Book 11, Chapter 2, of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. But no feeling of discomfort ever lasted very long with Citizen Turniphor. He was a person of vast resource and great buoyancy of temperament. True, he had not apprehended two exceedingly noxious aristos as he had hoped to do, but he held the threads of an abominable conspiracy in his hands, and the question of catching both Burtine and Madame Lacombe Tess red-handed was only a question of time. But little time had been lost. There was always someone to be found at the offices of the Committee of Public Safety, which were open all night. It was possible that Citizen Chauva would be still there, for he often took on the night shift, or else Citizen Gordon. It was Gordon who greeted his subordinate, somewhat ill-humoredly, for he was indulging in a little sleep, with his toes turned to the fire, as the night was so damp and cold. But when he heard Turniphor's story, he was all eagerness and zeal. It is, of course, too late to do anything now, he said finally, after he had mastered every detail of the man's adventures in the Rue des Paradis. But get together half a dozen men upon whom you can rely, and by six o'clock in the morning, or even five, we'll be on our way to Gentilly. Citizen Chauva was only sane to-day that he strongly suspected the seat of encomptes de Susse of having left the bulk of her valuable jewellery at the château, and that she would make some effort to get possession of it. It would be rather fine, Citizen Turniphor, he added with a chuckle. If you and I could steal a march on Citizen Chauva after this affair, what? He has been extraordinarily arrogant of late and marvelously in favour, not only with the committee, but with Citizen Robespierre himself. They say, commented Turniphor, that he succeeded in getting hold of some papers which were of great value to the members of the committee. He never succeeded in getting hold of that meddlesome Englishman whom they call the Scarlet Pimpernel, was Gordon's final dry comment. Thus was the matter decided on, and the following morning a daybreak, Gordon, who was only a subordinate officer on the Committee of Public Safety, took it upon himself to institute a perquisition in the château of Gentilly, which is situated close to the commune of that name. He was accompanied by his friend Turniphor, and a gang of half a dozen Ruffians recruited from the most disreputable cabarets of Paris. The intention had been to steal a march on Citizen Chauva, who had been over-arrogant of late, but the result did not come up to expectations. By midday the château had been ransacked from attic to cellar, every kind of valuable property had been destroyed, priceless works of art irretrievably damaged. But priceless works of art had no market in Paris these days, and the property of real value, the Susy Diamonds, namely, which had excited the cupidity or the patriotic wrath of Citizen's Gordon and Turniphor, could nowhere be found. To make this situation more deplorable still, the Committee of Public Safety had, in some unexplainable way, got wind of the affair, and the two worthys had the mortification of seeing Citizen Chauva presently appear upon the scene. It was then two o'clock in the afternoon. Gordon, after he had snatched a hasty dinner at a neighbouring cabaret, had returned to the task of pulling the château of Gentilly about his own ears if need be, with view to finding the concealed treasure. For the nonce he was standing in the centre of the finely proportioned hall. The rich ormleau and crystal chandelier lay in a tangled, broken heap of scraps at his feet, and all around there was a confused medley of pictures, statuettes, silver ornaments, tapestry and brocade hangings, all piled up in disorder, smashed, tattered, kicked at now and then by Gordon, to the accompaniment of a savage oath. The house itself was full of noises, heavy footsteps tramping up and down the stairs, furniture turned over, curtains torn from their poles, doors and windows battered in, and through it all the ceaseless hammering of pick and axe attacking these stately walls which had withstood the wars and sieges of centuries. Every now and then, Turniphor, his face perspiring in crimson with exertion, would present himself at the door of the hall. Gordon would query gruffly, Well? and the answer was invariably the same. Nothing. Then Gordon would swear again and send curt orders to continue the search relentlessly, ceaselessly. Leave no stone upon stone, he commanded. Those diamonds must be found. We know they are here and name of a dog I mean to have them. When Chauvois arrived at the chateau he made no attempt at first to interfere with Gordon's commands, only on one occasion he remarked curtly, I suppose, citizen Gordon, that you can trust your search-party? Absolutely, retorted Gordon. A finer patriot than Turniphor does not exist. Probably, rejoined the other dryly, but what about the men?  They do as they are told. Turniphor has an eye on them. I daresay they'll contrive to steal a few things, but they would never dare to lay hands on valuable jewellery. To begin with, they could never dispose of it. Imagine a vanupe, peddling a diamond tiara. There are always receivers prepared to take risks. Very few, Gordon assured him, since we decreed that trafficking with a risto property was a crime punishable by death. Chauvois said nothing for the moment. He appeared wrapped in his own thoughts, listened for a while to the confused hubbub about the house, then he resumed abruptly. Who are these men you are employing, citizen Gordon? A well-known gang, replied the other. I can give you their names. If you please. Gordon searched his pockets for a paper which he found presently and handed to his colleague. The latter perused it thoughtfully. Where did Turniphor find these men? he asked. For the most part, at the cabaret de la liberté, a place of very evil repute down in the rue Christine. I know it, rejoined the other. He was still studying the list of names which Gordon had given him. And, he added, I know most of these men. As thorough a set of ruffians as we need for some of our work, Mary, Guidole, Rato, Demond, Tiense, he exclaimed, Rato, is Rato here now? Why, of course, he was recruited like the rest of them for the day. He won't leave till he has been paid, you may be sure of that. Why do you ask? I will tell you presently, but I would wish to speak with Citizen Rato first. Just at this moment Turniphor paid his periodical visit to the hall. The usual words, still nothing, were on his lips, when Gordon curtly ordered him to go and fetch Citizen Rato. A minute or two later Turniphor returned with the news that Rato could nowhere be found. Chauvala received the news without any comment. He only ordered Turniphor, somewhat roughly, back to his work. Then, as soon as the latter had gone, Gordon turned upon his colleague. Will you explain? He began with a show of bluster. With pleasure, replied Chauvala bluntly. On my way hither, less than an hour ago, I met your man Rato, a leg or so from here. You met Rato? exclaimed Gordon impatiently. Impossible! He was here then, I feel sure. You must have been mistaken. I think not. I have only seen the man once, when I, too, went to recruit a band of ruffians at the Cabaret de la Liberté, in connection with some work I wanted doing. I did not employ him then, for he appeared to be both drink sodden and nothing but a miserable consumptive creature, with a churchyard cough you could hear half a league away, but I would know him anywhere. Besides which he stopped and wished me good morning. Now I come to think of it, added Chauvala thoughtfully. He was carrying what looked like a heavy bundle under his arm. A heavy bundle? cried Gordon with a forceful oath. And you did not stop him? I had no reason for suspecting him. I did not know until I arrived here what the whole affair was about, or whom you were employing. All that the committee knew for certain was that you and Ternophor and the number of men had arrived at Gentili before daybreak, and I was then instructed to follow you hither to see what mischief you were up to. You acted in complete secrecy, remember, citizen Gordon, and without first ascertaining the wishes of the committee of public safety, whose servant you are. If the Susie diamonds are not found, you alone will be held responsible for their loss to the government of the people. Chauvala's voice had now assumed a threatening tone, and Gordon felt all his audacity and self-assurance fall away from him, leaving him a prey to nameless terror. We must round up Ratau, he murmured hastily. He cannot have gone far. No, he cannot, rejoined Chauvala dryly. Though I was not specially thinking of Ratau or of diamonds when I started to come hither, I did send a general order forbidding any person on foot or horseback to enter or leave Paris by any of the southern gates. That order will serve us well now. Are you writing? Yes, I left my horse at the tavern just outside Gentili. I can get to horse within ten minutes. To horse, then, as quickly as you can. Pay off your men and dismiss them, all but Ternophor, who had best accompany us. Do not lose a single moment. I'll be ahead of you, and may come up with Ratau before you overtake me.  I would burn one or two candles to your compere the devil. You'll have need of his help if Ratau gives us the slip. End of Book 11, Chapter 2. Recording by Sarah Luann. Book 11, Chapter 3. of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Sarah Luann. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Berenice Orksey. Book 11, A Battle of Whits, Chapter 3. The first part of the road from Gentili to Paris runs through the valley of the Biaire, and is densely wooded on either side. It winds in and out for the most part, ribbon-like, through thick coppice of chestnut and birch. It was impossible for Chauvelot to spy his quarry from afar, nor did he expect to do so this side of the hospital de la Sainte. Once past that point, he would find the road quite open and running almost straight, in the midst of an arid and only partially cultivated land. He rode at a sharp trot, with his caped coat wrapped tightly round his shoulders, for it was raining fast. At intervals, when he met an occasional wayfarer, he would ask questions about a tall man who had a consumptive cough, and who was carrying a cumbersome burden under his arm. Almost everyone whom he thus asked remembered seeing a personage who vaguely answered to the description. Tall and with a decided stoop, yes, and carrying a cumbersome looking bundle under his arm. Chauvelot was, undoubtedly, on the track of the thief. Just beyond Mouvez, he was overtaken by Gourdon and Tournefort. Here, too, the man-routeau's track had become more and more certain. At one place, he had stopped and had a glass of wine and a rest. At another, he had asked how close he was to the gates of Paris. The road was now quite open and level. The irregular buildings of the hospital appeared vague in the rain-sodden distance. Twenty minutes later, Tournefort, who was riding ahead of his companions, spied a tall, stooping figure at the spot where they shamed the gentilly forks, and where stands a group of isolated houses and bits of garden which belonged to Lausanne. Here, before the days when the glorious revolution swept aside all such outward signs of superstition, there had stood a calvary. It was now used as a signpost. The man stood before it, scanning the half-obliterated indications. At the moment that Tournefort first caught sight of him, he appeared uncertain of his way. Then, for a while, he watched Tournefort. He was coming at a sharp trot towards him. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind very suddenly, and, giving a last quick look round, he walked rapidly along the upper road. Tournefort drew rain and waited for his colleagues to come up with him. Then he told them what he had seen. It's Râteau, sure enough, he said. I saw his face quite distinctly and heard his abominable cough. He is trying to get into Paris. That road leads nowhere but to the barrier. There, of course, he will be stopped and— The other two had also brought their horses to a halt. The situation had become tense, and a plan for future action had at once to be decided on. Already Chauvelin, masterful and sure of himself, had assumed command of the little party. Now he broke in abruptly on Tournefort's vapid reflections. We don't want him stopped at the barrier, he said in his usual curt, authoritative manner. You, citizen Tournefort, he continued, will ride as fast as you can to the gate, making a detour by the lower road. You will immediately demand to speak with a sergeant who is in command, and you will give him a detailed description of the man Râteau. Then you will tell him, in my name, that should such a man present himself at the gate, he must be allowed to enter the city unmolested. Gordon gave a quick cry of protest. Let the man go unmolested, citizen Chauvelin, think what you are doing. I always think what I am doing, retorted Chauvelin curtly, and I have no need of outside guidance in the process. He then turned once more to Tournefort. You yourself, citizen, he continued, in sharp decisive tones which admitted of no argument. We'll dismount as soon as you are inside the city. You will keep the gate under observation. The moment you see the man Râteau you will shadow him and on no account lose sight of him. Understand? You may trust me, citizen Chauvelin, Tournefort replied, elated at the prospect of work which was so entirely congenial to him. But will you tell me, I will tell you this much, citizen Tournefort, broken Chauvelin, with some acerbity, that though we have traced the diamonds and the thief so far, we have, through your folly last night, lost complete track of the Sirevon Comtesse Soussi and of the man Bertine. We want Râteau to show us where they are. I understand, murmured the other meekly. That's a mercy, reposted Chauvelin dryly. Then quickly, man, lose no time. Try to get a few minutes advance on Râteau, then slip in to the guard room and change into less conspicuous clothes. Citizen Gordon and I will continue on the upper road and keep the man inside in case he should think of altering his course. In any event, we'll meet you just inside the barrier. But if, in the meanwhile, you have to get on Râteau's track before we have arrived on the scene, leave the usual indications as to the direction which you have taken. Having given his orders and satisfied himself that they were fully understood, he gave a curt command and avan and once more the three of them rode at a sharp trot down the road towards the city. End of Book 11, Chapter 3, Recording by Sarah Luann Book 11, Chapter 4, of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Ortsey Book 11, A Battle of Wits Chapter 4 Citizen Râteau, if he thought about the matter at all, must indeed have been vastly surprised at the unwanted amiability or indifference of Sergeant Rebeau, who was in command at the gate of Gentile. Rebeau only threw a very perfunctory glance at the greasy permit which Râteau presented to him, and when he put the usual query, what's in that parcel? And Râteau gave the reply, two heads of cabbage and a bunch of carrots. Rebeau merely poked one of his fingers into the bundle, felt that a cabbage leaf did effectually lie on the top, and thereupon gave the formal order, Passon Citizen, in the name of the Republic, without any hesitation. Tournefour, who had watched the brief little incident from behind the window of a neighboring cabaret, could not help but chuckle to himself. Never had he seen game walk more readily into a trap. Râteau, after he had passed the barrier, appeared undecided which way he would go. He looked with obvious longing toward the cabaret, behind which the keenest agent on the staff of the Committee of Public Safety was even now ensconced, but seemingly a halt within those hospitable doors did not form part of his program. In a moment or two later he turned sharply on his heel and strode rapidly down the rue de la Orsine. Tournefour allowed him a fair start and then made ready to follow. Just as he was stepping out of the cabaret, he spied chauvelin and gourdan coming through the gates. Râteau had apparently made a brief halt inside the guard room where, as at most of the gates, a store of various disguises was always kept ready for the use of the numerous sleuth hounds employed by the Committee of Public Safety. Here the two men had exchanged their official garments for suits of somber cloth, which gave them the appearance of a couple of humble bourgeois going quietly about their business. Tournefour had donned an old blouse, tattered stockings, and shoes down at heel. With his hands buried in his britches pockets, he too turned into the long narrow rue de la Orsine, which, after a sharp curve, abuts on the rue Moffatard. Râteau was walking rapidly, taking big strides with his long legs. Tournefour, now sauntering in the gutter in the middle of the road, now darting in and out of open doorways, kept his quarry well in sight. Chauvelin and gourdan lagged some little way behind. It was still raining, but not heavily, a thin drizzle, which penetrated almost to the marrow. Not many passers-by haunted this forlorn quarter of old Paris. To right and left, tall houses almost obscured the last, quickly fading light of the gray September day. At the bottom of the rue Moffatard, Râteau came once more to a halt. A network of narrow streets radiated from this center, he looked all around him and also behind. It was difficult to know whether he had a sudden suspicion that he was being followed. Certain it is that, after a very brief moment of hesitation, he plunged suddenly into the narrow rue Contrescarp and disappeared from view. Tournefour was after him in a trice. When he reached the corner of the street, he saw Râteau, at the further end of it, take a sudden sharp turn to the right, but not before he had very obviously spied his pursuer, for at that moment his entire demeanor changed. An air of furtive anxiety was expressed in his whole attitude. Even at that distance, Tournefour could see him clutching his bulky parcel close to his chest. After that, the pursuit became closer and hotter. Râteau was in and out of that tight network of streets, which clustered around the Place de Fourcy, intent apparently on throwing his pursuers off the scent. For after a while, he was running round and round in a circle, now up the rue de Poul, then to the right and to the right again, back in the Place de Fourcy, then straight across it once more to the rue Contrescarp, where he presently disappeared so completely from view that Tournefour thought that the earth must have swallowed him up. Tournefour was a man capable of great physical exertion. His calling often made heavy demands upon his powers of endurance, but never before had he grappled with so strenuous a task. Puffing and panting, now running at top speed, anon brought to a halt by the doubling-up tactics of his quarry, his great difficulty was the fact that Citizen Chauvelin did not wish the man Râteau to be apprehended, did not wish him to know that he was being pursued. And Tournefour had need of all his wits to keep well under the shadows of any projecting wall or under cover of open doorways, which were conveniently in the way, and all the while not to lose sight of that consumptive giant who seemed to be playing some intricate game which well nigh exhausted the strength of Citizen Tournefour. What he could not make out was what had happened to Chauvelin and to Gordon. They had been less than 300 meters behind him when first this wild chase in and out of the rue Contrescarp had begun. Now when their presence was most needed, they seemed to have lost track both of him, Tournefour, and of the very elusive quarry. To make matters more complicated, the shades of evening were drawing in very fast, and these narrow streets of the Falberg were very sparsely lighted. Just at this moment Tournefour had once more caught sight of Râteau, striding leisurely this time up the street. The worthy agent quickly took refuge under a doorway and was mopping his streaming forehead, glad of this brief respite in the mad chase. When that awful churchyard cough suddenly sounded so close to him that he gave a great jump and well nigh betrayed his presence then and there. He had only just time to withdraw further still into the angle of the doorway when Râteau passed by. Tournefour peeped out of his hiding place, and for the space of a dozen heartbeats or so remained there quite still, watching that broad back and those long limbs slowly moving through the gathering glue. The next instant he perceived Shovelin standing at the end of the street.  He passed close to within half a meter of Tournefour and as he flew past he hit out with his left fist so vigorously that the worthy agent of the Committee of Public Safety, caught on the nose by the blow, staggered and measured his length upon the flag floor below. The next moment Shovelin had come by. Tournefour, struggling to his feet, called to him panting. Did you see him? Which way did he go? Up the rue Borde, after him, citizen, replied Shovelin grimly between his teeth. Together the two men continued the chase, guided through the intricate mazes of the streets by their flinging quarry. They had Râteau well in sight and the latter could no longer continue his former tactics with success, now that two experienced sleuthhounds were on his track. At a given moment he was caught between the two of them. Tournefour was advancing cautiously up the rue Borde. Shovelin, equally stealthily, was coming down the same street, and Râteau, once more walking quite leisurely, was at an equal distance between the two. End of Book 11, Chapter 4. Book 11, Chapter 5 of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Ortsey Book 11, A Battle of Whits, Chapter 5 There are no side turnings out of the rue Borde, the total length of which is less than 50 meters. So Tournefour, feeling more at his ease, ensconced himself at one end of the street, behind a doorway, whilst Shovelin did the same at the other. Râteau, standing in the gutter, appeared once more in a state of hesitation.  Its signboard, Le Bon Copain, promised rest and refreshment. He peered up and down the road, satisfied himself presumably that, for the moment his pursuers were out of sight, hugged his parcel to his chest, and then suddenly made a dart for the cabaret, and disappeared within its doors. Nothing could have been better, the quarry for the moment was safe, and if the sleuthhounds could not get refreshment, they could at least get a rest. Tournefour and Shovelin crept out of their hiding places, they met in the middle of the road, at the spot where Râteau had stood a while ago. It was then growing dark, and the street was innocent of lanterns, but the lights inside the cabaret gave a full view of the interior. The lower half of the wide shop window was curtained off, but above the curtains, the heads of the customers of Le Bon Copain, and the general comings and goings could very clearly be seen. Tournefour, never at a loss, had already climbed upon a low projection in the wall of one of the houses opposite. From this point of vantage, he could more easily observe what went on inside the cabaret, and in short jerky sentences he gave a description of what he saw to his chief. Râteau is sitting down. He has his back to the window. He has put his bundle down close beside him on the bench. He can't speak for a minute, for he is coughing and sputtering like an old walrus. A wench is bringing him a bottle of wine and a hunk of bread and cheese. He has started talking, is talking voluble. The people are laughing. Some are applauding. And here comes Jean Victor, the landlord. You know him, citizen. A big hunking fellow and as good a patriot as I ever wish to see. He too is laughing and talking to Râteau, who has doubled up with another fit of coughing. Shoveling uttered an exclamation of impatience. Enough of this, citizen Tournefour. Keep your eye on the man and hold your tongue. I am spent with fatigue. No wonder, murmured Tournefour. Then he added insinuatingly, why not let me go in there and apprehend Râteau now. We should have the diamonds end. And lose the cidevant, contestes Susie and the man Bertine, retorted Shoveling with sudden fierceness. Bertine, who can be none other than that cursed Englishman that He checked himself, seeing Tournefour was gazing down on him, with awe and bewilderment expressed in his lean, hatchet face. You are losing sight of Râteau, citizen. Shoveling continued calmly. What is he doing now? But Tournefour felt that his calmness was only on the surface. Something strange had stirred the depths of his chief's keen, masterful mind. He would have liked to ask a question or two, but knew from experience that it was neither wise nor profitable to try and probe citizen Shoveling's thoughts. So after a moment or two, he turned back obediently to his task. I can't see Râteau for the moment, he said. But there is much talking and merriment in there. Ah, there he is, I think. Yes, I see him. He is behind the counter, talking to Jean Victor. And he has just thrown some money down on the counter. Gold, too. Name of a dog. Then suddenly, without any warning, Tournefour jumped down from his post of observation. Shoveling uttered a brief. What the... are you doing, citizen? Râteau is going, replied Tournefour excitedly. He drank a mug of wine at a draft and has picked up his bundle, ready to go. Once more cowering in the dark angle of a doorway, the two men waited, their nerves on edge, for the reappearance of their quarry. I wished citizen Gordon was here, whispered Tournefour. In the darkness it is better to be three than two. I sent him back to the station in the Rue Montfortard, was Shoveling's curt reply. There to give notice that I might require a few armed men presently. But he should be somewhere about here by now, looking for us. Anyway, I have my whistle, and if... He said no more, for at that moment the door of the cabaret was open from within, and Râteau stepped out into the street to the accompaniment of loud laughter and clapping of hands, which came from the customers of the bon copain. This time he appeared neither in a hurry nor yet anxious. He did not pause in order to glance to right or left, but started to walk quite leisurely up the street. The two sleuth hounds quietly followed him. Through the darkness they could only vaguely see his silhouette, with the great bundle under his arm. Whatever may have been Râteau's fears of being shadowed a while ago, he certainly seemed free of them now. He sauntered along, whistling a tune, down the Montage Saint-Jean-Viev to the Place Mubère, and then straight towards the river. Having reached the bank he turned off to his left, sauntered past the Ecole des Medicines, and went across to the Petit Pont, and then through the new market, along le Croix des Aufortes. There he made a halt, and for a while looked over the embankment at the river, and then round about him, as if in search of something. But presently he appeared to make up his mind, and continued his leisurely walk, as far as the Pont Neuth, where he turned sharply off to his right, still whistling, 24 and Chauvelin, hard upon his heels. That whistling is getting on my nerves, muttered Chauvelin irritably, and I haven't heard the Ruffians' churchyard cough since he walked out of the Bon Couain. Strangely enough, it was this remark of Chauvelin's, which gave Chauvelin the first inkling of something strange, and to him, positively awesome. 24, who walked close behind him, heard him suddenly mutter a fierce exclamation. Name of a dog! What is it, citizen? queried 24, awed by this sudden outburst, on the part of a man whose icy calmness had become proverbial throughout the committee. Sound the alarm, citizen? cried Chauvelin in response. Or my Satan, he'll escape us again. But, stammered 24 and utter bewilderment, while with fingers that trembled somewhat, he fumbled for his whistle. We shall want all the help we can, retorted Chauvelin roughly, for unless I am much mistaken, there's more noble quarry here than even I could dare to hope. Roteau, in the meanwhile, had quietly lulled up to the parapet on the right hand side of the bridge, and 24, who was watching him with intense keenness, still marveled why citizen Chauvelin had suddenly become so strangely excited. Roteau was merely lulling against the parapet, like a man who has not a care in the world. He had placed his bundle on the stone ledge beside him. Here he waited a moment or two, until one of the small craft upon the river loomed out of the darkness immediately below the bridge. Then he picked up the bundle and threw it straight into the boat. At that same moment, 24 had a whistle to his lips. A shrill, sharp sound rang out through the gloom. The boat sensed in turn afford the boat, cried Chauvelin. There are plenty of us here to deal with the man. Immediately from the quays, the streets, the bridges, dark figures emerged out of the darkness and hurried to the spot. Some reached the bridgehead even as Roteau made a dart forward, and two men were upon him before he succeeded in running very far. Others had scrambled down the embankment, and were shouting to some unseen boatman to halt in the name of the people. But Roteau gave in without a struggle. He appeared more days than frightened, and quietly allowed the agents of the committee to lead him back to the bridge, where Chauvelin had paused waiting for him. End of Book 11, Chapter 5 Book 11, Chapter 6 of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Ortsey Book 11, A Battle of Whits, Chapter 6 A minute or two later, Tornifor was once more beside his chief. He was carrying the precious bundle which, he explained, the boatman had given up without question. The man knew nothing about it, the agent said. No one, he says, could have been more surprised than he was, when this bundle was suddenly flung at him over the parapet of the bridge. Just then the small group, composed of two or three agents of the committee, holding their prisoner by the arms, came into view. One man was walking ahead, and was the first to approach Chauvelin.  Found inside the lining of the prisoner's hat, citizen, he reported curtly, and opened the shutter of a small dark lantern which he wore at his belt. Chauvelin took the paper from his subordinate. A weird, unexplainable foreknowledge of what was to come caused his hand to shake, and beads of perspiration to moisten his forehead. He looked up and saw the prisoner standing before him. Crushing the paper in his hand, he snatched the lantern from the agent's belt, and flashed it in the face of the quarry, who, at the last, had been so easily captured. Immediately a hoarse cry of disappointment and of rage escaped his throat. Who is this man, he cried. One of the agents gave reply. It is old Victor, the landlord of the Bone Copane. He was just a fool who has been playing a practical joke. 24, too, at the sight of the prisoner, had uttered a cry of dismay and of astonishment. Victor, he exclaimed. Name of a dog, citizen, what are you doing here? But Chauvelin had gripped the man by the arm so fiercely that the latter swore with the pain. What is the meaning of this, he queried, roughly. Only a bet, citizen, retorted Victor reproachfully. No reason to fall on an honest patriot for a bet, just as if he were a mad dog. A joke, a bet, murmured Chauvelin hoarsely, for his throat now felt hot and parched. What do you mean, who are you, man, speak or o? My name is Jean Victor, replied the other. I am the landlord of the Bone Copane. An hour ago a man came into my cabaret.  Some of my customers knew him by sight, told me that the man's name was Ratot, and that he was an abatou of the Liberté, and the Rue Christine.  Some of these he won, and others he lost. But I must say that when he lost, he always paid up most liberally. Then we all got excited, and soon bets flew all over the place. I don't rightly know how it happened at the last, but all at once he bet me that I would not dare to walk out, then and there, in the dark, as far as Pont Neuf, wearing his blouse and hat, and carrying a bundle the same as his under my arm. I, not dare, I, Jean Victor, who was a fine fighter in my day, I bet I'm a gold beast that I would, and he said that he would make it five if I came back without my bundle, having thrown it over the parapet into any passing boat. Well, citizen, continued Jean Victor with a laugh. I ask you, what would you have done? Five gold pieces means a fortune these hard times, and I tell you the man was quite honest, and always paid liberally when he lost. He slipped behind the counter, and took off his blouse and hat, which I put on, then we made up a bundle with some cabbage heads and a few carrots, and out I came. I didn't think there would be anything wrong in the whole affair, just the tomfoolery of a man who has got the bedding mania, and in whose pocket money is just burning a hole, and I have won my bet, concluded Jean Victor, still unabashed, and I want to go back and get my money. If you don't believe me, come with me to my cabaret. You will find the citizen ratot there for sure, and I know that I shall find my five gold pieces. Chauvelin had listened to the man as he would to some weird dream story, wherein ghouls and devils had played a part. Trunifor, who was watching him, was awed by the look of fierce rage and grim hopelessness, which shone from his chief's pale eyes. The other agents laughed, they were highly amused at the tale, but they would not let the prisoner go. If Jean Victor's story is true, citizen, the sergeant said, speaking to Chauvelin, there will be witnesses to it over a le bon copain. Shall we take the prisoner straight away there and await further orders?  The screw of paper was still in his hand, it seemed to sear his palm. Trunifor even now broke into a grim laugh. He had just undone the bundle, which Jean Victor had thrown over the parapet of the bridge. It contained two heads of cabbage and a bunch of carrots. Then he ordered the agents to march on with their prisoner, and they, laughing and joking with Jean Victor, gave a quick turn, and soon their heavy footsteps were echoing down the flagstones of the bridge. Chauvelin waited, motionless and silent. The dark lantern still held in his shaking hand, until he was quite sure that he was alone. Then only did he unfold the screw of paper. It contained a few lines scribbled in pencil, just that foolish rhyme to which his fevered nerves was like a strong irritant, a poison which gave him an unendurable sensation of humiliation and impotence. We seek him here, we seek him there. Chauvelin seeks him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That dimmed elusive pimpinelle. He crushed the paper in his hand, and with a loud groan of misery, fled over the bridge like one possessed. End of book 11 chapter 6 Book 11 chapter 7 of the League of the Scarlet Pimpinelle This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The League of the Scarlet Pimpinelle by Baroness Ortsy Book 11 A Battle of Whits Chapter 7 Madame Lacomtesse de Soussi never went to England.  She outlived the horrors of the revolution and speaks in her memoirs of the man-bear team. She never knew who he was nor when she came. All that she knew was that he came to her like some mysterious agent of God, bringing help, counsel, a semblance of happiness. And at the moment when she was at the end of all her resources, and saw grim starvation staring her and her children in the face, he appointed all sorts of strange places in Out of the Way Paris, where she was want to meet him. In one night she confided to him the history of her diamonds, and hardly dared to trust his promise, that he would get them for her. Less than twenty-four hours later he brought them to her, at the poor lodgings in the roue blanche, which she occupied with her children under an assumed name. That same night she begged him to dispose of them. This also he did, bringing her the money the next day. She never saw him again after that. But Citizen Tournefort never quite got over his disappointment of that night. Had he dared, he would have blamed Citizen Chauvelin for the discomforture. It would have been better to have apprehended the man-ratot, while there was still a chance of doing so with success. As it was, the impudent Ruffian slipped clean away, and was never heard of again, either at the Bon Copain, or at the Liberté. The customers at the cabaret certainly corroborated the story of Jean Victor. The man-ratot, they said, had been honest to the last. When time went on, and Jean Victor did not return, he said that he could no longer wait, had work to do for the government, over the other side of the water, and was afraid that he would get punished if he dallyed. But before leaving he laid the five gold pieces on the table. Everyone wondered that so humble a workman had so much money in his pocket, and was with all so lavish with it. But these were not the times when one inquired too closely into the presence of money in the pocket of a good patriot. And Citizen Ratot was a good patriot, for sure, and a good fellow to boot. They all drank his health in Jean Victor's sour wine, then each went his way. End of Chapter 7, End of Book 11, A Battle of Whits, and End of the League of the Scarlet Bimpernel by Baroness Ortzi.


Did you know that Henry VIII was born at the Lordeck? I didn't know that, Maria. Thank you! My name is Chantabac and I am a final year student here at the University of Greenwich and I study at BSC in Applied Psychology. Hi, I'm Maria and I'm a third year psychology student at the University of Greenwich. There are a lot of reasons why I decided to study at the University of Greenwich. First, the campus is just absolutely gorgeous. I really, really enjoyed the fact that the campus itself was not situated in a really big city. It's in this tiny, cute little village, Greenwich Village.  Everything's really tight knit. I actually took a trip with my mum and as soon as I got out of the DLR and saw all of these that you can see around me, I felt that it was my little village and the place where I belong. At a very young age, I really was intrigued by human development and how we interact as humans. It's what we live for, people and connections. So mental health is a really important topic and gladly nowadays it's gaining the deserved attention that it should have always had. They just indulge me in a lot of great things about being a psychologist, getting your doctorate, things like that. And it was something I really, really was intrigued and wanted to do. So that is why I chose a course. The route for applying was actually really simple. I applied directly to the University of Greenwich because I'm an international student. Obviously, as you could tell by my accent, I am an international student. My decision to come to London was made when I was like, I don't know, nine. I applied to Greenwich. They gave me a conditional offer. And the portal was super simple. You just have to answer all the questions, obviously provide a little bit more documentation, things like that. And then you get your response a lot quicker than other universities in the States. That's it. I was able to fulfill the requirements. And I came to the University in September. So I absolutely love this city. I love the food. I love the people. I just love the environment. I think everyone's great here. They made me feel at home, far, far, far away from home. There's nothing better than feeling that sense of community as an international student. And that's what I felt when I was here. It is our little village and we absolutely love that. We feel like we have our own little corner of the world. However, in just 10 minutes, we can get to Central London and leave all the hustle and bustle that a city has to offer. We go walk around London and just explore being tourists. That's one of the best things for your tourists in your own city. The course of the University of Greenwich that I take is incredible. I have a great relationship with faculty because they value that. Communication is really great. You have easy access to speak to your lectures, things like that, and sort of build relationships. I didn't have to stick to just one thing. So I did positive psychology, forensic psychology, and social psychology, which the three of them are really different from each other. The modules that they provided at the University in regards to my course was something that I really, really gravitated towards. I used to read research articles before I came to the University and surprisingly, some of the authors were my module teachers. And my lectures. So it was really, really great to have that sense of community. I'm a big fan of the facilities. I'm like day and night in the library. It's just a really great environment. The people there are lovely. They have a little cafe. You can get your own little study room. I sit in a pod, which is in the library. And it's just a really, really great environment. This University can definitely claim its greatness when it comes to social life. The social side of this University is my favorite thing about the University. There are so many teams. There are so many societies. Just a big group of people that you can just vibe with, whatever sport you do, whatever thing that you're passionate about. They probably have a club or a team or a society for that. The best part about uni is definitely the social side. Because honestly, you'll be living surrounded by your group of friends. And all of my friends were living downstairs, upstairs on my flat, on the flat next to ours, on the block next to ours. It was incredible. We were always running around from one house to the other. We would have family dinners every single week.  I decided to join dance even though I never danced in my life or have done it professionally. But I've done it ever since, since first year. And it's been absolutely incredible, as well as joining the Psychology Society. There are so many options for all students. And I really, really vouch for that.  And that's my favorite part about Granite as well. Studying at the university has taught me way more than just what I learned in my modules. I definitely gained my independence. And I grew up a lot. Granite has really made me independent.  And I really, really love being in that sort of environment. You just learn a lot about yourself. Like, I didn't know I had this as much strength as I have. I didn't know I could be so outgoing as I've been. The experience has also been a life-changing thing for myself as an international student. You know, it's a scary process. And all it's done is actually push me further.  And that's all thanks to being at the University of Granite.


This is an experience, it's so pretty. It's really really nice. Amazing really. It's beautiful. My favorite part would be all the different stations, all in like different places. More options than not having struggles at six o'clock. I'm absolutely amazed.


or the 20 I don't think i'm gonna get to that rhyme style level of money. Okay. We garden growl. Okay very nice Okay, we can't I mean people like me we can't go to japan like five times a year I mean we just can't afford it. You know you mentioned the whole we got a dust tornado We've got metal raiders coming up. Here we go Let's do a uh, let's do a genzo number seven here Very nice zodiac necrosis has been chilling man. It's trying not to get pulled Okay, we have a goblin sandstone. Okay. All right All right Good stuff. Good stuff Pretty good pulls but in that one but not too crazy Next up we have You and I don't want it Rhyme style. Hey, look, I mentioned rhyme in my video. I said he's not gonna bid on it. So Okay Uh, but it's already up to crazy numbers. So it's out of out of my range Okay Let's go will we get some big wild nature's release cool We still need those dcr dcr is the biggest one now dcr crazy the one we're actually hoping for the most pulls Dark crisis. Who would have thought man? Here it is Here it is Come on Nothing All right, I open my display this afternoon got seven supers. Hey, that's actually not bad All right, let's go with a Nothing out of that. Oh, oh not a nothing. We have an owning tank rucks in 34 We will be pulling that out. These will be very useful whenever we do more mystery packs and we do sign cards again Uh having these will be helpful heavy storm because uh last time I ran out of car I was using like uh, I used a bunch of secretaries out of uh Battles of legend or this time which worked out. Oh try horn. That's good It worked out that I had those but I almost didn't have those I almost got rid of them right before that Try horn dragon. We'll take that more secretaries Okay, 200k for the 200k special If uh 200k people donate me one dollar then I will donate the all 200k To the entire the gray warrior bid which we'll probably still lose Which means I would just have 200k which would be fine with me. Okay What monsters you'd like to see a tune version of a basically anything would be pretty sick. We have a slifer More stuff there a graded cgc 3.5 mfc dmg Probably the equivalent of whatever like moderate or heavy play would sell for Probably heavy play at a 3.5. So probably a heavily played one The grading doesn't really add anything for that level Yeah, if it was like a one it might actually be better off than being a 3.5 to be honest. All right Here we go. We're at one one one one viewers That means we can get to one one one one lights hit that like button. Let's go Hit that like button so we can pull some crazy stuff. It'll be our tyler. Everyone will own it change of heart That's a good one our entire the entire ruckson channel will own it Everyone who subscribes And donates one dollar Okay Okay, we are getting close guys as you can see in the back there. We are running out of room here We're getting very close. What time is it six fifty eight Six fifty eight here. We have been going for two and a half hours Little even I didn't expect this to take that long to be honest. This is not that many but You know been your favorite videos of the year. Glad to hear it. Andres. Yeah the Live streams are fun, man. They're they're like a different vibe than the videos because It's live. You know people you guys are actually talking with me. We're opening a bunch of packs Just opening for a very long time. Messenger of peace another super one one one one All right, we have a I think tyler commented on our uh, he commented on our first video about it I've never I didn't meet him like cmo, but he did comment on our first video We have a morphing jar number two. All right We have a Common area attack blade fly Would it be better to remove it from the graded case? Uh, what are you talking about here? We have a dark fire Very cool message me about the first ed lb pack if you're interested on insta I've messaged you about it before uh, you've messaged me about it before send me another message. I'll hopefully see it this time Thank you for the five by the way Okay My arms know my back's hurting a little bit back's where it starts to hurt because you start leaning forward a lot There's not a habit Still no dark crisis secrets No dark crisis secrets. Where are they? Come on dark crisis Come on. We have a heels unroof very nice dark crisis. Here it is. Here it is Here it is Okay contract very nice All right Here we go. We have a hayabusa night. Cool Two a.m in germany nice. You're you're dedicated to the dark crisis search as a soggy. Let's pull that out Um, this is a this is a rough one man. This is not much in here Get us it doesn't have anything to do with the chair the chair is much better This chair is better than a secret labs chair, but uh, I'm leaning forward is the problem Like it doesn't matter what chair it is if you're not sitting up straight, you know what I mean? all right Have booster box refunds like the other five sets black is nobody really cares about dark crisis to be honest for the most part It's definitely the least popular um I don't have they confirmed that it doesn't have a box though. I don't even know that for sure We have a mega fortress whale. Cool Uh, the dark crisis secrets. Yeah, it's vampire lord, which is a decent one and then judgment of adivus, which is not good Judgement of adivus is pretty bad We have a rush recklessly the arkansas razor backs very cool A sip of water. I don't know. I'm not feeling water right now. Maybe in a couple of packs. We'll get one Are any of these cards worth any value other than the promo packs? Of course, some of the old school ones are the secret rears and not ultra res and stuff We're almost in 900 likes. Let's do it guys Let's do it Here we go Let's do it. Come on gaya. We don't have a gaya yet. Okay our first gaya from lob Or not our first gaya, but our first gaya the fierce knight from loby. So that's a good one. Okay There we go. We'll take that not a lot of ultras from lob for the most part, but we'll take what we can get Okay Here we go Can we win these in a giveaway? No, you cannot there's no giveaway for the stream This time at least but keep an eye out. Maybe on whatnot. We will be giving some away I did 15 giveaways per stream on there usually so if you want to come to those There's that's your best chance of winning a giveaway because There's a lot more and a lot less people so Here we go. We have a chain disappearance a little fin rear action Gaya was an ultra rare. Yep. It makes no sense. Yeah Gaya was an ultra. He's terrible, but he was an ultra rare 2300 2100 defense 7 star to tribute A normal summonable. Yeah, not or tribute summonable Not awesome, but very cool. All right. We have a Nothing there.  So we got messenger piece so far We have a pale beast. There we go armored zombie. We have a giant baby dragon. Okay I was about to say giant baby dragon for some reason CJ thanks for the 10 memberships. I appreciate it man. Shout out to CJ.  All right, let's move this over Do like that. Okay We're almost to the very like I think we're down to like Well, how many one two three four five six seven eight nine ten So we'll be down to 20 after this one. I think I think there's two left So we're 21 left and so we're done guys 21 left We were also almost a 1,000 nine or 193,900 uh subscribers. So hit that subscribe button very nice Check out twitter. Send you the clip of pulling blue eyes. It's epic. Thank you very much. I will check it once we're done. Sounds epic All right super there Magic ruler how many blue eyes have been pulled one singular blue eyes has been pulled We have malevolent nuzzler Dark crisis. Come on. You can do this dark crisis Send us some luck guys. Come on We need some luck with the dcr dc diet coke crisis. Here we go It sounds like a disease All right, 926 likes. We're almost to a thousand guys We're killing it. Barbie lady sisters another super very nice L. O. B. Or we didn't open our promo pack. Did we oh, no, that was yeah, we did L. O. B Nothing nothing in L. O. B. That time. Okay Okay, we're still searching. We're still looking But don't worry. We're almost there guys. We're almost there It feels like we just hit 150 true that does feel very very recent Ooh, we're one away guys one sub away hit that subscribe button. You're not subscribed already What 200k is going to be pretty epic? I think it's going to be one of our coolest openings yet. So I'm excited We have a dark dry sarat's ops not a dark crisis a dark dry sarat's ops I can't believe there's no secrets in the dark crisis packs. That's pretty wild 100 packs. No secretaries It's not pretty wild. There's a tune world. Have we pulled a tune world? Maybe one 100 dark crisis packs if we get through this with no secrets A whole box a of a case A box of case wait, I'm not sure what you mean there So a case like a case of original packs or like a case of these displays is only There's four displays and inside of those is five mini boxes. So this is five of those cases Okay, we have a fake trap Larva moth. Oh, Larva moth almost missed that. Don't forget the larva very clutch Okay, last pack L. O. B. Not last pack but last pack of this one. It is a Flame swordsman a lot of supers in that one that one was pretty good We'll take that pretty solid stack them up with the foils next up we have a CJ thanks for the other membership man. I appreciate that. Thanks for all the gifted dude Much appreciated. I did pull a tune world earlier. Okay. We got dark magician That's good stuff. We got our god cards 1200 packs for one ghost red eyes dude. That was rough man. The red eyes was that thing was hiding from us Magic rule magic rule somehow we have not beaten this Display, I mean, I feel like it's a good display, but I feel like we should have had a better one, right? Maybe not. I mean it's pretty good two really good secrets Very good stuff Don't we're in in cgc casing. What are you? What are you referring to? Cgc casing I'm not sure what you're talking about. You're not talking about tyler. Are you there? That's in becket Okay, we have Any exodia pieces yet? We have one exodia piece one La singular exodia piece. It is insane. Okay, there's obelisk Okay, I appreciate that cj. I'll see here we go Come on gig a gag a gigo Monju The korean cards. Yeah, korean is nice very affordable Uh, get me even more affordable now that you can just open the english ones for almost as cheap, you know Not not really almost but similar, you know Uh, we have a arch fiend spell vanishing. That's a super that I don't think we've pulled yet Okay We have a dna surgery to mirror wall another super Is your facebook me actually talking to you since the scam thing today? Uh, I sometimes reply on facebook, but I don't really check it that often Uh, if you asked me about a scam, then yes, that was me Anytime I see someone mess me about that. I try to say answer quickly so that they know not to get scammed There's a creme to karama. Cool. I'll put that to the side.  We have a cocoon very nice We have a tainted wisdom also very nice That will be oh a graded dmg. Oh the 3.5. Yeah, probably better ungraded. Yeah Then a 3.5 okay Okay, we're getting talent towards the end guys. It's getting close We're about to run out of room to hold up our stuff Okay, we have oh, I forgot. This is what we're opening Not an actual pack Okay A petite moth out of your first box.  That is what we call clutch Why is my ear ringing? This is weird. It's like Magical how many try-on dragons have been pulled? Uh, I think two I think is what we're at Something like that skull knight was a hollow. That'd be pretty cool. Yeah 961 likes we're almost there guys hit that like button Almost there. We can do it by the end of the stream Okay We have shallow grave very cool All right. Yeah in one box. It could happen. That's what I'm thinking like what I want something crazy like that to happen heavy storm Last pack Thank you Blake. I'm glad you enjoyed it left arm. We got another exodia piece. Let's go. Okay So we got two we got the left side. We got left arm and left leg We don't even have the exodia head, but we have none of the right side either, but hey good stuff. We'll take that Okay We're down to I think 16 left 16 mini boxes till we're done That's a lot. We uh, I mean that's a lot left, but it's also means we've opened 84, which is pretty wild Okay, that's all right old school ratio. They're okay. They're not that great. They can be pretty rough sometimes Okay, half exodia. Let's go for it. Half of exodia. That's a confiscation I remember back in the day. I did not know that was a hollow I missed it in one of my walmart openings when I was very early on to opening Conviscation somebody in the comments was like, hey, that was a super rare by the way Okay, great. He is magical hat. So a couple of supers so far in this display Will we be able to oh pecanial moth very nice And a heavy storm another super ain't your brain feel the pain also pretty good Do I sell singles? Yes, you can buy from my tcg player store Oh another triangle when somebody was asking it's just rucks and on my tcg player Which is not always on sometimes I turn it off if it's around a whatnot stream I turn it off because I've way too many orders from whatnot But right now it is currently on if you want to check out my tcg player Okay, this is 15 left No dark magician girl. No, this is not a set what I'm opening is A reprint uh display that has a reprint mini box out of six different sets that are reprinted inside None of them had dark magician girl inside Okay All right Well, we'll get next We have uh come on dark crisis. Give us something good 22 likes away guys 22 likes We are also 87 subscribers away From 194,000 hit that subscribe Button what's whatnot is another uh platform that I stream on you get 15 dollars for free if you use my link The link is in the description below vampire lord Let's go Let's go. Okay.  The one we need is freaking judgment of anubis probably the worst secret rare here We have all but that one. That is insane Oh my gosh, that is crazy mitches hurry Pretty wild We have dark elf very cool All right 16 likes away. Here we go. I'd rather support you. Thank you for the years of entertainment. Thank you very much, man I appreciate it. Glad you've enjoyed it All right, that was a pretty good box. We got the vampire lord Let's go You just now press the like all good man better late than never all we need now is a judgment of anubis And then we have all the secret rares Which would be pretty epic. I'm hyped. I'm hyped. I think we can do it. You got to believe IOC Designator cool Time wizard All right spell ruler We have hungry burglar We have giant rat Our dark crisis here it comes guys CJ. Hey, thanks for the memberships man more gifted from CJ I appreciate that. Thanks a lot, dude for supporting in the chats Gifted memberships very helpful, dude All right, that's very awesome. We got metal raiders coming up up next You know what we haven't gotten guys any of the bad ultras out of metal raiders You know how crazy that is we haven't gotten any horn of heaven Magic jammer seven tools of the bandit. We haven't gotten any of those. It's been great. Just the good ones Final flame. L.O.B. is sucking at it again. Who would have thought L.O.B. is still terrible. All right Wow, this has been quite the opening guys Not even at three hours yet. Not even at three hours, but it's been a good time Feels like it's been three hours, but we're just short of three hours Okay, we are at 13 Uh mini boxes not displays so that puts us at two point something displays left to open up, which is not too much It's not too much. I mean we still need that one secret rare. We still need dark magician from L.O.B. We have not pulled those Hopefully we can do it Come on. Come on guardian. That was a kellback. Hey kellback. She's you Time to open another hundred packs for judgment of the newbis Uh Metal raiders here we go a thousand likes we did it guys All right last goal for the stream besides pulling that secret rare and that dark magician Can we get to 194,000 subscribers here? If you guys are here and you're not subscribed Just do it hit that subscribe button do it now all right Do it now What's that from? I can't remember All right, I mean it could be from a lot of things. We have a wing dragon overall. That's like three wing dragon rolls in a row okay IOC We're now down to 11 packs. We're almost down or 11 uh mini packs Or mini boxes I should say We have a hungry burglar very nice. Yo, zenru Did you pull dmg? There's no dmg in these sets for some reason people think there are dmg in these sets There's no dmg. There's dark magician. There's no dark magician girl That's a magician magician's force. That is not in this set We have a magic drain very nice Did I just skip a tune dragon? I don't think so did I If I skip the tune dragon, I'd be pretty wild. I don't think so. It doesn't seem like it. No new tune dragon Okay I will be right here Thank you. Curtis. I appreciate it We have a So again not great. So that was a pretty bad one. I don't think we had a foil in that one okay This is 10 left after this I think 10 left All right, we have obelisk very cool We have IOC super light to the stream. How was the mario bros movie? That's a very good movie. I enjoyed it. Uh, how'd you enjoy it? Did everyone donate one dollar yet not quite not quite Okay, we have a mystic tomato cool. Thank you for the five chasm I've noticed the attribute on 25th anniversary promos are in different languages Yeah, that's a pretty common misprint. It seems like no dark crisis luck for us there We've had a lot of good pulls for sure a lot of good pulls, but we're looking for one more secret rare from dark crisis to get them all All right, we have um Soggy very nice great moth the grande moth. I haven't seen that too often Okay lob final pack Here we go Not a final pack but a final pack of lob No foils again. That's back to back with no foils not good not good All right Still looking guys wing dragon of raw very nice Very solid more, uh god card promos. I have a very large stack of those at this point. We did pull some in skull Yeah, we did pull one IOC we have strayed lambs Mfc we have or not no c that doesn't exist. I've said that uh magic ruler. I should say I'm talking about mfc too much Glutton de moth has been pulled We have fear from the dark we've got A three-headed yido a premature burial. Okay, we broke the street. We finally got something good It's been a while. We did get a battle scarred. It's pretty nice earlier Metal raiders. Come on. We have a harpy lady sisters. Okay, it's turning around a little bit harpy lady sister and premat It's not bad. And then the final one of this display. Will it be good? No, it will not It will be overall just hasn't been that great today to us. It's been okay, but the try horn. I guess it's been not bad Okay, um Let's go obelisk a tormenter Let's do this Red eyes black dragon more promos All right. Next pack is a ioc nothing ioc nothing. Okay Grande moth should be a foil. I agree grande moth We need petite moth as a starlight ghost rare, you know Zodiac neck cross has not been pulled. Yeah, no neck cross. No secret rare judgment of the new dress, unfortunately We did pull the pale beast. Oh, no chel's. You can't call me right now Chels, okay. If she calls again, we're gonna have to answer chel's in the middle of the stream, but I haven't used my phone Um chel's get in the chat chel's get in the chat. I know you're there Chels, she's gonna be in the chat soon Okay, she called again one set guys. I don't have mice. All right. We're back. Chelsea was not in dire need She was just calling. Okay last pack. Okay. Oh gosh Guilty guardian. Okay water time. I think it's water time guys Hydrate all the all the dust particles you're getting in my throat. Okay. Let's go Dark crisis we are getting close Okay Uh obelisk very nice. Cool. IOC We have a berserk gorilla We have magic ruler What will we get here next is dark crisis, which is really what we're looking for DCR come on Right now Not that time Not that time CJ. Thanks for the 475 appreciate you man For all the support during the stream today. Only 10 grucks and 34 almost missed that one Very nice We've got metal raiders. Will you upload all your pulls? When do you mean by upload all my pulls? Uh cause you didn't you mean like put for sale? I don't know what i'm gonna be doing Okay Uh beaver warrior. That was a pretty bad display. That's cause you didn't know it was about it We're getting really close guys. I think we have seven displays left seven displays Uh red eyes black dragon cool We have obelisk very cool. All right We are down to The last few displays we need dark crisis luck guys. We only have a few more dark crisis packs We have metal raiders, okay or magic ruler nothing DCR come on come on DCR come on DCR Every time it's a trap i'm like maybe it's it but it wasn't it wasn't it that time All right, let's see we have a nobleman. That's not bad a nobleman of crossouts two packs to go That's what I always call the crossout designator nobleman of crossout We have a princess and a trint larva mop. We're pulling that one out. That's a good one Oh final pack Come on Final pack of lob nothing there. Okay That was a pretty bad display just a super rare. We're down to six display. Okay. This is the last one before our Okay, six mini boxes. I should say then we're down to one display right we have red eyes Very nice stuff. We have obelisk We have IOC Here we go We have a gale Gale gale gale not bad Pulled a genzo very nice. That's good luck man We have the upstart goblin All right, Sam's playing master duel right now. Why is he live with master duel? Does he usually do that? Resert dragon, okay Not bad You're here for the whole stream. You made it somehow All right We have a imperial order nice secret. It's been a while since we pulled a secret. I think Metal raiders. Come on. Give us something good. Like this is solemn judging. We haven't pulled that yet Or a mirror force. We have pulled this but we'll take that. That's a very good one That's a pretty good box. I mean mirror force and imperial order is pretty good If we get something big from lob, this might actually take the spot on the top display Which has been up there the entire time almost Fusionist of course lob does nothing Who would have thought lob just coming in unclutch for us?  That's cool More promos ioc Uh uh uh All right, we have gets you fuma very nice I'm doing good. How about you Ethan? How you doing man? Oh a blue eyes tune dragon There we go Another blue eyes tune here we go Here we go. Let's go Okay, I thought we were about to get hot there. I thought we were about to pull something big out of dcr but we didn't Blue eyes tune was good blue eyes tune was good But can we get something else to really top the mount rushmore the king of the hill? Kind of dominating dominating right now that that one's been up there for like 50 straight packs potato moth and grande moth Can't get a much better metal raiders pack than that back to back. That's pretty insane And lob all you gotta do is pull blue eyes and blue eyes tune will be enough Oh, there we go. That will be enough No not that time all right four displays left so we're gonna have to uh We're gonna have to move these a little bit hold these up with one. Okay This is it guys This is it This is the end. There's a uh slifer very nice We are getting down to the last few packs IOC let's go We have a free the brave wonderer very cool We got a blue eyes tune last time and that was it apparently that was the only thing we got spell ruler Come on give us Give it to us guys. Come on Come on dark crisis. This is your time judgment of anubis. Where are you? Ah, we need a dark magician at least come on. We're exodia ahead Okay, we're definitely not getting full exodia. There's an ony tank rucks in 34. That's good stuff Huh, no exodia necrosse either no exodia or exodia necrosse. Here we go All right, we have a caribo very nice All right last one from this one it is lob It is a Nothing a bunch of nothing who would have thought I will be coming in unclutch I'm interested to see what the ratios are per foil at the end of this or per set To see if there was any difference Which there won't be a difference overall probably unless somebody of course stole the stuff out of the factory like pokemon, but uh It's probably just variance Or we just don't it just feels like lb was bad because we haven't pulled the ones we want. Who knows ran adora All right, we have a manga cool right you're in The one time you want judgment of anubis you can't pull it.  I did parasite parasite Did I I think I pulled it out didn't I I think I pulled it out Wait, okay. I'm going back. I'm going back Mardy there it is. Okay. I got it. Good call guys Parasite parasite. I skipped over. Sorry parasite parasite fans. Didn't mean to do that Okay lb Come on. Come on lb Dark hole. Okay three supers in that one not bad It's not gonna top anything, but it's still not bad. Okay We're down to the last two last two This has been intense guys This has been intense the last two were so close on getting all the secrets But it seems like we might come up just short unless it comes in clutch right here at the end The last couple of packs We've got the amphibious bug roth fin rear 100 lb packs one blue eyes. That's about average actually It's one in 120 to get an ultra you want out of a old school set So it makes sense that you only get one if you get two that's pretty variant If usually that would mean you didn't get one of another one Pharaoh's servant, uh, no dark crisis this time So it's gonna come down to the last pack dark crisis might be the last one We open because it's the one we went lb2 because of uh, we need dark magician too We have blade fly. Okay cool stuff, but now what we're looking for L. O. B. Will it be a dark magician? Come on A trap hole. We haven't seen that yet. Okay card. We've not seen not bad Okay, okay cool cool cool last one last chance This is it guys. This is it Let's open the promo pack Dark magician right here. All right Blue eyes white dragon. That's a good one to end on That is a good one Okay Thank you very much impen. Okay, we're gonna do that last and we're gonna do that last because we need stuff out of those Let's do an order for these. Let's do like this magic ruler Spell ruler aka Last six packs. Here we go. We have a mystical space typhoon We did not pull any of those the entire time. So that's actually pretty good Uh, nice stuff there pharaoh servant Come on pharaoh servant gives some luck in the last pack We have can we get a genzo? No, nothing there Nothing out of there now we have no no invasion of chaos for metal raiders, of course Promos would probably be sold thursday on my whatnot stream. IOC. We're gonna get a granadora. Okay, nothing crazy there Metal raiders our favorite set are my favorite set at least Here we go. We have a pale beast. I gotta pull that out. We have a Pumpking the king of ghosts. All right, nothing crazy in that dark crisis we need you Judgment of anubis or even exodian necrosis would be good. Let's do a little bit of a little bit of pack truck here Final attack orders come on despair from the dark last two packs of 600 falling down We are missing a couple of cards guardian chaos metalizing parasite and Nintendo DS nintendo dogs. Okay, nothing in that It's coming down to LOB the last pack will be dark magician will it be exodia? We need both of those Oh, come on guys. Send some luck in the chat right now. Here we go In warrior number two Kagamush of the blue flame man-eater Electro weep we've got a king fog. He taught sumi giants Root water we're almost at the three hour mark right as this thing's inning This is pretty crazy two prying attack and will it be dark magician? Will it be exodia? Here we go. You gotta believe guys It's a trip wire beast and yeah, we we tripped over the trip wire We didn't get those cards. We got 11 out of 12 secret rares no Judgment of anubis the worst one. All right. Okay We tried guys. It was fun If you guys enjoyed it make sure to subscribe to the channel for more epic content like this We'll be doing more openings. I think I have a legendary collection 20th opening tomorrow So maybe we'll pull judgment of the new bus there and I'll see you guys in the next one


What is going on guys welcome back to the channel and I appreciate you being here today I am back with another destiny to Community highlights and video featuring some amazing clips you won't want to miss now if you do have any Amazing clips you'd like to share with the world send it into the email just linked at the top of the video description And if you do enjoy the video guys leaving a like really does help out But on that note, I'm gonna love you and leave you to enjoy the video Thanks as always for stopping by and hopefully I will see you on that next one Oh Now all needs the anarchy, so I never need to run the trade ever again perfect Hey, congrats guys Yeah, do you know what I got that way? Do you know what I got that right over here? That's bad boy here Oh my gosh Oh my gosh, I got it again Would have been able to send that the DPJ the seven seven color the Polaris. Oh This is my chance I might be able to make it 1615 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 pick up orbs 4 3 2 awesome. I might have this. Oh My god, this will be so close. I'll be cutting this so unbelievably close though 6 5 come on. No, I'm stuck in the thing. Come on. I got this. I got this Oh Did anybody else watch me slam that was in the heart That was the closest I have ever gone to not The 1k the chattering bone curated is really really good. I just got that I Got the 1k again fuckers and the cloak at the one piece. I did it me the other one piece.  Oh, I think I have the six shooter on I might only kill You know what that I even said.  Oh my Jesus Let's go up to taken on the other side. Hope you're proud. This is what


Thank you very much. Senator Goldwater on nine. I don't know just what time it'll be, but it'll probably be when we're sure that their radar screen has picked up our plane. Commander-in-Chief, it's my duty to the American people to report that renewed hostile actions against U.S. ships on the high seas and the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action and reply. The initial attack on the destroyer Maddox on August 2nd was repeated today by a number of hostile vessels attacking two U.S. destroyers with torpedoes. The destroyers and the supporting aircraft acted at once on the orders given by me after the initial act of aggression. We believe at least two of the attacking boats were sunk. There were no U.S. losses. The performance of commanders and crews in this engagement is the highest tradition of the United States Navy. But repeated acts of violence against the armed forces of the United States must be met not only with alert defense but with positive reply. Reply is being given. In the large sense, this new act of aggression aimed directly at our own forces must bring home to all of us again the importance to us in the United States in the struggle for peace and security in Southeast Asia. Now, when I say the reply is being given Barry, I may elaborate on that a little bit depending on how safe I can be at the time I deliver the state. Do you follow me? Aggression by terror against the peaceful villagers of South Vietnam has now been joined by open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America. The determination of all Americans to carry out our full commitment to the people and government of South Vietnam will be redoubled by this outrage. Yet our response to the present will be limited and fitting. We Americans know, although others appear to forget, the risk of spreading conflict. We still seek no wider war. I have instructed the Secretary of State to make this position totally clear to friends, to adversaries and indeed to all. I have instructed Ambassador Stevenson to raise this matter immediately and urgently before the Security Council of the United Nations. Finally, I have today met with the leaders of both parties in the Congress of the United States and I have informed them that I shall immediately request the Congress to pass a resolution, making it clear that our government is united in its determination to take all necessary measures in support of freedom and in defense of peace in Southeast Asia. I have been given encouraging assurance by these leaders at such a resolution. We promptly introduced freely and expeditiously debated and passed, I hope, with overwhelming support. It is a solemn responsibility to have to order even limited military action by forces whose overall strength is as vast and as awesome as those of the United States of America. But is my considered conviction shared throughout your government that firmness in the right is indispensable today for peace? That firmness will always be measured. Its mission is peace. That's it. Well, we are just very confidentially, we are going to take all the boats out that we can and all the bases in which they come. I thank you and I wanted you to know about it and we had a good meeting here and I didn't want to say anything until I was able to reach you. Thank you, Barry. Bye, fella.


Four and a half years ago, I sat in the 4th Universalist Society in the City of New York Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side listening to a guest minister, sermonize about something. I don't remember exactly what, but a spark in it turned into a full-on Jimmy Neutron brain blast, and I left the pew that Sunday with the week air review fully formed in my mind. Less than two months later, I posted its first week of four videos and then just kept going. And for a while, that was exciting. I was doing something new, indifferent, experimenting with styles and subjects, and I more or less kept to the schedule promised by its name for two years, after which point it became an ever-present reminder of my youthful naivete. A lot has changed in the world since August 2018, and it feels like a lot has changed in me, but very little has changed for me. I work at the same place in an unfortunately more taxing version of the same job. I'm in the same relationship. I live in a nicer one-bedroom apartment, but I could walk to my old one on a whim, and it's still small enough that Piece of Cake Moving Company thinks it's a studio. That feeling of stagnation extends to my artistic endeavors. I'm definitely a better writer now than I was four years ago, and hopefully I'm a better creative all around. I have made way too many mistakes to not have learned from any of them, but at the same time, I haven't really done too much beyond YouTube, and on it I feel like I have hit diminishing returns. The reality is I figured out the correct way to do a The Week I Review video years ago. The thing that I had envisioned was largely perfected in like 2020, and the only way to meaningfully improve has been to just do something else. My best videos are the ones that break the formula. I can't see Hamilton, Thoughts of a Colored Man, the one where I bought a $500 t-shirt, but I can't do those very often.  It's no longer a matter of effort, but time. And not time particularly well spent. Regular viewers have probably noticed that these supplemental edits in my videos become fewer and further between as they go on because I edit sequentially and I become less and less invested in a video the longer I stand right there staring at my Premiere timeline. In the beginning, I'll add everything that seems relevant, but by the end, nah. And why should I? Each additional edit does very little for the overall video, and no one has ever come to this channel to see things fly in and out over my shoulders. But I can't avoid it entirely. The presence of editing matters even if any given edit does not, so I find myself in the same position as anyone who has done this for years. This is why the first hire that every successful YouTuber makes is an editor. Would I be making this video in an alternate world where I could afford an editor? Maybe not. Though in that hypothetical, there would be a lot more riding on the decision of whether or not I stopped doing this. In our current reality, very little is. Maybe even nothing. The weak air view doesn't matter in the sense that ending it isn't going to put me on the street. I'm not going to starve or lose my health care. Nothing will materially change because this was never my job. Between all of the various sources of tour-related income, I make the annual equivalent of about a month's rent, maybe two in a good year. Which is to say that the channel pays for itself and the occasional week of groceries. Now, if I didn't live in Manhattan, the same amount of money would go further. But if I didn't live in Manhattan, the channel would have never existed in the first place. And let's be honest, it still wouldn't have gone very far. The money has been important psychologically though, particularly on Patreon where dozens of people have at various points over the years offered financial support. And it sounds cliche to say that every dollar counts. It's also like a lie considering what I just said. But it actually does. Every dollar is a signal that a person, not some aggregate accounting of algorithmically assigned actions, but a real human being believes that my work has literal value. It means the world to me, honestly. And if it weren't for them, I would have stopped doing the weak air view a long time ago. But their support isn't enough to tip the cosmic scales anymore. So I will be shutting the Patreon down at the start of the new year. Though hopefully not the little community that's built up around it and the live streams that eventually moved over to Discord. It's not nearly as busy as it was a year or even six months ago, but I'm going to keep that server running for as long as people continue to show up. I genuinely like the folks on there, a whole bunch of whom came to see me in London. Which was amazing. It's one of the best days of my life. And perhaps the end was inevitable given that fact. The Anthropocene Reviewed Reviewed presented a problem to me as the creator of the weak air review. I had not really joked that it would be a very appropriate series finale. And someone else said, well, it could be more of an Avengers Endgame. The end of an era, an event whose effects would be felt in every subsequent entry. And it turns out that was kind of prescient because much like Marvel's Phase 4, I think the weak air review has become particularly unfocused and frankly kind of empty in its wake. I put so much of myself into that show and also into this channel over the years. It feels like there's just not a lot left of me that's new. I've only got so many stories to tell, so much insight to share. I think I've repeated myself a lot in this video. It feels like I've hit my limit. Or I'm just depressed. That's a joke. Of course I am. I hate saying it because it means people in my actual life and my parents in particular are going to want to talk to me about that and talk to me about talking to someone about that.  I lost the spark or whatever it was that was really keeping me going for this long. It has been hard to even write recently, let alone shoot and edit.  And it's not only my head that's in a rough spot. Everything hurts and in ways that have taken me far too long to accept.  I need to take care of myself and I'm hoping that removing YouTube from my life officially will help me do that. I don't know, but I'm hoping. That all being said, this video isn't the end. I'm not going out on a downer. I'm going to go out with a banger. So here's the plan. I will be making five more videos between December and probably like April, maybe sooner or hopefully not later, we'll see. The next three are ones I promised specific people earlier this year. Tom Ford's 2016 film Nocturnal Animals for Mr. Jolly Hough, Shaefer the Dark Lord's 2013 album The Sick Passenger for number one week air review Superfan Willow, and Kate Barrett's 2020 game Potter Game for actual person I've met in real life, Garth. After those, I'll hit you with a deeply personal video about a medical procedure that I underwent about a month ago that won't be confirmed complete until the end of January. And then the true series finale of the week air review. My 10 out of 10 take on everything everywhere all at once. The best movie. It's the most appropriate note to end on after I decided to not end it on the most appropriate note. So I'm going to pull out all the stops. I have big plans for that video, not in terms of length, but style. I may actually need some help with it. So if you're in the New York area and would be interested in helping somehow, let me know. I hope it lives up to the ambitions. So this isn't goodbye quite yet, though I don't know what if anything comes after.  And maybe I'll keep that going after. Maybe I'll return with the occasional short since those are pretty easy and disconnected from what I think of as like the show. Maybe I'll start a newsletter or get back to work on music or write a short film or stand-up set. Maybe I'll do all of those things or none of them. Maybe I'll just let myself rest while I figure out what I actually want to do. And maybe that will involve coming back to YouTube and earnest at some point down the road and trying this all again. I don't know. And that's okay.