DOC SAVAGE Program Number Three "The Red Lake Quest" (Adapted From DOC SAVAGE MAGAZINE) CAST DOC SAVAGE..............Deep, cultured voice. MONK....................Small, almost ludicrously falsetto voice. HAM.....................Harvard accent. JACK....................Harsh, tough guy voice. SHORTY..................Shrill, tough guy voice. ELLER...................Southern drawl. CALLMAN.................Pleasant voice, uncultured. 1ST VOICE & 2ND VOICE MAY BE DOUBLED, IF DRAMATIZED ADVERTISING PLUG IS USED. BIZ: 1--Blizzard. (Wail of wind) 2--Bird whistle trilling. 3--Gong. 4--Motor of car. (If dramatized plug used) 5--Car door slam. (If dramatized plug used) 6--Squeal of brakes. (If dramatized plug used) 7--Squeaky footsteps in cold snow. 8--Crackle of branches. 9--Rumble to imitate snowslide. 10--Door closing. 11--Hiss to imitate insect sprayer. (Hand type) 12--Blows and struggle. Playing Time: 14 minutes. Script by: Lester Dent (Kenneth Robeson) EFFECT: (GONG, OUT OF REVERBERATIONS OF WHICH COMES LOW-THROATED BIRD WHISTLE TRILLING, WHICH FADES BEHIND ANNOUNCEMENT) ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, Cystex is on the air. Cystex, spelled C-Y-S-T-E-X. Don't forget. And now listen. BIZ: (SOUND OF AUTO AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) 1ST VOICE: Hayah, Bill. Want a lift? 2ND VOICE: (AWAY FROM MIKE) Sure. BIZ: (CUT MOTOR) (CAR DOOR SLAM) (CAR MOTOR AND HOLD FOR CUE) 1ST VOICE: Great day, eh Bill? 2ND VOICE: (GLOOMILY) I guess so. 1ST VOICE: You guess so! Say, what's the matter? Girl give you the air? 2ND VOICE: Naw. Nothin' like that. I'm just not feelin' so good. 1ST VOICE: Say, you do look like something the cow kicked around. 2ND VOICE: You said it. My back aches, and I feel eighty years old. Didn't sleep over an hour last night. Brother, I've got everything--that I don't want. 1ST VOICE: Jitters? 2ND VOICE: Naw. I know what it is. Kidneys gone back on me. 1ST VOICE: Kidneys! (LAUGHS) Haw, hew, hew! 2ND VOICE: Laugh, blast you. You healthy guys don't know what real misery is. BIZ: (CUT CAR ENGINE) (SQUEAL OF BRAKES) 2ND VOICE: Whatcha stopping for? 1ST VOICE: I'm going to fix you up, Bill. I used to have the same trouble you've got. I'm going into this drug store and treat you to a box of Cystex. 2ND VOICE: It's good, eh? 1ST VOICE: Sure, it's good. It straightened me out. 2ND VOICE: Wait, I'll get it myself. How d'you spell it? 1ST VOICE: Cystex, Bill--C-Y-S-T-E-X. EFFECT: (GONG, OUT OF REVERBERATIONS OF WHICH COMES LOW-THROATED BIRD WHISTLE TRILLING, WHICH FADES BEHIND ANNOUNCEMENT) ANNOUNCER: And now Cystex presents another adventure from the life of Doc Savage, the man who possesses remarkable mental powers, developed by rigid scientific training. Doc Savage, the man of bronze, whose tremendous muscles are the result of an unusual routine of exercises, taken each day since childhood. The life work of Doc Savage is trouble busting. From all over the world, individuals whose lives are in danger, men and women who are in deadly peril, appeal to Doc Savage for aid. Doc Savage is--but listen to the conversation of two furtive men who are meeting in a spruce clump outside a settlement in northern Canada. It is bitter cold, and a blizzard rages. EFFECT: (BLIZZARD SOUND AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) JACK: All right, Shorty. What's wrong? SHORTY: We got a job to do, Jack. JACK: Yeah? Hurry up and get it outa your system 'fore we freeze. Man, is it cold! I ask you. SHORTY: Listen Jack, ever hear of a guy named Doc Savage? JACK: Doc Savage... Doc Savage... I've heard that name. SHORTY: (DRY LAUGH) Heh! Is that all! JACK: Who is he? SHORTY: A bird who goes all over the world, gettin' people out of jams. They say he's a wizard, a great scientist and a mighty tough guy in a fight. He's got five men who help him, all of them big shots in some science or pro-profession. They make a business of gettin' other folks out of trouble. JACK: So what? Say, if you called me out here in this blizzard to lecture about-- SHORTY: Pipe down and listen! Doc Savage is headed for this place right now. JACK: Do I bust down and cry, or somethin'? SHORTY: Lay off the wise cracks, Jack. This ain't funny by a long shot. JACK: No? SHORTY: No. You know them airplanes the Red Lake Gold Mining Company has been using to bring high grade ore down from their mine up north? JACK: Somebody has been knockin' 'em off, ain't they, Shorty? Shot some of the planes down and took off quite a few thousand in high grade ore and dust. Isn't that the talk? SHORTY: Cut out the funny stuff, Jack. Doc Savage is comin' up here to look into the robberies. JACK: Yeah? Well, we're in the clear. Nobody's wise to a thing. SHORTY: The boss is worried. JACK: (PAUSE) That ain't so good the boss worried and he don't scare so easy. SHORTY: The big boy's heard of this Doc Savage. He gimme the low-down on Savage. He give me a good description. JACK: Description? SHORTY: That's what I said. Doc Savage is a big, bronze guy. He's comin' in afoot, and two of his five helpers are with 'im. One of the two is Monk, a big gorilla of a bird who is supposed to be a whiz of a chemist. The other one is a lawyer. They call 'im Ham. He goes in for fancy clothes. JACK: So what, Shorty? SHORTY: The boss thinks we had better throw a party for Doc Savage. JACK: You mean--? SHORTY: Yeah that's what I mean a party with a machine gun along the trail, six or seven miles out. JACK: Say, who does the boss think he is to sit back and tell us-- SHORTY: Lay off, Jack. The boss is goin' along. JACK: The boss'll be with us, eh? That's different. SHORTY: We'll push the bodies in a snowdrift somewhere, afterwards. The blizzard will cover up the tracks. Come on. The boss is waitinÕ for us. JACK: Where's the machine gun? SHORTY: Chief's got it. JACK: Okay. Let's get it over. (AWAY FROM MIKE) Br-r-r! Talk about cold weather! EFFECT: (BLIZZARD COMES IN LOUD, THEN DECREASE AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) (LOW-THROATED BIRD WHISTLE TRILLING) MONK: Whe-w-w! How much farther, Doc? DOC: About seven miles, Monk. MONK: Let's rest. These snowshoes are gettin' me down. HAM: You know, Monk, when you walk on those snowshoes, you make me think of a monkey on a hot stove. MONK: (SARCASTIC) Yeah. I'm glad somebody thinks it's funny. DOC: Over this way, you two. (AWAY FROM MIKE) Here's a nice spruce clump. We'll rest in here a while. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS ON SNOW) (CRACKLE OF BRANCHES) MONK: Yeah, these trees do kinda keep the wind off a little. DOC: They do more than that. They offer fair concealment. MONK: You expectinÕ some trouble, Doc? DOC: Not necessarily. Keeping under cover is just a precaution. We are up here to investigate the looting of planes carrying concentrates and high grade gold ore. It is possible the thieves will not give up without a struggle, you know. HAM: Have you been warned that we might expect an attack on the way up to Red Lake? DOC: Nothing of the sort. The only information I have is the contents of that radio message I showed you. . . the one from J. T. Callman and Park Eller. HAM: Park Eller is general foreman, and J T. Callman the manager. DOC: That's right. The radiogram did not tell us a great deal merely that the robberies have occurred. BIZ: (BLIZZARD LOUDER, THEN DECREASE AND HOLD FOR CUE) MONK: Boy, they really have cold weather up here! Listen to that wind. Say, Doc, it looks like we've gotta cross a little range of hills about half a mile ahead. DOC: So it seems. MONK: They look steep from here. DOC: There seems to be a narrow pass slightly to the westward. MONK: Believe you're right, Doc. DOC: (AWAY FROM MIKE) You fellows rest there until I come back. MONK: Where you goin', Doc? DOC: (FARTHER FROM MIKE) To have a look at those hills. BIZ: (BLIZZARD LOUD FOR A MOMENT, THEN DECREASE) MONK: Look at the wind whirl that snow around. Doc's out of sight already. Wonder what he's up to, Ham? HAM: The big bronze fellow does not take any chances. I suspect he is looking over the trail ahead. MONK: You mean... in case somebody might be waitin' for us? HAM: That is the general idea, Monk. MONK: Yep. You're probably right. Say, Ham, there was more than one radio message from this J. T. Callman and Park Eller, wasn't there? HAM: Two. MONK: Two. That's what I thought. HAM: You saw the second, did you not? It was an agreement to pay Doc's price for coming up here. One half of all the stolen stuff that Doc recovers is to be given to the Canadian Organized Charities. MONK: Yeah, I saw the last message. HAM: Not many men would undertake a thing of this kind, with it definitely understood that they were to receive no reward for themselves. MONK: How about us? We don't get anything either. HAM: Well, we have a lot of fun out of it. And the next rich law client I catch will pay plenty. MONK: Aw, don't none of us need the money as bad as these poor cusses Doc is always helpin'. Say, this is sure a wilderness around here, ain't it? HAM: Very much so. Red Lake, I believe, has neither railway nor telegraph lines. The mining company, however, has a radio station. MONK: Wonder what's keepin' Doc? HAM: He should be back, by now. BIZ: (BLIZZARD LOUD FOR A TIME, THEN DECREASE AND HOLD) MONK: Hey, Ham! Hear somethin'? HAM: (PAUSE) No BIZ: (CRACK OF STICK) HAM: Yes. . .behind us! MONK: Watch out! Lemme get this rifle up! HAM: Wait! It's Doc! BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS IN SNOW) HAM: You did not follow the trail back, Doc! DOC: Quiet, you fellows! MONK: What's up? DOC: You know that narrow crack of a pass through the hills down yonder? MONK: Sure. We saw it. DOC: There's a reception committee just this side of the pass three men with a machine gun. MONK: Three men a machine gun! DOC: Three masked men, to be more exact. Wait. . . just a minute, until I get a match... some paper, and a few of these branches. MONK: What's the idea of startin' a fire? DOC: So that our three friends will see the smoke and think we are still here. (PAUSE) There we are...going nicely. MONK: (COUGHS, It makes plenty of smoke, anyway. DOC: Now, let's move ahead. Careful. Keep under cover. MONK: Did they see you, Doc? DOC: I hardly think so. You see, I took the precaution of keeping out of sight. MONK: You sure don't miss many bets, Doc. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS IN SNOW) DOC: These fellows are in a peculiar spot. We cannot get near them without being seen. The hill slope above them and to the sides is smooth. MONK: Then what're we gonna do? DOC: There are rocks on top of the hill, big boulders. We'll roll a few down and chase them off. MONK: You ain't gonna try to catch 'em? DOC: It's dangerous, Monk. . . that machine gun. . . and I have another plan. MONK: Another plan? DOC: Yes . . . a little scheme. Quiet, Monk. (LOW VOICE) We'll climb up this hill. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS) (HEAVY BREATHING) DOC: No noise! We're almost at the top. BIZ: (FOOTSTEPS) (BREATHING) DOC: Here we are. See them? MONK: (LOW VOICE) Three guys. All masked. DOC: Here's a boulder... if we can budge it... MONK: I'll help shove... Ah, there she goes! BIZ: (THUMPS) (RUMBLE, AND HOLD UNTIL CUE TO CUT) MONK: Hey, it started a snowslide! Lookit them guys run! HAM: They're going into the pass! BIZ: (RUMBLE INCREASES, THEN CUT) MONK: (YELLS) They made it into the pass! Come on! Maybe we can stop 'em! DOC: No, no, Monk! They took their machine gun. HAM: Are we to let them escape? DOC: Exactly. You see, the escape is part of my little plan. Now, our next move is to go on to Red Lake. EFFECT: (GONG) BIZ: (BLIZZARD SOUND) (DOOR CLOSING) (CUT BLIZZARD) CALLMAN: Oh... hello there. DOC: We are looking for J. T. Callman, manager of the Red Lake Gold Mining Company, and Park Eller, the general foreman. CALLMAN: I'm Callman. DOC: I am Doc Savage. The gentlemen with me are Monk and Ham, my two assistants. CALLMAN: Oh, I see. Say. glad to meet you, Mr. Savage, and you, Monk, Ham. Fellows, this is Park Eller, the general foreman. ELLER: Howdy. Ah've heard a lot about yo-all, Mistah Savage. (ENTHUSIASTIC) I'll sweah to swim old Catahoula if Ah'm not glad to meet a pahty as famous as you be. DOC: From Louisiana, eh, Eller? ELLER: Bless me! How yo-all know that's mah stompin' ground? DOC: Well, anyone would know you are from the south, and you mention old Catahoula, which happens to be a lake in Louisiana. Not difficult. CALLMAN: I hope it is no more difficult for you to put your hand on these gold thieves, Mr. Savage. DOC: It wasn't quite as simple as that. CALLMAN: Wasn't... what... what... I don't get you. DOC: Two of your gold thieves are already locked up. CALLMAN: (EXCITED) But... but... well, for the love of Mike! ELLER: But yo' haven't even got the straight of things yet, Mistah Savage. DOC: Your gold was being stolen, wasn't it? ELLER: Yes suh. But... Ah'll be sunk in old Catahoula! Yo-all got 'em right away, eh? DOC: All but one. You see, there were three of them. CALLMAN: Three... how do you know that? DOC: They waylaid us on the trail--three masked men. We got two of them. But the third, the leader, is still at large. CALLMAN: How'd you do it? DOC: First, Callman, suppose you clear up one point which has been puzzling me. Why have you been shipping gold by plane? CALLMAN: Well, you see, the concentrates come from a mine up north. It's snowbound at this time of year. Takes about three weeks for a dog team to get through, each way. We want this gold on the high market. Prices are up just now. So we simply have the rich stuff flown down here to the mill, for refining. DOC: Whose idea was this? CALLMAN: Mine. And listen, Savage, don't insinuate that I'm mixed up-- DOC: (INTERRUPTS) Never mind that. It was just a question. ELLER: (PAUSE) Ah say, let's not have no fuss Mistah Savage, how did yo-all catch them fellahs? DOC: By going around over town, using an insert sprayer. ELLER: (LAUGHS) Ha, ha! Yo-all jokin' us, ain't yuh? DOC: Not at all. Monk, show him the sprayer. MONK: Here it is. CALLMAN: Listen Savage, what're you trying to do, kid us? DOC: Gentlemen, the procedure was not as idiotic as you seem to presume. CALLMAN: I don't get this at all. DOC: I will explain, Callman. You see, that sprayer is filled with a mixture of chemicals, the exact nature of which is a secret of my own. Working the sprayer plunger forces a fine mist of the chemical out of the nozzle. Like this. BIZ: (HISSES) ELLER: Ah still think this is some kind of a joke. DOC: You'll change your mind in a minute, Eller. In my pocket is a bottle... let's find... here it is. ELLER: Yes suh, the bottle is filled with a white liquid. But tell me what-all this heah has got to do with catchin' two crooks? DOC: Before those men ambushed us on the trail, I got around ahead of them and sprinkled some of this white liquid from the bottle on the snow. The spot I picked was in the pass, where the men would walk through it. Since the liquid is white, they did not notice it. MONK: So that's what you done, Doc, when you left us and went ahead to scout. DOC: That's right... before we rolled that rock. CALLMAN: Those three men... why didn't you capture them on the spot? Why all this rigamarole? DOC: They were armed with a machine gun. Callman, did you ever see men armed merely with rifles tackle a machine gun? CALLMAN: No. DOC: If you had, you would understand why we did not jump the three masked men. It would have been our finish. ELLER: Ah'm interested in that theah white liquid. The three fellahs walked through it. Then what? DOC: The chemical mixture in that sprayer is odorless in its present form. There is no smell. ELLER: No odah, eh? DOC: As the mixture stands in the sprayer, yes. But the addition of one other certain chemical, even in the smallest quantity, will cause an almost overpowering odor, or stink, if you want to call it that. ELLER: Ah begins to see. This othah chemical is in the bottle, suh-- the white liquid. DOC: Exactly. We simply used the sprayer on the feet of the men around town until we raised a smell. MONK: (LAUGHS) And brothers, did we have a picnic! These old hard pan miners didn't know what to make of it. Some of Ôem wanted to fight, but most of 'em just figured we were crazy. DOC: We found two men, though, whose moccasins showed plainly that they had been in contact with the white liquid that was sprinkled on the snow in the pass. MONK: Yep. Two guys by the name of Jack and Shorty. We scared 'em into confessin! ELLER: Yo-all what? MONK: Ah, they're yellow, like all these crooks. When they saw the jig was up, they told all they know. ..Hey! Where you goin', Eller? ELLER: If yo-all will excuse me, Ah wants to take a look at them theah thieves, Jack and Shorty. DOC: Wait, Eller! ELLER: Yo-all get back! DOC: Grab him! BIZ: (BLOWS) (STRUGGLE) MONK: Ham, get that other arm! BIZ: (BLOWS) MONK: We got 'im. BIZ: (BLOWS) MONK: Listen, Eller, you kick me again and I'll bust you with a fist! DOC: Now, let's try the sprayer on his moccasins. BIZ: (HISS) MONK: Whew! What an odor! He was one of the three masked men. CALLMAN: Eller was one of the thieves? DOC: He was the ringleader, the man who tipped the others off to what planes would carry valuable shipments. CALLMAN: Eller, you didn't-- ELLER: Ah, yo-all shet up! DOC: Jack and Shorty told us he was their boss, but we wanted to use the chemical test to make sure they were not trying to frame Eller. CALLMAN: But what about the stolen gold concentrates DOC: Oh, we found those hidden in Eller's cabin. EFFECT: (LOW-THROATED BIRD WHISTLE TRILLING) (GONG) ANNOUNCER: Doc Savage is a man who seldom uses conventional or commonplace methods against those whom he finds it necessary to combat. In this day of swift scientific development, ordinary methods are of little avail, and Doc Savage, when he applies himself against a particularly vicious enemy, always manages to employ something unusual in the line of remedies. And say... speaking of unusual remedies, don't forget Cystex, that remarkable doctor's prescription for the relief of kidney disorders. Do you have that nervous, all-in feeling that is the result of improper kidney functioning? If so, try Cystex. Cystex contains no narcotics or habit-forming drugs. It is a gentle, soothing aid in the cleaning out of acids and the eliminating of poisonous waste matter. Cystex is sold by all good druggists. Tune in next week at for the next dramatized incident from the life of Doc Savage, the man of bronze. These copyrighted episodes are presented with the permission of Doc Savage Magazine.