 Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a 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. We're on a barren island off the west coast of Mexico. Your only companions, a lovely Indian girl and a half-crazed treasure hunter who have condemned you to die. Listen now as escape brings you E. Jack Newman's gripping tale of a strange adventure. Gringo. It was afternoon. The dust and the heat and the smell of Selena Cruz were at their best. When I walked into the cantina, I ordered bizcocho and coffee and settled on to watching the flies and listening to the noises. I hadn't been like that two minutes before the guy in the dirty white suit, the one who'd been standing at the end of the bar, walked over, pulled up a chair. American, huh? Yeah, that's right. Me too. I guess we're the only ones in town. This is an out-of-the-way place even from Mexico, isn't it? It seems to be. Marshall Rhodes is a name. I'm from Minneapolis. I, uh, saw you bring that schooner in this morning. I didn't get your name. Jim Canovan. You, uh, you don't mind if I sit here with you? All right, what's the pitch? No. How could you see me bring in my schooner? There's no window in back of that bar over there. Yeah, yeah, I guess I have been hitting it up a little bit lately. Happens sometimes when you get stuck in these places, you know? Yeah, sure. I know all about it. You came here to get away from your wife, study the customs, write a book, and to love the ladies, huh? The party's over now and your dough's run out. The local government won't let you work and you're broke. Am I right? Mr. Canovan, I know we just met, but you're an American too, and you know this is no place to be broke. All right, mister, we've had our conversation. Huh? Goodbye. You won't give a fellow American or the... Sorry, I have bothered you. You didn't bother me. Right. You can... Yeah, buy yourself a drink and be somebody. I admit you're kind too, Mr. Canovan. Someday, some place you will get chopped down to the size you really are. Are you gonna do it, Rummy? Be careful in here, Mr. Canovan. You're just new. I've got friends... He is right. What? I'm gonna start this in your roads. Who are you? Ramon Chavez. Here, Mr. Rhodes. This is a loan. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Chavez. See you later. What are you, Chavez police? No, no, nothing like that. Mr. Rhodes is very deteriorated, true, but his analysis of you seemed most accurate. You have very little humanity about you. Look, maybe I was too tough with Rhodes. Maybe I'm sorry, but I don't want to hear about it from you. I am looking for a bargain with you. Look, friend, your English is pretty good and I just bet you can talk your way in or out of practically anything. But let me tell you this... Oh, wait. I am here to make a bargain. I am offering you something. You're offering me what? Treasure, Mr. Canovan? No. Well, what is it? A lost ship? An undiscovered gold mine? All of those things, if you like, and more. Oh, sure. Mr. Canovan, in some respects, we are similar. Still, I had hoped for a more cooperative partner. What are you talking about? I don't even know you. But I know you have a boat. I saw it. And I have heard of you. During your stop in my country, you have accumulated a reputation for bluntness. You know, I mean what I say, and I'm saying that you... And I mean what I say. Now, be smart and listen. 40,000 American dollars. 40,000 American dollars. So long, Chavez. Two nights later, the local town council give a band concert from the square. I could see part of it and hear most of it from the deck of the Argus. Oh, gringo. What? Oh, hello, Chavez. You left this note for me at the cantina this afternoon? Yeah. I'm aboard. I got to thinking about your proposition. About your bargain? I thought you would think about it, gringo. Knock off that gringo stuff, huh? I've been around a while. They will always call you gringo. Okay, mister, let's have it. What's the story? You know Canimba? I've seen it on a map here. South of here. It is my home. I thought this was. I have only been here a little while. I am a fisherman. One day, when we were far out to sea beyond all of the other boats, I heard a plane droning overhead. Then suddenly it was hedging over the water out of control. It crashed on one of the small islands considerably offshore, barren places for the most part, rocks and sand. When we returned to Canimba, we learned that a Salazar mining company plane had been lost at sea. It carried a $40,000 cash payroll. You mean it's still there on that island? Untouched. How do you know it didn't explode and burn? We saw it crash. It just broke up a little. Paper money does not break very easily. Uh-huh. Where is this island, shall we? That is my part of the bargain. Yours is this boat. You said we. Who else is on this? No one. The man who helped me on my boat was anxious to report what we had seen to the authorities when he learned it was a Salazar mining plane. He thought there would be a reward in it. I killed him. Well, Gringo? Where's all that humanity you were talking about? Diego was of a certain nature. I did him a service. All right, what are you trying to hand me? You're trying to get me to take my boat out and pick up some Chinese. You got wetting on one of those islands, ready to push in the back door of the United States. Let's go off me. I wasn't born yesterday. You can make any one of those islands in a fishing jig. A baby could do it. A baby with a power boat? Let's go. I take this from you, Gringo. Just for now. What about a power boat? I attempted it. At first I thought I was a bird seaman because I could not get within a mile of the island. There is a peculiar current there. Most unnatural. Too strong for a small jig. And the depth is too shallow for a large boat. There is no way to get to that island without that power boat like this one. Anything else? The English. You didn't learn it in Canimbo. I spent some time in the United States once. And you want to go back, is that it? Where else would I spend that good American money? Can you shove off tonight? Eight o'clock? Yeah. I spent the rest of the day laying in stores and fueling up. I fired the two Mexican boys who'd been working as my crew. And by eight o'clock I was ready to shove off. Shovers was right on time. We are all ready, Gringo? Yeah. Your wife? Almost. This is Maria. She's saying goodbye. I am saying hello, señor. I'm going with you. I thought no one else knew about this. What is it, a three-way split? I will pay Maria from my share. She's a good sailor. We can use three hands. I didn't figure on a woman being aboard. So then figure on it, Gringo. Come on. Want to get those lines, John? My father owned one of these in Acapulco. Okay. Better that point till we get clear. Yeah, I know. You've been to the state's tomb? No. I study my English at home. I like very much what I see of the United States. Huh? Oh, in the books and magazines I read. I meet many Americanos in Acapulco. I see how they live. I like to live like that very much. I'm not happy here. Oh, it's fine for some people. For me, not for me, no. Here was an Indian girl done up in one of those outfits with 80 different colors in them. But it was easy to imagine her in New York, walking out of Sax Fifth Avenue wearing plenty of clothes. That was plenty easy. She was the reason Chavez had to take me in my boat. He had a sure thing with that wrecked plane sitting on the island. It could wait, but he didn't have a sure thing with her. She wasn't the type who would wait for anybody. Jim? What? Why you look? Pretty nice. The English? You. You glad I come? Baby, I wouldn't have had you miss this trip for the world. Everything okay, Gringo? Yeah, sure. Everything's good. Remember, Gringo, Maria is not part of our bargain. He will return to escape. And tonight's story, Gringo, in just a moment. How would you feel if you found yourself a lone survivor after an atom bombing with the possibility of death lurking in everything you touched? Hear Richard Widmark in just such a situation on suspense. That's tomorrow night in most of these same CBS radio stations. Richard Widmark in How Long Is The Night on Suspense. And now, back to escape. Once we cleared the harbor, we cut the engines and hauled up the canvas. And we used sail most of the trip to save fuel. That's why it took us three days to get to those islands. But we were lucky. The weather was good and the sea was calm. Both Maria and Chavez knew the way around the schooner, so we took turns standing watch. I liked it best when Chavez was at the wheel. You're very funny, Jim. Sure. Look, Maria, when this is all over with... what happens, huh? Oh, Ramon and I be married. Got to live in the United States. You may have to wait a long time. I know some people who've waited around those border towns seven, eight years. It's a long time, baby. I tell you once, I want to live in the United States. I will. I'm going to have $20,000 pretty soon. Is that it? No, live like a peasant in the United States. Fine clothes, a place to live, like in the book. Uh-huh. Uh, suppose I took you. You? Yeah, sure, me. Once this is over, I can get you on right away, Maria. No waiting. You mean this? Sure, baby. Come here. No. Now how about it? You don't like me that way, Jim. It's because you hate him. I can see this. I suppose he went around. What do you mean? What do you think I mean? We have only money, huh? Why, you little... You've been thinking about it all this time, haven't you? Gringo! Maria, we are here. There's needs. Huh? Come on, Maria. There, over there, beyond that point. Yeah, let me have those glasses. The middle one. See it? Yeah. Yeah, I can make it out okay. Hey. What? The plane, it's right there. 200 yards off the beach, nothing around it. What? I tell you Gringo is there waiting for us. It sure is, it sure is. Get those engines going. Gringo. I don't know, we're using a lot of fuel, we're making headway, but I don't like this current. Never saw anything like it before. It becomes stronger as you come toward the island, but it bears off to the left there. We could try it from the other side. Now it'll take four days to walk across those rocks. No thanks, we'll get in if we... What's that? Over there, look! Holy... What is the work on crazy? No. Something under the water is trying to get up. A volcano? I saw one down in Tahiti once, just breaking through. No wonder there's a current here. How long does it take Gringo? 20,000 years. For 20 minutes. Can we get to the island? We can if we don't get blown up. Maria! Fijim! Head us straight in now. More in the afternoon, whatever was going on under the water seemed to slack off a little bit. At least there weren't any more explosions. We were 100 yards offshore when we dropped anchor and about 15 feet of water. We lowered the dinghy and a few minutes later beached it through the surf. Oh, Gringo, there he is! Yeah, there she is. Forty thousand dollars, Gringo. Get in the compartment. Sure. Here. Okay. Yeah, that's stuck. Can you get your fingers under the bottom from there? I'll try. See. All right, I'll try from here. It is all here. I told you it was a treasure. Yeah. Yeah, we better get out of this place. Looks like it might blow up. It is. And you are going to be with it, Fijim! Goodbye, Gringo. You can keep the knife. Fijim. Yeah. Do not move. He left you too, huh? He hit me down. I need to be dinghy and went out to the Argus. It's gone. It doesn't. We enjoy each other better if we're low. That isn't going to help. Not if I can help it. That must be a first aid kit in the plane somewhere. The cabin of the freight compartment. It'll have a red cross on it. See, I understand. Well, go get it. And let's get this thing out of me. It is better now, Jim. Yeah. That knife must have bounced off a rib. I'd be dead now. What happened to us now, Jim? We've got to get help. Make flares, signals, maybe we... Radio. That plane must have a radio on it. Here, help me up, will you? Jim, you walk? I walk or I lie here and die. Come on. Come on. Be careful. This teach you making. It's not too good. Now, get me over to that plane. He must have been trying the same thing we want to do. All the tubes are busted. Fijim? He's no good either, baby. Who was this? Probably the pilot. He sat here and starved to death trying to work that busted radio. After that, we didn't talk much. We both knew we were going to wind up just like that pilot. That first day, I just stretched out on the sand and dozed off. Maria sat with her back to a rock looking up to sea. Every now and then some water would boil up offshore. And we'd hear those rumblings. That night, she built a fire. And we sat there and looked at each other over the flames. All my life, I dream. I tell myself, someday you'll go to America with a fine handsome husband and live there. And we're pretty close. Oh, I want this very much. Maria, I'm sorry I got you into this. What? I wanted you because you belong to him, no other reason. You see, it's been this way all my life. I take. I won't let any other man be better than me. And they're all better now. You know, a few days ago, a bum on the beach, a guy without anything, told me that I'd get chopped down to size someday. Well, he was right. I'm down to size now. Jim, I... I too have been this way all my life. I know what you feel now. We are the same kind. Yeah. Maria? Yeah? I'd really take you to the States. I'd buy you the best clothes they had on Fifth Avenue. I'd be proud to walk in any place with you and say you were my wife. You love me? That's what they call it, I guess. Jim, I love too. Well, my turn. It's a good feeling, isn't it, baby? Oh, see, Jim? The world explodes around us and we surely die, but we help each other, Jim. Isn't that so bad, then? No, Maria. I thought I'd better wake you, but the sun's getting hot. Oh, see, it's getting hot. The noise. What? The noise is the stuff. Hey, you're right. Maybe that old volcano decided to stay under the water after it. Maria, look. It's the Argus. She's stuck in the sand right off the beach. Chavez came back for us, Maria. Oh, who knows? The volcano's quiet, the seas calm. Come on. You know, I may walk you up Fifth Avenue yet. Don't ask me how we got across that beach and waited out to the Argus. I don't know myself, except that Maria had to half carry me and push me, but we'd dead get aboard. All the sails were furl against the main. The main flapped loosely. The heavy boom free to swing. Ramon? Jim, he's not here. He did not come back for us. No. Schooner drifted in alone. Beached us. Jim, look! What? The money's tied to... Oh, it's all here. But where is Ramon? Maybe when he tried to handle the main, Sololoni got knocked overboard. We'll never know, for a devil. All right, Maria, go up forward and start the engines. We're heading for the mainland. By the time we anchored the Argus and the bay at Selena Cruz, Maria was more like her old self, fiery and independent the way she was when she first came aboard with Chavez, and as beautiful as ever. She bundled me off to the hospital and left me there while she went to return the money to the Salazar mining people. Two weeks later, I was on my feet again. And the first afternoon out found me back at the cantina, where it had all begun. Pardon me, I see you're an American and not many Americans come down here to... Hello, Rhodes. Oh, I didn't recognize you from the back, Mr. Canavan. Why don't you sit down? What? Sit down. Well, thank you, Mr. Canavan. Pour yourself a drink. You've changed, Mr. Canavan. Yeah, I know. I've been in a hospital for two weeks, Rhodes. Yes, I heard. Man can do a lot of thinking in two weeks. Mr. Canavan, I didn't want to be the one, but she insisted and I... What are you talking about? Maria. She gave me a message for you. She said to... Wait a minute, Rhodes. I think I know what it is. I haven't seen Maria since she dumped me in the hospital two weeks ago. Yes. She never got to the Salazar mining people, did she? No. No, she didn't, Mr. Canavan. She took the 40,000 and left, didn't she? Yes. Well then, here's to Maria. And you know something, Rhodes? I'll bet she looks great walking down Fifth Avenue alone. What? What do you mean? Never mind, Rhodes. It's just that Maria hasn't changed a bit. She'll never change. Oh. But I have. You see, I've been cut down to size, Rhodes. You remember? It's your bottle, finish it. Good luck to you. Where are you going, Mr. Canavan? Oh, on South, maybe. But I'm traveling light, Rhodes, real light. And you know what? I think I'm going to like it. Under the direction of Norman McDonnell, Escape has brought you Gringo by E. Jack Newman, starring William Conrad. Featured in the cast were Edgar Berrier's Chavez, William Bayef as Maria, and Parley Bear as Rhodes. Editorial supervisionist by John Meston, and the special music for Escape, is composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Next week. A drift in a native canoe somewhere off the Solomon Islands. Ahead of you lie the unknown terrors of native savagery, and closing in on you is a white man whose gunboat will smash you to the bottom of the sea. So listen next week when Escape brings you John Russell's classic story, The Price of the Head. Remember, only once during the year, the United Red Feather Campaigns of America appealed to the public for support. Red Feather dollars fight illness, fight delinquency, fight unhappiness, fight human need. So this year, be as generous as you can. Roy Rowan speaking. This is the CBS Radio Network.