(71) Escape - Action - (Joseph Kearns)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 71: Escape – “Action” (Joseph Kearns)

Air Date: August 10, 2026

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Overview

This episode revisits the classic radio drama “Escape,” presenting “Action,” a story by C.E. Montague. Set against the stark, perilous beauty of the Swiss Alps, it follows Christopher Bell, an experienced mountaineer who, at 52, attempts a seemingly impossible climb while wrestling with the aftermath of a stroke and an existential crisis. Interwoven are perspectives from those who know Bell, collectively exploring themes of mortality, vitality, and the human will to live when confronted by death and despair.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Setting the Stage: The Sheer Face of Mortality

• [01:24–02:28]
  The episode opens with a vivid, immersive description of Bell clinging to an icy cliff above a thousand-foot drop. The narrator sets a tense, life-or-death atmosphere, underscoring both physical danger and Bell’s internal struggle.

  “You are hanging by your fingertips on the sheer face of an icy cliff suspended a thousand feet above. Instant death.”
  — Narrator [01:24]

2. Why Risk It? The Search for Meaning

• [05:08–06:22] Jean Vajour (mountain guide) and Bell discuss his motives:
  Bell challenges conventions of risk, confessing to a drive that pushes beyond normal margins of safety, rooted in confronting—not escaping—the fear of death.

  “You take that [fear of death] out of a man for one instant, there’s no telling what he might be able to do or what limit he might reach.”
  — Christopher Bell [06:07]

3. Reflections in the Village

• [07:18–08:44] Greta de Gaspard’s memories of Bell:
  Greta, an old friend and innkeeper, notes Bell’s changed demeanor and worries over his solitary, troubled state. Their late-night conversation hints at deep loneliness and possible despair.

  “It is not good to be alone. It gives one no reason for living.”
  — Greta de Gaspard [08:30]

4. The Trigger: A Life-Altering Event

• [10:27–12:20] London Office—Matthew Gruff’s account:
  Bell’s longtime employee sees a sudden shift—Bell relinquishes control of the business, cryptically announcing his intent to travel and climb.

  “There’s nothing more to look forward to. Nothing more to work for. So where do we go from here?”
  — Christopher Bell [11:19]

5. A Stroke of Fate

• [13:44–17:33] Jenkins, Bell’s valet, recalls the morning:
  Bell experiences numbness—soon revealed as the aftershock of a minor stroke. Vivid inner monologue exposes Bell’s horror at impending helplessness and his desperate need to find meaning outside of mere survival.

  “At 52 years of age, I’ve had a light stroke … Is this what a man slaves his life away for? To end up helpless, dependent upon others?”
  — Christopher Bell [16:44, 17:33]

6. The Climax: Peril and Rescue on the Glacier

• [18:16–22:43] Pulse-pounding drama on the ice
  Bell, exhausted, is about to relinquish his grip—only to hear another climber’s call for help. Spurred by the emergency, he finds a hidden reserve of strength, rescuing a woman, Anagar, whose life is equally at risk.

  “I was through. I couldn’t have lasted 30 seconds more. But when I realized somebody was in danger, I forgot about it.”
  — Christopher Bell [25:02]

7. Realization and Bargain: The Will to Live

• [23:55–28:19] Conversation with Dr. Gollen and Anagar (Greta):
  In a candid discussion, the doctor suggests that meaning and incentive—being vital to others—restore Bell’s will to live. Greta (revealed as the rescued woman) discloses her own death wish due to an incurable condition, and proposes a mutual pact to keep living, each for the sake of the other.

  “I’ll go on living if you will.”
  — Greta de Gaspard [27:19]

  “That sort of thing would work both ways. I wouldn’t dare let you down.”
  — Christopher Bell [28:12]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Description | |-----------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:24 | Narrator | “You are hanging by your fingertips on the sheer face of an icy cliff…”| | 06:07 | Christopher Bell | “It’s all tied up in the fear of death. You take that out of a man…” | | 08:30 | Greta de Gaspard | “It is not good to be alone. It gives one no reason for living.” | | 11:19 | Christopher Bell | “There’s nothing more to look forward to. Nothing more to work for. …” | | 16:44 | Christopher Bell | “At 52 years of age, I’ve had a light stroke.” | | 17:33 | Christopher Bell | “Is this what a man slaves his life away for? To end up helpless, …” | | 25:02 | Christopher Bell | “I couldn’t have lasted 30 seconds more. But when I realized somebody was in danger, I forgot about it.” | | 27:19 | Greta de Gaspard | “I’ll go on living if you will.” | | 28:12 | Christopher Bell | “I wouldn’t dare let you down.” |

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–01:00: (Sponsorship, skipped)
• 01:00–01:47: Introduction to “Escape” and the episode
• 01:47–04:42: Opening glacier sequence and narrative frame
• 04:42–07:18: Jean Vajour’s account; Bell’s unconventional risk-taking
• 07:18–09:29: Greta reflects on Bell’s past and present sorrow
• 10:27–12:20: Matthew Gruff describes Bell’s abrupt business resignation
• 13:08–13:44: Matthew’s suspicions about what precipitated Bell’s changes
• 13:44–17:33: Jenkins and Bell’s stroke experience/inner crisis
• 18:16–22:43: Bell’s internal debate as he hangs on the glacier; the rescue
• 23:55–25:56: Bell’s reflection with Dr. Gollen—purpose found in action
• 26:39–28:30: Bargain between Bell and Greta to continue living for each other

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Tone and Style

The episode’s tone is solemn, introspective, and suspenseful with flashes of raw vulnerability. The dialogue is formal and period-appropriate, reflective of early-to-mid 20th-century radio drama. The story explores existential dread with a poetic yet naturalistic touch.

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Conclusion

This classic radio play offers a gripping meditation on mortality and the elusive spark that keeps us clinging to life. Through the arc of Christopher Bell, it reminds listeners that human vitality is sustained by purpose, connection, and sometimes—simply by climbing the next ridge for someone else.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Narrator/Host]

suspense, which is usually heard at this hour on Thursday nights, is taking its customary summer holiday Suspense returns to the air six weeks from tonight. On Thursday, September 1st,

[Narrator/Storyteller]

You are hanging by your fingertips on the sheer face of an icy cliff suspended a thousand feet above. Instant death. With your strength running out and with no chance for escape,

[Narrator/Host]

We offer you escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Tonight we escape to the col loneliness of a glacier high in the Swiss Alps, and to a man who learned much about death as CE Montague tells it in his famous story Action.

[Narrator/Describer]

High in the Swiss alps, well above 12,000ft, a man clings with desperation to the frozen glass wall of the Shaliak glacier, hands and feet jammed into shallow steps chopped in the iron hard ice. A cold wind drives a spray of dusty sleet along the overhanging wall and the sun has fallen away among the crags to the west. Darkness lies one hour ahead. The man has climbed with painful care a thousand feet up the glacier's face from the broken moraine at the foot, and has moved now onto the underside of a great bulge in the ice, a part of the wall which breaks out beyond the perpendicular, and the man is forced to hang from slots cut by his axe, such as a sloth hangs from a tree branch. 12 more feet lie between him and the brow of the overhang. Six more steps to be chopped out with the axe and a thousand feet of void space waits beneath him. The man is unable to lift his heavy axe for Even one more stroke. He is tired. And he is 52 years old. No experienced mountaineer would ever attempt the west face of the Shallyoc Glacier. And yet this man is an experienced mountaineer. And why?

[Greta de Gaspard]

Why?

[Narrator/Describer]

What strange events have conspired to bring him along the path of his life and leave him hanging now in peril, on the brink of eternity? Through what shadows has that path led him? And where are those who saw him pass? Can we ourselves move along it? Move back step by step against the river of time? Move backward along the life path of Christopher Bell.

[Jean Vajour]

My name is Jean Vajour. I'm a guide for all the mountain trails on the Weishorn and the Schollichorn. I talked with Mr. Bell this morning as he was leaving the village. Though, of course, at the time I did not know that was his name. The season is over, you understand. Winter will come in another week or two, and most all the visitors are gone. So, you see, I was very surprised to hear a stranger call out to

[Christopher Bell]

me in English, hello there. Which of these paths takes me to the foot of the Chalioch?

[Jean Vajour]

The one on the left. But you will find no chimney there, sir. One arrives very soon at the glacier and can go no further.

[Christopher Bell]

Except, of course, to climb up it.

[Jean Vajour]

The glacier? But that is impossible. It has never been done.

[Christopher Bell]

Of course not. It's never been tried.

[Jean Vajour]

There is not anyone who would be so foolish. Monsieur.

[Christopher Bell]

No, it isn't that. There are plenty of foolish people in the world. But even they hold on to their margin of safety.

[Jean Vajour]

Margin of safety?

[Greta de Gaspard]

Yes.

[Christopher Bell]

The difference between the point where a man thinks he's reached his limit, the point where that limit really is.

[Jean Vajour]

I'm afraid I do not understand this.

[Christopher Bell]

All right. Take a mountaineer such as yourself. You look at a slope and you estimate the effort needed to climb.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Yes.

[Christopher Bell]

Then you estimate your own endurance. And if there isn't a good size, safety factor. Just don't make the climb.

[Jean Vajour]

But it would be foolish not to

[Christopher Bell]

do so, I dare say. Oh, it's all tied up in the fear of death. You take that out of a man for one instant, there's no telling what he might be able to do or what limit he might reach.

[Jean Vajour]

How should a man lose that fear?

[Christopher Bell]

He can't. He can't lose it. It has to be done for him by things outside.

[Jean Vajour]

He turned and left me then this Mr. Bell, and walked up the path towards the glacier. That was early this morning, and I did not see him again. His talk with me made no sense, and I could not understand what he meant to do, or why he was going to do it. I remember thinking, what a strange man. But I really know nothing more about him. I believe he arrived in the village only last night and took a room in the zinal.

[Greta de Gaspard]

My name is Greta de Gaspard, and I am staying out the week here in Senhal to close up the inn for the winter. I have known Mr. Bell for the last 30 years, always before he came in the summer season for the climbing. And I was most surprised when he arrived last night. I opened one of the rooms and I found something for him to eat. And then later, we sat and talked in front of the fire in the big empty lounge.

[Christopher Bell]

This is very good coffee, Madame gaspard.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Had you let me know you were coming, I would have had everything ready for you. Just like all the other times.

[Christopher Bell]

Like all the other times. Now, this one's a little different, Madame Gaspard. You might call it a special visit.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Oh, it is all so different now from the old days. Then it was you and your Madame would come here, and it was Gaspard and I. And the summers seemed to last forever.

[Christopher Bell]

I thought everything would last forever when she was alive. Now I'm really alone in the world.

[Greta de Gaspard]

As am I. And it is not good to be alone. It gives one no reason for living.

[Christopher Bell]

But there may be stronger reasons for not wanting to live.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Is. Is there Something troubling you, Mr. Bell? No.

[Christopher Bell]

No, not now. There may have been, but not now. I shall be leaving quite early in the morning for a. For a climb. So I think I'll go on to bed. Good night, Madame Gaspard.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Mr. Bell left the inn this morning before I wakened, and I have not seen him again. I have never known him to act so strange before. I have no idea what. What the reason is or what he may be planning to do, but I am sure something is troubling him. Perhaps it may be something connected with his business in Lon Foreign.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Matthew Gruff]

My name is Matthew Gruff. I've been chief clerk of Mr. Bell's London office over the past 25 years. I've always found him to be a considerate and dependable employer. I've never noticed anything you might call unusual about him. Until one day, about three weeks ago, Mr. Bell entered the establishment a bit late, as I recall, and passed immediately into his own office without acknowledging my customary greeting. A little while afterward, he sent for me.

[Christopher Bell]

Matthew, where do we go from here?

[Matthew Gruff]

Can't say that I follow you, Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

I mean, the company's on a steady footing, so if we use our heads at all, we don't stand much chance of losing anything.

[Matthew Gruff]

Yes, our position is quite secure.

[Christopher Bell]

On the other hand, we can't expect to do any more growing or through expanding now on. It's merely a matter of operation.

[Matthew Gruff]

A most enviable condition, sir. Is it?

[Christopher Bell]

There's nothing more to look forward to. Nothing more to work for. So where do we go from here? Well, Sir Matthew, I'm putting you in charge of the business. Turning it over to you effectively this week.

[Matthew Gruff]

Mr. Bell, you. You can't possibly mean that.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, yes, I've just decided.

[Matthew Gruff]

But what are you going to do, sir?

[Christopher Bell]

I'm taking a trip. I'm going to Switzerland, maybe do a little mountain climbing.

[Matthew Gruff]

Oh, well then at least it's only temporary. Just for whatever time you're gone.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, that's right. For whatever time I'm gone. Just for whatever time I'm gone.

[Matthew Gruff]

Before the end of the week, he had arranged all the necessary papers and had left London. I haven't heard a word from him since. Though I presume he's somewhere in Switzerland. Actually, however, I haven't the faintest idea where Mr. Bell may be right at this moment.

[Narrator/Describer]

On the glacier. Minutes pass and the shadows grow longer from the jagged peaks to to the west of the Shaliak and reach out with dark fingers toward the man who clings to the icy wall. The man's thoughts have grown as unwieldy as the heavy ice axe gripped in his hand. He keeps trying to remember that he is Christopher Bell, a human being and not a part of this free and empty space. For he knows if he stops Remembering that he may forget all else too, and then let go.

[Matthew Gruff]

There's been a reason for trying to locate Mr. Bell. Since nothing of any importance has occurred during these three weeks, I'm sure he's quite all right. Only one thing still puzzles me a bit. The remarkable change in him on that morning three weeks ago. I never heard him talk like that before. And whatever the reason for it, I'm quite sure it was something that happened that morning before he came to the office.

[Jean Vajour]

My name is John Uxford. I've been a conductor on the Westminster route for some 14 years now. And during all that time, Mr. Bell has been a daily passenger of mine on the early morning inbound run. As I recall it, the first time anything you might say well out of the way ever happened between us was one morning about three weeks ago. I saw Mr. Bell waiting at the usual place, so I signalled the driver to a stop.

[Christopher Bell]

Good morning.

[Jean Vajour]

Good morning, Mr. Bill.

[Christopher Bell]

I'll be right there.

[Jean Vajour]

Yeah. Let me come down and help you up, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

I'll make it. If you'll just take my arm, Mr. Huxford. My arm, please.

[Jean Vajour]

But I have taken it, Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry.

[Jean Vajour]

Up we go. There we are, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, thank you. I had a bit of a shock this morning. I'm quite alright now.

[Jean Vajour]

Well, if it's all right now, then it's fine, I'd say. You take hold of that strap there now.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, of course. Oh, just a moment. I have the fare here somewhere. Oh, yes. Here you are.

[Jean Vajour]

Thank you, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

No, no, thank you.

[Jean Vajour]

Well, I. I don't quite understand what you mean, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Mr. Huxford, have you ever had anyone take your arm and help you up a flight of steps?

[Jean Vajour]

No. And I might say I hope the day never comes when I. When I. Well, I. Oh, I. I'm sorry, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Not at all. Thank you, Mr. Huxford. Thank you very much.

[Jean Vajour]

I don't like to know what was wrong with him, though it's certain that something was as I haven't seen him for nearly three weeks now. I can't imagine what it might have been that happened to him that morning before he got on the bus.

[Jenkins]

My name is Jenkins, and I've been Mr. Bell's personal valet for the past 12 years and seven months. The master is traveling somewhere on the continent just at present. Been gone something over two weeks now. Decided rather suddenly, I believe. In fact, I rather think something happened one morning about three weeks ago that caused him to make up his mind. Though I really haven't the faintest idea what it might have been. I can remember noticing a very strange look on his face when he came down to breakfast that morning, but I thought nothing of it at the time.

[Christopher Bell]

Good. Good morning, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

Good morning, sir. I trust you had a pleasant night's rest.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes. Yes, I did. Thanks, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

You'll be having the usual orange juice, toast.

[Christopher Bell]

No, no, no, no. I want nothing except some coffee.

[Jenkins]

Very well, sir. I'll bring it right away.

[Christopher Bell]

I can't let him find out. I can't let anyone find out about it. Maybe it's a little better now. Maybe it's going away. Maybe I'm giving it too much importance. No, no, it's still there. That same lack of feeling clear down the whole right side of my body.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

There.

[Christopher Bell]

I can move my arms, my leg all right. There's no feeling in them. They're numb. It's Simply that at 52 years of age, I've had a light stroke.

[Jenkins]

Your coffee, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, thank you, Jim.

[Jenkins]

Would you care for something more, sir?

[Christopher Bell]

No, no, that's all.

[Jenkins]

If you'll pardon me, sir, you. You don't seem quite yourself this morning. I do hope you're not ill. Oh,

[Christopher Bell]

no, no, I'm quite all right. Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

I hope you won't mind my saying this, Mr. Bell, but you don't take very good care of yourself anymore.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, now, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

It's been years now since you had a checkup, sir. Not since the mistress passed away, in fact.

[Christopher Bell]

I'm quite all right, Jenkins. I'm quite all right.

[Jenkins]

Then I'm relieved to hear it, sir. I'll bring your paper now.

[Christopher Bell]

Good Lord. Is this what a man slaves his life away for? To end up helpless, dependent upon others, to be wheeled upon, put out in the sun, taken in like some great fat lava? Disgusting. But I've got to face it. This stroke is the first warning. There'll be others, worse ones, and in a short time I'll be helpless. Oh, there must be some way out. Not suicide, but some way. There's got to be some way.

[Narrator/Describer]

The icy wall hardens into cold, vitreous steel as the dusk borne shadows chill its surface. The merciless ice is beginning to freeze the cramped joints of the man's fingers. Now the heavy axe swings idly at his belt, tracing a fumbling pattern on the thin air of the void. How much longer now can he cling to those slots in the glacier's face? How much longer does he have to live? 30 seconds a minute? What's the margin of safety now? And what does a man think of while his pulse beats slower and he waits to die?

[Christopher Bell]

Strange how I'm able to go on hanging to this slope, clinging on to life when I can't feel another ounce of strength left in me. I was right. Dying isn't so bad, really. Not when it's like this. Rather pleasant, in fact. Looks so soft down there. The shadows and the snow and the wind. Perhaps I could let go and float out in the wind like an eagle. Be blown along by it like drifting snow. The sun's gone now. Full dark in a few minutes. Maybe I can hold on that long till everything is dark, even the snow and the ice. Who knows? Perhaps I'll watch the sunrise tomorrow and set again and even beyond. Oh, no.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

No.

[Christopher Bell]

I can't last even one full minute longer. I'm through. I'm finished. I can't even last a half minute.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Hmm.

[Christopher Bell]

Chips of ice sliding over the edge. Funny how a glacier sheds off that way. And I suppose the difference in temperature between day and rain. An ice axe. That was an axe. No other sound in the world like it fell from up above the overhang. There must be somebody up there on the slopes, coming down from the top. There is.

[Jean Vajour]

Wait.

[Christopher Bell]

That's 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. That's a mountaineer's call for help. Someone's dropped his axe and he's in trouble. Up there. It's right above this bulge. If I can only. No, throat's too dry. Well, six more steps to cut to reach the edge there. All right. Six more steps

[Narrator/Storyteller]

now.

[Christopher Bell]

Five. Oh, step. That just about does it. The last step.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Cut her off and let me go. There's no use in b going.

[Christopher Bell]

Good Lord, it's a woman. Hold on there. I'll be with you in a minute.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Somebody's coming. There's someone down here

[Christopher Bell]

over the edge. Take it easy there. Everything's going to be all right.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Oh, thank heaven. I don't know where you came from, but thank heaven you're here.

[Christopher Bell]

Yeah, yeah. Easy now. Let's get a step out for your feet here. I was just below the overhang there. Heard the fellow up above call out. He's got quite a voice on him.

[Greta de Gaspard]

It's my husband. Oh, please, Harry.

[Christopher Bell]

Easy now. Have a step out here in a second. You can put your feet on it. You get your breath. Then we'll tackle the slope and I'll just scrape all this ice away. He.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Easy there.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, that's better, isn't it?

[Greta de Gaspard]

Oh, yes.

[Christopher Bell]

You're all right now. You just lean there. And when you feel like it, we'll go on up. Oh, my name is Christopher Bell, by the way.

[Greta de Gaspard]

I'm Anagar. Oh, thank you. I. I thought we were done. I was cutting steps down ahead of the slope, and I slipped and dropped my ax. The rope held me, but neither of us dared to move.

[Christopher Bell]

Well, you're all right now. Soon as you rest a minute, we'll cut some more steps back up the slope. No, you shouldn't have started down this way. You'd never have been able to pass that bulge.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Yes, I can see that now. Of course, it's. It's harder to tell when you're moving downslope.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, I suppose it is.

[Greta de Gaspard]

You. You were coming up the slope, weren't you?

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, I. I came up from the foot alone and.

[Greta de Gaspard]

And without a rope. And. And you deliberately climb onto the underside of an overhanging wall.

[Christopher Bell]

Let's just say we're both foolhardy.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Is that what you call it?

[Christopher Bell]

Well, if you've got your breath back. Now, suppose we. We start up.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

My name is Theodore Gollen, and I am the husband of the woman who slipped and fell on the wall of the glacier. I'm a physician, formerly of Harley Street, London. I've practiced in Paris for several years now. I met Mr. Bell when he and my wife reached the ice ledge where I stood waiting above them. I was not immediately aware of his trouble, but found out about it a short time later when we reached the rest hut at the top of the ridge. While my wife heated water for tea at the far side of the room, Belle and I fell into a much more personal conversation than strangers normally do. This sometimes happens when people have been very close to.

[Christopher Bell]

Well, at any rate, Dr. Golan, you can see how it is. The life of an invalid doesn't seem very appealing to me.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Tell me something, Mr. Bell. I gather you were pretty well done in when I called out there in a glacier. Couldn't lift a hand. Then how do you account for being able to chop six steps into that ice in a matter of some five minutes?

[Christopher Bell]

I don't know exactly. I was through. I couldn't have lasted 30 seconds more. But when I realized somebody was in danger, I forgot about it.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

And this numbness, this lack of feeling in your right side didn't bother you?

[Christopher Bell]

No, I didn't notice. It isn't quite so bad even now.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

There's your answer, Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

I don't believe I follow you.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Action when you were in action.

[Christopher Bell]

Working because you had a reason, living because you had to, because somebody Was depending on you.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Then you were all right. Everything was back in its place again.

[Christopher Bell]

Perhaps. But a man can't spend all his time climbing up a mountain.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Oh, I don't mean physical action.

[Christopher Bell]

Movement.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Call it incentive if you like. Maybe that's a better way to put it.

[Christopher Bell]

Incentive.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

It's the one top pressure that keeps life moving and growing. And it's what you need.

[Christopher Bell]

Well, it's an interesting theory, Doctor, but

[Narrator/Storyteller]

it's only a theorem.

[Greta de Gaspard]

I'll have the tea ready in a moment. Anybody interested?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

I am, my dear. Lucky we brought it.

[Christopher Bell]

If no one minds, I believe I'll have a turn outside while we're waiting.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Be careful out there in the dark. The ridge breaks off pretty sharply here.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, I'll be careful. Dr. Golan, if things were turned around. I wonder if it's be any more than just a theory to you. Mr. Bell.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Where are you?

[Christopher Bell]

I'm over here, Mrs. Garland.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Beautiful, isn't it? With the stars so clear and.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, well, there won't be many more clear nights before the winter storms.

[Greta de Gaspard]

It would be a shame to give it up. You and I, you mean. I've got to say this quickly. We are not the kind to commit suicide, you and I. You deliberately climbed into a dead end out on that glacier. And I did the same thing. I went ahead and I picked the route down that slope. No, wait, wait. In 30 seconds, I would have cut myself loose from that rope. Oh, we went to an awful lot of trouble so we wouldn't have to call it suicide. You?

[Christopher Bell]

But why?

[Greta de Gaspard]

I have a brain condition. There's no point in going into it. But it's incurable. Sooner or later, at any moment, I shall go blind.

[Matthew Gruff]

Oh, no.

[Greta de Gaspard]

My husband doesn't know about it, and I don't want him to know. I'll make a bargain with you.

[Christopher Bell]

What sort of bargain?

[Greta de Gaspard]

I'm not brave, really. To go on living, I need something to cling to. I need to know all the time that there's someone else with courage too. Mr. Bell, I'll go on living if you will.

[Christopher Bell]

I'd say you're amazingly brave.

[Greta de Gaspard]

If I were, I could do it alone. Without having to make myself dependent on you and on your courage.

[Christopher Bell]

That sort of thing would work both ways. I wouldn't dare let you down.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Nor could I. You do you want to make that bargain? Shall we go on living, Mr. Bell?

[Narrator/Storyteller]

As I said before, I am Dr. Theodore Golland. I met Mr. Belsom three hours ago on the Shalioch Glacier. At the moment, he's outside the hut a few yards away, talking to my wife. I can hear the sound of their voices, but I can't make out the words. However, I know what they're talking about and what his answer would be. My wife and I discussed that before she went to jine him. You may have heard of my wife, incidentally, but would likely have been under the stage name she uses in the Paris theater. You see, she's. She's quite a talented actress.

[Narrator/Host]

Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonnell. Tonight we have presented action by C.E. montague, adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield. Featured in the cast were Joseph Kearns as Mr. Bell with Maria Palmer Wilms, Herbert Ben Wright, Jeff Corey Tudor Owen and Bill Johnstone. Special music arranged and conducted by Wilbur Hatch.

[Narrator/Storyteller]

Next week, you are trapped in the native quarter of Mozambique with the police closing in on you, while at your feet lie two dead men. And standing beside you is a sultry girl who offers you Escape.

[Narrator/Host]

Next week, we escape with a gripping story by Percival Gibbon entitled Second Class Passenger. Be with us next week at this same time when once again, we offer you Escape. And now stay tuned for Casey, Crime Photographer, to hear the story of Durable Dennis. It'll be along in just a few moments on most of these same CBS stations. This is Tip Corning speaking. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Greta de Gaspard]

Sa.