 The weird circle. In this cave, by the restless sea, we are met to call from out the past stories, strange, and weird. Bellkeeper, pull the bell, so all may know we are gathered again in the weird circle. Phantoms of a world gone by speak again that immortal tale, William Wilson. I thought you weren't going to come to my party tonight. This is one party I wouldn't miss for all the cobblestones in New York. I hear you're going to announce your engagement to my old buddy, William Wilson. That was supposed to be a secret until midnight. Who told you? Usual grapevine aura. No secrets in this clubby little group. Well, where is Bill now? In the library. He hates crowds, you know it. Well, he wanted to be alone for a while. Let's find out. Well, I think it's in the library, Charles. Bill! Bill, darling. He's wanted to get a doctor somebody. I'll call the doctor right away. What happened, darling? If I were a detective, I'd say he tried to bump himself off and miss. I'll be quiet, Charles. Oh, Bill. It does look like attempted suicide, doesn't it? It's also strange. It's so strange. Well, nothing strange about this setup, old boy. A gun in your left hand, a bullet hole in your left side. Pretty neat. Are you enjoying it, Charlie? Well, I can't say that I'm not. I came to suffer through your wedding. Who knows, I might stay and enjoy your funeral. Really, Charles? Your sense of humor is out of place. You hate me, Charlie, don't you? Boo Black, you never could stand a guy with brains. Brains? Those muscles in your head are so twisted they look like handcuffs. Why did you do it, Bill? All right, you've got to believe me. I didn't. I didn't do it. Oh, who did, Bill, and then why? Come on, William Wilson. We want the straight goods for a change. But I didn't. You might die, mister. Put your cards on the table. My cards on the table? You wouldn't believe me if I told you. None of you would. It all started back in college. When you and I were rooming together at the fraternity house, Charlie, it was one night you were sitting at the desk studying and I was trying to shave. I was peering in the mirror at myself. Why are you getting so slicked up, Bill, old boy? Got a date. With Dolly Masefield? Cute little something, isn't she? Oh, Bill, she's not your type. She's good for laughs. Well, you don't need laughs every night. What would you suggest? Oh, gee, Bill, if I had your dough, I'd, well, I'd work hard at college and meet a nice girl and think about getting married. Ouch. I almost cut myself. Oh, I mean it. About getting married, Bill. So you mean it. What do you want me to do? Bury myself? Well, no, but, oh, gee, take me, for instance. I know I'm a dope, but I got just enough money to see me through college. Yeah, I know. The $3,000 your old man left you. You're a boob to spend it in this place. You'll wind up with a blank bank account and a dirty piece of parchment to show for your trouble. You've got the wrong slant on life, Bill. I have. Listen, stupid. You've been seeing Oris St. Clair for three years now. She's alive with money. If you'd get on to yourself, you'd spring the question, put her in double wedlock, and get your fingers on that money. I'm in love with Oris, Bill. Love, love, love. Right. I'd never touch a cent of her money. You're crazy, Charlie. Well, oh, boy, I don't want to be late. Hey, hey, Bill. Have you met the new boy in the house? What new boy? A freshman just came in today. Sounds fascinating. What about it? Well, nothing except he's got the same name you have. Are you kidding? No, I just thought you'd be interested. There can't be two William Wilson's. If there is, there won't be for long. Boy, what an ego you have. What great Scott fellow. You waste more time talking than you do anything else. Yeah, which all adds up to the fact that I'm going to stay home and study tonight. Nothing doing, Charlie. I got a date with my dolly. Night. That was the first time I ever heard of the other William Wilson. The knowledge that he existed rankled in my soul. That evening as I stepped out into the hall and walked halfway down the stairs, I was stopped by my double. He looked just like me, rather like a poor imitation. I'm the first that he was my evil genius. He didn't act like a freshman when he said... Hello. I've been waiting for you here in the hall. You've been waiting for me? Who are you? I'm your namesake. You can call me Wilson. There's nobody home at the Fraternity House except you and me and Charlie. I thought it would be a good chance to get acquainted with you. I'm sorry, I'm busy tonight. It might be worthwhile getting acquainted with me. What do you want anyway? I'll walk you downstairs. Don't trouble yourself, Wilson. You might be better off never knowing me. I might be, but... Save it, I said. See you some other time, Wilson. Charles! Charlie! Is there something I can do for you, lady? Oh, yes. I'm Orison Clair. I promised to call for Charlie Vernon tonight. What do you call him for me? Well, you're Orison Clair. Well, all right. Oh, would you tell Charlie I'm here? Well, I would if I could, but he's not in. Oh, but he promised you... Imagine him forgetting a date with a nice girl like you. Oh, that's strange. Do you know where he is? Yeah. I mean... Well, gee, Miss St. Clair, I don't think I ought to tell you. Is he out with another girl? Well, now that you've guessed it, I guess I'll have to say yes. I see. I'm sorry. I don't look like that. Suppose I see you home. That's not necessary. It'd be a pleasure. I'd do anything for Charlie. Come on, Bill. Is that you again, Wilson? Yes, it's me, Bill. Don't you think you ought to stick around here this evening? Don't you think you ought to mind your own business? Maybe you are my business. What? Stop ribbing me, fella. I don't like it. Come on, Miss St. Clair. I think you and I will have a lot to talk about. This is awfully nice of you. Well, I don't even know your name. William Wilson. Don't forget that, my sweet, the one and only William Wilson. That's how I met horror. We spent the entire evening together, Charlie. We had a lot of laughs. It was well past midnight when we said goodnight to each other. And I was about to go home when I remembered that I hadn't even called Dolly Macefield to tell her I couldn't make it. Knowing Dolly's temperament, I decided to drop up to her apartment, even though it was late. I knocked on the apartment door. Well, well, well. Look what the breeze brought in, Mr. Heartbreaker. Aren't you going to even ask me in? I'll never talk to you again. That's what. Who do you think you are, Mr. King of Siam? No, that's the way you feel. Wait a minute. Come on in, Bill. I've been worried stiff about you. That's more like my doll, baby. Got a kiss for me? Sure. I got a kiss for you. Oh, Bill, I love you so much. Come here. There, Dolly. Where were you, Bill? Um, where was I? Don't you trust me, Dolly? Sure, I trust you. I had something important to attend to. Come on, give us a smile. There. I like to see you smile, Dolly. I like it a lot. I do most anything for you, Bill. I'm glad to hear that, because I've got to ask you a favor. Anything you want. I want you to stay away from me from now on, baby. You and I are through. Through? Oh, Bill, what are you talking about? Don't joke with me. Listen, no joke. I'm serious. I'm giving up to you right from the shoulder, kid. But you're joking, aren't you? No, I'm not. I found a girl I want to marry. She's class, Dolly. Real class. With plenty of money. You got me? He'll never marry her, Bill. She'll find out what a cheap foreflusher you are. I'll tell her. I'll tell her a lot of things about you. You pretended to have so much money and barring from me all the time. Pretending to be such a big shot when you got holes in your shoes. Shooting off your mouth. Shut up. Shut up, Dolly, before I make you shut up. Nobody's going to tell anybody anything. That is, if you're smart. And I think you are. Okay. I know what everybody thinks of me. But I made up my mind to marry Aura. Nobody was going to stop me. I saw Aura every day and every night after that for the next three weeks. Things went according to plan. I thought I was rid of Dolly Macefield for good until... You remember that night, Charlie, you and I, Wilson was sitting around the living room of the fraternity house, chewing the fat. It was all Wilson's fault. I knew from the first time I saw him, he was my evil genius. And you were saying... I just can't understand it, Bill. I've been calling Aura every night, but she won't talk to me. Yeah, that's how women are, Charlie. Why don't you tell him why, Bill? Get out of this, Wilson. It won't make any difference now. You said mind your own business. You are my business, Bill. What are you talking about, Wilson? Ask Bill why you never saw Aura the night she was to call for you. Ask him. Go on, Charlie. Bill? Well, what did Bill have to do with it? What difference does that make now? It's all over and done with. Aura's not interested in you anymore, Charlie. She told me so herself. You... You dirty, double-crossed... Sit down, Charlie, and cool off. Why don't you write Aura a letter and tell her the truth, Charlie? Well, what's the use? But I'll get even with you someday, Bill Wilson. Don't think I won't. I'll answer it. Now, you make a good doorman, Wilson. I told you, Charlie, to grab the girl while you had the chance. You didn't tell me you were going to stick a knife in my back. The smart guy gets what he wants in this world. Here's William Wilson here. You have to be smart, like me. Yes, he's in the living room. Oh, Bill. Well, look who's here. But isn't the doll, baby, yourself? Hello, Bill. Hello, Dolly. Meet the boys. This is Charlie Vernon. The doorman is my double, William Wilson. Hello. How do you do? How do you do? Tell you what I'll do for you, Charlie. I'll give you the doll, baby, here in exchange for Aura. How's that? That's fair. You make a man sick, Bill. Bill. Bill, I gotta see you. Well, you see me. How do I look? Alone, I mean. I told you not to bother me anymore. Please, Bill, if you've any pity... Pity? Sure, I got pity. Where do we go? Anywhere you say, Bill. How about the river? Hmm? How about a nice walk down to the river? Sure, Bill. That's a good place for what I want. That's just about perfect. Walk down to the river, Dolly, and I. For a talker, she was silent that night. And I knew she had more up her sleeve than her pretty white arm. We got to the edge of the river. We sat down to watch the boat steam by. Bill, I can't live without you. So what? I'm gonna give you one last chance, Bill, to be a decent guy. You're gonna give me a chance? What a lad. Oh, Bill, don't you know what you're doing to yourself? You're trying to marry a girl that ain't for you. You once told me that you and me was cut from the same piece of cloth. Yeah, I once said a lot of things. Now we are cut from the same piece of cloth. Here are no good bum, but I love you. Oh, we could help each other. You could go straight and be honest and hide work right with you every inch of the way. Nobody else would do that for you, Bill. What do you expect me to do? Chuck $20 million into the lake for you? Listen, Dolly, don't try any tricks. Bill, please, please, Dolly. You don't fit into the picture anymore, don't you get it? Oh, what'll I do? Who cares? Kill yourself. Make it easier all the way around. You wouldn't care? Send you a dozen posies. If I jumped in the river, you wouldn't care? Why should I? Oh, watch me, Bill. I don't think any man's as hard as you pretend to be. So I'm watching. You've held me in your arms. You've kissed me. You've said you loved me. Doesn't that mean anything? It did when I said it, I guess. You can never tell what a guy's gonna say. Can you really watch me, Bill? Even though I love you? I can't watch anything, baby, when I'm sitting on $20 million. Watch me, Bill. Watch? Ah, you fool, jump and get it over with. You can't bluff me. I love you, Bill. Don't forget that. Dolly! Well, it was your choice, kid. You picked your grave, not dying it. Nice work, William Wilson. Nice work. What are you doing here? I tried to follow you. I have a feeling I'm a little late. She wanted to kill herself. I wasn't thinking about Dolly, Bill. I was thinking about you. Don't give me that stuff, Wilson. I don't go for it. I'm always thinking about you, Bill. But you're too smart to allow anybody to help you. And I'm afraid it's too late for you to help yourself. Cut it out, William. Cut it out. Let me worry about my own soul. If it's damned, then I'll be the one to suffer, not you. Not you. Dolly was dead. Nobody knew about it, except Wilson. I knew he wouldn't tell. At least I thought he wouldn't. I don't know why, but I just knew. There was only one other person in the way of my plans. That was you, Charlie. You were in the way, and I had to get rid of you. It took me some time to plan the right attack. It was right after mid-years, remember? How could I forget? I was alone in the room with you, Charlie. I was toying with a deck of cards. Stop that shuffling, will you, Bill? I gotta shuffle them. Gonna play some two-handed stud with Wilson. I'm nervous enough waiting for the mid-year report. You'll pass. Don't worry. If I don't pass, what happens to me then? I got $1,000 left. Not enough to pay for any full-years' course anywhere in the country. What makes you so sure you flunked? You know why. Still thinking of aura? Sure, I'm still thinking of her. Day and night. Bill, isn't there a decent chord in you somewhere? Why don't you go to aura and tell her the truth? Why don't you? Hello, Charlie. How are you, Bill? It's about time you got here, Wilson. Sorry, Bill. I hate to keep you waiting. Have a seat. What do you want to play for? Name your own figure. Well, how about a $5 limit? Good enough. Want to sit in on a hand, Charlie? No, thanks. I couldn't. Game of stud, it'd be good for you. Take your mind off your troubles. The stakes are sort of high. Maybe you'll win some money. Have a nose, you need it. Okay. Well, I might sit in for a while. Cut for deal, Vernon. It might bring you some luck. Don't you ever lose, Bill? Not very often, oh, boy. Not very often. Want to bet again? Easy, Charlie. Quit now while you've still got $600 left. I can't quit now. I can't. I tell you, I gotta win. I gotta. Let's double the stakes. Double it, triple it. Anyway you want, Charlie, old boy. Three o'clock, Bill. It's not up to me to quit. I'm the winner. It's up to Charlie. How about it, Charlie? I haven't got much choice, have I? I'm flat busted. Well, that's tough luck, Charlie. That's real tough luck. You've got my girl. You've got my money. You've got everything, haven't you, Bill? Just everything. You shouldn't gamble if you can't afford it. Come on, Charlie. I got that check for the full amount, $1,108. I haven't got that much money in the world, and you know it. Well, give me a thousand then. I'll take an option on that empty solar yours for the rest. What's the matter? You gonna welch? I don't welch. Where's the pen? Here it is, Charlie. Don't get sore. Give it to me. Make it out nice and clear, huh? That's a boy. Here you are. Thanks, Charlie. Where are you going, Charlie? As far away from here as I can get. I'm gonna get a job, a good, honest job. Someday I'll be back. And I won't forget you, Bill. I'll never forget you, no matter how long I live. Someday I'm gonna get even. Keep your shirt on, Charlie. If you'll pardon me, good night. Nice work, Bill. Keeping an even score. What are you talking about, Wilson? The three aces up your sleeve. And the cards from the bottom of the deck. If you saw me, why didn't you tell her? I don't have to. Other eyes are watching you beside me. Many other eyes. Eyes that keep the records of our lives. So I cheated you, Charlie. You didn't even know it. You left town and it was clear sailing for me. All the way. Yeah, it was clear sailing. Right to the altar. At least almost to the altar. Except for one thing, which you didn't know, Bill. One little thing. I left the fraternity house that night, but I didn't leave town. I went to Aura's house and I told her the full story. Charlie, this isn't a new story to me. All along I've known Bill's pretty rotten. But I'm in love with him. I'm horribly in love with him. Do you know what I mean? Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I'm fascinated by him. And yet there's something almost appalling about him. He's crude and earthy and... How can I make you understand? I think I understand, Aura. Sometimes I wish I'd never met him. You'd have been better off. And then again I'd... I'd die without him, Charlie. That's my answer. I'm so sorry, my dear. It's all right, Aura. Someday I'll be back. When you need me. I don't mind being an old shoe for you. I'll be back and I hope you've gotten over and by then. That was a right touching scene. Yeah. Maybe you still got a chance, Charlie, if that doctor doesn't get here soon. But you still haven't told me who... Bill, what happened tonight? Well, I graduated from college. And you and I became engaged. And you sent out the invitations to this ball tonight. To all my old friends. Even to Wilson, the one man I didn't want to see. I was standing in the ballroom a little while ago, watching you, Aura. And Wilson beckoned to me. He was in the doorway of the library. Somehow or other I felt drawn to it. I... I had to go there. Even though I didn't want to. I walked in, closed the door behind me. Hello, Bill. What do you want? You know what I've come for. Why don't you turn on the lights? Are you afraid of the dark, Bill? What are you talking about, Wilson? The world you'll know will be dark forever. Are you trying to threaten me? I don't think I have to threaten you. You threaten yourself by your mere existence. Who are you anyway, William Wilson? Don't you know, Bill? Stop looking at me that way. Think back, Bill. Think back a long way. Remember, Dolly. I don't want to die, Bill. I just want to threaten you. I don't want to die. I love you. Remember her screams and your laugh? Remember what Charlie said? You'll pay for this someday, Bill. You'll pay for it. I warned you. I've warned you many times. And I never told on you. Do you know why? I don't care why. Think hard, Bill Wilson. Think hard. I'm the only one who knows the truth. I'm the only one who stands between you and success, William Wilson. You carry a gun. Don't you, Bill? Don't you? What's the difference if I do? Why don't you kill me? There nobody will... Love you. Hate you. Love you. Hate you. Yes, I will kill you. I will. There can only be one, William Wilson. There's never been more than one, William Wilson. I'm wounded. I aimed the gun at you. At you, Wilson. Wilson. Wilson. Where are you? Wilson. No, no, I couldn't have dreamed it. I couldn't. That's the entire story. You don't have to believe me, but it's the truth. Here's the doctor, Bill. Just lie still, son. Don't try to move. I don't feel sick, doctor. I'm just stiff. Sort of paralyzed, you know what I mean? Let's have a look at this. Hey, doctor, how bad am I? Just lie still. Doctor, is he... There's a sudden pain, doctor. I felt fine before, but... Bill, Bill. I'm afraid it's too late. The bullet lodged near his heart. An exertion of talking was too much for him. If he hadn't talked, doctor, would he...? No, my dear. He must have had a lot on his conscience. He must have had a lot on his conscience to have held up this long. William Wilson, I'm waiting for you. Come along, Bill. Wilson, what are you doing here? Just waiting for you, Bill. Waiting so that two halves of a soul can be reunited. Come along, Bill. Take my hand. Your hand. It's dark here, Wilson. So very dark. Yes. I'll have to lead you. And we've a long journey here, Bill. An awfully long journey on the road back. From the time-worn pages of the past we have brought to you William Wilson. Bellkeeper. Toll the bell.