1
00:00:22,270 --> 00:00:24,329
Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.
2
00:00:25,373 --> 00:00:27,102
I thought I would
cut this rope,
3
00:00:27,175 --> 00:00:30,042
since it seems to be
obstructing my path.
4
00:00:30,111 --> 00:00:32,170
I can't seem to
find my partner.
5
00:00:32,347 --> 00:00:34,008
He was here
a moment ago,
6
00:00:34,082 --> 00:00:36,277
then let out a cry
and disappeared.
7
00:00:41,889 --> 00:00:43,220
My, my.
8
00:00:43,558 --> 00:00:45,458
I seem to have
made a faux pas.
9
00:00:46,561 --> 00:00:48,825
My friend was on the
other end of that rope.
10
00:00:49,630 --> 00:00:50,790
Rotten luck.
11
00:00:51,232 --> 00:00:53,132
He was also
my business partner.
12
00:00:53,701 --> 00:00:55,498
But the show must go on.
13
00:00:56,270 --> 00:00:59,967
Tonight, we are presenting
a chilly little tale entitled,
14
00:01:00,308 --> 00:01:02,003
"The Crystal Trench."
15
00:01:02,210 --> 00:01:04,701
It follows at a
respectful distance.
16
00:01:20,294 --> 00:01:24,424
I had come from London that Wednesday
on my first visit to the Alps.
17
00:01:24,999 --> 00:01:26,830
Strange, after so many years,
18
00:01:26,901 --> 00:01:28,869
I should remember
it was a Wednesday.
19
00:01:29,404 --> 00:01:32,498
A Wednesday
in September, 1907.
20
00:01:33,474 --> 00:01:35,635
I came up the valley by train.
21
00:01:36,644 --> 00:01:39,807
Dark canopies of clouds
obscured the Schwarzhorn,
22
00:01:40,114 --> 00:01:44,073
but I could make out the broad,
icy spread of the nearby glacier.
23
00:01:44,852 --> 00:01:46,319
It had a sort of majesty.
24
00:01:46,954 --> 00:01:48,683
At least, I thought so then.
25
00:01:49,257 --> 00:01:53,318
With its solid depths of ice
and its silent, relentless flow
26
00:01:53,394 --> 00:01:55,624
as it crept along
its inevitable course.
27
00:01:57,398 --> 00:02:01,892
Now, 40 years later, I know
the glacier for something else.
28
00:02:02,870 --> 00:02:05,134
Something I had better
never have known.
29
00:02:05,940 --> 00:02:09,501
I was to meet my guides, the
Blauers, at the Bowed House Hotel.
30
00:02:10,411 --> 00:02:13,107
I had climbed easier peaks
in Austria with the Blauers,
31
00:02:13,181 --> 00:02:14,808
preparing myself
for Schwarzhorn.
32
00:02:14,949 --> 00:02:16,780
Oh, hello.
How are you?
33
00:02:16,851 --> 00:02:19,376
Welcome, welcome,
welcome. Here.
34
00:02:19,454 --> 00:02:22,014
Please, sign there.
Everything's arranged.
35
00:02:22,089 --> 00:02:24,023
How's your mother?
Fine. Fine.
36
00:02:24,225 --> 00:02:25,920
I had scarcely
entered the lobby,
37
00:02:25,993 --> 00:02:31,260
when I discovered both Frederic
and Hans Blauer engaged, as usual,
38
00:02:31,332 --> 00:02:33,027
in an argument
with another man.
39
00:02:38,272 --> 00:02:39,671
Hans! Frederic!
40
00:02:41,108 --> 00:02:43,599
You are just in time
to settle an argument.
41
00:02:44,078 --> 00:02:45,272
It seems to me
you were arguing
42
00:02:45,346 --> 00:02:46,938
when I left you
last year in Torino.
43
00:02:47,014 --> 00:02:48,572
Never with each other,
Mr. Cavendidge.
44
00:02:48,649 --> 00:02:50,640
Only with those who
insult our intelligence.
45
00:02:52,019 --> 00:02:54,249
I don't care!
I saw what I saw!
46
00:02:54,322 --> 00:02:55,414
lmpossible!
47
00:02:55,590 --> 00:02:56,716
They were right
at the top.
48
00:02:58,025 --> 00:02:59,856
Maybe you can
still see them.
49
00:03:00,127 --> 00:03:01,424
What should I
look for?
50
00:03:01,529 --> 00:03:04,020
Two men on top of the Schwarzhorn.
51
00:03:04,699 --> 00:03:06,997
Now? At 4:00
in the afternoon?
52
00:03:07,435 --> 00:03:09,369
I was looking through this, you understand?
53
00:03:09,437 --> 00:03:12,235
And suddenly the clouds
seemed to draw apart,
54
00:03:12,740 --> 00:03:14,833
and there it was,
the Schwarzhorn.
55
00:03:15,209 --> 00:03:17,370
Then two men
climbed into my view.
56
00:03:17,645 --> 00:03:20,239
They were near the very top of the peak.
57
00:03:20,314 --> 00:03:21,838
Which direction
did they come from?
58
00:03:21,916 --> 00:03:22,940
The south.
59
00:03:23,017 --> 00:03:24,041
You see?
60
00:03:24,118 --> 00:03:25,415
That's not possible.
61
00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:26,744
If they came
by the south,
62
00:03:26,821 --> 00:03:28,755
they would have had to have
come by the Lerner Ascent.
63
00:03:29,223 --> 00:03:31,953
At least I know which is
north and which is south!
64
00:03:32,026 --> 00:03:33,618
Even a child
knows that!
65
00:03:34,595 --> 00:03:38,122
One of the climbers, the one in
front, was moving very slowly.
66
00:03:38,566 --> 00:03:39,897
He seemed weak.
67
00:03:40,334 --> 00:03:41,562
The second man
was stronger,
68
00:03:41,636 --> 00:03:43,934
I saw him lift the rope between them.
69
00:03:44,305 --> 00:03:46,796
It was slack. He shook the snow off it...
70
00:03:46,874 --> 00:03:48,307
The rope was slack?
71
00:03:49,377 --> 00:03:50,503
And then?
72
00:03:51,312 --> 00:03:52,609
Then the clouds
closed in again,
73
00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,545
and I could not
see them anymore.
74
00:04:00,121 --> 00:04:02,248
If what you say is true,
it could be very serious.
75
00:04:02,323 --> 00:04:04,917
That's what we have been
telling him, Mr. Cavendidge.
76
00:04:04,992 --> 00:04:08,155
He can't just go around
inventing stories like that.
77
00:04:08,296 --> 00:04:09,729
I saw it, I tell you!
78
00:04:10,264 --> 00:04:13,199
It's just possible, of
course, just, you understand.
79
00:04:13,467 --> 00:04:15,833
On a fine day, a party coming by that route
80
00:04:15,903 --> 00:04:18,030
might find themselves
on top of the Schwarzhorn
81
00:04:18,105 --> 00:04:19,732
at 4:00 in the afternoon.
82
00:04:20,341 --> 00:04:22,502
But on a day like this,
no man in his senses
83
00:04:22,577 --> 00:04:24,204
would be on any ridge
of that mountain,
84
00:04:25,246 --> 00:04:26,907
I can only hope
you're mistaken.
85
00:04:28,649 --> 00:04:30,446
Come and help me unpack. Good!
86
00:04:30,518 --> 00:04:32,782
I'll show you some
boots I bought in London.
87
00:04:43,030 --> 00:04:44,361
Mr. Cavendidge?
88
00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,590
I have bad news.
89
00:04:47,668 --> 00:04:49,101
There has been
an accident.
90
00:04:49,670 --> 00:04:50,864
On the Schwarzhorn?
91
00:04:51,405 --> 00:04:52,667
How could you know?
92
00:04:52,740 --> 00:04:55,368
Ranks has just sent word
from the Vern hut.
93
00:04:55,610 --> 00:04:57,134
Ranks? What has he got to do with it?
94
00:04:57,211 --> 00:04:58,974
He was with him.
It is terrible!
95
00:04:59,347 --> 00:05:01,110
They were so young...
Boys!
96
00:05:01,515 --> 00:05:04,313
Countrymen of yours,
that's why I have come to you.
97
00:05:04,785 --> 00:05:06,013
Now, if you'll tell me
what's happened?
98
00:05:06,087 --> 00:05:07,577
They arrived here
last week.
99
00:05:07,655 --> 00:05:09,418
They were not
experienced climbers,
100
00:05:09,490 --> 00:05:12,482
but they had no respect for
our guides or for our mountains.
101
00:05:13,027 --> 00:05:15,222
They would not listen
to what anybody said.
102
00:05:15,529 --> 00:05:18,020
If only Herr Ranks had
not come from Austria.
103
00:05:18,432 --> 00:05:19,490
Do you know him?
104
00:05:19,567 --> 00:05:20,898
No, but the Blauers
told me about him.
105
00:05:20,968 --> 00:05:22,265
They say he'll
climb with anyone.
106
00:05:22,570 --> 00:05:24,629
As soon as he met
these two young men,
107
00:05:24,705 --> 00:05:27,139
he suggested the Lerner Ascent to them.
108
00:05:29,477 --> 00:05:31,502
They went up
to the Vern hut,
109
00:05:31,712 --> 00:05:32,838
slept the night there,
110
00:05:32,913 --> 00:05:34,847
and started up
the Schwarzhorn
111
00:05:34,915 --> 00:05:36,940
with provisions
for three days.
112
00:05:37,184 --> 00:05:38,651
That was four days ago!
113
00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:40,653
And Ranks has
come back alone?
114
00:05:40,721 --> 00:05:43,212
No. One of the boys is with him.
115
00:05:43,924 --> 00:05:45,221
George Liston.
116
00:05:45,693 --> 00:05:49,288
They're moving him down to
the clinic at Brig, tonight,
117
00:05:49,363 --> 00:05:53,265
hoping to save his hands and
feet which are badly frostbitten.
118
00:05:53,534 --> 00:05:57,095
No, it is the other boy,
Michael Ballister.
119
00:05:58,305 --> 00:06:00,637
He died when he almost
reached the top.
120
00:06:00,941 --> 00:06:03,933
Ranks says that
he and Liston
121
00:06:04,011 --> 00:06:06,605
were too exhausted
to bring him down,
122
00:06:06,681 --> 00:06:08,808
so they left him up there.
123
00:06:10,751 --> 00:06:11,877
We'll have to go
and fetch him
124
00:06:11,952 --> 00:06:13,510
as soon as
the weather clears.
125
00:06:13,587 --> 00:06:15,452
Is that what you wanted to ask me about?
126
00:06:15,523 --> 00:06:16,990
No, there is
something else.
127
00:06:17,191 --> 00:06:18,249
His wife...
128
00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:20,750
Ballister's wife
is here in the hotel.
129
00:06:20,961 --> 00:06:22,451
Someone must tell her.
130
00:06:23,464 --> 00:06:24,658
You expect me to?
131
00:06:24,732 --> 00:06:26,063
Who else is there?
132
00:06:26,734 --> 00:06:27,723
But why me?
133
00:06:27,802 --> 00:06:29,531
Like you, she's English.
134
00:06:30,104 --> 00:06:31,332
And it is better
if she hears it
135
00:06:31,405 --> 00:06:33,100
from one of her
own countrymen.
136
00:06:34,208 --> 00:06:36,802
They've only been
married six months.
137
00:06:37,211 --> 00:06:38,974
All day long she has been trying to hide
138
00:06:39,046 --> 00:06:40,570
that she was
anxious about him.
139
00:06:44,251 --> 00:06:45,377
Where is she now?
140
00:06:47,021 --> 00:06:48,079
In the dining room.
141
00:06:48,389 --> 00:06:50,414
We'd better tell her now.
142
00:07:07,007 --> 00:07:09,202
Mrs. Ballister,
I do not believe
143
00:07:09,276 --> 00:07:10,903
you have met
Mr. Cavendidge.
144
00:07:11,245 --> 00:07:12,906
He's just come
today from London.
145
00:07:12,980 --> 00:07:14,538
Good evening.
Good evening.
146
00:07:17,785 --> 00:07:19,150
If you'll excuse me.
147
00:07:22,123 --> 00:07:23,215
May I?
148
00:07:23,290 --> 00:07:24,917
Oh, of course,
please do.
149
00:07:25,526 --> 00:07:27,653
It's so good to hear
English spoken again.
150
00:07:27,728 --> 00:07:29,821
I never quite get used
to all these accents.
151
00:07:34,068 --> 00:07:36,093
This is one of
my favorite tunes.
152
00:07:36,904 --> 00:07:38,963
Do you dance,
Mr. Cavendidge?
153
00:07:39,206 --> 00:07:40,195
Well, I...
154
00:07:40,274 --> 00:07:42,003
Funny, in London,
it would seem
155
00:07:42,076 --> 00:07:43,941
quite improper
for me to ask you.
156
00:07:44,011 --> 00:07:45,376
But here it seems
all right, doesn't it?
157
00:07:54,955 --> 00:07:57,423
I imagine you're a
rather courageous person.
158
00:07:57,491 --> 00:07:59,049
Oh, why do you say that?
159
00:07:59,126 --> 00:08:01,060
I'm hoping... No, praying that you are.
160
00:08:01,128 --> 00:08:02,322
What do you mean?
161
00:08:02,763 --> 00:08:04,355
Mrs. Ballister,
162
00:08:04,431 --> 00:08:08,094
I have been nominated a committee
of one to tell you something,
163
00:08:08,169 --> 00:08:11,730
which is something, I'm afraid,
no matter how gently I try,
164
00:08:11,806 --> 00:08:13,034
can only...
165
00:08:23,384 --> 00:08:26,717
Ordinarily, they tell people
to sit down at a time like this.
166
00:08:27,488 --> 00:08:30,651
I think you're a woman who
might prefer to be standing.
167
00:08:31,559 --> 00:08:34,255
I don't know what you're trying to tell me,
168
00:08:34,829 --> 00:08:37,059
but whatever it is,
please say it.
169
00:08:39,133 --> 00:08:41,567
Mrs. Ballister,
your husband is dead.
170
00:08:42,169 --> 00:08:43,864
His body is up
on the Schwarzhorn.
171
00:09:00,955 --> 00:09:02,286
It's not true.
172
00:09:03,424 --> 00:09:05,051
It can't be true!
173
00:09:07,895 --> 00:09:10,523
How did it happen?
Did he fall?
174
00:09:12,466 --> 00:09:15,799
Apparently he died of
exhaustion and exposure.
175
00:09:16,704 --> 00:09:19,730
Isn't there a chance
that... That he's still alive?
176
00:09:20,808 --> 00:09:21,900
No.
177
00:09:22,977 --> 00:09:24,501
We'd hardly begun.
178
00:09:28,382 --> 00:09:30,111
Michael and I, we...
179
00:09:30,384 --> 00:09:32,011
We'd hardly begun.
180
00:09:32,820 --> 00:09:34,481
I'll take a
party up in the morning
181
00:09:34,555 --> 00:09:36,022
and try and bring him down.
182
00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,557
But he said he was only
going to the mountain.
183
00:09:44,598 --> 00:09:46,566
He promised me
he'd be all right.
184
00:09:46,634 --> 00:09:48,158
He said I wasn't
to worry.
185
00:09:48,535 --> 00:09:50,002
Mrs. Ballister,
186
00:09:50,070 --> 00:09:53,233
the Schwarzhorn is one of the most
dangerous ascents in the world.
187
00:09:53,307 --> 00:09:56,606
Many experienced climbers
have lost their lives up there.
188
00:09:57,311 --> 00:09:59,074
You will find him,
won't you?
189
00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,809
You will bring him
back to me?
190
00:10:02,983 --> 00:10:04,041
I'll do my best.
191
00:10:04,585 --> 00:10:05,950
Oh, please.
192
00:10:07,454 --> 00:10:09,354
I don't know
if I can bear it,
193
00:10:10,691 --> 00:10:12,659
not to look at him
once more,
194
00:10:13,994 --> 00:10:15,256
not to see him,
195
00:10:17,064 --> 00:10:18,725
to touch him again.
196
00:10:57,938 --> 00:11:00,566
We crossed the mountain
by the eastern arete,
197
00:11:00,641 --> 00:11:02,370
descending
on the south side...
198
00:11:03,711 --> 00:11:05,338
Found Ballister.
199
00:11:07,147 --> 00:11:08,239
It was then,
200
00:11:08,749 --> 00:11:11,980
the grimmest episode of
that terrible day occurred.
201
00:11:13,554 --> 00:11:16,148
With infinite care,
we began to untie
202
00:11:16,223 --> 00:11:17,986
the frozen ropes
which bound him.
203
00:11:19,126 --> 00:11:22,562
A gust of snow blinded us
for a moment, throwing us back
204
00:11:23,097 --> 00:11:27,397
and in that second, the
body slipped away from us.
205
00:11:29,737 --> 00:11:31,068
We watched hopelessly,
206
00:11:32,106 --> 00:11:36,270
as it gathered speed and
disappeared into a crevasse.
207
00:11:37,077 --> 00:11:38,669
He's fallen
into the glacier.
208
00:11:47,287 --> 00:11:51,519
I could not shake off the feeling
that somehow I had betrayed a trust.
209
00:11:51,592 --> 00:11:53,856
I had discovered that
she was an only child
210
00:11:53,927 --> 00:11:55,189
and both her parents
were dead.
211
00:11:55,929 --> 00:11:58,830
She seemed so friendless, so alone.
212
00:12:00,167 --> 00:12:01,361
Thank you.
213
00:12:03,837 --> 00:12:05,566
Could I have
my bill too, please.
214
00:12:06,807 --> 00:12:09,207
Well, there's no need for you to
leave just because I'm leaving.
215
00:12:09,276 --> 00:12:11,141
It's all right. I'm quite
able to take care of myself.
216
00:12:11,211 --> 00:12:13,111
I really don't want
to stay on here.
217
00:12:14,014 --> 00:12:15,845
When must you
be in London?
218
00:12:16,683 --> 00:12:18,014
Not for a couple
of weeks.
219
00:12:18,085 --> 00:12:19,575
Could you come
to Brig with me?
220
00:12:19,653 --> 00:12:20,642
Brig?
221
00:12:20,721 --> 00:12:22,746
Yes, George Liston's
in the clinic there.
222
00:12:22,823 --> 00:12:25,553
I want to talk to him
and that man, Herr Ranks.
223
00:12:26,026 --> 00:12:28,859
And since you know about
mountains and climbing and things,
224
00:12:28,929 --> 00:12:30,692
I... I thought perhaps
you could come with me.
225
00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:34,029
I want to find out if
he's telling the truth.
226
00:12:34,768 --> 00:12:36,326
The truth?
About the accident?
227
00:12:37,304 --> 00:12:38,566
But why shouldn't he?
228
00:12:39,973 --> 00:12:45,240
Michael was strong. He'd never
have just stopped breathing.
229
00:12:46,947 --> 00:12:48,915
Something else
must have happened.
230
00:12:50,150 --> 00:12:51,674
I've got to find out.
231
00:12:55,556 --> 00:12:56,614
Will you come?
232
00:12:58,525 --> 00:12:59,549
Yes. I'll come.
233
00:12:59,993 --> 00:13:01,585
Thank you, Mr. Cavendidge.
234
00:13:04,898 --> 00:13:08,299
In that second I knew I wanted
to hear her call me Mark.
235
00:13:08,602 --> 00:13:12,094
Not Mr. Cavendidge, but
Mark. "Mark, my dear."
236
00:13:12,172 --> 00:13:13,969
"Mark, my darling."
237
00:13:14,308 --> 00:13:16,367
In that second I knew
I had begun to love her.
238
00:13:26,253 --> 00:13:27,413
Hello, Herr Ranks.
239
00:13:27,688 --> 00:13:30,589
And this is Mrs. Ballister.
I'm a friend of hers.
240
00:13:31,725 --> 00:13:33,056
I'm sorry
about your husband.
241
00:13:33,827 --> 00:13:35,226
And I'm sorry
that I wasn't there
242
00:13:35,295 --> 00:13:36,694
the day you came
to the hotel
243
00:13:36,763 --> 00:13:38,424
and persuaded him
to go with you.
244
00:13:38,499 --> 00:13:41,093
Perhaps, if I had been,
he wouldn't have gone.
245
00:13:42,202 --> 00:13:43,567
I know how you must feel.
246
00:13:43,637 --> 00:13:46,629
You blame me,
and you are right.
247
00:13:46,773 --> 00:13:48,206
I am partly
responsible.
248
00:13:49,209 --> 00:13:51,200
What do you mean,
you are responsible?
249
00:13:52,479 --> 00:13:54,003
Well, we left
with too little food
250
00:13:54,081 --> 00:13:55,241
and that was bad
planning on my part.
251
00:13:56,450 --> 00:13:59,351
And I should have considered
the youth of my companions.
252
00:14:00,287 --> 00:14:03,586
You see, young men can
never climb so well.
253
00:14:05,292 --> 00:14:08,557
They don't have the
lungs for it or the legs.
254
00:14:10,230 --> 00:14:12,357
No, I should never
have led them up.
255
00:14:13,433 --> 00:14:16,425
And I should have controlled
your husband more, madam.
256
00:14:17,938 --> 00:14:19,838
He was an
inexperienced climber.
257
00:14:20,274 --> 00:14:22,367
I tried to warn him
not to go so fast,
258
00:14:22,442 --> 00:14:24,876
but, he being young,
believed there was
259
00:14:24,945 --> 00:14:28,437
nothing he could not conquer,
not even the Schwarzhorn.
260
00:14:30,284 --> 00:14:32,047
Finally, he collapsed
altogether.
261
00:14:32,553 --> 00:14:33,884
His heart gave out.
262
00:14:35,956 --> 00:14:38,550
I swear to you we stayed
with him until he died.
263
00:14:39,693 --> 00:14:42,161
Although the wind was
quite dangerous for us
264
00:14:42,229 --> 00:14:43,719
and he was evidently dying.
265
00:14:44,631 --> 00:14:46,792
We stayed with him
until it was all over.
266
00:14:46,867 --> 00:14:49,131
Why do you make such a
point about staying with him?
267
00:14:49,203 --> 00:14:51,330
Because it was at a great risk to us.
268
00:14:51,605 --> 00:14:53,038
Liston and myself.
269
00:14:53,106 --> 00:14:55,301
How can I be sure that
you did stay with him?
270
00:14:56,109 --> 00:14:57,508
How can I be sure
that you didn't go off
271
00:14:57,578 --> 00:14:59,409
and leave him to die
alone on the ridge?
272
00:14:59,479 --> 00:15:00,776
Because
I have told you so
273
00:15:00,847 --> 00:15:02,178
and Liston will tell
you the same thing.
274
00:15:02,249 --> 00:15:04,479
We were with him
until he died.
275
00:15:04,551 --> 00:15:08,749
Up there in the cold and the
darkness, the utter loneliness...
276
00:15:09,990 --> 00:15:13,983
While I waited in the hotel with
a fire and the sound of music!
277
00:15:14,261 --> 00:15:17,355
You left him up there to die!
I know it!
278
00:15:18,265 --> 00:15:20,290
No! Please!
279
00:15:20,934 --> 00:15:23,198
No!
You did it! I know!
280
00:15:26,106 --> 00:15:27,300
I have said
it is my fault.
281
00:15:27,374 --> 00:15:29,205
What more does she
expect from me?
282
00:15:34,114 --> 00:15:35,672
Forgive me,
Mr. Cavendidge.
283
00:15:36,717 --> 00:15:38,514
I'm ashamed
of the way I behaved.
284
00:15:38,819 --> 00:15:40,150
It's all right.
285
00:15:41,755 --> 00:15:43,723
You've gone to so
much trouble for me.
286
00:15:44,691 --> 00:15:45,851
Thank you.
287
00:15:49,162 --> 00:15:51,357
Well, there's no point
in our staying here.
288
00:15:51,999 --> 00:15:53,432
What about
George Liston?
289
00:15:53,500 --> 00:15:54,694
Don't you want
to talk to him?
290
00:15:54,768 --> 00:15:56,531
What more can
he tell me except...
291
00:15:58,038 --> 00:16:01,132
No, that won't
bring Michael back.
292
00:16:02,376 --> 00:16:03,900
Nothing will
bring him back.
293
00:16:05,045 --> 00:16:06,307
Only I.
294
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:07,669
You?
295
00:16:08,782 --> 00:16:12,684
Michael and I, we had
what very few people have,
296
00:16:13,754 --> 00:16:14,880
a perfect marriage.
297
00:16:17,524 --> 00:16:19,515
This may sound
fanciful to you,
298
00:16:19,593 --> 00:16:21,857
but somehow
it was ordained,
299
00:16:22,429 --> 00:16:24,329
predestined that
we should meet,
300
00:16:24,898 --> 00:16:26,525
that we should
love each other.
301
00:16:27,768 --> 00:16:30,293
Six months...
Such a little time,
302
00:16:31,905 --> 00:16:35,272
but we had more than most people
have in all their lifetime.
303
00:16:35,709 --> 00:16:36,835
Far more!
304
00:16:38,478 --> 00:16:40,708
And that's how I'll
bring Michael back.
305
00:16:40,781 --> 00:16:42,442
By remembering.
306
00:16:42,516 --> 00:16:44,916
By taking each moment
of our time together
307
00:16:44,985 --> 00:16:49,445
and expanding it into a month
or a year of remembering.
308
00:16:50,991 --> 00:16:54,893
Do you understand? That way,
if... If I live to be 80,
309
00:16:56,063 --> 00:16:58,827
I shall never live long
enough to recapture all of it.
310
00:17:04,905 --> 00:17:05,963
Stella...
311
00:17:09,276 --> 00:17:10,903
It's wrong to live
in the past.
312
00:17:11,411 --> 00:17:12,639
No matter
how hard we try,
313
00:17:12,713 --> 00:17:14,613
we can't make
time stand still
314
00:17:15,115 --> 00:17:17,982
any more than we can preserve
the roses of last summer.
315
00:17:18,785 --> 00:17:21,583
Oh, but you can.
Don't you see?
316
00:17:21,922 --> 00:17:23,082
You can!
317
00:17:24,024 --> 00:17:26,857
Particularly if the
roses are packed in ice.
318
00:17:28,228 --> 00:17:32,631
That way they might last
forever... Mightn't they?
319
00:17:37,704 --> 00:17:39,763
I returned
to London with Stella.
320
00:17:40,073 --> 00:17:43,008
In the weeks that followed, I
saw her whenever she'd let me.
321
00:17:43,643 --> 00:17:46,544
Once I took her to a
concert, twice to the theater.
322
00:17:47,314 --> 00:17:50,283
But it was not until
Christmas of that first year,
323
00:17:50,717 --> 00:17:52,548
I had any encouragement from her.
324
00:17:53,220 --> 00:17:55,347
A note inviting me
to have tea with her
325
00:17:55,422 --> 00:17:57,322
in her house in Mayfair.
326
00:17:57,924 --> 00:17:59,789
On the strength
of this summons,
327
00:17:59,893 --> 00:18:01,861
I stopped that morning
at the jewelers
328
00:18:01,928 --> 00:18:04,658
and picked up the ring
I had ordered weeks before,
329
00:18:04,931 --> 00:18:06,728
a ring I knew
I would never place
330
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,963
on the finger of any
woman other than Stella.
331
00:18:11,872 --> 00:18:14,670
Mark, it's so good to see you.
332
00:18:18,111 --> 00:18:19,476
It's charming, Stella.
333
00:18:20,013 --> 00:18:21,537
But, of course,
it would be.
334
00:18:23,817 --> 00:18:24,909
Please.
335
00:18:26,386 --> 00:18:29,082
I'm so grateful that you
were able to be free today.
336
00:18:29,523 --> 00:18:31,457
This is a very
important day.
337
00:18:33,427 --> 00:18:35,190
I rather
thought so, too.
338
00:18:36,763 --> 00:18:39,197
Stella, I...
339
00:18:40,367 --> 00:18:44,269
I never thought the time
was right before, but now...
340
00:18:47,674 --> 00:18:49,266
This says it better
than I can.
341
00:18:55,949 --> 00:19:00,045
If I could ever wear
anyone's ring again, Mark,
342
00:19:01,755 --> 00:19:03,052
it would be yours.
343
00:19:05,158 --> 00:19:06,455
I'm sorry.
344
00:19:08,328 --> 00:19:10,421
Stella, please
think it over.
345
00:19:11,131 --> 00:19:12,689
I... I love you
346
00:19:12,766 --> 00:19:14,825
and you... You need someone, someone...
347
00:19:14,901 --> 00:19:16,391
Mark, I can't.
348
00:19:17,737 --> 00:19:19,728
Where I'm taking you
this afternoon
349
00:19:19,806 --> 00:19:21,296
and what we're
going to do,
350
00:19:21,775 --> 00:19:24,073
will explain to you
why I can't.
351
00:19:41,027 --> 00:19:42,654
Well, Mrs. Ballister,
I shan't bore you
352
00:19:42,729 --> 00:19:44,856
with the science of these
computations. I imagine you simply...
353
00:19:44,931 --> 00:19:46,694
This doesn't bore me,
Professor,
354
00:19:46,766 --> 00:19:48,893
I just want to be sure,
that is all.
355
00:19:49,469 --> 00:19:50,629
Mmm-hmm.
356
00:19:51,972 --> 00:19:53,599
The question here was,
357
00:19:53,673 --> 00:19:56,801
how far and how fast does
the glacier move each year?
358
00:19:58,512 --> 00:20:01,003
Well, the rate of flow
differs from year to year,
359
00:20:01,081 --> 00:20:03,140
depending on the balance
between the melting line
360
00:20:03,216 --> 00:20:06,982
and the accumulation area at
the upper end of the glacier.
361
00:20:07,053 --> 00:20:09,715
The melting line, of
course, is at the lower end.
362
00:20:09,789 --> 00:20:11,984
The ablation
or wastage area.
363
00:20:13,326 --> 00:20:16,727
Now, the flow of the
glacier actually starts
364
00:20:16,796 --> 00:20:21,790
within the ice itself at least
200 feet beneath the surface.
365
00:20:22,569 --> 00:20:26,562
There we get the basal slip
along the bed of the valley,
366
00:20:27,207 --> 00:20:28,868
caused mostly by gravity.
367
00:20:29,543 --> 00:20:33,639
But the ice also moves by crystals
pushing each other out of shape.
368
00:20:34,147 --> 00:20:35,808
Uh, we call this
plastic flow.
369
00:20:36,583 --> 00:20:39,780
By measuring the grains and the
direction of the ice crystals,
370
00:20:39,853 --> 00:20:42,447
by readings
on a micro altimeter,
371
00:20:43,023 --> 00:20:46,424
by checking our gravity meter to
tell us what the rock floor is like,
372
00:20:46,493 --> 00:20:49,758
we can calculate the rate
of flow rather precisely.
373
00:20:51,431 --> 00:20:56,596
On the 21st of July, Mrs.
Ballister, in the year 1947,
374
00:20:57,737 --> 00:21:01,264
more likely in the morning, rather
than in the afternoon, I should say,
375
00:21:01,908 --> 00:21:05,309
your husband will come out of the
ice at the foot of the glacier.
376
00:21:07,747 --> 00:21:09,044
You see, Mark?
377
00:21:11,051 --> 00:21:12,951
I shall have Michael
back after all.
378
00:21:14,521 --> 00:21:17,422
I realized then that
Stella had made her choice.
379
00:21:17,657 --> 00:21:21,593
That for the next 40 years she
intended to wait for Michael,
380
00:21:22,095 --> 00:21:25,064
just as I knew
I must wait for Stella.
381
00:21:27,233 --> 00:21:31,431
The years slipped away, each
one faster than the one before.
382
00:21:32,305 --> 00:21:35,001
And now once more
I came up the valley.
383
00:21:35,642 --> 00:21:39,908
It was a cloudy day, just as it had
been that Wednesday 40 years ago.
384
00:21:40,447 --> 00:21:43,814
And again I saw the broad,
icy spread of the glacier.
385
00:21:44,918 --> 00:21:46,818
I knew it now
for what it was.
386
00:21:47,721 --> 00:21:48,983
A tombstone.
387
00:21:49,889 --> 00:21:54,189
A vast crystal trench
which had enveloped us,
388
00:21:54,694 --> 00:21:56,286
molded and shaped us,
389
00:21:56,696 --> 00:21:59,187
Stella and me,
for this day...
390
00:22:00,233 --> 00:22:04,761
This 21st day of July, 1947.
391
00:22:05,839 --> 00:22:07,704
I think you should
go back to the hotel.
392
00:22:07,774 --> 00:22:09,366
I'll come and get you
when it's time.
393
00:22:09,442 --> 00:22:11,535
But the Professor said,
"More likely in the morning
394
00:22:11,611 --> 00:22:13,101
"than in the afternoon."
395
00:22:13,179 --> 00:22:14,612
Don't you remember,
Mark?
396
00:22:14,681 --> 00:22:16,080
Yes, I remember,
but all the same.
397
00:22:16,149 --> 00:22:17,741
He couldn't be wrong!
398
00:22:17,817 --> 00:22:19,307
No, of course not, but still,
399
00:22:19,386 --> 00:22:21,217
I think you should
wait at the hotel.
400
00:22:21,287 --> 00:22:23,482
No, Mark,
I want to stay.
401
00:22:28,161 --> 00:22:29,924
Mr. Cavendidge!
Look!
402
00:22:43,910 --> 00:22:47,004
The glacier had used
Michael Ballister tenderly.
403
00:22:48,081 --> 00:22:50,641
The years had taken
no toll of him.
404
00:22:52,452 --> 00:22:54,010
Seeing Stella with him,
405
00:22:54,988 --> 00:22:57,513
I could see what the years had done to her.
406
00:22:59,259 --> 00:23:01,159
I knew what they
had done to me.
407
00:23:05,965 --> 00:23:08,456
Your locket was still
around his neck, Stella.
408
00:23:17,610 --> 00:23:19,043
The girl
who stared out at me
409
00:23:19,112 --> 00:23:21,580
was not Stella,
but someone strange.
410
00:23:22,115 --> 00:23:23,582
A pretty face,
but cheap.
411
00:23:25,852 --> 00:23:27,012
It's a...
412
00:23:27,587 --> 00:23:31,114
It's a miniature of you. Not
a very good likeness, but...
413
00:23:33,827 --> 00:23:35,124
Thank you, Mark,
414
00:23:35,829 --> 00:23:38,855
but he had no locket
with a portrait of me.
415
00:24:12,165 --> 00:24:15,601
So much for our version
of The Iceman Cometh.
416
00:24:16,136 --> 00:24:18,969
I shall return for a
final word in a moment.
417
00:24:19,639 --> 00:24:22,972
First, we have come to one
of those treacherous crevices
418
00:24:23,343 --> 00:24:25,743
that riddle the glacier
of television.
419
00:24:29,215 --> 00:24:31,911
I think I should
begin my descent
420
00:24:32,485 --> 00:24:35,454
before I become the source of a legend
421
00:24:35,622 --> 00:24:38,090
about an abdominal snowman.
422
00:24:38,725 --> 00:24:41,694
Next week, I shall
once again return
423
00:24:41,761 --> 00:24:45,857
with another story, spliced
together by commercials.
424
00:24:46,166 --> 00:24:48,657
Until then, goodnight.