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Jim, You mention in your intro that you couldn’t find an air date for this one. I notice at the end of the broadcast the announcer states it is the 368th episode, and the Hermit says that the next week’s story will be “Seawater” so those clues might help.

BTW the Hermit himself sounds much different in this episode. Odd.

“The Hermit” was played by several different actors during the show’s run (including John Dehner of “Frontier Gentleman” and “Have Gun Will Travel” fame and Mel Johnson. Most of the surviving episodes come from its two year run (1940-1942) on KMPC (710 on your AM dial) in Los Angeles where it was produced by William Conrad.
It HAD aired previously on WJR (760 on your AM dial) in Detroit in the mid 30s where four different actors played “The Hermit.” ANYWAY, odds are good that it is either John or Mel that you’re hearing. A humorous aside about “that cackling old hermit” John was 28 when he played the part and Mel was 24 when he took over from John—ain’t radio GRAND???