupid majority, and that the wise

306
00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:00.319
minority examined the ideas behind the labels. You label me a thief, but

307
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.799
examined the idea, and you will
perceive that you might as well call yourself

308
00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:10.680
a thief. Your newspaper every day
suppresses the truth about the city, and

309
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:14.960
it does so in order to live. In other words, it touches the

310
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.839
pitch. It participates in the game. Today it has a fifty line advertisement

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00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:26.119
of a false balance sheet of the
consolidated at two shillings, a line that

312
00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:30.680
five pounds part of the loot of
a great city will help to pay for

313
00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:37.160
your account of our interview this afternoon, our interview tonight. Miss Fincastle corrected

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00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:41.160
him stiffly, and all that I
have seen and heard. At these words,

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00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:45.240
she stood up, and as he
so thoroled gazed at her, his

316
00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:51.839
face changed. I shall begin to
wish, he said slowly, that I

317
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.039
had deprived myself of the pleasure of
your company this evening. You might have

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00:27:56.119 --> 00:28:02.039
been a dead man had you done
so. Miss Finncasile retorted, and observing

319
00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:07.160
his blank countenance, she touched the
revolver. Have you forgotten already, she

320
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:11.759
asked tartly. Of course it wasn't
loaded, he remarked, of course,

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00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.160
I had seen to that earlier in
the day. I'm not such a bungler.

322
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:21.279
Then I didn't save your life.
You force me to say that you

323
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:25.559
did not, and to remind you
that you gave me your word not to

324
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:30.240
emerge from behind the screen. However, seeing the motive, I can only

325
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:34.359
thank you for that lapse. The
pity is that it hopelessly compromises you,

326
00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:41.599
me, exclaimed Miss Finncastle. You
can't you see that you are in it

327
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:45.200
in this robbery. To give the
thing a label, You were alone with

328
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:51.559
the robber. You suckered the robber
at a critical moment, accomplice, mister

329
00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:56.160
bowing himself, said, my dear
journalist. The episode of the revolver empty,

330
00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:03.559
though the revolver was seals yours,
Miss Fincastle laughed rather hysterically, leaning

331
00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:08.160
over the table with her hands on
it. My dear millionaire, she said

332
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:11.960
rapidly, you don't know the new
journalism to which I have the honor to

333
00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:15.720
belong. You would know it better
had you lived more in New York.

334
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:21.079
All I have to announce is that, compromised or not, a full account

335
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:25.640
of this affair will appear in my
paper tomorrow morning. No, I shall

336
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.119
not inform the police. I am
a journalist, simply. But a journalist

337
00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:34.279
I am. And your promise which
you gave me before going behind the screen,

338
00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:40.559
your solemn promise that you would reveal
nothing. I was loath to mention

339
00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:44.640
it. Some promises, mister Thorold. It is a duty to break,

340
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.039
and it is my duty to break
this one. I should never have given

341
00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:53.480
it had I had the slightest idea
of the nature of your recreations. Thorold

342
00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:59.160
still smiled, though faintly. Really, you know, he murmured, this

343
00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:03.960
is getting to still little serious.
It is very serious, she stammered,

344
00:30:04.359 --> 00:30:11.880
and then Thorold noticed that the new
journalist was softly weeping. Five. The

345
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:17.559
door opened. Miss Kitty Satorius,
said the erstwhile liftman, who was now

346
00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:22.519
in plain clothes and had mysteriously ceased
to squint. A beautiful girl, a

347
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:27.599
girl who had remarkable loveliness and was
aware of it. One of the prettiest

348
00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:33.279
women of the Devonshire, ran impulsively
into the room and caught Miss Fincastle by

349
00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:38.599
the hand. My dearest Eve,
your crying. What's the matter, Lecky,

350
00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:42.319
said Thorold, aside to the servant. I told you to admit no

351
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:48.880
one. The beautiful blonde turned sharply
to Thorold. I told him I wished

352
00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:53.200
to enter, She said, imperiously, half closing her eyes. A yes,

353
00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:56.680
Sir, said Lecky. That was
it. The lady wished to enter.

354
00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:03.279
Thorold bowed it was sufficient, He
said, that will do. Lecky,

355
00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:07.240
Yes, sir, But I say, Lecky, when next you address

356
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:11.039
me publicly, try to remember that
I am not in the peerage. The

357
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:18.000
servant squinted, certainly, sir,
and he retired. Now we are alone,

358
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:22.920
said Miss Sartorius. Introduce us Eve
and explain. Miss Fincastle, having

359
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:29.480
regained self control, introduced her dear
friend, the radiant star of the Regency

360
00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:34.240
Theater and her acquaintance, the millionaire. Eve didn't feel quite sure of you,

361
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:38.519
the actress stated, and so we
arranged that if she wasn't up at

362
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:44.039
my flat by nine o'clock, I
was to come down and reconnoiter. What

363
00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:48.799
have you been doing to make Eve
cry? Unintentional? I assure you,

364
00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:53.960
Thorold began. There's something between you
two, said Kitty Sartorius sagaciously, in

365
00:31:55.079 --> 00:31:59.920
significant accents. What is it?
She sat down, touched her pick,

366
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:04.359
your hat, smoothed her white gown, and tapped her foot. What is

367
00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:07.640
it now, mister Darold, I
think you had better tell me. Thorough

368
00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:13.960
raised his eyebrows and obediently commenced the
narration, standing with his back to the

369
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:20.240
fire. How perfectly splendid, Kitty
exclaimed, I'm so glad you cornered mister

370
00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:23.599
Bowring. I met him one night
and I thought he was horrid. And

371
00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:30.440
these are the notes well of all
the Thorold proceeded with his story. Oh

372
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:34.519
but you can't do that, Eve, said Kitty, suddenly serious. You

373
00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:38.640
can't go and split. It would
mean all sorts of bother your wretched newspaper.

374
00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:43.079
Would it be sure to keep you
hanging about in London, and we

375
00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:46.640
shouldn't be able to start on our
holiday tomorrow. Eve and I are starting

376
00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:51.599
on quite a long tour tomorrow,
mister Thorold, we begin with ostend.

377
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:55.839
Indeed, said Thorold, I too, am going in that direction soon.

378
00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.039
Perhaps we may meet, I hope, so. Kitty smiled, and then

379
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.680
she looked at Eve Fincastle. You
really mustn't do that, Eve, she

380
00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:10.359
said, I must. I must, Miss Vincastle insisted, clinching her hands.

381
00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:15.720
And she will, said Kitty tragically, after considering her friend's face.

382
00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:21.920
She will, and our holiday's ruined. I see it, I see it

383
00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:27.480
plainly. She's in one of her
stupid conscientious moods. She's fearfully advanced and

384
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.920
careless and unconventional in theory, Eve
is. But when it comes to practice,

385
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:37.519
mister Thorold, you have just got
everything into a dreadful knot. Why

386
00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:43.119
did you want those notes so very
particularly I don't want them so very particularly

387
00:33:43.880 --> 00:33:49.240
well. Anyhow, it's a most
peculiar predicament. Mister Bowring doesn't count,

388
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:54.240
and a disconsolidated thing of me isn't
any the worse off nobody suffers who oughtn't

389
00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:00.000
to suffer. It's your unlawful gain. That's wrong. Why not pitch those

390
00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:05.319
wretched notes in the fire? Kitty
laughed at her own playful humor. Certainly,

391
00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:08.039
said Thorold, and with a quick
movement he put the fifty trifles in

392
00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:14.440
the grate, where they made a
bluish yellow flame. Both the women screamed

393
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:20.840
and sprang up. Mister Thorold,
Mister Thorold, he's adorable. Kitty breathe

394
00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:25.239
the incident. I venture to hope
is now closed, said Thorold, calmly,

395
00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:30.840
but with his dark eyes sparkling.
I must thank you both for a

396
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:36.159
very enjoyable evening. Some day,
perhaps I may have an opportunity of further

397
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:47.840
explaining my philosophy to you. End
of chapter one, Story one of the

398
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:52.920
Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennett.
This libribox recording is in the public domain.

399
00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:59.679
Story one, The Lute of Cities, Chapter two, a comedy on

400
00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:05.039
the go. It was five o'clock
on an afternoon in mid September, and

401
00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:10.920
a couple of American millionaires they abounded
that year did millionaires sat chatting together on

402
00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:16.960
the wide terrace which separates the entrance
to the cursall from the promenade some yards

403
00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:23.079
away against the balustrade of the terrace. In the natural, unconsidered attitude of

404
00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:29.320
one to whom short frocks are a
matter of history, certainly a but very

405
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:35.000
recent history, stood a charming and
imperious girl. You could see that she

406
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:39.920
was eating chocolate while meditating upon the
riddle of life. The elder millionaire glanced

407
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:45.199
at every pretty woman within view,
excepting only the girl, but his companion

408
00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:51.119
seemed to be intent on counting the
chocolates. The immense crystal dome of the

409
00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:57.440
Cursall dominated the Gold coast, and
on either side of the great building were

410
00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:01.599
stretched out in a straight line tells. The restaurants, the cafes, the

411
00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:07.159
shops, the theatres, the concert
halls, and the pawnbrokers of the City

412
00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:14.719
of Pleasure ostend. At one extremity
of that long array of ornate white architecture,

413
00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:19.480
which resembled the icing on a bridecake
more than the roofs of men,

414
00:36:19.880 --> 00:36:22.639
was the palace of a king.
At the other were the lighthouse and the

415
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:29.480
railway signals, which guided into the
city. The continuously arriving cargoes of wealth,

416
00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:35.239
beauty, and desire. In front
the ocean gray and lethargic idly beat

417
00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:39.280
up a little genteel foam under the
promenade for the wedding of pink feet and

418
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:45.559
stylish bathing costumes. And after a
hard day's work, the sun, by

419
00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:51.119
arrangement with the authorities during August and
September, was setting over the sea,

420
00:36:51.519 --> 00:36:57.519
exactly opposite the superb portals of the
cursaw. The younger of the millionaires was

421
00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:00.880
Cecil Thurled. The other, a
man one fifty five or so, was

422
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:07.079
Simeon Rancher, father of the girl
at the balustrade, and president of the

423
00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:13.880
famous dry Goods Trust of Exciting Memory. The contrast between the two menlike only

424
00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:19.840
in extreme riches, was remarkable.
Cecil still youthful, slim, dark,

425
00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:25.159
languid of movement, with delicate features, eyes almost Spanish and an accent of

426
00:37:25.320 --> 00:37:31.280
purest English, and ranger with his
nasal twang, his stout frame, his

427
00:37:31.559 --> 00:37:37.559
rounded bluish red chin, his little
eyes, and that demeanor of false briskness,

428
00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:43.679
by means of which aging men seek
to prove to themselves that they are

429
00:37:43.719 --> 00:37:47.760
as young as ever they were.
Simeon had been a friend and opponent of

430
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:55.239
Cecil's father in former days. Those
Twain had victimized each other for colossal sums.

431
00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:59.760
Consequently, Simeon had been glad to
meet the son of his dead and

432
00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:05.079
ends antagonists, and in less than
a week of ostend repose, despite a

433
00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:12.039
fundamental disparity of temperament, the formidable
President and the Europeanized Wanderer had achieved a

434
00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:16.760
sort of intimacy, an intimacy which
was about to be intensified. The difference

435
00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:22.920
between you and me is this cecil
was saying, you exhaust yourself by making

436
00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:27.840
money among men who are all bent
on making money in a place specially set

437
00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:31.679
apart for the purpose. I amuse
myself by making money among men who,

438
00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:37.360
having made or inherited money, are
bent on spending it in places specially set

439
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:43.400
apart for the purpose. I take
people off their guard. They don't precisely

440
00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:46.079
see me coming. I don't rent
an office and put up a sign,

441
00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:51.239
which is equivalent to announcing that the
rest of the world had better look out

442
00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:55.079
for itself. Our codes are the
same, but is not my way more

443
00:38:55.119 --> 00:39:00.000
original and more diverting. Look at
this place. Half the wealth of Europe

444
00:39:00.039 --> 00:39:06.480
is collected here. The other half
is that truvy. The entire coast reeks

445
00:39:06.519 --> 00:39:09.920
of money. The sands are golden
with it. You've only to put out

446
00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:17.400
your hand, so so ejaculated Rainshaw, quizzical, how show me? Ah,

447
00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:22.559
that would be telling. I guess
you wouldn't get much out of Simion,

448
00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:25.920
not as much as your father did. Do you imagine I should try?

449
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:31.920
Said Cecil gravely. My amusements are
always discreet, but you confess you

450
00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:37.360
are often bored. Now on Wall
Street, we are never bored, Yes,

451
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:42.880
Cecil admitted, I embarked on these, uh, these enterprises, mainly

452
00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:46.639
to escape boardom you ought to marry, said Rainshaw pointedly. You ought to

453
00:39:46.679 --> 00:39:52.440
marry my friend. I have my
yacht, no doubt, and as she's

454
00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:57.800
a beauty and feminine too, but
not feminine enough, you ought to marry.

455
00:39:58.239 --> 00:40:01.880
Now, I'll mister Rainshaw pause.
His daughter had suddenly ceased to eat

456
00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:07.840
chocolates and was leaning over the balustrade
in order to converse with a tall young

457
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:14.199
man whose fair, tanned face and
white hat overtopped the carved masonry and were

458
00:40:14.199 --> 00:40:19.920
thus visible to the millionaires. The
latter glanced at one another and then glanced

459
00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:25.679
away, each slightly self conscious.
I thought mister Volorie had left said Cecil.

460
00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:30.360
He came back last night, Rainshaw
replied curtly, and he leaves again

461
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:37.360
tonight. Then then it's a match
after all, Cecil ventured, who says

462
00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:43.039
that was Simeon's sharp inquiry, the
birds of the air whisper it one heard

463
00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:47.320
at every corner three days ago.
Rainshow turned his chair a little towards Cecil's.

464
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:51.079
You'll allow, I ought to know
something about it, he said,

465
00:40:51.280 --> 00:40:53.840
Well, I tell you it's a
lie. I'm sorry I mentioned it.

466
00:40:54.079 --> 00:41:00.519
Cecil apologized, Not at all,
said Simeon, stroking his chin. I'm

467
00:41:00.559 --> 00:41:04.320
glad you did, because now you
can just tell all the birds of the

468
00:41:04.360 --> 00:41:08.519
air direct from me that in this
particular case, there isn't going to be

469
00:41:08.679 --> 00:41:15.920
the usual alliance between the beauty and
dollars of America and the aristocratic blood of

470
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:21.679
Great Britain. Listen right here,
he continued, confidentially, like a man

471
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:28.480
whose secret feelings have been inconveniencing him
for several hours. This young spark mind,

472
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:32.280
I've nothing against him, asked me
to consent to his engagement with Geraldine.

473
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:36.960
I tell him that I intend to
settle half a million dollars on my

474
00:41:37.119 --> 00:41:40.000
daughter, and that the man she
marries, must cover that half million with

475
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:45.760
another. He says he has a
thousand a year of his own pounds,

476
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:50.480
just nice for Geraldine's gloves and candy, and that he is the heir of

477
00:41:50.519 --> 00:41:54.360
his uncle, Lord Lowry, and
that there is an entail, and that

478
00:41:54.400 --> 00:42:00.280
Lord Lowry is very rich, very
old, and very unmarried, but that

479
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:05.360
being also very peculiar, he won't
come down with any money. It occurs

480
00:42:05.400 --> 00:42:09.320
to me to remark, suppose Lord
Lowry marries and develops into the father of

481
00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:14.679
a man child, where do you
come in, mister vo Lorry, Oh,

482
00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:21.400
Lord Lowry, Mary impossible? Laughable. Then Geraldine begins to worry at

483
00:42:21.480 --> 00:42:25.199
me, and her mother too,
and so I kind of issue an ultimatum,

484
00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:30.519
namely, I will consent to an
engagement without a settlement if on the

485
00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:35.719
marriage Lord Lowry will give a note
of hand for half a million dollars to

486
00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:42.599
Geraldine payable on his marriage. See. My lord's nephew goes off to persuade

487
00:42:42.599 --> 00:42:46.239
my lord and returns with my lord's
answer in an envelope sealed with the Great

488
00:42:46.280 --> 00:42:52.320
Seal. I open it and I
read this is what I read to mister

489
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:58.119
s Rainshow American draper Sir, as
a humorist, you rank high. Accept

490
00:42:58.199 --> 00:43:02.800
the admiration of your obedience. Servant
Lowry, the millionaire laughed. Oh it's

491
00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:07.800
clever enough, said Rainshaw. It's
very English and grand dashed. If I

492
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:13.239
don't admire it all the same,
I've requested mister vol Lari, under the

493
00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:17.239
circumstances, to quit this town.
I didn't show him the letter. No,

494
00:43:19.039 --> 00:43:23.039
I spared his delicate feelings. I
merely told him Lord Lowry had refused,

495
00:43:23.079 --> 00:43:28.679
and that I would be ready to
consider his application favorably any time when

496
00:43:28.679 --> 00:43:32.679
he happened to have half a million
dollars in his pocket. And Miss Geraldine,

497
00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:37.840
she's flying the red flag. But
she knows when my back's against the

498
00:43:37.880 --> 00:43:42.960
wall. She knows her father.
She'll recover Great Scott. She's eighteen and

499
00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:46.400
he's twenty one. The whole affair
is a high farce. And moreover,

500
00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:52.000
I guess I want Geraldine to marry
an American after all, And if she

501
00:43:52.119 --> 00:43:55.559
elopes, Cecil murmured, as if
to himself, gazing at the set features

502
00:43:55.599 --> 00:44:01.599
of the girl, who was now
alone once more OBEs. Rainshaw's face reddened

503
00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:08.599
as his mood shifted suddenly from indulgent
cynicism to profound anger. Cecil was amazed

504
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:14.519
at the transformation, until he remembered
to have heard long ago that Simeon himself

505
00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:19.239
had eloped. It was just a
fancy that flashed into my mind, Cecil

506
00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:22.880
smiled diplomatically. I should let it
flash out again if I were you,

507
00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:29.639
said Rainshaw with a certain grimness,
And Cecil perceived the truth of the maxim

508
00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:34.960
that a parent can never forgive his
own fault in his child. Two.

509
00:44:35.159 --> 00:44:38.599
You've come to sympathize with me,
said to Geraldine Rainshaw, calmly, as

510
00:44:38.760 --> 00:44:44.199
Cecil, leaving the father for a
few moments, strolled across the terrace towards

511
00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:47.679
the daughter. It's my honest,
kindly face that gives me away, he

512
00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:52.039
responded, lightly. But what am
I to sympathize with you about? You

513
00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:57.880
know what, the girl said briefly. They stood together near the balustrade,

514
00:44:58.039 --> 00:45:00.639
looking out over the sea into the
grim and eye of the sun, and

515
00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:06.639
all the afternoon activities of Ostend were
surging round them. The muffled sound of

516
00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:12.199
musical instruments from within the kursaul,
the shrill cries of late bathers from the

517
00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:15.440
shore, the toot of a tramway
horn to the left, the roar of

518
00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:20.880
a siren to the right, and
everywhere, the ceaseless hum of an existence

519
00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:25.719
at once gay, feverish, and
futile. But Cecil was conscious of nothing

520
00:45:25.800 --> 00:45:30.920
but the individuality by his side.
Some women, he reflected, are older

521
00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:36.599
at eighteen than they are at thirty
eight, and Geraldine was one of those.

522
00:45:37.159 --> 00:45:39.960
She happened to be very young and
very old at the same time.

523
00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:45.599
She might be immature, crude,
even gawky in her girlishness, but she

524
00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:52.280
was just then in the first flush
of mentally realizing the absolute independence of the

525
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:57.159
human spirit. She had force,
and she had also the enterprise to act

526
00:45:57.239 --> 00:46:01.400
on it. As Cecil glanced at
her intelligent, expressive face, he thought

527
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:06.559
of her playing with life as a
child plays with a razor. You mean,

528
00:46:06.880 --> 00:46:09.920
he inquired, I mean that father
has been talking about me to you.

529
00:46:10.320 --> 00:46:15.800
I could tell by his eyes.
Well, your directness unnerves me,

530
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:20.440
he smiled. Pull yourself together,
then, mister thurtle, to be a

531
00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:23.280
man. Will you let me treat
you as a friend? Why? Yes,

532
00:46:23.480 --> 00:46:27.360
she said, if you'll promise not
to tell me I'm only eighteen.

533
00:46:28.119 --> 00:46:32.159
I am incapable of such rudeness,
Cecil replied. A woman is as old

534
00:46:32.199 --> 00:46:37.039
as she feels. You feel at
least thirty. Therefore you are at least

535
00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:43.440
thirty. This being understood, I'm
going to suggest as a friend that if

536
00:46:43.480 --> 00:46:51.360
you and mister Volkslowry are perhaps pardonably
contemplating any extreme step, extreme step,

537
00:46:51.559 --> 00:46:57.800
mister Thorold, oh, anything rash, And suppose we are, Geraldine demanded,

538
00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:04.960
raising her chin scornfully and defiantly and
dangling her parasol. I should respectfully

539
00:47:05.039 --> 00:47:09.719
and confidentially advise you to refrain,
be content to wait, my dear middle

540
00:47:09.719 --> 00:47:15.559
aged woman. Your father may relent, and also I have a notion that

541
00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:22.480
I may be able to help us. Possibly, you are real good,

542
00:47:22.639 --> 00:47:27.800
said Geraldine coldly. But what gave
you the idea that Harry and I were

543
00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:34.239
meaning to something? In your eyes? Your fine daring eyes, I read

544
00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:37.760
you as you read your father.
You see, well, then, mister

545
00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:42.760
Thurld, there's something wrong with my
fine daring eyes. I'm just the last

546
00:47:42.840 --> 00:47:49.440
girl in all America to do anything
rash. Why if I did anything rash,

547
00:47:49.559 --> 00:47:52.679
I'm sure I should feel ever afterwards, as if I wanted to be

548
00:47:52.800 --> 00:47:57.440
excused off the very face of the
earth. I'm that sort of girl.

549
00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:00.960
Do you think I don't know that
far will give way? I guess he's

550
00:48:01.039 --> 00:48:06.599
just got to. With time and
hammering, you cannot sense into the head

551
00:48:06.599 --> 00:48:10.960
of any parent. I apologize,
said Cecil, both startled and convinced.

552
00:48:12.280 --> 00:48:16.559
And I congratulate mister Volkes Lowry.
Say you like Harry, don't you?

553
00:48:17.079 --> 00:48:22.960
Oh very much? He's the ideal
type of Englishman. Geraldine nodded, sweetly

554
00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:27.880
and so obedient. He does everything
I tell him. He is leaving for

555
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:30.880
England to night, not because father
asked him to, but because I did.

556
00:48:31.360 --> 00:48:35.880
I'm going to take mother to Brussels
for a few days shopping lace.

557
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:40.360
You know that will give father an
opportunity to meditate in solitude on his own

558
00:48:40.599 --> 00:48:45.800
greatness. Tell me, mister Thorold, do you consider that Harry and I

559
00:48:45.960 --> 00:48:52.360
would be justified in corresponding secretly?
Cecil assumed a pose of judicial gravity.

560
00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:57.920
I think you would, he decided. But don't tell anyone, I said

561
00:48:57.960 --> 00:49:02.079
so, not even Harry. She
ran off into the cursall, saying she

562
00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:07.920
must seek her mother. But instead
of seeking her mother, Geraldine passed straight

563
00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:13.360
through the concert hall, where a
thousand and one wondrously attired women were doing

564
00:49:13.480 --> 00:49:17.199
fancy needlework to the accompaniment of a
band of music, into the maze of

565
00:49:17.320 --> 00:49:22.719
corridors beyond, and so to the
rear entrance of the coursall on the Boulevard

566
00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:29.639
van Isam. Here she met mister
Harry vol Lourie, who was most obviously

567
00:49:29.679 --> 00:49:32.559
waiting for her. They crossed the
road to the empty tramway waiting room and

568
00:49:32.800 --> 00:49:37.480
entered it and sat down, And
by the mere act of looking into each

569
00:49:37.480 --> 00:49:42.599
other's eyes, these two, the
stiff, simple, honest faced young englishmen

570
00:49:43.079 --> 00:49:49.159
with Oxford written all over him,
and the charming child of a civilization equally

571
00:49:49.199 --> 00:49:55.159
proud but with fewer conventions, suddenly
transformed the little bureau into a cupid's bower.

572
00:49:55.880 --> 00:50:00.360
It's just as I thought you,
darling boy, Geraldine began to talk

573
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:05.760
rapidly. Father's the least bid in
the world. Scared, and when he's

574
00:50:05.760 --> 00:50:09.480
scared, he's bound to confide in
someone, And he's confided in that suite,

575
00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:15.320
mister Thurled and mister Thorold has been
requested to reason with me and advise

576
00:50:15.440 --> 00:50:19.079
me to be a good girl.
And wait, I know what that means.

577
00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:22.880
It means that father thinks we shall
soon forget each other. My poor

578
00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:25.960
Harry and I do believe it means
that father wants me to marry mister Thurld.

579
00:50:27.559 --> 00:50:31.519
What did you say to him,
dear the lover demanded, peel trust

580
00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:36.039
me to fool him, Harry.
I simply walk round him. He thinks

581
00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:39.360
we're going to be very good and
wait patiently, as if father ever would

582
00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:45.880
give way until he was forced.
She laughed disdainfully. So we're perfectly safe,

583
00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:50.840
so long as we act with discretion. Now, let's clearly understand today's

584
00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:54.360
Monday. You return to England tonight, Yes, and I'll arrange about the

585
00:50:54.440 --> 00:50:59.800
license and things. Your cousin Mary
is just as important as the license,

586
00:51:00.039 --> 00:51:04.960
Mary said Geraldine. Primly she will
come. You may rely on her being

587
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:08.320
at ostend with me on Thursday.
Very well. In the meantime, I

588
00:51:08.400 --> 00:51:13.199
behave as if life were blank.
Brussels will put them off the scent.

589
00:51:13.559 --> 00:51:16.920
Mother and I will return from there
on Thursday afternoon. That night there is

590
00:51:16.960 --> 00:51:22.880
a soiree donsand at the cursaal Mother
will say she is too tired to go

591
00:51:22.000 --> 00:51:25.400
to it, but she will have
to go all the same. I will

592
00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:30.199
dance before all men till a quarter
to ten I will even dance with mister

593
00:51:30.280 --> 00:51:35.960
Thorold. What a pity I can't
dance before father, But he's certain to

594
00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:39.599
be in the gambling rooms then winning
money. He always is at that hour,

595
00:51:40.159 --> 00:51:44.199
at a quarter to ten, I
will slip out and you will be

596
00:51:44.320 --> 00:51:47.480
here at this back door with a
carriage. We drive to the quay and

597
00:51:47.880 --> 00:51:52.679
just catch the eleven o five steamer, and I meet your cousin Mary on

598
00:51:52.760 --> 00:51:58.159
a Friday morning. We are married, and then then we shall be in

599
00:51:58.199 --> 00:52:01.199
a position to talk to father.
He'll pretend to be furious, but he

600
00:52:01.239 --> 00:52:07.559
can't say much because he eloped himself. Didn't you know I didn't, said

601
00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:10.440
Harry, with a certain dryness.
Oh yes, it's in the family.

602
00:52:10.800 --> 00:52:15.599
But you needn't look so starched,
my English lord. He took her hand.

603
00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:20.519
You sure your uncle won't disinherit you
or anything horrid of that kind?

604
00:52:21.079 --> 00:52:25.760
He can't, said Harry, What
a perfectly lovely country England is, Geraldine

605
00:52:25.800 --> 00:52:30.599
exclaimed. Fancy the poor old thing
not being able to disinherit you. Why

606
00:52:30.639 --> 00:52:36.199
it's just too delicious for words?
And for some reason or other he kissed

607
00:52:36.239 --> 00:52:40.599
her violently. Then an official entered
the bureau and asked them if they wanted

608
00:52:40.639 --> 00:52:45.960
to go to Blankenburg, because if
so, the tram was awaiting their distinguished

609
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:52.000
pleasure. They looked at each other
foolishly and sidled out, and the bureau

610
00:52:52.440 --> 00:52:58.400
ceased to be Cupid's bower. Three. By Simeon's request, Cecil dined with

611
00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:01.760
the rain Shoers that night at the
Continental. After dinner, they all sat

612
00:53:01.800 --> 00:53:07.920
out on the balcony and sustained themselves
with coffee while watching the gay traffic of

613
00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:13.320
the dish, the brilliant illumination of
the coursaul, and the distant lights on

614
00:53:13.519 --> 00:53:19.039
the invisible but murmuring sea. Geraldine
was in one of her moods of philosophic

615
00:53:19.119 --> 00:53:23.719
pessimism, and would persist in dwelling
on the uncertainty of riches and the vicissitudes

616
00:53:23.760 --> 00:53:29.559
of millionaires. She found a text
in the famous Bowering case, of which

617
00:53:29.599 --> 00:53:34.760
the newspaper contained many interesting details.
I wonder if he'll be caught, she

618
00:53:34.920 --> 00:53:38.239
remarked, I wonder, said Cecil, what do you think, father?

619
00:53:38.920 --> 00:53:44.159
I think you'd better go to bed. Simeon replied, the chit rose and

620
00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:47.719
kissed him dutiously good night. She
said, aren't you glad the sea keeps

621
00:53:47.719 --> 00:53:53.639
so calm, Why can you ask
mister Vulclarie crosses tonight, and he's a

622
00:53:53.800 --> 00:53:59.440
dreadfully bad sailor. Come along,
mother, mister Thorold. When mother and

623
00:53:59.480 --> 00:54:02.079
I return from Brussels, we shall
expect to be taken for a cruise in

624
00:54:02.119 --> 00:54:07.199
the Clara Belle. Simeon sighed with
relief upon the departure of his family,

625
00:54:07.519 --> 00:54:13.840
and began a fresh cigar. On
the whole his day had been rather too

626
00:54:13.920 --> 00:54:19.280
domestic. He was quite pleased when
Cecil, having apparently by accident, broached

627
00:54:19.280 --> 00:54:24.119
the subject of the Dry Goods Trust, proceeded to exhibit a minute curiosity concerning

628
00:54:24.159 --> 00:54:28.559
the past, the present, and
the future of the greatest of all the

629
00:54:28.639 --> 00:54:32.880
rain Shore enterprises. Are you thinking
of coming in, Simeon demanded at length,

630
00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:37.480
bricking up his ears. No,
said Cecil, I'm thinking of going

631
00:54:37.519 --> 00:54:42.519
out. The fact is I haven't
mentioned it before, but I'm ready to

632
00:54:42.559 --> 00:54:46.800
sell a very large block of shares
the deuce you are, Simeon exclaimed,

633
00:54:47.119 --> 00:54:52.079
And what do you call a very
large block, well, said Cecil.

634
00:54:52.400 --> 00:54:57.920
It would cost me nearly half a
million to take them up now dollars pounds

635
00:54:57.960 --> 00:55:04.920
sterling twenty five thousand at ninety five
and three eight, Rainshaw whistled two bars

636
00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:08.159
of follow me from the bell of
New York. Is this how you amuse

637
00:55:08.199 --> 00:55:14.039
yourself? At ostend, he inquired. Cecil smiled, this is quite an

638
00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:20.599
exceptional transaction, and not too profitable
either. But you can't dump that lot

639
00:55:20.639 --> 00:55:24.559
on the market. Simeon protested,
Yes I can, said Cecil, I

640
00:55:24.679 --> 00:55:30.400
must, and I will. There
are reasons you yourself wouldn't care to handle

641
00:55:30.440 --> 00:55:35.440
it, I suppose, the president
of the trust pondered, I'll handle it

642
00:55:35.480 --> 00:55:38.679
at ninety three and three eights.
He answered quietly, Oh, come,

643
00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:43.960
that's dropping two points, said Cecil, shocked. A moment ago, you

644
00:55:44.039 --> 00:55:50.280
were prophesying a further rise. Rainshow's
face gleamed out momentarily in the darkness as

645
00:55:50.280 --> 00:55:53.679
he puffed at his cigar. If
you must unload, he remarked, as

646
00:55:53.719 --> 00:55:59.320
if addressing the red end of the
cigar. I'm your man at ninety three

647
00:55:59.440 --> 00:56:06.079
and Cecil argued, but Simeon Rainshower
never argued it was not his method.

648
00:56:06.599 --> 00:56:09.239
In a quarter of an hour,
the younger men had contracted to sell twenty

649
00:56:09.239 --> 00:56:15.000
five thousand shares of one hundred dollars
each in the United States. Dry goods

650
00:56:15.039 --> 00:56:20.920
trust at two points below the current
market quotation and six and five eight points

651
00:56:20.960 --> 00:56:25.639
below par The hoot of an outgoing
steamer sounded across the city. I must

652
00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:31.679
go, said Cecil. You're in
a mighty hurry, Simeon complained. Four

653
00:56:32.719 --> 00:56:37.400
five minutes later, Cecil was in
his own rooms at the Hotel de la

654
00:56:37.480 --> 00:56:40.440
Plage. Soon there was a discreet
knock at the door. Come in,

655
00:56:40.519 --> 00:56:45.599
lucky, he said. It was
his servant who entered. The small thin

656
00:56:45.719 --> 00:56:51.159
man with very mobile eyes and of
no particular age, who in various capacities

657
00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:57.679
and incarnations, now as liftman,
now as financial agent, now as no

658
00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:02.639
matter what, assisted Cecil in his
diversions. Mister vau Lowry really did go

659
00:57:02.679 --> 00:57:07.920
by the boat, sir good,
and you have given directions about the ought.

660
00:57:07.559 --> 00:57:13.239
The affair is in order, and
you've procured one of mister Rainshaw's Homburg

661
00:57:13.320 --> 00:57:17.199
hats. It is in your dressing
room. There was no mark of identification

662
00:57:17.360 --> 00:57:22.119
on it. So in order to
smooth the difficulties of the police when they

663
00:57:22.159 --> 00:57:25.199
find it on the beach, I
have taken the liberty of writing mister Rainshow's

664
00:57:25.280 --> 00:57:30.280
name on the lining. A kindly
thought, said Cecil, you'll catch the

665
00:57:30.320 --> 00:57:36.559
special GSN steamer direct for London at
one a m that will get you into

666
00:57:36.599 --> 00:57:40.480
town before two o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
Things have turned out as I expected,

667
00:57:40.800 --> 00:57:45.719
and I've nothing else to say to
you. But before leaving me, perhaps

668
00:57:45.760 --> 00:57:51.360
you'd better repeat your instructions with pleasure, sir, said Lecky Tucy afternoon.

669
00:57:51.599 --> 00:57:55.079
I call it Cloak Lane and intimate
that we want to sell dry good shares.

670
00:57:55.639 --> 00:58:01.119
I ineffectually try to conceal a secret
cause for alarm, and I gradually

671
00:58:01.159 --> 00:58:06.719
disclose the fact that we are very
anxious, indeed to sell really a lot

672
00:58:06.800 --> 00:58:10.079
of dry good shares. In a
hurry, I permit myself to be pumped,

673
00:58:10.199 --> 00:58:15.239
and the information is wormed out of
me that mister Simeon Rainshower has disappeared,

674
00:58:15.599 --> 00:58:21.679
has possibly committed suicide, but that
at present no one is aware of

675
00:58:21.719 --> 00:58:25.559
this except ourselves. I express doubts
as to the soundness of the trust,

676
00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:32.000
and I remark on the unfortunateness of
this disappearance. So soon after the lamentable

677
00:58:32.079 --> 00:58:37.719
panic connected with the lately vanished Bruce
Bowings and his companies. I send our

678
00:58:37.760 --> 00:58:42.760
friends on change with orders to see
what they can do, and to report.

679
00:58:43.320 --> 00:58:46.920
I then go to Berton Lane and
repeat the performance there without variation.

680
00:58:47.679 --> 00:58:52.400
Then I call at the City office
of the Evening Messenger and talk privily in

681
00:58:52.480 --> 00:58:59.480
a despondent vein with the financial editor
concerning the trust. But I breathe not

682
00:58:59.559 --> 00:59:05.320
a word as to mister Rainshaw's disappearance. Wednesday morning, the rot in dry

683
00:59:05.360 --> 00:59:09.920
goods has set in sharply, but
I am now very foolishly disposed to haggle

684
00:59:09.960 --> 00:59:15.440
about the selling price. Our friends
urge me to accept what I can get,

685
00:59:15.719 --> 00:59:20.800
and I leave them saying that I
must telegraph to you. Wednesday afternoon,

686
00:59:21.599 --> 00:59:24.719
I see a reporter of the Morning
Journal and let out that Simeon Rainshow

687
00:59:24.840 --> 00:59:30.440
has disappeared. The journal will wire
to all stand for confirmation, which confirmation

688
00:59:30.639 --> 00:59:36.199
it will receive Thursday morning. The
bottom is knocked out of the price of

689
00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:40.280
dry goods shares. Then I am
to call on our other friends at Throgmorton

690
00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:45.519
Street and tell them to buy by
bye. In London, New York,

691
00:59:45.800 --> 00:59:50.360
Paris, everywhere, go in peace, said Cecil. If we are lucky,

692
00:59:50.400 --> 00:59:55.239
the price will drop to seventy five. I see mister Thorold, said

693
00:59:55.360 --> 01:00:00.840
Geraldine Rainshow that you are about to
ask me for the next dance. It

694
01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:06.000
is yours. You are the Queen
of Diviner's, Cecil replied, bowing.

695
01:00:06.559 --> 01:00:10.199
It was precisely half past nine on
Thursday evening, and they had met in

696
01:00:10.239 --> 01:00:15.440
a corner of the pillard and the
Balcony de Salda dance in the Cursaal behind

697
01:00:15.440 --> 01:00:21.440
the concert hall. The slippery,
glittering floor was crowded with dancers, the

698
01:00:21.519 --> 01:00:27.480
men in ordinary evening dress, the
women very variously attired, save that nearly

699
01:00:27.559 --> 01:00:31.880
all wore picture hats. Geraldine was
in a white frock high at the neck

700
01:00:32.159 --> 01:00:37.920
with a large hat of black velvet, and amidst that brilliant, multi colored,

701
01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:43.320
light hearted throng, lit by the
blaze of the electric chandeliers and swayed

702
01:00:43.360 --> 01:00:49.079
by the irresistible melody of the Doctrinan
waltz. The young girl, simply dressed

703
01:00:49.119 --> 01:00:53.679
as she was, easily held her
own So you've come back from Brussels,

704
01:00:53.679 --> 01:00:59.000
Cecil said, taking her arm and
waist. Yes, we arrived just in

705
01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:01.880
time for dinner. What have you
been doing with father? We've seen nothing

706
01:01:01.920 --> 01:01:07.719
of him, ah, said Cecil, mysteriously. We've been on a little

707
01:01:07.800 --> 01:01:12.960
voyage and like you, we've only
just returned in the Clara Belle. He

708
01:01:13.079 --> 01:01:17.199
nodded. You might have waited,
she pouted. Perhaps she wouldn't have liked

709
01:01:17.199 --> 01:01:22.760
it. Things happened, you know
why? What do tell me? Well?

710
01:01:22.880 --> 01:01:27.320
You left your poor father alone,
and he was moping all day on

711
01:01:27.400 --> 01:01:30.320
Tuesday. So on Tuesday night I
had the happy idea of going out in

712
01:01:30.400 --> 01:01:37.239
the yacht to witness a sham night
attack by the French Channel Squadron on Calais.

713
01:01:37.679 --> 01:01:40.559
I caught your honored parent just as
he was retiring to bed, and

714
01:01:40.760 --> 01:01:45.800
we went. He was only too
glad, but we hadn't left the harbor

715
01:01:45.920 --> 01:01:50.480
much more than an hour and a
half when our engines broke down. What

716
01:01:50.880 --> 01:01:55.400
fun and that night too, Yes, wasn't it. The shaft was broken,

717
01:01:55.960 --> 01:02:00.199
so we didn't see much of any
night attack on Calais. Fortunately,

718
01:02:00.519 --> 01:02:05.280
the weather was all that the weather
ought to be when a ship's engines break

719
01:02:05.400 --> 01:02:09.280
down. Still, it took us
over forty hours to repair. Over forty

720
01:02:09.719 --> 01:02:15.079
hours. I'm proud we were able
to do the thing without being ignominiously towed

721
01:02:15.079 --> 01:02:20.480
into port. But I fear your
father may have grown a little impatient.

722
01:02:20.840 --> 01:02:25.239
Though we had excellent views of Ostand
and Dunkirk and the passing vessels were a

723
01:02:25.280 --> 01:02:30.559
constant diversion. Was there plenty to
eat? Geraldine asked, simply, oh,

724
01:02:30.719 --> 01:02:37.320
ample, then father wouldn't really mind. When did you land about an

725
01:02:37.320 --> 01:02:40.440
hour ago? Your father did not
expect you to night. I fancy he

726
01:02:40.599 --> 01:02:44.800
dressed and went straight to the tables. He has to make up for a

727
01:02:44.880 --> 01:02:49.079
night lost, you see. They
danced in silence for a few moments,

728
01:02:49.119 --> 01:02:53.119
and then suddenly Geraldine said, will
you excuse me? I feel tired.

729
01:02:53.679 --> 01:03:00.880
Good night. The clock under the
orchestra showed seventeen minutes to ten instantly.

730
01:03:01.400 --> 01:03:07.440
Cecil queried instantly, and the girl
added, with a hint of mischief in

731
01:03:07.480 --> 01:03:10.599
her voice as she shook hands.
I look on you as quite a friend

732
01:03:10.760 --> 01:03:15.920
since our last little talk, So
you will excuse this abruptness, won't you.

733
01:03:15.760 --> 01:03:21.760
He was about to answer when a
sort of commotion arose near behind them.

734
01:03:22.079 --> 01:03:24.639
Still holding her hand, he turned
to look why, he said,

735
01:03:24.679 --> 01:03:30.599
it's your mother. She must be
unwell. Missus Rainshaw, as stout and

736
01:03:30.760 --> 01:03:36.760
robed as always in tight sumptuous black, sat among a little bevy of chaperone's.

737
01:03:37.320 --> 01:03:42.199
She held a newspaper in trembling hands, and she was uttering a succession

738
01:03:42.239 --> 01:03:46.440
of staccato, oh oh, while
everyone in the vicinity gazed at her with

739
01:03:46.559 --> 01:03:52.960
alarm. Then she dropped the paper
and, murmuring, Simeon's dead sank gently

740
01:03:53.039 --> 01:04:00.440
to the polished floor just as Cecil
and Geraldine approached. Geraldine's first and distinctive

741
01:04:00.519 --> 01:04:03.960
move was to seize the newspaper,
which was that day's Paris edition of the

742
01:04:04.039 --> 01:04:10.280
New York Herald. She read the
headlines in a flash strange disappearance of Semi

743
01:04:10.360 --> 01:04:15.920
and rainshow suicide feared takes advantage of
his family's absence. Heavy drop and dry

744
01:04:15.960 --> 01:04:23.400
goods shares at seventy two and still
falling six. My good, Rebecca,

745
01:04:23.519 --> 01:04:28.679
I assure you that I am alive. This was mister Rainshaw's attempt to calm

746
01:04:28.719 --> 01:04:32.199
the hysteric sobbing of his wife,
who had recovered from her short swoon.

747
01:04:32.280 --> 01:04:39.239
In the Little Retreat of the Person
who sold the Tauchnitzes pictured postcards and French

748
01:04:39.320 --> 01:04:45.159
novels between the main corridor and the
reading rooms. Geraldine and Cecil were also

749
01:04:45.320 --> 01:04:49.719
in the tiny chamber. As for
this, Simeon continued to kicking the newspaper.

750
01:04:50.000 --> 01:04:54.559
It's a singular thing that a man
can't take a couple of days off

751
01:04:54.679 --> 01:04:59.679
without upsetting the entire universe. What
should you do in my place? Thoroughed

752
01:04:59.719 --> 01:05:03.400
this the fault of your shaft.
I should buy dry good shares, said

753
01:05:03.400 --> 01:05:09.000
Cecil, and I will. There
was an imperative knock at the door,

754
01:05:09.360 --> 01:05:15.079
and an official of police entered.
Michel Lein shure the same. We have

755
01:05:15.199 --> 01:05:19.639
received telegrams from New York Alundre to
demand if you are dead. I am

756
01:05:19.800 --> 01:05:25.440
not. I still live. But
Monsieur's hat has been found on the beach.

757
01:05:26.000 --> 01:05:30.639
My hat, it carries Mensieur's name. Then it isn't mine, Sir,

758
01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:36.960
may Commandant, I tell you it
isn't mine, Sir, don't be

759
01:05:38.079 --> 01:05:42.679
angry. Simeon. His wife pleaded
between her sobs. The exit of the

760
01:05:42.719 --> 01:05:47.559
official was immediately followed by another summons
for admission, even more imperative. A

761
01:05:47.639 --> 01:05:53.599
lady entered and handed to Simeon a
card, Miss Eve Fincastle, the Morning

762
01:05:53.679 --> 01:05:58.079
Journal my paper. She began.
You wish to know if I exist,

763
01:05:58.159 --> 01:06:02.039
madam, said Simeon. I of
Miss Fincastle caught sight of Cecil. Thorold

764
01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:09.400
paused and bowed stiffly. Cecil bowed. He also blushed. I continue to

765
01:06:09.559 --> 01:06:14.920
exist, Madam, Simeon proceeded,
I have not killed myself, but homicide

766
01:06:14.920 --> 01:06:17.880
of some sort is not improbable if
in short, Madam, good night,

767
01:06:18.599 --> 01:06:24.559
Miss Fincastle, with a long searching, a silent look at Cecil departed.

768
01:06:25.199 --> 01:06:29.719
Bolt that door, said Simeon to
his daughter. Then there was a third

769
01:06:29.800 --> 01:06:34.360
knock, followed by a hammering.
Go away, Simeon commanded open the door,

770
01:06:34.679 --> 01:06:40.880
pleaded a muffled voice. It's Harry, Geraldine whispered solemnly in Cecil's ear.

771
01:06:41.239 --> 01:06:44.280
Please go and calm him. Tell
him, I say it's too late

772
01:06:44.320 --> 01:06:48.840
to night. Cecil went astounded.
What happened to Geraldine? Cried the boy

773
01:06:49.159 --> 01:06:54.880
extremely excited in the corridor. There
are all sorts of rumors, is she

774
01:06:54.960 --> 01:06:59.760
ill? Cecil gave an explanation,
and in his turn asked for another one.

775
01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:02.840
You look unnerved, he said,
what are you doing here? What

776
01:07:03.000 --> 01:07:06.880
is it? Come have a drink
and tell me all, my young friend,

777
01:07:08.480 --> 01:07:12.960
And when over kognac he had learnt
the details of a scheme which had

778
01:07:13.119 --> 01:07:16.960
no connection with his own. He
exclaimed, with the utmost sincerity. The

779
01:07:17.159 --> 01:07:21.920
minx, the minx, What do
you mean? Inquired Harry, Volkslowry.

780
01:07:23.400 --> 01:07:28.400
I mean that you and the minks
have had the nearest possible shape of ruining

781
01:07:28.519 --> 01:07:31.679
your United careers. Listen to me. Give it up, my boy.

782
01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:36.519
I'll try to arrange things. You
delivered a letter to the father in law

783
01:07:36.559 --> 01:07:41.440
of your desire a few days ago. I'll give you another one to deliver,

784
01:07:41.599 --> 01:07:45.320
and I fancy the result will be
different. The letter which Cecil wrote

785
01:07:45.519 --> 01:07:50.519
ran, thus, dear Rainchor I
inclose check for a hundred thousand pounds.

786
01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:55.719
It represents parts of the gold that
can be picked up on the gold coast

787
01:07:55.920 --> 01:08:00.199
by putting out one's hand. So
you will observe that it stated the day

788
01:08:00.239 --> 01:08:05.360
after the next settling day of the
London Stock Exchange, I contracted on Monday

789
01:08:05.400 --> 01:08:11.280
last to sell you twenty five thousand
shares of a certain trust at ninety three

790
01:08:11.320 --> 01:08:15.840
and three eighths. I did not
possess the shares then, but my agents

791
01:08:15.880 --> 01:08:18.279
have to day bought them for me
at an average price of seventy two.

792
01:08:18.960 --> 01:08:24.960
I stand to realize therefore rather more
than half a million dollars the round half

793
01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:29.520
million mister va Lowry happens to bring
you in his pocket. You will not

794
01:08:29.720 --> 01:08:32.840
forget your promise to him that when
he did so, you would consider his

795
01:08:32.920 --> 01:08:38.600
application favorably. I wish to make
no profit out of the little transaction,

796
01:08:39.039 --> 01:08:43.439
but I will venture to keep the
balance for out of pocket expenses, such

797
01:08:43.479 --> 01:08:47.319
as mending the Clarabelle shaft. How
convenient it is to have a yacht that

798
01:08:47.399 --> 01:08:53.720
will break down when required. The
shares will doubtless recover in due course.

799
01:08:54.079 --> 01:08:58.279
And I hope the reputation of the
trust may not suffer, and that,

800
01:08:58.359 --> 01:09:00.880
for the sake of old times,
would my father, you will regard the

801
01:09:00.960 --> 01:09:08.199
episode in its proper light and bear
me no ill will yours sincerely, see

802
01:09:08.239 --> 01:09:14.239
Thorold. The next day, the
engagement of mister Harry Nigel Selincourt vau Lurry

803
01:09:14.439 --> 01:09:21.000
and Miss Geraldine Rainshaw was announced to
two continents. End of story one,

804
01:09:21.079 --> 01:09:31.920
Chapter two, Story one of the
Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennett. This

805
01:09:32.039 --> 01:09:38.239
libripox recording is in the public domain. Story one, The Loot of Cities,

806
01:09:38.560 --> 01:09:43.720
Chapter three, A bracelet at Bruges. The bracelet had fallen into the

807
01:09:43.760 --> 01:09:47.079
canal, and the fact that the
canal was the most picturesque canal in the

808
01:09:47.119 --> 01:09:51.399
old Flemish city of Bruges, and
that the ripples caused by the splash of

809
01:09:51.439 --> 01:09:58.439
the bracelet had disturbed reflections of wondrous
Belfrey's towers, steeples, and other unique

810
01:09:58.479 --> 01:10:03.880
examples of Gothic architect Victor did nothing
whatever to assuage the sudden agony of that

811
01:10:04.000 --> 01:10:09.960
disappearance, for the bracelet had been
given to Kitty Sartorius by her grateful and

812
01:10:10.079 --> 01:10:16.199
lordly manager, Lionel Belmont Usa,
upon the completion of the unexampled run of

813
01:10:16.199 --> 01:10:23.000
the Dalmonical Doll at the Regency Theater, London, and its diamonds were worth

814
01:10:23.079 --> 01:10:28.199
five hundred pounds, to say nothing
of the gold. The beautiful Kitty and

815
01:10:28.399 --> 01:10:33.600
her friend e Fencastle, the journalists, having exhausted ostend, had duly arrived

816
01:10:33.640 --> 01:10:39.199
at Bruges in the course of their
holiday tour. The question of Kitty's jewelry

817
01:10:39.359 --> 01:10:43.920
had arisen at the start. Kitty
had insisted that she must travel with all

818
01:10:44.039 --> 01:10:48.199
her jewels, according to the custom
of the theatrical stars of great magnitude.

819
01:10:48.760 --> 01:10:55.159
Eve had equally insisted that Kitty must
travel without jewels, and had exhorted her

820
01:10:55.239 --> 01:11:00.359
to remember the days of her simplicity. They compromised. Kitty was al to

821
01:11:00.359 --> 01:11:04.159
bring the bracelet, but nothing else
save the usual half dozen rings. The

822
01:11:04.279 --> 01:11:10.479
ravishing creature could not have persuaded herself
to leave the bracelet behind, because it

823
01:11:10.600 --> 01:11:15.279
was so recent a gift, and
still new and strange and heavenly to her.

824
01:11:15.079 --> 01:11:19.920
But since prudence forbade even Kitty to
let the trifle lie about in hotel

825
01:11:20.000 --> 01:11:25.720
bedrooms, she was obliged always to
wear it, and she had been wearing

826
01:11:25.760 --> 01:11:30.039
it this bright afternoon in early October, when the girls, during a stroll,

827
01:11:30.159 --> 01:11:32.760
had met one of their new friends, Madame Lawrence, on the world

828
01:11:32.760 --> 01:11:38.520
famous Quis de Rosere, just at
the back of the Hotel de Ville and

829
01:11:38.720 --> 01:11:44.239
the Hall. Madame Lawrence resided permanently
in Bruges. She was between twenty five

830
01:11:44.319 --> 01:11:48.279
and forty five, dark, with
the air of continually subduing, a natural

831
01:11:48.319 --> 01:11:54.720
instinct to dash, and well dressed
in black. Equally interested in the peerage

832
01:11:54.760 --> 01:11:58.560
and in the poor. She had
made the acquaintance of Eve and Kitty at

833
01:11:58.560 --> 01:12:02.319
the Hotel de la Gramps, where
she called from time to time to induce

834
01:12:02.359 --> 01:12:09.039
English travelers to buy a genuine Bruges
Laise, wrought under her own supervision by

835
01:12:09.119 --> 01:12:14.000
her own paupers. She was Belgian
by birth, and when complimented on her

836
01:12:14.039 --> 01:12:17.760
fluent and correct English. She gave
all the praise to her deceased husband and

837
01:12:18.039 --> 01:12:23.960
English barrister. She had settled in
Bruges, like many people settled there,

838
01:12:24.319 --> 01:12:30.680
because Bruges is inexpensive, picturesque and
inordinately respectable. Besides an English church and

839
01:12:30.760 --> 01:12:35.880
chaplain, it has two cathedrals and
an episcopal palace with a real bishop in

840
01:12:35.920 --> 01:12:41.239
it. What an exquisite bracelet?
May I look at it? It was

841
01:12:41.439 --> 01:12:46.520
these simple but ecstatic words, spoken
with Madame Lawrence's charming foreign accent, which

842
01:12:46.520 --> 01:12:51.560
had begun the tragedy. The three
women had stopped to admire the always admirable

843
01:12:51.640 --> 01:12:56.840
view from the little key, and
they were leaning over the rails when Kitty

844
01:12:57.159 --> 01:13:01.039
unclasped the bracelet for the inspection of
the widow the next instant. There was

845
01:13:01.119 --> 01:13:08.279
a PLoP and affrighted exclamation from Madame
Lawrence in her native tongue, and the

846
01:13:08.319 --> 01:13:13.520
bracelet was engulfed before the very eyes
of all three. The three looked at

847
01:13:13.520 --> 01:13:16.800
each other, none plussed. Then
they looked around, but not a single

848
01:13:16.840 --> 01:13:23.680
person was in sight. Then,
for some reason which doubtless psychology can explain,

849
01:13:24.119 --> 01:13:28.319
they stared hard at the water though
the water there was just as black

850
01:13:28.399 --> 01:13:32.800
and foul as it is everywhere else
in the canal system of Bruges. Surely

851
01:13:32.880 --> 01:13:38.319
you've not dropped it, Eve Fincastle
exclaimed, in a voice of horror.

852
01:13:38.800 --> 01:13:44.479
Yet she knew positively that Madame Lawrence
had the delinquent. Took a handkerchief from

853
01:13:44.479 --> 01:13:47.800
her muff and sobbed into it,
and between her sobs she murmured, we

854
01:13:47.920 --> 01:13:51.720
must inform the police. Yes,
of course, said Kitty, with the

855
01:13:51.840 --> 01:13:57.600
lightness of one to whom a five
hundred pound bracelet is a bacatel. They'll

856
01:13:57.640 --> 01:14:00.640
fish it up in no time.
Well, Eve decided, you go to

857
01:14:00.680 --> 01:14:04.920
the police at once. Kitty and
Madame Lawrence will go with you because she

858
01:14:05.039 --> 01:14:10.399
speaks French, and I'll stay here
to mark the exact spot. The other

859
01:14:10.439 --> 01:14:14.239
two started, but Madame Lawrence,
after a few steps, put her hand

860
01:14:14.279 --> 01:14:17.399
to her side. I can't,
she sighed, Pale. I'm too upset.

861
01:14:17.640 --> 01:14:21.199
I cannot walk. You go with
miss Sartorius, she said to Eve,

862
01:14:21.239 --> 01:14:27.000
and I will stay, and she
leaned heavily against the railings. Eve

863
01:14:27.079 --> 01:14:30.520
and Kitty ran off, just as
if it was an affair of seconds,

864
01:14:30.720 --> 01:14:33.800
and the bracelet had to be saved
from drowning, but they had scarcely turned

865
01:14:33.800 --> 01:14:39.920
the corner thirty yards away when they
reappeared in company with a high official of

866
01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:43.680
police, whom, by the most
lucky chance in the world, they had

867
01:14:43.760 --> 01:14:47.520
encountered in the covered passage leading to
the Place de bouge. This official,

868
01:14:47.640 --> 01:14:53.760
instantly enslaved by Kitty's beauty, proved
to be the very mirror of politeness and

869
01:14:53.840 --> 01:14:57.760
optimism. He took their names and
addresses, in a full description of the

870
01:14:57.800 --> 01:15:02.039
bracelet, and informed them that at
that place the canal was nine feet deep.

871
01:15:02.359 --> 01:15:06.439
He said that the bracelet should undoubtedly
be recovered on the morrow, but

872
01:15:06.640 --> 01:15:12.039
that as a dusk was eminent,
it would be futile to commence angling that

873
01:15:12.279 --> 01:15:15.399
night. In the meantime, the
loss should be kept secret, and to

874
01:15:15.479 --> 01:15:20.840
make all sure, a succession of
gendarmes should guard the spot during the night.

875
01:15:21.560 --> 01:15:28.720
Kitty grew radiant and rewarded the gallant
officer with smiles. Eve was satisfied,

876
01:15:28.880 --> 01:15:32.880
and the face of Madame Lawrence wore
a less mournful you, And now

877
01:15:32.920 --> 01:15:38.000
said Kitty to Madame. When everything
had been arranged and the first of the

878
01:15:38.039 --> 01:15:43.720
gendarmes was duly installed at the exact
spot against the railings. You must come

879
01:15:43.760 --> 01:15:46.840
and take tea with us in our
winter garden, and to be gay smile,

880
01:15:47.199 --> 01:15:53.640
I insist, and I insist that
you don't worry. Madame Lawrence tried

881
01:15:53.760 --> 01:15:58.880
feebly to smile. You are very
good natured, she stammered, which was

882
01:15:59.079 --> 01:16:03.319
decidedly true. Rue two. The
winter garden of the Hotel de la Grande

883
01:16:03.319 --> 01:16:09.560
Place, referred to in all the
hotel's advertisements, was merely the inner court

884
01:16:09.600 --> 01:16:13.760
of the hotel, roofed in by
glass at the height of the first story.

885
01:16:14.439 --> 01:16:17.640
Caine flourished there in the shape of
the lounge chairs, but no other

886
01:16:17.720 --> 01:16:23.479
plant. One of the lounge chairs
was occupied when, just as the carolan

887
01:16:23.600 --> 01:16:27.960
in the belfry at the other end
of the place began to play Guno's Nazareth,

888
01:16:28.560 --> 01:16:31.840
indicating the hour of five o'clock,
the three ladies entered the winter garden.

889
01:16:32.319 --> 01:16:36.800
Apparently the toilettes of two of them
had been adjusted and embellished as for

890
01:16:36.880 --> 01:16:44.520
a somewhat ceremonious occasion. Lo cried
Kitty Sartorius when she perceived the occupant of

891
01:16:44.560 --> 01:16:48.960
the chair, the millionaire mister Thorold. How charming of you to reappear like

892
01:16:49.039 --> 01:16:55.560
this, I invite you to tea. Cecil Thorold rose with appropriate eagerness.

893
01:16:55.600 --> 01:17:00.000
Delighted, he said, smiling,
and then explained that he had arrived from

894
01:17:00.159 --> 01:17:04.239
must End about two hours before and
had taken rooms in the hotel. You

895
01:17:04.359 --> 01:17:08.720
knew we were staying here, Eve
asked, as he shook hands with her.

896
01:17:09.239 --> 01:17:12.479
No, he replied, but I'm
very glad to find you again,

897
01:17:13.399 --> 01:17:17.039
are you? She spoke languidly about
her color heightened, and those eyes of

898
01:17:17.119 --> 01:17:23.159
hers sparkled. Madam Lawrence, Kitty
cherup. Let me present mister cecil Thorold.

899
01:17:23.479 --> 01:17:27.960
He is appallingly rich, but we
mustn't let that frighten us. From

900
01:17:28.039 --> 01:17:31.920
a mouth less adorable than the mouth
of Miss Sartorius. Such an introduction might

901
01:17:31.960 --> 01:17:36.279
have been judged lacking in the elements
of good form, But for more than

902
01:17:36.319 --> 01:17:42.880
two years now Kitty had known that
whatever she did or said was perfectly correct.

903
01:17:43.039 --> 01:17:47.079
Because she did or said it.
The new acquaintances laughed amiably, and

904
01:17:47.199 --> 01:17:51.319
a certain intimacy was at once established. Shall I order tea, dear,

905
01:17:51.640 --> 01:17:57.199
Eve suggested, No, Dear,
said Kitty quietly. We will wait for

906
01:17:57.239 --> 01:18:01.800
the count. The count demanded,
ces the Comte de rect Kitty explained,

907
01:18:01.840 --> 01:18:06.960
he is staying here a French nobleman. Doubtless, yes, said Kitty,

908
01:18:08.000 --> 01:18:12.800
and she added you will like him. He is an archaeologist and a musician,

909
01:18:13.239 --> 01:18:15.760
oh and lots of things. If
I am one minute late, I

910
01:18:16.000 --> 01:18:20.319
entreat pardon, said a fine tenor
voice at the door. It was the

911
01:18:20.439 --> 01:18:26.039
Count. After he had been introduced
to Madame Lawrence and Cecil Thorold had been

912
01:18:26.039 --> 01:18:30.000
introduced to him, Tea was served
now. The Comte de Brac was everything

913
01:18:30.039 --> 01:18:34.399
that a French count ought to be. As dark as Cecil thurled and even

914
01:18:34.479 --> 01:18:39.640
handsomer. He was a little older
and a little taller than the millionaire,

915
01:18:40.000 --> 01:18:45.680
and a short pointed black beard exquisitely
trimmed, gave him an appearance of staid

916
01:18:45.680 --> 01:18:51.359
reliability which Cecil lacked. His bow
was a vertebrate poem, his smile a

917
01:18:51.439 --> 01:18:57.640
consolation for all misfortunes, and he
managed his hat, stick, gloves,

918
01:18:57.680 --> 01:19:02.640
and cup with the dazzling assures of
a conjurer. To observe him at afternoon,

919
01:19:02.680 --> 01:19:08.680
Tea was to be convinced that he
had been specially created to shine gloriously

920
01:19:08.800 --> 01:19:13.760
in drawing rooms, winter gardens,
and table d'hotes, And he was one

921
01:19:13.800 --> 01:19:16.479
of those men who always do the
right thing at the right moment, who

922
01:19:16.520 --> 01:19:23.439
are capable of speaking an indefinite number
of languages with absolute purity of accent.

923
01:19:23.880 --> 01:19:29.600
He spoke English much better than Madame
Lawrence, and who can and do discourse

924
01:19:29.680 --> 01:19:34.720
with ve and accuracy on all sciences, arts, sports, and religions.

925
01:19:34.760 --> 01:19:39.760
In short, he was of Phoenix
of account. And this was certainly the

926
01:19:39.840 --> 01:19:45.359
opinion of Miss Kitty Sartorius and of
Miss Eve Fincastle, both of whom reckoned

927
01:19:45.399 --> 01:19:48.319
that what they did not know about
men might be ignored. Kitty and the

928
01:19:48.399 --> 01:19:54.600
Count, it soon became evident,
were mutually attracted. Their souls were approaching

929
01:19:54.640 --> 01:19:59.960
each other with a velocity which increased
inversely as the square of the lessening distance

930
01:20:00.119 --> 01:20:06.000
between them, and Eve was watching
this approximation with undisguised interest and relish.

931
01:20:06.560 --> 01:20:14.000
Nothing of the least importance occurred save
the Count's marvelous exhibition of how to behave

932
01:20:14.119 --> 01:20:18.279
at afternoon tea, until the refection
was nearly over, and then, during

933
01:20:18.319 --> 01:20:21.920
a brief pause in the talk,
Cecil, who was sitting to the left

934
01:20:21.960 --> 01:20:27.520
of Madame Lawrence, looked sharply round
at the right shoulder of his tweed coat.

935
01:20:28.039 --> 01:20:30.720
He repeated the gesture a second,
and yet a third time. What

936
01:20:31.119 --> 01:20:35.399
is the matter with the man,
asked Eve Fincastle. Both he and Kitty

937
01:20:35.439 --> 01:20:41.920
were extremely bright, animated, and
even excited. Nothing. I thought I

938
01:20:41.960 --> 01:20:45.880
saw something on my shoulder, that's
all, said Cecil. Ah, it's

939
01:20:45.880 --> 01:20:48.319
only a bit of thread, And
he picked off the thread with his left

940
01:20:48.359 --> 01:20:54.199
hand and held it before Madame Lawrence. See it's a piece of thin black

941
01:20:54.319 --> 01:20:58.640
silk knotted. At first I took
it for an insect. You know how

942
01:20:58.720 --> 01:21:02.640
queer things look out the corner of
your eye. Pardon He had dropped the

943
01:21:02.680 --> 01:21:09.840
fragment onto Madame Lawrence's black silk dress. Now it's lost. If you will

944
01:21:09.880 --> 01:21:14.000
excuse me, kind friends, said
Madame Lawrence, I will go. She

945
01:21:14.079 --> 01:21:19.600
spoke hurriedly and as though in mental
distress. Poor thing Kitty Storius exclaimed.

946
01:21:19.760 --> 01:21:25.560
When the widow had gone, she
still dreadfully upset, and Kitty and Eve

947
01:21:25.720 --> 01:21:30.319
proceeded jointly to relate the story of
the diamond bracelet, upon which hitherto they

948
01:21:30.359 --> 01:21:35.560
had kept silence, though with difficulty. Out of regard for Madame Lawrence's feelings,

949
01:21:36.239 --> 01:21:43.079
Cecil made almost no comment. The
count with the sympathetic excitability of his

950
01:21:43.239 --> 01:21:47.840
race, walked up and down the
winter garden, as severating earnestly that such

951
01:21:47.880 --> 01:21:54.359
clumsiness amounted to a crime. Then
he grew calm and confessed that he shared

952
01:21:54.439 --> 01:21:58.960
the optimism of the police as to
the recovery of the bracelet. Lastly,

953
01:21:59.039 --> 01:22:02.680
he complimented Kit on her equable demeanor
under this affliction. Do you know,

954
01:22:02.840 --> 01:22:08.199
count, said Cecil Thorold. Later, after they had all four ascended to

955
01:22:08.279 --> 01:22:12.920
the drawing room overlooking the grand place. I was quite surprised when I saw

956
01:22:12.960 --> 01:22:15.720
a tea that you had to be
introduced to Madame Lawrence. Why so,

957
01:22:16.000 --> 01:22:20.359
my dear mister Thorold, the Count
inquired suavely. I thought I had seen

958
01:22:20.399 --> 01:22:26.520
you together at Ostend a few days
ago. The Count shook his wonderful head.

959
01:22:27.359 --> 01:22:30.800
Perhaps you have a brother, Cecil
paused, No, said the Count,

960
01:22:31.000 --> 01:22:35.000
but it is a favorite theory of
mine that everyone has his double somewhere

961
01:22:35.000 --> 01:22:40.560
in the world. Previously, the
Count had been discussing Plantchett. He was

962
01:22:40.680 --> 01:22:45.760
a great authority on the supernatural,
the subconscious, and the subliminal. He

963
01:22:45.840 --> 01:22:50.359
now deviated gracefully to the discussion of
the theory of doubles. I suppose you

964
01:22:50.399 --> 01:22:55.479
aren't going out for a walk,
dear before dinner, said Eve to Kitty.

965
01:22:56.079 --> 01:23:00.479
No, dear, said Kitty positively. I think I shall, said

966
01:23:00.520 --> 01:23:05.039
Eve, and her glance at Cecil
Thoroled intimated in the plainest possible manner that

967
01:23:05.199 --> 01:23:09.920
she wished not only to have a
companion for a stroll, but to leave

968
01:23:10.039 --> 01:23:14.760
Kitty and the count in dual solitude. I shouldn't if I were you,

969
01:23:14.920 --> 01:23:19.880
miss fincastle, Cecil remark with calm
and steadied blindness. It's risky here in

970
01:23:19.920 --> 01:23:26.479
the evenings, with these canals exhaling
my asthma, and mosquitoes and bracelets and

971
01:23:26.560 --> 01:23:29.800
all sorts of things. I will
take the risk, thank you, said

972
01:23:29.800 --> 01:23:34.760
Eve in an icy tone, and
she haughtily departed. She would not cower

973
01:23:34.840 --> 01:23:40.560
before Cecil's millions. As for Cecil, he joined in the discussion of the

974
01:23:40.560 --> 01:23:46.000
theory of doubles three on the next
afternoon, but one policemen were still fishing

975
01:23:46.279 --> 01:23:53.079
without success for the bracelet and raising
from the ancient ducked, long buried odors

976
01:23:53.119 --> 01:23:58.600
which threatened to destroy the inhabitants of
the key. When Kitty Sartorius had hinted

977
01:23:58.640 --> 01:24:01.920
that perhaps the authorities might see their
way to drawing off the water from the

978
01:24:02.079 --> 01:24:08.039
canal. The authorities had intimated that
the death rate of Bruges was already as

979
01:24:08.119 --> 01:24:14.039
high as convenient. Nevertheless, though
nothing had happened, the situation had somehow

980
01:24:14.119 --> 01:24:17.479
developed, and in such a manner
that the bracelet itself was in danger of

981
01:24:17.520 --> 01:24:23.960
being partially forgotten. And of all
places in Bruges, the situation had developed

982
01:24:24.000 --> 01:24:28.560
on the top of the renowned Belfry, which dominates the grand plots in the

983
01:24:28.600 --> 01:24:32.880
particular and the city in general.
The summit of the Belfry is three hundred

984
01:24:32.920 --> 01:24:38.199
and fifty feet high, and it
is reached by four hundred and two winding

985
01:24:38.239 --> 01:24:44.159
stone steps, each a separate menace
to life and limb. Eve Fencastle had

986
01:24:44.159 --> 01:24:46.920
climbed those steps alone, perhaps in
quest of the view at the top,

987
01:24:47.239 --> 01:24:53.319
perhaps in quest of spiritual calm.
She had not been leaning over the parapet

988
01:24:53.399 --> 01:24:58.399
more than a minute before Cecil Thorold
had appeared, his field glasses slung over

989
01:24:58.439 --> 01:25:01.439
his shoulder. They had been gun
to talk a little, but nervously,

990
01:25:01.520 --> 01:25:06.359
and only in snatches. The wind
blew free up there among the forty eight

991
01:25:06.439 --> 01:25:13.079
bells, but the social atmosphere was
oppressive. The Count is a most charming

992
01:25:13.199 --> 01:25:16.600
man. Eve was saying, as
if in defense of the Count he is,

993
01:25:16.840 --> 01:25:20.399
said, cecil I agree with you. Oh no you don't, mister

994
01:25:20.439 --> 01:25:25.960
Thorold, Oh no you don't.
Then there was a pause, and the

995
01:25:26.000 --> 01:25:30.680
twain looked down upon Bruges, with
its venerable streets, its grass grown squares,

996
01:25:31.000 --> 01:25:36.640
its waterways, and its innumerable monuments
spread out maplike beneath them in the

997
01:25:36.680 --> 01:25:43.640
mellow October sunshine. Citizens passed along
the thoroughfare in the semblance of tiny dwarfs.

998
01:25:44.279 --> 01:25:47.159
If you didn't hate him, said
Eve, you wouldn't behave as you

999
01:25:47.239 --> 01:25:53.640
do. How do I behave?
Then Eve schooled her voice to an imitation

1000
01:25:53.760 --> 01:25:58.520
of jocularity. Oh, Tuesday evening
and all day yesterday. You couldn't leave

1001
01:25:58.560 --> 01:26:02.359
them alone, you know you couldn't. Five minutes later, the conversation had

1002
01:26:02.399 --> 01:26:08.239
shifted. You actually saw the bracelet
fall into the canal, said cecil.

1003
01:26:08.920 --> 01:26:13.359
I actually saw the bracelet fall into
the canal, and no one could have

1004
01:26:13.439 --> 01:26:16.600
got it out while Gidey and I
were away, because we weren't away half

1005
01:26:16.640 --> 01:26:21.039
a minute. But they could not
dismiss the subject of the Count, And

1006
01:26:21.279 --> 01:26:26.840
presently he was again the topic naturally
It would be a good match for the

1007
01:26:26.880 --> 01:26:30.199
Count for any man, said Eve. But then it would also be a

1008
01:26:30.199 --> 01:26:33.600
good match for kitty. Of course, he is not so rich as some

1009
01:26:33.760 --> 01:26:39.720
people, but he is rich.
Cecil examined the horizon with his glasses,

1010
01:26:39.920 --> 01:26:44.840
and then the streets near the Grand
Place. Rich is he? I'm glad

1011
01:26:44.840 --> 01:26:46.600
of it. By the way,
he's gone to Ghent for the day,

1012
01:26:46.680 --> 01:26:50.880
hasn't he. Yes, he went
by the nine twenty seven and returns by

1013
01:26:50.920 --> 01:26:56.680
the four thirty eight. Another pause, well, said Cecil, at length,

1014
01:26:56.760 --> 01:27:00.439
handing the glasses to eifein castle,
kindly glanced at there, follow the

1015
01:27:00.479 --> 01:27:04.239
line of the Rue Saint Nicolas.
You see the cream colored house with the

1016
01:27:04.359 --> 01:27:10.239
enclosed courtyard. Now do you see
two figures standing together near the door,

1017
01:27:10.760 --> 01:27:14.319
a man and a woman, the
woman on the steps. Who are they?

1018
01:27:15.039 --> 01:27:17.680
I can't tell very well, said
Eve. Oh yes, my dear

1019
01:27:17.760 --> 01:27:21.359
lady, you can, said Cecil. These glasses are the very best.

1020
01:27:21.800 --> 01:27:27.720
Try again, They look like the
Comte de vec and Madame Lawrence. Eve

1021
01:27:27.840 --> 01:27:30.640
murmured, But the Count is on
his way from Ghent. I see the

1022
01:27:30.680 --> 01:27:34.880
steam of the four thirty eight over
there. The curious thing is that the

1023
01:27:34.920 --> 01:27:40.119
Count entered the house of Madame Lawrence, to whom he was introduced for the

1024
01:27:40.159 --> 01:27:45.000
first time the day before yesterday at
ten o'clock this morning. Yes, it

1025
01:27:45.039 --> 01:27:47.600
would be a very good match for
the Count. When one comes to think

1026
01:27:47.640 --> 01:27:51.920
of it, it usually is that
sort of man that contrives to marry a

1027
01:27:51.920 --> 01:27:58.720
brilliant and successful actress. There he's
just leaving, isn't it. Now Let

1028
01:27:58.800 --> 01:28:01.840
us descend and listen to the recital
of his day's doings in Ghent. Shall

1029
01:28:01.880 --> 01:28:08.880
we you mean to insinuate? Eve
burst out in sudden wrath, that the

1030
01:28:09.039 --> 01:28:15.319
Count is an adventurer, and that
Madame Lawrence, Oh, mister Thurough,

1031
01:28:15.720 --> 01:28:21.119
She laughed condescendingly. This jealousy is
too absurd. Do you suppose I haven't

1032
01:28:21.199 --> 01:28:27.239
noticed how impressed you were with Giddy
at the Devonshire mansion that night, and

1033
01:28:27.359 --> 01:28:31.840
again at Ostend, and again here. You are simply carried away by jealousy,

1034
01:28:32.199 --> 01:28:35.600
and you think, because you are
a millionaire, you must have all

1035
01:28:35.600 --> 01:28:41.359
you want. I haven't the slightest
doubt that the Count by anyhow, says

1036
01:28:41.359 --> 01:28:45.079
he, So let us go down
and hear about Ghent. His eyes made

1037
01:28:45.079 --> 01:28:50.199
a number of remarks, indulgent,
angry, amused, protective, admiring purpose

1038
01:28:50.399 --> 01:28:57.039
hious puzzled too subtle for the medium
of words. They groped their way down

1039
01:28:57.079 --> 01:29:00.960
to earth in silence, and it
was in silence that that crossed the Grand

1040
01:29:00.039 --> 01:29:03.960
Blass. The Count was seated on
the terrassea in front of the hotel,

1041
01:29:04.279 --> 01:29:09.880
with a liqueur glass before him,
and he was making graceful and expressive signs

1042
01:29:09.920 --> 01:29:14.920
to Kitty Sartorius, who leaned her
marvelous beauty out of a first story window.

1043
01:29:15.439 --> 01:29:19.159
He greeted Cecil thorough and Eve with
an equal grace. And how is

1044
01:29:19.239 --> 01:29:24.079
Kent? Cecil inquired, Did you
go to Ghent? After all? Count

1045
01:29:24.279 --> 01:29:28.359
Eve put in la Comte d Brac, looked from one to another, and

1046
01:29:28.399 --> 01:29:31.560
then instead of replying, he sipped
at his glass. No, he said,

1047
01:29:31.600 --> 01:29:35.439
I didn't go. The rather curious
fact is that I happened to meet

1048
01:29:35.479 --> 01:29:40.439
Madame Lawrence, who offered to show
me her collection of lace. I had

1049
01:29:40.479 --> 01:29:45.399
been an amateur of lace for some
years, and really, Madame Lawrence's collection

1050
01:29:45.560 --> 01:29:48.720
is amazing. You have seen it? No, you should do so,

1051
01:29:49.159 --> 01:29:54.119
I'm afraid I have spent most of
the day there. When the Count had

1052
01:29:54.279 --> 01:29:58.920
gone to join Kitty in the drawing
room, Efe and Castle looked victoriously as

1053
01:29:58.920 --> 01:30:02.880
Cecil, as if to demand of
him, will you apologize, my dear

1054
01:30:03.079 --> 01:30:09.520
journalist, Cecil remarked, simply,
you gave the show away. That evening,

1055
01:30:09.680 --> 01:30:14.319
the continued obstinacy of the bracelet,
which still refused to be caught,

1056
01:30:14.640 --> 01:30:19.199
began at last to disturb the birdlike
mind of Kitty Sartorius. Moreover, the

1057
01:30:19.239 --> 01:30:24.560
secret was out, and the whole
town of Bruges was discussing the episode and

1058
01:30:24.680 --> 01:30:30.319
the chances of success. Let us
consult planchet said the Count. The proposal

1059
01:30:30.520 --> 01:30:35.720
was received with enthusiasm by Kitty.
Eve had disappeared. Planchette was produced,

1060
01:30:36.000 --> 01:30:40.560
and when asked if the bracelet would
be recovered, it wrote, under the

1061
01:30:40.600 --> 01:30:45.079
hands of Kitty and the Count,
a trembling yes. When asked by whom

1062
01:30:45.560 --> 01:30:51.039
it wrote a word which faintly resembled
Pavrek, the Count stated that he should

1063
01:30:51.039 --> 01:30:57.520
personally commence dragging operations at sunrise.
You will see, he said, I

1064
01:30:57.560 --> 01:31:01.479
shall succeed. Let me try this
toy. May I cease the last blandly,

1065
01:31:01.840 --> 01:31:06.479
And upon Kitty agreeing, he addressed
planchet in a clear voice, Now,

1066
01:31:06.600 --> 01:31:12.720
Planchette, who will restore the bracelet
to its owner, and Planchette wrote

1067
01:31:13.000 --> 01:31:17.479
Thoroled, but in characters as firm
and regular as those of a copy book.

1068
01:31:18.000 --> 01:31:23.439
Mister thurld Is, laughing at us, observed the count imperturbably bland.

1069
01:31:24.000 --> 01:31:30.039
How horrid you are, mister Thorold, Kitty exclaimed. Four of the four

1070
01:31:30.119 --> 01:31:34.119
persons more or less interested in the
affair, three were secretly active that night

1071
01:31:34.319 --> 01:31:40.000
in and out of the hotel.
Only Kitty Sartorius, chief mourner for the

1072
01:31:40.039 --> 01:31:44.840
bracelet, slept placidly in her bed. It was towards three o'clock in the

1073
01:31:44.880 --> 01:31:49.560
morning that a sort of preliminary crisis
was reached from the multiplicity of doors which

1074
01:31:49.640 --> 01:31:56.239
ventilate its rooms. One would imagine
that the average foreign hotel must have been

1075
01:31:56.359 --> 01:32:01.479
designed immediately after its architect had been
to see Palais Royal farce, in which

1076
01:32:01.479 --> 01:32:06.039
every room opens into every other room
in every act. The Hotel de la

1077
01:32:06.079 --> 01:32:13.039
Grande Place was not peculiar in this
respect. It abounded in doors. All

1078
01:32:13.279 --> 01:32:18.159
the chambers on the second story over
the public rooms fronting the place communicated one

1079
01:32:18.279 --> 01:32:24.239
with the next, but naturally most
of the communicating doors were locked. Cecil

1080
01:32:24.279 --> 01:32:28.239
Thorold and a comte de Brac had
each a bedroom and a sitting room on

1081
01:32:28.319 --> 01:32:32.239
that floor. The count's sitting room
adjoined Cecil's, and the door between was

1082
01:32:32.319 --> 01:32:38.479
locked and the key in the possession
of the landlord. Nevertheless, at three

1083
01:32:38.520 --> 01:32:45.000
a m. This particular door opened
noiselessly from Cecil's side, and Cecil entered

1084
01:32:45.000 --> 01:32:49.439
the domain of the count. The
moon shone, and Cecil could plainly see

1085
01:32:49.680 --> 01:32:55.199
not only the silhouette of the belfry
across the place, but also the principal

1086
01:32:55.239 --> 01:32:59.520
objects within the room. He noticed
the table in the middle, the large

1087
01:32:59.560 --> 01:33:03.720
easy to turned towards the hearth,
the old fashioned sofa, But not a

1088
01:33:03.760 --> 01:33:09.479
single article did he perceive which might
have been the personal property of the count.

1089
01:33:10.119 --> 01:33:14.520
He cautiously passed across the room through
the moonlight to the door of the

1090
01:33:14.560 --> 01:33:19.279
count's bedroom, which apparently to his
immense surprise, was not only shut but

1091
01:33:19.520 --> 01:33:26.279
locked, and the key in the
lock on the sitting room side silently unlocking

1092
01:33:26.319 --> 01:33:30.279
it. He entered the bedroom and
disappeared in less than five minutes. He

1093
01:33:30.319 --> 01:33:34.239
crept back into the count's sitting room, closed the door and locked it.

1094
01:33:35.000 --> 01:33:41.319
Odd, he murmured reflectively, but
he seemed quite happy. There was a

1095
01:33:41.359 --> 01:33:45.199
sudden movement in the region of the
hearth, and a form rose from the

1096
01:33:45.319 --> 01:33:49.720
armchair. Cecil rushed to the switch
and turned on the electric light. Eve

1097
01:33:49.840 --> 01:33:56.159
Thincastle stood before him. They faced
each other. What are you doing here

1098
01:33:56.199 --> 01:34:00.479
at this time, Miss Fincastle,
he asked sternly. You can talk freely.

1099
01:34:00.720 --> 01:34:03.840
The Count will not awaken. I
may ask you the same question.

1100
01:34:04.159 --> 01:34:10.800
Eve replied with cold bitterness. Excuse
me, you may not. You are

1101
01:34:10.880 --> 01:34:15.119
a woman. This is the Count's
room. You are in error, she

1102
01:34:15.279 --> 01:34:19.159
interrupted him. It is not the
Count's room, it is mine. Last

1103
01:34:19.239 --> 01:34:23.840
night I told the Count I had
some important writing to do, and I

1104
01:34:23.880 --> 01:34:28.479
asked him as a favor to relinquish
this room to me for twenty four hours.

1105
01:34:28.880 --> 01:34:32.840
He very kindly consented. He removed
his belongings, handed me the key

1106
01:34:32.920 --> 01:34:38.439
of that door, and the transfer
was made in the hotel books. And

1107
01:34:38.680 --> 01:34:42.880
now, she added, May I
inquire, mister Thorold, what you are

1108
01:34:42.920 --> 01:34:49.239
doing in my room? I I
thought it was the count's Cecil faltered decidedly,

1109
01:34:49.279 --> 01:34:54.720
at a loss for a moment in
offering my humblest apologies. Permit me

1110
01:34:54.800 --> 01:34:59.199
to say that I admire you,
Miss Fincastle. I wish I could return

1111
01:34:59.279 --> 01:35:03.479
the compliment, Eve exclaimed, and
she repeated, with almost plaintive sincerity,

1112
01:35:03.920 --> 01:35:09.640
I do wish I could cecil raised
his arms and let them fall to his

1113
01:35:09.760 --> 01:35:14.119
side. You meant to catch me, he said. You suspected something.

1114
01:35:14.199 --> 01:35:18.479
Then the important writing was an invention, and he added, with a faint

1115
01:35:18.520 --> 01:35:23.760
smile. You really ought not to
have fallen asleep. Suppose I had not

1116
01:35:23.880 --> 01:35:28.319
wakened you. Please don't laugh,
mister Thorold. Yes I did suspect.

1117
01:35:28.600 --> 01:35:31.760
There was something in the demeanor of
your servant Lucky that gave me the idea

1118
01:35:32.039 --> 01:35:36.800
I did mean to catch you.
Why you a millionaire should be a burglar?

1119
01:35:36.920 --> 01:35:42.600
I cannot understand. I never understood
that incident at the Devnger mansion.

1120
01:35:42.960 --> 01:35:46.079
It was beyond me. I am
by no means sure that you didn't have

1121
01:35:46.119 --> 01:35:50.560
a great deal to do with the
Ranger affair at ostend, but that you

1122
01:35:50.600 --> 01:35:56.359
should have stooped to slander is the
worst. I confess you are a mystery.

1123
01:35:56.760 --> 01:36:00.439
I confess that I can make no
guess at the nature of your present

1124
01:36:00.520 --> 01:36:04.119
scheme, and what I shall do
now that I have caught you, I

1125
01:36:04.239 --> 01:36:10.880
don't know. I can't decide.
I must think if, however, anything

1126
01:36:11.000 --> 01:36:15.399
is missing tomorrow morning, I shall
be bound in any case to denounce you.

1127
01:36:15.920 --> 01:36:18.960
You grasp that, oh, I
grasp it perfectly, my dear journalist,

1128
01:36:19.199 --> 01:36:25.960
Cacil replied, And something will not
improbably be missing. But take the

1129
01:36:26.000 --> 01:36:30.479
advice of a burglar and a mystery
and go to bed. It is half

1130
01:36:30.520 --> 01:36:34.680
past three, and Eve went,
and Cecil bowed her out, and then

1131
01:36:34.760 --> 01:36:40.239
retired to his own rooms, and
the Count's apartment was left to the moonlight.

1132
01:36:41.199 --> 01:36:45.760
Five. Planchet is a very safe
prophet, said Cecil to Giddy Sartorius

1133
01:36:45.880 --> 01:36:50.880
the next morning, provided it has
firm guidance. They were at breakfast.

1134
01:36:51.239 --> 01:36:56.239
What do you mean? I mean
that Planchet prophesied last night that I should

1135
01:36:56.239 --> 01:37:00.680
restore to you your bracelet? I
do. He took the lovely gigaw from

1136
01:37:00.680 --> 01:37:04.239
his pocket and handed it to Kitty. How did you find it, you

1137
01:37:04.520 --> 01:37:10.960
dear thing? Kitty stammered, trembling
under the shock of joy. I fished

1138
01:37:10.960 --> 01:37:15.880
it up out of the mire by
a contrivance of my own. But when,

1139
01:37:15.560 --> 01:37:19.199
oh, very early, at three
o'clock a m. You see,

1140
01:37:19.239 --> 01:37:25.039
I was determined to be first in
the dark. Then I had a light.

1141
01:37:25.359 --> 01:37:30.399
Don't you think I'm rather clever Kitty's
scene of ecstatic gratitude. It does

1142
01:37:30.439 --> 01:37:34.000
not come into the story, Suffice
it to say that not until the moment

1143
01:37:34.039 --> 01:37:40.479
of its restoration did she realize how
precious the bracelet was to her. It

1144
01:37:40.560 --> 01:37:44.960
was ten o'clock before Eve descended.
She had breakfast in her own room,

1145
01:37:45.119 --> 01:37:50.000
and Kitty had already exhibited to her
the prodigal bracelet. I particularly want you

1146
01:37:50.039 --> 01:37:54.399
to go up the belfry with me, miss Fincastle, Cecil greeted her,

1147
01:37:54.800 --> 01:37:59.600
and his tone was so serious and
so urgent, that she consented. They

1148
01:37:59.680 --> 01:38:03.840
left, playing waltzes on the piano
in the drawing room, and now a

1149
01:38:04.000 --> 01:38:09.319
man of mystery. Eve questioned,
when they had toiled to the summit and

1150
01:38:09.359 --> 01:38:13.640
saw the city and its dwarfs beneath
them, We are in no danger of

1151
01:38:13.680 --> 01:38:17.239
being disturbed here, Cecil began.
But I will make my explanation, the

1152
01:38:17.359 --> 01:38:23.840
explanation which I certainly owe you,
as brief as possible. Your compete,

1153
01:38:23.960 --> 01:38:28.359
Vac is an adventurer. Please don't
be angry, And you are, Madame

1154
01:38:28.479 --> 01:38:31.319
Lawrence, is an adventuress. I
knew that I had seen them together.

1155
01:38:31.680 --> 01:38:35.319
They work in concert, and for
the most part make a living on the

1156
01:38:35.359 --> 01:38:41.319
gaming tables of Europe. Madame Lawrence
was expelled from Monte Carlo last year for

1157
01:38:41.399 --> 01:38:45.039
being too intimate with a croupier.
You may be aware that at a roulette

1158
01:38:45.039 --> 01:38:49.800
table one can do a great deal
with the aid of the croupier. Madame

1159
01:38:49.880 --> 01:38:56.199
Lawrence appropriated the bracelet on her own, as it were. The Count he

1160
01:38:56.359 --> 01:39:00.000
may be a real count, for
anything. I know heard first that enterprise

1161
01:39:00.079 --> 01:39:05.000
from the lips of Miss Sartorius.
He was annoyed, angry because he was

1162
01:39:05.079 --> 01:39:10.279
really a little in love with your
friend, and he saw golden prospects.

1163
01:39:10.840 --> 01:39:15.119
It is just this fact, the
Count's genuine passion for Miss Sartorius, that

1164
01:39:15.239 --> 01:39:21.880
renders the case psychologically interesting to proceed, Madame Lawrence became jealous. The Count

1165
01:39:21.960 --> 01:39:28.000
spent six hours yesterday in trying to
get the bracelet from her and failed.

1166
01:39:28.439 --> 01:39:32.720
He tried again last night and succeeded, but not too easily, for he

1167
01:39:32.800 --> 01:39:38.960
did not re enter the hotel till
after one o'clock. At first I thought

1168
01:39:39.000 --> 01:39:43.600
he had succeeded in the daytime,
and I had arranged accordingly, for I

1169
01:39:43.640 --> 01:39:46.840
did not see why he should have
the honor and glory of restoring the bracelet

1170
01:39:46.920 --> 01:39:50.840
to its owner Lucky, and I
fixed up a sleeping draft for him.

1171
01:39:51.359 --> 01:39:56.960
The minor details were simple. When
you caught me this morning, the bracelet

1172
01:39:57.039 --> 01:40:00.920
was in my pocket and in its
stead, I had left brief note for

1173
01:40:00.960 --> 01:40:04.800
the perusal of the Count, which
has had the singular effect of inducing him

1174
01:40:04.880 --> 01:40:11.720
to de camp. Probably he has
not gone alone. But isn't it amusing

1175
01:40:12.039 --> 01:40:15.399
that since you so elaborately took his
sitting room, he will be convinced that

1176
01:40:15.479 --> 01:40:23.039
you are a party to his undoing. You his staunchest defender. Eve's face

1177
01:40:23.239 --> 01:40:29.079
gradually broke into an embarrassed smile.
You haven't explained, she said, how

1178
01:40:29.119 --> 01:40:33.680
Madame Lawrence got the bracelet. Come
over here, Cecil answered, Take these

1179
01:40:33.680 --> 01:40:38.800
glasses and look down at the Quy
de Rosire. You see everything plainly.

1180
01:40:39.399 --> 01:40:43.920
Eve could in fact see on the
quay the little mounds of mud which had

1181
01:40:43.960 --> 01:40:47.800
been extracted from the canal in the
quest of the bracelet, Cecil continued.

1182
01:40:48.239 --> 01:40:51.760
On my arrival in Bruges on Monday, I had a fancy to climb the

1183
01:40:51.800 --> 01:40:57.520
belfry. At once I witnessed the
whole scene between you and Miss Saturius and

1184
01:40:57.600 --> 01:41:01.840
Madame Lawrence through my glasses. Immediately
your backs were turned. Madame Lawrence,

1185
01:41:02.079 --> 01:41:06.600
her hands behind her and her back
against the railing, began to make a

1186
01:41:06.640 --> 01:41:12.800
sort of rapid drawing up motion with
her forearms. Then I saw a momentary

1187
01:41:12.840 --> 01:41:16.760
glitter. Considerably mystified. I visited
the spot after you had left it,

1188
01:41:17.159 --> 01:41:21.079
chatted with a gentarme on duty,
and got round him. And then it

1189
01:41:21.159 --> 01:41:26.439
dawned on me that a robbery had
been planned, prepared, and executed with

1190
01:41:26.560 --> 01:41:31.920
extraordinary originality and ingenuity. A long, thin thread of black silk must have

1191
01:41:32.000 --> 01:41:36.600
been ready tied to the railing,
with perhaps a hook at the other end.

1192
01:41:38.159 --> 01:41:41.880
As soon as Madame Lawrence held the
bracelet, she attached the hook to

1193
01:41:41.960 --> 01:41:45.119
it and dropped it. The silk, especially as it was the last thing

1194
01:41:45.159 --> 01:41:49.760
in the world you would look for, would be as good as invisible when

1195
01:41:49.840 --> 01:41:54.520
you went for the police. Madame
retrieved the bracelet, hid it in her

1196
01:41:54.600 --> 01:41:58.960
muff, and broke off the silk. Only in her haste she left a

1197
01:41:59.000 --> 01:42:02.439
bit of silk tied to the railing
that fragment I carried to the hotel.

1198
01:42:03.119 --> 01:42:08.600
All along, she must have been
a little uneasy about me. And that's

1199
01:42:08.640 --> 01:42:13.319
all except that I wonder you thought
I was jealous of the Count's attentions to

1200
01:42:13.399 --> 01:42:17.880
your friend. He gazed at her
admiringly. I'm glad you're not a thief,

1201
01:42:17.920 --> 01:42:23.079
mister Thorold, said eve Well.
Cecil smiled. As for that,

1202
01:42:23.560 --> 01:42:27.159
I left him a couple of louis
for fairs, and I shall pay his

1203
01:42:27.239 --> 01:42:32.359
hotel bill. Why there were notes
for nearly ten thousand francs with the bracelet

1204
01:42:32.720 --> 01:42:38.399
ill gotten gains. I am sure
a trifle, but the only reward I

1205
01:42:38.439 --> 01:42:42.880
shall have for my trouble, I
shall put them to good use, he

1206
01:42:43.039 --> 01:42:55.119
laughed, serenely. Gay end of
story one, Chapter three, Story one

1207
01:42:55.399 --> 01:43:00.319
of the Loot of Cities by Arnold
Bennett. This Librimox recording is in the

1208
01:43:00.359 --> 01:43:05.560
public domain. Story one, The
Loote of Cities, Chapter four A solution

1209
01:43:05.960 --> 01:43:13.399
of the Algiers mystery and the Launch. I am unaware of the precise technical

1210
01:43:13.479 --> 01:43:16.079
term, sir, but the launch
awaits you. Perhaps I should have said

1211
01:43:16.119 --> 01:43:23.680
it is alongside the reliable Leckey hated
the sea, and when his master's excursions

1212
01:43:23.720 --> 01:43:30.239
became marine, he always squinted more
formidably and suddenly than usual, and added

1213
01:43:30.359 --> 01:43:35.920
to his reliability a certain quality of
ironic bitterness. My overcoat please, said

1214
01:43:36.119 --> 01:43:42.279
Cecil Thorold, who was in evening
dress. The apartment, large and low,

1215
01:43:42.600 --> 01:43:46.560
was paneled with bird's eye maple divans
ran along the walls, and above

1216
01:43:46.600 --> 01:43:51.279
the divan's orange curtains were drawn.
The floor was hidden by the skins of

1217
01:43:51.359 --> 01:43:57.520
wild African animals. In one corner
was a Steinway piano with the score of

1218
01:43:57.560 --> 01:44:02.039
the Orchid open on the music stand. In another lay a large flat bowl

1219
01:44:02.199 --> 01:44:08.800
filled with blossoms that do not bloom
in England. The illumination, soft and

1220
01:44:08.920 --> 01:44:14.560
yellow, came from behind the cornice
of the room, being reflected therefrom downwards

1221
01:44:14.720 --> 01:44:19.239
by the green colored ceiling. Only
by a faintly heard tremor of some gigantic

1222
01:44:19.399 --> 01:44:25.239
but repressed force, and by a
very slight unsteadiness on the part of the

1223
01:44:25.319 --> 01:44:29.479
floor. Could you have guessed that
you were aboard a steam yacht and not

1224
01:44:29.640 --> 01:44:34.239
in a large, luxurious house.
Lecky, having arrayed the millionaire in overcoat,

1225
01:44:34.359 --> 01:44:40.199
muffler, crushed hat and white gloves, drew aside a portiere and followed

1226
01:44:40.239 --> 01:44:44.119
him up a flight of stairs.
They stood on deck, surrounded by the

1227
01:44:44.199 --> 01:44:49.319
mild but treacherous Algerian night. From
the white double funnels, a thin smoke

1228
01:44:49.479 --> 01:44:56.079
oozed on the white bridge. The
second mate, a spectral figure was testing

1229
01:44:56.119 --> 01:45:00.880
the engine room signals, and the
sharp noise of the bell seen to desecrate

1230
01:45:00.960 --> 01:45:04.319
the mysterious silence of the bay.
But there was no other sign of life.

1231
01:45:04.800 --> 01:45:10.079
The waiting launch was completely hidden under
the high bows of the Clarabelle.

1232
01:45:10.479 --> 01:45:15.159
In distant regions of the deck,
glimmering beams came oddly up from below,

1233
01:45:15.640 --> 01:45:19.399
throwing into relief some part of a
boat on its davits or a section of

1234
01:45:19.439 --> 01:45:25.920
a mast. Cecil looked about him
at the serried lights of the Boulevard Carnot

1235
01:45:26.399 --> 01:45:30.640
and the riding lanterns of the vessels
in the harbor. Away to the left

1236
01:45:30.680 --> 01:45:34.520
on the hill, a few gleams
showed a Mustafa Superiere, where the great

1237
01:45:34.600 --> 01:45:41.039
English hotels are, and ten miles
further east, the lighthouse on Cape Matifou

1238
01:45:41.279 --> 01:45:45.920
flashed its eternal message to the Mediterranean. He was on the verge of feeling

1239
01:45:45.000 --> 01:45:51.000
poetic. Suppose anything happens while you
are at this dancer. Lecky jerked his

1240
01:45:51.119 --> 01:45:56.880
thumb in the direction of a small
steamer which lay moored scarcely a cable's length

1241
01:45:56.880 --> 01:46:02.279
away under the eastern jetty ooose.
He jerked his thumb again in exactly the

1242
01:46:02.319 --> 01:46:09.159
same direction. His tone was still
pessimistic and cynical. You'd better fire our

1243
01:46:09.199 --> 01:46:14.479
beautiful brass cannon, Cecil replied,
have it fired three times, I shall

1244
01:46:14.520 --> 01:46:18.760
hear it well enough. Up at
Mustafa, He descended carefully into the launch

1245
01:46:18.880 --> 01:46:25.119
and was whisked puffingly over the dark
surface of the bay to the landing stage,

1246
01:46:25.159 --> 01:46:29.760
where he summoned a Fiatra Hotel Saint
Gems. He instructed the driver,

1247
01:46:30.239 --> 01:46:34.399
and the driver smiled joyously. Everyone
who went to the Hotel Saint James was

1248
01:46:34.640 --> 01:46:40.039
rich and lordly and paid well because
the hill was long and steep and so

1249
01:46:40.279 --> 01:46:46.039
hard on the poor Algerian horses.
Two, Every hotel of but Mustapha Superia

1250
01:46:46.319 --> 01:46:51.680
has the finest view, the finest
hygienic installation, and the finest cooking in

1251
01:46:51.880 --> 01:46:57.439
Algeria. In other words, each
is better than all the others. Hence,

1252
01:46:57.600 --> 01:47:02.039
the Hotel Saint James could not be
called first among equals, since there

1253
01:47:02.079 --> 01:47:06.920
are no equals, and one must
be content to describe it as first among

1254
01:47:08.079 --> 01:47:13.279
the unequaled. First, it undoubtedly
was, and perhaps will be again.

1255
01:47:13.840 --> 01:47:19.119
Although it was new, it had
what one visitor termed that indefinable thing cachet.

1256
01:47:20.079 --> 01:47:25.479
It was frequented by the best people, namely the richest people, the

1257
01:47:25.600 --> 01:47:30.199
idlest people, the most arrogant people, the most bored people, the most

1258
01:47:30.439 --> 01:47:35.720
titled people that came to the southern
shores of the Mediterranean in search of what

1259
01:47:35.920 --> 01:47:42.680
they would never find and escape from
themselves. It was a vast building planned

1260
01:47:42.720 --> 01:47:47.439
on a scale of spaciousness only possible
in a district where commercial crises have depressed

1261
01:47:47.439 --> 01:47:51.159
the value of land. And it
stood in the midst of a vast garden

1262
01:47:51.199 --> 01:47:57.199
of oranges, lemons and medlars.
Every room and there were three stories and

1263
01:47:57.279 --> 01:48:01.680
two hundred rooms faced south. This
was charged for in the bill. The

1264
01:48:01.720 --> 01:48:08.279
public rooms, oriental and character,
were immense and complete. They included a

1265
01:48:08.359 --> 01:48:11.600
dining room, a drawing room,
a reading room, a smoking room,

1266
01:48:11.840 --> 01:48:15.319
a billiard room, a bridge room, a ping pong room, a concert

1267
01:48:15.399 --> 01:48:21.319
room with resident orchestra, and a
room where assuas and negroes and other curiosities

1268
01:48:21.359 --> 01:48:28.319
from the native town might perform before
select parties. Thus it was entirely so

1269
01:48:28.520 --> 01:48:33.439
sufficient and lacked nothing which is necessary
to the proper existence of the best people.

1270
01:48:34.199 --> 01:48:39.479
On Thursday nights throughout the season,
there was a five franc dance in

1271
01:48:39.640 --> 01:48:43.720
the concert hall. You paid five
francs and ate and drank as much as

1272
01:48:43.720 --> 01:48:46.920
you could while standing up at the
supper tables arrayed in the dining room.

1273
01:48:47.520 --> 01:48:54.439
On a certain Thursday night in early
January, this Anglo Saxon microcosm, set

1274
01:48:54.479 --> 01:49:00.399
so haughtily in a French colony between
the Mediterranean and the Jurajura Mountains, with

1275
01:49:00.640 --> 01:49:04.119
the Sahara behind, was at its
most brilliant. The hotel was crammed,

1276
01:49:04.239 --> 01:49:09.800
the prices were high, and everybody
was supremely conscious of doing the correct thing.

1277
01:49:10.319 --> 01:49:14.760
The dance had begun somewhat earlier than
usual, because the eagerness of the

1278
01:49:15.119 --> 01:49:18.800
younger guests could not be restrained,
and the orchestra seemed gayer, and the

1279
01:49:18.840 --> 01:49:25.359
electric lights brighter, and the toilettes
more resplendent. That night, of course,

1280
01:49:25.600 --> 01:49:29.520
guests came in from the other hotels. Indeed, they came in to

1281
01:49:29.680 --> 01:49:33.000
such an extent that to dance in
the ballroom was an affair of compromise and

1282
01:49:33.239 --> 01:49:40.000
ingenuity, and the other rooms were
occupied too. The bridge players wrecked nod

1283
01:49:40.039 --> 01:49:45.520
of terpsichor, the cheerful sound of
ping pong came regularly from the ping pong

1284
01:49:45.640 --> 01:49:49.479
room, the retired Indian judge was
giving points as usual. In the billiard

1285
01:49:49.560 --> 01:49:56.239
room and in the reading room,
the steadfast intellectuals were studying the world and

1286
01:49:56.560 --> 01:50:01.079
the Paris New York Herald. And
all was in English and American, pure

1287
01:50:01.239 --> 01:50:08.159
Anglo Saxon in thought and speech and
gesture, save the manager of the hotel,

1288
01:50:08.279 --> 01:50:13.479
who was Italian, the waiters who
were anything, and the wonderful concierge

1289
01:50:13.479 --> 01:50:17.479
who was everything. As Cecil passed
through the imposing suite of public rooms,

1290
01:50:17.800 --> 01:50:21.840
he saw in the reading room,
posted so that no arrival could escape her

1291
01:50:21.840 --> 01:50:28.079
eye, the elegant form of Missus
McAllister, and by way of a wild,

1292
01:50:28.159 --> 01:50:31.640
impulsive freak, he stopped and talked
to her, and ultimately sat down

1293
01:50:31.680 --> 01:50:36.880
by her side. Missus McAllister was
one of those englishwomen that are to be

1294
01:50:36.920 --> 01:50:43.760
found only in large and fashionable hotels. Everything about her was mysterious, except

1295
01:50:43.760 --> 01:50:46.840
the fact that she was in search
of a second husband. She was tall,

1296
01:50:47.079 --> 01:50:51.720
pretty, dashing, daring, well
dressed, well informed, and perhaps

1297
01:50:51.840 --> 01:50:57.319
thirty four. But no one had
known her husband or her family, and

1298
01:50:57.520 --> 01:51:00.439
no one knew her country, or
the origin of her income, or how

1299
01:51:00.439 --> 01:51:04.600
she got herself into the best clicks
in the hotel. She had the air

1300
01:51:04.640 --> 01:51:10.279
of being the merriest person in Algiers. Really she was one of the saddest,

1301
01:51:10.520 --> 01:51:14.840
for the reason that every day left
her older and harder and less likely

1302
01:51:14.880 --> 01:51:18.800
to hook well to hook a millionaire. She had met Cecil Thorold at the

1303
01:51:18.880 --> 01:51:25.319
dance of the previous week and had
clung to him so artfully that the Coteries

1304
01:51:25.359 --> 01:51:29.479
talked of it for three days,
as Cecil well knew, and to night

1305
01:51:29.640 --> 01:51:33.399
he thought he might as well as
not give missus mc allister an hour's excitement

1306
01:51:33.479 --> 01:51:39.000
of the chase, and the Coteries
another three days employment. So he sat

1307
01:51:39.039 --> 01:51:43.520
down beside her and they talked.
First she asked him whether he slept on

1308
01:51:43.600 --> 01:51:47.159
his yacht or in the hotel,
and he replied sometimes in the hotel and

1309
01:51:47.319 --> 01:51:51.199
sometimes on the yacht. Then she
asked him where his bedroom was, and

1310
01:51:51.319 --> 01:51:56.000
he said it was on the second
floor, and she settled that it must

1311
01:51:56.079 --> 01:52:00.199
be three doors from her own.
Then they discussed bridge, the fiscal inquiry,

1312
01:52:00.520 --> 01:52:05.479
the weather, dancing, food,
the responsibilities of great Wealth, Algerian

1313
01:52:05.640 --> 01:52:12.319
railway, traveling, can gambling,
Mister Morley's Life of Gladstone, and the

1314
01:52:12.359 --> 01:52:17.399
extraordinary success of the hotel. Thus, quite inevitably they reached the subject of

1315
01:52:17.439 --> 01:52:23.319
the Algiers mystery. During the season, at any rate, no two guests

1316
01:52:23.319 --> 01:52:28.359
in the hotel ever talked small talk
for more than ten minutes without reaching the

1317
01:52:28.399 --> 01:52:33.239
subject of the Algiers mystery. For
the hotel had itself been the scene of

1318
01:52:33.279 --> 01:52:39.520
the Algiers mystery, and the Algiers
mystery was at once the simplest, the

1319
01:52:39.560 --> 01:52:44.560
most charming, and the most perplexing
mystery in the world. One morning,

1320
01:52:44.640 --> 01:52:47.760
the first of April in the previous
year, an honest john bull of a

1321
01:52:47.840 --> 01:52:53.520
guest had come down to the hotel
office and laying a five pound note before

1322
01:52:53.520 --> 01:52:58.520
the head Clark had exclaimed, I
found that lying on my dressing table.

1323
01:52:58.840 --> 01:53:02.159
It isn't mine. It looks good
enough, but I expected someone's joke.

1324
01:53:03.079 --> 01:53:08.880
Seven other people that day confessed that
they had found five pound notes in their

1325
01:53:08.960 --> 01:53:14.039
rooms, or pieces of paper that
resembled five pound notes. They compared these

1326
01:53:14.159 --> 01:53:17.319
notes, and then the eight went
off in a body down to an agency

1327
01:53:17.399 --> 01:53:21.880
on the Boulevard de la Republique,
and without the least demur, the notes

1328
01:53:21.920 --> 01:53:27.680
were changed for gold. On the
second of April, twelve more people found

1329
01:53:27.760 --> 01:53:31.720
five pound notes in their rooms,
now prominent on the bed, now secreted,

1330
01:53:32.199 --> 01:53:38.239
as for instance, under a candlestick
cecil himself had been a recipient.

1331
01:53:38.760 --> 01:53:43.640
Watches were set, but with no
result whatever. In a week nearly seven

1332
01:53:43.760 --> 01:53:49.079
hundred pounds had been distributed amongst the
guests by the generous invisible ghosts. It

1333
01:53:49.319 --> 01:53:55.640
was magnificent, and it was very
soon in every newspaper in England and America.

1334
01:53:55.960 --> 01:53:59.399
Some of the guests did not care
for it, thought it queer and

1335
01:53:59.560 --> 01:54:03.720
uncanny and not nice, and these
left. But the majority cared for it

1336
01:54:03.880 --> 01:54:08.600
very much, indeed, and remained
till the utmost limit of the season.

1337
01:54:09.439 --> 01:54:15.399
The rainfall of notes had not recommenced
so far in the present season. Nevertheless,

1338
01:54:15.439 --> 01:54:19.520
the hotel had been thoroughly well patronized
from November onwards, and there was

1339
01:54:19.560 --> 01:54:24.960
scarcely a guest but who went to
sleep at night hoping to descry a fiver

1340
01:54:25.239 --> 01:54:30.720
in the morning advertisement, said some
purpiscacious individuals. Of course, the explanation

1341
01:54:31.000 --> 01:54:38.159
was an obvious one. But the
manager had indignantly and honestly denied all knowledge

1342
01:54:38.199 --> 01:54:42.159
of the business. And moreover,
not a single guest had caught a single

1343
01:54:42.239 --> 01:54:46.560
note in the act of settling down
further, the hotel changed hands and that

1344
01:54:46.640 --> 01:54:54.000
manager left. The mystery therefore remained
a delightful topic always at hand for discussion.

1345
01:54:54.840 --> 01:54:59.880
After having chatted, Cecil thorough and
missus mc allister danced two dance,

1346
01:55:00.600 --> 01:55:04.159
and the hotel began audibly to wonder
that Cecil could be such a fool.

1347
01:55:04.600 --> 01:55:10.239
When at midnight he retired to bed, many mothers of daughters and daughters of

1348
01:55:10.279 --> 01:55:15.119
mothers were justifiably angry, and consoled
themselves by saying that he had disappeared in

1349
01:55:15.279 --> 01:55:20.319
order to hide the shame which must
have suddenly overtaken him. As for missus

1350
01:55:20.359 --> 01:55:26.800
mc allister, she was radiant safely
in his room. Cecil locked and wedged

1351
01:55:26.840 --> 01:55:30.600
the door and opened the window.
Looked out from the balcony at the starry

1352
01:55:30.680 --> 01:55:33.800
night. He could hear cats playing
on the roof. He smiled when he

1353
01:55:33.840 --> 01:55:38.760
thought of the things missus mc allister
had said, and of the ardor of

1354
01:55:38.800 --> 01:55:43.439
her glances. Then he felt sorry
for her. Perhaps it was the whiskey

1355
01:55:43.439 --> 01:55:47.079
and soda of which he had just
drunk that momentarily warmed his heart towards the

1356
01:55:47.159 --> 01:55:53.920
lonely creature. Only one item of
her artless gossip had interested him a statement

1357
01:55:54.079 --> 01:55:59.199
that the new Italian manager had been
ill in bed all day. He emptied

1358
01:55:59.239 --> 01:56:01.800
his pockets, and standing on a
chair, he put his pocket book on

1359
01:56:01.880 --> 01:56:06.840
the top of the wardrobe, where
no Algerian marauder would think of looking for

1360
01:56:06.880 --> 01:56:12.479
it. His revolver he tucked under
his pillow. In three minutes he was

1361
01:56:12.520 --> 01:56:17.239
asleep. Three he was awakened by
a vigorous pulling and shaking of his arm,

1362
01:56:17.680 --> 01:56:21.680
and he, who usually woke wide
at the least noise, came to

1363
01:56:21.760 --> 01:56:27.239
his senses with difficulty. He looked
up. The electric light had been turned

1364
01:56:27.279 --> 01:56:30.479
on. There's a ghost in my
room, mister thoroled, you'll forgive me,

1365
01:56:30.520 --> 01:56:34.119
but I'm so. It was missus
McAllister, disheveled and in white,

1366
01:56:34.159 --> 01:56:39.640
who stood over him. This is
really a bit too thick, he thought,

1367
01:56:39.720 --> 01:56:45.840
vaguely and sleepily, regretting his impulsive
flirtation of the previous evening. Then

1368
01:56:45.960 --> 01:56:50.920
he collected himself and said sternly,
severely that if missus McAllister would retire to

1369
01:56:50.960 --> 01:56:55.560
the corridor, he would follow.
In a moment, he added that she

1370
01:56:55.640 --> 01:57:00.960
might leave the door open if she
felt afraid. Missus McAllister retired, sobbing

1371
01:57:00.399 --> 01:57:05.479
and cecil arose. He went first
to consult his watch. It was gone,

1372
01:57:05.600 --> 01:57:11.239
a chronometer worth a couple of hundred
pounds. He whistled, climbed onto

1373
01:57:11.279 --> 01:57:15.560
a chair, and discovered that his
pocket book was no longer in a place

1374
01:57:15.600 --> 01:57:18.880
of safety on the top of the
wardrobe. It had contained something over five

1375
01:57:19.000 --> 01:57:25.520
hundred pounds in a highly negotiable form. Picking up his overcoat, which lay

1376
01:57:25.560 --> 01:57:29.880
on the floor, he found that
the fur lining a millionaire's fancy, which

1377
01:57:29.880 --> 01:57:33.159
had cost him nearly one hundred and
fifty pounds, had been cut away and

1378
01:57:33.399 --> 01:57:38.760
was no more to be seen.
Even the revolver had departed from under his

1379
01:57:38.880 --> 01:57:44.800
pillow. Well, he murmured,
this is decidedly the grand manner. Quite

1380
01:57:44.800 --> 01:57:47.560
suddenly it occurred to him, as
he noticed a peculiar taste in his mouth,

1381
01:57:47.840 --> 01:57:51.840
that the whisky and soda had contained
more than whisky and soda. He

1382
01:57:53.000 --> 01:57:56.600
had been drugged. He tried to
recall the face of the waiter who had

1383
01:57:56.640 --> 01:58:00.840
served him. Eyeing the window and
the door, he argued that the thief

1384
01:58:00.880 --> 01:58:04.680
had entered by the former and departed
by the latter. But the pocket book,

1385
01:58:04.720 --> 01:58:10.439
he mused, I must have been
watched. Missus McAllister stripped Now of

1386
01:58:10.479 --> 01:58:14.359
all dash and all daring could be
heard in the corridor, can she?

1387
01:58:15.159 --> 01:58:19.000
He speculated for a moment, and
then decided positively in the negative. Missus

1388
01:58:19.039 --> 01:58:25.760
McAllister could have no design on anything
but a bachelor's freedom. He assumed his

1389
01:58:25.880 --> 01:58:30.520
dressing gown and slippers and went to
her. The corridor was in darkness,

1390
01:58:30.680 --> 01:58:33.439
but she stood in the light of
his doorway. Now, he said,

1391
01:58:33.760 --> 01:58:39.239
this ghost of yours, dear lady, you must go first. She whimpered,

1392
01:58:39.359 --> 01:58:42.760
I daren't. It was white,
but with a black face. It

1393
01:58:42.840 --> 01:58:47.119
was at the window cecil, getting
a candle, obeyed, and having penetrated

1394
01:58:47.159 --> 01:58:51.800
alone into the lady's chamber, he
perceived to begin with that a pane had

1395
01:58:51.800 --> 01:58:57.119
been pushed out of the window by
the old noiseless device of a sheet of

1396
01:58:57.239 --> 01:59:01.399
treecled paper. And then, examining
the window more closely, he saw that

1397
01:59:01.680 --> 01:59:08.079
outside a silk ladder depended from the
roof and trailed in the balcony. Come

1398
01:59:08.119 --> 01:59:11.880
in without fear, he said to
the trembling widow. It must have been

1399
01:59:11.880 --> 01:59:15.479
some one with more appetite than a
ghost that you saw, perhaps an Arab.

1400
01:59:16.039 --> 01:59:20.319
She came in, femininely, trusting
to him, and between them they

1401
01:59:20.359 --> 01:59:25.880
ascertained that she had lost a watch, sixteen rings, an opal necklace,

1402
01:59:25.960 --> 01:59:30.880
and some money. Missus mc allister
would not say how much money. My

1403
01:59:30.079 --> 01:59:35.439
resources are slight, she remarked,
I was expecting remittances. Cecil thought,

1404
01:59:35.720 --> 01:59:41.000
this is not merely in the grand
manner. If it fulfills its promise,

1405
01:59:41.119 --> 01:59:45.359
it will prove to be one of
the greatest things of the age. He

1406
01:59:45.399 --> 01:59:48.520
asked her to keep cool, not
to be afraid, and to dress herself.

1407
01:59:48.880 --> 01:59:53.119
Then he returned to his room and
dressed as quickly as he could.

1408
01:59:53.640 --> 01:59:58.239
The hotel was absolutely quiet, but
out of the depths below came the sound

1409
01:59:58.279 --> 02:00:03.239
of a clock striking four. When
adequately but not esthetically attired, he opened

1410
02:00:03.279 --> 02:00:09.520
his door again. Another door near
by also open, and Cecil saw a

1411
02:00:09.560 --> 02:00:14.039
man's head. I say, drawled
the man's head. Excuse me, but

1412
02:00:14.199 --> 02:00:18.600
have you noticed anything? Why?
What? Well? I've been robbed?

1413
02:00:19.079 --> 02:00:25.239
The Englishman laughed awkwardly, apologetically,
as though ashamed to have to confess that

1414
02:00:25.279 --> 02:00:30.399
he had been victimized much, Cecil
inquired, two hundred or so, No

1415
02:00:30.640 --> 02:00:33.479
joke, you know? So have
I been robbed? Said Cecil. Let

1416
02:00:33.520 --> 02:00:39.279
us go downstairs cut a candle.
These corridors are usually lighted all night.

1417
02:00:40.000 --> 02:00:44.319
Perhaps our thief has been at the
switches, said the Englishman, say our

1418
02:00:44.479 --> 02:00:47.760
thieves, A Cecil corrected, You
think that there was more than one?

1419
02:00:48.279 --> 02:00:53.399
I think there were more than half
a dozen, Cecil replied. The Englishman

1420
02:00:53.560 --> 02:00:58.239
was dressed, and the two descended
together, candles in hand, forgetting the

1421
02:00:58.319 --> 02:01:02.079
lone lady. But the lone lady
had no intention of being forgotten, and

1422
02:01:02.239 --> 02:01:06.840
she came after them, almost screaming. They had not reached the ground floor

1423
02:01:06.920 --> 02:01:13.439
before three other doors had opened,
and three other victims proclaimed themselves. Cecil

1424
02:01:13.479 --> 02:01:16.960
led the way through the splendid saloons, now so ghostly in their elegance,

1425
02:01:17.319 --> 02:01:24.119
which only three hours before had been
the illuminated scene of such polite revelry.

1426
02:01:24.720 --> 02:01:28.960
Ere he reached the entrance hall,
where a solitary jet was burning. The

1427
02:01:29.000 --> 02:01:33.560
assistant concierge, one of those officials
who seemed never to sleep, advanced towards

1428
02:01:33.680 --> 02:01:38.640
him, demanding in his broken English, what was the matter? There have

1429
02:01:38.760 --> 02:01:43.279
been thieves in the hotel, said
Cecil, wakened the concierge. From that

1430
02:01:43.479 --> 02:01:48.159
point events succeeded each other in a
sort of complex rapidity. Missus mc allister

1431
02:01:48.319 --> 02:01:51.920
fainted at the door of the billiard
room and was laid out on a billiard

1432
02:01:53.000 --> 02:01:58.239
table with a white ball between her
shoulders. The head concierge was not in

1433
02:01:58.319 --> 02:02:01.199
his narrow bed in the alcove by
the main entrance, and he could not

1434
02:02:01.319 --> 02:02:05.880
be found, nor could the Italian
manager be found, though he was supposed

1435
02:02:05.880 --> 02:02:11.720
to be ill in bed, nor
the Italian manager's wife. Two stablemen were

1436
02:02:11.760 --> 02:02:15.439
searched out from somewhere, also a
cook, and then the Englishman who had

1437
02:02:15.439 --> 02:02:20.119
lost two hundred or so went forth
into the Algerian night to bring a gent

1438
02:02:20.199 --> 02:02:27.439
thme from the post at the Rue
Dedi Cecil Thorold contented himself with talking to

1439
02:02:27.520 --> 02:02:31.840
people as in ones and twos,
and in various stages of incorrectness. They

1440
02:02:31.880 --> 02:02:36.760
came into the public rooms, now
brilliantly lighted. All who came had been

1441
02:02:36.880 --> 02:02:41.960
robbed. What surprised him was the
slowness of the hotel to wake up.

1442
02:02:42.399 --> 02:02:45.000
There were two hundred and twenty guests
in the place. Of these, in

1443
02:02:45.039 --> 02:02:50.279
a quarter of an hour, perhaps
fifteen had arisen. The remainder were apparently

1444
02:02:50.319 --> 02:02:57.439
oblivious of the fact that something very
extraordinary and something probably very interesting to them

1445
02:02:57.520 --> 02:03:02.159
personally, had occurred and was occurring. Why it's a conspiracy, sir,

1446
02:03:02.399 --> 02:03:08.920
It's a conspiracy, that's what it
is, besided the Indian judge. Gang

1447
02:03:09.079 --> 02:03:13.239
is a shorter word, Cecil observed, and a young girl in a macintosh

1448
02:03:13.479 --> 02:03:18.319
giggled. Sleepy employees now began to
appear, and the rumor ran that six

1449
02:03:18.359 --> 02:03:24.600
waiters and a chambermaid were missing.
Missus McAllister rallied from the billiard table and

1450
02:03:24.840 --> 02:03:29.039
came into the drawing room, where
most of the company had gathered. Cecil

1451
02:03:29.159 --> 02:03:32.560
yawned at the influence of the drug
was still upon him. As she approached

1452
02:03:32.640 --> 02:03:39.920
him and weakly spoke. He answered
absently, he was engaged in watching the

1453
02:03:40.000 --> 02:03:45.600
demeanor of these idlers on the face
of the earth. How incapable they seemed

1454
02:03:45.640 --> 02:03:50.479
of any initiative, and yet with
what magnificent Britannic phlegm they endured the strange

1455
02:03:50.520 --> 02:03:57.640
situation. The talking was neither loud
nor impassioned. Then the low, distant

1456
02:03:57.720 --> 02:04:03.000
sound of a cannon was heard,
once, twice thrice. Silence ensued.

1457
02:04:03.600 --> 02:04:08.920
Heavens sighed Missus mc allister, swaying
towards Cecil. What can that be?

1458
02:04:09.560 --> 02:04:13.800
He avoided her, hurried out of
the room and snatched somebody else's hat from

1459
02:04:13.800 --> 02:04:16.520
the hat racks in the hall.
But just as he was turning the handle

1460
02:04:16.560 --> 02:04:20.600
of the main door of the hotel, the Englishman who had lost two hundred

1461
02:04:20.720 --> 02:04:26.600
or so returned out of the Algerian
night with an inspector of police. The

1462
02:04:26.680 --> 02:04:30.680
latter courteously requested Cecil not to leave
the building, as he must open the

1463
02:04:30.720 --> 02:04:40.520
inquiry ouvrere lonquette at once. Cecil
was obliged regretfully to comply. The inspector

1464
02:04:40.560 --> 02:04:45.079
of police then commenced his labors.
He telephoned no one had thought of the

1465
02:04:45.119 --> 02:04:49.640
telephone for assistance, and asked the
Central Bureau to watch the railway station,

1466
02:04:49.920 --> 02:04:56.399
the port and the stage coaches.
He acquired the names and addresses of Tulimunda.

1467
02:04:57.000 --> 02:05:00.920
He made catalogs of articles. He
locked all the servants in the ping

1468
02:05:00.000 --> 02:05:05.399
pong room. He took down narratives
beginning with Cecils, and while the functionary

1469
02:05:05.520 --> 02:05:13.840
was engaged with Missus McAllister Cecil quietly
but firmly disappeared. After his departure,

1470
02:05:14.000 --> 02:05:18.079
the affair loomed larger and larger in
mere magnitude, but nothing that came to

1471
02:05:18.159 --> 02:05:25.159
light altered as leading characteristics a wholesale
robbery had been planned with the most minute

1472
02:05:25.199 --> 02:05:30.640
care and knowledge, and executed with
the most daring skill. Some ten persons,

1473
02:05:30.680 --> 02:05:34.079
the manager and his wife, a
chambermaid, six waiters and the concierge

1474
02:05:34.399 --> 02:05:41.199
seemed to have been concerned in the
enterprise, excluding missus McAllister's Arab and no

1475
02:05:41.239 --> 02:05:46.199
doubt other assistants. The guests suddenly
remembered how superior the concierge and the waiters

1476
02:05:46.239 --> 02:05:51.479
had been to the ordinary concierge and
waiter. At a quarter past five o'clock,

1477
02:05:51.640 --> 02:05:57.000
the police had ascertained that a hundred
rooms had been entered, and horrified

1478
02:05:57.159 --> 02:06:01.039
guests were still descending. The occupant
of many rooms, however, made no

1479
02:06:01.119 --> 02:06:05.840
response to a summons to awake.
These, it was discovered afterwards, had

1480
02:06:05.960 --> 02:06:12.319
either like Cecil, received a sedative
unawares, or they had been neatly gagged

1481
02:06:12.319 --> 02:06:16.359
and bound. In the result,
the list of missing valuables comprised nearly two

1482
02:06:16.399 --> 02:06:21.520
hundred watches, eight hundred rings,
one hundred and fifty other articles of jewelry,

1483
02:06:21.960 --> 02:06:27.920
several thousand pounds worth of furs,
three thousand pounds in coin, and

1484
02:06:28.000 --> 02:06:31.920
twenty one thousand pounds in bank notes, and other forms of currency. One

1485
02:06:32.000 --> 02:06:35.920
lady, a doctor's wife, said
she had been robbed of eight hundred pounds

1486
02:06:35.920 --> 02:06:41.640
in Bank of England notes, but
her story obtained a little credit. Other

1487
02:06:41.760 --> 02:06:45.840
tales of enormous loss, chiefly by
women, were also taken with salt.

1488
02:06:46.439 --> 02:06:51.720
When the dawn began at about six
o'clock, an official examination of the facade

1489
02:06:51.760 --> 02:06:57.520
of the hotel indicated that nearly every
room had been invaded by the balcony to

1490
02:06:57.600 --> 02:07:01.199
window, either from the roof or
from the ground, But the flagstones of

1491
02:07:01.239 --> 02:07:06.600
the terrace and the beautifully asphalted pathways
of the garden disclosed no trace of the

1492
02:07:06.640 --> 02:07:12.600
plunderers. I guess your British habit
of sleeping with the window open don't cut

1493
02:07:12.720 --> 02:07:16.840
much eyes to day, anyhow,
said an American from Indianapolis to the company.

1494
02:07:17.560 --> 02:07:23.079
That morning, no omnibus from the
hotel arrived at the station to catch

1495
02:07:23.119 --> 02:07:27.319
the six thirty train, which takes
two days to ramble to Tunas and to

1496
02:07:27.439 --> 02:07:33.119
Biskra, and all the liveried porters
talked together in excited Swiss German. Four

1497
02:07:33.960 --> 02:07:39.000
my compliments to Captain Black, said
cecil thorowed, and repeat to him that

1498
02:07:39.079 --> 02:07:42.159
all I want him to do is
to keep her in sight. He needn't

1499
02:07:42.199 --> 02:07:46.359
overhaul her too much. Precisely,
sir Lucky bowed. He was pale,

1500
02:07:46.880 --> 02:07:50.760
and you had better lie down.
I thank you, sir, but I

1501
02:07:50.840 --> 02:07:59.159
find a recumbent position inconvenient. Perpetual
motion seems more agreeable. Cecil was back

1502
02:07:59.239 --> 02:08:03.720
in the large low room, paneled
with bird's eye maple below him. The

1503
02:08:03.760 --> 02:08:09.840
power of two thousand horses drove through
the nocturnal Mediterranean swell his Clarabelle of a

1504
02:08:09.960 --> 02:08:13.960
thousand tons. Thirty men were awake
and active on board her, and twenty

1505
02:08:15.079 --> 02:08:20.239
slept in the vast, clean forecasto
with electric lights blazing six inches above their

1506
02:08:20.279 --> 02:08:24.039
noses. He lit a cigarette,
and, going to the piano, struck

1507
02:08:24.079 --> 02:08:28.359
a few chords from the orchid,
but since the music would not remain on

1508
02:08:28.399 --> 02:08:31.840
the stand, he abandoned that attempt
and lay down on a divan to think.

1509
02:08:33.560 --> 02:08:37.479
He had reached the harbor from the
hotel in twenty minutes, partly on

1510
02:08:37.560 --> 02:08:43.600
foot at racing speed and partly in
an Arab cart, also at racing speed.

1511
02:08:43.000 --> 02:08:48.439
The Clara Belle's launch awaited him,
and in another five minutes the launch

1512
02:08:48.560 --> 02:08:52.520
was slunk to her dabbots and the
Clarabelle under way, he learned that the

1513
02:08:52.520 --> 02:08:58.960
small and sinister vessel, the Perequet
Bear of Oran, which he and his

1514
02:08:58.079 --> 02:09:03.880
men had been watching for several days, had slipped unostentatiously between the southern and

1515
02:09:05.000 --> 02:09:09.760
eastern jetties, had stopped for a
few minutes to hold converse with a boat

1516
02:09:09.079 --> 02:09:13.920
that had put off from the neighborhood
of Lower Mustapha, and had then pointed

1517
02:09:13.920 --> 02:09:18.720
her head northwest, as though for
some port in the province of Oran or

1518
02:09:18.880 --> 02:09:24.439
in Morocco. And in the rings
of cigarette smoke, which he made Cecil

1519
02:09:24.560 --> 02:09:30.359
seemed now to see clearly the whole
business. He had never relaxed his interest

1520
02:09:30.479 --> 02:09:33.600
in the affair of the five pound
notes. He had vaguely suspected it to

1521
02:09:33.640 --> 02:09:39.720
be part of some large scheme.
He had presumed, on slight grounds a

1522
02:09:39.800 --> 02:09:46.520
connection between the peruquet Verre and the
Italian manager of the hotel nay More.

1523
02:09:46.840 --> 02:09:50.680
He had felt sure that some great
stroke was about to be accomplished, But

1524
02:09:50.800 --> 02:09:58.640
of precise knowledge of satisfactory theory of
definite expectation, he had had none until

1525
02:09:58.640 --> 02:10:07.000
Missus McAllister, that unconscious and man
hunting agent of destiny had fortunately awakened him

1526
02:10:07.039 --> 02:10:09.560
in the nick of time. Had
it not been for his flirtation of the

1527
02:10:09.560 --> 02:10:13.239
previous evening, he might still be
asleep in his bed at the hotel.

1528
02:10:13.920 --> 02:10:20.319
He perceived the entire plan. The
five pound notes had been mysteriously scattered,

1529
02:10:20.640 --> 02:10:24.560
certainly to advertise the hotel, but
only to advertise it for a particular and

1530
02:10:24.720 --> 02:10:31.760
colossal end, to fill it full
and overflowing with fat victims. The situation

1531
02:10:31.159 --> 02:10:37.159
had been thoroughly studied in all its
details, and the task had been divided

1532
02:10:37.199 --> 02:10:41.079
and allotted to various brains. Every
room must have been examined, watched,

1533
02:10:41.119 --> 02:10:46.560
and separately plotted against the habits and
idiosyncrasy of every victim. Must have been

1534
02:10:46.600 --> 02:10:52.960
individually weighed and considered nothing, no
trifle could have been forgotten. And then

1535
02:10:54.119 --> 02:10:58.800
some supreme intelligence had drawn the threads
together and woven them swiftly into the pattern

1536
02:10:58.840 --> 02:11:05.680
of a single night, almost a
single hour, and the lute cecil could

1537
02:11:05.760 --> 02:11:09.960
estimate it pretty accurately, had been
transported down the hill to Mustapha Inferia,

1538
02:11:11.560 --> 02:11:16.159
tossed into a boat, and so
to the perroquet vert, And the peroque

1539
02:11:16.319 --> 02:11:20.039
vert, with lute and looters on
board, was bound probably for one of

1540
02:11:20.079 --> 02:11:28.279
those obscure and infamous sports of Ora
or Morocco, Teney, Mostaganem Benirsar Malia,

1541
02:11:28.479 --> 02:11:33.079
or the city of Oar, or
Tangier itself. He knew something of

1542
02:11:33.119 --> 02:11:39.960
the Spanish and Maltese dens of Oran
and Tangier, the clearing houses for stolen

1543
02:11:39.000 --> 02:11:45.560
goods of two continents, and the
impregnable refuge of scores of ingenious villains.

1544
02:11:46.119 --> 02:11:50.600
And when he reflected upon the grandeur
and immensity of the scheme, so simple

1545
02:11:50.720 --> 02:11:56.119
in its essence and so leisurely in
its achievement, like most grand schemes,

1546
02:11:56.560 --> 02:12:01.359
when he reflected upon the imagination which
had been necessary even to conceive it,

1547
02:12:01.720 --> 02:12:07.760
and the generalship which had been necessary
to its successful conclusion, he murmured admiringly.

1548
02:12:07.319 --> 02:12:11.520
The man who thought of that and
did it may be a scoundrel,

1549
02:12:11.800 --> 02:12:16.439
but he's also an artist, and
a great one. And just because he

1550
02:12:16.680 --> 02:12:22.319
a cecil thurled was a millionaire and
possessed a hundred thousand pound toy which could

1551
02:12:22.319 --> 02:12:26.720
do nineteen knots an hour and cost
fifteen hundred pounds a month to run,

1552
02:12:26.159 --> 02:12:31.199
he was about to defeat that great
artist and nullify that great scheme, and

1553
02:12:31.279 --> 02:12:35.920
incidentally, to retrieve his watch,
his revolver, his fur and his five

1554
02:12:37.039 --> 02:12:41.439
hundred pounds. He had only to
follow and to warn one of the French

1555
02:12:41.479 --> 02:12:46.880
torpedo boats which are always patrolling the
coast between Algiers and Ran, and the

1556
02:12:46.920 --> 02:12:50.840
bubble would burst. He sighed for
the doomed artist, and he wondered what

1557
02:12:50.920 --> 02:12:58.880
that victimized crowd of European loungers who
lounged sadly round the Mediterranean in winter and

1558
02:12:58.119 --> 02:13:05.079
sadly round Northern Europe in summer had
done in their languid and luxurious lives that

1559
02:13:05.119 --> 02:13:09.560
they should be saved after all,
from the pillage to which the great artist

1560
02:13:09.640 --> 02:13:15.239
in theft had subjected them. Then
Lecky re entered the stateroom. We shall

1561
02:13:15.239 --> 02:13:20.800
have a difficulty in keeping the parrokeetver
in sight, sir, what exclaimed Cecil?

1562
02:13:20.119 --> 02:13:26.119
That tub that coffin You don't mean
she can do twenty knots exactly,

1563
02:13:26.199 --> 02:13:31.560
sir, coffin, it I mean
she is sinking, Cecil ran on deck,

1564
02:13:33.039 --> 02:13:37.920
Dawn was breaking over Matafu, and
a faint, cold gray light touched

1565
02:13:37.960 --> 02:13:43.399
here and there the heaving sea.
His captain spoke and pointed ahead, right

1566
02:13:43.439 --> 02:13:48.319
ahead, less than a mile away, to Parrokeetvert was sinking by the stern,

1567
02:13:48.680 --> 02:13:52.920
and even as they gazed at her, a little boat detached itself from

1568
02:13:52.920 --> 02:13:56.560
her side in the haze of the
morning mist, and she sank, disappeared,

1569
02:13:56.840 --> 02:14:03.399
vanished amid a cloud of escaping.
They were four miles northeast of Cape

1570
02:14:03.439 --> 02:14:09.520
Caccine. Two miles further westward,
a big Dominion liner bound direct for Algiers

1571
02:14:09.560 --> 02:14:13.079
from the New World, was approaching
and had observed the catastrophe, for she

1572
02:14:13.159 --> 02:14:18.199
altered her course. In a few
minutes, the Clarabelle picked up the boat

1573
02:14:18.319 --> 02:14:24.399
of the paroquet Vert. It contained
three Arabs five. The tale told by

1574
02:14:24.439 --> 02:14:28.079
the Arabs, two of them were
brothers, and all three came from Oran

1575
02:14:28.560 --> 02:14:35.000
fully sustained cecil Thorol's theory of the
spoliation of the hotel. Naturally, they

1576
02:14:35.039 --> 02:14:39.399
pretended at first to an entire innocence
concerning the schemes of those who had charge

1577
02:14:39.399 --> 02:14:43.479
of the parroquet Vert. The two
brothers, who were black with coal dust

1578
02:14:43.560 --> 02:14:48.760
when rescued, swore that they had
been physically forced to work in the stokehold.

1579
02:14:48.880 --> 02:14:54.239
But ultimately all three had to admit
a knowledge of things which was decidedly

1580
02:14:54.399 --> 02:14:58.880
incriminating and all three got three years
imprisonment. The only part of the algiers

1581
02:15:00.000 --> 02:15:03.720
this mystery, which remained a mystery, was the cause of the sinking of

1582
02:15:03.760 --> 02:15:07.920
the Paraquetvert. Whether she was thoroughly
unseaworthy, she had been picked up cheap

1583
02:15:09.000 --> 02:15:15.039
at Melilla, or whether someone not
on board had deliberately arranged her destruction,

1584
02:15:15.520 --> 02:15:20.319
perhaps to satisfy a Moorish vengeance,
was not ascertained. The three Arabs could

1585
02:15:20.319 --> 02:15:26.479
only be persuaded to say that there
had been eleven Europeans and seven natives on

1586
02:15:26.600 --> 02:15:30.880
the ship, and that they alone, by the mercy of Allah, had

1587
02:15:31.079 --> 02:15:37.680
escaped from the swift catastrophe. The
hotel underwent an acute crisis, from which,

1588
02:15:37.720 --> 02:15:41.520
however, it is emerging. For
over a week a number of the

1589
02:15:41.600 --> 02:15:46.359
pillaged guests discussed a diving enterprise of
salvage, but the estimates were too high

1590
02:15:46.520 --> 02:15:52.319
and it came to nothing. So
they all Cecil included, began to get

1591
02:15:52.399 --> 02:15:58.600
used to the idea of possessing irrecoverable
property to the value of forty thousand pounds

1592
02:15:58.640 --> 02:16:03.479
in the Mediterranean. A superb business
and telegraphed remittances was done. For several

1593
02:16:03.560 --> 02:16:09.119
days, the fifteen beings who had
accompanied the parroquet bear to the bottom were

1594
02:16:09.279 --> 02:16:16.039
scarcely thought of, for it was
almost universally agreed that the way of transgressors

1595
02:16:16.319 --> 02:16:20.479
is and ought to be hard.
As for Cecil Thirled, the adventure,

1596
02:16:20.640 --> 02:16:24.680
at first, so full of the
promise of joy, left him melancholy,

1597
02:16:26.119 --> 02:16:33.000
until an unexpected sequel diverted the channel
of his thoughts. End of Story one,

1598
02:16:33.200 --> 02:16:43.120
Chapter four, Story one of the
Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennett.

1599
02:16:43.399 --> 02:16:48.639
This Liverribox recording is in the public
domain. Story one the Loot of Cities,

1600
02:16:48.879 --> 02:16:54.200
Chapter five. In the Capital of
the Sahara, Missus McAllister turned with

1601
02:16:54.319 --> 02:16:58.360
sudden eagerness and alarm towards Cecil Thirled. The crowd on the lawn in front

1602
02:16:58.360 --> 02:17:03.120
of the railings was so dense that
only heads could be moved, and she

1603
02:17:03.200 --> 02:17:07.239
said, excitedly, I'm sure I
could see my ghost across there, she

1604
02:17:07.360 --> 02:17:11.520
indicated, with her agreeable snub nose, the opposite side of the course,

1605
02:17:11.040 --> 02:17:16.000
your ghost, Cecil question, puzzled
for a moment by this extraordinary remark.

1606
02:17:16.600 --> 02:17:20.479
Then the Arab horsemen swept by in
a cloud of dust and of thunder,

1607
02:17:20.879 --> 02:17:26.120
monopolized the attention of the lawn and
the grandstand, and the elite of Biskra

1608
02:17:26.399 --> 02:17:31.479
crammed thereon, and therein they had
one more lap to accomplish for the pre

1609
02:17:31.639 --> 02:17:35.280
de Lavilla. Biskra is an oasis
in the desert and the capital of the

1610
02:17:35.319 --> 02:17:41.120
Algerian Sahara, two days journey by
train from Algiers over the Jujura Ranges.

1611
02:17:41.440 --> 02:17:46.440
It is the last outpost of the
Algerian State Railways. It has one hundred

1612
02:17:46.440 --> 02:17:52.280
and sixty thousand palm trees, but
the first symptom of Biskra to be observed

1613
02:17:52.280 --> 02:17:56.159
from the approaching first glass carriage is
the chimney of the electric light plant.

1614
02:17:56.760 --> 02:18:01.520
Besides the one hundred and sixty thousand
palm trees, it possesses half a dozen

1615
02:18:01.600 --> 02:18:07.399
large hotels, five native villages,
a fort, a huge barracks, a

1616
02:18:07.520 --> 02:18:13.159
very ornamental town hall, shops for
photographic materials, a whole street of dancing

1617
02:18:13.239 --> 02:18:18.399
girls, the finest winter climate in
all Africa, and a gambling casino.

1618
02:18:18.959 --> 02:18:24.079
It is a unique thing in oases. It completely upsets the conventional idea of

1619
02:18:24.120 --> 02:18:28.559
an oasis as a pool of water
bordered with a few date palms and the

1620
02:18:28.639 --> 02:18:35.440
limitless desert all around. Nevertheless,
though Biskra as much resembles Paris, as

1621
02:18:35.479 --> 02:18:39.600
it resembles the conventional idea of an
oasis. It is genuine enough, and

1622
02:18:39.840 --> 02:18:45.559
the limitless desert is in fact all
around. You may walk out into the

1623
02:18:45.600 --> 02:18:50.920
desert and meet a motorcar maneuvering in
the sand. But the sand remains the

1624
02:18:50.040 --> 02:18:56.120
sand, and the desert remains the
desert, and the Sahara, more majestic

1625
02:18:56.239 --> 02:19:00.840
than the sea itself, refuses to
be cheapened by the new matic tires of

1626
02:19:00.879 --> 02:19:05.239
a Mercedes, or the blue rays
of the electric light, or the feet

1627
02:19:05.280 --> 02:19:09.840
of English, French and Germans wandering
in search of novelty. It persists in

1628
02:19:11.040 --> 02:19:16.920
being August. Once a year,
in February, biscr becomes really and excessively

1629
02:19:16.040 --> 02:19:20.959
excited, and the occasion is its
annual two day race meeting. Then the

1630
02:19:22.000 --> 02:19:26.360
tribes and their chieftains, and their
horses and their camels arrive magically out of

1631
02:19:26.440 --> 02:19:31.159
the four corners of the desert and
fill the oasis, and the English,

1632
02:19:31.239 --> 02:19:37.399
French and Germans arrive from the Mediterranean
coast with their trunks and their civilization and

1633
02:19:37.520 --> 02:19:43.520
a crowd. The hotels till beds
in Biskra are precious beyond rubies and under

1634
02:19:43.559 --> 02:19:48.799
the tropical sun East and west meet
magnificently in the afternoon on the racecourse to

1635
02:19:48.840 --> 02:19:54.000
the north of the European Reserve,
and the tribesmen, their scraggy stige trailing

1636
02:19:54.120 --> 02:20:00.639
superb horse claws are arranged in hundreds
behind the motor cars and lad landaus,

1637
02:20:01.000 --> 02:20:05.639
with the party Mutuel in full swing
twenty yards away, and the dancing girls,

1638
02:20:05.879 --> 02:20:11.639
the renowned oulad niles covered with gold
coins and with muslim in high crude,

1639
02:20:11.840 --> 02:20:18.079
violent purples, greens, vermilions,
shriek and whinny on their benches,

1640
02:20:18.399 --> 02:20:22.639
just opposite the grand stand, where
the Western women, arrayed in the toilettes

1641
02:20:22.680 --> 02:20:28.479
of wirth, dussat and redfern,
quiz them through their glasses and fringing.

1642
02:20:28.559 --> 02:20:33.840
All is a crowd of the adventurers
and rascals of two continents, the dark

1643
02:20:33.959 --> 02:20:37.959
and the light. And in the
background the palms wave eternally in the breeze,

1644
02:20:39.319 --> 02:20:43.799
and to the east the Aures mountains, snow capped, rise in hues

1645
02:20:43.840 --> 02:20:50.520
of saffron and pale rows like stage
mountains against the sapphire sky. And to

1646
02:20:50.639 --> 02:20:56.200
the south a line of telegraph poles
lessens and disappears over the verge into the

1647
02:20:56.200 --> 02:21:01.760
inmost heart of the mysterious and unchangeable
Sahara. It was amid this singular scene

1648
02:21:01.879 --> 02:21:07.399
that missus mc allister made to Cecil
thorough her bizarre remark about a ghost.

1649
02:21:07.959 --> 02:21:11.719
What ghost? The millionaire repeated,
when the horsemen had passed. Then he

1650
02:21:11.840 --> 02:21:16.639
remembered that on the famous night,
now nearly a month ago, when the

1651
02:21:16.680 --> 02:21:22.440
Hotel Saint James at Algiers was literally
sacked by an organized band of depredators and

1652
02:21:22.639 --> 02:21:28.799
valuables to the tune of forty thousand
pounds disappeared, missus mc allister had given

1653
02:21:28.840 --> 02:21:31.479
the first alarm by crying out that
there was a ghost in her room.

1654
02:21:33.040 --> 02:21:39.639
Ah, he smiled easily, condescendingly
to this pertinacious widow who had been pursuing

1655
02:21:39.719 --> 02:21:46.000
him so fruitlessly for four mortal weeks, from Algiers to Tunis, from Tunis

1656
02:21:46.040 --> 02:21:50.559
back to Constantine, and from Constantine
here to Biskra. All Arabs looked more

1657
02:21:50.639 --> 02:21:54.559
or less alike, you know,
But yes, he said again, they

1658
02:21:54.639 --> 02:22:00.440
all look alike to us, like
Chinaman. Considering that he himself, from

1659
02:22:00.440 --> 02:22:03.920
his own yacht, had witnessed the
total loss in the Mediterranean of the vessel

1660
02:22:05.120 --> 02:22:09.159
which contained the plunder and the fleeing
band of thieves. Considering that his own

1661
02:22:09.239 --> 02:22:16.479
yacht had rescued the only three survivors
of that shipwreck, and that these survivors

1662
02:22:16.559 --> 02:22:20.719
had made a full confession and had
only two days since been duly sentenced by

1663
02:22:20.760 --> 02:22:26.159
the criminal court at Algiers, he
did not feel inclined to minister to missus

1664
02:22:26.239 --> 02:22:31.120
McAllister's feminine fancies. Did you ever
see an Arab with a mole on his

1665
02:22:31.239 --> 02:22:37.559
chin, asked missus McAllister. No, I never did. Well, My

1666
02:22:37.719 --> 02:22:41.079
Arab had a mole on his chin, and that is why I am sure

1667
02:22:41.120 --> 02:22:46.000
it was he that I saw a
minute ago over there. Now he's gone.

1668
02:22:46.079 --> 02:22:50.200
Now the competing horseman appeared round the
bend for the last time. The

1669
02:22:50.280 --> 02:22:54.799
dancing girls winnied in their high trouble, the crowd roared, and the pri

1670
02:22:54.920 --> 02:23:00.040
de la Ville was won and lost. It was the final race on the

1671
02:22:58.879 --> 02:23:05.959
card, and in the melee which
followed, Cecil became separated from his adorer.

1672
02:23:05.520 --> 02:23:09.399
She was to depart on the morrow
by the six a m train.

1673
02:23:09.079 --> 02:23:13.040
Urgent business, she said she had
given up the chase of the millionaire.

1674
02:23:13.440 --> 02:23:18.760
Perhaps she's out of funds for thing, he reflected. Anyhow, I hope

1675
02:23:18.799 --> 02:23:22.200
I may never see her again.
As a matter of fact, he never

1676
02:23:22.280 --> 02:23:26.319
did see her again. She passed
out of his life as casually as she

1677
02:23:26.399 --> 02:23:31.600
had come into it. He strolled
slowly towards the hotel through the perturbed crowd

1678
02:23:31.639 --> 02:23:35.280
of Arabs, Europeans, carriages,
camels, horses, and motor cars.

1679
02:23:35.319 --> 02:23:41.120
The mounted tribesmen were in a state
of intense excitement and were continually burning powder

1680
02:23:41.200 --> 02:23:46.399
in that mad fashion which seems to
afford a peculiar joy to the Arab's soul.

1681
02:23:46.959 --> 02:23:50.159
From time to time a tribesman would
break out of the ranks of his

1682
02:23:50.280 --> 02:23:54.319
clan, and, spurring his horse
and dropping the reins on the animal's neck,

1683
02:23:54.639 --> 02:23:58.959
would fire revolvers from both hands as
he flew over the rough ground.

1684
02:24:00.639 --> 02:24:05.159
It was unrivaled horsemanship, and Cecil
admired immensely the manner in which, at

1685
02:24:05.200 --> 02:24:09.760
the end of the frenzied performance,
these men, drunk with powder, would

1686
02:24:09.799 --> 02:24:16.360
wheel their horses sharply while at full
gallop and stop dead. And then,

1687
02:24:16.520 --> 02:24:20.000
as one man who had passed him
like a hurricane, turned paused and jogged

1688
02:24:20.040 --> 02:24:24.959
back to his tribe, Cecil saw
that he had a mole on his chin.

1689
02:24:24.719 --> 02:24:28.799
He stood still to watch the splendid
fellow, and he noticed something far

1690
02:24:28.879 --> 02:24:33.159
more important than the mole. He
perceived that the revolver in the man's right

1691
02:24:33.200 --> 02:24:39.120
hand had a chaste. But I
can't swear to it, Cecil mused,

1692
02:24:39.319 --> 02:24:43.399
But if that isn't my revolver stolen
from under my pillow at the Hotels and

1693
02:24:43.479 --> 02:24:48.280
Gansalgiz on the tenth of January last. My name is Norval and not thurled,

1694
02:24:48.719 --> 02:24:52.879
and the whole edifice of his ideas
concerning the robbery at the Hotel de

1695
02:24:54.000 --> 02:24:56.959
Paris began to shake. That revolver
ought to be at the bottom of the

1696
02:24:56.959 --> 02:25:01.360
Mediterranean, he said to himself,
and so ought missus mc allister's man with

1697
02:25:01.440 --> 02:25:05.920
the mole, according to the accepted
theory of the crime and the story of

1698
02:25:05.959 --> 02:25:11.120
the survivors of the shipwreck of the
Paraquet. There he walked on, keeping

1699
02:25:11.159 --> 02:25:18.040
the man in sight. Suppose he
murmured, Suppose all that stuff isn't at

1700
02:25:18.079 --> 02:25:22.680
the bottom of the Mediterranean, after
all. A hundred yards further on he

1701
02:25:22.760 --> 02:25:28.399
happened to meet one of the white
clad native guides attached to the Royal Hotel

1702
02:25:28.520 --> 02:25:31.920
where he had lunched. The guide
saluted and offered service, as all the

1703
02:25:31.959 --> 02:25:37.200
bescrug guides do on all occasions.
Cecil's reply was to point out the man

1704
02:25:37.239 --> 02:25:41.079
with the mole. You see him, Hatmat said, Cecil, make no

1705
02:25:41.159 --> 02:25:46.120
mistake, find out what tribe he
belongs to, where he comes from,

1706
02:25:46.159 --> 02:25:48.799
and where he sleeps in Bithcra,
and I will give you a sovereign.

1707
02:25:48.959 --> 02:25:54.319
Meet me at the casino to night
at ten Mahatmagrin an honest grin and promised

1708
02:25:54.360 --> 02:26:00.360
to earn the sovereign. Cecil stopped
an empty Landau and drove hurriedly to the

1709
02:26:00.399 --> 02:26:05.399
station to meet the afternoon train from
Civilization. He had arrived at Biskra that

1710
02:26:05.479 --> 02:26:09.440
morning by road from El Cantara,
and Lecky was coming by the afternoon train

1711
02:26:09.520 --> 02:26:16.079
with the luggage. On seeing him, he gave that invaluable factotum some surprising

1712
02:26:16.360 --> 02:26:20.479
orders. In addition to Lecky,
the millionaire observed among the passengers descending from

1713
02:26:20.479 --> 02:26:24.719
the train two other people who were
known to him, but he carefully hid

1714
02:26:24.799 --> 02:26:31.040
himself from these ladies. In three
minutes, he had disappeared into the nocturnal

1715
02:26:31.079 --> 02:26:35.840
twhirl and uproar of Biskra, solely
bent on proving or disproving the truth of

1716
02:26:35.879 --> 02:26:41.040
a brand new theory concerning the historic
sack of the Hotel Saint James. But

1717
02:26:41.120 --> 02:26:46.399
that night he waited in vain for
Mahotmut at the packed casino, where the

1718
02:26:46.440 --> 02:26:50.600
Arab chieftains and the English gentlemen alike, in their tremendous calm, were losing

1719
02:26:50.680 --> 02:26:58.000
money at Petty Cheveaux with all the
imperturbability of stone statues two. Nor did

1720
02:26:58.000 --> 02:27:03.120
Cecil see anything else Mahatma during the
next day, and he had reasons for

1721
02:27:03.159 --> 02:27:07.319
not making inquiries about him at the
Royal Hotel. But at night, as

1722
02:27:07.319 --> 02:27:11.479
he was crossing the deserted market,
Mahatmat came up to him, suddenly out

1723
02:27:11.520 --> 02:27:16.920
of nowhere and grinning the eternal,
honest, foolish grin said in his odd

1724
02:27:16.959 --> 02:27:22.920
English, I have found him.
Where come, said Mahatmat, mysteriously.

1725
02:27:22.319 --> 02:27:28.920
The Eastern guide loves to be mysterious. Cecil followed him far down the carnivalesque

1726
02:27:28.920 --> 02:27:35.440
street of the ouled Nails, where
tom toms and nameless instruments of music sounded

1727
02:27:35.440 --> 02:27:41.959
from every other house, and in
the primera dancess of the Sahara showed themselves

1728
02:27:41.000 --> 02:27:48.920
gorgeously behind grills like beautiful animals and
cages. Then Mahatmut entered a crowded cafe,

1729
02:27:48.360 --> 02:27:52.399
passed through it and pushing aside a
suspended mat at the other end,

1730
02:27:52.760 --> 02:27:58.760
bad Cecil proceed further. Cecil touched
his revolver, his new revolver to make

1731
02:28:00.239 --> 02:28:05.040
of its company, and proceeded further. He found himself in a low oriental

1732
02:28:05.159 --> 02:28:09.959
room, lighted by an odorous English
lamp with a circular wick, and furnished

1733
02:28:09.959 --> 02:28:15.559
with a fine carpet and two bedroom
chairs certainly made in curtain rode Shoreditch,

1734
02:28:15.920 --> 02:28:20.079
a room characteristic of bistra. On
one chair sat a man. But this

1735
02:28:20.239 --> 02:28:24.600
person was not Missus mc allister's man
with the mole. He was obviously a

1736
02:28:24.639 --> 02:28:30.879
Frenchman by his dress, gestures and
speech. He greeted the millionaire in French

1737
02:28:30.879 --> 02:28:37.559
and then dropped into English, excellently
grammatical and often idiomatic, English spoken with

1738
02:28:37.639 --> 02:28:41.840
a strong French accent. He was
rather a little man, thin gray and

1739
02:28:41.879 --> 02:28:46.520
a vivacious Give yourself the pain of
setting down, said the Frenchman. I'm

1740
02:28:46.520 --> 02:28:50.000
glad to see you. You may
be able to help us. You have

1741
02:28:50.120 --> 02:28:54.760
the advantage of me, Cecil replied, smiling. Perhaps, said the Frenchman,

1742
02:28:56.159 --> 02:28:58.600
you came to bis Gray yesterday,
mister Thorold with the intention of staying

1743
02:28:58.600 --> 02:29:03.559
at the Royal Hotel, where rooms
were engaged for you. But yesterday afternoon

1744
02:29:03.719 --> 02:29:07.000
you went to the station to meet
your servant, and you ordered him to

1745
02:29:07.040 --> 02:29:13.479
return to Constantine with your luggage and
to await your instructions there. Then you

1746
02:29:13.520 --> 02:29:16.760
took a hand bag and went to
the Casino hotel, and you managed,

1747
02:29:16.799 --> 02:29:22.559
by means of diplomacy and of money
to get a bed in the sale mange.

1748
02:29:22.200 --> 02:29:26.159
It was all they could do for
you. You gave the name of

1749
02:29:26.399 --> 02:29:31.280
Collins. Biscer therefore is not officially
aware of the presence of mister Cecil Thirled,

1750
02:29:31.440 --> 02:29:37.200
the millionaire, while mister Collins is
free to carry on his researches,

1751
02:29:37.440 --> 02:29:41.399
to appear and to disappear as it
pleases him. Yes, Cecil remarked,

1752
02:29:41.440 --> 02:29:45.959
you have got that fairly right.
But may I ask, oh, let

1753
02:29:46.079 --> 02:29:50.200
us come to business at once,
said the Frenchman, politely, interrupting him.

1754
02:29:50.600 --> 02:29:54.280
Is this your watch? He dramatically
pulled a watch and chain from his

1755
02:29:54.399 --> 02:30:00.000
pocket. It is, said Cecil
quietly. He refrained from embroidering the affair

1756
02:30:00.520 --> 02:30:05.399
with exclamations. It was stolen from
my bedroom at the hotel Saint Gems with

1757
02:30:05.440 --> 02:30:09.360
my revolver, some fur and a
quantity of money. On the tenth of

1758
02:30:09.479 --> 02:30:15.120
January. You are surprised to find
it is not sunk in the Mediterranean thirty

1759
02:30:15.159 --> 02:30:18.959
hours ago. I should have been
surprised, said Cecil. Now I am

1760
02:30:18.000 --> 02:30:24.559
not, and why not now because
I have formed a new theory. But

1761
02:30:24.879 --> 02:30:28.079
have the goodness to give me the
watch? I cannot, said the Frenchman,

1762
02:30:28.159 --> 02:30:33.200
graciously, not at present. There
was a pause. The sound of

1763
02:30:33.319 --> 02:30:37.079
music was heard from the cafe.
But my dear sir, I insist,

1764
02:30:37.120 --> 02:30:43.360
Cecil spoke positively. The Frenchman laughed. I will be perfectly frank with you,

1765
02:30:43.399 --> 02:30:46.639
mister Thorold. Your cleverness in forming
a new theory of the great robbery

1766
02:30:46.799 --> 02:30:50.680
merits all, my candor. My
name is Sylvain, and I am head

1767
02:30:50.680 --> 02:30:56.840
of the detective force of Algier's Chaffe
de la crite. You will perceive that

1768
02:30:56.920 --> 02:31:01.360
I cannot part with the watch without
proper formality. Mister Thorold, the robbery

1769
02:31:01.399 --> 02:31:07.000
at the Hotel Saint jams was a
work of the highest criminal art. Possibly

1770
02:31:07.040 --> 02:31:11.479
I had better tell you the nature
of our recent discoveries. I always thought

1771
02:31:11.520 --> 02:31:15.840
well of the robbery Cecil observed,
and my opinion of it is rising.

1772
02:31:16.159 --> 02:31:20.719
Pray continue according to your new theory, mister Thorold. How many persons were

1773
02:31:20.760 --> 02:31:26.639
on board the baracae Vert when she
began to sink, Three, said Cecil

1774
02:31:26.680 --> 02:31:31.719
promptly, as though answering a conundrum. The Frenchman beamed, you are admirable,

1775
02:31:33.079 --> 02:31:37.360
He exclaimed, yes, instead of
eighteen, there were three. The

1776
02:31:37.399 --> 02:31:41.040
wreck of the paroquet Bet was carefully
pre arranged. The visit of the boat

1777
02:31:41.200 --> 02:31:46.040
to the paraquet Bear off Mustapha in
a ferriere was what you call, I

1778
02:31:46.120 --> 02:31:52.040
believe, a plant. The stolen
goods never left dry land. There were

1779
02:31:52.040 --> 02:31:56.719
three Arabs only on the paraquet Bet, one to steer her and the other

1780
02:31:56.840 --> 02:32:01.000
two in the engine room. And
these three were very careful to get themselves

1781
02:32:01.079 --> 02:32:05.559
saved. They scuttled their ship inside
of your yacht and of another vessel.

1782
02:32:05.040 --> 02:32:09.799
There is no doubt, mister Thurled. The Frenchman smiled, with a hint

1783
02:32:09.799 --> 02:32:15.200
of irony, that the thieves were
fully old corone of your doings on the

1784
02:32:15.239 --> 02:32:20.079
Clara Belle. The shipwreck was done
deliberately with you and your yacht for an

1785
02:32:20.079 --> 02:32:26.520
audience. It was a masterly stroke. He proceeded, almost enthusiastically for it

1786
02:32:26.600 --> 02:32:31.040
had the effect not merely of drawing
away suspicion from the true direction, but

1787
02:32:31.159 --> 02:32:33.760
of putting an end to all further
inquiries. Were not the goods at the

1788
02:32:33.760 --> 02:32:39.479
bottom of the sea and the thieves
drowned, what motive could the police have

1789
02:32:39.600 --> 02:32:43.559
for further activity? In six months? Naye, three months, all the

1790
02:32:43.639 --> 02:32:50.040
notes and securities could be safely negotiated
because no measures would have to be taken

1791
02:32:50.079 --> 02:32:54.000
to stop them. Why take measures
to stop notes that are at the bottom

1792
02:32:54.040 --> 02:32:58.440
of the sea. But the three
survivors who are now in prison, Cecil

1793
02:32:58.520 --> 02:33:03.600
said, their behavior, their lying
needs some accounting for quite simple. The

1794
02:33:03.639 --> 02:33:07.559
Frenchman went on, They are in
prison for three years. What is that

1795
02:33:07.639 --> 02:33:13.479
to an Arab? He will suffer
it with stoicism. Say that ten thousand

1796
02:33:13.559 --> 02:33:16.959
francs are deposited with each of their
families. When they come out they are

1797
02:33:18.120 --> 02:33:22.200
rich for life. At a cost
of thirty thousand francs, and the price

1798
02:33:22.239 --> 02:33:26.639
of the ship, say another thirty
thousand, the thieves reasonably expected to obtain

1799
02:33:28.000 --> 02:33:33.959
absolute security. It was a heroic
idea, said Cecil. It was,

1800
02:33:33.200 --> 02:33:39.840
said the Frenchman, but it has
failed evidently. But why can you ask?

1801
02:33:39.159 --> 02:33:43.479
You know as well as I do. It has failed, partly because

1802
02:33:43.520 --> 02:33:46.399
there were too many persons in the
secret, partly because of the Arab love

1803
02:33:46.440 --> 02:33:52.159
of display on great occasions, and
partly because of a mole on a man's

1804
02:33:52.239 --> 02:33:54.840
chin. By the way, that
was the man I came here to see,

1805
02:33:56.120 --> 02:34:01.399
Cecil remarked. He is arrested,
said the Frenchman curtly, and then

1806
02:34:01.440 --> 02:34:05.200
he sighed. The booty was not
guarded with sufficient restrictions. It was not

1807
02:34:05.319 --> 02:34:11.200
kept in bulk. One thief probably
said, I cannot do without this lovely

1808
02:34:11.280 --> 02:34:15.360
watch, and another said, what
a revolver, I must have it.

1809
02:34:15.799 --> 02:34:20.479
Ah, the Arab, the Arab, the Europeans ought to have provided for

1810
02:34:20.559 --> 02:34:24.799
that. That is where they were
foolish, The idiots, the idiots,

1811
02:34:24.040 --> 02:34:30.719
he repeated angrily. You seem annoyed, mister Thorold. I am a poet

1812
02:34:30.799 --> 02:34:35.319
of these things. It annoys me
to see a fine composition ruined by bad

1813
02:34:35.399 --> 02:34:39.719
construction. In the fifth act,
however, as chief of the Syrite,

1814
02:34:39.760 --> 02:34:43.760
I rejoice you have located the thieves
and the plunder. I think I have.

1815
02:34:45.239 --> 02:34:48.799
Certainly I have captured two of the
thieves and several articles the bulk lies

1816
02:34:48.799 --> 02:34:54.360
that he stopped and looked around mister
Thorold. May I rely on you?

1817
02:34:54.719 --> 02:34:58.799
I know perhaps more than you think
of your powers. May I rely on

1818
02:34:58.920 --> 02:35:03.959
you, ay said Cecil, you
will hold yourself at my disposition during tomorrow

1819
02:35:05.040 --> 02:35:09.440
to assist me with pleasure. Then
let us take coffee in the morning.

1820
02:35:09.520 --> 02:35:15.760
I shall have acquired certain precise information
which at the moment I lack. Let

1821
02:35:15.840 --> 02:35:20.600
us take coffee. Three. On
the following morning, somewhat early, while

1822
02:35:20.600 --> 02:35:26.079
walking nearer Messid, one of the
tiny outlying villages of the oasis, Cecil

1823
02:35:26.159 --> 02:35:31.719
met E Fincastle and Kitty Sartorius,
whom he had not spoken with since the

1824
02:35:31.760 --> 02:35:35.719
affair of the bracelet at Bruges,
though he had heard from them and had

1825
02:35:35.799 --> 02:35:41.360
indeed seen them at the station two
days before. Ethincastle had fallen rather seriously

1826
02:35:41.440 --> 02:35:46.639
ill at mentone, and the holiday
of the two girls, which should have

1827
02:35:46.719 --> 02:35:50.719
finished before the end of the year, was prolonged. Financially, the enforced

1828
02:35:50.799 --> 02:35:56.719
leisure was a matter of trifling importance
to Kitty's Sartorius, who had insisted on

1829
02:35:56.799 --> 02:36:00.719
remaining with her friend, much to
the disgust of her lune and manager.

1830
02:36:01.200 --> 02:36:05.879
But the journalist's resources were less royal, and Eve considered herself fortunate that she

1831
02:36:07.000 --> 02:36:13.959
had obtained from her newspaper some special
descriptive correspondence in Algeria. It was this

1832
02:36:13.000 --> 02:36:18.559
commission which had brought her and Kitty
with her in the natural course of an

1833
02:36:18.600 --> 02:36:24.680
Algerian tour to Biskra. Cecil was
charmed to see his acquaintances, for Eve

1834
02:36:24.799 --> 02:36:30.040
interested him, and Kitty's beauty,
it goes without saying, dazzled him.

1835
02:36:30.680 --> 02:36:33.760
Nevertheless, he had been, as
it were, hiding himself, and in

1836
02:36:33.840 --> 02:36:39.319
his character as an amateur of the
loot of cities, he would have preferred

1837
02:36:39.360 --> 02:36:43.360
to have met them on some morning
other than that particular morning. You will

1838
02:36:43.360 --> 02:36:46.600
go with us to Siddy Oak Bah, won't you to day? Said Kitty,

1839
02:36:46.879 --> 02:36:50.559
after they had talked a while.
We've secured a carriage and I'm dying

1840
02:36:50.680 --> 02:36:56.760
for a drive in the real true
desert. Sorry I can't, said Cecil.

1841
02:36:56.200 --> 02:37:01.559
Oh but Eve and Castle began and
stopped. Of course you can,

1842
02:37:01.680 --> 02:37:05.360
said Kitty, imperiously. You must
we leave tomorrow. We're only here for

1843
02:37:05.440 --> 02:37:11.079
two days for Algiers and France,
another two days in Paris, and in

1844
02:37:11.159 --> 02:37:16.799
London, my darling, London and
work. So it's understood. It desolates

1845
02:37:16.840 --> 02:37:20.399
me, said Cecil, But I
can't go with you to City oak Ba

1846
02:37:20.520 --> 02:37:24.600
to day. They both saw that
he meant to refuse them. Ah,

1847
02:37:24.680 --> 02:37:30.879
that settles it. Then Eve agreed
quietly. You're horrid, mister Thorold,

1848
02:37:31.079 --> 02:37:35.280
said the bewitching actress. And if
you imagine for a single moment we haven't

1849
02:37:35.280 --> 02:37:39.639
seen that you've been keeping out of
our way, you're mistaken. You must

1850
02:37:39.639 --> 02:37:43.799
have noticed us at the station.
Eve thinks you've got another of your No,

1851
02:37:43.959 --> 02:37:48.479
I don't, kitty, said Eve
quickly. If Miss Fencastle suspects that

1852
02:37:48.520 --> 02:37:52.479
I've got another of my, Eve
paused humorously. Miss Fencastle is right,

1853
02:37:52.799 --> 02:37:58.000
I have got another of my I
throw myself on your magnanimity. I am

1854
02:37:58.040 --> 02:38:03.360
staying Ambiscrus under the name of Collins
and my time, like my name,

1855
02:38:03.840 --> 02:38:07.360
is not my own. In that
case, Eve remarked, we will pass

1856
02:38:07.399 --> 02:38:11.680
on, and they shook hands,
with a certain frigidity on the part of

1857
02:38:11.680 --> 02:38:18.840
the two girls. During the morning, Monsieur Sylvain made no sign and Cecil

1858
02:38:18.920 --> 02:38:24.079
lunched in solitude at the d'arif adjoining
the casino. The races being over Streams

1859
02:38:24.079 --> 02:38:28.719
of natives with their tents and their
quadrupeds were leaving Biscra for the desert.

1860
02:38:30.120 --> 02:38:33.680
They made an interminable procession, which
could be seen from the window of the

1861
02:38:33.799 --> 02:38:39.239
d'aryf coffee room. Cecil was idly
watching this procession when a hand touched his

1862
02:38:39.280 --> 02:38:46.040
shoulder. He turned and saw Gentan
Monsieur Colonne. Questioned oft the Gentarmes Cecil

1863
02:38:46.200 --> 02:38:56.040
assented, voolievous avois lo'blacon se de
mais souverer. Monsieur Cecil obediently followed and

1864
02:38:56.360 --> 02:39:01.559
found in the street Monsieur Sylvain,
well wrapped up and seated in an open

1865
02:39:01.680 --> 02:39:05.399
carriage. I have need of you, said Monsieur Sylvain. Can you come

1866
02:39:05.479 --> 02:39:09.920
at once? Certainly, in two
minutes they were driving away together into the

1867
02:39:09.000 --> 02:39:15.280
desert. Our destination is city Oakbach, said the Monsieur Sylvain, A curious

1868
02:39:15.399 --> 02:39:20.959
place. The road so called led
across the Biscre river so called, and

1869
02:39:20.159 --> 02:39:24.120
then in a straight line eastwards.
The river had about the depth of a

1870
02:39:24.159 --> 02:39:28.159
dinner plate. As for the road, in some parts it not only merely

1871
02:39:28.239 --> 02:39:33.440
failed to be a road, it
was nothing but virgin desert intact at its

1872
02:39:33.559 --> 02:39:37.600
best, it was a heaving and
treacherous mixture of sand and pebbles, through

1873
02:39:37.680 --> 02:39:43.200
which, and not over which the
two unhappy horses had to drag Monsieur Sylvain's

1874
02:39:43.440 --> 02:39:50.280
unfortunate open carriage. Monsieur Sylvain himself
drove. I am well acquainted with this

1875
02:39:50.399 --> 02:39:54.280
part of the desert, he said. We have strange cases sometimes, and

1876
02:39:54.520 --> 02:39:58.959
when I am on important business,
I never trust an Arab by the way

1877
02:39:58.159 --> 02:40:03.000
you have a revolved I do not
anticipate danger. But I have one,

1878
02:40:03.200 --> 02:40:07.559
said Cecil, and it is loaded. Cecil took the weapon from his hip

1879
02:40:07.639 --> 02:40:13.040
pocket and examined it. It is
loaded, he said. Good, exclaimed

1880
02:40:13.079 --> 02:40:16.879
the Frenchman, and then he turned
to the Gentan, who was sitting as

1881
02:40:16.040 --> 02:40:20.719
impassively as the leaps and bounds of
the carriage would allow on a small seat

1882
02:40:20.840 --> 02:40:26.920
immediately behind the other two, and
demanded of him in French whether his revolver

1883
02:40:26.120 --> 02:40:33.040
also was loaded. The man gave
a respectful affirmative. Good, exclaimed Monsieur

1884
02:40:33.079 --> 02:40:37.399
Sylvain again, and launched into a
description of the wondrous gardens of the Conte

1885
02:40:37.440 --> 02:40:41.760
Landan, whose walls, on the
confines of the oasis they were just passing

1886
02:40:43.559 --> 02:40:46.639
straight in front could be seen a
short line of palm trees waving in the

1887
02:40:46.719 --> 02:40:52.159
desert breeze under the desert sun,
and Cecil asked what they were City Oakba,

1888
02:40:52.479 --> 02:40:56.879
replied Monsieur Sylvain. The hundred and
eighty thousand palms of the desert city

1889
02:40:58.000 --> 02:41:03.680
of City Oakba near to you,
no doubt, But we shall travel twenty

1890
02:41:03.760 --> 02:41:07.040
kilometers before we reach them. The
effect of nearness is due to the singular

1891
02:41:07.159 --> 02:41:13.159
quality of the atmosphere. It is
a two hours journey. Then do we

1892
02:41:13.319 --> 02:41:16.600
return in the dark, Secil inquired. If we are lucky, we may

1893
02:41:16.680 --> 02:41:22.479
return at once and arrive at Biskrad
dusk. If not well, we shall

1894
02:41:22.520 --> 02:41:28.319
spend the night at City Ilkba.
You object not at all a curious place,

1895
02:41:28.479 --> 02:41:33.479
observed Monsieur Sylvain. Soon they had
left behind all traces of the oasis

1896
02:41:33.559 --> 02:41:37.600
and were in the real, true
desert. They met and passed native equipage

1897
02:41:37.879 --> 02:41:41.799
and the strings of camels, and
from time to time on either hand,

1898
02:41:43.040 --> 02:41:48.120
at short distances from the road could
be seen the encampments of wandering tribes.

1899
02:41:48.559 --> 02:41:52.239
And after interminable joltings, in which
Monsieur Sylvain, his guest, and his

1900
02:41:52.360 --> 02:41:58.399
gendarmes were frequently hurled at each other's
heads with excessive violence, the short line

1901
02:41:58.399 --> 02:42:03.959
of palm tree began to seem a
little nearer and to occupy a little more

1902
02:42:03.040 --> 02:42:07.399
of the horizon, and then they
could descry the wall of the city.

1903
02:42:07.920 --> 02:42:13.000
And at last they reached its gate, and the beggars squatting within its gate

1904
02:42:13.600 --> 02:42:18.840
to send Monsieur Sylvain ordered his subordinate. The man disappeared, and a Monsieur

1905
02:42:18.920 --> 02:42:22.840
Sylvain and the cecil drove into the
city. They met several carriages of bescrus

1906
02:42:22.959 --> 02:42:28.719
visitors just setting forth on their return
journey. In insisting that city Oakba was

1907
02:42:28.760 --> 02:42:33.840
a curious place, Monsieur Sylvain did
not exaggerate. It was an eastern town

1908
02:42:33.959 --> 02:42:39.680
of the most antique sort, built
solely of mud, with the simplicity,

1909
02:42:39.000 --> 02:42:43.760
the foulness, the smells, and
the avowed and the secret horrors which might

1910
02:42:43.879 --> 02:42:48.799
be expected in a community which has
not altered its habits in any particular for

1911
02:42:50.120 --> 02:42:54.879
a thousand years. During several months
of each year, it is visited daily

1912
02:42:54.959 --> 02:43:00.479
by Europeans. Its mosque is the
oldest Mohammedan building in Africa. Therefore,

1913
02:43:00.600 --> 02:43:07.079
no respectable tourist dares to miss it, and yet it remains absolutely uninfluenced by

1914
02:43:07.159 --> 02:43:11.319
European notions. The European person must
take his food with him, he is

1915
02:43:11.399 --> 02:43:16.879
allowed to eat it in the garden
of a cafe which is European as far

1916
02:43:16.959 --> 02:43:20.639
as its sign and its counter,
but no further. He could not eat

1917
02:43:20.719 --> 02:43:28.440
it in the cafe itself. This
cafe is the mark which civilization has succeeded

1918
02:43:28.520 --> 02:43:33.440
in making on Sidi Ukba in ten
centuries. As Cecil drove with Monsieur Savain

1919
02:43:33.600 --> 02:43:39.159
through the narrow, winding street,
he acutely felt the east closing in upon

1920
02:43:39.280 --> 02:43:43.399
him, and since the sun was
getting low over the palm trees, he

1921
02:43:43.559 --> 02:43:46.920
was glad to have the detective by
his side. They arrived at the wretched

1922
02:43:48.040 --> 02:43:52.639
cafe. A pair horse vehicle with
the horses heads towards Uzkra was waiting at

1923
02:43:52.719 --> 02:43:58.920
the door. Unspeakable lanes feted,
winding, sinister, and strangely, people

1924
02:44:00.559 --> 02:44:05.239
led away in several directions. Monsieu
Savain glanced about him. We shall proceed,

1925
02:44:05.520 --> 02:44:09.479
he murmured, cheerfully. Follow me, and they went into the mark

1926
02:44:09.559 --> 02:44:15.319
of civilization, and saw the counter
and a female creature behind the bar,

1927
02:44:15.840 --> 02:44:20.120
and through another door a glimpse of
the garden beyond. Follow me, murmured

1928
02:44:20.120 --> 02:44:24.879
Monsieur Savain again, opening another door
to the left into a dark passage.

1929
02:44:26.239 --> 02:44:30.440
Straight on, there is a room
at the other end, they vanished in

1930
02:44:30.520 --> 02:44:35.559
a few seconds. Monsieur Sylvain returned
into the cafe. Four Now in the

1931
02:44:35.680 --> 02:44:41.879
garden were Eve Fincastle and Kitty Sartorius
tying up some wraps preparatory to their departure

1932
02:44:41.920 --> 02:44:46.680
for biscrut. They caught sight of
Cecil Thorold and his companion entering the cafe.

1933
02:44:48.239 --> 02:44:52.600
They were surprised to find the millionaire
in see the oakba after his refusal

1934
02:44:52.719 --> 02:44:56.559
to accompany them through the back door
of the cafe. They saw Cecil's companion

1935
02:44:56.799 --> 02:45:01.840
reappear out of the passage. They
saw the creature behind the counter stoop and

1936
02:45:03.000 --> 02:45:07.440
produce a revolver and then offer it
to the Frenchman with a furtive movement.

1937
02:45:07.000 --> 02:45:11.680
They saw that the Frenchman declined it
and drew another revolver from his own pocket

1938
02:45:13.040 --> 02:45:16.360
and winked. And the character of
the wink given by the Frenchman to the

1939
02:45:16.440 --> 02:45:22.360
woman made them turn pale under the
sudden knife like thrust of an awful suspicion.

1940
02:45:24.040 --> 02:45:26.719
The Frenchman looked up and perceived the
girls in the garden, and one

1941
02:45:26.840 --> 02:45:31.520
glance at Kitty's beauty was not enough
for him. Can you keep him here

1942
02:45:31.559 --> 02:45:35.399
a minute? While I warn mister
Thorold, said Eve. Quickly. Kitty

1943
02:45:35.479 --> 02:45:41.239
Sartorius nodded and began to smile on
the Frenchman. She then lifted her finger

1944
02:45:41.559 --> 02:45:46.360
beckoningly. If millions had depended on
his refusal, it is doubtful whether he

1945
02:45:46.399 --> 02:45:52.360
would have resisted that charming gesture.
Not for nothing did Kitty Sartorius receive one

1946
02:45:52.440 --> 02:45:56.799
hundred a week at the Regency Theater. In a moment, the Frenchman was

1947
02:45:56.879 --> 02:46:01.280
talking to her, and she had
enveloped him in a golden mist of enchantment.

1948
02:46:03.040 --> 02:46:07.600
Guided by a profound instinct, Eve
ran up the passage and into the

1949
02:46:07.719 --> 02:46:11.719
room where Cecil was awaiting the return
of his Monsieur Sylvain. Come out,

1950
02:46:11.920 --> 02:46:16.719
she whispered, passionately, as if
between violent anger and dreadful alarm. You

1951
02:46:16.840 --> 02:46:22.079
are trapped, you with your schemes, trapped, he exclaimed, smiling,

1952
02:46:22.399 --> 02:46:26.319
not at all, I have my
revolver. His hand touched his pocket.

1953
02:46:26.840 --> 02:46:31.719
By jove, I have not,
it's gone. The miraculous change in his

1954
02:46:31.879 --> 02:46:35.840
face was of the highest interest.
Come out, she cried. Our carriage

1955
02:46:35.920 --> 02:46:39.680
is waiting in the cafe. Kitty
Sartorius was talking to the Frenchman. She

1956
02:46:39.799 --> 02:46:45.799
stroked his sleeve with her gloved hand, and he the Frenchman, still held

1957
02:46:45.879 --> 02:46:50.639
the revolver, which he had displayed
to the woman of the counter. Inspired

1958
02:46:50.840 --> 02:46:54.559
by the consummate and swiftly aroused emotion
of that moment, Cecil snatched at the

1959
02:46:54.639 --> 02:47:00.879
revolver. The three friends walked hastily
to the street, jumped into the carriage,

1960
02:47:01.159 --> 02:47:05.040
and drove away. Already, as
they approached the city gate, they

1961
02:47:05.040 --> 02:47:09.159
could see the white tower of the
Royal Hotel at Biskra shining across the desert

1962
02:47:09.319 --> 02:47:15.440
like a promise of security. The
whole episode had lasted perhaps two minutes,

1963
02:47:15.719 --> 02:47:20.000
but they were minutes of such intense
and blinding revelation as Cecil had never before

1964
02:47:20.120 --> 02:47:24.600
experienced. He sighed with relief as
he lay back in the carriage. And

1965
02:47:24.920 --> 02:47:30.040
that's the man, he meditated,
as sounded, who must have planned the

1966
02:47:30.159 --> 02:47:33.319
robbery of the hotel, Saint James. And I never suspected it. I

1967
02:47:33.520 --> 02:47:39.319
never suspected that his gendarme was a
sham. I wonder whether his murder of

1968
02:47:39.399 --> 02:47:43.520
me would have been as leisurely and
artistic as his method of trapping me.

1969
02:47:43.079 --> 02:47:48.319
I wonder, well, this time
I have certainly enjoyed myself. Then he

1970
02:47:48.479 --> 02:47:54.319
gazed at eve Fencastle. The women
said nothing for a long time, and

1971
02:47:54.520 --> 02:48:00.680
even then the talk was of trifles. Five eve Fincastle had gone up on

1972
02:48:00.879 --> 02:48:05.319
to the vast flat roof of the
Royal Hotel, and Cecil, knowing that

1973
02:48:05.479 --> 02:48:09.440
she was there, followed. The
sun had just set, and Biscra lay

1974
02:48:09.479 --> 02:48:13.319
spread out below them. In the
rich evening light, which already eastwards had

1975
02:48:13.479 --> 02:48:18.879
turned to sapphire, they could still
see the line of the palm trees of

1976
02:48:18.959 --> 02:48:22.719
city Okba, and in another direction, the long, lonely road to Figue,

1977
02:48:24.360 --> 02:48:28.559
stretching across the desert like a rope
which had been flung from heaven on

1978
02:48:28.920 --> 02:48:33.840
the waste of sand. The Aras
mountains were black and jagged. Nearer immediately

1979
02:48:35.000 --> 02:48:39.200
under them was the veriest life of
the great oasis, and the sounds of

1980
02:48:39.319 --> 02:48:43.360
that life human speech, the rattle
of carriages, the grunts of camels in

1981
02:48:43.440 --> 02:48:48.200
the camel enclosure, the whistling of
an engine at the station, the melancholy

1982
02:48:48.319 --> 02:48:54.840
whales of hawkers ascended softly in the
twilight of the Sahara. Cecil approached her,

1983
02:48:56.040 --> 02:48:58.200
but she did not turn towards him. I want to thank you,

1984
02:48:58.520 --> 02:49:03.719
he started. She made no movement. And then suddenly she burst out.

1985
02:49:03.280 --> 02:49:09.239
Why do you continue with these shameful
plots and schemes? She demanded, looking

1986
02:49:09.399 --> 02:49:13.200
always steadily away from him. Why
do you disgrace yourself? Was this another

1987
02:49:13.360 --> 02:49:18.040
theft, another blackmailing, another affair
like that? It oth stand? Why?

1988
02:49:18.520 --> 02:49:24.120
She stopped, deeply disturbed, unable
to control herself. My dear journalist,

1989
02:49:24.280 --> 02:49:30.280
he said quietly. You don't understand, Let me tell you. He

1990
02:49:30.399 --> 02:49:35.280
gave her his history from the night
summons by missus mc allister to that same

1991
02:49:35.399 --> 02:49:39.520
afternoon. She faced him. Oh, I'm so glad, she murmured.

1992
02:49:39.760 --> 02:49:43.520
You can't imagine. I want to
thank you for saving my life, he

1993
02:49:43.600 --> 02:49:48.319
said again. She began to cry. Her body shook. She hid her

1994
02:49:48.399 --> 02:49:52.799
face, but he stammered awkwardly.
Oh, it isn't I who saved your

1995
02:49:52.840 --> 02:49:56.879
life, she said, sobbing passionately. I wasn't beautiful enough. Only Kitty

1996
02:49:56.959 --> 02:50:01.440
could have done it. Only a
beautiful woman could have kept that. Man.

1997
02:50:01.040 --> 02:50:05.719
I know all about it, my
dear girl. Cecil silenced her disavowal.

1998
02:50:05.239 --> 02:50:11.040
Something moved him to take her hand. She smiled sadly, not resisting.

1999
02:50:11.600 --> 02:50:15.680
You must excuse me, she murmured, I'm not myself tonight. It's

2000
02:50:15.799 --> 02:50:20.159
because of the excitement. Anyhow,
I'm glad you haven't taken any loot this

2001
02:50:20.399 --> 02:50:24.040
time, but I have, he
protested. He was surprised to find his

2002
02:50:24.200 --> 02:50:31.559
voice trembling. What this He pressed
her hand tenderly that she looked at her

2003
02:50:31.639 --> 02:50:37.280
hand lying in his as though she
had never seen it before. Eve,

2004
02:50:37.920 --> 02:50:41.719
he whispered. About two thirds of
the lute of the Hotels and JEMs was

2005
02:50:41.920 --> 02:50:46.959
ultimately recovered not at City Oak Bah, but in the cellars of the Hotels

2006
02:50:48.040 --> 02:50:52.920
and JEMs itself. From first to
last, that robbery was a masterpiece of

2007
02:50:52.040 --> 02:50:58.399
audacity. Its originator, the Soois
descant Monsieur Sylvaine, head of the Algiers

2008
02:50:58.479 --> 02:51:11.920
Detective Force, is still at large
end of a story one apart five Story

2009
02:51:13.040 --> 02:51:16.719
one of the Loot of Cities by
Arnold Bennett. This LibriVox recording is in

2010
02:51:16.799 --> 02:51:24.079
the public domain Story One, The
Loot of Cities, Chapter six Low twas

2011
02:51:24.120 --> 02:51:30.840
a gala night Paris, and not
merely Paris, but Paris on fete,

2012
02:51:31.440 --> 02:51:37.079
Paris decorated, Paris idol, Paris
determined to enjoy itself and succeeding brilliantly.

2013
02:51:37.760 --> 02:51:43.520
Venetian masts of red and gold lined
the gay pavements of the Combe Boulevais and

2014
02:51:43.680 --> 02:51:50.159
The'auvenue de l'operas, and suspended from
these in every direction, transverse and lateral,

2015
02:51:50.600 --> 02:51:54.799
hung garlands of flowers whose petals were
of colored paper, and whose hearts

2016
02:51:54.840 --> 02:52:00.719
were electric globes that, in the
evening would burst into flame. The effect

2017
02:52:00.799 --> 02:52:05.319
of the city's toilette reached the extreme
of opulence, for no expense had been

2018
02:52:05.399 --> 02:52:09.879
spared. Paris was welcoming monarchs,
and had spent two million francs in obedience

2019
02:52:09.920 --> 02:52:15.440
to the maxim that what is worth
doing at all is worth doing well.

2020
02:52:16.079 --> 02:52:20.319
The Grand Hotel, with its eight
hundred rooms full of English and Americans,

2021
02:52:20.520 --> 02:52:24.360
at the upper end of the Avenue
de Polars, looked down at the Grand

2022
02:52:24.399 --> 02:52:28.639
Hotel de Luvera, with its four
hundred rooms full of English and Americans,

2023
02:52:28.040 --> 02:52:33.760
at the lower end of the Avenue
de l'a peris. These two establishments had

2024
02:52:33.920 --> 02:52:37.719
the best views in the whole city, and perhaps the finest view of all

2025
02:52:37.000 --> 02:52:41.680
was that obtainable from a certain second
floor window of the Grand Hotel, precisely

2026
02:52:41.760 --> 02:52:46.680
at the corner of the Boulevard des
Capucines and the Rue Auberis. From this

2027
02:52:46.879 --> 02:52:52.559
window one could see the boulevards in
both directions, the operas and the Place

2028
02:52:52.600 --> 02:52:58.280
de l'auperas, the Avenue de l'a
operas and the Rue de Catrasattambre, and

2029
02:52:58.639 --> 02:53:03.360
the multitudinous life of the vivid thoroughfares, the glittering cafes, the dazzling shops,

2030
02:53:03.600 --> 02:53:09.639
the painted kiosks, the lumbering omnibuses, the gliding trams, the hooting

2031
02:53:09.799 --> 02:53:16.559
automobiles, the swift and careless cabs, the private carriages, the suicidal bicycles,

2032
02:53:16.959 --> 02:53:20.680
the newsmen, the toy sellers,
the touts, the beggars, and

2033
02:53:20.040 --> 02:53:26.760
all the holiday crowd somber men and
radiant women, chattering, laughing, bustling,

2034
02:53:26.920 --> 02:53:31.520
staring, drinking under the innumerable tricolor
and garlands of paper flowers. That

2035
02:53:31.719 --> 02:53:37.280
particular view was a millionaire's view,
and it happened to be the temporary property

2036
02:53:37.360 --> 02:53:41.680
of Cecil Thirld, who was enjoying
it and the afternoon sun at the open

2037
02:53:41.760 --> 02:53:48.719
window with three companions. Eve Fencastle
looked at it with the analytic eye of

2038
02:53:48.840 --> 02:53:52.479
the journalist, while Kitty Sartorius,
as was quite proper for an actress,

2039
02:53:52.879 --> 02:53:58.079
deemed it a sort of frame for
herself. As she leaned over the balcony

2040
02:53:58.239 --> 02:54:01.520
like a Juliet on the stage.
The third guest in Cecil's sitting room was

2041
02:54:01.719 --> 02:54:09.079
Lionel Belmont, the Napoleonic Anglo American
theatrical manager in whose crown Kitty herself was

2042
02:54:09.239 --> 02:54:13.399
the chief star. Mister Belmont,
a big, burly, good humored,

2043
02:54:13.440 --> 02:54:18.280
a shrewd man of something over forty, said he had come to Paris on

2044
02:54:18.440 --> 02:54:22.799
business, but for two days the
business had been solely to look after Kitty

2045
02:54:22.840 --> 02:54:28.159
Sartorius and minister to her caprices.
At the present moment, his share of

2046
02:54:28.239 --> 02:54:31.399
the view consisted mainly of Kitty,
in the same way Cecil's share of the

2047
02:54:31.479 --> 02:54:37.120
view consisted mainly of Eve Fencastle.
But this at least was right and decorous.

2048
02:54:37.399 --> 02:54:43.600
For the betrothal of the millionaire the
journalist had been definitely announced, Otherwise

2049
02:54:43.799 --> 02:54:46.479
Eve would have been back at work
in Fleet Streak a week ago. The

2050
02:54:46.680 --> 02:54:50.200
gala performance is to night, isn't
it, said Eve, gazing at the

2051
02:54:50.360 --> 02:54:56.360
vast and superbly ornamented opera house.
Yes, said Cecil, what a pity

2052
02:54:56.440 --> 02:55:00.719
we can't be there. I should
so have liked to see the young queen

2053
02:55:00.799 --> 02:55:05.440
in evening dress. And they say
the interior decorations nothing simpler, said,

2054
02:55:05.479 --> 02:55:09.040
Cecil, if you want to go, dear, let us go. Kitty.

2055
02:55:09.120 --> 02:55:13.600
Sartorius looked around quickly. Mister Belmont
has tried to get seats and cant

2056
02:55:15.000 --> 02:55:18.280
haven't you Bell? You know the
whole audience is invited. The invitations are

2057
02:55:18.319 --> 02:55:24.319
issued by the Minister of Fine Arts
still in Paris. Anything can be got

2058
02:55:24.440 --> 02:55:28.879
by paying for it, Cecil insisted. My dear young friend, said Lionel

2059
02:55:28.920 --> 02:55:31.879
Belmont. I guess if seats were
to be had, I should have struck

2060
02:55:33.000 --> 02:55:35.239
one or two. Yesterday. I
put no limit on the price, and

2061
02:55:35.440 --> 02:55:39.040
I reckon. I ought to know
what theater prices run to over at the

2062
02:55:39.120 --> 02:55:43.440
Metropolitan and New York. I've seen
a box change hands at two thousand dollars

2063
02:55:43.559 --> 02:55:50.360
for one night. Nevertheless, Cecil
began again, and the performance starting in

2064
02:55:50.520 --> 02:55:56.040
six hours from now. Lionel Belmont
exclaimed, not much, but Cecil persisted.

2065
02:55:56.520 --> 02:56:00.440
Seeing the herald today, Belmont questioned, no, well, listen,

2066
02:56:00.840 --> 02:56:05.239
this will interest you. He drew
a paper from his pocket and read seats

2067
02:56:05.319 --> 02:56:09.000
for the Opera Guala. The traffic
in seats for their gala performance at the

2068
02:56:09.079 --> 02:56:15.360
Opera during the last royal visit to
Paris aroused considerable comment, and not a

2069
02:56:15.440 --> 02:56:20.479
little dissatisfaction. Nothing, however,
was done, and the traffic in seats

2070
02:56:20.520 --> 02:56:24.760
for tonight's spectacle, at which the
President and their Imperial majesties will be present,

2071
02:56:26.319 --> 02:56:30.000
as it is said, amounted to
a scandal. Of course, the

2072
02:56:30.120 --> 02:56:35.520
offer so suddenly made five days ago
by Madame Fedice and Mademoiselle Malva, the

2073
02:56:35.600 --> 02:56:41.879
two greatest living dramatic sopranos, to
take part in the performance, immediately and

2074
02:56:41.280 --> 02:56:48.520
enormously intensified interest in the affair.
For never yet have these two supreme artists

2075
02:56:48.559 --> 02:56:52.280
appeared in the same theatre on the
same night. No theatre could afford the

2076
02:56:52.360 --> 02:56:56.840
luxury. Our readers may remember that
in our columns and in the columns of

2077
02:56:56.879 --> 02:57:01.479
the Figaro, there appeared, at
four days weeks ago an advertisement to the

2078
02:57:01.559 --> 02:57:07.040
following effect a box also two orchestra
stalls for the opera Gaila, to be

2079
02:57:07.200 --> 02:57:11.760
disposed of. Owing to illness apply
one fifty five rue de la pay.

2080
02:57:11.360 --> 02:57:16.120
We sent for several reporters to answer
that advertisement. The first was offered a

2081
02:57:16.200 --> 02:57:20.879
stage box for seven thousand, five
hundred francs and two orchestra stalls in the

2082
02:57:20.959 --> 02:57:26.319
second row for twelve hundred and fifty
francs. The second was offered a box

2083
02:57:26.360 --> 02:57:30.639
opposite the stage on the second tier
and two stalls in the seventh row.

2084
02:57:31.280 --> 02:57:35.000
The third had the chance of four
stalls in the back row and a small

2085
02:57:35.079 --> 02:57:39.840
box just behind them. The fourth
was offered something else. The thing was,

2086
02:57:39.000 --> 02:57:45.920
obviously therefore a regular agency. Everybody
is asking how were these seats obtained

2087
02:57:46.079 --> 02:57:50.239
from the Ministry of Fine Arts or
from the m vite echo answers how.

2088
02:57:50.760 --> 02:57:54.959
The authorities, however, are stated
to have interfered at last, and to

2089
02:57:56.079 --> 02:57:58.760
have put an end to this buying
and selling of what should be an on

2090
02:58:00.399 --> 02:58:05.479
distinction. Bravo, said Cecil,
and that so Belmont remarked, dropping the

2091
02:58:05.559 --> 02:58:09.920
paper. I went to one fifty
five Rue de la pay myself yesterday and

2092
02:58:11.159 --> 02:58:15.040
was told that nothing whatever was to
be had, not at any price.

2093
02:58:15.600 --> 02:58:20.920
Perhaps you didn't offer enough, said
Cecil. Moreover, I noticed the advertisement

2094
02:58:20.000 --> 02:58:24.120
does not appear to day. I
guess the authorities have crumpled it up.

2095
02:58:24.719 --> 02:58:30.360
Still, Cecil went on monotonously.
Look here, said Belmont, grim and

2096
02:58:30.440 --> 02:58:33.879
a little nettled. Just to cut
it short, I'll bet you a two

2097
02:58:33.000 --> 02:58:37.239
hundred dollar dinner at Payod's that you
can't get seats for to night, not

2098
02:58:37.399 --> 02:58:43.719
even two, let alone four.
You really want to bet well, drawled

2099
02:58:43.799 --> 02:58:48.959
Belmont with a certain irony, slightly
imitating Cecil's manner. It means something to

2100
02:58:48.079 --> 02:58:52.680
eat for these ladies, I accept
said Cecil, and he rang the bell

2101
02:58:54.719 --> 02:58:58.840
two lecky. Cecil said to his
valet, who had entered the room,

2102
02:58:58.200 --> 02:59:01.559
I want you to go to number
one fifty five Rue de la pay and

2103
02:59:01.680 --> 02:59:05.920
find out on which floor they are
disposing of seats for the operat tonight.

2104
02:59:07.399 --> 02:59:09.360
When you have found out, I
want you to get me four seats,

2105
02:59:09.600 --> 02:59:16.559
preferably a box. Understand. The
servant stared at his master, squinting violently

2106
02:59:16.719 --> 02:59:20.639
for a few seconds. Then he
replied, suddenly, as the light had

2107
02:59:20.760 --> 02:59:24.200
just dawned on him, exactly,
sir, you intend to be present at

2108
02:59:24.239 --> 02:59:30.079
the gate of performance. You have
successfully grasped my intention, said Cecil.

2109
02:59:30.440 --> 02:59:33.440
Present my card. He scribbled a
word or two on a card and gave

2110
02:59:33.520 --> 02:59:37.520
it to the man and the price. Sir, you still have that blank

2111
02:59:37.639 --> 02:59:43.600
check on the credillione that I gave
you yesterday morning. Use that, yes,

2112
02:59:43.680 --> 02:59:46.120
sir. Then there is the question
of my French, sir, my

2113
02:59:46.440 --> 02:59:52.680
feeble French, A delicate plant,
my friend Belmont put in, I will

2114
02:59:52.719 --> 02:59:56.159
accompany you as interpreter. I should
like to see this thing through. Lecky

2115
02:59:56.280 --> 03:00:01.600
bowed and gave up squinting in three
minutes, for they had only to go

2116
03:00:01.799 --> 03:00:05.959
round the corner. Lionel Belmont and
Lecky were in a room on the fourth

2117
03:00:05.040 --> 03:00:09.920
floor of one fifty five Rue de
la Pay. It had the appearance of

2118
03:00:09.959 --> 03:00:13.440
an ordinary drawing room, save that
it contained an office table. At this

2119
03:00:13.600 --> 03:00:18.360
table sat a young man French.
You wish messieurs, said the young man

2120
03:00:18.959 --> 03:00:24.719
have the goodness to interpret for me, said Lecky to the Napoleon of Anglo

2121
03:00:24.840 --> 03:00:30.360
Saxon Theaters, mister Cecil Thorold of
the Devonshire Mansion, London, the Grand

2122
03:00:30.440 --> 03:00:37.239
Hotel Paris, the Hotel Continental Rome
and the Izare Palace Hotel Cairo, presents

2123
03:00:37.280 --> 03:00:41.600
his compliments and wishes a box for
the gala performance at the Opera to night.

2124
03:00:41.399 --> 03:00:48.639
Belmont translated, while Lecky handed the
card, owing to the unfortunate indisposition

2125
03:00:48.760 --> 03:00:52.200
of a minister and his wife,
replied the young man gravely, having perused

2126
03:00:52.239 --> 03:00:56.040
the card, it happens that I
have a stage box on the second tier.

2127
03:00:56.760 --> 03:01:01.879
You told me yesterday, Belmont began. I will take it, said

2128
03:01:01.959 --> 03:01:05.559
Lecky in a sort of French,
interrupting his interpreter. The price and the

2129
03:01:05.639 --> 03:01:11.520
pen. The price is twenty five
thousand francs gem and ni, Balmont,

2130
03:01:11.600 --> 03:01:16.239
exclaimed an American. This is Paris, and no mistake, Yes, said

2131
03:01:16.319 --> 03:01:20.200
Leckey, as he filled up the
blank check. Paris still succeeds in being

2132
03:01:20.319 --> 03:01:24.239
Paris. I have noticed it before, mister Belmont, if you will pardon

2133
03:01:24.319 --> 03:01:28.959
the liberty, The young man opened
a drawer and handed to Lecky a magnificent

2134
03:01:30.159 --> 03:01:35.040
guilt card signed by the Minister of
Fine Arts, which Lecky hid behind his

2135
03:01:35.200 --> 03:01:39.120
breast. That signature of the minister's
genuine Belmont asked the young man, I

2136
03:01:39.280 --> 03:01:43.840
answer for it, said the young
man, smiling imperturbably. The deuce you

2137
03:01:45.040 --> 03:01:50.159
do, Belmont murmured. So the
four friends dined at Payads at the rate

2138
03:01:50.239 --> 03:01:54.159
of about a dollar and a half
a mouthful, and the mystified Belmont,

2139
03:01:54.280 --> 03:01:58.719
who was not in the habit of
being mystified and so felt it, had

2140
03:01:58.760 --> 03:02:03.239
the ecstasy of paying the bill.
Three. It was nine o'clock when they

2141
03:02:03.360 --> 03:02:07.920
entered the magnificent precincts of the opera
house. Like everybody else, they went

2142
03:02:09.079 --> 03:02:13.520
very early. The performance was not
to commence until nine thirty in order to

2143
03:02:13.600 --> 03:02:18.920
see and be seen to the fullest
possible extent. A week had elapsed since

2144
03:02:18.000 --> 03:02:22.559
the two girls had arrived from Algiers
in Paris under the escort of Cecil Thirled,

2145
03:02:22.840 --> 03:02:28.079
and in that time they had not
been idle. Kitty Sartorius had spent

2146
03:02:28.280 --> 03:02:33.680
tolerable sums at the best modistes in
the Rue de la Pay and the establishments

2147
03:02:33.760 --> 03:02:37.920
at the Rue de la Chose d'antine, while Eve had bought one frock a

2148
03:02:39.159 --> 03:02:43.840
dream, needless to say, and
had also been nearly covered with jewelry by

2149
03:02:43.920 --> 03:02:48.520
her betrothed that afternoon. Between the
bet and the dinner, Cecil had made

2150
03:02:48.639 --> 03:02:52.559
more than one mysterious disappearance. He
finally came back with a diamond tiara for

2151
03:02:52.719 --> 03:02:58.680
his dear journalist. You ridiculous thing, exclaimed the dear journalist, kissing him.

2152
03:03:00.280 --> 03:03:03.719
It thus occurred that Eve, usually
so severe an aspect, had more

2153
03:03:03.840 --> 03:03:09.879
jewels than she could wear, while
Kitty, accustomed to display, had practically

2154
03:03:09.040 --> 03:03:16.040
nothing but her famous bracelet. Eve
insisted on appooling the lot and dividing equally

2155
03:03:16.159 --> 03:03:20.639
for the gala. Consequently, the
party presented a very pretty appearance, as

2156
03:03:20.680 --> 03:03:26.000
it ascended the celebrated grand staircase of
the Oparah, wreathed to night in flowers.

2157
03:03:26.479 --> 03:03:30.959
Lionel Belmont, with Kitty on his
arm, was in high spirits,

2158
03:03:31.319 --> 03:03:35.440
uplifted, joyous, But Cecil himself
seemed to be a little nervous, and

2159
03:03:35.879 --> 03:03:43.040
this nervousness communicated itself to Eve Fincastle, or perhaps Eve was rather overpowered by

2160
03:03:43.120 --> 03:03:46.360
her Tiara. At the head of
the staircase was a notice requesting every one

2161
03:03:46.479 --> 03:03:50.719
to be seated at nine twenty five, previous to the arrival of the President

2162
03:03:50.879 --> 03:03:56.840
and the Imperial guests of the Republic. The row of officials at the control

2163
03:03:56.120 --> 03:04:01.399
took the expensive guilt card from Cecil
Exis Hammond. It returned it and bowed

2164
03:04:01.639 --> 03:04:07.200
low with an intimation that he should
turn to the right and climb two floors,

2165
03:04:07.719 --> 03:04:11.959
and the party proceeded further into the
interior of the great building. The

2166
03:04:11.040 --> 03:04:16.040
immense corridors and foyers and stairs were
crowded with a collection of the best known

2167
03:04:16.120 --> 03:04:20.520
people in Paris. It was a
gathering of all the renowns. The garish,

2168
03:04:20.680 --> 03:04:26.639
gorgeous Opinah seemed to be changed that
night into something new and strange.

2169
03:04:26.000 --> 03:04:33.040
Even those shabby old harradines. The
box openers. The ouvres wore bows of

2170
03:04:33.159 --> 03:04:39.680
red, white and blue, and
smiled effusively in expectation of tips inconceivably large

2171
03:04:39.159 --> 03:04:43.959
chimp, exclaimed the box opener,
who had taken charge of Cecil's party,

2172
03:04:43.319 --> 03:04:48.959
as she unlocked the door of the
box. And well might she exclaim for

2173
03:04:48.120 --> 03:04:54.399
the box number seventy four, no
possible error, was already occupied by a

2174
03:04:54.520 --> 03:05:00.600
lady and two gentlemen who were talking
rather loudly in French. Cecil undoubted turned

2175
03:05:00.680 --> 03:05:05.879
pale, while Lionel Belmont laughed within
his mustache. These people have made a

2176
03:05:05.959 --> 03:05:09.399
mistake, Cecil was saying to the
ovres, when a male official in evening

2177
03:05:09.520 --> 03:05:13.959
dress approached him with an air of
importance. Pardeau, monsieur, you are,

2178
03:05:15.040 --> 03:05:18.879
monsieur Cecil thorold, I am,
said Cecil. Will you kindly follow

2179
03:05:20.000 --> 03:05:24.079
me? And monsieur the director wishes
to see you. You are expected,

2180
03:05:24.159 --> 03:05:28.920
evidently, said Lionel Belmont. The
girls kept apart, as girls should in

2181
03:05:28.000 --> 03:05:33.319
these crises between men. I have
a ticket for this box, Cecil remarked

2182
03:05:33.360 --> 03:05:37.319
to the official, and I wish
first to take possession of it. It

2183
03:05:37.520 --> 03:05:41.879
is a precisely that point which Monsieur
the director, which is to discuss with

2184
03:05:41.040 --> 03:05:48.120
Monsieur rejoined the official ineffably suave.
He turned with a wonderful bow to the

2185
03:05:48.200 --> 03:05:52.079
girls and added, with that politeness
of which the French alone have the secret.

2186
03:05:52.680 --> 03:05:56.079
Perhaps in the meantime these ladies would
like to see the view of the

2187
03:05:56.159 --> 03:06:01.239
Avenue de l'operas from the balcony.
The illuminations out begun in the effect of

2188
03:06:01.319 --> 03:06:05.840
Sidney charming. Cecil bit his lip. Yes, he said, to Belmont

2189
03:06:07.040 --> 03:06:11.879
take them so, while Lionel Belmont
escorted the girls to the balcony, there

2190
03:06:11.959 --> 03:06:16.600
to discuss the startling situation and to
watch the imperial party drive up the resplendent,

2191
03:06:16.760 --> 03:06:22.360
fairy like and unique avenue. Cecil
followed the official. He was guided

2192
03:06:22.399 --> 03:06:28.040
along various passages and round unnumbered corners
to the rear part of the colossal building.

2193
03:06:28.639 --> 03:06:33.159
There, in a sumptuous bureau,
the official introduced him to a still

2194
03:06:33.239 --> 03:06:39.360
higher official, the director, who
had a decoration and a long white mustache.

2195
03:06:39.879 --> 03:06:43.000
Monsieur said, this latter, I
am desolated to have to inform you

2196
03:06:43.360 --> 03:06:50.280
that the Minister of Fine Arts has
withdrawn his original invitation for box number seventy

2197
03:06:50.360 --> 03:06:56.239
four tonight, I have received no
intimation of the withdrawal. Cecil replied,

2198
03:06:56.000 --> 03:07:00.639
no, because the original invitation was
not issue to you. You, said

2199
03:07:00.680 --> 03:07:05.559
the director, excited and nervous.
The Minister of Fine Arts instructs me to

2200
03:07:05.680 --> 03:07:11.319
inform you that his invitation to meet
the President and their imperial majesties cannot be

2201
03:07:11.479 --> 03:07:16.239
bought and sold. But is it
not notorious that many such invitations have been

2202
03:07:16.360 --> 03:07:22.520
bought and sold? It is unfortunately
too notorious. Here. The director looked

2203
03:07:22.520 --> 03:07:28.680
at his watch and rang a bell
impatiently. Then why am I singled out

2204
03:07:28.319 --> 03:07:33.879
The director gazed blandly at Cecil.
The reason perhaps is best known to yourself,

2205
03:07:33.959 --> 03:07:39.600
said he, and he rang the
bell again. I appear to incommode

2206
03:07:39.639 --> 03:07:43.719
you, Cecil remarked, and permit
me to retire. Not at all,

2207
03:07:43.840 --> 03:07:46.920
I assure you, said the director. On the contrary, I am a

2208
03:07:46.959 --> 03:07:52.879
little agitated on account of the non
arrival of Mademoiselle Malva. A minor functionary

2209
03:07:54.079 --> 03:07:58.799
entered, she has come, no, Monsieur Ledrichter, and it is nine

2210
03:07:58.959 --> 03:08:05.200
fifteen polic The functionary departed. The
invitation to box number seventy four preceded the

2211
03:08:05.280 --> 03:08:11.079
director, commanding himself was sold for
two thousand. Francs, allow me to

2212
03:08:11.200 --> 03:08:15.959
hand you notes for the amount,
dear monsieur, But I page twenty five

2213
03:08:16.079 --> 03:08:20.600
thousand, said Cecil, smiling.
It is conceivable. But the Minister can

2214
03:08:20.719 --> 03:08:26.479
only concern himself with the original figure. You refuse the notes, Oh,

2215
03:08:26.639 --> 03:08:30.239
by no means, said Cecil,
accepting them. But I have brought here

2216
03:08:30.319 --> 03:08:35.799
to night three guests, including two
ladies. Imagine my position. I imagine

2217
03:08:35.879 --> 03:08:39.920
it, the director responded. But
who will not deny that the Minister is

2218
03:08:39.040 --> 03:08:43.360
always the right to cancel an invitation. Seats ought to be sold a subject

2219
03:08:43.399 --> 03:08:48.799
to the contingency of that right being
exercised. At that moment, still another

2220
03:08:48.879 --> 03:08:54.399
official plunged into the room. She
is not here yet, he sighed,

2221
03:08:54.639 --> 03:09:00.360
as if in extremity. It is
unfortunate. Cecil sympathetically put in, it

2222
03:09:00.520 --> 03:09:05.000
is more than unfortunate, Dear Monsieur, said the director, gesticulating, it

2223
03:09:05.159 --> 03:09:09.440
is unthinkable. The performance must begin
at nine thirty, and it must begin

2224
03:09:09.600 --> 03:09:16.200
with the garden scene from Faust in
which Mademoiselle Malva takes Marguerite. Why not

2225
03:09:16.399 --> 03:09:20.559
change the order, Cecil suggested,
impossible. There are only two other items.

2226
03:09:20.840 --> 03:09:26.079
The first act of Longham with Madame
Felie and the ballet Sylvia. We

2227
03:09:26.399 --> 03:09:30.399
cannot connence with the ballet. No
one ever heard of such a thing.

2228
03:09:30.760 --> 03:09:35.879
And do you suppose that Felie will
sing before Malva, not for millions,

2229
03:09:35.200 --> 03:09:39.520
not for a throne. The etiquette
of sopranos is stricter than that of courts.

2230
03:09:39.920 --> 03:09:45.319
Besides, to night, we cannot
have a German opera preceding a French

2231
03:09:45.399 --> 03:09:48.959
one. Then the President and their
majesties will have to wait a little till

2232
03:09:50.040 --> 03:09:56.879
Malva arrives. Cecil said, their
majesties wait. Impossible, impossible, echoed

2233
03:09:58.079 --> 03:10:03.159
the other official, aghast. Two
more officials entered, and the atmosphere of

2234
03:10:03.239 --> 03:10:07.760
alarm, of being scotched, of
being up a tree of incredible height,

2235
03:10:07.159 --> 03:10:13.040
the atmosphere which at that moment permeated
the whole of the vast region behind the

2236
03:10:13.120 --> 03:10:16.479
scenes of the Parreto Warat, seemed
to rush with them into the bureau of

2237
03:10:16.559 --> 03:10:22.479
the Director and to concentrate itself there. Nine twenty And as she couldn't dress

2238
03:10:22.520 --> 03:10:26.959
in less than fifteen minutes, you
have sent to the Hotel de Louvera,

2239
03:10:28.200 --> 03:10:33.079
the director questioned, despairingly. Yes, Monsieur le director. She left there

2240
03:10:33.159 --> 03:10:37.280
two hours ago. Cecil coughed,
I could have told you as much.

2241
03:10:37.440 --> 03:10:41.079
He remarked, very distinctly, what, cried the director. You know Mademoiselle

2242
03:10:41.120 --> 03:10:46.399
Malva. She is among my intimate
friends, said Cecil smoothly. Perhaps you

2243
03:10:46.479 --> 03:10:50.639
know where she is. I have
a most accurate idea, said Cecil.

2244
03:10:52.239 --> 03:10:56.200
Where I will tell you when I
am seated in my box with my friends.

2245
03:10:56.440 --> 03:11:01.239
Cecil answered, dear monsieur, panted
the director, tell us at once,

2246
03:11:01.520 --> 03:11:03.399
I give you my word of honor
that you shall have your box.

2247
03:11:03.840 --> 03:11:09.879
CiCi bowed certainly, he said,
I may remark that I had gathered information

2248
03:11:09.360 --> 03:11:13.840
which led me to anticipate this difficulty
with the Minister of Fine Arts. But

2249
03:11:15.040 --> 03:11:20.040
to Malva Malva, where is she
be at ease? It is only nine

2250
03:11:20.159 --> 03:11:24.680
twenty three, and Mademoiselle Malva is
less than three minutes away and ready dressed.

2251
03:11:26.159 --> 03:11:31.120
I was observing that I had gathered
information which led me to anticipate this

2252
03:11:31.280 --> 03:11:35.879
difficulty with the Minister of Fine Arts, and accordingly I took measures to protect

2253
03:11:35.959 --> 03:11:39.719
myself. There is no such thing
as absolute arbitrary power, did director,

2254
03:11:41.200 --> 03:11:45.799
even in a republic, and I
have proved it. Mademoiselle Malva is in

2255
03:11:45.920 --> 03:11:50.399
a room number four two nine at
the Grand Hotel across the road. Stay,

2256
03:11:50.639 --> 03:11:54.920
as she will not come without this
note. He handed out a small

2257
03:11:54.079 --> 03:12:00.680
folded letter from his waistcoat pocket.
Then he added, adiar, monsieur Director,

2258
03:12:00.920 --> 03:12:03.840
you have just time to reach the
state entrance in order to welcome the

2259
03:12:03.959 --> 03:12:11.120
presidential and Imperial party. At nine
thirty Cecil and his friends were ushered by

2260
03:12:11.239 --> 03:12:16.159
a trinity of subservient officials into their
box, which had been mysteriously emptied of

2261
03:12:16.280 --> 03:12:22.440
its previous occupants. And at the
same moment, the monarchs, with monarchical

2262
03:12:22.559 --> 03:12:28.000
punctuality, accompanied by the President,
entered the Presidential box in the middle of

2263
03:12:28.079 --> 03:12:33.760
the grand tier of the superb auditorium. The distinguished and dazzling audience rose to

2264
03:12:33.879 --> 03:12:37.040
its feet, and the band played
the national anthem. You fixed it up?

2265
03:12:37.120 --> 03:12:41.719
Then, Belmont whispered, under the
cover of the national anthem. He

2266
03:12:41.000 --> 03:12:46.760
was beaten after all, Oh yes, said he slightly. A trivial misconception,

2267
03:12:48.120 --> 03:12:50.360
nothing more, And I have made
a little out of it too,

2268
03:12:52.120 --> 03:12:56.200
indeed much, no, not much, two thousand francs. But you must

2269
03:12:56.239 --> 03:13:01.120
remember that I have been less than
half an hour in making them. The

2270
03:13:01.239 --> 03:13:07.920
curtain rose on the garden scene from
Faust for my dear, said Eve.

2271
03:13:07.319 --> 03:13:11.399
When a woman has been definitely linked
with a man, either by betrothal or

2272
03:13:11.520 --> 03:13:16.120
by marriage, there are moments,
especially at the commencement, when she assumes

2273
03:13:16.200 --> 03:13:20.959
an heir and a tone of absolute
exclusive possession of him. It is a

2274
03:13:22.159 --> 03:13:26.639
wonderful trick which no male can successfully
imitate. Try how he will. One

2275
03:13:26.719 --> 03:13:31.120
of these moments had arrived in the
history of Eve Fincastle and her millionaire lover.

2276
03:13:31.840 --> 03:13:35.799
They sat in a large, deserted
public room, all gold, of

2277
03:13:35.879 --> 03:13:41.120
the Grand Hotel. It was midnight
less a quarter and they had just returned

2278
03:13:41.399 --> 03:13:46.680
somewhat excited and flushed from the glories
of the gala performances. During the latter

2279
03:13:46.760 --> 03:13:50.799
part of the evening. Eve had
been absent from Cecil's box for nearly half

2280
03:13:50.840 --> 03:13:56.639
an hour. Kitty Sartorius and that
lionel Belmont were conversing in an adjoining salon.

2281
03:13:58.319 --> 03:14:01.559
Yes, said Cecil, are you
quite sure that you love me?

2282
03:14:01.040 --> 03:14:05.680
Only one answer is possible to such
a question. Cecil gave it. Oh,

2283
03:14:05.760 --> 03:14:09.840
that is all very well. Eve
pursued with equal gravity and charm.

2284
03:14:11.120 --> 03:14:13.920
But it was really tremendously sudden,
wasn't it. I can't think what you

2285
03:14:15.079 --> 03:14:20.120
see in me, dearest, my
dear eve Cecil observed holding her hand.

2286
03:14:20.600 --> 03:14:24.680
The best things, the most enduring
things, very often occur. Suddenly.

2287
03:14:24.399 --> 03:14:28.680
Say you love me, she persisted, So he said it this time.

2288
03:14:30.319 --> 03:14:35.360
Then her gravity deepened, though she
smiled. You've given up all those those

2289
03:14:35.520 --> 03:14:39.479
schemes and things of yours, haven't
you, she questioned, Absolutely, he

2290
03:14:39.600 --> 03:14:43.959
replied, my dear, I'm so
glad. I never could understand. Why

2291
03:14:45.639 --> 03:14:48.639
listen, he said? What was
I to do? I was rich,

2292
03:14:48.799 --> 03:14:52.959
I was bored. I had no
great attainments. I was interested in life

2293
03:14:52.040 --> 03:14:58.440
and in the arts, but not
desperately, not vitally. You may perhaps

2294
03:14:58.600 --> 03:15:01.479
say I should have taken up forilanthropy. Well I'm not built that way.

2295
03:15:01.760 --> 03:15:07.280
I can't help it. But I'm
not a born philanthropist, and the philanthropist

2296
03:15:07.399 --> 03:15:11.559
without a gift for philanthropy usually does
vastly more harm than good. I might

2297
03:15:11.639 --> 03:15:16.680
have gone into business, Well,
I should only have doubled my millions while

2298
03:15:16.760 --> 03:15:20.600
boring myself all the time. Yet
the instinct which I inherited from my father,

2299
03:15:20.959 --> 03:15:26.559
the great American instinct to be a
little cleverer and smarter than someone else,

2300
03:15:26.000 --> 03:15:30.920
drove me to action. It was
part of my character, and one

2301
03:15:31.079 --> 03:15:35.239
can't get away from one's character.
So finally I took to these rather original

2302
03:15:35.440 --> 03:15:39.879
schemes, as you call them.
They had the advantage of being exciting and

2303
03:15:41.079 --> 03:15:46.280
sometimes dangerous, and though they were
often profitable, they were not too profitable.

2304
03:15:46.879 --> 03:15:50.879
In short, they amused me and
gave me joy. They also gave

2305
03:15:50.959 --> 03:15:54.840
me you. Eve smiled again,
but without committing herself. But you have

2306
03:15:54.959 --> 03:16:00.719
abandoned them now completely, she said, Oh yes, he answered, then

2307
03:16:00.920 --> 03:16:03.920
what about this Sopara affair? To
night? She sprang the question on him

2308
03:16:05.040 --> 03:16:09.040
sharply. She did her best to
look severe, but the endeavor ended with

2309
03:16:09.159 --> 03:16:13.360
a laugh. I meant to tell
you, he said, But how how

2310
03:16:13.479 --> 03:16:16.200
did you know? How did you
guess? You forget that? I am

2311
03:16:16.319 --> 03:16:20.200
still a journalist, she replied,
and still on the staff of my paper.

2312
03:16:20.639 --> 03:16:24.079
I wished to interview Malva tonight for
the journal, and I did so.

2313
03:16:24.719 --> 03:16:28.159
It was she who led out things. She thought I knew all about

2314
03:16:28.200 --> 03:16:33.239
it, and when she saw that
I didn't, she stopped and advised me

2315
03:16:33.399 --> 03:16:39.200
mysteriously to consult you for details.
It was the scandal at the Gala performance

2316
03:16:39.319 --> 03:16:41.920
last autumn that gave me an action
for making a corner in seats at the

2317
03:16:43.079 --> 03:16:48.360
very next gala performance that should ever
occur in the Paris Opaarah, Cecil began

2318
03:16:48.520 --> 03:16:52.159
his confession. I knew that seats
could be got direct from more or less

2319
03:16:52.239 --> 03:16:56.719
minor officials at the Ministry of Fine
Arts, and also that a large proportion

2320
03:16:56.879 --> 03:17:01.760
of the people invited to these performances
were prepared to sell their seats. You

2321
03:17:03.079 --> 03:17:07.360
can't imagine how venal certain circles are
in Paris. It just happened that the

2322
03:17:07.440 --> 03:17:11.840
details and date of to night's performance
were announced on the day we arrived here.

2323
03:17:13.319 --> 03:17:18.440
I could not resist the chance.
Now you comprehend as sundry strange absences

2324
03:17:18.520 --> 03:17:20.920
of mine. During the week,
I went to a reporter on the Ecco

2325
03:17:22.079 --> 03:17:26.360
de Paris, whom I knew and
who knows everybody, and we got out

2326
03:17:26.440 --> 03:17:30.159
a list of the people likely to
be invited and likely to be willing to

2327
03:17:30.239 --> 03:17:35.000
sell their seats. We also opened
negotiations at the ministry. How on earth

2328
03:17:35.120 --> 03:17:39.159
do these ideas occur to you?
Asked Eve, now can I tell?

2329
03:17:39.440 --> 03:17:43.879
Cecil answered, it is because they
occurred to me that I am. I

2330
03:17:43.399 --> 03:17:48.879
you see well, In twenty four
hours, my reporter and two of his

2331
03:17:48.040 --> 03:17:54.319
friends had interviewed half the interviewable people
in Paris, and the Minister of Fine

2332
03:17:54.399 --> 03:17:58.879
Arts had sent out his invitations,
and I had obtained the refusal of over

2333
03:17:58.040 --> 03:18:03.360
three hundred seats at a total cost
of about seventy five thousand francs. Then

2334
03:18:03.479 --> 03:18:07.520
I saw that my friend, the
incomparable Malva, was staying at the Ritz,

2335
03:18:07.760 --> 03:18:13.079
and the keystone idea of the entire
affair presented itself to me. I

2336
03:18:13.200 --> 03:18:16.360
got her to offer to sing.
Of course, her rival Falise could not

2337
03:18:16.520 --> 03:18:22.440
be behind her. In a patriotic
desire to cement the friendliness of two great

2338
03:18:22.559 --> 03:18:26.360
nations, the gala performance of blossomed
into a terrific boom. We took a

2339
03:18:26.520 --> 03:18:31.040
kind of office in the Rue de
la Pay. We advertised very discreetly.

2340
03:18:31.639 --> 03:18:37.239
Every evening, after bidding you good
night, I saw my reporter and Lecky

2341
03:18:37.559 --> 03:18:41.079
and arranged the development of the campaign. In three days we had sold all

2342
03:18:41.159 --> 03:18:46.879
our seats except one box, which
I kept for something like two hundred thousand

2343
03:18:46.959 --> 03:18:52.520
francs. Then this afternoon you merely
bought the box from yourself, exactly,

2344
03:18:52.639 --> 03:18:56.000
my love. I had meant the
surprise of getting a box to come a

2345
03:18:56.040 --> 03:19:00.399
little later than it did. Say
at dinner. But you and Belle Almont

2346
03:19:00.600 --> 03:19:05.959
between you forced it on, and
that is all not quite. The minions

2347
03:19:07.040 --> 03:19:11.280
of the Minister of Fine Arts were
extremely cross, and they meant to revenge

2348
03:19:11.319 --> 03:19:15.280
themselves on me by depriving me of
my box. At the last moment,

2349
03:19:15.879 --> 03:19:18.799
however, I got wind of that, and by the simplest possible arrangement with

2350
03:19:18.920 --> 03:19:24.000
Malva, I protected myself. The
scheme, my last bachelor flinging, Eve,

2351
03:19:24.440 --> 03:19:28.639
had been a great success, and
the official world of Paris has been

2352
03:19:28.680 --> 03:19:33.200
taught a lesson which may lead to
excellent results. And you have cleared one

2353
03:19:33.239 --> 03:19:37.799
hundred and twenty five thousand francs.
By no means. The profits of these

2354
03:19:37.879 --> 03:19:43.440
undertakings are the least part of them. The expenses are heavy. I reckon

2355
03:19:43.600 --> 03:19:48.079
the expenses will be nearly forty thousand
francs. Then I must give Malva a

2356
03:19:48.200 --> 03:19:52.559
necklace, and that necklace must cost
twenty five thousand francs. That leaves sixty

2357
03:19:52.639 --> 03:20:00.440
thousand clear, said Eve, say
sixty two thousand. Why I was forgetting

2358
03:20:00.440 --> 03:20:05.719
an extra two thousand made this evening
and your other schemes, Eve continued her

2359
03:20:05.760 --> 03:20:11.799
cross examination. How much have they
yielded? The Devonshire House scheme was a

2360
03:20:11.920 --> 03:20:16.159
dead loss, My dear, Why
did you lead me to destroy that fifty

2361
03:20:16.239 --> 03:20:20.959
thousand pounds waste not want not?
There may come a day when we shall

2362
03:20:20.040 --> 03:20:24.559
need that fifty thousand pounds. And
then, don't be funny, said Eve.

2363
03:20:24.719 --> 03:20:31.319
I am serious, very serious.
Well oast end and mister Rainshaw yielded

2364
03:20:31.360 --> 03:20:35.360
twenty one thousand pounds net bruges and
the bracelet yielded at nine thousand, five

2365
03:20:35.479 --> 03:20:41.760
hundred francs. Algiers and biscras resulted
in a loss of Oh, never mind

2366
03:20:41.840 --> 03:20:46.399
the losses, Eve terrupted. Are
there any more gains? Yes? A

2367
03:20:46.479 --> 03:20:50.799
few at Rome last year I somehow
managed to clear fifty thousand francs. Then

2368
03:20:52.000 --> 03:20:56.719
there was an episode at the chancellery
at Berlin. And tell me the total

2369
03:20:56.799 --> 03:21:01.680
gains, my love, said Eve. The gross gains cecil consulted a pocket

2370
03:21:01.680 --> 03:21:07.000
book a trifle, he answered,
of between a thirty eight and forty thousand

2371
03:21:07.479 --> 03:21:13.120
pounds, my dear cecil. The
girl said, call it forty thousand a

2372
03:21:13.280 --> 03:21:16.520
million francs and give me a check, do you mind. I shall be

2373
03:21:16.639 --> 03:21:20.639
charmed, my darling. And when
we get to London, he finished,

2374
03:21:20.879 --> 03:21:26.639
I will hand it over to the
hospitals. Anonymously. He paused, gazed

2375
03:21:26.680 --> 03:21:31.520
at her, and kissed her.
Then Kitty Sartorius entered a marvelous vision with

2376
03:21:31.719 --> 03:21:37.079
Belmont in her wake. Kitty glanced
hesitatingly at the massive and good humored Lionel.

2377
03:21:37.719 --> 03:21:43.319
The fact is, said Kitty,
and paused, we are engaged at

2378
03:21:43.399 --> 03:21:50.360
lionelth you aren't surprised our warmest congratulations, Cecil observed, No, we can't

2379
03:21:50.399 --> 03:21:54.600
truthfully say that we are staggered.
It is in the secret nature of things

2380
03:21:54.680 --> 03:21:58.360
that a leading lady must marry her
manager, a universal law that may not

2381
03:21:58.520 --> 03:22:05.639
be transs. Moreover, said Eve
later in Cecil's private ear as they were

2382
03:22:05.680 --> 03:22:09.879
separating for the night. We might
have guessed much earlier. Theatrical managers don't

2383
03:22:09.920 --> 03:22:16.319
go scattering five hundred pounds bracelets all
over the place, and merely for business

2384
03:22:16.399 --> 03:22:20.520
reasons. But he only scattered one, My dear Cecil murmured, yes,

2385
03:22:22.000 --> 03:22:28.360
well, that's what I mean.
End of Story one, Chapter six,

2386
03:22:33.920 --> 03:22:39.000
Story two of The Loot of Cities
by Arnold Bennett. This liverbox recording is

2387
03:22:39.079 --> 03:22:43.840
in the public domain. Story two
mister penfound two burglars, the story of

2388
03:22:43.959 --> 03:22:50.000
his walk with them, The chain
of circumstances leading to the sudden and unexpected

2389
03:22:50.079 --> 03:22:56.280
return of mister and missus Pinfound from
their continental holiday, was in itself curious

2390
03:22:56.360 --> 03:23:00.360
and even remarkable, but it has
nothing to do with the present arrative,

2391
03:23:00.600 --> 03:23:05.280
which begins with the actual arrival of
mister and missus Pinfound before the portal of

2392
03:23:05.399 --> 03:23:11.120
their suburban residence Number seven Monster Gardens, at a quarter before midnight on the

2393
03:23:11.239 --> 03:23:16.440
thirtieth of August. It was a
detached house with a spacious triangular garden at

2394
03:23:16.479 --> 03:23:20.520
the back. It had an air
of comfort, of sobriety, of good

2395
03:23:20.680 --> 03:23:24.000
form of success. One divined by
looking at it that the rent ran to

2396
03:23:24.120 --> 03:23:28.600
about eighty pounds, and that the
tenant was not a man who had to

2397
03:23:28.680 --> 03:23:31.479
save up for quarter days. It
was a credit to the street, which,

2398
03:23:31.559 --> 03:23:35.399
upon the whole, with its noble
trees and its pretty curve, is

2399
03:23:35.600 --> 03:23:41.680
distinctly the best treat in Fulham,
and effect Number seven in every way justified

2400
03:23:41.840 --> 03:23:46.239
the innocent pride of the Penfounds.
I can feel cobwebs all over me,

2401
03:23:46.399 --> 03:23:52.239
said missus Pinfound crossly, as they
entered the porch, and mister Penfound took

2402
03:23:52.280 --> 03:23:56.120
out his latch key. She was
hungry, hot and tired, and she

2403
03:23:56.280 --> 03:24:01.360
exhibited a certain pettishness, a pettishness
which mister Penfound, whenever it occurred,

2404
03:24:01.719 --> 03:24:07.879
found a particular pleasure in soothing.
Mister Penfound himself was seldom ruffled. Most

2405
03:24:09.000 --> 03:24:13.559
men would have been preoccupied with the
discomforts of the arrival, but not George

2406
03:24:13.600 --> 03:24:18.000
Penfound. Mister Penfound was not,
and had never been, of those who

2407
03:24:18.079 --> 03:24:22.600
go daily into the city by a
particular train and think the world is coming

2408
03:24:22.639 --> 03:24:26.879
to an end if the newsagent fails
to put the newspaper on the doorstep before

2409
03:24:26.040 --> 03:24:31.280
eight a m. Mister Penfound had
lived. He had lived adventurously, and

2410
03:24:31.479 --> 03:24:35.799
he had lived everywhere. He had
slept under the stars and over the throbbing

2411
03:24:35.840 --> 03:24:39.920
screws of ocean steamers. He knew
the harbors of the British Empire, and

2412
03:24:41.200 --> 03:24:46.840
the waste places of the unpeopled West, and the mysterious envearons of foreign cities.

2413
03:24:46.399 --> 03:24:50.040
He had been first made of a
tramp, steamer, wood sawyer in

2414
03:24:50.159 --> 03:24:56.639
Ontario, ganger on the Canadian Pacific
Railway, clark At, a randmine,

2415
03:24:56.879 --> 03:25:01.639
and land agent in California. It
was the life last occupation that had happened

2416
03:25:01.639 --> 03:25:05.879
to yield the eighty thousand dollars,
which rendered him independent and established him so

2417
03:25:07.079 --> 03:25:11.319
splendidly at the age of forty in
Fulham, the place of his birth.

2418
03:25:11.920 --> 03:25:15.799
Thin, shrewd, clear and kindly. His face was the face of a

2419
03:25:15.879 --> 03:25:18.959
man who has learnt the true philosophy
of life. He took the world as

2420
03:25:20.040 --> 03:25:22.799
he found it, and he found
it good to such a man, an

2421
03:25:22.920 --> 03:25:28.479
unexpected journey, even though it ended
at a deserted and unprepared home, whose

2422
03:25:28.680 --> 03:25:33.440
larder proved as empty as his stomach
was really nothing. By the time mister

2423
03:25:33.520 --> 03:25:37.760
Penfound had locked up the house,
turned out the light in the hall,

2424
03:25:37.920 --> 03:25:41.559
and arrived in the bedroom, Missus
Penfound was fast asleep. He sat down

2425
03:25:41.639 --> 03:25:46.200
in the arm chair by the window, charmed by the gentle radiance of the

2426
03:25:46.360 --> 03:25:50.319
night, and unwilling to go to
bed. Like most men who have seen

2427
03:25:50.399 --> 03:25:54.520
the world, he had developed the
instincts of a poet and was something of

2428
03:25:54.559 --> 03:25:58.840
a dreamer. Half an hour,
or it might have been an hour poets

2429
03:25:58.879 --> 03:26:03.799
are oblivious of time had passed when
into mister Penfoun's visions there entered a sinister

2430
03:26:03.959 --> 03:26:09.399
element. He straightened himself stiffly in
the chair and listened, smiling. By

2431
03:26:09.680 --> 03:26:13.719
jove he whispered, I do believe
it's a burglar. I'll give the beggar

2432
03:26:13.799 --> 03:26:18.639
time to get fairly in and then
we'll have some fun. It seemed to

2433
03:26:18.799 --> 03:26:22.040
him that he heard a few clicking
noises at the back of the house,

2434
03:26:22.399 --> 03:26:26.120
and then a sound as if something
was being shoved hard the dining room window.

2435
03:26:26.520 --> 03:26:31.399
He said, in a few minutes
it became perfectly evident to his trained

2436
03:26:31.440 --> 03:26:35.280
and acute ear that a burglar occupied
the dining room, and accordingly he proceeded

2437
03:26:35.319 --> 03:26:39.959
to carry out other arrangements. Removing
his boots, he assumed a pair of

2438
03:26:41.120 --> 03:26:43.920
soft woolen house slippers, which lay
under the bed. Then he went to

2439
03:26:45.000 --> 03:26:48.360
a chest of drawers and took out
two revolvers. Handling these lovingly, he

2440
03:26:48.520 --> 03:26:54.680
glanced once at his sleeping wife,
and shod in the silent woolen, passed

2441
03:26:54.799 --> 03:26:58.719
noiselessly out of the room. By
stepping very close to the wall so as

2442
03:26:58.799 --> 03:27:03.879
to put a slight strain as possible
upon the woodwork, he contrived to descend

2443
03:27:03.079 --> 03:27:07.559
to the half landing without causing a
sound. But on the half landing itself

2444
03:27:07.680 --> 03:27:13.600
there occurred an awful creek, a
creek that seemed to reverberate into infinite space.

2445
03:27:15.239 --> 03:27:18.520
Mister Penfound stopped a second, but, perceiving the unwisdom of a halp,

2446
03:27:18.879 --> 03:27:24.000
immediately proceeded. In that second of
consternation, he had remembered that only

2447
03:27:24.079 --> 03:27:30.079
two chambers of one revolver and one
chamber of the other were loaded. It

2448
03:27:30.319 --> 03:27:35.040
was an unfortunate mischance should he return
and load fully? Oh, preposterous.

2449
03:27:35.360 --> 03:27:41.000
He remembered with pride the sensation which
he had caused one night ten years before

2450
03:27:41.479 --> 03:27:46.399
in a private shooting saloon in Paris. Three shots to cripple one burglar.

2451
03:27:46.680 --> 03:27:50.520
For him, it was a positive
extravagance of means, and he continued down

2452
03:27:50.600 --> 03:27:56.360
the stairs cautiously but rapidly, feeling
his way. The next occurrence brought him

2453
03:27:56.520 --> 03:28:01.120
up standing at the dining room door, which was open. He heard voices

2454
03:28:01.200 --> 03:28:05.479
in the dining room. There were
then two burglars. Three shots for two

2455
03:28:05.520 --> 03:28:11.399
burglars. Pooh ample, this was
what he heard. Did you drink out

2456
03:28:11.440 --> 03:28:13.319
of this glass? Jack? Not? I? I took a pole out

2457
03:28:13.360 --> 03:28:18.719
of a bottle, so did I. Well. There was a pause.

2458
03:28:18.000 --> 03:28:22.760
Mister Penfound discovered that by putting an
eye to the crack at the hinges,

2459
03:28:22.120 --> 03:28:26.319
he could see the burglars who had
lighted one gas jet and were sitting at

2460
03:28:26.360 --> 03:28:31.920
the table. They were his first
burglars, and they rather shocked his preconceived

2461
03:28:31.079 --> 03:28:37.159
notions of the type. They hadn't
the look of burglars. No bluish chins,

2462
03:28:37.280 --> 03:28:41.120
no lowering eyes, no corduroy,
no knotted red handkerchiefs. One,

2463
03:28:41.479 --> 03:28:46.120
the younger, dressed in blue serge
with linen collar and a soiled pink necktie,

2464
03:28:46.600 --> 03:28:50.840
might have been a city clerk of
the lower grade. He had light,

2465
03:28:50.959 --> 03:28:54.639
bushy hair and a yellow mustache.
His eyes were large and pale blue,

2466
03:28:54.959 --> 03:29:00.600
his chin weak. Altogether, mister
Pinfound decided that had he seen the

2467
03:29:00.680 --> 03:29:05.159
young man elsewhere than in that dining
room, he would never have suspected him

2468
03:29:05.239 --> 03:29:09.200
to be a burglar. The other
was of middle age, neatly dressed in

2469
03:29:09.360 --> 03:29:15.000
dark gray, but with a ruffian's
face and dark hair cut extremely close.

2470
03:29:15.559 --> 03:29:18.319
He wore a soft felt hat at
a negligent poise, and was smoking a

2471
03:29:18.360 --> 03:29:24.399
cigarette. He was examining the glass
out of which mister Pinfound had but recently

2472
03:29:24.520 --> 03:29:28.000
drunk whiskey. Look here, Jack, the man in gray, said to

2473
03:29:28.120 --> 03:29:31.559
his companion, you haven't drunk out
of this glass, and I haven't,

2474
03:29:31.719 --> 03:29:35.319
but someone's drunk out of it.
It's wet. The young man paled and

2475
03:29:35.559 --> 03:29:39.959
with an oath, snatched up the
glass to look at it. Mister Penfound

2476
03:29:39.079 --> 03:29:45.760
noticed how suddenly his features writhed into
a complicated expression of cowardice, cunning,

2477
03:29:45.920 --> 03:29:50.280
and device. He no longer doubted
that the youth was an authentic burglar.

2478
03:29:50.639 --> 03:29:54.000
The older man remained calm. This
hou's so empty as we thought. My

2479
03:29:54.159 --> 03:30:00.559
boy, there's someone here. Yes, gentlemen, there is, remarked mister

2480
03:30:00.639 --> 03:30:05.399
Penfound, quietly, stepping into the
room with the revolver up raised in each

2481
03:30:05.559 --> 03:30:09.799
hand. The young man dropped the
glass, and after rolling along the table,

2482
03:30:09.959 --> 03:30:13.799
it fell on the floor and broke, making a marvelous noise in the

2483
03:30:13.879 --> 03:30:18.319
silence. Well I'm blowed, exclaimed
the burglar in gray, and turned to

2484
03:30:18.399 --> 03:30:20.760
the window. Don't stir, put
your hands up and look slippy. I

2485
03:30:20.959 --> 03:30:26.639
mean business, said mister Penfound steadily. The burglar in gray made two hasty

2486
03:30:26.719 --> 03:30:31.239
steps to the window. Mister Penfound
revolver spoke. It was the one in

2487
03:30:31.360 --> 03:30:35.879
his left hand, containing two shots, and with a muffled howl, the

2488
03:30:35.920 --> 03:30:41.840
burglar suddenly halted, cursing with pain
and anger. Has up both of you,

2489
03:30:41.200 --> 03:30:46.200
repeated mister Penfound imperturbably. A few
drops of blood appeared on the left

2490
03:30:46.280 --> 03:30:50.399
wrist of the older burglar, showing
where he had been hit. With evident

2491
03:30:50.520 --> 03:30:54.200
pain. He raised both hands to
the level of his shoulders. The left

2492
03:30:54.239 --> 03:31:00.559
hand clearly was useless. It hung
sideways in a peculiar fashion. The youthful

2493
03:31:00.600 --> 03:31:03.920
criminal was trembling like a spray of
maidenhair, and had his hands high up

2494
03:31:05.000 --> 03:31:09.520
over his head. Mister Penfound joyfully
reflected that no London burglar had ever before

2495
03:31:09.879 --> 03:31:15.159
found himself in such a ridiculous position
as these two, and he took a

2496
03:31:15.280 --> 03:31:20.920
genuine artistic pleasure in the spectacle.
But what to do next? The youth

2497
03:31:20.000 --> 03:31:24.920
began to speak with a whine like
that of a beggar. Silence, said

2498
03:31:24.920 --> 03:31:30.879
mister Pinfound impressively, and proceeded with
his cogitations a revolver, firm and steady

2499
03:31:31.079 --> 03:31:35.360
in each hand. The shot had
evidently not wakened his wife, and to

2500
03:31:35.479 --> 03:31:39.959
disturb her, now from a refreshing
and long needed sleep in order to send

2501
03:31:39.959 --> 03:31:43.600
her for the police would not only
be unchivalrous, it would disclose a lack

2502
03:31:43.680 --> 03:31:50.319
of resource, a certain clumsiness of
management in an affair which mister Pinfound felt

2503
03:31:50.399 --> 03:31:54.440
sure he ought to be able to
carry neatly to an effective conclusion. Besides,

2504
03:31:54.559 --> 03:31:58.840
if a revolver shot in the house
had not wakened his wife, what

2505
03:31:58.079 --> 03:32:03.159
could wake her? He could not
go upstairs to her and leave the burglars

2506
03:32:03.200 --> 03:32:07.319
to await his return. Then an
idea occurred to mister Pinfound. Now,

2507
03:32:07.440 --> 03:32:11.760
my men, he said, cheerfully, I think you understand that I am

2508
03:32:11.879 --> 03:32:15.920
not joking, and that I can
shoot a bit, and that whatever the

2509
03:32:16.000 --> 03:32:20.280
laws of this country, I do
shoot. He waved the muzzle of one

2510
03:32:20.360 --> 03:32:24.280
revolver in the direction of the gray
man's injured wrist. Margiere guv'nor the owner

2511
03:32:24.360 --> 03:32:28.440
of the risk, peterre strapful,
I shall pay faint then, I know

2512
03:32:28.600 --> 03:32:33.280
it hurts. The man's face was
quite with pain. But mister Pinfound had

2513
03:32:33.399 --> 03:32:37.319
seen too many strange sights in his
life to be greatly moved by the side

2514
03:32:37.360 --> 03:32:41.680
of a rascal with a bullet in
his anatomy. To proceed, you will

2515
03:32:41.760 --> 03:32:46.399
stand side by side and turn around. The young gentleman will open the window,

2516
03:32:46.479 --> 03:32:50.760
and you will pass out into the
garden. March slower, slower,

2517
03:32:50.840 --> 03:32:56.399
I say, hope the burglars were
now outside, while mister Pinfound was still

2518
03:32:56.479 --> 03:33:01.680
within the room. He followed them, and in doing so stumbled over a

2519
03:33:01.760 --> 03:33:05.440
black bag which lay on the floor. Fortunately, he recovered himself instantly.

2520
03:33:05.840 --> 03:33:11.040
He noticed lying on the top of
the bag a small bunch of skeleton keys,

2521
03:33:11.280 --> 03:33:15.719
some putty, and what looked like
a thong of rawhide. He also

2522
03:33:15.840 --> 03:33:20.840
observed that three small panes of the
French window had been forced inwards. Turn

2523
03:33:20.879 --> 03:33:22.639
to your left, go down the
pathway, and halt when you come to

2524
03:33:22.719 --> 03:33:26.959
the side gate, and don't hurry, mind you. They obeyed, without

2525
03:33:28.000 --> 03:33:31.959
speaking even to each other. Mister
Pinfound had no fear of their disobedience.

2526
03:33:33.360 --> 03:33:37.040
He was within two yards of their
heels, and he said to himself that

2527
03:33:37.200 --> 03:33:41.120
his hands were superbly steady. It
was at this point that mister Pinfound began

2528
03:33:41.200 --> 03:33:46.879
to feel hungry, really hungry.
The whiskey had appeased the cravings of his

2529
03:33:46.959 --> 03:33:50.360
stomach for a short time, but
now its demands were imperious. Owing to

2530
03:33:50.479 --> 03:33:56.000
the exigencies of the day's journey.
He had not had a satisfying meal for

2531
03:33:56.120 --> 03:34:00.959
thirty hours, and mister Pinfound,
since settling down, had developed a liking

2532
03:34:01.079 --> 03:34:05.040
for regular meals. However, there
was nothing to be done at present.

2533
03:34:05.479 --> 03:34:11.319
He therefore proceeded with and safely accomplished
his plan of driving the burglars before him

2534
03:34:11.440 --> 03:34:15.319
into the street. Here, he
thought, we shall soon be seeing a

2535
03:34:15.360 --> 03:34:18.760
policeman, or some late bird who
will fetch a policeman, And he drove

2536
03:34:18.840 --> 03:34:24.520
his curious team up Munster Park Gardens
towards Fulham Road, that interminable highway,

2537
03:34:24.840 --> 03:34:31.639
once rural, but rural no longer. The thoroughfares seemed to be absolutely deserted.

2538
03:34:31.959 --> 03:34:35.239
Mister Penfound could scarcely believe that London, even in the dead of night,

2539
03:34:35.440 --> 03:34:39.799
could be so lonely. The gas
lamps shone steady in the still warm

2540
03:34:39.920 --> 03:34:45.159
air, and above them the star
studded sky with a thin sickle moon,

2541
03:34:45.600 --> 03:34:50.239
at which, however a beautiful as
it was, mister Pinfound could not look.

2542
03:34:50.719 --> 03:34:54.000
His gaze was fixed on the burglars
as he inspected their backs. He

2543
03:34:54.120 --> 03:34:58.280
wondered what their thoughts were. He
felt that in their place he should have

2544
03:34:58.360 --> 03:35:03.879
been somewhe amused by the humor of
the predicament, But their backs showed no

2545
03:35:03.040 --> 03:35:07.600
signs of feeling, unless it were
that of resignation. The older man had

2546
03:35:07.680 --> 03:35:13.000
dropped his injured arm with mister Pinfound's
tacit consent, and it now hung loose

2547
03:35:13.159 --> 03:35:18.200
by his side. The procession moved
slowly eastward along Fulham Road. The two

2548
03:35:18.239 --> 03:35:24.239
burglars first silent, glum and disgusted, and mister Pinfound with his revolvers close

2549
03:35:24.319 --> 03:35:31.319
behind, still no policeman, no
wayfarer. Mister Pinfound began to feel a

2550
03:35:31.479 --> 03:35:37.159
little anxious, and his hunger was
insufferable. This little procession of his could

2551
03:35:37.239 --> 03:35:41.360
not move forever. Something must occur, and mister Pinfound said that something must

2552
03:35:41.399 --> 03:35:46.040
occur quickly. He looked up at
the houses with a swift glance, but

2553
03:35:46.239 --> 03:35:52.040
these dark faces of brick, all
with closed eyelids, gave him no sign

2554
03:35:52.079 --> 03:35:56.440
of encouragement. He thought of firing
his revolver in order to attract attention,

2555
03:35:56.920 --> 03:36:00.719
but remembered in time that if he
did so, he would have only one

2556
03:36:00.799 --> 03:36:05.239
shot left for his burglars, an
insufficient allowance in case of contingencies. But

2557
03:36:05.399 --> 03:36:11.440
presently, as the clock of Fulham
Parish Church struck three, mister Pinfound beheld

2558
03:36:11.520 --> 03:36:16.239
an oasis of waving palms and cool
water in this desert. That is to

2559
03:36:16.360 --> 03:36:20.920
say, he saw in the distance
one of those coffee stalls which just before

2560
03:36:20.000 --> 03:36:26.200
midnight mysteriously dotted themselves about London,
only to disappear again at breakfast time.

2561
03:36:26.879 --> 03:36:33.120
The burglars also saw it and stopped, almost involuntarily. Get on now,

2562
03:36:33.399 --> 03:36:37.239
said mister Pinfound, gruffly, and
stopped five paces past the coffee stall.

2563
03:36:37.440 --> 03:36:43.000
The air yesther wind the young burglar, I remarked the old burglar coolly.

2564
03:36:43.639 --> 03:36:48.959
As mister Penfound approached the coffee stall, he observed that it was no ordinary

2565
03:36:48.079 --> 03:36:54.200
coffee stall. It belonged to the
aristocracy of coffee stalls. It was painted

2566
03:36:54.239 --> 03:36:58.360
a lovely deep crimson, and on
this crimson, amid of flowers and scrolls,

2567
03:36:58.639 --> 03:37:05.079
had been inscribed the names of the
delicacies within tea coffee, cocoa roll,

2568
03:37:05.200 --> 03:37:09.799
sandwiches, toast sausages, even bacon
and eggs. Mister Penfound's stomach called

2569
03:37:09.840 --> 03:37:15.799
aloud within him at the rumor of
these good things. When the trio arrived,

2570
03:37:16.000 --> 03:37:18.559
the stall keeper happened to be bending
over a tea urn, and he

2571
03:37:18.680 --> 03:37:24.319
did not notice the halt of the
procession until mister Pinfound spoke. I say.

2572
03:37:24.840 --> 03:37:28.920
Mister Penfound began holding the revolvers about
the level of his top waistcoat button,

2573
03:37:30.319 --> 03:37:33.639
and with his eyes fixed on the
burglars, I say teer coffee,

2574
03:37:33.879 --> 03:37:39.520
asked the stall keeper, shortly looking
up. Neither that is at present,

2575
03:37:39.760 --> 03:37:43.799
replied mister Pinfound sweetly. And the
fact is I've got two burglars here to

2576
03:37:45.200 --> 03:37:50.680
what where? Mister Pinfound then explained
the whole circumstances, And I want you

2577
03:37:50.760 --> 03:37:54.920
to fetch a couple of policemen.
The stall keeper paused a moment. He

2578
03:37:54.120 --> 03:37:58.120
was a grim fellow, so mister
Pinfound gathered from the corner of his eye.

2579
03:37:58.680 --> 03:38:03.600
Well that's about the best stories I
ever heard, the stallkeeper said.

2580
03:38:03.799 --> 03:38:07.239
He you want me to fetch a
policeman. Yes, and I hope you'll

2581
03:38:07.280 --> 03:38:11.520
hurry up. I'm tired of holding
these revolvers and I'm to leave my stall,

2582
03:38:11.799 --> 03:38:16.559
am I certainly? The stall keeper
placed the first finger of his left

2583
03:38:16.600 --> 03:38:20.680
hand upright against his nose. Well, I just ain't then what he take

2584
03:38:20.760 --> 03:38:24.040
me for. I'm bloomin owl.
Look, yeah, mister no kid.

2585
03:38:24.520 --> 03:38:28.120
Now, every night some jokers tries
to get me away from my stall so

2586
03:38:28.360 --> 03:38:31.319
they can empty it and run off. But I ain't been in this line

2587
03:38:31.479 --> 03:38:35.399
nineteen year for nothing. Now you
go and take your tail and your pistols

2588
03:38:35.399 --> 03:38:41.479
and your bloomin burglars somewhere else here
as you please, said mister Pinfound,

2589
03:38:41.680 --> 03:38:46.040
with dignity only I'll wait here till
a policeman comes or someone. You will

2590
03:38:46.079 --> 03:38:50.639
then learn that I have told you
the truth. How soon will a policeman

2591
03:38:50.719 --> 03:38:54.680
be along? Might be an hour, maybe be more. There ain't likely

2592
03:38:54.799 --> 03:38:58.760
to be no other people till four
thirty or thereabouts. That's when my trade

2593
03:38:58.799 --> 03:39:05.079
begins. Pinfound was annoyed. His
hunger, exasperated by the exquisite odors of

2594
03:39:05.200 --> 03:39:09.440
the stall, increased every second,
and the prospect of waiting an hour,

2595
03:39:09.879 --> 03:39:15.079
even half an hour, was appalling. Another idea occurred to him, Will

2596
03:39:15.200 --> 03:39:18.639
you, he said, to the
stall keeper, kindly put one of those

2597
03:39:18.680 --> 03:39:22.879
sausages into my mouth. I daren't
loose these revolvers. Not tell us aize

2598
03:39:22.879 --> 03:39:28.719
your money, hunger maid. Mister
Pinfound humble, and he continued, will

2599
03:39:28.799 --> 03:39:31.000
you come round to take the money
out of my pocket? No? I

2600
03:39:31.159 --> 03:39:35.840
won't. I don't leave as here
counter. I know your dodges very well.

2601
03:39:37.319 --> 03:39:39.879
I will wait steady on, Governor, you aren't the only chap that's

2602
03:39:39.920 --> 03:39:45.840
hungry. Mister Penfound turned sharply at
the voice. It was the elder burglar

2603
03:39:45.879 --> 03:39:50.239
who spoke, and the elder burglar
had faced him and was approaching the stall

2604
03:39:50.600 --> 03:39:54.239
regardless of revolvers. Mister Pinfound noticed
a twinkle in the man's eye, a

2605
03:39:54.399 --> 03:40:00.559
faint appreciation of the fact that the
situation was funny, and mister Penfon gave

2606
03:40:00.639 --> 03:40:05.079
way to a slight smile. He
was being disobeyed flatly, but for the

2607
03:40:05.159 --> 03:40:07.840
life of him he could not shoot. Besides, there was no occasion to

2608
03:40:09.040 --> 03:40:13.360
shoot, as the burglar was certainly
making no attempt to escape. The fellow

2609
03:40:13.479 --> 03:40:16.000
was brave enough, after all.
Two slabs and a pint of thick,

2610
03:40:16.079 --> 03:40:20.719
he said to the stall keeper,
and was immediately served with a jug of

2611
03:40:20.799 --> 03:40:24.319
coffee and two huge pieces of bread
and butter, for which he flung down

2612
03:40:24.440 --> 03:40:31.200
tuppence. Mister Pinfound was astounded.
He was too astounded to speak by the

2613
03:40:31.360 --> 03:40:35.200
coolness of this criminal. Look here, the elder burglar continued, quietly,

2614
03:40:35.280 --> 03:40:39.680
handing one of the pieces of bread
and butter to his companion in sin,

2615
03:40:39.159 --> 03:40:43.719
who by this time had also crept
up. You can put down them revolvers

2616
03:40:43.760 --> 03:40:48.159
and tuck in till the peeler comes
along. We know when we're copped,

2617
03:40:48.200 --> 03:40:50.959
and we aren't gone to skip you
tuck in, governor, give it a

2618
03:40:52.159 --> 03:40:56.479
name, said the stall keeper,
with an eye to business. Mister pinfound,

2619
03:40:56.639 --> 03:41:00.200
scarcely knowing what he did or why
he did it, put down one

2620
03:41:00.280 --> 03:41:03.120
revolver, and then the other,
fished a shilling from his pocket, and

2621
03:41:03.239 --> 03:41:07.559
presently was engaged in the consumption of
a ham, sandwich and coffee. You're

2622
03:41:07.600 --> 03:41:13.079
a cool one, he set at
length, rather admiringly to the elder burglar.

2623
03:41:13.479 --> 03:41:16.000
So are you, said the elder
burglar, and he and mister pinfound

2624
03:41:16.079 --> 03:41:22.159
both glanced somewhat scornfully at the other
burglar, undersized, cringing pale, never

2625
03:41:22.280 --> 03:41:26.200
been caught before, asked mister pinfound
pleasantly, what's that got to do with

2626
03:41:26.319 --> 03:41:33.120
you? The retort was gruff,
final a snub, and mister pinfound felt

2627
03:41:33.159 --> 03:41:37.200
it as such. He had the
curious sensation that he was in the presence

2628
03:41:37.239 --> 03:41:41.879
of a superior spirit, a stronger
personality than his own. Here, the

2629
03:41:41.920 --> 03:41:46.399
policeman, remarked the stall keeper casually, and they all listened and heard the

2630
03:41:46.479 --> 03:41:52.840
noise of regular footfalls away round a
distant corner. Mister pinfound struggled inwardly with

2631
03:41:52.959 --> 03:41:56.799
a sudden overmastering impulse, and then
yielded. You can go, he said

2632
03:41:56.879 --> 03:42:01.280
quietly to the elder burglar. So
Clara, before the policeman seiz you.

2633
03:42:01.920 --> 03:42:05.840
Straight, the man said, looking
him in the eyes to make sure there

2634
03:42:05.959 --> 03:42:09.120
was no joking. Straight, my
friend, here shake. So it happened

2635
03:42:09.120 --> 03:42:13.719
that mister Penfound and the elder burglar
shook hands. The next instant, mister

2636
03:42:13.799 --> 03:42:18.639
Penfound was alone with the stall keeper. The other two, with the celerity

2637
03:42:18.719 --> 03:42:24.200
born of practice, had vanished into
the night. Did ye ever see such

2638
03:42:24.239 --> 03:42:28.280
a man? Said mister Penfound to
the stall keeper, putting the revolvers in

2639
03:42:28.360 --> 03:42:33.440
his pocket and feeling strangely happy as
one who has done a good action.

2640
03:42:33.120 --> 03:42:37.239
I don't kid me, was the
curt reply. It was all a plant.

2641
03:42:37.639 --> 03:42:41.399
Want anything else? Because I'm not? You? Best go? Yes,

2642
03:42:41.559 --> 03:42:43.680
I do, said mister Penfound,
for he had thought of his wife.

2643
03:42:45.239 --> 03:42:50.079
He spent sevenpence in various good things, and was just gathering his purchases

2644
03:42:50.159 --> 03:42:54.440
together when the policeman appeared. Good
night, officer, he called out blithely

2645
03:42:54.600 --> 03:42:58.799
and set off to run home as
though for his life. As he re

2646
03:42:58.959 --> 03:43:01.639
entered the bedroom at nam seven,
his wife sat up in bed, a

2647
03:43:01.840 --> 03:43:05.959
beautiful but accusing figure. George,
he said, Where have you been,

2648
03:43:07.600 --> 03:43:09.719
my love? He answered, I've
been out into the night to get you

2649
03:43:09.840 --> 03:43:15.920
this sausage and this cake and this
sandwich. Eat them they will do you

2650
03:43:16.079 --> 03:43:28.680
good. End of story two,
Story three of The Loot of Cities by

2651
03:43:28.840 --> 03:43:33.840
Arnold Bennett. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain. Story three Midnight

2652
03:43:35.120 --> 03:43:39.959
at the Grand Babylon One, Well, said the doctor. You say I've

2653
03:43:41.040 --> 03:43:45.760
been very secretive lately. Perhaps I
have. However, I don't mind telling

2654
03:43:45.840 --> 03:43:48.719
you, just you, fellows,
the whole history of the affair that has

2655
03:43:48.799 --> 03:43:54.959
preoccupied me. I shan't assert that
it's the most curious case in all my

2656
03:43:54.079 --> 03:43:58.840
experience. My experience has been pretty
varied and pretty lively, as you know,

2657
03:44:00.440 --> 03:44:05.079
and the cases are curious in such
different ways. Still, a poisoning

2658
03:44:05.159 --> 03:44:09.000
business is always a bit curious,
and this one was extremely so. It

2659
03:44:09.120 --> 03:44:13.239
isn't often that a person who means
to commit murder by poison calls in a

2660
03:44:13.319 --> 03:44:20.040
physician to assist him and deliberately uses
the unconscious medico as his tool. Yet

2661
03:44:20.200 --> 03:44:24.799
that is exactly what happened. It
isn't often that a poisoner contrives to hit

2662
03:44:24.879 --> 03:44:31.319
on a poison which is at once
original, almost untraceable and to be obtained

2663
03:44:31.360 --> 03:44:37.120
from any chemist without a doctor's prescription. Yet that too is exactly what happened.

2664
03:44:37.600 --> 03:44:41.120
I can assure you that the entire
episode was a lesson to me.

2665
03:44:41.799 --> 03:44:46.360
It opened my eyes to the possibilities
which lie ready to the hand of a

2666
03:44:46.559 --> 03:44:52.319
really intelligent murderer. In this twentieth
century, people talk about the masterpieces of

2667
03:44:52.399 --> 03:44:56.399
poisoning in the Middle Ages. Oooh, second rate. They didn't know enough

2668
03:44:56.520 --> 03:45:01.559
in the Middle Ages to achieve anything
which a modern poisoner with genius would deem

2669
03:45:01.799 --> 03:45:07.200
first rate. They simply didn't know
enough. Another point in the matter,

2670
03:45:07.399 --> 03:45:11.520
which forcibly struck me was the singular
usefulness of a big London hotel to a

2671
03:45:11.639 --> 03:45:16.399
talented criminal. You can do precisely
what you please in a big hotel,

2672
03:45:16.879 --> 03:45:22.319
and nobody takes the least notice.
You wander in, you wander out,

2673
03:45:22.600 --> 03:45:26.120
and who cares. You are only
an item in a crowd, and when

2674
03:45:26.159 --> 03:45:31.760
you have reached the upper corridors,
you are as lost to pursue an observation

2675
03:45:31.200 --> 03:45:35.440
as a needle in a haystack.
You may take two rooms, one after

2676
03:45:35.520 --> 03:45:41.520
the other, in different names and
in different parts of the hotel. The

2677
03:45:41.639 --> 03:45:46.159
servants and officials will be none the
wiser, because the second floor knows not

2678
03:45:46.399 --> 03:45:50.559
the third, nor the third the
fourth. You may oscillate between those two

2679
03:45:50.680 --> 03:45:54.719
rooms in a manner to puzzle Inspector
Anderson himself. And you are just as

2680
03:45:54.799 --> 03:46:00.159
secure in your apartments as a medieval
baron in his castle. Yes, Yes,

2681
03:46:00.440 --> 03:46:03.639
and more. On that night there
were over a thousand guests in the

2682
03:46:03.719 --> 03:46:07.959
Grand Babylon Hotel. There was a
ball in the gold rooms, and a

2683
03:46:09.079 --> 03:46:15.040
couple of banquets. And in the
midst of all that diverse humanity, unperceived,

2684
03:46:15.280 --> 03:46:20.399
unsuspected, a poignant and a terrible
drama was going on. And things

2685
03:46:20.559 --> 03:46:24.360
so occurred that I tumbled right into
it. Well, I'll tell you two.

2686
03:46:26.159 --> 03:46:28.879
I was called into the Grand Babylon
about nine p m. Sweet number

2687
03:46:28.920 --> 03:46:33.959
sixty three, second floor, name
of Russell. The outer door of the

2688
03:46:33.040 --> 03:46:37.479
suite was opened for me by a
well dressed woman of thirty or so,

2689
03:46:37.159 --> 03:46:43.120
slim, with a face expressive and
intelligent rather than handsome. I liked her

2690
03:46:43.159 --> 03:46:46.360
face. I was attracted by his
look of honesty and alert, good nature,

2691
03:46:46.959 --> 03:46:50.600
Good evening, doctor, she said. She had a charming low voice

2692
03:46:50.760 --> 03:46:56.479
as she led me into a highly
luxurious drawing room. My name is Russell,

2693
03:46:56.559 --> 03:46:58.200
and I wish you to see a
young friend of mine who is not

2694
03:46:58.399 --> 03:47:03.479
well. She hesitated, and a
turned to an old, bald headed man

2695
03:47:03.719 --> 03:47:07.440
who stood looking out of the window
at the twilight panorama of the Thames.

2696
03:47:07.959 --> 03:47:13.239
My friend's solicitor, mister Dancer.
She explained. We bowed mister Dancer and

2697
03:47:13.520 --> 03:47:18.879
I nothing serious, I hope,
I remarked. No, no, said

2698
03:47:18.000 --> 03:47:22.639
Miss Russell. Nevertheless, she seemed
to me to be extremely nervous and anxious

2699
03:47:22.879 --> 03:47:28.399
as she preceded me into the bedroom, a chamber quite as magnificent as the

2700
03:47:28.479 --> 03:47:33.399
drawing room. On the bed lay
a beautiful young girl. Yes you may

2701
03:47:33.520 --> 03:47:37.920
laugh, you fellows, but she
was genuinely beautiful. She smiled faintly as

2702
03:47:39.000 --> 03:47:43.200
we entered. Her features had an
ashy tint, and tiny drops of cold

2703
03:47:43.319 --> 03:47:50.040
perspiration stood on the forehead. However, she certainly wasn't very ill. I

2704
03:47:50.120 --> 03:47:54.479
could see that in a moment,
and I fixed my conversational tone accordingly.

2705
03:47:54.200 --> 03:47:58.399
Do you feel as if you could
to breathe freely? But that if you

2706
03:47:58.520 --> 03:48:01.280
did it would kill you? I
inquired, after I had examined her,

2707
03:48:01.840 --> 03:48:07.559
and she nodded, smiling again.
Miss Russell also smiled, evidently pleased that

2708
03:48:07.719 --> 03:48:13.399
I had diagnosed the case so quickly. My patient was suffering from a mild

2709
03:48:13.399 --> 03:48:18.600
attack of a pseudo angina, nothing
worse. Not angina pectores, you know

2710
03:48:18.879 --> 03:48:24.559
that's usually associated with old age.
Pseudo angina is a different thing. With

2711
03:48:24.680 --> 03:48:30.600
a weak heart. It may be
caused by indigestion. The symptoms are cardiac

2712
03:48:30.719 --> 03:48:35.520
spasms, acute pain in the chest, a strong disinclination to make even the

2713
03:48:35.600 --> 03:48:39.879
smallest movement, and a state of
mental depression, together with that queer fancy

2714
03:48:39.959 --> 03:48:45.719
about breathing. The girl had these
symptoms, and she also had a headache

2715
03:48:46.000 --> 03:48:50.559
and a diacritism of the pulse two
pulsations instead of one, not unusual.

2716
03:48:52.200 --> 03:48:54.959
I found that she had been eating
a too hearty dinner and that she had

2717
03:48:56.000 --> 03:49:01.680
suffered from several similar attacks in the
immediate past. Had a doctor in before,

2718
03:49:01.920 --> 03:49:05.520
I asked, Yes, said Miss
Russell, but he was unable to

2719
03:49:05.600 --> 03:49:09.079
come tonight. And as your house
is so near, we sent for you.

2720
03:49:09.000 --> 03:49:13.319
There is no danger whatsoever, no
real cause for anxiety. I summed

2721
03:49:13.399 --> 03:49:18.319
up. I will have some medicine
made up instantly. Trinaitan demanded to Miss

2722
03:49:18.440 --> 03:49:24.239
Russell. Yes, I answered,
a little astonished at this readiness. Your

2723
03:49:24.399 --> 03:49:28.520
regular physician prescribed it. I should
explain to you that trinatan is nothing but

2724
03:49:28.719 --> 03:49:35.920
nitroglycerin in a non explosive form.
I think it was trinitan. Miss Russell

2725
03:49:35.000 --> 03:49:39.559
replied, with an appearance of doubtfulness. Perhaps you will write a prescription and

2726
03:49:39.680 --> 03:49:43.360
I will dispatch a messenger at once. I should be obliged, doctor,

2727
03:49:43.520 --> 03:49:48.920
if you would remain with us until
If you would remain with us decidedly,

2728
03:49:50.159 --> 03:49:54.520
I said, I will remain with
pleasure, but do accept my assurance,

2729
03:49:54.680 --> 03:49:58.600
I added, gazing at her face, so anxious and apprehensive that there is

2730
03:49:58.719 --> 03:50:03.319
no cause for alarm. She smiled
and concurred, but I could see that

2731
03:50:03.479 --> 03:50:07.239
I had not convinced her, and
I began to suspect that she was not,

2732
03:50:07.559 --> 03:50:11.879
after all, so intelligent as I
had imagined. My patient, who

2733
03:50:13.040 --> 03:50:18.719
was not now in any pain,
lay calmly with closed eyes. Three,

2734
03:50:18.639 --> 03:50:24.360
do not forget the old bald headed
lawyer in the drawing room. I suppose

2735
03:50:24.479 --> 03:50:26.959
you are often summoned to the Grand
Babylon. Sir, living as you do,

2736
03:50:28.360 --> 03:50:31.600
just around the corner, he remarked
to me, somewhat pompously. He

2737
03:50:31.680 --> 03:50:35.239
had a big nose and a habit
of staring at you over his eye glasses

2738
03:50:35.479 --> 03:50:41.280
with his mouth wide open. After
having spoken, we were alone together in

2739
03:50:41.399 --> 03:50:45.079
the drawing room. I was waiting
for the arrival of the medicine, and

2740
03:50:45.360 --> 03:50:50.440
he was waiting for my don't know
what he was waiting for. Occasionally,

2741
03:50:50.799 --> 03:50:54.280
and not often, I responded,
I am called more frequently to the majestic

2742
03:50:54.520 --> 03:50:58.600
over the way. Ah ah,
just so, just so, he murmured.

2743
03:51:00.239 --> 03:51:03.200
I could see that he meant to
be polite in his high and dry

2744
03:51:03.399 --> 03:51:07.239
antique legal style, and I could
see also that he was very bored in

2745
03:51:07.399 --> 03:51:11.920
that hotel drawing room. So I
proceeded to explain the case to him,

2746
03:51:13.280 --> 03:51:18.120
and to question him discreetly about my
patient and Miss Russell. You are,

2747
03:51:18.200 --> 03:51:20.719
of course aware, sir, that
the young lady is Miss Spanton, Miss

2748
03:51:20.879 --> 03:51:28.280
Adelaide's Spanton, He said, what
not? The Spanton precisely, sir,

2749
03:51:28.760 --> 03:51:33.600
the daughter of Edgar Spanton and my
late client, the great newspaper proprietor.

2750
03:51:33.200 --> 03:51:39.680
And this Miss Russell, Miss Russell, was formerly Miss Adelaide's governess. She

2751
03:51:39.879 --> 03:51:45.440
is now her friend and profoundly attached
to the young lady, a disinterested attachment,

2752
03:51:45.680 --> 03:51:48.840
so far as I can judge,
though naturally many people will think otherwise.

2753
03:51:50.239 --> 03:51:54.719
Miss Adelaide is of a very shy
and retiring disposition. She has no

2754
03:51:54.879 --> 03:51:58.239
other friends, and she has no
near relatives save for Miss Russell. She

2755
03:51:58.479 --> 03:52:01.920
is, sir, if I may
so phrase it, alone in the world.

2756
03:52:03.559 --> 03:52:07.760
But Miss Spanton is surely very wealthy. You come to the point,

2757
03:52:07.840 --> 03:52:11.000
sir, if my young client reaches
her twenty first birthday, she will be

2758
03:52:11.120 --> 03:52:16.559
the absolute mistress of the whole of
her father's fortune. You may have noticed

2759
03:52:16.600 --> 03:52:20.280
in the public press that I swore
his estate at more than three millions.

2760
03:52:20.920 --> 03:52:26.680
And how far is Miss Spanton from
her twenty first birthday? I demanded The

2761
03:52:26.799 --> 03:52:31.040
old lawyer glanced at his watch.
Something less than three hours at midnight.

2762
03:52:31.239 --> 03:52:37.040
She will have legally entered on her
twenty second year, I see, I

2763
03:52:37.159 --> 03:52:41.959
said. Now, I can understand
Miss Russell's anxiety, which refuses to be

2764
03:52:41.159 --> 03:52:46.280
relieved even by my positive assurance.
No doubt, Miss Russell has worked herself

2765
03:52:46.360 --> 03:52:52.079
up into a highly nervous condition.
And may I inquire what will happen?

2766
03:52:52.520 --> 03:52:56.280
I mean, what would have happened? If Miss Spanton had not reached her

2767
03:52:56.360 --> 03:53:01.319
majority, the entire estate would have
passed to a cousin, a mister Samuel

2768
03:53:01.399 --> 03:53:05.879
Grist of Melbourne. I dare say
you know the name. Mister Gris is

2769
03:53:05.000 --> 03:53:11.920
understood to be the leading theatrical manager
in Australia. Speaking as one professional man

2770
03:53:11.000 --> 03:53:16.440
to another, Sir, I may
venture to remark that mister Gris's reputation is

2771
03:53:16.680 --> 03:53:22.200
more than a little doubtful. You
may have heard many transactions and adventures.

2772
03:53:22.719 --> 03:53:28.120
Ah Still, he is my late
client's soul surviving relative. Except Miss Adelaide,

2773
03:53:28.559 --> 03:53:31.799
I have never had the pleasure of
meeting him. He confines himself exclusively

2774
03:53:31.879 --> 03:53:37.680
to Australia this night, then,
I laughed, will see the end of

2775
03:53:37.760 --> 03:53:43.520
any hopes which mister Grist may have
entertained. Exactly, Sir the Lawyer agreed.

2776
03:53:43.840 --> 03:53:48.719
It will also see the end of
Miss Russell's immediate anxieties upon my word.

2777
03:53:48.920 --> 03:53:52.319
Since mister Spanton's regrettable death, she
has been both father and mother to

2778
03:53:52.440 --> 03:53:56.879
my lonely young client. A practical
woman, Sir, Miss Russell, and

2779
03:53:58.159 --> 03:54:01.920
the excessiveness of her apprehends, if
I may so phrase, it must be

2780
03:54:03.079 --> 03:54:07.719
excused. She has begged me to
remain here till midnight in order that I

2781
03:54:07.799 --> 03:54:13.280
may witness to Miss Spanton's vitality,
and also in order to obtain Miss Spanton's

2782
03:54:13.280 --> 03:54:20.079
signature to certain necessary documents. I
should not be surprised her if she requested

2783
03:54:20.280 --> 03:54:24.239
you also to remain. She is
not a woman to omit precautions. I'm

2784
03:54:24.239 --> 03:54:30.000
afraid I can't stop till twelve,
I said. The conversation ceased, and

2785
03:54:30.280 --> 03:54:35.239
I fell into meditation. I do
not mind admitting that I was deeply impressed

2786
03:54:35.280 --> 03:54:39.879
by what I will call the romantic
quality of the situation. I thought of

2787
03:54:39.959 --> 03:54:45.079
old Spanton, who had begun with
something less than nothing and died virtually the

2788
03:54:45.200 --> 03:54:50.840
owner of three daily papers and twenty
five weeklies and monthlies. I thought of

2789
03:54:50.079 --> 03:54:56.719
Spantan's Limited and their colossal offices spreading
half round Salisbury Square. Why I even

2790
03:54:56.760 --> 03:55:01.440
had a copy of the extra special
edition of the Evening Gazette in my pocket.

2791
03:55:01.000 --> 03:55:07.000
Do any of you fellows remember Spantin
starting the Evening Gazette. He sold

2792
03:55:07.159 --> 03:55:11.920
three hundred thousand the first day.
And now old Spantin was dead, you

2793
03:55:11.040 --> 03:55:15.399
know, he died of drink.
And there was nothing left of the Spantin

2794
03:55:15.440 --> 03:55:20.399
blood except this girl lying there on
the bed, and the man in Australia,

2795
03:55:20.879 --> 03:55:24.559
and all the Spantin editors, and
the spanin sub editors, and the

2796
03:55:24.600 --> 03:55:30.639
spantin artists, and the spantin reporters
and compositors, and the spent in rotary

2797
03:55:30.719 --> 03:55:35.879
presses, and the spent in paper
mills, and the spanin cyclists were slaving

2798
03:55:35.000 --> 03:55:41.319
and toiling to put eighty thousand a
year into this girl's purse. And there

2799
03:55:41.440 --> 03:55:46.639
she was, feeble and depressed and
solitary, except for Miss Russell and the

2800
03:55:46.719 --> 03:55:50.680
man in Australia, perhaps hoping that
she would die. And there was Miss

2801
03:55:50.840 --> 03:55:56.840
Russell worrying and fussing and apprehending and
fearing, and the entire hotel oblivious of

2802
03:55:56.920 --> 03:56:03.440
the romantic I could almost say pathetic
situation. And then I thought of miss

2803
03:56:03.520 --> 03:56:09.440
Spanton's future, burdened with those three
millions, and I wondered if those three

2804
03:56:09.520 --> 03:56:13.840
millions would buy her happiness. Here
is the medicine, doctor, said Miss

2805
03:56:13.040 --> 03:56:18.719
Russell, entering the drawing room hurriedly
and handing me the bottle with the chemist's

2806
03:56:18.799 --> 03:56:22.079
label on it. I went with
her into the bedroom. The beautiful Adelaide's

2807
03:56:22.079 --> 03:56:26.559
Spanton was already better, and she
admitted as much. When I administered the

2808
03:56:26.639 --> 03:56:33.719
medicine, two menems of a one
percent solution, of trinitrin, otherwise nitroglycern,

2809
03:56:33.120 --> 03:56:39.040
the usual remedy for pseudo angina.
Miss Russell took the bottle from my

2810
03:56:39.239 --> 03:56:43.680
hand, corked it and placed it
on the dressing table. Shortly afterwards,

2811
03:56:43.760 --> 03:56:48.200
I left the hotel. The lawyer
had been right in supposing that Miss Russell

2812
03:56:48.319 --> 03:56:52.559
would ask me to stay, but
I was unable to do so. I

2813
03:56:52.680 --> 03:56:56.639
promised, however, to return in
an hour, all the while insisting that

2814
03:56:56.760 --> 03:57:01.360
there was not the slightest danger for
the patient four. It was ten thirty

2815
03:57:01.440 --> 03:57:05.680
when I came back second floor.
I said carelessly to the lift boy,

2816
03:57:07.120 --> 03:57:11.200
and he whirled me upwards. The
Grand Babylon lifts traveled very fast. Here

2817
03:57:11.280 --> 03:57:16.200
you are, sir, he murmured
respectfully, and I stepped out. Is

2818
03:57:16.440 --> 03:57:20.280
this the second floor? I asked, suddenly, beg pardon. I thought

2819
03:57:20.319 --> 03:57:24.280
you said seventh, sir. It's
time you were in bed, my lad,

2820
03:57:24.440 --> 03:57:26.840
It was my retort, and I
was just re entering the lift when

2821
03:57:26.920 --> 03:57:31.600
I caught sight of Miss Russell in
the corridor. I called to her,

2822
03:57:31.959 --> 03:57:35.360
thinking she would perhaps descend with me, but she did not hear, and

2823
03:57:35.639 --> 03:57:39.520
so I followed her down the corridor, wondering what was her business on the

2824
03:57:39.639 --> 03:57:45.760
seventh floor. She opened a door
and disappeared into a room well. I

2825
03:57:45.920 --> 03:57:50.399
heard a sinister voice exclaim within the
room, and then the door was pushed

2826
03:57:50.479 --> 03:57:54.120
too. It was not latched,
I did say the seventh I called to

2827
03:57:54.239 --> 03:57:58.680
the lift boy, and he vanished
with his machine. The voice within the

2828
03:57:58.799 --> 03:58:03.360
room startled me. It gave me
furiously to think, as the French say,

2829
03:58:03.920 --> 03:58:09.600
with a sort of instinctive, unpremeditated
action. I pressed gently against the

2830
03:58:09.680 --> 03:58:13.440
door till it stood ajar about an
inch, and I listened. It's a

2831
03:58:13.680 --> 03:58:18.159
confounded, mysterious case to me.
The voice was saying that that dose the

2832
03:58:18.280 --> 03:58:22.680
other day didn't finish her. We're
running it a dashed sight too close.

2833
03:58:24.040 --> 03:58:28.760
Here. Take this, it's already
label and everything substitute the bottles. I'll

2834
03:58:28.799 --> 03:58:31.760
run no risks this time. One
dose will do the trick inside half an

2835
03:58:31.760 --> 03:58:37.000
hour, and on that I'll bet
my boots very well, said miss Russell,

2836
03:58:37.079 --> 03:58:41.680
quite calmly. It's pure trenatan,
is it? You're the coolest customer

2837
03:58:41.760 --> 03:58:46.639
that I ever struck. The voice
exclaimed in an admiring tone. Yes,

2838
03:58:46.719 --> 03:58:50.719
it's pure trenatin. Beautiful convenient stuff. Looks like water, no taste,

2839
03:58:52.040 --> 03:58:56.639
very little smell and so volatile that
all the doctors on the medical Council couldn't

2840
03:58:56.680 --> 03:59:01.239
trace it at a post mortem.
Besides, the doctor described a solution at

2841
03:59:01.280 --> 03:59:05.120
trinenton, and you got it from
the chemist. And in case there's a

2842
03:59:05.239 --> 03:59:09.600
rumpus, we can shove the mistake
on to the chemist's dispenser and a fine

2843
03:59:09.719 --> 03:59:13.879
old row he'll get into. By
the way, what's the new doctor like?

2844
03:59:13.479 --> 03:59:18.040
Oh so so? Said Miss Russell
in her even tones. It's a

2845
03:59:18.120 --> 03:59:22.120
good thing on the whole. Perhaps
that I arranged that carriage accident for the

2846
03:59:22.239 --> 03:59:28.280
first one. The hard, sinister
voice remarked, one never knows. Get

2847
03:59:28.360 --> 03:59:31.040
along now at once, and don't
look so anxious. Your face belies your

2848
03:59:31.120 --> 03:59:37.159
voice. Give us a kiss tomorrow, said Miss Russell. I hurried away

2849
03:59:37.360 --> 03:59:41.639
as it were, drunk, overwhelmed
with horror and amazement, and turning a

2850
03:59:41.719 --> 03:59:46.319
corner so as to avoid discovery.
Reached the second floor by the staircase.

2851
03:59:46.760 --> 03:59:50.520
I did not wish to meet Miss
Russell in the lift. My first thought

2852
03:59:50.760 --> 03:59:54.639
was not one of alarm for Adelaide's
panton. Of course, I knew I

2853
03:59:54.680 --> 04:00:00.239
could prevent the murder, but of
profound sorrow that Miss Russell should have proved

2854
04:00:00.280 --> 04:00:05.520
to be a woman so unspeakably wicked
I swore never to trust a woman's face

2855
04:00:05.600 --> 04:00:09.399
again. I had liked her face. Then I dwelt on the chance,

2856
04:00:09.680 --> 04:00:15.399
the mere chance, my careless pronunciation
a lift boy's error, which had saved

2857
04:00:15.440 --> 04:00:18.479
the life of the poor millionaire girl. And lastly, I marveled at the

2858
04:00:18.559 --> 04:00:26.520
combined simplicity and ingenuity of the plot. The scoundrel upstairs of possibly Samuel Grist

2859
04:00:26.639 --> 04:00:33.200
himself, had taken the cleverest advantage
of Misspenton's tendency to pseudo angina. What

2860
04:00:33.399 --> 04:00:37.879
could be more clever than to poison
with the physician's own medicine. Very probably

2861
04:00:39.000 --> 04:00:43.639
the girl's present attack had been induced
by an artful appeal to her appetite.

2862
04:00:43.079 --> 04:00:48.040
Young women afflicted as she was,
are frequently just a little greedy. And

2863
04:00:48.239 --> 04:00:54.600
I perceived that the villain was correct
in assuming that nitroglycerin would never be traced

2864
04:00:54.600 --> 04:00:58.120
at a post mortem, save in
the smallest possible quantity, just such a

2865
04:00:58.239 --> 04:01:05.040
quantity as I had myself prescribed.
He was also right in his assumption that

2866
04:01:05.360 --> 04:01:09.760
the pure drug would infallibly kill in
half an hour. I pulled myself together,

2867
04:01:09.959 --> 04:01:15.879
and, having surreptitiously watched Miss Russell
into Sweet number sixty three. I

2868
04:01:16.000 --> 04:01:20.200
followed her. When I arrived at
the bedroom, she was pouring medicine from

2869
04:01:20.239 --> 04:01:22.840
a bottle. A maid stood at
the foot of the bed. I am

2870
04:01:24.120 --> 04:01:28.159
just giving the second dose, said
Miss Russell, easily to me. What

2871
04:01:28.440 --> 04:01:33.319
a nerve, I said to myself
and aloud, by all means. She

2872
04:01:33.479 --> 04:01:37.920
measured the dose and approached the bed
without a tremor Adelaide's panton opened her mouth.

2873
04:01:39.360 --> 04:01:43.120
Stop, I cried firmly. We'll
delay that dose for half an hour.

2874
04:01:43.680 --> 04:01:46.920
Kindly give me the glass. I
took the glass from Miss Russell's passive

2875
04:01:48.040 --> 04:01:50.280
fingers, and I would like to
have a word with you now, Miss

2876
04:01:50.360 --> 04:01:56.280
Russell, I added. The maid
went swiftly from the room. Five.

2877
04:01:56.159 --> 04:02:01.399
The old bald headed lawyer had gone
down to the hotel smoking saloon for a

2878
04:02:01.479 --> 04:02:05.840
little diversion, and we faced each
other in the drawing room, Miss Russell

2879
04:02:05.920 --> 04:02:09.479
and I. The glass was still
in my hand, and the new doctor

2880
04:02:09.639 --> 04:02:16.639
is so so eh, I remarked, what do you mean? She faltered.

2881
04:02:16.200 --> 04:02:20.399
I think you know what I mean, I retorted, I need only

2882
04:02:20.479 --> 04:02:24.440
tell you that, by a sheer
chance, I stumbled upon your atrocious plot.

2883
04:02:24.959 --> 04:02:28.040
The plot of that scoundrel upstairs.
All you had to do was to

2884
04:02:28.200 --> 04:02:33.440
exchange the bottles and administer pure trinitan
instead of my prescribed solution of it,

2885
04:02:33.840 --> 04:02:39.000
and Miss Spanton would be dead in
half an hour. The three millions would

2886
04:02:39.000 --> 04:02:43.639
go to the Australian cousin, and
you would doubtless have your reward, say

2887
04:02:43.760 --> 04:02:48.239
a cool hundred thousand, or perhaps
marriage. And you were about to give

2888
04:02:48.280 --> 04:02:52.079
the poison when I stopped you.
I was not, she cried, and

2889
04:02:52.239 --> 04:02:54.760
she fell into a chair and hid
her face in her hands, and then

2890
04:02:56.000 --> 04:03:01.040
looked, as it were, longingly
towards the bedroom. Missus is in no

2891
04:03:01.280 --> 04:03:05.239
danger, I said, sneeringly.
She will be quite well tomorrow. So

2892
04:03:05.559 --> 04:03:07.840
you were not going to give the
poison after all, I laughed. I

2893
04:03:09.079 --> 04:03:11.440
beg you to listen, doctor,
she said, at length, standing up,

2894
04:03:11.879 --> 04:03:16.319
I am in a most invidious position. Nevertheless, I think I can

2895
04:03:16.479 --> 04:03:22.920
convince you that your suspicions against me
are unfounded. I laughed again, but

2896
04:03:22.239 --> 04:03:28.559
secretly I admired her for acting the
part so well. Doubtless, I interjected

2897
04:03:28.639 --> 04:03:33.799
sarcastically in the pause. The man
upstairs is Samuel Grist, supposed to be

2898
04:03:33.879 --> 04:03:37.840
in Australia. It is four months
ago since I, who am Adelaide,

2899
04:03:37.879 --> 04:03:43.159
Spanton's sole friend, discovered that he
was scheming her death. The skill of

2900
04:03:43.239 --> 04:03:46.200
his methods appalled me. There was
nothing to put before the police, and

2901
04:03:46.360 --> 04:03:50.319
yet I had a horrible fear of
the worst. I felt that he would

2902
04:03:50.360 --> 04:03:56.840
stop at nothing, absolutely at nothing. I felt that if we ran away,

2903
04:03:56.079 --> 04:04:01.639
he would follow us. I had
a presentiment that he would infallibly succeed,

2904
04:04:01.040 --> 04:04:05.319
and I was haunted by it day
and night. Then an idea occurred

2905
04:04:05.319 --> 04:04:09.280
to me. I would pretend to
be his accomplice, and I saw suddenly

2906
04:04:09.479 --> 04:04:13.799
that that was the surest way,
the sole way of defeating him. I

2907
04:04:13.920 --> 04:04:18.639
approached him, and he accepted the
bait. I carried out all his instructions,

2908
04:04:18.920 --> 04:04:24.079
except the fatal instructions. It is
by his orders and for his purposes,

2909
04:04:24.479 --> 04:04:30.360
that we are staying in this hotel
Heavens to make certain of saving my

2910
04:04:30.520 --> 04:04:33.520
darling, Adelaide. I have even
gone through the force of promising to marry

2911
04:04:33.600 --> 04:04:39.559
him. And do you seriously expect
me to believe this? I asked coldly.

2912
04:04:41.159 --> 04:04:43.600
Should I have had the solicitor here? She demanded, If I had

2913
04:04:43.760 --> 04:04:50.799
really meant meant you? She sobbed
momentarily and then regained control of herself.

2914
04:04:52.280 --> 04:04:54.559
I don't know, I said,
but it occurs to me that the brain

2915
04:04:54.760 --> 04:05:00.319
that was capable of deliberately arranging a
murder to take place in the press of

2916
04:05:00.399 --> 04:05:05.239
the doctor might have some hidden purpose
in securing also the presence of the solicitor

2917
04:05:05.360 --> 04:05:11.360
at the performance. Mister Griss is
unaware that the solicitor is here. He

2918
04:05:11.440 --> 04:05:16.360
has been informed that mister Dancer is
my uncle and favorable to the to the

2919
04:05:16.000 --> 04:05:22.600
she stopped, apparently overcome. Oh
indeed, I ejaculated, adding, and

2920
04:05:24.079 --> 04:05:28.440
after all, you did not mean
to administer this poison. I suppose you

2921
04:05:28.559 --> 04:05:31.879
meant to withdraw the glass at the
last instant. It is not poison,

2922
04:05:33.120 --> 04:05:37.319
she replied, not poison. No, I did not exchange the bottles.

2923
04:05:37.440 --> 04:05:41.920
I only pretended to. There seems
to have been a good deal of pretending,

2924
04:05:43.120 --> 04:05:46.680
I observed. By the way,
May I ask why you were giving

2925
04:05:46.760 --> 04:05:50.840
this stuff, whether it is poison
or not, to my patient. I

2926
04:05:50.959 --> 04:05:54.360
do not recollect that I ordered a
second dose for the same reason that I

2927
04:05:54.479 --> 04:05:58.799
pretended to change the bottle for the
benefit of the maid whom we saw just

2928
04:06:00.159 --> 04:06:03.639
now in the bedroom. And why
for the benefit of the maid because I

2929
04:06:03.760 --> 04:06:07.760
found out this morning that she is
in the pay of Grist. That discovery

2930
04:06:07.840 --> 04:06:13.120
accounts for my nervousness tonight about Adelaide. By this time the maid has probably

2931
04:06:13.200 --> 04:06:18.959
told mister Gris what has taken place, and and I shall rely on your

2932
04:06:20.040 --> 04:06:24.559
help if anything should happen. Doctor. Surely, surely you believe me,

2933
04:06:24.319 --> 04:06:28.600
I regret to say, Madam.
I answered that I find myself unable to

2934
04:06:28.719 --> 04:06:33.239
believe you at present. But there
is a simple way of giving credence to

2935
04:06:33.360 --> 04:06:37.000
your story. You state that you
did not exchange the bottles. This liquid,

2936
04:06:37.079 --> 04:06:41.000
then, is the medicine prescribed by
me, and it is harmless.

2937
04:06:41.360 --> 04:06:46.639
Oblige me by drinking it. And
I held the glass towards her. She

2938
04:06:46.879 --> 04:06:50.559
took it fool, I said to
myself. As soon as her fingers had

2939
04:06:50.600 --> 04:06:54.440
grasped it, she will drop it
on the floor, and an invaluable piece

2940
04:06:54.479 --> 04:06:58.719
of evidence will be destroyed. But
she did not drop it on the floor.

2941
04:06:58.079 --> 04:07:01.520
She drank it in one gulp and
looked me in the eyes and murmured,

2942
04:07:03.000 --> 04:07:07.120
now, do you believe me?
Yes, I said, and I

2943
04:07:07.280 --> 04:07:11.520
did. At the same moment,
her face changed color and she sank to

2944
04:07:11.639 --> 04:07:15.840
the ground. What if I drunk, she moaned. The glass rolled on

2945
04:07:15.959 --> 04:07:20.200
the carpet unbroken. Miss Russell had, in fact drunk a full dose of

2946
04:07:20.319 --> 04:07:26.280
pure trinitrine. I recognized all the
symptoms at once. I rang for assistance.

2947
04:07:26.559 --> 04:07:30.799
I got a stomach pump, I
got ice, and sent for ergot

2948
04:07:30.959 --> 04:07:37.000
and for aptropine. I injected six
minims of the injectus Ergotini hypodermica. I

2949
04:07:37.200 --> 04:07:43.200
despaired of saving her, but I
saved her after four injections. I need

2950
04:07:43.319 --> 04:07:48.760
not describe to you all the details. Let it suffice that she recovered.

2951
04:07:48.440 --> 04:07:52.799
Then you did exchange the bottles.
I could not help putting this question to

2952
04:07:54.000 --> 04:07:56.520
her as soon as she was in
a fit state to hear it. I

2953
04:07:56.840 --> 04:08:01.520
swear to you that I had not
meant to. She whispered, in my

2954
04:08:01.639 --> 04:08:05.440
nervousness. I must have confused them. You have saved Adelaide's life, I

2955
04:08:05.559 --> 04:08:11.319
have saved yours anyway, I said, But you believe me, yes,

2956
04:08:11.559 --> 04:08:15.719
I said. And the curious thing
is that I did believe her. I

2957
04:08:15.920 --> 04:08:18.520
was convinced, and I am convinced, that she did not mean to exchange

2958
04:08:18.559 --> 04:08:24.360
the bottles. Listen, she exclaimed, we could hear big Ben striking twelve

2959
04:08:24.120 --> 04:08:28.760
midnight, I said. She clutched
my hand with a swift movement. Go

2960
04:08:30.040 --> 04:08:35.040
and see that my Adelaide lives,
she cried, almost hysterically. I opened

2961
04:08:35.159 --> 04:08:39.319
the door between the two rooms and
went into the sleeping chamber. Miss Panton

2962
04:08:39.559 --> 04:08:45.600
is dozing quietly, I said.
On my return, Thank god. Miss

2963
04:08:45.719 --> 04:08:50.360
Russell murmured, and then old bald
headed mister Dancer came into the room,

2964
04:08:50.719 --> 04:08:54.760
blandly, unconscious of all that had
passed during his sojourn in the smoking room.

2965
04:08:56.399 --> 04:09:00.120
When I left the precincts of the
Grand Babylon at one o'clock, the

2966
04:09:00.239 --> 04:09:03.799
guests were beginning to leave the gold
rooms. In the great courtyard was a

2967
04:09:03.879 --> 04:09:09.000
scene of flashing lights and champing horses
and pretty laughing women. What a queer

2968
04:09:09.200 --> 04:09:15.760
place a hotel is, I thought. Neither mister Griss nor the mysterious maid

2969
04:09:16.000 --> 04:09:20.239
was seen again in London. Possibly
they consoled each other. The beautiful Adelaide's

2970
04:09:20.239 --> 04:09:26.680
pantin under my care and is completely
restored to health. Yes, I am

2971
04:09:26.959 --> 04:09:31.520
going to marry her. No,
not the beautiful Adelaide, you duffers.

2972
04:09:31.879 --> 04:09:35.799
Besides, she is too young for
my middle age. But miss Russell,

2973
04:09:37.360 --> 04:09:41.399
her Christian name iss ethel Do you
not like it. As for the beautiful

2974
04:09:41.440 --> 04:09:48.360
Adelaide, there is now a viscount
in the case end of story three.

2975
04:09:54.440 --> 04:10:00.239
Story four of The Loot of Cities
by Arnold Bennett. This libribox recording in

2976
04:10:00.319 --> 04:10:07.360
the public domain. Story four the
police Station. Lord Trent has several times

2977
04:10:07.440 --> 04:10:11.520
remarked to me that I am a
philosopher, and I am one. I

2978
04:10:11.639 --> 04:10:15.680
have guided my life by four rules. To keep my place, to make

2979
04:10:15.760 --> 04:10:20.360
others keep theirs, to save half
my income, and to beware of women.

2980
04:10:20.120 --> 04:10:24.399
The strict observance of these rules has
made me, in my station a

2981
04:10:24.559 --> 04:10:30.559
successful and respected man. Once,
and only once, I was lax in

2982
04:10:30.639 --> 04:10:35.559
my observance, and that single laxity
resulted in a most curious and annoying adventure,

2983
04:10:35.920 --> 04:10:41.600
which I will relate. It was
the fourth rule that I transgressed.

2984
04:10:41.959 --> 04:10:46.239
I did not beware of a woman. The woman was Miss Susan Barry,

2985
04:10:46.559 --> 04:10:50.959
lady's maid to the Marchioness of Cockfosters. The Cockfoster's family is a very old

2986
04:10:52.040 --> 04:10:56.440
one. To my mind, its
traditions are superior to anything in the peerage

2987
04:10:56.479 --> 04:11:00.680
of Great Britain. But then I
may be prejudiced. I was brought up

2988
04:11:00.719 --> 04:11:05.079
in the Cockfoster's household, first at
Cockfoster's Castle in Devon, and afterwards at

2989
04:11:05.120 --> 04:11:11.319
the well known townhouse at the southeast
corner of Eaton Square. My father was

2990
04:11:11.440 --> 04:11:15.719
valid to the old Marquis for thirty
years. My mother rose from the position

2991
04:11:15.879 --> 04:11:20.520
of fifth housemaid to be housekeeper at
the castle, without ever having been definitely

2992
04:11:20.600 --> 04:11:26.399
assigned to the situation. I became, as it were, by gradual attachment

2993
04:11:26.840 --> 04:11:31.000
ballot to Lord Trent, eldest son
of the Marquess, and, as gay

2994
04:11:31.120 --> 04:11:35.200
and good natured a gentleman as ever, drank brandy and soda before breakfast.

2995
04:11:35.879 --> 04:11:39.920
When Lord Trent married to Miss Edna
Stuyvesant, the American heiress, and with

2996
04:11:41.159 --> 04:11:45.520
some of her money, bought and
furnished in a superb manner a mansion near

2997
04:11:45.600 --> 04:11:50.399
the northwest corner of Eaton Square,
I quite naturally followed him across the square

2998
04:11:50.799 --> 04:11:56.280
and soon found myself, after his
lordship and milady, the most considerable personage

2999
04:11:56.360 --> 04:12:01.079
at number four four one. Even
the butler had to mind and dispeasing cues

3000
04:12:01.159 --> 04:12:05.479
with me. Perhaps it was this
pre eminence of mine which led to my

3001
04:12:05.639 --> 04:12:09.559
being selected for a duty which I
never cared for, and which ultimately I

3002
04:12:09.719 --> 04:12:15.680
asked his Lordship to allow me to
relinquish. Of course he did so that

3003
04:12:15.920 --> 04:12:22.120
duty related to the celebrated Cockfoster's emeralds. Lady Trent had money over a million

3004
04:12:22.239 --> 04:12:26.000
sterling, as his Lordship himself told
me, but money could not buy the

3005
04:12:26.079 --> 04:12:33.559
Cockfoster's emeralds, And having seen these, she desired nothing less. Fine with

3006
04:12:33.799 --> 04:12:37.840
her ladyship to desire was to obtain. I have always admired her for that

3007
04:12:39.040 --> 04:12:43.559
trait in her character. Being an
American, she had faults, but she

3008
04:12:43.680 --> 04:12:46.120
knew her own mind, which is
a great thing. And I must admit

3009
04:12:46.319 --> 04:12:52.280
that on the whole she carried herself
well and committed few blunders. She must

3010
04:12:52.319 --> 04:12:56.360
have been accustomed to good servants.
In the matter of the emeralds. I

3011
04:12:56.520 --> 04:13:00.959
certainly took her side. Strictly speaking, they belonged to the old Marchioness.

3012
04:13:01.280 --> 04:13:05.159
But the Marchioness never went into society. She was always engaged with temperance,

3013
04:13:05.239 --> 04:13:11.280
propaganda, militant Protestantism and that sort
of thing, and consequently never wore the

3014
04:13:11.360 --> 04:13:16.399
emeralds. There was no valid reason, therefore, why Lady Trent should not

3015
04:13:16.600 --> 04:13:22.000
have the gratification of wearing them.
But the Marchioness, I say with respect,

3016
04:13:22.559 --> 04:13:26.079
was a woman of peculiar and decided
views. She had, in fact

3017
04:13:26.399 --> 04:13:31.159
fads, and one of her fads
was the emeralds. She could not bear

3018
04:13:31.239 --> 04:13:35.879
to part with them. She said
she was afraid something might happen to the

3019
04:13:35.920 --> 04:13:41.559
precious heirlooms. A prolonged war ensued
between the Marchioness and my Lady, and

3020
04:13:41.719 --> 04:13:46.440
ultimately a compromise was effected. My
Lady won permission to wear the emeralds whenever

3021
04:13:46.559 --> 04:13:50.559
she chose, but they were always
to be brought to her and taken back

3022
04:13:50.639 --> 04:13:56.639
again by Susan Barry, in whom
the Marchioness had more competence than in any

3023
04:13:56.680 --> 04:14:01.959
one else in the world. Consequently, whenever Milady required the emeralds, word

3024
04:14:01.120 --> 04:14:05.680
was sent across the square in the
afternoon, Susan Barry brought them over,

3025
04:14:05.879 --> 04:14:11.239
and Susan Barry removed them at night
when Milady returned from her ball or reception.

3026
04:14:11.840 --> 04:14:18.559
The arrangement was highly inconvenient for Susan
Barry, for sometimes it would be

3027
04:14:18.760 --> 04:14:22.879
very late when Malady came home.
But the Martionis insisted, and since Susan

3028
04:14:22.959 --> 04:14:28.200
Barry was one of those persons who
seemed to take a positive joy in martyrrizing

3029
04:14:28.319 --> 04:14:35.360
themselves. She had none of my
pity. The nuisance was that someone from

3030
04:14:35.520 --> 04:14:41.959
our house had to accompany her across
the square. Eaton Square is very large,

3031
04:14:41.200 --> 04:14:46.559
probably the largest in London, but
I may be mistaken on such a

3032
04:14:46.719 --> 04:14:50.600
trivial point. Its main avenue is
shut in by trees, and at two

3033
04:14:50.639 --> 04:14:56.600
a m it is distinctly not the
place for an unprotected female in charge of

3034
04:14:56.719 --> 04:15:01.799
valuable property. Now, the marsh
Cionas had been good enough to suggest that

3035
04:15:03.040 --> 04:15:07.399
she would prefer me to escort her
maid on this brief nocturnal journey. I

3036
04:15:07.600 --> 04:15:13.479
accepted the responsibility, but I did
not hide my dislike for it. Knowing

3037
04:15:13.639 --> 04:15:18.440
something of Miss Barry's disposition, I
knew that our household would inevitably begin as

3038
04:15:18.520 --> 04:15:24.200
sooner or later, to couple our
names together, and I was not deceived.

3039
04:15:24.920 --> 04:15:28.079
Such was the situation when one night
it was a whit Monday, I

3040
04:15:28.200 --> 04:15:33.879
remember, and about a quarter past
one Lord and Lady Trent returned from an

3041
04:15:33.040 --> 04:15:37.680
entertainment at a well known mansion near
Saint James's Palace. I got his lordship

3042
04:15:37.799 --> 04:15:41.000
some whiskey in the library, and
he then told me that I might go

3043
04:15:41.120 --> 04:15:46.280
to bed, as he should not
retire for an hour or so. I

3044
04:15:46.440 --> 04:15:50.319
withdrew to the little office off the
hall and engaged in conversation with the second

3045
04:15:50.360 --> 04:15:56.000
footman who was on duty. Presently, his Lordship came down into the hall

3046
04:15:56.120 --> 04:16:00.479
and began to pace about. It
was a strange habit of his, smoking

3047
04:16:00.559 --> 04:16:03.120
a cigarette. He caught sight of
me, Saunders, He said, I

3048
04:16:03.239 --> 04:16:07.319
told you you could go to bed, Yes, my lord, why don't

3049
04:16:07.319 --> 04:16:11.639
you go? Your Lordship forgets the
emeralds. Ah, yes, of course,

3050
04:16:11.879 --> 04:16:15.479
he laughed. I motioned to the
footman to clear out. You don't

3051
04:16:15.479 --> 04:16:18.319
seem to care for that job,
Saunders. His Lordship resumed, quizzing me.

3052
04:16:18.840 --> 04:16:22.799
Surely, Barry is a charming companion
in your place. I should regard

3053
04:16:22.879 --> 04:16:26.680
it as excellent fun. But I
have often told you that you have no

3054
04:16:26.879 --> 04:16:32.120
sense of humor. Not all men
laugh at the same jokes, my lord,

3055
04:16:32.360 --> 04:16:36.840
I observed, as a matter of
fact, in earlier and wilder days,

3056
04:16:37.040 --> 04:16:41.360
his Lordship had sometimes thrown a book
or a boot at me for smiling

3057
04:16:41.479 --> 04:16:45.079
too openly at the wrong place.
The conversation might have continued further, for

3058
04:16:45.319 --> 04:16:51.120
his Lordship would often talk with me, but at that moment Susan Barry appeared

3059
04:16:51.200 --> 04:16:55.360
with the bag containing the case in
which were the emeralds. Lady Trance's own

3060
04:16:55.520 --> 04:16:59.520
maid was with her, and the
two stood talking for an instant at the

3061
04:16:59.559 --> 04:17:03.239
foot of the stairs while Lady Trent's
maid locked the bag and handed the key

3062
04:17:03.319 --> 04:17:08.360
to Barry. Heaven knows how long
that simple business would have occupied had not

3063
04:17:08.559 --> 04:17:14.280
the voice of Milady resounded from the
first floor, somewhat excitedly, calling for

3064
04:17:14.440 --> 04:17:18.079
her maid, who vanished with a
hurried good night. His lordship had already

3065
04:17:18.200 --> 04:17:22.120
departed from the hall. May I
relieve you of the bag, Miss Barry,

3066
04:17:22.200 --> 04:17:26.479
I asked, Thank you, mister
Saunders, she replied, but the

3067
04:17:26.600 --> 04:17:32.120
marchionis prefers that I myself should carry
it. That little dialogue passed between us

3068
04:17:32.200 --> 04:17:36.799
every time the inerals had to be
returned. We started on our short walk,

3069
04:17:37.000 --> 04:17:41.280
Miss Berry and I, proceeding towards
the main avenue which runs through the

3070
04:17:41.360 --> 04:17:45.920
center of the square east and west. It was a beautiful moonlit night.

3071
04:17:45.479 --> 04:17:49.479
Talking of moonlit nights, I may
as well make my confession at once.

3072
04:17:51.040 --> 04:17:56.159
The fact is that Miss Barry had
indeed a certain influence over me in her

3073
04:17:56.239 --> 04:18:00.680
presence. I was always conscious of
feeling a pleasurable elation, an excitement of

3074
04:18:00.840 --> 04:18:04.920
perturbation, which another man might have
guessed to be the beginning of love.

3075
04:18:06.680 --> 04:18:10.200
I, however, knew that it
was not love. It was merely a

3076
04:18:10.280 --> 04:18:15.040
fancy. It only affected me when
I was in her company. When she

3077
04:18:15.239 --> 04:18:18.760
was absent, I could regard her
in my mind's eye as she actually was,

3078
04:18:19.319 --> 04:18:25.520
namely a somewhat designing young woman with
dark eyes and too much will of

3079
04:18:25.639 --> 04:18:30.000
her own. Nevertheless, she had, as I say, a certain influence

3080
04:18:30.079 --> 04:18:33.120
over me, and I have already
remarked that it was a moonlit night.

3081
04:18:33.840 --> 04:18:37.879
Need I say more. In spite
of what I had implied to Lord Trent,

3082
04:18:38.120 --> 04:18:42.399
I did enjoy the walk with Susan
Barry. Susan Barry took care that

3083
04:18:42.520 --> 04:18:48.280
I should. She laid herself out
to fascinate me, turning her brunette face

3084
04:18:48.399 --> 04:18:52.520
up to mine with an air of
deference, and flashing upon me the glance

3085
04:18:52.600 --> 04:18:56.799
of those dark, lustrous eyes.
She started by sympathizing with me in the

3086
04:18:56.879 --> 04:19:02.479
matter of the butler. This was
I now recognize very clever of her,

3087
04:19:02.879 --> 04:19:06.520
for the butler had always been a
sore point with me. I began to

3088
04:19:06.639 --> 04:19:11.120
think be good enough to remember the
moonlight and the trees, that life with

3089
04:19:11.319 --> 04:19:15.319
Susan Barry might have its advantages.
Then she turned to the topic of her

3090
04:19:15.360 --> 04:19:21.000
invalid sister, Jane Mary, who
was lame and lived in lodgings near Sloane

3091
04:19:21.000 --> 04:19:26.559
Street and kept herself with a little
aid from Susan by manufacturing artificial flowers.

3092
04:19:26.120 --> 04:19:30.600
For a month past, Miss Barry
had referred regularly to this sister, who

3093
04:19:30.680 --> 04:19:34.559
appeared to be the apple of her
eye. I had no objection to the

3094
04:19:34.639 --> 04:19:40.200
topic, though it did not specially
interest me. But on the previous evening

3095
04:19:40.399 --> 04:19:45.200
Miss Barry had told me, with
a peculiar emphasis, that her poor dear

3096
04:19:45.479 --> 04:19:51.159
sister often expressed a longing to see
the famous Cockfoster's emeralds, and that she

3097
04:19:51.360 --> 04:19:56.559
resided quite close too. I did
not like that. Tonight, Miss Barry

3098
04:19:56.639 --> 04:20:02.520
made a proposition which alarmed me,
Mister Saunders. She said, insinuatingly,

3099
04:20:03.000 --> 04:20:07.120
you are so good natured that I
have almost a mind to ask you a

3100
04:20:07.239 --> 04:20:11.280
favor. Would you object to walking
round with me to my sisters. It

3101
04:20:11.399 --> 04:20:14.719
is only a few minutes away,
so that I could just give her a

3102
04:20:14.840 --> 04:20:18.440
peep at these emeralds. She is
dying to see them, and I'm sure

3103
04:20:18.479 --> 04:20:22.799
the Marchioness wouldn't object. We should
not be a quarter of an hour away.

3104
04:20:22.639 --> 04:20:27.000
My discretion was aroused. I ought
to have given a decided negative at

3105
04:20:27.079 --> 04:20:33.479
once, but somehow I couldn't while
Susan was looking at me. But surely

3106
04:20:33.600 --> 04:20:37.360
your sister will be in bed,
I question, Oh no, with a

3107
04:20:37.520 --> 04:20:41.799
sigh. She has to work very
late, very late, indeed, And

3108
04:20:41.159 --> 04:20:45.840
besides, if she is I could
take them up to her room. It

3109
04:20:45.920 --> 04:20:49.120
would do her good to see them, and she has few pleasures. The

3110
04:20:49.239 --> 04:20:53.040
Marchioness might not like it, I
said, driven back to the second line

3111
04:20:53.079 --> 04:20:59.200
of fortification. You know your mistress
is very particular about these emeralds. The

3112
04:20:59.319 --> 04:21:03.120
Marchiona need never know, Susan Barry
whispered, putting her face close up to

3113
04:21:03.239 --> 04:21:10.639
mine. No one need know except
just us. To the accent which she

3114
04:21:10.719 --> 04:21:17.600
put on those three words, just
us two was extremely tender. I hesitated.

3115
04:21:18.159 --> 04:21:21.719
We were already at the end of
the square and should have turned down

3116
04:21:21.760 --> 04:21:26.360
to the left towards Cockfoster's house.
Come along, she entreated, placing her

3117
04:21:26.399 --> 04:21:30.120
hand on my shoulder. Well,
you know, I muttered, but I

3118
04:21:30.200 --> 04:21:36.280
went along with her towards Sloane Street. We passed Eaton Place, really,

3119
04:21:36.360 --> 04:21:41.719
missus Barry, I began again collecting
my courage. Then there was a step

3120
04:21:41.799 --> 04:21:45.000
behind us, and another hand was
placed on my shoulder. I turned round

3121
04:21:45.079 --> 04:21:51.239
sharply. It was a policeman.
His buttons shone in the moonlight. Your

3122
04:21:51.399 --> 04:21:55.280
name is Charles Saunders, he said
to me, and yours Susan Barry,

3123
04:21:55.559 --> 04:22:00.239
to my companion. True, I
replied, for both of us have a

3124
04:22:00.319 --> 04:22:04.719
warrant for your arrest. Our arrest, yes, on the charge of attempting

3125
04:22:04.760 --> 04:22:11.079
to steal some emeralds, the property
of the Marquess of Cockfoster's. Impossible,

3126
04:22:11.360 --> 04:22:15.440
I exclaimed, Yes, He sneered, that's what they all say. But

3127
04:22:15.799 --> 04:22:18.200
the emeralds are here in this bag. I know they are, he said,

3128
04:22:18.399 --> 04:22:22.159
I've just copped you in time,
but you've been suspected for days.

3129
04:22:22.879 --> 04:22:27.920
The thing is ridiculous, I said, striving to keep calm. We are

3130
04:22:29.000 --> 04:22:33.959
taking the emeralds back to Lady Cockfoster's. And then I stopped. If we

3131
04:22:33.079 --> 04:22:37.520
were merely taking the emeralds back to
Lady Cockfoster's, that is, from one

3132
04:22:37.600 --> 04:22:42.680
house in Eaton Square to another house
in Eaton Square, What were we doing

3133
04:22:42.959 --> 04:22:48.479
out of the square? I glanced
at Susan Barry. She was as white

3134
04:22:48.520 --> 04:22:51.840
as a sheet. The solution of
the puzzle occurred to me at once.

3135
04:22:52.319 --> 04:22:57.000
Susan's sister was an ingenious fiction.
Susan was a jewel thief working with a

3136
04:22:57.079 --> 04:23:02.239
gang of jewel thieves, and her
request that I would accompany her to this

3137
04:23:02.600 --> 04:23:07.680
mythical sister was part of a plan
for stealing the emeralds. At whose instance

3138
04:23:07.799 --> 04:23:14.319
has the warrant been issued? I
asked the Marquess of Cockfoster's. My suspicions

3139
04:23:14.360 --> 04:23:18.440
were only too well confirmed. I
did not speak a word to Susan Barry.

3140
04:23:18.760 --> 04:23:22.840
I could not. I merely looked
at her. You'll come quietly to

3141
04:23:22.920 --> 04:23:26.399
the station, the policeman said,
certainly, I replied, As for us,

3142
04:23:26.760 --> 04:23:30.760
the matter can soon be cleared up. I am Lord Trence's ballot number

3143
04:23:30.840 --> 04:23:37.280
four four one Eton square, and
he must be sent for Oh must he?

3144
04:23:37.760 --> 04:23:41.879
The constable jeered, Come on,
perhaps you'd prefer a cab. A

3145
04:23:42.000 --> 04:23:47.840
four wheeler was passing. I myself
hailed the sleepy cabman, and we all

3146
04:23:48.000 --> 04:23:52.040
three got in. The policemen prudently
took the bag from Susan's nerveless hands.

3147
04:23:52.520 --> 04:23:57.319
None of us spoke. I was
too depressed, Susan was probably too ashamed,

3148
04:23:57.600 --> 04:24:03.079
and the constable was no doubt too
board. After a brief drive,

3149
04:24:03.360 --> 04:24:07.079
we drew up. Another policeman opened
the door of the cab, and over

3150
04:24:07.159 --> 04:24:08.959
the open portal of the building.
In front of us, I saw the

3151
04:24:10.000 --> 04:24:15.120
familiar blue lamp with the legend Metropolitan
Police in white letters. The two policemen

3152
04:24:15.280 --> 04:24:19.360
carefully watched us as we alighted,
and escorted us up the steps into the

3153
04:24:19.440 --> 04:24:26.200
station. Happily, there was no
one about. My humiliation was abject enough

3154
04:24:26.360 --> 04:24:30.680
without that, Charles Saunders, a
prisoner in a police station, I could

3155
04:24:30.840 --> 04:24:37.520
scarcely credit my senses. One becomes
used to a police station in the newspapers,

3156
04:24:37.079 --> 04:24:42.799
but to be inside one that is
different, widely different. The two

3157
04:24:42.879 --> 04:24:48.600
policemen took us into a bare room, innocent of any furniture save a wooden

3158
04:24:48.760 --> 04:24:52.680
form, a desk, a chair, some printed notices of rewards offered,

3159
04:24:52.000 --> 04:24:56.639
and an array of handcuffs and revolvers
on the mantelpiece in the chair, with

3160
04:24:56.760 --> 04:25:00.120
a big book in front of him
on the desk. At the inspector in

3161
04:25:00.280 --> 04:25:04.159
charge. He was in his shirt
sleeves. A hot night, he said,

3162
04:25:04.360 --> 04:25:10.440
smiling to the policeman. I silently
agreed. It appeared that we were

3163
04:25:10.520 --> 04:25:15.520
expected. They took our full names, our addresses, and occupations, and

3164
04:25:15.639 --> 04:25:19.280
then the inspector read the warrant to
us. Of course, it didn't explain

3165
04:25:19.399 --> 04:25:23.559
things in the least I began to
speak. Let me warn you, said

3166
04:25:23.600 --> 04:25:27.120
the inspector, that anything you say
now may be used against you at your

3167
04:25:27.159 --> 04:25:32.840
trial, my trial. Can I
write a note to Lord Trent, I

3168
04:25:32.959 --> 04:25:36.280
asked, Nettle, yes, if
you will pay for a cab to take

3169
04:25:36.360 --> 04:25:40.159
it. I threw down half a
crown and scribbled a line to my master,

3170
04:25:40.520 --> 04:25:44.440
begging him to come at once.
The constable must search you, the

3171
04:25:44.559 --> 04:25:48.159
inspector said. When this was done
and the first policeman had disappeared with the

3172
04:25:48.239 --> 04:25:52.399
note, I will save him the
trouble, I said proudly, and I

3173
04:25:52.520 --> 04:25:56.959
imped my pockets of a gold watch
and chain, a handkerchief, two sovereigns,

3174
04:25:56.000 --> 04:26:00.239
a sixpence and two half pennies,
a bunch of key's, my master's

3175
04:26:00.319 --> 04:26:04.280
linen book, and a new necktie, which I had bought that very evening.

3176
04:26:04.639 --> 04:26:10.159
Of which articles the inspector made an
inventory, which is the key of

3177
04:26:10.239 --> 04:26:12.719
the bag, asked the inspector.
The bag was on the desk in front

3178
04:26:12.760 --> 04:26:17.120
of him, and he had been
trying to open it. I know nothing

3179
04:26:17.200 --> 04:26:19.639
of that. I said, now
you, Susan Barry, give up the

3180
04:26:19.719 --> 04:26:25.520
key, the inspector said, sternly, turning to her for answer. Susan

3181
04:26:25.600 --> 04:26:30.319
burst into sobs and flung herself against
my breast. The situation was excessively embarrassing

3182
04:26:30.479 --> 04:26:34.200
for me. Heaven knows, I
had sufficient reason to hate the woman,

3183
04:26:34.719 --> 04:26:38.600
But though a thief, she was
in distress, and I must own that

3184
04:26:38.719 --> 04:26:44.680
I felt for The Constable stepped towards
Susan. Surely, I said, you

3185
04:26:44.840 --> 04:26:48.719
have a female searcher, A female
searcher. Ah, yes, smiled.

3186
04:26:48.760 --> 04:26:53.520
The inspector suddenly swabbed, is she
here, Constable, Not now, sir,

3187
04:26:53.680 --> 04:26:57.399
she's gone. That must wait.
Then take them to the cells.

3188
04:26:57.959 --> 04:27:03.799
Sorry, sir, all the cells
are full bank holiday drunks. The inspector

3189
04:27:03.920 --> 04:27:06.600
thought a moment, lock him up
in the back room. He said,

3190
04:27:06.879 --> 04:27:10.760
that'll do for the present. Perhaps
the mail prisoner may be getting an answer

3191
04:27:10.840 --> 04:27:14.319
to his note soon after that.
They'll have to go to Byne Street or

3192
04:27:14.399 --> 04:27:18.559
Marlborough. The Constable touched his helmet
and marched us out. In another moment,

3193
04:27:18.639 --> 04:27:23.280
we were ensconced in a small room, absolutely bare of any furniture except

3194
04:27:23.360 --> 04:27:29.440
a short wooden form. The constable
was locking the door when Susan Barry screamed

3195
04:27:29.479 --> 04:27:32.399
out, you are going to lock
us up here together in the dark.

3196
04:27:33.239 --> 04:27:36.920
Why what do you want? Didn't
you hear the cells are full? I

3197
04:27:37.159 --> 04:27:41.479
was profoundly thankful they were full.
I did not fancy a night in a

3198
04:27:41.559 --> 04:27:45.479
cell. I want a candle,
she said fiercely. He brought one,

3199
04:27:45.840 --> 04:27:49.000
or rather half of one, stuck
in a bottle, and placed it on

3200
04:27:49.079 --> 04:27:53.719
the mantelpiece, and then he left
us again. I say the situation was

3201
04:27:53.840 --> 04:28:00.479
excessively embarrassing for myself, I said
nothing. Susan Barry dropped on the form,

3202
04:28:00.760 --> 04:28:03.200
and, hiding her face in her
hands, gave way to tears without

3203
04:28:03.319 --> 04:28:08.200
any manner of restraint. I pitied
her a little, but that influence which

3204
04:28:08.280 --> 04:28:15.280
previously she had exercised over me was
gone. Oh, mister Saunders, she

3205
04:28:15.520 --> 04:28:19.440
sobbed. What how we do?
And as she spoke, she suddenly looked

3206
04:28:19.520 --> 04:28:25.280
up at me with a glance of
feminine appeal. I withstood it, miss

3207
04:28:25.520 --> 04:28:27.799
Berry, I said severely. I
wonder that you can look at me in

3208
04:28:27.840 --> 04:28:32.440
the face. I trusted you as
a woman, and you have outraged that

3209
04:28:32.639 --> 04:28:37.040
trust. I never dreamed that you
were that, that you were an adventuress.

3210
04:28:37.600 --> 04:28:40.840
It was certainly a clever plot,
and but for the smartness of the

3211
04:28:40.879 --> 04:28:44.760
police, I should, in my
innocence, have fallen a victim to your

3212
04:28:44.879 --> 04:28:48.360
designs. For myself, I am
grateful to the police. I can understand

3213
04:28:48.479 --> 04:28:52.799
and excuse their mistake in regarding me
as your accomplice. That will soon be

3214
04:28:52.920 --> 04:28:56.639
set right, for Lord Trent will
be here. In the meantime, of

3215
04:28:56.760 --> 04:29:03.440
course, I have been put to
consider humiliation. Nevertheless, even this is

3216
04:29:03.559 --> 04:29:07.040
better than having followed you to your
sisters. In your sister's lodging, I

3217
04:29:07.200 --> 04:29:11.840
might have been knocked senseless or even
murdered. Moreover, the Emeralds are safe.

3218
04:29:12.520 --> 04:29:18.200
She put on an innocent expression,
playing the injured maiden. Mister Saunders,

3219
04:29:18.559 --> 04:29:26.479
you certainly do not imagine Miss Barry. No protestations. I beg Let

3220
04:29:26.600 --> 04:29:30.840
me say now that I have always
detected in your character something underhand, something

3221
04:29:32.159 --> 04:29:37.399
crafty, I swear, she began
again. Don't trouble I interrupted her.

3222
04:29:37.479 --> 04:29:41.600
I silly, for I shall not
believe you. This night will certainly be

3223
04:29:41.719 --> 04:29:45.200
a warning to me. With that
I leaned my back against the mantelpiece and

3224
04:29:45.280 --> 04:29:51.360
abandoned myself to gloomy thought. It
was a moment for me of self abasement.

3225
04:29:51.840 --> 04:29:56.799
I searched my heart, and I
sorrowfully admitted that my predicament was primarily

3226
04:29:56.920 --> 04:30:02.079
due to disobeying that golden rule.
Be one of women. I saw now

3227
04:30:02.280 --> 04:30:06.840
that it was only my absurd fancy
for this wicked creature which had led me

3228
04:30:06.959 --> 04:30:11.079
to accept the office of guarding those
emeralds during their night passage across Eaton Square.

3229
04:30:11.760 --> 04:30:15.000
I ought to have refuse in the
first place, for the job was

3230
04:30:15.239 --> 04:30:21.399
entirely outside my functions. Strictly,
the butler should have done it. And

3231
04:30:21.799 --> 04:30:25.680
this woman in front of me,
this Susan Barry, in whom the old

3232
04:30:25.799 --> 04:30:30.840
Marchioness had such unbounded trust, so
she belonged to the confraternity of jewel these,

3233
04:30:32.239 --> 04:30:34.799
a genus of which I had often
read, but which I had never

3234
04:30:34.959 --> 04:30:41.680
before met with What audacity such people
must need in order to execute their schemes.

3235
04:30:42.360 --> 04:30:47.879
But then the game was high.
The Cockfoster's emeralds were worth, at

3236
04:30:47.959 --> 04:30:53.520
a moderate estimate, twelve thousand pounds. There are emeralds and emeralds. The

3237
04:30:53.639 --> 04:30:59.959
value depends on the color. These
were the finest Columbian stones of a marble

3238
04:31:00.440 --> 04:31:04.280
tent, and many of them were
absolutely without a flaw. There were five

3239
04:31:04.399 --> 04:31:10.200
stones of seven carrots each, and
these alone must have been worth at least

3240
04:31:10.360 --> 04:31:14.239
six thousand pounds. Yes, it
would have been a great hall, a

3241
04:31:14.479 --> 04:31:18.639
colossal hall. Time passed, The
candle was burning low, and there was

3242
04:31:18.719 --> 04:31:22.479
no sign of Lord Trent. I
went to the door and knocked, first

3243
04:31:22.639 --> 04:31:27.040
gently, then more loudly, but
I could get no answer. Then I

3244
04:31:27.159 --> 04:31:30.959
walked about the room, keeping an
eye on Susan Barry, who had I

3245
04:31:32.159 --> 04:31:37.360
freely admit the decency to avoid my
gaze. I was beginning to get extremely

3246
04:31:37.479 --> 04:31:41.319
tired. I wished to sit down, but there was only one form.

3247
04:31:41.719 --> 04:31:45.879
Susan Barry was already upon it,
and as I said before, it was

3248
04:31:45.000 --> 04:31:48.719
a very short form. At last, I could hold out no longer.

3249
04:31:49.079 --> 04:31:53.879
Taking my courage in both hands,
I sat boldly down at one end of

3250
04:31:53.959 --> 04:31:59.600
the form. It was a relief
to me. Miss Barry's sighed. There

3251
04:31:59.639 --> 04:32:03.200
were not six inches between us.
The candle was low in the socket.

3252
04:32:03.559 --> 04:32:07.760
We both watched it. Without a
second's warning. The flame leapt up and

3253
04:32:07.959 --> 04:32:14.159
then expired. We were in the
dark. Miss Barry screamed, and afterwards

3254
04:32:14.239 --> 04:32:18.120
I heard her crying. I myself
made no sign. Fortunately, the dawn

3255
04:32:18.239 --> 04:32:23.559
broke almost immediately. By this time
I was getting seriously annoyed with Lord Trent.

3256
04:32:25.200 --> 04:32:27.920
I had served him faithfully, and
yet at the moment of my genuine

3257
04:32:29.040 --> 04:32:32.879
need, he had not come to
my sucker. I went again to the

3258
04:32:32.959 --> 04:32:37.200
door and knocked with my knuckles.
No answer. Then I kicked it.

3259
04:32:37.799 --> 04:32:41.280
No answer. Then I seized the
handle and violently shook it. To my

3260
04:32:41.399 --> 04:32:47.399
astonishment, the door opened. The
policeman had forgotten to lock it. I

3261
04:32:47.520 --> 04:32:51.959
crept out into the passage, softly
closing the door behind me. It was

3262
04:32:52.079 --> 04:32:56.520
now quite light. The door leading
to the street was open, and I

3263
04:32:56.600 --> 04:33:02.120
could see neither constables nor inspector.
Went into the charge room it was empty.

3264
04:33:02.760 --> 04:33:06.279
Then I proceeded into the street.
On the pavement, a piece of

3265
04:33:06.360 --> 04:33:10.000
paper was lying. I picked it
up. It was the note which I

3266
04:33:10.080 --> 04:33:14.439
had written to Lord Trent. A
workman happened to be loitering along a road

3267
04:33:14.479 --> 04:33:18.400
which crossed the street at right angles. I called out and ran to him.

3268
04:33:18.720 --> 04:33:21.639
Can you tell me? I asked, why all the officers have left

3269
04:33:21.639 --> 04:33:26.000
the police station? Lug here.
Maybe, he says, you got onme.

3270
04:33:26.159 --> 04:33:27.240
You've been making a night of it, and that's what you have.

3271
04:33:29.080 --> 04:33:33.880
But seriously, I said. Then
I saw a policeman at a distant corner.

3272
04:33:33.319 --> 04:33:37.959
The workman whistled, and the policeman
was obliging enough to come to us.

3273
04:33:37.520 --> 04:33:40.959
Here. The car wants in a
while. The police had left the

3274
04:33:41.000 --> 04:33:45.279
police station. The workman said,
what police station? The constable said,

3275
04:33:45.360 --> 04:33:49.439
sharply, why this one down here
in this side street, I said,

3276
04:33:49.840 --> 04:33:53.400
pointing to the building. As I
looked at it, I saw that the

3277
04:33:53.520 --> 04:33:59.040
lamp which I had observed on the
previous night no longer hung over the doorway.

3278
04:33:59.639 --> 04:34:03.880
The constable laughed, good humoredly.
Get away home, he said.

3279
04:34:03.439 --> 04:34:07.759
I began to tell him my story. Get away home, he repeated,

3280
04:34:08.240 --> 04:34:12.880
gruffly this time. Or I'll run
you in, all right, I said,

3281
04:34:12.959 --> 04:34:15.759
huffily, and I made as if
to walk down the other road.

3282
04:34:17.360 --> 04:34:21.479
The constable and the workmen grinned to
each other and departed. As soon as

3283
04:34:21.479 --> 04:34:25.799
they were out of sight. I
returned to my police station. It was

3284
04:34:26.080 --> 04:34:30.919
not a police station. It was
merely a rather large and plain fronted empty

3285
04:34:30.040 --> 04:34:36.240
house which had been transformed into a
police station for one night only by means

3286
04:34:36.279 --> 04:34:38.639
of a lamp, a desk,
two forms, a few handcuffs, and

3287
04:34:38.959 --> 04:34:45.680
some unparalleled cheek. Jewel thieves they
were, but Susan Barry was not among

3288
04:34:45.759 --> 04:34:49.680
them. After all, Susan Barry
probably had an invalid sister named Jane Mary.

3289
04:34:51.479 --> 04:34:55.560
The first policeman, the cabman,
the second policeman, the inspector.

3290
04:34:56.040 --> 04:34:59.840
These were the jewel thieves, and
Susan Barry and I, and of course

3291
04:35:00.000 --> 04:35:03.799
the Marchioness had to been the victims
of as audacious and brilliant a robbery as

3292
04:35:03.959 --> 04:35:10.319
was ever planned. We had been
robbed openly, quietly, deliberately, with

3293
04:35:10.479 --> 04:35:14.720
the aid of a sham police station. Our movements must have been watched for

3294
04:35:14.840 --> 04:35:18.759
weeks. I gave my meed of
admiration to the imagination, the skill,

3295
04:35:18.919 --> 04:35:23.080
and the Saint Foix which must have
gone to the carrying out of this schoop.

3296
04:35:23.880 --> 04:35:27.040
Going back into the room where Susan
Barry and I had spent the night

3297
04:35:27.119 --> 04:35:33.000
hours, I found that wronged woman
sweetly asleep on the form, with her

3298
04:35:33.080 --> 04:35:37.000
back against the wall. I dared
not wake her, and so I left

3299
04:35:37.040 --> 04:35:41.159
her for the present to enjoy some
much needed repose. I directed my steps

3300
04:35:41.200 --> 04:35:45.479
in search of Eaton Square. Having
closed the great door of my police station

3301
04:35:47.279 --> 04:35:49.840
at length, I found my whereabouts, and I arrived at number four four

3302
04:35:51.000 --> 04:35:56.400
one at five o'clock precisely. The
morning was lovely. After some trouble,

3303
04:35:56.479 --> 04:36:00.560
I roused a housemaid, who let
me in. She seemed surprised, but

3304
04:36:00.840 --> 04:36:03.759
I ignored her. I went straight
upstairs and knocked at my master's door.

3305
04:36:04.360 --> 04:36:08.240
To wake him had always been a
difficult matter, and this morning the task

3306
04:36:08.360 --> 04:36:14.400
seemed more difficult than ever. At
last he replied sleepily to my summons,

3307
04:36:14.919 --> 04:36:18.720
it is I Saunders, your lordship. I'll go to the devil. Then

3308
04:36:18.319 --> 04:36:23.919
I must see your lordship instantly,
very seriously, now what I'll come in

3309
04:36:23.959 --> 04:36:27.840
a minute. And I heard him
stirring, and the voice of Lady Trent.

3310
04:36:29.599 --> 04:36:33.200
How should I break the news to
him? What would the marchionist say

3311
04:36:33.360 --> 04:36:38.319
when she knew twelve thousand pounds worth
of jewels is no trifle not to mention

3312
04:36:38.479 --> 04:36:42.159
my gold watch, my two sovereigns
must expense, and two half pennies,

3313
04:36:42.560 --> 04:36:47.439
and also the half crown which I
had given to have the message despatched to

3314
04:36:47.520 --> 04:36:52.639
his lordship. It was the half
crown that specially rankled Lord Trent appeared at

3315
04:36:52.680 --> 04:36:56.840
the door of his room, arrayed
in his crimson dressing gown, while Saunders,

3316
04:36:56.919 --> 04:37:00.479
what in the name of my lord? And then I told him the

3317
04:37:00.520 --> 04:37:06.319
whole story. He smiled, he
laughed, he roared. I dare say,

3318
04:37:06.400 --> 04:37:08.560
it sounds very funny, my lord, I said, But it wasn't

3319
04:37:08.639 --> 04:37:12.799
funny at the time. And Lady
Cockcaster's won't think it very funny, oh

3320
04:37:12.959 --> 04:37:17.959
won't she? She will? No
one will enjoy it more. She might

3321
04:37:18.000 --> 04:37:21.279
have taken it seriously if the emeralds
had been in the bag, but they

3322
04:37:21.319 --> 04:37:25.959
weren't. Not in the bag,
my lord. No. Lady Trent's maid

3323
04:37:26.119 --> 04:37:29.360
ran off with the bag, thinking
that your mistress had put the jewels in

3324
04:37:29.479 --> 04:37:32.959
it, but she had not.
Lady Trent came to the top of the

3325
04:37:33.000 --> 04:37:36.599
stairs to call her back as soon
as she found the bag gone. But

3326
04:37:36.840 --> 04:37:40.520
you and Barry were out of the
house, so the emerald stayed here for

3327
04:37:40.639 --> 04:37:44.599
one night. They are on Lady
Trent's dressing table at the present moment.

3328
04:37:45.000 --> 04:37:48.119
Go and get a stiff whiskey,
Saunders, you need it, and then

3329
04:37:48.240 --> 04:37:52.560
may I suggest that you should return
for the sleeping berry. By the way,

3330
04:37:52.799 --> 04:37:56.360
the least you can do is to
marry her Saunders. Never, my

3331
04:37:56.479 --> 04:38:00.599
Lord, I said, with decision, I have medals sufficiently with women.

3332
04:38:03.279 --> 04:38:12.520
End of story four. Story five
of the Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennet.

3333
04:38:12.959 --> 04:38:18.840
This libribox recording is in the public
domain. Story five the Adventure of

3334
04:38:18.959 --> 04:38:23.319
the Prima Donna. Many years ago, the fear of dynamite stalked through the

3335
04:38:23.439 --> 04:38:29.880
land. An immense organization of anarchists, whose headquarters were in the United States,

3336
04:38:30.240 --> 04:38:34.319
had arranged for a number of simultaneous
displays in London, Glasgow and Quebec.

3337
04:38:34.919 --> 04:38:38.959
As is well known now, the
Parliament House at Quebec and the guess

3338
04:38:40.040 --> 04:38:44.400
works at Glasgow were to be blown
up, while the program for London included

3339
04:38:44.439 --> 04:38:48.880
Scotland Yard, most of Whitehall,
the House of Commons, the Tower and

3340
04:38:48.279 --> 04:38:53.200
four great railway stations thrown in.
This plot was laid bare, stopped and

3341
04:38:53.319 --> 04:38:59.479
made public, and except a number
of people who happened quite innocently to carry

3342
04:38:59.560 --> 04:39:04.000
black bags, no one was put
to the slightest inconvenience. The dynamite scare

3343
04:39:04.240 --> 04:39:08.799
was deemed to be at an end, but the dread organization was in fact

3344
04:39:08.919 --> 04:39:15.159
still active, as the sixty policemen
who were injured in what is called the

3345
04:39:15.400 --> 04:39:21.479
Haymarket massacre explosion at Chicago on May
four, eighteen eighty six, have dire

3346
04:39:21.599 --> 04:39:26.639
occasion to know. Everyone who reached
the papers is familiar with the details of

3347
04:39:26.720 --> 04:39:30.919
the Haymarket massacre. Few people,
however, are aware that a far more

3348
04:39:30.119 --> 04:39:36.439
dastardly outrage had been planned to intimidate
London a few days later, through the

3349
04:39:36.560 --> 04:39:41.279
agency of a courageous woman. This
affair, too was unmasked in its turn,

3350
04:39:41.799 --> 04:39:45.799
but for commercial and other reasons,
it was kept from the general public.

3351
04:39:45.439 --> 04:39:48.919
The scheme was to blow up the
opera house at Covent Garden on the

3352
04:39:49.000 --> 04:39:53.439
first night of the season. Had
the facts got abroad, the audience would

3353
04:39:53.479 --> 04:39:59.040
probably have been somewhat sparse on that
occasion. But the facts did not get

3354
04:39:59.080 --> 04:40:03.799
abroad, and the house was crowded
in every part for the famous Prima donna

3355
04:40:03.000 --> 04:40:11.040
Luisa Vazzi, since retired, was
singing Marguerite in faust, and enthusiasm about

3356
04:40:11.119 --> 04:40:15.439
her was such that though the popular
tenor had unaccountably thrown up his engagement,

3357
04:40:15.840 --> 04:40:21.360
the price of stalls rose to thirty
three shillings. The police were sure of

3358
04:40:21.439 --> 04:40:26.360
themselves, and the evening passed off
with nothing more explosive than applause. Nevertheless,

3359
04:40:26.759 --> 04:40:32.840
that night, after the curtain had
fallen and Louise Visilla had gathered up

3360
04:40:32.959 --> 04:40:37.479
all the reason of the tribuse of
admiration which had been showered upon her,

3361
04:40:37.000 --> 04:40:41.919
there happened the singular incident which it
is our purpose to record. Vissilla,

3362
04:40:42.119 --> 04:40:48.159
wrapped in rich furs. It was
midnight and our usual wintry May, was

3363
04:40:48.400 --> 04:40:52.240
just leaving the stage door for her
carriage, when a gentleman respectfully accosted her.

3364
04:40:52.759 --> 04:40:56.959
He was an English detective on special
service, and Visia appeared to know

3365
04:40:57.159 --> 04:41:00.599
him. It will be desirable for
you to run no risk, madame,

3366
04:41:00.720 --> 04:41:04.119
he said, So far as we
know, all the principles have left the

3367
04:41:04.200 --> 04:41:10.599
country in alarm. But there are
always others. Messia smiled. She was

3368
04:41:10.680 --> 04:41:15.319
then over thirty, in the full
flower of her fame and beauty, tall,

3369
04:41:15.599 --> 04:41:18.720
dark, calm, mysterious. She
had the firm yet gentle look of

3370
04:41:18.799 --> 04:41:25.279
one who keeps a kind heart under
the regal manner induced by universal adoration.

3371
04:41:26.040 --> 04:41:30.759
What have I to fear, she
said, vengeance? The detective answered,

3372
04:41:30.799 --> 04:41:34.240
simply, I have arranged to have
you shadowed in case you will do nothing

3373
04:41:34.360 --> 04:41:38.080
of the kind. She said,
The idea is intolerable to me. I

3374
04:41:38.240 --> 04:41:44.560
am not afraid, the detective argued. But in vain it shall be as

3375
04:41:44.639 --> 04:41:48.319
you wish, Madam, he said. Ultimately, Messia got into her carriage

3376
04:41:48.360 --> 04:41:52.680
and was driven away. The pair
of chestnuts traveled at a brisk trot through

3377
04:41:52.720 --> 04:41:57.279
the dark, deserted streets of Soho
towards the west end. The carriage had

3378
04:41:57.319 --> 04:42:03.639
crossed Regent Street and was just entering
Berkeley Square when a hansom coming at a

3379
04:42:03.720 --> 04:42:07.799
gallop along Strutton Street on the wrong
side of the road, collided violently with

3380
04:42:07.959 --> 04:42:12.279
Vassia's horses at the corner. At
the same moment, another carriage, a

3381
04:42:12.400 --> 04:42:18.479
brougham, came up and stopped.
A gentleman jumped out and assisted in disengaging

3382
04:42:18.560 --> 04:42:23.479
Vassia's coachman and footman from the medley
of harness and horseflesh. This done,

3383
04:42:23.680 --> 04:42:27.880
he spoke to Vissia, who,
uninjured, was standing on the footpath.

3384
04:42:29.439 --> 04:42:32.560
One of your chestnuts will have to
be shot, he said, to raising

3385
04:42:32.639 --> 04:42:37.639
his hat. May I place my
own carriage at your disposal. Messia thankfully

3386
04:42:37.759 --> 04:42:41.720
accepted his offer, where too,
he inquired upper Brook Street? She answered,

3387
04:42:42.040 --> 04:42:47.799
but you are sure I do not
inconvenience you curiously enough, he said,

3388
04:42:47.919 --> 04:42:51.799
I live in upper Brook Street myself, and if I may accompany you,

3389
04:42:52.520 --> 04:42:56.040
you are more than kind, she
said, and they both entered the

3390
04:42:56.080 --> 04:43:00.680
brougham, and the gentleman, having
first thoughtfully taken the number of the pecant

3391
04:43:00.799 --> 04:43:06.840
cabby and given some valuable advice to
Vassiea's coachman, the brougham disappeared at a

3392
04:43:07.040 --> 04:43:11.720
terrific pace, but it never went
within half a mile of Upper Brook Street.

3393
04:43:11.240 --> 04:43:15.840
It turned abruptly to the north,
crossed Oxford Street, and stopped in

3394
04:43:15.919 --> 04:43:21.479
front of a large house in a
remote street near Paddington Station. At the

3395
04:43:21.520 --> 04:43:25.400
same instant, the door of the
house opened and a man ran down to

3396
04:43:25.520 --> 04:43:29.200
the carriage. In a moment,
Vissio, with a cloth wrapped around her

3397
04:43:29.319 --> 04:43:33.880
head, was carried struggling into the
house, and the brougham departed. The

3398
04:43:33.959 --> 04:43:37.639
thing was done as quickly and silently
as in a dream. The cloth was

3399
04:43:37.759 --> 04:43:42.319
removed at length, and Vissia found
herself in a long, bare room furnished

3400
04:43:42.360 --> 04:43:48.040
only with chairs and a table.
She realized that the carriage accident was merely

3401
04:43:48.119 --> 04:43:52.479
part of a plot to capture her
without fuss and violence. She was incapable

3402
04:43:52.560 --> 04:43:57.680
of fear but she was extremely annoyed
and indignant. She looked round for the

3403
04:43:57.759 --> 04:44:02.400
man who enticed her in to his
proem. He was not to be seen.

3404
04:44:02.880 --> 04:44:06.439
His share of the matter was over. Two other men sat at the

3405
04:44:06.520 --> 04:44:11.360
table. Vissia stared at them in
speechless anger. As to them, they

3406
04:44:11.439 --> 04:44:14.840
seemed to ignore her. Where's the
chief, said one to the other.

3407
04:44:15.319 --> 04:44:18.759
He will be here in three minutes. We are to proceed with the examination.

3408
04:44:18.200 --> 04:44:22.799
Time is short. Then the two
men turned to Vissia, and the

3409
04:44:22.919 --> 04:44:26.240
elder spoke. You will be anxious
to know why you are here, he

3410
04:44:26.319 --> 04:44:30.639
said. She gazed at him scornfully, and he continued, You are here

3411
04:44:30.799 --> 04:44:36.080
because you have betrayed the anarchist cause. I am not an anarchist, she

3412
04:44:36.200 --> 04:44:40.959
said, coldly. Admitted, but
a week ago a member of our society

3413
04:44:41.080 --> 04:44:44.639
gave you a warning to keep away
from the opera house tonight. In a

3414
04:44:44.799 --> 04:44:48.479
so warning you he was false to
his oath. Do you refer to Saltea

3415
04:44:48.680 --> 04:44:53.520
the tenor, She asked, I
do you perceive we have adherents in high

3416
04:44:53.560 --> 04:44:59.759
places? Saltea then warned you,
and you instantly told the police that was

3417
04:44:59.799 --> 04:45:04.159
your idea of gratitude? Did Salty
love you? I decline to be cross

3418
04:45:04.200 --> 04:45:08.959
examined. But it is immaterial.
We know that he loved you. Now

3419
04:45:10.240 --> 04:45:14.959
it is perilous for an anarchist to
love. I do not believe that Salty

3420
04:45:15.159 --> 04:45:18.119
is one of you, she broke
in. He is not, the man

3421
04:45:18.240 --> 04:45:22.799
said, quietly, is dead.
He was in the way in spite of

3422
04:45:22.840 --> 04:45:26.599
herself. She started, and both
men smiled cynically. The point is this,

3423
04:45:27.000 --> 04:45:30.680
the elder man proceeded. We do
not know how much Salty told you.

3424
04:45:32.200 --> 04:45:37.360
It is possible that he may have
blurted out other and more important schemes

3425
04:45:37.919 --> 04:45:41.799
than this of the opera house,
which is failed. Have you anything to

3426
04:45:41.880 --> 04:45:47.240
say? Nothing, She answered,
Ah, we expected that. Now let

3427
04:45:47.319 --> 04:45:49.880
me point out that you are dangerous
to us. That there is only one

3428
04:45:49.959 --> 04:45:56.000
possible course open to you. You
must join us. Join you, she

3429
04:45:56.200 --> 04:46:00.639
exclaimed, and then laughed. Yes. The man said, I repeat,

3430
04:46:00.759 --> 04:46:04.040
there is no alternative, none,
whatever. You must take the oath.

3431
04:46:04.599 --> 04:46:08.159
And if I refuse, the man
shrugged his shoulders, and, after a

3432
04:46:08.240 --> 04:46:15.000
suggestive pause, murmured, well,
think of saltea. I do refuse,

3433
04:46:15.279 --> 04:46:18.279
she said. A door opened at
the other end of the room, and

3434
04:46:18.319 --> 04:46:21.639
a third man entered. The chief
said, the younger of the men at

3435
04:46:21.680 --> 04:46:26.680
the table, he will continue the
examination. The newcomer was comparatively youthful,

3436
04:46:26.959 --> 04:46:32.200
under thirty, and had the look
of a well born Italian. He gave

3437
04:46:32.240 --> 04:46:34.880
a glance at the sea, stood
still, and then approached the table and

3438
04:46:34.959 --> 04:46:40.919
sat down. This is Louise Visia, the first speaker said, and rapidly

3439
04:46:41.000 --> 04:46:45.040
indicated how far he had gone.
There was a long silence. Thanks brothers,

3440
04:46:45.159 --> 04:46:48.639
the chief said, by a strange
coincidence, I know this lady,

3441
04:46:49.080 --> 04:46:53.159
this woman, and I feel convinced
that it will be better in the interests

3442
04:46:53.240 --> 04:46:59.959
of our cause if if I examined
her alone. He spoke with authority,

3443
04:47:00.240 --> 04:47:04.599
and yet with a certain queer hesitation. The two men silently but with obvious

3444
04:47:04.680 --> 04:47:10.000
reluctance, rose and left the room. When they were alone, the great

3445
04:47:10.080 --> 04:47:15.080
singer and the chief fronted each other
in silence. Well, said Vissia,

3446
04:47:15.680 --> 04:47:19.799
madam. The Chief began slowly and
thoughtfully. Do you remember singing in Milan

3447
04:47:21.040 --> 04:47:25.759
ten years ago? You were at
the beginning of your career then but already

3448
04:47:25.880 --> 04:47:30.759
famous. His voice was rich and
curiously persuasive. Without wishing to do so,

3449
04:47:32.000 --> 04:47:36.400
Vissia nodded an affirmative. One night, you were driving home from the

3450
04:47:36.479 --> 04:47:40.080
opera, and there was a riot
going on in the streets. The police

3451
04:47:40.119 --> 04:47:45.400
were everywhere. People whispered of a
secret revolutionary society among the students of the

3452
04:47:45.520 --> 04:47:49.520
university. As for the students,
after a pitched battle near the cathedral,

3453
04:47:49.759 --> 04:47:53.720
they were flying. Suddenly, looking
from your carriage, you saw a very

3454
04:47:53.840 --> 04:47:59.080
youthful student who had been struck on
the head, fall down in the gutter,

3455
04:47:59.319 --> 04:48:03.119
and then get up up again and
struggle. You stopped your carriage.

3456
04:48:03.560 --> 04:48:07.520
Save me, the youth cried,
save me, Signorina. If the police

3457
04:48:07.560 --> 04:48:11.439
catch me, I shall get ten
years imprisonment. You opened the door of

3458
04:48:11.479 --> 04:48:15.200
your carriage, and the youth jumped
in quick under the rug. You said

3459
04:48:15.360 --> 04:48:19.479
quietly. You did not ask me
any questions. You didn't stay to consider

3460
04:48:19.560 --> 04:48:23.680
whether the youth might be a dangerous
person. You merely said, quick under

3461
04:48:23.720 --> 04:48:29.240
the rug. The youth crept under
the rug. The carriage moved on slowly,

3462
04:48:29.520 --> 04:48:33.040
and the police, who shortly appeared, never thought of looking within it

3463
04:48:33.240 --> 04:48:37.759
for a fugitive young anarchist. The
youth was saved for two days. You

3464
04:48:37.880 --> 04:48:41.599
had him in your lodging, and
then he got safely away to the coast

3465
04:48:41.880 --> 04:48:45.479
and sold by ship to another country. Do you remember that incident, madame,

3466
04:48:47.119 --> 04:48:48.919
I remember it well, she answered. What happened to the youth?

3467
04:48:49.599 --> 04:48:56.080
I am he? The chief said
you, she exclaimed, I should scarcely

3468
04:48:56.119 --> 04:49:00.159
have guessed, but for your voice. You are changed. In our profits,

3469
04:49:00.560 --> 04:49:03.520
one changes quickly. Why do you
remind me of that incident? She

3470
04:49:03.680 --> 04:49:10.119
asked. You saved my life,
then I shall save yours. Now is

3471
04:49:10.279 --> 04:49:15.360
my life really in danger unless you
joined us? Yes, she laughed incredulously

3472
04:49:15.880 --> 04:49:22.040
in London. Impossible. He made
a gesture with his hands. Do not

3473
04:49:22.240 --> 04:49:25.560
let us argue on that point,
he said, gravely. Go through that

3474
04:49:25.720 --> 04:49:29.520
door. He pointed to the door
by which he himself had entered. You

3475
04:49:29.599 --> 04:49:33.880
will find yourself in a small garden. The garden gate leads to a narrow

3476
04:49:33.959 --> 04:49:37.919
passage past some stables, and so
into the street. Go quickly and take

3477
04:49:37.959 --> 04:49:42.720
a cab. Don't return to your
own house. Go somewhere else, anywhere

3478
04:49:42.799 --> 04:49:48.200
else, and leave London early tomorrow
morning. He silently opened the door for

3479
04:49:48.319 --> 04:49:53.040
her. Thank you, she said. His seriousness had affected her. How

3480
04:49:53.119 --> 04:49:59.080
shall you explain my departure to your
your friends and in my own way?

3481
04:49:59.200 --> 04:50:03.639
He replied, Only when a man
has deliberately betrayed his cause, There is

3482
04:50:03.720 --> 04:50:10.080
only one explanation betrayed his cause.
She repeated the phrase wonderingly, Madam,

3483
04:50:10.159 --> 04:50:12.880
He said, do you suppose they
will call it anything else? Go at

3484
04:50:12.959 --> 04:50:18.000
once. I will wait half an
hour before summoning my comrades. By that

3485
04:50:18.240 --> 04:50:22.479
time they will have become impatient.
Then you will be safe, and I

3486
04:50:22.560 --> 04:50:26.400
will give them my explanation, and
that will be He put her right hand

3487
04:50:26.479 --> 04:50:30.439
to his lips, and then stopped. Good Bye, Madam, he said,

3488
04:50:30.799 --> 04:50:34.919
without replying to the question, we
are quits. I kiss your hand.

3489
04:50:36.840 --> 04:50:41.040
Almost reluctantly. Louise Vesil went forth, and as she reached the street,

3490
04:50:41.240 --> 04:50:45.119
she felt for the first time that
it was indeed a fatal danger from

3491
04:50:45.200 --> 04:50:49.919
which she had escaped. She reflected
that the Chief had imposed no secrecy upon

3492
04:50:51.040 --> 04:50:55.560
her, made no conditions, and
she could not help but admire such a

3493
04:50:55.680 --> 04:51:00.279
method of repaying a debt. She
wondered what his explanation to his comrade as

3494
04:51:00.319 --> 04:51:03.319
would be. Half an hour later, when Vissia was far away, it

3495
04:51:03.520 --> 04:51:07.680
was the sound of a revolver shot. The other two plotters rushed into the

3496
04:51:07.799 --> 04:51:12.599
room which the prima Donna had left, and found all the explanation which the

3497
04:51:12.720 --> 04:51:25.799
Chief had vouchsafed end of story five
Story six of The Loot of Cities by

3498
04:51:25.959 --> 04:51:30.680
Arnold Bennett. This libribox recording is
in the public domain. Story six.

3499
04:51:30.119 --> 04:51:37.119
The episode in room two two two. The date was the fifth of November,

3500
04:51:37.439 --> 04:51:41.680
a date easy to remember, not
that I could ever fail to recall

3501
04:51:41.759 --> 04:51:45.279
it, even without the aid of
the associations which cluster round Guy Fawkes.

3502
04:51:45.840 --> 04:51:49.560
It was a Friday, and yet
there are people who affect to believe that

3503
04:51:49.720 --> 04:51:56.520
Friday is not a day singled out
from its six companions for mystery, strangeness,

3504
04:51:56.599 --> 04:52:00.479
and disaster. The number of the
room was a two two, too,

3505
04:52:00.040 --> 04:52:03.759
as easy to remember as the date, not that I could ever fail

3506
04:52:03.840 --> 04:52:08.400
to recall the number. Also,
every circumstance in the affair is fixed in

3507
04:52:08.520 --> 04:52:14.720
my mind, immovably and forever the
hotel I shall call by the name of

3508
04:52:14.840 --> 04:52:19.599
the Grand Junction Terminus Hotel. If
this tale were not a simple and undecorated

3509
04:52:19.680 --> 04:52:25.400
record of fact, I might,
with impunity choose for its scene any one

3510
04:52:25.520 --> 04:52:29.919
of the big London hotels, in
order by which a detail to give a

3511
04:52:30.040 --> 04:52:34.799
semblance of veracity to my invention.
But the story happens to be absolutely true,

3512
04:52:36.080 --> 04:52:40.599
and I must therefore, for obvious
reasons, disguise the identity of the

3513
04:52:40.680 --> 04:52:45.080
place where it occurred. I would
only say that the Grand Junction Railway is

3514
04:52:45.159 --> 04:52:48.759
one of the largest and one of
the best managed systems in England or in

3515
04:52:48.919 --> 04:52:55.200
the world, and that these qualities
of vastness and of good management extend also

3516
04:52:55.400 --> 04:53:00.200
to its immense terminus hotel in the
north of central London, the a of

3517
04:53:00.319 --> 04:53:06.240
Anserye. I have observed that professional
writers invariably refer to a hotel as a

3518
04:53:06.439 --> 04:53:11.200
Caravanserye is full every night in the
week except Friday, Saturday and Sunday,

3519
04:53:11.599 --> 04:53:17.520
and every commercial traveler knows that except
on these nights, if he wishes to

3520
04:53:17.599 --> 04:53:21.560
secure a room at the Grand Junction, he must write or telegraph for it

3521
04:53:21.680 --> 04:53:26.840
in advance, and there are four
hundred bedrooms. It was somewhat late in

3522
04:53:26.919 --> 04:53:30.240
the evening when I arrived in London. I had meant to sleep at a

3523
04:53:30.400 --> 04:53:34.319
large new hotel in the Strand,
but I felt tired, and I suddenly,

3524
04:53:34.479 --> 04:53:37.720
on the spur of the moment,
decided to stay at the Grand Junction

3525
04:53:38.159 --> 04:53:42.680
if there was space for me.
It is thus that fate works. I

3526
04:53:42.759 --> 04:53:47.680
walked into the hall, followed by
a platform porter with my bag. The

3527
04:53:47.799 --> 04:53:52.599
place seemed just as usual, the
perfection of the commonplace, the business like

3528
04:53:52.799 --> 04:53:56.080
and the unspiritual. Have you a
room, I asked the young lady in

3529
04:53:56.200 --> 04:54:02.360
black, whose yellow hair shone gaily
at the office window under the electric light.

3530
04:54:02.959 --> 04:54:07.119
She glanced at her ledgers in the
impassive and detached manner which hotel young

3531
04:54:07.240 --> 04:54:15.080
ladies with yellow hair invariably affect,
and ejaculated number two two one. Pity

3532
04:54:15.159 --> 04:54:18.439
you couldn't make it all twos,
I ventured, with timid jocularity. How

3533
04:54:18.520 --> 04:54:22.439
could I guess the import of what
I was saying? She smiled, very

3534
04:54:22.520 --> 04:54:27.360
slightly, with a distant condescension.
It is astonishing the skill with which a

3535
04:54:27.439 --> 04:54:33.400
feminine hotel clerk can make a masculine
guest feel small and self conscious. Name,

3536
04:54:33.840 --> 04:54:38.279
she demanded. Edge fourth floor,
she said, writing out the room

3537
04:54:38.360 --> 04:54:41.799
ticket and handing it to me.
In another moment, I was in the

3538
04:54:41.880 --> 04:54:47.520
lift. Number two two one was
the last door, but one at the

3539
04:54:47.680 --> 04:54:51.680
end of the eastern corridor of the
fourth floor. It proved to be a

3540
04:54:51.759 --> 04:54:56.240
double bedded room, large, exquisitely
ugly, but perfectly appointed in all matters

3541
04:54:56.279 --> 04:55:00.840
of comfort. In short, it
was characteristic of the hotel. I knew

3542
04:55:00.959 --> 04:55:06.680
that every bedroom in that corridor,
and every bedroom in every corridor, presented

3543
04:55:06.759 --> 04:55:12.479
exactly the same aspect. One instinctively
felt the impossibility of anything weird, anything

3544
04:55:12.639 --> 04:55:18.880
bizarre, anything terrible entering the precincts
of an abode so solid, cheerful,

3545
04:55:19.200 --> 04:55:23.919
orderly and middle class. And yet, but I shall come to that presently.

3546
04:55:25.639 --> 04:55:27.360
It will be well for me to
relate all that I did. That

3547
04:55:27.520 --> 04:55:32.080
evening, I washed, and then
I took some valuables out of my bag

3548
04:55:32.200 --> 04:55:34.759
and put them in my pocket.
Then I glanced round the chamber, and,

3549
04:55:34.959 --> 04:55:40.959
amongst other satisfactory details, noticed that
the electric lights were so fixed that

3550
04:55:41.080 --> 04:55:45.119
I could read in bed without distressing
my eyes. I then went downstairs by

3551
04:55:45.159 --> 04:55:49.279
the lift and into the smoke room. I had dined on board the Express,

3552
04:55:49.400 --> 04:55:53.759
and so I ordered nothing but a
cafe NOI and a packet of Virginian

3553
04:55:53.840 --> 04:55:59.439
cigarettes. After finishing the coffee,
I passed into the billiard room and played

3554
04:55:59.479 --> 04:56:03.200
a hundred up with the marker to
show that my nerves were at least as

3555
04:56:03.240 --> 04:56:07.479
steady as usual. That night.
I may mention that although the marker gave

3556
04:56:07.560 --> 04:56:11.240
me fifty and beat me, I
made a break of twenty odd, which

3557
04:56:11.319 --> 04:56:15.639
won his generous approval. The game
concluded, I went into the hall and

3558
04:56:15.720 --> 04:56:19.159
asked the porter if there were any
telegrams for me. There were not.

3559
04:56:19.919 --> 04:56:23.479
I noticed that the porter, it
was the night porter, and he had

3560
04:56:23.720 --> 04:56:29.599
just come on duty, seemed to
have a peculiarly honest and attractive face.

3561
04:56:30.200 --> 04:56:33.080
Wishing him good night, I retired
to bed. It was something. After

3562
04:56:33.200 --> 04:56:38.479
eleven I read a chapter of mister
Walter Crane's The Bases of Design, and

3563
04:56:38.639 --> 04:56:42.759
having turned off the light, sank
into the righteous slumber of a man who

3564
04:56:42.840 --> 04:56:48.119
has made a pretty break of twenty
odd and drunk nothing but coffee. At

3565
04:56:48.279 --> 04:56:53.119
three o'clock I awoke, not with
a start, but rather gradually. I

3566
04:56:53.240 --> 04:56:59.240
know it was exactly three o'clock because
the striking of a notoriously noisy church clock

3567
04:56:59.319 --> 04:57:03.959
in the neighbors was the first thing
I heard, But the clock had not

3568
04:57:03.200 --> 04:57:08.319
wakened me. I felt sure that
something else, something far more sinister than

3569
04:57:08.360 --> 04:57:14.000
a church clock, had been the
origin of disturbance. I listened. Then

3570
04:57:14.159 --> 04:57:18.560
I heard it again. It It
was the sound of a groan in the

3571
04:57:18.680 --> 04:57:23.479
next room, someone indisposed either in
body or mind. I thought lightly,

3572
04:57:23.880 --> 04:57:27.439
and I tried to go to sleep
again, but I could not sleep.

3573
04:57:27.919 --> 04:57:33.759
The groans continued and grew more poignant, more fearsome. At last, I

3574
04:57:33.919 --> 04:57:37.919
jumped out of bed and turned on
the light. I felt easier when I

3575
04:57:37.040 --> 04:57:41.680
had turned on the light. That
man, whoever he is, is dying.

3576
04:57:42.279 --> 04:57:45.520
The idea, as it were,
sprang at my throat. He is

3577
04:57:45.680 --> 04:57:49.759
dying, Only a dying man,
only a man who saw death by his

3578
04:57:51.000 --> 04:57:56.400
side and trembled before the apparition could
groan like that. I put on some

3579
04:57:56.560 --> 04:58:00.560
clothes and went into the corridor.
The corridor seemed to stretch away into illimitable

3580
04:58:00.680 --> 04:58:06.799
distance, and far off, miles
off, a solitary electric light glimmered.

3581
04:58:07.400 --> 04:58:11.159
My end of the corridor was a
haunt of gloomy shadows, except where the

3582
04:58:11.240 --> 04:58:15.720
open door allowed the light from my
bedroom to illuminate the long, monotonous pattern

3583
04:58:15.799 --> 04:58:19.799
of the carpet. I proceeded to
the door next my own, the door

3584
04:58:19.880 --> 04:58:25.040
of number two two two, and
put my ear against the panel. The

3585
04:58:25.159 --> 04:58:30.560
sound of groans was now much more
distinct and more terrifying. Yes, I

3586
04:58:30.759 --> 04:58:34.599
admit that I was frightened. I
called no answer, what's the matter?

3587
04:58:34.959 --> 04:58:38.919
I inquired, no answer? Are
you ill? Or are you doing this

3588
04:58:40.080 --> 04:58:44.119
for your own amusement. It was
with a sort of bravado that I threw

3589
04:58:44.240 --> 04:58:48.599
this last query at the unknown occupant
of the room. No answer. Then

3590
04:58:48.639 --> 04:58:52.080
I tried to open the door,
but it was fast. Yes, I

3591
04:58:52.119 --> 04:58:56.119
said to myself. Either he's dying
or he's committed a murder and is feeling

3592
04:58:56.240 --> 04:59:00.439
sorry for it. I must fetch
the night porterer. Now, hotel lifts

3593
04:59:00.479 --> 04:59:03.919
are not in the habit of working
at three a m. And so I

3594
04:59:04.080 --> 04:59:08.799
was compelled to find my way along
endless corridors and down flights of stairs,

3595
04:59:08.919 --> 04:59:14.840
apparently innumerable. Here and there.
An electric light sought, with its yellow

3596
04:59:14.959 --> 04:59:18.080
eye to pierce the gloom. At
length, I reached the hall, and

3597
04:59:18.200 --> 04:59:22.599
I well recollect that the tiled floor
struck cold into my slippered but sockless feet.

3598
04:59:23.119 --> 04:59:26.400
There's a man either dying or very
ill. And number two two too,

3599
04:59:26.840 --> 04:59:30.599
I said to the night porter.
He was reading the evening news and

3600
04:59:30.680 --> 04:59:36.080
appeared to be very snug in his
basket chair. Is that so, sir,

3601
04:59:36.520 --> 04:59:40.240
he replied, yes, I insisted, I think he's dying. Hadn't

3602
04:59:40.279 --> 04:59:44.479
you better do something? I'll come
upstairs with you, he answered, readily,

3603
04:59:44.919 --> 04:59:48.639
and without further parley We began the
ascent. At the first floor landing,

3604
04:59:48.919 --> 04:59:52.479
the night porter stopped and faced me. He was a man about forty

3605
04:59:52.560 --> 04:59:56.959
five. Every hall porter seems to
be that age, and he looked like

3606
04:59:57.080 --> 05:00:00.080
the father of a family. It
if you think he's dying, sir,

3607
05:00:00.240 --> 05:00:04.840
I'll call up the manager, Mister
tom do, I said. The manager

3608
05:00:04.919 --> 05:00:08.639
slept on the first floor, and
he soon appeared, a youngish man in

3609
05:00:08.720 --> 05:00:14.040
a terra cotta Jaeger dressing gown,
his eyes full of sleep, yet alert

3610
05:00:14.159 --> 05:00:18.479
and anxious to do his duty.
I had seen him previously in the billiard

3611
05:00:18.560 --> 05:00:22.000
room. We all three continued our
progress to the fourth floor, arriving in

3612
05:00:22.080 --> 05:00:26.919
front of number two two two.
We listened intently, but we could only

3613
05:00:26.000 --> 05:00:30.759
hear a faint, occasional groan.
He's nearly dead, I said. The

3614
05:00:30.880 --> 05:00:36.319
manager called aloud, but there was
no answer. Then he vainly tried to

3615
05:00:36.400 --> 05:00:40.520
open the door. The night porter
departed and returned with a stout pair of

3616
05:00:40.599 --> 05:00:45.720
steel tongs. With these and the
natural ingenuity peculiar to hotel porters, he

3617
05:00:45.840 --> 05:00:51.799
forced open the door and we entered
number two two two. A stout,

3618
05:00:51.919 --> 05:00:55.880
middle aged man lay on the bed, fully dressed in black. On the

3619
05:00:56.000 --> 05:01:00.240
floor near the bed was a silk
hat. As we approached, the great

3620
05:01:00.279 --> 05:01:04.919
body seemed to flutter, and then
it lay profoundly and terribly still. The

3621
05:01:06.040 --> 05:01:08.759
manager put his hand on the man's
head and held the glass of his watch

3622
05:01:08.880 --> 05:01:14.200
to the man's parted gray lips.
He is dead, said the manager.

3623
05:01:14.680 --> 05:01:18.000
Hum I said, I'm sorry you've
been put to any inconvenience, said the

3624
05:01:18.080 --> 05:01:22.720
manager, and I'm much obliged to
you. The cold but polite tone was

3625
05:01:22.799 --> 05:01:26.840
a request to me to re enter
my own chamber and leave the corpse to

3626
05:01:26.959 --> 05:01:32.799
the manager and the night porter.
I obeyed. What about that man,

3627
05:01:33.119 --> 05:01:37.759
I asked the hall porter early the
next or rather the same morning. I

3628
05:01:37.880 --> 05:01:41.400
had not slept a wink since three
o'clock, nor had I heard a sound

3629
05:01:41.439 --> 05:01:45.520
in the corridor. What man,
sir? The porter said, you know,

3630
05:01:45.919 --> 05:01:48.200
I returned, rather angrily, the
man who died in the night number

3631
05:01:48.319 --> 05:01:52.799
two two two. I assure you, sir, He said, I haven't

3632
05:01:52.840 --> 05:01:56.680
the least notion what you mean.
Yet his face seemed as honest and open

3633
05:01:56.759 --> 05:02:00.759
as ever. I inquired at the
office for the manager, and after some

3634
05:02:00.959 --> 05:02:06.240
difficulty, saw him in his private
room. I thought I'd just see about

3635
05:02:06.279 --> 05:02:11.000
that man. I began. What
man? The manager asked, exactly as

3636
05:02:11.119 --> 05:02:15.200
the porter had asked. Look here, I said, as I was now

3637
05:02:15.400 --> 05:02:19.040
really annoyed. It's all very well
giving instructions to the hall porter, and

3638
05:02:19.319 --> 05:02:23.520
I can quite understand you want to
think kept as quiet as possible. Of

3639
05:02:23.639 --> 05:02:29.040
course, I know that hotels have
a violent objection to corpses. But as

3640
05:02:29.119 --> 05:02:33.720
I saw the corpse and was of
some assistance to you, excuse me,

3641
05:02:33.200 --> 05:02:37.439
said the manager. Either you or
I must be completely mad, and he

3642
05:02:37.560 --> 05:02:41.599
added, I don't think it is
myself. Do you mean to say,

3643
05:02:41.919 --> 05:02:47.759
I remarked, with frosty sarcasm,
that you didn't enter room two to two

3644
05:02:48.040 --> 05:02:52.200
with me this morning at three a
m. And find a dead man there?

3645
05:02:52.959 --> 05:02:57.439
I mean to say just that?
He answered, Well, I got

3646
05:02:57.560 --> 05:03:02.959
no further. I paid my bill
and left, But before leaving I went

3647
05:03:03.040 --> 05:03:07.560
and carefully examined the door of number
two two two. The door plainly showed

3648
05:03:07.720 --> 05:03:11.680
marks of some iron instrument. Here, I said to the porter as I

3649
05:03:11.759 --> 05:03:15.840
departed, except this half crown from
me, I admire you. I had

3650
05:03:15.919 --> 05:03:22.400
a serious illness extending over three months. I was frequently delirious, and nearly

3651
05:03:22.479 --> 05:03:26.240
every day I saw the scene in
room number two two two. In the

3652
05:03:26.319 --> 05:03:30.000
course of my subsequent travels, I
once more found myself late one night at

3653
05:03:30.159 --> 05:03:36.000
the Grand Junction Terminus Hotel. Mister
Edge said the night porter. I've been

3654
05:03:36.040 --> 05:03:38.959
looking out for you for weeks and
weeks the manager's compliments, and he would

3655
05:03:40.040 --> 05:03:44.680
like to see you in his room
again. I saw the youngish alert manager,

3656
05:03:45.319 --> 05:03:48.880
mister Edge. He began at once. It is probable that I owe

3657
05:03:48.919 --> 05:03:52.400
you an apology. At any rate, I think it right to inform you

3658
05:03:52.759 --> 05:03:55.919
that on the night of the fifth
of November, the year before last,

3659
05:03:56.400 --> 05:04:02.119
exactly twelve months before your last visit
here, at man died in room number

3660
05:04:02.200 --> 05:04:06.759
two two two at three a m. I forgot the circumstance when you last

3661
05:04:06.880 --> 05:04:11.799
came to see me in this room. It seems queer, I said coldly

3662
05:04:11.159 --> 05:04:15.360
that you should have forgotten such a
circumstance. The fact is, he replied,

3663
05:04:15.479 --> 05:04:19.880
I was not the manager at that
time. My predecessor died two days

3664
05:04:19.959 --> 05:04:25.279
after the discovery of the corpse in
room two two two, and the night

3665
05:04:25.439 --> 05:04:29.599
porter is he too a new man, Yes, said the manager. The

3666
05:04:29.720 --> 05:04:33.520
porter, who with the late manager
found the corpse in room two two too,

3667
05:04:33.080 --> 05:04:38.520
is now in Hanwell lunatic asylum.
I paused, perhaps in awe.

3668
05:04:40.240 --> 05:04:45.040
Then you think I said that I
was the victim of a hallucination on my

3669
05:04:45.319 --> 05:04:48.200
previous visit here? You think I
had a glimpse of the world of spirits

3670
05:04:48.919 --> 05:04:56.439
on these matters, said the manager, I prefer to think nothing. End

3671
05:04:56.520 --> 05:05:06.279
of story six, Story seven of
The Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennett.

3672
05:05:06.479 --> 05:05:11.599
This libribox recording is in the public
domain. Story seven Saturday to Monday.

3673
05:05:11.479 --> 05:05:15.520
So at length I yielded to repeated
invitations and made up my mind to visit

3674
05:05:15.599 --> 05:05:19.919
the Vernons again. And it was
in June. I had not been for

3675
05:05:21.040 --> 05:05:25.080
nearly two years. The last visit
was in the month of August. I

3676
05:05:25.240 --> 05:05:29.919
remembered it too well that year,
that month, that day. Under the

3677
05:05:30.000 --> 05:05:34.200
most favorable circumstances, it needs enterprise
and energy for a Londoner to pay a

3678
05:05:34.319 --> 05:05:38.159
week in visit to a friend's house
in the country, no matter how intimate

3679
05:05:38.240 --> 05:05:41.880
the friend. And the Vernons,
though charming and full of good nature,

3680
05:05:42.159 --> 05:05:47.240
were not really very intimate friends of
mine. There is always an element of

3681
05:05:47.400 --> 05:05:51.720
risk in the affair. I will
go further and say an element of a

3682
05:05:51.799 --> 05:05:57.319
preliminary unpleasantness. It means the disarrangement
of regular habits. It means packing one's

3683
05:05:57.360 --> 05:06:02.360
bag and lugging it into a hand. It means a train journey. It

3684
05:06:02.520 --> 05:06:06.159
often means a drive. At the
other end, it means sleeping in a

3685
05:06:06.240 --> 05:06:11.240
strange bed and finding a suitable hook
for one's razors drop the next morning.

3686
05:06:11.680 --> 05:06:17.840
It means accommodating oneself to a new
social atmosphere and the expenditure of much formal

3687
05:06:17.919 --> 05:06:23.479
politeness. And suppose some hitch occurs, some trifling contretemp to ruffle the smoothness

3688
05:06:23.560 --> 05:06:27.159
of the hours, where are you? Then you are bound to sit tight

3689
05:06:27.319 --> 05:06:33.200
and smile till Monday, and at
parting to enlarge on your sorrow that the

3690
05:06:33.319 --> 05:06:38.200
visit is over all the while feeling
intensely relieved, and you have got nothing

3691
05:06:38.279 --> 05:06:45.200
in exchange for your discomfort and inconvenience, save the satisfaction of duty done a

3692
05:06:45.400 --> 05:06:49.360
poor return. I venture to add
you know you have wasted a weekend and

3693
05:06:49.639 --> 05:06:56.599
irrecoverable weekend of eternity. However,
I boarded the train at Saint Pancras in

3694
05:06:56.759 --> 05:07:00.200
a fairly cheerful mood, and I
tried to look on the bright side of

3695
05:07:00.279 --> 05:07:04.080
life. The afternoon was certainly beautiful, and the train not too crowded.

3696
05:07:04.479 --> 05:07:10.759
And I derived some pleasure too from
the contemplation of a new pair of American

3697
05:07:10.880 --> 05:07:15.439
booths, which I had recently purchased. I remembered that Missus Vernon used to

3698
05:07:15.560 --> 05:07:19.759
accuse me of a slight foppishness in
the matter of boots, at the same

3699
05:07:19.880 --> 05:07:26.119
time wishing audibly in his hearing that
Jack would give a little more attention to

3700
05:07:26.240 --> 05:07:30.599
the lower portions of his toilette.
Jack was a sportsman and her husband and

3701
05:07:30.919 --> 05:07:34.680
I thought of their roomy and comfortable
house on the side of the long slope

3702
05:07:34.720 --> 05:07:38.319
to Bedbury, and of their orchard, and the hammocks under the trees in

3703
05:07:38.400 --> 05:07:42.119
the orchard, and of tea and
cakes being brought out to those hammocks,

3704
05:07:42.360 --> 05:07:48.639
and of the sunsets over the delectable
mountains. We always call them the Delectable

3705
05:07:48.680 --> 05:07:53.159
Mountains because they are the identical hills
which Bunyan had in mind when he wrote

3706
05:07:53.240 --> 05:07:59.759
The Pilgrim's Progress, And of Jack's
easy drawl, and Missus Vernon's chatter,

3707
05:08:00.279 --> 05:08:03.919
and the barking of the dogs and
the stamping of the horses in the stable,

3708
05:08:03.520 --> 05:08:07.439
and I actually thought, this will
be a pleasant change after London.

3709
05:08:08.159 --> 05:08:11.639
I do hope they won't be awkward
and self conscious, I said to myself,

3710
05:08:11.919 --> 05:08:15.639
and I also must try not to
be. You see, I was

3711
05:08:15.720 --> 05:08:21.080
thinking of that last visit and what
occurred during it. I was engaged to

3712
05:08:21.159 --> 05:08:25.319
be married then to a girl named
Lucy Wrenn. Just as I had arrived

3713
05:08:25.360 --> 05:08:30.040
at the Vernon's house and their dog
cart, the highly rural postman came up

3714
05:08:30.080 --> 05:08:33.240
in his cart, and, after
delivering some letters, produced still another letter

3715
05:08:33.560 --> 05:08:37.400
and asked if any one of the
name of Bostik was staying there. I

3716
05:08:37.479 --> 05:08:42.040
took the letter. The address was
in Lucy's handwriting. I had seen her

3717
05:08:42.200 --> 05:08:45.639
only on the previous night, and
of course she knew of my visit.

3718
05:08:47.360 --> 05:08:51.040
I read the letter standing there in
the garden near the front door, and

3719
05:08:51.240 --> 05:08:53.959
having read it, I laughed loudly
and handed it to missus Vernon, saying

3720
05:08:55.279 --> 05:08:57.520
what do you think of that for
a letter? In the letter, Lucy

3721
05:08:57.599 --> 05:09:02.880
said that she had decided to jilt
me. She didn't use those words,

3722
05:09:03.240 --> 05:09:06.840
oh no, and that on the
following day she was going to be married

3723
05:09:06.880 --> 05:09:11.080
to another man. Yes, that
was a tearful visit I paid to the

3724
05:09:11.200 --> 05:09:15.279
Vernons that August. At first I
didn't know what I was doing. They

3725
05:09:15.439 --> 05:09:18.880
soothed me, calmed me. They
did their best. It wasn't their fault,

3726
05:09:18.959 --> 05:09:22.959
after all. They suggested I should
run back to town and see Lucy.

3727
05:09:23.560 --> 05:09:29.119
Jack offered to go with me.
Jack I declined. I declined to

3728
05:09:29.200 --> 05:09:33.759
do anything. I ate hearty meals. I insisted on our usual excursions.

3729
05:09:33.159 --> 05:09:37.520
I talked a lot. I forced
them to pretend that nothing had happened,

3730
05:09:37.880 --> 05:09:41.119
And on Monday morning I went off
with a cold smile. But it was

3731
05:09:41.240 --> 05:09:45.200
awful. It stood between me and
the Vernons for a long time, a

3732
05:09:45.439 --> 05:09:51.240
terrible memory. And when next Missus
Vernon encountered me in London, there were

3733
05:09:51.319 --> 05:09:56.200
tears in her eyes and she was
speechless. Now you will understand better why,

3734
05:09:56.279 --> 05:10:00.119
I said to myself with much sincerity. I do hope they won't be

3735
05:10:00.159 --> 05:10:04.919
awkward and self conscious, and I
also must try not to be. As

3736
05:10:06.080 --> 05:10:11.080
the train approached Bedbury, I had
qualms. I had qualms about the advisability

3737
05:10:11.200 --> 05:10:15.759
of this visit to the Vernons.
How could it possibly succeed with that memory

3738
05:10:15.880 --> 05:10:19.200
stalking like a ghost in the garden
near the front door of their delightful and

3739
05:10:19.560 --> 05:10:26.240
hospitable house. How could then we
rumbled over the familiar bridge, and I

3740
05:10:26.319 --> 05:10:30.360
saw the familiar station yard, and
the familiar dog cart, and the familiar

3741
05:10:30.439 --> 05:10:34.200
Dalmatian dog, and the familiar white
mare that was rather young and skittish.

3742
05:10:34.240 --> 05:10:38.200
When Lucy jilted me, that mare
must be rising. Seven, now,

3743
05:10:38.279 --> 05:10:42.319
I thought, and settled down in
life, I described to missus Vernon,

3744
05:10:42.520 --> 05:10:48.599
waiting on the platform to welcome me
with the twins. Alas I had forgotten

3745
05:10:48.639 --> 05:10:55.000
the twins, those charming and frail
little girls, always dressed alike invariably on

3746
05:10:55.159 --> 05:10:59.200
my previous visits. I had brought
something for the twins, a toy,

3747
05:10:59.360 --> 05:11:03.080
a box of sweets, a couple
of bed necklaces. Never once had I

3748
05:11:03.200 --> 05:11:08.200
omitted to lay my tribute on the
altar of their adorable infancy. And now

3749
05:11:08.360 --> 05:11:12.680
I had forgotten. And my forgetfulness
saddened me, because I knew that it

3750
05:11:12.680 --> 05:11:18.400
would saddened them. They would expect, and they would be disappointed. They

3751
05:11:18.439 --> 05:11:22.200
would taste the bitterness of life.
My poor little DearS, I thought,

3752
05:11:22.360 --> 05:11:26.479
as they smiled and shouted to see
my head out of the carriage window.

3753
05:11:26.880 --> 05:11:32.599
I feel for you deeply. This
beginning was a bad one, like all

3754
05:11:32.720 --> 05:11:37.240
men who have suffered without having deserved
to suffer. I was superstitious, and

3755
05:11:37.439 --> 05:11:41.680
I felt that the beginning augured.
Ill I resigned myself even before the train

3756
05:11:41.759 --> 05:11:47.080
had quite stopped, to a constrained
and bored week end with the Vernons.

3757
05:11:47.680 --> 05:11:52.520
Well, I exclaimed, with an
affectation of jollity descending from the carriage.

3758
05:11:52.080 --> 05:11:59.159
Well, responded Missus Vernon with the
same affectation. It was lamentable, simply

3759
05:11:59.319 --> 05:12:03.560
lamentable. Well, the way in
which that tragic memory stood between us and

3760
05:12:03.680 --> 05:12:07.240
prevented either of us from showing a
true, natural, simple self to the

3761
05:12:07.319 --> 05:12:11.639
other. Missus Vernon could say little, I could say little, And what

3762
05:12:11.799 --> 05:12:17.959
we did say was said stiffly,
clumsily. Perhaps it was fortunate on the

3763
05:12:18.040 --> 05:12:22.000
whole that the twins were present.
They, at any rate, were natural

3764
05:12:22.040 --> 05:12:25.959
and self possessed. And how old
are you now, I asked them.

3765
05:12:26.439 --> 05:12:30.319
We are seven, they answered politely
in their high, thin voices. Then

3766
05:12:30.639 --> 05:12:36.000
you are like the little girl's family
in Wordsworth poem. I remarked. It

3767
05:12:36.200 --> 05:12:41.319
was astonishing how this really rather good
joke fell flat. Of course, the

3768
05:12:41.400 --> 05:12:45.400
twins did not see it, but
Missus Vernon herself did not see it,

3769
05:12:45.840 --> 05:12:51.000
and I too, thought it at
the moment inexpressibly feeble. As for the

3770
05:12:51.119 --> 05:12:56.119
twins, they could not hide their
disappointment. Always before I had handed them

3771
05:12:56.200 --> 05:13:00.639
a little parcel immediately, either at
the station if they came to meet me,

3772
05:13:00.240 --> 05:13:03.479
or at the house door if they
did not. And to day I

3773
05:13:03.639 --> 05:13:08.360
had no little parcel. I could
perceive that they were hoping against hope.

3774
05:13:08.520 --> 05:13:14.000
Even yet I could perceive that they
were saying to each other with their large

3775
05:13:14.080 --> 05:13:17.919
expressive eyes. Perhaps he has put
it in his portmanteau. This time,

3776
05:13:18.200 --> 05:13:22.479
he can have forgotten us. I
could have wept for them. I was

3777
05:13:22.560 --> 05:13:25.919
in that state, but I could
not, for the life of me tell

3778
05:13:26.000 --> 05:13:30.439
them outright that I had forgotten the
customary gift, and that I should send

3779
05:13:30.520 --> 05:13:33.240
it by post on my return.
No, I could not do that.

3780
05:13:33.799 --> 05:13:37.680
I was too constrained, too ill
at ease. So we all climbed up

3781
05:13:37.720 --> 05:13:41.520
into the dog cart, Missus Vernon
and I in front, and the twins

3782
05:13:41.599 --> 05:13:45.919
behind, with the portmanteau to make
wake, and the white mare set off

3783
05:13:47.000 --> 05:13:51.400
with the bound and the Dalmatian barked
joyously, and we all pretended to be

3784
05:13:51.479 --> 05:13:56.040
as joyous as the dog. Where's
Jack? I inquired, Oh, said

3785
05:13:56.080 --> 05:13:59.639
Missus Vernon, as though I had
startled her he had to go to Bedbury

3786
05:13:59.720 --> 05:14:03.080
Sand to look at a couple of
greyhounds. It would have been too late

3787
05:14:03.159 --> 05:14:07.560
on Monday. I'm afraid he won't
be back for tea. I guess instantly

3788
05:14:07.799 --> 05:14:11.360
that with the average man's cowardice,
he had run away in order to escape

3789
05:14:11.439 --> 05:14:15.119
meeting me. As I entered the
house, he had left that to his

3790
05:14:15.240 --> 05:14:18.720
wife, no doubt, he hoped
that by the time he returned, I

3791
05:14:18.759 --> 05:14:23.639
should have settled down and the first
awkwardness and constraint would be passed. We

3792
05:14:23.759 --> 05:14:29.720
said scarcely anything else, Missus Vernon
and I during the three mile drive,

3793
05:14:30.080 --> 05:14:33.279
and it was in silence that we
crossed the portal of the house. Instead

3794
05:14:33.360 --> 05:14:37.479
of having tea in the orchard,
we had it in the drawing room,

3795
05:14:37.720 --> 05:14:41.959
the twins being present, and the
tea might have been a funeral feast.

3796
05:14:41.599 --> 05:14:47.400
Well, I thought I anticipated a
certain mutual diffidence, but nothing so bad

3797
05:14:47.439 --> 05:14:51.599
as this. If they couldn't be
brighter than this, why in Heaven's name

3798
05:14:51.680 --> 05:14:56.119
did they force me to come down? Missus Vernon was decidedly in a pitiable

3799
05:14:56.200 --> 05:15:00.479
condition. She felt for me so
much that I felt for her. Come

3800
05:15:00.520 --> 05:15:03.919
along, DearS, she said to
the twins after tea was over, and

3801
05:15:03.240 --> 05:15:07.720
the tea things cleared away, and
she took the children out of the room.

3802
05:15:07.119 --> 05:15:11.840
But before leaving she handed me a
note in silence. I opened it

3803
05:15:11.919 --> 05:15:15.560
and read, be as kind to
her as you can. She has suffered

3804
05:15:15.680 --> 05:15:21.080
a great deal. Then ere I
had time to think. The door which

3805
05:15:21.159 --> 05:15:26.119
missus Vernon had softly closed, was
softly opened, and a woman entered.

3806
05:15:26.599 --> 05:15:30.279
It was Lucy once, Lucy Wrenn. She was as beautiful as ever,

3807
05:15:30.560 --> 05:15:34.439
and no older, But her face
was the face of one who had learnt

3808
05:15:34.599 --> 05:15:40.080
the meaning of life. Till that
moment, I had sought everywhere for reasons

3809
05:15:40.119 --> 05:15:45.919
to condemn her conduct towards me,
to intensify its wickedness. Now suddenly I

3810
05:15:45.080 --> 05:15:51.040
began to seek everywhere for reasons to
excuse her. She had been so young,

3811
05:15:51.319 --> 05:15:55.400
so guileless, so ignorant. I
had been too stern for her.

3812
05:15:55.720 --> 05:15:59.400
I had frightened her. How could
she be expected to know that the man

3813
05:15:59.439 --> 05:16:03.720
who had so planted me was worthless? She had acted as she did,

3814
05:16:03.040 --> 05:16:08.759
partly from youthful foolishness and partly from
timidity. She had been in a quandary.

3815
05:16:10.040 --> 05:16:14.000
She had lost her head, And
so it had occurred that one night.

3816
05:16:14.360 --> 05:16:18.400
That night in August, she had
kissed me falsely with a lie on

3817
05:16:18.560 --> 05:16:22.759
her lips, knowing that her jilting
letter was already in the post. What

3818
05:16:22.159 --> 05:16:26.279
pangs she must have experienced. Then, Yes, as she entered the room

3819
05:16:26.360 --> 05:16:32.240
and gazed at me with her blue
eyes, my heart overflowed with genuine sorrow

3820
05:16:32.479 --> 05:16:36.799
for her. Lucy. I murmured, you are in mourning, Yes,

3821
05:16:37.040 --> 05:16:41.040
she said, didn't you know?
As Missus Vernon said nothing, he is

3822
05:16:41.159 --> 05:16:45.560
dead. And she sank down by
the side of my chair and hid her

3823
05:16:45.680 --> 05:16:49.040
face, and I could only see
her honey colored hair. I stroked it.

3824
05:16:49.560 --> 05:16:53.639
I knew all her history and that
supreme moment, without a word of

3825
05:16:53.759 --> 05:16:59.680
explanation. I knew that she had
been self deceived, that she had been

3826
05:16:59.759 --> 05:17:03.319
through many an agony, that she
had always loved me, and she was

3827
05:17:03.439 --> 05:17:10.400
so young, so young, I
kissed her hair. How thankful I am,

3828
05:17:10.680 --> 05:17:15.319
breathes Missus Vernon afterwards. Suppose it
had not turned out well. Jack

3829
05:17:15.479 --> 05:17:21.720
Vernon had calculated with some skill when
he came back the constraint the diffidence was

3830
05:17:21.799 --> 05:17:33.119
at an end end of story seven
Story eight of The Loot of Cities by

3831
05:17:33.279 --> 05:17:37.919
Arnold Bennett. This liverbox recording is
in the public domain. Story eight,

3832
05:17:38.319 --> 05:17:44.000
A Dinner at the Louver. The
real name of this renowned West End restaurant

3833
05:17:44.119 --> 05:17:48.400
is not the Louverra. I have
christened it so because the title seems to

3834
05:17:48.479 --> 05:17:52.680
me to suit it very nicely,
and because a certain disguise is essential.

3835
05:17:52.240 --> 05:17:56.680
The proprietors of lou Louverra, it
belongs to an esteemed firm of caterers,

3836
05:17:57.080 --> 05:18:02.959
would decidedly object to the upling of
the name of their principal establishment with an

3837
05:18:03.000 --> 05:18:07.880
affair so curious and disconcerting as that
which I am about to relate, and

3838
05:18:07.119 --> 05:18:12.520
their objection would be perfectly justifiable.
Nevertheless, the following story is a true

3839
05:18:12.599 --> 05:18:17.240
one, and the details of it
are familiar to at least half a dozen

3840
05:18:17.319 --> 05:18:21.319
persons whose business it is, for
one reason or another, to keep an

3841
05:18:21.360 --> 05:18:25.720
eye upon that world of crime and
pleasure, which is bounded on the east

3842
05:18:25.840 --> 05:18:30.319
by Bow Street and on the left
by Hyde Park Corner. It was on

3843
05:18:30.400 --> 05:18:33.560
an evening in the last week in
May that I asked Rosy Marden to dine

3844
05:18:33.639 --> 05:18:37.400
with me at the Louver. I
selected the Louverra well, knowing that from

3845
05:18:37.520 --> 05:18:44.360
some mysterious cause, all popular actresses
prefer the Louverra to other restaurants, although

3846
05:18:44.439 --> 05:18:48.520
the quality of the food there is
not always impeccable. I am not in

3847
05:18:48.599 --> 05:18:52.080
the habit of inviting the favorites of
the stage to dinner, especially favorites who

3848
05:18:52.200 --> 05:18:56.919
enjoy a salary of seventy five pounds
a week, as Rosy Marten did and

3849
05:18:57.159 --> 05:19:02.080
does. But in the present case
I had a particular object in view.

3850
05:19:02.680 --> 05:19:07.400
Rosie Martin was taking the chief feminine
role in my new light comedy, then

3851
05:19:07.560 --> 05:19:12.560
in active rehearsal at the Alcazar Theater
in Shaftsbury Avenue. We had almost quarreled

3852
05:19:12.639 --> 05:19:18.720
over her interpretation of the big scene
in the second act, which differed materially

3853
05:19:18.880 --> 05:19:23.119
from my own idea of how the
scene ought to go. Diplomacy was necessary.

3854
05:19:23.639 --> 05:19:29.119
I prided myself on my powers as
a diplomatist. I knew that if

3855
05:19:29.200 --> 05:19:33.479
I could chat with miss Rosie in
the privacy of a table for two at

3856
05:19:33.560 --> 05:19:37.599
a public restaurant, there is no
privacy more discreet, I could convert her

3857
05:19:37.680 --> 05:19:42.279
to my opinions on that second act. Have you engaged a table upstairs?

3858
05:19:42.639 --> 05:19:48.360
Was her first inquiry. As with
the assistance of a stout and gorgeous official,

3859
05:19:48.720 --> 05:19:52.400
I helped her to alight from her
brougham at the portico of the house.

3860
05:19:52.919 --> 05:19:56.360
She looked lovely, and half the
street was envying me. But unfortunately

3861
05:19:56.560 --> 05:20:02.400
Rosie's looks have nothing to do with
the tabe. Let me therefore dismiss them

3862
05:20:02.479 --> 05:20:06.680
as a dangerous topic. No,
I said, but I expect there'll be

3863
05:20:06.759 --> 05:20:11.599
plenty of room. Plenty of room, she exclaimed, with a charming scorn

3864
05:20:11.680 --> 05:20:15.680
and a glance which said, this
young man really has a great deal to

3865
05:20:15.799 --> 05:20:19.400
learn about the art of entertaining ladies
at the louver. I admit that I

3866
05:20:19.560 --> 05:20:25.279
had. Oh yes, I insisted, with bravado. Plenty ask the booking

3867
05:20:25.319 --> 05:20:29.799
clerk, she commanded, and with
all her inimitable grace, she sank like

3868
05:20:29.880 --> 05:20:33.639
a fatigued sylph into one of the
easy chairs that furnished the entrance hall,

3869
05:20:34.000 --> 05:20:40.080
and drew her cloak round her shoulders. The booking clerk, in faultless evening

3870
05:20:40.200 --> 05:20:44.919
dress with a formidable silver chain encircling
his neck, stood at the foot of

3871
05:20:45.000 --> 05:20:49.200
the grand staircase, which was very
grand. The booking clerk politely but coldly

3872
05:20:49.400 --> 05:20:53.919
informed me that he had not a
table upstairs. He said that every table

3873
05:20:55.000 --> 05:20:59.159
had been booked since a quarter to
seven. Well, I suppose we must

3874
05:20:59.240 --> 05:21:03.360
be content with downstairs, but I
much prefer the balcony, said Rosie when

3875
05:21:03.400 --> 05:21:08.080
I told her, And Rosie was
obviously cross. My dinner was beginning ominously.

3876
05:21:08.880 --> 05:21:12.159
I returned to the booking clerk,
who was then good enough to tell

3877
05:21:12.200 --> 05:21:18.200
me that he had no table downstairs
either. I felt rather an ass but

3878
05:21:18.479 --> 05:21:22.639
I never permit my asininity to go
too far. I assumed an attitude of

3879
05:21:22.919 --> 05:21:27.360
martial decision and ordered one of the
pages to get me a hansom. We

3880
05:21:27.479 --> 05:21:32.400
will dine at the Savoy, I
said, very loud. Every official in

3881
05:21:32.479 --> 05:21:37.479
the neighborhood heard me. Rosie smiled, whether at the prospect of the Savoy

3882
05:21:37.000 --> 05:21:42.000
or at my superb indignation, I
know not. Just as we were emerging

3883
05:21:42.040 --> 05:21:47.319
into the street, the booking clerk, his silver chain clinking, touched me

3884
05:21:47.479 --> 05:21:49.840
on the shoulder. I can let
you have a table upstairs now, sir,

3885
05:21:49.959 --> 05:21:55.159
said he. A party that engaged
one has not arrived. I thought

3886
05:21:55.200 --> 05:21:57.720
they wouldn't let us run away to
the Savoy, I remarked to Rose soda

3887
05:21:57.799 --> 05:22:03.400
voce and satisfaction. I had triumphed, and the pretty creature was a witness

3888
05:22:03.479 --> 05:22:07.720
of my triumph. What name sir, asked the clerk John delf. I

3889
05:22:07.840 --> 05:22:12.919
replied His gesture showed that he recognized
that name, and this pleased me too.

3890
05:22:14.680 --> 05:22:18.759
Had not my first farcical comedy run
one hundred and sixty nights at the

3891
05:22:18.799 --> 05:22:22.799
Alcazar, it was only proper that
my reputation should have reached even the clerks

3892
05:22:22.880 --> 05:22:29.680
of restaurants. Another official recognized Miss
Rosie's much photographed face, and we passed

3893
05:22:29.759 --> 05:22:34.080
up the staircase with considerable eclaw.
You manage that rather well, said Miss

3894
05:22:34.240 --> 05:22:38.799
Rosie, dimpling with satisfaction, as
we sat down in the balcony of the

3895
05:22:38.880 --> 05:22:44.240
grand hall of the Louver. The
dinner was not beginning so ominously, after

3896
05:22:44.360 --> 05:22:48.759
all. I narrate to these preliminary
incidents to show how large a part is

3897
05:22:48.799 --> 05:22:52.919
played by pure chance in the gravest
events of our lives. I ordered the

3898
05:22:53.080 --> 05:22:59.919
ten and sixpenny dinner. Who could
offer to the unique Rosemartin a five ship

3899
05:23:00.560 --> 05:23:03.639
or a seven and sixpenny repast when
one at half a guinea was to be

3900
05:23:03.759 --> 05:23:08.840
obtained? Not I. The meal
started with anchovies, which Rosie said she

3901
05:23:10.000 --> 05:23:15.799
adored. She also adored Nougat,
Cremdamoth and other pagan gods as Rosie put

3902
05:23:15.880 --> 05:23:21.520
the first bit of anchovy into her
adorable mouth. The yellow Hungarian band at

3903
05:23:21.560 --> 05:23:25.840
the other end of the crowded hall
struck up the Ragovsky march, and the

3904
05:23:25.959 --> 05:23:32.360
whole place was filled with clamor Why
people insist on deafening music as an accompaniment

3905
05:23:32.599 --> 05:23:37.200
to the business of eating? I
cannot imagine. Personally. I like to

3906
05:23:37.279 --> 05:23:41.360
eat in peace and quietude, but
I fear I am an exception. Rosie's

3907
05:23:41.400 --> 05:23:45.279
eyes sparkled with pleasure at the sound
of the band, and I judged the

3908
05:23:45.360 --> 05:23:51.400
moment opportune to ascertain her wishes on
the subject of wine. She stated them

3909
05:23:51.479 --> 05:23:55.919
in her own imperious way, and
I signaled to the waiter. Now I

3910
05:23:56.040 --> 05:24:00.799
had precisely noticed, or I fancied, I noticed an extraordinary obsequiousness in this

3911
05:24:00.959 --> 05:24:07.959
waiter, an obsequiousness surpassing the usual
obsequiousness of waiters. I object to it,

3912
05:24:08.159 --> 05:24:14.520
and my attitude of antagonism naturally served
to intensify it. What's the matter

3913
05:24:14.639 --> 05:24:17.680
with the fellow, I said to
Rosie after I had ordered the wine.

3914
05:24:18.159 --> 05:24:22.759
He's very good looking, isn't he
was her only reply, as she gazed

3915
05:24:22.840 --> 05:24:26.959
absently at the floor below us.
Crowded with elegant diners, and the waiter

3916
05:24:27.360 --> 05:24:32.959
was indeed somewhat handsome, a light
haired man, and like all the waiters

3917
05:24:33.000 --> 05:24:37.680
at the louver, a foreigner with
a deficient knowledge of English. I expect

3918
05:24:37.759 --> 05:24:41.080
he's lost on his bets to day, Rosy added, They all bet,

3919
05:24:41.159 --> 05:24:45.040
you know, and he's after a
rousing tip to make up. Oh is

3920
05:24:45.159 --> 05:24:48.080
that it, I said, wondering
at the pretty creature's knowledge of the world.

3921
05:24:48.599 --> 05:24:52.599
And then I began to talk about
my play in my best diplomatic manner,

3922
05:24:53.040 --> 05:24:59.759
inwardly chafing at the interruption of that
weird yellow Hungarian orchestra, with which

3923
05:25:00.159 --> 05:25:04.439
Bitter Irony had hung over the railings
of its stand a placard bearing the words

3924
05:25:04.680 --> 05:25:11.360
by Desire. The meal proceeded brilliantly. My diplomacy was a success. The

3925
05:25:11.479 --> 05:25:17.040
champagne was a success. We arrived
at the sorbette that I see in sweet

3926
05:25:17.159 --> 05:25:21.799
product, which in these days of
enormous repast, is placed half way through

3927
05:25:21.840 --> 05:25:26.799
the meal in order to renew one's
appetite for the second half. Your modern

3928
05:25:26.919 --> 05:25:30.959
chef is the cruel tyrant of the
stomach and shows no mercy. The fair

3929
05:25:32.040 --> 05:25:36.680
haired waiter's hand distinctly trembled as he
served the sorbets. I looked at mine

3930
05:25:36.799 --> 05:25:40.840
for some moments, hesitating whether or
not to venture upon it. I am

3931
05:25:41.040 --> 05:25:45.959
a martyr to indigestion. It's delicious, said Rosy, more delicious than the

3932
05:25:47.040 --> 05:25:51.319
second act of your partner's Then I
must risk it, I replied, and

3933
05:25:51.560 --> 05:25:56.159
plunge the spoon into the half frozen
greenish mass. As I did so,

3934
05:25:56.439 --> 05:26:00.200
I caught sight of our waiter,
who was leaning against the service table at

3935
05:26:00.240 --> 05:26:03.159
the corner of the balcony. His
face was as white as a sheet.

3936
05:26:03.680 --> 05:26:07.319
I thought he must be ill,
and I felt sorry for him. However,

3937
05:26:07.479 --> 05:26:11.919
I began to swallow the sorbet,
and the sorbet was, in truth

3938
05:26:11.159 --> 05:26:15.560
rather joice. Presently, our waiter
clutched at the sleeve of another waiter who

3939
05:26:15.680 --> 05:26:21.240
was passing, and whispered a few
words in his ear. The second waiter

3940
05:26:21.400 --> 05:26:26.040
turned to look at me and replied. Then our waiter almost ran towards our

3941
05:26:26.080 --> 05:26:30.240
table. Excuse me, sir,
he murmured, indistinctly, rolling the arm.

3942
05:26:30.520 --> 05:26:34.000
Are you not count vandernoff? I
am not, I replied briefly.

3943
05:26:34.560 --> 05:26:40.560
He hesitated, his hand wavered towards
the sorbet, but he withdrew it and

3944
05:26:40.720 --> 05:26:45.840
departed. Mon Dieu, I heard
him exclaim weakly under his breath. Possibly

3945
05:26:45.919 --> 05:26:48.759
he's been taking me for an aristocratic
compatriot of his own, I said to

3946
05:26:48.919 --> 05:26:53.360
Rosy. And that explains the obsequiousness. You were wrong about the bedding.

3947
05:26:55.080 --> 05:26:57.200
I laughed, but I felt ill
at ease, and to cover my self

3948
05:26:57.279 --> 05:27:03.599
consciousness, I went on eating the
sorbet very slowly. I must have consumed

3949
05:27:03.759 --> 05:27:07.279
nearly a third of it when I
became conscious of a movement behind me.

3950
05:27:07.880 --> 05:27:12.279
A mysterious hand shot out and snatched
away the sorbet. Sir, I protested,

3951
05:27:12.360 --> 05:27:17.840
looking round, A tall, Youngish
man in evening dress but wearing his

3952
05:27:18.080 --> 05:27:22.159
hat, stood on my left.
Sir, what in the name of your

3953
05:27:22.360 --> 05:27:25.759
pardon? Answered the man in a
low, hurried voice. I could not

3954
05:27:26.080 --> 05:27:29.919
guess his nationality. Let me beg
you to leave here at once and come

3955
05:27:29.959 --> 05:27:33.080
with me. I shall do no
such thing, I replied. Waiter,

3956
05:27:33.279 --> 05:27:37.959
call the manager, But our waiter
had disappeared. It is a matter of

3957
05:27:38.119 --> 05:27:44.319
life and death, said the man
to whom to you. The man removed

3958
05:27:44.360 --> 05:27:48.759
his hat and looked appealingly at Miss
Rosie. Don't let's have a scene in

3959
05:27:48.919 --> 05:27:53.119
here, said Rosie with her worldly
wisdom, and impelled by the utter seriousness

3960
05:27:53.159 --> 05:27:56.240
of the man, we went out. I forgot the bill, and no

3961
05:27:56.360 --> 05:28:00.040
one presented it. I solemnly ask
you to take a little drive with me,

3962
05:28:00.159 --> 05:28:03.040
said the man. When we had
reached the foyer. I have a

3963
05:28:03.159 --> 05:28:08.159
carriage at the door. Again,
why, I demanded, he whispered,

3964
05:28:08.520 --> 05:28:12.680
you are poisoned. I am saving
your life. I rely on your discretion.

3965
05:28:14.599 --> 05:28:18.880
My spine turned chilly, and I
glanced at Miss Rosie. I will

3966
05:28:18.000 --> 05:28:22.279
come with you, she said.
In five minutes we had driven to a

3967
05:28:22.360 --> 05:28:26.520
large house in Golden Square. We
were ushered into a lavishly furnished drawing room,

3968
05:28:26.720 --> 05:28:32.159
and we sat down. Rosy's lips
were set. I admired her demeanor

3969
05:28:32.400 --> 05:28:36.439
during those moments. The man who
said he was saving my life, poured

3970
05:28:36.479 --> 05:28:41.319
some liquid from a pile into a
glass and handed it to me. Ameteks

3971
05:28:41.400 --> 05:28:45.799
are useless. Drink this. In
an hour you will feel the first symptoms

3972
05:28:45.840 --> 05:28:49.479
of illness. They may be severe, though that is improbable since you ate

3973
05:28:49.560 --> 05:28:53.479
only a portion of the stuff.
In any event, they will not last.

3974
05:28:53.880 --> 05:28:57.720
Tomorrow you will be perfectly well.
Let me advise you to go to

3975
05:28:57.799 --> 05:29:02.919
bed at once. My carriage is
at your service and the service of this

3976
05:29:03.119 --> 05:29:07.240
lady, he bowed. I drank
the antidote. Thanks for all these surprises,

3977
05:29:07.400 --> 05:29:11.439
I said coldly. But does it
not occur to you that some explanation

3978
05:29:11.639 --> 05:29:15.400
is due to me, he pondered. A minute, I will explain,

3979
05:29:15.599 --> 05:29:19.720
he replied. It is your right. I will explain in two words.

3980
05:29:21.159 --> 05:29:25.560
You have heard of Count Bandanoff attached
to the Russian embassy in London. You

3981
05:29:25.720 --> 05:29:29.319
may have seen in the papers that
the Count has been appointed by the Czar

3982
05:29:29.720 --> 05:29:33.279
to be the new governor of Helsingfors, the Finnish capital, I nodded.

3983
05:29:33.799 --> 05:29:38.840
You are aware, he continued,
suavely, of the widespread persecutions in Finland,

3984
05:29:40.240 --> 05:29:44.919
the taking away of the constitution,
the Russianizing of all offices, the

3985
05:29:45.040 --> 05:29:49.400
censorship of the press. This persecution
has given rise to a secret society,

3986
05:29:49.720 --> 05:29:55.240
which I will call the Friends of
Finnish Freedom. Its methods are drastic.

3987
05:29:55.680 --> 05:30:00.759
Count Bandanoff was known to be violently
antagonistic to finish freedom. He dines often

3988
05:30:00.840 --> 05:30:06.200
at the louver. He had engaged
a table for tonight. The waiter in

3989
05:30:06.319 --> 05:30:10.040
charge of that table was, like
myself, a member of the society,

3990
05:30:10.360 --> 05:30:15.159
but unfortunately, rather a raw hand. The Count quite unexpectedly did not arrive

3991
05:30:15.240 --> 05:30:18.919
at the louver tonight. The waiter, however, took you for the count.

3992
05:30:19.400 --> 05:30:25.080
The sorbet which I snatched out of
your hand was need I say more,

3993
05:30:25.759 --> 05:30:30.880
poisoned, poisoned. The affair was
carefully arranged, and only a pure

3994
05:30:30.040 --> 05:30:36.040
accident could have upset it. That
accident occurred, what was it? The

3995
05:30:36.200 --> 05:30:41.400
Count's coupe was knocked over by an
omnibus in Piccadilly two hours ago, and

3996
05:30:41.560 --> 05:30:45.520
the Count was killed. There was
a pause. Then he will never be

3997
05:30:45.639 --> 05:30:51.319
governor of Helsingfors, I said,
Heaven helps the right. The man answered,

3998
05:30:51.639 --> 05:30:56.200
you English love freedom. You cannot
guess what we in Finland have suffered.

3999
05:30:56.680 --> 05:31:00.479
Let me repeat that I rely on
your discretion. We left Miss Rosie

4000
05:31:00.520 --> 05:31:04.639
and I and the kind hearted girl
delivered me safely into the hands of my

4001
05:31:04.759 --> 05:31:10.759
housekeeper. I was ill, but
I soon recovered. A few days later.

4002
05:31:10.880 --> 05:31:14.520
I met Miss Rosie at rehearsal.
Did you notice, she said to

4003
05:31:14.599 --> 05:31:19.959
me with an awed air, Our
table was number thirteen that night. End

4004
05:31:21.119 --> 05:31:26.919
of story eight, End of the
Loot of Cities by Arnold Bennett