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Speaker 1: The man who lived next door to himself by Frank Owen,

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I had not lived in the old house on Sheridan Square.

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A week before I received a visit from my next

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door neighbor, and at once my interest was aroused. His

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name was Aladina Vizeraine, and he was full blooded Persian

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from Sultanabad. Never have I met a man who was

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more learned and cultured than he. The Oriental and the

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Occidental had contributed their best to his knowledge. He was

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both a doctor of medicine and philosophy, and an ardent

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devotee of research work of any kind. There was nothing

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about his appearance that would have caused comment as he

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passed along the street, unless one remarked on his finely molded,

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clear cut features and the intense brilliance of his keen

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black eyes. He dressed simply in dark clothes of American make,

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and the quietness of his manner gave him dignity and

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even charm. His voice was as distinct and clear as

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though he had studied elocution for years, Yet so soft

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did he speak, though words seem to be but echoes

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of a dream. Since we are evidently to be neighbors,

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for a considerable time, he said slowly. I thought it

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would not be out of place for me to call

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and introduce myself. As a rule, when a man moves

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into a country town, all the neighbors visit him almost immediately.

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This is not the custom in the city. Yet, how

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much more loathsome and cold is the great metropolis. To

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walk among crowds and to behold no familiar face is

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worse than to journey alone through the desert. At my invitation,

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he seated himself in a great chair by the side

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of the open hearth, a companion one to mine, and

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together we talked about a miscellania of trivial things until

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an unearthly hour. It was, I thought, the beginning of

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a friendship which was to continue for many a long day.

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But if I had known that evening, how close that

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friendship was destined to be, my eyes would have bulged

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from their sockets in stark, raving terror. That evening was

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one of many which we spent together. We had much

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in common, we found, for we were both writers, and

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both of us were intensely interested in unusual things. For years,

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said Aladdin of Vishrain one evening, as we sat smoking

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cigars before the fire in my rooms. I have been

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somewhat a student of psychology, psychoanalysis, spiritualism, and the transition

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of souls. In our religion, we are all like children.

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The Christian scoff at the Yogi and the Theosophist, the

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Buddhists and the Mohammedans look down on people of all

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other religions? Is it not amusing every man thinks his

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own belief is the true religion. The south Sea islander

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worshiping the moon and the stars, and the Siamese refusing

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to kill rattlesnakes and looking with awe at sacred tigers,

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the natives of India bowing before sick white elephants. Is

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not life a most interesting enigma? We imagine that we

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have advanced a great deal since the Stone Age, but

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have we actually progressed at all? Does not the recent

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European conflict prove that the caveman is still very much

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alive within us? The changes recorded have been solely in

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exterior things such as stress and manners. Man scoffed at

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Morse when he spoke of his telegraph. But it came

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to be, and now we have radio as well. We

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have learned to pick up messages from the very ether

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about us. Someday other things will be accomplished quite easily,

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which are now only spoken of in theory. Science is

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still very much in its infancy. For more than ten years,

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I have believed that it would be possible for two

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men to exchange their souls if they were in the

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proper key, in perfect harmony, and tuned with one another.

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That is to say, to put it more concisely, I

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believe that it might be possible for your soul to

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enter my body and my soul to enter your body.

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And when I speak of a soul, I mean all

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that intangible part of a person that is mental, his mind, thoughts,

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likes and dislikes, ideas, et cetera. The great Caruso used

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to tap a glass with a knife and then sing

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the same note as came from the tinkling glass. When

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the two notes met at exactly the same moment, the

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glass was shattered to atoms. You see, the notes opposed

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each other. Now, if two natures or souls were in

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perfect harmony, without opposition of any kind, who knows what

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might be accomplished if the impulse of both were toward

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the same object. I am deeply interested in what you say.

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I told him it is a rather wild theory. But

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I am sufficient of a scientist never to laugh at anything.

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Only fools ridicule that which they do not understand. I

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am glad to hear you speak like that, he went on,

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for had your manner been otherwise, I would have turned

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dominated the present conversation when I finished speaking a moment ago. However,

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since you are so obviously interested, I will proceed to

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acquaint you with my theory. As he spoke, he drew

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from his pocket a round crystal ball, about three inches

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in diameter. It was so clear and polished that it

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shone in the fire glow like a great round diamond.

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It was so clear and polished that it shone in

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the fire glow like a great round diamond. This thoughts

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fear came from the east, he said slowly. And there

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are many legendary tales connected with it. It is said

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that he who possesses it can have what he desires.

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Whether or not there is any truth in this, I

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cannot say. And yet you are my friend. Our personalities

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are in harmony, and that is all I desire. If

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you are agreeable, we will attempt right now to materialize

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my theory. He did not wait for me to assent.

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He took my acquiescence for granted. He walked over and

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placed the ball in the center of the small teakwood table.

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Then he placed two chairs beside the table so that

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they were directly opposite each other. As he did so,

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he said, come, and who knows, perhaps it will be

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your good fortune to be a participant in one of

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the greatest discoveries of the age. He seated himself at

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the table. Before you sit down, he directed, swish off

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the lights for a room in darkness save for the

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glow of the fire. He is far more fitting for

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such an experiment as we are to attempt, than one

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that is brilliantly lighted. After doing as he desired, plunging

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the room in semi darkness, I sat down opposite him.

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Now he said, slowly, you must concentrate your whole mind

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on this experiment. KU says that the imagination controls the will.

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Perhaps he is right. I never argue, but I think

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the imagination and the will both react on one another.

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We are desirous of exchanging souls, or perhaps I should

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say personalities, for the word soul at best is a

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rather ambiguous term suited mostly to the art of poets.

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You must let your gaze rest intently on the crystal ball.

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You must will it to make the exchange, and you

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must let your imagination make you believe that the exchange

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has been effected. I will do the same thing. And

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if we can make our desires coincide perfectly at the

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exact moment through the medium of the crystal ball, what

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we desire will assuredly come to pass. It is written

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that a man can have what he wishes if he

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wants it sufficiently enough. He ceased speaking, and we both

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focused our gaze intently on the crystal ball. The room

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was in utter silence. It was in the back of

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the house, so no discordant sound from the street shattered

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the solitude, which was so intense that it seemed to

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hang about the room in folds, and the far corners

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of the room seemed to be enveloped in curtains of

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velvet black. No object was discernible except that queer little

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crystal globulate, which shimmered fantastically in the fire glow, seeming

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to scintillate with a dozen different prismatic colors. And now,

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as we sat staring at it. It suddenly commenced to

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glow with a strange blue light. All the other tones

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of color faded. Evidently the fire in the grate had

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burned low, and only a bit of blue flame remained.

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And yet the color of the crystal ball increased steadily.

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The light intensified. It was almost blinding. It blurred my vision.

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Everything grew hazy, as though I were enveloped in a fog.

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The silence was as cold as death. I seemed to

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be losing consciousness. Then steadily the crystal ball came back

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into focus again, My vision cleared, the blue flame had

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died out, and again the scintillating colors returned. It was

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the most odd experience, But odter still was the realization

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that I was gazing at the crystal ball from the

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other side of the table. It was as though I

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had changed my seat. With a cry of surprise, I

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jumped to my feet, for I knew that I had

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not moved since I had seated myself at the table.

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As I rose, I knocked over the table and the

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crystal ball crashed to the ground and was shattered into

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a thousand glittering pieces. This rain quickly switched on the lights.

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What have you done? He fairly shrieked. Now we are

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engulfed in a frightful calamity. We can never again get

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back our own personalities. As I looked into his eyes,

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my blood turned cold, for I was gazing into my

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own face. The experiment had proved successful. I scarcely know

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how to set down the events that followed. There is

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so much that I would like to write, so much

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I wished to record, and yet it is hard to

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set down the things that have an important bearing on

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my particular case. For a while that night, vis Rain

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and I raved about that room as though we were mad.

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We cursed and raved as though we had ceased to

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be human. Often we hear folks envying each other, expressing

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a desire to be in someone else's place. Now that

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particular position had been vouchsafed to me, and I found

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little pleasure in it. I longed to be in my

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own body again. The body, at best is but a

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shell in which we live. But it is the shell

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by which we are known, the tangible thing by which

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our friends recognize us. Probably the day will eventually come

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when men will cease to form opinions and impressions from exteriors. Again,

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we had raved about the room for an hour, or

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perhaps it was longer, for neither of us had any

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thought of time. We sat down beside the open fire

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again and tried to sanely reason out the strange problem

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with which we were confronted. We had changed bodies. I

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say we advisedly, because the real old man lives inside

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each one of us. The smug, hypocritical smile, and the

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exaggerated burst of assumed enthusiasm are not the earmarks of

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a real person. This Rain's soul and personality were within

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my body, but nevertheless, he was still this Rain. After

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we had talked and argued and theorized for a great while,

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we finally decided that we would change houses voluntarily, even

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as we had changed bodies. This would mechanically prevent people

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from talking, and besides, we were not to be inconvenienced

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in the slightest because we could visit back and forth

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as often as we desired. It was thus that I

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found myself in the peculiar position of living next door

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to myself. Luckily, both Visrain and I lived alone, so

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there was no one to complicate matters. Although that is

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not strictly true. For Visrain had a Japanese servant named Koto,

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who was the very acme off. He seemed to anticipate

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his master's every want, and it was a source of

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keen enjoyment to be waited on by him. My nearest

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relative Dwelt in San Francisco, an aunt with whom I

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never corresponded. She was as interested in me as though

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I did not exist at all, And as for myself,

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I heartily reciprocated the compliment. I was not anxious to

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build up a friendship with the eccentric old lady, because

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I realized that by so doing I might be bothered

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with visits from her, and this I wish to avoid.

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At best. I have but little patience, and can only

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tolerate people with whom I have much in common. Such

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a person was Vera Gray, an artist who lived in

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Greenwich Village and earned a splendid living drawing cover designs

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for the national magazines. Vera was a girl in a million,

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a deep thinker, and at the same same time more

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beautiful than any of the mudels who posed for her.

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She had skin like old ivory, and the olive tone

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to her complexion, together with her wondrous taste in dress

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made of her a most alluring girl. She was tall

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and slim, and her white hands were the most graceful

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and expressive I have ever beheld. They made almost a

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symphony in loveliness. I suppose I am writing rather madly,

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Yet I assure you I am sane enough. I have

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recently been examined by three alienists, and while they admit

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that I am somewhat queer, they have unanimously stated that

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my mentality is far above the average. But I am

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getting ahead of my story. It is hard, when writing

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a narrative of this sort to keep the sequence of

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events in their proper order. Although I hated to mention

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Vera Gray to his reign, I knew that I had

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to do so, for if I had disappeared entirely, she

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would have immediately raised an alarm and publicity more than

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anything else we desired to avoid. You must call on

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Vera Gray, I told VI Rain, and I think it

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might be wise for me to accompany you. That will

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help to lessen the chances of your making a bad blunder.

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Talk very little, and consult me whenever the opportunity presents itself.

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At this interview. We must be extremely careful. A few

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evenings later we visited Vera. Gray Luck was with us,

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for there were several other persons in her apartment, and

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00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,200
one young fellow in particular, Gordon Harris, wished to do

241
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:54,120
all the talking. He went into ecstasies over Vera's paintings

242
00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,519
and had something to say about every one she exhibited.

243
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,240
Only once did she I get an opportunity to converse together.

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I am delighted that you came tonight, she said, sincerely,

245
00:17:07,039 --> 00:17:10,960
because you interest me in a rather strange way. You

246
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,039
seem to remind me of someone I know very well.

247
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,079
Yet I am positive that I have never beheld your

248
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,839
face before until tonight. Sometime, I hope you will come

249
00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,720
to tea and we can have a rather interesting chat

250
00:17:24,759 --> 00:17:29,640
together when none of these ceaseless talkers are present. I

251
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,640
suppose it is rather unconventional for me to invite you

252
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,480
when you are a total stranger to me, But I

253
00:17:35,519 --> 00:17:38,200
feel that we have something in common, as though we

254
00:17:38,319 --> 00:17:44,319
knew each other years ago. She laughed softly. Perhaps, she said,

255
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,720
the theosophists are right, after all, and you and I

256
00:17:47,799 --> 00:17:52,319
were friends more than ten thousand years ago. I had

257
00:17:52,319 --> 00:17:55,319
no time to answer for Gordon Harris came and claimed

258
00:17:55,319 --> 00:17:58,279
her attention, and I cannot say that I was sorry

259
00:17:58,519 --> 00:18:02,279
for under the circumstances to such a speech. What is

260
00:18:02,319 --> 00:18:07,599
there for me to say? As we walked home, another

261
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:12,119
complication arose. This Rain confessed to me that he loved her.

262
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,319
She is the most adorably perfect girl I have ever known,

263
00:18:16,559 --> 00:18:20,039
he told me, And I am the most miserable of men,

264
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,920
no doubt. As long as my personality is in your body,

265
00:18:24,279 --> 00:18:27,200
I could go in and win her. But I hate

266
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,240
the deception, and I wouldn't want to do anything that

267
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,920
was unfair to you. For already I think I have

268
00:18:34,079 --> 00:18:39,400
caused you trouble enough. But despite his words to the contrary,

269
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,400
this Rain did make love to Vera Gray, and she

270
00:18:42,599 --> 00:18:45,839
seemed far more attracted to him than she had ever

271
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,000
been to me. I am never unhappy when I am

272
00:18:50,039 --> 00:18:53,519
with you, she told him frankly, No matter how trivial

273
00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,960
is the subject we discuss, I am always interested. You

274
00:18:58,079 --> 00:19:02,160
used to bore me sometimes, but now all that has passed.

275
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:08,400
This Rain placed his arm about her. Something stronger than life,

276
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:12,359
stronger than death, is drawing us together, he breathed tensely.

277
00:19:13,599 --> 00:19:18,039
There is no use in either of us fighting against it.

278
00:19:18,039 --> 00:19:22,000
It is destiny Allah wills that we should live united.

279
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,640
He drew her, unresisting to him. Promise me. He said

280
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,079
that you will marry me before summer comes, And in

281
00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:38,039
a fit of recklessness, she promised. Late that night, this

282
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,039
rain made known his perfidity to me. In all fairness

283
00:19:42,079 --> 00:19:45,640
to him, I must admit that he confessed everything quite openly.

284
00:19:47,079 --> 00:19:50,839
There is no use fighting against love, he cried. It

285
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,960
is the most subtle, poisoned known. Do you think I

286
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,680
am happy? I am the most miserable man in all

287
00:19:57,759 --> 00:20:01,240
the world. First, I rob you of your now, I

288
00:20:01,279 --> 00:20:04,519
have robbed you of your love. Nowhere on earth is

289
00:20:04,599 --> 00:20:07,799
there so vile a thief as I. But I am

290
00:20:07,839 --> 00:20:12,279
poisoned by love. I cannot. I will not live without

291
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:18,119
vera gray Yet I am unworthy of her. He stormed

292
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,400
and raged up and down the room like a caged beast.

293
00:20:22,039 --> 00:20:25,319
I said no word, because I realized that none was needed.

294
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,680
His own conscience was scouring his soul far worse than

295
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,680
anything I could have said. I just sat there, carved

296
00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,799
of stone, watching the torment which he was suffering. His

297
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,200
eyes glistened as though he were almost mad. He tore

298
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,559
up and down the room, as though he wished to

299
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,319
escape from himself. But that is not strictly true. He

300
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,799
was unhappy because he wished to escape from myself. It

301
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,720
was my body which had caused him all his sorrow.

302
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,640
Finally I arose from my chair. I think I will

303
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,440
go to bed, I told him simply. He made no answer,

304
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,359
and I left the room and walked back to the

305
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:12,359
house next door. He in five minutes. I was in bed,

306
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,880
but I could not sleep. I lay and tossed upon

307
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,839
my pillow, as though I were the victim of acute insomnia.

308
00:21:20,279 --> 00:21:24,759
And yet somehow, although I feigned weariness, I knew that

309
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,680
I was really far from sleep. There seemed to be

310
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,880
an ominous silence in the air, a calm such as

311
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:37,079
might proceed a deadly tropical storm. It seemed to me

312
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,960
as though some dreadful calamity was imminent. But what that

313
00:21:41,079 --> 00:21:46,160
calamity was, I had not the faintest idea My room

314
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,720
was as dark as the inside of a coffin. I

315
00:21:49,759 --> 00:21:53,240
could not distinguish a thing because of the heavy curtains,

316
00:21:53,599 --> 00:21:57,880
which were carefully drawn across the windows. The blackness was

317
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,160
so intense that it seemed people with all sorts of

318
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:06,920
wild wraiths and distorted forms. I knew the hallucinations were

319
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,960
but the imagining of my overwrought nerves. Yet the great

320
00:22:11,079 --> 00:22:14,599
bulk of blackness seemed to bear down upon me as

321
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,200
though it were a solid thing. I felt as though

322
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,279
I were suffocating, as though I were engulfed alive in

323
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,440
a pit of blackness. My forehead was cold with a

324
00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:29,079
dank sweat, and my hands shook as though I were

325
00:22:29,079 --> 00:22:32,880
a hundred years old. I switched on the electric lights

326
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,960
and looked at my face, or rather, I should say

327
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:42,519
Visrain's face in the mirror. It was ashen gray. Hastily

328
00:22:42,559 --> 00:22:47,000
I dressed. I seemed impelled onward by some great hidden force.

329
00:22:48,079 --> 00:22:51,279
When I had finished dressing, I crept cautiously down the stairs.

330
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,519
I was careful to make no sound that would awaken Koto,

331
00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,079
who slept in a little room off the lower hall silent.

332
00:23:00,559 --> 00:23:02,799
I crept from the house and stole to the house

333
00:23:02,839 --> 00:23:06,759
next door. I unlocked the front door and entered like

334
00:23:06,799 --> 00:23:10,279
a thief. I had no trouble in effecting an entrance.

335
00:23:10,319 --> 00:23:13,640
Because this Rain and I carried keys to both houses.

336
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,759
We believed it would more readily facilitate matters if we

337
00:23:17,799 --> 00:23:21,960
did so. Inside, I found the light in the living

338
00:23:22,039 --> 00:23:26,200
room still burning. I walked to the threshold, and there

339
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,599
I stopped, as though frozen to ice. And well I might,

340
00:23:30,839 --> 00:23:33,400
for the sight which I beheld was the most awful

341
00:23:33,799 --> 00:23:39,440
man ever gazed upon. In the chair was my own body.

342
00:23:39,599 --> 00:23:43,079
Blood was trickling sluggishly from a bullet wound in the

343
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,400
right temple. By the side of the table lay a

344
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:51,160
revolver facing a problem which he could not solve. This

345
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,319
rain had blown out his brains. For one brief moment

346
00:23:55,359 --> 00:24:00,000
I gazed at the ghastly sight. Then my overwrought nerves brod,

347
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,720
and I slipped to the floor, unconscious. How long I

348
00:24:04,799 --> 00:24:07,400
remained so I do not know, for when I opened

349
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,000
my eyes it was broad daylight. In the chair, the

350
00:24:11,039 --> 00:24:15,039
body still sat, and I imagined an eerie smile hovered

351
00:24:15,079 --> 00:24:17,839
over the rigid lips, as though it were grinning at me.

352
00:24:19,039 --> 00:24:23,160
I rose to my feet. My head ached dully, and

353
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,839
I walked like a man who had been ill for ages.

354
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:31,720
I could scarcely drag one foot after the other. I

355
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,480
seated myself in a chair opposite the lifeless body and

356
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,359
stared at it as though my very gaze could rekindle

357
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:44,319
it with life again. Now my predicament was worse than ever.

358
00:24:45,319 --> 00:24:49,160
My body was dead, sitting grotesquely before me in a

359
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,559
great chair. I was surprised that the expression on its

360
00:24:53,559 --> 00:24:58,400
face could ever be so frightful. Lost to me, also

361
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,200
was my friend. What had happened to his soul? I

362
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,200
did not know. Perhaps it also was in the room

363
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,640
with me. I shuddered as I thought that now his

364
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,799
rain would try to reclaim his body. The days that

365
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,640
immediately followed I can only look back on as a nightmare.

366
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,559
I did not employ an undertaker to embomb the body,

367
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,000
nor did I make any attempt to see that it

368
00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:30,839
was decently buried. Under the circumstances, I doubt if any

369
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,599
one else would have done so either. Despite the ghastly,

370
00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:41,319
blood clotted, repulsive face, the body was mine and I

371
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,680
was still alive. I could not make myself believe that

372
00:25:45,759 --> 00:25:50,880
my body was really dead. As the days dragged on,

373
00:25:51,319 --> 00:25:54,839
I found myself more and more often creeping into the

374
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,160
house next door to gaze into that face, which was

375
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:03,519
turning a sickly blue. Sometimes I used to frantically shake

376
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,519
the loathesome corpse, as though it were only sleeping, and

377
00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:11,440
that if I tried hard enough, I could awaken it.

378
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,599
It drew me to it like a magnet. Many a

379
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,559
night I remained with the hideous thing till dawn. I

380
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,799
think at the time I must have been slightly insane. Yet,

381
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,799
as I have written, three alienists have recently examined me,

382
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,440
and they pronounced my mind to be in excellent condition. Still,

383
00:26:31,519 --> 00:26:35,680
my actions were not those of a sane person. I

384
00:26:35,799 --> 00:26:38,680
used to sit and talk to the corpse by the hour.

385
00:26:39,559 --> 00:26:44,279
I argued and expostulated with it. Sometimes I attempted to

386
00:26:44,319 --> 00:26:48,599
make it eat and drink. Once I even succeeded in

387
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,799
pouring a bit of liquor through the set lips. A

388
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,400
thing which gave me hope was the fact that the

389
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,960
beard on the face continued to grow. How could a

390
00:26:59,039 --> 00:27:02,799
corpse be dead, I argued, and the beard still grow.

391
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,920
I have since learned that it is a perfectly natural phenomenon,

392
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,240
that it is quite usual for a man's hair to

393
00:27:11,319 --> 00:27:15,319
grow after he has ceased to live. And now it

394
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,559
seemed to me that my cup of despair was filled

395
00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:22,319
to the brim, that no further calamity could be added

396
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,039
to it. Yet the figure had still another horror in

397
00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:30,359
store for me. One night, as I bent over the corpse,

398
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,640
I suddenly became conscious that I was not alone in

399
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:38,119
the house. I had not heard a sound, nor had

400
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,440
I caught the faintest glimpse of anyone. But still I

401
00:27:41,599 --> 00:27:44,799
was sure there was at least one other person in

402
00:27:44,839 --> 00:27:50,079
the house besides myself. At such moments, it seems as

403
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,720
though a man has a supernatural sixth sense buried in

404
00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:58,839
his subconscious mind, which warns him of approaching danger. To

405
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,440
say I was shocked would not nearly have described my condition.

406
00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:06,920
I was in a panic. Fear made of me a

407
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,799
total wreck. The very marrow froze in my bones, and

408
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,039
I felt as sick and weak, as though I were

409
00:28:15,079 --> 00:28:19,799
a plague victim. Even in my fear, I realized that

410
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,599
I was in a most unexplainable position, unless the hidden

411
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,599
personage should prove to be the soul of Alladina Visrayn.

412
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,240
As the thought came to me, the curtains at the

413
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,119
end of the room parted slightly, and through the opening

414
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,039
I could see the muzzle of a revolver leveled directly

415
00:28:37,079 --> 00:28:41,359
at me. As I beheld it, I quickly switched off

416
00:28:41,359 --> 00:28:46,440
the electric lights plunging the room into absolute darkness. Then

417
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,480
I made a wild leap for the other door. But

418
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,759
in the darkness I tripped over the corpse with such

419
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,079
force that I dragged it from the chair, and together

420
00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,400
we fell to the floor with a dull thud. Now

421
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,519
had me absolutely in its power, I lost my reason.

422
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,759
Instead of trying to get away, I commenced wrestling with

423
00:29:08,839 --> 00:29:12,279
a lifeless body, and as I wrestled, there came to

424
00:29:12,359 --> 00:29:17,599
my already weakened nerves another severe shock. As we writhed

425
00:29:17,599 --> 00:29:21,359
about the floor, two hands clutched at my throat and

426
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,880
anchored there with a frightful grip. It seemed as though

427
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,559
the dead had come back to life again. Then other

428
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,519
hands grasped my arms and legs. There seemed to be

429
00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:38,200
at least a half dozen bodies bending over me. In

430
00:29:38,319 --> 00:29:43,240
that moment, my strength seemed to multiply. Dread made of

431
00:29:43,319 --> 00:29:48,799
me a formidable opponent. I became a machine. I flung

432
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:54,039
my arms about in every direction like flails. Sometimes my

433
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,720
fists crashed against warm flesh, and I could hear the

434
00:29:57,759 --> 00:30:02,240
grunts of my adversaries as the blo struck home. But

435
00:30:02,279 --> 00:30:07,559
the hands around my throat gripped tighter I could scarcely breathe.

436
00:30:07,759 --> 00:30:11,039
I struggled terribly for breath. For one bit of air,

437
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,119
I would have given all I possessed in the world. Finally,

438
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:19,559
someone mercifully turned on the lights, and to my horror,

439
00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:24,680
I found myself surrounded by policemen, none too gently. They

440
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,000
slipped a pair of handcuffs over my wrists, but I

441
00:30:28,079 --> 00:30:31,359
did not care for the one who held my throat

442
00:30:31,799 --> 00:30:37,200
released his grip and I could breathe again. Now I

443
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,759
am sitting in a prison cell. I am to be

444
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,559
tried next week for murder, the murder of my own self.

445
00:30:44,759 --> 00:30:47,200
They would not allow me to be released on bail,

446
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,799
for in the eyes of the world, I have taken

447
00:30:49,799 --> 00:30:54,039
a human life. Ever since my disappearance, detectives have been

448
00:30:54,079 --> 00:30:58,279
searching for me. It was Vera Gray who raised the alarm.

449
00:30:58,759 --> 00:31:01,200
Now I am writing the truth story of all that

450
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:05,160
has transpired. I intend to present it at my trial.

451
00:31:06,279 --> 00:31:09,400
What the verdict will be, I cannot say, nor do

452
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,720
I really care. For they have buried my body, and

453
00:31:12,839 --> 00:31:16,599
Vera has gone into mourning because she believes I am dead.

454
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,119
Even if I am acquitted, What does a future hold

455
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,039
in store for me? I have been examined by three

456
00:31:25,079 --> 00:31:29,480
alienists since I have been in prison. They are unanimous

457
00:31:29,519 --> 00:31:34,599
in declaring me, saying, perhaps this will help my case somewhat.

458
00:31:35,599 --> 00:31:39,079
I also intend to see Vera. I shall recall to

459
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,960
her countless little incidents that happened in the past, that

460
00:31:43,039 --> 00:31:47,880
are known only to her and me. I believe in time,

461
00:31:48,319 --> 00:31:52,200
when my story becomes known, I will be acquitted, but

462
00:31:52,319 --> 00:31:55,440
it may take months. And afterwards. What have I to

463
00:31:55,519 --> 00:32:00,519
look forward to? Nothing but memories, memories of very which

464
00:32:00,519 --> 00:32:04,680
are sadly beautiful, Memories of my dead bodies sitting upright

465
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,920
in the house next door, which are so ghastly that

466
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,960
they will haunt me forever. I will be just a poor,

467
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,920
broken down bit of humanity, a man who once lived

468
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,240
next door to himself and has ceased to be happy

469
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:25,440
now that his neighbor is gone. The End of the

470
00:32:25,599 --> 00:32:29,000
Man who lived next door to Himself by Frank Owen