Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to 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! You are on a catch sailing the coral seas, snaking your way through the tricky channel, toward an island of black pearls. While on the shore, waiting for you to land is the man who has sworn your death and from whom there is no escape. Listen now, as Escape brings you Robert Tallman's story, the King of Owanatu. The King of Owanatu The island we were looking for was roughly 15 degrees north by 145 west. We sailed around it three times before we spotted the break in the reef. Hacker wrote us in on a tricky swell and snaked through the channel before the surf would hit back at us. There we are, all installed and ready for business. What's eating you Remington? I don't know, I get a funny feeling about this place. Like what? Coming through that reef, you notice anything special? There was a singe, like he's in a bar through a canal lock, only a little faster, a little rougher. Too easy. I don't follow you Skipper. I mean it's not a natural channel, it's been scooped out of the rock. What makes you think so? You can see where the coral was chipped smooth on the sides. This I want to see for myself. Skipper! Yeah? Skipper, come here! Alright, what's up Hacker? The break in the reef, the channel we just came through, it's not there anymore, it's disappeared, look! Yeah. Couldn't be Skipper, it just couldn't. Couldn't, but it is. Solid wall, breaking the reef's close. But how? You said it was like he's in a barge through a canal lock, didn't you? You mean somebody, they got some kind of an underwater floodgate or something? Or something. Maybe... Hey, hey, someone on the beach. Ahoy! The boat! Looks like we'll get some answers pretty soon. Ahoy! The beach! What island is this? Stay aboard! I'm coming out! He's a white man, alright. Yeah, looks like he lives here too. Those natives look like Marquesans. They don't belong to these islands. Neither does that outrigger. I'm going below and break out the rifles. Don't be stupid Hacker, they're obviously not armed. What do you say we should do? Wait! Wait till we find out what it's all about. Let him do the talking. Whatever you do, don't mention the pearls. Our story is we're lost, we put in for water and supplies. What if he asks to see the ship's papers? We show them. If he asks, what happened to the owner? He decided to take a plane back from Tahiti. We're returning the boat to San Francisco for him. Sounds good enough. Yeah, just take it easy Hacker. And use your head. As the outrigger approached our boat, I tried to size up our host. He was a big man, solidly built but with a sharp aquiline face. Didn't go with the build. He wore a beard, closely trimmed and a white linen jacket over a dark shirt open at the neck. When the canoe came alongside, he was on his feet and up our ladder in just three seconds flat. I'm going to go back to the boat. Are you the captain of this vessel? I'm the skipper. Remington is my name, this is my mate Mr. Hacker. And your crew? We're at... Excuse me, my name is Jerome. I am resident of this island. Welcome to Onatu, gentlemen. Thank you. You say that you're the resident? Not in the usual governmental sense, Mr. Remington. But as I am the only person living here, I and my household that is, I believe I can lay fair claim to the title. Have you lived here long, Mr. Jerome? Oh, now, now, now. Let us observe protocol, Mr. Remington. As resident, I ask the first questions. Oh, this craft must have set you back a pretty penny, eh, Mr. Remington? It did the honour. I'm only selling a home for him. And home is? San Francisco. Magnificent city, I know it well. May I ask your employer's name? Cates, Gerald Cates. Yes, I've heard the name. And what was the name of this vessel before you changed it, Mr. Remington? The Argo. Argo. Cates decided it was a bad luck name, so he changed it to the La Juana. And bad luck for you to get off course and wind up in this particular group of islands. I don't know. What group is this, Mr. Jerome? Tuamuto. The old seafarers used to call it the Dangerous Archipelago. But you're here, and a happy circumstance it is. I'm seldom blessed with visitors, as you may well imagine. I trust you gentlemen will do me the honour of dining with me this evening. Oh, thanks. I'll be glad to. And if there's anything I could do to make your stay here more comfortable... You might explain about that reef, Mr. Jerome. Reef? Oh, the floodgate in the Channel. This island was a pirate base back in the days of the Spanish main. You trying to tell us that's been here a couple of hundred years and still in working order? Oh, heavens no. I've had it restored, of course. And a very expensive undertaking it was, but I find it an amusing toy. Now I must leave you and make preparations for our feast tonight. Dinner is at Seven Shop. Until Seven then. Au revoir, gentlemen. More brandy, gentlemen? No, no, no thanks. I trust my humble board was worth coming ashore for. What's the point, Mr. Jerome, fattening us up for the queue? Oh dear no, Mr. Hacker. I dare say some of my natives have tasted long pig in their time, but I have expressly forbidden it here. How did you come to this island, Mr. Jerome? I was looking for a refuge, Mr. Remington. A place where I could escape forever the insanities of this so-called civilised world. I notice that you haven't deprived yourself of any of the civilised comforts, Mr. Jerome. That's true. Mr. Hacker, you seem uncommonly silent. Perhaps another dram of brandy will loosen your tongue. I think I'll go for a walk, if you don't mind. Coming along, Skipper? I'll finish my brandy. Suit yourself. See you aboard. You sure you don't feel the urge to go a-roaming, Mr. Remington? Later, maybe. Perhaps you'll have plenty of time to explore the island. Plenty. Are you ready for coffee now? Why not? Oh, you like our coffee? And an extra special surprise comes with it. Something I've been saving to the very last. Oh really, Mr. Jerome? Not a dessert, Mr. Remington. A different sort of tidbit. Timo! Yes, Mr. Jerome? Tell Missy Michaela to fetch our coffee. Yes, Mr. Jerome. Missy Michaela! Missy Jerome said you'll bring coffee now. You needn't shout the house down. Ah, dear girl. Prompt and obedient as always. Oh, set the tray here. I'll pour, my dear. Oh, pray be seated, my dear, and join us. Yes, Father. Now, what do you think of him, Michaela? Yes. And you, sir? Of course, or you wouldn't stare so. Michaela was not born on the island. Her mother died in childbirth, and I brought her here a baby in arms. She has no memory of the outside world. For a while I toyed with the idea of sending her back to Europe to be educated, but I couldn't bear to be parted from her. Nor I from him, Mr. Remington. And then there is always the danger of war. She is safe here, safe. My father is always so concerned with my safety, Mr. Remington. Sometimes I wish there were a volcano on the island. I would climb right up to the crater and spit in it, just to give him something to really worry about. How did you find us, Mr. Remington? Maybe I'm psychic, Mr. Ohm. Maybe I just smell that perfume you're wearing. Oh, is it too much? No. It's like you. It's fresh at the same time, mysterious. That sounds like my cue to potter off to bed. No, no, no, please don't get up. Take good care of our guest, Michaela, but don't keep him up too late. He's had a very strenuous voyage. I promise to stay till she pitches me out, sir. That's the spirit I like in a man. Good night, Remington. Good night, my dear. Good night, Father. Now, Mr. Remington, tell me why I'm so mysterious. We shall start with names. You may call me Michaela. What shall I call you? My first name is Charles. That's no good. The natives will call you Missy Tarley. At least that's better than Chuck. Is that what they call you at home? Home? I never had one. You have one now. I have? Yes, right here. I'd love to believe that. Well, you may be quite, quite certain of it, Charles. Why Michaela? Because Father will never let you leave the island. He never lets anyone leave. You are listening to The King of Oonatu, tonight's presentation of Escape. Tomorrow night, the coast is clear for comedy with My Little Margie on CBS radio. She's all set to put on a benefit show for a boys' club, but has to resort to humorous deception to win the cooperation of her father. All's well that ends well, and My Little Margie does very well. Tomorrow night on most of these stations. And now back to Escape and the second act of The King of Oonatu. I'd come to the island looking for pearls. I'd found something else. And where I stood, it looked a lot better than pearls. When I said good night to Michaela, the sun was up. Hackers still hadn't come aboard. I guess they were going to be here. I'd been looking for them for a long time. I'd been looking for them for a long time. I'd been looking for them for a long time. When I said good night to Michaela, the sun was up. Hackers still hadn't come aboard. I guess that he was sleeping off the effects of the moonlight and the native coconut wine. I stretched out on the deck. The next thing I knew, the sun was straight overhead and Hacker was prodding me with his foot. Wake up, Skipper. I got news for you. News? No. Who needs it? Maybe these will make you sit up and take notice. No, Skipper. Those are pearls. Black ones. The kids in the compound play marbles with them. Pearls? Black pearls? I thought that it'd snap you to attention. Just thinking what a string of these would look like around the neck of a certain girl. Where did you go last night? Stayed right there on the veranda. Jerome served her with the coffee. How come? His daughter. He's even more worried about us than I thought. What's that supposed to mean? Skipper, I had a talk with Jerome's head man last night. He can knock a chief. All right, so? Well, in the first place, Jerome is practically fanatical about that daughter of his. As I watched night and day. Exception, he left her alone with me last night. Don't be too sure of that. Why should he have her watched? Some of the natives are homesick for their own island. They're being kept here against their will. All right. What's that got to do with Michaela? Jerome's afraid they might grab her and hold her as a hostage for their freedom. They know their way around these waters. Yeah, they're good swimmers, too. But I doubt if they could make it to the Marquesas. They could make it in the native boat. He wouldn't let them build one. They tried to do it secretly, but they were always found out. And what's his power over them? Guns. Jerome has got an arsenal. Why don't they break in and take over? They tried that too. Once. What happened? The lucky ones were shot dead on the spot. The lucky ones? Yeah. The others were tortured, hung up over a fire, and slowly toasted from the toes up. Why? Why? Why would any man go to such extremes to hold onto a few native workers that could easily be replaced? You're the one with a college education. You tell me. He said something last night. His daughter, I mean. She said he never lets anybody leave the island. She should know. I thought she was kidding. Some kidder, that dog. She's okay, Hacker. You got it bad. Yeah. I wonder how she'll feel after we've knocked off her daddy. What are you talking about? About getting off this island. One thing I'm sure of. We'll never make it as long as Jerome is alive. Well, there's one sure way to find out. How's that? Ask him, Hacker, my boy. Ask him. Ah, Mr. Remington. You're just in time for tiffin. Will you join me in a drink first? Look, let's skip the tiffin talk, Mr. Jerome. It's time we got down to a few essentials. Indeed. Essentials such as you did not leave Mr. Cates in Tahiti. You were never in Tahiti. Neither a schooner named Diago nor a ketch named Luana ever anchored there. Your last port of call was in the Marquesas. You were quarantined there because the owner of your vessel had fallen ill. You abandoned your crew on the beach and sailed off in the dead of night. Nothing further was seen or heard of you till you arrived here yesterday afternoon. Though you see, I'm not wholly without contact with the outside world. Yeah, obviously. I only want to know one thing. Did Mr. Cates die of natural causes or did you and your friend help him along? He was dead when we left Nuka Hiba. So, you buried him on a beach somewhere and made off with the schooner. Why not? He had no use for it. Don't disassemble with me, sir. I know that your shipmate has been snooping about the island making inquiries about the pearl beds. Somehow you heard about the pearls on this island and you came here hoping to help yourself to a fortune. Now isn't that true? We took a chance. We can do it again. You can, but you won't. Why not? Because the moment you sail out of my lagoon, I shall radio every police, constabulary and coast guard stationed from Australia to San Francisco, and you'll be hanged as murderers and mutineers. Why? Why are you doing this to us? Quite simply, I don't want you to leave the island. Why not? Why are you so determined to keep us here? Ah, many reasons, Mr. Remington. My daughter likes you. You're a man of courage and imagination, a man fit to carry on my line. I have no worries about you. Basically, you feel as I do. Well, maybe so. But what about Hacker? He's a stupid, greedy man. All right, let him clean out the pearls and go. I was tempted to do that for a moment, but no. The pearls are too valuable, too unusual. Questions would be asked. Sooner or later, Hacker's tongue would be loosened, whether by whiskey or by force. I should be overrun with unwelcome visitors, bringing disease and dissension, the twin banners of civilization. Jerome, what will happen to him if he tries to leave? If he tries it, Mr. Remington, he will find out. But I wouldn't advise it, which also goes for you. And now, Tiffin, Mr. Remington. Who's there? Me, Skipper. Throw over the ladder. Look, where you been all day? Exploring. Did you find anything? Come in the cabin. All right. I drew a rough sketch map of Jerome's setup. All right, come on, let me see. Turn up the laughter, will you? Hey, here. Here's the lagoon where we're anchored. Out in the point here is the radio shed. Here's where the guns are kept. What about the floodgate? It's operated electrically. The switch is in Jerome's room right by his bed. What happens when you work it? Any noise? No, but lights go on all over the place. Oh, Michaela might do it for us. Is she in this with us? Not yet. What makes you think you can trust her? I've got to. What if she plays it on Daddy's team? I told you, I'm not leaving here without her no matter what. That makes me patsy, doesn't it? Look, the boat's all yours if you want to go it alone. No, thanks. All right, I'll help you just the same. You don't act like you're too anxious to get away. What makes you say that? Panic me out of here and stick around to pick up the pearls for yourself. That's your idea, Skipper. Oh, come on. How do I get out with the pearls if you take the boat? Don't give me that. You know Jerome's got a boat anchored on the other side of the island. It was the first I heard of it. How do you think they get their supplies here? By a helicopter? Jerome told me he'd send it to Tahiti to pick up some breadfruit trees. Uh-huh. Look, where's the anchorage on that shore? There's a blind inlet there. You never spot it unless you know just where to look. Why not take his boat, save fiddling with a floodgate? It's an old steam yacht. Smoke could give us away if we fired the boilers by daylight. By night, that inlet is too tricky to navigate. All right, you just answered your own question. With Jerome dead, there'd be no problem. There's to be no killing, Hacker. You mention it again, it's all off between us. Okay, Skipper, we'll try it your way. If it doesn't work... Hold it. Hold it. Somebody aboard. Who's there? It's I, Charles. I'm a telly. You shouldn't have come here. Honey, don't you want to see me? Of course I do. It's just that I... Oh, Father doesn't know I'm here. He's been locked in his study for hours, talking with the head man. What about? Did you hear what they were saying? I couldn't hear much, but Father was very angry with him. Look, do you know what about, McHale? It's very important that we know. He said that someone has seen him, the head man, that is, diving for pearls in the inlet. You know anything about that, Hacker? What if I did? You agreed we had to make a choice between a clean getaway and the pearls, that Jerome is the slightest suspicion... Okay, Skipper, that's still good. You're sure of that? You're the Skipper, Skipper. Okay. Break out a rifle. You know that dinghy in Roe is sure. Grab that head man when he leaves Jerome and bring him aboard. What for? I want to know how much he's told Jerome. Okay, but I won't need a rifle. You've got a lot of trust in that Kanaka. We got a lot in common. He wants to get away from this island, too. Okay. Get moving. See you, Skipper. Charles, what's it all about? What does it mean? Listen to me, please, Michaela. Look, I'm leaving the island. I thought you loved me. Will you let me finish? I want to take you with me. Leave the island? Leave my father? That's right. You don't love me. If you loved me, you wouldn't ask that of me. But that's why I want to take you away from here, because I do love you. You want me to be killed with bombs and die of diseases? Look, I wouldn't ask you to go with me if I did. Charles, kiss me. Michaela. How do you believe me? Oh, yes. Yes, I believe you. All right. Then it's settled. But what about father? What if he tries to stop me? It's a chance we've got to take. I'm afraid, Charles. It's funny. All my life he's talked about keeping me safe, and all I've ever really been afraid of is him. Look, Michaela, Michaela, you trust me, don't you? You're not afraid of me. Oh, no. With you, I could never be afraid, even if bombs were falling all around us. Then you'll help me. You'll help us get away. Yes. Oh, yes, Charles. Our getaway was planned for the following night. We chosen it because the natives were celebrating one of their feast days, which meant that most of Jerome's police force would be AWOL or drunk. Jerome himself was over in the native compound making like a white king among the savages. He was wearing a lei over his dinner jacket, enjoying the drummers. Ah, Remington, you're just in time for the shark dance. Ah, that's a bit of luck. I suppose Mr. Hacker has gone to look for my headman. I wouldn't know. You'd be disappointed, I fear. Kauna is in the warrior's hut making ready for the shark dance. I didn't know your headman was a dancer. Oh, they're all dancers, dear boy, but Kauna is something special. In this he dances both a part of the shark and that of the fisherman who spears him. You know, say, I'm sorry, Michaela had to miss it. She had a headache, poor girl, and had to remain in the bungalow. I'm sorry to hear that. Just as a precaution, however, I disconnected the wires to the power switch that controls the floodgates. Oh, what's the matter, dear boy? You look quite pale. Okay, it's your arm. Okay, you've won this round. But you mustn't, or you can't keep us here forever. We shall see about that. No! Ah, here comes Kauna now. Now we shall see some dancing, my boy. The only difference between the shark dance and the others, I'd say, is the wicked-looking fish spear that Kauna kept brandishing as he went through his paces. Jerome's attention was riveted on the dancers, and someone touched my sleeve. It was Michaela. Charles, Charles, the most terrible thing that's happened. The floodgate. I know, I know. Your father just told me. Well, how did he find out? Who told him? Hacker, who else? Yes, but... I should have known when we heard that headman of a dining room, Pearls. I don't understand. Look over there to the north. It's smoke. Hacker's getting upstained for a getaway in the yacht. I've got our plan to your father to divert his attention to our boat in the lagoon. Kauna's probably in it with him for his getaway, plus a cut of the Pearls. Where's Kauna now? Out there with the dancers, making like a shark. What are we going to do? Hacker can't get that yacht out without help, so... He may as well watch the dancing for a while. That's strange. What? Look at the shark dance he's doing. What is it? I don't know. Charles. What is it? What's the matter? Father, father, watch out! That's fear! He's going to... Oh, father! Charles, there's fear in his head! Look, you stay here. You stay right here. He's dead, Nikkila. I'm sorry. Look, you go back to the house. Wait for me. I won't be long. Where are you going? I'm going to tell Mr. Hacker that his sailing will be postponed indefinitely. I could have saved myself a hike across the island. Hacker didn't have a prayer of navigating that inlet without the headman's help. And Kauna never made it to the North Shore. A couple of Jerome Gendarmes cut him down just outside the compound, just like they did to Hacker on the boat. I found the pearls in the galley, cans labeled coffee, sugar, and flour. I picked out enough for a matching string for Nikkila. And I dumped the rest back into the water. It was a crazy thing to do, but... as I look back on it, maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. In a way, Jerome was right. It was a nice island. And the way things are going in the world, I might want to go back and settle down there myself someday. So, why spoil it? Escape, produced and directed by David Friedkin and Morton Fine, has brought you The King of Owanatu, a story by Robert Tallman. Featured in the cast were Anthony Barrett, Clayton Post, and Joseph Kearns. Also heard were Sammy Hill and Jack Carroll. Your announcer, Bill Anders. The special music for Escape is composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Next week. You are somewhere in the Pacific, out of Leyte in the Philippines, charting a course of south by southeast. When out of the deep of the sea, a new volcano is born, and your ship is caught in the middle of it, from which there is no escape. So listen next week, when Escape brings you Vincent McHugh's story, The Boiling Sea. Stay tuned now for Night Watch, which follows immediately on most of these stations. America listens most to the CBS Radio Network.
