The strange Dr. Weird.
Good evening. Come in, won't you?
Why, what's the matter?
You seem a bit nervous. Perhaps the cemetery outside this house
is upset you. But there are things far worse
than cemeteries. For instance, men with murder in their hearts.
As in my story tonight, a story I call
The Devil's Caverns.
My story, The Devil's Caverns, begins in the desolate and remote mountain country
of New Mexico. It is early morning
in a large hunting lodge. John Drake, the noted naturalist and explorer,
is speaking to his two nephews, Victor and Paul.
You two have just wasted your time coming to New Mexico to see me.
I told you both a dozen times I won't increase your allowances.
And that's final. But Uncle John, you can hardly expect Victor and myself to live on
five thousand dollars. Now be quiet, Paul.
Uncle John has always been most generous to us. If he feels that he can't give us
any more, we should be satisfied.
Thank you, Victor. Dear me, it's nine o'clock and I'm not even at work.
I must leave now. Oh, you're going to those caverns you discovered in the mountains?
Yes. Would you take care to come with me? No, thank you, Uncle John.
Exploring caverns is hardly in our line.
But you can't go back to New York without seeing The Devil's Caverns.
The Devil's Caverns? Yes. I call them that because they're so huge and dark.
I imagine to anyone but a scientist like myself, the caverns would be rather terrifying.
I see. Well, thanks anyway, Uncle John. Perhaps some other time.
Very well. I'll see you both this evening when I return.
The old fool. Worth millions when he wastes his time exploring caverns.
Perhaps we made a mistake in not going to the caverns with him.
What do you mean? Last night, Uncle John spoke about finding
holes in the caverns. Holes hundreds of feet deep.
What are you getting at? Suppose Uncle John were to accidentally
fall into one of those holes. You and I would inherit his millions.
Say, I hadn't thought of that. Well, I have.
Yes, Paul, tomorrow you and I will accompany Uncle John into the caverns.
Who knows? Perhaps he will meet with an accident.
It's just a little further to the entrance to the caverns.
But Uncle John, why did you make us wear leather gloves and high shoes?
Well, they're for protection against the rats in Devil's Caverns.
You mean the rats in there are dangerous? Oh, not really. It's just that now and then
one of them will take a nip at you. And then there's the bats.
A most remarkable species. Here we are.
You just lead the way. It was just by sheer luck that I stumbled
on the entrance. It certainly is dark in here.
Just a second. I'll turn on my flashlight. There.
Well, I can understand now why you call these the Devil's Caverns.
Something terrifying about this place. Yes, and there are others even more terrifying.
Come along. I'll show them to you. Just a minute, Uncle John.
What for, Paul? Paul, why in the world are you lighting a candle?
I'm going to leave this candle here by the entrance.
I figure we'll stop every 50 yards and leave a burning candle so we won't get lost.
Yes. The candles will serve as beacons to guide us back to the entrance here.
But that isn't necessary. Why, I know every inch of all the caverns by now.
Nevertheless, Uncle John, we'd feel safer this way.
Very well. It'll make you feel better. Now come along.
There's so much I want to show you.
If you'll come over here, boys, I'll show you one of those holes I was telling you about.
We'll be there just as soon as we light another candle, Uncle John.
How many candles does this make, Paul? This is the tenth candle.
I figure we've come, you know, more than a quarter of a mile.
Everything's working out perfectly. Now look back.
You can see four of the candles burning and the other six are around that turn.
Yeah.
Well, come along now. We mustn't keep Uncle John waiting.
Ah, there you are. Now I'm going to show you another of the wonder of these caverns.
This hole I'm shining my flashlight on.
Oh, something just brushed against my foot.
That was just one of the cavern rats. They discovered we're here. Listen.
Sounds like there are thousands of them.
Yes, there are. Nasty little fellows, too.
And our leather gloves and high shoes will protect us if they grow too bold.
I hope so.
Now, yesterday I measured the depth of this hole and much to my amazement,
I discovered that it's 920 feet deep.
Nine hundred and twenty feet? If anyone fell in, it'd be quite a fall.
Shine your flashlight down the hole, Uncle John, so we can see what it looks like.
Very well. Of course, you won't be able to see the bottom,
but at least you'll get an idea of how... Why are you taking my arms, boys?
We just want to make sure you don't fall in.
Yes, Uncle John. After all, you're awfully close to the edge.
Nonsense, boys. I won't fall in. I'll let go of my arms so I can...
Stop pushing me! Let's come over here.
Don't! I'll fall if you...
Ah!
Poor Uncle John. But then accidents will happen.
Uncle John?
Doctor, after listening to the first part of your story,
don't you think some of our listeners may be a little shaky?
Well, I can't understand why. But if they are,
I suppose we ought to suggest something to bolster their confidence.
Ah, Doctor, that's a good idea. And then there's nothing that gives
a fellow more confidence in himself than correct attire.
For that reason, may I suggest that your wardrobe include at least one of the
many smart, correctly styled Adam hats. Made of lustrous all-fur felt,
in a wide variety of soft, harmonizing shades,
Adam hats are the epitome of fine quality and good taste.
You'll appreciate, too, the distinctive hat bands and other important details
of your Adam hat. Top off that well-dressed look, gentlemen, with an Adam hat.
Now, back to mystery and Dr. Weird.
And now I'll continue my story, The Devil's Caverns.
After John Drake's death scream had faded away,
only the shrill squeaking of the rats and the heavy breathing of the two men remained.
For a moment, the two stood in darkness. Then Victor spoke.
All right, Paul, turn on Uncle John's flashlight and let's get out of here.
Why, I haven't got his flashlight. He fell in before I could take it away from him.
What? You stupid fool, I might have known you'd bungled. Now what have we got?
Wait a minute, I have my cigarette lighter, if it only works.
There. It doesn't give much light, but it'll do.
Oh, come on, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.
Yes, now there's the first candle a few yards away. Come on.
Victor, look, the first candle just went out.
Yes, that draft probably blew it out.
The candle was right over here on this rock.
Oh, Victor, it's gone.
Gone? Nonsense. You probably left it on another rock.
Now let's not waste time on this. There's the second candle 50 yards ahead.
Oh, all right, but I'll tell you, that was a rock I left it on.
Now it's gone. Oh, look, the second candle.
The second candle, it seems to be moving. It's falling over.
It's gone out. But that's as though someone blew it.
Don't be a fool.
Look, the third candle's beginning to flicker.
It can't go out. It mustn't go out. Hurry.
Oh, Victor, it has gone out. Now there aren't any candles to guide us out of here.
Get hold of yourself. I've got my eye fixed on the spot where the third candle went out.
Once there, we merely have to turn the bend to see the other candles.
Yes, but suppose, suppose there are two.
There won't be.
It's Uncle John. He's going ahead of us, blowing out the candles so we can't escape.
How can it be, Uncle John? He's dead.
It's his ghost that's doing it. He's getting revenge on us for what we did.
Be quiet, do you hear?
Listen, the rats, that's it. They're the ones who are knocking the candles over.
They're carrying them off. They're hungry. They're attracted by the wax in the candles.
Why are you stopping? Can't you see? The path divides into three here.
Do you remember which is the way out?
I don't remember these three paths at all.
We must have come by the middle path. Yes, I'm sure that's the one. Come on.
We're bound to find the entrance. After all the hours we've searched, we're bound to...
Why do you keep on saying that over and over? We're lost and you know we are.
We're never going to get out of here, never.
I'll go shut off the scene to that. Stop talking about Uncle John. He's dead. Dead?
No, he's all around us. I can feel him. He blew out all the candles.
Now he's waiting for us to die. Shut up. Even the rats know that we're going to die. Listen.
My cigarette lighter. It's gone out, Uncle John. He blew it out.
It won't work. The fuel's all gone.
Paul. Paul, where are you? I'm over here. You have some matches, haven't you?
Yes. Those matches are a matter of life and death.
We don't dare walk in the darkness, not with all those holes around.
Paul, keep talking so I can find you.
How can you find me when I'm lost? You'll never find me.
Paul, what is it? Uncle John. He just rushed past me. He's come to take me.
Don't be a fool. It was a bat that rushed past you.
No. No, Uncle John. He's come to get me. No. No, stay away from me. Stay away.
Paul, come back. Come back, you hear? It's dangerous to run like that.
Paul. He's fallen into a hole. He's gone.
I'm all alone without any light at all.
So, Uncle John, you think you've gotten the better of me? Well, you haven't, you haven't, you hear?
I've got to get a hold of myself. I must. If I go to pieces, I'll never get out of here.
I've got to take this thing off. There must be some way that I can...
Ow! My left leg. Oh, one of those rats bit me.
But they're swarming all around me. Ow! I've got to fight them off if I don't, they'll...
Ow! Oh! Get away! Get away! Ow!
Too bad about poor Victor, wasn't it? Such a horrible way to die.
Two weeks later, when a searching party entered the cavern,
they found a clean white skeleton lying a few hundred yards from the entrance.
Unfortunately, they were never able to find a trace of John, Drake, and Paul.
It was as if... as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.
Now, I once knew a dead man who... Oh, you have to go now?
Perhaps you'll drop in on me again soon.
Just look for the house on the other side of the cemetery.
The house of Dr. Weird.