Pepper's Bread presents your all-star Western theater, produced in Hollywood and transcribed for release at this time. From Hollywood comes your all-star Western theater, starring America's great Western singers, Roy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, bringing you the music, the stories and the spirit of the great open spaces. And now, the Riders of the Purple Sage. I want to drink my java from an old tin can while the moon goes riding high. I want to hear the call of the whipper will. I want to hear that coy old cry. I want to feel my saddle horse between my legs, riding him out on the reins. Just to kick him in the side, make him show his steppin' pride out on the Texas Plains. Each night in my dreams, somehow it seems I'm back where I belong. Just a country hit way back in the sticks, back where I was born. The city life and the city ways are driving me insane. I want to be alone, I want to be back home, out on the Texas Plains. I want to drink my java from an old tin can while the moon goes riding high. I want to hear the call of the whipper will. I want to hear that coy old cry. I want to feel my saddle horse between my legs, riding him out on the reins. Just to kick him in the side, make him show his steppin' pride out on the Texas Plains. Out on the Texas Plains. Hello friends. Now for a right smart little popular song about an island dear to the heart of every Southern Californian. You'll note the words call it an island of romance, which is perfectly true. It is an island of romance now, just as it was an island of high adventure in the days of pirates. Free great song about Santa Catalina. Al Slowy, if you'll lead off, we'll join in. Land of enchantment across the bay. Santa Catalina, island of romance. I heard the music from far away. How it haunt, it haunted me to take a chance. Into the harbor I sailed one day. There I saw two eyes that told me with a glance. That all my trouble would soon depart. I found my lover and lost my heart in Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina, island of romance. Most everyone enjoys listening to stories of the old west and to western tunes. But ask them how they liked to live in the old days, and that's another story. Ranch life was always hard, least wise among the mothers and housewives, especially the cooking and baking. Nowadays, women find life a lot easier and meal getting simpler. Baking isn't a problem anymore when every neighborhood grocer sells good Weber's bread. Fresh, delicious, and fine as bread can be. Look for the famous blue and white gingham wrapper at your food store. Remember, Weber's bread. It's good to the last crumb. The next song on our program is a little novelty love song that's been recorded on Majestic Records. Here are four willing and the boys to sing it for you. I couldn't believe it was true. Last night I came home and I knocked on the door. I called to my love as I often had before. I knocked and I knocked but no answer there came. No kisses to greet me, no voice called my name. I couldn't believe it was true. Oh Lord, I couldn't believe it was true. My eyes filled with tears. I must have aged in years. I couldn't believe it was true. I let myself in and I walked to our bed. I found a note there and the message I read. The truth like a bowl from the blues in the dawn. My sweetheart had left me, my darling had gone. I couldn't believe it was true. Oh Lord, I couldn't believe it was true. My eyes filled with tears. I must have aged in years. I couldn't believe it was true. The shock was so great I am shivering yet. I tried to forgive but I cannot forget. My heartbreak and loss is another man's game. Her happiness always I hope will remain. I couldn't believe it was true. Oh Lord, I couldn't believe it was true. My eyes filled with tears. I must have aged in years. I couldn't believe it was true. Well, it's time now for Foy Willing and the writers of The Purple Sage to tell us another of their adventures in the West. This week they've called their story Life and Death and Scotty. Sometimes, perhaps because of pictures we've seen and books we've read, the West appears to be populated entirely by gamblers and gunmen, yet the West isn't that at all. The people of the West aren't killers and thieves. They're families, most of them living small lives, working honorably and diligently to accomplish decent ambitions. Take old Scotty for example. Nobody's quite sure of his last name. Perhaps he's forgotten it himself. But the writers of The Purple Sage honor Scotty as a good friend. They don't seem as often as they'd like for he's a prospector and spends his life alone, first at one desert spot, then another in his quest for gold. Sure going to be good to see that old guy again. You bet it is, Al. Wonder what he wants this time. I don't know, but when a man like Scotty goes to the labor of getting out a stub of a pencil and scrawling some words on a piece of paper, you know he's got something important on his mind. There he is, there's Scotty. Hi, Scotty. You fellas sure must have done some writing. Didn't expect to see you till sunset. Well, we knew if you sent for us, Scotty, there was a good reason. Just leave your horses there for time being. They'll be all right. Sure. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I'll take this canteen and... No, no, I'll tell you what. You come on into the shack with me. You can meet my friend right off. Your friend, Scotty? Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm just taking him a canteen of water. You mean you're tucking a partner? Never knew you to work anyway but alone before, Scotty. And I have to be a little careful when I open this door. Shag some. I run out of nails when I built the shack. I only had enough for one hinge. Here, let me help you. Hey, thanks. I don't like to leave things open when I'm gone for fear a rattler might get in. There it is. Golly. That's fine. Arnold! What is this, boy? I don't know, Johnny. Arnold, you awake now? These friends of mine I was telling you about. They're here. That's good. This is Foy Willing. Here's Al Slow and Johnny Paul. Hello, Arnold. Hi, boys. Arnold ain't been feeling so good the last couple of days. I don't think it's anything serious, though. Kind of wobbly on my pins. Now, if we can raise you up this little here. Here, you can drink this water while it's still cool. Easy. No hurry. There. Got her. Arnold and I ran into each other out here six, seven months ago. Both of us prospecting. And when we began to talk, we found out we had an awful lot in common. Been a real satisfactory partnership. And you... Is that enough, Arnold? Thanks. That's cool, isn't it? Boys, Arnold's been wanting me to visit a daughter at his gut. I figured that you might enjoy riding with us. Why, sure, Scotty. Sure. Now, that's just fine. Arnold, I guess the boys and I'll go out and catch a burrow. Start packing right away. Wish I could help. But my pins are still... Now, now, you just rest. The burrow's down by the spring, boys. I reckon we ought to get her first. Whatever you say, Scotty. Close this door. If I'd known I was going to be short of nails when I built the shack, I'd have put that hinge in the middle still on top. There. That's good. Well, Scotty? Awful nice fella, Arnold. Him and me got a lot in common. Pretty sick, isn't he? Yeah, for years. I reckon he's going to die. I don't think he knows it, though. He's got a hankering to see his daughter, so I took it upon myself to have you fellas come and help me get him to her. I couldn't do it alone. Oh, glad you did. We want to help. Eh, be awful sorry to see Arnold die. Awful nice fella. Looks bad, don't he? Yeah. I feel sorry for Scotty, too. He ain't never had many close friends. I was just asking Arnold if he didn't think we ought to stop and rest a few minutes. That might be a good idea, Scotty. No, no, no. I'm fine. Not a bit tired. Well, now, whatever you say, whatever you say. I guess we better keep right on going, boy. Say, Arnold, you notice them purple mountains off in the distance set up there against the sky? Uh-huh. Real pretty. Yep. Yep. When we're on our way back to our diggings, let's stop for a while and look at them. I don't want to take time now because you're anxious to see your daughter. But on the way back, we'll stop and we'll look at them. Boy, I, uh, well, Arnold's kind of restless. I think I'll go over to him, see if there's anything he wants. All right. Arnold, Arnold, you all right? Scotty, will you sit down beside me? Why, sure. Been wishing somebody'd come over. Feeling bad? Wobbly. More wobbly all the time. Well, I brought a canteen of water. Or if you'd like me to heat up something for you to eat. No, no, just setting will be enough. Yes, it's all right. The sounds of the night is pretty, ain't they? Makes you know how much of life there is, even in the dark. Scotty, I don't think I'll be alive in the morning. Now, now, that's no kind of thinking for the man to do. No. I'm not afraid. Just something I know. Ain't no hip for it. Ah, hmm, hmm. Seems odd to think that in the morning my knife and chisels and hammer and skillets will still be in my pack, and I won't be here, and tomorrow night there'll be these same sounds, yet I won't be listening. Where do you think you'll be, Arnold? What? Well, you've got to be somewhere. I'll be dead. Oh, now, there ain't no such thing as death. Oh, I'm not scared, Scotty. Not much, anyhow. You don't have to talk like no preacher. I'm not talking like a preacher. I'm talking like a prospector, Arnold. Look here. There's a little water left in this canteen. I'm going to pour it out onto the ground. There. Canteen's empty now. Clear empty. But that don't mean that the water's gone from anywhere except the canteen. Water's still water soaking into the ground, soaking way down deep till it comes to an underground lake. And maybe it'll run on to a spring and come out at a brook or a river and travel to the sea, traveling all the time. You see, just finding out all there is to know. Canteen's empty, Arnold. But emptying it didn't destroy the water. It just set the water free, that's all. But here's a canteen, kind of holding a life penned in. I don't know what for. There ain't kept penned in so men can dig for gold like we do or go around telling everybody else off like some other folks do. But there must be a reason, and I'm not smart enough to figure it. All I've figured is that life ain't destroyed when it gets loose. It's nice here. These last six months have been nice. Got a lot in common. Both of us wanting to be high up judges when we was boys, and both of us winding up as lone prospectors when we was men. Even that makes you wonder why we was put here. Mr. Scottie. Yeah? Tell me that part again. About the canteen and the water. I sure. You see, I spilled the water out into the ground. I emptied the canteen, but the only thing that did that to the water was to get it out, set it free. Why, look, you can hardly see where it soaked into the ground anymore. It's traveling down, and it'll keep on traveling until it finds some underground lake. And then it'll flow out from a spring, then into a brook or into a river, and onto the sea. Hey, Foy. Foy. Yeah, Scotty? Arnold's gone. He's traveled on. If you don't mind, boys, I'll keep on going the rest of the way with you. Why, sure, Scotty. You do that, Scotty. I'll have to break the news to Arnold's daughter and give her the two pokes of gold and the little stuff that he had. And take much, but I reckon she'll want something to remember him by. And then I want you fellas to take over my burrow and my mining tools. What's that? You can have them as a present. Well, you can't get along without your burrow, Scotty. Or your tools, either. I couldn't if I was going back to the claim again, but I'm not. I wouldn't feel right now alone. I'll try and get me a job in town. Why, what sort of a job do you think you could do, Scotty? Well, I'd kind of like to sell newspapers, Foy. There I'd be standing on the corner with all the events of the world under my arm, ready to deliver to people. I believe that'd make me feel important enough, so I'd kind of forget what's happened. If you'd like to wait outside, I'll go ahead and see her alone. Yeah, it'd be better if you did, Scotty. Having too many strangers around isn't good. We'll wait out here for you, though. I'll have to be as gentle as I can. She must have thought an awful lot of them. Thank you for coming, Scotty. Now that's all right, ma'am. I'm glad he had a friend like you. He must have known right along that his days was coming to an end. He kept wanting to get back here for a visit. It didn't say much, but to a fellow who knew him real well, that was enough. I sure wish there'd been some way so we could have made it. So do I. Well, if there's ever anything I can do, just let me know. There's something you can do now, if you will. Well, sure. Come here with me. As long as he couldn't be here to see this, I want you to. There. Three weeks old. A boy or a girl? Boy. Looks an awful lot like him, don't it? Yes, an awful lot. The eyes, the nose, the... Ma'am, all of a sudden I know more than I did. Water spilled out of a canteen don't just wander about aimlessly. Water spilled out of a canteen goes direct to... Excuse me, ma'am. There were some theories him and I had. Seeing the baby and how much a baby looks like him sort of clears up a point about where spilled water travels to. Nicer girl as you'd ever want to see for it. Took it brave. You know, while I was there she took it awful brave. Though I expect she's crying now. That's tough. Baby's going to comfort her. Looks just like he did. Boy, is it? Yep. Eight pounder. She says that's big, but it's really awful small. Especially for a name like Robert Benjamin Davis. Hey, wait a minute. Robert Benjamin Davis? Why, that's the name of that kind of company. Yeah, she named the baby after its paw. She's brave, all right, Scotty. But you didn't break down while you were there. What do you mean? If Robert Benjamin Davis was her husband... Scotty, Robert Benjamin Davis was Robbie Davis. We saw him in the rodeo last week. He was killed. Killed? Bulldogging. And she never mentioned a word to me. She's lost both of them then. Arnold and her husband. Boy, I reckon I'm going to have to ask you to lend me back my burrow and my tools for a while. Sure, Scotty. I'll go back to the claim and dig. You know, Arnold and I was talking, and we couldn't figure out why people were put here on this earth. But now that doesn't seem important. The why doesn't, that is. The important thing seems to be that as long as we are here, we try to help each other get along. I wonder, would you fellers drop out once in a while and pick up my diggings? You can take them to her and tell her that they came from her dad's claim. That way she'd use the money to take care of the little feller and not be worried. Sure looks an awful lot like Arnold. Just an awful lot. You know, it's strange, the trouble some folks have in learning that the best brands are the friends you can count on. Yes, sir, dependability is the true test of friendship. Next time bread's on your shopping list, and it should be often, just remember that dependability is the test of good bread, too. And good bread means Weber's bread. It's easy to prove this statement. Take home a fresh baked loaf of Weber's bread and serve it at your very next meal time. You'll find that every slice of Weber's bread is a real treat for your family. Fresh, really fresh, with a flavor all its own. It's bread at its best, Weber's bread. And the real test, you can count on it every time, every slice. So buy the loaf in the blue and white Kingham wrapper, for that's Weber's. The bread that goes farthest because it stays fresh, good to the last crumb. The featured song, one we believe that carries on the real spirit and tradition of the West. This week, a contribution to Western music by Sid Robyn and Foy Willing, where the cool clear water spills. And we walked along the river, where the cool clear water spills. Cool clear water, clear water. And we walked along the river, where the cool clear water spills. There's a pretty spot in Texas, where I long once more to be. Where the mountains touch the river, that hurries out to sea. It was there I took my darling, down among the rippling rivers. And we walked along the river, where the cool clear water spills. Cool clear water, clear water. And we walked along the river, where the cool clear water spills. For tonight my heart's in Texas, where it all comes back to me. Off that stroll along the river, that lonely memory. And I know that she's still waiting, down among the daffodils. And we'll walk along the river, where the cool clear water spills. Cool clear water, clear water. And we'll walk along the river, where the cool clear water spills. Cool clear water, water. Well that's about it for this time friends. We hope you'll be with us again next week. Before we go, we'd like to thank Harris Murphy, Janet Logan, and Fred Howard, as Scotty, for helping us tell our story. This is Foy Willing speaking for Al Sloey, Johnny Paul, Scotty Harrell, the writers of the Purple Sage, saying so long and good luck to all of you. Drifting along, singing a song under a western moon. From Hollywood you've heard your all-star Western Theater, a VM Bear production starring America's great western singers, Foy Willing and the writers of the Purple Sage. The script was by Ray Wilson, direction by Tom Hargis. This is Terry O'Sullivan speaking. The all-star Western Theater, starring Foy Willing and the writers of the Purple Sage, was recorded earlier and came to you from Columbia Square.
