Action by Escape

Summary

Relic Radio Thrillers: "Action" Episode Summary

Podcast Information

• Title: Relic Radio Thrillers (Old Time Radio)
• Host/Author: RelicRadio.com
• Description: The best Old Time Radio adventures in crime, mystery, espionage, and suspense! Relic Radio Thrillers delivers ticking time bombs, mysterious crime scenes, and cloak-and-dagger action that today's armchair adventurer demands!
• Episode: Action by Escape
• Release Date: April 26, 2025

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Action," Relic Radio Thrillers transports listeners to the perilous heights of the Swiss Alps, where the seasoned mountaineer Christopher Bell finds himself in a life-threatening predicament. The story delves deep into themes of survival, mental fortitude, and the intricate human connections that surface in moments of extreme adversity.

Plot Overview

Christopher Bell's Desperate Struggle ([01:07] – [12:13])

The episode opens with Christopher Bell, a 52-year-old experienced mountaineer, precariously hanging from the icy face of the Shaliot Glacier at an altitude exceeding 12,000 feet. His hands and feet are ensnared in shallow steps he painstakingly carved into the hard ice, immobilizing him mere feet from the glacier's overhang. As night approaches, Bell grapples with exhaustion and the faint hope of survival, questioning the events that led him to this dire situation.

Interactions in Zinal Village ([04:12] – [11:11])

Back in the nearby village of Zinal, several characters provide glimpses into Bell's life and his sudden departure:

• Jean Valjour ([04:12] – [07:17]): A local mountain guide who interacted with Bell on the morning of his climb. Valjour expresses confusion and concern over Bell's cryptic intentions and abrupt departure.

• Greta de Gaspar ([06:47] – [08:36]): The innkeeper at the Zinal Inn, Greta reveals her long-standing acquaintance with Bell and notes his unusual demeanor during his latest visit. She hints at personal troubles possibly linked to Bell's past in London.

• Matthew Bruff ([09:09] – [12:13]): Bell's chief clerk, Matt Bruff, discusses Bell's sudden decision to leave his stable position and head to Switzerland for a climb, underscoring the inexplicable change in his behavior three weeks prior.

The Climbers' Encounters ([19:32] – [27:23])

While clinging to the glacier, Bell hears a fellow mountaineer, Anna Gurland, calling for help after dropping her axe. Their ensuing interaction reveals deep personal struggles:

• Anna Gurland ([19:32] – [27:23]): Anna admits to intentionally climbing to the glacier’s dead end as a means to contemplate suicide due to an incurable brain condition that will soon render her blind. She proposes a mutual agreement with Bell: their combined courage will help each other find reasons to continue living.

• Christopher Bell ([12:13] – [27:23]): Battling his physical limitations from a stroke, Bell is initially resigned to his fate but is moved by Anna's vulnerability and strength. Their conversation evolves into a pact of mutual support, symbolizing hope amidst despair.

Resolution and Reflection ([27:23] – [28:12])

Dr. Theodore Gurland, Anna's husband and a physician, arrives to assist after Bell and Anna's discovery. The episode concludes with a reflection on their shared human resilience and the subtle interplay between life’s fragility and the will to survive.

Key Themes and Discussions

1. Survival Against All Odds:

   • Bell's ordeal on the glacier exemplifies the extreme challenges faced during mountaineering and the psychological battle between life and death.

2. Psychological Fortitude:

   • The concept of the "margin of safety" is explored through Bell's dialogue, highlighting how mental preparedness can influence survival instincts.
     • "Take a mountaineer such as yourself... if there isn't a good size safety factor, you just don't make the climb." ([05:32])

3. Human Connection in Crisis:

   • The serendipitous meeting between Bell and Anna underscores the importance of human bonds and mutual support in overcoming personal tragedies.
     • "We'll go on living, Mr. Bell." ([26:22])

4. Dealing with Personal Demons:

   • Both main characters confront their inner struggles—Bell with his physical limitations and Anna with her impending blindness—demonstrating different facets of resilience.

Notable Quotes

• Christopher Bell on Survival:

  • "Take a mountaineer such as yourself... if there isn't a good size safety factor, you just don't make the climb." ([05:32])

• Anna Gurland's Plea:

  • "I'm not brave, really. To go on living, I need something to cling to. I need to know all the time that there's someone else with courage too." ([26:43])

• Bell Reflecting on Existence:

  • "Strange how I'm able to go on hanging to this slope, clinging on life, and I can't feel another ounce of strength left in me." ([17:00])

• Valjour's Insight on Incentive:

  • "It's the one top pressure that keeps life moving and growing. And it's what you need." ([24:32])

Conclusion

"Action" masterfully intertwines a high-stakes survival scenario with deep psychological and emotional narratives. Through Christopher Bell's harrowing experience and his interaction with Anna Gurland, the episode explores the essence of human resilience, the significance of support systems, and the inexorable drive to find meaning even in the bleakest circumstances. Relic Radio Thrillers once again delivers a captivating tale that resonates with the timeless allure of adventure and the indomitable human spirit.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Relicradio.com presents stories of mystery and intrigue, espionage and suspense. Hear tales of ticking time bombs, mysterious crime scenes and cloak and dagger action. This is Relic Radio Thrillers. This is Relic Radio Thrillers. Welcome back. Thanks for joining me. This week we're going to hear from Escape this time. A CBS series of over 200 episodes was produced between 1947 and 1954. Our story today is from April 4, 1948. It's titled Action.

[Announcer]

Tired from a strenuous weekend? Spring fever give you the wanderlust. Want to get away from it all? We offer you escape.

[Narrator]

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

[Announcer]

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

[Narrator]

Tonight we escape to the cold loneliness of a glacier high in the Swiss Alps and to a man who learned much about death as told in C.E. montague's grim story.

[Christopher Bell]

Action.

[Narrator]

High in the Swiss alps, well above 12,000ft, a man clings with desperation to the frozen glass wall of the Shaliot Glacier. Hands and feet jammed into shallow steps chopped in iron hard ice. A cold wind drives a spray of dusty sleet along the overhanging wall and the sun has fallen away among the crags to the west. Darkness lies one hour ahead. The man has climbed with painful care a thousand feet up the glacier's face from the broken moraine at the foot and has moved now onto the underside of a great bulge in the ice, a part of the wall which breaks out beyond the perpendicular. And the man is forced to hang from slots cut by his axe much as a sloth hangs from a tree branch. 12 more feet lie between him and the brow of the overhang. Six more steps to be chopped out with the axe, and a thousand feet of void space waits beneath him. The man is unable to lift his heavy axe for even one more stroke. He's tired and he's 52 years old. No experienced mountaineer would ever attempt the west face of the shady OC Glacier. And yet this man is an experienced mountaineer. But why? Why? What strange events have conspired to bring him along the path of his life and leave him hanging now in peril on the brink of eternity? Through what shadows has that path led him? And where are those who saw him pass? Can we ourselves move back along it? Move back step by step against the river of time? Move backward along the life path of Christopher Bell.

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Matthew Bruff]

Hello there.

[Jean Valjour]

Bonjour, monsieur. I mean, good morning, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Good morning. I'm glad to see there's at least one other early riser in the village besides myself.

[Jean Valjour]

Only a few people are left in the village, sir. It is the end of summer.

[Christopher Bell]

The end of summer? How well I know it. By the way, which of these paths takes me to the foot of the Shaliach?

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Except, of course, to climb up it.

[Jean Valjour]

The glacier? That is impossible. It has never been done.

[Christopher Bell]

Of course not. It's never been tried.

[Jean Valjour]

Well, there is not anyone who would be so foolish.

[Christopher Bell]

It isn't that. There are plenty of foolish people in the world. But even they hold on to their margin of safety.

[Jean Valjour]

Margin of safety?

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

I mean, I'm afraid I do not understand this.

[Christopher Bell]

All right. Take a mountaineer such as yourself. Now, you look at a slope, you estimate the effort needed to climb it. Then you estimate your own endurance. And if there isn't a good size safety factor, you just don't make the climb.

[Jean Valjour]

But it would be foolish not to do so.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

And how should a man lose that fear?

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Greta de Gaspar]

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

[Christopher Bell]

This is very good coffee, Madame Gaspard.

[Greta de Gaspar]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Greta de Gaspar]

It is all so different now from the old days. Then it was you and your madame would come here, and it was Gaspar and I. And the summer seemed to last forever.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Greta de Gaspar]

As I am, and it is not good to be alone. It gives one little reason for living and makes one no longer afraid of dying.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, but there are stronger reasons for that than just being alone.

[Greta de Gaspar]

Mr. Bell, you look so strange. Is. Is there something troubling you?

[Christopher Bell]

Why, no, not now. Oh, there may have been, but not now. I should be leaving quite early in the morning for a climb, so I think I'll go on to bed. Good night, Madame Gaspar.

[Greta de Gaspar]

Mr. Gaspar left the inn this morning before I awakened and have not seen him again. I have never known him to act so strange before. I have no idea what the reason is or what he may be planning to do, but I'm sure something is troubling him. Perhaps it may be something connected with his business back in London.

[Matthew Bruff]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Well, Matthew, where do we go from here?

[Matthew Bruff]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Matthew Bruff]

Our position is quite secure.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Matthew Bruff]

A most enviable condition, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Is it? There's nothing more to look forward to. Nothing more to work for. So, as I said, where do we go from here? Matthew, I'm putting you in charge of the business, turning it over to you, effective this week.

[Matthew Bruff]

Mr. Bellew, you can't possibly mean that.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, I've just decided.

[Matthew Bruff]

But what are you going to do?

[Christopher Bell]

I'm taking a trip. I'm. I'm going to Switzerland. Climb a mountain.

[Narrator]

Oh.

[Matthew Bruff]

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

[Christopher Bell]

That's right. It's for whatever time I'm gone. Just for whatever time I'm gone.

[Matthew Bruff]

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

[Narrator]

Minutes pass on the glacier and the shadows grow longer from the jagged peaks to the west of the Shaliauk Glacier and reach out with dark fingers toward the man who clings to the icy wall while his pounding heart beats out the number of his time on earth. Already those shadows have flowed into the awful depths below his swaying figure blur the sharp points of the tumbled rocks a thousand feet down and making the harsh void seem soft and inviting. The man's thoughts have grown as unwieldy as the heavy ice axe gripped in his hand. He keeps trying to remember that he is Christopher Bell, a human being and not a part of this free and empty space. Boy knows if he stops remembering that he may forget all else too, and then let go.

[Matthew Bruff]

There's been no reason for trying to locate Mr. Bell, since nothing of any importance has occurred during these three weeks. I'm sure he's quite all right. Only one thing still puzzles me a bit. The remarkable change in him on that morning three weeks ago. I never heard him talk like that before. And whatever the reason for it, I'm quite sure it was something that happened that morning before he came to the office.

[John Huxford]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Good morning. I'll. I'll be right there.

[John Huxford]

Yeah. Now, let me come down and help you, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[John Huxford]

But I have taken your arm, Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[John Huxford]

Up we go now. There you are, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Thank you. I had a bit of a shock this morning. I'm all right now.

[John Huxford]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, of course. Oh, let me see. I have the fair share somewhere. Oh, yes, you are.

[John Huxford]

Thank you, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

And. And thank you. I. I'm afraid you've brought something home to mind.

[John Huxford]

I don't understand what you mean, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[John Huxford]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[John Huxford]

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

[Jenkins]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Good morning, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, yes, Yes, I did.

[Narrator]

Thanks.

[Christopher Bell]

Chickens.

[Jenkins]

Having the usual Orange juice, toast and tea?

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jenkins]

Very well, sir. Bring it right away.

[Christopher Bell]

I can't let him find out. I can't let anyone find out about it. Maybe it's a little better now. Maybe it's going away. Maybe I'm giving it too much importance. But no, no, no, it's still there. That same lack of feeling clear down the whole right side of my body. No, I can move my arm and leg, all right. There's no. No feeling in them. They're numb. It's Simply that at 52 years of age, I've had a light stroke.

[Jenkins]

Your coffee, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, thank you, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

Would you care for something more, sir?

[Christopher Bell]

No, no, no, that's all.

[Jenkins]

If you'll pardon me, sir, you don't seem quite yourself this morning. I do hope you're not ill. No, no, no, no.

[Christopher Bell]

I'm all right. Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

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

[Matthew Bruff]

Oh, please.

[Jenkins]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jenkins]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Good Lord. Is this what a man slaves his life away for? To end up helpless, dependent on others? To be wheeled about, put out in the sun, taken in like some great fat lava? That's disgusting.

[Jenkins]

Pardon me, sir. I didn't quite hear you.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, nothing. Nothing, Jenkins.

[Jenkins]

Here's your paper, sir.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, thank you.

[Jenkins]

Please call if you need anything else, sir. I'd be in the pantry.

[Christopher Bell]

I couldn't go on that way. I'd rather not go on. I've got to face it. This stroke is the first warning. There'll be others, worse ones, and in a short time I'll be helpless. There must be some way out. Not suicide, but some way. There's got to be some way.

[Narrator]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Strange how I'm able to go on hanging to this slope, clinging on to life, and I can't feel another ounce of strength left in me. Strange, too, I Seems I could stay here forever, becoming part of the glacier itself, looking down at the rocks below and out across the peaks and the ice. I was right. Dying isn't so bad, really. Not when it's like this. Rather pleasant, in fact. Looks so soft down there. The shadows and the snow. The wind. Perhaps I could let go, float out on the wind like an eagle. I'll be blown along by it like drifting snow. The sun's gone now. It will be full dark in a few minutes. Maybe I can hold on that long. Everything is dark, even the snow and the ice. Who knows? Perhaps I'll watch the sun rise tomorrow and set again and even be our.

[Matthew Bruff]

Oh, no, no, no, no.

[Christopher Bell]

I can't last even one full minute longer. I'm through. I'm finished. I can't even last a half. Huh? Chips of ice sliding over the edge. It's funny how a glacier sheds off that way. I suppose the difference in temperature between day. An ice axe. That was an axe. No other sound in the world. Like it fell from up above the overhang there. There must be somebody up there on the slope, coming down from the top. There is. Wait. That's 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

[Anna Gurland]

Hello.

[Christopher Bell]

That's a mountaineer's call for help. Someone's dropped his axe and he's in trouble up there. It's right above this bulge. If I can only. No, no, no, no, no. My throat. My throat's too dry. Well, six more steps to cut to reach the edge. There. All right, six. I was done in. I was finished. And now. Now five more steps. Just about does it. Last step, kid.

[Anna Gurland]

Cut the rope and let me go. There's no use of a.

[Christopher Bell]

Good Lord, it's a woman. And there's a man upon the slope. Hold on up there. I'll be with you in a minute.

[Anna Gurland]

Ted, Somebody's coming.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Anna Gurland]

It's my husband. Please hurry.

[Christopher Bell]

Easy now. Step out here. In a second. You can put your feet on it. You get your breath. Then we'll tackle the slope. All right, now I'll scrape his ice away. Easy now. That's better, isn't it?

[Anna Gurland]

Oh, yes.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Anna Gurland]

I'm. I'm Anna Gurland.

[Christopher Bell]

How'd you do?

[Anna Gurland]

Thank you. I. I thought we were done. I was cutting steps down ahead on the slope, and I slipped and dropped my axe. The rope held me, but neither of us dared to move.

[Christopher Bell]

Well, you're all right, now, soon as you rest up a minute, we'll cut some more steps back up the slope. You shouldn't have started down this way. You. You've never been able to pass that bulge.

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, I suppose it is.

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Yes, I came up from the foot.

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

Let's just say we're both foolhardy.

[Anna Gurland]

Is that what you call it?

[Christopher Bell]

If you've got your breath back. Now, suppose we start up the slope. Oh, here. I'd like to take my axe and cut the first step.

[Anna Gurland]

You'd trust me with it after I dropped my own?

[Christopher Bell]

Anybody could make a mistake like that, dropping an axe or climbing up under an overhang.

[Jean Valjour]

My name is Theodore Kurden, and I'm the husband of the woman who slipped and fell on the wall of the glacier. I'm a physician, formerly of Harley Street, London, though I've practiced in Paris for several years now. I met Mr. Bell when he and my wife reached the ice ledge where I stood waiting above them. Was not immediately aware of his trouble, but found out about it a short time later when we reached the rest.

[Christopher Bell]

Hut at the top of the ridge.

[Jean Valjour]

While my wife heated water for tea at the far side of the room, Bill and I fell into a much more personal conversation than strangers normally do. But this sometimes happens when people have been very close to death.

[Christopher Bell]

At any rate, Dr. Gurland, well, you can see how it is. The life of an invalid doesn't seem very appealing.

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Christopher Bell]

No, I didn't notice. It isn't quite so bad now, as a matter of fact.

[Jean Valjour]

And there's your answer, Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

I. I don't believe I follow you.

[Jean Valjour]

Action when you were in action. Working because you had a reason, living because you had to, because somebody was depending on you. Then you were all right. Everything was back in its place again.

[Christopher Bell]

Perhaps. But a man can't spend all his time climbing up a mountain to save someone's life.

[Jean Valjour]

Oh, I don't mean physical action. Movement. Call it incentive, if you like. Maybe that's a better way to put it.

[Christopher Bell]

Incentive, eh?

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

It'S only a theory. Eh?

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Jean Valjour]

I am, my dear. Lucky we brought it.

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Jean Valjour]

Of course not. Only be careful out there in the dark. The ridge breaks off pretty sharply here.

[Christopher Bell]

Oh, yes, I'll be careful. Oh, Dr. Gerv, if. If things were turned around, I wonder if it would be any more than just a theory to you.

[Anna Gurland]

Mr. Bell. Where are you?

[Christopher Bell]

I'm over here, Mrs. Cole.

[Anna Gurland]

Beautiful, isn't it, with the stars so clear and bright.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes. Well, there won't be any more clear nights before the winter storms.

[Anna Gurland]

It would be a shame to give it up. You and I.

[Christopher Bell]

What do you mean?

[Anna Gurland]

I've got to say this quickly because I don't want my husband to know. We're not the kind who commit suicide, you and I. But I think we understand each other.

[Christopher Bell]

Well, you have to say more than that.

[Anna Gurland]

You deliberately climbed into a dead end out on that glacier. Deliberately extended your safety margin beyond all possible limits, didn't you?

[Christopher Bell]

What do you mean? We understand each other?

[Anna Gurland]

Because I did the same thing. I went ahead. I picked that route down the slope. But no, please wait. In 30 seconds, I would have cut myself loose from that route. Oh, we went to an awful lot of trouble so we wouldn't have to call it suicide, didn't we?

[Christopher Bell]

Phew. But why?

[Anna Gurland]

I have a brain condition. There's no point in going into it. But it's incurable. And sooner or later, at any moment, I shall go blind. My husband doesn't know about it, and I don't want him to. Mr. Bell.

[Christopher Bell]

Yes?

[Anna Gurland]

I'll make a bargain with you.

[Christopher Bell]

What sort of bargain?

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

I'd say you're amazingly brave.

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Christopher Bell]

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

[Anna Gurland]

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

[Jean Valjour]

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

[Anna Gurland]

Foreign.

[Announcer]

Escape is produced and Directed by Norman McDonnell and tonight brought to you action by C.E. montague. Adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield and featuring Joseph Kearns as Christopher Bell and Eric Rolf as the voice. With Louis van Rutten as Dr. Golan, Marta Mitrovich as Greta, Jeff Corey as Bruff, Ray Lawrence as Huxford, Barry Kroger as Jenkins, and Joan Banks as Mrs. Golan. The musical score was conceived and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Next week.

[Narrator]

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

[Announcer]

Next week, Escape with Joseph Conrad's great story, the Brute. Good night. Then until the same time next week when we again offer you escape. This is CBS where 99 million people gather every week. The Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Narrator]

That's our thriller for this week. I hope you enjoyed it. You can find more from Escape, Relic Radio Thrillers and all of the other podcasts@ Relicradio.com our shoutcast stream is there as well with even more old time radio. Lots to listen to, all thanks to your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate relicradio.com or click on one of the links on the website. Your support makes it all happen. Thanks to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week. Be back again next Friday with our next episode of Relic Radio Thrillers.