- 7 months ago
Escape is an American radio drama. It was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954.
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00:00Did you have too many Easter eggs today?
00:03Dreaming about that vacation you can't take yet?
00:07Want to get away from it all?
00:09We offer you escape.
00:21You are groping your way slowly through the dark hold of a ship at sea.
00:27Moving carefully, step by step.
00:30Searching intently for something you dread to find.
00:34Because you know that this ship carries a cargo of death.
00:49Escape.
00:50Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure.
00:56Tonight, at your request, we bring back one of our most popular escape stories.
01:06We escaped to a harbor front in Venezuela.
01:09And a grim voyage which started from there.
01:12As told by Martin Storm in his gripping tale,
01:15A Shipment of Mute Fate.
01:19I stopped on the wharf at La Guaira,
01:35looked up the gangplank toward the liner Chang K,
01:38standing there quietly at a moorings.
01:40The day was warm under a bright tropic sun.
01:43The harbor beyond the ship lay drowsy and silent.
01:46But all at once, in the midst of those peaceful surroundings,
01:49a cold chill gripped me.
01:52And I shivered with sudden dread.
01:54Dread of the thing I was doing and was about to do.
01:56Too much had happened to turn back now.
02:04I'd gone too far to stop.
02:07I set the box down on the edge of the wharf,
02:09placed it carefully so as to be in plain sight,
02:12and within gunshot of the captain's bridge.
02:15I knew what I was going to do,
02:17but I couldn't forget that a certain pair of beady eyes
02:19were watching every move I made.
02:22Eyes had never blinked and never closed,
02:24just watched and waited.
02:27I turned and started up the gangplank.
02:29Oh!
02:30Oh!
02:31You startled me, sir.
02:34Why, it's Mr. Warner.
02:36Hello, Mother Willis.
02:37How's the best-looking stewardess on the seven seas?
02:39Well, I'm fine.
02:41I'm fine, Mr. Warner.
02:43I guess I'd better run along now.
02:47Get on with my chores.
02:48Well, now, wait a minute.
02:49That's a fine greeting after two months.
02:51It's just that I'm so busy.
02:53I don't believe a word of it.
02:54Sailing day's tomorrow.
02:56You're simply avoiding me, that's all.
02:58Oh, no, really, I'm not.
03:00And on the trip down from New York,
03:01you said I was your favorite passenger.
03:03But I'm only...
03:03Here, here.
03:04What's that you're carrying in your apron?
03:06Oh, it's nothing.
03:07Just...
03:08Just supplies.
03:09Supplies?
03:10Let's have a look.
03:10No, please.
03:11What?
03:12It's a cat.
03:13It's Clara, Mr. Warner.
03:15Well, Mr. Bowman said I had to leave her ashore,
03:18and I just couldn't.
03:20Who's Mr. Bowman?
03:21The new second mate.
03:23Clara's been aboard with me for two years,
03:25and I just can't leave her here in a foreign country,
03:29especially with...
03:31with her condition so delicate and all.
03:34Yes, I see.
03:36Well, I hope you get away with it.
03:38You...
03:38You won't tell anyone.
03:41Not a soul.
03:42As a matter of fact, if things don't work out right,
03:44we may both end up smuggling.
03:52Well, I was happy to have your boat on the trip down
03:54two months ago, Christopher,
03:55and I'm very glad you're coming along with us
03:57on the run back to New York.
03:58Well, thanks, Captain Wood.
03:59There is one thing, though.
04:01I'm having a little trouble with the customs men here,
04:03and I want to...
04:03I can't do it, Christopher.
04:05I just cabled your father this morning
04:06and told him I'd have done it for you
04:08if I possibly could.
04:09He sent a request from New York, you know.
04:11Yeah, I thought he would.
04:12I wired him from upriver last week.
04:15I hated to refuse,
04:16but it's absolutely out of the question.
04:17Captain Wood, I'm afraid I don't follow you.
04:19Responsibility to the passengers, Sam.
04:21We'll have women and children aboard.
04:23Not a liner.
04:24The safety of the passengers
04:25comes ahead of anything else.
04:26But with proper precautions...
04:27Something might happen.
04:28What?
04:28I don't know what, but something might.
04:30You carried worse things.
04:32There isn't anything worse.
04:33Any skipper or float will bear me out.
04:35No, Christopher,
04:36I simply can't take the chance.
04:37That's final.
04:46Final.
04:47It wasn't final if I could do anything about it.
04:50I hadn't come down here to spend two months
04:52in that stinking backcountry
04:53and then be stopped on the edge of the wharf.
04:56Two months of it.
04:58Heat.
04:58Rain.
04:59Insects.
05:00Malaria.
05:00I'd gone clear in past the headwaters of the Orinoco.
05:05Traveled through country
05:06where every step along the jungle trail
05:08might be the last one.
05:10Sanchez!
05:11Si, senor Warner.
05:13Better start looking for a place to camp.
05:15Be dark in a little while.
05:17Si, senor.
05:18Very soon we'll turn to river.
05:20Camp on rocks by water.
05:23This very bad country.
05:24This very bad country.
05:26We've been saying that for ten days now.
05:28Very bad country.
05:29Si, senor Warner.
05:31This very bad country.
05:32Eh, skip it.
05:33For all the luck we've had so far
05:34it might as well be Central Park.
05:36Central Park?
05:38I don't understand.
05:40Never mind.
05:41Yeah, what's the matter?
05:42Quiet now!
05:44What's wrong?
05:45We're in the park.
05:46Si.
05:47Bushmaster.
05:52Bushmaster.
05:53The deadliest snake in the world.
05:56Bushmaster.
05:57His Latin name was Laquesa's muta.
06:00Mute fate.
06:01It lay there in the center of the path
06:03a ten foot length of silent death.
06:06Coiled loosely in an undulant loop
06:08ready to strike violently
06:09at the least movement.
06:11Here was the one snake
06:13that would go after any animal
06:14that walked
06:15or any man.
06:17It lay there and watched us.
06:19Not moving.
06:20Not afraid.
06:22Ready for anything.
06:22The splotch of its color
06:25stood out like some horrible
06:26gaudy floor mat
06:27lying there
06:27on the brown background
06:28of the jungle
06:29waiting for someone
06:30to step on it.
06:32Here was what I'd come
06:332,000 miles for.
06:35A Bushmaster.
06:40The natives captured the snake
06:42and Sanchez brought it to me
06:43in a rubber bag.
06:44He was shaking so hard
06:45I thought for a moment
06:46the thing had struck him.
06:47One thing you make sure
06:49Senor Warner
06:50no turn him loose
06:52in Venezuela
06:53because he know
06:55I the one who catch him
06:56and he know
06:58where I live.
06:59All right Sanchez
07:00I'll keep an eye on him.
07:01He also know
07:03you pay me to catch him
07:04all the time
07:06he watch and wait.
07:08You no forget that
07:09Senor Warner
07:10because he no forget
07:13not ever.
07:14Well after going through
07:20all that trouble
07:21and danger
07:22and laying out
07:221,500 bucks
07:23I wasn't going to let
07:25a pig-headed ship
07:26captain stop me
07:26at the last minute.
07:28At least not as long
07:29as the cables
07:29were still in operation
07:30between La Guara
07:31and New York.
07:32Good morning Captain Wood
07:33the boy at the hotel
07:34said you wanted to see me.
07:35That's right Christopher
07:36sit down.
07:37Thanks.
07:37Seems you weren't willing
07:38to let matters stand
07:39the way we left him yesterday.
07:40I'm sorry to go
07:41over your head Captain Wood
07:42but I had to.
07:43The museum sent me
07:44a long way
07:45to get that snake.
07:45I'm not going to be
07:46stopped by red tape.
07:47This will be the only
07:48live Bushmaster
07:49ever brought
07:49to the United States.
07:51Yes and if I had
07:52my way.
07:54Order the orders.
07:55Got a cable
07:56from the head office
07:56this morning.
07:58All right Christopher
07:58suppose we talk
07:59about precautions.
08:00I'll handle it
08:00any way you say.
08:01It's got to have
08:02a stronger box.
08:02That crate's too flimsy.
08:03Well it's stronger
08:04than it looks.
08:05A wire screen on top
08:06would hold a wildcat.
08:07But anyway I bought
08:08a heavy seat chest
08:09this morning.
08:09We'll put the crate
08:10inside of it.
08:11Sounds all right.
08:11Got a lock on it.
08:12Yeah a heavy padlock.
08:14It's fixed so the lid
08:15can be propped open
08:16a crack without unlocking it.
08:17Snake's got to have air.
08:18In dirty weather
08:19that lid has to stay shut.
08:20I'll take no chances.
08:21Fair enough.
08:22We'll keep the thing
08:23in my inside cabin
08:24where I sleep.
08:25We can't have it
08:25in the baggage room.
08:26And nobody on board
08:28is to know about it.
08:29Whatever you say Captain.
08:30We won't have any trouble
08:31after all.
08:32It's only an animal
08:33that doesn't have
08:34any magical powers.
08:35I saw a bushmaster
08:37in the zoo
08:37at Caracas once.
08:39They had it in a glass cage
08:41with double walls.
08:43Never moved.
08:44Just lay there
08:45and looked at you
08:46as long as you were in sight.
08:48Enough to give a man
08:49the creeps.
08:50Didn't know they had
08:51a bushmaster
08:51at the Caracas Zoo.
08:52They don't now.
08:54They found the glass
08:55broken one morning
08:56and the snake gone
08:57the night watchman dead.
08:59They never learned
09:00exactly what happened.
09:01Well, the watchman
09:02must have broken
09:03the glass by accident
09:04in some way.
09:05The way they figured it
09:06the glass was broken
09:07from the inside.
09:12We sail in four hours.
09:21End of the Caribbean
09:22with perfect weather
09:23and a sea as smooth
09:24as an inland lake.
09:26The barometer dropped
09:27a little on the third day
09:29but cleared up overnight
09:30left nothing worse
09:31and a heavy swell.
09:33But in spite of the
09:34calm seas and pleasant weather
09:35I found myself feeling
09:37more and more often
09:38an ominous foreboding.
09:41I was developing
09:42an almost unnatural fear
09:44of that snake.
09:46To stay clear
09:46of the passengers
09:47pretty much
09:47got the habit
09:48of dropping into
09:49Captain Wood's quarters
09:50several times a day.
09:52Kept the heavy box
09:53underneath his berth
09:54and approached it quietly
09:56and shined my flashlight
09:56through the open crack.
09:57never once could I catch
10:01that twelve foot devil
10:02asleep
10:03or even excited.
10:05He'd be lying there
10:06half coiled
10:06his head
10:07raised a little
10:08staring out of those
10:10beady black eyes
10:11waiting.
10:13He'd still be like that
10:14when I turned away
10:15to leave.
10:17Maybe that's what bothered me
10:18that horrible
10:19and constant
10:20watchful waiting.
10:21In the name of heaven
10:23was he waiting for.
10:26Well, hello there
10:27Mr. Warner.
10:28Oh, how are you
10:30Mother Willis?
10:31My, but you and the captain
10:32spend an awful lot
10:34of time around
10:34this cabin.
10:36I'm beginning to think
10:37the two of you
10:38must have some
10:39guilty secret.
10:41No, no, no, no.
10:42Nothing like that
10:43Mother Willis.
10:44I don't know about
10:45Captain Wood
10:45but I certainly
10:47don't have any
10:47guilty secret.
10:51Well, she's running
11:03quite a swell
11:04out there
11:04Mr. Bowman.
11:05Yeah, it's a little
11:05heavy all right
11:06Mr. Warner.
11:07Just a storm
11:07passed through
11:08to the west of us
11:08yesterday
11:09when the glass dropped.
11:10You think it missed
11:10us then, huh?
11:11Yeah, that's what
11:12the mate figures.
11:13Sure stirred up
11:14some water though.
11:15This will put
11:15half the passengers
11:16in their bunks.
11:17They'll keep
11:18Mother Willis
11:18so busy she...
11:20Hey, look at
11:21the size of that wave.
11:22Huh?
11:22Great G. Hossifat
11:23we're going to
11:24take it on the
11:24fourth bow.
11:25Hang on!
11:39That was a freak
11:40if there ever was one.
11:42Not another wave
11:43that size in sight.
11:44Oh, you see them
11:44like that sometimes
11:45even in a commsie.
11:46I've got to get
11:47below Mr. Warner
11:48if that water
11:48probably did some
11:49real damage
11:49in the officer's deck.
11:50Yeah, I...
11:51What did you say?
11:53The real companion
11:53way was open
11:54on the fourth side.
11:55The bridge cabins
11:55must have taken
11:56a pretty bad
11:56smashing up.
11:57They're right below
11:58the...
11:59Something wrong
11:59Mr. Warner?
12:00No.
12:02No, nothing at all
12:03Mr. Bowman.
12:05At least I hope not.
12:11I didn't stop
12:12to find Captain Wood.
12:13Of course I know
12:14it was only one chance
12:15in a thousand
12:15but the chances
12:16against that freak wave
12:17were one in a thousand too.
12:18I stumbled
12:19down the companion
12:20way and along
12:20the passage
12:21to the captain's cabin.
12:24Oh, come in
12:25Mr. Warner.
12:26Mother Willis.
12:27My, isn't this
12:28cabin a mess?
12:30Trying to get
12:31some of these things
12:32out to dry.
12:33Yeah, well,
12:33I just wanted to...
12:34Where's that box
12:36that was under
12:36the captain's bunk?
12:37Oh, that?
12:38Well, I just threw
12:39it out on the deck.
12:41What?
12:42Well, the desk
12:42over there
12:43slid into it.
12:44It was all smashed.
12:46But the small box
12:47inside of it,
12:47what happened to it?
12:48Oh, they were both
12:49splintered, Mr. Warner.
12:51Broke wide open.
12:53No.
12:54Well, Mr. Warner,
12:55you're white as a sheet.
12:57Mother Willis,
12:58go find Captain Wood.
12:59Tell him to come
13:00down here immediately.
13:01Well, of course,
13:02Mr. Warner.
13:03I'll go tell him
13:04right away.
13:05I can finish up here
13:06later.
13:07I can finish up here later.
13:10I pulled open
13:11the top drawer
13:12of the bureau inside.
13:13Took out the captain's
13:14flashlight and loaded pistol.
13:16Mother Willis had left
13:17a mop standing by the door.
13:18I put my foot on the head
13:19of it and snapped
13:19off the handle.
13:21Every move I made
13:22turned into slow motion.
13:23I could hear
13:24my own heartbeat.
13:26Slowly, I started
13:26to search the cabin.
13:29Sodden heaps of clothing
13:30and furnishings
13:30were scattered around
13:31on the wet black floor.
13:33I punched at them
13:34one at a time,
13:35holding the gun cocked,
13:36flashlight pointing
13:37along the stick.
13:39Nothing.
13:41I worked around the room,
13:42throwing the light
13:42into the dark corners,
13:43back of the desk,
13:44under the bunk.
13:46Wherever I turned,
13:47I could feel those
13:47cold, unblinking eyes
13:49at my back,
13:50watching,
13:51waiting.
13:52Using this stick,
13:53I pushed open
13:54the closet door
13:55and threw the light inside.
13:57Carefully,
13:57I poked at the boxes
13:58and junk on the floor.
14:01Snake was not
14:02in the closet.
14:04Inch by inch,
14:05I covered the entire cabin.
14:07And only then
14:08a horrible realization
14:09began to dawn on me.
14:11Captain Wood.
14:12Mother Willis just told me.
14:14Hello, Christopher.
14:15It's happened.
14:16That's right,
14:16it's happened.
14:17I see you found the gun.
14:18We better start
14:18searching the cabin here.
14:19Captain Wood,
14:20I just finished searching.
14:22Oh, then.
14:25Women,
14:25kids,
14:26and that thing
14:27loose on board.
14:28A thousand places
14:29for it to hide.
14:30Heaven help us,
14:31Christopher.
14:31I know you're starting
14:39to blame anybody now,
14:40gentlemen.
14:41I didn't call you in here
14:41to pass judgment.
14:42The thing's done
14:43and that's that.
14:44Well, you're right there,
14:45Captain.
14:45What we have got to do
14:46is to make up our minds
14:46how we're going to handle it.
14:47And it'd be easier
14:48if we didn't have to tell
14:49the passengers and crew.
14:50I've seen panics
14:51aboard liners before.
14:52Yes, I agree with you,
14:53Mr. Bowman.
14:54But I don't quite see
14:54how we can avoid it.
14:55They've got a right to know.
14:57As long as that snake's loose,
14:58everybody on board's
14:59in the same danger
15:00and they all ought
15:01to know about it.
15:01Captain Wood,
15:02that thing is 12 feet long.
15:03It can't simply
15:04crawl into a crack.
15:05Why don't we make
15:06a quick search of the whole ship
15:07before we spread any alarm?
15:08I've thought of that, Christopher.
15:09As far as I can see,
15:10the only place it couldn't be
15:11is in the boilers
15:12or on top of the galley stove.
15:13It might have crawled overboard.
15:15We can't count on that.
15:16We'd better assume
15:17it's on the ship somewhere.
15:18Yeah, and that could be anywhere.
15:19In a coil of rope,
15:20on a deck chair,
15:21an iron bucket,
15:22or in a pile of clothes.
15:23Yes, or under some woman's birth
15:24or a baby's crib.
15:25You've already said it.
15:27Bushmaster could be anywhere.
15:29We've got to do something.
15:30We've got to do it fast.
15:31All right.
15:31I think the best idea
15:32is to follow Mr. Warner's suggestion
15:33and make a quick search first.
15:34You agree to that?
15:35Right, yes, sir.
15:35And if we don't find it,
15:36we'll have to warn the passengers.
15:38We've got to find it.
15:46Alone in the dim baggage room,
15:47I went through the same movements
15:48as I had earlier
15:49in the captain's cabin.
15:51Gun in one hand,
15:52flashlight in the other.
15:54Poking into every dark corner.
15:56Behind every trunk and box.
15:58Since the baggage room was empty,
16:00I could keep the gun cocked and ready.
16:02The rest of those poor devils
16:03were having to do the same thing.
16:05Air-handed.
16:07All over the ship,
16:08the search went on.
16:08Here now, Stuart.
16:09What on earth are you doing
16:10rummaging through my cabin?
16:12Just checking up, ma'am.
16:13Well, I'm quite sure
16:14there's nothing in here
16:15that has to be checked.
16:16Sorry, ma'am.
16:17Captain's orders.
16:17It'll only take a few minutes.
16:18Well, I never heard of such a thing.
16:20A passenger simply
16:21doesn't have any privacy at all.
16:22I've traveled on a lot
16:24of different lines,
16:25but I've certainly never heard of anything.
16:30Sorry, Sarah.
16:31I wonder if you mind
16:32moving over to the other rail.
16:33I'd like to look through these lockers.
16:35Sure, go ahead.
16:36What's the matter?
16:36You lost something?
16:37No.
16:38No, just looking things over.
16:39There's nothing in there
16:40but life preservers.
16:42Yeah, that's right.
16:43You must be getting ready
16:44to sink the boat.
16:46Gonna collect the insurance, huh?
16:48Gonna send us all to the bottom, huh?
16:50Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
16:58But not one of us
16:59could find that deadly shape
17:01coiled in some dark corner
17:03or outstretched along a window seat.
17:05Not one of us caught a glimpse
17:07of that horrid head
17:08with its beady black watchful eyes.
17:12The thing lay waiting out there
17:13somewhere along the decks
17:14shaded in the gathering dusk.
17:17But where?
17:19We didn't know.
17:21It was nearly dark when we met together again in the chart room.
17:23Well, gentlemen, there's no other way around it.
17:25We've risked all the time we can.
17:27We've got to warn the passengers.
17:28How do we do it, Captain?
17:29Call them all together in the lounge?
17:31No.
17:31If we do anything like that, we'd be asking for a panic.
17:34We'll get one whether we ask for it or not.
17:36We pick a few men and go through the cabin decks.
17:39Tell them individually inside the cabins.
17:42Watch for any that act like they might cause trouble.
17:45We'll keep an eye on them.
17:47Handle the crew the same way.
17:48Right, Captain.
17:49As soon as you're finished, arm all the deck officers and start searching again.
17:54Our only chance of preventing a riot is to find that damnable snake.
18:04The slow nightmare that followed grew worse by the hour.
18:08None of us slept.
18:10All the ship's officers not on duty kept on with that endless search.
18:13Passengers locked themselves in their cabins or huddled together in the lounges,
18:18knowing all the time that no spot on board could be called safe.
18:22Fear was a heavy fog in the lungs of all of us,
18:26and every light on the vessel burned throughout the night.
18:30Morning came.
18:31Brought no relief.
18:33Terror and tension mounted by the hour.
18:35There now, Mrs. Crane.
18:42Stop getting yourself all woked up and go back to your cabin.
18:46The horrid things probably crawled overboard anyway.
18:49You're just saying that.
18:51You're paid to say that.
18:52You don't know.
18:53Nobody knows.
18:54Now, now, everything's going to be all right now.
18:56If only we could do something.
18:58If all of us could only get off the ship.
19:00Then they could fumigate it.
19:01Yes, that's it.
19:03We've got to.
19:03We've got to get off the ship.
19:05We've got to get off the ship.
19:06Wait.
19:07Mr. Bowman, she's going to jump.
19:09Let me go.
19:10No, you don't, lady.
19:11Let me go.
19:12Nice work, Mr. Bowman.
19:13Get her down to her cabin.
19:14Whatever you do, don't turn her loose.
19:23You never know when it might strike you.
19:24You can't put on a coat or move a chair without risking your life.
19:27Something's got to be done.
19:28It might be right here in this lounge.
19:30All right, Mr. Now, better quiet down and take it easy.
19:32Take it easy?
19:33You're a great officer.
19:34Why don't you do something about it?
19:35That thing might be crawling around here right under our feet somewhere.
19:38I said shut up.
19:39Are you trying to start a panic?
19:40I've got a right to talk.
19:42I don't want to die.
19:43Nobody's going to tell me what...
19:44The second night passed.
19:51Morning came around again.
19:54A gray and rainy day that dragged past.
19:57Then night came down again.
19:59Third night of the terror.
20:01Again, every light burned.
20:03The whole ship seethed in the throes of incipient panic.
20:06Faced by a horror they'd never met on the sea before,
20:09crew and officers alike were on the verge of revolt.
20:12Passengers sat huddled in the trance like stupor,
20:15ready to scream at the slightest unknown sound.
20:19Seven bells I made my way forward to the chart room,
20:21found Captain Wood bent over at desk.
20:23Oh, hello, Christopher.
20:26Come on in.
20:27Sit down.
20:28It's got to be somewhere, Captain Wood.
20:29It's got to be.
20:30I don't know.
20:31You can search the ship for six months
20:33and never touch all the places aboard.
20:36If we can only hold out for two more days,
20:38we'll be in.
20:39What's the home office say?
20:40Usually just wireless from them.
20:43Keep quiet and keep coming.
20:45What else can we do?
20:49How is it on the decks?
20:50Pretty bad.
20:52Anything could happen.
20:53Yes, that's why I took the guns away from the men.
20:55One pistol shot and we'd have a riot on our hands.
20:58All things my fault, Captain Wood.
20:59That's what I can't forget.
21:00Oh, I'll take it easy now.
21:01If there was only some way I could pay for it myself alone.
21:03Now, I know how you feel.
21:06But it's no more your fault than mine,
21:08or the man who asked you to bring that snake back alive.
21:12Nobody planned this.
21:14You'd better try to get a little sleep, boy.
21:17Sleep?
21:17Mr. Bowman made some coffee down in the steward's galley a while ago.
21:20Why don't you go on down and get yourself a cup?
21:22Then rest for a couple of hours.
21:24Rest?
21:25I can't rest.
21:26Christopher.
21:27It's not going to help anything if you stumble through a hatch half asleep
21:30and break your neck, is it?
21:32You go on and get some coffee.
21:35One way or another, we've got to hold out for two more days.
21:44Light was on the steward's galley.
21:49Coffee pot was standing on the stove.
21:52Still warm, so I didn't bother to heat it.
21:55Poured out a cup, carried it over,
21:57and set it on the porcelain tabletop at the center of the room.
22:00I started to light a cigarette.
22:03Door of the pan cover beneath the sink was standing slightly ajar.
22:07Happened to glance toward it.
22:08I dropped the cigarette.
22:13Moved slowly backward.
22:17I'd found the Bushmaster.
22:24As I moved, the snake slid out of the cupboard in a single sinuous glide.
22:29Drew back into a loose coil on the galley floor, never taking his eyes off me.
22:33I moved slowly back, waiting any moment for that deadly slithering strike.
22:37How had he known it was me?
22:39He'd stayed quiet when Bowman was here.
22:41How had he picked the first time in five days that I was without a gun?
22:45My hands touched the bulkhead behind me, and I stopped.
22:48Only then I realized in terror what I'd done.
22:51The call button and the door were on the far side of the room.
22:53I'd backed into a dead end.
22:56I stared at the snake in fascination,
22:59expecting any moment the ripping sledge of those poison fangs.
23:02The horrid coils tightened a little.
23:04Then we're still again.
23:05Ten million years of evolution to produce this moment.
23:10Homo sapiens versus Lachesis muta.
23:12A man against mute fate.
23:14And all the odds were on fate.
23:17I knew then that I was going to die.
23:26I could feel the sweat run down between the painted walls and the palms of my hands pressing against it.
23:30But my skin crawled and twitched and the pit of my stomach was as cold as ice.
23:34There was no sound but the rush of blood in my ears.
23:37The snake shifted again, drawing into a tighter coil, always tighter.
23:40Why didn't the devil get it over with?
23:43Then, just for an instant, his head veered away.
23:46Something moved over by the stove.
23:47I didn't dare turn to look at it.
23:50Slowly, it moved out into my line of vision.
23:53It was a cat.
23:55That scrawny cat Clara that Mother Willis had sneaked aboard in LaGuardia.
24:03Its back was arched and every hair stood on end.
24:06It moved stiff-legged now, walking in a half circle around the snake.
24:10The Bushmaster moved slowly and kept watching the cat.
24:14He tightened.
24:15He was going to strike at any second.
24:20He struck and missed.
24:22The cat was barely out of reach.
24:24Now she was walking back and forth again.
24:26She was asking to die.
24:31Missed again.
24:32By a fraction of an inch.
24:34He was striking now without even going to a full coil.
24:38Missed.
24:39Again and again.
24:40Always missing by the barest margin.
24:42Each time, the cat danced barely out of reach.
24:44And each time, she countered with one precise spat of a dainty paw.
24:46Bracing her skinny frame on three stiff legs.
24:49And then suddenly, I realized what she was doing.
24:53The Bushmaster was tiring.
24:55The one strike was just an instant slow.
24:56But in that split second, sharp claws raked across the evil head.
24:59And ripped out both the lidless eyes.
25:01The cat had deliberately blinded the snake.
25:05He didn't bother to coil now, but slid after her in a fury.
25:07They strike it wildly and rapidly.
25:09Always missing.
25:10And every strike was a little slower than the last one.
25:12Until finally...
25:16As the snake's neck stretched out at the end of the strike,
25:20the cat made one leap and sank her razor-shark teeth just back of the ugly head.
25:24Sank her until they crunched the bone.
25:27With tooth and claw, she clung as the monstrous snake flailed and lashed on the floor,
25:30striving to get those hideous coils around her,
25:32trying to break her hold, to shake off the claw in certain paralyzing depth
25:35that gradually crept over him and at last stilled his struggles forever.
25:41I took a deep breath, the first in minutes.
25:51The cat lay on her side on the floor, panting, resting from the fight just over.
26:00She had a right to rest.
26:02That mangy, brave, beautiful alley cat.
26:09It just saved my life.
26:12And maybe others as well.
26:14But as I turned toward the stove,
26:19I suddenly became very humble.
26:23And I knew all at once what a small thing a human being really is.
26:30I and others aboard were still alive only by the merest accident.
26:36There were three reasons why that cat had fought and killed the world's deadliest snake.
26:41And those three reasons came tottering out from under the stove on shaky little legs.
26:49Three kittens with their eyes bright with wonder and their tails stiff as pokers.
26:56Up on the decks, hundreds of passengers were waiting for the news
27:00that the days and nights of terror were ended.
27:04They could wait a little longer.
27:08I pulled open the doors of the cabinet.
27:11Found a can of milk.
27:13Then I dropped down on my knees.
27:17On the floor of the galley.
27:19Escape is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald.
27:44And tonight brought you A Shipment of Mute Fate by Martin Storm.
27:49Adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield.
27:52Featuring Harry Bartell as Chris Warner.
27:54Barry Kroger as Captain Wood.
27:56And Peggy Weber as Mother Willis.
27:58With Don Diamond, Sarah Selby and Frank Gerstle.
28:02Special effects by David Light.
28:04The musical score was conducted by Wilbur Hatch.
28:07Next week.
28:10You are hanging by your fingertips on the sheer face of an ice cliff.
28:18Suspended 2,000 feet above instant death.
28:23With your strength running out.
28:25And with no chance for escape.
28:28Next week.
28:42Escape with C.E. Montague's exciting story.
28:45Action.
28:47Good night then until the same time next week.
28:50When CBS again offers you.
28:52Escape.
28:53Escape.
28:53This is CBS.
28:59The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:01The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:11The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:13The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:14The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:15The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:15The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:15The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:15The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:15The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:16The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:16The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:17The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:17The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:18The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:19The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:19The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:20The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:21The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:21The Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:22The Columbia Broadcasting System.
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