WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:15.000 And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 00:15.000 --> 00:20.800 Tonight, the story of two young men and a frightening dare. 00:20.800 --> 00:22.820 We call it The Game. 00:22.820 --> 00:28.880 So now, starring Sam Edwards and Gil Stratton, Jr., here is tonight's suspense play, The 00:28.880 --> 00:40.800 Game. 00:40.800 --> 00:42.120 There were two of them. 00:42.120 --> 00:48.680 They stood on the corner of Main and Elm, leaning back against the wall, indolent, 00:48.680 --> 00:53.740 the summer sun warm, bringing to them the astringent odor of soft tar in the cracks 00:53.740 --> 00:54.740 of the sidewalk. 00:54.740 --> 01:01.440 It was two o'clock by the hands of the jewelers' clock a few doors down the street. 01:01.440 --> 01:11.560 And it was at two o'clock, quite innocently at first, that the dreadful game began. 01:11.560 --> 01:12.560 What do you want to do, Pen? 01:12.560 --> 01:13.560 I don't know. 01:13.560 --> 01:14.560 You? 01:14.560 --> 01:17.080 No, I don't know. 01:17.080 --> 01:19.640 I guess we could have a couple of games of ping pong. 01:19.640 --> 01:22.640 You got the bill? 01:22.640 --> 01:25.760 I don't know. 01:25.760 --> 01:26.760 Forty cents. 01:26.760 --> 01:27.760 We could, Red. 01:27.760 --> 01:28.760 I don't know. 01:28.760 --> 01:33.360 No, I don't feel like it. 01:33.360 --> 01:34.360 Okay. 01:34.360 --> 01:37.480 Hey, we could shoot some pool. 01:37.480 --> 01:38.480 What's the matter? 01:38.480 --> 01:39.760 You always want to play games. 01:39.760 --> 01:42.760 Kid stuff. 01:42.760 --> 01:43.760 Know something? 01:43.760 --> 01:44.760 What? 01:44.760 --> 01:46.480 I feel like getting drunk. 01:46.480 --> 01:47.480 You're kidding. 01:47.480 --> 01:48.480 I'm not kidding. 01:48.480 --> 01:49.480 You're kidding. 01:49.480 --> 01:50.480 What do you want to get drunk for? 01:50.480 --> 01:51.480 For fun. 01:51.480 --> 01:55.280 My folks won't be back till later tonight. 01:55.280 --> 01:57.040 Not me, boy. 01:57.040 --> 01:58.040 Not me. 01:58.040 --> 01:59.840 I can get hold of a bottle. 01:59.840 --> 02:01.880 Not me, boy. 02:01.880 --> 02:02.880 Chicken? 02:02.880 --> 02:03.880 That's me. 02:03.880 --> 02:05.880 Okay, so long. 02:05.880 --> 02:07.800 Hey, Red. 02:07.800 --> 02:10.040 Wait a minute. 02:10.040 --> 02:11.040 You kidding? 02:11.040 --> 02:12.840 What do you want to do that for? 02:12.840 --> 02:14.320 You got any better ideas what to do? 02:14.320 --> 02:15.320 No, but... 02:15.320 --> 02:16.320 Okay, I'll see you. 02:16.320 --> 02:18.240 You know what would happen if they ever found out? 02:18.240 --> 02:19.920 They won't find out. 02:19.920 --> 02:23.000 You can stay over at my house tonight, call your folks, nobody will know. 02:23.000 --> 02:24.000 That's crazy. 02:24.000 --> 02:25.000 No, it isn't. 02:25.000 --> 02:27.680 Don't you ever want to do something different? 02:27.680 --> 02:29.400 We're not kids. 02:29.400 --> 02:30.400 Maybe you are. 02:30.400 --> 02:32.440 Maybe you need a couple of drinks to grow up. 02:32.440 --> 02:34.840 Big man, I'm two weeks older than you. 02:34.840 --> 02:35.840 Not up here, boy. 02:35.840 --> 02:36.840 Not up here. 02:36.840 --> 02:37.840 Nuts to you. 02:37.840 --> 02:45.560 And they walked slowly, carrying the idea to a White house with gray trim. 02:45.560 --> 02:50.280 A house well lived in, empty now, but waiting. 02:50.280 --> 02:56.920 And the boys went in, upstairs, and to a room papered with ships and pennants, signs and 02:56.920 --> 02:57.920 maps. 02:57.920 --> 03:01.920 The one, Red, disappeared for a few minutes. 03:01.920 --> 03:05.000 The other tried to become interested in a book of fighting ships. 03:05.000 --> 03:14.120 He was afraid of what was to come, knowing why, and not quite knowing. 03:14.120 --> 03:19.320 That your father's? 03:19.320 --> 03:22.040 No, the gardener hid it in the wood shed. 03:22.040 --> 03:24.640 I found it a couple of weeks ago, hid it somewhere else. 03:24.640 --> 03:26.920 Boy, I bet that fractured. 03:26.920 --> 03:30.640 How do you like it? 03:30.640 --> 03:32.280 I don't care. 03:32.280 --> 03:33.280 Straight? 03:33.280 --> 03:34.280 Sure. 03:34.280 --> 03:36.480 Water chaser? 03:36.480 --> 03:37.920 What about you? 03:37.920 --> 03:39.760 No water for me. 03:39.760 --> 03:40.760 Same thing then. 03:40.760 --> 03:46.960 Sit down, we'll talk. 03:46.960 --> 03:49.800 They drank, and they didn't like it. 03:49.800 --> 03:52.720 But they'd started the game, and they couldn't stop. 03:52.720 --> 03:58.360 A small clock with an owl front piece ticked above them, the eyes of the bird metronomically 03:58.360 --> 04:01.080 switching from side to side. 04:01.080 --> 04:06.320 A car passed occasionally, and there was a tension, until the sound of tire and engine 04:06.320 --> 04:08.440 faded away. 04:08.440 --> 04:14.080 It didn't take too long for the warmth to grow, and the eyes to become hot, the tongue 04:14.080 --> 04:17.080 loose. 04:17.080 --> 04:20.440 Thanks. 04:20.440 --> 04:30.920 Boy, not bad, huh? 04:30.920 --> 04:32.960 Feel pretty good? 04:32.960 --> 04:36.000 Yeah, pretty good. 04:36.000 --> 04:41.960 Boy, Elaine, wouldn't be bad having her up here now, huh? 04:41.960 --> 04:43.840 Yeah, wouldn't be bad. 04:43.840 --> 04:45.960 You ever take her out? 04:45.960 --> 04:48.440 A couple of times, I guess. 04:48.440 --> 04:49.440 All right, huh? 04:49.440 --> 04:50.440 Nick? 04:50.440 --> 04:51.440 No, not much. 04:51.440 --> 04:54.880 Oh, I thought you two were like that. 04:54.880 --> 04:56.720 That's what I heard last term. 04:56.720 --> 04:57.720 You kidding? 04:57.720 --> 05:02.840 You know, you know what's the matter with you, Pen? 05:02.840 --> 05:03.880 What? 05:03.880 --> 05:04.880 You're soft. 05:04.880 --> 05:07.440 I'm your friend, boy, I can tell you. 05:07.440 --> 05:10.440 What the other guys say, think, you know? 05:10.440 --> 05:12.040 Guts, boy. 05:12.040 --> 05:14.200 Not all there, not enough. 05:14.200 --> 05:15.600 I'm your friend, Penny. 05:15.600 --> 05:16.600 I like you. 05:16.600 --> 05:18.880 But you gotta have guts. 05:18.880 --> 05:19.880 I've got guts. 05:19.880 --> 05:20.880 Not enough. 05:20.880 --> 05:22.680 And that's what all the guys think. 05:22.680 --> 05:25.960 Pen's okay, but kind of soft, you know? 05:25.960 --> 05:26.960 Chicken. 05:26.960 --> 05:27.960 Yeah? 05:27.960 --> 05:28.960 I'm telling you. 05:28.960 --> 05:32.560 I don't want to be a pal to a guy who's soft. 05:32.560 --> 05:33.560 You gotta be hard. 05:33.560 --> 05:34.560 Be like the other guys. 05:34.560 --> 05:37.640 How do you figure all this? 05:37.640 --> 05:39.120 Nobody asked you. 05:39.120 --> 05:40.560 I know what I am. 05:40.560 --> 05:41.560 I know. 05:41.560 --> 05:44.360 I'm not soft, not chicken. 05:44.360 --> 05:45.360 Ah, you. 05:45.360 --> 05:47.440 You're afraid to get drunk with me. 05:47.440 --> 05:49.560 I'm getting drunk with you. 05:49.560 --> 05:51.840 Because you're afraid I'd think you were chicken, that's why. 05:51.840 --> 05:52.840 That's why. 05:52.840 --> 05:53.840 You're crazy. 05:53.840 --> 05:55.840 I've seen you afraid, Penny. 05:55.840 --> 05:58.560 I had to explain it to the guys. 05:58.560 --> 05:59.560 When? 05:59.560 --> 06:00.560 When? 06:00.560 --> 06:04.280 That time we went shooting ducks with your old man's shotgun. 06:04.280 --> 06:05.280 You were chicken then. 06:05.280 --> 06:06.280 You're crazy. 06:06.280 --> 06:08.920 The guys thought you were. 06:08.920 --> 06:09.920 Afraid of the gun. 06:09.920 --> 06:11.800 That's not chicken. 06:11.800 --> 06:13.760 That's what I told them. 06:13.760 --> 06:16.720 But I'm not sure. 06:16.720 --> 06:17.720 Let's forget it. 06:17.720 --> 06:18.720 Uh-uh. 06:18.720 --> 06:22.880 You can't run out on that, boy. 06:22.880 --> 06:24.120 I'm your friend, Pen. 06:24.120 --> 06:26.320 I'm telling you for your own good. 06:26.320 --> 06:27.320 Okay, okay. 06:27.320 --> 06:28.760 You've told me. 06:28.760 --> 06:30.760 I'm chicken, no guts. 06:30.760 --> 06:31.760 Forget it. 06:31.760 --> 06:33.760 Afraid of a gun. 06:33.760 --> 06:38.400 You and me could never go hunting up in the mountains, I'll tell you that. 06:38.400 --> 06:39.400 Cut it out. 06:39.400 --> 06:40.400 You're a kid. 06:40.400 --> 06:41.400 You're chicken. 06:41.400 --> 06:42.400 You want to fight. 06:42.400 --> 06:44.040 Is that what you want? 06:44.040 --> 06:45.040 You want to? 06:45.040 --> 06:46.040 Because if you do, I... 06:46.040 --> 06:47.040 What for? 06:47.040 --> 06:48.040 That doesn't mean anything. 06:48.040 --> 06:52.160 Kid stuff. 06:52.160 --> 06:55.440 I got a better idea. 06:55.440 --> 06:58.640 You want to really do something that'll show, boy? 06:58.640 --> 07:01.240 That'll really show it? 07:01.240 --> 07:02.600 Do what? 07:02.600 --> 07:04.320 Play a game. 07:04.320 --> 07:06.080 You like games? 07:06.080 --> 07:07.320 Real easy game to learn. 07:07.320 --> 07:08.320 Nothing to it. 07:08.320 --> 07:11.320 Here, have a drink. 07:11.320 --> 07:13.320 Sit down. 07:13.320 --> 07:14.320 Game? 07:14.320 --> 07:15.320 Mm-hmm. 07:15.320 --> 07:17.440 I read about it a while back. 07:17.440 --> 07:18.440 Russian roulette. 07:18.440 --> 07:20.600 Never heard of it. 07:20.600 --> 07:21.600 Some kind of gambling? 07:21.600 --> 07:23.360 I'll tell you. 07:23.360 --> 07:25.560 It's real easy. 07:25.560 --> 07:27.760 First you get a gun. 07:27.760 --> 07:30.240 A revolver, Penny. 07:30.240 --> 07:31.240 Bullet gun. 07:31.240 --> 07:33.400 So what? 07:33.400 --> 07:38.280 You take one bullet and you leave it in the gun, see? 07:38.280 --> 07:39.280 Then we take turns. 07:39.280 --> 07:43.180 What kind of a crazy game is that? 07:43.180 --> 07:47.000 We take turns pointing at our heads and pulling the trigger. 07:47.000 --> 07:53.040 If nothing happens to you, I take the gun, spin the cylinder and point it at my head 07:53.040 --> 07:54.720 and shoot. 07:54.720 --> 07:56.720 You call that a game? 07:56.720 --> 07:57.720 Sure. 07:57.720 --> 08:00.000 See which one goes chicken first. 08:00.000 --> 08:01.480 You never know where the bullet is. 08:01.480 --> 08:06.200 If you spin the cylinder and the bullet comes up on your turn, bluey. 08:06.200 --> 08:07.200 That's nuts. 08:07.200 --> 08:09.240 In this book, it went on a long time. 08:09.240 --> 08:10.960 Then one guy got like you'd get. 08:10.960 --> 08:12.720 He was chicken and he folded up. 08:12.720 --> 08:14.360 Listen, I'm sick of hearing you say that. 08:14.360 --> 08:15.360 I'm sick of it. 08:15.360 --> 08:16.360 You hear? 08:16.360 --> 08:17.520 You want to know something? 08:17.520 --> 08:18.920 You'd get chicken before me. 08:18.920 --> 08:19.920 You. 08:19.920 --> 08:21.760 I wouldn't do it to you, Penn. 08:21.760 --> 08:22.760 Don't worry. 08:22.760 --> 08:23.760 It wouldn't be fair. 08:23.760 --> 08:24.760 Forget it. 08:24.760 --> 08:25.980 Wait a minute now. 08:25.980 --> 08:26.980 You started this. 08:26.980 --> 08:29.040 So go ahead and finish it. 08:29.040 --> 08:31.560 Your old man got a gun, has he? 08:31.560 --> 08:32.560 Sure. 08:32.560 --> 08:33.560 Okay. 08:33.560 --> 08:34.560 You want to be crazy? 08:34.560 --> 08:35.560 Okay. 08:35.560 --> 08:36.560 Go ahead. 08:36.560 --> 08:37.560 Get the gun. 08:37.560 --> 08:38.560 Go ahead. 08:38.560 --> 08:39.560 Well, go on. 08:39.560 --> 08:40.560 Get it. 08:40.560 --> 08:44.800 Let's start playing. 08:44.800 --> 08:46.960 Red smiled a smile of pity. 08:46.960 --> 08:50.800 With deliberate ease, he sauntered from the room. 08:50.800 --> 08:56.000 Penn might have seen him stagger a moment as he reached the door, but Penn wasn't looking. 08:56.000 --> 09:04.200 He was noticing for the first time his hands lying flattened on the table, disassociated. 09:04.200 --> 09:06.320 And there was a scar on the right index finger. 09:06.320 --> 09:12.280 He got it when he cut himself 12 years before on his first borrowed scout knife. 09:12.280 --> 09:17.960 Now the scar, a memory on a trigger finger. 09:17.960 --> 09:24.480 He didn't look up again until Red came back with the gun. 09:24.480 --> 09:26.080 38. 09:26.080 --> 09:27.080 That's the best gun. 09:27.080 --> 09:30.080 Want to hold it? 09:30.080 --> 09:31.080 No. 09:31.080 --> 09:35.120 I figured you wouldn't. 09:35.120 --> 09:36.120 It's okay. 09:36.120 --> 09:37.120 We'll forget it. 09:37.120 --> 09:40.240 Go ahead. 09:40.240 --> 09:43.240 Take out the bullets. 09:43.240 --> 09:45.280 Okay. 09:45.280 --> 09:47.480 Take out five, leave one. 09:47.480 --> 09:49.080 Huh, Penny? 09:49.080 --> 09:50.080 Yeah. 09:50.080 --> 09:53.680 Take out five, leave what? 09:53.680 --> 09:59.480 One bullet. 09:59.480 --> 10:15.080 For you or for me? 10:15.080 --> 10:17.080 Okay? 10:17.080 --> 10:19.080 Okay. 10:19.080 --> 10:26.880 The gun. 10:26.880 --> 10:31.560 The gun rested muzzled to the wall in the center of the table bearing scratches made 10:31.560 --> 10:36.080 by a three-year-old in the forgotten moment of high experience. 10:36.080 --> 10:40.600 The boys sat opposite each other looking down at the gun. 10:40.600 --> 10:45.600 And the gun waited. 10:45.600 --> 10:47.080 You want to go first? 10:47.080 --> 10:49.520 Doesn't make any difference. 10:49.520 --> 10:51.880 Me either. 10:51.880 --> 10:53.880 Flip a coin. 10:53.880 --> 10:55.880 Okay. 10:55.880 --> 10:57.880 Call. 10:57.880 --> 10:59.880 Heads. 10:59.880 --> 11:01.880 Okay. 11:01.880 --> 11:09.880 I'll take the first shot. 11:09.880 --> 11:12.800 There was a ceremony to the game then. 11:12.800 --> 11:17.280 A matchmanship with a toss of a coin, a drink of whiskey. 11:17.280 --> 11:24.120 The glass put down and next to come the lifting of the gun. 11:24.120 --> 11:29.080 Pins stared at it and thought how he could best reach out to take the handle gracefully, 11:29.080 --> 11:30.080 practically. 11:30.080 --> 11:37.040 He had never held a revolver in his life. 11:37.040 --> 11:41.040 I've got to spin the cylinder? 11:41.040 --> 11:48.080 No, no, the other way. 11:48.080 --> 11:53.080 Now. 11:53.080 --> 11:55.840 What's the odds the bullet comes up when I shoot? 11:55.840 --> 11:57.880 I don't know. 11:57.880 --> 11:58.880 One in six, I guess. 11:58.880 --> 11:59.880 I don't know. 11:59.880 --> 12:00.880 Okay. 12:00.880 --> 12:05.160 He was a careful boy. 12:05.160 --> 12:12.480 And so he didn't put the muzzle to his head immediately. 12:12.480 --> 12:18.040 At this point of the game, there was a numbness which did not allow for speculation of pain, 12:18.040 --> 12:20.080 mother, father. 12:20.080 --> 12:24.400 Rather he was surprised by the weight of the gun, the physical oneness with it lying in 12:24.400 --> 12:25.400 his hand. 12:25.400 --> 12:29.880 He was afraid of it and fascinated in his fear. 12:29.880 --> 12:30.880 Red watched. 12:30.880 --> 12:32.880 His mouth open a little. 12:32.880 --> 12:38.840 His eyes reddened with drinking, but bright, watchful, seeing the friend of his youth slowly 12:38.840 --> 12:45.080 raise the gun unsteady and awkwardly turning the barrel to his head. 12:45.080 --> 12:56.440 He wet his lips and waited. 12:56.440 --> 12:58.440 Didn't go off. 12:58.440 --> 13:00.440 No. 13:00.440 --> 13:03.640 How did it feel, Pen? 13:03.640 --> 13:05.640 I don't know. 13:05.640 --> 13:08.240 Were you scared? 13:08.240 --> 13:09.240 I guess so. 13:09.240 --> 13:11.880 I don't know. 13:11.880 --> 13:13.240 You sure looked scared. 13:13.240 --> 13:14.240 Real white. 13:14.240 --> 13:16.400 I didn't think you'd do it. 13:16.400 --> 13:18.280 You took long enough. 13:18.280 --> 13:20.440 You're doing a lot of talking. 13:20.440 --> 13:21.440 You scared? 13:21.440 --> 13:23.880 It's your turn. 13:23.880 --> 13:26.880 Give me the gun. 13:26.880 --> 13:29.960 Boy. 13:29.960 --> 13:33.280 It's a real gun. 13:33.280 --> 13:35.440 Remember when we were kids, cap pistols. 13:35.440 --> 13:38.960 Bet you never thought we'd be doing this. 13:38.960 --> 13:40.960 No. 13:40.960 --> 13:42.640 Okay. 13:42.640 --> 13:47.960 My turn. 13:47.960 --> 13:49.520 Where are you, baby? 13:49.520 --> 13:50.520 Where are you? 13:50.520 --> 13:57.120 You want to make a side bet on this one? 13:57.120 --> 13:59.640 Who's going to pay me if you lose? 13:59.640 --> 14:04.520 Watch, Pen. 14:04.520 --> 14:08.480 When you make up your mind to do it, do it quick, see? 14:08.480 --> 14:11.480 Like this. 14:11.480 --> 14:17.960 Now, you sweat it out. 14:17.960 --> 14:19.880 Pretty good game, huh? 14:19.880 --> 14:22.520 I'll make you one bet, though. 14:22.520 --> 14:23.520 What's that? 14:23.520 --> 14:25.520 You crack before I do. 14:25.520 --> 14:26.520 You're nuts. 14:26.520 --> 14:27.520 A buck? 14:27.520 --> 14:28.520 A buck? 14:28.520 --> 14:29.520 Sure. 14:29.520 --> 14:30.520 A buck. 14:30.520 --> 14:31.520 A buck. 14:31.520 --> 14:36.520 The game had taken another turn. 14:36.520 --> 14:39.280 It presented an added incentive to win. 14:39.280 --> 14:42.640 A dollar bet that one boy would be a coward. 14:42.640 --> 14:46.840 A boy would lose his nerve, wouldn't have the guts to take another chance at blowing 14:46.840 --> 14:48.560 his brains out. 14:48.560 --> 14:51.000 Good bet that. 14:51.000 --> 14:56.920 The room was too warm, and outside the middle afternoon sun blazed down hot on the heavy 14:56.920 --> 14:57.920 sycamore trees. 14:57.920 --> 15:05.480 Dusty and still, a 12-year-old passed by on the street, whistling tunelessly on his way 15:05.480 --> 15:11.040 to the drugstore for a soda. 15:11.040 --> 15:12.040 Go ahead. 15:12.040 --> 15:16.200 Or do you want to quit now? 15:16.200 --> 15:18.320 I'll do it. 15:18.320 --> 15:19.320 Don't worry. 15:19.320 --> 15:21.320 I'm not quitting. 15:21.320 --> 15:26.560 Boy, I'll say this for you. 15:26.560 --> 15:30.800 A guy who's as scared of guns as you, you're doing all right. 15:30.800 --> 15:33.440 It gets tougher now, though. 15:33.440 --> 15:35.840 It's all in luck, you know. 15:35.840 --> 15:37.840 You lucky, Pen? 15:37.840 --> 15:38.840 Yeah. 15:38.840 --> 15:41.480 I'm lucky. 15:41.480 --> 15:45.120 That's good. 15:45.120 --> 15:47.440 Maybe you need another drink, huh? 15:47.440 --> 15:48.440 No. 15:48.440 --> 15:51.440 Not one anymore. 15:51.440 --> 15:53.440 Okay. 15:53.440 --> 15:55.440 Well? 15:55.440 --> 15:57.440 Red? 15:57.440 --> 16:02.000 What's the idea, huh? 16:02.000 --> 16:04.360 What are you pointing it at me for? 16:04.360 --> 16:05.360 You scared? 16:05.360 --> 16:06.760 No, I'm not scared. 16:06.760 --> 16:08.960 Maybe we should play it this way for a while. 16:08.960 --> 16:11.560 I shoot at you, and you shoot at me. 16:11.560 --> 16:12.560 That's not the game. 16:12.560 --> 16:13.560 Why not? 16:13.560 --> 16:14.560 Same thing. 16:14.560 --> 16:15.560 No. 16:15.560 --> 16:16.560 That'd be like murder. 16:16.560 --> 16:17.640 You want to play, you play it right. 16:17.640 --> 16:19.840 Who says the way we've been playing is right? 16:19.840 --> 16:21.920 Oh, I get it. 16:21.920 --> 16:23.840 You're trying to get out of taking your next shot. 16:23.840 --> 16:26.200 I'm asking you, who says the way we're playing is right? 16:26.200 --> 16:27.640 Listen, will you quit pointing it at me? 16:27.640 --> 16:28.640 What difference does it make? 16:28.640 --> 16:29.640 Just tell me that. 16:29.640 --> 16:31.160 It's the difference we're playing Russian roulette. 16:31.160 --> 16:32.160 That's the difference. 16:32.160 --> 16:33.160 If you want to quit, say so. 16:33.160 --> 16:34.160 I'm not quitting. 16:34.160 --> 16:35.160 Okay, then. 16:35.160 --> 16:36.160 Take your shot. 16:36.160 --> 16:43.520 It was a thing to be well considered on the part of Red. 16:43.520 --> 16:47.480 The present abstract quality of self-destruction was one thing. 16:47.480 --> 16:50.920 But a gun pointed at him, a gun held in another hand. 16:50.920 --> 16:55.800 This was not a game of his choosing, and he would have no part of it. 16:55.800 --> 17:00.520 Suddenly he knew himself to be sober, terribly sober. 17:00.520 --> 17:04.520 And because of this and the fact that the game had mushroomed beyond his understanding, 17:04.520 --> 17:07.680 there was no stopping the play. 17:07.680 --> 17:10.480 He knew that Pin was sober too. 17:10.480 --> 17:16.840 And as from a great distance, he saw his friend raise the gun, but steadily this time, pressure 17:16.840 --> 17:23.000 whitening the index finger, the muzzle touching just at a pulsing vein he had noticed in Pin's 17:23.000 --> 17:29.360 temple. 17:29.360 --> 17:32.000 You're a lucky guy. 17:32.000 --> 17:34.840 Yeah. 17:34.840 --> 17:37.200 I'm lucky too. 17:37.200 --> 17:42.260 You better be. 17:42.260 --> 17:43.760 My turn now. 17:43.760 --> 17:44.760 My turn. 17:44.760 --> 17:47.800 Why didn't he quit? 17:47.800 --> 17:48.800 He's never had guts. 17:48.800 --> 17:52.480 Why didn't he quit? 17:52.480 --> 17:55.120 Maybe he's so drunk he hasn't got the sense. 17:55.120 --> 17:58.240 No, he's not drunk. 17:58.240 --> 18:01.240 Why didn't he quit? 18:01.240 --> 18:02.240 It's my turn. 18:02.240 --> 18:03.920 I gotta do it. 18:03.920 --> 18:05.680 He'd tell everyone if I didn't. 18:05.680 --> 18:08.680 He'd tell them all and they'd laugh. 18:08.680 --> 18:10.680 I don't know. 18:10.680 --> 18:15.880 It feels like the bullet might be coming up. 18:15.880 --> 18:17.160 Not yet, then. 18:17.160 --> 18:19.920 Not yet. 18:19.920 --> 18:25.400 I gotta smile like I was enjoying it. 18:25.400 --> 18:29.160 This will be something to tell our kids, huh, Pin? 18:29.160 --> 18:32.040 Yeah, sure will. 18:32.040 --> 18:34.960 How long are you gonna take? 18:34.960 --> 18:36.400 What's the matter? 18:36.400 --> 18:37.960 Make you nervous? 18:37.960 --> 18:39.800 Why should I be nervous? 18:39.800 --> 18:40.800 It's your shot. 18:40.800 --> 18:41.800 Okay, then. 18:41.800 --> 18:42.800 Shut up, huh? 18:42.800 --> 18:43.800 He's scared. 18:43.800 --> 18:44.800 Red's scared. 18:44.800 --> 18:45.800 He doesn't want to do it. 18:45.800 --> 18:46.800 I'm not the only one. 18:46.800 --> 18:47.800 All this big talk. 18:47.800 --> 18:48.800 He's no more than me. 18:48.800 --> 18:49.800 All that big talk. 18:49.800 --> 18:50.800 Look at him. 18:50.800 --> 18:51.800 He's scared. 18:51.800 --> 19:06.800 It was at that moment that Pin discovered this truth, that he knew he wanted to. 19:06.800 --> 19:08.800 He could quit the game. 19:08.800 --> 19:15.800 And as he looked at Red, he became aware of a great anger that had no direction, no apparent 19:15.800 --> 19:21.960 reason, but it filled him and made him strong. 19:21.960 --> 19:24.240 Let's quit, Red. 19:24.240 --> 19:25.600 You're crazy. 19:25.600 --> 19:26.600 I want to quit. 19:26.600 --> 19:27.600 Nuts to you. 19:27.600 --> 19:28.600 It's my shot. 19:28.600 --> 19:29.600 I don't care who are quitting. 19:29.600 --> 19:30.600 You quit when it's your shot. 19:30.600 --> 19:31.600 I'll take care of myself. 19:31.600 --> 19:34.280 I'm telling you, Red, put the gun down. 19:34.280 --> 19:35.280 Drop dead. 19:35.280 --> 19:36.280 Put it down. 19:36.280 --> 19:37.280 You're chicken. 19:37.280 --> 19:39.520 A!! 19:39.520 --> 19:42.120 Control!! 19:42.120 --> 19:43.920 You! 19:43.920 --> 19:52.180 Ok, I'm voting, 19:52.180 --> 19:58.120 Ok, kita会. 19:58.120 --> 19:59.600 Come on. 19:59.600 --> 20:01.960 Ok, ok. 20:01.960 --> 20:04.380 We crazy? 20:04.380 --> 20:11.380 You better answer the phone. 20:17.820 --> 20:21.140 Hello? 20:21.140 --> 20:25.180 Oh, hello mom. 20:25.180 --> 20:30.180 Oh, fine. 20:30.180 --> 20:33.460 No, I'm with Penn. 20:33.460 --> 20:35.780 No, I'm fine. 20:35.780 --> 20:38.060 Oh, out of breath. 20:38.060 --> 20:40.060 We've been playing. 20:40.060 --> 20:43.140 Kind of rough, I guess. 20:43.140 --> 20:44.660 Oh, sure mom. 20:44.660 --> 20:47.740 Everything's fine. 20:47.740 --> 20:50.540 Okay. 20:50.540 --> 20:54.420 Okay, mom. 20:54.420 --> 20:57.900 Sure, mom. 20:57.900 --> 21:01.700 So long. 21:01.700 --> 21:08.700 Oh, I'm sorry. 21:31.700 --> 21:37.300 I guess we came back in. 21:37.300 --> 21:39.300 That was mom. 21:39.300 --> 21:41.780 Oh? 21:41.780 --> 21:46.740 She said we could go to the tavern for dinner if you like. 21:46.740 --> 21:48.300 Charge it. 21:48.300 --> 21:49.940 That'd be okay, Ren. 21:49.940 --> 21:51.940 It's well. 21:51.940 --> 21:55.300 Yeah. 21:55.300 --> 21:59.220 Guess we better clean up, huh? 21:59.220 --> 22:03.220 Guess we better. 22:03.220 --> 22:06.940 They cleaned up, not saying much to each other. 22:06.940 --> 22:12.180 They felt very close and were not able to express their closeness. 22:12.180 --> 22:16.780 Then there was a last thing to do and the last part of the game to be played. 22:16.780 --> 22:19.140 They had to know. 22:19.140 --> 22:23.020 So they walked to the edge of the town into a shallow ravine. 22:23.020 --> 22:25.340 Red took the gun from his pocket. 22:25.340 --> 22:29.300 He still had this shot he'd never fired at himself. 22:29.300 --> 22:36.380 He aimed at a half-burned tree stump some 30 yards away and slowly began to squeeze 22:36.380 --> 22:37.380 the trigger. 22:37.380 --> 23:06.500 Suspense. 23:06.500 --> 23:13.200 In which Sam Edwards and Gil Stratton, Jr. starred in tonight's presentation of The Game. 23:13.200 --> 23:17.960 Next Tuesday, the story of a rehearsal and the performance of murder. 23:17.960 --> 23:20.660 We call it The Cellar. 23:20.660 --> 23:40.860 That's next week on Suspense. 23:40.860 --> 23:45.180 Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis, who wrote tonight's play. 23:45.180 --> 23:49.860 The music was composed by Leith Stevens and Lucian Morawick and conducted by Wilbur Hatch, 23:49.860 --> 23:54.740 featured on the cast was Mr. John Boehner. 23:54.740 --> 24:19.940 This is the CBS Radio Network.