Suspense.
And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, William and Robeson.
Considering the bad time the Spanish conquistador Pizarro gave the Incas of Peru some 400 years
ago, you can hardly blame them for leaving a few booby traps scattered around the Andes.
And while you may not consider the rainforests of the headwaters of the Amazon an exactly
appropriate place for a honeymoon, you must agree that it is people with such wacky ideas
who are apt to live dangerously.
And dangerously they do live in Door of Gold, starring Myron McCormick.
A tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
The Peruvian jungle is no place for a woman.
Janice insisted she was an archaeologist first and my bride second.
It was rugged.
In addition to the snakes, bugs and mildew, there were the unfriendly Quechua Indians,
each of whom claimed to be a direct descendant of the Inca, of Manco Capac himself.
It had been slow growing.
We excavated burial mound after burial mound and found nothing.
Perhaps they were right.
Maybe my translations were wrong and the Porto de Oro was only a legend.
We had only one native guide, a sullen Indian named Juan.
So everyone worked, Dr. Clayton, myself, even Janice.
Inside the mound that morning, I could hear old Dr. Clayton and Janice chipping away.
Suddenly Janice shouted.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Finally.
The Porto de Oro.
Congratulations, Phillip.
You were right.
Professor Wellman's translation was an error.
Well, it's bound to make you famous, old boy.
You realize that.
Oh, Bill, I'm so very pleased for you.
I don't have to listen to you now.
I say, look, even Juan is impressed.
Sí, senor.
For many lifetimes my people have.
Este muy magnifico.
Este el puerto de oro.
This burial mound was built against the mountainside.
Like all ancient Inca structures, a marvel of shaped stone and grooved rock,
fitted so neatly no mortar was required.
We had torn down a section of the wall facing the mountain until the door was revealed.
A door that glittered dully after Janus used chemicals to dissolve the corrosion.
There was no mistaking it.
Embossed on the metal was a rising sun.
Its rays throwing streamers of pure gold across the planet.
Did, uh, is there anything in the inscription that would indicate how to open it?
Well, let's see, it says, uh,
light to the seeker comes through the shafts of God.
That makes everything clear.
Patience, child. Your impressions, Philip.
Well, you see where the sun slants through the cracks in the stones up there?
See?
Yes, yes.
It hits the wall in two places.
I say, so they're the shafts of God.
They're God.
Correct. You take one, I'll try the other.
What should we try?
Oh, I'd say press in on the stones where the light hits.
Most of their hidden doors were counterbalanced.
That's it! You got it! It's moving into the sky!
The aimy beginning there of the golden sky
Chill crept along my spine.
The religious chanting of the college-educated go-on,
the scratch of stone on stone and the musty odor that crept forth from the now open tunnel,
raised the short hairs on the back of my neck.
It was silly, I guess.
The early sun streamed across the bare floor,
but from that dank opening came the odor of death.
Gosh, smells pretty bad.
That child is inexperienced talking.
The mere fact they're getting the odor means that there's circulation in there.
How shall we handle the search inside?
Well, Dr. Clayton, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to...
Oh, no, not really. I'll go in later.
You and the child go.
Honeymoon trip, cool darkness, young bride.
Sounds romantic.
With that smell, I don't think I could raise a pucker.
You wish a fun to go, senor?
Well, if you don't mind, no.
If anything happens, a pivot or a counterbalance stone or something closes the door.
We'll need both of you out here to get it open again.
Ah, si, si. We shall wait.
We quickly gathered the necessary equipment.
I belted on two flashlights, the four-battery type,
and filled my side pack with spare batteries.
Side arms, medicine kit, sandwiches, water, of course.
Finally, a rope.
When we were tied together, I gave Janice the long bamboo probe.
Janice had better go in first. Don't you think, old boy?
Yes, yes, I think she should.
Now, listen carefully, Janice.
Both of our lives may depend on it.
Walk lightly.
Place your feet carefully and test each slab before stepping on it.
Now, gentlemen, please. I may just be out of college, but I have studied their culture.
I know all about the flip-flop stones.
Very true, youngster. It is different than a classroom.
There you can laugh at a mistake.
The most important thing is to remember if I should go through somewhere.
You can't hold me unless you drop flat.
Okay, okay. Let's go before I lose my nerve completely.
Go on.
Que, senor?
I brought up the rifles so you and Dr. Clayton can keep an eye out for unfriendly ladies.
If anything should happen, fire two shots.
Si.
Vaya con dios, senor. Y senora.
Go with which god, Juan?
Oh, the Christian one, senora.
The sun god. He would not like it.
We move slowly down into the slanted passageway.
Nervously, Janice stabbed at each of the fitted blocks with a long probe...
while I mapped them, numbering them on our chart.
The corridor slanted upward again and...
the entrance was gone.
We were alone.
Suddenly, block 87 swung from under and she dropped through.
Janice! Janice!
You all right?
I don't know!
Can you reach your flash?
I think...
Yes, I've got it.
What's down there?
It's not... it's not too deep.
Maybe fairly deep.
Okay, hold tight. I'll pull you up.
There you are.
See, Daisy?
We're lucky that pivot stone didn't close.
Oh, Phil, hold me close.
That's better.
Darling.
Oh, just think what this means.
We'll make Professor Holloway and that entire bunch at the university...
crawl when we get back.
No money, no official recognition and all those so-called scholars...
peering down their noses at us.
You wait.
It'll be a pleasure to make them eat their words.
Yes, darling.
Meanwhile, will you please mark that darned 87 block red?
We went on, skirting the still-tilted lip of the pivot stone and inching forward.
Twice more we located swinging traps...
the second over a swiftly moving stream.
That was why the air was relatively good.
Suddenly, Janice stopped, yanking on our connecting ropes.
Phil, I don't like the feel of this block.
What's the matter?
It's no pivot, but it's not solid.
It feels like it wants to give downward.
Counterbalance, maybe?
Don't put a weight on it.
Let's work around it and see what's beyond.
Quiet!
Is that a door?
Yeah, some kind.
That may be what block 590 controls.
You game?
To try it?
Sure.
We went back to block number 590 on the chart.
It was interestingly flat and I stepped gingerly on it.
It sank about a foot, then the hollow thunder reached us.
The pressure caught us a moment later.
Phil, what was that?
I'm afraid to think.
Put your hand down near the tunnel floor.
Feel anything?
No. Why? Should I?
I'm afraid not.
We've lost our air circulation.
Oh, Phil!
That means 590 closed the main entrance.
Maybe Juan and Dr. Clayton will open it in a minute.
Maybe, maybe.
We're going a bit.
Perhaps that second panel opened at the same time.
Don't you think we ought to go back?
Why? We can't open it from the inside.
They'll either get it open or they won't.
We crept along silently until we reached the second door.
It had not moved.
Remembering the entrance, we fumbled with the stones on either side, but it didn't work.
We found the combination by accident.
None of the stones helped, but when we moved to either end of our rope,
preparing to go back, both blocks moved downwards slightly and it opened.
Oh, Phil!
I can't hurt you.
They've been sitting there for over 400 years.
You mean they were trapped here in their own hidden passage?
No, it was the bidding of their sun god.
They sat there until it no longer mattered.
How awful.
Yeah, in one way, yet in another rather magnificent.
When Pizarro raided their city in the sky, what gold they had not thrown in late T.T. Carter
was brought down into this tunnel and they stayed to guard it.
Phil, put your arms around me until I stop shaking.
I managed to soothe her jangled nerves, but there was no one to calm mine.
Where was the confounded air circulation?
The minute the outer door opened, we would feel it.
Surely if Juan wasn't tall enough, Clayton could rig something for him to stand on or...
was there something else?
We made quick work of it going back.
Using the other flash in the chart, we hurried along the tunnel, carefully avoiding the marked traps,
until we made the last dip and reached the golden door.
It was still closed.
Dr. Clayton! Dr. Clayton! Open the door!
Move your strength, that door is two feet thick.
Clayton! We're back! Can you get it open?
Juan! Dr. Clayton! Can you hear us?
Si, senora. Juan is here.
Juan! Where's Dr. Clayton? The two of you can get this open?
Very sad, senora. The good doctor, he has had an accident.
An accident? What kind of a... Never mind now, go get help.
Open door! You hear?
He... Juan is here, but he cannot do the...
Cannot? What do you mean?
From nowhere this sun-god closed the door.
You his guest, he would not like if you leave.
Juan stopped Dr. Clayton from sacrilege.
Juan, please!
Juan! What's that noise? What are you doing?
Sun-god not want passage found. Juan first revealed one.
Bill... Bill...
What are we going to do? How can we get out?
Losing our heads won't help.
We might... What's the altitude of this burial mound?
I don't remember.
Wait a minute. Dr. Clayton marked it yesterday.
About 30, about 3600 feet above sea level. Why?
Think a minute. My translation said the Porta de Oro would be here.
It was. That means this tunnel must be the one which leads to the other side.
So, if Clayton's figures are correct, it's about a mile west and three miles straight up.
That's a welcome idea. I thought... I know, I know.
Come here.
Honey, we have to go.
I know.
Welcome idea. I thought... I know, I know. Come here.
Honey, we mustn't ever give up. We're both trained. We studied the ancient Incas.
And if anybody can outwit them, we can.
Thank you, Doc. I'm all right now. Let's go.
We went back into the now familiar part of the tunnel, counting blocks and squeezing past the dangerous ones.
When we reached the second doorway, we stopped.
Poor devils. They don't look so frightening the second time. All huddled over their belongings.
Janice, what's wrong with you?
Look here.
Pardon me, old man. There.
Does that look like personal belongings to you?
Good heavens. I forgot. Is all of that gold?
Pure gold. What you're staring at is the ransom of the Inca sun god.
Pizarro murdered him, so the Incas hid the gold here to prevent the Spanish from finding it.
Why, there must be millions.
Yeah. Even at the tiny percentage that would be allowed us by the Peruvian government, this would make us wealthy for life.
What?
Okay. Well, that better.
It was hard to keep the note of doubt from creeping into my voice.
The gold had been here four centuries. Why?
It didn't make sense unless...
There was no trouble with traps the next half mile until...
Bill, another door. Seems bigger.
Let's try the same positions as before. It might work.
It's moving. It scares me stiff when I start to drop that way.
Keep your eyes open. We're getting tired. We're getting to be sloppy.
What's that? Down there ahead. Oh, Bill, Bill, I'm sorry. Counterbalance.
What's the difference?
May as well have that one closed, too. I doubt if we'll be back.
Up, up, up, until it seems as if our legs must drop off.
And then, suddenly I heard Janice swamp to the steps ahead.
Janice, Janice, you all right?
I guess so.
There's another door. Use the light.
Yeah, sure, honey. Now rest yourself. I'll...
Oh, no.
What's wrong?
It was all there, right in Almagra's diary. All I had to do was read simple Spanish.
Oh, no, I've got to be clever and find the Porto de Oro anyway.
Bill, that... that... isn't a door?
No, it's not. In the diary, Diego Almagra wrote,
Their gods were angry and the mountain shook.
Look, you see that step? It's sheared right in half.
Earthquake.
Right. When the quake struck, it shifted the other half of the tunnel.
Maybe two or three hundred feet one way or another.
This is a dead end.
Oh, no, it can't be. You tried to frighten me.
Bill, don't get around. Officer, please.
Please, Bill, this isn't funny.
Stop that. You hear me? Stop it.
Right now.
But it's going to pieces, won't help.
I hated to slap her, but I had to.
And she understood.
She didn't say a word.
She just turned and went slowly back down.
It seemed hours before we reached the bottom of the stairs.
Well, the air was much better. Minor consolation.
So we would die of thirst and hunger instead of of suffocation.
We came up against the first of the closed doors.
And it wasn't that easy.
We tried combination after combination.
Then, just as we were ready to drop from exhaustion,
we happened to move back from the door, she on the third block and I on the sixth.
Instantly there was that sinking sensation and the door moved toward us
and disappeared flush into the wall.
Oh, come on, you move. If it works on the next door, it might work.
Yes, I know what it might, but we'll take it easy.
Chart or no chart, it's dangerous to rush.
Oh, don't be silly.
I felt sick.
There was no tension on the rope.
The revolving pivot stone had cut it easily.
I scrambled to the pivot stone and lay at arm's length while I tried to move it.
No dice.
Nervously I fell for the flash and pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Again I tried and cut my finger as I found the reason.
The lens and bulb were smashed.
I fumbled for the other flash.
It too had broken.
I was alone in the darkness.
Let's think.
Pressure.
Yeah, that was it.
Pressure.
The third block back needed weight.
I crawled to the nearest skeletons and dragged them aside,
digging for the sacks of gold beneath.
I crawled slowly, tugging some of the heavy ingots with me.
Finally I had a pile of them on the block where I had been standing.
I crawled back to the pivot stone.
This time it moved.
Janice! Janice, can you hear me?
Phil, thank heaven!
Turn the flash down here and let me see!
The can broke when I tried to stop your fall.
Both of them.
Are you hurt?
I don't think so.
I landed on a bunch of old friends.
Is it deep?
I don't think so.
Janice!
Janice, what's wrong?
Don't go!
It had eyes!
It's gone!
Can you get the rope down to me?
Can you estimate how far?
Wait! I've got the match tin!
Wait!
There!
Can you see me all right?
Yeah.
You're lucky, there's quite a pile of them.
I'd say 15 feet.
Stay still, I'll rig something.
I took the remainder of the cord, fortunately, about 9 feet, and tied my belt to it.
I added my shirt to the upper end and lowered it through the half-moon opening.
Janice, light another match.
Okay.
Now here.
Can you reach that?
I...
Yes!
I've got it!
Easy!
I've got my shirt on this end.
Just take your end and square knot the two.
I can't!
Oh darn!
No!
There!
It's together!
Are you ready?
Don't try to help.
I want to get a hold of the belt before I really pull.
Easy!
That pivot's standing straight up.
Don't touch it.
You might not be so lucky a second time.
Oh!
Oh, Phil!
Phil!
Let me just hold you for a second.
I'll teach you to run in tunnels.
Well, come on now, and cross everything.
We've still got a chance.
That's all it was, a chance.
We edged down the tunnel in the dark, staying close together now since the rope was gone.
We tested everything carefully, then found the second door.
It was a thrill to stand on the third and sixth blocks and feel them move.
I used one of the precious matches to refresh our minds from the chart,
then we began to count backwards, walking hand in hand.
Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten.
This is awful. Eight, seven, oh, Phil's sick!
Hold it.
I'll stay here and pray.
You go to three.
Here goes nothing.
It's opening! Come on!
Oh, I had rebuilt the wall,
but we found no trouble knocking the stones down from inside.
At last we were free.
Blackness had long settled on the jungle.
It was dark in the mound, but to us it was bright.
I saw Janice on her knees beside Dr. Clayton.
He's dead.
I'm not surprised.
Phil! Phil, what's that?
Come on, run! Run! Get out of here!
I told Dr. Clayton only yesterday that that thing was dangerous.
No, no, no. That was man-made.
You see up there?
Where?
Against the night sky.
That's Juwan, hiding the Sun God's horde.
And mud.
We didn't even get a little smidgen of gold.
With Dr. Clayton gone,
I'll never believe your discovery.
Forget it.
Let them keep on believing Wellman's translations.
Me for Cusco and home.
Coming?
Try and stop me.
Suspense.
In which Myron McCormick starred in William and Robeson's production of Door of Gold by E. Scott Floor.
Listen.
Listen again next week when we return with another tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
Supporting Mr. McCormick in Door of Gold were Shirley Mitchell as Janice, Jane Avello as Juwan, and Ramsey Hill as Dr. Clayton.
Original musical score composed and conducted by Emerigo Moreno.
You'd think that jewelry worth $100,000 would shine through a concrete wall.
But later on today, when yours truly Johnny Dollar tries to locate a bottle of missing gems, the sparklers seem to be lost in darkness.
Johnny Dollar, however, is an insurance investigator.
For all that his work is adventuresome, he has to work for a living like anybody else.
And where those missing gems are concerned, he cannot take no for an answer.
For thrill a minute listening, follow him to the end of the Templeton Matter,
when the next thrill-packed episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar comes your way over most of these same stations a little later on in the day today.
Music.