Studio One 47-04-29 (01) Under the Volcano

Summary

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Studio One: "Under the Volcano" (Aired 1947-04-29)

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Release Date: February 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features the inaugural broadcast of Studio One on CBS, bringing an hour-long dramatic adaptation of Malcolm Lowry’s acclaimed novel Under the Volcano. Set in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, the story explores the last day in the life of Geoffrey Firmin, a British ex-consul, whose tragic struggle with alcoholism, love, and loss drives the narrative. Through haunting dialogue, vivid atmosphere, and a deft interplay between personal and political turmoil, the adaptation delves into the complexities of human frailty, hope, and the shadows cast by the past.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Setting

• Setting the Scene: The drama opens with Jacques Laruel and a narrator describing the unique atmosphere of the Mexican town of Quauhnahuac ("Guanahuac"), hinting at its intoxicating blend of beauty and chaos ("18 churches, 57 cantinas").
  • “But this is the old Mexico I love, with the sun coming down, when all the men began to sing, all the dogs to shark.” (Narrator, 03:52)
• Establishing the Themes: The Producer/Host introduces the adaptation as a story about a man and "the dark tyranny of alcohol", but also a "positive statement on basic human values and human hope." (04:44)

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2. The Consul's Descent: Personal Tragedy & Isolation

• Firmin's Lost Year: Jacques recalls the events of a year ago and the hold of memory, beginning with an unmailed letter from Geoffrey to his estranged wife, Yvonne. This letter reveals his inner torment and self-perceived damnation.
  • “I sometimes think of myself as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he could never return... But the name of this land is hell. It is not Mexico, of course, but in the heart.” (Jeffrey, 06:22)
• Yvonne’s Return: Yvonne comes back unexpectedly, seeking some kind of reconciliation. There is an air of hope, but also deep exhaustion and mistrust on both sides.
  • “But he was not last night here, your friend, the consul, with the…with the horrible drunkenness, the sickness of himself.” (Narrator, 04:17)
• Dialogue of Denial & Hope: As Yvonne suggests they reclaim their former life, Geoffrey waffles between the promises of sobriety and the comfort of destruction.
  • "Tomorrow, perhaps I'll slow down... Maybe I'll get down to work again and finish my book." (Jeffrey, 21:37)
  • "Yes, who knows?" (Yvonne, 21:48)

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3. The Fractured Triangle: Relationships & Regret

• Interpersonal Strains: Yvonne, Hugh (Geoffrey’s brother), and Jacques become entangled around Firmin’s disintegration. Past affairs, unspoken hopes, and underlying tensions surface.
  • "You shouldn't be going to all this trouble, Jacques." (Yvonne, 32:46)
  • "I'm afraid of today. What can we do with him?" (Yvonne, 28:10)
• Observing From Without: Both Hugh and Jacques try, in vain, to help Geoffrey or Yvonne, but each is trapped in their own impotence or self-interest.
  • "Why aren't you back home trying to rest and sober up? Yvonne looks tired out." (Jacques, 34:36)
  • "I'm thinking of Yvonne, not you." (Jacques, 34:29)
• The Unbridgeable Gap: Geoffrey's isolation is heightened by rejection of help and an increasing severity in his drunken lashing out.
  • "All because you haven't got the wisdom and the simplicity and the courage—yes, the courage—to take any of them to. Look here, Jeffrey. What have you ever done for humanity...?" (Hugh, 44:19)
  • "On the contrary, I choose hell. I choose it because I like it. I love hell. I can't wait to get back there. In fact, I'm running. I'm almost there already." (Jeffrey, 45:46)

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4. Mexico as Mirror: Shadow of Fascism & Spiritual Desolation

• Political Unrest: The background is rife with hints of international tension—fascist “vigilantes,” German influence, and journalists investigating anti-Semitic campaigns. This elevates the personal despair to a broader sense of world crisis.
  • "Mexico is full of German agents right now. Anyhow, Hugh heard about these monkeys while vacationing on the ranch and came after the story." (Jeffrey, 15:06)
  • "Just let a real war come along. And then see how bloodthirsty chaps like…" (Hugh, 43:26)
• The Symbol of the Volcano: The volcanoes—ever-present, threatening, and beautiful—serve as both literal and metaphorical backdrops to the characters' inner eruptions.
  • "You know, there simply isn't another view in Mexico like this one from the portia. The volcano scowling out there beyond the ravine. Look at El Popo." (Jeffrey, 16:30)

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5. Spiraling Out: Climax & Tragedy

• The Bull-Throwing & Brief Reprieve: The trio attends a local festival; Hugh rides a bull, eliciting a rare moment of levity. Yvonne pleads one last time for escape and renewal.
  • "Oh, Jeffrey, we could be happy, we could." (Yvonne, 41:22)
  • "Yes, we could." (Jeffrey, 41:26)
• Drunken Breakdown and City Night: Geoffrey’s drinking intensifies, leading to an emotional outburst, accusations, and his final flight into the night.
  • "I've got my own piddling little fight for freedom on my hands. Oh, do shut up, Jeffrey. Shut up ... I choose hell. I can't wait to get back there." (Jeffrey, 45:46)
• Fragmented Search: Hugh and Yvonne scour the town and cantinas for him in growing despair, punctuated by the encroaching darkness and violence.
  • "I'm becoming quite convinced now that he's in the Farido in Parian." (Yvonne, 47:02)

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6. Endgame: Loss, Memory, and Meditation

• Consul’s Final Hours: Facing suspicious authorities, accused of being a spy and anarchist, Geoffrey is disoriented and robbed, increasingly disconnected from reality and the world.
  • "Take your hands off me and give me back those letters. You killed that Indian this afternoon. You tried to kill him and make it look like an accident. You're all in it." (Jeffrey, 57:35)
• Recurring Motif—The Letters: Rediscovery of Yvonne’s unsent letters forces reflection on lost opportunities, love, and regret.
  • "The letters. Jeffrey, her letters. The letters she wrote till her heart broke." (Inner Voice, 49:13)
• Descent to the Abyss: In a tragic echo, Geoffrey is killed by the authorities. The motif of the “garden”—and the line “It is not possible to live without love”—returns, closing in bittersweet meditation.
  • “They threw his body into the ravine—the abyss. Every time I see those little signs in the parks and gardens, I think of Jeffrey: ‘Do you like this garden which is yours?’” (Jacques, 60:19)
  • "We must make us, ourselves and our children worthy to inherit the garden and the earth." (Narrator, 60:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Despair and Hell

  • “But the name of this land is hell. It is not Mexico, of course, but in the heart.”
    — Jeffrey Furman (Consul), [05:59]

• On the Difficulty of Love

  • “Isn't it possible to live without love? It's still there, you know, like a sign.”
    — Jacques Laruel, [59:35]

• Yvonne's Heartache

  • “If you let anything happen to yourself, you'll be harming my flesh. ... For my life is irrevocably and forever bound to yours.”
    — Yvonne, [54:38]

• Choosing Destruction

  • “On the contrary, I choose hell. I choose it because I like it. I love hell. I can't wait to get back there. In fact, I'm running. I'm almost there already.”
    — Jeffrey, [45:46]

• Reflection on Inheritance and Destruction

  • “We must make us, ourselves and our children worthy to inherit the garden and the earth.”
    — Narrator, [60:48]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------|-------------| | Opening narration & Mexican setting | 01:02–04:12 | | The Consul’s letter (inner torment) | 05:43–08:32 | | Yvonne returns; reunion conversation | 10:17–16:13 | | Hugh and Yvonne discuss Jeffrey | 23:12–28:06 | | Bull-throwing festival & fleeting hope | 40:38–41:26 | | Consul’s breakdown in the cantina | 43:09–45:55 | | Search through night and cantinas | 46:27–47:46 | | Geoffrey’s confrontation with authorities | 50:45–58:57 | | Final reflection—Inheritance of the garden| 59:35–60:48 |

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Overall Tone & Performance

The adaptation faithfully renders Lowry’s novel in a tone that is simultaneously poetic, bleak, and shot through with black humor. Dialogues are dreamlike, often circular, loaded with regret and longing. The performances, particularly as Geoffrey reels between tenderness, bravado, and despair, are powerful. The soundscape evokes the oppressive Mexican heat and festival chaos, moving seamlessly between personal crisis and political intrigue.

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Conclusion

This episode of Harold's Old Time Radio offers a compelling, tragic meditation on addiction, existential despair, and the possibility—however faint—of redemption. The radio play adaptation of Under the Volcano immerses the listener in a lush, sensuous, and ultimately heartbreaking portrait of a man undone by his personal demons and the harshness of his world. The broadcast endures as a powerful artifact of both radio drama and twentieth-century literature.

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Transcript

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[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Stand by, please.

[CBS Announcer]

The following program comes to you from Studio one at cbs.

[Jacques Laruel]

It is like it does in other towns in Mexico, is it not? Up to the hill, Guanahua.

[Narrator/Commentator]

Only at sunset in La Ruel. And from the terrace here on the hill, like our Guanahuac really is no other town.

[Jacques Laruel]

18 churches.

[Narrator/Commentator]

Yes, and 57 cantinas for the drinking of tequila and playing of dominoes.

[Jacques Laruel]

You know the whole thing happened exactly a year ago today. And one of those cantinas.

[Narrator/Commentator]

You mean your friend the conser?

[Jacques Laruel]

And Ivan.

[Narrator/Commentator]

This day it would be for him the day of the dead.

[Producer/Host Fletcher Markle]

The scene you have just heard comes from the opening chapter of a new book which has been handsomely acclaimed by critics and reviewers as one of the most remarkable achievements in modern fiction. The best novel of the season and the work of genius. A further triumph in addition to these golden words is the fact that the book was published only a few weeks ago and is already on the lists of best sellers. The story concerns a man and the dark tyranny of alcohol, a subject which is getting and deserves considerable attention these days. But it has also been observed as a positive statement of basic human values and human hope. Malcolm Lowry wrote it and it's called under the Volcano. We're going to do a radio version of it for you in just a moment. This is Studio One, a new full hour dramatic series on cbs. And this is our first broadcast. And this is Fletcher Marco.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Greetings.

[CBS Announcer]

The Columbia Broadcasting System introduces Studio One, a new series of hour length versions for listening of celebrated novels, stories and plays. Tonight, as the initial program of the series, we submit Fletcher Markle's production of under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. The original music is composed and conducted by Alexander Semler. The principals at the microphone, Everett Sloan and Headley Rainey. Here with from Studio One at cbs.

[Jacques Laruel]

Under the Volcano.

[Narrator/Commentator]

But this is the old Mexico I love with the sun coming down when all the men began to sing all the dogs to shark.

[Jacques Laruel]

Come back. Dr. Vijay.

[Narrator/Commentator]

Yes, yes. Laugh A little.

[Jacques Laruel]

It's been a long year since November, 1938.

[Narrator/Commentator]

It was a year ago, a different age.

[Jacques Laruel]

But we went to the ball at the Bella Vista Hotel the night before. Just as we went this year. Last night, yes.

[Narrator/Commentator]

But he was not last night here, your friend the consul, with the. With the horrible drunkenness, the sickness of himself.

[Jacques Laruel]

Poor Jeff.

[Narrator/Commentator]

Poor Euphranias. He spent his money on earth. Such. Such continuous tragedies.

[Jacques Laruel]

And Yvonne came back. That's what I shall never understand. She came back to the man.

[Narrator/Commentator]

There was nothing other for her but coming back. Come, mi amigo. Throw away your mind. Try not to remember your friend, the consul. It is very bad for you, Laruel.

[Jacques Laruel]

I threw away my mind long ago, Doctor. You know, doctor, my memories of Jeffrey Furman are rather like old postcards. All of them a little the same. I can understand every image, my every remembered moment of him at the volcanoes out there behind every talk, every party or meeting we had, every trip or meal or letter. Popocatepetl and Ixtaxihuatl and the others. There is one letter in particular. I found it in the pages of a book of Elizabethan plays he loaned me. To me, it is the real beginning of what happened that dreadful day a year ago. It was written to his wife, Yvonne at the end of a long night of drinking and never mailed to her.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Night. And once again the grapple with death. The snatches of fearful sleep. The imaginary voices and noises outside my window. As if there were not enough real noises in these nights. The color of gray hair. Not the rending tumult of American cities but the howling pariah dogs. The cocks that herald dawn all night. The drumming, the moaning of roosting foul on telegraph wires and fences. The eternal sorrow that never sleeps of great Mexico. For myself, I like to take my sorrow into the shadow of old monasteries, my guilt into cloisters and under tapestries or into cantinas where legless beggars drink at dawn? So that when you left me, Ivan, I went to Oaxaca? Oaxaca. There is no sadder word. Shall I tell you, Ivan, of my terrible journey to the town through the desert, over the narrow gauge railway on a third class carriage bench? Or of how, when I went to my room in the hotel where we once were happy, the noise of the slaughtering below in the kitchen drove me out into the glare of the street. And later that night, there was a vulture sitting in the wash basin. I sometimes think of myself as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he could never Return to give his knowledge to the world. But the name of this land is hell. It is not Mexico, of course, but in the heart. And today I was in as usual when I received from my lawyer news of our divorce. I received other news too. England is breaking off diplomatic relations with Mexico and all her councils are being called home. These are kindly and good men for the most part, whose name I suppose I diminish. I shall not go home with them. I shall resign and remain here working on my book. Since December 1937, when you went. And now in the spring of 1938, I'm here on a job site with Tim, who owns his own electrical contracting business. Three employees and two work trucks. Tim traded up to Geico Commercial Auto Insurance. We're positively here where he needs us most. They sure are. With step by step help on all his insurance needs. All for shockingly low rates. Shockingly low, huh? Just a little bit of electrician humor.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Do you get it? I got it.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You know, it feels like we have a real connection. Alright, I'll stop. Get a commercial auto insurance quote [e-mail].

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

And see how much you could save. It feels good. To Geico.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I've been deliberately struggling against my love for you. I dared not submit to it. But if I'm to survive, I need your help. Alas for the night of Sorry aspect for oh, Yvonne, I'm so haunted continuously by the thought of your warmth and merriment, of your simplicity and comradeship. The sweet beginnings of our marriage. Do you remember the Strauss song we used to sing once a year? The dead live for one day. Oh, come to me again as once in May. Sometimes, when I hear the little red mail plane fly in From Acapulco at 7 in the morning over the strange hills As I reach out babbling for the drink, I've had the marvelous foresight to put nearby the night before. I think that you will be on that plane and will have come to save me. Then the morning passes and you have not come. But oh, I pray for this now that you will come. But please, oh please, Ivan, hear me. My defenses are down at the moment they're down. And there is the plane. I hear it in the distance. Come back. Come back. I'll stop drinking anything. I'm dying without you. For the Lord's sweet sake, Ivan, come back to me. Hear me.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

It's a cry.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Come back to me, Ivan. Ivernment for a day.

[Jacques Laruel]

And Yvonne came back. I shall never understand that she came back to the man. Many months after that letter Was written and never sent. On the morning following the great ball at the Bay of East Hotel, Yvonne came back to Kwanauac and was directed to the council in the long bar of the Bay of Easter. Early in the morning of the Day.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Of the Dead, a corpse will be transported by express. But why, Fernando? Why should a corpse be transported by express, do you suppose? On the other hand, Fernando, why shouldn't it? Shouldn't a corpse be transported by express? It says so here in the railway timetable. Right here in the time stone. What's the trouble, Fernando? Senor.

[Jacques Laruel]

The lady. The senora. Waiting behind you, huh?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Hello, Jeff. Surprise party. I've come back. My plane got in an hour ago. From Acapulco.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Acapulco?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I came by boat, Jeff. From San Pedro, Panama Pacific, the Pennsylvania.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Jeff, did you fly from Acapulco in the little red mail plane?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes, it was as wonderful as last time.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Don't you love these early mornings? Have, as our friend at the end of the bar suggests, a cigarette. Have a drink, will you?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Have one and I'll cheer. You're up early.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Late. I been to the ball. It's still going on.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes, I know. I saw. I was just joking. Jeffrey, what have you done? I wrote you and wrote you. I wrote till my heart broke. What have you done with your life? I thought, of course, you'd return to England. When you didn't answer. Oh, Jeff. Have you resigned from the service? I ran into Louis and Santa Barbara. He said you were still here.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, actually, I've only been away once. To Oaxaca, remember? Oaxaca.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oaxaca.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oaxaca. It's like a heartbreaking, isn't it?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, what's the matter?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

It's really the shakes that make this kind of life insupportable. But they'll stop. I was only drinking enough so they weren't just the necessary therapeutic drink. I'm really doing very well. I'm much better than I was six months ago. Very much better than I was, say, in Oaxaca.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeff, please, let's go. It's nearly 8 o'. Clock.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Go where?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Home. To the house. We can walk.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Walk?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes. I mean, if you.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, yes, of course. Glad to get some circulation going in the old legs. Let's go to the house.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

The town hasn't changed much, has it? Yet?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, not really yet.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

The street looks different somehow. Old Caye Nicaragu still here?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, and he's still here too. He hasn't budged an inch.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Who hasn't?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Jacques Laruel, of course. The maker of great films. Retired maker, one should say. What A country? Mexico is for people who retire from uncompleted careers.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

He stayed on all this time?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, that's right. Your old friend Jaclaruel. Oh, yes. We've had terrific times together.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Have you?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

And there's something else perhaps I ought to tell you.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes, what is it?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

About Hugh, that wandering half brother of mine.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You've heard from Hugh? How is he?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

He's staying with me.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Staying with you?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, that's right. Your old friend, Hugh Furman. It seems he's been in America. This time on a cattle ranch. Texas. It seems everyone comes flying to see me these days but you.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I don't understand.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, he'd lost his clothes en route. Turned up looking like Hoot as Hart. I even had to lend him a jacket. But he hadn't lost his passport, which was unusual, perhaps because he's still somehow with the London Globe.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Did he know about our divorce?

[Jacques Laruel]

No.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Did you tell him?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, he knows that we're separated, of course. But I avoided telling him the divorce had gone through. Or at least I hadn't got around to telling him when he left.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, then he's not staying with you any longer?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, yes, he is. He's been trying to straighten me out. Can't you see it? And he almost literally succeeded right off with some malevolent strychnine compound he produced. But actually he'd got wind of a story about some fascist business here. Mexico is full of German agents right now. Anyhow, Hugh heard about these monkeys while vacationing on the ranch and came after the story. Didn't I tell you that?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Which is why he's gone off to Mexico City.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Well, we may have a little time together maybe.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, but he's throwing up the job. Might be back by now. At any rate, he'll be back sometime today, I think. He says he wants action. Poor old chap. He's wearing a very popular front. He's not.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

And how will he feel when he sees you again?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

But my condition. I'd be grateful if you say nothing to him for his sake. Oh, not that I've been drinking much, of course, in his absence. And not that I'm not absolutely cold stone sober now, as you can readily see.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, yes, indeed.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes. Well, here's the slope. Come along, darling. We're almost home.

[Jacques Laruel]

Home?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You know, there simply isn't another view in Mexico like this one from the Portia. The volcano scowling out there beyond the ravine. Look at El Popo.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

It's even more magnificent than I remembered. But Jeff, the place is A wreck.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, I know.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

In yours.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, here's Concepta, Ivan. Concepta. Concepta, Senora Firmin.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Mucho gusta, senora. Hello, Concepta.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Concepta. El otra senor.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No, senor.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, well, Hugh hasn't returned yet, I dare say. You want your old room, Yvonne. Okay. No, I walk.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Lien taste in your.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Ah, well, there's hot water. Fuel, which is a miracle.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I think Concepto wants to know what to do with the tray, Jeff. It looks heavy.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, the tray. Yes, I'll take it. Gracias, Concepto. That will be all.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Si, senor.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Concepto knows my habits, you see. I'll just put it down on the table.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Quite a collection, Jeff. And ice and soda.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, she's most efficient, our Conceptor. The sinister looking bottle is the strychnine Hugh brought. Will you have a whisky and soda? The ice seems to be for your benefit anyway.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No, not for me, thank you, Jeff.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Nothing. Go ahead. What have you got to lose?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Let me have some breakfast first.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I. I'll have the strychnine, I think. I don't feel you believe in the strychnine somehow, Yvonne.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Neither do you believe in the strychnine. You want a drink? Yvonne is back. You need a drink. Ivan is back. It is the most important situation in your life. Except one. Except for the far more important situation it in turn creates of your having to have 500 drinks to deal with it. Don't believe in the strychnine, but take it. Take a drink. Strychnine drink.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What was that you said?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I said three times. For Pete's sake, have a decent drink. You don't have to drink that stuff to impress me. I'll just sit here in the rockery.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, no, I. I'll stick to the old medicine, thanks.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Whatever you say.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Have you really come back or have you just come to see me?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Here I am.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Aren't I strange yet? It's awfully courageous of you. What if I'm in a frightful, jolly mess, you know.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

But you look amazingly well. You have no idea how well you look.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

And you. Beautiful brown. You look as though you had plenty of sun. Do you know I don't like the sun.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, yes, you do. Really.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You ought to be here before very long. If he comes back by the first bus from Mexico City.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

What time is the first bus?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Half past 10:11.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

It's only 8:30 now. Yes, I think I'll have a birth, Jeff.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, fine, fine. There's hot water, you know.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Perhaps I ought to get a little sleep.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, yes, of course. I'll waken you if you like a breakfast tray.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

That'd be wonderful, Jeff.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Right, then.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No, don't get up. I'm all right. I know the way.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Now. Now she's gone. Have a drink.

[Jacques Laruel]

No.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Yes, that's what she said. Have a decent drink. No. Yes. No.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Come in.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

How.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

How.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, I'm not asleep at all.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No, I couldn't sleep. I found I've been reading.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Are you comfortable?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Fine, thanks.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Put your knees down. Here's your tray.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

How lovely.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Breakfast by Concepta.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Aren't you going to eat anything yourself? You must be starved.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Jeff, I. I partook, and I brought myself some more strychnine.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh. By the by, I must apologize for still being in this fancy outfit. It's dusty too. Bad show. I might have put on a blazer, at least for your benefit. Oh, yes, very proper, now that I've resigned from his britannic Majesty's consular service.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

So you really have resigned.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, absolutely. I'm thinking of becoming a Mexican subject and going to live with the Indians like William Blackstone. Sound fellow. William Blackstone.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeff, why don't we go away now?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

But we can't very well go away now, can we? What with you and. You and me and one thing or another. Don't you think it's a little unfeasible? Isn't it?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Isn't it?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm sure Hugh'd understands.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

But that's not quite the point, Jeffrey.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

This house has somehow become evil.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I mean, it's rather a dirty trick.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Is it?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What's the use of escaping from ourselves?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

All right, Jeffrey. Suppose we forget it till you're feeling better.

[Jacques Laruel]

We can.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

We can cope with it in a day or two when you're sober.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

But really, Yvonne, surely you know by this time I can't get drunk, however much I drink. Why do you think I like swilling down this awful stuff? Hubra.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I don't know. Do you like it?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Tomorrow, perhaps I'll slow down. Yes, I will. I'll straighten out then. Perhaps when my nerves are back to normal again, I'll go off it completely. And then, who knows? I might get down to work again and finish my book.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes, who knows?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I can see the reviews now. Mr. Jeffrey Furman. Sensational new data on Atlantis. The chapters on the alchemist are particularly fine.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeff. Darling. Jeffrey. Sweet, sweet.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

There. I'm sorry. Isn't any good, I'm afraid.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Get some sleep, Jeff. I'm gonna get up now. You sleep.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Sleep.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You need sleep, darling.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes. Yes, I Am I? Go to my room.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

If you want anything, I. I'll go to my room.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I. I'm sorry. Sorry.

[CBS Announcer]

Later.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Have you forgotten the letters, Geoffrey Furman? The letters she wrote till her heart broke. Go back to her now. Have a quick drink and go back. You never answered the letters. You did. You didn't. You did. You didn't. You did. Then where is your reply? You didn't even read them.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Where are they now?

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Lost. Left somewhere. Have a drink and go back. Sleep. Drink. Sleep. Drink.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Senora. Senora. He comes. Senor. Hugh. Yvonne. Hugh. Hello.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh, absolutely something or other.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Nice to see you again.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

When'd you get here?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Just a little while ago. I hear you've been in Texas. Well, I must say, you look the part. 10 gallon steps and high heeled boots. And Jeff's old jacket. Oh, you.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Well, they impounded my clothes at the border. I meant to buy some new ones in Mexico City and never got around to it somehow. You look awfully well, Yvonne.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

And you?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Where's our ruddy molly?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey? He's asleep.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Isn't it rather indefatigably English of Jeff to be asleep?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

He was at the Red Cross ball last night. He's pretty tired, poor dear. Isn't the garden erect? It used to be so beautiful. It was like paradise.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Still looks beautiful to me, considering Jeffrey hasn't had a gardener for so long. But if it offends you, why don't we get out of it? Unless you're too tired to walk.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Not a bit. What are we waiting for?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Or better, we can hire horses at the experimental farm and go for a ride.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

So that you can show off your clothes, I suppose?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Of course.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Let's go, shall we?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm glad we're over the bridge, actually.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

You're glad we passed the ravine, isn't that it?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes, I suppose it is, really. That ravine surrounds this town like a curse.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh, yes, the abyss. Jeff and his deadly ditch.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What's that?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Target practice? The vigilantes, I think. Fascist monkeys, jeff calls them. Apparently they've attached themselves to the military police here and there.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

But this is 1938, not the days of Pancho Villa.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No relation. According to Jeff, this is the foreign power at work. Capital G for Germany, you know. What are you doing here in Mexico?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

On a story of sorts. Matter of fact, I just filed my last cable to the Globe.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Your last?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Yes, I got a copy of it right here in my pocket here.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You must be proud of it.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Thanks, I am.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Daily Globe, London. Following yesterday's head. Coming. Anti Semitic Campaign Express. Well, this is ridiculous, Hugh. I can't. I can't read this cable language here. You just tell me what it means.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

It's very simple, really. It's just about a petition to the government from the Mexican workers. They say that the German legation is behind an anti Semitic campaign in the textile business here. It's big stuff. I track down some good dope on it.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Obviously. But should you sign your name to that sort of thing, Hugh?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Why not sign it? Oh, repercussions from the Hitler boys, you mean Weld, Smith, Jones, Furman? What's it matter? They don't like me at the legation anyway. They awe their sharpshooting vigilantes.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You better take care, my pet tush. Hugh, tell me about Texas. What were you doing there?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Studying Okis. Then I heard about the Hitler crowd here and decided to come along and snoop.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I like you well before Texas, China and Spain. Well, then, whatever did Jeffrey mean by saying you wanted action?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh, it's really rather tedious, the journalistic routine. As a matter of fact, I'm going to sea for a while.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm quitting the Globe to see Hugh. Whatever for?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Never mind about that now. Isn't this a day like a good job of nutrid?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Mid morning really is the best time in Mexico, isn't it?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh, not according to her natives, apparently. Look at our dusty Indian friend under the tree there, where the horse is tethered quite emphatically asleep.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Portrait of peace.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

I can't quite make out the brand on the horse. It's like a number seven. I've become terribly interested in bran since Texas, you know.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Have you?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Yvonne, do you mind my asking you straight out whether you're divorced from Jeff or not? I'd like to know precisely what the situation is.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

So would I.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

And you don't know whether you divorced him or not?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, I divorced him.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

But you don't know whether you're going back to him or not?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes. No. Yes, I've gone back to him all right. What do you think about Geoffrey? Hugh? Tell me the truth.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

But he's drinking. You mean.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Do you think there's anything I can do?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

I don't know. Perhaps now you come back like this.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

He'Ll stop it isn't just drinking somehow. But why does he do it?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Who knows?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Perhaps because he's aware of being in his own eyes, a failure. Oh, I don't know. Maybe not that.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

If we knew, we could do something just so.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Bring him up for a day or two is not going to help. Imagine if our civilization Were to sober up for a couple of days, it would die of remorse on the third.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

That's very helpful, thank you.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

No, seriously, why don't both of you get out of Mexico?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Well, you. I had an idea coming down on the boat.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Whoa.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I don't know whether but I've always dreamed of having a farm somewhere. You know, a real farm with cows and pigs and chickens.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Or Jeff among the alfalfa in overalls and a straw hat, soberly hoeing.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

All right, maybe it is ridiculous, but at least it's better than sitting here doing nothing.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Oh, I'm sorry. I was being more than unusually stupid.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Hugh, I'm afraid of today. What can we do with him?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

There's a ball throwing at Tomalin this afternoon. He spoke of wanting to see it the other day. We could organize a gay little trip if you like. Ride to Tumleon on the bus.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Let's do that, Hugh. It might keep him amused.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Might?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

What else can we do?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

We'll do everything we can.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Come on, let's get back to him.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

It's really an extraordinarily nice day for a trip. Also, it's absolutely astonishing.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

What is, Jeff?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, here we are, the three of us, Trudging up old Collier Nicaragua to the bus station on our way to bull throwing. Just as if we'd all been together for weeks and weeks and would desperately bored with each other.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Gay conversation becomes rather difficult, Jeff, climbing this slope in a one o' clock sun.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I couldn't agree with you more, Hugh.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, nonsense. You're a pal of weaklings. Oh. Going back to our conversation at the house, Hugh, we have a peculiar situation with the police here in Quanahuac.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

What's the story?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, of course they're not police in the strict sense. As a matter of fact, the regular police here.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

I know, they're on strike.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, naturally. Meantime, a pack of fascistic monkeys are throwing their weight about a bit tied up with the military police. They've got chiefs of everything. Gardens, rostrums, autumns. For future reference, remember the Sinaquistas, vigilantes or whatever they're called, if you're interested. I'm not personally, but you. Ivan. Ivan, look now, it's Laruel.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jacques.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Why, goodness me, I thought.

[Jacques Laruel]

And Jeffrey. Hello there.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

How are you, Jacques?

[Jacques Laruel]

Very well, thank you.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Hugh. This is Jacques Laruel. You probably heard me speak of him at one time or another. Jacques, my young brother Hugh.

[Jacques Laruel]

Oh, I'm so glad to meet you.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

How goes it, Jacques? You look as though you needed to pick Me up rather badly.

[Jacques Laruel]

Well, why do we not drop into my house here? That will be good fun, don't you think? Is Jeffrey, you Come along, Ivan. Let me escort you.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

But Jacques, we're going to a wool throwing at Tomaline.

[Jacques Laruel]

Oh, your boss won't leave until 2:30. You have over an hour. Come along, all of you.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I insist. No, no, no.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

Not a.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, is it? Yes. Used to be a film director.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

You know.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I really think you two ought to get together. You have something in common, I assure you.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

What would that be?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Isn't it obvious, Hugh? Ivan.

[CBS Announcer]

You are hearing a version for listening of Malcolm Lowry's under the Volcano. The initial broadcast in Columbia's new full hour dramatic series entitled Studio One. The performance will resume after a pause for local station identification. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System, Continuing the initial broadcast of Studio One, Columbia's new hour length dramatic series under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Please, Jeffrey, please, please believe me. I didn't want to come here to Jacques house. I didn't want to get drawn into this at all. Let's make some excuse and get away as quickly as possible. I don't mind how many drinks you have later.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I wasn't aware I'd said anything about drinks now or after. It's you that's put the thought in my head. Or Jacques, who's downstairs with Hugh crushing ice.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Haven't you got any tenderness or love left for me at all? Don't you think of anything except how many drinks you're going to have?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, I do.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm back, Jeff. Can't you see it? We're here, together again. It's us. Can't you see that?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, I can see those who want.

[Jacques Laruel]

Them or need them.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You shouldn't be going to all this trouble, Jacques.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

We've been discussing films. Didn't you make any in Hollywood, Jacques?

[Jacques Laruel]

Yes, but I refused to see them.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, don't you think Hugh ought to see something of the fiesta since it's his last day? Especially if there's native dancing.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I wouldn't know. Won't he get native dancing and things in Tourmaline? Would you like to, Hugh?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Anything you say. Are you worried about the bus?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm sure Jacques will forgive us if we rush off.

[Jacques Laruel]

Of course. But there are fresh drinks here.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

It's Hugh's last day, you see.

[Jacques Laruel]

Well, let me see you downstairs safely then. It's too early for the fete to be very much. But you ought to see Rivera's murals.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Hugh, if you haven't.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Aren't you Coming, Geoffrey?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, fiestas aren't my strong suit. You run along. I'll meet you at the terminal in time for the bus. I have to talk to Jacques here anyway.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

All right. You'll be there in time, won't you, darling?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I'll be there. I don't want to speak to you at all. Really, Jacques. For that matter, I wouldn't mind if this was the last time I ever saw you. Did you hear me?

[Jacques Laruel]

Have you gone mad? Am I to understand that your wife has come back to you? Something I've seen you praying and howling for. And yet you treat her like this and still continue to care. Only where your neck. Spring's coming from.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Marvelous day, isn't it? You can see all the way over the jungle at Parian. But I think we shall have thunder.

[Jacques Laruel]

Jeffrey, has she really come back?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Looks like it, doesn't it?

[Jacques Laruel]

But I mean really come back. She hasn't merely come down on a visit or to see you out of curiosity on a basis that you'll be friends and so on. If you don't mind my asking.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

As a matter of fact, I rather do.

[Jacques Laruel]

Get this straight, Jeffrey. I'm thinking of Yvonne, not you.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Get it a little straighter still. You're thinking of yourself.

[Jacques Laruel]

Why aren't you back home trying to rest and sober up? Yvonne looks tired out.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Perhaps you imagine that if you could insinuate yourself into our company. She would miraculously cease to be tired. But there's Hugh, you know. I haven't explained just how Hugh fits into the picture, have I? He's part of the advance past, too, just as you are. On second thoughts, I don't think I'll trouble explaining. And have another tequila. Join me. It's your supply.

[Jacques Laruel]

No, thank you. You really prefer that stuff, tequila?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

It's fire down the spine, like lightning striking a tree. And the tree blossoms as a beverage.

[Jacques Laruel]

It rivals gasoline. If I ever start to drink that stuff, Jeffrey, you'll know I'm done for.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, it's mezcal with me. If I ever start to drink mezcal again, I'm afraid. Yes, that would be the end.

[Jacques Laruel]

Would it?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Laruel, I do believe you're trembling. I thought you were never afraid.

[Jacques Laruel]

I'm afraid of you, Jeff. For everyone's sake, please go home to bed or stay here. I'll find the others and tell him you're not going.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

But I am going.

[Jacques Laruel]

What about the damage you've done to her life? After all your howling? If you've got her back, if you've.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Got this chance you are interfering, Jacques. You're interfering with my great battle. My battle against death.

[Jacques Laruel]

Do you realize that while you're battling against death or whatever you imagine you're doing, while you're enjoying all this, do you realize what extraordinary allowances are being made for you by the world which.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Has to cope with you? Yes. Allowances that are even made by me. Now, you deny the greatness of my battle, even if I win, And I shall certainly win if I want.

[Jacques Laruel]

No, no, no.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You lose, lose, lose.

[Jacques Laruel]

You're our losing man.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, you fool. Stupid fool.

[Jacques Laruel]

Do you remember what you scratched on the plaster of my house? It's not possible to live without love. It's still there, you know, like a sign.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I don't care for your translation. Mexico is full of signs, Jacques. There's the one you sometimes see in the gardens and parks. You like this garden? Why is it yours? We evict those who destroy.

[Jacques Laruel]

And I don't like your translation. Why not this? Do you like this garden? Which is yours? Then prevent your children from destroying it.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I prefer mine, Jacques. I must go. They'll be waiting for me at the bus. Thank you for the tequila. Goodbye, Jacques.

[Jacques Laruel]

Goodbye, Jeffrey.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I'm so glad you finally made it, darling.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Just in time. In the nick?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, of course. Why not look back?

[Narrator/Commentator]

You.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

That cafe back there. El Amor de los Amores. What about it? That's one of your fascist joints.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

You don't say.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes. And our fellow passenger, sitting right over there opposite you is the proprietor's brother. He's a palado.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

What might that mean?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, it all depends. Literally, it means appealed one, in practice, a thief or exploiter of others even lowlier than himself.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Interesting. Say, how are you getting on, Yvonne?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, this is such fun, Hugh. I'm loving it.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Like driving over the moon.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, it's very strange. This isn't a regular.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Stop.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

What is it? What's wrong?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Seems to be a man lying in the road. Come on, let's get out and see.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

By all means.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Excuse me.

[Jacques Laruel]

Excuse me.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I beg your pardon.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

It's a body. The man's wounded.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Look, don't. Don't mind me. It's just I can't stand the sight of blood.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Better stay in the bath.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, there's not much blood. The wound must be under his hat.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Yes. I'd better shift it so we can have a look.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, no. They have prohibited that.

[Jacques Laruel]

No, don't.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Don't what?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You can't touch him. That's the law in these parts. Besides, I think our Senor Pellado Is going to investigate.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

But the man may be dying. How do you suppose he got here?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, on his horse, presumably. There's one grazing just over there.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Horse?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Strike me. Yes, it is. I'm certain. Certain of what?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

That's the same horse Yvonne and I saw this morning. There's a sword on its hip bone and a number seven branded on his rump. We saw it this morning.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You did?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

And this poor fellow must be the one who was riding it earlier. But what about the saddlebags? They've gone.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I don't suppose if the horse kicked the man to death. It would have sufficient intelligence to kick its saddlebags off, too, and hide them somewhere, do you?

[CBS Announcer]

Listen.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Listen. We've got to get a doctor, an ambulance or something. Nobody seems to care about it at all. We just can't wink at this sort of thing.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

It's all right, I tell you. Here comes a posse of those fascist vigilante boys. They'll look after it. But, Jeffrey. Come along. Come along, or we'll get left behind. We don't want to miss the bull throwing.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

I must say, I find this a rather tame exposure.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Now, you don't spoil it.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

See the old unhappy bull in the plaza. Beautiful. Will you pass me that flask, Yvonne, darling?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

But none of them knows what he's doing so far.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Strange about that bull. He's so elusive.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Much too elusive for me. Excuse me, my dears. Here, Jeff, hold my jacket. Your jacket? I mean.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Guadalajara.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You. You. What are you doing?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

My jacket. So it is.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Yes.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

How? Jeffy's going into the ring. He's going to ride that bull.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, the perfect fool. A curse on that stupid ass.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Look, he is. He's riding it, Jeff.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Texas or not. He's a fool. A fool. But look.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

It's all right, Jeff. Few knows what he's doing, as you can easily see.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Idiot.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

He'll be all right wherever he learned it.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Texas, the numbskull. Give me that bottle. Oh, you. You exhibitionist.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I don't think he means the risk.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

The stupid, senseless risk.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey's doing wonderfully. Wonderfully. Oh, darling. Jeffrey, darling. Look, Jeffrey, listen to me. There isn't anything to keep us here any longer. Jeffrey.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, no.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, darling, don't tremble. What are you afraid of? Why don't we go away now?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Why not? For life's sweet sake, let's get away. A thousand. A million miles away, Yvonne. Anywhere, so long as it's a. Just away. Away from all this. I beg you, from this.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Let's start again. Really, Jeffrey. Really. And cleanly. Somewhere it could be like a rebirth.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, it could.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yvonne. Yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I love you, Ivan.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, I love you too. Oh, Jeffrey. We could be happy. We could.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, we could.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Look, Q.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, Hugh.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Something's happened to him.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I can't see, but I think it's just the bulls got tired and sat down.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes. Yes, that's it.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, he's.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

He's all right. He's coming back up.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

He's lost his mighty hat, but they're.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Throwing it back to him. You.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You.

[Producer/Host Fletcher Markle]

Hello.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Phew.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You madman. Come on. Here, take the jacket.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Thanks. Too hot for me. J Better wear it yourself.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Come along, Ivan. Forward.

[Jacques Laruel]

To the side.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Salon Failure, where mine host, Cervantes, awaits us. Shellfish. Live shellfish. Now you see what sort of creatures we are, Hugh. Eating things alive, that's what we do. How can you have much respect for mankind or any belief in the social struggle? Cervantes. Mezcal, please. Outro mescal.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, please. Not another. You've had three.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Four.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Let's get back to our conversation. I like it better than drinking.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Ah, you people with ideas. All this, for instance, about Hugh going to fight for Spain and poor little defenseless China. Can't you see that the fate of nations is self determined? In the long run, they all seem to get what they deserve.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Well, not exactly original.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Not long ago it was poor little defenseless Ethiopia. Before that poor little defenseless Flanders. To say nothing, of course, of poor little defenseless Belgian Congo. Think now. What is all the heroic defense put up by poor little defenseless people. Got to do with the survival of the human spirit?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeff, don't go on like this, please.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

I should like to know what it is you imagine you're talking about.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Why can't people mind their own business.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Or say what they mean?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

There's calamity at the end of interference. There must be calamity. Otherwise the people who did the interfering would have to come back and. And cope with their responsibilities for a change.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Just let a real war come along. And then see how bloodthirsty chaps like.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You are, which would never do. But as I implied, you don't mind your own business at home. Any better than in foreign countries, you say? Jeffrey, darling, why don't you stop drinking? It isn't too late, that sort of thing. Why isn't it too late? Did I say so? I thought it was also splendidly and legally settled. That was it. It was too late. It's only that you insist. It isn't, Jeffrey, for all you know. It's only the knowledge that it most certainly is too late. That keeps me alive at all. Ah, you're all the same, all of you. Yvonne, Jacques, and you, Hugh. Trying to interfere with other people's lives. Interfering, interfering. And that's precisely what's bringing about disaster in the world. All because you haven't got the wisdom and the simplicity and the courage. Yes, the courage to take any of them to. Look here, Jeffrey. What have you ever done for humanity? You, with all your smart talk about capitalism except talk. And thrive on it till your soul stinks.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Shut up, Jeff, for the love of Mike.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

For that matter, both your souls stink. I'd rather be William Blackstone and go live with the Indians. Cervantes. Another mezcal.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, please sit down. You're making such a scene.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, I'm not, Yvonne. I'm talking very calmly, as when I ask you what have you ever done for anyone but yourself? Where, for instance, are the people? Children I might have wanted? You may suppose that I might have wanted them. Mind you, you don't pretend to love humanity. Not a bit of it. You don't even need an illusion.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Don't be such a swine.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Stay where you are. Of course I see the romantic predicament you two are in. But even if Hugh makes the most of it again, it won't be long before he discovers there are others. Oh, yes, Jacques and a hundred other ninny hammers.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Oh, Geoffrey, don't.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What an uncommon good time you two must have had under cover of sir. Poor defenseless little me. But you see, it's perfectly logical what it comes down to. I've got my own piddling little fight for freedom on my hands. Oh, do shut up, Jeffrey. Shut up. True, true. I've been tempted to talk peace. I've been beguiled by your office of a sober and non alcoholic paradise. At least I suppose that's what you've been working around towards all day. But now I've made up my melodramatic little mind and what's left of it. Just enough to make up. I'm far from wanting your paradise, thank you very much. On the contrary, I choose hell. I choose it because I like it. I love hell. I can't wait to get back there. In fact, I'm running. I'm almost there already.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Jeffrey, where you. Jeffrey, come back.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

No, let him go. The condition he's in, it's better. Well, he's not in that place. What's our next move? Did we give up or what?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

You know perfectly well I won't just run away. And abandon him, Hugh. Well, I know where I am now. Path on our right leads to Parian by a shortcut through the jungle. What? What's the time?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Quarter past six. This path?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Yes. There are several cantinas along the way.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

No, he's not in there and they haven't seen him. What's next? It's half past six now.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Hotel restaurant, El Popo.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

It's down the road a little forward to El Popo. Then. I asked the barman and the assistant manager. He hasn't been in there tonight.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

No. Well, I'm becoming quite convinced now that he's in the Farido in Parian.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

How far to the Farita now? It's almost seven o'.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Clock. It's about a mile and a half. We can cut nearly a mile off that if we take the forest path in the dark.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

The last place you right onto the Farito. Jungle is right frightful smell. How much further, Yvonne?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

We're nearly there, I think. There are a couple of turns in the path ahead and a big fallen log we have to climb over.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What's that?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

More target practice, likely.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Mind you don't get off the path there, Hugh. It's sort of tricky. And mind the fallen log here.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Right. Just scraping my shoe. I got off the stones into the mud.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

There's a ladder up this side, but you have to jump down on the other side about 5ft.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Be careful then. Or in heaven's name are you here?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I am.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

Over here.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Down on the other side of the log.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

That's right.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

It's so dark here.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, Hugh. Hugh, what's wrong? It's a horse.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Hugh. It's coming at me.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

A horse. Mezcal. Mezcal. Diaz. D. You forsaken beggar. What time is it?

[Jacques Laruel]

Sick?

[Narrator/Commentator]

No.

[Jacques Laruel]

6.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Diaz.

[Jacques Laruel]

Mr. Sec. You are drunk. One day here, no?

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

What?

[Jacques Laruel]

Twice a day in Farolito. Then you'll be going back to America.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Now I know why.

[Jacques Laruel]

These letters, are they yours?

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Yes.

[Jacques Laruel]

No.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

The letters. Jeffrey Furman. Her letters. The letters she wrote till her heart broke. You did not know where they were, but all the time they were in Parian, Here in the farrelatum.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes. Yes, they are my letters. Muchas gracias.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

There is no que, senor.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You. You are Spanish. Dios daro.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Yes, yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Those letters you gave me, you see, they. They're from my wife, my esposa. We met in Spain, you understand? Your old homeland. Do you know Andalusia? Granada. The place we met, my wife and I. Granada.

[Jacques Laruel]

So you have been in Granada, Mr.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, in Granada.

[Inner Voice/Conscience of Jeffrey]

The letters. Jeffrey Furman. You will read the letters. He will try to read them. The letters that were lost. The letters she wrote till her heart broke.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Do you remember? Tomorrow it's our wedding anniversary. I've not had one word from you since I left. It's as if you were away at war and I were waiting. Waiting for news of you, for the letter, the telegram. I send you all my love, my whole heart and all my thoughts and prayers.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Okay, Ola. What's the time?

[Jacques Laruel]

Sick?

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

No.

[Jacques Laruel]

It is half past six by the clock.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You mean half past six by the clock.

[Jacques Laruel]

Half past six by the clock.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Yeah.

[Jacques Laruel]

Hi.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I'd like some air.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

What for? You touch that horse? What for are you here?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Nothing. I saw the horse tethered outside and so I walked out to have a look at it, amigo.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Well, why'd you look at that horse?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Well, as a matter of fact, I thought I recognized, and I was right. It has a number seven branded on its rump.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You come with me. Inside. You. You're Americano, eh? You stay here, understand? Senor. They say there is trouble about you. No pay here in Parolito. You no pay for Mexican whiskey. You have no money, eh?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Si. Yes, much money.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

What for do you want to look at Mexican horse for? Why you run away with Mexican horse for? To not pay Mexican money, eh?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, no, decidedly not. Of course I wasn't going to steal your horse. I was merely looking at it, admiring it.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You're talking inside there of Espin? Yes. You know a Spain?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Yes, I know Spain.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You are dirty Bolsheviki. You member of Brigade International Esteer?

[Jacques Laruel]

No.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Absolute amentino.

[Jacques Laruel]

Absolutely.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Salutamente. Hey, all right. Come on, my friend. We want to found out about you. How much money have you got?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

50 pesos.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

50 pesos, eh? Perhaps that's not enough money. What are for? English? Spanish Americano. Rou. Come from the Ursas. What are you for?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What is your name? Is?

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

This is the chief of municipality. He want to know your name. Yes.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

What is your name? Blackstone. William Blackstone. Why are you, eh? What are you for?

[Jacques Laruel]

English?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, just William Blackstone.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You are Jordan?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, just Blackstone.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You are drunk, eh? He is the chief of gardens there. I am chief too. I am only chief of Rastro. And I am perfectamente drunk. You sit here, don you wait. We telephone about what you are for?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Certainly, certainly. I'll read. I have some letters here.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I am perhaps God's loneliest mortal, Jeffrey. I don't have the companionship in drink you find my Wretchedness is locked up within me. You used to cry to me to help you. The plea I send to you is far more desperate. Help me, Jeffrey. Save me from all that's enveloping, threatening, trembling over my head.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Americano. You this place bad for you. These hombres bad.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Bad people here.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Brutus no good for anyone. Understand?

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

I am friend.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Do not sit here to read. I take you to my home. I wait down the road.

[Yvonne Furman (Jeffrey's Estranged Wife)]

Where are you, Jeffrey? If I only knew where you were. If I only knew that you wanted me. You know that I'd be with you. For my life is irrevocably and forever bound to yours. And I'm frightened, Jeffrey. The emptiness of my body is the famished need of you. My tongue is dry and my mouth for the want of our speech. If you let anything happen to yourself, you'll be harming my flesh. And mine. I'm in your hands now. Save us. No good for you here at Parolito, senor. Bad place. Very bad. He's been no friend. Mexican people, they know police. They Diablos. Murderers. You come away with me.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Thank you, no good friend.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Time to pay for a Megan whiskey. We take all from your pockets now.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You gave me those letters.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Turn around your jacket. What for is this paper? You see? Juried.

[Jacques Laruel]

Daily Globe, London.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Collect Anti Semitic campaign. Mex Press pro petition. Germans behind. What is this? Jews.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Jew. Jordan.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Power ends. Conscience. Unquote. Stop. Firmin Furmen. No, no Blackstone.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Your name is Vermin. He say they're Vermin. Say you are Jordan.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I don't give a hoot what it says anywhere. My name's Blackstone and I'm not a journalist. True, I'm a writer, but only on economic matters.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Where are your papers?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Papers, huh? Well, now, perhaps.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

What for you have no papers? Where's your paza? Poltech. What need for you to make these guys? You see this card from your pocket coat? You read it.

[Hugh Furman (Jeffrey's Brother)]

What?

[Jacques Laruel]

Read.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Federacion Anarquista Iberica. Senor Hugo Firmin.

[Jacques Laruel]

Member?

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

I don't understand. That's my brother. Blackstone is my name. I'm a writer, not an anarchist.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Right. You anti Christa and Juden. What, Ford? You tell lies. He says here too your name is Fearman. What, Ford? You lie. You say your name is Black? No, he's black. You say you are a rider. You are Noah, the Rider. You are the Spider spy. And we shoot today the Spiders in Mexico. You know Rider. You are Capone. You are a Spider.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Take your hands off me and give me Back those letters. Your pox boxes. You killed that Indian this afternoon. You tried to kill him and make it look like an accident. You're all in it. Then more of you came and took his horse. And it's over there by the fence. Now give me my papers back.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Papers? You have no papers.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Devils. Give me back those letters. You stole that horse. You stole the saddlebags.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

North Americana, eh? English. What you think you do around here? He's no good for your health. We have found it out on the telephone that you are a criminal.

[Producer/Host Fletcher Markle]

Criminal?

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

You want to be a policeman? I make you a policeman. I make you a policeman in Mexico.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

You killed that man. You stole his horse.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

I blowed you wide open from your knees up.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Nonsense. I'm taking this horse. You fascist monkey. As I'll go now.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

No. You tried to steal the horse for twice camp. No. I blowed you wide open from your knees up. Duke of Braun.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

No, I. I wouldn't do that. That's a cold 17, isn't it? Very dangerous. Now, if you'll excuse me.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

Not going, Spider.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

The horse. He's run away. The horse. To the jungle.

[Municipality Chief (Mexican Official)]

It's no matter. Do not go. A sp.

[Jeffrey Furman (Consul)]

Oh, this is a dingy way to die. The horse, he's run away to the jungle. Oh, you funny.

[Jacques Laruel]

Remember those words I told you? He scratched in the plaster of my house. Dr. Vigil. It is not possible to live without love.

[Narrator/Commentator]

Laruel, tell me, was it the same horse that trampled Yvonne to die? That horse your friend the consul trifled.

[Jacques Laruel]

To escape the same.

[Narrator/Commentator]

And. And the brother Hugh?

[Jacques Laruel]

I do not know why he should have been the one to live.

[Narrator/Commentator]

He was alone.

[Jacques Laruel]

So was Geoffrey.

[Narrator/Commentator]

But the brother with a will to living. Your friend the consul only have a will to die. His will itself. It died. Your friend, he walk straight into his own doom. He know that too himself. That I can tell.

[Jacques Laruel]

They threw his body into the ravine. The abyss. Every time I see those little signs in the parks and gardens, I think of Jeffrey. Do you like this garden which is yours?

[Narrator/Commentator]

I know, I know. Do not let your sons destroy it. This sign says you are well to think on that.

[Jacques Laruel]

Ruel Jeffrey used to translate the original song Spanish a little differently. We evict those who destroy, he used to say.

[Narrator/Commentator]

And we should. So he evicted himself, your friend, the consul. We must make us, ourselves and our children worthy to inherit the garden and the earth.

[CBS Announcer]

The Columbia Broadcasting System has brought you the first program in a new series of hour length versions for listening of celebrated novels, stories and plays. Tonight is our initial broadcast, you have heard Fletcher Markle's production of under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. The adaptation was prepared by Mr. Markle and Gerald Knoxon and the original musical score was composed and conducted by Alexander Semler.

[Producer/Host Fletcher Markle]

And now for your interest, may a producer introduce the cast featured in tonight's performance as Jeffrey Furman, the consul Everett Sloane as Yvonne, his estranged wife Anne.

[CBS Announcer]

Burke as Hugh, his brother, Hitler Rennie.

[Producer/Host Fletcher Markle]

Joe Desantis was Lara well, and Juan o. Hernandez was Dr. Vigil. Actively assisting also were Robert Dryden, Danny Oko, Paquita Anderson, Don Alberto, Leo Badia, Ralph Camargo and Ivor Francis. Next Tuesday night from Studio One at cbs, Marcel Penol's Topaz, a comedy internationally remembered and as fresh and delightful today as when it first was produced nearly 20 years ago. Until next Tuesday then, and the gaiety of Topaz. This is Fletcher Markle with a good night and thank you from all of us in Studio one.

[CBS Announcer]

This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.