 fed up with the everyday grind Tired out from the summer heat 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 were caught in a web of nightmare Struggling to free yourself from sleep Well constantly threateningly your destruction draws closer and you know unless you awake the ultimate conclusion is there Tonight we escape to 2200 AD and the fearsome picture of the last days of civilization as HG Wells told it in his terrifying story dream of Armageddon From the very beginning the dream was quite vivid and real Much more real than the dull world of business that moves by day And in a short time I began to thrust the waking world aside and live my life wholly in the dream night by night I Was not then aware of course of the the hideous ending to come a Thing so horrible to face that even though I doze now in my chair. I dare not sleep I can't recall exactly when the dream If it is a dream first began Oh a month ago perhaps At any rate I fell asleep in my flight and awoke in another place and another time That is to say as I fell asleep here. I awoke there far away on an island in the Mediterranean and hundreds of years in the future He didn't He didn't you must wake up now Wake up, but I Were where am I here with me? Of course? Oh? He didn't my dear you've been dreaming. Oh, yes Yes, I remember now I was was such a vivid dream. I thought I was a man living hundreds of years ago Silly but it took me a moment to shake it off and was I there with you in the dream I mean You're here with me now that that's the important thing Has there been no word nothing has changed nothing otherwise I should have awakened you good Perhaps they've finally decided to leave us alone. I hope so. I couldn't stand much more of it Our faces on every telescreen all over the world Scandal cryers saying it doesn't matter no ma. It's over We've left all that behind us in the north. We're going to be very happy here. Oh my darling. We have to be It's the only thing that will justify what you did. No ma. Can you doubt that we will? Come here Look out through the glass wall there blue sea down below us pale heels and the far-off mainland Why is there any more perfect place to be happy than here in Capri? And what of the woman you brought with you? Did you not perhaps give up too much for a pay-to-greater price? You're worth more than all of it. No ma You make me feel very humble You were the most powerful man on earth Council master of the allied nations of the north the ruler of a billion people a billion fools Why had they not been they would have accepted you they they felt they had reasons reasons Could not permit me to marry beneath my station now I've given my whole life to them until now has a man no right to happiness no ma They follow their own desires why shouldn't I do the same for once why not indeed? I've no answer for you beloved I'm proud and humble for what you did Also a little afraid afraid of what I don't know he didn't I don't know but I the visor tell Your pardon master he didn't May I have your attention please? Yes. Yes. Go ahead. What is it? There is one here who desires to speak with? I'll see no one I've told you that he tells me to say The white grasses grow tall in the north and reach above the snow He'd knit some messenger from the council. Yes Very well send him up What does it mean? Have they thought of some new way? No, no My darling it is nothing you'll talk of duty again and all the other things the same kind of talk It can't be anything else only they've chosen someone besides ever shim to govern but they did choose him If he doesn't suit them they can find someone else. I'll have no part of it such a fool such a stupid blundering fool Perhaps they need a fool perhaps. That's why There's the messenger Come in. I must beg you to pardon this intrusion master hidden But the council considers the matter of the greatest importance. It's all right Now what is it you wish if we we could speak alone perhaps I have no secrets from the lady She knows everything now. What is it? I am empowered by the council to ask you to return at once and take charge of the government again Alone Yes, yes, that would be required of course and the council wastes my time and theirs But there have been new developments ever shim already has begun the move We've always feared he would not know one about you can stop this madness this foolish ambition of his and more as the pity Or I do not choose to do anything about it. You know what it means of course I know nothing of the affairs of government. I am a private citizen engaged in seeking happiness master hidden Do you believe that one man can work out his fate apart and separate from the fate of all mankind? You may leave now you may go back and tell the council that I have no concern in their problems now or ever Very well master hidden But if you should decide differently Decide quickly for there is very little time Hidden is it true? Will it really come to that probably the south and the east are not easily blessed, but war Lose from the world again for the first time in a hundred years War again. They don't know what it is. No, they don't they've never seen it Hidden you can't let it happen. No more my darling. I've made a choice in its final If it comes to war and the whole world falls in ruins, then I'll live on in the ruins But I'll live there with you That's fine Eatin. I'm afraid I Calmed her fears at last with many brave prophecies of the joys we should find in our life together And as we talked and watched the sun sink finally in the waters of the quiet sea The blusterings of Eversham seem far away and the threat of war no more than a part of some nightmare At a late hour We fell asleep Henry Henry wake up. I said wake up. You'll always have to wait for me to shut off that clock. Sorry, dear Dreaming indeed. I got yourself dressed. You want to be late again this week? Good chance of war I don't know just what I can do about it. Oh Henry for pity's sake. I think certain. I won't give her up no matter what happens Yes, yes, of course, I'm getting up right this minute I'll get dressed right away. There's no need to get excited there. There's plenty of time to catch the 712 I never saw such a man in my life wasn't for me telling you what to do I don't know what would become of you all that day at my office. I kept thinking about the dream It was hard to remember that it had been a dream. It had been so real As real as everyday things going on around me Perhaps even more real Certainly more desirable For as you may have guessed my daily life held a little of interest But in the dream Everything was different There I could be the great master heathen Controlling the destinies of millions of people feeling for the first time in my life a Deep and exhilarating sense of power so sharp in its contrast with a Drab waking life I lead and most of all Most of all I could not forget the girl the way she looked The glorious way that she Well no matter all day I kept wondering if I should be able to find the place again so far away in space and time Too long delayed the night came at last and I went to bed hopefully But nothing happened There was no dream For three nights there was no dream and I grew frantic with worry with longing for her And then came the fourth night careful darling watch where you're going you almost fell over those rocks I'm sorry. I guess I was thinking of something else. Yes for three days now You haven't been yourself at all. Well, it's Well, there are there are so many things to to think about It's all right. Heaton I've known you were thinking of it constantly even though you have not mentioned There's Nothing new is there why I mean Well, have you had any word that you kept from me? thought it best to Something of that sort. No I've had no word from the north No one here has yet Everyone seems to sense it There's a fever in the air tenseness So they could smell something The smell of war there be no war one servicium knows his bluff's been called you back down You know him better than that You'll counter that blind luck of his to see him through and you could stop him. He didn't you could still go be not going back How can we hope to find happiness for ourselves if millions die because of us if it should start it can't last long People in the world today have no idea what war is when they find out they'll have no part of it when they find out it'll be too late There'll be blood on the ground then and hate and vengeance and there can be no stopping it Then why I should not well then the fool shouldn't they shouldn't start it then but they are fooled you said yourself Look oh Some special pleasure flight from the north, I suppose He didn't they they don't look like transport They're not built the same bit. No, they're like pictures of the art There's a war planes Those are partners It's begun already. No No, but it's part of the bluff and a dangerous part Are those planes have been stored away for a hundred years? I knew of them of course all the council did but I never thought I'd see them in here. I Fear it's a wrong terrible thing. We've done And I'm afraid But it would be a lie my beloved if I said I was sorry No more war planes came to Capri in the next two days The sight and the sound of the first ones had been enough The peaceful island of pleasure became a beehive of belligerent activity Preparation for war by a people who had never known anything would peace Old weapons relics for years came out of storage places were cleaned polished made ready big guns appeared as if by magic We're quickly set in placements about the rocky isle No, man. I took no part in the madness about us, but walked alone from the others She with a growing sadness and I with a swelling hatred for blind blundering Evesham and for the stupidity he'd called forth now in mankind and Then late afternoon of the third day But why why do they act as if they might come here he didn't there were a war it could never reach to cap Who knows why they act or what they think there's no reasoning in them the like sheep anxious to get their throats cut and have it over It was all so beautiful so beautiful Still is all this has nothing to do with us. We've turned our backs on it What they do now is their own concern. This can't touch us so terrible to think about He didn't look planes have come back. Yes coming over the hills there. He's still playing the same old game Oh, how long can that blundering Evesham hope to? Alma But these are not the same ones What do you mean? I know the shape of these these are war planes war planes from the south and oh, no Oh, no, it can't mean anything What they call a bomb that's what they call War He didn't I want to see it Oh, it's horror and idiocy. I want to see it Not too close to the window normal Look down there by the edge of the water Where the little pavilion was he didn't There's nothing but broken rocks and smoke drifting up. Yes. Yes, that's where the first bomb went But why should they wish to destroy a little summer pavilion an accident But they were trying there for the docks. We swam there every morning Do you remember how clear and how clean the water was there must be blood in it now No, ma. No, ma. There's no good in that kind of thinking This is what they chose now. They've got it. I couldn't have known it would be like this Perhaps not but that can't be helped now It's too late now for the member to turn back How could they ever Eden, Eden that plane Along the beach Children too I I don't want to see anymore not ever We've got to find some way to get out of here Some way some way Capri is right in the middle of it It was so beautiful here Why should anyone make war on Capri? Why? War has a bad habit of spreading everywhere once it's turned loose Just a supervisor from 22 Unlike a private plane and a pilot right away destination to be decided Sorry, sir. All planes have been taken over by the government general order by Master Eversham Found it. All right. What about a boat? Power boats have been taken perhaps a few small sailing craft may be still available Find out. Get me a navigator and enough crewmen Sorry, sir. The government has ordered all able-bodied All right. All right. Just get me a boat then Buy it. Chatter it. Whatever's necessary I'll sail it myself Yes, sir Where can we go, Eden? I don't know. I don't know anywhere but here Yes, yes. And let's go quickly Take me away someplace, Eden, far away Anywhere but here Flight Days of flight from a starled death in his military boats Who tramped always just behind us Never far away I've fought to stay asleep To stay with my dream To stay with no mother I cursed each time I awoke I simply can't understand you, Henry You moon around the house like a love-stick calf Haven't been to the office in three days Don't you have any consideration for your job or for me? Do you want to see us kicked out into the street like trams Without a scent to our name? My waking life became the vague movement of shadow figures Of which I remember nothing now But my life and the dream was very real Oh, yes, very real No, no. I've just come from there You cannot go through the past Why can't we? It is impossible. You must go back to the coast quickly Eden, can't you explain to him We must find some place to buy food We've had nothing to eat for two days No, lady. There is no food here Everyone is starving. Pestilence is broken out Pestilence? Horrible place. It came suddenly Already people of two villages are lying dead in the gutters It's spreading very quickly Come, come, Norma Let's go back to the boat I had first to land somewhere along the southern shore of the Mediterranean We found it everywhere the same In some places the people were dying of disease and starvation In others they were dying of bleeding burns from the flame of war But always, always they were dying Hidden everywhere we go we find dead bodies More and more all the time What's happening? Is the whole world gone mad? Is the whole world dying? Back again to the north and a landing on the peninsula Pushing our way over and trying to find some haven in a world Intendance smashing itself to bloody fragments Fleeing from the idiot fury around us and being blocked Blocked at every turn You cannot go there. You must turn back immediately Why? Why must we turn back when there's no place left to go back to? Back well! That I cannot tell you But if you go farther you will die They have used poison gas In the areas contaminated over hundreds of miles I've seen people die from it It is not a pretty sight Dead? Everywhere? Of course, if you would like to stay here I'm sure we can take care of that pretty little throat of yours Yes, yes indeed we can There were no real battle lines as yet No armies The thing had come too fast But everywhere roving bands fought, plundered, killed one another Sometimes not even knowing if they were killing friend or foe And always, always overhead with the planes Hunting like hawks, killing anything that moved Eden, do you think he sees us? I'm not sure, Norma, don't move Don't move, he's heading toward us all right Eden, we can't just lie to him Don't move, Norma By heaven I think it is us Look, where? That old woman walking on the road, doesn't she know? Oh, he's horrible Horrible Let's go, it wasn't us he was after And so for love and for reason On and on, day after day We fled from the monstrous stupidity of war Till at last we could flee no farther We found ourselves at dawn one morning In an open space near those great ruin temples at Bistum Roman ruins that have stood for centuries We're still standing even then We sat and watched the sunrise The most beautiful I've ever seen We said little to one another Low hills broke away below us Dotted here and there by trees Low thickets of laurel between The great stones of the temples above us Were pale pink in the morning sun And the silence was everywhere Silence and a false feeling of peace This morning, looking out there One would never know Oh, it's beautiful But we can't stop here, Norma We're only hours away from it now How much farther, Heaton? How far must we run now? I don't know, my dear It seems to be everywhere Sometimes these last few nights I've looked up at the stars and I thought All of this is happening because of us We're to blame for it, you know No, no, darling No, we tried to find happiness That's all. Can there be anything evil in that? I don't know, Heaton, but I'm afraid I do not run away with me This would not have happened Millions of people must die for our happiness Something is wrong The blame lies with them They die for their own stupidity We are not stupid, we could have prevented it Had you gone back and let me... No, no, no, my darling Now, there'll be no talk of that kind We'll still find we will The chance to work things out somewhere I have a strange feeling, Heaton We shan't have any more chances We owe some kind of debt I can have to pay for it very soon You're tired, Norma That's why you talk this way You'll suffer Look, in another flight of planes Yes, yes, they're everywhere now I felt you're suffering, watching and waiting Norma, Norma, we'll find some place yet Norma, Norma, get down Norma, Norma, are you all right? Heaton, I... I love... I sat there on the ground for hours Watching her body close I was only dimly aware that she was... That she no longer lived Time had no meaning The world receded far away The shadows of afternoon pointed all one way And my thoughts were only... Only dreams within a dream I must have stared at them for several minutes Not realizing who they were Watching them approach through the bushes Before they came within yards Before it struck me suddenly Those uniforms They were soldiers of the south and the east With only one thought in mind I jumped to my feet and ran toward them It's all right You don't need those guns, I mean, oh, huh? You see, I only wanted you Not to come here It's my wife She's dead, there's no one else here No, put away the bayonet There's no need for it You can take your men around the other... Now, what... What are you going to do? She... I lay there on the ground for a long time After they left At first I tried to crawl back to her Then later I was unconscious Whether this be Armageddon That last flaming end of the world I do not know But of this I am sure When the end does come It shall come through man's unheeding selfishness Through man's stupidity For when man stood up and learned to think And was no longer an animal He became one with the gods And like the gods must take heed Of the fate of mankind This I know Always before I had longed desperately To escape into the dream But now... Now with equal desperation I fear to do so For Eden's world is dying now Shuddering in the last great confusions Of its death agony Over the whole great landscape of earth Like the rotting disfigured bodies of the dead And the sad sun gleams with the pale And ghastly light through the smothering curtain Formed by the hideous fumes of war The moans of the half-dead Swell up from the plains of earth Fill the vast emptiness of the heavens And go unanswered Starvation Pestilence War and death The whole world is dying Eden too is dead He died hours before I awoke this morning His body still lies before the silent temples at Paestum Yet in the dream I still occupied his body After he was dead Great vultures came And tore with their beaks and claws And I was still conscious I was still conscious Tonight because of that Though I grow faint with weariness I dare not go to sleep In the name of heaven How long will a dream go on? Les Crutchfield with editorial supervision by John Dunkel Featured in tonight's story were Stacey Harris and Betty Lou Gerson With Charlotte Lawrence, Jack Krushen, Eric Rolf and John Daener Special music by Ivan Dittmarz Next week You are standing in the light of an arc lamp By the cathedral in Mexico City Looking at a dead body lying at your feet And a great fear comes over you I wonder if you are a haunted man Next week We escape with Ralph Bates most unusual story The Haunted Man Good night then until this same time Next week When once again we offer you Escape Roy Rowan speaking This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System