Dracula's Guest & Other Weird Tales - The Coming of Abel Behenna

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Coming of Abel Behenna. This is a LibriVox recording.
All liberyvox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Kate Mackenzie. The Coming of Abel Behenna by Bram Stoker.

(00:21):
The little Cornish port of Pencastle was bright in the
early April, when the sun had seemingly come out to
stay after a long and bitter winter. Boldly and blackly,
the rocks stood out against a background of shaded blue
where the sky, fading into mist, met the far horizon.
The sea was of true Cornish hue sapphire, save where

(00:43):
it became deep emerald green in the fathomless depths under
the cliffs, where the seal caves opened their grim jaws.
On the slopes, the grass was parched and brown. The
spikes of furze bushes were ashy gray, but the golden
yellow of their flowers stream along the hillside, dipping out
in lines as the rock cropped up and lessening into

(01:04):
patches and dots, till finally it died away all together.
Where the sea wind swept around the jutting cliffs and
cut short the vegetation, as though with an ever working
aerial shear. The whole hillside, with its body of brown
and flashes of yellow, was just like a colossal yellow hammer.

(01:24):
The little harbor opened from the sea, between towering cliffs
and behind a lonely rock pierced with many caves and blowholes,
through which the sea in storm time sent its thunderous voice,
together with a fountain of drifting spume. Hence it wound
westwards in a serpentine course, guarded at its entrance by
two little curving piers to left and right. These were

(01:49):
roughly built of dark slates, placed endways and held together
with great beams browned with iron bands. Thence it flowed
up the rocky bed of the stream, whose winter torrents
had of old cut out its way amongst the hills.
This stream was deep at first, with here and there
where it widened patches of broken rock exposed at low water,

(02:11):
full of holes where crabs and lobsters were to be
found at the ebb of the tide, from amongst the
rocks rose steady posts used for warping in the little
coasting vessels which frequented the port. Higher up the stream
still flowed deeply, for the tide ran far inland, but
always calmly. For all the force of the wildest storm

(02:31):
was broken below some quarter mile inland. The stream was
deep at high water, but a low tide there were
each side patches of the same broken rock as lower down,
through the chinks of which the sweet water of the
natural stream tickled and murmured after the tide had ebbed away.
Here too rose mooring posts for the fishermen's boats. At

(02:54):
either side of the river was a row of cottages
down almost on the level of high tide. They were
pretty cottages, strongly and snugly built, with trim narrow gardens
in front full of old fashioned plants, flowering currants, colored primroses,
wall flower and stone crop. Over the fronts of many
of them find clematis and wisteria. The window sides and

(03:16):
doorposts of all were as white as snow, and the
little pathway to each was paved with light colored stones.
At some of the doors were tiny porches, whilst others
were rustic seats cut from tree trunks or from old barrels.
In nearly every case, the window ledges were filled with
boxes or pots of flowers or foliage plants. Two men

(03:38):
lived in cottages exactly opposite each other across the stream.
Two men, both young, both good looking, both prosperous, and
who had been companions and rivals from their boyhood. Abel
Behenna was dark, with a gypsy darkness which the Phoenician
mining wanderers left in their track. Eric Samson, which the

(03:59):
local and aquarian said was a corruption of Sagomanson, was fair,
which the ruddy hue which marked the path of the
now wild Norsemen. These two seemed to have singled out
each other from the very beginning, to work and strive together,
to fight for each other, and to step back to
back in all endeavors. They had now put the coping

(04:20):
stone on their temple of unity by falling in love
with the same girl. Sarah t Refuses was certainly the
prettiest girl in Pencastle, and there was many a young
man who would gladly have tried his fortune with her,
But that there were two to contend against, and each
of these the strongest and most resolute man in the

(04:40):
port except the other. The average young man thought that
this was very hard, and on account of it, bore
no good will to either of the three principles, whilst
the average young woman, who had less worse should befall
to put up with the grumbling of her sweetheart and
the sense of being only second best, which it implied,

(05:02):
did not either be sure regard Sarah with friendly eye.
Thus it came in the course of a year or so.
The rustic courtship is a slow process that the two
men and women found themselves thrown much together. They were
all satisfied, so it did not matter, And Sarah, who

(05:22):
was vain and something frivolous, took care to have her
revenge on both men and women in a quiet way.
When a young woman in her walking out could only
boast one not quite satisfied young man, it is no
particular pleasure for her to see her escort cast sheep's
eyes at a better looking girl, supported by two devoted

(05:43):
swains at length. There came a time which Sarah dreaded,
and which she had tried to keep distant, the time
when she had to make a choice between the two men.
She liked them both, and indeed either of them have
satisfied the ideas of even a more exacting girl. But

(06:04):
her mind was so constituted that she thought more of
what she might lose than of what she might gain,
And whenever she thought she had made up her mind,
she became instantly assailed with doubts as to the wisdom
of her choice. Always the man whom she had presumably
lost became endowed afresh with a newer and more bountiful

(06:24):
crop of advantages than had ever arisen from the possibility
of his acceptance. She promised each man that on her
birthday she would give him his answer, and that day,
the eleventh of April, had now arrived. The promises had
been given singly and confidentially, but each was given to
a man who was not likely to forget. Early in

(06:48):
the morning she found both men hovering around her door.
Neither had taken the other into his confidence, and each
was simply seeking an early opportunity of getting his answer
and advancing his suit if necessary. Damon, as a rule,
does not take pittheous with him when making a proposal,
and in the heart of each man, his own affairs

(07:09):
had a claim far above any requirements of friendship, so
throughout the day they kept seeing each other out The
position was doubtless somewhat embarrassing to Sarah, and though the
satisfaction of her vanity. That she should be thus adored
was very pleasing. Yet there were moments when she was

(07:30):
annoyed with both men for being so persistent. Her only
consolation at such moments was that she saw through the
elaborate smiles of the other girls, when in passing they
noticed her daughters doubly guarded the jealousy which filled their hearts.
Sarah's mother was a person of commonplace and sordid ideas,

(07:51):
and seeing all along the state of affairs, her one intention,
persistently expressed to her daughter in the plainest words, was
to so arrange matters that Sarah should get all that
was possible out of both men. With this purpose, she
had cunningly kept herself as far as possible in the
background in the matter of her daughter's wooings, and watched

(08:13):
in silence. At first, Sarah had been indignant with her
for her sordid views, but as usual, her weak nature
gave way before persistence, and she had now got to
the stage of acceptance. She was not surprised when her
mother whispered to her in the little yard behind the house,

(08:34):
go up the hillside for a while, I want to
talk to these two. They're both reared heart for you,
and now's the time to get things fixed. Sarah began
a feeble remonstrance, but her mother cut her short. I
tell you, girl that my mind is made up. Both
these men, aren't ye i'd only one can have yer.
But before you choose, you'll be so arranged that you'll

(08:56):
have all that both have got. Don't orgy, child, go
up the hillside, and when you come back, I'll have
it fixed. I see you away quite easy. So Sarah
went up the hillside through the narrow pass between the
Golden Firs, and Missus Traffusus joined the two men in
the living room of the little house. She opened a
tack with a desperate courage, which is in all mothers

(09:18):
when they think for their children. Howsoever mean the thoughts
may be. The two men, you're both in love with
my Sarah. Their bashful silence gave consent to the bare
faced proposition. She went on, neither of you has much. Again,
they tacitly acquiesced in the soft impeachment. I don't know

(09:38):
that either of you could keep a wife. Though neither
said a word, the luxe and bearing expressed distinct descent
missus trefusis went on, but if you'd put what you
both have together, you'd make a comfortable home for one year.
And Sarah she eyed the men keenly, with a kind

(09:59):
of eyes half shut as she spoke. Then satisfide satisfied
from her scrutiny that the idea was accepted, she went
on quickly, as if to prevent argument. The girl likes
you both, and mayhap it's hard for her to choose.
Why don't you toss up for her first? Put your
money together. You've each got a bit put by, I know.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Let the lucky man take the lot and trade with
it a bit, and then come home and marrier. Neither
of you is afraid, I suppose, and neither of you'll
say that you won't do that much for the girl
that you both say you love. Abel broke the silence.
It don't seem a square thing to toss for the girl.
She won't like it herself, and it doesn't seem respectful

(10:42):
like to her.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Eric interrupted, He was conscious that his chance was not
so good as Abel's in case Sarah should wish to
choose between them. You're afraid of the hazard, not me,
said Abel boldly, Missus Troffusius, seeing that her idea was
beginning to work, followed up the advantage. It is settle
that you put your money together to make a home

(11:05):
for her, whether you toss for her or leave it
for her to choose. Yes, said Eric quickly, and Abele
agreed with equal sturdiness. Missus Effusus's little cunning eyes twinkled.
She heard Sarah step in the yard and said, well,
here she comes, and I leave it to her. Then
she went out. During her brief walk on the hillside,

(11:27):
Sarah had been trying to make up her mind. She
was feeling almost angry with both men for being the
cause of her difficulty, and as she came into the
room said shortly, I want to have a word with
you both. Come to the flagstaff rock where we can
be alone. She took her hat and went out of
the house up the winding path to the steep rock
crowned with a high flagstaff, where once the wreckers firebasket

(11:51):
used to burn. This was the rock which formed the
northern jaw of the little harbor. There was only room
on the path for two abreast, and it marked this
of things pretty well. When by sort of implied arrangement.
Sarah went first, and the two men followed, walking abreast
and keeping step. By this time each man's heart was

(12:12):
boiling with jealousy. When they came to the top of
the rock, Sarah stood against the flagstaff. Then the two
young men stood opposite her. She had chosen her position
with knowledge and intention, for there was no room for
anyone to stand beside her. They were all silent for
a while. Then Sarah began to laugh and said, I

(12:33):
promise the both of you to give you an answer today.
I've been thinking. I've been thinking and thinking till till
I began to get angry with you. Both are blaming
me so and even now I don't see many nearer
than ever I was to making up my mind. Eric said, suddenly,
let us toss for it last. Sarah showed no indignation

(12:55):
or terror at the proposition. Her mother's eternal suggestion had
scolded her to the acceptance of something of the kind,
and her weak nature made it easy for her to
grasp at any way out of the difficulty. She stood
with downcast eyes, madly picking at the sleeve of her dress.
Seemed to have tusly acquiesced in the proposal. Both men,

(13:17):
instinctively realizing this, pulled each a coin from his pocket,
spun it in the air, and dropped his other hand
over the palm on which it lay. For a few seconds,
there remained thus all silent. Then Abel, who was the
more thoughtful of the men, spoke, Sarah, is this good?
As he spoke, he removed the upper hand from the

(13:38):
coin and placed the latter back in his pocket. Sarah
was nettled. Good or bad, It's good enough for me.
Take it or leave it as you like, she said,
to which he quickly replied, nay Las aught the consonance
you is good enough for me. I did, but think
of you lest you might have some pain or disappointment hereafter.

(13:59):
If you look very bad, RAMI God's name, say so,
and I think our manner not to stand inside. Likewise,
if I'm the one, don't make us both miserable for life.
Face to face with a difficulty, Sarah's weak nature proclaimed itself.
She put her hands before her face and began to cry, saying,

(14:21):
with my mother, she keeps telling me. The silence which
followed was broken by Eric, who said hotly to Abel,
let the last alone. Can't you she wants to choose
this way, let her it's good enough for me and
for you too, She said it now must abide by it. Hereupon,
Sarah turned upon him in sudden fury and cried, hold

(14:41):
your tom what is it to you at any rate?
And she resumed her crying. Eric was so flabbagasted that
he had not a word to say, but stood looking
particularly foolish, with his mouth open and his hands held out,
with the coin still between them. All was silent till Sarah,
taking her hands from her face, laughed his derecly and said,

(15:04):
as you two can't make up your minds, I'm going home,
and she turned to go. Stop, said Abel in an
authoritative voice, Eric, you hold the coin and I'll cry
now before we settle it. Let us clearly understand. The
man who wins takes all the money that we both
have got, brings it to Bristol and ships on a

(15:26):
voyage and trades with it. Then he comes back marry Sarah,
and they too keep all whatever there may be as
a result of the trading. Is this what we understand? Yes,
said Eric, I'll marry him on my next birthday, said Sarah,
having said it the intolerably mercenary. Spirit of her actions

(15:47):
seemed to strike her, and impulsively she turned away with
a bright blush. Fire seemed to sparkle in the eyes
of both men, said Eric, a year, so be the
man that wins is to have one year. Toss cried Abel,
and the coin spun in the air. Eric caught it
and again held it between his outstretched hands. Heads cried Abel,

(16:07):
a pallace swooping over his face as he spoke. As
he leaned forward to look, Sarah leaned forward too, and
their heads almost touched. He could feel her hair blowing
on his cheek, and it thrilled through him like fire.
Eric lifted his upper hand. The coin lay with its
head up. Abel stepped forward and took Sarah in his arms.
With a curse. Eric held the coin far into the sea.

(16:31):
Then he leaned against the flagstaff and scowled at the others,
with his hands thrust deep into his pockets. Abel whispered
wild words of passion and delight into Sarah's ears, and
as she listened, she began to believe that fortune had
quidly interpreted the wishes of her secret heart, and that
she loved Abel best Presently Abel looked up and caught

(16:52):
sight of Eric's face as the last ray of sunset
struck it. The red light intensified the natural ruddiness of
his complexion, and he looked as though he were steeped
in blood. Abel did not mind his scowlful now that
his own heart was at rest, he could feel unalloyed
pity for his friend. He stepped over me need to
comfort him, and held out his hand, saying, it was

(17:15):
my chance, old lad. They'll gudge it me. I'll try
to make Sarah a happy woman, and you shall be
a brother. Twis both brother be damned was all the
answer Eric made as he turned away. When he had
gone a few steps down the rocky path, he turned
and came back, standing before Abel and Sarah, who had
their arms around each other. He said, you have a year.

(17:37):
Make the most of it, and be sure you're in
time to claim your wife. Be back to have your
bands up, in time to be married on the eleventh
of April. If you're not, I tell you, or he
shall have my bands up and you may get back
too late. What do you mean, Eric, you're mad, no
more mad than you are able than Hennah, you go,
that's your chance for he stake that's mine. I don't

(18:00):
mean to let the grass grow under my feet. Sarah
cared no more for you than for me five minutes ago,
and she may come back to that five minutes after
your God, you won by a point. Only the game
may change. The game will change, said Abel shortly. Sarah,
you'll be true to me. You won't marry till I

(18:20):
return for year, added Eric quickly. That's the bargain. I
promise for the year, said Sarah. A dark look came
over Abel's face, and he was about to speak, but
he mustered himself and smiled. I mustn't be too hard
or get angry tonight. Come Eric. We played and fought together.

(18:41):
I won fairly. I played fairy all the game of
our wooing. You know that as well as I do.
And now when I'm going away, I shall look to
my old and true comrade to help me. When I'm gone,
I'll help you none, said Eric. So help me. God,
it was God help me, said Abel. Simply. Then let
him go on helping you, said Eric angrily. The devil

(19:03):
is good enough from me, And without another word, he
rushed down the steep path and disappeared. Behind the rocks.
When he had gone, Abel hoped for some tender passage
with Sarah, but the first remark she made chilled him.
How lonely all seemed without Eric, and this note sounded
till he had left her at home and after early

(19:24):
on the next morning, Abel heard a noise at his door,
and on going out, saw Eric walking rapidly away. A
small canvas bag full of gold and silver lay on
the threshold. On a small slip of paper pinned to
it was written, take the money and go. I stay
God for you, the devil for me, Remember the eleventh

(19:45):
of April, Eric Samson. That afternoon Abel went off to Bristol,
and a week later sailed on the Star of the Sea,
bound for Pahan. His money, including that which had been Eric's,
was on board, in the shape of a venture of
cheap toys. He had been advised by a shrewd old
mariner of Bristol, whom he knew and who knew the
ways of the Chersonese, who predicted that every penny invested

(20:08):
would be returned with a shilling to boot. As the
year wore on, Sarah became more and more disturbed in
her mind. Eric was always at hand to make a
love to her in his own persistent, masterful manner, and
to this she did not object. Only one letter came
from Abel to say that his venture had proved successful,
and that he had sent some two hundred pounds to

(20:30):
the bank at Bristol and was trading with fifty pounds
still remaining in goods for China, whither the Star of
the Sea was bound, and whence she would return to Bristol.
He suggested that Eric's share of the venture should be
returned to him with his share of the profits. This
proposition was treated with anger by Eric in a simply
childish by Sarah's mother. More than six months had since

(20:53):
then elapsed, but no other letter had come, and Eric's hopes,
which had been dashed down by the letter from Pahn,
began to write again. He perpetually assailed Sarah with an
if if Abel did not return, would she then marry him?
If the eleventh of April went by without able being
in the port, would she give him over? If Abel
had taken his fortune and married another girl ahead of it,

(21:14):
would she marry him Eric as soon as the truth
were known? And so on In an endless variety of possibilities,
the power of the strong will and the determined purpose
over the woman's weaker nature became in time manifest. Sarah
began to lose her faith enable and to regard Eric
as a possible husband. And a possible husband is in

(21:35):
a woman's eye, different to all other men. A new
affection for him began to arise in her breast, and
the daily familiarities of permitted courtship furthered the growing affection.
Sarah began to regard Abel as rather a rock in
the road of her life, and had it not been
for her mother's constantly reminding her of the good fortune
already laid by in the Bristol bank, she would have

(21:57):
tried to have shut her eyes altogether to the fact
of Peopel's existence. The eleventh of April was a Saturday,
so that in order to have the marriage on that day,
it would be necessary that the band should be called
on Sunday, the twenty second of March. From the beginning
of that month, Eric kept perpetually on the subject of
Abel's absence, and his outspoken opinion that the latter was

(22:18):
either dead or married began to become a reality to
the woman's mind. As the first half of the month
were on, Eric became more jubilant, and after church on
the fifteenth he took Sarah for a walk to the
flagstaff rock. There he asserted himself strongly. I told Abel
and you too, that if he was not here to
put up his bands in time for the eleventh or

(22:39):
put up mine for the twelfth, Now the time has
come when I mean to do it. He hasn't kept
his word. Here, Sarah struck in out of her weakness
and indecision. He hasn't broken it yet. Eric ground his
teeth with anger. If you mean to stick up for him,
he said, as he smoked his hands savagely on the flagstaff,
which sent forth a shivering mum. Well and good, I'll

(23:02):
keep my part of the bargain on Sunday, or he
shall give notice of the bands, and you can deny
them in the church if you will. If Abel is
in Pencastle on the eleventh, he can have them counseled
and his own put up till then, Oh take my course,
and woe to anyone who stands in my way. With that,
he flung himself down the rocky pathway, and Sarah could

(23:24):
not but admire his Viking strength and spirit. As crossing
the hill, he strode away along the cliffs towards Beude.
During the week, no news was heard of Abel, and
on Saturday Eric gave notice of the bands of marriage
between himself and Sarah Suffuses. The clergyman would have remonstrated
with him, for although nothing formal had been told to

(23:45):
the neighbors, it had been understood since Abel's departure that
on his return he was to marry Sarah. But Eric
would not discuss the question. It is a painful subject, sir,
he said, with a firmace, which the parson, who was
a very young man, could not but be swayed by.
Surely there is nothing against Sarah or me. Why should
there be any bones made about the matter. The parson

(24:08):
said no more, and on the next day he read
out the bands for the first time, amidst an audible
buzz from the congregation. Sarah was present, contrary to custom,
and though she blushed furiously, enjoyed her triumph over the
other girls whose bands had not yet come. Before the
week was over, she began to make her wedding dress.

(24:30):
Eric used to come and look at her at work,
and the sight thrilled through him. He used to say
all sorts of pretty things to her at such times,
and there were to both delicious moments of love making.
The bands were read a second time on the twenty ninth,
and Eric's hope grew more and more fixed, though there
were to him moments of acute despair, when he realized

(24:51):
that the cup of happiness might be dashed from his
lips at any moment, right up to the last. At
such times he was full of passion, desperate, and remorseless,
and he ground his teeth and clenched his hands in
a wild way, as though some taint of the old
berserker fury of his ancestors still lingered in his blood.
On the Thursday of that week, he looked in on
Sarah and found her amid a flood of sunshine, putting

(25:13):
Finish's touches to her white wedding gown. His own heart
was full of gayety, and the sight of the woman
who was so soon to be his own so occupied
filled him with a joy unspeakable, and he felt faint
with languorous ecstasy. Bending over, he kissed Sarah on the
mouth and then whispered in her rosy, ear your wedding dress, Sarah,

(25:34):
and for me. As he drew back to admire her,
she looked up saucily and said to him, perhaps not
for you. There is more than a week yet for able,
and then cried out in dismay. For with a wild
gesture and a fierce oath, Eric dashed out of the house,
banging the door behind him. The incident disturbed Sarah more
than she could have thought possible, for it a web

(25:55):
all her fears and doubts and indecision afresh. She cried
a little by her dress, and to soothe herself, went
out to sit for a while on the summit of
the Flagstaff Rock. When she arrived, she found that there
a little group anxiously discussing the weather. The sea was
calm and the sun bright, but across the sea with
strange mines of darkness and light, and close into shore,

(26:17):
the rocks were fringed with foam, which spread out in
great white curves and circles as the current drifted. The
wind had backed and came in sharp cold puffs. The blowhole,
which ran under the Flagstaff Rock from the rocky bay
without to the harbor within, was booming at intervals, and
the seagulls were screaming ceaselessly as they wheeled about the

(26:40):
entrance of the port. It looks bad, she heard an
old fisherman say to the coastguard. I seen it just
like this once before, when the East Indiaman cormandel went
to pieces in Desert Bay. Sarah did not wait to
hear more. She was of a timid nature where danger
was concerned, and could not bear to hear of wrecks

(27:02):
and disasters. She went home and resumed the completion of
her dress, secretly determined to appease Eric when she should
meet him with a sweet apology, and to take the
earnest opportunity of being even with him after her marriage.
The old fisherman's weather prophecy was justified. That night a
dusk or wild storm came on the sea, rose and

(27:26):
lashed the western coasts from sky to silly, and left
a tale of disaster everywhere. The sailors and fishermen of
Pencastle all turned out on the rocks and cliffs and
watched eagerly. Presently, by a flash of lightning, a ketch
was seen drifting under only a jib about half a
mile outside the port. All eyes and all glasses were

(27:49):
concentrated on her, waiting for the next flash, and when
it came, a chorus went up that it was the
Lovely Alice trading between Bristol and Penzance, and touching at
all the little ports tween. God help them, said the
harbor master, for nothing in this world can save them
when they are between beudented tadule and the wind on shore.

(28:11):
The coast guards exerted themselves, and aided by brave hearts
and willing hands, they brought the rocket apparatus on to
the summit of the flagstaff rock. Then they burned blue
lights so that those on board might see the harbor
opening in case they could make any effort to reach it.
They worked gallantly enough on board, but no skill or
strength of man could avail. Before many minutes were over,

(28:33):
the Lovely Alice rushed to her doom on the great
island rock that guarded the mouth of the port. The
screams of those on board were faintly borne on the
tempest as they flung themselves into the sea in a
last chance for life. The blue lights were kept burning,
and eager eyes peered into the depths of the waters
in case any face could be seen, and ropes were

(28:55):
held ready to fling out in aid. But never a
face was seen, and the warning arms rested idle. Eric
was there amongst his fellows. His old Icelandic origin was
never more apparent than in that wild hour. He took
a rope and shouted in the ear of the harbor master.
I shall go down on the rock over the seal cave.

(29:15):
The tide is running up, and someone may drift in there.
Key bark man, came the answer, are you mad? One
slip on that rock and you were lost. No man
could keep his feet in the dark on such a place,
in such a tempest. Not a bit came the reply.
You remember how able the hen has saved me there
on a night like this, when my boat went on

(29:37):
the gull rock. He dragged me up from the deep
water in the seal cave. And now someone may drift
in there again as I did. And he was gone
into the darkness. The projecting rock hid the light on
the flagstaff rock, but he knew his way too well
to miss it. His boldness and sureeness of foot standing
to him. He shortly stood on the great round topped rock,

(29:58):
cut away beneath by the action of the waves over
the entrance of the seal cave, where the water was fathomless.
There he stood in comparative safety, for the concave shape
of the rock beat back the waves with their own force,
and though the water below him seemed to boil like
a seething caldron, just beyond the spot there was a
space of almost calm. The rock, too, seemed here to

(30:21):
shut off the sound of the gale. And he listened
as well as watched as he stood there, ready with
his coil of rope poised to throw, he thought he
heard below him, just beyond the whirl of the water,
a faint despair and cry. He echoed it with a
shout that rang into the night. Then he waited for
the flash of lightning, and as it passed, flung his
rope out into the darkness, where he had seen a

(30:43):
face rising through the swell of the foam. The rope
was caught, for he felt a pull on it, and
he shouted again in his mighty voice, tie it round
your waist and I shall pull you up. Then, when
he felt that it was fast, he moved along the
rock to the far side of the sea cave, where
the water was something stiller and where he could get

(31:03):
footholds secure enough to drag the rescued man on the
overhanging rock. He began to pull, and surely he knew
from the rogue taken in that the man he was
now rescuing must soon be closed to the top of
the rock. He steadied himself for a moment and drew
a long breath that he might, at the next effort,
complete the rescue. He had just bent his back to

(31:24):
the work when a flash of lightning revealed to the other,
each to the other. The two men, the rescuer and
the rescued Eric Samson and Abel Behenna, were face to face,
and none knew of the meeting save themselves and God.
On the instant, a wave of passion swept through Eric's heart.

(31:44):
All his hopes were shattered, and with the hatred of cane,
his eyes looked out. He saw, in the instant of
recognition the joy in Abel's face that his was the
hand to succor him, and this intensified his hate. Whilst
the passion and was on him, he started back and
the rope ran out between his hands. His moment of

(32:05):
hate was followed by an impulse of his better manhood,
but it was too late before he could recover himself.
Abel encumbered with a rope that should have aided him,
was plunged with a despairing cry, back into the darkness
of the devouring sea. Then, feeling all the madness and

(32:26):
the doom of Cain upon him, Eric rushed back over
the rocks, heedless of the danger, and eager only for
one thing to be amongst other people whose living noises
would shut out that last cry, which seemed to ring
still in his ears. When he regained the flagstaff rock,
the men surrounded him, and through the fury of the storm,
he heard the harbour master say, we feared you were

(32:48):
last when we heard a cry. How white you were
where as you rope? Was there anyone drifted in? No one?
He shouted in answer, felt that he could never explain
that he had let his old comrade slip back into
the sea, and at the very place and under the
very circumstances in which that comrade had saved his own life,

(33:13):
he hoped, by one bold lie to set the matter
at rest forever there was no one to bear witness,
and he should have to carry that still white face
in his eyes and that despairing cry in his ears
for ever more, at least none should know of it,
No one, he cried more loudly. Still I slept on

(33:33):
the rock. The rope fell into the sea, so saying,
he left them, and, rushing down the steep path, gained
his own cottage and locked himself within the remainder of
That night, he passed lying on his bed, dressed and motionless,
staring upwards and seeming to see through the darkness a
pale face gleaming wet in the lightning, with its glad

(33:56):
recognition turning to ghastly despair, and to hear cry which
never ceased to echo in his soul. In the morning,
the storm was over, and all was smiling again, except
that the sea was still boisterous with his unspent fury.
Great pieces of wreck drifted into the port, and the
sea around the island rock was strewn with others. Two

(34:19):
bodies also drifted into the harbor, one the master of
the wrecked catch, the other a strange seaman whom no
one knew. Sarah saw nothing of Eric till the evening,
and then here he looked in for a minute. He
did not come into the house, but simply put his
head in through the open window. Well, Sarah, he called

(34:40):
out in a loud voice, though to her it did
not ring truly. Is the wedding dress done Sunday week?
Mind Sunday week? Sarah was glad to have the reconciliation,
so easy but womanlike. When she saw the storm was
over and her own fears groundless, she at once repeated
the cause of affe Sunday. So be it, she said,

(35:02):
without looking up. The fable isn't there on Saturday. Then
she looked up saucily, though her heart was full of
fear of another outburst on the part of her impetuous lover.
But the window was empty. Eric had taken himself off,
and with a pout she resumed her work. She saw
Eric no more till Sunday afternoon, after the bands had

(35:23):
been called the third time, when he came up to
her before all the people, with an air of proprietorship
which half pleased and half annoyed her. Not yet, mister,
she said, pushing him away, as the other girls giggled.
Wait till Sunday next, if you please, day after Saturday,
she added, looking at him saucily. The girls giggled again,

(35:44):
and the young men go forward. They thought it was
the snub that touched him, so that he became as
white as a sheet as he turned away. But Sarah,
who knew more than they did, laughed, for she saw
triumph through the spasm of pain that overspread his face.
The week passed under bentfully. However, a Saturday, June, Sarah

(36:06):
had occasional moments of anxiety, and as to Eric, he
went about at night time like a man possessed. He
restrained himself when others were by, but now and again
he went down amongst the rocks and caves and shouted aloud.
This seemed to relieve him somewhat, and he was better
able to restrain himself for some time. After all Saturday

(36:27):
he stayed in his own house and never left it,
as he was to be married on the morrow. The
neighbors thought it was shyness on his part and did
not trouble or notice him. Only once was he disturbed,
and that was when the chief boatman came to him
and sat down, and after a pause said, Eric, I
was over and Bristol yesterday. I was in the roape

(36:49):
makers getting a coil to replace the one you lost
the night of the storm, and there are sair Michael,
heavens of this place. He was a salesman there. He
told me that Abel Bahenna had come home the week
he were last on the Star of the Sea from Canton,
and he had lodged a sign of money in the
Bristol Bank in the name of Sarah Bahenna. He told
Michael so himself, and that he had taken passage on

(37:11):
the lovely Alice to Pencastle. Bear up man, for Eric had,
with a groan, dropped his head on his knees with
his face between his hands. He was your old comrade,
I know, but couldn't help him. Must have gone down
with the rest that awful night. I thought I'd better
tell you, lest it might come some other way, and

(37:34):
you might keep Sarah Refusus from being frightened. They were
good friends once, and women take these things to heart.
Would not do to let her be pained with such
a thing on her wedding day. Then he rose and
went away, leaving Eric still sitting disconstantly with his head
on his knees. Poor fellow, remembered the chief bowman to himself.

(37:56):
Takes it to heart. Oh well, right enough, Why would
you comrades once, and theyble saved him. The afternoon of
that day, when the children had left school, they strayed,
as usual on half holidays, along the quay and the
paths by the cliffs. Presently some of them came running
in a state of great excitement to the harbor, where

(38:17):
a few men were unloading a cold catch, and a
great many were superintending the operation. One of the children
called out, there was a pop poise in the harbor mouth.
Saw it come through the blowhole, had a long tail,
and it was deep under the water. It was no pauperise,
said now there was a seal pread, a long tail
came out of the seal cave. Did the children bore

(38:38):
various testimony, but on two points there were unanimous. It,
whatever it was, had come through the blowhole, deep under
the water, and had a long, thin tail, a tail
so long that they could not see the end of it.
There was much a merciful chaffing of the children by
the men on this point. But as it was evident

(38:59):
that they had seen something, quite a number of persons,
young and old, male and female went along the high
paths on either side of the harbor mouth to catch
a glimpse of this new addition to the fauna of
the sea, along tailed paupers or seal. The tide was
now coming in. There was a slight breeze, and the
surface of the water was rippled, so that it was

(39:20):
only at moments that anyone could see clearly into the
deep water. After a spell of watching, a woman called
out that she saw something moving up the channel just
below her she was standing. There was a stampede to
the spot, but by the time the crowd had gathered,
the breeze had freshened and it was impossible to see
with any distinctness below the surface of the water. And

(39:43):
being questioned, the woman described what she had seen, but
in such an incoherent way that the whole thing was
put down as an effective imagination. Had it not been
for the children's report, she would not have been credited
at all. Her semi hysterical s statement that what she
saw was like a pig with the entrails out was

(40:04):
only thought of anything by the old coast guard, who
shook his head but did not make any remark. For
the remainder of the daylight, this man was seen always
on the bank, looking into the water, but always with
disappointment manifest on his face. Erica rose early on the
next morning. He had not slept all night, and it

(40:26):
was a relief to him to move about in the light.
He shaved himself with a hand that did not tremble,
and dressed himself in his wedding clothes. There was a
haggard look on his face, and he seemed as though
he had grown years older in the last few days.
Still there was a wild, uneasy light of triumph in
his eyes, and he kept murmuring to himself over and

(40:49):
over again, this is my wedding day. Abel cannot laybord now,
living or dead, living or dead, living or dead. He
sat in his arm chair, waiting with an uncanny quietness
for the church hour to arrive. When the bell began
to ring, he arose and passed out of his house,
closing the door behind him. He looked at the river

(41:12):
and saw the tide had just turned. In the church,
she sat with Sarah and her mother, holding Sarah's hand
tightly in his all the time, as though he feared
to lose her. When the service was over, they stood
up together and were married in the presence of the
entire congregation, But no one left the church. Both made

(41:33):
the responses clearly, Eric's being even on the defiant side.
When the wedding was over, Sarah took her husband's arm
and they walked away together, the boys and younger girls
being cuffed by their elders into a decorous behavior, for
they would fain have followed close behind their heels. The
way from the church led down to the back of

(41:53):
Eric's cottage, a narrow passage being between it and that
of his next neighbor. When the bridal couple had passed this,
the remainder of the congregation, who had followed them at
a little distance, was startled by a long, shrill scream
from the bride. They rushed through the passage and found
her on the bank, with wild eyes, pointing to the

(42:13):
river bed opposite Eric Samson's door. The falling tide had
deposited there the body of Abel Behenna Stark upon the
broken rocks. The rope trailing from its waist had been
twisted by the current round the mooring post and had
held it back while the tide had ebbed away from it.
The right elbow had fallen in a chink in the rock,

(42:36):
leaving the hand outstretched towards Sarah, with the open palm
upward as though it were extended to receive hers, the pale,
drooping fingers opened to the clasp. All that happened afterwards
was never quite known to Sarah Samson. Whenever she would
try to recollect, there had become a buzzing in her ears,

(42:56):
and the dimness in her eyes, an all would pass away.
The only thing that she could remember of it all,
and this she never forgot, was Eric's breathing heavily, with
his face whiter than that of the dead man, as
he muttered under his breath devil's health, devil's faith, Taviol's price,

(43:20):
The end. End of the Coming of Abel Behenna Recording
by Kate Mackenzie, Zurich, Switzerland,