Wikisource:WikiProject Film/Intertitles from GeoCities/The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1 In a world old in hatred and
bloodshed, where nation is
crowded against nation and creed against creed, centuries of wars have sown their bitter seed, and the fires of resentment smouldering be- neath the crust of civilization but await the breaking of the Seven Seals of Prophecy to start a
mighty conflagration.
2 While in the New World, boundless space offers a haven to the alien, and ancient hatreds
are forgotten.
3 And from Spain to the new land of the Argentine had come Madariaga, the centaur. Years of toil had yielded their reward until his vast grazing lands rivaled a king's domain.
4 Starting life in savage poverty, he became a fearless trader, acquiring boundless fields and populating them with
blooded stock.
5 Capricious and despotic, he was both loved and feared by his
workers.
6 "Ay padres! Ay padres!"
7 Many of the hybrid youths in his employ bore a strange resemblance to the Spaniard.
8 Madariaga's tastes were simple. He still clung to his primitive abode - sharing it with his two daughters and their husbands, one - a Frenchman, the other
- a German.
9 The Frenchman, Marcelo Desnoyers, the old cen- taur's favorite, managed his gigantic enterprises.
10 The day was filled with expectancy. For seven years, Desnoyers' wife had been childless.
11 While the German's heart was filled with misgivings.
12 Karl von Hartrott had married Elena, Madariaga's younger daughter, against her father's will and was tolerated only through the Frenchman's influence.
13 "At any moment - now. Per- haps my sister's child will be a girl. Then, after all - father's millions will go
to our three sons -"
14 "Any news?"
15 "It shall be a boy! I shall call him Julio and make him my heir!"
16 "I need one of my
own breed!"
17 "Down with Napoleon!"
18 "A boy!"
19 "Hooray!"
20 Madariaga's dream had come true! From far and wide his workers came to share his joy.
21 Steeped in Old World sin, harboring the dregs of human- ity, the famous Boca quarter of Buenos Aires was a port
of last resort.
22 And with the passing of a score of years, senile and old, living again in his grandson, Madariaga still clung to life and its pleasures.
23 Encouraged by an indul- gent grandfather who was his ideal, what chance had Julio Desnoyers to be other than a youthful
libertine?
24 "That's Madariaga - the richest man in the Argen- tine! Last week he ship- ped thirty thousand head
of cattle to Europe!"
25 "The boy is part French and the old man's idol. He has no use for his three German grandsons."
26 "Take me home, Peon- cito! I am too old to come with you any more."
27 And so Madariaga remain- ed at his own fireside, amusing himself with Julio's
young sister Chichí.
28 Luisa, Madariaga's elder daughter, the Frenchman's wife.
29 "Is it not enough to lead my son into wild ways without teaching my daughter the tango?"
30 "Would you have the boy grow up like those glass- eyed carrot-topped sharks
of your sister's?"
31 "Por Dios! Women are the plague of our existence, but we cannot get along without them - eh, Frenchy?"
32 "There's no need to worry about Julio. You're too
miserly - youth must have its fling!"
33 Von Hartrott had reared his sons to respect the teachings of his Fatherland
34 "Grandfather gave Julio the strip of land south of the shearing shed today!"
35 "I heard him tell the lawyer he was growing old - that he wanted to make the changes in his will. Do you think he will leave
Julio all his money?"
36 "Do not worry! Julio is
wasting his youth - our day will come!"
37 And when the morrow's sun had reached the
western horizon.
38 Thus died the centaur, as he had lived, with the lash hanging from his wrist - with his legs bowed by the saddle.
39 "And it is my will that my entire fortune be di- vided between my two daughters, Luisa and Elena."
40
The shattering of
youth's ideal - think- ing only of his grand- father's broken promise.
41 "I shall dispose of my share and return to my own country to resume my rightful position - so that my sons may have the advantage of education
and culture."
42 "But you cannot do that, Karl! Madariaga always preached that where a man makes his fortune and raises his family - there is his true
country!"
43 "One owes his first duty to his Fatherland - that his children may grow up in allegiance with the advan- tages of super-culture."
44 "Karl is right! We owe some- thing to our children. Chichí could make a more suitable marriage in Paris and Julio study art. Why should you not return to your country?"
45 Marcelo Desnoyers had guarded the secret of his flight to the New World with fear and humiliation.
46 "I'll risk it!"
47 "When one leaves one's home to go to another land, one always risks his happiness. What may come to us in the other land -
we cannot tell."
48 The Old
World.
49 After a few years in Paris,
discontent crept into the hearts of the Desnoyers family.
50 "Chichí, something tells me that your father has been to another auction! We will be bankrupt if he persists in this crazy bargain-hunting!"
51 "More purchases for
the castle on the Marne - where will it all end?"
52 "Mother! You look like a pawnbroker's lady!"
53 "You indulge your own foolish whims, yet deny Julio and me the things we care for!"
54 "I mean that you are miserly! If mother did not give Julio money, he could not continue his studies!"
55 "Continue his studies! Continue his debauches at Montmartre -"
56 "- his tango teas - his pretext of painting as an excuse to surround
himself with women!"
57 Julio was a true grandson of the old Spaniard. Women were the "plague" of his existence.
58 Argensola, Julio's secretary - an indolent Spanish
artist.
59 "From the ladies at the Tango Palace."
60 "Bills that must be paid at once - or they will appeal to your father."
61 "Perhaps your mother will let you have the money. You know she would give you her last centime!"
62 "It is the Stranger - who lives on the
floor above."
63 Desnoyers had made two friends in the Old World, Senator Lacour and Etienne
Laurier.
64 "Now, Senator, you have seen my treasures destined for the castle, but this is my pride - a golden bath that once belonged to an
emperor!"
65 "To Laurier there is but one treasure - his beau- tiful wife. We were to meet her here, and
she is late."
66 The Senator's son, René, preferred Youth
to Antiques.
67 "Your papa has forbidden my giving you any more money, and I decided to obey him when I saw those na- undressed ladies in your studio."
68 "Your papa will never miss it."
69 "Naughty boy! One
at a time!"
70 "Marguerite Laurier."
71 "I have seen you dance very often at the Tango Palace."
72 "Perhaps some after- noon - you will come and dance with me?"
73 "I stopped at mother's. My brother is on leave
of absence."
74 "Poor little Marguerite! Laurier is a fine fellow - but too old. Her heart yearns for youth's compan- ionship and - romance."
75 Spring smiled on the peaceful village of Ville- blanche, and in the distance towered Desnoyers' most
recent purchase.
76 The castle on the Marne had become a colossal treasure palace - an altar to Desnoyers' miserly
bargain worship.
77 The von Hartrott family accepted Desnoyers' hos- pitality with good-natured
superiority.
78 "You may have your treasures, Marcelo, but
I have my sons."
79 The world was dancing. Paris had succumbed to the mad rhythm of the
Argentine tango.
80 And Julio's boyhood pastime had brought him glory, and with it, many pupils to satisfy his extravagant tastes.
81 "Julio Desnoyers has neglected all his pupils since Madame Laurier began coming here."
82 "Someone should inform her husband - our young tango hero would have another duel on his hands."
83 "That is Laurier's
wife!"
84 "Everyone is watching us! I - I am afraid - it is un-
wise to come here
any more."
85 "I - I could not bear
it if I were not
to see you!"
86 "But my husband --- if he should hear -"
87 "Why not come to my studio? There would be no harm - I promise
to be good!"
88 "You - you promise?"
89 Women were not strange to Julio's studio, but never before had there been one - like
Marguerite.
90 "A woman?"
91 "A lady!"
92 And as the days passed the hours spent together became their only happiness.
93 "It is the beginning of the end - the brand that will set the world ablaze!"
94 "It does not seem wrong for me to come here now."
95 "Do you remember the first day I came and you held me in
your arms?"
96 "That night -"
97 "It does not seem right when he kisses me. My parents arranged the mar- riage - I do not love him."
98 "You do not belong to him - you belong
to me!"
99 "The symbol of the original sin. Do you wonder that the apple - with its brilliant coloring, was chosen to represent the forbidden fruit?"
100 "But when the beautiful covering is removed, how unlovely - how like a woman bereft of her cloak of virtue."
101 History in the making is like a stream over-
flowing its banks.
102 And during the fateful month of July, startling events overlapped each other - drawing nations into a swirl- ing maelstrom which threat- ened to engulf all Europe.
103
"Do you think they
will drag us into it?"
104 "Two generations have come into the world informed that as soon as they reach a reasonable age - there
will be war."
105 "War will go hard with them. He is a Frenchman - she is German - and their child - God pity it!"
106 The turbulent situation had brought the Desnoyers family back to Paris.
107 "I will trouble you to conduct me to your
son's studio!"
108 "Just think what war will mean! No parties - no pretty clothes - women in mourning - nothing
but misery!"
109 "But we will have
each other!"
110 "There is no need of an explanation from
either of us!"
111 "You may send your seconds to me at your earliest convenience!"
112 "For God's sake, Laurier, let there
be no scandal!"
113 "I shall take you to your mother and tomorrow arrange
for a divorce."
114 The Old World hatreds had burst their bonds, and for the next forty-eight hours the electric web encircling the continent vibrated incessantly with its transmission of hopes and
fears, until -
115 While the spirit of France responded to the call - the tango idol was forgotten.
116 "Little sister - take
good care of our
mother."
117 "Good looks do not count now! All one needs is a uniform
- gold braid -"
118 "My master is never
home so early -"
119 "In the enemy's land they too are singing and shouting as they wave their flag - believ- ing they are also right and that God rules for them."
120 "And when the sun rises in a few hours the world will behold the Four Horsemen - enemies of mankind!"
121 "Those who go before the Beast - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! John foresaw it all two thousand years ago."
122 "I have a book -
a rare book -"
123 "To 'him' nothing is a mystery. He holds the key to every language
living or dead."
124 "The Revelations of St. John, as conceived by the great master -
Albrecht Dürer."
125 "It is the age of ful- fillment. The Angel of Prophecy is revealed."
126 "The voice of the Beast shall be heard, commanding the Four Ill-omened Horse- men as they ride forth - to scatter desolation throughout the world!"
127 "The first Horseman to lead Prophecy's devas-
tating force is -
Conquest!"
128
"The second - War,
in all his hideousness!"
129 "The third, trailing in their wake - Pestilence, carrying the Scales of
Famine!"
130 "And in relentless pursuit, the fourth
Horseman - Death!"
131 "The agony of humanity under the brutal sweep of the Four Horsemen
has already begun!"
132 For fourteen ill-omened days, the scorching breath of the Beast had seared the earth as nation rose
against nation.
133 While all France answered the call to arms, Desnoyers was haunted by the unpaid debt to his country.
134 "I served in eighteen-seventy!"
135 The flames of war had singed the butterfly's wings and in its place there was - a woman, awakening to the call of France.
136 "It is wrong to love like this - to be happy -- when there is so much sorrow
around us!"
137 "Are we not to be married as
soon as you are free?"
138 "A letter - from
my brother!"
139 "It is fortunate you are a foreigner and do not have to go. How horrible it would be to know you
were in danger!"
140 "I shall be late for my class - it will not be long before I have my
nurse's diploma."
141 The last of the Lacours had re- ceived an appoint- ment in the auxiliary
service.
142 "How nice that it has been
arranged for you to
remain at home! I shall
call you my little
sugar soldier!"
143 "I wanted to go to the front -- only father ----"
144 "Here is your passport to Villeblanche, but I warn you it is dangerous to
attempt the journey at this time."
145 "I came to say good-bye to mother before she leaves for Biarritz. She tells
me you are going to the castle."
146 "By the way, Senator, can you
tell me where Madame Laurier has gone?"
147 "Everyone is leaving Paris
at this time. She may have gone with her mother to Bordeaux."
148 The ceaseless rumble of distant cannon echoing the ominous hoof-beats of Prophecy's Horsemen, was heard in Villeblanche.
149 And for days, a stunned, panic-stricken horde of homeless beings had drifted toward the
French capital.
150 While another horde marched with relentless iron-shod feet, borne by the impetus of the Apoca-
lyptic Beast.
151
His family safely
dispatched to Biarritz - thinking only of his treasures, Desnoyers jour- neyed toward Villeblanche.
152 The straggling rem- nants of an army that for days had endured a continued indefinite
retreat.
153 Only the lodgekeeper and his family re- mained at the castle.
154 Only a flimsy shell of de- fence against the oncoming tide of invasion, but behind it, the spirit of the immortal words - "They shall not pass."
155 In retaliation, a hot hurricane of death swept across
the valley.
156 The serpent had un- coiled itself - twining its gray-green body through the fertile valley of the Marne, and Ville- blanche was invaded.
157 "Your castle was spared because you are to have
the honor of enter- taining the General of our Division!"
158 A grim warning.
159 "They resisted and killed
two of our Uhlans!"
160 After a night of terror.
161 "You do not know me, Uncle?
I am Otto - Captain Otto von Hartrott."
162 "My nephew -- you have come to help me? Look around - see what your comrades
have done! Tell them to leave!"
163 "What else can you expect?
This is war!"
164 "It is well you are speaking Spanish. If you persist in such denunciation - a bullet will be the answer!"
165
At Lourdes
In the shadow of the sacred grotto.
166 Victims of the war- god's lust find rest and peace from the din of battle.
167 "You are not the nurse who was with me this morning. Who are
you?"
168 "Just one who is trying
to do her duty."
169 "I traced you here! So this
is why you left Paris
without a word -- and you pretended to love me!"
170 "Julio -- he --
he is blind."
171 "As yet, he does not know who I am. You are a man - you could never under- stand a woman's desire
for atonement!"
172 "What of our happiness? You -- you cannot do this!"
173 "Life is not what we thought. Had it not been for the war, we might have realized our dream. But now, my destiny
beside him is marked
out forever."
174 "How could I dare hope for your love? I have
been a coward!"
175 "But I will be one no longer! This country is yours - my father's -- I will fight for it!"
176 For three days the unwelcome guests had held their revels with all the destructive
glory of war.
177 "Ach! Du lieber Augustin!
Augustin! Augustin!"
178 "We will drink, mine host, to an early meeting --
in Paris!"
179 "Vandals! Murderers!
Fiends!"
180 "I warned you not to interfere! You will
probably be shot at daybreak!"
181
The morning light
revealed the miracle of the Marne. The long lines of grey were falling back.
182
The French were
reclaiming their own.
183 "Master! The brutes have gone! There is a great battle - the castle is
filled with dead
and dying!"
184 "They have murdered my husband and - my little
girl longs to die!"
185 Pride and earthly treasure crumble before the hosts
of Prophecy.
186 "Franzosen! Franzosen!"
187 Through a sea of misery, of dead and dying, Desnoyers returned to Paris.
188 "I have been in Hell!"
189 "My son - a soldier - defending
my country when it is
not even yours!"
190 "You do not know what war is! I have just come from it - it is like a wild
beast whose breath
scorches and withers
humanity!"
191 "This is not your country -- I cannot let my boy
go to war!"
192 "René is going to the front. He has been transferred to the
Artillery!"
193 "I could not keep the child away from René at this time
and my place is with you. It is enough to be sep- arated from my sister!"
194 "Family ties are not formed to our liking. Men of your own blood are fighting on
the other side!"
195 "But they are your enemies! If you meet them - do not spare them - shoot - kill!"
196
Four years had War,
Pestilence and Death held sway until the nations of the Old World were torn asunder and lay bleeding, crying out to a just God to free them
from the forces of evil.
197 And then from the New World came men to cheer and help their
brothers.
198 "Américain!"
199 "A little surprise from your mother!"
200 "He is a different Julio! One hears everywhere of his unselfishness and
his bravery."
201 "I am content -
very content."
202 "I saw her - the night before I left
Paris."
203 "She is very kind to Laurier, but she, too,
is suffering."
204 "Kiss Mama for me!"
205 "No one will kill my boy - my heart tells
me so!"
206 Fighting against her love for Julio,
Marguerite had
patiently tried to
atone.
207 Oh frightful trend of
awful dreams,
What shall fiends
next contrive?
An open grave - and as it seems
Men stand in it - alive.
208 While across the ghostly waste of No Man's Land - another yawning pit of misery.
209 And through the muck and mire of a man- created Hell - were sent Madariaga's grandsons -
210 One - a French
soldier -
211 - the other, a German.
212 War's toll.
213 "My last son."
214 "You are to blame! If we had followed my father's teach- ings - we would not have left the Argentine, and our sons would have been alive today!"
215 The aimless path fades with life's span. Nations mourn, while memory glori-
fies the brave.
216 "You knew my son?"
217 "I knew them all!"
218 "Peace has come - but the Four Horsemen will still ravage humanity - stirring unrest in the world - until all hatred is dead and only love reigns in the heart of mankind."
THE END
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