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Dive into the psychological horror of Bram Stoker's "A Dream of Red Hands," a classic short story that explores the crushing weight of guilt and the possibility of redemption. This audiobook summary introduces us to Jacob Settle, a solitary and kind-hearted man who is tormented by a recurring, terrifying nightmare. In this dream, he is plagued by the sight of blood-drenched hands, a symbol of a tragic past that he believes stains his very soul. A curious narrator, intrigued by Jacob's secretive nature, forms an unlikely bond with him, leading to a chilling confession and the revelation of a horrifying, unintentional crime.
Published in 1894, a few years before his masterpiece Dracula, "A Dream of Red Hands" showcases Stoker's talent for creating a sense of dread and mystery through psychological torment. The story is a masterful study of a conscience burdened by remorse, examining the fine line between responsibility and absolution. It is a tale that will leave you pondering the nature of unintended consequences and the power of the human psyche to both punish and seek peace. This analysis will explore:
The symbolism of the "red hands" and its connection to Jacob's guilt.
The themes of confession, forgiveness, and redemption.
Stoker's use of a framed narrative to build suspense.
The story's gothic atmosphere and its focus on a character's internal suffering.
Join us for this deep dive into one of Stoker's lesser-known but equally compelling works, perfect for fans of classic horror and psychological thrillers.
Published in 1894, a few years before his masterpiece Dracula, "A Dream of Red Hands" showcases Stoker's talent for creating a sense of dread and mystery through psychological torment. The story is a masterful study of a conscience burdened by remorse, examining the fine line between responsibility and absolution. It is a tale that will leave you pondering the nature of unintended consequences and the power of the human psyche to both punish and seek peace. This analysis will explore:
The symbolism of the "red hands" and its connection to Jacob's guilt.
The themes of confession, forgiveness, and redemption.
Stoker's use of a framed narrative to build suspense.
The story's gothic atmosphere and its focus on a character's internal suffering.
Join us for this deep dive into one of Stoker's lesser-known but equally compelling works, perfect for fans of classic horror and psychological thrillers.
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FunTranscript
00:00Gates of Imagination presents
00:02A Dream of Red Hands by Bram Stoker
00:04Read by Arthur Lane
00:06The first opinion given to me regarding Jacob Settle
00:11was a simple, descriptive statement.
00:14He's a down-in-the-mouth chap.
00:16But I found that it embodied the thoughts and ideas
00:18of all his fellow workmen.
00:21There was in the phrase a certain easy tolerance,
00:24an absence of positive feeling of any kind,
00:26rather than any complete opinion,
00:28which marked pretty accurately
00:30the man's place in public esteem.
00:33Still, there was some dissimilarity
00:35between this and his appearance
00:36which unconsciously set me thinking,
00:38and by degrees,
00:40as I saw more of the place and the workmen,
00:42I came to have a special interest in him.
00:45He was, I found, forever doing kindnesses,
00:48not involving money expenses beyond his humble means,
00:51but in the manifold ways of forethought
00:53and forbearance and self-repression,
00:55which are of the truer charities of life.
00:58Women and children trusted him implicitly,
01:01though, strangely enough,
01:02he rather shunned them,
01:04except when anyone was sick,
01:06and then he made his appearance to help if he could,
01:08timidly and awkwardly.
01:10He led a very solitary life,
01:12keeping house by himself in a tiny cottage,
01:15or rather hut,
01:16of one room,
01:17far on the edge of the moorland.
01:19His existence seemed so sad and solitary
01:21that I wished to cheer it up,
01:23and for the purpose took the occasion
01:25when we had both been sitting up with a child,
01:27injured by me through accident,
01:29to offer to lend him books.
01:31He gladly accepted,
01:32and as we parted in the grey of the dawn,
01:35I felt that something of mutual confidence
01:37had been established between us.
01:39The books were always most carefully
01:41and punctually returned,
01:43and in time Jacob Settle and I
01:44became quite friends.
01:45Once or twice as I crossed the moorland
01:48on Sundays I looked in on him,
01:50but on such occasions he was shy
01:52and ill at ease,
01:53so that I felt diffident
01:54about calling to see him.
01:56He would never under any circumstances
01:58come into my own lodgings.
02:00One Sunday afternoon,
02:02I was coming back from a long walk
02:03beyond the moor,
02:05and as I passed,
02:06Settle's cottage stopped at the door
02:07to say,
02:08How do you do to him?
02:10As the door was shut,
02:12I thought that he was out,
02:13and merely knocked for form's sake,
02:15or through habit,
02:17not expecting to get any answer.
02:19To my surprise,
02:20I heard a feeble voice from within,
02:23though what was said I could not hear.
02:25I entered at once,
02:27and found Jacob lying half-dressed
02:29upon his bed.
02:30He was as pale as death,
02:32and the sweat was simply
02:33rolling off his face.
02:36His hands were unconsciously
02:37gripping the bedclothes
02:38as a drowning man holds on
02:40to whatever he may grasp.
02:42As I came in,
02:44he half arose,
02:45with a wild,
02:46hunted look in his eyes,
02:48which were wide open and staring,
02:50as though something of horror
02:51had come before him.
02:53But when he recognized me,
02:54he sank back on the couch
02:55with a smothered sob of relief,
02:57and closed his eyes.
03:00I stood by him for a while,
03:02quite a minute or two,
03:03while he gasped.
03:04Then he opened his eyes
03:05and looked at me,
03:06but with such a despairing,
03:08woeful expression that,
03:09as I am a living man,
03:10I would have rather seen
03:11that frozen look of horror.
03:14I sat down beside him
03:15and asked after his health.
03:17For a while he would not answer me
03:19except to say that he was not ill.
03:21But then,
03:22after scrutinizing me closely,
03:24he half arose on his elbow
03:26and said,
03:26I thank you kindly, sir,
03:29but I am simply telling you
03:30the truth.
03:31I am not ill,
03:32as men call it,
03:33though God knows
03:34whether there be not worse
03:35sicknesses than doctors know of.
03:37I'll tell you,
03:38as you are so kind,
03:40but I trust that you won't
03:41even mention such a thing
03:42to a living soul,
03:43for it might work me
03:44more and greater woe.
03:45I am suffering from a bad dream.
03:48A bad dream,
03:49I said,
03:50hoping to cheer him.
03:51But dreams pass away
03:52with the light,
03:53even with waking.
03:55There I stopped,
03:56for before he spoke
03:57I saw the answer
03:58in his desolate look
03:59round the little place.
04:00No,
04:01no,
04:02that's all well
04:03for people that live in comfort
04:04and with those
04:05they love around them.
04:06It is a thousand times worse
04:08for those who live alone
04:09and have to do so.
04:11What cheer is there for me,
04:12waking here
04:13in the silence of the night,
04:14with the wide moor
04:15around me
04:16full of voices
04:16and full of faces
04:17that make my waking
04:18a worse dream
04:19than my sleep?
04:21Ah, young sir,
04:22you have no past
04:23that can send its legions
04:24to people the darkness
04:25and the empty space,
04:27and I pray the good God
04:28that you may never have.
04:30As he spoke,
04:32there was such an almost
04:33irresistible gravity
04:34of conviction in his manner
04:35that I abandoned
04:36my remonstrance
04:37about his solitary life.
04:39I felt that I was
04:40in the presence
04:40of some secret influence
04:41which I could not fathom.
04:43To my relief,
04:44for I knew not
04:45what to say,
04:46he went on.
04:47Two nights past
04:48have I dreamed it.
04:50It was hard enough
04:51the first night,
04:52but I came through it.
04:53Last night
04:54the expectation
04:54was in itself
04:56almost worse
04:56than the dream,
04:58until the dream came,
04:59and then it swept away
05:01every remembrance
05:01of lesser pain.
05:03I stayed awake
05:04till just before the dawn,
05:06and then it came again,
05:08and ever since
05:08I have been in such an agony
05:09as I am sure
05:10the dying feel,
05:11and with it all
05:12the dread of tonight.
05:14Before he had got
05:15to the end of the sentence
05:16my mind was made up,
05:18and I felt that I could
05:19speak to him
05:19more cheerfully.
05:21Try and get to sleep
05:22early tonight,
05:23in fact before the evening
05:24has passed away.
05:26The sleep will refresh you,
05:27and I promise you
05:28there will not be
05:29any bad dreams
05:30after tonight.
05:31He shook his head
05:32hopelessly,
05:33so I sat a little longer
05:35and then left him.
05:37When I got home,
05:38I made my arrangements
05:39for the night,
05:40for I had made up
05:41my mind to share
05:42Jacob Settle's lonely
05:43vigil in his cottage
05:44on the moor.
05:45I judged that if he got
05:46to sleep before sunset,
05:48he would wake well
05:49before midnight,
05:50and so,
05:51just as the bells
05:51of the city
05:52were striking eleven,
05:53I stood opposite his door
05:55armed with a bag,
05:56in which were my supper,
05:57an extra-large flask,
05:59a couple of candles,
06:00and a book.
06:01The moonlight was bright
06:02and flooded the whole moor
06:04till it was almost
06:05as light as day.
06:07But ever and anon,
06:08black clouds
06:09drove across the sky
06:10and made a darkness
06:12which by comparison
06:13seemed almost tangible.
06:15I opened the door softly
06:16and entered
06:17without waking Jacob,
06:19who lay asleep
06:20with his white face upward.
06:22He was still,
06:23and again bathed in sweat.
06:24I tried to imagine
06:26what visions were passing
06:27before those closed eyes
06:29which could bring with them
06:30the misery and woe
06:31which were stamped on the face,
06:32but fancy failed me,
06:34and I waited for the awakening.
06:37It came suddenly,
06:39and in a fashion
06:40which touched me
06:40to the quick,
06:42for the hollow groan
06:43that broke from the man's
06:44white lips
06:44as he half arose
06:45and sank back,
06:47was manifestly
06:47the realization
06:48or completion
06:49of some train of thought
06:50which had gone before.
06:51If this be dreaming,
06:55said I to myself,
06:56then it must be based
06:57on some very terrible reality.
06:59What can have been
07:00that unhappy fact
07:01that he spoke of?
07:03While I thus spoke,
07:04he realized
07:05that I was with him.
07:07It struck me as strange
07:08that he had no period
07:09of that doubt
07:09as to whether dream
07:10or reality surrounded him
07:12which commonly marks
07:13an expected environment
07:14of waking men.
07:15With a positive cry of joy
07:17he seized my hand
07:18and held it in his
07:19two wet,
07:20trembling hands
07:20as a frightened child
07:22clings on to someone
07:23whom it loves.
07:24I tried to soothe him.
07:26There, there,
07:27it is all right.
07:28I have come to stay
07:29with you tonight
07:29and together we will try
07:31to fight this evil dream.
07:33He let go my hand suddenly
07:34and sank back on his bed
07:36and covered his eyes
07:37with his hands.
07:38Fight it,
07:39the evil dream.
07:40Ah, no, sir, no.
07:42No mortal power
07:43can fight that dream
07:44for it comes from God
07:45and is burned in here
07:45and he beat upon his forehead.
07:48Then he went on.
07:49It is the same dream,
07:51ever the same
07:52and yet it grows
07:53in its power
07:53to torture me
07:54every time it comes.
07:56What is the dream?
07:57I asked,
07:58thinking that the speaking
07:59of it might give him
08:00some relief
08:00but he shrank away from me
08:02and after a long pause
08:03said,
08:04No,
08:05I had better not tell it.
08:07It may not come again.
08:09There was manifestly
08:10something to conceal
08:11from me,
08:12something that lay
08:13behind the dream.
08:14So I answered,
08:16All right,
08:17I hope you have seen
08:18the last of it
08:18but if it should come again
08:20you will tell me,
08:21will you not?
08:23I ask not out of curiosity
08:24but because I think
08:25it may relieve you
08:26to speak.
08:28He answered with what
08:28I thought was almost
08:29an undue amount
08:30of solemnity.
08:32If it comes again
08:33I shall tell you all.
08:35Then I tried to get
08:36his mind away
08:37from the subject
08:37to more mundane things
08:38so I produced supper
08:40and made him share it with me
08:41including the contents
08:43of the flask.
08:44After a little
08:45he braced up
08:46and when I lit my cigar
08:47having given him another
08:49we smoked a full hour
08:50and talked of many things.
08:53Little by little
08:53the comfort of his body
08:54stole over his mind
08:56and I could see sleep
08:57laying her gentle hands
08:58on his eyelids.
09:00He felt it too
09:00and told me
09:01that now he felt all right
09:03and I might safely leave him
09:04but I told him
09:05that right or wrong
09:06I was going to see
09:08in the daylight.
09:09So I lit my other candle
09:10and began to read
09:12as he fell asleep.
09:13By degrees
09:14I got interested
09:15in my book
09:15so interested
09:17that presently
09:17I was startled
09:18by its dropping
09:19out of my hands.
09:20I looked and saw
09:22that Jacob
09:22was still asleep
09:23and I was rejoiced
09:24to see that there was
09:25on his face
09:26a look of unwanted happiness
09:27while his lips
09:29seemed to move
09:29with unspoken words.
09:32Then I turned
09:32to my work again
09:33and again woke
09:34but this time
09:35to feel chilled
09:36to my very marrow
09:36by hearing the voice
09:37from the bed beside me.
09:39Not with those red hands
09:41never
09:41never
09:42on looking at him
09:44I found that
09:45he was still asleep.
09:47He woke however
09:48in an instant
09:49and did not seem
09:50surprised to see me.
09:52There was again
09:52that strange apathy
09:53as to his surroundings.
09:55Then I said
09:56Settle
09:58tell me your dream
10:00you may speak freely
10:01for I shall hold
10:03your confidence sacred.
10:05While we both live
10:05I shall never mention
10:06what you may choose
10:07to tell me.
10:08He replied
10:09I said I would
10:10but I had better
10:11tell you first
10:12what goes before
10:13the dream
10:13that you may understand.
10:16I was a schoolmaster
10:16when I was a very young man.
10:18It was only a parish school
10:19in a little village
10:20in the West Country.
10:22No need to mention
10:22any names
10:23better not.
10:24I was engaged
10:25to be married
10:25to a young girl
10:26whom I loved
10:27and almost reverenced.
10:29It was the old story.
10:31While we were waiting
10:31for the time
10:32when we could afford
10:32to set up house together
10:33another man came along.
10:36He was nearly
10:36as young as I was
10:37and handsome
10:38and a gentleman
10:39with all a gentleman's
10:40attractive ways
10:41for a woman of our class.
10:43He would go fishing
10:44and she would meet him
10:45while I was at my work
10:46in school.
10:48I reasoned with her
10:48and implored her
10:49to give him up.
10:51I offered to get married
10:52at once
10:53and go away
10:53and begin the world
10:54in a strange country
10:55but she would not listen
10:56to anything I could say
10:58and I could see
10:59that she was infatuated
11:00with him.
11:01Then I took it on myself
11:02to meet the man
11:03and ask him to deal well
11:05with the girl
11:05for I thought
11:06he might mean
11:07honestly by her
11:08so that there might be
11:09no talk or chance
11:10of talk on the part
11:11of others.
11:12I went where I should
11:13meet him with none by
11:14and we met.
11:16Here Jacob Settle
11:18had to pause
11:18for something seemed
11:20to rise in his throat
11:21and he almost gasped
11:22for breath.
11:24Then he went on.
11:26Sir, as God is above us
11:27there was no selfish thought
11:29in my heart that day.
11:31I loved my pretty Mabel
11:32too well to be content
11:33with a part of her love
11:34and I had thought
11:35of my own unhappiness
11:36too often not to have
11:37come to realize
11:38that whatever might
11:39come to her
11:40my hope was gone.
11:43He was insolent to me.
11:45You, sir,
11:46who are a gentleman
11:46cannot know perhaps
11:48how galling can be
11:49the insolence
11:50of one who is above
11:51you in station
11:51but I bore with that.
11:54I implored him
11:54to deal well
11:55with the girl
11:55for what might be
11:57only a pastime
11:57of an idle hour
11:58with him
11:59might be the breaking
12:00of her heart
12:00for I never had
12:02a thought of her truth
12:03or that the worst
12:04of harm could come
12:05to her.
12:05It was only the unhappiness
12:06to her heart
12:07I feared
12:08but when I asked him
12:09when he intended
12:10to marry her
12:11his laughter galled me
12:12so that I lost my temper
12:13and told him
12:14that I would not stand by
12:15and see her life
12:16made unhappy.
12:18Then he grew angry too
12:19and in his anger
12:20said such cruel things
12:21of her
12:21that then and there
12:22I swore he should not
12:23live to do her harm.
12:25God knows how it came about
12:26for in such moments
12:28of passion
12:28it is hard to remember
12:30the steps
12:30from a word
12:31to a blow
12:31but I found myself
12:33standing over
12:33his dead body
12:34with my hands
12:36crimson with the blood
12:37that welled
12:37from his torn throat.
12:39We were alone
12:40and he was a stranger
12:41with none of his kin
12:43to seek for him
12:43and murder
12:44does not always out
12:45not all at once.
12:47His bones
12:48may be whitening still
12:49for all I know
12:49in the pool of the river
12:51where I left him.
12:52No one suspected
12:53his absence
12:54or why it was
12:55except my poor Mabel
12:56and she dared not speak
12:58but it was all in vain
13:00for when I came back again
13:01after an absence of months
13:03for I could not live
13:04in the place
13:04I learned that her shame
13:06had come
13:06and that she had died in it.
13:09Hitherto I had been
13:09borne up by the thought
13:10that my ill deed
13:11had saved her future
13:12but now
13:13when I learned
13:14that I had been too late
13:15and that my poor love
13:17was smirched
13:17with that man's sin
13:18I fled away
13:20with the sense
13:20of my useless guilt
13:21upon me more heavily
13:22than I could bear.
13:24Ah sir
13:25you that have not done
13:26such a sin
13:27don't know
13:27what it is
13:28to carry it with you.
13:30You may think
13:30that custom
13:31makes it easy to you
13:32but it is not so.
13:34It grows and grows
13:35with every hour
13:36till it becomes intolerable
13:37and with it growing too
13:39the feeling
13:40that you must forever
13:41stand outside heaven.
13:43You don't know
13:43what that means
13:44and I pray God
13:45that you never may.
13:47Ordinary men
13:47to whom all things
13:49are possible
13:49don't often
13:50if ever
13:51think of heaven.
13:52It is a name
13:53and nothing more
13:54and they are content
13:55to wait
13:56and let things be
13:57but to those
13:58who are doomed
13:58to be shut out forever
13:59you cannot think
14:00what it means
14:01you cannot guess
14:02or measure
14:03the terrible
14:03endless longing
14:04to see the gates opened
14:05and to be able
14:06to join the white figures
14:07within.
14:09And this brings me
14:10to my dream.
14:12It seemed that
14:12the portal
14:13was before me
14:14with great gates
14:15of massive steel
14:16with bars
14:17of the thickness
14:17of a mast
14:18rising to the very clouds
14:20and so close
14:21that between them
14:22was just a glimpse
14:23of a crystal grotto
14:24on whose shining walls
14:25were figured
14:26many white-clad forms
14:27with faces radiant
14:28with joy.
14:30When I stood
14:30before the gate
14:31my heart and my soul
14:32were so full of rapture
14:33and longing
14:34that I forgot.
14:36And there stood
14:36at the gate
14:37two mighty angels
14:38with sweeping wings
14:39and oh so stern
14:40of countenance.
14:42They held each
14:42in one hand
14:43a flaming sword
14:44and in the other
14:45the latchet
14:46which moved to and fro
14:47at their lightest touch.
14:49Nearer were figures
14:50all draped in black
14:51with heads covered
14:52so that only the eyes
14:53were seen
14:54and they handed to each
14:55who came white garments
14:56such as the angels wear.
14:59A low murmur came
15:00that told that all
15:01should put on their own robes
15:02and without soil
15:03or the angels
15:04would not pass them in
15:05but would smite them down
15:07with the flaming swords.
15:09I was eager
15:09to don my own garment
15:10and hurriedly threw it over me
15:12and stepped swiftly
15:13to the gate
15:13but it moved not
15:15and the angels
15:16loosing the latchet
15:17pointed to my dress.
15:19I looked down
15:20and was aghast.
15:21For the whole robe
15:22was smeared with blood.
15:24My hands were red.
15:26They glittered
15:26with the blood
15:27that dripped from them
15:27as on that day
15:28by the riverbank
15:29and then the angels
15:31raised their flaming swords
15:32to smite me down
15:33and the horror was complete.
15:36I awoke.
15:38Again
15:39and again
15:39and again
15:40that awful dream
15:42comes to me.
15:43I never learn
15:44from the experience.
15:45I never remember
15:46but at the beginning
15:47the hope is ever there
15:48to make the end
15:49more appalling
15:50and I know
15:51that the dream
15:52does not come out
15:52of the common darkness
15:53where the dreams abide
15:54but that it is sent
15:56from God
15:56as a punishment.
15:58Never
15:58never shall I be able
15:59to pass the gate
16:00for the soil
16:01on the angel garments
16:02must ever come
16:03from these bloody hands.
16:05I listened
16:06as in a spell
16:07as Jacob Settle spoke.
16:09There was something
16:10so far away
16:10in the tone
16:11of his voice
16:12something so dreamy
16:13and mystic
16:14in the eyes
16:14that looked as if
16:15threw me
16:16at some spirit beyond
16:17something so lofty
16:18in his very diction
16:19and in such marked
16:20contrast to his work
16:22worn clothes
16:22and his poor surroundings
16:23that I wondered
16:24if the whole thing
16:25were not a dream.
16:27We were both silent
16:28for a long time.
16:30I kept looking
16:31at the man before me
16:32in growing wonderment.
16:34Now that his confession
16:35had been made
16:36his soul
16:37which had been crushed
16:38to the very earth
16:39seemed to leap back again
16:41to uprightness
16:41with some resilient force.
16:44I suppose I ought to
16:45have been horrified
16:45with his story
16:46but strange to say
16:48I was not.
16:49It certainly is not pleasant
16:50to be made the recipient
16:51of the confidence
16:52of a murderer
16:53but this poor fellow
16:54seemed to have had
16:55not only so much provocation
16:57but so much self-denying purpose
16:59in his deed of blood
17:00that I did not feel called upon
17:02to pass judgment upon him.
17:04My purpose was to comfort
17:05so I spoke out
17:07with what calmness I could
17:08for my heart
17:09was beating fast
17:10and heavily.
17:11You need not despair
17:12Jacob Settle.
17:14God is very good
17:14and his mercy is great.
17:16Live on and work on
17:17in the hope
17:18that some day
17:18you may feel
17:19that you have atoned
17:20for the past.
17:22Here I paused
17:23for I could see
17:24that deep natural sleep
17:25this time
17:26was creeping upon him.
17:28Go to sleep
17:29I said
17:29I shall watch with you here
17:31and we shall have
17:32no more evil dreams tonight.
17:35He made an effort
17:36to pull himself together
17:37and answered
17:37I don't know how to thank you
17:39for your goodness
17:40to me this night
17:41but I think you had best
17:43leave me now.
17:44I'll try and sleep this out.
17:46I feel a weight
17:47off my mind
17:48since I have told you all.
17:50If there's anything
17:51of the man left in me
17:52I must try and fight
17:54out life alone.
17:55I'll go tonight
17:56as you wish it
17:57I said
17:58but take my advice
17:59and do not live
18:00in such a solitary way.
18:02Go among men and women
18:03live among them
18:04share their joys
18:05and sorrows
18:06and it will help you
18:07to forget.
18:08This solitude
18:08will make you melancholy mad.
18:11I will
18:11he answered
18:12half unconsciously
18:13for sleep
18:14was over mastering him.
18:16I turned to go
18:17and he looked after me.
18:19When I had touched
18:19the latch
18:20I dropped it
18:20and coming back
18:21to the bed
18:22held out my hand.
18:24He grasped it
18:24with both his
18:25as he rose
18:25to a sitting posture
18:26and I said my good night
18:28trying to cheer him.
18:29Heart man heart
18:30there is work
18:32in the world
18:32for you to do
18:33Jacob Settle.
18:34You can wear
18:34those white robes yet
18:35and pass through
18:36that gate of steel.
18:38Then I left him.
18:39A week after I found
18:41his cottage deserted
18:42and on asking at the works
18:43was told that he had gone north
18:45no one exactly knew whither.
18:48Two years afterwards
18:49I was staying for a few days
18:50with my friend
18:51Dr. Monroe in Glasgow.
18:52He was a busy man
18:54and could not spare much time
18:55for going about with me
18:56so I spent my days
18:57in excursions
18:58to the Trossacks
18:59and Loch Katrina
19:00and down the Clyde.
19:02On the second last evening
19:03of my stay
19:04I came back somewhat later
19:05than I had arranged
19:06but found that my host
19:08was late too.
19:09The maid told me
19:10that he had been sent for
19:11to the hospital
19:12a case of accident
19:13at the gas works
19:14and the dinner
19:15was postponed an hour
19:16so telling her
19:17I would stroll down
19:18to find her master
19:19and walk back with him
19:20I went out.
19:22At the hospital
19:23I found him
19:23washing his hands
19:24preparatory to starting
19:25for home.
19:27Casually
19:27I asked him
19:28what his case was.
19:30Oh the usual thing
19:31a rotten rope
19:32and men's lives
19:33of no account.
19:35Two men
19:35were working
19:35in a gasometer
19:36when the rope
19:37that held their scaffolding
19:38broke.
19:39It must have occurred
19:40just before the dinner hour
19:41for no one noticed
19:42their absence
19:43till the men had returned.
19:45There was about
19:46seven feet of water
19:47in the gasometer
19:48so they had a hard fight
19:49for it poor fellows.
19:51However
19:51one of them was alive
19:53just alive
19:54but we have had a hard job
19:55to pull him through.
19:57It seems that he owes
19:58his life to his mate
19:59for I have never heard
20:01of greater heroism.
20:03They swam together
20:04while their strength
20:04lasted
20:05but at the end
20:06they were so done up
20:07that even the lights
20:08above
20:08and the men
20:09slung with ropes
20:10coming down to help them
20:11could not keep them up.
20:13But one of them
20:14stood on the bottom
20:15and held up his comrade
20:16over his head
20:17and those few breaths
20:18made all the difference
20:19between life and death.
20:21They were a shocking sight
20:22when they were taken out
20:23for that water
20:24is like a purple dye
20:26with the gas
20:26and the tar.
20:28The man upstairs
20:28looked as if he had been
20:29washed in blood.
20:31Ugh!
20:32And the other?
20:33Oh, he's worse still
20:35but he must have been
20:36a very noble fellow.
20:38That struggle under the water
20:39must have been fearful.
20:41One can see that
20:41by the way the blood
20:42has been drawn
20:43from the extremities.
20:44It makes the idea
20:45of the stigmata
20:46possible to look at him.
20:48Resolution like this could,
20:50you would think,
20:51do anything in the world.
20:53Aye,
20:53it might almost unbar
20:55the gates of heaven.
20:56Look here, old man.
20:58It is not a very pleasant sight
20:59especially just before dinner
21:01but you are a writer
21:02and this is an odd case.
21:05Here is something
21:05you would not like to miss
21:06for an all human probability
21:08you will never see
21:09anything like it again.
21:12While he was speaking
21:13he had brought me
21:14into the mortuary
21:14of the hospital.
21:16On the bier
21:17lay a body
21:18covered with a white sheet
21:19which was wrapped
21:20close round it.
21:22Looks like a chrysalis,
21:23don't it?
21:24I say, Jack,
21:25if there be anything
21:25in the old myth
21:26that a soul is typified
21:27by a butterfly,
21:28well,
21:29then the one
21:30that this chrysalis
21:31sent forth
21:31was a very noble specimen
21:33and took all the sunlight
21:34on its wings.
21:35See here.
21:37He uncovered the face.
21:38Horrible indeed it looked,
21:40as though stained with blood.
21:42But I knew him at once,
21:43Jacob Settle.
21:44My friend pulled
21:45the winding sheet
21:46further down.
21:47The hands were crossed
21:48on the purple breast
21:49as they had been reverently
21:50placed by some tender-hearted person.
21:53As I saw them,
21:54my heart throbbed
21:55with a great exultation.
21:56For the memory
21:58of his harrowing dream
21:59rushed across my mind.
22:01There was no stain now
22:01on those poor, brave hands,
22:03for they were blanched
22:04white as snow.
22:06And somehow,
22:06as I looked,
22:07I felt that the evil dream
22:08was all over.
22:10That noble soul
22:11had won away
22:11through the gate at last.
22:13The white robe
22:14had now no stain
22:15from the hands
22:16that had put it on.
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