 Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of the life of romantic adventure? 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. Tonight, we escape to the high mountains of Peru and the hunt for a fabulous treasure of ancient Inca relics for which men are willing to die and to kill. As David Dodge tells it in his exciting novel, Plunder of the Sun. Living the way I do by my wits, you get into all kinds of risky deals, but I had no idea when I took Senior Barian's little job that it would lead me to terrible danger, to a beautiful woman and to a fabulous buried treasure of the Incas. I didn't have to take the job, but you see, there was Anna Loos. She was Senior Barian's nurse, pushed him around in his wheelchair, gave him his heart medicine and so on. I first saw her that day when we all met in the park at Valparaiso. Here, let me brush that bench off for you first, Senior. It's pretty dirty, I'm afraid. Not at all. You are simpatico, Senior. Right, Senior Barian. Now, what can I do for you? I am told that you are a capable man, one who can be persuaded some time to take on a delicate assignment. Is it legal? Senior Colby, I'm a reputable businessman. There are, however, complications. For instance? I am going by boat back to my home in Peru. I wish to take along a small package, but this package contains an ancient Peruvian relic of great historical value. Peruvian law prohibits the export of such things, but this was smuggled out of Peru. I have come to Chile and recovered it, and I wish to return it to its rightful place in Peru. Unfortunately, however, Chilean law also prohibits its remover and so... So you want me to smuggle it for you? Smuggle? Well, not exactly, but you see, I cannot carry it. I am too well-known as a collector of such things. I will be thoroughly searched. However, you will be American tourists. You see, you will be performing a service to my country. Well, you put it nicely, Senior, but it's still smuggling if I'm caught. I shall pay you one thousand American dollars. Oh, you will pay, not the government. I am a collector and an archaeologist. My name will be forever connected with the recovery of this relic. That is what matters to me. Well, I could see a lot of Peru on a thousand dollars, especially if I had someone to show me around. Will the senorita be coming along? See, of course, and most grateful to you. All right, I'll do it. The worst part of the boat trip was that I wasn't supposed to be seen with Berean or Anna Luce. The first day out, I was standing at the rail, talking to one of the passengers, another American, as they came along. Yeah, it's a nice country. Lots to see in South America. Have you been to the Inca ruins in Cusco? No, I haven't gotten up that far yet. Oh, well, you'll find it... Oh, pardon me. Buenos dias, Don Alfredo. Buenos dias, senor. You're in good health, I trust. Sí, gracias. And how are you, Anna Luce? I am very well, senor Jefferson. Gracias. Good. I hope to see you later, perhaps. Hasta luego, senor. Oh, sure. Hasta luego, Don Alfredo. Your friend seemed surprised to see you here. Surprised? He almost had another heart attack, the old robber. Interesting-looking man. Who is he? My name's Berean, Peruvian dealer in antiques. Oh, and the girl? Oh, his nurse. Even more interesting. Yes, isn't she? Tell me, are you perhaps also a dealer in antiques? Me? I'm just a tourist, like you. That was the first hint of trouble. When Berean saw this tourist, Jefferson, his face had gone white with fear. I knew I better keep a close eye on the man. On our last night, our trouble came. I'd been playing poker with Jefferson and some of the passengers in the smoking room. When Jefferson left, I got out of the game as soon as I could and went to my cabin. Just as I turned into the corridor, I saw a dark figure hurrying away from my door. I went into my cabin and looked around. Everything seemed all right until I noticed the catch on my suitcase had been opened. When I knew that hurrying figure couldn't have been Jefferson, he was too tall and only one person knew I had the package. I went out into the corridor. There was a light on in her cabin and I ended without knocking. Oh, Senor Colby, what do you want? Ready for bed, Senorita? Bathrobes, slippers? What do you have on under that? Senor Colby. Let me see. Mr. Dopey, you... Just as I thought, Senorita, why are you fully dressed under your robe? That he's none of your business. I think it is. It was a waste of time, Senorita. I carry the package on me. Now suppose we go next door to Barian's cabin and tell him you're not as trustworthy as he thought. Oh, you don't... That you're trying to get the package too. Well, let him find out why. All right, come on. He has to sleep. We'll wake him up. You cannot. I have given him sleeping pills. We'll see. Come on. Take your hands off me. Let me go. Wait. Huh? That was Senor Barian's little bear. Inside his bed. There is something wrong. Now listen. Let me go. I must go to him. All right. We'll go together. Where's the light? Something hit me in the jaw and I went down hard. Somebody rushed past me and out into the corridor. Senor Colby. Senor Colby. Hurry, turn on the light. Huh? By the door. Something is wrong. All right. Wait a minute. Don Alfredo. Don Alfredo. Yeah. Something's wrong. All right. He's dead. We shall return to escape in a moment. But first, ladies, you can get a haircut every afternoon without going to the barber. There's music. There's fun. There's a surprise a minute with this haircut whose name is Gary Moore. Yes, Gary has his own daytime show now on CBS exclusively. A full hour every weekday, Monday through Friday, on most of these same CBS stations. So ladies, men too, choose your chair and get that haircut right away. And now we return to escape. Don Alfredo Berean was dead of a heart attack or so the authorities in Kayao said. I wasn't so sure they were right, but they seemed to want as little trouble as possible. All I wanted then was my thousand dollars. But it looked like I was holding the bag unless I could find out what the package was and turn it into money. Soon as I was alone in my hotel room, I unwrapped it. All it contained was a tangle of little colored strings and a page of old manuscript in a language I didn't know. I could make nothing of it, so I took it to the curator of the Kayao Museum. Very interesting. Very. Where did you get it? From a friend. What is it? A capel, an Inka message cord, a beauty. Yeah, what's the message? It is not exactly a message, senor. Just a reminder of a story already known to the teller, like tying a string around your finger for a reminder. Was there no manuscript with you? Perhaps. Aha. Then the manuscript will tell you a story. Look, can you translate it for me? Unfortunately, I do not know the language of the Inkas. Well, uh, could you recommend anybody? The best is Don Alfredo Bariam. No good, he's dead. What? Don Alfredo dead? This morning of a heart attack on the boat from Chile. Oh, it pity. He was a fine man. Now, I don't know, perhaps, senor, Naharo could do it, but I strongly advise you to turn it over to the museum under Peruvian law. It belongs to the government. If you don't try to exploit it, you might get into serious trouble. Thanks, I'll remember that. When I got back to the hotel, Anna Luce was waiting for me in the lobby. What's in your colby? Oh, Anna Luce. You come to show me the town? I have come for the package. You may give it to me now. Why, are you was there? I was the closest to him. No, it's not good enough, senorita. He obviously didn't mean for you to have it, or you wouldn't have tried to steal it from me. I must have it. For me, it is a kind of ransom. With it, I may buy my freedom. Your freedom? From what? From slavery, senor. Here in Peru, we have a kind of slavery. My family was too poor to care for me, so they gave me to a rich family as a servant. I am therefore the possessor of my patron, who raised me. With this package, I can repay my debt to him and thus be free. But if Peruvian was your patron, it would seem that... He was not my patron. Who then? I cannot tell. Oh, please, senor. Please, you said that you would like to be my friend. Perhaps, somehow, that could be. Look, Anna Luce, I want to help you if I can. Kill, then we... But I can't give you the package. I have to play the game my way. I'm sorry, Anna Luce. Very sorry. Suddenly, she was dead-looking and walked away from me. I knew she wasn't lying, that it was terribly important to her. Well, I supposed I'd lost her now, and I went up to my room feeling pretty miserable about it. The minute I opened the door, I knew something was wrong, but too late. Everything went black. When I came to her, I was trussed up on the bed-tied, hand-in-footed. Jefferson was standing over me, the package in his hand, grinning. You were pretty easy, Chum. Didn't even must my hair. Oh, what? Hello, tourist. So you got it, huh? It was you and Barian's cabin, of course. Of course. Now I owe you two good socks. Not to mention something for Barian's murder and the loss of my commission. I didn't kill him. He was dead when I got there. So you said. So I say. Anyway, now you can forget it, Chum. You're all finished with this little party. That's what he thought then. And as he left, I was wondering how he'd feel when he unwrapped the package and found it full of old newspaper clipping. After I got untied, I went down and got the manuscript out of the hotel safe. Took it to a photography shop and had three blow-up prints made of it. One of these I cut up word by word and separated the words into three piles. One pile I took along when I went out to look up, Sr. Naharo. He turned out to be an old crow of a man, bald and harmless-looking, but sharp. She's very interesting. These words are cut from a photograph of a manuscript. And you want me to translate them? That is hard, Sr. They are out of context. It would be much easier if I could use the original or another photograph. No, we'll do it this way. Oh, Sr. You do not trust me. I don't trust anybody until I see what it is. Do you want the job? Oh, it's not a job, Sr. It's a pleasure. You see, I am interested. This kind of thing is my life. How soon will you have these? You'll come back this evening, Sr. This evening, Sr. I went back to the hotel and put the original manuscript and one copy into the hotel safe. Then when I turned around, I saw Anna Loose standing across the lobby watching me. I started torturing, but she turned and almost ran out of the hotel. Seeing her run from me like that hurt. But I had to go through with it. I had a feeling that it was mostly for her that I was doing it. I had to kill time until I could go back to Naharos. I bought a copy of Prescott's book, The Conquest of Peru, hoping to read up on the Incas and perhaps find a clue to the manuscript. As it turned out that was unnecessary, because while I sat there in the hotel patio, I had a visitor. Hello, Chem. Well, Jefferson, what's new in the papers? It's smarter than I thought. It's smart enough not to have it on you then or now, huh? Maybe we better be partners. Partners? Yeah, you've got the package. I know what it means. I'll know what it means, too, very shortly. You didn't give it to Naharos? What do you know about him? He's the only logical one. And he'd give his soul to get his hands on that manuscript. He's worse than Bari and your fool. Don't worry, he hasn't got it and he won't get it. He's merely translating isolated words. You are smart, aren't you? But even that may be dangerous. We've got to beat him to it. To what? To millions, literally millions in gold. Last ink of treasure. You can read about it in that book you have there. How they had so much gold, they paved the streets with it. How they hid it away, buried it when their empire fell to the Spaniards. It's all there. And the manuscript you have gives the exact directions on how to find one part of it. A part that's sure to be worth a million dollars at present values. No wonder everyone's after it. I looked, there's no time to waste. Give me the manuscript, I can translate it. You're a man of many accomplishments. I've been an archeologist. Never mind that. I can translate it. If we're going to be partners. I'll think it over. So, I had my hands and the key to the lost treasure of the sun. A fabulous cache of small solid gold statues from the palaces of the great Incas. Oh, it was a little breathtaking. I was still in the clouds when I went back to Naharos that night. It was very pleasantly, gave me the translations, took the second batch of words. I paid him with a traveler's check because he wanted American dollars. Then he entertained me a while showing me some of his Inca relics. Well an hour passed before I could break away and get back to the hotel. I went to the desk to get the manuscript so I could start working on the translation. But when I asked for it, why, son, your call me, did you not get your package? What do you mean? We gave it to your messenger, the young lady, not an hour ago. My messenger? See, just as you instructed in this note, that is your signature, is it not? My sy... Yes. Yes, it is. Now at last I had it figured. A girl. And a loose, of course. She'd seen me put the manuscript in the safe. But the signature, it was my signature. Rather a reasonable facsimile, a clever tracing. Who could have done it? What did I sign recently? And then I remembered the traveler's check at Naharos. He'd asked for it, American dollars. And suddenly I knew the truth. And a loose in Naharos, he was her patron. It was for him all the time that she'd been trying to get it. And they'd beaten me. Only not quite. I still had up in my hotel room between the pages of Prescott's book, the third print of the manuscript. And they didn't know about that. I hurried up and got it, and then I went to Jefferson's room. Yeah? Who is... That makes us even, Jefferson. Now we're partners. So get up and get to work on this print. Come on! I'll fix you later, Chum. Right now, I'll change your mind. Naharos got the original. We'll have to work fast. The treasure will be at Cusco, won't it? Sure. The old link of capital. Or near there. And while you're working, I'll get the tickets to Cusco. We'll leave on the first train. We rode all night on the mountain train to Cusco, and Jefferson sat there in the swaying coach translating. By morning, we headed. The directions to a million in gold. Maybe more. In Cusco, we obtained burrows and supplies in an Indian god named Tashio. And by sundown, we were in the shadows of the tremendous brooding ruins of the Inca Palace. Even in ruins, it was something you'd never forget. And I got the eerie feeling that the dead Incas were watching us with hate in their eyes. Then Tashio started pacing out the directions from the manuscript, striking down the hill, out across the valley. We followed with equipment. We were looking for a certain stone. At first, we couldn't find it. An egg-shaped boulder by the side of a stream, it said. There's no stream here. Yeah. Wait a minute. That was centuries ago. Maybe, maybe since then, it was made into one of these irrigation ditches. Let's look at that one over there. Maybe you're right. Come on. We finally found the boulder half buried in the hillside. Then it took us most of the night to dig around it, loosen it, and finally topple it over. It was just dawn when we got down to the last perfectly fitted stone. Hurry up. The minute it gets light, this place will be swarming with Indians coming out to work the fields. Okay, this is the last. Have Tashio in the hand, will you? Right. Come on, Tashio. Easy now. Good Lord. Look at that. Just feast your eyes on that. Solid gold. And look at the beautiful carving. These are magnificent priceless pieces. Not priceless, Chum. They'll bring a very pretty price when they're melted down to bullion. Oh, no. You couldn't destroy works of art like this. No? Come on. Let's load them up. We had to hurry loading the small but heavy gold statues on Tashio's burrows because it was fast getting light. Once some Indians passed not 50 yards from us, but they didn't see us. We were at last finished and suddenly Jefferson turned to me. Okay, Chum. So long. Huh? What? What's the idea of the gun, Jefferson? Just for you, Chum. You've got a stronger heart than burying. I'll have to shoot you. So you did kill Barien. Just scared him to death. Stuck the gun in his face. Ready now? Say goodbye, Chum. It seemed like I was in a dream. I laid dreaming for an endless time. Faces came and went. I thought I saw Anna Luce and she gave me a drink of water. Then later, much later, I woke up and saw her again. Senor Colby. Senor Colby, can you hear me? Then I knew it was no longer a dream. She was real. And behind her stood Naharo. Senor Colby. Hello, Anna Luce. How did you get here? Wherever it is? You are in Senor Naharo's suite at the hotel. We brought you here yesterday after the Indians found you. Thanks. How am I? You are going to be all right. Jefferson shot you, but only in the shoulder. Some Indians were nearby and he had to run for it. So he just threw you in the pit and left you to bleed to death. And you saved my life. It was not I, but the Indians who found you. Thanks anyway. And, uh, Jefferson got away with a goal? See, Senor Colby, can you tell us anything to help us recover it? The government offers you a big reward if you can. The government? You told them? See, see, I always intended to give it to them anyway. It is only that, like Berri and I am an archaeologist, I had hoped that it might be my name that was remembered as the discoverer of the treasure of the sun. But now, can you help us, Senor? Yes, I think I can, but for price. I have told you there will be a reward. No, more than that. I want you to give Anna-Luc her freedom. But, Senor, she is free. She is no longer my servant, she is like my daughter. Well, evidently, she still feels an oppressive debt to you. Isn't that right, Anna-Luc? See, it is, but that I... You see, Senor, will you release her? But, of course, Senor, she owes me nothing. Senor, until the treasure is recovered and Senor Naharro's name is placed on it as the discoverer, I can never feel free, even so. All right, then we'll get the treasure. Help me out of this bed. Senor, you cannot... You think I can stay here knowing how much this means to you, Anna-Luc? Come, we must hurry. You see, but where? Coming up on the train, Jefferson talked about taking the treasure out of Peru by way of Puno and Lake Titicaca across the lake to Bolivia. See, see, of course. Then we must charter a plane and fly to Puno at once. We flew up to the lake 12,000 feet high in the Andes with the government commandant. He had a company of soldiers stationed there. Jeff would be able to get in, but our job was to be sure he didn't get out. Soon after we arrived his soldiers brought in the word. They had found the body of Tacho, shot in the outskirts of town. Then he is here already. And he's unloading excess baggage in his own familiar way. We shall search every house. We shall scour this entire shore of the lake. We'll find him. He will hang for murder. Commandant, there's no way he can get around the lake by land, is there? Senor, these are some of the highest mountains in the world. It is impossible. And there is only one ship to the Bolivian shore. It leaves in the morning. We shall search every inch of it. He shall not get away now. But by morning we weren't so sure. Every house had been searched. The shore had been scarred and the ship gone over inch by inch. Jeff was nowhere to be found. The Bolivian steamer was whistling impatiently for clearance to set sail. They cared nothing for the search since there is no love lost between the two countries. Finally the commandant let them go. He could do nothing else. And as we all stood and watched it pulled away. I did what I could. I could not hold him any longer. I am afraid that we have missed him. Oh, I know it. I feel it. He has escaped. And I lose. Don't cry. Perhaps still there's a chance. No, no. He is gone. I will never feel free now. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What's that? Look, out in the channel. A little native raft. It's making for the steamer trying to head it off in the channel. That's him. Come on. The commandant and I jumped into the police launch at the pier. It looked like a close race. If they stop, if they stop... They're slowing down for him. What if he gets aboard? Will they let us have him? No. The Bolivians would only laugh at us. Then we've got to make it. We've got to. The commandant got everything he could out of the launch. But Jeff had almost reached the ship when we got there. We swung around the steamer and... Hold. Stop. Swing in between him and the boat. There. Stand where you are, senior Jefferson. You're under arrest. And when Jefferson saw me, hate filled his eyes. The hate that's part of the gold fever. And he raised his gun and pointed at that... It was lucky for me that the commandant was quick on the draw. Might have been me instead of Jefferson who toppled over into the water. Oh, senior Colby. How can I ever repay you? Anna Lucio. You don't know me or anybody anything now. This is no way to start. I mean, to start your new life. Thank you, senior Colby. You have made me very happy. I hope that we shall meet again. But... You mean you're leaving? Why? Well, I must get back to Callao and tell Carlos. Carlos? Yes. The man I love. The man I may now marry. Adios, senior. Yes, senior Colby, you are a hero. You should have a big reward. And the people of Peru will honor you. Perhaps. But they'll fall in love with guys by the name of Carlos. Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson. Tonight we have presented Plunder of the Sun by David Dodge, adapted for radio by John Dunkel. Featured in the cast were Paul Freese as Colby, Gerald Moore as Jefferson, and Lucille Meredith as Anna Luce. Also heard were Harry Bartel, Charlie Long, and Tony Barrett. Special music was arranged and conducted by Del Castillo. Next week... You are imprisoned in a lonely lighthouse off the steaming jungle coast of French Guiana. Your comrades, a maniac, and a coward. Your captors, an army of gigantic, hunger-maddened rats. Next week we escape to a nightmare world of terror and violence, as George Tuduz describes it in his hair-raising tale, Three Skeleton Key. Goodbye then until this same time next week, when once again we offer you escape. Stay tuned now for Life with Luigi, which follows over most of these CBS stations. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.