- 21 hours ago
The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a thrilling 1977 radio drama. Hosted by Tom Bosley, the episode follows French marine biologist Professor Pierre Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and harpooner Ned Land as they are captured by the enigmatic Captain Nemo aboard the advanced submarine, the Nautilus.
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00:12I'm Tom Bosley, welcome once again to the world of wonder and imagination, the world
00:19not only of today and tomorrow, but of yesterday, the magic world of radio.
00:26You know that today, our nuclear submarines prowl the whole floor of the five oceans and
00:32all seven seas.
00:34They skirt the equator and slide silently under the great polar ice cap.
00:39But a century ago, only the genius of someone like Jules Verne could have prophesied its coming
00:46or imagined a ship like the Nautilus, that strange, unexplained monster of the deep that
00:53you are about to meet and live with now.
00:57Our tale today is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, adapted from Jules Verne's novel for the General
01:03Mills Radio Adventure Theater by Ian Martin.
01:06It stars Paul Hecht.
01:08I'll be back shortly with Act One.
01:17In the year 1866, a sea monster was sighted by merchant ships at various times in every
01:24ocean of the world.
01:25It was larger than a whale, long, cigar-shaped, gray-mottled in color, and when approached,
01:33disappeared beneath the surface so rapidly and mysteriously that no one could get near
01:38enough to classify it.
01:40What was it?
01:42Arguments even among scientists ranged from prehistoric monster to half-submerged wreck to some
01:49incredible man-made subterranean vessel.
01:53For myself, Professor Aranax, I am convinced it is a machine.
01:57That can roam the world at will, Mr. Secretary.
01:59Submerge for incredible lengths of time, and is at least the size of the largest whale.
02:05Incredible, I know, but as Secretary of the Marine, I would value your opinion.
02:10Well, then, consider the sightings of Australia and in the Pacific by the steamship Phoenix
02:14and the Columbus.
02:15They both thought of it as a sandbank, until suddenly two columns of water shot upwards
02:20from it to the height of 150 feet into the air, correct?
02:24Those are the reports.
02:25Yes, for does this not suggest some species of whale?
02:29With a natural force to spout that high?
02:31Besides, remember the steamship Moravian, and far worse still, the Scotia?
02:37Yes, those two ships which were struck.
02:38Exactly, rammed by something powerful enough to pierce iron plates two inches thick,
02:44and rip holes in them two yards in diameter below the water line.
02:48Now, what animal, what whale could accomplish that?
02:51The narwhal, perhaps?
02:53But the narwhal is relatively small, some 30 feet.
02:56Ah, but suppose that bug travels at a speed of 20 to 30 miles,
03:00armed with a battering ram like a long lance tooth.
03:03Let us speculate on an enormous narwhal, a sea unicorn.
03:08I hope you're right.
03:10But as an American concerned with the defense of my country,
03:13I must lean to the other side of the argument, that this is some gigantic war machine.
03:19The United States has made its decision.
03:22The heavily armed frigate, the Abraham Lincoln, under the command of Captain Farragut,
03:26has been outfitted to hunt this creature, machine, whatever it is, and destroy it.
03:31Well, I cannot imagine it is anything man-made.
03:35Would you care to join the Abraham Lincoln in its search?
03:38Well, I am just about to return to France, Mr. Secretary, but why me?
03:44Because in your capacity as professor to the Museum of Natural History in Paris,
03:49we consider you the foremost marine biologist in the world.
03:53If we cannot destroy this terror of the seas, perhaps we can at least identify it.
04:00I shall give you my answer before I return to France.
04:02I hope it will be yes.
04:04Now, I must hurry back to the ministry.
04:07Very good, sir.
04:08I will have my servant, Conseil, bring you to your carriage.
04:15That is the bell, Conseil.
04:17I have it, Monsieur le Parasseur.
04:20Professor Aranax?
04:22I am his servant, Conseil.
04:24I am Lieutenant Heath, United States frigate Abraham Lincoln.
04:27I bear this message from my captain, Captain Farragut.
04:31Will, Monsieur Hunter?
04:32I think I'd better stand by my horse.
04:34Will you be so good as to deliver this letter to your master?
04:38I'll wait for the answer.
04:39As you wish, Lieutenant.
04:41Excuse me.
04:43Who is it, Conseil?
04:45A message from Captain Farragut.
04:47Aha.
04:48Let me see.
04:52Doctor, something is wrong.
04:54The monster has been sighted in the Pacific, off the coast of Peru.
04:59We, I, am invited to sail on the American ship to track it down.
05:03Well, what do you think, Conseil?
05:06Whatever pleases Monsieur le Parasseur.
05:10There is a lieutenant outside the door who waits to reply to his captain.
05:15Well, will you go with me?
05:17Where else, Monsieur?
05:19Should I tell the lieutenant?
05:21No, no, no, no, no.
05:21I will tell him myself.
05:22Finish our packing.
05:23We should sail from Brooklyn with the tide.
05:25Ah, oui, Monsieur.
05:27Ah, lieutenant.
05:28I am Professor Aranax.
05:31As your service, sir.
05:32What message do I bring my captain?
05:34That I and my servant accept a gracious invitation from him and the United States
05:40and will be aboard before the tide turns.
05:46Monsieur Pierre Aranax?
05:48Aranax?
05:48Yes, the same.
05:49And this is my servant, Conseil.
05:52Hi, Conseil.
05:53I'm Captain Farragut.
05:55And the large gentleman beside me is Canada's gift of whalers.
05:58The finest harpoon in the world.
06:00Ned Lance.
06:01Pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor.
06:03Conseil?
06:04I am particularly pleased to make yours, Mr. Lent.
06:07We will need all your skill if we are to capture this creature who has managed to terrorize the worm.
06:12Lieutenant Heath, have we slipped mooring?
06:13We have, sir.
06:14Very well.
06:15So long, Jim's ahead.
06:16Set the men to the shrouds.
06:18We'll clap on all sail before we clear the headland.
06:24And so began the great adventure, with all of us straining forward in anticipation,
06:31almost as though the monster would come boiling out of the water the moment we had cleared the harbor.
06:37But it was to be many weary days and weeks before that happened.
06:44Until further proof, Professor, I'd have to deny that any whale or sea unicorn such as you've described could pierce
06:51the hull of the ship.
06:52My legend is full of stories of ships the narwhal has pierced through and through.
06:56Wooden ships, perhaps.
06:57Not the iron plates of a steamer.
06:59There might just be such a creature as your narwhal.
07:03And if there is, I can't wait to sink my harpoon in it.
07:14Well, Mr. Land, you may just have your chance.
07:24But what the lieutenant had cited proved to be a real whale, a whole school of them, in fact, and
07:31not the monster we were seeking.
07:33Still, the encounter was to establish one thing.
07:36That Ned Land was a formidable friend.
07:39And his skill with a harpoon was beyond pretty.
07:44There she blows, Mr. Land.
07:46Which side shall we come up on her?
07:47Steady as you go, lieutenant.
07:49We'll look up hard as starboard as we fetch her.
07:51Get your cock!
07:53Lads, we're headed for a kill!
07:54Just as she runs.
07:56Pretty lads, pretty!
07:59Driver! Driver!
08:01Now!
08:01Come around!
08:02Sit forward and hold hands!
08:05Beautiful!
08:07Now!
08:08Hey!
08:16The harpoon throw was unerring.
08:19The barb bit sure and true, and suddenly as the great mammoth reacted to the strike and sounded deep,
08:25our frail boat was streaking through a white curling foam.
08:29Flag off on the line!
08:32Flag off on the line!
08:33Let her run!
08:34Let her sound!
08:36She's ours, lads!
08:38She's ours!
08:46It was on the return from this adventure that I started my log.
08:51Its first entry, 6th of July, 1867.
08:56We have finally rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America.
09:01We are now beating up to the northwest into the great body of the Pacific.
09:06And Captain Farragut has gathered all of us on deck.
09:11Now, we've just rounded the horn, and all of you on board know what we seek.
09:17And I'm empowered by the United States government to offer a prize for the first man to sight this scourge
09:24of the seas, whatever it is.
09:25And the prize is a purse of $2,000!
09:36It was an excitement that was gradually ground to boredom, as during the next wearing four months we crisscrossed the
09:44waters of the Mid and North Pacific.
09:46Finally, on the 5th of November, with the coast of Japan only about 200 miles to Lourdes, the great moment
09:53arrived.
09:54Night was approaching, and eight bells were striking.
09:57Every eye, telescope, set of glasses was still fixed on our horizons.
10:04Look sharp, conseil.
10:05This may be the last chance of pocketing that $2,000.
10:09If I may be permitted to say, monsieur, I never have counted on it.
10:13Ah, you are right. It is a foolish affair, after all.
10:17So much time and emotion lost.
10:20When we could have been back in France six months ago.
10:23Ah, oui, in your smart account.
10:25And the museum, with all the specimens we had brought from America.
10:30He blows!
10:31But this is no whale!
10:33This is the monster we seek!
10:37I claim the $2,000!
10:40Everybody on deck to check me out!
10:43Way ho!
10:44Way ho!
10:47Whatever it is!
10:48There she blows!
10:55At two cables length from the ship, on the starboard corner, the sea was boiling.
10:59In the center of it was the mass, the reality, the strange center of a violent activity.
11:04What was it?
11:06What could it be?
11:08That would have to wait for closer inspection.
11:11An inspection I might have been well counseled to leave alone.
11:15Because what had turned out to be a roundabout trip back to France,
11:19was suddenly about to be a wild trip beyond imagining.
11:23A voyage that, before it was finished, would add up to 20,000 leaves under the sea.
11:40What is it that Ned Land and Konsei and Professor Aranax are looking at?
11:45What strange monster of the deep has risen to challenge them?
11:49Is it a living, breathing monster?
11:52Or some strange undersea boat beyond anyone's understanding in that day and age a hundred years ago?
11:59And if it is, who commands it?
12:02Is he a man?
12:04Or what?
12:05I'll be back shortly with act two.
12:14The chase is on.
12:16Zigzagging across the wide wastes of the Pacific,
12:19the USS Abraham Lincoln pursues the gigantic narwhal.
12:23It maneuvers with breathtaking speed,
12:26spinning around and away and back towards the ship.
12:28And as the shades of the night start to come down,
12:32more and more it glows like something red hot.
12:35Its darting and cutting and swooping bewilders its pursuers,
12:39and its evasiveness makes a mockery of the conical bullets designed to pierce armor,
12:44which are loaded in the ship's guns.
12:48Is that your head captain?
12:49Not yet.
12:50Another board on the right!
12:52Keep your eyes on it, Mr. Aranax.
12:55He's right on target!
12:57Well, they slid off without damage.
12:59Hold steam ahead!
13:00I'll pursue that beast till my ship burns!
13:03How fast are we going, Captain?
13:05Nineteen and three-tenth miles.
13:07It can't out-distance.
13:08Would you break out the small boats to attack the command?
13:11We'll never take the beast that way.
13:12What would you advise?
13:13I'll post myself by the bowsprit.
13:15Just get me within harpoon and distance and I'll spike it.
13:19I'll join you, Ned. I wouldn't miss this for anything.
13:21And I will not leave my master at all.
13:23Very well. Come along, Conce.
13:24Good hunting, all three!
13:26I'll try to bring you within range!
13:33Night was coming down as the three of us clung to the twisting, heaving bow of the ship,
13:38water streaming back as she cut through the waves.
13:41Ahead of us, suddenly still, floating on the surface as we cut towards it,
13:46lay the great narwhal.
13:48Ned Land, one hand grappling the martigale, the other brandishing his harpoon,
13:52leaned out with us over the water.
13:55Then, all of a sudden, the monster came to life.
13:58The huge, dark mass suddenly glowing as it twisted towards us.
14:02Look out ahead, Ned!
14:03I'm watching, Professor!
14:05Oh, the earth is enormous!
14:07It must be nearly 300 feet long!
14:08Well, let's see how it likes the taste of a harpoon!
14:12Ah, I eat!
14:13Yes, Conce, but the harpoon bounced away as though it had hit armor!
14:16I didn't stop it!
14:18Ah, but you may have hurt it!
14:20Yes, but not stop it!
14:21It's final attack!
14:28The vehicle shock that brought the brigades catapulted the three of us into the water.
14:32It was dark by now, and thrashing about, I was conscious that our ship was disappearing into the night.
14:39I was struggling and yelling.
14:41Help!
14:43Help!
14:44If Master could be in front of my shoulder, he could swim with Marie.
14:49What's that?
14:50It is you.
14:52And our ship, when I drew myself into the sea, I heard men cry that both screw and rudder were
15:00broke and we are lost.
15:04Professor!
15:05Are you there?
15:07The same!
15:10Still seeking his prize.
15:13Ah, you were thrown into the sea as well?
15:15Yes, Professor.
15:17But, more fortunate than you, I found a footing on a floating island.
15:23What are you talking about?
15:24And discovered why my harpoon was useless.
15:28I don't understand.
15:29Because, Professor, your gigantic narwhal is made of sheet iron.
15:35It's lying just under the water, and we can stand on it.
15:41Before I could reach for it with my feet, the strange machine came to meet us and carry us above
15:47the surface of the ocean.
15:48Desperately, we clawed and found a sort of tap rail to cling to.
15:53As long as it sails horizontally, I don't mind.
15:57But if it takes an ocean to dive, we're all goners.
16:07In the light of the moon, I could see the silhouette of our ship some five miles off fading over
16:13the horizon.
16:14There was no more time for talk.
16:16Only time enough to lash ourselves to the railing and ride out the night.
16:21A long night, during which, from sheer exhaustion, I blacked out.
16:33Master!
16:34Master!
16:35Master!
16:36Master!
16:36What?
16:36What is it?
16:38Can I say?
16:39Yes, Master.
16:41Where are we?
16:43It's dark.
16:44I can see nothing.
16:45We are inside, Monsieur.
16:47They came for us.
16:48What?
16:48What?
16:48Who came for us?
16:50Eight of them.
16:51Masked.
16:51Ned!
16:52Is that you?
16:53No one else, Professor.
16:54Who were these masked men?
16:55They came from inside the ship, armed, and forced us into captivity.
17:01The ship?
17:02Your giant narwhal is no freak of nature.
17:04It's man-made.
17:06Yes, Master.
17:07A huge vessel that does sail upon the sea, but beneath it also.
17:14This is a submarine ship.
17:16Who knows how deep in the ocean we're buried.
17:19Well, who commands it?
17:21We don't know.
17:23For all I know, they're pirates.
17:25But I still have my bowie knife, and if there's any trouble, I...
17:29Ned, Ned, no.
17:29There's no point in useless violence.
17:31Let us first study where we are,
17:33and if possible, why.
17:36I have been unconscious, but it seems you were not now.
17:40Tell me what happened.
17:45But he had little to tell me, beyond the simple facts that eight masked men had driven us into the
17:52dark, confined cell in which we found ourselves.
17:54And that the language they spoke, however little it was used, was unfamiliar.
18:01Apparently we were prisoners.
18:03But of whom, for what reason, and what our fate might be, was as mysterious as the room we were
18:09shut fast in.
18:10A room, which had no break in its smooth walls, save for a door, which we discovered...
18:17What the lights?
18:19Yeah.
18:20But they don't show us much we don't already know.
18:23What time is it?
18:24No idea.
18:25Except for my stomach.
18:27That says it's dinner time.
18:29If so, we must have slept 24 hours.
18:32And what we were given a drink after they hauled us aboard must have been drunk.
18:37That is very possible.
18:38I wonder what they mean to do with us.
18:40Starves to death, maybe.
18:42I'll make them pay some attention.
18:44I'll break the door down.
18:45Or cause enough excitement to get someone here to stop me.
18:48Calm yourself.
18:49Calm yourself, Mr.
18:50I can't, Professor.
18:51I'm a man who wants results.
18:53Which you can get without forcing the issue if you'll only take time to see that the door is already
19:00opening.
19:03Five men entered, four of them armed.
19:05The fifth man, tall, live, muscular, with a high forehead which suggested deep intelligence.
19:11His most remarkable feature, aside from a great mane of deep chestnut hair,
19:16were his eyes spread so far apart that they could take in a quarter of the horizon at one glance.
19:24You arrogant pirate, I demand you set us free.
19:26Quiet, Mr. Land.
19:28How do you know my name?
19:30Whether you remember it or not, I've already interrogated all of you.
19:33While we were drugged?
19:35Oh, say rather, Professor Aranax.
19:37While you were under the influence of medication to help you recover from exposure.
19:42But we did not ask for it or need it.
19:44Possibly, Monsieur Conseil.
19:46But then it is I who give the commands aboard this vessel.
19:50By heaven, how much time for this?
19:52You will, Mr. Land.
19:54And listen.
19:55Yes, please, Ned.
19:56We owe him that courtesy.
19:58Ah, very well.
20:00You are all a threat to me, Professor.
20:04Unintentionally.
20:05Unintentionally?
20:06Well, was it unintentional that your ship, the Abraham Lincoln, pursued me?
20:12That you took passage on that ship?
20:14That the cannonballs from your ship rebounded off the armor of my ship?
20:18That Mr. Land struck us with his harpoon?
20:21I don't think you understand what a mystery and a threat you pose to the world outside your own.
20:27I am done with the world.
20:29I am my own world.
20:31And in my own world, my word is law.
20:36But I...
20:37Hush, Ned.
20:38Very well, then.
20:39Since you control our fate, will you please tell us what it is to be?
20:44I will assign you cabins.
20:47You will have the freedom of the ship.
20:49And in exchange for this liberty, I only ask one thing.
20:53Your word of honor to accept its limitation.
20:56You are not offering us anything but a life sentence, cruel and unjust.
21:00No, sir.
21:02It is clemency.
21:03You are my prisoners of war.
21:05You attacked me, tried to surprise me and unlock the secret of my whole existence.
21:09You think I can send you back into a world which must never know me again?
21:14Oh, never.
21:16In keeping you, it isn't you I'm guarding.
21:20But myself.
21:21So in effect, you are offering us life or death.
21:24Exactly.
21:25There isn't much choice as to what our answer will be.
21:29But no word of honor will bind us not to escape, if we can.
21:33I will accept that qualification.
21:36And offer in return one of my own.
21:39From time to time, certain unforeseen events may require me to consign you to your cabins
21:44for some hours or days, as the case may be.
21:48Other than that, you are three members of our society and the world of the Nautilus.
21:54The Nautilus?
21:56The name of my ship.
21:57And how are we to address you, sir?
22:00My name from your world I have abandoned.
22:03Here I am the captain.
22:05If you must have a name to go with that, you may call me Captain Nemo.
22:15In the next days, I was to become amazed by the wonders of this strange world in which I found
22:22myself.
22:23The spacious cabins, the drawing room, the dining room, the library, and the control cabin all left me breathless.
22:31But most of all was the construction of the ship itself, its engines, and its capabilities.
22:40Dining with Captain Nemo, he seemed to have no hesitation in answering whatever question I raised.
22:48Did you enjoy your dinner, Professor?
22:50Ah, it was excellent, excellent, Captain.
22:52But what amazed me beyond belief was not the fish, which of course your nets can capture, but how you
22:58can supply meat.
23:00What you thought to be meat was fillet of turtles.
23:03Ah.
23:04What you thought pork, dolphin livers.
23:06You see, we find our game in our submarine forest.
23:09Yes, but the ship itself?
23:10Well, here in my room, you can see all I need to navigate it, you know, this instrument.
23:16Yes, most, barometer, compass, sextant, chronometer.
23:20This, the dial with the movable needle, is a manometer, is it not?
23:23Correct.
23:24It measures external pressure and reads out depth.
23:27And these are other instruments.
23:30Do you really want to know?
23:31Well, I don't want to pry into any secrets.
23:34Oh, my dear Professor Aranax, I need have no secrets from you.
23:37I am grateful for your trusting me.
23:39Oh, it is not a matter of trust.
23:41Where could you break it?
23:43Since I can assure you, your life belongs here on the Nautilus.
23:48I will not permit you, or anyone, including myself, to leave this ship alive.
23:59The incredible Captain Nemo.
24:02Captain of a ship built a century before its time.
24:05A sleek submarine run on power drawn from the sodium in the seawater.
24:10Capable of speeds up to 50 knots an hour.
24:13Constructed to travel on the surface, or submerged to the deepest trough in all the oceans.
24:19The Nautilus.
24:21Queen of the sea.
24:22A world to itself.
24:24And at the same time, a prison from which no man could escape.
24:30I'll return shortly when act three.
24:38It is estimated that the amount of Earth covered by water is about 140 million square miles.
24:44About equal to all the water from all the rivers that they would pour into the sea in 40,000
24:51years.
24:53Now all this water is divided into five great oceans.
24:56And of all these, the Pacific Ocean is the quietest.
25:01Its currents are broad and slow.
25:04It has medium tides and plenty of rain.
25:07And it was on this ocean that the last voyage of the Nautilus began.
25:13Now, Professor, I have brought the Nautilus to the surface.
25:16You see where we are now?
25:18We have climbed by the central staircase to the steersman's cage.
25:21All glass enclosed, as you see.
25:24But it is not this way when we are submerged.
25:26Oh, no, no.
25:27This and the other glass cage like it forward, which contains our great searchlights,
25:31are retracted into the body of the ship when we go down.
25:34As is the longboat.
25:36The longboat?
25:36Oh, you see the swell of the hull between the cages.
25:40Beneath those plates lies a small boat which can be released either on the surface
25:44or by a watertight arrangement when submerged.
25:48There.
25:49We've taken our bearings.
25:51And this voyage is about to begin.
25:59We've got to make a plan to seize this ship, Professor.
26:02Yes, but how, Ned?
26:03Well, you've talked to the madmen.
26:06How many men are aboard?
26:08Fifteen?
26:09Forty?
26:10A hundred?
26:10I have no idea.
26:11But I would think nearer the larger figure.
26:14Oh, it is that big?
26:15Oh, it is enormous, my good conseil.
26:17Then this man must be the richest man in the world.
26:20I have no doubt that...
26:22The lights!
26:23They have gone out.
26:24Ned, I knew this ship wasn't safe.
26:26It isn't natural to sail under the sea.
26:29Look.
26:32He's gonna drown it.
26:33Easy, Ned, easy.
26:34He's opening the hull to the sea.
26:36Yes, with glass to hold it back.
26:37Windows to the sea.
26:39But faster.
26:40How could glass stand against the pressure of the water?
26:43I expect it's only one of the many miracles we will see before this strange voyage is over.
26:53No words can describe the enchanted forest we were looking upon.
26:58Seventy-five fathoms down, lit by powerful electric floodlights.
27:03The sea was visible from the nautilus for a mile around.
27:08For two hours, an aquatic army awed and delighted us.
27:13The green labray, the banded mullet, the round-tailed goby, white with violet spots.
27:19Japanese salamanders, spider lampreys, serpents six feet long, a breathless parade, too many to mention.
27:27Until suddenly, the cabin lights went on and the panels shut as Captain Nemo, followed by six of his sturdy
27:35crew, entered his brow black as thunder.
27:39Why, let go!
27:41What is it, Captain?
27:41Why have you ordered your men to seize us?
27:43Because they're required to keep one of the conditions that bind you to me.
27:46You must be confined till I see fit to release you.
27:49You are the master, but may I ask you one question?
27:52None, sir.
27:57We were hurried to the same cell in which we had spent the first night.
28:02A meal was waiting for us.
28:03A meal that must have been drugged.
28:05For shortly after eating it, all three of us were dead to the world with no knowledge of what had
28:11happened during the night.
28:13When we woke the following morning, only I was given some glimmering.
28:18Monsieur Aranax, I know that several of your colleagues at the museum in Paris have studied medicine.
28:24Are you a doctor?
28:25Yes, I am. I am still a resident surgeon to the hospital.
28:28Will you prescribe for one of my men?
28:30Is he ill?
28:32You will see.
28:32I will prescribe for him, if I can.
28:39The man was not ill.
28:41He was wounded.
28:42Badly.
28:43A dreadful wound.
28:44Some blow which has shattered the skull and hopelessly damaged the brain.
28:48Well, Monsieur Aranax...
28:50What has caused this wound, Captain?
28:52That does not matter.
28:53Will he live?
28:55The man does not speak English. He will not understand.
28:59Very well.
29:01He will be dead before tomorrow.
29:04Can nothing save him?
29:06Nothing.
29:08You may go now, sir.
29:13I left Captain Nemo with tears in his eyes, bent in what seemed like prayer over the dying man.
29:19And that night, and for many to come, we saw nothing of him.
29:24But his presence was felt nightly, as he played a great pipe organ, whose oscillating tones filled the Nautilus as
29:33she sped through the ocean depths, headed we knew not where.
29:45Then one morning, the ship's engines were stilled, and the captain came to me.
29:50Monsieur Aranax, would you like to walk with me in the forest?
29:53Oh, I would be glad to set foot on dry land and breathe fresh air again.
29:57The walk I project will be on the sea bottom.
30:00It's an object of a sad one, and not without danger.
30:03But how will we walk at this depth?
30:06In the diving gear I have designed, in which you will be as comfortable as a man on the surface.
30:15Ned and Corset were of the same mind.
30:18Helped by members of the crew, we were fitted with rubber suits, heavy copper helmets, and a kind of iron
30:25mail like a flexible suit of armor.
30:28Heavy leaden shoes, and the tanks on our backs completed it all.
30:32And we were ready.
30:34Once in the water, the heaviness vanished, and we walked easily and comfortably.
30:41We passed suddenly into an incredible coral kingdom, in the center of which was a huge cavern like a sunken
30:49cathedral.
30:51It was only then I saw that the crew were carrying an oblong shape.
30:57Facing us was a huge cross of coral.
31:01And now they took this coffin, for that is what it was, and laid it gently beneath the cross.
31:08In a circle around their captain, they knelt and extended their hands in a last adieu.
31:19But it was on the way back that a new tragedy almost struck.
31:24A school of sharks were suddenly swarming about us.
31:26One of them, jaws opened wide like a factory shears, plunged at Captain Nemo.
31:31Cooly, he slipped to the side and buried his knife in its side, clinging with his other hand to the
31:36fin.
31:36The creature thrashed and whipped in a frenzy, the water boiling with such fury that it swept me from my
31:42feet.
31:42But as I fell, I saw Ned Land go to the rescue, and with one mighty lunge, bury his harpoon
31:48to the hilt in the shark's heart.
31:55Are you all right, Captain Nemo?
31:58Quite, thanks to you, Mr. Land.
32:00I owed you that one.
32:02Makes us even.
32:04Now will you let us go?
32:06Never.
32:06You expect us to live and die aboard this boat?
32:10It is the world I have chosen.
32:12Not the one I did.
32:13You chose to invade my world.
32:15I leave yours alone.
32:17What about that dead man you buried today?
32:19How did he get killed?
32:19Be silent.
32:20That wound was no accident.
32:22He got that in a battle.
32:24Who told you?
32:25What is it you're trying to revenge yourself on?
32:27Who are you?
32:28That secret will go with me to my grave.
32:32If my men and I are outcasts, it is because we want to be.
32:41On the 4th of January, having traveled 11,340 miles, came our first real opportunity to escape.
32:50I was up with Captain in the helmsman's cage as we sailed on the surface near the coast of Papua,
32:57when suddenly...
32:59An accident, Captain?
33:00No.
33:01An incident.
33:02Yes, but we are past the ground in open sea.
33:04The tides are not strong in this ocean.
33:06You have little hope of setting the Nautilus free.
33:09It is true that the tides are weak, but have no fear.
33:12In five days, the moon will be full and we will float again.
33:16Now he will excuse me.
33:17I have duties below.
33:20Professor.
33:21Yes, Ned?
33:21Now's our chance to escape.
33:24We'll all have to leave this ship.
33:26For you, mark my words, this piece of iron will navigate neither under or over the seas again.
33:32Yes, I don't despair as you do, Ned.
33:34I will give the captain his five days to see what the moon will do to float us off.
33:38The captain is right, Ned.
33:40What can I say?
33:42Just to set foot on land again, to find some game, some fresh meat.
33:48Now it is Ned who is right, master.
33:51Will you not ask the captain for permission to go ashore?
33:54I will ask him, but I am afraid he will refuse.
34:02But to my amazement, he not only gave his permission, agreeably enough, but even furnished us with guns and hatchets.
34:09I should have known he had little to fear.
34:12We had spent four days ashore, and we had just dined on delicious game fowls, succulent yams with thick slices
34:18of breadfruit pie.
34:20Well, what was that?
34:21Oh, grab some food from the cabbage bomb.
34:24That was its beer.
34:26Savages!
34:27Look!
34:27Look!
34:27There must be 50 of them.
34:29Can we make it to the boat?
34:30Way better.
34:31They'll be the one filling their stomachs, and the dinner will be us.
34:36She paused, Ned.
34:37She paused.
34:38We have reached the Nautilus.
34:39Hurry, Professor, hurry.
34:40They're right on our tails.
34:41No, come on.
34:42No hurry!
34:43All will be well.
34:44Not if those headhunters get to us.
34:45Nothing to fear from them.
34:47Let me have the men see to the boat.
34:49Sit up!
34:50Listen to that.
34:51Come, gentlemen.
34:53Step below decks.
34:54And down all the hatches before they board you.
34:56No need.
34:57We will leave the hatches if they are.
34:59The proper ones, they are cannibals.
35:00Perhaps.
35:01But we will not harm them, and they will not harm us.
35:04What?
35:05What is that?
35:06The whole hull is charged with electricity.
35:10But don't be alarmed.
35:11It's just enough to stun, not to kill.
35:14It's enough to scare off the natives.
35:16I have no quarrel with these people.
35:23What can I say of the miracles performed by Captain Nemo, even to the fact that just
35:29as he had predicted at the exact hour on the fifth day, the last waves of the tide lifted
35:35the Nautilus again to continue her endless journey under the waves.
35:42And now after a year, and nearly 20,000 leagues under the sea, this brilliant madman was heading
35:49us for the North Pole, up along the coast of Norway.
35:53We were standing on deck.
35:55What is that ship, Ned?
35:57It's rigging the ship of war.
36:00Oh, may it reach us and sink this cursed Nautilus.
36:03But where is Captain Nemo?
36:05At below, I think.
36:06Now is our chance.
36:07Into the water.
36:09Escape.
36:09I say you're right.
36:10Stay where you are, gentlemen.
36:12You are not leaving the Nautilus.
36:14Besides, it will benefit you little to flee to that ship.
36:17I intend to sink it.
36:22Attack has begun.
36:23Go below.
36:24I will have my revenge.
36:27I am the law, and I am the judge.
36:31Through men like you, I have lost all I loved and revered.
36:35Country wife, children, all that I hated before me, and I will strike them down with the power of the
36:42Nautilus.
36:43Die!
36:44Die!
36:45Die!
36:47Die!
36:55The bowscrit of the other ship, as we crashed, peeled back the helmsman's cage and spilled Conze, Ned, and myself
37:00into the sea.
37:02Frantically, we swam away as the two vessels, still locked together,
37:05went down into the sea, almost sucking us down after her.
37:10Had it not been for Ned's strength, we would not have escaped.
37:13And only we three did, picked up by a Norwegian fishing boat.
37:18The strange ship that attacked us was lost with all hands.
37:23Captain Nemo and his men chose to go down with the Nautilus to a watery grave.
37:29Or did they?
37:32Perhaps they still roam as free as any undersea creature beneath the waves.
37:42Of course, whatever happened to Captain Nemo,
37:46he and his boat must have long ago disappeared,
37:48since our adventure happened over a century ago.
37:52Captain Nemo was before his time.
37:55Today, with all the submarines in the world,
37:58Captain Nemo would find his private world a little crowded.
38:03Now, don't you think all of us are lucky that,
38:06thanks to the vision of Jules Verne,
38:08we were the first to sail with Captain Nemo for 20,000 leagues under the sea?
38:15I'll be back shortly.
38:20Our cast included Paul Hecht, William Griffiths, Ian Martin, and Jackson Beck.
38:26The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown.
38:31This is Tom Bosley inviting you to return to the General Mills Radio Adventure Theater
38:37for another exciting tale you can hear through the magic of radio.
38:42The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater is recommended by NEA,
38:47the National Education Association.
38:49THE END
38:50THE END
38:50THE END
38:51THE END
38:52THE END
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