 AutoLite and its 96,000 dealers bring you Mr. Richard Widmark in tonight's presentation of... South Spence. Tonight, AutoLite presents a dramatization of Walter van Tilbert Clark's study in panic, The Track of the Cat, starring Mr. Richard Widmark. Hello, Mr. Wilcox. Well, gas me up if it isn't Sam, my AutoLite spark plug man. How's it going, Sam? Great. You mean my exclusive AutoLite plug check indicator? Ah, that super sleuth is really doing a job, eh, Sam? You bet. It quickly and accurately shows my customers if their car spark plugs need cleaning. Or if they're worn out or wrong for their style of driving. And if they need cleaning, Sam? Why, then I do the job fast and fine with my modern equipment. And if those spark plugs are worn out or wrong? Oh, you know the answer, Mr. Wilcox. I sure do, Sam. You install ignition engineered AutoLite spark plugs for smoother performance, quick starts, and gas savings. So friends, take a tip from me and visit your nearest AutoLite spark plug dealer. You can learn his location by calling Western Union by number and asking for Operator 25. She will quickly tell you the location of your nearest AutoLite spark plug dealer. And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with AutoLite. And now with the track of the cat and the performance of Mr. Richard Widmark. AutoLite hopes once again to keep you in suspense. Gotta get this fire going. I got it. It's my last chance. I'm freezed to death out here tonight if I don't. That or be cat meat, snow, nothing but snow. And that black murdering devil waiting out there in the dark for me. That big black cat waiting for his chance. Ah, there she goes. That'll hold Mr. Cat for a while. Cats are afraid of fire. Even big black ones. Even a big black panther, big as a horse won't fool around a fire in us. Ah, what am I talking about? Where are you gonna find a black panther on a range in Nevada? Mountain lion, that's all he is. Big maybe, but just a plain mountain cat, and that's all. Nothing but superstition all that other talk. Crazy Indian superstition. Fire surely makes a man feel good. Good and kind of drowsy. No sleep though. I mustn't go to sleep. That's all that cat's waiting for out there in the trees. Me to go to sleep and the fire go out. There's nothing to keep awake. Think about tracking the cat. How I got started. Two days, two nights. Almost three nights ago. Five o'clock in the morning. The sleep in the bunk house with the storm beginning outside with me not hearing it. Not hearing anything because I was asleep. So sound. Wake up. Wake up, Kurt. Ah, sir. What's the matter? What's the matter with you? Cows are balling up in the canyon. Something's happening. Oh, for Pete's sake. You have to wake me up every time you have one of your crazy dreams. Go back to bed. It's no dream, Kurt. Oh, you too, Hal. You only hear it when the wind's right. Listen. Well, how long's that been going on? Why didn't you let me know sooner? We've just been awake a few minutes. We wanted to be sure. A few minutes. And that going on all the time? Fine couple of brothers I got to help me run a ranch. One good for nothing but dreaming, and the other good for nothing but thinking about that gala here. Let's leave her out of it, huh? How can I leave her out of it? You practically moved her into the house, didn't you? Quit ragging the kid, Kurt. She's just here for a visit. You know that. Yeah. Well, get your clothes on. What are you standing there for? You think that cat's gonna wait for us? You figure it is a cat? What else could it be? Running cattle like that. Maybe you think it's that black panther Joe Sam talks about, huh? I swear, Arthur, sometimes I think you're as crazy as that crazy old Indian. Could be. Could be that me and Joe Sam are just the ones that ain't crazy. Indian lover and cat lover. But don't think you ain't gonna go out there with me because you are. Any way you want it, Kurt. I'll go with you, Kurt. Oh, no. No, you gotta stick around and take care of that gal. Yeah, listen to that. We woke the old lady up. She's come down to the kitchen. I suppose now she's gonna give me some kind of argument. Why, you always gotta pick on everybody, Kurt. First, Gwen. Now, boy. What's the matter, Hal? You worried about me and that gal, Gwen, and yours? Huh? Come on, let's go. Up kinda early, ain't ya, ma? Hi, ma. I figured you'd be wanting breakfast. Just coffee. Some cat's running a cattle up in the canyon. I hear it. You going up there? You don't think I'm gonna sit around here in my hands while some Theven Mountain cat kills off our best steers, do you? Well, sit down, all of you. Here's your coffee. Thank you, ma. Thanks, ma. Kurt. Why? I don't want for you to go. I suppose what I gotta say don't carry much weight around here, but I don't want for you to go. Well, I'm going. And so's your dreamer, boy, are they? Then startin' a blizzard out, Kurt, and a bad one. I've been out in a little snow before, ain't I? Ain't the same. It's the first snow of the year. No. No, I thought so. You've been talkin' to that crazy old Indian, too, haven't you? I ain't either. Can't nobody hardly talk to him today, the shape he's in. All spooked up again, eh? Black panthers, first snow. And you believin' it. Where is he, ma? Oh, I told him to fetch some wood to get him inside. Wonder he ain't froze to death out there half the night, nothin' but his shirts and jeans and them little thin moccasins. Maybe I better go get it. Will you sit down and drink your coffee? We gotta be leavin' here in a co- Well, if it ain't our little lady visiting. Good morning. Hello, honey. Good morning, Gwen. Come sit down. Have some hot coffee, child. Thank you. No need for you to got up this early, you know. Maybe she got up special just to see us off. See, who off? Where? Oh, mountain cats after the cattle. Kurt's bound, they're goin' up there to get him. Oh, Hal, in the storm? Don't worry about your precious Hal. I'm leavin' him here to take care of you. I said I'd go, didn't I? Besides, if it is that spooked panther at Joe Sam's, I'll need Arthur here to make big medicine. He's almost as good at that Indian medicine as Joe Sam himself, ain't ya, Art? Never will learn not to write a good thing too hard, will you, Kurt? I guess I'm a little confused. Spooked panthers, Indian medicine. All right, it's nothin', honey. It's just Kurt's little joke. Yeah. Here's Joe Sam. Close the door after him, Hal. Sure, Ma. That's right. Now go on, just dump it in the wood box, Joe Sam. Try it. Now drink this hot coffee. For a land's sakes, you're shakin' like a leaf. Hey, Joe Sam, here, coffee. Yeah, he don't want no coffee. He don't even hear ya. He just wants to sit there and go off into one of them trances, he is. Hey, Joe Sam, you seein' that spooked panther now, Joe Sam? Leave him alone, Kurt. I do wish somebody had tell me what this is all about, unless it's a family secret. Well, there you hear that, Joe Sam. Go ahead, tell the little lady about that big old black spook. Hey, it looks like I'll have to do the honors myself. You see, it's this way, little lady. According to Joe Sam, there's a black panther roams this part of the country, comes with the first snow every year. And he's big. Big as a horse and eyes like coals of fire. And you can see right through him. And you can shoot right through him, too. And still, he'll keep comin' until he gets ya, because he can't never die. He's a spook. Kind of frightening. Yeah, for old women and for dreamers, maybe. Now, come on, dreamer boy, let's go. I suppose you're gonna wear that old cow-eyed parka, too. Makes you look even more like a medicine man. Keeps me warm. Oh, be careful. Please. And don't stay out there beyond nightfall. Yes, sure, sure. Very well, ma. Well, come to life, did he? I said no go. It's all right, Joe Sam. No, I said not. Please, no go. I got to, Joe Sam. We both do. Well, you come on and stop palaverin' with that old fool. All right, Kurt. All right. You go, Arthur. Got to. But don't you worry. Then you go. But you'll not come back. You'll not ever, ever come back. Autolight is bringing you Mr. Richard Widmark in the track of the cat. Tonight's production in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrill's South Spence. Sam, my Autolight spark plug man, why do you recommend ignition engineer to Autolight spark plugs? Boy, that's easy, Mr. Wilcox. It's because... Because they're designed by the same skilled Autolight engineers who design the coil distributor and all the other important parts of complete ignition systems used as original equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, trucks, and tractors. Hey, Sam. That's right. Those Autolight spark plugs are designed to work as a team with the complete ignition system. Take the new Autolight resistor spark plug, for instance. Ah, it gives smoother performance, greater gas savings, and quicker starts. And it's only one of a complete line of ignition engineered Autolight spark plugs designed for every use. So, see your nearest Autolight spark plug dealer soon. Right. Your Autolight spark plug dealer's exclusive plug check indicator will quickly show you if your spark plugs are right for your style of driving. And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Autolight. And now, Autolight brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr. Richard Widmark in Elliott Lewis' production of The Track of the Cat. A tale well-calculated to keep you in South Bend. Even after we were saddled up and heading out across a range, I was still laughing to myself at what the old man had said to Arthur about not coming back and how solemn he said it. I tried to get a look at Arthur to see how he was taking it but you never could tell with that one. Well, we hit the draw that leads into the canyon about daylight. It's a real box canyon with a steep slope to the north and a sheer drop off the east face. We couldn't hear the cattle now, but we could see their tracks in the snow where they was heading up the canyon. And then I saw what I'd been looking for. Hey, look! Look at that. You see them tracks? Cat, all right. Big one. Yeah. Pretty near as big as a horse at that. But you won't see through the cat that made them tracks. He's real enough. Come on, most likely still up there. Ah, not what he does in through horses. Look, up ahead. To steer. He's dead and with his neck broke by the looks. That's what ails the horses. They don't like the blood. Look up there. You're right. Two more. That's three of my best steers. Oh, he's been up here killing for fun. Don't look like he's up here now, though. There goes the track up in North Slope. Yeah, he's gone all right, but he ain't been gone long. Tracks as fresh and clear as print on a page. I'm going after him. You'll need snowshoes. You'll need grub. I'll go back after it if you like. I'll go myself if it's all the same. You'll stay here and hold the trail. Either way. No, not either way. That way. Unless you're worrying about what Joe Sam said. I'm not worrying. And don't go dreaming off. Because I want you to be here when I get back. I'll be here. All right, then. Keep your eyes open. Sure. And Kurt. Yeah. Far were you. I'd leave Hal's girl alone. A smart one. A real smart one. Like he was reading my mind. He knew I wanted to get that gal off by herself. And with Ma taking care of her housework and Hal out doing the chores, he knew I'd have my chance. And that's just how it happened too. Because a little while later, I was setting in the kitchen at the ranch. Nobody there but old Joe Sam. Of course he didn't marry. And little Gwen setting right across the table from me. How did such a story ever get started? About the panther. Joe Sam says he's seen it. Joe Sam says this old spooked panther up and killed his wife and all his kids about 80 years ago. 80 years? Sure. Joe Sam's well over 100 or so he claims. Isn't that right, you crazy old fool? Kurt. You shouldn't talk to him like that. Yeah, he don't hear. He don't hear nothing when he gets like this. But don't you worry, little lady. I'm gonna bring you back a panther's skin all the same. May not be black and may not be big as a horse. But it'll make a real nice present from your brother-in-law to the bride and the groom. Providing the corset it works out that way. Providing what works out that way? Providing I am your brother-in-law and Hal is the groom. I don't like that kind of talk, Kurt. Talk never did a gal no damage did it. That time to go. How about a little kiss to keep me warm out there, huh? Kurt. Kurt, no. Don't. Ah, come on, honey. What's the matter with him? Shut up, you. Told you to shut up. Ah, he's crazy. Somebody had to snap him out of it. Well, I'm off. Maybe I get that kiss when I bring you back your panther, huh? I don't care if I never set eyes on you again the rest of my life. Only it wasn't me she wasn't gonna see again for the rest of her life. When I got back to the canyon, I found my brother Arthur laying in the snow in three deep gashes in his back like the stabs of a knife and his neck was broke. And all around him was the track of a cat. I lashed him across the saddle as gentle as I could and I hit the horse in the rump to send him back home. Then I set out to track the cat. It was easy at first, but I'd put on my shoes, and the trail wasn't clear and the weather lifted. Then in the late afternoon, I saw him. The other side of a ravine, dark and bulky like a shadow against the snow. I had him full in my sights. Then I fired and I missed. He was up the rocks in ten-foot leaps and over the ridge before I could shoot again. Then I remembered something. I checked Arthur's gun. It had an empty shell in it. He'd fired at something too and missed. Now we both hit, and then the storm come up again. After a while I couldn't see fifty yards ahead of me, and that was the first time I heard that other voice. Kurt. Who's there? Who is it? Nobody, Kurt. Just you. Well, who are you? I'm the caution in you, Kurt. Maybe you never knew you had it before. I'm the coward in you. I ain't afraid. I ain't afraid of men or cat in a spook. Getting dark, Kurt. Night falls coming, Kurt. Yeah. Yeah, that's so, so it is. Better find a place to hole up for the night, Kurt. A good, safe place while you can still see. Well, yeah. Yeah, maybe, maybe I had that. Because a man can't see in the dark, Kurt. Who said he could? But there's something out here that can. That can see in the dark. Real good that hunts in the dark. It was getting dark for sure. Almost a dark a night when I finally found what I was looking for. A little cave halfway up the other side of the ravine. I worked my way up to it, and all at once I thought of something. The cat had hole up from the storm just the same as me. Suppose he'd hold up here. For a long time I just stood there listening. But there was nothing but the wind and the whistle of the snow. And then, real slow, with my knees shaking a little, I crept up to it. My finger on the trigger, the gun. And I lit a match. The cave was empty. And it was dry. I crawled in. I ate some of the bread and jerky beef I'd brought along. Made a cigarette and smoked it. Then lay back, let the tiredness go out of my bones. It was warm, cozy. You in there, Kurt? Arthur. Arthur, where are you? Right here, outside the cave. You can look right through the wall and see me if you try. Yeah, but what lies in the snow all on your face? I'm dead. Don't you remember, Kurt? Yes. And I've come to help you, Kurt. Yeah. Yeah, Art. Yeah, help me, help me. Listen. You hear it? The cat is sniffing out there. It's right outside the wall. Look. Look close and you can see him. Can you see him now? Yeah. It's black and big as a horse. Eyes like coals of fire. But you can't get through the wall, Art. You don't know how to get through that wall. That's why Joe Sam's here. Joe Sam. See him? See him out there on the slope? You see him laughing? Art, you tell him. You tell the cat about the wall. Don't let him, Art. Don't let him. Too late, Kurt. Arthur, help me. Help me. Too late now, Kurt. Too late. Arthur. Why are you lying there in the cave? And it was dark. So it was a dream. Sure, sure it was a dream. But was it all a dream? I listened and then I, I heard something that, that could be. All right, suppose it was out there. I couldn't stay hold up there forever by a stinkin' mountain cat. I reached over for my rifle and then I bent my knees up and I kicked out with all my might. And the wall went flying out into the ravine. And I was crouching there with the rifle. And there was nothing. No cat. No tracks. Nothing. Better head for home, boy. You've got dead while the heading's good. I can't do that. I swore I'd get that cat. You've got a long way to go, Kurt. I swore for art. And I promised Gwen while I tell Gwen. You'll have enough on you for it's dark again. Well, I sure hate to give it up though. What's the matter with... No what. I laced on the bear paws and I started down the ravine. It was still snowing but I could see pretty good now. And I'd taken my directions the night before. Down the ravine, up the other side, half a day north along the ridge. Then down the other side. And keep going until you see the ranch. I was making pretty fair time. I figured it was just about midday when I seen the sun break through a hole in the clouds, way off to my right. And then I stopped. Because there was something wrong. Awful wrong. What's it? I don't know. It can't be. You're... Sure. Sure I am. Half a day north along the ridge then down the other side. The sun's on your left when you travel north, Kurt. Oh, and it's on my right. A whole half a day I've been going the wrong direction a whole half a day. You're going to be caught out after dark again, Kurt. You're going to be caught out after dark. That's all he's waiting for, Kurt. Waiting for the dark. I can't. I can't get caught out. I gotta make it. What'll I do? What am I gonna do? Run. Keep running. I can't. I can't run much more. Think of something. Think. I can't think. Think of fire, a fire. Yeah, if I only had a fire. That's it, a fire. That's it. That's it, a fire. That'll hold Mr. Blackcatch. Afraid of fire. Ain't you murder and devil. That'll hold ya. A fire. A great big roaring fire. It's all right now. It's going to be all right. I got branches cut enough to last all night. Nothing to do now, but take it easy. He's out there in the trees somewhere, but he won't come near this fire. No, sir, he won't. Just keep smoking. Keep yourself awake. Keep your eye on that fire. Just watch the fire. Just keep watching. Kurt. Too late. Oh, sir. The fire's gone out. Gone out? I gotta fix it quick. Too late, Kurt. Who's here? The cat. The cat? Crouching there to make you spring. You see him behind that tree, big as a horse, and black as night, and eyes like gold. Help me! Help me! Shoot. Shoot while you still got the chance right between those burning eyes. Shoot. I'll shoot. But he's coming at you. Throw the gun away. It's no good now, Kurt. Run. Your only chance. Run faster. Faster, Kurt. Don't fall. He's right behind you, Kurt. Faster. Faster. Look out. You're falling, Kurt. My brother Arthur the night before. And the next day we went to look for Kurt, Joe Sam and me. We found him where he'd fallen over the cliff of the canyon. All stiff and twisted in the snow. Later we went up to see what happened. He could tell he'd been running when he fell, running away from something and afraid for his life. Only there was nothing there. No tracks except just his. Nothing. Spence. Presented by AutoLite, tonight's star, Mr. Richard Whitmark. This is Harle Wilcox speaking for AutoLite, world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment. AutoLite is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry. That's why, during the early months of 1952, the AutoLite family joins in saluting the leading car manufacturers who install AutoLite products as original equipment. Our AutoLite family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great AutoLite plants from coast to coast and in still other AutoLite plants in many foreign countries. Our family also includes more than 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in AutoLite, as well as 96,000 AutoLite distributors and dealers in the United States and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world. Our AutoLite family will salute the Studebaker Corporation on the next AutoLite Suspense television program. If you live in a television area, check the day and time of suspense on television, so you'll be sure to see this program. And remember, be with us next week for another thrilling AutoLite Suspense program on radio. Next week on Suspense, our star will be Miss Linda Darnell, the story about a woman who knew her husband was trying to kill her and was powerless to stop it. A dramatic report we call A Killing in Las Vegas. In weeks to come, we shall also present Herbert Marshall and Frank Lovejoy. All on... Suspense. Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Lud Bluskin. The track of the cat was adapted for suspense by Sylvia Richards from the book by Walter van Tilburg Clark. Featured in the cast were Harry Bartell, Lee Millar, Martha Wentworth, Sharon Douglas and Parley Bear. Tonight's appearance of Richard Widmark was made possible through the courtesy of 20th Century Fox Studios. Mr. Widmark may currently be seen in the technical production Red Skies of Montana. And remember next week on Suspense, Miss Linda Darnell A Killing in Las Vegas. This is the CBS Radio Network.