 Suspense and the producer of radio is outstanding theater of thrills a master of mystery and adventure William and rogson You know the old saw about the importance of trivial things For the one of a nail the shoe was lost for the one of a shoe the horse was lost and so on Take a dime for instance one thin dime just chicken feet Yet it can make the difference between life and death as it does in the story you were about to hear Listen then and ponder on the potential dimensions of trivia as Lloyd Bridges stars in chicken feed now Mr. Lloyd Bridges in chicken feed a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense All right, it was a silly thing to fight over I admit but there it was a dime a measly thin dime Chicken feed of course. That was only the beginning See a junior asked for a dime and I flipped it over to him and after he left the room Mary said I shouldn't spoil it It was time. He learned the value of money And I said we're great Scott if I couldn't give my own child a dime without her jumping down my throat Oh, you know those things get going keep saying things you shouldn't and she lashes out with an answer and before you know it You've stormed out of the house and you're taking it out on the car 50 miles cool me down a little but not much They automatically slowed up when I came to the sign. You are now entering Lansing, California Go slow and see our town go fast and see our jail Everybody knew Lansing a speed trap tough town Driving in a normal speed through the quiet Sunday Street gave me time to think of something besides the biting words Mary and I had slugged at each other I Pulled up at a little cafe next to the police station Had a whitewashed sign the window the best cup of coffee in town for ten cents How do you have your eggs this morning Sherlock? Nobody's a scratch with a pride but said I resent that officer Brady and what's more my whole family resented Too over easy Sam heavy on the pride What shows Mr coffee, please coming up. Yeah They all said Brady. How's your starboarder Phillips are coming for him in the morning Think you'll be able to hold him till then he got out of that Bennington jail like a paper bag Don't worry system. Oh, this will happen here. Well. I sip my coffee this cup of coffee in town for a dime That reminded me of our argument over a dime That's about all the dimes good for a guest cup of coffee newspaper phone call There's a stack of the local papers nearby and I pulled one over to look at it This Phillips was on the front page bank robber kill the teller He had a face. I wouldn't want to run into close After a while the hot coffee cut through the icy core of resentment. I'd carry it out of the house with me Maybe you maybe I'd been at fault as much as Mary She wasn't the only one who had a bad temper on a sudden impulse. I left my coffee went over the phone the far wall. I Heard the dial tone and I fished in my pocket for change It was empty Say miss could you change a dollar for me? I want to use it for yes What's it What's the matter mister? My wallet I seem to look I'll be back in a minute, huh? No, Mary wasn't the only one with a temper I'd stormed out of the house without changing the contents of my pockets to my clean suit I didn't have a dime on me not even a nickel. I Rummage in the glove compartment of the car Mary sometimes left a coin purse But this time that wasn't there. I felt like a fool and then what seems to be the trouble, mister Oh, hello, officer. I seem to have come off without any money embarrassing. Yeah embarrassing I didn't realize until I tried the phone. I'll uh, well I'll have to send that girl a dime for the coffee since I get back to town. Yeah, well I know what else I can do under the Circumstances, uh, I better go inside and tell her hold on a minute. Huh? Where's your driver's license? It's in my wallet in San Francisco. You've got any other identification? Well, the registration slip in the car. That's the car. What about you? Me why I just got through telling it Officer, I'm Ralph Clark Clark and Jacobs in the Hatfield building We're attorneys attorney I should have a car somewhere you kind of far from home to be without me doing well I I came out of the house without changing the stuff into this suit You know How'd you happen to have the keys to the car? Well, I don't take them out when it's in the garage Hey, you don't think where you headed for? Well, I know it sounds funny, but Nowhere really see I had a fight with my wife and I just batted out of the house to cool off And tell you what mr. Clark suppose we just mosey into the station house station house Hey, what is this nothing nothing at all just next door and you can go right away from there I don't see why that's necessary. If you just lend me a dime I could go why I could go right in here and reverse the charges. Let's go. You can leave the car here I'll take that key. No look here officer. I don't get it. Oh, come on move All right, Jim But you got this time tell you better after you mix the car. Give me the phone with your ass That order one day at half an hour ago. Did you report it? Yeah? They said they can't have a man here before tomorrow. You tell them this is a police station, but be sick sure I told him. Oh, it's not bad though. We can get incoming calls. They still got the payphone over there Yeah, there's the payphone mr. Clark can make you call from there. I don't have any money remember. Oh, yeah, okay There's a dime gee. Thanks. Let me speak to your wife when you get it This gonna sound fine just fine. Do you think I've really tied one on I want to call San Francisco Gary 49978 And reverse the charges, please. Thank you Your number, please. Yeah, this is a 460 California for Gary 49978. Will you accept the charges? Mancing I don't know. It's me Mary take the call. Oh, it's you with it What do you think you're doing 50 miles you accept the call madam? I should say not very I do Sorry the party will not accept the call look operator get it back. Will you this is important? I will ring them again. Thanks Why didn't you pick up that phone? No, so huh Hey, they kept our dime. Well, you shouldn't have slammed it. Sorry. Let me have another one. Will you I'll get a hold of my partner I he liked and a funny look. We've wasted enough time get in there. That's the cells right You're locking me up right again. What's a big idea? I didn't do anything. What are you charging me with? I don't have to charge you with anything. I'm holding you on suspicion Suspicion suspicion of what you're frothing the cafe for one thing and I want to check that car Do you think I stole it? It's been done. Oh now wait. Look if you're entitled to one call you've had it Oh, this is fantastic. I demand to be brought before our magistrate immediately Are you kidding in this town on Sunday in the middle of dove hunting season? If you only let me phone my partner, he'll clear up everything inside It was one big room along one side of it ran three bar cubicles each just large enough to hold a bunk Two of the cubicles were opened in the occupants a couple of sodden bleary eyed drunks Lounged in the open space and a wooden bench that was the only furniture The sickening odor cut through the disinfectant smell of the place Welcome to our jail Stink part of the center of the wave of the valley a slim. Yeah, you said Watch your beef charm suspicion. Can you feature that suspicion and they won't even give me a dime to phone you mean You mean you ain't even got a dime. No, you see I yeah, I still buy ain't it be sure is Wish we could help you out. Well, maybe we could have died. Hey, have you got a dime? Well, sure. I got two. Well, you let me one Just one I'll pay you back. I'll send you $10 just as soon as I can get out of here Well, what's it worth to each of them? I just told you $10. Yeah. Yeah, I know a fire in the sky What's it worth now? I mean I can get me a pack of smokes with 20 cents. If you were dying, I can't get me nothing You got any smoke something. No, I wish I had I left everything in the pockets of my other suit, but My wristwatch, why didn't I think of that before? What's the matter with it? It's nothing. Nothing's the matter with it. It's worth $50 here Yeah, you look at it. It's yours for 10 cents for one thin dive Look, what can you lose? It must be something wrong with it. Here's it hot Hot you mean stolen course not what you're offering it for a dime for I want to get out of this filthy place Oh You you don't like our company. Is that if you want to put it that way? No, I don't Hey, what do you think of that Pete that man? He don't like our company. We don't smell good to him or something Well, now ain't that just too bad? What do you think of that mr. Phillips? He don't like us. Have you got any dimes mr. Phillips? I followed his glance for the first time I saw a deep in the gloom of a locked cubicle The face I'd seen in the front page of the newspaper the face. I'd said that I wouldn't want to run into close Well, it was close and I was glad that there were bars between us course now us guys We ain't much ever mr. Phillips here now. He's a big shot. He robbed four banks and broke out of two jails Children man, too. Yeah, sure. We're just bags, but mr. Phillips. He's going to the hot seat They're coming to get him and take him back to Nevada and burn. Oh, no, no pity They don't burn them in Nevada to shoot him ain't that right mr. Phillips Mr. Phillips don't want to talk about it mr. Phillips don't want to talk about another mr. Phillips ain't very sociable Just like this. Oh now look fellas. I didn't mean but I just meant that I wanted to get out of this jail Here take the watch and give me the dime, huh? Okay, and I'll tell you what I'll match your foot match me Yeah, I die him again to watch Well, that's fair and I got me a fair chance to get my sex You got your chance to get you dying free. Yeah, but I rather take it or leave it Well, all right. All right, you leave pity hole to watch I'll flip the dime on the floor and you call heads Tails I win hey wait a minute get your foot off of it. How do you know it's tails? It's tails Ain't a pity. Well, sure. It's tails. All right. Here's what's live. Hey, what is this watch it brother? You're not gonna get away with this Had it on you this is for me and me Don't Hey, hey, what goes on? Ain't nothing this new guy's Trying to get us in trouble Okay, King I'll be judge you'd be processing all right prisoner at the bar stand up Yes Yeah, all right counselor. What is a prisoner charged with? You wanna this man here is a desperate criminal. He's charged with breaking into jail insulting his fellow boarders Who sportsmanship and fighting? He's a very dangerous character. You wanna? Yeah guilty on all counts Hey, I find I'm gonna die Well then You can work it out right at one center day First job be to shine the course shoes Shine your own shoes You hear that another peep out and you you go and get it again, you understand Yes All right now get on them shoes Why I don't have I don't have anything to shine them with you got a cold engine Now get going the next hours were unadulterated agony It was unbelievable the filthy and human jobs. They could think up for me to do was frightful With every move I made I could feel the glittering steely eyes of the silent man in the locked cage following me way Finally when they couldn't think of anything more they forced me to stand at attention looking right into Phillips cell They couldn't see his face. It was too close to mine, but he winked at me and not at his head as though it were a sigma And then his two huge arms came through the bars and thrust me reeling across the cell I fell and hit my head That's all I remember In a moment we continue with Suspense No parent we know is ever consciously dodged a responsibility to his children That's why CBS radio was sure you'll want to act now and learn what you can do about the crisis looming in our Universities and colleges right now our institutions are bursting at the scene America's high birth rate points toward an acute emergency in education in the years ahead If your children are to have the higher education, they'll want and need in order to fulfill their adult obligations We must all face up to the issue and do what must be done to make sure our colleges get the space the equipment and the Trained personnel that will be needed like to have the facts of the situation right to higher education Fox 36 Times Square Station New York 36 for a free booklet entitled the closing college door It delineates the problem clearly it outlines what you can do to help remedy the situation Right for your copy today. The address again is higher education Fox 36 Times Square Station New York 36 And now We continue with chicken feed starring mr. Lloyd Bridges a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense, I don't know what time it was two or three in the morning and I felt a stealthy touch in my shoulder I open my eyes. I was still on the stone floor and Phillips was bending over me holding a revolver I started to speak but he clapped a hand over my mouth You fool you want to wake them punks get up quick and be quiet about it I glanced quickly at Phillips cell it was open and so was the door to the corridor He pushed me out and locked the door behind us In his office bound and gagged securely to his desk chair. Sergeant Ross glared at us the empty holster decides Oh where Phillips have got his gun Hey Which is the key to your car? This one, okay take it and let's move We made it They panic me Guy could swing that crock with a airplane You nearly done a fine job of losin things up. What happened to you getting throat in the can the middle of the day, huh? They picked me up on suspicion. Oh, I wasn't supposed to be till midnight tonight. What all that phony kid stuff about the dime Dime. Yeah, all that double talk when all you had to do was slip me the word the Jerry diamond sent you Served you right the way them luscious treated you acting like a died in the wolf's square Jerry diamond Diamond My numb brain slowly put the meaning of his words into shape He thought He thought that I was an accomplice Sent by a partner to help him break jail But all my screams about a dime have been nothing but a signal to a signal that I came from Jerry diamond I cast a quick glance sideways at the revolver held loosely but ready in his lap At the eyes that never lost their icens even when he laughed Wasn't hard to guess what he would do when he found out his mistake Jerry got the hideout set up Yes Where is it? Hideout hideout. We're going to Jerry's place first, right then what? Well, I'll take you to Jerry's and then he'll take over from there. Hmm How far is it to Jerry's can't be more than about five miles, is it? Well, it's Look behind you. What's the matter? There's a car following this without lights Where I don't see Hey, what's the big idea you trying to cross me? I couldn't help it my foot slamming the break that car You've got to get out of here All right, go ahead get it started. I'm getting out to let car passes. You make for the other side and no tricks Just to make sure I'll take this I made myself a chance and I took it I slipped out of the car on the other side and ran across the field until I could run no more After a long time I found a road After a while of cramping along that road a dark shape moved up before me a gas station Through the glass I could make out the outline of a telephone. I tried the door It was locked of course. I found a tyrant and sprang the latch. I ran to the phone to make my call Then I saw the coin slot gaping at me like a laughing mouth In a rage. I shook the black box. I could hear the dimes inside behind a sheet of metal No thicker than a playing card yet as inaccessible as the moon But there must be some money in this room My eyes focused on the battered desk There was some change in it a couple of dollar bills kind of money that a man will leave is a soft to possible burglars Burglars that meant me Carefully I abstracted a single dime and went to the phone. Hey get me San Francisco Fillmore 3 3 2 6 5 It's Morris Jacobs Tell him that this is his partner Ralph Clark and ask him to accept the charges Thank you on the line and there may be a slight delay sir. Will you hold on or shall I ring you? Yeah, I'll hold on but hurry operator. It's important one moment, please As I waited a blin of light pulled my eyes away from the phone Far down the road the headlights of a car jogged along the rise and aim toward me The first car to come by since I hit the road might be a stray farmer starting out before sunup But I couldn't take the chance Tastily I hung up the receiver close the cash for and snap the lock And I crouched beneath the desk and on a moment too soon I've tried to wait this character before Sleeps like a dead man Especially if he's back on the bottom again. We'll get him up Hey, Jerry, and I heard the creek of bedsprings from the rear of the station light appeared on an inside door It opened it's too hairy barefoot legs and her final nightgown came through and made for the front door Brady and Ross up enough You'll find bunch of cops running out of gas in the middle of the night. Come on in. That's chilly with the door It ain't gas pal Phillips broke jail. Huh? How'd he do it? Oh, there was two of them. He had an accomplice. He was a lawyer First thing I know I'm looking into the muzzle of my own gun You know, they say Phillips used to work for who do you want? All right, Ross We don't have all night point is we found a car abandoned on the road back a first as Hopfield ran out of gas They can't be far away. Hmm There was a big reward for Phillips after it broke jail at Bennington wouldn't they? Yeah, a thousand dollars Say Jerry, you know him, don't you? You're in the Bennington pokey when he made that break What was it a drunken disorderly something? Yeah Yeah, had me a little too much and broke a window in the general store We were roommates for the night. I was pretty scary. How'd he do it the break? I don't know. I was sleeping at all $1,000 reward, huh? Man to do a lot with a thousand dollars. Not dead. He couldn't Don't you go getting any ideas now that Phillips is a killer and says his partner most likely me and exactly helpless myself That nice little fellow on my side you take my advice chum and put that gun away They show up here you talk soft and let us do the captain sure sure I'll play safe. Well, we'll be going Just wanted to alert you. Yeah. Hey, come on boys. All right, you come out from under that desk Come on out. I say this gun's getting mighty nervous Get your hands up stand over there. I'll do the talking Who are you? You got to believe me? I'm not a criminal. I'm a lawyer. Oh So you must be the other one keep them hands. I got into this by accident He helped me escape. Yes, but where is course I left him in the car. That's another thing. You can get the reward I know who he's going to meet. They're going to hide out. Oh, I think Who is he gonna meet somebody named Jerry diamond? There if you let me get to that phone. I can clear up everything. No, I don't Stay where you are. I'll plug it. That's my partner my law partner in San Francisco I only broke in here so I could phone him. He'll identify me You don't believe me. Oh, I believe you. I'll answer it yourself. Are you see not on your life, mister? You think I'm out of my mind, but you've got to answer it. You don't know what I went through to place that call You can't just stand it Jerry You're Jerry diamond Oh Who's that turn off that light Phillips and or whatever I wonder what I use for you Go on Come on in for it. I ran out of gas and that Happened so fast that for a moment. I had no reaction at all none. I just watched What's Phillips holding his chest with both hands watch that giant body twist compulsively on the floor and then lies still What's Jerry bend over him and straighten up Then as he turned grinning My emotion my my feeling came back and what I felt was seething overpowering rage fury Everything I've been through this night was like a boiler that had the burst dead alive I just made me a thousand bucks you foul stinking old man. Huh? You're worse than he is Maybe I'll get a reward for you too small I Could feel the bullet land on my side just move it down The avenues of pain spread out like the cracks in a hammered window glass But somehow strangely it didn't stop me. I kept moving toward him. He backed away surprised He was aiming for another shot when we crap. I got the gun. He got my throat I held on to his hand that was holding the gun I wouldn't let go and as he fell backwards in the chair I was in top of it as we thrashed around there on the floor I brought his hand up suddenly and smashed the gun into his face And then he lay still I Listened to his heart It was all right. He was all right Then I realized it That I was all right Yet he'd shot me hit me. I Should be lying there on the plank floor instead of that grotesque keep in the shapeless flannel nightgown. I Felt my side with a bullet. It struck broke my hand away. There was no blood on it. There should be blood touch the spot again The thing of the contour of something small and hard and round I pulled it out of my watch pocket Die Die The 10th part of a dollar All a man needed to buy a cup of coffee to make a phone call To pay a fine and a kangaroo court To save his life And I had it all the time. I had had it all with time In which mr. Lloyd bridges starred in William and Robeson's production of chicken feed by Lawrence Goldman listen Listen again next week when we bring you Francis letter in escape to death Another tale well calculated to keep you in suspense Supporting mr. Bridges and chicken feed were Amesie Strickland, Betty Grovely, Ted Dacorsia, Lou Krugman, Jack Krushen, Charlie Lung, Lou Meryl and Dick LeGrand