1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club book Club, book Club, book Club, 2 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: book Club Club. It's the Cool Zone Media book Club 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: Spooky Month Edition. I mean, mister Margaret Kildre, the Cool 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: Zonned Media book Club is the only book club where 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: you don't have to do the reading because I do 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: it for you. There's other book clubs where people to 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: probably do the reading for you. But did I do 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: the reading for you? No, someone else did. Anyway, this 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: month on book Club, I'm gonna read spooky stories and 10 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: this spooky story is another one I'm excited about because 11 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: this one, I'm convinced this is where the Predator comes from. 12 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: It never even occurred to me that the movie Predator 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: had like a precursor, but I think I've found it, 14 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: and you know, maybe other people have other ideas, like 15 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: the people who made Predator. I don't know whatever, I 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: just find this story interesting. This story is called The 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: Damned Thing and it was written in eighteen ninety eight 18 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: by Ambrose Bierce. Who's Ambrose Bierce? You might ask, Well, 19 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: if you lived in eighteen ninety eight, you would have 20 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: known who Ambrose Bierce is, because, like a lot of 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: the people that we cover, famous fickle and doesn't always last. 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: Ambrose Bierce was like kind of the contemporary of Edgar 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: Allan Poe and like one of the great spooky story 24 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: writers of American history. But he's not talked about as 25 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: much today, which is a shame, because he spent five 26 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: years fighting against slavery. In fact, when this kid was 27 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: a kid and he was only fifteen years old, he 28 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: went and worked at an abolitionist newspaper, and then when 29 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: the war broke out, he went and fought. But he 30 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: spent most of the of his life being like, hey, 31 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: war is pretty terrible. He wasn't like, oh, man, glory, 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: that stuff's cool, you know. And he went on to 33 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: influence just about everyone. And then in terms of spooky stories, 34 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: in the year nineteen thirteen, he wrote a letter to 35 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: a friend saying he was like gonna go to Mexico 36 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: to see the Mexican Revolution. And then he disappeared, and 37 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: no one's ever heard from him since. And realistically he 38 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: probably died somehow in that conflict. He was in his 39 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: early seventies, But who knows. Maybe he's a vampire. I 40 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: think everyone's a vampire. This story, the damned thing, it 41 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: is from eighteen ninety eight. I already told you that 42 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: split into four sections. One by the light of the 43 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: tallow candle, which had been placed on one end of 44 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: a rough table, a man was reading something written in 45 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: a book. It was an old account book, greatly worn, 46 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: and the writing was not apparently very legible, for the 47 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: man sometimes held the page close to the flame of 48 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: the candle to get a stronger light upon it. The 49 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: shadow of the book then would throw into obscurity a 50 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: half of the room, darkening a number of faces and figures. 51 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: For besides the reader, eight other men were present. Seven 52 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: of them sat against the rough log walls, silent and motionless, 53 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: and the room, being small, not very far from the table. 54 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: By extending an arm, any one of them could have 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: touched the eph man, who lay on the table, face upward, 56 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: partly covered by a sheet, his arms at his sides. 57 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: He was dead. The man with the book was not 58 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: reading aloud, and no one spoke. All seemed to be 59 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: waiting for something to occur. The dead man only was 60 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: without expectation from the blank darkness outside came in the 61 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: aperture that served for a window, all the ever unfamiliar 62 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: noises of night in the wilderness. The long, nameless note 63 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: of a distant coyote, the stilly, pulsing thrill of tireless 64 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: insects and trees, strange cries of night birds so different 65 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: from those of the birds of the day, the drone 66 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: of great blundering beetles, and all that mysterious chorus of 67 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: small sounds that seem always to have been half heard 68 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: when they have suddenly ceased, as if conscious of an indiscretion. 69 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: But nothing of all of this was noted in that company. 70 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: Its members were not over much addicted to the idle 71 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: interest in matters of no practical importance that was obvious 72 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: in every line of their rugged faces, obvious even in 73 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: the dim light of the small candle. They were evidently 74 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: men of the vicinity, farmers and woodmen. The person reading 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: was a trifle different. One would have said of him 76 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: that he was of the world worldly, albeit there was 77 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: a hint in his attire which attested to a certain 78 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: fellowship with the organisms of his environment. His coat would 79 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: hardly have passed muster in San Francisco, his foot gear 80 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: was not of urban origin. The hat that lay by 81 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: him on the floor he was the only one uncovered, 82 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: was such that, if one had considered it an article 83 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: of mere personal dormant, he would have missed its meaning. 84 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: In countenance, the man was rather prepossessing, with just a 85 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: hint of sternness, though that he may have assumed or 86 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: cultivated as is appropriate to one in authority. For he 87 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: was a coroner. It was by virtue of his office 88 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: that he had possession of the book in which he 89 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: was reading. It had been found among the dead men's 90 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: effects in his cabin, where the inquest was now taking place. 91 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: When the coroner had finished reading, he put the book 92 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: into his breast pocket. At that moment, the door was 93 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: pushed open and a young man entered. He clearly was 94 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: not of mountain berth and breeding. He was clad as 95 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: those who dwell in cities. His clothing was dusty, however, 96 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: as from travel, he had in fact been writing hard 97 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: to attend the inquest. The coroner nodded. No one else 98 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: greeted him. We have waited for you, said the coroner. 99 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: It is necessary to have done with this business tonight. 100 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: The young man smiled. I'm very sorry to have kept you, 101 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: he said. I went away not to evade your summons, 102 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: but to post to my newspaper an account of what 103 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: I suppose I am called back to relate. The coroner smiled. 104 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: The account that you posted to your newspaper, he said, 105 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: differs probably from that which you will give here under oath. 106 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: That replied the other, rather hotly and with a visible flush, 107 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: is as you choose. I used manifold paper and have 108 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: a copy of what I sent. It was not written 109 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction it 110 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: may go as a part of my testimony under oath. 111 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: But you say it is incredible, that is nothing to you, sir, 112 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: if I also swear that it is true. The coroner 113 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: was apparently not greatly affected by the young man's manifest resentment. 114 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: He was silent for some moments, his eyes upon the floor. 115 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: The men about the sides of the cabin talked in whispers, 116 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: but seldom withdrew their gaze from the face of the corpse. Presently, 117 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: the coroner lifted his eyes and said, we will resume 118 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: the inquest. The men removed their hats. The witness was sworn. 119 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: What is your name, the coroner asked, William Harker, age 120 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: twenty seven. You knew the deceased Hugh Morgan, Yes, you 121 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: were with him when he died near him. How did 122 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: that happen? Your your presence, I mean, I was visiting 123 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: him at this place to shoot and fish. A part 124 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: of my purpose, however, was to study him and his odd, 125 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: solitary way of life. He seemed a good model for 126 00:07:54,880 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: a character in fiction. I sometimes write stories, I sometimes read, though, 127 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: thank you stories in general, not yours. Some of the 128 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: jurors laughed against a somber background. Humor shows high lights, 129 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: soldiers in the intervals of battle laugh easily, and a 130 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: jest in the death chamber conquers by surprise. Relate the 131 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: circumstances of this man's death, said the coroner. You may 132 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: use any notes or memoranda that you please. The witness understood. 133 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: Pulling a manuscript from his breast pocket, he held it 134 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: near the candle and turning the leaves until he found 135 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: the passage he wanted. He began to read, and what 136 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: he read was these ads. That's not what he read. 137 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: But here's some ads anyway, whether you want them or not. 138 00:08:54,320 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: And we're back two. The sun had hardly risen when 139 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: we left the house. We were looking for quail, each 140 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: with a shot gun, but we had only one dog. 141 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: Morgan said that our best ground was beyond a certain 142 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,839 Speaker 1: ridge that he pointed out, and we crossed it by 143 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: a trail through the chapparral. On the other side was 144 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: a comparatively level ground thickly covered with wild oats. As 145 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,839 Speaker 1: we emerged from the chapparral, Morgan was but a few 146 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: yards in advance. Suddenly we heard, at a little distance 147 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: to our right and partly in front, a noise as 148 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: of some animal thrashing about in the bushes, which we 149 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: could see were violently agitated. We've started a deer, said I. 150 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: I wish we had brought a rifle. Morgan, who had 151 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: stopped and was intently watching the agitated chaparral, said nothing, 152 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: but he had cocked both barrels of his gun and 153 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: was holding it in readiness to aim. I thought him 154 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: a trifle excited, which surprised me, for he had a 155 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: reputation for exceptional coolness, even in moments of sudden and 156 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: imminent peril. Oh, come, I said, you are not going 157 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: to fill up a deer with quail shot, are you still? 158 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: He did not reply, but catching a sight of his 159 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: face as he turned it slightly toward me, I was 160 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: struck by the pallor of it. Then I understood that 161 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,719 Speaker 1: we had serious business on hand, and my first conjecture 162 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: was that we had jumped a grizzly I advanced to 163 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: Morgan's side, cocking my piece as I moved. The bushes 164 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: were now quiet and the sounds had ceased, but Morgan 165 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,719 Speaker 1: was as attentive to the place as before. What is it? 166 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: What the devil is it? I asked that damned thing, 167 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: he replied, without turning his head. His voice was husky 168 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: and unnatural. He trembled visibly. I was about to speak 169 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: further when I observed the wild oats near the place 170 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: of the disturbance moving in the most inexplicable way I 171 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: can hardly describe it. It seemed as if they were 172 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: stirred by a streak of wind which not only bent it, 173 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: but pressed it down, crushed it so that it did 174 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: not rise. And this movement was slowly prolonging itself towards us. 175 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 1: Nothing that I had ever seen had affected me so 176 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: strangely as this unfamiliar and unaccountable phenomena. Yet I am 177 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: unable to recall any sense of fear. I remember and 178 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: tell it here because singularly enough I recollected it. Then, 179 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: that once in looking carelessly out of an open window, 180 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: I momentarily mistook a small tree close at hand for 181 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: one of a group of larger trees at a little 182 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: distance away. It looked the same size as the others, 183 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: but being more distinctly and sharply defined in mass and detail, 184 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: seemed out of harmony with them. It was a mere 185 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: falsification of the law of aerial perspective. But it startled, 186 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: almost terrified me. We so rely on the orderly operation 187 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: of familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them 188 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: is noted as a menace to our safety, a warning 189 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: of unthinkable calamity. So now the apparently causeless movement of 190 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 1: the herbage and the slow, undeviating approach of the line 191 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: of disturbance were distinctly disquieting. My companion appeared actually frightened, 192 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: and I could hardly credit my senses when I saw 193 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: him suddenly throw his gun to his shoulders and fire 194 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: both barrels at the agitated grass. Before the smoke of 195 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: the discharge it cleared away, I heard a loud, savage cry, 196 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: a scream like that of a wild animal, and flinging 197 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: his gun upon the ground, Morgan sprang away and ran 198 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: swiftly from the spot. At the same instant, I was 199 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: thrown violently to the ground by the impact of something 200 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: unseen in the smoke, some soft, heavy substance that seemed 201 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: thrown against me with great force. Before I could get 202 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: upon my feet and recover my gun, which seemed to 203 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: have been struck from my hands, I heard Morgan crying 204 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: out as if in mortal agony, and mingling with his 205 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: cries were such hoarse, savage sounds as one hears from 206 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: fighting dogs. Inexpressibly terrified, I struggled to my feet and 207 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: looked in the direction of Morgan's retreat, and may Heaven 208 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: and Mercy spare me from another sight like that. At 209 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: a distance of less than thirty yards, was my friend 210 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: down upon one knee, his head thrown back at a 211 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: frightful angle, hatless, his long hair and disorder, and his 212 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: whole body and violent movement from side to side, backward 213 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: and forward. His right arm was lifted and seemed to 214 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: lack the hand, at least I could see none. The 215 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: other arm was invisible. At times, as my memory now 216 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: reports this extraordinary scene, I could discern but a part 217 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: of his body. It was as if he had been 218 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: partly blotted out, I cannot otherwise express it. Then a 219 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: shifting of his position would bring it all into view again. 220 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: All this must have occurred within a few seconds. Yet 221 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: in that time Morgan assumed all the postures of a 222 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: determined wrestler, vanquished by superior weight and strength. I saw 223 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: nothing but him in him, not always distinctly. During the 224 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: entire incident, his shouts and curses were heard, as if 225 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: through an enveloping uproar of such sounds of rage and 226 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: fury as I have never heard from the throat of 227 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,839 Speaker 1: man or brute. For a moment only I stood irresolute. Then, 228 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: throwing down my gun, I ran forward to my friend's assistance. 229 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: I had a vague belief that he was suffering from 230 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: a fit or some form of convulsion. Before I could 231 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: reach his side, he was down and quiet. All sounds 232 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: had ceased. But with a feeling of such horror as 233 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: even these awful events had not inspired, I now saw 234 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: the same mysterious movement of the wild oats prolonging itself 235 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: from the trampled area about the prostrate man toward the 236 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 1: edge of the wood. It was only when I had 237 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: reached the wood that I was able to withdraw my 238 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: eyes and look at my companion. He was dead. Three. 239 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: The corner rose from his seat and stood beside the 240 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: dead man. Lifting an edge of the sheet, he pulled 241 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: it away, exposing the entire body altogether naked and showing 242 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: in the candle light a clay like yellow. It had, however, 243 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: broad maculations of bluish black ob caused by extravasted blood 244 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: from contusions. The chests and sides looked as if they 245 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: had been beaten with a bludgeon. There were dreadful lacerations. 246 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: The skin was torn in strips and shreds. The coroner 247 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: moved round to the end of the table and undid 248 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: a silk handkerchief which had been passed under the chin 249 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: and knotted up at the top of the head. When 250 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: the handkerchief was drawn away, it exposed what had been 251 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: the throat. Some of the jurors, who had risen to 252 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: get a better view, repented their curiosity and turned away 253 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: their faces. Witness Harker went to the open window and 254 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: leaned out across the sill, faint and sick, dropping the 255 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: handkerchief upon the dead man's neck. The corner stepped to 256 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: an angle of the room and from a pile of clothing, 257 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: produced one garment after another, each of which he held 258 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: up for a moment of inspection. All were torn and 259 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: stiff with blood. The jurors did not make a closer inspection. 260 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: They seemed rather uninterested. They had, in truth, seen all 261 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: this before, the only thing that was new to them 262 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: being Harker's testimony. Gentlemen, the coroner said, we have no 263 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: more evidence. I think your duty has been already explained 264 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: to you. If there is nothing you wish to ask, 265 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: you may go outside and consider your verdict. The foreman rose, 266 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: a tall, bearded man of sixty coarsely clad. I should 267 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: like to ask one question, mister coroner, He said, what 268 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: asylum did this your last witness escape from? Mister Harker 269 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: said the coroner, gravely and tranquility. What asylum did you 270 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: last escape? Harker flushed Crimson again, but said nothing. The 271 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: seven jurors rose and solemnly filed out of the cabin. 272 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: If you have done insulting me, sir, said Harker, as 273 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: soon as he and the officer were left alone with 274 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: the dead man. I suppose I'm at liberty to go. Yes. 275 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: Harker started to leave, but paused with his hand on 276 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: the door latch. The habit of his profession was strong 277 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: in him, stronger than his sense of personal dignity. He 278 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: turned about and said, the book that you have there, 279 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: I recognize it as Morgan's diary. You seem greatly interested 280 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: in it. You read in it while I was testifying. 281 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,200 Speaker 1: May I see it? The public would like the book? 282 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 1: Will cut no figure in this matter, replied the official, 283 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: slipping it into his coat pocket. All the entries in 284 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: it were made before the writer's death. As Harker passed 285 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: out of the house, the jury re entered and stood 286 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: about the table on which the now covered corpse showed 287 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: under the sheet with sharp definition. The foreman seated himself 288 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,439 Speaker 1: near the candle, produced from his breast pocket a pencil 289 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: on a scrap of paper, and wrote rather laboriously the 290 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: following verdict, which, with various degrees of effort, all signed. 291 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: We the jury, do find the remains come to their 292 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: death at the hands of a mountain lion. But some 293 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: of us thinks all the same they had fits. You 294 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: too might have a fit if you don't take advantage 295 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: of all of the opportunities made to you by our advertisers. 296 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: Whom we love dearly and un ironically, and we're back four. 297 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: In the diary of the late Hugh Morgan are certain 298 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:30,239 Speaker 1: interesting entries, having possibly a scientific value, as suggestions. At 299 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: the inquest upon his body, the book was not put 300 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 1: in evidence. Possibly the coroner thought it not worthwhile to 301 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: confuse the jury. The date of the first of the 302 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 1: entries mentioned cannot be ascertained. The upper right part of 303 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: the leaf is torn away. The part of the entry 304 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: remaining is as follows would run in a half circle, 305 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: keeping his head turned always towards the center, and again 306 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: he would stand still, barking furiously. At last he ran 307 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: away into the brush as fast as he could go. 308 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,199 Speaker 1: I thought at first that he had gone mad, but 309 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: on returning to the house, found no other alteration in 310 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: his manner than what was obviously due to fear of punishment? 311 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: Can a dog see with his nose do odors impress 312 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: some olfactory center with images of the thing emitting them? 313 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: September second, Looking at the stars last night, as they 314 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: rose above the crest of the ridge east of the house, 315 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: I observed them successively disappear from left to right. Each 316 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: was eclipsed, but an instant and only a few at 317 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: the same time, but along the entire length of the ridge, 318 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: all that were within a degree or two of the 319 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 1: crest were blotted out. It was as if something had 320 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: passed along between me and them, but I could not 321 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,199 Speaker 1: see it, and the stars were not thick enough to 322 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: define its outline. Ugh, I don't like this. Several weeks 323 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: entries are missing, three leaves being torn from the book. 324 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,119 Speaker 1: September twenty seventh. It has been about here again. I 325 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: find evidences of its presence every day. I watched again 326 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: all of last night in the same cover, got in 327 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: hand double charged with buckshot. In the morning, the fresh 328 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,959 Speaker 1: footprints were there as before. Yet I would have sworn 329 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: that I did not sleep. Indeed, I hardly sleep at all. 330 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: It is terrible, insupportable. If these amazing experiences are real, 331 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: I shall go mad. If they are fanciful, I am 332 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: mad already. October third, I shall not go. It shall 333 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: not drive me away. No, this is my house, my land. 334 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: God hates a coward. October fifth, I can stand it 335 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: no longer. I have invited Harker to pass a few 336 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: weeks with me. He has a level head, I can 337 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: judge from his manner if he thinks me mad. October seventh, 338 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: I have the solution to the problem. It came to 339 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: me last night suddenly, as if by revelation. How simple, 340 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: how terribly simple. There are sounds that we cannot hear. 341 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: At either end of the scale are notes that stir, 342 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: no chord of that a perfect instrument the human ear. 343 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: They are too high or too grave. I have observed 344 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: a flock of blackbirds occupying an entire tree top, the 345 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: tops of several trees, and all in full song. Suddenly, 346 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: in a moment, at absolutely the same instant, all spring 347 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,639 Speaker 1: into the air and fly away. How they could not 348 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: all see one another, whole tree tops intervened. At no 349 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: point could a leader have been visible to all. There 350 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: must have been a signal warning or command, high and 351 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: shrill above the din, but by me unheard. I have 352 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: observed too, the same simultaneous flight when all were silent, 353 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 1: among not only blackbirds, but other birds, quail, for example, 354 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: widely separated by bushes, even on opposite sides of a hill. 355 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 1: It is known to seamen that a school of whales 356 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 1: basking or sporting on the surface of the ocean miles apart, 357 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: with the convexity of the earth between them will sometimes 358 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: dive at the same instant, all gone out of sight 359 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: in a moment the signal has been sounded too grave 360 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: for the ear of the sailor at the masthead and 361 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: his comrades on the deck, who nevertheless feel its vibrations 362 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: in the ship as the stones of a cathedral are 363 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: stirred by the base of the organ. As with sounds, 364 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,360 Speaker 1: so with colors. At each end of the solar spectrum, 365 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: the chemist can detect the presence of what are known 366 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: as actinic rays. They represent colors integral colors in the 367 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: composition of light which we are unable to discern. The 368 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,919 Speaker 1: human eye is an imperfect instrument. Its range is but 369 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: a few octaves of the real chromatic scale. I am 370 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 1: not mad. There are colors that we cannot see. Ah, 371 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: God help me. The damned thing is of such a color. 372 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: The end. Okay, I like that story. I say this 373 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:49,719 Speaker 1: every time. I like that story for a bunch of reasons. 374 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: But it's true. I like the story for a bunch 375 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,159 Speaker 1: of reasons. I really like the way it plays with 376 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 1: all of these different omniscient narrator. And then there's the 377 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: account from the writer, and then there's the journal, like 378 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: all crammed into a pretty short story, but in a 379 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,439 Speaker 1: way that flows well for me. It doesn't make it 380 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: like spookier, but it makes it more fun or interesting. 381 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: This is the story actually gets classified as science fiction 382 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: as much as it gets classified as anything else, like 383 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,479 Speaker 1: a ghost story. But at the same time it plays 384 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: with something that people who live in the woods understand, 385 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: which is that there's just often this sense that there's 386 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: just something there, you know, and the whole like the 387 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: dog barking at nothing and the stars went out for 388 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: a moment and all those things. Those are experiences I've 389 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: had and I don't actually think there's a damned thing 390 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: in the woods it's going to get me, and you know, honestly, 391 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: like I don't know. It also like gets at this 392 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: idea of like camouflage, right, it talks about the one 393 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: tree that looked like the other trees and I don't 394 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: know anyway, I just like that story and I like 395 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: that the author fought whole ass word and slavery and 396 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: you know, was pretty interesting. So I hope you like 397 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: it too, and if not, maybe you'll like next weeks. 398 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: And if you did like this week's, maybe you'll like 399 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,360 Speaker 1: next weeks on cool Zone Media book Club. Also, I'm 400 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,199 Speaker 1: on tour right now. I'm reading fables out. If you 401 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: are anywhere in the US, there's a decent chance I'll 402 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: be on tour near you. Unless I already have been. 403 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: You can go to my substack Margaret kiljoyd Do at 404 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: substack dot com. I wrote a whole bunch of folklore, 405 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: said in the same world as The Sapling Cage, which 406 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: is my new book, and I'm on tour with The 407 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: Sapling Cage. But I thought, rather than read from my book, 408 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: which would be sort of boring for me, I'm going 409 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: to read all these fables, which so far I've had 410 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: good reception with, and eventually I'll read you all the 411 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: fables on this book club, but not yet because I 412 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: want you to go hear me read them to you 413 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 1: in person, so you should do that. And even the 414 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: idea of like writing all this folklore, honestly, it comes 415 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: from well, reading you all this folklore because I like 416 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: old stories and maybe you like them too. 417 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 2: All right, bye, it could happen here as a production 418 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 2: of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, 419 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 2: visit our website Coolzonemedia dot com or check us out 420 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 421 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 2: to podcasts, you can find sources for It could happen here, 422 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 2: Updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.