Presenting the transcription feature, Superman! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from the planet Krypton, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can leap tall buildings at a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, then steal in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice. And now to our story. Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen, lost underground in the winding man-made tunnels of a dead volcano, have stumbled on a great open pit carved out of the solid Earth, in which hundreds of men, chained together, are digging. Listen. But what are they digging, Mr. Kent? That's what we're going to find out, Jimmy. How? We can't take a chance on being seen. Of course not. We've got to be careful. Jimmy, look down there on the floor of the pit. That dark, shiny stuff they're loading into those little dump trucks. Maybe it's coal. No, Jimmy. Radium. You mean that black stuff is radium? Pitch blend. The basic ore of radium. Come on. Where are we going? Back along this passage the way we came. Well, we can't go back into the main corridor. Dutch and his men will catch us, sure. We're not going into the main passage. We're just going to nose around a little. There really is a pitch blend they're digging. There must be solution tanks nearby to process this stuff. You really think so? I don't know what I'm hoping. Hey, give me a hand, Jimmy. I don't want to lose you. Hey, what's the game, pal? Jimmy! Jimmy, where are you? I'm excited. It's a hole in the floor. Good thing I can see in the dark. Jimmy must have dropped through. Deep, too. Jimmy! Jimmy, are you down there? Are you all right? I'm coming down, Jimmy. Don't worry about me. Here I come. I made it. Are you okay? Uh-huh. What happened up there? Did you walk into the hole? I know. The floor just gave way under me. That's fine. I got it like rocks going down an iron chute. Coming from over there. Come on, Jimmy. Let's find out what it is. Wait. I just kicked something. Felt like a rock. Pick it up. I've got one match. I'm going to light it and see what this is all about. A piece of pitch blend. Jimmy, we're at the bottom of a huge metal vat. This is where they treat the ore with acid. Good golly, Mr. Kent. How are we going to get out before they pour in the acid? Just stick close to me, Jimmy. I'll feel my way around the wall of this chamber. Must be a place where they draw off the solution. We're loading it up with pitch blend. I'll find that outlet before they pour in the acid. Opening on this side. Come on. Let's look on the opposite side. I hope we find the outlet soon. Yeah, wait. Here's something. You look like hinges. Look a minute now. Yeah, it's a door. Wait, I'll try to push it open. It's coming. Yeah. You've done it, Mr. Kent. It's opening. All right, now I'll hold it while you duck out. Okay. Not very wide. Oh, wait a minute. Seems to be a drop here. I'm sure it's all right. Just let yourself down easy. All right, now out you go. Hey. All right. Out of the way, Jimmy. Jimmy, I was right. That wasn't the bat. This must be the room where they leave the solution to settle. Those big copper kettles. Yeah, Jimmy, there's no question about it. Deutsch and his gang are making pure radium on this island. Evidently, it has a tremendous deposit of pitchblend. Mr. Kent, what do they use the radium for? In some way, it must be tied up with their master plan. Coming from through that wall there. Look, there's a door. Now let's try it. Be ready to run, Jimmy. We don't know what we're getting into. Okay. All right, here we go. First, these bolts. Quiet, Jimmy. As Kent and Jimmy prepare to track down the mysterious activity in the hollow volcano, Dr. Deutsch, furious over Jimmy's escape from his cell and their inability to find Kent, is angrily reprimanding Hans, his henchman. Hans, you are an idiot. The king of all idiots. Yeah, doctor. The boy was locked in his cell when I left him. Locked in his cell when you left him? First, you cannot get any information out of him. Then he escapes. A little boy. Just a little boy. And not one of the hundreds of men I have on this island can find him. He has outdated all of you. But we will find him. Give us time, Herr Doctor. The island is large. There are miles of tunnels. I warn you. He will be found, Hans, or you will suffer for it. Ja, Herr Doctor. I understand. He will be found. Not only will the boy be found, Hans, but the man who was with him. Jawohl, Herr Doctor. Hallo. Hallo. Ja. Ja. Two people at the edge of the pitchblend mine? A man and a boy? It must be the boy who escaped from us and the man who was with him. Make a search for them at once. And if you value your neck, you will find them and bring them here to me. Yes. And report to me every 15 minutes. The man in the boy, the air shaft from the pitchblend mine, standing there, watching. And your men are looking for them. Hans, how much radium has been on hand? Here is the report, Herr Doctor. Eight ounces, two grams. A total of only eight ounces, two grams from the richest pitchblend deposit in the world. It won't do. But Herr Doctor, it takes over 300,000 tons of pitchblend to produce only one ounce of radium. So, have we not the most modern machinery? Are not the vats the largest in the world? Ja, Herr Doctor, but the problem is not the richness of the ore deposits or even the equipment. Well, what is it then? Speak up. Manpower. The men are very, Herr Doctor, worn out. They cannot dig fast enough to fill the vats. There are not enough of them for three complete ships. Hans, you sit here and drool about manpower. Do not come to me with such nonsense. Get more men. But Herr Doctor, how? The same way we got the others. But it is so risky. If we go too far, there will be an investigation. We take that chance. We must take that chance soon. Jawohl, Herr Doctor. But if we have found out, then all is lost. The master plan, everything. Schweinhold! How dare you offer an opinion? You do as you're told. If we do not take that chance, then the master plan cannot succeed. It is seven o'clock. By midnight, I will expect you to have more men. You understand? By midnight. Back in the dark reduction chamber, Kent and Jimmy have opened a heavy iron door to investigate moaning sounds that seem to come from the next room. Whatever it is, it lives in the dark. It's not an animal, Jimmy. That's a human voice. I'll bet on it. Now, you stay here and hold the door open, just in case we've got to get out fast. We don't want to get trapped in there. Okay. You all right? Open the door wider. Let's get a little light in here. I'll be... Jimmy, he seems to be moaning in his sleep. No, no, no. That's your machine. We're friends. Come in, Jimmy. Pull the door closed. All right, Mr. Kent. Who are you? My name's Clark Kent. I'm a newspaper reporter. This is Jimmy Olsen. Who are you? Who am I? Yes. Why, I've almost forgotten. They used to call me Julius Browning. What? Professor Julius Browning before all this. Gosh. I recognize the name, Professor. You held the chair in radiology at Oxford, if I remember correctly. That was before you disappeared on an expedition to investigate a rich radium department. Yes, that's right. What happened, Professor? Why are you a prisoner here? That man, Deutsch, he came to me posing as a fellow. A fellow scientist with the money to develop these rich deposits of radium ore. It had been a dream of mine for years to get enough radium so that all the sick could benefit from it. So that all science could experiment with it freely. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to go along with Deutsch. And now you're his prisoner. Even worse than that. I'm forced to run his machines. When I've done all I can to keep his plant in operation, he imprisons me here. Are you strong enough to walk, Professor? I'll find the strength somehow. If it means coming back from this living death, I can do anything. All right, let me help you. Here, Jimmy, take his other arm. I'll do it. There you go. Now, if you'll help me, I'm sure I can manage it. Your strength will come back, Professor. Better be quiet. Somebody might be coming for Professor Browning. I'll take a look before we go out. All right. Course clear? All clear. Professor, you can probably tell us how to get out of here. Yes, I can. Look there. Behind that vent, there's a door. Oh, good. It leads into one of the secondary tunnels. Opens directly onto the beach. Now, here we are. Jimmy, open the door. I can see the ocean from here. Yes. And you can hear the surf. Now, look carefully where I'm pointing my finger. You see those two lights far out on the water? Yes, Professor. Watch them. They are buoy lights marking the passage between the island and Dead Man's Reef beyond. I see them, but they're moving. Exactly, young men. Buoy lights moving. Now, you see those other lights off in the distance? Yes. Those are the running lights of a ship. A ship with men on it. Now, you'll see how Deutsch gets the men to dig in his radium mines. What is Deutsch's devilish trick? How does he lure men from the sea to work in chains in the darkness of Volcano Island? Listen in next time for the amazing answer to this question and for another thrill-packed episode. Don't forget, tune in again for the next thrilling episode with Superman. It's a plane. It's Superman. Superman is a copyrighted feature appearing in Action Comics magazine.