 of the Texas Rangers starring Joel McRae as Ranger Jase Pearson. Another authentic re-enactment of a case transcribed in the files of the Texas Rangers. Some places in the following story are fictitious for obvious reasons. The events themselves are a matter of record. Every day, Monday through Friday, there's top entertainment all day long when you set your radio dial to NBC. Listen for Double or Nothing and you'll hear one of radio's funniest quiz shows. Yes, Walter O'Keeffe consistently comes up with great comedy entertainment Monday through Friday on Double or Nothing. Listen and you'll agree. And then there's the program with a heart, Strike It Rich. The grand entertainment that Warren Hull brings you every day on Strike It Rich is just what the doctor ordered if you suffer from the housework blues. From Chicago, Tommy Bartlett brings you welcome travelers and interviews with the many interesting guests who each day pass through the windy city. And for more fun, listen for Bob and Ray, those two zany comics. And then there's Music and Charm with Dave Garroway. So remember, every day, Monday through Friday, chase your blues away with the wonderful daytime programs on this station of the NBC Radio Network. And now, here's today's adventure with the Tales of the Texas Rangers. And now from the files of the Texas Rangers, the case called Jailbird. On October 8th, 1939, Jim Hackett, serving a life term from robbery and murder, escaped from a Texas state prison farm. He was assisted in his escape by a woman believed to be his wife. A statewide manhunt was carried on by all law enforcement bodies. Just after dark, two days later in the town of Oak Bluff, Texas, a woman climbed the stairs to a room above a hardware store. That's you, Sam? Yeah. Hurry up, get in here. Here's your sandwiches. What took you so long? They run out of ham, had to send out for it. You should've got something else. How many times have I got to tell you not to hang around outside? Well, you wanted ham, I'd have brought you cheese or something else. You'd have got sore like you did yesterday. I didn't want you doing it. Shut up. You talk too much. Do you mean that letter I give you? Yeah. Jim. What's the matter with you? Nothing. You're shaking all over. What's the matter with you? I think somebody's seen me. What are you talking about? When I was in the cafe waiting for your sandwiches, this man, he kept looking at me. I don't know. He didn't have no badge or nothing. Could have been one of them hip constables. Detail you? He seemed back as quick as he could. Turn out the light. What, Fer? Turn it out. What you gonna do? I'm gonna pull this shade and take a look. There's a man out there. He's standing across the street. Come on over here. Be the one. Let me see. He's face waving that window. Well, how can I see if you don't... Quit talking and look. Be the one that was in that cafe? Yeah. He's a cop. You don't... I couldn't help it. Shut up. You and that blonde hair are yours. Maybe I oughta died. I could die black real quick. Too late now. What am I gonna do? I don't know yet. I got a figure. Jim, I'm down the street. Them two men. Yeah. Ain't no doubt about them being cops either. Sheriff and one of his boys. Well, maybe they ain't after us. Maybe they don't know. Will you shut up? You got to get out of here. Come on, will you? Ain't we gonna take our stuff along? Are you crazy? Come on. Wait a minute. No. Ain't no way I'll be back. Don't talk so loud. We'll make it down the fire escape. I'm talking so loud. Come on, give me your hand. Okay. I'm gonna close the window. I keep going. I'm right behind it. All right. I'll get a fire escape. Let me alone with you. Okay. Now let's see. Jim. Come around that corner. Hold it there, you two. Well, you did it. Come on. You killed a cop. One less after us. Pick up your feet. Come on. The couple ran on, leaving Constable Simmons dead in the alley behind the hardware store. Shortly afterward, a witness reported seeing a man and woman jump into a car stopped for a traffic signal and forced the single occupant to drive off at high speed. All police units within a hundred-mile radius were immediately alerted. Fifteen minutes later, Texas Rangers Jase Pearson and Clay Morgan approached a highway junction 20 miles south of Oak Bluff. There's a main road up ahead, Jase. The port said they were heading this way and set up a roadblock at the junction. Pick them up if they try to pass. I reckon they could have turned off before they got this far off. Maybe, but it's more likely they'd try to get as much distance as they can between them and Oak Bluff. The main road's the best play. Car coming up that highway now. Yeah, it sure looks like it. Boy, they must be doing 90. Hang on. There they go. They're really hitting it. I'm afraid we're now going to be able to keep up with them. Horse trailer slows us down too much. Yeah, this upgrade doesn't help any. I wish I could drop a few rifle shots at them. You can't risk it now with that other man in the car. Oh, we're losing them, Jase. They're already over the top of the hill. I better get a hold of headquarters. Unit 10 to KTXA. Unit 10. This unit pursuing car believed to contain Hackett and his wife. Direction south along State Road 292. I mean, approaching your position from north. We'll inform that unit to set up block. 10-4, unit 10 clear. KTXA, with 14 waiting for them down the road, I don't feel so bad about that getting out of sight. And they probably saw us coming after them, though. Take a good look down every side road we pass, Clay, just in case they decide to turn off. Jase? There they are, halfway down the hill. Yeah. Didn't get as far ahead as I thought. Look at them weaving. Must have had a blowout or something. I think we're gaining a little. They're not going to make that curve up ahead, Jase. They're going off the road. Over the embankment. Keep on your toes when we stop. I doubt if anybody's going to walk away from that wreck. Poor guy that was with him. He probably got it, too. There's the car in that gully. Don't see anybody around. They must all still be in the car. Get down through here. Yeah. Over there, Clay. Huh? Why that mesquite parkway down? Hey, it's a man. It's been thrown clear when the car turned over. It's not Hackett. Second, it's the fellow that owned the car. He dead? Yeah. Hey, Jase. What's the matter? This fellow didn't get killed in the wreck. He's been shot. Let's get over to that car. Watch it. If anybody's inside, can't be much left of them. You better be sure. Careful of the broken glass. Uh-huh. They're not in here. Oh. But look at that. What? That hand throttle. Hey, pulled out all the way. That's why the car was weaving before it went off the road. There was nobody in it but a dead man. Figure Hackett and his wife got out, pulled out the throttle, just let the car go. Probably. That would account for why we gained on them coming over the hill. And they're bound to be around here somewhere on foot. Yeah. Let's go see if we can pick up a trail. We went back to our car and notified headquarters of what had happened. Then we unloaded our horses and began combing the area. At noon the next day, a rancher five miles west of the scene of the wreck informed us that two of his horses had been stolen the night before. We figured that Hackett and his wife had gotten away. We drove to the lab at Austin and started going over the articles taken from the room in Oak Bluff where the fugitives had been hiding. Our first break was a crumpled sheet of paper which had been removed from the wastebasket. It was the beginning of a letter in Hackett's handwriting to a man named Len. It had been discarded because of an ink blot. The gist of the letter was for Len to meet Hackett, but it didn't say when or where. We felt this could be a lead, so Clay phoned the warden at the pen to find out about Hackett's prison associates. Yeah. Spell that last name again, will you? Okay, I've got it now. Thank you so long, warden. Any luck? Yeah, maybe. The man named Len Jeter was Hackett's cellmate for nearly two years. He's still in the pen? No, finished his full term about six months ago. Let's see what the file say about him. That's a pretty long chance, Jayce. Hackett might not have rewritten that letter and could be he didn't send it. Men like Hackett don't write letters too often and they do it usually for some special purpose. I'd say it's fairly likely he sent the letter. Yeah, it's worth a try anyhow. Let's see, Jeter's file ought to be done a little further. I sure hope we turn up something that gives us a lead to Hackett. Uh-huh. Here we are. Pull his file, Clay. Yeager, Genezo. There it is, Jeter, Len. Let's take it over to the table. It's a nice, fat folder. Wherever he is, this boy's no beginner. Neither's Hackett. Probably got a lot in common. Here's a mug shot of him, Jayce. Looks like he wanted to chew up the camera. Yeah, turn the page. See what kind of a record he has. 16 arrests, five convictions. Let me see it a second. This should be some help. What's that? He's lived at the same place for the past 20 years when he wasn't in jail. Uh-huh. Just outside. Hold on. Jayce, if he doesn't know anything about Hackett, we might have trouble making him talk. Hey, look at this under remarks. Refuse to talk. Refuse to talk. No voluntary statement. He's still at home. Maybe we shouldn't try to make him talk. What do you figure to do? Watch Len Jeter's place without his knowing we're there. If he is taken off to meet Hackett, we want to be right after him. We contacted the sheriff at Fuller, Texas and told him what we had in mind. Then we drove out to Len Jeter's place. It was a run-down house at the foot of a hill just off the main highway. We took up a position on top of a hill where we could watch the house without being seen. After an hour, we saw Jeter come out of the house and begin shopping wood. For the next two days, he made no effort to leave his property. Clay and I watched during the day when the sheriff's deputies took over at night. Toward noon of the third day, we lay on the brow of the hill, watching Jeter move around his backyard. It sure gets hot out here around the middle of the day. I'm beginning to think maybe he never got Hackett's letter, Jason. Maybe not. He doesn't do anything but hang around the house. He doesn't even go out for groceries. Keep watching. He's got to go somewhere sooner or later. Yeah, but when? That's what we'll have to wait and find out. We don't know when Hackett wants to meet him. Since he's not in any hurry to go anywhere today, it could be blocking up the wrong tree, you know. Jeter's our only lead to Hackett. One way or another, we've got to stay close to him. Yeah, I reckon you're right. Hey, here's the sheriff. Outta gate, Clay. Better keep low, sheriff. Oh, yeah. Still nothing, huh? Yeah, not yet. Your deputies take over again tonight, sheriff? Well, sure, Jeter. I just don't... Hey, what's that? Jeter. He's got some target practice brought this time of day. Oh. Like I was saying, I can't see why you don't let me go down there and pick him up. I've had him in town before. I reckon between the three of us, we could make him talk. You didn't seem to have too much luck making him talk the last few times you took him in. It could be with three of us, he'd be even more close-mouthed. Oh, I admit he's tough, and he don't do much talking. But you fellas could sit out here a month without getting any place. Sheriff's right, Chase. Maybe we should take him in. Okay. I sure wish there was some way to save this lead in case he doesn't talk. So do I. But I don't know what it'd be. Wait a minute. I've got an idea. Clay, suppose you take Len Jeter in alone. I don't get you, Chase. Sheriff, can you fix me up with an old suit back in town? Well, sure, Chase, but what for? We're gonna do a little play-acting. All of us. When I change clothes, I want you to lock me up. I'm gonna be one of the toughest gunmen in Texas. You and Clay are gonna treat me just that way. What have you got in mind? You bring Len Jeter in and put him in a cell with me. Maybe after we've been together a while, he and I'll have a nice friendly little talk. I don't know, Chase. If he ever finds out you're a ranger, we're finished. It's a chance we'll have to take. Give the sheriff and me an hour, Clay, and go pick up Len Jeter. In just a moment, we will continue with Tales of the Texas Rangers, starring Joel McCray as Ranger Chase Pearson. If you want your child to have the best elementary schooling, you can give him. Once you get a pencil and paper and take down the address I'm going to give you at the end of this message, unless we start preparing now, in a few years our public schools will be as far behind times as the Little Red Schoolhouse. Now, because of the huge increase in our birth rate during and after the last war, it's estimated that by 1956, there will be some 7 million more children in elementary schools than there are now. Now, we must start preparing at once. More equipment will be needed, textbooks, playgrounds, and above all, more elementary school teachers. To help assure your child a proper education, join and work with local groups and school boards. And for free information about how people in other communities are improving their schools, write to this address, National Citizens' Commission for the Public Schools, 2 West 45th Street, New York, 19 New York. That's National Citizens' Commission for the Public Schools, 2 West 45th Street, New York, 19 New York. Now, back to Tales of the Texas Rangers. We continue now with Tales of the Texas Rangers and our authentic story, Jailbird. After I changed clothes, the sheriff locked me in an empty cell at the county jail. Two hours later, I was still there alone. It was pretty evident, Lynn Jeter hadn't talked. Then I heard the outer door open and close. Playing the sheriff came along the corridor with Jeter. I stood close to the cell door and waited. Look, I tell you got no right put me in there. Come on, Jeter, now keep moving. You got no right to lock me up. We're not through talking to you yet. I'll tell you something, copper. Even if I knew what Jim Hackett was, you wouldn't get nothing out of me. Maybe you'll change your mind. Lock him up, chef. You, Finnerty, get back at the cell door. What for? Now, look, Finnerty, we don't want no more trouble out of you. Move back. I ain't going to a cell with nobody. You put me in a cell alone. The house is full. You'll take what you get. Don't worry, Jeter. You'll get along with Finnerty here. He's just like you, only worse. I don't want to be in a cell with nobody. I don't want you in here with me, neither. Get in there, Jeter. And you, Finnerty, you're coming with us. You going to let me out now? Not yet. If we found somebody, you might have seen you rob that liquor store. Somebody's seen me rob nothing. Come on, Finnerty. Why don't you come get me? Hold it, chef. Now, look, Finnerty, you've already given us a lot of trouble. Don't make a worse for yourself. You going to come quiet? All right. All right, wait a minute. Hey, you in there. Keep off that door. Hey, you in there. Keep off that bottom bunk. It belongs to me. You paid for it? Just stay off it. Find John to want to come back on. Come on, come on. Take your hands off me. All right, Finnerty. Come on, let's go. You said take your hands off me. What's the cups on him, chef? That'll keep you from getting too visky. Dirty cops. Come on, get moving. You're going to make me talk. You better start thinking again. We don't need no talk now. We got a witness. Witness? Who you trying to kid? Keep your mouth shut, Finnerty. I've heard just about enough out of you. You haven't heard nothing yet. Get moving. I told you before, keep your hands off me. Keep moving. Pretty smart, Ranger. I wish there were just one of you here. I'd show you. Come on, Finnerty. We don't want any more trouble from you. I reckon you can relax now, Clay. Yeah. I forgot myself for a second. Boy, you tough. You almost had me fooled. I still have to convince Jeter. You get anything out of him? Not a word, Jason. You were right about that. You search his place? Uh-huh. Nothing. What's the next move? I'm going to the sheriff's office for half an hour, and you can take me back to Jeter. When Clay and the sheriff took me back to the cell, I could see Jeter was curious. I said nothing to him. About an hour I sat on the bunk, ignoring him. For another 30 minutes, I paced around the cell. Jeter watched me constantly. Several times, he started to speak and then thought better of it. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. Boy, you front. Hey, you. Finnerty. You talking to me? Yeah. I asked where you was from. Oh, a special place. I've been all over. Hmm? I ain't seen you around this part of the country before. Oh, no one reckon you have. What you in for? They say I knocked over a liquor store. What did you? You sure ask a lot of questions, brother. You know, for a while I wasn't sure. I was thinking you was a cop. That's funny. I was thinking the same thing about you. You know something. I still think you are. You think I'm a cop? It'd be the first time they put one in my cell trying to make me talk. You're crazy. I ain't no cop. Yeah, it's what they always say. Hey, you're not going to get anything out of me. Hey, Finnerty, you got it all right. You're wasting your time. Go on, rattle the bar. Tell your pals to come and get you. I'll use you hanging around here. Look, you ever hear of Jim Hackett? Maybe. Well, I'm a friend of his. That ought to tell you I ain't no cop. Anybody can say he's a friend of Jim Hackett. Where you live? I got a place right outside town. I bet you have. What are you? Deputy Ranger, what are you? Ain't none of them. You see that place of mine, you know, wasn't no cop's house. I don't reckon I care about seeing it. Now let me be, brother. I've got some thinking to do. We sat in silence for the rest of the afternoon. A little before six, the sheriff took me out of my cell. Jeter was to be released an hour later and taken to the bus station. I went over there ahead of time, bought a newspaper, and sat on a bench in full view of the entrance and waited. At 7.15, Jeter came in. I pretended not to see him. He walked over to where I was sitting and stood looking at me. Oh, Finnerty, see the sprungy. Huh? Oh, it's you. What are you doing, tailing me? I ain't telling you or nobody else. Let me out. I'm going home. Is that right? Go on, beat it, Copper. Finnerty, for the last time, I ain't no cop. You say they let you out? Yeah. How come they didn't take you home? Well, they didn't have no car hand to give me bus fare instead. Ah, you ought to get a better story in that, Copper. Now beat it. I want to read my paper. Look, Finnerty, where you headed? You'd like to know, wouldn't you? Okay, Copper, I'll tell you. I'm going to Oklahoma City. You're going to make something out of that? Bus for the north don't leave until eight tomorrow morning. I just found that out. I reckon I can kill time till then. I'd just as soon do it alone. I won't show you something, Finnerty. What? I just want to prove I ain't no cop. How about you coming out of my place? I'll feed you and give you a flop for the night. I'm okay right here. Besides, I got to go to Oklahoma City in the morning. The bus comes in here long for you. You can catch it near my place. How about it? Well, okay. I got nothing to lose. I reckon if you're going to keep tailing me, you might as well feed me. You believe me now? Well, don't look like a cop's place. And it ain't. Go on in. Look at the light. Nice and quiet out around here. It's okay. And it ain't no cop's place. No, don't reckon it is. You like bacon and eggs? Sure. And I'll fix this, huh? What are you faking of doing in Oklahoma City? That's my business. You know, Ven, are you okay? That's good. You know how to keep your mouth shut and that's something I like. Sixteen times they'll hold me in. I never spill enough, not once. You and me, we like. Maybe so. Go on out here. I want to talk to you while I'm putting the bacon on the stove. What about? I got an idea. You got something special to do in Oklahoma City? Nothing special. Just going up to take a look around. You pick up a buck or two? That kind of figure, bet. How about coming along with me tomorrow? I can see you get some real dough. Doing what? Remember I told you I was finding Jim Hackett? Yeah. Him and his wife, they got something real big lined up. They want me in on it. What kind of job is it? I ain't sure. I think it's a refinery payroll. Jim said it was close to a quarter million there. You want to come along and cut in on it? How do you know Hackett will want me in on it? Jim, he will sell maids to get anything I do is okay with Jim. Hackett's staying around here? About a hundred miles south. It's kind of hot right now. Him and his wife are hiding out in the shack down there. What time are you pulling out in the morning? I figure I'm getting to five o'clock plus. Ain't many people around that hour of the morning. I've got to make sure there ain't no cops telling me. How about it, Finn? Let me think it over. I'll let you know before morning. Before we turned in for the night, I agreed to go with Jeter and work on the job with Jim Hackett. We got up at four the next morning and took the five o'clock bus south. Jeter kept a sharp lookout for police who might be following. I knew Clay would be on our trail and hope he'd stay far enough behind to avoid being seen by Jeter. He did. Toward noon, Jeter's suspicions relaxed. After an hour layover in a place called Snake River, we got on a local bus which took us ten miles out of town. We walked another three miles along a dirt road. A little before two o'clock, sighted a shack halfway up a hill. Well, there she is. That shack up ahead? Don't look like anybody's there. Somebody's there, all right. Jim's good at covering his tracks. Probably got the car hit away someplace. How'd you know where this place was? Jim wrote me a letter, gave me a map on how to find it. Told me to burn it as soon as I knew how to get here. When did he send you this letter? Two, three days ago. Seems I read something about him being in the scrape the past couple of days. You sure he hasn't changed his plans? No, not Jim. He'd make up his mind to do something he doesn't. All the cops in the world can't stop him. He'll be glad to see him. I reckon he'd be pretty glad to see him. Put your hands up! Jim, put the gun away. It's me. Oh, yeah. Well, you're lucky I didn't plug you. Seeing two guys come up the hill and thought you was cops. Who's this? A friend of mine. I didn't tell you to bring no friends. How about letting us come in, Jim? Oh, come on. Where's Sal? She went for grub. Ain't that kind of dangerous? She put it easy to spot. She dyed her hair. Can you let me worry about her being seen? Sure, Jim. Who are you, mister? I told you he's a friend of mine. My name's Fennedy. Well, I don't care what your name is. What are you doing here? Well, Jim, don't be that way. I brought Fennedy here because I figured you could use extra mail. But I needed a man out of told you. Me and Sal and you can handle this job easy. We don't need nobody else. And the way you feel about her, I reckon I'll be moving along. I'll never stay where I'm not wanted. You ain't going no place, not till I tell you to. Now, look... Shut up! I didn't know this guy's all right. He's okay. He was in a clank with me. How long you known him? Well, since yesterday, but... Yesterday? Are you crazy, man? Look. You can use me. I'll be glad to stay. You don't want me? I'm moving along. You can use him. Jim, he's okay. You should've heard him talk them cops over the county locker. You don't take nothing from nobody. How about you, sir? We ain't using him. And I ain't letting him leave here and spill it all over the country where I'm hiding out. You don't have to worry about that, mister. I'm not the talking kind. That's right, Jimmy. He ain't. You don't have to worry about Philly. See, I gotta get rid of him. Now, wait a minute. Shut up! You. Get over in that corner while I figure out what I'm gonna do. Sure. And I'll wait. Come here. What do you want? You got a gun? No. Put your hands over your head. I want to make sure. I told you I didn't have a gun. Give me that gun! You dirty... There you are. You too, Jeter. Finity wants this all the past. My name's not Finity. You're both under arrest. A cop. I knew it. But he can't be a cop. You stupid... Turn around and keep your hands up. Keep them up. You got no sense, Jeter. A quarter of a million bucks right in our hands and you gotta bring a cop here. How do I know about him? You ought to watch who you take up with. Somebody should've told him that before he took up with you, Hackett. All right, you two. Get moving. In just a moment, we will tell you the results of the case you have just heard. Throughout the remainder of the day, NBC will bring you more great entertainment to brighten your listening. The first nighter, starring Barbara Luddy and Olin Suley, will bring you an amusing drama of a man who made gold at a dollar a minute in his basement workshop. Then, Miss Margaret Truman will step before the NBC microphones to introduce talented stars in khaki and blue. And for another amusing play, listen to the theater guild on the air production of The Bishop Miss Behaves, with an all-star cast, including Charles Lawton, Josephine Hull, and Vanessa Brown. In the mirth and melody department, Phil Harris and Alice Faye will star in a bright 30 minutes of enjoyable, relaxing entertainment. Be sure to hear Phil and Alice and their court of royal gestures later today. Remember, too, that Jack Parr will come a calling tonight with the $64 question and a program packed with question marks and laughs. So, for fine entertainment, always tune to the three familiar NBC chimes, your invitation to the best in radio listening. And now, back to the conclusion of today's Tales of the Texas Rangers. And now, here are the results of the case you have just heard. Ranger Clay Morgan apprehended Sal Hackett on her way back to the shack where she and her husband had been hiding. She was sentenced to 20 years at the women's prison at Goree. Len Jeter received a 30-year term for obstructing justice and conspiring to commit armed robbery. Jim Hackett was found guilty of murder with malice and died in the electric chair at Huntsville. This is Joel McCray. There are good many stories that the Rangers tell about some of the so-called bad men they've picked up over the years. They tell about one in particular whose bark was truly worse than his bite. The story goes that this so-called bad man came into a saloon one night, flourishing a pair of pistols, and ordered all the people over in a corner, saying that he was the roughest, toughest man in the whole state of Texas. He then sat down, still pointing his guns at the frightened customers, and ordered the bartender to bring him a drink. What do you have, sir? asked the bartender. Bring me a glass of milk, he replied. Milk, said the bartender, for the roughest, toughest man in the state of Texas. Well, Anne answered the bad man. Put it in a dirty glass. So long, folks. See you next week. Next week, Joel McCray and another authentic re-enactment of a case from the files of the Texas Rangers. Technical advisor was Captain M.T. Lone Wolf-Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers. This story was transcribed and adapted by Charles E. Israel, and the program is produced and directed by Stacey Keith. Hal, give me speaking. Text, It's the Chase on NBC.