""Lo!" "Death has reared himself a throne" ""in a strange city lying alone" ""far down within the dim west" ""where the good and the bad and the worst and the best" ""have gone to their eternal rest" ""resignedly beneath the sky the melancholy waters lie" ""but lo, a stir is in the air" ""the wave-- There is a movement there" ""as if their tops had given death" ""his undivided time"" "there's a body, Mr. Harris, and strangely dressed." "I can see that." "Who is it?" "'Tis Mr. penrose, the lawyer who's been advising miss tregellis." "Poor devil." "It's the devil's work, right enough." "Be quiet, you old fool." "I told you nothing good would come of this" "An American girl at the manor house, solicitors, and this young man with his rock samples and questions about the old mine workings." "You old bag of wind, he'll hear you." "He has." "Now, what about the body?" "Somebody's got to tell miss tregellis." "All right, I'll go." "Mr. Harris?" "Couldn't be you've come to help us about the electricity?" "The lights be gone out with the storm." "Not like the old days, a candle could be depended upon." "I've come to see miss tregellis." "You should be here about the lights." "The guests are grumbling proper." "Come." "Come in." "I'll take you to her." "You wait here." "I'll fetch miss tregellis." "I'll come along with you." "Miss tregellis is with one of the guests." "An artist, he says he is." "Something strange about him." "Most that he paints don't look like much." "He's brought the beast with him." "The beast?" "You'll see." "It's in there with them." "Who is it?" "It's mumford, mum." "Mr. Harris is here." "He insists on seeing you." "Just a minute." "I'm not staying." "The last time I waited, the beast got out." "I'm opening the door, but come in quickly." "How nice to see you." "Her name is Herbert." "Her name is Herbert?" "Uh, Jill, I came to talk to you about Mr. penrose." "Oh, Ben, I'm so disappointed." "I thought maybe this was a social call." "I mean, we're the only 2 Americans in the whole village." "Don't you think we should be friends?" "Harold?" "Yes?" "Mr. Harris captured Herbert for us." "Harold?" "Yes, he's one of our guests." "He's an artist." "Would you like to meet him?" "Oh, yes, I would." "Yes, very much." "Well, come on in then and close the door." "Harold?" "Yes, Jill?" "This is Mr. Ben Harris." "How do you do?" "Oh, how do you do?" "And this is Mr. Harold tufnell-Jones." "You're, uh, wondering what I'm doing up here, aren't you?" "I'm not up here all the time." "It's just Herbert's been giving us a bit of a chase." "Would you mind helping me down?" "Would you mind if I talked with miss tregellis about her lawyer?" "Well, I'm sure that can wait till I'm down on  terra firma." "Would you give me a hand?" "Well, of course." "Jill?" "About Mr. penrose" "I'll take you in to see him in a minute." "He's been in his study all day." "How do you do?" "Thank you very much." "It's quite all right." "Please, will you come with me?" "There's something I'd like to show you." "Self-portrait." "Do you like it?" "It's, uh, it's a good likeness, if anybody would want such a thing." "I-I'm sure someone will, Ben." ""If anyone would want such a thing?"" "I signed it myself." "Look." "Harold tufnell-Jones, f.R.A." "Oh!" "A fellow of the royal academy?" "Not actually." "Founder of the roosters' association." "Very select." "Ah." "You say that Mr. Penrose is in his study?" "Yes, just across the hall." "Jill, I've just come up from the beach and" "Somebody's in there." "What is it?" "Go back to the other room and wait for me." "Go on." "Go on, please." "Ben, are you all right?" "Did anyone go out that door?" "No." "Are you sure?" "I'm positive." "Should anyone have?" "I don't know." "Where's Mr. penrose?" "I, uh..." "I found his body on the beach." "He's dead." "We shouldn't leave the body there." "Ah, what are you afraid of?" "I don't know one man who can call me coward and look me in the face." "There are things no man should have to see or hear." "What things?" "Ah, he's been hearing them ghost bells again." "Yes, I heard them last night and they were red in the sea, like blood color." "Well, I never heard 'em and I was born here." "Come on, son." "Do you really hear those ghost bells?" "Yes, I heard 'em." "Deep down in the sea, they were." "Bells from a shipwreck, is it?" "It's lyonesse, the lost city in the sea!" "I always thought that was an old wives' tale." "Ah, there's a city there, right enough." "Thousands of years back, the sea just came and swallowed it up." "And there it lies now, buried in the deep." "Why does the bell sound?" "Well, we found Mr. Penrose, didn't we?" "There have been other bodies, too." "When the bell sounds, it means death." "There we are." "That's better." "Now, there's, uh, there's just this one." "Hey, where're the nails?" "There's a book missing from the set here." "Oh, I shouldn't worry about that." "Things are always disappearing in tregathion." "Oh, really?" "Yeah." "Do you know the old rector vanished about 50 years ago?" "Never been seen since." "You know something, Harold, you are a mine of fascinating information." "Now, it's funny you say that, because it is said that he was lost in an old tin mine." "Funny you mentioned mines." "But, uh, what's that got to do with the missing book?" "Oh, the book's unimportant." "You see, I did a sketch of Jill and put it between the pages." "Oh, really?" "Where are those nails?" "Well, why would anyone want to steal your sketch of Jill?" "Well, Ben, modesty prevents me from saying that perhaps it was a man of great taste, who, who fancied a work of art." "Oh, here they are." "I wonder..." "Hold that, will you?" "You know, all these things happening-- penrose's death and that sketch in the book disappearing." "What about them?" "Well, they're all connected." "I mean, they have one thing in common--Jill." "You're a great one for mysteries, aren't you?" "You're just trying to frighten us." "Isn't he, Herbert?" "What do you think happened in here?" "I told you, I saw this thing." "I-I don't know what it was." "It-it wasn't human." "Now, Ben, you're sensible, you're intelligent, you're a man of the world, savoir-faire." "Now let's admit that--that anyone in the semidarkness could mistake a--an intruder for something more mysterious." "Now, it's possible, isn't it?" "Now, listen, I'm a mining engineer, a trained observer." "I look for the little things that the ordinary eye might pass over, because the slightest clue could mean a fortune to those who employ me." "Now, if I say I saw something or someone that could be superhuman," "I mean it." "I'm going to put on a proper pair of trousers--with legs on." "Herbert!" "Herbert!" "Thank you for your kindness, Ben." "What are you going to do now, stay here in england or go back to America?" "I don't know." "The estate isn't settled yet." "Well, Mr. penrose was working on it when..." "Try not to think about it." "I just can't help it." "Jill, listen to me." "Now, I tell you, you are in danger." "Now, all I want you to do is move someplace where there are more people." "Well, I'm not running away." "Oh, you're stubborn." "Now what are you doing?" "I'm just checking." "You'd better leave them that way, do you hear?" "Seaweed." "There you go again." "All right, all right, I'm imagining things." "That's what everybody says, so I better believe it." "Maybe you should." "I found Herbert." "I'm going up to bed now." "Goodnight, Jill." "Goodnight, Ben, and you get some rest, now." "Goodnight." "Goodnight." "Charming girl, absolutely charming." "An inspiration to any artist, I'd say." "I wonder if anyone would mind if I put my feet up on the sofa for the night." "Charming." "Whatever for?" "To keep an eye on things." "Very wise." "You'll pardon me if I turn in." "I want to get plenty of sleep." "I'm painting an entirely new canvas first thing in the morning" "The sunset." "A sunset in the morning?" "I'm a slow worker." "Goodnight, old fella." "Goodnight." "Oh, it's you." "I do wish you'd stop playing the giddy goat." "You could've hurt me." "I might never have painted again." "I suppose you've some reason for skulking around behind doors." "I just caught up with Herbert." "He'd escaped again." "I had a feeling this sort of thing would happen." "Now, whatever it was that was in here before came back and took Jill." "But how?" "These old houses are full of sliding passages and secret thingamajigs." "Leave this to me!" "You know what's wanted here?" "Brainpower." "Now, if there's a hidden door, there must be a--a concealed button somewhere." "My instinct tells me to press, uh, here." "Or there." "Ben." "You going in there after her?" "You are." "Heh, you're not expecting me to go in there, too, are you?" "Aah." "Come on." "I warn you, Ben, I'm a little bit of a coward." "This is the way she was taken." "It smells like an overripe cheese." "There's a trail of seawater." "Heh, heh." "And quite a lot of seaweed." "A marvelous place for a Chinese restaurant." "Let's try this way." "Come on." "Wait here." "Ben?" "Ben?" "Aah!" "Look out!" "There's a lot to be said for ducks." "Water rolls off their backs." "They can swim and help a person, not like some chickens I know." "What on earth is this place?" "I don't know." "It, uh, looks like" "Like some sort of a Watergate." "Oh, why don't you leave that chicken behind?" "She'll only get in the way." "Ah, he doesn't know who's man's best friend, does he, Herbert?" "It must lead somewhere." "And I've got a nasty feeling you want to find out where." "Don't worry, Herbert, everything's fine." "Look, Ben, if there's going to be an earthquake, let's get off the bridge." "I'm not coming here for my summer holidays." "Let's find out what's up ahead." "Ben, let's just sit here and--and wait for something pleasant to happen." "Watch out!" "You almost lost your bird." "Thank you and Herbert thanks you." "Don't you, Herbert?" "Might even lay you an egg." "Where is it coming from?" "What is it?" "Well, what about this?" "What?" "Down there?" "It's the only way." "Be careful." "What on earth have we got ourselves into?" "Let's see if we can help him." "Let's get that chain off him." "Get out!" "Quickly!" "That way!" "In a few seconds this place will be full of water." "Go on!" "It's no use, Ben, we can't help him." "Go on!" "What kind of people would do things like this?" "Let's find Jill." "Jill." "Seismology by j.S. Tilton." "Why, that's odd." "This hasn't been through the sea." "None of it has." "And how do they get the oil for the lamps?" "Here's my sketch of Jill." "How did this get here?" "Very odd." "Where is she?" "Where is she?" "Ugh!" "You fight very well, young man." "Did you kill him?" "It doesn't really matter." "He dislikes me." "He'd like to step into my shoes, not that he ever will." "Get up." "Oh, don't worry, he won't touch you, Dan." "He might even teach you how to fight, if you asked him very humbly." "Get up!" "Well, now we've got that little matter settled, uh, who do we have the--the, uh..." "May I, uh..." "Who are you, sir?" "He be the captain." "It seems you tried to come down the passages at the wrong time." "As it happens, we have a..." "Local phenomenon here that creates something of a maelstrom under certain conditions of tide and circumstance." "I see." "Well, perhaps you'll be kind and show us the way out?" "There is no way out, not for you." "And not for him." "Nor for the girl?" "Is she alive?" "You will answer the questions, not ask them." "No way out?" "Well, y-you're not planning to keep us here for good!" "You're right, we're not." "Then why can't we go?" "Because there is an outside chance that you might be of help." "I-I'd like to help." "I'm delighted to be of assistance at a-any time." "I'm only too pleased." "And if we can't help you?" "Survival down here depends on usefulness." "Well, uh..." "In that case, how could we help you?" "Follow me." "Beautiful, isn't it?" "What-- What is it?" "The city in the sea." "Lyonesse?" "Perhaps." "One name is as good as another." "I asked, in what way could we help you?" "There it is" "The volcano." "The peak is petrified sand, which is why it's transparent." "But the pressure of molten lava sealed inside of it has been building up steadily, steadily." "It was the pull of that monster, the elemental power that is in it, that brought you to our doorstep." "I remember when it was practically dormant." "But over the years that glow has increased." "The shocks, too-- Always stronger." "Yes, the end is coming." "Another year, another month, another week." "Another week?" "Yes, perhaps." "Perhaps even sooner." "Yes, you are looking at the final executioner." "Time is running out." "The only question now is--when?" "Do you hear those pumps?" "They were installed by the people who built it" "A great people." "So great that when the sea took their land, they built those pumps to pipe the heat from the volcano and to provide fresh air and water." "And they lived down there, those people, for a while, under the sea in their palaces and towers." "And then they died, almost completely..." "Except for them." "The..." "The Gill-men, the half-men, pathetic remnants of a great nation." "But they're my people, all the same." "Your people?" "Yes." "Yes, this is my world." "I am their king." "No, more than their king." "They believe that I am death" "Death looking gigantically down from my tower." "And they're right, I am death, because the means of death is in my hands." "But I am also life for the same reason." "Except for the volcano?" "Yes." "Except for the volcano." "Unless those tremors cease, the pumps will stop." "They must!" "And when the pumps stop, my city will die." "And so will my people." "I've done my best." "I've racked my brains to think of a way to fight back." "Raids up above there, seeking a solution." "We took this many years ago." "It's a seismometer." "You know, it registers the tremors of the earth." "But what has it shown?" "Only the increasing violence of the volcano growing stronger day by day." "And then we've looked for books." "Ah, yes, like this one." "I read it last night from cover to cover." "But it's less than useless." "But I must save my people." "How can you?" "Oh..." "We've heard of the strides that science made in this century." "But what do you mean, "science in this century"?" "Look, how long have you been here?" "I will ask the questions." "And I cannot accept defeat." "No man has a right to." "Look." "Those are my people." "It's a hunting party, which my men are directing." "These creatures, they help us to obtain food." "Needless to say, our stipend down here is fish." "You know how many years it has been since I have eaten beef or..." "Chicken?" "Chicken?" "What about penrose?" "We found his body." "Ah, I gave him a chance." "I don't know why, perhaps because I liked him." "But he was of no use, so I sent him out with one of those diving suits." "I gave him a head start." "Hmm." "Mmm..." "Yes, he even got as far as the" "The golden shrine, but no further." "Because your men killed him." "I said he had his chance." "So do you have a chance." "You say this is the end." "Why do you stay?" "There's a way out of here and you know where it is, so why don't you get out now while you can?" "No." "Why not?" "You'll learn the answer to that question if you live long enough." "I see." "Well, to get back to the question of finding your way out" "Who are you?" "Uh, my name is Harold tufnell-Jones." "I'm an artist." "This is Herbert." "Chicken!" "You don't know how lucky you are." "This is Benjamin Harris." "Professor Benjamin--Benjamin Harris." "Professor." "Yes, he's a fellow of the royal society." "He-he holds both the north of england and the south of england golden awards for technological achievement." "He's an ma, ba, fscg, lms, lner." "He's got more letters after his name, you'd think he was the alphabet." "And what he doesn't know about earthquakes and seimonoso-- seismo-- seismology and technological achievements, is absolutely not worth knowing." "Is this true?" "Of course it's true!" "This fella, j.S. Tilton, he's an amateur." "My friend Ben, he's the--the expert." "The expert, aren't you?" "Heh, heh." "Can you save my city?" "Uh, from the volcano?" "Yes." "Can you stop it, tame it, kill it?" "Oh" "Well, th-this is a matter for consideration, and consideration takes time." "There is no time." "No time." "Captain..." "This is our tide meter." "The tide will turn when the water level drops to zero." "You have exactly 3 hours, professor." "Make the most of your time." "No, leave it!" "I-I did that, uh, drawing." "I-it's not perhaps one of my best, would you say?" "A little too realistic, perhaps." "You're an indifferent artist, sir." "The young lady is much more beautiful than this." "Then she is alive and she's here?" "Yes, and you are alive, too." "Try to remain so." "Where is she?" "Simon." "Take these men to the grotto chamber." "It will do you no good to question Simon." "His tongue was cut out 60 years ago." "60 years?" "Take them." "Who's that whispering?" "Oh, I'm so sorry." "Are you as crazy as the captain?" "What do I know about volcanoes?" "That's interesting." "Could be babylonian." "Well, Herbert, we've had a busy day, haven't we?" "Not that we've accomplished much." "Harold, what do I know about volcanoes?" "About as much as the captain, which is nothing at all." "I'm beginning to think you talk too much." "If I stop talking, we're dead." "Do you want me to stop?" "All right, I'm sorry." "But 60 years!" "A tongue cut out 60 years ago, yet I-I'd swear the man's in his early 30s." "Which suggests that the captain is lying." "I don't know." "But where did they get those diving suits and those" "Those silly crossbows?" "Heh, pretty ancient, aren't they?" "Might have been used by rip Van winkle." "Well, quite obviously, they haven't been sleeping." "The poems of Edgar Allen poe." "This is the English first edition, published in 1847." "It must be worth a fortune." ""No rays from the holy heaven come down" ""on the long nighttime of that town" ""for light from out the lurid sea" ""streams up the turrets silently" ""gleams up the pinnacles far and free" ""up domes, up spires, up kingly halls" ""up fanes-- Up Babylon-like walls" ""up shadowy long-forgotten bowers" ""up sculptured Ivy and stone flowers" ""up many and many a marvelous shrine" ""whose wreathed friezes intertwine" ""the viol, the Violet, and the vine" ""so blend the turrets and shadows there" ""that all seem pendulous in air" ""while from a proud tower in the town" ""death looks gigantically down" ""the waves have now a redder glow" ""the hours are breathing faint and low" ""and when, amid no earthly moans" ""down, down that town shall settle hence" ""hell, rising from 1000 thrones" ""shall do it reverence"" ""the end." The volcano" "Hell itself." "The, ah, the poem's a coincidence." "And a gruesome one." "We've got to get out of here." "There must be a way." "It could be one of those passages." "Yes, very possibly." "It'd be a pity to leave here without some sort of memento." "Nothing valuable." "Just a little something." "All we'll take is Jill." "But we've got to find her." "Aye, and you can." "No problem about that." "You..." "You mean we're free?" "As birds in a cage, for you shall never find your way up there unless I help you." "Well, how?" "Walls have ears." "If he should hear us..." "Well, how can he hear us?" "You're dealing with a crazy one." "He'll kill us all." "All right!" "All right!" "Can you take us to miss tregellis?" "The girl?" "Yes." "And I can take you away from here." "But I'm coming with you and I want a free pardon." "Hmm?" "A free pardon." "You're a gentleman-- Important." "You can use your influence up there to get me a free pardon." "For what?" "What would it be but smuggling?" "Well, there are other crimes-- Murder, robbery" "Smuggling, it were." "He were the captain, a big man, squire of tregathion." "He owned the manor house and all the land around for miles." "He were a gentleman, but a smuggler just the same." "We all worked for him." "Did pretty well, too, till those excise men moved in." "Excise men?" "Aye." "Couldn't keep their big noses out of it." "They moved in one night." "We all escaped." "Upwards of 20 of us, with the captain." "Down the passages we went." "We knew them all." "Down into the sea we come." "And we found the city and we've been here ever since." "Ever since when?" "Oh, that was, uh..." "Summer of 1803." "You must be mad." "Who wouldn't be after 100 years of this?" "100 years?" "You don't believe me, eh?" "See for yourselves." "This book belonged to his wife" "The captain's wife." "Have a look." "That be the captain's name" " Hugh." "Hugh." "Sir Hugh, if you want the facts." "Sir Hugh." "He were a knight of the realm." "And that be the captain's handwriting." "Writ with a quill pen." "See how the ink's all faded with age." "Well, how can you prove that it's the captain's writing?" "I'll tell you how, sir." "You see, it's the same letter "o,"" "the same "e" and the same "t."" "And that's no more than 8 years old." "And there's the pen he used that time." "A fountain pen." "Aye, brought down here by some gent who said the likes of that had only just been invented." "Well, the captain writ those words with it." "And he wrote those back in 1799." "Well, sir?" "Is it a bargain?" "I can take you to the woman and I can take you to tregathion." "But do I get my pardon up there?" "There'll be no pardon for you, not anywhere." "I knew you'd do this, Dan." "No, captain." "I was only telling them about us." "About us?" "Did they believe you?" "100 years old?" "Rather more, as it happens." "It is hard to accept, is it not?" "You need our help." "Well, I'd say the world needs yours." "You found a way to live forever." "It is a secret that we cannot pass on, sir." "Now, unfortunately, it is only a local phenomenon." "I still can't believe it." "You wouldn't." "We didn't believe it ourselves, not for the first 10 or 20 years." "Then we began to find out that none of us was growing any older." "So we finally decided that it was the quality of the air, due to an imbalance of oxygen, brought on by the presence of the volcano." "Did you tell them where to find her, Dan?" "No, captain, I never did." "No, he didn't." "He certainly didn't." "But it won't be necessary, I'll take you to her myself after you've said goodbye to Dan." "Goodbye?" "But I never said where she was, captain." "I never told them!" "Look at him." "Pathetic, isn't he?" "Did you really think that you could go up above there, Dan, and live?" "You're a fool." "Or perhaps I should have told you the truth long ago." "The truth?" "It has to do with actinic rays, ultraviolet rays." "Down here under the sea, they--they become diffused and they can't harm us, but" "But up above, up there, they would finish us." "But it ain't true!" "I've been up there time and again myself and many others." "Only for short periods, and only at night, Dan." "In the daylight, we would grow old, Dan, so fast that it would be like a-- like a worm shriveling on a hot stone in the sun." "That's why we're all prisoners of our own hell, Dan." "But we're alive." "Yes, we are." "And you might have been, if the professor can help us." "Yes, that's right." "Dan." "You might have lived forever and ever." "But perhaps you're lucky." "Take him away!" "No, captain!" "No!" "It was the biggest." "Your pumps are still working." "Yes." "But for how long?" "It's coming sooner than I thought." "Look." "Those poor creatures, they're frightened." "And I said I would take you to the young lady and I will." "Blindfold them." "Now look, aren't you carrying this thing a little too far?" "Oh well, if you insist." "My men will guide you." "Nothing will happen to you..." "Yet." "I don't like the word "yet."" "Take off his blindfold." "Jill." "Remove his blindfold, too." "Mine?" "Remove it." "Thank you." "We put her to sleep." "We gave her a sleeping draft." "There's the bell." "Yes, but not the bells that you're thinking of." "They only sound at the turn of the tide." "No." "These are the signal for execution." "Ours?" "No, Dan's." "You killed him." "No." "I simply sent him where he wanted to go" "Up there, in the daylight." "Dear me, who've we here, huh?" "Strangers, eh?" "Noisy night for your first visit." "Tell me, who was the-- who was the execution gong for?" "Was it for--mm, no." "No, no, of course not." "That was 8 years ago." "At least, I think it was 8." "Oh, she's-- She's still asleep." "She's pretty." "Very pretty." "A nice girl by the look of her." "Ah." "Well, then..." "Let me introduce myself." "My name is ives." "Ives?" "Rev. Jonathan ives." "I was rector of tregathion." "The village, you know." "A nice place, nice people." "But they say you disappeared 50 years ago." "Mmm..." "Was it as long as that?" "How time flies, even down here." "All right, old man, you've talked enough." "These 2 have seen enough." "Blindfolds." "If you harm that girl" "Harm her?" "Why would I harm her?" "Worry about yourselves." "You're to find a solution, remember?" "Take them!" "She's waking." "Watch over her, old man." "Take off their blindfolds." "Come with me." "Ben." "Dan and the captain came in this way, which means that those stairs must lead to the tower." "Which way does that door lead to?" "What are you up to now, Harold?" "We want to escape, don't we?" "Dan said he'd take us out of here." "Yes, but he also said we needed his help to do it." "Of course he'd say that." "So?" "So, there must be a way out of here." "Let's find it." "Well, not without Jill." "No, no, of course not." "She's coming, too." "How can she?" "I don't have the slightest idea where she is." "I have." "I counted the number of steps we took and the way we turned." "When we came in this way, we took 7 steps and turned to the--to the right." "So that when we go back we--we take 7 steps and we turn to the--to the left." "And then, if we take 60 paces, there are the stairs." "Well, what are we waiting for?" "Hee Hee!" "1, 2" "No, that can't be right." "Now, wait a minute, I-I'll get it." "3, 4, 5, 6, 7." "Ah, did I say right or left?" "Left." "Right." "Uh, follow me then." "Beatrice." "Never leave me again." "You've come back to your husband after all these years." "Never leave me again." "Not while I live." "57, 58, 59, 60." "There." "Jill, we're going to get you out of here." "We're going to try." "How did you get here at all?" "We'll tell you later." "But first, do you remember the way they brought you down here?" "It was dark and I was struggling so much." "But there were-- There were passages." "And there was a cave, I think." "And then, I must have fainted." "It was the last thing I remembered." "There was a man, an-and the way he stared at me..." "Then you didn't come down through the sea?" "Jill?" "No!" "Then there is a dry land route." "Would you know the way?" "The way out, you mean?" "Oh yes, there is a way." "Except my--my memory isn't quite what it used to be." "Things seem to..." "Seem to elude me." "Please try to remember." "I'll remember." "Presently, I'll remember." "I've noticed things seem to come and go." "Oh, and, did you-- Know they killed Dan?" "His mind wanders." "Sometimes he knows what he's saying, but most of the time" "What's behind the altar?" "It's another room." "He told me, it's a dead end." "Then we'll take the other passage." "I'll go first." "But wha-what about Mr. ives?" "Mr. ives, would you like to come, too?" "Perhaps you'll remember if you come as well." "No, thank you, sir, no." "It's such a noisy night." "I prefer to take my ease." "Poor Dan." "He was so good." "There's some good in everybody, don't you think?" "Anyway, that's always been the precept on which I've built my life, my very long life." "This one, the right one." "It's quite a maze, isn't it?" "I should have warned you that those passages were a waste of time." "So you found the young lady, hmm?" "One of you is brighter than I thought." "That's me." "Then, in that case, you're entitled to your reward." "It's a pity, however, that the professor must suffer, too." "Suffer?" "Simon." "That's your execution bell?" "Yes, sir." "But it has other uses as well." "What are you going to do about us?" "They will make that decision." "Death?" "Of course." "But we're expected to follow an established ritual." "Don't ask me how old it is." "They've been asking for a sacrifice for the volcano." "Now they can have it!" "What, him?" "You." "But that's idiocy." "Killing us won't stop the volcano." "I know that, but they don't." "If a sacrifice will make them a little happier for what little time is left..." "Listen to your pumps." "The sound's different." "Yes." "Yes, I'm afraid you're right." "But that doesn't alter your situation." "They have decided." "You will be sent out just before the turn of the tide." "Why wait for the tide?" "We're not murderers, sir." "You will be given your chance." "You will be given diving suits and a head start, just as penrose was." "A lot of good it did him!" "Yes, I agree." "And I doubt if it will help you very much, either." "But what chance did you give Dan?" "Dan was a traitor." "Your only crime was curiosity." "How will a head start help us?" "Will she be sent out with us, too?" "No." "Take her back." "Oh, and, uh, by the way, do not attempt to get to her again." "From now on those passages will be guarded." "All right, Simon!" "Simon's still out there, of course?" "What the" "Shh, be quiet." "Everything above a whisper can be heard." "What, in here?" "Yes, here." "He told me." "He's all right now." "He knows what he's saying." "I do." "You must've heard them whispering." "You think they can't hear you?" "How?" "They have some sort of listening tubes, so whisper." "But how did you get here?" "There's a guard out there." "There was a guard." "You, uh, you remember the way?" "The way they brought Jill down here?" "Yes, of course I do." "But it's no use now." "That route is only clear of seawater for a few minutes every day." "You have to wait 18 hours." "18 hours?" "Your only chance of escape is at the turn of the tide." "But they're sending us out any minute." "So the young lady told me." "Out there?" "You'll have to." "Because you won't stand a chance once the guards are on your trail." "You mean, you want us to go now?" "You must reach the golden shrine at the turn of the tide." "It's nearly half a mile away." "The cave under the cliff, just to the right of the volcano." "Yes, but how do we get there?" "There are some diving suits in the Watergate chamber." "That must be the way you came in." "Oh, he's right, we did." "It's dangerous, I know." "But if you stay, you'll die anyway." "So what can you lose?" "Right." "So..." "You'll go down to the Watergate chamber, the 3 of you." "You'll put on the diving suits." "They're clumsy and difficult to handle." "But you'll soon get used to them." "And the locked-gate control winch is on the right." "It's rusting, but it works." "Once you're under sea, the glare from the volcano will guide you." "Now if you follow the glare till you're past the crater, then the shrine is above water level at the turn of the tide, and there's a pathway that leads up to tregathion." "But if the volcano isn't active now, then" "Then how can it guide us?" "Well, that's just something you'll have to accept." "But what about the guards, on the way down to the Watergate?" "There'll be no guards once the alarm sounds." "Alarm?" "The execution gong, it's also the alarm signal." "Once the alarm sounds, any guards that are on the stairway will come rushing down the passage to make sure that you're here." "But you'll fool them by going up to the tower and then going down the stairway from there." "And nobody will hear you, not above the sound of the gong." "Who'll be in the tower room?" "Only me, sounding the alarm." "The captain will have gone to his room." "All right, now I'm going up to the tower." "Now remember, once you hear the gong, join me immediately." "Can't you come with us?" "Thank you, no." "I'm--I'm too old and too..." "Too tired." "There is one point." "There's no need for you to take a chance." "Because I happen to know why you were brought here." "It was because of a sketch found in a stolen book." "I was with the captain when he came upon it." "I've never seen a man so..." "So moved, he..." "He ordered them to bring you here." "He was like a man possessed." "But you can stay." "Nobody is going to hurt you." "Good luck to you." "Give me 2 minutes." "Oh, boy." "I'm really sorry." "Don't worry, Herbert." "I'll get you home in time for tea." "Come on." "Quick, on your way!" "Who is that?" "Now, come along." "Hurry, please!" "That's a picture of me!" "No, no, no." "That portrait's over 100 years old." "Now, go!" "It's me." "Jill!" "Go, I said!" "The tide won't wait for you." "He's right, we've got to get out!" "Come on." "Well, it's try or die." "Are those men there?" "They're gone, captain." "They musn't escape." "They must not escape." "If we get into the sea, which way do we turn?" "There's no light from the volcano." "Put on your helmets." "It'll show through." "Keep your eyes on me and stay close." "Where is she?" "Where is she?" "Where are those men?" "Woman." "Pleasant enough..." "Where is she?" "Where is she?" "You told them how to escape!" "It was only fair." "It was only fair." "You men, you men, go ahead of me!" "Find them!" "Follow them!" "You men..." "Quickly, arm yourselves with those crossbows!" "Come on!" "Hurry up!" "There's no time to lose!" "I'll be back." "Herbert, come here." "Herbert, don't be..." "Harold!" "Herbert." "Herbert!" "Jill!" "He's out there." "He's all right." "Yes, but we're in here, and we're all wrong." "Don't just stand there." "Dig." "Come back." "Come back!" "Don't leave me!" "This place will be underwater in minutes." "You--you can't get out of here by yourselves." "I can help you." "Careful." "Beatrice?" "Beatrice, listen to me!" "Tell them--tell them that we've found each other." "Beatrice, make them help me so that I can save you." "The passageway, to the left." "Come on, we can't help him." "It's even too late for us." "It's locked!" "All right, let's try this." "Jill!" ""Death to some more happy clime" ""shall give his undivided time""