"Confounded fog!" "Makes the matches so damp, you know." "There we are." "This, of course is London." "And I am William Castle." "It's good to see you again, my homicidal friends." "This time, our story is of a different kind." "It's an old-fashioned story." "Full of gallantry and graciousness and ghouls." "Do you know about ghouls?" "They are..." "Well, let me find you an exact definition." "Let me see..." ""Goom", that's an odd word." "It means:" ""To search for game in the dark."" ""Ghost..."" "Here it is. "Ghoul:" "An evil being who robs graves and feeds on corpses."" "Ah, yes, just an old-fashioned story." "I hope you enjoy it." "I hope your nightmares are nice ones." "So nice to have met you again." "Good morning, doctor." "Stay, you might find this interesting." " Wainwright, apply the heat." " Yes, Sir Robert." " Exactly 30 seconds, Wainwright." " Quite, sir." "That doesn't hurt, does it?" "No, doctor." "It's nice and warm." " Then we'll resume the massage." " Good." "That's all very well, but Sir Robert Cargrave can't possibly see you now." "But the letter..." "My master told me to put it only in Sir Robert's hand." " I'll give it to him." " No, Sir Robert's." "Sir, I will place the letter in Sir Robert's hands when he is available." "If that doesn't please you, you can leave." "No, no, no." "My master would..." "Now, listen if I give you the letter, do you promise...?" "I promise I'll place it in his hand." "Now, young lady, try doing that yourself." "But, doctor, I couldn't." " She's never been able to do that." " Come, come." "You must try." "Good girl." "I did it!" "I did it!" "It worked." "Your treatment worked again!" "Yes, thank God." "Bless you for this, Sir Robert." "You can take her home." "Keep up the exercises." "I'll see you Tuesday." "Wainwright, let's see if the post is here." "The post?" "Oh, yes!" "The new instrument from Scotland." "Sir Robert, in yesterday's class, just before you dismissed us you said something odd about..." " A poison that cures some paralysis?" "Nothing odd about it." "Deadly poisons can sometimes be useful medicines." " Such as belladonna?" " Quite right." "Fatally toxic but good for treating the optic nerve." " You weren't referring to belladonna." " No, it was..." " Is the post here?" " Yes, a number of letters." " Anything from Scotland?" " Yes, a package from Edinburgh." " Edinburgh, right." " Also, there's..." "From Dr. Wood." "Here it is." "Look at this, Wainwright." "Originally theorized two centuries ago or more by Dr. Christopher Wren." "Only recently, through work by Dr. Wood has it at all seemed practical." " There, isn't that beautiful?" " Very beautiful." "You see, it's nothing more than a syringe attached to a needle." "An ordinary needle?" "No, a very extraordinary needle." "A hollow needle." "A hypodermic needle." ""Hypodermic." In other words, it is meant to puncture the skin." "Delivering drugs directly and immediately." " Ingenious, sir!" " Key words: "directly," "immediately."" "Sir Robert..." "Sir Robert, may I call your attention to a letter...?" " Bypassing the digestive system." " Yes, sir." " What's this?" " By special messenger." " It appears to be from the Continent." " Well..." "One moment." " Could I be alone for a moment?" " Of course, Sir Robert." "I must go at any rate, sir." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Wainwright." "My father forbids our marriage." "He says you're a failure." "I must marry a man of substance, he says." "A wealthy widower." "Sister!" "You called, Sir Robert?" " Yes." "Please do something for me." " Of course." " Cancel all my appointments." " For how long, Sir Robert?" "Don't know." "Indefinitely." "And please arrange transportation to the region of Gorslava, Central Europe." "Gorslava?" "Yes, sir." "How soon do you wish to leave?" "Soon." "As soon as I possibly can." "There is no coach that will take you in that direction." "The country up there is wild and mountainous." "The roads are bad." "Some places, there are no roads at all." "I was to be met by a private coach." "A private coach, from those parts?" "Nobody lives up there." "But I assure you somebody does." "My host, Baron Sardonicus." "Sardonicus?" " Yes." "What do you know of him?" " Nothing, sir." "I know nothing." "I said nothing against the baron, did I?" "No, but hearing his name frightened you." "No, not at all." "Don't dissemble." "Why were you frightened?" "Sir, you would not understand." "You are young." "You do not yet have daughters." " Sir Robert Cargrave?" " Yes." "I'm called Krull." "Your humble servant." "It was I who brought you the letter weeks ago." "You serve the baroness?" "I serve the baron, who is most eager to meet you." "Shall we go?" "Please." "After you, sir." "My dear Sir Robert, it has been a long time since I last saw you." "Will you remember the former Maude Randall?" "I'm married now and live in Gorslava with my husband, Baron Sardonicus." "I've often told him of you and your researches  and recently we've read of your being knighted." "The baron desires to meet you." "It is most urgent to my well-being that he meet you." "Most urgent to my well-being." "Most urgent..." "No, not this way." "My God!" " What's the meaning of this?" " They're only leeches." "I know what they are, but why?" "They're supposed to cure certain afflictions." "Nonsense." "She could've died or been disfigured!" "Thank God I saw her in time." "There, that's better." "You'll be all right now." " And what is her "affliction"?" " Her affliction?" "None, sir." "None?" "Blast it, man, explain yourself!" "Well, she is..." "Do you not, in your own work, make use of what you call guinea pigs?" " At whose bidding was this done?" " The master's." " Baron Sardonicus?" " There is no other master." "I'll take up the matter with him." "Untie this poor girl." "See that she rests." "Give her brandy and the juice of red meat." "I'll treat her face presently." "Just as you say, Sir Robert." "Now, the baroness awaits you." "The salon is over there." "Robert!" "Baroness." "No, please." "Call me Maude as you did in the old days." "These are not the old days, Maude." "That's much better." "Now, come sit down and tell me all about yourself." "Do you miss London?" "We're cozy here." "We have all the current journals and gazettes." "I order fashions from Paris and musical scores from Rome and Berlin all the popular novels." "Mr. Conan Doyle is a fascinating writer." " Then you do not miss London?" " I did not say that." "But tell me how you've fared." "I've fared well." "Perhaps better than I deserve." "My researches have been fruitful." "My name is known." "I've been made a knight at rather an early age." "And love?" "I'm busy, night and day." "The clinic, my classes writing papers, experimenting, making speeches..." "Come now, Robert." "You're suggesting that you have no time for love?" " There have been no others, Maude." " Oh, Robert." " You must be tired from your journey." " Yes, and worse for dust." "We'll dine soon." "Krull will show you to your rooms." "You can freshen up." "I will ring for him." " You wish something, my lady?" " Would you show him to his rooms?" "At once, my lady." " Until dinner, then." " Until dinner." "You're puzzled by the empty frames, sir?" "Yes." "They do seem rather strange." "The baron is an unusual man, of unusual convictions." "In such frames, others would honor portraits of their forebears." "But the baron has disowned his forefathers in one brilliant gesture." "Here are your chambers, sir." "I trust you'll find things to your liking." " lf not..." " I'm sure I will." "The maidservant." "I must treat the wounds on her face." "She is resting, sir, as you advised." "I've treated her face with hot compresses and disinfectant tincture." "Excellent." "So you are a man of medicine, Krull?" "I'm a man of all work, sir." "When my master says, "Krull, do this thing," I do the thing whatever it may be." " That's most commendable." " Thank you, sir." " Who is it?" " It's Anna, sir." " I must speak to you." " Just a moment." "It's you." "How do you feel?" "You won't tell them I spoke to you, sir?" " Very well, but..." " They'd punish me." "Rubbish." "But I won't tell them." "What do you want?" "Sir, you won't let them do that to me again, will you?" " Promise you won't let them." " You've my word." "Thank you, sir." "Thank you!" " Now that you're here..." " Yes?" "Now that you're here, sir maybe the experimenting will stop." " What do you mean?" "No more, sir." "I must not be found here." "I hope the maidservant wasn't being a nuisance, sir." "No, not at all." "Krull, what is that padlocked door over there?" "I can't tell you." "Only the master has been on the other side." "He has the only key." "The servants call it "The Chamber of Horrors."" "A jest, sir." "Yes, I'm sure." "You see, we do very little entertaining." "My husband hates throngs of people." "Maude." "Yes." "In your letter, your rather odd letter you said that my presence here was urgent to your well-being." " What did you mean?" " Did I say that?" "How foolish of me." "I meant that I longed to be the hostess again, to see a familiar face." "No, you meant more than that." "But what?" "I'm sure I don't know." "Very well, but your castle is no ordinary castle." " People fear your husband..." " Robert, I think you exaggerate." "Perhaps." "But I am very anxious to meet the baron, face to..." "Sir Robert Cargrave?" "Yes." "I am Baron Sardonicus." " It's a pleasure to meet you." " The pleasure's mine." "Let's be seated." " My mask disturbs you, Sir Robert?" " It'd be foolish of me to deny it." "Quite so." "It is an idiosyncrasy of mine." "But necessary, I assure you." "Later, I'll tell you the reason." "For now, please sample our poor fare." "Not poor at all." "It looks delicious." "But are you not joining us?" "Just a little brandy." "I've already dined." "If that will be all, I should attend to a little servant problem." " Yes, that will be all." " Thank you, sir." "Sir Robert." "Do tell us what's been happening on the London stage." "Well, let me see..." "There you are waiting for me like a good, obedient girl." "Krull, please." "But you're not always obedient, are you?" " Please, Krull." " We must have a little talk, Anna." "You and I, and some friends of yours." "Some little friends of yours." "No!" " Not the leeches again!" " Let us hope not." "But you see, you're a very naughty girl." "I forbade you to speak to Sir Robert, yet you spoke to him." "That is too bad of you." "I didn't." "I didn't speak to him." "Lies now." "First disobedience, then lies." "Come now." "Tell me what you said to Sir Robert." "I said nothing." "Tell me, or I'll bring the leeches again." "No." "Please, no." "They are so thirsty, the little fellas." "So thirsty for the sweet nectar that flows in your veins." "Krull, no." "This time, they'll sip not only from your face." "This time the leeches will get better acquainted with you." "There are so many of the little fellows, eager to know you better." "They'll cover you from your face, down your whole body." "All the way down to your toes." "No!" "No, you wouldn't." "You wouldn't do that, Krull." "Perhaps it should be reversed?" "We should begin with the toes, and work up." "Yes." "No!" "No!" "Stop!" "I'll tell you!" "I'll tell you!" "Seems like an interesting season, particularly the Macbeth revival." "Macbeth is such a totally evil character, right?" "I've never thought so." "A man pressed into evil by circumstances." "But lago, a creature of pure evil, with no redeeming qualities who tormented Othello with ghoulish delight..." "Ghoulish, you say." "That isn't a term to be used lightly." "A ghoul, I'm sure you know is a disgusting creature who opens graves and feeds on corpses." " Are you suggesting lago did that?" " Dear, he used the term figuratively." "Perhaps so." "The English don't believe in ghouls, do they?" " Well, I..." " Of course not." "But in my country, we do believe." "In fact, Sir Robert..." " In fact, I have known a ghoul." " Indeed?" "You English, nothing shocks you." "You are so blasé." "Or can it be that you don't believe me?" "It'd be discourteous to doubt one's host." "An Englishman may be many things, but never discourteous." "Let me tell you about this ghoul." " They're here, sir." " I'll be there presently." "Thank you, sir." "Perhaps we might finish our discussion on ghouls some other time." " Of course." " I have very important visitors if you will forgive me." " Certainly." "Stay together, ladies." "I have a nice little surprise for you." "Stay together, ladies." "I have a nice little surprise for you." "This way, ladies." "So come along." "Here we are, all nice and cozy." "The master will be with us presently." " I beg your pardon, sir." " Yes?" " You said it was a party." " Right, a little private party with lots of choice food and wine." " Didn't you say something about gold?" " I did." "A piece of gold for each." "And for the lucky one, even more." " The lucky one?" " That's right, the lucky one." "Charming to meet you." "Good of you to accept my invitation." "I trust we'll enjoy one another's company tonight." "Wine is a wondrous bounty." "A blessing." "There is a wine for every mood." "There is champagne gay and carefree." "Then there is claret full-bodied and richly satisfying." "Then we have the wine of Portugal dark and sensuous and thick as blood." "As with wine so with women." "This way." "No, that's it." "That's it." "For every mood." "Dark." "Saucy." "Slender." "Buxom." "And fair." "And for tonight..." "This one." "Pay the others and dismiss them." "Come, ladies." "This way." "Come on, come on." "No, not you." "You stay here." "My journey has fatigued me more than I thought." "I should retire." "Of course." "I understand." "And Robert?" "Yes?" "You were right." "Your presence is most urgent to my well-being." "Most urgent." "But what...?" "Not now." "Good night." "Good night, Maude." "You are a very pretty little thing." "Thank you, sir." "And a very shy little thing." "Well, sir I've never known a fine gentleman like yourself." "Do you find me pleasant?" "Yes, sir." "Only..." "Only what?" "Well, sir you would be much more pleasant without that funny mask." "A nice little girl." "No!" "You would not understand." "You are young." "You do not yet have  daughters." "Now that you are here, sir  maybe the experimenting will stop." "I'm a man of all work, sir." "When my master says, "Do this thing"  I do the thing." "Whatever it may be." "Most urgent to my well-being." "Most urgent to my well-being." "Most urgent." "Most urgent." "Most urgent..." "I have known a ghoul." "A disgusting creature who opens graves  and feeds on corpses." " Good morning, Sir Robert." " Good morning." " May I know your breakfast preference?" " Anything at all." "Can you bring me a mirror?" "A mirror, Sir Robert?" "Yes, so that I can shave." "I fear there are no mirrors." "No mirrors?" "None in the entire castle." "The baron's orders." "But why not?" "It is not my place to question." "Will you be coming down to breakfast soon?" "Yes, presently." "Very good, sir." " Good morning, madam." " Good morning." " May I come in?" " Well, I..." "Don't worry." "I'm not a man who is affectionate in the morning." "This morning I intend to tell him everything." "That's right." "You were interrupted last night by your visitors." "That is correct." "What was she like, the one who screamed?" "Don't let us have a scene." "I merely wished to inform you your precious Sir Robert will know all and he will make his decision." "If it's the wrong choice, you know what to expect." "No, you wouldn't." "Oh, but I would." "I would, indeed." "It would be in your best interest to persuade him to the right decision." " How persuade him?" " How do women usually persuade men?" "Exactly what do you imply, sir?" "Imply?" "Cowards imply." "I command." "And I command you to sway him by any and every means in your power." "Use your..." "I believe they're usually referred to as "charms."" "And that pain, madam, was only a sample." "I thought we'd walk in my garden before breakfast." "It is a strange garden." "No flowers." "Flowers grow poorly here." "Only Earth's ugly children flourish." "The weeds." "Here you'll find plants read about in romantic tales:" "Wolfbane, mandrake root, hemlock, deadly nightshade." "They are all here." "Krull will announce breakfast shortly." "I thought in the interim we might talk." " Shall we be seated?" " I'd like to speak of several matters." "Perhaps I'll resume my story of the ghoul?" "There are other things I'd like to speak of." "Screams in the night and other sounds." "A girl, tortured by leeches." "Yes, you are right to question these things." "If you listen to my story you'll learn all." "You'll learn the answer to these mysteries." "Also, how low a human being can sink." "You'll learn the story of my first wife who died because of a ghoul." "My name was not always Sardonicus and I did not always wear a mask." "I was a peasant named Marek." "My mother had been dead only a year." "Ah, Henryk it's only you and your son." "We've come to pay our respects to my wife." "She was a good woman." "A better never walked the earth." "My eyes are not what they were and when I saw two men standing over a grave at dusk..." "As a gravedigger I have responsibilities and I thought..." "You thought what, my friend?" "It may have been those lowest of men." "If you can call them men." " You mean the..." " Yes, the ghouls." " They're stories to scare children." " No, young Marek." "Ask your father here." "We old ones know that ghouls exist." "We've seen them prowl at night and open the graves of our loved ones." "Creatures that once were men even as you and I sunk so low that they do that." "You are upsetting my son." "Come, Marek." "Let's go home." "Your wife, Elenka, will be waiting." "I have a present for her." "Marek, never fear." "I will guard your mother well against the ghouls." "They will never violate her grave." " What present do you have for Elenka?" " Wait and see." "She's fond of pretty clothes and trinkets, things I can't afford." "I know." "That is why I..." "Oh, Elenka!" "Well, there you are." "Took you long enough." "Is our meal ready?" "I have eaten." "You can heat up what's left." "Doesn't matter." "I'm not hungry." " Elenka, my little one." " What?" "When I was in the city, I bought you something that might make you very happy." " You did?" " Yes." "Let me see." "Of course!" "I wore that weskit my wife made for me before she died." "It's in the pocket." "But what is it?" "But what is it?" "Be patient." "Here it is!" "Father, a lottery ticket again?" " Yes, but this one..." " Is different, I know." "It is different!" "You silly, old man!" "How many lottery tickets have you bought?" "Many." "Perhaps hundreds." "And how many times have you won?" "Never." "But this time..." "That's what you always say." ""This time."" "Yes, I know but this time is truly different." "I feel it here." "Because this time it is for you and Marek." "Thank you, Father." "I have never heard of anything so ridiculous." "It was the last time I saw him alive." "For that very night, peacefully in his sleep, he left us." "The following months were hard." "Elenka and I quarreled, always over the same thing." "Money." "What's the use?" "It's always the same." "I sell our produce then spend all the profits on seed grain." "You'd get a good price for the farm." "Sell my father's farm?" "No." "Even if I did, what then?" " Go to the city and rent a big house." " We'd be poor in half a year." "For half a year of luxury, yes!" "It would be better than this!" "Who is it?" "Marek, open up!" "Janku." "Marek, my old friend!" "Your friend is drunk." "I?" "Drunk?" "Just had three or four glasses." "Three or four glasses." "Been to the city?" "Yes, I have, and I have great news for you." "Great news for my old friend!" " What news?" " News of money!" " Money?" " Yes, money!" "Lots and lots of money." "For heaven's sake, what do you mean?" " I mean this." " What is it?" " The winners!" " The winners?" "Yes, the lottery." "The lottery winners!" "The lottery!" "Yes." "See, there's a number." "And there's your father's name." "And next to it you see the numbers 7-7-0-7." "7-7-0-7!" "That's right!" "That was it!" "You mean your father's ticket?" "Yes, it has won hundreds, maybe thousands!" "How glorious!" "Tomorrow I'll go to the city and redeem the..." " What is it?" " Where is the ticket?" " What is it?" " The weskit." " What weskit?" " My father's." " What about it?" " The one my mother made." "What about it?" "He was buried in it." "What difference does it make?" "The ticket." "What?" "The ticket was in the pocket." "I'll go now." " Marek." " Yes." "Did you say the ticket was in the pocket?" "Yes." "Not was, Marek." "Is." " The ticket is in the pocket." " What are you saying?" " It's as clear as daylight." " What are you saying?" "It's the only way!" "May God forgive you." "You have said that you love me." "This is your chance to prove it." "Please, Elenka, don't put it like that." "Prove it!" "And so that night I became a profaner of the dead." "A robber of graves." "A ghoul." "Forgive me, Father." "I had not foreseen that the face of my father  the muscles stretched by a terrible death rigor  would look directly upon me  the dead lips drawn back  in a constant, soul-shattering smile." "Suddenly I realized I had not performed my ghastly mission." "The ticket remained in my father's pocket." "Marek, is that you?" "Did you get it?" "Was it bad?" "Are you all right, my darling?" "Is something wrong?" "Wait, I'll light the candle." "Merciful God!" "Ever since that night my face has been as you see it now." "A replica of my dead father's." "The lips drawn back in a perpetual mocking grin." "I'm unable to close my mouth." "The muscles are immovable as if held in the rigor of death." "Incredible." "Yet your power of speech seems unimpaired." "But it was." "Very much impaired." "For a long time I could hardly speak." "Only through training by the finest teachers of diction did I finally master the use of dormant muscles in the throat and palate." "I literally learned to speak all over again." "Through the years, I evolved an explanation for my affliction." "At first, my superstitious peasant mind believed Heaven had cursed me to punish me for violating my father's rest." "Or that some devilish force had reached out to stamp my face." "But I began to believe it was the massive shock that caused it." "That my guilt also helped shape it as that of my dead father." "Shock and guilt." "Strong powers not from God above nor the fiend below but from within my own heart, my own brain my own soul." "Your wife, Elenka..." "She died." "By her own hand." "You did redeem the ticket?" "Obviously." "And bought myself the resounding title of baron." "And your name?" "You're a medical man." "Surely you recognize the term sardonicus?" "Yes, the Latin term for the grimace on the faces of lockjaw victims." "Risus sardonicus." ""Sardonic smile."" "In my blighted condition, I took a great interest in the medical arts." "I read a great deal." "In my reading, I came across that term." "The bitter irony of it appealed to me, and I took Sardonicus as my name." "Does my story answer your questions?" "It answers many questions." "The strange sounds of eating I heard." "I can eat only the thinnest stews and porridges, sucking like a beast." "The sight is so offensive, I always eat alone." "The leeches?" "I tried everything." "In despair, I allowed Krull to test a folk remedy on the girl." "And the mirrors?" "If you had my face, your house would be devoid of mirrors too." "Yes, I understand." " You understand why I brought you?" " Because of my researches." "And your successes that earned you a knighthood." "I have visited famous doctors all over the world." "Keller in Berlin, Morignac in Paris Buonagente in Milan." "All great men." "None have been able to help me." "You are my last hope." "I beseech you to help me, to lift this curse from me to make me look once more like a man that I may take my place among fellow humans rather than as a gargoyle to be shunned and feared and ridiculed." "You were right to ask me." "We must never abandon hope." "I can begin treatment this afternoon." "Come on, hurry up." "Put it there." " Robert." " Maude." "Cure him." "Oh, cure him, Robert." "If you fail, I will suffer." " A wife could feel no other way." " No, you don't understand." "If you do not heal him, he'll punish me." "Surely he wouldn't beat you." "I wish he'd be content with a mere beating." " He knows more hideous torture." " It's monstrous!" "I'll demand..." "No, say nothing!" "If you do, he may embellish the punishment." " But what manner of...?" " No." "Say nothing." "He's waiting for you." " You are ready?" " Yes, Sir Robert." "Remain here." "I'll need your assistance." "What form will treatment take?" "Repeated application of heat and massage." "They've been tried and failed." "Massages differ." "I've had success with my techniques and have faith." "Share my faith." "I do." "I must." "Let us begin." "Remove the mask." "Towel." "Thirty seconds, Krull." "No more, no less." "Yes, sir." "Thirty seconds, Sir Robert." "What remains to be done?" "Nothing." "I won't deceive you I've done all I can." "It's hopeless." " I can do no more." " You must!" " I'm sorry." " Resume treatment!" "That would be futile." "I've worked well into the night!" "Leave us, Krull." "Surely there are other treatments?" "None that have been sufficiently tested on humans." "Then other possibilities do exist?" "Only in the experimental stages." "I implore you to use whatever treatments remain however untried." "They are fraught with danger." "I am ready to gamble with my life." "But I am not!" "I will offer you 10,000 crowns." "It's not a question of money." "20,000!" "30,000!" "Whatever you may desire." "No." "Very well, then I must ask you to come with me." " Where are you taking me?" " Patience." "All will be made clear to you soon." "This castle is very old." "It was built in a dim age of fearful barbarity." "This is the torture chamber of the castle." "Maude!" "What have you done?" "Nothing." "Yet." "You must know first that I am the victim of a domestic tragedy." "My wife does not love me." "She has always been a wife in name only." "She is revolted, you see." " Revolted by my face." " It's not only that." "Come, madam!" "My crudeness, my cruelty, my arrogance?" "You tell yourself this in your womanish fashion." "But it's my face you bar your door against, not my character." "If I'm pushed to my limits, if you do not cure me I'll be forced to make myself acceptable to her by extreme measure." " By torture?" " I'd gain nothing." "I merely wish to detain her in this chair while she undergoes surgery." "Surgery?" "Yes." "Surgery which will make her more sympathetic to my plight." "For this purpose, I've enlisted the services of a man who excels at surgery." "You mean me?" "No." "Someone with quite different talents." "In point of fact, he stands behind me." "Krull!" "He's no man of medicine." "I'm a man of all work, sir." "When my master says, "Do this thing," I do the thing." "Whatever it may be." "I seem to remember you saying that this was most commendable." " What devilish surgery do you plan?" " Something quite simple, really." "The risorius muscle, that which controls the act of smiling." "A few deft incisions with a sharp knife and Maude will look like me." "No!" "That lovely face will resemble mine." "When her own beauty is transformed into hideousness when she herself is a monster shunned by humankind how can she then bar her door to me?" "Krull begin." "Forgive me for tying you to the rack, but I don't wish to break your bones." "I simply felt it was the best vantage point to watch." "I did not proceed while you were unconscious." "That would have been most impolite." "Don't do it, Sardonicus." "Don't do it, I beg of you." "You beg, just as I begged in my chambers." "Do you recall?" "I begged you to try the new treatment on me and you refused." "Krull, you may begin." "Master." "Yes?" "I have done many things for you." "Things out of nightmares." "But her face..." "What about her face?" "It is so beautiful." "Are you quite certain?" "Yes, I'm quite certain." "Don't tell me that you object." "I only meant..." "Because you well know what happens to people who raise objections." "You know what happened the one time you questioned me years ago." "Or have you forgotten that once you had two eyes?" "No." "I have not forgotten." "Then begin." "Don't do it!" "Don't destroy her face!" "Stop it!" "Stop it, Krull!" "Sardonicus I'll do whatever you say." "Release the baroness, Krull." "Then release our honored guest." "You have made a very wise decision, Sir Robert." "Robert?" "Can you really cure him?" "I don't know." "It's a dangerous, untried treatment." "I'll have to send for drugs and equipment from far-off places." " I have asked not to be disturbed." " Are you making progress?" " Perhaps." " I saw Krull and a dog." "You'll see many dogs before I'm finished." "Are you preparing a cure or a poison?" " Sometimes they're one and the same." " I warn you..." "Your warnings don't frighten me anymore." "Then I demand an explanation." "Very well." "This tropical plant is known as strychnos toxifera." "The explorer Magellan wrote of a substance used on darts by South Americans." "It killed instantly, dropping large animals in their tracks." " The poison was extracted from this." " This is your so-called treatment?" "There are many poisons." "Some kill by corrosive action." "But this this kills by total relaxation of the muscles." "Particularly the lungs and heart." "And when they stop, life stops." "However, I have asked myself if a dilution of this poison might not slacken the tensed muscles of paralyzed patients." "It was only a theory." "A flimsy one at that." " Too dangerous to be used on humans." " I see." "I'm afraid a long period of research lies ahead of me." " I wouldn't want to fail." " That is correct." "See to it that you do succeed!" "I love this music." "It's exquisite but sad." "But there's strength under the sadness." "That was very beautiful." "You and your music are the only beautiful things here." "I never asked you why you..." " Why I married him?" " Yes." "It is not a very pretty story." "My father made the arrangements by letter without meeting the baron, and we sailed to seal the agreement." " Surely after meeting this brute...?" " Yes." "Even my father, who worshiped money, changed his mind." "But my father had gambled and was in debt." "He'd even misused funds entrusted to him." "The baron offered him both a reward and a threat." "The baron is fond of threats." "He offered to pay all debts and threatened to expose him as an embezzler." "So your father forced you into this unsavory alliance?" "No." "The choice was mine." "I did it to save him." "Oh, my dear." "What a charming tableau." " Sir Robert?" " Yes?" "Krull informs me a dog survived your injection." "He's a reliable informant." " Then the extract has been made safe." " Yes, but I need a few more days." " Why?" "If the dog lived..." " Men are not dogs." "I must be certain." "I'm certain enough." "I insist you perform the treatment tonight." "The risk is too great." "I refuse." "Madam take this." " But why?" " The room upstairs." "Open it." "You allow no one but yourself to open it." "Tonight I make an exception." "Will you go?" "We will follow." "Open it." "Go in." "Do not be afraid." "Robert!" "Robert!" "Someone's in here." "I sense it." "Someone's in here." "I know it!" "Why do you just stand there?" "Who are you?" "What's happening?" "Who's in there?" "Poor girl." "Perhaps it was a shock seeing him for the first time." "My reminder of earthly greed and mortality." "My nemesis." "My demon." "My father, whose grave I defiled." "Damn you." "Damn you to eternal hell." "You have no decency, no feeling!" "As usual, you speak with unwavering accuracy." "Life has erased all decency and human feeling from my heart." "It is for you to restore it." "Tonight in your laboratory." "And if I refuse?" "Then Maude stays here all night with him." "Very well, tonight." "What is that strange instrument?" "A new invention called a hypodermic needle." "South Americans use this extract to poison their darts." "You might say this instrument is my dart." "I warn you, this has never been used on a human." "It may kill you." "I urge you one last time not to insist upon its use." "You seek to frighten me, to plant distrust in my heart." "No." "But theoretically speaking what prevents me from injecting undiluted poison, killing you?" "Three things." "First, your silly code of ethics as a knight." "Second, the oath of your profession." "And thirdly the knowledge that if I die Krull has orders to put you and my wife to the slowest and most hideous of deaths in the torture chamber." "Then I accept your terms." " Will you come with me?" " Where are we going?" "Into your past." "Into your youth." "Maude, you needn't come in." "May we have some lights, Krull?" " Will you sit in this chair?" " I do not understand this." "I'll explain while Krull ties you down." " What?" " For your own good." "There may be a violent reaction." "Krull?" "There is healing of the flesh and of the spirit." "You said shock brought your face to its condition." "Remember?" "Yes." "Then perhaps shock may be your cure." "Shock and medical science." "You speak in riddles." "Medical science." "Shock." "Do you think that can shock me now?" "I have lived with it for many years." "We shall see." "Now we'll leave you alone, as you were alone in that grave." " How long?" " As long as is necessary." "Krull." "No." "Not like this." "Not like this!" "Not in the dark!" "Not in the dark!" "Not like this!" " Let him out!" " And mar my work?" "But he's suffering!" "That needle, you're poisoning him!" "He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Master." "Do not touch him, Krull." "No, baron." "Do not speak." "The muscles are so relaxed you can't move your lips." "If you attempt it, you'll destroy our work." "This condition will pass in a few minutes." "Untie him." ""By this document and the power vested in me as a lord of this land I irrevocably and forever annul my marriage with one who was no wife and for whom I have no need." "Sardonicus."" ""You have fulfilled your part of the bargain." "Name your fee, for I owe you much."" "No, baron." "You owe me nothing." "The train leaves in less than one hour." "Thank you." "Sir Robert!" "I thought we'd seen the last of you." " You must return." " Impossible." "We'd miss the train." "But he cannot open his mouth!" "Nonsense!" "But it's true!" "He cannot speak, he cannot eat or drink!" "I'm a strong man." "With my own hands I tried to pry his jaws apart." "But I could not!" " He'll starve and die!" " He won't." "You must tell him he can open his mouth himself." " But you are his healer." " I did not heal him." "The fluid I injected into his face was distilled water." "Water?" "But the tropical plant the experiments, all the dogs!" "An elaborate show." "The dogs were not dead, only drugged." "I had to make him think I was preparing a new, powerful medication." " I still do not understand." " Go to him, Krull." "Remind him of something he said to me." "His affliction came not from God above nor fiend below but from within his heart, his brain, his soul." "His cure came from within him too." "But he needs..." "All he needs is to know that he was his own healer." "Without that, he is doomed." "Yes." "I see!" "Then go at once and tell him." "Yes, I will." "Is it true the medication was nothing more than water?" "Nothing more." "I knew after the best techniques of the world's best physicians failed I'd have to work on his mental self, not his physical self." "Then the plant wasn't poisonous?" "Oh, yes." "Very poisonous." "Much too poisonous to use." "Someday its powers may be harnessed for good but that day is not yet." "And so I did not use an extract of the plant at all." "Only water." "Only water." "And his own mind." "That's how the story ends." "With the lovers living happily ever after." "But has Mr. Sardonicus been punished enough?" "Don't you agree with me that such a miserable scoundrel should be made to suffer and suffer and suffer?" "When you think of what he did to his wife and to those girls and about those leeches?" "I think ordinary punishment is too good for Mr. Sardonicus." "If you feel that way too, if you want to show him no mercy and punish him as he deserves then hold up your Punishment Poll ballot with the thumb pointing down, like this." "If, conversely, you're an "I wouldn't hurt a fly" kind of person one of those sweet, nice, kind souls who would let Mr. Sardonicus go free you should hold your ballot with the thumb pointing up, like this." "Now we're ready for voting." "No mercy, or mercy?" "Hold the ballots high, please." "Oh, come now." "Hold them up." "Please?" "That's better." "The lady in the 9th row, a little higher." "Little boy in the back, sit down so I can count the cards behind you." "That young couple on the left is that one vote or two you're casting?" "Two votes?" "Thank you." "Thank you all very much." "Mercy no mercy." "Seventeen..." "Carry the three subtract 40." "No mercy." "So be it." "You have given the verdict." "You have made the decision and the majority of you have sentenced Mr. Sardonicus to further punishment." "Mr. Projectionist, let the sentence be carried out." "Master I'm very sorry, but I missed them." "The train had already left."