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Speaker 1: The tarn by Hugh Walpole. As Foster moved unconsciously across

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the room, bent towards the bookcase, and stood leaning forward

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a little, choosing now one book, now another. With his

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eye his host, seeing the muscles of the back of

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his thin, scraggy neck stand out above his low flannel collar,

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thought of the ease with which he could squeeze that throat,

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and the pleasure, the triumphant, lustful pleasure, that such an

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action would give him. The low, white walled, white ceilinged

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room was flooded with the mellow, kindly lakeland sun. October

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is a wonderful month in the English lakes, Golden, rich

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and perfumed, slow suns moving through apricot tinted skies to

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ruby evening glories. The shadows lie then thick about that

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beautiful country in dark purple patches, in long weblike patterns

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of silver, goareze in thick splotches of amber and gray.

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The clouds passing galleons across the mountains, now veiling, now revealing,

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now descending with ghostlike armies to the very breast of

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the plains, suddenly rising to the softest of blue skies,

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and lying thin in lazy, languorous color. Fennix's cottage looked

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across to low Fells. On his right, seen through the

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side windows, sprawled the hills above dur and water. Fennick

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looked at Foster's back and felt suddenly sick, so that

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he sat down, veiling his eyes for a moment with

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his hand. Foster had come up there, come all the

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way from London to explain. It was so like Foster

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to want to explain, to want to put things right.

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For how many years had he known Foster? Why for

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twenty at least? And during all those years Foster had

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been forever determined to put things right with every body.

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He could not bear to be disliked. He hated that

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anyone should think ill of him. He wanted everyone to

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be his friend. That was one reason, perhaps why Foster

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had got on so well, had prospered so in his career,

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one reason too, why Fennick had not. For Fennick was

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the opposite of Foster in this. He did not want friends.

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He certainly did not care that people should like him,

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that is, people for whom, for one reason or another,

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he had contempt, And he had contempt for quite a

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number of people. Fennick looked at that long, thin bending

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back and felt his knees tremble. Soon Foster would turn round,

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and that high, ready voice would pipe out something about

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the books, What jolly books you have, Fennick. How many

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many times, in the long watches of the night, when

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Fenich could not sleep, had he heard that pipe sounding

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close there, yes, in the very shadow of his bed.

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And how many times had Fennick replied to it, I

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hate you.

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Speaker 2: You are the cause of my failure in life. You

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have been in my way, always, always, always, always patronizing

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and pretending, and in truth showing others what a poor

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thing you thought me, How great a failure, how conceited

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a fool?

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Speaker 1: I know you can hide nothing from me. I can

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hear you. For twenty years now Foster had been persistently

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in Fennick's way. There had been that affair so long

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ago now, when Robbins had wanted a sub editor for

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his wonderful review of the Parthenon, and Fennick had gone

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to see him, and they had had a splendid talk.

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How magnificently Fenick had talked that day, with what enthusiasm

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he had shown Robins, who was blinded by his own

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conceit anyway, the kind of paper the Parthenon might be,

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How Robins had caught his own enthusiasm, how he had

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pushed his fat body about the room, crying, yes, yes, Fennick,

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that's fine, that's fine indeed. And then how after all

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Foster had got that job. The paper had only lived

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for a year or so, it is true, but the

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connection with it had brought Foster into prominence, just as

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it might have brought Fennick. Then five years later there

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was Fenix's novel, The Bitter Aloe, the novel upon which

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he had spent three years of blood and tears endeavor.

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And then in the very same week of publication, Foster

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brings out The Circus, the novel that made his name,

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although heaven knows the thing was poor enough, sentimental trash.

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You may say that one novel cannot kill another, but

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can it not? Had not the Circus appeared, would not

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that group of London knowles that conceited limited, ignorant, self

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satisfied crowd, who nevertheless, can do, by their talk so

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much to affect a book's good or evil fortunes, have

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talked about The Bitter Aloe, and so forced it into prominence.

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As it was, the book was stillborn, and the circus

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went on its prancing, triumphant way. After that, there had

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been many occasions, some small, some big, and always in

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one way or another, that thin, scraggy body of Foster's

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was interfering with fenix happiness. The thing had become, of course,

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an obsession. With Fennick hiding up there in the heart

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of the lakes, with no friends, almost no company, and

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very little money. He was given too much to brooding

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over his failure. He was a failure, and it was

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not his own fault. How could it be his own fault,

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with his talents and his brilliance. It was the fault

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of modern life and its lack of culture, the fault

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of the stupid material mess that made up the intelligences

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of human beings, and the fault of Foster. Always Fennick

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hoped that Foster would keep away from him. He did

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not know what he would not do, did he see

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the man? And then one day, to his amazement, he

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received a telegram passing through this way, may I stop

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with you Monday and Tuesday, Giles Foster. Fennick could scarcely

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believe his eyes, and then from curiosity, from cynical contempt,

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from some deeper, more mysterious motive that he dared not analyze.

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He had telegraphed, come and here the man was, and

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he had come, would you believe it? To put things right?

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He had heard from Hamelin Edis that Fennick was hurt

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with him, had some kind of aggrievance. I didn't like

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to feel that, old man, and so I thought I'd

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just stop by and have it out with you, see

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what the matter was, and put it right. Last night

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after supper, Foster had tried to put it right, eagerly,

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his eyes like a good dog's who is asking for

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a bone that he knows that he thoroughly deserves. He

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had held out his hand and asked Fennick to say

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what was up. Fennick simply had said that nothing was up. Hamlin,

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dis was a damned fool. Oh, I'm glad to hear that.

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Foster had cried, springing out of his chair and putting

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his hand on Fenix's shoulder. I'm glad of that old man.

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I couldn't bear for us not to be friends. We've

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been friends so long. Lord, how Fennick hated him at

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that moment. What a jolly lot of books you have.

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Foster turned round and looked at Fennick with eager, gratified eyes.

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Every book here is interesting. I like your arrangement of

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them too, And those open book shelves. It always seems

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to me a shame to shut up books behind glass.

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Foster came forward and sat down quite close to his host.

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He even reached forward and laid his hand on his

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host's knee. Look here, I'm mentioning it for the last

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time positively, but I do want to make quite certain

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there is nothing wrong between us, is there? Old man?

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I know you assured me last night, but I just

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want Fennick looked at him, and surveying him, felt suddenly

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an exquisite pleasure of hatred. He liked the touch of

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the man's hand on his knee. He himself bent forward

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a little, and thinking how agreeable it would be to

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push Foster's eyes in, deep, deep into his head, crunching them,

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smashing them to purple, leaving the empty staring bloody sockets.

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Said why no, of course not. I told you last night.

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What could there be? The hand gripped the knee a

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little more tightly. I am so glad. That's splendid, splendid.

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I hope you won't think me ridiculous. But I've always

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had an affection for you ever since I can remember.

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I've always wanted to know you better. I've admired your

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talents so greatly. That novel of yours, that the one

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about the Alloe, the Bitter Aloe. Ah, Yes, that was it.

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That was a splendid book. Pessimistic of course, but still fine.

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It ought to have done better, I remember thinking so

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at the time. Yes, it ought to have done better.

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Your time will come, though. What I say is that

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good work always tells in the end. Yes, my time

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will come. The thin piping voice went on, Now I've

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had more success than I deserved. Oh, yes I have.

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You can't deny it. I'm not being falsely modest. I

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mean it. I've got some talent, of course, but not

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so much as people say. And you why you've got

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so much more than they acknowledge you have, old man,

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you have? Indeed only I do hope you'll forgive my

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saying this. Perhaps you haven't advanced quite as you might

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have done, living up here, shut away here, closed in

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by all these mountains, in this wet climate always raining.

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Why you're out of things, you don't see, people, don't

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talk and discover what's really going on? Why look at me?

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Fennick turned round and looked at him. Now I have

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half the year in London, where one gets the best

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of everything, best talk, best music, best plays, and then

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I'm three months abroad Italy or Greece or somewhere, and

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then three in the country. Now that's an ideal arrangement.

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You have everything that way, Italy or Grease or somewhere.

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Something turned in Fennex's breast, grinding, grinding, grinding. How he

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had longed, oh, how passionately, for just one week in Greece,

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two days in Sicily. Sometimes he had thought that he

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might run to it. But when it had come to

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the actual counting of the pennies, and how this fool,

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this fat head, this self satisfied, conceited, patronizing, He got up,

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looked out at the golden sun. What do you say

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to a walk? He suggested, The sun will last for

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a good hour. Yet as soon as the words were

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out of his lips, he felt as though someone else

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had set them for him. He even turned half round

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to see whether anyone else were there, ever since Foster's arrival,

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and the evening before he had been conscious of this

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sensation a walk. Why should he take Foster for a walk,

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Show him his beloved country. Point out those curves and

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lines and hollows, the broad silver shield of dorant water,

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the cloudy purple hills hunched like blankets about the knees

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of some recumbent giant. Why it was as though he

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had turned round to someone behind him and had said,

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you have some further design in this. They started out.

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The road sank abruptly to the lake. Then the path

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ran between trees at the water's edge. Across the lake,

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tones of bright yellow light, crocus hued rode upon the blue.

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The hills were dark. The very way that Foster walked

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bespoke the man. He was always a little ahead of you,

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pushing his long, thin body along with little eager jerks,

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as though he did not hurry, he would miss something

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that would be immensely to his advantage. He talked, throwing

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words over his shoulder to Fennick, as you throw crumbs

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of bread to a robin. Of course, I was pleased.

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Who would not be? After all, it's a new prize.

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They've only been awarding it for a year or two.

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But it's gratifying, really gratifying to secure it. When I

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opened the envelope and found the check there, well you

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could have knocked me down with a feather. You could. Indeed,

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of course, one hundred pounds isn't much, but it's the honor.

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Whither were they going? Their destiny was as certain as

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though they had no free will, free will. There is

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no free will. All is fate. Fennix suddenly laughed aloud.

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Foster stopped, Why what is it? What's what? He laughed?

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Something amused me. Foster slipped his arm through Fenix. It

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is jolly to be walking along together like this, arm

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in arm. Friends. I'm a sentimental man. I won't deny it.

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What I say is that life is short, and one

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must love one's fellow beings, Or where is one? You

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live too much alone? Old man? He squeezed Feenix's arm.

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That's the truth of it. It was torture, exquisite heavenly torture.

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It was wonderful to feel that thin, bony arm pressing

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against his almost you could hear the beating of that

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other heart. Wonderful to feel that arm and the temptation

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to take it in your two hands, and to end

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it and twist it, and then to hear the bones crack, crack, crack.

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Wonderful to feel that temptation rise through one's body like

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boiling water, and yet not to yield to it. For

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a moment. Fenix's hand touched Foster's. Then he drew himself apart.

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We were at the village. This is the hotel where

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they all come in the summer. We turn off at

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the right here. I'll show you my tarn, your tarn,

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asked Foster. Forgive my ignorance, but what is a tarn? Exactly?

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A tarn is a miniature lake, a pool of water

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lying in the lap of the hill, very quiet, lovely, silent.

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Some of them are immensely deep. I should like to

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see that. It is some little distance up a rough road.

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Do you mind not a bit? I have long legs.

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Some of them are immensely deep, unfathomable. Nobody touched the bottom,

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but quiet, like glass with shadows. Only do you know, Fennik.

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But I have always been free of water. I've never

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learned to swim. I'm afraid to go out of my tep.

233
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,639
Isn't that ridiculous. But it is all because at my

234
00:16:08,759 --> 00:16:11,720
private school years ago, when I was a small boy,

235
00:16:12,159 --> 00:16:14,559
some big fellows took me and held me with my

236
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,360
head under the water, and nearly drowned me they did. Indeed,

237
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,840
they went farther than they meant to. I can see

238
00:16:21,879 --> 00:16:27,519
their faces. Fennick considered this. The picture leaped to his mind.

239
00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:32,240
He could see the boys, large strong fellows probably, and

240
00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,000
this little skinny thing like a frog, their thick hands

241
00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:39,639
about his throat, his legs like gray sticks kicking out

242
00:16:39,639 --> 00:16:43,080
of the water, and their laughter, their sudden sense that

243
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:48,000
something was wrong. A skinny body, all flaccid and still

244
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,480
he drew a deep breath. Foster was walking beside him,

245
00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,720
now not ahead of him, as though he were a

246
00:16:55,759 --> 00:17:02,679
little afraid and needed reassurance. Indeed had changed before. And

247
00:17:02,799 --> 00:17:07,079
behind them stretched the uphill path, loose with shale and stones.

248
00:17:08,039 --> 00:17:10,039
On their right, on a ridge at the foot of

249
00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:13,599
the hill were some quarries, almost deserted, but the more

250
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,079
melancholy in the fading afternoon, because a little work still

251
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,880
continued there. Faint sounds came from the gaunt, listening chimneys.

252
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,160
A stream of water ran and tumbled angrily into a

253
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,920
pool below. Once and again a black silhouette like a

254
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,079
question mark, appeared against the darkening hill. It was a

255
00:17:32,079 --> 00:17:36,680
little steep here, and Foster puffed and blue. Fennick hated

256
00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:41,400
him the more for that, so thin and spare, and

257
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,599
still he could not keep in condition. They stumbled, keeping

258
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,000
below the quarry, on the edge of the running water,

259
00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:52,119
now green, now a dirty white gray, pushing their way

260
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,839
along the side of the hill. Their faces were set

261
00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,160
now towards helvelen. It rounded the cups of hills us

262
00:18:00,279 --> 00:18:04,200
in the base, and then sprawling to the right, there's

263
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,880
the tarn, Fenech exclaimed, and then added, The sun's not

264
00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:12,599
lasting as long as I had expected. It's growing dark already.

265
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,960
Foster stumbled and caught Fenix's arm. This twilight makes the

266
00:18:18,039 --> 00:18:22,839
hills look strange, like living men. I can scarcely see

267
00:18:22,839 --> 00:18:29,319
my way. We're alone here, Fenneck answered, don't you feel

268
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,279
the stillness? The men will have left the quarry now

269
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,240
and gone home. There is no one in all this

270
00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,480
place but ourselves. If you watch, you will see a

271
00:18:41,559 --> 00:18:45,759
strange green light steal down over the hills. It lasts

272
00:18:45,799 --> 00:18:50,880
but for a moment, and then it is dark. Ah,

273
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,359
here is my tarn. Do you know how I love

274
00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:59,400
this place, Foster. It seems to belong especially to me,

275
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,680
just as much as all your work and your glory

276
00:19:03,839 --> 00:19:08,359
and fame and success seem to belong to you. I

277
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:13,119
have this and you have that. Perhaps in the end

278
00:19:13,759 --> 00:19:19,920
we are even after all. Yes, But I feel as

279
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,839
though that piece of water belonged to me and I

280
00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:27,319
to it, and as though we should never be separated. Yes,

281
00:19:28,799 --> 00:19:32,480
isn't it black? It is one of the deep ones.

282
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,680
No one has ever sounded it only hel velyin knows.

283
00:19:38,039 --> 00:19:40,640
And one day I fancy that it will take me

284
00:19:40,799 --> 00:19:47,960
too into its confidence, will whisper its secrets. Foster sneezed.

285
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:54,119
Very nice, very beautiful, Fennick. I like your tarn charming.

286
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,720
And now let's turn back. That is a difficult walk

287
00:19:58,759 --> 00:20:03,599
beneath the quarry. It's chilly too. Do you see that

288
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,680
little jetty there? Fennick led Foster by the arm. Some

289
00:20:07,799 --> 00:20:10,759
one built that out into the water. He had a

290
00:20:10,759 --> 00:20:15,440
boat there, I suppose, come and look down from the

291
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,119
end of the little jetty. It looked so deep, and

292
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,880
the mountains seemed to close round. Fennick took Foster's arm

293
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,039
and led him to the end of the jetty. Indeed,

294
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:32,359
the water looked deep here, deep and very black. Foster

295
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,119
appeered down. Then he looked up at the hills that

296
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,680
did indeed seem to have gathered close around him. He

297
00:20:39,839 --> 00:20:44,640
sneezed again, I've caught a cold. I'm afraid. Let's turn

298
00:20:44,759 --> 00:20:49,000
homewards Fennick, or we shall never find our way home.

299
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:53,279
Then said Fennick, and his hands closed about the thin,

300
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:58,039
scraggy neck. For the instant the head half turned and

301
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:04,000
two startled strangely. Childish eyes stared. Then with a push

302
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,039
that was ludicrously simple, the body was impelled forward, and

303
00:21:08,079 --> 00:21:11,440
there was a sharp cry, a splash, a stir of

304
00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:16,359
something white against the swiftly gathering dusk, again, and then again,

305
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:26,799
then farther, spreading ripples. Then silence. The silence extended, having

306
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,480
enwrapped the tarn, It spread as though with finger on lip,

307
00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:35,880
to the already quiescent hills. Fennix shared in the silence,

308
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,200
He luxuriated in it. He did not move at all.

309
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,359
He stood there, looking upon the inky water of the tarn,

310
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,240
his arms folded, a man lost in intensest thought. But

311
00:21:49,319 --> 00:21:53,079
he was not thinking. He was only conscious of a warm,

312
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:58,759
luxurious relief, a sensuous feeling that was not thought at all.

313
00:22:00,079 --> 00:22:07,559
Foster was gone, that tiresome prating, conceited, self satisfied, fool gone,

314
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:12,359
never to return. The tarn assured him of that. It

315
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,079
stared back into Fenix's face approvingly, as though it said,

316
00:22:16,559 --> 00:22:21,039
you have done well, a clean and necessary job. We

317
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:25,559
have done it together, you and I. I am proud

318
00:22:25,599 --> 00:22:30,200
of you. He was proud of himself. At last, he

319
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:35,119
had done something definite with his life. Thought, eager, active

320
00:22:35,279 --> 00:22:38,960
thought was beginning now to flood his brain. For all

321
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,279
these years, he had hung around in this place doing

322
00:22:42,319 --> 00:22:48,720
nothing but cherish grievances, weak backboneless. Now, at last there

323
00:22:48,839 --> 00:22:53,240
was action. He drew himself up and looked at the hills.

324
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,119
He was proud, and he was cold. He was shivering.

325
00:22:58,839 --> 00:23:02,319
He turned up the collar of his coat. Yes, there

326
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,799
was the faint green light that always lingered in the

327
00:23:04,799 --> 00:23:08,119
shadows of the hills for a brief moment before darkness came.

328
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:14,119
It was growing late. He had better return. Shivering now

329
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,519
so that his teeth chattered, he started off down the path,

330
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,880
and then was aware that he did not wish to

331
00:23:21,039 --> 00:23:25,160
leave the tarn. The tarn was friendly, the only friend

332
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,079
he had in all the world. As he stumbled along

333
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,960
in the dark, this sense of loneliness grew. He was

334
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,920
going home to an empty house. There had been a

335
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,559
guest in it last night. Who was it, whife Foster,

336
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,960
of course, Foster, with his silly laugh and amiable, mediocre eyes.

337
00:23:47,079 --> 00:23:50,680
Well Foster would not be there now. No, he would

338
00:23:50,759 --> 00:23:55,400
never be there again. And suddenly Fennix started to run.

339
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,200
He did not know why, except that now that he

340
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,000
had left the tarn, he was lonely. He wished that

341
00:24:03,039 --> 00:24:05,440
he could have stayed there all night, but because he

342
00:24:05,519 --> 00:24:08,920
was cold, he could not, And so now he was running,

343
00:24:09,079 --> 00:24:11,079
so that he might be at home, with the lights

344
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:14,200
and the familiar furniture and all the things that he

345
00:24:14,279 --> 00:24:18,240
knew to reassure him. As he ran, the shale and

346
00:24:18,279 --> 00:24:21,799
stone scattered beneath his feet. They made a tit tattering

347
00:24:21,839 --> 00:24:23,839
noise under him, and some one else seemed to be

348
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,319
running too. He stopped, and the other runner also stopped.

349
00:24:29,599 --> 00:24:34,000
He breathed in the silence. He was hot now. The

350
00:24:34,039 --> 00:24:37,359
perspiration was trickling down his cheeks. He could feel a

351
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,400
dribble of it down his back inside his shirt. His

352
00:24:40,519 --> 00:24:44,160
knees were pounding, his heart was thumbing, and all around

353
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:49,160
him the hills were so amazingly silent, now, like India

354
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,839
rubber clouds that you could push in or pull out,

355
00:24:51,839 --> 00:24:55,200
as you do those India rubber faces, gray against the

356
00:24:55,319 --> 00:24:58,880
night sky of a crystal purple, upon whose surface, like

357
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,119
the twinkling eyes of boats at sea, stars were now appearing.

358
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,240
His knees steadied, his heart beat less fiercely, and he

359
00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:12,039
began to run again. Suddenly he had turned the corner

360
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,640
and was out at the hotel. Its lamps were kindly

361
00:25:15,839 --> 00:25:20,359
and reassuring. He walked then quietly along the lakeside path,

362
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,559
and had it not been for the certainty that someone

363
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,640
was treading behind him, he would have been comfortable and

364
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:31,079
at his ease. He stopped once or twice and looked back,

365
00:25:31,599 --> 00:25:36,079
And once he stopped and called out, who's there? Only

366
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:42,119
the rustling trees answered. He had the strangest fancy, But

367
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,079
his brain was throbbing so fiercely that he could not

368
00:25:45,279 --> 00:25:48,480
think that it was the tarn that was following him,

369
00:25:48,839 --> 00:25:53,480
the tarn slipping sliding along the road, being with him

370
00:25:53,519 --> 00:25:56,839
so that he should not be lonely. He could almost

371
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,960
hear the tarn whisper in his ear that together, and

372
00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:04,359
so I do not wish you to bear all the

373
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:09,160
responsibility yourself. I will stay with you so that you

374
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:13,920
are not lonely. He climbed the road towards home, and

375
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,559
there were the lights of his house. He heard the

376
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,319
gate click behind him, as though it were shutting him in.

377
00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:24,160
He went into the sitting room, lighted and ready there

378
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,480
were the books that Foster had admired. The old woman

379
00:26:27,519 --> 00:26:32,079
who looked after him appeared. Will you be having some tea, sir? No,

380
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,559
thank you Annie. Will the other gentleman be wanting any No,

381
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,799
the other gentleman is away for the night. Then there

382
00:26:41,839 --> 00:26:46,640
will only be one for supper. Yes, only one for supper.

383
00:26:47,839 --> 00:26:50,599
He sat in the corner of the sofa and fell

384
00:26:50,759 --> 00:26:56,440
instantly into a deep slumber. He woke when the old

385
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,839
woman tapped him on the shoulder and told him that

386
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,480
supper was served. The room was dark save for the

387
00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:08,160
jumping light of two uncertain candles. Those two red candlesticks.

388
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,920
How he hated them up there on the mantelpiece. He

389
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,240
had always hated them, and now they seemed to him

390
00:27:15,279 --> 00:27:19,319
to have something of the quality of Foster's voice. That thin,

391
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:24,880
reedy piping tone. He was expecting at every moment that

392
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,759
Foster would enter, and yet he knew that he would not.

393
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,960
He continued to turn his head towards the door, but

394
00:27:33,079 --> 00:27:35,440
it was so dark there that you could not see.

395
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,200
The whole room was dark, except just there by the fireplace,

396
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:45,240
where the two candlesticks went whining with their miserable twinkling plate.

397
00:27:47,079 --> 00:27:49,279
He went into the dining room and sat down to

398
00:27:49,279 --> 00:27:53,839
his meal, but he could not eat anything. It was odd,

399
00:27:54,519 --> 00:27:59,400
that place by the table where Foster's chair should be, odd, naked,

400
00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:03,519
and made a man feel lonely. He got up once

401
00:28:03,559 --> 00:28:06,319
from the table and went to the window, opened it,

402
00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:12,000
and looked out. He listened for something. A trickle as

403
00:28:12,039 --> 00:28:16,400
of running water, a stir through the silence, as though

404
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,000
some deep pool were filling to the brim, A rustle

405
00:28:20,039 --> 00:28:24,519
in the trees. Perhaps an owl hooted sharply, as though

406
00:28:24,519 --> 00:28:27,759
someone had spoken to him unexpectedly behind his shoulder. He

407
00:28:27,799 --> 00:28:31,920
closed the window and looked back, peering under his dark

408
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,640
eyebrows into the room. Later on he went up to bed.

409
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,200
Had he been sleeping or had he been lying lazily

410
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:47,880
as one does, half dozing, half luxuriously, not thinking. He

411
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,319
was wide awake, now utterly awake, and his heart was

412
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,240
beating with apprehension. It was as though someone had called

413
00:28:55,319 --> 00:28:58,920
him by name. He slept always with his window a

414
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,319
little open and the blind up. Tonight, the moonlight shadowed

415
00:29:03,319 --> 00:29:07,240
in sickly fashion the objects in his room. It was

416
00:29:07,319 --> 00:29:10,480
not a flood of light, nor yet a sharp splash,

417
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:15,839
silvering a square, a circle, throwing the rest into ebony blackness.

418
00:29:16,799 --> 00:29:20,599
The light was dim, a little green, perhaps like the

419
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,519
shadow that comes over the hills just before dark. He

420
00:29:24,599 --> 00:29:27,359
stared at the window, and it seemed to him that

421
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:33,640
something moved there within, or rather against the green gray light.

422
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:40,039
Something silver tinted, glistened. Fennick stared. It had the look

423
00:29:40,279 --> 00:29:46,920
exactly of slipping water. Slipping water. He listened his head up,

424
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,640
and it seemed to him that from beyond the window

425
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,559
he caught the stir of water, not running, but rather

426
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:58,359
welling up and up, gurgling with satisfaction as it filled

427
00:29:58,359 --> 00:30:01,920
and filled. He sat up higher in bed, and then

428
00:30:02,119 --> 00:30:05,720
saw that down the wallpaper beneath the window water was

429
00:30:05,839 --> 00:30:10,240
undoubtedly trickling. He could see it lurched to the projecting

430
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:14,559
wood of the sill, pause, and then slip slither down

431
00:30:14,599 --> 00:30:19,720
the incline. The odd thing was that it fell so silently.

432
00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:24,839
Beyond the window there was that odd gurgle, but in

433
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:30,720
the room itself absolute silence. Whence could it come? He

434
00:30:30,759 --> 00:30:33,720
saw the line of silver rise and fall as the

435
00:30:33,759 --> 00:30:37,599
stream on the window ledge ebbed and flowed. He must

436
00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:40,279
get up and close the window. He drew his legs

437
00:30:40,279 --> 00:30:44,839
above the sheets and blankets and looked down. He shrieked.

438
00:30:45,359 --> 00:30:48,440
The floor was covered with a shining film of water.

439
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,799
It was rising as he looked. It had covered half

440
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,240
the short, stumpy legs of the bed. It rose without

441
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,680
a wink, a bubble, a brake over the sill. It

442
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:04,799
poured now in a steady flow, but soundless. Fennix sat

443
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,359
back in the bed, the clothes gathered to his chin,

444
00:31:07,559 --> 00:31:11,160
his eyes blinking, the Adam's apple throbbing like a throttle

445
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:15,160
in his throat. But he must do something, He must

446
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,880
stop this. The water was now level with the seats

447
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,039
of the chairs, but still was soundless. Could he but

448
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,359
reach the door. He put down his naked foot, then

449
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:32,240
cried again. The water was icy cold. Suddenly leaning staring

450
00:31:32,279 --> 00:31:36,759
at its dark, unbroken sheen, something seemed to push him forward.

451
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,480
He fell his head. His face was under the icy liquid.

452
00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:44,839
It seemed adhesive, and in the heart of its ice

453
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:50,160
hot like melting wax. He struggled to his feet. The

454
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:55,599
water was breast high. He screamed again and again. He

455
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,480
could see the looking glass, the row of books, the

456
00:31:58,519 --> 00:32:04,440
picture of Doura's horse, aloof impervious. He beat at the water,

457
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,839
and flakes of it seemed to cling to him like

458
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,960
scales of fish, clammy to his touch. He struggled, plowing

459
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,640
his way towards the door. The water was now out

460
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,839
his neck. Then something had caught him by the ankle.

461
00:32:19,359 --> 00:32:24,559
Something held him. He struggled, crying, let me go, let

462
00:32:24,559 --> 00:32:28,359
me go, I tell you to let me go. I

463
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,119
hate you. I hate you. I will not come down

464
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:37,200
to you. I will not. The water covered his mouth.

465
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:43,559
He felt that someone pushed in his eyeballs with bare knuckles.

466
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:50,000
A cold hand reached up and caught his naked thigh.

467
00:32:50,079 --> 00:32:53,839
In the morning, the little maid knocked, and, receiving no answer,

468
00:32:54,119 --> 00:32:57,000
came in as was her wont with his shaving water.

469
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,319
What she saw made her scu She ran for the gardener.

470
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:07,920
They took the body with its staring protruding eyes, its

471
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,400
tongue sticking out between the clenched teeth, and laid it

472
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:15,359
on the bed. The only sign of disorder was an

473
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:20,200
overturned water jug. A small pool of water stained the carpet.

474
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,039
It was a lovely morning. A twig of ivy idly

475
00:33:25,359 --> 00:33:32,279
in the little breeze, tapped the pane end of the

476
00:33:32,359 --> 00:33:32,720
tarn