 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill, pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Say, have you ever been forced into a difficult position by someone's mistake? It's hard to prove that you're not guilty when the facts say you are. Today's story is about John Patterson, the Ranger in charge of the Forest Service Accounting and Purchasing Office, which is located at Junction City. All purchases and all disbursements for ranger payrolls and equipment are made through this office. John has a lot of responsibility because he handles the books for the whole Northwest Ranger District. Let's drop in on John as he and his family sit down around the supper table, and we'll find out what happens in the story The Shortage. Jan, what's the matter with these biscuits? They're no different than any other time I've made them, John. Jerry, how many times have I told you not to slurp your milk? Leave the table. Go to your room and stay there until you can learn to eat like a human being. I'm sorry, Dad, it was an accident. Accident? Nothing. You've been told a thousand times about this. Go to your room. Oh, Daddy, it was an accident. The glass slipped in Jerry's hand. April, children are to be seen and not heard. Who made you Jerry's defender? Oh, Daddy, you're getting to be such a grout. We can't even talk to you anymore. Go to the playroom, children. I said Jerry's to go to his room, not the playroom. John, leave the children alone. When a man's children can't even apologize, then things are getting pretty sad state of affairs. Is that so? Yes, John. John, what's come over you the last two months? You never acted like this before. You've always been kind and loving. Before you punish the children, you always let them have their say and then make your decision as to whether they deserve punishment or not. You've always been fair before, but not anymore. I think you're sick. I don't have to stay around here and take insults from you. Where are you going? You haven't even finished your supper. I'm going out. Where? I said I'm going out. O-U-T. Bill, this is Janet Patterson. Oh, hello, Jan. What's wrong? What's John? What about John? Must be pretty serious to be calling in midnight. Bill, there's something wrong with John. Oh, I haven't seen him in several months. So this comes as quite a surprise. What's the trouble? I don't know. He won't tell me. He's been missing since right after supper time this evening. Is that right? Do you have any idea what he might be? Oh, no, I wish I did. Bill, please help him. Sure, I will. I'll get the boys. We'll be over to your place in about half an hour. Well, thank you. See you then. Keep the gas pedal down to the floor, Henry. If I get any closer to the floor, my foot will be dragging on the road. I wonder what kind of trouble John's in. Maybe I ought to say it another way. How could John get into trouble? That's what I think. He's fine Christian man. Good family man. Top ranger. I agree, fellas. How can he be in trouble? He's managing the account purchasing office with ability for the last five years. Never had a bit of trouble since he's been the boss there. Junction city. Turn your large headlights off, Henry. We'll wake people up with them. Okay, Bill. We'll be at the home in a couple of minutes now. I'll turn the emergency lights off, pal. I want to make this as quiet as possible. Cut the speed of your car and coast up to the house. We'll get out quietly and walk in. Plenty of good idea. I'll use advertising. There's something wrong. Easy does it, fellas. Hey, Jan's waiting for us. Boy, that's 140 and still no sign of John. Hello, Jan. Hello, Bill, Stumpy, Gray Wolf, Henry. Hi, Jan. Bill, he still's missing. Where could he be? What could have happened to him? Take it easy, Jan. We'll find him. We'll call you as soon as we know something definite. If he comes home in the meantime, we'll call the operator to call us on the radio telephone. She'll know what to do. All right, let's go, fellas, and quietly. The office is dark black. Well, there isn't any sign of light in the building. Stumpy, Gray Wolf, you fellas cruise around and see if you can spot John. Henry and I will take a look inside the office. Grassley can find a clue. We take careful look and pick you up in half an hour. Okay, see you later. Hey, Bill, how are you going to get into the office I've got a key, Henry. This office in my district under my jurisdiction. That's right. I'd almost forgotten about this place belonging to the Forest Service. Since John's been handling this office, we haven't had any problems. I get regular reports, and the books are audited once a year. Everything looks normal. All the desk are neat except John's. Yeah, no wonder why he left the ledgers on top of his desk. Must have worked late. Perhaps he's running his trial balances so he can have them in tip-top shape before they audit. Boy, I'll say he's been working on the ledgers. Look at the adding machine tape and the wastebasket. Hey, don't touch anything, pal. John left things the way he wanted them, and we could cause him hours of work by messing things up for him. What do you make of it, Bill? I don't know. Like you said, he sure used a pile of adding machine tape. Look here on the wastebasket. Discarded trial balance worksheets. Hey, Bill, look at this worksheet. He's out of balance here by $5,893.14. He made so many corrections on this one, he threw it out, because it wasn't legible any longer. Bill, you don't think John's having trouble with... How careful what you say, pal. You can read your mind. Now, don't you breathe a word to anyone, but Stumpy and Graywolf, what we've seen... Okay, Bill. We can't jump to conclusions. Right. To seeing these books, it's imperative that we find John as quickly as we can. If I remember correctly, the auditors will be here in two days. Honey, come this here town, a junction city, until we're blue in the face, and no John. But right. We look every place, but along riverfront. That's where we're heading now, fellas. Hey, a sheriff's car is pulling alongside. I wondered how long it would take before their curiosity got the best of them. Yeah, they're pretty sharp boys, all right. Anything that gets by them isn't worth talking about. Hello, Al. Your curiosity got the best of you? Hello, Bill, Henry, Graywolf, Stumpy. Hi, Andy. How are you doing? We've been watching you guys since the minute you come roaring into town at 1.38 this morning. You fellas are really on the job. We've got to be with rangers prowling around in the wee hours of the morning. Only joking, of course. Anything we can do to help? Not yet, Al. Please keep this under your hat or a ranger might get hurt wrongly. Joe and I haven't seen a thing that's illegal. Thanks, Al. I always consider a man innocent till I can prove him guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. Uh, John Patterson, you haven't seen him, have you? Yeah. He's been walking along the riverfront for hours. Must have plenty on his mind. Go straight down this street and you'll find him. Stumpy, you call Jan and tell her we've found him. We'll bring him home in an hour or so. I'm going out on the dock and talk to him. You fellas stay here, at least for a while. Okay, Bill. We understand. Fine. I'll see you later. Hello, John. Bill, what on earth are you doing here? Looking for you? Oh, Jan called you? Yeah. Didn't come home at midnight so she called me. She said we were radioing that we found you. That's nice of you. Man must have an awful lot on his mind to spend the whole night thinking about it along the river. Now, don't get any ideas about me being here, except to think. I'm not a coward nor am I insane. It's just that I like to walk along the river and think. Well, every man has his own liking as to where he wants to spend his time and reflection. John, you're in trouble. How'd you know? Jan says you've been different the past two months. Yes, I guess I have. Want to tell me about it? Yes. I've got to tell someone before I burst a blood vessel. The purchasing disbursing ledgers are out of balance by $5,800. $5,893.14. How do you know? We started our search at the office. I pulled some of your worksheets out of the wastebasket. You do know? Yeah. So will the auditors by the end of the week. Yeah. Then my family will be covered with this grace like a dripping mop. My family won't be able to hold their heads up. In church or in school or anywhere. Listen, John, what kind of a Christian are you anyway? What do you mean by that? Don't the Lord's promises mean anything to you? He's promised to be with us all through life. The Lord didn't promise a smooth and easy road. Yeah, but, well, I've never had it like this before. You know, in Deuteronomy, the Lord speaks to the children of Israel. He finds it necessary to refresh their memories. My saying, and thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or know. I will never leave thee or forsake thee. Mm-hmm. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Thanks, Bill. I guess I'm not like Job or the Apostle Paul. I'm not a very strong Christian. Oh, I wouldn't say that, John. You've forgotten to let the Lord carry your problems. I think we've all done that at one time or another, until we've learned that the Lord's promises are as good today as the day He gave them to us. Mm-hmm. Say it's 4.30. I'd like to get a couple of hours of sleep before I go back to the office. We're all going to get some sleep. You're going to sleep yourself out. The boys and I will open the office in the morning. Jan, you shouldn't fix breakfast for us. You're dead tired. Yes, I'm tired, Bill, but I couldn't think of letting you go to a restaurant, Tweet. Your fellows worked so hard last night. Hey, at first batch, your bacon and eggs will fit just fine on my plate. If anybody else reaches for it, they draw back a short eye. All right, all right, Stumpy, here you are. Oh, it's good to hear laughter in this house again. Two months seems such a long time to be without it. How, John, sleep? Like a baby. He needs good sound sleep so badly. I hope you understand why he's acted the way he has. Oh, I do. If only he had let me in on his problem. But I guess a good man will do anything before he'll shame his family. I'm glad you understand. It's the way men act when in a tight spot. But I wouldn't have been ashamed. There's something radically wrong with the books. I know that. So do we all. Now, our job is to prove it. How long will it take to do that? Who knows? John's a good accountant. If he can't find the error, then it's going to be rough. Could you delay the auditors? Well, I could, but I think that would be unwise. Sometimes the truth is an awful bitter pill, but it's better to swallow it as it comes. It might look worse for John if I try to hold back the audit. I don't have a good plausible reason to do so. This office has been running smoothly for five years. I see your point. We wouldn't want to do anything that would hurt John or make the problem appear worse than it is. What will the auditors do when they find the shortage? They'll make a second audit, which will also include your personal bank account. If John can't properly explain the shortage and show them a reasonable error, they'll report it to our superiors all the way back to Washington. What'll happen after that? The Secret Service will be here to make their own audit. A secret audit. If they find the charge is factual, they'll arrest John. Oh, no. Bill, you know John didn't steal any money or any material purchased through the office. Please, can't you help him? Jan, I'm John's boss. Nobody's going to trump all over my men without good reason. Our job is to find the reason why they can't. Right now, we don't have one. And rather fight a dozen forest fires than have to do this job? I've always been taught that figures don't lie. It looks like we're wasting our time, Sonny. John's figures check with ours right down the line. Yeah, I know. I've been going on the theory that John might have gotten excited when he found the difference the first time and has been making the same error ever since. Ah, that's possible. Men can work on figures in ledger till they have no meaning and do not find mistake no matter how hard you try. What do we do now? Let's each take a set of ledgers and check for a reversed entrance. What's posted as a credit will be a debit and vice versa. Carefully examine each voucher or invoice. You have good rest. Yes, thanks to you, fellows. Did you find anything? No, sorry to say. We find your figures perfect. That looks bad, John. We come to the exact difference you showed. I was afraid of that. I've checked and rechecked my figures so often I can recite the ledgers to you page by page. When are them auditors supposed to show up? Around noon tomorrow. Then my goose will be cooked. Will you stop seeing jail bars in your eyeballs? We ain't done with this yet. Hey, Bill, you're making with an idea. I can tell by that look on your face. John, I'm going to inform Colonel Anderson of this problem. What? Are you for me or against me? He'll fire me right on the spot. Simmer down, sonny. Rather, the auditors inform their superior and he calls Colonel Anderson and tells him and be minding embarrassing for the Colonel. That's right. The Colonel says he's been told it'll take the punch out of the auditor's report and save him a red face. This is Bill Jefferson, operator. Yes. Hello, Colonel. Well, that's a good right now. I'm sending a John Patterson's desk right now. I thought I'd better let you know that his books are short $5,800 in round figures. Yes, that's correct, sir. Yes, the boys and I have substantiated this fact. Right. Yes, I think you're wise in doing that, sir. All right, I'll keep you informed. Goodbye. All right, let's have it. You look like you just ate all the frosting off the cake. Bill, you're smiling. What's he have to say? He expressed appreciation for being told by us rather than the auditors, John. He's also certain that something's wrong with the books beyond your control. He's going to call the chief auditor himself and tell him to get his men here pronto. And he's also going to raise the question at the right time as to why this shortage didn't come to light sooner. Why not, Bill? But the Colonel's going on the supposition that this shortage goes back before my time in this office. That's right. Colonel wasn't born yesterday, you know. John, your book's balanced to a T except for the one amount. That could indicate an old auditing error. However, as the Colonel said, we've got to wait until the right time to pop the question. Well, this new hope you've given me is only a slim thread. But right now it's like a rope ladder to me. Now I'm anxious for the auditors to come. One of those guys is going to be finished. It's just nine o'clock. I'm getting tired of doing nothing. Ah, you not only walk. You won't have to wait much longer. Here comes the auditor now. Here it comes, fellas. Get dead, tail bird! Look out of your eyes, sonny! How much are you out of balance, Felix? How'd you know the book's done balanced? John told me. I'll have to report this at once, you know. Are you sure you can't find it? Positive. Looks like your friend here is in real trouble. Let's not jump to conclusions, Felix. The books are off $5,893.14. Is that jumping to conclusions? Well, you have a point there, all right. I gotta send a wire to my boss. We'll take this up in the morning. Well, the funeral march will be played in the morning for John Patterson. My career in the Forest Service will die a miserable death. John, I ought to punch you right in the nose for saying that. Why, I just spoke the truth, didn't I? No, you didn't. I thought you were going to trust the Lord to carry your burden for you. I forgot myself for the moment. Well, you'd better not forget again. If you think you can carry this load without the Lord's help, you're sadly mistaken. You'll never make it. Now let's go home and sleep like Christians who believe the Lord's promises. Never seen the day when Bill could sleep as late as he's sleeping this morning. Bill isn't sleeping, Stumpy. He left here an hour ago. What? You gone now? What's that? Did he say where he's going? No, John, he didn't. He had a light breakfast and slipped quietly out of the house. Then I noticed the car was gone. Why... I... Why did it... I mean, at a time like this, when I... Take it easy, John. Take it easy, sonny. Bill ain't ever let anybody down and he won't start an all. John, don't you have more faith in the Lord and in Bill than to doubt them? Yeah. Sure, Jen. I do. Let's go to the office, fellas. Hey, here's Inspector Anderson. Inspector Anderson? Yeah, he's with the Secret Service. The Secret Service? Stumpy, Grey Wolf, Henry. How are you, fellas? It's been a long time since we've talked. How are you doing, Inspector? Good to see you. Andy, this is John Patterson. How do you do? Patterson, you're in a bad spot. My boys and I are going to have a go at your books and see if we can help you. Oh, I appreciate your cooperation, Inspector. What'll happen if you can't help me? I have a warrant for your arrest in my pocket. Where's Bill? Why doesn't he show up? I thought he was my friend. It looks like he ran out on me when I needed him the most. Take it easy, John. Bill, not dessert to you. Uh-oh. Here comes Andy. Does it still look as bad as before, sonny? Yeah, but sure does, Stumpy. Mr. Patterson, I'm sorry I have to... Hold it, Abby! Hello, Bill. Good to see you again, but not under these circumstances. It's good to see you too, Andy. However, I think you're reading into this factors that are only circumstantial. Well, I disagree. I know you fight for your men, but this time you lose. I have a warrant here and I'm taking him in. If John is guilty, he'll go to jail. I'm not through trying to prove that he isn't. This gentleman with me is Dr. Cornelius Clifton. Why, you're the professor of accounting at State U. That's right, Mr. Patterson. Dr. Clifton is the outstanding accountant in this part of the country. With your permission, he'd like to look at the book, Sandy. Bill, uh, why aren't you satisfied with your finding so far? Because I know John. He's a fine Christian man and he wouldn't lie. This is a bit unusual. All right, I'll go along with it. I'll give you until noon tomorrow to find the trouble. If you can't find it then, I'll have to arrest John and take him in. You've put a doubt in my mind that John is guilty. I want to be sure he's guilty beyond a shot of a doubt before I arrest him. I hope you find him innocent. Thanks, Andy. You fellas keep the coffee and sandwiches coming. Dr. Clifton and I are gonna stick with these books until we find the trouble. Henry, bring up all the old ledgers from the basement vault. This audit is going to be from the day this office opened. I'm going to work from last year's ledgers and go back each year until we find the error. You call the entries, I'll check the ledgers. All right, I'm ready when you are. $501.62 credit, $2 debit, $3,076 debit, and $80 is reversing entry check voided. That finished the 1952 books. These are the 1950 invoices and vouchers. Hey, look at this. An invoice for $2,046.57. This invoice was voided. What's the ledger's thing? Double that is $5,093.14. Hmm, let's see now. We've found it, Bill. Your theory is right. The adjusting entry to offset the voided check is wrong. This makes a counterbalancing error. And John's innocent. Dr. Clifton, I'd never believe this if I didn't see it with my own eyes. No, no would I. It's incredible, but true nevertheless. Are both of you gentlemen satisfied? Have I satisfactorily traced this counterbalancing error through the ledgers to its discovery by John? Indeed. Of course John didn't know what hit him. I'm glad we found it. We all are, especially John. I'll never cease to praise the Lord for this miracle. Thanks to you, Bill Jefferson, for not letting me condemn an innocent man. Yeah, we can all thank the Lord that Bill stuck to his guns. The unbent affirm and his belief of John's innocence, we all would have made a mistake. Right, Stumpy. Never again will my faith in the Lord be shaken. The only shortage that actually exists is in my faith. How right you are, John. The Lord's promises never fall short. It's just that we don't make full use of them. It's a good thing that Bill had the courage to stand his ground. Boys and girls, let this be a lesson to you. Stand firm on your Christian conviction. That's what the Lord wants us to do. See you next week for more adventure with... Rangers!