WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.000 In just a moment, suspense with William Powell. 00:05.000 --> 00:07.000 Oh, Hap, here comes Harlow Wilcox. 00:07.000 --> 00:11.000 I'll bet he forgets I already have two sets of Auto Light Resistor Spark plugs 00:11.000 --> 00:14.000 and tries to high pressure me into buying another one. 00:14.000 --> 00:15.000 Well, hello there, friends. 00:15.000 --> 00:16.000 Hello, Mr. Wilcox. 00:16.000 --> 00:18.000 Hey, Hap, you look a little worried. 00:18.000 --> 00:19.000 Car not running right, maybe? 00:19.000 --> 00:20.000 Why? 00:20.000 --> 00:21.000 Spark plug trouble? 00:21.000 --> 00:22.000 Not at all. 00:22.000 --> 00:27.000 Ah, listen, pal, what you need is a set of those sensational new ignition engineered Auto Light Resistor Spark plugs. 00:27.000 --> 00:28.000 But Harlow... 00:28.000 --> 00:34.000 Why, the get-up-and-go a spark-weary engine gets from Auto Light Resistor Spark plugs will turn your gloom to glee. 00:34.000 --> 00:36.000 Look, Harlow, I already have it. 00:36.000 --> 00:41.000 Why, when you replace your old narrow gap spark plugs with wide gap Auto Light Resistor Spark plugs, 00:41.000 --> 00:44.000 by Cornelius, you can actually tell the difference in your car. 00:44.000 --> 00:45.000 Your engine idles smoother. 00:45.000 --> 00:47.000 Harlow, Harlow, wait a minute. 00:47.000 --> 00:49.000 I'll listen to you and my engine later, but... 00:49.000 --> 01:02.000 But right now, let's listen to suspense. 01:02.000 --> 01:08.000 Suspense! 01:08.000 --> 01:16.000 Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you Radio's outstanding theater of thrills. 01:16.000 --> 01:23.000 Starring tonight, William Powell in Anton Leder's production of Give Me Liberty, 01:23.000 --> 01:32.000 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 01:32.000 --> 01:35.000 I embezzled a quarter of a million dollars. 01:35.000 --> 01:41.000 I want you to know that needed brains, planning, patience. 01:41.000 --> 01:45.000 I devoted three years of my life to the trick, and I got away with it. 01:45.000 --> 01:49.000 Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 01:49.000 --> 01:54.000 Of course, they caught me very easily, but they couldn't find the money. 01:54.000 --> 01:58.000 So they handcuffed me, brought me back to stand trial. 01:58.000 --> 02:01.000 The judge was as big a fool as the others. 02:01.000 --> 02:04.000 Seven years is a long time, Mr. French. 02:04.000 --> 02:09.000 The insurance company will agree to a much lighter sentence if you will reveal where you've hidden that money. 02:09.000 --> 02:11.000 But I only smile. 02:11.000 --> 02:15.000 So my right wrist was handcuffed to the left wrist of a detective, 02:15.000 --> 02:19.000 and they put me aboard a train bound for the penitentiary. 02:19.000 --> 02:23.000 I could see that the detective had instructions to soften me up. 02:23.000 --> 02:25.000 He was much, much too kind. 02:25.000 --> 02:29.000 You're comfortable, Mr. French? You want a magazine? Anything? 02:29.000 --> 02:33.000 Well, I'd like to be able to lift my hand without raising yours into the air. 02:33.000 --> 02:37.000 Can't you guard me without being quite so attached to me? 02:37.000 --> 02:39.000 Sure, I guess we can work that out. 02:39.000 --> 02:42.000 Tell you what, you sit next to the window. 02:42.000 --> 02:44.000 I'll kind of box you in. 02:44.000 --> 02:47.000 And that way you can wear the cuffs all by yourself and nobody loses. 02:47.000 --> 02:48.000 Thank you. 02:48.000 --> 02:50.000 Let me get my keys. 02:52.000 --> 02:53.000 There. 02:53.000 --> 02:56.000 Off for me, on to you. 02:56.000 --> 02:59.000 I wonder if I've made a good change. Feels clumsy. 02:59.000 --> 03:01.000 You get the hang of it in no time at all. 03:01.000 --> 03:04.000 The biggest trouble is when you read a paper. 03:04.000 --> 03:07.000 Five inches of chain don't give you much room to turn a page. 03:07.000 --> 03:11.000 And I'd better leave the newspaper for a less constricting occasion. 03:11.000 --> 03:13.000 I'll have seven years for reading. 03:13.000 --> 03:15.000 Seven years? 03:15.000 --> 03:17.000 And a quarter of a million. 03:17.000 --> 03:22.000 Say, how smart does a guy have to be to get his hooks on so much lettuce? 03:22.000 --> 03:24.000 Would you like some of it? 03:24.000 --> 03:25.000 No, you're kidding. 03:25.000 --> 03:27.000 Well, let's make a deal. 03:27.000 --> 03:30.000 You drop the key to those things on the floor. 03:30.000 --> 03:32.000 Then go have yourself a nice lunch. 03:32.000 --> 03:36.000 Sure. And when do I see Mr. French again? 03:36.000 --> 03:38.000 When I meet you to pay off. 03:38.000 --> 03:40.000 I wouldn't be taking kind of a chance there, would I? 03:40.000 --> 03:43.000 This is a stupid conversation and I was only making words. 03:43.000 --> 03:47.000 I looked out at the fields and brooks and houses rushing past. 03:47.000 --> 03:49.000 I wouldn't see these things for seven years. 03:49.000 --> 03:52.000 Not counting time off for good behavior. 03:52.000 --> 03:54.000 But then I'd be free again. 03:54.000 --> 03:56.000 And I'd have my quarter million. 03:56.000 --> 03:58.000 Not a bad salary, huh? 03:58.000 --> 04:02.000 I'd use my brains for myself this time. 04:02.000 --> 04:03.000 Suddenly... 04:03.000 --> 04:07.000 Everybody hold on! There's a lot of train on the track! 04:18.000 --> 04:19.000 French. 04:19.000 --> 04:21.000 Are you all right? 04:21.000 --> 04:22.000 I'm sorry. 04:22.000 --> 04:23.000 I... 04:23.000 --> 04:25.000 I beat a car. 04:25.000 --> 04:27.000 I gotta get out of here. 04:27.000 --> 04:29.000 A car lay on its side. In flames. 04:29.000 --> 04:32.000 And those passengers that could move scrambled through the broken windows. 04:32.000 --> 04:35.000 Paying no attention to a helpless man in handcuffs. 04:35.000 --> 04:37.000 French. French. 04:37.000 --> 04:38.000 Give me a hand. 04:38.000 --> 04:40.000 That was the detective. His legs pinned by the wreckage. 04:40.000 --> 04:42.000 You move, will you? 04:42.000 --> 04:43.000 You want to see me roasted? 04:43.000 --> 04:45.000 What can I do with my hands like this? 04:45.000 --> 04:46.000 Where do you carry the key? 04:46.000 --> 04:47.000 What do you want with a key? 04:47.000 --> 04:49.000 You can pull me out by an arm, can't you? 04:49.000 --> 04:51.000 You can grab me by the head. 04:51.000 --> 04:53.000 Get the kid at full will both die here if I can't use my hands! 04:53.000 --> 04:55.000 You can use them good enough. 04:55.000 --> 04:56.000 Where's the key? 04:56.000 --> 04:58.000 I... I can't find it. 04:58.000 --> 05:01.000 French, it ain't in my pocket. 05:01.000 --> 05:02.000 Look on the floor. 05:02.000 --> 05:03.000 You're a liar. 05:03.000 --> 05:06.000 French, my shoes are on fire. Please. 05:06.000 --> 05:08.000 The only weapon was a suitcase. 05:08.000 --> 05:10.000 I kicked him in the face. 05:10.000 --> 05:12.000 I crashed my suitcase on his head. 05:15.000 --> 05:17.000 And he didn't have the key. 05:17.000 --> 05:20.000 I emptied his pockets down to the last crumb of tobacco. 05:20.000 --> 05:22.000 But a fire kept closer. 05:22.000 --> 05:24.000 He hadn't the key to the handcuffs. 05:24.000 --> 05:26.000 And I wanted it. 05:26.000 --> 05:28.000 Because this wouldn't be an escape. 05:28.000 --> 05:30.000 This would be a disappearance. 05:30.000 --> 05:32.000 Oh, what a chance. What a chance! 05:32.000 --> 05:33.000 I'd have my liberty. 05:33.000 --> 05:35.000 And I'd have my money. 05:35.000 --> 05:38.000 There's somebody in my car, but that car is also being owned in there! 05:38.000 --> 05:40.000 I threw away his pistol. 05:40.000 --> 05:42.000 I wouldn't need a gun. I used my head. 05:42.000 --> 05:45.000 I squeezed my college ring on his finger. 05:45.000 --> 05:47.000 I switched wallets. 05:47.000 --> 05:48.000 Is there anybody in that car? 05:48.000 --> 05:50.000 Pete, this way! Over here! 05:50.000 --> 05:52.000 There was a conductor out there. 05:52.000 --> 05:54.000 A crowd of passengers. 05:54.000 --> 05:56.000 I got to the opposite side of the car. 05:56.000 --> 05:58.000 No one. Not a soul. 05:58.000 --> 06:01.000 And there wasn't a splinter of glass left in the window. 06:01.000 --> 06:03.000 I slid down the side of the car, 06:03.000 --> 06:04.000 cleared the wheels, 06:04.000 --> 06:06.000 and struck the ground running. 06:06.000 --> 06:07.000 A few moments, a few hundred steps, 06:07.000 --> 06:09.000 and I was safe in the darkness. 06:11.000 --> 06:12.000 I was free. 06:12.000 --> 06:14.000 They'd think I was dead. 06:14.000 --> 06:29.000 And I had a quarter of a million dollars. 06:31.000 --> 06:34.000 For Suspense, Auto Light is bringing you William Powell 06:34.000 --> 06:45.000 in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 06:46.000 --> 06:50.000 Hap, my friend, have you ever heard a conversation between two cars? 06:50.000 --> 06:53.000 Two cocks? Harlow, Wilcox, are you crazy? 06:53.000 --> 06:54.000 Crazy like a fox. 06:54.000 --> 06:58.000 Listen, a sorrowful looking sedan came up to me on the street the other day 06:58.000 --> 07:00.000 and said, p-p-pardon me, pal, 07:00.000 --> 07:03.000 but have you got a papotent pill for a sput-puttering engine 07:03.000 --> 07:06.000 that keeps popping along on poor firing spark plugs? 07:06.000 --> 07:11.000 Well, this car had sure come to the right man, old A-L-R-S-P, Wilcox. 07:11.000 --> 07:12.000 A-L-R-S-P? 07:12.000 --> 07:15.000 A-L-R-S-P for Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs, of course. 07:15.000 --> 07:16.000 Oh. 07:16.000 --> 07:18.000 Well, before I could answer this fumbling foredoor, 07:18.000 --> 07:21.000 up glides a cute coupé with a mellow murmur, 07:21.000 --> 07:24.000 and says, say, chum, if you want to hum and hustle on the highway, 07:24.000 --> 07:27.000 if you want to idle smooth as a satin slipper, 07:27.000 --> 07:31.000 if you want better luck with lean gas mixtures, actually save gas, 07:31.000 --> 07:34.000 why, switch your narrow gap plugs for a set of those wonderful, 07:34.000 --> 07:38.000 sensational wide gap Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs. 07:38.000 --> 07:40.000 What's more, continues this chatty convertible, 07:40.000 --> 07:43.000 Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs cut down spark plug interference 07:43.000 --> 07:45.000 with radio and television reception. 07:45.000 --> 07:47.000 Really, the spark plug of the future. 07:47.000 --> 07:49.000 Why, I was talking to a delighted television set yesterday... 07:49.000 --> 07:51.000 Wait a minute, wait a minute, Harlow. 07:51.000 --> 07:53.000 Now you've got a car talking to a television set. 07:53.000 --> 07:56.000 By Cornelius Hap, television sets, cars, and everybody 07:56.000 --> 07:59.000 are talking about Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs. 07:59.000 --> 08:02.000 And no wonder, because new Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs 08:02.000 --> 08:06.000 have a 10,000 ohm resistor ignition engineered right into the spark plug 08:06.000 --> 08:09.000 and a wider spark gap setting that means smoother idling 08:09.000 --> 08:11.000 and gas dollars saved. 08:11.000 --> 08:14.000 Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs fit any make and size of car, 08:14.000 --> 08:17.000 and don't forget, Auto Light Resistor Spark Plugs are backed 08:17.000 --> 08:21.000 by the reputation of Auto Light and the over 400 automotive, 08:21.000 --> 08:24.000 marine, and aviation parts made by the Auto Light people. 08:24.000 --> 08:25.000 Pipe that. 08:25.000 --> 08:29.000 Okay, okay, but right now, let's pipe suspense. 08:29.000 --> 08:33.000 And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage 08:33.000 --> 08:38.000 William Powell as Earl French in Give Me Liberty. 08:38.000 --> 08:43.000 A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 08:43.000 --> 08:45.000 It's Ben. 08:54.000 --> 08:58.000 My first job after escaping was to break out of those manacles. 08:58.000 --> 09:02.000 I sat on a wheat field, holding my hands overhead 09:02.000 --> 09:06.000 so the blood would run through my hands and wrists and leave them slim. 09:06.000 --> 09:07.000 It didn't work. 09:07.000 --> 09:11.000 I tried that until my shoulders were in agony, and it didn't work. 09:11.000 --> 09:13.000 I couldn't snap the chain. 09:13.000 --> 09:14.000 I twisted it. 09:14.000 --> 09:15.000 I pulled at it. 09:15.000 --> 09:18.000 I had to fling my hands apart, and it wouldn't break. 09:18.000 --> 09:22.000 I rubbed it against stones until my skin was torn and bleeding, 09:22.000 --> 09:25.000 and it wouldn't break. 09:25.000 --> 09:28.000 By this time, it was morning, and I was pretty desperate. 09:28.000 --> 09:30.000 I found a match in my pocket. 09:30.000 --> 09:34.000 I went into the woods that boarded the field and built a fire. 09:34.000 --> 09:37.000 First, the chain grew hot, and then my wrists. 09:37.000 --> 09:42.000 But I held them over the fire until I couldn't keep back the scream. 09:42.000 --> 09:46.000 And not until then would I believe that I needed help. 09:46.000 --> 09:49.000 I pushed through the wheat and the corn beyond it, 09:49.000 --> 09:52.000 and I stumbled down a slope in a barnyard. 09:52.000 --> 09:54.000 Down, Jack, down! 09:54.000 --> 09:56.000 A woman was standing near one of the hen houses, 09:56.000 --> 09:58.000 pan of chicken feet in her hand. 09:58.000 --> 09:59.000 What do you want? 09:59.000 --> 10:01.000 There was nothing to say. 10:01.000 --> 10:02.000 She had seen the handcuffs. 10:02.000 --> 10:04.000 Come on, speak up. 10:04.000 --> 10:05.000 What do you want? 10:05.000 --> 10:07.000 I'm innocent, I swear to you. I'm innocent. 10:07.000 --> 10:09.000 Where are you from? How did you get away? 10:09.000 --> 10:10.000 Well, I... 10:10.000 --> 10:13.000 We were going up to the prison, and there was an accident. 10:13.000 --> 10:15.000 Well, what do you want from me? 10:15.000 --> 10:17.000 Could you lend me a file? 10:17.000 --> 10:19.000 And if you could spare some food, I'll be glad to pay for... 10:19.000 --> 10:21.000 You don't have to pay me for anything. 10:21.000 --> 10:23.000 Wait here, Jack, they're watching. 10:23.000 --> 10:26.000 The fool went into the house, 10:26.000 --> 10:30.000 and the dog sat down on its belly and placed its nose between its paws. 10:30.000 --> 10:33.000 And its eyes never left my face for an instant. 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 And then through the stillness, 10:35.000 --> 10:37.000 I heard the cracking of an old-fashioned wall telephone, 10:37.000 --> 10:39.000 and I knew what she was doing. 10:39.000 --> 10:41.000 I ran, I ran like a whirlwind. 10:52.000 --> 10:54.000 I couldn't get them off. 10:54.000 --> 10:56.000 I couldn't get the handcuffs off. 10:56.000 --> 10:58.000 I couldn't get anything to eat. 10:58.000 --> 11:00.000 I couldn't show myself. 11:00.000 --> 11:02.000 Do you know what it means to say food all about you 11:02.000 --> 11:04.000 and not be able to buy it? 11:04.000 --> 11:07.000 Don't tell me I could have eaten corn and fruit and roots. 11:07.000 --> 11:10.000 I can tell you the nature of every dog in that area 11:10.000 --> 11:13.000 and the feel of every barbed wire fence 11:13.000 --> 11:16.000 and the spang and roar of every rifle and shotgun. 11:16.000 --> 11:18.000 That was him, Harry. 11:18.000 --> 11:21.000 That was him down at the brush, and he ran to the other side. 11:21.000 --> 11:24.000 I crept into a village one night 11:24.000 --> 11:27.000 and forced up the window of a hardware store. 11:27.000 --> 11:30.000 I wanted a file, just a file. 11:30.000 --> 11:33.000 Do you know what they carry in hardware stores these days? 11:33.000 --> 11:35.000 Glassware, kitchen gadgets, 11:35.000 --> 11:39.000 garden tools, seeds, ovens, rat poisons, dresses. 11:41.000 --> 11:43.000 And then I moved behind a counter 11:43.000 --> 11:46.000 and I saw a man with a gun in his hand. 11:46.000 --> 11:48.000 He was a man of the law. 11:48.000 --> 11:51.000 And then I moved behind a counter. 11:51.000 --> 11:54.000 A hardware store has to have a file somewhere. 11:54.000 --> 11:57.000 And my foot struck a wire, stretched across the floor. 12:11.000 --> 12:13.000 How tired have you been? 12:13.000 --> 12:15.000 Have you ever been so tired 12:15.000 --> 12:17.000 that your eyes felt like stones in your head? 12:17.000 --> 12:19.000 So weary that your jaw hung slack 12:19.000 --> 12:23.000 and your tongue seemed thick and heavy in your mouth? 12:23.000 --> 12:26.000 Ah, there were times when I thought I'd die. 12:28.000 --> 12:31.000 And on the evening of the fourth day of my liberty, 12:31.000 --> 12:33.000 I crawled quietly to the garbage cans 12:33.000 --> 12:35.000 back of a roadside diner 12:35.000 --> 12:38.000 and began to paw about for something I could eat. 12:38.000 --> 12:41.000 There was a step behind me, a world about. 12:41.000 --> 12:43.000 It was a boy. 12:43.000 --> 12:46.000 We looked at each other for a long moment. 12:46.000 --> 12:49.000 He was waiting for me to speak. 12:49.000 --> 12:51.000 I said, hello, Sonny. 12:51.000 --> 12:52.000 Hello. 12:52.000 --> 12:54.000 You live in this neighborhood? 12:54.000 --> 12:55.000 Yeah. 12:55.000 --> 12:57.000 I don't. I'm traveling. 12:57.000 --> 12:59.000 With handcuffs on. 12:59.000 --> 13:01.000 Oh, these? 13:01.000 --> 13:03.000 Yeah, a friend put the money for a joke. 13:03.000 --> 13:05.000 Say, that gives me an idea, Sonny. 13:05.000 --> 13:08.000 Would you do me a big favor? 13:08.000 --> 13:10.000 Depends upon how big. 13:10.000 --> 13:12.000 Well, big to me, anyway. 13:12.000 --> 13:15.000 Sonny, it's worth $10 to be able to have these handcuffs off 13:15.000 --> 13:17.000 before my friend shows up. 13:17.000 --> 13:20.000 Look, can you get me a file or chop them off of an axe 13:20.000 --> 13:23.000 or something like that so I can have a laugh on him? 13:23.000 --> 13:24.000 No. 13:24.000 --> 13:26.000 Look, I'll let you keep them. They're fun. 13:26.000 --> 13:27.000 No. 13:27.000 --> 13:28.000 Oh. 13:28.000 --> 13:31.000 Well, then, would you do something else for me? 13:31.000 --> 13:33.000 Depends. 13:33.000 --> 13:36.000 I'm a little embarrassed about going into the lunch wagon like this. 13:36.000 --> 13:39.000 Look, would you step in there and buy a few hamburgers for me? 13:39.000 --> 13:40.000 How much? 13:40.000 --> 13:42.000 Same $10. 13:42.000 --> 13:44.000 For a couple of hamburgers? 13:44.000 --> 13:47.000 Then maybe you'd change your mind about the file. 13:47.000 --> 13:49.000 Let's see the money. 13:49.000 --> 13:53.000 I got it right here in my pocket, ready to jump into your hand. 13:53.000 --> 13:57.000 Hey, there are lots of things that a boy can buy with $10. 13:57.000 --> 13:59.000 Ah, there we are. 13:59.000 --> 14:01.000 How do I know it's good? 14:01.000 --> 14:03.000 Don't you trust me? 14:03.000 --> 14:05.000 Drop it on the ground. 14:05.000 --> 14:07.000 Drop it? Why? 14:07.000 --> 14:09.000 You drop it and back away. 14:09.000 --> 14:11.000 Then I'll pick it up. 14:11.000 --> 14:14.000 Oh, say, that's very smart. 14:14.000 --> 14:16.000 How's that? Far enough? 14:16.000 --> 14:18.000 I guess. 14:18.000 --> 14:21.000 He picked it up and began to walk around the diner. 14:21.000 --> 14:24.000 But when he was out of reach, he broke into a run. 14:24.000 --> 14:27.000 Pop, there's a cop in the back. 14:27.000 --> 14:29.000 Pop, I'm going with 10. 14:29.000 --> 14:32.000 Pop, if there's a cop in the back, I'm going with 10. 14:32.000 --> 14:35.000 Well? 14:35.000 --> 14:37.000 I got away. 14:37.000 --> 14:40.000 And I couldn't tear them off. I couldn't. 14:40.000 --> 14:45.000 I had $250,000 buried away, and it was worthless to me. 14:45.000 --> 14:48.000 Do you know what can be bought with a quarter of a million? 14:48.000 --> 14:52.000 By a man's soul can be bought for less than a quarter of a million dollars. 14:52.000 --> 14:55.000 And I couldn't buy a 10-cent file. 14:55.000 --> 14:58.000 I couldn't buy a 10-cent file. 14:58.000 --> 15:02.000 And I couldn't buy a 10-cent file. 15:02.000 --> 15:07.000 I spent that night in a nest of cast-off railway ties 15:07.000 --> 15:10.000 attached to a siding. 15:10.000 --> 15:15.000 When I opened my eyes in the morning, I had company. 15:15.000 --> 15:19.000 There was a hobo sitting on the top of my fortress-like bedroom. 15:19.000 --> 15:24.000 A very unusual-looking hobo in blue jeans and a navy coat. 15:24.000 --> 15:30.000 She was counting my money, smoothing each bill with loving care. 15:30.000 --> 15:33.000 She grinned when she saw I was awake. 15:33.000 --> 15:36.000 Good morning, Chum. 15:36.000 --> 15:39.000 You sleep like an honest man. 15:39.000 --> 15:41.000 What's the matter, Chum? 15:41.000 --> 15:44.000 Never speak till they bring your orange juice? 15:44.000 --> 15:47.000 Listen, I'm in trouble. I want you to help me. 15:47.000 --> 15:49.000 To get the bracelets off? 15:49.000 --> 15:50.000 Yeah. 15:50.000 --> 15:52.000 Ah, Chum, wouldn't that be kind of silly? 15:52.000 --> 15:55.000 I might lose all this hard-earned dough. 15:55.000 --> 15:57.000 Look, there's more where that came from. 15:57.000 --> 15:58.000 A lot more. 15:58.000 --> 16:00.000 I'll make you rich. 16:00.000 --> 16:02.000 Yeah, I heard that one before. 16:02.000 --> 16:03.000 So long, Chum. 16:03.000 --> 16:05.000 Listen. Listen to me. 16:05.000 --> 16:07.000 I got a quarter of a million dollars. 16:07.000 --> 16:09.000 Yeah, I get feelings like that, too. 16:09.000 --> 16:10.000 Come back, will you? It's true. 16:10.000 --> 16:12.000 Don't you read the papers? 16:12.000 --> 16:13.000 I'm Earl French. 16:13.000 --> 16:14.000 Never heard of you. 16:14.000 --> 16:16.000 And where would you get that much dough? 16:16.000 --> 16:18.000 Look, go into town and buy one of the newspapers 16:18.000 --> 16:20.000 six days ago. That'll tell you. 16:20.000 --> 16:21.000 Tell me what? 16:21.000 --> 16:23.000 You don't even know how to read anymore? 16:23.000 --> 16:25.000 Earl French, the embezzler. 16:25.000 --> 16:27.000 I stole $250,000. 16:27.000 --> 16:29.000 Uh-huh, and you're wearing those things 16:29.000 --> 16:31.000 so you won't pick your own pocket. 16:31.000 --> 16:33.000 Don't try to be clever. 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 I died in the train wreck near Scottsville. 16:35.000 --> 16:37.000 You're so sure about that, Chum. 16:37.000 --> 16:39.000 You croaked only a few days ago. 16:39.000 --> 16:41.000 No, you fool. They only think I did. 16:41.000 --> 16:43.000 Now, you get those newspapers. 16:43.000 --> 16:45.000 You come back here with a file and some food. 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 No, no, no. Don't order me around, Chum. 16:47.000 --> 16:49.000 If you're a corpse, I won't take it from you. 16:49.000 --> 16:51.000 If you're not a corpse, I'll poke you in the eye. 16:51.000 --> 16:53.000 Just play it easy, huh? 16:53.000 --> 16:55.000 Yeah, maybe I'll be back. 16:55.000 --> 16:57.000 Could happen. 16:59.000 --> 17:03.000 I waited for her all through that long, blistering day, 17:03.000 --> 17:07.000 crouching within those four walls of railway ties. 17:07.000 --> 17:09.000 I laid there like a trapped animal. 17:09.000 --> 17:11.000 And yet I knew she'd be back. 17:11.000 --> 17:13.000 She couldn't resist it. 17:13.000 --> 17:15.000 Cheap little thing like that. 17:15.000 --> 17:17.000 I knew she'd be back. 17:17.000 --> 17:21.000 Chum, it seems you were a very important guy in your time. 17:21.000 --> 17:23.000 Ah, you saw the papers. 17:23.000 --> 17:25.000 Yeah, and I got good news for you. 17:25.000 --> 17:27.000 Mr. French, you're now burnt to a crisp. 17:27.000 --> 17:29.000 That's the way they found you in the train. 17:29.000 --> 17:31.000 Recognize me by the ring on my finger? 17:31.000 --> 17:33.000 Yeah. Well, you're dead all right. 17:33.000 --> 17:35.000 You and 250 grand. 17:35.000 --> 17:37.000 Well, we'll come to that later. 17:37.000 --> 17:39.000 You get to work with the file. 17:39.000 --> 17:41.000 No, no, no, no. You're giving orders again. 17:41.000 --> 17:43.000 And I told you I don't like it. 17:43.000 --> 17:45.000 Give me that file. 17:45.000 --> 17:48.000 And that's where it stays until you lead me to my share of that dough. 17:48.000 --> 17:50.000 Oh, you'll get it. You'll get it. 17:50.000 --> 17:52.000 Chum, listen to Mama. 17:52.000 --> 17:54.000 I can pick up 500 fish by turning in an escaped prisoner, 17:54.000 --> 17:57.000 or you can dig up that treasure chest 17:57.000 --> 18:00.000 and buy this file for half the plunder. 18:00.000 --> 18:02.000 That's 400 miles away. 18:02.000 --> 18:04.000 That's a fair distance. 18:04.000 --> 18:07.000 But I can't ride a train or a bus with these on my wrists. 18:07.000 --> 18:10.000 That's okay, Chum. We'll walk. 18:10.000 --> 18:12.000 400 miles? 18:12.000 --> 18:14.000 Since. I've done it before. 18:14.000 --> 18:16.000 You've seen it? Not at night. 18:16.000 --> 18:18.000 How do I eat? Where will I sleep? 18:18.000 --> 18:20.000 You'll sleep in the woods and I'll bring the grub to you. 18:20.000 --> 18:23.000 Me, I'll sleep in town where I'll be snug and safe. 18:23.000 --> 18:26.000 Don't take this file from me, Chum. 18:26.000 --> 18:29.000 Not till I see my half of that dough. 18:37.000 --> 18:39.000 And that's how it was. 18:39.000 --> 18:42.000 That same evening we started a walk. 18:42.000 --> 18:44.000 At first it wasn't so bad. 18:44.000 --> 18:46.000 It gave me time to think. 18:46.000 --> 18:48.000 And I knew I'd think of something. 18:49.000 --> 18:52.000 You know, there's kind of a sneaky look about you. 18:52.000 --> 18:54.000 What? 18:54.000 --> 18:57.000 You figure that in 400 miles a lot of things can happen. 18:57.000 --> 18:59.000 Oh, no, no. 18:59.000 --> 19:01.000 After all, I want to do what's fair. 19:01.000 --> 19:03.000 Let's split. 19:03.000 --> 19:06.000 If we don't, I'll split your skull and don't kid yourself that I won't, 19:06.000 --> 19:08.000 little Chum. 19:08.000 --> 19:12.000 I've been waiting a long time for a break like this. 19:18.000 --> 19:20.000 We walked. 19:20.000 --> 19:25.000 But the handcuffs digging so deep into my flesh that I began to believe they were a part of me. 19:25.000 --> 19:27.000 Yeah, she brought me food. 19:27.000 --> 19:30.000 But she wouldn't come close enough to hand it to me. 19:30.000 --> 19:33.000 And every time I reached for anything, it was torture. 19:33.000 --> 19:37.000 My hands on wrists were a mass of misery. 19:37.000 --> 19:39.000 As though her pet animal were on a leash. 19:39.000 --> 19:43.000 My friend always walked six paces behind me. 19:43.000 --> 19:45.000 She was too smart. 19:45.000 --> 19:47.000 And I realized that I had to get away from her. 19:47.000 --> 19:49.000 And soon. 19:49.000 --> 19:51.000 And the morning I decided to do it, 19:51.000 --> 19:54.000 she found me a shack to hole up in. 19:54.000 --> 19:58.000 I could hardly wait for her to leave and go back into town. 19:58.000 --> 20:00.000 Yeah, this shack looks good. 20:00.000 --> 20:02.000 I'll meet you back here tonight. 20:02.000 --> 20:04.000 All right. See you tonight. 20:04.000 --> 20:06.000 That's the way I like you, Chum. 20:06.000 --> 20:08.000 Nice and agreeable. 20:08.000 --> 20:10.000 Why not? Why shouldn't I be? 20:10.000 --> 20:12.000 See you tonight, as usual. 20:12.000 --> 20:15.000 Sure there isn't anything special you'd like me to bring you to eat? 20:15.000 --> 20:17.000 No, nothing special. 20:17.000 --> 20:21.000 Say, Chum, I think you better turn around. 20:21.000 --> 20:22.000 Why? 20:22.000 --> 20:23.000 Because! 20:23.000 --> 20:40.000 When I awoke, with a dull ache filling my head, 20:40.000 --> 20:43.000 I found myself neatly trussed up. 20:43.000 --> 20:46.000 I could move a little, but not enough to get three. 20:46.000 --> 20:49.000 Talk about female intuition. 20:49.000 --> 20:51.000 She had guessed that I was going to try to get away from her, 20:51.000 --> 20:53.000 and she beat me to it. 20:53.000 --> 20:55.000 But I didn't give up, though. 20:55.000 --> 20:58.000 She'd have to make one mistake. 20:58.000 --> 21:01.000 How the next night, we'd stop for a rest. 21:01.000 --> 21:03.000 Hey, uh, French. 21:03.000 --> 21:04.000 Yeah? 21:04.000 --> 21:07.000 How can you be sure that dough is still there? 21:07.000 --> 21:08.000 It's safe. 21:08.000 --> 21:10.000 How do you know? What kind of a place you hide it in? 21:10.000 --> 21:11.000 You'll see. 21:11.000 --> 21:13.000 Hey, don't you trust me? 21:13.000 --> 21:17.000 Of course. As much as you trust me. 21:17.000 --> 21:21.000 And it's time we stopped playing this little game. 21:21.000 --> 21:22.000 Now, get out that file. 21:22.000 --> 21:24.000 When I see the dough, little Chum... 21:24.000 --> 21:25.000 Take them off, will you? 21:25.000 --> 21:26.000 How long do you think I'm going to... 21:26.000 --> 21:27.000 Shut up! Shut up! 21:27.000 --> 21:29.000 You'll wake up the neighbors. 21:29.000 --> 21:31.000 Now, move! 21:31.000 --> 21:32.000 No. 21:32.000 --> 21:33.000 I said move! 21:33.000 --> 21:34.000 No. 21:34.000 --> 21:35.000 That money's mine. 21:35.000 --> 21:37.000 And you'll never see it unless I want you to. 21:37.000 --> 21:39.000 And we'll go to it the way I say. 21:39.000 --> 21:41.000 Chum, you're making me mad. 21:41.000 --> 21:43.000 You get out that file and take these off. 21:43.000 --> 21:45.000 Go on, get it out. 21:45.000 --> 21:46.000 I can give orders, too. 21:46.000 --> 21:48.000 What do you think of yourself? An animal trainer? 21:48.000 --> 21:50.000 Now, that's not a bad idea. 21:50.000 --> 21:52.000 Is it? But it happens that I'm not an animal. 21:52.000 --> 21:54.000 And it happens that... 21:55.000 --> 21:57.000 What's that for? 21:58.000 --> 22:00.000 You can't frighten me with a knife. 22:00.000 --> 22:02.000 I wouldn't try. 22:02.000 --> 22:05.000 You use that on me and we both lose out. 22:05.000 --> 22:08.000 Whenever my own man used to beat one of us kids, 22:08.000 --> 22:10.000 he always said the same thing. 22:10.000 --> 22:14.000 He said, never use a switch thicker than your thumb. 22:14.000 --> 22:16.000 It breaks the skin but no bones. 22:16.000 --> 22:18.000 A kid can go on working. 22:18.000 --> 22:20.000 A switch? 22:20.000 --> 22:22.000 Yeah, like this one. 22:22.000 --> 22:24.000 Nice and green and limber. 22:25.000 --> 22:27.000 That's all a knife is for. 22:27.000 --> 22:29.000 I wouldn't use a knife on a buddy. 22:29.000 --> 22:31.000 You won't use that either. 22:31.000 --> 22:32.000 Put it down. 22:32.000 --> 22:36.000 You know, this is something I wanted to do ever since I found you sleeping in those railroad ties. 22:36.000 --> 22:38.000 You gonna get up? 22:38.000 --> 22:40.000 No. 22:40.000 --> 22:42.000 This'll hurt. 22:42.000 --> 22:45.000 I'll kill you someday. I swear I'll kill you. 22:45.000 --> 22:47.000 I once had a husband like you. 22:47.000 --> 22:50.000 Brave enough outside but once anybody put on the pressure... 22:50.000 --> 22:51.000 You talk too much. 22:51.000 --> 22:53.000 Go on, I'm calling your bluff. 22:53.000 --> 22:55.000 I'm sick of hearing you talk. 22:55.000 --> 23:14.000 It's all right. 23:14.000 --> 23:16.000 We walked. 23:16.000 --> 23:18.000 God, how I hated her. 23:18.000 --> 23:20.000 And she... 23:20.000 --> 23:26.000 Well, she was sure she'd beat me down altogether because she didn't even bother now to taunt me anymore. 23:26.000 --> 23:29.000 She was very quiet after that. 23:29.000 --> 23:32.000 And a little careless. 23:32.000 --> 23:36.000 I stopped now and then and she'd bump into me in the darkness. 23:36.000 --> 23:41.000 But she'd always stop dreaming before I could get my hands on her. 23:41.000 --> 23:43.000 Well... 23:43.000 --> 23:46.000 All things must end. 23:46.000 --> 23:51.000 Our pilgrimage ended one morning when I said... 23:51.000 --> 23:52.000 Here it is. 23:52.000 --> 23:53.000 What? 23:53.000 --> 23:54.000 The money. 23:54.000 --> 23:56.000 Where? 23:56.000 --> 23:57.000 We're standing over it. 23:57.000 --> 24:01.000 You up to some sneaky trick again? We're standing in the middle of a highway. You didn't do any digging here, chum. 24:01.000 --> 24:06.000 Look, there's a culvert running under the road here. A 24-inch pipe. 24:06.000 --> 24:08.000 Come into the ditch. I'll show you. 24:08.000 --> 24:11.000 You didn't stick that dough into the pipe. 24:11.000 --> 24:12.000 Must have washed away. 24:12.000 --> 24:17.000 It's not in the pipe. It's in a deep crevice between the pipe and the concrete. 24:17.000 --> 24:18.000 Pull out some of those stones. 24:18.000 --> 24:19.000 You pull them out. 24:19.000 --> 24:21.000 What, with these hands? 24:21.000 --> 24:23.000 Why, I can't touch anything without screaming. 24:23.000 --> 24:25.000 Pull them out. 24:25.000 --> 24:30.000 French, sir, help me if this is a gag. 24:30.000 --> 24:32.000 She believed me. She had to. 24:32.000 --> 24:34.000 She saw the truth in my eyes. 24:34.000 --> 24:37.000 The money was there, my quarter of a million. 24:37.000 --> 24:39.000 She bent over to tug at the stones. 24:39.000 --> 24:42.000 She turned her back to me for the first time. 24:42.000 --> 24:45.000 And that was it. That was the mistake I was waiting for. 24:45.000 --> 24:49.000 I sprang forward and I crushed her hand down on her head. 24:49.000 --> 24:51.000 The back of her neck. Her head. 24:51.000 --> 24:53.000 The pain. The pain on my wrist. 24:53.000 --> 24:56.000 But I didn't care. I didn't care. 25:03.000 --> 25:06.000 My hands. My hands. 25:06.000 --> 25:09.000 Covered with blood. 25:09.000 --> 25:12.000 Her blood. Mine. 25:14.000 --> 25:17.000 She was dead. 25:17.000 --> 25:19.000 But I couldn't move. 25:19.000 --> 25:22.000 My hands. My poor hands. 25:22.000 --> 25:26.000 I had to wait until the shot drained out of them. 25:26.000 --> 25:31.000 Finally I reached into her pockets for the file. 25:31.000 --> 25:33.000 It isn't there. 25:33.000 --> 25:35.000 It must be in this one. 25:35.000 --> 25:38.000 No. No. 25:38.000 --> 25:40.000 Not. 25:40.000 --> 25:42.000 No. 25:42.000 --> 25:44.000 No file. 25:44.000 --> 25:46.000 She hasn't got a file. 25:46.000 --> 25:48.000 She never had one. 25:48.000 --> 25:50.000 Ah, that sheet. 25:50.000 --> 25:52.000 That dirty little sheet. 25:55.000 --> 25:57.000 Come on. 25:57.000 --> 25:59.000 Come on. 25:59.000 --> 26:01.000 Come on, little children. 26:01.000 --> 26:03.000 Come on. 26:03.000 --> 26:05.000 Come out, you babies. 26:05.000 --> 26:07.000 Two hundred and fifty thousand. 26:07.000 --> 26:09.000 Beautiful little babies. 26:09.000 --> 26:11.000 Come on. 26:17.000 --> 26:19.000 I can't get a hold of it. 26:21.000 --> 26:25.000 I need a few inches. 26:25.000 --> 26:28.000 I can't. I can't. 26:28.000 --> 26:32.000 With these handcuffs on, I need one arm free. 26:32.000 --> 26:34.000 You handcuffs, you. 26:34.000 --> 26:39.000 I'll break this chain if I have to rip my hands off. 26:39.000 --> 26:41.000 I'll get that money. 26:41.000 --> 26:43.000 I must have my money. 26:43.000 --> 26:45.000 I want my money. 26:45.000 --> 26:55.000 I must have my money. I want my money. 27:05.000 --> 27:07.000 My money. 27:07.000 --> 27:09.000 It's my money. 27:09.000 --> 27:11.000 That's the way I found him, Chief. 27:11.000 --> 27:13.000 Sitting in the ditch beside a dead girl. 27:13.000 --> 27:15.000 And babbling like an idiot. 27:31.000 --> 27:34.000 Thank you, William Powell, for a splendid performance. 27:34.000 --> 27:37.000 Mr. Powell returns in just a moment. 27:37.000 --> 27:39.000 Well, Hap, my friend, now that you... 27:39.000 --> 27:41.000 Harlow, Harlow, I've been trying to tell you, 27:41.000 --> 27:45.000 I already have two complete sets of auto light resistor spark plugs. 27:45.000 --> 27:47.000 Congratulations. 27:47.000 --> 27:50.000 Everyone should have a complete set of auto light resistor spark plugs. 27:50.000 --> 27:53.000 Those modern miracles of auto light ignition engineers. 27:53.000 --> 27:56.000 Those monuments to tireless auto light research. 27:56.000 --> 27:59.000 So, friends, why not drive down to your nearest auto light dealer tomorrow, 27:59.000 --> 28:03.000 early tomorrow, and get your car a set of auto light resistor spark plugs. 28:03.000 --> 28:05.000 They're sensational. 28:05.000 --> 28:08.000 And not because I said so either, but because they really are. 28:08.000 --> 28:11.000 Auto light means spark plugs. 28:11.000 --> 28:14.000 Ignition engineered resistor spark plugs. 28:14.000 --> 28:16.000 Auto light means batteries. 28:16.000 --> 28:18.000 Stay full, batteries. 28:18.000 --> 28:20.000 Auto light means ignition system. 28:20.000 --> 28:22.000 The lifeline of your car. 28:28.000 --> 28:30.000 And now here again is William Powell. 28:30.000 --> 28:33.000 My thanks to the fine cast of suspense actors 28:33.000 --> 28:37.000 who helped to make my appearance here so pleasant an experience. 28:37.000 --> 28:41.000 I'm a regular listener to radio's outstanding theater thrills, 28:41.000 --> 28:46.000 and I'll be tuned in next time to hear John Garfield in Death Sentence, 28:46.000 --> 28:48.000 another gripping study in... 28:48.000 --> 28:50.000 Suspense. 28:52.000 --> 28:55.000 William Powell appeared by arrangement with Metro-Bulwin-Mayer Studios, 28:55.000 --> 28:58.000 producers of the Technicolor production The Three Musketeers, 28:58.000 --> 29:01.000 starring Lana Turner, Gene Kelly, June Allison, and Van Heflin. 29:01.000 --> 29:03.000 Tonight's suspense play was written by Herb Meadow 29:03.000 --> 29:05.000 with music composed by Lucian Mora-Wacken, 29:05.000 --> 29:07.000 conducted by Lut Bluskin. 29:07.000 --> 29:09.000 Anne Morrison played the part of the hobo. 29:09.000 --> 29:12.000 The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Leder. 29:15.000 --> 29:17.000 This is the Auto Light Suspense Show. 29:17.000 --> 29:19.000 Subscribe to your local community chest. 29:19.000 --> 29:22.000 Everybody benefits. Everybody gives. 29:22.000 --> 29:23.000 Good night. 29:23.000 --> 29:36.000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.