 And now stay tuned for the mystery program that is unique among all mystery programs. Because even when you know who is guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the final curtain. In the signal oil program, The Whistler. Signal the famous Go Farther gasoline. Invite you to sit back and enjoy another strange story by The Whistler. I am The Whistler, and I know many things for I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. And now for the signal oil company, The Whistler's strange story. A matter of odds. It was a matter of odds from the beginning. Because that was the way Danny Atkins lived, by the odds, a betting chance. But he played safe, carefully figured the odds and Danny's own favor. It was that way right now, in a dimly lit back street in Panama City. Danny was carefully following a sailor named Keller, with whom Danny had had several drinks. Before Keller left the sevens in his bar with a little too much alcohol aboard. Then two blocks in an alley later it happened. Up ahead a dark figure leaping forth in exchange of blows. And then Danny running forward. I'll get him, Keller! Okay, okay, Mr. I had enough. Let me go. I better jump my power, will ya? Let me go! All right. Get him, Danny. Oh, Skippet. But I thought that we... You thought nothing here. We'd be too tight to see. Oh, now look, Danny. Well, look, Keller. I suppose you didn't talk too much back there in the seven centers. I suppose you didn't go big shot flashing that wad. Look, Danny, we just met. I'm not used to... Sure, we just met, and I just saved you three months' pay. All right. So come on, I'll buy you a drink. You're my pal. Yeah, sure. Okay, Keller, I'm your pal. You can just do that. You can buy me a drink. Anywhere you say, pal. Any place in old Panama City. Musing, isn't it, Danny? The way you picked up with Sailor Keller in the seven centers became friendly with him. He showed you a picture he had taken in Tokyo. And you even showed him an old snapshot of yourself when you were a high school baseball star. And all the while you were figuring the odds, weighing how much bigger Keller was, how drunk, how much of a protest he'd put up verbally and physically. Someone else jumped in. And now you emerge as a hero instead of a villain. But as you enter another bar, the Blue Moon, you tell yourself that it isn't over. Not yet. The Blue Moon, here's as good a place as any. I even know somebody in here. Hi, y'all. Hey, take it easy, Keller. I'll toss this out of here. Hi, who's your friend, Sailor? Danny Boy. He's just Danny Boy, sweetheart. Don't you go getting too well acquainted. Don't worry. Wow, ditto. Hey, I'm not so sure I want to sit at the same table with him. Oh, come on, come on. He's my pal. You save my neck. Oh, OK. Here we are. Sure, my pal. Quite an athlete, too. Show fancy that baseball picture of your Danny Boy. He isn't interested. Go on, go on. Hey, waiter, round of drinks for my friends here, huh? Joey! To my boy here. Huh? Who's Joey? Tickets vendor. You're head of the National Lottery. A lot of dough is going to be changed soon. Oh, sure. Yeah, really? Hello, Brenti. Want to buy some tickets? Oh, my friend does. Sailor Keller. Oh, Mr. Keller. All right. How many, three? I'll take a fistful. Joey, a fistful. A fistful? Hey, look, Keller. There are lots of threes, Joey. Three's lucky for me. Yeah, Mr. Keller. Sure. How about, uh, 3303? OK. Buy some for the lady, too. Yeah, Danny Boy. Oh, no, never mind me. I'm no gambler. I thought you were always figuring the odds, Danny. Didn't we talk about that? Yeah, I said I figured the odds are on people, Keller. People. Situations. I don't make wild bets. Oh, you wouldn't. OK, OK. It's going to be your loss. Uh, skip him, Joey. But me? Give me a fistful of those threes. And waiter, another round for us here. For Fancy, Joey, and me, and my pal. Oh, look, Keller. You're a sucker. The odds are against you. 50,000 to one. Pay no attention. They say they're not. Against me? OK, Danny Boy. So what? What? It's all I'll see you in the morning. Over at your hotel. Anything you say, pal. My room's 214. Right now I'm going to stay anchored for a while. Me and little Fancy. That's right, hon. Oh, I was wrong, Keller. 100,000 to one odds. And all against you, all the way. Just bitter. Little old Danny Boy is just bitter. Night, pal. It's infuriating, isn't it, Danny? Watching Sailor Keller spend his money so foolishly. Money you'd hoped for. Money that might have taken you back home to the States. But there's very little you could do about it, is there? In the next morning on your way to Keller's hotel, you look into the bar, wondering if he even made it home last night. And then something hits you. A number marked on the mirror in the back of the bar. Number 3303, Keller's number. A winning ticket in the week's lottery. Your mind spins already starting to figure the odds in still another direction. In his hotel room, Keller is probably still sleeping off last night. A plus in your favor. Keller has a gun, and that's a definite minus. But you decide you must get that ticket, Danny. You weigh the odds and decide your chance. You walk up the flight of stairs to the second floor, down the hall to 214, Keller's room. When you reach there, you're surprised to find his door half open. You enter across. Like a baby. Great. Winning ticket's gone. Francie, she beat me here. That's why that door was open. It has to be Francie, doesn't it, Danny? Yes, the girl in the bar last night. It's the middle of the afternoon before you finally find out where she stays and stop by her apartment. I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, no, you wouldn't. You packing, Francie? Going somewhere? Oh, sure. It's funny, you know, I'm heading that way myself. Yeah? I'm going to tackle your pretty things. All this money. Okay, well, all right. So I cashed Keller's ticket. Look, we can split it. I took it from Keller, sold it to my blast for $30,000. So I see. Thanks for cashing it for me, Francie. $30,000? It'll take me quite a distance. Hey, but you could... Oh, poor old Sally. He wouldn't believe me about the odds, would he? Never mind the Sarah. He'll sleep all day. Well, look, Danny, don't take it all. Leave me some of that money. After all, I was the one... Taylor Keller. Francie, if you don't open this door, I'll blast the lock. She's got a gun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Francie, I'm giving you exactly 10 seconds. No more. The lady gets spring fever. Out she goes and buys a new hat to perk up her spirit. Wouldn't you like to be able to perk up your car spirit that easily in spring? You can, friend. You can. Simply by treating your car to a tank full of the famous Go Farther Gasoline. Signal, that is. Ah, you say you thought mileage is the thing Signal Gasoline is famous for. You're so right. But that's only half the story. The other half is what makes Signal deliver such good mileage. Namely, Signal helps your engine efficiently use save gasoline. Well, when your engine runs that efficiently, naturally you also notice quick starting petty pickup, smooth obedient power, the very things that make driving more fun. That's why Signal says performance and mileage are like birds of a feather. They go together. No need to choose between driving pleasure and economy. Get both. By powering your car with the famous Go Farther Gasoline. Fill up next time at a Signal service station. Signal, Signal, Signal Gasoline. Your car will go far with Go Farther Gasoline. Well, Danny, it was a frightening moment, wasn't it? Trapped in that Panama City hotel room with a furious armed man on the opposite side of the door. The odds were poor then, weren't they? But the window and the fire escape gave you a way out. Once you've given Keller the slip, you hurry to the airport. Here, plane reservations for Mexico City under your own name of Dan Atkins to throw sailor Keller off your trail. At midnight, you take passage on a slow freighter for San Francisco, where you arrive three days later. Once there, you relax. Begin to enjoy yourself with Keller's money. You replenish your wardrobe, buy a new sports model car and start driving north. The odds you always figure seem definitely in your favor, don't they? With little chance of Keller finding you when you're old hometown of Trent City. When you arrive there, you pull in at a gas station. Oh, Jack? Well, what do you know, Danny Atkins? Hey, welcome home. You here to see? Maybe. Nothing like the old hometown, Danny. Looks good to me, Jack. Nothing changed much, hasn't it? The old gang's still around too. Most of them married now, though. Freddie, Bert, Marilyn. Yeah. Just about all of them, I guess. Except Diane. Remember her? Diane Johnson? She's a kid out of high school. But my house, she's grown. Why don't you look her up? Yeah, I will. You notice that new ranch house on the left as you came into town just past the bridge? Yeah, I did. A lot of class. I was wondering... The old man built the place last summer. And that mining property owned up there in the hills paid off. You're kidding. Nope. Looks like maybe it was a mistake for you to leave town, Danny. I always wanted you to go into business with her. Still playing the odds, Danny? Yeah, that's right, yeah. Well, it's nothing you're staying on here. Oh. Right now, Chuck, they, uh... They look pretty good. After you leave Chuck, you register at the local hotel and cruise about town. Your old friends are glad to see you, aren't they, Dan? Yeah. And you can tell they're impressed. Your new car, the fine cut of your clothes. You spend two or three days enjoying yourself, renewing all the clink. And then one afternoon, you drive to the large ranch house near the bridge, the Johnson Place. Danny Atkins. How are you, sir? Hello, Mr. Johnson. Well, I'm glad to see you. I heard you were in town. Come on in. Thank you. You're looking fine, Danny. Fine. Thank you, sir. And what I've heard from the folks around town, you seem to have done pretty well for yourself. Oh, I've heard the same about you, Mr. Johnson. Oh, I've been lucky, I guess. I've been lucky, too. Oh, I know better than that, Danny. It's more than luck with you. Good common-horse sense. That's what it is. You figure things out. Your dad was like that. Oh, Diane. Yes, sir. Hey, honey. I, uh, haven't told her you were in town wanting to be a surprise. Wait till you see the look on her face. Danny. You stare at her, don't you, Danny? Unable to believe what you see. She has changed, hasn't she? Yes, you'd hardly recognize her from the gangling schoolgirl in the blue jeans-and-clad church you knew years ago. She's really beautiful, isn't she? After you recover from the surprise, have you settled down in the den for a pleasant chat? You stay on for dinner. Through it all, you find you can't keep your eyes off of Diane, can you, Danny? And later, the two of you go for a walk along the quiet, three-line street. Wonderful having you back here, Danny. Good to be back. You know, I've missed all this, the old town, the friends. We haven't had much time to talk about them, ever. Your dad monopolizing the conversation. Oh, of course not. I suppose you know what's on his mind. Do I? He still wants you to join the family. Danny, when he does ask you, think it over carefully before giving the answer. It wouldn't mean a lot to him, to me too, Danny. It becomes quite clear to you in the days that follow, the hours you spend with Diane, that your friend Chuck was right then. Yes, the schoolgirl crush she had on you hasn't left her, has it? Only it's more than that now. She's very much in love with you, isn't she? And then early one evening, the two of you drive down to San Francisco and have dinner at a fashionable hotel. Having a good time, Diane. Of course. But you still haven't told me what this is all about. Are we celebrating something? Yes. I am in your father's firm. What? Danny, Danny, that's wonderful, dad, didn't say. I wanted to be the one to tell you, darling. Danny, I'm just so happy about this. I just don't know what to say. Well, you could say yes. I think little Diane is going to burst into tears. It's all working out just the way you planned it, isn't it, Danny? And you're looking ahead, aren't you? The day of Mr. Johnson's death, Diane will inherit his interest in the company. And she'll be your wife. You'll control it all. Following morning, you accompany your future father-in-law into the hills to look over his newest project, the abandoned Crofton Mine. You catalog each item in your mind. Listen to Mr. Johnson's suggestion. And then you have some of your own to offer. Dean, please. Doesn't that go along with those ideas? Are yours a hundred percent? A lot of angles there I hadn't figured on. Oh, Mr. Johnson, one more thing. About that double cable running from the mine entrance here across the river to the road on the other side. You know, they're pretty worn out, rusty, aren't they? Well, I've already taken care of that, Danny. I'm going to have the boys put in a couple of new cables. Well, why? Like I said, they're all rusty. It won't hold up. I mean, why use the cables at all? Well, how else are we going to haul the stuff we take out of the mine here to the tracks across the river? We don't have to cross the river, Mr. Johnson. If we build a road from the main entrance to the new highway a few miles down, trucks could drive from the highway here to the mine on this side. We could load them on this side. Forget about the river. It cost a little money, wouldn't it? Yeah, but it'd be worth it in the long run. Hmm. Yeah, maybe it'd worth that. Don't go on it, Danny. That's what I mean. Something as simple as this, staring me right in the face and I don't see it. It takes a little figuring, Mr. Johnson. That's all. Plans for the reopening of the old Crofton Mine run smoothly in the next few days, don't they, Danny? And you find more and more time to spend with Diane. Then one night something happened that you hadn't counted on. You dropped Diane off at her house after a date. Walk back toward your car. Hello, Danny. Yeah, your sailor friend. What eyes were you giving that I wouldn't find? Look, uh, how did you find me? That baseball picture you showed me in the barn. You forgot it. It showed your high school in the background. French city high. Or maybe you thought I was too high to notice it. Danny, I want my dough, all of it. You don't think I carry it around with me, do you? And we'll fly down down to the bank in the morning and get it? I don't have it. I've invested it. You know, I was afraid of that, Danny boy. I heard around town that you'd gone into some business deal with a gentleman named Johnson. Okay, so get it back. Get it back. That's impossible right now. A few months, maybe. I can't wait that long. I'll give you a couple of days. The dough or else? I wouldn't plug you, Danny. No. Then what? The hometown folks might be surprised to learn how you got that dough. A little chick you've been running around with. Old man Johnson. All your pals. Oh, it's your word against mine. So if you didn't cop the dough, where and how did you get it? They might like to know. Look, Keller, you'll get your money. Sure I will. One way or another. What? You're good at laying odds. Suppose you figure that one out. There's little sleep for you that night, Danny. Because of Keller and the threat he holds over you. He could ruin everything for you, couldn't he? And the odds are that he will unless you stop him, silence him. The dangerous step to take isn't it. One, you must think over carefully, weigh the facts, the odds. You've made up your mind what to do when he calls you two nights later. You arranged to meet him on a quiet road just outside of town. He's standing by his car waiting for you when you walk by. It's time, Danny Boy. It's fine. Uh, what's in the shoebox? Oh, it's cash, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, still. I want to make sure you... I don't have a gun. I'll decide that. No? No gun. All right, now how about putting yours away? Sure. Why not? Okay, let's have the dough. Open the box. The moment he slips his gun into his pocket, you open the shoebox. And your hand closes over the 38 you hidden inside. Kelly staggers forward as he's hit. The brief struggle. His hands close around your throat. You pull away. Then he falls back and slumps to the ground. Stare at him for a moment. Suddenly you're aware that a car is approaching. You dive into the ditch. The truck, Danny. Loaded with townspeople coming home from the barn dance at Fondale. And you recognize the voice of your friend Chuck. There go for the police, Jimmy. All right. The rest of us stay here. Wait. What's this in his hand? It's part of somebody's shirt collar. Your hand goes to your collar. You realize for the first time that in the struggle, Keller ripped a good part of your shirt collar away. And if you're caught, it will be easy to prove the torn collar in Keller's hand came from your shirt. Odds against you have mounted fast, haven't they, Danny? You decide you've got to make a run for it. Nothing else you can do. Get him, you guys! Come on! Not far behind as you approach the foothills, are they, Danny? And then as you reach the river, you know you're trapped. There's no way to get across. But then suddenly you remember. Yes. The mine cables stretching across the river. Not far downstream. A few minutes later you reach them. What are the odds now, Danny? The cables are eaten by rust. And it's a long way across, isn't it? A rushing river below. You make it to the other side, you'll be safe. You stay here, the chances are you'll be caught. You weigh the odds carefully, don't you, Danny? It's a matter of timing. And even if the cables do break, when you fall into the river, you're a good swimmer. And you're certain you can make the other side. And then... Get a good look at him. No, it's too dark. You're probably headed downstream toward the bridge the only way across. Yeah. Hey, but wait a minute. I just happen to think of something. What about those cable lines leading across the river? They're around here someplace, aren't they? Yeah, sure. But a guy would be a snap to try it. Hand over hand, more than 50 yards, huh? Uh, I guess you're right. He wouldn't try it. Come on. Wouldn't I try it, Chuck? Wouldn't I? Time to change. Yes, it's time to change, says that sign outside Signal Station. Time to drain tired-out old winter motor oil. Time to refill with fresh, clean Signal Premium motor oil. The new heavy-duty Signal Oil that reduces engine wear 50%. Think what a 50% reduction in engine wear means to your wallet and your car's performance. Engines not only keep that new car pep and power twice as long, they also run twice as far between overhauls. Because new Signal Premium heavy-duty does so much more than just lubricate. In addition, it cools, cleans, cushions, seals and protects. No wonder so many motorists who want to protect their car are changing this spring to new Signal Premium heavy-duty motor oil. Changing at Signal Station, where you see that sign outside. Time to change. Time to change. A small group of townspeople shocked by the news of the tragedy had gathered at the river's edge just below the Crofton mine. I above them at the mine entrance stood Sheriff Delcing and Mr. Johnson, surveying the scene in stunned silence. Presently, the two men approached and told him the Sheriff pointed toward the opposite shore. Well, that's where Danny fell right out there in the rocks. I just don't understand this at all, Sheriff. I don't understand why he was on those cables. Yeah, there's lots of things I don't understand about this either. One thing I'm pretty sure of, though. What's then? Well, according to where he fell, he must have been about a third of the way across when that first cable snapped. I guess he knew the other cable wouldn't hold his weight very long either. The cable had broken a few feet further in either direction. He'd have landed in the river instead of on those rocks, probably be alive now. Yeah. I can just see Danny up there on that cable. He's got a quick decision to make. Keep going or turn back. You know how Danny was about decisions. Yeah, the odds. Always thinking about the odds. I guess this time he took just a little too long to figure them out. That whistle will be your signal for the signal oil program The Whistler each Sunday night at the same time. Meantime, signal oil company and the friendly independent dealers who help you go farther with signal gasoline hope you'll remember, regardless of what gasoline you use, you'll enjoy more miles of happy driving if you drive at sensible speeds obey traffic regulations and avoid taking chances. You may even save a life, possibly your own. A story where Bill Foreman is The Whistler, Lamont Johnson, G.G. Pearson, Tom Tully, Bob Bruce, Bill Boucher and John Shea. The Whistler was produced and directed by George W. Allen, with story by Adrian John Doe, music by Wilbur Hatch and was transmitted overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service. The Whistler was entirely fictional. Any similarity of names or resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Remember to tune in at the same time next Sunday when the signal oil company will bring you another strange story by The Whistler. Marvin Miller speaking for the signal oil company. Be tuned now for our Miss Brooke starring Eve Arden, which follows immediately over most of these statements. This is the CBS Radio Network.