1 00:00:40,438 --> 00:00:42,438 The film you're about to see 2 00:00:42,522 --> 00:00:44,522 is the story of strange happenings 3 00:00:44,605 --> 00:00:47,022 out on the bleak moors of Northumberland 4 00:00:47,105 --> 00:00:48,605 at the turn of the century. 5 00:00:49,605 --> 00:00:52,272 You will not find any official records in existence, 6 00:00:52,938 --> 00:00:55,730 neither will you find this story in any fairy books. 7 00:00:56,563 --> 00:00:59,063 It is purely a legend, handed down 8 00:00:59,147 --> 00:01:02,272 by the descendants of the inhabitants of that village, 9 00:01:02,355 --> 00:01:04,897 who preferred to forget what started 10 00:01:04,980 --> 00:01:09,647 on that cold November night in the year 1890. 11 00:04:58,063 --> 00:04:58,980 No! 12 00:04:59,063 --> 00:05:01,688 Now, Martha, there's no sense in your carrying on like this, 13 00:05:01,772 --> 00:05:03,397 and it's no use screaming. 14 00:05:05,105 --> 00:05:07,647 Now let's get this over so I can return to my work. 15 00:05:07,730 --> 00:05:09,022 I won't let you! 16 00:05:09,105 --> 00:05:11,147 Martha, you're not making sense. 17 00:05:11,230 --> 00:05:13,980 We've administered this dozens of times without all this nonsense. 18 00:05:14,063 --> 00:05:17,855 All that snake poison in my blood for months, years. 19 00:05:17,938 --> 00:05:19,230 You don't know, 20 00:05:19,313 --> 00:05:21,897 nobody knows, what it will do. 21 00:05:21,980 --> 00:05:23,522 Of course I know what it will do. 22 00:05:23,605 --> 00:05:24,772 I know what it's done. 23 00:05:24,855 --> 00:05:26,230 It gave you back your mind 24 00:05:26,313 --> 00:05:27,980 when they all said you were hopelessly insane. 25 00:05:28,563 --> 00:05:30,147 I know that, but... 26 00:05:30,230 --> 00:05:32,563 Other investigators have employed snake venom 27 00:05:32,647 --> 00:05:35,272 in the treatment of haemophilia, epilepsy, 28 00:05:35,355 --> 00:05:38,897 rheumatism, hypertension, even cancer. 29 00:05:38,980 --> 00:05:41,480 But it is Horace Adderson, your husband, 30 00:05:41,563 --> 00:05:43,480 who is the only herpetologist 31 00:05:43,563 --> 00:05:45,647 to have cured a sick mind with snake venom. 32 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:47,813 But what about the baby? 33 00:05:48,730 --> 00:05:49,813 The baby? 34 00:05:49,897 --> 00:05:53,397 That snake poison flowing through my blood, 35 00:05:54,397 --> 00:05:57,313 what will it do to my unborn child? 36 00:05:58,063 --> 00:05:59,188 So that's it. 37 00:05:59,980 --> 00:06:02,938 Under your microscope, doesn't all new life look the same? 38 00:06:04,355 --> 00:06:07,063 Plant, fish, human, 39 00:06:07,147 --> 00:06:09,230 even... serpent. 40 00:06:09,313 --> 00:06:10,355 That's true but... 41 00:06:10,438 --> 00:06:13,313 Life is such a miraculous, delicate thing. 42 00:06:14,230 --> 00:06:17,105 What if this poison were to upset the balance? 43 00:06:17,897 --> 00:06:21,022 And instead of a normal healthy child, 44 00:06:21,105 --> 00:06:22,480 ours were to be born a... 45 00:06:22,563 --> 00:06:23,855 That's ridiculous. 46 00:06:23,938 --> 00:06:27,230 Don't you see, it just shows that your mind is... is slipping away again? 47 00:06:27,313 --> 00:06:28,688 Now, Martha, just relax. 48 00:06:28,772 --> 00:06:32,522 No, no. Until the baby comes, I would rather take that chance. 49 00:06:32,605 --> 00:06:34,938 Well, I wouldn't. Besides being my wife, 50 00:06:35,022 --> 00:06:38,063 you're the living, breathing proof of the soundness of my theories. 51 00:06:38,147 --> 00:06:40,230 Those things are more important than a child. 52 00:06:40,313 --> 00:06:42,147 Not to me. 53 00:06:42,230 --> 00:06:45,855 Now, Martha, suppose we did neglect your treatment 54 00:06:45,938 --> 00:06:48,897 and the child was born like you were mentally. 55 00:06:48,980 --> 00:06:50,480 Oh... 56 00:06:50,563 --> 00:06:52,147 You don't want that. 57 00:06:52,730 --> 00:06:54,522 It wouldn't be fair to the child, would it? 58 00:06:55,688 --> 00:06:59,397 Now, that's being sensible. 59 00:07:04,230 --> 00:07:05,188 There. 60 00:07:09,522 --> 00:07:10,647 Martha, what...? 61 00:07:10,730 --> 00:07:11,897 The baby! 62 00:07:12,438 --> 00:07:13,938 It's coming! 63 00:07:14,022 --> 00:07:15,938 Are you sure? It's not due. 64 00:07:16,022 --> 00:07:18,230 Your... poison! 65 00:07:19,355 --> 00:07:20,855 Oh! 66 00:07:20,938 --> 00:07:23,063 I'll go and fetch Dr Murton. 67 00:08:03,147 --> 00:08:05,147 Here, take her, Aggie. 68 00:08:10,438 --> 00:08:11,772 A little girl? 69 00:08:13,147 --> 00:08:15,230 I'll do for her what I can. 70 00:08:15,313 --> 00:08:17,397 - This poor woman... - You mean? 71 00:08:18,438 --> 00:08:20,230 Your wife is very weak. 72 00:08:21,688 --> 00:08:23,772 Hardly a flicker of life. 73 00:08:32,313 --> 00:08:33,438 The child? 74 00:08:35,230 --> 00:08:36,438 The baby's cold. 75 00:08:38,147 --> 00:08:40,022 No chance of life. 76 00:08:44,438 --> 00:08:46,105 Strange. 77 00:08:46,688 --> 00:08:48,313 It looks so alive, Aggie. 78 00:08:49,063 --> 00:08:52,105 Those eyes so wide open. 79 00:08:52,188 --> 00:08:54,855 It is evil. It has the eye. 80 00:08:54,938 --> 00:08:56,897 It is the devil's offspring! 81 00:08:56,980 --> 00:08:58,480 You speak like a witch. 82 00:08:58,563 --> 00:09:02,147 I am not a witch, but I have certain powers. 83 00:09:02,230 --> 00:09:03,980 I can see things. 84 00:09:04,938 --> 00:09:07,855 Why do you think no other midwife would come here? 85 00:09:07,938 --> 00:09:09,105 But you came. 86 00:09:09,188 --> 00:09:12,230 Out of pity for that poor woman. 87 00:09:12,313 --> 00:09:15,897 Because I have charms to ward off evil. 88 00:09:15,980 --> 00:09:17,313 Nonsense. 89 00:09:17,397 --> 00:09:19,938 Two crossed knives on the stairs 90 00:09:20,022 --> 00:09:21,730 at the full of the moon. 91 00:09:21,813 --> 00:09:26,480 This blessed cord to keep the spirits from the body, 92 00:09:27,105 --> 00:09:33,563 and this stone from the druids' cave to break all spells. 93 00:09:33,647 --> 00:09:34,688 Those eyes. 94 00:09:35,647 --> 00:09:38,147 - I could swear I saw them move then. - Dr Adderson. 95 00:09:43,230 --> 00:09:45,480 I am puzzled by her reaction. 96 00:09:46,313 --> 00:09:48,438 There's something strange, 97 00:09:49,313 --> 00:09:53,730 almost as if she had received a neurotoxic poison. 98 00:09:53,813 --> 00:09:54,855 Poison? 99 00:09:57,897 --> 00:10:01,855 I'm afraid there's little hope. 100 00:10:03,813 --> 00:10:05,022 My baby? 101 00:10:05,772 --> 00:10:07,938 Yes, a girl, but... 102 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,480 That's impossible. The child can't live! 103 00:10:12,563 --> 00:10:15,105 Its blood was cold. 104 00:10:15,188 --> 00:10:17,688 Cold... blood? 105 00:10:17,772 --> 00:10:20,230 I won't touch it. A thing of evil. 106 00:10:22,772 --> 00:10:25,188 The baby is cold as ice. 107 00:10:26,063 --> 00:10:31,397 Doctor, its eyes, so wide and staring, and they never close. 108 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:32,855 It doesn't seem normal. 109 00:10:32,938 --> 00:10:34,605 The eyelids appear undeveloped. 110 00:10:34,688 --> 00:10:36,730 It can't close its eyes. 111 00:10:37,855 --> 00:10:39,355 Like a reptile. 112 00:10:39,438 --> 00:10:40,855 Let me see the child. 113 00:10:40,938 --> 00:10:42,313 No, Martha, it wouldn't be wise. 114 00:10:42,397 --> 00:10:44,355 Let me see my daughter! 115 00:11:26,980 --> 00:11:28,272 She is dead. 116 00:11:30,022 --> 00:11:31,230 Poor woman. 117 00:11:37,855 --> 00:11:39,480 The child is evil. 118 00:11:39,563 --> 00:11:40,730 It has the eye. 119 00:11:40,813 --> 00:11:42,397 One look killed the mother. 120 00:11:43,063 --> 00:11:44,980 Give me those scissors! 121 00:11:45,063 --> 00:11:46,563 It will kill us all! 122 00:11:46,647 --> 00:11:48,605 It must be destroyed! 123 00:11:49,397 --> 00:11:50,772 Try to hold her! 124 00:11:50,855 --> 00:11:52,563 This will calm her down. 125 00:11:55,022 --> 00:11:56,230 No! 126 00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:13,897 What a horrible woman. 127 00:12:13,980 --> 00:12:15,730 Are you all right? 128 00:12:15,813 --> 00:12:16,897 I think so. 129 00:12:18,688 --> 00:12:19,688 Look! 130 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,563 - Double to finish, George. - Ah. 131 00:12:54,313 --> 00:12:55,647 - Jimmy lad. - Evening, Constable. 132 00:12:55,730 --> 00:12:57,105 Ah, Susie! 133 00:12:58,313 --> 00:12:59,605 Hello, Alfie. 134 00:12:59,688 --> 00:13:02,438 Made your evening quota of murderers, I suppose? 135 00:13:02,522 --> 00:13:05,813 Footpads mostly this fine evening, Barkis, old friend. 136 00:13:05,897 --> 00:13:08,438 Oh, and a few thugs and knifers. 137 00:13:09,105 --> 00:13:10,688 I tell you, Alfie, 138 00:13:10,772 --> 00:13:13,563 it's a shame you should go so unappreciated. 139 00:13:13,647 --> 00:13:18,397 It isn't every officer who can uncover such heinous offences in a village of 200. 140 00:13:20,980 --> 00:13:22,272 Murder! 141 00:13:25,063 --> 00:13:28,397 Murder, evil, a curse on us all! 142 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,563 A curse on the village! 143 00:13:30,647 --> 00:13:33,897 You're all lost! You're cursed! You're doomed! 144 00:13:33,980 --> 00:13:35,230 Unless you come with me now. 145 00:13:35,313 --> 00:13:37,313 - To where, Aggie? - To the house of the snakes, 146 00:13:37,397 --> 00:13:39,647 where the evil thing was born tonight. 147 00:13:39,730 --> 00:13:42,063 - Adderson's? - The wife was expecting, sure enough. 148 00:13:42,147 --> 00:13:44,063 And didn't the evil thing look up 149 00:13:44,147 --> 00:13:47,938 and murder the poor, weak mother with one look? 150 00:13:48,022 --> 00:13:49,522 You mean, Adderson's wife is dead? 151 00:13:49,605 --> 00:13:52,730 Aye, and so would the serpent child be, too, 152 00:13:52,813 --> 00:13:54,897 if I hadn't been prevented. 153 00:13:54,980 --> 00:13:56,605 - By what? - By the father. 154 00:13:56,688 --> 00:13:58,230 I came to you all for help. 155 00:13:58,313 --> 00:14:02,730 Unless you go there with me now, we're all lost, all! 156 00:14:02,813 --> 00:14:05,855 Well, what are you thinking, Alfie? 157 00:14:05,938 --> 00:14:08,105 Aggie has the gift of sight, as well you know. 158 00:14:08,188 --> 00:14:10,480 If there's someone dead, it should be investigated. 159 00:14:10,563 --> 00:14:13,522 I've had my suspicions of Adderson for some time now. 160 00:14:13,605 --> 00:14:15,563 The things he does with those ugly reptiles. 161 00:14:15,647 --> 00:14:18,105 Well, if you're going, I'll go, too. 162 00:14:18,188 --> 00:14:19,772 Come on, lads! 163 00:14:43,813 --> 00:14:45,230 Maybe Aggie was right. 164 00:14:45,313 --> 00:14:47,272 Maybe she should be destroyed. 165 00:14:47,355 --> 00:14:48,730 Ridiculous! 166 00:14:49,522 --> 00:14:54,313 There must be an explanation for the child's characteristics and reactions. 167 00:14:54,397 --> 00:14:56,688 There is and the mother knew what it was. 168 00:14:56,772 --> 00:14:58,563 I was too blind to imagine. 169 00:14:58,647 --> 00:15:01,563 You're a research scientist, man. 170 00:15:01,647 --> 00:15:03,022 So am I. 171 00:15:03,105 --> 00:15:04,855 Can you imagine the excitement 172 00:15:04,938 --> 00:15:07,022 when the scientific world learns 173 00:15:07,105 --> 00:15:10,688 that a cold-blooded child was born alive? 174 00:15:10,772 --> 00:15:13,813 Millions of cold-blooded children are born alive. 175 00:15:14,730 --> 00:15:16,355 Serpent children. 176 00:15:16,438 --> 00:15:18,022 I'm surprised at you. 177 00:15:18,105 --> 00:15:21,063 It is of the utmost importance to human knowledge 178 00:15:21,147 --> 00:15:23,772 that your child's life be preserved at all costs. 179 00:15:23,855 --> 00:15:24,938 What was that? 180 00:15:28,105 --> 00:15:29,563 What about you? 181 00:15:29,647 --> 00:15:31,230 The things are everywhere! 182 00:15:33,438 --> 00:15:34,730 It's Aggie. 183 00:15:34,813 --> 00:15:36,438 She's bringing the men from the village. 184 00:15:36,522 --> 00:15:39,855 I didn't think they'd listen to a crazy old woman. 185 00:15:39,938 --> 00:15:42,105 There are many superstitious people in Northumberland. 186 00:15:42,188 --> 00:15:44,022 They believe in Aggie's magic. 187 00:15:44,105 --> 00:15:45,563 Then we must get the child away. 188 00:15:45,647 --> 00:15:46,980 Is there someplace? 189 00:15:47,063 --> 00:15:49,730 The old shepherd's house on the moor. Nobody ever goes there. 190 00:15:50,688 --> 00:15:53,188 I'll take her, but mind you, 191 00:15:53,272 --> 00:15:56,147 I have to leave for Africa tomorrow morning, you know that. 192 00:15:56,230 --> 00:15:58,522 Tell the shepherd I'll call and fetch her in the morning. 193 00:15:58,605 --> 00:16:00,897 Good luck. Where can I go? 194 00:16:00,980 --> 00:16:02,397 Out through the back door. 195 00:16:03,647 --> 00:16:05,522 - Be careful. - Thank you. 196 00:16:09,272 --> 00:16:10,397 In there! 197 00:16:11,855 --> 00:16:13,355 Open up! 198 00:16:19,230 --> 00:16:20,397 What is it, Constable? 199 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,063 We've been hearing of strange goings on out here tonight. 200 00:16:23,147 --> 00:16:25,605 - I don't understand. - Ask him about his poor wife. 201 00:16:25,688 --> 00:16:27,355 Talk to Dr Murton. 202 00:16:27,438 --> 00:16:28,772 Mind if we have a look around? 203 00:16:28,855 --> 00:16:30,188 Come in by all means. 204 00:16:34,688 --> 00:16:36,730 - Where's Mrs Adderson? - She's through there. 205 00:16:42,147 --> 00:16:44,063 Please! Don't disturb my specimens. 206 00:16:44,147 --> 00:16:46,105 There something strange about a man 207 00:16:46,188 --> 00:16:48,980 consorting with wicked reptiles like these. 208 00:16:49,063 --> 00:16:51,438 There's nothing strange, and snakes are not wicked. 209 00:16:51,522 --> 00:16:54,355 They're much maligned, highly intelligent, useful creatures. 210 00:16:54,438 --> 00:16:57,605 It was the serpent brought man's downfall. 211 00:16:57,688 --> 00:16:59,480 Mrs Adderson's dead, all right, 212 00:17:00,522 --> 00:17:02,022 with marks on her arm. 213 00:17:02,105 --> 00:17:03,647 Looks like she's been poisoned. 214 00:17:03,730 --> 00:17:05,688 Bitten by a snake most like. 215 00:17:05,772 --> 00:17:06,730 Nonsense! 216 00:17:06,813 --> 00:17:08,897 Hold the husband while I investigate. 217 00:17:08,980 --> 00:17:10,647 Where's the evil thing? 218 00:17:10,730 --> 00:17:12,813 The child! What has he done with it? 219 00:17:12,897 --> 00:17:15,188 She's gone, with Dr Murton. 220 00:17:15,272 --> 00:17:17,563 You mean, you killed her like you killed the mother, 221 00:17:17,647 --> 00:17:19,730 with these slimy monsters! 222 00:17:19,813 --> 00:17:21,147 Absolute idiocy! 223 00:17:21,230 --> 00:17:23,855 Let's kill the slimy things, every last one of 'em! 224 00:17:23,938 --> 00:17:26,105 - Stop it! - We don't want them around here! 225 00:17:27,147 --> 00:17:29,105 That's right, smash it up! 226 00:17:31,688 --> 00:17:33,438 One of them's on the table! 227 00:17:42,938 --> 00:17:44,105 It's on fire! 228 00:19:34,397 --> 00:19:37,813 Listen, my friend, you must do me a favour. 229 00:19:37,897 --> 00:19:40,188 Dr Adderson is in grave danger. 230 00:19:40,272 --> 00:19:42,230 This newly born baby as well. 231 00:19:43,397 --> 00:19:46,230 It's only for tonight. It may mean the child's life. 232 00:19:50,313 --> 00:19:51,522 I don't know. 233 00:19:51,605 --> 00:19:55,313 But you must, man, you must! It's only humane! 234 00:19:55,397 --> 00:19:57,647 Her father will fetch her tomorrow morning. 235 00:19:57,730 --> 00:19:59,980 So where's... where's the harm? 236 00:20:02,272 --> 00:20:05,563 What about yourself? Can you not keep her for one night? 237 00:20:05,647 --> 00:20:09,438 It's not that easy. I have to leave for Africa tomorrow morning. 238 00:20:11,063 --> 00:20:12,272 Well? 239 00:20:18,522 --> 00:20:21,855 You're a good man. Thank you. 240 00:20:29,105 --> 00:20:30,730 What's got into you, Robbie? 241 00:20:33,938 --> 00:20:36,563 Come inside by the fire where this little thing will be warm. 242 00:20:38,188 --> 00:20:40,272 Robbie! 243 00:20:47,313 --> 00:20:48,480 Goodbye, Doctor. 244 00:20:48,563 --> 00:20:50,647 Goodbye. My best regards to the town. 245 00:20:50,730 --> 00:20:51,813 Goodbye. 246 00:20:55,897 --> 00:20:57,647 - Ah, goodbye, Doctor. - Take care of everything. 247 00:20:57,730 --> 00:21:00,313 Come back soon. Have a good trip. 248 00:21:00,397 --> 00:21:01,688 Goodbye! 249 00:22:10,688 --> 00:22:12,772 Robbie! Robbie, come back! 250 00:23:07,105 --> 00:23:08,605 I can't believe it. 251 00:23:08,688 --> 00:23:11,480 It's... it's 19 years. 252 00:23:11,563 --> 00:23:12,938 No, 20. 253 00:23:13,022 --> 00:23:14,272 Yes, it is. 254 00:23:15,272 --> 00:23:19,980 Dr Murton, come back home after 20 years at last. 255 00:23:20,063 --> 00:23:21,855 For what reason, Doctor? 256 00:23:21,938 --> 00:23:23,647 To retire. 257 00:23:23,730 --> 00:23:26,355 Our research in Africa was successful. 258 00:23:27,063 --> 00:23:28,522 Wonderfully so. 259 00:23:28,605 --> 00:23:29,897 Now it's finished. 260 00:23:31,938 --> 00:23:35,772 I see. I... I thought it might have been... 261 00:23:35,855 --> 00:23:36,813 What? 262 00:23:37,563 --> 00:23:39,772 The wee girl you left here that night. 263 00:23:39,855 --> 00:23:43,897 I admit I... I thought often of her while I was away, 264 00:23:43,980 --> 00:23:46,022 wondering about her and her father. 265 00:23:46,105 --> 00:23:47,563 Father? 266 00:23:47,647 --> 00:23:50,855 Why, yes, after he had come for her. 267 00:23:54,730 --> 00:23:56,938 Adderson did come for his daughter? 268 00:23:58,522 --> 00:24:01,355 I waited here all the next day until after sundown. 269 00:24:02,272 --> 00:24:03,772 Then I went after to him. 270 00:24:03,855 --> 00:24:06,730 In what was left of his snake house, I found Adderson's body. 271 00:24:09,522 --> 00:24:13,022 All because of that crazy old woman. 272 00:24:14,272 --> 00:24:16,230 Where's the child? Where is she? 273 00:24:17,813 --> 00:24:19,355 I don't know. 274 00:24:19,438 --> 00:24:21,563 You don't know? 275 00:24:22,897 --> 00:24:24,188 Yes, I kept her here with me, 276 00:24:24,272 --> 00:24:25,855 even though the animals were strange with her. 277 00:24:25,938 --> 00:24:26,980 Strange? 278 00:24:27,063 --> 00:24:29,188 My sheep bolted at the sight of her. 279 00:24:29,272 --> 00:24:32,647 My old dog Robbie would not enter the house with Atheris in it. 280 00:24:35,063 --> 00:24:36,480 Atheris? Is... 281 00:24:36,563 --> 00:24:38,147 Is that what you called her? 282 00:24:39,147 --> 00:24:42,022 I found the name in a book at her father's house. 283 00:24:42,105 --> 00:24:44,313 Atheris is the name of a ser... 284 00:24:46,688 --> 00:24:50,397 Odd that you should have called her... 285 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,063 I hate telling you, Doctor, but that one was unnatural. 286 00:24:54,147 --> 00:24:57,313 As if two forces of nature are fighting within her wee self. 287 00:24:57,397 --> 00:24:58,772 Good and evil. 288 00:25:00,688 --> 00:25:02,897 At times she was the sweetest little tyke. 289 00:25:03,855 --> 00:25:05,980 Other times, well, like the dead sheep. 290 00:25:07,022 --> 00:25:08,897 And when I found my old dog Robbie, 291 00:25:08,980 --> 00:25:11,605 stiff he was and swollen like as if he'd been poisoned. 292 00:25:12,688 --> 00:25:14,688 A tiny him mark so long on his neck. 293 00:25:14,772 --> 00:25:17,188 You mean to say, the girl? 294 00:25:18,063 --> 00:25:19,772 Well, I can't prove it, but... 295 00:25:20,730 --> 00:25:24,438 Well, we moved a lot easier around this house 296 00:25:24,522 --> 00:25:26,772 the last few years since she disappeared. 297 00:25:29,147 --> 00:25:33,563 And you let her go just like that, a small child? 298 00:25:33,647 --> 00:25:38,147 Aye, Atheris moves up and down every crag, every cranny, but never a sound. 299 00:25:38,230 --> 00:25:39,605 I see. 300 00:25:40,980 --> 00:25:42,355 I am sorry. 301 00:25:43,397 --> 00:25:46,022 Whatever happened to the old Adderson place? 302 00:25:46,105 --> 00:25:48,688 Oh, never a body goes near it anymore. 303 00:25:48,772 --> 00:25:51,022 Aggie Harker has half of them convinced 304 00:25:51,105 --> 00:25:54,605 that the ghost of Dr Adderson haunts the place in the form of a snake. 305 00:25:54,688 --> 00:25:56,397 And the other half? 306 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,480 Guilty conscience, mainly. 307 00:25:58,563 --> 00:26:00,980 Remembering what they did to the girl's father. 308 00:26:01,063 --> 00:26:03,272 Well, since neither half concerns me, 309 00:26:03,355 --> 00:26:06,647 I think I'll have a look into it before I return to town. 310 00:26:08,313 --> 00:26:11,480 Well, it's good to see you back in Bellingham, Doctor. 311 00:26:11,563 --> 00:26:12,813 Thank you. 312 00:28:33,647 --> 00:28:35,063 I'm afraid he's dead. 313 00:28:36,605 --> 00:28:37,980 My God, look! 314 00:28:39,438 --> 00:28:41,355 I can't believe it. 315 00:28:41,438 --> 00:28:43,188 The bite of a king cobra. 316 00:28:43,272 --> 00:28:44,938 A cobra? 317 00:28:45,022 --> 00:28:46,522 As a military surgeon in India, 318 00:28:46,605 --> 00:28:48,147 I treated hundreds of these bites. 319 00:28:48,230 --> 00:28:49,855 I couldn't possibly be mistaken. 320 00:28:52,563 --> 00:28:54,563 Now, someone explain to me 321 00:28:54,647 --> 00:28:56,272 how a man in the north of England 322 00:28:56,355 --> 00:28:58,355 can suffer the bite of a king cobra. 323 00:29:03,105 --> 00:29:04,522 It's the curse. 324 00:29:04,605 --> 00:29:05,730 The what? 325 00:29:05,813 --> 00:29:08,605 That black thing that was born out on the moors, 326 00:29:08,688 --> 00:29:10,980 near a score years back. 327 00:29:11,063 --> 00:29:13,313 Mr Barkis means the snake girl. 328 00:29:13,397 --> 00:29:16,313 Look, this is England, the 20th century, isn't it? 329 00:29:16,397 --> 00:29:19,230 You can scoff if you like, Colonel Wynborn. 330 00:29:19,313 --> 00:29:22,772 But how do you explain the fate of our town since that night? 331 00:29:22,855 --> 00:29:25,563 This isn't the first time something like this has happened. 332 00:29:25,647 --> 00:29:26,938 No. 333 00:29:27,022 --> 00:29:30,438 Every so often someone's found on the moors dead 334 00:29:30,522 --> 00:29:31,897 with those same little marks. 335 00:29:31,980 --> 00:29:34,022 The cobra doesn't exist in England. 336 00:29:35,230 --> 00:29:37,105 There must be some logical explanation. 337 00:29:37,188 --> 00:29:39,563 You said you served in India, Colonel. 338 00:29:39,647 --> 00:29:41,480 Were there logical explanations 339 00:29:41,563 --> 00:29:43,313 for all the things you saw there? 340 00:29:43,397 --> 00:29:44,938 No, no, no. That was different. 341 00:29:45,022 --> 00:29:46,980 Aggie Harker says we're all cursed 342 00:29:47,063 --> 00:29:49,147 until the serpent's child is destroyed. 343 00:29:49,230 --> 00:29:50,563 Oh! Ridiculous! 344 00:29:50,647 --> 00:29:53,355 She has been seen, sir, by her victims. 345 00:29:54,438 --> 00:29:56,063 The looks in their eyes. 346 00:29:56,730 --> 00:29:58,980 Are you trying to say that this man was bitten tonight by... 347 00:29:59,063 --> 00:30:00,730 by some kind of demon or something? 348 00:30:00,813 --> 00:30:02,855 - As good a name as any. - Well, you're wrong. 349 00:30:02,938 --> 00:30:04,522 He was struck by a cobra. 350 00:30:04,605 --> 00:30:06,688 There's not the slightest doubt about it. 351 00:30:06,772 --> 00:30:07,938 Maybe not. 352 00:30:08,022 --> 00:30:10,980 But you won't persuade anyone in this town of that. 353 00:30:13,397 --> 00:30:14,855 Perhaps I can. 354 00:30:27,230 --> 00:30:29,313 Come in. 355 00:30:30,938 --> 00:30:32,355 You sent for me, Inspector? 356 00:30:32,438 --> 00:30:33,813 Yes, Prentice, I did. 357 00:30:35,188 --> 00:30:38,022 They tell me you're our bright young man in scientific investigation. 358 00:30:38,105 --> 00:30:39,855 Well, I've had a good education, sir, 359 00:30:39,938 --> 00:30:42,313 - and I feel with proper experience... - Yes. 360 00:30:42,397 --> 00:30:44,355 ...I believe I can do a good job. 361 00:30:44,438 --> 00:30:46,522 As sure of yourself as all that, eh? 362 00:30:49,147 --> 00:30:51,105 Then perhaps you're my man. 363 00:30:51,188 --> 00:30:52,188 Sit down. 364 00:30:56,772 --> 00:30:58,772 Just take a glance through that, will you, please? 365 00:31:09,772 --> 00:31:12,063 Well, what do you think of it? 366 00:31:12,147 --> 00:31:14,230 - Is there any doubt, sir? - Of what? 367 00:31:14,313 --> 00:31:16,022 That it was written by a crackpot. 368 00:31:16,105 --> 00:31:17,980 There certainly is doubt. 369 00:31:18,063 --> 00:31:20,813 Colonel Clyde Wynborn is one of the most respected men 370 00:31:20,897 --> 00:31:22,313 ever to wear a British uniform. 371 00:31:22,397 --> 00:31:24,647 But even the best of men when they reach their dotage... 372 00:31:25,897 --> 00:31:27,313 I served with the Colonel in India. 373 00:31:27,397 --> 00:31:29,105 Is that your opinion of me? 374 00:31:29,188 --> 00:31:31,105 I didn't mean to imply that... 375 00:31:31,188 --> 00:31:32,230 Never mind. 376 00:31:33,188 --> 00:31:35,272 Your reaction is perfectly understandable. 377 00:31:36,897 --> 00:31:38,563 The curse of the serpent child, 378 00:31:38,647 --> 00:31:41,188 haunting a 20th-century English village. 379 00:31:41,772 --> 00:31:43,188 You had me worried, sir. 380 00:31:43,272 --> 00:31:45,022 For a moment, I thought you were beginning to believe it. 381 00:31:45,105 --> 00:31:46,438 Hardly. 382 00:31:46,522 --> 00:31:49,355 But if Wynborn says this has caused a serious situation, 383 00:31:49,438 --> 00:31:50,855 he knows what he's talking about. 384 00:31:50,938 --> 00:31:53,438 Investigating local superstitions? 385 00:31:54,313 --> 00:31:56,272 Isn't that a little out of Scotland Yard's line? 386 00:31:56,355 --> 00:31:57,480 Strictly speaking, yes, 387 00:31:57,563 --> 00:32:01,897 but this country owes a lot to Wynborn and to men like him. 388 00:32:02,772 --> 00:32:05,397 The least Scotland Yard can do is to grant him this favour. 389 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,397 I gather I'm involved, sir. 390 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,647 I want you to leave at once for Bellingham. 391 00:32:10,313 --> 00:32:11,980 You'll have full authority. 392 00:32:12,063 --> 00:32:15,272 Take whatever equipment you need and do whatever you think best. 393 00:32:17,772 --> 00:32:19,938 I want you to run this curse to earth, 394 00:32:20,022 --> 00:32:22,188 and to prove scientifically beyond anyone's shadow of doubt 395 00:32:22,272 --> 00:32:23,605 that it's utterly baseless. 396 00:32:23,688 --> 00:32:26,063 - Yes, sir. - If you can. 397 00:32:26,147 --> 00:32:28,188 What does that mean, sir? If you have any doubts of me... 398 00:32:28,272 --> 00:32:29,355 Oh, not of you, no. 399 00:32:30,230 --> 00:32:32,313 I was recalling a line from "Hamlet". 400 00:32:33,438 --> 00:32:35,480 "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, 401 00:32:35,563 --> 00:32:38,105 than are dreamed of in your philosophy." 402 00:32:38,188 --> 00:32:39,230 I'm afraid I don't... 403 00:32:39,313 --> 00:32:41,980 Just don't get too smug, young man. Keep an open mind. 404 00:32:42,063 --> 00:32:45,022 Make your ideas fit the facts, not vice versa. 405 00:32:47,272 --> 00:32:50,855 If you're going snake hunting, you'd better have this. 406 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:54,563 Thank you, sir. 407 00:32:54,647 --> 00:32:56,022 Well, good luck. 408 00:33:08,855 --> 00:33:10,147 Excuse me. 409 00:33:10,230 --> 00:33:11,647 Colonel Wynborn's house, please? 410 00:33:11,730 --> 00:33:13,313 - Over there. - That way? 411 00:33:13,397 --> 00:33:14,688 - Straight ahead. - Thank you. 412 00:33:29,313 --> 00:33:31,813 Not the most exciting assignment the Yard has to offer, 413 00:33:31,897 --> 00:33:33,647 humoring an old man, eh, Prentice? 414 00:33:33,730 --> 00:33:35,063 Oh, that's all right, sir. 415 00:33:35,147 --> 00:33:37,730 I can imagine your reactions when you've got my letter. 416 00:33:37,813 --> 00:33:39,397 If I hadn't had a friend at court, 417 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:41,147 I don't think I'd dared write it. 418 00:33:41,230 --> 00:33:42,855 You mean the Inspector? 419 00:33:42,938 --> 00:33:44,438 Yes, he assured me that you wouldn't have written 420 00:33:44,522 --> 00:33:46,105 unless the situation here was serious. 421 00:33:46,188 --> 00:33:49,272 It is, my boy. It is, deadly serious. 422 00:33:49,355 --> 00:33:51,147 You mean there is a curse on the village? 423 00:33:51,230 --> 00:33:52,855 Well, there's something. 424 00:33:52,938 --> 00:33:54,897 After the incident of which I wrote, 425 00:33:54,980 --> 00:33:58,688 the man being bitten by the cobra, here in England, mind you, 426 00:33:58,772 --> 00:34:00,855 - I checked the local death registry. - And? 427 00:34:01,647 --> 00:34:03,897 Would you believe that this tiny community 428 00:34:03,980 --> 00:34:05,897 for nearly a score of years has averaged 429 00:34:05,980 --> 00:34:09,147 more than one death a year from poisonous reptiles? 430 00:34:09,230 --> 00:34:11,980 But that's not possible. Not here. 431 00:34:12,063 --> 00:34:14,147 No? That's exactly what I thought. 432 00:34:14,230 --> 00:34:16,230 But it's all there in the records. 433 00:34:16,313 --> 00:34:18,730 Ask the residents, they'll verify it. 434 00:34:18,813 --> 00:34:20,897 They're scared to death, every one of them. 435 00:34:20,980 --> 00:34:22,105 Of the curse? 436 00:34:22,188 --> 00:34:24,647 - Exactly. - I can't believe that. 437 00:34:25,605 --> 00:34:27,855 There has to be an explanation, 438 00:34:27,938 --> 00:34:30,897 a perfectly logical scientific explanation. 439 00:34:30,980 --> 00:34:32,813 Well, there is one of sorts. 440 00:34:32,897 --> 00:34:34,522 Quite a few years ago, 441 00:34:34,605 --> 00:34:38,272 a world famous herpetologist, Dr Horace Adderson, 442 00:34:38,355 --> 00:34:41,355 maintained an experimental laboratory out there on the moors. 443 00:34:41,438 --> 00:34:43,938 - With a collection of live snakes? - Yes. 444 00:34:44,022 --> 00:34:45,938 Then there's your answer. 445 00:34:46,022 --> 00:34:47,272 Almost. 446 00:34:47,355 --> 00:34:49,188 It's quite possible the natives were bitten 447 00:34:49,272 --> 00:34:51,438 by the descendants of Adderson's reptiles, 448 00:34:51,522 --> 00:34:54,813 after they'd killed him and wrecked his laboratory. 449 00:34:54,897 --> 00:34:56,022 They what? 450 00:34:56,105 --> 00:34:57,855 - Another drink? - No, thanks. 451 00:34:59,855 --> 00:35:01,980 That was the beginning of the curse. 452 00:35:02,063 --> 00:35:04,730 It was the night Adderson's daughter was born. 453 00:35:04,813 --> 00:35:07,313 Apparently, he'd been injecting snake venom 454 00:35:07,397 --> 00:35:09,980 to cure his wife's insanity. 455 00:35:10,063 --> 00:35:12,022 Sounds like the Middle Ages. 456 00:35:12,105 --> 00:35:13,188 Far from it. 457 00:35:13,272 --> 00:35:15,397 Adderson was a marvel in his own field. 458 00:35:16,647 --> 00:35:18,105 - However... - Yes? 459 00:35:18,188 --> 00:35:20,313 ...the mother died giving birth. 460 00:35:20,397 --> 00:35:22,355 Aggie Harker, the old midwife, 461 00:35:22,438 --> 00:35:24,438 who is considered something of a witch, 462 00:35:24,522 --> 00:35:27,563 was convinced that this little girl was strange. 463 00:35:27,647 --> 00:35:29,272 - Strange? - Yes. 464 00:35:29,355 --> 00:35:31,897 She convinced the village that the baby was evil, 465 00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:34,188 and that unless they destroyed it immediately, 466 00:35:34,272 --> 00:35:35,688 they would all be cursed. 467 00:35:35,772 --> 00:35:39,063 So they killed the father and destroyed the child? 468 00:35:39,147 --> 00:35:40,855 No, not the child. 469 00:35:40,938 --> 00:35:42,563 Somehow that was saved. 470 00:35:42,647 --> 00:35:44,355 Well, what became of it? 471 00:35:44,438 --> 00:35:45,730 It's hard to say. 472 00:35:45,813 --> 00:35:48,647 Some of the victims of the curse were found alive. 473 00:35:48,730 --> 00:35:50,605 And they claimed they'd been attacked, 474 00:35:50,688 --> 00:35:52,480 not by a poisonous snake, 475 00:35:52,563 --> 00:35:54,647 but by a beautiful girl. 476 00:35:55,605 --> 00:35:57,105 Hallucinations. 477 00:35:57,188 --> 00:35:58,272 Maybe. 478 00:36:03,772 --> 00:36:05,022 Do you know what this is? 479 00:36:05,105 --> 00:36:06,147 No idea. 480 00:36:06,230 --> 00:36:08,022 It's a snake charmer's flute. 481 00:36:08,105 --> 00:36:09,313 I picked it up in Asia. 482 00:36:10,688 --> 00:36:14,897 Anyone who plays it is said to possess a certain power over reptiles. 483 00:36:14,980 --> 00:36:17,272 Or perhaps "music hath charms". 484 00:36:18,022 --> 00:36:19,980 Well, ever since the Garden of Eden, 485 00:36:20,063 --> 00:36:21,855 every civilisation has regarded snakes 486 00:36:21,938 --> 00:36:24,522 with some kind of awe or dread. 487 00:36:24,605 --> 00:36:27,397 In parts of Asia, snakes are worshipped to this day. 488 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:28,938 American Indians still perform 489 00:36:29,022 --> 00:36:30,563 their traditional snake dances. 490 00:36:30,647 --> 00:36:33,105 And in Bellingham, England? 491 00:36:33,188 --> 00:36:36,605 Well, maybe science can explain everything on this Earth. 492 00:36:36,688 --> 00:36:37,855 I can't. 493 00:36:38,772 --> 00:36:40,813 Anyway, there's your problem, my boy. 494 00:36:40,897 --> 00:36:42,480 You can stay with me if you like. 495 00:36:42,563 --> 00:36:44,480 Where do you propose to begin? 496 00:36:44,563 --> 00:36:46,688 At the beginning, I suppose. 497 00:36:46,772 --> 00:36:50,480 Aggie Harker, if she's still alive. 498 00:36:50,563 --> 00:36:51,813 She's still alive. 499 00:36:52,605 --> 00:36:55,105 Her hut is over the hill there, out of town. 500 00:36:55,188 --> 00:36:57,397 You take the path to the right of the bald oak tree 501 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,063 and you'll come to it. 502 00:36:59,147 --> 00:37:00,563 It's a pleasant walk in the morning. 503 00:37:00,647 --> 00:37:03,230 - I'm going tonight. - You are? 504 00:37:03,313 --> 00:37:04,938 What's the matter? 505 00:37:05,022 --> 00:37:08,938 Well, the natives would say you're taking your life in your hands. 506 00:37:09,022 --> 00:37:10,897 Then perhaps you'd better lend me this. 507 00:37:13,938 --> 00:37:18,605 In case I bump into any snakes or, uh, snake girls. 508 00:37:18,688 --> 00:37:19,897 If you like. 509 00:37:19,980 --> 00:37:21,813 Well, goodnight, my boy. 510 00:37:22,980 --> 00:37:24,563 And take care of yourself. 511 00:38:06,063 --> 00:38:07,188 Well, hello. 512 00:38:08,313 --> 00:38:10,397 All alone out here at night? 513 00:38:10,980 --> 00:38:12,230 Aren't you nervous? 514 00:38:12,313 --> 00:38:13,313 Nervous? 515 00:38:13,397 --> 00:38:15,563 After all the stories I'd heard in the village, 516 00:38:15,647 --> 00:38:17,063 I was afraid everybody in Bellingham 517 00:38:17,147 --> 00:38:19,980 locked their doors from the inside at sundown. 518 00:38:20,688 --> 00:38:22,522 I'm not nervous. 519 00:38:22,605 --> 00:38:24,230 What are you doing here? 520 00:38:24,897 --> 00:38:26,105 Waiting for you. 521 00:38:26,188 --> 00:38:27,230 For me? 522 00:38:28,688 --> 00:38:30,230 You'd better explain. 523 00:38:38,105 --> 00:38:39,647 I heard your music. 524 00:38:41,230 --> 00:38:42,563 Why did you stop? 525 00:38:42,647 --> 00:38:43,647 You mean this? 526 00:38:44,313 --> 00:38:46,147 I never saw it before tonight. 527 00:38:46,230 --> 00:38:47,522 You must be kidding. 528 00:38:47,605 --> 00:38:51,688 There's something about the sound I never felt. 529 00:38:55,063 --> 00:38:56,147 Sit still. 530 00:38:59,647 --> 00:39:01,855 Don't move a muscle. 531 00:39:01,938 --> 00:39:04,063 - What are you doing?! - Saving your life. 532 00:39:09,022 --> 00:39:11,688 It's gone. Why did you stop me? 533 00:39:11,772 --> 00:39:13,063 You'd have killed it! 534 00:39:13,147 --> 00:39:14,813 To keep it from killing you. 535 00:39:14,897 --> 00:39:16,313 Why should it do that? 536 00:39:16,397 --> 00:39:18,230 Because it's a poisonous snake. 537 00:39:18,313 --> 00:39:19,647 Isn't that reason enough? 538 00:39:19,730 --> 00:39:21,647 He was doing us no harm. 539 00:39:21,730 --> 00:39:23,147 He has a right to live. 540 00:39:24,397 --> 00:39:25,688 You really believe that? 541 00:39:26,605 --> 00:39:28,063 But you're trembling. 542 00:39:29,397 --> 00:39:30,730 So cold. 543 00:39:33,438 --> 00:39:35,063 That won't be necessary. 544 00:39:38,355 --> 00:39:39,313 I must go. 545 00:39:40,647 --> 00:39:42,272 I'm worried about a friend. 546 00:39:42,355 --> 00:39:43,730 I'll be around here for a while. 547 00:39:43,813 --> 00:39:45,563 May I see you again? 548 00:39:45,647 --> 00:39:47,563 If you play for me. 549 00:39:47,647 --> 00:39:50,563 Oh, come now, haven't we carried this far enough? 550 00:39:50,647 --> 00:39:51,688 Then you won't? 551 00:39:52,522 --> 00:39:53,897 If you want me to, but... 552 00:39:54,522 --> 00:39:55,688 You must go. 553 00:39:55,772 --> 00:39:57,605 Aggie Harker's expecting you. 554 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:00,772 I didn't tell you I was going to Aggie Harker's. 555 00:40:04,772 --> 00:40:06,188 Now, miss... Where...? 556 00:40:27,105 --> 00:40:28,938 Come in, young man. 557 00:40:37,772 --> 00:40:39,022 Aggie Harker? 558 00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:42,772 Your tea is ready. 559 00:40:48,063 --> 00:40:50,022 It's hot. 560 00:40:50,105 --> 00:40:52,772 - You must have just poured it. - Of course. 561 00:40:54,063 --> 00:40:55,980 I'm Charles Prentice, Miss Harker. 562 00:40:56,688 --> 00:40:59,022 I'm interested in how you knew I was coming. 563 00:40:59,105 --> 00:41:02,022 I expected you sooner. 564 00:41:02,105 --> 00:41:04,480 I was delayed. I met someone. 565 00:41:05,272 --> 00:41:06,313 Where? 566 00:41:06,397 --> 00:41:08,105 Well, out on the moors somewhere. 567 00:41:09,188 --> 00:41:11,272 The serpent child. 568 00:41:11,355 --> 00:41:12,980 That's ridiculous. 569 00:41:13,063 --> 00:41:14,605 She was a beautiful girl. 570 00:41:14,688 --> 00:41:18,813 Have you not been told how it is here 571 00:41:18,897 --> 00:41:21,647 since the evil thing was born? 572 00:41:21,730 --> 00:41:22,938 Of course I have. 573 00:41:23,022 --> 00:41:25,647 Now, that's why I came to you. 574 00:41:25,730 --> 00:41:27,272 I thought maybe you and I together could, 575 00:41:27,355 --> 00:41:29,438 well, solve the problem scientifically. 576 00:41:30,980 --> 00:41:33,855 You are wiser than I thought, young man. 577 00:41:35,063 --> 00:41:37,063 Perhaps we can, 578 00:41:37,897 --> 00:41:40,188 but not with your science. 579 00:41:42,063 --> 00:41:43,355 With mine. 580 00:42:42,272 --> 00:42:43,605 Here it is. 581 00:42:45,230 --> 00:42:46,605 A voodoo doll? 582 00:42:46,688 --> 00:42:48,397 Such images are called 583 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,438 by different names in different places. 584 00:42:51,522 --> 00:42:52,897 Surely you don't believe this 585 00:42:52,980 --> 00:42:55,772 can destroy the curse of the serpent child? 586 00:42:55,855 --> 00:42:58,188 Not by itself alone. 587 00:42:58,272 --> 00:43:02,647 And I was too close to the evil thing when it was born. 588 00:43:02,730 --> 00:43:07,730 By helping it to live, I lost the power to kill it. 589 00:43:09,105 --> 00:43:11,397 Not that I haven't tried. 590 00:43:12,063 --> 00:43:15,355 It requires your help. 591 00:43:15,438 --> 00:43:17,688 My help? How? 592 00:43:35,272 --> 00:43:37,688 You have a gun, young man. 593 00:43:37,772 --> 00:43:38,938 Oh, yes, but... 594 00:43:39,688 --> 00:43:42,355 Then you must use it. 595 00:43:42,438 --> 00:43:43,522 What? 596 00:43:51,272 --> 00:43:52,438 Take it. 597 00:43:59,022 --> 00:44:04,063 Now, fire three bullets into the image. 598 00:44:04,938 --> 00:44:06,063 But this is... 599 00:44:06,147 --> 00:44:08,730 Fire three times. 600 00:44:28,063 --> 00:44:30,938 There, you see, it is done. 601 00:44:32,605 --> 00:44:33,897 What I wonder? 602 00:44:33,980 --> 00:44:37,813 The curse is broken by science. 603 00:44:39,813 --> 00:44:42,230 That is how she will die. 604 00:44:42,813 --> 00:44:45,188 Three bullets from that gun. 605 00:44:46,897 --> 00:44:50,188 You will kill her. 606 00:45:01,772 --> 00:45:04,230 I'll admit that things seem a little different this morning. 607 00:45:05,022 --> 00:45:08,438 Can you imagine me drawing my gun, 608 00:45:08,522 --> 00:45:10,147 shooting at a stuffed doll? 609 00:45:11,147 --> 00:45:13,188 You know, she's absolutely balmy. 610 00:45:13,272 --> 00:45:15,813 I think she actually believes in all that mumbo-jumbo. 611 00:45:15,897 --> 00:45:18,022 A lot of people do, more than you imagine. 612 00:45:18,105 --> 00:45:19,813 - More tea? - Hmm, thanks. 613 00:45:21,063 --> 00:45:23,772 You know what bothers me is this girl you say you saw. 614 00:45:23,855 --> 00:45:26,772 Say? Of course I saw her. 615 00:45:26,855 --> 00:45:28,397 I'm trying to think of any local maid 616 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,230 who'd, well, who'd venture out alone on such a night. 617 00:45:31,313 --> 00:45:33,480 Well, one did venture out, I can assure you. 618 00:45:33,563 --> 00:45:34,855 I put my arm about her. 619 00:45:34,938 --> 00:45:37,522 She was as flesh and blood as you or I. 620 00:45:37,605 --> 00:45:38,897 And scared half to death. 621 00:45:39,897 --> 00:45:40,980 Why do you say that? 622 00:45:41,063 --> 00:45:44,397 Oh, just when I touched her, her skin was as cold as ice. 623 00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,438 Cold? Did you say cold? 624 00:45:47,522 --> 00:45:48,480 Yes. 625 00:45:51,438 --> 00:45:53,272 What is it? What did I say? 626 00:45:55,522 --> 00:45:56,980 "Cold. 627 00:45:57,063 --> 00:46:01,022 Not a chance for life, yet the baby lived." 628 00:46:01,105 --> 00:46:03,813 - Whom are you quoting? - The old doctor, Murton. 629 00:46:03,897 --> 00:46:06,188 He attended the birth of Adderson's daughter. 630 00:46:07,063 --> 00:46:09,355 The child was born with cold blood. 631 00:46:09,438 --> 00:46:10,855 And that means something? 632 00:46:11,647 --> 00:46:13,897 Reptiles are all cold-blooded creatures. 633 00:46:15,105 --> 00:46:17,688 Oh, come now, you're beginning to sound just like Aggie. 634 00:46:17,772 --> 00:46:19,605 Yes, I suppose I am. 635 00:46:19,688 --> 00:46:21,897 Anyway, you couldn't have seen the serpent girl. 636 00:46:21,980 --> 00:46:24,063 - Why not? - Well, you didn't die. 637 00:46:24,147 --> 00:46:25,772 Any of the natives will tell you 638 00:46:25,855 --> 00:46:28,397 no man looks into her eyes and lives. 639 00:46:30,147 --> 00:46:31,355 Oh, and by the way, 640 00:46:31,438 --> 00:46:33,688 I wonder if I might keep this for a day or so. 641 00:46:33,772 --> 00:46:35,313 Certainly, but what for? 642 00:46:35,397 --> 00:46:39,688 That girl I met, she thinks I have hidden musical talent. 643 00:46:39,772 --> 00:46:42,938 She wouldn't promise to see me again until I agreed to play for her. 644 00:46:45,980 --> 00:46:48,480 I think I need a drink. Come on. 645 00:46:51,105 --> 00:46:52,438 Here you are, Doctor. 646 00:46:56,522 --> 00:46:57,522 Roddy! 647 00:47:00,313 --> 00:47:01,438 Let me. 648 00:47:02,063 --> 00:47:04,813 It's no use, Doctor, my lad's dead. 649 00:47:06,938 --> 00:47:09,147 The fangs of a serpent. 650 00:47:09,855 --> 00:47:11,605 Do you suppose she did it? 651 00:47:11,688 --> 00:47:13,063 My horse came home alone. 652 00:47:13,147 --> 00:47:17,563 I went out to look and found him out on the moors like this. 653 00:47:17,647 --> 00:47:18,897 Something's got to be done! 654 00:47:18,980 --> 00:47:21,313 Killing young boys in broad daylight now! 655 00:47:22,022 --> 00:47:23,813 It must have been a snake. 656 00:47:25,188 --> 00:47:26,438 It has to be. 657 00:47:27,647 --> 00:47:29,272 It can't be that... 658 00:47:33,772 --> 00:47:34,772 Poor man. 659 00:47:34,855 --> 00:47:37,855 He came here to retire and now all this. 660 00:47:37,938 --> 00:47:39,480 It's affecting his mind. 661 00:47:39,563 --> 00:47:43,313 She'll pay! Snake or fiend or witch, whatever she is, 662 00:47:43,397 --> 00:47:46,105 I'll make her pay for murdering my son. 663 00:47:46,188 --> 00:47:47,438 Come and have a drink, Darrow. 664 00:47:47,522 --> 00:47:49,480 You've had a shock to make us all shook up. 665 00:48:07,397 --> 00:48:09,480 Something's bothering you, Colonel. 666 00:48:09,563 --> 00:48:11,772 - Now why don't you tell me? - You're right. 667 00:48:11,855 --> 00:48:15,022 I suppose we all hate to say farewell to our pet theories, but... 668 00:48:15,105 --> 00:48:16,605 But the facts don't seem to fit. 669 00:48:16,688 --> 00:48:19,397 Well, I was just on the point of recognising a similarity, 670 00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:21,438 a pattern in these occurrences. 671 00:48:21,522 --> 00:48:24,897 But this one - boy was bitten in broad daylight. 672 00:48:24,980 --> 00:48:28,188 Not by a cobra, mind you, but by a fer-de-lance. 673 00:48:28,272 --> 00:48:29,480 Fer-de-lance? 674 00:48:29,563 --> 00:48:33,022 Yes, it's a species of pit viper from the French Antilles, 675 00:48:33,105 --> 00:48:35,147 sometimes known as the rat-tail viper. 676 00:48:35,230 --> 00:48:37,688 But you can be sure, about the difference in the two bites, I mean? 677 00:48:37,772 --> 00:48:41,772 Yes, one secretes a haemolytic poison, the other a neurotoxic. 678 00:48:41,855 --> 00:48:43,730 I've treated enough snake bites in my time 679 00:48:43,813 --> 00:48:45,230 to distinguish the symptoms. 680 00:48:45,313 --> 00:48:46,522 I see. 681 00:48:47,147 --> 00:48:49,605 Then that means there are at least two poisonous species 682 00:48:49,688 --> 00:48:51,647 running loose in this countryside. 683 00:48:51,730 --> 00:48:54,188 And it disposes of our snake girl. 684 00:48:54,855 --> 00:48:57,355 With all her talents, I can't believe that she could strike 685 00:48:57,438 --> 00:49:00,647 like two different serpents secreting two different poisons. 686 00:49:01,938 --> 00:49:03,855 You think it'll convince Aggie Harker? 687 00:49:04,522 --> 00:49:05,730 I wonder. 688 00:49:11,397 --> 00:49:13,105 Give us another one, Barkis. 689 00:49:13,188 --> 00:49:14,563 You've had enough, Darrow. 690 00:49:14,647 --> 00:49:16,188 You've been drinking all day. 691 00:49:16,272 --> 00:49:17,605 Come on, just one more. 692 00:49:18,522 --> 00:49:21,188 Snake or fiend, or whatever she is, 693 00:49:21,272 --> 00:49:23,772 she'll pay for killing my boy. 694 00:49:23,855 --> 00:49:26,147 She'll pay wherever she is. 695 00:49:26,230 --> 00:49:28,063 She can't hide from Darrow. 696 00:49:33,605 --> 00:49:35,813 I'll get you. You killed my son. 697 00:49:37,313 --> 00:49:38,438 I'll get you! 698 00:49:38,522 --> 00:49:40,188 You won't get away from me. 699 00:49:42,938 --> 00:49:44,897 Fiend, I'll get you! 700 00:49:47,897 --> 00:49:49,938 Ah! There you are! 701 00:49:50,022 --> 00:49:51,980 I knew I'd find you! 702 00:50:26,772 --> 00:50:29,063 There's your answer. The end of a legend. 703 00:50:29,147 --> 00:50:31,980 A perfectly normal, everyday dead snake. 704 00:50:32,063 --> 00:50:34,813 - Fer-de-lance. - Same that bit the boy. 705 00:50:34,897 --> 00:50:37,313 Why not put this on display somewhere, Constable? 706 00:50:37,397 --> 00:50:38,897 Do the people good, reassure them. 707 00:50:38,980 --> 00:50:40,105 I suppose. 708 00:50:40,188 --> 00:50:41,647 I'll write my official report for the Yard 709 00:50:41,730 --> 00:50:42,855 and post a copy beside it. 710 00:50:42,938 --> 00:50:45,063 As simple as that, young man? 711 00:50:45,147 --> 00:50:47,813 These things usually are once you get to the basis of them. 712 00:50:47,897 --> 00:50:50,063 And you're satisfied that you have? 713 00:50:50,147 --> 00:50:51,480 You do nothing further? 714 00:50:51,563 --> 00:50:53,355 What else is there I can do, Doctor? 715 00:50:53,438 --> 00:50:54,938 Perhaps nothing. 716 00:50:56,272 --> 00:50:59,313 But there's something... I can do. 717 00:51:01,022 --> 00:51:05,355 Something I should have done... years ago. 718 00:51:19,272 --> 00:51:21,272 You look almost disappointed, Colonel. 719 00:51:21,355 --> 00:51:22,188 I am. 720 00:51:22,272 --> 00:51:24,272 Because there is no supernatural curse? 721 00:51:24,355 --> 00:51:27,813 No, because the explanation is not as simple as I hoped. 722 00:51:27,897 --> 00:51:29,105 What does that mean? 723 00:51:30,272 --> 00:51:32,022 Look, my boy, I think we better go home 724 00:51:32,105 --> 00:51:33,688 and discuss this thing in the morning. 725 00:51:47,230 --> 00:51:48,355 Atheris. 726 00:51:49,647 --> 00:51:50,647 Atheris. 727 00:51:52,897 --> 00:51:53,897 Atheris! 728 00:52:00,855 --> 00:52:01,688 Atheris. 729 00:52:03,063 --> 00:52:04,188 Atheris! 730 00:52:04,855 --> 00:52:06,022 Atheris! 731 00:52:06,105 --> 00:52:08,188 Ath... 732 00:52:11,147 --> 00:52:14,188 Atheris, I'm sorry for you. 733 00:52:14,272 --> 00:52:17,188 It was not your fault that you were born what you were. 734 00:52:17,272 --> 00:52:19,563 I should never ever allowed you to live, 735 00:52:19,647 --> 00:52:21,772 but since I have, 736 00:52:21,855 --> 00:52:23,980 it is my duty to... 737 00:52:57,855 --> 00:53:00,063 I'd be interested to hear your explanation 738 00:53:00,147 --> 00:53:02,813 of what happened to Darrow and his son. 739 00:53:02,897 --> 00:53:04,605 It's pretty obvious, isn't it? 740 00:53:04,688 --> 00:53:06,688 - Is it? - Certainly. 741 00:53:06,772 --> 00:53:08,480 The boy was struck by the snake. 742 00:53:08,563 --> 00:53:10,188 The father got drunk, went out to kill it, 743 00:53:10,272 --> 00:53:12,022 and was bitten himself. 744 00:53:12,105 --> 00:53:13,272 On the neck? 745 00:53:13,355 --> 00:53:15,563 Well, the snake could have fallen on him from a branch. 746 00:53:15,647 --> 00:53:17,980 The fer-de-lance never climbs. 747 00:53:18,063 --> 00:53:20,188 Or Darrow could have stumbled and fallen. 748 00:53:20,272 --> 00:53:22,438 - He was drunk. - Possibly. 749 00:53:22,522 --> 00:53:25,272 We'll pass that for the moment, but there is something else, 750 00:53:25,355 --> 00:53:27,730 something that requires a little more explanation. 751 00:53:27,813 --> 00:53:28,730 Yes? 752 00:53:28,813 --> 00:53:31,897 The boy was killed by a fer-de-lance, 753 00:53:31,980 --> 00:53:34,897 but the father's wound held cobra venom. 754 00:53:34,980 --> 00:53:36,147 What? 755 00:53:36,230 --> 00:53:38,105 That's why I was so disappointed. 756 00:53:38,980 --> 00:53:41,063 The boy's death is easily explained. 757 00:53:41,147 --> 00:53:42,897 There's one other answer, Colonel. 758 00:53:42,980 --> 00:53:46,438 Now, you could be mistaken, about the two bites, I mean. 759 00:53:46,522 --> 00:53:49,188 - Well, none of us is infallible. - True enough. 760 00:53:49,272 --> 00:53:51,522 And if you are convinced of that, my boy, 761 00:53:51,605 --> 00:53:53,063 you'd better get on the evening train 762 00:53:53,147 --> 00:53:55,563 and go back to London and tell the Inspector there 763 00:53:55,647 --> 00:53:58,688 to ignore future letters from elderly crackpots. 764 00:53:58,772 --> 00:54:00,438 Well, I didn't mean that, sir. 765 00:54:00,522 --> 00:54:01,980 Oh, it's quite understandable. 766 00:54:02,063 --> 00:54:04,688 You have a logical scientific mind. 767 00:54:04,772 --> 00:54:07,813 And this business defies logic and science. 768 00:54:08,397 --> 00:54:09,605 Ordinary science. 769 00:54:09,688 --> 00:54:11,063 I'm sorry, sir. 770 00:54:11,980 --> 00:54:13,563 Now, you have a theory about this, haven't you? 771 00:54:13,647 --> 00:54:15,605 And, well, I've been too smug to listen. 772 00:54:15,688 --> 00:54:17,772 Well, not exactly a theory, 773 00:54:17,855 --> 00:54:20,897 but I have gone over Adderson's research data very carefully, 774 00:54:21,813 --> 00:54:24,730 and I've been wondering whether Aggie Harker wasn't right 775 00:54:24,813 --> 00:54:26,147 from the beginning. 776 00:54:26,230 --> 00:54:27,480 About the curse? 777 00:54:27,563 --> 00:54:29,063 No, no. 778 00:54:30,730 --> 00:54:34,105 About the child being born with serpent-like characteristics. 779 00:54:34,188 --> 00:54:36,522 You really think that's possible? 780 00:54:36,605 --> 00:54:38,938 Well, for months before the child was born, 781 00:54:39,022 --> 00:54:41,480 Adderson was injecting an extract of cobra 782 00:54:41,563 --> 00:54:44,147 and other venoms into his wife's veins 783 00:54:44,230 --> 00:54:46,480 in order to control her mental state. 784 00:54:46,563 --> 00:54:48,647 Hmm, you told me about that before. 785 00:54:48,730 --> 00:54:52,813 Yes, I know and I've been thinking about it since so much has happened. 786 00:54:53,438 --> 00:54:57,188 There's so much we don't know and so little we do about life. 787 00:54:57,272 --> 00:54:58,605 How it begins, 788 00:54:58,688 --> 00:55:00,855 why all life seed should appear identical 789 00:55:00,938 --> 00:55:02,480 under the finest microscope. 790 00:55:02,563 --> 00:55:04,813 Yet one will produce a tiny fish, 791 00:55:04,897 --> 00:55:07,105 another a bird or a human being, 792 00:55:07,188 --> 00:55:08,855 another a monstrous whale. 793 00:55:08,938 --> 00:55:09,855 Or a snake. 794 00:55:09,938 --> 00:55:11,230 Exactly. 795 00:55:13,105 --> 00:55:14,605 Suppose this cobra venom, 796 00:55:14,688 --> 00:55:16,938 flowing constantly through the mother's veins, 797 00:55:17,022 --> 00:55:19,188 had an effect on the new life inside her, 798 00:55:19,272 --> 00:55:21,563 an effect we know nothing about as yet, 799 00:55:21,647 --> 00:55:23,897 but which could account for a baby being born 800 00:55:23,980 --> 00:55:26,438 without eyelids, with cold blood, 801 00:55:26,522 --> 00:55:28,605 and other ophidian characteristics. 802 00:55:28,688 --> 00:55:29,730 Such as? 803 00:55:29,813 --> 00:55:32,563 Such as the secretion of venom 804 00:55:32,647 --> 00:55:35,772 and a peculiar attraction to the music of a snake charmer's pipe. 805 00:55:35,855 --> 00:55:37,355 I've heard enough. 806 00:55:37,438 --> 00:55:39,980 And if you're suggesting that that beautiful girl I met could be a... 807 00:55:40,063 --> 00:55:42,813 Look, my boy, you go back to London where you belong, 808 00:55:42,897 --> 00:55:45,438 where things are exactly as they seem. 809 00:55:45,522 --> 00:55:46,938 You're out of your element here. 810 00:55:47,022 --> 00:55:48,355 Possibly I am. 811 00:55:48,438 --> 00:55:50,313 Thanks for your hospitality, Colonel. 812 00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:52,688 Don't mention it. 813 00:56:04,855 --> 00:56:07,105 We are sorry to see you go, sir. 814 00:56:07,188 --> 00:56:09,438 You are? You really are? 815 00:56:09,522 --> 00:56:11,105 Well, of course, sir. 816 00:56:11,188 --> 00:56:13,522 We all had such high hopes when you came up from London. 817 00:56:13,605 --> 00:56:16,147 - You know, even Aggie said that... - Said what? 818 00:56:16,230 --> 00:56:19,063 Well, the serpent girl's days were numbered now that you're here. 819 00:56:19,147 --> 00:56:20,647 I see. 820 00:56:20,730 --> 00:56:23,147 So the whole village thinks I failed, eh? 821 00:56:23,230 --> 00:56:24,438 Course not, sir. 822 00:56:24,522 --> 00:56:26,438 I mean, after all, there... there are things 823 00:56:26,522 --> 00:56:28,313 that we ordinary mortals are powerless against. 824 00:56:28,397 --> 00:56:31,188 I tell you there's a perfectly logical explanation. 825 00:56:32,355 --> 00:56:33,480 There has to be. 826 00:56:33,563 --> 00:56:35,355 But of course there is, sir. 827 00:56:35,438 --> 00:56:38,355 It's just, well, sometimes even the best of us 828 00:56:38,438 --> 00:56:40,730 look only where we want to look, 829 00:56:40,813 --> 00:56:42,897 see only what we want to see. 830 00:56:42,980 --> 00:56:46,563 Make our theories fit the facts and not vice versa. 831 00:56:48,063 --> 00:56:49,355 What was that, sir? 832 00:56:50,230 --> 00:56:52,563 A smart man warned me about that. 833 00:56:52,647 --> 00:56:54,272 Tell me what this does to you. 834 00:57:02,022 --> 00:57:03,188 Well, sir. 835 00:57:03,813 --> 00:57:06,605 - It's not very good, is it? - Now don't you get discouraged, sir. 836 00:57:06,688 --> 00:57:07,938 With a little practice... 837 00:57:08,022 --> 00:57:10,188 With practice, it would still be terrible. 838 00:57:11,647 --> 00:57:14,022 No normal girl would ask to hear that again, would she? 839 00:57:14,105 --> 00:57:16,313 Well, not unless she had too many of those. 840 00:57:20,647 --> 00:57:22,772 Watch my bags for me, will you, Polly? 841 00:57:25,855 --> 00:57:27,480 Then you're not leaving? 842 00:57:27,563 --> 00:57:29,105 Not for a while. 843 00:57:29,188 --> 00:57:31,605 But if someone asks for you, like the Colonel, 844 00:57:31,688 --> 00:57:32,855 what shall I say? 845 00:57:32,938 --> 00:57:34,605 Tell him I've gone looking for a girl 846 00:57:34,688 --> 00:57:37,188 who, uh, appreciates my music. 847 00:57:37,272 --> 00:57:39,355 - But... - I still love you, Polly. 848 00:57:39,438 --> 00:57:40,480 Don't worry. 849 00:57:50,563 --> 00:57:51,605 Atheris. 850 00:57:52,813 --> 00:57:53,730 Atheris. 851 00:57:55,563 --> 00:57:56,605 Atheris. 852 00:58:02,938 --> 00:58:04,688 Atheris! What's the matter? 853 00:58:11,188 --> 00:58:12,063 Aggie. 854 00:58:12,147 --> 00:58:15,438 You're surprised to find an empty skin. 855 00:58:15,522 --> 00:58:17,313 I don't understand. 856 00:58:17,397 --> 00:58:20,897 All serpents shed their skins regularly. 857 00:58:20,980 --> 00:58:22,480 Why shouldn't she? 858 00:58:23,522 --> 00:58:24,813 Then it's really true. 859 00:58:24,897 --> 00:58:26,355 Yes, of course. 860 00:58:32,730 --> 00:58:34,355 What are you doing here? 861 00:58:34,438 --> 00:58:36,397 I came to see you. 862 00:58:36,480 --> 00:58:38,272 But I was supposed to leave. 863 00:58:38,355 --> 00:58:39,647 I only just decided. 864 00:58:39,730 --> 00:58:41,480 You couldn't leave. 865 00:58:41,563 --> 00:58:43,438 You have a destiny. 866 00:58:43,522 --> 00:58:44,772 Ridiculous! 867 00:58:44,855 --> 00:58:45,855 I just came... 868 00:58:45,938 --> 00:58:50,188 To find her, but she's not here and she won't be. 869 00:58:50,272 --> 00:58:53,438 She's to be found at Adderson's ruins. 870 00:58:53,522 --> 00:58:55,188 Now, hurry. 871 00:58:56,022 --> 00:58:59,397 All right, I'll go there to humor you. 872 00:58:59,480 --> 00:59:02,730 But I have no intention of killing anybody or anything. 873 00:59:14,730 --> 00:59:16,772 Well, that's about the situation, Inspector. 874 00:59:17,522 --> 00:59:18,938 I'm very glad you called. 875 00:59:20,272 --> 00:59:22,605 Yes, yes, I am. Bitterly disappointed. 876 00:59:24,313 --> 00:59:26,397 What? Stay over? Wait for the relief? 877 00:59:26,480 --> 00:59:28,688 But he's already gone. 878 00:59:28,772 --> 00:59:30,438 Well, that is, he was going on the night train 879 00:59:30,522 --> 00:59:32,063 in about a quarter of an hour. 880 00:59:33,522 --> 00:59:35,022 Yes, I'll try and catch him. 881 00:59:35,938 --> 00:59:37,063 No, not at all, Inspector, 882 00:59:37,147 --> 00:59:39,230 I'm very grateful for everything you've done. 883 00:59:40,188 --> 00:59:42,647 Yes, I'll look forward to it. Goodbye. 884 01:00:07,938 --> 01:00:10,647 Polly, that young man from Scotland Yard, has he been here? 885 01:00:10,730 --> 01:00:12,147 Well, he was here, sir, but... 886 01:00:12,230 --> 01:00:13,688 These are Prentice's bags, aren't they? 887 01:00:13,772 --> 01:00:15,563 Well, yes, sir, he asked me to look after them for him. 888 01:00:15,647 --> 01:00:16,897 But if he's catching the night train... 889 01:00:16,980 --> 01:00:19,688 Oh, he isn't, sir. Well, that is, he won't now, it's too late. 890 01:00:19,772 --> 01:00:21,438 Look, Polly, please tell me where he is. 891 01:00:21,522 --> 01:00:23,355 I have an urgent message for him from London. 892 01:00:23,438 --> 01:00:26,313 Well, uh, I would tell you, sir, if I knew. 893 01:00:26,397 --> 01:00:28,563 Do you mean he went off without saying a word? 894 01:00:28,647 --> 01:00:29,855 Well, no, sir. 895 01:00:30,730 --> 01:00:32,230 He was acting very strange. 896 01:00:32,313 --> 01:00:33,563 How do you mean strange? 897 01:00:33,647 --> 01:00:36,063 Well, he had a funny sort of little pipe thing 898 01:00:36,147 --> 01:00:37,480 that he wanted to play for me, 899 01:00:37,563 --> 01:00:39,563 and then he asked me how I liked it. 900 01:00:39,647 --> 01:00:41,730 - Had he been drinking? - Oh, only a little, sir. 901 01:00:41,813 --> 01:00:43,272 He wasn't what you would call squiffy. 902 01:00:43,355 --> 01:00:45,105 I see. And then? 903 01:00:45,188 --> 01:00:46,980 Oh, sir, it was horrible. 904 01:00:47,772 --> 01:00:50,105 - Oh. No, I mean, the music. - You told him that? 905 01:00:50,188 --> 01:00:53,688 Yes, sir, you know, but funny thing was he didn't seem to mind. 906 01:00:54,480 --> 01:00:56,772 Well, it was as though he wanted me to say that. 907 01:00:56,855 --> 01:00:59,188 Yes. Now look, Polly, this is all very interesting but... 908 01:00:59,272 --> 01:01:01,022 - Then he said... - Said what? 909 01:01:01,105 --> 01:01:03,063 Well, something very strange. 910 01:01:03,147 --> 01:01:05,605 He said if you was to ask for him, 911 01:01:05,688 --> 01:01:07,813 to tell you he'd gone looking for someone, 912 01:01:07,897 --> 01:01:11,397 well, a girl, I think, who'd appreciate his music. 913 01:01:12,313 --> 01:01:14,772 Are you sure of that? Is that exactly what he said? 914 01:01:14,855 --> 01:01:17,355 Well, yes, sir. Is there something wrong? 915 01:01:18,022 --> 01:01:20,563 I think there is, something terribly wrong. 916 01:01:20,647 --> 01:01:22,730 He doesn't realise the danger. 917 01:01:22,813 --> 01:01:24,188 Then you know where he is. 918 01:01:24,272 --> 01:01:26,147 I think so. I'm almost sure. 919 01:01:26,230 --> 01:01:28,438 Look, Polly, get some men around. We may need some help. 920 01:01:28,522 --> 01:01:30,480 Tell them to meet me outside my house. 921 01:01:30,563 --> 01:01:31,980 All right, leave it to me, sir. 922 01:01:43,980 --> 01:01:45,022 Atheris. 923 01:01:46,522 --> 01:01:47,605 Atheris. 924 01:01:49,897 --> 01:01:52,355 - Has the Colonel come yet? - He'll be here soon. 925 01:01:52,438 --> 01:01:54,105 You got your torches ready, lads? 926 01:01:54,188 --> 01:01:55,938 - Here he comes. - Good. 927 01:01:56,022 --> 01:01:57,897 - Here are your men, Colonel. - Good. Let's hurry. 928 01:01:58,772 --> 01:01:59,938 Come on, lads. 929 01:02:08,105 --> 01:02:09,063 Atheris. 930 01:02:12,438 --> 01:02:14,563 Atheris, where are you? 931 01:02:28,230 --> 01:02:30,647 - You? - Yes, of course. 932 01:02:30,730 --> 01:02:31,563 Where's Prentice? 933 01:02:31,647 --> 01:02:32,688 Not here. 934 01:02:32,772 --> 01:02:37,063 He's gone to meet her, just as it was destined. 935 01:02:37,147 --> 01:02:39,688 Stop it, you crazy old crone, and tell us where he's gone. 936 01:02:39,772 --> 01:02:42,647 The home of the evil one. 937 01:02:42,730 --> 01:02:44,063 Adderson's? 938 01:03:05,730 --> 01:03:06,730 Atheris. 939 01:03:07,397 --> 01:03:08,397 Atheris. 940 01:03:17,897 --> 01:03:19,813 Atheris, where are you? 941 01:04:03,772 --> 01:04:04,980 Dr Murton? 942 01:04:06,147 --> 01:04:07,147 Doctor? 943 01:04:35,230 --> 01:04:36,480 Atheris! 944 01:04:44,480 --> 01:04:45,480 Atheris. 945 01:04:48,397 --> 01:04:49,438 Atheris. 946 01:04:50,813 --> 01:04:52,063 Where are you? 947 01:04:59,772 --> 01:05:01,230 Atheris. 948 01:05:02,313 --> 01:05:04,272 I promised I'd play for you, remember? 949 01:05:06,063 --> 01:05:08,480 Or do you prefer the music of the shepherd's pipe? 950 01:05:10,522 --> 01:05:14,438 Whatever you are, whatever you've done, we understand. 951 01:05:15,563 --> 01:05:17,188 It wasn't your fault. 952 01:05:17,272 --> 01:05:18,813 It was your father's. 953 01:05:21,188 --> 01:05:24,563 You can't help being what you are, what he made you, 954 01:05:24,647 --> 01:05:25,980 any more than any of us can. 955 01:05:27,813 --> 01:05:31,147 If you'll trust me, I'll see that no one harms you. 956 01:05:32,688 --> 01:05:36,188 You'll be safe from others and safe from yourself. 957 01:05:37,563 --> 01:05:38,688 No more killings. 958 01:05:39,730 --> 01:05:41,480 Well, will you trust me, Atheris? 959 01:05:42,355 --> 01:05:44,480 Prentice, where are you? 960 01:05:44,563 --> 01:05:45,647 I'm here, Colonel. 961 01:06:18,397 --> 01:06:19,480 Hurry! 962 01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:22,563 Prentice! 963 01:06:25,647 --> 01:06:27,188 Prentice, are you all right? 964 01:06:32,813 --> 01:06:34,230 Well, young man? 965 01:06:42,355 --> 01:06:44,688 Good Lord! Prentice, look! 966 01:07:03,897 --> 01:07:05,730 She's dead all right. 967 01:07:14,147 --> 01:07:15,272 Amazing! 968 01:07:16,397 --> 01:07:19,063 Absolutely utterly incredible. 969 01:07:19,147 --> 01:07:22,522 I know it, sir, but that's exactly the way it happened, 970 01:07:22,605 --> 01:07:25,480 page by page and word for word. 971 01:07:25,563 --> 01:07:26,897 And there are witnesses. 972 01:07:26,980 --> 01:07:28,313 Your friend, the Colonel, 973 01:07:28,397 --> 01:07:30,272 the woman, half the village. 974 01:07:31,563 --> 01:07:33,022 Three bullets. 975 01:07:33,105 --> 01:07:34,438 Even that aspect, sir. 976 01:07:43,688 --> 01:07:45,522 But, sir, that's the only copy. 977 01:07:45,605 --> 01:07:46,605 I know. 978 01:07:50,230 --> 01:07:52,730 Then you're afraid they won't believe it, upstairs. 979 01:07:52,813 --> 01:07:56,605 No, my boy, I'm just afraid they might.