 Cadillacade of America, starring John Lund in The Gift of Johnny Appleseed. Presented by the DeFont Company, making better things for better living through chemistry. Good evening. This is Ted Pearson. Tonight we bring you a story of a young man, Link Barron, and his girl Sally, and how their lives more than 100 years ago were touched by the legendary Johnny Appleseed. Now, The Gift of Johnny Appleseed, starring John Lund as Link Barron on the DeFont Cavalcade of America. That's Link Barron now. Tall and clean as his sapling. A man in buckskin who has cramped the meadows and steered a canoe through running waters. He wanders up to the edge of a clearing where the buck eyes drop their white petals. And there he watches another man working his farm. The work is hard and likely to break a man's back. Well, before long the farmer wipes his brow and speaks to young Link Barron. Howdy, stranger. Howdy. You are new here. Uh-huh. Is this your land? Every inch. Every inch down to the sycamores on the river and back up to the hills beyond. And your name's Fleming Greenup. You're right, it rains. And what might yours be? Link Barron. Barron. Don't know it. I reckon not. I'm from Pennsylvania. Oh, coming here to settle, huh? Nope. I'm going beyond. Got a good stand of corn here. Big and yellow. The finest? I mean to have bigger corn. Better fields. There's no rooster control like a young rooster. Maybe, but I mean to have it in Illinois. That's wild new country. There's no fences there. Man can stake his land out to the sky. Yeah, I guess. Maybe you'll stay here as fell. Nope, I'm going on. I could use a man like you to help me with the harvest. I'll have a harvest of my own. Bigger than all this. Second crow in a minute. But tell you what, Link. You need money for seed. Just stay here and help me. You'll have all the money you need. No, sir, Mr. Greenup. I'll work for myself. Like our country lets us. And I'll build a part of it. I brought you dinner, father. Oh, Sally. Put it down, honey. All right. Oh, Sally. This is Link Barron. Link and my daughter, Sally. Please, please to meet you. Yes. I'm real glad to know you. Is that all you come out here for, Sally? Oh, oh, yes, father. Yes, that was all in the dinner. Well, Link, her hair's near like the yellow corn. And the Illinois is to the west. I know. Uh, I can stay a week. Long enough to help you get the fodder in. Well, good enough, Link Barron. And tonight you'll have supper with us. And after supper, sit by the fire, listen to Sally play the zither and sing. Remember that song, Miss Sally? When I was no higher in the first corn seedlings. It's an old song. Where's your mother now, Link? Dead, Mrs. Greenup. And no father? Killed by Indians in Kentucky. Arrest yourself, did you, son? Well, I guess you could call it that, Mr. Greenup. And you've got no one? Nobody, Miss Sally. And now you've got the fever to wander. Well, it's not a fever, Mrs. Greenup. It's the feeling deep inside me to build my own place and clear my own land. I never had anything of my own before. It's good feeling. When I was a stable boy in Pennsylvania, I watched the freighting teams going west. The concord coaches and the buckboards. The traps and the carts. The Conestoga wagons with their bells ringing from the harness hams. I asked the people where they were going. And they told me. And where was that? Where the grass is waist high and the earth is black as gunpowder. Illinois. Is Panty land here for them that wants it? There's land up by the fork and there's apple trees there. Planted by Johnny Appleseed. Who? Who did you say? Johnny Appleseed. He's the man who started all the orchards here about. He wanders over the unsettled country planting apple seeds. Well, maybe he's been to Illinois. Maybe there'll be apple trees there. No, no, that's too far even for him. But not for me. Well, fire's getting in the way. I think we'll get some wood. I'll help you, Mr. Greenup. All right. Straight, ain't he, Sally? Yes. He's got no family. He doesn't want to have you. Well, don't look back at him, daughter, don't. Why not? Cause he's got the wander fever inside of him. He'll not stay in one place. He's like the wind with no home and no place to rest. He'll find a home. And not keep it, Sally. Oh, a man like that's near death to a woman. You came with father to this place. You came with him when all the land was a forest. I broke my hands swinging an axe. To build a home. Daughter, look at me. He's not a man for you. There are those here about who want to marry you. I care. He's got a farm and a house and a new barn. I know, on this. Well, take that and forget, Link Baron. I want you to have all those things I couldn't have. But you've got them now. Yes. When it's too late to enjoy them. You still love father. And always will. Well, I see you got some help. Him? Yeah. A young lad from Pennsylvania. I heard he's been here two weeks now. Going on three. Link! Link! Yeah? Come on over here. I mean a neighbor. Likely looking, youngster. Tall, strong. Does it work at three men? Uh-huh. How's Sally? Fine. I'll drop by and see her on my way home. Do you want me, Mr. Queenup? Uh, Link. This is Ike Hire. Ike? Link Baron. I'm happy to be knowing you, Link. I heard a lot about you, Ike. So? Yeah. And I heard you're going west. After a spell. How soon? As soon as we get the harvest in. Uh-huh. Ike, it's almost dark. Why don't you stay up for supper? I might have that. Flem, I might have that. And me and Link can talk about the west. And maybe other things. And, uh, maybe other things. I said I'll match my pair of morgans against any team in the country. And I did. There's no horses like them in the whole of the land. You're doing well, Ike. You got nearly everything. Thank you, Mrs. Greenup. Like you said, I got nearly everything. And the country's free and open. Free and open, like you said, Link. I remember there's a high country when I came to it. You remember, Hannah? Yes, I remember, Flem. It was free and open. It was dark and lonely. And we could stand on the highest hill and never see another human. Yeah, but look at it now. All the west will be like this someday. And you aim to help make it that way, Ike. That's right. Good. There'll be those that'll follow. And those that'll go first. And women, Hannah, women like you. No, Hannah. It's so. That's right. A woman needs a kitchen that's big and already built, like mine. And she needs a big room with lamps and chairs and curtains, like mine. That depends on the woman. I guess it does. Sally, I'll be giving a burn down Saturday night. The moon will be whole and there'll be cider. And I want you to come. I'll be glad to. I want you all to come. And, Ike, if you're still here, you can come too. I'll be here. Sing us a song, Sally. All right, I'll sing you a song. I remember one my mother sang to me. Not that song. It's too sad. Sally, not that song. Not that one. Not that song she wants, Ike. Have you, Link? I'm leaving tomorrow. Harvest is in. There's no more reason for me to stay. There's good land above the fork. Father says it's some of the best in the part of the country. There's better to the west. And there's something big and rich and breaking new country. Breaking it for someone else to use? It'll be mine. It could be done here, Link. Maybe. Why ask about him? Because I wanted to know. And I found out. Look out the door, Sally. Look at the apple trees. All big with fruit. He planted those, Sally. And people thank him. People who've never seen him. And you want to be like him? Well, I figure every man should do his best. Not only for himself, but for those who come after him. And not for those who are here now? It's those who are here now that count the most. Isn't that right, Sally? That's right, Ike. But maybe you wouldn't have had all this. But hadn't been for those who didn't think only of themselves. Well, I got it. And it's more than many a man can put his right to. I can't argue with that. No, who you can. But I came over to tell you this cider near the door and food. Help yourself, Link. I was figuring on dancing. Funny, so was I. Sally, Link. I reckon we'll leave that up to Miss Sally. Sally? This is your dance, Ike. Like I said, help yourself to cider, Link, and all the food you want. Hello, Link. Ain't you dancing? No, I guess I'm not. They make a fine couple, don't they, Ike and Sally? Yeah. Ike's a good man. He's got everything. I wouldn't say everything, Mr. Greenup. I wouldn't say everything. Yes. You were listening to the gift of Johnny Appleseed starring John Lund on the Cavalcade of America presented by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Link Barron on his way west stops at the Greenup Farm in Ohio. There he falls in love with Greenup's daughter, Sally. His rival is Ike Hire. Link has nothing but his ambition. Ike has a home, everything to offer, Sally. Well, a Barron dance is in progress is the second part of our story. How about you playing your fiddle for the next day? All right, all right. Hand me the fiddle and the rush. Here you are, Ike. Now, what will the tune be? Get your breath out, fiddle till you drop. Ready? One, two. Dancing this one, Sally? No. I... I'm leaving tomorrow, Sally. I know. The harvest is in. There's nothing more for you here, is there? Nothing more. Nothing I can have. Why must you go? I got to. I got to go where I can put my feet on my own land. There's land here, land for the taking. I don't want it here. Sally, there's something inside pushing me. You like the wind with no home, no place to rest. I'll have a home. It's just a fight for me. Like your father did here. But this valley's already settled. You'll be going into the dark country. I'm not afraid. Are you? I saw what it did to my mother. It made her gray and broke her hand. It made her strong inside herself. Are you afraid, Sally? Yes, yes, yes. I see. I will talk no more about it. Music's stopping. Link, two times you and me just had talk and looked at each other. Now I reckon the time's come for something more than talk and looks. It seems to me you might be right, Ike. I am. A fair fight and loser goes. No, no, no fighting. You two cool off. Mr. Greenup, this here's my barn. I'll have who I like in it. There's one that don't belong. That one is me. That's right. I'll give you the chance to go. I'm staying. Sally? Stand back, you people. No, no. He's had his chance, Mr. Greenup. You ready, Baron? I'm ready, Ike. Make a circle around him. First one that can't get up no more is a loser. Green. Green. Then start your fight and get it out of your system. Fight fair and clean. Ready? Go. Stop. Why must you fight, you man? Let there be peace among you. Johnny. Put away your anger, friends. I look for gladness in this place. I heard music across the fields and came to see happiness and hear the laughter. But I see two men in wrath and evil thought. Why must you fight? Johnny Appleseed. You're a Johnny Appleseed. I heard of you. Well, who hasn't? Where'd you come from this time, Johnny? From the broad rivers and the landings. From the orchards by Blossom Creek. And from the clearings in the military lands. From the deer pastures where the Indians hunt. I've heard it told you ran from Mad River to Germantown to warn the settlers about the Indians. Thirty-five miles fix dark and dawn. But I do no matter. It's what other men do that's evil that concerns me. For anger and evil, wither the land and bitterness. You too. Has your anger cooled now, my friends? Aye. You've made me lose it, Johnny Appleseed. And you, Isaac Hire, I have no anger anymore. Good. And may I rest? Aye, and more of this food and cider. Come, give me your leather pouch, Johnny Appleseed. And tell us the news. Yes, of the settlements and the people. Here is my bag, Fleming. It's full and heavy. With seed to plant and gold. Gold? You with gold? I take the gold to Jack Tane's mother down the river so she can join her son. Come on, Johnny Appleseed, rest and tell us the news. Yes, I will tell you the news. I've come from the waters of the Sayota, the Muskingum, the Great Kanawa, and the Orchards are grown along the rivers and the fields. The trees I've planted, God's let grow. How long will you stay here, Johnny? I must go now. I've seed to plant before the snow. When will you come back? When God wills it. Give me my pouch again, Fleming Greenup. Aye, here it is. But listen, a moment before there was a sound of gold pieces. Now there is none. Somebody stole the gold from Johnny Appleseed. No, not even the Indian steel from him. That's right. His horse wandered loose and they knew it was his and didn't touch it. Who stole the gold? Let him who stole the gold be forgiven. Who stole the gold? There's a man among us who has nothing and who needs everything. Link Barron. You call me a thief? Well, you're a stranger here. None of us would steal from you. Aye, that's true. Well, Link Barron. I didn't steal it. Where's your jacket? When I hung it when it began to fight. Get it. He wouldn't steal. He's a stranger among us and he leaves tomorrow. The gold would come in handy to us. Look, here's your jacket. Bring it here. It's uncommon heavy for a jacket. Give it to me. The pieces are here in the stranger's pocket. Well, I didn't touch the jacket. I hung it there when we started to fight. No one else touched it. Anyone could have. Are you saying one of us would steal from Johnny Appleseed? I say nothing except I didn't steal the gold. Don't him out. Yeah, better take our homes and steal from Johnny. Yeah, don't him out. No, wait, wait, wait. Calm yourselves. You've no right to judge this man. Only God has that right. Let him go. No, he's a thief. I'm telling you for saying that. Wait, wait. There's evil in men's hearts, but there is good. And the good sometimes is blinded by the evil and by the desire of men for things they want. What do you mean? Isaac Hire and Link Barron, what did they want? I see a girl with corn, yellow hair. That has nothing to do with the gold. It has everything to do with the gold. The man who took it didn't need it. What are you talking about? I see many things. Among them, this gold piece. Fleming green up, take it, feel of it. What of it, Johnny Appleseed? What do you see and feel? A powder. A white, sticky powder. Eye from a fiddler's bow and a fiddler's hands. And has Link Barron the fiddler here? No, but I hire a fiddler. Eye, eye. It was his hands that touched the gold. Eye! I'm trying to make you think me a thief. He's the one who should be stoned. Yes! How quickly you changed my frames. No. Let no one be stoned or even judged for men do strange and even terrible things according to their desires. Thank you, Johnny Appleseed. For what? The truth? That's free to all men. Oh, Link. Sally. Johnny Appleseed. What henna green up? He would take my daughter into the dark land to the west. Tell him no. She's not afraid, are you, Sally? Yes, Link, but I will go with you. No, tell him Johnny Appleseed. Tell him it's a long, uncertain road. Eye, the future in America is never ending. It's always a long road. But the young make it certain. You love him, Sally? Yes. Link Varen, why do you want to go? Because to the west the land is rich and big and I want to open the road. Then go. No, no. You can't hold him back, henna green up. Wait. Here's seed from my pouch. Tiny seed. Now look out in the moonlight at the trees. They were once these seeds and they sprouted and grew. You understand, henna green up? I understand. Will you give me seed, Johnny? Gladly. Here. And care for them and look to your soil. Aye, then I will. And someday when no one remembers the name of Link Varen, people will look at the trees heavy with fruit. I ask no more than that they also plant and plant well. Are you ready, Sally? Yes, Link. I'm ready. Will you walk with us, Johnny Appleseed? I'll walk with you as far as the river. And will you see us married? Yes. So come, Link Varen and Sally Greenup. The time grows short and your road is long. And the autumn rains will be our curtains. The autumn leaves the quilts. Goodbye. Goodbye, Sally. Goodbye, Link. Goodbye, Johnny. Goodbye. Goodbye. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade, the gift of Johnny Appleseed, was adapted for radio by Russell Hughes from the short story, Autumn Raines with the Curtains, in Walter Hebbig Hearst's book, Land of Promise, published by Macmillan. John Lund may currently be seen as star of the Paramount Picture, Miss Tatlok's Millions. The part of Sally was played by Elaine Ross. The program was directed by Jack Zoller. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell, conducted by Donald Bryant. Next week, Cavalcade will present an original radio play, Experiment at Monticello, starring the Distinguished Motion Picture actor and star of the current Broadway success and of the Thousand Days, Rex Harrison. Cavalcade of America comes to you each week from the stage of the Long Hicker Theater on Broadway in New York and is presented by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.