WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:17.000 And now, tonight's presentation of Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 00:17.000 --> 00:26.080 Tonight, we bring you a transcribed story of a group of brave men who risk their lives 00:26.080 --> 00:29.480 in a desperate effort to save their fellow men. 00:29.480 --> 00:31.560 We call it Arctic Rescue. 00:31.560 --> 00:58.880 So now, starring Mr. John Stevenson, here is tonight's Suspense play, Arctic Rescue. 00:58.880 --> 01:01.000 Remember this if you can. 01:01.000 --> 01:03.120 Christmas night. 01:03.120 --> 01:10.640 Miles and miles of endless, empty, broken white ice. 01:10.640 --> 01:16.400 An ice floe drifting somewhere in the vicinity of the 73rd parallel, north of the Arctic 01:16.400 --> 01:18.960 Circle. 01:18.960 --> 01:21.680 Nothing but ice. 01:21.680 --> 01:24.880 That is, nearly nothing. 01:24.880 --> 01:31.760 If you look carefully through the winter night, you'll see two tiny dark blemishes. 01:31.760 --> 01:34.120 The figures of two men. 01:34.120 --> 01:39.720 One twisted in an unconscious heap is our skipper, Jonathan Blake. 01:39.720 --> 01:43.640 The other figure, Gerald Stewart. 01:43.640 --> 01:45.640 First mate. 01:45.640 --> 01:48.320 Me. 01:48.320 --> 01:51.240 It makes a sorry picture, eh? 01:51.240 --> 02:01.240 Civilized men in a primitive wilderness of ice, waiting helplessly for death. 02:01.240 --> 02:16.280 I, a sorry picture. 02:16.280 --> 02:20.200 It's a far different picture you've seen if you'd been part of the excited crowd standing 02:20.200 --> 02:24.360 at the battery of the New York waterfront on June morning, the year 1852. 02:24.360 --> 02:30.360 Aye, Mrs. Stewart. 02:30.360 --> 02:31.360 The moment of departure. 02:31.360 --> 02:32.360 Aye, Lady Franklin. 02:32.360 --> 02:35.120 You must take the high tide. 02:35.120 --> 02:39.800 May God and his great mercy protect you and your men from the perils which await you. 02:39.800 --> 02:42.280 You men are prepared for hardship, Lady Franklin. 02:42.280 --> 02:45.480 And we shall succeed where the others have failed in ending the mystery of the Erebus 02:45.480 --> 02:46.480 and Terran. 02:46.480 --> 02:47.480 Aye. 02:47.480 --> 02:49.680 Back to Aberdeen in time for a Christmas feast. 02:49.680 --> 02:54.080 We'll prepare a Christmas celebration your men will never forget, Captain. 02:54.080 --> 02:55.920 We're leaving for England next week. 02:55.920 --> 02:58.320 I, I shall pray for you, Mr. Stewart. 02:58.320 --> 03:00.160 For, for all of you. 03:00.160 --> 03:01.960 Thank you, Miss Graycroft. 03:01.960 --> 03:09.720 I'll stand many a watch out at sea thinking of last night, the ball, dancing and you. 03:09.720 --> 03:11.320 That is, all of us will, I mean. 03:11.320 --> 03:15.300 What I first made is trying to tell your niece, Lady Franklin, is how grateful the officers 03:15.300 --> 03:19.480 and crew are for the farewell ball you held in their honor last night. 03:19.480 --> 03:22.280 I'm the grateful one, Captain Blake. 03:22.280 --> 03:24.000 Please bring them all home safely. 03:24.000 --> 03:26.280 Come now, Lady Franklin, no need for worry. 03:26.280 --> 03:30.920 The Jessica is a sturdy ship and the men are in good health and lofty spirits. 03:30.920 --> 03:37.960 We'll be back by Christmas, you'll see. 03:37.960 --> 03:38.960 The tide will change. 03:38.960 --> 03:39.960 We must be on our way. 03:39.960 --> 03:42.880 Then goodbye and good luck, Captain. 03:42.880 --> 03:43.880 Goodbye, Lady Franklin. 03:43.880 --> 03:44.880 Miss Graycroft. 03:44.880 --> 03:45.880 Goodbye, Captain Blake. 03:45.880 --> 03:46.880 Goodbye, Mr. Stewart. 03:46.880 --> 03:47.880 Godspeed. 03:47.880 --> 03:49.640 Thank you. 03:49.640 --> 03:52.960 We shall see you on Aberdeen Christmas week. 03:52.960 --> 03:53.960 Let's get aboard, Mr. Stewart. 03:53.960 --> 03:54.960 Yes, sir. 03:54.960 --> 03:55.960 Goodbye, Lady Franklin. 03:55.960 --> 03:56.960 Stocky. 03:56.960 --> 03:57.960 Yes, sir. 03:57.960 --> 03:58.960 Drop the gangway. 03:58.960 --> 03:59.960 Yes, sir. 03:59.960 --> 04:00.960 All hands at their mooring stations, Mr. Stewart. 04:00.960 --> 04:01.960 Yes, sir. 04:01.960 --> 04:02.960 And pass the orders to Castor. 04:02.960 --> 04:03.960 Aye, sir. 04:03.960 --> 04:04.960 All hands, prepare to Castor. 04:04.960 --> 04:05.960 All hands, prepare to Castor. 04:05.960 --> 04:06.960 Let go, one, two, three. 04:06.960 --> 04:31.880 Let go, three and four. 04:31.880 --> 04:32.880 Ship's underway, sir. 04:32.880 --> 04:33.880 Aye. 04:33.880 --> 04:39.840 Well, Mr. Stewart, fill your eyes with the sight of New York. 04:39.840 --> 04:43.120 It's the last of it you'll be seeing for some time to come. 04:43.120 --> 04:46.880 Aye, a good long time. 04:46.880 --> 04:52.480 I am, sir. 04:52.480 --> 04:58.040 As the Jessica moved slowly to the outer harbor, I watched a tiny, delicate white dot in the 04:58.040 --> 05:00.240 crowd at the wharf. 05:00.240 --> 05:02.440 She stood there beside Lady Franklin, waving. 05:02.440 --> 05:19.480 And I watched until the morning fog erased the sight of the New York waterfront. 05:19.480 --> 05:23.120 Aside from the ship's log, I have decided to keep a running account of this voyage. 05:23.120 --> 05:27.720 This account will be transferred to a watertight jar and thrown to the currents should any 05:27.720 --> 05:30.920 sudden disaster occur. 05:30.920 --> 05:34.760 The first three weeks of navigation north were merely a matter of settling down to ship's 05:34.760 --> 05:35.760 routine. 05:35.760 --> 05:41.760 On June 30th, after officers' mess, we sighted Point Farewell on the Greenland coast. 05:41.760 --> 05:45.480 The time had come for the captain to read a letter of instructions given to him by Lady 05:45.480 --> 05:46.480 Franklin. 05:46.480 --> 05:52.380 Captain Blake, I am sure you will do all that any man can in discovering the fate of my 05:52.380 --> 05:58.040 husband, Sir John Franklin, and his two ships, the Erebus and Terror. 05:58.040 --> 06:05.560 But my only fear is that you might sacrifice your lives in the unknown regions of the Arctic. 06:05.560 --> 06:11.680 Therefore, let me state that above all else, the preservation of the lives of you and your 06:11.680 --> 06:17.400 heroic companions is more important to me than the purpose of your journey. 06:17.400 --> 06:24.800 May God in his great mercy preserve you all from harm amidst the perils which await and 06:24.800 --> 06:29.920 restore you to us safely and in health, as well as armor. 06:29.920 --> 06:35.720 Your sincere and attached friend, Jane Franklin. 06:35.720 --> 06:38.640 These are the only written instructions I have, gentlemen. 06:38.640 --> 06:42.200 Now then, Mr. Stewart, the map, please. 06:42.200 --> 06:44.440 Here it is, gentlemen. 06:44.440 --> 06:50.560 The most recent admiralty map of the Arctic regions that we are approaching. 06:50.560 --> 06:51.560 Map? 06:51.560 --> 06:52.720 It's almost completely blank. 06:52.720 --> 06:54.720 Aye, Mr. Halliday. 06:54.720 --> 06:57.280 Thousands of miles of uncharted wilderness. 06:57.280 --> 07:01.000 And somewhere in that frozen tundra, Sir John Franklin and his men vanished. 07:01.000 --> 07:02.000 Aye. 07:02.000 --> 07:05.920 And our search will begin tomorrow when we drop anchor in Goldhau. 07:05.920 --> 07:11.080 We'll pick up our ice pilot, Mr. Patrick Hanson's, from additional supplies and then make for 07:11.080 --> 07:12.080 the Arctic Circle. 07:12.080 --> 07:13.080 The Arctic Circle. 07:13.080 --> 07:15.280 It sounds like the edge of the world, eh, Stuart? 07:15.280 --> 07:17.600 Yeah, it's a little frightening, too. 07:17.600 --> 07:18.600 You frightened? 07:18.600 --> 07:23.480 Mr. Halliday, if I were you, I would respect Mr. Stewart's fear of what lies before us. 07:23.480 --> 07:29.960 Captain, I was just thinking, if Franklin was looking for the northwest passage, he'd 07:29.960 --> 07:34.680 probably make an approach through here, through Lancaster Sound. 07:34.680 --> 07:35.680 Aye. 07:35.680 --> 07:39.120 Then he must have passed Ponds Bay here. 07:39.120 --> 07:42.640 And according to our information, there are Eskimos at Ponds Bay. 07:42.640 --> 07:44.760 They might have seen his ships enter Lancaster Sound. 07:44.760 --> 07:47.080 And if they did, then we'll have something to go by. 07:47.080 --> 07:50.280 I hope Mr. Hanson understands the Eskimo dialects. 07:50.280 --> 07:51.280 They can tell us much. 07:51.280 --> 07:55.840 I don't see how we can cover all this territory and get back by Christmas, Captain. 07:55.840 --> 07:57.400 We have no choice, Mr. Stewart. 07:57.400 --> 08:02.400 If we get caught beyond the Arctic Circle after the summer months, we may never get 08:02.400 --> 08:03.400 back. 08:03.400 --> 08:04.400 Never? 08:04.400 --> 08:05.400 Aye. 08:05.400 --> 08:07.600 In the winter, the seas are covered with great ice flows. 08:07.600 --> 08:13.800 Once a ship is frozen in, in those latitudes, it'll stay there until the summer thaw. 08:13.800 --> 08:18.480 And you can't imagine the horrors we'd endure in an Arctic winter, Mr. Halliday. 08:18.480 --> 08:20.800 I, uh, I suppose not. 08:20.800 --> 08:24.240 Captain and his men were probably frozen in for the winter and... 08:24.240 --> 08:26.080 And they were never heard from again? 08:26.080 --> 08:27.080 Exactly. 08:27.080 --> 08:31.440 Well, that would give you a brief idea of what we're in for, gentlemen. 08:31.440 --> 08:35.840 You'll know more after Mr. Hanson comes aboard. 08:35.840 --> 08:36.840 Any questions? 08:36.840 --> 08:40.720 I have nothing but questions, Captain. 08:40.720 --> 08:52.160 I wish I had the answers, Stewart. 08:52.160 --> 08:55.920 Noon the next day, we dropped anchor in the harbor of Godhab. 08:55.920 --> 09:01.080 Here we could take on coal, additional winter clothing, dogs and Eskimo drivers, and Mr. 09:01.080 --> 09:03.240 Hanson, our ice pilot. 09:03.240 --> 09:07.040 Godhab was nothing more than a few huts of the Baffin Bay Trading Company. 09:07.040 --> 09:13.960 And as we prepared to go ashore, a longboat suddenly appeared alongside. 09:13.960 --> 09:14.960 Captain Blake. 09:14.960 --> 09:15.960 Aye. 09:15.960 --> 09:17.680 I'm Patrick Hanson, your ice pilot, sir. 09:17.680 --> 09:19.880 We were about to send a boat ashore for you, Mr. Hanson. 09:19.880 --> 09:21.320 No time for that, Captain. 09:21.320 --> 09:23.640 But we planned on picking up supplies and dogs. 09:23.640 --> 09:24.640 I brought them. 09:24.640 --> 09:25.640 They're in the boat. 09:25.640 --> 09:27.560 Well, what's the rush, Mr. Hanson? 09:27.560 --> 09:29.520 This is Gerald Stewart and I first made. 09:29.520 --> 09:32.520 You've never been to the Arctic before, Mr. Stewart. 09:32.520 --> 09:33.520 No. 09:33.520 --> 09:34.840 You'll take my word for it. 09:34.840 --> 09:37.880 We'd better get up there while we got the summer weather, you bet. 09:37.880 --> 09:38.880 All right. 09:38.880 --> 09:40.600 So we run into a little summer ice. 09:40.600 --> 09:42.440 The Jessica's prepared for it. 09:42.440 --> 09:43.440 Yeah. 09:43.440 --> 09:45.640 She looks like a good, strong ship. 09:45.640 --> 09:49.320 We've never seen an iron ship up here before. 09:49.320 --> 09:50.800 And steam engine, too. 09:50.800 --> 09:53.360 That's not all the Jessica has. 09:53.360 --> 09:58.120 There's an additional iron plates across her hull as well as added bracing thwart ship. 09:58.120 --> 10:02.320 And the forward ten feet of the bow is solid iron and razor sharp at the edge. 10:02.320 --> 10:05.120 What do you think that will do to your ice, Mr. Hanson? 10:05.120 --> 10:10.680 You wait and you see what the ice can do to a ship, even an iron ship, Mr. Stewart. 10:10.680 --> 10:12.920 Mr. Hanson, you received my letters. 10:12.920 --> 10:13.920 Yeah. 10:13.920 --> 10:16.560 And you made inquiries about the Erebus and terror? 10:16.560 --> 10:17.560 Yeah. 10:17.560 --> 10:18.560 They've us here. 10:18.560 --> 10:22.040 They couldn't get dogs, so they headed for Ponds Bay. 10:22.040 --> 10:23.320 Across Baffin Bay. 10:23.320 --> 10:24.440 That's right. 10:24.440 --> 10:25.440 Just as we thought. 10:25.440 --> 10:26.440 Mr. Halliday. 10:26.440 --> 10:27.440 Yes, sir. 10:27.440 --> 10:30.480 Get those supplies aboard, then prepare the ship for sea. 10:30.480 --> 10:31.480 Aye, aye, sir. 10:31.480 --> 10:34.040 Mr. Stewart, you can chart a course for us. 10:34.040 --> 10:45.880 We'll cross the Arctic Circle next and on to Ponds Bay. 10:45.880 --> 10:51.560 We set a north by northwest course, leaving the last outpost of civilization behind us, 10:51.560 --> 10:54.080 and crossed the great Baffin Bay. 10:54.080 --> 10:58.560 On July 4th, we crossed the Arctic Circle without ceremony. 10:58.560 --> 11:01.560 Then we had ice freezing on deck and in the rigging. 11:01.560 --> 11:04.200 A day later, we saw our first floating iceberg. 11:04.200 --> 11:13.040 For this time of the year, we should not have seen either one. 11:13.040 --> 11:16.840 From Goat Hub to Ponds Bay, six and a half days. 11:16.840 --> 11:17.840 Perfect calm. 11:17.840 --> 11:22.880 Upon landing, we found a small contingent of Eskimos, but nothing else. 11:22.880 --> 11:26.280 They seemed hostile and would give us no information. 11:26.280 --> 11:31.040 Then as we were preparing to return to the Jessica, one of the natives, a girl, rushed 11:31.040 --> 11:33.080 from one of the huts and down to the beach. 11:33.080 --> 11:34.080 Josef? 11:34.080 --> 11:35.080 Josef? 11:35.080 --> 11:36.640 What's she saying, Mr. Henson? 11:36.640 --> 11:38.080 I'm not sure. 11:38.080 --> 11:39.200 Captain, look. 11:39.200 --> 11:40.680 She has something in her hand. 11:40.680 --> 11:42.640 She wants us to look at it. 11:42.640 --> 11:45.400 It's a small brass button. 11:45.400 --> 11:46.400 From a naval uniform. 11:46.400 --> 11:47.400 Aye. 11:47.400 --> 11:50.200 See if she'll trade it for some sewing needles. 11:50.200 --> 11:51.200 Josef? 11:51.200 --> 11:52.200 Galaga? 11:52.200 --> 11:55.200 What does she mean by that? 11:55.200 --> 11:56.200 Josef? 11:56.200 --> 11:58.400 She's trying to say a man's name. 11:58.400 --> 12:00.400 Josef Galaga? 12:00.400 --> 12:02.040 Josef Galaga? 12:02.040 --> 12:05.600 Stuart, is that name on Sir John's crew list? 12:05.600 --> 12:07.600 I'm looking, sir. 12:07.600 --> 12:09.720 Yes, sir, it's here. 12:09.720 --> 12:11.200 Quartermaster, Josef Galaga. 12:11.200 --> 12:12.200 They've been here. 12:12.200 --> 12:13.200 Aye. 12:13.200 --> 12:14.200 Better get back to the ship, men. 12:14.200 --> 12:15.200 Looks like a gale brewing. 12:15.200 --> 12:16.200 Josef? 12:16.200 --> 12:18.320 Let her keep the buttons, Stuart. 12:18.320 --> 12:19.320 Give her the needles, too. 12:19.320 --> 12:20.320 Yes, sir. 12:20.320 --> 12:21.320 Josef? 12:21.320 --> 12:32.840 Yes, sir. 12:32.840 --> 12:37.000 After leaving Ponds Bay, two months passed without incident. 12:37.000 --> 12:41.040 Then we entered Lancaster Sound and approached the scarcely charted islands along Barrel 12:41.040 --> 12:42.040 Strait. 12:42.040 --> 12:46.920 Then we encountered great mountains of floating ice, and we had only a few hours of twilight 12:46.920 --> 12:48.680 each day. 12:48.680 --> 12:54.160 We crossed the 75th parallel and north into Wellington Channel to Bathurst Islands, the 12:54.160 --> 12:57.600 last of the charted islands on my maps. 12:57.600 --> 13:01.000 Then on September 10th, weather changed. 13:01.000 --> 13:06.600 Northwest gales, sleet, and heavy fogs had forced us to a bare crawl. 13:06.600 --> 13:11.040 And worse, mammoth ice floes had closed in all around us. 13:11.040 --> 13:12.600 Mrs. Stuart? 13:12.600 --> 13:14.040 Yes, sir. 13:14.040 --> 13:16.240 Keep an eye on the temperature. 13:16.240 --> 13:17.240 Aye, aye, sir. 13:17.240 --> 13:18.240 Ice, ice. 13:18.240 --> 13:19.240 There ahead. 13:19.240 --> 13:20.240 Codamaster, starboard, six degrees. 13:20.240 --> 13:21.240 We've been getting smaller all the time. 13:21.240 --> 13:22.240 Captain, the temperature's still dropping. 13:22.240 --> 13:23.240 Ten above zero. 13:23.240 --> 13:26.240 What do you think of this lead, Hanson? 13:26.240 --> 13:32.880 I think maybe we better back out of here. 13:32.880 --> 13:33.880 Back out? 13:33.880 --> 13:35.800 Take a look of Stern, Hanson. 13:35.800 --> 13:36.800 Back out where? 13:36.800 --> 13:37.800 Captain? 13:37.800 --> 13:38.800 What is it, Elodie? 13:38.800 --> 13:39.800 The rudder won't respond. 13:39.800 --> 13:40.800 Six below, sir. 13:40.800 --> 13:41.800 Ice, there ahead. 13:41.800 --> 13:44.800 The lead is getting smaller, Captain. 13:44.800 --> 13:46.800 Aye, aye. 13:46.800 --> 13:54.880 Well, the Arctic seems to be closing down on us on all counts. 13:54.880 --> 13:58.880 The walls of the lead moved in closer until a man could jump to the ice from either side 13:58.880 --> 14:02.760 of the ship. 14:02.760 --> 14:07.160 And then the Jessica was cutting through the ice, making her own lead. 14:07.160 --> 14:13.200 But slowly, we lost speed. 14:13.200 --> 14:22.440 And then, finally, the ship gave up to the ice. 14:22.440 --> 14:28.760 We, uh, be frozen in now. 14:28.760 --> 14:30.760 Aye. 14:30.760 --> 14:33.760 Stop engines, Mr. Stewart. 14:33.760 --> 14:36.760 Yes, sir. 14:36.760 --> 14:44.280 Well, Captain Blake, looks like we can forget about looking for Sir John Franklin and his 14:44.280 --> 14:45.280 ships. 14:45.280 --> 15:06.600 Now that we've frozen in, we're going to have to look out for our own lives, you bet. 15:06.600 --> 15:12.320 You are listening to Arctic Rescue, tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater 15:12.320 --> 15:24.200 of thrills, Suspense. 15:24.200 --> 15:28.560 The precinct house, the hub of a policeman's life, is a world in itself. 15:28.560 --> 15:33.040 All the distorted, misguided emotions of humanity are channeled through its doors and dealt 15:33.040 --> 15:37.840 with by the men who work there, protecting us every hour of the day and night. 15:37.840 --> 15:43.160 You can get another authentic glimpse of this tense but tireless life Thursday on that brilliantly 15:43.160 --> 15:48.640 realistic CBS radio drama, 21st Precinct, heard every Thursday night over most of these 15:48.640 --> 15:50.360 same stations. 15:50.360 --> 15:55.440 Not only will you hear another exciting, incisive drama of police life, you will win a new knowledge 15:55.440 --> 16:02.720 of and respect for the men in precinct houses everywhere on 21st Precinct. 16:02.720 --> 16:10.240 And now we bring back to our Hollywood sound stage, John Stevenson, starring in tonight's 16:10.240 --> 16:27.720 production, Arctic Rescue, a tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense. 16:27.720 --> 16:37.080 September 10th, 1852. 16:37.080 --> 16:41.000 Unless a miracle occurred, we were frozen in the Arctic for the rest of the winter months. 16:41.000 --> 16:45.600 A sea of ice surrounded us and the ship took on a starved list from the pressure of the 16:45.600 --> 16:46.600 flow. 16:46.600 --> 16:50.400 Rations were cut in food, water and coal consumption. 16:50.400 --> 16:52.120 Furious gales came and went. 16:52.120 --> 16:56.880 There were more freezing temperatures, often as low as 35 below. 16:56.880 --> 16:58.520 The doctor was a busy man. 16:58.520 --> 17:03.680 Nearly all hands suffered from frostbite, many from gangrene. 17:03.680 --> 17:05.520 Conditions aboard the Jessica were deplorable. 17:05.520 --> 17:10.840 I thought they couldn't get any worse. 17:10.840 --> 17:21.360 October came, November, December, and we thought of home and the holidays and of Lady Franklin 17:21.360 --> 17:31.520 and Miss Craycroft sitting alone at the Christmas feast that was to be held in our honor. 17:31.520 --> 17:34.440 On Christmas Day, the cook outdid himself. 17:34.440 --> 17:39.480 We had a feast aboard the Jessica on the last of the salt pork and the beef. 17:39.480 --> 17:45.480 And with the last of the ulcet's ale and minced meat, the cook made pies. 17:45.480 --> 17:51.920 And we had a celebration, Christmas Day, 1852. 17:51.920 --> 17:59.440 Men, men, the captain has a word to say. 17:59.440 --> 18:05.200 I drop below to offer you my greetings on this holiday and to wish you a much happier 18:05.200 --> 18:21.560 Christmas next year. 18:21.560 --> 18:26.480 Christmas Eve, 1853. 18:26.480 --> 18:29.200 One year later. 18:29.200 --> 18:31.680 We're still frozen in. 18:31.680 --> 18:36.600 Summer came and passed without an appreciable rise in temperature and the ice failed to 18:36.600 --> 18:38.560 break up. 18:38.560 --> 18:43.400 Men living on pemmican, occasionally bear meat and seal blubber. 18:43.400 --> 18:45.580 No more lime juice. 18:45.580 --> 18:48.080 This means scurvy. 18:48.080 --> 18:52.880 The year also saw the loss of 11 men, the doctor and the ice pilot Hanson among them. 18:52.880 --> 18:59.080 Two in a chase with a pole of air, three from scurvy and the rest from gangrene. 18:59.080 --> 19:02.760 Most of the men have frostbite. 19:02.760 --> 19:08.400 Our second Christmas in the Arctic, a flow that holds the ship is drifting south down 19:08.400 --> 19:09.400 Peel Sound. 19:09.400 --> 19:14.320 We saw the shores of King William Island and the captain sent three men on a sledge to 19:14.320 --> 19:20.120 look for food depots or a rock can, anything. 19:20.120 --> 19:23.080 They returned today. 19:23.080 --> 19:24.520 Where did you find it, Halliday? 19:24.520 --> 19:25.720 In a can. 19:25.720 --> 19:29.160 We also found empty pemmican cans and bits of ship's timber. 19:29.160 --> 19:31.200 Stuart, listen to this. 19:31.200 --> 19:34.600 It was written by Franklin himself. 19:34.600 --> 19:36.080 1851. 19:36.080 --> 19:41.040 Latitude 69 degrees, longitude 98 degrees west. 19:41.040 --> 19:44.800 HMS Terror sank when ice broke. 19:44.800 --> 19:47.920 Erebus still frozen in. 19:47.920 --> 19:57.000 We said since April 12th, 1850, we are deserting the Erebus, attempting overland march to Back's 19:57.000 --> 20:01.240 Fish River to Hudson Bay. 20:01.240 --> 20:09.840 If unheard from, when this found, we must be considered lost. 20:09.840 --> 20:16.920 Sir John Franklin, Captain, HMS Erebus. 20:16.920 --> 20:20.880 We've found what we came for. 20:20.880 --> 20:21.880 Aye. 20:21.880 --> 20:25.920 Then they're all dead. 20:25.920 --> 20:28.440 Aye. 20:28.440 --> 20:34.920 If something doesn't happen pretty soon, we'll be dead too. 20:34.920 --> 20:38.320 Makes for a very merry Christmas, eh, Captain? 20:38.320 --> 20:39.320 Captain! 20:39.320 --> 20:40.600 I hear it. 20:40.600 --> 20:41.600 The ice. 20:41.600 --> 20:42.600 It's breaking. 20:42.600 --> 20:48.600 Great cracks open in the ice, and then out of the water through the openings another 20:48.600 --> 20:50.600 great mountain of ice would rise. 20:50.600 --> 20:56.040 Great slabs of surface a hundred yards wide shattered up into the turning water. 20:56.040 --> 21:00.080 All around us great jagged fingers of ice crashed up through the flow. 21:00.080 --> 21:02.080 All hands abandon ship. 21:02.080 --> 21:04.080 All hands abandon ship. 21:04.080 --> 21:06.080 All hands abandon ship. 21:06.080 --> 21:08.080 Stuart, get your tools. 21:08.080 --> 21:10.080 We're going out on the ice too. 21:10.080 --> 21:16.080 I could feel the ship jarring loose under me, and suddenly the Jessica wrench sharply 21:16.080 --> 21:17.080 throwing me across the deck. 21:17.080 --> 21:28.080 The last sound in my ears was then Jessica tearing loose from the ice. 21:28.080 --> 21:36.760 Slowly I became aware of a pain in my leg. 21:36.760 --> 21:37.760 Then of movement. 21:37.760 --> 21:40.760 I opened my eyes. 21:40.760 --> 21:45.040 The captain was helping me walk. 21:45.040 --> 21:50.640 I looked into the winter darkness for the familiar sight of the Jessica. 21:50.640 --> 21:53.720 I saw nothing. 21:53.720 --> 21:56.720 Nothing but ice. 21:56.720 --> 21:58.720 Skipper. 21:58.720 --> 22:02.760 Feeling better, lad. 22:02.760 --> 22:05.520 What about the ship? 22:05.520 --> 22:06.520 Gone down. 22:06.520 --> 22:08.520 The rest of the men? 22:08.520 --> 22:11.520 I don't know. 22:11.520 --> 22:12.520 Gone. 22:12.520 --> 22:15.520 The flow's evaporated. 22:15.520 --> 22:18.520 Most of them are on the other side. 22:18.520 --> 22:22.520 Where are we walking to? 22:22.520 --> 22:25.520 I don't know. 22:25.520 --> 22:28.520 I don't know. 22:28.520 --> 22:30.520 Keep walking. 22:30.520 --> 22:32.520 We'll keep walking. 22:32.520 --> 22:35.520 We'll find a u-lock, Stuart. 22:35.520 --> 22:39.520 What's Christmas without a u-lock in the hearth? 22:39.520 --> 22:41.520 Move, Skipper. 22:41.520 --> 22:43.520 Move. 22:43.520 --> 22:55.520 We walked on and on, climbing jagged hummocks of ice, falling through thin spots, legs got 22:55.520 --> 22:56.520 wet, froze. 22:56.520 --> 23:02.520 We beat the ice off, walking in circles through the arctic night. 23:02.520 --> 23:04.520 Endless circles. 23:04.520 --> 23:06.520 Very good. 23:06.520 --> 23:08.520 Rest. 23:08.520 --> 23:12.520 We'll rest a bit. 23:12.520 --> 23:14.520 Rest. 23:14.520 --> 23:16.520 Rest. 23:16.520 --> 23:20.520 Sleep a bit in the ice. 23:20.520 --> 23:24.520 Warm, comforting ice. 23:24.520 --> 23:27.520 No, don't sleep. 23:27.520 --> 23:28.520 Keep awake, Captain. 23:28.520 --> 23:30.520 Sleep, Stuart. 23:30.520 --> 23:37.520 The fire in the hearth will keep us warm, and tomorrow, Christmas morning, it'll be there, 23:37.520 --> 23:39.520 Stuart, you'll see. 23:39.520 --> 23:41.520 What will be there? 23:41.520 --> 23:43.520 It'll be there. 23:43.520 --> 23:45.520 You'll see. 23:45.520 --> 23:49.520 Don't, don't go to sleep, Captain. 23:49.520 --> 23:56.520 Don't sleep. 23:56.520 --> 24:00.520 My eyes grew heavy. 24:00.520 --> 24:06.520 I craved sleep, but to sleep was to die. 24:06.520 --> 24:10.520 I was ready. 24:10.520 --> 24:17.520 In the sky over the horizon, a star. 24:17.520 --> 24:19.520 The night was overcast. 24:19.520 --> 24:22.520 There were no other stars. 24:22.520 --> 24:24.520 Just one. 24:24.520 --> 24:31.520 In the distance, I could see it. 24:31.520 --> 24:35.520 Stuart, it was still there. 24:35.520 --> 24:40.520 A bright star over the horizon. 24:40.520 --> 24:42.520 Captain, Captain. 24:42.520 --> 24:45.520 Up, up, on your feet. 24:45.520 --> 24:47.520 Captain, we're going to keep walking. 24:47.520 --> 24:51.520 Captain, Captain, get up. 24:51.520 --> 24:53.520 I want to sleep. 24:53.520 --> 24:55.520 You've got to get up, got to get up. 24:55.520 --> 24:57.520 Keep on walking. 24:57.520 --> 24:58.520 Okay. 24:58.520 --> 24:59.520 Where? 24:59.520 --> 25:01.520 There, that way. 25:01.520 --> 25:05.520 Towards that star. 25:05.520 --> 25:09.520 We walked on, slowly. 25:09.520 --> 25:14.520 I carry the skipper, unconscious now. 25:14.520 --> 25:16.520 What could it be? 25:16.520 --> 25:20.520 There were no lights in the optic, no stars through the overcast. 25:20.520 --> 25:29.520 We kept moving, and the star came closer. 25:29.520 --> 25:33.520 I couldn't believe what suddenly appeared. 25:33.520 --> 25:43.520 Through the darkness, directly beneath the star, was the vague outline of a ship. 25:43.520 --> 25:47.520 A ship. 25:47.520 --> 26:03.520 Mike, Mike, help, help me. 26:03.520 --> 26:05.520 He's coming out of it. 26:05.520 --> 26:11.520 Stuart, Stuart. 26:11.520 --> 26:13.520 Ship. 26:13.520 --> 26:18.520 I saw Starkey, Halliday. 26:18.520 --> 26:20.520 In the flesh. 26:20.520 --> 26:21.520 I saw a ship. 26:21.520 --> 26:25.520 Yes, I know. You're on it, see? 26:25.520 --> 26:28.520 Where did it come from? It's not the Jessica. 26:28.520 --> 26:31.520 I know, it's the Erebus, one of Franklin's ships. 26:31.520 --> 26:33.520 The one they deserted. 26:33.520 --> 26:38.520 The Erebus? Where did it come from? 26:38.520 --> 26:45.520 Well, there we were, all of us, except you and the captain, lying on that flow after the Jessica went down. 26:45.520 --> 26:48.520 Ready to die, just as we thought you'd died. 26:48.520 --> 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. 26:56.520 --> 26:59.520 The captain? I left him out on the ice. 26:59.520 --> 27:02.520 No, he's all right. We brought him aboard. 27:02.520 --> 27:05.520 And pretty soon, we'll be on our way home. 27:05.520 --> 27:06.520 Home? 27:06.520 --> 27:10.520 Yes, the ice is open. We can get out. The Erebus will take us back. 27:10.520 --> 27:14.520 How's that for a Christmas surprise? 27:14.520 --> 27:17.520 I follow the star. 27:17.520 --> 27:21.520 What? 27:21.520 --> 27:23.520 He's sleeping. 27:23.520 --> 27:27.520 What was that he said? He followed a star? 27:27.520 --> 27:32.520 Oh, he must have seen that lantern we hung on the main must. He stuck it for a star. 27:32.520 --> 27:36.520 Saved his life, and the captain. 27:36.520 --> 27:40.520 And being that it's still Christmas, I guess you could call it a miracle. 27:40.520 --> 27:41.520 Eh, Starkey? 27:41.520 --> 27:43.520 Aye. 27:43.520 --> 28:10.520 Aye, I guess you could have that, sir. 28:10.520 --> 28:13.520 Suspense. 28:13.520 --> 28:18.520 In which John Stevenson starred in tonight's presentation of Arctic Rescue. 28:18.520 --> 28:24.520 Next week, the story of a man who thought the best way to commit murder was to plan it first. 28:24.520 --> 28:28.520 We call it Variations on a Theme. 28:28.520 --> 28:31.520 That's next week on... 28:31.520 --> 28:46.520 Suspense. 28:46.520 --> 28:52.520 Suspense is transcribed in Hollywood by Anthony Ellis. Tonight's script was written by Gus Baines. 28:52.520 --> 28:58.520 The music was composed by Lucien Morrowek and Renée Garagang and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. 28:58.520 --> 29:08.520 Featured in the cast were Herb Butterfield, Norma Barton, Lillian Bajoff, Richard Heal, George Walsh, John Doddsworth, and Clayton Post. 29:08.520 --> 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. 29:25.520 --> 29:35.520 You hear America's favorite shows on the CBS Radio Network.