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Speaker 1: The Strange Orchid by H. G. Wells. The buying of

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orchids has always had in it a certain speculative flavor.

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You have before you the brown shriveled lump of tissue,

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And for the rest you must trust your judgment, or

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the auctioneer, or your good luck. As your taste may incline.

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The plant may be moribund or dead, or it may

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just be a respectable purchase, fair value for your money,

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or perhaps for the thing has happened again and again.

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There slowly unfolds before the delighted eyes of the happy purchaser,

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day after day, some new variety, some novel richness, a

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strange twist of the labellum, or some subtler coloration, or

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some unexpected mimicry. Pride, beauty, and profit blossom together on

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one delicate green spike. And it may be even immortality.

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For the new miracle of nature may stand in need

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of a new specific name, and what so convenience as

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that of its discoverer, John Smithea. There have been worse names.

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It was perhaps the hope of some such happy discovery

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that made Winter Wedderbourn such a frequent attendant at these sales,

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that hope, and also maybe the fact he had nothing

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else of the slightest interest to do in the world.

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He was a shy, lonely, and rather ineffectual man, provided

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with just enough income to keep off the spurd of necessity,

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and not enough nervous energy to make him seek any

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exacting employment. He might have collected stamps or coins, or

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translated horrors or bound books, or invented new species of diatoms,

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but as it happened, he grew orchids and had one

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ambitious little hot house. I have a fancy, he said

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over his coffee, that something is going to happen to

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me to day. He spoke as he moved and thought slowly. Oh,

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don't say that, said his housekeeper, who was also his

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remote cousin. For something happening was a euphemism that meant

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only one thing. To her. You misunderstand me. I mean

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nothing un pleasant, though what I do mean I scarcely know.

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To day, he continued, after a pause, peters are going

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to sell a batch of plants for the Anderman's and

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the Indies. I shall go up and see what they have.

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It may be I shall buy something good unawares. That

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may be it, he passed his cup for a second

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cupful of coffee. Are these the things collected by that

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poor young fellow you told me of the other day,

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asked his cousin, as she filled his cup. Yes, he said,

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and became meditative over a piece of toast. Nothing ever,

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does happen to me, he remarked, presently beinging to think aloud.

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I wonder why things enough happen to other people. There

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is Harvey only the other week on Monday he picked

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up sixpence. On Wednesday, his chicks had the staggers. On Friday,

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his cousin came home from Australia, and on Saturday he

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broke his ankle. What a world of excitement compared to me.

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I think I would rather be without so much excitement,

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said his housekeeper. It can't be good for you. I

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suppose it's troublesome. Still, you see, nothing ever happens to me.

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When I was a little boy, I never had accidents.

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I never fell in love as I grew up, never married.

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Wonder how it feels to have something happened to you,

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something really remarkable. That orchid collector was only thirty six,

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twenty years younger than myself when he died, and he

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had been married twice and divorced once. He had had

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malarial fever four times, and once he broke his thigh.

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He killed a malay once, and once he was wounded

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by a poisoned dart, and in the end he was

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killed by jungle leeches. It must have all been very troublesome,

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but then it must have been very interesting, you know,

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except perhaps the leeches. I am sure it was not

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good for him, said the lady with conviction. Perhaps not.

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And then Wedderburne looked at his watch. Twenty three minutes

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path eight. I am going up by the quarter to

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twelve train, so there's plenty of time. I think I'll

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wear my old pack a jacket, it is quite warm enough,

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and my grave felt hat and brown shoes. I suppose.

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He glanced out of the window at the serene sky

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and sunlit garden, and then nervously at his cousin's face.

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I think you had better take an umbrella if you're

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going to London, she said, in a voice that admitted

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of no denial. There's all between here and the station

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coming back. When he returned, he was in a state

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of mild excitement. He had made a purchase. It was

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rare that he could make up his mind quickly enough

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to buy, but this time he had done so. There

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are van das, he said, and a d'nobi, and some palaeonopsis.

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He surveyed his purchasers, loving me as he consumed his soup.

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They were laid out on a spotless table cloth before him,

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and he was telling his cousin all about them as

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he slowly beanded through his dinner. It was his customed

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to live all his visits to London and over again

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in the evening for her and his own entertainment. I

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knew something was going to happen to day, and I

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have bought all of these, some of them, some of them,

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I feel sure. Do you know that some of them

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will be remarkable? I don't know how it is, but

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I feel just as sure as if some one had

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told me that some of these will turn out remarkable.

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That one, he pointed to, a shriveled rhizome, was not identified.

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It may be a palaeonopsus, or it may not. It

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may be a new species, or even a new genus.

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And it was the last that poor Patten ever collected.

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I don't like the look of it, said his housekeeper.

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It's such an ugly shape. To me, it scarcely seems

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to have a shape. I don't like those things that

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stick out, said the housekeeper. It shall be put away

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in a pot to morrow. It looks, said the housekeeper,

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like a spider shamming dead. Wedderburn smiled and surveyed the

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root with his head on one side. It's certainly not

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a pretty lump of stuff, but you never can judge

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of these things from their dry appearance. It may turn

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out to be a very beautiful orchid. Indeed, how busy

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I shall be to morrow. I must see to night

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just what to do with these things, And to morrow

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I shall set to work. They found poor Baton lying

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dead or dying in a mangrove swamp I forget which

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he began again presently, and with one of those very

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orchids crushed up under his body. He had been unwell

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for some days, with some kind of native fever, and

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I suppose he fainted. Those mangrove swamps are very unwholesome.

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Every drop of blood, they say, was taken out of

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him by the jungle leeches. It may be that very

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plant that cost him his life. To obtain none the

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better of it. For that men must work, though women

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may weep, said Wedderburn with profound gravity. Fancy dying away

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from every comfort in a nasty swamp, fancy being ill

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of fever with nothing to take but Chlorodyne and Queen.

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If men were left to themselves, they would live on

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Chlorodyne and Queen. And no one around you but horrible natives.

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They say the Andaman Island as the most disgusting, the wretches,

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And anyhow they can scarcely make good nurses, not having

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the necessary training, and just for people in England to

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have orchids. I don't suppose it was comfortable, but some

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men seem to enjoy that kind of thing, said Baderburn. Anyhow,

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the natives of his party was sufficiently civilized to take

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more care of all his recollection into His colleague, who

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was an ornithologist, came back from the interior, though they

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could not tell the species of the orchid, and had

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let it wither. And it makes these things more interesting,

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it makes them disgusting. I should be afraid of some

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malaria clinging to them, and just think there's been a

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dead body lying across that ugly thing. I never thought

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of that before. There, I declare, I cannot eat another

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mouthful of dinner. I will take them off the table,

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if you like, put them in the window seat. I

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can see them just as well there. The next few

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days he was indeed singularly busy in his steamy little

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hot house, fussing about with charcoal, lumps of teak, moss,

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and all the other mysteries of the orchid cultivator. He

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considered he was having a wonderfully eventful time. In the evening,

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he would talk about these new orchids to his friends,

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and over and over again he reverted to his expectation

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of seeing something strange. Severl the van Dass and the

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Dandrobium died under his care, but presently the strange orchid

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began to show signs of life. He was delighted and

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took his housekeeper right away from jam making to see

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it at once. Directly he made the discovery. That is

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a bud, he said, And present, there will be a

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lot of leaves there, And those little things coming out

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here are aerial rootlets. They look to me like little

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white fingers poking out of the brown. I don't like them,

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said the housekeeper. Why not. I don't know. They look

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like fingers trying to get at you. I can't help

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my likes and dislikes. I don't know for certain, but

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I don't think there are any orchids I know that

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have aerial rootlets quite like that. Maybe my fancy. Of course,

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you see, they are a little flattened at the ends.

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I don't like them, said the housekeeper, certainly shivering and

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turning away. I know it's very silly of me, and

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I'm very sorry, particularly as you'd like the thing so much.

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But I can't help thinking of that corpse. But it

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may not be that particular plant that was merely a

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guess of mine. His housekeeper shrugged her shoulders. Anyhow, I

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don't like it, she said. Wend Burne felt a little

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hurt at its life to the plant, but that did

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not prevent his talking to her about orchids generally, and

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this orchid in particular, whenever he felt inclined. There are

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such queer things about orchids, he said, one day, such

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possibilities of surprises, you know. Darwin studded their fertilization and

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showed that the whole structure of an ordinary orchid flower

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was contrived in order that moths might carry the pollen

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from plant to plant. Well, it seems there are a

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lot of orchids known, the flower of which cannot possibly

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be used for fertilization in that way. Some of the Cyprideans,

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for instance, there are no insects known that could possibly

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fertilize them, and some of them have never been found

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for the seed. But how do they form new plants?

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By runners and tubers and that kind of outgrowth that

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is easily explained. The puzzle is what are the flowers for?

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Very likely, he added, my orchid may be something extraordinary

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in that way. If so, I shall study it. I

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have often thought of making researches as Darwin dead, but

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furtherto I have not found the time, or something else

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has happened to prevent it. The leaves are beginning to unfold. Now.

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I do wish you would come and see it. But

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she said that the orchid house was so hot he

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gave her the headache. She had seen the plant once again,

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and the aerial rootlets, which were now some of them

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more than a foot long, had unfortunately reminded her of

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tentacles reaching out after something, and they had got into

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her dreams growing after her with incredible rapidity, so that

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she had settled to her entire satisfaction. She would not

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see that plant again, and Wedderbourne had to admire its

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leaves alone. They were of the ordinary broad form, and

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a deep glossy green, with splatches and dots of deep

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red about the base. He knew of no other leaves

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quite like them. The plant was placed on a low

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bench near the thermometer, and close by a simple arrangement

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by which tap dripped on the hot water pipes. Ken

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kept the air steamy, and he spent his afternoons time

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with some regularity, meditating on the approaching flowering of his

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strange plant. And at last the great thing happened. Directly

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he entered their little glass house. He knew that the

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spike had burst, and although his great polyanthus low eye

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hid the corner where the new darling stood, there was

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a new odor in the air, a rich, intensely sweet

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scent that overpowered every other in that crowded, steaming little greenhouse.

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Directly he noticed this, he hurried down to the strange orchid,

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and behold the trailing green spikes bore now three great

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splashes of blossom, from which this overpowering sweetness proceeded. He

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stopped before them in an ecstasy of admiration. The flowers

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were white, with streaks of gold and orange upon the petals.

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The heavy labalum was coiled into an intricate projection, and

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a wonderful bluish purple mingled there with the gold. He

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could see at once that the genus was altogether a

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new one, and the insufferable scent, how hot the place was,

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the blossom swam before his eyes. He would see if

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the temperature was right. He made a step towards the thermometer.

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Suddenly everything appeared unsteady. The bricks on the floor were

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dancing up and down, then the white blossoms, the green

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leaves behind him, The whole greenhouse seemed to sweep sideways,

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and then in a curve upward. At half past four,

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his cousin made the tea according to their invariable custom,

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but Wedderburn did not come in for his tea. He

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is worshiping that hotted orchid, she told herself, and waited

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ten minutes. I will go and call him. She went

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straight to the hot house, and, opening the door, called

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his name. There was no reply. She noticed that the

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air was very close and loaded with an intense perfume.

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Then she saw something lying on the bricks between the

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hot water pipes. For a minute, perhaps she stood motionless.

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He was lying face upward at the foot of the

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strange orchid. The tentacle like aerial rootlets no longer swayed

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freely in the air, but were crowded together a tangle

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of gray ropes, and stretched tight, with their ends closely

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applied to his chin and neck and hands. She did

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not understand. And then she saw from under one of

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the exultant tentacles upon his cheek that trickled a little

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thread of blood. With an inarticulate cry, she ran towards

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him and tried to pull him away from the leech

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like suckers. She snapped two of these tentacles, and their

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sap dripped red. Then the overpowering scent of the blossom

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began to make her head reel. How they clung to him.

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She tore at the top ropes, and here the white

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inflorescence swam about her. She felt she was fainting, knew

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she must not. She left him and hastily opened the

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nearest door, And after she had panted for a moment.

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In the fresh air, she had a brilliant inspiration. She

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caught up a flowerpot and smashed in the windows at

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the end of the greenhouse. Then she re entered. She tugged,

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now with renewed strength, at Wedderbourn's motionless body, and brought

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the strange orchid crashing to the floor. It still clung

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with grimace tenacity to its victim. In a frenzy, she

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lugged it and him into the open air. Then she

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thought of tearing through the sucker rootlets one by one,

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and in another minute she had released him and was

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dragging him away from the horror. He was white and

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bleeding from a dozen circular patches. The odd jobman was

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coming up the garden, amazed at the smashing of glass,

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and saw her emerge, holding the inanimate body with red

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stained hands. For a moment he thought impossible things. Bring

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some water, as she cried, and her voice dispelled his fancies.

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When with unnatural alacrity he returned with the water, he

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found a weeping with excitement, and with Wedderburn's head upon

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her knee, wiping the blood from his face. What's the matter,

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said Wedderbourn, opening his eyes feebly and closing them again.

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At once, go and tell Annie to come out here

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to me, and then go for doctor Hadden at once,

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she said to the odd jobman, as soon as he

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brought the water and at it, seeing he hesitated, I

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will tell you all about it when you come back. Presently,

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Wedderburn opened his eyes again, and seeing that he was

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troubled by the puzzle of his position, she explained to him,

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you fainted in the hot house and the orchid I

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will see to that. She said. Weather Bird had lost

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a great deal of blood, but beyond that he had

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suffered no very great injury. They gave him brandy mixed

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with some pink extract of meat, and carried him upstairs

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to bed. His housekeeper told her incredible story and fragments

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to doctor Hadden. Come to the orchid house and see,

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she said. The cold outer air was blowing in through

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the open door, and the sickly perfume was almost dispelled.

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Most of the torn aerial rootlets lay already withered, amongst

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the number of dark stains upon the bricks. The stem

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of the inflorescence was broken by the fall of the plant,

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and the flowers were growing limp and brown at the

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edges of the petals. The doctor stooped towards it, then

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saw that one of the aerial rootlets still stirred feebly

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and hesitated. The next morning, the Strange orchid still lay there,

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black now and puescent. The door banged intermittently in the

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morning breeze, and all the array of Wedderburn's orchids was

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shriveled and prostrate. But Wedderburn himself was bright and garrulous

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upstairs in the story of his strange adventure. End of

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the Strange Orchid