You, finding life rather dull, dreaming again of exotic places, wishing you were somewhere else. We offer you escape. Take with us now to the barren wastes of northern Mexico and the story of a fortune in cash to be had for the asking, as Anthony Ellis tells it in his exciting story, This Side of Nowhere. You want to know where you can pick up a quarter of a million dollars? Well I know a place. The money's in hundred dollar bills. The last time I saw it, it was all in one place and the people who had it were the friendliest people in the world. That is, if you don't mind their particular kind of friendship. There hadn't been much business in Missouri, too much competition and the yokels were spoiled taking rides in the new stuff flying around. My old Stenson didn't look like much and I couldn't risk doing tricks in her. With me, when the customer paid three bucks for a ride, that's what he got, a ride. So there wasn't much business in Missouri. I've been lucky here in Kansas though. Hit a couple of towns where a plane is still a fancy contraption. As I headed west, I was a couple of bucks ahead. About 50 miles east of Wichita, I put down in a grass field outside Willing and I figured a day or so here would get me enough to buy a new tire for the right wheel. Al, hello there. Is this your field? Say, that was pretty. Coming down out of the sky like that, I've seen you from a long way. You like planes, huh? Sure. Is this your field? Yep. Downspurs, Bogan Stream. Well, look, I'd like to make a deal with you. And so? I'll be here for a couple of days. Let me keep the plane here and I'll give you five bucks. Five? Well... And a free ride. Mister, you got a deal. My name is Bill Medu. Shake. I put up my posters in town and waited and by six o'clock that night I made 36 bucks. It looked as if the town of Willing would keep me around for maybe three or four days. I put the Stenson to bed and Bill Medu's barn and then started out to find a place for myself. The old man walked along with me. Say, have you got any suggestions where I can put up while I'm here? See that flying red horse sign up there? Yeah. Right across the street is Medu's Willing Hotel. Nice and quiet. Two dollars a night. Breakfast 50 cents. Oh, yours, huh? It ain't fancy, but it's restful. Got a city woman staying there down from Kansas City. Now? Taking a rest. Oh, that sounds fine. Hey, we're having steak for dinner. I'll get the wife to put on an extra one for you. With the steak inside, I felt pretty good. About an hour after dinner, I got a look at the hotel's other guest. She was tall with a big city, bright crisp figure and special looking too. She didn't seem to notice me as she went over to the desk and started to write a letter. Now it got quiet and along about nine o'clock, I was ready to hit the hay. Excuse me. Yeah? You're the man with the plane, aren't you? Yes, that's right. Name's Gannett. Mr. Medu told me about you. Oh. I'm Phyllis Naylor. Well, it's nice to meet you. I wonder if you'd do me a favor. Why, sure. I wanted to go to Witches' Hall tomorrow, but the bus service is so bad, I'd have to wait until afternoon. Oh, you want me to fly you? Yes. Well, that's about 50 miles. I'd lose business here. I'll pay you 50 dollars. 50? Well, I wouldn't lose that much. Let's make it 25. If that's what you want. Can we leave early? Anytime. Seven, okay? I'll meet you down here at seven. All right. So long. You all set, Miss Naylor? Can I put your suitcase on the plane? Oh, no, thanks, Mr. Medu. I can manage. We'll miss you. Come visit us again sometime. Yes, I will. Well, let's go. I can come along and keep the company, Mr. Gannett. Okay, it's all right with me. No, I'd rather he didn't. Well, it's your ticket. Anything you say. I'll take you up when I come back, Bill. A couple of hours, huh? I'll wait for you. Hustle me up some business, huh? So long. Have you done much flying? Quite a bit. Oh? Doing it yourself? Yes. Oh, swell, swell. Would you like to move up here beside me and take over? Oh, no, thanks. Oh. Mr. Gannett. Yeah? How much would you want to fly me to Mexico? Are you kidding? No. Don't you think it might be nice? Oh, sure, but not in this grade. Short hops for me. Try the airline in Wichita. I can pay. I'll bet you can, but not me. The old windmill wouldn't take it. $5,000? Five? I could buy a ticket, but I prefer you to take me. Oh? Why? Maybe because I like you. I'm glad. Look, are you in trouble? Of course not. Then why don't you use a scheduled line? That's not your business. I've got the cash. Will you do it? No, you better try somebody else. We're not going to land Wichita. That's what you think. I've got a gun, Mr. Gannett. Don't turn around. Here. Hey, look, I'll be a good girl, will you? We've only got enough gas to get to Wichita. You're lying. The gauge says full. Well, it's broken. I'll take a chance. We can't make it in one hop. I'll have to come down sometime. That's all right. You don't want to get me in trouble, do you? No. I told you I like you. Just as long as you take me where I want to go. Head south. Go on. Okay. Where do you want to go? Torreón. That's over a thousand miles. We'll never make that. I think we can. Where do you think you'll have to stop to refuel? I guess we can make dollars if we don't blow up. All right. Please remember, Mr. Gannett, I'm quite serious. I can easily shoot you and fly myself. I'd rather not. Yeah. I'll remember. An hour later, we were flying over Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I turned around just once to look at her. She hadn't been bluffing. The gun lay in her hand steady and pointed at me. I began to think about Dallas. We'd have to come down there. It wouldn't be hard to get the gun away from her then, but there was something else. 5,000 bucks. I thought of what I could do with it, and the more I thought, the more I wondered if I was a sucker. Why fly with a gun in your back when you can make a deal just for the asking? If she was in trouble, that was her business. I didn't know anything about it, and I didn't want to. I reached for the map. What are you doing? Don't get nervous, honey. I just want to take a look at the map. Torreon, huh? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'd say that's about 300 miles below the border, southwest. I know. That's bad country in between if we had to come down. I know that too. Are you kidding about that 5 grand? No. All right. Put away your gun. What happens when we land at Dallas? Gas up, check the motor, and go on. If you try any tricks on me... Why should I? A good looker like you, 5,000 bucks. Can I sit next to you? Yeah, sure. Come on. There we go. Your first name's Deke, isn't it? You've been reading hotel registers. Yes. You won't be sorry about this. I'll bet I won't. I was proud of the old windmill. I never thought she could make it, but by 5 o'clock that afternoon, we landed at a town a little north of Laredo. We talked about how we were going to get across the border. She still hadn't told me anything, but I knew that she wanted to get into Mexico with no questions asked. So we decided to steer clear of Laredo and border guards and hang around until it got dark and then take a chance. Took some extra gas aboard and went over the motor. Then there was nothing to do but wait for the night. We went to a cafe to eat. Oh, it's hot. That's the American idea of Mexican food. Unless it burns your tongue off, it's not the real thing. You done much night flying? Oh, plenty. Used to be with a commercial outfit. No. They fired me for fighting with a passenger. That was before the war. Flew B-24s out of England and came back. Now I'm too old for jets and too independent for commercial jobs. So I'm just a sky bum. What's so funny? Oh, you. You sound so tough. I wonder. What? About you. I think you'd make love like a high school boy. You want to find out? No. How soon do you think we can take off to Torreón? Oh, about an hour or so. What about our lights when we cross the border? We won't have any. That's good. Anyone ever tell you that you're good to look at? Yes, but you can tell me again. I like your eyes. They're soft sometimes. Hi, Maggie. Hi. Sometimes mean. Want to the party? It's exciting, though. No. Got patrol. Hey, you're not listening to me. Well, that's the first time I've seen that. What? You look scared when the cop came in. Come on, it's time to go. We took off soon after dark. I took her up to about 8,000 feet and we crossed the border. Next stop, Torreón. Baredo was nearly 200 miles behind us when the Stenson died. Just quit cold. We went down nice and easy. I couldn't see anything below. All I knew was that we weren't going to make Torreón. The fellas didn't scream. She just watched me. Then before we hit, grabbed a suitcase up and held it in a lap. I remember thinking then it was a funny thing to do. And that was all for a while. Escape under the direction of Norman MacDonald returns in just a moment. You may hail from Harvard with a PhD or you may come from PS-00 with an E- average. It makes no difference. You're always welcome at our Miss Brooks class on CBS Sunday nights. For our Miss Brooks is played by Hollywood's Eve Arden, the star whom the nation's radio editors just voted Woman of the Year. Now in her third successful season as the romantic school teacher of Madison High, Eve Arden will have you out ringing the bells for class every Sunday once you've heard her. Join her tonight. Class meets on most of these same CBS stations. And now back to Escape. I woke up. For a moment everything was a surprise. I was alive. And it was getting light. A lock of the girl's hair was falling over her eye. I reached out for it. Felt it. Was wet. Bloody. She was alive but I couldn't tell how much. I looked at my watch. It was 4.30. As the gray light came through the broken window I saw something else. A suitcase. It had broken open and spilled out four or five neat green packages. Thing was full. Prices of new hundred dollar bills. Must have been a quarter of a million dollars. Phyllis. Phyllis. Phyllis, you okay? Come on. Come on. Come on. Now can you sit up? Are you all right? Oh, my head hurts. Take it easy for a while. Now give me your gun. No. Come on. Come on. I want to have a look outside. All right. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. We'd come down in a kind of basin and all around were ridges and low peaks. It was rough country, all right? From what I could see, mean. I had an idea water was going to be a problem. Far as you could see, there was nothing but cactus and yucca trees. I started back for the plane and that's when I saw him sitting under a bush, his hat on his knees. Good morning, seigneur. He was round and his face was the color of sand. And his smile were lots of flashing white and gold teeth. I guess he was mostly Indian. They had the happiest voice I'd ever heard. You've had a terrible accident, seigneur. I'm so glad you're alive. How long have you been here? Since earlier. How much earlier? Oh, much earlier, seigneur. Well, why didn't you try and get us out? If you were dead, one must wait a reasonable time to allow the spirit to depart. Oh. Well, I'm glad to see you. My name's Gannett. Gannett? Mm-hmm. You're American? Yeah. Oh, good. I love the Americans. They're so rich. I am a steward. I will help you. There is another in the machine with you? Yeah, a girl. She's hurt. We take her to my village. There she will be taken care of. I'm so happy that you are alive, seigneur. Where are we? A little from my village. No, I mean, how far from Torreón? Torreón? It is many days from here. Ah. What's the name of your village? El Cielo. It means heaven, seigneur. You will like it. My people will be so happy to see you. Come. We must help your friend. When we got back to the plane, Phyllis was on her feet and I noticed that the suitcase was closed again. She had a cut on her head, but otherwise she was okay. She let me carry the case and we followed a stevan for about a mile to a little canyon. And there we saw El Cielo, a dozen adobe huts sprawled over the canyon floor. Let me take your suitcase, seigneur. I will put it where it will be safe. No, thanks. I'll take care of it. As you wish. Once you step in here, I'll bring you food and water. Thank you. It is a pleasure. I love Americans. You are our guest. We are happy to see you. How do you feel? Oh, much better, thank you. I'm not so sure about that guy. I've heard about these Indians. They're not usually very fond of Americans or any strangers for that matter. Do you think he'll help us get to Torrio? I don't know. The way he talks, it must be about a hundred miles from here. Oh. Listen, honey, it's none of my business, but that suitcase of yours. What about it? There's no sense kidding. I know what's in it. Oh. It's a good idea not to let these people know they steal, not the way we do, but because they feel it's right. Americans are rich and anything they've got must be valuable. They see nothing wrong in it. We've got a gun. Sooner, not have to use it. You want to tell me about the suitcase? No. OK. We let it go at that. Esteban brought us food and afterwards we met the rest of the village. They were very polite. Too polite. I couldn't figure it out. Maybe I don't trust people, but nobody, nobody can be that happy to see a stranger. They gave us a hut for the night and after the dogs had quieted down, it got very quiet. You asleep? No. How's the head? Fine, thanks. I'm sorry about this. It's all right. We're going to have to get out as soon as we can. These people are... You think they'll make trouble? I don't know. They're just too happy. There's something wrong the way our fat friend looks at you. Maybe he thinks I'm pretty. Yeah, maybe. What are you going to do about it? Look in the morning we're going back to the plane. There's a chance I can do something to fix it up. Just a chance. Oh. Yeah. Well... You were telling me something back at the cafe in Laredo about me. Yeah, I was, wasn't I? I guess you're not very scared about all this, are you? I don't want to think about it. You ought to be thinking about it. Deke. Look, we're in a tight spot. I don't care. But I do. Maybe if we ever got out of here... All right, high school boy. Good night. The next morning Esteban went with me back to the plane. It was still there. That is, most of it. Of course, they'd taken everything movable from inside, stripped the rubber tires off, stolen the prop. Now I know why I hadn't trusted them. What about it, Esteban? It, señor? Nice hospitality. I wanted to patch her up. Señor, some dirty thieves must have come out of the night and done this thing. Yeah, you can say that again. Surely you would not suspect my people? Oh, no, no, not your people. I'm so happy then. Well, we'll have to rent a couple of your mules. Maybe you'll guide us to a town that's got a bus or a railroad or something. You have money to pay for these things? I, uh... A little, yeah. We'll talk about it. Maybe tomorrow. Now we go back to the village. We didn't talk about it tomorrow or the next day or the next, as Esteban always made some excuse. We weren't prisoners, but wherever we went, there was always one of them watching. Just watching and smiling. But there was something about those smiles. It was on the fifth day that things really went wrong, the villagers had left our hut alone, and I guess we got a little careless about the suitcase. Phyllis and I had been up to a ridge four miles away to take a look at the country and our chances for hiking out. When we got back, it was almost dark. The suitcase! What? It's gone! Well, I'll be... They've stolen it! You think it's funny. Stop it. Stop it! I'm sorry! What's that for? Don't you see how funny it is? A quarter of a million bucks stolen by Indians. Where are they going to spend it? On what? Got to get it back. You help me. I'll share it with you. You will? Yes. Listen, you might as well know. Remember the bank hold up in Chicago last year? Yeah. Million bucks and securities. That suitcase is part of it. A friend of mine left it with me. He got out of the country. Now he's in Torreón? Yes. I was to hang around in small towns until things got quieter. When you came along, it gave me a chance. I was to meet him in Torreón. I don't care about him now. It's you and me. Oh. We've got to get away from here. We can go to Mexico City, anywhere. How far do you think we'd get in this country? We'll take their mules. We can try. Esteban's the boy to find. You and me? Yes. Yes. Don't you know that by now? OK. Señor, what can I say? No one has been in your house. It is unthinkable. Look, do you know what this is? It is a gun, señor. Yeah. Only the rich can afford such things. I'm telling you to round up that suitcase or else. Now tell your friends. I mean it. Now go ahead. El americano dice que tenemos que devolver la maleta. Si no se va a enojar mucho y nos juzglará a todos, incluyendo a los niños. Te vemos muchas. Well? They say they are very much afraid. Get me the suitcase. We brought you here when you might have died in the desert. Surely you would not harm us. That's a lot of double talk. You brought us here to steal us blind. Señor, you have made a terrible accusation. We're very unhappy. Perhaps you would care to search the village. You get that suitcase. Now what's the use? There wasn't any use. I couldn't shoot them down in cold blood. I knew I'd never find the suitcase. I also knew that we had to get out of there. We'd lost the money, but at least for the moment we still had our lives. I asked Esteban for mules. Señor, a terrible thing has happened. Last night the mules strayed away. We have none left. It is a great loss. So I could call him a liar. He was too, but I couldn't find the mules. That decided it. I'm afraid of them. Yeah, I don't like the way Esteban's been looking at that ring of yours. We're going to have to make it out on foot. Anything's better than staying here. If I only had that map. Oh well, I don't think they'll try to stop us. We'll start tonight when it gets cool. You better get some sleep. That evening I heard the villagers moving around outside the hut. I kept our gun ready, but nothing happened. And then about midnight we took a couple of skins of water, some tortillas and walked out of El Cielo. Nobody said goodbye. Nobody tried to stop us. But as I looked back, I saw in the moonlight a group of people huddled together watching us. We walked for three days, desert, heat, night, cold. Then the water was gone. How are you doing? All right. I'm thirsty. Try not to think about it. Can we rest a minute? Hey, better not. Not yet. Try to get to the hills. It's only a few miles. It'll be harder. I'll save you for it. Don't move. Don't move. It's a Hilo monster. All right now, fellas, don't move. Just don't move. Now blow his head off. Now keep still. That's it. Keep still. It's bit me. It's bit me. Oh, Deke. Oh, Deke. She lived on for about two hours, then died raving, cursing me, the money and herself. A week later, I was picked up. That was six months ago. The Mexican police tried to find my plane, but I couldn't tell them where it was. They'd never even heard of El Cielo. So somewhere in Coahuila, Mexico, there's a village. Maybe if you go down there, you'll find a suitcase with a quarter of a million bucks. Maybe you'll just find kids cutting paper dolls out of hundred dollar bills. Just crash your plane this side of Torreón and then look for a round smiling Indian and his happy friends. After the direction of Norman MacDonald, Escape has brought you This Side of Nowhere by Anthony Ellis. William Conrad was starred as Deke and Virginia Gregg as Phyllis with Don Diamond as Esteban. In the supporting cast were Lou Krugman and Ralph Moody. The special music for Escape was composed and conducted by Ivan Dittmarz. Next week, Escape with us to a small freighter in the China seas and a sinister traveler who brought destruction to crew and ship alike as Ellis St. Joseph tells it in his most unusual play, A Passenger to Bally. Later this afternoon, Georgia Gibbs and Nancy Reed will join Frank Sinatra on his hour long CBS program. You'll also meet Arthur Godfrey with the latest edition of his Sunday afternoon digest and J.C. Flippen with another entertaining session of Earn Your Vacation. Make Believe Town will bring you a Hollywood adventure entitled No Job for a Lady. So stay tuned now for Make Believe Town which follows over most of these same CBS stations. This is Roy Rowan speaking. This is CBS where you spend an hour with Frank Sinatra every Sunday afternoon on the Columbia Broadcasting System.
