George Smolett (wonderfully portrayed by George Mathews) may be one of the vilest villians in RMT history. He\\\'s all the more horrific, because this type of character exist (unfortunately) all too often in the real world. I\\\'ve never wanted to see the bad guy get his comeuppance more in an RMT play. This is one episode where I would have enjoyed one more additional scene tacked on to the end. Then, again, the final scene is very well done and allows the listener ample grist for their imagination to paint their own vivid ending to this tale. The closing music is especially chilling and appropriate.

Kim Hunter is also wonderfully cast and creates a character we immediately sympathize with and root for. Mandy Potamkin is woefully inadequate and I\\\'m rather glad this is his only apperance in RMT.

Going back to George Mathews, I wish he had been cast in more episodes of the series. He\\\'s a great villian in this one and in his only other apperance in \\\"Sea Fever\\\" (episode 46) as the demented Captain Adams.

A rather simple, but chillingly effective story and one of the better \\\"non-supernatural\\\" tales of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater...................... 