 This is Conrad Nagel inviting you to stay tuned for the next half hour for one of radio's outstanding dramatic productions on Proudly We Hail Proudly We Hail Oh another Proudly We Hail one of radio's outstanding dramatic half-hours transcribed coast to coast in cooperation with this station and presented by your army and your Air Force Radio City, New York here is your host and star on Proudly We Hail the distinguished star of the theater screen radio and television Conrad Nagel One welcome again to Proudly We Hail a story of seafaring man a Conrad yes Can our play is a strange tale to see entitled the wanderer I believe it'll make for excellent listening our first act will begin in just a moment after this short but very important message Air Force enlistments have been restricted for a long time, but they're open again now The Air Force needs specialists in radar radio weather aircraft maintenance and numerous other technical fields Yes, the Air Force can train you for one of its many technical jobs Go to the nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station have a talk with the recruiting sergeant Find out for yourself the advantages you can gain by enlisting in the Air Force today And now with your star Conrad Nagel in the role of Cole McDonald Your army and your Air Force presents the Proudly We Hail production of the wanderer From out of the sea and from out of the men who follow it have come tales both strange and unexplainable Tales that bear a timelessness like the inevitable and constant surf that forever beats against a million miles of shore This is such a tale One you will be left to fathom the deeps of yourself My name's Cole McDonald The sea is my mistress like all who follow her. She's my blood I follow her from ocean to ocean port to port the things that happen to a man in the following are the things that make him or break him Was on a night just such as this in a port that for the same sounds and smells the same swirling fog The dim lights and the wetness And i'm making my way back to the ship after a glass or two that I first met the wanderer I beg your pardon, sir Hmm Who is it? What do you want? I mean no harm, sir. Then you're a sensible man. Who are you? My name is Is Carl Your ship She is the sparrow. Yeah, how'd you know that? I overheard you talking to the man in the bar. All right, so she's the sparrow What about it? I I would like to sell on her I am first class wife. I have papers here. Sorry manny. We got a full crew. Where's your own ship? She left without me, sir. I was sick. You mean drunk, huh? Well, maybe a little bit You know how it goes sometimes. Yeah, yeah, well, that's tough Even though we could use you. I'm only the first mate captain does the hiring Oh, I see The captain of your ship Who is he captain anders Does he wear a beard a short man's square with small eyes pale blue A scar running from point the jaw. Hey, who is he your brother? That's him. All right No, sir. He's not my brother I sailed with him once the name was familiar Well, if you know him come along back to ship with me. He's a board. Maybe you'll find a place for you Thank you, sir Good night, sir Hey Hey, hey yo Wow He was gone into the fog riddled night as suddenly as he'd come out of it a big man taller than my own six feet In the darkness, I've not been able to see his face clearly, but I felt the strength of him in the sound of his voice Nor was his voice that of an ordinary wiper But then the sea plays no favorites the way a man talks is of no consequence to her And I pulled the collar of my p-jagged up around my throat and my bow way back to the ship Yes, sir It wasn't hard to tell or smell that the captain had been hard at it When he was like that a man had to steer close to the wind keep his temper batten down Cap mandir's sober was a Surly unfriendly but efficient master He was a good sailor. You couldn't take that from him drunk He was loud our humanity than salty and generally nasty There was something down deep locked within eating at the man Every now and again I'd catch a glimpse of the torture in his eyes and it was no pretty thing to see The lady's been taking to the bottle with a rather monotonous frequency Step into my cabin, mr. Maid Step in how are you doing with your captain? Is it all or that's easy Okay, how were things the short one I like always sir like always Yes, like all nothing changes outside He's only within Here do this down your hatch We have our sailing order to be putting out from the morning sky. Good nap Hell sir my health My health my health by all means Not so good, you know Cancer. Oh, no, no, not the kind to think Not that kind No cure either No cure on his earth or sea In this poor poor any poor no cure on me It's deadly sense All a man can expect Deadly think Of the dark Well, you're looking at me like that for mr. Maid night. I don't follow you too well, sir. You know, hey And you know, I don't believe that I think you follow me very well Yes You don't show much No, you don't show much but I can see you notice And you think You think mcdonald Did you get drunk tonight mcdonald? You don't look drunk to me. No, I didn't get drunk. Sure. Well, what did you do then? Have you a pretty girl as you're afraid not sir. Well, then why go? You did nothing You went to show and you did nothing On the way back to the ship I I met a man who said he'd sailed with you. Yeah, you don't tell me A small world, huh, mr. Maid And who was this fine fellow? Why didn't you bring him up for a drink? Well, I don't know who he was He said his name was carl. I think he was Danish like you. He's What? Oh, what's the matter, sir? You We were three days off and I met the wanderer again I would have forgotten him completely had it not been with the scene I had with the captain that last night in port The captain made no further mention of it. He was sober, unfriendly and withdrawn and I Was curious At that mention of a man's name and his nationality. Why had the captain turned into a madman with Terror-filled eyes. Why big pardon, sir. Yeah, what is it black? Sir, we got a stowaway on board found him in the after hole said he wanted to see you sir What where is he? Well, they're bringing him up now, sir Well, of all the who the devil is he? Oh, no, sir said he wouldn't talk to no one but you Swanson take over come along Stowaway as if I didn't have enough to He was the same man who'd stopped me on the docks Now in the light on the heaving deck of the ship He looked like a throwback to the biking days Unconquerable was the word that found itself through my anger You got anything to say? I had to come aboard, sir. What for what's so appealing about this tub? It's where you're bound, sir. Copenhagen There was no other way Well, maybe you'll work your way to Copenhagen like you never worked before when we get there the authorities can decide What to do with you the captain's going to love this. Yes Yes, sir You'll love it And we got a stowaway here sir Listen, you may have sailed with him, but if I were you I wouldn't say anything out of turn I don't think it'll be necessary A long time Get him away from me put him in arms, sir. What charge Kind of cramp miss cubby isn't it not much of a prison I don't mind mr. Mcdonald You weren't kidding when you said you knew the captain. No, no, I wasn't kidding The guy I don't like holding you like this would Would you care to tell me what it's all about? For a long time now. I have been a wanderer on the face of the earth I have gone from port to port Ship to ship Always seeking always looking For one man in the haystack of the world It's been a long pilgrimage, but now it's over. I have found He said you were a murderer. What about it? He knows the truth of that statement Why should I bother to deny it? Well, can you prove it? I won't have to Mr. Mcdonald sometimes words are useless Sometimes all the words have been said What lies between your captain and myself came out of words and the feelings that produced them Feelings that were too strong to die even after the words were lost echoes in the mind You didn't stow away to get to copenhagen did you that should be obvious now, don't you think yes What of the captain he hasn't come out of his cabin since you met he's drunk dead drunk There's no place left to hide and no place in his brain where he can go to forget You feel sorry for him? No, I am driven by something strong Revenge he did something to you a promise A promise that will not let me rest. Mr. Mcdonald, Mr. Mcdonald a second wants you on the bridge Look, I've I've got to go. We'll talk more later. Maybe you'll tell me what it's all about Thank you for your concern, mr. Mcdonald We didn't talk more later as you'd expect When I got up to the bridge, I found the second was worried about the captain For the sake of the well-being at the ship. I couldn't blame him I don't like it mac. It's getting the men on edge. Yeah, you've got any suggestions Well, let's go in and quiet him down if you happen to be captain of the ship You want to risk a court of inquiry because he's got a belly full He's had his belly full for the past two days. Well, that's his right As long as he doesn't interfere with the running of the ship He can stay in there and drink till he turns into a rum keg for all I care If he comes out here and starts giving orders, we'll have to take action Otherwise I say let him bathe He can only drink so much that he'll pass out Yeah, I don't get it. The crew says he took one look at the stowaway and turned green They thought he's gonna have a fit Block says he's never seen a man shrivel up with fear like that. Who is the bird anyway? I don't know Evidently they used to know each other Take the bridge break out those hoses Don't stand there You want to be blown to kingdom come All hands far all hands far Nagel starring in the role of cole mcdonald in the proudly we hail production the wanderer will return in just a moment for the second act I have a message for the young men of america and list in the united states air force by doing this right now When the air force is expanding you have the opportunity to really get ahead The air force needs specialists in radar radio weather aircraft maintenance and numerous other technical fields Yes, the air force can train you for one of its many technical jobs Go to the nearest army and air force recruiting station Have a talk with the recruiting sergeant and find out for yourself the advantages you can gain by enlisting in the air force now You are listening to proudly we hail and now with your star conrad nagel in the role of cole mcdonald We present the second act of the wanderer Any fire on board ship is bad Blaze on a fully loaded tankers pure hell pumps flaming terror into the heart It takes pure law guts to stand on the heated deck of a monstrous time bomb and squirt ineffectual streams of chemicals into an inferno Some men have that kind of courage others don't Mac some of the port watch are making for the boats get them back on those boats get them on the hoses You've got a gun use it if you have to it's no good mac we got to get off She's gonna blow sure his face. Have you seen the captain? No, I think he's still in his cabin All right get back to your men keep them out of the boats I'll get the command to abandon this ship. No one leaves before that. Yeah. Yeah, what is it block? We can't hold this sir. She started to move back if she reaches the cargo part hold. Yes, sir. No good All right start flooding the main hole the main you hit me get at it block wait Where's the stowaway? I don't know sir. He I guess he's still below tell the second He's in command till I get back but sir what went down Down into the ship and the smoke thick and oily came along choking choking me I stumbled along through its suffocating folds until I reached the cramped quarters where he'd been held Hey, hey, it's all right, man I'll have you out in a second hold on It was then I noticed the bulkhead door was swinging open I wasted precious seconds Wearing and fuming in the knowledge that I'd left the deck to come down and free a man who'd already been set free I made my way after the smoke was not so thick and climbed back up onto the deck Well, I could see at a glance that we'd lost the uneven fight If we wanted to live we had to get off the sparrow and fast Prepare to abandon ship leave the hoses Get to your boat sessions all hands Abandon ship What happened? Why are you being where's the stowaway? I haven't seen him. He must be no. No. He's not. I just came from there How about the captain? He's still up there. Come on. We got to get to him Abandon ship get your boats in the water. What are you waiting for? Come on captain open up or we'll break it down. Come on snap out of it. He's got the screaming memies stand back That won't be necessary. Mr. McDonald. You what the devil goes on here put down that gun. Mr. McDonald in you, sir I think you'd better get off in a hurry. He's going to blow up any minute. What are you going to do? Stay here and blow up with her I'm going to keep the captain company. He's mad. I'm coming in. I'm sorry, sir I've been hit before any number of times but nothing in this world ever hit me quite so hard as his fist I was out before I hit the deck and went sprawling down the companion way Well, I came to and one of the boats the last boat to leave the ship I sat up groggily and as we pulled strongly away from the burning sparrow I saw great towers of flames shot up through the black mushrooming clouds of smoke She was a fire from deck to waterline But my eyes were glued to the door of the captain's cabin just after the bridge I don't know what I expected to see But suddenly the door was flung open and I saw angles leap through the entrance and start for the rail But before he could reach it the wanderer came for behind and grabbed him fast For an instant or for an eternity they stood locked together the flames licking upward about them Two figures struggling on the brink of danties inferno A cloud of black smoke blotted them out And then the sparrow blew Well, you might have thought that was the end of it But that's what I thought when we were picked up two days later As for captain Anders a court of inquiry handed down the verdict of death by a person unknown for reasons unknown The newspapers of course made a big play of it. It was a story to stimulate the imagination None of the crew admitted setting the stowaway free when the ship caught fire So an added touch of mystery was thrown in I was willing to leave it at that but Something within me was not Often I'd find myself going back back over the conversations I'd had with both men On the long night watch with the wind wailing its dirge through the superstructure and the ship healing over the forces of the sea I'd hear again the calm voice of the man I called the wanderer I'd hear captain Anders shouting wildly and I'd see the terror in his small haunted eyes What was there about the whole thing that would not let me rest? What was there about the wanderer not like other men? It was over a year later that I found the answer in a Dublin bar quite by accident Willie I'm glad I ran into you. Hey, it's been a long long time between beers Like you make me cry when I think of those days the great convoys the run to murmur months one torpedo and burp And now look look at everything better to look in your beer. Yeah. Yeah better to let the sea wind blow the parts from the head You know, I hear about you. I hear about when your ship go poof. She went poof. All right Yeah, just like in the old days your captain. He go down with the ship. Yeah. Yeah, something like that Did you read about him too? I have a small interest in cold mcdonald I hear some crazy story You got no place to go or you tell me Well, you um You get as four more beers and I'll tell you. Yeah, that is good And so I told my old shipmate willy-lyn pours the whole story When I was through I was dry and I'd drain my fear before I noticed his reaction He was staring at me There was a look on his face A look of disbelief and behind that fear In the dim smoky light. I noticed his knuckles were white over his clenched fists Yeah Yeah, I know it's quite a yarn, but it's true all of it. You You don't understand It can't be true I tell you mac it can't be true. Oh, you've got a snook for willy I just got through telling you what happened. You don't think I made it up. No No, you couldn't do that mac Mac, I knew those two men both of them Your description There could be no two others just like that could there Could there mac I don't know willy But what about them? Who are they? I've been wondering for a long time They They came from my village This captain Anders with the scar His His real name was alborg The other The other was Carl Sander. Oh, and I guess they didn't like each other very much. No, you mustn't interrupt I must tell you this back Back when Denmark was first and paid Carl stuck at an underground group He ran arms in from England. It was very dangerous Carl had a wife Karen She was lovely I had two children Hans von Lisa Alborg he was a big man in the village captain He he hated Carl because he wanted Karen for himself He informed to the Germans One one night they came The snowing and the wind crying they made everyone get up Then they brought out Carl's wife and the two children And They shot them there in front of us. No, I'm not finished Alborg was there too The german commandant told us alborg was the informer He did it to show us we could not trust our own people If we could have gotten to alborg we would have torn him to bits with our hands The Germans kept him from us Before they took him away Carl Carl you mean you mean he was there too? Yes They made him watch while they shot his family over the lover Carl stood between two guards His clothes were torn He had been beaten badly But he stood like a man As long as I live I'll never forget his voice And the way he looked with his wife and children lying in the snow in front of him Alborg the curse of the devil on you Well, he kept his word didn't they and who can blame him? Yeah But how did he keep it? How could he keep it? Oh, what do you mean? Do you think the Germans let him go? They shot him down Just like they did his wife and children But that can't be willy I know But I helped to bury him I was there I know I didn't dream it not tell me we are both mad Hmm willy you know what I think what? I think we better have a drink From out of the sea and from out of the men who follow it have come tales both strange and unexplainable Tales that bear a timelessness like the inevitable and constant surf that forever beats against a million miles of shore Our comrade nagle will return with a word about next week's show in just a moment You air force veterans listening to our show when you hear the sound of planes in the air or a flight of air force planes Winging through the sky doesn't it make you a little bit homesick? Well, if it does hear some good news for you for you veterans with experience and special training are needed now You can enlist with your old grade or better Skip basic training and be assigned initially to a nearby air force base And this deal holds good for veterans of other branches of the service too If they've had the kind of special training the air force needs If you've had training and experience in such fields as radio radar maintenance Weather armament photography and many others you can build a fine future in our fast growing air force But why not get all the facts? Just stop at your nearest united states army and united states air force recruiting station And find out where you are needed in the world's greatest air force enlist now On proudly we hail presenter transcribed in cooperation with this station by the united states army and united states air force recruiting service Proudly we hail stars conrad nagle the wanderer was written by duet cop The music was composed and conducted by john guanieri This program was produced under the supervision of charles and rogers production and was directed by charles wilkes This is kenneth banghardt speaking and here again is your host and star Conrad nagle. We hope you'll join us next week over the same station for proudly we hail Our play takes us to the southwestern united states for a tale of three desperate men and a desert chase entitled The desert's edge until then Goodbye