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Speaker 1: The Mezzo tint by m R James some time ago.

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I believe I had the pleasure of telling you the

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story of an adventure which happened to a friend of

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mine by the name of Deniston, during his pursuit of

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objects of art for the museum at Cambridge. He did

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not publish his experiences very widely upon his return to England,

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but they could not fail to become known to a

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good many of his friends, and, among others, to the

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gentleman who at that time presided over an art museum

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at another university. It was to be expected that the

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story should make a considerable impression on the mind of

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a man whose vocation lay in lines similar to Deniston's,

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and that he should be eager to catch at any

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explanation of the matter which tended to make it seem

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improbable that he should ever be called upon to deal

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with so agitating an emergency. It was indeed somewhat consoling

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to him to reflect that he was not expected to

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acquire ancient manuscripts or his institution. That was the business

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of the Shelburnian Library. The authorities of that institution might,

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if they pleased, ran sack obscure corners of the continent

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for such matters. He was glad to be obliged at

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the moment to confine his attention to enlarging the already

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unsurpassed collection of English topographical drawings and engravings possessed by

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his museum. Yet, as it turned out, even a department

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so homely and familiar as this may have its dark corners,

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and to one of these, mister Williams was unexpectedly introduced.

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Those who have taken even the most limited interest in

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the acquisition of topographical pictures are aware that there is

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one London dealer whose aid is indispensable to their researches.

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Mister J. W. Britnell publishes, at short intervals very admirable

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catalogs of a large and constantly changing stock of engravings,

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plans and old sketches of mansions, churches and towns, and

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England and Wales. These catalogs were, of course the abc

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of his subject to mister Williams. But as his museum

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already contained an enormous accumulation of topographical pictures, he was

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a regular rather than a copious buyer, and he rather

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looked to mister Britnell to fill up gaps in the

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rank and file of his collection, than to supply him

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with rarities. Now, in February of last year, there appeared

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on mister Williams's desk at the Museum a catalog from

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mister Britnell's imporium, and accompanying it was a typewritten communication

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from the dealer himself. This latter ran as follows. Dear sir,

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we beg to call your attention to number nine hundred

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seventy eight in our accompanying catalog, which we shall be

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glad to send on approval yours faithfully. J. W. Britnell

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to turn to number nine hundred seventy eight in the

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accompanying catalog was with mister Williams as he observed to

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himself the work of a moment, and in the place

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indicated he found the following entry one hundred and seventy

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eight unknown interesting mezzo tint view of a manor house

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early part of the century, fifteen by ten inches, black frame,

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two pounds two shillings. It was not specially exciting and

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the price seemed high. However, as mister Britnell, who knew

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his business and his customer, seemed to set store by it.

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Mister Williams wrote a postcard asking for the article to

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be sent on approval, along with some other engravings and

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sketches which appeared in the same catalog. And so he

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passed without much excitement of anticipation to the ordinary labours

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of the day. A parcel of any kind always arrived

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a day later than you expected, and that of mister

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Britnell proved, as I believe the right phrase goes no

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exception to the rule. It was delivered at the museum

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by the afternoon post of Saturday, after mister Williams had

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left his work, and it was accordingly brought round to

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his rooms in Coline by the attendant, in order that

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he might not have to wait over Sunday before looking

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through it and returning such of the contents as he

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did not propose to keep. And here he found it

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when he came to tea with a friend. The only

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item with which I am concerned was the rather large

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black framed metso tint, of which I have already quoted

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the short description given in mister Britnell's catalog. Some more

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details of it will have to be given, though I

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cannot hope to put before you the look of the picture,

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as clearly as it is present to my own eye.

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Very nearly the exact duplicate of it may be seen

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in a good many old inn parlors, or in the

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passages of undisturbed country mansions. At the present moment. It

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was a rather indifferent metso tint, and an indifferent metso

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tint is perhaps the worst form of engraving known. It

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presented a full face view of a not very large

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manor house of the last century, v rows of plane

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sashed windows with rusticated masonry about them, a parapet with

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balls or vases at the angles, and a small portico

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in the center. On either side were trees, and in

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front a considerable expanse of lawn. The legend a w

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F sculpts. It was engraved on the narrow margin, and

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there was no further inscription. The whole thing gave the

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impression that it was the work of an amateur. What

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in the world mister Brittle could mean by fixing the

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price of two pounds two shillings to such an object

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was more than mister Williams could imagine. He turned it

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over with a good deal of contempt. Upon the back

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was a paper label, the left hand half of which

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had been torn off. All that remained with the ends

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of two lines of writing. The first had the letters

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N G L E Y hall, the second S S

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e X. It would perhaps be just worth while to

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identify the place represented, which he could easily do with

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the help of a gazetteer, and then he would send

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it back to mister Britnell with some remarks reflecting upon

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the judgment of that gentleman. He lighted the candles, for

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it was now dark, made the tea, and supplied the

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friend with whom he had been playing golf, for I

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believe the authorities of the university I write of indulged

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in that pursuit. By way of laxation and tea was

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taken to the accompaniment of a discussion which golfing persons

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can imagine for themselves, but which the conscientious writer has

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no right to inflict upon any non golfing persons. The

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conclusion arrived at was that certain strokes might have been better,

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and that in certain emergencies neither player had experienced the

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amount of luck which a human being has a right

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to expect. It was now that the friend, let us

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call him Professor Binks, took up the framed engraving, and

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said what's this Williams? Just what I'm going to try

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to find out, said Williams, going to the shelf for

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a gazeteer. Look at the back Somethingley Hall, either in

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Sussex or Essex. Half the name's gone, you see, you

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don't happen to know it. I suppose it's from that

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man Britnell. I suppose, isn't it, said Binks. Is it

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for the museum? Well, I think I should buy it

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if the price was five shillings, said Williams. But for

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some unearthly reason he wants two guineas for it. I

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can't conceive why. It's a wretched engraving, and there aren't

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even any figures to give it life. It's not worth

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two guineas, I should think, said Binks. But I don't

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think it's so badly done. The moonlight seems rather good

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to me, and I should have thought there were figures,

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or at least a figure just on the edge in front.

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Let's look, said Williams. Well, it's true the light is

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rather cleverly given. Where's your figure? Oh yes, just the

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head in the very front of the picture. And indeed

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there was hardly more than a black blot on the

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extreme edge of the engraving, the head of a man

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or woman a good deal muffled up the back, turned

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to the spectator, and looking towards the house, Williams had

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not noticed it before. Still, he said, though it's a

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cleverer thing than I thought. I can't spend two guineas

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of museum money on a picture of a place I

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don't know. Professor Binks had his work to do and

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soon went, and very nearly up to hall time Williams

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was engaged in a vain attempt to identify the subject

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of his picture. If the vowel before the enngy had

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only been left, it would have been easy enough, he thought.

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But as it is, the name may be anything from

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Guessingly to Langley. And there are many more names ending

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like this than I thought. And this rotten book is

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no index of terminations. Hall in mister Williams College was

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at seven. It need not be dwelt upon the less.

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So as he met their colleagues who had been playing

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golf during the afternoon, and words with which we have

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no concern were freely bounded across the table, merely golfing words.

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I would hasten to explain. I suppose an hour or

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more to have been spent in what is called common room.

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After dinner later in the evening, some few retired to

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Williams's room, and I have little doubt that whist was

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played and tobacco smoked during the lull in these operations.

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Williams picked up the mezzo tint from the table, without

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looking at it, and handed it to a person mildly

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interested in art, telling him where it had come from

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and the other particulars which we already know. The gentleman

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took it carelessly, looked at it, and then said, in

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a tone of some interest, it's really a very good

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piece of work, Williams. It has quite a feeling of

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the Romantic period. The light is admirably managed, it seems

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to me. In the figure, though it's rather too grotesque,

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is somehow very impressive. Yes, isn't it? Said Williams, who

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was just then busy giving whiskey and soda to the

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others of the company, and was unable to come across

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the room to look at the view again. It was

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by this time rather late in the evening, and the

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visitors were on the move. After they went Williams was

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obliged to write a letter or two and clear up

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some odd bits of work. At last, some time past midnight,

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he was disposed to turn in, and he put out

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his lamp after lighting his bedroom candle. The picture lay

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face upwards on the table where the last man who

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looked at it had put it, and it caught his eye.

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As he turned the lamp down. What he saw made

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him very nearly drop the candle on the floor. And

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he declares, now, if he had been left in the

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dark at that moment, he would have had a fit.

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But as that did not happen, he was able to

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put down the light on the table and take a

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good look at the picture. It was indubitable, rankly impossible,

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no doubt, but absolutely certain. In the middle of the lawn,

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in front of the unknown house, there was a figure

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where no figure had been at five o'clock that afternoon.

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It was crawling on all fours towards the house, and

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it was muffled in a strange black garment with a

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white cross on the back. I do not know what

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is the ideal course to pursue in a situation of

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this kind. I can only tell you what mister Williams did.

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He took the picture by one corner and carried it

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across the passage to a second set of rooms, which

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he possessed. There he locked it up in a drawer,

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sported the doors of both sets of rooms, and retired

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to bed. But first he wrote out and signed an

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account of the extraordinary change which the picture had undergone

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since it had come into his possession. Sleep visited him

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rather late, but it was consoling to reflect that the

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behavior of the picture did not depend upon his own

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unsupported testimony. Evidently, the man who had looked at it

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the night before had seen something of the same kind

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as he had. Otherwise, he might have been tempted to

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think that something gravely wrong was happening, either to his

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eyes or his mind, this possibility being fortunately precluded, two

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matters awaited him on the morrow. He must take stock

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of the picture very carefully and call in a witness

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for the purpose. And he must make a determined effort

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to ascertain what house it was that was represented. He

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would therefore ask his neighbor Nisbit, to breakfast with him,

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and he would subsequently spend a morning over the gazetteer.

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Nisbit was disengaged and arrived around nine twenty. His host

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was not quite dressed, I'm sorry to say, even at

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this late hour, during breakfast, nothing was said about the

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metzo tint by Williams, save that he had a picture

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on which he wished for Nisbit's opinion. But those who

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are familiar with university life can picture for themselves the

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wide and delightful range of subjects over which the conversation

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of two fellows of Canterbury College is likely to extend

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during a Sunday morning breakfast. Hardly a topic was left unchallenged,

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from golf to lawn tennis. Yet I am bound to

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say that Williams was rather distraught, for his interest naturally

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centered on that very strange picture, which was now reposing

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face down in the drawer in the room opposite. The

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morning pipe was at last lighted, and the moment had arrived,

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for which he looked with very considerable, almost tremulous excitement.

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He ran across, unlocked the drawer, and, extracting the picture,

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still face downwards, ran back and put it into Nisbet's hands. Now,

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he said, Nisbit, I want you to tell me exactly

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what you see in that picture. Describe it, if you

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don't mind rather minutely. I'll tell you why afterwards. Well,

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said Nesbit, I have here a view of a country

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house English. I presume by moonlight. Moonlight. You're sure of that.

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Certainly the moon appears to be on the way. And

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if you wish for details, and there are clouds in

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the sky, all right, go on, I'll swear, added Williams

239
00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:45,720
in an a side. There is no moon when I

240
00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:50,000
saw it first. Well, there's not much more to be

241
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:55,600
said Nisbit, continued. The house is one two, three rows

242
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,679
of windows, five in each row, except at the bottom,

243
00:14:59,399 --> 00:15:01,879
where there's a instead of a middle one end. But

244
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,759
what about figures, said Williams with marked interest. There aren't any,

245
00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,320
said Nisbit. But what no figure on the grass in front?

246
00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:16,960
Not a thing? He'll swear to that, certainly. How well,

247
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,159
But there's just one other thing. What why one of

248
00:15:22,159 --> 00:15:24,759
the windows on the ground floor left of the door

249
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:29,480
is opened? Is it really so? My goodness, he must

250
00:15:29,519 --> 00:15:32,799
have got in, said Williams with great excitement, and he

251
00:15:32,879 --> 00:15:34,480
hurried to the back of the sofa on which in

252
00:15:34,519 --> 00:15:37,360
his Bit was sitting, and catching the picture from him,

253
00:15:37,759 --> 00:15:42,039
verified the matter for himself. It was quite true. There

254
00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,840
was no figure, and there was the open window. Williams,

255
00:15:46,879 --> 00:15:49,440
after a moment of speechless surprise, went to the writing

256
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,720
table and scribbled for a short time. Then he brought

257
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,799
two papers to Nisbit and asked him first to sign one,

258
00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,000
it was his own description of the picture, which you've

259
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,799
just heard, and then to read the other, which was

260
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:06,559
William's statement written the night before. What can it all mean,

261
00:16:07,559 --> 00:16:12,720
said Nesbitt, exactly, said Williams. Well, one thing I must do,

262
00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,360
or three things, now I think of it. I must

263
00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:18,159
find out from Garwarod, as was his last night's visitor,

264
00:16:18,519 --> 00:16:20,799
what he saw, and then I must get the thing

265
00:16:20,879 --> 00:16:24,399
photographed before it goes further. And then I must find

266
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:29,559
out what the place is. I can do the photographing myself,

267
00:16:29,919 --> 00:16:33,679
said Nesbit. A. I will, but you know it looks

268
00:16:33,799 --> 00:16:36,559
very much as if we were assisting at the working

269
00:16:36,559 --> 00:16:39,879
out of a tragedy somewhere. The question is has it

270
00:16:39,919 --> 00:16:43,519
happened already or is it going to come off? You

271
00:16:43,639 --> 00:16:48,480
must find out what the place is, yes, he said,

272
00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:51,519
looking at the picture again. I expect you're right. He

273
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,919
has got in, and if I don't mistake, there'll be

274
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,039
the devil to pay in one of the rooms upstairs.

275
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,000
I'll tell you what, said Williams. I'll take the picture

276
00:17:02,039 --> 00:17:05,200
across to Old Green. This was the senior fellow of

277
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,599
the college who had been Bursty for many years. It's

278
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,880
quite likely he'll know it. We have property in Essex

279
00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,240
and Sussex, and he must have been over the two

280
00:17:14,279 --> 00:17:18,319
counties a lot in his time. Quite lightly, he will

281
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,880
said nisbit. But just let me take my photograph first.

282
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:25,880
But look here, I rather think Green is n up

283
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,359
to day. He wasn't in the hall last night, and

284
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,119
I think I heard him say he was going down

285
00:17:30,279 --> 00:17:35,240
for the Sunday. That's true too, said Williams. I know

286
00:17:35,319 --> 00:17:39,079
he's gone to Brighton. Well, if you'll photograph it now,

287
00:17:39,279 --> 00:17:42,160
I'll go across to Garwood and get his statement, and

288
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,480
you keep an eye on it while I'm gone. I'm

289
00:17:44,519 --> 00:17:47,200
beginning to think two guineas is not a very exorbitant

290
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,880
price for it. Now. In a short time he had

291
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:55,119
returned and brought mister Garwood with him. Garwood's statement was

292
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,599
to the effect that the figure, when he had seen it,

293
00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,759
was clear of the edge of the picture, but it

294
00:17:59,799 --> 00:18:03,000
not got far across the lawn. He remembered a white

295
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,240
mark on the back of its drapery, but could not

296
00:18:05,319 --> 00:18:08,079
have been sure it was a cross. A document to

297
00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:10,880
this effect was then drawn up and signed, and Nisbet

298
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,440
proceeded to photograph the picture. Now what do you mean

299
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,200
to do, he said? Are you going to sit and

300
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,920
watch it all day? Well? No, I think not, said Williams.

301
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,720
I rather imagine were meant to see the whole thing.

302
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,960
You see, between the time I saw it last night

303
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,640
and this morning, there was time for lots of things

304
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,480
to happen. But the creature only got into the house.

305
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,039
It could easily have got through its business in the

306
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:38,880
time and gone to its own place again. But the

307
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,400
fact of the window being open, I think must mean

308
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,599
that it's in there now. So I feel quite easy

309
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,039
about leaving it. And besides, I have a kind of

310
00:18:48,079 --> 00:18:50,920
idea that it wouldn't change much, if at all, in

311
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,319
the daytime. We might go out for a walk this

312
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,559
afternoon and come into tea, or whenever it gets dark,

313
00:18:57,079 --> 00:18:59,319
I shall leave it out on the table here and

314
00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,039
sport the door or my skip can get him, but

315
00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:05,200
no one else. The three agreed that this would be

316
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,319
a good plan, and further that if they spend the

317
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,359
afternoon together they would be less likely to talk about

318
00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,559
their business to other people, for any rumor of such

319
00:19:14,559 --> 00:19:17,680
a transaction as it was going on, would bring the

320
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:22,559
whole of the phasmatological society about their ears. We may

321
00:19:22,599 --> 00:19:28,440
give them respite until five o'clock. At or near that hour,

322
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,160
the three were entering Williams's staircase. They were at first

323
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,920
slightly annoyed to see that the door of his rooms

324
00:19:36,079 --> 00:19:39,519
was unsported, but in a moment it was remembered that

325
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,599
on Sunday the skips came for orders an hour or

326
00:19:42,599 --> 00:19:47,240
so earlier than on week days. However, surprise was awaiting them.

327
00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:49,720
The first thing they saw was the picture, leaning up

328
00:19:49,759 --> 00:19:51,920
against a pile of books on the table as it

329
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,920
had been left, And the next thing was William's Skip,

330
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,279
seated on a chair opposite, gazing at it with undisguised horror.

331
00:20:00,839 --> 00:20:04,640
How was this? Mister Filcher the name is not my

332
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,759
own invention, was a servant of considerable standing and set

333
00:20:08,799 --> 00:20:11,440
the standard of etiquette to all his own college and

334
00:20:11,519 --> 00:20:14,559
to several neighboring ones. And nothing could be more alien

335
00:20:14,599 --> 00:20:16,880
to his practice than to be found sitting on his

336
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,720
master's chair, or appearing to take any particular notice of

337
00:20:20,799 --> 00:20:24,960
his master's furniture or pictures. Indeed, he seemed to feel

338
00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,119
this himself. He started violently when the three men were

339
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,079
in the room, and got up with a marked effort.

340
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,200
Then he said, oh, I ask your pardon, sir, for

341
00:20:34,319 --> 00:20:37,960
taking such freedom as to set down not at all.

342
00:20:38,079 --> 00:20:41,960
Robert interposed, mister Williams, I was meaning to ask you

343
00:20:42,079 --> 00:20:45,480
some time what you thought of that picture. Well, sir,

344
00:20:45,519 --> 00:20:48,480
of course I don't set up my opinion against yours,

345
00:20:48,799 --> 00:20:50,759
But it ain't the picture I would ang where my

346
00:20:50,799 --> 00:20:56,000
little girl could see it, sir, wouldn't you, Robert? Why not? No, sir,

347
00:20:56,079 --> 00:20:58,680
Why the poor child? I recko. Let once you see

348
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,559
a door bible with pictures not half as what this is.

349
00:21:01,839 --> 00:21:03,440
And we'd had to set up with her three or

350
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,119
four nights afterwards, if you'd believe me. And if she

351
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,559
was to catch a sight of this skillet and ear

352
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,559
or whatever it is carrying off the poor baby, she

353
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,559
would be in a taitin. You know how it is

354
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,119
with children, how nervoushly get with a little thing and all.

355
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,000
But what I should say, it don't seem a right

356
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,960
picture to be laying about, sir, not where anyone that's

357
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,200
liable to be startled, could come on it, should you

358
00:21:28,279 --> 00:21:33,200
be wanting anything this evening, sir, Thank you sir. With

359
00:21:33,319 --> 00:21:37,160
these words, the excellent man went to continue the round

360
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,880
of his masters, and he may be sure the gentleman

361
00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,599
whom he left, lost no time in gathering round the engraving.

362
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,759
There was the house as before, under the waning moon

363
00:21:46,799 --> 00:21:50,440
and the drifting clouds. The window that had been open

364
00:21:50,559 --> 00:21:52,880
was shut, and the figure was once more on the lawn,

365
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,319
but not this time calling cautiously on hands and knees.

366
00:21:56,799 --> 00:21:59,960
Now it was erect and stepping swiftly with long strides

367
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,720
towards the front of the picture. The moon was behind it,

368
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,599
and the black drapery hung down over its face, so

369
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,240
that only hints of that could be seen, And what

370
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,720
was visible made the spectators profoundly thankful that they could

371
00:22:11,759 --> 00:22:14,599
see no more than a white dome like forehead and

372
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:19,720
a few straggling hairs. The head was bent down, and

373
00:22:19,799 --> 00:22:23,200
the arms were tightly clasped over an object which could

374
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,799
be dimly seen and identified as a child, Whether dead

375
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,480
or living, it was not possible to say. The legs

376
00:22:30,519 --> 00:22:33,640
of the appearance alone could be plainly discerned, and they

377
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:38,480
were horribly thin from five to seven. The three companions

378
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,200
sat and watched the picture by turns, but it never changed.

379
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,240
They agreed at last that it would be safe to

380
00:22:45,319 --> 00:22:48,519
leave it, and that they would return after hall and

381
00:22:48,599 --> 00:22:53,599
await further developments. When they assembled again at the earliest

382
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,440
possible moment, the engraving was there, but the figure was gone,

383
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,759
and the house was quiet under the moonbeams. There was

384
00:23:01,799 --> 00:23:04,720
nothing for it but to spend the evening over gazetteers

385
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,559
and guide books. Williams was the lucky one at last,

386
00:23:08,039 --> 00:23:11,480
and perhaps he deserved it. At eleven thirty p m.

387
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,960
He read from Murray's Guide to Essex the following lines

388
00:23:16,839 --> 00:23:21,200
sixteen and a half miles. Anningley the church has been

389
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,480
an interesting building of Norman date, but was extensively classicized

390
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,079
in the last century. It contains the tomb of the

391
00:23:28,079 --> 00:23:32,279
family of Francis, whose mansion, Anningley Hall, a solid Queen

392
00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:36,359
Anne house, stands immediately beyond the churchyard in a park

393
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,759
of about eighty acres. The family is now extinct, the

394
00:23:40,839 --> 00:23:44,720
last heir having disappeared mysteriously in infancy in the year

395
00:23:44,839 --> 00:23:49,559
eighteen hundred and two. The father, mister Arthur Francis, was

396
00:23:49,599 --> 00:23:54,240
locally known as a talented amateur engraver in mezzotint. After

397
00:23:54,319 --> 00:23:57,240
his son's disappearance, he lived in complete retirement at the hall,

398
00:23:57,759 --> 00:24:00,279
and was found dead in his studio on the third

399
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:04,039
anniversary of the disaster, having just completed an engraving of

400
00:24:04,039 --> 00:24:09,599
the house, impressions of which are of considerable rarity. This

401
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,400
looked like business, and indeed mister Green, on his return

402
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,720
at once identified the house as Anningley Hall. Is there

403
00:24:17,759 --> 00:24:20,920
any kind of explanation of the figure Green? Was the

404
00:24:21,039 --> 00:24:27,119
question which Williams naturally asked. I don't know. I'm sure, Williams.

405
00:24:28,039 --> 00:24:30,480
What used to be said in the place when I

406
00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:33,119
first knew it, which was before I came up here,

407
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,400
was just this Old Francis was always very much down

408
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,720
on these poaching fellows, and whenever he got a chance

409
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,039
he used to get a man whom he suspected of it,

410
00:24:42,079 --> 00:24:45,240
turned off the estate, and by degrees he got rid

411
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,759
of them all but one. Squires could do a lot

412
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:50,960
of things then that they daren't think of now. Well,

413
00:24:51,079 --> 00:24:53,799
this man that was left was what you find pretty

414
00:24:53,839 --> 00:24:57,200
often in that country, the last remains of a very

415
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,400
old family. I believe they were lords of the manner

416
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,599
at one time I recollect just the same thing in

417
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,559
my own parish. What like the man in Tesso and

418
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,440
d'urberville's Williams put in, Yes, I dare say, is not

419
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,559
a book I could ever read myself. But this fellow

420
00:25:15,599 --> 00:25:17,720
could show a row of tombs in the church there

421
00:25:17,759 --> 00:25:21,200
that belonged to his ancestors, and all that went to

422
00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:23,759
sour him a bit. But Francis, they said, could never

423
00:25:23,799 --> 00:25:26,920
get at him. He always kept just on the right

424
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,880
side of the law, until one night the keepers found

425
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,880
him at it in a wood at the end of

426
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:35,039
the estate. I could show you the place now. It

427
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,200
marches with some land that used to belong to an

428
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,400
uncle of mine. And you can imagine there was a

429
00:25:40,519 --> 00:25:44,680
row and this man Gaudy, that was his name. To

430
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,359
be sure, Gaudy, I thought I should get it. Gaudy

431
00:25:49,559 --> 00:25:53,079
he was unlucky enough, poor Chap to shoot a keeper. Well,

432
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:57,440
that was what Francis wanted, and grand juries you know

433
00:25:57,559 --> 00:26:00,640
what they would have been then, And poor Gordy was

434
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,759
strung up in double quick time. And I've been shown

435
00:26:03,799 --> 00:26:05,839
the place he was buried in on the north side

436
00:26:05,839 --> 00:26:07,960
of the church. You know the way in that part

437
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,799
of the world. Any one that's been hanged or made

438
00:26:10,799 --> 00:26:14,839
away with themselves, they bury them that side. And the

439
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,799
idea was that some friend of Gordy's not a relation

440
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,319
because he had none. Poor devil, he was the last

441
00:26:21,319 --> 00:26:26,400
of his line. Kind of spaz ultimo. Gentis must have

442
00:26:26,519 --> 00:26:29,200
planned to get hold of Francis's boy and put an

443
00:26:29,319 --> 00:26:32,880
end to his line too. I don't know. It's rather

444
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,559
an out of the way thing for an Essex poacher

445
00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:39,480
to think of, but you know, I should say now

446
00:26:39,519 --> 00:26:41,920
it looks more as if old Gordy had managed the

447
00:26:42,039 --> 00:26:47,440
job himself. Oh, I hate to think of it. Have

448
00:26:47,599 --> 00:26:52,319
some whisky, Williams. The facts were communicated by Williams to Deniston,

449
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,839
and by him to a mixed company of which I

450
00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:00,279
was one and the Seducian professor of Opheology another. I

451
00:27:00,279 --> 00:27:02,319
am sorry to say that the latter, when asked what

452
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,920
he thought of it, only remarked, though those Bridgford people

453
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,599
will say anything, the sentiment, which met with the reception

454
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:15,039
it deserved. I have only to add that the picture

455
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,240
is now in the Ashley Museum, that it has been

456
00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:21,359
treated with a view to discover whether sympathetic ink has

457
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,240
been used in it. But without a fact that mister

458
00:27:24,279 --> 00:27:26,839
Brittle knew nothing of it, save that he was sure

459
00:27:26,839 --> 00:27:30,920
it was uncommon, and that, though carefully watched, it has

460
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:36,200
never been known to change again. End of the Mets

461
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:36,759
tint