WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:11.440 Auto Light and its 98,000 dealers bring you Mr. John Hodiac in tonight's presentation 00:11.440 --> 00:15.320 of Suspense. 00:15.320 --> 00:23.760 Tonight, Auto Light presents a story about heroism as we document the attempt of three 00:23.760 --> 00:26.880 brave men to conquer the mountain. 00:26.880 --> 00:30.600 Our star, Mr. John Hodiac. 00:30.600 --> 00:36.760 Hello, Harlow. 00:36.760 --> 00:38.560 Bottom of the evening to you. 00:38.560 --> 00:41.440 You mean top of the evening, don't you, Mr. McSaulay? 00:41.440 --> 00:42.440 No, bottom. 00:42.440 --> 00:45.640 My spirits are low as the water in my car's battery. 00:45.640 --> 00:47.200 Oh, you mean it's dry? 00:47.200 --> 00:48.880 Dry is an Irishman's wit. 00:48.880 --> 00:52.520 Well, now it's an Auto Light's day full battery you're needing. 00:52.520 --> 00:54.800 That's the famous battery that needs water only use. 00:54.800 --> 00:56.600 You mean that long life battery, Harlow? 00:56.600 --> 00:58.360 It is one and the same. 00:58.360 --> 01:02.880 Fiberglass mats surround every positive plate to reduce shedding and flaking and give the 01:02.880 --> 01:07.720 Auto Light stay full longer life as proved by tests conducted according to accepted life 01:07.720 --> 01:08.720 cycle standards. 01:08.720 --> 01:11.960 Where could I be getting this marvel of marvel? 01:11.960 --> 01:17.160 Why from your nearest Auto Light battery dealer, the man who services all makes of batteries. 01:17.160 --> 01:22.080 To quickly locate him, just phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25. 01:22.080 --> 01:25.200 I'll tell you where to get an Auto Light stay full. 01:25.200 --> 01:29.440 The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 01:29.440 --> 01:35.200 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 01:35.200 --> 01:41.240 And now, Auto Light presents The Mountain, starring Mr. John Hodiac, hoping once again 01:41.240 --> 01:52.400 to keep you in suspense. 01:52.400 --> 01:56.920 We made the fourth camp on the East Glacier 22,000 feet above sea level. 01:56.920 --> 02:02.720 In that cold thin air we stood looking up and in the great loneliness we saw it. 02:02.720 --> 02:06.160 For a few seconds as the mist cleared, we saw it. 02:06.160 --> 02:12.560 The mountain, the peak towering over us was beautiful and terrible. 02:12.560 --> 02:16.160 Then a swirling curtain moved around it and it was gone again. 02:16.160 --> 02:18.600 There were six of us and the porters. 02:18.600 --> 02:21.680 Mantan and Leeds had been sent back to the third camp some 4,000 feet below. 02:21.680 --> 02:24.360 Both had been badly frostbitten. 02:24.360 --> 02:26.960 So then there were six of us left to make the attempt. 02:26.960 --> 02:28.880 Nobody had done it before. 02:28.880 --> 02:32.440 No one had ever reached the top of that tremendous windswept place. 02:32.440 --> 02:36.040 And now we were ready for the assault. 02:36.040 --> 02:38.240 That night we held our last meeting in the fourth camp. 02:38.240 --> 02:41.920 Gaines, Thomas, Feldman, Eldridge, Perucci and myself. 02:41.920 --> 02:46.120 Ah, that's the best way, the most practical. 02:46.120 --> 02:48.920 Three of us stay and three of us try to make it. 02:48.920 --> 02:51.280 We stand a better chance if we all do it together. 02:51.280 --> 02:52.280 What do you think, Bob? 02:52.280 --> 02:53.280 I don't think so. 02:53.280 --> 02:54.280 Thomas is right. 02:54.280 --> 02:55.800 The three of us go and have to turn back. 02:55.800 --> 02:57.400 The other three will still be fresh. 02:57.400 --> 02:58.400 They can have a go. 02:58.400 --> 02:59.400 That's right. 02:59.400 --> 03:00.400 All right? 03:00.400 --> 03:01.400 Sure. 03:01.400 --> 03:02.400 Yes, of course. 03:02.400 --> 03:03.400 Okay, two parties. 03:03.400 --> 03:04.400 Thomas, you'll head up the second. 03:04.400 --> 03:05.400 Stay at the camp. 03:05.400 --> 03:06.400 I'll lead the first one up. 03:06.400 --> 03:07.400 Right. 03:07.400 --> 03:08.400 Now, wait a minute. 03:08.400 --> 03:09.400 Don't we get a vote on this? 03:09.400 --> 03:10.400 No, it's a waste of time. 03:10.400 --> 03:11.400 Start voting and we'll start arguing again. 03:11.400 --> 03:12.400 Those monsoons aren't going to hold off forever. 03:12.400 --> 03:13.400 Take it easy, John. 03:13.400 --> 03:14.400 Yes. 03:14.400 --> 03:15.400 How's your leg, Harry? 03:15.400 --> 03:16.400 Not bad. 03:16.400 --> 03:19.080 If I might hold you back, you'd better leave me down here. 03:19.080 --> 03:20.080 All right. 03:20.080 --> 03:22.240 And you, Rucci, you want me to go? 03:22.240 --> 03:23.240 Feel up to it? 03:23.240 --> 03:24.240 Sure, you bet. 03:24.240 --> 03:25.240 Gains? 03:25.240 --> 03:26.240 Okay. 03:26.240 --> 03:27.240 Uh-uh, you're not acclimated. 03:27.240 --> 03:28.240 The cough? 03:28.240 --> 03:29.240 It's nothing. 03:29.240 --> 03:30.240 It'll get a lot worse, higher. 03:30.240 --> 03:31.240 Better not. 03:31.240 --> 03:35.320 Well, look, why not let me go with you and leave Harry in charge down here? 03:35.320 --> 03:37.480 That leg will be all right in a couple of days, don't you think, Harry? 03:37.480 --> 03:38.480 It ought to be. 03:38.480 --> 03:40.760 He hasn't had enough experience for a lead man. 03:40.760 --> 03:41.760 Oh. 03:41.760 --> 03:44.680 There's nothing wrong with me. 03:44.680 --> 03:45.680 Or is there? 03:45.680 --> 03:46.680 Well? 03:46.680 --> 03:49.440 Well, I don't know, John. 03:49.440 --> 03:50.440 It's going to be pretty tough. 03:50.440 --> 03:51.440 Well? 03:51.440 --> 03:52.440 Well, listen, John. 03:52.440 --> 03:54.480 You keep out of this, Thomas. 03:54.480 --> 03:55.480 What about it, Bob? 03:55.480 --> 03:58.560 I'm in good shape. 03:58.560 --> 03:59.560 I guess so. 03:59.560 --> 04:00.560 Okay. 04:00.560 --> 04:01.840 You, Perucci, and myself. 04:01.840 --> 04:02.840 That'll be it. 04:02.840 --> 04:06.840 We'll start at daybreak. 04:06.840 --> 04:12.840 And that's the way we decided. 04:12.840 --> 04:14.960 There was no other possibility. 04:14.960 --> 04:16.720 It wasn't that we didn't like Eldridge. 04:16.720 --> 04:20.520 It was just that he was always flying off the handle, and because of that, he wasn't a good 04:20.520 --> 04:21.520 risk. 04:21.520 --> 04:24.200 Nerves don't go so well with mountain climbing. 04:24.200 --> 04:25.200 Not that mountain. 04:25.200 --> 04:27.440 Cold and dangerous. 04:27.440 --> 04:30.720 It's never gained peak, hidden in mist. 04:30.720 --> 04:34.280 Later that evening, Thomas and I were going over the equipment before turning in. 04:34.280 --> 04:37.680 You know, someday they'll invent an oxygen tank that's light. 04:37.680 --> 04:40.720 Bet these things weigh over 30 pounds. 04:40.720 --> 04:41.720 Yeah. 04:41.720 --> 04:42.720 Hey, Bob. 04:42.720 --> 04:43.720 Hmm? 04:43.720 --> 04:44.720 About Eldridge. 04:44.720 --> 04:45.720 What about him? 04:45.720 --> 04:46.720 Do you think he ought to go? 04:46.720 --> 04:47.720 It's the only way, I guess. 04:47.720 --> 04:48.720 You're taking a big chance. 04:48.720 --> 04:49.720 He'll be all right. 04:49.720 --> 04:52.720 If we could only wait just a couple of days, Harry would be all right. 04:52.720 --> 04:53.720 We're late now. 04:53.720 --> 04:56.720 If the monsoon starts, none of us will be able to do it. 04:56.720 --> 04:57.720 That's the trouble. 04:57.720 --> 04:58.720 Well, you have Perucci along. 04:58.720 --> 04:59.720 He gets on pretty well with Eldridge. 04:59.720 --> 05:00.720 That'll help. 05:00.720 --> 05:01.720 It'll be fine. 05:01.720 --> 05:02.720 We're all in good shape. 05:02.720 --> 05:03.720 I think we're going to make it. 05:03.720 --> 05:04.720 In a way, I hope you don't. 05:04.720 --> 05:05.720 I'd like a crack at it myself. 05:05.720 --> 05:06.720 Oh, wouldn't that be something? 05:06.720 --> 05:07.720 The first man to get to the top. 05:07.720 --> 05:15.720 You understand why I didn't take you, don't you? 05:15.720 --> 05:18.720 Oh, of course. 05:18.720 --> 05:20.720 Wishful thinking, that's all. 05:20.720 --> 05:21.720 Well, you better turn in. 05:21.720 --> 05:22.720 I'll finish checking the stuff. 05:22.720 --> 05:23.720 Okay. 05:23.720 --> 05:24.720 See you in the morning. 05:24.720 --> 05:34.720 On May the 18th, we started to climb the Northwest Ridge. 05:34.720 --> 05:36.720 We were 23,000 feet. 05:36.720 --> 05:41.720 Each of us carried a 30-pound oxygen tank besides the equipment we needed for our next 05:41.720 --> 05:42.720 camp. 05:42.720 --> 05:43.720 For three or four hours, it wasn't bad. 05:43.720 --> 05:49.720 But as we went higher, the wind started to take it out of us, and we felt the cold more. 05:49.720 --> 05:52.720 Take 10, eh? 05:52.720 --> 05:53.720 Yeah. 05:53.720 --> 05:56.720 Boy, will you look at it up there. 05:56.720 --> 05:57.720 That's it. 05:57.720 --> 06:00.720 You almost feel like you could jump and touch the top. 06:00.720 --> 06:01.720 Big jump, Perucci. 06:01.720 --> 06:02.720 What do you figure? 06:02.720 --> 06:03.720 About 3,500 feet more? 06:03.720 --> 06:07.720 Something like that. 06:07.720 --> 06:10.720 Well, if the weather holds, we might make it by tomorrow. 06:10.720 --> 06:11.720 That's what I thought. 06:11.720 --> 06:13.720 Not a cloud in the sky. 06:13.720 --> 06:16.720 Oh, will you look at that thing. 06:16.720 --> 06:20.720 Boy, what can you say when you see a mountain like that? 06:20.720 --> 06:21.720 Save your breath. 06:21.720 --> 06:25.720 We'll move in a few minutes. 06:25.720 --> 06:30.720 Then we hit patches of snow, and the pace slowed down. 06:30.720 --> 06:33.720 We'd spelled each other as leader, and it was my turn up ahead. 06:33.720 --> 06:36.720 Perucci was bringing up the rear when I heard him yell and felt that dreadful tug of the 06:36.720 --> 06:37.720 rope at the same time. 06:37.720 --> 06:38.720 Falk, Perucci's gone down. 06:38.720 --> 06:39.720 Dig in. 06:39.720 --> 06:40.720 All right. 06:40.720 --> 06:41.720 What is it, crevasse? 06:41.720 --> 06:42.720 Yes. 06:42.720 --> 06:43.720 Use the ice axe. 06:43.720 --> 06:44.720 It won't hold. 06:44.720 --> 06:45.720 Snow's too soft here. 06:45.720 --> 06:46.720 I'm slipping, Falk. 06:46.720 --> 06:47.720 I'm slipping. 06:47.720 --> 07:03.720 I saw the snow crumbling away from beneath Elbridge's feet. 07:03.720 --> 07:07.720 I saw it, and I thought of a man I knew who slipped from an aerial ladder 100 feet up, 07:07.720 --> 07:11.720 and as he fell to the ground, his legs raced wildly, arms waving, trying to find the rungs 07:11.720 --> 07:12.720 to pull himself back up. 07:12.720 --> 07:16.720 And Elbridge was doing it now, his heels churning into the soft snow at the edge of the crevasse. 07:16.720 --> 07:17.720 Then he found solid ice. 07:17.720 --> 07:18.720 Bob? 07:18.720 --> 07:19.720 Yeah? 07:19.720 --> 07:20.720 Can you pull me back? 07:20.720 --> 07:21.720 I can't get Perucci out from here. 07:21.720 --> 07:22.720 I'm afraid I'll go over too. 07:22.720 --> 07:23.720 I'm right on the edge. 07:23.720 --> 07:24.720 Can he get a hold with his axe? 07:24.720 --> 07:25.720 No. 07:25.720 --> 07:26.720 He's hanging free. 07:26.720 --> 07:27.720 The wall slopes in. 07:27.720 --> 07:28.720 I'll try. 07:28.720 --> 07:29.720 You'll have to pull too, Bob. 07:29.720 --> 07:30.720 I can't do it alone. 07:30.720 --> 07:31.720 Too much weight. 07:31.720 --> 07:32.720 I tell you, I can't. 07:32.720 --> 07:33.720 I'm afraid to move. 07:33.720 --> 07:34.720 I can feel it going under me. 07:34.720 --> 07:35.720 All right. 07:35.720 --> 07:36.720 I'll try. 07:36.720 --> 07:37.720 I'll try. 07:37.720 --> 07:38.720 I'll try. 07:38.720 --> 07:39.720 I'll try. 07:39.720 --> 07:40.720 I'll try. 07:40.720 --> 07:41.720 I'll try. 07:41.720 --> 07:42.720 I'll try. 07:42.720 --> 07:43.720 I'll try. 07:43.720 --> 07:44.720 I'll try. 07:44.720 --> 07:45.720 I'll try. 07:45.720 --> 07:47.800 Can he feel it going under me, or around me? 07:47.800 --> 07:49.920 There's solid ice a couple of feet back. 07:49.920 --> 07:51.040 I can grab it with my axe. 07:51.040 --> 07:52.040 Don't let go! 07:52.040 --> 07:53.040 Don't let it go, slack. 07:53.040 --> 07:54.040 Bob! 07:54.040 --> 07:55.040 I'll go over. 07:55.040 --> 07:56.040 I won't. 07:56.040 --> 08:01.360 Just hang on! 08:01.360 --> 08:04.700 I knew that if I slipped when I reached behind me, it was the end. 08:04.700 --> 08:08.480 I looked at the figure of Eldridge below me, his body bent backwards, away from the drop 08:08.480 --> 08:09.480 beneath him. 08:09.480 --> 08:13.060 I closed my eyes, reached behind with my axe, and ducked into the ice. 08:13.060 --> 08:14.060 I can't. 08:14.060 --> 08:15.060 I'm slipping! 08:15.060 --> 08:16.060 I can't! 08:16.060 --> 08:18.860 And as Eldridge shouted, I thought I heard another cry. 08:18.860 --> 08:21.100 And suddenly the rope's weight was lighter. 08:21.100 --> 08:24.780 I saw Eldridge fall, then get up on hands and knees and crawl away from the crevasse, toward 08:24.780 --> 08:25.780 me. 08:25.780 --> 08:26.780 Norman! 08:26.780 --> 08:27.780 Where's Norman? 08:27.780 --> 08:28.780 He's gone. 08:28.780 --> 08:29.780 He fell. 08:29.780 --> 08:30.780 He's gone. 08:30.780 --> 08:31.780 He can't be. 08:31.780 --> 08:32.780 How? 08:32.780 --> 08:33.780 I don't know. 08:33.780 --> 08:37.500 Perhaps the rope frayed on some ice at the edge. 08:37.500 --> 08:38.500 Suddenly it went slack. 08:38.500 --> 08:39.500 I heard him, Bob. 08:39.500 --> 08:40.500 I heard him. 08:40.500 --> 08:41.500 Maybe it's not too deep. 08:41.500 --> 08:43.540 He might have fallen into a drift at the bottom. 08:43.540 --> 08:44.540 Stay here. 08:44.540 --> 08:52.020 I belayed the rope about the ice axe and paid out the rest of it as I slid down the slope 08:52.020 --> 08:53.020 to the crevasse. 08:53.020 --> 08:55.980 But when I looked over the edge, I knew. 08:55.980 --> 08:59.700 That dark blue, almost black emptiness below. 08:59.700 --> 09:00.700 I knew. 09:00.700 --> 09:04.420 There'd be no snow drift for Norman Perucci's body. 09:04.420 --> 09:13.100 Unless it was perhaps 10,000 feet below us. 09:13.100 --> 09:17.460 We bypassed that place, found a shelter from the wind and pitched our tent. 09:17.460 --> 09:19.660 For a long time, neither one of us spoke. 09:19.660 --> 09:23.260 I think we were too exhausted to say anything. 09:23.260 --> 09:25.460 Exhausted and shocked. 09:25.460 --> 09:29.260 There were only two of us now. 09:29.260 --> 09:32.060 I keep hearing him. 09:32.060 --> 09:33.060 I know. 09:33.060 --> 09:34.060 No, no. 09:34.060 --> 09:35.060 You don't. 09:35.060 --> 09:36.060 Not the way I do. 09:36.060 --> 09:39.060 He was a nice kid. 09:39.060 --> 09:40.060 Yes. 09:40.060 --> 09:45.300 It doesn't seem as cold without the wind. 09:45.300 --> 09:48.580 How high do you think we are? 09:48.580 --> 09:49.580 24,000. 09:49.580 --> 09:50.580 I wonder. 09:50.580 --> 09:52.780 It's a little hard to breathe. 09:52.780 --> 09:54.260 I'd better use the oxygen. 09:54.260 --> 09:55.260 No, not yet. 09:55.260 --> 09:56.260 We won't need it. 09:56.260 --> 09:57.260 Yes, yes we will. 09:57.260 --> 09:58.260 We'd better save it. 09:58.260 --> 09:59.620 We're going down in the morning. 09:59.620 --> 10:00.620 No. 10:00.620 --> 10:01.620 We've got to. 10:01.620 --> 10:04.180 You and I couldn't make it up there alone. 10:04.180 --> 10:06.540 It's 2,500 feet to go. 10:06.540 --> 10:07.540 Maybe more. 10:07.540 --> 10:09.660 No, we've got to go back. 10:09.660 --> 10:11.060 Let the others try. 10:11.060 --> 10:12.500 Just because he's gone, is that why? 10:12.500 --> 10:15.020 Look, I've done more climbing than you out here. 10:15.020 --> 10:17.060 What happened today is bad for the nerves. 10:17.060 --> 10:18.060 We couldn't make it. 10:18.060 --> 10:19.060 We'll go back. 10:19.060 --> 10:20.060 Try again later. 10:20.060 --> 10:21.460 The monsoons will be here later. 10:21.460 --> 10:22.660 We've got to do it now. 10:22.660 --> 10:24.260 Thomas and the others can do it. 10:24.260 --> 10:25.940 No, we'll keep going. 10:25.940 --> 10:26.940 I've got to. 10:26.940 --> 10:27.940 I'm not going back. 10:27.940 --> 10:28.940 What's the matter with you? 10:28.940 --> 10:29.940 You're talking like a kid. 10:29.940 --> 10:33.380 Look, I was the last one on your list when you got the party together, wasn't I? 10:33.380 --> 10:34.380 Yes. 10:34.380 --> 10:35.380 Why? 10:35.380 --> 10:36.380 Why was I last? 10:36.380 --> 10:37.380 I don't know. 10:37.380 --> 10:38.380 Somebody had to be. 10:38.380 --> 10:39.380 It was you, that's all. 10:39.380 --> 10:40.380 You didn't want me along. 10:40.380 --> 10:41.380 None of you did. 10:41.380 --> 10:42.380 You're here, aren't you? 10:42.380 --> 10:46.060 You know I'm afraid of climbing, don't you? 10:46.060 --> 10:47.980 Isn't everybody a little? 10:47.980 --> 10:49.420 Isn't that why we do it? 10:49.420 --> 10:50.420 Isn't that part of it? 10:50.420 --> 10:51.420 I mean really scared. 10:51.420 --> 10:52.660 I'm really scared. 10:52.660 --> 10:53.660 You know that. 10:53.660 --> 10:54.660 No, I don't. 10:54.660 --> 10:57.580 Look, something happened when Noy... 10:57.580 --> 10:59.300 Something happened to me today. 10:59.300 --> 11:01.500 I've got to go onto the top now. 11:01.500 --> 11:03.980 You think I'll call you a coward if we don't? 11:03.980 --> 11:04.980 No. 11:04.980 --> 11:06.460 All right, then forget it. 11:06.460 --> 11:08.460 We'll try again. 11:08.460 --> 11:10.220 Maybe next year. 11:10.220 --> 11:11.860 You'll be along, too. 11:11.860 --> 11:14.140 I'll do it alone, then. 11:14.140 --> 11:16.260 I'm going on alone. 11:16.260 --> 11:17.260 If you want to come with me, all right. 11:17.260 --> 11:19.180 If not, it doesn't matter anyway. 11:19.180 --> 11:20.180 I'm going on. 11:20.180 --> 11:21.180 So long. 11:21.180 --> 11:22.180 John. 11:22.180 --> 11:23.180 John! 11:23.180 --> 11:29.700 He didn't stop. 11:29.700 --> 11:32.900 Just moved up the ice slab and around the hammock out of sight. 11:32.900 --> 11:34.860 I went back inside the tent to get my pack. 11:34.860 --> 11:38.060 I couldn't let him do it alone, and I was trapped into going with him. 11:38.060 --> 11:40.780 Then I saw that the fool hadn't even taken his rope. 11:40.780 --> 11:43.060 It was neatly coiled in the corner. 11:43.060 --> 11:47.020 I grabbed it up, and as I did so, I saw the end of it. 11:47.020 --> 11:50.220 The end which had broken when Perucci hung over the crevasse. 11:50.220 --> 11:53.900 The rope which Eldridge had said was parted by the ice. 11:53.900 --> 11:55.940 But there were no frayed ends. 11:55.940 --> 11:56.940 The break was clean. 11:56.940 --> 12:05.260 It had been cut through, and the oil of Eldridge's knife blade was still on it. 12:05.260 --> 12:21.820 Auto Light is bringing you Mr. John Hodiac with Ben Wright as Eldridge in The Mountain, 12:21.820 --> 12:37.420 tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, Suspense. 12:37.420 --> 12:42.260 Oh an auto light staple's a battery for me. 12:42.260 --> 12:45.700 It's the finest fine battery I ever did see. 12:45.700 --> 12:50.380 That is the truth, Mr. McSaulay, and that famous auto light staple needs water only 12:50.380 --> 12:52.780 three times a year in normal car use. 12:52.780 --> 12:55.780 And how long, me boy, would you be repeating about the glass of fiber? 12:55.780 --> 12:57.580 A pleasure, a pleasure it is. 12:57.580 --> 13:01.380 Those fiber glass retaining mats surround every positive plate to reduce shedding and 13:01.380 --> 13:06.420 flaking and give the auto light staple longer life as proved by tests conducted according 13:06.420 --> 13:08.860 to accepted life cycle standards. 13:08.860 --> 13:11.820 So friends, visit your auto light battery dealer. 13:11.820 --> 13:16.540 He services all makes of batteries, and he's got an auto light staple for your car if a 13:16.540 --> 13:18.140 replacement is needed. 13:18.140 --> 13:22.460 To quickly locate your nearest auto light battery dealer, call Western Union by number. 13:22.460 --> 13:24.060 And ask for operator 25. 13:24.060 --> 13:29.340 I'll tell you where to get an auto light staple, the battery that needs water only three times 13:29.340 --> 13:31.460 a year in normal car use. 13:31.460 --> 13:36.860 And as they say in St. Patrick's Day, from bumper to tail light, you're always right 13:36.860 --> 13:40.000 with auto light. 13:40.000 --> 13:45.740 And now, auto light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage Mr. John Hodiac in Elliot Lewis's 13:45.740 --> 14:03.540 production of The Mountain, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 14:03.540 --> 14:06.820 When Eldridge had thought that he was going over the crevasse, he'd cut the rope which 14:06.820 --> 14:10.420 had held Norman Perucci's body some 20 feet into the chasm. 14:10.420 --> 14:13.020 To save his own life, he'd done this. 14:13.020 --> 14:21.140 I pulled the coil through the straps of my pack and left the tent. 14:21.140 --> 14:23.380 I caught up with Eldridge about 100 feet higher. 14:23.380 --> 14:27.940 He was standing on a shallow ledge catching his breath, and his head was tilted back, 14:27.940 --> 14:31.620 eyes fixed on that mountaintop, the brain of the monster. 14:31.620 --> 14:37.660 That nasty bit back there, I was cutting steps up the cliff, I nearly fell. 14:37.660 --> 14:38.660 You didn't though. 14:38.660 --> 14:39.660 No, I didn't. 14:39.660 --> 14:42.500 I say you're coming with me, eh? 14:42.500 --> 14:45.700 I want to see that you get down alive. 14:45.700 --> 14:47.140 You forgot your rope. 14:47.140 --> 14:49.460 I found it in the tent. 14:49.460 --> 14:51.500 I didn't think I'd need it. 14:51.500 --> 14:52.500 You might. 14:52.500 --> 14:53.500 Here. 14:53.500 --> 14:54.500 Thanks. 14:54.500 --> 14:57.500 We better tie on together. 14:57.500 --> 14:58.500 All right. 14:58.500 --> 15:03.500 Do you want to go first? 15:03.500 --> 15:04.500 No. 15:04.500 --> 15:07.100 It's your party now. 15:07.100 --> 15:08.100 You lead. 15:08.100 --> 15:09.100 All right. 15:09.100 --> 15:17.340 He had a funny look on his face as we roped together. 15:17.340 --> 15:20.340 I think he must have known then that I'd found out what he'd done. 15:20.340 --> 15:23.460 He didn't say anything though, but turned and began to move upwards. 15:23.460 --> 15:27.780 At three o'clock that afternoon, we were at about 25,000 feet. 15:27.780 --> 15:30.140 Was hard to breathe now, terribly hard. 15:30.140 --> 15:34.100 We decided to rest for a few minutes. 15:34.100 --> 15:38.820 I remembered looking down from the ridge, looking down into the incredible scene below. 15:38.820 --> 15:45.580 Then up, and the peak which loomed over us, clear against the sky, perhaps 1,500, perhaps 15:45.580 --> 15:48.140 2,000 feet over us. 15:48.140 --> 15:51.380 I remembered Perucci's excitement as he'd seen it further down. 15:51.380 --> 15:55.340 And even then, I thought it could be beaten, that we might do it. 15:55.340 --> 16:02.420 We'll lose the oxygen from here as soon as we start again. 16:02.420 --> 16:03.420 Can't do any more today. 16:03.420 --> 16:04.420 Oh yes. 16:04.420 --> 16:05.420 We can go higher. 16:05.420 --> 16:06.420 Then what? 16:06.420 --> 16:09.580 Then it gets dark camp. 16:09.580 --> 16:11.180 Finish it tomorrow, if we don't today. 16:11.180 --> 16:13.900 If a storm comes up, we'll be in trouble. 16:13.900 --> 16:14.900 It won't. 16:14.900 --> 16:17.700 If we're going to make it, I know we are. 16:17.700 --> 16:18.700 Then what? 16:18.700 --> 16:20.300 It doesn't matter after that. 16:20.300 --> 16:22.460 We'll have to go down to the others. 16:22.460 --> 16:24.220 Yes, I suppose so. 16:24.220 --> 16:27.100 We'll have to tell them about Norman. 16:27.100 --> 16:28.100 Yes. 16:28.100 --> 16:31.140 Are we going to tell the same story? 16:31.140 --> 16:32.540 I think we will. 16:32.540 --> 16:37.220 You know why I followed you, why I came along? 16:37.220 --> 16:38.220 Yes. 16:38.220 --> 16:39.980 Just like that. 16:39.980 --> 16:41.300 Yes. 16:41.300 --> 16:43.140 You murdered a man and that's all there is to it. 16:43.140 --> 16:44.140 I was afraid. 16:44.140 --> 16:45.820 I knew if I went over, we'd all go. 16:45.820 --> 16:46.820 It was the only way. 16:46.820 --> 16:48.300 If you'd waited, we could have got him out. 16:48.300 --> 16:49.740 I didn't know it then. 16:49.740 --> 16:50.780 I felt myself going. 16:50.780 --> 16:51.780 I had to do it. 16:51.780 --> 16:52.780 What's all this for? 16:52.780 --> 16:54.220 To wipe out the sin? 16:54.220 --> 16:56.380 Get to the peak and be a man again? 16:56.380 --> 16:58.780 In a way, perhaps. 16:58.780 --> 17:00.620 You won't be. 17:00.620 --> 17:02.380 You'll never be. 17:02.380 --> 17:07.820 When this gets out, and it's going to, there'll be no place for you to hide. 17:07.820 --> 17:10.740 No place to go. 17:10.740 --> 17:17.700 We better get moving. 17:17.700 --> 17:24.060 We began to use the oxygen sparingly and kept moving up, slower and slower. 17:24.060 --> 17:26.380 Our hearts pounding with the effort. 17:26.380 --> 17:27.940 Hundred feet. 17:27.940 --> 17:30.060 Two hundred. 17:30.060 --> 17:31.060 Three. 17:31.060 --> 17:33.780 I began to feel lightheaded. 17:33.780 --> 17:34.780 I couldn't. 17:34.780 --> 17:36.780 Not another step. 17:36.780 --> 17:39.620 I couldn't. 17:39.620 --> 17:41.900 Then it was four hundred feet. 17:41.900 --> 17:52.220 Eldridge collapsed in front of me and lay in the fine snow, sobbing. 17:52.220 --> 17:53.220 We stop. 17:53.220 --> 17:54.220 Stop here. 17:54.220 --> 17:55.220 We've got to go on. 17:55.220 --> 17:56.220 No. 17:56.220 --> 17:57.220 Go on. 17:57.220 --> 18:10.100 And he sobbed like a child. 18:10.100 --> 18:14.140 His mind willed him to keep going and his body wouldn't allow it. 18:14.140 --> 18:18.660 We lay there using our precious oxygen because I think had we not done so, we'd have died 18:18.660 --> 18:19.660 of fatigue. 18:19.660 --> 18:22.500 The wind had died down. 18:22.500 --> 18:23.500 Completely. 18:23.500 --> 18:32.140 And there was a silence so complete that you could almost imagine it bore a sound in itself. 18:32.140 --> 18:33.140 Deadening. 18:33.140 --> 18:34.140 Awful. 18:34.140 --> 18:37.300 We made camp and tried to sleep. 18:37.300 --> 18:40.300 We were too tired to think of food. 18:40.300 --> 18:48.700 With the night came a heavy mist and it began to grow much colder. 18:48.700 --> 18:51.780 The morning of May 20th was gray, clouded. 18:51.780 --> 18:56.140 The peak of the mountain was shrouded and I knew that it was going to snow. 18:56.140 --> 18:57.860 Directly ahead of us was an ice wall. 18:57.860 --> 19:00.260 There was no way around it. 19:00.260 --> 19:07.500 We had to climb almost vertically, cut our own steps with ice axe, one by one, and climb. 19:07.500 --> 19:08.820 This time I took the lead. 19:08.820 --> 19:14.180 And as I nodded the rope, Eldridge said, you don't trust me, do you? 19:14.180 --> 19:20.020 You're afraid if I'm leading a new fall, I'll cut the rope again. 19:20.020 --> 19:22.060 You might. 19:22.060 --> 19:23.060 Let's go. 19:23.060 --> 19:30.620 At that point we had ascended 25,400 feet. 19:30.620 --> 19:33.460 The ice wall would take us another hundred higher. 19:33.460 --> 19:36.180 The wind began to blow when we were halfway up. 19:36.180 --> 19:39.180 Two pathetic specks on a wall of the world. 19:39.180 --> 19:45.780 We'll move around to the right after this step. 19:45.780 --> 19:48.580 There's a bit of a ledge. 19:48.580 --> 19:51.260 I'll cut it. 19:51.260 --> 19:52.260 Okay. 19:52.260 --> 19:53.260 Come on. 19:53.260 --> 20:06.660 The ledge was at most 10 inches wide, narrowing down in places to no more than a toehold. 20:06.660 --> 20:10.140 I felt my way along until the ledge gave out. 20:10.140 --> 20:12.940 Then the hacking of steps began again. 20:12.940 --> 20:15.020 The wind tore at me, screamed. 20:15.020 --> 20:19.780 And like a great hand tried to sweep me off the wall. 20:19.780 --> 20:23.660 Once I looked down and it was as though a white blanket were stretched out beneath. 20:23.660 --> 20:25.740 It was snow. 20:25.740 --> 20:28.740 I could see it billowing up and around. 20:28.740 --> 20:32.180 While above the summit ignored everything beneath. 20:32.180 --> 20:35.460 The blizzard hit us as we reached the top of the ice wall. 20:35.460 --> 20:40.460 We found a little shelter in the lee of a pyramid-shaped summit and waited. 20:40.460 --> 20:42.460 And then the slope seemed to lurch. 20:42.460 --> 20:45.940 And I had a split second to see the wave of snow pouring down on me. 20:45.940 --> 20:46.940 It was over. 20:46.940 --> 20:47.940 Done. 20:47.940 --> 20:49.940 The avalanche swept us down, smothering, killing. 20:49.940 --> 20:52.940 And I thought of the ice wall and the drop below. 20:52.940 --> 21:11.340 That's all I remember. 21:11.340 --> 21:12.940 I had stopped falling. 21:12.940 --> 21:16.460 It was my first thought when I came to. 21:16.460 --> 21:18.940 I wasn't dead. 21:18.940 --> 21:22.580 I saw a pair of legs crouch next to me. 21:22.580 --> 21:25.060 I didn't think you were going to make it. 21:25.060 --> 21:27.700 Where'd I land? 21:27.700 --> 21:29.260 Hanging over the ice wall? 21:29.260 --> 21:32.100 But you were behind me. 21:32.100 --> 21:34.340 You didn't go over. 21:34.340 --> 21:35.340 No. 21:35.340 --> 21:37.220 Don't ask me why. 21:37.220 --> 21:41.940 It must have been a corner of the avalanche that hit us. 21:41.940 --> 21:44.660 You ended up pulling me down. 21:44.660 --> 21:48.140 My axe caught in one of the steps and it held us both. 21:48.140 --> 21:50.380 And you pulled me up. 21:50.380 --> 21:52.860 Yeah, looks like it. 21:52.860 --> 21:53.860 Thanks. 21:53.860 --> 21:56.780 How long have I been out? 21:56.780 --> 21:57.780 An hour. 21:57.780 --> 22:01.140 A little more. 22:01.140 --> 22:02.140 Blizzard's letting up. 22:02.140 --> 22:03.140 Yeah. 22:03.140 --> 22:04.140 Yeah. 22:04.140 --> 22:05.140 Yeah. 22:05.140 --> 22:08.100 Did it feel like going on? 22:08.100 --> 22:09.700 I think so. 22:09.700 --> 22:11.740 All right. 22:11.740 --> 22:13.740 You tell me something. 22:13.740 --> 22:15.140 What? 22:15.140 --> 22:17.500 Why did you pull me out of it? 22:17.500 --> 22:20.660 Why didn't you just let me go over the edge? 22:20.660 --> 22:22.780 Then you wouldn't have had me around to tell. 22:22.780 --> 22:26.420 Look, I'm not a murderer, Bob. 22:26.420 --> 22:29.900 I cut Norman's rope because I was afraid. 22:29.900 --> 22:33.260 If I thought there was even a chance of us not falling, I wouldn't have done it. 22:33.260 --> 22:34.260 But I didn't know. 22:34.260 --> 22:35.260 Oh. 22:35.260 --> 22:39.060 That doesn't excuse me. 22:39.060 --> 22:41.660 But it doesn't mean I'd kill you to get out of it. 22:41.660 --> 22:42.660 No. 22:42.660 --> 22:44.900 I'd better save the talk. 22:44.900 --> 22:46.940 We'll need our breath. 22:46.940 --> 22:50.100 You want to lead or shall I? 22:50.100 --> 22:57.620 I'll do it. 22:57.620 --> 23:02.260 The storm had passed and although we could see the cold sky again, the peak was still 23:02.260 --> 23:05.620 only occasionally visible through patches of mist. 23:05.620 --> 23:09.020 We went up, higher, higher. 23:09.020 --> 23:12.540 And then my oxygen tank went out and we had to share outages. 23:12.540 --> 23:14.860 We'd nearly reached 26,000 feet. 23:14.860 --> 23:16.780 We could see the top. 23:16.780 --> 23:21.420 For a moment it stood out clear and it looked so easy. 23:21.420 --> 23:23.500 The last lap. 23:23.500 --> 23:29.220 But now we could only move a few steps at a time until we had to rest and I couldn't 23:29.220 --> 23:30.220 get up again. 23:30.220 --> 23:38.860 It looks pretty easy past that ridge. 23:38.860 --> 23:42.780 I have to wait. 23:42.780 --> 23:45.220 All right. 23:45.220 --> 23:46.220 Wait for me. 23:46.220 --> 23:47.220 No. 23:47.220 --> 23:48.220 Go on. 23:48.220 --> 23:49.220 No, together. 23:49.220 --> 23:50.220 Just wait. 23:50.220 --> 23:52.220 A couple of minutes. 23:52.220 --> 23:53.220 Oh. 23:53.220 --> 23:54.220 It'll be getting dark. 23:54.220 --> 23:56.220 I'll come back for you. 23:56.220 --> 23:57.220 No. 23:57.220 --> 23:58.220 A minute. 23:58.220 --> 23:59.220 Yeah. 23:59.220 --> 24:00.220 You? 24:00.220 --> 24:01.220 You take the oxygen. 24:01.220 --> 24:02.220 No. 24:02.220 --> 24:03.220 No, John. 24:03.220 --> 24:04.220 No. 24:04.220 --> 24:05.220 I won't need it. 24:05.220 --> 24:06.220 You wait here. 24:06.220 --> 24:07.220 No. 24:07.220 --> 24:08.220 I'll get down again. 24:08.220 --> 24:09.220 Wait. 24:09.220 --> 24:10.220 Look, I'm sorry. 24:10.220 --> 24:11.220 I was afraid. 24:11.220 --> 24:12.220 I'm still afraid. 24:12.220 --> 24:13.220 That's why I've got to do it. 24:13.220 --> 24:14.220 You understand? 24:14.220 --> 24:15.220 Come on, Bob. 24:15.220 --> 24:37.420 I didn't have the strength to stop him as he untied the rope which had held us together. 24:37.420 --> 24:39.500 Then he was gone. 24:39.500 --> 24:42.060 And after a while, I felt stronger. 24:42.060 --> 24:43.940 I sat up. 24:43.940 --> 24:48.380 I could see him, a dark blob against the mountain snow. 24:48.380 --> 24:49.380 Smaller. 24:49.380 --> 24:50.380 Smaller. 24:50.380 --> 24:53.900 And he was climbing upwards. 24:53.900 --> 24:59.980 He'd reached the final pinnacle and became a dot that was lost in the mist. 24:59.980 --> 25:02.540 I saw Eldridge once more. 25:02.540 --> 25:06.740 He couldn't have been more than 250 feet below the peak. 25:06.740 --> 25:09.220 For perhaps 10 seconds, I saw him. 25:09.220 --> 25:12.340 And then he disappeared. 25:12.340 --> 25:14.980 I waited. 25:14.980 --> 25:17.100 Waited into the night. 25:17.100 --> 25:19.460 The next morning, I began to look for him. 25:19.460 --> 25:21.580 But the oxygen was gone. 25:21.580 --> 25:25.340 I knew that if I had to climb another foot, I'd die. 25:25.340 --> 25:26.900 So I turned back. 25:26.900 --> 25:29.420 There was no wind anymore. 25:29.420 --> 25:33.060 It was almost warm. 25:33.060 --> 25:34.060 Somehow I got down. 25:34.060 --> 25:36.460 Down to the base camp. 25:36.460 --> 25:39.140 I told him the story. 25:39.140 --> 25:41.860 Almost the whole story, but not quite. 25:41.860 --> 25:47.700 I changed a rope which had been cut with a knife into a rope which had frayed and parted 25:47.700 --> 25:50.220 on the ice. 25:50.220 --> 25:57.420 I remember as we started down to the valley below, I turned and stood a minute looking 25:57.420 --> 26:01.140 back, looking up. 26:01.140 --> 26:07.660 Then a cloud softly poured over the peak. 26:07.660 --> 26:22.940 And in a moment, the mountain was gone. 26:22.940 --> 26:42.580 Suspense, presented by Autolite, tonight's star, Mr. John Hodiac. 26:42.580 --> 26:47.820 This is Harlow Wilcox again speaking for Autolite, world's largest independent manufacturer of 26:47.820 --> 26:50.180 automotive electrical equipment. 26:50.180 --> 26:53.980 Autolite is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry. 26:53.980 --> 26:59.460 That's why during these early months of 1953, the Autolite family joins again in saluting 26:59.460 --> 27:05.180 the leading car manufacturers who install Autolite products as original equipment. 27:05.180 --> 27:10.020 Our Autolite family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great Autolite 27:10.020 --> 27:15.540 plants from coast to coast, and in still other Autolite plants in many foreign countries. 27:15.540 --> 27:19.780 Our family also includes more than 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their 27:19.780 --> 27:26.300 savings in Autolite, as well as 98,000 Autolite distributors and dealers in the United States, 27:26.300 --> 27:29.740 and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world. 27:29.740 --> 27:35.180 Three weeks from now, as the climax of this year's Autolite family salute program, Autolite 27:35.180 --> 27:40.880 will present special programs on both radio and television, direct from the Easter Parade 27:40.880 --> 27:45.460 of Stars Auto Show in New York's Waldorf Historia Hotel. 27:45.460 --> 27:49.980 So don't miss this exciting Suspense radio program originating from the grand ballroom 27:49.980 --> 28:00.180 of the Waldorf Historia on Monday, April 6th. 28:00.180 --> 28:04.720 Next week, a story in the classic tradition of suspense as we present a new version of 28:04.720 --> 28:09.500 Charles Dickens' terrifying short story, The Signalman. 28:09.500 --> 28:14.220 Our star, the First Lady of suspense, Miss Agnes Moorhead. 28:14.220 --> 28:19.620 That's next week on Suspense. 28:19.620 --> 28:22.780 The Mountain was written for suspense by Anthony Ellis. 28:22.780 --> 28:27.700 The program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morawick 28:27.700 --> 28:29.900 and conducted by Lutte Gluskin. 28:29.900 --> 28:32.380 In tonight's play, Ben Wright was heard as Eldridge. 28:32.380 --> 28:38.220 Featured in the cast were Joseph Kearns, John Fraser, Paul Fries, and James McCallion. 28:38.220 --> 28:43.720 John Hodiac may soon be seen in the Columbia Pictures production, Mission Over Korea. 28:43.720 --> 28:50.780 And remember next week, Miss Agnes Moorhead in Charles Dickens' The Signalman. 28:50.780 --> 28:55.980 Tomorrow is an important day not only to the wearers of the green, but also to the Campfire 28:55.980 --> 28:56.980 Girls. 28:56.980 --> 29:02.820 March 17th marks the 43rd anniversary of this organization dedicated to teaching American 29:02.820 --> 29:06.260 girls how to become good citizens of the future. 29:06.260 --> 29:12.900 Auto Light congratulates the Campfire Girls and their inspired leaders. 29:12.900 --> 29:14.980 This is the CBS Radio Network.