In this thrilling episode, we delve into the complexities of human relationships and the pursuit of personal dreams against all odds. The story unfolds with a determined young woman, Mabel Dixon, who is set on climbing a mountain despite her frail health and the disapproval of her brother, Roger. As she seeks the assistance of a guide, tensions rise, revealing the intricate dynamics between family loyalty and personal ambition. Mabel's journey is not just a physical climb but a metaphorical ascent towards self-fulfillment and independence.
Accompanied by the enigmatic Mr. Cannon, Mabel's adventure takes unexpected turns, including a near-fatal accident that raises questions about trust and betrayal. The narrative explores themes of courage, resilience, and the human spirit's unyielding desire to conquer both literal and figurative mountains. As secrets unravel and motives are questioned, listeners are left pondering the true nature of ambition and the lengths one will go to achieve their dreams. Join us as we navigate this gripping tale of adventure, mystery, and the pursuit of one's destiny.
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[00:00:00]
Unknown:
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[00:00:15] Unknown:
You had this mad fixation about climbing a mountain. I just don't understand you. You don't have to understand me, Roger.
[00:00:20] Unknown:
All I ask is that you accompany me on one climb. For the last time, Nabel, I won't do it especially at a time like this. That's just what I thought you'd say. Then why even bother to ask me? Because for one idiotic moment I thought that you, my brother, might grant me one small wish. Oh, but don't let it bother you.
[00:00:36] Unknown:
I'm sure I can find someone else. A guide. You'll have to tell them all about yourself. After all, that would only be fair on the guide and I don't think that when he knows the true circumstances any guide will take on the job. It's for that reason I'm not going to ask a guide.
[00:00:49] Unknown:
At least not the ordinary one of guides. Don't tell me you're going to the Boy Scouts. There's a firm in the West End that specialises in unusual jobs. Assignments are limited. They might be able to help me. Good. It's It's worth a try anyway. I'm going up there this afternoon. Their offices are at 33 Half Moon Street.
[00:01:33] Unknown:
It's my usual one to introduce to you my client before the story unfolds. But tonight I'd like you to eavesdrop on a London scene that occurred just twenty four hours before my client decided to come to 33 Half Moon Street.
[00:01:48] Unknown:
So there you come, may? As you knew I would. And don't worry about the two boats on either side of us. They work for me. I prayed of witnesses, sir? Not of these witnesses. In fact, I'd like them to get to know you better. The future reference line. If it's the money It's always the money, mr. Dixon. It could hardly be a social occasion, could it? I mean, you and me, we're, well we're not on the same social. Why don't you get on with it and say what you have to say? I hope your purse is as big as your lip.
[00:02:18] Unknown:
It's just a matter of time. I told you that. You're right.
[00:02:21] Unknown:
A matter of time. You've got exactly one week. A week?
[00:02:26] Unknown:
I can't guarantee anything in a week. I can.
[00:02:29] Unknown:
Show him your toothpick, Eddie. K.
[00:02:32] Unknown:
A razor.
[00:02:33] Unknown:
Guaranteed to give you a clean shave right down to the boat. Now wait a minute. No. Not a minute. I'm a reasonable man, a week. Either you produce 3,847 pounds at this time next week or you meet Eddie for the second time. You can't do this to me. Want a demonstration? Please sit.
[00:02:55] Unknown:
I don't know for sure if I'll have the money in a week's time. You should have thought of that before you played the g g's.
[00:03:00] Unknown:
Suppose you'd won, I'd have paid you, wouldn't I? And I wouldn't have asked for time, would I? Okay, you're interested. Mr Dixon, I'm interested only in the lolly in cash. I'll see you here same time next week. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go out and pay 20 fivers to a geyser who was lucky today. Backed six winners out of eight stars. It was a proper carver.
[00:03:30] Unknown:
Fate has a crooked finger but it points with inexorable directness of destiny. In a ragged shack, leaning bleak and lonely among the barren foothills of Mount Snowdon, a heavily built man sat down to his meagre supper. His face wore the lines of strain the strain of frustration tainted with pent up anger. A faded leather jerking hung limply on his shoulders, and his faded denim trousers rolled down over his high top boots as though to hide their tattered shame from the world. He said nothing as he idly stirred the learned dumpling in the thin soup. It was his wife who broke the silence a thin, mousy woman with a red nose, her bony body enshrouded in the voluminous folds of a cormsack apron.
[00:04:22] Unknown:
How'd it go at the meeting? Same. Don't you ever give up. How will in the end Lucy? That's what you've been saying for the past six months. Just have patience, lass. I've got patience, Jack Hawthorne. Lots of it. The patience any mountaineer's wife must have if she's to remain in her right mind but but patience doesn't pay the grocer's bills and you don't have to look at your supper too hard and know where you're starving. I know that. Then why don't you do something about it, my Like what? Get another sort of job. Here we go again. Well, anything's better than sitting here day after day and things going from bad to worse. Just a temporary job. Just something to tide us over. If I leave now, it means the committee has won.
[00:05:01] Unknown:
I'll never get another job as guide as long as I live. Then let's go back home to Shatfeld. We didn't do so bad. That, antique. The moon is here. That's a laugh. Well, it wasn't till that bloated beggar that his ass attack on the east face. That's no way to speak of the dead, Jack Arthur. Maybe not, but now as I said, no, he'd die on me. What am I supposed to do? Give every client a medical before I take him up? You're supposed to bring him back alive. I'm a manseggier, not a Rudy White hunter.
[00:05:28] Unknown:
Well, you haven't lost all your sense of humor anyway. That's a blessing, I don't think.
[00:05:33] Unknown:
Giggs fell from that ledge because he had an heart attack, not because of my incompetence. I could lose any of those toughies on that mountain. Everyone knows that, love. And why won't they let me back into the committee? Answer me that. No, don't waste your breath. If I were a third rate gilly like the rest of them, I'd have been back on the mountain the day after he was buried. So please is with the committee, I say.
[00:05:58] Unknown:
If only I could get a private job without their sanction. But everyone goes to the committee for recommendation.
[00:06:05] Unknown:
Don't I know it. You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see one of them Gaelic gentlemen take up someone who wasn't really fit to go and have him die on them. Jack Arthur. Alright. It's a terrible thing to say. Well, if it happened, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on, would they? They'd have no choice but to let me back into the committee. Just one accident till death when the climber wasn't fit to climb.
[00:06:32] Unknown:
My client was miss Mabel Dixon, a well bred young lady of some twenty years. She carried herself with a plaid bearing that indicated a strong character, a strength her physical appearance failed to match. She was pale and warm, and even the twinkling eyes and generous smile couldn't hide some intense inner suffering, which is probably why I was surprised at her request. She wanted to climb a mountain, and she asked me to provide a companion. I learned nothing of her from our brief encounter. It was the cannon that she filled in the details on their journey west in the train compartment.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
I so want this holiday to be a success, Mr. Cannon and I would like it to be on a friendly footing. Well, I'm the epitome of geniality, Moon. Then you can start by using first names. I'm Mabel.
[00:07:27] Unknown:
Well now, there you got me, I only go by my nickname. That is Mr. Cannon? Cannon. Your nickname is the same as your surname. Well, you said you wanted fun. The name's Cannon, but believe me, I'm no big bore.
[00:07:41] Unknown:
Alright, then, Cannon it shall be. Have you done much mountain climbing?
[00:07:46] Unknown:
Well, I, I gave Everest a miss and, I find something offensive in tropical snow so I pass up Kilimanjaro. But, I can't crab a wall and negotiate a chimney, so I guess I'll do. I'm so glad. And I guess I'll pick up a few tips from you. Well, not from me, Cannon. This is the first mountain I've ever tried to
[00:08:05] Unknown:
climb. Does it make any difference?
[00:08:08] Unknown:
No. No. No. No. I, I guess not. But, why start the snorting? I mean, you could have had your first lesson on a coal mine slag heap or something. When my father was alive, he wouldn't let me go.
[00:08:20] Unknown:
His excuse was that we couldn't afford it. Oh, I I took that with a pinch of salt. Oh, we weren't terribly rich, Mark, you, but
[00:08:28] Unknown:
I knew it wasn't the expense that dictated his motive. He just didn't like the idea of his favorite daughter hanging by a slender thread on her life, better. That's better pork than you realize.
[00:08:38] Unknown:
However, we did have one wealthy member of the family, an aunt. The same name as myself, Mabel. He was a crotchety old thing, but I don't know if the temple was a heart of gold. She left me a tidy son in cash and I I can do what I like with it. Poor Roger was furious. And who was Roger? My brother. Aunt Nibble just never took to him somehow. Then she never was on the best of terms with anyone. In her will, she said I could do anything with the money except loan any to Roger. And, that's a bad thing? You don't know Roger. He's always in some financial jam or another.
I suppose that's why Aunt Niebuhr made the condition. Of course, Roger's my beneficiary.
[00:09:20] Unknown:
Everything goes to him when I die. Well his chances are about as good as the Irish sweepstake. But tell me why, why didn't he come on this trip with you? Self sacrifice is not Roger's strong point.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Oh, but I'd much rather be with you anyway. You don't think I'm barmy wanting to find snow? Or do you? No. No. No. No. I mean,
[00:09:44] Unknown:
different people get kicks out of different things. I mean, I once knew a guy who was a a a pothole addict, you know, and crawling around underground caves. Now, I'd say the urge to climb mountains is a much more normal quirk. Don't ask me why, but well, maybe on a mountain top you're you're nearer to heaven.
[00:10:05] Unknown:
Yes. You would be nearer to heaven, wouldn't you? You talked about my hanging by a slender thread on my lifeline. Yeah, I'm not nearing to. And a medical one for me.
[00:10:19] Unknown:
And what do you mean?
[00:10:21] Unknown:
I've never been really strong. And for what's wrong with me, there's no known cure. The last thing I want is to appear dramatic. I, I'm quite reconciled of the fact.
[00:10:32] Unknown:
But, maybe, I mean, if your health isn't all that good why in Peet's name do you want to climb to the top of Snowdon?
[00:10:39] Unknown:
Why does your friend want to go pot holing? All my life I I've I've looked at the mountain peaks cooling themselves in cloud. I've wondered oh, how I've wondered what it would be like to stand up there just for a moment, to breathe in the cold air, to feel the mist at my feet, the hard rock under my hand, and the green world below stretching away for mile after mile. Can you understand?
[00:11:09] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do.
[00:11:13] Unknown:
And you'll take me up, Kennen?
[00:11:17] Unknown:
Sure.
[00:11:19] Unknown:
I'll get you up to the top of that mountain if I have to carry you then. Oh, you mustn't do that. If I wanted to reach the top of the heat of that, I could take the mountain railway.
[00:11:28] Unknown:
I suppose you did know there was a railway running up the easy slope. A railroad on the easy slope? Now that never entered my head. Mobile, I was born on the other side of the tracks and that's where I aim to stay. I mean, anyway, what would you do with an ice pick and a foreman coach? It's hardly that sort of railway. Well, for you and me, the troopers who go by loco are loco. Us, we'll let off steam on the surest well we can find. Oh, there was one thing, though.
[00:11:55] Unknown:
We'll have to hire a guy. Must be? Yeah. I'm afraid so. Oh, but but I I mean, knowing about me, will they let us go?
[00:12:04] Unknown:
What about you? I'm hiring to guide you. You're just tagging along. Nobody need no thing. And you and me when we're right on top of that mountain, we'll be a king and a queen. We'll be monarchs of all we survey. We'll hold hands and breathe in that cold air just for a moment. We'll know what it's like in paradise.
[00:13:21] Unknown:
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[00:14:21] Unknown:
The Mountain Hotel is snug and cosy with a cheerful untidiness. In summer the great open fireplaces bring a broad grin of welcome as they're to entice the visitor back when the bitter snows of winter blanket the fells. But this afternoon was warm and the hot sun shovelled in smells of new cut hay through the lattice windows. Mabel Dixon sat quietly reading, awaiting the return of Canon from the village. His return was much quicker than she'd anticipated.
[00:14:52] Unknown:
Oh, you're back early. Is something wrong?
[00:14:58] Unknown:
No guide.
[00:14:59] Unknown:
You mean they're all engaged?
[00:15:00] Unknown:
I mean no guide will take on the job. But why? You, you mind if I pour myself a drink? Of course not.
[00:15:07] Unknown:
But can and why?
[00:15:09] Unknown:
Give you one guess.
[00:15:11] Unknown:
Me? But but you said you wouldn't tell them. They already knew.
[00:15:17] Unknown:
Cheers.
[00:15:18] Unknown:
But how could they have known? Who could have told them? Oh, oh, I
[00:15:24] Unknown:
I see. What do you see?
[00:15:27] Unknown:
You don't want to take a chance on me so so you told them? Well, I can't say that I blame you.
[00:15:34] Unknown:
I suppose it was stupid of me to expect anything else from you. I did not, Joan. And before you continue to upbraid me as a lowdown heel and liar let me inform you, miss Dixon, that I intend taking you to the top of that rock pile alone by myself.
[00:15:48] Unknown:
Oh, Ken, am I I'm sorry. Oh, please don't let us quietly. It's just that But how, how could they have known?
[00:15:58] Unknown:
Now you said that you had a fair circle of friends. You even said there were mostly women. Now I don't wanna be disparaging about the fair sex but,
[00:16:06] Unknown:
well you're not a woman. They wouldn't. Well, and that they might have meant the best. But nobody knew, I tell you. I didn't tell anyone.
[00:16:14] Unknown:
Well, the committee knew and refused the guide and they didn't find out at a seance and they didn't know about it by mental telepathy.
[00:16:22] Unknown:
Well, hello sister.
[00:16:24] Unknown:
Roger. Quite a cosy nest you picked out my feathering. A welcome change from the London gin palaces I'm used to. Aren't you going to introduce us? Oh, m m Mr. Cannon,
[00:16:35] Unknown:
my brother Roger. How do you do?
[00:16:38] Unknown:
You, I take you to the man from Assignments Unlimited. A Roger. Roger. Had to wit to boot.
[00:16:44] Unknown:
Roger,
[00:16:45] Unknown:
how did you know I was here? You travelled that train, my sweet. You had an uncontrollable urge to climb a mountain. The booking office said you were headed towards Wales. Well, I'm no Sherlock Holmes but I didn't need a Doctor Watson to tell me your destination was Mount Snow. Why did you come? I couldn't sleep thinking about all those mountain guides and you were panting along an ice cap. You told them? The committee? Yes. Yes, I told them. You Now steady on, old girl. What I did was for the best. You deliberately made it impossible for me to climb the mountain. Wrong. I made it possible for you to climb the mountain without any embarrassment of the mountaineering committee. I will be your guide. Me in person. All my gear is stacked in one of the hotel rooms and we can take off at the summit at any time you choose, weather permitting. When I asked you to come with me in London, you refused.
[00:17:29] Unknown:
Why Why the sudden change of heart? Remorse.
[00:17:32] Unknown:
I didn't really take you seriously at first. When I rang Assignments Unlimited and they said you'd hired one of their operators, well, I thought I'd follow you.
[00:17:42] Unknown:
May I ask a question? Certainly. Are you a mountaineer? In an amateurish way, yes. Mhmm. Then what makes you think we don't need a guide? We? Your I'm coming to him. That won't be necessary, Mr. Cannon. No. I only don't go if the lady says no. Really? Then what does the lady say? Mr. Cannon comes. A nice cosy threesome it is then. Uh-uh, wrong again. A foursome. You forgot the guide. There'll be no guide. The committee wouldn't touch us with a bodgepole. No guide, no climb. It's hardly your decision, oh boy. Well, I'll find a guide. You want a bit?
[00:18:18] Unknown:
Why not? From what your sister says, you always lose anyway. In her little expose of our family life, did she include the reason for my concern over her safety?
[00:18:27] Unknown:
She told me about her sickness. That's the same thing. Really? Well, you know, safety is a loose term. I mean, a funeral pyre is lit by a safety match. Like I said, I'll find the guide. And I wouldn't bet on a friend because I was blessed with extraordinary powers of persuasion.
[00:18:48] Unknown:
No, sir. No, sir. Where are you? Out the back.
[00:18:52] Unknown:
What's happening? What's all the shouting about? Jack is smiling.
[00:18:57] Unknown:
How's in the smile in six weeks? I've got a client. You haven't? I love and a rich one too. Yunk. A yunk? Oh, that's rich enough. You're not pulling my leg. The car's not lass. A party of three, English couple and the Yankees pay him. Oh, jucker. I never thought to see it happen. I didn't say out to you, but I never thought to see it happen. Well, it has happened, lass. And I've got five pounds in advance. Oh, yeah. Here. I've forgotten what they look like. You'll be seeing plenty of them from now on.
[00:19:29] Unknown:
What are you doing, lass? I had it away in case of sickness, like, reckon it'll do for a celebration, ma'am.
[00:19:36] Unknown:
You're the one you are. Oh, I knew that committee would see reason in the end. They had two. It's got nothing to do with a committee as this job.
[00:19:45] Unknown:
Nothing to do with a committee?
[00:19:48] Unknown:
Then how did he find you? To one of the party the girl has something wrong with her. Something wrong? Aye. Weak heart for all I know. Anyway, they wouldn't recommend a guide so the young come to me. He must have had words somewhere that I'm not a member of the committee. Oh,
[00:20:03] Unknown:
you mustn't do it, Jack.
[00:20:05] Unknown:
What if she were to die up there? No sense in looking on the black side, is there? If she's going, she's going. They must know what they're doing. It's all legal in the boulevard. The committee must know, Jack. They wouldn't refuse it for nothing. And if I were a member of the committee, I'd have to abide by their ruling, wouldn't I? If they hadn't kept me out of the committee, there wouldn't be any trip to the mountain, would there? So if she dies, I can't be all to blame, can I? And if plenty of people a week arrive with weak hearts, the committee can't stop them climbing, can they? No. Not as long as I'm a freelance and willing to take them. Let's drink to that lush, shall we?
This is the hard part. See that your ropes are tied secure. Alright, miss? Yes? Mister Cannon. Good. You, mister Dixon. Fine. Now we move out across the face. This is where you find out how the fly feels. Whatever you do, don't look down. Alright. The oil is me first then you, mister Cannon, then the lady, and mister Dixon brings up the rear. I'll talk as well as shout for the next one to follow. Here I go. Come now, mister cannon. Where is she? Down there. The outcrop broke her phone and she's came to a ledge. I hope to heaven she can hang on. How do we get down to it? From there we can't. I'll have to climb down and come up to her. Put the wall over her hands to try that to be suicide. I'm the guide mister Cannon. Suicide or not. That's what I'm going to do. You too are here. You can't do it, Hawkeye. I know my duty mister Cannon. Wait. It's no use, Hawkeye. Cannon's right. It'll be suicide to try and climb up there. Anyway, it'll take you too long. She's not very strong at the best of times. You'll never hold on there until you can reach her. You got any other suggestions? Yes. Yes, I have. There's a ledge running along the face. I think we can reach you along that. It's crumbly mister Dixon. It's liable to give way underneath you. I'll take that chance. I see it. Then I think I can make it. This is my wicked cannon. She's my sister. Anyway, I'm by far the lightest. There's less chance of it crumbling under me. I can't let you do it mister Dixon. If the rock crumbles will fall to a certain death Just try and stop me. Now listen. I'll take a line with the entire grounder. Stake in this end and I'll swing around of the ledge his way. Right? Good luck sir. Yeah.
Good luck kid. I got hurt. We're coming back.
[00:23:22] Unknown:
Well, what do we do now, Afar?
[00:23:24] Unknown:
Just pray, I
[00:23:31] Unknown:
reckon, sir. Take care. How about you? You alright, miss?
[00:23:44] Unknown:
I'm
[00:23:46] Unknown:
alright. I don't know how lucky you are. Can you say that again?
[00:23:50] Unknown:
The mountain challenged me. I won.
[00:23:56] Unknown:
Uh-uh. Wasn't the mountain challenging, Mabel? What's that? Take a look at this rope where it snapped. It's been cut with a knife halfway through.
[00:24:13] Unknown:
In his customary laconic tones, Canon told me the whole story back in the office at thirty three Half Moon Street. But he'd taken no action in the matter and this I thought odd. But Canon, if that rope had been cut halfway through then someone tried to murder the girl. Who chief? Well, from what you tell me both Hawthorn the guide
[00:24:36] Unknown:
and Roger the brother had ample motive. Look, they were both ready immediately to risk their own lives to save her. Roger, as a matter of fact, did risk his life and that was a gallant act on his part. And chief, you don't organize a murder and then risk your neck to save the victim. Anyway, if the murder of any particular person was intended, then it was intended for me. You? But who on earth would probably want to murder you? Nobody. But you see, I rang the changes on our equipment before we started. I figured Mabel Dixon would be safer with my rope and tackle.
How wrong can you be? Somebody wanted an accident on that mountain, and it wasn't Roger Dixon or Jack Hawthorne. Then who? Well, it's anybody's guess, but there's one thing. Nobody on the committee is Joseph Hawthorne anymore. He's right back with it. In fact, they've asked him to be secretary. And Roger Dixon? Oh, his sister got him out of trouble. The old man's will said no loan, but it didn't preclude an outright gift. I do here tell he's given up gambling for good. Must have been the mountaineer.
[00:25:40] Unknown:
Have you heard from Mabel Dixon?
[00:25:43] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, as, as a matter of fact we're going away for the weekend, mountain climbing and And well, this time we know the way.
Bettering your business takes working with the best. With the James Hardie Alliance, you gain access to leads, training, networking, and support from the number one brand of siding in North America. Achieve new levels of success by joining the James Hardie Alliance today.
[00:00:15] Unknown:
You had this mad fixation about climbing a mountain. I just don't understand you. You don't have to understand me, Roger.
[00:00:20] Unknown:
All I ask is that you accompany me on one climb. For the last time, Nabel, I won't do it especially at a time like this. That's just what I thought you'd say. Then why even bother to ask me? Because for one idiotic moment I thought that you, my brother, might grant me one small wish. Oh, but don't let it bother you.
[00:00:36] Unknown:
I'm sure I can find someone else. A guide. You'll have to tell them all about yourself. After all, that would only be fair on the guide and I don't think that when he knows the true circumstances any guide will take on the job. It's for that reason I'm not going to ask a guide.
[00:00:49] Unknown:
At least not the ordinary one of guides. Don't tell me you're going to the Boy Scouts. There's a firm in the West End that specialises in unusual jobs. Assignments are limited. They might be able to help me. Good. It's It's worth a try anyway. I'm going up there this afternoon. Their offices are at 33 Half Moon Street.
[00:01:33] Unknown:
It's my usual one to introduce to you my client before the story unfolds. But tonight I'd like you to eavesdrop on a London scene that occurred just twenty four hours before my client decided to come to 33 Half Moon Street.
[00:01:48] Unknown:
So there you come, may? As you knew I would. And don't worry about the two boats on either side of us. They work for me. I prayed of witnesses, sir? Not of these witnesses. In fact, I'd like them to get to know you better. The future reference line. If it's the money It's always the money, mr. Dixon. It could hardly be a social occasion, could it? I mean, you and me, we're, well we're not on the same social. Why don't you get on with it and say what you have to say? I hope your purse is as big as your lip.
[00:02:18] Unknown:
It's just a matter of time. I told you that. You're right.
[00:02:21] Unknown:
A matter of time. You've got exactly one week. A week?
[00:02:26] Unknown:
I can't guarantee anything in a week. I can.
[00:02:29] Unknown:
Show him your toothpick, Eddie. K.
[00:02:32] Unknown:
A razor.
[00:02:33] Unknown:
Guaranteed to give you a clean shave right down to the boat. Now wait a minute. No. Not a minute. I'm a reasonable man, a week. Either you produce 3,847 pounds at this time next week or you meet Eddie for the second time. You can't do this to me. Want a demonstration? Please sit.
[00:02:55] Unknown:
I don't know for sure if I'll have the money in a week's time. You should have thought of that before you played the g g's.
[00:03:00] Unknown:
Suppose you'd won, I'd have paid you, wouldn't I? And I wouldn't have asked for time, would I? Okay, you're interested. Mr Dixon, I'm interested only in the lolly in cash. I'll see you here same time next week. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go out and pay 20 fivers to a geyser who was lucky today. Backed six winners out of eight stars. It was a proper carver.
[00:03:30] Unknown:
Fate has a crooked finger but it points with inexorable directness of destiny. In a ragged shack, leaning bleak and lonely among the barren foothills of Mount Snowdon, a heavily built man sat down to his meagre supper. His face wore the lines of strain the strain of frustration tainted with pent up anger. A faded leather jerking hung limply on his shoulders, and his faded denim trousers rolled down over his high top boots as though to hide their tattered shame from the world. He said nothing as he idly stirred the learned dumpling in the thin soup. It was his wife who broke the silence a thin, mousy woman with a red nose, her bony body enshrouded in the voluminous folds of a cormsack apron.
[00:04:22] Unknown:
How'd it go at the meeting? Same. Don't you ever give up. How will in the end Lucy? That's what you've been saying for the past six months. Just have patience, lass. I've got patience, Jack Hawthorne. Lots of it. The patience any mountaineer's wife must have if she's to remain in her right mind but but patience doesn't pay the grocer's bills and you don't have to look at your supper too hard and know where you're starving. I know that. Then why don't you do something about it, my Like what? Get another sort of job. Here we go again. Well, anything's better than sitting here day after day and things going from bad to worse. Just a temporary job. Just something to tide us over. If I leave now, it means the committee has won.
[00:05:01] Unknown:
I'll never get another job as guide as long as I live. Then let's go back home to Shatfeld. We didn't do so bad. That, antique. The moon is here. That's a laugh. Well, it wasn't till that bloated beggar that his ass attack on the east face. That's no way to speak of the dead, Jack Arthur. Maybe not, but now as I said, no, he'd die on me. What am I supposed to do? Give every client a medical before I take him up? You're supposed to bring him back alive. I'm a manseggier, not a Rudy White hunter.
[00:05:28] Unknown:
Well, you haven't lost all your sense of humor anyway. That's a blessing, I don't think.
[00:05:33] Unknown:
Giggs fell from that ledge because he had an heart attack, not because of my incompetence. I could lose any of those toughies on that mountain. Everyone knows that, love. And why won't they let me back into the committee? Answer me that. No, don't waste your breath. If I were a third rate gilly like the rest of them, I'd have been back on the mountain the day after he was buried. So please is with the committee, I say.
[00:05:58] Unknown:
If only I could get a private job without their sanction. But everyone goes to the committee for recommendation.
[00:06:05] Unknown:
Don't I know it. You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see one of them Gaelic gentlemen take up someone who wasn't really fit to go and have him die on them. Jack Arthur. Alright. It's a terrible thing to say. Well, if it happened, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on, would they? They'd have no choice but to let me back into the committee. Just one accident till death when the climber wasn't fit to climb.
[00:06:32] Unknown:
My client was miss Mabel Dixon, a well bred young lady of some twenty years. She carried herself with a plaid bearing that indicated a strong character, a strength her physical appearance failed to match. She was pale and warm, and even the twinkling eyes and generous smile couldn't hide some intense inner suffering, which is probably why I was surprised at her request. She wanted to climb a mountain, and she asked me to provide a companion. I learned nothing of her from our brief encounter. It was the cannon that she filled in the details on their journey west in the train compartment.
[00:07:14] Unknown:
I so want this holiday to be a success, Mr. Cannon and I would like it to be on a friendly footing. Well, I'm the epitome of geniality, Moon. Then you can start by using first names. I'm Mabel.
[00:07:27] Unknown:
Well now, there you got me, I only go by my nickname. That is Mr. Cannon? Cannon. Your nickname is the same as your surname. Well, you said you wanted fun. The name's Cannon, but believe me, I'm no big bore.
[00:07:41] Unknown:
Alright, then, Cannon it shall be. Have you done much mountain climbing?
[00:07:46] Unknown:
Well, I, I gave Everest a miss and, I find something offensive in tropical snow so I pass up Kilimanjaro. But, I can't crab a wall and negotiate a chimney, so I guess I'll do. I'm so glad. And I guess I'll pick up a few tips from you. Well, not from me, Cannon. This is the first mountain I've ever tried to
[00:08:05] Unknown:
climb. Does it make any difference?
[00:08:08] Unknown:
No. No. No. No. I, I guess not. But, why start the snorting? I mean, you could have had your first lesson on a coal mine slag heap or something. When my father was alive, he wouldn't let me go.
[00:08:20] Unknown:
His excuse was that we couldn't afford it. Oh, I I took that with a pinch of salt. Oh, we weren't terribly rich, Mark, you, but
[00:08:28] Unknown:
I knew it wasn't the expense that dictated his motive. He just didn't like the idea of his favorite daughter hanging by a slender thread on her life, better. That's better pork than you realize.
[00:08:38] Unknown:
However, we did have one wealthy member of the family, an aunt. The same name as myself, Mabel. He was a crotchety old thing, but I don't know if the temple was a heart of gold. She left me a tidy son in cash and I I can do what I like with it. Poor Roger was furious. And who was Roger? My brother. Aunt Nibble just never took to him somehow. Then she never was on the best of terms with anyone. In her will, she said I could do anything with the money except loan any to Roger. And, that's a bad thing? You don't know Roger. He's always in some financial jam or another.
I suppose that's why Aunt Niebuhr made the condition. Of course, Roger's my beneficiary.
[00:09:20] Unknown:
Everything goes to him when I die. Well his chances are about as good as the Irish sweepstake. But tell me why, why didn't he come on this trip with you? Self sacrifice is not Roger's strong point.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Oh, but I'd much rather be with you anyway. You don't think I'm barmy wanting to find snow? Or do you? No. No. No. No. I mean,
[00:09:44] Unknown:
different people get kicks out of different things. I mean, I once knew a guy who was a a a pothole addict, you know, and crawling around underground caves. Now, I'd say the urge to climb mountains is a much more normal quirk. Don't ask me why, but well, maybe on a mountain top you're you're nearer to heaven.
[00:10:05] Unknown:
Yes. You would be nearer to heaven, wouldn't you? You talked about my hanging by a slender thread on my lifeline. Yeah, I'm not nearing to. And a medical one for me.
[00:10:19] Unknown:
And what do you mean?
[00:10:21] Unknown:
I've never been really strong. And for what's wrong with me, there's no known cure. The last thing I want is to appear dramatic. I, I'm quite reconciled of the fact.
[00:10:32] Unknown:
But, maybe, I mean, if your health isn't all that good why in Peet's name do you want to climb to the top of Snowdon?
[00:10:39] Unknown:
Why does your friend want to go pot holing? All my life I I've I've looked at the mountain peaks cooling themselves in cloud. I've wondered oh, how I've wondered what it would be like to stand up there just for a moment, to breathe in the cold air, to feel the mist at my feet, the hard rock under my hand, and the green world below stretching away for mile after mile. Can you understand?
[00:11:09] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do.
[00:11:13] Unknown:
And you'll take me up, Kennen?
[00:11:17] Unknown:
Sure.
[00:11:19] Unknown:
I'll get you up to the top of that mountain if I have to carry you then. Oh, you mustn't do that. If I wanted to reach the top of the heat of that, I could take the mountain railway.
[00:11:28] Unknown:
I suppose you did know there was a railway running up the easy slope. A railroad on the easy slope? Now that never entered my head. Mobile, I was born on the other side of the tracks and that's where I aim to stay. I mean, anyway, what would you do with an ice pick and a foreman coach? It's hardly that sort of railway. Well, for you and me, the troopers who go by loco are loco. Us, we'll let off steam on the surest well we can find. Oh, there was one thing, though.
[00:11:55] Unknown:
We'll have to hire a guy. Must be? Yeah. I'm afraid so. Oh, but but I I mean, knowing about me, will they let us go?
[00:12:04] Unknown:
What about you? I'm hiring to guide you. You're just tagging along. Nobody need no thing. And you and me when we're right on top of that mountain, we'll be a king and a queen. We'll be monarchs of all we survey. We'll hold hands and breathe in that cold air just for a moment. We'll know what it's like in paradise.
[00:13:21] Unknown:
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That's 01457310, or visit their website at www.restonations.co.za/sundownranch. The Sundown Ranch Hotel and Lion Park, 2 worlds in one.
[00:14:21] Unknown:
The Mountain Hotel is snug and cosy with a cheerful untidiness. In summer the great open fireplaces bring a broad grin of welcome as they're to entice the visitor back when the bitter snows of winter blanket the fells. But this afternoon was warm and the hot sun shovelled in smells of new cut hay through the lattice windows. Mabel Dixon sat quietly reading, awaiting the return of Canon from the village. His return was much quicker than she'd anticipated.
[00:14:52] Unknown:
Oh, you're back early. Is something wrong?
[00:14:58] Unknown:
No guide.
[00:14:59] Unknown:
You mean they're all engaged?
[00:15:00] Unknown:
I mean no guide will take on the job. But why? You, you mind if I pour myself a drink? Of course not.
[00:15:07] Unknown:
But can and why?
[00:15:09] Unknown:
Give you one guess.
[00:15:11] Unknown:
Me? But but you said you wouldn't tell them. They already knew.
[00:15:17] Unknown:
Cheers.
[00:15:18] Unknown:
But how could they have known? Who could have told them? Oh, oh, I
[00:15:24] Unknown:
I see. What do you see?
[00:15:27] Unknown:
You don't want to take a chance on me so so you told them? Well, I can't say that I blame you.
[00:15:34] Unknown:
I suppose it was stupid of me to expect anything else from you. I did not, Joan. And before you continue to upbraid me as a lowdown heel and liar let me inform you, miss Dixon, that I intend taking you to the top of that rock pile alone by myself.
[00:15:48] Unknown:
Oh, Ken, am I I'm sorry. Oh, please don't let us quietly. It's just that But how, how could they have known?
[00:15:58] Unknown:
Now you said that you had a fair circle of friends. You even said there were mostly women. Now I don't wanna be disparaging about the fair sex but,
[00:16:06] Unknown:
well you're not a woman. They wouldn't. Well, and that they might have meant the best. But nobody knew, I tell you. I didn't tell anyone.
[00:16:14] Unknown:
Well, the committee knew and refused the guide and they didn't find out at a seance and they didn't know about it by mental telepathy.
[00:16:22] Unknown:
Well, hello sister.
[00:16:24] Unknown:
Roger. Quite a cosy nest you picked out my feathering. A welcome change from the London gin palaces I'm used to. Aren't you going to introduce us? Oh, m m Mr. Cannon,
[00:16:35] Unknown:
my brother Roger. How do you do?
[00:16:38] Unknown:
You, I take you to the man from Assignments Unlimited. A Roger. Roger. Had to wit to boot.
[00:16:44] Unknown:
Roger,
[00:16:45] Unknown:
how did you know I was here? You travelled that train, my sweet. You had an uncontrollable urge to climb a mountain. The booking office said you were headed towards Wales. Well, I'm no Sherlock Holmes but I didn't need a Doctor Watson to tell me your destination was Mount Snow. Why did you come? I couldn't sleep thinking about all those mountain guides and you were panting along an ice cap. You told them? The committee? Yes. Yes, I told them. You Now steady on, old girl. What I did was for the best. You deliberately made it impossible for me to climb the mountain. Wrong. I made it possible for you to climb the mountain without any embarrassment of the mountaineering committee. I will be your guide. Me in person. All my gear is stacked in one of the hotel rooms and we can take off at the summit at any time you choose, weather permitting. When I asked you to come with me in London, you refused.
[00:17:29] Unknown:
Why Why the sudden change of heart? Remorse.
[00:17:32] Unknown:
I didn't really take you seriously at first. When I rang Assignments Unlimited and they said you'd hired one of their operators, well, I thought I'd follow you.
[00:17:42] Unknown:
May I ask a question? Certainly. Are you a mountaineer? In an amateurish way, yes. Mhmm. Then what makes you think we don't need a guide? We? Your I'm coming to him. That won't be necessary, Mr. Cannon. No. I only don't go if the lady says no. Really? Then what does the lady say? Mr. Cannon comes. A nice cosy threesome it is then. Uh-uh, wrong again. A foursome. You forgot the guide. There'll be no guide. The committee wouldn't touch us with a bodgepole. No guide, no climb. It's hardly your decision, oh boy. Well, I'll find a guide. You want a bit?
[00:18:18] Unknown:
Why not? From what your sister says, you always lose anyway. In her little expose of our family life, did she include the reason for my concern over her safety?
[00:18:27] Unknown:
She told me about her sickness. That's the same thing. Really? Well, you know, safety is a loose term. I mean, a funeral pyre is lit by a safety match. Like I said, I'll find the guide. And I wouldn't bet on a friend because I was blessed with extraordinary powers of persuasion.
[00:18:48] Unknown:
No, sir. No, sir. Where are you? Out the back.
[00:18:52] Unknown:
What's happening? What's all the shouting about? Jack is smiling.
[00:18:57] Unknown:
How's in the smile in six weeks? I've got a client. You haven't? I love and a rich one too. Yunk. A yunk? Oh, that's rich enough. You're not pulling my leg. The car's not lass. A party of three, English couple and the Yankees pay him. Oh, jucker. I never thought to see it happen. I didn't say out to you, but I never thought to see it happen. Well, it has happened, lass. And I've got five pounds in advance. Oh, yeah. Here. I've forgotten what they look like. You'll be seeing plenty of them from now on.
[00:19:29] Unknown:
What are you doing, lass? I had it away in case of sickness, like, reckon it'll do for a celebration, ma'am.
[00:19:36] Unknown:
You're the one you are. Oh, I knew that committee would see reason in the end. They had two. It's got nothing to do with a committee as this job.
[00:19:45] Unknown:
Nothing to do with a committee?
[00:19:48] Unknown:
Then how did he find you? To one of the party the girl has something wrong with her. Something wrong? Aye. Weak heart for all I know. Anyway, they wouldn't recommend a guide so the young come to me. He must have had words somewhere that I'm not a member of the committee. Oh,
[00:20:03] Unknown:
you mustn't do it, Jack.
[00:20:05] Unknown:
What if she were to die up there? No sense in looking on the black side, is there? If she's going, she's going. They must know what they're doing. It's all legal in the boulevard. The committee must know, Jack. They wouldn't refuse it for nothing. And if I were a member of the committee, I'd have to abide by their ruling, wouldn't I? If they hadn't kept me out of the committee, there wouldn't be any trip to the mountain, would there? So if she dies, I can't be all to blame, can I? And if plenty of people a week arrive with weak hearts, the committee can't stop them climbing, can they? No. Not as long as I'm a freelance and willing to take them. Let's drink to that lush, shall we?
This is the hard part. See that your ropes are tied secure. Alright, miss? Yes? Mister Cannon. Good. You, mister Dixon. Fine. Now we move out across the face. This is where you find out how the fly feels. Whatever you do, don't look down. Alright. The oil is me first then you, mister Cannon, then the lady, and mister Dixon brings up the rear. I'll talk as well as shout for the next one to follow. Here I go. Come now, mister cannon. Where is she? Down there. The outcrop broke her phone and she's came to a ledge. I hope to heaven she can hang on. How do we get down to it? From there we can't. I'll have to climb down and come up to her. Put the wall over her hands to try that to be suicide. I'm the guide mister Cannon. Suicide or not. That's what I'm going to do. You too are here. You can't do it, Hawkeye. I know my duty mister Cannon. Wait. It's no use, Hawkeye. Cannon's right. It'll be suicide to try and climb up there. Anyway, it'll take you too long. She's not very strong at the best of times. You'll never hold on there until you can reach her. You got any other suggestions? Yes. Yes, I have. There's a ledge running along the face. I think we can reach you along that. It's crumbly mister Dixon. It's liable to give way underneath you. I'll take that chance. I see it. Then I think I can make it. This is my wicked cannon. She's my sister. Anyway, I'm by far the lightest. There's less chance of it crumbling under me. I can't let you do it mister Dixon. If the rock crumbles will fall to a certain death Just try and stop me. Now listen. I'll take a line with the entire grounder. Stake in this end and I'll swing around of the ledge his way. Right? Good luck sir. Yeah.
Good luck kid. I got hurt. We're coming back.
[00:23:22] Unknown:
Well, what do we do now, Afar?
[00:23:24] Unknown:
Just pray, I
[00:23:31] Unknown:
reckon, sir. Take care. How about you? You alright, miss?
[00:23:44] Unknown:
I'm
[00:23:46] Unknown:
alright. I don't know how lucky you are. Can you say that again?
[00:23:50] Unknown:
The mountain challenged me. I won.
[00:23:56] Unknown:
Uh-uh. Wasn't the mountain challenging, Mabel? What's that? Take a look at this rope where it snapped. It's been cut with a knife halfway through.
[00:24:13] Unknown:
In his customary laconic tones, Canon told me the whole story back in the office at thirty three Half Moon Street. But he'd taken no action in the matter and this I thought odd. But Canon, if that rope had been cut halfway through then someone tried to murder the girl. Who chief? Well, from what you tell me both Hawthorn the guide
[00:24:36] Unknown:
and Roger the brother had ample motive. Look, they were both ready immediately to risk their own lives to save her. Roger, as a matter of fact, did risk his life and that was a gallant act on his part. And chief, you don't organize a murder and then risk your neck to save the victim. Anyway, if the murder of any particular person was intended, then it was intended for me. You? But who on earth would probably want to murder you? Nobody. But you see, I rang the changes on our equipment before we started. I figured Mabel Dixon would be safer with my rope and tackle.
How wrong can you be? Somebody wanted an accident on that mountain, and it wasn't Roger Dixon or Jack Hawthorne. Then who? Well, it's anybody's guess, but there's one thing. Nobody on the committee is Joseph Hawthorne anymore. He's right back with it. In fact, they've asked him to be secretary. And Roger Dixon? Oh, his sister got him out of trouble. The old man's will said no loan, but it didn't preclude an outright gift. I do here tell he's given up gambling for good. Must have been the mountaineer.
[00:25:40] Unknown:
Have you heard from Mabel Dixon?
[00:25:43] Unknown:
Yeah. Well, as, as a matter of fact we're going away for the weekend, mountain climbing and And well, this time we know the way.
