 presents Jeff Chandler and Ruth Hussey from Hollywood the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theater presents East of Puntas starring Jeff Chandler here is your hostess Ruth Hussey thank you Tony Lafranco family theater's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we're to win peace for ourselves peace for our families and peace for the world family theater urges you to pray pray together as a family and now to our transcribed drama East of Puntas starring Jeff Chandler as Harry I've lived in the Peruvian village of Puntas for a longer time than I like to think about living is quiet and easy today tomorrow same as yesterday nothing much happens once a month the truck of supplies comes up from Lima now and then a tourist finds his way in wants to climb a mountain do a little fishing look at a relic that's how I make a buck in between tourists I just relax it's a good life if you don't hanker after kicking up a dust I qualify my office is right in the thick of things the bench here in the plaza I don't need any billboards or calling cards natives all know me pointing me out to any likely looking customer Harry Turner guide and interpreter mr. Turner yeah you have an appointment I'm Kenneth Vickers professor of archaeology well sit down professor I'd like to engage you to lead my party I'm pretty busy right now I've got a dozen irons in the fire where do you plan on going past the country of the old Inca ruins without a luck professor no souvenir hunting the Peruvian government has laws and I have it on excellent authority that in a particular section of mountain jungle there's an Inca tribe still surviving I've heard the rumor the mountains is steep professor trails is slippery chasms deep in the jungle not only snakes in the grass but Indians ugly customers with poison darts who don't like company I could give other reasons why I've never troubled myself about the rumor would you give me the other reasons mr. Turner well for one stories have been widespread about white men making their way into the country of all Inca ruins and never being heard of again nonsense exactly professor nonsense still natives are strangely mom about a particular section of mountain jungle where an Inca tribe is supposed to still survive all Indian superstition that's right nonsense and superstition two more reasons why I've never bothered about the room I have facts mr. Turner and the price how much would you charge to lead this expedition five hundred dollars I have the money professor vickers had maps and the five hundred dollars you think this expedition foolish don't you mr. Turner look professor this is a job to me if if you say there's a tribe of Incas running around the hills and you think you know where they are I'll lead your party personally I think all you're gonna run into is a few old ruins and a couple of sore feet look at this where'd you get this map from the historical archives in Lima it's a copy of a map dating back to the days of pizarro in the Spanish conquistadores here examine the markings this trail up the mountain side sense under a waterfall and up into a valley are you at all familiar with this terrain mr. Turner to a point is this the route you and your party intend to follow yes I'm certain that in this valley we'll find sites that no civilized man has ever seen before like a kid with new toys the professor gathered up his maps and stuffed them in his briefcase I fingered the 500 the professor pumped my arm and said he'd bring his party around right away I waited started thinking I knew the jungle trails and mountains marked on the map but that second part the valley above the waterfall the first place how did you get there in the second place just where was it here we are mr. Turner I want to meet the other members of our party this is miss Alden and Marion Alden my assistant mr. Alden is a former pupil she's now an archaeologist in her own right and this is mr. Marshall Bill Marshall hi mr. Marshall is our official photographer he's also a member of the advertising agency financing our little expedition mr. Turner is to be the our Cicceroni well where we please ourselves entirely in your hands Harry oh mr. Turner when professor Vickers first told me about the trip I begged him to take me along you know whenever I think of primitive people living and practicing rituals and customs just as they did thousands of years ago I didn't tell Marion Alden the stories I'd heard she'd probably find out soon enough I'd seen others full of gush and ginger at first after a few weeks of playing footsie with tropical snakes and batting at king size insects are ready to go back home let their imaginations get excited over less primitive things I'll set Turner to march into the deepest depths of the mysterious Peruvian jungle with rod and camera tune in tomorrow for another exciting chapter you know when I get back to that chrome-plated pressure cooker I call the agency I think I'll have the old man make me a VP in charge of civil Bill Marshall handled a toothpaste encounter soap something for the advertising outfit that paid him I don't know I'm not sure a lot of things about that trip I'm still not sure of the next morning at dawn we started walking inland I was up front with a professor Marion and Marshall next and bringing up the rear our guide boys Tomas and Felipe leading the two-pack mules the low-hanging mist and the tangled undergrowth of the jungle made it pretty slow going at first can we expect this kind of heat for the whole trip Mr. Turner all right might cool down a bit when we hit the uplands hey Turner yeah Mary and I've been listening to these two boys you've got handling the mules what's the matter with them nothing I know of why they seem to be grumbling about something Harry well that's part of their job Ms. Alden time to worry about your packed boys is when they don't grumble one momento amigos see senor why are you telling them to hold it up any other questions Marshall have you told the boys exactly where we're going I uh I told them we were going inland I thought so that's what they're grousing about they don't know what they're getting into Mr. Turner you should have let them know what to expect Professor these boys are no different from other natives in Puntas if I told them we were in search of a lost tribe of incas they wouldn't even consider the job you're gonna have to tell them sooner or later Professor Vickers let's settle something right here either I run this show or you take back the 500 and forget the whole deal just a minute Turner you made a bargain that's right Willie and you weren't any part of it gentlemen I'm sure we can settle this disagreement amicably I'm willing but it's got to be settled now uh Bill I do think in all fairness to Mr. Turner that we should defer to his judgment after all he's had quite a lot of experience crossing jungle okay professor it's your party wow that's the spirit I'm sure we're in good hands well Harry should we be pushing along good enough professor oh Professor Vickers yes Mary would you mind changing places with me so I can walk up here in front those packed mules make me nervous why not it's all Marian do you mind Mr. Turner oh man now that all the 440 seats have been sold suppose we put the show on the road huh whenever you're ready Mr. Marshall I'm ready I'm glad the rest of that day passed uneventfully and so did the next according to our timetable we should have reached the mountain trail leading up to the waterfall late the third afternoon but we were still four or five hours away from it when twilight started to close in I uh I think we better camp here for the night professor well there's still some daylight can't we go on a bit farther uh be slow going we'll make the same distance in half the time the morning very well I suppose we can use the rest I know I can my feet are killing me don't tell me the jungle is losing its charm for you Marian not just the jungle mr. Marshall oh you mean me well if that's just because I'm well I'm out of my element now if I were the outdoor type like Harry here give it a rest William Marshall but you are the outdoor time here and you're the witty type but give it a rest huh professor would you mind helping me on part so I can go look at it it's a snake it's a snake it's gonna strike don't move Marian hey you got him Harry take it easy easy you're all right it's dead Harry right through the neck are you sure absolutely absolutely come come see for yourself Mary no don't get it away from here that was pretty good shooting Turner thanks we're getting to be quite a hero you got a pistol where were you I've never seen such beautiful markings can we stop talking about the horrid thing and get rid of it Harry please no sure Tomas sake I sold the key pronto sir you're all right what do you say we have some dinner just before I turned in that night I told Tomas and Philippe exactly where we were headed and what we were looking for they didn't say much but I could tell they weren't in love with the idea I offered to double their wages for the rest of the trip if they'd stay on they said they'd think it over that usually means no so I wasn't exactly surprised when Marshall shook me awake the following morning wake up wake up the pack boys are gone oh are they taking you no but say what goes on here did you know they were leaving I had a hunch they might and you're the great white hunter it was going to tell them all about it in his own good time we got three days out of them consider yourself lucky and now what we lead our own mules you've got us into a fine mess I'll put your bellyache and you can use their wages to buy sirloin when you get back to Lima if I get back to Lima I'll put you on the truck personally thanks for nothing you're welcome how about waking up the others while I wrestle some breakfast gotta get going before the sun's up it was almost noon when we reached the foot of a mountain and started up the narrow winding trail toward the waterfall then as we got closer and the falls came into view I saw one of the reasons why their secret had been kept for so long look yeah what is it a bridge one of those old rope bridges right there and will you look at that isn't there another way over I don't know what's your map say professor I was just looking at it the chasm is marked as a dried up stream here see I'd say it's been dried up since the stone age maybe this isn't the right place there's your falls as your bridge it's gotta be well there's no other way over see the chasm circles halfway around the mountain how old would you say that bridge is Turner older than all of us put together and I'd call that a conservative estimate I've read of some still in use that go back to the 17th century hell if we're gonna try it I'd say our best chance is one at a time uh after you Buona I figured that's how you'd want to do it Marshall a few minutes later with the professor and Marshall holding on to the other end of this scaling rope around my waist I stepped out onto the narrow swaying bridge that hung over the chasm flimsy the supports in our side seem to be holding up all right hooray for our side do you want more slack in the scaling rope no don't keep it as taut as you can I felt the scaling rope tighten around me and I started inching my way across to the other side of the chasm I was almost halfway over when I heard the professor yell Harry look out I turned and looked down at the shaky floor of woven hemp trembling beneath me a wide swatch of it had torn loose and dangled limply in space if I'd moved a single step more I would walking on thin air hey I see it professor thanks I think you'd better come back Harry no no I can get around it all right I'm over the worst part anyway well do you think the rest of us can get over yeah sure once I'm across we'll have an anchor on both sides that way it'll be a cinch it wasn't exactly a cinch getting the others across they finally made it and soon we were standing at the foot of the waterfall well there she be professor now what we go under the falls or rather through them Bill after that if my information is correct Harry once we're beneath the falls we should discover a flight of steps steps yes cutting to solid rock leading up through the mountain and out the other side into the hidden valley shall we have a look professor vickers stepped onto the slippery shelf of rock next to the falls hunched his shoulders and disappeared into the tarant of falling water moments later Marshall followed him then Marion I went in last after tethering the two mules to a nearby tree I was right here they are the steps he was right with his long gray hair matted down over his face professor vickers looked more like a rain soaked billy goat than an archaeologist but he was right the steps led upward from high above them a shaft of distant sunlight streamed into the cavern behind the falls we started climbing and in less than half an hour we had found the source of that sunlight the hidden valley oh it's beautiful say this is a valley what's a valley it stretches for miles Harry didn't I tell you we'd find sights no civilized man had ever seen I gotta hand it to you professor I get down down what was that sounded like an arrow down mars harry and it wasn't an arrow it was a dart look we're sticking that tree behind you good happens when it comes from blowgun keep down but who could have shot it whoever it was can't be far off I gotta hunch this more than one of them boy I heard it what's he saying I don't know I never heard a dialect like that can you see him oh I'm gonna wriggle up to that bush and take a look be careful holy cats see something yeah yeah I see something really something better than two dozen of them savages ringed around the slope below the cave we'd come out of they were standing less than 50 yards away staring straight at us and except for their leader who'd yelled those words I didn't understand not one of them made a sound harry who are they I don't know but I know we're here we might as well get up and show ourselves look they're their chief is walking towards us well you look at the size of that guy he was a giant better than seven feet tall and although he wore the same feathered Inker headdress as the others and his skin was brown from the sun his features were those of a white man as he came toward us I raised my hand and what I hoped he would take as a gesture of friendship Venimos aquí como amigos queremos estar en paz hablo este inglés what yes I thought so you're in america now who are you don't come any closer to me you sound like an american yourself I used to be are you a prisoner of this child no I'm one of their leaders these people are direct descendants of the inkons this is sacred land of them and you violent now look here buddy I don't know what your angle is living with a lot of savages but you stupid for you calling stupid shut up marshal don't you realize that at one word for me you can be killed where you stand but we haven't done anything wrong not intentionally perhaps that's the trouble with people like you you tear things and people to pieces but never intentionally can't you explain to your friends that we've blundered in here by mistake did you not exactly this is an archaeological expedition we were looking for this hidden valley it wasn't the mistake no but if you told them it was I said I was one of their leaders unless the others agreed I couldn't force them to let you go even if I wanted to even if you wanted to look you're nothing to me mister you're just another punk I've seen you a thousand times with your expensive girlfriends out slumming at the current what are you talking about you wouldn't understand if I told you look we I figure you've got your reasons for being here they well they're your own business but we're in a jam I've already told I know what you told us and I I know you're pretty sore at the world about something I was a freak a freak an assertion people used to come and laugh their heads off nobody's laughing at you now mister you're the only chance we've got he stared at me for a few moments and then he turned and shouted something to the men behind him they came forward slowly some with low guns others carrying wooden broadswords the big man spoke briefly to them in a few moments later we were herded down the slope toward a distant cluster of stone huts when we reached the village we were taken to a large circular hut at the edge of a clearing and ordered inside we stood and watched as two natives rolled a large rock back across the entrance well that does it we're cooked now take it easy Marshall all have done so far as coop us up what kind of a chance you think we'll have with these savages after that overgrown lunatic gets through steaming them up that guy may be a lot of things but I don't mark him as crazy professor vickers what will they do to us it's it's hard to say I I feel so guilty for having dragged you all into this forget it professor breaks it again I've been trying to collect my wits if if this tribe is living in a strict tradition of the Incas they they're doubtless sun worshipers in which case it may be their practice to offer sacrifice to the sun human sacrifice but the tall blonde man how did it look the tribe has accepted him as their leader you notice he carried no weapon perhaps because of his light skin and hair they feel he's an emissary from the sun god it's fantastic now cases of this kind aren't unheard of I recall at the time of the conquistadors come on come on all this talk as dandy but it won't get us out of here you got any suggestions Marshall yeah why don't we try to work on that giant or from a bribe of some kind listen what's that troubles maybe they're just sending a message to another village I'm afraid not those sound like some ceremonial drums to me the kind used in the ritual of sacrifice we stood there in the center of the hut looking at one another and listening to the insistent throb of the drums I realized the big guy must have been telling the truth they weren't gonna let us go after all Harry someone's moving the rock away from the entrance now they don't waste much time it's the big guy he's coming in alone why are they putting the rock over the entrance again beats me I told the chief I wanted to speak to you alone before the sacrifice began we're out of luck as far as they're concerned oh no and it's just breaking your heart too isn't it come on Marshall that won't help this is how you got even with all the people that laughed at you I tried to talk to them I'll bet you did you're really a freak you're a freak between the ears Marshall shut up no I don't blame him maybe he's right maybe he was anyhow these natives they think I'm a kind of deity they've never laughed at me for being tall I jumped ship at Lima four years ago knocked around stumbled into this valley the natives fell on their knees when they saw me you you mean you didn't come in under the waterfall no there's another entrance they were good to me they're my people now I uh can get you out of here you you what but how there's a tunnel under this hut you're standing right over the trap door leading to it well I'll be look I take myself when I first got here just in case they ever turned on me what'll they do when they find we're gone I'll I'll tell them it was the command of their deity in a way that's true you better be going tunnel comes out at the west end of the village keep going that way until you find a stream that hadn't known you'll be all right I I don't know how we can ever thank you don't bother this makes us square all around I want to apologize for well called you a few minutes ago a freak why apologize I'm still over seven feet tall no mister you're a lot bigger than that now the tunnel came out just where he said it wouldn't nobody followed us maybe the natives were afraid to go that far from their village or maybe they were just kneeling in front of the big guy staring at him back to Puntus no one talked much the big guy sort of stopped us made us think next afternoon the truck from limo pulled up in front of the hotel we just stood there a long time still wasn't much to talk about at last the truck pulled away marion professor and bill they they wave goodbye I I wave back I called out it's like taking leave of old friends there there's still a lot of things about that trip I'm not sure but one thing the professor's map led us to something more than a lost Inca tribe archaeological treasures remark I heard the other day struck me rather forcefully and I'd like to pass it along to you the best I can hope for said a friend of mine is to live to the age of 70 that'll give me 840 months of life now I figured it out that for a third of a man's life he's not quite sure what it's all about he spends another third just sleeping and that leaves 280 months in which he can accomplish anything 280 months in which to justify his existence well no matter how you look at it we don't have any time to waste if we're going to accomplish the good that god expects of us we certainly can't try to dodge our opportunities and above all we cannot overlook our responsibilities to our families well that's the vocation in life to which most of us are called and if we wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to making our homes as happy and holy as god meant them to be then we'll surely not be wasting the life that has been given us and god will help us do this if we have the vision and the faith to pray to him daily in the circle of the home for I can promise you this the family that prays together stays together more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of from hollywood family theater has brought you east of punta starring jeff chandler ruth hussey was your hostess others in our cast were theodore von ells ted decorsia yvonne patie and john stevensson the script was written by jerry zinnerman with music composed and conducted by harry zinnerman and was directed and transcribed for family theater by lou x landsworth this series of family theater broadcast is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program by the mutual network which is responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars of state screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our family theater stage to them and to you our humble thanks this is tony lofrano expressing the wish of family theater that the blessing of god may be upon you and your home and inviting you to be with us next week when family theater will present a fine wedding for angelita starring morino sullivan j carol nash and ricky vera join us won't you this is the mutual broadcasting system