 fed up with the everyday grind Tired out from the summer heat 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 You are prisoner in the magnificent mountain retreat of the richest man in the world While haunting you terrifying you is the knowledge that the ultimate escape Will be death Tonight we escape to an isolated Montana Plateau and the strange secret of a stranger family as f. Scott Fitzgerald told it in his Fantastic story the diamond as big as the writs I've been going to st. Midas prep school for a couple of years. This was my second summer vacation I'd met this fellow Percy Washington during the winter got to be pretty good friends with him Only I didn't know about his family or where he came from or anything like that Of course, I knew he must be rich all the fellas at st. Midas came from wealthy families So when he invited me to spend the summer at his home out west someplace that was okay by me We'd been on the train overnight when he first mentioned it I don't even remember now what led up to it We've been talking about first one thing and then another Percy Exactly, where is your home? I mean you bought the train tickets in Montana sort of Oh, yeah Pretty wild country, isn't it some of it is now you take Hades, Missouri where I come from It's been settled for a hundred and fifty years one of the first towns on the Mississippi River indeed. Oh sure That's very interesting I sure do appreciate you're not making jokes about it the way some of the fellas do and I say I come from Hades Why you know my father John Asian, huh? Do you know that my father is the richest man in the world? Oh? By far the richest I Read about a man that paid taxes on a five million dollar income small fry if my father paid tax on his real income He'd disrupt the whole economy of the United States. No kidding. Oh I like rich people the richer a fellow with the better I like him my father could buy out all of the millionaires in the country and not even know he'd done it is that a fact I Visited the Schlitzer Murphy's once they're plenty rich Why their daughter Vivian's got rubies as big as hands eggs and sapphires that glow like headlamps I like jewels always have I used to collect them instead of stamps and diamonds the Schlitzer Murphy's had diamonds as big as walnuts Oh, that's nothing. Huh? Nothing at all My father has a diamond as big as the Ritz Please I'm not joking But you mean as big as the Ritz Carlton hotel exactly my father has a diamond as big as the Ritz We got off the train about dusk at a little whistle stop called fish Montana There wasn't anything there not even a station just a broken down old buggy and four or five sheep herders lounging beside the track And I suppose wondering who we were Anyway, Percy and I climbed into the buggy and without saying a word the driver cracked his whip and off we went I Don't know how far we traveled. We didn't seem to be following any road though and After an hour or so it got dark, but the driver kept right on never saying a word. I Hope you'll pardon this inconvenience John, but we have to take certain precautions, you know, no, that's all right Anyway, we're almost there your home. You mean oh no to the place where we consider it safe to transfer a Transfer of what do you mean? Oh, there's the signal now headlights well up the horse absent Here we are an automobile, but but how there's no road. Oh, this car is special built doesn't need roads Good evening gig some Come on John, let's get in Christ is this car what they've made out of silver. No platinum. Those are emeralds in the hubcaps and the upholstering it It's fur mink. You're ready master any time gig some Probably notice the exceptional brightness of the headlamps the lenses are cut from diamonds boy. What a car This old junkie we use it for a station wagon Hey, why did we stop Percy? This is just a deserted canyon. Oh, we're not yet there yet John Wait, you'll see They sent down the hooks while we were coming from the station the hooks Yes to attach to the wheels, you know, that's what gig some is doing now Incidentally gig some will look after you during our visit Look after me your personal valet Of course, there'll be other slaves available to whenever you need them Do you have a lot of slaves three or four hundred I suppose? Oh Already gig some yes master Hello We're leaving the ground yes There's a hoist up there on top of the cliff has cables about a quarter of a mile long But what for oh, it's the only way in Imagine hoisting an automobile a quarter of a mile up the side of a cliff It's really nothing as you may have guessed John This is not going to be like anything you ever saw before in your life Well John there it is that's your home It's magnificent Palatial, it's not bad. How big is it? I think it's around a hundred and forty rooms The father may remember exactly then of course there are other buildings slaves quarters and things Why hasn't anyone ever found out about it this place? I mean well for one thing It's the only five square miles in the United States that have never been surveyed Hmm why not? Oh what things were arranged. I don't see how that's possible Believe me it hasn't been easy. I understand grandfather had to bribe three government bureaus a vice president and half of Congress Wants to keep the place off the maps, but somebody surely stumbled onto it to prospectors people like that Oh, yes, that happens occasionally then of course we have to arrange things You mean not always usually we just take them prisoner and keep them like the aviators Plains come here once in a while. They fly over of course. They never get away We have nine anti-aircraft batteries around the hills you shoot them down. Oh, yes great sport it does upset mother a bit and There's always a chance one might get away. That's father's greatest worry This place is this whole thing it is. It's fantastic. Oh come now, John I picked you for a fellow with his feet on the ground and You haven't seen anything yet, you know This is only the beginning and it was only the beginning We crossed the acres of lawn and entered the great Chateau and From that moment on vision upon vision tumbled together in a gigantic kaleidoscope of color symmetry and exquisite harmony There were corridors lined with gleaming crystals lit by lamps cut from emerald and great halls carpeted with chinchilla fur and ermine And there was a white haired man Pink-faced and very pleasant who was Percy's father and Percy's mother a Lovely lady with dark hair piled high on her head like like a fragile queen Soft music came from hidden places perfumes fill the air Exotic foods and and wines more rare than pearls. I Thought they could be no more nor greater wonders. I was wrong There were many more and greater ones and one of them. I discovered the next morning in the garden Hello there. Yeah, yeah You're lovely. My name is kiss mine. You're John Unger. You're a friend of my brother You from the east. Oh, no, at least not exactly. I I'm from Hades. Oh Missouri, oh Would you like to sit down here on the grass? Oh? Yes, sure. I would I'm going east to school this fall Just both. I like it. I think so Of course, it'll be different from all this. That's what Jasmine says. She's me now I've never been outside Who is Jasmine my sister? She's older than I am. I Hope you won't be offended, but You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Yes, I know What I surprised you didn't I a year ago? I would have said thank you father says it's very necessary to learn to take Things for granted Now I just take it for granted that I'm beautiful you see You're pretty sophisticated aren't you? Oh, I'm not at all. I Believe girls should enjoy their youth in a wholesome sort of way. Oh, so do I I Like you John. I Wish you'd spend some of your time with me this summer not all with Percy. I Will kiss mine. I will you may be in love with me if you'd like to I'm absolutely fresh ground, you know, I Am in love with you. Of course. We'll have to meet secretly my parents wouldn't permit it if they knew then that's what we'll do I Have to go now. I'm supposed to be with mother at 11 Aren't you going to ask me for a kiss? Jasmine says boys always do nowadays Some of them do but not me We don't expect nice girls to do that sort of thing in in Hades It was a funny thing Percy's family were polite friendly always smiling And yet all the time I had a feeling that some terrible and golden mystery lay hidden just around the corner Few days after I admit kiss mine Percy remarked casually that an unusual event had occurred a Man had escaped from the cage I didn't know what he meant then But the next morning I was walking with Percy's father on the grounds of the estate Mr. Washington Percy said something about a man escaping from the cage. I didn't quite get it the cage Well, perhaps you'd like to see it most might prove interesting just as a novelty. It's over there these trees a 60 feet tall and they have roses blooming all over. Yes. Yes. It's a rather interesting development by a Swiss botanist These are the only ones in the world I'll be down Although I suppose you'll see them all over the country in a few years. No, these are the only ones that was arranged Here we are the cage It's a pit dug in the ground a Grading on top. Oh, yes, it's it's not really a cage except in a certain sense Well boys, um, how are you getting along? How many men are there down there? About 50 as I recall who are they? Aviators we've shot down Wandering prospectors many of that sort, but why are they kept there? And they've all had the common misfortune of having discovered El Dorado gentlemen Gentlemen gentlemen, I am sure you would like to know that your companion who departed without my permission Has been taken care of Yes, yes, yes, he was shot by some of my agents in in 14 different places Golf mr. Runger They found him then The man who got away. No those places were towns my agents were over eager none of them could offer a positive Identification I I'm afraid the man may still be at large You see it's not all utopia here. No, we do have our difficulties Isn't it a little unnecessary? Holding them like that not at all. It's the only way to keep this place hidden Yes, I guess that must be important. Oh A Percy was telling me something on the train. I thought he was kidding, but He said you had a diamond as big as the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Oh, yes Yes, indeed as a matter of fact, it's much bigger than the Ritz much bigger Well summer went on I Was more and more in love with Kismine She was priceless exquisite like no other girl in the world After a couple of weeks, I kissed her of course and I was really in love for the first time I Should have known should have put two and two together when Percy's father showed me the cage But I didn't until one morning late in the summer. I slipped off with Kismine to the Rose Gardens Kismine, I think we ought to elope. I don't know It would be much nicer to be married here Then it'd be more romantic to elope Yes, all of a sudden these supplements would write stories about fabulous eras elopes I knew an eras from Omaha once But I don't think you'd like her She visited my sister here. Oh You've had other guests then Well, yes, we've had a few Wasn't your father ever afraid they might talk outside? Well to some extent Let's talk about something more pleasant. What's so unpleasant about it? Well, I I grew quite fond of some of them You mean they told And your father they didn't get a chance to father had to be sure But that's murder. What else could we do? The cage they'd have been a constant reproach to us Father does it so nicely They're always drugged in their sleep and we tell their families. They died of scarlet fever and butte I'm not sure how that affects the statistics there. I'm all the horrible It is not drawl would be terribly boring here without ever having anybody My father and mother have sacrificed some of their best friends. You're no better than That's what they plan to do with me then Couldn't you try to forget it? Be nice to me until Until you're put away. It's only for two or three weeks. You You'd go on this way kissing talking about love when you know, I'm not much better than a corpse You're not a corpse. You're not. I won't have you saying I kissed a corpse. That wasn't what I said I did not you said that just a moment Father who kissed a corpse? Nobody We were just joking now you two haven't any business here anyway now kiss mine go Read go go go go go play golf. Now. Don't you let me find you here when I come back Good day children See now he knows you've spoiled everything. You don't really love me kiss mine you What's the use? What if you are rich and have this place? Why would it be so terrible if anyone found out about it? Well, it's on account of the diamond of course diamond. What is this diamond all of you talk about? Well, it's You better ask Percy. I'm always getting things mixed up. I will ask him and another thing I'm getting out of here tonight if I have to dig through the mountains. I'm going back east. Take me with you No, why not your father wouldn't permit it. You won't take me. I'll go tell him I want to marry you you can't do that it bumped me off this afternoon Oh, please take me darling And we'll be terribly poor And very happy And I'll cook things for you herbs and berries and stuff. Would that be fun? Oh, you will won't you John? Oh my head was really in a whirl this whole thing was fantastic And so was the family Even kids minor I Couldn't think of anything to do, but I rushed to see Percy But John why didn't you ask me before because I thought you were kidding all the time. I Know you wouldn't believe me if I'd told you I'm ready to believe anything now Well, it was my grandfather who started the whole thing purely by accident He came out here from Virginia after the war between the states and stumbled on to it Under what the diamond of course that's what made all this possible Grandfather spent two years going around to different cities of the world selling bits of it Then he started building this place He put his money into jewels, but father found that radium took up much less space But but why the secrecy? Oh, it just wouldn't do if anyone found out ruin the whole economy of the world The thing's too big this has been going on for three generations When the the cage and and this thing of inviting friends. Oh, yes You see there wasn't really any danger before airplanes They are what worry us and you knew when you invited me here. What would happen? Please John I thought you'd be more sensible about it. After all you can see my position. Yeah Where is it? Where do you keep this diamond that's called so cock-eyed much trouble? Oh, I thought you'd guessed You've noticed the hill the Chateau stands on yes It contains a cubic mile and except for a thin covering of dirt. It's one big solid diamond It was nearly midnight I Didn't know what awakened me But all of a sudden I was staring across the patches of moonlight spotting the airman carpet of my bedroom Staring at three slaves. I'd never seen before They just slipped inside the door and stood there each with a vicious length of shiny copper wire The official Executioners I Lay there on the bed watching them counting heartbeats not daring to move not daring not to move They didn't know I'd wakened they began edging across the room Come on. All three of you. There's no time now for this all hell's broken loose, hurry. I Took one long deep breath The first one has several moments Then I was out of the bed in an instant throwing on my clothes and dashing through the long crystal corridor to Kismine's room Kismine are you awake? So they woke you up to if you mean three of your father's slaves airplanes airplanes so that's what it is At least a dozen. I saw them crossing against the moon. Look. They're circling way over there. You think they're here on purpose Oh, yes, they dropped warnings to father It's that man who got away from the cage, you know good for him. It wasn't you clever I think we'll open up on them any second now open up. Yes, our anti aircraft. Oh, this is going to be thrilling thrilling Well, look they're in range now And get away from that window You see that yes, and we've got to get out of here. Can't you understand? There's a little grove of trees across on the side of the mountains. We always keep one of the cars there We'll have a nice view of everything a nice view Kismine you don't seem to understand they mean business. They're out to finish off you and your whole family When you come right down to it, they've never even met us. Oh, I've lost my watch She's beginning lighter. All right Quieter to Your guns They're knocked out Every last one of them won't be long now Seems such a shame Family put so much work on the place Everything's always been so pleasant. Yeah You better get some sleep Kismine I'm Gonna walk down the path a little ways you'll come back Yes, Kismine. I'll come back at the edge of the wood. I stopped and looked out across the valley Toward the wrecked Chateau standing on its diamond hill And then suddenly three men appeared bearing a heavy burden among them It was mr. Washington and two of the slaves. All right. All right. This is far enough We'll stop here now Hold it there both together now easy now the burden they held up to the heavens was an immense diamond You out there you there. I could see no one else anywhere in view. Oh you about there. I Want you to understand this is only a sample. I'll give you a thousand cut as fine second pedestals of platinum, and I Build you a temple a thousand feet high cast of solid gold and On the top of it. I'll put one diamond Hundred feet across a thought began to dawn on me. I couldn't believe it I'll let your name in the temple in In emeralds, and I'll see that the whole world worships at its base All you have to do all you have to do is make everything the way it was before Mr. Washington was offering a bribe To God He stopped talking and waited and then Out of the silent heavens Blossomed the white puffs of parachutes The man who had tried to bribe God looked up and saw them He became old in an instant Turning with lowered head Walk down the path toward the chateau With sudden premonition I've whirled and headed for the spot where I'd left kids mine kids mine and the car that needed no roads Haven't we gone far enough John? I suppose we're 10 miles from the Chateau It's all so hectic just rushing about and losing sleep and everything hand me those fuel glasses You see anything Oh wait, what is it? It's your father and mother and Percy They're going into a tunnel down below the Chateau They've got an underground escape No, I remember now The mountains wired some kind of an Adam bomb Adam atomic bomb Father's had it for years He always said it would disintegrate the whole works diamond and all Of course, he only regarded it as a last resort So he'd rather have it like that They're all inside the tunnel now. I Can see the troopers moving in I Don't suppose there's really anything to be done about it now and there wasn't Thinking about things the way they were It was all so pleasant I Don't suppose it'll ever be exactly like that again not ever kiss mine and Maybe it never was Youth is a time for dreaming Dreams die, too. I'll probably have to take in washing Of course, we'll be very happy What will we do John? do oh We can love a while underneath the stars That's a form of divine drunkenness we can all try and then there There may be other diamonds in the world who knows and Even though it's a shabby gift there's always disillusion Turn up your cover kids mind before you catch pneumonia Let's go to sleep Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonnell Tonight we have brought you the diamond as big as the Ritz by f Scott Fitzgerald adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield With editorial supervision by John Dunkel in tonight's cast where Sam Edwards Peggy Weber Danny Merrill John Daner and Don Diamond special music by Ivan Dittmar's Next week each time you fall asleep you find yourself dreaming the same strange dream one in which you live out your life in the distant future and Always a hideous fate moves closer to you a fate from which you cannot escape Next week we escape with another great story by one of the world's greatest authors Good night, then until this same time next week when once again we offer you escape This is Roy Rohn speaking for CBS the Columbia broadcasting system