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Adam is a very sick boy, Ben.

There's no point in hiding the truth.

It's out of my hands.

Doctor?

What exactly does that mean?

He'll reach a point of crisis tonight.

If he passes it, all well and good.

If not...

Stay close to him, Ben.

I'll stop by in the morning.

Thank you.

Pa, Hoss and I will take turns sitting up with him.

Yeah, Pa.

Pa, Adam's, Adam's going to pull through this all right.

Don't you worry none.

You go on up and get some rest.

We don't... we don't want you to be sick, too.

No, you, you boys get... get to sleep.

I'll sit up with him.

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, my love.

Take over here, Mister.

Aye, aye, Captain.

Oh! Batten down the bulkhead!

Aye, aye, sir!

Mind the mast! Fine!

It was a good passage, Captain.

It's good to be home.

Aye, Mister, it's always good to be home.

Aye, Captain, but no sooner are you home, sir,

than you can't wait to get back to sea again.

Quite a philosopher, aren't you, Mister?

I can recognize a man with salt water in his veins, sir.

Well, I can't say the same for you.

However, we managed to bring the Wanderer home safely

in spite of you.

Now, tell the truth, Captain.

I'm probably the best mate you've ever had.

Huh?! Aloft, there!

Refigure main topsail!

Aye, sir!

Father, I didn't expect you until Wednesday.

That's what kind of a master your father is, girl.

Three days ahead of schedule we are.

Mm-hmm. Have you missed me?

Missed you?

I'd sooner miss a snaggletoothed octopus.

You look tired.

Was it a hard voyage?

Aye.

But we managed to keep our spirits up, eh, lad?

Aye, sir.

Hello, Elizabeth.

It's good to see you, Ben Cartwright.

It's good to see you.

Your father invited me to supper.

In a pig's eye.

He invited himself.

Well, either way, you're welcome, Ben.

My stomach will be eternally grateful.

Well, you two come along and I'll see what I can do.

The night was as black as the inside of a whale,

and I tell you, girl, we had ice floes around us

as... as big as cathedrals.

But we beat our way through them, didn't we, lad?

Aye, sir. You have a real feeling for ice, Captain.

He has a real feeling for the sea.

He knows it, and it knows him.

That's the only reason I put up with him.

He's a bit of a tyrant, you know.

Oh, I know that well.

I remember listening to him address his men

on the afterdeck as a little girl.

Uh, I used to hide behind the mast.

"Now, my men, we are going on a long voyage.

"If we pull together, you will find me a clever fella.

"If we don't, you will find me a devil incarnate.

That's all I've got to say. Now get below."

That's exactly what he says today.

That's enough about me.

This was a marvelous meal.

I haven't eaten this well since the last time I was here.

Aye, she's a fair cook,

like her mother was.

Now, why don't you two youngsters go and see

what the sunset is like?

This old seafarer has about talked himself out

for one evening.

I'll do the dishes later, Father.

You won't catch me going near them.

"The world was all before them,

"where to choose their place of rest,

and Providence their guide."

Do you remember that, Liz?

Yes... Paradise Lost.

It was summer. Mm-hmm.

And we were on a picnic.

Mm-hmm.

And you read to me.

I've thought of that picnic so many times.

So many times.

I... I brought a present for you.

Oh.

Oh, Ben, how sweet.

I bought it in Amsterdam.

Oh, it's sweet.

Oh, look at the faces of the cherubs.

Hmm, they're so...

They're so round and... pink.

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, I've never known a woman

with face so fair and eyes that...

Oh, Ben, I've waited, I've hoped.

So that's what I get after 40 years, Halloran?

We just can't take any more chances with valuable cargoes,

Captain Stoddard.

Chances?

You blithering ingrate.

I've sailed your ships around the Horn

in the teeth of a gale a dozen times

while men half my age were beating their way

into a snug harbor.

I'm sorry, Captain.

The stockholders have voted to retire you.

There just isn't anything I can do about it.

Yes, there is something you can do.

You can tell your blasted stockholders

I hope they choke on their valuable cargoes.

Now, get out of here.

Now, Mr. Halloran, how can you possibly think

of retiring Captain Stoddard?

Where would you find a man to replace him?

We already have.

The board wants to see you tomorrow morning at 10:00,

Mr. Cartwright.

Me?

Yes, they have voted

to turn over the command of the Wanderer to you.

Tomorrow at 10:00.

So that's how it is.

Captain, I-I...

I teach you everything you know, treat you like a son.

Father. Stay out of this, girl.

Captain, I, I knew nothing of any of this, sir.

That's your story, Mister.

Sir, I-I don't want your command, sir.

Why not?

You're young and bright and ambitious, aren't you?

That's what these shipping people are looking for.

Captain, please, sir, please listen to me.

I am listening to no more.

I have done enough listening for this night.

I'm going out, and when I come back,

I don't want to see you in this house.

How could they do it to him, Ben?

How could they?

Ben, he didn't mean what he said.

He doesn't know what he's saying.

Elizabeth... what about you?

You don't think I could?

Oh, I love you, Ben.

I want you.

Nothing's changed.

Give me another.

Now see here, Captain.

You best be getting hold of yourself,

or you'll be forcing me to call the police.

Call them, call them, you bug-eyed rum peddler.

I am a ship's master, I am, and I deserve some respect.

And so before I sailed away

One morning in July

I met some maid who bade me stay...

"Not on your life," says I.

I've been looking for you, Captain.

Who might you be, Mister?

I'm Ben Cartwright, sir.

I've been sailing, Mister.

Sir...

Sailing into a stiff nor'wester.

You, you know what they've done to me, Mister?

They've retired me.

I gave them my hands and my soul for 40 years.

They've stripped me... stripped me bare.

You're the best there is, sir. You'll get another ship.

Not in New England, I won't.

'Tis true, I am.

You can see it in their faces.

Come along, sir, I'll take you home.

Let go of me, boy!

I know who you are.

You're the young shark who drained me of all you could get

and then took my command away from me.

Come along. Let go of me.

Get out of my sight, before I break you in two.

I'm getting drunk until all the world caves in on me.

For it's all she was, so very...

Now, you listen to me and you listen hard.

I don't want your command. I never wanted it.

But maybe you should be retired.

Maybe you haven't the guts for sailing anymore.

I thought you could walk proud, no matter what the storm,

but look at you.

Now you get up on your feet, Captain,

and you walk out of here like a sailing master,

or I'll knock you down again.

I'm sorry I hit him, Liz.

I just have too much respect for him

to allow him to show his insides to a bunch of swabs

who are... aren't good enough to wipe his boots.

Oh, Ben.

What's he going to do?

Get drunk every night?

Try and drown away the fact

that they don't want him anymore?

He'll find himself.

Where will he find himself?

The sea is his home.

This house is just... a place to come back to, to...

Liz...

this had to happen, sooner or later.

Ben... what about us?

How can I leave him now?

Feeling alone, unwanted...

discarded as he must feel?

He'll need me.

Well, well, we'll... we'll take him with us.

Oh, Ben, but he has no trade!

He doesn't know anything but the sea.

You-You can't live your life for everybody else.

Don't you understand? This is my father.

I can't simply desert him.

Don't you see that?

You said... nothing's changed.

But nothing has.

Not really.

I think it has.

I'll be at the inn.

Go on, walk out.

I don't care what you do.

I'm not getting on my knees to beg you to understand me.

Elizabeth, what I said, I didn't mean...

Ben, don't say anything.

I was coming to you.

It took me all night to realize I had no right

to force you into a decision like that.

You had every right.

No, Liz, I...

I don't want us to live in guilt.

I care about your father, too.

He's been good to me, as good as any man could be.

But you don't owe him anything.

Yes, Liz, I do. I-I owe him.

I owe him my respect for being the kind of man I admire.

I have an idea I'd like to talk to him about.

Now, he may not listen to me.

He may throw me out of the house again,

but at least I'd like to try.

What is it, Ben?

Well, I... I think it's something that...

well, so that he-he can lead his life, and we can lead ours.

Elizabeth?

There's coffee, Father.

Suppose I ought to thank you for knocking me down.

That isn't necessary, Captain.

Then we'll dispense with it.

A man in his cups often makes a fool of himself.

I've had that pleasure, sir.

I raved quite a bit, didn't I?

Well, as much as might be expected

under the circumstances, sir.

You spoke your own mind, too.

With due respect, sir.

You don't fight them, Father,

so you should just forget them.

There are other things in this life

besides going to sea, you know.

You're a sound man, Captain.

You can start over again at something else.

I've been 40 years on the deck of me own ship, Mister.

How do you expect me to start something else

at the twilight of my life?

Captain...

I'd like you to go into business with me.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Well, Captain, I'm-I'm through with the sea, too.

I have a dream, sir, to go West.

Now, it'll take a good deal of money, and until I can afford

to go, I'm using what little money I have

to go into business as a ship's chandler.

I want you as a partner.

A ship's chandler?!

Yes, sir.

Captain Abel Morgan Stoddard, a ship's chandler?

I'd rather have me throat cut, sir.

It's an honorable profession.

Scrubbing floors is an honorable profession.

I'm a man of the sea, Mister!

If I don't breathe salt spray for six months in the year,

me lungs choke up!

There's no more sailing for you, Father, and you know it!

What are you going to do?

Sit here in this house, day after day,

feeling useless and miserable?

That's no life for you.

I don't want to see you end up like those men on the wharf

with their dead dreams.

This has nothing to do with you, girl.

It has everything to do with me.

Ben is willing to invest his money in you.

The least you can do is give him a chance.

I don't want to give him anything.

I don't know why he wants to invest in me, anyway!

Because I have faith in you, Captain,

in spite of your stubbornness and bad temper.

Huh?

And because I'm in love with your daughter.

You work fast, Mister.

Father. I don't want anybody to come into my house

and tell me how to run my life.

I've no patience for being a merchant.

I've no patience with aught but ships.

Elizabeth...

you're crying.

Why, I haven't seen you cry since you were a little girl

and I'd go to sea.

You're at sea now, Father,

but without compass or charts

and without stars.

You don't know where you're going.

Aye, girl, that's true,

and I'm sorry for it.

But I couldn't be a shopkeeper.

I haven't the head nor the hands for it.

Don't you see?

Oh, try, Father!

Please try.

Do this one thing for me.

No, for yourself.

I don't want to pity you.

Benjamin.

Sir?

I've got a little money.

I'll buy an equal partnership.

Sir, will you...

...will you also drink to our marriage?

Aye.

I think I can drink enough for both.

Well, that should do it.

Captain, thank you very much indeed.

Come back and see us again.

Darling, are you sure you're feeling all right?

I feel marvelous, Ben.

Well, I... I still don't think you should be working now.

You can't lock me up.

I'm not that sort of woman, you know that.

Mm. Besides, we're doing so well.

You need me.

It's impossible to argue with women.

But please, do take care of yourself.

Go in the back room, and lie down, take a nap for an hour.

I'm going to see about those new chronometers that just came in.

You treat me like a child.

Well, sometimes you act like a child.

I love you, Liz.

I love you.

Now, do take care of yourself.

You growl like a bear!

All right. All right.

See you later, Otto. Benjamin?

Yes, sir? You going to the wharf?

Oh, yes, I am, sir. Would you like to come along?

There's a shipment of new chronometers

and sextants coming in.

Well, I suppose they're expensive

like that fancy new compass you bought us.

Well, it-it was worth it, sir.

That compass brought a lot of customers in.

Well, there's a whole new crop of young seamen

who appreciate new ideas in navigation.

Whole new crop of young seamen.

Aye.

Well, that does it for you, Ben.

I'll come around your place in the morning for the money.

That'll be fine, thank you, Ethan. It'll be there.

How is the captain holding up?

Well, he does his job,

but his mind, I'm afraid, is still at sea.

Hello, Mr. Cartwright. Mandible.

You must be doing pretty well,

the way you're buying merchandise.

Well enough, sir.

You're an enterprising young man.

I've got to give you credit, trying to compete with me.

Well, sir, we have less overhead,

so we can afford to sell for less profit.

Well, I'm not really worried

about your competition, Mr. Cartwright,

but remember, whenever you decide

to give up that little flea market of yours,

I might be able to interest you in some real opportunity.

Thank you, sir. We'll make out.

The sea is whispering your name, Captain.

If you stand on the wharf, you can hear it.

Aye.

There are some men who are born for a certain sort of life.

If they leave it, desert it, they die.

I hear those whispers in my sleep.

In my soul.

But do you care?

Do you really care?

Eight months is a long time, Captain.

A compromise for living is no living at all.

I'll sail again, Mister.

I believe you.

I hear you've been up and down the coast

looking for another command.

I want to help you.

How can you help me?

By giving you a chance to buy a share of a ship.

What kind of a ship?

What difference does it make?

She'll be seaworthy, she'll have her own crew,

and you'll be her master.

I don't work for a man like you, Mandible.

Then you'll work for no man.

What is it you want me to command, a slaver?

I want you for...

better things.

I want you to own a share of your own ship.

Aye.

So I can drive my short-handed,

ill-fed crew till they drop.

I know what kind of business

you run, Mandible, and I want no part of it, do you hear?

No part of it!

You're a dead man, Captain.

As dead as the whispers of your name... on the sea.

Well, hello, Captain.

How's the mercantile business these days?

On your way, Mister!

Huh! Well, he says it's good, mates!

Aye, there'll always be a sailor

to buy a few doodads now and then, don't you know?

When are you gonna start selling ribbons, Captain?

Laugh, you jackasses, go ahead and laugh!

I'll be master of my own ship again!

Strike me dead if I'm not!

I want a ship, Mandible!

Would you like some coffee, Captain?

I want my money, Benjamin.

You what?

My money.

Money I put into the business.

And any profits that are coming to me.

Well, why do you want the money, Captain?

Why do you want to pull out?

I don't have to explain to you, Mister.

Captain, y-you're my partner.

You have to explain everything to me. I...

You come in here and you-you want to break an agreement...

now, I want to know why.

You gonna give me my share or not?

Well, I... I can't give it to you.

I... I need all the cash on hand to pay Bell

for those chronometers when he comes to collect tomorrow.

Blazes with the chronometers! I want my money, man!

Now, look, Captain...

you... you go and get a good night's rest,

and we'll talk about this in the morning.

We'll talk about it now.

Sir, you... you're in no condition to talk.

So...

you won't give me my money.

No, sir... I will not.

What is it? What's the matter?

Oh, nothing. Just a kick, I suppose.

Really?

I told you, you shouldn't be working now.

Oh, Ben.

Sweet Ben, you're such a worrier.

I'm just closing up, Charlie.

Captain! Captain!

So, Otto told you.

Go on and say it.

Say what?

What you're thinking.

Does it matter?

I don't care what you think.

My money, and I took it!

Very simple.

A simple explanation, eh?

I wish I could understand it.

What difference does it make?

What difference?!

The difference between faithlessness and trust,

the difference between selfishness and sacrifice...

Don't reprimand me, Mister!

I don't need your schoolmaster's lectures.

Now, just what do you need, Captain Stoddard?

I know what you want, Mister.

You want this old man out of the way.

No, no, sir, that's not true.

But Elizabeth and I do want a life together.

I'm trying to give you a life!

That's why I took the money...

so that I could go back to sea,

where I belong.

I'm tired of seeing those faces laughing at me!

How could you?!

You make me ashamed to be your daughter.

Elizabeth... Why did you come here?!

You kept me from the sea!

Making a shopkeeper of me!

Now you turn my own flesh against me.

Captain... Ben!

Elizabeth! Ben!

Elizabeth.

Don't just stand there. Get Dr. Byram. Hurry!

Don't judge him too harshly, Ben.

No, darling, I-I won't.

He's covered with barnacles,

like an old ship... struggling to keep afloat.

I know, darling.

Now, you-you mustn't talk.

Oh...

I want to, just for a minute.

Oh, my face is so warm.

Our child will be strong, Ben.

At this moment, I'm concerned only about you.

Oh, don't growl, my darling.

The doctor said we'll both be fine.

Oh, Ben...

I can't wait to see our son.

How do you know it's going to be a boy?

A man like you?

You'd have to have sons.

Tall sons...

like the trees that will surround them.

Now, Liz...

now, you must rest.

Oh, don't go away, Ben.

Read to me, just for a little while.

The same thing? Mm-hmm.

Take up the slack on your back, Springer!

Something wrong, Captain?

There's a lot that's wrong.

It's a confused world.

It's not the world that's confused.

Can I buy you a drink, Captain?

No, you bought me enough.

Then why don't you just say what's on your mind?

I'm not commanding any ship for you.

That's where you're wrong.

This paper says I own you for a term of six months.

Nobody owns me.

You were wrong, Mr. Mandible...

the sea doesn't whisper my name anymore.

I listened, and I couldn't hear it.

I'm through with the sea for good and always.

Not quite, sir.

Your last voyage has not yet begun.

I am not commanding any slave ship for you, Mister.

If I'm through...

I'm going to be through with dignity.

Dignity?!

What dignity do you have?

You'll be on that dock tomorrow morning.

Give me that paper, Mister!

Get out of here, you old drunk!

Don't you ever lay a hand on Mr. Mandible.

I have my dignity to uphold, too, Captain Stoddard.

You have your chin and whiskers on that ship tomorrow morning

bright and early, understand?!

"...of this frail world,

"by which the spirits perverse with easy intercourse

"pass to and fro to tempt or punish mortals,

except whom God and good angels guard by special grace."

Ben...

do you think I'm one of those...

mortals that God and good angels will protect?

You of all people.

Then I will surely go to Heaven when I die?

Why? Were you worried?

Ben, look at that cloud!

It's shaped just like an elephant.

You are a child.

You know, I remember when I first met you,

I thought you were a woman.

Mrs. Callahan taking good care of you?

Oh, yes, she's a dear.

She waits on me hand and foot.

Go on reading, Ben.

I love the sound of your voice.

It's so friendly and reassuring,

like a lighthouse horn at night.

A lighthouse horn.

"On my experience, Adam, freely taste and fear of..."

I've made up my mind.

What?

That's what it shall be.

What?

Adam.

Adam.

Adam?

Adam!

Adam.

I like it.

I love you, Ben.

Elizabeth...

Elizabeth, my love, I adore you.

I didn't know what to do.

He has a paper, he says,

that gives him the right of ownership to the shop.

Who says? Mandible.

I didn't want to leave the shop, but I didn't know what to do.

Otto, wait here till we get back.

What the devil are you doing here?!

Looking over my interests.

Well, since when are your interests

in a cabinet of my office?!

Tell him, Van Meer.

My client has obtained a writ.

Never mind. I'll explain.

Your partner signed a paper which was a promise of payment

for part ownership in a schooner of mine.

Yes, I'm aware of that.

He was to assume command of that schooner.

He didn't show up.

That, sir, is a breach of contract.

Well, maybe so,

but he didn't ask for his money back.

That should satisfy any claim for his services.

What money?

I never received any money.

I paid you!

Do you have a receipt, Captain?

Receipt? I...

I don't need any receipt.

Oh, I'm afraid you do, Captain.

Now, look, Mandible, he left this office with the money.

I know that!

Well, perhaps he lost it,

or spent it on rum.

I don't know.

I only know I never saw it.

Why, you thieving scum... Captain. Captain. Captain!

I know I paid...

Now, look, Mandible,

I know exactly what you're doing.

I can't prove anything.

I'm not even going to try.

I'll pay you every last cent the captain owes you.

You have the money, of course?

I'll need a little time to raise it.

I'm afraid I have no time to give you.

However, if he were to assume command of the schooner...

as agreed...

I would be willing to forget the whole thing.

I'll not command a dinghy for you, Mister.

Then get them out of here, Blackner.

They're on my property.

Let's go, Cartwright.

Stay away from me. Stay away from me!

Get them out of here, Blackner.

You heard... You heard what the man just said!

You're on your way out!

Ow!

Now, I'm going to borrow that money tomorrow.

I'm going to give it to you.

Then you're going to forget this whole thing.

You understand?

Yes. Yes, I understand perfectly.

Now get out. Get out!

Get out!

You all right, son?

Yeah, I think so.

You need fixing up. Come into the office.

Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Cartwright!

Please, you'd better come. The baby is coming.

Please hurry.

You have a fine boy, Mr. Cartwright.

I'll be at home, if you need me.

Good night, Captain Stoddard.

Did you see your son Adam?

Yes, darling.

Now, you must rest.

Adam.

Oh, how sweet his face looks.

Like the cherubs on my music box.

Play it for me, Ben.

Hmm?

Are you proud of your son?

Yes, darling.

Very proud.

He'll make a fine-looking man.

Like you.

Hold my hand, Ben.

I'm holding it.

You're so pale.

You must have been worried about me.

Oh, there was no pain, my darling.

Oh, just a little now and then.

But my thoughts went flying.

I was warm all over.

I was riding that cloud...

the one that looks like an elephant...

so high

that the sun scorched my dress.

But then it began to rain.

Cool, sweet drops.

They ran down my cheeks

and into the corners of my mouth.

Elizabeth?

Hmm?

I love you so much.

Ben...

Ben, you're crying.

No, no, I-I'm not...

Where's Father?

I am here, child.

Do you like your grandson?

Aye.

He's a fine boy.

Ben, I want you to promise me something.

I want you to promise me

that no matter what happens,

you'll go after your dream.

Darling, we'll both go after my dream.

Promise.

I promise.

Is there smoke in here?

My throat feels so dry.

Read to me, Ben...

that last part that I love so much.

"The world was all before them,

"where to choose their place of rest,

"and Providence their guide.

"They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,

through Eden took the solitary way..."

My music bo...

Liz?

Liz?

This is a real thrill for me, Mr. Cartwright.

The West?

Why, it's practically half across the world.

And me, I've never been out of New England before.

Me, I've never even been on a train.

He'll take care of you, Mrs. Callahan.

Come on, Adam.

Give your old grandfather a farewell smile.

I don't like taking him away from you, Captain.

You made a promise, son.

I want you to keep it.

You sure you'll be all right, Captain?

Aye. I'm beginning to enjoy the peaceful life

of a businessman.

I'm going to miss you, you old sea devil.

Like you'd miss a snaggletoothed octopus, I wager.

Don't brood, son.

Keep a warm spot in your heart for her.

Don't carry her on your shoulder for the rest of your life.

She wouldn't want that.

No, I suppose she wouldn't.

I'll keep a warm place in my heart for you, too, sir.

Aye, do that.

Good-bye, son.

Godspeed.

Bye, Otto.

Go on, get on with you,

or you'll have me blubbering like my young grandson.

Driver?

Pa?

You're all right now, son.

You're all right, boy.

Was it a long night?

Not too long.

I, uh...

I had company.

Memories?

I had memories, too.

All kind of mixed up in... a dream.

I was on this clipper ship

sailing in a dark and

black sea, and...

all of a sudden, the sun came up.

I guess it was from all those stories

you used to tell me when I was a boy, huh?

Memories and dreams are precious things, Adam.

They're always there when you need them most.

How is he, Pa?

He's going to be all right.

Howdy, Adam.

Welcome home.

This has been a color presentation

of the NBC Television Network.