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The Whistler - "High Death" (Old Time Radio, 1951) · The Whistler | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On March 11th, 1951, CBS brought The Whistler to the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: microphone for episode 458, High Death, sponsored by Signal Oil.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: The setting is a remote Swiss alpine valley where Jim
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and Laura Mason join Mona Williams and Peter Bennett for
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a mountain holiday. Romantic and financial tensions accompany the party
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: as climbing preparations begin, and their safety depends upon the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: high country terrain and the ropes linking the climbers. Edwin
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Spangenberg wrote the broadcast with a cast including Bill Foreman,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Harold Drianforth, Mary Shipp, John Daner, John Stevenson, Marvin Miller,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and Michael Ann Barrett. Now, back to the golden age
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: of radio.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: And now, stay tuned for the mystery program that is
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: unique among all mystery programs. Because even when you know
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: who's guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: final curtain.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: In The Whistler.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: The Whistler.
• 1:20
  Speaker 5: I am the whistler, and I know many things, for
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: in the hearts of men and women who have stepped
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of
• 1:35
  Speaker 5: which they dare not speak.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Yes, friends, it's time for The Whistler, rated by Independent Research,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: the most popular West Coast program in radio history.
• 1:50
  Speaker 6: And now, The Whistler's strange story. I, Death.
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: There are strange paradoxes in the night. The night itself
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: is a paradox. The same darkness that promises sleep and
• 2:39
  Speaker 5: peace in a brighter tomorrow also offers wakeful torment. Wild,
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: disjointed thoughts that sometimes twist and turn until they fit
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: into a pattern. And that pattern, born of night, is murder.
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: Jim Mason woke with a start. The big room was
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: flooded with moonlight. And for a moment, he blinked dazedly
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: at the unfamiliar surroundings. He stared for a moment through
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: the huge plate glass windows. Saw the towering snow-capped peaks
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: resplendent in the moon-washed night. And then he looked down
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: at Laura, his wife, lying beside him. And he realized
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: what had wakened him. Laura was moaning in her sleep.
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: Suddenly she jerked convulsively, sat bolt upright in bed, her
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: eyes wide and staring. No.
• 3:30
  Speaker 7: No, don't.
• 3:30
  Speaker 8: Oh, please, please don't.
• 3:32
  Speaker 7: You'll kill me.
• 3:33
  Speaker 9: You'll kill me.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: Laura.
• 3:34
  Speaker 9: Laura.
• 3:35
  Speaker 7: What?
• 3:38
  Speaker 10: Jim, don't.
• 3:38
  Speaker 8: Please don't do it.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Laura, what is it?
• 3:40
  Speaker 10: What's wrong?
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to hurt you.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 3:43
  Speaker 7: Oh, I.
• 3:45
  Speaker 8: Jim, what is it?
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: You must have been dreaming, Laura. A bad one.
• 3:49
  Speaker 7: Oh, just a dream.
• 3:50
  Speaker 8: Oh, thank heaven. It was horrible, Jim. I was dreaming that.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: That what?
• 3:58
  Speaker 8: Oh, it was nothing really. It's so silly.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: It doesn't sound so silly. It's something about somebody killing you.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: Who was it?
• 4:06
  Speaker 8: Well, I was climbing a mountain. It was very high.
• 4:09
  Speaker 8: It seemed I was coming down a sheer wall of rock.
• 4:12
  Speaker 8: I was using my rappel line... Suddenly I felt something.
• 4:16
  Speaker 10: I looked up.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Yes?
• 4:18
  Speaker 8: Somebody was cutting my rope with a knife. A big knife,
• 4:21
  Speaker 8: very shiny. I begged him to stop, but he went
• 4:23
  Speaker 8: right on cutting and laughing.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: He? Who, Laura?
• 4:27
  Speaker 8: Jim, it was only a dream. Probably a result of
• 4:30
  Speaker 8: that close call I had this afternoon.
• 4:33
  Speaker 11: I guess I'll be talking about it in my sleep
• 4:35
  Speaker 11: for nights and nights.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: Who was cutting the rope, Laura?
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: Who?
• 4:39
  Speaker 10: Jim, you know how dreams are.
• 4:40
  Speaker 8: They don't mean anything.
• 4:41
  Speaker 10: They never make sense.
• 4:43
  Speaker 8: No sense at all.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: Just a bad dream, Jim. You don't dare look for
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: an explanation, do you? Because, as Laura says, dreams never
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: make sense. But you're not quite sure, are you? Long
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: after Laura goes back to sleep, you lie there, your
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: mind reliving the past few days. The events that brought
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: you here to this remote Swiss valley, to the sharp,
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: gabled and sprawling inn of Herr Schmidt that you told
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Laura and your close friends who were with you, Mona
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: and Peter, so much about.
• 5:21
  Speaker 9: Willkommen, willkommen, Herr Jim. So long it is here. Three years,
• 5:27
  Speaker 9: and so well you look.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Herr Schmidt, how are you? Oh, this is your wife? Yes,
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: this is Laura. Willkommen, Frau Mason.
• 5:35
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 5:36
  Speaker 9: You two and your friends are going to climb? That
• 5:39
  Speaker 9: is good.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Your father, he did not come, Herr Jim? No, he
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: did not come.
• 5:44
  Speaker 7: I'm sorry.
• 5:44
  Speaker 12: I'm sorry.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: I am so happy when I get your letter.
• 5:48
  Speaker 9: Right away, I take it down to the village to Stefan.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: So he is happy, too. Stefan? Is he still here, then?
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: I was afraid that he.
• 5:55
  Speaker 9: Still here?
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: But of course. Where else should he be? No one
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: ever leaves here.
• 6:01
  Speaker 13: Wait.
• 6:01
  Speaker 7: Stefan!
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Stefan, come, Stefan, up!
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Here he comes. Stefan! Stefan, it's good to see you again.
• 6:10
  Speaker 9: Jim, it is good to see you, too. Yeah, good.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Laura? Laura, this is Stefan. Stefan, this is my wife, Mrs. Mason.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: She's a climber you're going to be proud of.
• 6:18
  Speaker 11: I'm so glad to meet you, Stefan. Jim has told
• 6:21
  Speaker 11: me so much about you. According to him, you are
• 6:23
  Speaker 11: the finest of all alpine guides. I hope you'll guide
• 6:26
  Speaker 11: for us.
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: Ja, for Mason, I will guide for you. A heartwarming reception,
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: isn't it, Jim? Good talk and laughter. with nothing to
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: foreshadow the dark tragedy that is to come. Just four
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: very alive young people on a holiday. Your wife, Laura, yourself,
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: and your two friends, Mona Williams and Peter Bennett. After
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: a short visit, Herr Schmidt shows Mona to a room,
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: Peter to his, and takes you and Laura to the
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: room at the end of the hall. When you and
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: Laura are alone, you turn to her.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Well, what do you think of it, Laura? Was I exaggerating?
• 7:09
  Speaker 7: No, you weren't.
• 7:10
  Speaker 10: I love it, Jim.
• 7:11
  Speaker 7: Everything.
• 7:12
  Speaker 11: That enormous window, it's terrific. Or rather, the panorama's terrific.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 7:17
  Speaker 13: Look at those mountains. From here, they look so smooth
• 7:20
  Speaker 13: and soft. But up there close, there are ridges, crags, ledges,
• 7:23
  Speaker 13: ice walls. And that big gray dome there to the right,
• 7:26
  Speaker 13: see it?
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 7:27
  Speaker 10: I see it.
• 7:28
  Speaker 13: They call it Gray Cloud. Dad and I almost made
• 7:30
  Speaker 13: it to the top, but a sudden storm licked us.
• 7:33
  Speaker 13: You never know when a storm will hit up here,
• 7:35
  Speaker 13: but when it does, it means trouble.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Real trouble.
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: Yes, Jim, storms can be treacherous, can't they? When they
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: strike suddenly, without warning. But there's no storm on the
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: horizon now that you can see. Shortly before lunch, you
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: meet Herr Schmidt coming out of the dining room. Laura
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: and the others haven't come down yet.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Smells good, huh? Yeah, Herr Jim.
• 8:07
  Speaker 9: This is herrings a lot and.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: Eggs with noodles, your father's favorite. I wish he could
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: have come. He's not sick, I hope. He is dead,
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Herr Schmidt. Dead? I'm sorry. Very sorry, Herr Jim. Stefan, too,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: will be very sad.
• 8:26
  Speaker 9: But in the letter you said nothing.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: He died over a year ago.
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: You leave Herr Schmidt clucking sadly to himself and step
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: out onto the terrace, stroll to the rear of the inn,
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: and stop suddenly. A few feet away, locked in a
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: close embrace, are Peter and Mona. At that moment, Mona's
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: eyes open and she stares straight into yours. And the
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: storm you could not see strikes with full fury within you.
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: You swing around and stalk back into the inn.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: After lunch, the four of you decide on a walk.
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: You and Mona find yourselves paired off with Peter and Laura,
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: your wife, up the path, talking and laughing.
• 9:16
  Speaker 10: It's utterly beautiful, Jim.
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: Jim?
• 9:22
  Speaker 10: What is it, Jim?
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Out there on the terrace, he's kissing you.
• 9:26
  Speaker 10: I thought that was all settled. Certainly a man has
• 9:30
  Speaker 10: a perfect right to kiss the girl he's engaged to.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: I can't give you up. I can't.
• 9:35
  Speaker 10: But you did.
• 9:36
  Speaker 7: Remember?
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: I had no choice. You know that.
• 9:40
  Speaker 10: Yes, I guess I do. I think I always knew
• 9:43
  Speaker 10: that you'd never marry me. I knew it for sure
• 9:46
  Speaker 10: when Laura came along. Laura with practically all the money
• 9:50
  Speaker 10: in the world.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: I tried working, didn't I?
• 9:54
  Speaker 13: Didn't take long for me to find out I knew
• 9:56
  Speaker 13: a lot more about spending money than making it.
• 9:59
  Speaker 10: Well, that was... something anyway. I never even knew about
• 10:02
  Speaker 10: spending it.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: You're learning now.
• 10:05
  Speaker 10: I'm not marrying Peter just for his money, Jim. I'm
• 10:08
  Speaker 10: very fond of him. Maybe I'll learn to love him.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: I hope so. You love me, Mona. You know you do.
• 10:15
  Speaker 10: Jim, Jim, please.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: The only way I can ever have you is if
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: Laura dies. And she's very healthy.
• 10:26
  Speaker 10: Don't talk like that, Jim. Don't ever talk like that.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: You stalk along in sullen silence, Jim. Too torn and
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: furious to speak. And the path grows steeper. When you
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: and Mona catch up with Laura and Peter, you find
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: that they're on an open, scrubby slab of rock that
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: hangs out over a sheer drop of at least 300 feet. Below,
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: there's a jumble of rocks. Beyond that stretches the Green Valley,
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: cut by a river winding serenely on its way.
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: Tim, Mona, it's a simply lovely view. Come see.
• 11:10
  Speaker 10: It is lovely. Look, you can see the inn.
• 11:13
  Speaker 13: Matt and I used to walk up here just to
• 11:15
  Speaker 13: smoke and talk.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Now, careful.
• 11:16
  Speaker 13: That's a pretty steep drop. If you ever fell, they'd
• 11:19
  Speaker 13: need a vacuum cleaner to find you.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: Laura, what are you doing? Come back off that ledge.
• 11:24
  Speaker 7: That beautiful flower. I'm going to get it.
• 11:26
  Speaker 10: She shouldn't be out on that narrow ledge. She should slip.
• 11:28
  Speaker 7: Laura, come back. Nothing at all. I'll have it in
• 11:30
  Speaker 7: a minute. Laura!
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: You move quickly, Jim. In an instant, you're out on
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: the small ledge that protrudes no more than a foot
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: on the face of the wall. A section of it
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: had crumbled under Laura's weight. You advance as far as
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: you can, praying that the narrow ledge will hold. You
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: carefully go down on one knee and jam your elbow
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: into a crack for support.
• 11:53
  Speaker 13: Laura, I'm going to reach out my hand. Grip it
• 11:57
  Speaker 13: with your right hand. Then with both hands. I'm going
• 12:01
  Speaker 13: to pull you up slowly till you can find a toehold.
• 12:05
  Speaker 7: Now, grab.
• 12:12
  Speaker 12: Oh, that was close. That was too close. Thank goodness
• 12:15
  Speaker 12: you can move that fast, Jim. I was paralyzed myself.
• 12:19
  Speaker 10: Laura, are you all right?
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Are you, Laura?
• 12:22
  Speaker 10: Quite all right.
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have. I guess I just
• 12:26
  Speaker 8: didn't think.
• 12:29
  Speaker 10: Oh, Jim, darling, if it hadn't been for you, I'd
• 12:32
  Speaker 10: be dead now.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: And now, back to the whistler.
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: You lie there in bed, Jim, in the dead of night,
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: wide awake, recalling today's strange chain of events. Your return
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: to the high valley in the Swiss Alps with your wife, Laura,
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: and your friends, Mona Williams and Peter Bennett. The maddening
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: sight of Mona in Peter's arms. Laura's possible fall from
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: the rocky ledge. The fall that would have been fatal, Jim,
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: had you not pulled your wife to safety. the irony
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: of the situation twists within you. If Laura had fallen
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: to her death, you'd have her money and Mona. It
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: could have happened so simply, Jim. Yet you stepped into
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: the breach, saved your wife's life, and in that instant,
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: widened the gap between yourself and the two things you
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: want most, Laura's money and Mona. That evening, the four
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: of you were seated in the bar of the inn,
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: toasting Laura's good fortune.
• 14:10
  Speaker 11: And I always thought that when a person was on
• 14:12
  Speaker 11: the brink of death, his whole life flashed before him.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: And it doesn't?
• 14:16
  Speaker 10: Oh, no, Peter.
• 14:18
  Speaker 11: All I could think of was, darn that flower. Then suddenly,
• 14:21
  Speaker 11: there was Jim's beautiful face and his even more beautiful
• 14:25
  Speaker 11: arm hauling me up.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: We were just lucky the rest of the ledge didn't collapse.
• 14:29
  Speaker 10: Even when it was all over, I was still holding
• 14:31
  Speaker 10: my thumbs.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: Oh, dear.
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: Well, I can joke about it now, but I was
• 14:34
  Speaker 8: terribly frightened.
• 14:36
  Speaker 10: I wonder if you'll ever know how grateful I am, darling.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Sure, Laura.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 14:41
  Speaker 12: Well, as the Chinese say, Jim, once you save a life,
• 14:44
  Speaker 12: that life is yours to look after for.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: As long as you live.
• 14:47
  Speaker 8: See what you got yourself into, darling?
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Oh, cut it out. Okay, I was a hero. I
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: saved you. Now forget it. Why, Jim... I'm sorry. I
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: didn't mean that. It's just that.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: I guess I'm a little jittery. Delayed reaction or something
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: like that.
• 15:05
  Speaker 10: I'm no darling.
• 15:07
  Speaker 12: Um, Laura, how about this dance? It's a shame to
• 15:10
  Speaker 12: let music like this go to waste.
• 15:12
  Speaker 10: All right, Peter.
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: Excuse us.
• 15:14
  Speaker 10: Sure, Laura. Jim and I will sit this one out.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: All right, Mona. All right, say something. Don't just stare.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: You know I blew up.
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: I do?
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: Yes. Yes.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: You're thinking he wishes he hadn't been quite so fast
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: getting down to that ledge to Laura. He wishes... Jim,
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: that's not true. But it is true. That's just what
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I was thinking. Yes, Jim, a.
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: Thought stays with you. If you'd have only let Laura
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: fall to her death, it would be all over now.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: You look down at Laura now, sleeping soundly at your side,
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: her nightmare over and done with.
• 16:04
  Speaker 9: And you wonder if she suspects, if.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: That's why she dreamed that someone was trying to kill her.
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: She didn't say it was you, did she, Jim? But
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: you know it was you in her dream. Early the
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: next morning, you arise without waking Laura. Go down to breakfast.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: Stefan comes in as you finish, and the two of
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: you go to the storeroom to look over and choose
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: the equipment that you will need for your client.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Phew, smells like mothballs and oil.
• 16:36
  Speaker 9: Yeah, Herr Schmidt takes good care of his equipment.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: He's got enough here to start a sporting goods store.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: There's plenty of everything here. You will need.
• 16:45
  Speaker 9: Crampons, pitons, hammers. Rucksacks, water flasks, and rope. Yeah, yeah, rope.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we couldn't do without the rope, could we, Stefan?
• 16:57
  Speaker 9: Nein, we could not do without the rope. To a climber,
• 17:01
  Speaker 9: it is often the difference between life and death.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: The End.
• 17:13
  Speaker 10: Oh, there you are, Jim.
• 17:14
  Speaker 13: Morning, all.
• 17:14
  Speaker 8: Have you eaten, Jim?
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: Oh, hours ago.
• 17:17
  Speaker 10: Be sociable anyway. Sit down and do a cup of coffee.
• 17:19
  Speaker 13: Well, I can do with a cup at that. Stefan
• 17:23
  Speaker 13: thinks a climb to the upper ridges of the gray
• 17:25
  Speaker 13: cloud would be a good climb.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: We won't try for the top, of course. It would
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: be a little too rugged.
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: Gray cloud.
• 17:32
  Speaker 10: Sounds sort of ominous.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: It's not too tricky, though, Jim. I mean, after all,
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: the girls... Mona especially hasn't done too much climbing.
• 17:40
  Speaker 10: I resent that, Mr. Bennett. I'll have you know I'm
• 17:42
  Speaker 10: very good.
• 17:43
  Speaker 12: Oh, Laura, Jim, I've got wonderful news. Mona's broken down
• 17:48
  Speaker 12: and agreed to set our wedding date for early summer.
• 17:50
  Speaker 10: Oh, that is wonderful. I'm so glad.
• 17:52
  Speaker 12: And I was thinking, Jim, I have no brothers or
• 17:55
  Speaker 12: anything like that, and, well, you are our best friend.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Will you... Would he be my best man?
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: What? Oh, Jim.
• 18:02
  Speaker 10: Did it get on your trousers?
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Here, take my hat. No, no, no, it's nothing. Nothing
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: at all. Clumsy of me. You're not getting stage fright already,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: are you, Jim? No, no, it's just that I.
• 18:11
  Speaker 13: I certainly made a mess of this tablecloth.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: Well, what do you say, Jim? Okay? Well, I don't
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: know what to say, Pete. Look, there's no one I'd
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: rather have. Mona, too, I know. Mona, you ask him
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: in your most irresistible way, please.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 18:27
  Speaker 10: Yes, of course, Jim. I think that would be very,
• 18:31
  Speaker 10: very nice.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: You want to leap to your feet, scream that Mona
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: belongs to you, smash everything on the table, don't you, Jim?
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: But you don't. No, you just sit there. Your eyes
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: locked for a moment with Mona's. Go to Peter Bennett.
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: But you don't dare look at Laura, do you, Jim?
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: You're afraid of what she might see in your eyes.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: All the hate and resentment you feel for her. And
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: you know now what you must do. After breakfast, you
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: hurry to the storeroom. You study the four coils of
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: rappel rope. Select the darkest of the four and go
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: to work. You work slowly and with infinite care.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Finally, it's done. You smile.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: It looks like an extremely stout rope, doesn't it, Jim? Yes.
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: But the full weight of a body, even a body
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: as small and as light as Laura's, would snap it.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: Darker than the other three coils, it will be a
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: simple matter to make certain that Laura gets this rope.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: By late the next afternoon, your party has passed the timberline. Stefan,
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: who is leading, shouts, points to an arm. The hut
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: is in sight. A small stone shelter built by the
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: Swiss Alpine Club for use for the climbers. In a
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: short time, you're there.
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: We go camp here tonight.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: It's about time.
• 19:55
  Speaker 10: Softy, I'm as fresh as a daisy. How about you, Laura?
• 19:59
  Speaker 8: I'm fine.
• 20:00
  Speaker 10: Be glad to get these shoes off, though.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: The only thing that hurts on me is my stomach.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Let's rustle up some food.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: Sunset the next day, and you reach the second hut.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: So far, there has been no occasion to use the ropes.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: You're impatient, aren't you, Jim? You've seen to it that
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: Laura has the dark rope, the one you've cut, that
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: will never support her weight, and tomorrow she'll have to
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: use it. When you start out on the morning, the
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: angle of your ascent steepens, and finally you hit solid rock.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: You remove your crampons and dredge your way up the
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: steep rock till finally you reach it, Solid gray wall
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: of overhanging rock. Stefan pauses and faces the four of you.
• 20:52
  Speaker 9: It is a bad spot. Something has happened here. It
• 20:55
  Speaker 9: is better that we descend and look for another way around.
• 20:58
  Speaker 13: But why, Stefan? We can work up to the overhang.
• 21:01
  Speaker 13: There must be some sort of hole beyond it. What
• 21:04
  Speaker 13: do you think, Pete?
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: Well, maybe we could, but the girls aren't... Laura, do you.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: Think that you could.
• 21:09
  Speaker 10: Oh, yes, yes, I can manage it. Mona, do you... Oh, yes, yes,
• 21:12
  Speaker 10: of course, I can make it.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: Well, the eyes have it. Good, I go now.
• 21:16
  Speaker 9: I will lower my rope when I clear the overhang.
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: We'll be seeing you, Stefan.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: Your hand, Herr Jim.
• 21:32
  Speaker 12: Ja, ja, out.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Stefan. Better than I expected. Ah, this wind is bad.
• 21:41
  Speaker 9: Ja, it is very bad.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: Well, how does it look?
• 21:45
  Speaker 9: That ledge up there, that is next. Hmm.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: About a hundred feet up. Not too steep, though. We
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: can take it on an angle. Laura? Mona, you girls okay?
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: You went up there like mountain goats.
• 21:56
  Speaker 10: I could have done it with one arm tied behind me.
• 21:59
  Speaker 12: Mona, Mona!
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Thought sure you'd be blown off.
• 22:03
  Speaker 8: Me too.
• 22:04
  Speaker 10: That gust hit me hard.
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: It is best to stay close to the wall.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: You said it. There's nothing but space out there.
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: I ascend now.
• 22:14
  Speaker 9: Now, Jim, you will belay the rope and make it secure.
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: And the action goes on. Stefan first to ascend, then Peter,
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: and then Mona joins them on the ledge. She waves.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: The rope comes down. It's time for Laura's ascent, isn't it, Jim?
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: As you reach for the rope to draw it in,
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: the winds hit with full force and it hit on
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: a loose stone.
• 22:41
  Speaker 9: Jim!
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: Jim!
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: Your clawing fingers fasten under the lip of the ledge.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: You're torn loose, raked down the side of the wall
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: and claw about a nub.
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: And hold.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: And there you cling, transfixed. Below you there is nothing
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: but death. Sweat pours into your eyes. Your blood is
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: a roar in your ears.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: And you go weak.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: You manage to look up and Delora's stricken face peering
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: over the edge.
• 23:10
  Speaker 7: Jim. Jim, thank goodness. Hold on, Jim. Hold on. We'll
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: lower a rope. Lock it around your wrist and arm.
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: I'll belay it. Stefan is on his way down. Hold on.
• 23:22
  Speaker 9: Hang on, Jim.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: Hold on.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: Stefan is coming down.
• 23:27
  Speaker 7: Hang on, Jim.
• 23:29
  Speaker 9: Hang on.
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: Jim, here he comes.
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: My rope.
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: Take it, Jim.
• 23:34
  Speaker 13: No.
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: No, Laura.
• 23:36
  Speaker 12: I can't.
• 23:37
  Speaker 7: I can't. No, Stefan. Hurry. Hurry. Please, please, Jim. Take
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: my rope. Take my rope. No, it won't.
• 23:48
  Speaker 9: Can't hold on.
• 23:51
  Speaker 7: Any longer.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Whistler will return in just a moment with the strange
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: ending to tonight's story.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: Now back to the Whistler.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: The climbing party makes its descent slowly, silently, Stefan guiding
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: Laura's every mechanical move. She's in a bad state of shock,
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: moves like an automaton. Peter follows behind with Mona, the
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: anguish of the experience written in their faces. Finally, they
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: reach the alpine hut, put Laura to bed, and after
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: a while, she falls into a deep, exhausted sleep, and
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: her three companions take up a vigil by her bed.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Suddenly, the deadly silence of the room is broken.
• 25:00
  Speaker 7: Jim.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Jim.
• 25:02
  Speaker 8: I wrote this.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: Stefan.
• 25:04
  Speaker 10: Is she all right?
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: It's bad. Very bad.
• 25:08
  Speaker 9: She dreams.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: It's all right, Mikey.
• 25:12
  Speaker 9: All right.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Such a horrible shock for her. So much to bear.
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: Jim. Jim. You must.
• 25:20
  Speaker 8: Jim.
• 25:21
  Speaker 7: Jim. Oh.
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: You, Stephan. It was a dream, wasn't it?
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: All that.
• 25:28
  Speaker 7: No. No.
• 25:31
  Speaker 8: No dream.
• 25:32
  Speaker 10: He's dead, isn't he, Stephan?
• 25:34
  Speaker 8: Jim's dead.
• 25:35
  Speaker 9: Ja.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Herr Jim is dead.
• 25:38
  Speaker 8: Stephan, why didn't he take the rope? Why? He could
• 25:41
  Speaker 8: have been saved.
• 25:42
  Speaker 7: Why? Why?
• 25:43
  Speaker 9: If it is as you say, Frau Mason, I do
• 25:46
  Speaker 9: not know why. I do not understand. You are sure
• 25:50
  Speaker 9: that this is so?
• 25:51
  Speaker 10: Yes, yes, he wouldn't take my robe.
• 25:53
  Speaker 8: He tried to say something and then he fell. Why, Stefan, why?
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: We could have saved him.
• 25:59
  Speaker 9: Ja, your robe would have saved him. I do not
• 26:03
  Speaker 9: know why he would not take it.
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: He seemed afraid.
• 26:07
  Speaker 8: Yes, that's it. It was like he was afraid of
• 26:10
  Speaker 8: my robe.
• 26:12
  Speaker 9: I do not know why. It was a good robe.
• 26:15
  Speaker 9: All the robes are good. The night before we left,
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: I go over them all carefully. Ah, and a good
• 26:22
  Speaker 9: thing that I do. One of the ropes I took
• 26:24
  Speaker 9: between my hands and poof, it snapped. So I replace
• 26:28
  Speaker 9: it with a dark one. The one that you carried,
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: Frau Mason. It was a very good rope. It would
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: have held three such men as Herr Jean. Oh!
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: That was The Whistler, High Death, first heard on CBS
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: in March of 1951. Follow The Whistler for more classic broadcasts.