WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:15.119 Everybody dies, don't they? Isn't that so you've tried to 2 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:17.600 get into the long draw today, didn't you? You can? 3 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:24.160 How do the they'd come back? They didn't You lost hearts? 4 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:27.920 By m R James. It was, as far as I 5 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:31.800 can ascertain, in September of the year eighteen eleven, that 6 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:34.640 a post chairs drew up before the door of Aswellby Hall, 7 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.560 in the heart of Lincolnshire. The little boy, who was 8 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.159 the only passenger in the chaise, and who jumped out 9 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:42.679 as soon as it had stopped, looked about him with 10 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.759 the keenest curiosity. During the short interval that elapsed between 11 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:48.719 the ringing of the bell and the opening of the 12 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:52.759 hall door, he saw a tall, square, red brick house 13 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.560 built in the rain of ann. A stone pillared porch 14 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:59.000 had been added in the purer classical style of seventeen ninety. 15 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.240 The window of the house were many, tall and narrow, 16 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.680 with small panes and thick white woodwork. A pediment pierced 17 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.799 with a round window, crowned the front. There were wings 18 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.680 to right and left, connected by curious glazed galleries supported 19 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.439 by colonnades with the central block. These wings plainly contained 20 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:22.120 the stables and offices of the house. Each was surmounted 21 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.400 by an ornamental cupola with a gilded vane. An evening 22 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.400 light shone on the building, making the window panes glow 23 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:32.519 like so many fires. Away from the hall in front 24 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:36.439 stretched a flat park studded with oaks and fringed with firs, 25 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.040 which stood out against the sky. The clock in the 26 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:42.680 church tower buried in trees on the edge of the park, 27 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.959 only its golden weather cock catching. The lights were striking six, 28 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:51.239 and the sound came gently beating down the wind. It 29 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.760 was altogether a pleasant impression, though tinged with a sort 30 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.799 of melancholy appropriate to an evening in early autumn, that 31 00:01:57.920 --> 00:01:59.680 was conveyed to the mind of a boy who was 32 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.400 standing in the porch waiting for the door to open 33 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.400 to him. The post shares had brought him from Warwickshire, 34 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:11.080 where some six months before he had been left an orphan. Now, 35 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.759 owing to the generous offer of his elderly cousin, mister Abney, 36 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:19.000 he'd come to live at Aswerby. The offer was unexpected, 37 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.439 because all who knew anything of mister Abney looked upon 38 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.800 him as a somewhat austere recluse into whose steady going household. 39 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:28.919 The advent of a small boy would import a new 40 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:33.360 and it seemed incongruous element. The truth is that very 41 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:36.879 little was known of mister Abney's pursuits or temper. The 42 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:39.439 professor of Greek at Cambridge had been hurt to say 43 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.800 that no one knew more of the religious beliefs of 44 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.759 the later Pagans than did the owner of Aswerby. Certainly, 45 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:49.000 his library contained all the then available books bearing on 46 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:52.599 the mysteries, the Orphic poems, the worship of Mithras, and 47 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:57.039 the Neoplatonists. In the marble paved hall stood a fine 48 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:01.439 group of Mithras slaying bull, which imported from the Levant's 49 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:04.800 a great expense by the owner. He had contributed a 50 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.719 description of it to the Gentleman's Magazine, and he had 51 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.000 written a remarkable series of articles in the Critical Museum 52 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.960 on the superstitions of the Romans of the Lower Empire. 53 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.639 He was looked upon in Fine as a man wrapped 54 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.879 up in his books, and it was a matter of 55 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.159 great surprise among his neighbors that he should have even 56 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.759 heard of his awtroan cousin, Stephen Elliott, much more that 57 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:28.000 he should have volunteered to make him an inmate of 58 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.199 aswellbe hall. Whatever may have been expected by his neighbors. 59 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.080 It is certain that mister Abney, the tall, the thin, 60 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.719 the austere, seemed inclined to give his young cousin a 61 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:42.240 kindly reception. The moment the front door was opened, he 62 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.599 darted out of his study, rubbing his hands with delight. 63 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:47.719 How are you, my boy? How are you? How old 64 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:50.080 are you? Said he? That is, you are not too 65 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.120 much tired? I hope by your journey to eat your supper. No, 66 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.719 thank you, sir, said Master Elliott. I'm pretty well. That's 67 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.000 a good lad, said mister Abney. And how old are you, 68 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.520 my boy? It seemed a little odd that he should 69 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.599 have asked the question twice in the first two minutes 70 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:09.199 of their acquaintance. I'm twelve years old, next birthday, sir, 71 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.039 said Stephen. And when is your birthday, my dear boy, 72 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:18.279 eleventh of September. That's well, that's very well, nearly a year, hence, 73 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:20.839 isn't it? I like, ha ha, I like to get 74 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:25.720 these things down in my book. Sure it's twelve, certain, yes, 75 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:30.319 quite sure, sir. Well, Well take him to missus Bunch's room, 76 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:34.759 Parks and let him have his tea supper, whatever it is, Yes, Sir, 77 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.399 answered the stage mister Parks, and conducted Stephen to the 78 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.560 lower regions. Missus Bunch was the most comfortable and human 79 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.360 person whom Stephen had yet as met in as would be, 80 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.800 she made him completely at home. They were great friends 81 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.600 in a quarter of an hour, and great friends they remained. 82 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:55.000 Missus Bunch had been born in the neighborhood some fifty 83 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.879 five years before the date of Stephen's arrival, and her 84 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:01.680 residence at the Hall was of twenty years stand. Consequently, 85 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.759 if any one knew the ins and outs of the 86 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.000 house in the district, Missus Bunch knew them, and she 87 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:12.839 was by no means disinclined to communicate her information. Certainly, 88 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.240 there were plenty of things about the Hall and the 89 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:18.360 hall gardens which Stephen, who was of an adventurous and 90 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:22.560 inquiring turn, was anxious to have explained. Him. Who built 91 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.079 a temple at the end of the Laurel walk. Who 92 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:27.079 was the old man whose picture hung on the staircase, 93 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:29.519 sitting at the table with a skull under his hand? 94 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.279 These and many similar points were cleared up by the 95 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:37.720 resources of Missus Bunch's powerful intellect. There were others, however, 96 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:44.279 of which explanations furnished were less satisfactory. One November evening, 97 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.199 Stephen was sitting by the fire in the housekeeper's room, 98 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.000 reflecting on his surroundings. Is mister Abney a good man? 99 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:54.160 And will he go to heaven? He suddenly asked, with 100 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.800 the peculiar confidence which children possess in the ability of 101 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:01.079 their elders to settle these questions, the decision of which 102 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:05.639 is believed to be reserved for other tribunals. Good bless 103 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:09.360 the child, said missus Bunch. Master's as kind a soul 104 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.040 as I ever did see, didn't I never tell you 105 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:13.920 of the little boy as he took in out of 106 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:16.399 the street, as you may say this seven years back, 107 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.480 and the little girl two years after I first came here. No, 108 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:24.639 do tell me about them, missus Bunch, now this minute, 109 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.920 well said missus Bunch. The little girl I don't seem 110 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:32.680 to recollect so much about I know. Master brought her 111 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.160 back with him from his walk one day and give 112 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.160 orders to missus Ellis, who was housekeeper then, as she 113 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:41.920 should be, took every care with And the poor child 114 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:44.439 hadn't no one belonging to her. She told me so 115 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:46.879 her own self, and here she lived with us a 116 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.839 matter of three weeks, he might be, and then whether 117 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:51.920 there was something of a gipsy in her blood or 118 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.480 what not. But one morning she shot out of her 119 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.839 bed before any of us had opened an eye, and 120 00:06:57.160 --> 00:06:59.959 neither track nor yet trace of her. Have I said 121 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:04.240 ties on, since Master was wonderful put about and had 122 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.920 all the ponds dragged. But it's my belief she was 123 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.680 had away by them gypsies, for they were singing round 124 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:11.399 the house for as much as an hour the night 125 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.360 she went, And parks, he declared, as he heard them 126 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.759 are calling in her woods all that afternoon, dear, dear, 127 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:21.319 a hot child. She was so silent in the ways 128 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:24.000 and all, but Ah, I was wonderful taking up with her, 129 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:28.800 so domesticated she was surprising. And what about the little boy, 130 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.519 said Stephen, Ah, that poor boy sighed missus bunch. He 131 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.360 were a foreigner, Giovanni called herself. And he come a 132 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.079 tweak in his irdy gurdy round about the drive one 133 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.639 winter day, and Master had him in that minute. And 134 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:45.040 that's all about where he come from, and how old 135 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.480 he was, and how he made his way, and where 136 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:52.279 was his relatives, and all as kind as heart could wish. 137 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.759 But he went the same way with him. They're an 138 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.360 unruly lot, them foreign nations, that do suppose. And he 139 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.920 was off one fine morning, just the same as the girl. 140 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.279 Why he went and what he'd done was our question 141 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.120 for as much as a year after before he never 142 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:10.279 took his herdy gurdy him there it lays on the shelf. 143 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:14.120 The remainder of the evening was spent by Stephen in 144 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:18.399 miscellaneous cross examination of Missus Bunch and efforts to extract 145 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.839 a tune from the hurdy Gurdy. That night he had 146 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.519 a curious dream. At the end of the passage at 147 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.439 the top of the house in which his bedroom was situated, 148 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:33.320 there was an old, disused bathroom. It was kept locked, 149 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:35.559 but the upper half of the door was glazed, and 150 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:38.480 since the muslin curtains which used to hang there had 151 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.120 long been gone, you could look in and see the 152 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.320 lead lined bath fixed to the wall on the right hand, 153 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:47.679 with its head towards the window. On the night of 154 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.320 which I'm speaking, the Stephen Elliott found himself, as he thought, 155 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:55.919 looking through the glazed door. The moon was shining through 156 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:59.480 the window, and he was gazing at a figure which 157 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.679 lay in the b His description of what he saw 158 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.039 reminds me of what I once beheld myself in the 159 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:11.000 famous vaults of Saint Micahan's Church in Dublin, which possessed 160 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.720 a horrid property of preserving corpses from decay for centuries. 161 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:20.240 A figure inexpressibly thin and pathetic, of a dusty leaden color, 162 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.399 enveloped in a shroudlike garment, the thin lips crooked into 163 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.399 a faint and dreadful smile. The hands pressed tightly over 164 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.679 the region of the heart. As he looked upon it, 165 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:36.159 A distant, almost inaudible moan seemed to issue from its lips, 166 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.480 and the arms began to stir. The terror of the 167 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:42.639 sight forced Stephen backwards, and he awoke to the fact 168 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.559 that he was indeed standing on the cold bordered floor 169 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.879 of the passage in the full light of the moon. 170 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:52.559 With a courage which I do not think can be 171 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:55.600 common among boys of his age. He went to the 172 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.240 door of the bathroom to ascertain if the figure of 173 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:03.200 his dream were really there. It was not, and he 174 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.440 went back to bed. Missus Bunch was much impressed next 175 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:10.000 morning by his story, and went so far as to 176 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:12.919 replace the muslin curtain over the glazed door of the bathroom. 177 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:17.799 Mister Abney moreover, to whom he confided his experiences at breakfast, 178 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.200 was greatly interested and made notes of the matter in 179 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:26.159 what he called his book. The spring equinox was approaching, 180 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.679 as mister Abney frequently reminded his cousin, adding that this 181 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.240 had been always considered by the ancients to be a 182 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:35.440 critical time for the young, that Stephen would do well 183 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.320 to take care of himself and to shut his bedroom 184 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:42.559 window at night, and that Censoriness had some valuable remarks 185 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:46.639 on the subjects. Two incidents that occurred about this time 186 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:51.360 made an impression upon Stephen's mind. The first was after 187 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:54.519 an unusually uneasy and depressed night that he had passed, 188 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:57.879 though he couldn't recall any particular dream that he'd had. 189 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.240 The following evening, missus Bunch was occupying herself in mending 190 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:07.240 his nightgown. Gracious me, Master Stephen, she broke forth, rather irritably, 191 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.440 how do you manage to tell your night dress all 192 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.799 to flinders this way? Look here, sir, what trouble do 193 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:14.919 you give to poor servants and have to darn and 194 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.480 mend after you? There was indeed a most destructive and 195 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:23.240 apparently wanton series of slits or scorings in the garment, 196 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.840 which would undoubtedly require a skillful needle to make good. 197 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.000 They were confined to the left side of the chest, 198 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.320 long parallel slits about six inches in length, some of 199 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:38.200 them not quite piercing the texture of the linen. Stephen 200 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.039 could only express his entire ignorance of their origin. He 201 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:43.720 was sure they were not there the night before, but 202 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:48.159 he said, Missus Bunch, they had just the same as 203 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:50.480 the scratches on the outside of my bedroom door, and 204 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.679 I'm sure I never had anything to do with making them. 205 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:59.000 Missus Bunch gazed at him, open mouthed, then snatched up 206 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.759 a candle hearted hastily from the room, and was heard 207 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:06.279 making her way upstairs. In a few minutes she came down. Well, 208 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:10.000 she said, Master Stephen. It's a funny thing to me 209 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.000 how their marks and scratches can have come there, too 210 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:15.159 high up for any cat or dog to have made 211 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:18.720 them much less a rat for all the world, like 212 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.279 a chinaman's fingernails. As my uncle in the tea trade 213 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:24.759 used to tell us of when we were girls together, 214 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.200 I wouldn't say nothing to Master, not if I was 215 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.120 you Master, Stephen, my dear, and just turn the key 216 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.960 of the door when you go to your bed. I 217 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:37.360 always do, Missus Bunch, as soon as I've said my prayers. Ah, 218 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.519 that's a good child. Always say your prayers and then 219 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:45.320 no one can hurt you. Herewith Missus Bunch addressed herself 220 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.559 to mending the injured night gown with intervals of meditation 221 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.799 until bedtime. This it was on a Friday night in 222 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:57.759 March eighteen twelve. On the following evening, the usual duet 223 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:00.639 of Stephen and Missus Bunch was augmented by the sudden 224 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.480 arrival of mister Parks. The butler, who was a rule, 225 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.960 kept himself rather to himself in his own pantry. He 226 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.080 didn't see that Stephen was there. He was moreover flustered 227 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:13.559 and less slow speech than was his wont master may 228 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.960 cut up his own wine if he likes of an evening, 229 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.360 was his first remark. Either I do it in the 230 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:21.200 daytime or not at all, Missus Bunch, I don't know 231 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.480 what it may be very like its rats or the 232 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.679 wind got into the cellars. But now I'm not as 233 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:27.879 young as I was, and I can't go through with 234 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.919 it as I have done. Well, mister Parks, you know 235 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.440 it is a surprising place for rats. It's the hall. 236 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:37.720 I'm not denying that, missus bunch. And to be sure, 237 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.440 many a time I've heard the tale from the men 238 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.279 in the shipyards about the rats that could speak. I 239 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.519 never laid no confidence in that before. But to night, 240 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.440 if i'd demean myself to lay my ear to the 241 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.240 door of the further bin, I could pretty much have 242 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:54.919 heard what they were saying. Oh there, mister Parks, have 243 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:00.000 no patience with your fancies rats talking in the wine cellar. Indeed, well, 244 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.799 missus bunch, I've no wish to argue with you. All 245 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.120 I say is, if you choose to go to the 246 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.720 farbin and lay your ear to the door, you may 247 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:12.320 prove my words this minute. What nonsense you do talk, 248 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:15.759 mister Parks, not fit for children to listen to. Why 249 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.440 you'll be frightening Master Stephen. They're out of his wits. 250 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:23.039 What Master Stephen said, Parks awaking to the consciousness of 251 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.440 the boy's presence. Master Stephen knows well enough when I'm 252 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:31.159 playing a joke with you, missus bunch. In fact, Master 253 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:34.240 Stephen knew much too well to suppose that mister parks had, 254 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:38.440 in the first instance intended a joke. He was interested, 255 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:43.440 not altogether pleasantly in the situation, but all his questions 256 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.559 were unsuccessful in inducing the butler to give any more 257 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.600 detailed account of his experiences in the wine cellar. We 258 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:54.720 have now arrived at March twenty fourth, eighteen twelve. It 259 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:58.120 was a day of curious experiences for Stephen, a windy, 260 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:00.799 noisy day which filled the house in the gardens with 261 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:04.159 a restless impression. As Stephen stood by the fence of 262 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.240 the grounds and looked out into the park, he felt 263 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.639 as if an endless procession of unseen people were sweeping 264 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.919 past him on the wind, borne on resistlessly and aimlessly, 265 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.720 vainly striving to stop themselves, to catch at something that 266 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:23.000 might arrest their flight and bring them once again into 267 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:26.559 contact with the living world of which they had formed 268 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.320 a part. After luncheon that day, mister Abney said, Stephen, 269 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.000 my boy, do you think you could manage to come 270 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:37.039 to me tonight as late as eleven o'clock in my study. 271 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.879 I shall be busy until that time, and I wish 272 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:42.559 to show you something connected with your future life, which 273 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:46.279 it is most important that you should know. You are 274 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:48.720 not to mention this matter to missus Bunch, or to 275 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.960 anyone else in the house, and you had better go 276 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:55.559 to your room at the usual time. Here was a 277 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.440 new excitement added to life. Stephen eagerly grasped at the 278 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.039 opportunity of sitting up till eleven o'clock. He looked in 279 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:05.519 at the library door on his way upstairs that evening 280 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.879 and saw brazier which he had often noticed in the 281 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:13.120 corner of the room, moved out before the fire. An 282 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.159 old silver gilt cup stood on the table filled with 283 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.200 red wine, and some written sheets of paper lay near it. 284 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.639 Mister Abney was sprinkling some incense on the brazier from 285 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.759 a round silver box as Stephen passed, but did not 286 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:29.840 seem to notice his step. The wind had fallen and 287 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:32.600 there was a still night and a full moon. At 288 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.960 about ten o'clock, Stephen was standing at the open window 289 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.000 of his bedroom, looking out over the country. Still as 290 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.120 the night was, the mysterious population of the distant moonlit 291 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:48.080 woods was not yet lulled to rest. From time to time, 292 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:52.799 strange cries, as of lost and despairing wanderers sounded from 293 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:56.399 across the mere. They might be the notes of owls 294 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.440 or water birds. Yet they did not quite resemble lither 295 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:07.279 sound were they not coming nearer? Now they sounded from 296 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.799 the nearer side of the water, and in a few 297 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.839 moments they seemed to be floating about among the shrubberies. 298 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:16.599 Then they ceased. But just as Stephen was thinking of 299 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.759 shutting the window and resuming his reading of Robinson Crusoe, 300 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:22.440 he caught sight of two figures standing on the gravel 301 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:24.839 terrace that ran along the garden side of the hall, 302 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.839 the figures of a boy and girl, as it seemed 303 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:35.240 they stood side by side, looking up the windows. Something 304 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.319 in the form of the girl recalled irresistibly his dream 305 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.359 of the figure in the bath. The boy inspired him 306 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:47.240 with more acute fear. Whilst the girl stood still, half smiling, 307 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.960 with her hands clasped over her heart, the boy, a 308 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.720 thin shape with black hair and ragged clothing, raised his 309 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:58.880 arms in the air with an appearance of menace and 310 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:04.559 of unappeasable hunger and longing. The moon shone upon his 311 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.000 almost transparent hands, and Stephen saw that the nails were 312 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.119 fearfully long, and that the light shone through them. As 313 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.839 he stood with his arms thus raised, he disclosed a 314 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:23.839 terrifying spectacle. On the left side of his chest there 315 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.960 opened a black and gaping rent, and there fell upon 316 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.200 Stephen's brain, rather than upon his ear, the impression of 317 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.720 one of those hungry and desolate cries that he'd heard 318 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.880 resounding over the woods of Aswerby all that evening. In 319 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.319 another moment, this dreadful pair had moved swiftly and noiselessly 320 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:49.599 over the dry gravel, and he saw them no more inexpressibly. 321 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:52.839 Frightened as he was, he determined to take his candle 322 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.559 and go down to mister Abney's study, for the hour 323 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.640 appointed for their meeting was near at hand. The study 324 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.200 or library opened out of the front hall on one side, 325 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.480 and Stephen, urged on by his terrors, did not take 326 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.799 long in getting there. To effect an entrance was not 327 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:12.599 so easy. The door was not locked, he felt sure, 328 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:14.759 for the key was on the outside of it. As usual, 329 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:19.400 He's repeated not produced no answer. Mister Abney was engaged, 330 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:23.960 he was speaking. What Why did he try to cry out? 331 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.119 And why was the cry choked in his throat? Had 332 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:34.240 he too seen the mysterious children? But now everything was quiet, 333 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:40.000 and the door yielded to Stephen's terrified and frantic pushing 334 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:45.359 on the table. In mister Abney's study, certain papers were 335 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.200 found which explained the situation to Stephen Elliott when he 336 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.759 was of an age to understand them. The most important 337 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:57.039 sentences were as follows. It was a belief very strongly 338 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.119 and generally held by the ancients, of whose wisdom in 339 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.799 these matters. I have had such experience as induces me 340 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.759 to place confidence in our assertions that by enacting certain 341 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.559 processes which to us moderns have something of a barbaric complexion, 342 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:16.799 a very remarkable enlightenment of the spiritual faculties in man 343 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:21.519 may be attained, that, for example, by absorbing the personalities 344 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.880 of a certain number of his fellow creatures, an individual 345 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.200 may gain a complete ascendancy over those orders of spiritual 346 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:34.200 beings which control the elemental forces of our universe. It 347 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.119 is recorded of Simon Magus that he was able to 348 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:40.720 fly in the air, to become invisible, or to assume 349 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:43.839 any form he pleased, by the agency of the soul 350 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:47.519 of a boy whom, to use the libelous phrase employed 351 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:51.200 by the author of the Clementine recognitions, he had murdered. 352 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:55.799 I find it set down moreover, with considerable detail in 353 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:00.759 the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, that similar happi reessis may 354 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:03.720 be produced by the absorption of the hearts of not 355 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.920 less than three human beings below the age of twenty 356 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:12.119 one years. To the testing the truth of the receipt, 357 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.160 I have devoted the greater part of the last twenty years, 358 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:21.000 selecting as the corporeavilia of my experiment such persons as 359 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:27.079 could conveniently be removed without occasioning a sensible gap in society. 360 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.759 The first step I affected by the removal of one 361 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:35.720 Phoebe Stanley, a girl of gipsy extraction, on March twenty fourth, 362 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:40.319 seventeen ninety two. The second by the removal of a 363 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:45.480 wandering Italian lad named Giovanni Pauli, on the night of 364 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:50.640 March the twenty third, eighteen o five. The final victim 365 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.960 to employ a word repugnant in the highest degree to 366 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.640 my feelings must be my cousin Stephen Elliot. His day 367 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:04.599 must be this March twenty fourth, eighteen twelve. The best 368 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.799 means of affecting the required absorption is to remove the 369 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.359 heart from a living subject, to reduce it to ashes, 370 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:13.799 and to mingle them with about a pint of some 371 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:18.240 red wine, preferably port the remains of the first two subjects. 372 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:21.119 At least it will be well to conceal them. A 373 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.640 disused bathroom or a wine cellar will be found convenient 374 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:29.079 for such a purpose. Some annoyance may be experienced from 375 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:32.880 the psychic portion of the subjects, which popular language dignifies 376 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:37.599 with the name of ghosts. But the man of philosophic temperament, 377 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:41.279 to whom alone the experiment is appropriate, will be a 378 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.000 little prone to attach importance to the feep efforts of 379 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:48.240 these beings to wreak their vengeance on him. I contemplate 380 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:53.559 with the liveliest satisfaction, the enlarged and emancipated existence which 381 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:58.799 the experiment, if successful, will confer on me, not only 382 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:02.799 placing me beyond the reach of human justice, so called 383 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:09.160 by eliminating to a great extent the prospect of death itself. 384 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:14.839 Mister Abney was found in his chair, his head thrown back, 385 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.559 his face stamped with an expression of rage, fright, and 386 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:24.799 mortal pain. In his left side was a terrible lacerated wound, 387 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.680 exposing the heart. There was no blood on his hands, 388 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.319 and the long knife that lay on the table was 389 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:36.359 perfectly clean. A savage wildcat might have inflicted the injuries. 390 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:39.400 The window of the study was open, and it was 391 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:43.279 the opinion of the coroner that mister Abney had met 392 00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:47.519 his death by the agency of some wild creature. But 393 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.799 Stephen Elliot's study of the papers I have quoted led 394 00:23:51.839 --> 00:24:08.720 him to a very different conclusion. Everybody dies. So that 395 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.680 was lost hearts by m R James. Now, actually some 396 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:15.640 people reckon that's their favorite Mr James story. I'm going 397 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.240 to talk a bit about the story. Obviously, I'm going 398 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:19.759 to say a tiny bit about Mr James. We know 399 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:24.920 Montague Roads pretty well by now, and but for those 400 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:27.680 of you who don't know him, he is the probably 401 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:34.920