 Suspends! Autolight and its 96,000 dealers present, Mr. Ray Milland in Chicken Feed. A suspense play produced and edited by William Spear. Hey, Hap, what happened? Get me a doctor. Rush is fast getting here. Run my battery dry. Why, you don't need a doctor. You need an autolight. Stay full battery. Why, these brilliant beautiful bouncy babies want water only three times a year. Yes, only three times a year in normal car use. Their larger liquid load is like a lake compared to ordinary batteries. And autolight stay full batteries have extra protection with fiberglass retaining mats for longer life. While tests conducted according to life cycle standards of the Society of Automotive Engineers, autolight stay full batteries gave 70% longer average life than batteries without the stay full features. So, folks, get an autolight stay full battery. Remember, you're always right with autolight. Oh, and friends, a reminder, suspense may be seen on television in many parts of the country every Tuesday night. And now with Chicken Feed and with the performance of Ray Milland, autolight hopes once again to keep you in suspense. All right, it was a silly thing to fight over, I admit it, but there it was, a nickel, a measly worthless nickel, chicken feed. But of course, that was the only the beginning. Junior had asked for a nickel and I flipped it over to him. After he left the room, Mary said I shouldn't spoil the kid. It was time he learned the value of money and I said, great Scott, if I couldn't give my own child a nickel without her jumping down my throat, I said, after all, what's a nickel good for? Cup of coffee? Oh, you know, you know how these things get going. He keeps saying things you shouldn't and she lashes up with an answer. Before you know it, you've stormed out of the house and you're taking it out on the car. 50 miles cooled me down a little, but not much. I automatically slowed up when I came with the sign. You are now entering Lansing, California. Go slow and see our town, go fast and see our jail. Everybody knew Lansing, speed trap, tough town. Driving at a normal speed through the quiet Sunday street gave me time to think of something besides the fighting words Mary and I had slugged at each other. I pulled up in a little cafe next to the police station. Had a whitewash sign in the window, best cup of coffee in town for five cents. What's yours, Mr. Coffee, please. Brady, how's your starboarder? Phillips, ah, they're coming for him in the morning. They could be able to hold him until then. He got out of that Pennington jail like a paper bag. But don't worry, sister, Mr. Phillips won't get out of this room. And I listened to him in the half an ear when I sip my coffee, best cup in town for five cents. That reminded me of our argument over a nickel. That's about all a nickel's good for, a cup of coffee some places, a newspaper, a phone call. There was a stack of the local papers nearby and I poked over to look at. This Phillips is on the front page. Bank robber, killed a teller. He had a face I wouldn't want to run into, close. After a while, a hot coffee made me feel a little better. Maybe, well, maybe I'd been at fault as much as Mary. She wasn't the only one who had a bad temper. On a sudden impulse, I left my coffee, went over to the phone on the far wall. I heard the dial tone and then I fished in my pocket, but changed. It was empty. Say, Miss, could you change the dialer for me? I want to use the phone. Oh, yes, sir. What's the matter, mister? Well, my wallet I seem to have... Look, I'll be back in a minute. No, Mary wasn't the only one with a temper. I'd stormed out of the house without changing the contents of my pockets to clean my soot. Didn't have a dime on me, not a nickel. I rummaged in the glove compartment. Mary sometimes left the coin first, but this time, naturally, it wasn't there. I felt like a fool. It seems to me the trouble, mister. Oh, hello, officer. I seem to have come out without any money. It's embarrassing. Yeah, yeah, embarrassing. I didn't realize it, I tried to phone, but I... Wait a minute, just a minute. Where's your driver's license? Oh, it's in my wallet, San Francisco. Got any other identification? Well, the registration slip on the car. Oh, yeah, that's the car. What about you? Look, officer, I'm Ralph Clark. Clark and Jacobs in the Hatfield building. We're attorneys. Attorneys? I should have a card somewhere. Quite a far from home to be without any dough, ain't you? Well, I came out of the house without changing the stuff into this soot. You know how it is. How do you happen to have the keys to come? Well, I don't take them out, and it's in the garage. Yeah. Say, you don't think... Where are you headed for? Well, I know it sounds funny, but nowhere, really. You see, I had a fight with my wife, and I just batted out of the house to cool off. Mr. Clark, suppose we just mosey over to the station house. Station house? Hey, what is this? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. It's right next door, and you can call your wife from there. But I don't see why that's necessary. If you'd just lend me a nickel, I could call here and reverse the charges. Come on, we'll go. You can leave the car here. I'll take that key. And look here, officer, I don't... Come on, move on. Move on. At this time. I'll tell you better after he makes this call. That's out of order. Went dead half hour ago. Yeah? I reported it. They said they can't have a man here before tomorrow. But did you tell them this is a police station for Pete Sakes? Sure, I told them. It ain't bad, though. We get incoming calls, and we still got the nickel snatcher over there. Oh, yeah. Well, there's a pay phone, Mr. Clark. You can make your call from there. I don't have any money, remember? Oh, yeah, okay. Here's a nickel. Gee, thanks. Let me speak to your wife when you get it. It's gonna sound fine, just fine. You'll think I really tied one on. I want to call San Francisco Philmo 69098. Reverse the charges, please. Thank you. Uh, this is, uh, 4-6-0. Hey, Mary, take the call! Call? Look, operator, get her back with you. This is important. I will ring them again. Well, that's a sweetheart. He's there, the little... Why doesn't she pick up that phone? Your party does not answer. No! Now's up, man. Well, that's your nickel. Let me have another one, will you? I'll get hold of my partner. He'll identify me. Look, we've wasted enough time. Come on in here. But those are the cells. Right. You're locking me up? Right again. But what's the big idea? I didn't do anything. What are you charging me with? I don't have to charge you with anything. I'm holding on suspicion. Suspicion? Suspicion of what? I'm fronting the café for one thing. I want to check that car. You think I stole it? Well, it's been done. Now, wait a minute. If you just let me fall down... You're entitled to one call. You've had it. But look here, officer. Come on in, son. In jail. All on account of a measly nickel. A lousy, stinking nickel. Welcome to our jail. The stink part of the Santa Nueva Valley. Slim. Yeah, you said it. What's your beef, chump? Suspicion. Can you feature that? Suspicion. They won't even give me a nickel to phone. You mean you ain't even got a nickel? No, you see, I... Gee, that's too bad, ain't it, Pete? Oh, yeah, sure is. I wish we could help you out. Yeah. Maybe we can attack. You got a nickel? Sure. I got three of them. Well, let me one. Well, you just won. I'll pay you back. I'll send you $10 as soon as I get out of here. What's it worth to you, chump? What? I just told you $10. Yeah, yeah, I know. Fire in the sky. Hey, Maristwatch, why didn't I think of that before? What's the matter with it? Oh, nothing. Nothing's the matter with it. It's worth $50. Yeah, you fool. Look at it. It's yours for five cents for one measly nickel. What can you lose? Must be something wrong with it. Is it hot? Hot? You mean stolen? Yeah. Of course not. What do you offer it for a nickel for? Because I want to get out of this filthy place. Oh, so you don't like our company, is that it? Well, if you want to put it that way, no, I don't. Oh, the man don't like our company. And now, ain't that just too bad? Hey, what do you think of that, Mr. Phillips? He don't like us. Hey, you got any nickels, Mr. Phillips? I followed his glance. For the first time I saw, deep in the gloom of the locked cubicle, the face I've seen on the front page of the newspaper, the face I said I wouldn't want to run into, close. Well, it was close, and I was glad there were bars between us. Of course, us guys ain't much, but Mr. Phillips here, he's a big shot. Rob four banks and broke into two jails. Killed a man, too. Yeah, sure. We're just bags. But Mr. Phillips, he's going to the hot seat. He had a comment to get him, take him back to Utah and find him. They don't find him in Utah, they shoot him. Ain't that right, Mr. Phillips? Hey, Mr. Phillips don't want to talk about it. Yeah, Mr. Phillips, he don't want to talk about nothing. Mr. Phillips, he ain't very sociable. Just like this. Oh, now look, fellas, I didn't mean to. I just meant I want to get out of this jail. Yeah, take the watch and give me the nickel, huh? Tell you what I'll do, I'll match you for it. Match me? Yeah, nickel against the watch. Well, that is... Take it, I'll leave it. I'm all right. I'll leave Pete hold the watch here, huh? I'll flip a nickel on the floor and you call it, huh? Heads. Tails, I win. Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, get your foot over it. How do you know it's tails? It's tails. I ain't a pig. Sure it's tails, all right. Here's the watch slipper. Say what is this? Watch it, brother. You're not going to get away with this. Get him, Pete. Yeah. This is for me and me. Oh, don't kick me. Hey, what's going on in there? Officer, these men... It ain't nothing, officer. This new guy is acting up. That's all. Well, quiet down in there. I can't, he kicked me. Trying to get us in trouble, huh? No, no, I... Look, fella, for heaven's sake... Shut up. Okay. Kangaroo. I'll be the judge and you'll be the prosecutor. Right. Maybe Mr. Phillips will be the offensive attorney. You want to, Mr. Phillips? He don't want to. Prisoner at the bar, stand up. I said stand up. Cut it out, will you? Shut up. All right, counselor. What is the prisoner charged with? Your honor, this man's a desperate criminal. He's charged with breaking in the jail and solving his fellow borders. Poor sportsmanship and fighting. A very dangerous character, your honor. Oh, yeah, yeah. I've got guilty on all counts. Prisoner, have you anything to say before I pronounce sentence? No. Well, I find you. Five cents. Hand it over. You know I haven't got it. Can't pay, huh? Well, then you can work it out. A rate of one cent a day. Your first job would be to shine the court's shoes. Shine your own shoes. Oh, he's gonna be like that, huh? Hold him, Slim. Yeah. No! Officer! Officer! On him shoes. I don't have anything to shine him with. You got a coat, ain't you? I get going. The next hours were unadulterated agony. It was unbelievable, the filthy, inhuman things they could think up for me to do. It was just frightful. With every move I made, I could feel the glittering, steely eyes of the silent man in the locked cage on me. Following me, weighing me. And finally, when they couldn't think of anything more, they forced me to stand at the tension, looking right in the Phillips's cage. They couldn't see his face, it was too close to mine. But he, he winked at me. And he nodded his head as though it were a signal. And then his two huge arms came through the bars and thrust me, reeling across the cell, and I fell and hit my head. And that's all I remember. It is bringing you, Mr. Ray Mulan, in chicken feed. Tonight's production in radio's outstanding, Thrill's Suspense. The liquid reserve X spells one of the major causes of battery failure, means exceedingly excellent performance and extremely long life. You'd say it's expedient to own an auto-light-stayful battery. Exactly. And for a few more auto-light-stayful extras, get this, extra protection with fiberglass retaining mats. Extra long life is compared to batteries without staple features. In fact, 70% longer average life as established by tests conducted according to life cycle standards of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Why, with an auto-light-stayful battery, you can tell the difference in your car. You're right with auto-light. Now, auto-light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Ray Mulan, in chicken feed. A tale well-calculated to keep you in suspense. I don't know what time it was. Two or three in the morning, I guess, when I felt a stealthy touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes. I was still on the stone floor. And Phillips was bending over me, holding a revolver. My mouth opened for an involuntary cry, and he clapped a hand over it. Shut up, you fool. You want to wake him? Punks, get up quick and be quiet about it. I glanced quickly at Phillips' cell. It was open. So was the door to the corridor. He pushed me on and locked the door behind us. In his office, found and gagged securely to his desk chair, Sergeant Ross clad at us. The empty holster at his side told where Phillips had got his gun. Here. Which is the key to your car? This one. Okay, take it and let's move. Where's the car? Over there. You drive. The guy could spring that crock with a hairpin. But you nearly done a fine job of lousin' things up. What happened to you, gettin' throwin' the can in the middle of the day? Well, they picked me up on suspicion. Well, I wasn't supposed to be till midnight tonight. And all that phony kid stuff about the nickel. The nickel? Yeah, all that double talk when all you had to do was slip me the word that Jerry Nichols sent you. Served you right the way that mlush is treated you. Acting like I died in a world square. Nichols! My numbed brain slowly put the meaning of his words into shape. He thought... He thought I was an accomplice. Sent by a partner to help him break jail. Then all my screams about a nickel but nothing but a signal to him. A signal that I came from Jerry Nichols. Jerry, got the hideout set up? Yes. Where is it? The hideout? The hideout! We went to Jerry's place first, didn't we? Then what? Well, I'll take you to Jerry's. Then I guess you'll take over from there. How far is it to Jerry's? Can't be any more than about five miles, is it? Well, it's... Look behind you. What's the matter? There's a car following us. Dark lights. I don't see it. What's a big idea? You're trying to cross me? I couldn't help it. My foot slammed on the brake. That car, we've got to get out of here. Go ahead. Get it started. That's flooded. You make for the other side no tricks. Just to make sure I'll take this key. I'd made myself a chance and I took it. I slipped out of the car on the other side and ran. Ran across the fields until I could run no more. After an interminable two miles I found a road and after a while of trampling along the road a dark shape loomed up before me. A gas station. And through the glass I could make out the outline of a telephone. I tried the door. It was locked of course, but I found a tire line and sprang the latch. I'd run to the phone, almost thrown myself on it before I saw it was a pay phone. In a rage I shook the black box. I could hear the nickels inside, across a sheet of metal no thicker than the playing cart, yet as inaccessible as the moon. But there must be some money in this room. My eyes focused on a battered desk. There were some changes in it. And a couple of dollar bills. The kind of money a man leaves as a sub to possible burglars. Burglars. That meant me. Carefully I abstracted a single nickel. Get me San Francisco. Sutter 15994. It's Morris Jacobs. Tell him that this is his partner, Ralph Clark, and ask him to accept the charges. Thank you. Maybe it's light today, sir. Will you hold on? Shall I call you? I'll hold on, but hurry up. It's important. As I waited, a glint of light pulled my eyes away from the phone. Far down the road, headlights of a car juggled over the rise and aimed towards me. It was the first car to come by since I'd hit the road. It might be a stray, a farmer starting out before sunrise, but I couldn't take the chance. Hasty, I hung up the receiver, closed the cash drawer, snapped a lock on the door, then I clutched beneath the desk. He may be back on the bottle again. To my horror, I had the creek of bedsprings from the rear of the station. A light appeared under the door. I'd thought it was just a rear door to the outside. It opened, and two hairy barefoot legs under a fan and a light gun came through and made for the front. What are you, chilly, with the door open? Oh, you don't tell me. Well, how did he do that? You see, there was two of them. He had an accomplice. That he was a lawyer. He found their car abandoned on the road back at Paris's Hopper Hill, ran out of gas. So he can't be far away. Hey, there was a big reward for Phillips after he broke James Bennington, wasn't he? Yeah, a thousand dollars. Hey! You'll know him, don't you? Yeah! You was in the Bennington folk when he done that break. What was it? Uh, a drunken disorderly or something. Yeah, it had me a little too much and broke a window in the general store. We were his roommates for the night. I was pretty scared. How'd he do it, the break? Oh, I don't know. I was sleeping it off. A thousand dollars reward, huh? Man can do it a lot with a thousand dollars. Not that he couldn't. Don't you get that he ideas now? That Phillips is a killer and so's his partner most likely. Well, I ain't exactly helpless myself. Get a nice little fella on my side. Now, you take my advice, John, and put that gun away. They show up here, you talk soft, let us do the captures. Oh, sure, sure. I'll play safe. Well, well, we'll be going. Just wanted to alert you, Jerry. Yes, thanks, sir. Thanks, sir. So long, boys. All right, you. Come out from under that desk. Come on out, I say. This gun's mighty nervous. Now, get your hands up and stand over there. Look, Mr. Walsh. I'll do the talking. Who are you? Look, you've got to believe me. I'm not a criminal. I'm a lawyer. Oh, you must be the other one, huh? Keep them hands up. But I got into this by accident. I don't know. He helped me escape. Where is Phillips? Well, I left him in the car, and that's another thing. You can get the reward. I know who he's going to meet, and they're going to a hideout. Oh, I see. Who is he going to meet? Well, somebody named Jerry Nichols. There you are. If you let me get to that phone, I can clear everything. No, you don't. Stay right where you are. I'll plug you. But that's my partner, my law partner in San Francisco. I only broke in here so I could phone him. He'll identify me. You don't believe me? Oh, I believe you all right. Then answer it yourself. You'll see. Not on your life, Mr. You think I'm out of my mind? But you've got to answer it, Jerry. You don't know what I went through to place that call. You just can't stand it, but... Jerry. You're Jerry Nichols. That's right. So, you see... Jerry! Jerry! Who's that? Turn up that light, you. It's Phillips. Stand over there by the window. I can see you. Go on. Come on in, Phillips. I ran out of gas and it punctured. It happened so fast that for a moment I had no reaction at all. None. I just watched it. I watched Phillips holding his chest with both hands. I watched that giant body twist convulsively on the floor, and then... I still watched Jerry bend over him, then straighten up. Then as he turned, grinning to me, the motion, the feeling came back and what I felt was seizing, overpowering rage, fury. Everything had been through this night. It was like a boiler that had to burst. Well, dead or alive, I just made me a thousand bucks. You foul stinking scum. What? You're worse than he is. Shut up. Maybe I'll get a reward for you, too. A small one. I could feel the bullet land in my side just below the belt and the avenues of pain spread out like the cracks in a hammered window glass. But somehow, strangely, it didn't stop me. I kept moving toward him. He backed away. He was surprised. He was aiming for another shot when we grabbed one. If I got the gun, he got me by the throat. I'll kill you. He stumbled. The hell under his hand that was holding the gun. I wouldn't let go and then as he fell back, was over the chairs on top of it. He wouldn't let go of that gun. As we thrashed her on the floor, I brought his hand up suddenly and smashed his own gun into his face. Then he lay still. I listened. I listened to his heart. He was all right. I got up gasping for breath. And then I realized that I was all right. Yet he'd shot me. He hit me. I should be lying there on the plank floor instead of that grotesque heap in the shapeless flannel light gun. I felt my side with a bullet that struck. Brought my hand away. There was no blood on it. Yet there should be blood. I touched the spot again. I fingered the contour of something's broken. Then I fingered the contour of something's small and hard and round. I pulled it out of my watch pocket, batted with a slug that struck. It bent almost double. A nickel! A nickel! The 20th part of a dollar all a man needed to buy a cup of coffee to make a phone call to buy a fine in a kangaroo court to save his life. And I'd had it all the time. I'd had it all the time. I'd had it all the time. Yeah. First, get the Lansing police station. Will you, operator? Lansing police. Yeah. Shut up, Jerry. You're going to live. And I'm going to be in court with you. Yeah. But I wouldn't give a plug nickel for your chances. Presented by Autolight, tonight's star, Ray Melland, in chicken feed. Say, Mr. Melland, in a recent movie I saw you as a baseball pitcher. Yes, that's right. You as a pitcher and Paul Douglas as a catcher made a wonderful battery. That sounds like a lead in for me to say that Autolight makes a wonderful battery, too. You can say that again. All right, I will. Autolight makes a wonderful battery. Right, you are, Ray. It's the Autolight Stayful that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Made by Autolight, makers of over 400 products for cars, trucks, airplanes, and boats in 28 Autolight plants from coast to coast. Autolight also makes complete electrical systems for many makes of America's finest cars. Batteries, spark plugs, generators starting motors, coils, distributors. All engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because they're a perfect team. So folks, don't accept electrical parts that are supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on Autolight, original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right with Autolight. Next Thursday for suspense, Dorothy McGuire will be our star. The play is called Last Confession and it is, as we say... A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Tonight's suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear and directed by Norman MacDonald. Music for suspense is composed by Lucian Morawek and conducted by Lud Bluskin. Chicken Feed was a radio play by Lawrence Goldman. Ray Millan appeared through the courtesy of Paramount Pictures whose current release is Top of the Morning starring Bing Crosby and Blythe and Barry Fitzgerald. Don't forget, next Thursday same time, Autolight will present suspense starring Dorothy McGuire. All batteries, Autolight resistor spark plugs, Autolight electrical parts at your neighborhood Autolight dealers. Switch to Autolight. Good night. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.