May 13, 2024 • 29 mins
Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense (a sister program that often used the same actors and scripts), it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950.Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run.
The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees:"Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!"Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add:"Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!"
The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees:"Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!"Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add:"Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Escape Escape Tonight to a raft inthe South Pacific. The Columbia Broadcasting System
and its affiliated stations presents Escape,produced and directed by William N. Robeson
this The last of the summer seriesis The Fourth Man by John Russell,
(00:35):
New Maya in the South Pacific,to a generation of French criminals, a
word to be uttered in the sameterrified breath with Devil's Island, the penal
colony at New Maya, where thecutthroats, garatas and sadists from the dregs
of French society were sent to aliving death. Tonight, we invite you
to escape from New Maya. InJohn Russell's The Fourth Man, the raft
(01:03):
stood to open sea. A matof pandana sleeves served for its sail,
and a paddle of wood for itshelm. It was woven of reeds and
bamboo sticks, lashed upon triple rowsof bladders, and it carried four men,
three of them sad huddled together atthe far end. Their bodies were
(01:26):
blackened with dried blood, and thehair upon them was long and matted.
They wore only the rags of blueconvict's uniforms on wrist and ankle. They
carried their mark, the dark andwrinkled stain of the manacles. There was
de boats doctor, man of theworld, murderer. Friends, the thing
(01:49):
is done and feneroul forger ladies,man, weakling coward. Yes, we've
escaped, and no one known asthe parrot, thief and cutthroat. So
far, so good, and bythe way of celebration, gentlemen, may
I offer you cigarettes? Cigarettes?Doctor, you're a marvel a magician.
(02:15):
Look at them, quite and fresh, as though they just came from the
package. How did you do it? Oh? Every six months there are
about seventy five escapes from New Mayor, and not more than one succeeds.
Ours would be that one I knew, so three weeks ago I bribed the
night guard for these very cigarettes,so that we might sit here, my
(02:38):
friends, as we are doing,and celebrate. I want a light,
a light for the parrot. Ourdoctor is a wonder He thinks of everything.
He gives us cigarettes, matches andour freedom. Wait till you've got
your two feet on a pavement again, that'll be the time to sound off
about freedom. To where Starched callsagain to stroll the girl, clean and
(03:04):
fresh from her bath down the placela concorde belief. Suppose we get a
storm. It's not the season ofstorms just the same. Suppose we get
a storm, Parricat, My friend, you must not be so impatient.
Remember we were convicts back there,festering and oblivion. Now we are men
(03:24):
raised from the dead. Suppose weget a storm. Uh, you've got
a gift of speech, doctor,But where's the ship that was going to
meet us here? This is theday is agreed, it will meet us.
The wind will blow us to Chinaif we keep on. We can't
(03:45):
lie any closer to shore. There'sa government launch at Toryen. And I
doubt if the native trackers have givenus up. Careful, parrot, the
natives leach you, yet, I'veheard about that. Is it true,
doctor, that they'll people are runawayso I can capture to flatten On.
Oh they prefer the reward. Still, I doubt if they've entirely lost the
(04:09):
habit of cannibals, peace by peace, Parrot. First they'll sample you,
Then they'll make a stew out ofyour brains. Oh, they won't miss
a thing. Shut up, philarroom, filthy brutes. Oh, I
almost forgot we have one of them. With us. The fourth man was
(04:33):
steering the raft. He sat crouchedin the stern, his body glistening with
spray. His huge, dark handsheld the steering battle. He was motionless,
like an idol, his eyes fixedon the course ahead. The fourth
man on the raft. You arelooking at a canarch, my friend.
(04:56):
You will see nothing superior, noline of beauty to redeem the low angle
of the forehead, the knobby jointsof the body. Nature has stamped him
with the mark of inferiority, andhe has set the final seal himself with
that twist of bark about his middle, that prong of pig ivory through his
nose. Yes, but none theless, he is a man, and
(05:17):
there is a price on our heads. He could be taking us. Worry
alike, calm yourself and areou Thisis a very simple animal and Infantryly does
that mean he couldn't double cross us? It does. He is bound by
his duty. I made my bargainwith his chief up the river, and
this one is sent to deliver uson board our ship. That's the only
(05:41):
interest he has in us, andhe'll do it. He will. That
is the nature of the native.Now I don't trust him, not for
a minute. The brute, theanimal. You it's you. I'm talking
about, you, dirty brute.Save your breath, perret. He speaks
no language, only a few noises, few signs. I don't feel right
(06:04):
on the same raft with that.Where burn yourselves up in the sun if
you like with me, I'm goingto crawl under a mat. Get asleep.
Yes, we should all sleep alittle, conserve ourselves, and when
we awake, our ship will behere, a saucy little topsail schooner,
(06:28):
a mass standing out against the sky, and will be on our way to
France. Is sleep, my friends. The two younger convicts dozed under the
heat of the day, but notthe doctor. He stood once again to
(06:51):
sweep the skyline under his shaded hand. His plan had been so careful,
so precise. He had counted absolon meeting the ship, a small schooner,
one of those flitting, half piraticaltraders of the Copra Islands that can
be hired like cabs in a darkstreet for any sinister enterprise. And there
(07:14):
was no ship, and there wasno crossroads where one might sit and wait,
Eh, good morning, doctor,it's afternoon pheneru. Oh, yes,
(07:35):
so it is I slept like acorpse? Hey, where's the ship?
Doctor? It was going to behere when we woke up. It
will be I'm thirsty. I'm dyingwith thirst. So well, where's the
flask? I'm roasted in the sun. You just have to roast some more.
(07:57):
This crew is put on rations.What are you talking about? Where's
that water? I have it here? Show your hair? You think it's
yours? No, it's ours,parrot. I want a drink, doctor,
think a little parrot. We haveto guard our supplies like reasonable men.
(08:18):
We don't know how long we maybe floating here. Oh so that's
how you talk now. You don'tknow how long. But you were sure
enough when we started. I amstill sure. The ship will come.
She cannot stay for us in onespot. She'll be cruising to and fro
until she intercepts us, and wemust wait er. That's good. Wait.
(08:41):
And in the meantime, what fryhere in this heat? Our tongues
hanging out? Why you deal usout water drop by drop? Perhaps?
No, a man doesn't live.Who can feed me with a spoon unless
you would die very speedily. Wemust guard our water. We can only
do our best with what we haveall right, doctor, do your best.
(09:07):
Give me a drink. You youmay have your share, of course,
but be warned when it's gone,don't come to us to phenerone me.
Yes, what's fair? Is fair? My drink? Very well?
Oh, A symbol for one thymbol. This way we should have enough for
(09:30):
three days, maybe more, withequal shares among the three of us.
Hah, that's right, there areonly three of us. You er.
You were thinking of him, Fenero, about Pilot. He looks somewhat like
us, doesn't he. But hisbody has never known clothes, his feet
shoes. His heart has never knownthe swelling that comes with feelings of love
(09:52):
or beauty. His mind has neverknown a single thought. Humph. Look
at us, three gentlemen, YouPharaoh a forger, you parrot a thief,
and I, Doctor Dubous of Parisand Marseilles, a murderer. And
(10:13):
yet we are civilized men, andthis is a savage animal. And our
provisions are for civilized men only.And the three men awoke to the second
(10:35):
day on the raft. They lookedand saw the far round horizon and the
empty desert of the sea, andtheir own long shadows that slept slowly before
them, over its smooth, slowheaving. The land had sunk away from
them in the night. The traphad been sprung. As the savage sun
(10:58):
kindled upon them with the power ofa burnt in glass. A calm fell,
an absolute calm. The air hungweighted, the sea heaved and fell
in polished undulations, and the sunshone, driving in under their eyelids like
white hot splinters. They crawled tothe shelter of the mats, gasping,
(11:22):
shriveling. And the water, theworld of water was slack and thick as
oil. Oh, how longly itis, doctor Devouz, Yes, parrot,
look around you? What do youmean gone? Look around? What
do you see? I see water, parrot, and the horizon, nothing
(11:48):
else. Oh don't you see aship? A saucy little schooner, those
were your words. Well, whereis it? Why don't you see it?
It will come? Will it comfortus to be dead when it comes?
You you say that you count onyour friends, But suppose they leave
you to rot here, leave Parrotand me to rot here. That would
(12:11):
be a joke, hey, doctor, to wait for a ship that will
never come. It will come,My friends will not fail me. Why
how do you know? How canyou be so sure? There's a safety
vault in Paris full of papers tobe opened at my death. Those papers
contain confession. No, gentlemen,my friends will not fail me. That
(12:35):
perrot. Eh. A moment agoyou ask me what I saw, Well,
there was something I neglected. What'sthere? I see a cannock and
this raft with us. He doesnot join us, He does not look
at us. He sits on hisheels in the way of the Native,
(12:58):
with his arms hugging his knees.He sits at the stern, motionless,
under the shattering sun, gazing outinto it, into vacancy. Whenever I
raise my eyes, I see nothingelse, only this cannock. He he
seems to be enjoying himself. Quitewell. I was thinking so myself.
(13:18):
The cannibal, a savage. Hedoes not seem to suffer. What's going
on in his brain? What doeshe dream of? There? He looks
as though he hates us, adirty rat to be. Maybe he's waiting
for us to die. Maybe he'swaiting for the reward. Least he wouldn't
(13:39):
starve on the way home. Hecould deliver us peace by peace. Oh
does he do a doctor. Hasn'the any feeling? I've been wondering it.
It may be that his fibers aretougher, his nerve. But we've
had water and he hasn't yet.See his skin it's moist and fresh,
(14:01):
and his belly that is a football. Don't tell me this savage is thirsty?
Is there any way he could stealour supplies? Certainly? Not?
Suppose he has his own supplies hidden? Why who will see? Search the
wrath? Come on, we lengthsee here and look unto the match head.
Push him aside anything, gentlemen,gentlemen, you were mistaken. He
(14:26):
is nothing hidden. He You're wrongabout him? Doctor, he can you
say he has no understanding. There'sone thing he can understand. Pain too
much? Come her, that'll teachyou. Not so chippy? Now?
(14:50):
Are you not so happy with yourluck? That'll make you feel well?
Perrot? You feel better now,don't you superior? Come back, my
friends, come back under the mats. The glare of the sun is not
so bad there, Oh, idiots? What's the matter with our parrot?
(15:15):
Now? Idiots? Why do welook? And look? The schooner can't
help us. Now. If we'rebecomed, then they are too, doctor,
Is that true? Yes, wemust talk for a breeze first.
Then why didn't you tell us wetrust you? Why do you keep on
(15:37):
playing out the farce? You arewise, doctor, you are very wise.
Put down the knife, parrot.You know things we owned, and
you keep them to yourself. Allright, But be careful if you think
you'll use your wisdom to get thebest of us. Be careful, doctor,
(16:00):
because I still have the knife.And so the days dragged by,
the second, the third, andnow it was the fourth day, and
still there was no breeze, andstill there was no ship. A doctor,
(16:25):
Yes, what do you what doyou stare at at him? At
him, the native of the Canark? Why look at him, and look
at us. We are dying,our powers are ebbing, and him naked,
(16:48):
wild, brutish, he has yetto give the slightest sign of complaint
weakness? Doctor? Is this aman or a fiend? A man?
It is a man, a miracle. It is a man, and a
very poor and wretched example of aman. Why you'll find no lower type
(17:11):
anywhere. Look at his cranial ankle, the high years, the heavy bones
of his skull. I he heis scarcely above an ape, and what
he has? A secret er secret? But we see him every movie,
makes every minute. What chance hashe for a secret? Absurd? Here
(17:37):
are we three children of the century, products of civilization, and here is
this savage who belongs before the stoneage? Is he to win this struggle?
Absurd? What kind of secret?I can't say. Perhaps some method
(17:57):
of breathing, some strange posture heuses to cheat the sensations of the body.
Such things are known among primitive peoples, known and jealously guarded, like
the properties of certain drugs, theuses of hypnotism. Who knows? We
(18:18):
can know? We can find out? Would you ask him useless? He
would not tell? Why should heWe who scorn him, We give him
no share with us, We abusehim, And so he falls back upon
his own expedients. They are themeans by which he has survived, from
the depth of time, by whichhe may yet survive when all our wisdom
(18:42):
is dust. There are a numberof ways of learning secrets. I know
them all. It would be useless. How could he stand any torture you
might invent? You saw how hebehaved before. No, No, that's
not the way. Or listen tomy way. I'm tired of all this
(19:06):
talk. You say he's a man, all right, then he has blood
in his veins. At least wecould drink. No, it would be
too hot, it would be salt. Well kill him then and throw him
over the side. Let's be ridof the thing. We gain nothing.
Then, what do you want?I want to beat him, That's what
(19:30):
I want to beat him at thegame. For our own sakes, for
our racial pride. We must tohave blest him, to prove ourselves his
masters. Watch him, Watch himclosely, my friends, watch. I'll
watch all right, my good doctor, I'm not sleeping any more, and
(19:55):
leave you alone with that bottle.The bottle, the bottle. I've been
meaning to discuss our rations with you. Have you running very short? I'm
afraid we must cut down again.And what I will cut to? Half
a Thimblefulllo, we must keep ourwits. I shall no, all right,
(20:18):
then we'll put it on a boat. You say no, I say
yes, pheneral, yes, yes, anything, but give me mine now.
Then let's half a thimbleful for monsieurfeneroux your share, fenerou more more,
(20:38):
I'll die, give me more nomore to day you must, you
must doctor, no more to day. Look a ship, a ship at
last? Way, where is it? I don't see any ship. It's
a trick. Look, Feneral,he has the bottle. You don't,
aye, look at him? Youkilled him with that? Or what about
(21:03):
the bottle? Eh? Yes,there's some left. You caught him just
in time, and you caught thebottle just in time, it seems I
did. And there is no ship. There will be no ship. We
are done because of you and yourdirty promises that brought us here. Doctor,
(21:29):
he lie a fool. Don't comeany closer. Must you want this
flask broken over your head? No? I wouldn't want that. Just think,
perrot. Why should you and Ifight? We can see this trouble
through and win. Yet this calmcan't last forever. Besides, there will
(21:52):
be only two of us to dividethe water. Now, yeah, that's
true, isn't it? And CannyLee just his share and inheritance. All
right. I'll take mine, now, my share, right now, if
you please, later we'll see sobe it. You'll share uh many things?
(22:26):
And now Fenor rules share to me, please as you say? No?
And now another another good doctor?Three, that's enough, parent,
(22:49):
No doctor, it's not enough nowI'll take the rest. Pa stop my
arm. I will kill you ifyou don't let go. Thank you.
You see I have manners, haven'tI? And I have wisdom too,
(23:15):
And because I fooled a very wiseman, I toast you. Doctor.
The best man wins. That wasa bright idea of yours, the best
(23:41):
So, the best man wins.E you forgot I'm aducted, inn't you?
You? You forgot that a mancannot go without water for four days,
then drink his fill and live throughit. Go on, paar it,
guess about your worthless life. WhileI laughed. The best man always
(24:07):
wins, fared the best man mSo the best man wins. Yes,
doctor, if you forgot my knife, didn't you forgot me lying at your
feet? Keep me up? Forgetdidn't you? But now it is I,
(24:30):
Penny Roe, who will outlast thetwo of you. Here's my good
doctor, the best man always,I mean role you fool the water it's
running out? Oh oh oh,come in, come in? Happened longboats
(25:33):
Batcher? Alright, send marte In. He's right here, sir. Bad
luck, sir. The raft washere all the time, not ten miles
away from us. Yeah, thatcome well there right, the passengers.
We're too late. They're all dead, all dead, eh, Yes,
one stabbed to death, another skullcrushed, the other fried by the sun.
(25:55):
All dead. Well, all thebetter because there's nothing to me.
Yeah, but how are you going? Hogs hits? My friend hogs hits
in the afterhold. Fill them nicelywith Brian and there were I don't understand,
are you dull? Mate? Verydull? The gentleman's passages all paid
before we left Sydney. I contractedto bring back three escaped convicts, and
(26:19):
I'll bring them back pickled. Soif you'll go back my toe and bring
them aboard with a trip, I'llbe much so black, all right,
welter, Oh, there's a fourthman on the raft, captain, a
Kannak, still alive. What dowe do with him? A Kannak?
No word in my contract of AdneyCannack. Leave him here. He's only
(26:40):
a savage. And so doctor Debouseand Feneru and the parrot went aboard for
the long trip to their beloved parrots, their bodies pitching and rolling gently in
the huge vats of brine on theraft. The Poorfman raised his head slightly
(27:02):
as a wind freshened from the west. He watched until the schooner turned shaping
away for Australia and disappeared over therim of the horizon. Then he spread
his sail of pandanas leeves and headedhis raft eastward, back toward New Caledonia,
back toward home. Feeling somewhat dryafter his exertion, the native plucked
(27:29):
a hollow reed at random from therushes on his raft. Slowly, lazily,
he stretched himself at full length inhis accustomed place at the stern.
He thrust the reed down deep intoone of the bladders underneath the raft,
and slowly drank his fill of sweetwater. He had a dozen such storage
(27:52):
bladders remaining built into the floats atintervals above the water line, quite enough
to last him safely leave home again. Escape is produced and directed by William
(28:18):
N. Robson The Fourth Man byJohn Russell. Was adapted for radio by
Irving Ravich, with Paul Freeze asDoctor Dubos, Joe Kerns Espenerou and Nestor
Piva as Perrot. Bill Johnstone narrated. The special musical score was conceived and
conducted by Cypewer. Escape has beenpresented by the Columbia Broadcasting System and its
affiliated station. Be sure to bewith us next Monday night when the radio
(28:49):
theater returns to the air with BennyDavis and Glenn Ford starring in A Stolen
Life. Remember next Monday evening,from nine to ten pm Eastern daylight time,
the Lux Radio Theater starts its fourteenthyear over CBS. The play A
Stolen Light. The stars Betty Davisand Glenn Ford. This is CBS,
(29:15):
the Columbia Broadcasting System
Escape Escape Tonight to a raft inthe South Pacific. The Columbia Broadcasting System
and its affiliated stations presents Escape,produced and directed by William N. Robeson
this The last of the summer seriesis The Fourth Man by John Russell,
(00:35):
New Maya in the South Pacific,to a generation of French criminals, a
word to be uttered in the sameterrified breath with Devil's Island, the penal
colony at New Maya, where thecutthroats, garatas and sadists from the dregs
of French society were sent to aliving death. Tonight, we invite you
to escape from New Maya. InJohn Russell's The Fourth Man, the raft
(01:03):
stood to open sea. A matof pandana sleeves served for its sail,
and a paddle of wood for itshelm. It was woven of reeds and
bamboo sticks, lashed upon triple rowsof bladders, and it carried four men,
three of them sad huddled together atthe far end. Their bodies were
(01:26):
blackened with dried blood, and thehair upon them was long and matted.
They wore only the rags of blueconvict's uniforms on wrist and ankle. They
carried their mark, the dark andwrinkled stain of the manacles. There was
de boats doctor, man of theworld, murderer. Friends, the thing
(01:49):
is done and feneroul forger ladies,man, weakling coward. Yes, we've
escaped, and no one known asthe parrot, thief and cutthroat. So
far, so good, and bythe way of celebration, gentlemen, may
I offer you cigarettes? Cigarettes?Doctor, you're a marvel a magician.
(02:15):
Look at them, quite and fresh, as though they just came from the
package. How did you do it? Oh? Every six months there are
about seventy five escapes from New Mayor, and not more than one succeeds.
Ours would be that one I knew, so three weeks ago I bribed the
night guard for these very cigarettes,so that we might sit here, my
(02:38):
friends, as we are doing,and celebrate. I want a light,
a light for the parrot. Ourdoctor is a wonder He thinks of everything.
He gives us cigarettes, matches andour freedom. Wait till you've got
your two feet on a pavement again, that'll be the time to sound off
about freedom. To where Starched callsagain to stroll the girl, clean and
(03:04):
fresh from her bath down the placela concorde belief. Suppose we get a
storm. It's not the season ofstorms just the same. Suppose we get
a storm, Parricat, My friend, you must not be so impatient.
Remember we were convicts back there,festering and oblivion. Now we are men
(03:24):
raised from the dead. Suppose weget a storm. Uh, you've got
a gift of speech, doctor,But where's the ship that was going to
meet us here? This is theday is agreed, it will meet us.
The wind will blow us to Chinaif we keep on. We can't
(03:45):
lie any closer to shore. There'sa government launch at Toryen. And I
doubt if the native trackers have givenus up. Careful, parrot, the
natives leach you, yet, I'veheard about that. Is it true,
doctor, that they'll people are runawayso I can capture to flatten On.
Oh they prefer the reward. Still, I doubt if they've entirely lost the
(04:09):
habit of cannibals, peace by peace, Parrot. First they'll sample you,
Then they'll make a stew out ofyour brains. Oh, they won't miss
a thing. Shut up, philarroom, filthy brutes. Oh, I
almost forgot we have one of them. With us. The fourth man was
(04:33):
steering the raft. He sat crouchedin the stern, his body glistening with
spray. His huge, dark handsheld the steering battle. He was motionless,
like an idol, his eyes fixedon the course ahead. The fourth
man on the raft. You arelooking at a canarch, my friend.
(04:56):
You will see nothing superior, noline of beauty to redeem the low angle
of the forehead, the knobby jointsof the body. Nature has stamped him
with the mark of inferiority, andhe has set the final seal himself with
that twist of bark about his middle, that prong of pig ivory through his
nose. Yes, but none theless, he is a man, and
(05:17):
there is a price on our heads. He could be taking us. Worry
alike, calm yourself and areou Thisis a very simple animal and Infantryly does
that mean he couldn't double cross us? It does. He is bound by
his duty. I made my bargainwith his chief up the river, and
this one is sent to deliver uson board our ship. That's the only
(05:41):
interest he has in us, andhe'll do it. He will. That
is the nature of the native.Now I don't trust him, not for
a minute. The brute, theanimal. You it's you. I'm talking
about, you, dirty brute.Save your breath, perret. He speaks
no language, only a few noises, few signs. I don't feel right
(06:04):
on the same raft with that.Where burn yourselves up in the sun if
you like with me, I'm goingto crawl under a mat. Get asleep.
Yes, we should all sleep alittle, conserve ourselves, and when
we awake, our ship will behere, a saucy little topsail schooner,
(06:28):
a mass standing out against the sky, and will be on our way to
France. Is sleep, my friends. The two younger convicts dozed under the
heat of the day, but notthe doctor. He stood once again to
(06:51):
sweep the skyline under his shaded hand. His plan had been so careful,
so precise. He had counted absolon meeting the ship, a small schooner,
one of those flitting, half piraticaltraders of the Copra Islands that can
be hired like cabs in a darkstreet for any sinister enterprise. And there
(07:14):
was no ship, and there wasno crossroads where one might sit and wait,
Eh, good morning, doctor,it's afternoon pheneru. Oh, yes,
(07:35):
so it is I slept like acorpse? Hey, where's the ship?
Doctor? It was going to behere when we woke up. It
will be I'm thirsty. I'm dyingwith thirst. So well, where's the
flask? I'm roasted in the sun. You just have to roast some more.
(07:57):
This crew is put on rations.What are you talking about? Where's
that water? I have it here? Show your hair? You think it's
yours? No, it's ours,parrot. I want a drink, doctor,
think a little parrot. We haveto guard our supplies like reasonable men.
(08:18):
We don't know how long we maybe floating here. Oh so that's
how you talk now. You don'tknow how long. But you were sure
enough when we started. I amstill sure. The ship will come.
She cannot stay for us in onespot. She'll be cruising to and fro
until she intercepts us, and wemust wait er. That's good. Wait.
(08:41):
And in the meantime, what fryhere in this heat? Our tongues
hanging out? Why you deal usout water drop by drop? Perhaps?
No, a man doesn't live.Who can feed me with a spoon unless
you would die very speedily. Wemust guard our water. We can only
do our best with what we haveall right, doctor, do your best.
(09:07):
Give me a drink. You youmay have your share, of course,
but be warned when it's gone,don't come to us to phenerone me.
Yes, what's fair? Is fair? My drink? Very well?
Oh, A symbol for one thymbol. This way we should have enough for
(09:30):
three days, maybe more, withequal shares among the three of us.
Hah, that's right, there areonly three of us. You er.
You were thinking of him, Fenero, about Pilot. He looks somewhat like
us, doesn't he. But hisbody has never known clothes, his feet
shoes. His heart has never knownthe swelling that comes with feelings of love
(09:52):
or beauty. His mind has neverknown a single thought. Humph. Look
at us, three gentlemen, YouPharaoh a forger, you parrot a thief,
and I, Doctor Dubous of Parisand Marseilles, a murderer. And
(10:13):
yet we are civilized men, andthis is a savage animal. And our
provisions are for civilized men only.And the three men awoke to the second
(10:35):
day on the raft. They lookedand saw the far round horizon and the
empty desert of the sea, andtheir own long shadows that slept slowly before
them, over its smooth, slowheaving. The land had sunk away from
them in the night. The traphad been sprung. As the savage sun
(10:58):
kindled upon them with the power ofa burnt in glass. A calm fell,
an absolute calm. The air hungweighted, the sea heaved and fell
in polished undulations, and the sunshone, driving in under their eyelids like
white hot splinters. They crawled tothe shelter of the mats, gasping,
(11:22):
shriveling. And the water, theworld of water was slack and thick as
oil. Oh, how longly itis, doctor Devouz, Yes, parrot,
look around you? What do youmean gone? Look around? What
do you see? I see water, parrot, and the horizon, nothing
(11:48):
else. Oh don't you see aship? A saucy little schooner, those
were your words. Well, whereis it? Why don't you see it?
It will come? Will it comfortus to be dead when it comes?
You you say that you count onyour friends, But suppose they leave
you to rot here, leave Parrotand me to rot here. That would
(12:11):
be a joke, hey, doctor, to wait for a ship that will
never come. It will come,My friends will not fail me. Why
how do you know? How canyou be so sure? There's a safety
vault in Paris full of papers tobe opened at my death. Those papers
contain confession. No, gentlemen,my friends will not fail me. That
(12:35):
perrot. Eh. A moment agoyou ask me what I saw, Well,
there was something I neglected. What'sthere? I see a cannock and
this raft with us. He doesnot join us, He does not look
at us. He sits on hisheels in the way of the Native,
(12:58):
with his arms hugging his knees.He sits at the stern, motionless,
under the shattering sun, gazing outinto it, into vacancy. Whenever I
raise my eyes, I see nothingelse, only this cannock. He he
seems to be enjoying himself. Quitewell. I was thinking so myself.
(13:18):
The cannibal, a savage. Hedoes not seem to suffer. What's going
on in his brain? What doeshe dream of? There? He looks
as though he hates us, adirty rat to be. Maybe he's waiting
for us to die. Maybe he'swaiting for the reward. Least he wouldn't
(13:39):
starve on the way home. Hecould deliver us peace by peace. Oh
does he do a doctor. Hasn'the any feeling? I've been wondering it.
It may be that his fibers aretougher, his nerve. But we've
had water and he hasn't yet.See his skin it's moist and fresh,
(14:01):
and his belly that is a football. Don't tell me this savage is thirsty?
Is there any way he could stealour supplies? Certainly? Not?
Suppose he has his own supplies hidden? Why who will see? Search the
wrath? Come on, we lengthsee here and look unto the match head.
Push him aside anything, gentlemen,gentlemen, you were mistaken. He
(14:26):
is nothing hidden. He You're wrongabout him? Doctor, he can you
say he has no understanding. There'sone thing he can understand. Pain too
much? Come her, that'll teachyou. Not so chippy? Now?
(14:50):
Are you not so happy with yourluck? That'll make you feel well?
Perrot? You feel better now,don't you superior? Come back, my
friends, come back under the mats. The glare of the sun is not
so bad there, Oh, idiots? What's the matter with our parrot?
(15:15):
Now? Idiots? Why do welook? And look? The schooner can't
help us. Now. If we'rebecomed, then they are too, doctor,
Is that true? Yes, wemust talk for a breeze first.
Then why didn't you tell us wetrust you? Why do you keep on
(15:37):
playing out the farce? You arewise, doctor, you are very wise.
Put down the knife, parrot.You know things we owned, and
you keep them to yourself. Allright, But be careful if you think
you'll use your wisdom to get thebest of us. Be careful, doctor,
(16:00):
because I still have the knife.And so the days dragged by,
the second, the third, andnow it was the fourth day, and
still there was no breeze, andstill there was no ship. A doctor,
(16:25):
Yes, what do you what doyou stare at at him? At
him, the native of the Canark? Why look at him, and look
at us. We are dying,our powers are ebbing, and him naked,
(16:48):
wild, brutish, he has yetto give the slightest sign of complaint
weakness? Doctor? Is this aman or a fiend? A man?
It is a man, a miracle. It is a man, and a
very poor and wretched example of aman. Why you'll find no lower type
(17:11):
anywhere. Look at his cranial ankle, the high years, the heavy bones
of his skull. I he heis scarcely above an ape, and what
he has? A secret er secret? But we see him every movie,
makes every minute. What chance hashe for a secret? Absurd? Here
(17:37):
are we three children of the century, products of civilization, and here is
this savage who belongs before the stoneage? Is he to win this struggle?
Absurd? What kind of secret?I can't say. Perhaps some method
(17:57):
of breathing, some strange posture heuses to cheat the sensations of the body.
Such things are known among primitive peoples, known and jealously guarded, like
the properties of certain drugs, theuses of hypnotism. Who knows? We
(18:18):
can know? We can find out? Would you ask him useless? He
would not tell? Why should heWe who scorn him, We give him
no share with us, We abusehim, And so he falls back upon
his own expedients. They are themeans by which he has survived, from
the depth of time, by whichhe may yet survive when all our wisdom
(18:42):
is dust. There are a numberof ways of learning secrets. I know
them all. It would be useless. How could he stand any torture you
might invent? You saw how hebehaved before. No, No, that's
not the way. Or listen tomy way. I'm tired of all this
(19:06):
talk. You say he's a man, all right, then he has blood
in his veins. At least wecould drink. No, it would be
too hot, it would be salt. Well kill him then and throw him
over the side. Let's be ridof the thing. We gain nothing.
Then, what do you want?I want to beat him, That's what
(19:30):
I want to beat him at thegame. For our own sakes, for
our racial pride. We must tohave blest him, to prove ourselves his
masters. Watch him, Watch himclosely, my friends, watch. I'll
watch all right, my good doctor, I'm not sleeping any more, and
(19:55):
leave you alone with that bottle.The bottle, the bottle. I've been
meaning to discuss our rations with you. Have you running very short? I'm
afraid we must cut down again.And what I will cut to? Half
a Thimblefulllo, we must keep ourwits. I shall no, all right,
(20:18):
then we'll put it on a boat. You say no, I say
yes, pheneral, yes, yes, anything, but give me mine now.
Then let's half a thimbleful for monsieurfeneroux your share, fenerou more more,
(20:38):
I'll die, give me more nomore to day you must, you
must doctor, no more to day. Look a ship, a ship at
last? Way, where is it? I don't see any ship. It's
a trick. Look, Feneral,he has the bottle. You don't,
aye, look at him? Youkilled him with that? Or what about
(21:03):
the bottle? Eh? Yes,there's some left. You caught him just
in time, and you caught thebottle just in time, it seems I
did. And there is no ship. There will be no ship. We
are done because of you and yourdirty promises that brought us here. Doctor,
(21:29):
he lie a fool. Don't comeany closer. Must you want this
flask broken over your head? No? I wouldn't want that. Just think,
perrot. Why should you and Ifight? We can see this trouble
through and win. Yet this calmcan't last forever. Besides, there will
(21:52):
be only two of us to dividethe water. Now, yeah, that's
true, isn't it? And CannyLee just his share and inheritance. All
right. I'll take mine, now, my share, right now, if
you please, later we'll see sobe it. You'll share uh many things?
(22:26):
And now Fenor rules share to me, please as you say? No?
And now another another good doctor?Three, that's enough, parent,
(22:49):
No doctor, it's not enough nowI'll take the rest. Pa stop my
arm. I will kill you ifyou don't let go. Thank you.
You see I have manners, haven'tI? And I have wisdom too,
(23:15):
And because I fooled a very wiseman, I toast you. Doctor.
The best man wins. That wasa bright idea of yours, the best
(23:41):
So, the best man wins.E you forgot I'm aducted, inn't you?
You? You forgot that a mancannot go without water for four days,
then drink his fill and live throughit. Go on, paar it,
guess about your worthless life. WhileI laughed. The best man always
(24:07):
wins, fared the best man mSo the best man wins. Yes,
doctor, if you forgot my knife, didn't you forgot me lying at your
feet? Keep me up? Forgetdidn't you? But now it is I,
(24:30):
Penny Roe, who will outlast thetwo of you. Here's my good
doctor, the best man always,I mean role you fool the water it's
running out? Oh oh oh,come in, come in? Happened longboats
(25:33):
Batcher? Alright, send marte In. He's right here, sir. Bad
luck, sir. The raft washere all the time, not ten miles
away from us. Yeah, thatcome well there right, the passengers.
We're too late. They're all dead, all dead, eh, Yes,
one stabbed to death, another skullcrushed, the other fried by the sun.
(25:55):
All dead. Well, all thebetter because there's nothing to me.
Yeah, but how are you going? Hogs hits? My friend hogs hits
in the afterhold. Fill them nicelywith Brian and there were I don't understand,
are you dull? Mate? Verydull? The gentleman's passages all paid
before we left Sydney. I contractedto bring back three escaped convicts, and
(26:19):
I'll bring them back pickled. Soif you'll go back my toe and bring
them aboard with a trip, I'llbe much so black, all right,
welter, Oh, there's a fourthman on the raft, captain, a
Kannak, still alive. What dowe do with him? A Kannak?
No word in my contract of AdneyCannack. Leave him here. He's only
(26:40):
a savage. And so doctor Debouseand Feneru and the parrot went aboard for
the long trip to their beloved parrots, their bodies pitching and rolling gently in
the huge vats of brine on theraft. The Poorfman raised his head slightly
(27:02):
as a wind freshened from the west. He watched until the schooner turned shaping
away for Australia and disappeared over therim of the horizon. Then he spread
his sail of pandanas leeves and headedhis raft eastward, back toward New Caledonia,
back toward home. Feeling somewhat dryafter his exertion, the native plucked
(27:29):
a hollow reed at random from therushes on his raft. Slowly, lazily,
he stretched himself at full length inhis accustomed place at the stern.
He thrust the reed down deep intoone of the bladders underneath the raft,
and slowly drank his fill of sweetwater. He had a dozen such storage
(27:52):
bladders remaining built into the floats atintervals above the water line, quite enough
to last him safely leave home again. Escape is produced and directed by William
(28:18):
N. Robson The Fourth Man byJohn Russell. Was adapted for radio by
Irving Ravich, with Paul Freeze asDoctor Dubos, Joe Kerns Espenerou and Nestor
Piva as Perrot. Bill Johnstone narrated. The special musical score was conceived and
conducted by Cypewer. Escape has beenpresented by the Columbia Broadcasting System and its
affiliated station. Be sure to bewith us next Monday night when the radio
(28:49):
theater returns to the air with BennyDavis and Glenn Ford starring in A Stolen
Life. Remember next Monday evening,from nine to ten pm Eastern daylight time,
the Lux Radio Theater starts its fourteenthyear over CBS. The play A
Stolen Light. The stars Betty Davisand Glenn Ford. This is CBS,
(29:15):
the Columbia Broadcasting System
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