The Lift - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The lift by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Flight Commander Stangate
should have been happy. He had come safely through the war,
without a hurt, and with a good name in the
most heroic of services. He had only just turned thirty,
and a great career seemed to lie ahead of him.

(00:22):
Above all, beautiful Mary mac lean was working by his side,
and he had her promise that she was there for life.
What could a young man ask for more? And yet
there was a heavy load upon his heart. He could
not explain it himself, and endeavored to reason himself out

(00:45):
of it. There was the blue sky above him, the
blue sea in front, the beautiful gardens with their throngs
of happy pleasure seekers around. Above all there was that
sweet face turned upon him with questioning concern. Why could
he not raise himself to so joyful an environment? He

(01:10):
made effort after effort, but they were not convincing enough
to deceive the quick instinct of a loving woman. What
is it, Tom, she asked anxiously, I can see that
something is clouding You do tell me if I can
help you in any way. He laughed in shamefaced fashion.

(01:35):
It is such a sin to spoil our little outing,
He said, I could kick myself around these gardens when
I think of it. Don't worry, my darling, for I
know the cloud will roll off. I suppose I am
a creature of nerves, though I should have got past
that by now. The flying service is suppose I that

(01:59):
brake you, or to warrant you for life? Tis nothing definite? Then? No,
it's nothing definite. That's the worst of it. You could
fight it off more easily if it was. It's just
a dead heavy depression here in my chest and across
my forehead. But do forgive me, dear girl, what a

(02:24):
brute I am to shaddow you like this. But I
love to share even the smallest trouble. Well, it's gone,
the most vanished. We will talk about it no more.
She gave him a swift, penetrating glance. No, no, Tom,

(02:45):
your brow shows as well as feels. Tell me, dear,
have you often felt like this? You really look very ill.
Sit here, dear, in the shade, and tell me of it.
They sat together in the shadow of the great latticed tower,

(03:06):
which reared itself six hundred feet high beside them. I
have an absurd facility, he said, I don't know that
I have ever mentioned it to any one before. But
when imminent danger is threatening me, I get these strange forebodings.

(03:27):
Of course, it is absurd to day in these peaceful surroundings.
It only shows how queerly these things work. But it
is the first time that it has deceived me. When
had you it before? When I was a lad, it

(03:48):
sees me. One morning I nearly drowned. That afternoon, I
had it when the burglar came to Morton Hall and
I got a bullet through my coat. Then twice in
the war, when I was overmatched and escaped by a miracle,

(04:09):
I had the strange feeling before I ever climbed into
my machine. Then it lifts suddenly, like a mist in
the sunshine. Why it is lifting? Now? Look at me?
Can't you see that it is so? She could Indeed
he had turned in a minute from a haggard man

(04:32):
to a laughing boy. She found herself laughing in sympathy.
A rush of high spirits and energy had swept away
his strange foreboding and filled his whole soul with the vivid,
dancing joy of youth. Thank goodness, he cried, I think

(04:55):
it is your dear eyes that have done it. I
could not stand and that wistful look in them. What
a silly, foolish nightmare it all has been. There's an
end for ever in my belief in presentiments. Now, dear girl,
we have just time for one good turn before luncheon.

(05:18):
After that the gardens get so crowded that it is
hopeless to do anything. Shall we have a side show,
or the great wheel, or the flying boat? Or what?
What about the tower? She asked, glancing at Surely that
glorious air and the view from the top could drive

(05:40):
the last whisps of cloud out of your mind. He
looked at his watch. Well, it's past twelve, and I
suppose we could do it all in an hour. But
it doesn't seem to be working. What about it, conductor?
The man shook it head and pointed to a little

(06:02):
knot of people who assembled at the entrance. They've all
been waiting, sir. It's hung up, but the gear is
being overhauled, and I expect the signal every minute. If
you join the others, I promise it won't be long.
They had hardly reached the group when the steel face

(06:24):
of the lift rolled aside, a sign that there was
hope in the future. The Motley crowd drifted through the
opening and waited expectantly upon the wooden platform. They were
not numerous, for the gardens are not crowded until the afternoon.
But they were fair samples of the kindly, good humored

(06:48):
North country folk who take their annual holiday at Northern
Their faces were all upturned now, and they were watching
with keen interest a man who was to sending the
steel framework. It seemed a dangerous, precarious business, but he
came as swiftly as an ordinary mortal upon a staircase.

(07:14):
My word, said the conductor, glancing up. Jim has got
a move on this morning. Who is he asked Commander Stangate.
That's Jim Barnes, Sir, the best workman that ever went
on a scaffold. He fair lives up there. Every bolt
and rivet are under his care. He is a wonder,

(07:38):
is Jim. But don't argue religion with him, said one
of the group. The attendant laughed, Ah, you know him,
then said he No, don't argue religion with him. Why not,
asked the officer. Well, he takes it very hard, he does.

(08:00):
He's the shining light of his sect. It ain't hard
to be, that, said the knowing one. I've heard there
are only six folk in the fold. He's one of
those who pitch are heaven as the exact size of
their own back street conventicle, and every one else left outside.
It better not tell him so while he's got that

(08:23):
hammer in his hand, said the conductor in a hurried whisper. Hallo, Jim,
how goes it this morning? The man slid slowly down
the last thirty feet and then balance himself on a
cross bar while he looked at the little group in
the lift. As he stood there, clad in a leather suit,

(08:46):
with his pliers and other tools dangling from his brown belt,
he was a figure to please the eye of an artist.
The man was very tall and gaunt, with great straggling
limbs and every appearance of giant strength. His face was
a remarkable one, noble and yet sinister, with dark eyes

(09:10):
and hair, a prominent hook nose, and a beard that
flowed over his chest. He steadied himself with one knotted
hand while the other held a steel hammer dangling by
his knee. It's already aloft, said he. I'll go up

(09:31):
with you if I may. He sprang down from his
perch and joined the others in the lift. I suppose
you are always watching it, said the young lady. That
is what I am engaged for. Miss from morning till night,
and often from night till morning. I am up here.
There are times when I feel as if I were

(09:53):
not a man at all, but a fowl of the air.
They fly round me, the creatures, as I lie out
on the girders, and they cry to me, until I
find myself crying back to the poor, soulless things. It's
a great charge, said the commander, glancing up at the

(10:14):
wonderful tracery of steel outlined against the deep blue sky. Aye, sir,
and there's not a nut nor a screw that is
riot in my keeping. Here's my hammer to ring them true,
and my spanner to wrench them tight. As the Lord
over the earth, so am I even I over the tower,

(10:40):
with power of life and power of death. I of
death and of life. The hydraulic machinery began to work,
and the lift slowly ascended. As it mounted, the glorious
panorama of the coast and bay gradually unfolded itself. So

(11:01):
engrossing was the view that the passengers hardly noticed it.
When the platform stopped abruptly between stages at the five
hundred foot level, Barnes the workmen muttered that something must
be amiss, and, springing like a cat across the gap
which separated them from the trelliswork of metal, he clambered

(11:24):
out of sight. The motley little party, suspended in mid air,
lost something of their British shyness under such unwonted conditions,
and began to compare notes with each other. One couple,
who addressed each other as Dolly and Billy, announced to

(11:44):
the company that they were the particular stars of the
hippodrome bill, and kept their neighbors tittering with their rather
obvious wit. A buxom mother, her precocious son, and two
married couples upon holiday formed an appreciative audience. You'd like

(12:05):
to be a sailor, would you, said Billy, the comedian,
in answers to some remark of the boy. Look ere,
my nipper, You'll end up as a blooming course if
you ain't careful. See I'm standing on the edge at
this hour in the morning. I can't bear to watch it.
What's the hour got to do with us? A stout
commercial traveler. My nerves ain't worth nothin before midday. Why

(12:32):
lookin down there and seein them folks like dots. Puts
me all in a twitter. My family is all alike
in the morning, I expect, said Dolly, a high colored
young woman, that they're all alike. The evening before, there

(12:52):
was a general laugh, which was led by the comedian.
You got it across that time, Doll. It's ka over Batland.
Billy still scentless when last heard of. If my family
is laughed at, I'll leave the room. It's about time
we did, said the commercial traveler, who was a red faced,

(13:15):
choleric person. It's a disgrace the way they hold us up.
I'll write to the company. Where's the bell, push, said Billy.
I'm going to ring what for the waiter, asked the
lady for the conductor, the chauffeur, whoever it is that
drives the ol bus up and down? Have they run

(13:36):
out of petrol or broke the mainstring or what? We
have a fine view anyhow, said the commander. Well I've
had that, remarked Billy. I'm done with it, and I'm
forgetting on. I'm gettin nervous, cried the stout mother. I
do hope there's nothing wrong with the lift. I say,

(13:59):
hold on to the snake of my coat, Dolly, I'm
going to look over and chance it. Oh lord, it
makes me sick and giddy. There's a horse down under,
and it ain't bigger than a mouse. I don't see
anyone looking after us. Where's old Isaiah, the private who
came up with us. He shinneyed out of it mighty

(14:21):
quick when he thought trouble was coming. Look here, said Dolly,
looking very perturbed. This is a nice thing. I don't
think here we are five hundred foot up and stuck
for the day, as like as not. I'm due for
the matinee at the Hippodrome. I'm sorry for the company
if they don't get me down in time for that.

(14:43):
I'm build all over the town for a new song,
A new one. What's that, Dolly? A real pot of ginger?
I tell you it's called on the Road to Ascot.
I've got a hat four foot across to sing it in.
Come on, Dolly, let's have a rehearsal while we wait. No, No,

(15:07):
the young lady here wouldn't understand. I'd be very glad
to hear it, cried Mary mc lean. Please don't let
me prevent you. The words were written to the hat.
Couldn't sing the verses without the hat. And there's a
nailing good chorus to it. If YO want a little

(15:28):
mascot when ye're on the way to ascot, try the
lady with the cart wheel hat. She had a tuneful
voice and a sense of rhythm that set every one nodding.
Try it now all together, she cried, And the strange
little haphazard company sing it with all their lungs, I say,

(15:51):
said Billy. That ought to wake somebody up. What let's
try a shout all together. It was a fine effort,
but there was no response. It was clear that the
management down below was quite ignorant or impotent. No sound
came back to them. The passengers became alarmed. The commercial

(16:16):
traveler was rather less rubicund. Billy still tried to joke,
but his efforts were not well received. The officer in
his blue uniform at once took his place as rightful
leader in a crisis. They all looked to him and
appealed to him. What would you advise, sir? You don't

(16:39):
think there's any danger of it coming down, do you
not the least? But it's awkward to be stuck here
all the same. I think I could jump across on
to that girder. Then perhaps I could see what is wrong. No, no, Tom,
for goodness sake, don't leave us. Some people have a

(16:59):
new IRV, said Billy Fancy, jumping across a five hundred
foot drop. I dare say the gentleman did worse things
than the war. Well, I wouldn't do it myself, not
if they starred me in the bills. It's all very
well for old Oziah. It's his job. I wouldn't do
him out of it. Three sides of the lift were

(17:23):
shut in with wooden partitions pierced with windows for the view.
The fourth side, facing the sea, was clear. Stangate leaned
as far as he could and looked upwards. As he
did so, there came from above him a peculiar, sonorous,

(17:45):
metallic twain, as if a mighty harp string had been
struck some distance up a hundred feet. Perhaps he could
see a long brown corded arm which was working furiously
among the wire cordage above. The form was beyond his view,

(18:08):
but he was fascinated by this bare, sinewy arm that
tugged and pulled and sagged and stabbed. It's all right,
he said, and a general sigh of relief broke from
his strange comrades at his words. There is some one
above us setting things right. It's old a sire, said Billy,

(18:31):
stretching his neck round the corner. I can't see him,
but it's his arm for a dollar. What's he got
in his hand? Looks like a screwdriver or something. No,
by George, it's a file. As he spoke, there came
another sonorous twain from above. There was a troubled frown

(18:55):
upon the officer's brow. I say, dash it all. That's
the very sound our steel haws are made. When it
parted strand by strad At Dick's mewed, what the juice
is the fellow about? Hey there, what are you trying
to do? The man had ceased his work, was now

(19:17):
slowly descending the iron Trellis all right, he's coming, said
Stangate to his startled companions. It's all right, Mary, don't
be frightened, any of you. It's absurd to suppose he
would really weaken the cord that holds us. A pair
of high boots appeared from above. Then came the leathern breeches,

(19:40):
the belt with its dangling tools, the muscular form, and
finally the fierce, swarthy eagle face of the workman. His
coat was off and his shirt open, showing the hairy chest.
As he appeared, there came another sharp snapping vibration from above.

(20:02):
The man made his way down in leisurely fashion, and then,
balancing himself upon the cross girder and leaning against the
side piece, he stood with folded arms, looking from under
his heavy black brows at the huddled passengers upon the platform.

(20:24):
Hallo said, stangate, what's the matter. The man stood impassive
and silent, with something indescribably menacing in his fixed, unwinking stare.
The flying officer grew angry. Hello are you deaf? He cried?
How long do you mean to have us stuck here?

(20:46):
The man stood silent. There was something devilish in his appearance.
I'll complain of you, my lad said Billy in a
quavering voice. This won't stop here, I can promise you.
Look here, cried the officer. We have ladies here and
you are alarming them. Why are we stuck here. Has

(21:10):
the machinery gone wrong? You are here, said the man,
because I have put a wedge against the hawser above you.
You've fouled the line. How dared you do such a thing?
What right have you to frighten the women and put
us all to this inconvenience? Take that wedge out this instant,

(21:34):
or it will be the worse for you. A man
was silent. Do you hear what I say? Why the
devil don't you answer? Is this a joke? Or what
we've had about? Enough of it? I tatter. Mary mc
lean gripped her lover by the arm in agony of

(21:55):
sudden panic. Oh Tom, she cried, Look in his eyes,
Look at his horrible eyes. The man is a maniac.
The workmen stirred suddenly into sinister life. His dark face
broke into writhing lines of passion, and his fierce eyes
glowed like embers while he shook one long arm in

(22:18):
the air. Behold, he cried, those who are mad to
the children of this world are in very truth, the
Lord's anointed and the dwellers of the inner Temple. Lo,
I am one who is prepared to testify even to
the utmost for of a verity. The day has now

(22:41):
come when the humble will be exalted and the wicked
will be cut off for their sins. Mother, mother, cried
a little boy in terror. There there, it's all right, jack,
said the buxom woman, And then, in a burst of
womanly wrath, what do you want to make the child cry? For?

(23:03):
You're a pretty man. You are better as you cry
now than in the outer darkness. Let him seek safely
while there is yet time. The officer measured the gap
with a practiced eye. It was a good eight feet across,

(23:23):
and the fellow could push him over before he could
steady himself. It would be a desperate thing to attempt.
He tried soothing words once more. See here, my lad,
you've carried this joke too far. Why should you wish
to injure us? Just shin up and get that wedge out,

(23:46):
and we will agree to say no more about it.
Another rending snap came from above by George. The hawser
is going, cried stangate here, stand aside. I'm coming over
to see to it. The workmen had plucked the hammer
from his belt and waved it furiously in the air.

(24:09):
Stand back, young man, Stand back. Or come if you
would hasten your end, Tom, Tom, for God's sake, don't
spring help help. The passengers all joined in the cry
for aid. The man smiled malignantly as he watched them.
There is no one to help. They could not come.

(24:31):
If they would, you would be wiser to turn to
your own souls, that ye be not cast to the
burning lo Strand by strand the cable snaps which hold you,
there is yet another, And with each that goes there
is more strain upon the rest five minutes of time,

(24:55):
and all eternity beyond. A moan of fear rose from
the prisoners in the lift. Stangate felt a cold sweat
upon his brow as he passed his arm around the
shrinking girl. If this vindictive devil could only be coaxed

(25:15):
away for an instant, he would spring across and take
his chance in a hand to hand fight. Look here,
my friend, we give you best, he cried. We can
do nothing. Go up and cut the cable if you wish,
go on, do it now and get it over, that
you may come across unharmed. Having set my hand to

(25:38):
the work, I will not draw back from it. Fury
seized the young officer, You devil, he cried, What do
you stand there grinning for? I'll give you something to
grin about. Give me a stick, one of you. The
man waved his hammer. Come then, come to judgment, he howled.

(26:02):
He'll murdy you. Tom Oh, for God's sake, don't if
we must die, let us all die together. I wouldn't
try it, Sir, cried Billy. He'll strike you down before
you get a footing. Hold up, Dolly, my dear Phainton
won't help us. You speak to a miss, maybe you'll
he'll listen to you. Why should you wish to hurt us,

(26:27):
said Mary, What have we ever done to you? Surely
you be sorry afterwards if we are injured, Now, do
be kind and reasonable and help us get back to
the ground. For a moment, there may have been some
softening in the man's fierce eyes as he looked at
the sweet face which was upturned to him. Then his

(26:51):
features set once more into the grim lines of malice.
My hand is set to the workwoman, is not for
the servant to look back from his task. But why
should it be your task? Because there is a voice
within me which tells me so. In the night time,

(27:14):
I have heard it, and in the daytime too, when
I have lain out alone upon the girders and seen
the wicked dotting the streets below me, each busy in
his own evil intent. John Barnes, John Barnes said the voice,
you are here that you may give a sign to

(27:36):
a sinful generation, such a sign as shall show them
that the Lord liveth, that there be a judgment upon sin?
Who am I that I should disobey the voice of
the Lord, The voice of the devil, said, stangate. What
is the sin of this lady or of these others

(27:59):
that you should seek their lives? You are as the others,
neither better nor worse. All day they passed me load
by load, with foolish cries and empty songs and vain
babble of voices. Their thoughts are set upon the things

(28:19):
of the flesh. Too long have I stood aside and
watched and refused to testify. But now the day of
wrath is come, and the sacrifice is ready. Think not
that a woman's tongue could turn me from my task.
It is useless, Mary cried, useless. I read death in

(28:40):
his eyes. Another chord snapped. Repent, Repent cried the madman.
One more and it is over. Commander Stangate felt as
if it were all some extraordinary dream, some monstrous nightmare.

(29:03):
Could it be possible that he, after all his escapes
of death in warfare, was now in the heart of
peaceful England at the mercy of a homicidal lunatic, And
that his dear girl, the one being whom he would
shield from the very shadow of danger, was helpless before

(29:24):
this horrible man. All his energy and manhood rose up
in him for one last effort. Here we won't be
killed like sheep in the shambles, he cried, throwing himself
against the wooden wall of the lift and kicking with
all his force. Come on, boys, kick it, beat it.

(29:47):
It's only match boarding, and it is giving. Smash it down.
Well done once more. Altogether there she goes, now for
the side out with it splendid. First the back and
then the side of the little compartment had been knocked out,

(30:08):
and the splinters dropped down into the abyss. Barnes danced
upon his girder, his hammer in the air. Strive not,
he shrieked, It avails. Not. The day is surely come.
It's not two feet from the side girder cried the officer.
Get across, quick, quick, all of you. I'll hold this

(30:32):
devil off. He had seized a stout stick from the
commercial traveler and faced the madman, daring him to spring across.
Your turn now, my friend, he hissed, Come on, hammer
and all, I'm ready for you. Above him, he heard
another snap, and the frail platform began to rock. Glancing

(30:58):
over his shoulder, he saw that his companions were all safe.
Upon the side girder a strange line of terrified castaways.
They appeared as they clung in an ungainly row to
the trellis work of steel, but their feet were on
the iron support. With two quick steps and a spring,

(31:20):
he was at their side. At the same instant the murderer,
Hammond in hand, jumped the gap. They had one vision
of him there, a vision which will haunt their dreams.
The convulsed face, the blazing eyes, the wind tossed raven locks.

(31:44):
For a moment he balanced himself upon the swaying platform.
The next, with a rending crash, he and it were gone.
There was a long silence, and then far down the
thud and clatter of a mighty fall, with white faces.

(32:10):
The forlorn group clung to the cold steel bars, gazed
down into the terrible abyss. It was the commander who
broke the silence. They'll send for us now it's all safe,
he cried, wiping his brow. But by Jove it was

(32:32):
a close call. End of the lift.