(95) Escape - Treasure Incorporated

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 95: Escape – "Treasure Incorporated"

Date: August 12, 2026
Original Airing: Classic radio drama from CBS's "Escape" series

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Overview

This episode spotlights a classic tale from radio's Golden Age, "Treasure Incorporated." The story transports listeners to a tropical Caribbean island, where ambition, greed, and betrayal unravel among a small group with wildly conflicting aims. What starts as a quest to turn paradise into profit becomes an intricate drama involving fake pirate treasure, a secret diamond heist, love triangles, and ultimately, madness—all against the relentless, reclaiming force of the jungle.

Tone throughout is tense and atmospheric, blending hard-boiled cynicism with the exotic unease and moral ambiguity characteristic of mid-century adventure stories.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Progression

[01:21] Setting the Stage: The Island Scheme

• Eddie Gillespie pitches an idea to Brewer (financial backer) and Amanda (Brewer’s lover and Gillespie’s love interest): turn a remote Caribbean island into a luxury resort with a gimmick—tourists hunt for “buried pirate treasure.”
• Gillespie explains: “I’m gonna bury the treasure myself... nothing too valuable. Just bait, you understand. Old Spanish coins, pieces of eight, daggers...” ([04:01] Gillespie)
• Amanda is supportive and flirts with Gillespie, implying a love triangle.

[05:07] Meeting Clive, the Island Recluse

• On the island, Gillespie encounters Clive—a mysterious, eccentric beachcomber “painting seascapes through binoculars,” dressed in tattered clothes but fiercely protective of the island’s untouched nature.
• Clive warns: “After you’ve been here a while, you’ll learn to go with the island, not try to change it.” ([06:51] Clive)
• Clive expresses bitter skepticism about past attempts at civilization: “Through the centuries, six flags have flown over this island... but not one could hold back nature. The wind, the damp rot, the jungle.” ([07:45] Clive)
• Foreshadows danger: “If I thought you had one chance in a million to succeed, do you know what I’d do? ... I’d kill you.” ([08:16] Clive)

[09:10] Ambition vs. Nature: Building the Resort

• Gillespie describes battling relentless tropical hazards—"wind, rain, rot, rats"—driving himself and workers to exhaustion to impose civilization.
• Clive becomes a constant, mocking observer: “They’ll grow over you in the end, you know.” ([09:33] Clive)

[10:10] Amanda Returns: The Jewel Heist Revealed

• Amanda arrives, suggesting a deepening of her affair with Gillespie. She reveals Brewer’s real plan:
  • Brewer, via jewels bought “from an international fence,” will bury a fortune in real, stolen gems on the island. Later, he’ll “find” them in front of witnesses, laundering them as tourist finds.
  • “A million dollars. I want it, Eddie. If you really want me to break with Brewer, you’ll get it.” ([14:17] Amanda)
• Amanda and Gillespie debate whether love or money is more important, with Amanda choosing the latter.

[15:24] The Resort Opens: Tourist Craze and Clive’s Role

• The fake treasure drives a tourist frenzy; Clive becomes a favorite among guests, spinning legends about Captain Kidd.
• “Things are different now. By the way, when is your pirate coming? Brewer, I think you called him.” ([17:28] Clive)

[17:41] Brewer and Amanda Arrive: The Scheme Unfolds

• Brewer visits, relaxed and charming—“the life of the party.” Gillespie and Amanda anxiously anticipate his secret “burial” of the jewels.
• Amanda schemes to monitor Brewer, with Clive always lurking mysteriously in the background.

[19:37] Double Crosses: Clive and the Vanishing Treasure

• Gillespie tries to catch Brewer in the act of burying the jewels, but Clive coolly reveals, “He’s already buried it... I dug it up.” ([20:04] Clive)
• Clive re-buries the jewels, taunting Gillespie: “You advertise buried treasure on your island. Well, now you have it. Like you said, gotta give the tourist dollar value.” ([20:40] Clive)
• Gillespie pleads for the jewels’ location; Clive refuses, relishing the chaos.

[21:48] Chaos, Violence, and the Island Unravels

• Brewer and Amanda confront Gillespie, each accusing the other of betrayal and theft.
• In a moment of madness, Amanda kills Brewer. Gillespie and Amanda plot to use dynamite to simulate a volcanic eruption—hoping to drive out all tourists to claim the island and treasure for themselves.
• At the last moment, Gillespie balks at mass murder: “[I] realized fully what I was about to do. With one gesture, I’d be destroying everything I’d worked so hard for.” ([23:58] Gillespie)
• Their volcanic ruse succeeds in emptying the island, leaving only Gillespie, Amanda, and Clive behind.

[24:39] Descent into Madness and Ruin

• Amanda grows fixated on Clive; Gillespie sinks into obsession, digging for the treasure in ever-greater isolation and heat-induced delirium.
• “I’m staying. And I’m going to dig until I drop.” ([25:37] Gillespie)
• Clive thwarts them at every turn, moving the treasure and leaving taunting clues. In a final confrontation, Gillespie tries to kill Clive but only destroys a painting Clive made: “It was a picture of me... me holding a pearl in my hand. And the look on the face he painted was horrible.” ([27:48] Gillespie)

[28:08] The Inevitable End: Nature Wins

• With months passing, jungle overtakes the abandoned resort. Amanda is mentally and emotionally broken; Clive still aloof; Gillespie compulsively digs, haunted by laughter from the hill.
• “The jungle has claimed the island again... But not me. Every day I dig... Someday I’ll beat him to it. Someday I’ll find the... yeah, someday.” ([28:08]–[29:25] Gillespie; closing monologue)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If I thought you had one chance in a million to succeed, do you know what I’d do?... I’d kill you.”
  — Clive, foreshadowing the coming violence ([08:16])

• “You advertise buried treasure on your island. Well, now you have it... tomorrow or the day after or next month, one of your tourists will dig it up as advertised.”
  — Clive’s ironic twist on Gillespie’s hoax ([20:40])

• “With one gesture, I’d be destroying everything I’d worked so hard for.”
  — Gillespie, at the brink of killing all the islanders ([23:58])

• “It was a picture of me... me holding a pearl in my hand. And the look on the face he painted was horrible.”
  — Gillespie, discovering Clive’s psychological torment ([27:48])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:21 — Opening scene; the resort and treasure hoax is pitched
• 05:07 — Introduction of Clive, the reclusive local
• 10:10 — Amanda's return, real jewel heist scheme unveiled
• 15:24 — Resort opens; tourist treasure hunt
• 17:41 — Brewer and Amanda arrive; tension builds
• 20:04 — Clive double crosses everyone; real treasure reburied
• 23:58 — Volcano eruption ruse; mass exodus
• 25:22 — Amanda and Gillespie collapse into obsession and madness
• 27:48 — Climactic confrontation, Clive’s painting, final descent
• 28:08–29:25 — Epilogue: The jungle reclaims all

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Episode Takeaways

• Theme: Human greed and ambition are ultimately powerless against the wild forces of nature—and against their own destructiveness.
• Characters: No redemption—each is outwitted or destroyed by their own flaws or by the enigmatic Clive.
• Atmosphere: A blend of exotic adventure, noir fatalism, and psychological horror, with nature as the ultimate, indifferent victor.
• Classic radio drama feel: Dense, moody narration, stylized hard-boiled dialogue, a cautionary ending worthy of radio’s Golden Age.

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For listeners seeking the full flavor of vintage radio drama—swindles, cross and double cross, doomed romance, and tropical obsession—this episode is a fine example, blending humor, suspense, and irony amid steamy island jungles and crumbling dreams.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Brewer]

Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all?

[Eddie Gillespie]

We offer you escape.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Escape designed to free you from the

[Eddie Gillespie]

four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure.

[Brewer]

Tonight we escape to a lush tropical is in the Caribbean. A paradise lost through the overpowering greed of a lovely woman and a dangerous man. As John and Gwen Bagney tell it in their exciting tale, Treasure Incorporated.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, are you coming?

[Amanda]

Huh?

[Eddie Gillespie]

You're coming with me or aren't you?

[Amanda]

What for?

[Eddie Gillespie]

I feel lucky. Got a feeling today is gonna be the day.

[Amanda]

You said that for months. Why don't you leave me alone?

[Eddie Gillespie]

She turned away and stared out the window at the jungle. Her face was a dissatisfied mask. She had on that all faded red beach dress. She wore it all the time now, the sloppy pair of slippers. Her hair was pulled back off her neck with a piece of string matted. And that wry, crisp figure she'd once had was going fast.

[Amanda]

He's up there.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Sure he's up there.

[Clive]

He's always up there.

[Amanda]

I'm not going with you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

All right, stay. Stay.

[Clive]

I don't care.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You're no help to me anymore.

[Amanda]

And it won't do you any good to go either. Burn yourself up in this tropic sun. And for what? Not while he's up there watching. Always watching.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, you're trying to, kid, you know you'll sneak up there to see him the minute I'm gone, and he'll just kick you out again.

[Clive]

Shut up.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Look at yourself. Not even good enough for that beach combo.

[Amanda]

Shut up. Shut up.

[Eddie Gillespie]

That was Amanda. And I'd once thought Her? Beautiful. And I'd thought this island was beautiful, a paradise. Seemed a million years ago when I first told Brewer about it.

[Brewer]

All right, Eddie, so you found a pretty island in the West Indies. Now what?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, you should see the island, Brewer. More than a square mile of tropical paradise. Just as nature made it complete with native village and volcano. With enough money I can get a 25 year lease. I've got it all figured out, Brewer. I can make it the best paying resort in the Caribbean.

[Brewer]

Oh, I don't know, Eddie. There's so many resorts. What do you think, Amanda?

[Amanda]

Sounds intriguing. Why not?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Paul, believe me, it's sure fire with a gimmick like mine.

[Brewer]

Gimmick?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Buried pirate treasure. How do you like that for tourists?

[Clive]

Bait.

[Brewer]

Eddie, I'm afraid you're dreaming. There's never any treasure in those places.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, I know that. That's what makes my gimmick so good. I'm gonna bury the treasure myself.

[Amanda]

You are?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, sure. Nothing too valuable. Just bait, you understand. You know, old Spanish coins, pieces of eight daggers, bits of old sea chests.

[Brewer]

Can you get that sort of thing?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, I can get it. I know a guy who handles antiques. He can get it for me. What do you think of it? Is that a gimmick or is that a gimmick?

[Amanda]

Henny, you're a genius.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You like it, Brewer?

[Brewer]

Well, it sounds good, but I'd have to think about it. How about a drink? Okay, I'll fix this one.

[Clive]

Scotch all right?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, yeah, it's fine. Think he'll go for it? Amanda?

[Amanda]

He'll go for it.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You sure? He didn't sound so positive.

[Amanda]

Relax, Eddie. Don't worry so much. I'll get your island for you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Not for me, baby, for us.

[Amanda]

Eddie, take it easy. Remember, I still belong to Brewer.

[Eddie Gillespie]

That's Amanda. The kind of a woman that always gets what she wants. She got me my island. I started planning the resort. Brewer was to supply the money and I was to be the frontman. It was a great plan. It couldn't miss. But I'd figured without Clive. I'll never forget the first time I saw Clive. The only white man on the island. He was bald, but he was young. He had a blond beard. He was sitting in a tangle of jungle wearing nothing but a pair of white ducks ripped off at the knee and some binoculars slung about his neck with a length of vine. He was painting a sea skin.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Hi.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Gillespie's the name. Eddie Gillespie. I've been looking over the island.

[Clive]

I know. I've been watching you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Terrific place. Say, that volcano Any chance of it erupting?

[Clive]

No, it's dead. Dead Many years.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well. Well, that's a relief. Say, I'm sure surprised to find a white man here.

[Brewer]

You are?

[Clive]

Why?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, so far away from civilization. Nothing to do.

[Clive]

Then what are you doing here? Me?

[Eddie Gillespie]

You know what I'm gonna do? I'm put this island on the map.

[Brewer]

Really?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yep. See that beat up building down there by the beach?

[Clive]

That once was a fine old plantation house. Yeah.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, I'm gonna turn it into a swanky hotel. Sure. Perfect spot for it with all those palm trees around it and a golf course sweeping up over that hill. Of course, we'll have to clean all those dirty vines out. That dock is a pretty sick looking thing. But the harbors are natural. What are you looking at through the binoculars? Devil's Cove. Why? What's going on down there?

[Clive]

Nothing. I'm painting it through binoculars.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Why don't you walk down there if you want to paint it?

[Clive]

I prefer it this way.

[Eddie Gillespie]

That's the tropics for you. How lazy can you get?

[Clive]

Mr. Gillespie, after you've been here a while, you'll learn to go with the island, not try to change it.

[Eddie Gillespie]

No, you just wait and see. When I get through with this place, I'll make Nassau and Jamaica look like Rockaway Beach. Incidentally, those natives, they dress that way all the time in those faded old rags. You don't like it? Well, you gotta keep it quaint, you know, as advertised. Gotta give the tourist dollar value. We'll fix up the natives with bandanas and bright sashes, necklaces of coral, big earrings, baskets of fruit on their heads. Of course, they'll have to quit wearing those shoes.

[Clive]

How about rings through their noses and a bone in their hair?

[Eddie Gillespie]

You know, I get the feeling you're not going to be very cooperative.

[Clive]

It took me years to find a place that was remote from the world. And now that I have, I don't want it destroyed.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Destroyed? Why, man, you're crazy. I'm going to do things for this island. I'll have this place humming in no time, and I. It's a matter. Don't you think I can do it?

[Clive]

No, I don't. And I'll tell you why. Through the centuries, six flags have flown over this island. And each flag brought colonization and industry. Sugar, rum, the leaves of the bay tree. But not one of them could survive. Not one of them could hold back nature. The wind, the damp rot, the jungle. The vines that creep constantly day and night, ensnaring everything they touch. They. They couldn't do it, Mr. Gillespie, and neither can you or your hotel.

[Eddie Gillespie]

No, you just watch me.

[Clive]

I will.

[Eddie Gillespie]

But if I thought you had one

[Clive]

chance in a million to succeed, do you know what I'd do?

[Eddie Gillespie]

What? I'd kill you. In the beginning, he stayed up on top of that hill of his like he owned the world. He ignored me completely until my tractors and bulldozers went to work and he began to come down more and more. I never heard him coming, and yet he always seemed to be around. And as I ran into trouble, wind, rain, rot, rats, I had to fight them all. It seemed to amuse him to watch me.

[Clive]

Is your paradise fighting your back, Mr. Gillespie?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Why don't you go up in your hill and stay there? What a beautiful swimming pool. A symbol of civilization. You expected to lie. Why, of course it'll ask. Why don't you leave me alone? Be careful.

[Clive]

It's bad to lose one's temper.

[Eddie Gillespie]

The heat, you know. Yes, heat, always heat. But I wouldn't give into it. I drove myself. I drove everybody who worked for me. Come on, boys. We got two more hours of daylight. Get those vines out.

[Clive]

They do grow, don't they?

[Eddie Gillespie]

What do you want?

[Clive]

I like to watch you fight them. It's such a useless task. They'll grow over you in the end, you know.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yeah, well, I'll civilize this island. I'll show you. Go on and laugh all you want, but you'll see. When Edgar lets me start something, he finishes it. Before the summer was over, we cleaned away all the vines and seeded the golf course. We dynamited the harbor, rebuilt the docks, working 18 hours a day. And then one afternoon, just before the hotel was finished, she arrived. I just knocked off for the day and I was sprawling in my hammock in front of my hut.

[Amanda]

Hello, Eddie.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Amanda, what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to come until the hotel was opened.

[Amanda]

Aren't you glad to see her?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Where's Brewer? How did you get here?

[Amanda]

In a launch.

[Eddie Gillespie]

All the way from New York?

[Amanda]

Of course not. We've been anchored at Charlotte, Amelia for a week.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You didn't break with Brewer, did you? I told you not to break with him until after the hotel was finished.

[Amanda]

Don't get excited, Eddie. Brewer doesn't even know I'm here. He left this morning for Puerto Rico on a big deal. Oh, I haven't said you're glad to see me.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I've forgotten. It's been so long. I've forgotten how beautiful you are.

[Amanda]

Eddie.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Look, Amanda, you better go back. If Brewer Finds out that you paid her.

[Amanda]

What's the matter, Eddie? Are you afraid of Brewer?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Of course I'm not afraid. But you're just head. He financed my island. I'm going to take his girl away from him till I get on my feet. Here. Let's keep everything on the up and up. What's so funny?

[Amanda]

You and Brewer.

[Eddie Gillespie]

What about Brewer?

[Amanda]

I was thinking of Brewer keeping everything on the up and up on his side.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Eddie Gillespie]

Wow.

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[Amanda]

Look, Eddie, why do you think he set you up on this island? Because he wanted to own a hotel?

[Eddie Gillespie]

A resort? What do you mean? It was an investment.

[Amanda]

I'll say it was.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, if you've got a point. A man to get to it.

[Amanda]

I will.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I will.

[Amanda]

Treasure. That's the point. A million dollars worth of buried treasure.

[Eddie Gillespie]

A million? You're crazy. That stuff isn't worth anything.

[Amanda]

I'm talking about a real treasure. The diamonds and emeralds and the pearls. The treasure Brewer is going to dig up.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You mean there's a million dollars worth of stuff buried on this island?

[Amanda]

Not yet, but there will be after Brewer buries it.

[Eddie Gillespie]

That doesn't make sense. Why would he do a thing like that?

[Amanda]

Oh, it makes sense. Brewer always makes sense. You know what he did? He bought a huge lot of stolen jewelry from an international fence. The pieces were so identifiable and so hot, he was able to buy it for a song. But he couldn't get rid of it. Then you came along. Eddie Gillespie, with his little island and his buried treasure gimmick.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Wait a minute.

[Clive]

He.

[Eddie Gillespie]

He told you this? I was with him.

[Amanda]

We were on the yacht not far off the Azores when we made rendezvous with another boat. Took the jewels aboard. And now brewers in Puerto Rico having the stones taken out of their settings. And when the time comes, he's going to dig them up out of your island in a moldy old sea chest in front of witnesses. Got every angle covered. All legitimate.

[Eddie Gillespie]

So what?

[Amanda]

Aren't you interested?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, that's what he wants to do. That's his business. I've got the island and I'll have you. Will you, Amanda? What's the matter with you? What's eating you?

[Amanda]

A million dollars. I want it, Eddie. If you really want me to break with Brewer, you'll get it.

[Eddie Gillespie]

What kind of talk is that? I thought you loved me.

[Amanda]

I do, Eddie. That's the point. I want us to have the money.

[Eddie Gillespie]

But we'll have each other.

[Amanda]

That's not enough, Eddie. I want that minion.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I got a good minded.

[Amanda]

What?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Eddie, there's someone in the brush. Jose, how is it? Good evening, Clive. What are you doing here? You're always sneaking around.

[Clive]

You're getting angry again.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Get out of here. What are you laughing at?

[Clive]

I was just thinking how much trouble can be caused by a million doll.

[Narrator/Announcer]

In just a moment we will return to Escape. Now we return you to the second act of escape.

[Eddie Gillespie]

She went back and I was left to finish the hotel. But the whole thing had soured for me. All my enthusiasm for the project was gone. But I buried the tourist vape, the pirate treasure. I scattered the pieces of eight, the rusted hinges, all the old relics over the island as per plan. And then I was open for business. And the tourists began to pour in. A change came over Clive now. He set up his easel down by the dock and he was gay and gregarious and I trusted less and less. He was up to something. And what galled me, the tourists were crazy about him.

[Amanda]

Whatever made you become a beachcover, Clive?

[Clive]

Women. Beautiful women like yourself. They drove me to it.

[Amanda]

Oh, Clive, I don't believe a word you're saying. But it's fun. Where did you get him, Mr. Gillespie? He's priceless, Clive.

[Brewer]

Why?

[Clive]

I came with the island Standard equipment. Along with the volcano and the treasure.

[Amanda]

Is there really treasure on the island?

[Clive]

You found a piece of an old saber yesterday.

[Amanda]

Yes, my husband found a golden sovereign. But I mean real treasure. Chests full of gold.

[Clive]

Look for it, Mrs. Chapman.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Every cove, every bay.

[Clive]

It could be anywhere on the mountain, in the jungle. Legend says that Captain Kidd himself stopped here loaded with treasure from the Spanish Main.

[Eddie Gillespie]

He slew all the Caribs, every single one.

[Clive]

Buried his loot and sailed away. And as legend has it, he never came back.

[Amanda]

Just think of finding it.

[Clive]

Then dig, Mrs. Chapman, dig. Take one of our donkeys in a pick and shovel and go out on the trail.

[Amanda]

Oh, I will. I'm going again this morning, Mr. Gillespie. I'm simply mad about your island.

[Brewer]

Thank you, darling.

[Amanda]

Oh, there's my husband. Ah, here I am, friend.

[Brewer]

Come along, dear.

[Amanda]

I'll see you boys later.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Aren't you overdoing them?

[Clive]

I'm just being helpful, adding local color.

[Eddie Gillespie]

All that stuff about a legend. He didn't talk that way when I first came here.

[Clive]

Things are different now. By the way, when is your pirate coming?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Pirate?

[Clive]

Brewer, I think you called him.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Days later, that Brewer and Amanda arrived. I was on the veranda watching as the seaplane settled on the water. I watched them walk up to the hotel. Oh, yes. Clive was on the dock, painting. He watched them, too. Hello, Eddie.

[Amanda]

Hello, Eddie. Hi.

[Brewer]

Good to see, Eddie. You've done a great job with the Hotel Paradise.

[Amanda]

That's the name for it, all right.

[Brewer]

The best investment I ever made, Eddie. I even read about your Al in the New York papers. You got a big spread about tourists finding old pieces of eight in an old sea chest. It was positive inspiration, Eddie.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yeah. Yeah, wasn't it?

[Brewer]

What's the matter? Don't you feel well?

[Eddie Gillespie]

You look tired.

[Brewer]

You've been working too hard. Come on up to the room. We'll have a drink.

[Eddie Gillespie]

He was so charming and so relaxed. I began to wonder if Amanda had told me the truth. For the next week or so, I watched him all the time. But he was just a guy on vacation having a whale of a good time.

[Amanda]

Look at him. The life of a party.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Come on outside.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I want to talk to you.

[Amanda]

Now.

[Clive]

I think you lied to me.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I don't think there is any treasure.

[Amanda]

Don't be a fool.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Of course there is. And when is he going to bury it?

[Amanda]

I don't know. We'll just have to wait.

[Eddie Gillespie]

If I find out that you lied, Eddie.

[Amanda]

You don't believe us.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Maybe you're trying to pull some kind of a double cross. On me.

[Amanda]

Let's go back, Eddie.

[Brewer]

Well, this is the hard way to get.

[Amanda]

I think you sound the beautiful thing.

[Narrator/Announcer]

If you want exercise, why don't you

[Brewer]

come out and dig with us, Brewer? Ah, well, one of these days. Oh, that's what you've been saying all week.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Look at my waistline.

[Brewer]

I've taken off an inch.

[Amanda]

Why don't you come tomorrow, Mr. Brewers? Lots of fun.

[Brewer]

I like to sleep in the morning.

[Amanda]

Oh, come on.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Sure.

[Brewer]

Come on, be a sport. Okay, I'll dig with you tomorrow morning. Who knows? I might be lucky.

[Amanda]

That means he'll have to bury it tonight.

[Clive]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

You'll have to watch him. Don't let him out of your sight.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I waited outside until every window was dark, until the hotel was quiet. I waited and waited, but he didn't come. And still I waited until.

[Clive]

Still up, Eddie. Clive, you might as well get your sleep. He isn't going to bury the treasure tonight.

[Eddie Gillespie]

What do you mean? How do you know?

[Clive]

Because he's already buried it.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Well, you're crazy. He couldn't have. I've watched him constantly.

[Clive]

Apparently not close enough. What about the hour just before dinner when you and the girl were on the other side of the volcano?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Where did he bury it? Tell me.

[Clive]

In Devil's Cove.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Devil's Cove?

[Clive]

Oh, there's no point in your going there now. You don't think I'd leave it there, do you? I dug it up.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I know I couldn't trust you. All I talk about getting away from civilization. You know better than anybody else.

[Clive]

Oh, I'm not going to keep the jewels. What would I do with money?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yeah, and where are they?

[Clive]

I buried them again.

[Eddie Gillespie]

You what?

[Clive]

You ought to thank me. I'm making an honest man out of you, Eddie. You advertise buried treasure on your island. Well, now you have it. Like you said, gotta give the tourists dollar value. Why, just think, tomorrow or the day after or next month, one of your tourists will dig it up as advertised.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Clive, look, don't do this to me. If you don't want the jewels, just tell me where they are. I'll give you anything, only just tell me. And miss all the fun? Oh, no. Morning, Eddie. Good morning.

[Brewer]

Great day, isn't it? You coming out the diggings with us?

[Eddie Gillespie]

No, no, Brewer. I've got some work to do here.

[Brewer]

Say, you look tired, Eddie. You work too hard. You ought to take it easy, have some fun.

[Clive]

Relax.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Relax. I wondered how relaxed he'd be when all he dug up was dirt. I watched him go off down the trail with the other guests. I tried to concentrate on my work. The hotel was quiet. Everyone was at the diggings, but I couldn't think. I was checking supplies in the wine cellar when Amanda came back.

[Amanda]

You should have been there, Eddie. Oh, you should have seen his face when he found it was gone. Where'd you put it, Eddie?

[Eddie Gillespie]

I haven't got it.

[Amanda]

Of course you have.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I told you I don't have it.

[Amanda]

What are you trying to do, double cross me? Buller? Paul.

[Brewer]

I'll take care of you later, Amanda.

[Amanda]

But Paul, he forced me to tell him.

[Eddie Gillespie]

She's lying.

[Brewer]

All right, Eddie, where is it?

[Narrator/Announcer]

I don't know.

[Brewer]

Come on, Eddie, talk.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I haven't got it.

[Amanda]

I tell you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Clive took it.

[Brewer]

Clive?

[Clive]

Who's that? Clive?

[Eddie Gillespie]

The beachcomber he saw you buried. He dug it up and buried it again.

[Brewer]

Nobody saw me bury it, except maybe you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Wait a minute, will you?

[Amanda]

I tell you it's true.

[Eddie Gillespie]

We'll just put it Torture. So use.

[Amanda]

I haven't got it.

[Brewer]

You'll tell me the truth if I have to beat you.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Amanda.

[Amanda]

I had to do it, Eddie.

[Eddie Gillespie]

He killed it.

[Amanda]

Don't worry. Everyone's at the diggings. No one could have heard it. Oh, Eddie, your face.

[Eddie Gillespie]

What do we do with him when everyone's asleep?

[Amanda]

We'll get rid of him. I'm glad I killed him, Eddie. Now it all belongs to us.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I haven't got it.

[Amanda]

You mean you were telling the truth about that beach comber?

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yeah.

[Amanda]

Yeah.

[Eddie Gillespie]

He moved and he buried it some other place. Cause he wants one of the tourists to find it. It's part of his plan to get even with me.

[Amanda]

We can't let anyone else find it, Eddie. We got to do something.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Oh, my head.

[Amanda]

Eddie, listen to me. We've got to get rid of the tourists.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Yeah.

[Clive]

Yeah.

[Eddie Gillespie]

Gotta get rid of them. Every one of them. We waited until siesta, when all the guests would be asleep in their rooms. Then we went to the construction shed for the dynamite that was left over from blasting the harbor. We loaded it and Brewer onto a donkey and went up the back trail to the volcano crater. I pushed Brewer into the crater, planted the dynamite inside the top edge. Amanda strung the wire down the slope to a cave on the east side of the island. I went down to the cave. My island was asleep. I had my hand on the plunger. I was ready to throw it. And then I realized fully what I was about to do. With one gesture, I'd be destroying everything I'd worked so hard for.

[Amanda]

Eddie, what's the matter?

[Eddie Gillespie]

I Can't do it.

[Amanda]

Give it to me.

[Eddie Gillespie]

No, Amanda, no. I sat on the side of the mountain to watch the island become alive with frantic, frightened people. They streamed out of the hotel half dressed, clutching their belongings. They tripped over one another in their frenzy to get to their boats, terrified of a dead volcano. Our threatened eruption was a complete success. By nightfall, there wasn't a tourist on the island. Even the natives had scurried away in their canoes like so many frightened rats. And there were just the three of us left. Amanda, Clive and me.

[Amanda]

How will we get the treasure? We can't dig up a whole island.

[Eddie Gillespie]

We won't have to. Any man that's got that much loot stashed away will dig it up himself. You can't tell me money doesn't mean anything to him. We'll wait. And we did. We waited and got on each other's nerves. We waited until we couldn't stand it anymore. But Clive didn't make a move to dig it up. It was clear he'd never go near it as long as we were there. Our only escape was to dig. We started in systematically on the east side of the island, then the north. In the rain, in the wind, in the boiling sun.

[Amanda]

This heat. I can't take it anymore, Eddie. I'm tired.

[Eddie Gillespie]

I never thought I'd hear you say that. This was all your idea, don't forget.

[Amanda]

I don't care, Eddie. Why don't you give it up? Get away from here.

[Eddie Gillespie]

What? Go and let him have it on all. So that's what you want, is it? It's Clive now, huh? You and Clive. Well, you won't get your treasure that way. I'm staying. And I'm going to dig without you. I'm going to dig until I drop.

[Clive]

It was hot.

[Eddie Gillespie]

It was always hot. My eyes ached from the glare of the sun, but I forced myself to keep going. For days, I'd been digging near the old sugar mill. But today I had a feeling I'd be lucky. My pick hit something hard. I dropped to my knees and furiously began to claw the dirt with my hands. There was only rock, a big rock. I moved it aside, and there it was.

[Clive]

Up.

[Eddie Gillespie]

One single pearl framed by the fresh imprint of a sea chest. Then I heard him from a long way off. Clive. And he was laughing at me. He was watching me through those binoculars of his, and he was laughing at me. And suddenly I knew what his game was. That's why I hadn't found the treasure in all this time. Because he kept moving it. And he'd left a pearl behind this time to tell me he'd done it. I knew then what I had to do. I had to kill him. I went up the hill by the back trail. Just at the top, I stopped and took a firmer grip on my pick. Clive's back was to me. He was sitting exactly the way he had been the first time I saw him. In a tangle of vines, painting through binoculars. I crept up to him. I raised my pick and brought it down with all my strength. But it was too late. He'd sense me and duck the blow. The picket ripped through the canvas in fury. I raised to strike it again and my hands froze in midair as I stared at the torn canvas. It was a picture of me when the picket pierced my chest. Me holding a pearl in my hand. And the look and the face he painted was horrible. The pick slid out of my hands.

[Clive]

Here's your pick, Eddie. Take it. You'll need it. Take it, Eddie, and dig. And by the way, I had to kick Amanda out again today. Keep her home, will you?

[Eddie Gillespie]

That was months ago. How many months? Yes, I've lost count. The jungle has claimed the island again, just like he said it would. The damp rot, the hurricanes, the vines, the hotel sags on its timbers and the big front door is gone. The last wind took most of the roof and there are bougainvillea roots growing up through the cracks in the swimming pool. The jungle has claimed Amanda, too. She's lost interest in everything except Clive, and he won't have her. She doesn't care about the treasure anymore. She won't dig. But not me. The jungle's not going to get me. Nothing is going to stop Eddie Gillespie. Every day I dig. Once in a while I hear him up on top of the hill, laughing. And I know he's moved it again. But someday I'll beat him to it. Someday I'll find the. Yeah, someday.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robson. Tonight we have presented Treasure Incorporated by John and Gwen Bagney. Featured in the cast were Frank Lovejoy as Eddie, John Hoyt as Clive, Mary Lansing as Amanda, and Harry Bartel as Brewer. Also heard were Eileen Prince and Paul Freeze. Special music was arranged and conducted by Adele Castillo. Next week

[Brewer]

you are sitting in a cheerless gray sea cell, staring at the rain through the small barred window above your head and struggling desperately to keep your sanity. For in 12 hours, you must die or escape.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Next week we escape with James Poe's seething tale of blasphemous terror and violent death, present tense. Starring Vincent Price. Goodbye then, until this same time next week when once again we offer you escape. It's no joke when an accident happens to you and an accident can happen to you this winter. Take time to be careful whether you're driving or walking in traffic. Be cautious. Cross streets with care. Drive safely, keep your wits and windshield clear. In traffic, walking or driving, be careful. Be sure to join us at this same time next week when we offer you escape, starring Vincent Price. And now stay tuned for Pursuit, which follows immediately over most of these same CBS stations. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. 10:00pm B u l O V A Bulova watch time. Here's great new Bulova watch value The Bullova director only 3375 Ipana toothpaste does both. No other toothpaste has been proved more effective for fighting tooth decay than I.

[Brewer]

Pana WCBS AM&FM New York.