 The Mysterious Traveller This is the Mysterious Traveller inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy this little trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, here's a good grip on your nerves. But where are we going? We're going to delve into the life of a frightened man. In a tale titled, The Queen of the Cats. Some years ago, when I was practicing medicine, I was called upon by a young girl of 22 or so. As she was shown into my office, I could see that she was having a difficult time suppressing her agitation. Her lips trembled as she spoke. Dr. Smith, my name is Jane Elliott. I have an appointment with you. Yes, Miss Elliott. Won't you be seated please? Thank you. Now it seems to be the trouble, Miss Elliott. You're trembling. You don't look well at all. I'm not ill, Doctor. It's Chris. Chris Arnold, my fiance. Oh, Doctor, you've got to help him. If you don't, something terrible will happen. Well, I'll do everything I can, Miss Elliott. Now, tell me what's wrong. Well, I don't know what's wrong. All I know is that Chris is frightened. He's in deadly fear of something. Has he told you what it is that frightens him? No. No, I've questioned him countless times, but he refuses to tell me. I see. Where's your fiance now? At his home, Brookfield Manor. Oh, Doctor, I know it's late, but won't you come with me and see Chris? He needs help desperately. There, there, Miss Elliott. You mustn't cry. Of course I'll come with you. And I'll do what I can. This is Jane. Just a minute. Jane, I've asked you before not to... Who? Who's he? Darling, this is Dr. Smith. Doctor, this is my fiance, Chris Arnold. And you do, Mr. Arnold? Why the devil did you bring him? I don't need a doctor. Please, darling, I just couldn't stand to see... Forgive me, Mr. Arnold, but it's obvious to the most untrained eye. You do need a doctor. Please, Chris, tell the doctor what you're afraid of. I'm not afraid of anything. Oh, darling, please tell him. Please. You can't go on this way. Yes. Yes, you're right. I can't go on this way. If I don't tell someone, I'll go mad. Believe me, Mr. Arnold, you'll feel much better once you've talked your fears out. Now, suppose you start from the beginning and tell me everything. All right, Doctor. Come on in. I suppose it all began two years ago at a party Jane and I were invited to. This is a wonderful party. The only thing wonderful about it is you. Oh, Chris, oh, people are watching. A fine thing when a man can't kiss his best girl in public. What's his generation coming through anyway? At Miss Tyndall's school, we were taught a young lady never kisses a man in public. Miss Tyndall is setting romance back 50 years. Who are you looking for, anyway? Rana Farouk. My roommate is at Miss Tyndall's. Oh, yes, she's the Egyptian girl you were telling me about. Yes, I want you to meet her. Only you better not fall in love with her as every other man does. Sounds as though she's a second-care patra. Men just can't seem to be able to resist her. Well, I'm curious to see this siren of the Nile. Oh, there she is, Chris. Come on. So that's Rana. No wonder men can't resist her. Hello, Jane. I've missed you. Rana, this is Chris Arnold. Chris, this is Rana Farouk. Hello, Chris. Hello, Rana. Oh, look, there's Miss Tyndall waiting to me. Excuse me, won't you? Of course, Jane. I'll be back in a minute. You know, Chris, that Miss Tyndall is the first thing I'd see in the morning when I got up. And the last thing before I went to bed was your picture. And I always knew that someday we should meet. And now we have. Why are you staring at me like that? Aren't you going to say anything? I prefer just to look. But now, Doctor, two years after our first meeting, I find it difficult to describe how beautiful Rana was. She had lustrous black hair that came down to her shoulders and sparkling green eyes that bewitched you. No words can do her beauty justice. I was captivated the moment I saw her. I see. But what happened after that first meeting? Rana seemed also attracted to me. After that night, we saw each other constantly. Nothing seemed to matter to me when I was with her. It made me indescribably happy to learn she felt the same way. A month after we'd met, we were married. Please go on, Mr. Rana. After we were married, we took an apartment in town. And a month had followed. I began to see Rana not as the image I'd been infatuated with, but as she rarely was, vain, selfish and possessive. It was a possessiveness merging on madness. She couldn't bear to have me out of her sight. And when I was upon my return, there would be questions, countless questions. I began to dread seeing her. And then, then there were the cats. The cats? Yes. She had an insane passion for them. Yes, when Rana and I were at school together, Doctor, she always had a few cats around. She said that she couldn't live without them. The apartment was always full of cats. She'd sit for hours stroking and them whispering to them until I felt I'd go mad. Life became a nightmare for me, a nightmare full of cats. And Rana, asking questions, endless questions. One day, I'd realized I couldn't go on living with her any longer, that our marriage had been a mistake. I decided to tell her about it that very evening. Yeah, come in, Rana. Of course, dear. Rana, there's something important I want to talk to you about. Oh, please, Chris, there's so little time just now. We can talk later after the party. Rana, this is important. I think that... Dull, whatever you have to say can wait. Now, please, hurry. But, but... Well, well, all right. We'll discuss what I have to say later. Chris, when I called you at the office this afternoon, why didn't you tell me that you had had lunch with Mary Walker? What? How did you know I had lunch with her? Oh, a friend told me. A friend? Who was it? What is it, my beauty? What are you trying to say? Rana, put that cat down and answer me. Who was the friend that told you I had lunch with Mary Walker? You have never met her, darling. How is it that you always know what I've been doing, whom I've been seeing, as though you have people spying on me? Chris, what a thing to say. Now, please, hurry or we'll be late. There's something strange about the way you always know what I've been doing. Sometimes I suspect that... Chris, look out. You stepped on Sabina's tail. I'm sorry, but I didn't see it. How about you before to be more careful? Poor Sabina. Are you all right now, my beauty? There weren't so many cats underfoot. I wouldn't have stepped on her. Why must you have five cats around? Because I love cats. They're beautiful, sacred. Thousands of years ago, my ancestors worshipped cats. And the great cat god is secondnet. On the river Nile, close by the ancient city of Armady, where I was born, are the graves of a hundred thousand sacred cats. They have been mummified and buried with reverence. Rana, I can't go on like this anymore. My darling, what do you mean? I feel our marriage was a mistake. I want a divorce. Chris, you can't be serious. But I am. I love you, Chris, and I won't give you up. You're mine, darling. You always will be. Nothing shall ever separate us. Would you care for a cocktail, sir? No, no, thank you. Well, even if you out have one, Mr. Arnold, I will. Jane, Jane, it's good to see you again. Just let me look at you. Chris, you're not looking well at all. Are you all right? I am now. Jane, can't we go someplace and talk? What about the terrace? All right, Chris. Here, this door opens onto it. It's been quite some time since we've seen each other, hasn't it? Yes, the last time we saw each other was the night that... The night that I met Rana. Yes. How is Rana, Chris? Oh, she's... she's fine. Jane, I've made such a mess out of everything. What a fool of married her. Please, Chris, you mustn't talk like that. But I was a fool, Jane. Mistaking infatuation for love. Can you ever forgive me for the way I behaved toward you? There's... there's nothing to forgive, Chris. Well, Jane, this is a surprise. Rana. Hello, Rana. Really, Jane, the way you've avoided calling on us, I half suspect you are still in love with Chris. Rana, you have no right to talk to her like that. I'm afraid I'll have to be leaving. It's getting quite late. Good night. Good night, Jane. I hope I didn't interrupt anything by coming out here so unexpectedly, Chris. Yes, Rana, you did. I was about to tell Jane that I love her. And that I always will. I suppose that's why you asked me for a divorce. You've been secretly seeing her. Secretly seeing her? Is it possible for me to see anyone and do anything secretly without your knowing about it? Quite right. It is not possible. I know everything you do. So I would forget Jane if I were you. Rana, how can you possibly want me knowing how I feel about Jane? You've got to give me a divorce. I'll never give you a divorce. Never. Do you hear? You're mine. You always will be. Yes. Well, what's to prevent me from leaving you? Wherever you go, Chris, I'll follow. If I can't have you, no one else ever will. Remember, Chris, you're mine. You always will be. You'll still see her, Doctor. As she stood there screaming at me, remember, Chris, you're mine and you always will be. It was a shock to suddenly realize that she looked like a cat, an angry cat. Her green eyes, cold and murderous. Her long nails digging into my arms, her body tense. For a moment I thought she was going to scratch my eyes out. Yes, Rana did look like that when she was in a rage. What happened after that night, Mr. Rana? I stopped speaking to Rana. We lived in the same apartment, but that was all. Weeks passed and Rana waited for me to come around as she felt certain I would. She had all the patience of a cat playing with a mouse. But when a month had passed and I still refused to talk to her, she made an attempt to win me back. It happened one night as we were driving to this house. Why are you slowing down, Rana? I want to talk to you, Chris, and I can't talk to you while I'm driving. There's no point in your stopping. We have nothing to say to each other. Oh, but we do, darling. Chris, we could be so happy together if you wanted to. You know how much I love you. It's a possessive love that smothers me to death. Chris, you know that isn't true. I could make you happy if you don't leave me. Oh, please don't turn away from me, Chris. I'll do anything to make you happy. Anything. Anything? And you can give me a divorce. So you're still thinking of her, hoping I'll give you a divorce so you can marry her? Well, I won't. You're here, I won't. I think we'd better be moving along. Chris, you haven't done any right to treat me like this. I'm your wife. Only in the eyes of the law, not in my eyes. I hate you. I hate you! You can't! You almost took out my eyes of those claws of yours. I will scratch your eyes out before I let any other woman have you. You're mine. You always will be. Perhaps this will bring you to your senses. Slide over. I'll drive. Very well, Chris. You think you've beaten me, Chris, but you haven't. In the end, you'll come crawling to me. It may take a year, two years, five years. But I can wait. I'll never come crawling to you. Never. But you will, Chris. Jane knows I'll never give you your freedom. In time, she'll marry. And when she does all the heart will be gone out of you. Then you'll be mine. That'll never happen. But it will, Chris. And deep down in your heart, you know I'm right. Jane will never be yours. I'll see to that. You have everything planned perfectly, Rana, don't you? But I have one way of escape from you that you've never thought of. Really? And what way is that? I can escape through death. Death? Yes, Rana. If I should fail to take the curve a hundred yards ahead, we'd plunge off the side of this mountain. Why not, Rana? You've shown me there's nothing to live for. This, at least, is to clean me out. I drove the car over the side of the mountain, doctor. I thought Rana and I were going to our deaths. But fate decreed otherwise. When I recovered consciousness 48 hours later in a hospital, it was only Rana who died. Yes, I recall reading about it in the papers. It was a miracle that you survived. Yes. For weeks they'd spared of saving me. But at the end of eight months, I walked out of that hospital. The police believed my story that it was an accident. And I was free to begin a new life. It was just a week after I was discharged from the hospital that I ran into Jane. Chris? Oh, Chris, it's you. You always seem to pop up just when I need you most. Chris, you look so much older. Are you all right? My heart isn't any too good, but otherwise I'm fine. And seeing you again is just what I need to put me on my feet. These past months must have been so difficult for you. I don't want to look back to the past, Jane. But only to the future. The future I once hoped we'd share. And still do. A few months ago, Doctor, Jane and I became engaged. It was just about that time that I first began to notice that everywhere I went there always seemed to be a cat following me. Are you sure you weren't imagining it, Mr. Allen? At first I thought it was my imagination. But a week after Jane and I became engaged I was certain I was being followed. Now tell me, Mr. Allen, was it always the same cat that followed you? No, no, no. One day to be one cat. Another day a different one. Oh, I know you must think I'm mad, Doctor. And at the time I felt I was going mad. That is, until that night. What night, Mr. Allen? The night I saw her. It happened in this very room six weeks ago. I had great difficulty in falling asleep that night. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the faint crying of a cat. Crying grew louder. Louder. I lay in the darkness listening, realizing that the cat crying was real, living in my room. I could feel my heart pounding as I sat up in bed. I looked about my darkened room and then suddenly I saw her. Two burning green eyes in the darkness. There was no mistaking those eyes. They were runners. I stared into those eyes for what seemed like hours. Then as though listening to a stranger's voice I heard myself speak. Ronda. It is you, Ronda, isn't it? Yes, I'd recognize those green eyes anywhere. So you've come back in the form I've always thought of you, as a cat. I know why you've come back. It's because of Jane. You always said that if you couldn't have me, no one else could. But I was yours and always would be. Well, you're wrong. You're here. I am going to be married. You came between us once, but you aren't going to this time. I will marry you. And there's nothing you can do to stop me. That's my eyes. Well, we'll see about that. Perhaps that'll show you that nothing you can do will stop me from marrying her. I know that all those cats that were following me spying on me were doing so under your orders. You, you're the queen of the cats. Yes, I should have known. No wonder you always knew where I'd been, who I'd seen. You had your cats spying on me even then. Well, even if you are the queen of the cats, you can't prevent me from marrying Jane. Perhaps a bullet between those green eyes of yours is what's needed... I emptied the gun at her, doctor, and then turned on the lights. There was no sign of her. She vanished. All that I found were those six bullet holes in the wall. Tell me, Mr. Arnold, isn't it possible that you only dreamed all that? But actually, you fired the gun in your sleep and the shots themselves awakened you. I tried to tell myself that, doctor. But during the nights that followed, I knew it was not a dream. For night after night, she appeared in my room. I'd lie awake, waiting to hear her footsteps, her voice. And when she would appear, I'd plead with her to leave me alone. But she'd only stare at me with those burning green eyes, waiting, waiting. I knew she'd never leave me alone as long as I intended to marry Jane. Finally, I could stand it no longer and I went to see Jane. This is a surprise. Come in, darling. Thank you, Jane. Oh, well, where have you been keeping yourself this past week? I was beginning to believe I was being jilted. Jane, there's something I want to ask you. Yes, Chris, of course. What is it? I know we said our wedding for next week. But couldn't we put it off for a while? Just a little while. Darling, what is it? There's something wrong. I know there is. Please tell me. I wish I could, but I can't. But please, Jane, just have faith in me. You know, I wouldn't postpone our marriage if I could possibly help it. All right, Chris, I do have faith in you. We'll consider our marriage postponed for the time being. Put off my marriage to Jane, doctor. Was the first night that Rana didn't appear and the first night in a week that I'd been able to sleep. You think, Mr. Rana, that she didn't appear again because you would postpone your marriage to Jane? I know it. Weeks went by, weeks in which I was able to sleep soundly without being awakened by her. And I came to think that perhaps it had all been part of a horrible nightmare and that I was over it at last. A week ago I asked Jane to set the date for our wedding. She did so. And that same day we took out a marriage license. But that night, she appeared again. Her eyes shining in the dark, cold and murderous. She knew about the license. That's why she returned. And you've seen her again? Yes, yes, every night. She just keeps staring at me with those green eyes, waiting, waiting. She's determined not to give me any rest. I tell myself that I mustn't be afraid, but I keep hearing her voice over and over. If I can't have you, no one else will. You're mine and you always will be. Oh, Chris, darling, I wish I'd known all this before. You feel, Mr. Arnold, that somehow she'll prevent you from marrying Jane. I know, I sound mad, but I do. I have a feeling something horrible will happen if I attempt to marry her. You still have the marriage license? Yes. Why do you ask? Mr. Arnold, you've reached a crisis in your life. You're faced with fears that are threatening to overwhelm your sanity. The only way for you to challenge your fears is to go through with your marriage to Jane now. Tonight? Tonight? Yes. It's quite late, but I'm sure a friend of mine who's a judge will marry you. Uh, should we get married tonight? If you hesitate, you're lost. Your only chance is to face your fears. All right, Doctor. All right. Jane, will you marry me tonight? Oh, yes, Chris. Yes. I'm sorry to get you up in the middle of the night, judge, but for reasons I can't explain, it's important that these two be married tonight. That's quite all right, Doc. Always glad to oblige a friend. Have you got the license and the ringing, ma'am? Yes, sir. Here's the license and the ring. Now, young man, if you'll take a right hand, answer it. Now, shall I give you the long ceremony or the short one? The short one, please. Just as you're saying, ready? This is the shortest one I've got. Do you, Jane, only take this man to be your lawful wedded husband to love, honor, and obey as long as you both shall live? I do. Do you, Christopher Arnold, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife to love, honor, and cherish as long as you both shall live? It's she. It's Ronna. Chris, please. It's only a black hat. You mustn't pay any attention to it. Of course not. Nothing. It's Ronna, I tell you. Look at her eyes. I told you she was trying to prevent my marrying Jane. Well, I'll get rid of her once and for all. Chris, what are you doing with that gun? She got away. Well, whatever she's gone, I'll find her and kill her. Now, Jane, you can't be far off. We'll find her. Listen. Doctor, that must be Chris firing that gun. Come on. Those shots came from close by. Hurry. We'd better take it easy now, Doc. It's pretty dark out here. Wait a moment, I'll light my cigarette lighter. Doc, look, a dead cat. Yes. It was shot through the head. So, look, there's another one that's been shot to death. Neither one of them is the black cat. Say, Doc, isn't that a body over there? Chris! No, Jane, you stay with the judge while I look. All right, Doctor. There, there, miss you. You mustn't cry. This never would have happened if I hadn't agreed to bury him. He was afraid, so afraid. Doc, is it Arnold? Yes, yes, it's he. He's dead, isn't he? I can see it in your face. Yes, Jane, he's dead. But, Doc, what happened to him? He's been clawed to bits as if by hundreds of cats. And most horrible of all, his eyes have been scratched out. This is the mysterious traveler again. Have you enjoyed our little trip into the life, or should I say, death of frightened man? Strangely enough, two days later at Chris Arnold's funeral, just as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, the mourner suddenly noticed a black cat with green eyes sitting on the edge of the grave, quietly licking its paws. By the way, I trust you haven't a cat in your home, particularly a black one. I, uh, I once knew a woman. She's dead now. Who had I... Well, you're getting off of the next stop, huh? And I'm sorry. Perhaps you'll join me again soon. I take this same train every week at the same time. You have just heard Chapter 31 of the Mysterious Traveler, a series of dramas of the strange and terrifying. In today's story, Queen of the Cats, Stots Cotsworth played Chris, Sarah Burton played Rana, and Sandra Gould played Jane. The Mysterious Traveler is written by Bob Arthur and David Cogan, and original music was played by Doc Whipple. The entire production was under the direction of Jack McGregor. Listen next week to the tale titled... Broadway, here I come. Another tale of the Mysterious Traveler. The Mysterious Traveler is presented by W.O.R. Mutual from the W.O.R. Studios in New York. It is presented over most of these stations every Sunday afternoon at half past three. This is Mutual.