- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Opening Narration] The note that this man is carrying across a club room is in the form of a proposed wager, but it's the kind of wager that comes without precedent. It stands alone in the annals of bet-making as the strangest game of chance ever offered by one man to another. In just a moment, we'll see the terms of the wager and what young Mr. Tennyson does about it. And in the process, we'll witness all parties spin a wheel of chance in a very bizarre casino called the Twilight Zone.
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Closing Narration] Witness the aftermath from a year-long war of nerves that ended with two losers. In one corner, Colonel Archie Taylor, who wanted nothing more nor less than peace and quiet at his favorite club. This he wanted in the worst way. This he *got* in the worst way. This is now all he has left. In the other corner, Mr. Jamie Tennyson, who won a bet two ways -- easy and hard -- only to discover, somewhat belatedly, that gambling can be most unproductive... even with loaded dice, marked cards, or -- as in his case -- severed vocal cords. Somewhere beyond him, a wheel was turned, and his number came up black thirteen. If you don't believe it, ask the croupier, the very special one who handles roulette -- in The Twilight Zone.
- Col. Archie Taylor: Oh, hello, Alfred. Franklin told me you were waiting.
- George Alfred: Only to pose this question to you. Very succinct Archie, very brief. How long?
- Col. Archie Taylor: How long what?
- George Alfred: How long are you going to keep on with this..this prolonged practical joke?
- Col. Archie Taylor: Well, not much longer.
- Franklin: [Hand's the Colonel his hat]
- Col. Archie Taylor: [Takes his hat from Franklin] Thank you, Franklin.
- Col. Archie Taylor: You should see our boy down there. 4 and a half months, not a sound out of him. It's incredible. That fop won't take it for another month. This I'll guarantee you.
- George Alfred: For your sake, I hope that's the case.
- Col. Archie Taylor: My sake?
- George Alfred: You have the money, Archie?
- Col. Archie Taylor: I find that insulting, Alfred.
- George Alfred: I'm sorry if it is. I think he's going to beat you, Archie. I think that boy down there is going to remain silent for the entire year. And I think you're going to owe him $500,000. I just hope you've got it
- Col. Archie Taylor: [Walking nervously back and forth]
- George Alfred: A rather monumental occasion isn't it, Archie? 12 months ago, to the moment you destroyed yourself. Much as I told you you would.
- Col. Archie Taylor: Your little reminders are gratuitous, Alfred. Besides it's not yet 10:00.
- George Alfred: The letter you sent me is the most incredible thing I have ever read. Archie we're old friends, I must tell you...
- Col. Archie Taylor: My communication to you, Alfred, was not as an old friend, but as my Lawyer. Is the wager I have in mind legal?
- George Alfred: No wager is legal in this state.
- Col. Archie Taylor: Well, is it against the law, then? Is there anything criminal in it?
- George Alfred: I don't see anything criminal in it, no.
- Col. Archie Taylor: Alfred, that is exactly what I wanted to hear from you.
- Jamie Tennyson: Uh, Colonel, I would like to have that check certified and placed on deposit in my name, a photostat of it available, and witnessed by every member of this club.
- Col. Archie Taylor: That might be the usual procedure in a Fish Market or a Pawn Shop, but not in this Club and not with me. My credit is well known and so is my Honor as every member here will vouch for. There will be no check placed on deposit. You'll have to take my word.
- Jamie Tennyson: I see. It's my courage against your credit. Well, a year from tomorrow night, both can be proved.
- Jamie Tennyson: Well, may I ask what is the reason for this wager?
- Col. Archie Taylor: What I'm about to say might horrify the average person. But to someone as insensitive as you, it probably won't mean a thing. I dislike you intensely, Tennyson.
- George Alfred: Tennyson, I've known Colonel Taylor for a long time. This is not a capricious man. I warn you, he's is in deadly earnest.
- Jamie Tennyson: Do you know my Wife, Sir? Her name is Doris. She's a lovely thing, frail, beautiful, fragile. Like a Cameo Brooch. But her tastes run to unfragile things, sizable baubles for sizable price tags. She shops at Tiffany's the way other women enter a Supermarket. My miserable misfortune is that I happen to be very much in love with her. I am also desperate in need of money. I may sound melodramatic, but it happens to be true.