Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio from
boise Idahol. This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment,
we are going to bring you this week's episode of
Cloak and Dagger. But first I do to encourage you
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Patreon dot Great Detectives dot net. But now, from August thirteenth,
nineteen fifty, here is the roof of the world.
Speaker 2: Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind the
enemy lines knowing you may never return alive.
Speaker 3: What you have just heard is the question asked during
the war to agents of the OSS ordinary citizens. So
to this question answered yes, This is Cloak and Dagger,
black warfare, espionage, international intrigue. These are the weapons of
the oss. Today's story, the Roof of the World, concerning
two American agents who travel into the far off and
miss turious land of Tibet on a secret pilgrimage, is
suggested by actual incidents recorded in the Washington files of
the Office of Strategic Services, a story that can now
be told.
Speaker 4: It came out of sudden, out of the darkness, a
shaggy monster over fifteen feet high.
Speaker 5: None of us said a word for a minute. We
just stared at.
Speaker 6: Into the tusks. Look at the length of them.
Speaker 4: The tusks of this monster must have been at least
twelve feet long. And I knew myself that if I
hadn't seen it stood right in front of it, I
wouldn't have believed it actually existed either.
Speaker 5: But I saw it. There was definite proof it did live. Once.
Speaker 6: Okay, okay, lights put on the lights please all right, now, quiet,
please quiet. What you have just seen is the last
of our afternoon slides. Here in the u See of
Natural History on prehistoric Animals, This last mammoth was a
species of a true elephant, which was found in Tibet
during and before the Ice Age. Now, are there any questions?
Speaker 5: Yeah, how did you get out of here?
Speaker 6: And if you all follow the guide, he'll take you
into the next room where you can actually see the
skeletons of these monsters, which palaeontologists have reconstructed from fossils
and actual bones discovered in the earth. Philip, Oh, hello, Western,
Are you here for the whole lecture?
Speaker 5: No, just the last part of it, But.
Speaker 4: You were sensational flattery will get you nowhere. What oh,
telegram here just came.
Speaker 5: To the office.
Speaker 6: It's not for me, it's for us. Who's it from Washington?
The Office of Strategic Services wants to see us off.
Speaker 5: World? Do they want us?
Speaker 6: There's one way to find out.
Speaker 2: Mister and missus Moulden. We know your reputation as geologists
and explorers. We know you've traveled the Far East together
several times.
Speaker 6: That's true.
Speaker 2: Now at this stage of the war, Germany is pushing
eastward across Africa to Suez, and Japan is thrusting westward
across China into India. If the axis partners meet, their
junction will be Central Asia, and dominating that meeting point
will be Tibet.
Speaker 5: What do you want us to do?
Speaker 2: We want volunteers to make a pilgrimage to the Dalai
Lama high priest of Tibet. It'll be a good will
mission to get them on our side. It involves a
great deal of danger. Yes, yes, we know esther.
Speaker 4: Well, as long as you're sure that mammoth elephant disappeared
from their centuries ago.
Speaker 5: I'm willing.
Speaker 4: A few weeks later we were flown to India, where
we were given a car.
Speaker 5: Then the tour was.
Speaker 4: Started out across the border to a village called Gukson
at the foot of the Himalia Mountains. Once there we
were to pick up pack animals and a guide and
start our journey to the Holy City.
Speaker 6: These roads couldn't have been any narrower or any rock here.
Speaker 5: Well, they weren't designed for modern travel.
Speaker 6: You can say that again.
Speaker 5: Phil, Are you worried about something?
Speaker 6: I'm worried about a lot of things.
Speaker 5: For instance.
Speaker 6: For instance, this is the worst possible time of the
year to be traveling up that mountains. A most spring
up there, and the thaw was setting in. It's going
to loosen the snow and ice all along the way.
Speaker 5: Well, we'll just have to be more careful, that's all. Oh, Phil,
Look round the bend of the road. That's the village,
isn't it.
Speaker 6: That's it? That's it.
Speaker 5: Wait a minute, Phil, slow down.
Speaker 4: Look.
Speaker 5: Good lord, I should have said, was the village.
Speaker 4: Burned to the ground, the old man who sat wailing
and moaning cross legged on the ground.
Speaker 5: Who's the only one left alive that village?
Speaker 7: Branded tribe come from mountains, steal here, set fire to rich?
Speaker 5: How is it they spared you?
Speaker 7: I am pished, sent from day rama tourist Virich many
years past. If they cure a hooryman, gretch prigg and
pastor and swear be upon.
Speaker 6: Them, tell me where'd you learn to speak English?
Speaker 7: In Horry City?
Speaker 4: Was?
Speaker 5: Well, what do we do now, Phil?
Speaker 6: We can't leave him here alone. We'll take him with
us and drive until we find another village.
Speaker 7: I take you it, I sing too. We'll be guide
to holy city he always lost. Go back to Dalai Lama.
Speaker 6: What about pack animals?
Speaker 7: A village of Chonda nuts far away. We'll go there first.
Speaker 4: Chanda was about ten miles away down the road. It
was small, with only a few huts made of sun
dried bricks. Phil was afraid of the spring thaw that
was setting in more every day, so we made arrangements
with the native chief to start almost immediately.
Speaker 6: Santa lu K, what do you say, sing Tong?
Speaker 7: He s Kiang's wild donkeys as good pack animals as
other white man has.
Speaker 5: What's he talking about? What other white men ask him?
Speaker 7: Acquired?
Speaker 8: I know bongos to the Eliza a stranger sleeve here
two days ago on a way also to holy city
of Rassa were batch.
Speaker 7: With crooked cross.
Speaker 6: So Natsis, we're in a race, Esther. We've got to
reach Larsa before they do.
Speaker 4: That was the first we knew that the Germans were
ahead of us, going in the same direction on the
same mission.
Speaker 5: Philip was white. It was going to be a race
for time.
Speaker 6: Yes, sir, Come on, this is no time to pick flowers.
Speaker 4: Look, if this dwarf wrote a dandron phil and a head,
it's like a carpet of blue iris there.
Speaker 6: There'll be plenty of folies until we cross the timberline.
Then it'll just be cold, and traveling on snow is
going to be a lot tougher.
Speaker 4: Well, I'm not looking forward to the temperature dropping one
hundred degrees in twenty miles.
Speaker 6: Oh watch it, you heard yourself.
Speaker 5: No, I just tripped. I guess I must be getting tired.
Is the thing too?
Speaker 7: Yes? First?
Speaker 5: Yes, how soon will we be able to camp?
Speaker 7: Cold Springs? Less than half mild ahead? Wheel camp there
for night.
Speaker 4: When we reached the springs, I started dinner out of
k rations, which kept our packs light. And by the
time I was through, the tent had mushroomed up and
filled and sing tour inside, straightening the pole and fixing
the blankets.
Speaker 5: For the night.
Speaker 6: Ah my food soups on measable mala.
Speaker 5: I looked up from the fire to find an unpleasant surprise.
Speaker 4: Six unpleasant surprises, carrying rifles and forming a ring of
muddy boots.
Speaker 5: All run. Who are you men? What do you want?
Speaker 6: L lap?
Speaker 5: Where did they come from?
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 5: They're just here, That's all you are.
Speaker 7: They are sing to these saw some of normad banda
to rate my virtue, nigashimo?
Speaker 5: What do they want?
Speaker 2: Good dancy man than you?
Speaker 7: They say, they take surprise everything a god's too?
Speaker 6: Why at there?
Speaker 7: Solarly leader shoot off gun to show you him mean
what he said?
Speaker 5: Fill without our supplies and guns, will have to turn back.
Speaker 6: Providing the letters turned back, knitting my mi.
Speaker 7: They hold you hostage, Send me holy man back to
get ransom film.
Speaker 9: Hold on, hold on, don't let them know you're afraid
of them.
Speaker 4: We stood there while they gathered our surprise out of
the tent and showed them in a heat by the fire,
sing too. Knew he wouldn't be harmed because it was
a holy man, but Phil and I had no idea
what was ahead from us.
Speaker 6: God, do you love.
Speaker 4: Phil?
Speaker 6: Leave her alone? You understand, thank you. Tell them we'll
come quietly.
Speaker 5: Oh, I said, get your filthy heads of.
Speaker 4: The machine gun that riddled the bandit leader came from
the direction of the brush.
Speaker 5: Went one after another.
Speaker 4: Then there was silence, and we looked up to see
our two saviors walking out of the brush in German uniform.
Speaker 10: I'm the life that we were able to be of
assistants Americans. I am Command downt Quote, father of the
German Army. This is life that alms Castler for me.
Speaker 4: Thank you for saving our lives. I'm I'm mister Malden
and this is my husband, Philip. Oh no, our gods,
sing too.
Speaker 10: You do not seem too surprised to see us here.
Speaker 6: We're not just surprised. You're not two days ahead of
that's the way we thought you were. Then you knew
about us. Wow, they told us in the village. They
also told us you were headed for the Holy City.
They talked too much of those native idiots, so clxt.
Speaker 10: Clashed their ants, and you are you also going there?
Speaker 7: No?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean we're geologists. We're just on an exploring expedition.
Speaker 10: Come come, is it quite nice to lie to your benefactors.
We have just saved your lives.
Speaker 6: I don't get that. Why did you.
Speaker 10: When we saw the American flags sewn on your clothing,
they told us immediately who you were, where you were going. We,
as you already know, we are also headed for a
lasa to the Dalai Lama. But our guide was killed
with snow loosened under him as we turned. The legend
here fell. So you were going back for a guide exactly.
But that is some distance away. Time is slipping by.
Speaker 2: You have the guide.
Speaker 6: You will lead us.
Speaker 5: Oh no, we won't. We'll sing too. We're losing to.
Speaker 7: Will do only us? Friend? Americans? Tell me the.
Speaker 10: Ants still get too excited about nothing. I remember, ham Orten,
harm Morden. You have the guide, we have your supplies
and your weapons. Let us pool our resources go together.
Speaker 6: If you think that, at the point of our own guns,
you're going to make us lead you to Lassa, you're crazy.
Speaker 10: Look you are scientists. I appeal to your logical minds.
Is it not safer that, since we are traveling the
same direction, we travel together once we reach the Dalai Lama,
that each of us present the case of his country
to him.
Speaker 6: If you'll forgive me for repeating her commandant, We're not
going to be pushed along with guns in our backs mine.
Speaker 10: Who said you would be here?
Speaker 4: Why?
Speaker 5: Phil, he's giving us back our pistols.
Speaker 7: You see us strangers gentlemen?
Speaker 6: No, not yet, It's all right. Go ahead open them?
Speaker 10: Yeah, opened the gun if you like, Go ahead, spin
little them. See the cart which is in the chamber. Yes,
as I see them, return your guns loaded as they were. Now,
shall we forget the wharf while and travel on together? Okay,
let's try it.
Speaker 5: We're lagging behind them, Phil, shouldn't we catch up to we?
Speaker 6: Will? I want to talk to you.
Speaker 4: I'm cold at tempature went down so fast once we
crossed the timber line. I can almost hear it drop.
Speaker 6: What do you think of this situation with our friends.
Speaker 5: I don't know what to think.
Speaker 6: You trust them, of course I don't whether they gave
us back our guns or not. They're still going to
look for a chance to double cross us before we
reach the Holy city. What are we going to do for?
Just keep an eye out, look for a way to
double cross them. First French French clear brook. You hear
good water? Do you drink?
Speaker 7: Come?
Speaker 10: Come up end hear what he says water. It will
taste better than the whiskey in your plastics.
Speaker 6: We're coming.
Speaker 4: We caught up with them, and as we leaned over
to fill our canteens from a small clear brook, there
was a sudden rumbling.
Speaker 10: The water's turned muddy suddenly. Yeah, it's covered with a
dirty form. Last thing too, erin What are you talking
about it?
Speaker 6: It is not raining. It is in the high regions.
That's what turned the water. But so suddenly it happens
like that, races along under the ground, pushing the mud
with it.
Speaker 5: It's really beginning to fall, isn't it.
Speaker 6: Yes, that's what I was afraid of.
Speaker 10: What is there to be afraid of? Answer me.
Speaker 6: As the snow starts to melt, it'll start to fall.
So just watch your step, and is it not good
to have three such good guides? We are indeed fortunate.
Speaker 7: At must come ma brook along way we walk walk?
Speaker 6: Why do you think we have these animals?
Speaker 7: Kong can be turned loose here we'll get more and
more snow. Its best to climb by foot.
Speaker 5: Yes, seek too, is right.
Speaker 4: Besides, the animals won't find any place to graze. It's
been getting pretty spice.
Speaker 6: For miles they go.
Speaker 7: They are wild. We'll find no norn away rata.
Speaker 4: The packs were heavy and we were too tired the
next two days to do much talking.
Speaker 5: We just watched each other the jagged paths undress.
Speaker 4: We're getting more and more slippery, and below the cliff
we see a sheer drop of hundreds of feet to
the glacier. Above us were the snow peaks, and somewhere
beyond the holy city of Larsa, towards which small birds
of dull brown, gray and black seemed to point. And then,
the third night, after the strange pact had been made
between our two enemy camps.
Speaker 6: It happened, Hush, sir, where are you going to the.
Speaker 5: Brook around the band fill? I want to get some water.
You take care of the rest.
Speaker 10: If you pitch that ten PM. I'll fix the file.
Speaker 5: There it is. I knew i'd seen brook.
Speaker 4: Ain't just a little bigger hole in the ice.
Speaker 6: If you carry that back for you?
Speaker 5: Kessler? What are you doing here?
Speaker 6: I can see you don't want to be friendly. What
a pity.
Speaker 4: I'll be friendly enough to give you some good advice.
Save that le gruntil you really need it, and stop
guzzling it if you intend to keep up on this hike.
Speaker 5: This is no boy scout picnic.
Speaker 6: I'm touched by your concern for me.
Speaker 5: Don't flatter yourself. What are you doing back here? Anyway?
Speaker 11: You really wish to know? I followed you. I knew
you were coming to the brook, so I went round
all the way. You what you don't like me? You
like me very much if you've got to know me?
Speaker 5: No thanks, Now, please get out of my way.
Speaker 6: Let you go back.
Speaker 11: We may not have another chance to be together alone.
You're very attractive, even in those heavy clothes.
Speaker 4: I know, very attractive. Besides on the only woman for miles.
Now get out of my way.
Speaker 6: I would like to see you. The white gown, diamond
clips at your shoulders. Have you got nice shoulders?
Speaker 5: Some more?
Speaker 6: Don't try to pull away from me.
Speaker 4: Stop it, you're talking your bag, don't talking, Nazi want you.
Speaker 11: If you do not stop me.
Speaker 6: Get away, leave her alone. And if I don't give
me back my gun, I'll use it. You have your gun.
You were not there shooting me. Go and try and
use your gun.
Speaker 10: Answers a laugh, You know, Trumo toking? Do you want
him to use his gun on you? Think as do
you want him to use this gun?
Speaker 6: You will? I can tell you will.
Speaker 10: No, I'll give this lady.
Speaker 6: Apologies audio, my apologies from morlin.
Speaker 10: You both have my word. An incident like this will
not occur again. Shall we eat? And they came for
the nightmare ah.
Speaker 4: All the next day, vill and sing Too kept me
between them as we climbed. I wondered how soon we'd
see the holy City and when all this would come
to a head. Look, when sing Too yelled, we turned
around and looked in the direction from which we just come.
A huge ice pillers waited for a moment, and then
it landed on the path we had come for less
than two hours before.
Speaker 6: Well, this is what we can expect from now on,
now that the Thaws said in.
Speaker 5: Oh, we'll expect it and I won't look forward to it, phil.
Speaker 4: Am, I mistaken or other days getting longer sleepy. H
You know, it was nice to them to let you
and sing too, and me had this cave to ourselves.
Speaker 6: Well, considering that it's too small to whole more than
three of us, it wasn't so magnanimous.
Speaker 5: Still, they could have tried to grab it for themselves.
Speaker 6: Farber seems to be trying to make amends for the
way his pal liked it the other day.
Speaker 5: I wonder what their game is.
Speaker 6: Yes, I like to know too, sing too.
Speaker 7: Yes, you wish to know how soon we rich Holy city.
Speaker 5: He may not talk much, but he's a pretty good
mind reader.
Speaker 6: That's it, sing too.
Speaker 7: Expect to see gates in distance behalf to mor off tumut.
Speaker 5: Oh, that's wonderful, is it?
Speaker 12: Well?
Speaker 5: Isn't it?
Speaker 6: It means time has run out, esther. If they're going
to pull anything, they're going to pull it now.
Speaker 4: The Germans were camped under a ledge which protected them
from the wind, about.
Speaker 5: Fifty feet from us, across a narrow crovass.
Speaker 4: In spite of all the things that had happened before
or might be going to happen ahead, it was strangely
peaceful up there in the western fan of pink grays
from the sun shot up from behind the snow range,
and overhead a few bright stars twinkled. Presently the fan
flickered and disappeared, And then in the glow of the
full moon, I saw what looked like a long procession
of ghosts in the distance, but were actually cascades of
snow knelting and falling, hundreds of feet, leaping from ledge
to ledge.
Speaker 5: In the morning, the air was crystal clear, and we saw.
Speaker 10: It, the holy City.
Speaker 6: Esther. Do you see it?
Speaker 7: I expected are to return again when I die.
Speaker 5: Oh it's beautiful. How long will it take us to
reach it?
Speaker 10: You will not beat in all my friends.
Speaker 6: Don't start something you can't finish that coming on hill,
get back, get behind me, back in the cave.
Speaker 10: You should have.
Speaker 13: Been more friendly to me from marning that I would
have taken you with us.
Speaker 10: Go on, Oh, your gun should.
Speaker 6: Watch the big joke.
Speaker 13: Would have been fooled enough to get your loaded guns.
Speaker 6: But I saw them. I broke open the gun and
saw the cartridges.
Speaker 8: Then you'll take one out and examine it.
Speaker 7: Why don't you do it now?
Speaker 5: Still looka I opened mine. It's a it's a blank cartridge.
Speaker 13: Surely you understand why I don't care not to let
your husband become too excited, and I almsd here tried
to be friendly. I did not want to take a
chance of your finding out too soon.
Speaker 3: We shall give you a guard to the dilama short.
Speaker 8: God, careless when you have blank guns, if you.
Speaker 6: Can, that's not a bad idea. Yeah, esther elms look
out back in the cave.
Speaker 4: Quick Bill took them at their word and actually killed
them with this blank gun. The shots vibrated enough to
loosen the heavily pile of snow, break the crust at
the rim of.
Speaker 5: The ledge, and start the slide that happened.
Speaker 4: It threw them over the side and buried them somewhere
on the cliffs below us, under rock, ice.
Speaker 5: And snow.
Speaker 7: Gone. Yeah, are gone.
Speaker 5: Holy The thaw worked for us, didn't it.
Speaker 6: Yes, come on, saying to you lead, we'll follow.
Speaker 4: We could see the holy city, but it was still
twenty five miles away. It was two days travel of
an almost vertical descent into the valley, and we arrived
at dusk at the magnificent red and white palace that
overlooked the city.
Speaker 5: It was a week before we saw the Dalai Lama.
Speaker 4: Our entrance into his presence was conducted with the utmost ceremony.
Tall grill unfaced monks lined the hall. There's six foot
four inch frames, made even more massive by layers of
stiff gold brocade. The walls were carved with strange images
and Tibetan inscriptions. Then the gun struck again. We were
ushered into the throne room.
Speaker 7: Esther, look quiet, must not talk, Come da light, Damma,
we'll see you now.
Speaker 4: We walked on thick rugs that were brilliant in color
and depicted the waves of the sea, clouds and emblems
of happiness. Then we saw a throne of yellow satin
at the end of the great room, and on it
robed in burgundy and gold satin, with a crown on
his head and a table of jewels. Beside him sat
the Dalai Lama, a boy of six.
Speaker 14: Come closer, I will throw this silk, young jevaty skyfe
over your heads.
Speaker 5: To welcome you.
Speaker 6: We thank you for your welcome, your serenity. We bring
you gifts from our leader.
Speaker 14: I accept your gifts with great thanks. How is your president?
Speaker 2: He is well.
Speaker 6: Thank you, bring the gifts to me.
Speaker 14: Let me see.
Speaker 4: They gave him the gifts, and he looked at each
one carefully. After a while, servants began to pass bowls
of rice and glasses of black tea. I noticed that
a special taste took a sip of a lama's tea
before it touched his sacred lips.
Speaker 14: Mister and mister smileham.
Speaker 5: Yes, your Serenity threw a.
Speaker 14: Pinch of rice over your shoulder. It will bring.
Speaker 6: Good luck, your serenity. We've come to talk about peace
and friendliness between our two countries.
Speaker 14: There is no need to talk. Come here, I die
three knots in your staff.
Speaker 7: There means only interview at tenant.
Speaker 5: But we've accomplished nothing.
Speaker 7: His Serenity has died three knots in American's longevity scaff
He has blessed them. Our countries will be different.
Speaker 3: The success of the mission of these two oss geologists
helped to lay the foundations of friendship between Tibet and
the United States, and divosse all any possibility of Tibet's
cooperation with our axis enemies. Thus, once again, the report
of another agent ends with the words mission accomplished. Listen
again next week for another true adventure from the files
of the Oss.
Speaker 2: On Cloak and Dagger.
Speaker 12: Heard in Today's Cloak and Dagger adventuress esther was Louise Barclay,
Philip Grant, Richards the Monk, Raymond, Edward Johnson Barber, Stephen Schnabel, Kessler,
Barry Kroger. Others were Janice Gilbert, Carl Weber, Ralph Bell
and Jerry Jarrett. Script was written by Wonderfred Wolf and
Jack Gordon. Music was under the direction of John Guard,
sound effects by Chat Hill and Dick Gillespie. Today's True
Oss Adventure was based on the book Cloak and Dagger
by Corey Ford and Alistair McBain. This program was produced
by OSG Con and Alfred Hollander under the direction and
supervision of Sherman Marx Programs. Get Your Programs Here, Mystery
and Action. Tonight on NBC, hear how you may win
a cash prize as an armchair detective on one thousand
dollars Reward. Listen to the adventures of the suave crime
fighter the Saint, played by a screen favorite Vincent Prize
and follow another exciting caper with the greatest private eye
of them all hard boiled Sam Spade. Now stay tuned
for High Adventure and The Big Guy on NBC.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. Well, I really enjoyed this episode. Don't mesk
with a theologist, that's the moral of the story. I
did like the husband and wife came while I know
that they were drawn from real life people who work
with the OSS. I'd love a radio series with characters
like this as globe trotting adventurers. Our first play this
episode as part of our World War two podcast The War,
and it was amazing to reflect then that the Dolly
Lama in this episode was based on the current Dolly
Lama and that's still the case eleven years later, which
kind of blows my mind. All right, listener comments and
feedback now, and we go over to Spotify, where Mechanic
sixty six has a comment regarding the episode Swastika on
the Windmill. Can't believe they fell for the old The
resistance sent us, and he also notes we have ways
of making you talk. Well, I didn't have a whole
lot of problem with it, just because the ways that
various sort of resistance or partisans or McKee or whatever
you might refer to it were organized very greatly from
liice to place, with varying degrees of people who knew
what they were doing, which meant some people could be
quite naive and some people could think others were misunderstanding
or acting incorrectly and in need of correction and end
up accidentally giving themselves away if it was not well organized,
which in many places was it all right. Well, now
it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
and I want to go ahead and thank Neil, Patreon
supporter since September twenty sixteen, currently supporting the podcast at
the secret Agent level of four dollars or more per month.
Thanks so much for your support, Neil, and that will
do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please
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subscribe to the channel and mark the notification. And if
you are listening on our Great Detectives feed, we will
be back tomorrow with the Sunday encore and then return
to our regular lineup with Danger with Granger. And if
you're listening on our Great Adventurers feed, we will be
back on Tuesday with the final episode of the Interplanetary
Adventures of Flash Gordon. In the meantime, do send your
comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net. From Boise, Idaho,
this is your host, Adam Graham signing off.