WEBVTT 00:00:17.749 --> 00:00:24.589 Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome 00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:29.850 to the world of terrifying imagination. Once 00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:32.670 upon a time there was a poor and common man named 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:35.530 Matthew Mall, who owned a couple of acres that 00:00:35.530 --> 00:00:39.109 were desired by a rich and titled man named Colonel 00:00:39.109 --> 00:00:41.869 Pinchian, who wished to build a house on the 00:00:41.869 --> 00:00:44.810 property. Since the Colonel could not acquire 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:49.460 the land by lawful means, He took others. The 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:53.780 year was 1650, and he connived to have Matthew 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:57.340 Mall declared a wizard, condemned to die on the 00:00:57.340 --> 00:01:04.159 scaffold, which is where our story begins. Quiet! 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:09.319 Quiet! Quiet! You have not heard the last of 00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:13.060 Matthew Mall. You or your children, or your children's 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:16.010 children. In particular, you, Colonel Pincham, 00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:19.129 and all the family who followed you. Look at 00:01:19.129 --> 00:01:22.409 him, everyone, as a dying man makes a promise. 00:01:23.629 --> 00:01:28.030 Colonel Pincham, God will give you and yours 00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:40.769 blood to drink. This is the story of my long 00:01:40.769 --> 00:01:44.079 revenge. which began with the moment my adversary 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.079 first entered his new -build house, with his 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.579 portrait locked into the paneling above his desk 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:52.780 chair. For there, the first of the Pinchons, 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:55.500 the Colonel Pinchon who sent me to my death, 00:01:56.140 --> 00:02:00.280 was found dead, drowned in his own blood. The 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:03.879 doctors called it apoplexy, but we know better. 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:08.020 Death brought him blood to drink, the first of 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:22.669 much for his house. doomed. Our mystery drama, 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:26.229 The House of the Seven Gables, was especially 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:28.770 adapted from the Nathaniel Hawthorne classic 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:32.310 for the Mystery Theater by Ian Martin and stars 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:36.310 Norman Rose. I'll be back shortly with Act One. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.560 Halfway down a biased street in one of our New 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.740 England towns stands a rusty wooden house with 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:55.879 seven acutely peaked gables facing towards various 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.300 points of the compass and a huge clustered chimney 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:03.120 in the midst. So begins the second novel written 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.180 by Nathaniel Hawthorne. And to tell you the rest 00:03:06.180 --> 00:03:09.680 of it, here is the tortured uneasy spirit of 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:12.979 the wizard Matthew Maul who died before his time 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:17.500 and left a curse that endured for over two centuries. 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:48.300 at last, the whole clan of Pynchon. Shall we 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:57.580 take a case in point? Yes? Well? What is it? 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.960 Are you sent for me, Mr. Pynchon? The name is 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:03.560 Matthew Maul, son of him who built this house 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.300 for your grandfather, grandson of the rightful 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:09.699 proprietor of your soil. Oh, the ancient dispute. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.780 That matter has been settled by competent legal 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.340 authorities. In favor of the family pension. 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:20.220 Self -evidently. I am in residence and you are 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:24.680 not. Then stay here and rot. Ah, for a moment, 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.519 Mr. Moore. Will you attend me in the living room? 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:35.279 At your request. To what purpose? Well, perhaps 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.180 to your... to our mutual interest. There's a 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:43.660 legend that my family, that to be precise the 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:45.959 same Colonel Pynchon who looks down on us from 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.259 above the living room fireplace here, had a deed 00:04:49.259 --> 00:04:53.079 to certain vast real estate holdings from an 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:57.160 Indian grant. Holdings of incalculable value. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.459 I've heard the story. Are you also aware that 00:05:00.459 --> 00:05:05.040 in the settlement of the estate no deed was found 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.560 to lay claim to them? Oh yes. But his claim was 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.439 on a verge of settlements when my grandfather 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:16.839 died suddenly in answer to my grandfather's curse 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:21.060 of apoplexy, which is in non -medical terms not 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:23.220 far from literally drinking one's own blood. 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:28.339 I did not get you here to renew old quarrels, 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:32.319 simply to make you a proposition. Very well, 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.970 I'm listening. There's a rumor that whatever 00:05:34.970 --> 00:05:39.069 quarrel lay between our ancestors Yours was the 00:05:39.069 --> 00:05:42.470 one made the best bargain in the long run by 00:05:42.470 --> 00:05:46.009 being hanged Now, however, he died. He was only 00:05:46.009 --> 00:05:48.769 a step or two ahead of the Colonel for while 00:05:48.769 --> 00:05:51.610 the Colonel went out in buying and owning the 00:05:51.610 --> 00:05:56.449 land seven gables and on he lost a kingdom when 00:05:56.449 --> 00:05:58.949 the deed to have the state of Massachusetts was 00:05:58.949 --> 00:06:05.689 lost or Mr. Pynchon, what is your proposition? 00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:08.889 Your father was the architect of this house. 00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:12.430 He might have secreted the paper somewhere or 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:15.529 built some hidden chamber for them, which my 00:06:15.529 --> 00:06:19.509 ancestor, Colonel Pynchon, died to suddenly to 00:06:19.509 --> 00:06:23.470 reveal. I would be willing to pay well for information 00:06:23.470 --> 00:06:27.810 leading to them. I cannot believe the Colonel 00:06:27.810 --> 00:06:29.649 would have concealed something that was not his 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:33.639 to hide, but... There might be a chance for you 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:37.819 to recover those papers. How? I'll make a contract 00:06:37.819 --> 00:06:40.860 with you. This house and the property. For the 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:45.120 papers, if I can locate them. No! No, damn it! 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:50.019 If I'll permit it! Did you say something, sir? 00:06:50.379 --> 00:06:56.160 No. Why? I could have sworn I heard a voice. 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:02.910 I'll meet your bargain if you can find the Indian 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:06.889 grant. I'll need some help. I don't know where 00:07:06.889 --> 00:07:10.449 the papers are or if they exist. I do know that 00:07:10.449 --> 00:07:15.670 to locate them I need the help of a medium. I 00:07:15.670 --> 00:07:17.790 don't understand. You have a young daughter named 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:31.180 Alice. Bring her here. I watched my grandson 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:35.000 toy with this pinchen whose only desire was to 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.160 flee the dread house and live abroad. And by 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.360 virtue of my right as a man taken before his 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:45.540 time, I kept invading Matthew's mind and making 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:50.779 it mine as far as I desired. My daughter Alice, 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:57.639 may I present Mr. Matthew Moore. My pleasure, 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:02.509 Mr. Moore. Will you be seated? Father? Do as 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:08.589 he asks. Very well. Now, I ask you to fix your 00:08:08.589 --> 00:08:17.149 eyes on mine. From the moment that gentle girl 00:08:17.149 --> 00:08:22.790 raised her eyes, she was ours, mine. It was enough, 00:08:23.129 --> 00:08:25.629 perhaps, that already the malls had the reputation 00:08:25.629 --> 00:08:28.430 that they could enter people's dreams. and that 00:08:28.430 --> 00:08:32.210 no grave could hold them. By now, there was a 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:34.929 further belief that they could mesmerize the 00:08:34.929 --> 00:08:38.250 unwary. There is your daughter, Mr. Pynchon. 00:08:38.929 --> 00:08:44.509 Speak to her. Alice! Alice, answer me! Oh, softly, 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:48.309 softly, Mr. Pynchon. Is it my crime you have 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:50.309 sold your daughter for the hope of getting back 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:52.470 a sheet of yellow parchment? What would you do 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:56.289 with her? Why, only as you asked. Use her as 00:08:56.289 --> 00:09:01.129 a medium. to try to make you rich. How? You'll 00:09:01.129 --> 00:09:05.470 see. Unless you wish to call our barter deal 00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:13.710 off. I don't know! But proceed in God's name! 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:19.450 Very well. Listen to me, Alice Pynchon. Listen 00:09:19.450 --> 00:09:24.309 with your mind. Cast off your body. Think. Think 00:09:24.309 --> 00:09:27.029 back away through the years, but... Cling to 00:09:27.029 --> 00:09:31.470 me. Let him who holds the secret of the Indian 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:34.850 land deeds come forth peaceably and without delay. 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:41.870 Call him. I know not who he is. Then ask. Colonel 00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:48.250 Pynchon? Great Grandfather? Can you hear me? 00:09:49.070 --> 00:09:52.789 Can you hear me? Call on my grandfather, whom 00:09:52.789 --> 00:10:26.139 your great grandfather hanged. Confusing powers 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:32.759 only I could confer on him But the secret the 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:43.419 secret I have not yet ready to divulge Would 00:10:43.419 --> 00:10:47.059 you kill the child bring her to without your 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:51.720 answer have you not found it only this Your grandfather's 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.960 secret is one he must choke with until it is 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:59.200 of no further value. So keep a house of seven 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.820 gables. Wake my daughter from her trance! As 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:07.059 far as I can. What mean you? Well, she will walk 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:12.799 and live and breathe, but... But what, man? I 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:15.940 meant no harm. I meant only to humble you and 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:21.480 yours. I did not mean to steal her soul, but... 00:11:21.480 --> 00:12:04.740 I'm afraid. What brings you to Seven Gables? 00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:07.399 Why, I take it since you have opened a one -cent 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:10.639 store, it is open to any member of the public? 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:16.820 Not to you. Never to you. Judge. Judge not! That 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:20.820 ye shall be judged. Surely after all these years, 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.080 and irrespective of what I've just arranged for 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.299 Clifford... You are not welcome in this house. 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:29.980 Not even in a public shop, Hepzibah Pintron. 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.200 The shop is a necessity. Now, more than ever. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.639 Because of Clifford's return? Or surely you know 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:39.299 if you're in need, you can call on me. Or bring 00:12:39.299 --> 00:12:42.100 your brother and yourself to live on my estate. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:45.480 You know I will take no charity from you, now 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:49.120 or ever. How dare you offer it after what you've 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.480 done to Clifford. I? Yes, you hate him. For what 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:55.360 reason I know not, but hate him you do. You do 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.679 me wrong, sweet cousin. Whilst I am a forbearing 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:03.700 man, I... I'd bear what crosses God sends me 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:07.299 to bear. I will not trouble you more now, but 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:17.340 wait for Clifford's return. Four Pinchons are 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:21.539 left. Nearsighted, angular, tall Hepzibah in 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:25.980 her rusty black. The smiling, fat, oily George 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:28.840 Jaffrey Pinchon, who so closely resembles the 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:52.590 - It can't be Clifford yet. No. Then who is it? 00:13:54.350 --> 00:14:00.289 Cousin Hepstiver! Cousin Hepstiver! What don't 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:03.590 you know me? Cousin? No pinch you never looked 00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:06.870 as lovely as you, child. Cousin Hepstiver, you 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:10.570 flatter me. But you can't deny it. I am your 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.730 country cousin. And my mother sends you her love 00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:16.169 and regards and hopes my visit to you will not 00:14:16.169 --> 00:14:20.190 put you out. Your visit? You intend to stay? 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:25.809 Didn't you get my mother's letter? No. I don't 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:27.950 understand about the letter. Oh, it doesn't matter 00:14:27.950 --> 00:14:32.269 now. You're here. But, child, I don't see how 00:14:32.269 --> 00:14:34.889 you can stay. Oh, I don't expect to be a guest. 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:38.629 I mean to earn my bread. I can find plenty to 00:14:38.629 --> 00:14:41.230 do, cousin. The garden and... Flowers and the 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:44.029 chickens will keep me out in the open air. I 00:14:44.029 --> 00:14:49.769 can't help in the shop. Please let me stay. Well, 00:14:49.909 --> 00:14:53.850 you can stay at least a night. But in any case, 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:56.190 the decision whether or not you remain at the 00:14:56.190 --> 00:14:59.870 House of Seven Gables is not up to me. Tomorrow, 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:05.669 if Master returns home, my brother Clifford will 00:15:05.669 --> 00:15:09.440 be coming home at last. I think I remember my 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.879 mother and father mentioning him, but as though 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:18.039 he were dead. Where has he been? In prison. Prison? 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.860 Why? For the murder of our uncle, the judge's 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:30.500 father, Jeffrey Pinchin. One other young and 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:34.519 unsuspecting girl, Alice Pinchin, came to grief 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.840 under the shadowed gables of this brooding old 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:41.710 house. Is another to share the same fate? We'll 00:15:41.710 --> 00:15:45.350 find out when I return shortly with Act Two. 00:15:55.690 --> 00:15:59.429 This is not my story, so let me quote from the 00:15:59.429 --> 00:16:02.730 man who first told it. The mysterious Clipper 00:16:02.730 --> 00:16:07.220 is about to return. And here is how he is foreshadowed 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:09.700 in conversation between Ms. Hepzibah Pynchon 00:16:09.700 --> 00:16:13.000 and the newly -arrived Phoebe. Thirty -one years 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.799 ago, my uncle, master of this house, was found 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:19.399 dead beneath the portrait of our ancestor, Colonel 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:23.320 Pynchon. Death was accountable. The authorities 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:26.980 decided to a blow on the head, since the desk 00:16:26.980 --> 00:16:29.700 and his private papers had been rifled. It was 00:16:29.700 --> 00:16:32.620 suspected that it was robbery and accidental 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:36.100 murder committed to avoid discovery. By Cousin 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:39.100 Clifford? Oh, I shall never believe that. You 00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:42.799 will see for yourself when he returns how gentle, 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.360 sweet, unworldly. Clifford could never have been 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:49.879 guilty. I'm sure from that kind face you showed 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:52.019 me in the miniatur, he was wrongly judged. No 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:55.940 question of that. Just as I am sure that Cousin 00:16:55.940 --> 00:17:00.070 Jaffrey... Why, I cannot understand. Wad's the 00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:03.250 one most instrumental in sending him there. How 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:06.210 could that be? It was he who discovered Clifford 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:10.809 by the rifle desk. Our uncle lying on... Oh, 00:17:11.410 --> 00:17:14.690 hi. Dear cousin, think of the present and not 00:17:14.690 --> 00:17:17.710 on the path. Soon cousin Clifford will be home 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:22.210 again. But surely it grows very late if he's 00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:26.529 covered today. Well, you'd best off to bed. Perhaps 00:17:26.529 --> 00:17:36.960 I should greet him alone. Oh, dear, how shall 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:41.799 I manage? May I help, Cousin? I'm always fond 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:45.339 when it comes to cookery. You see, I've lost 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:49.660 whatever art I had all these years alone. And 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:52.299 I wanted Clifford's first breakfast to be so 00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:54.960 tasty. You have a fire going bright enough to 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.619 taste the morning dusk, since the oven is hot. 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:01.279 Would you like me to bake an Indian cake? It 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.400 was Clifford's favorite all those years ago. 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:05.539 Well, then bake it I shall. What else can I do? 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:09.539 The coffee. Real mocha, if you would grind it. 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:13.980 We'll make a breakfast fit for a king. A tired, 00:18:15.059 --> 00:18:19.200 sad king, worn out by exile. Is he not well? 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:23.400 You should see to yourself soon enough, dear 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:28.640 Phoebe. Hush, hush, she's coming. Oh, let him 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.099 see you first, Phoebe. He likes bright faces. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:37.400 And mine is old, set in a star. Clifford, dear, 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:42.279 let me help you. The weakness is locked inside, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:47.799 Hipsipa. Nothing you or anyone can help. But 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:53.900 we are not alone. No, here's Phoebe. Phoebe, 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:57.809 Arthur's only child. You remember, I told you 00:18:57.809 --> 00:19:02.430 about her last night. Phoebe. Phoebe Pynchon. 00:19:03.490 --> 00:19:10.069 Phoebe. Ah, Arthur's child. Yes, I forget. You 00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:13.329 are welcome. Thank you, Cousin Clifford. Come 00:19:13.329 --> 00:19:17.289 sit here. Take this chair. Is this you, Hephzibah? 00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:24.549 How changed. How changed. Are you angry with 00:19:24.549 --> 00:19:28.779 me? Why should I be angry? And why do you bend 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:32.240 your brow so? Oh, Clifford, there is nothing 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:35.940 but love here. If I scowl, it is only habit that 00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:38.839 has gone before. Cousin Hepsworth is only worried 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.440 and concerned that you should be happy. Then 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:45.339 why do we keep that odious picture on the wall? 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:50.900 Why can't we get you... What is that sound? Why, 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.299 that is... Oh, Stevie, will you answer it? Of 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:56.150 course. That is the tinkle of the shot. Bell. 00:19:56.369 --> 00:20:00.930 Sharp Bell? Yes, sir. Ah, then. Has Miss Hepsworth's 00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:03.130 shop opened under such favorable circumstances 00:20:03.130 --> 00:20:06.289 that she needs an assistant as attractive as 00:20:06.289 --> 00:20:09.150 you? I'm a cousin of hers on a visit from the 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:11.069 country. Well, in that case, I suspect you are 00:20:11.069 --> 00:20:15.269 a kinsman of mine. Let's see. Oh, yes, yes, little 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:19.809 Phoebe Pinton. I am your kinsman, Judge Pinton, 00:20:20.490 --> 00:20:23.690 my little niece. Oh, surely I must pay you welcome. 00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:30.470 Oh, you resist me. I had not meant to. Quite 00:20:30.470 --> 00:20:33.109 right, quite right. A young girl, especially 00:20:33.109 --> 00:20:36.369 a very pretty one, cannot but be charry of her 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:40.009 lips. I did not mean to be unkind. Oh, I accept 00:20:40.009 --> 00:20:43.029 that. But are you afraid of something? Nothing 00:20:43.029 --> 00:20:45.630 I know of. I'll just step in and... What do you 00:20:45.630 --> 00:20:49.410 want, Jeffrey? Quite simply, a short visit with 00:20:49.410 --> 00:20:53.309 my... No. He cannot see visitors. I warned you 00:20:53.309 --> 00:20:56.700 to take care. Clifford is on the brink of a blacker 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:00.460 fate than yet possessed him. I need to see him 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:03.440 now. Oh, oh, Estela, as your daughter did, don't 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:05.819 let him in. Bake him on your knees if you must. 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:11.940 Ask him to have mercy, mercy. You heard. I heard. 00:21:12.619 --> 00:21:18.940 But must I? You will not let me see him. I want 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:23.000 to protect him. As you will. But you do me great 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:28.339 wrong, cousin. I only wish to help him. I will 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:37.160 find some other way. He seemed kind. Is his offer 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:39.880 of help so wicked? Oh, Phoebe, he has a heart 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:43.660 of iron. Let me go back to rejoin my poor brother 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:48.259 at breakfast. Of all of us, he's the one who 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:58.240 most needs protection. now don't do it lady what 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:02.220 drink from that or even wash your face I was 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:05.619 only looking at my reflection minute may I ask 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:08.799 who you are sir oh forgive me miss Pynchon has 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:13.000 not mentioned me mr. Holgate the border the same 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:17.779 at your service and you must be miss Phoebe gable 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:22.140 is yours oh my window is the one perhaps it is 00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:24.400 more seemingly to ask the question of you sir 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.019 by all means i can't mind the seventh since it 00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:31.420 is by all odds the most remote and separate see 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:35.059 up yonder beyond the eaves you live there all 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:39.680 alone the question hard to answer miss phoebe 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.519 why in the house of the seven gables is anyone 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.640 truly alone it's hard to tell whether the rats 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:50.880 outnumber the ghosts, or vice versa. Then why 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.819 pick it as a lodging by free will? If you must 00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:55.940 know, I can afford little, and the rent suits 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:58.619 my purse. The house also suits my profession. 00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:02.599 Your profession? I'm a maker of daguerreotypes. 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:07.339 How fascinating. Can you really point a machine 00:23:07.339 --> 00:23:10.299 at someone and make a likeness of them? I can. 00:23:11.059 --> 00:23:16.269 Do you doubt it? Why, I... Sounds like a kind 00:23:16.269 --> 00:23:19.430 of magic to me. Technically, in its way. But 00:23:19.430 --> 00:23:21.549 the result is a quite faithful reproduction of 00:23:21.549 --> 00:23:27.430 the subject. For example, this. Oh, you created 00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:31.109 this? I re -created this, shall we say. It is 00:23:31.109 --> 00:23:34.150 a likeness. Never mind the likeness. Miss Phoebe, 00:23:35.170 --> 00:23:41.450 look deeper. What kind of man is this? Why, that 00:23:41.450 --> 00:23:47.700 all affects a man of probity? Kindness? Of property? 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:51.779 Is the picture of that alone? Or can one look 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:54.480 deeper? Not knowing the subject, I don't see 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.039 how. Look at that eye, in the midst of a sunny 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:01.619 continent, speaking of an open heart. And yet, 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:06.059 observe carefully the cast in the eye, the line 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:10.220 of jaw, the subtle twist of mouth. Here is the 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:15.690 man, the true man, sly, subtle. Imperious, hard, 00:24:15.950 --> 00:24:20.109 and with all as cold as ice. Do you recognize 00:24:20.109 --> 00:24:27.569 him now? Church Pynchon? Still, there's some 00:24:27.569 --> 00:24:29.970 other resemblance. The daguerreotype is of the 00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:32.470 living, church. The resemblance is quite marked. 00:24:32.990 --> 00:24:35.710 Give or take the style of whisker, the fashion 00:24:35.710 --> 00:24:38.730 of cloth, the bloat of jowl. It could be the 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:41.190 original Colonel Pynchon who choked on his own 00:24:41.190 --> 00:24:45.099 blood. Why have you this picture? For the same 00:24:45.099 --> 00:24:48.259 reason, I wish to have all the pension clan. 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:54.099 Miss Phoebe, will you sit for me sometime? Why? 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:57.900 In any history, one must balance the good against 00:24:57.900 --> 00:25:02.400 the bad. Who are you? A recorder of history by 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:05.279 choice. Miss Hepzibah's lodger by chance. Will 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:07.880 you sit for my portrait of you? To what end? 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:10.759 That is beyond my power to say at this moment. 00:25:11.049 --> 00:25:14.150 Only that I can promise you, you are safe from 00:25:14.150 --> 00:25:18.369 any harm. And what do I get out of it? Well first, 00:25:18.390 --> 00:25:22.670 what you put into it. Second, a record of your 00:25:22.670 --> 00:25:29.710 beauty. And third... And third? No less than 00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:35.490 your future. One way or another. Then how can 00:25:35.490 --> 00:25:37.990 I refuse? My object was to make sure, as best 00:25:37.990 --> 00:25:45.819 I could, that you shouldn't. For once I was resting 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:49.700 more secure in my rotting grave. The urge to 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:53.319 wander grasped me less. The Pynchon dynasty was 00:25:53.319 --> 00:25:58.079 a sorry lot at best, save one. And a new dynamic 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:00.599 force was guiding my course to its revolution. 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:04.539 It was time to start to pull my winding sheet 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:07.740 more closely about me and begin to leave the 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:14.029 future to itself. But not yet. was not yet played 00:26:14.029 --> 00:26:25.589 out. The mysterious Mr. Holgrave. Who is he? 00:26:26.210 --> 00:26:30.390 What threat does he pose to see me? Perhaps the 00:26:30.390 --> 00:26:33.210 only breath of sanity to blow sweetly through 00:26:33.210 --> 00:26:36.589 the dusty corridors and winding staircases of 00:26:36.589 --> 00:26:39.410 both the Pincheon history and the house that 00:26:39.410 --> 00:26:42.960 encloses the living. as tight and inescapable 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:46.680 as the coffin in the grave. We'll return shortly 00:26:46.680 --> 00:27:01.519 with Act 3. For two centuries, the curse of the 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:04.359 hanged wizard Matthew Mall has hung like a cloud 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:07.519 over the house of the Seven Gables. The dark, 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:10.460 deteriorating, rat -infested and ghost -ridden 00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:15.000 house has outlived its time. Only the family 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.579 to which it belongs hangs on to some distant 00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:21.359 remnant of the past. There, cousin Clifford, 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:24.359 face in your little irie and retreat. I trust 00:27:24.359 --> 00:27:27.119 you, Phoebe, to find me this spot in my private 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:31.279 gable, by from here I can see all the world. 00:27:31.450 --> 00:27:33.589 In the bustle of our little town, certainly. 00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:39.829 How free I feel after all those years. I have 00:27:39.829 --> 00:27:43.849 the widest impulse. What, Cousin Clifford? Are 00:27:43.849 --> 00:27:47.549 you too young perhaps to remember when we blew 00:27:47.549 --> 00:27:51.890 soap bubbles? A glass of soapy water. And a clay 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:54.289 pipe. Yeah, the pipe I still have. Well, the 00:27:54.289 --> 00:27:57.950 soapy water I can provide. But the lost years. 00:27:58.869 --> 00:28:06.490 Where can they be found, the King? I wish his 00:28:06.490 --> 00:28:09.609 life were more than a shadowed gable overlooking 00:28:09.609 --> 00:28:13.250 the street. My cousin Hepsika, to watch the whole 00:28:13.250 --> 00:28:16.410 stream of life flow by is at least an introduction 00:28:16.410 --> 00:28:19.890 to the thought of returning to it. Perhaps you're 00:28:19.890 --> 00:28:25.289 right. Here's your soapy water. Take it to him 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:29.920 to blow bubbles. Good morning, Miss Phoebe. Mr. 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:34.180 Holgrave, how can I thank you? For what? For 00:28:34.180 --> 00:28:37.400 answering to my cry, for helping me hold back 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:39.440 my cousin Clifford. It's only fortunate that 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:42.960 I was nearby. I don't know how to explain. Why 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:45.220 should any of us try to explain the human effort, 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.880 drive, psyche? We all react to our impulses and 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:51.819 dreams to a greater or lesser degree. Did your 00:28:51.819 --> 00:28:56.099 cousin really want a jump? I was with him. I 00:28:56.099 --> 00:28:59.579 could scarce hold him. Why would he pretend? 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:02.640 Why indeed? At least there was no disaster. I'm 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:05.440 glad I was part of avoiding that. I can never 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:08.319 thank you enough. How can I do something in return? 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.779 Sit for me. Let me make a daguerreotype of you. 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:16.460 That's simple enough. But why? I wish I felt 00:29:16.460 --> 00:29:19.500 myself free to answer that completely, but for 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:21.920 at least one obvious reason. There should be 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:25.940 some permanent record of your beauty. I'm afraid 00:29:25.940 --> 00:29:30.680 you overstate your case. or my case. So I must 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:32.599 admit that even if you had not half admitted 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:36.660 it, I would suspect you of some ulterior purpose. 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:40.359 You never have quite trusted me, have you? It's 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:44.680 just that I sense you... you are not quite what 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:49.940 you seem to be. Let's... Oh, I don't know what 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:54.079 I feel. What do you want my image for? Say that 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.519 I want a record of the Pynchon family. And I'm 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:02.279 alone? No. My other purpose, I must keep to myself. 00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:08.019 I could refuse. I hope you won't. It would be 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:11.119 ungracious of me. I offered to do something in 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.259 return for helping save cousin Clifford's life. 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:16.720 When? The sooner the better. There's a skylight 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.980 in my gable room. The afternoon light would be 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:21.480 perfect. If you'll meet me there at five, I'll 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:26.119 be ready for you. I never thought to see the 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:53.400 day I would Shall we? Not have the door open 00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:55.720 and the windows unshutted. No, no, no, no. I 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:57.660 want no other light source than what strikes 00:30:57.660 --> 00:31:00.119 across my shoulder to you from above. And we 00:31:00.119 --> 00:31:02.039 must catch it now. All right, are you ready? 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:06.299 What must I do? Lift your eyes to mine, above 00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:12.059 the lens. So, now, relax. Think of something 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:16.839 soothing. Blue sky. The ripples on a sunlit pond. 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:21.640 Oh, yes. Yes, that's lovely. Don't try to smile. 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:24.859 Just stay and repose. When I expose the plate, 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:28.359 you must not move for 20 to 30 seconds. Now, 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:37.880 take a deep, slow breath and hold it. Now. Now 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:41.740 the plate is exposed. Silvered copper on which 00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:44.279 a film of silvered iodide has been formed by 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.839 iodine vapor. The sands are dropping through 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:52.559 my minuteglass. And slowly, slowly... Your image 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.420 develops on the plate. This one half -minute, 00:31:56.859 --> 00:32:00.259 I hold you mesmerized, only to make you immortal. 00:32:01.140 --> 00:32:05.099 Never to be forgotten. To last till the end of 00:32:05.099 --> 00:32:12.640 time. Now, you may relax. It's all over. Phoebe? 00:32:13.779 --> 00:32:18.480 Phoebe? Phoebe? I've mesmerized her, Phoebe! 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:26.099 my evil desire Phoebe Phoebe forgive me if now 00:32:26.099 --> 00:32:28.519 I say what I have not dared to say to you nor 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:31.059 ever will perhaps so long as you are a pension 00:32:31.059 --> 00:32:36.640 Phoebe I love you love you with all my heart 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:38.880 have loved you since that first moment I saw 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:42.440 you in the garden I have not cannot dare to hope 00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:44.720 when all is known that you could return that 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:48.400 love yet here at this moment with you completely 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:52.279 in my power I could a spell on you that would 00:32:52.279 --> 00:33:00.059 hold you forever mine no no Phoebe rather that 00:33:00.059 --> 00:33:02.700 you were never mine than to hold you bound to 00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:09.099 me against your will Phoebe pension can you hear 00:33:09.099 --> 00:33:17.779 me I hear you you are safe you know that You 00:33:17.779 --> 00:33:20.180 will have no memory of the trance you are in 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:25.359 now. No memory. And when you wake, you will feel 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:29.859 refreshed and your same lovely self. You promise 00:33:29.859 --> 00:33:36.200 me? I promise. Then, when I snap my fingers, 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:43.259 wake. Is my portrait all finished? Yes, Phoebe. 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:46.880 May I see it? Oh, no. I -I -I have much to do 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:50.160 before that. This one, I -I want to color. I 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.839 would not have you see it in black and white. 00:33:52.259 --> 00:33:54.480 Oh, then I shall have to wait to look at it till 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:58.480 I return. Return? I must go home to visit my 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.859 mother and father. And bring back the rest of 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:03.920 my clothes. You intend to stay on Seven Gables, 00:34:03.940 --> 00:34:08.519 then? Cousin Clifford needs me. And Cousin Hepzibah. 00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:13.199 I think it is my duty. To wither and dry up like 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:16.500 them? Before God, I pray you find some better 00:34:16.500 --> 00:34:26.980 fate. Some better fate indeed. Back in my grave, 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:30.280 my bones are ready to settle to eternal sleep, 00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:34.039 and the curse is ready to be wound up. And the 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.300 day after Phoebe left became the beginning of 00:34:37.300 --> 00:34:41.239 the end. Look at him, striding along the street 00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:44.000 toward the one -cent shop. The picture of a man 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:46.320 who owns most of the world and who intends to 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:50.320 clutch the rest of it to him. The 200 -year reincarnation 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:54.280 of the Pynchon who put me six feet under. Judge 00:34:54.280 --> 00:35:01.380 Jeffrey Pynchon. Judge Pynchon? Yes, Cousin Hepteber, 00:35:01.380 --> 00:35:04.420 the same. What do you want? What else, Cousin, 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:07.360 but I've done with all this. I want to see Clifford. 00:35:07.659 --> 00:35:12.469 No. It is my purpose to do so before. I leave 00:35:12.469 --> 00:35:15.670 this house. Haven't you done enough to him? Thirty 00:35:15.670 --> 00:35:18.889 years ago our uncle died. His immense fortune 00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:21.690 was left to me, save for your life interest in 00:35:21.690 --> 00:35:24.550 this property and the house of the seven gables. 00:35:24.929 --> 00:35:29.150 To Clifford, not to me. Some months before our 00:35:29.150 --> 00:35:32.590 mutual uncle's death, Clifford boasted to me 00:35:32.590 --> 00:35:36.190 that he knew the secret of incalculable wealth. 00:35:36.989 --> 00:35:39.230 I believe that at this moment if Clifford retain 00:35:39.230 --> 00:35:44.059 his wit and... If he chooses, he can tell me 00:35:44.059 --> 00:35:49.400 where the riches can be found if... if he chooses. 00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:56.239 And if he can't? Or doesn't? Back to the dungeon. 00:35:57.179 --> 00:35:59.699 I'll await your bringing him in here, in the 00:35:59.699 --> 00:36:02.880 old colonel's chair. It should in any case have 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:08.500 been mine. Am I right? I wish you ill of it. 00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:46.340 But I shall go. Fight, Clifford. No, no, my watch. 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:52.559 I have appointments to keep important things 00:36:52.559 --> 00:37:16.639 to do. him here, Phoebe. Dead of apoplexy, the 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.380 last of his line. But Hephzibah and Calvin Clifford... 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:22.320 They inherit the judge's country estate, bright 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.900 with sunlight, with no dark gables to hem them 00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:29.219 in. I've already moved them there. I'm so bewildered. 00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:33.280 What shall I do now? Phoebe, I have an offer. 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:37.940 What? Well, first let me reveal who I am and 00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:41.170 what I know. A two century old secret guarded 00:37:41.170 --> 00:37:43.829 to prove that might is not always right. Look. 00:37:44.510 --> 00:37:48.170 The curlicue pattern around the portrait. So 00:37:48.170 --> 00:37:51.750 many bits of detail. And only one that holds 00:37:51.750 --> 00:37:57.090 the power to. Open the vault where the ancient 00:37:57.090 --> 00:38:02.329 document lies behind the portrait. All that blood 00:38:02.329 --> 00:38:05.250 for a piece of parchment. Clothed in the dust 00:38:05.250 --> 00:38:08.070 of 200 years and not worth even the paper it's 00:38:08.070 --> 00:38:12.099 written on. A sad and silly secret handed down 00:38:12.099 --> 00:38:17.739 to me. But who are you? Like you, the last of 00:38:17.739 --> 00:38:21.420 the Pinchons, I am the last of the Mauls. Matthew 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:24.260 Maul. And with the end of the family curse, I 00:38:24.260 --> 00:38:32.039 feel reborn. Or will, if... If what, Matthew? 00:38:32.340 --> 00:38:34.960 Shall we end it all? Will you marry me, Phoebe, 00:38:35.179 --> 00:38:37.730 whom I love beyond all? and put an end for good 00:38:37.730 --> 00:38:42.050 to family feuds and tragic doom. Oh yes, Matthew. 00:38:42.710 --> 00:38:46.969 Yes. On one condition. You have only to ask. 00:38:48.030 --> 00:38:52.010 That we leave and shut up forever the house of 00:38:52.010 --> 00:39:03.150 the seven gables. For several years the house 00:39:03.150 --> 00:39:06.599 still stood. There were those who, passing it 00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:09.019 after dark, swore they could hear the tinkle 00:39:09.019 --> 00:39:11.599 of the harpsichord Alice Pinchin once used to 00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:14.460 play, the sound of the one -cent shock bell, 00:39:15.019 --> 00:39:19.179 the cough of a man choking. But in a very few 00:39:19.179 --> 00:39:22.340 years, this had little of flesh or blood left 00:39:22.340 --> 00:39:25.699 in it, like all legends about haunted houses. 00:39:26.639 --> 00:39:30.579 This one's only special claim to fame was that 00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:35.190 it had, if you counted them, Seven gables. I'll 00:39:35.190 --> 00:39:49.070 be back shortly. It should come as no surprise 00:39:49.070 --> 00:39:51.989 that Judge Jackery Pynchon was the one who really 00:39:51.989 --> 00:39:54.650 murdered his uncle. To have made General Clifford 00:39:54.650 --> 00:39:57.670 the scapegoat was reason enough for Matthew Mall 00:39:57.670 --> 00:40:00.469 to reach that powerful hand once more from the 00:40:00.469 --> 00:40:03.719 grave. and exact what so seldom happens to the 00:40:03.719 --> 00:40:08.159 villains of this world. Due retribution. Our 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:11.219 cast included Norman Rose, Arnold Moss, Breina 00:40:11.219 --> 00:40:14.820 Rayburn, Jada Rowland, and Stats Cosworth. The 00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:17.139 entire production was under the direction of 00:40:17.139 --> 00:40:20.460 Hyman Brown. This is E .G. Marshall inviting 00:40:20.460 --> 00:40:23.400 you to return to our mystery theater for another 00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:29.360 adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:30.380 dreams.