(36) Escape - The Brute

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 36: Escape – The Brute
Original Broadcast Date: August 8, 2026
Source Story: "The Brute" by Joseph Conrad
Duration (excluding ads): ~31 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode of Harold's Old Time Radio features "The Brute", an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s tale for the acclaimed Golden Age radio show Escape. The episode transports listeners to the high seas at the turn of the 20th century, exploring the superstitions, tragedies, and psychological drama aboard the doomed ship known as "the Brute." Centered on brothers Ned and Charlie Wilmot, the narrative unfolds as a gripping family saga, a meditation on fate, and a chilling tale of a murderous ship with a life—and will—of its own.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Structure

1. A Ship Built in Blood: The Brute's Launch (01:22 – 06:10)

• Ned Wilmot, narrator and protagonist, recounts the ill-fated launch of the ship, originally named the "Apse Family," but quickly gaining its notorious nickname, "the Brute."
• The first omen: During the ceremony, a shipyard worker is killed in a tragic accident, setting a dark tone.
  • Mr. Wilmot (Father): “She’s launched in blood, if that means anything. She’s a brute and a murderess.” [06:00]

2. Years at Sea: The Curse Takes Hold (06:21 – 10:42)

• Ned begins his apprenticeship on the Brute, replacing a sailor killed in another freak accident during departure.
• Over four years aboard, Ned witnesses the ship’s hazardous, seemingly sentient malevolence claim nine lives, reinforcing its feared reputation.
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “She was like a crazy woman. You never knew what she’d do next.” [09:12]

3. Family, Romance, and a Brief Calm (10:42 – 15:42)

• Ned’s brother, Charlie, joins the Brute as first mate, with Captain Colchester still in command. They are joined by Maggie Colchester, the captain’s niece and Charlie’s love interest.
• Maggie’s presence coincides with a period of smooth sailing—her cheerful spirit and affability appear to “charm” the ship, breaking the curse, albeit temporarily.
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “From the second day out, Maggie was the secret darling of every man on board.” [14:13]

4. Tragedy Strikes: The Curse Returns (15:42 – 19:10)

• On their return to London, a sudden malfunction causes an anchor to swing and sweep Maggie overboard, her body found hours later—her death both heartbreaking and a reinforcement of the ship’s lethal reputation.
  • Captain Colchester (grief): “Oh, the dirty, murdering brute. Now it’s women she’s killing.” [17:59]
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration) on Maggie’s fate: “Water beneath the bow was all colored red.” [18:19]

5. Aftermath and Despair (19:10 – 24:42)

• The crew, devastated, abandons the ship with anger and sorrow. Captain Colchester resigns, Ned requests a transfer, and Charlie mourns deeply.
• The ship remains moored, masterless and infamous, until Charlie, driven by grief and a desire to confront the curse, unexpectedly decides to take command for one final voyage.
  • Charlie Wilmot (resolve): “Yes, they did. Me.” [24:23]

6. Confrontation and Sacrifice: The End of the Brute (24:54 – 29:48)

• Charlie’s final act is to order the crew (led by Ned) into lifeboats, then singlehandedly steer the Brute toward the rocks, determined to destroy her and end her evil once and for all.
  • Charlie Wilmot (sacrifice): “You’re always in danger aboard this black-hearted brute. … I’ll hold her steady until everybody’s clear.” [27:13]
• The ship is battered to pieces; Charlie goes down with her, clutching the ring meant for Maggie—a symbolic end to both the vessel’s and the family's torment.

7. Epilogue and Legacy (29:48 – 31:20)

• The survivors watch as the Boe is destroyed; Charlie’s body is never found.
• Ned closes the tale with the grim sense that some curses run too deep to escape, while the ship’s deadly legacy ends with her destruction.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the ship’s curse:
  • Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder): “If she were a human being, I’d say that maybe she’s insane.” [04:34]
• On tragedy at launch:
  • Mr. Wilmot (Father): “She’s launched in blood, if that means anything.” [06:00]
• On surviving the Brute:
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “I guess they figured anybody who could stay alive for four years on the Brute must be a seaman.” [10:23]
• On Maggie’s happy effect on the crew:
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “Maggie was the secret darling of every man on board.” [14:13]
• On the ship’s final act:
  • Charlie Wilmot: “You’re always in danger aboard this black-hearted brute.” [27:13]
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “He was alone now, alone in the night sea with the black brute.” [28:26]
• On the ending:
  • Ned Wilmot (Narration): “Just before I’d left the ship … I’d seen the thing he was holding clenched tight in his hard brown fist. It was a tiny platinum ring set with a blue white diamond.” [29:48]

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Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Scene/Theme | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:22 | Narrative begins: ship’s cursed launch | | 06:21 | Ned begins apprenticeship, more deaths follow | | 10:42 | Charlie joins, Maggie boards, smooth passage | | 15:42 | Return to London; Maggie’s death | | 19:10 | Crew disbands; sorrow and resignation | | 24:23 | Charlie assumes command, vows final voyage | | 27:05 | Charlie orders abandonment, crash course for the ship | | 29:48 | Ship is wrecked; Charlie’s last gesture | | 31:20 | Episode transition and credits |

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode delivers a classic radio play experience with suspenseful, atmospheric narration and evocative performances. Dialogue is earnest, sailor-tough, and steeped in superstition, fear, and heartbreak. The language maintains the direct, clipped, and occasionally poetic tone of Conrad's writing, matched by the radio actors.

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Final Impression

Escape: The Brute immerses listeners into a gripping, tragic maritime legend, balancing action with psychological depth and genuine emotion. The episode is as much a ghost story as it is a reflection on fate, loss, and the indomitable (or unbreakable) curses we struggle against. Rich with period detail, family tension, and the haunting voice of the sea, it epitomizes the Golden Age radio’s dramatic power.

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Transcript

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[Ned Wilmot]

getting

[Escape Narrator]

impatient for baseball season to start. Have a touch of spring fever. Want to get away from it all? We offer you Escape.

[Charlie Wilmot]

You are in mid ocean, aboard a jinx ship. Already nine men have died and you know that some malignant force is aimed at you from which you cannot escape.

[Escape Narrator]

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

[Charlie Wilmot]

Ton we escaped to the North Atlantic in the year 1900 and to a sailing ship whose very name struck dread in sailors hearts. As Joseph Conrad told it in his famous story the Brute.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

You could never tell it just by looking at her, proud and strong and beautiful on the outside. You couldn't see the black heart inside of her and you'd never know she'd killed at least a dozen men and maybe more.

[Ned Wilmot]

But I knew her.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Knew her for the murdering she devil she was.

[Ned Wilmot]

I saw her the day she killed her first one. And I was there too when she finally made a big mistake and killed the wrong person.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

But that was a long time later. Oh she had a name all right. But after that first day, her first killing, nobody with the family ever used it again. Everyone else from that day on would look at her, half afraid and half snarling and they called her the Brute.

[Ned Wilmot]

I remember I was 14 the day my father took me down to the South Thames boatyard to watch the launching of the ship. My brother Charlie was there of course,

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

eight years older than me and very

[Ned Wilmot]

proud of his one gold stripe now that he'd be made an officer in the apse Line. Charlie and father were talking. I just stood and listened to him and didn't say much of anything myself.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Look at her, dad. Ever see a ship in your life with lines like that? I bet she'll outsail any clipper in the China trade.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Well, that remains to be seen, Charlie. How soon are they going to launch, sir?

[Charlie Wilmot]

Any minute now. I'd give it a lot to be sailing on her instead of on the Malcolm Apps.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

The Malcolm's a good ship, son. As good a ship as any of

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

the Apse family owns.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I'm not kicking. I'm glad enough to be through apprenticeship and get my commission, but even at that, I'd almost rather be a boatswain on this ship than third mate on the Malcolm.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

I understand that Colchester is to be her captain.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, that's right. Oldest commander with the absent sons line. Look at the size of her, dad.

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

She's a full 2,000 tons less half a ton, Charlie.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Good morning, Mr. Jermyn.

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

Mr. Wilmot. Hello, Ned.

[Ned Wilmot]

How do you do, sir?

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

No, Charlie. She came to 1,999 and a half when we measured the rope.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Well, 2,000 tons or not, Mr. Jermyn, you'll never build a better ship than this one.

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

I don't know, Charlie. I built her the way Mr. Ops once did. She's big and she's stout, but I don't know.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

And what's your reason for saying that, sir?

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

No reason that makes any sense. Provide the devil's own time with her cabin doors jamming when they shouldn't. Edge covers that wouldn't fit after they'd been measured up. Blocks fallen for no reason at all. I don't know, Mr. Wilmot, but if she were a human being, I'd say that maybe she's insane.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Oh, come now. You've been working too hard, Mr. Jermyn. Better take a vacation now that she's finished.

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

Well, I could certainly use it.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I say, that's Maggie Colchester up there.

[Ned Wilmot]

The captain's niece.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Is she going to do the christening?

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

That's all right, Charlie and I'd better get down below now. My own men are going to knock the stays loose and let her slide down into the water.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Well, good luck, Mr. Jermyn.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Thanks, Mr. Wilbert.

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

Come on board with the celebration. Office is lodged.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Bring the boys.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Fine.

[Captain Colchester]

Thank you.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

We should be there.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Let it go. Any minute now, dad. I'm going to sail on that ship someday.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Oh, you'll probably sail on a lot of AP's line ships before you're through, Charlie.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Look look, they're giving Maggie the champagne now and she's going to Christmas.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Yes.

[Maggie Colchester]

Listen, I christened the the Apse family.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

The Apse Family. So that's what they're naming, eh?

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

All right, Fink, knock out this stair. Let her go.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Look, dad, she's starting to move.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

There she goes. Yes. Well, look at that speed.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

I never saw it.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Damn it. Look out. Good Lord.

[Charlie Wilmot]

He fell right into the waist and she. She went over him.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

He didn't fall. A timber rolled off the deck and knocked him under.

[Charlie Wilmot]

She slid right over him. Mr. Jermyn, the man who built her.

[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

She's launched in blood, if that means anything. She's a brute and a murderous. Now, Charlie, still think you'd like to sail on her?

[Charlie Wilmot]

It was an accident. It doesn't mean anything.

[Captain Colchester]

Perhaps not.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I'll sail on her someday. Sooner or later, I will sail on her.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Well, the way things worked out, I was the one to sail on her first, instead of Charlie. He'd gone on out to the Orient aboard the Malcolm. And six months later, when I started my apprenticeship, I found the company had assigned me to report to Captain Colchester on the Abse family, or the Brute, as everybody was calling it, privately.

[Ned Wilmot]

There was some kind of mix up

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

in the sailing orders, and by the time I came on board, a tug already had a line on the big

[Ned Wilmot]

sailing ship and was starting to ease

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

her stern first out into the channel.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

All right, now, ease ahead there. Pick up the slack.

[Ned Wilmot]

Captain Colchester was at the taffrel shouting orders to the tug captain, and the mates were forward somewhere handling the check line.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

You've got the slack now haul away.

[Ned Wilmot]

I stood at the waist, waiting for a chance to report in, and watching a young fellow about my own age was doing something or other up aloft on the mizzenmast above me. The tug had drawn the line out taut, but the ship hadn't started to move yet.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

You've got no way on her yet. Turn your engine up to full speed.

[Ned Wilmot]

The tug was churning the water to froth and the hawser was tight as a bowstring, but we still didn't move.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Keep that up. Hold that up. First the battle.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Then suddenly the ship gave a lurch and started back like a bucking horse. The men forage had no chance to ease the kickchack cable, and a second later it snapped. The ship plunged on back and then sheered off with a smash against the pier head that knocked me sprawling on the deck. And at that moment, the lad who'd been working aloft on the Mast crashed down onto the deck not 10ft away from me and he lay there without moving.

[Captain Colchester]

Give a hand up here in my way, Street. Young Hawkins just fell out of the tops.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Hey, that's too bad.

[Ned Wilmot]

Is he. Is he dead? Captain Courtchester?

[Captain Colchester]

He's dead. Boy, get a hold of yourself.

[Ned Wilmot]

Don't stand there trembling.

[Captain Colchester]

You never seen anybody die before.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Yes, sir, on the day they launched this ship.

[Captain Colchester]

German, eh? You're young Ned Wilmot, I suppose? The new apprentice?

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Colchester]

No doubt you may have heard this ship called by an unpleasant name once in a while.

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Charlie Wilmot]

The Brute.

[Captain Colchester]

Well, you'll be kind enough to remember while you're aboard that her name is the Aps family and she's had her share of accidents, the same as any other ship. Is that quite clear?

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Captain Colchester]

Get along forward with you and stow your gear away on the forecastle. You'll take over young Hawkins duties for the time being.

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I sailed aboard the Brute for the next four years and watched her kill nine men during the time we got. So we tried to outguess her, try to figure how she'd do it the next time.

[Ned Wilmot]

But no matter what we think, we never were right.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

And it wasn't only the killing. It was everything. Most ships have little ways all their

[Ned Wilmot]

own and you'll learn about them and allow for em. Ah, but not her.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

She was like a crazy woman. You never knew what she'd do next. I remember once off the Gold coast, she ran before a gale for two

[Ned Wilmot]

days, as pretty as you please, and

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

then broached to twice the same afternoon. Flung the helmsman clean over the wheel the first time and the second time. Swamped herself fore and aft and splashed. Split out every stitch of canvas. And after we got the decks cleaned

[Ned Wilmot]

up, we found one seaman had gone overboard. He was her fifth, I guess it was. Or maybe the sixth.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Oh, she was beautiful. The Apse family was big and proud and beautiful.

[Ned Wilmot]

And along with it, a killer.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

A black hearted seagoing brute. My brother Charlie was on the China run all that time. First on the Malcolm and later on the Lucy Epps. We never happened to hit port on the same time. Finally, the time of my apprenticeship was up. We boomed into London. At the end of the trip, I went before the board for my papers. I guess they figured anybody who could stay alive for four years on the Brute must be a seaman. Anyway, I passed and Mr. Apps handed me my sailing orders along with the commission. I was assigned as third mate to Captain Colchester on the APS family.

[Captain Colchester]

Well, congratulations, Ned. Glad you're going to stay with us.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Thanks, Captain Colchester.

[Captain Colchester]

You've been a hard working apprentice and I've no doubt what you'll be a good officer. In fact, we have a man on board who'll make sure of that.

[Ned Wilmot]

Why, whisper? What do you mean?

[Captain Colchester]

Capno got a new first mate on this trip. Come in, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Charlie.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Well, hello there, youngster. I say, you've been doing a bit of growing the last five years, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I didn't even know you were in port.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Been in for a week down country, though. I hear you fooled the board.

[Captain Colchester]

Careful, man.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

You're talking about your own third mate.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, so they tell me. You'll be jumping lively on this trip, me boy.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Easy, easy. Don't forget, I know this ship and you don't.

[Charlie Wilmot]

And I'd learn it quick enough. Been wanting the chance for a long time. And between us, I think we can even break this jinx.

[Captain Colchester]

Lads, There'll be no talk of a jinx on this trip. At least not in the cabin, as long as Maggie's going along.

[Ned Wilmot]

Maggie? Who's Maggie?

[Captain Colchester]

Ask your brother. I think he's the one who talked

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

her into the trip.

[Captain Colchester]

Though she claims it's for her health. I'll leave you two to get acquainted. We'll be about 10 days loading, if you've got any plans.

[Ned Wilmot]

What's he talking about, Charlie? Who's Maggie?

[Charlie Wilmot]

His niece, Maggie Colchester. You remember her. The girl who christened the ship.

[Ned Wilmot]

Of course, Ollie.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Well, your dad told you where I've been spending shore leaves for the last year and a half.

[Ned Wilmot]

No, Charlie, I didn't know anything about it.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Well, then let me show you something. Yeah. Now, if I have my way, Maggie be wearing this before the trip's over. Yeah. Take a look.

[Ned Wilmot]

Blimey. That's all right.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, I bought it in Cape Town. It's a blue white diamond set in platinum.

[Ned Wilmot]

Is it big enough to go on a finger?

[Charlie Wilmot]

Oh, it's big enough all right. And that's where it's going if I can talk her into it.

[Maggie Colchester]

And who's going to talk who into what? Charlie?

[Charlie Wilmot]

Maggie. I was saying that I hoped I could talk you into going ashore for dinner with me.

[Maggie Colchester]

Oh, where you now, you big liar.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Oh, Maggie, this is my brother, Ned. Ned, this is Maggie.

[Maggie Colchester]

How do you do? And are you one of the officers, too?

[Ned Wilmot]

I'm the new third mate.

[Maggie Colchester]

Well, I certainly hope you're more truthful than your brother, Maggie, whose invitation to dinner I am accepting with pleasure.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Oh, really?

[Maggie Colchester]

See you both later.

[Charlie Wilmot]

All right.

[Ned Wilmot]

You are about an hour, Charlie, she's lovely.

[Charlie Wilmot]

She's more than that, Ned. She's everything as far as I'm concerned.

[Ned Wilmot]

Well, in that case, good luck. I hope you get her.

[Charlie Wilmot]

We'll see about that. Anyway, with Maggie aboard, we've got to make sure this jinx ship stays on good behavior for once.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

It'll be the first time if she does.

[Charlie Wilmot]

And it's the first time we've had both the Wilmots on board together. We'll tame her down, Ned. We'll make her calm and peaceful as an old workhorse. Just you wait and see if we don't.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

And the strange part of it was, he was right. We stood out past Gravesend and made the passage to the China coast in 121 days of the finest weather you could ever hope to meet. And for the first time in her bloody life, the old ship settled down and sailed herself as neat as you please. Charlie and I had talked about it sometimes when Maggie wasn't around. He'd always laugh and say the brute knew when she'd met her match that she didn't dare try to buck the two of us.

[Ned Wilmot]

But I. I was more ready to

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

give the credit to Maggie. To think maybe she charmed the old murderess the way she charmed all the rest of us. From the second day out, Maggie was the secret darling of every man on board.

[Ned Wilmot]

She was all over the ship here,

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

there and everywhere with Red Tam and her bright blue eyes never still a minute and having the time of her life. If she'd come along for her health, she'd found it before we passed Gravese. We raised a storm on the passage back and ran four days in a heavy gale. I stood by and held my breath, ready for anything and nothing happened. The old lady Apt's family held up her head and sailed along like a seagull. Anytime before, she'd have buried her gunnel in the quartering seas. But now all the water she shipped you could put in a teacup. 109 days from Hong Kong, we raised the Dungness light and early the next morning. Picked up a tug off Shearers for the long tow upriver to London.

[Ned Wilmot]

The ship followed along on the tow

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

line like a puppy on a leash

[Ned Wilmot]

and we moved slowly up the river past Gravesend. All of us were glad to be home, but Maggie most of all, I think, because she'd never been at sea so long before. I had to smile at the way she danced around in the bows picking out one landmark after another as we came to them. Sometimes standing up on the spare anchor we'd taken in on the foredeck in order to get a better look at the riverbanks ahead. She wasn't wearing the ring yet, but I knew she was going to and was only teasing Charlie as long as possible.

[Charlie Wilmot]

What's wrong, Ned? That tug stopped her engines.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Collision up ahead in the channel, Charlie. Looks like a yawl and a schooner fouled together.

[Captain Colchester]

Yes.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Well, looks like they're clearing it up now. Guess we can move again in a couple of minutes. Maggie, why don't you go onto the after deck? You're on the way up forward there.

[Maggie Colchester]

Oh, I'm all right, Charlie. Stop worrying. We're almost home.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Better save your orders for the crew, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot]

She outranks you.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I'll take orders from her any day. Yes, we are almost home, Ned. We've had a lucky voyage.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

It's the first halfway peaceful trip I've ever made in the old brute.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I told you we'd tame her down. She's turned over a new leaf, Ned.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Well, it won't last long if she keeps on shearing off there and drifting

[Ned Wilmot]

back down the channel.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, we're heading straight for those fishing smacks.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Better have the tug start up and hold a taut line on her.

[Ned Wilmot]

I've seen her do this before.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Ahoy, the tug.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Take up the slack and get her straight in the channel. Hold her against the current.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Any other ship would have held steady

[Ned Wilmot]

for the two or three minutes we stopped.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

But not the old Raps family. And now when the tug tightened up in the Holzer, pulling at an angle

[Ned Wilmot]

across her bows, she wouldn't respond, wouldn't budge. The old girl wanted her own way. She was just as stubborn as ever.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Ahoy, the tug.

[Charlie Wilmot]

We're still drifting.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Open up to full speed.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Confounder.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Never saw a ship act like this.

[Ned Wilmot]

The heavy hawser was pulled so tight it was humming. And tug's pedals, with her engines full, whipped up the water like a mill race. And then it happened. The heavy towing chock tore loose from the deck.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

The hawser began sliding across the bow, ripping out rail stanchions like matchsticks. Then my father was going to sweep under the fruits of the spare anchor, the anchor that Maggie was standing on.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Maggie, get off that anchor.

[Maggie Colchester]

Look out, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

She tried to jump clear, but she was too light. The great anchor had tipped up on its side, clasped her about the waist like a monstrous arm of steel. It had carried her with it and swung down and over and smashed against the side of the ship.

[Charlie Wilmot]

She went into the Water.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Take charge of the deck. Ned. I'm going in after her. Ned.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Ned.

[Captain Colchester]

Was that Maggie?

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

She's overboard, Captain Courtchester.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Maggie.

[Captain Colchester]

Oh, the dirty, murdering brute. Now it's women she's killing.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Let go the port anchor. Hold the ship. Is she? Is I get the boat over.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I hadn't told Charlie, and I didn't say anything about it to Captain Colchester. But I stood there and I knew

[Ned Wilmot]

it wasn't any use because I'd seen the way the heavy anchor had carried

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

her over and then swung in to smash her against the bow before it

[Ned Wilmot]

dropped her into the water. And I'd seen the way that water beneath the bow was all colored red. They found her at late afternoon when the tide turned and she floated clear of one of the mooring boys. And the next morning we tied up in the London docks. The men had been happy at coming

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

into their home port, but now they remembered how she'd been happy, too.

[Ned Wilmot]

Their own darling. I'd never before seen a crew leave a ship so quietly. And some of them, when they reached the wharf, turned back and cursed her under their breath.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Finally it was only Charlie and I

[Ned Wilmot]

alone on the quarter deck. And Captain Colchester was below somewhere in the cabin.

[Charlie Wilmot]

She never wore it, Ned. The rain. She never wore it.

[Ned Wilmot]

But she would have, Charlie. I know she meant to. She was just having a little fun with you, that's all.

[Charlie Wilmot]

With all of us on board, why did the brute have to go for Maggie?

[Mr. Jermyn (Shipbuilder)]

Why?

[Ned Wilmot]

I guess there's not much answer for that.

[Charlie Wilmot]

She's everything I wanted. Everything.

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, Charlie, I know.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I talked her into making the voyage. It was my idea.

[Ned Wilmot]

It's no good, Charlie, this kind of thinking.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I guess you know that.

[Charlie Wilmot]

I don't know. Says everything I wanted.

[Ned Wilmot]

Charlie over.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Stu Wilmer.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Over here, Captain.

[Captain Colchester]

I'm going ashore. The shipkeeper's come aboard now. The two of you are free to go whenever you like.

[Ned Wilmot]

Thanks, sir.

[Captain Colchester]

Charlie, I. Nothing. I'm resigning command in the morning. I'll never set foot on board her again as long as I live.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I feel the same way, sir.

[Captain Colchester]

Well, come into the company office in a day or two and sign out for the log. Good day, gentlemen.

[Ned Wilmot]

Charlie, we'd better go ashore, too.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

We're done here.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, I. I suppose we are.

[Ned Wilmot]

I'll arrange to have our gear picked up later.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

There's no use of.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Captain, look out. Missed him.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

That yard arm off the mainmast fell right behind him.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Ah, you missed me, you murdering brute. And that was your last chance.

[Captain Colchester]

Ned.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Ned. That yard was made fast@duncan us. And now it falls out of the tops with the ship lying still at the wharf.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Yes, Charlie, come on, let's go ashore.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Wasn't the devil satisfied for one trip? Is there no way of stopping her? How many more does she want to kill Charlie? Well, dad, they'd take me home.

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[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Charlie was 10 years older by the

[Ned Wilmot]

time we reached home, and it was two weeks before he'd do anything more than sit in his room and stare at the wall, saying nothing. Captain Colchester carried out his threat and

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

resigned from the company the morning after

[Ned Wilmot]

we docked and I filed my Application for a transfer.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

The apse family was reloaded and ready to sail, but she stayed on lying at the wharf with nobody to take her out. And that's the way things stood for two weeks.

[Ned Wilmot]

Until one morning a bombshell dropped.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Hello, Ned.

[Ned Wilmot]

Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I wondered where you went this morning,

[Charlie Wilmot]

and I left the house early.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

How do you feel?

[Charlie Wilmot]

Fine, Ned. Mr. Apps tells me you've applied for a transfer. Another ship?

[Ned Wilmot]

Well, yes, I did, as a matter of fact. You saw Manapps?

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes. I stopped in at the office this morning, Ned. It's up to you, of course, but I hope you'll change your mind.

[Ned Wilmot]

Not a chance.

[Charlie Wilmot]

The ship sails tomorrow morning.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Oh, so they finally found somebody crazy enough to take her out.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, they did.

[Escape Narrator]

Me.

[Ned Wilmot]

You?

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

You're going to skipper the brute?

[Charlie Wilmot]

That's right. Land.

[Ned Wilmot]

But I. I told.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Short voyage, North Atlantic run. Be awfully glad to have you along. Somebody I could depend on. If you feel like signing on again, Charlie. Of course, it's up to you.

[Ned Wilmot]

All right, Charlie. I'll sign on again. Be glad to.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

We boomed out past the Scherner's light and headed north, hugging Elyse Shore in the stiff breeze. The ship drove ahead a steady as a barge with scarcely a roll or a quiver.

[Ned Wilmot]

But in spite of the smooth and easy way she handled, I couldn't help feeling uneasy.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I could sense the black spirit of

[Ned Wilmot]

her brooding somewhere down inside, mocking and taunting us with her bloody memories and waiting for a new chance.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

By nightfall, we were running hard in along the Ketterling coast where those rocky headlands break at intervals out of the shelving sandy beaches. The onshore wind held steady in our quarter and the sun sank down behind the land some three miles away.

[Ned Wilmot]

It wasn't quite full dark yet when Charlie sent for me. I came up to where he was

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

standing alone near the wheel.

[Charlie Wilmot]

That you, Ned? Right.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Charlie. Boson said you wanted see to see me.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Yes, I did send for you, Ned. Heard a steady as she goes, close to the wind. Aye, sir. I've been standing here thinking about Maggie, Ned. How she scrambled around over the decks, making friends with everybody, having the time of her life.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Charlie, you've got to stop it.

[Charlie Wilmot]

No, I'm all right. I like to think about her.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

It's this ship and all the memories around it.

[Ned Wilmot]

It's what I was afraid of.

[Charlie Wilmot]

No, no. It's all right, Ned. I want you to take charge of the crew and give an order. Of course you'll question the order, but you'll carry it out anyway. Do you understand?

[Ned Wilmot]

What's what's the order, Charlie.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Have all hands prepared to abandon ship. What?

[Maggie Colchester]

But why?

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

There's nothing wrong, Mr. Wilmot.

[Charlie Wilmot]

It is not an officer's place to question an order by the captain. You'll do as you're told.

[Ned Wilmot]

Yes, sir.

[Charlie Wilmot]

You can give the order now, Mr. Wilmack.

[Ned Wilmot]

Charlie, I can't let you.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Very well, Captain.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

All hands on deck. Stand by the boats. Prepare to abandon ship.

[Charlie Wilmot]

All right, helmsman. Find your place in the boats. I'll take over the wheel. Aye, sir.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

You don't know what you're doing, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot]

We're a no danger.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

There's no reason to abandon ship.

[Charlie Wilmot]

You're always in danger aboard this black hearted brute. I'll put on the quarter now. You can get the boats in the water when she yields. Hurry on.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Steady going on the quarter.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Is he on? All right now.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

All hands lower Boots.

[Charlie Wilmot]

We shouldn't have any trouble running asore to that beach there at the south.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Hey, what about you?

[Charlie Wilmot]

I'll hold her steady until everybody's clear. You'd better go over the side. Your boat's standing there.

[Captain Colchester]

Oh no.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Not until you do. I'm staying with you, Charlie.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Don't be a fool, Ned. I'm doing this alone.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

No, Charlie. Not while I'm here.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Mr. Wilmot, you will abandon the ship and take charge of the boats in the water.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

And that's in order. Charlie, I can't, Mr. Wimot. Very well, Captain.

[Charlie Wilmot]

That's the spirit, lady. To obey your orders and step lively. You'll be a seaman yet. Good luck, mate.

[Ned Wilmot]

Thanks, Charlie.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Stand by for you in the boat.

[Charlie Wilmot]

Of course, lad. Fine. Bye.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I slipped over the gunwale and dropped down into the boat that trailed alongside on a line from the rail.

[Ned Wilmot]

I'd hardly hit the bottom when the line slackened.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

I knew Charlie had cut us loose from the ship. He was alone on an owl. Alone in the night sea with a black brute.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Look, sir. Look. He's laid it over.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Away from the wind. Charlie had put the helm over hard.

[Ned Wilmot]

With a terrible shudder of her dark

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

sails and a smother of white foam from her bows. The great ship heeled about in a sharp turn and then began to drive ahead like some mad thing before the wind. Straight before the wind and straight toward the shore.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Look, sir, the rocks in the headland. She's going to smash herself.

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

Faster and faster she plunged her head through the weltering seas. Faster and faster on the back of the gale while the black hearted spirit of her screamed in the ratlines.

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

Look, sir, the rocks.

[Maggie Colchester]

What in the name of heaven Is

[Crew Member / Tug Captain]

he going to do?

[Ned Wilmot (Narration)]

And now, for one long instant, she hung poised at the top of a plunge and then drove smashing downward onto the.

[Ned Wilmot]

We stood by as close as we dared for three hours while the killer ship pounded herself to bits in the surging sea. But we didn't find my brother Charlie. And from the first minute, I knew we wouldn't. Because just before I'd left the ship there by the helm, in the light of the binnacle lamp, I'd seen the thing he was holding clenched tight in his his hard brown fist. It was a tiny platinum ring set with a blue white diamond.

[Escape Narrator]

Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonnell and tonight, brought to you the Brute by Joseph Conrad. Adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield. Featuring Dan o' Herlihy as Ned Wilmot and Eric Rolfe as Charlie Wilmot. With Nina Clouden as Maggie, Jeff Corey as Captain Colchester, Wilms Herbert as German and Parley Bear as the father. Music is conceived and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Next week,

[Charlie Wilmot]

you are far into the remote hill country of Afghan, caught in an ambush by the fierce Paan tribes. Trapped in a hopeless fight from which there seems no escape.

[Escape Narrator]

Next week, we escape with Rudyard Kipling's gripping story, the Drums of the Fore and Aft. Good night, then, until the same time next week, when once again, we offer you escape. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

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[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Hey, good morning.

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[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Yep, they sure are.

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[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

It's all right.

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[Mr. Wilmot (Father)]

Look at me. Take a deep breath.

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[Escape Narrator]

Get a commercial auto insurance quote [e-mail] and see how much you could save. It feels good. To geico.

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