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Hello, beloved

0:09

Patrons! Guess

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what? It's time for

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another Patreon subscriber

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exclusive episode.

0:21

Jolly hockey sticks!

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How exciting!

0:27

Again we bow to the authority

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of our Patrons and

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present a requested

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tale. A dark

0:37

meditation on imperialism

0:40

from Rudyard Kipling himself,

0:44

pondering, as was his want,

0:46

the great gulf of miscomprehension

0:50

across which the native

0:53

and English stare

0:57

hopelessly at each

0:59

other. To misquote

1:02

him only somewhat. So

1:05

let's leap into that very

1:08

gulf and see

1:10

what monsters

1:14

lurk within. Nocturnal

1:18

Transmissions is proud

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to present

1:24

The Mark of

1:26

the Beast by

1:31

Rudyard Kipling. Please

1:39

do excuse this interruption,

1:43

but we have a brief announcement.

1:46

This is a Patreon subscriber

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exclusive episode,

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only available in full to

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our beloved Nocturnal Transmissions

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Patreon subscribers.

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Nevertheless, we've cooked up this little...

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extract, as it were, for

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your amusement.

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If you decide you'd like to

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hear this and all our other

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Patreon-exclusive episodes

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in their entirety, just

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You'll get access to our full

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and the warm glow

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pernicious production that

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is... Nocturnal

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Transmissions.

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Anyway, no pressure, it's

3:01

all up to you. Thank

3:04

you for

3:04

your time. Now,

3:07

back, well, at least in

3:10

part, to the

3:12

show. Fleet

3:17

began the night with sherry and bitters,

3:20

drank champagne steadily up

3:22

to dessert, then raw rasping

3:25

capri with all the strength of whiskey.

3:28

Took Benedictine with his coffee, four

3:30

or five whiskies and sodas to improve

3:33

his pool strokes, deer and bones

3:35

at half-past two, winding

3:37

up with old brandy. Consequently,

3:41

when he came out at half-past three in the

3:44

morning into fourteen degrees of frost,

3:47

he was very angry with his horse

3:49

for coughing and tried to leapfrog

3:52

into the saddle. The horse

3:54

broke away and went to his stables, so

3:57

Strickland and I formed a guard

3:59

of dishonour.

3:59

honor to take Fleet Home.

4:03

Our road lay through the bazaar,

4:06

close to a little temple of Hanuman,

4:08

the Monkey God, who

4:10

is a leading divinity worthy of respect.

4:14

All gods have good points, just

4:16

as have all priests. Personally,

4:19

I attach much importance to Hanuman,

4:21

and am kind to

4:23

his people, the great,

4:26

gray apes of the hills. One

4:28

never knows when one may want

4:31

a friend.

4:33

There was a light in the temple, and

4:35

as we passed we could hear voices of men

4:37

chanting hymns. In

4:40

a native temple, the priests rise

4:42

at all hours of the night to do honor

4:44

to their god. Before

4:46

we could stop him, Fleet dashed

4:48

up the steps, patted two priests

4:50

on the back, and was gravely grinding

4:53

the ashes of his cigar butt into

4:55

the forehead of the redstone image

4:58

of Hanuman. Strickland

5:00

tried to drag him out, but he sat down

5:03

and said solemnly,

5:06

she that mark

5:08

of the beast.

5:12

I made it. Isn't

5:14

it fine?

5:19

In half a minute the temple

5:22

was alive and noisy, and Strickland,

5:24

who knew what came of polluting

5:26

gods, said that things

5:30

might occur. He,

5:32

by virtue of his official position, long

5:35

residence in the country and weakness

5:37

for going among the natives, was known

5:39

to the priests, and he felt

5:42

unhappy.

5:44

Fleet sat on the ground and refused

5:46

to move. He said that good

5:48

old Hanuman made a very soft

5:51

pillow.

5:53

Then, without any warning,

5:56

a silver man came out of a recess

5:59

behind.

5:59

image of the god. He

6:02

was perfectly naked in that bitter,

6:04

bitter cold, and his body

6:07

shone like frosted silver,

6:10

for he was what the Bible calls

6:13

a leper

6:15

as white as snow. Also,

6:18

he had no face, because

6:21

he was a leper of some years standing,

6:25

and his disease was heavy upon

6:28

him.

6:30

We too stooped to haul Fleet

6:32

up, and the temple was filling and filling

6:34

with folk who seemed to spring from the earth,

6:37

when the silver man

6:39

ran in under our arms, making

6:41

a noise exactly like the mewing

6:44

of an otter caught Fleet round

6:46

the body, and dropped his head

6:49

on Fleet's breast

6:51

before we could wrench him away. Then

6:55

he retired to a corner, and

6:58

sat mewing while the crowd

7:00

blocked all the doors.

7:02

The priests

7:05

were very angry until

7:07

the silver man touched Fleet. That

7:11

nuzzling seemed

7:13

to sober them.

7:17

At the end of a few minutes' silence,

7:20

one of the priests came to Strickland and

7:22

said in perfect English, Take

7:25

your friend away. He

7:28

has done with Hanuman, but

7:30

Hanuman has not done with him.

7:41

That concludes

7:43

our teaser episode. Normal

7:46

services will be resumed

7:49

in a fortnight's time. If

7:52

between now

7:53

and then you decide that you would

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like to become a Patreon patron

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of Nocturnal Transm... and

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reap

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the rewards. Well,

8:07

you know what to do.