August 13, 2025 • 12 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Three the strange face. We left the cabin and found
a man at the campion, obstructing our way. He was
standing on the ladder with his back to us, peering
over the combing of the hatchway. He was, I could see,
and a shapen man, short, broad and clumsy, with a
crooked back, a hairy neck, and a head sunk between
(00:23):
his shoulders. He was dressed in dark blue serge and
had peculiarly thick, coarse black hair. I heard the unseen
dogs growl furiously and forthwith. He ducked back, coming into
contact with the hand I put out to find him
off from myself. He turned with animal swiftness in some
(00:45):
indefinable way. The black face thus flashed upon me shocked
me profoundly. It was a singularly deformed one. The facial
part projected forming something dimly suggestive of a muzzle, and
the huge, half open mouth showed as big white teeth
as I had ever seen in a human mouth. His
eyes were blood shot at the edges, with scarcely a
(01:07):
rim of white round the hazel pupils. There was a
curious glow of excitement in his face. Confound you, said Montgomery,
Why the devil. Don't you get out of the way.
The black faced man started aside without a word. I
went on up the companion, staring at him instinctively as
(01:29):
I did so, Montgomery stayed at the foot for a moment.
You have no bitterness here, you know, he said, in
a deliberate tone. Your place is forward. The black faced
man cowered, nay, won't have me forward. He spoke slowly,
(01:51):
with a queer, hoarse quality in his voice. Won't have
you forward, said Montgomery in a menacing tone. But I
tell you to go. He was on the brink of
saying something further, then looked up at me suddenly, and
followed me up the ladder. I paused half way through
(02:12):
the hatchway, looking back, still astonished beyond measure at the
grotesque ugliness of this black faced creature. I had never
beheld such a repulse of an extraordinary face before, And yet,
if the contradiction is credible, I experienced the same time
an odd feeling that in some way I had already
(02:33):
encountered exactly the features and gestures that now amazed me. Afterwards,
it occurred to me that probably I had seen him
as I was lifted aboard and yet that scarcely satisfied
my suspicion of a previous acquaintance. Yet, how one could
have set eyes on so singular a face and yet
(02:53):
have forgotten the precise occasion passed my imagination. Montgomery's movement
to follow me released my attention, and I turned and
looked about me at the flushed deck of the little schooner.
I was already half prepared by the sounds I had
heard for what I saw, certainly, I never beheld a
deck so dirty. It was littered with scraps of carrot,
(03:17):
shreds of green stuff, and indescribable filth. Fastened by chains
to the mainmast were a number of grisly staghounds, who
now began leaping and barking at me. And by the mizzen,
a huge puma was cramped in a little iron cage,
far too small even to give a turning room. Farther
(03:39):
under the starboard bulwark were some big hutches containing a
number of rabbits, and a solitary lama was squeezed in
a mere box of a cage. Forward, the dogs were
muzzled by leather straps. The only human being on deck
was a gaunt and silent sailor at the wheel. The
(03:59):
patched and dirty bankers were tense before the wind, and
up aloft the little ship seemed carrying every sail she had.
The sky was clear, the sun midway down the western sky.
Long waves capped by the breeze with froth were running
with us. We went past the steersman to the taffrail,
and saw the water come foaming under the stern, and
(04:22):
the bubbles go dancing and vanishing in her wake. I
turned and surveyed the unsavory length of the ship. Is
this an ocean menagerie? Said? I look like it? Said Montgomery.
What are these beasts for merchandise? Curios? Does the captain
(04:43):
think he is going to sell them somewhere in the
south seas? It looked like it, dothn't it, said Montgomery,
and turned towards the wake again. Suddenly we heard a
yelp and a volley of furious blasphemy from the companion hatchway,
and the deformed man with the black face came up hurriedly.
(05:04):
He was immediately followed by a heavy, red haired man
in a white cap. At the sight of the former,
the staghounds, who had all tired of barking at me.
By this time became furiously excited, howling and leaping against
their chains. The black hesitated before them, and this gave
the red haired man time to come up with him
(05:25):
and deliver a tremendous blow between the shoulder blades. The
poor devil went down like a felled ox, and rolled
in the dirt among the furiously excited dogs. It was
lucky for him that they were muzzled. The red haired
man gave a yop of exultation and stood staggering and
as it seemed to me, in serious danger of either
(05:47):
going backwards down the companion hatchway or forwards upon his victim.
So soon as the second man had appeared, Montgomery had
started forward sturdy. On there ah, he cried in a
tone of remonstrance. A couple of sailors appeared on the forecastle.
The black faced man, howling in a singular voice, rolled
(06:10):
about under the feet of the dogs. No one attempted
to help him. The brutes did their best to worry him,
butting their muzzles at him. There was a quick dance
of their lithe gray figured bodies over the clumsy, prostrate figure.
The sailors forward, shouted as though it was admirable sport.
(06:30):
Montgomery gave an angry exclamation and went striding down the deck,
and I followed him. The black faced man scrambled up
and staggered forward, going and leaning over the bulwark by
the main shrouds, where he remained panting and glaring over
his shoulders at the dogs. The red haired man laughed
a satisfied laugh. Look here, Captain, said Montgomery, with his
(06:56):
lisp a little accentuated, gripping the elbows of the red
haired man. This won't do. I stood behind Montgomery. The
captain came half round and regarded him with the dull
and solemn eyes of a drunken man. Wah won't do,
he said, and added, after looking sleepily into Montgomery's face
(07:19):
for a minute, last ditch sore bones. With a sudden movement,
he shook his arms free, and, after two ineffectual attempts,
stuck his freckled fists into his side pockets. That man's,
the passenger, said Montgomery. I'd advise you to keep your
(07:39):
hands off him. Go do well, said the captain loudly.
He suddenly turned and staggered towards the side. Do what
I like on my own ship, he said. I think
Montgomery might have left him then, seeing the brute was drunk,
But he only turned a shade paler and followed the
(08:02):
captain to the bulwarks. Look you here, captain, he said,
that man of mine is not to be ill treated.
He hath been heaved ever thinth he came aboard for
a minute. Alcoholic fumes kept the captain speechless. Blasted sow
(08:23):
bones was all he considered necessary. I could see that
Montgomery had one of those slow, pertinacious tempers that were
warm day after day to a white heat, and never
again cool to forgiveness. And I saw too that this
quarrel had been some time growing. The man's drunk, said
(08:45):
I perhaps officiously, it'll do no good. Montgomery gave an
ugly twist to his drooping lip. He's always drunk. Do
you think that? Excuseeth a thoughting? Pasengers, my ship began
the captain, waving his hand unsteadily towards the cages. Was
(09:09):
a clean ship. Look at it now? It was certainly
anything but clean, crew, continued the captain, Clean, respectable crew.
You agreed to take the beasts. I wish I'd never
set eyes on your infernal island. What the devil want
(09:33):
beasts for on an island like that? Then that man
of yours understood. He was a man. He's a lunatic,
and he hadn't no business aft. Do you think the
whole damn ship belongs to you? Your Tailith began to Haye,
the poor devil Athunith he came aboard. That's just what
(09:56):
he is. He's a devil, an ugly devil. My men
can't stand him. I can't stand him. None of us
can stand him, nor you either. Montgomery turned away. You
leave that man alone, anyhow, he said, nodding his head
(10:18):
as he spoke. But the captain meant to quarrel now,
he raised his voice. If he comes this end of
the ship again, I'll cut his insides out. I tell you,
cut out his blasted insides. Who are you to tell
me what I'm to do? I tell you, I'm the
(10:38):
captain of this ship, captain and owner. I'm the law here.
I tell you the law and the prophets. I bargain
to take a man and his attendants to and from
Erika and bring back some animals. I never bargain to
carry a mad devil and a silly saw bones bab well,
(11:00):
never mind what he called Montgomery. I saw the latter
take a step forward and interposed, He's drunk, said I.
The captain began some abuse, even fouler than the last.
Shut up, I said, turning on him sharply, for I
had seen danger in Montgomery's white face. With that, I
(11:23):
brought the downpour on myself. However, I was glad to
avert what was uncommonly near a scuffle, even at the
price of the captain's drunken ill will. I do not
think I have ever heard quite so much vile language
come in a continuous stream from any man's lips before.
Though I have frequented eccentric company enough, I found some
(11:47):
of it hard to endure, though I am a mild
tempered man. But certainly, when I told the captain to
shut up, I had forgotten that I was merely a
bit of human flots cut off from my resources, and
with by fare, unpaid, a mere casual dependent on the
(12:08):
bounty or speculative enterprise of the ship. He reminded me
of it with considerable vigor, But at any rate, I
prevented a fight
Three the strange face. We left the cabin and found
a man at the campion, obstructing our way. He was
standing on the ladder with his back to us, peering
over the combing of the hatchway. He was, I could see,
and a shapen man, short, broad and clumsy, with a
crooked back, a hairy neck, and a head sunk between
(00:23):
his shoulders. He was dressed in dark blue serge and
had peculiarly thick, coarse black hair. I heard the unseen
dogs growl furiously and forthwith. He ducked back, coming into
contact with the hand I put out to find him
off from myself. He turned with animal swiftness in some
(00:45):
indefinable way. The black face thus flashed upon me shocked
me profoundly. It was a singularly deformed one. The facial
part projected forming something dimly suggestive of a muzzle, and
the huge, half open mouth showed as big white teeth
as I had ever seen in a human mouth. His
eyes were blood shot at the edges, with scarcely a
(01:07):
rim of white round the hazel pupils. There was a
curious glow of excitement in his face. Confound you, said Montgomery,
Why the devil. Don't you get out of the way.
The black faced man started aside without a word. I
went on up the companion, staring at him instinctively as
(01:29):
I did so, Montgomery stayed at the foot for a moment.
You have no bitterness here, you know, he said, in
a deliberate tone. Your place is forward. The black faced
man cowered, nay, won't have me forward. He spoke slowly,
(01:51):
with a queer, hoarse quality in his voice. Won't have
you forward, said Montgomery in a menacing tone. But I
tell you to go. He was on the brink of
saying something further, then looked up at me suddenly, and
followed me up the ladder. I paused half way through
(02:12):
the hatchway, looking back, still astonished beyond measure at the
grotesque ugliness of this black faced creature. I had never
beheld such a repulse of an extraordinary face before, And yet,
if the contradiction is credible, I experienced the same time
an odd feeling that in some way I had already
(02:33):
encountered exactly the features and gestures that now amazed me. Afterwards,
it occurred to me that probably I had seen him
as I was lifted aboard and yet that scarcely satisfied
my suspicion of a previous acquaintance. Yet, how one could
have set eyes on so singular a face and yet
(02:53):
have forgotten the precise occasion passed my imagination. Montgomery's movement
to follow me released my attention, and I turned and
looked about me at the flushed deck of the little schooner.
I was already half prepared by the sounds I had
heard for what I saw, certainly, I never beheld a
deck so dirty. It was littered with scraps of carrot,
(03:17):
shreds of green stuff, and indescribable filth. Fastened by chains
to the mainmast were a number of grisly staghounds, who
now began leaping and barking at me. And by the mizzen,
a huge puma was cramped in a little iron cage,
far too small even to give a turning room. Farther
(03:39):
under the starboard bulwark were some big hutches containing a
number of rabbits, and a solitary lama was squeezed in
a mere box of a cage. Forward, the dogs were
muzzled by leather straps. The only human being on deck
was a gaunt and silent sailor at the wheel. The
(03:59):
patched and dirty bankers were tense before the wind, and
up aloft the little ship seemed carrying every sail she had.
The sky was clear, the sun midway down the western sky.
Long waves capped by the breeze with froth were running
with us. We went past the steersman to the taffrail,
and saw the water come foaming under the stern, and
(04:22):
the bubbles go dancing and vanishing in her wake. I
turned and surveyed the unsavory length of the ship. Is
this an ocean menagerie? Said? I look like it? Said Montgomery.
What are these beasts for merchandise? Curios? Does the captain
(04:43):
think he is going to sell them somewhere in the
south seas? It looked like it, dothn't it, said Montgomery,
and turned towards the wake again. Suddenly we heard a
yelp and a volley of furious blasphemy from the companion hatchway,
and the deformed man with the black face came up hurriedly.
(05:04):
He was immediately followed by a heavy, red haired man
in a white cap. At the sight of the former,
the staghounds, who had all tired of barking at me.
By this time became furiously excited, howling and leaping against
their chains. The black hesitated before them, and this gave
the red haired man time to come up with him
(05:25):
and deliver a tremendous blow between the shoulder blades. The
poor devil went down like a felled ox, and rolled
in the dirt among the furiously excited dogs. It was
lucky for him that they were muzzled. The red haired
man gave a yop of exultation and stood staggering and
as it seemed to me, in serious danger of either
(05:47):
going backwards down the companion hatchway or forwards upon his victim.
So soon as the second man had appeared, Montgomery had
started forward sturdy. On there ah, he cried in a
tone of remonstrance. A couple of sailors appeared on the forecastle.
The black faced man, howling in a singular voice, rolled
(06:10):
about under the feet of the dogs. No one attempted
to help him. The brutes did their best to worry him,
butting their muzzles at him. There was a quick dance
of their lithe gray figured bodies over the clumsy, prostrate figure.
The sailors forward, shouted as though it was admirable sport.
(06:30):
Montgomery gave an angry exclamation and went striding down the deck,
and I followed him. The black faced man scrambled up
and staggered forward, going and leaning over the bulwark by
the main shrouds, where he remained panting and glaring over
his shoulders at the dogs. The red haired man laughed
a satisfied laugh. Look here, Captain, said Montgomery, with his
(06:56):
lisp a little accentuated, gripping the elbows of the red
haired man. This won't do. I stood behind Montgomery. The
captain came half round and regarded him with the dull
and solemn eyes of a drunken man. Wah won't do,
he said, and added, after looking sleepily into Montgomery's face
(07:19):
for a minute, last ditch sore bones. With a sudden movement,
he shook his arms free, and, after two ineffectual attempts,
stuck his freckled fists into his side pockets. That man's,
the passenger, said Montgomery. I'd advise you to keep your
(07:39):
hands off him. Go do well, said the captain loudly.
He suddenly turned and staggered towards the side. Do what
I like on my own ship, he said. I think
Montgomery might have left him then, seeing the brute was drunk,
But he only turned a shade paler and followed the
(08:02):
captain to the bulwarks. Look you here, captain, he said,
that man of mine is not to be ill treated.
He hath been heaved ever thinth he came aboard for
a minute. Alcoholic fumes kept the captain speechless. Blasted sow
(08:23):
bones was all he considered necessary. I could see that
Montgomery had one of those slow, pertinacious tempers that were
warm day after day to a white heat, and never
again cool to forgiveness. And I saw too that this
quarrel had been some time growing. The man's drunk, said
(08:45):
I perhaps officiously, it'll do no good. Montgomery gave an
ugly twist to his drooping lip. He's always drunk. Do
you think that? Excuseeth a thoughting? Pasengers, my ship began
the captain, waving his hand unsteadily towards the cages. Was
(09:09):
a clean ship. Look at it now? It was certainly
anything but clean, crew, continued the captain, Clean, respectable crew.
You agreed to take the beasts. I wish I'd never
set eyes on your infernal island. What the devil want
(09:33):
beasts for on an island like that? Then that man
of yours understood. He was a man. He's a lunatic,
and he hadn't no business aft. Do you think the
whole damn ship belongs to you? Your Tailith began to Haye,
the poor devil Athunith he came aboard. That's just what
(09:56):
he is. He's a devil, an ugly devil. My men
can't stand him. I can't stand him. None of us
can stand him, nor you either. Montgomery turned away. You
leave that man alone, anyhow, he said, nodding his head
(10:18):
as he spoke. But the captain meant to quarrel now,
he raised his voice. If he comes this end of
the ship again, I'll cut his insides out. I tell you,
cut out his blasted insides. Who are you to tell
me what I'm to do? I tell you, I'm the
(10:38):
captain of this ship, captain and owner. I'm the law here.
I tell you the law and the prophets. I bargain
to take a man and his attendants to and from
Erika and bring back some animals. I never bargain to
carry a mad devil and a silly saw bones bab well,
(11:00):
never mind what he called Montgomery. I saw the latter
take a step forward and interposed, He's drunk, said I.
The captain began some abuse, even fouler than the last.
Shut up, I said, turning on him sharply, for I
had seen danger in Montgomery's white face. With that, I
(11:23):
brought the downpour on myself. However, I was glad to
avert what was uncommonly near a scuffle, even at the
price of the captain's drunken ill will. I do not
think I have ever heard quite so much vile language
come in a continuous stream from any man's lips before.
Though I have frequented eccentric company enough, I found some
(11:47):
of it hard to endure, though I am a mild
tempered man. But certainly, when I told the captain to
shut up, I had forgotten that I was merely a
bit of human flots cut off from my resources, and
with by fare, unpaid, a mere casual dependent on the
(12:08):
bounty or speculative enterprise of the ship. He reminded me
of it with considerable vigor, But at any rate, I
prevented a fight
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