 In 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 the immortal tale, the diamond lens. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Good morning. You are Mr. Pike, aren't you? I am, sir, but I don't believe I remember your name. So many doctors and professors come to me. Naturally you don't know me, Mr. Pike. This is the first time I've even been in here. My first day in New York, as a matter of fact. My name's Lindley, Alan Lindley. I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Lindley. And what can I do for you this nasty morning? Are you in the biological line, botanicals, or logical medicine? All and none. Look, Mr. Pike, there's no sense disguising facts. I'm you here. I'm you to the world of science. But you'll hear about me before long. I'm sure we will, sir. I have come to New York to do something no man has yet done. And that is? I have come to revolutionize the science of the microscope. Indeed, sir. You've bitten off a tremendous job for yourself. May I ask if you've had any previous training in the technique of the microscope? Training? No, but who needs it? Who wants it? I have something more. Something none of your driest dust professors and routine written doctors have. Love, devotion, passion. Science does not lend itself easily to the emotions, Mr. Lindley. It does to mine. All my life, every thought, every desire, every yearning has been devoted to the microscope. I think it. I breathe it. Look out at the rain. Where you, where anybody sees only a drop of water rolling down the window, I see a universe of beings animated with all the passions common to physical life and convulsing their minute sphere with struggles as fierce as those of man. Indeed, sir, but that is only dreaming. The science of the microscope demands patience, skill, years of practice. Ha! You talk like a fool. I would trade a century of practice for an ounce of inspiration. And I have that pike. Inspiration like a volcano. Well, I'll show you soon enough. I hope you will, Mr. Lindley. Here's a list of what I want. Mr. Lindley, you can't afford to purchase all this. It will amount to... Whatever it is I can pay. Here's a thousand dollars in gold and a count. I want all this apparatus delivered to my rooms on 4th Avenue, no later than tomorrow morning. Here's the address. Mr. Lindley. And watch the scientific journals from this day on, Pike. Because very shortly you will see the name of Alan Lindley, Microscopist, blazed like a star in the heavens. I believe you, Mr. Lindley. I really do. For the novice to embark on such a course as you have set for yourself, you must be either a genius or... Or what? Or a madman. It's Cora Nonsense. The landlady said he hasn't left his rooms in six months. Alan! Alan, you scoundrel! Come on! Who? Dad. Cora, but... Looks guilty, eh, Cora? Like a thief caught in the act. No, Mr. Lindley. You promised you wouldn't bully Alan. Hello, Alan, darling. Aren't you going to ask us him? Of course. Come in, both of you. I'm afraid the place is a bit of a mess just now. I'll try to find chairs. Mess? Mess? Looks like a confounded junk shop. What's all this glass and metal and apparatus? Well, I... I suppose it's an amateur laboratory, so to speak. I'm trying hard to turn myself into a professional microscopicist. A professional piddler? Now, look here, son. I'm not going to mince words. Now, Mr. Lindley. Don't now me, Cora. You may be in love with this scoundrel, but I'm his father and I have plenty to say. What is it, Dad? What's the matter? The matter is six months and six thousand dollars. For six months, we haven't heard from you. Not a letter. Not a message. For six months, you've been buried in this blasted city. Dead, for all we might have known. And the only word from you was a draft on my bank for six thousand dollars. That's how we found your address, Alan. This confounded nonsense has got to stop. It's not nonsense, Dad. And it's only begun. Blast, children, fertile Olympiadirns. You promised me a year in New York. A year of independence to follow my own career. You said it was a fair gamble. Either I'd find myself or get it out of my system. Find yourself, yes. But not squandy yourself. Not spend a fortune and live in a filthy pigsty like a dealer in bottles and old glass. This junk here... Don't touch it! Don't touch it! Touch it! I wouldn't soil my fingers. Now listen, Alan. The bargains ended. Cancel. Finished. You're to come home at once. I will not. You'll do as you're told. For one year I'll do as I please. Not without an allowance, you won't. And I mean that, sir. Not another penny for this foolishness. Not another penny until you come home, marry Cora, and get the work. It's home or star. All right. Now get out of here. I ought to break my cane over your backside. Get out! Alan! Mr. Lindley, please. Cora, I... Will you wait for me downstairs, Mr. Lindley? I'd like to speak to Alan alone. You're wasting your time, Cora. He needs to be convinced with a stick. Please, Mr. Lindley. Very well, very well. Tell the ruffian who poses as my son that I stick to my decision. He's to come home or stop. I'm sorry, Alan, dear. Darling, Cora, I... I haven't even had a chance to say hello, really. Well, there's no one stopping you now, Alan. Oh, darling, how I've missed you. I know, I know. Only something terribly important could keep you away from me so long. Then you do understand. A little. Enough. It's so big for me. I've reached a blind alley, a blank wall. All this equipment that cost a fortune, it's imperfect, inadequate. But, Alan... Night after night, I dream of the perfect microscope. A dream instrument of immeasurable power that will pierce the envelope of matter down to the original atom. But, darling, that's impossible. Don't you see, I can't give up until I've found that microscope. You do understand, Cora. Yes, darling. I understand, and you're right. You must stay here. Bless you. I'll see what I can do with your father. I only hope I can pacify him a little. Thank you, darling. And while you're struggling with your problem, don't forget that it's mine, too. Even if I don't understand all your complicated science. Goodbye, Alan. Goodbye. You are fortunate, Delfendi. She is a beautiful woman. What? It's too bad she departs in tears. Who the devil are you, and what do you want? Forgive me, Delfendi. But my room is next to yours. I could not help overhearing. My name is Simon Belfaris. I am a very small person with no consequence. A dealer in trifles, a buyer and seller of insignificance. Yes, well, I've worked together... One moment, Mr. Lindley. Pardon if I presume. But I could not help hearing you speak of problem. The perfect microscope lens? What about it? I understand you are baffled in search for this marvel of science. Effendi, has it never occurred to you that two heads are better than one? Meaning yourself? Not so. But no, I speak of Madame Vulpes. Who? Madame Vulpes. Most famous medium in city. Most powerful in world. A medium? Yes, great medium. By heaven's water woman. I go to her many times. This woman speaks to me of things I do not dare to speak of, even to myself. Always she knows all. For through her mouth speaks the wisdom of the ages. Perhaps to you, the voice of a scientist long dead will speak, bringing advice you need, eh? By heaven, why not? What about Louvre's? Come, Belfaris, take me to your medium. She may find me the perfect microscope. You come for a communication, Mr. Lindley? Yes, Madame Vulpes. I bring him quick. I have told him about you. Quiet, Simon. This time the matter does not concern you. Mr. Lindley, you wish to communicate with any particular spirit? Yes. Have you ever known this spirit on earth? No, never. He died long before I was born. I wish merely to obtain from him some information which he ought to be able to give better than any other. Seat yourself at the table, Mr. Lindley, and place your hand on it. Simon will do likewise, unless you prefer him to leave. I have nothing to conceal. He may stay. That is good. Quiet, please. A thousand thanks for your trust, Effendi. I should repay you now, since I know how to question spirits when they speak through medium's mouth. Simone, she's moaning. Ah, they are strong tonight. Already she is in trance, and they clamor at her mouth. What's that wrapping? The spirits call us to attention. I will speak to them. Will the spirits communicate with this gentleman? Will the particular spirit he desires to speak with communicate? Listen, Lindley. The spirit you want is about to speak through her. But she doesn't know who I want. Neither do you. I haven't mentioned his name. You have thought it. That is enough for remarkable Madame Vulpes. Listen. I am here. Question me. Speak, Lindley. It is your spirit. Who? Who are you? The one whom you desire, Anton Levenhark. Great Scott. This is incredible. The very man I thought of. Who is spirit with strange name? Anton Levenhark. The original discoverer of the microscope. He died centuries ago. Speak to him, Lindley. Quick, before he goes. Do you know what I want, Master? Yes. Can the perfect microscope be created? Yes. I am destined to accomplish this task. You are? For the love you bear to science helped me. How shall I proceed? You must use a lens submitted to electromagnetic currents of 1,000 volts and constantly bathed in the magnetic field. Of what shall the lens be formed? For the perfect microscope, you will need a lens formed of a 140-karat diamond. Simone, what is it? Monsters. Robbers. Thieves. What ails you, man? Let me out of here. I do not remain in the instant. In heaven's name, Simone. Are you sick? Wait. I'm coming with you. You are fed into not my secret. You and that cursed wolf as woman. Wait, Simone. What's the matter? But you shall not have it. Neither you nor the wolfess. No one shall steal from me the eye of the morning. Simone, stop, you idiot. Get away. Why have you followed me home? I may appear to you. Fool, stop yelling. You'll wake the house. Get out of here. Don't be an ass. Here. Come into my room a minute and cool off. I swear to you, Lindley, you shall not have it. Have what? Sit down and calm off. What excited you so? What was this gibberish about the eye of the morning? Do not pretend you know. You know the wolfess woman told you. You told me what? About my diamond. The diamond called the eye of the morning. Oh. You own a diamond? You know, you know. I'm your census man. I only met you a few hours ago. I know nothing. Nothing but what you yourself gave away. Huh? Yes. Yes, my friend. I think perhaps I misjudged you, huh? Of course you did not know. And Madame Wolper, she spoke of another diamond, eh? That was what confused Bellafris. It was of the same size. What was the same size? Your diamond? Wait, Lindley, I show it to you. Always I have it on me for safety. Here. Look at it. Oh. It's magnificent. Worth the king's ransom. 140 carats. 100. Exactly what I... How I get to this story of robbery and theft and murder. You smuggled it in? Yes. I see. I see. Simone, listen to me. I must have this diamond. New joke, eh? Simone, I want this diamond. You are serious? But no, you are a fool. You couldn't have paid. You heard what the spirit of Levenhijk said. A diamond lens of 140 carats. This is my lens, Simone. My perfect microscope. I must have it. No. What else can I find a diamond so exactly suited to my name? No, Lindley, no. You are a medal. Give it back. I must have it, Simone. Give it back. I must have this diamond no matter what or twice. No, no, Lindley. No. I must have this diamond. Lindley! And I do have it, Simone. You can't hear me now. But wherever you are, the shades and spirits of the beyond will make you understand. I have the perfect microscope now. The diamond lens. All right. Oh, Dad, come in. Of course I'm all right. Why shouldn't I be? Why shouldn't you? Great, Scott Allen. Are you so lost in your scientific nonsense you don't know what's happening around you? Here. Here. Read this paper. What? Oh. Murder in 4th Avenue Rooming House. Last week, Simone Bellafrus found strangled in bedroom. Oh, that. Just a Persian peddler killed. My word, Allen. I don't see how you can be so cold-blooded. As soon as we saw this in our local paper, Cora and I rushed to New York. Cora? Here? Yes. Yes. She's waiting in the hotel. We had to come when we saw your name as one of the neighbors of the murdered man. Wait, Dad. There's nothing else now. Listen to me. I've done what I set out to do. And in less than a year, I've done something that no man in the world could do. I've created the perfect microscope, built a lens that can pierce all matter down to the ultimate animal. You're talking like a madman. This happens to be the greatest moment of my life, Dad. My microscope is modern ready for use. This will be my first sight into the unknown. Allen. Allen, you're so flushed and perspiring. Your hands are shaking so. What? First the dynamo. Yes. Then, on the slide, a drop of water, so tiny, so clear, seemingly so empty. Allen. Allen, you must come away. It's this confounded electrical mess surrounding your microscope that's burning you up. Careful. Don't touch anything. There's a thousand volts of death lying and waiting for the unwary. Good heavens. What have you been doing? Preparing for the superb moment. My first glimpse into the void of atomic space. For the first time in history, a human eye pierces into the unknown and sees... Father. My boy. This is incredible, unbelievable. Oh, you're real, Allen. No, no, no. Only overwhelmed. Father. This miraculous lens penetrates into a tiny world more perfect, more beautiful, far lovelier than any man's dream. Oh, you only imagine you see it. Such things do not exist. I tell you, I do see it and... No. No, this is too much to believe. Oh, my boy, come away from that lens. A human figure. A figurable woman. Wait. Yes. Yes, she floats directly into the lens. The most beautiful, adorable woman I have ever seen. Human and yet too lovely to be human. A graceful, unbelievable anemula in the atom. What a perfect name for her. Anemula. You're mad. Mad am I? See, she gazes directly up into the lens, up at me. Now she smiles. She senses I'm watching her. She must. She must know how my heart reaches out to her. Alan. Wait. Listen. Do you hear that? The tinkle of infinitesimal bells. The music of delicate dancing prisms. It's her voice I tell you. The voice of her thoughts for me. Alan. Alan. In the name of mercy, I implore you to come away. You're sick. You don't know how you rave. How do the atoms she calls to me? Anemula. And my heart calls to her. I've got to get you home at once. Now listen to me, Alan. Perhaps Cora can... Yes. Yes. I'll bring Cora. She'll calm you. Now wait, my boy. I'll bring Cora to you. Anemula. Anemula. I love you. Mr. Lillie. Mr. Lillie. Open up. This is Inspector Adams. Armistice Department. What is it? An aside a bar. The agent. Mr. Lillie. Mr. Lillie. Open up. This is Inspector Adams. Armistice Department. What is it? An aside a bar. The agent. Just a few questions about the bell apparatus murder. The bell. Oh, come in. I'm sorry I didn't answer it once. I was preoccupied. I had quite a pleasure got here. Laboratory, eh? Yes. Any particular research? Yes. No, I... You must excuse me. She's calling again. You hear? I haven't taken my eyes off her for an hour. I don't think I understand, Mr. Lillie. If you mean that tinkly noise, it sounds like a piece of glass to me. No, no, no. Animula. It's the sound of her thoughts. Someday I'll let you see her too, but... but now she's for my eyes alone. Oh, something under that microscope, eh? Looks like a drop of water. Careful. There's an electrical field around that instrument. You must know how to handle it. Ah, she's calling to me again. You must excuse me, Inspector Adams. Mr. Lillie. What? Stop looking into that lens a minute. I want to ask some questions. Yes, I can't give you too much time. My whole life is in this lens. It's about Simon Belafras, the Persian. Did you know him? No. Ever see him? No. Ever been in his room? No. Was he ever in yours? No. Well, look, we found him strangled in his room, which is right next to yours. He looked as though he'd been in an awful fight. Did you hear anything that night? No. Too busy with research, eh? That's right. Now, here's the point, Mr. Lillie. Belafras was all banged up, but his room wasn't, see? He looks as though he was killed in a fight somewhere else and then carried to his room. Now, eh, did you hear any noise in the halls like a body being dragged? No. I don't believe I did. Have you got any idea why Belafras was murdered, a feud maybe, or a robbery? Did he own anything worth stealing? I can't say. I don't know. What's the matter, Mr. Lillie? You look like you're ready to faint. It's the bells. You hear them, Inspector? It's an enimular calling me to her. I've got to get back to the microscope. You must excuse me. Eh, I hear those bells, too. Say, don't tell me you think that sound comes out of the microscope? But it does, I tell you. Out of the atoms of that tiny drop of water, the voice of my beloved calling to me, reaching toward me from the atomic void. It is the voice of her thoughts yearning toward me. She knows I watch her. She knows I love her. Alan, darling, what's the matter? You see? Mad, raving mad. Alan, darling, what's wrong? I'm Inspector Adams, folks. Believe me, this man's mad. No, I can't believe that. Please, sit down here, Alan, dear. Good heavens are your trembling. Please don't touch me, Cora. Alan! Take your hands off me, you see, Cora. Alan, darling, your father was right. You are delirious. No, no, Cora. I'm in love. Of course, dear. It's that new microscope. He saw something. You hear that? Listen, all of you. Now, wait a minute. What new microscope? I don't know. He said... Oh, I'll tell you. I'll give my sanity. Oh, Levenhoek told me how to make it. A lens. In a magnetic field. Long axis. A diamond lens of 140 carats. A diamond lens? Mr. Linley, we've got to get Alan home at once. Alan, for my sake, you've got to come with us. No. Please, darling. Listen, you said you loved me once. I never asked anything for our love. Now I do. Please come with us. I don't love you now, Cora. I'm sorry. Why? Why? I love a limular, a thing in a microscope. A dream in a drop of water. A dream in... I don't understand. But I don't care. Love anybody you please, Alan. Anybody, anywhere. And I won't care because I love you in anything that's yours. Only now you must come away. No, no, no, no. Now get out all of you. You hear her. She's calling again. I've got to get back to her. A limular. A limular. Do you hear her? Her voice. It's louder. Closer. Great heaven she's reaching out to me. Across the vast barrier of space she's coming to me. A limular. Do you hear, do you? Yes, we all hear, Mr. Linley. And we all see. Look, here in my hand. This is the voice of your a limular. What? No. Good Lord, what's that? Something I found tangled in the winter curtain. The ankle bells. Silver bells used for jewelry. Impossible, I won't... They match a pair we found in the torn pocket of Bellaphras' coat. The man who was murdered? By your son, Mr. Linley. No, Alan. Alan, you didn't know you couldn't have... Yes, he did all right. And for that diamond lens he was talking about, I bet. We've known for some time that Bellaphras was smuggling diamonds. You lie. That's not the voice of my a limular, those bells. You murdered him here, didn't you? For a diamond. In the fight, these bells were probably torn from the person's pocket and caught in the curtain. Every time the curtain swayed, you thought you heard this a limular talking. It was her voice. I swear it. I believe it. I heard her. Now, look again, you fool. Look again in that crazy diamond lens and tell me what you see now. Take one long last look before you hang for murder. Monster! You destroy everything. Love, faith, belief. But you won't destroy my belief. I have a way to stop you. Everybody! Look out! No! Alan. Alan. Alan. Oh, no. Yes, I'm afraid he's dead. Electricuted himself when he smashed his microscope. Well, maybe it's best this way. I can see he must have been a nice boy. But what happened? What changed him like that? I don't know. Something he saw, I guess. But was it real? Did he really see all that in the diamond lens? You don't understand. He saw something and it changed him. That's what happens to all of us. It doesn't matter if we really see it or only imagine we do. We see something and it changes us. Sooner or later, every man must gaze into a diamond lens. From the time-worn pages of the past, we have brought you the story, the diamond lens. Bellkeeper. Toll the bell.