- 2 days ago
- #oldtimeradio
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.
#OldTimeRadio
#OldTimeRadio
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:14Come in.
00:17Welcome.
00:19I'm E.G. Marshall.
00:21Welcome to the fear you can hear.
00:24Welcome to the world of terrifying imagination.
00:28We are about to bring you a tale of magic.
00:32What a word, magic.
00:34What do we mean by magic?
00:37What are we thinking when we say something is magical?
00:41Why, only that we do not understand how it came to be.
00:46Or even what it is that came to be.
00:49Or, for that matter, if it ever really did come to be.
00:53I was standing between the windows.
00:56Those two big windows, you know, the ones with the great pier glass in between.
01:00And I was looking straight ahead.
01:02So I can't say that I saw the door open because I didn't.
01:05But all of a sudden there was this terrible confusion.
01:09Men jumping from their chairs.
01:11Some looking frightened half out of their wits.
01:13Others with expressions of joy and anticipation.
01:16Some of them crying out.
01:18Was it horror?
01:20Was it surprise?
01:21Was it delight?
01:23I couldn't tell.
01:25It was all mixed up.
01:36Our mystery drama, The Walls of Jericho, was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Elspeth Herrick.
01:43And stars Robert Dryden.
01:45It is sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser.
01:50I'll be back shortly with Act One.
02:03Anything can have magic.
02:05A name, a poem, a face, a touch, a phrase of music, a sudden silent thought that brushes across the
02:13mind.
02:14But it won't be captured.
02:16No, not magic.
02:18For magic merely happens.
02:22Watch out.
02:23Ready or not, here it comes.
02:26It's cold in here, don't you think, Cudworth?
02:28Well, Drendel's gone to fetch another log.
02:31We best hurry.
02:32The fire will have burned itself out completely.
02:34It's asking a bit much, isn't it?
02:37For Drendel to hurry?
02:39I suppose one shouldn't ask too much.
02:41Ah, poor old Drendel.
02:43How old is he now?
02:44What would be your guess, Ashley?
02:46I wouldn't hazard one.
02:48He's been steward at the club since before I became a member.
02:51Ah, here he comes.
02:52I don't like to see him carrying a log that size.
02:57Old Drendel.
02:58Ah, oh, you wanted something, Mr. Ashley?
03:02Half an hour ago, Drendel, I asked for a brandy and soda.
03:06But you have your brandy, Mr. Ashley.
03:08Ah, but have I my soda?
03:11Haven't you?
03:12Oh, oh, you haven't.
03:14I'll get it for you right away, sir.
03:16Right away.
03:17Possess your soul and patience, Ashley.
03:20The club should really start to think of retiring him, wouldn't you say?
03:24Start to think?
03:25That's all we ever do.
03:27We never actually get on with the thinking, do we?
03:29Oh, hello!
03:31Everybody!
03:32Have you seen this?
03:34Who's making that racket?
03:35Higgins just came in.
03:37Oh, him.
03:38Have you seen it?
03:39Have you?
03:40Seen what, Higgins?
03:41Well, I just took it off the bulletin board, Winthrop.
03:44Now you're president of the club.
03:46You should be the first.
03:47Read it aloud.
03:49At four o'clock in the afternoon of January 12th,
03:54the devil will come down the chimney of the fireplace in the members' lounge.
04:00Let's see that.
04:01I just as minute took it off the bulletin board.
04:04Now, who's playing jokes around here?
04:05Now, who wrote this?
04:07Did anyone here put this notice up on the bulletin board?
04:10Now, let me see it, Winthrop.
04:12At four o'clock in the afternoon of January 12th,
04:14the devil will come down the chimney of the fireplace in the members' lounge.
04:19What the...
04:21That fireplace right there!
04:23How very interesting.
04:24Not interesting at all.
04:25Just a feeble attempt to be funny.
04:27Well, it wasn't on the bulletin board this morning.
04:29Well, it wasn't there an hour ago when I came in from dinner.
04:32Now, what's it, Kedworth?
04:33Well, I certainly didn't see it.
04:34Well, somebody put it there.
04:36The devil could have put it there.
04:38Oh, rubbish.
04:39Well, he might have.
04:40He's very ingenious, I've heard.
04:42Now, let's not let ourselves be carried away, Higgins.
04:45Mr. Ashley, sir?
04:46What is it?
04:47Your soda, sir.
04:49Well, set it down.
04:51Edrendle, have you seen this?
04:53Oh, what is it, sir?
04:54Mr. Higgins found a pin to the bulletin board.
04:56Here, read it.
04:58At four o'clock in the afternoon, January 12th,
05:01the devil, the chimney of the fireplace in the members' lounge.
05:08What does it mean?
05:09It means that the devil will come down that chimney at four o'clock on January 12th.
05:15That's what it means.
05:16Oh, surely not, Mr. Higgins.
05:18Definitely not.
05:19It's a joke, isn't it?
05:21Of course it is.
05:22But, uh, on the other hand, really, Cotworth, you and your other hand...
05:27Let's mark it down as a joke.
05:29Until we know better.
05:31At least until then.
05:32Anyway, until the afternoon of January 12th at, uh, four o'clock.
05:47Fools, halfwits, and...
05:49Come to the table.
05:51Boobies, every one of them.
05:53Now your oatmeal will get cold.
05:54Oats, clods, and...
05:56Don't blame me if it's spoiled.
05:57I bamboozled them like a bunch of noodles they are.
06:01Anytime you'd care to state what you're talking about, I'm all ears as the thing goes.
06:06Meantime, come sit down.
06:07The esteemed high and mighty members of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Gentleman's Club.
06:13From the president, the exalted Mr. Amos Winthrop on down.
06:18Oh, them imbeciles.
06:20Now you...
06:20You didn't go making trouble, did you?
06:24That remains to be seen.
06:26Because they're just waiting for an excuse to give you the sack.
06:29You're not so young anymore.
06:30I know that, Martha.
06:32Not always strictly teetotal on the job, I suspect.
06:35I'm never drunk.
06:37Well, a man needs to be a little elevated to spend ten hours a day with those back-based
06:43snobs, but I flim-flammed them.
06:46Now look here, Timothy Drindle.
06:48Don't you go doing anything to raise the hackles on those gentlemen.
06:51And come poops.
06:52Because if they should give you the old heave-ho, you know where you'd wind up, don't you?
06:56Right here at home with me.
06:57And I won't have that.
06:58They're not about to fire me.
07:00Not right away.
07:02As a matter of fact, it's I who may have lighted a small fire under them.
07:09And they should be starting to feel the heat of it soon now.
07:13Very soon.
07:15Timothy, what have you done?
07:18Oh, nothing very much.
07:20I only posted a notice on the bulletin board, that's all.
07:24What kind of a notice?
07:25A modest little notice stating that on January 12th at four o'clock in the afternoon, the
07:31devil would descend the chimney of the fireplace in the members' lounge.
07:35You said the devil?
07:38You should have seen the excitement.
07:40Especially Mr. Higgins.
07:42Oh, he's such an emotional little man.
07:43You invoked the name of the devil?
07:46Oh, I did no such thing.
07:48You summoned up the devil?
07:49Oh, I played a joke on those superior snobs who've been taking me for a joke all these
07:55years.
07:55That's all I did.
07:56Oh, once you summon up the devil, Timothy, it's not so easy to send him back where he
08:01came from.
08:02Will you stop it, Martha?
08:03I only want to make them worry.
08:05Those fine gentlemen who've never had a care in the world since the day they were born.
08:10Worry?
08:10How?
08:11About what?
08:12Worry.
08:13Will he come down the chimney?
08:16Oh, they'll worry from now to the 12th of January.
08:19And I'll be there ten hours a day to watch him worry.
08:23And if his satanic majesty does come down the chimney, what then?
08:27Oh, he won't.
08:28He won't.
08:29I wrote the notice myself, and old Beelzebub didn't dictate it either, if that's what you're
08:33thinking.
08:33Oh, I'm thinking.
08:34I'm thinking you've started something, Timothy, that he won't be able to stop.
08:47Your coffee, Mr. Winthrop?
08:49Oh, thank you, Drindle.
08:51That's quite a fire you've got going there.
08:54I always try to keep up a good smart blazer.
08:58Nothing special about this particular fire, Drindle?
09:03No, sir.
09:04It's January 12th, Drindle.
09:06And precisely three minutes before four in the afternoon.
09:11Is it indeed, sir?
09:12Oh, come off it, Drindle.
09:15Surely you're not indifferent to the heralded appearance of the Prince of Darkness down the
09:20chimney.
09:20Well, it's really no concern of mine, Mr. Winthrop.
09:24Well, the membership doesn't share your aplomb, Drindle.
09:27The lounge is still too overflowing.
09:29Oh, so it is, sir.
09:30And I'd best stir myself.
09:32Other gentlemen will be wanting coffee.
09:34Oh, bring me your brandy, Drindle, if you have the time.
09:38All the time in the world, Mr. Higgins.
09:41Oh, Drindle's the only cool character in the room.
09:44Even Ashley, who thinks this whole thing's nonsense.
09:47Ashley doesn't even believe the devil exists, for goodness sakes.
09:50Well, he's still been sitting on that little hassock by the fireplace since noon.
09:55I tried to get him to lunch with me, but he wouldn't budge.
09:58Oh, suspects a trick, no doubt.
10:01What, do you?
10:02Well, it is possible, I suppose.
10:05But, uh, who'd want to play a trick like that?
10:08I mean, even if someone wanted to, how'd he go about it?
10:12Now, now suppose something, uh, someone descends that chimney at four o'clock, as I am firmly
10:19persuaded he will.
10:21Who or what could do that?
10:23There's a great roaring fire going.
10:25Well, Drindle saw to that.
10:27Well, suppose someone with a perverse sense of humor should toss a dummy down the chimney.
10:31We'd find it afterwards.
10:32Oh, not if it was reduced to ashes.
10:34Ah, but something would remain.
10:36It couldn't all burn up.
10:38Am I right?
10:39Well, ask Cudworth.
10:40He's the brainy one.
10:42Gentlemen, all prepared for the big moment?
10:45Hello, Cudworth.
10:45Only the devil himself could survive a trip down that chimney.
10:50Am I right, Cudworth?
10:51I'd say so, yes.
10:53Oh, it's nearly time.
10:56Nervous?
10:57Well, I don't know what to think.
11:00I mean, I don't know what to expect.
11:03The whole thing is nerve-wracking.
11:05Positively devastating.
11:09It's time.
11:16It's him.
11:17It's him.
11:17The devil himself.
11:19He's there.
11:19See him.
11:20There he is.
11:20There is certainly something there.
11:22Someone.
11:23Oh, it's the devil.
11:25It's old Harry.
11:26The devil.
11:26Oh, is it really the thing?
11:28Look at him.
11:28Standing in the flames.
11:29He's laughing.
11:30Is he really laughing?
11:31Oh, that old serpent.
11:33Look at him.
11:33He's gone.
11:34No, no, no.
11:35He's not.
11:35He's still there.
11:36In the flames.
11:37Laughing in the flames.
11:38He's laughing.
11:42Oh, now he's gone.
11:46Well, that was quite an experience.
11:49Yes, it was.
11:50Oh, it was the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life.
11:56Oh, really extraordinary.
11:59Well, now, are you all satisfied?
12:02What do you mean by that, Ashley?
12:03His satanic majesty failed to put in an appearance.
12:06Of course he put in an appearance.
12:08You didn't see him.
12:09Now, don't tell me you did.
12:11Of course we did.
12:12He was all in black.
12:13No, no, he was dressed in red.
12:15Black and red, I thought.
12:17Oh, he had red hair.
12:17You couldn't see his hair.
12:19He wore a cap.
12:20I saw his hair.
12:21It was sort of waving in the flames or a draft or something, but it never caught on fire.
12:27I distinctly remember noticing that.
12:29He wore a cap.
12:30You couldn't see his hair, and his mustache was black.
12:33No cap.
12:34A cap and a big black cape.
12:36He kept his cape around him all the time he was standing there.
12:39Yes, but the cape was red.
12:40A very bright red.
12:42Now, listen to yourselves.
12:44Listen, will you?
12:46You all saw him.
12:47You all say you did.
12:49But each of you saw something different.
12:51Red cape, black cape, black and red cape.
12:54Why, it's ludicrous.
12:55It is not ludicrous at all.
12:57We were all overexcited, all worked up over this thing, and maybe our accuracy, our powers
13:03of observation were impaired.
13:05That's possible.
13:06Except I know he wore a big black cape.
13:11I beg pardon, Mr. Heddy.
13:12Yeah, don't bother me now, Rindle.
13:14You're friendly, sir.
13:15Now, Rindle, settle this argument for us, will you?
13:17Well, what was the devil wearing?
13:21The devil, sir?
13:23What was he wearing when he came down the chimney?
13:26I wouldn't know, sir.
13:28I was not in the lounge.
13:29I was fetching Mr. Higgins' brandy.
13:32Did the devil make an appearance, sir?
13:39How, then, was the devil dressed?
13:42Oh, he was in his Sunday vest.
13:44His coat was red, and his breeches blue.
13:48And there was a hole where his tail came through.
13:53Those charming lines were written by Mr. Robert Salfie at the turn of the century.
13:58But not our century.
14:00No.
14:01A hundred years before.
14:03Clearly, the devil had time to acquire a new suit of clothes.
14:07We'll be back shortly with Act Two.
14:19Did the devil indeed descend the chimney of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Club in the afternoon
14:25of January 12th and stand laughing in the flames?
14:30There isn't complete agreement among the club members even now, more than a month later.
14:36Cudworth, I have to talk to you.
14:39Sit down, Winthrop.
14:42Have you seen it?
14:44I've seen it.
14:45It wouldn't do any good to take it down from the bulletin board, I suppose.
14:49Well, half the membership's already seen it and told the other half.
14:52Lightning strikes again.
14:54I never dreamed it would, did you?
14:56Well, it's a slightly different bolt of lightning this time.
15:00Not the devil.
15:01The white goddess, I believe the notice is.
15:04I copied it down.
15:06On February 8th, at 6 o'clock in the evening, the white goddess will run naked through the
15:14members' lounge.
15:15Naked, eh?
15:16Uh, Cudworth, just who is the white goddess?
15:22Daughter of Astarte, I believe.
15:25And, um, just who is Astarte?
15:28I'm sorry not to be up on these things, but it's not really in my area of concern.
15:33I believe Astarte is the goddess of fertility and, uh, sexual love.
15:38Don't say.
15:40That would account for her being naked, wouldn't it?
15:44Uh, Cudworth, do we still believe in such things, uh, goddesses of sexual love?
15:50Why shouldn't there be such a goddess?
15:52And why shouldn't she have a daughter?
15:55And why shouldn't a daughter be called the white goddess?
15:58Yes.
15:58You, uh, you don't believe she'll run naked across the members' lounge, do you?
16:05I didn't believe the devil would come down the chimney.
16:07But you did see him, didn't you?
16:10Yeah.
16:11Or something that looked very like him.
16:14Assuming, of course, I know what the devil looks like.
16:17Cudworth, I saw his horns.
16:22Did you indeed?
16:24Have you seen it?
16:25Have you seen the notice?
16:26Yes, yes, yes, yes, we've seen it.
16:28Do you know that members are pouring in from all over the country?
16:31Oh, no.
16:32Members that haven't been inside the club in 20 years.
16:35We can't even begin to put them up.
16:37Half of them are stopping at hotels.
16:39Heaven help us.
16:40Oh, cheer up, Windsor.
16:41There's a chance the white goddess won't show.
16:43I don't know, Cudworth.
16:44I have a sinking feeling that she will.
16:53There isn't an empty hotel room in the whole of Boston.
16:57Why are you doing this, Timothy?
16:59What are you getting out of it?
17:01I'm getting something off my own back, that's what.
17:04I'll never understand you.
17:05You haven't up to now, that's for sure.
17:07You're playing jokes on people at your age.
17:09It's no joke.
17:10Well, I don't know what else you could call it.
17:12It's a plot.
17:13A plot to make them squirm those fine gentlemen with their fancy ways.
17:19Why should they go through their entire lives without knowing a moment's uncertainty or a pang of anxiety?
17:25They're always so damn sure of themselves.
17:28Well, they're not sure any longer.
17:31They're divided amongst themselves already on the subject of the devil.
17:36I hear them jawing away about it in the lounge.
17:39Was he there or wasn't he?
17:40What did he look like?
17:41What did he wear?
17:43Mr. Higgins says red.
17:44Mr. Winslow says red and black.
17:47Mr. Cudworth says nothing at all, just looks wise.
17:50And Mr. Ashley says the devil never came down the chimney at all, so they're every last one of them
17:55crazy.
17:56I tell you, their chatter and their argument was driving me right up the wall.
18:00But I put a stop to it, all right.
18:04And just how did you manage to do that?
18:07By putting up the notice about the white goddess.
18:10That's how.
18:11Now they're all talking about her.
18:14And when is this white goddess making her debut?
18:18Six o'clock tonight.
18:19And is she coming down the chimney?
18:22No.
18:23Now, as the notice says, on February 8th at six o'clock in the evening,
18:27the white goddess will run naked through the member's lounge.
18:31Where will she come from?
18:33How should I know?
18:35I only wrote the notice.
18:36But I think it would be nice if she came in through the main door
18:41and went out through a window.
18:48Yes, that would be rather nice.
18:59The room is filling up.
19:01It's amazing.
19:02Oh, I don't know.
19:03It is an orphan, if ever.
19:05Many of us get to see the white goddess run naked across the lounge.
19:10You think they really believe?
19:11Well, who knows what they believe.
19:13Uh, Cudworth, do you believe?
19:16I'm here, as you see.
19:18Hmm, I suppose that's the only possible answer.
19:21Well, it's the only one you're going to get.
19:23Do you believe in, like you, I'm here?
19:28Oh, what?
19:29What's the time?
19:30Time, time.
19:31Cudworth, you always have the right time.
19:32Mr. Higgins, the clock on the mantel is exactly right.
19:36Oh, two minutes to six.
19:39Mind if I sit down?
19:40We've been saving this chair for you, Higgins.
19:43Oh, that's nice of you.
19:44Well, the lounge is pretty well filled up, isn't it?
19:48Bursting at the seams.
19:49Oh, I've been studying all about the white goddess.
19:53Hmm, daughter of Astarte,
19:54who in turn is the goddess of fertility and sexual love.
19:59Oh, you knew that.
20:02Cudworth told me.
20:03Cudworth, you really do know everything.
20:06On the contrary, I know very little.
20:08Well, you've always seemed to me to know everything.
20:10That's because you know less.
20:12Well, mind if I join you?
20:14Well, there's no place to sit, actually.
20:16Oh, what a pity.
20:17Well, you could sit on the floor.
20:19Now, how would I look sitting on the floor
20:21when the white goddess comes running across the lounge?
20:25No, no, I think I shall join old Drendel over by the window.
20:28Perhaps he'll fetch me a brandy.
20:30No, no, you haven't time.
20:31It's nearly six.
20:32Oh, you mean I might miss her daughter ship.
20:35My, my, that would never do.
20:38Oh, Jesus.
20:39That ass doesn't believe she'll appear.
20:42Why did he bother to come here at all?
20:43Because if he doesn't believe,
20:46neither does he disbelieve.
20:47Just look at him laughing and joking with Drendel.
20:50That's probably the first time he's ever spoken to Drendel,
20:54except to give him an order.
20:55You could say that about Nostros,
20:57us, myself included.
20:59Yeah, Drendel's getting old.
21:01Poor old Drendel.
21:03Oh.
21:05Oh, it's, it's time.
21:08The time has come.
21:12Oh, look at him.
21:15Look at him.
21:16He's beautiful.
21:18He's sublime.
21:18Oh, my goodness.
21:21Oh, everything.
21:23I never thought I should live to see anything so beautiful.
21:26The most exquisite thing I ever saw.
21:30Whatever, Chelsea.
21:31Where did she go?
21:33She was here such a little time.
21:35She disappeared through the window.
21:37The wall, I think.
21:38No, no, no, no.
21:38Through the window.
21:39The one back of where Ashley's standing with Drendel.
21:41I saw Ashley turn and look out the window,
21:43just as she vanished.
21:46You don't think it's possible he saw her too?
21:49Oh, no.
21:50Not Ashley.
21:51Well, Ashley?
21:53What?
21:55Have you been stopped staring at the stars?
21:56I'd like to ask you something.
21:58Magnificent.
21:59Yes, the stars are magnificent,
22:00but I have something else in my mind.
22:02What's troubling you, Cutworth?
22:05Why, nothing very much, Ashley.
22:07Is something troubling you?
22:08By the way, she disappeared.
22:11Simply melted into the astral light.
22:14Um, who melted into the astral light, Ashley?
22:19Why, the white goddess.
22:20Don't tell me you didn't see her.
22:23Oh, yes.
22:24I saw her.
22:25Radiant in all her nakedness.
22:28Glowing like Mother of Pearl.
22:30Her long hair flying out behind her.
22:33But then, you saw her?
22:35Yes.
22:36Now, the others, did they see her?
22:39Oh, yes.
22:39Of course.
22:40Oh, everyone must have seen her.
22:42Now, Drindle.
22:43Yes, sir?
22:43You saw her?
22:45No, Mr. Ashley.
22:47Oh, come now, Drindle.
22:48Of course you saw her.
22:50We were standing here together, side by side.
22:52I didn't see anything, Mr. Ashley.
22:55Now, don't tell me you didn't see anything, you old liar.
22:58Well, I was busy with something.
23:00You were not busy with something.
23:02We were standing here talking, and the clock struck six, and the door opened, and she came in.
23:07And she ran.
23:08Her feet hardly touched the floor.
23:09Ran across the lounge to this window, this one right here.
23:12Why, her shoulder brushed mine.
23:14I felt it.
23:15My left shoulder.
23:16Now, don't tell me you didn't see her, or I'll break your back.
23:18Now, don't excite yourself, Ashley.
23:20The most beautiful spectacle it's ever been the good fortune of any of us to witness.
23:24And this numbskull, Drindle, stands there and tells me he didn't see it.
23:27He was busy with something.
23:29Oh, I won't stand for it.
23:31You listen to me, you fool.
23:32It's blasphemy.
23:34Unadulterated blasphemy for you to deny that you saw what I saw, what we all saw.
23:38Now, say it.
23:39Say you saw the white goddess run across this lounge, didn't you?
23:42Didn't you?
23:43You say it, or I'll stop the life of it.
23:45Ashley, this is going too far.
23:46He saw her.
23:47I know, he saw her.
23:48Now, Mr. Ashley, please, you're choking me.
23:51He saw it.
23:51He's going to admit it.
23:52Ashley.
23:55Oh, I couldn't you stay out of this, Godworth.
23:58Now, you might have killed him.
24:01Are you all right, Drindle?
24:03Yes.
24:05Yes.
24:06I'm all right.
24:07Oh, Ashley, go into the bar and buy yourself a drink.
24:11You need it.
24:11Yes.
24:12I need it.
24:14I need it all right.
24:15You're sure you're all right, Drindle?
24:17Yes, quite.
24:19Quite sure, Mr. Cudworth.
24:22Oh, by the way, Drindle, did you see the white goddess, or didn't you?
24:28You don't need to be afraid to tell me.
24:31Either way.
24:32I didn't see anything, Mr. Cudworth.
24:37You see, I was busy with something, and I...
24:41No.
24:43I didn't see anything at all.
24:51Well, I think I must be getting on home.
24:54Yes, it's been quite an evening, isn't it?
24:58Quite an evening.
24:59A never-to-be-forgotten evening.
25:02Beautifully put, Ambrose.
25:04Well, come along.
25:06I'll drop you off.
25:08So long, everyone.
25:09Night, all.
25:10Wake up, Ashley.
25:12Yes, yes, I'll wait for you.
25:13Well, Cudworth, a never-to-be-forgotten evening.
25:18Well, at any rate, one I'll never forget.
25:20Hmm.
25:21I fancy none of us will ever forget.
25:24You leaving now?
25:25No.
25:26I'm going to stay until the room's cleared.
25:29It's about cleared now.
25:31Nobody much left?
25:32I, uh...
25:33I want to speak to old Drindle.
25:35He...
25:35He doesn't look too happy.
25:38It was quite a going over Ashley gave him, wasn't it?
25:40Hmm, look that way.
25:42Ashley can be a rough man, can't he, though?
25:47Well, I'm off for her.
25:49Night, Wynthorpe.
25:50Night, Cudworth.
25:52A never-to-be-forgotten night.
25:56Oh, uh, Drindle.
25:57Oh, yes, Mr. Winthrop?
25:59May I speak to you for a minute?
26:02Oh, yes, of course, Mr. Winthrop, of course.
26:05You all right?
26:06Perfectly all right.
26:08I couldn't help noticing you, uh...
26:11You and Mr. Ashley seem to be having an altercation of some sort.
26:16Mr. Ashley was angry, sir, because...
26:21I wouldn't say I saw the white goddess.
26:24And why wouldn't you say you saw the white goddess?
26:28Because I didn't see her.
26:31But we all saw her, Drindle.
26:34Even Mr. Ashley saw her.
26:37She wasn't there.
26:38My dear man, she was there.
26:41She ran across the lounge, all naked, just as the notice said she would.
26:46Now, why do you persist in denying it?
26:50Because...
26:51I wrote the notice.
26:54Oh, Drindle.
26:55And I wrote the other one, too, about the devil coming down the chimney.
27:00I wrote them both.
27:02And I made them up out of my head.
27:07Why are you lying to me, Drindle?
27:09I'm not lying, sir.
27:11But of course you're lying.
27:13I don't know why you're lying.
27:15Perhaps to make yourself important in our eyes.
27:18I am not lying.
27:21But we all saw her, Drindle.
27:23It was the most exquisite moment of our lives.
27:26We saw her.
27:27Therefore, you're lying.
27:34All minds are little.
27:37In this great universe of ours,
27:40man is a mere insect
27:41as compared with the boundless world about him,
27:45as measured by the intelligence
27:47capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
27:51Yes, Virginia.
27:53There is a white goddess.
27:55We'll be back shortly with Act Three.
28:07Have you read your Shakespeare lately?
28:09If you have,
28:11you'll remember Hamlet's observation to his friend.
28:15There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
28:19than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
28:22If you haven't read your Shakespeare,
28:25now for the third act of The Walls of Jericho.
28:30Come eat your breakfast, Timothy.
28:31It's on the table.
28:32It's ridiculous.
28:34It's absolutely absurd.
28:36They're trying to ruin me.
28:37Oh, he's off again.
28:38I never even turned around
28:40when I heard them whispering behind my back.
28:42Drindle's getting on.
28:43Poor Drindle.
28:45Drindle's had a drop too much.
28:46That part's true, all right.
28:48But when they called me a liar,
28:49and to my face,
28:51I don't have to take that.
28:53Who called you a liar?
28:54Mr. Amos Winthrop,
28:56the president of the club.
28:58The highest mucky muck
28:59of all the high mucky mucks.
29:01That's who.
29:01What kind of a lie did you tell him?
29:02No lie.
29:03I told him no lie.
29:05I told him the God's own truth.
29:07That I had written those notices
29:08and put them up on the bulletin board.
29:10The one about the devil coming down the chimney
29:12and the one about the white goddess
29:13running naked across the lounge as well.
29:16Why wouldn't he believe you?
29:17Because he's a fool.
29:19The biggest fool in a pack of fools.
29:21I said, why wouldn't he believe you?
29:23He says he saw the devil,
29:25saw him come down the chimney
29:27and stand in the flames.
29:29And that most of the others saw him too.
29:31Oh, but Mr. Ashley
29:33and a few other disbelievers.
29:35Oh, you should never have invoked the devil.
29:38I told you that at the time.
29:39But even Mr. Ashley is saying
29:42that he saw the white goddess
29:43run across the lounge.
29:46Radiant in her nakedness, he says.
29:49Blowing like mother of pearls.
29:52Imagine Mr. Ashley talking like that.
29:55He says she brushed up against him.
29:58Against his shoulder.
29:59And then went out through the window
30:01and melted into the astral light.
30:05Mr. Ashley, of all people,
30:07maybe it happened.
30:09How could it have happened
30:10when I made it all up?
30:13Well, come eat your breakfast.
30:15No, I can't.
30:16I'm too upset.
30:17You're more upset than they are.
30:18Those fine gentlemen,
30:19you were going to teach a lesson.
30:21Oh, don't you worry.
30:22I'll fix them.
30:24I'll put up another note here.
30:26Oh, now, Timothy,
30:27don't start up again.
30:28Only this time,
30:29I'll make it so,
30:30so crazy,
30:32so outlandish,
30:34they'll see that it's only a joke.
30:36They won't be able to help themselves.
30:38Now, let's see.
30:39Where's the pen?
30:40And a piece of paper.
30:42Now,
30:44now,
30:45what shall I...
30:48I need to get them excited,
30:50all worked up,
30:51waiting for something,
30:52and then to let down
30:53when it doesn't happen.
30:54That's what I'm after.
30:57It...
30:57Yes, I've got it.
30:59On March the 2nd,
31:00at five o'clock...
31:02You see,
31:03they'll all be having drinks
31:04in the lounge about that time.
31:05At five o'clock,
31:07a leopard will enter...
31:09Eh,
31:10no,
31:11no,
31:11not a leopard.
31:12Uh,
31:13a tiger
31:15will enter
31:16the members' lounge.
31:18How's that?
31:18As long as you don't make it
31:19the devil.
31:20No, no, no,
31:21better yet,
31:22three tigers
31:23will enter
31:23the members' lounge.
31:26No, no, no,
31:27I don't like enter.
31:28It's too sedate sounding,
31:29too tame.
31:30I...
31:31will
31:32come
31:33through the windows.
31:34No,
31:36will crash
31:37through the windows.
31:38Yes,
31:38that's good.
31:39Crash
31:40through the windows
31:40of the members' lounge.
31:42There.
31:43That should put
31:44Mr. Winthrop
31:45in his place.
31:46Somehow,
31:46Timothy,
31:47I don't think
31:47you were born
31:48to put Mr. Winthrop
31:50in his place.
31:51Ah,
31:51that's where you're wrong,
31:52Martha.
31:53It's precisely
31:54what I was born for,
31:56and this'll do it.
31:57Wait a minute.
31:59I thought of something else.
32:00What?
32:01No.
32:01Listen to this.
32:03On March the 2nd,
32:04at five o'clock,
32:06three tigers
32:07will crash
32:08through the windows
32:09of the members' lounge,
32:11one of them
32:13carrying a chicken
32:14in his mouth.
32:15Oh.
32:16There.
32:17How's that, Martha?
32:18Huh?
32:19How's that?
32:20Oh,
32:21oh,
32:21that's perfect.
32:22Oh,
32:28uh,
32:29Grindle.
32:30Uh,
32:30Mr. Winthrop,
32:31yes, sir?
32:32Stir up that fire,
32:33will you?
32:34Yes,
32:34sir.
32:36That's,
32:37uh,
32:37that's fine.
32:39Would you
32:39like another log,
32:41sir?
32:41No,
32:42no,
32:42that'll do it,
32:43I think.
32:43Weather's letting up a bit.
32:45Yes,
32:45it seems to be.
32:47You're in the club
32:48a bit early today,
32:50sir.
32:50Um,
32:51yes,
32:52a bit.
32:53Why,
32:53yes,
32:54it's only a little
32:55after four.
32:56Are you
32:58waiting
32:59for the tigers,
33:00sir?
33:01How's that?
33:02I just thought
33:03perhaps you might have
33:04wanted to be
33:05the first one
33:06on hand
33:06when the tigers
33:07crash through,
33:08that's all.
33:09You're being
33:10impertinent,
33:11Gindle.
33:12That's very unlike
33:12you,
33:13Gindle.
33:13Is it,
33:14sir?
33:14Same as you're
33:15lying.
33:15It was unlike
33:16you to lie to me.
33:17Yeah,
33:18I suppose it was.
33:19You know it was.
33:21Now,
33:22you're not going
33:23to tell me
33:23that the latest
33:24notice on the
33:24bulletin board
33:25was also
33:26your invention,
33:27are you?
33:28I'm not going
33:29to tell you
33:29anything,
33:30Mr. Winthrop.
33:31Well,
33:31I'm glad to hear
33:32that.
33:32I'm sure
33:33you'll agree
33:34it's not my
33:35place to tell
33:35you anything.
33:36I most certainly
33:37and emphatically
33:38do agree.
33:39I thought you
33:40would.
33:40Not that I'm
33:41certain that
33:42the three tigers
33:43will crash
33:44through the
33:44windows.
33:45No,
33:45I'm not certain
33:46at all.
33:47It's absurd
33:48on the face
33:49of it,
33:49isn't it?
33:50Most absurd.
33:51Three tigers.
33:52Well,
33:53perfectly ridiculous.
33:55And one with
33:55a chicken in
33:56his mouth.
33:57It's laughable.
33:58Well,
33:59don't laugh
33:59because it
34:01just may
34:01happen,
34:02precisely as
34:03the notice
34:03predicts.
34:05We simply
34:05do not
34:06know.
34:07I promise
34:07not to laugh.
34:16Nervous,
34:16Cudworth?
34:17A few flutters.
34:19It's the uncertainty,
34:20of course.
34:21I've been here
34:21since four o'clock.
34:22Can you imagine
34:23that?
34:23I had a hard
34:24time staying
34:25away myself.
34:26I had a few
34:27sharp words
34:28earlier with
34:28Rindle.
34:29Sorry to say,
34:31the old man's
34:32getting very
34:33independent,
34:34very opinionated.
34:35Where is he?
34:35He's usually around
34:36taking drink orders
34:37by now.
34:38He's standing
34:39over there
34:39by the main
34:40door looking
34:40very superior.
34:42We really
34:43have to retire
34:44that fellow,
34:44Cudworth.
34:45Winter,
34:46Cudworth,
34:47do you realize,
34:48do you realize
34:49people are
34:50standing outside
34:52on the sidewalk?
34:53This isn't
34:53a club matter
34:54anymore.
34:55It's spread
34:55all over the city.
34:56Oh,
34:56I can't say
34:57I care for that.
34:58It looks like
34:58hundreds of
34:59people.
35:00I tried to get
35:01Ashley to be
35:01with us
35:02for the great
35:03event,
35:03but he insists
35:04on his
35:05force by the
35:05window.
35:06Ashley by the
35:07window,
35:07old Gendrell
35:08by the main
35:09door.
35:09Well,
35:10well,
35:10well,
35:11come on.
35:12We should be
35:13quiet.
35:13It's time.
35:15I don't think
35:16our conversation
35:17will either
35:18deter or
35:19encourage the
35:19tigers.
35:20All the same.
35:24Quiet.
35:25Quiet.
35:25Quiet.
35:25Quiet.
35:26Quiet.
35:27curtains.
35:33I don't know the
35:35Lord's Mafess.
35:36I know.
35:37There are the
35:37arth.
35:38This is three of
35:39them.
35:39Three dentro.
35:40And the chickens
35:41out of the way,
35:44out of the way.
35:45You out of the
35:46I don't know the
35:48I don't know them
35:49but they don't
35:55Cudworth, did they...
35:57Is he...
35:58Don't...
35:58Don't look, Winthrop.
36:00Better not look.
36:01Is Drendel to the Tigers getting...
36:04I don't know.
36:06Well, here's Ashley.
36:07Maybe he knows something.
36:08Ashley, what happened?
36:10Old Drendel's dead.
36:11Oh, no.
36:13How did it happen?
36:15Heart attack, apparently.
36:17Not the Tigers.
36:18There isn't a scratch on him.
36:20They simply jumped over him,
36:22knocked down the big door and disappeared.
36:25Old Drendel never believed in the Tigers.
36:27Oh, is it conceivable he didn't see them?
36:32Oh, he saw them all right.
36:34How can you be sure?
36:36Well, don't you remember,
36:37just before the Tigers reached the door,
36:39he called for help.
36:41He...
36:41He saw them?
36:43He called for help?
36:46And he died.
36:47Of fright, do you think?
36:50Can you think of anything more frightening
36:52than the sight of something you never believed in
36:55coming to get you?
37:03Let's step in here for a few minutes, gentlemen.
37:05We won't be disturbing you, Katie,
37:08if we use part of the lounge, will we?
37:10What happened in here, Mr. Winton?
37:12Who upset all the furniture?
37:15A little fracas, Katie,
37:17with some unexpected visitors.
37:21Let's set our drinks down here.
37:23Pull up chairs, everybody.
37:25There's a few that weren't overturned.
37:28We'll have a new steward tomorrow.
37:31They're promoting someone from the dining room.
37:33You'll never hold a candle to Drendel,
37:35no matter who he is.
37:36Drendel was a good man.
37:38If you gentlemen are going to be using this room,
37:40I can clear out and come back later.
37:42Now, you go right ahead with your cleaning, Katie,
37:44if you don't mind sweeping around us.
37:46It's all right with me.
37:48Yes, yes, yes, yes.
37:51Gentlemen,
37:53I asked you to meet with me here
37:55because I have a confession to make.
37:57I'm sorry I didn't tell you before,
38:00but, well, I didn't.
38:02But now I must.
38:05After the incident of the White Goddess, gentlemen,
38:09Drendel told me that he himself
38:11had posted those notices on the bulletin board.
38:15Drendel?
38:16The one about the devil?
38:18And the White Goddess, that one too?
38:20I didn't believe him.
38:21After all, we saw the devil, most of us,
38:24and we all saw the White Goddess.
38:27And to believe Drendel would be to admit
38:29that he had the power to summon them up.
38:31What about the three tigers?
38:35One with a chicken in his mouth?
38:37We saw them too.
38:39And in all probability,
38:41so did Drendel.
38:42And the sight killed him.
38:44Is it possible that a man like Drendel
38:47had the power to invoke such things?
38:50Well, I must now concede
38:53that he did.
38:54There I must take issue with you, Winthrop.
38:58Drendel only put up the notices.
39:01The power lay within us.
39:04The membership.
39:05I, for one, claim no such power.
39:08You, for one, have no such power, Ashley.
39:12Nor have I.
39:13Nor has Winthrop, or Higgins,
39:16or any member of the club separately.
39:18Or consciously.
39:20But unconsciously and collectively,
39:23the power is ours.
39:26Together and without knowing it,
39:29we can do such astounding things.
39:31Together and without knowing it,
39:33we are constantly doing astounding things,
39:36are we not?
39:37And always have.
39:39Both for good and for evil.
39:42Well, I call your attention
39:43to the biblical story
39:45of the Battle of Jericho.
39:47We all know
39:48that stone walls cannot be shattered
39:50by a band of men
39:52marching around them,
39:53a final blast of trumpets
39:55and a great shout.
39:57We know that.
40:00And yet it happened.
40:01The walls of Jericho fell.
40:05Uh, why did they?
40:08Consider the circumstances.
40:09The Israelites
40:11outside the fortress city.
40:14The eagerness,
40:15the expectancy,
40:16and above all,
40:16the desire and the belief.
40:20Consider the steady tramp
40:21of marching feet.
40:23Consider the narrowed
40:25concentration of the marchers.
40:26No man divided in his mind
40:28and no mind
40:30divided from the mind
40:31of any other man.
40:33Consider the psychic pressure
40:35created by such a congregation.
40:37A mass hallucination.
40:40It was no hallucination
40:42that Jericho fell to Joshua.
40:45No.
40:46I should call it
40:48mass projection.
40:50And that's what happened here
40:52to us?
40:54We,
40:55all of us,
40:57acting in concert,
40:59projected these apparitions
41:01by the sheer force
41:03of our unconscious minds.
41:06Then,
41:07we weren't wrong.
41:08We really saw them.
41:11The devil,
41:12the white goddess,
41:13the three tigers,
41:14one
41:15with a chicken in his mouth.
41:17We really saw them.
41:19Even as the walls of Jericho
41:22really fell.
41:23I beg your pardon, sir.
41:24What is it, Katie?
41:25Look what I swept up
41:27over by the main door, sir.
41:29If I'm not mistaken,
41:31they're chicken feathers.
41:33What's been going on here, sir?
41:40And so ends
41:41our tale of magic.
41:43A magician performs his tricks.
41:46We are delighted
41:47and applaud
41:48because we cannot comprehend
41:50how he did them.
41:52But what if the magician himself
41:54cannot comprehend?
41:56I'll be back shortly.
42:07Seek to know the truth,
42:09for the truth
42:11shall make you free.
42:14I believe that,
42:15but it's a long search
42:17and a weary one.
42:19And let's be glad
42:20that a lot of mystery remains.
42:22And there's a little magic
42:24here and there
42:25along the way.
42:27Our cast included
42:28Robert Dryden,
42:29Mary Jane Higbee,
42:31Ian Martin,
42:32Ralph Bell,
42:33Guy Sorrell,
42:34and Sidney Walker.
42:35The entire production
42:36was under the direction
42:37of Hyman Brown.
42:39Radio Mystery Theater
42:40was sponsored in part
42:41by the Kellogg Company,
42:43makers of
42:44Kellogg's Special K cereal.
42:46This is E.G. Marshall
42:47inviting you to return
42:49to our mystery theater
42:50for another adventure
42:51in the macabre.
42:53Until next time,
42:56pleasant dreams.
Comments