Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Wanna get away from it all? We offer you Escape. Escape, designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Escape, brought to you by your Richfield Gasoline dealer and the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York. Marketers of Richfield Gasolines with Xylene, Rich Lube, All Weather, Motor Oil and other famous petroleum products. Look for the Richfield Eagle on the cream and blue pumps. Tonight we escape with the story of the murderous priests of a weird cult hidden in the barren deserts of Mexico. As Gov. Morris tells it in his famous tale, The Footprint. Here it is. Now you see me, Buckles. Here's the Gulf of California. And up here near the Barra de Sanorge, on the coast of Sonora, we find two bays divided by a high spit of sand with a granite pillar marking the bay to the north. It's a massive thing, that pillar. Easy to find, you can't miss it. Then there's 20 miles inland due east from the pillar and we find it. Find what? A Chinese pagoda. A Chinese pagoda? You sure it isn't a Japanese wigwam? Ah now boys, I know it sounds strange, but it's the truth I'm telling you. How did you get this map, Mr. Mogridge? I died from a Chinese, God rest his hidden soul. I did him a sort of a favor once. You did him a sort of a favor and he tells you where to find a fortune and rubies? How come there's a Chinese pagoda full of rubies in Mexico? If you know the facts, me Buckles, it wasn't the Spanish who first set foot in these shores, it was the Chinese. Come on you guys. Thanks Mr. Mogridge, we're sorry to take up your time. Oh now, now, wait a minute, wait a minute. It's a nice trip on a good sound schooner. And if you like sailing, what have you got to lose? And there was nothing to lose except the $200 a head he charged to outfit the schooner. And that was cheap enough for a summer's cruise and we all liked sailing. Well, we took it easy after we left San Francisco, heading around the Cape of Lower California, heading La Paz and then up and across to Wymus and on into the northern part of the Gulf. And after two weeks of searching for a pair of bays marked by a granite pillar, we finally anchored in a small inlet to look for fresh water. The relief from constant sailing was good. Come on, I'll draw a card will ya Chris? Gene, you're blitzed. You're a lousy card player. Yeah, you're just lucky pinhead. And that makes 500 you owe me. I'll pay you when we find the rubies. You deadbeat. Chin up lads, we'll find that pillar yet. Ah nuts, Margridge. We've looked into 50 of these bays. Why don't you cut out the act? What are you talking about lad? Just come right out and say it. You cooked up this whole deal as a meal ticket. You can't see anything through those binoculars except what we've already seen a hundred times. There's no hunk of granite in 500 miles. You know it. Well to think the thought could enter your mind. Boy, I'm as put out as any of you. But now's the time to persevere and we'll find it. Hey skip it. Come on, green on the cards. Hey, wait a minute. Now there's something for you. What? There's a boat heading into the bay. We scrambled up to Margridge at the bow. Boats were rare this far up the Gulf. She was just rounding into the bay a quarter mile off. She looked like one of the fishermen we'd seen down by Weimers, but not quite. Better one of you get the guns out of the locker. There's no use taking any chances. I'll get it. By the time Meff came back with the guns on deck, the stranger was close and sure. And as she came about, we saw him through the binoculars seated on the open stern holding a yellow umbrella to keep off the sun. A Chinese dressed in gleaming white. He was mountainous with fat and his big round smiling face glistened with sweat. Another Chinese stripped to the waist came out of the big cabin, lowered a dinghy and hopped in. The big Chinese swung his rolling fat over the rail. We watched the fat man being rowed into shore and continued watching as the dinghy skipped back to the boat which headed out to sea. Until it rounded the horn of the bay, the Chinese just stood there. Then he picked up his yellow umbrella, turned and waddled across the beach, lumbered over a dune and was gone. What do you make of that? I don't know. I don't know. But now's the time to find out. Let's go ashore. Look at that guy's foot prints. He must weigh a ton. You said it, man. Come on, boys. This way. Up the dune. I can't run that fast in this stuff. Hey, boys! Boys! What's got into him? Well, get up the dune and we'll find out. Come on. Call me a liar, will you? Call me a cheat. Call the mapper phony, will you? Look, look, look. What? That's the pillar. The granite pillar. No wonder we couldn't find it. It's almost buried in the sand. Will you look at the size of it? The rubies, boys. We've as good as got them. What about our fat friend? Looks like he has the same thing on his mind. We follow him, me buckos. It's four with guns against a yellow umbrella. Come on, lads. It all seemed real now. It wasn't a corny gag. Somewhere in that desert was a fortune in rubies. And apparently that Chinese was leading us to it. Ahead of us we could see the yellow umbrella bobbing in the distance. And for all his fat, he set us a murderous pace. Hey. Why doesn't he stop? This is killing me. He will, he will. But we got to put closer to him. Save your breath. But he didn't stop. He kept it up the rest of the day. The sun was like a red-hot iron on our backs, and the heat waves danced off the desert like crazy devils. For a while just before the sun set, the heat threw up a mirage. And the fat bulk of the Chinese seemed to waddle through the sky. Then it was dark, and we lost him. Until... Hey, look. He's coming back. What? The Chinese. I come back to say I go twenty miles without no stop. You like to come all the way, I say nothing. Only tell you all the way nasty sound. You go back. Wish you pleasant halt and return journey. We're not going back. Very well. Only I experience traveler and put up with no complaints. Pleasant conversation and all good friends at end of journey. You. He means you, Johnny. Me? You got nice respectable face. Walk with me. Okay. My name Sang Ti. Very fine, rich Chinese merchant. Oh. Where do you come from? No matter. Where I go is important. Chan Chan, very fine holy place to end days in. Holy place? Oh, yes. You see, I am dedicated to high gods by parents when very little boy. They ask high gods I be given very fine successful life. It is accomplished. Now must pay our promises of parents to high gods. You're very lucky. Look. On forty-fifth day of forty-fifth year, I kneel before priest of high gods, pray before sacred rubies of holy grace spirit, reflect on insignificance of life, and I'm soon strangled. What? Strangled? I give you honest word. Being strangled at forty-five is no joke. But cannot break promises of dead parents. Maybe so, but I can. I arrange for you and friends to see ceremony. It is very dignified, interesting occurrence. Excuse me now. Please, I meditate. He folded his hands inside his sleeves, dropped his chin on his chest, and drew ahead. We couldn't keep up with him, and three hours later we were still following the black holes the fat Chinese's feet had left behind. It was just an hour before dawn when we finally saw it. Chan Chin, a large stone building with a few smaller ones tucked near it. How there could have been a lake in the middle of this impossible waste was beyond understanding, but there was a small one, and we ran for it. It was the sweetest sight in the world. We sucked it up with our paws and mouths, lay in it, patted it, kissed it. Oh, it was beautiful. I don't care if I ever see another French bathing suit again. Oh, you lovely water you. Where do you suppose to be head, huh? What? The rubies, Miboko, the rubies. How about that big building, huh? Looks like some sort of a heathen temple. It is temple. Temple of Haigant. Sang tea. Sang tea again. You are better travelers than I expect. You look a bit, then go home. Priests a very unhealthy place for unbelievers. How many priests? Ten, ten priests. Not many, but enough. Why you come to Chan Chang? By, we heard about it through a friend. Now you see, you go before sunrise. I couldn't move another step. Why you come here? Maybe to steal very high god's rubies? You leave very high god's ruby box alone. You with respectable face take friends away. I can't Sang tea. We've got to rest. You wait till after interesting occurrence of strangulation, then you go. For a man about to meet the high god, you're pretty calm. Oh, very miserable business, but parents make promise. What can do? It is time. It is time. Well, me buckles, as the fat heathen says, it is time. Yeah, this I got to see. Black as pitch. See anything? No. Wait. You hear it? Easy. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere in front. Hey, look at that up there ahead. You see, looks like it's suspended in midair. It's the rubies me buckles. Gold casket studded with them. Look at them glow. Where's the light coming from? That hole in the roof there. See sun's rising. Now look, it's a heathen idol and it's got the ruby box held in one of its hands. And in the other hand, a snake, a little gray enamel snake. Watch it. Somebody's coming. A row of green robe priests, eyes closed in silent prayer, began filing into the circle of light. One of them stepped in front of the idol, held up a long gray cord as if for the idol to see. The circle of light widened and we saw the kneeling form of Sang T. He wasn't smiling now. He looked sad and frightened. I don't think he's really going to get strangled. You got me. As if he'd been waiting for a signal, the priest stepped quickly in back of Sang T, looped the cord over his neck and jerked. Watch out! C6H4 and CH3 taken twice. No, that's not pig latin and it's not a secret code either. It's the scientific description of xylene. Xylene is one of the highest adenoch gasoline components ever discovered by science. But here's the big news, every drop of Richfield gasoline you buy contains xylene. Richfield gasoline contains this super adenoch component to take the knock out of hill climbing. To put a new wallop in your motor, to zip you out ahead in traffic, give you power to spare on the open road, and Richfield offers you two great gasolines to choose from, both with xylene. Get Richfield high octane at regular price for the average motor or Richfield ethyl. At its best for smooth, knockless performance in the highest compression motors. Get Richfield gasoline with xylene tomorrow. Stop where you see the Richfield eagle under cream and blue pumps. And now we return you to Escape. You got a murder, Rich. You got the priest. A murder and a hyena. Come on. Come on. Be careful. There might be a priest in here somewhere. Sang T. Is he all right? No, his neck's broken. He's dead. Ah, skip the fat heathen. One of you reach for the ruby casket. I'll get him. Holy Moses, that must be worth a fortune. Look out, Meth, the snake. The snake's not part of the idol. It's alive. Get away. Get away. The little gray snake struck at his hand like lightning. As Meth fell, it was already on the floor racing at Margridge who had grabbed their ruby casket. He smashed at it with his rifle butt, breaking the tail, and it slithered away under the idol. We looked at Meth. He was horrible, purple, like he'd been dead a week. We ran, ran out into the desert. Wait. Wait up, will you? I can't keep this up, me buckles. This thing is heavy. There. Let's see that casket, Margridge. Look at him, Johnny. We're rich, you know that? We're rich. Doesn't it mean anything to you that Meth is dead? He's dead. Yeah, sure it means something, Johnny. It means he only split it three ways. Is that all you can think about? What do you want to do? Send him his share? Forget it, forget it, forget it. I said anything. Let's get out of here. Now, now, now, lads, calm down. There's 20 miles of Devil's Playground between us and the schooner. We got to start using our heads. Well. Hey, settle down, Johnny. It's going to be a hot day. The rubies flamed in the early sun. Crisp leered at them and Margridge's face had a look I'd never seen before. All they meant to me was Meth and that sudden, horrible death. I don't remember it getting hot. It just was. It was jerks not to get that water out of the lake. You feel like going back? And then me. I got what I came after. Are we going the right way? Yeah. Sunset's in the west. We'll be walking right into it. How far we come? I don't know. I don't know anything except that it's hot. Here, Crisp. It's your turn to carry the cask. Oh, it's a job. Look at that thing. All right. Here, Johnny. You take the rifle. I'll take it for you, me buckle. No. No, Johnny will carry it. Why, of course me fine boy. Well, give it to me. Let's get going. I wish this thing was split three ways already. Wouldn't be so heavy. And like the day was endless, the cask get passed from Crisp to me and back to Mulgridge. I got heavier each time. I didn't think of meth anymore. The sun burned all thought of him out of my brain as it headed down for the horizon with maddening slowness. How much longer is it going to hang there? It's enough to drive a man crazy. We can't stop. I got to stop. We can't stop. We'll never be able to get up. I'm no fat Chinese. I can't walk 20 miles without a stop. If only one of them late mirages was real. Look. Look, do you see it? Over there on the left. Yeah. Looks like somebody walking in the sky just over them dunes. Looks like one of them priests. Don't you see what it means? We saw the same thing when we were following Sang T. You mean one of them priests is following us? Yes, it's the casket. He wants the casket. Now don't get all excited. Remember, we got the gun. There's only one of the devils. Just let him show. He knows we've got a gun. He won't show while there's still sunlight. He'll wait for the darkest time just before the moon. What could he do? I don't know what he could do and I don't want to find out either. Johnny's right. That's when he try. You know, I'm not as tired as I thought. We best be moving along, me buckles. There goes the sun. We didn't run. We couldn't. Crisp was carrying the casket and we had to stay together. All day we prayed for the sun to go down and now that it had, we almost wished it was still there. The blackness was sudden and complete. We kept walking, waiting, ready for anything. But nothing happened. The dark hour passed in the moon roads. We fooled him. Aye, it seems that we did me buckles if he was there at all. He was there all right. Those priests let us get away too easy. Look, you guys, let's stop. I'm bushed. There's enough moonlight now to see anything. We'll be making it to the schooner tomorrow, easy. It's my turn with the rubies. I'll stand first watch. Well, I guess it's safe. Moon's pretty bright. Oh, my bones, my muscles. We dropped where we stood. I think what woke me was the moonlight creeping under the brim of my hat. I felt cold. I sat up and saw Chris was asleep. His hat had slipped down over his face, but his fingers were still wrapped tighter on the casket. I looked across the desert and froze. Just for an instant I saw a yellow face duck back behind a low dune. When I got to where I'd seen it, there was nothing, not even a mark in the sand. But I had seen a face. Margridge and Crisp were still dead asleep, only it seemed that Crisp's hat had slipped a little. And then it actually shifted, rose and settled back. Crisp, Crisp, are you awake? Don't move, Crisp. It's the snake. Kill it, kill it, kill it. What's happening? Crisp is dead. Look at him. It was under his hat all the time. It's the little gray snake with a broken tail that Chinese is hunting us down. Which way did it go? There, you see the track. You missed it? Yes, I missed it. And it's coming back. It'll keep coming back until it gets us. We've got to get to the schooner. Leave the casket, Margridge. That's what they want. Hasn't it caused enough trouble? It takes a bit of trouble to get rich, Johnny, me boy. I don't mind it a bit. Johnny, Johnny, me boy. I got to have water. Oh, help me, Johnny. There isn't any. We've got to get to the schooner. I know the signs, Johnny. There's water out here. Help me look. Don't, Margridge. It'll drive yourself crazy. Crazy as it. Don't call me crazy. It's you. Look over there. It's bushes, green bushes. There's nothing I tell you. It's just sand. Now, don't lie, Johnny. Don't lie. I'll go fetch a drop. It'll make you feel better. You watch after the rubies and I'll fetch us. So come back, Margridge. We've got to go on. Stay with the rubies, Johnny. I watched him work his way over stumbling in the sand. And then suddenly I saw it. There was something green. It was a plant. I see it. I see it too. It's water. It's water. No, no, Margridge. It's silk. Green silk. He wasn't crazy now, neither was I. The green-robed priest rose up out of the desert and in his hand he held the little gray snake. Margridge was running back. Then there was darkness in my eyes and I was running, running desperately with something heavy clutched in my arms. We only stopped when it was broad daylight and the sense of fear came to an end. Is he following? No, no. I thought it was a close one, the dirty heathen. Do you feel it? What? The breeze. Oh, it's cool. The sea breeze. It's the Gulf, me buckle. We made it. Look, I see it. The schooner. The whole cask of water right in deck. The tide's up. Let's get out of here. The two of us can handle the schooner, can't we? Even one. I've done it many times. Johnny, step away from the rubies, Johnny. What? Johnny, lad, you see the gun. Now step away from the rubies. Margridge, you're kidding. You don't think I'd cut you in on a fortune and rubies for $200, do you now? Put down the gun. I didn't plan on you getting this far. I needed the three of you to carry the box, but now the box is here aboard the schooner. So step back to the rail, Johnny. Margridge. Step back, Johnny. That's a fine boy. I realized everything now. Margridge knew that Sang Tee would come. He knew where the bay was in the fallen pillar. It led us like sheep. I was going to die too in that desolate place. I felt the rail of the schooner against my legs. But before you go, maybe you'd like one last look at the rubies, huh? I hold them up. Oh, ain't they beauties. Then I saw it. The little gray snake slithering across the deck behind Margridge, but he didn't see it. Ain't they beauties, Johnny? Look at the colors. Red, like blood, and worth a fortune that won't be divided. Won't be divided at all. And then the snake struck. I looked at Margridge. His color began to change. It was horrible. Horrible. It was the priest standing on the deck beyond Margridge. And in his hand was the little gray snake. He picked up the ruby box, slipped the snake inside as if it had been a rare string of pearls. And then it bowed and was gone over the schooner's rail. I saw his green robe bobbing into the desert and the rubies flashing blood red in the sun. You don't need a fortune teller to tell you this. From now on, you'll probably have to wait longer for a new car. So don't neglect the car you've got. See to it that All Points have the protection they need to save wear and breakdown in hot summer weather. And to give you that needed protection, Richfield All Points Safety Service is made to order. Richfield All Points Service gives your car the sturdy protection of Rich Lube lithium lubricant, the premium lubricant that's better always. You'll get expert protection for your motor, chassis, transmission, differential, and wheel bearings, lubrication that stands up under the toughest summer driving. If you have automatic transmission, you'll get top rated Richfield automatic transmission fluid. And finally, as an extra precaution, you'll get a safety check on your battery, tires, spark plugs, and radiator. So tomorrow, stop where you see the Richfield Eagle on the cream and blue pumps. Richfield All Points Safety Service. Escape is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald. And tonight has presented the footprint by Governor Morris, adapted for radio by Richard Chandley. Featured in tonight's cast were Bill Conrad, Charles Davis, Luke Krugman, Tom Holland, and Ramsay Hill. Special music arranged and played by Ivan Dittmars. Next week. You are creeping through the dark streets of Paris in the middle of the night. Ahead of you, the Gestapo is lying in wait. And relentlessly tracking you down from behind is a murderous madman from whom there is no escape. Next week at this time, the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York invites you to escape with the most unusual story of fright and terror in occupied Paris, as Marcel Aime tells it in his unforgettable story, Crossing Paris. Be listening. Goodbye then, until this same time next week, when once again we offer you Escape. Tom Holland speaking over CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
