(106) Escape - The Golden Snake

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 106: Escape – The Golden Snake
Air Date: August 12, 2026
Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio (featuring the original “Escape” cast and script, 1950s)

Episode Overview

This episode transports listeners back to the classic radio drama "Escape", presenting the episode titled "The Golden Snake." Set in the unforgiving jungles of Yucatan, the story follows pilot Steve Lane as he is hired for a mysterious expedition by Dr. Conrad, an archaeologist obsessed with uncovering a fabled Mayan treasure. Lane is joined by Gail Barry, Conrad’s enigmatic secretary with secrets of her own. What unfolds is a gripping tale of greed, ancient curses, and the formidable power of Mayan legend—brought vividly to life as Lane confronts both tangible and psychological dangers in his quest for fortune.

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Key Discussion Points & Storyline Breakdown

1. Arrival in Yucatan and Setting the Mood

• Lane, a hard-luck helicopter pilot, arrives in Yucatan, eager to start the job ("I wanted customs clearance as quickly as possible for myself and the helicopter I brought with me." – Steve Lane, 01:30).
• He meets Gail Barry, Dr. Conrad’s secretary, sparking instant tension and chemistry.
  • Quote: "You better slow down, Mr. Lane. You're going pretty fast, even for a pilot." (Gail Barry, 02:28)
• Immediate hints at a hidden, lucrative agenda ("Would a lot of money interest you – a lot more than $5,000?" – Gail Barry, 03:33)

2. Mission Unveiled: The Hidden Treasure

• The team convenes at the Itza Hotel. Dr. Conrad reveals the real nature of the expedition: to recover a legendary Mayan relic—"the plumed serpent of gold"—from an ancient, forbidden temple.
  • Quote: "This involves a violation of the most sacred shrine in their history. The theft of their most sacred object. One they won't even admit exists." (Dr. Conrad, 06:51)
• Lane learns about a deadly pattern: four previous expedition members have died in mysterious “accidents,” all shadowed by local Mayans (08:12).
  • Quote: "Native guide? In every case, it was a Mayan native in at the death." (Steve Lane, 08:53)

3. Growing Paranoia and the Warning

• Lane is visited at night by a mysterious Mayan messenger, who issues a chilling warning:
  • Quote: "Go not to the temple of Kukulkan. The plumed serpent of gold must lie hidden for 5,000 years. The time is not yet to alter. The time is to die." (Mayan Messenger, 11:33–11:44)
• Dr. Conrad is found dead—ostensibly of fright, reinforcing the sense of supernatural peril (14:06).

4. Motive and Ancestry Revealed

• Gail confesses her real surname is Blom; her father was among the lost treasure seekers. She is part Mayan herself.
  • Quote: "Dr. Bloom was my father... But she [my mother] was a Mayan." (Gail Barry, 17:58)

5. The Descent into the Forbidden Temple

• Lane and Gail decide to proceed with the treasure hunt, motivated by desperation and greed.
• They locate the temple using ancient landmarks and enter the tunnel beneath the pyramid (21:37).
• Discover the treasure: an enormous golden feathered serpent, studded with emeralds (23:25).
  • Quote: "On a raised stone dais in the center of the cave, gleaming and glittering in the blaze of our lights, was a great figure wrought in plates of pure gold. A massive golden snake. Studded jewel with feathers of cut emerald." (Steve Lane, 23:25–23:42)

6. Supernatural Interference and Catastrophe

• Gail is overtaken by an otherworldly trance, donning the golden Mayan band and setting fire to their only means of escape—the helicopter—at night (25:51–26:40).
• Lane is rendered helpless by injury and possibly the lingering power of the temple and its guardians: "They were clothed in white and their eyes were Mayan, wise and old and powerful. And on each forehead gleamed a golden band." (Steve Lane, 27:41)

7. Aftermath and Coda

• Lane awakens days later, rescued by a local Mayan farmer, with no sign of Gale, the treasure, or the temple (27:57 onwards).
• Despite repeated attempts, Lane can never find the temple again—its secret evidently lost, the legend of the golden snake preserved by Mayan mystery.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote / Moment | Speaker | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------| | 02:42 | "I hope you can hang on to that sense of humor. You'll need it before this is over." | Gail Barry | | 06:51 | "This involves a violation of the most sacred shrine in their history...they won’t even admit exists." | Dr. Conrad | | 08:53 | "Native guide? In every case, it was a Mayan native in at the death." | Steve Lane | | 11:33 | "Go not to the temple of Kukulkan. The plumed serpent of gold must lie hidden for 5,000 years." | Mayan Messenger | | 14:06 | "He is dead." | Rudolfo Moreno | | 23:25 | "...a great figure wrought in plates of pure gold...a massive golden snake." | Steve Lane | | 26:27 | "She stood like a sleepwalker, watching the burning plane. She’d set it afire, the golden band gleaming on her forehead." | Steve Lane | | 29:08 | "I have flown five times since into Yucatan, into the dark lands and the uncharted jungles...but never again found the temple of Kukulkan, nor the plumed serpent of gold, or a beautiful named Gale. And I know I never will." | Steve Lane |

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Plot Launch & Introduction: 01:30 – 03:55
• Conrad’s Revelation & Past Deaths: 04:34 – 09:45
• Supernatural Warning: 10:50 – 12:06
• Dr. Conrad’s Death: 13:34 – 14:47
• Lane and Gail Plot Their Own Expedition: 16:00 – 17:46
• Discovery of the Golden Snake: 22:51 – 23:55
• The Curse Manifested (Helicopter Fire, Gail Transfixed): 25:51 – 27:41
• Lane’s Rescue and Final Monologue: 27:41 – 29:47

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Tone and Style

The episode features classic noir-borror radio drama narration, rich with suspense, hard-boiled humor, and underlying romantic tension. The dialogue combines quick wit ("I do a lot of hovering, especially around green eyed girls and cold bottles of beer." – Steve Lane, 02:32) with gritty fatalism befitting the "Escape" series.

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Final Reflections

"The Golden Snake" melds adventure, mystery, and the uncanny into a taut half-hour morality tale about the dangers inherent in coveting the sacred and trespassing against cultures older than one’s own. The episode underscores its theme: some mysteries are meant to remain unsolved, and sometimes, the pursuit of fortune exacts a price greater than gold can buy.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all?

[Escape Show Announcer]

We offer you escape. Escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure.

[Narrator]

Tonight we escape to Yucatan with a man and woman who dare defy the curse of the ancient priests of Maya to find a hidden jungle shrine and millions in jewels and gold. As Les Crutchfield and Paul Pierce tell it in the Golden Snake,

[Steve Lane]

It was mid morning of the fourth day south from New Orleans when the rusty little freighter Curry Blady dropped a hook a mile off the port of Progreso. And the broad beam tender warped alongside the port itself. In the jungle peninsula of Yucatan beyond lay in steamy lethargy beneath an early blazing tropic sun. I was in a hurry. I wanted customs clearance as quickly as possible for myself and the helicopter I brought with me. Then I wanted a few bottles of that subtly bit of beer that they brew in Monterey. My mysterious employer, Dr. Conrad, was waiting at the Itza Hotel in Merida, 24 miles inland. But in heat like this, he could wait a few hours longer.

[Gail Barry]

I beg your pardon. Well, I presume you're Stephen Lane.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Yeah.

[Steve Lane]

Good presumption. You're right.

[Gail Barry]

Well, I'm Gail Barry.

[Steve Lane]

Hello, Gail.

[Gail Barry]

I'm Dr. Conrad's secretary.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Oh.

[Steve Lane]

I begin to see how the jungle might have certain compensations.

[Gail Barry]

Oh, you better slow down, Mr. Lane. You're going pretty fast, even for a pilot.

[Steve Lane]

A helicopter pilot not so much on speed, but I do a lot of hovering, especially around green eyed girls and cold bottles of beer. Would the former like to join me over the ladder?

[Gail Barry]

I hope you can hang on to that sense of humor. You'll need it before this is over.

[Steve Lane]

Before what's over?

[Gail Barry]

A little late for curiosity, isn't it? You've already taken the job.

[Steve Lane]

Yeah, sure. I was flat broke when that $1,500 check of Conrad's went through the Miami bank like Gray's lightning. I pulled out my curiosity and cut its throat.

[Gail Barry]

But now it's Beginning to revive. Is that it?

[Steve Lane]

I'm sorry, baby. I didn't know this was a state secret.

[Gail Barry]

It isn't. You were hired to fly Dr. Conrad from Merida to a destination within a 200 mile radius and return for a fee of $5,000. What secret about it?

[Steve Lane]

Purpose of this trip for one thing.

[Gail Barry]

To visit ancient Mayan ruins buried in the jungle and only accessible by helicopter. Dr. Conrad is an archaeologist.

[Steve Lane]

Must be a fairly profitable racket.

[Gail Barry]

No, there's no profit in it at all. But Steve, you said you were broke. Would a lot of money interest you? A lot more than $5,000?

[Steve Lane]

How much more?

[Gail Barry]

A hundred times that much.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Yeah.

[Steve Lane]

Yeah, I'd be interested.

[Gail Barry]

So check through customs and let's have that bottle of beer.

[Steve Lane]

We had the beer, all right, but we didn't have any more conversation about money. Gail was beautiful, vivacious and talkative. But on that subject, she climbed up tight. But at certain times, and with certain people, money isn't everything. It was five o' clock in the afternoon before we took off in the helicopter and flew south to Merida. And, Dr. Conrad.

[Dr. Conrad]

You can look down from this balcony, Mr. Lane, and there lies the town of Merida, all silver in the moonlight. And you think it is nothing unusual? Perhaps. But the town is Spanish. And beyond it is the jungle. And the jungle is still pure Mayan.

[Steve Lane]

Unconquered, old and wise. Yeah, I've heard that theory before, Dr. Conrad.

[Dr. Conrad]

And you disagree with it?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Perhaps.

[Steve Lane]

I don't know. I've been watching some of the natives around the hotel here this evening, and there is something about their expression or their eyes, I don't know.

[Dr. Conrad]

Well, I've spent my life studying them. And I do know, Mr. Lane, the Mayans are one of the oldest and strangest races on the face of the Earth. The jungle out there swallowed up their pyramids and their temples long ago. And the Spanish conquerors destroyed their records and writings. But they still speak the language and they still remember. I think it's something in their eyes,

[Steve Lane]

as you noticed, about the trip that we're going on. Is it to one of these ruined temples or pyramids?

[Dr. Conrad]

Yes.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Where?

[Dr. Conrad]

South and east, more or less within 200 miles of here. We'll have to follow landmarks.

[Steve Lane]

You've been there before, then?

[Dr. Conrad]

Yes. There are no trails and no water. Snakes, army ants, fever. Average progress is two miles a day.

[Steve Lane]

And I assume that the purpose of the trip is archaeological exploration?

[Dr. Conrad]

Of course, Mr. Lane, I would have

[Gail Barry]

no, Dr. Conrad, I checked the invoices for the equipment. They're all correct. I left them in your room.

[Dr. Conrad]

Fine. Thank you, Ms. Barry. I'll sign them later.

[Gail Barry]

All right, Dr. Conrad. I'll be in my room if you want me for anything. Good night, Mr. Lane.

[Steve Lane]

Oh, good night, Ms. Barry. Look, Dr. Conrad, I think it's about time you told me the real purpose of this trip.

[Dr. Conrad]

But I did tell you. What makes you think that? There.

[Steve Lane]

Look, look. $5,000 is too much money for a three day flying trip to look over some ruins.

[Dr. Conrad]

So, Mr. Lane, can you keep your mouth shut?

[Steve Lane]

That depends.

[Dr. Conrad]

There'll be more in it than $5,000 if it goes all right.

[Steve Lane]

Illegal, I suppose.

[Dr. Conrad]

No, but dangerous. More dangerous than you can ever imagine.

[Steve Lane]

What kind of danger?

[Dr. Conrad]

From the Mayans. This involves a violation of the most sacred shrine in their history. The theft of their most sacred object. One they won't even admit exists.

[Steve Lane]

Oh, treasure hunt, huh?

[Dr. Conrad]

Not a hunt, Mr. Lane. I've seen the object. I know where it is.

[Steve Lane]

Is Ms. Barry in on this?

[Dr. Conrad]

She's merely the secretary of a scientific expedition. You and I are the only ones who know different.

[Steve Lane]

What about the men who were with you before?

[Dr. Conrad]

They were interested only in the ruins. They never saw the treasure.

[Steve Lane]

Yeah, but they do know the location of the place.

[Dr. Conrad]

No, Mr. Lane. Not anymore.

[Bubba Wallace]

Why not?

[Dr. Conrad]

Because all four of them are dead.

[Gail Barry]

Yes. I can also tell you why Dr. Conrad didn't want to talk about it. Steve. It's because of that obsession of his, that fear of the Mayans and their vengeance.

[Steve Lane]

Yeah, but you feel it yourself. You told me earlier.

[Gail Barry]

No, not fear. Something else. Something deeper. Oh, Steve, please get out of my room now. If Dr. Conrad found you in here, it would ruin everything.

[Steve Lane]

Honey, look, if I'm gonna play games, I've gotta know the odds.

[Gail Barry]

But I've already told you, Dr. Conrad had nothing to do with their deaths.

[Steve Lane]

I know. Four fatal accidents within a year. What kind of accidents?

[Gail Barry]

Different kinds. The first one happened six months after the joint expedition. Dr. Bentley and the original pilot took off from Merida and crashed in the jungle 10 miles from town. They were both killed. The native guide got out with a broken leg.

[Steve Lane]

I see.

[Gail Barry]

Two months later, Dr. Pelton started Overland through the jungle. A week out of Merida, he was bitten by a snake and died at one of the native chicle camps.

[Steve Lane]

And the other man?

[Gail Barry]

His name was Dr. Bloom, he tried to come north from Guatemala by canoe and was drowned when it capsized.

[Steve Lane]

Oh, by himself, was he?

[Gail Barry]

No. His native guide recovered the body.

[Steve Lane]

Native guide? In every case, it was a Mayan native in at the death.

[Gail Barry]

You might Say yes. That's what worries Dr. Conrad.

[Steve Lane]

Look, were all of these men trying to get back to that same temple?

[Gail Barry]

I think so.

[Steve Lane]

Because of the treasure?

[Gail Barry]

Probably. They knew they'd found the long lost temple of Kukulkan. And they knew the legends, all right.

[Steve Lane]

Where do you fit in?

[Gail Barry]

What's the difference? Steve, you don't mind, do you?

[Steve Lane]

Mine? I like it. I also like to know the score.

[Gail Barry]

I'll do better by you than Conrad would. Much better.

[Steve Lane]

All right, baby, I'll buy that. Only there's one thing. Conrad hasn't told this to anybody before. How did you find out?

[Gail Barry]

From my father, Steve. Before he was drowned in a river in Guatemala. My real name. It's Blom.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Yeah.

[Steve Lane]

I'd figured even though she'd never been to Yucatan before. She'd learned enough Mayan history and legend from her father to worm her way into Conrad's employ. The treasure, whatever it was, belonged to her as much as to Conrad. And given halfway even odds, I'd rather play Gale's game any day. On the weekend, twice on Sundays,

[She's Birdie Advertiser]

I

[Steve Lane]

lay on the hammock in my room for an hour. I guess the lamp out, the moonlight splotching silver patterns through the bamboo slats of the blinds. I smoke one cigarette after another while I try to fit all the pieces into place. I was tired, but I'd had several drinks of Johnnie Walker that I'd brought along. And I wasn't asleep, that's for sure. So I don't know why I didn't hear the door open.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Please do not be alarmed, Senor Le. Still. Make no outcry and listen. You will not be harmed.

[Steve Lane]

For some odd reason, I couldn't move. I couldn't cry out. It took great effort just to turn my head and look at him.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

It is our desire to warn you because you are not aware of the thing you dare to do. Dr. Conrad knows, and he deserves no warning.

[Steve Lane]

In the scattered moonlight, I could see very little of his face. Except the eyes. The eyes of a Mayan. They seem very wise and a thousand years old. Like the eyes of newborn babies.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

I say to you once and only once, go not to the temple of Kukulkan.

[Steve Lane]

There seem to be a strange music playing far off.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

The plumed serpent of gold must lie hidden for 5,000 years. And the time is not yet to alter. The time is to die.

[Steve Lane]

For just an instant, the moonlight shifted. And I saw the golden band around his forehead raised in the front and fashioned into the feathered head of a snake.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

You have been warned. Signor Lane, I go.

[Steve Lane]

Closing of the door seemed to break the spell. And I lunched for the pistol on the table beside my bed. Only it wasn't a bed. It was a hammock. Oh, confound.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Is anything wrong?

[Steve Lane]

Oh, come on in.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

I was passing along the hall. I heard a noise.

[Steve Lane]

Who are you anyway?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Rudolfo Moreno. I am the nightclub.

[Steve Lane]

Look, did you see the man who came out of my door just before the noise?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

What, senor? No one came out.

[Steve Lane]

What?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Well, I was only a few feet away. The hall is well lighted.

[Steve Lane]

But there was someone in here. I saw him. I heard him talking. He was a Mayan.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Senor Lane, sometimes one from the north requires a day or two for becoming accustomed to the tropics. And I must tell you, the beer in Mexico is a little more strong

[Steve Lane]

than you may think. Ah, wait a minute.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

So you sleep now. We talk about it manana, eh? Buenas noches, senor. Buenas noches.

[Steve Lane]

There wasn't much point. I wasn't doing anything but follow the night clerk's advice. I couldn't very well go to Conrad and tell him a mysterious Mayan had come to my room to warn me. When the clerk had sworn he'd seen no one. I didn't see how Gail could help much. I didn't want to worry her without some definite reason. So after a long time, I grew drowsy and fell asleep.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Senor Lane, wake up. It is I, Moreno. Wake up, Senor.

[Steve Lane]

All right, all right. Wait a minute. What is it, Moreno? What's wrong?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Your friend, Senor Dr. Conrad, he's, he's hard, I think.

[Dr. Conrad]

What?

[Steve Lane]

What do you mean?

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Well, I, I hear him cry out.

[Steve Lane]

I, I, I go for help.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

But it was too late, senor.

[Steve Lane]

He is dead.

[Escape Show Announcer]

In just a moment, we will return you to the second act of escape. But first, Molly Goldberg's warm hearted approach to life has gotten her into mix ups over and over. But this Saturday night, Molly really shoots the works. Molly and Jake have planned a motor trip to Florida. But when the people who've been invited to ride along get together, Grand Central Station couldn't hold them all, what happens to the trip? Be listening this Saturday night when the Goldbergs bring their warm, rich humor to most of these same CBS stations. And now for the second act of escape.

[Steve Lane]

I went with a night clerk to Dr. Conrad's room, met the local physician who had been called to the hotel, told him to go ahead with whatever arrangements were necessary. There seemed nothing else to do. Dr. Conrad had died in his bed, apparently unmolested his room was undisturbed. And Moreno, who from his desk had a clear view the length of the hall, said that no one had entered or left. Apparent cause of death? Heart failure. But in a room a half hour later, Gail disagreed with such a simple verdict.

[Gail Barry]

There was nothing wrong with his heart, Steve. He died of fright. Sheer fright. I know he did.

[Steve Lane]

All right, honey. All right. But what caused the fright?

[Gail Barry]

The Mayans. Maybe the same one you said came to your room.

[Steve Lane]

No, I'm not sure whether anyone did or not. Maybe the night clerk was right. Maybe I imagine it.

[Gail Barry]

He is a native, you know.

[Steve Lane]

Another Mayan, huh? Well, I could have been dreaming. Noah drunk. I don't know.

[Gail Barry]

It won't work, Steve. How could you have dreamed up the gold band he wore on his head? The same band worn by the high priest of Kukulkan a thousand years ago?

[Steve Lane]

I don't know.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

I don't know.

[Steve Lane]

That's what gets me.

[Gail Barry]

Had you even heard of the plumed Serpent of Gold before?

[Dr. Conrad]

No.

[Bubba Wallace]

No.

[Gail Barry]

Or the 5,000 years of hiding?

[Steve Lane]

No, of course not.

[Gail Barry]

They're all a part Mayan legend, Steve. You had to learn them somewhere.

[Steve Lane]

Gail, you said Conrad had an obsession. What about you?

[Gail Barry]

I don't know. Before I came to Yucatan, I had only one idea. To get my share of that treasure one way or another. Mayan legends were nothing more than that. But down here, it's different. Things touch you somehow inside.

[Steve Lane]

You mean you're scared. Isn't that it?

[Gail Barry]

Not exactly. It's something deeper. I don't know.

[Steve Lane]

And against that something deeper. There are how many dollars?

[Gail Barry]

Around 2 million, I think. From things Dr. Conrad let slip.

[Steve Lane]

How did he plan to dispose of the fire?

[Gail Barry]

There's a buyer in Mexico City. No questions asked. Conrad wanted his name kept out of it.

[Steve Lane]

Made a vengeance again, huh?

[Gail Barry]

Yes.

[Steve Lane]

Look, would this buy a deal with. With us?

[Gail Barry]

Of course. Why should he care who brings it?

[Steve Lane]

Do you know the landmarks of the pyramid? This temple of Kukulcan?

[Gail Barry]

Yes. But, Steve, I am not sure. But look.

[Steve Lane]

Look, honey.

[Narrator]

Look.

[Steve Lane]

I've got a helicopter out there. At the edge of town, within 200 miles is a fortune for the taking, baby. I've been broke too much of my life to back down from a few pipe dreams and a heart attack. How about it, baby, huh?

[Gail Barry]

Oh, it's no fun to be broke.

[Steve Lane]

Yeah, but it might be a lot of fun if we weren't.

[Gail Barry]

You're awfully hard to resist.

[Steve Lane]

I hope so, baby. Cause I've got some other ideas too, you know.

[Gail Barry]

What do you Say, if I said no, I'd be a fool, I suppose.

[Steve Lane]

Well, then don't say it. We'll both be over the jitters by morning. And one thing, we won't have to worry about accidents. Our expedition won't have any Mayans along.

[Gail Barry]

Oh, Steve, I told you. Dr. Bloom was my father. He met my mother in Mexico City. She died right after I was born. But she came originally from Yucatan. And she was a Mayan.

[Steve Lane]

Can you tell? Now, Gail, are you sure this is it? We won't land if you're not.

[Gail Barry]

I think so.

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[Gail Barry]

There's the old stone roadbed in the jungle to the south. The pyramid runs southeast, northwest. The temple ruins are at the north. The jungle has grown up over the west slope. All the landmarks. Check, Steve. This is it.

[Steve Lane]

All right, honey. Hang on. We're going down. The Mayans didn't know it, but when they built these pyramids flat top, they were getting ready for the helicopters. We're down.

[Gail Barry]

It's terribly quiet, isn't it, Steve?

[Dr. Conrad]

Yeah.

[Steve Lane]

Especially after hearing that egg beat over the last three hours. Well, may as well have a look. Come on, jump, baby. I'll give you a hand.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Thanks.

[Steve Lane]

Well, well, I've certainly let the old place run down.

[Gail Barry]

It's lain here like this for more than a thousand years, Steve. Full moons and dark moons, rains, lightning, sun and wind. Nothing moving. Only the jungle growing and growing and creeping up over it.

[Steve Lane]

Hey, now, baby, relax.

[Gail Barry]

We shouldn't have come here at all. We are only interlopers. Strangers not wanted.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Well, maybe.

[Steve Lane]

Maybe they like us better when we're rich.

[Gail Barry]

There's no use joking about it, Steve. I think you feel it too. We are in some terrible danger here. Some kind we've never known before. It's like we're being watched, only there are no watchers.

[Steve Lane]

Well, not unless you count that parrot there in the lianas.

[Gail Barry]

A parrot, A feathered bird, a feathered snake.

[Steve Lane]

Now, look here. Look, we've talked this all out. We're here now. We're gonna go through with it. I admit that I feel just as well. This morbid talk of yours isn't helping anyone.

[Gail Barry]

I'm sorry, Steve. I. I feel so strange. Oh, it's just nerves. Forget it.

[Steve Lane]

Okay. Okay, baby. It's a deal. Come on. Let's go find that cave. Gale had learned from Dr. Conrad that the treasure lay in a chamber inside the pyramid, reached by a tunnel which opened somewhere along the west face. The length of rope he'd specified in the equipment we knew about how far down the west face, so we started working our way along at that level. Gail carried the rope, flashlights and a hacksaw while I swung a machete against the lush growth of jungle. That made every yard of progress a measure of hard work and sweat. It was late afternoon before I slashed through a green thicket of banana pobs and sorted before me, black and forbidding. Framed in hieroglyphic stone was the squat, square mouth of a tunnel. Its floor was paved with bricks velveted in green moss. Under trodden for centuries, a cool draft floated out against the jungle heat, inviting and repelling gale. And I looked at one another for a long moment, saying nothing. And then, flashlights in hand, we walked into the tunnel. Gavalani Gavil. Sailing is low in places.

[Gail Barry]

I'm watching, Steve. There may be snakes.

[Steve Lane]

Our boots ought to protect us.

[Gail Barry]

Seems to be widening out a little, I think maybe. Yes. There's a room right ahead, Steve.

[Steve Lane]

Good, good. Wonder if there's anybody home.

[Gail Barry]

Steve, don't joke, please.

[Steve Lane]

Oh, I'm sorry, honey. Here we are.

[Gail Barry]

Oh, it's a big room.

[Steve Lane]

I say it is. And I wonder where it's.

[Gail Barry]

Steve, swing your light over there. Look.

[Steve Lane]

On a raised stone dais in the center of the cave, gleaming and glittering in the blaze of our lights, was a great figure wrought in plates of pure gold. A massive golden snake. Studded jewel with feathers of cut emerald.

[Gail Barry]

Steve, it's Kukulkan. The Plume serpent of gold.

[Steve Lane]

$2 million, baby. 3 million is closer.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Maybe 4.

[Steve Lane]

Why the gold alone and those emeralds?

[Gail Barry]

Let's Go now. Now, Steve, before it's too late.

[Steve Lane]

I must weigh a ton. Now I see why Conrad included hacksaws in the equipment. Here, honey, you owe my light.

[Gail Barry]

What are you going to do?

[Steve Lane]

Old money bags has to be cut up before we can pack them out. May as well see how much of a job it'll be.

[Gail Barry]

Steve, no.

[Steve Lane]

What's the matter?

[Gail Barry]

There's something here. Something old and wise and powerful. It's watching us. I can feel it.

[Steve Lane]

Oh, now, wait, baby, don't.

[Gail Barry]

Anyway, it's really too late to do anything today. We've seen it now, Steve. Let's leave it just the way it is. Just until tomorrow. It's almost dark now. Please. Please, Steve.

[Steve Lane]

All right, Gail. All right. Come on. Let's get out of here. I pitched our camp on the level top of the pyramid not far from the helicopter, spread our sleeping bags and built a fire on a pile of stones. It was dark by the time we'd eaten and a round, full moon flooded the ruins and the miles of empty jungle with an eerie light. I lay back and I watched Gail sitting across the fire from me, staring into the strange night, lost in her own thoughts. An odd thing had happened while I was gathering rocks for time. The first fireplace. I lifted a large flat stone and found under it a golden band like the one worn by the Mayan who'd come to my room. Gail had put it on her head without a word, and it fit perfectly. She still wore it. And now and then the polished gold caught flashes of light from the fire and from the moon. It was very late when I drifted off to sleep. It must have been a sound that woke me. But I think it was the odor that seeped into my sleep. That was it, the odor. Pungent, aromatic, and for a moment, unidentifiable. And then I came suddenly awake. Saw by the fire's embers that Gale's sleeping bag was empty. I sprang to my feet at the moment I recognized the odor of raw gasoline. Saw the dark surface of the helicopter glistening and wet in the moonlight. And saw Gale walking toward it with a flaming stalk of dry thatch in her hand. Gale. Gal, what are you doing? No.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

Stop it.

[Steve Lane]

She paid no attention, stood like a sleepwalker, watching the burning plane. She'd set a fire, the golden band gleaming on her forehead. Then I was running. Stumbling headlong taught her. Gail. Gale, Come back.

[Narrator / Additional Voice]

Gail.

[Steve Lane]

She didn't hear me. She moved slowly away, looking towards something that I couldn't see beyond the fire. Nor did I see the violence that caught my foot and sent me crashing onto the sharp rock. I lay there on the ground, unable to move, half blinded by concussion, by the blood that ran into my eyes. I tried to call out again and could make no sound. I could see Gale moving away past the burning plane, swaying as she walked, trance like and alien. I seemed to hear again the weird music of Merida, far off somewhere in the night. And then, in truth or in delirium, in the shadows past the fire, I saw them. Saw them waiting for Gael. They were clothed in white and their eyes were Mayan, wise and old and powerful. And on each forehead gleamed a golden band. The high priests of Kukulcan.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Senor, you feel better now? No.

[Dr. Conrad]

Better?

[Steve Lane]

Well, I don't know. Who are you?

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Only a poor farmer, senor.

[Steve Lane]

Farmer?

[Dr. Conrad]

Where am I?

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

In my casa, Senor. You have been very ill. From a baboon to the head.

[Steve Lane]

But how did I get here?

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

3 days ago you come from the jungle, fell at my door. I take care of you.

[Steve Lane]

Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Sometimes you fight with me, say crazy words. But I know it is only the head is broken.

[Steve Lane]

I was running. I fell against a rock. I just can't remember much after that.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

No matter, senor. Tomorrow I take you to Merida.

[Steve Lane]

To Merida?

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

But how can you what so simple? In my cart with Deborah, it is only seven miles.

[Steve Lane]

Seven miles? But I was 200 miles from here.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Grand savvy. Senor, three days ago you come out from the jungle.

[Steve Lane]

Tell me something. Are you a Mexican?

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Well, senor, I am a citizen of Mexico. But by birth I am May.

[Steve Lane]

I have flown five times since into Yucatan, into the dark lands and the uncharted jungles. I've searched through tumble ruins, moss grown rotted. I built fires on ancient pyramids at night and cried aloud to the silent moon. But never again found the temple of Kukulkan, nor the plumed serpent of gold, or a beautiful named Gale. And I know I never will.

[Escape Show Announcer]

Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson. Tonight we have presented the Golden Snake, adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield from an original story by Paul Pierce. Featured in the cast were Anthony Barrett as Steve Lane, Jeanette Nolan as Gail Barry and John Hoyt as Dr. Conrad. Also heard were Rick Valon, Harry Bartel and Paul Friess. Special music arranged and played by Ivan Ditmars. Next week

[Narrator]

you are stranded on The Yangtze River, 1500 miles from Shanghai and in the midst of all the displaced humanity of China. Somehow you have been marked for destruction, from which there is no escape.

[Escape Show Announcer]

Next week we escape with an exciting tale of fear, intrigue and danger on one of the most colorful rivers of the world. As John and Gwen Bagney tell it in the Shanghai Document, CBS famous anti crime series Gangbusters presents a real life police story, the Case of the Wise Young Owl. This Saturday night, remember to be tuned in to CBS where Arthur Godfrey's Digest of Wit and Humor is heard every Saturday night. The Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Mayan Messenger / Local Farmer]

Foreign.

[She's Birdie Advertiser]

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[Steve Lane]

Spreading love everywhere we go.

[She's Birdie Advertiser]

All of my everyday people.

[Rudolfo Moreno]

We're the proof.

[Narrator / Additional Voice]

All right, now your turn. Create your own version of Gotta Be Us and post it using BeThePeopleOpenCall for a chance to win a trip to record it in a professional studio, plus have it played for a panel of music execs. Come on, you've got this. No Purchase necessary. Open June 18th July 12, 2026 to legal residents of the U.S. 16 minors require parental consent. See Be the People opencall.com for details. Sponsored by Bigger Picture US.