YouTube Transcript:
The Open Window

chapter 5 the open window my aunt will
be down presently Mr nuttle said a very
self-possessed young girl of 15.
in the meantime you must try and put up
with me
Brampton Nutter try to say polite things
to Mrs suppleton's knees to keep up a
steady flow of conversation
privately he wondered whether these
formal visits on total strangers would
do much towards curing him
actually Mr nuttle was suffering from
some nerve disease and doctors had
suggested a change of residence so he
decided to shift from London to a quiet
Village in the outskirts
his sister had given him some letters of
introduction to the people she knew
there
you know many of the people around here
don't you ask the knees
hardly a soul said Brampton
my sister was staying here you know some
four years ago and she knows some of the
people here then you know practically
nothing about my aunt
pursue the self-possessed young lady
be her name and address
admitted Frampton
her great tragedy happened just three
years ago said the knees that would be
after your sister had left
her tragedy
asked Frampton
somehow in this peaceful region
tragedies seemed out of place
you may wonder why we keep that window
wide open on a November afternoon
said the girl indicating a large french
window that opened onto a lawn but has
that window got anything to do with the
tragedy said Frampton
out through that window three years ago
to a day her husband and her two young
Brothers went off for their days
shooting they never came back in
crossing the moon to their favorite duck
shooting ground they were all three
engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog
it had been a threadful wet summer and
places that were safe in other years
gave a subtly without warning their
bodies were never found that was the
Dreadful part of it
poor and all these things they'll come
back one day they and the little brown
spaniel that was lost with them and
walking at that window just as they used
to do
that is why the window is kept open
every evening till it is quite dark do
you know sometimes on quiet evenings
like this I almost get a creepy feeling
that they will all walk in through
window
she broke off with a shudder it was a
relief to Frampton when the ant bustled
into the room with apologies for being
late
I hope Vera has been amusing you
she said
she has been very interesting
said Frampton
I hope you don't mind the open window to
you said Mrs suppleton my husband and
brothers will be home directly from
shooting and they always come this way
she rattled on cheerfully about the duck
shooting and the availability of ducks
in the winter to Frampton it was all
purely horrible he made an effort to
turn the talk onto a less ghastly topic
it was certainly an unfortunate
coincidence that he should have paid a
visit on this tragic anniversary
the doctors say I must have complete
rest and avoid physical exercise
announced Frampton
on the matter of diet they are not so
much in agreement no
said Mrs suppleton then she suddenly
brightened into alert attention but not
to what franton was saying
here they are lost she cried just in
time for tea plant and shivered slightly
and turned towards the knees the girl
was staring out through the open window
with horror in her eyes
in a shock of nameless fear Frampton
swung around in his seat and lived in
the same direction
in the deepening Twilight three Figures
were working across the lawn towards the
window they all carried guns under their
arms and one of them was burdened with a
white coat over his shoulders
a tired Brown spaniel kept close at
their heels noiselessly they neared the
house Frampton grabbed wildly at her
stick and hat the hall door the driveway
the front gate were dimly noted steps in
his headlong retreat
a cyclist coming along the road had to
run into the Hedge to avoid a collision
here we are my dear said the bearer of
the white coat but who was that who ran
out as we came in a strange man
uh Mr nuttle
said Mrs suppleton
could only talk about his illness
and dashed off without a word of goodbye
or apology when you arrived one would
think he had seen a ghost
I think it was the Spaniel
I think it was the Spaniel
said Vera calmly
he told me he had a horror of dogs he
was once hunted into a graveyard
somewhere in India by a pack of peria
dogs
he had to spend the night in a newly dug
grave with the creatures barking and
snarling just above him enough to make
anyone lose their nerve isn't it
storytelling and short notice was a
specialty