Hounds in the Hills, Feb. 20, 1938

Like some other recordings, it starts out with The Shadow Knows. I don't know if this is the only thing send, or if the other part about Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men is left out or not.

Anyhow, the show opens with its usual commercial for Blue Coal.

The episode is in North Carolina, dealing with a haunted mansion. Old Sadie and Jake live the old house. A group of vicious, cross-breed hounds guards the old house. Two figures approach the house.

The hounds are howling and a boy is being led by Old Sadie. She seems to think the young boy is someone else. Jake is a hunchback. Old Sadie plans to start anew with the boy somehow. (The sound is literally warped in parts of the recording.)

Lamont and Margo are in North Carolina at someone's house. The guy says something about Lamont dabbling in a laboratory of his. The sheriff is calling their host. Another child is lost and has gone over a cliff. Four kids have been lost in less than 2 weeks.

Lamont looks at the trail where the kids have fallen over, although they have not found any trace of the bodies. A cap and a ball have been found, but no bodies at all. Strange howling has been heard every time one of the boys has gone lost.

Lamont tells Margo to go back to the house and be ready to listen to the radio. He plans to follow the clue of the howling dog.

The newest kid is somewhere and he hears the voice of the Shadow. The Shadow tells the kid he has to act like a man. He finds out there are three other boys there. The Shadow found the dogs. He explains why people can't see him. Then he hears someone coming.

Jake is trying to tell Old Sadie that they could get in legal trouble. The Shadow tells Jake not to touch the boy. I hear'd it too, says Old Sadie. She says she's always hearing voices. Jake plans to hit the boy with a stake. The Shadow hits Jake on his wrist. The Shadow tells he is giving Jake a chance to save himself.

He wants Jake to bring the other boys in and let them all go. Another odd sound is heard, and the person is a threat to Jake and Old Sadie. (They completely forget the Shadow.) Apparently someone named Duke is using their house as a hideout. A guy named Slim is also with Duke.

Duke tells Jake to turn the dogs loose. The Shadow speaks to Jake, and Duke hears the voice. Slim knows about the Shadow and so does Duke. The Shadow tells him he's there to save the lives of four children. He tells them that Old Sadie is crazy and has borrowed four little boys and has faked their deaths.

The Shadow also tells Duke that Jake wants to kill the boys. The Shadow says all he wants to do is take the boys back, but the Duke won't let him. Old Sadie and Jake say that they will use the hounds to track the Shadow. They find the handkerchief the Shadow gave him so they will use that for the dogs to smell so they could trail the Shadow.

Time for another commercial. Stress again is made on how to save money by using Blue Coal.

You buy American when you buy Blue Coal. Interesting approach to an ad, since I thought it was relatively more recently when buying American was stressed.

The Shadow calls Margo on the radio. He's in the woods and he's being trailed by the hounds. He tells her to get the sheriff and save the children.

Duke, Slim and Jake are with the hounds, but Jake is giving them some difficulty. Duke thinks the Shadow has climbed a tree, and they see dogs jumping around a tree. It's dark, so they plan to wait till daylight so they can see leaves shaking and they can shoot him. They could also keep him treed until he becomes too tired to stay invisible.

Morning. Slim and Duke talk about the kids. Duke plans to kill the kids so there will be no evidence to link them to the kidnappings, even though they actually didn't have anything to do with that. They also plan to kill Jake and Old Sadie.

They watch to see if any branch moves. Slim shoots but hits nothing. Duke shoots and misses. They fire more shots. They hear the voice of the Shadow. Jake says he still plans to kill the kids. The Shadow says he's laughing at Duke as he fires more shots.

The Shadow is taunting Duke. Duke tells Slim to go back to the house and get an ax so he can cut down the tree.

The dogs go after Slim instead of staying where they are supposed to be, and Duke starts shooting the dogs, but he's not quick enough. Only one dog is left. The Shadow tells Jake he's standing next to him. He tells Jake to tie the dog to the tree to keep Duke in the tree. He's trying to make Jake do that so he can have his way with the kids.

The Sheriff and his men arrive. Jake tells them Duke is in the tree. The sheriff shoots the dog, and says that he's been looking for Duke and Slim for a long time.

Margo hears the voice of the Shadow. She tells him the boys have all been rescued. He suggests that Old Sadie should be put in an institution and not a prison since she's insane.

Later Lamont meets Margo and the latest captured boy. He asks the boy to keep his adventure with the Shadow a secret.

The show ends with another commercial for Blue Coal. Some things about dampers are explained in relation to the heating system for the house.

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