Suspense.
And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure,
William M. Robeson.
East of Phoenix, Arizona, off to the left of the old Spanish trail, Squats Superstition Mountain,
a glowing, forbidden mass of black granite whose canyons and buttes keep well the secret of the deaths of many men.
Four hundred years ago, the conquistadores searched here for the legendary seven cities of Sibila,
which were supposed to be built of pure gold.
The search has never been totally abandoned, for modern legend tells us that Superstition Mountain
guards the fabulous lost Dutchman mine.
But no one can be sure, for no man who has gone searching for it has come out alive.
The facts you are about to hear are true, the story imaginary, since none of the characters involved lived to tell it.
Listen then, as Raymond Burr stars in the Peralta map, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
suspense.
How much further? Willis?
Huh?
What are you keep looking back for? You afraid somebody's following us?
No, no, I was just checking the trailer. Sun's getting mighty hot on the horses.
It's going to get hotter.
Think we ought to stop and water them?
Wait till we get to Lowney's.
Okay.
How far is it?
You see that big mountain sticking up over there on the left?
Yeah.
Well, that's Superstition Mountain. His place is on the road right opposite it.
About, oh, another four or five miles.
You sure he'll be alone?
Well, he lives alone. Anybody else is there, it'll just be somebody who's pulled in for gas.
They won't stay long.
They'd have to be crazy to stay long out here.
Yeah. I wonder why he does.
Takes all kind.
I guess. Bartender I talked to in Phoenix, a fellow that's done some prospecting himself.
He said old Lowney'd rather have coyotes for neighbors and people.
Looks that way.
Cracker, how much you planning on telling him?
Just enough to get him hooked.
Well, supposing he ain't interested.
Then we make him interested.
What do you mean, by showing him the map?
If that's the only way, yeah. We'll show him the map.
But I thought we said we wasn't going to show the map to nobody.
I'm not going to argue with you.
I can turn around right here, take the horses and the trailer back to Phoenix.
Forget the whole thing. You want me to?
Now look, Cracker, all I...
Then we do it my way.
He wants to see the map before he makes up his mind, I'll show it to him.
Well, suppose he doesn't believe it's a real thing. Suppose he thinks it's a fake.
He won't. Not if he can read mechs and knows the country like you said he does.
Well, it ain't only me that said it. It was the people I talked to in Apache Junction.
They told me nobody really knows Superstition Mountain, but old Lowney knows it as good as the next guy.
He'd better.
Cracker, suppose after he sees the map and knows it's no fake, he still won't take us in.
We'll look for somebody who will.
Well, and leave him knowing where the mine is. He might try to beat us to it.
Don't worry so much. He'll go in with us. I guarantee it.
Morning.
Still not up for you?
No, thanks.
The way you're headed, there ain't another station for fifty miles.
Yeah, that's what I heard. You alone here?
Yeah, alone everywhere since my wife died.
Morning, Mr. Lowney.
Morning.
What's the matter? Don't you remember me? I stopped in here a few days ago.
I asked you some questions about the mountain over there.
Oh, move around so the sun's not mine.
Okay.
Oh, yeah, sure.
Mr. Lowney, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Henry Cracker.
Howdy.
How are you?
Mr. Cracker's got a proposition that ought to interest you, Mr. Lowney.
Oh, well, I ain't got no money to invest.
You don't need any money. We got everything we're going to need right in the trailer.
That's all.
You going to water the horses or not, Willis?
Sure. Sure, I'll do it right now.
Water troughs behind...
They'll find it.
Can we get out of this sun to do some talking?
Sure, come on inside.
Don't get much company out here. Hardly ever get a chance to visit with folks, though.
And my place ain't usually fixed up.
Hope you ain't finicky.
No.
Got some beans and coffee on the stove. You hungry?
I could use a cup of coffee.
Fine. You sit down anywhere.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Got canned cream if you'll take it.
No, drink it black.
Me too.
Now then.
Lonnie, how much do you know about the Lost Dutchman mine?
Well, like I told your young friend, as much as anybody else around these parts.
You really believe it's there?
In the mountains? Sure I do.
Seen too much evidence not to believe it.
What kind of evidence?
Well, why the Mexicans had their oarshoots and why they had furnaces to melt the gold down into bars.
You ever look for the mine?
No, not exactly.
But you've been on the mountain.
Well, a long time ago I used to go deer hunting up in some of the box canyons around Weaver's Needle where it's supposed to be at.
What's the name Peralta mean to you?
Well, they're the ones that owned the mine years ago, long before the Dutchman found it.
The Patches killed most of them off when one of their mule drivers got mixed up with an Indian squaw.
After that happened, the Patches didn't want anybody coming in and working the mine again, so they hid it, covered it over with brush and dirt.
How did the Dutchman find it?
Well, one of the Peralta's who had been away from the mine when his pa got killed, he got in a saloon fight one time.
The Dutchman hauled him out of it and this Peralta gave him a map out of gratitude.
These stories, that's how the story goes.
The Dutchman, he was supposed to have murdered a couple of fellows, including his partner back in the mountain.
But he died before anybody ever found out for certain.
You know what happened to the mine after that?
No, nobody knows, except they know it's lost.
Not going to stay lost?
Ah?
Well, you want to guide us back in there?
I figured you was getting to that.
Well, what's your price?
Ain't got none.
We'll give you $300.
That's a good bit of money, all right, but I can't leave the station.
Oh, don't give me that, Lonnie. You don't do that much business in a month.
Oh, yeah, sometime.
You got cobwebs in the gas pump and look at you. When'd you get a new pair of overalls?
Eh, that's not the point. I just don't want to go back up in there.
Five hundred.
No, and it ain't the money, so you needn't offer me any more.
Lonnie, all you got to do is take us onto the mountain, help us find certain landmarks that are on a map we have.
Map? You know how many maps I've seen in the past 20 years?
All of them guaranteed to show how to find the lost Dutchman?
Man, if I had a silver dollar for every one, I wouldn't be able to lift them.
A map.
It's the Peralta map, or a copy of it.
Oh, sure, sure. They're either the Dutchman's or the Peralta's. A map.
When you're through laughing, you can take a look at it.
Peralta map.
Here. Take a good look.
I've been waiting all my life to come across something this good.
Knows a desert rat's going to sit and laugh at me when I do.
Now, you study this thing. Feel it. Run your hands over the ink.
You can read Mex, can't you?
Yeah.
And you're supposed to know landmarks. Are they phony? Huh?
All right, Lonnie. You still feel like laughing?
Can't laugh at somebody I feel sorry for.
What do you mean by that?
You'll see.
You going with us?
Nope, I ain't.
What's the matter with you? You like living this way? You like being a desert rat?
I may be a desert rat, but I'm a live one.
So?
You ever read how many men have been killed hunting for the lost Dutchman?
Who cares?
Me. I don't want to add to the total.
That for you?
Yeah.
Don't answer it.
What?
Just wait a minute, mister.
Sit down.
Sure. You don't have to hold no gun on me.
Hey. Is he going with us?
He is, or he's not going anywhere. Is that right, Lonnie?
What'd you say you'd give me?
Five hundred.
It ain't enough.
Why, you chiseling me.
It ain't enough for risking my life.
Now what do you want?
As long as I'm going to die, I might as well die rich. I want a third.
Third of the mind?
Okay, you got it.
Now wait a minute.
Now you shut up.
You can stop worrying, Lonnie.
Nothing's going to happen to you now that we're partners.
Being partners ain't got nothing to do with it.
Well, what has?
For a couple of fellows after the lost Dutchman, you sure don't know much about it, do you?
We know enough.
No, you don't. But you will.
Yes, sir, you sure will.
This canyon's a good place to bed down, Mr. Cracker.
Any water in it?
Supposed to be right up ahead.
All right.
Hold it up, Willis. Make our camp here.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, uh, good boy.
How far away from where the mine's supposed to be at?
About a mile away, I figure it. Is that right, Lonnie?
If the map's right.
You know it is.
I've seen a lot of wrong ones before. It looked just as good.
Well, this one ain't wrong.
Where'd you fellas get it?
I got it. I got it off an old Mexican, Sonora.
He give it to you?
Yeah. Yeah, you might say he did.
Willis, you take the horses down to that water.
Now, look, how come you haven't done nothing but give orders ever since we started?
Ain't you ever gonna do any work?
Make a fire, Lonnie.
Give me those reins.
Well, I'll be jigswiggered.
Never thought I'd see you stand up to him.
Well, why not?
He's my partner. He's not my boss.
I'm a partner, too.
Yeah. Yeah, I know you are.
Well, now let's see if we can find something to make fire.
You know what they call this canyon?
How'd I know? I ain't seen my map since I gave it to him.
It's West Boulder, where old Adolf Ruth camped.
Yeah, who's that?
Ruth? Oh, he's a fella come out of Washington, D.C. back in 1931.
Had a Peralta map, too.
Yeah, well, not a good one. He didn't find the mine.
Well, some say he did. Some say different.
Oh? Well, what did he say?
Nothing. It wasn't until six months later that they found his body, rifle bullet in his back.
Well, there's a nice hunk of dried mesquite.
It smells like hickory when it burns.
Now, the way I figure it, Ruth must have found the mine.
What makes you so sure?
Well, when they found him, the map was gone,
but inside his vest was a piece of paper with his writing on it.
It said, Veni, Vidi, Vici. That's Latin, meaning I was successful.
Who killed him, do they know?
Well, sure they know. Same person or persons who killed just about everybody,
what's ever got close to the mine.
Mr. Lani, you trying to scare me?
Of course not, boy. Just trying to tell you what we might be up against.
Well, me and Cracker got rifles. We can take care of ourselves.
Oh, sure, sure. Same as that fella last month.
He come in looking for the mine. Sheriff's Posse brought him out.
Dead?
Yep. Rifle bought him, too.
Well, there's an old, dried up century plant. Might burn.
Could be some hunter thought he was a deer, you know.
Yeah, could be. But that ain't the way folks figure it.
No?
No. Let's look over there.
They figure that he was shot by the same person
who once had been doing the other killings.
How many is he supposed to have killed?
Oh, fifty. Maybe a little over.
That's quite a story.
Who made it up, newspapers?
Sheriff's office don't think it's a story.
Bullets they took from him and Ruth and some of the others
all come from an old type army rifle.
Anybody ever see the...
whoever it is it's supposed to be doing the garden?
Not sure they could recognize him, but they're sock.
An old Indian fella named Fat Dog lives over in Mesa.
He's supposed to have seen him one time.
How'd he know it wasn't just a hunter?
Well, he couldn't be sure, but what got his eye
in the first place was the thing this man was carrying.
What was that?
It looked like an old U.S. cavalry saver.
Troops used to chase the Apaches back up in here.
Yeah.
Well, Fat Dog, he didn't stay around after that
and he ain't been back since.
How close did he get?
Wasn't too close, not too far neither.
He could hear the spurs this fella was aware of.
I can understand a guy wearing spurs in this country,
but why'd he carry a big old cavalry saver around?
That doesn't make sense.
Yeah, lots of things on this mountain don't make sense.
Lonnie, you're gonna start the fire so we can eat it.
You're gonna talk all night.
Fixing the stove now.
Hey, Cracker, you ever hear about a fella named Ruth
that got killed up in here?
When was that?
31.
Over 20 years ago.
Yep, but another fella, a fella named Cravey,
he had a helicopter fly him in just a couple years back.
They found him nine months later.
Same type gun, did it?
Well, I don't mean the same person, did it?
There must be a lot of old army rifles around in this country.
Suppose so, but both Ruth and Cravey had maps,
good ones, I reckon, and both of them were killed the same way.
You mean both of them were shot?
Well, a little more than that.
They were shot through the back.
Then their heads were chopped off.
Cracker!
Cracker.
Yeah?
Cracker, this place is beginning to get on my nerves.
What's he doing?
He's just laying there, looking up at the stars.
Got that rope on him tight?
I got it on him so tight, I'm going to have trouble getting it off of him in the morning.
Say, Cracker?
Yeah?
You don't think there could be anything to what he's been telling us, do you?
You crazy?
He's just been trying to see if he can scare us.
Yeah, I guess so.
You go hit the sack, we got a big day ahead of us.
Yeah, I know.
Well?
Nothing.
What's the matter, Willis?
Something been eating at you since we started up here?
Well, I think you should have asked me before you gave him a third of the mine.
I haven't given him anything.
Well, you said you would.
Have we found it yet?
Well, now you know we ain't.
Then so far he's got a third of nothing, that right?
Yeah, but, well, when we find it...
If we find it, it'll change all our lives, won't it?
Well, sure.
Change his too.
Permanently.
You know?
See what I mean?
Yeah.
You are listening to the Peralta Map, starring Mr. Raymond Burr.
A tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
Cracker!
Willis!
Better hold up!
That fake weaver's needle?
That's it!
From here on, we go east.
Come on!
According to the map, it's somewhere up in one of those box canyons.
Yeah, but which one?
There's five or six of them.
We gotta get up high.
Look down on them.
All right.
No, no, no, no.
No, hold him, Willis.
Yeah, the country's getting too rough for horses.
We'll leave them here and go in on foot.
All right.
Let's stop and take a look.
If the map's true, it should be somewhere right below us, right?
Yeah, that's right.
Let's see the map.
Middle, yeah, east.
Southeast.
Which way is it?
Off here.
Willis!
Yeah?
Can you see Weaver's Needle from where you are?
Yeah.
You be careful on that ledge, Willis.
All right, now face the north.
To your right.
That's it.
Now hold it.
You see anything about a mile off?
Yeah.
Yeah, kind of a hill.
Got a flat top?
Yeah.
Turn to your left, easy.
Yeah, that's it.
Easy, that's enough.
Mine should be in a canyon right below where he's standing.
Willis, what's below you?
Huh?
What's right below you?
Canyons.
There's two of them.
Boxers?
Yeah, both of them.
Should there be?
Uh-huh.
The wrong canyon's got three swallows growing at the entrance to it.
Willis!
Yeah?
Willis, you got a million dollars below you.
You hear me?
Right below you.
What?
Yee-haw!
Willis!
Come back here!
Willis!
Crazy fool's gonna break his neck running down that ledge.
Let him.
What?
We don't need him to find the mine.
Well, you don't need me either.
Sure I do, Lonnie.
How'd I find my way down this mountain without you?
Ah!
Willis!
Cracker!
What happened to you?
Help me.
That ledge up there.
In the...
It's all shale.
It went out from under me.
What?
What happened?
Cracker!
Oh, let's go home.
Let's go home.
Come on, let's go home.
You go.
Come on, let's go.
It went out from under me.
Well, here.
Let me see.
Hey, Lonnie.
Outakan!
His legs broken.
Lonnie, what do you call those funny looking things sticking up over there?
Huh?
Oh, swallows.
The mine's over behind that bluff about another four or five hundred yards.
Cracker, you can't think about that mine.
You got to get me out to a doctor.
You stop talking like that.
Where's your rifle, Willis?
I dropped it back up there when I fell.
Cracker, Cracker, you're going to carry me out here, ain't you?
Cracker?
Lonnie?
We'll carry you, boy.
I want it.
I want him safe.
Go on, Cracker.
Lonnie, we got maybe three, four more hours of daylight.
The mine's in that canyon.
It's covered with brush.
Cracker.
It'll take us at least that long to clear it away.
Cracker, look.
We can't leave him here.
Please.
We'll come back for you on our way out, Will.
No, no.
Don't leave me, please, Cracker.
Please, huh?
I could carry him.
No, you're going to need your strength to help me.
Now let's go.
No, no.
Wait.
Cracker.
Look, Cracker, I'll give you my share, you hear me?
Cracker, I'll give you my share, please.
Please.
I'll be back for you, boy, as soon as I can.
Come on, Lonnie.
Yeah, here.
You take my canteen.
Now make it last.
Cracker.
Please.
Cracker, please.
Help.
You find anything under these bushes?
Anything that could be a sign?
Nope.
Yeah.
Let's measure it off again, supposed
to be 20 paces south of the entrance to this canyon.
Only there's no hill there.
No way for them to have put in a shaft.
Now, wait a minute.
Could be a glory hole.
A what?
A mine don't have to angle in any hillside.
Glory hole, it goes into flat ground.
Yeah?
All right, I'll count off the paces again.
Then we'll dig straight down.
Come on, Lonnie, keep on digging.
What's the matter?
What are you quitting for?
I'm tired.
And it's dark.
I can't see what I'm doing.
Moon will be up soon.
I'll keep digging.
Come on, dig.
Uh.
Cracker.
Cracker, you struck wood.
Yeah, I hear it.
That's it.
The door to the mine.
Sounds good to you now, don't it?
We found it.
Listen, old man, we're rich.
You hear me?
We're billionaires.
You hear me, Lonnie?
Billionaires!
Can you see down in there?
No, too dark.
I clean forgot about Willis.
Don't you think we ought to get him out to a doctor?
Not till I see what's in there.
Well, would it be all right with you if I was to just take
him back to where the horses are?
No.
But I could somehow get him on a horse,
and then he might be able to make it back alone.
You know better than that.
Well, then let me help him.
I'll come back.
Oh, I want to find out about this tonight.
I want to be sure we've opened up the Dutchman.
You go get some of that brush we cleared off.
We'll set fire to it and drop it down in there.
You say so.
Then hurry it up.
All right.
Who's out there?
Who is it?
Lonnie?
What?
Lonnie?
Mother in heaven.
Willis, boy, you.
You stay right there, Lonnie.
Oh, boy, you crawled all that way.
More than that.
I found my rifle now.
I'm going to use it.
Now listen, boy.
We found the mine.
You hear?
We found it.
Is that what happened to you?
Well, he wouldn't let me go.
Are you sure?
Or did you go and make a deal with him?
Two of you splitting my share.
You know better than that.
Now let me help you.
No, now you.
Where is he?
At the mine.
Where's that?
Oh, yeah, behind that brush.
You just call him out here.
Go ahead.
Mr. Cracker?
What's taking you so long?
Willis.
What?
Willis is out here.
You want to help me carry him in?
Lonnie, what are you talking about?
Where are you?
Lonnie?
Gunshot.
Mr. Cracker?
He won't answer you, Lonnie.
No, don't guess you will.
Well, come on, boy.
I'll get you back to our camp and go for help.
Now you hold it.
You put your arm around my neck.
That's it.
Now drop your rifle, boy.
Just hold on to me.
All right.
That's it.
Now let's go.
Lonnie, I'm not going to forget you for this.
You're a good man.
There ain't many men who would carry me out like this.
You know, most of them, they'd just leave me to die.
Get back later and claim the mine for themselves.
What's the matter?
What you stopping for?
I'm going back to the mine.
For what?
Cover it up.
What?
When we get out of here, I'm going
to have to tell the sheriff everything that's happened.
He'll send a parcel in to get Cracker's body.
Now there's no sense in them finding the mine.
No, I guess so.
Of course, that's ours.
Now you wait here for me.
Lonnie?
Yeah?
You remember, I'm dependent on you.
Don't worry, boy.
Don't worry.
I'll be back in five minutes.
Willis?
Who's out there?
It can't be Willis.
He's too far off.
I'm going to have to go.
He's too far off.
Who is it?
Who's there?
Lonnie!
Suspense.
Watch Mr. Raymond Burr start in William N. Robeson's production of The Peralta Map by
Charles B. Smith.
Listen.
Listen again next week when we return with Frank Lovejoy in The Outer Limit.
Another tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
Supporting Mr. Burr in The Peralta Map were Stacy Harris as Willis and Junius Matthews
as Lonnie.