1
00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,200
Speaker 1: Hunted down. Most of us see romances in life. In

2
00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,240
my capacity of a chief manager of a life insurance office,

3
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,679
I think I have, within the last thirty years seen

4
00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,719
more romances than the generality of men. However unpromising the

5
00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,960
opportunity may at first I have seen. As I have

6
00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:24,679
retired and live at my ease, I possess the means

7
00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:27,320
that I used to want of considering what I have

8
00:00:27,399 --> 00:00:32,280
seen at leisure. My experiences have a more remarkable aspect

9
00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:36,320
so reviewed than they had when they were in progress.

10
00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:39,240
I have come home from the plain now and can

11
00:00:39,359 --> 00:00:42,960
recall the scenes of the drama upon which curtain has fallen,

12
00:00:43,679 --> 00:00:47,159
free from the glare, bewilderment, and bustle of the theater.

13
00:00:49,079 --> 00:00:52,560
Let me recall one of these romances of the real world.

14
00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,200
There is nothing truer than the physiognomy taken in connection

15
00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,280
with manner. The art of reading that book of which

16
00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,560
eternal wisdom obliges every human creature to present his or

17
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,000
her own page with individual character written on it is

18
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:15,200
a difficult one, perhaps, and is little studied. It may

19
00:01:15,239 --> 00:01:19,400
require some natural aptitude, and it must require, for everything

20
00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:24,280
does some patience, and some pains. That these are not

21
00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,040
usually given to it. The number of people except a

22
00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,680
few stock commonplace expressions of the face as the whole

23
00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,439
list of characteristics, and neither seek nor know the refinements

24
00:01:35,439 --> 00:01:39,079
that are truest. That you, for instance, give a great

25
00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:44,920
deal of time and attention to the reading of music Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew,

26
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,719
if you please, and do not qualify yourself to read

27
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,000
the face of the master or mistress looking over your

28
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,640
shoulder teaching it to you, I assume to be five

29
00:01:55,719 --> 00:02:00,599
hundred times more probable than improbable. Perhaps so little self

30
00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:03,959
sufficiency may be at the bottom of this facial expression

31
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,359
requires no study from you. You think it comes by

32
00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:09,960
nature to you to know enough about it, and you

33
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,840
are not to be taken in. I confess for my

34
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,280
part that I have been taken in over and over again.

35
00:02:19,479 --> 00:02:22,280
I have been taken in by acquaintances, and I have

36
00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:26,199
been taken in, of course by friends, far oftener by

37
00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,840
friends than by any other class of persons. How can

38
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:36,319
I be so deceived? Had I quite misread their faces? No,

39
00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:40,919
believe me, My first impression of those people, founded on

40
00:02:41,039 --> 00:02:45,879
face and the manner alone, was invariably true. My mistake

41
00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,759
was in suffering them to come nearer to me and

42
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:55,080
explain themselves away. The partition which separated by own office

43
00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,479
from our general outer office in the city was of

44
00:02:57,599 --> 00:03:02,240
thick plate glass. Through it what passed in the outer office,

45
00:03:02,719 --> 00:03:06,240
without hearing a word. I had it put in place

46
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,479
of a wall that had been there for years, ever

47
00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,960
since the house was built. It is no matter whether

48
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,400
I did or did not make the change in order

49
00:03:15,879 --> 00:03:19,120
that I might derive my first impression of strangers who

50
00:03:19,159 --> 00:03:22,840
came to us on business from their faces alone, without

51
00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,479
being influenced by anything. They said enough to mention that

52
00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,599
I turned my glass partition to that account, and that

53
00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:34,039
a life assurance office is all times exposed to be

54
00:03:34,159 --> 00:03:37,560
practiced upon by the most crafty and cruel of the

55
00:03:37,639 --> 00:03:42,360
human grace. It was through my glass partition that I

56
00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,400
first saw the gentleman whose story I am going to tell.

57
00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:50,120
He had come in without my observing it, and had

58
00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,520
put his hat and his umbrella on the broad counter,

59
00:03:53,159 --> 00:03:55,719
and was bending over to take some papers from one

60
00:03:55,719 --> 00:03:59,560
of the clerks. He was about forty or so, dark,

61
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,879
exceedingly well dressed in black, being in mourning, and the

62
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,240
hand he extended with a polite air had a particularly

63
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,400
well fitting black kipped glove upon it. His hair was

64
00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:15,159
elaborately brushed and oiled, was sparted straight up the middle.

65
00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,000
And he presented this parting to the clerk exactly to

66
00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:22,439
my thinking, as if he had said, in so many words,

67
00:04:23,319 --> 00:04:26,480
you must take me, if you please, my friend, just

68
00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,480
as I show myself. Come straight up here, follow the

69
00:04:30,519 --> 00:04:34,560
gravel path, keep up the grass. I allow no trespassing.

70
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,560
I conceived a very great aversion to that man the

71
00:04:39,639 --> 00:04:42,839
moment I thus saw him. He had asked for some

72
00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:45,680
of her printed forms, and the clerk was giving them

73
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,879
to him and explaining them, and her obliged and agreeable

74
00:04:49,879 --> 00:04:52,839
smile was on his face, and his eyes met those

75
00:04:52,879 --> 00:04:56,480
of the clerk with a sprightly look. I have known

76
00:04:56,519 --> 00:05:00,279
a vast quantity of nonsense being talked about, bad men

77
00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:04,240
not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea.

78
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,519
Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in

79
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,240
the week, if there is anything to be cut by it.

80
00:05:13,639 --> 00:05:15,879
I saw in the corner of his eyelash that he

81
00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:19,680
became aware of my looking at him. Immediately he turned

82
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,639
the parting in his head towards the glass partition as

83
00:05:22,639 --> 00:05:25,439
if he said to me, with a sweet smile, straight

84
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,519
up here, if you please off the grass. In a

85
00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,800
few moments he had put on his hat and taken

86
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,160
up his umbrella, and was gone. I beckoned the clerk

87
00:05:35,199 --> 00:05:39,480
into my room and asked who was there. He had

88
00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,600
a gentleman's card in his hand, mister Julius Slington, Middle Temple,

89
00:05:44,519 --> 00:05:49,199
A barrister, mister Adams. I think not, sir. I should

90
00:05:49,199 --> 00:05:51,600
have thought him a clergyman, but for his having no

91
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,600
reverend here, said I, probably from his appearance. Mister Adams replied,

92
00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,800
he is reading for orders. I had mentioned that he

93
00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,360
wore a dainty white cravat and a dainty linen altogether.

94
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,879
What did he want, mister Adams, merely a form of proposal, sir,

95
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,959
and a form of reference recommended here? Did he say? Yes?

96
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,959
He said he was recommended here by a friend of yours.

97
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,360
He noticed you, but said that as he had not

98
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,720
the pleasure of your personal acquaintance, he would not trouble you.

99
00:06:26,639 --> 00:06:29,879
Did you know my name? Oh, yes, sir, he said,

100
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:35,079
there is mister Sampson. I see a well spoken gentleman,

101
00:06:35,079 --> 00:06:42,079
apparently remarkably so, sir. Insinuating manners apparently very much so. Indeed,

102
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,040
Sir Hah said, I, I were nothing at present, mister Adams.

103
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,199
Within a fortnight of that day, I went to dine

104
00:06:51,199 --> 00:06:53,480
with a friend of mine, a merchant, a man of

105
00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,040
taste who buys pictures and books, And the first man

106
00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,240
I saw among the company was mister Julius Slington. There

107
00:07:01,319 --> 00:07:04,839
he was standing before the fire, with good large eyes

108
00:07:04,879 --> 00:07:08,399
and an open expression of face. But still I thought,

109
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,680
requiring everybody to come at him by the prepared way

110
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,399
he offered, and by no other I noticed him. Ask

111
00:07:16,519 --> 00:07:19,800
my friend to introduce him to mister Samson, and my

112
00:07:19,839 --> 00:07:24,240
friend did so. Mister Slington was very happy to see me,

113
00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,959
not too happy, there was no overdoing of the matter,

114
00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,759
happy in a thoroughly well bred, perfectly unmeaning way. I

115
00:07:33,839 --> 00:07:38,639
thought you had met our host, observed, No, said mister Slington.

116
00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,360
I did look in at mister Sampson's office on your recommendation,

117
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,879
but I really did not feel justified in troubling mister

118
00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,319
Sampson himself on a point in the everyday routine of

119
00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:54,519
an ordinary clerk. I said, I should have been glad

120
00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,399
to show him any attention on our friend's introduction. I

121
00:07:58,439 --> 00:08:01,639
am sure of that, said he, and I am much obliged.

122
00:08:02,279 --> 00:08:06,519
At another time, perhaps I may be less delicate, only, however,

123
00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,680
if I had real business. For I know, mister Sampson,

124
00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:13,000
how precious your business time is, and what a vast

125
00:08:13,079 --> 00:08:17,439
number of impertinent people there are in the world. I

126
00:08:17,519 --> 00:08:21,560
acknowledge this consideration with a slight bow. You were thinking,

127
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:27,480
said I, of affecting a policy on your life. Oh dear, no,

128
00:08:28,399 --> 00:08:30,319
I am afraid I am not so prudent as you

129
00:08:30,399 --> 00:08:33,279
pay me the compliment of supposing me to be. Mister Samson.

130
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,320
I merely inquired for a friend, But you know what

131
00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,759
friends are. In such matters, nothing may ever come of it.

132
00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:44,960
I have the great reluctance to trouble men of business

133
00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,679
with inquiries for friends, knowing the probabilities to be a

134
00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:52,080
thousand to one that the friends will never follow them up.

135
00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,759
People are so facal, so selfish, so inconsiderate. Don't you

136
00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:03,320
in your business find them? So, mister Samson. I was

137
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,440
going to give a qualified answer, but he turned his

138
00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,919
smooth white parting on me with its straight up here

139
00:09:11,159 --> 00:09:17,720
if you please, and I answered, yes, I hear, mister Sampson.

140
00:09:18,039 --> 00:09:21,279
He resumed presently for our friend had a new cook,

141
00:09:21,759 --> 00:09:25,039
and dinner was not so punctual as usual. That your

142
00:09:25,039 --> 00:09:30,600
profession has recently suffered a great loss in money, said I.

143
00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,759
He laughed at my ready association of loss with money,

144
00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:41,240
and replied no, in talent and vigor. Not at once,

145
00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,080
following out his illusion, I considered for a moment, has

146
00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,240
it sustained the loss of that kind? Said I? I

147
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:54,279
was not aware of it. Understand me, mister Samson. I

148
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,960
don't imagine that you have retired. It's not so bad

149
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,399
as that. But mister Meltham, oh to be sure, said I. Yes,

150
00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,360
mister Meltham, the young actuary of the inestimable. Just so,

151
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:13,399
he returned in a concerning way. He's a great loss.

152
00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:16,919
He was at once the most profound, the most original,

153
00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,240
and the most energetic man I have ever known, connected

154
00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:25,240
with life assurance. I spoke strongly, for I had a

155
00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,279
high esteem and admiration for Malcolm, and my gentleman had

156
00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,200
indefinitely conveyed to me some suspicion that he wanted to

157
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,399
sneer at him. He recalled me to my guard by

158
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,440
presenting that trim pathway up his head with its infernal

159
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,480
not on the grass. If you pleased to gravel. You

160
00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:51,039
knew mister Slington only by reputation. To have known him

161
00:10:51,039 --> 00:10:53,559
as an acquaintance or as a friend is an honor

162
00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,200
I should have sought if he had remained in society,

163
00:10:56,519 --> 00:10:58,840
though I might never have had the good fortune to

164
00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,720
attain it. Be a man of far inferior mark. He

165
00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:08,879
was scarcely about thirty. I suppose about thirty. Ah, he

166
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,000
signed in his former consoling way, What creatures we are

167
00:11:13,159 --> 00:11:17,080
to break up, mister Samson and become incapable of business

168
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,879
at that time of life? Any reason assigned for the

169
00:11:20,919 --> 00:11:25,600
melancholy fact? Humph, thought I as I looked at him.

170
00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,559
But I won't go up the track, and I will

171
00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:34,200
go on the grass. What reason have you heard assigned

172
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:39,759
mister Slington, I asked, point blank, Most likely a false one.

173
00:11:40,639 --> 00:11:44,039
You know what roomor raised, mister Samson. I never repeat

174
00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,639
what I hear. It is the only way of bearing

175
00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:50,000
the nails and shaving the head of rumor. But when

176
00:11:50,039 --> 00:11:52,519
you ask me what reason I have heard assigned for

177
00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:56,480
mister Meltham's passing away from among men, it is another

178
00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:00,960
thing I am not gratifying idle gossip. Then I was

179
00:12:01,039 --> 00:12:05,000
told mister Samson, that mister Meltham had relinquished all his

180
00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,240
advocations and all its prospects. Dicourse, he was in fact

181
00:12:09,519 --> 00:12:14,639
broken hearted, a disappointed attachment I heard, though it hardly

182
00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:17,440
seems probable in the case of a man so distinguished

183
00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:24,000
and so attractive, attractions and distinctions are no armor against death,

184
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:29,600
said I, Oh, she died, pray, pardon me. I did

185
00:12:29,639 --> 00:12:33,399
not hear that. That indeed makes me very very sad,

186
00:12:34,159 --> 00:12:41,200
poor mister Malcolm. She died, Ah, dear me, lamentable, lamentable.

187
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,720
I still thought his pity was not quite genuine, and

188
00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:49,840
I still suspected an unaccountable sneer under all this, until

189
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,840
he said, as we were parted like the other knots

190
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:57,279
of talkers by the announcement of dinner, Mister Samson, you

191
00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:59,799
are surprised to see me so moved on behalf of

192
00:12:59,799 --> 00:13:03,440
a man whom I have never known. I am not

193
00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,759
so disinterested as you may suppose. I have suffered, and

194
00:13:07,799 --> 00:13:12,120
recently too, from death myself. I have lost one of

195
00:13:12,159 --> 00:13:16,879
my two charming nieces who were my constant companions. She

196
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,600
died young, barely three and twenty, and even her remaining

197
00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:27,960
sister is far from strong. The world is grave. He

198
00:13:28,039 --> 00:13:31,320
said this with deep feeling, and I feel reproached for

199
00:13:31,399 --> 00:13:35,720
the coldness of my manner. Coldness and distrust have been

200
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,279
engendered in me. I knew from my bad experiences they

201
00:13:39,279 --> 00:13:42,519
were not natural to me, and I often thought how

202
00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,320
much I had lost in life losing trustfulness, and how

203
00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,919
little I have gained gaining hard caution, the state of

204
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,480
mind being habitual to me. I troubled myself more about

205
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,720
this conversation than I might have troubled myself about a

206
00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:02,200
greater matter. I listened to his talk at dinner and

207
00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,840
observed how readily other men responded to it, and with

208
00:14:05,919 --> 00:14:09,639
what graceful instinct he adapted his subjects to the knowledge

209
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,639
and habits of those he talked with, as in talking

210
00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,679
with me, he had easily started the subject I might

211
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,960
have supposed to understand best and to be the most

212
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,000
interested in. So in talking with others he guided himself

213
00:14:24,039 --> 00:14:28,000
by the same rule. The company was of varied character,

214
00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,440
but he was not at fault that I could discover

215
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,600
with any member of it. He knew just as much

216
00:14:35,639 --> 00:14:38,919
of each man's pursuit as made him agreeable to that

217
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,679
man in reference to it, and just as little as

218
00:14:42,759 --> 00:14:45,440
made it natural in him to seek the modesty for

219
00:14:45,519 --> 00:14:50,279
information when the theme was approached. As he talked and talked,

220
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,919
but really not too much for the rest of us,

221
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,159
seemed to force it upon him. I became quite angry

222
00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,519
with myself. I took his face to pieces in my

223
00:14:59,639 --> 00:15:03,879
mind like a watch, and examined it in detail. I

224
00:15:03,919 --> 00:15:06,799
could not say much against any of his features separately,

225
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,519
I could say even less against them when they were

226
00:15:09,519 --> 00:15:13,559
put together. Then is it not monstrous? I asked myself

227
00:15:14,159 --> 00:15:16,759
that because a man happens to part his hair straight

228
00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,600
up the middle of his head, I should permit myself

229
00:15:19,639 --> 00:15:24,200
to suspect and even to detest him. I may stop

230
00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,720
to remark that this was no proof of my sense.

231
00:15:27,679 --> 00:15:30,960
An observer of men, who finds himself steadily repelled by

232
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,559
some apparent trifling thing in a stranger is right to

233
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,480
give it great weight. It may be the clue to

234
00:15:37,519 --> 00:15:40,840
the whole mystery. A hair or two will show where

235
00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,960
the lion is hidden, and a very little key will

236
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:48,120
open a very heavy door. I took part in the

237
00:15:48,159 --> 00:15:50,919
conversation with him after a time, and be got on

238
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,200
remarkably well. In the drawing room, I asked the host

239
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,840
how long he had known mister Slington. He answered not

240
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,919
many months. He had met him at the house of

241
00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:05,399
a celebrated painter then present, who had known him Bell

242
00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:07,840
when he was traveling with his nieces in Italy for

243
00:16:07,879 --> 00:16:11,240
their help, his plans in life being broken by the

244
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,440
death of one of them. He was reading with the

245
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,559
intention of going back to college as a matter of form,

246
00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:22,399
taking his degree and going into orders. I could not

247
00:16:22,559 --> 00:16:26,080
but argue with myself that here was a true explanation

248
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,399
of his interest in poor Meltholm, and that I had

249
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:34,360
been almost brutal in my distrust on that simple head.

250
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,639
On the very next day, but one, I was sitting

251
00:16:37,679 --> 00:16:40,840
behind my glass partition as before, when he came into

252
00:16:40,879 --> 00:16:44,440
the outer office as before, the moment I saw him

253
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,840
again without hearing him, I hated him worse than ever.

254
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,759
It was only for a moment that I had this opportunity,

255
00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:55,000
for he waved his tight fitting black glove the instant

256
00:16:55,039 --> 00:17:00,200
I looked at him and came straight in. Mister Samson good,

257
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,680
I presume you see upon your kind permission to intrude

258
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,319
upon you. I don't keep my word in being justified

259
00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,880
by business. For my business here, if I may so abuse.

260
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,039
The word is of the slightest nature, I asked. Was

261
00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:19,720
it anything I could assist him in? I thank you. No.

262
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:24,799
I merely called to inquire outside whether my dilatory friend

263
00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,799
had been so false to himself as to be practical

264
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,839
and sensible. But of course he has done nothing. I

265
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,720
gave him your papers with my own hand, and he

266
00:17:35,839 --> 00:17:38,519
was hot upon the intention. But of course he has

267
00:17:38,599 --> 00:17:42,920
done nothing, apart from the general human disinincination to do

268
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,960
anything that ought to be done. I dare say that

269
00:17:46,079 --> 00:17:49,599
is a speciality about assuring one's life. You find it

270
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,599
like will making people are so superstitious and take it

271
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,759
for granted that they will die soon afterwards. Up Here,

272
00:17:58,799 --> 00:18:02,759
if you please, straight up here, mister Samson, neither to

273
00:18:02,799 --> 00:18:06,519
the right nor to the left. I almost fancied I

274
00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:09,680
could hear him breathe those words, as he sat smiling

275
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,920
at me, with that intolerable parting exactly opposite the bridge

276
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,720
of my nose. There is such a feeling sometimes, no doubt,

277
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,920
I replied, But I don't think it obtains to any

278
00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:26,799
great extent. Well, he said, with a shrug and a smile.

279
00:18:28,039 --> 00:18:30,519
I wish some good angel would influence my friend in

280
00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:34,640
the right direction. I rashly promised his mother and sister

281
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,079
in Norfolk to see it done, and he promised them

282
00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,640
that he would do it. But I suppose he never will.

283
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,079
He spoke for a minute or two in different topics,

284
00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:49,119
and went away. I had scarcely unlocked the drawers of

285
00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:54,160
my writing table. Next morning when he reappeared, I noticed

286
00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,359
he came straight to the door in the glass partition

287
00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,519
and did not pause a single moment outside. Can you

288
00:19:00,559 --> 00:19:04,559
spare me two minutes, my dear mister Sampson, by all

289
00:19:04,599 --> 00:19:08,920
means much obliged, laying his hat an umbrella on the table.

290
00:19:09,839 --> 00:19:13,279
I came early not to interrupt you. The fact is

291
00:19:13,759 --> 00:19:15,839
I am taken by surprise in the reference to this

292
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,680
proposal my friend has made. Has he made one? Said I? Yes,

293
00:19:22,079 --> 00:19:25,799
he answered, deliberately, looking at me, and then a bright

294
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,200
idea seemed to strike him. Or he only tells me

295
00:19:29,319 --> 00:19:32,200
he has. Perhaps that may be a new way of

296
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,680
evading the matter. By Jupiter, I never thought of that.

297
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,759
Mister Adam was opening the morning's letters in the outer office.

298
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,039
What is his name, mister Slington, I asked, What is

299
00:19:47,079 --> 00:19:51,160
the name, mister Slington, I asked Beck with. I looked

300
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,359
out at the door and requested mister Adams if there

301
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,480
were a proposal in that name to bring it in.

302
00:19:57,839 --> 00:20:00,480
He had already laid it out of his hand on counter.

303
00:20:01,759 --> 00:20:03,839
It was easily selected from the rest, and he gave

304
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,880
it to me. Alfred beckwith proposal to effect the policy

305
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:14,799
with us for two thousand pounds, dated yesterday from Middle Temple.

306
00:20:14,839 --> 00:20:18,680
I see missus Slington. Yes, he lives in the same

307
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:22,599
staircas with me. His door is opposite. I never thought

308
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,519
he would make me his reference, though it seems natural

309
00:20:26,599 --> 00:20:31,359
enough that he would. It seems natural enough that he should,

310
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,960
quite so, mister Sampson, But I never thought of it.

311
00:20:35,519 --> 00:20:38,960
Let me see. He took the printed paper from his pocket.

312
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,519
How am I to answer all these questions according to

313
00:20:44,559 --> 00:20:49,319
the truth, of course? Said I? Oh, of course, he answered,

314
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,599
looking up from the paper with a smile. I meant

315
00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,720
there were so many. But you do right to be particular.

316
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,920
It stands to reason that you must be particular. Will

317
00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:03,680
allow me to use your pen and ink certainly, and

318
00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:08,480
your desk certainly. He had been hovering about between his

319
00:21:08,559 --> 00:21:11,519
hat and his umbrella for a place to write. He

320
00:21:11,599 --> 00:21:14,440
now sat down in my chair at my blotting paper,

321
00:21:14,559 --> 00:21:17,480
and instand with a long walk up his head in

322
00:21:17,559 --> 00:21:21,279
an accurate perspective before me, as I stood with my

323
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,400
back to the fire. Before answering each question, he ran

324
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:30,039
it over aloud and discussed it. How long had he

325
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,799
known mister Alfred Beckwith that he had decalculate by years

326
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:40,200
upon his fingers, what were his habits? Not difficulty about them?

327
00:21:40,519 --> 00:21:43,240
Temperate in the last degree, and took a little too

328
00:21:43,319 --> 00:21:48,960
much exercise, if any All the answers were satisfactory. When

329
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,880
he had written them all, he looked them over and

330
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,119
finally signed them in a very pretty hand. He supposed

331
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,880
he had now done with the business. I told him

332
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,920
he was not likely to be troubled any further. Should

333
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,200
he lead the papers there if he pleased, much obliged

334
00:22:07,519 --> 00:22:12,759
good morning. I had had one other visitor before him,

335
00:22:13,319 --> 00:22:17,599
not at the office, but at my own home. That

336
00:22:17,759 --> 00:22:20,200
visitor had come to my bedside when it was not

337
00:22:20,319 --> 00:22:24,039
yet daylight, and had been seen by no one else

338
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:29,640
but my faithful confidential servant. A second reference paper, for

339
00:22:29,759 --> 00:22:33,920
we required always two was sent down into Norfolk and

340
00:22:34,079 --> 00:22:39,799
was duly received back by post. This likewise was satisfactorily answered.

341
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:45,440
In every respect, our firms were all complied with. We

342
00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:49,400
accepted the proposal, and the premium for one year was paid.

343
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,680
For six or seven months, I saw no more of

344
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,799
mister Slington. He called once at my house when I

345
00:22:55,839 --> 00:22:58,440
was not at home, and he once asked me to

346
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,960
dine with him in the temple, but I was engaged.

347
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:07,079
His friend's assurance was suffected. In March, late in September

348
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,160
or early in October, I was down at Scarborough for

349
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,599
a breadth of sea air, where I met him on

350
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,880
the beach. It was a hot evening. He came toward

351
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,319
me with his hat in his hand, and there was

352
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:22,799
a walk I felt so strongly disinclined to take in

353
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,799
perfect order again exactly in front of the bridge of

354
00:23:26,839 --> 00:23:30,680
my nose. He was not alone, but had a young

355
00:23:30,759 --> 00:23:35,000
lady on his arm. She was dressed in moaning and

356
00:23:35,039 --> 00:23:38,480
I looked at her with great interest. She had the

357
00:23:38,519 --> 00:23:42,640
appearance of being extremely delicate, and her face was remarkably

358
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:48,039
pale and melancholy, but she was very pretty. He introduced

359
00:23:48,039 --> 00:23:52,759
her as his niece, Miss Nina. Are you strolling, mister Samson?

360
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,200
Is it possible you can be idle it? Was possible,

361
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,720
and I was strolling. Shall we stroll together with pleasure?

362
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,920
The young lady walked between us, and we walked on

363
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:12,240
the cools he sand in the direction of Philly. There

364
00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:15,559
have been wheels here, said mister Slington. And now I

365
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,400
look again, the wheels up a hand carriage. Margaret, my love,

366
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:24,680
your shadow, without doubt, miss Niner's shadow, I repeated, looking

367
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,880
down on the sand, Not that one. Mister Slington returned, laughing, Maha,

368
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:35,400
gareat my dear tell mister Sampson. Indeed, said the young lady,

369
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,240
turning to me, there is nothing to tell except that

370
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,519
I constantly see the same invalid old gentleman at all

371
00:24:42,599 --> 00:24:46,839
times wherever I go. I have mentioned it to my uncle,

372
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,279
and he calls the gentleman my shadow. Does he live

373
00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:55,759
in Scarborough? I asked, He is staying here? Do you

374
00:24:55,839 --> 00:25:00,640
live in Scarborough? No, I'm staying here. My uncle has

375
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,960
placed me with a family here for my help, and

376
00:25:04,039 --> 00:25:09,880
your shadow, said I smiling. My shadow, she answered, smiling too,

377
00:25:10,759 --> 00:25:14,839
is like myself, not very robust. I fear for I

378
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,240
lose my shadow sometimes as my shadow loses me at

379
00:25:18,279 --> 00:25:22,400
other times. You both seemed liable to confinement to the house.

380
00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:25,680
I have not seen my shadow for days and days,

381
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,119
but it does oddly happen occasionally that wherever I go

382
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,759
for many days together, this gentleman goes. We have come

383
00:25:34,839 --> 00:25:39,240
together on the most unfrequented nooks on this shore. Is this,

384
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,440
he said I, pointing before us the wheels had swept

385
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,839
down the water's edge, and describing a great loop on

386
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:51,000
the sand, and turning, bringing the hoop back towards us,

387
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:53,599
and spinning it out. As it came. Was a hand

388
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:59,079
carriage drawn by a man. Yes, said miss Nina. This

389
00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:04,319
really is my shadow uncle. As the carriage approached us,

390
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,240
and we approached the carriage, I saw within it an

391
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,799
old man whose head was sunk on his breast, and

392
00:26:10,839 --> 00:26:14,680
who was enveloped in a variety of wrappers. He was

393
00:26:14,759 --> 00:26:17,559
drawn by a very quiet, but very keen looking man

394
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,440
with iron gray hair, and who was slightly lame. They

395
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,759
had passed us when the scarriage stopped, and the old

396
00:26:25,799 --> 00:26:29,359
gentleman within, putting out his arm, called to me by

397
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,200
my name. I went back and was absent from mister

398
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,359
Slington and his niece for about five minutes. When I

399
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,720
rejoined them, missus Slington was the first to speak indeed,

400
00:26:41,799 --> 00:26:43,839
he said to me in a raised voice, before I

401
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,119
came up with him. It is well you have not

402
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,519
been longer, or my niece might have died of curiosity

403
00:26:50,559 --> 00:26:55,160
to know who her shadow is. Mister Samson, an old

404
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,559
East India director, said, I an intimate friend of our

405
00:26:58,599 --> 00:27:02,119
friends at whose I first had the pleasure of meeting you,

406
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,559
A certain major banks. You have heard of him. Never

407
00:27:09,039 --> 00:27:12,200
very rich, miss Diner, but very old and very crippled,

408
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,200
an amiable man, sensible, much interested in you. He has

409
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,759
just been expatiating on the affection that he has observed

410
00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:25,440
to exist between you and your uncle. Mister Slington was

411
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,480
holding his hat again, and he passed his hand up

412
00:27:28,519 --> 00:27:32,079
the street walk as he himself went up it serenely

413
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:37,400
after me. Mister Samson, he said, tenderly pressing his niece's

414
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,480
arm in his Our affection was always a strong one,

415
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,319
for we have had but few near ties. We have

416
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,480
still fewer now we have associations to bring us together

417
00:27:50,039 --> 00:27:55,400
that are not of this world, Margaret. Dear uncle murmured

418
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,400
the young lady and turned her face aside to hide

419
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,559
her tears. My niece and I had such remembrances and

420
00:28:02,599 --> 00:28:07,200
regrets in common, mister Samson. He feelingly pursued that it

421
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,200
would be strange, indeed, if the relations between us were

422
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,440
cold or indifferent. If I remember a conversation we have

423
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:19,400
had together, you will understand the reference I make. Cheer up,

424
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,920
dear Margaret, don't droop. Don't droop, my Margaret. I cannot

425
00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:28,200
bear to see you droop. The poor young lady was

426
00:28:28,319 --> 00:28:33,240
very much affected, but controlled herself. His feelings, too, were

427
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,519
very acute. In a word, he found himself under such

428
00:28:37,519 --> 00:28:40,759
a great need of a restorative that he presently went

429
00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:44,160
away to take a bath of sea water, leaving the

430
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,920
young lady and me sitting by a point of rock,

431
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,400
and probably presuming, but that you will say was a

432
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,200
pardonable indulgence in her luxury, that she would praise him

433
00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:00,599
with all her heart. She did poor thing, with all

434
00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:03,759
her confiding heart. She praised him to me for his

435
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,079
care of her dead sister, and for his untiding devotion

436
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,480
in her last illness. The sister had wasted away very slowly,

437
00:29:12,119 --> 00:29:15,039
and wild and terrible fantasies had come over her toward

438
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,039
the end. But he had never been impatient with her

439
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,359
or at a loss, had always been gentle, watchful, and

440
00:29:22,519 --> 00:29:26,279
self possessed. The sister had known him as she had

441
00:29:26,319 --> 00:29:29,160
known him, to the best of men, the kindest of men,

442
00:29:29,559 --> 00:29:32,319
and yet a man of such admirable strength of character

443
00:29:33,279 --> 00:29:35,519
as to be a very tower for the support of

444
00:29:35,559 --> 00:29:40,920
their weak natures while their poor lives endured. I shall

445
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,359
leave him, mister Samson, very soon, said the young lady.

446
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,519
I know my life is drawing to an end, and

447
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,279
when I am gone, I hope he will marry and

448
00:29:51,359 --> 00:29:54,799
be happy. I am sure he has lived single so

449
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:59,079
long only for my sake and for my poor, poor sisters.

450
00:30:00,839 --> 00:30:03,359
The little hand carriage had made another great loop on

451
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,160
the damp sand and was coming back again, gradually, spinning

452
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,960
out a slim figure of eight half a mile long.

453
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,400
Young lady said, I, looking round, laying my hand upon

454
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,839
her arm, and speaking in a low voice. Time presses

455
00:30:19,759 --> 00:30:23,440
you hear the gentle murmur of that sea. She looked

456
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,039
at me with utmost wonder and alarm, saying, yes, and

457
00:30:28,079 --> 00:30:30,000
you know what a voice is in it when the

458
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:35,160
storm comes. Yes, you see how quiet and peaceful it

459
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,319
lies before us. And you know what an awful side

460
00:30:38,359 --> 00:30:42,799
of power without pity it might be this very night. Yes,

461
00:30:44,319 --> 00:30:47,079
But if you have never heard or seen it, or

462
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,039
heard of it in its cruelty? Could you believe that

463
00:30:50,119 --> 00:30:53,319
it beats every inanimate thing in its way to pieces

464
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:59,759
without mercy, and destroys life without remorse. You terrify me

465
00:30:59,839 --> 00:31:04,240
so by these questions. To save you, young lady, To

466
00:31:04,359 --> 00:31:09,079
save you for God's sake, Collect your strength and collect

467
00:31:09,079 --> 00:31:13,160
your firmness. If you were here alone and hinden by

468
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,000
the rising tide on the floor of fifty feet above

469
00:31:16,039 --> 00:31:19,599
your head, you could not be in greater danger than

470
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,640
the danger you are now to be saved from. The

471
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,599
figure in the sand was spun out and straggled off

472
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,319
into a crooked little jerk that ended the cliff very

473
00:31:29,359 --> 00:31:33,599
near us. As I am before Heaven and the judge

474
00:31:33,599 --> 00:31:37,799
of all mankind, your friend and your dear sister's friend,

475
00:31:38,319 --> 00:31:43,279
I solemnly entreat you, miss Nina, without one moment's loss

476
00:31:43,279 --> 00:31:46,880
of time, to come to this gentleman with me. If

477
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,720
the little carriage had been less near to us, I

478
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,880
doubt if I could have got her way. But it

479
00:31:53,039 --> 00:31:55,319
was so near that we were there before she had

480
00:31:55,359 --> 00:31:59,759
recovered the hurry of being urged from the rock. I

481
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,960
had not remained there with her two minutes certainly within five.

482
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,920
I had the inexpressible satisfaction of seeing her from the

483
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,720
point we had sat on, to which I had returned,

484
00:32:11,279 --> 00:32:14,839
half supported and half carried up some rude steps notched

485
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,519
in the cliff by the figure of an active man.

486
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,000
With that figure beside her, I knew she was safe anywhere.

487
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,039
I sat alone in the rock awaiting mister Slington's return.

488
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,400
The twilight was deepening and the shadows were heavy when

489
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,240
he came round the point with his hat hanging at

490
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,119
his button hole, smoothing his wet hair with one of

491
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,039
his hands and picking up the old path with the

492
00:32:40,119 --> 00:32:45,640
other and a pocket comb. My niece not here, mister Sampson,

493
00:32:46,279 --> 00:32:50,000
he said, looking round. Miss Nina seemed to feel a

494
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,279
little chill in the air after the sun was down,

495
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:57,359
and has gone home. He looked surprised, as though she

496
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,440
were not accustomed to do anything without him, even to

497
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:08,160
originate so slight a proceeding. I persuaded Miss Niner, I explained, ah,

498
00:33:08,319 --> 00:33:12,759
said he. She is easily persuaded for her good Thank you,

499
00:33:12,839 --> 00:33:17,039
mister Samson. She is better within doors. The bathing place

500
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,559
was further than I thought to say. The truth, Missnner

501
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:26,839
is very delicate, I observed. He shook his head drew

502
00:33:26,839 --> 00:33:32,000
a deep sigh, very very very You may recollect me

503
00:33:32,079 --> 00:33:36,000
saying so the time that has since intervened has not

504
00:33:36,119 --> 00:33:39,720
strengthened her. The gloomy shadow that fell upon her sister

505
00:33:40,119 --> 00:33:43,799
so early in life seems, in my anxious eyes to

506
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:49,839
gather over her ever darker, ever darker. Dear Margaret, dear Margaret.

507
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,720
But we must hope. The hand carriage was spinning away

508
00:33:55,759 --> 00:33:59,519
before us at most indecorous space for an invalid vehicle,

509
00:34:00,119 --> 00:34:04,640
and was making most irregular curves upon the sand. Missus Slington,

510
00:34:04,759 --> 00:34:08,880
noticing it after he had put his handkerchief to his eyes, said,

511
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,400
if I may judge from appearances, your friend will be upset.

512
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:19,679
Mister Samson, it looks probable, certainly, said I. The servant

513
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:24,039
must be drunk. The servants of old gentlemen will get

514
00:34:24,119 --> 00:34:29,039
drunk sometimes, said I. The major draws very light, mister Samson.

515
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:35,280
The Major does draw light, said I. By this time

516
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,920
the carriage, much to my relief, was lost in the darkness.

517
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,039
He walked on for a little side by side over

518
00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:44,800
the sand in silence. After a short while, he said,

519
00:34:45,119 --> 00:34:48,039
in a voice still affected by the emotion, that his

520
00:34:48,119 --> 00:34:52,760
niece's state of health had awakened him. Do you stay

521
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,239
here long, mister Samson? Why I know I am going

522
00:34:56,239 --> 00:35:01,880
away to night so soon? But business always holds you

523
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,760
in request. Men like mister Samson are too important to

524
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,039
others to be spared to their own need of relaxation

525
00:35:09,159 --> 00:35:15,320
and enjoyment. I dun't know about that, said I. However,

526
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:21,360
I am going back to London. To London, I shall

527
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,360
be there too soon after you. I knew that as

528
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,800
well as he did, but I did not tell him

529
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,239
so any more than I told him what defensive weapon

530
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,679
my right hand rested on in my pocket as I

531
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,320
walked by his side, any more than I told him

532
00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,599
why I did not walk on the sea side of him.

533
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:43,679
With the night closing in, we left the beach, and

534
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,320
our ways diverged. We exchanged good night and had parted. Indeed,

535
00:35:48,559 --> 00:35:55,559
when he said, returning, mister Samson, May I ask poor Melton,

536
00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,079
whom we spoke of, dead yet not when I last

537
00:36:01,079 --> 00:36:03,599
heard of him, but too broken a man to live

538
00:36:03,679 --> 00:36:08,760
long and hopelessly lost to his old calling. Dear, dear, dear,

539
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:13,960
said he, with great feeling. Sad, sad, sad. The world

540
00:36:14,039 --> 00:36:18,559
is grave and so went his way. It was not

541
00:36:18,639 --> 00:36:21,239
his fault if the world were not a grave. But

542
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,480
I did not call that observation after him any more

543
00:36:24,519 --> 00:36:27,800
than that I had mentioned those other things just now enumerated.

544
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,800
He went his way, and I went mine with all expedition.

545
00:36:34,119 --> 00:36:36,360
This happened, as I have said, either at the end

546
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:41,119
of September or beginning of October. The next I saw him,

547
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:46,239
and the last time was late in November. I had

548
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:49,760
a very particular engagement to breakfast in the temple. It

549
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,199
was a bitter northeasterly morning, and the sleet and slush

550
00:36:53,679 --> 00:36:58,239
lay inches deep in the streets. I could get no conveyance,

551
00:36:58,599 --> 00:37:01,800
and was soon wet to the knee. But I should

552
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,840
have been true to that appointment, though I had to

553
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,320
wade to it up to my neck in the same impediments.

554
00:37:09,199 --> 00:37:11,639
The appointment took me to the chambers in the temple.

555
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:15,039
They were at the top of the lonely corner house,

556
00:37:15,119 --> 00:37:20,840
overlooking the river. The name mister Alfred Beckwith was painted

557
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,000
on the outer door. On the door opposite on the

558
00:37:24,039 --> 00:37:29,719
same landing the name mister Julius Slington. The doors of

559
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,239
both sets of chambers stood open, so that anything said

560
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,519
aloud in one set, could be heard in the other.

561
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:42,440
I had never been in those chambers before. They were dismal, close, unwholesome,

562
00:37:42,639 --> 00:37:47,719
and oppressive. The furniture, originally good and not yet old,

563
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,480
was faded and dirty. The rooms were in great disorder.

564
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:57,199
There was a strong prevailing smell of opium, brandy and tobacco.

565
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,119
The great and fire irons were flashed all over with

566
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,639
unsightly blotches of rust. And on a sofa by the

567
00:38:04,679 --> 00:38:08,360
fire in the room where breakfast had been prepared, lay

568
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,760
the host, mister beckwith a man with all appearances of

569
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,920
the worst kind of drunkard, very far advanced upon his

570
00:38:17,039 --> 00:38:21,840
shameful way to death. Slington is not come yet, said

571
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:26,280
this creature, staggering up when I went in. I'll call

572
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:32,639
him Hulloa, Julius Caesar, Come and drink. As he hoarsely

573
00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:35,639
roared this out, he beat the poker and tongs together

574
00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,679
in a mad way, as if that were his usual

575
00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:43,320
manner of summoning his associate. The voice mister Slington was

576
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,559
heard through the clatter from the opposite side of the staircase,

577
00:38:46,599 --> 00:38:50,039
and he came in. He had not expected the pleasure

578
00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:53,800
of meeting me I have seen several artful men brought

579
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,519
to a stag, but I never saw a man so

580
00:38:56,719 --> 00:39:00,400
aghast as he was when his eyes rested on mine.

581
00:39:02,079 --> 00:39:07,360
Julius Caesar cried, beck With staggering between us, Miss Samson,

582
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:12,480
missed Samson, Julius Caesar, Julius, mister Samson is a friend

583
00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:16,480
of my soul. Julius keeps me piled with liquor morning,

584
00:39:16,599 --> 00:39:21,960
noon and night. Julius is a real benefactor. Julius threw

585
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,599
the tea and coffee out of the window when I

586
00:39:24,679 --> 00:39:28,480
used to have any. Julius empties all the water jugs

587
00:39:28,519 --> 00:39:33,440
of their content and fills them with spirits. Julius winds

588
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,639
me up and keeps me going. Boil the brandy, Julius.

589
00:39:38,679 --> 00:39:41,199
There was a rusty and fury saucepan in the ashes.

590
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,280
The ashes looked like the accumulation of weeks. And beck

591
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:48,840
With rolling and staggering between us as he were going

592
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,360
to plunge headlong into the fire, got the saucepan out

593
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:57,840
and tried to force it into Stington's hand. Boil the brandy,

594
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:02,000
Julius Caesar, come do you usual office? Boil the brandy.

595
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,639
He became so fierce in his gesticulation with the sauceman

596
00:40:07,079 --> 00:40:10,039
that I expected to see him lay open Slington's head

597
00:40:10,039 --> 00:40:13,719
with it. I therefore put out my hand to check him.

598
00:40:15,159 --> 00:40:18,559
He reeled back to the sofa, sat there, panting, shaking,

599
00:40:18,559 --> 00:40:21,559
and red eyed in his rags of a dressing gown,

600
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,559
looking at hers both. I noticed then that there was

601
00:40:25,559 --> 00:40:28,719
nothing to drink on the table but brandy, and nothing

602
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,679
to eat but salted herrings and a heart sickly highly

603
00:40:32,679 --> 00:40:38,639
peppered stew At all events, mister Sampson, said Slington, offering

604
00:40:38,679 --> 00:40:41,920
me the smooth gravel path for the last time. I

605
00:40:42,079 --> 00:40:46,079
thank you for interfering between me and this unfortunate man's violence.

606
00:40:47,039 --> 00:40:51,000
However you came here, mister Sampson, or with whatever motive

607
00:40:51,039 --> 00:40:55,199
you came here, at least, I thank you for that boil.

608
00:40:55,320 --> 00:41:00,920
The brandy, muttered Beckward, without gratifying his to know how

609
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,599
I came there, I said, quietly, how is your niece,

610
00:41:05,639 --> 00:41:11,559
mister Slington. He looked hard at me, and I looked

611
00:41:11,559 --> 00:41:15,840
hard at him. I am sorry to say, mister Sampson,

612
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,079
that my niece has proved treacherous and ungrateful to her

613
00:41:19,119 --> 00:41:22,559
best friend. She left me without a word of notice

614
00:41:22,639 --> 00:41:28,000
or explanation. She was misled, no doubt by some designing rascal.

615
00:41:29,119 --> 00:41:33,199
Perhaps you may have heard of it. I did hear

616
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,599
that she was misled by a designing rascal. In fact,

617
00:41:36,639 --> 00:41:40,639
I have proof of it. Are you sure of that?

618
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:48,880
Said he quite boil The brandy muttered, beckwith company to breakfast, Julius, Caesar,

619
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:54,039
do your usual office, provide the usual breakfast, dinner, tea

620
00:41:54,079 --> 00:41:59,400
and supper, boil the brandy. The eyes of Slington looked

621
00:41:59,519 --> 00:42:03,840
from him to me, and he said, after a moment's consideration,

622
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,559
mister Samson, you're a man of the world, and so

623
00:42:08,679 --> 00:42:13,440
am I. I will be plain with you. Oh no,

624
00:42:13,639 --> 00:42:17,519
you won't, said I, shaking my head. I tell you, sir,

625
00:42:17,599 --> 00:42:20,840
I will be plain with you, and I tell you

626
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:25,360
you will not, said I. I know all about you.

627
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:32,239
You plain with any one. Nonsense, nonsense, I plainly tell you,

628
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,599
mister Samson. He went on, with a manner almost composed,

629
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:40,000
that I understand your object. You want to save your

630
00:42:40,039 --> 00:42:44,360
funds and escape from your liabilities. These are old tricks

631
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:47,440
of the trade. With you off this, gentleman. But you

632
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:51,519
will not do it, sir, You will not succeed. You

633
00:42:51,599 --> 00:42:54,440
have not an easy adversary to play against. When you

634
00:42:54,519 --> 00:42:58,639
play against me, we shall have to inquire in due

635
00:42:58,679 --> 00:43:03,239
time when and how mister Beckwith fell into his present habits.

636
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,280
With that remark, Sir, I put this poor creature and

637
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:11,039
his incoherent wanderings of speech aside, and vish you a

638
00:43:11,119 --> 00:43:16,239
good morning and a better case next time. When he

639
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:19,519
was saying this, Beckwith filled a half pine glass with brandy.

640
00:43:20,599 --> 00:43:22,800
At this moment he threw the brandy at his face

641
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,960
and threw the glass after it. Slington put up his hands,

642
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:29,880
half blinded with the spirit, and cut with the glass

643
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:33,719
across the forehead. At the sound of the breakage, a

644
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,880
fourth person came into the room, closing the door and

645
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:40,920
stood at it. He was a very quiet, but very

646
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,880
keen looking man, with iron gray hair and slightly lame.

647
00:43:46,599 --> 00:43:50,039
Slington pulled out his handkerchief, assuaged the pain in his

648
00:43:50,119 --> 00:43:55,119
sparting eyes, and dabbled the blood on his forehead. He

649
00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,960
was a long time about it, and I saw that

650
00:43:58,039 --> 00:44:01,960
in doing of it a tremendous change over him, occasioned

651
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:05,960
by the change in Beckwith, who ceased to pant and tremble,

652
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:11,280
sat upright and never took his eyes off him I

653
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:14,000
never in my life saw a face in which aberance

654
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:18,800
and determination was so forcibly painted as in Beckwit's. Then

655
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:25,360
look at me, you villain, said Beckwith, and see me

656
00:44:25,519 --> 00:44:29,239
as I really am. I took these rooms to make

657
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,320
them a trap for you. I came into them as

658
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,599
a drunkard, to date the trap for you. You fell

659
00:44:35,639 --> 00:44:38,480
into the trap, and you will never leave it alive.

660
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:41,760
On the morning when you last went to see mister

661
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:46,079
Sampson's office, I had seen him first. Your plot had

662
00:44:46,079 --> 00:44:48,920
been known to both of us all along, and you

663
00:44:49,039 --> 00:44:54,320
have been counterplotted all along. What have you been cajoled

664
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:57,280
into putting the prize of two thousand pounds in your power?

665
00:44:58,199 --> 00:45:00,079
I was to be done to death with brain, and

666
00:45:01,039 --> 00:45:05,239
Randy not proving quick enough with something quicker. Have I

667
00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:08,559
never seen you when you thought my senses gone, pouring

668
00:45:08,599 --> 00:45:13,960
your little bottle into my glass? Why you, murderer and forger,

669
00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:17,639
Alone here with you in the dead of night, as

670
00:45:17,679 --> 00:45:20,599
I have so often been, I have had my hand

671
00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:24,159
upon the trigger of a pistol twenty times to blow

672
00:45:24,199 --> 00:45:28,800
your brains out. This sudden starting up the thing that

673
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:32,280
he had supposed to be his imbecile victim into a

674
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,840
determined man with a subtled resolution to hunt him down

675
00:45:36,119 --> 00:45:40,000
and be the death of him, mercilessly expressed from head

676
00:45:40,039 --> 00:45:44,119
to foot, was in the first shock too much for him.

677
00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:49,239
Without any figure of speech, he staggered under it. But

678
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,079
there is no greater mistake than to suppose that a

679
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:55,159
man who is a calculating criminal is in any phase

680
00:45:55,199 --> 00:45:59,280
of his guilt otherwise than true to himself and perfectly

681
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:03,360
consistent with his whole character. Such a man commits murder,

682
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,400
and murder is the natural culmination of his course. Such

683
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:10,360
a man has to outface murder, and will do it

684
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:14,760
with hardihood and effrontery. It is a sort of fashion

685
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:18,280
to express surprise that any notorious criminal, having such a

686
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:22,840
crime upon his conscience can so brave it out. Do

687
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,639
you think that he had it in his conscience at all,

688
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,159
or had a conscience to have it upon he would

689
00:46:29,199 --> 00:46:34,960
ever have committed the crime perfectly consistent with himself, as

690
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,599
I believe all such monsters to be. The Slington recovered

691
00:46:38,639 --> 00:46:43,000
himself and showed a defiance that was sufficiently cold and quiet.

692
00:46:44,199 --> 00:46:47,719
He was white, he was haggard, and he was changed,

693
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:50,840
but only as a sharper who had played for a

694
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,519
great stake, and had been outwitted and had lost the game.

695
00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:00,960
Listen to me, you villain, said Beckwith, And let every

696
00:47:01,039 --> 00:47:03,159
word you hear me say be a stab in your

697
00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:07,599
wicked heart. When I took these rooms to throw myself

698
00:47:07,639 --> 00:47:10,239
in your way and lead you on the scheme that

699
00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:13,719
I knew my appearance and supposed character and habits would

700
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,760
suggest to such a devil. How did I know that?

701
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,639
Because you were no stranger to me, I knew you

702
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:24,480
to be the cruel wretch who, for so much money,

703
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:29,000
had killed one innocent girl while she trusted him implicitly,

704
00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:35,000
and who was by inches killing another Slington took out

705
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:38,000
a snuff box, took a pinch of snuff and laughed.

706
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:43,079
But see here, said Beckwith, never looking away, never raising

707
00:47:43,119 --> 00:47:47,039
his voice, never relaxing his face, never unclenching his hand.

708
00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:50,480
See what a dull wolf you have been, after all,

709
00:47:51,679 --> 00:47:55,119
the infatuated drunkard who never drank a fiftieth part of

710
00:47:55,199 --> 00:47:59,599
liquor you plied him with, but poured it away here, there, everywhere,

711
00:48:00,159 --> 00:48:03,639
almost before your eyes, who brought over the fellow you

712
00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:06,960
said to watch him and to ply him by outbidding

713
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,039
you in his bribe before he had been at his

714
00:48:10,119 --> 00:48:16,559
work three days, with whom you have observed no caution yet,

715
00:48:16,599 --> 00:48:19,199
who was so bent on bridding the earth of you

716
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:23,039
as a wild beast, that he would have defeated you

717
00:48:23,639 --> 00:48:27,639
if you had been ever so prudent. That drunkard, whom

718
00:48:27,679 --> 00:48:29,840
you have many a time left on the floor of

719
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:33,559
this room, and who has even let you go out

720
00:48:33,559 --> 00:48:37,320
of it alive and undeceived, when you had turned him

721
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:41,639
over with your foot, has almost as often on the

722
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:45,840
same night, within an hour, within a few minutes, watched

723
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:48,960
you awake, had his hand in at your pillow when

724
00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:54,480
you were asleep, turned over your papers, taken samples from

725
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:58,719
your bottles and packets of powder, changed their contents, rifled

726
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:02,760
every secret in your life life. He had had another

727
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,760
pinch of snuff in his hand, but had gradually let

728
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:08,639
a drop from between his fingers to the floor, where

729
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:11,920
he now smoothed it out with his foot, looking down

730
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:16,559
at it. The while that drunkard said beckwith, who had

731
00:49:16,599 --> 00:49:19,440
free access to your rooms at all times, that he

732
00:49:19,519 --> 00:49:22,119
might drink the strong drinks that you left in his way,

733
00:49:22,679 --> 00:49:26,079
and be sooner ended holding no more terms with you

734
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:29,719
that he would hold with a tiger has had his

735
00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:33,559
master key for all your locks, his tests for all

736
00:49:33,599 --> 00:49:37,960
your poisons, his clue to your cipher writing. He can

737
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,039
tell you, as well as you can tell him, how

738
00:49:41,119 --> 00:49:44,920
long it took to complete the deed, What doses there were,

739
00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:49,800
what intervals, What signs of gradual decay upon mind and body?

740
00:49:50,679 --> 00:49:56,559
What distempered fancies were produced, what observable changes, what physical pain?

741
00:49:57,679 --> 00:50:00,000
He can tell you as well as you can tell

742
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:03,280
tell him. That all this was recorded day by day

743
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:07,440
as a lesson of experience for future service. He can

744
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:10,239
tell you better than you can tell him where that

745
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:15,239
journal is. At this moment, Slington stopped the action of

746
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:19,239
his foot and looked at Beckwith. No, said the latter,

747
00:50:19,679 --> 00:50:22,880
as if answering a question from him. Not in the

748
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:25,440
drawer of the writing desk that opens with the spring,

749
00:50:26,039 --> 00:50:29,480
it is not there, and it never will be there again.

750
00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:35,199
Then you are a thief, said Slington, without any change

751
00:50:35,199 --> 00:50:38,519
whatever in the inflexible purpose which it was quite terrific

752
00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:41,320
even to me to contemplate, and from the power of

753
00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:44,760
which I had always felt convinced it was impossible for

754
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:49,599
this wretch to escape. Beckwith returned, and I am your

755
00:50:49,679 --> 00:50:54,519
niece's shadow too. With an imprecation. Slington put his hand

756
00:50:54,599 --> 00:50:57,760
to his head, tore out some hair, and flung it

757
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:01,480
to the ground. It was the end of the smooth walk.

758
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:05,159
He destroyed it in the action, and will soon be

759
00:51:05,239 --> 00:51:09,599
seen that his use for it was past. Beckworth went

760
00:51:09,639 --> 00:51:14,199
on whenever you left here, I left here, although I

761
00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:16,920
understood that you found it necessary to pause in the

762
00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:21,599
completion of that purpose to avert suspicion. Still, I watched

763
00:51:21,639 --> 00:51:25,440
you close with that poor confiding girl. When I had

764
00:51:25,440 --> 00:51:28,159
the diary and I could read it word by word.

765
00:51:28,639 --> 00:51:31,119
It is only about the night before your last visit

766
00:51:31,199 --> 00:51:34,880
to Scarborough. You remember the night you slept with a

767
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:39,239
small flat while tied to your wrist. I sent to

768
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:43,639
mister Samson, who was kept out of view. This is

769
00:51:43,679 --> 00:51:47,760
mister Samson's trusty servants standing by the door. We three

770
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:52,880
saved your niece among us. Slington looked at us all,

771
00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:56,679
took an uncertain step or two from the place where

772
00:51:56,679 --> 00:52:00,599
he had stood, returned to it, and glanced about him

773
00:52:00,639 --> 00:52:03,960
in a very curious way, as one of the meaner

774
00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:08,039
reptiles might looking for a hole to hide in. I

775
00:52:08,199 --> 00:52:11,480
noticed at the same time that a singular change took

776
00:52:11,559 --> 00:52:14,119
place in the figure of the man as if it

777
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:18,840
collapsed within his clothes, and they consequently became ill, shapen

778
00:52:19,039 --> 00:52:24,599
and ill fitting. You shall know, said Beckwid, for I

779
00:52:24,639 --> 00:52:27,079
hope the knowledge will be bitter and terrible to you.

780
00:52:28,119 --> 00:52:30,960
Why you have been pursued by one man, and why

781
00:52:31,639 --> 00:52:35,079
when the whole interest that mister Sampson represents would have

782
00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:39,119
expended any money in hunting you down, you have been

783
00:52:39,199 --> 00:52:43,639
tracked to death at a single individual's charge. I hear

784
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:45,840
you have had the name of Melthem on your lips.

785
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:51,559
Sometimes I saw, in addition to those other changes, a

786
00:52:51,599 --> 00:52:56,840
sudden stoppage came upon his breathing. When you send the

787
00:52:56,880 --> 00:53:00,679
sweet girl whom you murdered, you know with what artfully

788
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:04,760
made out surroundings and probabilities you sent her to Meltham's

789
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:08,679
office before taking her abroad to originate the transaction that

790
00:53:08,840 --> 00:53:12,199
doomed her to the grave. It fell to Meltham's lot

791
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:15,719
to see her and to speak with her. It did

792
00:53:15,719 --> 00:53:18,679
not fall to his lot to save her. Though I

793
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:20,840
knew he would freely give up his own life to

794
00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:25,119
have done it. He admired her. I would say he

795
00:53:25,159 --> 00:53:28,199
loved her deeply. If I thought it possible that you

796
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:32,920
could understand the word. When she was sacrificed, he was

797
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:37,480
thoroughly assured of your guilt. Having lost her, he had

798
00:53:37,519 --> 00:53:40,920
but one object left in life, and that was to

799
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:46,679
avenge her and destroy you. I saw the villain's nostril

800
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:50,400
rise and fall convulsively, but I saw no moving at

801
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:57,480
his mouth. That man meltham Beck, with steadily pursued, was

802
00:53:57,599 --> 00:54:00,679
as absolutely certain that you could never him in this

803
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:04,800
world if he devoted himself to a destruction with his

804
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:09,440
utmost fidelity and earnestness, and if he divided the sacred

805
00:54:09,519 --> 00:54:12,840
duty with no other duty in life, as he was

806
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:15,800
certain that in achieving it he would be a poor

807
00:54:15,920 --> 00:54:19,559
instrument in the hand of Providence, and would do well

808
00:54:19,599 --> 00:54:23,079
before Heaven in striking you out from among living men.

809
00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:28,000
I am that man, and I thank God that I

810
00:54:28,039 --> 00:54:32,320
have done my work. If Slington had been running for

811
00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:35,880
his life from swift footed savages a dozen miles, he

812
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:40,000
could not have shown more empathetic signs of being oppressed

813
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:43,480
at heart and laboring for breath than he showed now

814
00:54:44,199 --> 00:54:47,079
when he looked at the pursuer who had so relentlessly

815
00:54:47,159 --> 00:54:51,039
hunted him down. You never saw me under my right

816
00:54:51,159 --> 00:54:54,079
name before you see me under my right name. Now

817
00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:57,119
you shall see me once again in the body, when

818
00:54:57,159 --> 00:54:59,960
you are tried for your life. You shall see me

819
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:03,079
once again in the spirit, when the cord is around

820
00:55:03,079 --> 00:55:07,079
your neck and the crowds are crying against you. When

821
00:55:07,079 --> 00:55:10,719
Maltam had spoken these last words, the miscreen suddenly turned

822
00:55:10,719 --> 00:55:13,599
his face away and seemed to strike his mouth with

823
00:55:13,679 --> 00:55:17,559
his open hand. At the same instant, the room was

824
00:55:17,599 --> 00:55:21,000
filled with a new and powerful odor, and almost at

825
00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:25,079
the same time he broke into a crooked run, leap start.

826
00:55:25,559 --> 00:55:28,559
I have no name for the spasm, and fell with

827
00:55:28,639 --> 00:55:31,000
a dull weight that shook the heavy old doors and

828
00:55:31,079 --> 00:55:35,679
windows in their frames. That was a fitting end of him.

829
00:55:36,559 --> 00:55:39,280
When we saw that he was dead, we drew away

830
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:42,199
from the room, and Melton, giving me his hands, said

831
00:55:42,239 --> 00:55:45,480
with a weary air, I have no more work on earth,

832
00:55:45,519 --> 00:55:50,000
my friend, but I shall see her again elsewhere. It

833
00:55:50,159 --> 00:55:53,039
was in vain that I tried to rally him. He

834
00:55:53,159 --> 00:55:56,480
might have saved her. He said he had not saved her,

835
00:55:57,079 --> 00:56:00,880
and he reproached himself. He had lost her, and he

836
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:06,559
was broken hearted. The purpose that has sustained me over Samson,

837
00:56:07,280 --> 00:56:10,480
and there is nothing now to hold to life. I

838
00:56:10,519 --> 00:56:13,960
am not fit for life. I am weak and spiritless.

839
00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:18,840
I have no hope and no object. My day is done.

840
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,519
In truth, I could hardly have believed that a broken

841
00:56:22,559 --> 00:56:25,360
man who then spoke to me was the man who

842
00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:29,000
had so strongly and so differently impressed me when his

843
00:56:29,079 --> 00:56:33,360
purpose was before him. I used such entries with him

844
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:37,280
as I could, But he still said, and always said,

845
00:56:37,519 --> 00:56:42,599
in a patient, undemonstrative way, nothing could avail him. He

846
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:47,199
was broken hearted. He died early in the next spring.

847
00:56:48,079 --> 00:56:50,000
He was buried by the side of the poor young

848
00:56:50,119 --> 00:56:55,320
lady for whom he had cherished those tender and unhappy regrets,

849
00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:59,679
and he left all he had to his sister. She

850
00:56:59,719 --> 00:57:03,079
lived to be a happy wife and mother. She married

851
00:57:03,119 --> 00:57:07,840
my sister's son, who succeeded poor Malcolm. She is living now,

852
00:57:08,199 --> 00:57:10,519
and her children ride about the garden on my walking

853
00:57:10,599 --> 00:57:16,280
stick when I go to see her and off. Hunted

854
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:18,159
down by Charles Dickens