 Adventures by Morse. Carlton E. Morse presents A Copping for the Lady, featuring Captain Friday. If you like high adventure, come with me. If you like the stealth of intrigue, come with me. If you like blood and thunder, come with me. Ten o'clock in the dead black of a northern night on the Port Lancer waterfront, far up the Canadian coastline. On the steamship, whose stern lights can still be seen growing dimmer by the second, there is a casket. In the casket is Judith Wright, alive, conscious, and for some strange reason cooperating with her kidnappers, who are whisking her away under the very notice of her would-be rescuers. On the rickety-make-shift wharf of Port Lancer are Captain Bart Friday, his fellow operative, Skip Turner, and Major Lawrence. Yes, the same Major Lawrence of Army Intelligence who got Captain Friday into this and was supposed to have been killed back on Mamadook Island, where Friday and Skip first picked up the girl. How is it that Major's alive? But never mind that now. Captain Friday wants action and he wants it in a hurry. Major Lawrence, if you've got any influence, use it now. What do you want? Can you get a speed launch, something that can run circles around that steamship that's getting away from us? It's important, important. Man, don't you realize that Judith Wright is on that ship? You must be wrong. I was standing over there with a gang plank checking every person. Do we have to argue the girl went aboard in a coffin? Coffin. Come along, both of you. Hey, Cap, you realize we're leaving that bird English where he lay after you socked him? Wear your eyes, Skip. What you mean? Didn't you see those two men sniffing around the body? Yeah, but I thought they were a couple of natives. Oh, Major Lawrence's men. They'll look after English. Come on down these steps. Look lively in the dark. They're rickety. Ah, what do we got down here? Government patrol launch. What's your step? Hey, this is a little beauty. Ahoy, Commander. Hi, I'm Agent Lawrence. We're coming aboard the launch. I want to stop that steamer before she gets out into open water. Come aboard, sir. Let them round her up before she gets down to the hobble with this little job, sir. All right, aboard with you. Yep. Come on, Skip. Yep, coming up. Oh, nice solid deck, too. I'll give you a hand, Major. Oh, don't need it. Oh, thanks. You're same. All right, Commander. Let's go. Two or three minutes before we get in there, enough steamer to single. I want to know what this is all about. I think I can put the whole thing together if you'll tell us how you got away from Marmaduke Island alive. Well, as you remember, we landed on the island, and I left you and Skip Turner here, hitting near the shoreline. Yeah, for three hours. Yes, well, things went wrong. I was supposed to go inland to a trapper's cabin and pick up the girl. Judith Wright? Yes. Instead, I was taken prisoner. I had an Army GI washing the cabin to be sure the girl was kept there until I could arrive. Was she a prisoner in the cabin? Yes, being held by a couple of pretty rough characters. We'd located the cabin, and my soldier was watching the place. Yeah, but if you wanted the girl, why didn't you take Captain Friday and me in with you? We could have stormed the place. I couldn't do that. I'd have given my whole show away. I'm up here to break up a smuggling and kidnappering. So that's what we're up against, huh? Well, isn't it pretty obvious? They got away with Judith Wright, didn't they? But if you were going to kidnap her by yourself... Well, you see, I'm known in these parts. You and Skip Turner aren't. I knew that the next depot and the smuggling chain was here in Port Ladser. I wanted to get the girl in your hands and have you deliver her here. I thought you, as strangers, might spot the hideout here quicker than I could. The gang on this end might even come out in the open, thinking you were the men who were supposed to deliver Miss Wright here. Well, but the plan didn't come off, huh? No. I was made a prisoner. The soldier on guard saw it happen. He dashed in and grabbed up the girl and got out of the cabin. He thought you was dead. They yelled to him that they'd kill me unless he brought the girl back. But I ordered him to keep running. Well, he arrived where we were with a knife blade between his shoulder blades. One of the kidnappers was a French-Canadian knife thrower. When he ran out of the cabin with a knife in his hand, I was afraid of what was going to happen. Well, the boy made it, and we got the girl to the mainland where we left the horses. We rode into Port Ladser to stop the delivery stable. By the way, that Scotch delivery stableman is one of the gang. Good. We'll pick him up. How do you know? He slugged me. I didn't hit hard enough. When he lowered Skip here into the stable, I'd come around and I clipped him instead. That wasn't very clever of him. But it did distract our attention long enough to give the girl a break. She made the most of it. You mean she ran away when you were in the stable? Yeah. Luckily, we came too in time to see her running in the direction of the forest. We followed her to her cabin. Not the cabin of that East Indian of it. That's the cabin? Hey, we're drawing up on a steamer. Look how much brighter her lights are. Yeah, only a minute or two longer now. Go on, Captain. We looked in the window and saw Hobbit putting the girl into a casket. That's how they've been shipping human beings into the United States. United States? Certainly. Any unwelcome character who wanted to slip into the United States could do it by paying $1,000 to this underground smuggling ring. But Major Lawrence, Judith Wright ain't headed for the United States. She thinks she is. She paid $1,000 to be taken in. I wondered if it wasn't something like that. You mean they'd play a dirty trick like take a thousand bucks from a girl to slip her into the U.S. and then... And then when she put herself in their hands, ship her off to the Bay of Bengal slave market. Why not? That way they collect double. Well, if that ain't a low-down dirty trick. Good. The commander's signaling for the steamer to pull up. The steamship seems to want to argue. It doesn't want to be stopped in midstream. Hey, we got a machine gun aboard. Look, Captain, the commander's pulling the cover off of it. Yeah, but he'll use it too, unless the master of that craft heaves too and in a hurry. He'll give them one more chance. And that's the last chance. Yeah. Captain, the steamer's given in. That means he's going to wait for us. Good work, Commander. I'll have a word with the master of that craft for trying to brush us off. He can't do that. Uh, go ahead, Commander. Take him apart. We'll run up alongside now. Thanks, Commander. All right, behind me, Captain Friday. You too, Captain. Yeah, right, Lady Major. This ain't no cannery boat, Captain. Faster at this ship, Captain Friday. How do you do, sir? Name's Hanson. What had any idea it was a government boat chaseless and had it pulled around before. What's your destination, Captain Hanson? South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal. Certainly. All the ports around the bay. There's nothing underhanded about that. My clearance papers sure look... Don't worry. I think you've got a passenger aboard. Yes, we carry super cargo when there is any. This man's an East Indian. Name of Arbid. Yes, I have such a passenger. Am I taking this to him? Certainly not. He has the number two captain to the starboard. Just a minute, Hanson. Aye, Major. Captain Friday and Skip Turner can get Arbid. I want a little talk with you. I hope all this isn't going to take too long. If I miss the high tide, I'm not going to get across the bar tonight. Well, that depends on you. Go ahead, Captain Friday. Okay, Major. Come on, Skip. What's that all about, Captain? Why the private conversation? I wouldn't be surprised if Major Lawrence suspected Hanson's in this underground blackbirding deeper than he pretends. You mean this ship's part of the smuggling deal? Hanson could be in it all the way. Or he may be the unknowing instrument. After all, even Major Lawrence didn't suspect Judith Wright was in that casket. Sure. Just a dead Chinese being returned to his ancestors. Uh-oh. This is a cabin. Yeah, number two, all right. Message from Captain Hanson. Open up. What is the message? Don't be a fool. I'm not going to shout it through a locked door. The ship is not moving. Why is that? There's trouble in the engine room. Engine room? Yeah. We've got to make repairs before we cross the bar out into the open ocean. So that is the reason. Yeah, now open the door. I got an urgent message from Captain Hanson. Who are you? Second mate, hurry up. I got to get back on duty. I have unlocked the door. Open it and come in. You wait outside here, Skipper. He's going to pull it fast. Okay. You walk into something. I'm here to get you out. Here I go. Yes? Come in, Mr. Mate. You got your lights off. I always get seasick. I am lying in my birth. I think it helps me if I keep my cabin dark. You got up to unlock the door? I just barely made it. I'm very sick, so close the door and deliver your message. I'd much prefer to have a little light on the subject. If you please. I don't please. I want light. So, it is not the second mate at all. It is the Captain Fryden. Yeah, and that's a lot of hooey about you being seasick. Telling me you were in your birth and all the time you're standing there waiting to wallop me over the skull when I stepped into the cabin. How did you get aboard this ship? You'd better forget about trying to escape, Bobbin. There's a government patrol boat alongside. You must be insane. I have no wish or reason to try to get away. Well, give me any of that. You got a white girl down in the hold of this ship in a coffin. Maybe you'd like to prove that? I don't have to. Major Lawrence saw the casket taken aboard this craft lift port. Perhaps the major was mistaken. What kind of mischief are you heading at now? Do you think for one minute, Captain Fryden, that we did not anticipate justice? You don't suppose we're such fools as to be caught with a girl stowaway? What are you saying? But, of course, naturally, if we did have a girl in a coffin on the ship, it would be so arranged that the whole business could be jettisoned into the bay. Are you saying you threw Judith right into the bay? If she was ever aboard, it would be the thing to do, wouldn't it? With plenty of way to send her and the casket to the bottom quickly. Skip, come here quick. Right behind you, Captain. You hear what Abbot's been saying? Yeah, you what? I should wring his neck. I've got both you men covered. The first one to make him move. Get him, Skip! You bet you! Get the gun! Got it! That takes care of friend Abbot. Yeah. You got him right on the part of the job. And that's not all he's gonna get if they threw Judith right overboard, nailed in that coffin. What happened to Judith right? Why did she give herself into the hands of these unscrupulous men? In just a moment, we're going to follow Captain Friday and skip down into the hold of the ship. But wait. Okay. Down the ladder into the hold of the ship. Yeah. You coming, Skip? Yeah, I'm coming down. Be careful. There's a 20-foot fall if you lose your grip. Yeah, 20 feet down into darkness. Hey, don't come so fast. You're stepping on my fingers. I'm just trying to keep with you. I thought the major come down with us. He's got a job bringing a confession out of the ship's captain. He and the commander will have the whole story by the time we clean up down here. Oh, then they did arrest him, huh? The whole ship's under arrest for smuggling and kidnapping and blackbirding. All right, I'm down. Watch it. I'm down, too. But I might as well be in a cold being for all I can see. I got a couple of flashlights. Barred them off of Captain Hansen here. Oh, thanks. Hey, they really give off a lie. Hmm. The ship's got a pretty good cargo here. Hmm. All right, okay. Cases of canned fish, bails of cured skins and furries. This hand down here seems to be loaded with cedar logs. Looks like there was a little bit of everything down here. Yeah, everything but Judith Wright's coffin. Hmm. Wait a minute. Listen. Sounds like something's loose. There is. Let's see if we can locate it. Yeah, but if we're looking for Judith Wright... It's all over this way. Hey, here it is. Over this way. Hey, Captain Fryer, come here. What is it, Skip? Hey, there's a hatch over there. Don't kid them. They're right outside the ocean. Then I've admit what he said. They did dump the coffin and girl into the bay. Mother dirty skunks. They drowned Judith like a rat just to hide evidence against themselves. Doesn't even take time to close the hatch again. They must have been rushed. Probably threw her overboard when they heard the launch whistle to heave, too. Oh, honest of Christmas, Captain. I've never felt so rotten about anything. Poor kid in that casket with the lid screwed down. Please. Do not feel so bad. Hey. If I've given you any ang... Judith Wright. What are you doing down here in the hold of this ship? You... You're angry with me? But you're supposed to be in that coffin at the bottom of the harbor. Yes. It's not my fault. I'm not. I... I have a friend. On this ship? Yes, down here in the hold. He... He's a storeway. Where is he? Oh, hold on. Please, it's all right to come out. Oh, Hula Hand, huh? They don't mind if you're a storeway. Ah, there you are. I've been sure now you shouldn't have given me away. You have nothing to fear from Captain Friday and Skip Turner. This is a Hula Hand, Captain Friday. Hello, Hula Hand. And the same to you, mister. Now, and what's been going on here? Well, as the little lady here says, I'm a storeway. You sure picked yourself a sweet ship to hide out on. Well, you can't be pickish. Ain't many ships come up this way anymore. Take ours you can get. Okay. So you stowed aboard this craft. What then? Well, I overheard Captain Hanson and that East Indiafeller, Obed. I heard him talking. Yeah? Yeah. He was down here. He put that there coffin right up next to that hatch there. And Obed told the captain that if there was any sign of trouble, the hatch was to be opened and the coffin dumped overboard. Yeah? Mm. And then they went away. Go on. Well, it'll be in a curious cuss. I kept wondering what was in the coffin that they didn't want the police to know about. And so you once screwed the lid. Yeah, I reckon I did. And you can imagine a surprise. Went out pops the little lady here. She was kind of mad at me at first. Well, I thought he was spoiling the whole thing. You hadn't heard the conversation about dumping you? No, I had heard nothing. But when O'Hoolahan told me what they might do to me, I got out of the coffin quick, but yes. Well, I think O'Hoolahan ought to get a decoration. Oh, yes, so do I. Because we'd hardly filled a coffin up with two sacks of flour and screwed the lid down again. When we heard a boat whistle, we heard someone coming down into the hole. We rushed over here and opened the hatch and threw the casting into the water. It's a miracle I'm alive. You're telling us. And all because you were such an obstinate young woman. All because you insisted on putting yourself in the hands of these unscrupulous men. Yes, I know that now. I was so anxious to get into the United States. It was so necessary that I reached my friends who were in the United States. Sister, did you think you was headed for the USA? Yes, for Seattle. Well, and wouldn't you have been surprised when you woke up and found yourself in one of the Bay of Bengal ports being sold as a slave girl to some second-rate Malaya potentate? You're fooling me. Well, ask Captain Friday. Captain Friday? They would not have done such a thing. I can't believe... Skip's telling you exactly where you were headed for. But I paid that Mr. English and Mr. Arbiter $1,000 to get me into the United States. Then you got exactly what was coming to you. Don't you know there's only one safe way to get into the United States, and that's on a passport? That's the awful thing. I have no country anymore. I have no passport. There's no way for me to enter legally even for a short time. All the friends I have are into America. She's a refugee from Norway, she was telling me. Yes, my parents were killed. I escaped the enemy through Sweden, Finland and then Russia. I've been almost two years crossing Russia. And then for a price, a Russian pilot flew me over to Alaska. Where in Alaska? It was Fairbanks. That's where you made your first contact with the Blackbirders? Blackbirders? Yeah, that's what they call men with human cargo. Oh, yes, it was in Fairbanks. Major Lawrence will be interested in that. Major Lawrence? But, but you told me he was killed. I thought he was. He's alive enough, though, up on deck now questioning the captain of it. The whole ship's under arrest by order of the United States Governor. Oh, it is now. Well, what does that make me? That puts you in a mess, oh hula hand. Well, I've been in the mess most of my life, so one more ain't gonna kill me, I guess. I have the trouble you'd have been in if you'd been caught by Captain Hanson. He'd have thrown you to the sharks and that would have been the end of oh hula hand. But to get back to you, Judah, that was a dirty trick you pulled at the leverage table, letting the captain here and me get clipped over the head while you beat it for the cabin in the woods. I was so anxious to get to America. I knew I was with good men when I was with you, but I tried so hard and so long to get to America. I just couldn't give up when I was so near. I didn't know to go to Abid's cabin. I was told on Marmaduke Island. I was told that if anything went wrong, I was to contact Mr. Abid at that cabin in the woods. Uh-huh. Well, for everybody concerned, it's a good thing that old Scotch livery stable owner didn't knock out skipping me the way it was supposed to. Oh, yes. At that time when I knew you'd followed me to the cabin, I was very angry with you, which I apologize now, but at this moment I'm most happy to have you here. Well, you ought to be, sister. You ought to get right down on your knees to Captain Frank. Cut it out, Skip. But what is to become of me now? I've no place to go. I have no home. No people. Yeah, that's bad. For months and months I've been putting all my hope on finding refuge in your beloved United States. Sometimes it's kept me from freezing to death. Sometimes from starving. Just remembering that some time, some time I would be safe in America. And now look at me. Now there's no hope. Sure, now it's a dead-burned blazing outrage. That's what it is. We're going up on deck. I'm on Doris. That depends on Major Lawrence. You too, old man. Mm-hmm. Let it suit me. Air down here in the hold of this ship's beginning to get on my nerves anyhow. Come on over to the ladder. Okay. I'll go up first. Miss Wright, you follow me. Oh, yes. Is it far? About a 20-foot climb. Just hang on tight. You'll be all right. I'm glad it's dark. Oh, hold on. You follow up the ladder right after Miss Wright. I will, Ed. Skip, you bring up the rear. Okay. Here I go. Come on, Miss Wright. Oh, yes. If only the boat didn't sway and bounce, so... See you next, oh, hold on. Yep, yep, right on the little lady's heels. Yeah, and I'm right after you. Okay, we're all on the ladder, Captain. Okay, Skip. It's almost over, Miss Wright. You all right? Yes. It's not too bad. I'm going up through the hatch now. Wait till I get on deck and I'll give you a hand. All right, I'll give you a hand. Reach up. It's so dark. That's it. Now, up with you. Safe on deck. Here I come now. Oh, man, oh, man. Don't that face here smell good. Phew. There, everybody's out. Oh, who's there? Is that you, Commander? Oh, it's you, Captain Friday. Where'd he go with you? Here now. Turn that blame slice right out of my eyes. Well, if it isn't no hula hand. What are you doing on this craft, Irish? Oh, now, is that you, Commander? You don't know who it is all right. It was a stowaway. I think we owe him a vote of gratitude, you know? Yeah. Turn your flash over on the girl. Why, this is the girl who's supposed to be at the bottom of a bay in the casket. Yes. It's because of a hula hand here that I'm alive. A hula hand overheard the plot to dump her if the authorities showed up. They opened the casket, filled it with sacks of flour. No hula hand, you're all right. Commander, do you feel sick? I've been patrolling these coasts for 10 years. No hula hand and I have had a lot of trouble in that time. He's a thief and a poacher and no good bum. But saving this girl's life makes up for the lot of it. I'm that important. You bet. Miss Wright, you can give the United States government a line in this whole underground blackbirding setup. You can print out the various depots where they hid you out. Yes, I can do that. You do and I don't think there's anything Major Lawrence won't do for you. Anything? Yeah, he spent two years and lost a lot of good men trying to round up these smugglers. You help him break up the ring and he'll go all the way with you. Woody, do you suppose... What Miss Wright's trying to say, Commander? Her country's in the hands of the enemy. Her relatives have been killed. She spent two years trying to get into the United States. Oh yes, do you suppose Major Lawrence will let me in? Will he help me to do what's necessary? Well, very well. Where's the Major now? In the Captain's cabin. Still trying to break down the captain of the ship in that East Indian. I won't talk. Well, you've got enough to hang a lot of them now. But we need definite evidence for the courts. I should think if we sprung Miss Wright on her. Hey, sure. They think she's at the bottom of the bay. Come on. This is the door. I'll open it and you step in, Miss Wright. But yes. But I tell you, Major Lawrence, I do not know of any such girl as Judith Wright. If she is on board this craft... And I am on board this craft, Mr. Abbott. Miss Wright, where did you come from? You ugly, wicked, unprincipled person. You took a thousand dollars from me and then you kidnapped me. And then you tried to drown me. This is too bad. This is the end. Major Lawrence, I can tell you every underground deeper where these men kept me. From Alaska to Portland, sir. I will gladly help you. But if you did that, Miss Wright, I think you won the friendship of the United States government. Those are good words. And that's what I wanted you to say. More than anything, I wish to be friends with the great government of the United States. And so Judith Wright ended her misguided flight from Norway to Portland, sir, finally made her peace with this government, and was given shelter from the desperation and violence of her homeland. Now she is a citizen. A coffin for the lady is a cart in a morse production, and another in the series of Adventures by Morse.