Presenting the transcription feature, Superman! 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 the never-ending battle for truth and justice! And now to our story. Arrested for having been involved in the shooting of Catherine Roebling, Clark Kent refuses to clear himself with the district attorney, preferring to remain in jail. But there's a method in Kent's seeming madness. Having heard over Dr. Roebling's voice machine that a man named Benson, a prisoner in the jail, has been marked for murder, Kent decides to remain on the spot. However, editor Perry White, enraged at his star reporter's apparently insane behavior, sends Lois Lane to the jail to talk him out of it. But instead, Kent tells Lois the truth, and asks her to get him some information about Benson and about a racketeer named Duke, responsible for the plot against Benson's life. As Lois is about to leave the cell, Kent discovers a dictograph hidden under the mattress of his bed. Listen. Are you sure that's what it is? Positive. Someone's been listening to every word I said. Well, the free performance is over, and I just ripped the wire out of the microphone. Oh, that does it. You better beat it, Lois, before they decide to hold you, too. Shh. Here comes the guard. Your five minutes is up, Miss Lane. I'm ready. Well, bye, Clark. Bye. I hope everything turns out all right. Oh, I'm sure it will, Lois. Thanks for coming to see me. Bye. So long. Remember me to Mr. White. I've got to get out of here before they start questioning me about my connection with Benson. That dictograph put a slight crimp in my plan, but I think I can rectify it. I guess that window up there is the best bet. Only three bars to bend. Superman shouldn't have too much trouble with them. That's one, and two, and three. I guess I can squeeze through that opening. I'll bend the bars straight again once I get out. Uh-oh. Someone's coming. Probably for me. I'd better beat it in a hurry. Up we go. That's a tight squeeze, all right. There. I'm out. I've got to bend the bars back fast. Does it? Now. Up. Up. And away. Here's the cell, Monahan. Why, it's empty. Empty? You're crazy. Well, look at it. Now, wait a minute. Something's wrong here. I'll open up. Come on from under that bed. There's nobody under the bed. The cell's empty. He busted out. Ring the alarm bell. Hurry. Close all cell blocks. Where's your escape? Close all cell blocks. Get the mayor. Get the police commissioner. Get my lawyers. I don't care who you get first. Just get them. Uh, wait a minute. What happened to my call to the district attorney? What? He's on the wire now. Okay. Hello. Now, look, Warren. I'm tired of fooling around with you. Yes, yes. This is Perry White. I don't have to curb my temper. It's mine, and I can do as I please with it. Now, you listen to me for a change. What kind of a game do you think you're playing? First, you toss Ken into jail, and now you're holding Lois Lane. If you think I'm going to stand by and let you pull things like that, you're crazy. What's that? Ken escaped two minutes ago. Broke out of jail. Look, Warren. That's the richest thing I ever heard. A newspaper reporter breaking out of your escape-proof jail. Oh, Ken, hello. Kent. Goodbye, Warren. I'll deal with you later. Close that door. You hold them. What's all the excitement, Mr. White? I'm going crazy here, and you ask, what's all the excitement? How did you get out of jail? I walked out. What do you mean you walked out? Okay, I broke out. Then Warren wasn't kidding. You did escape. Well, I suppose you could call it that, technically. Now, Kent, I can't stand much more of this. What in the name of Flying Fishes is all this about? Why are they holding Lois Lane incommunicado? And why won't they let anyone talk to her? I was afraid of that. And you were afraid of what? Am I an office boy around here? Am I supposed to find out things when they appear in the paper, or what were you afraid of? Why are they holding Lois? Why did you refuse to tell the district attorney your connection with the Roebling case? Well, it's a long story, Mr. White. I don't care if it takes ten years to tell. Out with it. Shh. Yes? I have the mayor for you, Mr. White. I don't want the mayor. But you said... I don't care what I said. All right, Kent. Start talking. I don't know whether I should, Mr. White. If you recall, you fired me just before you left the district attorney's office this morning. Don't be a fool, Kent. Well, after all, if I'm not in your employ, why should I... You are in my employ. I'll give you a raise. I'll make editor-in-chief. I'll do anything. But for the love of pink elephants, tell me what this is all about. Okay. I'll make it as brief as possible. You remember when you left Dr. Roebling's house, his voice machine was pretty well smashed up? Well, he repaired it during the night. And early this morning, we tested it. By a strange work of faith... As Clark Kent recounts the swiftly moving events of the past few hours, the two men about whom he is talking, Duke and Curly, are meeting in a small private office above the Swan Club. The thick steel door is locked and bolted, and the soundproof walls and ceiling impart a strange hush to their voices. Everything is all set. We tossed a brick through the window of a store on State Street, let yourself get nabbed, and the next thing you know, you'll be in the cell right opposite Vincent. It's as easy as all that. Yeah, but how do I get out once I pull the job? Don't worry about that. It's all right for you to tell me not to worry. Everything's set, didn't you hear me? Yeah, I know, but suppose something don't click? Suppose the works get jammed? They won't get jammed. Leave it to the big guy. I'd feel better if I knew who the big guy was, Duke. Much better. Nobody cares how you feel. You got a job and you do it, that's all. Yeah, I know, but... If you don't want to do it, we can find someone else. Oh, it ain't that, Duke. I'll do it, but... Of course, if we have to find someone else, I don't know how the big guy will feel about you. Chances are he'll figure you can't be trusted and kind of make plans to see that you don't spill anything. Oh, I never said nothing about not doing it, Duke. You know I didn't. Okay. Now, you got everything straight? Yeah. I toss a brick through the window of a store on State Street, get nabbed and show up in a cell office at Benson. Then what? Then I give it to him and... I don't have to worry about getting out. Now you're talking, Curly. Hello? What? The same price symbols was yesterday. Okay, Chief. Yeah. Yeah? No kidding. Yeah. Yeah, I got it. Right. Forget what I told you, Curly. You mean about busting the window and getting nabbed? Yeah. Someone got wise, so we're switching plans. They're transferring Benson to the state prison at 9 o'clock tonight. Yeah, that makes it tough, don't it? No, it makes it easy. You and Spud take the sedan, park somewhere near the jail, and when the car carrying Benson comes out, tail it. There's a nice, open stretch of road on the Conway Turnpike, just before you cross the Red River Bridge. You know what to do. Well, it's in the bag, Duke. Duke, this way, it's a cinch. Nine o'clock, huh? Yeah. Get there early. Yeah, sure. Let Spud drive, and you handle the iron. Okay. That's all, Curly. Hey, Duke, before I scram, could I ask you something? What? Well, maybe it ain't none of my business, but every time you talk to the big guy, you say something sounds a little nutsy. Like just now, he must have asked you something, and you said the same price symbols was yesterday. Don't make sense. Never mind whether it makes sense or not. Well, it don't mean nothing to me, but I was just wondering because a couple of days ago, I heard you ask him what the price of wool was. You hear too much, Curly. Beat it. Yeah. Sure, I'm going. So long, Duke. So long. All probability, Mr. White, that's why they're holding Lois. The dictograph under the mattress was no doubt connected to the district attorney's office, and he heard me telling Lois about the plot to get Benson. Well, there's only one thing I've got to say. I've got to give you all the information you needed if I'd known about this before. Benson was city treasurer. What? The district attorney's office nabbed him when an outside audit of his books revealed close to a million-dollar shortage. You mean he stole a million dollars of the city's money? I don't know who stole it, but it's missing. Boy. As much as I dislike Warren, I must admit he hopped on it pretty fast. Now, this bird Duke you've been talking about, I'm not sure, but the chances are it's Duke Renard. Who is he? Well, he used to be a small-time gambler when he got into the building racket. Warren nabbed him, too, not so long ago. Yeah? He had a hand in the contract for the new courthouse, caught supplying inferior material, fined $85,000. Well, this all confirms my thoughts. Evidently, Duke Renard is still involved in the racket. Benson knows too much for Duke's health and the health of the man higher up. That's why they're after him. Yeah. I'll take it. Where am I talking? Who? Just a minute. It's for you, Kent. Oh, thanks. Hello? Oh, yes, Dr. Roebling. Yes? What? You did? Oh, yes. Hold on a second, will you? I'll get a pencil and paper. Okay. Yes? Nine o'clock. Nine o'clock. Conway Turnpike. Uh-huh. Yeah. What? What's the other name? Spud? Yeah, I've got it. Mm-hmm. Oh, he did, eh? I see. Yes. Well, thanks a lot, Dr. Roebling. Yeah. What? In jail. Oh, no, no. I talked myself out of it. Okay, goodbye. That was Dr. Roebling. He was fooling around with his voice machine and tuned in on another conversation between Duke and Curley. Benson is being transferred from the city jail to the state prison at nine o'clock tonight. And two of Reynard's men, Curley and Spud, have been assigned to get him. I'd better call Warren. Get me the district attorney. No, no. Wait a minute, Mr. White. Now, hold that call. Warren should know, Kent. I'd like to handle this in my own way, Mr. White. What do you mean? Let them transfer Benson and let Reynard's killers try to get him. I'll be there to see that they don't succeed. Kent, are you crazy? No. But I think I can stop them. Who do you think you are? Superman? Wouldn't editor Perry White be amazed if he knew that Clark Kent is, in reality, Superman. But more than that, both White and Kent are in for a surprise. Whoever is behind the plot to get rid of Henry Benson is in a position to know everything. Something startling is going to happen when Benson is transferred from the city jail to the state prison. So be on hand to hear it. Listen in with Superman. 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.
