1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: A difficult problem by Anna Catherine Greene. 2 00:00:04,679 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 2: A lady to see you, sir. I looked up and 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,919 was at once impressed by the grace and beauty of 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,679 the person thus introduced to me. Is there anything I 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,640 can do to serve you? I asked, rising. She cast 6 00:00:18,679 --> 00:00:21,879 me a childlike look, full of trust and candor, as 7 00:00:21,879 --> 00:00:23,480 she seated herself in the chair. 8 00:00:23,519 --> 00:00:27,559 Speaker 3: I pointed out to her, I believe so, I hope so. 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:29,519 Speaker 2: She earnestly assured me. 10 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: I I am in great trouble. I've just lost my husband. 11 00:00:33,799 --> 00:00:36,560 But it is not that. It's the slip of paper 12 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,560 I found on my dresser, and. 13 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 2: Which which she was trembling violently, and her words were 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,799 fast becoming incoherent. I calmed her and asked her to 15 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,159 relate her story just as it had happened, and after 16 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,640 a few minutes of silent struggle, she succeeded in collecting 17 00:00:54,679 --> 00:00:58,759 herself sufficiently to respond with some degree of connection and 18 00:00:58,840 --> 00:00:59,719 self possession. 19 00:01:00,439 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: I have been married six months. My name is Lucy Holmes. 20 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,359 For the last few weeks, my husband and myself have 21 00:01:07,439 --> 00:01:10,079 been living in an apartment house on fifty ninth Street, 22 00:01:10,599 --> 00:01:12,319 and as we had not a care in the world. 23 00:01:12,359 --> 00:01:15,640 We were very happy till mister Holmes was called away 24 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,120 on business to Philadelphia. This was two weeks ago. Five 25 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,879 days later I received an affectionate letter from him, in 26 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,920 which he promised to come back the next day, and 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,079 the news so delighted me that I accepted an invitation 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,400 to the theater from some intimate friends of ours. The 29 00:01:33,439 --> 00:01:36,920 next morning. I naturally felt fatigued and rose late, but 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,040 I was very cheerful, for I expected my husband at noon. 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,560 And now comes the perplexing mystery. In the course of 32 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,159 dressing myself, I stepped to my bureau, and, seeing a 33 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,319 small newspaper slip attached to the cushion by a pin, 34 00:01:51,599 --> 00:01:54,439 I drew it off and read it. It was a 35 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,920 death notice, and my hair rose and my limbs failed 36 00:01:57,959 --> 00:02:01,239 me as I took in its fatal and incredible words. 37 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,760 Died this day at the Colonnade. James Forsyth de Witt Holmes, 38 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,199 New York Papers, Please copy. James Forsyth de Wit Holmes 39 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,479 was my husband, and his last letter, which was at 40 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,919 that very moment lying beside the cushion, had been dated 41 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,560 from the Colonnade. Was I dreaming or under the spell 42 00:02:22,599 --> 00:02:26,159 of some frightful hallucination, which led me to misread the 43 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,400 name on the slip of paper before me I could 44 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,639 not determine. My head, throat, and chest seemed bound about 45 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,240 with iron, so that I could neither speak nor breathe 46 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,240 with freedom and suffering. Thus I stood staring at this 47 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,759 demoniacal piece of paper, which in an instant had brought 48 00:02:43,759 --> 00:02:47,319 the shadow of death upon my happy life. Nor was 49 00:02:47,319 --> 00:02:49,840 I at all relieved when a little later I flew 50 00:02:49,879 --> 00:02:53,360 with the notice into a neighbor's apartment, and, praying her 51 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,120 to read it for me, found that my eyes had 52 00:02:56,159 --> 00:03:00,000 not deceived me, and that the name was indeed my husband's, 53 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,319 and the notice one of death. Not from my own mind, 54 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:08,479 but from hers. Came the first suggestion of comfort. It 55 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,280 cannot be your husband who is meant, said she, but 56 00:03:11,439 --> 00:03:13,879 some one of the same name. Your husband wrote to 57 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,400 you yesterday. And this person must have been dead at 58 00:03:16,479 --> 00:03:19,240 least two days for the printed notice of his decease 59 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,400 to have reached New York. Some one has remarked the 60 00:03:22,439 --> 00:03:26,080 striking similarity of names, and, wishing to startle you, cut 61 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,520 the slip out and pinned it on your cushion. I 62 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,360 certainly knew of no one inconsiderate enough to do this. 63 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,120 But the explanation was so plausible I at once embraced 64 00:03:36,159 --> 00:03:39,840 it and sobbed aloud in my relief. But in the 65 00:03:39,879 --> 00:03:42,800 midst of my rejoicing, I heard the bell ring in 66 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:47,759 my apartment, and running thither, encountered a telegraph boy holding 67 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,599 in his outstretched hand the yellow envelope which so often 68 00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:56,039 bespeaks death or disaster. The sight took my breath away. 69 00:03:56,719 --> 00:03:59,719 Summoning my maid, whom I saw hastening towards me from 70 00:03:59,719 --> 00:04:02,879 an inn room, I begged her to open the telegram 71 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,800 for me. Sir, I saw in her face before she 72 00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:10,120 had read the first line a confirmation of my very 73 00:04:10,159 --> 00:04:12,719 worst fears. My husband was. 74 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,319 Speaker 2: The young widow, choked with her emotions, paused, recovered herself 75 00:04:18,319 --> 00:04:19,480 for the second time. 76 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:23,639 Speaker 1: And then went on, I had better show you the telegram. 77 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 2: Taking it from her pocket book, she held it towards me. 78 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,279 I read it at a glance. It was short, simple 79 00:04:30,439 --> 00:04:34,839 and direct. Come at once. Your husband found dead in 80 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,879 his room this morning, doctor Sehart disease. 81 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 3: Please telegraph you see it says this morning, she explained, 82 00:04:43,519 --> 00:04:45,399 placing her delicate finger on the word. 83 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 2: She so eagerly quoted. 84 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,439 Speaker 1: That means a week ago Wednesday, the same day on 85 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,360 which the printed slip recording his death was found on 86 00:04:53,439 --> 00:04:57,120 my cushion. Do you not see something very strange in this? 87 00:04:58,439 --> 00:05:01,519 Speaker 2: I did, But before I ventured to express myself on 88 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,360 this subject, I desired her to tell me what she 89 00:05:04,439 --> 00:05:08,600 had learned in her visit to Philadelphia. Her answer was 90 00:05:08,639 --> 00:05:09,360 simple and. 91 00:05:09,319 --> 00:05:13,319 Speaker 1: Straightforward, but little more than you found in this telegram. 92 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,600 He died in his room. He was found lying on 93 00:05:16,639 --> 00:05:19,040 the floor near the bell button, which he had evidently 94 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,920 risen to touch. One hand was clenched on his chest, 95 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,759 but his face wore a peaceful look, as if death 96 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,199 had come too suddenly to cause him much suffering. His 97 00:05:29,319 --> 00:05:33,480 bed was undisturbed. He had died before retiring, possibly in 98 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,439 the act of packing his trunk, for it was found 99 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,600 nearly ready for the expressman. Indeed, there was every evidence 100 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:43,279 of his intention to leave on an early morning train. 101 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,959 He had even desired to be awakened at six o'clock, 102 00:05:47,639 --> 00:05:50,120 and it was his failure to respond to the summons 103 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,439 of the bell boy which led to so early a 104 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,000 discovery of his death. He had never complained of any 105 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,160 distress in breathing, and we had always considered him a 106 00:05:59,199 --> 00:06:02,759 perfectly healthy man. But there was no reason for assigning 107 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,759 any other cause than heart failure to his sudden death, 108 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:09,600 And so the burial certificate was made out to that effect, 109 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,279 and I was allowed to bring him home and bury 110 00:06:12,319 --> 00:06:13,839 him in our vault at Woodlawn. 111 00:06:14,439 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 2: But and here her earnestness dried up the tears which 112 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,480 had been flowing freely during this recital of her husband's 113 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,279 lonely death and sad burial. 114 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 1: Do you not think an investigation should be made into 115 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,360 a death preceded by a false obituary notice? For I 116 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,120 found when I was in Philadelphia that no paragraph such 117 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,399 as I had found pinned to my cushion had been 118 00:06:37,439 --> 00:06:41,160 inserted in any paper there, nor had any other man 119 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:44,639 of the same name ever registered at the Colonnade, much 120 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:45,600 less died there. 121 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 2: Have you this notice with you, I asked. She immediately 122 00:06:51,079 --> 00:06:55,160 produced it, and, while I was glancing it over, remarked. 123 00:06:55,639 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: Some persons would give a superstitious explanation to the whole matter. 124 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,480 Think I had received a supernatural warning and been satisfied 125 00:07:03,519 --> 00:07:07,319 with what they would call a spiritual manifestation. But I 126 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,000 have not a bit of such folly in my composition. 127 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,399 Living hands set up the type and printed the words 128 00:07:13,439 --> 00:07:16,839 which gave me so deathly a shock, And hands with 129 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,480 a real purpose in them cut it from the paper 130 00:07:19,519 --> 00:07:21,680 and pinned it to my cushion for me to see 131 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,439 when I woke on that fatal morning. But whose hands? 132 00:07:26,199 --> 00:07:27,959 That is what I want you to discover. 133 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 2: I had caught the fever of her suspicions long before this, 134 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,240 and now felt justified in showing my interest. First, let 135 00:07:37,279 --> 00:07:41,000 me ask, said I, who has access to your rooms 136 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:42,360 besides your maid? 137 00:07:43,319 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: No one, absolutely no one? 138 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:47,399 Speaker 2: And what of her? 139 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,519 Speaker 1: She is innocence itself. She is no common housemaid, but 140 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,480 a girl my mother brought up, who, for love of me, 141 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,480 consents to do such work in the household as my 142 00:07:58,560 --> 00:07:59,800 simple needs require. 143 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: I should like to see her. 144 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,079 Speaker 1: There is no objection to your doing so, but you 145 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,560 will gain nothing by it. I have already talked the 146 00:08:09,639 --> 00:08:12,360 subject over with her a dozen times, and she is 147 00:08:12,399 --> 00:08:15,439 as much puzzled by it as I am myself. She 148 00:08:15,519 --> 00:08:17,959 says she cannot see how any one could have found 149 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,560 an entrance to my room during my sleep, as the 150 00:08:20,639 --> 00:08:25,680 doors were all locked. Yet, as she very naturally observes, 151 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,319 some one must have done so, for she was in 152 00:08:28,399 --> 00:08:31,480 my bedroom herself just before I returned from the theater, 153 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,440 and can swear, if necessary, that no such slip of 154 00:08:35,519 --> 00:08:38,399 paper was to be seen on my cushion at that time, 155 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,039 for her duty's letter directly to my bureau, and kept 156 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:43,679 her there for full five minutes. 157 00:08:44,919 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 2: And you believed her, I suggested. 158 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 3: Implicitly, in what direction. 159 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,039 Speaker 2: Then do your suspicions. 160 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,919 Speaker 1: Turn alas in no direction? That's the trouble. I don't 161 00:08:57,919 --> 00:09:01,360 know whom to mistrust. It was because I was told 162 00:09:01,399 --> 00:09:03,679 that you had the credit of seeing light where others 163 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,320 can see nothing but darkness, that I have sought your 164 00:09:06,399 --> 00:09:10,360 aid in this emergency, for the uncertainty surrounding this matter 165 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,799 is killing me and will make my sorrow quite unendurable 166 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:15,679 if I cannot obtain relief from it. 167 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,879 Speaker 2: I do not wonder. I began struck by the note 168 00:09:19,879 --> 00:09:22,919 of truth in her tones, and I shall certainly do 169 00:09:23,039 --> 00:09:26,440 what I can for you. But before we go any further, 170 00:09:26,879 --> 00:09:29,720 let us examine this scrap of newspaper and see what 171 00:09:29,799 --> 00:09:32,960 we can make out of it. I had already noted 172 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,480 two or three points in connection with it, to which 173 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,399 I now proceeded to direct her attention. Have you compared 174 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,279 this notice I pursued with such others as you find 175 00:09:42,279 --> 00:09:46,120 every day in the papers. No, was her eager answer. 176 00:09:46,639 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: Is it not like them? 177 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:52,639 Speaker 2: All? Read? Was my quiet interruption on this day at 178 00:09:52,639 --> 00:09:56,720 the Colonnade. On what day? The date is usually given 179 00:09:56,799 --> 00:09:59,279 in all the bonafida notices I have seen? 180 00:10:00,399 --> 00:10:00,639 Speaker 4: Is it? 181 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 2: She asked, her eyes moist with unshad tears opening widely 182 00:10:05,519 --> 00:10:09,480 in her astonishment. Look in the papers on your return 183 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:13,360 home and see then the print. Observe that the type 184 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,799 is identical on both sides of this make believe clipping 185 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,360 which in fact there is always a perceptible difference between 186 00:10:20,399 --> 00:10:23,320 that used in the obituary column and that to be 187 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,639 found in the columns devoted to other matter. Notice also, 188 00:10:27,879 --> 00:10:30,799 I continued, holding up the scrap of paper between her 189 00:10:30,919 --> 00:10:34,759 and the light, that the alignment on one side is not 190 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:39,320 exactly parallel with that on the other, a discrepancy which 191 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,080 would not exist if both sides had been printed on 192 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,480 a newspaper press. These facts lead me to conclude, first 193 00:10:46,919 --> 00:10:49,679 that the effort to match the type exactly was the 194 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,000 mistake of a man who tries to do too much. 195 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,720 And secondly, that one of the sides, at least presumably 196 00:10:56,799 --> 00:11:00,720 that containing the obituary notice, was printed on a hand press, 197 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,639 on the blank side of a piece of galley proof 198 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:08,600 picked up in some newspaper office. Let me see, and, 199 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,759 stretching out her hand with the utmost eagerness, she took 200 00:11:11,759 --> 00:11:15,320 the slip and turned it over. Instantly, a change took 201 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,000 place in her countenance. She sank back in her seat, 202 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,480 and a blush of manifest confusion suffused her cheeks. 203 00:11:23,159 --> 00:11:27,879 Speaker 1: Oh, she exclaimed, what will you think of me? I 204 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,039 brought this scrap of print into the house myself, and 205 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,279 it was I who pinned it on the cushion with 206 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,240 my own hands. I remember it now. The sight of 207 00:11:37,279 --> 00:11:39,600 those words recalls the whole occurrence. 208 00:11:40,919 --> 00:11:43,559 Speaker 2: Then there is one mystery less for us to solve, 209 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,559 I remarked, somewhat dryly. Do you think so, she protested 210 00:11:48,639 --> 00:11:49,840 with a deprecatory look. 211 00:11:50,519 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: For me, the mystery deepens and becomes every minute more serious. 212 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,000 It is true that I brought this scrap of newspaper 213 00:11:58,039 --> 00:12:01,279 into the house, and that it had then, as now, 214 00:12:01,799 --> 00:12:04,919 the notice of my husband's death upon it. But the 215 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,840 time of my bringing it in was Tuesday night, and 216 00:12:07,919 --> 00:12:10,600 he was not found dead till Wednesday morning. 217 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 2: A discrepancy worth noting, I. 218 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: Remarked, involving a mystery of some importance. 219 00:12:17,399 --> 00:12:21,879 Speaker 2: She concluded, I agreed to that, and since we have 220 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,799 discovered how the slip came into your room, we can 221 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,080 now proceed to the clearing up of this mystery. I observed. 222 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,240 You can, of course inform me where you procured this clipping, 223 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,080 which you say you brought into the house. 224 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,799 Speaker 1: Yes, you may think it strange, but when I alighted 225 00:12:38,799 --> 00:12:41,639 from the carriage that night, a man on the sidewalk 226 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,840 put this tiny scrap of paper into my hand. It 227 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,799 was done so mechanically that it made no more impression 228 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,240 on my mind than the thrusting of an advertisement upon me. Indeed, 229 00:12:52,279 --> 00:12:55,399 I supposed it was an advertisement, And I only wonder 230 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,200 that I retained it in my hand at all, But 231 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,200 that I did so, and that in a moment of abstraction, 232 00:13:01,519 --> 00:13:03,200 I went so far as to pin it to my 233 00:13:03,279 --> 00:13:06,919 cushion is evident from the fact that a vague memory 234 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,240 remains in my mind of having read this recipe, which 235 00:13:10,279 --> 00:13:12,799 you see printed on the reverse side of the paper. 236 00:13:14,159 --> 00:13:17,039 Speaker 2: It was the recipe, then, and not the obituary. Notice 237 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,480 that attracted your attention the night before. 238 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: Probably, but in pinning it to the cushion, it was 239 00:13:23,519 --> 00:13:27,679 the obituary notice that chanced to come uppermost. Oh, why 240 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,679 should I not have remembered this till now? Can you 241 00:13:30,759 --> 00:13:33,799 understand my forgetting a matter of so much importance? 242 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,799 Speaker 2: Yes, I allowed, after a momentary consideration of her ingenuous countenance. 243 00:13:40,759 --> 00:13:43,360 The words you read in the morning were so startling 244 00:13:43,639 --> 00:13:46,960 that they disconnected themselves from those who had carelessly glanced 245 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:47,919 at the night before. 246 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: That is it, she replied, And since then I have 247 00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:56,039 had eyes for the one side only. How could I 248 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,519 think of the other? But who could have printed this thing? 249 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:02,000 And who was the man who put it into my hand? 250 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:03,879 He looked like a beggar. 251 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,519 Speaker 2: But oh, she suddenly exclaimed, her cheeks flushing scarlet and 252 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:14,480 her eyes flashing with a feverish, almost alarming glitter. What 253 00:14:14,639 --> 00:14:20,480 is it now, I asked, another recollection. Yes, she spoke 254 00:14:20,559 --> 00:14:22,159 so low I could hardly hear her. 255 00:14:23,039 --> 00:14:28,879 Speaker 3: He coughed, And and what I encouragingly suggested, seeing that 256 00:14:28,919 --> 00:14:31,679 she was under some new and overwhelming. 257 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: Emotion, That cough had a familiar sound now that I 258 00:14:35,519 --> 00:14:38,039 think of it, it was like that of a friend 259 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,440 who But no, no, I will not wrong him by 260 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,200 any false surmises. He would stoop too much, but not 261 00:14:45,279 --> 00:14:45,519 to that. 262 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 2: Yet the flush on her cheeks had died away, but 263 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,639 the two vivid spots which remained showed the depth of 264 00:14:53,639 --> 00:14:54,360 her excitement. 265 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:57,759 Speaker 3: Do you think she suddenly. 266 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,039 Speaker 1: Asked that a man out of revenge might play and 267 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,960 to frighten me by a false notice of my husband's death, 268 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,679 and that God to punish him made the notice a prophecy. 269 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,519 Speaker 2: I think a man influenced by the spirit of revenge 270 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,000 might do almost anything, I answered, purposely, ignoring the latter 271 00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:16,919 part of her question. 272 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,039 Speaker 1: But I always considered him a good man, at least, 273 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,320 I never looked upon him as a wicked one. Every 274 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,000 other beggar we meet has a cough. 275 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,279 Speaker 2: And yet, she added, after a moment's pause, if it was. 276 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 1: Not he who gave me this mortal shock, who was it? 277 00:15:33,919 --> 00:15:36,919 He is the only person in the world I ever wronged. 278 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 2: Had you not better tell me his name? 279 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 3: I suggested, No, I am in too great doubt. 280 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: I should hate to do him a second injury. 281 00:15:47,559 --> 00:15:50,639 Speaker 2: You cannot injure him if he is innocent. My methods 282 00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:51,519 are very safe. 283 00:15:52,679 --> 00:15:55,399 Speaker 1: If I could forget his cough, but it had that 284 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,759 peculiar catch in it that I remembered so well in 285 00:15:58,799 --> 00:16:01,879 the cough of John Gray. I did not pay any 286 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,120 especial heed to it. At the time, old days and 287 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,679 old troubles were far enough from my thoughts. But now 288 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,840 that my suspicions are raised, that low choking sound comes 289 00:16:12,879 --> 00:16:16,080 back to me in a strangely persistent way, and I 290 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,080 seemed to see a well remembered form in the stooping 291 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,840 figure of this beggar. Oh, I hope the good God 292 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,720 will forgive me if I attribute to this disappointed man 293 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,519 a wickedness he never committed. 294 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 2: Who is John Graham? I urged? And what was the 295 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,960 nature of the wrong you did him? She rose, cast 296 00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:39,360 me one appealing glance, and, perceiving that I meant to 297 00:16:39,399 --> 00:16:43,080 have her whole story, turned towards the fire, and stood 298 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:46,240 warming her feet before the hearth, with her face turned 299 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,080 away from my gaze. 300 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: I was once engaged to marry him. She began, not 301 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,200 because I loved him, but because we were very poor, 302 00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:58,519 I mean my mother and myself, and he had a 303 00:16:58,559 --> 00:17:02,600 home and seemed both good and generous. The day came 304 00:17:02,639 --> 00:17:05,319 when we were to be married. This was in the west, 305 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,319 way out in Kansas, and I was even dressed for 306 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,880 the wedding when a letter came from my uncle here, 307 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,720 a rich uncle, very rich, who had never had anything 308 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,720 to do with my mother since her marriage, And in 309 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,279 it he promised me fortune and everything else desirable in 310 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,000 life if I would come to him, unencumbered by any 311 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,400 foolish ties. Think of it, and I within half an 312 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,680 hour of marriage with a man I had never loved 313 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:37,559 and now suddenly hated. The temptation was overwhelming and heartless, 314 00:17:37,559 --> 00:17:40,680 as my conduct may appear to you, I succumbed to it, 315 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:44,799 telling my lover that I had changed my mind. I 316 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,160 dismissed the minister when he came and announced my intention 317 00:17:48,319 --> 00:17:52,480 of proceeding east as soon as possible. Mister Graham was 318 00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:56,680 simply paralyzed by his disappointment, and during the few days 319 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,640 which intervened before my departure, I was haunted by his face, 320 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:02,920 which was like that of a man who had died 321 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,680 from some overwhelming shock. But when I was once free 322 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,799 of the town, especially after I arrived in New York, 323 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,519 I forgot alike his misery and himself. Everything I saw 324 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,079 was so beautiful, life was so full of charm, and 325 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,000 my uncle so delighted with me and everything I did. 326 00:18:21,839 --> 00:18:25,599 Then there was James Holmes, and after I had seen him, 327 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,039 but I cannot talk of that, we loved each other. 328 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,440 And under the surprise of this new delight, how could 329 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,720 I be expected to remember the man I had left 330 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,799 behind me in that barren region in which I had 331 00:18:37,839 --> 00:18:41,319 spent my youth. But he did not forget the misery 332 00:18:41,319 --> 00:18:44,480 I had caused him. He followed me to New York, 333 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,480 and on the morning I was married, found his way 334 00:18:47,559 --> 00:18:51,519 into the house, and, mixing with the wedding guests, suddenly 335 00:18:51,559 --> 00:18:55,079 appeared before me, just as I was receiving the congratulations 336 00:18:55,079 --> 00:18:58,799 of my friends. At sight of him, I experienced all 337 00:18:58,839 --> 00:19:03,039 the terror he had called upon causing, But remembering at 338 00:19:03,079 --> 00:19:06,319 whose side I stood, I managed to hide my confusion 339 00:19:06,519 --> 00:19:11,880 under an aspect of apparent haughtiness. This irritated John Graham, 340 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:17,200 flushing with anger and ignoring my imploring look, he cried, peremptorily, 341 00:19:17,839 --> 00:19:21,240 present me to your husband, and I felt forced to 342 00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:25,680 present him. But his name produced no effect upon mister Holmes. 343 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,880 I had never told him of my early experience with 344 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:33,559 this man, and John Graham, perceiving this cast me a 345 00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:38,240 bitter glance of disdain, and passed on, muttering between his teeth, 346 00:19:39,039 --> 00:19:42,359 false to me and false to him. Your punishment will 347 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,119 be upon you, and I felt as if I had 348 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:45,799 been cursed. 349 00:19:47,039 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 2: She stopped here, moved by emotions readily to be understood. Then, 350 00:19:52,279 --> 00:19:56,079 with quick impetuosity, she caught up the thread of her story. 351 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:00,279 Speaker 1: And went on, that was six months ago, And again 352 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:04,680 I forgot My mother died, and my husband soon absorbed 353 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,119 my every thought. How could I dream that this man, 354 00:20:08,319 --> 00:20:10,400 who was little more than a memory to me, and 355 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,279 scarcely that was secretly planning mischief against me? Yet this 356 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,960 scrap about which we have talked so much may have 357 00:20:18,039 --> 00:20:21,680 been the work of his hands, and even my husband's death. 358 00:20:22,759 --> 00:20:25,640 Speaker 2: She did not finish, but her face, which was turned 359 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:30,839 towards me, spoke volumes. Your husband's death shall be inquired into, 360 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,960 I assured her, and she, exhausted by the excitement of 361 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,720 her discoveries, asked that she might be excused from further 362 00:20:38,759 --> 00:20:42,559 discussion of the subject at that time, as I had 363 00:20:42,559 --> 00:20:45,400 no wish myself to enter any more fully into the matter. 364 00:20:45,559 --> 00:20:48,920 Just then I readily acceded to her request, and the 365 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:54,519 pretty widow left me two. Obviously, the first fact to 366 00:20:54,559 --> 00:20:57,559 be settled was whether mister Holmes had died from purely 367 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:02,039 natural causes. I accordingly busied myself the next few days 368 00:21:02,079 --> 00:21:05,759 with this question, and was fortunate enough to so interest 369 00:21:05,799 --> 00:21:08,640 the proper authorities that an order was issued for the 370 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:13,559 exhimation and examination of the body. The result was disappointing. 371 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,119 No traces of poison were to be found in the stomach, 372 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:19,359 nor was there to be seen on the body any 373 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,559 mark of violence, with the exception of a minute prick 374 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,519 upon one of his thumbs. This speck was so small 375 00:21:26,759 --> 00:21:31,079 that it escaped every eye but my own. The authorities 376 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,279 assuring the widow that the doctor's certificate given her in 377 00:21:34,319 --> 00:21:38,680 Philadelphia was correct, he was again interred. But I was 378 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,519 not satisfied, neither do I think she was. I was 379 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,720 confident that this death was not a natural one, and 380 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,920 entered upon one of those secret and prolonged investigations which 381 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,319 have constituted the pleasure of my life for so many years. First, 382 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,240 I visited the Colonnade in Philadelphia, and, being allowed to 383 00:21:58,279 --> 00:22:01,839 see the room in which mister Holmestead, went through it carefully, 384 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,440 as it had not been used since that time. I 385 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,759 had some hopes of coming upon a clue, but it 386 00:22:08,839 --> 00:22:11,160 was a vain hope, and the only result of my 387 00:22:11,279 --> 00:22:14,480 journey to this place was the assurance I received that 388 00:22:14,559 --> 00:22:18,000 the gentleman had spent the entire evening preceding his death 389 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,960 in his own room, where he had been brought several 390 00:22:21,039 --> 00:22:25,119 letters and one small package, the latter coming by mail. 391 00:22:26,039 --> 00:22:29,119 With this one point gained. If it was a point, 392 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,720 I went back to New York. Calling on missus Holmes. 393 00:22:33,759 --> 00:22:36,680 I asked her if while her husband was away she 394 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:41,000 had sent him anything besides letters, and, upon her replying 395 00:22:41,039 --> 00:22:44,319 to the contrary, requested to know if in her visit 396 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:48,920 to Philadelphia she had noted among her husband's effects anything 397 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,880 that was new or unfamiliar to her. For he received 398 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,240 a package while there, I explained, And though its contents 399 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,119 may have been perfectly harmless, it is just as well 400 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,000 for us to be assured of this before going any further. 401 00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:06,039 Speaker 1: Oh you think then he was really the victim of 402 00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:07,279 some secret violence. 403 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 2: We have no proof of it, I said. On the contrary, 404 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,880 we are assured that he died from natural causes. But 405 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,480 the incident of the newspaper slip outweighs in my mind 406 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:24,240 the doctor's conclusions, and until the mystery surrounding that obituary 407 00:23:24,279 --> 00:23:28,680 notice has been satisfactorily explained by its author, I shall 408 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,319 hold to the theory that your husband has been made away 409 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,720 with in some strange and seemingly unaccountable manner, which it 410 00:23:35,839 --> 00:23:37,519 is our duty to bring to light. 411 00:23:39,039 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: You are right, You are right, oh John Graham. 412 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,559 Speaker 2: She was so carried away by this plain expression of 413 00:23:45,599 --> 00:23:48,039 my belief that she forgot the question I had put 414 00:23:48,079 --> 00:23:51,079 to her. You have not told whether or not you 415 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,680 found anything among your husband's effects that can explain this mystery, 416 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,200 I suggested. She at once became attentive. 417 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 4: Nothing, said she. 418 00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: His trunks were already packed, and his bag nearly so. 419 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,119 There were a few things lying about the room which 420 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,880 were put into the latter, But I saw nothing but 421 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,880 what was familiar to me among them, at least I 422 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,400 think not. Perhaps we had better look through his trunk 423 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,640 and see. I have not had the heart to open 424 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,079 it since I came back. 425 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 2: As this was exactly what I wished. I said as much, 426 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,079 and she led me into a small room, against the 427 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,519 wall of which stood a trunk with a traveling bag 428 00:24:29,559 --> 00:24:32,720 on top of it. Opening the ladder she spread the 429 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,119 contents out on the trunk. 430 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,799 Speaker 1: I know all these things. 431 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,119 Speaker 2: She sadly murmured, the tears welling in her eyes. This 432 00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:44,440 I inquired, lifting up a bit of coiled wire with 433 00:24:44,519 --> 00:24:46,599 two or three little rings dangling from it. 434 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,519 Speaker 1: No, why what is that? 435 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 2: It looks like a puzzle of some kind. 436 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: Then it is of no consequence. My husband was forever 437 00:24:57,039 --> 00:25:01,240 amusing himself over some such contrivance. All his friends knew 438 00:25:01,279 --> 00:25:04,319 how well he liked these toys, and frequently sent them 439 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:09,119 to him. This one evidently reached him in Philadelphia. 440 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,759 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, I was eyeing the bit of wire curiously. It 441 00:25:12,839 --> 00:25:16,079 was undoubtedly a puzzle, but it had appendages to it 442 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:21,079 that I did not understand. It is more than ordinarily complicated. 443 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,000 I observed moving the rings up and down in a 444 00:25:24,079 --> 00:25:25,920 vain endeavor to work them off. 445 00:25:26,839 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: The better he would like it, said she. 446 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 2: I kept on working with the rings. Suddenly I gave 447 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,559 a painful start. A little prong in the handle of 448 00:25:36,599 --> 00:25:40,079 the toy had started out and pricked me. You had 449 00:25:40,079 --> 00:25:43,079 better not handle it, said I, and laid it down. 450 00:25:43,799 --> 00:25:45,799 But the next minute I took it up again and 451 00:25:45,839 --> 00:25:48,960 put it in my pocket. The prick made by This 452 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,440 treacherous bit of mechanism was in or near the same 453 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,240 place on my thumb as the one I had noticed 454 00:25:55,279 --> 00:25:58,759 on the hand of the deceased mister Holmes. There was 455 00:25:58,799 --> 00:26:01,640 a fire in the room, and before proceeding further, I 456 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,680 cauterized that prick with the end of a red hot poker. 457 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,480 Then I made my adieu to missus Holmes, and went 458 00:26:08,559 --> 00:26:12,240 immediately to a chemist friend of mine test the end 459 00:26:12,279 --> 00:26:15,000 of this bit of steel for me, said I, I 460 00:26:15,079 --> 00:26:18,000 have reason to believe it carries with it a deadly poison. 461 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,200 He took the toy, promised to subject it to every 462 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,519 test possible and let me know the result. Then I 463 00:26:25,599 --> 00:26:29,319 went home. I felt ill, or imagined that I did, 464 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:34,279 which under the circumstances, was almost as bad. Next day, however, 465 00:26:34,319 --> 00:26:36,720 I was quite well, with the exception of a certain 466 00:26:36,759 --> 00:26:40,640 inconvenience in my thumb. But not till the following week 467 00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:45,200 did I receive the chemist's report. It overthrew my whole theory. 468 00:26:45,599 --> 00:26:48,880 He had found nothing and returned me the bit of steel. 469 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,839 But I was not convinced. I will hunt up this 470 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,839 John Graham, thought, I and study him. But this was 471 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,480 not so easy attack as it may appear, as Missus 472 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,960 Holmes possessed no clue to the whereabouts of her quondam lover. 473 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,200 I had nothing to aid me in my search for him, 474 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,559 save her rather vague description of his personal appearance and 475 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,359 the fact that he was constantly interrupted in speaking by 476 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:22,640 a low, choking cough. However, my natural perseverance carried me through. 477 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,359 After seeing and interviewing a dozen John Grahams without result, 478 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,079 I at last lit upon a man of that name, 479 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:34,160 who presented a figure of such vivid unrest and showed 480 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,480 such desperate hatred of his fellows that I began to 481 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,279 entertain hopes of his being the person I was in 482 00:27:40,319 --> 00:27:44,000 search of. But determined to be sure of this before 483 00:27:44,039 --> 00:27:48,400 proceeding further, I confided my suspicions to Missus Holmes and 484 00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:51,240 induced her to accompany me down to a certain spot 485 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,359 on the elevated from which I had more than once 486 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,079 seen this man go by to his usual lounging place 487 00:27:58,319 --> 00:28:03,000 in printing house square. She showed great courage in doing this, 488 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:05,319 for she had such a dread of him that she 489 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,039 was in a state of nervous excitement from the moment 490 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,200 she left her house, feeling sure that she would attract 491 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,559 his attention and thus risk a disagreeable encounter. But she 492 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,759 might have spared herself these fears. He did not even 493 00:28:18,839 --> 00:28:21,599 glance up in passing us, and it was mainly by 494 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,559 his walk she recognized him. But she did recognize him, 495 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,079 and this nerved me at once to set about the 496 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,880 formidable task of fixing upon him a crime which was 497 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,079 not even admitted as a fact by the authorities. He 498 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,519 was a man about town, living, to all appearances by 499 00:28:39,559 --> 00:28:42,559 his wits. He was to be seen mostly in the 500 00:28:42,599 --> 00:28:46,359 downtown portions of the city, standing for hours in front 501 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,839 of some newspaper office, gnawing at his finger ends and 502 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,880 staring at the passers by with a hungry look. But 503 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,920 alarmed the timid and provoked alms from the benevolent. Needless 504 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,839 to say that he rejected the latter express of sympathy 505 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,480 with angry contempt. His face was long and pallid, his 506 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,319 cheek bones high, and his mouth bitter and resolute in expression. 507 00:29:10,119 --> 00:29:13,160 He wore neither beard nor mustache, but made up for 508 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,400 their lack by an abundance of light brown hair, which 509 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,200 hung very nearly to his shoulders. He stooped in standing, 510 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,359 but as soon as he moved, showed decision and a 511 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,880 certain sort of pride, which caused him to hold his 512 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,759 head high and his body more than usually erect. With 513 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,680 all these good points, his appearance was decidedly sinister, and 514 00:29:33,759 --> 00:29:37,160 I did not wonder that missus Holmes feared him. My 515 00:29:37,279 --> 00:29:41,160 next move was to accost him. Pausing before the doorway 516 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,400 in which he stood, I addressed him some trivial question. 517 00:29:45,359 --> 00:29:48,599 He answered me with sufficient politeness, but with a grudging 518 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,680 attention which betrayed the hold which his own thoughts had 519 00:29:51,759 --> 00:29:56,039 upon him. He coughed while speaking, and his eye, which 520 00:29:56,039 --> 00:29:59,079 for a moment rested on mine, produced upon me an 521 00:29:59,119 --> 00:30:02,680 impression for which I was hardly prepared. Great as was 522 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,960 my prejudice against him, there was such an icy composure 523 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,720 in it, the composure of an envenomed nature, conscious of 524 00:30:10,759 --> 00:30:15,200 its superiority to all surprise. As I lingered to study 525 00:30:15,279 --> 00:30:18,839 him more closely, the many dangerous qualities of the man 526 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,720 became more and more apparent to me. And convinced that 527 00:30:22,759 --> 00:30:26,160 to proceed further without deep and careful thought would be 528 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:29,480 to court failure, where triumph would set me up for life, 529 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,640 I gave up all present attempt at enlisting him in conversation, 530 00:30:34,359 --> 00:30:37,559 and went my way in an inquiring and serious mood. 531 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,319 In fact, my position was a peculiar one, and the 532 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,880 problem I had set for myself one of unusual difficulty. 533 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,480 Only by means of some extraordinary device, such as is 534 00:30:50,559 --> 00:30:53,400 seldom resorted to by the police of this or any 535 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,440 other nation, could I hope to arrive at the secret 536 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,759 of this man's conduct and triumph in a manner which, 537 00:30:59,759 --> 00:31:04,680 to all appearance was beyond human penetration. But what device 538 00:31:05,079 --> 00:31:08,279 I knew of? None, Nor through two days and nights 539 00:31:08,319 --> 00:31:11,440 of strenuous thought, did I receive the least light on 540 00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:15,599 the subject. Indeed, my mind seemed to grow more and 541 00:31:15,759 --> 00:31:20,039 more confused the more I urged it into action. I 542 00:31:20,119 --> 00:31:24,400 failed to get inspiration indoors or out, and, feeling my 543 00:31:24,519 --> 00:31:28,359 health suffer from the constant irritation of my recurring disappointment, 544 00:31:29,119 --> 00:31:32,000 I resolved to take a day off and carry myself 545 00:31:32,079 --> 00:31:37,160 and my perplexities into the country. I did so, governed 546 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,279 by an impulse which I did not then understand. I 547 00:31:40,319 --> 00:31:42,960 went to a small town in New Jersey and entered 548 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,759 the first house on which I saw the sign room 549 00:31:45,839 --> 00:31:50,079 to let. The result was most fortunate. No sooner had 550 00:31:50,119 --> 00:31:53,079 I crossed the threshold of the neat and homely apartment 551 00:31:53,279 --> 00:31:56,279 thrown open to my use, than it recalled a room 552 00:31:56,359 --> 00:31:59,240 in which I had slept two years before, and in 553 00:31:59,319 --> 00:32:01,599 which I had read a little book I was only 554 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:06,000 too glad to remember at this moment. Indeed, it seemed 555 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,839 as if a veritable inspiration had come to me through 556 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:12,400 this recollection. For though the tale to which I allude 557 00:32:12,559 --> 00:32:16,519 was a simple child's story written for moral purposes, it 558 00:32:16,599 --> 00:32:19,680 contained an idea which promised to be invaluable to me 559 00:32:19,839 --> 00:32:24,039 at this juncture. Indeed, by means of it, I believed 560 00:32:24,119 --> 00:32:26,839 myself to have solved the problem that was puzzling me, 561 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:31,160 and relieved beyond expression. I paid for the night's lodging 562 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,920 I had now determined to forego, and returned immediately to 563 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,519 New York, having spent just fifteen minutes in the town 564 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:43,599 where I had received this happy inspiration. My first step 565 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,640 on entering the city was to order a dozen steel 566 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,880 coils made similar to the one which I still believed 567 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,519 answerable for James Holmes's death. My next to learn, as 568 00:32:54,559 --> 00:32:58,240 far as possible, all of John Graham's haunts and habits. 569 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,400 At a week's end, I had the springs, and knew 570 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,039 almost as well as he did himself where he was 571 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,400 likely to be found at all times of the day 572 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,480 and night. I immediately acted upon this knowledge. Assuming a 573 00:33:11,519 --> 00:33:15,960 slight disguise, I repeated my former stroll through printing house square, 574 00:33:16,519 --> 00:33:20,359 looking into each doorway as I passed. John Graham was 575 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,880 in one of them, staring in his old way at 576 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,759 the passing crowd, but evidently seeing nothing but the images 577 00:33:26,839 --> 00:33:31,319 formed by his own disordered brain. A manuscript roll stuck 578 00:33:31,359 --> 00:33:33,960 out of his breast pocket, and from the way his 579 00:33:34,119 --> 00:33:37,279 nervous fingers fumbled with it. I began to understand the 580 00:33:37,359 --> 00:33:40,559 restless glitter of his eyes, which were as full of 581 00:33:40,599 --> 00:33:45,240 wretchedness as any eyes I have ever seen. Entering the 582 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:48,039 doorway where he stood, I dropped at his feet one 583 00:33:48,039 --> 00:33:50,799 of the small steel coils with which I was provided. 584 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,279 He did not see it. Stopping near him, I directed 585 00:33:55,319 --> 00:33:58,839 his attention to it by saying, pardon me, but did 586 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,279 I not see something drop out of your hand? He 587 00:34:02,319 --> 00:34:06,359 started glanced at the seeming inoffensive toy at which I pointed, 588 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,599 and altered so suddenly and so vividly that it became 589 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:14,239 instantly apparent that the surprise I had planned for him, 590 00:34:14,599 --> 00:34:17,159 was fully as keen and searching a one as I 591 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:21,960 had anticipated. Recoiling sharply, he gave me a quick look, 592 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,639 then glanced down again at his feet, as if half 593 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:28,679 expecting to find the object vanished which had startled him, 594 00:34:29,119 --> 00:34:33,199 but perceiving it still lying there, he crushed it viciously 595 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,840 with his heel, and, uttering some incoherent words, dashed impetuously 596 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,960 from the building, Confident that he would regret this hasty 597 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,440 impulse and return. I withdrew a few steps and waited, 598 00:34:46,039 --> 00:34:48,960 and sure enough, in less than five minutes he came 599 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,559 slinking back, picking up the coil. With more than one 600 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:57,280 sly look about, he examined it closely. Suddenly he gave 601 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,559 a sharp cry and went staggering out. Had he discovered 602 00:35:01,599 --> 00:35:05,400 that the seeming puzzle possessed the same invisible spring which 603 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,800 had made the one handled by James Holmes so dangerous. 604 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,440 Certain as to the place he would be found in, next, 605 00:35:12,599 --> 00:35:14,920 I made a short cut to an obscure little saloon 606 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,719 in Nassau Street, where I took up my stand in 607 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,280 a spot convenient for seeing without being seen. In ten 608 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,960 minutes he was standing at the bar, asking for a 609 00:35:25,039 --> 00:35:30,480 drink whiskey, he cried straight it was given him. But 610 00:35:30,559 --> 00:35:32,800 as he set the empty glass down on the counter, 611 00:35:33,159 --> 00:35:36,800 he saw lying before him another of the steel springs, 612 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,400 and was so confounded by the sight that the proprietor, 613 00:35:40,599 --> 00:35:43,519 who had put it there at my instigation, thrust out 614 00:35:43,519 --> 00:35:46,559 his hand toward him, as if half afraid he would fall. 615 00:35:47,639 --> 00:35:49,679 Speaker 4: Where did that that thing come from? 616 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 2: Stammered John Graham, ignoring the other's gesture, and pointing with 617 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,760 a trembling hand at this seemingly insignificant bit of wire 618 00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:58,480 between them. 619 00:35:59,559 --> 00:36:01,840 Speaker 4: Didn't it drop from your coat pocket. 620 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:03,079 Speaker 2: Inquired the proprietor. 621 00:36:03,679 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 4: It wasn't lyne here before you came in with a 622 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:08,199 horrible oath. 623 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:11,639 Speaker 2: The unhappy man turned and fled from the place. I 624 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,519 lost sight of him after that for three hours. Then 625 00:36:14,559 --> 00:36:17,840 I suddenly came upon him again. He was walking up 626 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,400 town with a set purpose in his face that made 627 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:24,079 him look more dangerous than ever. Of course, I followed him, 628 00:36:24,519 --> 00:36:27,840 expecting him to turn towards fifty ninth Street, but at 629 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,880 the corner of Madison Avenue and forty seventh Street, he 630 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,559 changed his mind and dashed toward Third Avenue. At Park Avenue, 631 00:36:35,639 --> 00:36:39,719 he faltered and again turned north, walking for several blocks 632 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,800 as if the fiends were behind him. I began to 633 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:45,800 think that he was but attempting to walk off his excitement, 634 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,280 when at a sudden rushing sound in the cut beside us, 635 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:53,239 he stopped and trembled. An express train was shooting by. 636 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,880 As it disappeared in the tunnel beyond. He looked about 637 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:00,360 him with a blanched face and wandering eye, but his 638 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,159 glance did not turn my way, or if it did, 639 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,320 he failed to attach any meaning to my near presence. 640 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,360 He began to move on again, and this time towards 641 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,960 the bridge spanning the cut. I followed him very closely. 642 00:37:14,519 --> 00:37:16,840 In the center of it, he paused and looked down 643 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:20,920 at the track beneath him. Another train was approaching. As 644 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,639 it came near, he trembled from head to foot, and 645 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,079 catching at the railing against which he leaned. Was about 646 00:37:27,119 --> 00:37:29,440 to make a quick move forward when a puff of 647 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,480 smoke arose from below and sent him staggering backward, gasping 648 00:37:33,559 --> 00:37:37,000 with a terror I could hardly understand till I saw 649 00:37:37,039 --> 00:37:39,599 that the smoke had taken the form of a spiral 650 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,719 and was sailing away before him. In what to his 651 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:47,000 disordered imagination must have looked like a gigantic image of 652 00:37:47,039 --> 00:37:50,360 the coil with which twice before on this day he 653 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:55,039 had found himself confronted. It may have been chance, and 654 00:37:55,119 --> 00:37:58,199 it may have been providence, but whichever it was, it 655 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,840 saved him. He could not face that semblance of his 656 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,880 haunting thought, and turning away, he cowered down on the 657 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,639 neighboring kerbstone, where he sat for several minutes with his 658 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,599 head buried in his hands. When he rose again, he 659 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:17,800 was his own daring and sinister self. Knowing that he 660 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,679 was now too much master of his faculties to ignore 661 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:24,039 me any longer, I walked quickly away and left him. 662 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,480 I knew where he would be at six o'clock, and 663 00:38:26,559 --> 00:38:30,199 had already engaged a table at the same restaurant. It 664 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,480 was seven, however, before he put in an appearance, and 665 00:38:33,559 --> 00:38:36,760 by this time he was looking more composed. There was 666 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,039 a reckless air about him, however, which was perhaps only 667 00:38:40,159 --> 00:38:43,559 noticeable to me, for none of the habitues of this 668 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,920 especial restaurant were entirely without it. Wild eyes and unkempt 669 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:53,199 Haire being in the majority, I let him eat. The 670 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,599 dinner he ordered was simple, and I had not the 671 00:38:55,639 --> 00:38:59,480 heart to interrupt his enjoyment of it. But when he 672 00:38:59,519 --> 00:39:02,679 had finished and came to pay, then I allowed the 673 00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:06,239 shock to come. Under the bill, which the waiter laid 674 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,679 at the side of his plate, was the inevitable steel coil, 675 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:14,039 and it produced even more than its usual effect. I 676 00:39:14,159 --> 00:39:17,320 own I felt sorry for him. He did not dash 677 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,039 from the place, however, as he had from the liquor saloon. 678 00:39:20,679 --> 00:39:23,920 A spirit of resistance had seized him, and he demanded 679 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,360 to know where this object of his fear had come from. 680 00:39:27,199 --> 00:39:31,119 No one could tell him or would Whereupon he began 681 00:39:31,159 --> 00:39:34,320 to rave, and would certainly have done himself or somebody 682 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:36,920 else an injury if he had not been calmed by 683 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:41,559 a man almost as wild looking as himself. Paying his bill, 684 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:44,719 but vowing he would never enter the place again, he 685 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:48,599 went out clay white, but with the swaggering air of 686 00:39:48,639 --> 00:39:53,280 a man who had just asserted himself. He drooped, however, 687 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:55,760 as soon as he reached the street, and I had 688 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:59,119 no difficulty in following him to a certain gambling den, 689 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,159 where he gave three dollars and lost five. From there 690 00:40:03,199 --> 00:40:06,559 he went to his lodgings in West tenth Street. I 691 00:40:06,599 --> 00:40:09,719 did not follow him in. He had passed through many 692 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:12,960 deep and wearing emotions since noon, and I had not 693 00:40:13,119 --> 00:40:17,079 the heart to add another to them. But late the 694 00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:19,719 next day I returned to this house and rang the bell. 695 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,119 It was already dusk, but there was light enough for 696 00:40:23,199 --> 00:40:26,280 me to notice the unrepaired condition of the iron railings 697 00:40:26,599 --> 00:40:29,360 on either side of the old stone stoop, and to 698 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:33,039 compare this abode of decayed grandeur with the spacious and 699 00:40:33,159 --> 00:40:37,039 elegant apartment in which pretty Missus Holmes mourned the loss 700 00:40:37,079 --> 00:40:41,000 of her young husband. Had any such comparison ever been 701 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,880 made by the unhappy John Graham as he hurried up 702 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:48,960 these decayed steps into the dismal halls beyond In answer 703 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,239 to my summons, There came to the door a young 704 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,880 woman to whom I had but to intimate my wish 705 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,480 to see mister Graham for her to let me in 706 00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:58,559 with the short announcement. 707 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,719 Speaker 1: Top floor back room door opens, out door shut. 708 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:05,480 Speaker 2: He's in, as an open door meant liberty to enter. 709 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,320 I lost no time in following the direction of her 710 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:12,320 pointing finger, and presently found myself in a low attic 711 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:16,440 chamber overlooking an acre of roofs A fire had been 712 00:41:16,519 --> 00:41:19,519 lighted in the open grate, and the flickering red beams 713 00:41:19,599 --> 00:41:22,920 danced on ceiling and walls with a cheeriness, greatly in 714 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,039 contrast to the nature of the business which had led 715 00:41:26,079 --> 00:41:29,639 me there, as they also served to light the room. 716 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,719 I proceeded to make myself at home, and, drawing up 717 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,599 a chair, sat down at the fireplace in such a 718 00:41:35,639 --> 00:41:39,320 way as to conceal myself from any one entering the door. 719 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,239 In less than half an hour he came in. He 720 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,039 was in a state of high emotion, his face was 721 00:41:46,079 --> 00:41:50,360 flushed and his eyes burning. Stepping rapidly forward, he flung 722 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,119 his hat on the table in the middle of the 723 00:41:52,199 --> 00:41:55,599 room with a curse that was half cry and half groan. 724 00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,320 Then he stood silent, and I had an opportunity of 725 00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,360 noting how haggard he had grown in the short time 726 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,840 which had elapsed since I had seen him last. But 727 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,920 the interval of his inaction was short, and in a 728 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,920 moment he flung up his arms with a loud curse 729 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:15,440 her that rang through the narrow room and betrayed the 730 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,599 source of his present frenzy. Then he again stood still, 731 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,000 grating his teeth and working his hands in a way 732 00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:27,519 terribly suggestive of the murderer's instinct. But not for long. 733 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,840 He saw something that attracted his attention on the table, 734 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,719 a something upon which my eyes had long before been fixed. 735 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:38,360 And starting forward with a fresh and quite different display 736 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:41,199 of emotion, he caught up what looked like a roll 737 00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:43,840 of manuscript and began to tear it open. 738 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,559 Speaker 4: Back again always back. 739 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:50,320 Speaker 2: Wailed from his lips, and he gave the roll a 740 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:54,039 toss that sent from its midst a small object, which 741 00:42:54,039 --> 00:42:57,880 he no sooner saw than he became speechless and reeled back. 742 00:42:58,519 --> 00:42:59,519 It was another of the. 743 00:42:59,519 --> 00:43:03,719 Speaker 4: Steel good God fell. 744 00:43:03,519 --> 00:43:07,199 Speaker 2: At last from his stiff and working lips. Am I 745 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:08,159 mad or. 746 00:43:08,119 --> 00:43:11,239 Speaker 4: Has the devil joined in the pursuit against me? I 747 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,840 cannot eat, I cannot drink. But this diabolical spring starts 748 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:20,199 up before me. It is here, there, everywhere, the visible 749 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:21,360 sign of my guilt. 750 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 2: The the He had stumbled back upon my chair, and 751 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,079 turning saw me. I was on my feet at once, 752 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:32,599 and noting that he was dazed by the shock of 753 00:43:32,639 --> 00:43:36,199 my presence, I slid quietly between him and the door. 754 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:41,880 The movement roused him, turning upon me with a sarcastic smile, 755 00:43:42,039 --> 00:43:45,960 in which was concentrated the bitterness of years. He briefly said, 756 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:49,599 so I am caught. Well. 757 00:43:49,639 --> 00:43:51,519 Speaker 4: There has to be an end to men as well 758 00:43:51,559 --> 00:43:54,960 as to things, and I am ready for mine. She 759 00:43:55,159 --> 00:43:57,760 turned me away from her door to day, and after 760 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,599 the hell of that moment, I don't much fear any other. 761 00:44:01,719 --> 00:44:04,960 Speaker 2: You had better not talk, I admonished him. All that 762 00:44:05,079 --> 00:44:07,840 falls from you now will only tell against you on 763 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,800 your trial. He broke into a harsh laugh. 764 00:44:11,559 --> 00:44:14,320 Speaker 4: And do you think I care for that, that, having 765 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:18,119 been driven by a woman's perfidy into crime. I am 766 00:44:18,119 --> 00:44:21,000 going to bridle my tongue and keep down the words 767 00:44:21,039 --> 00:44:25,159 which are my only safeguard from insanity. No, No, while 768 00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:28,400 my miserable breath lasts, I will curse her, And if 769 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,880 the halter is to cut short my words, it shall 770 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:33,159 be with her name blistering my lips. 771 00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:36,880 Speaker 2: I attempted to speak, but he would not give me 772 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:40,679 the opportunity. The passion of weeks had found vent, and 773 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:42,119 he rushed on recklessly. 774 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,400 Speaker 4: I went to her house to day. I wanted to 775 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:48,079 see her in her widow's weeds. I wanted to see 776 00:44:48,119 --> 00:44:51,039 her eyes red with weeping over a grief which owed 777 00:44:51,079 --> 00:44:54,239 its bitterness to me. But she would not grant me 778 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:57,199 an admittance. She had me thrust from her door, and 779 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:00,320 I shall never know how deeply the iron has sunk 780 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:04,679 into her soul. But and here his face showed a 781 00:45:04,679 --> 00:45:08,880 sudden change. I shall see her if I'm tried for murder. 782 00:45:09,079 --> 00:45:12,400 She will be in the court room, on the witness stand. 783 00:45:13,159 --> 00:45:17,599 Speaker 2: Doubtless, I interjected. But his interruption came quickly and with 784 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:18,840 vehement passion. 785 00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:24,199 Speaker 4: Then I am ready welcome trial, conviction, death. Even to 786 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:27,440 confront her eye to eye is all I wish. She 787 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,119 shall never forget it. Never. 788 00:45:30,559 --> 00:45:32,840 Speaker 2: Then you do not deny, I began. 789 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,880 Speaker 4: I deny nothing. He returned and held out his hands 790 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:41,360 with a grim gesture. How can I when there falls 791 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:45,000 from everything I touch, the devilish thing which took away 792 00:45:45,039 --> 00:45:49,039 the life I hated? Have you anything more to say 793 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,239 or do before you leave these rooms? I asked? 794 00:45:53,599 --> 00:45:57,440 Speaker 2: He shook his head, and then, bethinking himself, pointed to 795 00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,960 the roll of paper which he had flung on the table. 796 00:46:01,159 --> 00:46:04,920 Burn that he cried. I took up the roll and 797 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,960 looked at it. It was the manuscript of a poem 798 00:46:08,079 --> 00:46:11,519 in blank verse. I have been with it into a 799 00:46:11,599 --> 00:46:15,719 dozen newspaper and magazine offices, he explained, with great bitterness. 800 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,000 Speaker 4: Had I succeeded in getting a publisher for it, I 801 00:46:19,119 --> 00:46:21,599 might have forgotten my wrongs and tried to build up 802 00:46:21,599 --> 00:46:24,320 a new life on the ruins of the old. But 803 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:27,039 they would not have it, none of them. So I 804 00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:30,199 say burn it, that no memory of me may remain 805 00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:31,920 in this miserable world. 806 00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:36,880 Speaker 2: Keep to the facts, I severely retorted. It was while 807 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,360 carrying this poem from one newspaper to another that you 808 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,920 secured that bit of print, upon the blank side of 809 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:46,840 which you yourself printed the obituary notice with which you 810 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:51,519 savored your revenge upon the woman who had disappointed you. 811 00:46:51,519 --> 00:46:54,280 Speaker 4: You know that, then you know where I got the 812 00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:57,079 poison with which I tipped the silly toy with which 813 00:46:57,079 --> 00:46:59,039 that weak man fooled away his life. 814 00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:03,239 Speaker 2: No, said I, I do not know where you got it. 815 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:07,159 I merely know it was no common poison bought at 816 00:47:07,159 --> 00:47:10,440 a druggist's or from any ordinary chemist. 817 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,840 Speaker 4: It was war all Eye, the deadly secret war All Eye. 818 00:47:15,519 --> 00:47:19,320 I got it from. But that's another man's secret. You'll 819 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,400 never hear from me anything that will compromise a friend. 820 00:47:23,159 --> 00:47:26,480 I got it, that is all one drop. But it 821 00:47:26,639 --> 00:47:31,840 killed my man. The satisfaction, the delight which he threw 822 00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:36,360 into these words are beyond description. As they left his lips, 823 00:47:36,559 --> 00:47:39,400 a jet of flame from the neglected fire shot up 824 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:43,239 and threw his figure for one instant into bold relief 825 00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:47,760 upon the lowering ceiling. Then it died out, and nothing 826 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:51,440 but the twilight dusk remained in the room, and on 827 00:47:51,559 --> 00:47:56,639 the countenance of this doomed and despairing man, end of 828 00:47:56,719 --> 00:47:57,880 a difficult problem.