 tired of the everyday grind ever dream of a life of romantic adventure want to get away from it all we offer you escape escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure or in a lighthouse of the steaming coast of French Guiana while around you right full in its fury a nightmare of terror and violence is closing in on you a nightmare from which there is no escape tonight by popular request we repeat one of the most terrifying stories ever presented on escape listen now as we bring you three skeleton key by George to do picture this place a gray tapering cylinder welded by iron rods and concrete to the key itself a bare black rock 150 feet long maybe 40 wide that's at low tide at high tide just the light rising a 110 feet straight up out of the ocean and all about it the churning water gray green scum dappled warm as soup and swarming with gigantic bat-like devil fish great vial at school to the Portuguese man of war and yes sharks the big ones the 15 footers and as if that wasn't enough there was a hot dank rotten smelling wind that came at us day and night off the jungle swamps of the mainland a wind that smelled like death set in the base of the light with a watertight bronze door and in you went and up yes up and up and round and round past the tanks of oil and the coils of rope the cases of wicks racks of lanterns acts of spuds and cartons and cans and up and up and up round and round over the light store room with the food store room and then over the food store room was the bunk room where the three of us slept and over the bunk room was the living and cooking room and over the living and cooking room was the light she was a beauty balanced like a ballerina on the glistening steel axle of her rotary mechanism and at night you'd lie there on the stone deck of the gallery with her revolving smoothly and quietly over your head easing her bright white eye 360 degrees around the horizon you'd lie there watching to see that the feeders kept working that everything ran right and it wouldn't be bad the other two fellows snoring in their sacks two levels down you'd smoke your pipe to kill the stink of the wind and it wouldn't be bad about those other two Louie and August what a pair Louie he was head man the big fellow from the bass country black beard little hard black eyes and a pair of arms that I tell you those arms were as big around as my legs yes head man he was and what word he let go was law a silent fellow and although I spent my first two weeks trying to strike up a real conversation the most I could ever get out of him was on I took up this profession because I don't like people they talk too much it's quiet work life-tending let's keep it that way understand you're getting to be as bad as August maybe for once that was Louie that when he accused me of becoming like August I quietened down because August was the talkingist man I've ever met the talkingist and the ugliest he was hunchback stood four feet high had red hair and big blue eyes it seems he'd been an actor in Paris I played in over 200 different productions my dear boy at the Grand Guignol oh but it was monstrous horrible the way we used to scare the audiences and I I was hated yes they used to throw things in his and bear their teeth at me but finally finally it got too bad and I couldn't stand it any longer I gave up the theater my nerves you understand yes gave it up completely I really did couldn't stand it any longer it all started one morning at 2 30 I was on watch lying on the cool stone deck pulling on my pipe staring out at the black mist phosphorescent comas and the big yellow stars when out of the corner of my eye I noticed something show up for a second something the light had touched far off I waited for her to come around again and when she did there it was a three master a big one about a half mile up and coming down out of the Norna West coming straight for us you must understand our light was where it was for a very good reason dangerous submerged reefs around us and ships kept clear but this one this sailing vessel was coming straight on I went over to the gallery door and yell I had the glasses out now I couldn't make her name but I could see her quite plainly all sales set the foam creaming away under her bow a beautiful line the Dutch ship I guess to but why didn't she turn every time it passed our light hit her with a glare of day where Norna West light will touch you in a moment that's where can't they see look at her she just keeps coming on the square heads what is it what is it what's Norna West no no I know I know what it is what the Dutchman the flying Dutchman we did a play about her once oh what a performance you ghastly galleon hag written must shut up shut up she's laughing yes sloppy way to come about wrong she's derelict that's it derelict the crew left her for some reason or other but instead of sinking she's gone on running before every win she not run long not with these reefs to break her up a beautiful ship now why would men leave a beautiful ship like that he didn't ram us although we all expected it but as we waited for the crash she left again caught some odd gust and went about we watched her the rest of those black hours healing and rocking pushed and pulled by every stray wind every freak current watched her until the dawn came till the sea turned from black to a pearly gray and on she came again heading for us we all had our glasses trained on an hour August didn't kill the light right chief he doesn't look so good by daylight thinks you're ground this time I said you think you're ground this time possible what hmm here take my glasses they're better than yours all right what is it that you're I had to focus and then my breath froze in my throat the decks were swarming with a dark brown carpet that looked like a gigantic fungus but undulating and on the masts and yards the guys and all were hundreds no thousands no million I don't know an uncountable number of tremendous rats you see them yes I see them now we know why she's a dearly yes now we know what are you doing here give me a look yes give him the glasses take a good look chatterbox give you something to talk about he's still heading for us and if she's going to turn she'd better turn soon suppose she doesn't you mean suppose she piles up on the key slow tide yes yes it is always all the conversation August huh here you want the glasses again you want another look oh no she's still coming on go away go away turn I say I pray you turn she's struck the rats look under water like a carpet they're swimming sure they're swimming those are ships rats but they're swimming for the rocks the door below it's open come on August get the windows maybe they can climb right you see them oh oh yes I do up at the other end of the rocks look at them millions they smell it if they come the door bigger these were wild and ready teeth long sharp and yellow he went for a them we bought him we bought that one right all over the room it was it was like fighting a panther got it we really get a lot as we ran up the winding staircase we passed the tiny windows of the various levels and that everyone was a thick wriggling screaming curtain of brown fur I was ahead of Louis and I ready to eat successful level suppose they found a way in it's a nightmare here at the gallery was thick and fetid with the stink of the light was dim brown filtered through the crawling masks that swarmed over the glass all about as we couldn't see the sky nothing nothing but them the red eyes claws the wriggling hairy snouts and teeth our rats screamed and howled and threw themselves against the glass they were starving and we three we stood in the center of the glass room under our beautiful light and we waited what can we do what can we do take it easy August take it easy I can't I just won't do any good to point to any good to stand here and shake that's right go away go away go away they won't go away until until what until they've been there we will return to escape in just a moment Academy Award winner Joan Fontaine will be your star in leave her to heaven on the Lux summer theater on CBS radio tomorrow evening you'll enjoy this celebrated story of a ruthless woman who destroys the thing she loves and you like Joan Fontaine in this dramatic role that's leave her to heaven starring Joan Fontaine tomorrow evenings Lux summer theater show on most of the same CBS radio stations and now back to escape and take so much horror and then you get used to it and they were interesting to watch you know they couldn't understand the glass they could see us and they could rush at us but that's been invisible barrier held them off stop from time to time we caught a glimpse of the rocks below more after their swarming brown velvet in the bright tropical sunlight and then the tide began to rise some of them get right don't drown no sir you can't this is getting thicker what's the time what a sick you got the first one right wake me at that I will come along it was getting dark one side of the room was lit a soft filtered red sunset through the wrap all very pretty I set the wick that checked my fuel and ended the lamp it caught them let them in their gigantic wriggling web of pale hairless bellies twitching red tails bright eyes and I started the rotary motor the light shows the mass as she swung slowly and smoothly about she blinded them in the fifth tapping bar of light moving continually about ever turning ever touching ever moving around and around and they twitching and stuttering eyes framing when they were stuck by the bright light moving and behind on the dark side of the room so close so close I dare not turn my back but you can't help turning you back when you're in a room made of glass on the dark side of the room you couldn't see them but only there I'm thousands of points of blank red light they relieved me at 10 but I didn't get much sleep that night and when I came up into the gallery early the next morning there stood our ghost he's back to me he was bowing to the wrap waiting his arms and so helped me making a speech and this morning my dear I'm going to play once again that magnificent role which makes me the host of the parashefer the evil genius of the medieval underworld I am he who did guide the dark soul of the marriage car into the never past because I said staring at him for a second didn't notice me the man had gone mad they kept turning telling his stories to all the rapes leaving no one out of us another one a late summer take a seat on the aisle. Stop it stop it didn't stop you went on my way to the rapes big blue eyes rolling and wheezing wild red hair waving about it grabbed him by the arms and wrapped his face he looked at me like a child and then his face pulled up as though he were about to cry go below go on very well later my dear audience later he was crazy I guess we all were a few hours later he came back up and caught Louis and me teasing the rap yes sounds horrible it was fun we'd get right up against the grass and make faces at them it drove them crazy they were scratch away trying to get it our eyes our goose joined in to all very ingenious our goose he learned that if he really goes himself against the cloth they'd bunch and bundle against his figure then he'd leap back my poor kid went on all day like that they put our goose in bed he went to sleep like a baby smiling and then it was about midnight I was I was very tired and I was just beginning to fall off the seats myself when I became conscious of the news time I couldn't figure it at first I got up I looked the lamp went to the window even as I looked at it I saw one of the pains begin to sag they've eaten the waterway Louis come quick what is it they found a way in I held the glass with my hand now they were all going crazy and assured of the success of this maneuver were all nibbling away at the wood Louis ran below and then returned with a large sheet of tin fitted against the window and hammered it into place even as we did so we felt the heavy bodies putting against the other side of the window came away and I don't hold it if it doesn't we're done for rats can't eat it no they can't what was that I don't know he came from below the store all the window they're in they're swarming up the stairs drop the tap life to him got in get him we didn't have time to get them they came to us I left to one side I grabbed a mile and fight swung and smash one in the air well to see Louis with the other hand up with pouring all over the place he held his hand aloft and kicked at the snarling wrap and he got my hand that's both of them Louis I get you something to tie that up look at my blood I'm bleeding it'll be okay yeah that's not bad not just the flesh and then then I became conscious of a new sound they were knowing their way through the wooden trap door I watched the wood fascinated and even if I did it began to give way and a bristling whiskery nose showed through Louis we've got to go up next level with the living quarters and kitchen and slam the trap there but it too was a wood lad John what are we going to do I don't know if they could be through this one in a moment the gallery the trap door in the galleries metal good come on we lay across the trap exhausted while below us the rats took over the entire tower I could hear them howling and fighting over our food supply our water our leather and all about is the other screen cleared in at a suede in a tangled mass hypnotized by the overturning light by morning the air in the little room was horrible until now we'd been getting air from the tower below and now that was sealed off and so was all our food and water well exhausted panting waiting waiting the hours crawled on I was almost dosing from fatigue when I heard a sight that brought me too fast would you like to come in my beauty would you I hold the powers of life and death and I can let you in you know our ghost was standing by the glass and in one hand he held a big wrench was tapping the glass gently not quite hard enough to break it slowly I eased myself to my feet and slowly very slowly tiptoed toward him all I have to do is tap just a little harder I found a coil of wire in the toolkit and I trust him up fastened him to a stanchion in the center of the room Louis was of no help he lay on his side looking at his bloody hand weak and sick as a baby so there I was a lunatic and a coward for company I'd attended the light but its flame was devouring our oxygen the following day we lay thirst tormented starving waiting waiting and the following night I again tended the light but the small supplier spare wicking we kept in the gallery had become exhausted and at about midnight the light began to flicker and slowly so slowly began to go out there was nothing I could do wicks were stored three levels below nothing I could do nothing time the time I'd strike a match to see the clock and when I did it lit up the million red eyes about us all about watching waiting below it had grown quiet they'd cleaned us out and now they too were waiting all waiting and then the rats quite suddenly was silent and then I heard it and then I saw the sky and the stars rats were gone I went to the glass right there on the water a small freighter a banana boat showing a few lights came softly and innocently at us the light was out they didn't know I wanted to open the windows to call out to them to warn them but I was afraid what if the rats were hiding from me tricking me so I waited she grounded very softly on a reef not 200 yards from the key grounded so gently that the man playing the corner was he a passenger crew man of watch didn't even stop playing they tried washing her off I could have told them to save their fuel the tide was arriving would have floated up free and I waited that's all that's the story the sun came up and there wasn't a rat on the whole key every last one of that terrible army had left us gone back to sea on the new ship August didn't say he never recovered and Louie they took him into Cayenne where he died of blood poisoning from his bike yes that's the whole of it my ideal excuse me I must go set my traps well no no mouse traps no rats in this light house I should say not life in the lights isn't bad but sometimes when I see a strange vessel approaching I get a little nervous yes when you know that somewhere on the seas there's a little banana boat without a crew that is without a human crew under the direction of Anthony Ellis escape has brought you three skeleton key by George Toodoo's adapted by James Paul starring Ben Wright as Jean Paul freeze as Louie and Jane Devello as a goose special music for escape was composed and conducted by leap Stevens next week a hundred miles from your own lines waiting for the enemy who will lead you to your destination while with every moment the danger to you and your men becomes more acute for if you are discovered the only road of escape will be dead so listen next week when escape will bring you Gus Bay's exciting story the 13th truck evening CBS radios crime classics presents the stirring story of the axe and the droot family how they fared it's several pages of criminal history you're sure to enjoy so be listening for crime classics presented by CBS radio tomorrow evening on most of the same CBS radio stations this is George waltz speaking and remember there's action as a policeman really finds it in 21st precinct Tuesdays on the CBS radio network