 Fed up with the every day grind Tired out from the summer heat You 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 You are trapped in the dark streets of an old French town with two remaining avenues of escape The workshop of a fearsome knife maker Are the arms of a beautiful? But deadly woman Tonight we escaped to the south of France and to the manhunt of a master criminal as Vincent Starrer told it in his unusual story the fugitive I had been six months in the prison of Tarantel at the top of the hill above the little village of Saint-Just As you know, of course, Saint-Just is in the very south of France Buried in those dark forests that lead up to the great crags of the Pyrenees. I was enjoying this enforced hospitality after having been convicted as a thief and Quite rightly so What is the fancy of some men to become bankers of other soldiers? It had always suited my own fancy to be a thief of it no matter Day after day went by with nothing to do but to look out over the forests Watch the sunsets and the lights in the Chateau de Montaur and six months began to seem like a lifetime So in my customary logical fashion, I decided to escape You were addressing me, Monsieur Lemieux. I expect to find you entertaining visitors behind this iron door Who knows what a detective may think I have never found enough mentality in one to be able to analyze it You still have spirit What a pity for it to be wasted in a prison, sir Well, I confess I would much rather be outside there with you than inside here with me And I can almost wish that you were perhaps then I would not be so bored Oh my deepest sympathy Lemieux have the wine cellars at the Chateau Gondry Does the singer no longer serve those luscious meals you have told me so much about? I have grown weary of it my friend I am a hunter of man by nature not that won't be wrong Sometimes I wish you might contrive some means of escaping. I should enjoy the sport of dragging you down again In that case, Monsieur the key. No, I dare say it would be rather easy the second time I know just how your mind turns all your little friends. Well the key, Monsieur Then too I'm a master of these guys Should you pours by stream the Fisherman who handily I drink would suddenly turn out to be Lemieux you astonish me you were perhaps registered in in then the clerk would smile at you and you would see Permit me Lemieux Why dream of the impossible? You have another four and a half years to serve in Tarantel and I'm dining at the Chateau de Monto in an hour So Lumiere why not imagine I am contriving some way to escape that should give you an appetite Your way does deserve it you you speak of absurdities now. Perhaps you are right Oh, well, sir But he was cunning this Lumiere sleek and pretty like a weasel But have you ever seen the teeth of a weasel slashed the throat of a bird? I have and I have seen Lumiere do somewhat similar things. Oh, well, no matter Half an hour after he had gone when dusk was falling I lifted two iron bars from the window of my cell slid through and climbed down the wall Oh, but it was not so simple as it sounds, you know, I had been working on it for nearly two months secretly and quietly and Now I was free. I slung furtively and fearfully through the underbrush making my way rapidly toward the village of Saint-Just at the foot of the hill Behind me at any moment the great gun would boom from the walls of Tarantel In forming the world that one of the prisoners had made an escape Ahead of me faint flares of lightning warned of a storm to come When my heart beat a pace with my footsteps I thought to myself how terrible indeed is this this business of freedom how much simpler it is to be in prison Well, as you may have perceived already, I am something of a philosopher Well, no matter it was then that I suddenly saw a light gleaming ahead of me and I began to hear a strange sound I could make out the shape of a small open hut a few paces ahead of me The light was thrown out by the glowing coals in a forge And the sound was made by an old man beating out a piece of metal on an angle He was small wrinkled And bald except for two white tufts of hair that grew in front of his ears As I drew near quietly I could see that he was making a knife And that other knives hung on the walls of the hut and I had no weapon And I began to wonder if by some means I might steal one from him Come in my son. It may start raining in a moment. Well Merci monsieur I'm a stranger hereabouts. I I lost my way in the wood. No need. I understand You uh, you are a maker of knives? Oui monsieur, you would like to have one perhaps Well old man, the fact of the matter is that being a law abiding citizen I really have little need of a knife However, both they are pretty and the forest is very dark But I am at the moment without fun. So there is no charge my son Yeah, look at this one. Oh It is a beautiful knife. Try the edge. It is quite sharp Mon dieu, you're right This weapon would suit a king himself or a prince of thieves You are a philosopher my son Or a thief But what? There are words engraved on the blade on one side reason and on the other Irony reason and irony. You're something of a philosopher yourself old maker of knives I use different words on different blades, but the quality is always the same It fits well in my hand. Then take it. It is yours With such a blade a man could fight his way through hell itself I should like to see the look on the face of monsieur Oh wait You are not by any chance le mieux The great gun in the wall of tarantel some prisoner has escaped No, my son. I am not le mieux Why do you ask? I thought for a moment But no, no, of course not Well, I must be off old knife maker. I have a long way to go and it is starting to rain My deepest gratitude for your generosity. Oh, we shall meet again my son Tell me then after you have tried the blade, of course I was not afraid anymore The rain smashed and splattered in the trees and the dark shadows became old friends I ran through the night laughing and sometimes singing Slashing with my knife at the leaves on the branches Reason and irony slash I forgot the prison behind me forgot everything except my goal A tiny cottage standing at the very outskirts of Saint-Just Marie Simard would be waiting there where I had left her Soft warm Beautiful Marie of whom I had dreamed every night in that cursed cell We would go into the village together then to the Inn of Polk at Despair And with the back of jewels I had left with him escaped back to the Spanish frontier to freedom Marie Marie It is I'm up to duplicy Open the door quickly, please Inside first Ha ha that is better the shutters are all closed good Come now. Tell me how glad you are to see me. Oh, I am glad but surprised How are you here? They they have not released you not intentionally my dear I reviewed my own case and decided duplicy you are really a very fine fellow and by no means belong here So I released myself you have a skip then not completely or at any rate not yet What? Oh, what a lovely scent you are wearing married mona and that dress a new one. Is it not? Oh, we look good It was given to me by The old woman who lives in the next cottage down the way Well, I must leave a small diamond for her after we have seen paul paul this part you You are going to see him, but of course majorly we shall need money to live in spain I see Duplicy moche you are very what you must be tired rest here in this chair while I Run down to the old woman's and bring wine and a little cake. No no mary. There is no time It will only take a moment We can go to paul's afterwards Surely you know you're safe here with me safe while lemieux is out there someplace Lemieux the others the soldiers and the guards. They are fools, but not lemieux He is cunning I am beginning to fancy that I see him behind every face I meet But surely you do nothing. Oh my sherry of one thing. I am certain that you are not lemieux Oh come I must touch you. It has been such a long time Perhaps I should go borrow dry coat for you. No, no, no, no the rain has stopped. I shall be dry and by the time we reach The little ring I gave you the one with the heart you are not wearing it I uh put it away I did not wish to wear it until you were with me again, which I am from this moment on my teeth So not the place. It is no time to waste. We must leave now and hurry. We'll go to paul's as far as this moment now But a few paces brought us into the streets of the village of Saint-Just We moved quickly and I kept the collar of my coat turned high on my face Soon we were making our way among the handful of patrons who still linger at the tables of the inn Talking in the light of candles held in empty bottles I kept my hand on the knife beneath my coat, but no one glanced up as we crossed to the far side of the room There he is at the little table in front of the office. Oui ma jolie. So he is and not changed a bit Paul Marie what a surprise. I had no idea that you might Du pléci. Bonne nuit mon ami. Du pléci. What in the night? There is no time paul. Take him in the office But of course. I have things which must be done. I shall be back very shortly paul Oui, oui, I understand. Come du pléci. I shall hurry mon coeur never fear There it is locked well mon ami. This is quite a surprise. I take it you are on an Unofficial leave of absence completely so paul I have a pass which is good only so long as lemieux does not catch up with me. Lemieux here Oh, he is a clever one. All right. Oh indeed. He is almost as clever as du pléci But no matter you have kept a little bag of jewel safe for me Quite safe. Très bien. They will serve me well in spain. I hope to be across the frontier in an hour So so soon, but we have so many things to talk about Oh, there's little chance for talk paul when a man is running for his life The jewels are here close at hand nearby nearby. Well get them now paul Well, the effect of the matter is they are at my house on the other side of town It will it will take only a moment and I can send someone to wait with voices outside the door Well, I hear nothing nothing at all. You are only imagining that you signal someone before we came in here Oh, no, no, no, no mon ami. No, no, you're mistaken. I saw you not to a man out there at one of the tables No, no, no, you must believe me. I did not Hey away from the door. I called you my friend. The crowd will break down that door in a moment You had better give up. You are a fool du pléci At an hour from now you will be back in tarantel where you belong I doubted this bar. They have not yet found the back door, but either way you will not know about it Nice. Not a dupléci. Oh No more than away from that door. No, you cannot murder a spistler. I I will stop you Gold pieces thrown at my head Now where is the sport in killing a man whose only weapon is a pack of money? I am a philosopher I Ran down the dark streets from the back of the inn turn corners dodged away from the shadows Far off like the sound of hunting dogs. I could hear the voice of the mob I knew not where to find marina of any man now who might be trusted. I ran blindly One direction was as good as another and the things of reality became clouded with those of imagination So I could no longer tell them apart Such is the great fear of the hunted which knows only to run to run from one unknown to another unknown But always to run and run and run come to an unfamiliar part of the town into an open square with a building facing me People moved past slowly, but they paid no attention and I knew they were not part of the mob which followed Then I saw that all of them were going through the door into the great building The cathedral. Voila what a place to hide for a moment I joined them and was carried along in the crowd I found myself near the front with people all around me. I kept my head down and couched there Trying to stop trembling You are out of breath my friend You seem frightened silence. Do you wish to disturb the service? I never fear. It will continue regardless You please see One moment monsieur and I shall cut your throat. Come now put away the knife. I am your friend I have always admired you. Who are you? Merle. I keep a little shock in the village Perfume spices flavorings all things calculated to make life more agreeable. You are Lemieux in disguise Ridiculous monsieur Lemieux is at the Chateau de Montau. I passed him on his way there He thinks the mob will do his work for him. Put away the knife You have nothing to fear from me. That may be but I feel much better while I hold it in my hand Cautious duplexing Like the great adventurer. I always admired adventurer and the very prince of thieves the king of poets and teacher of philosophy Well, I am quite a fellow. All right. Indeed. You are a man who should be standing up not hiding in his face Swaggering and laughing Merle mon ami. You are really a fellow of discernment Indeed you are Holding in your hand. Ah oui mon père. Nives are not permitted in here. But it is a very good knife It has words written on the blade. No matter knives are not permitted monsieur. Look They have seen you now my friend. You must run but never fear. We shall meet again. I think very soon I escaped from them again And found myself finally on the outskirts of the far side of town I knew not where to go next I looked up and My eyes fell upon the lighted windows of the château de Montau Standing alone above the countryside at the very top of a point of rock A sudden thought occurred to me Brazen and audacious Better sanctuary than the very château where Lemieux himself waited for word of my capture I smiled to myself in the darkness and then began to climb swiftly up the face of the rock I stood at last on a tiny parapet close against the massive stone walls of the château High above the countryside Behind me were lighted windows and the sound of voices But out there on the parapet There was only the night and the stillness stars And a ghostly moon riding like a silver galleon in the black billows of the sky Its pale light fell on the tumbled forest below me On the tiny little village of Saint-Jeuces And touched faintly in the distance The far off crags of the Pyrenees Beyond the Spanish frontier I do not know how long I stood there looking down upon the world Perhaps I was a little mad by then of that. I'm not quite sure Suddenly I saw someone coming toward me on the parapet They had not yet seen me Bonne nuit mademoiselle What? Who is it? It is I, Marie, du blessie What are you doing here? A very good question. As a matter of fact, I think I shall use it myself What are you doing here? I came here to find Lemieux after I lost you, of course And you found him, my friend? We were crazy inside in the banquet hall with the others I thought that if he should find you, then I would be there to help How thoughtful of you, majeurely But to help whom? But you, oh, how can you thought me? Oh, very easily This night, in fact, I believe I could doubt the universe itself Oh, majeurey, you only say such things when you are fancying yourself a philosopher Or a fool, which is much the same thing But here, look at you, another new dress The old woman is very good, do you, Marie? I am quite grateful to her And did she also give you the ring, my dear? The ring? The ring you are wearing The ring which I saw so many times on her hand That would grasp the bars of my cell The hand of Lemieux No, du blessie, I swear to you, it is nothing I found it Found it? Perhaps in the same place where you lost mine No, no, put away the knife It is all a mistake It was you who brought them up to the inn And Paul knew you had gone to do it No, it was someone else Please, do not kill me Let me go Go where? Back inside to warn Lemieux that I am here? No, I shall go down the path here, see Oh, you cannot kill me You loved me once, do not remember, please Let me go Go then, go quickly before I change my mind I am going, I will not harm you To detest a woman thoroughly It is necessary first to have love her Well, I really am quite a fellow after all A true philosopher Indeed you are, mon ami It is one of the things for which I have always admired you Oh, it is you, Monsieur Merle, the seller of perfumes Oh, must you always carry that vicious knife in your hand? It is a good knife An old man gave it to me And there are words on the blade See, on one side, reason On the other, irony Well, we shall have little need for either Once we are across the frontier in Spain Tell me, Monsieur, why do you wish to help me? Because I like you Because you are depless, see Whom I admire as something great As great as that moon that shines over as as great Wait, what is it? Something glinted on your hand when you held it up there Let me see it No, it was nothing, it was only a tick of the moon Let me see your hand? But I tell you that... So, you too The little ring with a heart that I gave to her a long time ago No, it is nothing, my friend, I found the ring As she found Lemieux's They have gone too long without knowing for certain If this is really a good knife Oh, you cannot mean that Oh, no, no, I am your friend, you placey I am going to take you to... Take me where, Monsieur? Now we shall see whether you can fly without wings There, my heaven It is like a scene from a play This parapet is stage The moon for a spotlight And a body pirouetting through space True enough, my son But you should not have killed him Huh? The weapon was made for stronger opponents Well, old maker of knives You said we should probably meet again He is gone out of sight And there are only the stars and the night And the moon What now, du placey? I do not know Spain, perhaps? Lemieux would follow Another Mary, another pole, and another male Waiting in Spain to tell him where you were Have I escaped from prison to find this? Is everything false? Is there no man left in the world who is true? I am only a knife maker Well, it is a good knife It worked very well You have not yet tried it against Lemieux? No, you are right He is inside there in the banquet hall It will not be an easy thing, my son But I know not how to warn you You must find it out for yourself Warning? When has du placey ever had need of warning? Merci, Monsieur le Knife Maker, for your excellent intentions And I shall find out for myself Now The stone corridors of the château were empty Though as I drew nearer I could hear the sound of voices in the great banquet hall I made my way quietly to a low balcony overlooking the room And soon was peering through the drawn curtains that screened off the table below Lemieux was there, and Paul, and the singer of the château Mary had come back somehow, and there were others too Lemieux was talking Du placey will be captured sooner or later, that I can assure you I know the fellow, know how his mind works This is why do not even bother to chase him, he will trap himself Most certainly you are right, Monsieur Lemieux And the sooner the better More wine, more sherry Merci, Chef Paul Dear sir, you will rest a bit easier, Monsieur le Seigneur Once the fellow is taken Why do you say that? Look at those paintings of the walls and appetites There on the balcony behind the curtain is a rum brown Worth at least a million francs Quite a temptation for the very print of thieves If he did not have something more important on his mind I thought for one moment they were going to draw back the curtains To reveal me standing there above them But then they talked of other things in the danger of past I looked down upon them, crouched like weasels Around the table tearing at their foolish sharp little teeth Half mad from the fear of being hunted I began to fancy that they were all animals And their wine was the blood of birds While I stood there watching, Merle came in quietly And sat down with him Merle whom I had killed and thrown from the parabet I realized then what the old maker of knives had tried to tell me I had not killed Merle but only thought I had done so For how can a man kill his own vanity? And Paul would always be here of course Ready to buy and sell with his bags of gold And marry too, luring me with a voice filled with a warmth Softness of pleasure and Lemieux Incarnation of fate, the hunter of men, what of Lemieux? As I stared through the curtains I knew suddenly that I could never kill Lemieux That he would take me sooner or later For in my half-crazed mind every face now looked the same And everyone was the face of Lemieux I turned to look at the tall painting The Rembrandt that hung on the wall behind me It was the portrait of a cavalier Proud and hot, he frozen in a pose of nobility With one hand resting on his sword Should I, an even better man A prince of thieves and of philosophers Permit myself to be run to earth at last By a pack of dogs? Would it not be far better To give myself up at my old choice Show them at the same time their dittleness And rod them of their victory Ha, voila, I had decided With the point of my knife I cut the painting From its frame and threw it to one side I looked at my blade so useless now On one side reason, on the other Irony, and then drove it into the wood At the top of the frame It quivered there a moment and then was still Carefully, I lighted the two tall candles on either side Then stepped up and stood in the frame With my back against the wall I smiled a moment to myself And then reached out my hand and took hold of the cord To draw aside the curtains John Duckle Featured in tonight's cast was Louis van Rooten With Ben Wright, Gloria Blondel, Barry Kroger Wilms Herbert, and John Daner Special music by Ivan Dittmarge Next week You were trapped aboard an ill-fated ocean liner Captained by a dying man While a mysterious passenger haunting you Menacing you Intent on sending you to destruction Next week We escape with James Gould Cousin's gripping story SS San Pedro Good night then until this same time Next week When once again we offer you Escape Ladies and gentlemen This coming Tuesday evening At 10 o'clock eastern daylight time CBS will bring you an hour-long variety show Crusade for children With General Dwight D. Eisenhower As principal speaker It's a problem concerning every American The hungry children of Europe Remember 10 o'clock eastern daylight time Tuesday, August 17th Roy Rowan speaking This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System