 Raymond Burr as Captain Lee Quince, specially transcribed tales of the dark and tragic ground of the wild frontier, the saga of fighting men who rode the rim of empire, and the dramatic story of Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry. Well, they're peaceful as can be, Captain. I just checked their camp again. They've been fed? Yes, sir. The men have just finished feeding. From all the records I've seen, I got the impression that the Arapaho were more war-like, like the Sioux and Cheyenne. But these Indians are lo... Am I bothering you, Captain? Huh? I say, if you're busy with something, I won't... Oh, no, you're not bothering me, Mr. Cybert. Yes, sir. About the Arapaho, I'm saying they don't seem very war-like to me. These with us? Yes, sir. They're starving to death. That's why we're moving them. Where in the devil did I put them? Can I help you? Not in my pockets. I thought I might have put them in something in my saddle roll. If you've lost something, Captain, I'll be glad to help you look. Yeah, fine. Oh, you didn't see me putting any stuff together before we left Fort Laramie, did you? Well, you packed up when I saw you. All right, sure. I hate to lose them now. Put them in at the last minute. No one would be coming this way. Them, Captain? Sure, them. Come in pairs, always kept them in a little leather pouch, and... Thought you were going to help me look. Well, I was. I am, only you haven't said what we're looking for. The earrings. I don't think I took them out of the pouch, but I got no memory for where I did put them. Captain, there's a little leather pouch hanging from your gun, but... All right. Sure, that's it. I wanted a mandy, so I wouldn't have to look for them. Yes, sir. You did say earrings. Sure. Here, I'll show you them. They're kind of... kind of small, aren't they? Well, they're nice, sir. Garnets, aren't they? Little ones. Littleer than that are the little chip diamonds. In real bright sunlight, they got a little went to them. I think they're very nice, Captain. Yeah. I'll bet you're glad you found them all right. Well, they were my mother's. Near to the only bright things she ever owned, I guess. You wanted to bring them along on this trip, especially on this trip. Well, sure. Don't get up this way too often. Well, glad you spotted the pouch, Mr. Cybert's. Captain Clements... Where did you suppose I'd find Harrison about now? He was giving the massage in a hand the last I saw him, but Captain... Well, I'll find him. Wonder if it hurts much, Mr. Cybert's. Hurts, sir? Pretty tender around the earlobe. Better hurts like sin to have him pierced. I imagine it's very painful, Captain. Yeah. Yeah? Well, that's one problem we don't have, Mr. Cybert's. Harrison! Yes, sir, Captain? Come here, I want to show you something. Yes, sir. These mean anything to you? Ear bobs? Well, now they're right, pretty, Captain, but they don't mean nothing to me. Well, they should. I sure ain't ever seen them before. You've never seen them before. I, uh, see you still wear that ring you bought. St. Louis, wasn't it? Yes, sir, St. Louis. But that was a spell ago, Captain, and you ain't figuring to strike up a trade. Course not. Oh, I'm glad to hear that. Mighty glad. Of course I got no need for ear bobs. No, I promised them once, Harrison, a long time ago. You were there. I thought you'd remember. I'm trying hard to recollect, Captain. She took quite a shine to your ring. Stole it for a while. Then she said something about pretty as not being for her. You talking about old Hattie? What's her name? Hattie Pelfrey. Why, that old buzzard. I clean forgot about her. She near killed us, Captain. Then turned around and saved her lives. This is Hattie's country, Harrison. I figure her cabin can't be more than five miles to the east. I'm remembering her now, something fierce. I carried you up to her cabin. You recollect you had that bad leg? Yeah, I remember. There you was shot up to a fair of the well, and that old lady just stood there with a shotgun on us and wouldn't let me bed you down till she took every bit of food and money and guns we had. And horses. Them, too. And them engines, dog soldiers. Why, they was coming and going from her place that lived a long time we was there, bringing her food and all. She was right friendly with the engines. Rightful. You mean these same ones we're toting over to the Wind River Valley? They're all Hattie's friends. And I've been over there feeding them, seeing to the needs. Hattie's gonna miss her friends. I thought we ought to ride over to her place first thing in the morning. Give her these earrings. She was the meanest, most cantankerous old witch I ever saw. And she was a witch, Captain. More of that than a woman. I never in my life... Did you say ride over to her place? Yep, before we break camp in the morning. You mean call on her proper? Like she was a great lady? I promised her the earrings next time I came her way. Well, I know, but why, Captain Quinn, she'd soon fire on you as look at you. You're awful rough on an old lady, Harrison. Old lady. You coming with me voluntarily or do I make it an order? I tell you the truth, Captain. I'd sooner face the soon nation armed with nothing but a toothpick. We leave it son up, Harrison. That is an order. Yes, sir. If you've got any money on you, leave it in your ring with Sergeant Gorse. I'm riding there with these earrings in my carbine. I'm getting a sick feeling just knowing we're getting near an old Hattie every minute. You better ease up in your talk, Harrison. We're only about a quarter mile from her cabin. Chances are Hattie can hear every word you're saying. Probably standing up on her perch watching us, too. I got a kind of instinct when I'm riding into a body's gun sight. Oh, Hattie wouldn't shoot at this distance. She's got buffalo guns. They're shooting nearly a mile away. Yeah, but she'd have to walk clean out here to fleece us after the shooting. Hattie'd consider that a waste of motion. Captain, are you going soft on that old lady? She's ever been as lovable as a pole cat. But she did save our lives once, and I promised her the earrings. It ain't that you trust an event. She's pure larceny and a little murder thrown in. No, I don't trust her. I'm just paying an old debt, Harrison. Yes, sir. That's the slant of her cabin just beyond the rise. A man of deep plum foolish to ride straight up to a door. The way she goes around thieving, she might have took a howitzer off an infantry regiment passing by. She called you a ballin' calf once. I swear, you're sounding more like one all the time. Don't you fret, yourself, Captain. Once we get around her, I'll be right quiet like... No, she ought to be within earshot now. I can make out the door from here. It's open, sir. Hattie! Hattie Palfrey! Now, she ought to herd that, Captain. Yeah, she should have. Come on, we'll lead our horses in. But if a man was of a mind to get... Dismount, Harrison. Yes, sir. All right, now, I'll keep a sharp eye out. She wasn't one to stay quiet in her cabin. I'm looking. Don't you think I'm not? Behind every rock, every blade of grass. Hattie! Maybe she's off calling somewhere, Captain. The only life near here was the Arapaho and they're back at our camp. But they was one friend in particular, remember? Sent her a side of beef whilst we was with her. Yeah, a standing bear. Yeah, that's the one. Asked about him from the others. They told me he didn't last the winter. Died of the cold. Sure not a sign of her around. Miss Palfrey? You around somewhere, Miss Palfrey? Yeah, let's go inside, Harrison. And leave the horses? Tether the horses. I'm going in. Yes, sir. Just around, Harrison. I shot it. Well, sure sounded like old times for a minute there, sir. The place is probably full of them. She was none too tidy when we was here, Captain. But she's let it go for fair now, ain't she? Nothing humans lived here for a spell, not even Hattie. Well, it's no more than a lean-to. Just crumbling. Everything's just crumbling. I wonder what's come of her. I don't suppose we'll ever know that, Harrison. Well, we better get back to camp. Yes, sir. She was right old, wasn't she, Captain? Right old. I'll tell you, she was a mean old critter. I didn't warn to her, and I feared her some. But I sure didn't wish her no harm. Maybe you were right before. Maybe Hattie's off calling on her friend, Standing Bear. You said he was dead, Captain. Yeah, he is. Any more, B2, Captain? They said over at headquarters that Major Daggett was over here expecting me. Major Daggett's sick? I don't know. Went over to his office to give him my report. His orderly said they were expecting me at the hospital. Sure, hope nothing's wrong. Well, I better find him. Oh, uh, how's Morby getting along? He's fine. His leg was broken, wasn't it? Yeah, but it's mended. See you later, Gorse. Yes, sir. Major Daggett, it's good to see you. Good to see you, sir. But why over here at the hospital? We can talk in Major Trucks' office. You're worn out, aren't you? No more than anyone on the duty. Three weeks is a long time. Any trouble? Move kind of slow. They were a puny lot, the Arapaho. But we left them at Wind River. Better off than where we found them. Oh, that's good. In here, Lee. Well, sit down. Make yourself comfortable. You, uh, you got someone sick, Major? Mary, is she sick? Oh, Mary's fine, thanks. Well, then? Lee, ever since I've known you, I've had the impression that you have no people, no family. That's right. Your father died just before the war? Mm-hmm, couple months. And your mother? The winter of the war. You went home, did you, when your mother died? I didn't hear about it for almost a month. Word moved kind of slow, then. Major, what's this about? How did you hear about your mother? Her minister wrote me a letter. It was written in ink, and the corporal who delivered it to me wore a bushy red mustache. All right, Lee, all right. I'm not trying to make this hard on you, but it is. There's a woman down the hall. Major Trucks put her in the isolation room. An old, old woman, Lee. And she says she's your mother. She couldn't be. It wouldn't seem so. I don't know how she got here, but she came about three days ago. Whoever she is, she's sick. Awful sick. You better talk to Major Trucks about her. You can look in on her, Captain. But don't excite her if you can help it. You want to listen to me, Major? Please, keep your voice down. I'll be in the ward if you need me. I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. Hello, Sonny. I might have known it would be you. You got a kiss for your old ma, have you? I'm not supposed to excite you. My name, the only one you could think of? You don't think I'd breathe the name of that ballin' calf you had with you last we're met. Besides, I figured I owed it to myself from Mr. Pelfrey to have an officer for Sonny. How do you figure to get by with this? Well, Sonny, I'm getting by with it. I don't have to figure a thing about it. It might be the light in here, but you're looking down right, Seedy. You got a look in glass? No, Sonny. I'm old and sick. He just made my acquaintance about 60 years late. I was a fine-looking young thing. Yeah, I know you were. You, uh, walked down here from your cabin, I suppose. Road, partway, walked, crawled, finally hooked on with his scrubby little wagon train. Oh, no, you hate the army, Hattie. How come you'd make your way here? Well, where's an old woman like me going to go when she's ailing? Standing bare, he's dead. I know. I'll cut that bullet out of you. Saved your hide once, Sonny. Yeah, you sure did that. Look on it. It's your turn. All right, I'll do that. Yeah, you'd best run along now, Sonny. Let your old ma sleep. I declare, I'm worth it. All right, you sleep, Hattie. I'll look in on you later. Hattie. Hattie. I almost forgot to give you these. Understand, I'm not calling it a miracle, but the way that old lady's taking hold since you got back, Captain, well, it's an amazing thing to me. Oh, she's a tough one, Hattie is. The men are giving her a lot of attention. That helps her spare the cost. If it needs helping. Uh, Captain, you're not eating much. Something on your mind? Hattie, she takes my appetite. Oh, I'm telling you, you can rest easy about her. She's gonna make it. She'll make it. Not that that's any cause for me to rest easy. I just don't understand it. Sure, she claimed she was your mother. You're gonna hold that against her? She means it as a favor to herself. Look, Major Trucks, you don't know Hattie like I do. She'd pull all your teeth out if she took a fancy to the gold in them. Sure, sure. She puts on a big show of being crusty. But I saw through that right away. Underneath, she's a sweet old lady. And you don't fool me much either. You think she's pretty fine yourself? Well, I gotta get back. Oh, you gonna look in on Hattie, I'll go with you. I'm stopping off at the storage room. First trouble I've had with it in months. Trouble? Pilfering. Somebody's pilfering the medical whiskey. Just come from the hospital, Captain. How's Morby's leg, Sergeant? He's coming along. I come directly from Mrs. Pilfer, though. She's complaining you ain't been to see her in days. She's getting plenty of attention. The men are being right good about calling on her, taking little things and like that, but... Captain... Well, sir, we was always once to speak our minds to one another. You've got something to say. Say it, of course. I know she ain't your maw. But she looks on you like a son, and it grieves her that you don't show her more concern. Hattie told you that? Well, I guess I induced her to. I've been to see her a few times. Come to know her a bit. I could tell something was... Well, like I say, grieving her. She's getting along all right, isn't she? Doing a good job of mending? Major Truck says it's near a miracle. But, Captain, that ain't what I'm talking about. You used to be a good judge of character, of course. Now, I'm not saying Hattie's all meanness, but I spent some time looking at her from the wrong end of a shotgun once, and I know what I... If you don't mind, I'd just as soon not hear any more about that. You don't believe me as Kersen? Well, I listened to Harrison a while, too. But I got some stripes on him, and I can shut him up. Mm-hmm. To me, she's just a nice old lady who's poorly. You, uh... You off-duty, Sergeant? Yes, sir. Usually can tell when you are. Thought you wore your watch and chain when you were off-duty. Well, I do. It is, it did. And that's funny. I swore I put that on special just before I went to the hospital. I think maybe you're right, Sergeant. How's that, Captain? I think maybe I have been neglecting Hattie too long. Afternoon, Major Trucks. How's your patience? I'm doing fine. No thanks to you, Sonny. Captain, you missed the show. Mrs. Pelfie was just up walking around the room like she owned it. I'm glad to hear that. Well, I'll leave you two to your talk. Now, you keep walking like you did just now. You'll be out of here in a couple of days, ma'am. You think I'm going to live to enjoy my twilight years after all? Oh, there now, there. I don't want to see tears in your eyes. Sonny, wipe my way. Won't you, dearie? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take care of the tears. Oh, Major Trucks. You ever get a line on that missing whiskey? Her cough medicine's there on her table. I couldn't help myself. It goes right to the spot. What did you ask me, Captain? Oh, nothing. Well? What are you peering at? You get a fine color, Hattie. I've heard tellin' folks recoverin' from bad spells, gettin' roses in their cheeks, but yours is more of a flush. The body's entitled to a bit of tonic in a potion to soothe their throat. I heard a bite in the hand that feeds you, but you come near to stealin' it off, don't you, Hattie? It's most a whole caboodle of them fools. But not you, Sonny. Well, it's all right. I tried, nice and motherly like to tell that Major Trucks I'd spark two little whiskeys now and then, but I seen he wasn't gonna make the offer of his own free will. He thinks you're a sweet old lady now. Sweet old ladies don't drink whiskeys. Well, you'd be surprised about that, Sonny. Now, me, I've been nursing my own ills for more years than I can tell. There comes a time when a nip is all these old bones we'll respond to. The earrings look mighty nice, don't you? Yeah, they don't look nice at all, but... I mean, to wear them. You told me there's your own maws. I recollect that. I'm not proud to wear them. Well, they're diamonds, though, Sonny, not the size of Hen's teeth even. I was at your cabin, Hattie. You can't go back there. You're rushing me out. You're coming back strong. You might get an idea to steal old Bedlam or the Platte River Bridge and we need him. You know, I've got a mind to go up. Live with standing bears, kinfolk, Wind River. If anyone was to see, I got there safe. I'll see you there, Hattie, when you're right able. You're a fine son, dearie. Well, me, best you go now. Let your old maw get a rest. I might just want to kiss your cheek, just to be sure you'll rest easy. Why, Sonny, did you can? Ah. Sergeant Gorse will be glad I found his watch. Now, how do you suppose that got under my pillow? Doesn't matter. Must have been kind of bulky sleeping on anyway. I'll rest easier now, Sonny. I know you will. Oh, the, uh, money belt you took off me just now, Hattie. Won't bother you resting none. I, uh... I took the money out before came in. Sleep well, ma. Fort Laramie is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald and stars Raymond Burr as Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry, with Vic Perron as Sergeant Gorse. The script was specially written for Fort Laramie by Kathleen Height, with son patterns by Bill James and Tom Henley, musical supervision by Amarigo Moreno. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg, Sam Edwards, Jack Moyles is Major Daggett, and Harry Bartell is Lieutenant Cybertz. Company, tension! Dismissed. Next week, another transcribed story of the Northwest Frontier and the troopers who fought under Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry. Nobody approves of slums. About one out of nine non-farmed dwelling units are in slum condition and slum conditions don't stay still in a neglected house or area, unless someone takes action, slums will grow unchecked. If you'd like to take action, CBS Radio urges you to write to the American Council to improve our neighborhoods for their free leaflet that explains what everyday citizens can do to prevent and eliminate slums. Just write to action, box 20, New York 19.