And now, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
...suspense.
In a moment, Act One of Black Death, written especially for suspense by Mercer McCloud,
and starring Christopher Carey, currently featured in Camelot.
The rain, is it getting worse?
Well, it's not getting any worse. I can't understand why the light should be so dim.
Oh dear.
What?
That might be my fault.
Why do you say that?
When I took the car up a petal out there, do you remember?
You said be sure and have the battery checked.
Oh, say no more.
Yes, I'm afraid I forgot.
Then that's it. If I stall, I don't think we'll get started again.
I'm sorry, darling.
Oh, what was that?
I don't know, I think something.
I can hardly tell whether we're on the road or not.
Don't you think we should...
Are we stalling?
We are.
Well, here goes.
Well, that's it.
Oh, Charles. And it's all my fault.
Now, don't feel bad about it. I don't think we should have made it anyhow.
If we were on a main highway, we might be all right.
But these small byroads, miles from anywhere...
But what can we do?
Well, we can sit in the car and hope another car comes along.
But the chances of that happening here are remote.
We might be better off to walk to help.
I'd hate not to make our appointment in Dwalding.
In this rain?
It's a cold night, Nora.
If we keep walking, we can at least keep long.
We're almost certain to find a farmhouse or something.
Are you game?
Well, I... I think I am.
Then bundle up and let's get on with it, old girl.
Right.
Well, come on.
I'm afraid we won't make Dwalding tonight.
This is beginning to look a little ominous.
Yes. We'd better try calling out, Charles.
All right.
Hello!
Hello there!
I... I think I'm a little frightened, Charles.
Come on, let's both call out.
Hello!
Hello!
Charles, it looks as if we...
Quiet, Nora.
Oh, no!
Now, where that dog is, there must be shelter.
There's some light blinking over there.
That's for us. Come on!
Who cares? Who cares?
Oh, thank goodness.
Are we glad to see you?
Why? Why?
Why? Because we're lost, that's why.
How far are we from Dwalding?
No, about 20 miles.
Where do you live?
Just over the hill there.
But it's no use.
He won't let you in, not him.
Who are you talking about?
The Master.
And who is the Master?
Now, now, wait a minute. You can't leave us.
Here, wait!
Yes.
Now, listen, you.
Whether you like it or not, we're coming with you.
And whether the Master likes it or not,
he's going to give us shelter.
You go on ahead. We're following you.
Come along.
Oh, look, Charles.
Look at his huge, forbidding mouth.
Here we are.
What little good it'll do you.
Here, take this for your trouble.
Here.
Hold this light when I find the key.
All right.
We'll be inside soon, Nora.
Then don't say that I let you in.
Now, go straight to that second door past the staircase.
Thanks.
Yes?
Well, here goes.
What is the meaning of this?
Who let you in?
We lost our way on the moors.
My home is not an inn.
Oh, yes, but surely you...
Just a minute, Charles.
If we were drowning and your boat hadn't by,
we'd try and save ourselves by clinging to it.
And look at us.
We're practically drowning.
That's scarcely my concern.
Furthermore, my husband is a doctor.
He was scheduled a lecture in...
Oh, a doctor, eh?
Well, a scientific manner.
Well, yes.
You need dry things.
There's food on the buffet here,
and I'll get hot coffee.
Do sit down.
Make yourselves comfortable.
Do you mind if we hang our coats in front of the fire?
A capital idea.
Give me your coat, Charles.
I'll spread it out.
Thanks, Nora.
I'm going to take my shoes off, too.
Yes, sir.
Oh, more coffee, Jacob.
Very good, sir.
What are you finding so interesting, doctor?
These strange diagrams drawn on the wall.
Oh, yes, yes.
Those are the nuclei of my science.
Hmm.
White mice in the cage.
And what's this contraption?
What does it look like to you?
It bears a rough resemblance to a huge camera.
But the size, all this multicolored glass.
I don't know.
I'm quite baffled.
In there, my friend, is the element that's called the
black.
Black?
Black.
One of the greatest destructive forces in the universe.
But how about you two eating something, eh?
Just help yourselves.
Coffee.
It won't be long.
Oh, thank you very much.
Oh, very nice.
Thank you.
It may interest you to know that yours are the first strange faces I've seen here in
four years.
Really?
I spend most of my time hard at work.
Very, very hard at work.
The results of this work may well benefit humanity.
Oh, I'm glad to hear that.
Don't misunderstand me.
I don't give a rap about humanity.
However, I'm more productive to your humanity than I should be if I were full of gosh as
the sentimentalists, speechifying to get murderers out of prison.
Do you follow me?
Well, yes.
You noticed my man, Jacob?
Of course.
He's a perfect servant.
Makes me comfortable.
I have no feeling for him.
I treat him civilly, pay him, but I never concern myself with him as a human being.
I know nothing of his character except what I read of it in his last employer's letter.
There are, you see, no truly human relations between us.
Would you imagine his work would be better done if I'd made him like me personally?
Oh, I would, decidedly.
I'm certain it would not be so.
He'd trade on any relationship to my disadvantage.
Ah, but if a crisis occurred...
Crisis?
Yes, if you needed his help, not only the servant, but...
Well, supposing you were sick in need.
You'd never get from your relationship what can be prompted only by affection?
Affection?
Ah!
Affection!
How disgusting that sounds!
Disgusting!
Ah, the coffee.
Just put it down.
Yes, sir.
Would that be all, sir?
For now, yes.
Very good, sir.
Splendid inhuman efficiency.
I think I'd go mad in such an atmosphere.
Never mind, Nora.
Now, how do you take your coffee?
Black, please.
Me too.
Black, eh?
Black.
Very good.
Who gazes on black stares at death.
I beg your pardon.
You scientists are quite naive, I find.
I fail to see...
Let me explain.
I find that black is not as it is commonly defined, an absence of color or light.
It is a prime essence, a vital being, and light, on the contrary, is mere activity.
Well, this black coffee tastes good.
I'm glad we're not out in that black night.
There you go again.
I don't understand.
You think night comprehends black?
Night is never so dark that you cannot distinguish grades of darkness.
There is no black in the darkness of night.
Black is absolute.
You mean to say that blackness...
Who said anything about blackness?
I've been talking about black, not blackness.
The one is a positive term, the other a weak, indefinite.
Call blackness darkness, and the phraseology will be much nearer.
But when you come to black...
Black, I say, you're at grips with the positive element of the universe,
a force apparent whose work is death.
Then one ought to be afraid to go home after dark.
If you had the faintest realization of the infinite significance of the words you use,
you'd turn as pale, as pale as this stabbish cloth.
Here.
You see this white mouse?
I take it out of its cage, hold it by its tail, and set the black to work.
That place is in front of the fabled black ray and...
Where... where... where did it go?
It vanished.
Exactly, it vanished.
And you, Doctor, what do you have to say?
I believe I saw something like that years ago at the Palace Theatre in New York.
You stupid, stupid man of science!
I'll show you.
Jacob! Jacob!
Palace Theatre in New York, then?
Yes, sir.
Jacob, bring in Damon, immediately.
The... the dog, sir?
That's what I said. The old hound dog, Damon.
That is the old one, isn't it?
Yes, sir.
Then quickly, quickly, bring it here.
Yes, sir. Right away.
Doctor, you look at me with the eye of a diagnostician.
You would condemn me as a hysteric or a madman, wouldn't you, Doctor?
How would you put it? A suffering from delusion.
That would be your diagnosis, wouldn't it?
Why, I...
Exactly.
And having placed a tag on me, you'd wash your hands of the whole business.
Oh, I know you, man of science.
Ah, Jacob.
Bring that hound over here.
Leave us, Jacob!
But, sir, not Damon.
I said leave us!
Yes, sir.
Oh, yes, yes, I know, Damon. You dislike me, don't you?
You all do.
This is the sense of the animal.
So, as before, Doctor, we set the black to work.
Please, fix the sense of the animal.
Jacob, Jacob, keep the hound quiet!
You've got to get out of here, Father.
No, as soon as we can.
It's better. Now we can proceed.
You see, the larger the subject, the more power we need.
Subject?
Yes. Humans will require even more power.
Humans?
Yes. That will be my most noble achievement.
Now, Damon, sit.
The sense of the animal.
Now I'm a little tired.
I think I could use a drink.
Yes, I'm really quite tired.
Yes, sir.
Bring me a brandy, will you? For our guests, too.
Oh, very good, sir.
You don't understand, do you, Doctor?
No, you don't understand at all.
That's why I became disgusted with you men who call yourselves scientists.
Yes, you condemn everything that resists experiments.
You reject as false any theory which cannot be proved in the laboratory or the detecting room.
You refuse even to consider my findings in regard to apparitions.
Apparitions?
Ghosts, if you like.
For thousands of years mankind has persisted in believing that apparitions are fact, but mention them to you scientists.
But there's never been conclusive proof.
Conclusive proof!
If I were to tell you that for 23 years I have been investigating the supernatural and that I know, past all doubt, that ghosts, apparitions, and supernatural beings exist, what would you think?
Huh? That I have lost my mind?
Well, unless of course you could show me an apparition or some supernatural existence.
Show me! Show me! Proof, proof, proof!
The brandy, sir.
All right, all right, put it down.
The storm is over, sir.
Has it now? Has it?
Yes, sir.
Nora, did you hear that? The storm, it's over.
Yes, I heard.
I think we should get out of here as quickly as we can.
Oh, so do I.
Take a good swig of brandy, it'll help.
I did.
I don't know how you feel, but I'm ready for that 20-mile walk to D'Wolding. Those two demonstrations have convinced me.
Darling, I'm ready.
D'Wolding, did you say?
Yes.
Why walk?
I don't follow you.
Why not take the local?
The local?
Yes.
Do you mean local train?
Of course.
I didn't know there was one.
Just one a day.
It carries mostly freight. Just one passenger coach. About a mile from here. Eleven ten. I'll show you the way.
Oh, this is splendid, Charles. You'll be able to give your lecture after all.
Scientific lecture?
Well, sort of, yes.
With the proof, Doctor?
Of course.
You know, 17 years ago I ran away from you scientific fellows and your proof.
It seems funny that one should walk in on me tonight.
Oh, you and your proof.
You think I'm a little mad, don't you, Doctor?
Why, you shouldn't say that, sir.
I'll get a coat.
Here's where you catch it, down by the stone fence.
Thank you, sir.
You stay sick.
I'll leave everything to Jacob.
Good night.
Thank you for your trouble.
Good night.
Thank you, sir.
I'm glad to be out of a whole mad mess.
Oh, me too.
How do you feel?
Fine. The brandy helped.
Good.
Charles.
Come on.
It's right on time.
Well, things turned out a bit better, eh?
Here.
Here we are.
Come up.
Now we can relax.
Oh, my God.
I'm so happy to be out of there.
Do you think he's a mental case?
Oh, I certainly do.
Utterly and completely mad.
All that business about black.
Absolute nonsense.
But, darling, what about that dog?
And the mouse?
They really disappeared, you know.
An old magic trick.
You know, disappearing rabbit and all that.
Just hocus pocus.
Oh, have you noticed that the lights are so dim?
Nora, what are you staring at?
Everybody, everybody seems to be asleep in this coach.
Look at them.
Yes, they do seem asleep.
Nora, what is it?
Oh, Charles.
They're not asleep.
They're, they're all asleep.
Oh, my God.
They're not asleep.
They're all dead.
Charles.
They're dead.
Oh, Charles, in heaven's name, what's happening?
Wait, wait, Nora.
Easy now.
Oh, Charles.
Oh, darling.
This branch line.
What?
Remember?
Years ago, an accident.
The train jumped the bridge into the valley.
Over here, sir.
Yes, Jacob.
Over here.
Now, how's that?
Down, down, down.
How are they?
A little shook up, but both in one piece.
Think we can get them to the house?
I think so.
Can you help the woman?
I think so.
All right.
Up we go now.
There, there, there.
Now, can you walk?
Yes, yes, yes.
That's the way.
Now, off we go.
There.
That feels better, doesn't it?
Here, have another sip.
You too, sir.
You all right, Nora?
Yes.
Where are we?
We are in the sunroom of the master's house.
Back here again?
Yes.
You're both very lucky.
Boozed and shook up a bit.
Could have been lots worse.
Am I, am I dreaming all this?
And what about that train?
That's what you were ranting about when I brought you in.
There was no train.
There's no line there.
There hasn't been one for years.
There was a bad accident there years ago.
Train jumped the bridge into the valley.
Hasn't been used since.
But you and your wife were in that accident.
I brought it back to demonstrate another power of black.
Doctor, listen carefully.
I made it happen again.
Remember what I said about my findings regarding apparitions?
Well, what do you think now?
And now if you'll excuse me.
Now what's going on?
Couldn't tell you, sir.
I've long since given up trying to understand the master.
Well, you're both looking much better.
Let me pour you some more brandy.
We'll both feel much better when we can be on our way.
Here you are.
Thank you.
I'm dreadfully tired, Charles.
What's he doing with that contraption now?
Don't know, sir.
He said something about his most noble achievement.
What? Charles.
He means humans.
Listen, Jacob.
We've got to get out of here and quickly, you understand?
I cannot go against the master's orders.
Jacob, I want to stop with the dog.
Bring me one of the older hounds.
Jacob? Jacob!
Yes, sir.
A dog.
You heard what I said, Jacob.
We've got to get out of here.
I think we'd all better get out.
Follow me.
Where are we going?
Anyplace as long as it's away from here.
He wants a dog.
Come get him a dog.
Follow me down this corridor.
We shall have a dog over at...
Charles, what's happening to us?
I don't know yet.
Now stand beside the door.
We're going to open this cage.
They won't even see.
Now, down there.
Down there.
Jacob!
Jacob!
Jacob!
Get out of there!
His most noble achievement.
Shall we see about getting you both hung up now?
Suspense.
You've been listening to Black Death, written especially for suspense by Mr. McCloud,
and starring Christopher Carey, currently featured in Camelot.