 Adventures by Morse. Courtney Morse presents The Land of the Living Dead, 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. This is what has happened to date. Robert English, son of Dr. Julian English archaeologist, was killed the night he returned to San Francisco from Chile, South America, with information concerning the land of the living dead hidden in the La Jolla jungles. His killer was believed to be Tula, beautiful and deadly priestess of the brotherhood of the living dead. Then Mrs. Robert Santos arrived in San Francisco also from La Jolla. She persuaded Dr. English and his daughter Judith with Captain Friday and Skip Turner that their own lives were threatened by the ancient brotherhood. But here's Captain Friday. Yes, she urged us to go with her to La Jolla, Chile, where we would have the protection of a monastery whose friendly monks are fighting the forces known as the living dead. The monastery is pitched on the steeps of the Zambala Mountains. On the opposite side of the mountains lies the sacred city or stronghold of the enemy, ruled over by that high priest Maya Nahib. No sooner had we arrived in La Jolla than we became aware that Mrs. Santos had some strange attachment with the brotherhood of the living dead. Finally, however, we reached the safety of the monastery and discovered an underground passageway which led to the enemy's sacred city from the monastery. Boy, did we find it. Go ahead and tell him, Skip. Well, more than that, we discovered Mrs. Santos in conference with priests of the living dead. We found him in the secret underground passage and we took Mrs. Santos prisoner. In the meantime, the prophecy that the healer monster was to ride on the face of the sun had been fulfilled. The brotherhood believed that each time there was to be a world catastrophe, there appeared on the face of the sun the shadow of a healer monster. The monster had appeared and thus a new world catastrophe seemed imminent. Dr. English and Judith believed that the tragedy was to come through the agency of Maya Nahib, high priest of the enemy. This belief was strengthened when he and I heard the werewolf agent of Maya Nahib declare that the civilization of the world was to be destroyed in five days. But now they have captured Mrs. Santos. Oh, you fools, you miserable meddling fools. Fools, are we? Fools to catch you double-crossing us, huh? Don't you know by entering this passage that you will precipitate immediate attack upon the monastery by the priests of the living dead? Do you think that Maya Nahib will wait an instant to strike when he realizes that those in the monastery know this passage under the mountain? But why should he know, Mrs. Santos? We've avoided his agent so far. Believe me, Dr. English. If he does not know, he will know very soon. You will not be the one to tell him, Mrs. Santos. What do you mean, Captain Friday? That you are our prisoner and you're going to accompany us back to the monastery. Prisoner? Don't you understand? All we understand is that you've played traitor ever since we reached La Jolla, that we caught you in conference with the werewolf and his fellow agents, that you and they are planning in some way to destroy the civilization of the world in exactly five days. You, you heard that? Yes. What is it you're planning to use, the atomic bomb? Listen to me, Captain Friday. These next five days are important beyond words. We have terrible work ahead of us. If by us you mean you and the Maya Nahib and the werewolf, I think I understand. No, no, no. What work we, you and Dr. English, and Senor Skip, and Judith, and I have ahead of us? I don't know what you're talking about. You're no longer one of us. Stupid fool. Because the game I'm playing is too deep for you. Are you going to hang back and let London, and New York, and San Francisco, and Paris, the whole world be crushed by the mad high priest Maya Nahib? Doctor, let's get back to the monastery with her. I think she's stalling here for a purpose. Stalling? Yes, stalling. That's what I said. Keep us waiting here on the stairway to the sun. Maybe the priests are warned. Let's get out of here before it's too late. Very well. Judith and Skip are waiting for us down on the lower level. You truly mean that I am your prisoner? Your hands are tied behind you. What would you say? Come along with us. If you will, but listen. Now that we've discovered the secret passage leading to the enemy's stronghold, knowledge which you seem to have had all along. Secret passage? Yes, that's what I said. Captain Friday, you are under some delusion. This is not the secret passage indicated on Dr. English map. This is not the secret passage? What are you giving us? Are they certainty not? This passage has always been known to the priests of Maya Nahib. Is this the truth? And to the monks of the monastery? Do they know of it too? No, senior, they do not. I think you're lying. But I am not, Captain Friday. The priests of Maya Nahib have entered and left the monastery at will. No, this is not the secret passage. I don't believe you. You're stalling again. Come on. But Mr. Sanos, what is this secret passage, then? No one knows. I do not know. The monks of the monastery do not know. Maya Nahib does not know. That is why he is so determined to get your map. Skip and Judith are just below. I caught them with my flash. See? There they are. Dr. Dinesh, are you going to allow me to be tied up and humiliated in this manner? I heard the werewolf give you secret orders from the high priest Maya Nahib, Mrs. Sanos. That can mean only one thing. But if I am not free to act? If you are not free to act, we may yet save the world. And what are you going to do with me? Lock you up in a stone chamber in the monastery. Hey, who is that? No, skip. It's the doctor and me. Hey, what kept you? I thought you was never coming. Judith's OK now. What took you so long? We caught one of Maya Nahib's agents. Father, who is it? Is it the werewolf? More deadly than the werewolf. Turn on your flash. Look. Oh, Mrs. Sanos, you. It is I, Sr.ita English. You napped all the trust we put in you. Come on, let's get out of this place. It's dangerous here. More dangerous than you know, Captain Friday. Judith, are you able to walk now? Oh, yes, Father. Well, take these steps easily. Here, give me your hand. Yes. Oh, it was easier to climb the stairway to the sun than to descend. Oh, this awful dog. Look, look. What's the matter with you? Do you not see her? Do you not see the priestess Tula in the shadow ahead of us? Tula? I never saw her. The green eyed girl who killed Robert. Here, here's another chamber off the stairway. Maybe she hid in there. I'm going in. No, not in there, Captain Friday. Why shouldn't I go in? Well, look, there's no door. Listen, do you hear that? That steady drip, drip, drip of water? Yeah, I hear it. It ain't surprising to hear water dripping in on the ground, cavern. Ah, senior, but this is different. That is one of my naïve's many torture chambers. They, they killed men in there. You're just inventing excuses to keep us from going in. Trying to let Tula get away. I'm going in. Going if you like. But do not ask me to go. I'm sorry, but you go wherever I go, Mrs. Santos. Please do not ask. Muy bien, I will go. I refuse to ask mercy of you, Captain Friday, while our relations are so strained. Come on, lead the way. It was here, Captain Friday, that Roberto Santos, my husband, was tortured before he was killed on the edge of the jungle. Oh, Mrs. Santos, I'm sorry. Yeah, I don't see no instruments of torture in this room. No instrument of torture? Well, what do you want? My flesh lights the whole room. There's nothing here but a stone seat. A stone seat with water dripping on it. I understand, Captain. That is the instrument of torture. Si, Capitan, they shaved my husband's head. They tied him to that stone so that he could not move and let the water drip on his head. Drop, but it died. Drip, drip, drip, for hours and hours. Well, is that all? All, oh, if you put new. I know. It's the Oriental way of torture. It drives men mad after a little. Insane. They tie you to the seat and leave you here in the dark for hours. Those tiny drops of water grow and grow until it seems as though sledgehammers were beating out your brains. Each drop becomes a great explosion that makes your ears ring and flashes of fire appear before your eyes. And then, and then. I don't say anymore. At first, you pray for me. Then you beg for it. Finally, you are screaming for it at the top of your voice. When you have screamed one whole night, you are past saving. You are turned loose to wonder in these maze of passageways until you have starved to death. Well, it's fallen down the stairway and broken yourself on the floor below. Oh, let's go. Let's get away from here. Oh, Mrs. Santos. Are you now satisfied, Captain Friday? But why did they do this to your husband, Mrs. Santos? Because he discovered this secret passage that Dr. English map tell no. And he preferred to die rather than give his secret to the brotherhood. And was it in this other secret passage that Dr. Santos saw the storehouse full of the gold and jewels of the ancient jacotas? It was. Yeah, this is enough. We're going back to the safety of the monastery. I am still your prisoner? That's right. We let the monks in the monastery take care of you. From this balcony, we get a full view of the entire valley below us. I didn't realize how high on the mountains are the monastery stillers. Yeah, and sniff this fresh air. Man, eat it pure and sweet after all them hours in that underground passage. Oh, boy. Oh, isn't it wonderful to be safe again and, uh, and, uh. And what, Judith? And together, Skip. Hey, Judith, you mean you and me? Shh, here comes Father and Captain Friday. Oh, well, Judith, I see you've recovered. Your eyes are bright. Your cheeks just are making love to her again, Dr. Oh, well, Captain, I'm needing a son. Now that Robert could- But Father, what about the monks? Have they changed their mind about Mrs. Santos? They're adamant, refused to be moved despite everything we could tell them concerning Mrs. Santos. They declare that under no circumstances will they believe her an agent of Maya Nahib and they refuse point-blank to keep her a prisoner or allow us to. Oh, I'm glad. Glad? I can't help it, Captain. In spite of everything, Mrs. Santos has been so good to me, so gentle, so understanding. I won't believe her a traitor. But after catching her with a werewolf in the passageway- I don't care. I won't believe it. I won't. I confess, I'm amazed at the attitude of the monks. They treat us as though we were children. Pay no attention to our advice, but hang on each word Mrs. Santos utters as though she were, well, their high priestess. You know what one of their monks told me. Something for the good of your soul. He said that we were cognizant here in the monastery only as refugees from the wrath of the brotherhood and not as their savior. Yes, I was told the same thing. They look upon our visit here not in the light of a rescue party but as a party of refugees. I was told that all they required of us was my map of the secret passage. Did you give it to them? Hardly. I'm beginning to suspect that this place is just another stronghold of Maya Nahib. Looks to me that we're being treated kindly for just one purpose, to obtain the map. Well, in that case, Doctor, we're in pretty deep. But didn't Mrs. Santos predict an attack on the monastery by the brothers of the living dead now that the monks know of the passageway leading to the stairway to the sun? Yes, she's warned the monks. They're taking precautions. What sort of precautions? I don't know. Hey, look, an airplane. Oh, look, Father. Oh, it's beautiful. Gosh, it's all black. Look at a shine in the sun. What do you suppose it is, Doc? We're far off the Chilean male routes besides the planes headed for the densest part of the jungle. One of Maya Nahib's messengers on his way to the sacred city of the sun. Oh, no. Remember, Maya Nahib has given the civilized world but five days to live. One of them has already passed. That plane symbolizes to me the beginning of the end. I say, Captain, yes, our only chance? Here comes Mrs. Santos. Are you feeding yourself again? Yes, Mrs. Santos, thank you. There's another of those black planes. Mrs. Santos, what does it mean? The second this morning. Look, there is another. And another. They are coming from all directions. What do you suppose that means, Dr. English? It can mean but one thing, the forces of Maya Nahib are gathering in the sacred city for some desperate move. These planes come from every civilized center in the world, Moscow, London, Rome, New York, Paris. And Dr. English, there are only four more days until the brotherhood strikes. Why do you say that to me? Why do you look accusingly at me, Mrs. Santos? Don't you know? I don't know what you're talking about. The map, Dr. English, the map to the secret passage. If we can find the secret passage, then we have an unguarded entrance to the sacred city. Then we can strike at the heart of these dread menace. We can strike at Maya Nahib himself. Or else you can tip Maya Nahib off so that the passage will no longer be a danger. Listen, Dr. English, supposing the priests of the brotherhood should make a successful attack on the monastery and you should be carried off or killed, then all hope of ever finding the passage would be gone. Give us the map, Dr. English. Please, please do it. It is our only hope. It is what your son Robert intended to do. It was the reason I brought you down here. Everything depends on the map. Everything. If I could only believe. Father, I do believe in her. I do. I know she is right. What do you say, Captain? Do you know what I think? Skip? What's your opinion? What the boss says goes for me. Oh, Skip. You see, Mrs. Santos, you've broken faith with us so off. In heaven's name, look. Look. The plane's falling. Where? See? See right over the tallest peak. Yes, yes. Look how he bounces about in the air like a toy balloon. Oh. That was the strangest exhibition I ever saw. There must be some terrible wind currents up there. Do you see the way that plane was sucked earthward and then tossed high in the air rolling over and over like a leaf in the wind? That peak is called the finger of God by the Chicota Indians. It is so tall that never a day passes by that there is not a terrific rainstorm about its peak. When the sun is shining in the monastery, I have seen thorns descending on that peak and the lightning playing about it and snapping and cracking like a thousand machine guns. Finger of God. Mrs. Santos. Mrs. Santos, did you say a storm every day? Judith. Judith, what are you saying? See, senorita. That is what I said. Why? Oh, nothing. Listen. The werewolf is in the monastery. The enemies come for us. Captain Friday, Skip, Dr. English, and Judith came safely back to the La Jolla Monastery from the underground passage with Mrs. Santos. They brought her back a prisoner, but the gentle monks refused to hold her. And now the monastery has been invaded. The brotherhood of the living dead have rushed through the secret passage and have taken over the last safe stronghold of Captain Friday and his friend. They've broken into the monastery. That's the werewolf. For God's sakes, now what? The window. The window just above our heads. The werewolf. Yes. You are covered from a window of the monastery. Do not move. Now come in of that balcony one at a time. You first, senorita. Don't move, Judith. Do as he says, senorita. He means what he says. We can not defy them here. But what are they going to do? I will not speak again. You first, senorita. Go. Go. Thank you, Mrs. Santos. Now you, next. But how did you get in here? I thought the monks were on guard. The agents of Maya Nahib always find means Captain Friday. Dr. Englisch, you come next. Don't go, doctor. Don't go in there to be trust up like a chicken. Let's stand and fight it out here. We're armed. The moment you reach for a weapon, you will be shot down. Captain Friday, do as you are told. This is not the time to strike. Not yet. Not yet. Thank you again, Mrs. Santos. Now you, senor Skip. I'll stick by you both. Shall we fight it out? No, it's useless now, Skip. Better do as Judith and Dr. Englisch have done. Give yourself up. Maybe they'll only lock us up for the present if we don't resist. OK, let's go then, Captain. Well, here we are. What do we do now? Dive their hands behind them. The monastery has a very serviceable dungeon, Captain. It will do very nicely for you three men. But my daughter? What of my daughter? Your daughter, Dr. Englisch. Your daughter, the high priest, awaits the beautiful American girl impatiently. It's a good thing for you, you tied my hands. Because if you don't kill me, I promise you I'll strangle you with my two hands if it's the last thing I ever do. You will die, senor. Do not make a mistake about that. Put them away. Lock them up. And what is to become of me, werewolf? My anaheeb himself would attend to you. The high one has his own method attending to your kind of people. Take her into one of these cells and tie her up until her work in the monastery is finished. Un momento. What are you going to do with senorita Englisch? Is it for you to ask? Remember this, werewolf. There is a curse as ancient as the world itself, which is kept for the special use of priests who come to near to young girls. Take her away. And I hear and now pronounce that curse upon you. Stop her. Stop her. Take her out of my sight. Our knowledge of mysticism is small, but it is potent priests of the brotherhood. Because of a woman cannot touch a priest of the sacred sea. Go away. Go away. Don't come near me. So this is a dungeon. Black is the ace of spades. Hey. Sorry, doctor. Didn't mean to step on you. Now look here, doctor. You've got to brace up. But my daughter. My daughter. Well, get out of here. You see if we don't. Come on, let's start looking around. No, that's useless, Skip. I examined this dungeon with my flash the other day when we were searching for the passage. It's about the tightest hole you could imagine. They've taken Judah to the sacred city. No, they haven't. At least not yet. They've got to pass right by here on their way to the stairway to the sun. But I don't get all this. What's become of all the monks in the monastery? They seem to have vanished. Probably all agents of Maya Nahi. Well, I certainly didn't put up any scrap when he invasions again. I don't understand. Simple enough to me. Mrs. Santas lures us down here with a map, pretending the monastery was a place of safety. Actually, it's a stronghold of the Brotherhood. They've got us where they want us now, so they've thrown us all into here and thrown all pretense aside. I suppose we'll all be... Yeah, I suppose what, boss? Captain, won't chance me. Captain, Captain Friday. Hey, Doctor, something's happened to Captain Friday. We're locked in here. Hello, Carey. He's gone. One moment he's seated here beside me in the dock and the next minute he's gone. That's nonsense. He must be somewhere here in the cell. But he's not. He's not. Come along. Feel along the wall here. You go that way and I'll go this. There. There, you see? He's not here. He's gone. He just vanished and came there. Strange. Strange. If this is the mysticism of the ancients, your code is... Hey, listen. Someone's coming down to Corridor. The werewolf said he would come for us when he was ready. Shh, listen. Now listen, Doctor. When they open that door, that's Russia. It's our only chance. Take him by surprise and dash right through. It's desperate. I am desperate. Shh. Stop outside our cell. Get ready to rush him. It's me. Boss, how did you get out there? Keep your voice down. I've got her in a jiffy. These old cells are easily open from the outside. There. Now come with me quickly. Out of this place. Where to? Down the corridor. We'll hide in one of the cells until we can get our breath and plan something. They haven't taken Judith out of the monastery yet. And they'll do it over my dead body. Now here. Here, this cell will do. We can talk in here. Now leave the door open. No one could possibly see us in this black hole. You will us, doctor? Yes, yes, but... Captain, how did you get out of the dungeon? I don't know. Don't know? No. All I can say is I was seated with my back against the dungeon wall alongside a skip. Suddenly the wall gave way and I was rolling down a short incline. The next thing I knew, a woman was leaning over me. A woman? You could tell in a dark? Her hair swept my face as she bent over to whisper in my ear, and I caught a whiff of an oriental perfume. A woman? Hey, was it Mrs. Sattles? No. No, it wasn't Mrs. Sattles' voice, and it wasn't Judith. You say she spoke to you? Yes, she said, your only safety lies in the River of Souls, the clue of which is in Dr. English's map. River of Souls? Yeah, that's what she said, and she arose and was gone. And you're certain it wasn't Mrs. Sattles? No, doctor English. It was not I. Who said that? I, Mrs. Santos, said it. Where are you? In his room with you. I'm tied to the bed myself. Tied? Tied? Then that proves... Proves what, doctor English? Proves that you are not one of the agents of my anaheim. If you believe that, then perhaps you will free me of my bonds. I am against it. Still you think I am full of lies, do you not, Captain Friday? Perhaps you think I have been thrust up here just to quiet your suspicions. I assure you it is not so. I'm a prisoner just as were you, until you are so fortunate to release. Do you know who released me? I think I know, and I pray I'm right. Look here, Captain, I'm going to release Mrs. Sattles. As you think best, but it's against my judgment. Nevertheless, I'm going to do it. Here, skip. Will you help me? Ah, Santa Maria, at last you are beginning to have faith. It isn't that, Mrs. Sattles, but I'll not see even an enemy fall into the hands of my anaheim. They're tortures, they're devil-treat. Ah, doctor English, but that is true. And as I'm showing you mercy now, I pray God you'll show me mercy by using your influence to save Judith. If you have any. Doctor English, you had better leave me tied. Why, what do you mean? I have no influence in the sacred city. None, whatever. If you are freeing me with the idea of saving your daughter, then... I do not ask the impossible, Mrs. Sattles. There, you're free. Go where you please, do what you choose. Then for the present, I choose to remain here with you. Hey, listen, let's do this. Skip, don't move. Will you go, please? They are coming with your daughter. They are carrying her to my anaheim. They're on the way to the stairway to the sun. Well, they've got to come this way, and they'll never get by this door with her so long as there's a breath in my body. Is there nothing you can do, Mrs. Sattles? Is there nothing you can do? What do you expect of me, doctor English? I told you I had no influence. If we had our revolvers, we'd have some chance. But you turned the werewolf from us once. By a mere sign, you drove him and his pack flying in the cavern beneath the river. If you could do it once, you must be able to do it again. I beg of you. Hold it. They're coming around the corner. I can see those in the lead. They're carrying torches. Yeah, yeah, there's Judith being carried between two huge Dakota Indians. Well, you just let me get my hands on them. Just a moment, senor. There's Tula. There's Tula. She's leading with a torch above her head. Look, look, she's laughing. She, look, did you ever see anything so beautiful, so devilishly beautiful? Please, Mrs. Sattles, please, please. You can stop them. You can. I know you can. Be still, doctor English. If I save your daughter, doctor English, then will you believe in me? Will you give me the map? Yes, I promise it. And will you have faith in me, Captain Friday? Will you try to help me, or at least stop hindering me? I give you my word. If you can save Judith. And use in your ski. Yes, anything you ask, anything. Then keep quiet. I will go out alone and face them. If I do not come back, then this is the end. Now Mrs. Santos will demonstrate once and for all whether she is friend or enemy. If she saves Judith, she regains the confidence of Captain Friday's party. If he does not, then there is no hope. Listen next week to chapter seven of The Land of the Living Dead, which is entitled The Terror of the Sacred City. You are listening to Adventures by Morse.