Beyond Midnight - The Visits

0:00I was in my 22nd year and I just left college. I was free to choose a career and I chose it too quickly. Afterwards I abandoned it with great speed but I've never regretted the two years I spent in Cambridge as a student of divinity. Cambridge, for the lovers of woods and trees, has changed for the worst since those days of course but I remember the Cambridge I want to remember. One grade December afternoon I went to the town of Midford. I was late in starting back for my lodgings and as dusk was falling I came to a narrow road I did not recognize. I was about three miles away from home but I reckon the road offered me as good a shortcut as any.

1:02The road was obviously seldom used, the wheeled rats looked old and after ten minutes walking I came to the house. And so began one of the strangest and for a time one of the most terrifying episodes in the whole of my life. Biotechs, the new soak and prewash powder presents beyond midnight by Michael McCabe. Just soak, just soak in biotechs. Just soak, just soak in biotechs. Just soak, just soak in biotechs. If you have wondered how to get your washing really stain-free, understand this. Biotechs remove the stains and dirt washing weren't. Just soak, just soak in biotechs. Stains, grass stains, tiles and color and cup stains. In grain dirt, soil and grime. Out they all come and you don't stir a finger.

2:04Just soak, just soak in biotechs. Biotechs with natural enzymes is the prewash powder with the most enzymes to give you extra prewash power. Absolutely no rubbing, no color loss, no fabric wear. Use it for cotton, silks, woolen, synthetics. Use it to make you again. Soaking in biotechs removes the stains and dirt, but washing weren't. Just soak, just soak in biotechs. It was huge the house, hardly and yet beautiful. The apple orchard that surrounded it was tangled and overgrown. Something bad made me go up and try to do all. It was not. And so I continued on my way. I thought about the old house on an off-during my studies and a few days later I returned there. I found it again without any difficulty. I approached as before and the door was locked and bad as before.

3:08I was about to walk away when I had some approach. I hid myself immediately. It was a little old man. He wore a cloak. He came to the door, bowed before it. So the orchards produced a key and turned it in a lock. After a moment he applied pressure to one of the door panels. And the door opened and he went in. After a little while, candle light appeared, simply through the shattered windows. And squinting through a crack, I saw a lighted wall and grotesque outer proportion. I saw a shadow of someone seated gradually, as if they interviewed by someone or something.

4:19After a while, the candle light went and the little old man came out, locked the door, bowed in the same strange way and hobbled away again down the road without a backward glance. I went home at night, strange as a stoned. Why? I could not think. I was disturbed but fascinated too. However, I tried to put all thoughts of the house and the old gentleman out of my mind, where I had a lot of study to occupy me. Some days later, I took a stroll throughout Orban's cemetery. And it was here that I saw my little old gentleman again. He was sitting upon a seat, staring straight in front of him, with a kind of terrific dignity mixed with a strange and explicable sorrow. I watched him for a long time and then I slowly approached. His clothes were shabby but neat. The old blue cloak had known half a century as brushing.

5:24Good day to you. We're having wonderfully mild weather for this time of the year, don't you think? This is a very comfortable place. I'm very fond of walking in graveyard. Walking, yes. Take your exercise now. Someday you'll have to settle down in a graveyard in a fixed position. Very true. May I sit down? Of course. Thank you. Yes, very true, but there are some people who are sick to take exercise even after that day. He's scared at me as if I'd said something odd or profound, and then he looked away. You don't understand? Well, some people you know walk after death. I don't know why I was talking like this. I suppose being a student of divinity is bad for some of us makes us morbid. You don't believe that? How do you know I don't?

6:27Because you are young and foolish. I'm young, certainly, but on the whole I didn't even go foolish. I don't believe in ghosts or anything, and most people will be on my side in that. Most people are fools. Are you a student? Yes, of divinity. Of divinity? Theology. I'm telling you for the ministry. There are certain things you ought to know then. Well, what things do you mean? Have a great desire for knowledge. I like your appearance. You seem to me so bad enough. I'm perfectly sober, alright. You seem fair-minded. I no longer strike you as foolish then. I stick to what I said about people who deny the power of the Parted Spirit to return. They are fools. You have seen, I guess?

7:27I have not had to pry into old books to learn what to believe. I know. With these eyes I have beheld the departed Spirit's standing before me, as cruised as you are now. And was it very terrible? I am an old soldier. I am not afraid. When was it? Where was it? You must forgive me for not going into details. Just remember that you met an honest old man who has seen a ghost. More I cannot tell you now. Let me mention my name. It is Captain Diamond's, I have seen service. I hope I may have the pleasure of meeting you again. Same to you, sir.

8:27And brandishing his stick, he marched stiffly away. I asked several people if they knew the history of a Captain Diamond, but I could find no one had even heard of him. I could not put him out of my mind, though, and could not forget the house, and his strange visit to it. I am happy, I am happy. And then I thought of Miss Deborah, a tiny deformed sister of my landlady, with whom I'd enjoyed many in a lightning conversation. She sat all day by the window, between a bird cage and a flower pot. Soaring small linen articles was her passion. I love you, lovely. You are a hearty hearty circle. I am your thief. Good morning Miss Deborah. Good morning Miss Deborah. No study today? How are you? Well, thank you very much.

9:28You sit here all day sewing. You never go out and yet you're so full of knowledge. So you observe so much. No, so much. Sometimes I feel quite ashamed. Tell me, have you heard of a Captain Diamond? Of course. Oh, you was much talked about many years ago. I haven't seen him for a long time, but one suppose he survived or the scandal. Scandal? He killed his daughter. But how? I mean... Oh, not with a pistol or a dagger or a dosed of arsenic with his tongue. He cursed her and she died. Cursed? Oh, what an earth that she'd done. She had received a visit from a young man who loved her and whom he had forbidden into the house that the Captain that is. The house?

10:28Oh, yes. The house out in the country. It was three miles from here near the crossroad. Oh, you know about the house, then. A little. I've seen it. Would you tell me more? The Captain and his daughter? He was a very high-tempered old man. He loved her very much. But his word was law. He had picked out a husband for her. Her mother was dead. They lived alone together. The poor girl's lover was a young man with whispers from Boston in America. And the Captain came home one evening and found some together. His rage must have been terrible. You do not understand, sir. She is my wife. Get off! Here's cannot be food! No, it isn't. It isn't. I don't want to clean! Get out of this house! You're not a captain! You're here! You're not a captain!

11:29Where are they? Weaselable! Get out! The young woman faded and Captain Diamond left the house in rage. Several hours later he came back and found a note saying the American had killed the Captain's daughter and had carried the body away in a cave. The captain wrote a terrible letter saying he didn't believe she was dead but that she was in any case dead to him. A week later, in the middle of the night he saw her ghost. And thereafter little by little she began to haunt the house. The captain's anger passed into grief. He tried to sell or rent the house but the story of the haunting was a broadened one would take it. With the far the property was the old man's only means of livelihood and because no one would buy the place in because he couldn't live in it. He took his stuff, put on his own cloak and wandered away.

12:34But occasionally he was drawn back to the house and the ghost relented and proposed a compromise. He's the house to me. I have marked it for my own. Go and live elsewhere. But to enable you to live I will be your tenant since you can find no other. I will rent the house for you and pay you some of money. And the old man consented to accept the sum the ghost made and he goes every quarter to collect his rent. I feel like a new man. It's a lovely day today. I saw him and I took a grandpa headache powder and I am well better.

13:34When coals and flu are about grandpa headache powder is what you need. Grandpa headache powder is fast because they dissolve almost immediately. Grandpa makes all the sweet for flu symptoms disappear quickly. So whenever you're in pain get fast relief. Get grandpa headache powder. Grandpa! Just soak, just soak in biotech stains, grass stains, color and cuff stains, ingrained dirt, soil and grime. Out they come and you don't stir a finger. Just soak, just soak in biotech. Biotech with natural enzymes is the pre-wash powder with the most enzymes to give you extra pre-wash power. Absolutely no rubbing, no color loss, no fabric wear. Soaking in biotechs removes the stains and dirt that washing won't. Just soak, just soak in biotech.

14:34Captain Diamond has no other means of living. None, the ghost supports him, a haunted house, his valuable property. And in what coin does the ghost pay? Super, but all the pieces date from before the girl's death. I'm sure it was part of the bargain that she should go in person to collect his rent. And so for him life goes on. And he keeps the secret which you will keep to know that you share it. Well no, it's time for my sleep Mr. James, if you're excuse me. Story teller is quite warmly out. My first sight of him had been on December 31st. And it was likely that he would return to his haunted house on the last day of night. The end of the next quarter. When the 31st of March came, I was there at the house watching. He came and went as before, bowing and letting himself in just the same.

15:35And I felt an enormous pity for him. A month after this, I met him again in Mount Orban, Sen. What do you want of me? I want to enjoy your conversation again. You don't find me correct? Correct. I might be a son. I was a man in the country. I believe you. I will tell you. I once committed unintentionally a great crime. Now I pay the penalty. I killed my own child who knew. Strucker to the ground. But he could not hang me. More is the pity because I struck her with words, not with my hands. And I know that her soul is immortal, Sen. For we have an appointment to meet four times a year.

16:35Her spirit, you mean? Her spirit, I mean. She has never forgiven you. She has forgiven me as the angel forgive. That's what I can't stand. The soft, quiet way she looks at me. And rather she twisted a knife about in my heart. I must go my way. I must be creeping along. I shall perhaps see you here again. Oh, I'm a stiff jointed o' fellow. This is rather far from me to come. I should like to see you again someday perhaps. What is your name? James, Roger James. Look, please, please keep this little book. This past goes thoughts. My name is written on the fly sheet. It's a book I'm very fond of. I have to tell you something about me. Not much of a reader.

17:35I shall review the first present I've received since my troubles. Thank you, sir. Eddie took his departure at me. An old, shuffling figure. Terrible sad. Broken. On June 30th, I decided what I would do. That quarter I would wait at the house, but this time I would not conceal myself. He was a little early this time, and the candlelight already shone through the window shutters when I arrived. And when it last he came out, he found me waiting on the doorstep. I knew you were here. I came on purpose. I hope you'll forgive me, but you did encourage me. You are very clever. I've been hoping for a chance to see you inside.

18:37Do you know what it is? I see. How can I know? Except by experiencing. Please, take me in. Take you in. I wouldn't go in again before my time's up for a thousand times the sum. I stick to my bargain no less, no more. If you're doing alone, your work will be with me here. Yes. You will not stop very long. But the house is pitch dark. When you go, you have lights. Here. Take these. You'll find two candlesticks with candles on the table in the hall. Light them. Take one in each hand. Go ahead. Where? Where's like it? Anywhere. Everywhere. Trust the ghost to find you. Where are you? Where?

19:38Where? Where? Where? Where? Where? Where? A white staircase. Old fashion powder. Empty chairs. Blank walls. A dining room where I might have written my name in the deep dust upon the furniture. Kitchen beyond. Pots and pans. It's an empty cold. Deep darkness. I came back to the stairs and looked up. Suddenly with an inexpressible sensation, I became aware that this gloom was animated. It seemed to move and gather itself. Then I began to perceive a definite figure standing at the top of the stairs. Two white hands appeared. They were raised to what would have been the level of the head. They were pressed to the floor. Then the face was disloyalist. It was white, strange, and in every way ghostly. Then one of the hands was waved to and fro as if in an attitude of dismissal.

20:40I left the house. I did not look back. Outside again, the captain looked at me but said nothing. I felt something I could never explain. It was fear, yes, but something deeper, beyond fear. I had the heart to be. The old man's next video came on September 30. I was sitting in my room alone and they came and knocked up on the door. I've come from the old gentleman, captain Diamond. He's right down the second. Must see you. I'm dying. Never mind that. I'm doing it at the house. It's his rent day. But you can't go. I can't go. I shall lose my money. I'm dying. I want to pay the doctor. I want to be buried like a respectable man.

21:40It's, this evening, at sunset, sharp. I can't go. I'll lose my money. Would the money be paid to another person? Look, I'm dying. Tell her that and she might trust you. Are you afraid? It's 50 pounds. She'll see your face. She'll see there's no harm in you. You'll have your money by 9 o'clock tonight. I'll go. I trust you. Goodbye for the moment. I waited for a long time at last I saw it. The figure the same as before. I've come in place of Captain Diamond at his request. He's very ill, unable to leave his bed.

22:42So please pay me the money. Captain Diamond would have come himself if he were able to move. At this, the figure came slowly down the stairs. And I saw the white face instinctively I backed away. The figure reached the bottom of the stairs and advanced. As it drew near, I saw that the face was perfectly human. We gazed at each other. When the voice came, there was nothing ghostly at all about it. Is my father dangerous? It was no apparition, just a very beautiful woman. Quickly I stretched forward a hand and pulled sharply at the veil. She was about 35 and had her father's features. Her face was so worn and pale. My father I suppose sent you here to insult me. Here is your money.

23:43I stooped to pick up the pairs of money. And she seemed to blind away. She disappeared not up the stairs. But into one of the rooms leading from the hallway. I knew she was no ghost. I had turned to go when she screamed. My father! My father! Your father! Where? To where? Is it white? It is...it's not me! Your father! He's in bed ill. Flying? I hope not. I'm... Helping. I've just seen his ghost. Ghost? It's a punishment for my long, long, long, holy... The punishment of my violent...

24:43Take me away from this place. You've been playing all these years. A game? The last time I came, you frightened me a lot, remember? It was a game. But it was the only way. Had he not forgiven you? So long as he thought me dead, yes. There have been things in my life which he could not forgive. And where has your husband? I have no husband. I never had a husband. With my body. My father! I thought him. I'm leaving this place now. You're going to my father?

25:44Directly. Will you let me know tomorrow what you have found? With pleasure. But how will I communicate with you? Come. And she led me outside into the night and said... Right. Just a few words. And put them under that stone. A stone there, by the well. Good night. Listen. I know my road. Everything is arranged. It's an old story. Nancy, how is he? He's gone to glory. Did? He's as big a ghost as any of them now. I returned to my lodgings, meaning to write the note for the captain's daughter, and leave it under the stone by the well the next morning.

26:44That night late, preparing for bed. I noticed a red glow in the North-Western sky. A house was on fire in the country and burning fast. I thought no more about it. I went to sleep. Yes, of course. You've guessed. The house on fire. That's right. I remembered I had left one of the candles on light. It was the one she had dropped when she thought she had seen her father's ghost. The house was a mess of charred beams and smoldering ashes. The well-covered had been pulled off in quest of water by the neighbors. The loose stones were displaced, and the earth had been trampled into puddles. To the best of my knowledge, no one ever saw again the beautiful lady who had haunted in the flesh her father. For so many years.

27:45Just soak. Just soak in biotechs. Just soak. Just soak in biotechs. Just soak. Just soak in biotechs. If you have wondered how to get your washing really stain-free, understand this. Biotechs removed the stains and dirt washing weren't. Just soak. Just soak in biotechs. Stains, grass stains, tiresome color and cuff stains. In grain dirt, soil and grime. Out they all come, and you don't stir a finger. Just soak. Just soak in biotechs. Biotechs with natural enzymes is the prewash powder with the most enzymes to give you extra prewash power. Absolutely no rubbing, no color loss, no fabric wear. Use it for cotton, silks, woolens and thetics. Use it to make you again. Soaking in biotechs removes the stains and dirt, but washing weren't. Just soak. Just soak in biotechs.

28:45Beyond midnight is presented every Friday night at half past nine by biotechs. Menus soak and prewash powder. The program is adapted for broadcasting and produced by Michael McCabe.