 Fed up with shoveling snow? Can't shake that cold of yours? Want to get away from it all? We offer you escape You were alone in a remote village on the Welsh border Surrounded by silent townspeople who were watching and waiting for you to decide to lose your soul Escape Produced by William M. Ropeson and carefully contrived to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure Today we escaped to a remote section of Wales and a strange village between two worlds as Algernon Blackwood described it in his eerie story ancient sorceries I Had spent a week's vacation in Wales and was returning to London by train when it all began It was late afternoon We'd left the Welsh mountains and crossed the border into Western England passing through a countryside which appeared singularly empty deserted of life Over the soft hills and the valleys between hung a faintly perceptible haze Giving to the whole landscape a feeling of enchantment and unreality The train slowed at length to stop at a tiny wayside station as It did so a sudden thought occurred to me Why not leave the crowded train with its irritating noises and spend the night in this peaceful spot? Then take a slower and emptier train in the morning On the impulse I rose from my seat and the man sitting opposite me said why say sir Hmm, we only stop here for a minute or two if you were thinking of walking about a bit No matter of fact, I'm getting off here. I thought you were going to London. I'll go on in the morning I'm going to stay here for the night. I strongly advise you not to I Beg your pardon. This is the village of Martin Malton, I've never heard of it few people have outside But if you place any value on your soul, you'll not spend the night here What are you talking about? Why not because of the sleep and because of the cats? That's all I can tell you you're insane I'll take my bag now if you don't mind you're making a terrible mistake You may not you may not even get the chance to regret it Don't leave this train. I know what I'm talking about. Oh, we're not a nonsense. Don't don't touch it. Good. Bye. I Stood there on the embankment as the train pulled away What was the matter with the man anyway cats sleep his words made no sense I Picked up my bag and started walking up the long hill toward the village and Suddenly for no reason at all. I I shivered Hello, hello is anyone here? Yes. Oh I didn't see you at first. Is there something I can do for you, sir Why yes, I I saw your sign outside the Inn of the Golden Bow. I should like to get a room You're planning to stay here. Why yes Yes Very well You may sign the register Yeah, thank you I'm I'm going to catch another train and go on in the morning. Yes, of course there we are Arthur Lou Allen Lou Ellen Yes from London Oh You've been a long time coming back What now that you're here? You'll find there are some things that never change Madam, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about Don't worry The gentleman would like a room for the night His name is Arthur Lou Ellen So it is Welcome back to Malton, sir. I knew I'd never been here before What was it all about first the men on the train and now these people? Were they crazy or was I? Well, I left the Inn and walked along narrow cobbled streets Beneath quaint gables leaning out from the silent shuttered houses through dappled pools of light and shadow As I walked it gradually dawned upon me that the village of Malton was centuries old Older than any town in England or to be and the people I passed now and then were dressed in the fashion of another day They paid no attention to me when silently about their own business Yes, that was it. That's what I'd been noticing Silently as I walked I noticed they came and went with only soft padding sounds to mark their passing As though they walked in shoes with souls of velvet When I stopped There was no sound The silence was unbroken I hurried through the streets and came at last to the far side of the village To a place where the hill broke away sharply from a low flat wall of stone perhaps a rampart once I sat down upon it and the dreamy tranquility of the place stole over me Presently, I don't know how much later I became aware of the sound of weird music Rising out of the veil below me I looked down from the rampart The sunken plane at the bottom melted away into a sea of gathering shadow Blurred into a swirl of thickening mist I thought of dead trees swept by the night wind Of animals with half human voices singing to a white moon Of the wailing of cats on the roof tiles at night Of unearthly creatures far off in the sky calling to one another in chorus I I felt my heart beat faster and faster Felt the vague stirrings of some urge inside of me trying to answer the awful call of that music I fought against the feeling fought against myself And even as I did I I found I was staring down into that valley Peering desperately into the dark mist trying to see I I don't know what And then suddenly The music ended I stood on the rampart alone Dusk fallen about me In the early night wind moaned with a chill breath Quick terror rose up in me I turned and ran on through the darkened streets ran with heart pounding dodging its shadows Through one dim alley after another And arrived at last panting in almost breathless at the door of the golden bow Long time returning Mr. Lou Allen It's past seven Yes, I I guess I walked farther than I meant to I didn't realize it was so late You heard the music, didn't you? Yes Yes, the strangest music I've ever heard How did you know? Who plays it anyway? Then you didn't remember it? No Why should I? The thing was becoming irritating this quiet insistence that I was someone else I went into my lonely dinner and ate as quickly as possible Then taking the candle dandery gave me I Crossed the lobby climbed the stairs behind the desk and Walked past silent doors down the long empty hall that led to my room at the end I was halfway to my door when suddenly The flame of my candle went out I stood stark still in the pitch blackness fumbling from edge And at that moment I knew that someone or something was there with me in the darkness I held my breath and listened There was no sound no movement I reached out and found the wall and moved along and feeling my way in the inky blackness It was then I I touched it near my face another soft warm yielding And alive Who? Who is it? It is I Ilsa Who? Ilsa Don't you remember me Arthur? No No But wouldn't you like to remember me? Don't you want to see me again? to look at me now I I don't know But not tonight Arthur Perhaps tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow I stumbled blindly through the door of my room and shut it behind me I let the candle and flung myself across the bed The room was small with one shuttered window and the light of the flame flickered on the walls and ceiling I stared at the hand that had touched her out there in the dark hall I lifted it to my face and smelled the barbaric scent that still clung to my fingers It was evil and maddening The candle sputtered and burned and the melted minutes dripped away Who was I? Who were these people? Who was Ilsa? I fell asleep finally And dreamed of soft moving creatures And the silence of life in a dim muffled world devoid of all feeling but ecstasy And I dreamed too of cats It's quite late this morning Mr. Llewellyn Morning Dundery I felt as though I'd been drugged The night air here in Walton is very conducive to sleep I'd meant to catch the morning train to London Now it's too late What a terrible shame Yes I Oh, by the way Dundery Yes Mr. Llewellyn Do I I mean I was wondering if you'd know anyone by the name of Ilsa Ilsa Ilsa happens to be my daughter Mr. Llewellyn Oh I didn't hear you come in I hope you were able to sleep well without unpleasant dreams I guess so I'm so happy to hear it Perhaps then you may decide to stay with us for a long time That's very kind of you No, it's not kindness Mr. Llewellyn But all of us are hoping that you may decide soon Decide? Decide what? It was no use None of them would answer my questions They seemed to think I should know already I left the inn as soon as I'd eaten Walked around the streets of the village I began to notice I was never completely alone If I turned down an empty street Someone always stepped from a doorway Or entered from the opposite end Wherever I went Within five minutes a dozen people were strolling near me And I realized these people were watching me Tensely As a cat watches a mouse Or another cat It's quite fortunate you came back early Mr. Llewellyn Your dinner this evening is a rather special one Special? What do you mean by that? You ought to have a guest Oh, who? An old friend She's coming now The girl who came taught us across the room was lithe and slim She moved with a sinuous grace of a young panther She was lovely Exotic and Terrifyingly beautiful May I present Mr. Arthur Llewellyn, Miss Ilse He's been with us for two days Yes, I know My mother told me May I sit down, Mr. Llewellyn? Hmm? Oh Oh yes, please do Yeah, permit me Thank you You may serve us, Don Rury Thank you, Miss Ilse Then You're Ilse Yes Don't you remember me, Arthur? From last night It was you last night, wasn't it? Yes, and other nights Can't you remember all the other nights? No No Then we shall have to try that much harder It's been such a very long time Please, Ilse What is it all of you talk about? I don't understand any of it You will, Arthur Unless you leave, of course Weren't you planning to take a train to London in the morning? Yes No No, I've changed my mind I'm glad you did We'll try to make you happy here, my mother and I And then perhaps you'll stay a long, long time No I'm asleep for sure in a day or two Suppose we wait and see And meanwhile If there's anything you want All you have to do is ask me All right Why don't you tell me about... Yes, Arthur About what? No No, I don't want to know I don't want you to tell me Suddenly I realized I was afraid to know I was afraid I should leave now But I couldn't leave It was Ilse She attracted, repelled, fascinated and horrified me All in single flashes of blasting emotion I felt the presence of a great, great curtain Ready to roll back at any moment And leave me on the brink of an awful adventure And I knew the village held its breath Watched and waited And then on the evening of the fifth day The whole ghastly secret exploded into hideous life After dinner, Ilse had asked me to walk with her It was the first time I'd been outside the inn after dark We walked through the village in the moonlight Saying very little And came finally to the stone rampart above the sunken plain We were quite alone Look, Arthur It's a full moon tonight Do you know what that means? Yes It means I can see more clearly how beautiful you are Do you really believe that? Do you think I'm beautiful? Mm-hmm Like a soft, sleek leopard A warm jungle of shadows But wait, I'll see you even better in a moment Arthur, what are you doing? These dry leaves by the wall They'll make an excellent bonfire There There, you see? No No What's wrong? The fire! No, I'll put it out! All right, Ilse Don't worry, it's all right There Didn't even get a chance to get started There, you see, it's out Yes I see Why did it bother you so much? Don't you remember? Don't you remember the fire? No What fire? No Don't talk of it Look at me instead Look at me, Arthur Yes, Ilse? Arthur, do you love me? Yes Yes, Ilse, I love you I'm glad That means you'll come back to us then I don't know what you mean, Ilse You can know everything Tonight If you want to Yes, I do I do, Ilse You must know a part of it already Down inside You must remember some of it, don't you? Yes It's like something buried for centuries Deep inside of me Now it's beginning to come alive Let it come alive Don't fight against it You belong to us once Long ago when you still belong Yes I seem to know that That's why you came back You heard me calling You heard them calling And you came seeking the old life again Yes, but Ilse, I'm afraid Are you afraid of me? Look at me Ilse Will you live the old life again With me tonight? Yes Yes Oh, I've known that you would Because I own you, Arthur You belong to me And I want you to come with me I shall never let you escape from me again Yes, yes Go back to the inn then Wait for me, Arthur I shall come for you Tonight Back at the inn I paced the floor of my room Pretend some controllable excitement Driving me along in a nervous frenzy The dry crypt of the memory Had broken open And all the things I'd hidden away For centuries poured into my consciousness I knew now why I'd come here I knew what I was going to do And I knew that I was lost I sensed the rising stir of movement Throughout the inn And outside in the courtyard Below my window I knew what to expect When I threw open the window From every window of the inn And from those of the houses About the court were leaping Great monstrous beast With soft dark fur and eyes That gleamed with eerie phosphorescence Cats Cats of human size This was the secret of molten Like enthalpy The witchcraft of centuries long Dead and buried The half-human Christ floated up to me In the moon cast their dark shadows On the ground as they padded Across the courtyard And vanished through the narrow streets Of the village Heading for a hideous rendezvous This is what I'd been This is what I wanted to be now I scarcely heard the door Of the room open behind me Are you ready, my love? Shall we join them? Hilt Here, Arthur The sacred bum Made of a vein and mistletoe And blind things out of the sea Remember? Yes Yes, I remember Take it Use it We'll change now Transform, leap from the window And join them, lead us again, Arthur Yes But not here, Hilt, sir Not yet Wait until we get there Then we'll change If you wish Come then, Arthur To the stone wall above the grove That's where we'll change On the stone rampart In the grove And the sunken plain Beneath the wall Insane shadows rised In the moonlight Impostured in the luminous mist A thousand of the devil's own So dancing in the unearthly music Born from the harmony of the black sacrifice Crying out in delirious abandon Calling to the thing that now lived inside of me And struggled screaming in my skull Trying to answer them back I fought against them Fought against Ilsa Pleading and clinging with the soft arms About my neck No, no, Arthur Come with me now if you love me I love you, but I can't do it I can't do it, not again, Ilsa Yes, my love, only an instant to change And then we'll live forever Is it living without a soul? Does it matter when I'm here? No, once before I escaped But I could never escape again This time there'd be no turning back Am I not worth it? Look at me, look at me, my love I clung to the very edge of sanity Thought that I'd not be lost and damned forever And at that very moment I knew Knew what I could do Arthur, wait What are you doing? I found a match in my pocket Struck, dropped it into the dry leaves That lay banked along the whole length of the stone wall No, no, Arthur, don't I can't come to Ilsa in the fire You're driving me away Yes, go, go into the valley, Ilsa Goodbye, Ilsa Goodbye You fool I turned from the wall of flame That for a few minutes would shut me off from the valley Ran through the moonlit streets Not back to the inn of the golden bar But down the long road that led away From that cursed village of Malton Well, Mr. Lou Ellen, I find this One of the most interesting cases of hallucination I've encountered since I began the practice of psychiatry I tell you it really happened, doctor And having investigated your story a bit during the past week I'm in a position now to answer most of the questions That have been worrying you since you came back to London What do you mean, investigated? I went up to Herford and looked over some of the old records there And then I motored over to Malton for a couple of hours Well, then you know it's all true You saw it, you know I was there Oh, there's no question But what you were there, Mr. Lou Ellen The lady who runs the inn showed me your name in the register Said you'd left quite suddenly Without taking your luggage or paying your bill She was really quite put out I see Well What about the records, doctor, the ones you spoke of? I think they really explain the whole thing, Mr. Lou Ellen It seems that during the 14th century The village of Malton became a kind of headquarters In that part of the country The practice of witchcraft Yes Go on Numerous trials were held there in the late 1300s And a great many men and women were convicted of sorcery and burnt to death Yes In the records of a trial in 1372 I found the name of an Arthur Lou Ellen And of Ilsa and her mother That proves it then It proves a clear case of hallucination That story before you went there, not consciously But somewhere down in your latent memory I knew nothing of it before That man was an ancestor of yours The story must have been known in your family When you arrived in Malton accidentally The association of the name just pulled the trigger And your imagination did the rest But doctor, my parents died when I was four I've never been around any of my family No matter You see, a childhood memory is amazingly persistent at times Yes Yes, I suppose it is I knew then what I had to do The only thing I could do There'd be no use in talking further with the doctor He'd find some phrase of science to cover everything He'd even try to explain away the mark I still carried across my shoulder Where Ilsa had thrown her arm about me In those last mad minutes on the rampart A mark that was covered with a soft gray fur Like the fur of a cat Yes, I knew now what had to be done It must be done while I still retain my sanity One last act, final and irrevocable An act that begins by walking into the railway station at Charing Cross Good evenings, may I help you? Yes I'd like a ticket to Malton Malton, I don't believe I have It's a village on the Swansea line near the border of Wales Oh, yes, yes, here it is I don't believe I've ever sold a ticket to Malton before I don't doubt it See now, four and six Single fare, first class Did you wish a return or one way? What did you say? Oh, I'm sorry Make it one way Escape Produced by William N. Robeson and directed by Norman MacDonald Today brought you ancient sorceries by Algernon Blackwood Adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield With Paul Freese as Arthur Llewellyn Kay Brinker as Ilsa Ann Morrison as Madame And William Conrad as the Doctor Music is conceived by Psy Fuhr With Eddie Dunstetter at the console Next week After you've had a hard day at the office Or bending over a hot stove Next week at this time When your problems seem too much for you We offer you Escape Next week we bring you another exciting story of high adventure Goodbye then until this same time next week When once again we offer you Escape This is CBS where 99 million people gather every week The Columbia Broadcasting System