All language subtitles for The.Waltons.S04E05.EN.25fps

Of all the people
who visited Walton's Mountain

during my growing-to-manhood years,

I remember one especially.

Come on, Elizabeth.

He was a man who brought new ideas
to an old way of life.

For a brief time, his presence
stirred the Walton household

and threatened the time-honored
traditions of our quiet community.

- Do you want a ride?
- Sure.

Let's go to Ike's store!

Let's go to Charlottesville.

Come on, Erin.

- John-Boy, you're giving us a ride home?
- That's exactly where we're going, home.

John-Boy, I don't want to go home.

Now you can start your chores faster.

- I'll see you later, John-Boy.
- All right.

Come on, Elizabeth. There you go.

Reckless!

We're not getting out
until you take us for a ride.

- This is a sit-down strike.
- Come on, Reckless.

- Come on. Get out of the car, children.
- Not till you make us.

Reckless!

All right, fine.

Watch out! Watch out, Ben! Hurry up!
Hurry up! Come on! Hurry up, hurry up!

- There you are.
- Thanks.

Grandma, can I do my chores later?

I wanna sell some fish
that I caught before school this morning.

You can do that after you do your chores.

I gotta get into town. Come on!

Stop playing around with me.

Mary Ellen, you're absolutely crazy!

I gotta get into town.

What are you up to?

Would you please tell Ben
to do my chores?

I gotta do a job for Professor Parks,

so I gotta get into town.
I gotta get cleaned up.

Catch me!

Hey, Elizabeth. There's Mr. Bingly.

Zeb, you got that drain fixed?
Abel Bingly's here.

We'd have had an electric ice box
years ago

if he hadn't been an old beau of yours.

Yeah, well, you notice
we get larger chunks, don't you?

- Hi, Mr. Bingly.
- Hi.

Where'd you learn how to do that?

Well, I used to travel with Admiral Byrd.

I had to pick the ice off the South Pole
so he could discover it.

Mr. Bingly, can I have some chips?

I have some fish I wanna keep fresh
while I do my chores.

Well, you gonna take it in your pockets,
or are you gonna get a bucket?

Thank you.

I'll be home in a couple of hours, Grandma.

John-Boy, aren't you going to tell us
about your job?

Well, I'll tell you who's coming to town,
Porter Sims.

He's a reporter, and a few years ago,

he covered the Scopes trial
down in Dayton, Tennessee.

You mean that trial when they tried
to prove that we come from monkeys?

Well, now, what kind of trouble
is this man coming up here...

Oh, no, no. No trouble.
He's gonna write a book.

You see, he's a friend of Professor Parks',

and I'm gonna be showing him
around the area.

Where's he gonna stay? Not here, I hope.

Oh, no, no.
I got him a room at Mrs. Brimmer's.

Good.

Grandma, do you think maybe
it'd be all right if he came for supper?

- I don't think he'd like our plain cooking.
- Oh, he'd love it. He'd love it.

John-Boy, what kind of book
is he gonna write?

Well, it's a guide book
to the State of Virginia.

- And where is he from?
- New York.

Well, what's a writer from New York
know about Virginia?

Well, he's
with the Federal Writers' Project.

Sounds like government to me.

Well, it is.
It's Works Progress Administration.

I'll see you in a few hours. Bye-bye.

That's the WPA!

John-Boy! He knows how I feel
about those government shenanigans!

If you had your way,
Herbert Hoover would still be president.

A measurer, get a measurer.

That's it, it's his game. Come on.

Throw them again.

- Cheater.
- Whatever.

- That's great.
- Come on, mister.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, son.
Let me finish this game here.

- Too bad, huh?
- Excuse me, sir.

You're that young writer fellow

that Professor Parks
sent over to pick me up, huh?

- Porter Sims.
- You're John Walton?

Well, I was expecting you
on a later bus, sir.

Well, I thought I'd take an early one
and just look the town over.

- Oh, well, fine. My car's right over here.
- I'm gonna play one more game

and be right with you.

- Sure.
- Let's go.

All right, here I go.

Come on, Jeff. You can beat that stranger.

So you figuring on putting us on the map
the way you did with Dayton, Tennessee?

What do you know about that?

You couldn't have been
more than nine or 10.

Well, truth be told, I'm not just a student.

I'm a stringer
on the Jefferson County Times.

When I learned
you were gonna be coming out here,

well, I went into some of the back issues,

and I read those articles
you'd put out on the Scopes trial.

They were really something.

Yeah, we stirred things up
down there in Tennessee.

Made a few people mad, too.

Oh, but that's good. I like the way
you've dug into those characters.

That picture you painted of Bryan
was really something.

I had no idea he was that kind of a man.

You really think he just took that case
to get back in the public eye, huh?

Yeah, I do.

- That's something.
- Son, as a writer,

you should know better
than to take everything at face value.

A writer's gotta look
behind what people say.

I can see that.

Every town's got something
people don't want to talk about.

While you're here, I'm planning
to be with you most of the time.

Of course, I hope you understand
if there's times when I have to go to class.

Oh, I manage very well on my own,
thank you.

I think I should be with you
most of the time.

The people around here are friendly
and all, but, well, you never can tell.

There's a lot of people
who won't appreciate a stranger

asking them all sorts
of different questions.

Xenophobia.

Huh?

Fear or mistrust of strangers.

Well, yeah, you might run
into a little bit of that xenophobia here,

and I think I ought to tell you
about my grandma

before we go to supper at the house.
She...

Well, she doesn't exactly see eye-to-eye

with President Roosevelt on his WPA deal.

She sort of feels
it's a waste of the taxpayers' money.

- I'll bet you've heard that before.
- Yeah, I have.

See, the trouble is there's just
not enough work to go around, you see.

I've been all over this country.

I've heard every argument there is
against Mr. Roosevelt's programs,

and I'll tell you,
this Federal Writers' Project

is one government program
we can all be proud of.

See, trouble is that this country
has lived with falsehood for so long

that some people
just don't want to hear the truth.

Now, if I have my way,
this state guide is gonna tell the truth.

Oh, good.

- Mrs. Brimmer.
- Hi, John-Boy.

I'd like you to meet Mr. Porter Sims here.

This is the gentleman
that I reserved the room for.

- Mr. Sims.
- How do you do, Mrs. Brimmer?

And this is
my younger brother Jim-Bob here.

Well, hello, Jim-Bob.

What... Oh, that's a nice mess of fish
you got there, Jim-Bob.

- Wish other folks thought so.
- What's the matter, nobody buying today?

Well, when I have fresh-caught fish
nobody wants them.

When I don't, they do.

- That's the old law of supply and demand.
- What's that?

Supply and demand, that's...

That's when people want something
at the exact moment you've got it to sell.

Well, it doesn't work very well with fish.

- Come earlier next time, Jim-Bob.
- Okay.

See you at supper time.

Mr. Sims, I have a nice room at the end
of the hall, right next to the bathroom.

Would you like to see it?

Your home comes highly recommended,
Mrs. Brimmer.

I don't think I have to see it.

Well, good,
then I'll get your bag out of the car.

Elizabeth, why don't you change
out of your school clothes?

Mama won't like it if you get muddy.

You should've, too.

What are you doing?

- This is my ocean.
- An ocean has salt in it.

Okay, this is my pond, like Drucilla's Pond

except it's a little one. Elizabeth's Pond.

What good is it? It doesn't have any fish.

I wish it did have fish.

Hey, Elizabeth, I think I got an idea.

Are you crazy or something?

Come on, you have to help me
get these rocks up,

dam it up.

Well, last time
I sat around a table like this,

I was no bigger than Jim-Bob there.

- Well, Jim-Bob's a big businessman now.
- Yeah, only it's a fishy business.

Well, at least it's an honest venture,
not nearly as fishy as some I could name.

All right, we have watermelon for dessert.
Let's have it outside.

- All right.
- I'd love one.

Mrs. Walton,
if you're referring to my business here,

you're certainly entitled
to your own opinion.

Well, it seems to me the WPA
is just a giveaway program

for people that don't wanna work.

Trouble is there's just not enough work,
honest or not, to go around these days.

What kind of historical spots
you gonna show him, John-Boy?

Well, I thought tomorrow we might take
a walk down to the cemetery

- and the old bridge, the schoolhouse...
- I'll take a look at your landmarks,

but it's the people
I really wanna get to know.

I wanna talk to them,
get a feel of their lives.

Thank you.

Well, that's a good idea, John-Boy.

Why don't you introduce Mr. Sims
to some of the local folks?

Sure. We got some interesting people
around here.

In fact, if you like,

there's a couple of real interesting
old ladies you ought to meet.

I wouldn't poke my nose
in too many closets.

Skeletons might come falling out.

I think he ought to meet
the Baldwin sisters.

Couple of old sisters live down the way
in a big, beautiful mansion.

No, I think a far better idea
would be for me to take you up the...

Farther up the mountain,

the site of our old homestead
before it burned down.

The one your father built.
Without help from anyone, Mr. Sims.

Who are these Baldwin sisters
you mentioned?

Couple of old ladies,
come from a real old Virginia family.

No, all the way
up the side of the mountain,

there are trailing arbutus,

and up above it, the white dogwood.
And I can show you

where the white-tailed deer
come down at moonlight.

That sounds interesting, Mr. Walton,
but about these sisters.

Anyway, their daddy was a judge,
Judge Baldwin.

John-Boy will be far too busy
to conduct you personally.

It's a far better idea if I were to be
the leader in these expeditions.

- Pa, we got work to do around here.
- This place don't run itself, Zeb.

This is old dominion stuff for us old folks.

I'll meet you at Mrs. Brimmer's at noon,
right during our lunch hour.

Zeb, I would think twice
before I got mixed up in this boondoggle.

- Did I hear boondoggle?
- What's a boondoggle?

I'll tell you about that.

A boondoggle is when your daddy
gives you five cents to do an hour's work

cleaning up the henhouse,
and you only work 20 minutes.

You mean like the time Ben rewrote
that old book report of John-Boy's

and turned it in without reading the book?

Exactly.

How about when Erin gets a headache
when it's time to do the dishes?

Or how about when you borrow
my sweater without asking me?

Boondoggle! Boondoggle! Boondoggle!

- Boondoggle. Boom-bah!
- All right.

- Boondoggle! Boondoggle! Rah! Rah! Rah!
- All right, easy.

Easy! All right! All right!

- All right, all right!
- Boondoggle! Boondoggle!

- Look what you started.
- Easy, everyone!

I'm gonna take Mr. Sims
back to the boarding house.

I was just gonna offer you
another piece of melon.

John-Boy's right.
We've got work to do tomorrow,

- but it was a lovely dinner.
- Come on, Jason!

I'll meet you at Mrs. Brimmer's at noon.

- Good luck in your work, Mr. Sims.
- Thank you.

I declare, this is the most exciting thing
to happen in a month of Sundays.

This Recipe,
one of our most treasured possessions,

was left to us by our dear father.

Thank you.

What a lovely home.
I feel history in every brick.

- John-Boy?
- Oh, a wee bit, yes. Thank you.

- To the success of your venture, Mr. Sims.
- Thank you.

Hear, hear.

Ladies, that is superb.

You are a man of taste, Mr. Sims.

- Won't you sit down?
- Oh, thank you.

It has always been our good fortune
to know only the finest gentlemen.

There was once
a young university student...

Your appreciation of the Recipe
merely confirms our first impression.

His name was Ashley...

How do you like
Walton's Mountain, Mr. Sims?

...Longworth.

John-Boy has been a first-rate guide,
but I must say

that I have seen nothing
that impresses me more

than what I see right here.

Until this moment, Mr. Sims, I thought
gallantry had gone out of this world.

- Yes, with Ashley Longworth.
- Sister.

He was a suitor of mine some years ago.

He took liberties, don't you know,
and Papa told him to leave

and never to come back.

Your father sounds like a wonderful man.
I would like to have known him.

- Oh, but you can, Mr. Sims.
- He can?

Sister, see if Mr. Sims would like
a little more of the Recipe.

- John-Boy, would you help me?
- Of course.

- Mr. Sims?
- Thank you.

Are you comfortable
at the boarding house, Mr. Sims?

Well, it's not the Ritz,
but then I'm not John D. Rockefeller.

Oh, you.

Sister, what are you doing
with Papa's portmanteau?

Mr. Sims, we've never allowed anyone
to examine Papa's portmanteau.

It contains all his letters and his journal.

In fact, we haven't read
all of them ourselves.

And his most private papers.

We feel that we know a gentleman
when we see one.

And since you were
brought to us by John-Boy,

- if my sister agrees...
- Well, I don't know, Mamie. I...

...we would like you to do us the honor
of going through them for your book.

You will treat them with great care?

And perhaps you'd like to see Papa's room

and the desk where he did
most of his writing?

Oh, well, I certainly would.

That sounds marvelous.
The only problem is that I have classes,

and if I don't leave now, I'll be late, so...

John, why don't you go right ahead?

I've got just enough time for this little tour

before I have to meet
with your grandfather.

Well, can you find your way back
to Mrs. Brimmer's all right?

- Oh, no problem at all.
- Well, good.

- Thank you for coming by, John-Boy.
- Oh, thank you for the sip.

- Goodbye.
- Bye.

And we can even show you the citation
that General Lee himself gave to Papa.

- But first, another drop of the Recipe?
- Oh, yes.

Here's a bite for you, Little Mermaid.

Get away, Gilbert. You've had your share.

There's room for you, Kitty.

Yes! I think I got one.

That about does it.

- Does a hook hurt, I wonder.
- Let's see. Three perch.

Jim-Bob, does a hook hurt, I said.

Why don't you ask the fish,
seeing as how you can talk to them?

Well, they don't talk back too good.

Well, you're not supposed
to get friendly with the inventory.

- The what?
- The inventory.

You know, like Ike's store.
Everything he has to sell is inventory.

It's all right here
for anybody who wants to place an order.

After we sell them are they "outventory"?

Come on,
we gotta go find some customers.

Bye.

- How was your tour of the mountain?
- Wasn't any tour.

- Why not?
- Sims never showed up.

Watch it, Pa.

I sat around Flossie Brimmer's
all during my lunch hour

- and he never came around.
- Well, I don't understand that.

When I left him at the Baldwin sisters',
he said he was planning to meet you.

You went ahead and took him over
to the Baldwin sisters,

left him there snooping around,
asking questions?

Grandpa, I told you I was gonna take him
over to the Baldwin sisters.

He's a reporter. He's doing his job.

Well, there's a difference
between writing a guide book

on the State of Virginia
and snooping around

into people's personal lives
like he did in the Scopes trial.

I don't understand
why you're so suspicious of the man.

What, are you afraid he's gonna write
an exposé on the Recipe or something?

No, I'm not talking about the Recipe.

In any old house around here,
there is a lot of history,

and most of it
shouldn't see the light of day.

Well, I can tell you one thing.

Porter Sims is a man
with a great deal of integrity,

and I'm gonna find out what's going on.

Integrity.

I just don't see
how you can sell fish, Jim-Bob,

when you don't seem
to have any with you.

Well, I'm keeping them in a holding pond
so they'll be fresh when you want them.

- This is my inventory.
- Well, that seems like a right smart idea.

I could use some of those perch,
if you have any, for my Saturday supper.

Although the way things are going lately,
I never do know

how many boarders I'm gonna be feeding.

Okay, Mrs. Brimmer,
four perch for Saturday.

Do you want a down payment, Jim-Bob?

I don't reckon so, Mrs. Brimmer.
Thanks a lot.

- Hi, John-Boy. Business is booming.
- Well, I'm glad to hear that.

Mrs. Brimmer, have you seen Porter Sims?

About an hour ago,
when he moved out bag and baggage.

- Moved out?
- To the Baldwins', that's where.

- As if they needed a boarder and I don't.
- Oh, I'm sorry about that, ma'am.

I guess I better go over there
and see what's going on.

All that fancy gent wants is free board

and a bed next
to the Baldwins' Recipe room!

John-Boy. Come in.

I'm glad you've come.
We have a most pleasant surprise.

Oh, I know all about that, ma'am.

Nothing stays a surprise
for too long around here.

John, these good
and lovely ladies have insisted

that I move into their guest room.

It seemed only fitting
since Papa will undoubtedly emerge

as a central historical figure
in Mr. Sims' book.

We've made some exciting plans.

We're going to have a picnic at the spring
and a genuine fish fry...

And a musicale around the phonograph.

That is, if Sister can remember
where she put Mr. Caruso's records.

Would you care to join us
for supper, John-Boy?

We're going to eat by the French doors

so we can look out
and watch the sun go down.

- That was Papa's favorite view.
- Well, thank you very much, ladies,

but I think my mom
is expecting me for dinner.

Oh, John, look, please,

tell your grandfather
how sorry I am to have missed him.

Well, we were having
such a wonderful time,

I completely forgot our appointment.
It won't happen again.

Well, he was a little upset about it.

Oh, dear. I do feel responsible.

Perhaps he would accept a jar
of the Recipe as a token of our regret.

Well, I'm sure he'd accept it.

I'm just not too sure Grandma
would let him keep it for long.

I'll see you here in the morning,
then, right?

Fine, John. Fine, fine.

- Here?
- Oh, right here.

- Good. Good night.
- Good night.

John-Boy, I don't know if you've noticed,

but Sister's quite taken with Mr. Sims.

- We'll see you in the morning.
- All right.

Good night, now, John-Boy.

Elizabeth, get the dishes on the table.

When I add up all the orders I took today,
almost all my inventory is spoken for.

Zeb, will you get your finger
out of the mashed potatoes?

- Just tasting.
- Well, aren't you going to wash up?

I said,
almost all my inventory is spoken for.

Oh, that's real good, Jim-Bob.

Did you sell Gilbert? Is he spoken for?

You know, Gilbert, he practically
comes up into my hand when I feed him.

Well, I told you
not to give them names, Elizabeth.

- Oh, and Kitty, she has babies.
- They're not babies.

They're just minnows
that swam through the chicken wire.

Okay, then she adopted them. I don't care.

Oh, is Kitty spoken for?

Well, you knew we couldn't keep them
when we put them in there.

Who'd you sell them to, Jim-Bob?

Mrs. Brimmer, Corabeth,
the Baldwin sisters.

The Baldwin sisters ordered the most.

Mr. Sims moved in with them,
and they're planning a fish fry.

- What?
- Mr. Sims?

I thought he was staying
at the boarding house.

Not anymore.

How did he get over there?

- Everybody.
- John-Boy.

Grandpa, I spoke with Porter Sims today,
and he said to tell you

that he's sincerely sorry
about missing your tour stuff,

but he got involved
in some very important research

- over at the Baldwin house.
- Yeah.

Researching the Recipe,
you can count on that.

What is this about him moving in
with the Baldwin ladies?

Well, they're gonna let him

use some of the family's
historical papers and manuscripts,

and so he's gonna be staying over there
while he does his work.

Well, don't be surprised
if his work stretches out

for quite a spell while he's there.

Grandma, honest to goodness,

I don't understand
why you're acting this way.

I brought the man over here for dinner
as a guest to the house the other night,

and you all were so rude to him
I was embarrassed.

Furthermore, he stood me up.

Well, I can't say as I blame him for it.

Jim-Bob, go tell the children
to wash up for supper.

Truth is, son, not many of us
know this Porter Sims very well.

- I know him, and I trust him.
- He makes a good impression, all right.

The Baldwins,
those sweet, innocent ladies,

should be left to their sitting,
sipping and rocking.

We just don't want
to see them hurt, John-Boy.

I just don't understand
why everybody's looking for trouble,

that's all.

Because a man
who will live off the government

wouldn't have any objections
to living off a couple of maiden ladies.

Okay, look, Grandma,
I'll take the responsibility

for whatever happens, all right?

Okay, I'll just be responsible
for whatever happens.

I'm sorry what I said before
about the standing up.

It's just that when they were here...

You know perfectly well
that they should not be at that house.

How can I become a great writer
if I don't even know how to spell?

"Xenophobia."

It took me quite a while
to find the word in the dictionary

since I never expected it
to start with an "X."

It's also taking me a while
to get used to the idea

that Grandma has a low opinion
of someone I respect very much.

Even Grandpa seemed reluctant

for Mr. Sims to explore
the Baldwin history.

I believe, like Porter Sims,
that we must probe deeply into life

and write honestly
about what we discover there.

John-Boy, will you have some coffee?
A little toast?

No, thank you very much.
I had breakfast at home.

Is Mr. Sims about ready to go?

He should be.
Sister took him a coddled egg.

I insisted.
He never eats breakfast, he says.

Well, that's just because
he's never had anyone to look after him.

What plans
do you have for Mr. Sims today?

Well, I thought maybe we'd go down
the creek to the old battlefield, and...

- Well, good morning.
- Morning, John.

- Did you sleep well, Mr. Sims?
- Oh, like a baby.

- It must be the mountain air.
- And the Recipe.

Yes, quite possibly, Miss Emily.

Hey, John, you know, I've been
going over Judge Baldwin's papers here.

This house has more interesting history
than I first realized.

- Told you.
- Sister, do you hear?

There's one here that shows
that during the War Between the States,

this house sheltered...

- General Lee.
- President Davis.

...Union soldiers.

- What?
- See, that's a find, John.

This is what I want in that guide book.

Facts that hadn't been prettied up
for history books.

Oh, Sister.

This is a conjecture
that you arrived at from the...

No, no, no. There it is,
documented right there, you see?

What? Papa would never have allowed
such a thing!

Oh, well, if he hadn't allowed it,

there wouldn't have been treason charges
brought against him.

- Treason charges?
- Against Papa?

- Mr. Sims...
- Surely, Mr. Sims, you must be mistaken.

No, it's spelled out right there,
but then you knew about that.

- You said you'd read his papers.
- Well, not all of them, Mr. Sims.

Oh, Sister, surely there's been a mistake.

Well, surely you've reached
the wrong conclusion.

I mean, don't you think you might
have made a mistake, Mr. Sims?

Yes, quite possibly. Here, let me
have the paper back, Miss Mamie.

Papa's papers are very old.
You've misread them.

Oh, dear me!

"For harboring Yankee soldiers...

"Charges against..." Oh, my!

"Captain Matthew Baldwin,

"charged with treason
against the Confederacy."

- Can it be true, Sister?
- Now, now.

Don't you jump to any conclusions
like that, Miss Mamie.

- You just take it easy.
- Yankee soldiers?

Yankee soldiers in this house!

Oh, Sister!

I am wounded
to the very core of my being.

John-Boy, in the Pembroke table,
the smelling salts.

Oh, yes, yes.

Is there anything I can do, Miss Mamie?

You can tell Sister
it was all a joke, Mr. Sims,

a cruel Yankee joke.

I wish I could, Miss Emily.

- Here.
- Oh, Sister.

There, there.

That's better.

- I'd like to go to my room.
- Yes.

Sister.

Just to think that Papa
would be accused of such doings...

You're not well, Sister. Come lie down.

Thank you, John-Boy.

They gave me their father's papers.
I thought surely they knew about this.

They gave you their father's papers
'cause they thought

the state guide
was gonna make him a hero.

Well, it can, John-Boy,
a most colorful historical figure.

Mr. Sims, this is Virginia.
What you have told those ladies

puts a blemish
on their daddy's memory forever.

They idolize their daddy.

He brought them up to have a sense
of family pride and family honor,

and you've told them
that he violated the very things

that he taught them to believe in.

John!
Now, you said you admired my writing.

Would you still admire it
if I falsify the story?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I admire your writing,
and I've admired reading the things

that you've written about other people
and other skeletons you've rattled,

but these are two ladies
that I love very much.

I don't know if I agree with you about this.

- Then what do you propose?
- Well, I don't know what to propose.

I just know that you can't
just publish an accusation like that

about a man who has no chance
to defend himself or anything.

I mean, how do you know
how the trial turned out?

All right, John, let's go find out
how the trial turned out.

Throw that awful thing away.

Of course, dear. No doubt, it's a forgery.

No doubt.

Still, I wonder why Papa would've kept it.

Would you close the draperies, please?
The light makes my head throb.

John-Boy's car is still here.

I wonder,

should we have him take
Mr. Sims back to Mrs. Brimmer's?

No!

Indeed, we don't want him
to talk with any of our neighbors.

If the rumor gets out, Sister,
we're in extreme disgrace.

You're right as usual, Mamie.

Is this all there is?

Well, it's everything
except his personal letters.

There's not one scrap of paper here

that says
whether he was convicted or acquitted.

The answer is that the war ended
before they had a trial.

Oh, that's great. So the accusation stands.

I'm looking for the headache powders.

Sister always kept some down here
so she wouldn't have to climb the stairs.

Can I help you look?

Odd.

Sister always could put her hands
right on them whenever I took a spell.

How is she, ma'am?

I fear she's in a decline, John-Boy.

She says it hurts right here,

and her head pounds so
she can scarcely stand her own breathing.

I think I better go get Doctor Mclvers in,
all right?

Oh, no, John-Boy. No.

Sister and I have agreed.
Not a soul must ever know

what Mr. Sims found
in Papa's portmanteau.

- You must promise me.
- If that's what you think.

Since the headache powders
seem to have taken wings

and flown away,

I believe I'll make Sister a little hot tea
and put some Recipe in it.

Why don't you let me do that, Miss Emily?

I seem to be responsible
for what's happened.

Well, perhaps.

After all, she was fond of you.

It may comfort her to know
that you're being helpful.

I'm feeling rather poorly myself.
Would you mind fixing me a little, too?

Certainly not.

Well, this seems to be
the end of the road here.

Well, those papers aren't gonna tell us
what we need to know,

but I can think of someone
who might be able to.

I'm gonna get on back to the house.

I'll be back here first thing in the morning.

If you need me before then,
you come get me, all right?

Okay.

Grandpa, what are you up to?

Oh, Esther claims
there's worms in the cabbage.

- Can I talk to you about something?
- What's up?

Well,

I think I have a pretty good idea
why you didn't want Sims

to do too much research
over at the Baldwin house.

Dug up something, huh?

What do you think?

Oh, I told you
there's all kinds of secrets in old houses.

Well, he's sort of been going
through Judge Baldwin's old papers.

- Found out.
- What do you think he found out?

Treason.

That's it.

Oh, Methuselah! Knowing him,

he'll be letting
the whole world know about it.

You see, the thing about it is

that the papers that we went through
don't say anything

about how the trial turned out.
So I thought maybe you'd know.

I mean, was he convicted?
Did they let him off? What happened?

Oh, so far away and long ago,

the war ended.
The military kept it a secret.

- I don't think it ever did come to trial.
- Oh, great.

Yes, but I do know
if it ever gets to be common knowledge,

those dear ladies
won't be able to live with it.

I know.

You keep your eyes on that Sims.

If I went over there, I wouldn't trust
what might happen to him.

Well, I'm going over there
first thing in the morning.

Listen, you're not gonna say anything
about this to anyone, are you?

Oh, no, no.

Miss Emily?

Miss Emily?

Yes?

It's me, John-Boy. May I come in?

I'm sorry, John-Boy,
but Sister and I aren't receiving.

Neither of us slept a wink last night.

- Is Mr. Sims here?
- Perhaps he's in his room.

I haven't seen him, and I don't care to
since he brought disgrace to our family.

Sister says

perhaps it would be best if we'd close
our doors and never come out again,

like Miss Havisham in Great Expectations.

Never come out, John-Boy.

Miss Emily.

Miss Emily, I'm gonna go get
my mama and my grandma.

I've implored Sister
to take some nourishment,

but even the Recipe
has lost its flavor for her.

Good.

My chicken broth will be a sight better
for her than that Recipe.

Let's cheer up this place
and open those curtains.

No, no, no.

Please, Mrs. Walton.

I vowed never again
to see the light of day.

Now, Miss Mamie, you don't mean that.

You gotta hurry up and get well.

Jim-Bob told me
you're gonna have a fish fry for Mr. Sims.

I'm afraid Sister will never get well
if you talk about Mr. Porter Sims.

Livie, let her rest.

- How are they, Mama?
- They are not good.

Something's going on around here,
and I'd like to know what it is.

I think it has to do with that Mr. Sims.

He's been drinking that Recipe, hasn't he?

Come in.

Come in.

John. John.

Boy, I was really passed out.

Yeah, looks to me
like you'd have good reason to be.

Recipe, huh?

No, no, I had a nightcap
about 5:00 this morning.

Mr. Sims,
I'm gonna have to ask you to leave here.

John,

not long ago, some reporter
was trying to describe a WPA project

that didn't make much sense to him,
so he called it a boondoggle.

You know what that really means?

It's just an expression
that the pioneers used.

It simply means

anything that's made up
out of leftover scraps.

Mr. Sims, what you're doing here
may or may not be a boondoggle,

but I've known Miss Mamie
and Miss Emily Baldwin

ever since I was a little boy,
and they've been very kind to me.

Now, their lives may not seem to you
to be as real as yours and mine,

and they may be made up
of scraps of memories

and some Recipe and a little bit of fantasy,

but their feelings are real.

And when they feel hurt,
and when they feel shame,

that's real.

You still don't want me
to write about their father.

- This isn't the Scopes trial, Mr. Sims.
- I know that, John.

And I also know that I'm not
the hard-nose reporter I was back then.

I've grown quite fond of those ladies.

Then what value could you possibly attach
to this one scrap of information

- about Judge Baldwin?
- The value of honesty.

Even if being honest means
that you're gonna hurt these two people?

Look, John, from here,
I go to another community.

I look into more
of this glorious past of Virginia.

Now, what would you have me do, John?

Falsify every bit of information I get

just to protect the vanity
of the people involved?

Is that how you'd like this...

This panorama of history
painted for Virginia?

What would you do, John?

I'll pick you up in the morning
and take you to the bus depot.

Okay, John.

John.

I'm sorry it turned out this way,
for both of us

and certainly for them.

So am I, Mr. Sims.

Bye, Little Mermaid.

Bye, Gilbert.

Bye, Kitty, take care of the little ones.

Elizabeth, what are you doing?

- What'd you do that for?
- I couldn't let you sell my friends.

Well, you knew
we were gonna do that in the beginning.

Yeah, well, that was before Kitty adopted

those little fishes
that came through the fence.

Fish don't adopt fish.

Well, Kitty did.

And I got to thinking
about Mama and us kids.

What would we do if someone took Mama
away from Walton's Mountain?

Well, the least you could do
is help me tell the customers.

You're gonna get it when we get back.

Come on, Reckless. Come on.

You sure look mad.

What's the matter with you?

You look like the bottom
fell out of the fish business.

Got no fish to sell.

Elizabeth let our stock loose.

Oh, I see.

Well, she'll probably make somebody
a wonderful mama someday, so...

I guess.

Problem is we haven't been able
to tell all our customers.

Nobody's home.
Mrs. Brimmer, the Baldwins.

Wait a minute! What do you mean,
the Baldwins aren't home?

Wasn't anybody there?
Wasn't Porter Sims there?

I'm supposed to pick him up
in half an hour.

We knocked on the door,
but nobody answered.

Door was open, though.
It was really strange.

Well, thank you.

Daddy! Grandpa!

I think something's wrong
over at the Baldwin place.

Let's get over there.

Miss Mamie, Miss Emily?

John Walton.

Hello?

Miss Mamie?

Miss Emily?

It's John Walton.

Is everything all right?

John Walton, I'm so glad it's you.

I was afraid it was that Mr. Sims again.

He's been trying to tell us
more lies about Papa.

- May I come in?
- Of course.

But you must forgive Sister.
She's had a terrible shock.

Where is this Sims fellow?

Wouldn't put it past him...

Hiding out somewhere.

He's gone.

Probably down in the Recipe room,
swilling away.

- He left me a note.
- What?

- He's going to the Rockfish bus depot.
- Where?

The bus depot.

Well, that's good riddance.
I'll go tell the ladies.

Wait a minute.

Ladies, there's something
I think you ought to know about.

I guess Grandpa told you
Porter Sims is gone.

Well, he worked all night on this thing,

and he went through
some of your daddy's old letters,

and he found something pretty important.

He wrote what he thinks
ought to go into the state guide.

Oh, dear.

John-Boy, I think the ladies have heard
quite enough about Porter Sims.

Grandpa, I think they ought to hear this.

Mamie.

- Well, if you say so, John-Boy.
- Good.

"In the battle of Rockfish Creek
during the War Between the States,

"a gallant young Confederate officer,
Captain Matthew Baldwin,

"later a distinguished Virginia judge,

"performed a most heroic
and unselfish deed

"that nearly brought him disgrace.

"Recuperating at home
from his own serious battle wounds,

"Captain Baldwin made his way

"to the nearby battlefield
to help the wounded.

"He brought back to his house the injured
of both Confederate and Union forces.

"Having been seen helping Union soldiers,

"the Captain was later
mistakenly charged with treason.

"However, many of the survivors
from both the North and the South

"wrote letters to thank him
for what he had done.

"These letters were to have been used
as evidence in his behalf,

"but the war ended and the trial,

"which undoubtedly
would have exonerated him,

"was never held.

"Perhaps Captain Baldwin's
humanitarian act

"symbolized the healing
of the deeper wounds

"that the nation had suffered.

"His stately house and proud daughters

"hold honored positions
in the community."

Sister, I do believe
your color is coming back.

Well, I'd like to see that.

You are indeed yourself again.

A great burden
has been lifted from my heart,

and I have you to thank for that.

Porter Sims, too.

Oh, most assuredly.

I fancy that had we met
in a shower of swirling autumn leaves...

- But you didn't.
- Quite true.

Mr. Porter Sims.

Rather a fine name, isn't it?

Oh, Sister.

All right, ladies, well, I'll be seeing you
after school tomorrow.

Mamie, congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Walton.

Goodbye.

Their family honor restored,

the Baldwin ladies returned
to their happy yesterday world,

cherishing the memory
of another gallant gentleman caller.

The guide books for all the states
have become valued historical references,

and when Walton's Mountain
was mentioned in the volume for Virginia,

Grandma never again referred to it
as a boondoggle.

John-Boy, who would want
to read a book about Virginia?

Well, a lot of folks would, Elizabeth.

People who are coming to visit here

and anybody who wants
to know more about the state.

And, of course,
we'd all like to have Santa Claus

read the Virginia State guide,
now, wouldn't we?

All right, Grandpa,
why would we like to have him read it?

Well, that way we could say,

"Yes, Santa Claus, there is a Virginia!"

Night, everybody.

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