BOOK\X10RN1S LUB

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STORIES FOR READING C IRCLES
Stage 3 (1000 headwords)
Stage 4 ( 1400 head wo rd s)

T he seve n short stories in this book come from different

volumes ill the Oxford Book worms Library Then: are five
stories at Stage 3 and two stories at Stage 4. All have been
specia lly chosen for Reading Circles.

T he re are many different krnds of story in t his book. If

you want to fee l afrai d, try a classic ghost story by M. R.
a rnes, or a chi lling horror story by Edgar Alla n Poe. W hat
does a lonely, u nloved chi ld do in the ho use of his ha ted
aunt ? Saki's story will tel l you. And as Du ns ran Thwaite
plan s t he perfect murder. you begin to see how easi ly the
plan could go horribly wrong. For true love, you ca n follow
th e lives of Cora and Bapr isra. For Cora, it is a dark and
sto rmy road indeed; for Bap tisra, it is a strange path but
in th e end not a sad OIlC. And Arrhur C. Clarke wi ll rake
you inro the future, where life on the Moon brings
p ro blem s no one has ever d reamed of .. .

OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY

"'t·rics Editor: Jcnnifer Basscrr
h .undcr Editor: Tricia Hcdg
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 OXFORD
UN l\'~RSnY l' k fi,l;S
C O N T EN T S
Grror C"""ndon Street. Oxford ox, 60.
xfnrd Univ~",i[y P"'.... J department of the Universlry ofOxfon], INTRODUCTION
It furthers the Univl'OIlly" objective of excel lence In researc h. scholarsh ip, VI
~OlJRC.E OF 5TOR ILS
.nd [Link] by pub lishmg worldwlde in
aldon! New Yo rk
/llU:kLlnd C.'I'" Town Oar cs Salaa m lIong KOlIg Karachi WELCOMF TO REA DING CI RCI ES
Ku. I.'!.II",pu, Mildrid Melbo urn e Mextell City Nairobi
N,·w lJel h i Sh'lOghai Tatpci Tomnro
• With omces in
At'):entl"" 1I1I\I"a UrJZil Chit e Czech R~pllhlic Fra nce G...",.,~ BOOKWO RMS ST AGE 3
[Link].I., lIulI~ary Ital y Japan Poland P" n ugal Singapore
South Ko",,, Swit zertn nd 'l1'ilimnd furkey Ukraine Vietnam The Black Cll .3
{)XF(lIU .lIn! UX I'OiU > IINca rSH are registered trade marks of Ed~ilr " /I,m Pot'. retold I)), M"r~<lrl.'t NI/IIII;
O"r nnll'hJvl!'l'.i ty rreu in t he UK<lnll in certai n ot he r co un tr ies
Srcdn i Vashrar 1'i
()l'yr iRllt of tile e n zt na l texts is as follows:
'I~ 11011,<1 11 ~y by H, 1', R.11~s ill Even. fonl Product mm Lld S.,ki, re/old Il'y /{DsemLlr)' Border
I1lt S....n t Cl/lrthur C. Cla'ke 1972 23
The Railway Crossing
nil. ,11111'110,'<1,cditron Cl Oxford University Press ' 007
I'a t" b,,, . ri)tb l Oxford Un iversity Press [rnuker] Freemall Willse [Link] by [ohn Escott
~ 10 9 7
Th e Da ffodil Sky 3
Nil un authortzed p hotocopyt ng If. E. R ites. retold /)y ROSC'/II11 rv Border
/Ill f1 Khl> ":><I'Vcd, No pan of thi s publi cation IIlJ y be rep rod uced .
\,on'u llI.a n·'rlt'[Link] "Y1tcm. or tra nsm itted , in 3n)' form or by any mea ns, A M oment of Madn ess 53
wuhnur rllf- III1Ur perm ission in wri t tng of'Oxferd Un iversity Press.
or '" expre..ly p..,.nlllte d by law. o r un der terms -weed wil h th e ap pro priate Thomas Hardy, retold /Jy Clare West
repnl""rr-.r h1n nlll hl ' orgn niza tio n, t nq uirit.'s concern mg reprod uctio n
oUI,ilk Ih~ "-"Ile ut Ih~ " hove sbo uld be se nt to the H T Right . Department ,
(h.I()I'd l.Il1 lveni ty Press. at th e addren a bove BO OK WOR MS STA(,E 4
You m ust nu l l rrrulare chi, book in .my other bindlng or cover
andyou mus impose t his same co nd ilion on any acquirer T he Secret 73
ny ....'('b,ilcS referred If! in (hi, publicatiun 1Irt" In the public do main and Artlmr C. Clarkc, retold vy jtm",(er B.,sselt
their addresses aro' I'ftl\"d"d by Oxf'.nI Un i,,,n itj' Press for In formarlon only,
Oxford Oruversnv I'n,' s\ dbcL;lims any respo nsibility for the con ten t Th e Experiment 83
I~UN 97f'!,n 1947200:11 "",' R. lames, retold by Peter I I<lwkim
I'nr1ll'<l in lI on ~ Kong

"U .XNuwt Ii(H . ljM~NTS ,\ lIO ll T '1'1110 ,\UTHORS 95

The- publis hers an' Mr:tlr (1I110 r II ~ tu ll ow i ng RIt\I) ING CIRC LE RO Ll ~S
99
for Their kind permissiou tu .[Link] ((lPYfl~ 1t 1 matcrtal : lOO
Pollingcr Linured and !::v("n3fonil'rexfu, IIt I IU [Link] fill nit' D.,lTilllil ~. : IU " IHN(; CIRCLE aot .r SIlFl'TS
The Society 01 Aurhon '" th e Literary [Link] "r t he bla l" ul Fro'l'rn,m Wllli Croft, 1'1 ( ) I l'i RAMID \c..T1VITY 106
forThi [Link]'[Link].~. whic h was origrnallv I'lIb llshC"11 oh TIle 1.n'1'1 011~.<jfJJr.
Ilana. for Th, S"nt. origmally pub lished ill Art hur C. Clnrke'v Tht (011<'(1<",1 Stm1,~ 1'll'IIR i\CTIVln
108
II I III R IWO .... WOR~ IS Cl l 'U '1'11'1.1'5 110
l 'lI"' II~HER 'S NOn III IlIA IH;J' s
113
The story entitled" Moment oJMoIdnrs.s was published ill " ,
original version b)' Thorn... Hanly under rhe tlrle tI Mrrr Intmude
 -......
I
I OURCE OF STORIES Welcome
I Ihe seven stories in rhi s hook wen: originally publi shed in JifferclH to Reading Circles
volum es In ! he O \ FOR I) n O O K \X OH. \1 ~ LIBRARY. The)' uppca red in I he
following ru les:
Reading Circles are small groups of students who meet in
The BI'lck ellt the classroom to talk about stories. Each student has a
Edgar A11:111 Poc, from Tales of lvlystery and lrnagmution .pecial role, and usually there arc six roles in the Circle:
Ret old hy ,\ 'Ia rg::m :l Naudi
Sredni Vashtar ~ Discussion Leader Iw I Word Master
Saki, from Too th and Claio ,"--"'\

Rc!old hy Roscrn ary Border

:. ,,-,"
S " Surnmarizer , I Passage Person
The Railway C rossing
Free m a n Wills C ro fts, from As th e Inspe ctor Said and Other
© Connector o Culture Collector

St o ries Ea ch role has a role sheet with notes and question s which
Retold hy John Fscotr wi ll hel p you prepare for your Reading Circle discussions
he Da{fiJdil Sky in t he classroom. You can read more about the roles and
H. I:.. Bat es. [rom ('0, !.ol'cl)' Rose and Other Sto ries I he role sheets on pages 99 to 105 a t the hack of this book.
Retold by ROSCI11:1 r y Border
lhc stories in this book have been specially chosen for
\ Moment of Madness Reading Circles. They have many different themes, and
rhorn ,l, Hard y, from 'IIJe Three Stran gers and Other St ories 'I udenrs eve rywhere enjoy reading them and talking about
RClold hv Clare West them in their Circl e. Ever ybod y 's ideas arc important;
1'lJt' Secret I line .ire no 'right' or ' w ro ng ' a ns w e rs when yo u arc
1\ rt hur Luke. from The Song» of Distant Earth and Other i. rlk ing ahour stories.
Sto ries
I IIICly the reading, enjoy the talking ­ and discover the
RClnld hykllnifcr Bassetr
111 [Link] o f Reading Circles ...
I he Jo.\·/wrilllt'IIt
M. R, .l;lIlW' , (rol11 Ib e Unqu iet Grave
Mark Furr
Rl'!old hy l'et cr [Link]
Hawaii, Ma)' 2
 The Black Cat
~

Most people, once or twice in their lives, do bad

things that they feel as hamed of afterwards.
Perhaps it is something stupid or unkind ... even
cruel, or hatefu l. A few people go beyon d this, and
do things so evil, so violent, so terrible, that the rest
o f the world turns away from them in horror.
hese arc the people who wa lk on th e dark side
of life - like the man who tells this story, a man who
was once quiet and gentle, a man who loved
anima ls deeply, especia lly his black cat Pluto ...

,
 The Blucl: Cat

EDGAR AI tAN " O E For several years Pluro and I were the best of friends,
hut during this rime my life slowlv changed. I became a
The Black Cat heavy drinker, and my need for alcohol soon grew into a
terrible disease. I was often angry and violent. I began to
Rt'lOld by M,zl'garel Naudi shout at my wife, and I even started to hit her. My
animals, too, felr the change in me. I stopped taking care
know you will not believe this srory. Only a madma n nf them and sornenrnes I was even cruel to rhern. But I was
I could hope that you would believe it- and I am not mad. never cruel to Pluro. As time passed, my disease grew
worse, anJ soon even Pinto was not safe from my violence.
Bur as I am going to die tomorrow, I would like ro rell my
story to the world today Perhaps some day, somebody more One night 1 arrived home late. I was very, very drunk.
calm and less excitable than me will be able to exp lain it. When Pluto saw me, he tried to run away from me, and
I have always loved animals. I loved them deeply, from this made me angry I caught him by his neck and shook
the very first days of my life. When I was young, we lurn . He, in his fright, bit me on the hand. At once, a wild,
always had many a nimals in our house, and so I used to ter rible anger filled me, and I could feel nothing except
spend most of my days playing with them a nd tak ing care hur n ing hare. Slowly I rook a kn ife from my packer,
of them. As the years passed, I grew into a quiet, gentle ope ned it, and then carefully cut out ant: of Pluro's eyes
man, and my love for anima ls grew too. I found that they I mm its socket. I shake today as I write these words
were more friendly, more honest than most men. Animals dll\\'n. Every time I remember that day, I still feel sadness
were always my bcsr friends. I III I pain.
I got married when I was quire young. Luckily, my wife When I woke up the next morning, I felt ashamed of
loved animals too, and she used to buy me many animals \\ h.u I had done. Bur this feeling was not strong enough
a~ presents. In fact, our house was always full of anima ls III make me change my life. 1 continued to drink because

- we had birds, fish, a dog, chickens, and tl cat. 11 \V.I~ t oo difficult for me to stop. Soon, I had forgotten

This cat, whom we called Pluro, was a large black cat. ,It \1 I had done.
He was a beautifu l animal, and he was also very clever. I \ I the months passed, Plum got better. His empty eye

loved Plut o more than I loved all my other animals. I t IL ~ ,l I ... , ill looked terrible, but at least he wasn't in pai n

wanted to do everything for him myself, so I never ler my 111\ 11111rl'. Not surprisingly, he used to run away from me

WIfe take care of him. I used ro play with him and give \\111 III ~.IW me, frightened that I would hurr him again.

him his fnoJ, and he followed me everywhere I went. I 111 11 I W.1S sad (() see him run away - an animal which

4 5
 The Black Cut

had once so loved me. Then [ began to feel a little angry. I stood there in horror, too frightened to move. Then,
here is sornerlung strange about the human heart. We slowly, I thought back to the night before. I had left the
humans seem to like hurting ourselves. Haven't we all, a cat hanging from a tree, in the garden at the hack of my
hundred rimes, done something stupid or evil just bl.:C3USe house. When a neighbour had first noticed the fire, many
we know rhar we should not do it? It was because of this , people had run into the garden. One of them had
tlus need to hurr myself, that r did this next evil thing ... probably cut the cat from the tree and thrown it through
)nc Illorning I woke, found a rope and calmly tied it my open window, in order to wake me up. The eat's body
round Pluto's neck. Then [ hung the poor animal from a had hit my bedroom wall and left its shape there, because
tree and lcfr it there to die . r cried as r did this terrible the plaster on that wall was new and still soft.
thing. My Face was wet with rears and my heart was black Although I thought that this was a very reasonabl
and heavy. But I killed it. I killed it because r knew it had explanation, the strange shape on the wall still worried
loved me, because it hadn 't hurt me, even because r knew me. I thought about the cat day and night. I began to feel
that [ was doing something terrible and wrong. sorry that [ had killed it. r starred walking around the
That same night we had a fire in our house. r was streets at night looking at all the cars, to sec if I could find
woken from my sleep by loud shouts of 'Fire!' When I another one Iikc Pluro.
opened my eyes, I found that the fire had already reached One night, I was drinking in my favourite bar when I
the bedroom . My wife and I ran out of the house as fast ..uddcnly noticed a large, black cat. I went up to it and
.is we could. Luckily we escaped death, but the house and t ouched it. It was very large - as large as Plum had been.
almost everything in it was destroyed. It .ilso looked very like Pluro. Except for one thing. Pluro
The next Jay J went back into the house and saw [Link] been black all over, bur this cat had a white mark on
several people standing in a group, looking at a 'Nail. It 11, front.
was rhc only wall of the house that was still standing after I touched the cat and he immediately lay down against
the fire. It was one of my bedroom walls, the one where 111\ kg and seemed very friendly towards me. This, I
the head of my bed had rested. As I came nearer to the dt I ulcd, was the cat that I wanted. I offered the barman
w :111 I heard someone say, 'How strange!' and another uuu money to buy the cat from him, but he said that the
person, 'That's impossible!' And then [ saw It - a huge I1 didn't belong to him. In fact, he had no idea where it
[Link]. NOl .1 real cat, but the shape of a cat outlined in the 11 III \ orn, from.
whirc bcclroorn wall. It was as clear as a picture. r could ~'I I look the cat home. My wife liked it immediately,
eVL"1l "tX a rope around the animal's neck. 11111 11 "1.1Vl·d with us from that day. But so o n - I d o no t
 know why - rhe cat starred 10 make me angry, and, as t he cellar underneath the hou se. T he ca t foll owed us
rune passed, I bcgan ro hare it. I did no t hurr It in ;IIlY way, down the steps and th rew itself in fron t of me. I a lmost
but I always tried to keep as far away fmm ir as possible. fell o n my face an d, mad w ith a nger, I took hold of an ax e
r knew OIlC reason why I hared this car so much. On and tr ied to kill the animal. But my wife caught my a nn
the morning after I had brought it ho me, I saw that , like to sto p me, and then a nger exploded in my nn nd. 1Turn ed
Pluro, it had losr one of its eyes. My wife, who was the a nd drove the axe deep into her head . She fell dead on the
kind, gentle person tha t I had once been, on ly loved rhe floor, witho ut a sound.
car marc because of this. But the cat d idn' t like m}' wife. After this horrib le mu rde r, I ca lm ly made plans to hide
It loved me alone, the body. I knew I cou ldn' t rake it out of the house, either
very time I sat dow n, it used ro ju mp on to my knees. by day or night, beca use (he neighbours would see me. So
\'V' hen I went our of a room, it used to run our in front of I had to th ink of ot he r ways ... I co uld cut the body up
me and get between my feet, or clim b up my legs. At these 11110 very smal l pieces and then burn them in a fire. I could

times, I wanted to kill it. BLIt I didn't, beca use I was to o hide th e body under th e floor, Or I cou ld pm the body In
afraid - afraid o f the cat, and eve n man: afra id of th e a box and then ask someone to carry the box away . . .
wh ite mark 011 its chest. Finall y, I thought o f a bette r idea. ( dec ided to hide the
( have al ready mentio ned this ma rk. At first, there was bod y behind the wa lls of the cella r.
not hing strange abo ut it. It W;1S just a white mark. But I knew im med ia tely wh ich wall to choose. T here was a
slowly this mark grew and changed unri l it had the clear wall in the cellar ro und the bottom o f an old chi mney,
shape of a terrible, a horrible thing - I find it difficult, wh ich was no longer used . T his wa ll h ad bricks in the
hen: In my prison, to write the word . It was the shape of lron r and back but was empty in the middle. 1 started
the GALLOWS! Yes, those horrible woode n posts From wo rk at once. I rook out so me of the bricks from the front
which they hang men by a rope around the neck! wa ll a nd carefull y put the body against the back wall.
\s each day passed, my fear grew and grew. I, Cl man , a I hen I put back the br icks and covered them wit h plaster.
s rl"lll1~ man, had become afra id of a car ! Why was I so I made sure that the plaster did not look new, a nd soon
fri~.dHcncd, so worr ied by a stupid animal? Day and night, dw wall looked just the same as all the other wa lls. When
I could 1,:1..1 no rest. I ha d the most terrible dreams, and my I [Link] finished my work, I looked at th e plaster. 'I've never
mind turned to dark, evi l thou gh ts. I hated everything, dlllll'.l better piece of work!' I said to myself happily.
cvcr yhody and lif\..' itse lf. I i hcn looked around for t he cat, to kill it. It had
One day my wife and I needed to get something fro m l' IlI111dll lOO much unhappiness into my life, and so It,

H 9
 Bookworms Club Guld

too, must now die. 1 looked for it everywhere, bur it had fast as they could. In minutes the wall was down and
J disappeared. I was free at last ! Tha t night 1 had a deep, there, for all to see, was the body of my dead wife, On top
I of her head, with a red, open mouth and OIlC burning eye,
peaceful sleep -I, who had just kil led my wife, slept well!
Three days passed and still the cat did nor appear. I sat the black cat - rhe animal which had made me a
W,15 now a happy man, happier than I had been for a long
murderer, and which would now send me to my death.
time. I wasn't worried by whar I had done. People had I had put the horrible thing inro the wall, alive, with
asked a few questions and the police had visited my my wife!
ho use, but they had found nothing.
On the fourth day the police visited again and bega n
to search the house. They looked into all the rooms and
then went down into the cellar. 1 went with them, feeling
calm and safe, I watched th e m as they looked everywhere.
They seemed quite happy rh a r there was nothing t he re
and they got ready to leave. 1 was very hap py. I was sure
that I was safe, bur I wanted to say something, just a word
r two, to show how unworried 1 was.
'Gentlemen,' I said, 'I'm pleased th a t you've found
nothing here, and that you are now leaving this house . . .
But let me show you someth ing, gentlemen. Do you see
how well built this house is? These walls, you will notice,
re very strong.' As 1 said these words, I knocked on the
wall with a stick - the wall where 1 had hidden my wife!
<\l that moment we heard a so und. It was a strange
sound, unlike anything I had ever heard before . The
'iOUIIJ was soft at first, almost like a baby crying. Then it

grew louder and louder and turned into one long, end less
scream. 11 was like a cry rising from Hell.
1"11(' policemen looked at me, then at one another.
They ran to the wall and started pulling our the bricks as

10 11
 Th e Black Cal

\ V O R D FOCUS STORY Fo cus 1

M a tch each wo rd with an a pp ro p ria te mean ing. Then use seve n of th e In a story, the narrator is a character who tells the story. What do you think
th ir teen wo rds to complete th e passage belo w. (Use o ne word in each gap.) abou t the narrator of The Black Cati C hoose one of these adjectives for
Who is the person telli ng the sto ry in the pa ssage? th e first gap in each se ntence. and then write .1S much as you like to finish
th e sentences.
alcohol w ith .1 Sick mind a roo m ill t he: g ro u nd
under a ho use ./Ilgr)/, calm , careful. cleuer, cruel, evil , gp /l Ie, hor rible. kind , m ad,
axe
nervous. uiolent
1101 klJ1d: bringing pain or t rouhle to so meo ne:
bricks
ce llar I' \ l l yen. w rong
very." I th ink the narrator was beca use '
th e place whe n: had
peopk go wh en th ev die 2 T he narrator was when _
chest rhc from pan of the
top o f t he bodv T he narrator was n' t when _
cruel
making you ver y fr ig htened I Whl'n the na rra to r hung the CH, he was becau se '
,Ito o / for (lItl ill!! trees
evil and wo od ~ After he killed his WIfe, the narrator was because _
hell t he hol e 111 the head wh ere the ere is
horrible show ing th e line or STORY Fo cus 2
sha pe of sorne t h m g s ma ll hard blo cks th at a re used
mad fo r b uild ing wa lls
Mat ch these ha lves of sentences to make a pa rag ra ph of five sentences.
outlined ~d ,\ 11
Who do you t hink the narrator is here?
plaster r-
I'hc ma n was my best friend , , .
sULket
, For several year", the man wa s kind, ...
'\ 1 11rs t, the man was c ruel to the other anim als, , , .
I hell we went down 10 th e . And we found nothi ng there. lhcn, one night, I tried to run away from him , ...
HlII when we were le:lvin g. the man hit the wa ll with a stick, And , Ii nally, he took a knife from his po cket•...
suddc nlj, we heard a soft so und, bu t SOon it grew lo ud er and \WI S like a
h • bur the man caught me and shoo k me by the neck .
cr y rising [rom ! We ran to t he wall and started pulling o ut t he
. . hut he wasn't cruel to me.
- - ' Imide rhe wa ll, wc saw som et hi ng - the body of the
beca use he gave me m y food and pla yed with me ever y day.
m,111\ Wife. Am] sir ring on her head was a black ca t wi th a st range
hili th en the man 's life slow ly cha nged .
mark o n il s .ind OIlC emp ty eye . Next to the bod y, we
found a weapon, a hlood) _ _.' III md he CUI my eye out of its socket.

12 J3
 Sredni Vashtar
~

Children call live in [WO different worlds at the

same time. One is the real. boring, everyday world,
and the other is a world where you arc king of
your country, where your best friend lives on the
moon, where you can eat ho t buttered toast all
day long .. .
Conradi Il lives with his aunt. He is ren years old,
lonely, and often Ill. One of Conradin's worlds is the
colourless, comfortless wo rld of his aunt. And the
other is the bnght, excit ing, violent world of his
imaginat ion, where his unkind aunt has no place,
and where Sredni Vashrar has become his god . ..

1,
 Srcdni Vashlar

SAl" a church. He filled it with ghosts and anima ls from his

imaginarion . But there were also two living things in the
Sredni Vashtar shed . In one corner lived an old, untidy-looking chicken.
Conradin had no people to love, and this chicken was the
Retold by Rosemary Border
boy's dearest friend. And in a dark, secret place at the back
of the shed was a large wooden box with bars across the
C o n rad in was ten years old and was often ill. front. This was the home of a very large ferret with long,
'The boy is not strong, ' said the doctor. 'He will not dangerous teeth and claws. Conradin had bought the ferret
live much longer.' Bur the doctor did not know about and its box from a friendly boy, who lived in the vi llage. It
onradm's imagination. In Conradin's lonely, loveless had cost him all his money, hut Conradin did not mi nd. He
world, his imagination was the only thing thar kept him was most terribly afraid of the ferret, bur he loved it with
alive. all his heart. It was his wonderful, terrible secret. He gave the
onradin's parents were dead and he lived with his aunt. ferret a strange and beaunful narnc and it became his god.
The aunt did nor like Conradin and was often unkind to The aunt went to church every Sunday She took
him. Conradin hated her w ith all his heart, bur he obeyed Co nradin with her, but to Conradin her church and her god
her quietly and took his medicine without a rgumg. Mostly were without meaning. They seemed grey and uninteresting.
he kept our of her way. She had no place in his world. HIS The true god lived in the shed, and his name was Sredni
real, everyday life in his aunt's colourless, comfortless house Vashrar,
was narrow and uninteresting. But inside his small, dark Every Thursday, in the cool, silent darkness of the shed,
head exer ting and violenr thoughts ran wild. In the bright onradin took presents to his god. He took flowers in
world of his imagination Conradin was strong and brave. summer and fruits in autumn, and he made strange and
It was a wonderful world, and the aunt was locked out or it. wonderful songs for his god. Sometimes, on days when
I'hc garden was no fun. There was nothing inreresnng somethi ng impo rta nt happened, Conradin took special
tll Jo. He was forbidden to pick the flowers. He was presents. He sto le salt from the kitchen and placed it
forhidden to car the fruit. He was forbidden to play on the carefully and lovingly in front of the ferret's box.
gra~1>. Hill beh ind some trees, in a forgotten corner of the One day the aunt had the most terrible toothache. It
g.HJCI1, there was an old shed. ontinued for three days. Morning and evening Conradin
Nobody used the shed, and Conradin took it for his put sa lt in front of his god. In the end he almost believed
own. "10 h1l11 it became something between a playroom and that Srcdni Vashrar himself had sent the toothache.

Il1
 Bookworms Club Gold Sredni Yasbtar

Htl'r ,I rime th e aunt noti ced Co nrad in's visits to the 'What arc you keeping in th at locked box ?' she asked.
~ 11l"d . 'I'm sure you 're keeping an anim al there. It's no t go od for
'It 's nor good for him to pla y out there in the cold,' yo u.'
...Ill' said. She could a lways find a reason to stop Co nr ad in Conrad in sai d noth ing.
en jo yi ng him se lf. The next morning at breakfast she told The aunt sea rched his bedroom until she found the key
.o urad in that she had sold th e chicken. She looked at to the box . She marched down to the shed . lr was a cold
~ o n ra d i n 's white face, and waited for him to cry or to afternoo n, and Conr ad in was forbidden to go outside. From
he angry. But Co nrad in said nothing; there was nothin g the window of the dining-room Co nr ad in could just sec the
to say. door of the shed . He stood a nd waited.
Perhaps the aunt felt so rry That afternoon there was He saw th e aunt open the shed door. She went inside.
hot bu ttered toas t for tea. Toast was usually forb idden. Now, thought Conradin, she ha s found the box. She is
Conradin loved It, but the aunt said that it was bad for him. opening the do or, and feeling ab out inside the box where
Also, it made extra work for th e coo k . Conradi n lo o ked at my god lives.
[he toast and quietly roo k a piece of bread a nd butt er, 'Do one thing for me, Srcd ni Vashrar,' said Co nrad in
'I thought you liked roast,' th e aunt said crossly. so ftly. But he said it wrrhout ho pe. She will win, he
'Sometimes,' said Conradin. thought. She always wins. Soo n she wi ll come o ut of the
In the shed that evening Conrad in looked sadl y a t the she d and give her o rders. Somebody wi ll come and lake my
.mpry corner where his chicken had lived. AmI, for the first wonderful god awa y - not a god a ny more, Just a brown
time, he asked his ferret-god to do something for him. ferre t in a box . Then there wi ll be nothing important in my
'Do one thing fo r me, Sredni Vashtar, ' he said so ftly. life . . . The doctor will be right. [ shall sicken and die. She
He did not say what he wanted. Sred ni Vashrar was a will win. She a lwa ys wins . .. In his pain and misery,
god , .iftcr all. There is no need to explain things to gods. Conradin began to sing th e song of his god:
(hen, with a last look a t the empty co rne r, Co nr adi n Sredni Vashta r tuent int o battle. His th oughts
returned to the world that he hated. uere red th oughts and his teeth were white. His
'\ nd eve r y night, in th e shed and in his bedroom , enem ies called (o r peace but he brought th em
l o u raclin repented ag a in and again, death. Sred ni Yashtar th e Beautiful.
' I) " line thing for me, Srcdni Vashrar,' Suddenly he sto pped singing a nd went nearer to th e
"to ( on [Link] \; visits to th e shed continued. The aunt w indow. The door of th e shed was st ill open . Slow ly, very
m u iced , .ind went to look in [h e shed again . slowl y the minutes went by. Conrad in watched the bird s on

IS 19
 old

till' ~r;l '!'>. II ~ co u nted th em, a lways w ith one eye o n th at ''<f O R D Fo c us
open d oor. The un smiling housek eeper ca me in w ith the ten
Use the clues below and complete thi.. cros sword wi th words from th e story.
rhmgs. "till Conradm stood a nd wa tc he d an d wai ted. H ope
wa..; growing, like a sma ll, sick flower, H1 his heart. Very
' ofrl y he sa ng hi s so ng aga in , and Ius ho pe grew a nd g rew.
nd th en he sa w a very won d erful thing.
Our o f the sh ed ca me a lon g , 10\v', yellow-a nd- brow n
a n im a l. There we re red . we t stains a ro u nd its mouth an d
neck.
'Sredni Vas hra r!' sa id Co n ra d in so ft ly The ferret-god
m ade its way to th e bottom of th e ga rde n. It stop ped for
a mom en t. then went qu ietl y into th e lon g gra ss and
d isap peared for e ver.
'Tea is read y,' sai d the ho usekeep er. '\'V'here is your a unt?'
'S he we nt dow n to the s hed,' sa id Con ra d in.
And, wh ile th e hou sekeeper we nt d own to ca ll the a unt ,
Co n ra d in too k the toa st in g-fo rk our o f th e din in g- ro om
c u pboa rd. H e sat by t he fire a nd to a sted a pi ece of bre ad
fo r h im self. W h ile he was roas t ing it a nd puttin g butter AC RO~S DO\\ "
on It , Co n radin list en ed to t he noises beyo nd th e dinin g­ In rhc garden Courudin was Sred ni Vashrar was rca lly a
roOI11 door. First t here we re lo ud sc reams - th at was th e _ __ to pick rhc [lo we rs, cat ___' a small hut dangerous
housekeeper, T he n th er e was the coo k's a nswering cry. Soon rhc fruit, a nd play on th e grass. anima l used for catching rabbits.
there [Link] th e sou nd o f several pai rs o f feet. T hey were 4 Sredni Vash rar had long sharp 2 Conradm 's body was weak, but
on its feet. in the bright world o f his ,
carrying so meth ing heavy into the house. he was strong and brave,
I> Conradin went to wuh
'W ho is go ing to tell tha t poor chi ld?' sa id t he .) Conradiu's aunt had Cl terrible
lu s .uuu every Sunday.
!to usc kcc pcr, _ _ for three days.
Afte r the chicken was so ld,
'Well, M un cone w ill h ave to, ' a nswered th e cook. An d, I here was ho r hurrercd _ 5 Conradin's parents were dead.
whil, they were .lq~lIi ng , Co nrad in m a d e him self another fo r tea . so he lived with his
piece Ill' [Link]!. 11 llllH"dll1 thought that Srcdni IS Conradin loved to l!0 to the (11.1
V,!,ht.1f W.I ... ;1 _ _ in the corner of the: ganlcn.

20 21
 Boolacorms Club Gold

TORY Focus 1

lien: arr four new endings for the story, Which do you prefer? Explain why,
01 write a new ending for th e story yourself.

(lIl1radin's aunt does not die. She goes to the ho spi ta l and gets well.
I hen sh e goes home and is ver y kind to Conradin . ..
The Railway
1. After his a lint dies , Conrndin gets well. He continues to live in rhc
hOll.,e .md grows up to be a strong yOllng man . Of course . Conrad in
Crossing
alwa ys keeps many animals in th e garden . .
Later that night, Sredni Vashrar goes q uie tly into C o n rad in's room ­ ~

and kills the bo y whi le he is sleeping . . ,

-I When t he housekeeper comes b ack from t he shed , s he lo o ks fo r
nradin, But he Isn 't in the ho use . In t he bo y' s ch air, by the hre, What is the perfect crime? Is it a murd er wh en th e
murd erer is ne ve r ca ugh t ? Or perh aps the pe rfect
th ere is a long, brown anim a l w ith dangerous teeth a nJ claws . . .
murder is never reported as a murder a t all, because
e ver ybody beli e ves it was an accident.
STORY Fo cus Dunst an Thwaitc is a troubled man, a man with
2 a guilt y secret, a man with a blackmai ler always
breathing J own hi s nec k , asking for m ore, a nd yet
lmnginc that you are m ore, money. So m eth ing must be d one. $0 Thwaite
.1 detective. You begins to pl an - a s lee p ing powder, th e hand s of a
think the death of d o ck , a p as sing frei ght train o n th e rail way ...
( .o n ra d in \ aunt wa ..
probably nut an
3
accident. But what
did happen to her?
You can ,I.\ k Conradi n if
five qucst iouv III lind
out what happened 10
5
hi., aUIlI and why.
Which five qu estions
will yo u .1\1.. him ?

23
2.2
 The Railway Crossing

I REEM AN WILLS c uorrs money for the expensive kind of wedding th at M iss Lorraine
wanted . So Thwaire stole a thousand pounds, by changing
the figures in the company's hooks. He planned to pm the
The Railway Crossing
money back after he was marr ied, but so meo ne discovered
Retoh! hy John Escort that It was missing.
Thwaire kept quiet. An other man was thought to be th e
unsran TI1\va ire looked at th e rail way cross ing a nd thief, and he lost his job. Thwair e still sa id nothing.
D de cided th at it was lime for Jo hn Dunn to di e. It wa s But John Dunn worked in th e sa me officc. He worked
clo sel y w irh T hwa itc ,111J guessed T hwa irc 's crime, He
a very sui ta ble place for a m ur de r. There were trees all
around , ;1I1d t hcy hid th e train s whi ch came so fast al ong searched th rou gh the I. ul1l f1;1I1),\ books until he round wha t
the railway line. The nearest hou se wa s Thwaire's OW II. and he was looking for. Then he went to Thwaite .
thi s was a lso hidd en by the trees. People and traffic did not 'So rry to have to ask you , Mr Thwaitc.' he said. ' I need
lI "C th e cro ssing ver y often, and the bi g gates were kept a hundred pounds . . . for my son. He's in a bit of trouble ,
locked. There was a sma ll gate used by passengers going to yO ll see . . .'
th e st ation, hill at night it was a lw ays qui et. 'Bill you don't have a son,' said Thwaite.
Th waite was a worried man . He had to use slee p ing Dunn just smiled. It wasn 't a very nice smil e. 'A hundred
powders to hel p him slee p. But a fter tonight, thin gs were pounds,' he said again.
go ing to be different. T he rim e had co me to sto p th e And then Thwaire knew that he was being blackmailed.
blackrn ail. T he tim e had co me for j ohn Dunn to die . He paid Dunn one hundred pounds, and Dunn sa id
nothing more for a yea r. During that time. Thwa ite got
~
It .rll began live yea r" ea rlier ... married.
I'hwairc worked in th c o ffices o f a large compan y, a nd Then the day came wh en Dunn as ked him for more
Ill', olll y money wa s th e money t har th e compan y paid money
111111 It was not much , bur it was enough. Then he met the 'Two hundred and fift y pounds,' he said to Thwa ire,
lu aut ilul MI SS Hilda Lorraine a nd asked her to marry him. "can't pay - ' began Thwairc.
~ lI l [Link] from a n important famil y wh o were suppo sed But he did . Either he paid o r he went to prison.
tll hl wry rich , hUI in fact th ey had less money than lr went Oil for five years, and each time Dunn wanted
111 \\ .utv h.u l th ought. H e lea rned (h at he would ha ve ro more 1110ney. Thwaire found it difficult to live 011 th e money
[Link] fllr Ihl' wedd ing him self. And he d id not have e no ug h th at he was left w ith . HIS w ife liked ex pe ns ive th ings.

14 25
 Bookworms Club Gold
.- ----' .........

All ex pensive ho use, all expensive car, vis its to expensive enough whisky for two glasses. bur there was an unopened
restauran ts. She a lso discovered that so me of the mo ney her bottle next to it. Next he pur a hammer into onc pocket of
h usba nd was paid each year see med to d isa ppea r. He tried his overcoat, anJ a torch into the other pocket. The coat
to lie a bout it, bur he kn ew that she th ought he was pay ing was outside the door of hi., studv, Lastly. he moved the
to keep another woma n. hands on his watch and on the study clock forward by
O h, how he ha ted John Dun n! So me t hi ng mu st ha pp en! ten minutes. Those extra ten minutes would gm: h im his
And then he remembered the ra ilway cro ssin g. alibi.
It was nor a new idea . Wee ks befo re, he had th ought Thwaire knew that he must be extra careful. He knew
a bo ut what cou ld happen the re. T he idea came whe n t he that people at the office thought there was some secret
doctor gave hi m so me powders to hel p him sleep. H e be tween him and Dunn. A secret tha t Thwaitc didn't want
thought abo ut giving Du nn enough of the m to k ill him , bur anyone to know.
th e n he got a better idea . A lthough he was a frai d , Th wairc ' If Dunn is killed.' he rhough r, 'they' ll wonder if it was
slow ly real ized rhar murder wa s th e o nly an swe r to hi s really an accident, or if [ murdered him.'
p ro blem. Bur if h is plan went well, the police would believe [hat
T hen Du nn asked fo r more mo ney. he hadn 't left the house.
'Five hundred pounds, Mr Thwaite,' Dunn raid h im . Th wa irc sat down to wait for Joh n D unn. H e thought
'Five h un dred!' sai d T hwai re. ' W hy nor a sk for th e about wha t he was going to Jo. Murder! H e could almost
11100n? You'll ge t neit he r o ne nor t he o the r.' sec h is hand hold ing the hamm er a bove D unn; co uld hear
'Five hu ndred ,' re peated Du nn , calmly. rhe awful sound of it crashing dow n on to the man's head.
It was th en that Thwa ire decided to m urder the other He cou ld see Dunn's dead body! Dead all except the eyes,
ma n. He p rete nded to thi nk about the money for a mo ment, which loo ked at Thwairc ... fo llowed him eve rywhere he
then he sa id , 'Co me to m y house to mo rrow nig ht a nd we 'll we nt . ..
talk.' H e remembe red his w ife was going to be away in He tried to calm himself. He remembered why he was
Lon do n a ll nigh t. 'And brin g th ose pa pe rs fro m t he office doing this. When Dunn was dead, his problems were over.
which yo u wa nt me tol o ok a t.' Half an hour later, Dunn arrived . janc opened the door.
"\ 11 rig ht,' said D unn, [ nnc was the servant who lived in the house with T hwaire
l' hc fo llowi ng even ing, T hwai re put two hu ndred .uul his wife. She brought Dunn into the study.
pounds in h is pocket . Then he put half of one of his hwaire smiled in a friendly way. 'Oh, good. You've
skepll lg powders into a whisky bottle. There was o n lv brought those papers for me to see, Dunn. Thank you.'

26 r
 The Railway Crossing

Af te r j ane left, t he rwo men lo oked a t each othe r. them back. I'll lake my punishment. then I'll go a nd live
'Give me th e papers,' Thwaite sa id. 'I'll lo ok a t th em 111 another country and give myself a new na me.'
now th at you've b ro ught th e m.' Fifteen minutes later, he 'And your wife?' said Dunn.
gave the pap ers ba ck to Dunn a nd sat back in hi s cha ir. 'My wife wil l leave rhe country first ,' T hwai tc ro lJ him.
'Now, a bo u t that o ther matter.' H e go t up. 'B ur w hy not 'She' lI wai t fo r me to come out of prison. It won't he more
h ave a d rin k firs t?' than tWO or three years. So you (an rake the tWO hundred
Ma .....,... sai d Dunn . H e lo o ked a fraid . pounds, or you can do your worst!'
'Wha t are you afra id of?' said T h wai re . H e gave Dunn T he powder in the whisky was bcgmning to make Dunn
the o pe ned whisky bortl c an d two g lasses . 'We ca n both sleepy. He looked stupidly .H Thwairc, .md [Link] began
d ri nk the same w his ky, if you like. H ere, yo u do it. ' to wor ry. Had he given the other man loo much? He looked
After a mo me nt, D un n p ut whis ky into each g las s, then at t he clock. There was not much rime left,
11
he wai ted unti l Th wai te d rank before he drank his own . 'Wil l you take it. or leave It?' asked Thwnire.
Th waite watch ed hi m . H ow lo ng befo re the o t he r ma n 'Five hundred,' said Dunn, III ;1 heavy voice. '( want live
beg an t o feel sleepy? T hwa ire needed a ll o f o ne s lee pi ng hu nd red .'
I powder to m a ke him s lee p, hut Du n n d id not usu a lly take 'You can go and d o your worst,' said Thwaite.
Dunn he ld out a shaking hand. 'Come on, pay me.'
I them.
'Liste n, DUl1Il,' sai d T hwa ire, ' I haven 't go t five hundred Thwairc began to worry again. 'Are you feeling all right,
pounds, bur 1 can give you t h is.' H e rook th e mo ney from Dunn? Haw some 1110re whisky.'
h is rocket and put it on th e table. He opened the ot her bottle and put some whisky 111

Dunn co un te d it. 'Two hund red? ' he sa id. with a laugh . Dunn's g lass. Dunn drank ir, and it seemed to make him fed
'A rc you try ing to be fun ny ?' better,
' I'm not saying it wi ll be the la st,' said Th wa ire . 'Take "That was strange,' he said, 'I didn't feci very well. but
it now and be pleased tha t you've got it.' I feci a little better now.'
Dun n s hook his head. 'Five hund red, M r T hwa itc .' ' If you're going to catch your train, you must go,' said
' I've to ld you, 1 can'r d o it ,' said Thwaite. 'A nd ( won 't lhwaire. 'Tell me tomorrow what you finally decide to do.
do it. Yo u can te ll everyo ne what I d id - I don' t care a ny Ia]«, the two hundred with you.'
more. It 's been five yea rs. a nd I've d o ne a lo t o f good wo rk I)unn thought for a mOI11CIll, then picked Ill' the money.
for rhe company during that time. 1 saved them a lo t I it' looked ar his watch. then looked at the study dock.
more du n ;1 rhousand po unds. I'l l se ll t h is house a nd pay 'Your clock is w rong,' he said. 'I [Link] ten mort' 111 inurcs. '

29
 ssing

'Wrong?' sai d Thwaitc. He lookcd ar his own watch. 'It's Slowly, the two men walked on, Thwaite holding Dunn's
your watch tha t's wrong. Look at mine.' arm. A light wind moved among the trees. Thwa ite gently
Dunn looked and seemed unable tu understand it. He pushed the half-asleep Dunn forwards. He pm his hand into
stood up ... 3nJ almost fell hack again. his pocket for the hammer . . .
Thwaite hid a smile. This was how he wanted Dunn to And stopped.
be. His keys! They were still inside the house, and he could
'You're not feeling well,' he said. ' ['11 take you to the not get back in wi rhour them! He would have to nng the
station. Wait until [ get my coat.' from door bell. His alibi was destroyed!
11 Now that the time was here , Thwaire felt cool and calm. lr was a bad mistake. Everything was wrong now. He
I [ le pm on his coat, feeling the hammer in the pocket, couldn't go on with the murder.
then went back into the study. 'Most murderers make mistakes,' thought Thwaitc,
'We'lI go out this way,' he said. trying to calm himself. 'I've been the same.' BUI he was
11 There was a side door from the study into the ga rden . shaking with fear as he thought about the mistake.
hwaire dosed it silently and it lo ck ed aurornatica lly Suddenly, he cou ld not walk a nother step with Dunn.
11
behind him. It was his plan to return that way, go in quietly 'Goodnight,' he sa id to the o the r ma n.
again, and t he n to change the dock and his watch back r And before they reached t he crossing, he turned and
the right time. Then he would shout 'Coodnighr' , and close walked back to the house.
the front door very loudly, pretending that somebody had Fo r t en minutes. Thwaire walked lip and down outside
I left just then. Next, he would call janc and ask for some until he began to feel calm again. Then he rang the hell.
coffee, making sure that she saw the clock. Then, if the A few moments later, jane opened rhe door,
police asked her later, jane could say tha t Thwaite did not 'Thank you, janc,' he said. 'I went to sec M r Dunn over
leave I he house and that Dunn went to catch his tr a in at the i he crossing, and I forgot my keys.'
right time. He went to bed a happier man. He wa s not a murderer.
11
It was a dry night, but very dark. A train carrying freig h t When he was caring his breakfast the next morning, he
went slowly by. Thwaite smiled to himself. There were decided what to do. '1'11 tell them at the office that I stole
plent y of freight trains at that t ime of the night. He needed 1I1l' thousand pounds,' he sard to himself. '1'11 take my
one of them to hide his crime for him. He planned to hit punishment, a nd then [ can have some peace again.'
Dunn on the head with the hammer, then put his body 011 It "uddenl)' seemed so casy.
the railway line. A frcighr [rain would do the rest. Until [ane ca me in .

~ ,0 11

11
 The Railtl'

'J-Lm: you heard the news, sir?' she snrd. 'Mr Dunn was ~
killed by a train on the crossing la st n igh t. A man who was There were th in gs th at T hwai te coul d not exp la in to th em .
working on rhe rai lway lmc found hi m thi s morn ing.' W hy d id th e w h isky bottle con tain wha t wa s left of a
Thwai re slowly Went white, lane was lo o k ing at him slee p ing powd e r ? W hy was till: study clo ck w ro ng by te n
rrangely \X' ha t was she thinking? W hat story did he te ll her minutes? (At dinn e r-rime ea rlier on th e sa me eveni ng, j ane
the n ight before? H e couldn't reme m ber! h ad noticed th at it was right.) And why W:lS a h am m e r
'DUIlII killed!' he s.u d. 'How terrible, jane! I' ll go down.' fo u nd in hi s ove rcoa t po ck et ?
The body was in a sma ll ra ilway buil ding, near the line. Then the p oli ce fo un d pape rs in Du nn's house . The
There wa s il pili iceman outside. h and wri t ing o n th em was D u nn 's. It to ld the story o f
'A sad accident, 1\'[ r Thwn ire,' the poli cem a n S,I id . 'You T hwa itc and th e th ousand pounds, a nd it tol d how T hwa irc
knew the man, didn'r )IOU, sir?' was a thi ef. T he poli ce th en di scovered that m o ne y take n
'He workc.. J in Ill} IIfticL",' re plied Thwaite. 'He was \\ ith fro m T hwa irc's bank acco u nt ove r the last five years a lways
me la st night, diSCUSS ing business. I suppose t his ha p pened appeared a few duys later in Dun n's b a nk b o o k .
on h is way ho me, It 's ter ri b le!' Las tly, the time o f d ea th w as known to be [0.30 pm
I1I
I 'It's very sad, sir,' said the po licema n. 'Bur accidents wi ll
happen. '
bec a use Dunn's blo od wa s found o n th e trai n th at went
throu gh the rai lway cross ing a t tha t time. It wa s also seve n
'I know tha t,' sard Thwa ire. 'But I wis h he ha d n 't d ru n k minutes befo re [a ne opened th e [ront door to let Th ioaite
so m uc h of my whisky I was going to walk w ith him to t he hack ill .
station .' A t first, T hwai re h ad n o a nswe rs to a ll th eir qu estions.
The po!tcemanlooked closely a t T hwaite. 'And di d you, Fina lly, on hi s la st rnorn mg, h e tol d th em the tru e sto ry.
si r?'
Th en he we nt to hi s dea t h bravely.
'No,' said Thwa itc, 'The co ld night air seemed to make
him fed better. I turned hack before t he crossi ng.'
The po liceman sa id no 111 ore, but lata that day two
more police men came to t he office, 'Have t hey ta lked to
j .inc?' wondered Thwairc. Aga in he to ld them, '[ left DUIlIl

hcron. we reached th e railway crossi ng. ' T hey wrote down

what he sa id ro t he 111 , then went away.
Next d'ly, they lame: hack .

H u
 'be Railtoay

\X! O R O Fo c us STO RY Focus

M at ch eac h word with an appropriate meaning. Here are three sho rt pa ssa ges from th e sto ry. Read th em and ans wer th e
questions.
•tlibi r11l111L~ ,n huv or "cll'l rhar He trkcu h.. rr.l'n or ..hip
' I need .1 hundred pound.. . .. f( 01 \ .. o n. I k'" III ;l
blackm:lil(ing ) .1 Mrong drink
hit of trouble. yo u sec .. .'
freight I [Link] electric light whrch i..
[Link] III t he hand
hammer
Who says t hese word s. a nd to who m?
to ~l' r monL'\ IrlJrn "'\III1COlll hy ...1) Ing yOll \\ III
murder td' had thtll g.. ,l h o ut them 2 Wh ere d oes th is co nve rsa t ion rake: place?
Wh ) does t he spea ke r talk a bout hi.... Oil whe n th e o ther pe rso n
rail" :l~ I'flol WII h .1 wooclc-n [Link], and a [Link]
crossmu net " hc;ad kn ows th at he doe s not hnve one?
to kill .t pc r...in
slecpmg
powder "Olllct fling to :-.!JowI',"U Were IIIJl
'Five hundred! . . \'(111\ nor a sk for rh, moon ?'
t hert when a crum- hnPPl.'ncd
torch .1 place where a road a nd .1 radw.l) lm,
whisk} cro.... each other . k, w help you ..lccp Whu says th ese wo rds, a nd to who m?
somethmg I .t L 11
, What ar e they talking a bo ut?
Wh ;u do you think the speaker mean s whe n he says, 'Why not a..k
Perhaps a pol icem an made so me notes in his notebook while working for th e 1110 0 11 ?'
n the case. Co m p lete his notes with six of th e nine words from
the list a bove.
' You eau go and do vour wor..r.'
Dunstan Thwaite saidthat heplanned to _ John Dann. But he did
not do 11. Thwaite wanted to AillDunn because Dunn wa.s _ him.
Th walle invited Dunn to his home andgave him some_ _ to drinA. Whe re d oes thi s conversation take place]

The wht".sAy hada __ _ in If. Thwaite changed the time on the Wh.1t do you t hink 'your worst' means he re ?
l, thi s a da nge rous th ing for the speaker to ..ay? Why, or why no t ?
clock in his .study and on his watch to give himselfan _ .' But the 11

murder plan went wrong. Thwaite walked With Dunn towards the
station, but Thwaite went home beforetheygot to the _

34 H
 The Daffodil Sky
~

Is it a good idea to re-visit the pasr, to go back 10

places you once lived In, to search for people you

knew many years before? Places change. people
change .. , \X'ho knows what you might learn, an d
who you might meet?
Under a stormy, daffodi l-yel low sky, Bill walks
slowly through the streets of his home town. He has
come home: after eightee n years away And as he
wa lks, he remembers the past - th e daffodils he
used to se ll, the girl he loved, and the day that
dest ro yed his hopes and his dreams ...

p
 The Daffodil Sky

H. E. HATE S
' T ha t wa s a long time ago,' said the barman. 'TI1CY built
a new sho e factory ten years ago - outside the town:
The Daffodil Sky 'She used to come in here when Jack Shipley had this pub.'
'jack Shipley?' sa id the barman. 'He's been dead nine
Retold b)· Rosemary Border
years now.'
Onc of th e railwaymen looked up from his card gam e.

Bill got o ff rhc train , under a stormy, dark yel lo w s ky.

Aurornarically, he Went ro the railway footbr idge. T ha t
'Do yo u mean C o rn Whitehead ?' he said.
'That's right.'
wa s always the: quickest way to the town. H e could save half 'She still lives in WelllIlgton Street with her old Dad:
a mile that wa y And then he saw that the footbridge W~l S 'Thanks ver y much ,' "aid Bill.
dosed. Then: was a hig blue notice board. 'Danger. Keep Off.' H e fil1lshc:d his drink and went o u t. Th e s ky above his
'This town has changed,' he said to himself. head wa s still rhnr bright. unn atural daffodil ycllov•.
So he went the long way, pa st the factories and along the Suddenly he remembered his first visu to this pub. H e
thin black ra ilwa y' line. Soon he came to a pub. In the o ld had called in, many years ago, during a sto rm , £0 get a drink
d ays. Bill o fte n s to p ped th ere o n his wa y to market. of water for lus horse and so me beer for himself, 'How
In th o se days he used to co me into town every week. He many yea rs ago wa s it ?' he thought. 'But I st ill remember
brought his Iruir a nd vegetables or, in ea rly sp r ing, his everything so dearl y.'
daffodil s, a nd so ld them in the market. In th c ea rly days, he
'-~
had br ought them in a horse a nd ca rt. But soon he had been His cart had been full of daffodils, he remembered. They
read y to bu y his first car . . . were a bright, burning yellow, like the stormy sky now
The walls o f the pub were black with smo ke from above his head. He was crossing the bridge when he heard
passing trams. Bill went through the glass door a nd walked thunder. Then the storm came. He did not have time to
lip to th e bar.
cover the cart . 'Come on!' he shouted to his horse. He drove
'I'll have a be er, pl ease,' he said. to the pub. He found a dry place for his horse and cart .Then
\VO railwaym en were pl aying cards in o ne corner of th e he ran through the rain towards the door of the bar.
h ~l r.
'Don't knock me over!' said a girl's vo ice .
Bill paid for his beer. ' I' m looking for a Mi ss Whiteh ead, ' 'Sorry: he said.
he sa id . 'Sh e used ro co me in here . She u sed to live in He had not noticed the colour of the girl's dress. Perhaps
Wel ling to n Str ee t a nd work in th e s hoe Facrory th ere.' I1 was blue; he was not sure. But he had noticed her large.

18 ~
 old 'he Daffodil Sk»

I full, red mouth, also her long, reddish -brown hair and big afterwards, Bill was [Link] evening was clear and fine .
brown eyes.
Customers came to the market. They saw the shining
He could not open the door because his hands were wet. yellow daffodils and they bought them all. 'She was right:
She started to laugh. It was a strong, friendly laugh , not too thought Bill. 'She did br ing me luck:
loud. A moment later the sun came out. He felt it on his face Soon Bill sold his horse and cart and bought a car. At first
and neck.
he did not think he had enough money.
'You 're as good as an umbrella on a wet day: the girl 'Listen,' she said. 'Frankie Corbett's got an old car that he
said.
wants to get rid of. I'll have a word with Frankie. It'll be cheap
The door opened at last , and they were inside the pub . - you 'll see:
There was a smell of smoke and beer, sandwiches and She wa s right. Bill bought the car very cheaply.
warm bod ies. But she said , 'There's a smell of flowers in 'You see,' she said . 'I bring you luck:
I here . Can you smell it too? '
That summer Bill began to visit the house in Wellington

Ij 'I've got a cart full of flowers: he said. 'Daffodils. I've been

picking them since six o'clock this morning. I've go t the
Street. Cora 's mother was dead and her father worked all
night on the railway. So it was easy for them to spend the
smell of them on my hands:
I night together. Those were happy [Link] did not talk
He held up his hands for her to smell .
I 'That's it,' she said . 'What a lovely smell l'
much, but they were very happy. She understood him so
well.
1. I He watched her as she drank her beer. 'She's beautiful:
11 'Do you know what?' she said sometimes. 'I know when
/
he thought. He wanted to be early at the market by twelve you turn the corner by the bridge . I feel you near me. I know
I' 'I' o'clock . But he stayed in the pub with her until nearly two. yo u're coming, every time:
Every time he thought about leaving, the thunder crashed op
and the rain beat against the w indow [Link] at last the Bill rented his land from an old man call ed Osborne.
bright daffodil sun came out again . Osborne had a little fa rm . He had chickens and a few cows
" have to go: he said.
nd sheep. Most of the land was covered with old fruit
'You' ll be all right: she said . 'You'll sell all yo ur daffodils. trees. In the spring the daffodils grew th ickly at the foot of
You've got a lucky face. People like you are always lucky: very tree.
'How do you know?'
'I'm getting old ,' Osborne said one day. 'I'd like to go and
'I br ing them luck,' she said . 'I always do : liv e with my sister. I'll sell you my farm , cheap . Pay me a
And she was right. All that day, and for a long time dupos it and give me the rest of the money later:

40 41
 'h« Daffodil Sk»
1
, 1
Suddenly Bill saw all his life in front of him like a bright, '1 can get it,' said Cora, 'I'll ask Frankie Corbett. He's got
beautiful carpet. A farm I
plenty of money -I'll talk to Frankie and ask him to help us:
That evening he went for a drive with [Link] stopped Suddenly he was holding her face in his hands. 'We'll get
in a field full of summer flowers. The long grass hid them married,' he said. 'You know what you said - you bring me
from the road. He lay on his back among the flowers. He
luck:
looked up at the bright blue sky and talked to Cora about They kissed again.
his plans. But Cora was not sure.
'1'11 never forget this day; thought Bill. 'I feel lucky - the
'How do you know that this Osborne man is honest?' luckiest man in the world I've got a car, and a house, and
'I know Osborne. He's as honest as the day is long.' a farm ... and the woman 1 love:
'Yes, and some days are longer than others,' she said. 'And it all started,' he said aloud, 'with the daffodils:
'Don't forget that:
'That's how all important things start,' said Cora. 'With
She looked thoughtfully at him with her big, soft brown something small like a few daffodils. Kiss me again, Bill:
eyes.
Six weeks later, on a rainy October evening, he was
'How much money have you got?' she asked.
killing Frankie Corbett .. .
'I've saved a hundred and fifty pounds:
~
'So you pay Osborne your hundred and fifty pounds as He thought about Frankie Corbetr now, as he walked slowly
a deposit, and then what do you get?'
and heavily up Wellington Street, along the rows of smoke­
'The land. The farm buildings. The animals. The fruit trees. blackened little houses. The sky above the factory chimneys
Everything:
was still dark and stormy.
'/ don't know,' she said. She lay there for a long time, and A man walked up the street with two thin, long-legged
looked up at the August sky. Then she shut her eyes, and clogs beside him. 'That was how Frankie Corhett came that
turned her face towards his. Softly and lovingly they kissed. cvcrung,' he remembered. 'Bur he only had one dog. I knew
After a long time she opened her eyes again.
who he was, because of t he Jog.'
'I've been thinking,' she said . 'Can I join you in this
cF
business? I've got fifty pounds. How much does he want for 'Were you waiting for this man?' they had asked him
his farm?'
fterwards, all those years ago. But he had only wanted to
'A thousand:
talk, he told them. That was all. He knew that Frankie Corbett
~nd we've got two hundred. Can you borrow any more?' look his dog for a walk every evening. He knew it was a little
'1 don't know where I can get it from:
white, noisy dog. Cora had told him about it.

2 ~
 Bill had not realized how jealous he was. It was not a hot, afraid that it was Frankie Corbett's child. And that was why
I quick , sudden kind of jea lo usy. His jea lousy was quiet and he waited for Frankie Corbett that evening.
1
sloW-burning, but it w as very strong and deep. It had begun People passed and saw him waiting there. Then a small
1
with little things. It started when Cora began to talk about wh ite dog came along . It yapped at Bill. He knew it was
'Frankie'. 'Frankie will get the m oney. No, I can't see you Frankie Corbett's [Link] Frankie Corbett came . He was
tonight because I have to see Frankie:
much older than Bill. He was carrying a walking-stick.
He began to feel unsure about her. 'How lon g have you Bill stopped him. He was shaking violently. '1 must talk
known this Frankie?' he asked her.
I to you! ' he said thickly. Black and red lines danced in front
'O h, I've kno wn Frank ie all my li fe:
1 of his eyes .
1 He w as worried now. 'Have you . . . ?' He st opp ed. She It bega n to rain . 'I'm getting w et,' said Frankie Corbett.
I knew w hat he meant, of course. She always understoo d 'I can't stand here in the rain , and talk to you:
hi m so well .
1 '1 want an honest [Link]'s all,' said Bill. Just then
1 'Oh, we've had a bit of fun sometimes:
I I the dog yapped again, and Frankie Corbett lifted his stick
'But .. . is he . . . more than a frie nd?'
angrily.
'Oh, we went out togeth er a few ti mes. But we argued Suddenly Bill thought that Frankie Corbett meant to hit
11
1 11 , all the time. We were no good fo r each other. He's nothin g hi m with the stick . A minute later Bill was hitting out with
I
to me now. But Frankie w ill do anyth ing fo r m e: his knife. It was a long, thin knife. Bill used it to cut his
Bill did not like that. 'What w ill she do for him in ret urn ?' vegetables. Frankie Corbett fell down and hit his head on
he wondered.
th e ground.
Cora w as angry. 'Look,' she said . 'We wan t the m oney, Cora w as right: it was the little things that were
do n't w e? But I can't ask for hundreds of pounds, just li ke im [Link] knife, the yapping dog, the people who saw
that. Now can 17 Be patient:
him waiting in the rain . And then, of course, there was his
It took a month to get the money. Long before the end jealousy. At the trial they talked a lot about jealousy.
of the month, his heart was fu ll of jealousy. He could feel 'How can you describe this man 's jealousy?' they asked
it growing inside him , and slow ly burning his heart away.
Cora.
He no longer dreamed of the hous e, the farm , the fruit trees 'Black jealousy,' said Cora at once . Bill knew that it was
or the daffodils. Instead he dreamed of Cora in another true. She always knew how he felt about things. She loved
man's arms.
him truly. But her words had sent Bill to prison for eighteen
Then came the news about Cera's baby. He was ter ribly [Link] . . .

44 45
 Bookworms Club Gold ky

~ sing in his cars. Her eyes were brown and soft and kind, just
84 Wellington Streer. Bill was outside the house now. Above
like Cera's.
his head the stormy sky was getting darker. He heard the
he said, 'Do you have to catch a train? If you don't,
crash of thunder, a long way away. His heart was beating
perhaps 1 can lend you an umbrella. You can bring it back
fast, and red and black lines danced in front of his eyes. 'I
tomorrow. '
felr like this when I was waiting for Frankie Corbcn ,' he
He looked at the sky above the factory chimneys. 'It
thought. 'Will she be there? AnJ if she is there, what can I
looks brighter over there,' he sa iJ.
say to her after all this time?'
'Wait one more minute,' [\H: girl said. 'Then if the rain
He knocked on the door. A light came on inside the
doesn't stop, I'll go and get that umbrella.'
house. The door began 1Il open. His heart was heating
He waited, and watched her f,lCe. 'Are you still at
harder than ever. I-Ie waited. A girl stood on the doorstep.
school?' he asked.
'She hasn't changed,' he said tll himself. He remembered
'Oh no! Not me. [ work ar the shoe factory too. But 1
till' day when the)' mer, the J:lY of the daffodils. 'I loved her
work in the daytime.'
then,' he thought, '.1I1J I still love her now.'
Suddenly he was afraid to say any more. 'She's going to
'Yes?' she said.
ask my name,' he rhoughr, but he was afraid ro tell her.
111e voice was different. It was quieter and lighter. And
'I must go,' he said. '[ don't want to keep you standing
then he saw her face, and suddenly he knew ...
here.'
'Arc you Cera's daughter?' he asked.
'Yes.' '['11 get the umbrella.' she said.
Suddenly he remembered her mother's words: 'You're a
'I'm an old friend of hers ... When will she come back?'
good as an umbrella on a rainy day.'
'Nor unril lare tonight. She's working at the shoe factorj.'
Then the girl said, 'I'll walk as far as the bridge with you.
'I see.' he said heavily
It isn't raining very hard now. You can get a bus there and
SuJdcnl} rhe thunder crashed anJ the rain began to fall.
1 can bring the umbrella hack.'
'Come in,' she said. 'Come in and wair until the rain stops.'
'I don't want to trouble you .. .'
'No, I'll get a bus to rhe station,' he said.
'Oh! That's all right.' She laughed. Her laugh, too, was
But the rain was coming down like a waterfall.
like her mother's.
'You can't go out in this,' she said. 'Stand here in the
doorway: ' She ran out, and held the umbrella over them both. By
1

1 accident he touched her arm, and felt almost sick with

His heart was heating violently The blood seemed to
excitement.

46 4~
 ,I

1Je Daffodil Sky

'Why are you hurrying?' she asked suddenly 'Are you 'It doesn't matter. 1was jus t wondering . .. Perhaps you'd
going anywhere special?' like to have a drink with me?'
She was right. He was hurrying. The excitcrnenr of her She smiled. 'Well, what are we waii ing for then?'
nearness was driving him 011, through rhe rain. He laughed. 'Nothing,' said Bill.
"Nowhere special,' he said. They walked together towards the pub. She shook the
II 'I knew it all the rune.' umbrella and closed it. She looked u p at [he calm, rain­
That was like her mOL her too. He remembered Cora's washed daffodil sky.
words: 'I know when you're coming ... 1feci you near me.' 'The storm's over,' she said. 'Ir'H be a lovely day
The rain stopped before they reached the bridge. The sky tomorrow.' She smiled again, and he knew she was right.
looked newly wu ... hcd after the storm. They stood together
I I under that Jaffndil sk}o
'I like being with you,' she . . aid. 'Do you feel like that
ahour some people? You know immcdiurely when you meet
them.'
'That's right,' he said.
I
I Suddenly, he wanted to tell her who he was. He wanted
I to tell her all about himself. He wanted to tell her about her
11 mother, and his lost dream. But he was afraid.
'I can't stay here, ' he thought. 'I ought to get our now.
I ought to find a little farm like Oshornc's, and work there
and save my money. I ought to start all over aga in. There's
plenty of farm work at th is time of year.'
Then he felt a s udden, awful loneliness, He felt sick and
miserable and terribly afraid . He looked up at the yellow
sky.
I I '\'{Ijll you .. .' he began.
A train went under the bridge with a noise like thunder,
and his words were lost. When it had gone, she said, 'What
did you say?'

II 48 49
 old Tb« D4ffldil Sky

W'ORD Fo cus S T O RY Fo c usl

Perhaps Corn's daughter told her mother abou t the man who came to the After Bill's visit to th e house , Cum wrote her diary for that day. Here are
house. When Cora realized that the man wa s Bill, she told her daughter the so me sentences from it . Choose an adjective from the li~t for the first gap,
story. Use these words to complete what she said (o nc word in each gap ). a nd then write as much as you lik e to fini sh the sentence!!.

rer, oart , Ja{tJdi/s. depo sit . /eu /o llS)'. marr y, rented, tln N/der .,(m id, .mgr y. anxious, excited, frightelled, IJilPllY. ;e,t![Link])'. sad,
\
Ill/ha IJP)'
'\X'dJ, • When I heard that Bill came to th e hou se roduy, I fell ' ,. becau se
I remember IlK ..1.1) I met Bill. It wa s a sto rmy
..1.1) w ith heavy r.u u a nd _ 1\111 s to p pe d at the pub to
Eighteen years ago , O il th at sprin g J ay when I first m et Bill at th e pub,
ge t som e wa te r for hi~ hnr-,c ;\ 11..1 Sltrl1 L for him self. When he
I felt becau se _
ca me in to rhc pub. I smc llcc] llowcrv , I le ~~lI J he had the s mell of
I wanted to live o n th e ta rrn ~" i t h Rill. so I tri ed to ge t so me m oney [0
on his hand s [Link]'1: he 11.1..1 ricked them to take to the market that
help him. Bur Bill was so . _ ~hcn - -
morning. I saw his __ . o utsid e, Iull of lovelj, bright,
It was late eve n ing when t he poli ce ca me to tell me that BIll had killed
burnin g >'dlow How ers. \X'c so o n became good
ha n ki e C orbcu. I was _ _ ~ccau se - - - ­
fri end s. -- --
\rthc end of Bill's tri al , I wa s _ " h en _

S TORY Fo c us 2
Imagine that you
are a reporter.
Bill so ld vege ta bles and tlower s at the
fter Bill killed
marker, and he._ _ 'h is land from a n o ld man called If Frankie Corbcn,
Os bo rne. O ne d :Jy O sbo rne o ffe red to sell hi s farm 10 Bill. Bill you can ask Cora
h ad to pa y a _.. nd give O sho rnc th e rest of the m oney later. So I six qucstions to
d eci d ed to hell' Bill bu y th e farm - a nd to _ n111! I kn ew a ll older 5 find out what
happened,and
rn .m ca lled Frankic Co r be n , w ho had pl en ty of m on ey, a nd m y rl ,1I1
why. Which six
was to as k Franki e to hell' us buy th e farm . A mo nth later I got
questions will
th e money from Frank ie , but by th e n. Bill ha d ch a n ge d ... you ask her?
his heart was full o f black . •
I'

5 5\
 A Moment
of
Madness
~

So me people find it hard to make decisions. They

wai t for things ro ha ppen In their lives , and if the re
is a problem. th ey jus t dose thei r eyes and ho pe il
will 11-0 away. And deciding who to marry ca n he tlu,
hardcst t h i IIg of al l.
Baprisra thinks she has mad e her decision about
marriage, and is on her [Link] back to her island
home to do what her parents want. But she misses
the boat a nd has to wai l three [Link] uru il the nex t
one, In rhrce Jap, then: is mort: than enough time
for .1 moment of madness - a moment that will
change her life In some quire unexpected ways ...

53
 A MOlllel/t of Atladness

'No, it isn't the pay.'

TI-IO,'lA~ HARDY
'Is it something that you've heard from home, my dear?'
Baptism was silent for a few moments. Then she said,
A Moment of Madness 'It's Mr Hcddcgan - David Heddegan. He's an old
Rt'f()I.J by Clare West neighbour of ours on St Maria's, with no wife or family at
all. When I was a child, he used ro say he wanted to marr
me one day. Now I'm a woman, it's no longer a joke, and
he really Wishes to do It. And my parents say I can't do
1
A wedding is arranged better than have him.'
Has he a lot uf money?'
ost people who knew Bapusra Trewrhen agreed that 'Yes, he's the richest man that we know.'
M there was nothing in her to love, and no th ing in her
to hate. She did not seem to fed very strongly about
'How much older than you is he?'
'Twenty years, maybe more.'
anything. But still waters run deep, and nothing had yet 'And is he, perhaps, an unpleasant man?'
happened to make he r show what lay hidden inside her, 'No, he's not unpleasant.'
'Well, child, all I can say is this - don't accept this
like gold underground.
engagement if it doesn't please you. You're comfortable
Since her birth she had lived on Sr Maria's, an island off
the south-west coast of England. Her father, a farmer, had here in my house, I hope, and l Iike having you here.'
"Thank you, Mrs Wace. You're very kind to me. But here
spent a lot of money on sending her to school 011 the
comes my difficulty. 1 don 't like teaching. Ah, you're
mainland. At nineteen she studied at a training college for
surpnscd. That's because I've hidden it from everyone.
teachers, and at rwenry-onc she found a teaching job in a
Well, I really hate school. The children arc awful little
town called Tor-upon-Sea, on the mainland coast.
things, who make trouble all day long. Bur even they arc not
Baprisra taught the children as well as she could, bur after
as had as the inspector. For the three months before his visit
a year had passed she seemed worried about something. Mrs
I woke up several times every night, worrying about It. It's
\'\facc, her landlady, noticed the change in the young woman
so difficult knowing what to teach and what to leave
and asked her what the matter was.
'It has nothing ro do with the town, or you,' replied Miss unraught! I think father and mother arc right. They say I'll
never he a good teacher If 1don't like the work, su I should
Trewrhcn. She seemed reluctant to say marc.
marry Mr Hcddegan and then I won't need to work. 1don't
'Then IS it the pay?'

55
54
 here until then,' she thought. 'It's too far to go back to Mrs
know whar to do, Mrs Wace. ( like him bcuer than reaching,
Wace's.' She did not seem to mind this - in fact, she was
bur I don't like him enough to marry him.'
almost happy to wait another three nights before seeing her
These [Link] were continued from day to d ,ly,
until at last the landlady decided to agree with Baprisra's future husband.
She found a room in a small hotel, rook her luggage there,
pa rents,
then went our for a walk round the town.
'Life will he much easier for you, my dear,' she told her
young Incnd, 'if yOll mn rry this rich neighbour.' 'Baptism? Yes, Baptista it is!'
The words came from behind he r, Turning round, she
III April B,tptisl"<1 went home to St Maria's for a short
gave a jump, and stared. 'Oh, is it really you, Charles?' she
holiday, and when .,hl· returned. she seemed ea Imer.
'I [Link] .lgn.:ed to [Link] him a<, my husband, su that's the said .
\'<'ith a half-smile the ncwcomer looked her up and down.
end of It,' vhc told 1\1 rs W:lI:e.
He appeared almost angry with ha, but he said nothing.
In the next fc\\ mont h... letter-s passed between Ba pnsra
'I'm going home,' she continued, 'but I've missed the
and Mr Hcddcg.m, hut the girl preferred not to discuss her
engagement with Mrs \X'acc. Later, she told her that she was boat.'
He did not seem interested in this news. 'Still reaching?'
leaving her Job at the end of July, .ind the wedding was
he said . '\'Qhat a fine teacher you make, Baptisca, I'm sure!'
a rra ngcd for rhe first Wednesday in August.
She knew that was not his rea l meaning. 'I know I'm
no t very good at reaching.' she replied. ' T h a t's why I've

2 stopped.'
'Oh, YO ll'vc stopped? You su rprisc me.'
A chance mectin
'I hate teaching.'
'Perhaps that's because I'm a teacher.'
When the end of July arrived, Bapnsta was in no hurry to
'Oh no, it isn't. It's because I'm starting a new life. Next
return home to the island. She was nor planning to buy an)'
week I'm going to marry Mr David Hccldegan.'
special clothes for the wedding, and her parents were
At this unexpected reply, the young man took a step
making all the other arrangernents. So she did nor leave
back. 'Who is Mr David Heddegan?' he said, trying to
lor-upon-Sea until the Saturday before her wedding. She
travelled hy train to the town of Pen-zephyr, but when she sound bored.
'He owns a number of shops on St Maria's, and he's my
arrived, she found rhar the boat to St Mnria's had left early,
and there was no other boat until Tuesday '['" have to stay fa t he r's neighbour and oldest friend.'

7
56
 , I 'So, no /nngl:r a scho o ltea che r, just a sh opkeeper's wife.
along in silence. Soon he sa id , ' D id you want to marry me
r kn ew you would never s uc ceed a s a le acher. You 're like
then ?'
a wom an who thinks she can hI.: a great actress just
And she whispered sadly hack , ' Yes!'
because she ha s a beautiful face, and forgets sh e ha s to
As th ey walked on. away from the town and into the
be able to a ct. But you found our yo u r mistake ea rly, didn't
you ?' fields, her shoulder and his were close together. He held her
arm with a s t ro ng hand . Th is seemed to say, 'Now I hold
'Don't be unpleasn nr to me, Charles,' Baptism sa id sadly.
you, and yo u must do what [ want,'
'I'm nor heing unpleasnnr - I' m [usr saying what is tru e,
' H ow strange that we s ho u ld meet like thi s!' said the
In a friend I)' way - although I do helve good re ason to be
young man . ' Yo u and [ co u ld be hu sband and wife, going
[Link] to you. \'\'h,ll a hurry you ' ve been In, Bapu sra:
on our hone ymoon together. But in stead of thar , we'll sa y
I do hate a W0l1l<11l ill a hurry! '
goodbye in half an hour, perhaps for ever, Yes, life is
'\Xlhat do you mean?'
strange!'
'Wcll- in a hurr y ro be somebody 's wife. Any husband
She stopped walking. '[ must go ba ck . Thi s is too
is better than no husband for you, it seems, You couldn't
painful, Charier! You 're not being kind today.'
wait for I11C, oh no! Well, thank God, that's all in the past
for me!' '[ don't want to hurt you - yo u kn ow I don't: he
answered more gently 'But it makes me angry - what yo u're
'Wait for vou? What does that mean, Charier? You never
going to d uo [ don 't think yo u should marry him .'
showed that yo u felt anything special for me.'
'I mu st do it , now that I've agreed.'
'Oh reall y, Baprisra dear!'
'Why?' he as ked , spe a k ing m ore ser io usly now. 'It's never
'Whac r mean is, there was nothing that r could be sure
too late to sto p a weddin g if you're nor happy with it. Now
01 . r suppose yo u liked me a littl e, but I didn't think yo u
- you could m arr y me, inst ead o f lurn , a lt ho ugh yo u we re
meant to m ake a n honest cngagement of it. '
in roo much o f a hurr y to wa it for me! '
'That's JU St it! You girls expect a m an to talk about
' O h , It isn 't possible to thin k u f th at! ' she cried, sha k ing
marr ying after the first look! Bur J did mean to get e ng aged
lo yo u, you kuow.'
her head . 'At hom e cvc ryt h mg will he read y fo r th e
wedding! '
'But yo u never sa id so, and a woman can't wait for ever! '
' If we m arry, It mu st b e ,H once. T h is eve n ing yo u ca n
'Baprisra, J promise you that [ was planning to ask you
come ba ck with me m Trufal , th e tow n where [ live. We ca n
to [Link])' rne ill six months' time.'
gel m arri ed th ere o n T uesday, a nd th e n 11 0 Mr D avid
S he: a p pe a red ve ry uncomfortahle, a n d they walked
I lcdd eg an , or anyone e lse, call rake yo u away from me! '

,I R
I 'il)
 'Burr must go home on the Tuesday boat,' she said important thing was to get home to St Maria's, So, in a
worriedly. 'What will they think if I don't arrive?'
great hurry, they packed their bags and caught the train to
'You can go home on that boar just the same. The only Pen-zephyr.
difference is that I'll go with you. You'll tell your parents
They arrived tWO hours before the boat left, so to pass
that you 've married a young man with a good job, someone
the time they decided to walk along the cliffs a little way.
that you met at the training college. When I meet them, It was a hot su m me r day, and Charles wanted to have a
the)"11 accept that we're married and it can't be changed.
swim in the sea. Baprisra did not like the idea of sitting
And you won't be miserable for ever as the wife of an awful
alone while he swam. 'But I'll only be a quarter of an hour,'
old man . Now honestly, you do like me best, don't you, Charles said, and Baptism passively accepted this.
Baprisra?'
She sat high up on the cliffs, and watched him go down
'Yes,' she whispered.
a footpath, disappear, appear again, and run across the
'Then we will do what I say.'
beach to the sea. She watched him for a moment, then
stared our to sea, thinking about her family. They were
probably not worried about her, because she had sometimes
3 missed the boat before, but they were expecting her to arrive
Baptista gets married today - and to marry David Heddcgan tomorrow. 'How
angry father will be!' she thought miserably 'And mother
That same afternoon Charles Stow and Baptism Trewrhcn will say I've made a terrible mistake! I almost wish I hadn't
travelled by train to the town of Trufa!. Charles was,
married Charles. in that moment of madness! Oh dear,
surprisingly, very careful of appearances, and found a room
what have J done!'
for Baptism in a different house from where he was staying.
This made her think of her new husband, and she turned
On Sunday they went to church and then wal ked around the to look for him. He did not appear to be in the sea any
town, on Monday Charles made the arrangemenrs, and by
more, and she could not see him on the beach. By tlus time
nine o'clock on Tuesday morning they were husband and
she was frightened, and sh e climbed down the path as
wife.
quickly as her shaking legs could manage. On the beach she
For the first ti me in her life Baprisra had gone against her called two men to heir her, but they said they could see
parents' wishes. She wenr cold with fear when she thought
nothing at all in the water. Soon she found the place where
of their first meeting with her new husband. But she felt she
Charles had left his clothes, but by now the sea had carried
had to tell them as soon as possible, and now the most
them away.

6
 .\ Ivunnent of Madness

For a few nunutes she stood there without moving. And Baptism had to agree, and smile , and make
There was only one way to exp lain this sudden conversation . Mr Hcddegan had spoken to her before
disappearance - her husband had drowned. And as she she was ready to say anything. Now the moment had
stood there, it began to seem like a terrible dream, and
passed .
the last three days of her life with Charles seemed ro
When the boat arrived, her parents were there to
di sappcar. She even had dIfficulty in remembering his fac ... meet her. Her father walked home beside Mr Heddcgan,
'How un cxpccred it was, meeting him that day!' she while her mother walked next to Baptisra , talking all the
thought. 'And the: wedding - did I really agree to it? Arc we
time.
really marri ed? It all happened xo fast!'
' I' m so happy, Ill}' child,' said Mrs Trewrhcn in her
She began to cry, still "tanding there on the: beach. She loud, cheerfu l voice, 'that you've kept your promise to
did not know what to do, or even what to think. Finally, she marry Mr Heddegan . How busy we ' ve been! Bur now
remembered the hoar, and catching the hoat home seemed thmgs arc all ready for the wedding, and a few friends and
I the: easiest thing to do. So she walked to the station, neighbours are coming in for supper this evening.' Again,
I1 arranged for someone to carry her luggage, and went the moment for confessing had passed, and Baptism stayed
down to the boar. She did all this automatica lly, in a kin d
silent.
of dream.
When they reached home, NI rs Trewrhen said, 'Now,
Just before thc boar left, she heard parr of a conversation Baptism, hurry lip to your room and take o ff your hat. then
which m ade her sure that Charles was dead. One passenger come downstairs. I must go to the kitchen.'
said to another, ~~ man drowned here earlier today, yo u 11,e young woman passively obeyed her mother's orders.
know. He swa m out too far, they say. A s t ra nge r, I think. The evening wa s a great success for all except Baptism. She
Some people in a boat saw him, bur they couldn't get to him had no chance to tell her parents the news, and it was
in time.'
alread y much more difficult than it had been at first. By th e
The: boat was a long way OUt to sea before Baptisr a end of the evening, when all the neighbours had left, sh e
reali zed that 1\11r Hcddegan was on the boat with her. She
found herself alone III her bedroom again. She had come
saw him walking towards her and quickly rook the wedding home with much to sa y, and had sa id none of it. She now
ring off her left hand.
rea lized that she was nul' brave enough to tell her story.
' I hope you're well , my dear?' he said. He was a healthy, And as the dock srruck midnight, she decided it shou ld
red -faced man of fifty-five. 'I wanted ro come across ro meet
stay untold .
yo u. What had luck that yo u missed the boat o n Saturday!' M orning came, and when she th ought of C ha rles , it was

62 3
 Booku -orms Club Gold A ivuxment

more with fear than with love . Her moth er called from to thei r surpnse was empty. Kindly M r Heddcgan, who
downstairs, 'Baptism! Time to get up! Mr Heddegnn will wanted to please his young wife, asked for the best room
be at the church in three-quarters of an hour!' on the first floor, with" good view of the sea.
Baptism got out of bed, looked our of the window, and 'I'm sorry.' said the landlady, 'there's a gentleman in that
rook the easy way. She put her hest clothes on, confessed room.' Then, seeing Heddegan's disappointcd face, and not
nothing, and kept her promise to marry David Heddegan, wishing to lose a customer, she added quickly, 'But perhaps
the gentleman will agree to move to another room, and then
ou can have the one that you want.'
... 'Well, if he doesn't want a view .. .' said Mr Heddegan .
The honeymoon 'Oh no, I'm sure he doesn't. And if you don't mind going
for a little walk, I'll have the room ready when you return.'
Mr Hcddegan did not worry about his new wife's coldness During their walk, Baptism was careful to choos
towards him during and after the wedding. " know she was different streets from those that she had walked down
reluctant to marry me,' he thought, ' hu t rhnt will pass. with Charles, and her wh ite face showed how difficult this
Things'lI be different in a few months' time!' visit was for her. At last they returned ro the hotel, and
During the wedding dinner, someone asked Heddcgan were shown into the best bedroom. They sat at the window,
about the honeymoon. To Baptism's horror, he answered, drink ing tea. Although Heddegan had arranged for a sea
'Oh, we're going to spend a few days in Pen -zephyr.' view, ro please Baptisra , she did not look out of the
'What!' cried Baprisra. 'I know nothing of this!' window once, but kept her eyes on the floor and walls
Because of her late arrival, Heddegan had not been able of the room.
to ask where she would like to spend the honeymoon, so Suddenly she noticed a hat on the back of the door. It
he had arranged a trip to the mainland. It was difficult to was just like the hat that Charles had worn. She stared
change these plans at the last minute, so she had to agree, harder; yes, it was the actual hat! She fell back in her chair.
and that evening she and her new husband arrived in Pen­ Her husband jumped up, saying worriedly, 'You're not
ephyr, well! What can I get ye?'
Their first problem was finding a hotel, because the fine 'Smelling salts!' she said quickly, her voice shaking a
weather had filled the town with tourists. They walked from little. 'From the shop near the station!'
place tu place, Hcddegan polite and friendly, Baptism cold He ran out of the room. Baptisra rang the bell, and when
and silent. Finallv they found an excellent hotel, which a young girl came, whispered to her, '111at hat! Whose is it?'

6­
64
 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'll take it away,' said the girl h urried ly she had married. David Heddegan on one side, and, on
She took the hat off the door. 'It belongs to t he other the other side through the bedroom wall, Charles Stow.
gentleman.'
'Where is - the other gentleman?' asked Baprisra.
'He's in the next room, madam. He was in here.' 5
'But I can't hear him! I don't thi nk he's there.' ecrets discovered
'He makes no noise, but he's there,' rep lied the girl.
Suddenly Baptisra understood what the girl meant, and Mr and Mrs Hcddegan both felt the honeymoon was nor
a cold hand lay on her heart. a success. They were happy to return to the island and start
'Why is he so silent?' she whispered . married life together in David Heddcgan's large house.
' If I tell you, please don't say anything to the landlady,' Baptisra soon became as calm and passive as she had been
begged the girl, 'Of I'll lose my job! It's because he's dead. before. She even smiled when neighbours called her Mrs
He's the young teacher who drowned yesterday. T hey Heddcgan, and she began to enjoy the comfortable life that
brought his body here, and rhar's why there's nobody a rich husband could offer her. She did nothing at all to stop
staying 111 the hotel. People don't Ilkc a dead body in the people finding out about her first marriage to Charles 5tO\"
house. But we've changed the sheets and cleaned the room, although there was always a danger of that happening.
madam!' One evening in September, when she was standing in her
Just then Hcddcgan arrived with the smelling salts, and garden, a workman walked past along the road. He seemed
the girllcfr the room. 'Any better?' he asked Baprisra. to recognize her, and spoke to her in friendly surprise.
'/ don't like the hotel!' she cried. 'We'll have to leave!' 'What! Don't you know me? ' he asked.
For the first time Heddegan spoke crossly to his wife. 'I'm afraid [ don't,' said Baptism.
' N ow that's enough, Baptisra! First you want one rhmg, 'I was your witness, madam. I was mcnduig the church
then another! It's cost me enough, in money and words, window when you and your young man came to get
to get this fine room, and it 's too much to expect me I married. Don'( you remember? The vicar called me, to be
find another hotel at tlus time of the evening. \X'c'll Sla) . ,
a wuness.
qtucrlv here tonight, do ye hear? And find another place Baptista looked quickly around. Heddegan was at the
tomorrow. ' other end of the garden but unluckily, just at that
The \'oLlng woman said 110 more. Her mind was cold moment. he turned and walked towards the house. 'Are you
with horror. That night she lay between the two men \'..'ho coming in, my dear?' he called out 10 Baprisra.

6 7
Bookworms Club Gold

went to find him, and said, 'David, 1have someth ing to tell
you. '
'Yes, my dear,' he said with a sigh. In the last week he
had been less cheerful and had seemed worried about
sorncrh i ng.
When the)' were both in the sitting room, she said,
' David , perhaps you will hate me for this, but I must confess
something that I've hidden from you. It happened before we
were married. And it's about a lover.'
'I don't mind. In fact , I was hoping it was more than
that.'
'Well, it was. I met myoId lover by chance, and he asked
me, and - well, I married him. Wc were coming here tu tell
you, hit he drowned, and r said nothing about him, and
then I married you, David, [o r peace and quietness. Now
you'll ne angry with me, I know you will!'
She spoke wildly, and expected her husband to shout and
scream. But instead, the old man jumped up and bcganlO
dance happily around the room.
'Oh, wonderful!' he cried. 'How lucky! My dear
Baprisra , I see a way out of my difficulty - ha-ha! '
'What do you mean?' she asked, afraid he had gone mad.
'Oh my dear, J'/J(' got something to confess lOO! You see,
I was fncndly with a woman in Pen-zephyr for many years
_ very fricndly, you could say - and in the end I married her
JUSt before she died. I kept it secret, but people here arc
beginning LO talk. And I've got [our big girls m think of- '
'Oh David, four daughters!' she cried in horror.
'That's right, my dear. I'm sorry to say they haven't been

oX 69
 old

to school at all. I'd like to bring them to live here with us,
\VORD Focus
and I thought, by marrying a teacher, [ could get someone
to teach them, all for nothing. \X'11at do you think, Baptism?' Choose words from the list to complete these sentences (one word for each
'Four grown girls, always around the house! And [ hate gap). There arc thirteen words in the list. but only tcn of them will be
reaclung, it kills me! But [ must do it, I can see that. I am needed.
punished for that moment of madness, I really am!' arranged, cliffs. confess, droum, engagement, honeymoon, horror.
Here the conversation ended. The next day Baprista had landlady, madness. mainland, passive. reluctant, witness
to welcome her husband's daughters into her ha me, They
were not good-looking or inrcllrgcnr or even well-dressed, After studying at the teacher's college, Baprisra founJ .1 job in a
and poor Baptists could only luok forward to years of hard town called Tor-upon-Sea, which is Oil the _ _ coast.

work with them, She went ahout, sighing miserably, with 2 Mrs \'(lace owned the house where Baprisra lived, so Mrs Wacc was
no hope for the future, her _ _.
Bur when Heddegan asked her a month later, 'How do 3 Baptista sat high up on the _ _ when Charles went to swim in the
you like \ "111 now?' her answer was unexpected. sea.
'Much hener than at first,' she said. 'I may like them ver 4 While her new husband was swimming, Baptism was beginning to
much one day.' wish that she hadn't married him , in that moment of .

And so began a more pleasant time for Baptism 5 During the wedding dinner, Bapt ista bunt that Mr Heddegan was

Heddegan. She had discovered what kind, gentle girls going to take her to Pen-zephyr for their _ _.

these unwelcome daughters were. At first she felt sorry for 6 Baprisra became calm and when she returned to the island

them, then grew to like them. And from liking, she grew and started married life with Mr Heddcgan.
to love them. In the end they brought her and her husband 7 Mr Heddcgan was not worried about his new wife's coldness
closer together. and so Baptism and David were able to towards him because he knew that Baprisra had been to

pur the past behind them and find unexpected happiness ill marry him.
their married lifc. 8 The workman who asked Baprisra for money was the at the
wedding when Baptisra married Charles SLOW.

9 When Baprisra told 1\11 r Hcddcgan her secret, he was very happy
and told hcr that he had something to _ _ too,
10 Mr Hcddcgan had four grown daughters, and when Baptism heard
this unwelcome news, she cried OUI in _
 Bookworms

TORY l"OCUS I

I What do you think about the people in this story? Did Baptista behave
sensibly? C hoose names from the story and complete these sentences , usi ng
as many words as rOll like.

Baptista , Dauid Heddegan. Nlrs Wace. Charles Stow. the workman

The Secret
I think _ _ did ,1 very bad thing when , ~
2 I think W:1~ right to '
3 I think was wron g to _

I d o u'r think it wa s ve ry sen sible of [0 _

Reporters lo ok for news, and se nd ba ck rh eir
5 I don't think ir was wry kind uf to _ reports o n evcry rh ing from wed dings to wars . from
crime to dis coveri es in science. And good reporters
S T ORY Fo c us 2 di g d eep - rhcy dig to find the trurh behind rh
s to ries, the real truth , and they don't tak e 110 for an
Match these halves of sentences to make a paragraph of five sentences. answer.
Who do you think rhe narrator is here? H enr y Coo pe r is a respon sibl e re porter, who
O ne Jay, wh en I was mending a church w indow, . . . sends hack accurate reports. When h e goes to the
new cit y built o n th e M oon, he ex pec ts to se nd the
2 A yo u ng sc hoo lte acher a nd a yo u ng woman got married , . . 0

usu al M o on news ba ck to Ea rt h . But th is time he

3 Lat er, I moved to th e island to flnd work, but I wa s unluck y• . . .
thinks pe opl e a rc hiding a news story fro m him ,
4 I walked pa st .1 house o ne day and saw the yo u ng woman ill her
a nd he vt a rts to d ig 0 ••

garde n , ...
5 I told rhe wo ma n th at I knew her secre t, . 0 •

6 ... because it wa s h ard to find eno ugh work to bu y fo od fo r m yself

and my wi fe.
. . . so she g. lve me money three times to keep me qui et .
S ... th e vica r ca lled me re) be a witn ess a t a wedd in g.
II .•• but t he y d id n't have any famil y o r friend s at th eir weddin g.
10 ... bur he r hu s b and was not th e m an that ' sa w he r m ar r y!

-3
72
 The Secre

·\ RT H UR C. CLARKF A me rica, and the Wnght h ror hers, who built and flew
uccessfully the first plane w ith an engi ne. What interested
The Secret Cooper now was th e furur....
When he had landed at Archimedes Spaceporr, everyone
Retold IJ)' jl'lIl1ifl'r Basset! ha d bee n very glad [0 see h im. Everythi ng was a rra nged for
his [Our, a nd he could go where he liked , ask any questions
en ry Cooper had been o n t he Moon for almost two he wan ted. UNSA ha d always been friendly towards him
H weeks before he discovered that something was wrong. because the reports a nd stories he sent hack to Earth were
At first he just had a kind of strange feeling tha t he couldn't accurate.
exp lai n, hut he was a sensible science reporter so he didn't Bur somet h ing was wrong somewhe re, and he was go ing
worry about It too much. to find out what it was.
111e reason he was here, afte r .111, was because th e United H e reached for th e phone and said, 'Please get me the
Na tions Space Admin istration had as ked him to eo 111.... Police Office. I want to spea k to th e Cluef Inspecto r.'
UNSA a lways [ikcd to ge t sensi ble, responsi ble people to L~

send the Moo n news back to Ea rth. It was even more He met Chandra Coo rna raswa rny next day in the little pa rk
[Link] these days, when an overcrowded world was that Pla to City was so proud of. It was ea rly in tile morni ng
screaming for more roads and schoo ls and sea farms, and (by clock time, tha t is, as one Moon day was as long as
getting angry about all the money tha t was spent 0 11 space twenty-eight Ea rt h days), a nd the re was no one around .
research. Cooper had k nown the Police Chief for many years and for
<'0 here he was, on his second visit to the Moon, and a wh ile they talked about o ld friends and o ld times.
sending hack reports of two thousand words a Jay. T he T hen Cooper said, 'You know everyth ing th at 's
Moon no longer felt strange to him, but there remained the happening on the 1\'100n, Chandra , And you know that
myster>' a nd wonder of a world as big as Africa, and sti ll I' m he re to do a number of reports for UNSA. So why are
almost co mp letely unknown. Just a sto ne's throwaway people try ing to hid e things from me?'
rem the enclosed Plato City was a grea t. silent emptiness It was impossible to hurry Chandra. He just went on
that would test h u ma n cleverness for centuries to come. smoking his pipe until he was ready to answer.
Cooper had already visited and written about the famous 'What people?' he asked at la st.
place where the lirst men had landed on the Moon. Bur 'You really don 't know?'
that now belonged to the past, like Columbus's voyage to The Chief Inspector shook his head. 'Not an idea, ' he said;

4
 and Cooper knew that he was tel ling the truth. Chandra This was it, Cooper knew. Airlock Five meant that they
might he silent, hut he would not lie. were going outside the city. Chandra had found something.
'Well, the main thing that I've noticed - and it frightens As the Moon car drove along the rough road from the
me a lot - is that the Medical Research Group is avoiding city, Cooper could see the Earth, low in the southern ... ky.
me. Last time I was here, everyone was very friendly, and It was almost full, and threw a bright blue-green light over
gave me Some fine stories. Bur now, I can't even meet the the hard, ugly land of the Moon. It was difficult, Cooper
research boss. He's always too busy, or on the other side told himself, to see how the Moon could ever be a
of the Moon, What kind of man is he?' welcoming place. Hut if humans wanted to know nature's
'Dr Hastings? A difficult man. Very clever, hut nor easy secrets, it was to places like these rhar the) must come.
to work with.'
The car turned off on to another road and in a while
'What could he be trying to hide?' came to a shining glass building standing alone. There was
'Oh, "m JUSt a simple policeman. Bur I'm sure a news another Moon car, with a red cross on it .. side, parked by
reporter like you has some interesting ideas ahour It.'
the entrance. Soon they had passed through the airlock, and
'Well,' said Cooper, 'it can't be anything crimi nal-not Cooper was following Chandra down a long hall, past
in these times. So that leaves one big worry, which rea ll laboratories and computer rOOI11S, all empty on this Sunday
frightens me. Some k ind of new, killer disease. Suppose that morning. At last they came into a large round room in the
a spaceship has come back from Mars or somewhere, centre of rhe building, which was filled with all kinds of
carrying some really terrible d isease - and the doctors can't plants and sma ll animals from Earth. Wailing there, was a
do anything about it?' short, grey-haired man, looking very worried, and very
There was a long silence. Then Chandra said, 'I'll start unhappy.
skrng some questions. I don't like it either, because here's 'Dr Hastings,' said Coornaraswarny, 'rnecr )\'11' Cooper.'
something that you probably don't know. There were three He turned to Cooper and added, 'I've persuaded the doctor
nervous breakdowns in the Medical Group last month _ that there's only one way to keep you quiet - and that's to
and that's very, very unusual: tell you everything:
~ The scientist was not interested 111 shaking hands or
The call came two weeks later, in the middle of the night -lhe making polite convcrsanon. He walked over to one of the
real Moon night. By Plato City time, it was Sunday morning. containers, rook our a small brown arumal, and held it our
'Henry? Chandra here. Can you meet me 111 half an hour towards Cooper,
a r Ai rlock Five? Good. I'll sec you there.' 'Do you know what this is?' he asked, unsmiling.

-6
77
 The Secret

'Of course,' said Cooper. 'A hamster- used in laboratories 'And you've been trying to keep It secret!'
everywhere. ' 'You fool! Don't you understand? '
'Yes,' said Hastings, 'A perfectly normal golden hamster. 'T a ke it easy, Doctor - take it easy,' said Chandra soidy.
Except that this one is Ilvc years old -like all the others in Hastings rook a deep breath and got himself under
this container: control again. He began to speak with icy calmness, and
'\\?cll? Wh.a's strange about that? ' his words fell like freezing raindrops into Cooper's mind.
'Oh, nothing, nothing at all . . . except for the 'Think of them up there,' he said, waving his hand
unirnporraur fact rhar hamsters live for only two years. And upwards to the unseen Earth. 'Six billion of them, packed
we have some here that are nearly ten years old.' on to land which isn't hig enough to hold them all. Already
For a moment no one spoke, bur the room was not silent. they're crowding over inro the sea beds. And here, there are
It was full of the sounds of the movements and cries of only a hundred thousand of us, on an almost empty world.
small animals. Then Cooper whispered, 'My God - you've Bur a world where wc need years and years of scientific and
ound a way to make life longer!' engineering work just to make life possible; a world where
' O h no,' Hastings said. 'We've not found it. The Moon only a few of the brightest and most intelligent scientists
has given it to us .. . and the reason has been right under can get a job.
our noses all the time.' He seemed calmer now, and more 'And now we find that we can live for two hundred years.
in control of himself. 'On Earth,' he went on, 'we spend our Imagine how they're going to feel about 'bat news! This is
whole lives fighting gravity Every step we rake, every your problem now, Mr Newsman; you've asked for it, and
movement we make, is hard work for our bodies. In seventy you've got it. "Tell me this, please - I'd really be interested
yea rs, how much blood does the heart lift through how to know - just bow are you going In tell them?'
many kilometres? Bur here on the 1\1100n, where an eighty­ He warred, and waited. Cooper opened his mouth, then
kilo human weighs only about thirteen kilos, a body has re closed it again, unable to think of anything to say.
do only a sixth of that work.' In the far corner of the room, one of the baby animals
'I see,' said Cooper slowly. 'Ten years for a hamster - and began to cry.
how lung for a human?'
'It's not a simple scientific law,' answered Hastings. 'It
depends on a number of things, and a month ago we really
didn't know. But now we 're quire certain : 011 the !v100n, a
human life will last at least two hundred years.'

8 9
 Bookroorms Club Gold The Secret

\V ORD Fo c us S T OR Y Fo cus 1
Match eac h word with an appropriate meaning. Here are four new en d ings for the sto ry. Which do you prefer? Explain why
or write a ncw end in g for yo ursel f.
gravil} [Link] study 111 ordi r In discover new Iacts or in fo r rn trmn
H enry Cooper se nt a re port to Earth . Whe l1 people hea rd rhar
hamster
rill ~ v llld e\'erytJlIng hcvond It h um an s co uld live for mo re th a n two hun d red year" O il the Moon,
to rhe [Link] star ' th ere we re many problems. Co u n t ries soon began to ligh t each ot her
laboratory
rhc \lIJJ} of .11I111tllr,d i1l1l1gs (e .g. j-hvsics, hiology ) so that they cou ld send th eir pe o pl e to the Moon ...
nervous
2 Afte r H enry Coo per had th ou ght abou t the secret fo r a whi le, h e la id
.1 \nJ .l" 3/111111/ I,~ . rat or mOUse
l .l
research Dr H a stin gs an d th e C hi ef Insp ector that he wo u ld nor se nd a repor t
:1 ro om CH hllilJII1~ U\l'll tIll 'llC IIIl1i... to Ea rth jf he hi mself was a llowed to live 011 the Moon . . .
science research
rh ... lorc c rh.u on [Link] pull, dllll~~ towards 3 Henry Cooper le ft the laho raro ry in the Moon C.H, hu t Ill: neve r
scicntisr tlu ...cnt rc III rhc pL1I1~l, ~n lh~ll rhings fall returned to Plato Ci ty. AnJ he was never seen aga rn ..
to I he ....round when Jr0l'peJ
space w(lrneJ a nd afraid 4 Afte r H enry Coo per spoke to D r H as tin gs. he sent ,1 news report to
somcbod v who work, With or srud ic-, unc of the , ... iences Ea rt h . Bur he w rote abo u t someth ing else; he kep t the sec re t to
himself fo r the rest of hi s life ...

Afte r his me et in g with Dr H astings, perhap s Henry Cooper began to write STO R'.. Focus 2
his report for Ear th . C o m p lcte his report with five o f the eig ht words from
th e list above.
Later, perhaps Henry th ought a bout the secre t a n d m ade a ch a rt to help
he } le d ica l _ _ Gro up he re on the Moon was avo idi ng me, so I him self decide what to d o . Fill in th e cha rt giving a t least tw o rea sons for
each side.
a sked th e Ch ief I I1 ~ector to hel p me, T he C hief Ins pecto r took me to a
- - w he re I mc'f D r H as t in gs. Or Has ti ngs IS a _ _' _ who st udies .:> EGRET
medica l problems. W he l1 I met Or H a st in gs, he s hd~vcd me}a s rn ull TE LL E u
- - -' w hic h he sa id was five years old . H e then tolU~<hal 011 Eart h
a hamster lives (or () nl~ tw o yea rs, b ut some hamsters o n th e Moon
were nearly rcn years o ld. T he rea son , O r H a st ings cxpla inc J, is t ha t 011
2
Earth a boJy spends its w hole life figh ring' , but 0 11 t he Moon a
body has to do on ly one six t h oi t hat workSq 011 the .1\1 0 0 11 a human
life cou ld last for more than two hundred Years . . .

80 RI
 The Experiment
""'"'"
Years ago, peopl e used to bel ieve many strange
things. They believed that the dead do not nlwnys
lie quietly in their graves. Sometimes they have
unfinished business w ith the wo rld, and they come
back ro bring trouble and fea r to the li\ ing.
Squire Bowles has so me strange ideas about what
hap pens to a ma n's so ul af te r dea rh, And whe n he
is taken ill and dies sudde nly, he certai nly leaves
unfinished business behin d him. H is wife an d
stepson have a qucsrion to ask, bu t on ly the Squ ire
knows the answer. and huw C:1I1 you as k a question
of a man who lies dead in hISgrave)

83
 .\ 1, R. lA.\t ES he has finished ringing the hell. ' And he h u r ncd off to the
Ha ll.
When he returned an hour la ter. he fUllnd t ht clerk
The Experiment
waiting for him.
Retold by Peter / lauluns 'There's a lo t of work fo r you to dll, WiLkcl1I,' he said,
'and not much n rnc to do it.'
n t he last days of Decem ber, Or I-Jail, th e vi llage pries r, 'Yes, sir,' said Wickem. 'Yo1I' 1! want till" tun ilv tomh
I wa s wo rk ing in h is study w he n hi s serva nt e nte red th e o pe ned , of course .. .'
'No, no. not at a ll: rep lied Or Hal l. "lhc pour ~tjlllre
room , in g reat a larm.
' Oh, O r H all , si r,' she crie d. ' W ha t do yo u think? T he said before he d ied rhar he did no t want ru be buned I II t he
p oo r Squire's dead !' family tomb. It is to be an ear th grave In t lu churchya rd."
' \X/ha r? Sq u ire 13nw!L-,? What are yo u sayi ng, wom an ?' 'Excuse nu., sir, ' said Wickcl11, \'cry surpri . . cd. '110 I
rep lied th e priest. ' I ~ .IW him onl y ves te rday- ' un derstand you right? No rornh, you say. and [ust ~1I1 earth
'Ye s, si r, I know,' sa id rhe se rva n t , 'bur it's tru e . Mr g rave? The poor Squ ire was too III 10 k now wh.u he was
Wicke m, t he cle rk, has ju st bro ught th e new s o n hi s way to say ing, sure ly?'
ri ng the chu rch bel l. You'll hear it you rse lf in a m oment. 'Yes, \'?'ickel11 , It seems strange ro rnc too.' ..... id the priest.
isrc n! Th ere it is.' A n d s ure e no ug h , t h e bell then beg a n 'B u t Mr joseph tell s me that lu s father, or 1 should S:lV his
to rin g , lon g a nd slow, tell ing the p eople of th e village that stepfat her, made h is wishes very clear when he \\;1'" in good
so meo ne had di ed . hea lth. C kan earth a nd 0PCIl air. You knocv, of cou r ...c, rhe
Dr H::JI I stood lip. 'This is terribl e,' he sai d. ' ] mu st go Squ ire ha d SOI11t: strange Ide,ls, t hough he never to ld m e of
up to th e H all a t once. T he Squire was so much better thi s one. And th ere 's another thing, Wlrh·l1l . No coffin.'
yes terday rt seems so su d den.' 'Oh dear, o h dear!' said WI\::h 111. ' IhuL'1I he S0 I111: talk
'Yes, sir,' agreed th e se rvant. ' M r Wickclll sa id tha t the about that. 'nd I know rh.u (lId l'lr \X/rll-!hr h..s some lewd )
poor Sq u ire was taken ill very s ud den ly w ith a te rr ibl e r ain . wood for the Squire's ~onin hL'" kept It fur lurn fur years.'
H e died very qui c kl y, a nd Wicke m said they wa nt him 'WelL' said Dr Hall, 'rho«, .1fL t11l "'qlllrL'\ Wishes, ';0 I'm
bur ied q uick ly to o .' to ld , so th a t's w ha t we mus t do. ~tlllnllIS( ~et the g rave dug
'Yes, yes; we ll, I mu st a sk Mrs Bow les he rself o r M r a n d eve rv thing read y hy ten 1I\ lock tomo rrow mghr . Tell
joseph,' said t he priest. ' Bring m e m y coat a nd h at, pl ea se. W right that we ~ h;11 1 need "'"111l' l i ~h h .'
O h. a nd tel l Mr \X/ick e m th at r wo ul d li ke to see h i 111 when 'Ver.... well, sir. li those ;IrL the orderv, I must do my hest,'

84 Hl)
said Wickem. 'Shall I send the women from the village to 'You've been through his papers again , joseph , have
prepare the body?' you?' asked the mother.
'No, Wickem. That was not mentioned,' said the priest. 'Yes, Mother, and I've found nothing.'
'No doubt Mr joseph will send for them if he wants them. 'What was he writing the day before he died, do you
You have enough work to do without that. Good night, know? And why was he always writing to Mr Fowler in
Wickcm.' He paused. 'I was just writing OUt the year's loucesrcr?'
burials in the church records. , didn't think that I'd have to 'You know he had some strange ideas about what
add Squire Bowles' name to them.' happens to a person's soul when he dies. I-le was wrinng to
Mr Fowler about it bur he didn't hnish the letter. Here, I'll
,-",,--....
read it to you.'
The Squire's burial took place as planned. All the villagers He fetched some papers (rom the Squire's writing table
and a few neighbour" were present, and the Squire's stepson and began to read,
joseph walked behind the body as it was carried to the
churchyard. In those days nobody expected the Squire's wife My dear friend,
to come to the burial, The Sq uire had no family except his YOIt will be interested to hear about m)' latest studies,
wife and stepson, and he had left everything to his wife. though I ,W I not sure how accurate they are. One writer
Bur what was everything? The land, house, furniture, says that for a time after death a man 5 S01l1 St.I)'S close to
pictures, and silver were all there, bur no money was found, the places he knew [Link] - so close, in (act. that he can
his was very strange. Squire Bowles was quite a rich man; be called to speak to the [Link], he 1/IIISt come, if he
he received plenty of money from his land every year, his is called with the right words. And these toonls are giuen
lawyers were honest, bur still there was no money The ill (/1/ experiment ill Or Moort'S bool«, ulncl: l haue copied
quire had not been mean with his mane): His wife had all lit for you. But whet/ the sU1I1 has come, 1/1/(1 has opened

she needed, he sent joseph to school and university, and he its mouth to speah, the caller may sec and hear 1/10 re than
lived well. But still he earnr more money than he spent. he wishes, tohicl: is usuallv to kl/oll ' iobere the dead man
Where was it? has hidden his money,
1"1 rs Bowles and her son searched the house and grounds
several rimes but found no money. They could not understand joscph stopped reading and there was silence for a moment.
it. They sat III It" evening in the library discussing the problem Then his mother said, 'There was no more than that?'
for the twentieth time. 'No, Mother, nothing.'

86 8­
 ent

'And have )'011 met this \11' Fowler?' 'We have opened his mouth,' he said. 'Why, oh why,
Yes. lie came to ... peak once or rw ice ar Oxford.' Mother, did you leave his face uncovered?'
'Wdl,' said the mother, '01'> he was a friend of the Squire, 'You know how hurried I was that day,' she replied. 'I
I tlunk you should w me ro lum and tcll him what ... what had no time. gut do yOll mean that you have seen it?'
h,l~ happened. You will know what to sa): And the lcuer i., joscph hid his face in his hands. 'Yes, Mother, and he
for him, after all.' sa id you would see it. too.'
'You're nght, Mother,' replied Joscph. 'I'll write to him His mother gave an awful ay and caught hold of the
at once.' And he wrote rhar same evening. bedpost.
In rime a lerrer came [Link] from Gloucesrer .1 lid with ir 'He's angry,' joseph went on. 'He \\,15 waiting tor me to
.1 large packet; .md there were more evening talks 111 the call him, I'm sure. I had only just finished saying the words
library at the Hall. A: t lu, end IIf one evening, the mother when 1 heard him -like a dog growling under the earth .'
said: He jumped to his feet and walked up and down the
'\'(I'd\, If YOII :Hl' sure, do 11 tonight. (,ll round hy rhe room.
fields where no III1C \\ ill sec VOII. ()h, ,Hid herl"" a cloth yOIl 'And now he's free! What can we do? I cannot meet him
can use.' again, I cannot take the drink he drank and go where he is!
'\X/hm clot h is it , J\I\ other?' asked [oscph. And I'm afraid 10 lie here another night! Oh, why did you
'JUq a cloth,' was the answer, do it, Mother? Wc had enough as it was.'
.J oscph went out by the ga rdcn door, and his 1110( her 'Be quiet!' said his mother through dry lips. 'It was you
stood ut the doorway, thinking, with her hand over her as much as I. Bur why spend time talking? Listen to me. It's
mouth. Then she said qutcrly, 'Ir was the cloth 1'0 cover his only six oclock. Yarmouth's not far, and Wl'VC enough
.1CL. Oh, I Wish I had not been so hurried!' money to cross the sea - things like him can't fllllow LIS over
The night was very dark and a strong wind hlew loud water. Wc'll take the mght boat wllolland. You see to the
over the black fields; loud enough ro drown all sounds of horses while 1 pack our hags.'
calling or answerrng - If anyone did c:111 or answer, joseph stared .H her. 'What will people say here?'
Next morrung joscph's mother hurried ro his bedroom. 'You must tell the priest that we've learnt of some of the
'1"1\'(. I11C the clorh.' she said. 'The servants 1l111'>t not find Squire's money It1 Arnstcrda m .md we must go to collect it.
It. And tell me, tell me, quick!' Go, go! Or if you're not brave enough to do that, lie here
Her son, sirring on the edge of the bed with his head in and wait for him again (oni~h(.'
his hands, looked up .it her with wild, red eves. oseph rrernbled and ldt rh, room,

Xl{ 89

l
 Th e Experiment

~ Uni ver sity Librar y ar C a m b r id ge , and on page 144 thi s is

T hat evening aft er dark a boa tman entered an in n at written :
Yarmouth, where a man an d a woman we re waiting, with
the ir bags on the Hoor beside them . This experiment has often proved true - to find out gold
'Are you read}; s ir and madam?' he asked . 'Wc sad ill less hidden in the ground, robbery, murder, or any other thing .
than an hour. My other passenger is wai ting by the bo a t. Go to the grave of a dead man, call his name three times,
Is this all your lugg age ?' He picked up t he bags. and say : 'I call on you to leave the darkness and to come
'YC'i, we arc trave lli ng lig h t ,' said Josep h. 'Did yo u say to me this night and tell me truly where the gold lies
you have o the r pa ssengers for Ho lland?' [Link] take some earth from the dead man 's grave
'Jus t one.' repl ied rhe boatman, 'a nd he seems to t ravel and tie it in a clean cloth and sleep with it under your right
eve n lighter rha n you.' ear. And wherever you lie or sleep, that night he will come
'Do you know him?' asked Mrs Bow lcs. She pu t he r and tell you truly, waking or sleeping .
hand on her son's arm , an d rhey horh paused in t he
doorway.
'No,' said the boatman. 'He keeps h is face h idd en , bu t
I'd know him agai n by h is voice - he 's got a st ra nge way
of speaking, like .1 dog growli ng. Bur you' ll find t hat he
knows you. "Go and fetch them our," he said to me, "and
I' ll wait for them here." And sure e nough, he's coming t his
way 11 0 W. '

et?
In those days women who po iso ned their h us ha nd s we re
burnt to death. The records for a certain year at Norwich
tell of a woman who was punished in this wa y, and whose
son \va s hanged afterward s. No one had accused them uf
their c r im e, but they to ld th e priest o f their village what
they had dOI1<:. T he name of the village must re mar n se c re t,
becau se people sa y there is money sul l hidden there.
Dr M oorc '« book of ex p e r im e nts is now in the

90 91
 10'.1
- - --- - - - - - - -- - -

W OR D F us :'TORY I'o cu«

Match ea ch word w it h a n appropriate meaning . Then us e some of the
W he n Mr<; Bowlev an d Josep h re tu rn ed from ',1rmouth that night. they
words to co mplete th e sentences below (o ne word in ea ch g a p) .
wen t a t onc e to ta lk to t heir priest, Dr Hall, Match Dr I lull's ques tions
with Mr-. Bowlc,'" an",..crv to make their conversanou.
lu '"l, 1'1rt 01 I hl ~roul1J,
cloth nOI rock 'If st oru
coffin mak Ing .1 Inw tlngn , uunJ like a Jov, i t» Halls QIlf' StlO1lS: ~
11. " ,!,,,n 11 ' M r, 130\\ k,? joscph? Why un, }'OU here? 11\ 10llg p ,h' nudu ighr.'
earth I gr ;lV.. built -of SIOIll: UI1JCf
coiled ~
IIlH.\0\\ Ill' I III
or "hllVC t h~ crm~ 1 ' But you were t.1king rhc boat Irom Yarrnouth tonigh t. 10
c-qx:nmcnt [Link]: rime
som e of the Squire's mon ey ill Amsterdam. Why duln 'i vo u ~()?'
,,- ,
grolH (11 \ h<lk In the. g,rl'lIlld III 3 'Hili/? Wllll ? What arc you talkrngabout , /\ I r.. B(I\\lc~?'
row ling wh tch .I [Link] bN\~. ;'" \''l\l flcd 4 'Mrs Bowles, ph::1SL try [Cl 11L calm, Poor Squire Ko\\ k .. " [Link] .md
buried . How could vou possihly Set him at Yarrnouth
poivonunl) S 'Called him from his grare! Huw did you do th.u, Mr" I\owlcs.
1 tr-sr don e In
6 'A nd did joseph SCC' him? Did )'OU Sl:C hirru Mr« I\owlt< '
'nul to Sr.:I. v '[Link]
'And why IS he angry, Mrs Bowles? Can yo u ic ll me rh.u?
'lIllI h ,tPPCIl"

tomb tu kill "lI1\lXfJll bv holdmg M rs Bouiles's ,/IISlI'r'I'S:

I h CI11 '~()\' l: grnlll1J \\
irh a a piecc of .111\ klllJ of
g 'I'm talking about the "quire . . 111\' h us ba t«] .. . he \\01' there,
rOP(" a round th e neck m ntertal (c .g . CO{(UI [Link]()ol )
. ';l iting for LIS. It was ho rn blcl Please hdp uv, Dr l [Link], please!'
9 'D1Moorc's hook told us how [0 do It. .I o~c l'h look «unc earth
The Squire did not wa n t to be buried in th e family _ _. H e
1 his g rave, a nd slept With I t under hi, fight c H
to be bu ried in an _ _ gr:Jve.
.. ~ 11Ist come hack from Yarmouth . \,(11. h,IVl' III ralk to you.'
2 The Squire was interested in wha t happens to a pe rso n's
se I murdered him. I [Link] him pOIson III dnnk, ,II1J [ .. hall live
he di es.
r of him for the rest u t my LLIV~ •
3 joscp h rook the: _ _ which was mea nt to cover th e Sq U.l,.f1
we called him frolll I,... ~ rJ \'l. Dr 11.111. Wr. wanted ro ask
when he was buried ,
'' :&C he had hidden hIS ilium v.'
4 When j o se ph was in th e c h urchyard th a t n ight , he heard rli
13 'Yc~. ~ ~vcre gorng to rake th, ho ,u .md we wen t to Yarmo ut h.
voice _ _ like a d og und cFthe c' th.
hut wftoulJn't gC I on the hO ,ll be..·.llI s l of . beca use of him ,'
S joseph and his mother d id nor go to H o l 3 11 th e}' rtlu rn (:d to t he
14 'I didn't se\:~'ls face, but [ heard I"" \'(IILL, like a dog gr<l\\ lin g. He
I village and told t he priest I har they had _ _ rhc quire.
sounded so angry, Dr 1-1:111. .1I1d I'm so fflj;hlL:l1cd.'
I
.2
~3
 About the
Authors
~

EDGAR ALLAN POI:

Edgnr Allan Poe ( 1809- 1849) was horn in Boston, lJ"A. llis paren ts d ied
when he was young, and he went ro live with the Allan f~lInil~ in Richmo nd.
He spent a year in un iversity and then two years in the .mny. In IIBI. he
moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt .ind his cousin Virgmia. For the
next few years. life was difficu lt. He sold some stories to magazines, but
t hey brough t him little money But he did find happincs-, with Virginia.
whom he married in 1836.
From 1838 to 1844, Poe lived in Philadelphia. where he: wrote some 0
his mos t fa mous horror stories. Then he moved to New York. where his
poem, The Raven, soon made him famous. But Virginia died in 1847, and
Poe began drinking heavily. He tried to kill himself ill 1848 and died the
following year.
Poe wro te ma ny different kinds of stories, and his horror ..rorics :1re only
a small pa rt of his work. But to most peop le the [Link] [Link] Allan Poe
means stories of dea th and madness, horror and glw\r...

SAKI

Hecto r Hugh Munro (1870-1916), the I\rillsh writer known as Saki. was
horn In Burma (now known rlS Myunrnar). After his mother died, he and
his sister and brother went tu live with their two aunts in Eng land. Aunr
Tom and Aunt Augusra hated each lit her and were not inte rested in
children. So, like Conradin in Sredni VaShl<lr. Saki learned to dislike aunts
and to dream of a world when: animals were ..tranger than people and
could purush them for being cruel and stupid.

5
 In UN J Saki ioiued the .1rJ1n 111 Burma, but became ill .md returned 10 he a lso worked as the Armed Forces' firsl vhorr -story writer, He wrote
lIlJOI1 duel. yea r-, Iatc'r. lie rhcn worked as 11 [ournalisr for rlJt'M onlill.'/, under the name 'Flying Officer X' , His most Iarnou... novel, Fair )food tb
l'ost ; rr'l\'d Jlflg I n France. Pol and, lnJ Rusvin, When t he First World \\far \Vmd /OT' l-rance, published In 1944. is about the crew of a British plane
bq~ .II1 . he roincd rhc a rmy, JnJ W;1~ killed In [Link] c e III 1916. shot down in France. Bares also wrote about his war-rune experiences in
l it: I ~ be... t k now n luJ .I\· iur h l~ . . hort ... torres, which are both cruel and Burma.
funn y ar the sa me rime. lle pllhll ..hed five co llect io ns of sho rt sroric'i a nd Fo r fifty years, Bates published at least one nnvc] or collect ion uf
IlCW
rwo novel s,
short stones each year. He lived III the country...idl.. 01 Kcnt , and like some
of his characters, he is remembered .1s .1 passr [Link] I'lIglishrn:ln, wirh a
f RI.l .\IA N \'\fIl LS C RO FT':;
deep love for the countryside .md the [Link] of nature ,

lrecm an Will!> Crofts ( 1879- 1'.1.'1') \V.I'" born In Dub lin, Ireland. His Luhcr
THOMAS HARm
di ed while lu. was ,till i1 child .. lIhl h,... llIorha marri ed again. He was
ed uca ted at co llc~t:~ In Ik rLI~I. IIId .u rhc agl' of l 'l~htccn he becallle a Thomas Hardy ( IH40- 1928) was horn in a vrnull vrllagc in nor-id, in the
[un io r a ~s i ~r;lI ll eng mccr for ..1 [Link] ":O Ill [Link] l ~~ HI. [Link] severa l [obs in sou th of England . When he was a young man. he often pl.1WJ the fiddle
railwnv eJ1ginl: erin~, a nd [Link]« [Link], { hid \"' Slsl,11ll I nginccr, While at weddings and pa rties, and he loved listening to o lJ people rdli ng ...tories
III r1 11~ iob, he wrote hIS hrst nuve] "The Cusl: ( Il).!.()} , which began hi.. new o f country life. Later. Hardy put many of till.' charactcrs .ind cvcn ts from
ca reer .1 ~ a writer o f dcrccrivc 'inion. In 1925 his fir"'l ' Inspect o r I-rench' th ese sto ries in to his own shor t stories a nd novels,
mvstcrv was pllhli ~hed, arul he \VC'1ll o n to write nnurher twcnt y- ru rn, novels At rwcnty -rwo, he went to London to work as an .i n lurcc r, .111\.1 there
abo ut lus favouruc dcrccuvc , including Inspector French S Gre-uest e lse he starred wrinng poems, stor ies. and novels. Hi" fourth novel, l-ar (mm
(J9241. Bccamc' (lj the succ ess uf his novels, he was abl e to stop working the MaiMing Crowd. was vcr )' popular. and from rim, he t..l rrll'd e nough
'lI1J become a Iull -umc writer, money to Stop working, and also ((J get married. HI. wrote severa l other
!\... a ra ilway engineer. Cro fts used what he knew ahour trains and successful novels. bur some readers did not like them , saying t1ll'y were dark
[Link] wuvs in man y of his book s and sto ries. and he W:l. S very good at and cruel. After this, Hard) sto pped wnruig tlowls .md returned to poetry.
mys rerie« II1vol vln g timetables and a libis, For must of hi.. life. he lived in Dorvet wuh Im fir'l \\ rlc, Emrna. Soon
after she died. he married again . After IllS lk',llh hi.. heart was buried in
H, 1-.. l3A [f\
Emma's grave ,

Hcrbert [Link] Bares (1905- 1974) was horn in Northampto nshire,

ARTHLJR C. CLARK l',
Englnnd . His famil y wer e shoe-makers, After lcaviug schoo l. he worked
as a newspaper reporter and then in a shoe factor y warehouse. He was Arrhur Charles C lark e ( 19 17-) was (,11111 In Somerset, Engla nd, From an
oft en alone in rhe of/ice, and rhrs is where he wrote his hrst novel, The Ttoo early . 1g.C he W<l S interested in evervt lung scicnti tic, burldmg lus own wireless
Sisters,
sets , telescopes to look .u the 11100n • •m d several hom e-made ro ckers. H e
Durlllg lh c Second World War, Ba res JOlncd th e Roval AII' Force, a nd wa s al so ;I n ent h USiastIC read er ,lIId cn lll:ctur (If sCience-fiction magazines.

96 l)
 In 1l.J4(i he publi ...hed his fir... t science-fiction short story, and two years [ater
READING C IRCLE RO L E
gained a degree ill rhY~lc", and mathematics from London University. Since
1956 he has lived 111 Sri Lanka, in a house full o f computers and all krnd«
of modern electronic technology. \V'hen you work un your role sheet, remember these words:
... READ'" THINK '" CONNECT'" ASK ...... AND CONNECT
\rrhur C. Clarke hJS written more th.m eighty books and five hundred
.lrriclcs .md short stones. He has rece ived many awards, and i... famous borh READ ...
for his science w riting - 011 space night. sc ientific forecasti ng, a nd undersea Read the ... wry once without stopping.
exploration - a nd for his invcnrive anJ [Link] derai led science • Read It again while you work 011 your rol e sheet.
finion. A ll hi.. life he has ha d a deep illlercSI in t he meeting point between
THINK ...
science a nd science fiction . Man} of his prcd lCliu ns have come true, and • Look for passages in the sto ry t hat are interesung or UI1lISu'll. Thi nk
what is fiction to d a y rn rghr l'asi1r become the fal.t of tomo rrow. abou t them. Prepa re some questions ro ask about them.
• Think a bout the mcarungs of words. If you use ,1 did If [Link], trv to use
M. R. ./AMES
an English-to -Eng lish learner's dictionary,

Momaguc Rhodes j arn cs ( I S62- ! LJ J6) was born in Kent. He was a very CONNECT ...
clever srudcnr, ,1nd 'rem h is lite Icac hinl!- .uul writing In two g reat colleges • Con nect w ith the characters' thoughts and feelings. Perhaps It IS a horror
- King's Co llegc, Camhridge, and Eron (ollcgt:, a fa mous boys' sc hoo l. srory and we cannot 'connect.' with an experience hkc th", bu r we can
He published [Link] books and papers un his studies, and he o n ly wrote sec ho w th e characters are rhink mg or feeling.
.thour thirty g host stones, but many people rhink he is one u f the hest ASK ...
writers of g host stories th a t t he re ha s ever bee n . Many othe r w riters have Ask questions with many possi ble answers; qucs tiuns rh.u begin with
studied h IS stones carefu lly, an d tried to make theirs as good. Ho/u? Why? W!J,lt? Who? Do nor ask Vl'S/lIf1 qUCSlIOllS.
jarnes, known as 'Monry' to his fr iends, was no t JUSt a dry sc holar. H e \'{'hell you ask questions. use English words rh.u everyone in your circl
Was very popular w irh stude nts, enjoyed t he thea tre, and used to rea d h is can u ndersta nd, so that everyone can mlk rhou r the . . w ry.
0\\'11g host stories out loud to h is friends, w hi le silti ng by the fireside at
AND CONNECT ...
hrisrmas. H e Was often as ked if he believed in ghosts himself, but he was
• Connect w ith your circle. Share Your ideas, hstcu ru other people's idea s.
too clever ;1 svho lnr to give a dear answer one way or the other. In the If you don't understand something, .l ~ k people 10 repeat or ex plain. And
introduction to one uf his books he wrote: 'Do I believe in ghosts? I am have fun!
prepared to consider evidence a nd accep t it if it sa tisfies m e .'

The role s heets arc on the next ~ ix p:ll!-e... (a nd oil page 113 t here arc roll,
badges you can make). Hlgger wit: sheets. wi th space for writing, are in
the Teacher's Handbook. Or yo u can read rbour your role in these pages,
.ind write your notes ,1nJ ~llIl'SIIOnS III vour own notebook.

98
9
 Reading Circle Roles

... - .... ,
Discussion Leader Summ arizer ,I
~

,
S \
,
STORY
NAMf
TORY
NAM[
\
.... _... I

The Discussion Leader 's Job Is to ... The Summarlzer's job Is to ...

• read th e story twice, and prepare at least five general questions about it • read the story and make notes about the characters, events, and Ideas
• ask one or two questions to start the Read ing Circle discussion • find the key points that everyone must know to understand and remember the
· make sure t hat everyone has a chance to speak and j oins In the discussion story
• call on each member to present their prepared r ole information. • retel l the story In a short summary (one or two minutes) 111 your nwn words
• guide the discussion and keep It gorng. · talk about your summary to the group. using your writing to help you

Usually the best discussion quesuons come fro m your own t houghts. feelings. Your reading circle Will find your summary very useful. because it Will help to
and questions as you read. (What surprised you. made you smile, made you feel remind them of the plot and the characters In the story Ybu may nued to read
sad?) Write down your questions as soon as you have finished reading. It is best th e sto ry more than onceto make a good summary. and you may need to repeat
to use your own quest ions, but you can also use some of the ideas at the botto m it to the group a second time
of this page
MY KEY POINTS:
Y QUESTIONS: Main events:
L _

Characters :

...
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Y SUMMARY:
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Other general ideas:

• Questions about th e chara cters (like / not like them. true to life / not tr ue to Me ..?) ...
· Questions about the theme (friendship. romance, parents/chi ldren, ghosts .."
• Questions about the ending (surpr ising , expected. tiked it / did no/like It ?)
• Questions about what will happen next (t hese can also beused for a longer story1

10 101
 Reading Circle Roles

~
Connector Word Master
STORY
NA\l f

The Connector's job is to .. .

© STORY

NAM L
- --

The Word Master's job Is to ...

- -­

· read the story, and look for words or short phrases that art! new or difficult to
• read the story twice, and look for connections between the stor y and the world
understand, or that are import ant in t he story
outside.
• choose five words (only five) that you think are Import ant for this story.
• make notes about at least two possible connections to your own experiences,
• exp lain the meani ngs of these live words In simple English to the group.
or to the experiences of friends and family, or to real-life events
• tell t he group why these words are Import ant for understanding this story
• tell the group about the connections and ask for their comments or questions.
• ask the group If they can think of any connections themselves. Your five words do not have to be new or unknown words Look for words In t he
story t hat really stand out in some way. These may be words that are:
These quest ions will help you think about connections while you are reading.
Events: Has anything similar ever happened to you, or to someone you know? • repeated often • used In an unusual way • important to tho meaning of the
Does anything in the story remind you of events in the real world? For example, story
events you have read about In newspapers, or heard about on television news MY WORDS MEANING OF THE WORD REASON FOR CHOOSING THE WORD
programmes
Characters: Do any of them remind you of peop le you know? How? Why? Have
you ever had the same thoughts or feelings as these characters have? Do you
know anybody who thinks, fee ls, behaves like that? IPAGE
LINE

MY CONNECTIONS: I-­
PAGE
1 LINE
....
ID
..
ID
<! <I
ii: ii: I PAGE
0 0
u u LINE
0 0
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- :I:
Q.
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t:
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4i

103
101
 Culture Collector

~
Passage Person
ST<lRi STOR't __
\j t\ tvll . I\I\M E.

The Passage Person's Job Is to . .. The Culture Collector's Job is to ...

• read the story, and find Important. mterestmg, or difficult passages • read the story, and look for both differ ences and Similarities netween your
• make notes about at least three passages that are Important for t he plot or own culture and the culture found in the story
that explain the characters, or that have vory Interestin g or powe rful language • make notes about two or three passages that show these cultural pornts
• read each passage to the group, or ask another group member 10 read it · read each passage to the group, or ask another group member to read It
· ask the group one or two Quest ions abou t each passage. • ask the group some quest ions about these , and any other cult ural pornts 111 th
story.
A passage is usually one paragraph. but sometimes It can beJust one or two
sentences. or perhaps a piece of dialogue You might choose a passage to Here are some questions to help you thrnk about cultural different,;es
discuss because It IS· Theme: What is the theme of thrs story (for exa mple, getting married, meeting a
ghost, murder. unhappy children)?Is thi s an Import ant theme In your own
• Important • Informative . surprising . funny • confusmg • wellwritten ulture? Do people think about this theme In the same way. or different ly?
People: Do characters In this story sayor do things that people neversay or do
MY PASSAGES: In your culture? Do they say or do some thi ngs that eve ryhodY In the world says
PAOE LINES or does?
REASONS FOR CHOOSINO THE PASSAGE QUESTIONS ABOUT TIlE PASSAGE
MY CULTURAL COLLECTION (differences and similarities):

PAOE _ LINES _

PAGE LINES
REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE PASSAGE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PASSAGE
.
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REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE PASSAGE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PASSAGE g

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1[)4
105
 lub Gold

PLO PYRAMID ACTIVITY

A plot IS a series of events which form a story. The Reading Circle'> Plot
Pyramid is it way of looking at and talking about the pi ut of ;'I story The
pyrarmd divrdcs the story into fivc parts.

TheExposition gives the background needed to understand the star); It tells

D Climax
us who the charncrers arc. where the story [Link], and when ir Ihrs is when __
happens. Sometimes wc also ~et a n idea abour problems to come. This is the Climax bocaus _
The Complication IS the smgle event which begins the conflict, or creates
the problem. The event might be .111 action, a t hough t, or words spoken
by one uf rhc chit racters.
The Rising Actton brings mort' events and difficu lt ies. As the story moves
through these events, it get-. more CXCI\ illV-, and begins to rake us toward
ihe climax. D Rising Action
The Climax IS the high point of the story, the turning po int, the point of The two most import ant
pornts are __
tlO return. It marks a change, for bcuer ur for worse, in the lives of one
Th ey are Import ant
or more of rhe characters, because _ _
The Resolution usually offers an answer to the problem or the conflict,
which may be sad or happy for t he characters. Mvsrcries arc
explained. secrets told, and rhe reader can feci calm again.
D Complication
HOW'T PLOT THE PYRAMID Thi s is when _ _
This is the Complicat ion
Read your story again, and look for each parr of the pyramid as you because __
w
read ..\-'!ake notes, or mark your book. -'
as
et
2 In your Reading Circle. find each part of the pyramid in the story, and ~ EXPOSITION RESOLUTION
then write down your ideas. Use the boxes in the diagram opposite as
a guide (;I bigger diagram, with space for writing in the boxes. is In the
..
o
o
:I:
~

Teacher's Handbook).
J Begin wirh the Exposition, and work through rhe Complication, the
i D Exposition D Resolution
Ihis is when __
~ The important
Rising Actirm (only two points), the Climax, and the Resolution, ~ points are __ Th is is the Resolution
because _ _
4 Finally. your group draws the pyramid and writes the notes on the ho ard,
<:;: ­
and rhen presents the pyramid to the class. Q I

106 10

1..
 1~ c:llt lJ (,old

POSTER ACTIVITY

ac h Reading Ci rcle g ro u p mak es a poster In English a bou r a sto ry in thi s

hook . Posrcr-, can have word." picture.., and drawings. You r grou p will need
to find extra inform ati on about th e sto ry - perhaps from the Internet. o r
th e scho o l lihrary, or yo u r teacher.
Use the Idea s o n the OppOS ite page to help you. Wh en all th e pos te rs arc
finish ed , eac h RC3Jing C ircle will present their own poster to th e oth er
THE THEME
What Is the theme of the story?
THE TIME, THE PLACE
What do you know about the tIme
and the plac e or the story?
\
g ro u ps . At the e nd, keep all the post ers, and m ake a ' poste r library' . Is 11 about love or m ur d er or • t he CIW I the Gounl!"'J?
fri endsh ip') Is It about dream s or • a r eal wo r'ld or en Jnrell l wo rld'
Wishes or fear s?
• If th e lime and p l<IGI drt' not glvp.n
does It matll~r~

;I THE WRITER
THE BACKGROUND
What interesting facts do you
What cultural InformatIon did you learn
I know about the author's life?

• Was he or she also a poet, an

from the story?

I actor. a teach er ? Or a spy a

sa ilor /J thi ef. a doct or , a
mad man '
• About fam ily events (Inr oxarnnle a w ~ dd ln g)
• A nat innal holiday
• r am lly Iil e (for examnle. LlClr'Wl ts and children)

I
THE FILM
THE LANGUAGE DIrect your own film! Who will play
What did you like about th the characters In the film?
language In the story? · ('.ho o ~ '" Iht nest acto rs to p la~ t he
• Fmd a Quotat ion you like - wor ds cnar .1f:II!r:'l
that arc funn y or clever or sad, or • When ' Will vou film It'
• Will you c:hrmge[he st orv?
wor ds t hat paint a mcture In you r
• WM! title will the ftlm ha~ P,'
mi nd

IO~
[08
 Bookworms Club Gold old

BOOKWOR MS C LUB BR O N Z E BOOKWORMS CLU B SI LVER

Stories (o r Reading Circles ltories for Reading Circles
S fAGES I AND 1. STAGLS 1. AND 1
Ed itor' Ma rk Furr Editor: Mark Furr

In these seven short stories there arc marriages and murde r. mistakes and In these seven short sto ries we find all kinds of people - :1 young couple
mys teries. Peo ple fall in love, and fall o ut of love; they arg ue, a nd ta lk, and in love, a clever young woma n, a bo y wirh an unhappy [Link];u mad man,
lau gh, an d l'Ty. T hey go trave lling, they go Jancing - they even sec ghosts. a famous detective, a daugh ter who stays out late . .1 man who cannot
11 of human life is here .. . remember who he is .. .
T he Bookworms Club brings toget her a selec tion of adapted short T he Bookworms Club brings toget her a sc lccno n of ada pted short
stor ies from ot her Bookwo rms url cs. These stories have been specially stories from other Bookworms titles. These stones have been specially
chosen for use with Read ing Ci rcles. chose n for use with Reading Circles.

T he Horse of Death 'h e Christm as Presents

Sail Faik, fro m Four Turkish Stories O. H e nr y, fro m New Yorkers

'hi' Little H unters at th e Lake N etty Sargent and the House

Yalvac Ural, from Four Turkish Stories Thomas H ar dy, from Tales [rom Lo ngpuddlc
M r Harris and th e N ight Train Too Old to Rock and Roll
Jennifer Bassctr, fro m One-Wa" Tscket j a n Mark. from Too Old to Rock ami Roll and (Ulu.'r Stories
ister Lour. A Walk ill Amnesia
John Esco rt. from Sister Love and Other Cri me Stories O. Henry, from New Yorkers
Omega File 349: London , England The Five O range Pips
jcnn itcr Basse u , from The Omega Files Sir Arrhur Conan Doy le, from Sherlock Holnu:s Short Stories
Ti/dy's Mo m en: Th e Tell-Tale Heart
O. Henry, from New Yorkers Edgar Allan r oe. from Tales o] M ystery and I m ag i nat i o n
~ nd re lt', [ane, th e Parson , IImJ th e Fox 0 , Lovely Ros

Thomas Hardy, from Tales from Longpuddle H. E. Bates , from Go, /.O/Iel)' Rose and ()thi'r Stori es

110 111
 old

ROL BADGES

These ro le icons can he ph otocopied and then cut out to make badges
o r stickers for the members o f th e Reading Circle to wear.

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113