Well, that's really quite incredible.
I gave him four weeks
possibly, to hold out, six at the outside.
Nine weeks!
There's a little bit more gristle there
than I gave him credit for.
Will there be anything else, sir?
Oh, hello, Alfred.
Franklin told me you were waiting.
Only to pose this question to you.
Very succinct, Archie, very brief.
How long?
How long what?
How long are you going to keep on
with this... this prolonged practical joke?
Well, not much longer.
Thank you, Franklin.
You should see our boy down there.
Four and a half months, not a sound out of him.
It's incredible.
That fop won't take it for another month.
This I'll guarantee you.
For your sake, I hope that's the case.
My sake?
You have the money, Archie?
I find that insulting, Alfred.
I'm sorry if it is.
I think he's going to beat you, Archie.
I think that boy down there
is going to remain silent for the entire year.
And I think you're going to owe him $500,000.
I just hope you've got it.
You can hear me, Tennyson, can't you?
I've been giving this considerable thought.
You fulfilled your part of the bargain admirably.
As a matter of fact
you have completely surprised me, Tennyson.
But the fact is
I feel the whole thing has gone too far.
It's becoming inhuman.
I'm prepared to offer you a thousand dollars
and you may walk out today
right this moment, if you choose.
It's going to be an early spring this year, Tennyson.
You ought to see it.
In that time of the year
when a young man's fancy lightly turns...
well, you know that better than I do.
And young ladies, too.
For example
your wife.
She must be lonely for you, Tennyson
desperately lonely.
As a matter of fact, she...
she has been seen with other young men.
It's odd
she hasn't paid you a visit, isn't it?
Don't you think it's odd?
I happen to know you've written her many notes
requesting a visit.
She hasn't responded, even to the notes.
You may lose your wife, Tennyson.
I hope you're fully aware of that.
While you stay here behind glass
the very reason for all your agony
may be slipping away from you.
Why don't you leave, Tennyson?
Why don't you leave right now?
It still might be possible to save your marriage.
Tennyson, I saw your wife again.
She was getting into a little european sports car.
There was a, you know, a nice young fellow driving it.
Your wife... wife... your wife... wife... wife... wife.
Today is april fools' day, Tennyson.
You remember april fools' day.
I think it was named for you
for only a fool would stay in there as long as you have
knowing precisely what's happening on the outside.
Your wife, I mean, Tennyson, your wife... wife... wife.
Tennyson, this nonsense must cease!
You've got to get out of there.
You really do.
Why I could tell you some stories about your wife.
How about it, Tennyson?
I might see my way clear to giving you $5,000.
That would pay off a lot of your debts.
And a little bracelet for your wife.
Something to compensate for the months of loneliness.
How about it, Tennyson?
$5,000.
$6,000, Tennyson.
You're an idiot, you know that, Tennyson?!
You're going out of your mind in there.
I know you are.
You're ready to crawl up the walls.
Listen, Tennyson, you cannot stay in there one more hour.
Not another half hour.
I wouldn't have believed it.
A year in that room
and not one word out of him.
Two minutes is all the poor devil has got now-
two more minutes.
Look at Archie.
Not the face of a happy man, would you say?
A rather monumental occasion, isn't it, Archie?
12 months ago to the moment you destroyed yourself
much as I told you you would.
Your little reminders are gratuitous, Alfred.
Besides, it's not yet 10:00.
Whether it is or whether it isn't
the destruction i'm talking about
has already taken place.
There have been ugly rumors, Archie
things you've done to him
like little asides, innuendos
suggestions, gossip about his wife.
You place such a premium on honor, Archie
but you haven't acted like an honorable man.
Please don't go to the trouble of denying it.
I'm sure much of it is true.
But the ugly affair has proved two things
hasn't it, Archie?
That that boy down there is stronger
than you gave him credit for
and you are considerably weaker.
How could he have done it?
It's impossible!
You, uh, have me at a disadvantage, mr. Tennyson.
In a rather compromising situation.
You force me into a position of... rather distasteful candor.
The truth is I am a fraud.
I haven't any money.
I offered you a thousand dollars, then $5,000.
I would have had to go out into the street
to beg even that amount, let alone a half a million dollars.
It's true that I have pride
bearing, taste, exceptional breeding...
but I lost most of my money
some years ago.
Now you have forced me to uncover the situation
proving, mr. Tennyson, proving that, of the two of us
you are by far the more substantial.
And I will naturally resign.
I will not ask you to suffer my presence any longer.
Tennyson, you can talk, your time is up.
You can talk, gurgle, sing, chortle, anything you want.
What's he writing?
What is he doing?
Why doesn't he talk?
What does it say, Archie?
What did he write?
Why didn't he say something?
"I knew I would not be able to keep
"my part of the bargain...
"so one year ago I had the nerves
to my vocal chords severed."
Mr. Jamie Tennyson who almost won a bet
but who discovered somewhat belatedly
that gambling can be a most unproductive pursuit
even with loaded dice, marked cards
or, as in his case, some severed vocal chords.
For somewhere beyond him, a wheel was turned
and his number came up "black 13."
If you don't believe it, ask the croupier
the very special one who handles roulette
in the twilight zone.