And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Tonight, in answer to many requests, we bring back a charming fantasy about a small boy
who discovered a new world and lived forever after in its enchantment.
We call it The Cave.
So now, starring Richard Beals with Billy Chapin, here is tonight's Suspense play, The
Cave.
It's on days like this that I remember how it used to be before I found The Cave.
This day in particular, of course it's hard to see everything as it really was.
Time has a habit of distorting the memories.
Memories, Christmas, Christmas Day, what a long time ago that was.
I was ten and an unpopular uncle had distinguished himself by giving me a flashlight.
It was enormous, four batteries and a most incredible glean to its metal case.
I couldn't wait to try it out and because it was still early afternoon, I could think
of only one place that was dark enough for the exciting test, The Cave.
The big cave whose mouth was near the sand dunes and whose recess was rumored to be miles
deep.
George Fennell and I had never ventured more than 200 yards or so inside, but on that Christmas
afternoon I knew that the cool darkness of the cave would have no fears for George and
me.
We went to the sand dunes as arranged to compare notes on our respective Christmas presents.
It was quite warm and the snow was beginning to melt in patches.
A few gulls were wheeling about nearby.
It was as I have remembered it all my life.
That's key.
Listen, I did work like a searchlight tonight.
I guess it would all right.
Maybe they'll let us stay up tonight if it doesn't get too cold and we could play pirates.
I could use my new gun.
I thought we might go in the cave this afternoon.
Hey, that's key.
Uh oh, maybe they'll get sore.
I had to get all dressed up today.
We won't get dirty.
Besides, we could go a real long way inside with this.
I wouldn't want to go in too far.
They say the cave goes off in a lot of tunnels.
We could get lost.
Maybe if you haven't got a flashlight.
Sure, that's right.
And with my gun.
Sure, we can explore.
Come on.
I'll race you to the cave.
I won the race and we stood at the entrance of the big cave.
The arch had a span of about 25 feet, but just inside it widened until the walls were
70 feet apart and the ceiling over 50.
As we passed from sunlight to shadow, I turned for a moment and looked down to the sea.
At the water's edge, a gull stood motionless, looking up at us.
Then solemnly, as though with disapproval, it too turned about and gazed out over the
water.
The opening of the cave receded and became small and we went deeper and deeper.
Hey, shut it up there, Dan.
Way up.
Okay.
Gee, I'll bet that's high.
Well, a mile, I guess.
You're silly.
Maybe 100 feet.
Boy, that's the cave.
Sounds like a real gun.
Come on.
Looks like the cave turns down there.
See?
Okay, but we better not go too far.
You scared?
Heck no, but, well, I've got to get back for dinner.
They'll be awful sore if I'm late.
You won't be late.
Come on.
I want to see what's around there.
Okay.
Hold on.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
I'll go get you.
Okay.
Hold the light on my gun.
I've got to reload.
Fish?
Who ever heard of fish in a stream like this?
Where's it come from?
Where?
I don't know.
They say there are fish in caves sometimes.
Flying fish.
You're silly.
What are you stopping for, George?
We've got to go back now.
Who ever heard of fish in a stream like this?
Where'd they come from? Where?
I don't know. They say there are fish in caves sometimes.
Flying fish.
You're silly.
What are you stopping for, George?
We gotta go back now.
Why?
Because it's late. How do you know which tunnel we took? How?
Maybe we could get more.
Listen, George, maybe if we kept on going, we'll find treasure in here.
Treasure?
Stands to reason. Maybe like in the pirate book, somebody came here and buried treasure.
Henry Morgan or somebody.
No.
Sure, stands to reason. Everybody's like you. They say no, but just suppose.
If no one's looked, how would they know?
I think we better get back. Maybe tomorrow we can look. The cave's getting awful narrow.
We might even find old pirate's bones and swords.
You've got too much imagination. I've heard them say so at home. I don't want to go any further.
Well, I'm going to.
Okay, give me the flashlight.
No. You want to go back? You go back. In the dark.
Oh, I don't want to go back. You go back in the dark. They'll be mad at sleep.
Well, just for a little while. If we don't find anything, we'll go back.
All right, but only a little while.
I'm thirsty.
You better not drink out of that water. It's probably poison.
Oh, why, here, hold the light. I'm going to have a drink.
There you are. See? I told you. Now you'll probably die. It's poison.
No, no, it's soft. It's like the ocean.
Hey, look.
What?
There, coming down the stream. That white thing.
Yeah.
Looks like a piece of paper.
I'm going to get it. Hold on to my hand.
You'll fall in.
No, no, I won't.
What is it?
Well, it looks like a handkerchief.
That's silly. It's too small. Who uses a handkerchief like that?
Well, my mother does.
Gee, hate to blow my nose on that. You can almost see through it.
How'd it get down here?
Who cares?
Maybe it's a message.
Huh?
Like from someone in distress.
I'm going home.
Like a damsel in distress in the pirate book. We've got to find out.
Give me my flashlight. We'll follow the stream.
We followed the stream. We walked by it as the cave twisted and curled.
We didn't notice the passageway, which had been getting smaller all the time, suddenly widen out.
And the stream, which was becoming a river. And the river is a river.
Hey.
What?
Where's the other side of the water?
There isn't any. It keeps going. It's like a lake.
Maybe a sea. There's a lot of waves.
Dan?
Huh?
Turn the light around.
The walls have gone. There's no walls.
There must be. It's a cave.
There's no top to it either.
It's just too high to see. That's all.
Let's go home. Let's go home right now.
What are you afraid of?
I'm not. But I'm hungry and it's Christmas. And well, I've got things to play with.
Come on, Dan. Come on. I want to get outside.
What'd you do that for?
Turn on the light.
Turn it on.
Don't you notice something?
Turn that on. Give it to me.
Wait a minute. I want you to see something.
Give it to me.
I'm not going to lose you.
See what you've done? You dropped it in the water.
It's all your fault. I didn't want to come here anyway.
How are you going to get back? It's dark.
No, no it isn't. That's what I wanted you to see.
Look up there.
I don't see anything.
You will?
Oh, it's like stars way, way up there.
That's what it is. It's stars.
We stood there, George and I, ten years old, and for a moment no longer afraid because of the wonder of the thing.
There was light from a sky, a sky I knew I had never seen before.
Yet I knew I was still in the big cave because when I spoke the echo of my voice returned.
It's beautiful.
I can't find the flashlight. The water's too deep.
That's funny.
You're always saying that. It's not going to be funny when you can't get home.
Listen.
Dan! Dan!
Now you do it.
What for? It's just an old echo.
Go on.
Uh, George! George!
There. How can there be an echo when there's no cave anymore?
You're just kind of scaring. Well, I'm going. You can come too if you want.
Dan? Please?
I'll bet nobody's ever been in here ever. I'll bet we're the first.
Except for pirates, maybe. Oh, I wish we could see more.
If my mother hadn't taken our matches away, we could find our way out.
Gee, Dan, it's night. Come on, please. I'm hungry.
Somebody's here. Somebody else.
Sounds like it's over there.
No, don't go, Dan.
Dan, I'm scared. I don't like this place.
Go home if you want.
I can see someone. Look.
Gee, he's deeper than the sand.
Don't. Let's not go any closer, Dan.
Let's go. I want to see what he's doing.
No, no. Look.
There's some other people. They got swords.
Aha! I caught you, Namby, you scurvy wretch. Look at him, bully.
No, don't hit me, Captain. I just wanted to see if the treasure was still there.
The strews are dead.
I'll show you what's there, you pot-billy.
Soon!
No!
Nobody's touching the treasure, don't hit me, Dan. Don't kill me.
See, I haven't started a killing yet, Namby.
Come on, bullies, lay on. We'll exercise our appetite for the feast.
Yeah!
You are listening to The Cave,
tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
A new superhighway, a throughway, attracts the bad as well as the good,
as you well know if you've driven along a superhighway recently.
But it's not the speeders and reckless drivers the FBI goes after tomorrow night on CBS Radio.
It's a smooth schemer and swindler who's in operation as soon as a new superhighway is announced.
He's cooked up a lovely plan for getting farmers and other landowners
along the proposed right-of-way to fall for his tricks.
The resulting story is timely and essential.
Hear it tomorrow night when the FBI in Peace and War comes this way on most of these same stations.
And now we bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Richard Beals with Billy Chapin,
starring in tonight's production, The Cave, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
In that faint light from the stars of another world, the world of the big cave, George and I watched.
We could only see shadows until someone lit a lantern, and then I knew I'd been right.
Pirates! Pirates! I want to go home!
Pirates they were, the most glorious and gaudiest pirates to sail under the Jolly Roger.
The leader was a huge man with a fine, bushy beard and a voice like the trombone in the village band.
How shall we cook him, bullies? Right out of the steam.
No, Captain, no, no!
Oh, he's too tough a morsel for that, Captain. I says roast him!
I shall roast him!
There's nothing like roastmumby, I always say.
But we'll cut out his heart first and feed it to the dog.
All right!
Now, you lily-livered aggravation, say your prayers.
He's gonna kill him! I don't want to watch, Dan! Dan!
Shut up!
Who was that?
I don't know, Captain.
Sounded like a boy.
A boy? A boy?
It may have been the Lady Alicia.
Build, shivvy, in the dungeon, Gonfalon.
Aye, that's true.
It came from over there.
Hold the lantern high, shiv.
Aye, Captain.
They'll get us. Dan, we've got to run.
Don't be afraid. If you're not afraid, nothing can happen.
Do you see anything, Gonfalon?
Oh, no, but...
Save us all! Disaboy!
Nate, there's two of them!
Scumpery!
Boys!
Hold the little dreamer!
That's it! Boys!
Two small boys!
Ha-ha!
And now what shall we do with them, Captain?
Hang them. I'll say, hang them.
Maybe after the treasure.
You! Were it not Christmas, Namby, I should have turned you inside out!
Hold your blistering, blattering jaw, you!
Aye, Captain, sir. Aye, aye.
Boy!
Boy, what's your name?
Dan Ilbury, sir.
And that one?
George...
He's my friend, George.
George Fennel. His father's a policeman.
Ha-ha!
Where do you come from, boy?
Greenfield. That's outside the cave.
Cave? What cave?
What cave?
What do you do here?
Who spies? The answer up now!
We were just exploring, and we got here, that's all.
Exploring? Where be your ship?
We didn't come in a ship.
No ship?
They're boys, Captain. What harm can they do?
Grum, it's Christmas. I say feed them and send them on their way.
What's Christmas got to do with it?
If they be spies, it's the plight!
No, no, we're not spies, honest!
Ah, we look into this further.
Meantime, the goose and suckling pig should be ready.
I say it's time for the feast!
How say you, buddy?
Be a hungry boy.
Yes?
And him.
He's hungry, too.
Then join us at a Merry Christmas,
for no man can say Captain Blackton lacks the Christian spirit.
Am I right, Namby?
Oh, you're right, Captain. Right as I've been.
Ah, I'd have slicked your gullet if you said me nay.
Merry Christmas and break out the rum!
Hooray!
I remember that day, that long ago.
The great dining board set upon trestles, the fruits and wine,
roast goose and pig, the pirates rough in their colorful patched clothing,
the songs and drinking, stories, stories of home and sea.
Such Christmas as I've dreamt of, and I had dreamed it to come true.
George sat next to me, eyes wide and unbelieving.
After the plum pudding, we were called upon to sing a carol.
Silent night, holy night.
As we sang, they became quiet,
and each sat lost with his own thoughts of sweetness and sadness.
The little man, Namby, birdlike and asleep, gone fallen thin as a twig,
a patch over one eye, the other kindly and wise.
A chill and a captain, tears coursing down their cheeks.
These were my pirates, my own.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Pfft! Well done, I say! Well done! A double rum for the boys!
Captain, Captain, it's been a happy day with us.
Let's share it with those less fortunate.
Less fortunate who? We are all well-matched.
With the lady, Alicia.
Nay, she be our prisoner, and until ransom be paid, so she will remain.
Oh, what matter if she grace our table for the evening?
It's been a long time since a woman has been with us.
Very well.
Send the prisoner here! Fetch her from the dungeon!
Then I thought of the fine lace handkerchief we had found in the stream.
Would this prisoner, the lady Alicia, would she have sent the message of distress?
And how?
They brought her in, and to me, she looked as she should have looked.
The most beautiful lady in the world,
gowned in silks with a pale but proud face.
I fell in love with her, and I was ten.
As the night wore on, the pirates grew drowsy, and one after another their heads drooped,
and soon all were asleep.
Even George, sitting small in his great chair, nodded.
I went to the lady Alicia's side.
It was your handkerchief we found in the stream, wasn't it?
Yes, I had not dared to hope.
But they have you locked in a dungeon.
Beyond my window is a running brook.
I prayed that when I dropped the kerchief, it would by some happy chance be discovered.
I found it all right.
You are very brave to have come here.
Well, how long have they kept you prisoner?
Six months now.
We were sailing to the Indies.
Our ship was taken, and I...I alone survived.
Now they hold me for ransom.
Oh, that's terrible.
Gosh, I wish I could do something to save you.
There is nothing.
I know I'm not very big, but maybe I could fight them.
They are too many for you.
Dan, Dan, they're all asleep.
Come on, we can get away now.
Let's go home.
Home?
Sure, our folks are going to be mad.
George, we've got to save them.
If you could but escape and deliver a message to my father.
Sure, okay. Where does he live?
London. Lord Basenstoke. He would reward you well.
Sure, but we've got to go now.
I don't want to leave you. They'll be angry when they wake up.
My hope will rest in you.
I shall pray for your safety and return.
Gee, Wiz, Dan, come on.
You go ahead. I'll be right along.
Okay, but hurry up. I'll wait by the water.
Will you be all right?
Yes.
Suppose I come back and you're not here.
I shall try to leave a message.
I'm Dan.
I know.
When I get older, I shall marry you.
You're beautiful.
I'll wait for you.
Now you must go before they awake.
I don't want to go.
You'll come back to me here.
I love you.
Hurry up, Dan. Gee, Wiz.
I want to get home. They'll be mad.
Mother said not to be late for dinner.
We've got to save Lady Alicia. Don't forget.
Okay, but hurry up.
It's kind of dark, but I know which way to go.
I don't want to fall in the stream and get all wet.
I've got my good clothes on.
You won't.
I'm sorry I dropped your flashlight, Dan.
I'll save up and get you another.
I don't mind.
I'll bet it's awful late.
I'm glad it's Christmas. Maybe they won't mind.
We followed the tunnels one to the other.
The stream flowed with us, urging us on.
It was dark, but I knew the way.
We felt along the damp walls of the cave,
and at every step we moved further away from my world.
Suddenly, from a great distance,
we saw a tiny circle of light,
a dot which grew and grew,
until it was the size of a golden sovereign.
There it is, Dan. It's the entrance.
And it's still light out.
I won't be late for dinner.
And I was afraid.
I was afraid because I knew
that when I stepped out into that sunlight,
I should never be able to find my way back again.
Never.
Hey, what are you stopping for?
Why?
George.
If we can run,
we can make it home before the sun goes down.
For Pete's sake, Dan.
What's the matter with you?
I'm not coming with you. I've got to go back.
Go back?
Why do you want to do that for?
I've got to. I don't want to leave her.
The pirates. I want to go back.
Pirates? Who?
Lady Alicia.
Gee whiz, Dan. Come on.
It's only a game. Come on.
You've forgotten. I knew you would.
I'm not going with you.
You better. I'll tell your mother,
and you'll get it.
Goodbye, George.
Dan?
Dan, come back, Dan.
What's the matter with you?
Dan? You'll get lost, Dan.
Dan, don't go in there.
We've played long enough.
Come back.
Come back, Dan.
Dan.
Hey, Dan.
I had turned away from George
and the speck of light that was outside.
His voice had followed me,
disdainful and lonely.
Then as I found the stream again,
there was no sound
but that of gentle water and my own steps.
And the stream became a river,
and the river broadened,
the walls of the cave fell away,
and I'd found my pirates again.
God rest ye merry gentlemen,
let nothing you do
It's on days like this that I remember
how it used to be before I found the cave.
This day in particular.
Sometimes I wonder
what happened to George
and what it's like outside the cave.
But I don't really mind.
After all, the Lady Alicia
kept her promise and waited
for me until I grew up.
Now everything is as I'd always
dreamed it in the books.
Oh, Captain Blaketon?
He's still here.
A little less ferocious perhaps than 20 years ago.
Captain?
Yes, Blaketon?
If you and my Lady are ready, sir,
the turkeys be cooked and the men wait in your pleasure.
Very well, Blaketon. Thank you.
And a Merry Christmas.
Thank you, Captain.
And a Merry Christmas to you, sir.
Suspense.
In which Richard Beals
with Billy Chapin
starred in tonight's presentation of
The Cave.
Next week, we bring you
one of the great mysteries of the sea.
A ship found drifting in perfect
condition with no human aboard.
We call it
The Mystery of the Marie Celeste.
That's next week on
Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by
Anthony Ellis, who also wrote tonight's script.
The music was composed by
Rene Garagang and conducted by
Wilbur Hatch. Featured in the cast
were John Danaer, Hans Conreread,
Ben Wright, Lawrence Dobkin,
Ellen Morgan, and Raymond Lawrence.
Next Saturday,
Christmas Eve, the whole nation is invited
to the largest carol services ever held.
CBS Radio is bringing you its great
star, Bing Crosby,
in a full hour of the beloved Christmas hymns
and songs and airs from olden
times to the present.
You and your family are cordially invited to
gather around your own Christmas tree
as millions of other families gather around their
trees and sing with this wonderful
dear. From points all over the
country and the world, Bing
will also bring you the Yuletide
songs of special localities and
foreign nations. Next Saturday,
Christmas Eve, as America
sings with Bing, on most
of these same CBS radio stations,
you and your family
join in.
Stay tuned now for five minutes of
CBS radio news to be followed
on most of these same stations by
The Jack Carson Show.
...
You hear America's favorite shows on the CBS
Radio Network.
...