A Dream of Armageddon | H.G. Wells Full Audiobook - video Dailymotion

Gates of Imagination

Dive into the haunting short story, A Dream of Armageddon by H.G. Wells, a chilling and prescient tale of love, duty, and global conflict. First published in 1901, Wells’s visionary narrative follows a man whose vivid dreams transport him to a future on the brink of a devastating world war. He must choose between his personal happiness with the woman he loves and his public duty to prevent a catastrophic conflict.  This full-length audiobook brings to life the story of a man whose dreams become a more powerful reality than his waking life. Wells, writing before the invention of the airplane, eerily foretells the horrors of aerial warfare and the destructive potential of modern technology. The story is a profound meditation on human nature, the choices we make, and the tragic consequences of prioritizing personal desires over the collective good.  Perfect for fans of classic science fiction, speculative fiction, and cautionary tales, A Dream of Armageddon remains a powerful and relevant commentary on war and humanity's potential for self-destruction. This is more than just a story; it's a window into the mind of a prophetic genius.  #ADreamOfArmageddon #ClassicLiterature #ShortStory #BookRecommendation #BookTok #HGwells #BookTok #ScienceFiction #ClassicBooks

Transcript

00:00:00Gates of Imagination presents

00:00:02A Dream of Armageddon by Herbert George Wells

00:00:08Read by Arthur Lane

00:00:10The man with the white face entered the carriage at rugby.

00:00:17He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his porter,

00:00:20and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed.

00:00:24He dropped into the corner over against me with a sigh,

00:00:27made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl,

00:00:32and became motionless, with his eyes staring vacantly.

00:00:36Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation,

00:00:40looked up at me, and put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper.

00:00:45Then he glanced again in my direction.

00:00:48I feigned to read.

00:00:50I feared I had unwittingly embarrassed him,

00:00:52and in a moment I was surprised to find him speaking.

00:00:55I beg your pardon, said I.

00:00:58That book, he repeated, pointing a lean finger,

00:01:01is about dreams.

00:01:04Obviously, I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States,

00:01:08and the title was on the cover.

00:01:10He hung silent for a space, as if he sought words.

00:01:15Yes, he said at last, but they tell you nothing.

00:01:19I did not catch his meaning for a second.

00:01:21They don't know, he added.

00:01:24I looked a little more attentively at his face.

00:01:28There are dreams, he said, and dreams.

00:01:31That sort of proposition I never dispute.

00:01:34I suppose, he hesitated.

00:01:37Do you ever dream?

00:01:39I mean vividly.

00:01:41I dream very little, I answered.

00:01:43I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year.

00:01:47Ah, he said, and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts.

00:01:51Your dreams don't mix with your memories, he asked abruptly.

00:01:55You don't find yourself in doubt.

00:01:57Did this happen or did it not?

00:02:00Hardly ever, except just for a momentary hesitation now and then.

00:02:04I suppose few people do.

00:02:05Does he say, he indicated the book, says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation

00:02:12about intensity of impression and the like, to account for its not happening as a rule.

00:02:19I suppose you know something of these theories.

00:02:22Very little, except that they are wrong.

00:02:25His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time.

00:02:30I prepared to resume reading, and that seemed to precipitate his next remark.

00:02:35He leant forward, almost as though he would touch me.

00:02:39Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming that goes on night after night?

00:02:44I believe there is.

00:02:46There are cases given in most books on mental trouble.

00:02:49Mental trouble?

00:02:51Yes, I dare say there are.

00:02:53It's the right place for them.

00:02:55But what I mean...

00:02:56He looked at his bony knuckles.

00:02:59Is that sort of thing always dreaming?

00:03:02Is it dreaming?

00:03:03Or is it something else?

00:03:07Mightn't it be something else?

00:03:10I should have snubbed his persistent conversation, but for the drawn anxiety of his face.

00:03:15I remember now the look of his faded eyes, and the lids red-stained.

00:03:20Perhaps you know that look.

00:03:22I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion, he said.

00:03:25The thing's killing me.

00:03:28Dreams?

00:03:28If you call them dreams.

00:03:32Night after night.

00:03:33Vivid.

00:03:34So vivid.

00:03:36This.

00:03:36He indicated the landscape that went streaming by the window.

00:03:40Seems unreal in comparison.

00:03:42I can scarcely remember who I am.

00:03:44What business I am on.

00:03:45He paused.

00:03:47Even now.

00:03:48The dream is always the same, do you mean?

00:03:51I asked.

00:03:52It's over.

00:03:54You mean?

00:03:55I died.

00:03:57Died.

00:03:58Smashed and killed.

00:03:59And now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead.

00:04:03Dead forever.

00:04:04I dreamt I was another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.

00:04:09I dreamt that night after night, night after night I woke into that other life, fresh scenes and fresh happenings, until I came upon the last.

00:04:20When you died.

00:04:22When I died.

00:04:24And since then.

00:04:25No, he said.

00:04:27Thank God.

00:04:28That was the end of the dream.

00:04:30It was clear I was in for this dream.

00:04:33And after all, I had an hour before me.

00:04:35The light was fading fast, and Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him.

00:04:40Living in a different time, I said.

00:04:43Do you mean in some different age?

00:04:46Yes.

00:04:47Past?

00:04:48No, to come.

00:04:50To come.

00:04:52The year 3000, for example.

00:04:54I don't know what year it was.

00:04:57I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is.

00:04:59But not now.

00:05:01Not now that I am awake.

00:05:02There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time when I was.

00:05:10I suppose it was dreaming.

00:05:12They called the year differently from our way of calling the year.

00:05:16What did they call it?

00:05:18He put his hand to his forehead.

00:05:20No, said he.

00:05:22I forget.

00:05:24He sat smiling weakly.

00:05:26For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream.

00:05:29As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, but this struck me differently.

00:05:34I proffered assistance, even.

00:05:37It began, I suggested.

00:05:39It was vivid from the first.

00:05:43I seemed to wake up in it suddenly.

00:05:46And it's curious that in these dreams I am speaking of, I never remembered this life I am living now.

00:05:52It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it lasted.

00:05:56Perhaps.

00:05:57But I will tell you how I find myself when I do my best to recall it all.

00:06:01I don't remember anything dearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia, looking out over the sea.

00:06:08I had been dozing, and suddenly I woke up, fresh and vivid, not a bit dreamlike, because the girl had stopped fanning me.

00:06:17The girl?

00:06:18Yes, the girl.

00:06:20You must not interrupt or you will put me out.

00:06:23He stopped abruptly.

00:06:25You won't think I'm mad, he said.

00:06:28No, I answered.

00:06:30You've been dreaming.

00:06:31Tell me your dream.

00:06:33I woke up, I say, because the girl had stopped fanning me.

00:06:37I was not surprised to find myself there or anything of that sort, you understand.

00:06:42I did not feel I had fallen into it suddenly.

00:06:45I simply took it up at that point.

00:06:48Whatever memory I had of this life, this 19th century life, faded as I woke, vanished like a dream.

00:06:56I knew all about myself.

00:06:57I knew that my name was no longer Cooper, but Heedon, and all about my position in the world.

00:07:03I've forgotten a lot since I woke.

00:07:05There's a want of connection.

00:07:07But it was all quite clear and matter-of-fact then.

00:07:10He hesitated again, gripping the window strap, putting his face forward and looking up at me appealingly.

00:07:16This seems bosh to you?

00:07:19No, no, I cried.

00:07:21Go on, tell me what this loggia was like.

00:07:24It was not really a loggia.

00:07:26I don't know what to call it.

00:07:28It faced south.

00:07:29It was small.

00:07:31It was all in shadow except the semicircle above the balcony that showed the sky and sea and the corner where the girl stood.

00:07:37I was on a couch.

00:07:40It was a metal couch with light-striped cushions.

00:07:43And the girl was leaning over the balcony with her back to me.

00:07:46The light of the sunrise fell on her ear and cheek.

00:07:50Her pretty white neck and the little curls that nestled there and her white shoulder were in the sun.

00:07:55And all the grace of her body was in the cool blue shadow.

00:07:58She was dressed.

00:08:01How can I describe it?

00:08:03It was easy and flowing.

00:08:05And altogether there she stood, so that it came to me how beautiful and desirable she was, as though I had never seen her before.

00:08:13And when at last I sighed and raised myself upon my arm, she turned her face to me.

00:08:19He stopped.

00:08:21I have lived three and fifty years in this world.

00:08:24I have had mother, sisters, friends, wife and daughters, all their faces.

00:08:30The play of their faces, I know.

00:08:32But the face of this girl, it is much more real to me.

00:08:36I can bring it back into memory so that I see it again.

00:08:40I could draw it or paint it.

00:08:42And after all…

00:08:44He stopped.

00:08:45But I said nothing.

00:08:47The face of a dream.

00:08:49The face of a dream.

00:08:51She was beautiful.

00:08:52Not that beauty which is terrible, cold and worshipful, like the beauty of a saint.

00:08:58Nor that beauty that stirs fierce passions.

00:09:01But a sort of radiation.

00:09:03Sweet lips that softened into smiles.

00:09:05And grave grey eyes.

00:09:08And she moved gracefully.

00:09:10She seemed to have part with all pleasant and gracious things.

00:09:13He stopped.

00:09:15And his face was downcast and hidden.

00:09:18Then he looked up at me and went on,

00:09:20making no further attempt to disguise his absolute belief in the reality of his story.

00:09:26You see, I had thrown up my plans and ambitions.

00:09:30Thrown up all I had ever worked for or desired for her sake.

00:09:35I had been a master man away there in the north,

00:09:38with influence and property and a great reputation.

00:09:41But none of it had seemed worth having beside her.

00:09:43I had come to the place, this city of sunny pleasures, with her,

00:09:49and left all those things to reckon ruin,

00:09:52just to save a remnant, at least, of my life.

00:09:55While I had been in love with her before I knew that she had any care for me,

00:10:00before I had imagined that she would dare,

00:10:02that we should dare,

00:10:04all my life had seemed vain and hollow.

00:10:07Dust and ashes.

00:10:08It was dust and ashes.

00:10:11Night after night,

00:10:12and through the long days I had longed and desired,

00:10:16my soul had beaten against the thing forbidden.

00:10:19But it is impossible for one man to tell another just these things.

00:10:23It's emotion.

00:10:25It's a tint,

00:10:26a light that comes and goes.

00:10:29Only while it's there,

00:10:30everything changes, everything.

00:10:33The thing is,

00:10:34I came away and left them in their crisis to do what they could.

00:10:36Left whom?

00:10:39I asked,

00:10:40puzzled.

00:10:42The people up in the north there.

00:10:44You see,

00:10:45in this dream,

00:10:46anyhow,

00:10:47I had been a big man.

00:10:49The sort of man men come to trust in,

00:10:52to group themselves about.

00:10:54Millions of men who had never seen me

00:10:56were ready to do things and risk things

00:10:58because of their confidence in me.

00:11:00I had been playing that game for years,

00:11:02that big laborious game,

00:11:04that vague,

00:11:05monstrous political game

00:11:07amidst intrigues and betrayals,

00:11:09speech and agitation.

00:11:11It was a vast,

00:11:12weltering world,

00:11:13and at last I had a sort of leadership

00:11:15against the gang.

00:11:17You know it was called the gang,

00:11:19a sort of compromise of scoundrelly projects

00:11:21and base ambitions

00:11:22and vast public emotional stupidities

00:11:25and catchwords.

00:11:27The gang that kept the world noisy

00:11:29and blind year by year

00:11:30and all the while that it was drifting,

00:11:33drifting towards infinite disaster.

00:11:36But I can't expect you to understand

00:11:38the shades and complications of the year,

00:11:40the year something or other ahead.

00:11:43I had it all,

00:11:44down to the smallest details,

00:11:46in my dream.

00:11:48I suppose I had been dreaming of it

00:11:49before I awoke,

00:11:51and the fading outline

00:11:52of some queer new development

00:11:53I had imagined

00:11:54still hung about me

00:11:56as I rubbed my eyes.

00:11:57It was some grubby affair

00:11:59that made me thank God

00:12:01for the sunlight.

00:12:02I sat up on the couch

00:12:04and remained looking at the woman

00:12:05and rejoicing,

00:12:06rejoicing that I had come away

00:12:08out of all that tumult

00:12:09and folly and violence

00:12:10before it was too late.

00:12:12After all, I thought,

00:12:14this is life,

00:12:15love and beauty,

00:12:17desire and delight,

00:12:18are they not worth

00:12:19all those dismal struggles

00:12:20for vague, gigantic ends?

00:12:23And I blamed myself

00:12:24for having ever sought to be a leader

00:12:26when I might have given

00:12:27my days to love.

00:12:29But then, thought I,

00:12:31if I had not spent

00:12:32my early days sternly

00:12:33and austerely,

00:12:34I might have wasted myself

00:12:36upon vain and worthless women,

00:12:38and at the thought

00:12:39all my being

00:12:40went out in love

00:12:41and tenderness

00:12:41to my dear mistress,

00:12:42my dear lady,

00:12:44who had come at last

00:12:45and compelled me,

00:12:46compelled me

00:12:47by her invincible charm for me,

00:12:49to lay that life aside.

00:12:51You are worth it,

00:12:53I said,

00:12:54speaking without

00:12:54intending her to hear.

00:12:56You are worth it,

00:12:57my dearest one,

00:12:58worth pride and praise

00:13:00and all things.

00:13:01Love,

00:13:02to have you,

00:13:03is worth them altogether.

00:13:05And at the murmur

00:13:06of my voice,

00:13:07she turned about.

00:13:09Come and see,

00:13:10she cried.

00:13:11I can hear her now.

00:13:13Come and see the sunrise

00:13:14upon Monte Solaro.

00:13:17I remember how I sprang

00:13:18to my feet

00:13:18and joined her

00:13:19at the balcony.

00:13:20She put a white hand

00:13:21upon my shoulder

00:13:22and pointed towards

00:13:24great masses of limestone,

00:13:26flushing,

00:13:26as it were,

00:13:27into life.

00:13:28I looked,

00:13:29but first I noted

00:13:30the sunlight on her face,

00:13:32caressing the lines

00:13:33of her cheeks and neck.

00:13:35How can I describe to you

00:13:36the scene we had before us?

00:13:38We were at Capri.

00:13:40I have been there,

00:13:41I said.

00:13:42I have clambered up

00:13:43Monte Solaro

00:13:44and drunk Vero Capri,

00:13:46muddy stuff like cider,

00:13:47at the summit.

00:13:48Ah,

00:13:49said the man

00:13:50with the white face.

00:13:51Then perhaps

00:13:52you can tell me.

00:13:53You will know

00:13:54if this was indeed Capri.

00:13:56For in this life

00:13:57I have never been there.

00:13:59Let me describe it.

00:14:00We were in a little room,

00:14:02one of a vast multitude

00:14:04of little rooms,

00:14:05very cool and sunny,

00:14:07hollowed out of the limestone

00:14:08of a sort of cape,

00:14:10very high above the sea.

00:14:12The whole island,

00:14:13you know,

00:14:14was one enormous hotel,

00:14:16complex beyond explaining,

00:14:17and on the other side

00:14:19there were miles

00:14:20of floating hotels

00:14:21and huge floating stages

00:14:23to which the flying machines came.

00:14:25They called it a pleasure city.

00:14:28Of course,

00:14:29there was none of that

00:14:30in your time.

00:14:31Rather,

00:14:32I should say,

00:14:33is none of that now.

00:14:35Of course.

00:14:36Now,

00:14:37yes.

00:14:37Well,

00:14:40this room of ours

00:14:41was at the extremity

00:14:42of the cape,

00:14:43so that one could see

00:14:44east and west.

00:14:46Eastward was a great cliff,

00:14:48a thousand feet high perhaps,

00:14:50coldly grey

00:14:51except for one

00:14:52bright edge of gold.

00:14:54And beyond it

00:14:54the Isle of the Sirens,

00:14:56and a falling coast

00:14:57that faded

00:14:58and passed

00:14:58into the hot sunrise.

00:15:00And when one turned

00:15:01to the west,

00:15:02distinct and near,

00:15:04was a little bay,

00:15:05a little beach

00:15:06still in shadow.

00:15:07And out of that shadow

00:15:09rose Solaro,

00:15:10straight and tall,

00:15:12flushed and golden-crested,

00:15:14like a beauty throned,

00:15:15and the white moon

00:15:16was floating behind her

00:15:17in the sky.

00:15:19And before us,

00:15:20from east to west,

00:15:21stretched the many-tinted sea,

00:15:24all dotted

00:15:24with little sailing boats.

00:15:27To the eastward,

00:15:28of course,

00:15:29these little boats

00:15:29were grey

00:15:30and very minute

00:15:31and clear.

00:15:33But to the westward,

00:15:34they were little boats

00:15:35of gold,

00:15:37shining gold,

00:15:37almost like little flames.

00:15:40And just below us

00:15:41was a rock

00:15:42with an arch

00:15:43worn through it.

00:15:45The blue seawater

00:15:46broke to green

00:15:47and foam

00:15:47all round the rock,

00:15:49and a galley

00:15:50came gliding

00:15:50out of the arch.

00:15:52I know that rock,

00:15:53I said.

00:15:54I was nearly drowned there.

00:15:56It is called

00:15:57the Faraglioni.

00:15:59Faraglioni?

00:16:00Yes,

00:16:01she called it that,

00:16:02answered the man

00:16:02with the white face.

00:16:04There was some story,

00:16:05but that...

00:16:06He put his hand

00:16:08to his forehead again.

00:16:10No,

00:16:10he said.

00:16:11I forget that story.

00:16:14Well,

00:16:15that is the first thing

00:16:16I remember,

00:16:17the first dream I had,

00:16:19that little shaded room

00:16:20and the beautiful air

00:16:22and sky

00:16:23and that dear lady

00:16:24of mine

00:16:25with her shining arms

00:16:26and her graceful robe

00:16:28and how we sat

00:16:29and talked

00:16:30in half-whispers

00:16:30to one another.

00:16:32We talked in whispers

00:16:33was not because

00:16:33there was anyone to hear,

00:16:35but because there was still

00:16:37such a freshness of mind

00:16:38between us

00:16:39that our thoughts

00:16:40were a little frightened,

00:16:41I think,

00:16:42to find themselves

00:16:43at last in words.

00:16:45And so they went softly.

00:16:48Presently,

00:16:49we were hungry

00:16:49and we went from our apartment,

00:16:52going by a strange passage

00:16:53with a moving floor,

00:16:55until we came

00:16:55to the great breakfast room.

00:16:57There was a fountain

00:16:58and music,

00:16:59a pleasant and joyful place it was,

00:17:01with its sunlight

00:17:02and splashing

00:17:03and the murmur

00:17:04of plucked strings.

00:17:05And we sat and ate

00:17:07and smiled at one another.

00:17:09And I would not heed a man

00:17:10who was watching me

00:17:11from a table nearby.

00:17:13And afterwards,

00:17:14we went on

00:17:14to the dancing hall.

00:17:16But I cannot describe

00:17:17that hall.

00:17:19The place was enormous,

00:17:21larger than any building

00:17:22you have ever seen.

00:17:23And in one place,

00:17:24there was the old gate

00:17:25of Capri,

00:17:27caught into the wall

00:17:28of a gallery

00:17:28high overhead.

00:17:30Light girders,

00:17:31stems and threads of gold

00:17:33burst from the pillars

00:17:34like fountains,

00:17:36streamed like an aurora

00:17:37across the roof

00:17:38and interlaced,

00:17:40like,

00:17:40like conjuring tricks.

00:17:44All about the great circle

00:17:45for the dancers,

00:17:46there were beautiful figures,

00:17:48strange dragons,

00:17:49and intricate and wonderful

00:17:51grotesques bearing lights.

00:17:53The place was inundated

00:17:55with artificial light

00:17:56that shamed the newborn day.

00:17:58And as we went through

00:18:00the throng,

00:18:01the people turned about

00:18:02and looked at us.

00:18:03For all through the world

00:18:04my name and face

00:18:05were known,

00:18:06and how I had suddenly

00:18:07thrown up pride

00:18:09and struggle

00:18:09to come to this place.

00:18:11And they looked also

00:18:13at the lady beside me,

00:18:15though half the story

00:18:16of how at last

00:18:17she had come to me

00:18:17was unknown

00:18:19or mistold.

00:18:21And few of the men

00:18:22who were there I know,

00:18:23but judged me

00:18:24a happy man,

00:18:25in spite of all the shame

00:18:27and dishonor

00:18:27that had come upon my name.

00:18:30The air was full of music,

00:18:32full of harmonious sense,

00:18:34full of the rhythm

00:18:35of beautiful motions.

00:18:37Thousands of beautiful people

00:18:39swarmed about the hall,

00:18:41crowded the galleries,

00:18:42sat in a myriad recesses.

00:18:45They were dressed

00:18:45in splendid colors

00:18:46and crowned with flowers.

00:18:49Thousands danced

00:18:50about the great circle

00:18:51beneath the white images

00:18:52of the ancient gods,

00:18:54and glorious processions

00:18:55of youths and maidens

00:18:56came and went.

00:18:58We two danced,

00:19:00not the dreary monotonies

00:19:01of your days,

00:19:02of this time, I mean,

00:19:03but dances that were beautiful,

00:19:05intoxicating.

00:19:07And even now

00:19:07I can see my lady dancing,

00:19:09dancing joyously.

00:19:11She danced, you know,

00:19:12with a serious face.

00:19:14She danced

00:19:15with a serious dignity,

00:19:16and yet she was smiling

00:19:17at me and caressing me,

00:19:19smiling and caressing

00:19:20with her eyes.

00:19:21The music was different,

00:19:24he murmured.

00:19:25It went,

00:19:26I cannot describe it,

00:19:28but it was infinitely richer

00:19:30and more varied

00:19:31than any music

00:19:32that has ever come

00:19:32to me awake.

00:19:34And then,

00:19:35it was when we had done dancing,

00:19:37a man came to speak to me.

00:19:40He was a lean,

00:19:41resolute man,

00:19:42very soberly clad

00:19:43for that place,

00:19:44and already I had marked

00:19:45his face watching me

00:19:46in the breakfasting hall,

00:19:47and afterwards as we went

00:19:49along the passage

00:19:50I had avoided his eye.

00:19:52But now,

00:19:53as we sat in a little alcove,

00:19:55smiling at the pleasure

00:19:56of all the people

00:19:57who went to and fro

00:19:58across the shining floor,

00:20:01he came and touched me

00:20:02and spoke to me

00:20:04so that I was forced to listen.

00:20:07And he asked that he might

00:20:08speak to me

00:20:09for a little time apart.

00:20:12No, I said.

00:20:14I have no secrets

00:20:15from this lady.

00:20:17What do you want to tell me?

00:20:19He said it was

00:20:20a trivial matter,

00:20:21or at least a dry matter,

00:20:23for a lady to hear.

00:20:25Perhaps for me to hear,

00:20:26said I.

00:20:28He glanced at her

00:20:29as though almost

00:20:30he would appeal to her.

00:20:32Then he asked me suddenly

00:20:33if I had heard of a great

00:20:35and avenging declaration

00:20:36that Evesham had made.

00:20:38Now Evesham had always before

00:20:40been the man next to myself

00:20:41in the leadership

00:20:42of that great party

00:20:43in the North.

00:20:44He was a forcible,

00:20:46hard and tactless man,

00:20:47and only I had been able

00:20:49to control and soften him.

00:20:51It was on his account

00:20:52even more than my own,

00:20:53I think,

00:20:54that the others

00:20:54had been so dismayed

00:20:55at my retreat.

00:20:57So this question

00:20:58about what he had done

00:20:59reawakened my old interest

00:21:01in the life

00:21:01I had put aside

00:21:02just for a moment.

00:21:03I have taken no heed

00:21:05of any news for many days,

00:21:07I said.

00:21:08What has Evesham been saying?

00:21:11And with that the man began,

00:21:13nothing loath.

00:21:14And I must confess

00:21:16even I was struck

00:21:17by Evesham's reckless folly

00:21:18in the wild and threatening

00:21:20words he had used.

00:21:21And this messenger

00:21:22they had sent to me

00:21:24not only told me

00:21:25of Evesham's speech,

00:21:26but went on to ask counsel

00:21:28and to point out

00:21:29what need they had of me.

00:21:30While he talked,

00:21:32my lady sat a little forward

00:21:33and watched his face and mine.

00:21:38My old habits of scheming

00:21:39and organising

00:21:40reasserted themselves.

00:21:42I could even see myself

00:21:43suddenly returning

00:21:44to the north

00:21:45and all the dramatic effect of it.

00:21:48All that this man said

00:21:49witnessed to the disorder

00:21:50of the party indeed,

00:21:52but not to its damage.

00:21:54I should go back stronger

00:21:56than I had come.

00:21:58And then I thought of my lady.

00:22:00You see,

00:22:01how can I tell you?

00:22:03There were certain peculiarities

00:22:05of our relationship.

00:22:07As things are,

00:22:07I need not tell you about that.

00:22:09Which would render

00:22:10her presence with me impossible.

00:22:13I should have had to leave her.

00:22:15Indeed,

00:22:15I should have had to renounce

00:22:16her clearly and openly

00:22:18if I was to do all

00:22:19that I could do in the north.

00:22:21And the man knew that,

00:22:24even as he talked to her and me.

00:22:26Knew it as well as she did.

00:22:28That my steps to duty were

00:22:30first separation,

00:22:32then abandonment.

00:22:34At the touch of that thought,

00:22:36my dream of a return

00:22:37was shattered.

00:22:38I turned on the man suddenly,

00:22:40as he was imagining

00:22:41his eloquence

00:22:42was gaining ground with me.

00:22:44What have I to do

00:22:45with these things now?

00:22:47I said.

00:22:48I have done with them.

00:22:50Do you think I am coquetting

00:22:51with your people

00:22:52in coming here?

00:22:53No,

00:22:54he said.

00:22:55But,

00:22:56why cannot you leave me alone?

00:22:58I have done with these things.

00:22:59I have ceased to be anything

00:23:01but a private man.

00:23:02Yes,

00:23:03he answered.

00:23:04But have you thought,

00:23:05this talk of war,

00:23:07these reckless challenges,

00:23:08these wild aggressions,

00:23:10I stood up.

00:23:12No,

00:23:13I cried.

00:23:14I won't hear you.

00:23:15I took count of all those things.

00:23:17I weighed them.

00:23:18And I have come away.

00:23:20He seemed to consider

00:23:21the possibility of persistence.

00:23:24He looked from me

00:23:24to where the lady sat

00:23:25regarding us.

00:23:27War,

00:23:28he said,

00:23:29as if he were speaking

00:23:30to himself,

00:23:31and then turned slowly

00:23:32from me and walked away.

00:23:34I stood,

00:23:36caught in the whirl of thoughts

00:23:37his appeal had set going.

00:23:39I heard my lady's voice.

00:23:42Dear,

00:23:42she said,

00:23:43but if they have need of you.

00:23:46She did not finish her sentence.

00:23:48She let it rest there.

00:23:50I turned to her sweet face

00:23:52and the balance of my mood

00:23:54swayed and reeled.

00:23:56They want me only to do the thing

00:23:58they dare not do themselves,

00:24:00I said.

00:24:01If they distrust Evesham,

00:24:02they must settle with him themselves.

00:24:05She looked at me doubtfully.

00:24:07But war,

00:24:09she said.

00:24:10I saw a doubt on her face

00:24:12that I had seen before,

00:24:13a doubt of herself and me,

00:24:16the first shadow of the discovery

00:24:17that seen strongly and completely

00:24:19must drive us apart forever.

00:24:21Now,

00:24:22I was an older mind than hers,

00:24:24and I could sway her

00:24:25to this belief or that.

00:24:27My dear one,

00:24:28I said,

00:24:29you must not trouble

00:24:30over these things.

00:24:31There will be no war.

00:24:32Certainly there will be no war.

00:24:35The age of wars is past.

00:24:37Trust me to know

00:24:37the justice of this case.

00:24:39They have no right upon me,

00:24:41dearest,

00:24:41and no one has a right upon me.

00:24:43I have been free

00:24:44to choose my life,

00:24:45and I have chosen this.

00:24:48But war,

00:24:49she said.

00:24:51I sat down beside her.

00:24:53I put an arm behind her

00:24:54and took her hand in mine.

00:24:56I set myself

00:24:57to drive that doubt away.

00:24:59I set myself

00:25:00to fill her mind

00:25:00with pleasant things again.

00:25:02I lied to her,

00:25:04and in lying to her

00:25:05I lied also to myself.

00:25:07And she was only too ready

00:25:08to believe me,

00:25:09only too ready to forget.

00:25:11Very soon the shadow

00:25:12had gone again,

00:25:14and we were hastening

00:25:14to our bathing place

00:25:15in the Grotta del Bove Merino,

00:25:18where it was our custom

00:25:18to bathe every day.

00:25:20We swam and splashed

00:25:21one another,

00:25:23and in that buoyant water

00:25:24I seemed to become

00:25:25something lighter

00:25:25and stronger than a man.

00:25:28And at last

00:25:28we came out dripping

00:25:29and rejoicing

00:25:30and raced among the rocks.

00:25:32And then I put on

00:25:33a dry bathing dress,

00:25:34and we sat to bask in the sun.

00:25:37And presently I nodded,

00:25:39resting my head

00:25:40against her knee,

00:25:41and she put her hand

00:25:42upon my hair

00:25:43and stroked it softly,

00:25:45and I dozed.

00:25:47And behold,

00:25:49as it were

00:25:49with the snapping

00:25:50of the string of a violin,

00:25:52I was awakening,

00:25:53and I was in my own bed

00:25:54in Liverpool,

00:25:56in the life of today.

00:25:58Only for a time

00:25:59I could not believe

00:26:00that all these vivid moments

00:26:01had been no more

00:26:02than the substance

00:26:03of a dream.

00:26:03In truth,

00:26:06I could not believe

00:26:07it a dream

00:26:07for all the sobering reality

00:26:09of things about me.

00:26:11I bathed

00:26:12and dressed as it were

00:26:13by habit,

00:26:14and as I shaved,

00:26:16I argued why

00:26:17I, of all men,

00:26:18should leave

00:26:19the woman I loved

00:26:19to go back

00:26:20to fantastic politics

00:26:22in the hard

00:26:22and strenuous north.

00:26:24Even if Evesham

00:26:25did force the world

00:26:26back to war,

00:26:27what was that to me?

00:26:29I was a man

00:26:30with the heart of a man.

00:26:32And why should I feel

00:26:33the responsibility

00:26:34of a deity

00:26:35for the way

00:26:36the world might go?

00:26:38You know,

00:26:39that is not quite

00:26:40the way I think

00:26:40about affairs,

00:26:42about my real affairs.

00:26:43I'm a solicitor,

00:26:44you know,

00:26:45with a point of view.

00:26:47The vision was so real,

00:26:49you must understand,

00:26:50so utterly unlike a dream

00:26:51that I kept perpetually

00:26:52recalling little

00:26:53irrelevant details.

00:26:55Even the ornament

00:26:56of a book cover

00:26:56that lay on my wife's

00:26:57sewing machine

00:26:58in the breakfast room,

00:26:59recalled with the

00:27:00utmost vividness,

00:27:02the gilt line

00:27:03that ran about

00:27:03the seat in the alcove

00:27:05where I had talked

00:27:06with the messenger

00:27:06from my deserted party.

00:27:09Have you ever heard

00:27:09of a dream

00:27:10that had a quality

00:27:11like that?

00:27:12Like,

00:27:13so that afterwards

00:27:14you remembered

00:27:15little details

00:27:16you had forgotten?

00:27:19I thought,

00:27:20I had never noticed

00:27:21the point before,

00:27:23but he was right.

00:27:24Never,

00:27:25I said.

00:27:27That is what you

00:27:28never seem to do

00:27:28with dreams.

00:27:30No,

00:27:31he answered.

00:27:32But that is just

00:27:33what I did.

00:27:34I am a solicitor,

00:27:35you must understand,

00:27:36in Liverpool,

00:27:37and I could not help

00:27:38wondering what the

00:27:39clients and business

00:27:40people I found myself

00:27:41talking to in my office

00:27:42would think

00:27:43if I told them

00:27:44suddenly I was in love

00:27:45with a girl

00:27:45who would be born

00:27:46a couple of hundred

00:27:47years or so hence

00:27:48and worried about

00:27:49the politics of my

00:27:50great-great-great-grandchildren.

00:27:52I was chiefly busy

00:27:53that day

00:27:54negotiating a 99-year

00:27:55building lease.

00:27:56It was a private

00:27:57builder in a hurry

00:27:58and we wanted to

00:27:59tie him in every

00:28:00possible way.

00:28:02I had an interview

00:28:03with him

00:28:03and he showed

00:28:04a certain want

00:28:05of temper

00:28:06that sent me

00:28:07to bed

00:28:07still irritated.

00:28:09That night

00:28:10I had no dream

00:28:11nor did I dream

00:28:13the next night

00:28:13at least to remember.

00:28:16Something of that

00:28:16intense reality

00:28:17of conviction

00:28:18vanished.

00:28:19I began to feel

00:28:20sure it was a dream

00:28:21and then it came

00:28:23again.

00:28:23When the dream

00:28:25came again

00:28:26nearly four days

00:28:27later

00:28:27it was very different.

00:28:30I think it's certain

00:28:31that four days

00:28:32had also elapsed

00:28:33in the dream.

00:28:35Many things

00:28:35had happened

00:28:35in the north

00:28:36and the shadow

00:28:37of them

00:28:37was back again

00:28:38between us

00:28:39and this time

00:28:40it was not so

00:28:41easily dispelled.

00:28:43I began I know

00:28:44with moody musings.

00:28:46Why in spite of all

00:28:47should I go back

00:28:48go back

00:28:49for all the rest

00:28:50of my days

00:28:51to toil

00:28:51and stress

00:28:52insults

00:28:52and perpetual

00:28:53dissatisfaction

00:28:54simply to save

00:28:55hundreds of millions

00:28:56of common people

00:28:57whom I did not love

00:28:59whom too often

00:29:00I could do no other

00:29:01than despise

00:29:02from the stress

00:29:03and anguish

00:29:04of war

00:29:05and infinite misrule.

00:29:07And after all

00:29:08I might fail.

00:29:09They all sought

00:29:10their own narrow ends

00:29:12and why should not I

00:29:13why should not I

00:29:15also live

00:29:16as a man

00:29:16and out of such

00:29:18thoughts

00:29:18her voice

00:29:19summoned me

00:29:20and I lifted

00:29:21my eyes.

00:29:22I found myself

00:29:24awake and walking.

00:29:25We had come out

00:29:26above the pleasure

00:29:27city.

00:29:28We were near the

00:29:28summit of Monte

00:29:29Solaro

00:29:30and looking towards

00:29:31the bay.

00:29:32It was the late

00:29:33afternoon

00:29:34and very clear.

00:29:36Far away to the

00:29:36left

00:29:37Ischia hung

00:29:38in a golden haze

00:29:39between sea

00:29:39and sky

00:29:40and Naples

00:29:41was coldly white

00:29:42against the hills

00:29:43and before us

00:29:44was Vesuvius

00:29:45with a tall

00:29:46and slender

00:29:46streamer

00:29:47feathering at last

00:29:48towards the south

00:29:49and the ruins

00:29:50of Torre Annunziata

00:29:51and Castellamare

00:29:53glittering and near.

00:29:55I interrupted

00:29:56suddenly.

00:29:57You have been

00:29:58to Capri of course.

00:30:00Only in this dream

00:30:01he said.

00:30:03Only in this dream.

00:30:05All across the bay

00:30:06beyond Sorrento

00:30:07were the floating

00:30:08palaces of the

00:30:08pleasure city

00:30:09moored and chained

00:30:10and northward

00:30:12were the broad

00:30:13floating stages

00:30:14that received

00:30:15the aeroplanes.

00:30:17Aeroplanes fell

00:30:18out of the sky

00:30:18every afternoon

00:30:19each bringing

00:30:21its thousands

00:30:21of pleasure seekers

00:30:22from the uttermost

00:30:23parts of the earth

00:30:24to Capri

00:30:25and its delights.

00:30:27All these things

00:30:28I say

00:30:29stretched below.

00:30:32But we noticed

00:30:32them only incidentally

00:30:34because of an unusual

00:30:34sight that evening

00:30:35had to show.

00:30:37Five war aeroplanes

00:30:39that had long

00:30:40slumbered useless

00:30:41in the distant

00:30:42arsenals of the

00:30:43Rhinemouth

00:30:43were manoeuvring

00:30:44now in the

00:30:45eastward sky.

00:30:47Evesham had

00:30:47astonished the world

00:30:49by producing them

00:30:49and others

00:30:50and sending them

00:30:51to circle

00:30:52here and there.

00:30:53It was the threat

00:30:54material in the

00:30:55great game of bluff

00:30:56he was playing

00:30:56and it had taken

00:30:58even me by surprise.

00:31:00He was one of those

00:31:00incredibly stupid

00:31:01energetic people

00:31:02who seemed sent

00:31:03by heaven

00:31:04to create disasters.

00:31:06His energy

00:31:06to the first glance

00:31:07seemed so wonderfully

00:31:08like capacity.

00:31:09But he had no

00:31:11imagination

00:31:11no invention

00:31:13only a stupid

00:31:14vast driving

00:31:15force of will

00:31:16and a mad faith

00:31:17in his stupid

00:31:18idiot luck

00:31:19to pull him through.

00:31:20I remember

00:31:21how we stood out

00:31:22upon the headland

00:31:22watching the squadron

00:31:23circling far away

00:31:25and how I weighed

00:31:26the full meaning

00:31:27of the sight

00:31:27seeing clearly

00:31:28the way things

00:31:29must go.

00:31:31And then even

00:31:32it was not too late

00:31:33I might have gone

00:31:34back I think

00:31:35and saved the world.

00:31:36The people of the north

00:31:38would follow me

00:31:38I knew

00:31:39granted only that

00:31:40in one thing

00:31:41I respected

00:31:42their moral standards.

00:31:44The east and south

00:31:45would trust me

00:31:46as they would trust

00:31:47no other northern man

00:31:48and I knew

00:31:49I had only to put it

00:31:50to her

00:31:50and she would have

00:31:52let me go

00:31:52not because she

00:31:53did not love me.

00:31:56Only

00:31:56I did not want to go

00:31:58my will

00:31:59was all the other way about

00:32:00I had so newly

00:32:02thrown off

00:32:02the incubus

00:32:03of responsibility

00:32:04I was still

00:32:05so fresh

00:32:06a renegade

00:32:07from duty

00:32:07that the daylight

00:32:08clearness of what

00:32:09I ought to do

00:32:10had no power

00:32:11at all to touch

00:32:11my will.

00:32:13My will was to live

00:32:14to gather pleasures

00:32:15and make my dear lady

00:32:16happy

00:32:17but though this sense

00:32:19of vast neglected

00:32:20duties had no power

00:32:21to draw me

00:32:21it could make me

00:32:22silent and preoccupied

00:32:24it robbed the days

00:32:26I had spent

00:32:27of half their brightness

00:32:28and roused me

00:32:29into dark meditations

00:32:30in the silence

00:32:31of the night.

00:32:32And as I stood

00:32:34and watched

00:32:34Evesham's aeroplane

00:32:36sweep to and fro

00:32:37those birds

00:32:38of infinite

00:32:39ill omen

00:32:40she stood beside me

00:32:42watching me

00:32:43perceiving the trouble

00:32:44indeed

00:32:45but not perceiving

00:32:46it clearly

00:32:46her eyes

00:32:48questioning my face

00:32:49her expression

00:32:50shaded with perplexity

00:32:51her face was grey

00:32:53because the sunset

00:32:54was fading

00:32:55out of the sky

00:32:56it was no fault

00:32:58of hers

00:32:58that she held me

00:32:59she had asked

00:33:00me to go

00:33:01from her

00:33:01and again

00:33:02in the night time

00:33:03and with tears

00:33:04she had asked

00:33:04me to go

00:33:05at last

00:33:07it was the sense

00:33:07of her

00:33:08that roused

00:33:08me from my mood

00:33:09I turned upon

00:33:11her suddenly

00:33:11and challenged

00:33:12her to race

00:33:13down the mountain

00:33:13slopes

00:33:14no

00:33:15she said

00:33:16as if I jarred

00:33:18with her gravity

00:33:19but I was resolved

00:33:20to end that gravity

00:33:21and made her run

00:33:23no one can be

00:33:24very grey

00:33:25and sad

00:33:25who is out of breath

00:33:26and when she stumbled

00:33:28I ran with my hand

00:33:30beneath her arm

00:33:31we ran down past

00:33:33a couple of men

00:33:33who turned back

00:33:35staring in astonishment

00:33:36at my behaviour

00:33:37they must have recognised

00:33:39my face

00:33:39and halfway down the slope

00:33:42came a tumult

00:33:43in the air

00:33:44clank clank

00:33:45clank clank

00:33:45and we stopped

00:33:46and presently

00:33:47over the hill crest

00:33:48those war things

00:33:50came flying

00:33:50one behind the other

00:33:51the man seemed

00:33:53hesitating

00:33:54on the verge

00:33:55of a description

00:33:55what were they like

00:33:58I asked

00:33:58they had never fought

00:34:01he said

00:34:01they were just like

00:34:02our ironclads are nowadays

00:34:04they had never fought

00:34:05no one knew

00:34:06what they might do

00:34:07with excited men

00:34:08inside them

00:34:09few even cared

00:34:10to speculate

00:34:11they were great

00:34:12driving things

00:34:13shaped like spearheads

00:34:14without a shaft

00:34:15with a propeller

00:34:16in the place

00:34:17of the shaft

00:34:18steel

00:34:19not steel

00:34:21aluminium

00:34:22no no

00:34:24nothing of that sort

00:34:24an alloy

00:34:26that was very common

00:34:27as common as brass

00:34:28for example

00:34:29it was called

00:34:30let me see

00:34:31he squeezed his forehead

00:34:33with the fingers

00:34:33of one hand

00:34:34I am forgetting everything

00:34:36he said

00:34:37and they carried guns

00:34:39little guns

00:34:40firing high explosive shells

00:34:42they fired the guns

00:34:44backwards

00:34:44out of the base

00:34:46of the leaf

00:34:46so to speak

00:34:47and rammed

00:34:48with the beak

00:34:48that was the theory

00:34:50you know

00:34:51but they had never

00:34:52been fought

00:34:52no one could tell

00:34:54exactly what was

00:34:55going to happen

00:34:56and meanwhile

00:34:57I suppose it was

00:34:58very fine to go

00:34:59whirling through the air

00:35:00like a flight

00:35:00of young swallows

00:35:01swift and easy

00:35:03I guess the captains

00:35:04tried not to think

00:35:05too clearly

00:35:06what the real thing

00:35:07would be like

00:35:08and these flying

00:35:09war machines

00:35:10you know

00:35:10were only one sort

00:35:11of the endless

00:35:12war contrivances

00:35:13that had been invented

00:35:14and had fallen

00:35:15into abeyance

00:35:16during the long peace

00:35:17there were all sorts

00:35:19of these things

00:35:20that people were

00:35:21routing out

00:35:22and furbishing up

00:35:23infernal things

00:35:24silly things

00:35:25things that had

00:35:26never been tried

00:35:27big engines

00:35:28terrible explosives

00:35:30great guns

00:35:32you know the silly way

00:35:34of these ingenious

00:35:35sort of men

00:35:35who make these things

00:35:36they turn them out

00:35:38as beavers

00:35:38build dams

00:35:39and with no more

00:35:40sense of the rivers

00:35:41they're going to divert

00:35:42and the lands

00:35:43they're going to flood

00:35:44as we went down

00:35:46the winding stepway

00:35:47to our hotel again

00:35:48in the twilight

00:35:49I foresaw it all

00:35:50I saw how clearly

00:35:52and inevitably

00:35:53things were driving

00:35:54for war

00:35:55in Evesham's

00:35:56silly violent hands

00:35:57and I had some inkling

00:35:59of what war

00:35:59was bound to be

00:36:00under these new conditions

00:36:01and even then

00:36:03though I knew

00:36:04it was drawing

00:36:05near the limit

00:36:06of my opportunity

00:36:06I could find

00:36:08no will

00:36:09to go back

00:36:09he sighed

00:36:11that was my last chance

00:36:13we didn't go

00:36:15into the city

00:36:16until the sky

00:36:17was full of stars

00:36:17so we walked out

00:36:19upon the high terrace

00:36:20to and fro

00:36:21and she counseled

00:36:23me to go back

00:36:24my dearest

00:36:26she said

00:36:26and her sweet face

00:36:27looked up to me

00:36:28this is death

00:36:30this life you lead

00:36:32is death

00:36:32go back to them

00:36:35go back to your duty

00:36:37she began to weep

00:36:39saying between her sobs

00:36:40and clinging to my arm

00:36:42as she said it

00:36:43go back

00:36:44go back

00:36:45then suddenly

00:36:47she fell mute

00:36:48and glancing down

00:36:49at her face

00:36:50I read in an instant

00:36:51the thing she had

00:36:52thought to do

00:36:53it was one of those

00:36:54moments when one sees

00:36:56no I said

00:36:58no

00:36:59she asked in surprise

00:37:01and I think a little

00:37:02fearful at the answer

00:37:03to her thought

00:37:04nothing I said

00:37:06she'll send me back

00:37:07nothing

00:37:08I have chosen

00:37:09love

00:37:10I have chosen

00:37:10and the world

00:37:11must go

00:37:12whatever happens

00:37:13I will live this life

00:37:14I will live for you

00:37:16it

00:37:16nothing shall turn me aside

00:37:18nothing my dear one

00:37:20even if you died

00:37:22even if you died

00:37:23yes

00:37:25she murmured softly

00:37:27then

00:37:28I also would die

00:37:30and before she could speak again

00:37:33I began to talk

00:37:34talking eloquently

00:37:35as I could do in that life

00:37:37talking to exalt love

00:37:39to make the life we were living

00:37:41seem heroic and glorious

00:37:42and the thing I was deserting

00:37:45was something hard

00:37:46and enormously ignoble

00:37:48that it was a fine thing

00:37:49to set aside

00:37:50I bent all my mind

00:37:53to throw that glamour upon it

00:37:54seeking not only to convert her

00:37:56but myself to that

00:37:57we talked

00:37:59and she clung to me

00:38:00torn too

00:38:01between all that she deemed noble

00:38:02and all that she knew

00:38:04was sweet

00:38:04and at last

00:38:06I did make it heroic

00:38:07made all the thickening disaster

00:38:09of the world

00:38:10only a sort of glorious setting

00:38:12to our unparalleled love

00:38:13and we two poor foolish souls

00:38:16strutted there at last

00:38:17clad in that splendid delusion

00:38:19drunken rather

00:38:20with that glorious delusion

00:38:22under the still stars

00:38:23and so my moment passed

00:38:26it was my last chance

00:38:29even as we went to and fro there

00:38:32the leaders of the south and east

00:38:34were gathering their resolve

00:38:35and the hot answer

00:38:37that shattered Evesham's bluffing

00:38:39forever took shape

00:38:40and waited

00:38:41and all over Asia

00:38:43and the ocean

00:38:45and the south

00:38:45the air and the wires

00:38:47were throbbing

00:38:48with their warnings

00:38:49to prepare

00:38:49prepare

00:38:51no one living you know

00:38:54knew what war was

00:38:55no one could imagine

00:38:56with all these new inventions

00:38:58what horror war might bring

00:39:00I believe most people

00:39:01still believed

00:39:02it would be a matter

00:39:03of bright uniforms

00:39:04and shouting charges

00:39:05and triumphs

00:39:06and flags

00:39:07and bands

00:39:07in a time

00:39:09when half the world

00:39:10drew its food supply

00:39:10from regions

00:39:11ten thousand miles away

00:39:13the man with the white face

00:39:15paused

00:39:16I glanced at him

00:39:18and his face was intent

00:39:19on the floor of the carriage

00:39:21a little railway station

00:39:23a string of loaded trucks

00:39:25a signal box

00:39:26and the back of a cottage

00:39:27shot by the carriage window

00:39:29and a bridge passed

00:39:30with a clap of noise

00:39:31echoing the tumult

00:39:33of the train

00:39:33after that

00:39:35he said

00:39:36I dreamt often

00:39:37for three weeks of nights

00:39:39that dream

00:39:40was my life

00:39:41and the worst of it was

00:39:43there were nights

00:39:44when I could not dream

00:39:45when I lay tossing

00:39:47on a bed

00:39:47in this accursed life

00:39:49and there

00:39:50somewhere lost to me

00:39:52things were happening

00:39:53momentous

00:39:54terrible things

00:39:55I lived at nights

00:39:57my days

00:39:58my waking days

00:40:00this life

00:40:01I am living now

00:40:02became a faded

00:40:03far away dream

00:40:04a drab setting

00:40:06the cover of the book

00:40:07he thought

00:40:08I could tell you all

00:40:10tell you every little thing

00:40:11in the dream

00:40:12but as to what I did

00:40:13in the daytime

00:40:14no I could not tell

00:40:16I do not remember

00:40:18my memory

00:40:19my memory has gone

00:40:20the business of life

00:40:22slips from me

00:40:23he leaned forward

00:40:25and pressed his hands

00:40:26upon his eyes

00:40:27for a long time

00:40:28he said nothing

00:40:29and then

00:40:30said I

00:40:32the war burst

00:40:33like a hurricane

00:40:34he stared before him

00:40:36at unspeakable things

00:40:37and then

00:40:39I urged again

00:40:41one touch of unreality

00:40:43he said

00:40:44in the low tone

00:40:45of a man

00:40:46who speaks to himself

00:40:47and they would have

00:40:48been nightmares

00:40:49but they were not

00:40:50nightmares

00:40:51they were not

00:40:52nightmares

00:40:53no

00:40:53he was silent

00:40:55for so long

00:40:56that it dawned upon me

00:40:57that there was a danger

00:40:58of losing the rest

00:40:59of the story

00:41:00but he went on

00:41:02talking again

00:41:03in the same tone

00:41:04of questioning

00:41:04self-communion

00:41:05what was there

00:41:07to do

00:41:07but flight

00:41:08I had not thought

00:41:10the war would

00:41:11touch Capri

00:41:11I had seemed

00:41:13to see Capri

00:41:14as being out

00:41:14of it all

00:41:15as the contrast

00:41:16to it all

00:41:17but two nights

00:41:19after the whole place

00:41:20was shouting

00:41:20and bawling

00:41:21every woman

00:41:22almost

00:41:23and every other man

00:41:24wore a badge

00:41:25Evesham's badge

00:41:27and there was

00:41:28no music

00:41:28but a jangling

00:41:29war song

00:41:30over and over

00:41:31again

00:41:32and everywhere

00:41:33men enlisting

00:41:34and in the dancing

00:41:35halls

00:41:35they were drilling

00:41:37the whole island

00:41:39was a whirl

00:41:40with rumours

00:41:40it was said

00:41:42again and again

00:41:42that fighting

00:41:43had begun

00:41:44I had not

00:41:46expected this

00:41:46I had seen

00:41:48so little

00:41:48of the life

00:41:49of pleasure

00:41:49that I had

00:41:50failed to reckon

00:41:51with this violence

00:41:52of the amateurs

00:41:52and as for me

00:41:54I was out of it

00:41:56I was like a man

00:41:57who might have

00:41:58prevented the firing

00:41:59of a magazine

00:42:00the time had gone

00:42:02I was no one

00:42:04the vainest stripling

00:42:06with a badge

00:42:06counted for more

00:42:07than I

00:42:08the crowd jostled us

00:42:10and bawled in our ears

00:42:11that accursed song

00:42:12deafened us

00:42:13a woman shrieked

00:42:15at my lady

00:42:15because no badge

00:42:16was on her

00:42:17and we too

00:42:18went back to our own

00:42:19place again

00:42:19ruffled and insulted

00:42:21my lady white

00:42:23and silent

00:42:23and I

00:42:24a quiver

00:42:25with rage

00:42:26so furious was I

00:42:28I could have quarrelled

00:42:29with her

00:42:30if I could have found

00:42:31one shade of accusation

00:42:32in her eyes

00:42:33all my magnificence

00:42:36had gone from me

00:42:36I walked up and down

00:42:38our rock cell

00:42:39and outside

00:42:41was the darkling sea

00:42:42and a light

00:42:43to the southward

00:42:44that flared

00:42:45and passed

00:42:46and came again

00:42:47we must get out

00:42:49of this place

00:42:49I said over and over

00:42:51I have made my choice

00:42:53and I will have no hand

00:42:55in these troubles

00:42:56I will have nothing

00:42:57of this war

00:42:58we have taken our lives

00:43:00out of all these things

00:43:01this is no refuge for us

00:43:03let us go

00:43:05and the next day

00:43:07we were already in flight

00:43:09from the war

00:43:09that covered the world

00:43:10and all the rest

00:43:12was flight

00:43:12all the rest

00:43:14was flight

00:43:15he mused darkly

00:43:17how much was there of it

00:43:19he made no answer

00:43:21how many days

00:43:23his face was white

00:43:25and drawn

00:43:26and his hands

00:43:26were clenched

00:43:27he took no heed

00:43:29of my curiosity

00:43:30I tried to draw him

00:43:33back to his story

00:43:34with questions

00:43:34where did you go

00:43:36I said

00:43:37when

00:43:38when you left Capri

00:43:40southwest

00:43:42he said

00:43:43and glanced at me

00:43:44for a second

00:43:44we went in a boat

00:43:46but I should have

00:43:48thought an aeroplane

00:43:49they had been seized

00:43:51I questioned him no more

00:43:53presently I thought

00:43:54he was beginning again

00:43:55he broke out

00:43:56in an argumentative monotone

00:43:58but why should it be

00:43:59if indeed this battle

00:44:01this slaughter

00:44:02and stress is life

00:44:03why have we this craving

00:44:05for pleasure and beauty

00:44:06if there is no refuge

00:44:08if there is no place of peace

00:44:10and if all our dreams

00:44:12of quiet places

00:44:13are a folly

00:44:13and a snare

00:44:14why have we such dreams

00:44:17surely it was no ignoble craving

00:44:19no base intentions

00:44:21that had brought us to this

00:44:22it was love

00:44:24that had isolated us

00:44:25love had come to me

00:44:27with her eyes

00:44:28and robed in her beauty

00:44:29more glorious

00:44:30than all else in life

00:44:31in the very shape

00:44:33and colour of life

00:44:34and summoned me away

00:44:35I had silenced

00:44:37all the voices

00:44:38I had answered

00:44:39all the questions

00:44:40I had come to her

00:44:41and suddenly

00:44:43there was nothing

00:44:43but war

00:44:44and death

00:44:45I had an inspiration

00:44:47after all

00:44:49I said

00:44:49it could have been

00:44:50only a dream

00:44:51a dream

00:44:53he cried

00:44:54flaming upon me

00:44:55a dream

00:44:56when even now

00:44:57for the first time

00:44:59he became animated

00:45:00a faint flush

00:45:01crept into his cheek

00:45:03he raised his open hand

00:45:04and clenched it

00:45:05and dropped it

00:45:06to his knee

00:45:06he spoke

00:45:08looking away from me

00:45:09and for all the rest

00:45:10of the time

00:45:11he looked away

00:45:12we are but phantoms

00:45:14he said

00:45:15and the phantoms

00:45:17of phantoms

00:45:18desires like

00:45:19cloud shadows

00:45:20and wills of straw

00:45:21that eddy in the wind

00:45:22the days pass

00:45:24use and won't

00:45:25carry us through

00:45:26as a train

00:45:27carries the shadow

00:45:28of its lights

00:45:28so be it

00:45:30but one thing

00:45:32is real and certain

00:45:33one thing

00:45:34is no dream stuff

00:45:35but eternal

00:45:36and enduring

00:45:37it is the centre

00:45:39of my life

00:45:40and all other things

00:45:41about it

00:45:41a subordinate

00:45:42or altogether vain

00:45:43I loved her

00:45:45that woman of a dream

00:45:46and she and I

00:45:48are dead together

00:45:49a dream

00:45:51how can it be a dream

00:45:54when it drenched

00:45:55a living life

00:45:55with unappeasable sorrow

00:45:57when it makes

00:45:59all that I have lived for

00:46:00and cared for

00:46:01worthless

00:46:02and unmeaning

00:46:03until that very moment

00:46:06when she was killed

00:46:07I believed

00:46:09we had still a chance

00:46:10of getting away

00:46:11he said

00:46:11all through the night

00:46:13and morning

00:46:14that we sailed

00:46:14across the sea

00:46:15from Capri to Salerno

00:46:17we talked of escape

00:46:19we were full of hope

00:46:21and it clung about us

00:46:22to the end

00:46:23hope for the life

00:46:25together

00:46:25we should lead

00:46:26out of it all

00:46:27out of the battle

00:46:29and struggle

00:46:29the wild

00:46:31and empty passions

00:46:32the empty arbitrary

00:46:33thou shalt

00:46:34and thou shalt not

00:46:35of the world

00:46:36we were uplifted

00:46:39as though our quest

00:46:40was a holy thing

00:46:41as though love

00:46:43for one another

00:46:43was a mission

00:46:44even when from our boat

00:46:47we saw the fair face

00:46:48of that great rock Capri

00:46:50already scarred

00:46:51and gashed

00:46:52by the gun emplacements

00:46:53and hiding places

00:46:54that were to make it

00:46:55a fastness

00:46:56we reckon nothing

00:46:57of the imminent slaughter

00:46:59though the fury

00:47:00of preparation

00:47:01hung about

00:47:01in puffs and clouds

00:47:03of dust

00:47:03at a hundred points

00:47:05amidst the grey

00:47:05but indeed

00:47:07I made a text

00:47:07of that and talked

00:47:08there you know

00:47:10was the rock

00:47:11still beautiful

00:47:12for all its scars

00:47:13with its countless

00:47:15windows

00:47:15and arches

00:47:16and ways

00:47:17tier upon tier

00:47:18for a thousand feet

00:47:20a vast carving

00:47:21of grey

00:47:22broken by

00:47:23vine-clad terraces

00:47:24and lemon

00:47:26and orange groves

00:47:27and masses

00:47:28of agave

00:47:29and prickly pear

00:47:30and puffs

00:47:31of almond blossom

00:47:32and out under

00:47:34the archway

00:47:35that is built

00:47:35over the marina piccola

00:47:36other boats

00:47:37were coming

00:47:38and as we came

00:47:39round the cape

00:47:40and within sight

00:47:40of the mainland

00:47:41another little string

00:47:42of boats

00:47:43came into view

00:47:44driving before the wind

00:47:45towards the south west

00:47:46in a little while

00:47:48a multitude

00:47:49had come out

00:47:49the remoter

00:47:51just little specks

00:47:52of ultramarine

00:47:52in the shadow

00:47:53of the eastward cliff

00:47:54it is love

00:47:56and reason

00:47:57I said

00:47:57fleeing from

00:47:58all this madness

00:47:59of war

00:48:00and though

00:48:02we presently

00:48:02saw a squadron

00:48:03of aeroplanes

00:48:04flying across

00:48:05the southern sky

00:48:06we did not heed it

00:48:07there it was

00:48:09a line of little dots

00:48:11in the sky

00:48:11and then more

00:48:13dotting the

00:48:14south eastern horizon

00:48:15and then still more

00:48:17until all that

00:48:18quarter of the sky

00:48:19was stippled

00:48:20with blue specks

00:48:21now they were all

00:48:23thin little strokes

00:48:24of blue

00:48:24and now one

00:48:26and now a multitude

00:48:27would heal

00:48:28and catch the sun

00:48:29and become short

00:48:30flashes of light

00:48:30they came rising

00:48:32and falling

00:48:33and growing larger

00:48:34like some huge

00:48:35flight of gulls

00:48:36or rooks

00:48:37or such like birds

00:48:38moving with a

00:48:39marvellous uniformity

00:48:40and ever as they

00:48:42drew nearer

00:48:42they spread over

00:48:44a greater width

00:48:45of sky

00:48:45the southward wing

00:48:47flung itself

00:48:48in an arrow-headed

00:48:49cloud athwart the sun

00:48:50and then suddenly

00:48:52they swept round

00:48:53to the eastward

00:48:54and streamed eastward

00:48:55growing smaller

00:48:56and smaller

00:48:57and clearer

00:48:57and clearer again

00:48:58until they vanished

00:48:59from the sky

00:49:00and after that

00:49:02we noted to the

00:49:03northward

00:49:03and very high

00:49:04evesham's

00:49:05fighting machines

00:49:06hanging high

00:49:07over naples

00:49:08like an evening

00:49:08swarm of gnats

00:49:10it seemed to have

00:49:12no more to do

00:49:13with us

00:49:13than a flight

00:49:13of birds

00:49:14even the mutter

00:49:16of guns

00:49:17far away

00:49:18in the southeast

00:49:19seemed to us

00:49:20to signify nothing

00:49:21each day

00:49:24each dream

00:49:25after that

00:49:26we were still

00:49:27exalted

00:49:27still seeking

00:49:29that refuge

00:49:29where we might

00:49:30live and love

00:49:31fatigue had come

00:49:33upon us

00:49:33pain

00:49:34and many distresses

00:49:36for though we

00:49:37were dusty

00:49:37and stained

00:49:38by our toilsome

00:49:39tramping

00:49:39and half starved

00:49:41and with the

00:49:41horror of the

00:49:42dead men

00:49:43we had seen

00:49:43and the flight

00:49:44of the peasants

00:49:45for very soon

00:49:47a gust of fighting

00:49:48swept up the

00:49:48peninsula

00:49:49with these things

00:49:50haunting our minds

00:49:51it still resulted

00:49:52only in a deepening

00:49:53resolution to escape

00:49:55oh but she was

00:49:57brave and patient

00:49:58she who had never

00:50:00faced hardship

00:50:01and exposure

00:50:01had courage

00:50:02for herself

00:50:03and me

00:50:04we went to and fro

00:50:06seeking an outlet

00:50:07over a country

00:50:09all commandeered

00:50:10and ransacked

00:50:11by the gathering

00:50:11hosts of war

00:50:12always we went

00:50:14on foot

00:50:15at first

00:50:16there were

00:50:17other fugitives

00:50:17but we did not

00:50:19mingle with them

00:50:19some escaped

00:50:21northward

00:50:21some were caught

00:50:22in the torrent

00:50:23of peasantry

00:50:24that swept

00:50:24along the main

00:50:25roads

00:50:25many gave

00:50:27themselves

00:50:27into the hands

00:50:28of the soldiery

00:50:29and were sent

00:50:30northward

00:50:30many of the men

00:50:32were impressed

00:50:33but we kept

00:50:35away from

00:50:35these things

00:50:36we had brought

00:50:37no money

00:50:37to bribe

00:50:38a passage

00:50:38north

00:50:39and I feared

00:50:40for my lady

00:50:41at the hands

00:50:41of these conscript

00:50:42crowds

00:50:42we had landed

00:50:44at Salerno

00:50:44and we had been

00:50:45turned back

00:50:46from Cava

00:50:46and we had tried

00:50:47to cross towards

00:50:48Taranto

00:50:48by a pass

00:50:49over Mount Alberno

00:50:50but we had been

00:50:51driven back

00:50:52for want of food

00:50:53and so we had

00:50:54come down

00:50:54among the marshes

00:50:55by Paestum

00:50:56where those great

00:50:57temples stand alone

00:50:58I had some vague

00:50:59idea that by Paestum

00:51:01it might be possible

00:51:01to find a boat

00:51:02or something

00:51:03and take once more

00:51:04to sea

00:51:05and there it was

00:51:06the battle overtook us

00:51:07a sort of soul

00:51:09blindness had me

00:51:10plainly I could see

00:51:12that we were being

00:51:12hemmed in

00:51:13that the great net

00:51:14of that giant warfare

00:51:15had us in its toils

00:51:17many times we had seen

00:51:19the levees that had

00:51:19come down from the north

00:51:21going to and fro

00:51:22and had come upon them

00:51:23in the distance

00:51:24amidst the mountains

00:51:24making ways for the ammunition

00:51:26and preparing the mounting

00:51:28of the guns

00:51:28once we fancied

00:51:30they had fired at us

00:51:32taking us for spies

00:51:33at any rate

00:51:34a shot had gone

00:51:35shuddering over us

00:51:37several times

00:51:38we had hidden in woods

00:51:39from hovering aeroplanes

00:51:41but all these things

00:51:43do not matter now

00:51:44these nights of flight

00:51:45and pain

00:51:46we were in an open place

00:51:48near those great temples

00:51:49at Paestum at last

00:51:51on a blank stony place

00:51:53dotted with spiky bushes

00:51:55empty and desolate

00:51:56and so flat

00:51:57that a grove of eucalyptus

00:51:59far away

00:52:00showed to the feet

00:52:01of its stems

00:52:01how I can see it

00:52:04my lady was sitting down

00:52:07under a bush

00:52:07resting a little

00:52:09for she was very weak

00:52:10and weary

00:52:11and I was standing up

00:52:12watching

00:52:13to see if I could tell

00:52:14the distance of the firing

00:52:15that came and went

00:52:16they were still

00:52:18you know

00:52:19fighting far from each other

00:52:20with those terrible

00:52:22new weapons

00:52:22that had never before

00:52:23been used

00:52:24guns that would carry

00:52:26beyond sight

00:52:26and aeroplanes

00:52:28that would do

00:52:28what they would do

00:52:30no man could foretell

00:52:32I knew that we were

00:52:33between the two armies

00:52:34and that they drew together

00:52:36I knew we were in danger

00:52:38and that we could not

00:52:39stop there and rest

00:52:40though all these things

00:52:41were in my mind

00:52:42they were in the background

00:52:43they seemed to be affairs

00:52:45beyond our concern

00:52:46chiefly

00:52:48I was thinking of my lady

00:52:49an aching distress

00:52:51filled me

00:52:52for the first time

00:52:53she had owned herself

00:52:54beaten

00:52:55and had fallen a weeping

00:52:56behind me

00:52:58I could hear her sobbing

00:52:59but I would not

00:53:00turn round to her

00:53:01because I knew

00:53:02she had need of weeping

00:53:03and had held herself

00:53:04so far

00:53:05and so long

00:53:06for me

00:53:06it was well

00:53:08I thought

00:53:09that she would weep

00:53:09and rest

00:53:10and then we would

00:53:11toil on again

00:53:12for I had no inkling

00:53:14of the thing

00:53:15that hung so near

00:53:16even now

00:53:18I can see her

00:53:18as she sat there

00:53:19her lovely hair

00:53:20upon her shoulder

00:53:21can mark again

00:53:23the deepening hollow

00:53:24of her cheek

00:53:24if we had parted

00:53:26she said

00:53:27if I had let you go

00:53:29no

00:53:30said I

00:53:31even now

00:53:32I do not repent

00:53:33I will not repent

00:53:35I made my choice

00:53:36and I will hold on

00:53:38to the end

00:53:38and then

00:53:40overhead in the sky

00:53:42something flashed

00:53:43and burst

00:53:44and all about us

00:53:45I heard the bullets

00:53:46making a noise

00:53:47like a handful of peas

00:53:48suddenly thrown

00:53:49they chipped the stones

00:53:51about us

00:53:52and whirled fragments

00:53:54from the bricks

00:53:54and passed

00:53:55he put his hand

00:53:57to his mouth

00:53:57and then moistened

00:53:59his lips

00:53:59at the flash

00:54:01I had turned about

00:54:02you know

00:54:04she stood up

00:54:05she stood up

00:54:07you know

00:54:07and moved a step

00:54:08towards me

00:54:09as though she wanted

00:54:10to reach me

00:54:11and she had been shot

00:54:13through the heart

00:54:13he stopped

00:54:15and stared at me

00:54:16I felt all that

00:54:17foolish incapacity

00:54:18an Englishman feels

00:54:19on such occasions

00:54:20I met his eyes

00:54:22for a moment

00:54:23and then stared

00:54:24out of the window

00:54:25for a long space

00:54:27we kept silence

00:54:28when at last

00:54:30I looked at him

00:54:31he was sitting back

00:54:32in his corner

00:54:33his arms folded

00:54:34and his teeth

00:54:35gnawing at his knuckles

00:54:36he bit his nail

00:54:38suddenly

00:54:38and stared at it

00:54:40I carried her

00:54:42he said

00:54:43towards the temples

00:54:44in my arms

00:54:45as though it mattered

00:54:46I don't know why

00:54:48they seemed a sort

00:54:49of sanctuary

00:54:50you know

00:54:50they had lasted

00:54:51so long

00:54:52I suppose

00:54:52she must have died

00:54:54almost instantly

00:54:55only

00:54:56I talked to her

00:54:57all the way

00:54:58silence again

00:55:00I have seen

00:55:03those temples

00:55:04I said abruptly

00:55:05and indeed

00:55:06he had brought

00:55:07those still

00:55:07sunlit arcades

00:55:08of worn sandstone

00:55:09very vividly

00:55:10before me

00:55:11it was the brown one

00:55:13the big brown one

00:55:14I sat down

00:55:16on a fallen pillar

00:55:17and held her

00:55:17in my arms

00:55:18silent after

00:55:20the first babble

00:55:21was over

00:55:22and after a little while

00:55:24the lizards came out

00:55:25and ran about again

00:55:26as though nothing

00:55:27unusual was going on

00:55:29as though nothing

00:55:30had changed

00:55:31it was tremendously

00:55:33still there

00:55:34the sun high

00:55:35and the shadows still

00:55:36even the shadows

00:55:38of the weeds

00:55:39upon the entablature

00:55:40were still

00:55:41in spite of the

00:55:43thudding and banging

00:55:44that went all about

00:55:45the sky

00:55:45I seem to remember

00:55:48that the aeroplanes

00:55:49came up out of the south

00:55:50and that the battle

00:55:51went away to the west

00:55:52one aeroplane

00:55:54was struck

00:55:54and overset

00:55:55and fell

00:55:56I remember that

00:55:58though it didn't

00:55:58interest me in the least

00:55:59it didn't seem

00:56:00to signify

00:56:01it was like a wounded gull

00:56:03you know

00:56:04flapping for a time

00:56:05in the water

00:56:05I could see it

00:56:07down the aisle

00:56:07of the temple

00:56:08a black thing

00:56:09in the bright blue water

00:56:10three or four times

00:56:12shells burst

00:56:14about the beach

00:56:14and then that ceased

00:56:16each time that happened

00:56:18all the lizards

00:56:18scuttled in

00:56:19and hid for a space

00:56:20that was all the mischief

00:56:22done

00:56:22except that once

00:56:23a stray bullet

00:56:24gashed the stone

00:56:25hard by

00:56:25made just a fresh

00:56:27bright surface

00:56:28as the shadows

00:56:30grew longer

00:56:30the stillness

00:56:31seemed greater

00:56:32the curious thing

00:56:34he remarked

00:56:35with the manner

00:56:35of a man

00:56:36who makes

00:56:36a trivial conversation

00:56:38is that I didn't

00:56:39think

00:56:40I didn't think

00:56:41at all

00:56:41I sat with her

00:56:43in my arms

00:56:44amidst the stones

00:56:45in a sort of

00:56:46lethargy

00:56:47stagnant

00:56:48and I don't

00:56:49remember waking up

00:56:51I don't remember

00:56:52dressing that day

00:56:53I know I found

00:56:55myself in my office

00:56:56with my letters

00:56:58all slit open

00:56:58in front of me

00:56:59and how I was

00:57:01struck by the

00:57:01absurdity of

00:57:02being there

00:57:03seeing that in

00:57:05reality I was

00:57:05sitting

00:57:06stunned

00:57:06in that

00:57:07pestum temple

00:57:08with a dead

00:57:09woman in my arms

00:57:10I read my letters

00:57:12like a machine

00:57:13I have forgotten

00:57:15what they were

00:57:15about

00:57:16he stopped

00:57:18and there was

00:57:19a long silence

00:57:20suddenly I perceived

00:57:22that we were

00:57:22running down

00:57:23the incline

00:57:23from Chalk Farm

00:57:24to Euston

00:57:25I started

00:57:26at this

00:57:27passing of time

00:57:28I turned on him

00:57:29with a brutal

00:57:30question

00:57:30with the tone

00:57:31of now

00:57:32or never

00:57:32and did you

00:57:34dream again

00:57:35yes

00:57:36he seemed

00:57:38to force himself

00:57:39to finish

00:57:39his voice

00:57:40was very low

00:57:41once more

00:57:43and as it were

00:57:44only for a few

00:57:45instants

00:57:46I seemed

00:57:47to have

00:57:48suddenly awakened

00:57:48out of a great

00:57:49apathy

00:57:50to have risen

00:57:51into a sitting

00:57:51position

00:57:52and the body

00:57:53lay there

00:57:53on the stones

00:57:54beside me

00:57:54a gaunt body

00:57:56not her

00:57:57you know

00:57:58so soon

00:57:58it was not her

00:58:00I may have

00:58:01heard voices

00:58:02I do not know

00:58:03only I knew

00:58:04clearly that men

00:58:05were coming

00:58:05into the solitude

00:58:06and that

00:58:07that was a

00:58:08last outrage

00:58:09I stood up

00:58:10and walked

00:58:11through the temple

00:58:12and then there

00:58:13came into sight

00:58:13first one man

00:58:15with a yellow

00:58:15face

00:58:16dressed in a

00:58:17uniform of

00:58:17dirty white

00:58:18trimmed with

00:58:19blue

00:58:19and then several

00:58:21climbing to the

00:58:22crest of the

00:58:23old wall

00:58:23of the vanished

00:58:24city

00:58:25and crouching

00:58:26there

00:58:26they were

00:58:27little bright

00:58:27figures in the

00:58:28sunlight

00:58:28and there

00:58:29they hung

00:58:29weapon in

00:58:30hand

00:58:31peering

00:58:31cautiously

00:58:32before them

00:58:33and further

00:58:34away

00:58:35I saw

00:58:35others

00:58:36and then

00:58:36more

00:58:36at another

00:58:37point

00:58:37in the

00:58:38wall

00:58:38it was

00:58:39a long

00:58:40lax line

00:58:41of men

00:58:41in open

00:58:41order

00:58:42presently

00:58:44the man

00:58:44I had

00:58:44first seen

00:58:45stood up

00:58:45and shouted

00:58:46a command

00:58:47and his

00:58:48men came

00:58:48tumbling

00:58:49down the

00:58:49wall

00:58:49and into

00:58:50the high

00:58:50weeds

00:58:51towards

00:58:51the

00:58:51temple

00:58:52he scrambled

00:58:53down with

00:58:54them

00:58:54and led

00:58:54them

00:58:55he came

00:58:56facing

00:58:56towards

00:58:57me

00:58:57and when

00:58:58he saw

00:58:58me

00:58:59he stopped

00:58:59at first

00:59:01I had

00:59:01watched

00:59:01these men

00:59:02with a

00:59:02mere

00:59:02curiosity

00:59:03but when

00:59:04I had

00:59:04seen

00:59:05they meant

00:59:05to come

00:59:05to the

00:59:06temple

00:59:06I was

00:59:06moved

00:59:07to forbid

00:59:07them

00:59:07I shouted

00:59:09to the

00:59:09officer

00:59:09you must

00:59:11not come

00:59:11here

00:59:11I cried

00:59:12I am

00:59:12here

00:59:13I am

00:59:13here

00:59:13with

00:59:13my

00:59:14dead

00:59:14he

00:59:15stared

00:59:15and then

00:59:16shouted

00:59:16a question

00:59:17back to

00:59:17me

00:59:18in some

00:59:18unknown

00:59:18tongue

00:59:19I

00:59:20repeated

00:59:20what I

00:59:21had

00:59:21said

00:59:21he shouted

00:59:22again

00:59:23and I

00:59:24folded

00:59:24my arms

00:59:24and stood

00:59:25still

00:59:25presently

00:59:27he spoke

00:59:27to his

00:59:27men

00:59:28and came

00:59:28forward

00:59:29he carried

00:59:30a drawn

00:59:30sword

00:59:31I signed

00:59:32to him

00:59:33to keep

00:59:33away

00:59:33but he

00:59:34continued

00:59:35to advance

00:59:35I told

00:59:37him again

00:59:37very patiently

00:59:38and clearly

00:59:38you must

00:59:40not come

00:59:40here

00:59:40these are

00:59:42old temples

00:59:42and I am

00:59:44here with

00:59:44my dead

00:59:45presently he

00:59:47was so close

00:59:47I could see

00:59:48his face

00:59:48clearly

00:59:49it was a

00:59:50narrow face

00:59:51with dull

00:59:51grey eyes

00:59:52and a black

00:59:53moustache

00:59:53he had a

00:59:55scar on his

00:59:56upper lip

00:59:56and he was

00:59:57dirty and

00:59:58unshaven

00:59:59he kept

01:00:00shouting

01:00:01unintelligible

01:00:01things

01:00:02questions perhaps

01:00:03at me

01:00:04I know

01:00:05I know

01:00:05now

01:00:06that he

01:00:06was afraid

01:00:06of me

01:00:07but at

01:00:08the time

01:00:08that did

01:00:09not occur

01:00:09to me

01:00:09as I

01:00:10tried to

01:00:11explain to

01:00:11him he

01:00:12interrupted

01:00:12me in

01:00:12imperious

01:00:13tones

01:00:14bidding me

01:00:15I suppose

01:00:15stand

01:00:16aside

01:00:17he made

01:00:18to go

01:00:18past me

01:00:19and I

01:00:19caught hold

01:00:19of him

01:00:20I saw

01:00:21his face

01:00:21change at

01:00:22my grip

01:00:22you fool

01:00:24I cried

01:00:24don't you

01:00:26know

01:00:26she is

01:00:27dead

01:00:27he started

01:00:29back

01:00:29he looked

01:00:30at me

01:00:30with cruel

01:00:31eyes

01:00:31I saw

01:00:33a sort

01:00:33of exultant

01:00:34resolve

01:00:34leap into

01:00:35them

01:00:35delight

01:00:35then suddenly

01:00:36with a

01:00:36scowl

01:00:37he swept

01:00:37his sword

01:00:37back

01:00:38so

01:00:38and thrust

01:00:39he stopped

01:00:42abruptly

01:00:42I became

01:00:44aware of a

01:00:44change in

01:00:45the rhythm

01:00:45of the

01:00:46train

01:00:46the brakes

01:00:47lifted

01:00:47their voices

01:00:48and the

01:00:48carriage

01:00:49jarred

01:00:49and jerked

01:00:50this present

01:00:51world

01:00:51insisted

01:00:52upon

01:00:52itself

01:00:53became

01:00:54clamorous

01:00:54I saw

01:00:55through the

01:00:56steamy

01:00:56window

01:00:56huge

01:00:57electric

01:00:57lights

01:00:58glaring

01:00:58down

01:00:58from tall

01:00:59masts

01:00:59upon a

01:01:00fog

01:01:00saw

01:01:01rows

01:01:02of

01:01:02stationary

01:01:02empty

01:01:03carriages

01:01:03passing

01:01:04by

01:01:04and then

01:01:05a signal

01:01:06box

01:01:06hoisting

01:01:07its

01:01:07constellation

01:01:07of green

01:01:08and red

01:01:09into the

01:01:09murky

01:01:10London

01:01:10twilight

01:01:11marched

01:01:11after them

01:01:12I looked

01:01:13again at

01:01:14his drawn

01:01:14features

01:01:15he ran

01:01:16me through

01:01:17the heart

01:01:17it was

01:01:19with a

01:01:19sort of

01:01:19astonishment

01:01:20no fear

01:01:21no pain

01:01:21but just

01:01:22amazement

01:01:23that I felt

01:01:24it pierce

01:01:24me

01:01:25felt the

01:01:26sword drive

01:01:26home into

01:01:27my body

01:01:27it didn't

01:01:29hurt

01:01:29you know

01:01:29it didn't

01:01:30hurt

01:01:30at all

01:01:31the yellow

01:01:33platform

01:01:33lights

01:01:34came into

01:01:34the field

01:01:34of view

01:01:35passing

01:01:36first

01:01:36rapidly

01:01:37then slowly

01:01:38and at

01:01:39last

01:01:39stopping

01:01:40with a

01:01:40jerk

01:01:40dim

01:01:41shapes

01:01:42of men

01:01:42passed

01:01:43to and

01:01:43fro

01:01:43without

01:01:44Euston

01:01:45Euston

01:01:45cried

01:01:46a voice

01:01:46do

01:01:47you

01:01:47mean

01:01:48there

01:01:49was

01:01:49no

01:01:49pain

01:01:49no

01:01:50sting

01:01:50or

01:01:51smart

01:01:51amazement

01:01:52and then

01:01:52darkness

01:01:53sweeping

01:01:53over

01:01:54everything

01:01:54the

01:01:55hot

01:01:55brutal

01:01:56face

01:01:56before

01:01:57me

01:01:57the

01:01:57face

01:01:57of

01:01:58the

01:01:58man

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01:02:08opened

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01:02:20London

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01:02:23a

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01:02:24lighted

01:02:25lamps

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01:02:26along

01:02:26the

01:02:26platform

01:02:26a

01:02:28darkness

01:02:28a

01:02:29flood

01:02:29of

01:02:30darkness

01:02:30that

01:02:30opened

01:02:31and

01:02:31spread

01:02:32and

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A Dream of Armageddon | H.G. Wells Full Audiobook

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