 ADVENTURES BY MORSE Carlton E. Morse presents It's Dismal to Die, featuring Captain Friday. If you like high adventure, come with me. If you like the stealth of intrigue, come with me. If you like blood and thunder, come with me. All through the day, Captain Friday and Skip Turner pulled their flat-bottomed boat along the crisscross waterways of Dismal Swamp, South Carolina. The girl Julie Lane crouched at the bow, directing them through the strangling vines that overhung the creeks and underwater forests of cypress knees, lurking to rake the bottom out of the boat. The jungle blacked out the sun and smothered the swamp in a weird twilight at all times, but they knew it must be close to evening. Captain Friday, you didn't fight your way into the heart of the Dismal Swamp just for the experience. Hardly. We're here in reply to an urgent telegram from Julie Lane. Her young husband had been kidnapped, although the kidnappers hadn't asked for ransom and she swore she didn't know wives being held. But she'd found out that messages from the kidnappers were being delivered by a giant dumb cajun, a descendant of a race of swamp folks as old as white civilization in America. She'd followed him several times to a certain creek bend deep in the swamp, but always lost him. Yeah, for a pretty little southern babe, though, that Julie had her head screwed on right. She figured if we could get to the bend first, we could spot where the dummy went to. Yeah, but we didn't quite make it. The dummy caught up with us and we had to take cover. By the time we'd rounded the bend, he'd disappeared. Yeah, and right there's where we made our big mistake. Okay, Skip, take over. Well, well, that Julie sat in our boat while we tried to sniff out the dummy's trail. Only we'd no sooner turned our backs than the kidnappers grabbed her, too. Then when we located the hideout, what we'd do would walk ourselves right, smack into the arms of a couple of them tough hombres. Captain Friday and Skip woke up hug-tied in a little dark hole of a cabin and somebody lying on the floor by the wall was moaning faintly. Uh, uh... Hey, you reckon that's Julie? I can't tell from here. Them low-down skunks have hurt her. And Doug got it. It's blacker here than it was in the swamp. Look at the window, Skip. Night coming up. Listen... Skip, that's not Julie. Sounds like a man. Well, whoever it is, they need help. If I get rolled over off my face... Yeah, sit up. We can punch ourselves across the floor, boys. Yeah, gathering the season's finest crappy splinters. Yeah. Wait. I can see him now. Yeah, it's a man all right. Holy jump. Look at the way they've roped him. I'm looking. He's back in the rope crossed around his neck. Every move he makes half strangles him. Oh, what a nice party this is. Hold it. He's coming too. Can you hear me, Mr. Lane? Lane, hey, you think this is Julie's husband? Who else could it be? Huh, I reckon I've been thinking so hard about that pretty little black-haired Julie. I clean forgot her husband. You... Careful. Careful. Don't much. You choke yourself. But, uh, I hurt... Your friends, Lane. Mr. Skip Turner. Yeah, and that's Captain Friday. We come looking for you. I'll try to talk. We'll figure some way to get out of this. Sure, we will. But I'd give a pretty if some little birdie tell me how. Pocket. Whoa, there now. You just keep quiet like Captain's saying. Wait, Skip, wait. What did you say, Lane? Something in your pocket? Glass. Uh-oh. Skip. Can you shove yourself around it and reach into his pocket? Give a try. Easy. Don't bump him. I'd sooner bounce a new ball baby on its head. Yeah, there's a pocket. Now, if I can just finagle one of my hands down into it. Hey. Got it? Yeah, a hunk of glass sharp as a razor, too. There she comes. Now, fella, you're going to be losing nothing flat. I better cut me limbs first. We'll need both our hands when we work on him. Okay? Yeah, hold still now. I got the glass against the rope. Hey, try sewing your hands up and down, Horst. I'll hold it tight. It wouldn't be too all-fied energetic if I was you. Not unless you've got a hankering to cut your hands off at the wrist. And that does it. Good. I'll take that glass. The rest can wait till the rope's off Lane's neck. One more minute. There. Thank you. And never mind that. Just lie there and practice breathing. Yeah, that's from my ankles. Your next skip. Well, that don't make me mad. Wrists. And ankles. There we go. Now we'll get you loose, Lane. About time, too. Hey, fella, don't them ropes hurt biting into your flesh? They did it first. I guess I must have passed out from the pain and the choking. But I don't feel anything now. Don't try straightening out. All right. Funny, I can't move my legs or arms. How long have they kept you bailed up that way, Lane? Just this afternoon. Robbie's arms skip. I'll go after his legs. Sure thing. Hey, what'd you do to make him tie you up in knots? Anyhow, start a ride or something? Tried to. It comes here sometime to lecture me about the super race. What is country's going to do to the world in the next war? Oh, that's it. I jumped him, but I haven't had much to eat. I was pretty weak. Well, he didn't like it. They've been starving you two? Not exactly. The dummy always feeds me when he's here, but the rest of the time, Dr. Morales don't bother much. All right, son. A little. The circulation's coming back. Hang on, Lane. Be over in a minute. Go ahead. Are Morales and the doctor the only men here in the camp? Except for the dummy. He comes once a week to bring food. No sign of anyone else? Funny you asking that. I've wondered myself. What's that mean? I was only in the big cabin once. The dummy got me out to the edge of the swamp and turned me over to Morales and the doctor at the log cabin. I was only there a few minutes, but they were equipped to take care of a lot more people. There was a pile of stretches stacked against the wall. But you're certain no one else has been in or out? Positive. My window overlooks the main cabin. I've had nothing to do but look out of it. Now, eat that nice. Three of them to three of us. Dances ought to be a picnic. One of us isn't pretty bad shape. If I can just get my feet under me, I'll be all right. Honestly, I will. The pain's almost gone already. You want to try it? You bet I do. It is at all, boss. Easy now. OK? Well, you don't need to hold me. Just let me walk around a little. Watch out, you don't stumble in the dark. Keep talking. Why were you brought here, Lane? That's just it, Captain Brady. I can't figure it out. There's been no talk of ransom? No talk about anything, except the doctor's crazy ideas. Once a week, they make me write a note to dad to prove I'm alive. That's all I know about it. Yeah, but they gotta want something. Something that your father can supply. Could that be it? Honestly, I haven't any idea. There'd have been some sense in kidnapping me when we lived in New York a few years back. New York, huh? Well, that explains one thing. I thought you all lived close to here. But you don't sound like no southern boy to me. No, we were New Yorkers until dad lost his money. He used to be a wealthy man, a famous sportsman. About all he saved out of the crash was his boat and a little house down here that he used to stop at on his way to and from Florida. Florida? A boat? Yeah, dad owns a good-sized houseboat. He's taken it down to Florida every winter for the last 30 years. He may have to lost his dough. It takes money to run them things. Oh, he couldn't have managed it if it hadn't been for his friend. Friend? Big rancher from South America. Loads of money. Five or six years back when dad cracked up, they made a deal. Dad would take himself every fall in the houseboat and bring him back in the spring. Uh-huh. You know this man? No, I have never met him. He's a queer duck. Eccentric the way a lot of very rich men get. Well, my father can understand that. If you're rich, everybody you meet is after your money. Dad says this poor guy would go to all sorts of extremes to avoid people. Dress and shabby clothes mixed with the crew. So that's it. Hey, you got an idea? How did you two men get here anyhow? I'll never mind that now. Answer my questions. On these trips, did your dad supply the crew? No, his friend did. Same crew each time? Oh, no. You see, dad lived on the houseboat during the winter, but his friend didn't. So he'd just pick up a new crew for the trips. Uh-huh. And your dad decided not to go to Florida this year? Well, say, how did you know that? That does it. Wrapped up in blue ribbons. Yeah? Like you say, Claire's mud. We've got to get out of here. Any ideas, Lane? I'm afraid not. I managed to break a water glass and hide that piece in my pocket. But these log walls are a foot thick. I can't risk breaking down the door. We'd be heard cleaned at Jericho. Yeah, iron bars on the windows, too. That leaves the dummy. The dummy? Well, you said he brought your food when he was here. That's right. He ought to be here pretty soon now. Black dark outside. He must have finished eating up at the main cabin. And he won't be expecting trouble. Skip? Save your breath, boss. Just leave me get my paws on that baby. Just let me wrap my arms around his neck. Okay, you take one side of the door, I'll get the other. Now you stay out of this, Lane. Well, I know. I'm all right. I got a few scores to play. Watch it. Here he comes. Look out the window. Yeah. Somebody's coming across the swamp with a torch. Now, when I shut the door behind him, we take him. Skip. Get it? And how? And I don't need no blueprint. Okay, everybody. Steady. I got it. One red engine bites a dust. That was a fight. You all right, Skip? Yeah. Eat his fault, though. That boy don't care what rules he plays by. Well, that's one down. Two to go. About time, too. Well, when I think of that poor little Julie... Cut it. Cut it. Got enough trouble without the kid going crazy. He doesn't know about Julie. Lane, you know the layout. Can you lead me to the main cabin? Well, I was as quick as you can. Yeah, in two takes. All right, Lane. And keep it quiet. Right. There's a sort of pass between the two cabins. Better stick to it. Quicksand around. I'm right behind you. Swell. A little lighter out here. Moon coming up. Now, look here, Lane. You asked how we got here. Well, I wondered. How'd you find your way in? I'd better warn you before we get there. Just keep your head, will you? No! What's that? Why, that sounds like... It's my wife. That's Julie. I'll kill somebody. I'll kill him with my own hands. In the desolate heart of Dismal Swamp, Captain Friday and Skip, with the girl Julie, have found the hideout of the kidnappers who nabbed Johnny Lane, her husband. But the kidnappers also caught Julie. And when Captain Friday and Skip went to a rescue, they were ambushed. Tied and thrown into a cabin used for storage, they have succeeded in releasing themselves and young Lane. Then, a scream in the night, and Johnny first learned that his wife is in the hands of his tormentors. Lane, listen to me. Go, let go of me. Young fool, stop fighting and keep your voice down. Perhaps Julie, she screamed. Yes, Julie brought us here. They caught her. You'll have to face it. You've got to use your head. We're armed. We're not. You'll do her running smack into a bullet. Snap out of it, boy. Hurry, hurry. Keep close to me. Now give me the layout of the cabin as we go. Big main room up front. Kitchen lean to and back. Front and back. This path leads to the kitchen door. Looks like it's open. Land light filled or not. Let's rush it. Not until we've done a little reconnoitering. My wife, Julie. You'll help her most by not sticking her necks out. And look, a pair seems to run around the house. That's for us. That's where we're headed. Easy now. Heads down until we get under the window. That's Julie's sobbing, client. Okay. Inch up under the window. Careful, careful. Don't hurry. Captain, she's all right. See, Julie's all right. Just scared, I'd say. Doctor and morale seem to be having a little argument. It's a pleasant sight. Why do you say that? If we can get them calling among themselves, they're likely to do our work for us. Okay, this gives us the setup. Now we'll go in the back way, quick as you can. Be nice of the dummy to leave the back door open for us. That door across the room there opens into the main room. Good. You think we'll be able to hear through it? We'll see. Here we go. We'll have to ease it open. I'm waiting, Morales. It will be instructive to obtain what excuse you can offer for disobeying my orders. Orders? Doctor, he's jockey. I congratulate you. It is difficult to surprise me, but you have succeeded. Even a man of your limited mentality should have realized that I never joke. But I don't understand. To a scientist, patience is essential. But I suggest that you do not try me too far. Mrs. Lane, this dung up for you. Mrs. Lane, this dung up has received orders to leave you alone. He saw fit to disregard them. Accept my apologies. It doesn't matter. You are generous. A peculiar American trait which I cannot admire. Generosity is weakness, my dear Mrs. Lane. We must endeavor to cure you of it. Doctor Eckhart, please. If I could just be by myself a little while. You wish to retire? Yes. It means me to refuse the request. But I cannot permit it. You have been a witness to the insubordination of the Schweinehund. It is fitting that you should also witness his punishment. But I don't want to. You forced me to remind you that it is not a question of what you want, but of what I consider desirable. Well, Morales, I am waiting. What have I done, senior doctor? This lovely young lady is lonely, is it not so? She's sad. What harm to offer her the consolation, to speak the words of admiration, to steal the kiss. Why the dirty Lane keeps still. If either one of them is served. Permit me to explain the obvious. Your fault does not lie in your familiarity with Mrs. Lane. You had your orders. You disobeyed them. The hair doctor would like to explain this also. That does not concern you. Unquestioning obedience is demanded. It is perhaps because the hair doctor wants the senior all for himself. You forget yourself. My intentions are not to be questioned. Oh, no, senior doctor. I don't think so. It was Morales who found the senior. She belongs to me. I will keep her. Oh, no. No. He's got a knife. You threaten me, huh? See, see. The great doctor always he is right. Do not move, senior doctor. If you move, this little knife will flick out like the tongue of a snake. So small. So deadly. That is enough. Your usefulness is ended. There's no place for such as you in our great enterprise. Your great enterprise. I spit upon it. Always you and your kind make the big noise, the big trouble. Twice you have promised to conquer the world. Twice you have defeated. Now you are finished. My country is never defeated. Now we might. And you also, I speach. You've killed Morales. Certainly. Exactly through the heart. Excellent. You are surprised, Mrs. Lane? I'm a superb shot. I do all things well. I have held a gun aimed and ready here in my pocket since I entered this room. I could have killed him at any moment. But you could have wounded him. You didn't have to shoot him dead. Extraordinary. I find myself constantly amazed at the naivety of the American mind. No, I did not have killed him. But why should I permit him to live? He has been useful in the past, yes. He is no longer so. These fools. When we win, they lick our boots. But when the tide turns, they would like to leap up on us and tear us. It does not matter. There will be many to take Morales' place when the day comes. Besides, it will be more pleasant without him. You are horrible. Horrible. Indeed. I find you charming. Sit down again, Mrs. Lane. We have matters to discuss. I have nothing to say to you. Ever. So? Morales has profited by his lesson. It would seem you have not. Need I remind you that I do not tolerate disobedience? Sit down, Mrs. Lane. That is better. Hey, what's going on here? Don't make a sound. I was coming up from rope in the gorilla when I heard a shot. Then I seen you two in here crouching on the floor with your mom cats on a mouse hole. The doctor just shot Morales. Now he's got Julie. You assure me. It is regrettable that you should choose the chair across the room from me. However, no matter for the moment. What do you want? Ah. Then we do have things to discuss. Excellent. Why did you kidnap Johnny? Your husband's father presumed to interfere with my plans. That I do not allow. A small question of the use of his boat. It occurred to me that he would be shall we say more amenable if his son's life depended on it? I... I don't understand. It is not necessary that you should. There has been an absurd evaluation placed upon woman's mentality. That too we shall rectify. A woman should be charming. But you... you let Johnny go with if all the Lane does what you wish. That my dear depends entirely on you. On me? Exactly. Tomorrow the dummy will carry certain communications to your husband's father. There will be a brief note from the younger Mr. Lane as proof of his continued existence. You my dear will add a line. And I shall send a letter embodying exact instructions. He'll do anything you say? Quite so. These lessons and obedience are salutary. But we must allow McDay or so to prepare his vessel for our little journey. Days which might pass slowly except for your unexpected arrival. It will please me to spend this interval of waiting in your company. Dr. Eckhardt if you knew how you made my flesh crawl if you knew... So? Perhaps you would care to consider the consequences of such an attitude. I am a doctor. I am also a surgeon. There are certain operations which I have never been called upon to perform in my career. Very curious operations. Very intricate. Painful too I fear. Unfortunately I have only a limited supply of anaesthetic. Too little I'm sure to prove effective in deadening. What are you... What are you trying to tell me? Simply my dear young woman that the decision is entirely yours. But you... You'd let Johnny go. You promised. And now dear Mrs. Lane surely you will be more comfortable here beside me. I can't take this. Johnny stay where you are. Wait, don't go near her. Johnny, it's you. Johnny, the gun. Yes, the gun. Do not move. I love you. Johnny, why did you come here? It's all right darling. We never had a chance of getting away any of us. But he promised he was going to let you go. Look at him. Quite right my young friend. No. I had no intention of allowing you to live. This place must remain secret. Still you might have had several more days in which to enjoy your miserable little life. As it is you forced me to eliminate you. Now. Why does the doctor want the lane boat? Why is he prepared to murder his captives to keep his hideout unknown? You will hear the answer to these questions next week in the closing episode of It's Dismal to Die entitled Bad Medicine for the Doctor. You are listening to Adventures by Morse.