1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,000 And now, tonight's presentation of Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 2 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:26,080 Tonight, we bring you a transcribed story of a group of brave men who risk their lives 3 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:29,480 in a desperate effort to save their fellow men. 4 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,560 We call it Arctic Rescue. 5 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:58,880 So now, starring Mr. John Stevenson, here is tonight's Suspense play, Arctic Rescue. 6 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,000 Remember this if you can. 7 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,120 Christmas night. 8 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:10,640 Miles and miles of endless, empty, broken white ice. 9 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:16,400 An ice floe drifting somewhere in the vicinity of the 73rd parallel, north of the Arctic 10 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,960 Circle. 11 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:21,680 Nothing but ice. 12 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,880 That is, nearly nothing. 13 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:31,760 If you look carefully through the winter night, you'll see two tiny dark blemishes. 14 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,120 The figures of two men. 15 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,720 One twisted in an unconscious heap is our skipper, Jonathan Blake. 16 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,640 The other figure, Gerald Stewart. 17 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:45,640 First mate. 18 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,320 Me. 19 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,240 It makes a sorry picture, eh? 20 00:01:51,240 --> 00:02:01,240 Civilized men in a primitive wilderness of ice, waiting helplessly for death. 21 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:16,280 I, a sorry picture. 22 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,200 It's a far different picture you've seen if you'd been part of the excited crowd standing 23 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,360 at the battery of the New York waterfront on June morning, the year 1852. 24 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:30,360 Aye, Mrs. Stewart. 25 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:31,360 The moment of departure. 26 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:32,360 Aye, Lady Franklin. 27 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,120 You must take the high tide. 28 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,800 May God and his great mercy protect you and your men from the perils which await you. 29 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,280 You men are prepared for hardship, Lady Franklin. 30 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,480 And we shall succeed where the others have failed in ending the mystery of the Erebus 31 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:46,480 and Terran. 32 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:47,480 Aye. 33 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,680 Back to Aberdeen in time for a Christmas feast. 34 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,080 We'll prepare a Christmas celebration your men will never forget, Captain. 35 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:55,920 We're leaving for England next week. 36 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,320 I, I shall pray for you, Mr. Stewart. 37 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,160 For, for all of you. 38 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:01,960 Thank you, Miss Graycroft. 39 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:09,720 I'll stand many a watch out at sea thinking of last night, the ball, dancing and you. 40 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,320 That is, all of us will, I mean. 41 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,300 What I first made is trying to tell your niece, Lady Franklin, is how grateful the officers 42 00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:19,480 and crew are for the farewell ball you held in their honor last night. 43 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,280 I'm the grateful one, Captain Blake. 44 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,000 Please bring them all home safely. 45 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,280 Come now, Lady Franklin, no need for worry. 46 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,920 The Jessica is a sturdy ship and the men are in good health and lofty spirits. 47 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:37,960 We'll be back by Christmas, you'll see. 48 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:38,960 The tide will change. 49 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:39,960 We must be on our way. 50 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,880 Then goodbye and good luck, Captain. 51 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:43,880 Goodbye, Lady Franklin. 52 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:44,880 Miss Graycroft. 53 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:45,880 Goodbye, Captain Blake. 54 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:46,880 Goodbye, Mr. Stewart. 55 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:47,880 Godspeed. 56 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:49,640 Thank you. 57 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,960 We shall see you on Aberdeen Christmas week. 58 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:53,960 Let's get aboard, Mr. Stewart. 59 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:54,960 Yes, sir. 60 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:55,960 Goodbye, Lady Franklin. 61 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:56,960 Stocky. 62 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:57,960 Yes, sir. 63 00:03:57,960 --> 00:03:58,960 Drop the gangway. 64 00:03:58,960 --> 00:03:59,960 Yes, sir. 65 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:00,960 All hands at their mooring stations, Mr. Stewart. 66 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:01,960 Yes, sir. 67 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:02,960 And pass the orders to Castor. 68 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:03,960 Aye, sir. 69 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:04,960 All hands, prepare to Castor. 70 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:05,960 All hands, prepare to Castor. 71 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:06,960 Let go, one, two, three. 72 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:31,880 Let go, three and four. 73 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:32,880 Ship's underway, sir. 74 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:33,880 Aye. 75 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:39,840 Well, Mr. Stewart, fill your eyes with the sight of New York. 76 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:43,120 It's the last of it you'll be seeing for some time to come. 77 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,880 Aye, a good long time. 78 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,480 I am, sir. 79 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:58,040 As the Jessica moved slowly to the outer harbor, I watched a tiny, delicate white dot in the 80 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,240 crowd at the wharf. 81 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,440 She stood there beside Lady Franklin, waving. 82 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:19,480 And I watched until the morning fog erased the sight of the New York waterfront. 83 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,120 Aside from the ship's log, I have decided to keep a running account of this voyage. 84 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,720 This account will be transferred to a watertight jar and thrown to the currents should any 85 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,920 sudden disaster occur. 86 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,760 The first three weeks of navigation north were merely a matter of settling down to ship's 87 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:35,760 routine. 88 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:41,760 On June 30th, after officers' mess, we sighted Point Farewell on the Greenland coast. 89 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,480 The time had come for the captain to read a letter of instructions given to him by Lady 90 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:46,480 Franklin. 91 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:52,380 Captain Blake, I am sure you will do all that any man can in discovering the fate of my 92 00:05:52,380 --> 00:05:58,040 husband, Sir John Franklin, and his two ships, the Erebus and Terror. 93 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:05,560 But my only fear is that you might sacrifice your lives in the unknown regions of the Arctic. 94 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:11,680 Therefore, let me state that above all else, the preservation of the lives of you and your 95 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:17,400 heroic companions is more important to me than the purpose of your journey. 96 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:24,800 May God in his great mercy preserve you all from harm amidst the perils which await and 97 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:29,920 restore you to us safely and in health, as well as armor. 98 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:35,720 Your sincere and attached friend, Jane Franklin. 99 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,640 These are the only written instructions I have, gentlemen. 100 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,200 Now then, Mr. Stewart, the map, please. 101 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,440 Here it is, gentlemen. 102 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:50,560 The most recent admiralty map of the Arctic regions that we are approaching. 103 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:51,560 Map? 104 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:52,720 It's almost completely blank. 105 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,720 Aye, Mr. Halliday. 106 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,280 Thousands of miles of uncharted wilderness. 107 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:01,000 And somewhere in that frozen tundra, Sir John Franklin and his men vanished. 108 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,000 Aye. 109 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,920 And our search will begin tomorrow when we drop anchor in Goldhau. 110 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:11,080 We'll pick up our ice pilot, Mr. Patrick Hanson's, from additional supplies and then make for 111 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:12,080 the Arctic Circle. 112 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:13,080 The Arctic Circle. 113 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,280 It sounds like the edge of the world, eh, Stuart? 114 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,600 Yeah, it's a little frightening, too. 115 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:18,600 You frightened? 116 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:23,480 Mr. Halliday, if I were you, I would respect Mr. Stewart's fear of what lies before us. 117 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:29,960 Captain, I was just thinking, if Franklin was looking for the northwest passage, he'd 118 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,680 probably make an approach through here, through Lancaster Sound. 119 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:35,680 Aye. 120 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,120 Then he must have passed Ponds Bay here. 121 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,640 And according to our information, there are Eskimos at Ponds Bay. 122 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,760 They might have seen his ships enter Lancaster Sound. 123 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,080 And if they did, then we'll have something to go by. 124 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,280 I hope Mr. Hanson understands the Eskimo dialects. 125 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:51,280 They can tell us much. 126 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,840 I don't see how we can cover all this territory and get back by Christmas, Captain. 127 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:57,400 We have no choice, Mr. Stewart. 128 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:02,400 If we get caught beyond the Arctic Circle after the summer months, we may never get 129 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:03,400 back. 130 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:04,400 Never? 131 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:05,400 Aye. 132 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,600 In the winter, the seas are covered with great ice flows. 133 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:13,800 Once a ship is frozen in, in those latitudes, it'll stay there until the summer thaw. 134 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:18,480 And you can't imagine the horrors we'd endure in an Arctic winter, Mr. Halliday. 135 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:20,800 I, uh, I suppose not. 136 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,240 Captain and his men were probably frozen in for the winter and... 137 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,080 And they were never heard from again? 138 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:27,080 Exactly. 139 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,440 Well, that would give you a brief idea of what we're in for, gentlemen. 140 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,840 You'll know more after Mr. Hanson comes aboard. 141 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:36,840 Any questions? 142 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,720 I have nothing but questions, Captain. 143 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:52,160 I wish I had the answers, Stewart. 144 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,920 Noon the next day, we dropped anchor in the harbor of Godhab. 145 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:01,080 Here we could take on coal, additional winter clothing, dogs and Eskimo drivers, and Mr. 146 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,240 Hanson, our ice pilot. 147 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,040 Godhab was nothing more than a few huts of the Baffin Bay Trading Company. 148 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:13,960 And as we prepared to go ashore, a longboat suddenly appeared alongside. 149 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:14,960 Captain Blake. 150 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:15,960 Aye. 151 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:17,680 I'm Patrick Hanson, your ice pilot, sir. 152 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:19,880 We were about to send a boat ashore for you, Mr. Hanson. 153 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,320 No time for that, Captain. 154 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,640 But we planned on picking up supplies and dogs. 155 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:24,640 I brought them. 156 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:25,640 They're in the boat. 157 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,560 Well, what's the rush, Mr. Hanson? 158 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:29,520 This is Gerald Stewart and I first made. 159 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,520 You've never been to the Arctic before, Mr. Stewart. 160 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:33,520 No. 161 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:34,840 You'll take my word for it. 162 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,880 We'd better get up there while we got the summer weather, you bet. 163 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:38,880 All right. 164 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,600 So we run into a little summer ice. 165 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,440 The Jessica's prepared for it. 166 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:43,440 Yeah. 167 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,640 She looks like a good, strong ship. 168 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,320 We've never seen an iron ship up here before. 169 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,800 And steam engine, too. 170 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,360 That's not all the Jessica has. 171 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:58,120 There's an additional iron plates across her hull as well as added bracing thwart ship. 172 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,320 And the forward ten feet of the bow is solid iron and razor sharp at the edge. 173 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,120 What do you think that will do to your ice, Mr. Hanson? 174 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:10,680 You wait and you see what the ice can do to a ship, even an iron ship, Mr. Stewart. 175 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:12,920 Mr. Hanson, you received my letters. 176 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:13,920 Yeah. 177 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,560 And you made inquiries about the Erebus and terror? 178 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:17,560 Yeah. 179 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:18,560 They've us here. 180 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:22,040 They couldn't get dogs, so they headed for Ponds Bay. 181 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:23,320 Across Baffin Bay. 182 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:24,440 That's right. 183 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:25,440 Just as we thought. 184 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:26,440 Mr. Halliday. 185 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:27,440 Yes, sir. 186 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,480 Get those supplies aboard, then prepare the ship for sea. 187 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:31,480 Aye, aye, sir. 188 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,040 Mr. Stewart, you can chart a course for us. 189 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:45,880 We'll cross the Arctic Circle next and on to Ponds Bay. 190 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:51,560 We set a north by northwest course, leaving the last outpost of civilization behind us, 191 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:54,080 and crossed the great Baffin Bay. 192 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,560 On July 4th, we crossed the Arctic Circle without ceremony. 193 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,560 Then we had ice freezing on deck and in the rigging. 194 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,200 A day later, we saw our first floating iceberg. 195 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:13,040 For this time of the year, we should not have seen either one. 196 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,840 From Goat Hub to Ponds Bay, six and a half days. 197 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:17,840 Perfect calm. 198 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:22,880 Upon landing, we found a small contingent of Eskimos, but nothing else. 199 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,280 They seemed hostile and would give us no information. 200 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:31,040 Then as we were preparing to return to the Jessica, one of the natives, a girl, rushed 201 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,080 from one of the huts and down to the beach. 202 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:34,080 Josef? 203 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:35,080 Josef? 204 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:36,640 What's she saying, Mr. Henson? 205 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:38,080 I'm not sure. 206 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:39,200 Captain, look. 207 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:40,680 She has something in her hand. 208 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:42,640 She wants us to look at it. 209 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,400 It's a small brass button. 210 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:46,400 From a naval uniform. 211 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:47,400 Aye. 212 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,200 See if she'll trade it for some sewing needles. 213 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:51,200 Josef? 214 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:52,200 Galaga? 215 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,200 What does she mean by that? 216 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:56,200 Josef? 217 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,400 She's trying to say a man's name. 218 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,400 Josef Galaga? 219 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:02,040 Josef Galaga? 220 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,600 Stuart, is that name on Sir John's crew list? 221 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,600 I'm looking, sir. 222 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,720 Yes, sir, it's here. 223 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,200 Quartermaster, Josef Galaga. 224 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:12,200 They've been here. 225 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:13,200 Aye. 226 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:14,200 Better get back to the ship, men. 227 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:15,200 Looks like a gale brewing. 228 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:16,200 Josef? 229 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,320 Let her keep the buttons, Stuart. 230 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,320 Give her the needles, too. 231 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:20,320 Yes, sir. 232 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:21,320 Josef? 233 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:32,840 Yes, sir. 234 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,000 After leaving Ponds Bay, two months passed without incident. 235 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,040 Then we entered Lancaster Sound and approached the scarcely charted islands along Barrel 236 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,040 Strait. 237 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:46,920 Then we encountered great mountains of floating ice, and we had only a few hours of twilight 238 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:48,680 each day. 239 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:54,160 We crossed the 75th parallel and north into Wellington Channel to Bathurst Islands, the 240 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,600 last of the charted islands on my maps. 241 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,000 Then on September 10th, weather changed. 242 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:06,600 Northwest gales, sleet, and heavy fogs had forced us to a bare crawl. 243 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,040 And worse, mammoth ice floes had closed in all around us. 244 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,600 Mrs. Stuart? 245 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,040 Yes, sir. 246 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,240 Keep an eye on the temperature. 247 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:17,240 Aye, aye, sir. 248 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:18,240 Ice, ice. 249 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,240 There ahead. 250 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:20,240 Codamaster, starboard, six degrees. 251 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:21,240 We've been getting smaller all the time. 252 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:22,240 Captain, the temperature's still dropping. 253 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:23,240 Ten above zero. 254 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,240 What do you think of this lead, Hanson? 255 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,880 I think maybe we better back out of here. 256 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:33,880 Back out? 257 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:35,800 Take a look of Stern, Hanson. 258 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:36,800 Back out where? 259 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:37,800 Captain? 260 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:38,800 What is it, Elodie? 261 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:39,800 The rudder won't respond. 262 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:40,800 Six below, sir. 263 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:41,800 Ice, there ahead. 264 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,800 The lead is getting smaller, Captain. 265 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:46,800 Aye, aye. 266 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:54,880 Well, the Arctic seems to be closing down on us on all counts. 267 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,880 The walls of the lead moved in closer until a man could jump to the ice from either side 268 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,760 of the ship. 269 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,160 And then the Jessica was cutting through the ice, making her own lead. 270 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:13,200 But slowly, we lost speed. 271 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:22,440 And then, finally, the ship gave up to the ice. 272 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:28,760 We, uh, be frozen in now. 273 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,760 Aye. 274 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,760 Stop engines, Mr. Stewart. 275 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,760 Yes, sir. 276 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:44,280 Well, Captain Blake, looks like we can forget about looking for Sir John Franklin and his 277 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:45,280 ships. 278 00:14:45,280 --> 00:15:06,600 Now that we've frozen in, we're going to have to look out for our own lives, you bet. 279 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:12,320 You are listening to Arctic Rescue, tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater 280 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:24,200 of thrills, Suspense. 281 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,560 The precinct house, the hub of a policeman's life, is a world in itself. 282 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:33,040 All the distorted, misguided emotions of humanity are channeled through its doors and dealt 283 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,840 with by the men who work there, protecting us every hour of the day and night. 284 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:43,160 You can get another authentic glimpse of this tense but tireless life Thursday on that brilliantly 285 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,640 realistic CBS radio drama, 21st Precinct, heard every Thursday night over most of these 286 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,360 same stations. 287 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,440 Not only will you hear another exciting, incisive drama of police life, you will win a new knowledge 288 00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:02,720 of and respect for the men in precinct houses everywhere on 21st Precinct. 289 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:10,240 And now we bring back to our Hollywood sound stage, John Stevenson, starring in tonight's 290 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:27,720 production, Arctic Rescue, a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense. 291 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:37,080 September 10th, 1852. 292 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:41,000 Unless a miracle occurred, we were frozen in the Arctic for the rest of the winter months. 293 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,600 A sea of ice surrounded us and the ship took on a starved list from the pressure of the 294 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:46,600 flow. 295 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,400 Rations were cut in food, water and coal consumption. 296 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,120 Furious gales came and went. 297 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,880 There were more freezing temperatures, often as low as 35 below. 298 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:58,520 The doctor was a busy man. 299 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,680 Nearly all hands suffered from frostbite, many from gangrene. 300 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:05,520 Conditions aboard the Jessica were deplorable. 301 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:10,840 I thought they couldn't get any worse. 302 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:21,360 October came, November, December, and we thought of home and the holidays and of Lady Franklin 303 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:31,520 and Miss Craycroft sitting alone at the Christmas feast that was to be held in our honor. 304 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,440 On Christmas Day, the cook outdid himself. 305 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,480 We had a feast aboard the Jessica on the last of the salt pork and the beef. 306 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:45,480 And with the last of the ulcet's ale and minced meat, the cook made pies. 307 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:51,920 And we had a celebration, Christmas Day, 1852. 308 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:59,440 Men, men, the captain has a word to say. 309 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:05,200 I drop below to offer you my greetings on this holiday and to wish you a much happier 310 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:21,560 Christmas next year. 311 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:26,480 Christmas Eve, 1853. 312 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,200 One year later. 313 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,680 We're still frozen in. 314 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:36,600 Summer came and passed without an appreciable rise in temperature and the ice failed to 315 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,560 break up. 316 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:43,400 Men living on pemmican, occasionally bear meat and seal blubber. 317 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:45,580 No more lime juice. 318 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:48,080 This means scurvy. 319 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,880 The year also saw the loss of 11 men, the doctor and the ice pilot Hanson among them. 320 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:59,080 Two in a chase with a pole of air, three from scurvy and the rest from gangrene. 321 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,760 Most of the men have frostbite. 322 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:08,400 Our second Christmas in the Arctic, a flow that holds the ship is drifting south down 323 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:09,400 Peel Sound. 324 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:14,320 We saw the shores of King William Island and the captain sent three men on a sledge to 325 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:20,120 look for food depots or a rock can, anything. 326 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,080 They returned today. 327 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:24,520 Where did you find it, Halliday? 328 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:25,720 In a can. 329 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,160 We also found empty pemmican cans and bits of ship's timber. 330 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,200 Stuart, listen to this. 331 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,600 It was written by Franklin himself. 332 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,080 1851. 333 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:41,040 Latitude 69 degrees, longitude 98 degrees west. 334 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,800 HMS Terror sank when ice broke. 335 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,920 Erebus still frozen in. 336 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:57,000 We said since April 12th, 1850, we are deserting the Erebus, attempting overland march to Back's 337 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,240 Fish River to Hudson Bay. 338 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:09,840 If unheard from, when this found, we must be considered lost. 339 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:16,920 Sir John Franklin, Captain, HMS Erebus. 340 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,880 We've found what we came for. 341 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:21,880 Aye. 342 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,920 Then they're all dead. 343 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,440 Aye. 344 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:34,920 If something doesn't happen pretty soon, we'll be dead too. 345 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,320 Makes for a very merry Christmas, eh, Captain? 346 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:39,320 Captain! 347 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:40,600 I hear it. 348 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:41,600 The ice. 349 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:42,600 It's breaking. 350 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:48,600 Great cracks open in the ice, and then out of the water through the openings another 351 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,600 great mountain of ice would rise. 352 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:56,040 Great slabs of surface a hundred yards wide shattered up into the turning water. 353 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,080 All around us great jagged fingers of ice crashed up through the flow. 354 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,080 All hands abandon ship. 355 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,080 All hands abandon ship. 356 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,080 All hands abandon ship. 357 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:08,080 Stuart, get your tools. 358 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,080 We're going out on the ice too. 359 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:16,080 I could feel the ship jarring loose under me, and suddenly the Jessica wrench sharply 360 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:17,080 throwing me across the deck. 361 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:28,080 The last sound in my ears was then Jessica tearing loose from the ice. 362 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:36,760 Slowly I became aware of a pain in my leg. 363 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:37,760 Then of movement. 364 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,760 I opened my eyes. 365 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,040 The captain was helping me walk. 366 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:50,640 I looked into the winter darkness for the familiar sight of the Jessica. 367 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,720 I saw nothing. 368 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,720 Nothing but ice. 369 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,720 Skipper. 370 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,760 Feeling better, lad. 371 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,520 What about the ship? 372 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:06,520 Gone down. 373 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,520 The rest of the men? 374 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,520 I don't know. 375 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:12,520 Gone. 376 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,520 The flow's evaporated. 377 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,520 Most of them are on the other side. 378 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,520 Where are we walking to? 379 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,520 I don't know. 380 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,520 I don't know. 381 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,520 Keep walking. 382 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,520 We'll keep walking. 383 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,520 We'll find a u-lock, Stuart. 384 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:39,520 What's Christmas without a u-lock in the hearth? 385 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,520 Move, Skipper. 386 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,520 Move. 387 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:55,520 We walked on and on, climbing jagged hummocks of ice, falling through thin spots, legs got 388 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:56,520 wet, froze. 389 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:02,520 We beat the ice off, walking in circles through the arctic night. 390 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,520 Endless circles. 391 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,520 Very good. 392 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,520 Rest. 393 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,520 We'll rest a bit. 394 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,520 Rest. 395 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,520 Rest. 396 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,520 Sleep a bit in the ice. 397 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,520 Warm, comforting ice. 398 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,520 No, don't sleep. 399 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:28,520 Keep awake, Captain. 400 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,520 Sleep, Stuart. 401 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:37,520 The fire in the hearth will keep us warm, and tomorrow, Christmas morning, it'll be there, 402 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,520 Stuart, you'll see. 403 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,520 What will be there? 404 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,520 It'll be there. 405 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,520 You'll see. 406 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,520 Don't, don't go to sleep, Captain. 407 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:56,520 Don't sleep. 408 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,520 My eyes grew heavy. 409 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:06,520 I craved sleep, but to sleep was to die. 410 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,520 I was ready. 411 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:17,520 In the sky over the horizon, a star. 412 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,520 The night was overcast. 413 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,520 There were no other stars. 414 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,520 Just one. 415 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:31,520 In the distance, I could see it. 416 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,520 Stuart, it was still there. 417 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:40,520 A bright star over the horizon. 418 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,520 Captain, Captain. 419 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,520 Up, up, on your feet. 420 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,520 Captain, we're going to keep walking. 421 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:51,520 Captain, Captain, get up. 422 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,520 I want to sleep. 423 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,520 You've got to get up, got to get up. 424 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:57,520 Keep on walking. 425 00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:58,520 Okay. 426 00:24:58,520 --> 00:24:59,520 Where? 427 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,520 There, that way. 428 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,520 Towards that star. 429 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,520 We walked on, slowly. 430 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:14,520 I carry the skipper, unconscious now. 431 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,520 What could it be? 432 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,520 There were no lights in the optic, no stars through the overcast. 433 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:29,520 We kept moving, and the star came closer. 434 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:33,520 I couldn't believe what suddenly appeared. 435 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:43,520 Through the darkness, directly beneath the star, was the vague outline of a ship. 436 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,520 A ship. 437 00:25:47,520 --> 00:26:03,520 Mike, Mike, help, help me. 438 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,520 He's coming out of it. 439 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:11,520 Stuart, Stuart. 440 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,520 Ship. 441 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:18,520 I saw Starkey, Halliday. 442 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,520 In the flesh. 443 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:21,520 I saw a ship. 444 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,520 Yes, I know. You're on it, see? 445 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,520 Where did it come from? It's not the Jessica. 446 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,520 I know, it's the Erebus, one of Franklin's ships. 447 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,520 The one they deserted. 448 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:38,520 The Erebus? Where did it come from? 449 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:45,520 Well, there we were, all of us, except you and the captain, lying on that flow after the Jessica went down. 450 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,520 Ready to die, just as we thought you'd died. 451 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:56,520 And then, just as graceful as you please, we see a ship drifting slowly out of the fog, through the broken ice, right to us. 452 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,520 The captain? I left him out on the ice. 453 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,520 No, he's all right. We brought him aboard. 454 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,520 And pretty soon, we'll be on our way home. 455 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:06,520 Home? 456 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,520 Yes, the ice is open. We can get out. The Erebus will take us back. 457 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,520 How's that for a Christmas surprise? 458 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,520 I follow the star. 459 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,520 What? 460 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,520 He's sleeping. 461 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,520 What was that he said? He followed a star? 462 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,520 Oh, he must have seen that lantern we hung on the main must. He stuck it for a star. 463 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,520 Saved his life, and the captain. 464 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,520 And being that it's still Christmas, I guess you could call it a miracle. 465 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:41,520 Eh, Starkey? 466 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:43,520 Aye. 467 00:27:43,520 --> 00:28:10,520 Aye, I guess you could have that, sir. 468 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,520 Suspense. 469 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:18,520 In which John Stevenson starred in tonight's presentation of Arctic Rescue. 470 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:24,520 Next week, the story of a man who thought the best way to commit murder was to plan it first. 471 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,520 We call it Variations on a Theme. 472 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,520 That's next week on... 473 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:46,520 Suspense. 474 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:52,520 Suspense is transcribed in Hollywood by Anthony Ellis. Tonight's script was written by Gus Baines. 475 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:58,520 The music was composed by Lucien Morrowek and Renée Garagang and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. 476 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:08,520 Featured in the cast were Herb Butterfield, Norma Barton, Lillian Bajoff, Richard Heal, George Walsh, John Doddsworth, and Clayton Post. 477 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:25,520 Stay tuned for five minutes of CBS News to be followed on most of these same stations by the Jack Carson Show. 478 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:35,520 You hear America's favorite shows on the CBS Radio Network.