 The Clyde Batey Show! The world's greatest wild animal trainer Clyde Batey with an exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means thrills, excitement, gnarling jungle beasts. The circus means fun for young folks and old. But under the big top, you see only a part of the story. The real drama comes behind the scenes where 500 people live as one family, where Clyde Batey constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth. This master of the big cats has journeyed to Africa and India, hunting down his beasts in their native jungle. All of this is part of the Clyde Batey story. It is entitled, Elephant Stampede. This was Africa. No sun reached the river through the roof of trees. The stream lived in a perpetual dusk. The air was moist, humid, and a mist rose from the river as though this mighty land of mystery would hide her face from strangers. Insects and flies formed about our heads as the natives guided our crafts down the treacherous stream. My English friend Dr. Ramsey Albright, sitting beside me in the lead canoe, waved to Harriet in the second crab. Locked up Clyde, but your wife's holding up like an old campaigner. She looks so tiny, buried in all those boxes and bundles. Maybe we should have brought her up in this canoe. We're the pioneers, old man. We scout the way to see that our precious belongings may safely follow. If anything happened to Harriet, I'd... No, don't worry. Old Wango's son, Boku, is a skilled boatman. I hope so. This river is no calm mill pond. That's why I put Boku in charge of the second canoe. Don't forget that equipment is precious too. If we lost that, we'd surely have to abandon this elephant hump. Lucky for us, you were in Nairobi and free to come along, Ramsey. Lucky for me, you mean. I couldn't afford making a safari. Then you pop up with one ready-made and I get a free vacation. And we get a free medical. Who knows Africa? Glad to have a doctor along. Very satisfactory arrangement all around, I should say. Water. Come fast, water. Rocks. Mingesana. Wango served as a rapid ahead with many rocks. What do we do now? May have to portage round it. What do, Wango? Carry boat, maybe? Too long, carry. We ride canoe. Can do. He says we can run the rapids. Well, here's where we pioneer. We go first, Wango. Boku and Missy follow. Yes, Buona. Boku know we always go first. Harriet, there's a rapids ahead. We're going to run it. Your canoe will follow. Here's where we shoot the shoots. Wango's telling them to keep to the right. There's a whirlpool that's stuck us under at the foot of the rapids. Look out, there's sharp rocks. Look at that whirlpool. I'd hate to land in that. Oh, man, oh, man, what a ride that was. Wango knows his stuff. Boku, Missy, come. Look out, Boku. More to the right. To the right. Watch that sharp rock. Boku. Boku to the right. Watch the whirlpool. Boku to the right. Watch it, Boku. You're going over. You are listening to the Clyde Baty Show. And now back to Elephant Stampede, an exciting adventure from the life of Mr. Circus himself. Clyde Baty. Clyde and Harriet Baty, with their English friend Dr. Ramsey Albright, are traveling by canoe down a rushing African stream. Clyde and Ramsey safely ride through a swirling rapids. But Harriet's canoe is overturned and she is plummeted into a raging whirlpool. Take a Harriet. Wait, you'll only be swept under with her. Wango. Yes, brother. Hold both coast to whirlpool. Quick. Use poles. Kill boys. What are you doing? Getting her over. I'm going in right now. Wait. Get this rope around you. I'll tie it. Hurry. She's going under. That'll hold. I'm coming, Harriet. Wango, use poles. Keep both close as you can. Just water. Swirl to your left side, to your left. Let the stream carry you to her. What a Baty like fishing water. You'll have to be to fight that under, Toe. Water. Look. Look. Missy. He's got her. Quick, Wango. Help me. Pull. Pull on rope. I pull. Pull, Wango. Pull. That's it. Grab it, Ramsey. How about that? I've got to hang on to the boat while we pull her in. Nothing, Clyde. Give me your hand. Up you come. Harriet. Are you all right? I think so. But my hair must be a mess. If she can worry about what she looks like, she's all right. Clyde. Ramsey. What about Boku and the others? Boku and boys all seem like water snakes. See? Already safe on shore. Pull into shore, Wango. We'll build a fire, and while these people are getting dried out, we'll try to salvage some of that equipment. Well, Mrs. Baty, feeling better? I'm all right. We're okay, Ramsey. What about our stuff? Well, the boys salvage some canned goods on the camp equipment. The blanket and canvas will have to be dried out. What about the canoe? Oh, it's not damaged seriously. I hope the stuff we sent by truck arrived in... what's the name of that town? Buti Alba. It's not a town really, just a village. We crossed Lake Albert there to Cassani in the Belgian Congo. Oh, what? More water? Maybe we should have gone with the stuff by truck. I wouldn't have missed that swim for anything. It was so refreshing. But all this water, I thought Africa was a land of desert. We all find desert enough and jungle too in the Congo. Are we ready to start again? Well, we'll come here tonight. Buti Alba's less than a day away. No need to hurry. No, I guess the elephants will wait. They've been waiting for centuries. And there'll be elephants in the Congo for centuries to come. Time seems to mean so little in all this vastness. Africa's so big, it's almost frightening. And there's very real danger in Africa. Make no mistake about that. That's why I wired Jim Bradford to meet us in Buti Alba. Bradford knows the elephant country, doesn't he? No one knows it better. He's the best white hunter in the Congo. And that's important. On an expedition like this, your success or failure, sometimes your very life depends on the ability of your guide. So this is Buti Alba. I must say it's not much to look at. Well, compared to some of the native villages we'll be seeing soon, Buti Alba is a metropolis. Looks like the whole population turned out to see its land. Wango. Set up camp over there, close to those trees. Come along, Clyde. Just take a walk down to the compound and see if our equipment arrived. Harriet, maybe you'd better wait here. We won't be long. Fine. I'll supervise setting up camp. I don't trust Wango's house. Yeah, be sure to see that Wango boils the drinking water. No. Can't understand where Bradford is. Maybe he's waiting with our stuff. Maybe he'd have come down to the landing. Well, anyhow, I hope our equipment got here after losing so much in the river we need it badly. We'll soon know. That tin roof building up there is the warehouse. Looks like it's closed up. Well, I have to keep everything locked up tight around here. The natives will cart off anything that's loose. Watch your step on this platform. Board floors don't last long in this climate. You may crash right through. It doesn't seem to be anybody around. The warehouse man is probably asleep inside. Well, if he can sleep through that, he's a... What up? Do you speak English? In Gracie, me. I speak him very much good. We're looking for the agent. Me? I am agent. We should have some equipment here. Came by truck. Ship to Clyde Betay. Betay? Yes, sir. Very much equipment's come for. What up, Betay? Good. You come in. You see. Oh, might as well check it over, Clyde. Then we'll send one girl and the boys to pick it up. Pleased to come in. You know Warner Bradford? Brad Ford. Not no. Big Hunter. Catumeliford. Big. Not no. He was to meet us here in Butiaba. No stranger come long term. Anybody leave a message here for us? No message for Betay. Truck bring letter from Tororo. Not for Betay. Letter for... Abrite. Abrite, you mean. That's my name. Have you got the letter? I get. I get. You wait. Well, Ramsey, looks like our stuff is all here. Good. Here. Here. Letter. Tough luck. From Bradford? Yeah. He can't take the job. Already engaged with a party of big game hunters in Uganda. What do we do now? I mean, we can do, but cross to Kasenye and hope to pick up a hunter there. Why don't these fellas hurry? We'll be tied up here all night. All is a lot of bother with the customs people here in Kasenye. What do they think we are? Smugglers? Well, if Bradford had met us in Butiaba, he'd cleared us through in no time. He's in with the right people. Oh, there. You having some trouble? No, just the usual fuss and bother with the customs. Well, maybe I can help you. Carlton's my name. Sid Carlton. Oh, I'm Albright. This is Clyde Batey. Batey? I've heard of you. Circus man, aren't you? Yeah. We hope to capture some elephants in the Congo. I take hunting parties out myself. Know these custom Johnny's and be glad to help you out. You're a guide? I'll call it that if you like. I'm a professional hunter. Do you know Jim Bradford? Oh, Jim. Sure. Good man. Getting on, though. He's the best in this part of Africa. Well, I'm not bad myself. I do say so. Ask anybody in Cassini. Bradford, you're a man? We wanted him, but he's busy. And you need a man? I'm free for three or four weeks. You know the elephant country? I've been there. It's a nasty trip from Cassini. I have to go through the pygmy country. They're bad medicine. Would you take us there? Sure. I'll take you anywhere in Africa. What do you say, Ramsay? All right, I guess. Then you got yourself a man. Just leave this customs business to me. I'll take care of everything. You'll never be sorry you hired Sid Carlton. Hey, John. Hope you won't. How about you and the baby party, please? Won't what? Be sorry we hired him. Maybe I'm prejudiced, but I don't like the looks of Sid Carlton. You drank today? No, I'm fine. What do you think of the native village, Mrs. Baby? I'm glad we camped this far away, Mr. Carlton. That chief gives me the creeps. Old Maba? Ah, he's all right. You're a friend of mine. Only two things he hates, pygmies and lions, as lion pits dug all around the village. Lion pits? Yeah, traps covered with brush. Watch out, you don't tumble into one. Well, I guess I'll turn in. We'll be in pygmy land tomorrow. The Eatery Forest? Yeah, ought to hit the river at the border by noon. Hello. What's up? It sounds like Maba's boys have caught something in a lion pit. Come on. I hear you. Watch your step. Remember, those pits are all around us. They're hauling something out of that pit. Well, that's no cat. It's a child. No, Mrs. Baby, it's not a child. Maba's boys have caught themselves a pygmy. Maba's fame. He says the pygmies are their enemies. This one must be killed. Oh, no. They can't do that. They can't kill a poor little man. Clyde, stop them. Better keep out of it, Mrs. Baby. These natives hate pygmies. Oh, not keep out of it. I'm going to stop them. Come on, Ramsay. We'd better go with her. She's taking an awful risk, Mr. Baby. You got a gun, Carlton? Sure. Give it to me. I can use it if necessary. Give it to me. This is my responsibility. Okay. Maba? Where is Maba? What are you going to do with that man? Bad man. We kill. You mustn't do that. Be careful, Mrs. Baby. Be careful what you say. You tell Maba what he do. Nobody tell Maba. Maba, chief. Maba, Missy mean no harm. What don't you understand? It's wrong to kill another man. Man kill Maba's people. Maba kill. Are you sure this man killed your people? No matter. Man's people kill Maba's people. We kill him. Oh, Clyde, what can we do? That jewelry you're wearing. Maybe you can buy them off. Oh, yes. Look, Maba. Necklace. You like? Yes. I like. If I give you the necklace, will you let man go? No, man must die. No use, Mrs. Baby. We better get back to camp. No, wait, wait. Maba, Maba, look. Ring for ear. You trade man for necklace and ring. No. Give necklace and rings. You'll take man. We'll have to keep our eyes open. When we reach the other bank of that river, we'll be in pygmy land. So that's the aturi forest. Hmm. Gloomy-looking place. Looks as though no man had ever stepped inside its borders. Hmm, Bill, if you white men have and live to tell the story. Oh, come now, Ramsey. It's true, Clyde. It looks impenetrable, but it's honeycombed with trails. That's right. Those little men scuttle around in there like rats in a burrow. They may be small, but the pygmies are deadly, one of the fiercest races on the earth. I wish you'd stayed in Nairobi, Harriet, as I suggested. Where you go, I go, Clyde. Remember? But Harriet, anything should happen. Now don't start that again. If I can handle myself in the arena with the cats, I can take care of myself in pygmy land. One scratch from a poisoned arrow where spear is fatal, Mrs. Baby. We must stay close together, all of us, and we enter that forest. I wonder if we'll see the little man you'd from Maba that you suppose he's in the forest? If you see him, he'll probably turn loose a poisoned door at you. I don't believe it. He was so grateful. Even tried to tell me his name. Salu or something. Buona! Buona! Better we go back. What's the matter, Wongo? Look, on Riverbank ahead, see spear stuck in ground, spear with ball of red feathers on top. I see it. What does it mean? You expected gratitude from a pygmy, Mrs. Baby. That spear is a warning. A warning of death. We'll bring you the exciting second act of the Clyde Batey show in just a moment. But first, a word from our sponsors. For now, act two of Elephant Stampede, an exciting adventure from the life of Mr. Circus himself, Clyde Batey. Clyde and Harriet Batey and their party on an elephant hunt in Africa reached the border of pygmy land only to find a grim warning. A warning of death to all who enter. Beyond the river to the right and left of the narrow trail, the jungle crowded in. Behind us it closed upon our passage as though we'd never existed. And there ahead in the silent tangle of trees and creepers, every tree trunk, every tortured bush might mask a hidden enemy. We were in pygmy land. We'd passed the border. And always in our minds was the pygmy's warning. A warning of death. Every step I take, I feel that something out there in the bush is keeping step with me. Nothing could get through that tangle, Harriet. A pygmy code or a hundred pygmies? It's like a nightmare. Everywhere I look, I feel unseen eyes looking back at me. Nonsense, Harriet. You're letting this thing get you. Only they do something. Beat their drums like other savages. Anything. I think I'd scream with relief. I'll be glad to see the last of the atury forest myself. How much farther must we go to get out of this horrible place? Well, not far, according to Carlton. There's a rolling plain less than an hour away. We camp there tonight and tomorrow we go for our elephants. How do you know there'll be elephants there? There are always elephants on that plain, but usually the hunters come in from the other way. It's easy traveling across the grasslands. If we capture any bulls, we'll take them out that way. Hold up. Boku, get chopping knives. Here, one go. Take guns. What's the trouble up there? Fail is blocked. Big tangler thorn bush. Boys will have to chop the way through. Blocked. I don't understand that. This is no game trail. It's been kept open by man. Yes, by the pygmies. Otherwise, the gun would have been tougher. The jungle quickly reclaims its own. That's just the point. I think that roadblock was made by the pygmies. It may be a trap. We'd better keep close together. And keep your guns handy. Now, come on. Let's move up. Clyde. What is it, Harriet? I have the most awful feeling. I feel like all those unseen watches were moving in on us. Come on. Come on. Come up ahead. Water, boku, big snake, gun, boku. It's a python. Oh, it's sharp. I can't. I might hit boku. It's a chopping knife. Maybe we can cut it loose. Sorry, water. Big snake, nice boku, like bird. Give me that knife, one go. Here, here, take that knife. Rest of you boys, flash those coils. Now, be careful. Don't hit boku. Ramsay, chop it at him. I can't get a clear swing. Hurry, man. The boku's about done for. Yeah, man, get it. Cut his head on us all. That's silly. Come on, you boys. Pull these coils loose. Easy now. Easy now. Boku's pretty badly smashed up. Pull him free. Easy now. I'll take a look at him. Rest of you boys, drag this snake out of the way. Ramsay, boku, clicky. He's still alive. One arm seems broken, and I can feel some smashed ribs. We better get him out of here. We're only about a half hour from the plane. We'll have to make a hammock. Carry him. That'll take longer. And we better get going. We don't want to spend another night in this forest. How's boku tonight, Ramsay? Resting easily. I sleep now. I set his arm and taped his ribs. Will he be able to travel when we pull out of here? It depends on when we leave. Located your elephants yet? Yes. Wango recruited some more boys with some tame bulls to handle the wild ones when we catch them. The scouts are working a herd slowly toward the cliff over there. When will you be ready for the drive? Tomorrow morning. Wango has the stockade finished now. Sit the west end of that cliff. Oh, why there? To save time. Only have to build one wing. Drive the bulls between the flaring wing and the cliff, and they'll have to go into the stockade. I guess I'll have to miss the drive. Can't leave boku alone in camp tomorrow. Where do you and Harry have gone to watch from? Oh, that bunch of scraggly trees against the cliff there. Carlton says there'll be a swell spot to watch the fun. Better take along an elephant gun. Wouldn't be fun if the bulls turned on you. You know, Carlton says the pygmies hunt elephants with darts and spears. Carlton would say that. Ask him if the pygmies tickle them to death. When I face a ton or two of tusker, I want a good heavy gun. Look at that, Harriet. Old Wango's boys sure know their business. They got that whole herd of bulls on the run. Oh, they're big ones, aren't they? Yeah, we'll get some fine specimens. They're headed straight for the stockade. I hope the elephants don't see us here. If they charged us, we'd be trapped. We could never climb that cliff, and back there was to get away. Don't worry. They'll never spot us here in the bushes. Carlton picked a good spot for us to watch and drive. Get behind me, Harriet. I'm going to have to... I missed him. You're bargaining for the life of that little brown man. He was alive to save us. These are the pygmies that Sid Carlton said would never show gratitude. Before we return with a preview of our next thrilling Clyde Beatty show, here is a message. Here is a preview of the next Clyde Beatty adventure. Cage Boy. Telegram for your Clyde. Oh, just a copy of what they read me over the phone, I guess. Maybe you misunderstood. No, that's the same thing. Kegler fired Jimmy because he suspected him of... Wait a minute. Look at this. The top line. Mr. Clyde Beatty, care of Clyde Beatty's circus legs. No, no. I mean, look where this was filed, Cleveland. You mean this was sent from right here in the city? Exactly, and the Thorndike shows are in Memphis. Then what on Earth? Somebody's framed Jimmy. We can talk about it later, Harriet, but right now I've got to find that kid. You know whether or not he's left a lot yet. Oh, yes, I saw him leave. Zeno was outside, and he stopped to talk to him. Zeno. Harriet, did they leave together? I'm not sure, but I think they did. Clyde, where are you going? To find them, Harriet. I hope I'm not too late. Yes, there's real drama in the story of Cage Boy. Maybe I have a soft spot because I remember my first job so well, as Cage Boy with a Haynes Great London Circus. I was 15 at the time, and that job was the next thing to heaven. Our next adventure tells what happened to one Cage Boy when he became the victim of a vicious rival. This story was based upon incidents from the career of the world famous Clyde Batey and the Clyde Batey Circus. The Clyde Batey show is produced by Shirley Thomas. Elephant's Stampede was written by Don Thompson. All names used were fictional, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a Commodore production.