 20 degrees, 35 minutes north, 110 degrees, 40 minutes east. Sky, fair, wind, fresh. Remarks? Departed Plank Chowen after involvement by foreign interests. Reason for involvement? Huntsman's Quarry and the Dead Chinese. You know, ladies and gentlemen, someone once said humor is the true democracy. That's why we in America can smile when we tell the stories of the legendary heroes who helped build our country's great industries and institutions. Even an industry like transcontinental transportation has its hero. Wind Wagon Smith, born on the prairie when transportation was just beginning. Of course, transportation then wasn't anything like it is today. There were no jet-propelled planes, no racing cars capable of going over 400 miles an hour, trains that could cross the country in a little over two days. Most of the traveling in the early days was done by ox team, and if folks covered 15 miles a day, they were doing good. That's what Wind Wagon Smith wanted to change when he showed up with his prairie clipper. The clipper was a wagon without any kind of animals to pull it, but it had a sail sticking up from the middle of it. When the wind caught the sail, the clipper took off, and Wind Wagon Smith figured he could cover as much as 70 miles a day. At first, people laughed at him, but when he pointed out how the new country was spreading out and how big cities would be springing up and how people would need transportation for themselves and their goods, they began to figure that maybe the prairie clipper was a good idea at that. Wind Wagon invited the U.S. Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to ride in the clipper's maiden voyage, but disaster struck. The clipper got out of control, the Secretary of War rolled out, and the Secretary of the Navy landed in the cactus patch, but Wind Wagon and his clipper kept going. No one ever saw the clipper again, and as transportation grew in America, people all over the country told of seeing Wind Wagon Smith. He was in the pilot house of the first steamboat to sail up the Yellowstone. He held a golden spike when the first transcontinental railroad was completed, and when the first transcontinental plane roared out of Kansas City, it was Wind Wagon Smith, the spirit of American transportation who waved the pilot on his way. Yes, it is a democracy which lets us tell stories of our industries, institutions and legendary heroes with a twinkle in our eyes and a chuckle in our throats. And as so long as we continue to laugh together as a people, we will live together as a nation. Thank you very much. In the leisure hours, which were few and always after dark, Gallagher and I spent in a bar a few blocks up from the waterfront. It was named the Liverpool, owned and served by a Crown subject named Danny, and it boasted passable liquor in a dwindling library of ancient British phonograph records. It was about 9 p.m. after a few of those leisure hours on the eve of our planned departure, that Gallagher and I swung down the dock toward the Queen, looking forward to comfortable bunks in the feel of deep water the next day. I missed seeing Gordon, who'd been on Gangway Watch when we left. As we went aboard, I was rehearsing some strong words to use and dressing him down. But his watchmate, Kohler, hove up from the shadows of the cabin. A look on his face put an end to any thoughts of discipline. There's been trouble, Captain. Where's Gordon? In the foothill. He's all right now, but somebody laid a club across his head. Who was it? What happened, Kohler? I don't know. We heard two shots, and I ran back here and saw a guy jump off the ship. Gordon was lying here, and when I found out he was still kicking, I looked in your cabin. There's a dead guy in there. I didn't look any closer. And so mutual continues the voyage of the Scarlet Queen, written by Gildowd and Bob Tolman, and starring Elliot Lewis. As every week, we sail a league farther on the voyage of the Scarlet Queen. I'd never seen the dead man before. He was Chinese. Gordon had let him come aboard because he'd identified himself as a clerk from the French firm whose cargo he had. He'd carried a small leather police and said he had final papers for me to sign. The other man had arrived 15 minutes later, and Gordon was slugged before he could count five. Gallagher and I frisked the body. Clutched in one hand was a German-made automatic, unfired, and the other was a note that named him Typhoon Tan. That still left him a stranger, but the note in English was the kind that police anywhere like to ask questions about. It said, go at once to the American ship Scarlet Queen. It's the quickest available means of escape. Use your own judgment as to the price you'll pay for passage. And it was unsigned. I rolled it into a ball and put it into an inside pocket. Captain, there's a police officer asking to board. Yeah, that's all we need. They usually go with murder, even if fought by it. Okay, Kohler, let him come. I'm keeping that note out of sight right now. Okay, we don't know anything. Let's know why, but maybe without that link we can get clear of this mess in time to sail. Monsieur, I represent the prefect of police. I can see your uniform, and I don't think much of the way you protect the harbor. It's truly him. Monsieur, I commend you. You are to be congratulated. Congratulations. You remain, officer. You see in this corpse, the end of a long and fruitless trail, Monsieur. This man was the most desirable criminal in Quachuan. You have done us a great service. I can show my thanks now only by the speed in which I remove the unpleasant thing from your ship. Two natives have come with me to carry away the corpse. Pardon. Monsieur, it is my pleasure to tell you that there is a reward which now, rightfully, is yours. Yeah, well, I'll be satisfied just to get him off of here and then we'll hear another thing about it. Oh, you have done the great service. Thank you. I will not spare one word in my report to stay my admiration for you. That's very kind of you. Bonsoir, Monsieur. Bonsoir. Gallagher and I looked at one another after they left with the body, shook our heads, finally shrugged and got ready to hit the sack. I pulled open the big drawer under my bonk to get dungarees and a jumper ready for our early morning sailing. Discovered that we still weren't clear of the typhoon tan situation, his release was in the drawer. It was lightly packed with personal gear for travel, thick bundle of French currency, and at the bottom face down was the thing that made me decide, since we seem to be so popular with the local law, that I take the whole thing down to headquarters. It was a large photograph of a white man with a black patch over his left eye. He was sprawled on the floor, his head and shoulders resting in a dark pool that flowed from a point in his throat with a hilt of a native knife protruded. Twenty minutes later, Red and I walked into the office of the prefect of police. You in charge here tonight and you speak English. Monsieur, what is it you wish? I'm Philip Carney, master of the catch scarlet queen. One of your men took a body off my ship tonight. This valace belonged to whom we thought we'd better bring it down here. Pardon me, sir? The Chinese criminal that was killed tonight. You guys were looking for him. There was a reward posted for him. Si vous plaît. Do not speak with such rapidity. Perhaps I do not comprehend. Look, a Chinese typhoon tan. He was a criminal, a desirable criminal. Tonight, he was shot on my ship. One of your officers got the body. I look at the days report. Is that the... accident? You must make the mistake. Mistake? You know, when he's killed tonight, I know of no criminal typhoon tan. Well, wake up. It happened a couple of hours ago. Your officer left with the body about one hour ago. Where would he take it? We would bring it to this building, Monsieur. This is perhaps a trick, no? Yeah, maybe it is. Never mind, officer. The valace, put it in your lost and found. If the owner calls for it, don't bother to let me know. Come on, Red. Bonsoir, Monsieur. Bonsoir! Hey, skipper, what goes on with these stupid people? They got rocks in the head. I don't know, mate. If they want to ignore murder, it's all right with me. Come on, let's shove off. Right. After one more at the Liverpool... That music that lured us back. Yes, a bit of the aisles doesn't hurt now and again. Uh, the same? Yeah, neat. With a dash of bitters to kill the taste. Yes, I've seen better chaps than you, succumb before Danny's mixing. Have the lack of the Irish that's behind you. Rebellious souls that they be. Limey, it's a toast that shouldn't be drunk. Red and I looked at the bottoms of our empty glasses. I think we both realized the difference of taste at the same time. The bitters Danny had shaken in were more than bitters. They were the same knockout drops they serve in Memphis, Corpus Christi, or Seattle. I wondered why it had to be us and fought by a quang choan. I found Danny swimming a few feet down the bar, looking at me strangely out of eyes that opened and closed slowly. I tried to get a grip on Red's arm so we could get off our stools together. I got a hold of it. I couldn't move my legs. Gallagher was twins, gaping rubberly at me. Skip this drink. They've really slipped us one. The room went into a 45 degree roll of starboard. Stay there for a second and sailed away, leaving me buried in something that was gray and sick and made my head ache. Then it turned black and I didn't feel any. They're way to no place and I got them separated. Maybe there was somebody else's. I must have stirred because they moved toward me and stopped. They looked down and bending over me. I decided I was still the unconscious. He had a black patch over his left eye. The rest of the face was pulpy and marked by dissipation, but I recognized him as the man in the photograph. A man sprawled on the floor with a knife in his throat. Come on, Connie. Keep your eyes open. I waited long enough for you. Seeing you that stopped me. Come on. Get your wits about you. Was that a picture of your twin? You do have the photograph. Good. Where is it, Connie? Wait a minute. I'll help you up. What was that for? I wanted to get you out of the way so I could search your ship. Search my ship? Hope you had a good time. I didn't get aboard. Your ship and the dock are crawling with police. A couple of hours too late, aren't they? Look, you better get out of here before I feel any better than I do now. If you don't, you're going to look better than you did in that picture. Listen, Connie. I managed the plantation for a firm at Saigad. The richest plantation in French Indochina. You should have stayed there. A rival concern had been trying to force us out. He wrote my employer that I mistreated the natives. That they hated me, refused to work for me. So try to get up and move around, Red. It helps. Listen to me, Connie. Make their stories ring true. They drug me and took that fake photograph. Show that I'd been murdered. That one of their own men could take my place. Connie, I've got to have that photograph. Yeah, yeah, you said that. You did a fair job, but you could have used more time. Your story stinks. Come on, Red. You can make it well-leaving. I can make it all right. Don't try to leave this room, Connie. The gun doesn't scare me either. You want the picture, don't you? I won't stop at anything to get it. Then you better not get Trigger happy with me. Can't think of anyone else who knows where it is. I sail at dawn. Check with me then. Maybe we'll talk business. I'll be watching you till then, Connie. Don't forget that. That might not have worked, Skipper. What did we do to rate this, and what is it? Come on, Red. We're going to check his story on the police guarding the Queen. If it's true, we're going back to the Liverpool and start knocking some teeth down Danny's throat. I figured we'd be back to thank him for the drink. He's got a stand-in at the bar. Hey, you! Where's Danny? Oh, Mr. Danny, he and the gloom. That door's straight back. Oh, yes, Mr. Danny, he and the... Come on, Red. I thought you only had 12 o'clock to die. Oh, Monsieur. This time I do not represent the prefect of police. Voice and the face were the same, but his costume this time was a neat white linen suit and a straw hat instead of a police uniform. And his effect was changed slightly by the French-made star-automatic pistol in his right hand. You will answer for me a few questions. I will, huh? You were with Frederick Huntsman. Huntsman? Yes. Where is he now? We don't know. We didn't even know his name, but whoever he was, we left him in his room. Did you give the photograph to him? Hardly. People get killed over that thing. I'll tell you the same thing I told him. We know where it is and nobody else does. That's the way it's going to stay, because with it out of sight, we don't think we'll get the belly full of slugs that Huntsman gave the Chinaman. Your logic, it is good. But it is strange that you say that Huntsman killed him when it was really I who did. Let's get it straight, huh? Oh, but, Monsieur, why should Huntsman kill him when it was Huntsman who sent him to Yorkship to buy passage so he could take the photograph to Saigon? I think you and Huntsman are talking about two different things. Why don't you get together and work it out? That I intend to do. Monsieur, it is obvious that Huntsman's words to you were false. There's no news to us. Also, it is highly possible that we three are approaching a friendly understanding. Yeah, with that gun looking at us, it's a cinch. Oh, I am sorry. But it is my business to be suspicious. Monsieur, Frederick Huntsman is attempting to extort hundreds of thousands of francs from my company. I have been assigned the duty of stopping his plans. He's got a story about a company. Oh, wait, Monsieur. The employees of most of the big rubber plantations in this part of the world are insured by my company. Huntsman is. And he also has a large personal policy. The beneficiary of both is his wife. Yeah. Now what do you think of that photograph? Proof of death, no? So that Huntsman and his wife could disappear a few hundred thousand francs richer. Here, Monsieur, my credentials and identification. George Dumier is my name. Yeah. See, Red? Things finally make sense even in Quangcha. Yeah, but a funny kind of sense for that poor Chinaman. Poor Chinaman? Oh, pardon. Huntsman paid him well to go to Saigon with the story that he was an eyewitness to the murder. I had to shoot him. He drew his weapon on me to resist as he thought arrest. Oh, but, Capitan, I apologize for the striking of your crewmen and they stopped the fugue of the police uniform to get the body so I could search it. Oh, I'll forget it to me, eh? I wish you a lot of luck. I hope you get them. Oh, I think the possibilities are very good. Since now I have you with which to bait the trap. What are you talking about? We've had enough of this, Dumier. We just want to get out of here. We're leaving at dawn. I am thinking of you, Monsieur. I'm afraid that your failure to cooperate would be classed as obstructing the course of justice. A charge like that would, of course, delay your sailing and we do not want that doing, Monsieur. That's a tough one to answer. It's a quick hot bargain, don't you? Okay. What do we do? Eh, that is better. There is one place where Huntsman will follow you. That is to your ship. If you will allow that, I will arrive soon after he does. But right now, I will go and lead the police away from your ship. Yeah, I'd like to know what they're doing around the Queen anyway. Oh, they are only looking for one who struck one of their members behind the ear, took from him his uniform and left him hiding so modestly in the shadows. C'est à dire, Monsieur. They are looking for me. He really knew his business because by the time we reached the dock, it was clear of police. The rest of the plan went all right, too. I sent all watches below. Red and I went to my cabin. Ten minutes later, Huntsman walked aboard. He was carrying his gun, innocently, into our trap. Captain, I want to talk to you. That's when I made my mistake. Hello, Huntsman. Wait a minute. What did you say? Where'd you learn my name? From Dennis. That's a lie. He didn't know my name. Move over in front of the cabin door, both of you. I haven't come this far to be stopped by anyone who stumbled into me. Stumbled, Indy. I don't remember looking you up. Who knows I followed you here. How the devil should I know? Maybe half the town, maybe more. Who'd you tell? Wait. Listen. Who's that? I don't know. Who knows I'm here? Nobody be sneaking up on you, making that much noise. Don't try to call. Oh, Captain. Captain Carny. Is he in there with you? Yay. Captain. A better answer. Yeah. Tell him if he lets you and your chief officer take me out so I can get away. I won't kill either of you. Otherwise, I will. Captain. All right. Captain, answer me. Yeah, he's here. He says if you'll let us bring him out, he won't kill us. It is no bargain. Captain, I cannot see him from any of the portholes. I would have to shoot him from the door. Don't move, Carny. Do you hear me, Captain? I am coming in to kill him now. I warn you both. Don't try anything. Monsieur, I come now. No, I warn you. As Red and I hit the deck, do me a walk jointly into the cabin. It's automatic flashing at his hip. His first shot found home, but he never stopped moving forward until he was a foot away from Huntsman. Watching his nervous fingers drop the gun. His dying body melts to the deck. My company will be very angry he is dead. Is that all you can think about? That was the craziest play I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, that's liable to get dangerous sometime. Oh, certain more. But when I looked aboard the first time quietly, I found everything bad. So, I came aboard and scared him half to death with my calmness. Yeah, well, you can have that approach, Dumier. It's not for me. Oh, but he is dead. Too bad. Yeah, what does happen when a guy is trying to defraud your insurance company and is killed by you, the investigator working on the case? Oh, we have a suicide clause. There is no payment. I told Huntsman I was going to kill him and he did not surrender. That certainly is a form of suicide. My company would be very angry if it were anything else. In the morning, Huntsman's body had been taken ashore and we cleared the tiny harbor of Fort Bayard in the face of a fresh breeze sweeping out from the mainland. The hatches were covered in snog over our first cargo. We had a place to go and the crewmen jumped to their stations to give us the sail that would take us there. And the mizzen. And the Scarlet Queen leaned into her new job with a will that sent the spray flying from her bow. Is she fair with the new weight in her skipper? Handles it like it's nothing. This girl is made for cargo work. Now, for all, where are we bound? For real? Yep. Not much of a port, but maybe we'll find something to do. Not enough excitement for you? Oh, enough to keep me glad to be alive and sail in a ship like this. You know what I mean? Yeah. She's never taken us into any place that she hasn't taken us out of. Just so that doesn't change. Here's given to the Queen, to the Scarlet Queen. After you, mate. After you. Log entry, the catch Scarlet Queen. 5.30 p.m. Wind brisk, sky overcast. Mainzal and mizzen reefed. Ship secure for night. Signed Phillip Carney. Master. The Scarlet Queen produced by James Burton is written by Gildowd and Bob Tolman. This program came to you from Hollywood.