Speaker 1: The Dice Thrower by Sydney Southgate. Hunger is the most
Speaker 1: poignant when it has forced physical suffering to the highest
Speaker 1: point without impairing the metal functions. Thus it was with
Speaker 1: Silas Carringer, a young man of uncommonly high spirit, when
Speaker 1: he found himself a total stranger in a ramshackle Mexican
Speaker 1: city one rainy night in November. In his possession remained
Speaker 1: not a single article that he might have pawned for
Speaker 1: a morsel of food, and he had already stripped his
Speaker 1: body of every shred of clothing except the few garments.
Speaker 1: He was compelled by an inborn sense of fitness of
Speaker 1: things to retain. Bodily. Starvation as a consequence, was added
Speaker 1: to hunger, and his misery was complete. It chanced that
Speaker 1: an extraordinary happening awaited Silas Carringer that night in Mexico.
Speaker 1: Otherwise he would either have drowned himself in the river
Speaker 1: within twenty four hours or died of pneumonia within three days.
Speaker 1: He had been without food for seventy hours, and his
Speaker 1: mental desperation had driven him far in its race with
Speaker 1: his physical needs to consume the remaining strength of his
Speaker 1: emaciated body. Pale weak and tottering, he took what comfort
Speaker 1: he could find and the savory odors which came streaming
Speaker 1: up from the basement kitchens of the restaurants in the
Speaker 1: main street. He lacked the courage to beg or steal,
Speaker 1: for he had been reared as a gentleman and was
Speaker 1: accordingly out of place in the world. His teeth clattered,
Speaker 1: his eyes had dark, ugly lines under them. He shambled, stooped,
Speaker 1: and gasped. He was too desperate to curse his fate.
Speaker 1: He could only long for food. He could not reason,
Speaker 1: He could not reflect, He could not understand that there
Speaker 1: were pitying hands somewhere that might gladly have suckered him.
Speaker 1: He could think only of the hunger which consumed him,
Speaker 1: of the food which could give him warmth and comparative happiness.
Speaker 1: Staggering along the streets, he came at last to a
Speaker 1: restaurant a little way from the main thoroughfares. Stopping before
Speaker 1: the window, he stared greedily at the stakes within, thick
Speaker 1: and juicy, lined with big fat oysters lying on ice,
Speaker 1: At the slices of ham as large as his hat,
Speaker 1: at the roasted chickens, brown and ready for the table,
Speaker 1: and he ground his teeth groaning, and staggered on. A
Speaker 1: few steps onward was a drinking saloon. At one sight
Speaker 1: of it was a private door with the words family
Speaker 1: Entrance painted thereon, And in the recess of the door,
Speaker 1: which was closed, there stood the dark figure of a man.
Speaker 1: In spite of his own agony, Carringer saw something which
Speaker 1: appalled him in the stranger's face as the street light
Speaker 1: fell upon it, and yet at the same time he
Speaker 1: was fascinated. Perhaps it was the unspeakable anguish of those
Speaker 1: features that appealed to the starving man's sympathy. And he
Speaker 1: came to an uncertain halt at the doorway and stared
Speaker 1: rudely upon the stranger. At first, the man did not
Speaker 1: notice him, seeming to look straight out into the street
Speaker 1: with a curious fixity of expression, and the deathlike pallor
Speaker 1: of his face sent a chill through Carringer's limbs, chilled
Speaker 1: nigh to stone, though they were already the stranger caught
Speaker 1: sight of him at last, Ah, he said, slowly, with
Speaker 1: a peculiar clearness, the rain has caught you too. Without
Speaker 1: an overcoat or umbrella, stand in this doorway. There is
Speaker 1: room for two. The voice was not unkind, though it
Speaker 1: sounded strangely harsh. It was the first word that had
Speaker 1: been addressed to Carringer since hunger possessed him, and to
Speaker 1: be spoken to it all gave him cheer. So he
Speaker 1: took his place in the doorway beside the mysterious stranger,
Speaker 1: who at once relapsed into his fixed gaze at nothingness
Speaker 1: across the street. It may rain for a long time,
Speaker 1: he said, presently, stirring himself. I am cold, and I
Speaker 1: can feel you trembling and shivering. Let's step inside and drink.
Speaker 1: He turned and opened the door. Carringer followed hope, slowly
Speaker 1: warming his chilled heart. The pale stranger led the way
Speaker 1: into one of the little private compartments with which the
Speaker 1: place was fitted. Before sitting down, he drew from his
Speaker 1: pocket a roll of bank bills. You are younger than I,
Speaker 1: he said to carrying her. Will you go to the
Speaker 1: bar and buy a bottle of absinthe and bring also
Speaker 1: a pitcher of water and some glasses. I don't like
Speaker 1: the waiters hanging around here is a twenty dollar bill.
Speaker 1: Carringer took the money and started down the corridor towards
Speaker 1: the bar. He clutched the sudden wealth in his hand tightly.
Speaker 1: It felt warm and comfortable, sending a delicious tingling sensation
Speaker 1: through his arm. How many glorious meals did not the
Speaker 1: money represent? He could smell an imaginary steak broiled with
Speaker 1: fat mushrooms and melted butter in the steaming dish. Then
Speaker 1: he paused and looked steadily backward to where he left
Speaker 1: the stranger. Why not slip away while he had the opportunity,
Speaker 1: away from the drinking saloon with the money, to the
Speaker 1: restaurant he had passed half an hour ago and buys
Speaker 1: something to eat. It was risky, but he hesitated, and
Speaker 1: the coward in him there are other names than this triumphed.
Speaker 1: He went straight to the bar, as a stranger had requested,
Speaker 1: and ordered the liquor. His step was weaker as he
Speaker 1: returned to the compartment. The stranger was sitting at a
Speaker 1: little table, staring at the opposite wall, just as he
Speaker 1: had stared across the street. He wore a wide brimmed
Speaker 1: slouch hat pulled well over his eyes. Carringer could only
Speaker 1: vaguely take the measure of the man's face. It was
Speaker 1: only after Carringer had set the bottle and the glasses
Speaker 1: on the table and seated himself opposite that. The stranger
Speaker 1: noticed his return. Oh you have brought it, he exclaimed,
Speaker 1: without raising his voice. How kind of you. Now, please
Speaker 1: close the door. Carringer was counting out the change from
Speaker 1: his pocket when the stranger interrupted him. Keep that, he said,
Speaker 1: you will need it, for I am going to win
Speaker 1: it back in a way that may interest you. Let
Speaker 1: us drink first, though, and I will explain. He mixed
Speaker 1: two drinks of absinthe and water, and the two men
Speaker 1: lifted their glasses. Carringer had never tasted the liquor before,
Speaker 1: and it offended his palate at first. But no sooner
Speaker 1: had it passed down his throat than he began to
Speaker 1: feel warm again and the most delicious thrills he had
Speaker 1: heard of the absent drinkers of Paris. And he wondered
Speaker 1: no longer at the deadly fascination of the liquor, not
Speaker 1: realizing that his extreme weakness and the emptiness of his
Speaker 1: stomach made him peculiarly susceptible to its effects. This will
Speaker 1: do us good, murmured the stranger, setting down his glass. Presently,
Speaker 1: we shall have more. Meanwhile, tell me if you know
Speaker 1: how to play with dice. Carringer replied that he did not.
Speaker 1: I was afraid that you might not, said the stranger.
Speaker 1: All the same, please go to the bar and bring
Speaker 1: a dice box. I would ring for it, he explained,
Speaker 1: seeing Carringer glancing toward the bell. But I don't want
Speaker 1: the waiters coming in and out. Carringer brought the dice box,
Speaker 1: closed the door carefully again, and the play began. It
Speaker 1: was not one of the simpler games, but had complications
Speaker 1: in which judgment as well as chance played a part.
Speaker 1: After a game or two without stakes, the stranger said,
Speaker 1: you have picked it up quite quickly. All the same,
Speaker 1: I will show you that you don't understand it. We
Speaker 1: will throw for a dollar a game, and in that
Speaker 1: way I shall win the money that you received in change.
Speaker 1: Otherwise I would be robbing you, and I imagine that
Speaker 1: you cannot afford to lose. I mean no offense. I
Speaker 1: am a plain spoken man, but I believe in honesty
Speaker 1: before politeness. Here his face relaxed into a most fearful grin.
Speaker 1: I merely want a little recreation, and you are so
Speaker 1: good natured that I am sure you will not object.
Speaker 1: On the contrary, replied Carringer politely, I shall enjoy it
Speaker 1: very well, but let us drink again before we start.
Speaker 1: I believe I am growing colder. They drank again. Carringer
Speaker 1: took the liquor down with relish, for it was something
Speaker 1: in his stomach at least, and it warmed and soothed him.
Speaker 1: Then the play commenced. He won. The pale stranger smiled
Speaker 1: quietly and opened another game again. Carringer won. Then the
Speaker 1: stranger pushed back his hat and fixed his quiet gaze
Speaker 1: upon his opponent, smiling Yet Carringer obtained a full view
Speaker 1: of the man's face for the first time, and it
Speaker 1: appalled him. He had begun to acquire a certain self
Speaker 1: possession and ease, and the novelty of the adventure was
Speaker 1: beginning to pall before the new advances of his terrible hunger,
Speaker 1: when this revelation of the man's face threw him back
Speaker 1: into confusion. It was the extraordinary expression of the face
Speaker 1: that alarmed him. Never upon the face of a living
Speaker 1: being had he beheld a pallor so chilling so deathlike.
Speaker 1: The features were more than pale, they were ghastly as
Speaker 1: sunless frost Carringer's powers of observation had been sharpened by
Speaker 1: the absinthe, and after having detected the stranger in an
Speaker 1: absent minded effort on several occasions to stroke a beard
Speaker 1: which had no existence, he reflected that some of the
Speaker 1: whiteness of the face might be due to the recent
Speaker 1: shaving and removal of a full beard. The eyes were black,
Speaker 1: and his lower lip was purple. The hands were fine,
Speaker 1: white and thin, and black veins bulged out upon them.
Speaker 1: After gazing for a few moments at Carringer, the stranger
Speaker 1: pulled his hat down over his eyes. Again. You are lucky,
Speaker 1: he said, referring to the success of his opponent. Suppose
Speaker 1: we try another drink. There is nothing to shop up
Speaker 1: in a man's wits like absinthe, and I see that
Speaker 1: you and I are going to have a delightful game.
Speaker 1: After they drank, the play proceeded. Carringer won from the first,
Speaker 1: rarely losing a game. He became greatly excited, color flooded
Speaker 1: his cheeks, and he forgot his hunger. Thus, Stranger exhausted
Speaker 1: the little roll of bills which he had first produced,
Speaker 1: and drew forth another much larger in amount. There were
Speaker 1: several thousand dollars. In the role. At Carringer's right hand
Speaker 1: were his winnings something like two hundred dollars. The stakes
Speaker 1: were raised and the game went on. Another drink was taken.
Speaker 1: Then fortune turned to the stranger. He began to win easily.
Speaker 1: Carringer was stung by these reverses and began to play
Speaker 1: with all his skill and judgment at his command. He
Speaker 1: took the lead again. Only once did it occur to
Speaker 1: him to wonder what he should do with the money
Speaker 1: if he continued to win, But a sense of honor
Speaker 1: decided for him that it belonged to the stranger. As
Speaker 1: the play went on, Carringer's physical suffering returned with increased aggressiveness.
Speaker 1: Sharp pains darted through him viciously, and he writhed within
Speaker 1: him and ground his teeth in agony. Could he not
Speaker 1: order a supper with his winnings, he wondered, No, it was,
Speaker 1: of course out of the question. The stranger did not
Speaker 1: observe his suffering, for he was now completely absorbed in
Speaker 1: the game. He seemed puzzled and disconcerted. He played with
Speaker 1: the greatest care, studying each throw minutely. Not a word
Speaker 1: escaped him. The two men drank occasionally, and the dice
Speaker 1: continued to rattle the the money kept piling up at
Speaker 1: Carringer's hand. The pale stranger suddenly began to behave strangely.
Speaker 1: At moments, he would start and throw back his head,
Speaker 1: listening intently. His eyes would sharpen and flash as he
Speaker 1: did so, then they would sink back into heaviness once more.
Speaker 1: Carringer saw a strange expression sweep over the man's face
Speaker 1: on several occasions, an expression of ghastly frightfulness, and the
Speaker 1: features would become fixed in a peculiar grimace. He noticed
Speaker 1: also that his companion was steadily sinking deeper and deeper
Speaker 1: into a condition of apathy. Occasionally, nonetheless, he would raise
Speaker 1: his eyes to Carringer's face after some lucky throw, and
Speaker 1: he would fix them upon him with a steadiness that
Speaker 1: made the starving man grow chiller than ever he had
Speaker 1: been before. Then came the time when the stranger produced
Speaker 1: another roll of bills and braced himself for a bigger effort.
Speaker 1: With speech somewhat thick, but still deliberate and very quiet,
Speaker 1: he addressed his young opponent, you have won seventy four
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and that is the exact amount I have remaining.
Speaker 1: We have been playing for several hours, and I am
Speaker 1: very tired and sore. You let us hasten the finish.
Speaker 1: You have seventy four thousand dollars. I have seventy four
Speaker 1: thousand dollars. Neither of us has a scent besides. Each
Speaker 1: will now stake his all and throw a final game
Speaker 1: for it without hesitation, Carringer agreed. The bills made a
Speaker 1: considerable pile upon the table. Carryinger threw, and his starving
Speaker 1: heart beat violently as the pale stranger took up the
Speaker 1: dice box with exasperating deliberation. Hours seemed to pass before
Speaker 1: he threw, But at last the dice rattled on the
Speaker 1: table and the pale stranger had won. The winner sat
Speaker 1: staring at the dice, and then he leaned slowly back
Speaker 1: in his chair, settling himself with seeming comfort, raised his
Speaker 1: eyes to Carringers and fixed that unearthly stare upon him.
Speaker 1: He did not speak. His face showed not a trace
Speaker 1: of emotion or even of intelligence. He simply stared. One
Speaker 1: cannot keep one's eyes open very long without winking. But
Speaker 1: the stranger never winked at all. He sat so motionless
Speaker 1: that carringer began to fill with a vague dread. I
Speaker 1: will go now, he said, standing back from the table.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he recollected his position and found himself
Speaker 1: swaying like a drunk man. The stranger made no reply,
Speaker 1: nor did he relax his gaze. Under that gaze, the
Speaker 1: younger man shrank back into his chair, terrified and faint.
Speaker 1: A deadly silence filled the compartment. Suddenly he became aware
Speaker 1: that two men were talking in the next room, and
Speaker 1: he listened cautiously. Walls were of wood, and he heard
Speaker 1: every word distinctly. Yes, said a voice. He was seen
Speaker 1: to turn into this street about three hours ago, and
Speaker 1: he must have shaved. He must have shaved to remove
Speaker 1: a full beard would naturally make a great change in
Speaker 1: the man. His extreme pallor attracted attention. As you know,
Speaker 1: he has been seriously troubled with heart disease lately, and
Speaker 1: it has greatly altered him. Yes, but his old skill remains.
Speaker 1: Why this is the most daring bank robbery we have
Speaker 1: ever had. One hundred and forty eight thousand dollars, think
Speaker 1: of it. How long is it since he came out
Speaker 1: of prison after the new York affair eight years. In
Speaker 1: that time he has grown a beard and lived by
Speaker 1: throwing dice. No human being can come out a winner
Speaker 1: in a game with him. The two men clink glasses
Speaker 1: and a silence fell between them. Then Carringer heard the
Speaker 1: shuffling of their feet as they passed out, and he
Speaker 1: sat on, suffering terrible mental and bodily pain. The silence
Speaker 1: remained unbroken save for the sound of voices far off
Speaker 1: and the clink of glasses. The dice players, the pale
Speaker 1: Man and the starving one, sat gazing at each other,
Speaker 1: with one hundred and forty eight thousand dollars piled up
Speaker 1: on the table between them. The winner made no attempt
Speaker 1: to gather up the money. He merely sat and stared
Speaker 1: at Carringer, wholly unmoved by the conversation. In the adjoining compartment,
Speaker 1: Carringer began to shake with an augu The cold, unwavering
Speaker 1: gaze of the stranger sent ice into his veins. Unable
Speaker 1: to bear it longer, he moved to one side and
Speaker 1: was amazed to discover that the eyes of the pale man,
Speaker 1: instead of following him, remained fixed upon the spot where
Speaker 1: he had sat. A great fear came over him. He
Speaker 1: poured out the absinthe for himself with shaking fingers, staring
Speaker 1: back at his companion, all the while watching him, watching
Speaker 1: him as he drank alone and unnoticed. He drained the glass,
Speaker 1: and the poison had a peculit uliar effect upon him.
Speaker 1: He felt his heart pounding with alarming force and rapidity.
Speaker 1: His breathing came in great pumping spasms. His hunger was
Speaker 1: now become a deadly thing, for the absinthe was destroying
Speaker 1: his vitals. In terror, he leaned forward to beg the
Speaker 1: hospitality of the stranger, but his whisper had no effect.
Speaker 1: One of the man's hands lay on the table carrying her,
Speaker 1: placed his own upon it, and drew back quickly, for
Speaker 1: the hand was as cold as stone. Then there came
Speaker 1: into the starving man's face a crafty expression, and he
Speaker 1: turned eagerly to the money. Silently he grasped the pile
Speaker 1: of bills with his skeleton fingers, looking stealthily every moment
Speaker 1: at the stark figure of his companion, mortally dreading lest
Speaker 1: he should stir. And yet instead of hastening from the
Speaker 1: room with the stolen fortune, he sank back into his
Speaker 1: chair again. A deadly fascination forced him there, and he
Speaker 1: sat rigid, staring back into the wide stare of the
Speaker 1: other man. He felt his breathing coming heavier and his
Speaker 1: heart beats growing weaker, but he was comforted because his
Speaker 1: hunger was no longer causing him that acute pain. He
Speaker 1: felt easier and actually yawned. If he had dared, he
Speaker 1: would have gone to sleep. The pale stranger still stared
Speaker 1: at him without ceasing, and Carringer had no inclination for
Speaker 1: anything but simply to stare back. The two detectives who
Speaker 1: had traced the notorious bank robber to the drinking saloon
Speaker 1: moved slowly through the compartments, searching in every nook and
Speaker 1: cranny of the building. At last they reached a compartment
Speaker 1: from which no answer came. When they knocked. They pushed
Speaker 1: the door open with a stereotype topology on their lips.
Speaker 1: They beheld two men before them, one of middle age
Speaker 1: and the other very young, sitting perfectly still and in
Speaker 1: the queerest manner imaginable, staring at each other. Across the
Speaker 1: table between the two was a pile of money, and
Speaker 1: near at hand an empty absinthe bottle, a water pitcher,
Speaker 1: two glasses, and a dice box. The dice lay before
Speaker 1: the elder man as though he had just thrown them
Speaker 1: with a quick movement. One of the detectives covered the
Speaker 1: older man with a revolver and commanded him to put
Speaker 1: up his hands, but the dice thrower paid not the
Speaker 1: slightest heed. The detectives exchanged staring glances. They stepped nearer,
Speaker 1: looking closely into the gamester's faces, and knew in the
Speaker 1: same instant they were dead. The End of the Dice
Speaker 1: Throer by Sydney Southgate