 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, 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, The River Man. Here, where the story of The River Man is told, the seasonal rains are falling, and night is creeping over the countryside. From the windows of a large farmhouse set back from the road, yellow lamp light falls into the dusky rain. A head beyond the road that curves like a snake along the banks is the river itself, turbulent, swift, racing to the distant sea. Nearby, emptying its swollen waters into the river, is a deep ravine, and across it hangs a swinging bridge, time and weather worn. Now the rains fall, and in the parlor of the house are three people. Josephine, wife of The River Man, Sarah Bell, his teenage daughter, and the hired helper on the farm, Jay. Sarah Bell, come away from the window. Has been gone more than six hours now, Josephine. It's getting late. Well, don't fret so, Sarah Bell. What with all the rain? Maybe Lucy thought better than stayed in town. Jay, stop cleaning that gun and say something. Well, there ain't like Pa to go off and not come back like this. He never done it before. The bridge might have washed out. It can't tell. Might a lot of rain. Jay, put that gun down. It gives me the jumps. Anyhow, you can never tell when them thing's going off. No bullets in it yet. I don't care. Boy, you're pointing it, and if it went off, reckon it shoot Sarah Bell right through the heart. I reckon it would. Maybe Pa got robbed. Maybe he's just laying by the roadside. There's money gone. A bullet in him. It'd be too bad, all that money gone. Yeah, don't reckon you do care about Pa, and here you'd be worried. Sarah Bell, you're going to get yourself all wrought up again. Why don't you get out your sewing? You ain't finished with that little scarf yet, have you? Pa and me's got understandings. Ever since Ma died, we've been closer never before. Well, I'm your mother now, Sarah Bell. Ain't I? At least you stepmother. Come on, do like I say. Can't you see she don't want a sew? Longs mean Luther's hired you to work, Jaybe. Looks like you'd be doing more good if you'd go out and see if them little bitties is all right. That chicken house none too waterproof. They're all right. Well, I hope so. The river's high and I've ever seen it. The water's way up to them rocks, Shonda. Guess it'd be too bad if a body got caught in the current. Wash them clean down to the sea, wouldn't it? Sure. And the sharks, they'd eat up what's left. Fine thing to be saying, Jaybe, with Luther missing like he is. I wish she'll bring him back, Paul, come. But you, you and Jaybe, you wouldn't care if he never did. Why, Sarah Bell, how come you say that? I ain't as blind as a bat. I can see what's going on, even if Paul can't. What's she talking about? Well, I never. I guess she's mad because I said something to Luther about her run around so much with that boy Wes. Guess next, you'll be accusing me of... Well, I don't know what. I got eyes. I can see what there is to see. I reckon Jaybe don't think I know about that buggy he's got hid way back there in the bushes on the other side of the gully. What you got your buggy hid way out there for, Jaybe? It ain't hid, Sarah Bell. Just left it there this morning when I come back from Sadler Wells. Not funny. All full of suitcases and things like he's going away. Man sakes. What's she talking about, Jaybe? I reckon you better ask her. I was doing the asking. Seems to me like it's just waiting there. It's all ready to be hitched up. It's ready for somebody to cross that old swing and bridge over the gully and hop in it and drive away quick. I wish you'd come away from the window and stop saying things that sound like you're accusing somebody of something. I gotta wait for Paul. It won't be long now before it's night what would the sky so dark and all? Well, I'm not going to worry about him. He's past 40 and old enough to take care of himself. Worrying ain't going to help none. That's right, Joe. Guess I'll go get my story and read some. Looks like I've been reading that story since last fall and she ain't married the rich man yet. Ever started, Jaybe? Never did have time. She was the interesting story. You don't care. Neither one of you don't care. He could be just dead on the side of the road somewhere and you wouldn't care. Sarah Bell. Well, it's true. Everybody knows you're married. Paul just because he's got a good house and money and always had good crops. You never did love Paul the way Mama did. Now listen here, Sarah Bell. Can you shut up, Jaybe, Hicks? You're just a hired man around here and you ain't got no say as far as I'm concerned. I told Paul not to sell that timber. I told him not to go to Sadler Wells and all this rain just to pay old Mr. Cooley that money. You're getting yourself all wrought up, Sarah Bell. Come on, let her alone. Well, Luther was right. He should have gone. The debt was due today. After all, it ain't safe having $2,000 laying around the house. Come on, come on. I'll help clean up supper dishes. We don't want no argument. Josephine, huh? How come you know Paul got $2,000 for that timber? How come I know? I just do. That's how I come. Paul told you he only got $500. He told me he was telling you that. Well, he told me different. He lied to me. Where's the money? Sarah Bell, don't say something you'll be sorry for. You got the money, ain't you? I bet you have. You hit it someplace. Sarah Bell. And that's the reason why you didn't go to town with him, you and Jay, like you planned to do. Listen, Sarah Bell, you stop that talk. You think you're gonna run away? I know what you're planning. Well, if anything happens to Paul, I'll get even with you somehow. You just wait and see. Sarah Bell, where are you going? I'm not gonna run away. Not a part. I'll come back. You won't. You wait and see. Lance Sates, what's got in the girl? I don't know. She acts kind of crazy, if you ask me. She's got ideas, Jay. Look, she's running to the bar. No, she always goes in there hides when she gets her feelings hurt. She suspects too much. She found a buggy. I told you not to leave it so close to the house. Get away from that window, Joe. She'll see you watching. Look, she's coming out again. She's got something in her hand. Looks like a hacksaw. She's gonna get ringing wet. Letter. I wonder where she's going. Listen, Joe, you're gonna stop worrying. I'll tell the Sarah Bells that you leave her to me. Well, you can't wait long. As soon as we find out about Luther, just as soon as we do. All right. If we ever do, it might be days. You don't suppose something could have gone wrong, do you? No, of course not. I'm hoping we don't have to wait long. This not knowing is getting me nervous. Hmm. Seven o'clock. Luther ought to be good and dead for now. Just let him try getting across this bridge, Pa. Just let him. Now the cable's sawed most through. Sarah Bell! I've been looking for you! I got something to tell you, Sarah Bell. Lucky I saw you from the road. Hey, what are you doing out here in the rain by this old swing and bridge for? Nothing. I'm just looking at the water way down there in the gully. Hey, don't stand so close to the edge. I run most all away from town. Sarah Bell, that old junk man, you know the one that comes round for papers and iron? Well, I saw him in Saddler's Wells in his wagon, and he said he saw your Pa's carriage go off in the river. Just a little bit after noontime, he said, in all that rain. Oh! I was running down the street in town when the old junk man called out to me. He said he didn't see his soul all the way into town. He said he didn't know what to do, but he was sure it was your Pa's carriage. I told him not to go. On the curve, he said. He said the carriage was going awful fast. Well, take me down there. But we can't do no good now, Sarah Bell. Well, then I'll go by myself. Hey, wait a minute. I'll go with you. Hey, don't cry like that, Sarah Bell. The junkman was crossing the bridge down yonder, and he saw the carriage coming over this road alongside the river. Well, just at the curve up there, one of the wheels came off, he said, and the carriage went over into the water. Sarah Bell, reckon they're all dead. All three of them. All three? Yesterday, when I was by, I remember Joe and Jave was going to Saddler's Wells the day with your Pa. Oh, well, can't be, Daddy, just can't. Don't get to crying again, Sarah Bell. Pa and me, we was always so happy together. Ever since Mama died, I've been looking out after Pa like she told me to. Sure, Sarah Bell. Now he's gone. Maybe when the rain lets up, we can get the carriage pulled out. Maybe they're still in it. Sarah Bell, where you going? I gotta look for him, Wes. Hey, wait a minute. Hey, don't go near that water. You'll get drawn yourself. He might be just floating around down there on the rocks. Might have been trying to get out, Wes. Sarah Bell, you're crazy. If they're not still in the carriage, they must have floated down with the current by now. Pa, Pa, it ain't too late, Pa. It ain't too late. Come on, Sarah Bell. Let me take you home. No, I gotta wait, Wes. Pa'd want me to wait. Wes, Wes, go get somebody to help. Get somebody to help me get Pa out of the river. Later, Sarah Bell, when the rain starts. Now, Wes, go ask your Uncle Henry to help. He could bring some of his field workers. Please, please, Wes. But they won't want to come out in this weather, and the water's too swift anyway, don't you see? For long, somebody ought to be coming from town. Wes, why don't you do like I say? Well, all right, Sarah Bell. But listen, you go home, will you? And I'll come right back. If I go get Uncle Henry, will you go on home and wait? Yeah, yeah, I will, I will, Wes. Now, you promise? I promise, but hurry, it's gonna be night before long. Quicks I can, but when I come back, you better be at home now. All right, Wes, Pa. Pa, wherever you are, it ain't too late. Pa, where's your gumption? You don't want to die. Get up, Pa. Rise up from where you're laying. Rise up and walk. I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you to come home. Don't you hear me, Pa? Get up, get up. Sarah Bell, you're calling me home. I can hear your little heart trying to find you. Begging me to come home. Just keep wanting me back, Sarah Bell. And I'll come, I'll come. Keep wanting me home. Quit walking up and down, Joe. You're getting me fidgety, too. But it's eight o'clock already, Jane. She ain't back yet. I'm just plain worried. Well, let's hope she got drowned or something will save us a lot of trouble. I got a funny feeling. Like he ain't dead at all. Like he's somewhere coming home. You're crazy as Sarah Bell. With a carriage wheel loosing like it was, he just couldn't have gone around that curve without going off in the river. Then I wished we'd hear. Wish somebody'd come and tell us. I done told you a dozen times. Maybe a... Well, if we waited some, a couple of months, by that time with Luther dead, you could marry me, J, but everything would be rightly ours. Except for a little for Sarah Bell. That'd be safer. Two months ain't a lifetime. I got the buggy all packed, ain't I? For three days we'd just been waiting for the chance. Now we're gonna go through it. Sarah Bell, where you been? No need to wonder about Paul any longer. He's gone. What do you mean? He's dead, floating somewhere in the river. You look all white. You're wet to the bone, too. I waited in the river some. Trying to find him sunk amongst the rocks. Sarah Bell. Why'd you kill Paul for? Why didn't you just let us alone? What makes you say we killed him? Don't take much scene to know between you two. Maybe Paul didn't see it so clear, but I can. Sarah Bell, you're sick or something. Come away from the door. Let me get you some dry clothes. Better alone, Joe. Let me handle Sarah Bell. You can't do nothing to me, J. I'm not afraid, neither. What are you talking about? About how he's gonna try and kill me, maybe. Maybe push me in the river so I'll drown like Paul did. So he'll find us both, maybe, before he floated down to the sea. She looks wild. Listen, Sarah Bell, don't you want to go out with me and let's look some more for Luther? Together we can find him quicker. Be ashamed, wouldn't it? Leaving Luther in the river all night. Get away from me, J. Don't you want to go out and look for your Pa some more? He can find his own way home. J. Stop this. He's not gonna kill me, Joe. I've been talking to Wes. We was down on the road together. Wes was the one who told me about Paul. If I was found in the river, Wes would know somebody killed me. And anyway, he's gonna be so surprised when he sees you two live and walking around. I'll come here and say that. Because you was planning on going to Sadler Wells with Paul. Because Wes heard you say so yesterday. What do you mean? Just for the old right, you should both be out in the river with Paul. You ought to be dead and gone too. Sarah Bell. You told Wes we was in the carriage with Luther. That's crazy. It ain't true. James! James, you... Deserve some of the meanness knocked out of her. Any harm she just fainted. I'll get some. You let her alone. But, James... She's been lying. She might have seen Wes, but she had no right in letting him think we was with Luther in the carriage. What are you gonna do? Give me a coat. She could have got caught in the current looking for her old man. She could have done that easy. Wes will have to say there could have happened if she's missing. James, I'm scared. Something wrong's gonna happen. I can feel it. Maybe we better not do this. Somebody might get thinking. She just went wading in the river, went out too far. Yeah, help me, Luther. Skinny little thing, ain't she? Paul. Paul. James, she's coming too. I'll fix that. Don't worry. Sarah Bell. What's that? What's what? Sounded like somebody outside calling her. You just got the jumps, that's all. Sarah Bell. Listen. Who could that be? Look out the window, Joe. See who's coming. It's Luther. It's Luther, James. You're crazy. But it is so, Luther. He ain't dead. Sarah Bell. Put her down, James. Put her down. We thought she was dead, Luther. We thought... I come because she wanted me back. Put her down, James. Sure, Luther, sure. In the chair here, James. She just fainted a little bit ago, Luther. We was gonna... Don't touch her. Let Sarah Bell be. All right, Luther. Sarah Bell. I come back like you wanted. I come back because you was crying so hard. Open your eyes. Open your eyes. Ain't no danger now, Sarah Bell. You're back home, Luther. You're ringing wet. You must be freezing cold, too. I got her scoured, even. So I come back for you, Joe. You and James. What are you talking about? Luther. There's one... one of them river clawfish on your cold paw. It ain't gonna hurt you, Sarah Bell. Get it off, James. Yes, I ain't a pretty sight. Full of river slime. Covered with all them crawling things in the water. Luther. I guess I had to come back after all of a sudden when I seen things so clear. Put your gun down, Jaybe. Guns ain't no good. They got bullets in them like this and they're good. You can't kill me again. What are you talking about? You're talking crazy. Ain't so crazy for a man to talk about coming back to his home, is it? Back to his wife so she can watch after him. Pick out his clothes. All the river clawfish that crawl in them. Luther. Looks like you, Timmy. Seems how you and Jaybe loosen the wheel under carriage. So as when I came to the curve down yonder, there wasn't nothing else to do but go over. Oh, you gotta go. You gotta go back. Sure. But not by myself, Sarah Bell. You gotta go back where? Where I come from. Where you two sent me. Jaybe. Jaybe. He's dead. Get out of here, Luther. Not by myself. It ain't right by myself. If you don't get out of here, I'm gonna shoot. Jaybe. I gotta take you two with me. When I was drowning down yonder, I saw everything clear. I saw how you'd been plotting and planning, waiting for the chance. Knew you'd took the money before it even left the house. Knew you ought to be right beside me in the carriage, going over in the river. You two was beside me, drowning in the river with me. Joe, get out of here or I'll... So I had to come back, didn't I? To take you with me. Paul, let him alone. Are you going easy like Joe? Are you gonna bring her easy like with you, Jaybe? Down to the river. Joe, get out of here. Run to the bucket. Paul, let him alone. I ain't no believer in dead men, Luther. Are you gonna beat that five through with it? Jaybe, don't! Just knocked off the river crawfish, Jaybe. That's all. Guns ain't no good. He's still standing there, Jaybe. He was dead already. I'd kill a dead man. Run. Run for the bucket, Joe. Paul, Paul, let him go. I can't get away. I got it scoredy. Come on. Come on. Here's the bridge. Jaybe, wait for me. Wait. Give me your hand. I gotta get across. The bucket's not far on the other side. I've got it all hitched up. I'm scared of the tape. Go slow. Slow. Come on. Jaybe, look. Luther's on the other side. Get out of the way, you. We're coming across. He's everywhere. Hold on to him. Stay off the bridge, Luther. Stay off. What are you talking about, Sarah Bell? Stand back. You'll fall in. I tried to get across. Sarah Bell, stop crying like that. Sarah Bell, what are you talking about? It's pitch dark. Come on, hold on. But it really was me who cut the cable. I didn't. Sarah Bell, that old bridge is so old it just broke from its own weight in the rain. But that don't matter now. Uncle Henry's down at the curb with some men. Fine when you are. I told you to be home when I got back. I won. You're going clean out of your head. One of the men just found your Paul weighing some rocks. Guess he tried to crawl out of the river. Most likely they found Jaybe and Josephine by now. Are you coming with me or not? You don't believe me. You don't believe what happened? Of course not. Here, put my coat around you. I've got to get you home before you're sick. Come on now, Sarah Bell. You don't believe me. You don't believe me. I'm in the dark. Come on, Josephine. You can hear the rumble of the sea. Come on. From the time-worn pages of the past we have brought you the story The River Man. Bellkeeper. Paul.