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00:00Gates of Imagination presents Novel of the Iron Maid by Arthur Machen
00:05Read by Arthur Lane
00:07I think the most extraordinary event which I can recall took place about five years ago.
00:16I was then still feeling my way.
00:20I had declared for business and attended regularly at my office,
00:23but I had not succeeded in establishing a really profitable connection
00:27and consequently I had a good deal of leisure time on my hands.
00:31I have never thought fit to trouble you with the details of my private life.
00:36They would be entirely devoid of interest.
00:39I must briefly say, however, that I had a numerous circle of acquaintance
00:43and was never at a loss as to how to spend my evenings.
00:47I was so fortunate as to have friends in most of the ranks of the social order.
00:52There is nothing so unfortunate, to my mind, as a specialised circle,
00:58wherein a certain round of ideas is continually traversed and re-traversed.
01:04I've always tried to find out new types and persons whose brains contain something fresh to me.
01:10One may chance to gain information even from the conversation of city men on an omnibus.
01:15Amongst my acquaintance, I knew a young doctor who lived in a far outlying suburb
01:21and I used often to brave the intolerably slow railway journey
01:25to have the pleasure of listening to his talk.
01:28One night we conversed so eagerly together over our pipes and whisky
01:32that the clock passed unnoticed
01:34and when I glanced up I realised with a shock
01:38that I had just five minutes in which to catch the last train.
01:41I made a dash for my hat and stick
01:44and jumped out of the house and down the steps
01:46and tore at full speed up the street.
01:49It was no good, however.
01:51There was a shriek of the engine whistle
01:52and I stood there at the station door
01:54and saw far on the long dark line of the embankment
01:58a red light shine and vanish
01:59and a porter came down and shut the door with a bang.
02:04How far to London? I asked him.
02:07A good nine miles to Waterloo Bridge
02:09and with that he went off.
02:13Before me was the long suburban street
02:15its dreary distance marked by rows of twinkling lamps
02:19and the air was poisoned by the faint sickly smell of burning bricks.
02:24It was not a cheerful prospect by any means
02:27and I had to walk through nine miles of such streets
02:29deserted as those of Pompeii.
02:32I knew pretty well what direction to take
02:35so I set out wearily
02:36looking at the stretch of lamps vanishing in perspective
02:39and as I walked
02:41street after street branched off to right and left
02:44some far reaching to distances that seemed endless
02:47communicating with other systems of thoroughfare
02:50and some mere protoplasmic streets
02:53beginning in orderly fashion with serried two-storied houses
02:57and ending suddenly in waste and pits and rubbish heaps
03:02and fields whence the magic had departed.
03:05I have spoken of systems of thoroughfare
03:07and I assure you that walking alone through these silent places
03:11I felt fantasy growing on me
03:13and some glamour of the infinite.
03:15There was here I felt
03:18an immensity as in the outer void of the universe
03:21I passed from unknown to unknown
03:24my way marked by lamps like stars
03:26and on either hand was an unknown world
03:30where myriads of men dwelt and slept
03:32street leading into street
03:34as it seemed to world's end.
03:37At first the road by which I was travelling
03:39was lined with houses of unutterable monotony
03:42a wall of grey brick pierced by two stories of windows
03:46drawn close to the very pavement
03:48but by degrees I noticed an improvement
03:51there were gardens
03:52and these grew larger.
03:55The suburban builder began to allow himself a wider scope
03:58and for a certain distance
04:00each flight of steps was guarded by twin lions of plaster
04:03and scents of flowers prevailed over the fume of heated bricks.
04:08The road began to climb a hill
04:10and looking up a side street
04:12I saw the half-moon rise over plain trees
04:15and there on the other side
04:16was as if a white cloud had fallen
04:18and the air around it was sweetened
04:21as with incense.
04:23It was a May tree in full bloom.
04:26I pressed on stubbornly
04:28listening for the wheels
04:29and the clatter of some belated handsome
04:31but into that land of men
04:33who go to the city in the morning
04:34and return in the evening.
04:37The handsome rarely enters
04:38and I had resigned myself once more to the walk
04:41when I suddenly became aware
04:44that someone was advancing
04:45to meet me along the sidewalk.
04:47The man was strolling rather aimlessly
04:50and though the time and the place
04:52would have allowed an unconventional style of dress
04:55he was vested in the ordinary frock coat
04:57black tie and silk hat of civilisation.
05:00We met each other under the lamp
05:01and, as often happens in this great town
05:04two casual passengers brought face to face
05:07found each in the other
05:08an acquaintance.
05:11Mr. Mathias, I think, I said.
05:14Quite so.
05:15And you are Frank Burton.
05:18You know you are a man with a Christian name
05:20so I won't apologise for my familiarity.
05:23But may I ask where you are going?
05:26I explained the situation to him
05:28saying I had traversed a region
05:30as unknown to me
05:31as the darkest recesses of Africa.
05:34I think I have only about five miles farther,
05:37I concluded.
05:39Nonsense, you must come home with me.
05:41My house is close by.
05:43In fact, I was just taking my evening walk
05:45when we met.
05:47Come along.
05:48I dare say you will find a makeshift bed
05:50easier than a five-mile walk.
05:52I let him take my arm
05:54and lead me along
05:55though I was a good deal surprised
05:57at so much geniality
05:58from a man who was, after all,
06:01a mere casual club acquaintance.
06:03I suppose I had not spoken
06:05to Mr. Mathias half a dozen times.
06:08He was a man who would sit silent
06:09in an armchair for hours,
06:11neither reading nor smoking,
06:14but now and again
06:15moistening his lips with his tongue
06:17and smiling queerly to himself.
06:20I confess he had never attracted me
06:22and on the whole
06:24I should have preferred
06:25to continue my walk.
06:26But he took my arm
06:28and led me up a side street
06:29and stopped at a door
06:31in a high wall.
06:32We passed through
06:33the still moonlit garden
06:35beneath the black shadow
06:36of an old cedar
06:37and into an old red brick house
06:40with many gables.
06:42I was tired enough
06:43and I sighed with relief
06:45as I let myself fall
06:46into a great leather armchair.
06:49You know the infernal grit
06:50with which they strew the sidewalk
06:52in those suburban districts.
06:54It makes walking a penance
06:56and I felt my four-mile tramp
06:58had made me more weary
06:59than ten miles
07:00on an honest country road.
07:02I looked about the room
07:03with some curiosity.
07:05There was a shaded lamp
07:07which threw a circle
07:08of brilliant light
07:08on a heap of papers
07:09lying on an old brass-bound
07:11secretary of the last century.
07:13But the room was all vague
07:15and shadowy
07:16and I could only see
07:17that it was long and low
07:19and that it was filled
07:20with indistinct objects
07:21which might be furniture.
07:24Mr. Matthias sat down
07:26in a second armchair
07:27and looked about him
07:28with that odd smile of his.
07:30He was a queer-looking man,
07:32clean-shaven
07:33and white to the lips.
07:35I should think his age
07:36was something between
07:37fifty and sixty.
07:39Now I have got you here,
07:41he began.
07:42I must inflict my hobby on you.
07:45You knew I was a collector.
07:46Oh yes,
07:48I have devoted many years
07:49to collecting curiosities,
07:51which I think are really curious.
07:53But we must have a better light.
07:56He advanced into the middle of the room
07:58and lit a lamp
07:59which hung from the ceiling
08:00and as the bright light
08:02flashed round the wick,
08:03from every corner and space
08:05there seemed to start a horror.
08:07Great wooden frames
08:08with complicated apparatus
08:10of ropes and pulleys
08:11stood against the wall.
08:12A wheel of strange shape
08:14had a place beside a thing
08:16that looked like
08:17a gigantic gridiron.
08:19Little tables glittered
08:21with bright steel instruments
08:22carelessly put down
08:24as if ready for use.
08:25A screw and vice
08:26loomed out
08:27casting ugly shadows.
08:29And in another nook
08:30was a saw
08:31with cruel jagged teeth.
08:34Yes,
08:35said Mr. Matthias,
08:37they are,
08:37as you suggest,
08:39instruments of torture,
08:40of torture and death.
08:43Some,
08:43many I may say,
08:45have been used.
08:46A few are reproductions
08:48after ancient examples.
08:50Those knives
08:50were used for flaying.
08:52That frame is a rack
08:53and a very fine specimen.
08:56Look at this.
08:57It comes from Venice.
08:59You see that sort of collar,
09:00something like a big horseshoe?
09:02Well,
09:03the patient,
09:04let us call him,
09:05sat down quite comfortably
09:06and the horseshoe
09:08was neatly fitted
09:08round his neck.
09:10Then the two ends
09:11were joined
09:11with a silken band
09:13and the executioner
09:14began to turn a handle
09:15connected with the band.
09:18The horseshoe
09:19contracted very gradually
09:20as the band tightened
09:21and the turning continued
09:23till the man
09:24was strangled.
09:26It all took place quietly
09:28in one of those
09:29queer garrets
09:30under the leads.
09:31But these things
09:32are all European.
09:34The Orientals
09:34are, of course,
09:35much more ingenious.
09:37These are the Chinese
09:38contrivances.
09:39You have heard
09:40of the heavy death.
09:41It is my hobby,
09:42this sort of thing.
09:44Do you know,
09:45I often sit here,
09:47hour after hour,
09:48and meditate
09:48over the collection.
09:50I fancy I see
09:51the faces of the men
09:52who have suffered,
09:54faces lean with agony
09:55and wet with sweats
09:57of death,
09:58growing distinct
09:59out of the gloom,
10:00and I hear the echoes
10:01of their cries
10:02for mercy.
10:04But I must show you
10:05my latest acquisition.
10:07Come into the next room.
10:10I followed Mr. Matthias out.
10:13The weariness of the walk,
10:14the late hour,
10:16and the strangeness
10:16of it all
10:17made me feel
10:18like a man in a dream.
10:20Nothing would have
10:20surprised me very much.
10:22The second room
10:23was as the first,
10:25crowded with
10:25ghastly instruments.
10:28But beneath the lamp
10:29was a wooden platform,
10:30and a figure stood on it.
10:33It was a large statue
10:34of a naked woman,
10:36fashioned in green bronze.
10:38The arms were stretched out,
10:40and there was a smile
10:41on the lips.
10:43It might well have been
10:44intended for a Venus,
10:46and yet there was
10:46about the thing
10:47an evil and a deadly look.
10:50Mr. Matthias looked
10:51at it complacently.
10:53Quite a work of art,
10:55isn't it?
10:55he said.
10:56It's made of bronze,
10:57as you see,
10:58but it has long had
10:59the name of the Iron Maid.
11:01I got it from Germany,
11:03and it was only
11:04unpacked this afternoon.
11:06Indeed,
11:07I have not yet had time
11:08to open the letter
11:09of advice.
11:10You see that very small
11:12knob between the breasts.
11:14Well,
11:14the victim was bound
11:16to the maid,
11:17the knob was pressed,
11:18and the arms
11:19slowly tightened
11:20round the neck.
11:22You can imagine
11:22the result.
11:23As Mr. Matthias talked,
11:26he patted the figure
11:27affectionately.
11:29I had turned away,
11:30for I sickened
11:31at the sight of the man
11:32and his loathsome treasure.
11:34There was a slight click,
11:36of which I took no notice.
11:38It was not much louder
11:39than the tick of a clock,
11:41and then I heard
11:42a sudden whirr,
11:43the noise of machinery
11:44in motion,
11:45and I faced round.
11:47I've never forgotten
11:48the hideous agony
11:49on Matthias' face,
11:51as those relentless arms
11:52tightened about his neck.
11:54There was a wild struggle,
11:56as of a beast in the toils,
11:57and then a shriek
11:58that ended
11:59in a choking groan.
12:01The whirring noise
12:02had suddenly changed
12:03into a heavy droning.
12:05I tore with all my might
12:07at the bronze arms
12:07and strove
12:08to wrench them apart,
12:10but I could do nothing.
12:12The head had slowly bent down
12:14and the green lips
12:15were on the lips of Matthias.
12:17Of course,
12:18I had to attend
12:19at the inquest.
12:21The letter
12:22which had accompanied
12:22the figure
12:23was found unopened
12:24on the study table.
12:26The German firm
12:27of dealers
12:28cautioned their client
12:29to be most careful
12:30in touching the iron made,
12:32as the machinery
12:32had been put
12:33in thorough working order.
12:51of the