"Music" "THE PHANTOM LIGHT" "Yeah, yeah." "Here, missus, where do I get a car to the village?" "[speaking Welsh]" "What?" "[speaking Welsh]" "Alright." "Alright." "Alright." "[speaking Welsh]" "Same to you." "Huh, nice place, Wales." "God, blimey." "Whose there?" "Hello..." "Beg pardon?" "I'm sorry, miss." "Nice evening." "What's nice about it?" "I've been here for hours." "Oh, you don't happen to know where I could find a car, I suppose." "That's just what I'm waiting for." "Well, isn't anybody about?" "Only the old station woman, and she only talks Welsh." "Funny sort of place." "Oh, here's a porter." "Oi, taffy, come here." "Do you speak English?" "Well, I want a car, see." "A car." "A car to take me to the village." "Both of us." "Car." "Alright, alright, I heard you, cook." "God bless me soul." "Another white man." "How did you get here?" "Transferred from Clapham Junction." "Huh." "Now listen, I've got a job of work to do, see." "I'm reporting for duty tonight." "I'm taking over at the North Stake Lighthouse." "Oh, are you?" "Yeah, any complaints?" "Plenty." "Well, go on then, spit it out." "Well, down here they say the lighthouse is haunted, and what's more, blokes go mad and kill their selves." "Oh, do they?" "Have they?" "Yes, miss." "The last bloke done himself in or somebody done him in." "People say it's ghosts." "Who told you that?" "Well, the whole blinking' village." "Ah, don't you listen to him, miss." "He's been so long from a fried fish shop he's gone batty." "Oh, be quiet, this is interesting." "Well, I'm sorry interrupt, miss, but you see I'm late as it is." "Now then, old sport, what about that car?" "Right-o, cook." "I'll go and have a look down the road." "Uncle Percy of the Children's Heart." "You know, I think you're wonderful, mister..." "Higgins." "Higgins." "The way you don't seem to mind about ghosts and murders and things." "Oh, a lot of nonsense." "Well, it didn't seem like nonsense to me." "Oh, didn't it?" "No." "You know, you surprise me, Mr. Huggins." "Higgins." "Higgins." "I always thought lighthouse keepers were grim and grisly with yellow teeth and scars." "You know, sort of human gorillas." "I never realized they were good looking like you." "Well, there are two in the service handsomer than me." "Now then, miss, what's your little game?" "Take me with you to the lighthouse." "What?" "Well, don't look at me like that." "Oh, so that's your game, is it?" "Well, you can put that idea out of your head." "There's nothing of that sort of thing goes on in lighthouses." "What sort of thing?" "Well, that sort of thing." "How dare you!" "Well, ain't that what you meant?" "Of course not." "What did you mean?" "Mr. Higgins, I'm going to tell you the truth." "I live nearby in a small village." "Life in a small village is very dull, Mr. Higgins." "Not with you there, I'll lay a pound to the sausage." "Of course, I do all I can." "I belong to a psychic society." "Wales is full of folklore, you know." "Is it?" "Didn't you know?" "No." "Now, I've heard this legend about the phantom light, and I mean to investigate it for my society." "Well, I'm very sorry, miss, but you can't do it on my lighthouse." "You see, I've got me instructions, and though they mention there's a lot of funny things they don't mention no women." "We've got work to do on the lighthouse, and females is tattoo." "Now how good looking am I?" "This is the station's car." "It looks it." "Oh, it lools to beatup to put anybody in." "I suppose there's somewhere I can sleep tonight." "I expect they'll put you up at the pub, miss." "This is the pub, miss." "Well, thank God we've got here." "Where are you off to, mate?" "Harbormasters." "Do you mind?" "Well, you better walk the rest." "It's safer." "I believe you." "How do I get there?" "Down the street, follow the stream, then take the steps 'round the cliff." "Right-o." "You'll see it by the harbor." "Here you are, mate." "Here's my share of the damage." "Goodnight, miss." "Goodnight." "So long, cook." "See you at the funeral." "So long, misery." "I'll be in the front carriage." "Not there, miss." "That's the bar." "You're the Bottle and Jug." "Well?" "Is this the Bottle and Jug?" "YES." "I want a bed." "[Crosstalk]" "Nice evening." "Maybe." "[Singing in Welsh]" "I tell you that nobody may visit the lighthouse without the permission of Trinity House." "Nobody at all." "It is the regulations." "Nobody." "Not at all." "But if I was to go " "When I tell you it is the regulations," "I tell you it is the regulations." "Don't you understand me when I speak English?" "Name of Higgins, chief lightkeeper." "Reporting for duty at the North Stake Lighthouse." "Good evening, lightkeeper." "We have been expecting you." "Now that's off my chest." "Oh, thanks very much." "So he did, did he?" "Yes, 50 times did I tell him he could not go, but he would stand there and argue." "Funny, ain't it?" "You know, there's lots of folks like him." "They think there's something romantic about lighthouses." "Romantic." "A couple of months out there in winter weather, that would learn him." "Pork and beans, pork and beans." "And you're lucky if you find the pork." "By the way, where is this here lighthouse?" "Marked in the chart." "Over there?" "I see." "Half a mile from the shore around the inland." "So if I got a bit of skirt in the village I can't wave to her." "Mr. Owen," "Yeah." "What about a boat to the lighthouse?" "My brother Griffith will take us over." "The boat is ready." "It is the others we are waiting for." "It is time Dr. Carey was here, David." "Late he is and we must go out on the ebb tide." "Aye." "Is it him we're waiting for?" "And Sergeant Jones." "They have to make a report on poor Jack Davis, the lightkeeper who was killed." "Drowned wasn't he?" "Poor devil." "He just disappeared." "Disappeared like the other lightkeeper before him." "Well, I hope it ain't catching." "What's the doctor coming for?" "For poor Tom Evans." "It is him we will be bringing off from the light tonight." "What, the other lightkeeper?" "I wasn't told this." "What's his trouble?" "His poor brain got twisted by what he saw the night Jack Davis died." "Cuckoo?" "Only yesterday we knew it." "There were signals from the light." "Very rough it was." "Hardly the relief boat get out to the light." "But whose in charge out there now?" "Claff Owen." "Owen?" "My brother." "Let's get this straight." "There's you two Owens here right now, then there's Claff Owen at the lighthouse now." "Then there's the Owen who drove me down in the car." "That makes four." "Anymore Owens?" "Well, there is John Owen in the coal and William Owen, the gas." "They are the cousins of Owen and Owen at the post." "And there is Iva Owen at the farm and Trevor Owen." "Owen, Owen, Owen, ain't anybody paying?" "That's not bad." "There will be a sea getting up before long, Griffith." "Yeah." "Wasn't there a big wreck around here last year?" "Yes, indeed." "One of the Fern line, it was." "My son Emerus was in her, whatever." "It was a lot of men from this country." "It was the North Stake light that drowned them all." "You'd better be careful what you're saying." "I mean, this is serious, this is." "You'd better not let Trinity House hear him." "How could the light drown him?" "But he is right, lightkeeper." "It was the light that drowned them all." "Everybody knows it is a haunted light." "And when a ship comes into the channel, suddenly out goes the light and another light comes up onto the cliffs, and the ship goes on to the rocks over there." "A phantom light, I tell you." "Oh." "So this is a good place for wrecks, is it?" "Well, now, I'm going to tell you something." "It ain't going to spoil my sheet." "I've been in the service now for 25 years come Michaelmas, and I've never had me light go out yet." "Hello, David." "Dr." "Carey, this is Mr. Higgins, the new chief lightkeeper." "Good evening, Mr. Higgins." "Good evening, sir." "I suppose they've been chilling your blood to begin with, eh?" "Well, they've been doing the best, sir." "They tell me the Merry Fern signaled up channel." "Claff Owen will be pleased." "His son's the chief officer on board." "What ships that, sir?" "The Merry Fern." "But I thought she was wrecked last year." "Oh, no, no, that was her sister ship." "Oh." "Yes, it hit the village pretty hard too." "Most of us are small shareholders." "Oh, by the way, David, where is Sergeant Jones?" "You will find up to the public house, Dr. Carey, courting Mrs. Owen." "Well, we better go down there and find him." "I don't suppose you'll object, Higgins?" "Lead me to it, sir." "Here." "Did you say Mrs. Owen?" "The name Owen is not uncommon in Wales." "God blimey, it must be half the blinking' directory." "How's the sea?" "It looks like a bit of a chop come in, sir." "We'd better have a look at the glass." "Yeah, it don't look too good, do it?" "No." "By the way, Sam." "Yeah." "You don't believe all those old women stories about Jack Davis' death and the men after him, do you?" "Well, I don't know, sir." "It seems a bit odd to me." "Oh, pure coincidence." "Don't let them frighten you." "Well, it's the only bed I've got." "Take it or leave it." "Oh, I'll" " I'll take it." "You were quite right about that mattress." "I said it was a flop mattress." "I thought you said rock." "Your health?" "She is staying whatever?" "These skinny bits of girls from London do not know when they are well-off indeed." "Aye, it is not everyone who is as good a judge as you, Sergeant." "Perhaps it is because I am used to looking at a really fine woman, Mrs. Owen." "YES." "Hello, chum." "Good evening, Dr. Carey." "Evening, Evans." "Evening, Mort." "Good evening, doctor." "Good evening, sergeant." "Mrs. Owen, I want a couple of good tarts of rum." "It is rum, isn't it, Higgins?" "Thank you, sir." "Doubles." "Sergeant, they shall want you directly." "This is the new lightkeeper Mr. Higgins." "Good evening." "So you've come to take poor Jack Davis' place." "Well, his place where he was, not where he is." "Ha-ha." "Joke." "I hope it's the right one." "Well, cheerio." "Cheerio." "Same again?" "I should say so." "Single." "You blokes, what about having one with me?" "No." "Well, it isn't many fisherman would care to drink with the man that has his fate on him." "Well, perhaps I better pay before I pop off." "We're all ready now, doctor." "Oh, right David." "Sergeant?" "Yes, doctor, Whenever you're ready." "We'll need to be getting right away on the tide, doctor." "Even now it will be dark before we get to the North Stake rocks." "You got a special rig for Tom Evans?" "That's what I just came up to show you." "Right." "You will follow Higgins." "As soon as I've got my rations, sir." "Good night." "Slowdown, young man." "You're in a hurry, aren't you?" "Sorry." "Whiskey and splash, please." "Planning for a rough night?" "Bloody rough." "I want a word with you, lightkeeper." "Have one?" "Well, I don't mind if I do." "Doubles." "Cheerio." "Here, here." "Going out to the lighthouse now?" "Yeah." "I'd like to come with you." "No." "YES." "No!" "Have another." "Well, um..." "Doubles." "Now listen, do you think that if I could - now, look here." "You heard what the harbormaster said, didn't you?" "That nobody could go out to the lighthouse under no conditions." "No." "No." "You're a reporter, ain't you?" "How'd you guess that?" "You're so ready free with your office money." "Chin-chin." "Does anybody here got a motorboat I can hire?" "There is Tim Morgan." "Where can I find him?" "Well, he lives at the grocers down the street." "Say you'll come from me." "He'll want paying in advance, young man." "It's a very old boat he has, and the coast is very dangerous." "I know the coast." "Gin and soda, please." "Not much gin." "And soda?" "Not much." "Good evening." "Good evening." "Nice evening, isn't it?" "Yes, very." "I know what that is." "That's a map." "I've got one at home." "An awfully nice map." "What did you say?" "I didn't say anything." "It is a nice evening, isn't it?" "Yeah." "Lovely evening to go out in a boat." "Is it?" "Oh, I'd love to go out in a boat tonight." "Would you?" "Do you know what I'd do if anybody asked me to go out in a boat?" "No." "Well, just ask me and you'll see." "Well, of course I would not go out with you now if you begged me to." "Thanks very much." "But you are going to beg me, aren't you?" "I know you are." "Anything else you know?" "Yes." "You want to go out to the lighthouse." "Oh, do I?" "Yes, and you've hired a motorboat." "Have I?" "Yes." "I heard you when I was around there." "I see." "Well, what about it?" "Why do you want to go out there?" "Well, I want to go because you're... to be with you..." "Goodbye." "No, but... no, no, listen." "Wait." "Wait." "Listen, I'm going to tell you the truth." "Oh no, you're not." "Use the tressel." "God blimey, King Kong." "Well, Higgins, how do you like your new quarters?" "Oh, they're all cozy, sir." "Especially the loony ward." "Oh, thanks." "When was the last attack?" "This afternoon, Dr. Carey." "About teatime." "Well, he looks as quiet as a lamb now." "Get off of me." "[Fighting]" "There, there now." "Larry?" "Yes, Dr. Carey?" "We must have a word about this." "It's impossible to get him away in this condition." "What sent him that way?" "Who knows." "Perhaps it was Jack Davis dying so suddenly." "No, David, he's certainly not fit to be moved." "Well, he's fit enough to all but murder you, sir, and chance it." "It's out of the question, Higgins." "Any sudden shock might be very dangerous to the poor fellow." "Well, no offense, sir, but I'm in charge here, you know?" "And if me and king" " I mean, if me and Claff Owen and the boy have to look after the light and take on his nibs in all his resting as well." "He's not to be moved, Higgins." "Well, look here, Sergeant " "You heard what the doctor said, lightkeeper." "That's enough now." "Dr. Carey surely ought to know what you should be doing." "Uh-huh." "Well, I've made me protest." "That's all I've got to say." "If anything happens it won't be my fault." "Here, how do you know it wasn't him what done to these blokes before me?" "Do you know who that poor boy is, Mr. Higgins?" "My sister's son." "He's a good lad when he is normal." "Ah, when he is normal." "But he ain't normal." "I mean, he has these come-and-go fits." "When they come, somebody goes." "Aren't you talking rather wildly, Higgins?" "Well, as I said before, sir, I'm in charge here." "You've said that many times." "We know it now." "Well, I am, ain't I?" "There's no need to worry, Higgins." "Oh, I'm not worrying, sir." "But if I'm found tomorrow morning at the bottom of the sea with my throat cut" "I'll know who is responsible." "Well, I'll know then that you have done your duty." "Oh, I have no doubt it's very funny because I'm busting my sides." "The tide is on the turn, doctor." "We should be going." "Oh, alright, David, I'm coming." "There's nothing we can do here tonight." "I'll need the three of you to look after him." "I'll come over first thing in the morning." "For the body?" "Well, he's not going to die." "Oh, I didn't mean his body." "What's going to happen the next time he goes off the deep end?" "These will keep anybody quiet." "If one isn't enough give him a couple." "Don't worry, he's only a bit unhinged." "Yes, I've noticed that." "Goodnight." "Goodnight, sir." "Sleep well." "He seems peaceful enough now." "God blimey!" "Now, now, now, look here." "I've got two things to put you to bye-n-byes and one of them is this." "Who leaves spinners about?" "Yeah." "Pressure's alright." "Come on." "This is Bob, isn't it?" "Yes, sir." "You've got a nice face." "How did that happen?" "Isn't she a beauty?" "Not a half." "It wasn't me who left the spinner." "Oh, forget it, old timer." "We'll be having it up and forth before long." "You'd better taking your observations." "I see the log book as I come up." "Aye-aye, skipper." "But why did this man want to come down here?" "Reporter - newspaper reporter." "Can you beat it?" "Yeah." "There's a lot I don't know, as the farmer's daughter said to the squire, but there's one thing I do know, and that's how to cook a sausage." "Look at them." "None of your smooth bananas here, my boy." "Every one with a split stomach." "You can have that one." "It's a beauty." "The king his self would be proud to eat that sausage, though I said that it shouldn't." "YES." "Well, to resume." "Bread please." "Thanks." "Pepper." "About this reporter bloke, he takes a bundle of notes out of his pocket, see, and he says, "Mate, one night on the lighthouse and you can have the lot." Tried to bribe me." "Me, with 25 years service come Michaelmas." "Then he takes out a lot more, bundles and bundles of notes, all spread out before me." "Pound notes or ten shillings?" "Pound or ten, what's it matter?" "What about the honor of the service?" "Then at the station there was a girl." "What a peach." "You know, lovely beauty parlor lips, film star eyes." ""Take me with you", she says." "Just like that." "What did you do?" "Do?" "I give her a look like the one you got now." "That settled to her." "Claff?" "Claff?" "Yeah." "Are you aware that I've been talking?" "I've been listening." "Do you hear anything?" "No." "What is it?" "Footsteps." "Soft footsteps like Bob and me heard last night." "You've got the rhets." "Sometimes I think of the ships passing to and fro in the storm, and I listen to the gulls beating against the glass and breaking their little wings." "It's then I realize the lives that are in my hands." "Suppose I let that light go out?" "I'd have all those drowned souls on my conscience, beating their wings against my window like the birds." "The phantom light." "That's what you and me's go to think about." "The phantom light." "Some of you blokes... well, sure, you'll make me believe it myself before long." "Of course, you know what your trouble is, don't you?" "Listen." "Did you hear anything?" "I could have sworn." "Last night when Bob and me heard the steps," "I ran downstairs and shouted, but the only answer I got was a scream from poor Tom Evans." "In his bunk he was lying with his face hidden in the pillow and babbling about Jack Davis and the light and God knows what besides." "All over the floor was the marks of wet feet leading from the bedroom down the stairs." "So down I go to the bottom, and the outer doors are opened" "Open." "And the wind is whistling in, and the spray from the waves wets my face." "The feet led to those open doors." "It was the spirit of Jack Davis up from the sea, mangled maybe by the rocks below." "YES." "Poor Jack Davis, back from the dead with the water streaming from his hair." "Oh, God, the phantom light." "The phantom light." "I don't know..." "Now's the time for his sleeping drought." "No, wait 'til he gets real violent." "Oh, he ain't been real violent yet?" "Well, I'm going to get a bit of a rope, see, and tie him down." "There's no need." "I know Tom." "My sister's boy, poor fellow." "Well, personally, not being one of the Owen's," "I'd feel safer if your sister's little boy was tied down, see." "Ahoy." "Lighthouse ahoy." "Ahoy below." "Hello..." "Mr. Higgins, there's a motorboat off the lighthouse." "Right-o." "Standby the searchlight." "AYE-Bye, sir." "Ahoy below." "Who are you?" "Motorboat drifting, running out of petrol." "Throw us a line." "You can't land here." "How much juice you got?" "Almost gone." "I've got to land." "Alright." "Claff!" "Tom" " Tom Higgins, ahoy, Sir." "Hello." "Come back." "It is against the regulations." "No one must land here." "Come back." "Come on, give us a hand." "Come on!" "Come on, hurry up." "Here, catch hold of this." "Good God, sir, it's a weight." "And this." "How many more?" "Look out, I'm going to abandon her." "Alright." "Oh no, you don't." "Eh?" "Hello..." "What the hell are you doing here?" "You swear at me later." "I don't want to drown now, even if you do." "Here, grab hold of this." "No, don't do that." "Here, give it to me." "Now, when I say jump, jump" "I don't think I can." "You've got to." "Now then, jump." "Here now." "Catch hold of this." "Go on, quickly." "There you are." "Give her a hand." "There you are." "Oh, it's cold." "I couldn't help it." "Here hand on to this." "Oh, wait 'til I get across." "Don't." "How do you expect us to get up here out of a little boat up to this great, big high place?" "What are following me about for, anyway?" "Well, I wouldn't have followed you if you had you spoken to me nicely, but the way you shouted at me, what do you expect?" "Oh, come on, for God's sake." "Jabber, jabber, jabber." "I've never heard anything like it." "In there, you." "You'd better change quick before you make any more puddles." "Yeah, I bet you can do it." "Me best trousers." "Oh well, it can't be helped." "Now look here, that's my Sunday clobber." "Now you got easy on em', see?" "Well, what are you doing?" "You'll crease them." "What's in there?" "Nothing." "You caring about my clothes just as if you... now come on, off with those things of your'n." "It's went enough outside as it is." "Come in." "Here." "Help, miss." "Help." "They've tied me." "What's up?" "There's a man over there." "Oh, him." "Oh, don't mind him, miss." "That's the one, old man." "Now you go to bye-bye, see." "You see, miss, he's batty." "He's always seeing things." "Anyway, he's tied down." "But I can't undress with a man in the room." "God bless you, there's no worrying about his feelings." "What if he do happen to see you with nothing on?" "He'll think he's seeing the fairies." "Well, what was she yelping about?" "Oh, nothing." "She just met one of our prize exhibits." "Well, now, perhaps you ought to tell me why you joined up with that bit of trouble." "I didn't." "She's a stowaway." "Stowaway, me foot." "A ruddy girl in a respectable lighthouse." "You wait 'til old Claff has a talk with you." "Who is he, chief lightkeeper?" "What him?" "Don't make me laugh." "I'm chief here." "Ever heard of King Kong?" "You are always saying you are chief here, Sam Higgins." "No one is disputing it." "It is your responsibility this man and woman are on the lighthouse against all regulations." "Well, we couldn't leave them to drown, could we?" "This is the reporter bloke I was telling you about." "Mr." "Higgins?" "Oh, brace them up." "Don't let them drag like that." "I've braced them up and braced them up so much that my feet hardly touch the ground." "Well, go on and roll them up then." "Tuck a leaf in them." "Here." "God blimey." "Tuck your shirt in, can't you?" "Put it in these here tapes." "Oh, do what you like with them." "I ain't your nanny." "Females." "So we've got you on our hands tonight, I suppose." "Uh-huh." "And you didn't know she was with you?" "Nope." "Must have followed me and hid under the tarpolean." "Can't these journalists tell them?" "You tried to bribe me, didn't you, so that you could give your paper an eyewitness account of life at a lighthouse." "Or had you another idea in coming here?" "Aye, speak the truth, man." "Or maybe you'll leave this lighthouse the way others have left it before." "Oh, steady on." "It ain't a capital offense, you know." "Mr. Higgins?" "What the... do you mean to say you went and cut my..." "Well, you told me I could do what I liked with them, and I think I made a very good job of it." "My Sunday trousers." "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." "Go on, now." "Sit on there." "Now, we'll do avail of me Sunday trousers." "What's your little game?" "Mr. Higgins, you know I wouldn't have done it " "Oh, for goodness sake, don't turn on the tap." "Here." "Mr. Higgins, I'm going to tell you the truth." "I'm an actress, hiding from the police." "What, you act as bad as all that?" "There was a man." "He fell in love with me, terribly in love with me, and then there came another man, and he fell in love with me." "And they fought." "What for?" "Me." "Poor little me." "They fought as cavemen fight for their mates." "Oh, it wasn't horrible." "I fainted." "And then one reached for a knife and I fainted again." "And then the other reached for a knife, and I ran and ran and ran." "And the next thing I remember I was in a train, and I fainted again." "When I came to there was a man sitting opposite me." "I smiled at him." "And he fainted?" "No." "I said, "Where am I?"" "He said, "Telebuch."" "You do believe me, don't you, Mr. Higgins?" "So the police are after you." "They ain't in love with you too, are they?" "Oh, please don't make fun of me." "You've got such a kind face." "Hmm, what was the show you was in, Eastland?" "Cheerful, ain't it?" "So now you know." "Of course, personally speaking I don't believe it." "But old Claff - well, here he is." "He'll tell you." "So you believe in the phantom light, Mr. Owen?" "Yes, sir, I reckon I do believe in the phantom light." "So will you if the Lord ordains you see the sunrise tomorrow." "The prime minister of mirth." "This thing you heard, opening and shutting doors, do you really believe it was a ghost?" "Pretty strong, your ghost." "What was that?" "Oh, nothing." "Ain't you had enough excitement already?" "Me, excitement?" "Oh, yes." "Of course, you know you'll be having ghosts after you as well as police if you're not careful." "Are you sure there was no one about when you heard those steps?" "No, there was not until Tom Evans let out a terrible, great scream." "It's Davis!" "Fetch it quickly." "Quickly." "That was a near shave." "Yeah." "I wonder - he's tied up alright." "I'm almost beginning to believe " "Sam." "Sam!" "What the - what the blinking' " "They are open, like they were last night, wide open." "Have you searched the place?" "Nothing here?" "Listen, I've been waiting for a chance to see you alone." "Have you?" "You're a frightful liar." "Am I?" "And a fearful nuisance." "Am I really?" "Uh-huh." "Then you don't care for me a little bit?" "No." "You know, nobody ever hated me before like you." "Really?" "Isn't that grand?" "But all the same, I want you to help me." "Opens the door with invisible hands and vanishes." "Don't be silly." "How could you vanish if you're invisible?" "If you're invisible you're vanished before you started." "Ridiculous." "I'm going up to talk to Bob." "Lord protect us." "Lord protect us." "So he tied you up, my own flesh and blood tied up so that you can't move hand nor foot." "Well, we'll soon see about that, Tom, my boy." "We'll soon see about that." "Well, I think it's the most thrilling thing I've ever heard." "Good." "Now, the first thing you've got to do is to keep Sam Higgins out of the way." "Well, I can easily do that." "I'll tell you what, get him to show you the light, him and the other fellow." "Do you want me to them there?" "Yes, as long as you can." "Let them go on thinking I'm a reporter." "I'm going down to the storeroom to fix my box of tricks." "It's all wired." "It's only got to be connected up." "Bolshies." "Claff!" "I thought you was going up?" "Claff, they ain't what they said they was." "I just overhead them talking." "You know what they're going to do?" "They're going to blow up the lighthouse." "What?" "Communists, that's what they are." "A couple of ruddy Bolshies." "Now, listen, we've got to act quick and don't interrupt." "I did not interrupt." "No, but you was going to." "I was not." "What if you know." "Shut up." "Now listen, you go and take the young lady upstairs and show her the light." "That I won't." "It's against the regulations." "You'll do what you're told." "Who is boss here, you or me?" "Me." "Then it's unanimous." "Now come on." "Come along." "Show her the light." "Suppose she doesn't want to see the light." "Hello, Mr. Higgins." "Ah, nasty night, don't you think?" "YES." "Still, I suppose you'd rather be in here since the cops are after you." "You won't give me away, will you?" "Oh no." "But wouldn't you be better off if you went to some foreign clime?" "Foreign slime?" "Yeah." "I knew a bloke who was in trouble just like you." "Oh?" "But you know what he done?" "He grew along beard and went to Russia." "Ever been to Russia?" "Nope, nor grown a beard." "Mr. Higgins, what's up there?" "Oh, that's where we keep the light." "Would you like to see it?" "Just what I was going to ask you." "Claff, take this young lady up and see the light." "Now, go on and do what I tell you." "Take this young lady up and see the light." "But Mr. Higgins, you're coming too." "No, thanks very much." "I think I'll turn in if you don't mind." "Please." "Wait for me, Mr. Claff." "Is it much higher?" "We're there now, miss." "Oh, if I had known there were so many steps I might have changed my mind." "Lighthouses aren't built for fun, miss." "What an interesting room." "Oh, good evening." "Evening, miss." "Can't I stay here a little while?" "Well, no need to hurry, miss." "What do you do up here?" "This is the service room." "See this?" "That's hollow." "It goes right down to the bottom where there's a cupboard holding the weights that works the clockwork." "Why's that so thick all the way down and so narrow in the living room?" "There's only a cable passing through it in the living room." "This way, miss." "What's this?" "Oh, this is a clinomter, miss." "This way, miss." "Oh." "Oh, hello." "Hello?" "God bless me soul." "I must have dropped off." "That's funny." "Do you usually go to sleep with your boots on?" "Oh, I couldn't sleep a wink without them, chum." "Just habit, you know." "Hmm, not even trouble to slip off your clothes either." "Well, it ain't necessary." "You see, I could sleep anywhere, any hour." "It's in the family." "Same with my father." "He used to go to bed with his hat on." "Just his hat and his socks." "You wouldn't believe it, would you?" "No." "That's a fact." "Same with my grandfather." "Even on his wedding day they had to wake him up to say I will." "Hello..." "Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask you something." "Yes?" "Have you ever been to Russia?" "No." "Why ask?" "I don't know." "Just an idea." "Been to Switzerland, if that's any good." "No." "Oh." "Just a moment." "You know, I've took rather a fancy of you." "Now, what was your idea in pretending to be a reporter, eh?" "Well, aren't I?" "You know ruddy well you ain't." "Come on now, what's your game?" "Game?" "Yeah." "Game." "Come on, now." "Can't I sail a boat if I want to?" "Nice night for it." "I like sailing at night." "Oh, you do?" "I like everything at night." "I was born at night." "And the girl?" "Never set eyes on her before." "I don't know who she is." "I don't know where she's from." "I don't know how she got into my boat." "I don't know a single damn thing about her." "Oh, blimey, you talk as if you was married to her." "Bob." "Hello..." "Getting a bit thick out there, isn't it?" "Yes, Claff." "Better get the fog signal going." "Aye-aye." "Hello?" "Oh, it's you." "See Higgins on the way down?" "No." "Well, if you do, keep an eye on him." "He suspects us." "Here, hang on to this." "Oh, Lord, hang on to it." "And nip up to the loony hatch." "Where?" "The bedroom, play it out of the window." "Leave 6 foot in the room and then shut the window down tight." "It's the aerial." "Everything hangs on it." "And don't fall out." "I won't." "But I promise if I do I won't hang on the aerial." "Hang on to this a minute." "Have any trouble?" "No." "Did you see anyone?" "No." "I can't think where they've all got to." "Oh, it doesn't matter." "I'll have this ready in a minute." "Oh, no you won't." "Hey, put that down." "This ain't Chicago, you know." "Claff?" "And if you shut up a minute I'll tell you something." "Lord, blimey, I've done so much ruddy listening tonight I've got corns on me ears." "Well, come on now, make it short." "Right." "I'm a naval officer." "My brother is skipper of the Merry Fern." "Ever heard of that ship?" "She's due in tonight." "Now, all this funny business here, these Wreckers." "Go on." "They're after the Merry Fern tonight." "They expected her the night Jack Davis disappeared but she was held up at Havre." "I don't like your mate's stories." "Claff?" "Oh, Claff's alright." "He ain't a ray of sunshine, but he's alright." "Are you sure of that?" "What's it got to do with you anyway?" "Just you keep on dodging the cops and minding your own business." "I mean, ain't you done enough harm cutting up my best pair of trousers?" "Just you mind your own business, see?" "But it is my own business, see." "Mr. Higgins, I'm going to tell you the truth." "What, again?" "I'm a detective from Scotland Yard." "I was told to join up with Lieutenant Pearce." "And you ain't an actress no more?" "Oh, actress?" "Oh, of course I couldn't trust you before, but I do now." "Blimey, you a detective." "What is the force coming to?" "No wonder the cops wear top hats to set their blinking' handkerchiefs." "Here, what was you saying just now about wreckers?" "Do you mean to tell me they want to sink the Merry Fern?" "Mm-hmm." "What for?" "Ever heard of insurance?" "Yeah." "Well, the Merry Fern's heavily insured, just like the ship that sank last year." "And most of the shares are held by local people." "God love a duck." "You see?" "Now perhaps you won't be so stupid." "Oh, stupid am I?" "Well, I'm not so stupid to believe that you're a real tick anyway." "If you are, produce your papers or your badge or whatever it is." "My, my, my..." "Alright, lightkeeper I'll answer for this lady." "She's alright." "Well, if it comes to that, what about you, sir?" "How do I know you're a real naval officer?" "Alright, sir." "Sorry." "Well, let's get busy." "Yes, but what at?" "I'm going to talk to the Merry Fern." "Huh?" "Oh, I see." "You're going to warn them." "Mm-hmm." "Good for you, sir." "I can't place the North Stake lighthouse." "The sound seemed to come from over there." "It's getting thicker, Mr. Owen." "We ought to be beside them by now." "Call Captain Pearce." "Yes, sir." "Both on duty?" "Yes, sir." "I didn't think it was worthwhile when we were docking in a couple of hours." "Just as well, Mr. Mason." "Cigarette?" "Yes, sir." "We haven't sighted the North Stake light yet." "I want you both to keep a sharp lookout." "I'm beginning to wonder." "Excuse me, sir." "There's something coming through." "It's a call for us, alright, sir." "perhaps it's the station." "Take their message." "It may be important." "Yes." "Well?" "Mr." "Owen's compliments, sir." "Would you please come up on deck?" "Mason, bring that message to me on deck." "Yes, sir." "Young Bob will be done in a moment." "What are you going to do about him?" "That's your lookout." "You keep an eye on him." "Very good, sir." "Got them." "Great." "Yeah, come again." "That's the captain's brother, isn't it?" "Put an extra lookout forward, another in the crow's nest." "Very good, sir." "Below there." "Aye-aye, sir." "Got an extra man in the crow's nest and an extra man forward." "Get on to it." "Funny." "I wonder why Bob hasn't come down." "Bob?" "Are you there, Bob?" "Bob?" "Hey, Bob?" "Claff?" "Another light on the cliffs." "What?" "Just a minute." "Look." "Oh my God." "It's the phantom light, the one they all talk about." "Then it's true, it's really true." "Don't be a fool." "That's not the phantom light." "That's the wrecker's light, and we've got to put it out." "Get Sam Higgins, quick." "Gone." "Damn." "Sam, the phantom light's on the cliffs." "What?" "Come on." "He's coming." "Oh, are you alright?" "Get this, quick." "What?" "Blimey, it's locked." "It's from my brother." "Is this all?" "Yes, sir." "I couldn't get him back." "God!" "It's us." "Our light's out." "Bob?" "Bob?" "Can you hear me?" "Silly roust." "Good luck, sir." "Thanks." "Take the strand." "Right away, sir." "All set?" "Yes, sir." "Good luck." "Got it?" "Yeah." "Now steady, sir." "Slowly." "Right." "Alright let her go." "Yeah." "Here." "Don't worry about him, miss." "He won't be found ground." "Come on, let's have another go." "Come on." "Quick, shove your shoulder a bit." "Lighthouse." "Starboard bow, sir." "That's better." "Mr. Owen, ring below." "Tell MrCarthy we've sighted the north stack then head her up." "Very good, sir." "What is it?" "What is it?" "The light." "North Stake light is out." "The North Stake light, out?" "Tell the coast guard." "The phantom." "Ahoy." "Ahoy." "You are sure it was on the cliffs that you saw the phantom light, the cliffs up there?" "Yes, hurry." "On to the lifeboat." "That is on the cliffs nearby where the coast guards are." "Ahoy." "Hurry you there." "Yes, it is the phantom light I tell you." "Stay you there a moment, sir." "Nice lightkeeper I am." "You can't help it." "Can't help it?" "Best excuse we all make when we fail." "If a man's worth his salt, he oughta help it." "And here's me with 25 years service come Michaelmas." "Sitting here while a gang of Wreckers plays tag in me own lamp room." "What am I doing, I ask you?" "Twiddling my thumbs." "I wish I could twiddle them for you, Sam." "Give me his gun." "What is it?" "Whatever it is." "Claff!" "My God." "They've smashed it." "Where are they?" "Where's Bob?" "Go and see if you can find them." "Don't let them see you." "Here, take this gun." "I've got to get the emergency tanks going." "I must get the lights going." "Listen, he's not far off now." "I can't see anything." "Neither can they, thanks to this fog." "Carey, I don't like it." "Why not?" "These others." "Ah, halfwits." "It's dangerous." "What about my 50 quid?" "You'll get it when the Merry Fern is on those rocks." "Carey, how did he get here?" "I'll tell you I'll pay you when the company collects the insurance." "Company be damned, you're the company." "You promised me my money tonight." "Close the door quietly." "Don't let them see you." "Don't let them hear you." "I've got to fix the lamp." "[Yelling]" "Light's gone out." "Pull her stern." "Warn the starboard" "Those guys have done it." "They've got that light out." "Wait." "Higgins?" "Mr." "Higgins, quick." "What's up?" "Higgins?" "Hello..." "Higgins, I want this door opened." "Oh, you do, do you?" "I'm not in the habit of being kept waiting." "Well, what are you going to do about it?" "I've got the boy here." "Helpless, and very near the edge." "Don't mind me, Mr. Higgins." "Don't you open that door." "I'm a merciful man, Higgins." "My profession makes me so." "But if you don't open this door in five seconds " "Alright, wait a minute." "Quickly." "You go and light the lamp." "Me?" "Yes." "It lights like an oil burner." "Turn up the jet at the side." "Quickly, Alright, sir, just come in." "Alright." "It's a bit stiff this here lock." "Higgins?" "Alright, sir, just coming." "Now then, hands up?" "Pull her stern;" "hard at starboard." "Where the devil are we?" "Wait a moment, Mr. Owen." "We're just off the North Stake Branch." "Bring us around again." "Warn the engine room." "That was a near one." "You're right, sir, it was." "So you thought you'd got me, didn't you?" "Give me that gun." "Let go." "Let go, I tell you." "Damn you." "They must be in the lamp room." "Come on." "Aye'." "They're up there." "Where's Alice?" "Stop him." "Stop him." "Carey?" "Come out, Carey, it's no use." "I know what you've done, but you can't escape." "You'd better give up." "Carey?" "!" "Signal the lighthouse." "Say all is well." "Very good, sir." "Hey, you, wipe your nose and get back to duty." "The Captain says it's alright now." "I bet you got the wind not fogs, didn't you?" "Blimey, what a night." "The End"