 Blair of the Mounties, the story of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. We present the 13th episode in the dramatic series Blair of the Mounties. 1915, the Dominion of Canada at war since our last episode. Three more Canadian divisions have left Canada for the battle front. After the Battle of the Man and the drive for the Channel Ports, the great armies have settled down to the long war of attrition. The grim lines of trenches stretch from the English Channel to Switzerland. Inspector Blair and his assistant, Sergeant Marshall, are now on special service in France. Where are you, Marshall? Right here, Inspector. It's pretty dark. Yes. Where's that guide? Here I am, sir. Right ahead of you. Take care now and keep on the duck warps, the much pretty deep hills. How far is it to this 90th Battalion headquarters? Just a little piece now, sir. We're getting close to the line. There's the old rage ahead of you where you see them flares growing up. Fine. Go ahead. What a kind of war, Inspector. Look at all those fireworks. The Germans' winches. They use a powerful lot of flares. Help! Red! Wait for the lover McGinty. And it's me old friend Spike, so it is. Ah, it's you, is it? Anyone? Well, I have a couple of gentlemen here to see the commanding officer. All right, Renev. Better wait here. You too, Marshall. I'll go down and talk to Colonel Smith. Now, what's your hitch that's going down them stairs? Hello, down there. I'm looking for Colonel Smith. There you are. I'm Colonel Smith. Oh, excuse me, sir. Good evening, sir. My name's Blair. Oh, yes, Blair. I've heard about you from the general. Sit down. Man that gas curtain. Thanks. Here's a General's letter, sir. Oh, never mind that. I know the conducts. This is a bad business, Blair. If you just give me an outline of the things, perhaps I can help you. Well, I hope so. But I don't see how. We've had lots of spy scares, but this is the real thing. Any proof that there's a spy working? Proof? No. Plenty of indications, though. The enemy's onto everything we do. Our reliefs get shut up, and our raiding parties are simply getting massacred. Any suspicions? Not at trace. What about your officers? Blair, I'd stake my life on every one of them. I see. I sent for Ralston. He's our scout officer. Knows more about this than I do. He'll work with you. Now, who have you got with you? Just Sergeant Marshall, and then the general lent me his own run-up. He's all right, I suppose. Oh, Mickey Flanagan? I should say so. Knows every foot of those trenches. And he's the most expert Russian thief in the Canadian army. He's rather versatile, chap. Yes, Mickey's travelled a lot. No education, but talks several languages. You should hear him talk to our German prisoners. You mean he speaks German? Just like a native. That's very interesting. Oh, oh, come in, Ralston. Blair, this is Lieutenant Ralston. How are you, Ralston? How are you, sir? Ralston, this is the special service officer on that spy job. Give him all the assistance he wants. Very well, sir. All right, Blair, that's all now. Let me know if you need anything. See you in the morning. Thanks. Good night, sir. Good night. Well, what's the program, Ralston? Well, I thought we'd talk things over first, sir. Then we can look around the front line. It's bright moonlight, and we can see pretty well. Right, that's who's mean. Now, here's a map of our trench positions in the German lines opposite. You see, we're on the slope of a ridge here, and the Germans are on the other slope. The top of the ridge is no man's land. What are these circular things along the front line? Well, those are the big mine craters. As one of them inside our lines, eh? Yes, it's funny you should mention that. What do you mean? Well, you see, it's the only point from which we can see into the German lines. The only thing we have gut on the theory is the spy came in that somebody had been signaling to the enemy from that crater. What do you think of the idea yourself? Oh, I think it's a very likely story. All right, we might as well start somewhere. I suppose we take shifts tonight. You and Marshall and I will watch that crater through the hours of darkness to our ships, eh? Oh, well, nothing like starting it at once, I suppose. Exactly. Never mind that tipper on the trenches. We'll start in right away. Marshall, you take first shift. I'll take second, Ralston, the third. Understand? Right on, Inspector. Fine. I'm going to turn in for a couple of hours. See you later. Breakfast ready, sir? Oh, hello, Mickey. What time is it? 6.30, sir, and a fine morning. Hey, wake up, Marshall. Breakfast. Oh, uh-huh. Oh, oh, oh, good morning, sir. Better turn out and get something to eat, Marshall. Ralston will be around pretty soon. Did you pick up on anything last night, sir? No, I didn't expect to. What? Oh, then you don't think much of this crater idea. I thought it was pretty foolish myself. On the contrary, I believe it's going to work out all right. You do? Well, it doesn't look reasonable to me. There's somebody coming in. Below there. Oh, hello, Ralston. Come in. Thanks. I have some news for you. That's all? Oh, come on down. Did you spot anything last night when you were on duty? I certainly did. What was it? Well, between 3.15 and 3.30, there was a signal light working from Winnipeg credit toward the German line. But listen, Ralston. Surely a man couldn't use a light right out in the open with hundreds of men around if he'd be spotted in no time. Well, I'll explain. You see nobody ever thinks of looking back from the front line. And another thing, there's only one point in our trenches from which you can see that crater. That's where we were watching last night. I see. Yes, that's reasonable. It's a clever stunt. Any other details, Ralston? Yes, just about 3.15. There was a blue flare from the German lines just behind Spenbrook readout. I believe it was a signal. Any of our men in that crater? They weren't supposed to be. You think this fellow tried on again tonight? Well, I don't know. Well, we'll be on hand again tonight, eh? Well, then I'll see you tonight, sir. Yes. Goodbye, Ralston. Goodbye, sir. Just a little further, Inspector. Look out, mind that hole. A man needs eyes like a cat in this darkness. Well, it'll lighten up soon. Well, here's our spot, sir. This is where I stood when I saw that light working. Yes, and now what? Well, do you see the crater? Yes, I can just make it out. Well, if that fellow starts singing again, Mars will be within a few feet of him. We ought to get him. I hope so. Do you have any ideas of your own on this case, Inspector? I'll just want it, too. But we'll see how this works out. What time is it? It's past 3.15. Look, Inspector, behind you. What is it? Over that high point in the German lines. A flare. Don't you see it? I see. A bluish sort of light. Yes, that's it. Just like last night. Now watch the crater. There he goes. I don't see a thing. Oh, yes. Up near the top of the crater. Yes, he's sending most letters. That's it. But surely they can't see that from the enemy lines. It's just a tiny light. Oh, yes, they will, with high-powered glasses. That's quite a message he's sending. Cold of some sort. Sure you've got that crater surrounded? Absolutely. Come on. Let's pick him up. All right. Look here, Inspector, I can't understand this. Aren't you going to question that man we got in the crater last night before you talked to Colonel Smith? Well, no, not just now, Marshal. What's his name, by the way? Hanson. He says he's a Swede. More likely a German. I see. Seems to meet that this fellow Ralston is stealing the show. Does it? Just hang on for a little while. You'll see some fun. We've got to meet Ralston and Colonel Smith in a few minutes. So the mystery is all cleared up. Yes, apparently, sir. I want to congratulate Ralston here. It is a neat piece of work. That's very decent, Blair. Of course, the credit for the man's capture really belongs to Ralston. As I told the general, it takes a man with front-line experience. Probably so. I've no wish to rob Ralston of anything that's coming to him. No, no, of course not. Well, Blair, there won't be any need for you to stay now that it's all cleared up. No, sir. But there is a small matter that I have to attend to. Ralston, put your hands up. Don't move. All right, Marshal, take him. Keep still, Ralston. No use. What in standard does this mean? Blair, leave that officer alone. Just a moment, sir. You've seen my credentials. I have authority to arrest any person of any rank in this battalion. I'm arresting this man who passes under the name of William Ralston. What on earth are you talking about? I mean that this man is a German subject, born in Nuremberg, educated in Canada. He joined the officer's training corps in Montreal in 1914. Let me introduce you to Erich von Stern, officer in the Imperial German Army. Split past us. I'll have you caught, Marshal, for exceeding your authority. German officer, may I? Before you do anything foolish, Colonel Smith, you'd better hear the rest of this story. And I'd advise you to turn this man Hanson loose. He's innocent. Innocent? Didn't we catch him sending signals? Where's the evidence that he did that signaling? Well, for that matter, where's your evidence against Ralston? Marshal. Yes, sir. Take this officer's belt and tune it off. If you suppose the next thing, you'll tell me that Ralston was sending those signals himself. Just what he was doing. Hot! And he was standing with you all the time, 50 feet away from the crater. Excuse me a moment. Find anything, Marshal? Yes, sir. Got a lot of fine rubber cord around his waist. And that's a little electric lamp at the end of it. Good. That's what I want. Well, bless my soul. Colonel Smith, that's my reason for arresting this officer. He's your spy. He was working that signal himself with the wire Marshal found. He was always 50 or 60 feet away when he sent those messages. It was pretty dark, but I happened to spot the trick. Good Lord. Hey, hey Ralston, or whatever your name is, this is monstrous. You must grade in the uniform of my battalion. You do this, after all I've done for you. Hey, it's the most damnable thing yet. Colonel Smith, this gentleman's my prisoner. I must ask you not to make accusations. Ah! Abominable! Lieutenant, I'm going to send you back to core headquarters under closer rest. You'll get a fair trial. That's all I can promise you. That's all I can ask, sir. May I offer my congratulations? Sorry about all this, Von Sturm. Don't apologize. We both serve our countries. I was afraid you weren't as foolish as you pretended to be. All right, Marshal. Take him away. Oh. Hello, Inspector. Is...is it all over? Yes, it's over. For heaven's sake, get me a drink. Sure. Sure. What about that execution? Did they... Yes. They shot him at 4.30 this morning. I never felt so utterly sick of my job as I do at this moment. Did he stand up to it? Did he? Yeah, he was wonderful. If you'd seen the way that kid faced a firing party, they read out the sentence and asked him if he had anything to say. And did he? Oh, he just smiled and said, Deutschland liberalis. Then they shot him. Oh, for heaven's sake, give me that drink. There you are. Thanks. And so the boy could take it. Of course. Ever see a German officer that couldn't? God, I'll never forget the nerve of that youngster. Say what you like about Germany, but there must be something fine about a nation that turns out men like that. You have heard the 13th episode in Blair of the Mountains. Tune in for the next episode in this series entitled The Naked Truth.