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The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs Without The night was cold and

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wet, but in the small part
of Laburnum Villa, the blinds were drawn

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and the fire burned brightly. Father
and son were at chess, the former,

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who possessed ideas about the game involving
radical changes, putting his king into

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such sharp and unnecessary perils that had
even provoked comment from the white haired old

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lady knitting placidly by the fire.
Hark at the wind, said mister White,

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who, having seen a fatal mistake
after it was too late, was

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amiably desirous of preventing his son from
seeing it. I'm listening, said the

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latter, grimly, surveying the board, as he stretched out his hand check.

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I should hardly think that he'd come
to night, said his father,

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with his hand poised over the board. Mate replied the son. That's the

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worst of living so far out,
bawled mister White, with sudden and unlooked

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for violence. Of all the beastly, slushy, out of the way places

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to live in, this is the
worst pathways a bog and the roads a

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torrent. I don't know what people
are thinking about. I suppose because only

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two houses on the road are let
they think it doesn't matter. Never mind,

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dear, said his wife soothingly,
Perhaps you'll win the next one.

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Mister White looked up sharply, just
in time to intercept a knowing glance between

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mother and son. The words died
away on his lips, and he hid

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a guilty grin in his thin gray
beard. There he is, said Herbert

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White. As the gate banged loudly, and heavy footsteps came toward the door.

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The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was

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heard condoling with the new arrival.
The new arrival also condoled with himself,

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so that missus White said and coughed
gently. As her husband entered the room,

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followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rube and

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of visage, Sergeant Major Morris,
he said, introducing him. The sergeant

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Major shook hands, and, taking
the proffered seat by the fire, watched

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contentedly while his host got out whiskey
and tumblers, and stood a small copper

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kettle on the fire At the third
glass. His eyes got brighter, and

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he began to talk the little family
circle, regarding with eager interest this visitor

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from distant parts as he squared his
broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of

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strange scenes and doughty deeds, of
wars and plagues and strange people's twenty one

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years of it, said mister White, nodding at his wife and son.

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When he went away, he was
a slip of a youth in the warehouse.

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Now look at him. He don't
look to have taken much harm,

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said missus White politely. I'd like
to go to Indy em myself, said

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the old man, just to look
around a bit. You know better where

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you are, said the Sergeant Major, shaking his head. He put down

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the empty glass and, sighing softly, shook it again. I should like

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to see those old temples and fakirs
and jugglers, said the old man.

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What was that you started telling me
the other day about a monkey's paw or

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something, Morris, Nothing, said
the soldier hastily. Leastwise, it's nothing

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worth hearing monkey's paw, said missus
White curiously. Well it's just a bit

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of what you might call magi,
perhaps, said the Sergeant Major off handedly.

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His three listeners leaned forward eagerly.
The visitor, absent mindedly put his

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empty glass to his lips, and
then set it down again. His host

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filled it for him to look at. Said the sergeant Major, fumbling in

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his pocket. It's just an ordinary
little paw, dried to a mummy.

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He took something out of his pocket
and proffered it. Missus White drew back

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with a grimace. But her son, taking it, examined it curiously.

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And what is there special about it? Inquired mister White, as he took

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it from his son, and having
examined it, placed it upon the table.

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It had a spell put on it
by an old fakir, said the

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sergeant Major, a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled

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people's lives, and that those who
interfered with it did so to their sorrow.

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He put a spell on it so
that three separate men could each have

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three wishes from it. His manner
was so impressive that his hearers were conscious

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that their light laughter jarred somewhat.
Well, why don't you have three,

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sir, said Herbert White cleverly.
The soldier regarded him in the way that

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middle age is won't regard presumptuous youth. I have, he said, quietly,

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and his blotchy face whitened, And
did you really have the three wishes

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granted? Asked missus White. I
did, said the sergeant major, and

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his glass tapped against his strong teeth. And has anybody else wished? Inquired

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the old lady. The first man
had his three wishes? Yes, was

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the reply. I don't know what
the first two were, but the third

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was for death. That's how I
got the His tones were so grave that

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a hush fell upon the group.
If you've had your three wishes, it's

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no good to you now, then, Morris, said the old man.

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At last, what do you keep
it for? The soldier shook his head.

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Fancy I suppose, he said slowly. If you could have another three

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wishes, said the old man,
eyeing him keenly, would you have them?

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I don't know, said the other
I don't know. He took the

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paw, and, dangling it between
his front finger and thumb, suddenly threw

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it upon the fire quite with a
slight cry. Stooped down and snatched it

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off. Better let it burn,
said the soldier solemnly. If you don't

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want it, Morris, said the
old man, give it to me.

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I won't, said his friend,
doggedly. I threw it on the fire.

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If you keep it, don't blame
me for what happens. Pitch it

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on the fire again, like a
sensible man. The other shook his head

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and exact and his new possession closely. Ah ah, how do you do

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it, he inquired. Hold it
up in your right hand and wish aloud,

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said the sergeant Major. But I
warn you of all the consequences.

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Sounds like the Arabian nights, said
missus White, as she rose and began

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to set the supper. Don't you
think you might wish for four pairs of

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hands for me? Her husband drew
the talisman from his pocket, and then

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all three burst into laughter as the
Sergeant Major, with a look of alarm

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on his face, caught him by
the arm. If you must wish,

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he said, gruffly, wish for
something sensible. Mister White dropped it back

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into his pocket, and, placing
chairs, motioned his friend to the table.

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In the business of supper, the
talisman was partly forgotten, and afterwards

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the three sat listening in an enthralled
fashion to a second installment of the Soldier's

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Adventures in India. If the tale
about the monkey Paw is not more truthful

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than those he has been telling us, said Herbert, as the door clothed

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behind their guests, just in time
for him to catch the last train.

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We sha'n't make much out of it. Did you give him anything for it?

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Father inquired Missus White, regarding her
husband closely. A trifle, said

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he, coloring slightly. He didn't
want it, but I made him take

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it, and he pressed me again
to throw it away. Likely, said

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Herbert, with pretended horror. Why
we're going to be rich and famous and

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happy. Wish to be an emperor
father to begin with? Then you can't

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be hen packed He darted round the
table, pursued by the malign Missus White,

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armed with an Auntie Macassar. Mister
White took the paw from his pocket

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and eyed it dubiously. I don't
know what to wish for, and that's

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a fact, he said slowly.
It seems to me I've got all I

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want. If you only cleared the
house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't

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you, said Herbert, with his
hand on his shoulder. Well, wish

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for two hundred pounds, then that'll
just do it. His father, smiling,

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shamefaced at his own credulity, held
up the talisman, as his son,

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with a solemn face somewhat marred by
a wink at his mother, sat

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down at the piano and struck a
few impressive chords. I wish for two

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hundred pounds, said the old man
distinctly. A fine crash from the piano

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greeted the words, interrupted by a
shuddering cry from the old man. His

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wife and son ran toward him.
It moved, he cried with a glance

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of disgust at the object as it
lay on the floor. As I wished,

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it twisted in my hands like a
snake. Well, I don't see

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the money, said his son,
as he picked it up and placed it

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on the table. And I bet
I never shall. It must have been

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your fancy father, said his wife, regarding him anxiously. He shook his

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head. Never mind, though there's
no harm done. But it gave me

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a shock all the same. They
sat down by the fire again while the

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two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever,

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and the old man started nervously at
the sound of a door banging upstairs.

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A silence, unusual and depressing settled
upon all three, which lasted until the

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old couple rose to retire for the
night. I expect you'll find the cash

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tied up in a big bag in
the middle of your bed, said Herbert,

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as he bade them good night.
And something horrible squatting on top of

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the wardrobe, watching you as you
pocket your ill gotten gains. He sat

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alone in the darkness, gazing at
the dying fire and seeing faces in it.

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The last face was so horrible and
so Simian, that he gazed at

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it in amazement. It got so
vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh,

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he felt on the table for a
glass containing a little water to throw

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over it. His hand grasped the
monkey paw, and with a little shiver,

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he wiped his hand on his coat
and went up to bed. In

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the brightness of the wintry sun next
morning, as it streamed over the breakfast

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table, Herbert laughed at his fears. There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness

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about the room, which it had
lacked on the previous night, and the

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dirty, shriveled little pa was pitched
on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened

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no great belief in its virtues.
I suppose all old soldiers are the same,

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said missus White. The idea of
our listening to such nonsense. How

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could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could

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two hundred pounds hurt you? Father
might drop on his head from the sky,

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said the frivolous Herbert Morris said.
The things happen so naturally, said

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his father, that you might,
if you so wished, attribute it to

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coincidence. Well, don't break into
the money before I come back, said

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Herbert, as he rose from the
table. I'm afraid it'll turn you into

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a mean, avaricious man, and
we shall have to disown you. His

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mother laughed and followed him to the
door, watched him down the road,

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and, returning to the breakfast table, was very happy at the expense of

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her husband credulity, all of which
did not prevent her from scurrying to the

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door at the postman's knock, nor
prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to retired

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Sergeant Major's of bibulous habits when she
found that the post brought a tailor's bell.

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Herbert will have some more of his
funny remarks I expect when he comes

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home, she said, as they
sat at dinner. I dare say,

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said mister White pouring himself out some
beer. But for all of that,

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the thing moved in my hand that
I'll swear to you. Thought it did,

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said the old lady soothingly. I
say it did, replied the other.

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There was no thought about it,
I had, just what's the matter?

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His wife made no reply. She
was watching the mysterious movements of a

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man outside, who, peering in
an undecided fashion at the house, appeared

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to be trying to make up his
mind to enter. In mental connection with

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the two hundred pounds, She noticed
that the stranger was well dressed and wore

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a silk hat of glosses newness.
Three times he paused at the gate and

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then walked on again. The fourth
time he stood with his hand upon it,

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and then, with sudden resolution,
flung it open and walked up the

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path. Missus White, at the
same moment, placed her hands behind her,

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and, hurriedly unfastening the strings of
her apron, put that useful article

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of apparel beneath the cushion of her
chair. She brought the stranger, who

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seemed ill at ease, into the
room. He gazed at her furtively and

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listened in a preoccupied fashion as the
old lady apologized for the appearance of the

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room and her husband's coat, a
garment which he usually reserved for the garden.

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She then waited as patiently as her
sex would permit for him to broach

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his business. But he was at
first strangely silent. I was asked to

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call, he said at last,
and stooped and picked a piece of cotton

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from his trousers. I come from
maw and Meggin's. The old lady started,

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Is anything the matter? She asked, breathlessly. Has anything happened to

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Herbert? What is it? What
is it? Her husband interposed. There

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there, mother, he said,
hastily, sit down and don't jump to

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conclusions. You've not brought bad news. I'm sure, sir, and he

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eyed the other wistfully. I'm sorry, began the visitor. Is he hurt?

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Demanded the mother. The visitor bowed
in assent, badly. Hurt,

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he said, quietly. But he
is not in any pain. Oh,

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thank goodness, said the old woman, clasping her hands. Thank goodness for

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that. Thank She broke off suddenly
as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned

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upon her, and she saw the
awful confirmation of her fears in the other's

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averted face. She caught her breath, and, turning to her slore witted

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husband, laid her trembling old hand
upon his. There was a long silence.

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He was caught in the machinery,
said the visitor at length, in

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a low voice. Caught in the
machinery, repeated mister White in a day's

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fashion. Yes, he sat,
staring blankly out at the window, and

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taking his wife's hand between his own, pressed it, as he had been

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wont to do in their old courting
days nearly forty years before. He was

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the only one left to us,
he said, turning gently to the visitor,

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It is hard. The other coughed, and rising, walked slowly to

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the window. The firm wished me
to convey their sincere sympathy with you and

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your great loss, he said,
without looking round. I beg that you

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will understand I am only their servant
and merely obeying orders. There was no

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reply. The old woman's face was
white, her eyes staring, and her

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breath inaudible. On the husband's face
was a look such as his friend the

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Sergeant, might have carried into his
first action. I was to say that

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Maw and Megannus disclaim all responsibility,
continued the other. They admit no liability

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at all, but in consideration of
your son's services, they wished to present

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you with a certain sum as compensation. Mister White dropped his wife's hand,

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and, rising to his feet,
gazed with a look of horror at his

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visitor. His dry lips shaped the
words, ha, how much two hundred

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pounds was the answer. Unconscious of
his wife's shriek, the old man smiled

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faintly, put out his hands like
a sightless man, and dropped a senseless

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heap to the floor. In the
huge new cemetery some two miles distant,

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the old people buried their dead and
came back to a house steeped in shadow

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and silence. It was all over
so quickly that at first they could hardly

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realize it, and remained in a
state of expectation, as though of something

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else to happen, something else which
was to lighten this load too heavy for

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their old hearts to bear. But
the days passed, and expectation gave place

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to resignation. The hopeless resignation of
the old sometimes miscalled apathy. Sometimes they

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hardly exchanged a word, for now
they had nothing to talk about, and

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their days were long to weariness.
It was about a week after that that

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the old man, waking suddenly in
the night, stretched out his hand and

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found himself alone. The room was
in darkness, and the sound of subdued

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weeping came from the window. He
raised himself in bed and listened. Come

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back, he said, tenderly,
you will be cold. It is colder

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for my son, said the old
woman, and wept afresh. The sound

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of her sobs died away on his
ears. The bed was warm, and

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his eyes heavy with sleep. He
dozed fitfully, and then slept until a

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sudden wild cry from his wife awoke
him with a start. The paw,

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she cried, wildly, the monkey's
paw. He started up in alarm.

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Where where is it? What's the
matter? She came, stumbling across the

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room toward him. I wanted,
she said, quietly. You've not destroyed

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it. It's in the pardor on
the bracket, he replied, marveling.

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Why. She cried and laughed together, and bending over, kissed his cheek.

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I only just thought of it,
she said, hysterically. Why didn't

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I think of it before? Why
didn't you think of it? Think of

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what? He questioned? The other
two wishes, she replied rapidly. We've

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only had one. Was that not
enough, he demanded fiercely. No,

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she cried triumphantly. We'll have one
more. Go down and get it quickly,

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and wish our boy alive again.
The man sat up in bed and

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flung the bedclothes from his quaking limbs. Good, heavens, you're mad,

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he cried. Aghast, get it, she panted, Get it quickly,

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and wish, oh, my boy, my boy. Her husband struck a

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match and lit the candle. Get
back to bed, he said, unsteadily.

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You don't know what you are saying. We had the first wish granted,

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said the old woman feverishly. Why
not the second a coincidence? Stammered

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the old man. Go and get
it and wish, cried the old woman,

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quivering with excitement. The old man
turned and regarded her, and his

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voice shook. He has been dead
ten days, and besides he I would

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not tell you else, but I
could only recognize him by his clothing.

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If he was too terrible for you
to see, then how now? Bring

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him back, cried the old woman, and dragged him toward the door.

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Do you think I fear the child
I have nursed. He went down in

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the darkness and felt his way to
the parlor, and then to the mantelpiece.

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The talisman was in its place,
and a horrible fear that the unspoken

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00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:07,880
wish might bring his mutilated son before
him ere he could escape from the room

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00:19:07,079 --> 00:19:11,599
seized upon him, and he caught
his breath as he found that he had

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lost the direction of the door.
His brow cold with sweat. He felt

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his way round the table and groped
along the wall until he found himself in

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the small passage with the unwholesome thing
in his hand. Even his wife's face

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00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,519
seemed changed as he entered the room. It was white and expectant, and

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who his fears seemed to have an
unnatural look upon it. He was afraid

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of her wish, she cried in
a strong voice. It is a foolish

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00:19:40,839 --> 00:19:45,720
and wicked He faltered. Wish,
repeated his wife. He raised his hand,

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I wish my son alive again.
The talisman fell to the floor,

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and he regarded it fearfully. Then
he sank, trembling into a chair,

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as the old woman with burning eyes
walked to the window and raised the blind.

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He sat until he was chilled with
the cold glancing occasionally at the figure

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00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,559
of the old woman peering through the
window. The candle end, which had

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burnt below the rim of the china
candlestick, was throwing pulsating shadows on the

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ceiling and walls, until, with
a flicker larger than the rest, it

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expired. The old man, with
an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure

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of the talisman, crept back to
his bed, and a minute or two

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afterwards, the old woman came silently
and apathetically beside him. Neither spoke,

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but both lay silently listening to the
ticking of the clock. A stair creaked,

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and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through
the wall. The darkness was oppressive,

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and after lying for some time,
screwing up his courage, the husband

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took the box of matches, and, striking one, went downstairs for a

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candle. At the foot of the
stairs, the match went out, and

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he paused to strike another, and
at the same moment a knock so quiet

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00:21:07,039 --> 00:21:11,960
and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded on the front door. The

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00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,799
matches fell from his hand. He
stood motionless, his breath suspended, until

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00:21:15,839 --> 00:21:21,400
the knock was repeated. Then he
turned and fled swiftly back to his room

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00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,759
and closed the door behind him.
A third knock sounded through the house.

279
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,400
What's that, cried the old woman, starting up. A rat, said

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00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,200
the old man, in shaking tones. A rat. It passed me on

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00:21:33,279 --> 00:21:37,759
the stairs. His wife sat up
in bed, listening. A loud knock

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00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:44,240
resounded through the house. It's Herbert, she screamed, it's Herbert. She

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00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,359
ran to the door, but her
husband was before her, and, catching

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00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,559
her by the arm, held her
tightly. What what are you going to

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00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,200
do, he whispered hoarsely. It's
my boy. It's Herbert, she cried,

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00:21:56,559 --> 00:22:02,559
struggling mechanically. I forgot God,
it was two miles away. What

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00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:07,039
are you holding me for? Let
go? I must open the door for

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00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,759
Heaven's sake. Don't let it in, cried the old man, trembling.

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00:22:11,319 --> 00:22:15,519
You're afraid of your own son,
She cried, struggling, Let me go.

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00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,519
I'm coming, Herbert, I'm coming. There was another knock, and

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00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:23,640
another. The old woman, with
a sudden wrench, broke free and ran

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00:22:23,759 --> 00:22:29,160
from the room. Her husband followed
to the landing and called after her appealingly.

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00:22:29,279 --> 00:22:32,920
As she hurried downstairs. He heard
the chain rattle back, and the

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00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,279
bottom bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from
the socket. Then the old woman's voice,

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00:22:37,279 --> 00:22:41,559
strained and panting the bolt. She
cried loudly, come down, I

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00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,799
can't reach it. But her husband
was on his hands and knees, groping

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00:22:45,839 --> 00:22:51,119
wildly on the floor in search of
the paw, if he could only find

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00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:56,839
it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillat of knocks reverberated through

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00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,759
the house, and he heard the
scraping of a chair as he wife put

300
00:23:00,759 --> 00:23:03,960
it down in the passage against the
door. He heard the creaking of the

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00:23:04,039 --> 00:23:08,160
bolt as it came slowly back,
and at the same moment he found the

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00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:15,759
monkey's paw and frantically breathed his third
and last wish. The knocking ceased suddenly,

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00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,079
although the echoes of it were still
in the house. He heard the

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00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:26,039
chair drawn back and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the staircase,

305
00:23:26,759 --> 00:23:30,839
and a long, loud wail of
disappointment and misery from his wife gave

306
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:37,480
him courage to run down to her
side and bend to the gate beyond the

307
00:23:37,519 --> 00:23:45,240
street. Lamp flickering opposite shone on
a quiet and deserted road end of the Monkey's Paw