WEBVTT 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:25.420 Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:29.920 to the fear you can hear. Welcome to the sounds 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.439 of suspense. It was the ill -fated Prince of 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.439 Denmark, Hamlet, who lamented, The time is out 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.320 of joint, O cursed spite, That ever I was born 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.700 to set it right. Many people before and since 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:50.140 have echoed the same cry of despair, but none 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:53.280 with more compelling justice and reason than 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:58.899 Ethan Vigil, clockmaker and destroyer. Ethan 00:00:58.899 --> 00:01:02.560 Vigil, for whom a special clock struck a magic 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:09.260 and an evil hour. Get your box in. Your move, 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.859 Jake. No, don't rush me. I'm thinking, I'm thinking. 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.040 God in heaven, Ethan, how can you stand that 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.879 infernal racket? What racket? Oh, you mean the 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:25.739 clock striking? I don't even notice them anymore. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:28.900 Well, go ahead. What do you want to give up? 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:33.299 No, no. Who can think of a chess move with all 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.799 hell breaking loose? From now on, start our games 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.780 after midnight. We have to drive a man's stock 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:43.700 staring mad. I swear to Sam Hill, Ethan, you 00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:53.189 deliver. two living things left in the room at 00:01:53.189 --> 00:01:58.409 that terrifying moment as time stood still for 00:01:58.409 --> 00:02:11.889 myself and that damnable machine. Our mystery 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:15.770 drama, Time and Again, was written especially 00:02:15.770 --> 00:02:19.159 for the Mystery Theatre by Ian Martin. and stars 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:24.159 John Beale. I'll be back shortly with Act One. 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:39.340 Few of us can resist the fascination of an auction, 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:42.520 and I'm no different than most, which is how 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:45.879 and why I happen to possess this curious document. 00:02:46.110 --> 00:02:49.129 which reveals a bone -chilling account of how 00:02:49.129 --> 00:02:52.389 many lives were lost so uncannily and eerily 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.729 to the inhuman demands of what Ethan Vigil called 00:02:55.729 --> 00:03:00.030 that damnable machine. The tale I'm about to 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:04.689 tell... No, no, wait. If you can manage to decipher 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.270 his cramped long hand, let Ethan Vigil confess 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:17.300 for himself. I, Ethan Vigil, clockmaker by trade. 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:21.699 I'm writing this in case when the moment comes 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:26.840 I fail to destroy the hourglass clock. For if 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:32.860 I fail, someone must destroy it, kill it, end 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.879 its ghastly existence before God knows how many 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.719 innocent people will die to satisfy its insatiable 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:45.439 thirst. The clock itself came into my possession 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:48.860 more or less by accident. I was working late 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:51.960 at my shop one night about a year ago, when I 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:56.599 heard a tapping on the closed glass door. It's 00:03:56.599 --> 00:03:58.960 hard to imagine some people can't read signs. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.240 Darn fools like to break their glass. Stop that, 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.120 can't you see I'm closed? And, Governor, please 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:12.240 let me in. No, get on with you. You won't be 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:17.329 sorry. Give me a chance. I'll give you the chance 00:04:17.329 --> 00:04:25.470 of a lifetime It was raining heavily water streaming 00:04:25.470 --> 00:04:27.689 down the glass But the object he had drawn from 00:04:27.689 --> 00:04:30.790 the cover of his pea jacket drew my eyes like 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:34.670 a magnet It was a clock the like of which I'd 00:04:34.670 --> 00:04:38.529 never seen It was shaped like an hourglass with 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:41.209 a strange -appearing pendulum hanging in the 00:04:41.209 --> 00:04:44.009 lower half, and the face in the upper half. And 00:04:44.009 --> 00:04:46.470 in the place of the figure 12, at the top of 00:04:46.470 --> 00:04:51.990 the face, was the numeral 13. I had to see that 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:57.149 clock more closely. Oh, bless you, Governor. 00:04:57.730 --> 00:05:00.629 You're a lifesaver, you are. What do you want? 00:05:00.930 --> 00:05:04.910 Oh, I want you to have a look at this here clock. 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:07.879 The clock is the only reason I let you in. I'd 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.319 like to have a look at it myself. Let's take 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:14.199 it over to the bench. You want this clock repaired? 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:20.620 I want to send it to you, is what I want. I hope 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:22.740 I don't regret this, but come on to my place 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:25.540 in the backroom. There's a fire in there to dry 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:30.279 you up a bit. Where'd you get this clock? Why, 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.959 it came into my possession when its owner died. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.300 Does it run? Well, now, that there clock, it 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:42.459 doesn't run. I'd be the first to admit it. I'll 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.480 give you $20. Oh, now, look here. $20, take it 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:47.879 or leave it. Oh, don't intend to be taken advantage 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:49.860 of by somebody... There doesn't seem to be any 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:52.639 question of who's being taken advantage of. Harriet. 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.579 Ethan, who is this person? He's a customer, more 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:59.519 or less. This is my sister -in -law. It's near 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.959 on to midnight, and my poor sick sister is... 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.240 pining upstairs for her husband to bring her 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.660 a little faith and consolation. Oh, now, ma 'am, 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:11.519 I certainly am sorry to intrude on family problems. 00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:15.980 Then don't. Ethan, get rid of this man. You'd 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.240 better go. Yeah, but what about our business 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.959 and the clock? Well, $20 is all I have to my 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.060 name. Oh, take it. Don't you do it, Ethan. Mind 00:06:25.060 --> 00:06:30.220 your own business for once, Harriet. I had little 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:32.899 doubt my sailor, who called himself Harry Stubbs, 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.600 had dubious title to that strange clock. But 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.620 like all collectors, to own something totally 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.579 and unreservedly unique is an overriding obsession. 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:51.240 Is he gone? Yes. Oh, just look at this place 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:54.899 after you had that derelict in here. Lights on 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:57.519 all over the place eating up money. To say nothing 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.399 of good hard cash thrown away on that piece of 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.980 junk on the table. It was my own money. What 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:07.699 own money? You and Henrietta wouldn't even have 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:09.740 a roof over your heads, let alone a piece of 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:13.100 business if it weren't for me. Oh no, it's my 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:14.740 money that keeps you going and don't you forget 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:18.379 it. Now you lock the door to the shop. I still 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:20.699 have some repairs left to do. You'll have to 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:22.980 get up early tomorrow and do them. I just... 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.800 I just wanted to have another look at this clock. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.980 You'll waste no more time or light or fuel down 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:32.879 here tonight. It wasn't for good money paid out. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.420 I checked that piece of junk on the table and 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:40.000 dumped it in the rubbish. Oh, I wish she'd done 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.060 just that. Let the city collect it with the morning 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:46.800 trash and bury it forever. But fate hadn't planned 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.300 it that way. So I went upstairs from Harriet 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:52.360 to face another problem I didn't know how to 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:58.300 solve. My ailing wife, Henrietta. Ethan, is that 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:02.480 you? Yes, Henrietta. Where have you been? Working, 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:06.980 dear. Are you hurting? When don't I hurt? I know. 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.560 How's your back? It isn't my back. It's my stomach, 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:14.490 Ethan. I've been... I'm scared. I've been afraid 00:08:14.490 --> 00:08:17.230 to think of it, but I know, Harriet, sure, I've 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:20.689 got the... Rise now, now. None of that. You just 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:23.029 get off to sleep. That's what you need. You just 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:26.490 don't know how it is to be suffering every blessed 00:08:26.490 --> 00:08:33.129 minute of every day. As I slipped under the covers 00:08:33.129 --> 00:08:36.169 and lay wide awake beside Henrietta, snoring 00:08:36.169 --> 00:08:39.970 away, my mind went back to the strange clock. 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:44.320 on the table downstairs. The intriguing mystery 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:47.340 of a mechanism I had never even imagined in 40 00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:52.360 years of clockmaking. And the enigma of why 13 00:08:52.360 --> 00:09:03.919 replaced the numeral 12 on the face. All the 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.000 next morning, between my infrequent customers, 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:12.029 I puzzled and poked and... pride to reveal the 00:09:12.029 --> 00:09:16.190 workings of this bizarre clock. But by one o 00:09:16.190 --> 00:09:19.330 'clock in the afternoon, when I was completely 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:22.990 stymied, my wife surprised me by coming out to 00:09:22.990 --> 00:09:27.789 the bench in her bathrobe. Henrietta, what's 00:09:27.789 --> 00:09:31.169 wrong? I've been calling for someone. Where's 00:09:31.169 --> 00:09:33.730 Harriet? She went to Markham. Is that the old 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:35.830 clock that Harriet told me you threw away hard 00:09:35.830 --> 00:09:39.409 -earned money on? It's a very valuable antique, 00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:43.009 an original. And it was my money. Does it run? 00:09:43.549 --> 00:09:47.850 No. Then what good is it? It's worth $20 as it 00:09:47.850 --> 00:09:50.549 is, at least. In working condition, it could 00:09:50.549 --> 00:09:54.190 be priceless. Can you fix it? I don't know. I 00:09:54.190 --> 00:09:57.909 don't know. Why not? Well, look at it, Henrietta. 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:01.210 Have you ever seen anything like it? First of 00:10:01.210 --> 00:10:04.929 all our glass shape of the case. What's inside? 00:10:05.850 --> 00:10:09.269 That's the problem except for the two round glass 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:11.690 windows and they're not even glass I don't know 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:14.330 what they are. What windows? The one for the 00:10:14.330 --> 00:10:16.830 clock face in the upper cup if you want to call 00:10:16.830 --> 00:10:19.669 it that no one in the lower inverted cup where 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:23.049 you can see What looks like a pendulum. Can't 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:26.549 you shake it and get that to swing? That doesn't 00:10:26.549 --> 00:10:28.750 seem to be the way it's activated. It's quite 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:32.330 stationary. Funny lopsided shape. Maybe it melted 00:10:32.330 --> 00:10:36.350 or something. Can't you get into the works? Only 00:10:36.350 --> 00:10:40.129 through this lid on the top. Now look. There's 00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:43.769 all you can see of the works. Very old. Wooden 00:10:43.769 --> 00:10:47.429 gears, wooden pinions, wooden axes. No way to 00:10:47.429 --> 00:10:50.330 lift it out. Can't even get my hand in there 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:53.409 to try. Let me it's so silly. There must be some 00:10:53.409 --> 00:10:57.870 way What is it? Look what your silly old clock 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:00.549 is done. What's the matter my finger? It's bleeding 00:11:00.549 --> 00:11:04.169 it it felt like something bit me. Oh, come on. 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:07.970 Let me see It's just a scratch scarcely drew 00:11:07.970 --> 00:11:10.250 blood the same. I'm not taking any chances with 00:11:10.250 --> 00:11:12.210 that dirty old clock I could end up with blood 00:11:12.210 --> 00:11:14.590 poisoning. I'm going to run this underwater now 00:11:14.590 --> 00:11:24.299 you get me a bad I was suddenly aware that the 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:29.120 clock was running, and its beat was the sound 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:35.539 of the human heart. But Ethan didn't follow his 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:38.580 wife right away, because suddenly he had become 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:41.659 conscious that the dead clock had come to life, 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.350 that it had started to record time again. and 00:11:45.350 --> 00:11:48.269 that the sound of its beat was very different 00:11:48.269 --> 00:11:52.629 from all other clocks. It was a sound akin, if 00:11:52.629 --> 00:11:56.009 not completely similar, to the beat of the human 00:11:56.009 --> 00:12:12.350 heart. I shall return shortly with Act II. Whatever 00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:15.580 his wife had accidentally touched, The clock 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:18.360 had begun to run and remained running steadily, 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.559 without any sign of stopping. Ethan checked that 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.059 Henrietta's wound was little more than a surface 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:29.700 scratch, and returned to observe, but let him 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:32.980 tell his own story for himself as he wrote it 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:42.139 in his confession. My examination of the clock, 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:46.620 as it ran, made it even more of an enigma. Behind 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.879 the face, beneath the lid, the gears I so engaged, 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:54.320 second by second, operated the hands that told 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:58.320 the time. What motivated them was obvious, the 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.440 strange mass that I had supposed a pendulum weight, 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:05.539 but which now, quite clearly, was a diaphragm, 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:10.360 or pump. Opening and closing to create energy. 00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:16.899 In a motion like a human fist or... Yes. Suddenly 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:19.559 I knew why the irregular shape was familiar. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.039 Like the human heart. But what in turn motivated 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:30.279 that, or fueled it, was the ultimate mystery. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.899 Everything about this clock was different, exotic, 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:40.470 strange. Even its chime for the hours. Plangent, 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:43.149 plaintive, almost the sound of a human voice. 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:48.070 I watched it irresistibly all day, all during 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.590 the night while I waited for Dr. Jacob Royce 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:54.070 to come and examine my wife. Even while I waited 00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:58.129 for the result of that examination. What the 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:01.009 devil are you doing out here? Oh, I'm sorry, 00:14:01.210 --> 00:14:04.850 Jake. Just observing this clock, it's got me 00:14:04.850 --> 00:14:09.370 mesmerized. How's Henrietta? Oh, what am I going 00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:13.250 to tell you, Ethan? Same thing as usual. Yep. 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:16.649 Not a trace of any physiological problem. Never 00:14:16.649 --> 00:14:20.049 is. Oh, there's a name for it if it's of any 00:14:20.049 --> 00:14:23.830 help. Chronic Inadequate. Someone who just can't 00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:26.500 handle the simple process of life. and has to 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:28.840 make excuses for it. I'd better go up to her. 00:14:28.899 --> 00:14:31.960 Oh, there's no need. I gave her a sedative. Won't 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.000 hurt her, but it might do you some good. Come 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.379 on now, let's play chess. If I set us up right 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:42.059 here, all right? With all those clocks rattling 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:45.200 away. I want to keep my eye on this baby here. 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:49.200 If you can't sit up with one sick friend, you 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:55.230 got to sit up with another. And for the next 00:14:55.230 --> 00:14:58.610 10 or 15 minutes, I did forget the clock that 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:02.210 was to haunt the rest of my days. Inexorably, 00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:05.129 as we concentrated on the chessboard, all of 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:08.850 the clocks ticked on towards 12 o 'clock. And 00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:12.110 the moment when the explanation of that substitute 00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:17.870 number 13 was about to be made by the clock itself. 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.399 Don't think much of your King's pawn variation 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:28.100 Jake got you boxed in Don't rush me. Don't rush 00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:34.879 me. I'm thinking Good Lord Ethan, how can you 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:38.440 stand that infernal racket? What racket? Oh, 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:41.580 I mean the clock striking I don't even notice 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:46.240 him anymore Go ahead. What do you want to give 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.330 up? But who can think of a chess move with all 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:53.470 hell breaking loose? Now on we start our games 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:57.230 after midnight, enough to drive a man stark staring 00:15:57.230 --> 00:16:03.490 mad. I swear to Sam Hill, Ethan, you deliver... 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:09.429 After the twelfth stroke of the hourglass clock's 00:16:09.429 --> 00:16:13.870 chime, there was no sound but the beat of the 00:16:13.870 --> 00:16:19.289 clock and my own heart. Everything else had stopped 00:16:19.289 --> 00:16:23.350 dead. My friend's mouth was frozen in the act 00:16:23.350 --> 00:16:27.490 of speaking, his hand poised over a chestman 00:16:27.490 --> 00:16:31.970 as though cast in bronze. Outside, like the old 00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:36.669 child's game, people had turned to statues. A 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:38.929 car backing into a parking space was stopped 00:16:38.929 --> 00:16:44.009 in its tracks. The very raindrops hung motionless 00:16:44.009 --> 00:16:48.409 in the air like a sprangled curtain. For everyone 00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:53.870 else in the world Save only me and that damnable 00:16:53.870 --> 00:17:05.890 clock Time was standing still The next hour was 00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:10.589 a strange delirium my brain raced with new ideas 00:17:10.589 --> 00:17:14.650 for achieving my lifelong dream a perpetual motion 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:18.539 timepiece My legs were as supple and tireless 00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:21.660 as an 18 -year -old's, as I climbed the stairs 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:24.599 to look at my wife, frozen in the act of turning 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:27.400 in her sleep. My sister -in -law caught in the 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.700 middle of a snore. Towards the end of the hour, 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:35.400 I returned to the shop. A quick stab of terror 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:41.460 prodding at me. Was this to be forever? Poor 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:44.859 Jake. still sat in the middle of the move he 00:17:44.859 --> 00:17:48.480 had started almost an hour ago. The hands of 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:53.359 all the clocks pointed to exactly twelve, except 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:57.400 the hourglass. There, the small hand stood directly 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:01.900 at thirteen, while the minute hand swept closer 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:05.160 and closer to join it. With a sense of mounting 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.319 excitement, I waited for their junction. Like 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:11.299 the other clocks, my strange new one had only 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:15.579 struck 12 before. Now I felt I knew the reason 00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:21.480 for 13, the extra magic hour of precious time 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:26.240 that twice a day it offered to its owner. With 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.720 bated breath, I waited for the proof, the missing 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:35.259 chime, and then it came. I rightly set us up 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:39.759 here tonight to get me off my game. I concede. 00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:42.670 Don't you want some more time to think it over? 00:18:42.670 --> 00:18:45.569 Oh, it wouldn't matter if you gave me an hour 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.990 to consider it. Tonight I'm too bush to think. 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:52.450 Just one minute after 12. We've only been at 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:54.390 the game 10 minutes or so, and I feel as if I've 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:57.529 been here for 70. Is it really only 10 minutes? 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:01.569 You're the clockmaker, Eton. Look all around 00:19:01.569 --> 00:19:05.910 you at your little markers. Yes. Yes, you're 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:12.160 right. So it's true. You feelin' all right? Never 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.980 better. Why? You look a little strange for a 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:19.440 minute. In fact, Ethan, I've been meaning to 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:21.880 mention it. I'd like to have you drop around 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.079 to the office some day soon. What for? Well, 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:27.700 you're not as young as you were, you know. And 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:29.839 you've been pushing yourself pretty hard lately. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:34.000 Want to make a date now? No, I'll call you. Don't 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:39.990 forget. Now, there's something I wish all my 00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:42.829 patients were as healthy as. Well, 20 years since 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:45.029 I started that old avocado tree in the window. 00:19:45.269 --> 00:19:48.930 And like Topsy, it just grew. Don't you believe 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:54.130 it? It took a lot of tender loving care. Watered 00:19:54.130 --> 00:19:57.569 just right, pinching it back, bringing it along 00:19:57.569 --> 00:20:03.690 to grow upright. Just like the child. I love 00:20:03.690 --> 00:20:09.630 that old tree. Man's got to have something to 00:20:09.630 --> 00:20:15.549 love. Yeah, I reckon. You don't think there's 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:19.089 anything really wrong with him? No, no, I don't. 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:23.730 Just another of her eternal spells. Well, night, 00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:37.890 old friend. Rain stopped. Good night, Jake. For 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:41.789 a long time after my old friend drove away, I 00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:45.490 stood by the door, gazing into the cool, crisp 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:49.950 night. I didn't notice the cold. I was too full 00:20:49.950 --> 00:20:54.029 of a kind of welling excitement inside me. What 00:20:54.029 --> 00:20:58.210 a gift that clock had brought me. The dreams 00:20:58.210 --> 00:21:01.869 were building like castles in my head. Why, I 00:21:01.869 --> 00:21:05.269 was richer and more powerful than a king. Well, 00:21:05.269 --> 00:21:08.809 now I knew no matter what. But for two blessed 00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:13.990 hours, every day, from now on, I was a free man. 00:21:15.170 --> 00:21:18.430 And the last thing I heard that night, as my 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:22.069 head hit the pillow, was the triumphant beat 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:27.630 of the clock sounding in my inner ear. Or was 00:21:27.630 --> 00:21:40.349 it the sound of my own heart? How is she, Doctor? 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:45.309 I don't know, Harriet. Now, I don't mean to alarm 00:21:45.309 --> 00:21:48.930 you, but... I think we'll put your sister Henrietta 00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:50.970 in the hospital for a few days for observation. 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:53.609 What's the matter with her? That's what I want 00:21:53.609 --> 00:21:56.549 to put her in the hospital for. Find out. What 00:21:56.549 --> 00:22:00.130 do you suspect it is? I don't suspect it's Enidine. 00:22:00.809 --> 00:22:03.690 I just want to reassure myself. Now, why don't 00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:05.829 you go up and keep her company while I talk to 00:22:05.829 --> 00:22:08.150 Ethan? You won't have any trouble convincing 00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:10.750 him. I don't see why I can't take care of her. 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:14.069 Well, you can't this time, Harriet. If you want 00:22:14.069 --> 00:22:18.390 to help, go sit with her. I'll make the arrangements 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:26.029 with Ethan. How's Henny? I, uh... I want to put 00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:28.650 her in the hospital for a few days, Ethan. Oh, 00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:31.910 she's that sick? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, 00:22:31.910 --> 00:22:35.690 this is not just one of her spells. I want her 00:22:35.690 --> 00:22:38.170 under observation for a while. Well, whatever 00:22:38.170 --> 00:22:42.529 you say, Jake. Yeah. I wish I knew what to say. 00:22:43.750 --> 00:22:46.309 I feel a little guilty. Ever since that night 00:22:46.309 --> 00:22:48.329 a few weeks ago when we were playing chess. What 00:22:48.329 --> 00:22:51.309 do you mean, guilty? Well, damn it, for 20 years 00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:54.990 I've been medicating her imaginary ills. I wonder 00:22:54.990 --> 00:22:57.670 if maybe I got careless that night. What? Well, 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:01.509 there's no doubt that from then on this... this, 00:23:01.509 --> 00:23:05.690 uh, debility, anemia, whatever it is, started. 00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:09.349 Well, I'll get along and make all the arrangements 00:23:09.349 --> 00:23:18.450 I'll phone you when to expect the ambulance I 00:23:18.450 --> 00:23:22.670 Had my own guilt nagging at me in the month since 00:23:22.670 --> 00:23:25.890 I discovered the secret of the clock I'd thought 00:23:25.890 --> 00:23:29.410 of pretty nearly nothing else. I Waited as eager 00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:33.589 as a child for those two stolen hours every day 00:23:34.029 --> 00:23:37.009 Not only for the relief from Harriet's nagging 00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:39.769 and poor Henrietta's everlasting complaints, 00:23:40.470 --> 00:23:44.569 but for the lift, the joy, the youth and vigor 00:23:44.569 --> 00:23:47.769 that they brought me. For I'd gone one better 00:23:47.769 --> 00:23:51.029 than Ponce de Leon. For part of a day, anyway, 00:23:51.369 --> 00:23:58.809 I had found the Fountain of Youth. But a wave 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:02.029 of shocks was about to jolt me back to reality. 00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:05.359 The first was Henny's being taken to the hospital. 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:09.579 The second was the morning the clock stopped. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:22.660 Oh, no! No! No! What is it, Ethan? You can't 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:25.440 stop! What is it, Ethan? What's wrong? The clock! 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:28.880 It stopped! Is that all? I've got to get it started. 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:32.250 You shake it like that, it'll end up in pieces. 00:24:32.750 --> 00:24:35.130 Good riddance. I told you it was a waste of money. 00:24:35.190 --> 00:24:38.190 Get out of here. How dare you talk to me like 00:24:38.190 --> 00:24:41.410 that? I certainly will. Nobody's going to talk 00:24:41.410 --> 00:24:45.509 to me like that, particularly not you. I was 00:24:45.509 --> 00:24:50.450 frantic. My golden hours of solitude gone. My 00:24:50.450 --> 00:24:53.569 extra gift of precious time in the rebirth of 00:24:53.569 --> 00:24:57.230 youth. I couldn't let them go. There must be 00:24:57.230 --> 00:25:00.319 some way to bring them back. Start that damned 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.359 intricate mechanism again. The clock was dead. 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:14.259 It's life blood somehow drained. Blood? But that's 00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:17.720 what started it in the first place. Maybe... 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:21.140 Oh, damn nation. Let it ring. I've got to find 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:32.079 something to... Oh, all right. Hello? I don't 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.680 want to talk now. Oh, then you've heard. Heard 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:41.579 what? About Henrietta. She's not... She's not... 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:44.759 I just got back to my office and got a message 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:50.000 from the hospital. I'm afraid she's passed away. 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:54.420 Are you sure? I'm on my way to the hospital now, 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:57.299 just on the outside chance. Better meet me there. 00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:08.900 I'm on my way. We were too late, and he was gone. 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:15.039 With no goodbyes, I sat by a nurse's desk, waiting 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.180 for Jake to complete arrangements and drive me 00:26:17.180 --> 00:26:21.000 home. A young nurse came down the hall with a 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.779 tray of blood samples, putting them on the desk. 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:28.119 She came towards me. Mr. Virgil? Yes, nurse? 00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:30.880 Dr. Royce asked me to tell you he'll only be 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.839 a minute or two. Thank you, nurse. As she walked 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:41.960 away, my eyes following her blindly then I Was 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:46.720 looking at that tray of blood samples blood It 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.079 was Henny's cutting her finger that started the 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:53.559 clock Would that be the answer I? Acted without 00:26:53.559 --> 00:26:56.420 thinking in a moment. I had slipped one of the 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:59.180 tubes into my pocket And I was back in my seat 00:26:59.180 --> 00:27:06.519 before Jake came striding down the hall I was 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:09.960 back in the shop at last, alone. With shaking 00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:13.019 fingers I lifted the lid, exposing the brain 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:15.900 of whatever it was of the clock. Uncapping the 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:20.700 tube, I poured in the blood. I looked at the 00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:24.339 dial. The hands were spinning around to the proper 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:44.339 time. And then... It would have been better, 00:27:44.619 --> 00:27:48.640 far better, had Ethan left it for dead, as we 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:52.519 shall see when we return shortly with Act III. 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:08.059 Which of us could resist the temptation of perpetual 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:12.859 youth, or short of that, any extension? of life. 00:28:13.619 --> 00:28:19.200 Two extra hours a day is 730 a year, almost exactly 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:24.019 an extra month. In a lifetime, six whole more 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:27.920 years. But what Eason Vigil forgot is that for 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:32.319 every action there is a reaction, for every gift 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:42.720 a recompense. The saddest part of my confession 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:46.420 is that after my wife's death, I became completely 00:28:46.420 --> 00:28:49.500 blind to everything but my two periods of escape 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:52.660 every day. More and more, my sister -in -law 00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:55.099 Harriet took over the ordinary part of life, 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:58.160 transforming my beloved clock shop into a nightmare, 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:02.200 against which I preferred to close my eyes. Ethan? 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:05.599 Ethan! What, Harriet? Would you mind helping 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:07.940 me dress this window, please? Well, what's the 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:10.119 matter with it as it is? If you just get away 00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:12.000 from that bench of yours for a moment and come 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.980 here, perhaps I can show you. All right, Harriet. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.539 You know how I'm branching out now that I'm the 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:23.640 active partner in the store. Oh, you, Jim Cratchit. 00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:26.180 Well, you might know you'd lag a mile behind 00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:29.269 the times. This is novelty jewelry, and to sell 00:29:29.269 --> 00:29:32.569 it, we must display it. Cheap claptrap. Now, 00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:34.910 first off, I want you to get this cheap, silly 00:29:34.910 --> 00:29:37.049 rubber plant out of the window. Rubber plant? 00:29:37.049 --> 00:29:39.730 That's my avocado tree that I grew with my own 00:29:39.730 --> 00:29:41.430 hands. Well, whatever it is, it takes up the 00:29:41.430 --> 00:29:43.349 whole window. I want it out of here. No, sir, 00:29:43.349 --> 00:29:46.069 not my tree. Needs the sunshine it gets. But 00:29:46.069 --> 00:29:49.410 what use is it? It's tarnished. Does everything 00:29:49.410 --> 00:29:53.049 have to have a function? It's beautiful. It's 00:29:53.049 --> 00:29:56.069 bombed my soul. That's enough reason for its 00:29:56.069 --> 00:29:58.380 existence. Besides, it don't cost nothing, so 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:01.880 you leave it alone. Oh, very well. But I must 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.039 have somewhere to display my costume jewelry. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:08.500 Oh, let's move that ugly old hourglass clock 00:30:08.500 --> 00:30:11.019 somewhere else. Why does it have to be right 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:12.660 beside your bench where every customer comes 00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:14.680 in? All right, I'm warning you. You leave that 00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.619 clock where it is. Don't you ever dare lay a 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:20.740 hand on it. You hear me? Oh, my, aren't we touchy? 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:24.099 Well, just let me remind you of something, Ethan, 00:30:24.660 --> 00:30:27.990 with Henrietta gone. Her share goes to me, so 00:30:27.990 --> 00:30:30.349 I am two -thirds of this store. I can have it 00:30:30.349 --> 00:30:34.450 any way I want to. Over my dead body. You can 00:30:34.450 --> 00:30:36.630 do what you want with all your cheap tinsley 00:30:36.630 --> 00:30:38.589 stuff, but you keep your hands off that clock. 00:30:39.829 --> 00:30:44.829 Heaven's sake, all right. Don't you have an appointment 00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:48.049 with Dr. Royce? I don't know. I forgot. Better 00:30:48.049 --> 00:31:00.000 get right over to his office. Okay, Ethan, you 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:02.400 can put your shirt back on. I'm all finished 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:06.619 examining you. What's the verdict? I couldn't 00:31:06.619 --> 00:31:09.380 be more pleased. You proved the shape, I mean, 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:12.259 huh? Before Henrietta died, I don't mind telling 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:15.259 you I was plum -worried about you. Your heart 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:17.980 was acting up. I didn't like your blood pressure. 00:31:18.619 --> 00:31:20.740 When there was a lump in your belly, I could 00:31:20.740 --> 00:31:24.359 palpate big as a grapefruit. And now? Now I don't 00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:27.200 even need the x -rays I took. Know it before 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:31.450 I see them. Yeah, practically noon now go on 00:31:31.450 --> 00:31:34.069 you don't need a doctor get out of here. Let 00:31:34.069 --> 00:31:36.009 me get around to the sick people outside who 00:31:36.009 --> 00:31:45.069 do As I went into the outer office I glassed 00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:48.869 at the electric clock on the wall The hands clocked 00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:52.650 to noon as I did so and I was looking at her 00:31:52.650 --> 00:31:57.170 by now familiar scene The nurse who had risen 00:31:57.170 --> 00:32:01.829 to escort the next patient in was suddenly transfixed 00:32:01.829 --> 00:32:06.329 halfway up from her chair. A child about to scream 00:32:06.329 --> 00:32:09.569 remained with face contorted, the scream not 00:32:09.569 --> 00:32:15.250 yet uttered. A thought crossed my mind. It was 00:32:15.250 --> 00:32:18.549 a month since I had fed the clock that first 00:32:18.549 --> 00:32:23.069 transfusion. I went into Jake's small lab, opened 00:32:23.069 --> 00:32:25.980 the refrigerator, I helped myself to a blood 00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:36.599 sample and left. Back at the store, the only 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:40.440 sound was the beat of my clock. It seemed a little 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:43.440 labored to me, but for the moment I was too furious 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:45.700 to see what Harriet had been at since I left. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:49.420 Draped all over my avocado tree were festoons 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:53.319 of cheap tin and glass jewelry, and Harriet... 00:32:53.289 --> 00:32:57.109 The superior smirk on her face was caught immobile 00:32:57.109 --> 00:33:01.630 in the act of adding more. I choked back my anger 00:33:01.630 --> 00:33:05.309 because suddenly, before I could move, the clock 00:33:05.309 --> 00:33:09.730 beat died. Why, Ethan, how'd you get back so 00:33:09.730 --> 00:33:15.109 soon? What are you doing to the avocado? Well, 00:33:15.710 --> 00:33:18.150 since I can't take it out of the window, I thought 00:33:18.150 --> 00:33:20.809 I'd just use it as a display tree. You leave 00:33:20.809 --> 00:33:24.250 that alone. As long as it's there no one moves 00:33:24.250 --> 00:33:26.789 that or touches it except me you understand that 00:33:26.789 --> 00:33:29.589 you certainly don't have to be so abusive Leave 00:33:29.589 --> 00:33:33.190 me alone. Oh You're in a mood like this. I'm 00:33:33.190 --> 00:33:36.250 glad to I'm sorry to tell you that your precious 00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:38.670 clock seems to be out of order again I hope this 00:33:38.670 --> 00:33:44.849 time it's broken for good Good riddance Tree 00:33:44.849 --> 00:33:50.049 but first some special oil for the magic lamp 00:33:51.000 --> 00:34:03.339 Please God you'll still run again And time stood 00:34:03.339 --> 00:34:10.800 still again The pattern for the next months of 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:14.719 my life was set The part of it in my waking moments 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:18.380 was only a necessary bridge between the long 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:21.480 hours of infinite relief and accomplishment, 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:26.219 my clock brought me each noon and midnight. My 00:34:26.219 --> 00:34:28.719 designs for my perpetual motion mechanism were 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:31.719 completed. I had already started to build it. 00:34:32.579 --> 00:34:36.780 That was my real life. Although I found to my 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:40.280 dismay that the clock seemed to demand more and 00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:44.420 more frequent transfusions to stay running. But 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:47.679 these were easy to steal from Jake's office in 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:52.159 the hours when... Time stood still. Then once 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:57.460 again, events caught up with me. Oh, Jake, just 00:34:57.460 --> 00:35:02.219 a moment. What are you doing here this time of 00:35:02.219 --> 00:35:05.340 night? Well, the evening's young. I thought a 00:35:05.340 --> 00:35:07.300 chess game might get some things off my mind. 00:35:08.539 --> 00:35:10.239 What were you frowning at on the window when 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:15.199 I passed? My plant there. The avocado? Oh, yeah. 00:35:16.199 --> 00:35:19.670 Looks a mite -peeked. Can't understand it. It's 00:35:19.670 --> 00:35:23.150 been wilting and drooping day by day. No reason. 00:35:24.230 --> 00:35:26.889 Are you any good at diagnosing vegetable life, 00:35:27.190 --> 00:35:30.389 Jake? No. I'm beginning to think I'm not much 00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:33.329 better with humans. I wish I knew the secret 00:35:33.329 --> 00:35:36.489 of your spot of youth. Think I'm getting old. 00:35:37.949 --> 00:35:43.070 Not yourself, Jake. What's wrong? I don't know. 00:35:44.429 --> 00:35:47.570 In a way, it goes back to... To Henrietta's death, 00:35:48.130 --> 00:35:51.909 or seems to... What does? Well, I never said 00:35:51.909 --> 00:35:53.909 too much about the way she died at the time, 00:35:54.210 --> 00:35:56.329 Ethan. A congestive heart failure, you said? 00:35:56.349 --> 00:35:59.050 No, that's true enough. That's a condition that 00:35:59.050 --> 00:36:03.190 produces an end to living. But what caused it? 00:36:03.889 --> 00:36:08.090 Are you asking me? No, I'm asking myself. And 00:36:08.090 --> 00:36:11.309 I have no answer. All tests were run and the 00:36:11.309 --> 00:36:14.929 pathological evidence was clear enough. But in 00:36:14.929 --> 00:36:18.030 spite of massive transfusions, we couldn't stop 00:36:18.030 --> 00:36:23.650 Henrietta's blood from from simply disintegrating 00:36:23.650 --> 00:36:27.710 Quite literally turn into water and that's unusual 00:36:27.710 --> 00:36:31.250 abnormal never seen a case like it before In 00:36:31.250 --> 00:36:33.869 the last three months, I've lost three of my 00:36:33.869 --> 00:36:37.170 patients to the same sort of What shall I say 00:36:37.170 --> 00:36:40.909 same sort of malady? I might have seen it developing 00:36:40.909 --> 00:36:45.579 except for a strange thing What? Well, all of 00:36:45.579 --> 00:36:48.280 them had been to my office and had had routine 00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:52.400 blood samples drawn for physical checkups. And 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:56.260 the samples didn't warn you? There weren't any 00:36:56.260 --> 00:37:00.039 samples to examine. Unaccountably, they disappeared 00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:03.579 from my office. And one other strange coincidence. 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:08.039 The night your wife died, a blood sample for 00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:11.739 a patient in the hospital disappeared. And that 00:37:11.739 --> 00:37:15.420 patient died later? Yep, about four weeks later. 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:19.280 But I don't know why I'm worrying you with all 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:21.119 this. It's none of your business. Well, it is. 00:37:22.420 --> 00:37:25.460 Oh, you mean as far as Henrietta is concerned. 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:29.280 No, no. I mean, I mean much more than that. Ethan, 00:37:29.980 --> 00:37:33.699 what is it? I didn't mean to upset you like this. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:37.659 I'm not upset. I mean, I just want you to understand. 00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:46.340 Understand what? That I'm sorry, oh I'm so sorry 00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:52.920 Well, you're a good friend Ethan And I guess 00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:56.780 I don't feel like any chess tonight now I run 00:37:56.780 --> 00:38:04.980 along Jake yeah, I I never asked before but Do 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:10.699 you remember exactly? What time Henny died? About 00:38:10.699 --> 00:38:21.179 25 to 12, I think. I didn't have to think. I 00:38:21.179 --> 00:38:25.119 knew it all now. That was the precise moment 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:30.300 that that evil clock first stopped. So it was 00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:34.659 a monster, insatiable, that once having tasted 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:37.989 blood... continued to suck on its victim till 00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:42.590 it had drained all life away. And I was no better, 00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:48.289 no less evil. I had been feeding this mechanical 00:38:48.289 --> 00:38:53.650 vampire at the cost of other human lives. In 00:38:53.650 --> 00:38:57.530 a daze, unable to explain to him, I saw my old 00:38:57.530 --> 00:39:01.429 friend Jake out and turned to face what I had 00:39:01.429 --> 00:39:09.670 to face. The shop was dark as I walked to the 00:39:09.670 --> 00:39:13.710 clock My ears were so attuned to it by now that 00:39:13.710 --> 00:39:16.110 I'd been aware that it had started to labor and 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:19.170 needed a fresh transfusion I was more than a 00:39:19.170 --> 00:39:22.730 little mad by now as in the dark. I said to it 00:39:22.730 --> 00:39:38.539 die I still had my own expiation to make, not 00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:43.480 only for my wife, but for all those others. And 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:46.780 there was a personal sadness as my hands in the 00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:49.599 darkness traced the form of my perpetual motion 00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:52.820 machine, which would never be completed now. 00:39:54.519 --> 00:39:59.440 A man without love, wife, or children would like 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:03.619 to leave a small footprint on the sands. He's 00:40:03.619 --> 00:40:07.699 gauged to immortality. All I would leave now 00:40:07.699 --> 00:40:12.019 was a sick avocado tree I had nourished for 20 00:40:12.019 --> 00:40:17.260 years for nothing. And then suddenly I heard 00:40:17.260 --> 00:40:21.019 stealthy footsteps and pulled back into the shadows. 00:40:32.199 --> 00:40:34.679 I thought you'd gone to bed. What are you doing 00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:37.400 to the plant? Oh, why, it's just some food to 00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:42.139 make... Let me see. It's a weed killer. You've 00:40:42.139 --> 00:40:45.559 been poisoning my tree. Why, you... Don't you 00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:52.159 touch me! Get away from me! Look what you've 00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:56.260 done. I've cut my hand. It's your fault. And 00:40:56.260 --> 00:40:58.260 finally you've smashed up this ugly old clock 00:40:58.260 --> 00:41:02.289 for good. It's dead. just as dead as your precious 00:41:02.289 --> 00:41:06.469 avocado tree is going to be. And don't think 00:41:06.469 --> 00:41:09.769 you can save it. I knew you'd never agree to 00:41:09.769 --> 00:41:12.630 take it out of the window, so I've been poisoning 00:41:12.630 --> 00:41:28.190 it for weeks. It's as good as dead, right? Her 00:41:28.190 --> 00:41:32.630 blood had started the damn thing again. But this 00:41:32.630 --> 00:41:37.210 was to be the last time. What is there left to 00:41:37.210 --> 00:41:41.429 say? I have to watch another human being die. 00:41:42.090 --> 00:41:45.590 Slowly, inexorably, unable to arrest the inevitable. 00:41:46.949 --> 00:41:51.309 And even though it is someone I despise, my guilt 00:41:51.309 --> 00:41:55.210 is in no way lessened. The only pleasure I can 00:41:55.210 --> 00:41:59.559 take is that... As Harriet sinks, so does that 00:41:59.559 --> 00:42:04.820 remorseless, evil, damnable machine. And once 00:42:04.820 --> 00:42:09.039 its heart is stilled, I shall destroy it forever. 00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:15.760 The one element I have not tried against it is 00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:21.280 the enemy of the devil. I shall take it, chain 00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:25.780 to my body, when we go to our grave in the river. 00:42:26.860 --> 00:42:34.579 to share it for eternity. As I finish this confession 00:42:34.579 --> 00:42:40.500 to mail to my good friend, Dr. Jacob Royce, I 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:45.800 can hear the evil thing, labor, about to die. 00:42:48.019 --> 00:43:06.050 It's time for me to write the end. If you should 00:43:06.050 --> 00:43:09.030 by any chance come across a clock in a curio 00:43:09.030 --> 00:43:12.750 shop shaped like an hourglass with a dial that 00:43:12.750 --> 00:43:17.809 bears the number 13 instead of 12, shun it like 00:43:17.809 --> 00:43:34.380 the plague. I'll be back shortly. Though the 00:43:34.380 --> 00:43:38.380 fascination of time and man's never -ending quest 00:43:38.380 --> 00:43:42.219 to hoard it, I, too, have that irrational impulse, 00:43:42.260 --> 00:43:46.159 all of us have felt sometime, to hold back the 00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:50.320 hands and bring time itself to stop. And then 00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:54.260 I remember Ethan Vigil, and I decide that once 00:43:54.260 --> 00:43:58.559 around is enough for all of us. Our cast included 00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:01.539 John Beale, Grace Matthews, Breiner Rayburn, 00:44:02.019 --> 00:44:05.239 and Ian Martin. The entire production was under 00:44:05.239 --> 00:44:09.239 the direction of Hyman Brown. This is E .G. Marshall 00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:11.840 inviting you to return to our Mystery Theatre 00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:16.380 for another adventure in the macabre. Until next 00:44:16.380 --> 00:44:19.739 time, pleasant dreams.