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CBS Radio Mystery Theater (a.k.a. Radio Mystery Theater and Mystery Theater) is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, and later in the early 2000s was repeated by the NPR satellite feed.
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00:16Come in.
00:20Welcome.
00:22I'm E.G. Marshall.
00:24Welcome to the world of unbridled imagination.
00:28You know, man is a curious creature.
00:31Most of us settle for routine and habit.
00:34Eight hours on the job, another seven or eight in bed,
00:38and the other eight on some hobby that is neither too physically demanding
00:42nor asks for too many mental gymnastics.
00:45Few of us stretch ourselves beyond a reasonable limit.
00:49We coast through life.
00:51Our mental never really tried.
00:54But some of us, through harrowing experience,
00:58are stretched to the full capacity of our beings.
01:02It's then we find out what fiber we are made of.
01:08David! David! Help me!
01:12Eve, what is it? What is she?
01:14Help me! It's got me!
01:16Where's the flashlight?
01:17I can't see. Where's she?
01:19Eve!
01:20Pulling me up!
01:21We've got to get her!
01:22Eve, what is it?
01:23Stop!
01:24Sing!
01:25Eve!
01:25Believe me, I'm dead!
01:27What is she?
01:28Eve!
01:28Stop!
01:29What is she?
01:31Where is she?
01:33She's gone.
01:35Where?
01:36We dragged her under the arch there.
01:38Did you see anything?
01:39No, but you heard Eve.
01:41It's true.
01:43There is a thing that lives in these caves.
01:46And we're trapped.
01:48Trapped here!
01:50And it's mercy!
02:00Our mystery drama, The Thing in the Cave, was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Ian Martin, and stars
02:08Terry Keene and Marion Seldes.
02:23I don't suppose many of us ever plan to grow up to be speleologists, since most of us are subject
02:30to claustrophobia to at least some degree.
02:33For the very few of you who don't recognize the Latin terms, let me add that a speleologist, of course,
02:41is someone who studies and explores caves.
02:43And claustrophobia is that suffocating, pervasive dread of being shut in.
02:51This tale concerns itself with four young spelunkers.
02:55Those are cave explorers who do it only for fun.
02:59And their gruesome experience of being cave-bound.
03:04Literally buried alive.
03:08It's just around the next bend in the trail, Hank.
03:11It's funny, being born and bred in these mountains, and yet I've never been inside Choctaw Cave.
03:15Well, I'm not sure I want to myself.
03:17You get claustrophobia too, Barbara.
03:19David, I never even dare close the door in a phone booth.
03:22Darling?
03:23Yes, Eve?
03:24We can forget all this, you know.
03:26I don't have to have my childhood revisited.
03:29No, thanks.
03:30Right on.
03:30And if I refused you this little memory trip, I'd hear about it for the rest of our marriage.
03:35If you ever decide to go through at the wedding.
03:37Oh, just you try to leave me at the altar, David Tower.
03:43Well, here we are.
03:45Are we here?
03:46Yes, sir, General Custer.
03:49Cavalry, dis...
03:49No!
03:52Well, I don't see any cave.
03:53It's right behind that scrub oak there.
03:55Listen, what do we do about the horses?
03:57Oh, here.
03:58I'll hitch us all to the aspen here.
04:00My old Baldy, all I got to do is let the rains trail.
04:03He won't budge more than 20 feet till I get back.
04:06Hey, you know, it's kind of clouding up over in the northwest.
04:10Maybe we ought to be getting back down the mountain.
04:12Ah, come on.
04:13Give Eve her kicks.
04:15What's this?
04:16Oh, just my old faithful knapsack with some of the remains of lunch and a flashlight.
04:21Ah, meet an old boy scout.
04:23Be prepared.
04:24I brought a water bottle, too.
04:26Hey, come to think of it, if Eve wants to get up to the ledge,
04:29which she says goes to the back cavern,
04:31we ought to bring along a rope.
04:34Uh, fetch my luria, too, while you're at it.
04:36Will do.
04:37Where are you fellas?
04:38Come on.
04:39Bobby and I have found the entrance to the cave.
04:48Oh, Bobby.
04:50It all seemed a lot bigger when I was a kid.
04:53Barbara and I can make it all right, crawling, but Hank comes in the giant size.
05:00Hank, can you make it?
05:01It's just about as tight as a cork in a bottle.
05:05If I get stuck, you can be sorry if this is the only way in and out.
05:10With just a moment, we can all stand up.
05:12You'll see.
05:13Maybe we should all forget it.
05:15Are you scared?
05:17Uh, no, but I'm not exactly happy either.
05:20I don't know if Hank can...
05:23We're here.
05:24In the cave.
05:25I can stand up.
05:27Oh, come on, everyone.
05:29It's just beautiful.
05:30It's just as I remembered it.
05:33You're right, Eve.
05:34It's breathtaking.
05:37Like a cathedral buried at the bottom of the sea.
05:39Oh, hey.
05:41All green like Saint-Chapelle in Paris.
05:45Saint-Chapelle in Paris?
05:46Oh, it's a marvelous chapel near Notre Dame with all stained glass windows that make you
05:50feel as if you're scuba diving and looking at it through water.
05:53I can hear water, too.
05:55Somewhere.
05:56Come on.
05:57I'll show you where.
05:59Listen, look out for the, uh, what do you call them?
06:02Scalic tights, if they hang from the roof.
06:03Oh, and the ones from the floor are stalagmites, right?
06:07Here it is.
06:08Here's the waterfall.
06:10Oh, my bad.
06:12Oh, that's beautiful.
06:15But where do the pool drain?
06:17Well, nobody knows.
06:19But some say it's bottomless and it goes right through the earth.
06:22Well, where does the river that makes the waterfall come from?
06:24Up there?
06:25Well, the kids I used to know climbed up to the ledge there and then went in through the
06:30crest.
06:31They say it comes from another chain behind this.
06:34Where it comes from before that, I guess nobody knows.
06:38What's that?
06:41Oh, maybe it's him.
06:43Him.
06:45Or it's him.
06:46Maybe, Dr. Bob.
06:47I know.
06:48Oh, crazy.
06:49Oh, but it's such fun to remember how we kids used to come here together and talk about
06:54the thing.
06:56The thing?
06:57Well, what was the thing?
06:59I know.
06:59It was just something made up.
07:01Some country legend someone had heard about.
07:04This creature, this monster that lived in an underground river, whatever it is.
07:09What kind of monster?
07:11Well, you know, tiny and slippery and all the blob.
07:16With one great red-rimmed eye and long, shaky tentacles that crept and crawled along the
07:22rocks.
07:22Yeah.
07:22Until suddenly they bounced.
07:25What was that?
07:26It sounded like thunder.
07:28I bet that storm broke outside.
07:30Come on.
07:30We better get going.
07:32Oh, I just wanted to get into the cave behind us where we are just once again.
07:37Oh, no.
07:38Count me out.
07:38This place is giving me the heebie-jeebies.
07:40I'm getting a little tight in the throat myself.
07:42Come on, darling.
07:43You're right, David.
07:45It must have been a little crazy.
07:46I don't know what it was, but something seemed to draw me here.
07:52Almost as if it was something crawling.
07:57Come on, Eve.
07:58Run.
07:59Dave.
08:00Eve.
08:00Dave.
08:01Come on.
08:01It sounds like the whole world is caving in.
08:04Don't come back.
08:05Don't come back.
08:05Come on.
08:06Oh, Eve.
08:07Oh, Eve.
08:07Don't come back.
08:08Please, please, please, please.
08:09Hey, come on.
08:10Come on.
08:20Barbara.
08:21I'm so sorry.
08:23Hang in there, Eve.
08:24Now, we mustn't lose our heads.
08:26It's so dark.
08:27It's so pitch dark.
08:29What happened to Hank and David?
08:31They've gone to see about clearing the entrance.
08:34We only had some light.
08:36The boys had the only flashlight.
08:39Wait a minute.
08:41What is it?
08:42Is it the...
08:43No, no, cool it.
08:44Cool it, Eve.
08:46Just Hank and Dave coming back with the light.
08:48Any luck?
08:49You both all right?
08:51We'll make it.
08:52How's Eve?
08:53Oh, I'm okay, David.
08:55Can we go now?
08:57Well, it isn't going to be that easy.
08:59Well, can't we help to clear?
09:00Eve, Barbara, I don't know.
09:03The landslide we heard, it may have covered over the cave entrance outside.
09:08You mean that even if people came looking for us,
09:10they might not be able to find the entrance to the cave?
09:13But that's why we have to start clearing out from inside here.
09:17Eve.
09:18Well, what is it?
09:20I mean, at least we know where the way out is.
09:22We can crawl back through the tunnel, and then we'll...
09:24Eve, we don't know where the way out is anymore.
09:28What do you mean?
09:29The whole area where we passed along the stalactites and the stalactites has collapsed.
09:34Eve, even if we could guess where the tunnel going out began,
09:38the rocks blocking it are so large, it would take a bulldozer to move them.
09:42Oh, good Lord.
09:44Then we're trapped.
09:44It's sealed in like a tomb, and it's all my fault.
09:49Oh, Eve, Eve, Eve, come on, darling, baby.
09:51Here, say to me, Eve, stop it.
09:54Stop it.
09:55Take it easy, Barbara.
09:56Now, Eve, come on.
09:58You've got to get a hold of yourself.
09:59Oh, I'll be all right.
10:01I'm sure you will.
10:03Hank, have you any ideas of what we can do?
10:06Well, I guess the first thing to do is not to panic.
10:10Now, we've got water.
10:11I've got some chocolate bars and a couple of sandwiches left over from lunch in my saddlebag.
10:16We've got light, as long as the batteries last, which reminds me.
10:22Do we have to be in the dark?
10:24There's no sense in using up the batteries when we don't need it.
10:27David.
10:28Right here, Eve.
10:29Hank, what are our chances of being found?
10:32Oh, it's hard to answer, Barbara.
10:34Of course, they'll miss us back at the ranch by tonight.
10:36Oh, we didn't say where we were going.
10:38But when they find the horses hitched right outside...
10:40It's always supposing they weren't buried in the landslide.
10:45Is there any other way out of the cave you know of, Eve?
10:48No, not really.
10:50Like I told you, some kids got up on the ledge at the top of the waterfall,
10:53and they went into some kind of a chamber behind there.
10:57But they claimed that...
10:59That what?
10:59Eve, please, we've all got to keep our heads...
11:03Well, it's just that the thing came rising out of the water, hissing and snarling,
11:10so they just took up and ran.
11:13Well, I don't guess four of us grown-ups,
11:16as long as we stick together, are going to dream up any boogeyman out of the shadows.
11:21I've got to turn the light on for a minute.
11:25Twenty after four.
11:27They won't miss us till dinner time.
11:29By the time they start at any kind of search, it'll be dark.
11:32Yeah, and with the thunderstorm and the Pocota River running high as it does at the ford,
11:37they may figure we hold up at Halfway House.
11:39That's this side of the river?
11:41Yes, and there's no phone, right, Hank?
11:43That's right.
11:44Look, it's...
11:45It's only about twenty feet up to that ledge.
11:48That'd be easy to climb.
11:49Um, David and me could go in through that cleft and have a look around.
11:53Maybe there's a way out that way.
11:55You girls wait here.
11:57Oh, no way.
11:57I'm not sitting around in the dark.
11:59We'll all go, Hank.
12:00Well, okay.
12:01You climb first, then.
12:03David, right behind you.
12:04Then Barb, and I'll come up last.
12:07Let's go.
12:14Bingo.
12:15We're in the second cavern.
12:17How big is it?
12:18This must be where the waterfall comes from.
12:20Is there any way out?
12:21Hold it, everyone.
12:22Hold it.
12:23Let's see.
12:25Let's start to the left here.
12:27The walls are so smooth, like they've been polished.
12:31Once upon a time, I guess the whole floor was underwater.
12:34Shine the light higher, Hank, so we can...
12:36Let's see if there was any clefts or passageways at ground level first.
12:41But it's so small.
12:43You're over halfway around and nothing.
12:45Maybe where the water comes in?
12:48We'll be there in a minute.
12:50Nope.
12:51Try along the right-hand wall.
12:53The water runs along against it.
12:56And back through a hole in the floor, down to where we came from.
13:01Shine the light back again where the water comes in.
13:04Why?
13:05The batteries are getting dim.
13:07Thought I saw something.
13:09Wait a minute.
13:10You may be right.
13:12The water doesn't come quite to the top of the archway.
13:15It isn't that.
13:17It's something else.
13:19It's calling me.
13:21The thing.
13:23Wait a minute.
13:24Wait.
13:24Oh, Hank.
13:25Are you all right?
13:26Damn, I...
13:27Turn my ankle.
13:28Dave, the plaque's right.
13:29No, no, no.
13:29I'm looking for it.
13:31Go.
13:31David!
13:33David!
13:33Help me!
13:34What is it?
13:35Where are you?
13:36Help me!
13:38Where is the damn light?
13:40I have it, Mike.
13:41Pulling me under.
13:43Dave, what is it?
13:44What is it?
13:45Dave!
13:45I'm not pulling me under the...
13:48Where's Eve?
13:49Dave!
13:50I'm still...
13:51Oh, he dragged her under the arch there.
13:55Oh, God, no.
13:55Oh, Eve.
13:56I can't swim.
13:57I can't.
13:58Look out.
13:59Hold the light steady.
14:00You're in the arch.
14:01I'm going after her.
14:05She didn't see anything.
14:07No.
14:08The water's only a couple of inches under the roof.
14:11Hank's gone.
14:13He's safe.
14:15It's this thing again.
14:17And he's coming back for all of us.
14:23From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night,
14:30good Lord Deliverous.
14:32The quote is from an old friend, Anon.
14:37Or, to give him his full name, Anonymous.
14:41But will he deliver our four young spelunkers, or any of them, from this thing that haunts the cave?
14:50I'll return in a moment with Act Two.
14:53Act Two.
14:54Act Two.
14:56Act Two.
15:00Act Two.
15:05Act Two.
15:06There's a creepy, crawly feeling about the very thought of being shut in anywhere, without doors or windows.
15:15Confinement of any kind is as foreign to the human animal as it is to his fellow beasts.
15:21And as for caves, I know I wouldn't be found dead in one.
15:26Boom.
15:29I hope that figure of speech isn't a prophetic one for one of our four young friends, who are cave
15:35-bound.
15:37What was that?
15:38A column of water.
15:40I don't know.
15:41But didn't you see something inside it, with great arms reaching out like a tree?
15:46It was just a geyser, a water spout, some freak of nature.
15:50Eve said there was a thing.
15:53What did it matter?
15:54She's gone.
15:55She's dead.
15:56Drowned.
15:57And it's my fault.
15:58And Hank hasn't come back since then.
16:00David, you can't help it if you can't swim.
16:02Hasn't helped Hank, but he could.
16:04He's disappeared.
16:05She was my girl.
16:06If anyone had to die with her, it should have been me.
16:09Maybe they've gotten to another cave.
16:11If they hadn't, their bodies would have come up to the surface.
16:15Look at that vortex there, Barbara.
16:17Where the spout or whatever it is came from.
16:20Just before the archway.
16:22It bends like a whirlpool.
16:25Oh, it could have sucked them both down to the bowels of the earth.
16:29Oh, David, what are we going to do?
16:31I don't care anymore.
16:33Well, I do.
16:34Give me that flashlight.
16:37It's getting dimmer.
16:39Maybe there's a hole or passage higher up that must...
16:44What's that?
16:46They're likely to do them.
16:47Put it out.
16:47I can't.
16:48I can't.
16:48I don't want to be in the dark with them.
16:50We'll have them all over us.
16:52Unbrushed against me.
16:53Please, please, help me.
17:01Please.
17:04Please, please, help me.
17:06Help me.
17:07Help me.
17:08Don't.
17:09Take it easy, Eve.
17:10You're all right.
17:12You'll be all right.
17:14The thing.
17:15The thing that pulled me under the water.
17:19You're out of the water now.
17:22Where?
17:23I don't know.
17:24Dry land, anyway.
17:27How did you get here?
17:29I went into the water.
17:31To try to save me?
17:34Oh, it's an eagle scout.
17:36You know, trustworthy, loyal, helpful.
17:40What about David?
17:42He can't swim.
17:44Oh.
17:45But what did...
17:46How did you...
17:47I don't think I could explain.
17:49What do you mean?
17:51It just doesn't make sense.
17:53The stream was flowing out of the arch.
17:56So I was swimming against it.
17:58But suddenly, something...
18:02Something just pulled me along against the current.
18:05What about you?
18:07Oh, don't you see?
18:08It was him.
18:10The thing.
18:11Oh, if it was.
18:12Why did he save you and me?
18:15You thought it wanted to drown you.
18:17Oh, yes, I did at first, but then...
18:21Then it seemed so kind.
18:24So kind.
18:25As if it wanted to help.
18:28But...
18:29Barbara and...
18:32David...
18:33We've got to find...
18:35We've got to get back.
18:37Take it easy.
18:38Too tired.
18:39Oh, yes.
18:41Some light that we can...
18:43There's nothing but matches.
18:46Soaking wet.
18:49Maybe dry out.
18:51Yes.
18:52Can't even see the...
18:54Time.
19:02David.
19:03Yes, Barbara?
19:04Would the light disturb the bats again?
19:06They'd make my flesh crawl, but anything's better than the dark.
19:09Well, it must be night outside by now.
19:12I have a hunch they've taken off of the outside cavern.
19:15Well, are they in for a surprise when they find there's no exit anymore?
19:18Maybe they know of one out of here.
19:20Let's try.
19:23So far.
19:24So good.
19:25Getting so dim.
19:27Isn't all that high.
19:29Let's see.
19:32Well?
19:33Can you see anything?
19:35No.
19:36It's like the inside of an egg.
19:39Oh, David, what are we going to do?
19:41Get back.
19:42Get back near the arch.
19:43The rock's flat.
19:44Maybe if the water goes down or something, we can figure a way.
19:47Damn.
19:48Battery's gone.
19:49Oh, no.
19:50No, there's got to be light.
19:51David, I can't take it.
19:53I'm joking.
19:54Barbara, I'm joking.
19:55Hold it, but wait a minute.
19:58Oh, thank God.
20:01It's so light.
20:01It's only a lighter.
20:02It won't last long.
20:04Now, we've got to say to sit down.
20:05Just don't turn it off.
20:06I have to.
20:08Just keep thinking it's rare if it's needed.
20:10It's rare if it's needed.
20:13Oh, David, hold me.
20:15Please.
20:16Okay, okay.
20:25Oh, Hank.
20:26I got you, all of you, into this.
20:30But Eve, Eve, that won't help.
20:33What we need to do is move around and try to get warm.
20:38At least we're dry.
20:40Try those matches again.
20:43Oh, no.
20:44No, God.
20:46If only we could see to...
20:48What is it?
20:50Look up, Eve.
20:51Way, way up there.
20:53What do you see?
20:55It's...
20:56It's a shaft of light.
20:59Sunlight.
20:59It's coming from outside.
21:01It means there's a way out.
21:03But it's so high up.
21:05It's so little.
21:07With any luck as the sun rises, it'll give us more light.
21:10Then we can explore.
21:20How far up to where that light's coming in?
21:23Oh, it must be a good 60 feet.
21:26It's hard to tell in this light.
21:29Could we climb up there?
21:30Oh, Lord, no.
21:32We've got to think about Bob and David first, anyway.
21:35Oh, I've been thinking about that.
21:37Trouble is, I was groggy when I fetched ashore here.
21:41I've no idea how long the underwater swim is.
21:44But with the current going with you...
21:45There's a good chance I could make it through, but...
21:48Making it back's another problem.
21:51Especially since David doesn't swim.
21:55We can't count on Mr. Thing to be around to help us out again.
21:59But here we have a chance, and there they don't.
22:03There's got to be some way.
22:05I've got a notion.
22:06Eve, you got anything to write with?
22:09No, I haven't got a pocketbook, any kind of...
22:11Wait a minute.
22:13Pocket of my jeans.
22:15Lipstick.
22:16Any good?
22:16Famous.
22:17Now, look.
22:18I'm going to take my canteen and empty it.
22:23Now, the one sure thing we have is plenty of water.
22:27You think we could write a message with lipstick on that?
22:30No, not so good on that canvas cover.
22:32But if we just strip it, we could write on the metal.
22:36You don't think water would wash it off?
22:38I don't suppose you've done much dishwashing.
22:41Well, even a bachelor does his share.
22:43Well, then you know how tough it is to get lipstick off a glass.
22:47I sure do.
22:48But how do we get this message...
22:50Look, with the stopper in this canteen, it won't sink.
22:53Now, I'm going to tie it to the end of the rope
22:55and let it float on down far as I can.
22:58Supposing the rope isn't long enough...
23:00Oh, there's 30 to 35 feet of rope here.
23:03It better be long enough.
23:05Now, let's put our heads together
23:08and figure how much of a message we can get on this canteen.
23:17David?
23:18Yes, boss?
23:19Is it me?
23:21Or is it getting hard to breathe in here?
23:24It's all in the mind.
23:27You know, it's funny.
23:28What?
23:29I used to be kind of jealous of all the big brains.
23:34Me, I was just, you know, fun and games.
23:37And the action girl.
23:39No ties.
23:41Strictly let it all hang out loose.
23:44I wish I had the chance to find just...
23:47just one fella.
23:50Oh, David.
23:51What, Barbie?
23:52You're not kidding me.
23:53The air's getting heavier and heavier.
23:56Please, can't we have a little light?
23:58There's not much light if you'll...
24:01What is it?
24:03There's something floating in the stream.
24:07Here.
24:08Hold this up for me.
24:10Can you reach it?
24:11Yeah, I have it.
24:12What is it?
24:13It's...
24:13It's a canteen.
24:15It's tied to a rope.
24:17Looks like Hank's canteen.
24:19The water bottle he brought in without the cover.
24:21Hold it closer.
24:22Oh, look.
24:23There's writing on it.
24:24Oh, God.
24:25I'm blind without my glasses.
24:27It's in lipstick.
24:29That means Eve.
24:30Here.
24:30Can you read it?
24:31Hold the flame steady.
24:32Eve, Hank, safe, hug, rope, three times if found.
24:38Way out.
24:40If writing materials reply, send all in slash.
24:49How much do you measure?
24:50About 20 feet.
24:51How far do you...
24:52Wait, wait.
24:53One, two, three.
24:56They've got it.
24:57Now all we have to do is wait for one tug,
24:59and we can bring back the message.
25:07There's so much more we should have told them.
25:09It's fine.
25:09The light is almost out of fluid.
25:11Thank God my watch has an illuminated dial.
25:14If we miss their return instructions, well...
25:16Well, we can't, that's all.
25:18Hold the lighter.
25:19I've got to be sure this bottle's tied to captain.
25:22Okay.
25:23Here goes.
25:26One tug, and...
25:28Geronimo...
25:29To the light.
25:30Oh, if I ever get out of here,
25:32I'll write for special dispensation during the energy crisis.
25:34I never want to spend another moment in the dark again.
25:41What does it say?
25:43We could use a better reading light.
25:45What's it written on?
25:46Pencil and a handkerchief.
25:48Dearest Eve Hank,
25:50light only for one more message from you.
25:54Air supply failing.
25:57Trapped here.
25:58Give instructions.
26:00Expect answer five minutes.
26:03Pencil enclosed.
26:05Can you imagine?
26:06The 20th century,
26:08a little less than 20 feet away,
26:09and we communicate like the Stone Age.
26:11Never mind.
26:12At least we communicate.
26:13Let's just get them here
26:14so we can communicate face to face.
26:21It's silly, Dave.
26:22You know you can't swim.
26:23If anything goes wrong and you panic,
26:25I'll at least be here.
26:26And if I leave you here in the dark, alone...
26:28Er...
26:28Now, look, let me slip the rope around your shoulders
26:31like Hank instructed.
26:32I know how to handle a sling like this.
26:34Will you remember?
26:35Yes.
26:36Now, go on.
26:37Get in and tug.
26:38Let's get out of here before my lighter gives out.
26:47It's nothing.
26:48I could have swum it alone.
26:49I didn't hold my breath more than half a minute.
26:52Oh, Bobby, it's so good to see you again.
26:54Let's get that sling off
26:55and float it back on the bottom of David.
26:57Hurry, hurry.
26:58I think you'll be able to, ma'am.
26:59Oh, sure, I think.
27:00Oh, here you are, Hank.
27:02Oh, I just hope your boyfriend isn't jealous.
27:05You mean...
27:06the thing?
27:08No, I'm sorry.
27:09I shouldn't have said that.
27:13Seventeen...
27:14Eighteen...
27:16Nineteen...
27:17Twenty...
27:18Twenty-one.
27:19It should be right on the mark now.
27:23What's the matter?
27:24Haven't he tugged yet?
27:25Give him a chance.
27:26I hope the lighter hasn't run out of fuel.
27:29But if he can't see, then how can he get...
27:31Watch it.
27:32There's the tug.
27:33Come on.
27:34Let's all pull fast.
27:37Should it come as easy as that?
27:39Something's wrong.
27:40He's lost the rope.
27:43He's lost the rope, all right.
27:45But it's something worse than that.
27:47Get back, everybody.
27:48Get back.
27:49Get back.
27:55Once again, some malign influence interferes in the tantalizing possibility of escape for
28:02the four young people whose mettle has already been tested unbearably.
28:07And for the lovers, the tables are bitterly turned.
28:12It seems that it is Eve's turn to mourn David.
28:17We'll return shortly with Act Three.
28:32Instead of David appearing from the tunnel, secure on the rope, there is an empty sling
28:39tied to the canteen for a float.
28:42And behind it, a boiling spout of frothing water spewing from the narrow opening of the
28:48channel like a huge fire hose, reversing the normal current till the opposing forces
28:54drive a seething lake over the floor of the cavern.
29:00Hank!
29:02Hank, what happened?
29:03I don't know.
29:04It's that thing David and I saw it after you went in to save Eve.
29:08Eve, David said it was some sort of a water spout, a geyser.
29:13Mark!
29:14What?
29:15Floating in.
29:18David, help me.
29:19Help me.
29:20Right with you.
29:21Easy.
29:22Eve, let me get him.
29:24Don't let him go.
29:25It's all right.
29:26The water's washing him ashore.
29:29Is he...
29:30He swallowed a lot of water.
29:33Let an eye on him and a lifeguard handle this one.
29:35Get him on his back, Hank.
29:37Here.
29:37That's right.
29:38Now help me pull his jaw forward.
29:41What's that for?
29:42Free his tongue so he doesn't strangle.
29:44Okay.
29:45Now let's get the water out of his stomach.
29:49And then we'll start mouth to mouth.
29:56But what happened, David?
29:59The lighter gave out until I had to lie there in the dark,
30:03dealing with my hands for the bottle to come through.
30:06Suddenly I felt it, but it slipped out of my hands and I fell in the water, grabbing at the
30:11rope.
30:12That must have been the tug I felt.
30:14I don't know.
30:14I lost the rope and I was floundering when suddenly the water began to literally boil all around me.
30:21The water's found it.
30:22Yeah.
30:23It lifted me half out of the water and slung me against the arch.
30:26I guess it knocked me out.
30:28You've got quite a bruise on your forehead.
30:30It's what happened to us, Eve.
30:31What do you mean?
30:32There's some fault right below there.
30:34And every often, you know, enough cold water hits the molten lava way down.
30:41Well, you're the professor, Dave.
30:43What happened?
30:44I don't know.
30:44I suppose it forms a steam explosion that blows a whole column of water back up into the small cavern
30:50in part of the tunnel.
30:52It creates, yeah, sort of a whirlpool that's momentarily strong enough to hit the normal current like a riptide and
30:59drive it back.
31:01Best I can do.
31:02I can do better than that.
31:04It's the thing that wants to help us.
31:07It saved three of our lives already.
31:10I owe at least part of my thanks to Barbara.
31:12And me to Hank.
31:13And if it hadn't been for David, I'd have ended up a raving maniac in the dark.
31:17I guess we all have turned up a little short one way or another.
31:22Except Hank.
31:23I'll say one thing.
31:25There's only one best man in the group.
31:27Only at your wedding, mister.
31:30Because, well, Hank is about to exhibit his private white feather.
31:34What do you mean, Hank?
31:36Well, if we're going forward, there are only two ways to go.
31:41Even I have looked at the other end of the river here where it comes in and there's no way
31:47out there.
31:48How about the cleft up there where the light comes from?
31:50Well, it must be the best bet.
31:52Only, Davey, old man, that's 60 or 70 feet up there.
31:58And I want to tell you, heights turned my belly to water.
32:02Even that first 20-foot climb we made, I'd like to die.
32:06I didn't dare look down after we got there.
32:09So what do we do now?
32:11We climb.
32:13Just let me look it over.
32:15Now, it shouldn't be too tough.
32:17Are you sure you're up to this, darling?
32:20Eva, I may be an egghead, no muscle boy, and I can't swim.
32:24But one thing I do know how to do is climb mountains.
32:28This one's my baby.
32:36Now, just let me go over a few points once again.
32:39I lead, he follows Barb and then Hank.
32:42What if I fall?
32:43You're on a fling.
32:44The rest of us can hold you, and if you don't lose your head, try to relax.
32:48And as you swing back to the wall, grab hold again.
32:50But you're not going to fall.
32:52Look, it isn't a tough climb.
32:54The main thing is, don't look down.
32:57Just keep your eyes up.
32:58And each one, follow whatever toe holds or hand holds the one before is used.
33:03I'll test each one of them first.
33:05Most of the climb, we can follow ledges.
33:07If they feel narrow, face the wall and move sideways.
33:10Don't look down.
33:13No hurry.
33:14Don't anyone try to play hero.
33:16If you're tired, let me know, and we'll rest, okay?
33:19I'm not worried, darling.
33:21I trust you, Dave.
33:21Well, if we don't get started, I may never move.
33:25Here we go.
33:33We're halfway up now.
33:35Anybody want to take a rest?
33:38No.
33:38I'm all right.
33:39Let's just keep going.
33:42I'm afraid to stop.
33:43Next thought's going to be a little tougher.
33:45Hang in and keep your eyes up.
33:49Dave!
33:50Dave!
33:51Hold on, anyone.
33:53What is it, Hank?
33:55Dave, I can't!
33:56I can't!
33:58My knee!
34:00It's so far down!
34:01Hank, damn it!
34:02Look up here at me!
34:03Now, that's better.
34:05Now, you listen.
34:05We only have about 15 more feet to go.
34:08There's a nice, wide ledge we can settle on while I explore the crest we're heading for.
34:12You lose your head.
34:13You can take all of us with you.
34:15Just cut me loose, Lemmy!
34:17Don't be a fool, Hank!
34:19We're a few feet from getting back in the world.
34:22Come on, don't let us all down!
34:24All right, I'll try!
34:32Easy, Dirk.
34:33Just hook your weight forward over the ledge.
34:37I can't!
34:38I'm stuck!
34:39Now, when I pull, get your knee up!
34:43There!
34:44All right, now slide yourself back again for us.
34:47There, that's it.
34:50I have to get out of this.
34:53I'm moving to Kansas.
34:55We're just flat as a pancake.
34:58What are you doing?
34:59I'm tying the rope.
35:00I need it.
35:02It was all for nothing, wasn't it, darling?
35:06What do you mean?
35:07That place where the light's coming from is behind that big rock in the ceiling.
35:14We can't climb up there.
35:15It would take a fly.
35:17I can get there, darling.
35:19How?
35:20I just need some knot to miss one lariat.
35:22Then you see that spur that sticks out?
35:24I toss the noose of the lariat over that.
35:27And then I can shinny up the rope and over on top of the rock.
35:30But you'd swing like a pendulum.
35:32If I took off from here without any break.
35:34But I'll tie the other rope to this one for a trip line.
35:38And the rest of you can let me swing over slowly.
35:42And steady me as I climb.
35:44But how do we get across there to join you?
35:46See that other spur higher up between us and the rock I'm going for?
35:50Yes.
35:50After I get across, I'll sling a line over that and secure it my end.
35:54You can all swing across.
35:56Oh.
35:56Like we used to do when we were kids and played Tarzan.
35:59It's only about ten feet.
36:01I don't think I could do it.
36:02You've got to, darling.
36:03It's the only chance we have left.
36:11Oh.
36:12Thank heaven.
36:14I never thought he'd make it.
36:16Did you find the rift?
36:18Yes.
36:19Does it lead outside?
36:20Eventually.
36:22It's a sort of long chimney.
36:24And could we climb it?
36:26Yes, if we were gremlins.
36:28It's wide enough all right one way, but the other, it's not over six or seven inches.
36:34None of us could get through.
36:36Oh, no.
36:36Well, that blows it.
36:38But what can we do, David?
36:40There's nothing to do except lying down again.
36:43Not me.
36:45I haven't the guts.
36:46I don't think I have the strength.
36:48You have a new ear on your hands, Captain.
36:51I couldn't make that climb down again either.
36:55Okay.
36:57We'll do what I told you before.
37:00Swing all of you over here.
37:03There's plenty of room for all of us.
37:11I got you, Eve.
37:12Back on good old terra firma.
37:14Just like riding down an elevator.
37:16Thanks, Hank.
37:17Bye.
37:18So we all got down easy.
37:20How did David?
37:21He's got away.
37:22He sort of takes a hitch around himself and he lowers himself down.
37:25Here he comes.
37:26Oh, man, oh, man.
37:27That's some kind of guy you're marrying.
37:30Everybody all right?
37:32We are.
37:33A few rope burns, that's all.
37:37Sorry I put you through all that for nothing.
37:39I wasn't much help, but it was worth a last chance.
37:43You have to harp on it.
37:44I'm not giving up yet.
37:46What else is there to try, darling?
37:48Faith.
37:50Trust in God.
37:51I don't think he'd have put us through all this much and not planned to save us.
37:56He certainly tried to see what we were made of.
37:58Yes, and look at him.
37:59We all came through and none of us is whimpering anymore, thinking of himself.
38:04I still think there's something there.
38:07Maybe not a childhood picture of a...
38:11a thing.
38:13Oh, good Lord.
38:15What is it coming out of that other tunnel?
38:18It's hard to see in this murky light.
38:20But it's the thing.
38:22I knew all along he didn't mean a time.
38:25It's the thing.
38:33I reckon I must have thrown quite a scare into you folks.
38:37Jim Trimble here.
38:38Deep Sea Diving and Ocean Bed Recovery Incorporated.
38:41Ex-frogman in the Navy.
38:43You've got a mess of folks mighty worried about you on the outside.
38:47There's going to be some relief once my boys bring in scuba tanks and gear to get you to the
38:52outside there.
38:53Just, uh, let me give them a go ahead.
38:57Hello, Grace Two.
38:58This is Jim.
38:59All four missing persons alive and well.
39:01Proceed with plan as outlined.
39:11But how...
39:12How did you find us?
39:14Well, sir, my daddy was quite a diver in his day.
39:17Free diving, that was.
39:19Not with gear like today.
39:21And he always had a notion there was a back way into Choctaw Cave through the Underground River.
39:26And he found it one day off Chiptok Lake here, and I was about 16, and, well, he went down
39:33and he never came back.
39:34I wonder if he ever made it to the canyon.
39:36Oh, no doubt about that, ma'am.
39:39After I got out of the Navy, I went down myself with scuba gear and a motor outfit just like
39:44now.
39:45And I found my daddy, or his skeleton.
39:48I figure he got down just holding his breath, but, uh, trying to make it up again at that angle,
39:54the current was just too strong.
39:56And after it got him, it brought him back to rest here, you know.
40:00I brung him out and buried him proper.
40:03I'm sorry, Jim.
40:04No need. He died doing what he wanted to do.
40:08But how did you find us?
40:11Well, Hank's old horse, Baldy, was smart enough to outstep that landslide, and when he turned up downhill, folks got
40:19alerted.
40:19But, uh, there wasn't a hope of digging you out, and they sent for me, and I got flown in
40:24from San Diego.
40:25And that's how I come to scare you into thinking I was that old legend I guess my father started.
40:32But the thing...
40:33It isn't a legend, Jim.
40:35Your father never really died.
40:39He was the one that saved us.
40:46Deep in the Choctaw caves, the fountains of hot water still spout.
40:52The vortexes swirl.
40:55The long, double lariat still hangs swinging from that high spur.
40:59But no living creature will ever enter them again, for even the bats are gone, smothered in the first two
41:09caverns where air forever was shut off.
41:13Perhaps all that is left is one thing, with a small T now, for it has become the pleasant ghost
41:21of a simple, kindly man.
41:23I'll be back shortly.
41:38So, for this time, a happy ending.
41:42And let's write the epitaph to this tale of suspense in Milton's words.
41:47Hence, loathed melancholy, of cerebrous and blackest midnight born, in Stygian cave forlorn.
41:58For myself, I equate cave with a Latin word spelled the same way, C-A-V-E, but pronounced cave.
42:07It means, beware.
42:10Our cast included Marion Seldes, Terry Keene, Michael Wager, Bob Caliban.
42:16The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown.
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