The Valley of Fear V 4 - The Man

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Part two, Chapter one of the Valley of Fear by
Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Part two The Scourers,

(00:22):
Chapter one, The Man. It was the fourth of February
in the year eighteen seventy five. It had been a
severe winter, and the snow lay deep in the gorges
of the Gilmurton Mountains. The steam plows had, however, kept
the railroad open, and the evening train, which connects the

(00:45):
long line of coal mining and iron working settlements, was
slowly groaning its way up the steep gradients which led
from Stagville on the plain to the Missa, the central
township which lies at the head of the Messa Valley.
From this point the track sweeps downward to Barton's crossing,

(01:07):
Helmdale and the purely agricultural county of Merton. It was
a single track railroad, but at every siding and they
were numerous long lines of trucks piled with coal and iron.
Ore told of the hidden wealth which had brought a
rude population under bustling life to this most desolate corner

(01:30):
of the United States of America. For desolate it was.
Little could the first pioneer who had traversed it have
ever imagined that the fairest prairies and the most lush
water pastures were valueless compared to this gloomy land of
black crag and tangled forest. Above the dark and often

(01:53):
scarcely penetrable woods upon their flanks, the high, bare crowns
of the mountains, white's and jagged rock towered upon each flank,
leaving a long, winding, tortuous valley in the center. Up this,
the little train was slowly crawling. The oil lamps had

(02:13):
just been lit in the leading passenger car, a long,
bare carriage in which some twenty or thirty people were seated.
The greater number of these were workmen returning from their
day's toil in the lower part of the valley. At
least a dozen, by their grimed faces and the safety
lanterns which they carried, proclaimed themselves miners. These sat smoking

(02:39):
in a group and conversed in low voices, glancing occasionally
at two men on the opposite side of the car,
whose uniforms and badges showed them to be policemen. Several
women of the labouring class, and one or two travelers
who might have been small local storekeepers made up the
rest of the company, with the exception of one young

(03:02):
man in a corner by himself. It is with this
man that we are concerned. Take a good look at him,
for he is worth it. He is a fresh, complexioned,
middle sized young man, not far one would guess from
his thirtieth year. He has large, shrewd, humorous gray eyes,

(03:23):
which twinkle inquiringly from time to time as he looks
round through his spectacles at the people about him. It
is easy to see that he is of a sociable
and possibly simple disposition, anxious to be friendly to all men.
Any One could pick him at once as gregarious in
his habits and communicative in his nature, with a quick

(03:47):
wit and a ready smile. And yet the man who
studied him more closely might discern a certain firmness of
jaw and grim tightness about the lips, which would warn
him that there were depths beyond, and that this pleasant,
brown haired young irishman might conceivably leave his mark for

(04:08):
good or evil upon any society to which he was introduced.
Having made one or two tentative remarks to the nearest miner,
and receiving only short, gruff replies, the traveler resigned himself
to uncongenial silence, staring moodily out of the window at
the fading landscape. It was not a cheering prospect. Through

(04:32):
the growing gloom there pulsed the red glow of the furnaces.
On the sides of the hills. Great heaps of slag
and dumps of cinders loomed up on each side, with
the high shafts of the collieries towering above them. Huddle
groups of mean wooden houses, the windows of which were

(04:53):
beginning to outline themselves in light, were scattered here and
there along the line, and the frequent halting places were
crowded with their swarthy inhabitants. The iron and coal valleys
of the Vermissa district were no resorts for the leisured
or the cultured. Everywhere there were stern signs of the

(05:15):
crudest battle of life, the rude work to be done,
and the rude, strong workers who did it. The young
traveler gazed out into this dismal country with a face
of mingled repulsion and interest, which showed that the scene
was new to him. At intervals he drew from his

(05:35):
pocket a bulky letter to which he referred, and on
the margins of which he scribbled some notes. Once, from
the back of his waist he produced something which one
would hardly have expected to find in the possession of
so mild mannered a man. It was a navy revolver
of the largest size. As he turned it slantwise to

(05:58):
the light, the glint upon the rims of the copper
shells within the drum showed that it was fully loaded.
He quickly restored it to his secret pocket, but not
before it had been observed by a working man who
had seated himself upon the adjoining bench. Hell a mad
said he.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
You seem healed and ready.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
The young man smiled with an air of embarrassment. Yes,
said he we.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Need them sometimes in the blache come from?

Speaker 2 (06:32):
And where may that be?

Speaker 3 (06:35):
I'm lust from Chicago.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
A stranger in his part. Yes, you may find.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
And needed here, said the workman.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Uh is that so?

Speaker 1 (06:48):
The young man seemed interested.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Have you heard nothing of doings here?

Speaker 3 (06:54):
About nothing out of the way?

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Ah, I thought the country he was full of it.
You're here quick enough what made you come here?

Speaker 3 (07:06):
We heard there was always work for a willing man.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Are you a member of the union, Sure, then you'll
get your job. I guess have you any friends?

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Not yet, but I hoped to me, inter making him.
How's that? Then he am one of the eminent order
of freemen. There's no tome, was aut a lodge. Where
there is a lodge, I'll find my friends.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
The remark had a singular effect upon his companion. He
glanced round suspiciously at the others in the car. The
miners were still whispering among themselves. The two police officers
were dozing. He came across, seated himself close to the
young traveler and held out his hand. Bud it there,

(07:56):
he said. A hand grip passed between the two. I
see you speak the truth, said the workman.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
But it's well to make certain.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
He raised his right hand to his right eyebrow. The
traveler at once raised his left hand to his left eyebrow.
Dark nights unpleasant, said the workman.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yes, the strangers to travel.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
The other answered, that's good enough.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
I'm a brother Scanlan Lodge three forty one vermissa valley.
Glad to see you in these parts.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
Thank you. He'm brother John macmurdle Ludge twenty nine, Chicago,
buddy master gee each scutt. But I am in luck
to meet a brother so early.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Well, there are plenty of us about. You won't find
the order more flourishing anywhere in the States than right
here in the Messa Valley. What we could do was
some lads like you. I can't understand a spry man
of the Union finding no work to do in Chicago.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
I feelt plenty of work.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
To do, said mat Murdo.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Then why did you leave?

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Mat Murdo nodded towards the policeman and smiled.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Oh. Yes, the old ships would be glad to know.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
He said. Scanlon groaned sympathetically. In trouble, he asked in
a whisper.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Deep up an a tentary job and the rest not
a killing.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
It early days to talk of such.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Things, said mat Murdo, with the air of a man
who had been surprised into saying more than he intended.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
At my own good reasons for leaving Chicago. And let
that be enough for you. Who were you that you
should take it on your shelf to ask such things?

Speaker 1 (09:59):
He's great eyes gleamed with sudden and dangerous anger from
behind his glasses.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
All right, mate, Norfence meant, the boys will think none
the worse of you, whatever you may have done. Where
are you bound for now? Hear me, sir, that's the
third halt down the line? Where are you stayin?

Speaker 1 (10:22):
Matt Murdo took out an envelope and held it close
to the murky oil lamp.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
Here is to your dress, Jacob shafter Sheridan Street. It's
a burning house. Who is recommended by a man on
you in Chicago?

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, I don't know it, but Bramesa is out of
my beat. I live at Hobson's Patch and that's here
where we are drawn up. But say, there's one piece
of advice I'll give you before we part. If you're
in trouble in Vermisa, go straight to the Union House
and see Boss mc ginty. He is the body master

(11:01):
of AMusA Lodge, and nothing can happen in these parts
unless black Jack McGuinty wants it. So long, mate, maybe
we're made and large one of these evenings. But mind
my words. If you're in trouble, go to Boss McGuinty.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Scanlon descended and mac murdo was left once again to
his thoughts. Knights had now fallen, and the flames of
the frequent furnaces were roaring and leaping in the darkness.
Against their lurid background, dark figures were bending and straining,
twisting and turning with the motion of winch or of windlass,

(11:42):
to the rhythm of an eternal clank and roar.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
I guess hell must look something like.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
That, said a voice. Mac Murdo turned and saw that
one of the policemen had shifted in his seat and
was staring out into the fiery waste. For that matter,
said the other policeman.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Allow that hell must be something like that. If there
are worse devils down yonder than some we could name,
it's more than i'd expect. I guess you're new to
this part, young man.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Well what if I am, mac Murdo answered, in a
surly voice.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Just this, mister, that I should advise you to be
careful in choosing your friends. I don't think i'd begin
with Mike Scanlan or as Gang if ire you.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
But hell is it to you? Who are my friends?

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Roared mac Murdo, in a voice which brought every head
in the carriage round to witness the altercation.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Did I ask you for your advice? Or did you
think me such a sukka that I couldn't move without it?
You speak when you were spoken to, and by the Lord,
you'd have to wait a long time if it was me.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
He thrust out his face and grinned at the patrolman
like a snarling dog. The two policemen, heavy, good natured men,
were taken aback by the extraordinary vehemence with which their
friendly advances had been rejected.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
No offense, stranger, said one. There was a warning for
your own good, saying that you are, by your own
showing new of the place.

Speaker 3 (13:15):
I'm you to the place, but I'm not new to you.
And you're a kind.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
Cried mac Murdo in cold fury.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
Yessed you to see him in all places. Shovern your
advice when nobody asked for it. Maybe we'll see more
of you before very.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Long, said one of the patrol men, with a grin.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
You're a real hand picked one. If I am a judge,
I was.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Singing the same, remarked the other.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
I guess we may meet again.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
I am not afraid of you, and don't you dig.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
It, cried macmurdo.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
My name's Jack McMurdo. See if you want me, you'll
find me at Jacob Shafter's on Sheridan Street for me, sir,
So I'm not hiding from you, do you? And nat
Y dared to look the leg of you in the feasts.
Don't make any a steak about dead.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
There was a murmur of sympathy and admiration from the
miners at the dauntless demeanor of the newcomer, while the
two policemen shrugged their shoulders and renewed a conversation between themselves.
A few minutes later, the train ran into the ill
lit station and there was a general clearing for the

(14:28):
Missa was by far the largest town on the line.
Matt Murdo picked up his leather gripsack and was about
to start off into the darkness when one of the
miners accosted him.

Speaker 5 (14:41):
By God, mate, you know how to speak to the cops.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
He said, in a voice of awe.

Speaker 5 (14:46):
It was grand to hear you. Let me carry your
grip and show you the road. I'm passing Shafters on
the way to my own shack.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
There was a chorus of friendly good nights from the
other miners as they passed from the platform. Before ever
he had set foot in it. Mat Murdo the turbulent
had become a character in Vermissa. The country had been
a place of terror, but the town was, in its
way even more depressing. Down that long valley, there was

(15:16):
at least a certain gloomy grandeur in the huge fires
and the clouds of drifting smoke, while the strength and
industry of man found fitting monuments in the hills which
he had spilled by the side of his monstrous excavations.
But the town showed a dead level of mean, ugliness
and squalor. The broad street was churned up by the

(15:39):
traffic into a horrible, rutted paste of muddy snow. The
sidewalks were narrow and uneven. The numerous gas lamps served
only to show more clearly a long line of wooden houses,
each with its veranda facing the street, unkempt and dirty.
As they approached the center of the town, the scene

(16:02):
was brightened by a row of well lit stores, and
even more by a cluster of saloons and gaming houses
in which the miners spent their hard earned but generous wages.

Speaker 5 (16:15):
That's the Union House, said the.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Guide, pointing to one saloon which rose almost to the
dignity of being a hotel.

Speaker 5 (16:25):
Jack mc gidney is the boss there.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
What sort of a man is he?

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Macmurdo asked, what have you never heard.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
Of the boss?

Speaker 3 (16:34):
How could have heard of him? When you know that
I am a stranger in these parts.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
Well, I thought his name was known clear across the country.
It's beenning the papers often enough. What for?

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Well, the miner lowered his voice over the affairs?

Speaker 3 (16:53):
What affairs?

Speaker 5 (16:55):
Good lord, mister, you are queer. If I must say
it without offense. There's only one set of affairs that
you'll hear of in these parts, and that's the affairs
of the scours.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
Well, I seem to have rid of the scrowers in Chicago,
a gang of a murderers.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
Had he not hush on your life, cried the miner,
standing still in alarm and gazing in amazement at his companion.

Speaker 5 (17:21):
Man, you won't live long in these parts If you
speak in the open street like that, Many a man
has had the life beaten out of him for less.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Well, I know nothing about him. It's only what I
have read.

Speaker 5 (17:34):
And I'm not saying that you have not read the truth.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
The man looked nervously round him as he spoke, peering
into the shadows, as if he feared to see some
lurking danger.

Speaker 5 (17:46):
If killing is murder, then God knows there is murder
and to spare. But don't you dare to breathe the
name of Jack mc giitty in connection with it, stranger,
For every whisper comes back to him, and he is
not one that is like to let it pass. Now
that's the house you're after. That one's standing back from
the street. You'll find Old Jacob shafter that, brunted, as

(18:09):
honest a man as lives in this township.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Who dig you, said Matt Murdo, and shaking hands with
his new acquaintance, he plodded gripsack in hand up the
path which led to the dwelling house, at the door
of which he gave a resounding knock. It was opened
at once by someone very different from what he had expected.
It was a woman, young and singularly beautiful. She was

(18:36):
of the German type, blond and fair haired, with the
pequan't contrast of a pair of beautiful dark eyes with
which she surveyed the stranger with surprise and a pleasing embarrassment,
which brought a wave of color over her pale face.
Framed in the bright light of the open doorway. It

(18:57):
seemed to Matt Murdo that he had never seen a
more beautiful picture, the more attractive for its contrast with
the sordid and gloomy surroundings. A lovely violet growing upon
one of those black slag heaps of the mines would
not have seemed more surprising. So entranced was he that

(19:17):
he stood staring without a word. And it was she
who broke the silence.

Speaker 6 (19:23):
I thought it was father.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
Said she, with a pleasing little touch of a German accent.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
Did you come to see him? He is downtown. I
expect him back every minute.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Mac Murdo continued to gaze at her in open admiration
until her eyes dropped in confusion. Before this masterful visitor,
gnor miss, he said, at last.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
Leime in no hurry to see him. But your house
was recommended to me for board had mud should be Oh,
I know it will you are.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Quick to make up your mind, said she with a smile.

Speaker 3 (20:07):
Any One but a blind man would do as much.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
The other answered. She laughed at the compliment, ha ha,
comerade din, sir. She said, I'm miss.

Speaker 6 (20:20):
Etty Shafter, mister Shafter's daughter. My mother is dead and
I run the house. You can sit down by the
stove in the front room until father comes along.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
Ah.

Speaker 6 (20:33):
Here he is, so you can fix things with him
right away.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
A heavy elderly man came plodding up the path. In
a few words, Macmurdo explained his business. A man of
the name of Murphy had given him the address in Chicago.
He in turn had had it from someone else. Old
Shafter was quite ready. The stranger made no bones abouts,

(21:01):
agreed at once to every condition, and was apparently fairly
flush of money. For seven dollars a week, paid in advance,
he was to have board and lodging. So it was
that Matt Murdo, the self confessed fugitive from justice, took
up his abode under the roof of the Shafters, the
first step which was to lead to So Long and Dark,

(21:23):
a train of events ending in a far distant land.
End of Part two, Chapter one