 proudly we hail from New York City where the American stage begins here is another program with a cast of outstanding players public service time has been made available by this station for your army and your Air Force to bring you this story our story is entitled the ghost and private Perkins our first act curtain will rise in just a moment but first today your rapidly expanding United States Army needs intelligent young men with ability and ambition men intelligent enough to recognize the vital need for a strong armed force men with ability enough to be trained in a necessary job men with ambition enough to secure the future for themselves and their loved ones does this description fit you can you qualify for full information on how you can fit in with the finest check with your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station now and now your army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production the ghost and private Perkins anyone ever tries to tell you there's no such thing as a ghost you just refer him to me names Perkins Sergeant Al Perkins of the United States Army station right now in Washington DC the time I met a ghost though I wasn't a sergeant I was playing private Perkins and there were a few thousand miles including the Atlantic Ocean between me and the nation's capital a D-day was over a long hard fight across France was over the boys with a stiff arm salute and the goose step were on the run and it wouldn't be long before they threw away their guns and yelled uncle at the top of their lungs my company was cooling its heels in a little town in Normandy that had a name I still can't pronounce Dubuquevra Serpot or something like that it was just a little village kind you might see out in the Midwest you know I had a main street and a couple of stores and a pretty little church and that's about all since most of mr. Hitler's lads had picked up their marbles and made a beeline for their fodder land there wasn't much to do except keep our eyes and ears open for any smart Alex who might have stayed behind hoping to get a pot shot at one of us you know like the cat said this area has been combed pretty carefully men but there may still be one or two Nazis in the vicinity there have been some thefts recently and the mayor told me this morning that one of the younger boys saw a man in uniform in the woods to the south of the bridge a man in a gray uniform I know I know kids have a good imagination but these kids know a German when they see one I'm sending out a detail to search those woods again no sense taking any chances and remember I want everyone fully armed at all times don't forget that fully armed now when it came to details good or bad and mostly bad the name of Perkins always headed the list but I missed that particular patrol and I was very happy because it was a hot day and I've been thinking about taking myself a nice cool swim in the river hey Perk you're gonna have yourself a swim mm-hmm that's what I had in mind now look it's a mile to the river the sun's beaten down on you you're really dragging by the time you get there off come the closing in you go and it's cool right what are you building boy you paddle around you make bubbles and splash like a kid in the tub you ain't got a care in the world so so the time comes you gotta go home you climb out you dry yourself off put on your clothes you coming with me or not you walk the mile back and by the time you get back to camp you're just as hot if not hotter than when you started so why don't you sit on and we'll have a nice game of cards using my deck of course no I'm still taking a swim coming well Betty Gravel be there oh shut up hey don't tell me you're toting that great big M1 rifle along too well you heard what the captain said didn't you well if you drop dead from heat prostration don't come crying home to me I won't take it easy buddy hey Perkins yeah watch out for that boogie man in the gray uniform I started out feeling a little like a kid playing hooky from school all of a sudden it seemed like there hadn't been a war at all seemed like I wasn't in France but I was home in Michigan the people I passed were Michigan people in the long gray brown fields where Michigan feels it was one of those days you could write poetry about if you were a poetry writing type big blue hunk of sky flowers everywhere in a nice summery breeze you can imagine that I was a plenty surprised boy when I happened to look back and saw a wicked looking bunch of black clouds doing a fast sneak job by then I was a long way from town try to beat it back to camp would mean getting soaked to the skin there wasn't a farmhouse in sight but a little way up the river I spotted a small low stone building looked like an old millhouse storm was just about to break looked like the only way to keep from getting wet so I cut across a field grabbed at the latch on the door of the millhouse and walked inside when I got used to the darkness I began looking around me as a musty old joint all cobwebs and dirt no one had been there for years don't mind admitting it was downright creepy I had dusted off an old wooden box and was getting ready to sit down and sweat out the storm when suddenly it happened down at the far end of the room was a sort of a contraption I guess it was the controls for whatever kind of work had been done in this place you know there was a lever and a couple of wheels and a long rope that went up into the shadows I'd seen all this when I first came in and paid no attention to it suddenly I saw something I hadn't seen before I saw a man or something that looked like a man and he was standing by the long rope that went up into the darkness and he was looking right at me all my hand reached out for my right hey you as it's your place he didn't make a move he didn't say a word I came in here to get out of the storm I hope you don't mind why don't you say something cat got your time he still didn't say a word just stood there well it began getting on my nerves okay now let's just break it up stop playing games now get over here now look this is a rifle I got my hands if you don't understand me maybe this will make you understand that I'm not kidding now get over here move fast I said get over here do I have to show you that I'm not kidding all right don't say you didn't ask for it I tossed three shots in his general vicinity not too close but close enough to let him know I meant business I saw splinters fly as the slugs chewed their way into the rotten old walls a cloud of dust boiled up from the floorboards and the long rope moved like it was alive lightning flash came in the one small window and through the cracks in the wall and it lit up the whole room just for an instant but in that instant I looked down at the end of the room and it was empty there was no one there when I got back to camp later you can be sure I kept my mouth shut about what I'd seen I mean I had enough troubles without making myself the laughing stock of the whole company I could just imagine my buddy saying you mean you saw a ghost for real look buster maybe you better go on sick or like right now I suppose I'd made a report to the captain a most interesting story private Perkins you forgot to add one thing however was it a French ghost or a German ghost I batted the thing around for two days it just didn't make sense none of it I knew if I didn't talk to someone soon about what I'd seen I'd begin thinking maybe I did have a few loose marvels in my head so finally I decided to pay a visit to the one person I knew might be able to help me but of course there is a ghost in the old mill house my son who he has been there for many long centuries not not not just wait a minute father let me get this straight that that man I saw he was a ghost it was for him that our village was named it was his generosity that built this church but there's no such thing as a ghost and yet you saw this man as clearly as I see you sitting there perhaps the atmosphere of the old mill house the shadows and the dust and outside a star well you've already said the mill house is haunted I am merely passing on to you what I've heard many many times it is common talk in the village that the ghost of him he'll do the cave or haunts the old mill house many people have seen him he has not however deemed it important to appear for me whenever I visited that rather dismal place well why does he appear at all I mean how do other people see him why did I see him if I did see him at all the legend is that he appears to anyone in trouble oh he was a type of French Robin Hood a ruthless businessman not very honest either but the vast monies he collected were always given to the needy one of his rivals discovered how badly Dubuque ever had swindled him and one dark night arranged for his murder oh he was he was killed in the mill house the villagers found his body the next morning he had been hanged rather disagreeable and violent and for such a wonderful scoundrel well it's a very pretty story father but it doesn't hold water you said that Amy will do Dubuque one now that he appears just for people in real trouble well outside of missing a good swim and getting caught in a thunderstorm I certainly wasn't in any trouble when I saw him and merely passing on to you the facts of the legend my boy you must interpret them yourself as you see fit well I know I've taken up too much of your time already father thanks so much for the information but I hope I have been of some help you've been a big help thanks again please come and visit me soon again private Birkin's it's been a pleasure meeting you oh I will father goodbye I went back to camp and sat on the edge of my bunk just staring at the wall in front of me I was more confused now than I'd been before I heard about a meal Dubuque what's his name I reason with myself that this was the 20th century but I was a big boy who didn't believe in ghosts and yet what or who was it I'd seen in that old millhouse hey dreamer did you see the bulletin board will be moving out of here tomorrow morning boy will I be glad to shake the dust of this town off my boots maybe now we'll get a chance to see paris who la la hey dreamer you're listening to me heard what I said I heard you well you don't act like it you don't seem happy about clearing out of here I'm happy see I'm smiling I'm real happy like you just so long as you're happy buddy that's all that matters I gotta keep my buddy happy how you gonna keep oh I was happy about moving on sure I was real happy about that I was even happy about the idea of seeing Paris but I knew there was one thing I had to do first and I had to do it right then on my last night in that little French village I knew I had to go back to that millhouse and prove to myself that there was no such thing as a ghost of course that's the whole point of my story though because that night I really did meet the ghost of a meal Dubuque ever you are listening to the proudly we hail production of the ghost and private Perkins will return to our story in just a moment young man let's talk about your future and America's future they're important to each other you know today your United States Army is charged with a vital responsibility you need only to glance at your local newspaper to realize how vital and to meet this responsibility the army is rapidly expanding its forces they have a job for you a job that must be done by men of courage you can get full details of how you may best serve your future and your country's future by a visit to your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station today you are listening to proudly we hail and now we present the second act of the ghost and private Perkins at last evening I spent in the little French town of Dubuque ever a serpent was one of the longest in my life I was impatient to get back to the millhouse by the river but I didn't want any of the guys to know what I had in mind I didn't want any of them coming with me especially my buddy who was far too practical a person for this particular mission of mine now it says in this book that Paris is the most beautiful city in the world I always thought Brooklyn was the most beautiful yeah well it's all how you look at it through Brooklyn eyes I look at it as Paris got an ebbets field is it got a Gowanus canal and girls has it got girls like Brooklyn in a couple of days we'll know what time is it that's the fifth time you asked me the time in the last hour you got a late day to something oh sure sure cocktails at the stork dinner at Lindy's gonna catch the floor show at the Copa what time is it five after eleven well have yourself a time on a town I'm hitting the sack tonight Perkins you want me to tuck you in all comfy maybe you would like a fractured head the lights went out in cab the guys settled down someone down the line started sawing wood but good the moonlight seep in through chinks in the wall long silver fingers moving across the floor I lay there mentally counting off the minutes then way in the distance I heard the town clock tolling off midnight I swung my feet off the bed and reach for my shoes well it was now or never I knew I had to see the inside of the millhouse once more I grabbed my rifle and made my way out of campus quietly as I could the little town was sound asleep here and there a light glimmered but the streets were dark and completely empty the wind whispered strange echoes as I walked through the square headed towards the country as I passed the church I was surprised to see someone standing by the picket gate I was even more surprised when I heard a voice say oh oh father Pierre good evening come in and sit down for a moment I believe there is still some hot coffee on the stove well thanks a lot but I'd rather not we're we're moving out tomorrow and there's something I got to do you are still not satisfied about the little millhouse I do know oh it has happened before you're not the first there was a young couple from America they were bicycling through the country and heard the legend of the millhouse they spent three nights there no ghost not even an ear a moan or a clanking chain as I told you our ghost appears only to a person who is in trouble well and he made a mistake when he appeared for me the other day so it would seem well I still want to make sure I would go with you but this is my night for guard duty you on guard duty one of us watches every night there may still be some of the enemy hiding in the neighborhood yeah the captain told us that a couple of the kids that spotted a man in uniform in the woods they are still here we will catch them they will not escape maybe I'll have some of that coffee with you when I come back I'll be waiting here good luck private Birkins my regards to Emil Dubuquevra if you should see him and the good father had an amused look on his face as I turned and started down the road I didn't blame him I felt a little silly myself I knew I wouldn't see the ghost of Amy old Dubuquevra I'd had any sense I would have gone back to camp and gotten a good night's sleep but some little stubborn streak inside kept me headed towards the millhouse the village clock had just struck one as I stood in front of that sagging wooden door again the moon was still high in the sky the old millhouse was bathed in a misty glow I hesitated for just a moment and I lifted the latch and I pushed open the door everything was just as it had been that storm swept afternoon swirling dust now and then a little sound as a mouse scurried through the darkness you couldn't have asked for a better setting for a good ghost story I stood there just inside the door for several long minutes and the moon slid behind a cloud and the millhouse sank into blackness I froze as I heard an alien sound from across the room a strange sliding sound my heart pounded there was a dust dry taste in my mouth and slowly slowly moonlight again appeared lancing the blackness I stared across the room stared in the direction from which that strange sound had come and there in that same corner standing by the long rope and the twisted broken machinery was the dim figure of a man I suggest that you drop that rifle lift your hands hey you you're you're you're you're not drop that rifle fortunate that you chose to return to this place after your experience of two days ago I don't get you this has been a most convenient hiding place for me I intend to keep it so I you were here during the storm I could have killed you then I thought however that you would leave well where were you hiding there's a small room behind me the door slides open well was it was it you I saw a stand in there beside the rope what are you talking about do you think I would have been foolish enough to show myself I stayed behind the door I was able to see you through these cracks you you didn't come into the room at all I have all ready told you that I stayed behind the door I think you sense someone was in the millhouse you fired your rifle in this direction yeah yeah he was trying to warn me he knew I was in trouble in danger you are in extreme danger right now I kill you no no you won't get away with it just fire a shot in the entire village including the United States Army will be down here on the will not hear a shot this revolver is equipped with a very adequate silence and when I don't turn up for Reveley in the morning by then all traces of the night incident will be gone especially your body now wait a minute father Pierre knows I came to the millhouse tonight well he'll tell my command and officer that I came here and the company won't move out until a complete investigation is made I think we'll be found I assure you oh yeah yeah the Nazis cover murder so effectively this is not murder there's a question of your life for mine and at the moment my life is the more important in your opinion only I'm sure you think you have beaten us don't you well it looks that way don't you think you boys have a pretty good opinion of yourselves don't you have just a waste of time to stand here talk to you how about a cigarette for the condemned man I have no cigar in the pocket of my jacket the upper pocket the upper right pocket there should be some matches to well I have a few more tricks you haven't seen yet let go of that gun before I break your wrist yeah that's nice well now that makes things a little more even you fight well very well my friend you you you throw a low punch don't you just at the end my American friend a meal a meal do book ever get on your feet fast don't you see him stand in there in the corner yeah by the road he's standing there just behind you there's no one at the Smith House but you and I and in the matter of seconds there will be just me he's touched the rope I can see it moving he's pulled the rope and hey hey watch out hey that machinery starting to go nice to tell you there's no such thing as a ghost you just refer him to me names Perkins Sergeant Al Perkins of the United States Army okay you have it your own way the fight we had loosened that old machinery and it gave way and the whole thing was just a lucky break for me but I know what I saw and I still say I owe my life to the ghost of a fella named Dubu Kevra who knew I was in trouble real trouble did something about it here's a special message for the young men of our country the United States Army the senior service of our armed forces is expanding rapidly and needs your help by enlisting in the United States Army you'll not only get the finest training in the world but you'll have the special pride that goes with wearing a United States Army uniform why not get full details today visit your local United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station and list now this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station by the United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting service this program featured a cast of outstanding players this is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail