 The weird circle, in this cave, by the restless sea, We are met to call from out the past, stories strange and weird. Bellkeeper, hold 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, a terrible night. Silence in the court, next witness please. If your honor please, the next witness is Charles Castare, the defendant in this case. Will Mr. Castare please take the stand? Silence in the court. Place your left hand on the Bible. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Suppose, Mr. Castare, you tell this court your story in your own words. From the very beginning? Don't be afraid, from the very beginning. Well, I don't know where to start, to be honest. I feel like a man that's drowning. I guess it started the night my wife, Bertha, and her brother, Dick Linton, were helping me to pack my suitcase. Dick and I were preparing to go on a hunting trip in Canada, in the northwest section. And don't forget to put the compass in, Charlie. A hunting man needs a compass, you know. Sure he does. Keeps him from getting lost. See how bright my wife is, Dick? She knows all the answers. I didn't mean it that way. I know Bertha, I know. It's just that when a gal's brother and husband go galvanning off on a hunting trip to the north woods, a gal wants to know they're coming back safe. Don't you worry about Charles, Bertha. You know me, I never get lost. Do you remember the camping trips we used to take when we were kids? You were a boy scout then, Dick. He's no boy scout now. Hey! Well, let's see, darling, have I got everything packed in here? Yes, dear, everything. Will an underwear? You're a lucky man to have a wife like my sister, Charles. Gun cartridges? For both guns? The cartridges for the hunting gun are in the rear pocket of the suitcase. And for the 38, they're in your holster. Ah, good girl. Where's your suitcase, Dick? Oh, it's checked at the station. Hey, what time is it? Well, it's almost 10 p.m. Oh, we'd better be going along, darling. I like to catch my trains with ease. I'll help you close the suitcase, Charles. The best suitcase-sitter on earth in the world. Yeah, I see what you mean. There, that does it. You can get off now. Have a nice trip, both of you. Bring back at least two dozen, dear. Oh, at least, says. Bye, honey. Bye. Oh, don't forget your muffler, darling. It's in the closet downstairs. And please, please be careful. When little boys play with guns, well, you know how dangerous guns can be. So, we left, Dick and I. We took the express to Montreal and then travelled by train west of the Hudson Bay to the northwest territory, specifically to a small town known as Fort Ray. What equipment we hadn't already purchased, we purchased there. Mostly food provisions and plenty of coffee. Then, on the morning of September 3rd, Dick and I started out on foot. It was a clear brisk morning and the air was alive with sounds. Birds chirping, a constant crunch of leaves underfoot. We were both in high spirits, as Dick said. Ah, this is the life, old boy. This is what a man needs. Get away from civilization and breathe again. Ah, back to nature. Back to nature's right. You know, there's something to matter with modern civilization. You get all jogged up inside, begin to think all sorts of strange things. Strange, Dick? In what way? Oh, morbid thoughts, hating yourself, hating everybody else, hating the world. You know, that's bad for a writer. His work becomes bitter and he pours the gall out in words. Paints the world he sees in gray overtones. You mean like that last story you sold? Yeah. It was a depressing story, but that was my mood. Both you and Bertha have morbid emotional streaks. Well, Sis and I very much alike in many ways. Funny, my marrying Bertha. What's so funny about it? You know, I engineered it. You did? Why? Well, Bertha and I have always been pretty close, you know. Much closer than ordinary brother and sister. I didn't want to see you marry some clerk. Well, thanks, Dick. You'll be my roommate at college. I got to know you pretty well. Yes, Sis and I have the same likes and dislikes, and I just knew you were right for her. You mean to tell me I didn't have anything at all to say about it? Sort of. Sort of? Well, Bertha's beauty and chemistry, if you like, and youth took care of the rest. You sound like an old, old man airing philosophy. I told you I've been civilized too long. You've been a bachelor too long. I think I'll dig up a nice young girl for you. Marriage is a sensation, Dick. Well worth a try. Well, I don't quite like the idea of digging up a girl for me. Sounds like she's been buried already. Here, we turn this way to the north now. Are you sure? Of course I'm sure. I know these north woods like a... Like a book? Yes, like a book. You'll never get lost with me. We'll be at the next port by six this evening. I still think we ought to have taken a guide along. Oh, nonsense. There's nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about at all. Just stick to Dick Linton and you can't go wrong. Nothing to worry about. That's the way writers are. So sure of themselves. Except they ought to stick to paper and pencil, not to their memories of north woods. At six o'clock in the evening, there wasn't a fort in sight. And by ten o'clock that night, even Die Hard Dick had to admit... Well, we're lost. No. Yeah, we're lost. I'm sorry, Charles. Are you being pretty monosyllabic about the whole thing? Normal under the circumstances. Hey, that wasn't the wind, was it, Dick? No, uh, wolves. Wolves? Hmm. I'm not afraid of them, are you? Oh, no. I love them, especially at night when I'm cold and hungry. And they are, too. Well, we'll have to sleep in the trees. You'll have to sleep in the trees. I wasn't built that way. Well, you can't sleep on the ground. You'll never live through the night if you... I'm not sleeping on the ground, Dick. I'm walking until we find someplace. Well, we might not find a fort till tomorrow morning. Or tomorrow evening, but whenever it is, I'm going to find it as soon as possible. Uh, even sooner than that, if that keeps up. You coming with me? Sure, I'm with you. Oh, boy, I'm hungry. Oh, say, wouldn't a nice, thick, luscious steak taste good? You know, one of the charcoal, broil variety dripping with butter and fried onions? Oh, stop it. Oh, one of Bertha's lamb stews with mashed potatoes and rich tomato gravy. If you want to die, just keep on talking. It's the thought of food and I'm a murdering maniac. Oh, how about a real English roast beef with Yorkshire pudding? Oh, you're asking for it. Hmm, I wonder just how hungry that wolf is. Maybe he won't mind if his meat isn't cooked, huh? I'm sure he won't. There canivari, which means in Latin, canivaris or man-eaters. Hey, Charlie. Huh? Look, straight ahead of you. Isn't that a light over there? Well, yeah, I think so. Maybe it's the fort. No, it's not the fort here where Miles off the beaten track. Oh, what is it then? I don't know. Looks like a cabin from here. I'm not particular. Let's find out. Fine, I'll leave the way. Oh, no. You've led the way so far, but this time, Dick, my boy, I'm leading. Follow Charlie and see some food. Food? Food. Whoever lives there must eat. Maybe it's not steak, but it's something. It is a cabin, all right. Shall I knock on the door? Well, you can't get in any other way. Who can't? This rickety old shack could be blown down by a good strong breath. Hmm? Funny looking place, isn't it? I'm not amused. Knock on the door. Such a timid knock. Uh, my hand's numb. Yeah, we'll try it again. Hope this guy's friendly. Is that a what? Uh-oh, our friends are sniffing a bot again. And I don't look at all well in tomato sauce. Oh, Charlie. Good evening. Something I can do for you, gentlemen. Uh, we, uh, we managed to... We hope to find some place to stay for the night, sir. We're completely off the beaten track. Uh-huh. You don't say. Come in. Come in, gentlemen. Yeah. I'd be delighted to put you up this evening if you don't mind sleeping on the floor in the attic. Well, at this point, we don't mind anything. Don't you? Uh, uh, my name's Charles Costar, sir, and my friend is Dick Linton. How do you do? My name is Joel. Just Joel. At least they used to call me Joel. Have you eaten yet this evening? Uh, no, as a matter of fact, and we're starving. Come in and sit down and I'll fix you some dinner. That is, if you don't mind my meager rations. Oh, we don't mind anything at this point. Do we, Dick? Oh, no, no, definitely not. There's an old American saying, you know, food is food. Let's eat, huh? I'll fry some deer steak for you and I have some wine. Oh, wonderful. Uh, tell me, Mr. Joel, do you live here all alone? Unfortunately, yes. You see, I'm an outcast from your society. But a man be different and then automatically he becomes an outcast. Yeah, there's something in what you say. Let him look a little different or think a little different or speak a little different. And he becomes a marked man. The individual is not allowed the privilege of individuality. Mankind doesn't permit it. Oh, I, I don't think so, really. Don't you? I'll just set the table and you can sit down over here and eat. Come along, Charles. I can prove my point. Now, look at me. I'm different. Larger than most men I unfortunately grew too tall. I'm too ugly for the average man to stomach. I was hated. Yes, hated by your civilization and fear too. Not because I was cruel or vindictive or dishonest, but because I was different. Yes, yes, I'm a giant and stature. Uh, well, I... Don't feel badly for me. I've had my revenge on society and I'll have even more revenge on little people like yourselves. Yes, sir. It's quite understandable that you feel that way. Uh, gentlemen, before you sit down to dinner, allow me to hang your hunting guns up here. They'll bother you if you carry them around. Oh, well, we really don't mind. I mind. Your hunting gun, sir. And your hunting gun? There. Now, I both, I'll just hang them up here. Uh, you say you live alone, uh, Joel? Yes. That shoe in the corner, that was never your shoe. It's too small for you. You're very observant, Mr. Linton. No, that wasn't my shoe. I found it in the forest one day and brought it home for the purpose of remaking it, like that coat hanging over there. Found a coat and a shoe lying in this outlandish district? Yes, yes, a coat and a shoe. Of course they were not a man, but he was dead. He died of, I don't quite know what he died of, his legs had been gnawed off by some prowling beasts. Oh, he must have become lost out here, like ourselves, huh? Exactly like yourselves, gentlemen. Exactly like yourselves. Dinner's ready. Silence in the court, silence in the court. Now go ahead with your testimony, Mr. Castare. Well, you can see what a spot Dick and I were in. We, we didn't trust that man for a second. Believe me, he was, well, darn it anyway, the man was unbalanced. It was well after we finished eating dinner that Joel had a good warm, roaring fire in the fireplace and then... Well, gentlemen, it's time to retire. I'm sleepy and I'm sure you two are. Oh, yes, very sleepy. Mind if we take our guns upstairs? I'd like to clean them. You won't need them this evening. You can clean them in the morning. Come along, please. Oh, yeah, come on, shall we? Right behind you, Dick. Be careful of this stepladder. It's rickety to say the least. So I notice, yeah. I'll go first and get the blankets out. Yes, fortunately, I have two blankets up here, although they're musty enough. Don't worry about us. All right, come up now. Right away. I'd feel a lot better if I had those hunting guns. I don't blame you. You can say for yourself, Mr. Linton, that this attic is not accustomed to guests. Musty. And the spiders are troublesome to strangers. Spiders? They are my friends. My only friends. They say he who shares a roof with you automatically becomes your friend. They have shared this roof with me for many years. Good night, gentlemen. Sleep well. Oh, good night. Great, Scott. What kind of a mess have we gotten ourselves into? I don't know. He's got a cog loose in his mind somewhere. That's certain. Very certain. What do we do? I'll tell you. One sleeps and the other stands guard. That won't do us any good, Dick. He's ten times our size and besides, we're unarmed. I've got you a 38 in my pocket. Forget about it, huh? Yeah, I did. Look, through these boards in the attic, you can watch Joel very easily. The fireplace throws a nice light on him. How will we arrange the watch? Well, you go to sleep for an hour, then I'll wake you up, give you the gun, and I'll go to sleep for an hour and you stand guard, okay? Yeah. What time is it now? 1 a.m. What's he doing down there? Curling up on the floor near the fireplace. About to go to sleep. I hope he sleeps well. Too well to wake up. I think he doesn't. I hope your gun works. That's all. Oh, I'm so sleepy. Good night. You've proceed, Mr. Gustav. Yes, I put my head on the floor and slept. But I slept a troubled sleep, a restless sleep, and my hands kept clawing the floor. A floor that was alive with insect life. Then, no sooner had I put my head on the floor than it seemed Dick nudged me. Wake up. Wake up. It's 2 a.m. Huh? Huh? Huh? Oh, okay, okay. What happened? Nothing. It's your turn now. Oh, I'm really late. Really late. So much walking and then all this. He was quite right. All this. He lay down on the floor, and soon he was sound asleep. Sleeping like he was drugged. Poor Dick was all in. I sat upright, concentrating on sitting upright, to keep my eyes from closing. I was so tired and my blood ran cold as I kept my eyes glued to the still figure which lay beneath us. The hut was so quiet that my wristwatch sounded like the beating of tom-toms in that silence. Dick, Dick, Dick, beating off the seconds, perhaps slicing off the seconds left of our lives. And I waited and watched, waited and watched. Then suddenly the huge figure beneath me stretched his huge form in front of the fireplace and yonked. His large, expressionless eyes sought mine through the planks of the floor. And I thought for a moment, he saw me sitting there. Perhaps my crouched figure in the attic somehow threw a shadow down on the floor of the hut below. Then he arose, kept like that huge former rose gracefully and quietly. He eased himself up and walked to the door as if listening for someone or something. Then, just as quietly, he opened the door and... Yes? Yes? Yes, come back shortly. Shortly. He said, come back shortly. Who was he talking to? And what was he talking about? Come back. Come back to murder us. He shut the door just as gently as he opened it. And then returned to the place before the fire he again curled up near the warmth of the blaze. I glanced down at my watch. It was three o'clock. I nudged Dick gently at first, and then harder. Dick, your turn. Dick, Dick, wake up. We're up so soon. Yes. Here, here's the gun. Okay, I'm awake. Anything happened? Listen, he's got an accomplice. What? Somebody was standing outside the door a while back. He told him to come back shortly. That explains the small shoe, maybe. Maybe. I'm so tired, I don't think I can sleep. I don't think I can sleep. Ah, you'll sleep. Just relax. I don't think so. Really, I... Come in. Come in. Yeah? Are they asleep now? Yeah, as fast as sleep, the poor fools. One of them thought he could stay awake. I could see them taking turns staying awake. But I put enough dope in their wine to knock them out completely. Have they much money with them? Who knows? But whatever they have, we need. Give me that log you brought in. Yeah, you are. Now I'll splinter it like this, and light one end of this. Nothing like this wood burning to dope them completely. What should we do with them later? Put them outside for the animals. I'll wait down here for you. You go upstairs. I won't be long. These things never take very long. Dick, give me the gun. Give me the gun. Dick, Dick, have you fallen asleep? Dick, wake up. Dick, are you doped? Dick, he's coming at us. Give me the gun. Give me the gun. Please, Dick, give me the gun. There, there. I've got the gun now. You're laughing at me. You're laughing. Time to wake up now for the last time. No, take this. There, there, that's got you, that's got you, that's got you. Where's your friend? Where's the little man? Dick, help me find the little man now. Help me, help me, help me. Dick, Dick. I was stunned. Completely stunned. The room looked strange to me. The smoking gun in my hand looked strange to me. The whole world seemed to blot out in front of my eyes, and suddenly I looked down at the dark mass, lying at my feet, and then I looked up. My eyes were absolutely level with Joel's eyes as he climbed up into the attic. Then in a voice filled with horror he said, Great Lord, sir, what have you done? You've killed him, and he was just about to wake you. Yes, I killed Dick Linton, my best friend, when he was just about to wake me. I'd been dreaming, and I killed him. Thank you, Mr. Castile. My next witness is Dr. Harding. Dr. Harding, will you please take the stand? Yes, sir. Place your left hand on the Bible. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. You heard the testimony of the defendant, Dr. Harding. I did, sir. Is it possible for a man, a man as sleep as he was, to fire the gun load at his best friend because of a nightmare? It was more than a nightmare. It was some melentia, sleep drunkardness. Overtired as Mr. Castile was, his nerves were overtaxed, and his fears and suspicions had been aroused. This result is perfectly natural and certainly medically sound. The defendant was not in his right mind at the time of the murder. Thank you, Dr. Harding. Gentlemen of the jury, to sum up this case, Joel the Giant had told his guests the truth about the shoe. At the time he opened the door, he was just talking to his dog who had been scratching outside. But to a man mentally exhausted and filled with fear, Joel's actions were certainly those which would arouse suspicion. Gentlemen, in behalf of my client, I beg leniency. Leniency. Bertha, please darling, it was all explained in court. This doesn't change anything between us, nothing at all. Doesn't it? I love my brother more than you can understand, Charles. I know the court has ruled you innocent, but a court of law has very little to do with a woman's heart. If you love me, Bertha... I'll always love you, but I'll never be able to trust you again. There are seven days in a week, Charles. Some of those days, I'll love you and forget this whole horrible affair. But more days, my brother's face will loom up in front of me. But Dick would understand. I wouldn't see you, because his face would stand between us. I'd spend those days hating you. So, I'm leaving you, Charles. Take good care of yourself. I can't help it. I hope you understand. Bertha, please. Goodbye, Charles. Bertha! From the time-worn pages of the past, we have brought to you the story... A terrible night. Bellkeeper, hold the bell.