Auto Light and its 98,000 dealers bring you Mr. Jack Benny.
In tonight's presentation of Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light presents a story about a man who worked for 30 years to prepare a most unique personal retirement plan.
The story is called, A Good and Faithful Servant. Our star, Mr. Jack Benny.
Hello there, Harlow.
Well, the legislative luminary. How are you, Senator?
My car is giving me trouble, Harlow.
Your car? What's wrong with it, Senator?
Well, it gets going slower than a loser leaving office.
It rides rougher than a tax debate and uses more gas than a three-day filibuster.
Well, it may be spark plug trouble, Senator.
Spark plugs should be checked every 3,000 to 4,000 miles.
So, see your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer.
His exclusive Auto Light plug check indicator will quickly show the exact condition of your spark plugs.
If they're worn out or wrong for your style of driving,
he'll recommend resistor or standard type ignition engineered Auto Light spark plugs for smoother performance, quick starts, and gas savings.
Sounds like a propitious proposal, Harlow. How do I find this Auto Light spark plug dealer?
Why, just phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25.
She'll quickly tell you the name of your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer where you can get the finest spark plug service money can buy.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, with the performance of Mr. Jack Benny, Auto Light presents transcribed,
a good and faithful servant, hoping once again to keep you in suspense.
I know you've been through a lot, Mr. Fenton, but if you could just try to recall anything else about the appearance of the two of them.
Lieutenant, couldn't this wait? Fenton has spent 14 horrible hours locked in a vault.
And while I admire his spirit and pluck and bearing up as well as he has...
I'm just trying to get something to go on, Mr. Waterman. Do you want your money back or don't you?
The welfare of my employees comes first, Lieutenant, first, last, and always.
And you're insured.
Mr. Fenton...
Don't answer if you don't feel up to it, Fenton.
I don't mind, Mr. Waterman. I'm anxious to cooperate.
Now, as near as I can remember...
Be sure you get this, Florence.
As near as I can remember... Of course, I had only a flash before they forced me into the vault.
Yeah, we understand, Mr. Fenton.
I had the impression of one being tall, but not too tall, and the other one was shorter.
But not too short.
Exactly. And they were wearing masks, rubber masks.
One had a Lionel Barrymore mask, and I think the other was Dick Tracy. It was quite a shock to see him.
Aha! The Brinks Gang, Lieutenant. The Brinks Gang to a T.
Maybe.
Mr. Cartwright, would you come over here, please?
Mr. Cartwright, is it the practice to keep large sums of cash on hand overnight at the store?
Yes, the store does a tremendous cash business, Lieutenant. Tremendous.
And yesterday was Dollar Day.
Thank you.
Mr. Cartwright, how does it happen that Fenton was alone in the cash room when the bandits entered?
Did he customarily close the vault for the night?
Not customarily, no. When I'm unavoidably called away from the store...
Will this happen often?
Well...
Very seldom, Lieutenant. Very seldom.
But it happened yesterday. Two men walked in, put you in the vault, and walked out with a big hunk of money.
At precisely 5.56. Mr. Cartwright opened the vault this morning at 8.02.
Correct, Lieutenant. We won't know how much they got until I can make an audit.
And if there's any question, Lieutenant, of corroborating Fenton's story, I need only to say that he's been with Waterman's for 30 years.
A good and faithful servant.
More exactly, Mr. Waterman, 29 years, 11 months, and 29 days.
I was due to retire tomorrow before this unfortunate circumstance arose and...
Hello, Nonsense Fenton. You'll retire tomorrow.
And if there's any question, Lieutenant, of Fenton's character, his honesty, his devotion...
Yeah, sure, sure, sure.
You can go home, Mr. Fenton. Better get some rest.
If you want to duck the reporters, go out this back way.
Well, what do you think, Mr. Waterman?
Entirely up to you, my boy, entirely.
But in these days of doubt, of confusion, and dishonesty in high places,
I believe your simple story of courage and devotion to duty will be an inspiration everywhere.
Mr. Waterman, I am ready to face the press.
They were all very nice to me.
The reporters, the police, Mr. Cartwright, and especially Mr. Waterman.
All that money missing.
Fifty thousand.
Yet his only concern was for me.
I thought that if I could afford it, I'd like to buy him some little token of gratitude.
Then I thought again.
In my desk at the office, there was a secret compartment, and...
And that compartment was fifty thousand dollars.
I guess I could afford it.
Yoo-hoo!
Mother, I'm home.
Good morning, Harold.
I hope you haven't had breakfast. I've kept it hot for you.
You're not going to ask me how it went, Mother?
Oh, I heard over the radio.
But I wish there'd been some way of doing it, that it wouldn't have kept you out all night.
Oh, I wasn't out all night, Mother. I was in a vault.
I know you were, Harold.
And if you keep on, you're going to end up with that same sign or strip your father used to have.
Oh, Mother, it was a perfectly dry, warm...
Oh, never mind.
Eat your cereal, Harold. You'll feel better.
Mr. Waterman told me to take the day off, Mother.
I'm not going in until tomorrow.
That's certainly big of him. After all you've done for them.
How much did you get?
Fifty thousand.
It's in my desk at the office, in the drawer with the false bottom.
In your desk? Will it be safe there, Harold?
Well, no one will be looking for it.
Harold, you don't think you'll have any trouble getting the money out of your desk?
I think things will work out all right.
See, according to my plan, it...
It...
Harold, you see, I told you from the beginning you weren't strong enough for this type of thing.
The next morning at 8.43, I punched in at the store.
Figuring 308 working days a year, that made 9,240 punches.
It was a little strange to think of this being my last.
I walked through the store to the elevator,
past lingerie, ladies' gloves, and perfume the way I always went.
But this morning was different.
People looked up when I passed. They spoke to me.
They knew who I was.
Even the brunette in perfume smiled at me.
I almost stopped, but I couldn't think of anything to say.
In the elevator, one of the girls asked me how I felt.
Still scared, I said, and they laughed.
They wouldn't have laughed any harder for Mr. Waterman.
I got out at 8, my floor, and as I went into my office,
Miss Prentice, Mr. Cartwright's secretary, looked at me.
Twenty-three months and two days, she'd been looking at the top of my head.
But this morning, she looked at me, and she smiled.
I guess I smiled back.
Good morning, Mr. Fanton.
Good morning, Miss Prentice.
It wasn't much, but I felt it could have been a start.
I was almost sorry this was my last day.
Fanton, Fanton, did you hear me?
Yes, Mr. Cartwright. I heard you, Mr. Cartwright.
All right. A big workload piled up yesterday when you took off,
and we haven't anyone new coming in till tomorrow.
Not that I want to overload you on your last day.
It's an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, Mr. Cartwright.
Oh, good. I'm still trying to find out how much was taken in the hold-up
so you're on your own.
I think I can tell you almost to the penny, Mr. Cartwright.
I'll make my own check.
And how about the work I... Oh, good morning, Mr. Waterman. I was just...
Well, Fanton, back at the old desk, eh?
I just didn't feel right away from it, Mr. Waterman.
I got a surprise for you this afternoon, Fanton.
I'm going to make a little ceremony out of your retirement.
A ceremony?
Good for store morale. Right, Cartwright?
Oh, absolutely, Mr. Waterman, absolutely.
And about that request of yours you made last week, Fanton,
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we can swing it.
Oh, you're too kind, Mr. Waterman.
Oh, my boy. When you work for Waterman's 30 years,
you've got something coming to you.
No. Really?
I ate my usual lunch that day,
the Thursday blue plate special at Elmo's Grotto.
70 cents plus the usual 10% tip.
Seven cents.
With the usual 20 minutes left in my lunch hour,
I headed for the park with a nickel bag of peanuts.
The squirrels were going to miss me.
No, no, Mr. Waterman, you've had three already.
Give Mr. Cartwright a chance.
Sit up, Mr. Cartwright. Sit.
That's it. That's it.
Excuse me. Would you mind if I join you, Mr. Fanton?
Why, Miss Prentiss? Of course.
I mean, of course not.
Sit down. Sit down.
Thank you.
Move over, Mr. Waterman.
He does look a little pompous, doesn't he?
Which one is Mr. Cartwright?
There, with the small mustache. He bites.
And is there a Miss Prentiss?
Well, there is, but I believe she is... well...
Nesting?
Well...
How long have you been feeding them, Mr. Fanton?
They seem so friendly.
30 years, Miss Prentiss. My favorite animal.
You give a squirrel a nut and does he eat it?
No. He runs away and stores it in a hole.
We could all benefit from their example.
And now that you've stored your little nest egg, you're retiring, Mr. Fanton.
Well, you might say that, yes.
You're quite a fascinating character, Mr. Fanton.
Me?
I'm... I'm sorry I didn't know you sooner.
You know, the whole store is talking about your ordeal in that vault.
Oh, it wasn't so bad.
In fact, I've always rather liked the vault.
What an odd thing to say.
Well...
It's so good, Miss Prentiss.
That's French for each to his own taste.
Oh, you've been abroad, Mr. Fanton.
Me? Oh, my goodness, now.
Oh, but you will now that you're retiring.
No, no. I've got my eye on a little cottage by a lake.
And woods. Lots of squirrels there.
And no time clocks.
You and your wife?
Mother.
Oh, I hope you get it, Mr. Fanton.
Thank you, Miss Prentiss.
What the robbers are going to do with all that money?
I wonder.
Five to one.
Shall we go back and punch in, Miss Prentiss?
She let me walk all the way back to the store with her.
And in the elevator, Mr. Bixler, sporting goods, winked at me.
I'd been waiting for this money for ten years. I'd had the feeling Mr. Bixler didn't like me.
There was quite a gathering in the cashier's office when we arrived.
All the executives from Mr. Waterman's down.
And the editor of the store paper wandering through Waterman's.
I'd sent an item to him last summer.
Mr. Fanton of Cashier's department spending his two-week vacation at home.
But he never printed it.
Well, come in, come in, Fanton.
We've been waiting for our, shall we say, guest of honor.
Me, Mr. Waterman?
You, Fanton.
We have a little ceremony which I'd hope to conclude before the lunch hour.
Oh, it's over.
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Waterman.
Think nothing of it. This is your day, Fanton. Your day.
Oh, going to get a shot of the two of us, Wolves?
Yes, sir, Mr. Waterman. Over by the door.
Oh, if you don't mind, I'd like it sitting at my desk.
I feel more, well, secure there.
By your desk. How's this?
Got it? Good, good.
And now, Fanton, we all say farewell to a good and faithful servant.
One who has given 30 years of his life as a contribution, however small,
to making Waterman's the great institution it is today.
Well done, Harold Fanton.
Thank you.
A modest man, but conscientious.
His regular comings and goings passed almost unknown to many
until his ordeal of two days ago,
locked all night in the vault by brutal and rapacious thieves,
a night in which, in his own words,
he relived each and every day of his 30-year services to Waterman's.
Oh, greater devotion hath no man.
Oh, it was nothing, really.
And now his labor's done, his burden borne,
Fanton will live out the rest of his days in ease and comfort,
because he has arrived at the retirement age of the Waterman pension plan,
by which he will receive...
$31.68 a month.
$31.68 a month for as long as he lives.
Thank you.
And now a little surprise for Harold Fanton.
A week ago, in a letter to me, our good and faithful servant asked
that on his retirement he be given permission to purchase for his home his old desk.
Actually, Mr. Waterman, I don't know what I'd do without it.
Oh, frankly, I put in a lot of thought on this simple request.
Hmm?
I weighed the factors in my mind.
On the one hand was Fanton's 30-year service.
On the other...
Mr. Waterman.
On the other, he was already receiving his pension of...
well, his pension.
However...
Please, Mr. Waterman.
However, Fanton, my boy, I decided to go you one better.
One better?
Not a new desk.
Nothing so unsentimental.
Fanton, instead of allowing you to purchase the desk, I'm giving it to you.
Phew!
All right, boys, right in here.
Take the desk wherever Fanton here wants it.
And now back to work, everybody.
Month-end clearance today.
Whoops!
Easy, man, don't drop it.
Easy.
Fanton, my boy, in the years ahead when you're seated at your old desk,
think of us, won't you?
I certainly will, Mr. Waterman.
I certainly will.
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Jack Benny in
A Good and Faithful Servant.
Tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
Well, Senator, did you take my advice?
Why, yes, Harlow.
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So, fellow citizens, be sure, vote for Auto Light.
Right, Senator.
Friends, take a tip from me and see your nearest Auto Light spark plug dealer this week.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage,
Mr. Jack Benny in Elliot Lewis's production of A Good and Faithful Servant,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Retirement agreed with me.
I walked to the park to see my friends when I felt like it,
a leisurely lunch at Elmo's Grotto when I felt like it,
and when the need arose, a little gardening.
Mother and I were very happy.
You've done enough for one morning, Harold.
Your battle go out again.
All through, Mother, just cleaning off the spades.
What were you planting this morning, Harold?
Mother, if anything should happen to me, knock wood.
Knock wood?
Right in between the beets and the radishes, there's a very rich patch of dirt.
Sir, aren't we going to get our little cottage by the lake?
I have to go in town today, Mother. I might just inquire around.
Oh, good.
You know, Mr. Waterman is really a very sweet man.
The Waterman pension plan.
I just wish I could tell him how happy it's made me.
I hadn't told Mother, but Miss Prentice had called that morning.
Mr. Cartwright wanted to see me that afternoon at the office, she said,
and she asked how I was.
What would have happened if I'd asked her to lunch?
I almost did, too.
In the cashier's office at the store, Miss Prentice smiled when she saw me,
and I smiled back.
In fact, we struck up quite a conversation.
Oh, Mr. Fenton, how are you?
Fine. Just fine, Miss Prentice.
Retirement agree with you?
Yes, yes, indeed. Fine.
You notice we haven't filled your old job.
No? Oh, yes. Yes, indeed.
Haven't been able to find another man of your type.
Well...
Well...
Is that you, Fenton? Come on in here.
Coming. Coming, Mr. Cartwright.
Sit down, Fenton, sit down.
Thank you.
Just trying to clean up accounts on the robbery.
Fenton, what was your final tally again?
50,000 almost exactly, Mr. Cartwright.
You're way off. That doesn't check with my audit at all.
I'm quite sure of my figures.
Well, then you're wrong, that's all.
My check shows they got away with 82,000.
82,000?
Right. Now, if you'll just sign the necessary statements corroborating my audit...
I can't do that, Mr. Cartwright.
And just why can't you? Don't you take my word for it?
Frankly, no.
Fenton, look, you're retired. It's nothing to you one way or the other.
You just made a little mistake in your figures, that's all.
Mr. Cartwright, are you asking me to help cover up a shortage in your accounts?
All right, Fenton, I'll lay it on the line.
Temporarily, I'm a bit short.
Involvement with a woman and... you wouldn't understand.
I most certainly wouldn't.
Look, I'll make it worth your while.
Shortages, I found out sooner or later, Mr. Cartwright.
All right, if that's your attitude, let me tell you something, Fenton.
I don't like the smell of this robbery of yours. I don't like it at all.
What do you think of that?
You're implying that I made off with $50,000 belonging to Waterman's?
I think it's highly possible.
And how are you so sure it was 50,000?
Supposing me, for one instant, capable of such a thing, Mr. Cartwright,
wouldn't I be much too clever to put my head in a noose by covering up for you?
Fenton, if I was talking to an honest man, wouldn't he have taken my story right to Mr. Waterman?
Hmm.
I'll give you five minutes.
I'll assign my audit or I go to the police and accuse you of stealing $82,000.
Take it over, Fenton.
No question about it, Mr. Cartwright's dishonesty might be a bit awkward for me.
My instinct about the man had been thoroughly sound.
I had disliked him for 16 years.
Well, there was only one safe way out of it.
Well?
Mr. Cartwright, if you need money...
Yes?
Why don't you rob the vault?
Actually, it isn't hard at all.
Well, how did you... how do I get away with the money?
I'm sorry, I never reveal professional secrets.
Well, then you'll have to help me, Fenton.
Lock me in the vault and you get away with the money.
Me?
Sure.
Then we're both in the clear for good.
Help me out, Fenton.
You mean I'm going to clear out the vault a second time?
You'll never regret it.
Regret it?
The fact is, I'd rather enjoy it.
We settled on the following Friday.
Friday nights, the stores stayed open till nine and they were having a big white sale that day.
The money was already stacked on Mr. Cartwright's desk when I got there.
It was a juicy haul.
I didn't see Mr. Cartwright around, but...
Hello, Mr. Fenton.
Miss Prentice?
But... but the money?
I... I was listening when you and Mr. Cartwright made your plans, Mr. Fenton,
and he caught me and forced me to help him.
You understand, Harold?
I mean, Mr. Fenton.
Harold, times like these draw people together quickly, don't you think?
Oh, I do, I really do.
Miss Prentice.
Helen.
Thank you.
Helen.
Miss Prentice.
Mr. Cartwright mentioned a woman in his life.
You were not the one?
Harold, of course not.
Excuse me.
I just thought, you remember the office party last Christmas?
Oh, that?
Well, that was just because he was under the mistletoe.
And if you'd been under it, instead of Mr. Cartwright...
Really?
Well...
Oh, Fenton, you're here good.
Anybody see you come up?
It doesn't matter, really, Mr. Cartwright.
Might even be better that way.
Then you and Miss Prentice can say that I left minutes before the bandits arrived.
You're right, of course, Harold.
Thank you.
Are you ready, Mr. Cartwright?
I brought some wrapping paper for the money.
I even brought along a Handle with Care sticker.
That's the Fenton touch, you know.
Get on with it, will you?
No need to be nervous.
There.
Neat.
I spent eight years in wrapping and mailing.
All right.
You know what to do with it, Helen.
I know.
Just a minute, Mr. Cartwright.
I'm to take the money, remember?
There's been a change, Fenton.
We rewrote the script.
You think that's wise?
To fly in the face of my experience?
Now, look, Fenton, we're not children.
You lock us in a vault and take off with the money.
You think we'd ever see you again?
Well, you're questioning my honesty?
I'm sure Miss Prentice will vouch for me.
We're rather good friends.
Miss Prentice.
I'm sorry, Fenton.
Unfortunately for you, Fenton, Helen's on my side.
Now, if you wouldn't mind getting into the vault, huh?
Me? Me?
In the vault?
But...
This is a loaded gun, Fenton.
Get in the vault.
But...
You came back for a second helping, that's all.
The Confederate got away with the money,
but I courageously slammed the vault door on you and went for help.
But...
Will they believe me?
I imagine they'll find 50,000 somewhere around your house.
They'll believe me.
Helen.
I see.
Harold, it's a nasty trick, but we're nasty people.
You should have stuck to squirrels.
Just one thing, Fenton.
How did you ever get that 50,000 out of here the first time?
How?
Well...
I didn't, Mr. Cartwright.
You didn't?
Then where is it?
It's still in the vault.
I don't believe it.
Oh, it's quite cleverly hidden.
It took me most of that night. I was locked in.
Get in there and show me.
I'm sorry, Mr. Cartwright.
Get in there!
No.
I went through a lot for that money, Mr. Cartwright.
30 years.
I just assumed you shot me.
Helen, hold the gun on him.
I'm going in and looking.
Well, don't be long.
What if somebody should walk in?
I'll be able to see if he's lying.
Just watch him.
You see anything?
Not yet.
I don't think it's possible.
Open the door so I can get some more light.
Must be true.
Crime changes people.
I had never lied, yet I lied to Cartwright.
I never used violence, yet I got behind him.
Yet I got behind Helen and...
I...I guess I'll go home.
Mother will be wondering what's happened to me.
Some more cereal, Harold?
I don't think so, Mother. Thanks.
What time is it?
Eight ten, son.
Well, they would have opened the vault at eight this morning.
The police should be here any minute.
Are you sure those two will implicate you, Harold?
It seems likely, Mother.
The gun would be hard to explain.
And I think Miss Prentice will turn on Mr. Cartwright
after a night in the vault.
Yes, she's just the type.
I'm sorry, Mother.
I guess I just don't know much about women.
It's all right, son.
You think they'll be hard on you?
Not very.
I haven't spent any of the money.
The insurance companies always look kindly on such cases.
There they are.
Harold, how long?
Two years, Mother.
Maybe less. Maybe even one.
It's still a long time.
A long time?
After 30 years in waterman's? Hardly.
I'll get the door.
Suspense.
Presented by Auto Light. Tonight's star, Mr. Jack Benny.
This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for Auto Light,
world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment.
Auto Light is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry.
They are members of the Auto Light family,
as are the 98,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers in the United States
and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world.
Our family also includes the nearly 30,000 men and women
in 28 great Auto Light plants from coast to coast
and in still other Auto Light plants in many foreign countries,
as well as the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in Auto Light.
Every Auto Light product is backed by constant research
and precision built to the highest standards of quality and performance.
So remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week, a story of revenge.
The desperate effort of a murderer to destroy the man who had committed him to prison.
The story is called Concerto for Killer and Eyewitnesses.
Our star, the director of Suspense, Mr. Elliot Lewis.
That's next week on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis
with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
A good and faithful servant was written for Suspense by Richard M. Powell.
Portions of this program were transcribed.
In tonight's cast, Norma Varden was heard as Mrs. Fenton,
Doris Singleton as Helen, Gerald Moore as Mr. Cartwright,
Joseph Kearns as Mr. Waterman,
I. Everback as Lieutenant Miller,
and Charles Calvert as Mr. Wolf.
For the location of your nearest Auto Light spark plug or Auto Light battery dealer
or your nearest authorized Auto Light service station,
phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25.
Switch to Auto Light. Good night.
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Music