Episode 339: The Old Nurse's Story

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast. Now welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of Radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:37] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:37] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:44] Speaker C: Today we present an episode of my choosing the old nurse's story from Weird Circle. Adapted from an 1852 short story by english author Elizabeth Gaskell, weird Circle presented. [00:00:57] Speaker A: Adaptations of supernatural stories by literary greats such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, and Charles Dickens. Produced by RCAS New York studios and syndicated by the Mutual Broadcasting System and later NBC, the program's modest budget can be heard in its minimal use of sound effects and incidental music. Frugality was also evident in its use of public domain stories, many of which were either too long or too short for the program's 30 minutes runtime, frequently resulting in heavy, abridged, or last minute editions. [00:01:30] Speaker B: Elizabeth Gaskell, author of the Old Nurse's story, was a prominent victorian novelist known for her insightful portrayals of social issues of her day. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848 and garnered praise from Charles Dickens, who invited Gaskell to contribute to his magazine household words. Today, Gaskell is best remembered for her 1854 novel north and South, a complex account of the social and economic tensions between 19th century Britain's industrial north and agrarian south. [00:01:58] Speaker C: Charles Dickens personally commissioned the old nurse's story for the 1852 Christmas issue of Household words, describing Gaskell's first supernatural tale as a very fine story indeed, nobly told and wonderfully managed. The question is, will weird circle do Gaskell justice? Let's listen and find out. Here is the old nurse's story from Weird Circle, first broadcast May 14, 1945. [00:02:29] Speaker A: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:02:49] Speaker D: The weird circle in this saved by the restless sea, we are met to fall from out the past. Storied, strange and weird. Bell keeper pull the bell so all may know we are gathered again in the weird circle. [00:03:28] Speaker E: Welcome to the audience playhouse for another weird circle story. Tonight we are to hear a classic mystery tale from the pen of Elizabeth Gaskell. This is an unusual story in every sense of the word, just as Ogdens fine cut is an unusual tobacco on every count. Ask the smoker who rolls his own cigarettes with Ogdens there's an unusually fine taste and aroma to Ogdens. Try Ogden's and sample its goodness for yourself. You'll find Ogden's easy to roll, delightful to smoke. Yes, easy to roll, delightful to smoke. And now, tonight's weird circle story. The old nurse's tale by Elizabeth Gaskell. [00:04:22] Speaker D: The past phantoms of a world gone by. Speak again. The immortal tale. The old nurse's story. [00:04:44] Speaker F: Hear that? That tapping on the window pane? Yes, I know. Tonight it's the wind knocking the apple tree branches against the grass. But long ago, we in the big house heard that rapping. And it was not sound made by wind, nor by any mortal means. I, Hester, have been nursed for many years to this house of Thurnvale. I spend my days remembering. Remembering and reliving the past. I recall how Miss Maude and her sister, Miss Grace, were the prettiest young ladies in this countryside. Their father, Lord Ferndale, paid little attention to the motherless girls. So wrapped up was he in music, which was his hobby. And so when he invited Tony Sorrento, a fine young musician, into the house as his guest, Lord Fernbale was blind to the court. Mister Tony paid to both the sisters. I remember like it was yesterday. For I was only in the next room sewing. I remember when Miss Maud turned on Miss Grace. Look here, Grace. Somebody's got to wake you up. You are acting awfully silly. With Tony. You're positively moon eyed. Oh, am I? [00:05:52] Speaker G: Anyway, I don't giggle at the least. [00:05:53] Speaker F: Thing Tony says the way you do. Great. Oh, Maud, let's not crawl. I wanted to tell you something for a long time, but I've been afraid you'd laugh. Promise me you won't laugh. I couldn't laugh looking at your serious face. What is it, little sister? I'm just terribly in love. Marty and Folter's going to have a fit. [00:06:12] Speaker G: But. But I can't help it. [00:06:13] Speaker F: I. I'm just awfully in love with Tony. Oh, Grace, this will never do Tony. Tony's no good. Don't say that. Don't say it. [00:06:22] Speaker G: And if there's anything you know, don't tell me, because. Because it's too late. [00:06:26] Speaker F: Grace, please don't tell him anything more. Please. [00:06:30] Speaker D: Where are you? [00:06:31] Speaker F: Here, Father, in the library. [00:06:32] Speaker D: I wonder you wouldn't answer before I yell my lungs out. Maybe you two are ashamed to face me. Oh, I know what's been going on around you. [00:06:39] Speaker F: Nothing. Nothing's been going on. We don't even know what you're talking about. [00:06:41] Speaker D: Oh, don't you? Well, the whole town knows that. Neither of you seem to care if our name is subject for the back fence gossips. [00:06:48] Speaker F: Get to the point, Father. What have you heard? [00:06:50] Speaker D: It's public knowledge that my guest, Tony Sorrento, has been causing both my girls, setting two sisters against each other. And you, you silly, stupid girls without pride or dignity, permit this trifling nobody, this. This musical dandy, to make sport of you. [00:07:05] Speaker G: Don't talk that way about Tony. [00:07:07] Speaker F: He hasn't been calling both of us. [00:07:08] Speaker D: I suppose, Grace, you think you are his heart's dis. [00:07:11] Speaker F: Father, don't be cruel. But, Grace, Father's right. Tony has been making love to both of us. [00:07:17] Speaker G: Don't tell me. I won't let it. I don't believe. [00:07:19] Speaker D: You've got to believe it, you little fool. Anyway, I have sent Tony packing, bag and baggage. [00:07:24] Speaker F: You will never see him again. [00:07:26] Speaker A: You. [00:07:26] Speaker G: You what? [00:07:28] Speaker F: Where is he? [00:07:29] Speaker G: Where did he go? You've got to tell me. I've got to go, Bailey. [00:07:31] Speaker F: Grace, you use your hair. [00:07:33] Speaker G: Oh, listen to me, both of you. [00:07:35] Speaker F: Tony and I were married yesterday. [00:07:37] Speaker D: Married? A cheap fortune hunter. Married to my daughter. I will not have it joined to our family. [00:07:44] Speaker F: But, Father, I'm his wife and your daughter, and he is your son in spite of you. [00:07:48] Speaker D: Oh, in spite of me, indeed. Not if I renounce you as my daughter. Get out. Get out. Get out of my house and don't ever come back. [00:07:58] Speaker F: If death had taken Miss Grace away, we in the house couldn't have mourned her more sincerely. Soon Miss Maud married, and we believed it was to get away from the gloomy place and from her father, rather than for love. Lord Fernvale's temper turned more hard and bitter after that, lashing out at nothing at all. And then one winter evening, after Miss Grace had been gone about six years, I was at the big house, visiting in the kitchen, when my husband rushed in telling us Miss Grace had come back. And was at that moment, standing at the front door with her was a pretty little girl. We tiptoed for. We were only human, you understand. We tiptoed to the hall door to listen. But Lord Fernbale's voice would have reached us anywhere. We heard Miss Grace say, Father, I've come back. Let's both of us forget our grievances. [00:08:51] Speaker D: You must be mistaken, young lady. I am not your father. I have one daughter living. Her name is Maud. Another daughter, Grace, died six years ago. [00:09:03] Speaker F: But I didn't die, father. I am Grace. And this is Angelita, your granddaughter. [00:09:08] Speaker G: Mommy, I'm cold. [00:09:10] Speaker F: We'll be warmed up in a moment, dear. [00:09:11] Speaker D: I have no granddaughters and only one daughter alive who married suitably and well. You've come to the wrong house, young woman. [00:09:19] Speaker F: Oh, father. You haven't changed at all, Mommy. But if you don't care about me, think about Angelita, your granddaughter. [00:09:25] Speaker C: Mommy. [00:09:26] Speaker F: Look at her, Father. She looks just like you. [00:09:28] Speaker G: I'm awful cold, Mommy. [00:09:30] Speaker D: I'm not interested in the child, nor in you. You mustn't persist in this madness till I'm your father. I tell you, my daughter Grace is dead. [00:09:38] Speaker F: All right, Father, if that's the way you want it. But don't forget, I'm your daughter. And I, too, can be hard and revengeful and mean. And I swear to you, I'll hurt you some way, somehow. I won't rest until I make you suffer. [00:09:55] Speaker G: I'll make you suffer. [00:09:57] Speaker D: You'd better hurry to the village. You may be in time to catch the late train. Good night. [00:10:06] Speaker F: We all stood like stones, so frozen we were by what we'd heard. It was a cruel night for a woman and a child to be walking to the village, for there was a bitter wind rising and snow was beginning to fall. My husband wanted to sneak out the back way and find Miss Grace and the little one and hide them in this cottage here. But the master must have guessed our intentions, for he called us in and gave us all tasks to do just to keep us busy and thwart our plans when we'd finished. We thought Miss Grace and her child had surely reached the train by that time. But in the morning, as I walked across the back hillside pasture where the sheep graze, Timothy the shepherd called Hester. Esther. Come. [00:10:52] Speaker D: Come here, quick. [00:10:53] Speaker F: What in goodness name is it, Tim? [00:10:55] Speaker D: Here, look. Look behind the pine tree, against the rocks. [00:11:00] Speaker F: Unmerciful heaven. It's Miss Grace and the little one, frozen like statues. [00:11:06] Speaker D: I heard about them coming to the big house. They. They must have got off the road and got lost in the blinding snow last night. [00:11:13] Speaker F: Oh, Timothy, it's awful to see them sitting there. I can just imagine how Miss Grace and the little one groped their way up the hillside and thought they'd take shelter behind the pine tree against the rock. All the poor, lost things, mind you. [00:11:27] Speaker D: Hester, how the big rock is just like a stone chair for her and the little one. Well, maybe their souls have peace and rest now. [00:11:40] Speaker F: I wonder. I wonder, after all that's happened and the way they died, I wonder if their souls will ever find rest. He never knew how the master felt about the tragedy, but was plain to all. He was a softer man after that, though. Whether it was the death of grace and the child, or good news that came within the week, or both together that changed him, it's hard to say, for Maud gave the house of Fern veil and air the masking Robert. Lord Thorndale was fairly bursting with happiness and pride. He couldn't do enough for the boy. Lady Maud often brought Master Robert to visit at the house, and we all agreed he was an uncommonly fine, bright boy. We'd nearly forgotten the tragedies of the past, but we were soon to be reminded of them with awful clearness. When Master Robert was going on six years old, Lord Fernbale sent word to my cottage for me to come to the house and see him. [00:12:40] Speaker D: Mister, my daughter Maud and her son Robert are coming to stay several months this winter with me. Her husband has business in the Far East. I would like you to act as nurse to the boy. [00:12:53] Speaker F: Oh, sir, I'd be very pleased. Master Robert's such a sweet child. [00:12:57] Speaker D: Robert's the only heir to carry on our family name. I want you to take very good care of it. [00:13:03] Speaker F: Oh, indeed. I shall care for Master Robert like he was my own son. [00:13:07] Speaker D: Mister, I'm an old man. I. I want peace now. I want Maud to be happy here. She's never been told about the death of grace and the child, Angelita. We fearnvales are not very forgiving. I can't say how Maud would react if she knew the circumstances under which her sister and niece died. But what's past is past, and I can't change it now. Hester, I want you to promise me you won't ever speak of grace and of past events. [00:13:39] Speaker F: Please don't say another word, sir. You can be sure I won't speak of what's none of my business. How could I know that this would soon become very much my business, and that I would be tempted to break my solemn word to the master? Indeed, we were all so happy the first few days Lady Maud and young Robert were with us that it hardly seemed possible our household had ever been anything but happy. And then one day, I was playing a game with Robert on the library floor, and his mother sat knitting and smiling at us when we heard a tapping. A light tapping on the window. I doubt Robert's mother or I would have noticed the sounds, but Robert from and looked toward the window. [00:14:23] Speaker G: Mommy, I'll bet that little girl come to play again. Oh, I can't see her very play, little girl. [00:14:30] Speaker F: I didn't know there were any children around here? Oh, there aren't any, ma'am. There's not even a house within 3 miles of us. Yes, that's true. What little girl would be walking 3 miles in the snow just to see you, Robert? [00:14:41] Speaker G: I don't know her name yet, but I see her most every day. She stands outside the window and knocks like that till I notice her. And then when I go out, I can't find her anywhere. There. You hear that? You just wait. In a minute, you can see her. You'll see her playing. [00:15:02] Speaker F: But if she's knocking on the window, why can't we see her now? [00:15:05] Speaker G: I don't know. She calms and rolls just like a shadow. [00:15:11] Speaker F: What does a little girl look like, Robert? [00:15:13] Speaker G: Oh, she's just a girl. She's awful cold, though. She just shivers and shivers. There. There she is. There. Mommy. Foster, look. Look. There's a little girl right outside the window. [00:15:41] Speaker E: Well, friends, as Elizabeth Gaskell's absorbing story unfolds, we shall see that young master Robert seemed headed for an undeserved fate because of his grandfather's unreasoning cruelty. We shall see, too, that the appearance of the little girl at the window is only the beginning of a chain of events of startling nature. But now let's talk of the chain of events that lead to complete smoking satisfaction. If you roll your own cigarettes, the first step is a visit to your tobacconist and the purchase of the handy green package labeled Ogden's fine cut. From there, the process is a smooth series of adventures in smoking enjoyment. For the roll your own cigarette smoker, just try the rich goodness of Ogden's. It's roll your own smoking satisfaction at its best. See how uniformly Ogden's rolls into a cigarette of fine consistency. A superior smoke every time the popularity of Ogden's has been attained. With good reason, for Ogden's is your guarantee of consistent, high quality. Try Ogden's. You'll find Ogdens easy to roll, delightful to smoke. Yes, easy to roll. Delightful to smoke. And now back to our story. Grace Fernbale enraged her father by an unsuitable marriage. When she returns with her five year old daughter, Angelita, Lord Fernvale insists Grace is dead and refuses to let them enter. Grace screams that somehow she will make her father suffer. The following morning, the bodies of grace and the child are found in the back pasture, frozen like statues. Lord Fernvale's other daughter, Maude, has married, and her small son Robert, is loved by his grandfather. Robert tells of the shadowy figure of a little girl he sees outside the window, who beckons him to come to her. Maud, Robert and his nurse hear the tapping on the window, but only Robert can see the little girl. [00:17:49] Speaker F: There. [00:17:50] Speaker G: There she is. See her, Mommy? Hester, look. Look. There's a little girl right outside the window. [00:17:56] Speaker F: But I don't see anyone. Robert. Where? Where do you see her, Robert? Where is she? Standing? [00:18:00] Speaker G: Right there. Right. Snack inside of the window. Oh, Mommy, I don't want to go out and bring her in so she can get warm by the fire. [00:18:07] Speaker F: All right, Robert, bring the little girl in. Oh, ma'am, don't let him go out there. Please, Count. You see, there's no little girl outside the window. Lester, Esther, I'm going to prove to Robert that the little girl he thinks he sees is imaginary. Now, run along, Robert. Put on your coat and go bring in that cold, shivering little girl kid. [00:18:26] Speaker G: That she wants me to hurry up. Say, Mommy, you know something? The little girl looks a little like you. Well, goodbye, Mommy. Goodbye, Hester. I'll get her. [00:18:38] Speaker F: Oh, thanks to verbal, ma'am. No, I'm sure. What I'm sure of. What are you sure of, mister? Oh, I can't tell you, ma'am. That's what I thought. Hester, the people around this countryside believe there's a ghost up every chimney. I was half frightened out of my life by the ghost stories I heard when I was a child. Now, I don't want Robert to believe those old superstitions. But how do you account for the knocking, those taps? I can't account for them right at this moment, but if I took the trouble to investigate, I'm sure I'd find some logical reason. Well, if you'll excuse me, ma'am, I want to run out and see that Robert's all right. Wait a minute, Hester. I'll go with you. We'll all three of us look for that little girl. Robert's mother and I got outside the house quickly, and we followed Robert's little footprints in the snow to outside the library window. His mother said, well, here are just Robert's footprints. There are no others anywhere around. That's how I thought it would be. Come now, Hester, don't make a mystery out of nothing. You see, Robert's footprints lead around to the back of the house. He's probably going to the kitchen to beg a sweep from the cook. Yes, ma'am, I see. But I think I'll follow around, if you don't mind. I think I do mind. I don't like the fear and hysteria in your voice. Robert will sense it, and then he really will imagine he's seeing things. Go in the house, Hester. I'll get Robert. It seemed hours I waited in the house. I remember I went from room to room, pressing my face against each window, looking. Looking for Robert. I could hear his mother calling very softly, with confidence, then louder and louder. Finally, I knew she was frantic and afraid. I thought of Grace's last words to her father. I won't rest till I make you suffer. I'll make you suffer. Cold fear, like tempers, crushed my heart as I thought of little Robert, the only heir to the family of Fernvale, and how through him, terrible vengeance could be wrought. Finally, I heard the front door slam and boys being in the hall. Father. [00:20:36] Speaker D: Father, what's wrong? [00:20:38] Speaker F: Father. I can't find Robert. I followed his footsteps to the back of the house, but then I lost them. So many people had been walking there. [00:20:44] Speaker D: Oh, now, calm yourself. [00:20:45] Speaker E: What? [00:20:46] Speaker D: The boy can't have gone far. Well, this has to. Why wasn't she with him? [00:20:50] Speaker F: Oh, it was my fault. All my fault. I wouldn't let her look for him, but. Call everybody. Now, everybody. Get everyone out to look for Robert. I got ready as fast as I could and joined in the search, and I started straight for a certain place I knew so well, for I had notions of my own about where Robert could be found. But I'd only gone a few steps when Lord Thorndale saw me and called Esther. Where are you going? To the back pasture, sir. [00:21:18] Speaker D: Wait a minute. I'll come along. Why would Robert wander over to this rocky, lonely place? [00:21:23] Speaker F: I. I don't think Robert wandered alone, sir. [00:21:26] Speaker D: What do you mean, Hester? [00:21:28] Speaker F: Don't ask me, sir. You think I'm crazy. [00:21:30] Speaker D: Wasn't it here somewhere that Timothy found Grace and her child Angelita? [00:21:35] Speaker F: Yes, it was. With only a few steps more to the pine tree in that rock that's shaped like a tree. Oh, come on, sir. [00:21:41] Speaker D: Hey, Hester, do you believe that curses and threats can be effective after death? [00:21:47] Speaker F: I don't know, sir. There's some who claim they've known of such things, but I'm sure I don't know. Around this way, sir. [00:21:53] Speaker G: Around the trees. [00:21:53] Speaker E: Yes, yes. [00:21:54] Speaker F: Oh. Oh, there he is. Oh, little rabbit. Look at him sleeping. Sleeping on the very rock. That's like a chair. [00:22:04] Speaker D: Great heavens. Is he alive? Is he? Is he breathing? [00:22:07] Speaker G: Mommy. Mommy's alive. [00:22:10] Speaker F: So cold. [00:22:11] Speaker G: So cold. [00:22:13] Speaker F: Wrap him in my coat. [00:22:17] Speaker G: Where are you? [00:22:18] Speaker D: Here we are, Maud. Come around the big pine tree. We found Robert. [00:22:22] Speaker G: Oh, thank heaven. [00:22:25] Speaker F: Oh, how did he get here of all places? And what's happened to him? Oh, he's unfair. [00:22:32] Speaker G: Aunt Grunt Auntie Grace. Auntie Grace. Where's Aunt? [00:22:39] Speaker F: Aunt Grace. My sister. Why, Robert didn't even know he had an aunt Grace. And who's Angelita? Pay no attention. He's a bit delirious. It's just a strange dream. [00:22:53] Speaker D: Yes, a very strange dream. Esther, run ahead and get the doctor. [00:23:03] Speaker F: For days and nights, we fought for Robert's life. In his delirium, Robert kept up a running conversation with Aunt Grace and cousin Angelita, first with one and then the other. And Lady Maud asked me so many questions, which I dared not answer, for I promised the master. We took turns sitting by the bed. And as I sat alone one night with Robert, I thought, what a terrible power hatred is. For I had no doubt but that Robert had been led to the stone chair where the bodies of grace and Angelita had been found. And that he had been led there through the hatred and vengeance of grace. And then I thought, doesn't love, too, have power? Indeed, aren't we taught that love is greater than hatred? In fact, greater than all else? And then I said aloud, Grace. Grace, don't hurt Robert. He's never harmed you. Let the child go. Let go of your hatred. What's done is done. Forgiving is a happier way than hating. Listen to me, Grace. Forgiving is a happier way than hating. And true as I'm sitting here, from that night on, Robert turned for the better. In a few weeks, he was up and about, his bright little self playing again. And I was not surprised when soon after Robert's recovery, his mother came here to the cottage to see me. Hester, I've heard rumors and whispers at the house, and I've overheard things in the village. I know something about my sister. Grace has been kept from me. I want you to tell me what it is. I thought you'd ask me that. Before long, I promised your father never to speak of it. [00:24:56] Speaker A: What? [00:24:57] Speaker F: The past is past. Why not let it be? Because I think I have a right to know. Strange things have happened, and I won't understand them now. Why not ask my father to release you from the promise of keeping silent? Will you give me your word to hold? No gratis, no matter what you hear, will you promise to be forgiving? Yes, Esther. I promise. Then I'll go back to the big house with you and speak to your father. I'll get my coat. Hester, do you notice there's a strange light in this room? A red glow. Oh, ma'am, look. Look out the window here is fire in the big house. [00:25:35] Speaker G: It's the reflection. [00:25:36] Speaker F: We see Robert Roberts in the house. Oh, come on, Hester. Quickly. We must save Robert. We must. [00:25:42] Speaker G: We must. [00:25:44] Speaker F: We ran as fast as we could across the snow covered lawns to the big house, but by the time we got there, it was a mass of shooting fire. It seemed to me that if anyone were inside, he could never get out alive. In front of the big house, men were trying to hold someone back. It was Lord Fernvale, struggling desperately. [00:26:10] Speaker D: Let me go, you fools. Hold on now, sir. It's hopeless, sir. There's nothing. Rob us inside. I've got. [00:26:17] Speaker E: Let me go. [00:26:18] Speaker B: It's no use. [00:26:19] Speaker D: Nobody can stop me. [00:26:21] Speaker G: Let go of me. [00:26:23] Speaker D: Help us. That's the end. The end of this house. [00:26:40] Speaker F: Yes. The house crumbled and fell, burning to the ground. And the head of the proud family of Fendale died with it. For he had rushed in to save Robert and had perished there. We thought Robert had perished, too. But as we stood there, fairly paralyzed with grief and shock, we heard Robert's voice. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Mommy. [00:27:01] Speaker G: Oh, mommy. Robert. Robert. [00:27:04] Speaker F: Oh, child. You can't believe my eyes. You're not real. [00:27:09] Speaker G: Sure I'm real. Only Angelita isn't real. She told me she isn't. She couldn't even like. [00:27:17] Speaker F: What do you mean? What do you mean to light the fire? [00:27:20] Speaker G: Well, she came to the window again, and I asked her in to get warm, but the fire was out. So I tried to make a big light in the fireplace with papers and say, go on. [00:27:31] Speaker F: Go on, child. Then what happened? [00:27:32] Speaker G: Well, Angelita said she wasn't real and she couldn't help me, so I did all by myself. But, mommy, somewhere. Shawl that was on the chair, but the fireplace got a burn on it. And then the shawl lit up the curtain, and just everything began to burn. [00:27:51] Speaker F: What did you do? How did you get out? [00:27:53] Speaker G: Oh, I wanted to stay and see it, but Angelita made me run. We got out through the french windows and ran up the hillside where Angelita's mommy lives in the snow. And Hester. Auntie Grace that I was to come back and tell you something. [00:28:10] Speaker F: Robert, your aunt Grace doesn't live anywhere near here. Dear. You mustn't make up stories like that. Let him tell it, ma'am. Let him tell it. [00:28:19] Speaker G: Well, Auntie Grace said she's sorry for what happened, and she says she doesn't hate anybody any longer. [00:28:27] Speaker F: Is Robert talking about it? We'll have a talk later, ma'am. I guess now this family can live in peace. Without fear of vengeance and old hatred. [00:28:37] Speaker G: Oh, yes, Auntie said I must never forget some words. She said, I must remember that forgiving is a happier way than hating. [00:28:50] Speaker F: Oh, Robert. [00:29:06] Speaker D: From the time worn pages of the past, we have brought to you the old nurse's story. Bell keeper, hold the bell. [00:29:35] Speaker E: Life has many an unexpected surprise. The touching climax in tonight's presentation of the Ogden playhouse is an excellent example. So, too, is the pleasant surprise awaiting smokers who roll their cigarettes with Ogden's fine cut tobacco for the first time. It's a surprise that means smoking satisfaction. What's more, it's a happy surprise you can enjoy with every cigarette rolled with Ogden's fine cut tobacco. Try a package. You'll find Ogden's easy to roll, delightful to smoke. Yes, easy to roll, delightful to smoke. Next week at this time, another weird circle mystery play, the middle toe of the right foot by Ambrose Bierce. Join us, won't you? If you smoke a pipe, try Ogden's cut plug. It's a cool, fragrant smoke. It's a delight in a pipe. [00:31:00] Speaker A: That was the old nurse's story from the weird circle here on the mysterious old radio listening Society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:31:10] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:31:10] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Joshua picked that for us this week for this podcast recording. Why? What's going on? What's your story? [00:31:20] Speaker C: Weird Circle is one of those series that we've listened to several of, and I always feel that on paper, this should be one of my favorite old time radio series, right? It's a spunky, low budget production team doing classic supernatural tales from literature. And then somehow, whenever we listen to it, they're just not good. So I set out to find one that I could really defend and enjoy. And so I listened to a lot of okay to outright nonsensical episodes of Weird Circle. And then I hit this one. And I had read the original story before, and it did many of the things that weird Circle does to a piece of literature. It rewrites it. It has stilted performances. But I thought, for me, that it did it effectively within a weird circle parameter, or more effectively than other weird circle adaptations I had heard. And then I chose this almost two months ago because of the tiny, whimy way that we choose episodes for this podcast. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:39] Speaker C: Particularly because I needed to mention what was next week's episode on the live episode. [00:32:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:44] Speaker C: That we actually released last week but recorded in 1981. Yes. And so I sat down, listened to it again, and realized, you know what? This is a lot better if you've listened to a bunch of lousy, weird circles before and after it. So while I still stand by it as a choice, my caveat is context is everything. And I also want to get out in front of at least one thing about this production that I know will be contentious, and I know I will probably be in the minority, but after listening to it again, I'm like, nope, it works for me in the context of weird circle, and that is the children's voices. [00:33:27] Speaker A: Okay. [00:33:28] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, of course it is. But I find those eerie little kid voices speaking, even though it's adults performing it, but speaking in this high diction and very adult dialogue that disconnect there, I find distressing. [00:33:48] Speaker A: I find it distressing, too, but not for that reason. They sound like cartoon mice, like from old looney tunes or Tom and Jerry cartoons. They sound like to me, they were. [00:34:00] Speaker C: In keeping with the style of child performance of the era. Sounded a lot to me like a lost little rascal short. [00:34:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:34:10] Speaker C: And so it sounded to me like adults imitating that. [00:34:12] Speaker B: The one where froggy dies in the cold. [00:34:14] Speaker C: Yes. [00:34:16] Speaker A: You know how that dude did die? [00:34:18] Speaker B: No. [00:34:19] Speaker A: Like 13 years old. Fell off the back of a motor scooter that he was. [00:34:24] Speaker B: I had no idea. [00:34:25] Speaker A: Yeah, he was killed. He was. He wasn't driving it. He was riding on the back of it and fell off of it. It. That's a really quick version of that. But wasn't a great life a little off topic? Yeah, well, you can't say little rascals. [00:34:38] Speaker B: Fair enough. [00:34:39] Speaker A: Not a froggy story. I completely, 100% understand everything you just said. I've been there. I've been in this situation. Well, you know what? I'm looking for one of this particular series, and I can't tell if I finally found one or if it's just because I've been listening to so many of these. This is good for this series. Two, I get what you're saying about those kids voices, either on the precipice of, oh, that's terrible and annoying, or is it creepy and mortifying and fitting into the context of victorian era storytelling? So I'm with you on that, too. [00:35:19] Speaker C: Where kids were thought of as these angelic. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Yep. Innocent beings without having done what you did with all the weird circles. It was really boring for me in the sense that the approach was a narrator that was reading to me, the woman narrator, like a bedtime story, a kind of a ghastly fairy tale, but it sound was like a bedtime story, and so it. There was no pace. Or there is a missing element from. [00:35:53] Speaker C: The story which would have helped. [00:35:56] Speaker A: There was a. I wish they had an orangutan. Giant. A giant talking monkey. [00:36:01] Speaker C: She's telling this story to the little children she's currently the nursemaid to. So she is telling a bedtime story, horrifying ghost story to young children. [00:36:15] Speaker A: So bravo. You did that very well. [00:36:18] Speaker C: But that's not. [00:36:18] Speaker A: You should have told us that for. [00:36:19] Speaker C: The weird circle because they didn't include that. You shouldn't have to go read the story first. [00:36:23] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:36:25] Speaker C: I mean, you should. [00:36:26] Speaker B: Oh, there it is. [00:36:28] Speaker C: I mean, you're an illiterate slob, but I'm not disagreeing. [00:36:33] Speaker A: You're just stupid. Had I known that, I would have been a little bit more on board for the ride. It didn't pick up the pace. It didn't pick up the suspense or intensity or anything. Nothing felt at stake because of the narrator's pace and style to the narration. Does that make sense? Like, I didn't get any. Even when the things knocking at the window, the thing that little girl and, you know, the kids sees her and they don't. Whatever wasn't full of. [00:37:01] Speaker C: Is it complete lack of incidental music, perhaps? Because in most other radio dramas you would get a. Or an organ sting. There. There would be something to tell you. It's suspenseful in the music. And that's one thing that I actually enjoy about some of these low budget horror shows is that they have to do it all by themselves. And fair enough. You're saying without the music, they aren't doing it well enough to keep you hooked. [00:37:27] Speaker A: And you're talking to a guy that defends heartily the original Dracula movie that has no music. And a lot of people find fault with that. Why? It doesn't stand the test of time. Because there's no music to guide you. I believe, as I've said many times, that the Dracula movie without the music from 1931, because there's no music, makes it really intensely scary for me. And I don't think it needs music. So to answer that question, you can write a great piece of horror, suspense, tension without music telling you, hey, guess what this is tension. So if it's not doing it for you without the music, then it. Then it's writing production, performance. Right? Because Legosi with a flashlight in his eyes, all I needed to see. Stop it. It's a. I bet you that every one of those takes, like, what have we done? Ow. [00:38:28] Speaker C: It's right in my eyes. It's supposed to be Mister Lugosi. [00:38:33] Speaker B: I really enjoyed this. Oh, the end. [00:38:36] Speaker A: Tim, tell him stuff again, it was. [00:38:40] Speaker B: Out of the context of other weird circle. I thought, like, oh, this has some appealing parts to it. In context of weird circle, I thought, this is quite good. [00:38:48] Speaker C: Okay, good. I'm not completely crazy. [00:38:51] Speaker A: No, I will agree with that. [00:38:53] Speaker B: The children performance stood out to me, but didn't bother me. It was just like every time that there would be a child talking, I just acknowledge, like, that's an adult that's taking me out of this for just a second. But it doesn't ruin it for me. [00:39:08] Speaker C: My path with the kids, just to clarify, is that I had that same response the first time the child spoke. But as the story got darker. [00:39:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:17] Speaker C: And they were doing and seeing scarier things, I found the voices more unsettling. So they drew me back into that choice. [00:39:27] Speaker A: But were there any other choices? And bear with me on this. It wasn't done that they brought in actual children to do children's voices. I can't think of any shows until we get to the Thanksgiving. You know who you. What's the Thanksgiving show where she hears the voice screaming lady screaming lady. [00:39:46] Speaker C: But the screaming woman. [00:39:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Lady screaming. [00:39:50] Speaker C: That's a child screaming lady. [00:39:54] Speaker A: But that's. That's a child actor in that. And she's quite good. And we've talked about it, we've done it, and we think she's amazing. I'm trying to think, like, they never have kids actually being kids. And from 1933 till 1945, and that's. [00:40:09] Speaker C: An absolute guess, keeping with the victorian era, they should have had children, actors who they didn't pay. [00:40:18] Speaker A: Right. Right. [00:40:19] Speaker C: Put them to work them back to the workhouse after they were done recording? [00:40:23] Speaker A: It's a weird thing, though. Why did they choose to go with, more often than not, with adults doing children voices instead of actual children? I'm wondering why. [00:40:32] Speaker C: I think because most of the time it's live, and I'm sure they did not trust children to perform live. I think if they were pre recording at this time, they probably felt more comfortable bringing in young actors. [00:40:44] Speaker B: This script has had fairly sophisticated dialogue for these kids, which. That was a choice that you don't necessarily need to make that the case. [00:40:52] Speaker A: But if a kid can't, on cue, say someone's out the window, that kid's in for a long life. Like, come on, you gotta find a kid. [00:41:02] Speaker B: Or abruptly short life. [00:41:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:41:08] Speaker C: Like froggy. [00:41:09] Speaker A: Right. [00:41:10] Speaker C: So all fair about the voices. What I would like to discuss is the ghost story itself, which is what I found appealing. And I think part of where it loses Eric is that you are not a fan of victorian ghost stories, that it's a much slower pace. [00:41:29] Speaker A: Yeah, let's be honest, I didn't even know that sentence existed until ten years ago when we started this. Like, you've done all of my introduction, other than a Christmas Carol, of course you've done all of my introduction. Everything I know about victorian anything is. [00:41:45] Speaker B: Because of you, because you don't enjoy it. As a testament to how poorly we have presented it. [00:41:49] Speaker C: Correct. Yes. [00:41:51] Speaker A: No, I think, though, it's safe to say at this point that I've been exposed to enough of it, that I have listened to enough of it, I've read or whatever in our time doing this, that I think it's time for me to just go. Yeah, I guess that's just not my era, not my thing. [00:42:06] Speaker C: And you're right, it is a lack of car chases. Right. Explosions. [00:42:13] Speaker A: But metaphorically speaking, there's a lack of that immediacy pace and frantic. Right. And the chaos, it moves at a very slow pace to. Which, again, why do I like Browning's Dracula so much? That's pretty slow. [00:42:27] Speaker C: Because you saw it as a kid. [00:42:29] Speaker A: Right. There it is. [00:42:31] Speaker C: That's exactly right. [00:42:32] Speaker A: That in the Partridge family, like, just ruined me. Yeah. [00:42:36] Speaker B: That's terrifying. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Like, is he their manager or does he live there? What? [00:42:43] Speaker B: Is he alive or dead? [00:42:44] Speaker A: Who is this? Kinky. [00:42:46] Speaker C: So weird when they're playing their music and there's no. No sound. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Right. [00:42:52] Speaker B: To get back to the ghost story and then ignore it. [00:42:56] Speaker C: I can always count on you, Tim. [00:42:57] Speaker B: Thank you. Really. One of the things I really responded to and liked best was the choice to tell this whole story through the nurse's eyes of a largely impartial outside observer who's not that close to what's going on, but still not emotionally close. I'm not even saying that. Right. But it's just not immediate to her. Yeah, that was really interesting. And then to see her slowly get woven into the events and ultimately become the person who makes. Makes the big difference, the real monster. [00:43:32] Speaker A: The real horror of this. And I don't know if this is the intention, but for me, walking away from this story and I didn't feel like they made either the original author or this radio version made any effort or thought that the villain is that father to turn away his daughter twice in her life for something that. And then to put her outside. [00:43:59] Speaker C: But. [00:43:59] Speaker A: So the villain becomes the reveal. [00:44:01] Speaker C: He's the villain of this, but at. [00:44:02] Speaker A: The end, there's, like, a lot of, you know, don't talk about this. And he seems so nice in front. I just like he should have gotten his. [00:44:09] Speaker C: Well, I don't think it's productive to go into a big description of the story. I've decided that after 330 some episodes. But I will say that he is not the same presence in the original story that he is. It's almost exclusively female characters in the short story. And they manned it up here. [00:44:30] Speaker A: Yeah. How could you do that? [00:44:33] Speaker C: I do think it's fascinating that there is a little bit in the changes that the weird circle chose to make this interesting parallel between the two vows that are made. There is the vow made out of hatred and bitterness, as it's described, of grace. Ironically, it is Grace who makes this vow out of hatred and bitterness to make her father suffer. And then I think to contemporary ears, the weird vow that you just brought up that the nurse makes to not tell the other sister about the heinous crime committed by the father. And one is made out of wrath and the other is made out of this sense of duty. [00:45:25] Speaker B: I love the pause. [00:45:27] Speaker C: This is why you can't have child actors when you're recording duty. Duty. [00:45:35] Speaker A: Tell me more about duty. [00:45:39] Speaker C: So I obviously, I think listening to this, I resented the fact that the nurse didn't just tell on that father. That's where some of the tension came from. Right. And the message of forgiveness is happier than hate or I can't remember exactly how it's expressed. And that's that message learned. It sounded really trite at first, but the lesson at the end is that her hatred was actually impeding justice being met out. Because as soon as this ghost withdraws her wrath, the father's killed, and so justice is delivered to him. It's just that the ghost, and I guess ghosts, plural, the child and the mother are released as well because they forgave. And so I think it's interesting that their forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences or that there is not justice for the father who did such a hateful thing. And that, I thought was a little sophisticated of a delineation for weird circle. [00:46:49] Speaker B: That is the one thing that I felt like that's the story is trying to have its cake and eat it too, of to forgive the father, but also he's got to pay. [00:46:58] Speaker C: I don't. [00:46:58] Speaker B: I guess that's the benefit of the person who forgives him gets the benefit, but him actually being forgiven doesn't get him anything. [00:47:06] Speaker C: No. But at the same time, he makes that choice himself. It's not like he's just sitting in his study and, you know, house of Usher style. It just collapsed on top of him. [00:47:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Even if he softened, he still didn't repent. He still didn't tell his other daughter about it. Yeah. [00:47:22] Speaker C: And he risks his life to save the grandson. [00:47:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:47:25] Speaker C: In the story that is Rosamund, not Robert. So it's another little girl and him going in to save her, who wasn't a male heir, would have had more power because then it would have been like, oh, I sent my daughter and my other granddaughter away. But parallel, regardless of the sex of this grandson, I'm gonna go in and save them. I've repented of my way. So it is a little muddy there, I will give you that. [00:47:54] Speaker B: But that's all. Interesting that in both of these cases, the abandonment of the promise is better for everyone, that these promises were kind of bindings that were preventing resolution. [00:48:07] Speaker A: Also muddy is the phrase making love. It has such a wide range of. [00:48:13] Speaker B: It means one thing, connotations, one thing only. [00:48:16] Speaker A: But it didn't. It used to mean more flirting. Right. And not just sex. [00:48:22] Speaker C: It used to mean the work part of it. [00:48:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:25] Speaker C: I think now, I mean, the pay. [00:48:27] Speaker A: Right? The paya, when that phrase is used now in trying to make the content. Well, he's been making love to both of us, right? He's like, wait, what? Oh, right. The old timey word, the old timey way. He's been making. He's been flirting with both of them. [00:48:44] Speaker B: Because weird circle couldn't afford the Barry white tunes to put underneath there to really connotate what was happening. [00:48:52] Speaker C: But I also like that this retains some of Gaskell's obvious empathy and sympathy for women in victorian society because this woman is manipulated by Tony, the young musician. And ultimately, if she shows up at her father's door with a child, he's abandoned them. I mean, that's the only reason. I don't think she would have run away. Or if she did run away, it's because he's abusive, right? Like, one way or the other, he has done her wrong. And then the father turns her away. Right? Like, so it is men at the heart of this that are the problem. I'm glad that's changed. [00:49:38] Speaker A: Well, let me say this. You said about 2 hours ago when we started this discussion, you said, oh, in 300 and some episodes, I've learned not to go into telling the story that I've read. Let me completely disagree with you. I really enjoy when you have those details of you've read the story and you bring them to this podcast. [00:50:01] Speaker C: I should have said, I've learned when that's actually beneficial to the discussion and when it's just me excitedly saying, that was awesome in the story, this happened and then this happened. [00:50:12] Speaker A: I like that, too. [00:50:13] Speaker C: The story is close enough to this, but yet really different that it would be confusing to describe the story too much. And it's different enough that you could go away and read it and still enjoy it. So I don't want to ruin it for those five listeners who are going to run out. [00:50:28] Speaker A: I just want you to know that we really appreciate your input and your. Your research, because it's like ten minutes. [00:50:35] Speaker C: Where you don't have to talk. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Correct. I just said that you really contribute. [00:50:39] Speaker B: To the team, and we think it's. You're gonna have a real future here. [00:50:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, that war and peace, will you sum that up for us? [00:50:49] Speaker B: Well, it starts with a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte. I have read War and Peace. [00:50:56] Speaker C: Wow. [00:50:56] Speaker F: Wow. [00:50:57] Speaker B: Yes. [00:50:58] Speaker A: And for a minute, I thought you said blown apart. That was cool. [00:51:02] Speaker B: Well, there is in there who at least one who, like, has his limbs blown off. He looses an arm. [00:51:07] Speaker A: Is his name blown apart? [00:51:08] Speaker B: No, I think it's Andrew. [00:51:13] Speaker C: Again, this is why I don't think it's always beneficial for a conversation to recount. Do the stories we've read, do you. [00:51:22] Speaker A: Have anything else to add to it? [00:51:25] Speaker C: I have two things. One, I just want to mention that I appreciated, well, in this radio adaptation, as well as just the victorian era's obsession with these really grim ghost stories on Christmas, I mean, yeah. The adaptation, as well as the story halves a young mother and her daughter freezing to death and discovered in some sort of retroactive intertextuality with the shining. Just like frozen. Right, right side. That's just like, oh, that's really grim and little match girl and perfect for Christmas time. And last of all, I did want to mention, I haven't heard many weird tale or weird circles with commercials, and I thought the hilarious use of awkward transitions. [00:52:12] Speaker A: Thank you. That was gonna be my list. The awkward. [00:52:15] Speaker C: I'm stealing that for one of our original scripts for. [00:52:19] Speaker A: What was the last one at the end? That was the best. [00:52:22] Speaker C: Oh, it said, the appearance of the little girl at the window is only the beginning of a chain of events of a startling nature. But now let's talk of the chain of events that lead to complete smoking satisfaction. [00:52:34] Speaker A: Right. I'm trying to grab my notes. [00:52:37] Speaker B: First, observe behavior. Second, access to nicotine. [00:52:44] Speaker A: He says at the end. Well, the end of this story was a pleasant surprise. And another pleasant surprise are these cigarettes. That was his transition, and I want to argue. I don't believe that the end of that story was either pleasant or a surprise. [00:53:03] Speaker B: Ah, the grandchild's still alive. [00:53:04] Speaker A: Yeah, right. [00:53:06] Speaker B: Okay. [00:53:07] Speaker A: There was nothing I didn't expect, didn't happen. You knew the minute they were dead that they were coming back to haunt them, and that was the story. And that's pretty much what happened. [00:53:18] Speaker C: I think you're rolling into your vote here, Eric, so have at it. [00:53:23] Speaker A: Really good for weird circle, but I'm not a fan of this style of supernatural or suspense or ghost storytelling, and so it just didn't ring any bells with me and doesn't stand the test of time for sure. For me, not a classic for sure, but didn't make me angry. Like, you know, like, sometimes it can be so bad, you're like, oh, my God, when does this end? It wasn't that. So that's a saving grace. I was like, okay, that happened. [00:53:52] Speaker C: I don't think it's a classic by any means. If, like me, the strange voices were a feature, not a bug, then I think this still works as a pretty classic victorian ghost story with all the atmosphere and chills that suggests it's very much in the vein of turn of the screw. I. So I. I enjoyed it. And in the context of weird Circle, it's really good. [00:54:21] Speaker B: Yeah. It's hard to decide if you would say this stands the test of time because it's a quite good adaptation of a victorian ghost story, which maybe that does not set the test of time inherently right. But that being said, it's a very good adaptation. And as we said, particularly context of weird circle, which often has a whiff of disappointment to the episodes. This had a lot of nice touches and surprises. [00:54:48] Speaker A: I will say it is the worst of all the signalmen. [00:54:53] Speaker B: We haven't heard them all yet. [00:54:55] Speaker A: Ah, Tim, tell him stuff. [00:54:57] Speaker B: Please go visit ghoulish delights.com if you have a chance. You know, in your own time it is. We have other episodes of this podcast there. You can leave comments on them, vote in polls, let us know what you you think while you're there. You can also link to our shop and buy some mysterious old radio listening society. Swag. People love swag. I love swag. I'm wearing some swag right now. And you can also link to our Patreon page. [00:55:22] Speaker C: Yes. Go to patreon.com the morals and please support this podcast. Our patrons are really great. I always want to tell people to just give us money, which is not a bad idea. But I also want to take a moment to thank all of our existing patrons. We do a lot of interactive stuff with our patrons, and when we thought about doing it at first when we started our Patreon account, we were like, this could end badly. [00:55:52] Speaker B: But they are terrible people. [00:55:54] Speaker C: They are great people. We do live zoom happy hours and hang out with our patrons. We have a discord server just for our patrons, and I do my every other month mysterious old book club, where, yes, occasionally we have discussed victorian ghost stories. Eric was there and just made raspberry sounds in the background. No, he wasn't there. [00:56:18] Speaker A: No, I've never gone to a book club. [00:56:21] Speaker C: Not at all. He just waits outside my house to beat me up after book club. So go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. [00:56:30] Speaker A: The mysterious old radio Listening Society is also a theater company that does recreations of classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original audio drama live on stage. And you can find out where we're performing, what we're performing, and how to get tickets every month by just going to ghoulishdelights.com. there you'll see where, when, and how. Usually the places we're performing at on a regular basis have great food. It's a great night out, so please come see us now. We're not terrified to meet you anymore. As Joshua just said, turns out you're all pretty decent humans, so come see us and say hi if you can't, though, we do record them, and it's part of being a Patreon. You do get the video of our live performances as well. Ghoulishdelights.com. what's coming up next? [00:57:19] Speaker B: Is it me? Yeah, it's me. We'll be listening to an adaptation of an Arthur Conan Doyle story called the Lost Special, an episode from escape. [00:57:30] Speaker A: So until then, alfalfa, you know, happened to live but probably shouldn't have.