(112) Escape - Command - (Harry Bartell)

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio – Escape: “Command” (Harry Bartell)

Episode 112 | August 12, 2026
Podcast Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode features an original broadcast of Escape’s “Command”, a tense, character-driven Western dramatization set on the dangerous 19th-century plains. Drawing listeners into the gritty realities behind cavalry “glory,” it follows a U.S. Cavalry patrol searching for their missing comrades and facing harsh choices under uncertain leadership. The show explores the cost, burden, and psychology of command through shifting generational perspectives.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Highlights

1. Setting the Stage: The U.S. Cavalry on the Plains

• Escape introduces the tale with its signature invitation “to get away from it all” (00:28), setting the story west of the Platte River in the old West, among the Indian-fighting U.S. Cavalry (01:11).
• Captain Brittles, a seasoned officer, is assigned to find the missing patrol of Lieutenant Gresham.

2. Early Tensions between Leadership and Youth

• Lieutenant Cohill, a fresh West Point graduate, resents being assigned to Brittles, whom he privately assesses as a worn-out, cautious, “bitter failure of a soldier” (03:41).
• Brittles admonishes Cohill on the crucial difference between classroom theory and practical, life-or-death observation:
  • Quote:
    “There are several fairly obvious differences between the Great Plains and a classroom at West Point. There you can fail and try again. Here, you may not have that chance.” — Captain Brittles (02:53)

3. The Gruesome Discovery

• The troop locates the missing patrol, not as “sleeping buffalo” but dead men, horribly mutilated (06:00).
• Discussion among Brittles, Cohill, and Sergeant Utterback analyzes the clues: Apache arrows, the nature of the wounds, and whether Sioux or Apaches are responsible.
  • Quote:
    “Hands and feet cut off, that's why, sir. To cripple them in case they meet in the hereafter.” — Sergeant Utterback (06:25)
  • Quote:
    “This job is two days old, sir…it wasn’t that Sioux party. This is Apache work.” — Sergeant Utterback (06:58)

4. Debate on Action: Obeying Orders vs. Pursuing Vengeance

• Cohill, eager for vengeance, objects to Brittles’ decision to return and report, not chase the killers.
  • Quote:
    “Instead of striking when he has the advantage, he's going to cut and run… In a stiff action, I’d probably have to shoot him and take over the command.” — Cohill’s inner monologue (07:22)
• Brittles rebuffs Cohill, emphasizing the painful limits of military orders:
  • Quote:
    “Mr. Cohill, out here we obey orders.” — Captain Brittles (08:46)

5. March Through the Night: Grit, Banter, Weariness

• The company makes a grueling night march, with soldiers’ fatigue and longing for home surfacing in banter and brief moments of warmth (10:06–13:43).
• The generational gap is highlighted: older men reminisce about past campaigns, young lieutenants dream of heroics.

6. Maneuver and Strategy: The Bait

• Brittles unexpectedly orders the column north, puzzling Cohill and Utterback (14:31).
• Cohill is given command of a small detachment to hold a knoll at dawn—made obvious as “bait” for the Apaches.
  • Quote:
    “Mr. Cohill, you’re the bait on my hook.” — Captain Brittles (16:40)

7. The Trap is Sprung: Attack and Defense

• Cohill’s squad becomes the focus of an Indian attack at dawn (22:09).
• With Cohill’s troops barely holding out and suffering casualties, Brittles leads the main force to flank and rout the Apaches.
• The aftermath is somber: victory brings loss—Cohill witnesses the death and wounding of men under his command, feeling the bittersweet weight of leadership (24:42–25:30).

8. Lessons in Command: Growth and Reconciliation

• Brittles reveals his forethought, using observation and experience to identify the threat and orchestrate the counterattack without breaking regulations from higher command (26:06–27:25).
• The older officer offers Cohill a helping hand in his journey to become a soldier and a leader:
  • Quote:
    “Never apologize. It is a mark of weakness… Mr. Cohill, I’m going to make a soldier out of you.” — Captain Brittles (27:25)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On observation and practicality:
  • “There you can fail and try again. Here, you may not have that chance… accuracy in observation is a military virtue.”
    — Captain Brittles (02:53)
• Gruesome battlefield aftermath:
  • “Hands and feet cut off, that's why, sir. To cripple them in case they meet in the hereafter.”
    — Sergeant Utterback (06:25)
• Limits of military action:
  • “Mr. Cohill, out here we obey orders.”
    — Captain Brittles (08:46)
• On command positioning:
  • “Mr. Cohill, you're the bait on my hook.”
    — Captain Brittles (16:40)
• The burden and pride of command:
  • “It was a strange feeling, a mixture of pride and guilt watching a man die whom I'd commanded into action…”
    — Lieutenant Cohill (25:30)
• Reckoning and mentorship:
  • “Never apologize. It is a mark of weakness… Mr. Cohill, I'm going to make a soldier out of you.”
    — Captain Brittles (27:25)

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Important Timestamps

• Theme Introduction & Setting: 00:28–01:11
• Captain Brittles/Cohill dynamic introduced: 01:41–04:50
• Discovery of Gresham’s patrol and debate over who attacked: 06:00–07:19
• Return to Fort Stark debate: 07:22–08:54
• Night march & soldier banter: 10:06–13:43
• Preparation for the ambush: 14:31–16:40
• Dawn attack & defense: 22:09–24:42
• Post-battle reckoning: 25:00–26:12
• Final exchange between Brittles and Cohill: 27:05–28:12

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Tone and Style

• The dialogue is crisp, equestrian, and laconic, true to classic 1940s radio Westerns.
• Inner monologues are used for emotional undercurrents, capturing Cohill’s mixture of resentment, ambition, and eventual humility.
• The interplay between crusty veterans and brash youth drives home the complexities of command and the difference between theory and hard-won experience.

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Summary Conclusion

“Command” uses a fraught night on the western plains to dissect the burdens and truths of leadership: the need to balance caution, regulation, intuition, and responsibility for men’s lives. It contrasts youthful bravado with hard-earned wisdom—ultimately offering listeners not just a thrilling cavalry skirmish, but an enduring lesson about military command, personal growth, and the realities that lie behind the old stories of glory.

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Transcript

[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Sarver]

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[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Sarver]

Tonight we escape to the prairie west of the Platte river and to the Indian fighting US Cavalry of the Old west, as James Warner Bella describes it in his exciting tale. Command.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Captain Brittle. Sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Here comes Lieutenant Cohill back with the patrol.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, I see him. Halt the column.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Hallam.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Hallam.

[Captain Brittles]

Hallam. Hall. Hand me my field glasses, sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir. Here you are, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Thank you. Mm. Mm.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Captain Brittles.

[Captain Brittles]

Well, Mr. Cohill, here's the best body of grass, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

This slope with the small run below for water. This is the best bivouac for tonight.

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Cohill, do you see the rise there to the left behind you across the valley?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

What are those shapes lying on that slope?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

A small herd of buffalo, sleeping, it seems. We didn't go that far, sir. We turned back when we saw them.

[Captain Brittles]

The wind has shifted a bit. Take a deep breath, Mr. Cohill.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Smell anything?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

No, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Take another deep breath, Mr. Cohill. Get it in your nostrils and tell me if what you smell is sleeping buffalo.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

No, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Smells like dead men and not freshly killed.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Lt. Gresham and his squad, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

I imagine so. The men we've come to find, we'll make sure after nightfall. Mr. Cohill, there are several fairly obvious differences between the Great Plains and a classroom at West Point. There you can fail and try again. Here, you may not have that chance. There they taught you, I am sure, that accuracy in observation is a military virtue. I suggest that you cultivate it here. Sergeant Otterback.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

This is the bivouac. His mountain on saddle night grazing area between the crest of this hill and the creek bottom. Use the picket rope. No individual pins.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir. Yes,

[Sarver]

Ma.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir. Captain Brittles. No, sir. Captain Brittles. Of all the officers in the United States Cavalry, why did they have to assign me to him? A handbook. Soldier over age in grade. A bitter failure of a soldier. Marking time out here on the plains until he retires. Taking up space in the table of organizations. Standing in the way of younger and more aggressive and, yes, more capable officers. My father wouldn't be guessing. Father would be over yonder right now to see if those corpses are really Gresham and his men. Father would have made sure instead of losing time making camp. The broken rattle Sergeant Utterback had found at noon showed clearly. Sir. That broken rattle the sergeant found.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, Mr. Cohill. What?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

We crossed the trace of that Sioux war party at noon today.

[Captain Brittles]

That could have been the trail of a Cheyenne war party. Or Comanches or Apaches. They all make rattles like that from the ends of buffalo toes.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

But if they were Sioux, they couldn't be more than 30 miles to the north in the deadlands. They're afraid of ambush. So they'd be camping away from timber and near water. Two hours rest and we can be at the upper reaches of the river by dawn, sir. Ahead of them.

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Coel, I have no orders to be anywhere by dawn or any other time. My orders are to find Mr. Gresham's patrol and having found it, return to Fort Stark and report it. I think I've found him. I'll know as soon as the moon rises and I go over and take a look. Water the mounts in half an hour.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Cohill.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Sir?

[Captain Brittles]

Reading mines is an uncomfortable habit, but one I have never been able to lose.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Look at the other side of it. Suppose that war party was Cheyenne, which they might be instead of Sioux. They wouldn't be in the Dead Lands. Cheyennes would head for timber along the lower Mesaroja. So would Arapahos, Kiowas or Comanches. They'd all bivouack in the open timber. And Mr. Cohill, they all make rattles out of buffalo toes.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Pass the word to Sergeant Utterback that dinner will be at 6:30. But the bugler will not sound calls.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

And Mr. Cohill.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

There is no shortcut to the top of the glory heap. So we'll not run all over the west tonight looking for one.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

But if death in battle is a soldier's path to glory, Mr. Gresham and his patrol had found a shortcut. Yet what we looked upon that night on yonder slope was not glorious.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Well, at least they respected them as.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

How's that, Sergeant?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Every one of them skin bald headed so he can cross the shadow waters without trouble. And whoever did it? Don't want to fight him again.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Why?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Hands and feet cut off, that's why, sir. To cripple them in case they meet in the hereafter.

[Captain Brittles]

Sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Do you still think the Sioux did this?

[Sergeant Utterback]

No, sir. Not now, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Why not, sir?

[Sergeant Utterback]

I made the march from Bent's Forth to Santa Fe with Steve Carney. And I know an Apache arrow when I see one, sir. Even a thousand miles from where they're made.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, but that Sioux trail we crossed this morning. That war party could have brushed with an Apache war party and come by Apache arrows that way.

[Sergeant Utterback]

No, sir. No, sir. This job is two days old, sir. It wasn't that Sioux party. This is Apache work.

[Captain Brittles]

How do you figure that?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Mostly because the captain knows it's Apache work too, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Lieutenant Cohill.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Take the grave detail.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

We shall move the company out at 10 tonight.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

We will return to Fort Stark to report this massacre as fast as we can.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, so he's showing me. Makes his lieutenant first gravedigger and confides his plans to the sergeant in exchange for flattery. He's an old woman in blue fatigues. Can't hide his bad temper. And worse, he's a frightened old woman. Instead of striking when he has the advantage, he's going to cut and run in a stiff action. I'd probably have to shoot him and take over the command. A grave doesn't take long to dig in the soft, black earth of the plains and the rocks were nearby to pile upon the still mounds against the hungry muzzles of wolves and coyotes. And after the air was sweeter in the cold moonlight and the job done in plenty of time for Captain Brittle's scheduled retreat.

[Sergeant Utterback]

The command is prepared to mount, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Very good, Sergeant.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Captain Brittles.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, Mr. Cohill?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Excuse me, sir, but can't we go after the Indians who did this? Can't we try to?

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Cohill, the United States Cavalry is not out here to fight Indians. We're here to watch them and report on them. We fight only if they attack us. I refer you to the standing orders of the Department of the Platte. They are most explicit on this point.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, I know, sir, but Mr. Gresham was attacked.

[Captain Brittles]

How do you know that?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I don't for sure.

[Captain Brittles]

Of course you don't.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

But he's dead. And his command, dead and mutilated. And we ought to go to what?

[Captain Brittles]

Avenge him? Disabuse yourself of Classroom Valor? Mr. Cohill, out here we obey orders. Sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Pass the word to Mount.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes sir. I thank you.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Sergeant Utterback]

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[Captain Brittles]

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[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Sergeant Utterback]

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[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Lieutenant Cohill]

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[Sergeant Utterback]

That's the word.

[Captain Brittles]

Mount.

[Sergeant Utterback]

That's the word.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Mouth.

[Sergeant Utterback]

That's the word. Mount.

[Captain Brittles]

That's the word.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

30 miles already that day. And who knows how many miles ahead of us tonight. The men are tired. The horses are tired. Cavalry is a delicate arm of the service, Captain Brittles. Hour after hour as the moon threw our lengthening shadows on ahead of us. Hour after hour. Walk 30 minutes, trot 5 minutes. Dismount and lead 10 minutes unbidden graze 15 minutes every hour. Hour after hour.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Got a choy eating to back in middle. Ain't got much. Give me a loan or something. You can get some more at the fort tomorrow. Yeah. Why don't you ever have any of your own? Don't approve of Chandebecker. My ma don't. That is.

[Sarver]

Thanks God be mighty. Mexico wasn't like this.

[Captain Brittles]

You tell me.

[Sarver]

No sir. When I was with Winfield Scott. The time we took Chipholepe.

[Captain Brittles]

Hey Mittendorf. Savage. Back in our Mexican campaign again.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Pity he didn't stay there.

[Sarver]

Yeah, just the same, the army was the army. In them days you slept in tents. And when you took a town, there was girls, senoritas. Not squaws.

[Sergeant Utterback]

So if you like us so darn much, why don't you go back where there's girls?

[Sarver]

Cause I Was goldbricked.

[Sergeant Utterback]

You was what?

[Sarver]

Gold brick. Oh, I joined up again. Cause they said they'd be fighting out here. Only fighting I seen west of the Missouri's on Saturday nights in the barracks. Boy, sure ain't like the old

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Sergeant Utterback.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I'd like to ask you a question.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

How did you know the captain thought there were apaches that killed Mr. Gresham's detail?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Well, I've been his first sergeant for a long time, sir. You. You get to know. I see.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Do I get to know?

[Sergeant Utterback]

This is a different kind of service out here, sir. It ain't full dress war, but. But it's the only kind the captain and I ever served in, sir. And you get to know it. Just like you get to know siege operations or saber charge by company front after you've had enough of them.

[Captain Brittles]

I see.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Five hours on the way now. Less than three hours till dawn and we're at the north fork of the Platte. And a full 25 minutes for watering call. Some of the men lie sleeping where they've dismounted. Others huddled together in the moon shadow of the high bank, quietly talking.

[Sergeant Utterback]

She left me standing there like a bound boy at a huskin. What'd you do then? Wasn't nothing to do except join the army.

[Sarver]

That little senorita in Mexico City. Time I was with Scott when we took Mexico. She wasn't at all like that. Not at all.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Any of you boys ever ate a lobster?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Not me. I never even seen one.

[Sarver]

I had a catfish once. Didn't like it.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I could sure put away a lobster right now. Fresh out of the lobster pot and into the cooking pot.

[Sarver]

Life.

[Captain Brittles]

Sure, that's the only way to cook a lobster. Sure wish I was back in Wiscasset.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Get you back in the state of Maine, you'll be pining away for buffalo meat. Truerwood was never spoken. Some people ain't never satisfied.

[Sarver]

I ain't never satisfied for a fact. That's how you get someplace in this world. Never be satisfied.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Sure got you a long way, didn't it? Looks like you can plan on getting even further. Saba. Captain's getting fidgety again.

[Sarver]

Oh, yep. Another day, another dollar.

[Sergeant Utterback]

All right, men. All right. Fall in and be quiet. Prepare to mount. Pass a word. Prepare to mount. Pass a word. Prepare to mount. Pass it.

[Captain Brittles]

Prepare to mount.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Mount. Mount. Route step forward. Route step forward. Route step forward. March. He's heading north.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

How's that, Sergeant?

[Sergeant Utterback]

North, sir. Captain's heading north.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

You're right, Sergeant. Red Mesa should be to our Left instead is dead ahead. Doesn't make any sense. Sergeant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

My father would have done things differently. In the cold, dying moonlight, I could imagine him, young Major Cohill, riding out of St. Joe to convoy the wagon trains bound west on the Oregon Trail. What a figure he must have been out here in the old days when the Missouri river itself was the jumping off place. Killer Cohill, as men had called him. But the wide roaming Arapahos had another name for him. Blue devil with eyes in the back of his head. By this time, Father would have cut those Apaches into coyote meat as they lay sleeping around their smoldering campfire.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Mr. Cohill. Mr. Cohill. Sir?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, Sergeant?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Were you dozing, sir?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

No, no, of course not. I was just thinking.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Captain Brittles wants you at the head of the column, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Thank you, Sergeant. Sergeant Utterback said you wanted me, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Yes, Mr. Coel, I do. This is officer's call. Listen carefully. I have Sergeant Sutro ahead of me with the point. You will relieve him with eight men and push forward fast.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Do you recall the ford across Red Mesa, Wash?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir. We crossed it yesterday.

[Captain Brittles]

Exactly. There is a knoll on the east side of the wash. A knoll that is crossed by the trail from the top of the mason.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I remember, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Be on that knoll before dawn. Build a bivouac fire as soon as you arrive.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Do what, sir?

[Captain Brittles]

Build a fire. I want to know when you get there.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

But I can send a messenger back to tell you when I arrive.

[Captain Brittles]

I want everyone else for miles around to know it, too. Build a bivouac fire a squad fire no larger.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Brittles]

Should you happen to be attacked, you are to hold that knoll. Fighting on foot, remember, the dawn light can work for you, but it can also fool you in this country. So don't shoot until the last possible moment.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

But I don't understand.

[Captain Brittles]

You don't have to. You have your orders. Yes. Move out. Mr. Cohill, you're the bait on my hook.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Wriggle.

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[Lieutenant Cohill]

You knew Red Mesa was there only because the stars stopped where it stood. The moon was a honey ladle, spilling blackness over the edge of the plains. Then the jagged teeth of the Rockies broke it into ragged potsherds and it was gone. It was dark, black, dark, cold dark. The squad fire sputtered and took and pushed the night back a little. This was different. This was command. This was the final moment of the soldier's heritage. To stand ready to fire and be fired upon. To kill and be killed. And it wasn't at all like you expected. It just plumb scared you. Don't stand still, Mittendorf. Keep moving a little all the time. And slap those mounts. Keep them moving, too.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Sarver]

Lieutenant, sir. How come the captain sent us up here to sashay around on the top of this little old hill?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

He said we're the bait of his hook.

[Captain Brittles]

Huh?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

The decoy. There's an Indian war party. We're to draw them out. Better put some bacon on to fry, Lusk. Make it look natural.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Yes, sir.

[Sarver]

Meaning we uns may end up like Mr. Gresham in his patrol?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

There's always that possibility.

[Sarver]

Tain't a prospect that pleases, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

That's what a soldier lives for, Sarver.

[Sarver]

To die, he does, I mean. Yes, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

It was a good performance to any watching Sioux or Apache. Here was a small white soldier war party like the two Yesterdays party they'd left lying scalpless in the buffalo grass 30 miles down the valley. Fire lighted, bacon cooking, horses unsaddled and warriors sleeping from a long night march, soft for the kill. Only the warriors weren't sleeping. Beyond the yellow carpet of firelight, they lay fanned out behind their saddles, waiting, sorting the night sounds with straining ears. Pushing at the soft wall of darkness with widened eyes.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Wish them dead. Burned coyotes didn't sound so much like human beings. Well, you can be sure of one thing. No Indian is running around in the middle of the night yelling like a coyote. Yeah, but it sure makes me nervous.

[Captain Brittles]

Sound like hoodie owls back home in Maine.

[Sergeant Utterback]

What's that behind you?

[Sarver]

Don't get in a pret, boys. It's only me.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Oh, General Scott's chief of staff.

[Captain Brittles]

Oh, something.

[Sergeant Utterback]

You're lucky I didn't put a bullet through you.

[Sarver]

Nah, nah, you wouldn't do that. Lieutenant said not to fire until command.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But

[Captain Brittles]

any of you fellas ever had Injun pudding?

[Sergeant Utterback]

No.

[Sarver]

I had a sort of bean puddin when I was with old Rough and Ready Zach Tealer at the Battle of Buena Vista. But I didn't like it much.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Was you with Napoleon at Waterloo?

[Sarver]

No, but I've been talking to the lieutenant.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Naturally. What's the word from headquarters?

[Captain Brittles]

It's made of cornmeal and molasses. What?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Injun pudding.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Huh?

[Sarver]

Seen any savages yet?

[Sergeant Utterback]

No, and don't expect to yet. Why, there ain't an Indian west of the Missouri'll come out and fight at night if he can help it. Yeah, that's right. They're afraid of taking a chance of being killed at night. They believe if a warrior's killed at night, he'll be blind when he gets to the happy hunting grounds.

[Sarver]

Well, then what are we worrying about?

[Sergeant Utterback]

Who's worrying?

[Sarver]

Not me.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Oh, and you can start worrying, huh? Dawn's coming. Make out the mesa planer.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Sure would like some Indian pudding for breakfast. Slowly the light came first. You could see the outline of the mesa. Then down below, the silver of the water in the wash. Then the shapes of the men and out across the plain, the feathers of mist in the drawers. If it was to come, it would come now. Hold your firemen.

[Sarver]

Arrows.

[Narrator/Announcer]

They're shooting arrows.

[Sergeant Utterback]

What'd you expect? They're engines. What was that?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Hit one of the horses.

[Sarver]

Here they come.

[Captain Brittles]

Oh, my leg.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Hold your fire.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Hold it.

[Captain Brittles]

Fire. Cease firing.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

They are Apaches.

[Sergeant Utterback]

I got one of the heathen.

[Sarver]

I got two. Look at them lying yonder.

[Sergeant Utterback]

One of them still wriggling.

[Sarver]

I'll fix that.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Hold your fire.

[Sarver]

But I was.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

They'll be back. That was only the beginning.

[Sarver]

Yes, sir.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

You all right, Coffin?

[Captain Brittles]

My legs.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Bone shattered. Hurt much?

[Captain Brittles]

A little, sir. Those arrows are sure wicked.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Go right through a man if they don't hit bone.

[Sarver]

Do tell.

[Sergeant Utterback]

No action in the new army, huh, Sava?

[Sarver]

Well, it ain't exactly like your pull, Apec.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Here they come again. Hold fire.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Lights. Better this time.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Makes no difference. Hold your fire.

[Sergeant Utterback]

They're the ones that did Mr. Gresham in. Look. That one's wearing a Corporal Chevron's. And there's one with a U.S. cavalry saber. Where's Captain Brittles? That's how I want to know.

[Sarver]

Most likely having breakfast at the fort decoy. We're just.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Lord almighty.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Fire.

[Captain Brittles]

He's firing.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Well, I took care of almost half of them. They'll be back. No, they won't. Yes. Captain Brittles now attacking from the flank. Hey, Sava. Captain Brittle's got him on the run.

[Sarver]

Hey, can you pull this tarnation Arab out of me?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Down below the knoll, the remains of the Apaches were streaking for the open plains with Captain Brittle's men overtaking them, cutting them down with thirsty sabers and pistoling the ponies as they ran. And then it was quiet, and not an Indian or his pony was left alive. Coffin sat propped up against a saddle, lighting his pipe, his shattered leg stretched naked and useless before him. And Sarva lay where he'd fallen, eyes closed, face blue, his hands around the shaft sunk deep in his left side, below the ribs, the feathered tip waving idly with each shallow breath.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Can't we do something for him, sir?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

What? Look how deep that arrow is. Right under the heart. Can't cut it out. Can't pull it through.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Poor Sava. He finally saw action. Yeah. I can hear him now telling St. Peter about the time he beat the Apaches under Cohill.

[Captain Brittles]

That's not very funny, Noah.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Guess you're right, Coffin. How's your leg? Pain in you much?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Can't feel anything.

[Captain Brittles]

Lieutenant?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

Yes, Coffin? Do you think they'll send me back home to get this fixed? You think maybe I'll get to see

[Captain Brittles]

the State of Maine right soon?

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I hope so, Coffin.

[Sergeant Utterback]

Lander. Goshen, no. You won't get further than the hospital at Council Bluffs. They'll wire you together, slap a plaster on you and send you right back to fight Indians.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

It was a strange feeling, a mixture of pride and guilt watching a man die whom I'd commanded into action, looking at the shattered leg of another. And a feeling of helplessness, too. For the moment, we could only sit there and wait. Our horses were dead, were stampeded by the action. We were alone on our little hilltop in the hot red glare of the rising sun. And then the company rode back in triumph. And I was reporting to Captain Brittles. And it seemed like months instead of hours since I'd last looked at his tired gray face.

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Coel, you did that?

[Sarver]

Well.

[Captain Brittles]

You may do in time, Captain.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

You knew there were Apaches yesterday at sundown. And you knew they were camped on top of the mesa, didn't you, sir?

[Captain Brittles]

Mr. Cohill, accuracy in observation is a military virtue. Had you pushed Forward to that slope. Yesterday afternoon you would have found Mr. Gresham not sleeping Buffalo. Had your eyes been sharp, you would have found this between the slope and last night's bivouac.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

An Apache headband.

[Captain Brittles]

That's right. And blood stained. And had you been a plainsman and suspected Apaches, you would have looked at once for smoke at sundown from the highest ground. In this case, Red Mazer.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

You had me fooled, sir. I even thought.

[Captain Brittles]

The facts for the record are these. My patrol, temporarily bivouacked at dawn today, came under a sudden enemy attack. Fortunately, it was able to hold until I arrived with the main body.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

I understand perfectly, sir. I'm familiar with departmental orders which allow defensive actions only and expressly forbid attack.

[Captain Brittles]

And yet they are in direct violation of cavalry tactics. The cavalry is extremely weak on the defensive and can only defend well by attacking. I believe that is also taught at West Point.

[Lieutenant Cohill]

And I thought you were avoiding an engagement, Captain. I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Coelhill.

[Captain Brittles]

Never apologize. It is a mark of weakness. There is a captain out here who tried it once to escape an inquiry board. He escaped it, but he will die a captain in spite of his apology. The officer who saw to that could have worked with him and made a soldier of him if his humanity had been large enough. Mr. Cohill, I'm going to make a soldier out of you. You may present my respects to General Cohill when next you write your father, Mr. Cohill. Take morning.

[Narrator/Announcer]

If you drive a car, remember the strange sounding word xylene. Xylene is one of the highest octane gasoline components known to science today. All Richfield gasoline contains this powerful super octane component, xylene. With a tank full of Richfield gasoline containing xylene, you've got dynamic power at the tip of your toe. Smooth, knockless power to put you out ahead in traffic. Every gallon of Richfield gasoline contains xylene. But that's not all. There is a Richfield gasoline especially refined to fit the power requirements of your particular car. Buy Richfield Ethyl Ethyl at its best for best results in highest compression motors. Buy Richfield High Octane at regular price for the average motor. Both of these famous Richfield gasolines contain xylene. Get the best out of your car. Get the most for your money. Get Richfield Gasoline with xylene. Look for the Richfield Eagle on the cream and blue pumps. Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson and tonight has presented Command by James Warnabella. Adapted for radio by Mr. Robeson. Featured in the cast were Harry Bartell as Lieutenant Cohill, John Hoyt as Captain Brittles, Wally Mayer as Sergeant Utterback, David Ellis as Updike, Paul Fries as Sarver, Walter Burke as Mittendorf, and Hugh Thomas as Coffin. Special music was arranged and played by Ivan Ditmars.

[Sarver]

Next week you're standing in the observation turret of a gigantic rocket ship about to be shocked into space on man's first voice voyage to Mars. In the heavens above you lie the magnificence of the universe and also terrible dangers from which there is no escape.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Next week at this time, the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York invites you to escape with one of the most unusual of all stories about man's attempt to conquer space. As Ray Bradbury tells it in his exciting tale, Mars is Heaven. Be listening. Goodbye then, until the same time next week when once again we offer you escape. Tom Hanlon speaking. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

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