Bold Venture and Scarlet Queen

Summary

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The Relic Radio Show

Episode Title: Bold Venture and Scarlet Queen
Date: October 28, 2025
Host: RelicRadio.com

Overview

This episode of The Relic Radio Show resurrects two audio treasures from the golden age of radio:

• Bold Venture: “Four Invitations to Death” (January 14, 1952) starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall as they unravel intrigue in Havana.
• The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen: “Redbeard and the Bag of Pearls” (December 17, 1947) featuring Captain Philip Carney and his adventures in the South Pacific.

Both stories are packed with classic adventure, witty dialogue, and suspense that showcase why old time radio still “stands the test of time.”

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Segment 1: Bold Venture – "Four Invitations to Death"

Main Theme

A murder at Shannon’s hotel leads Slade Shannon and Lady Sailor into a web of revenge, mistaken identity, and unresolved guilt tracing back to a tragic maritime incident years before.

Major Discussion Points & Plot Progression

• Mysterious Collapse

  • [02:00] Slade (Bogart) helps move a guest, Mr. Johnson, who faints in the hotel lobby.
  • Mr. Johnson’s wife, Rita, shows apathy and disdain:
    • Rita: “Imagine a husband of mine fainting in the lobby of a hotel. John Johnson Junior. Fifty years old and doesn’t know how to behave.”

• The Threatening Letter

  • [03:23] A mysterious note is delivered:
    • Sailor (reading): “Goodbye, Shannon. Goodbye, dead man.”
  • There are hints of vengeance and a connection to a past tragedy at sea.

• Murder and an Uncaring Widow

  • [06:36] Johnson is found shot dead in Slade’s room.
  • Rita’s reaction is chillingly indifferent:
    • Rita: “Me cry for that pig? He chomped his way into his grave. I warned him.” [07:46]

• Investigation and Police Warnings

  • [09:13] Detective Lasalle warns Slade: He was the intended target—there's a killer avenging a death from years before; four men were marked, two are now dead.
    • Lasalle: “Four men have been promised death. Two have got it… they thought they killed you, Slate. That makes you precisely. Two are dead. And there is still a third and a fourth.” [12:45]

• Comic Relief: Timbro, the Undertaker

  • [10:07] Timbro offers his “calm, satisfactory, reasonable service” for Slade’s alleged corpse.
    • Lady Sailor: “Give him the pitch, Tiny Tim.”
    • Timbro: “Senor, you are not dead. I have been made up a fool... I need the money so badly.”

• Unraveling the Past

  • [21:27] Slade recalls a fishing voyage six years ago, a life raft, and a woman washed overboard—her husband later accused Slade and the others of murder.
  • The killings are revealed as revenge for this event.

• Confrontation on the Rooftop

  • [24:10] The killer confronts Slade on a rooftop, seeking his final vengeance:
    • Killer: “You knew my wife, too. A woman who drowned out there. Out there in the ocean. Couldn’t be helped. You all tried to tell me that... Pedro Avrillo didn’t have a chance to whimper. He was stabbed in the back. And you whimper. Whimper. Plead for your life, Shannon. You’re the last one.”

• Climactic Struggle and Resolution

  • [24:48] Slade overpowers the attacker.
  • The cycle of revenge is halted, justice is served, and moments of warmth and humor return.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Vintage Banter:
  • Lady Sailor: “You’re just saying that because I put my hair up last night. You’re such a man.” [03:18]
• Droll Undertaker:
  • Timbro: “Delicious…He should come in cans. Senorita, you have just had the honor of being kissed by Timbro. Do you undertake?” [09:59]
• Police Warning:
  • Det. Lasalle: “Walk quietly in Havana, Senor Shannon. The third death waits for you.” [12:45]
• Rooftop Standoff:
  • Slade: “Come and get me, mister. Whimpers Whimper. Did you hear anything yet, mister?” [24:38]

Key Timestamps

• [02:00] – Moving Mr. Johnson; tension between Rita and Slade
• [03:23] – Arrival of the threatening note
• [06:36] – Discovery of Johnson’s body
• [09:13] – Police investigation; Slade named as intended victim
• [10:07] – Timbro the undertaker, comic interlude
• [21:27] – The life raft revelation, setting up the revenge motive
• [24:10] – The killer’s rooftop confrontation
• [24:48] – Climax and aftermath

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Segment 2: The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen – "Redbeard and the Bag of Pearls"

Main Theme

Captain Philip Carney learns that ancient taboos and modern greed collide when he and his crew are swept into violence over a cache of stolen pearls—and his mate’s flaming red beard sparks unexpected local mythology.

Major Discussion Points & Plot Progression

• Arrival at Hull Island

  • [28:11] Captain Carney and crew, including Gallagher with a new “burning red beard,” arrive to deliver supplies but find trouble brewing between local islanders and pearl poachers.

• The Hostile Welcome

  • [30:31] Carney meets Ray Lebrado, a pearl diver pursued by angry natives for violating sacred ground.
    • Lebrado: “These pearls... They’ll go $40,000 on skin... The Gilberts think nobody should dive there. It’s sacred.”
  • The Scarlet Queen crew, seen as allies, are caught in a cultural crossfire.

• Siege and Betrayal

  • [37:11] The local chief approaches with peace, but is shot by Lebrado's men, escalating the conflict.
  • [38:42] Carney and Fenrick are taken hostage. Gallagher is captured by natives to pay for the chief’s death.
  • [39:50] Lebrado proposes a deal: escape the island together, using Queen to get away, but Carney resists.

• Native Justice and Gallager’s Ascendancy

  • [47:21] Gallagher, thanks to his red beard, is elevated to the mythical status of a returning ancestral hero and avoids execution:
    • Gallagher: “They got a legend that a guy with a beard and hair like I’m sporting floated into Beirut island in the Gilberts three or four hundred years ago and he turned into quite a leading light. They think I’m him, come back to save their pearls!” [48:18]
  • He uses his new authority to orchestrate the rescue and recovery of their ship.

• Reclaiming the Scarlet Queen

  • [50:05] Gallagher and Carney lead a team of swimmers to retake the ship from Lebrado’s crew.
  • [51:46] Pearls and Lebrado are surrendered to the natives.

• Departure and Mythic Afterglow

  • [54:13] The Scarlet Queen sails for Christmas Island.
  • [55:08] Gallagher reads from a Pacific Islands handbook, finding that the legendary white-red bearded man may not be so mythical after all.
    • Gallagher: “How do you like that? It’s right there for anybody to read...”
  • Humorous exchange about Gallagher’s resemblance and multiple wives legend.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Cultural Collision:
  • Narrator: “You break a taboo, you’re asking for trouble. You asked for it, now you got it.” [34:57]
• Accidental Messianic Figure:
  • Gallagher: “They think I’m him, come back to save their pearls... All I gotta do is wag this beard. How many you want, 50, 100, or the whole blaster pack?” [48:53]
• Lighthearted Close:
  • Gallagher: “I told ‘em I had a scarlet queen.” [55:31]
  • Narrator: “After what she got you out of. To the Queen.”

Key Timestamps

• [28:11] – Scarlet Queen’s log and landfall at Hull Island
• [30:31] – Meeting Ray Lebrado, learn about the pearl taboo
• [37:11] – Shooting of the native chief and ensuing siege
• [47:21] – Gallagher’s red beard and the local legend revealed
• [50:05] – Rescue and retake of the Scarlet Queen
• [54:13] – Final log, reflection & toasts to Queen

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Memorable Moments

• Rita’s Apathy (Bold Venture): Her total lack of emotion at her husband’s death upends expectations and sharpens suspicion.
• Timbro the Undertaker (Bold Venture): Offers gallows humor and breaks the tension with his persistent sales pitch for funeral services.
• Gallagher’s Red Beard (Scarlet Queen): Becomes the key to survival and heroism, as local myth and fact blur.
• Historic Connection (Scarlet Queen): Discovery that the “white-red bearded man” legend mirrors Gallagher’s sudden fame.

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Summary

This episode offers vintage thrills and humor:

• In Bold Venture, the past is never dead, as a murder mystery peels back layers of guilt, vengeance, and survival.
• In Scarlet Queen, myth and reality merge as a red beard saves the day, navigating between Western cynicism and Pacific ritual.

Original wit, gritty repartee, and pulpy suspense shine, making these golden age radio journeys as rich as ever.

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For More Episodes

Visit relicradio.com for more Old Time Radio classics.

Transcript

[Relic Radio Host]

This is the Relic Radio Show. Old Time Radio Entertainment. Still standing the test of time from relicradio.com. welcome back to the Relic Radio Show. Thanks for joining me this week. We'll begin this week's hour with Boltventure in their episode from January 14, 1952, titled Four Invitations to Death. After that, it's the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen and Redbeard and the Bag of pearls. From December 17, 1947.

[Narrator]

Bold venture. Adventure, intrigue, mystery, romance. Starring Humphrey Bogard and Lauren Bacol. Together in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean. Bold Venture. Once again, the magic names of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring you Bold.

[Detective Lasalle]

Venture and a tale of mystery and intrigue.

[Slade Shannon]

Can you lift his feet, Sailor?

[Lady Sailor]

I'm trying, but Mr. Johnson's left foot is heavier than his right. Throws me off balance.

[Slade Shannon]

Come on, let's get him into my bed. You know, you can help too, Mr. Johnson.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I was afraid you were going to ask me that. Imagine a husband of mine fainting in the lobby of a hotel. John Johnson Junior. Junior. 50 years old and doesn't know how to behave in a hotel lobby. You do it. I can't touch him. Gorges himself with food and saints. Fatty is.

[Lady Sailor]

I can't even tell whether the shin bone's connected to the ankle bone or the ankle bone's connected to the.

[Slade Shannon]

Stop beating your guns, comedian. Just open the door to my room.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I'll do it. See my helps.

[Slade Shannon]

You're a clever one, Mrs. Johnson. Okay, Junior.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Up there.

[Slade Shannon]

Sleep tight. Come on, let's leave him alone. I'll send him home to you in the morning, Mrs. Johnson.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I can hardly wait. Send my husband home. We're staying at the Pacifica Hotel. I'll wait for him breathlessly.

[Slade Shannon]

There's a woman a man can admire. Sailor marries a man, obviously a wealthy man. Then she can't stand the sight of him, so she has a mind of her own. That's good in a woman. That's what makes me admire women so much. Take you now.

[Lady Sailor]

You're just saying that because I put my hair up last night. You're such a man.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Brought this letter.

[Detective Lasalle]

Mr.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Slate said to give it to you right away.

[Slade Shannon]

Thanks, King. The man waiting for an answer no.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Gave me the letter and scurried into the wild blue yonder.

[Slade Shannon]

Read this, Sailor.

[Lady Sailor]

Goodbye, Shannon. Goodbye, dead man. Who gave you this, King?

[Timbro / Undertaker]

A man I never saw before, lady Sailor.

[Slade Shannon]

He gave me the letter and scurried into the wild blue yonder. I'll forget it's a new way of collecting bills. Hook me up a hammock on the patio, King. I'm going to sleep, Senor Morel. Without a coat in this high place, you will become sick. The ocean winds eat through your bone. Worried about me, Pedro? You are a man, senor, whose brain molders with his sorrow. And for this a man must crawl before you and other men die. 2. So far. I've killed only two. You delivered the message? Si. To Shannon? To his servant.

[Narrator]

Good.

[Slade Shannon]

That's polite. An invitation to death should be polite. If you have no more need of me. No, stay here. I want you to look out at the sea with me. How lovely it is. How calm. And my wife sleeps in it. There, where the moon touches a white crest. How long ago, Pedro? You tell me. How long? Six years. Six years since your wife drowned. You always count the days for me. Tis six years. Six years since you and Shannon, the other two, murdered her. Threw her from the life raft so you filth could live. She was washed over by a wave. How many times must I tell you, madman? The fishing boat was wrecked in a storm. We got into the life raft. We 5. A wave washed her over. We tried to. You think she sleeps in peace, Pedro? I hope so. I've killed two for her. And now there's Shannon. And then there'll be you.

[Lady Sailor]

Come on, Slate, wake up.

[Slade Shannon]

Oh, hell.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Happy?

[Lady Sailor]

I know she is. Slate, tell her to go away.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Wake up.

[Lady Sailor]

That's what you get for sleeping out here in a hammock. It's almost 8 o' clock and the rooster's on the wing. Are you going to wake up? Okay.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Hey.

[Slade Shannon]

Hey, look. What's the matter with you? Going out of your mind? What'd you dump me out of the hammock for? What? Hey, what was that?

[Lady Sailor]

Get off your back, Slade. Something's happening in the hotel.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Mr. Slade.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

In your room. Quickly.

[Lady Sailor]

Slate. Look at him.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Yeah.

[Slade Shannon]

Dead. Shot three times. What happened, King?

[Timbro / Undertaker]

I was fixing breakfast. Mr. Slade heard the shots, ran into your room and saw Mr. Johnson like you see him.

[Slade Shannon]

Call the police, sailor, and wait around for them.

[Lady Sailor]

What about you?

[Slade Shannon]

I'm gonna wake up a lady. Maybe she can tell me why she's a wid.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Oh, good morning, Mr. Shannon. I see you didn't bring my husband with you. Thanks. Come on in.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

All right.

[Slade Shannon]

Your husband couldn't come with me, Mrs. Johnson?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I'm having orange juice. Would you like me to squeeze you an orange?

[Slade Shannon]

Your husband's dead, Junior. Aw, doesn't throw you, huh?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Why should it?

[Slade Shannon]

I don't know. Crazy custom, I guess. Woman's husband dies. I had the notion women cry about things like that. Dumb.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Me cry for that pig? He chomped his way into his grave. I warned him.

[Slade Shannon]

He was shot to death. Shot three times.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Well, that's picturesque.

[Slade Shannon]

Yeah, real romantic. Is this all it does to you, Mrs. Johnson?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

The missus part is only an affectation. Now, if we're going to talk anymore, just call me Rita. All the boys will from now on.

[Slade Shannon]

Just one more thing. Why should anyone want to kill your husband?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Well, I know why.

[Slade Shannon]

You want to tell me or the police?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

You're prettier. My husband was killed to make me happy. I'm young, attractive and. Don't. Don't you think I'm attractive?

[Slade Shannon]

Let's just say you're tall.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

About your size.

[Slade Shannon]

And now you're gonna be rich. Is that what you're trying to tell me?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Gorgeously rich. Does that interest you? No. Get out of here. Mr. Shannon.

[Lady Sailor]

Anything else I can do for you, Lasalle?

[Detective Lasalle]

Let me check my list. We have removed the body of senor John Johnson Jr. Check. We have photographed fingerprints. Check. We have, et cetera. Check. Et cetera. Check.

[Narrator]

Aha.

[Detective Lasalle]

This I have not done.

[Lady Sailor]

Lucky for you I brought it up, huh?

[Detective Lasalle]

What haven't you done to inform you? To inform Senor Shannon that the instant he puts a foot in his hotelier, he is to take his foot and bring it up to my office to the police.

[Lady Sailor]

I'll tell him you want the rest of him too, besides his foot.

[Detective Lasalle]

But the very instant. It is a matter of.

[Lady Sailor]

I'll tell him.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I'll tell him.

[Detective Lasalle]

Do not disappoint me, or you're. Shannon. Senorita.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Adios.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Your pardon for my bumping into your walking body, Senor Pardo. If that one would only throw me his business one day, he would make a name for me. Give me the back of your hand, senorito. I will kiss it for you.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

All right?

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Delicious.

[Lady Sailor]

Tasty, huh?

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Oh, delicious. Delicious. He should come in cans. Senorita, you have just had the honor of being kissed by Timbro. Do you undertake?

[Lady Sailor]

Give me back my hand.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Yeah, take it. This is not what I come for. Please to show me the dead body of a Slade Shannon, and I will take it away and do my utmost to give calm, satisfactory, reasonable service. If you like, we can arrange a layaway plan, small down payment. Anything that you would.

[Lady Sailor]

Oh, there's the body walking in. Now go collect him.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

That is Sledgehammen. But he looks like a man who has not yet kicked the bucket. I Can I've been deceived. This is impossible.

[Slade Shannon]

What's the little man crying for, Sailor? You say something to hurt his feelings.

[Lady Sailor]

I just proved to him you weren't dead. Broke his heart. Hold out your hand so he can kiss it. Maybe that'll make him feel better.

[Slade Shannon]

What goes on with you when I'm out, Sailor? Who is this guy?

[Lady Sailor]

Timbro, the undertaker. You should hear his offer. Give him the pitch, Tiny Tim.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

But, senor, you are not dead. I have been made up a fool. Somebody called me on the phone. Promise me that you are dead. Promise to give me your business. They promised me. I need the money so badly.

[Slade Shannon]

I'm sorry, I can't help you. Tiny Tim over there is out.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

You cannot order me. The man said that you are dead.

[Slade Shannon]

You go break his heart, too.

[Detective Lasalle]

Tim.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Put me down. Put me down. Well, Teach, you are really a life, huh?

[Slade Shannon]

My Tiny Tim.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

We'll report this to the Association. I would have thought.

[Lady Sailor]

Don't bother to take off your coat, Slate. You've got a date.

[Slade Shannon]

Guy tells me I'm dead and you want to go dancing.

[Lady Sailor]

Not me. La Salle. They tell me he's got a bunny hug that'll open your eyes. Let's go try it on, huh?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Sl.

[Detective Lasalle]

You, senorita, make yourself lovely in my wicker chair. It is my only piece of furniture that becomes you.

[Lady Sailor]

Ever caught me on a desk? It'd make a peachy police calendar.

[Detective Lasalle]

In the wicker chair. So that when the fright overtakes you, you can bury your head in its arms, right?

[Slade Shannon]

What are you talking about, Lasalle?

[Detective Lasalle]

Just that. And you, senor, you will take it standing up, I presume. Because you imagine yourself an invulnerable man.

[Lady Sailor]

No, he doesn't. Show him your collection of scars, Slade.

[Detective Lasalle]

Soon there may be the permanent scar on him, Senorita Duaro. The scar of death.

[Lady Sailor]

Thanks for putting the wicked chair under me.

[Slade Shannon]

This your day to play goblin, Lassell. What are you talking about?

[Detective Lasalle]

Two weeks ago, a man was murdered. A plain man. Juan Rico. A week later, another man was murdered.

[Lady Sailor]

So you had a couple of good weeks. What's that got to do with Slate?

[Detective Lasalle]

I will come to it. Four men have been promised death. Two have got it.

[Slade Shannon]

That murder note someone sent me, it was for real. That's what you're trying to say.

[Detective Lasalle]

Precisely. The killer of Johnson Jr. Thought it was you sleeping in your own bed. He thought he killed you, Slate. That makes you precisely Two are dead. And there is still a third and a fourth. Walk quietly in Havana, Senor Shannon. The third Death waits for you.

[Narrator]

Now back to Bold Venture, our stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. And the second act of our story.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

In Shannon's place, a man lay him down in a bed not his own on face a frown his indigestion to sleep away but he wake with little bullets that come to stay he die in Mr. Shannon's now angered bed make scarlet the pillow with his blood so red. Then police they say eat big mistake not him. But Mr. Shannon is who death should take.

[Slade Shannon]

Three cheers and a rackety racks for the Havana Police Department turn the back somersault and lead me in a cheer.

[Lady Sailor]

Sailor, what makes you so sour? Slate, they're trying to save your life.

[Slade Shannon]

Yeah, but how? They want me to get out of Havana. Maybe I never told you this, Sailor. I'm crazy about Havana.

[Lady Sailor]

It's only for a little while till they find the murderer. Someone wants you dead. And you want to walk up to him and shake his hand. Because in some rotten port once maybe a girl whispered you were a hero.

[Slade Shannon]

Correction. In all the rotten ports. I'm not gonna run.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

It has always been so with him, Lady Sailor. I remember once in Vina del Mar. Suddenly I remember another thing that I have not remembered. This letter came for you, Mr. Slade, while you were at the police.

[Slade Shannon]

Well, let's see. Just like the other one you handed me, King. The first one. The one that said you've been asking for it.

[Narrator]

Open it.

[Slade Shannon]

Look what it says, Sailor. You were once fortunate, Shannon. You will never be again.

[Lady Sailor]

You going to sit here and wait for it?

[Slade Shannon]

Slate, you think I'm nuts? I'm going to share it with Lasalle. That's what he's getting paid for, to keep me alive. If you go with me, Sally, you might get hurt.

[Lady Sailor]

Ain't it always like that, Buster? Let's go.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Yes?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Are you Mrs. Johnson?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Was. Why?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Would you mind if I came in?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Of course you can come in.

[Slade Shannon]

I want to look at you.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I'll stand in front of these dressing mirrors and you can look at me four ways, like me.

[Slade Shannon]

What manner of woman are you?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I don't know. What don't you like about me, Mr. Morel.

[Slade Shannon]

Charles Morel.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

What do you want, Charlie?

[Slade Shannon]

I thought to look at you. I thought to see how a woman grieves. And finally to give you my condolences.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Oh, you mean about Fatso getting killed? My husband. Oh, you dear boy.

[Slade Shannon]

You're not sorry he's dead? The fact that a man pumped three bullets into him leaves you like this.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Dear, dear boy. Fatso had three Bullets in him, huh? Yes, that's right.

[Lady Sailor]

He did.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

But the papers didn't say so. Dear boy.

[Narrator]

What?

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

You killed Junior.

[Slade Shannon]

This is Johnson.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

That's one way you'd know. He was shot three times. You kill him?

[Slade Shannon]

It was a mistake. I thought he was someone else. I thought he was Slate Shannon.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I don't like that fellow either. You miss Slate Shannon? Charlie. That's a shame.

[Slade Shannon]

My wife was drowned six years ago. For the first time, I'm looking at another woman.

[Detective Lasalle]

Looking.

[Slade Shannon]

I've almost stopped grieving.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

But not quite, because there's still Shannon. Then go away. Come back when your mind's all clear. I'll wait for you.

[Detective Lasalle]

I cannot do what you ask of me, Shannon. I will not reveal to you the fourth man on the death list.

[Slade Shannon]

And you know who he is.

[Detective Lasalle]

See, we know who he is.

[Slade Shannon]

If you tell me who he is, where he is, maybe we can save each other's life. Maybe he can tell me why someone wants him and me dead. Maybe he can explain about the notes. Why I have to die with guys I never saw before, never knew.

[Lady Sailor]

That's my slate. Got a in elocution.

[Detective Lasalle]

Deservedly. Shannon, we do not know where this fourth man is. If we told you his name, you, with your friendships Nirvana, might find him. And because you found him, lead the killer to him. Obviously, the killer knows where you are. For the other man, there is still a chance.

[Lady Sailor]

And for Slate, a paper Lily, huh?

[Detective Lasalle]

Oh, we will do our best. Pedro Avarilo.

[Slade Shannon]

You said something. It sounded like Pedro Avarillo, a pitiful.

[Detective Lasalle]

Little thief who is hidden away from us by his friends in the barrio because they think we wish to arrest him for snatching purses when all we want is that he should live out his life in comfort for many years in our jails. The barrio shrugs last Spitz and tells us nothing.

[Slade Shannon]

That's funny. Me, they chew my ears off. Come on, sailor. And thanks, Lasalle. Maybe I can bring us back alive.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Save me, Elma.

[Lady Sailor]

Oh, my.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

So Mia Moss. My beautiful. Try to put your arms around fat Maria. You won't make it, or he will give me a few shivers.

[Slade Shannon]

You don't change, Maria.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

You come for a night of dancing. All polkas are on the house for jewels.

[Slade Shannon]

You haven't had a polka since that Romanian put you on a diet. Now we want Pedro Avarello. You know where he is.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

The police want him too. Maybe I don't give him to you because suddenly you are the color of police.

[Lady Sailor]

It's true what the police say, Maria. Someone's trying to Kill Pedro. Slate too. Maybe Slate can change that from your lips.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

I believe it. De las Cantinas Hotel is the dirtiest. With the most rats. With the most.

[Slade Shannon]

Yeah, with Pedro. Let's go open up a new world for him.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sailor. Pedro.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Open up.

[Slade Shannon]

Pedro. I guess he's not here, Sailor.

[Lady Sailor]

He's here, huh, Sailor?

[Slade Shannon]

Looking through keyholes, that's not cricket, girl.

[Lady Sailor]

He let me look in that chair by the window. See? Paper in his lap, like he fell asleep.

[Slade Shannon]

Yeah. Pedro, watch out. Sailor, wake up. Pedro, wake up.

[Lady Sailor]

Slate, look, his back.

[Slade Shannon]

Yeah. Knife to death. Wait a minute.

[Lady Sailor]

Let's get out of here.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Uh huh. Yeah.

[Lady Sailor]

Yeah what?

[Slade Shannon]

I know this guy. Six years ago, I saw this man on a life raft.

[Lady Sailor]

A life raft?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Uh huh.

[Slade Shannon]

It was an all day deep sea fishing excursion. I was new to Havana, so I went with the tourists. The boat was loaded, about 20 too many people on him. And the storm came up. The boat sank him. Me and a couple of other men wound up in a small rubber life raft. The woman? Yeah. Yeah, that's it.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

It is?

[Lady Sailor]

What is?

[Slade Shannon]

The woman, she drowned. She got tossed overboard by a wave. We tried to save her, but in that rough sea.

[Lady Sailor]

What's all this got to do with those killings?

[Slade Shannon]

That woman, I met her husband at the inquiry. Started to beat on my chest, threatened me, Said the four of us drowned her. I couldn't blame him at the time.

[Lady Sailor]

And maybe the time is now. Revenge, Is that what you mean?

[Slade Shannon]

Let's walk around Havana, sailor. Maybe we can find out.

[Lady Sailor]

Can't we go home now, Slate. We've been walking your van up for five hours.

[Slade Shannon]

Come on. Turn this corner. Now look over your shoulder. See a man in a straw hat and a cane?

[Lady Sailor]

No. Wait a minute. Yes. He just came around the same corner we did.

[Slade Shannon]

Come on.

[Lady Sailor]

Is he the man who's looking for a Slate? That drowned woman's husband?

[Slade Shannon]

I don't know. I wouldn't know if I saw him up close.

[Lady Sailor]

But you saw him at the inquiry.

[Slade Shannon]

For a bunch. 10 seconds. His face was twisted with grief. It's been six years ago here in this building, sailor.

[Lady Sailor]

What's in here?

[Slade Shannon]

An elevator that goes five stories up to a roof. If the guy in the straw hat isn't our boy, we'll get a fine view of Havana Harbor. Someone's got the elevator up on the second floor. Ring the bell and bring it down.

[Lady Sailor]

Just as long as you let me ring your elevator bells, I'm happy.

[Detective Lasalle]

Wait.

[Narrator]

Wait for me.

[Slade Shannon]

I almost got away from you, Mister. Thank you. Thank you.

[Lady Sailor]

Floor, please.

[Slade Shannon]

I don't want to inconvenience you two. You were on this elevator first. Take it wherever you're going. We were going to the top. To the roof.

[Detective Lasalle]

Why?

[Slade Shannon]

So was I. To find time to look at the boats all lighted up and the fisherman making port.

[Lady Sailor]

Yes, it's quite a sight for them that likes it. Third floor. Tots, Clothing, Beanies. Six shooters.

[Slade Shannon]

Pardon her, mister. It's the altitude. Charming.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Charming.

[Slade Shannon]

Well, here we are.

[Lady Sailor]

Watch your step. Please.

[Slade Shannon]

Don't I know you, mister? Indeed you do. Very well. You knew my wife, too. A woman who drowned out there. Out there in the ocean. Couldn't be helped. You all tried to tell me that. The whimperings of dying men. Pedro Avrillo didn't have a chance to whimper. He was stabbed in the back. And you whimper. Whimper. Plead for your life. Shannon. You're the last one.

[Lady Sailor]

Slade. Watch him. He's got a knife.

[Slade Shannon]

Come and get me, mister. Whimpers Whimper. Did you hear anything yet, mister?

[Narrator]

Last one.

[Slade Shannon]

Watch that blade, sonny. Watch it.

[Narrator]

Watch it.

[Detective Lasalle]

Hey.

[Relic Radio Host]

Sir.

[Slade Shannon]

This won't hurt a bit.

[Lady Sailor]

Stop it, Slade. Or kill him. Slate. What did you want to do, beat him to death?

[Slade Shannon]

That's insurance, baby. That way I stay alive.

[Lady Sailor]

Get me out of here.

[Slade Shannon]

What's the matter? Don't you like the harbor?

[Lady Sailor]

Just get me out of here.

[Slade Shannon]

Go home. I'll see this guy meets the cops. Go home. I'll meet you back at Shannon's place.

[Lady Sailor]

Slate.

[Detective Lasalle]

What?

[Lady Sailor]

I just want to tell you how much I like it.

[Slade Shannon]

No wonder you look good aboard the Bold Venture. I like it, too.

[Lady Sailor]

Where are you taking me?

[Slade Shannon]

I'm not taking you anywhere. I'm running across the channel for repairs. The carburetor's coughing.

[Lady Sailor]

So give it cough medicine. You can fix a carburetor.

[Slade Shannon]

All right. So I wanted to take a boat ride.

[Lady Sailor]

Come here, Slate. Close your eyes. That's right. That's why you wanted to take a boat ride, isn't it?

[Slade Shannon]

You found me out. That makes me a cad.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Come here.

[Lady Sailor]

Be careful, Slate. You're rocking the boat.

[Slade Shannon]

You crazy? I never rock boats.

[Lady Sailor]

So a little publicity is going to hurt you. Do it again, Slate.

[Narrator]

And so our two stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, have brought to a close our latest boldventure story. Special music was composed and conducted by David Rowe. May we invite you to listen again next week at this time for another exciting adventure starring Humphrey Bogard and Lauren Bacall together in Bold Venture.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sam.

[Narrator]

Log entry. The Catch. Scarlet Queen. Philip Carney, master position. 4 degrees, 12 minutes south, 171 degrees 35 minutes west wind, light sky fair remarks left Hull Island Phoenix Group after involvement in tribal beliefs. Reason for involvement Red beard and the bag of pearls. It was a brilliant sun washed afternoon that the puff of cumulus on the horizon ahead slowly raised to show beneath it an indistinct smudge. It darkened as we moved toward it, took on a definite palm tufted outline and finally materialized as the four mile length of Hull Island. Its flat silhouette is broken at its western end by a grove of 80 foot ponds and it's set against a backdrop of water and sky and never ending summer. Gallagher approached me at the wheel as we stood in toward our passage. It was resplendent in a newly grown burning red beard that shone in the sunlight. Hey, Barbarossa. If you can make yourself heard through that eight bell shadow, douse the sails. We'll go in under power.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Aye aye, sir.

[Narrator]

And your jealousy does not throw me. Stand by the ticket and furlong my fin. You'll be better strike for Sunday. We slipped through the passage into the quiet lagoon water and headed toward the small pier that served the copra station of Harris. Fenrick, the man who was to receive the cargo of supplies we had aboard the Scarlet Queen, had company in the unkempt schooner Ransom from Honolulu that was anchored just off the pier. We dropped our hook next to her and in the quiet after we were secure, I heard for the first time the muffled throb of drums from the island. Then I noticed that the man who walked down the pier toward us carried a rifle.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I'm glad you finally got here, Captain Carney.

[Narrator]

Are you Fenrik?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

No, he's up in the cottage. I'm Ray Lebrado, captain of the schooner.

[Narrator]

What are the drums?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

The natives are stored up. Better leave your crew aboard, Captain. But we need you ashore. We think they will attack tonight.

[Narrator]

And so mutual continues. The Voyage of THE SCARLET QUEEN Written by Gil Dowd and Bob Tallman and starring Elliot Lewis.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

The Scarlet Queen.

[Narrator]

Proudest ship to sail the seas, bound for uncharted adventure. Every week a complete entry in the log. And every week a league further in the voyage of the Scarlet Queen. This is my mate, Mr. Gallagher. Captain Labrada.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Hello. Hi. Quite a beard you got. Red head.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

It's not bad for a start.

[Narrator]

Not a story, Captain. What's bothering the natives First?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I. I think you better give me your gun. You?

[Narrator]

What kind of a move is that?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I think it's better I took over command here, Henrik. He isn't worth anything. I think it's better If I have all the guns. So nobody don't do any shooting until I want them to.

[Narrator]

Well, how do you like that? You got the wrong men, Lebrado. We'll sweat this out on the ship on the other side of the reef. Come on. Right here.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Wait a minute. Use your heads. I need you on this island. You stay here for help.

[Narrator]

Here we go.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Let's get back.

[Narrator]

All of Red.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

What's up, Ray? These guys think I'm kidding. Take that gun.

[Narrator]

What is this, Red?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Don't try nothing now, either one of you.

[Narrator]

You're just don't have to be tough.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Just so it's my way.

[Narrator]

That rifle. What else? I guess that does it, Ray.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Let's be friends now. This is my mate, Morel. We got a thing to do here. Let's pull together.

[Narrator]

Yeah, I'm not kicking. I like to be shoved around like this. You make friends fast.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You guys, maybe this don't mean a thing. But I got to know you're all right when I talk to you. Come on. We go up to the cottage.

[Narrator]

There were two more men in the main room of the cottage. We entered. One who ignored us as we came in. Wore seamen's clothes and a belted automatic. The other sitting stiffly in a wicker chair. I took for Harris Fenrick, a slight, graying man with a purplish bruise covering the left side of his face from temple to chin. And a look for a Brato that mixed fear and hate.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sit down. This is Thorpe from my crew. And he's Fenrik. He don't talk much.

[Narrator]

With that face he doesn't have to.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I'll talk when it's the time. Shut up.

[Narrator]

You go.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

What's coming to him? I came in here without food stores or fuel for my auxiliary. This guy turned me down when I want to buy from him.

[Narrator]

These Phoenix islanders haven't been at war for 50 years. What's got them riled up?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

These pearls. That's right. Plenty of them. They'll go $40,000 on skin. I won't fight you for them. Give me a match. Light your own, Burrell. Match ye. Now, let's get one thing settled between you and me. And Curly Locks with the fire whiskers.

[Narrator]

There, blow that smoke in my face.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Like us don't come down to these islands for the worthy. You're carrying cargo for money. I'm pearling for money. We see eye to eye on it now.

[Narrator]

Yeah, I think I can figure that one out.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I got these pearls just like every other pearl in the business. I anchor over the bed. I got them in the Gilberts on a shelf between Barrow and Nicoawa. It's simple enough.

[Narrator]

I don't care where you got them. What are you driving at?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

That bed. The Gilbert Tees think nobody should dive there. It's sacred. They bury their warriors there for, I don't know, maybe four or five hundred years, maybe more. I don't know.

[Narrator]

You mean these are Gilbert Seas out here with the drum? They follow you all the way over here?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

That's right. More of them come every day. The market wants these pearls. I should throw them back Just because these Kanakas get some crazy ideas?

[Narrator]

You break a taboo, you're asking for trouble. You asked for it, now you got it.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

That's all right. I got the pearls, too. I'll fix these boys they bought me last night when I was there. Take off my native crew, cut my sails and then my running rigging. Draw the lines in blocks over the side. It's good. I don't sail for a long time. I come all the way here two days ago on my engine and this Fenrick won't help me get repaired so I can get out of here because I'd ruin everything I built here if I did. My workers are. Gilbert, too. He wanted to force them on.

[Narrator]

Shut up, Henrik.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You ain't talking. Remember now, Carney, you got any extra gear and canvas I could buy from you?

[Narrator]

No, none that I can spare.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Too bad you say that. I hope you like shooting, Kanaka. I don't.

[Narrator]

Especially when it's your kind of fight.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You'll get plenty chance. As far as they're concerned, you're fighting on my side no matter what you do. They saw you come in. They got it all figured out. How you came to help me get away. This is your fight, too.

[Narrator]

Now.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You'll find out what I mean.

[Narrator]

It didn't take long to find out. The sun dropped into the west and soon after half its circle had sunk into the horizon. Lebrato's crewman, Burrell, standing at the window. Hey, Lebron called out the warning. They're moving out there. Coming this way.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

A whole gang of them. All right, back we go. Meet them outside. Bring a rifle. Thorpe or El, you watch Redbeard. Okay.

[Narrator]

Labrado's automatic pushed Fenrick and me out the door and off the veranda. There must have been a hundred or more trickling tortoise through the neat rows of palms. We're wearing full tribal gear and paint, carrying war clubs and short spears. There wasn't a long range weapon in the crowd, they stopped at the edge of the grove. Tall, erect native stepped to the front and raised his hand to us. His headdress was a little higher, his paint a little gaudier, and he was weaponless.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

What did he say, Fenrik? The truth I want. He says that he has seen the spirit omen and he comes in peace. He's a kinky headed liar. What was that? He says the spirit omen will protect him. He will walk into our house with the spirit omen at his side. He will return a victor to his island Beju, where the spirit omen once lived.

[Narrator]

He's coming, Librato.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Let him come. Give him five steps more and then show them we mean business.

[Narrator]

Hey, wait a minute.

[Lady Sailor]

No.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Go ahead, Tor Prado.

[Narrator]

Don't let him shoot.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Go ahead, Torp. Get that native. You stupid. You lunk heads.

[Narrator]

You shot the chief.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Watch it. Here comes another one.

[Narrator]

You crazy fool. He's just going to pick up the chief. They're going away. What more do you want?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Well, Carney, how do you like the way we fight now? It's great.

[Narrator]

You and these smoke crazy hands of yours have got real guts. That was a tough assignment. That native who didn't even have a slingshot.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Come on, we go inside and talk or else you and Thor bring Curdilocks in. We'll bring him. Ellen, Carney, move ahead. Your tooth. Henrik, inside. Take that chair there. Connie.

[Narrator]

Don't bother being nice. I'd like you better the other way.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

What's America, Arnie? We're in this together, huh?

[Narrator]

Together.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sure gonna be tough from now on. Since we killed that chief, they waste a few kanakas and use up our ammunition. They wait long enough, they starve us out. Lazy monkeys. They got plenty of time. I think we better get off of this island, don't you?

[Narrator]

We?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Oh, yeah.

[Narrator]

You mean you and Borel and Thorpe. We all go together on my ship, huh?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sure. You say you don't have any spare gear or canvas. And anyway, I don't think we got time now to make repairs on my ship. I'll pay our passage to Borneo and you don't lose.

[Narrator]

Why don't you stop? I kick myself from here to Sydney before I get sucked into a deal like that. I sign out as a galley slave to that dead chief survivors before I'd help you get out of here on my ship.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

All right, Connie, you keep making money.

[Narrator]

You lay off. I'm gonna catch you without that automatic.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Before this is over. All right, Brett.

[Narrator]

I'd rather be slugged Than talked to by this louse.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Maybe you get both, Connie. You and your. Me too. Gave you a chance. I'm through trying to make sense with you. Yeah? What have you got? Getting dark out there.

[Narrator]

It looks like the grove out in front's crawling with Kanakis.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Oh, if you go, send God to the door. I'll watch these guys.

[Lady Sailor]

Move.

[Narrator]

Over there.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Fenrik, you're too. Carney, over by your mate. It's him, all right.

[Narrator]

They're coming out of the grove. Then open up.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Fools. If we got targets firing, slow them up. When they get too close, we leave from the back window. Any of them back there, we can shoot our way through. We leave these three here for them.

[Narrator]

They're too close, Lebron.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

They won't stop. Keep firing. It's no use.

[Narrator]

Come on. Let's don't wait any longer.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

We go out to North Rim. They can have these three in payment for their chief.

[Narrator]

After they'd gone through the window, we just had time to get to our feet before the flood of natives rolled into the cottage. We backed to the wall, but the swarm of brown bodies smothered us like soldier ants covering the carcass of a mouse. I was pulled from the wall and lost. Gallagher and Fenrick. Then I was looking into a brown vermilion dab face. I caught the flash of a polished war club over my head and saw the lips in front of me pull away from a set of blackened teeth. And then I seem to explode upward to meet the descending club. The first thing that came back to me was the difference in sound. It was raining. I got my eyes open. The room swam into focus. I stumbled to my feet. One chair had been knocked over. Beyond it, on the floor, lay Harris. Fenrick. When I looked around, I couldn't find Red. He was gone.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Red. Red. What?

[Narrator]

Henrik. Henrik. Wait a minute. I'll get some water. All right. Come on, Fenri.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Come on, Connie. You're all right.

[Narrator]

Come on, Fenri. Get yourself together.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

My head.

[Narrator]

Yeah, I know it's bad. I'm doing the best I can. Fenrick. Listen. Gallagher is gone. The natives took him.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

They took him.

[Narrator]

Do you understand me?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Yes, Captain. Are you sure they took him?

[Narrator]

What else? They caught us here. Now he's gone.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I couldn't have been Lebrado or the others.

[Narrator]

You mean they took him to pay for their chief?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

That is their custom, Captain Kearney. The spirit of one of the enemy who dies while looking at the dead chief will be the slave of the Gilberti spirit in their hero.

[Narrator]

Never mind all that. How much time have I got?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

A few hours, perhaps.

[Narrator]

Where are they?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Captain, I know the hopelessness of anything you would attempt. You yourself would be killed. I'm afraid I must refuse to answer any more of your questions. Where are they? I'm sorry, Captain. Would you send me to my desk?

[Narrator]

But I'll make them understand that he's the wrong man.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You couldn't. Any man from the enemy village. We're all enemies since Lebrado was among us.

[Narrator]

Come on, Fenric, before I shake it out of you. Where would they take.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I'm sorry, Captain, whatever you. Connie. Use your head, Labrado. After all this, you come back to do more? Sure, sure, I come back. Why not with the same. 45? In case Carney gets too brave.

[Narrator]

Have it ready, Labrado. When you need it, you're gonna need it in a hurry.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

It is ready. Why don't you wake up, Carney? Your mate is gone with the Kanakas. What can you do? Use your head. Go with me to your ship now so we can get off this island.

[Narrator]

Drop it.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I pay your passage in advance.

[Narrator]

You're just making me sick. Drop it.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Get sore.

[Narrator]

Pull the trigger. Do something. But quit trying to sell me that deal.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

All right. You stay on the island then. With you it would be easy. You think we can't leave on your ship without you? We handled cruise like that before. We'll make it all right.

[Narrator]

You might at that for a few days.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

It's a good try, Carney. I promise you that. Now that you give me your ship, I tell you where the Kanakas take your main. Why don't you just shoot him? You know what you're doing to him by telling him? Sure I know. I fix it so the captain can bend over three sharp bamboo stakes. Two for the belly, one for the heart, while a big kanaka, he pushes him down from behind. Go through the grove, Carney. South of there, you'll find his grub forest. After you go through 300 yards, you look low underneath, maybe see their fire. Maybe you'll get there in time to see how the three stakes look in your mate. You're happy now? Yeah.

[Narrator]

And I don't want to spoil it by forgetting you got that gun. Get out of here, Librado. I can't stay away from you. Get out of here, Librado.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Sure, Carney. Don't make me sad to get out of here.

[Narrator]

Captain. Car's all right, Frederick.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

But your ship. Why not go with him and try.

[Narrator]

To save at least that?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

He's ruined what I've built. And now for a hopeless search. You let him put an end to what you have.

[Narrator]

That's enough, Fenrik.

[Detective Lasalle]

Maybe you're right.

[Narrator]

Maybe I should have gone. I couldn't.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Not yet.

[Narrator]

I followed the beach. I walked the 200 yards, then started dropping to the ground every 10ft or so to look under the heavy foliage for a flicker of flame. I covered half of the next hundred, squatted low for a few minutes, my soaked clothes sticking coolly to my body. The movement of a figure on the beach ahead caught my eye. All my attention focused on it. Not for long, but long enough to dull me to the movement behind me. Make a short rush. I have turned to meet one of them. The other one stayed behind me, and a loop settled around my throat. I struggled until I was blinded by the flashes in my eyes. The noose relaxed as soon as I stopped. Hand in my back pushed me in the direction the native behind me wanted me to go. I stumbled ahead, along an unseen passage through the scrub. I entered the uneven circle of light spreading from a number of fires fighting against the rain. I looked up at a wall of stony, silent faces, and my natives pulled me to a halt. I made myself look at the ground, forced my eyes to stay on a triangle of stiletto sharp stakes that gleamed wetly in the fire. My guard took my shoulder. The noose slipped off. Then he turned me away from the stake, pushed me forward toward the wall of natives. An aisle split the crowd. I was guided through it. I made the first six feet on the other side. Then I stopped. Fire on this side was bigger, flames leaping cheerfully higher than my head, forming a curtain that I could see vaguely through, only vaguely, and I still couldn't believe what I thought I saw.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Yeah. Oh, he.

[Narrator]

I moved around the fire, and I had to believe it because I heard it. No, this is not the killer of that chief. Fine.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Up.

[Narrator]

Gallagher. Not impaled on stakes, but seated on a chair of sorts, his bright red beard glowing in the firelight and a shelter of palm leaves protecting, protecting him from the rain. The rest of us stood in. He looked at me coolly, then gestured idly with two fingers on his right hand.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

White man sent to me. Well, then I speak to the white man. Then we find the killer of their chief.

[Narrator]

And now you know me. I'm a big gun around here, and if I like you, I might save your life. I went stumbling around here, figuring maybe I'd save yours. What the devil's going on? My beard and my coloring, right? Yeah. They saw me come Ashore. And then they dragged me out of that cottage and made a big shot out of me. Before I could congratulate myself, they got a legend that a guy with a beard and hair like I'm sporting floated.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Into Beirut island in the Gilberts three or 400 years ago and he turned.

[Narrator]

Into quite a leading light. They think I'm him, come back to save their pearls. Make your maggot.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I hope so, because if I don't.

[Narrator]

That's why I had them out there waiting for you. I knew you'd get on this trail sometime. Lebrado and his hands were on their way to take over the Queen when I left. The Queen. What's the matter with you, skipper? How'd you let him get away with that? All the artillery? I didn't even have you. I don't think they'll risk the reef with this rain cutting visibility. Well, we better take a stab at it quick. Catch them while they're at anchor. Can you get some helpers?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Can I?

[Narrator]

All I gotta do is wag this beard. How many you want? 50, 100, or the whole blaster pack? 20 of the best swimmers, that's great.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

But being what I am, I'll have to outswim them or admit that I'm human. Watch my beard, skipper. I'll show you how it's done.

[Narrator]

Stand by.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Tell them this.

[Narrator]

I demand 20 swimmers.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

They must be strong and silent and filled with fire. When they are ready, we will go and get the pearls. The one who took them from the burial bed and the two killers of their chief, Matangi.

[Narrator]

Hey, you're all right, Red. You got that immortal attack. This is the life for you. Yeah.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Yeah, it's fine.

[Narrator]

But that other Joe, he married eight wives.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You should see what I've been through, dodging that.

[Narrator]

That honor. Well, you tell him you got a scarlet queen. That just sets off your beard. That's woman enough for you.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Believe me, skipper, I'll be glad to get her back.

[Narrator]

An hour later, Gallagher and I had led our 20 natives to the edge of the lagoon a safe distance away from the pier and stripped down the dungarees. We slipped into the water, stroked silently with our arms. Submerged with only our heads breaking the surface, we reached the queen, rested on the port side. We found both Thorpe and Borell standing watch on deck. According to plan. I submerged, swam under the keel in the starboard side, waited there for the disturbance that was to take them to port so I could board. I didn't hear the sound, but I saw Thorpe's head lift and Swing toward it. I was halfway over the rail by the time they started to move and I was behind them. As they reached the rail, I dropped to the deck and lifted their feet. First, Thorpe. They were fished out by waiting brown arms. That quieted their struggling and started towing them to shore. Gallagher came aboard. We didn't wait to. We went after him. He was sitting on the edge of my bunk, idly picking an untrimmed thumbnail. When he saw us, his mouth dropped open. He lunged to his feet and his hand streaked toward the automatic at his waist.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Hey, what the devil.

[Narrator]

Without the gun this time. LeBron go. I take his gun.

[Mrs. Johnson / Rita]

Right.

[Narrator]

I'll take him.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Hey, what do you think you're doing?

[Narrator]

I don't know what to do without that automatic in your fist, do you?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Look brighter.

[Narrator]

You don't like it when you're unarmed like that native cheese. I don't think you knew what else to do with a guy who had enough guts to walk up to you and your two rifle. You don't understand guts, do you? Scares you to death when you see them in somebody else. Don't rich enough. I'm quite a dangerous. All right, now get up. All right, I got him.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

What's this?

[Narrator]

He fell out of his shirt.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

That's the pearls.

[Narrator]

Randy, you bring them. We'll give both the pearls and librato to our friend.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Honey, don't let those baby wounds get. Shut up. Librato.

[Lady Sailor]

Please.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Please don't. Don't let them get me.

[Narrator]

All right, Gallagher, be the big chief. Hand the pearls over to your loyal subjects. Right, skipper. Hey, you.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Here catch. Carney. What are you gonna do?

[Timbro / Undertaker]

Hey, down there.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

No, Cardy. Your mighty red God has another gift for.

[Narrator]

The rain let up, and through a rift in the clouds, the moon shot a spotlight that shone on a triangle of palms ashore. They gleamed wetly in the silver light, and they reminded me of the triangle of glistening stiletto sharp stakes that were now waiting for Lebrado. I went in to clean myself up before I hit the sack. By 1:30 the next day, we discharged Fenrick's cargo and left Hull island basking in the sun, peacefully once more richer for the unkempt schooner Ransom from Honolulu. With the white curl of surfon coral dropping astern, I cut the motor and red roared the crew into action.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Invade to make sail.

[Narrator]

It was a meek equatorial breeze that flowed in on our starboard quarter. But the crewmen jumped to their stations as though it was the wind they'd waited for all their lives. It was the holiday wind that we'd ride to Christmas. No snow or holly wreaths, no sleigh bells or shopping lists. But we'd be one up on the world. We'd celebrate the holiday on Christmas Island. The mainsail blossomed into the air. The jibs and the mizzen swung across my head and its expanse went to work. The Scarlet Queen, unimpressed by the meager wind she was getting, settled lazily on her course and nestled into the long blue green swells that stretched endlessly ahead.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Hey, skipper, I got something to show you.

[Narrator]

How are you, almighty bearded one?

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Prior to the Gilbert Islands? Yeah.

[Timbro / Undertaker]

You.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

You think it's a gag, huh?

[Narrator]

Look at here.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Look. The Pacific Islands handbook page once again.

[Narrator]

Go ahead, go ahead. Read, read.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Look at that.

[Narrator]

The Spanish explorer Manana was in these waters in 1567, and it's believed that he may have cited the Gilbert Group. That's my outfit, yeah. Strong native tradition has it that between 1550 and 1600, a man with white skin, red hair and red beard came ashore at the island of Beirut. Gilberts in a boat like a box. In a famished condition, he recovered, took as wives the eight sisters of a local chief and had 23 children whose descendants are now scattered throughout 14 of the 16 Gilbert Islands. He may have come from Mendan's ship.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

How do you like that? It's right there for anybody to read.

[Narrator]

Oh, Red, it's a great beard. But with the name Gallagher, it somehow doesn't point back to a Spanish expression.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Explorer. Yeah, yeah. Well, funnier things have happened.

[Narrator]

And besides, it worked, didn't it? We got out of there with your loyal subjects pushing eight wives at you. You had to get out. Had to defend yourself, Red, just like you said.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

I told him I had a scarlet queen.

[Narrator]

That just set off my beard.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Here, skipper. To the Queen. Yeah.

[Narrator]

After what she got you out of. To the Queen. After you, mate. After you. Log entry. The catch. Scarlet Queen, 5:30pm Wind light. Sky fair with cumulus on eastern horizon. Sea calm with low swell. Ship secure for night Sign. Philip Carney, Master.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Mutual, invites you to.

[Narrator]

Sail into further adventure on the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen. Next week at this same time, Porto.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

Call Christmas island the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen.

[Narrator]

Queen stars Elliot Lewis as Phil Kearney with Ed Max as Gallagher. And tonight featured Jack Petruzzi as Labrado with Herb Butterfield as Fenrick and Dave Young as Borrell. Music scored and conducted by Richard Orant. The Scarlet Queen, a Command Radio production is written by Gil Dowd and Bob Tolman.

[King / Ray Lebrado]

This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.

[Relic Radio Host]

There's more from Bold Venture, Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, this podcast, and all of the rest of the Relic Radio shows, all at the website relicradio.com click on that donate button while you're there if you'd like to to help support this and all of that. You make it all possible. Thanks to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week. Be back tomorrow with an hour of mystery on Case Closed and next Tuesday with our next episode of the Relic Radio Show.