1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,960 Their Low's Christmas Story by John Kendrick Bangs, one being the statement of Henry 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,679 Thurlow, author to George Carrier, editor of The Idler, a weekly journal 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,519 of human interest. I have always maintained, my dear Carrier, that if 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:21,640 man wishes to be considered sane and has any particular regard for his reputation as 5 00:00:21,679 --> 00:00:26,719 a truth teller, he would better keep silent as to the singular experiences that 6 00:00:26,879 --> 00:00:31,239 enter into his life. I have had many such experiences myself, but I 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,799 have rarely confided them in detail or otherwise to those about me, because I 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,520 know that even the most trustful of my friends would regard them merely as the 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:46,079 outcome of an imagination unrestrained by conscience, or of a gradually weakening mind subject 10 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:51,280 to hallucinations. I know them to be true. But until mister Edison or 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,320 some other modern wizard has invented a searchlight strong enough to lay bare the secrets 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,520 of the mind and conscience of man, I cannot prove to others that they 13 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,480 are not pure fabrications, or at least the conjurings of a diseased fancy. 14 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,519 For instance, no man would believe me if I were to state to him 15 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:14,359 the plain and indisputable fact that one night last month, on my way up 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,560 to bed, shortly after midnight, having been neither smoking nor drinking, I 17 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,400 saw confronting me upon the stairs, with the moonlight streaming through the windows back 18 00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:27,840 of me, lighting up its face, a figure in which I recognized my 19 00:01:29,159 --> 00:01:33,680 very self in every form and feature. I might describe the chill of terror 20 00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:37,640 that struck to the very marrow of my bones and well nigh forced me to 21 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,439 stagger backward down the stairs, as I noticed in the face of this confronting 22 00:01:42,519 --> 00:01:48,319 figure every indication of all the bad qualities which I know myself to possess, 23 00:01:49,079 --> 00:01:53,359 of every evil instinct which by no easy effort I have repressed heretofore, and 24 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:59,920 realized that that thing was, as far as I knew, entirely independent of 25 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,120 my true self, in which I hope, at least the moral has made 26 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,719 an honest fight against the immoral. Always. I might describe this chill, 27 00:02:07,879 --> 00:02:12,280 I say, as vividly as I felt it at that moment, but it 28 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:15,319 would be of no use to do so, because, however realistic it might 29 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:20,439 prove, is a bit of description, no man would believe that the incident 30 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,240 really happened, and yet it did happen as truly as I write, And 31 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,240 it has happened a dozen times since, and I am certain that it will 32 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,039 happen many times again, though I would give all that I possess to be 33 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:38,319 assured that never again should that disquieting creation of mind or matter, whichever it 34 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,240 may be, cross my path. The experience has made me afraid almost to 35 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,439 be alone, and I have found myself unconsciously and uneasily glancing at my face 36 00:02:47,439 --> 00:02:52,719 and mirrors in the plate glass of show windows on the shopping streets of the 37 00:02:52,759 --> 00:02:57,240 city, fearful lest I should find some of those evil traits which I have 38 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,960 struggled to keep under, and have kept under so far, cropping out there 39 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,639 where all the world, all my world, can see and wonder at it. 40 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,159 Having known me always as a man of right doing and right feeling, 41 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:13,400 many a time in the night, the thought has come to me with prostrating 42 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:17,319 force, what if that thing were to be seen and recognized by others myself, 43 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:23,199 and yet not my whole self, my unworthy self, unrestrained and yet 44 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:29,560 recognizable as Henry Thurlow. I have also kept silent as to that strange condition 45 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,240 of affairs which has tortured me in my sleep for the past year and a 46 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:38,759 half. No one but myself has until this writing known that for that period 47 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:44,080 of time I have had a continuous logical dream life, A life so vivid 48 00:03:44,199 --> 00:03:49,599 and so dreadfully real to me that I have found myself at times wondering which 49 00:03:49,759 --> 00:03:53,400 of the two lives I was living and which I was dreaming. A life 50 00:03:53,439 --> 00:03:58,439 in which that other, wicked self has dominated and forced me to a career 51 00:03:58,479 --> 00:04:01,919 of shame and horror, A life which, being taken up every time I 52 00:04:02,039 --> 00:04:06,439 sleep where it ceased with the awakening from a previous sleep, has made me 53 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:12,199 fear to close my eyes in forgetfulness. When others are near at hand lest 54 00:04:12,639 --> 00:04:16,519 sleeping, I shall let fall some speech that striking on their ears shall lead 55 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,480 them to believe that in secret there is some wicked mystery connected with my life. 56 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,399 It would be of no use for me to tell these things. It 57 00:04:26,399 --> 00:04:30,480 would merely serve to make my family and my friends uneasy about me if they 58 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,120 were told in their awful detail, and so I have kept silent about them 59 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,360 to you alone. And now, for the first time have I hinted as 60 00:04:39,399 --> 00:04:43,480 to the troubles which have oppressed me for many days, and to you they 61 00:04:43,519 --> 00:04:46,800 are confided only because the demand you have made that I explain to you the 62 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:53,279 extraordinary complication in which the Christmas Story sent you last week has involved me. 63 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,639 You know that I am a man of dignity, that I am not a 64 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:02,199 schoolboy and a lover of childish trick, and knowing that your friendship at least 65 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,839 should have restrained your tongue and pen when through the former on Wednesday, you 66 00:05:06,959 --> 00:05:14,800 accused me of perpetrating a trifling and to you excessively embarrassing practical joke, a 67 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,199 charge which at the moment I was too overcome to refute, And through the 68 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:23,720 latter on Thursday, you reiterated the accusation, coupled with a demand for an 69 00:05:23,759 --> 00:05:29,839 explanation of my conduct satisfactory to yourself, or my immediate resignation from the staff 70 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,079 of the Idler. To explain is difficult, for I am certain that you 71 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:40,920 will find the explanation too improbable for credence, But explain I must the alternative 72 00:05:41,079 --> 00:05:45,199 that of resigning from your staff affects not only my own welfare but that of 73 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,800 my children, who must be provided for. And if my post with you 74 00:05:47,959 --> 00:05:51,600 is taken from me, then are all resources gone. I have not the 75 00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:56,759 courage to face dismissal, for I have not sufficient confidence in my powers to 76 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,120 please elsewhere to make me easy in my mind, or if I could please 77 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,240 elsewhere, the certainty of finding the immediate employment of my talents, which is 78 00:06:04,319 --> 00:06:10,439 necessary to me in view of the present overcrowded condition of the literary field. 79 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,519 To explain, then my seeming jest at your expense, hopeless as it appears 80 00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:18,040 to be, is my task, and to do so as completely as I 81 00:06:18,079 --> 00:06:23,319 can. Let me go back to the very beginning. In August. You 82 00:06:23,399 --> 00:06:27,519 informed me that you would expect me to provide as I have heretofore been in 83 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,920 the habit of doing a story for the Christmas issue of The Idler, that 84 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,480 a certain position in the makeup was reserved for me, and that you had 85 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:40,399 already taken steps to advertise the fact that the story would appear. I undertook 86 00:06:40,439 --> 00:06:44,759 the commission, and, upon seven different occasions, set about putting the narrative 87 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,879 into shape. I found great difficulty, however, in doing so. For 88 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:53,959 some reason or other, I could not concentrate my mind upon the work. 89 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,519 No sooner would I start in on one story than a better one, in 90 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,360 my estimation, would suggested itself to me, and all the labor expended on 91 00:07:02,439 --> 00:07:06,560 the story already begun would be cast aside, and the news story set in 92 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:12,879 motion. Ideas were plenty enough, but to put them properly upon paper seemed 93 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:17,240 beyond my powers. One story, however, I did finish, but after 94 00:07:17,279 --> 00:07:20,600 it had come back to me from my typewriter, I read it and was 95 00:07:20,639 --> 00:07:26,519 filled with consternation to discover that it was nothing more nor less than a mass 96 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,600 of jumpled sentences, conveying no idea to the mind. A story which it 97 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,839 seemed to me in the writing to be coherent, had returned to me as 98 00:07:34,879 --> 00:07:40,759 a mere bit of incoherence, formless without ideas, a bit of raving. 99 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,360 It was then that I went to you and told you, as you remember, 100 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,759 that I was worn out and needed a month of absolute rest, which 101 00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:51,120 you granted. I left my work wholly and went into the wilderness, where 102 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:57,160 I could be entirely free from everything suggesting labor, and where no summons back 103 00:07:57,199 --> 00:08:01,319 to town could reach me. I fished and hunh I slept, and although 104 00:08:01,519 --> 00:08:05,480 as I have already said in my sleep, I found myself leading a life 105 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,240 that was not only not to my taste, but horrible to me in many 106 00:08:09,279 --> 00:08:13,560 particulars. I was able, at the end of my vacation to come back 107 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,720 to town greatly refreshed, and as far as my feelings went, ready to 108 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,079 undertake any amount of work. For two or three days after my return, 109 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:26,160 I was busy with other things. On the fourth day after my arrival, 110 00:08:26,319 --> 00:08:30,879 you came to me and said that the story must be finished, at the 111 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,120 very latest by October fifteenth, and I assured you that you should have it 112 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,639 by that time. That night I said about it. I mapped it out 113 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:43,279 incident by incident, and before starting up to bed, had actually written some 114 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,720 twelve or fifteen hundred words of the opening chapter. It was to be told 115 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:52,320 in four chapters. When I had gone thus far, I experienced a slight 116 00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:56,799 return of one of my nervous chills, and on consulting my watch, discovered 117 00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:00,679 that it was after midnight, which was a sufficient explanation of my mind nervousness. 118 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,919 I was merely tired. I arranged my manuscripts on my table so that 119 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,759 I might easily take up the work The following morning. I locked up the 120 00:09:07,759 --> 00:09:13,320 windows and doors, turned out the lights, and proceeded upstairs to my room. 121 00:09:13,639 --> 00:09:16,919 It was then that I first came face to face with myself, that 122 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,799 other self in which I recognized developed to the full every bit of my capacity 123 00:09:22,879 --> 00:09:28,759 for an evil life. Conceive of the situation if you can imagine the horror 124 00:09:28,799 --> 00:09:33,639 of it, and then ask yourself if it was likely that when next morning 125 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,000 came, I could, by any possibility bring myself to my work table in 126 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:43,000 fit condition to prepare for you anything at all worthy of publication, And the 127 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,279 idler I tried. I implore you to believe that I did not hold lightly 128 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,600 the responsibilities of the commission you had entrusted to my hands. You must know 129 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:58,559 that if any of your writers has a full appreciation of the difficulties which are 130 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,879 strewn along the path of an editor, I, who have myself had an 131 00:10:03,039 --> 00:10:07,240 editorial experience, have it, and so would not, in the nature of 132 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,279 things, do anything to add to your troubles. You cannot but believe that 133 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:16,879 I have made an honest effort to fulfill my promise to you. But it 134 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,639 was useless, And for a week after that visitation was it useless for me 135 00:10:20,759 --> 00:10:24,200 to attempt the work. At the end of the week I felt better and 136 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:31,039 again I started in and the story developed satisfactorily, until it came again that 137 00:10:31,159 --> 00:10:35,120 figure, which was my own figure, that face, which was the evil 138 00:10:35,159 --> 00:10:39,720 counterpart of my own countenance, again rose up before me, and once more 139 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:46,159 was I plunged into hopelessness. Thus matters went on until the fourteenth of October, 140 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,799 when I received your peremptory message that the story must be forthcoming the following 141 00:10:50,919 --> 00:10:54,399 day. Needless to tell you that it was not forthcoming. But what I 142 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,480 must tell you, since you do not know it, is that on the 143 00:10:58,519 --> 00:11:01,639 evening of the fifteenth day of October, a strange thing happened to me. 144 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,039 And in the narration of that incident, which I almost despair of your believing, 145 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,000 lies my explanation of the discovery of October sixteenth, which has placed my 146 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,919 position with you in peril. At half past seven o'clock on the evening of 147 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,399 October fifteenth, I was sitting in my library trying to write. I was 148 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,759 alone, my wife and children had gone away on a visit to Massachusetts for 149 00:11:24,799 --> 00:11:28,720 a week. I had just finished my cigar and had taken my pen in 150 00:11:28,799 --> 00:11:33,120 hand when my front door bell rang. Our maid, who is usually prompt 151 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,159 in answering summonses of this nature apparently did not hear the bell, for she 152 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,080 did not respond to its clanging. Again, the bell rang, and still 153 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:45,840 did it remain unanswered, until finally, at the third ringing, I went 154 00:11:45,919 --> 00:11:50,320 to the door myself. On opening it, I saw standing before me a 155 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,799 man of I should say fifty odd years of age, tall, slender, 156 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,879 pale faced, and clad in somber black. He was entirely unknown to me. 157 00:12:00,519 --> 00:12:03,440 I had never seen him before, but he had about him such an 158 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:07,720 air of pleasantness and wholesomeness that I instinctively felt glad to see him, without 159 00:12:07,759 --> 00:12:13,200 knowing why or whence he had come. Does mister Thurlow live here? He 160 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,240 asked? You must excuse me for going into what may seem to you to 161 00:12:16,279 --> 00:12:22,799 be petty details. But by a perfectly circumstantial account of all that happened that 162 00:12:22,919 --> 00:12:26,559 evening alone, can I hope to give a semblance of truth to my story, 163 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,679 And that it must be truthful? I realize as painfully as you do. 164 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,200 I am mister Thurlow, I replied, Henry Thurlow, the author, 165 00:12:35,399 --> 00:12:39,600 he said, with a surprised look upon his face. Yes, said I, 166 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,240 and then, impelled by the strange appearance, of surprise on the man's 167 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,120 countenance, I added, don't I look like an author? He laughed and 168 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,200 candidly admitted that I was not the kind of looking man he had expected to 169 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,840 find from reading my books. And then he entered the house in response to 170 00:12:54,879 --> 00:12:58,879 my invitation that he do so. I ushered him into my library, and, 171 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,600 after asking him to be seated, inquired as to his business with me. 172 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,919 His answer was gratifying at least. He replied that he had been a 173 00:13:07,919 --> 00:13:11,320 reader of my writings for a number of years, and that for some time 174 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:15,360 past he had had a great desire, not to say curiosity, to meet 175 00:13:15,399 --> 00:13:18,320 me and tell me how much he had enjoyed certain of my stories. I'm 176 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,240 a great devourer of books, mister Thurlow, he said, and I have 177 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:28,080 taken the keenest delight in reading your verses in humorous sketches. I may go 178 00:13:28,159 --> 00:13:31,559 further and say to you that you have helped me over many a hard place 179 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,440 in my life by your work. At times when I felt myself worn out 180 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,799 with my business, or face to face with some knotty problem in my career, 181 00:13:39,039 --> 00:13:43,159 I found much relief in picking up and reading your books at random. 182 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,639 They've helped me to forget my weariness or my knotty problems for the time being, 183 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:50,360 and to day, finding myself in this town, I resolved to call 184 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,399 upon you this evening and thank you for all that you've done for me. 185 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,559 Thereupon we became involved in a general discussion of literary men in their works, 186 00:14:00,039 --> 00:14:03,720 and I found that my visitor certainly did have a pretty thorough knowledge of what 187 00:14:03,759 --> 00:14:07,879 has been produced by the writers of today. I was quite won over to 188 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,559 him by a simplicity, as well as attracted to him by his kindly opinion 189 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:16,720 of my own efforts, and I did my best to entertain him, showing 190 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:20,759 him a few of my little literary treasures in the way of autograph letters, 191 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:26,360 photographs, and presentation copies of well known books from the authors themselves. From 192 00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:30,960 this we drifted naturally and easily into a talk on the methods of work adopted 193 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,360 by literary men. He asked me many questions as to my own methods, 194 00:14:35,559 --> 00:14:37,679 and when I had, in a measure outlined to him the manner of life 195 00:14:37,759 --> 00:14:41,519 which I had adopted, telling him of my days at home, how little 196 00:14:41,639 --> 00:14:46,679 detail office work I had, he seemed much interested with the picture. Indeed, 197 00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:50,799 I painted the picture of my daily routine in almost two perfect colors. 198 00:14:52,039 --> 00:14:54,639 For When I had finished, he observed quietly that I appeared to him to 199 00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:00,159 lead the ideal life, and added that he supposed I knew very little unhappiness. 200 00:15:00,919 --> 00:15:05,399 The remark recalled to me the dreadful reality that, through some perversity of 201 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,879 faith, I was doomed to visitations of an uncanny order, which were practically 202 00:15:09,919 --> 00:15:15,919 destroying my usefulness in my profession and my sole financial resource. Well, I 203 00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:20,320 replied, as my mind reverted to the unpleasant predicament in which I found myself, 204 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,600 I can't say that I know little unhappiness. As a matter of fact, 205 00:15:24,679 --> 00:15:28,480 I know a great deal of that undesirable thing. At the present moment, 206 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:33,320 I am very much embarrassed through my absolute inability to fulfill a contract into 207 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,879 which I have entered, and which should have been filled this morning. I 208 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,519 was due to day with a Christmas story. The presses are waiting for it, 209 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:45,200 and I am utterly unable to write it. He appeared deeply concerned at 210 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,159 the confession. I had hoped, indeed, that he might be sufficiently concerned 211 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,320 to take his departure, that I might make one more effort to write the 212 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,399 promised story. His solicitude, however, showed itself in another way. Instead 213 00:15:56,399 --> 00:16:00,320 of leaving me, he ventured the hope that he might aid me. What 214 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,440 kind of a story is it to be, he asked, Oh, the 215 00:16:03,559 --> 00:16:07,919 usual ghostly tale, I said, with a dash of the Christmas flavor, 216 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,759 thrown in here and there to make it suitable to the season. Ah, 217 00:16:11,799 --> 00:16:15,200 he observed, and you find your vein worked out. It was a direct 218 00:16:15,279 --> 00:16:18,919 and perhaps impertinent question, but I thought it best to answer it, and 219 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,679 to answer it as well without giving him any clue as to the real facts. 220 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,159 I could not very well take an entire stranger into my confidence and describe 221 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:33,559 to him the extraordinary encounters I was having with an uncanny other self. He 222 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:37,519 would not have believed the truth. Hence I told him an untruth and assented 223 00:16:37,559 --> 00:16:41,840 his proposition. Yes, I replied, the vein is worked out. I've 224 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,200 written ghosts stories for years now, serious and comic, and I am today 225 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,960 at the end of my tether, compelled to move forward and yet held back. 226 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,240 That accounts for it, he said, simply. When I first saw 227 00:16:53,279 --> 00:16:56,639 you tonight at the door, I could not believe that the author who had 228 00:16:56,679 --> 00:17:03,840 provided me with so much merriment could be so pale and worn and seemingly mirthless. 229 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,640 Pardon me, mister Thurlow, for my lack of consideration when I told 230 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,160 you that you did not appear as I had expected to find you. I 231 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,119 smiled my forgiveness, and he continued. It may be, he said, 232 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,359 with a show of hesitation, it may be that I have come not altogether 233 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:25,440 inopportunely. Perhaps I can help you. I smiled again. I should be 234 00:17:25,559 --> 00:17:29,480 most grateful if you could, I said, But you doubt my ability to 235 00:17:29,519 --> 00:17:33,319 do so. He put in, Oh, well, yes, of course 236 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:37,839 you do, and why shouldn't you. Nevertheless, I have noticed this at 237 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,519 times when I have been baffled in my work, A mere hint from another, 238 00:17:41,079 --> 00:17:45,039 from one who knew nothing of my work, has carried me onto a 239 00:17:45,079 --> 00:17:48,880 solution of my problem. I've read most of your writings, and I've thought 240 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,079 over some of them many a time, and I have even had ideas for 241 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:57,039 stories which, in my own conceit I have imagined were good enough for you. 242 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,160 And I have wished that I possessed your facility with the pen, that 243 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,200 I might make of them myself what I thought you would make of them had 244 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,519 they been ideas of your own. The gentleman's pallid face reddened as he said 245 00:18:10,519 --> 00:18:14,400 this, and while I was hopeless as to anything of value resulting from his 246 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,519 ideas, I could not resist the temptation to hear what he had to say. 247 00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:22,160 Further, his manner was so deliciously simple, and his desire to aid 248 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,799 me so manifest. He rattled on with suggestions for a half hour. Some 249 00:18:26,839 --> 00:18:30,400 of them were good, but none were new. Some were irresistibly funny, 250 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,279 and did me good because they made me laugh, and I hadn't left naturally 251 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,359 for a period so long that it made me shudder to think of it, 252 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,720 fearing lest I should forget how to be mirthful. Finally, I grew tired 253 00:18:41,759 --> 00:18:47,839 of his persistence, and with a very ill concealed impatience, told him plainly 254 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,759 that I could do nothing with his suggestions, thanking him, however, for 255 00:18:51,839 --> 00:18:56,359 the spirit of kindliness which had prompted him to offer them. He appeared somewhat 256 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,160 hurt, but immediately desisted, and when nine o'clock came, he rose up 257 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,920 to go. As he walked to the door, he seemed to be undergoing 258 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,200 some mental struggle, to which, with a sudden resolve, he finally succumbed, 259 00:19:07,759 --> 00:19:11,119 for after having picked up his hat and stick and donned his overcoat, 260 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,640 he turned to me and said, mister Thurlow, I don't want to offend 261 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,359 you. On the contrary, it is my dearest wish to assist you. 262 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,440 You have helped me, as I have told you. Why may I not 263 00:19:22,519 --> 00:19:26,680 help you? I assure you, sir, I began when he interrupted me. 264 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,680 One moment, please, he said, putting his hand into the inside 265 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,519 pocket of his black coat and extracting from it an envelope addressed to me. 266 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,720 Let me finish. It is the whim of one who has an affection for 267 00:19:38,759 --> 00:19:42,559 you. For ten years, I have secretly been at work myself on a 268 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,839 story. It is a short one, but it has seemed good to me. 269 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,839 I had a double object in seeking you out tonight. I wanted not 270 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,200 only to see you, but to read my story to you. No one 271 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,400 knows that I have written it. I had intended it as a surprise to 272 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,720 my to my friends. I had hoped to have it published somewhere, and 273 00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:07,519 I'd come here to seek your advice in the matter. It is a story 274 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:11,440 which I have written, and rewritten, and rewritten time and time again. 275 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,880 In my leisure moments during the ten years past. As I have told you, 276 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,440 it is not likely that I shall ever write another. I am proud 277 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,599 of having done it, but I should be prouder yet if it, if 278 00:20:21,599 --> 00:20:23,319 it could in some way help you. I leave it with you, sir, 279 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,720 to print or to destroy. And if you print it, to see 280 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,240 it in type will be enough for me to see your name signed to it 281 00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:33,160 will be a matter of pride to me. No one will be ever the 282 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,960 wiser, For as I say, no one knows I have written it, 283 00:20:37,279 --> 00:20:40,480 and I promise you that no one shall know of it. If you decide 284 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,640 to do as I not only suggest, but ask you to do. No 285 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,200 one would believe me after it has appeared as yours. Even if I should 286 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,119 forget my promise and claim it as my own, take it it is yours. 287 00:20:52,759 --> 00:20:56,160 You are entitled to it as a slight measure of repayment for the debt 288 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,319 of gratitude I owe you. He pressed the manuscript into my hand, and 289 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,519 before I could reply, had opened the door and disappeared into the darkness of 290 00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:07,640 the street. I rushed to the sidewalk and shouted out to him to return. 291 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,079 But I might as well save my breath and spared the neighborhood, for 292 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,559 there was no answer. Holding his story in my hand, I re entered 293 00:21:15,559 --> 00:21:18,839 the house and walked back into my library, where, sitting and reflecting upon 294 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,359 the curious interview, I realized for the first time that I was in entire 295 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:29,680 ignorance as to my visitor's name and address. I opened the envelope, hoping 296 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,599 to find them, but they were not there. The envelope contained merely a 297 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,240 finely written manuscript of thirty odd pages, unsigned, and then I read the 298 00:21:38,319 --> 00:21:42,039 story. When I began, it was with a half smile upon my lips, 299 00:21:42,039 --> 00:21:45,400 and with a feeling that I was wasting my time. The smile soon 300 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,680 faded. However, after reading the first paragraph, there was no question of 301 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:56,359 wasted time. The story was a masterpiece. It is needless to say to 302 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:00,440 you that I am not a man of enthusiasms. It is difficult to roused 303 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,759 that emotion in my breast, But upon this occasion I yielded to a force 304 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:08,200 too great for me to resist. I've read the tales of Hoffmann and of 305 00:22:08,279 --> 00:22:14,720 Poe, the wondrous romances of de la motte Fuch, the unfortunately little known 306 00:22:14,759 --> 00:22:18,400 tales of the lamented Fitz James O'Brien. The weird tales of writers of all 307 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,440 tongues have been thoroughly sifted by me in the course of my reading. And 308 00:22:22,519 --> 00:22:26,359 I say to you now that in the whole of my life, I never 309 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:33,160 read one story, one paragraph, one line, that could approach in vivid 310 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:38,160 delineation, in weirdness of conception, in anything in the quality which goes to 311 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,720 make up the truly great story. That story which came into my hands, 312 00:22:42,759 --> 00:22:47,599 as I have told you, I read it once and was amazed. I 313 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,079 read it a second time and was tempted. It was mine. The writer 314 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,880 himself had authorized me to treat it as if it were my own, had 315 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:02,000 voluntarily sacrificed his own claim to its authorship that he might relieve me of my 316 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:07,480 very pressing embarrassment. And not only this, he had almost intimated that in 317 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:10,359 putting my name to his work, I should be doing him a favor. 318 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,640 Why not do so? Then, I asked myself, and immediately my better 319 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,759 self rejected the idea as impossible. How could I put out as my own 320 00:23:18,839 --> 00:23:23,960 another man's work and retain my self respect? I resolved on another and better 321 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,599 course to send you the story in lieu of my own, with a full 322 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:33,400 statement of the circumstances under which it had come into my possession. When that 323 00:23:33,839 --> 00:23:37,720 demon rose up out of the floor at my side, this time more evil 324 00:23:37,759 --> 00:23:42,559 of aspect than before, more commanding in its manner. With a groan, 325 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:47,119 I shrank back into the cushions of my chair, and, by passing my 326 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:52,079 hands over my eyes, tried to obliterate forever the offending sight. But it 327 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,119 was useless. The uncanny thing approached me, and, as truly as I 328 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,319 write, sat upon the edge of my couch, where for the first time 329 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:04,079 it addressed me fool it said, how can you hesitate? Here's your position. 330 00:24:04,759 --> 00:24:08,759 You have made a contract which must be filled. You are already behind 331 00:24:08,839 --> 00:24:14,880 and in a hopeless mental state. Even granting that between this and tomorrow morning 332 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,960 you could put together the necessary number of words to fill the space allotted to 333 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,839 you, what kind of a thing do you think that story would make? 334 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,200 It would be a mere raving, like that other precious effort of August. 335 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,960 The public, if by some odd chance it ever reached them, would think 336 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,000 your mind was utterly gone. Your reputation would go with that verdict. On 337 00:24:37,079 --> 00:24:40,240 the other hand, if you do not have the story ready. By tomorrow, 338 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,680 your hold on the Idler will be destroyed. They have their announcements printed, 339 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,039 and your name and portrait appear among those of the prominent contributors. Do 340 00:24:48,079 --> 00:24:53,559 you suppose the editor and publisher will look leniently upon your failure considering my past 341 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,079 record? Yes, I replied, I have never yet broken a promise to 342 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:03,160 them, which is preci the reason why they will be severe with you, 343 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,240 You, who have been regarded as one of the few men who can do 344 00:25:06,319 --> 00:25:10,759 almost any kind of literary work. It will you, of whom it is 345 00:25:10,799 --> 00:25:14,400 said that your brains are on tap? Will they be lenient with you? 346 00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:18,319 Bah? Can't you see that the very fact of your invariable readiness heretofore, 347 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:25,200 is going to make your present unreadiness a thing incomprehensible? Then what shall I 348 00:25:25,279 --> 00:25:27,160 do? I asked? If I can't, I can't. That is all 349 00:25:29,039 --> 00:25:32,960 you can. There's the story in your hands. Think what it will do 350 00:25:33,079 --> 00:25:37,079 for you. It is one of the immortal stories. You've read it? 351 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:41,079 Then, I asked, haven't you? Yes, but it is the same, 352 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,720 it said, with a leer and a contemptuous shrug. You and I 353 00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:48,519 are inseparable, aren't you? Glad, it added, with a laugh that 354 00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:52,960 grated on every fiber of my being. I was too overwhelmed to reply, 355 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,640 and it resumed. It is one of the immortal stories we agree to that 356 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,359 published over your name, your name will live. The stuff you write yourself 357 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,640 will give you present glory. But when you've been dead ten years, people 358 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,359 won't remember your name, even unless I get control of you. And in 359 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,799 that case there is a very pretty, though hardly a literary record in store 360 00:26:15,839 --> 00:26:18,319 for you. Again, it laughed harshly, and I buried my face in 361 00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:22,599 the pillows of my couch, hoping to find relief there from this dreadful vision. 362 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,240 Curious, it said, what you call your decent self doesn't dare look 363 00:26:29,279 --> 00:26:32,599 me in the eye. What a mistake people make who say that the man 364 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,079 who won't look you in the eye is not to be trusted, as if 365 00:26:36,279 --> 00:26:41,319 mere brazenness were a sign of honesty. Really, the theory of decency is 366 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,960 the most amusing thing in the world. But come, your time is growing 367 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,680 short. Take that story. The writer gave it to you, begged you 368 00:26:48,839 --> 00:26:51,920 to use it as your own. It is yours. It will make your 369 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:56,960 reputation and save you with your publishers how can you hesitate? I shall not 370 00:26:56,279 --> 00:27:02,880 use it, I cried desperately. I must consider your children. Suppose you 371 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,839 lose your connection with these publishers of yours, but it would be a crime, 372 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,559 not a bit of it. Whom do you rob a man who voluntarily 373 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:17,079 came to you and gave you that of which you rob him. Think of 374 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:21,200 it as it is, and act only act quickly. It is now midnight. 375 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,000 The tempter rose up and walked to the other end of the room. 376 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,680 Whence, while he pretended to be looking over a few of my books and 377 00:27:27,759 --> 00:27:33,279 pictures, I was aware he was eyeing me closely and gradually compelling me by 378 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:38,880 sheer force of will to do a thing which I abhorred. And I struggled 379 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,039 weakly against the temptation. But gradually, little by little I yielded, and 380 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,599 finally succumbed altogether. Springing to my feet, I rushed to the table, 381 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,680 seized my pen, and signed my name to the story. There I said 382 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,440 it is done. I have saved my position and made my reputation, and 383 00:27:56,599 --> 00:28:00,440 am now a thief as well as a fool, said the other, calmly, 384 00:28:02,039 --> 00:28:04,200 you don't mean to say you are going to send that manuscript in as 385 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:08,319 it is. Good, Lord, I cried, what under heaven have you 386 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,640 been trying to make me do for the last half hour? Act like a 387 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:18,119 sane being, said the demon. If you send that manuscript to courier, 388 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,440 I'll know in a minute it isn't yours. He knows you haven't in ammanuensis, 389 00:28:22,519 --> 00:28:26,519 and that handwriting isn't yours. Copy it true, I answered, I 390 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:30,559 haven't much of a mind for details. Tonight, I will do as you 391 00:28:30,599 --> 00:28:33,799 say. I did so, I got out my pad and pen and ink, 392 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,400 and for three hours diligently applied myself to the task of copying the story. 393 00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:42,119 When it was finished, I went over it carefully, made a few 394 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:47,119 minor corrections, signed it, put it in an envelope, addressed it to 395 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,240 you, stamped it, and went out to the mailbox on the corner, 396 00:28:49,319 --> 00:28:52,799 where I dropped it into the slot and returned home. When I had returned 397 00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:57,119 to my library, my visitor was still there. Well, it said, 398 00:28:57,319 --> 00:29:00,519 I wish you'd hurry and complete this effect. I am tired and wished to 399 00:29:00,519 --> 00:29:04,880 go. You can't go too soon to please me, said I, gathering 400 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,559 up the original manuscripts of the story and preparing to put them away in my 401 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,880 desk. Probably not, it sneered. I'll be glad to go too, 402 00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:18,599 But I can't go until that manuscript is destroyed. As long as it exists, 403 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,559 there is evidence of your having appropriated the work of another. Why can't 404 00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,279 you see that? Burn it? I can't see my way clear in crime, 405 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,799 I retorted, it is not in my line. Nevertheless, realizing the 406 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,839 value of his advice, I thrust the pages one by one into the blazing 407 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,960 log fire and watched them as they flared and flamed and grew to ashes. 408 00:29:40,599 --> 00:29:44,920 As the last page disappeared in the embers, the demon vanished. I was 409 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,720 alone, and, throwing myself down for a moment's reflection upon my couch, 410 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,240 was soon lost in sleep. It was noon when I again opened my eyes, 411 00:29:52,279 --> 00:29:57,200 and ten minutes after I awakened, your telegraphic summons reached me. Come 412 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,200 down at once, was what you said, and I went, and then 413 00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:04,559 came the terrible de Nuemont and yet a de Numont, which was pleasing to 414 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:10,319 me since it relieved my conscience. You handed me the envelope containing the story. 415 00:30:10,799 --> 00:30:14,640 Did you send that? Was your question? I did last night, 416 00:30:14,759 --> 00:30:18,519 or rather early this morning. I mailed at about three o'clock, I replied, 417 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,519 I demand an explanation of your conduct, said you of what I asked. 418 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,359 Look at your so called story and see if this is a practical joke, 419 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,319 Thurlough. It's a damned poor one. I opened the envelope and took 420 00:30:30,319 --> 00:30:33,720 from it the sheets I had sent you, twenty four of them. They 421 00:30:33,759 --> 00:30:37,839 were every one of them as blank as when they left the paper mill. 422 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,039 You know the rest. You know that I tried to speak, that my 423 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,680 utterance failed me, and that, finding myself unable at the time to control 424 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:51,240 my emotions, I turned and rushed madly from the office, leaving the mystery 425 00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:56,039 unexplained. You know that you wrote demanding a satisfactory explanation of the situation or 426 00:30:56,079 --> 00:31:02,200 my resignation from your staff. This, this carrier, is my explanation. 427 00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:06,200 It is all I have. It is absolute truth. I beg you to 428 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,720 believe it, for if you do not, then is my condition a hopeless 429 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,920 one. You will ask me, perhaps for a resume of the story which 430 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:18,079 I thought I had sent you. It is my crowning misfortune that upon that 431 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,319 point my mind is an absolute blank. I cannot remember it in form or 432 00:31:22,359 --> 00:31:29,720 in substance. I've racked my brains for some recollection of some small portion of 433 00:31:29,759 --> 00:31:33,400 it to help make my explanation more credible, but alas it will not come 434 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,359 back to me. If I were dishonest, I might fake up a story 435 00:31:37,359 --> 00:31:42,279 to suit the purpose. But I am not dishonest. I came near to 436 00:31:42,359 --> 00:31:48,000 doing an unworthy act. I did do an unworthy thing, but by some 437 00:31:48,119 --> 00:31:52,400 mysterious provision of fate, my conscience is cleared of that. Be sympathetic, 438 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:57,240 Carrier, or if you cannot be lenient with me this time, believe, 439 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:02,240 believe, Believe Eve. I implore you pray, let me hear from you 440 00:32:02,279 --> 00:32:08,160 at once, Signed Henry Thurlow. Two being a note from George Carrier, 441 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:14,000 editor of The Idler, to Henry Thurlow, author. Your explanation has come 442 00:32:14,039 --> 00:32:16,880 to hand as an explanation. It isn't worth the paper it is written on, 443 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,240 but we are all agreed here that it is probably the best bit of 444 00:32:21,279 --> 00:32:25,119 fiction you ever wrote. It is accepted for the Christmas issue enclosed Please find 445 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,359 check for one hundred dollars. Dawson suggests that you take another month up in 446 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:34,000 the Addiron Decks. You might put in your time writing up some account of 447 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,960 that dream life you are leading. While you are there, it seems to 448 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,839 me there are possibilities in the idea the concern will pay all expenses. What 449 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:46,039 do you say? Signed yours ever, g c. End of Thurlow's Christmas 450 00:32:46,079 --> 00:32:49,079 Story by John Kendrick Bangs