 Remember a hallmark card when you care enough to send the very best Tonight from Hollywood the makers of hallmark greeting cards bring you miss Martha Scott in Rose Wilder Lane's free land on the hallmark playhouse Each week hallmark will bring you Hollywood's greatest stars in outstanding stories chosen by one of the world's best known authors The distinguished novelist mr. James Hilton Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is James Hilton Tonight on our hallmark playhouse. We have a story admirably suited I would say to the mood of all of us tonight the mood of Thanksgiving It's good to have this mood in which we can look around us and feel without any smugness or self-satisfaction That we are lucky people and that the luck began as indeed most luck does through hard work and sacrifice These are among the great things we remember today and few stories could be more appropriate than the one we present tonight a story by Rose Wilder Lane entitled free land and For that matter there is appropriateness also in Miss Lane's having written this fine story Since she was born in the Dakota Territory and her mother was one of the original pioneers who had come out from the east in the old homesteading days This virile background lends an inspired quality to the story We tell tonight and we're additionally privileged to have in the starring role one of Hollywood's most charming and distinguished Actresses Miss Martha Scott Now Frank us would you take over for a moment, please for a Christmas greeting your friends will long remember Make your selections now from the complete hallmark collection on display at the friendly store where you buy hallmark cards Whatever your taste whatever your budget you'll take special pride in sending hallmark cards And on the back of everyone is the identifying hallmark that says you cared enough to send the very best Hallmark Playhouse starring Martha Scott in Rose Wilder Lane's free land The phrase was on everyone's lips and it had an exciting adventurous sound to it One stood at evening looking west across the well-tilled fruitful acres of Minnesota wondering about it Wondering about Dakota and what treasures might be in store for those who went west to claim that free land One stood and wondered if David and then one turned and went quietly in and shut the door against the thought To lose David would be to lose all hope for the future I'm a little late getting here tonight. Mary. I was talking to my father. I wasn't sure you were coming David What's in the kettle? Apple butter smells good Where are your folks? They went over to cousin Lars And Murray Do you have to stay out here in the kitchen stirring the jelly not jelly apple butter? Yes, it might stick Oh, well, I wanted to tell you something But I didn't want to tell you in front of a kettle of apple butter I think you can depend on the kettle of apple butter not to repeat it. I'm going west homesteading Father's letting me go and he's giving me white foot and star So I'll have a good team and he's loaning me the money to start out on. Oh, well, that's nice That's very nice David. I sure hope you'll be very happy I'm going to yanked in tomorrow to file on a claim for $14 and a half I'll get me a quarter section and I can have another quarter section by promising to set out ten acres of trees and cultivate them for five years I'll have three hundred and twenty acres three hundred and twenty and then next week I'm going out to take possession of the claim. I thought I'd build a shanty on it and then come back by Thanksgiving For you for me Well, of course, you didn't think I'd go without you David David Mary I I'm not one of those romantic guys that know how to make a lot of fancy speeches But I do love you And I'll do my best to provide for you and make a good home If you'll marry me. Oh David, I'll be so happy to marry you. Oh The apple butter it's burning quick. Help me take it off the stove Burnt apple butter burnt fingers and burning beautiful sparks of excitement deep inside of me And at last the words were mine that I've been waiting for all my life To have and to hold To love and to honor for saking all others so long as we both shall live It was Thanksgiving morning and the world was at its beginning After the wedding David and I got on the train. We were on our way to new country new land and a new life That the ride ended and David took my arm and helped me across the frozen street to the hotel Early the next day David piled our things in a big wagon sleigh, and we started for our claim The strings of sleigh bells on the horses added a bright gay music to the morning And it seemed to me as the horses race towards the horizon that we were flying into the future and and the whole world belonged to us But in the afternoon a level gray cloud began to stretch towards us and the wind began to rise There's a railroad camp down there. I hope we can make it before the storm breaks. What do you bet we do? Hold on darling hold on The storm hit there was no direction to it Winds came violently from all sides even upward and down the snow was blinding Horses plotted ahead gradually. I felt the pain of cold leaving my ears and cheeks And I rubbed them and slapped them it was impossible to speak Finally the horses stopped David shoved me out of the sled hang on to the sled don't let go for a minute I'm gonna cut the horses loose. They'll have to shift for themselves Then we'll unload the sled and try to turn it over Keep rubbing your face with snow David Not nearly as bad under here funny. I Remembered my father telling me about turning a wagon sled over once during a snowstorm and getting under it I'm sure glad he told me that story pretty soon. We're gonna be buried in the snow We'll make out all right. It's no is warm and there's air in it. We can live quite a while that way Move over so I can put my armor on you Love me. Oh David. I love you more than any woman ever loved any man anywhere in the world What are you laughing at? I'll bet you're the only woman anywhere in the world who told a man that under a sled in the snowstorm Somewhere down underneath all this snow and is the land our land Someday we'll look out through our windows and remember this You'll remember this snowstorm. Mr. Beaton I'll remember you Let me help you up. Is the storm really over come on out from under that sled and take a look Peters mr. Peters Came out to look for you Your team drifted in three nights back. I got them stable much obliged. This is my wife Mary This is mr. Peters our nearest neighbor used to meet you Here shanties nine miles northwest to here you better stop off at my house and get thawed out Before we were able to go on to our claim We lived with the Peters family through that long blustering winter and by the time we actually got to our land We were a lot older and wiser than when we started We rode up at sunset and great sweeps of flaming color washed across the sky Let me lift you out of the wagon mrs. Beaton You're going to be carried across this threshold the house was 12 by 12 with two doors two windows a floor and a sod ceiling David had stretched unbleached muslin neatly over the sod walls and he'd built a prairie chimney solidly anchored with wires The room looked light and clean Do you like it like it? Oh? David it's home, and it's beautiful How long are you going to sit there over that account book? It's late, and you want to get up early I'm just going over what I spent in town today $30 for a sod breaking plow 5250 for the cow And their oats and the supplies And I had less than $200 left of the money my father loaned us to start out on And I haven't broken one acre of ground yet You and I have to live for 16 months on land that gives us nothing but grass I've been meaning to tell you in mid-November. Maybe even Thanksgiving Day. Oh, that reminds me I knew I had another package for you. It's in my pocket Mrs. Peters thought you might like some silk to make some things and I was wondering how I was going to tell you about the baby Why Mrs. Beaton? What made you think you'd have to tell me? I'm the father. You know mr. Beaton. I never once thought of that Furthermore, I told everyone in town that I was going to be a father. Oh Well tomorrow morning, I'm going to start breaking our ground Spring came into bud in summer flowered a Green shimmer was over the land and whole stretches of meadow were carpeted with wildflowers The lark sounded happy in the morning and the land seemed warm and tender and full of promise But the prairie grass twined its roots into the soil and held on stubbornly while you tried to plow it The earth gritted its rocks and refused to be turned over The heat pressed down like a heavy weight on your shoulders and the wind tore and ripped at you every time you opened the door David was up at dawn every morning to work his land I'd be alone in the house with only the prairie wind to talk to And I'd watch from the window for David to rest the team so I could take him a drink Darling, you don't have to come out every time I stop. I like to David Water's brackish wish we could do something about it. The horses look worn out You'll kill them making them plow this soil. I stop all I can to let them rest. Sometimes I think if there was just a tree Do you realize we haven't seen a tree since we left home? I'm going to plant some Maybe maybe it isn't good land. Maybe no the land's all right Just has to be conquered and I'm going to conquer it. Look someone's coming It looks like the Peters wagon. It is a net is with him. Come on We're making up a posse that fellow living in the shingle root glean to south of town was a claim jumper Yesterday the man arrived who owned the claim and the claim jumper shot him shot him Where's the man that did it he lit up right after the shoot? He's got a day's head start coming along quick as I can Saddle up come and help me on hitch all right David. No no Mary don't do it Don't go out and track a man down in cold blood David not you Mary the only justice we have out here Is what we take into our own hands. That's the kind of a land. This is I hate this land The outlaws don't murder you the land itself will That's all you hear the land the land. I'm sick to death of it You die of the heat or you die of the cold you die of starvation or loneliness or insanity The land I hate the land it'll kill us all and then grow on top of us. I hate the land Nettie take her up to the house. She doesn't realize it's the heat and the baby coming take care of her Nettie I know how you feel Mary Look on their faces the unholy fervor to track down and kill When they come back You know the man you've loved and honored has helped to kill a man We have to have some sort of law It'll be different when the country's organized. Sometimes I don't think I can stay another week Sometimes I think I can't stand it You'll get used to it Mary People get used to things they can't stand Look at that sky You have to say one thing for it. It's beautiful country only a few miles away their civilization and peace The people and the land or neighbors and friends You're going back to Minnesota to have your child. Yes David feels we couldn't manage here. That's right Once the blizzards come it might be impossible to get out here to help you It's going to be good to go home so good to go home This is your home now child. No, this is exile Nothing can take root in this soil people least of all Moment James Hilton will return to bring you the second act of free land starring Martha Scott You know many people say that half the fun of sending Christmas cards is picking our dust the right card for every person on their list If that's the way you feel then how please you will be when you see all the hallmark Christmas cards now on display Where you buy hallmark cards so many different ones? You'll find a card for every friend that says just what you want to say the way you want to say it There are Christmas cards with a Santa Claus so jolly you can almost hear him chuckle Snow scene so real you'll find yourself listening for sleigh bells Christmas trees and holly as fresh looking as mountain evergreens There are cards that express the deeper spiritual meaning of Christmas as truly as a carol sung on Christmas Eve And these are only a few of the many different hallmark Christmas cards awaiting you now at the friendly store where you find Hallmark cards displayed Yes, whatever your taste whatever your budget you will find hallmark Christmas cards that you'll be proud to send Cards your friends will be proud to receive too for when they see the hallmark on the back They'll know you cared enough to send the very best And now we present the second act of Rose Wilder Lane's free land starring Martha Scott David came back from hunting the claim jumper. He told me the man had escaped to Iowa. They'd been arrested there and was being held for trial We never mentioned it again In October the first blizzard stormed and lashed at us for five full days And as soon as it lifted David put me on the train for home He planned to put things in order and then to join me in time for Thanksgiving But it was April before another train was able to get through to that part of the country I went back in April with my son in my arms. He's Quite a boy, isn't he? Mary did you hate to come back? No All the way back to Minnesota. I found myself thinking I'm going backwards not forward. I'm going backwards And when I was there in a civilized house with all the things I thought I'd been missing I Suddenly found myself missing the prairie wind And I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that Dakotas become my home another year or two and we'll really own something here That spring was glorious and down under under the grassroots David found soil that was dark and rich He sewed his 14 and a half acres by hand Anxiously watching where the ever-present wind carried them and when the seed sprouted and came up in a green mist I stood in the doorway and wept to see it And as the days passed you could see the wheat begin to tame the land and the tasseled heads stretch taller and taller We watched it prayed over it. I don't like the looks of that sky David. What are you doing up at this hour? It's the middle of the night out here the stars always quiver in the wind You never know when the wind will change rain on the pollen could mean disaster yesterday You said it was getting too hot. I know yesterday was a scorcher that could dry up the pollen before the kernels form But nothing hurt the pollen The kernels began to form the fields no longer silky were covered with the young green heads And the wheat was up to David's chest and when the wind rippled over it It looked like light changing on a solid surface It was there before our eyes large solid kernels solid heads 36 bushels to the acre safe and sure actual true 36 bushels to the acre there's parts that'll run 40 bushels or I'm a liar Mary I tell you this is the greatest country on God's footstool let the wind blow let the sun blaze the wheat is safe the wheat is safe David and mr. Peters helping each other began mowing the wheat and tying the sheaves There was no relief from the heat and the dry earth cracked wide They kept wet claws in the crowns of their hats to ward off sunstroke They worked day and night They had only about six loads left to put up when I Ran outside with the baby in my arms the crashing thunder was almost deafening Overhead a mass of black clouds was twisting and writhing with flashes of red and green light I saw David and Peters running toward me and in the dark mass in the sky coming down toward them It's a cyclone Mary a cyclone. What do we do? It's gonna hit the earth any minute. We have no We can't get down there. It's too small. It's open down on the ground. Hold the baby under here I think so. How about you mr. Peters? Little blown up but alive. There's the rain. Come on. We got to get to the house Although a lot of things in it were smashed and broken When daylight came we saw the wheat stacks flattened and scattered every sheaf sopping wet on the muddy ground But there was a new consciousness of existence Of being able to breathe To see light again to walk across the earth Whatever had been taken from us a new appreciation of just being alive had been given in return And now everyone set to work to save their fields The water must be shaken from each sheaf the sheep must be set upright in the muddy stubble and parted so the wind could reach the heads We would save it. Please God would save it and Then the thrashers came and the triumph all the triumph of their coming Dave I've never seen the grain to beat this you haven't a no sir Taste one of these kernels Mary. You can tell with the taste It has it has a nutty flavor. That's right And it's got that taste of good earth in a number one and it's gonna run darn near 40 bushels to the acre Man's got our go some to beat that day We had our first crop money to fix the roof get a few pieces of equipment and some stock We had a son and soon we would have another child We'd put our home on the land and we would make that home in the land something we could be proud of and Then we had a letter from David's folks. They were coming out to visit us David was happy about it at first and then after a few days very quiet. I wonder what my father will think of the place He never thought much of our coming out here That's why I wanted to pay back the money. He advanced as soon as possible Still don't have it darling. I think your father will see the land just as we see it So David's father and mother who had pioneered their land in Minnesota Looked over our pioneering in Dakota They didn't say much one way or the other until the last night of their visit When we were all sitting together watching the long summer twilight deepen into night How much would you say you're in debt David in round figures? Well dad and round figures about $900 besides what I owe you sir. Hmm. It's a good country. This farm is going to be worth something I wouldn't wonder Yes, you stuck it out and now you've got something your mother and I are proud of you and Mary David did you hear that aren't you going to tell them Jim? Don't rush me mother Fact is my will's made out David. It gives you and your sister an even share of the property. I leave As soon as we get home, I'm going to send you $2,000 and charge it against your share of the estate. Oh Dad That I don't know what to say, but we want you to have an easier time than we did We are going to help you and then in turn you will help your children That's how families survive and how the country grows and expands by helping you We're helping a little in the development of Dakota and when you help your children, they'll help push the frontier further west You're right son. It's good country long after David's father and mother gone to sleep. We stood in the doorway listening to the wind Savoring the warm summer fragrance of the land Dreaming of what lay beyond it for our children What are you thinking about I was thinking how wonderful it was that we got this land funny So was I Well, you better get some sleep, but we'll never be able to get up in the morning. Yeah, I guess you're right We closed the door The wind whispered to us and lulled us outside The land waited And I found myself thinking back five. Thanksgivings ago Five thanksgivings when both the land and I were untried and unproved when the land and I were enemies And I began to pray that it was tamed now broken to our plow ready to work for us. I Prayed that it would be for us and our children as it had been for our parents and our grandparents That although the land had come to us free we had paid for it with honest labor and Passed it on to the next generation as a heritage So that on future thanksgivings our children would be able to say Let us be thankful for all the rich fruit of the earth and son that we have received Let us be thankful for a free land a Free country a moment James Hilton and Martha Scott will be back But first may I remind you that Christmas is exactly one month from today? If you haven't already ordered your Christmas cards better not wait any longer to visit the store where you buy your hallmark cards If you prefer to select individual cards for each person on your list You will find hallmark cards that say just what you want to say the way you want to say it And there are hallmark cards for imprinting with your own name and many boxes of assorted Christmas cards Yes, whatever your taste whatever your budget there are hallmark cards You'll take special pride in sending and when your friends receive them and look on the back as you did They'll see the hallmark and know you cared enough to send the very best Here again is James Hilton One of the rewards for giving a fine performance must be the real satisfaction of knowing that it pleased so many people Tonight Martha Scott you should feel very happy You've pleased us hallmark people very much and I know you pleased millions of others around the country Thank you, Mr. Hilton and I guess you're right. There's a lot of satisfaction in the approval of the audience By the same token your hallmark playhouse must have won a lot of friends like your hallmark card Well, we sincerely hope so as a matter of fact the hallmark tradition is built on friendships And we're going to try to add to that tradition again next week when we present Edna Ferber's great short story Old man Minnick starring Victor Moore and the following week we present woman with a sword starring Ida Lupino the makers of hallmark greeting cards and everybody at the hallmark playhouse join me In the hope that you found much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day Until next Thursday, then this is James Hilton saying good night Tonight's story was adapted for radio by Jean Holloway with music composed and conducted by Lynn Murray our director producer as D Engelbach Martha Scott appeared to the courtesy of RKO Studios whose current release is stations west Look for hallmark cards that are sold only in stores that have been carefully selected to give you expert and friendly service Remember hallmark cards when you carry enough to send the very best This is Frank Goss saying good night to you all until next week at the same time when James Hilton returns to present old man Minnick by Edna Ferber and starring Victor Moore This program came to you from the hallmark playhouse. 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