The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, Miss Loretta Young. Tonight's DuPont cavalcade, starring Miss Loretta Young, is called, Quither Thou Goest, and begins in the mountains of Tennessee on a Saturday afternoon in September in the year 1826, and with a girl named Eliza McCardell. The first time I set eyes on Andy Johnson, I was standing at the gate of my house, and come and told me down the dusty road I saw him. He was leading a blind horse which was pulling the most ramshackle, creaky cart in the whole world. Oh, excuse me, Miss, but could you tell me what town this is? Why, you're in Greenville. I'm rather obliged to you. Could you tell me, is there a tailor here in Greenville? There is indeed, a fine tailor. Oh, I see. I'm mighty obliged to you. Is something wrong? Why, I don't suppose Greenville will be big enough to support two tailors. I don't suppose, barely enough to support one. Look, I don't want to seem forward, but my name is Eliza McCardell. Oh, I'm Andy Johnson. Come up from Carolina, my family and me, up across the mountains. Oh, it's a long way to come and a hard way. You must be tired. Yes, we are. You don't suppose, do you, Miss Eliza, there'd be empty cabins somewhere we could get the rent of for a few days? Well, Mr. Armitage down at the store could tell you that. If you'll be good enough to follow me, I'd be glad to show you the way. Oh, I think you can. Good morning, Mr. Armitage. Good morning, Miss McCardell. Good morning, Mr. Armitage. This is Mr. Andy Johnson. He's come to Tennessee all the way from Carolina. Looks it, doesn't he, on his hands and knees? Don't mind him, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Armitage, I've come to inquire about renting an empty house. Oh, you and John Pringle fixing to get hitched? I beg your pardon, Mr. Armitage. You can't stop a man from guessing. No, the house is not for me. It's for Mr. Johnson. Hasn't Mr. Johnson here at town? I have, Mr. Armitage, a civil town. Well, he's got spunk. Question is, has he got any rent money? The answer to that question is no. That's what I thought. But I have got needle, thread, thimble and shears. I can pay rent by making your coat out of that bold cloth on your shelf. You can? Yes, sir. A coat with tails on it? Yes, sir. You have rented yourself a house, Mr. Johnson. Now let's see what kind of coat I get. I used to pass by and see him sitting cross-legged on the table, his needle winking through the cloth, his fingers working very fast, very sure. It was on the second Tuesday that he made me a business offer. I could pay you 15 cents, cash money. For doing what, Mr. Johnson? Reading to me. I never had an education. Would you help me learn by myself, commencing by reading to me? Oh, I couldn't rightly take money for reading to a person. Why not, Miss Eliza? Oh, people don't get paid for reading to people. In tailor shops they do. Once a cloth is cut, fingers can sew almost by themselves. By themselves? That's what I mean. While fingers work, ears can listen. Oh, I couldn't take pay. I'm sorry. Excuse me. I guess I shouldn't have brought it up. Shouldn't have, Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Miss Eliza. Do you really mean you never had any schooling at all? Not ever? Would you mind handing me the shears? Oh. Thanks. My poor dad, when I was five, more took in washing. She couldn't afford to send me to pay school. Weren't any other kind in Raleigh. Oh. Got the habit of going into a tailor shop in Raleigh. The journeyman and his boys sat cross-legged while they sewed. And they'd pay somebody to read. I sat in a corner and listened, making myself small so nobody'd notice. And that was your education? Yes, Miss Eliza. Oh, you taught you your letters? I did. I kept asking one of the men by the time I got to work there. I know my A to Z. Oh, well, didn't you ever go out to play with other children? Learning's play, especially if you never had learning. Mr. Johnson, I'll be very glad to teach you to read while you work. I thank you kindly. But it won't be for pay. I'll do it for friendship. Now, listen to this, Mr. Johnson. It's from the Bible. All right. And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law has gone back unto her people, unto her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go, and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. She did all that for friendship. Yes, Andy, she did. Only it was for more than friendship, for love, for loyalty. There's another part later on that I like. Oh? Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? You learned that by heart. I think I know the whole book of Ruth by heart. If I hear a thing a few times, I know it. You're an unusual man, Mr. Johnson. I'm ignorant Carolina Muzzle. Oh, no, no. You're different. You're too sober, maybe, almost bitter. You know, you should laugh more often. Thank you. What have I got to laugh about? Being ignorant, being shut off from books. I'm a grown man, and I can't write my own name. It's like a chain around my neck. Eliza, it chokes the breath out of me. You called me Eliza. I won't do it again. I'm sorry. I beg your pardon. Oh, but I want you to. You better not come here anymore, Miss McCartland. I'll teach you to write. Andrew Johnson, do you hear me? I will teach you to write. Your name, letters, everything. Why? I believe in you. You're not going to be just a tailor. Miss McCartland, I ain't going to be nothing else. Don't say ain't. And I ain't going to be taking your time when there's Greenville gentry who might be a court near. Why, I have no interest in the gentry of Greenville, and stop saying ain't. I'm ignorant. I talk ignorant. Not like John Pringle. I seen you with him on the street. You're being deliberately ungrammatical in order to provoke me. Why, Andy Johnson, I do believe you're jealous. I'm being sensible. Greenville hasn't got room for two tailors. The work I got from Mr. Armitage will be done in a week. I'll be leaving Greenville, Miss McCartland, leaving for good. Because he thought he wasn't good enough for me, because he couldn't write his own name, because he was poor, Andrew Johnson piled his belongings on a rickety cart, and he and his mother and his stepfather took the mountain road out of Greenville. They traveled to the town of Rutledge 75 miles away. Winter closed in, and there was no word of Andy Johnson. No word until spring when storekeeper Armitage sent for me. Your friend Andy Johnson has built himself a fine, thriving business. Oh? My man just came by and told me. Oh. Yeah. Got his own little shop. Well, I'm glad to hear it. No, you're not. Oh, but I am. I am. I wish him well. I wish him success and good health and contentment. Not in Rutledge. His place is right here in Greenville. Well, I'm afraid there's nothing to bring him back here. No, but there is. Well, I can't agree with you. I'm a powerfully dumb man, Liza McCardell, but I know whose face has been before his eyes these six months. It ain't mine. No, you're exaggerating, Mr. Armitage. We knew each other for a little while. But two young people who just came together briefly and then went apart. All he wants is an excuse to come back here. Well, there's no work for him here. Greenville already has a tailor. Who's pulling up stakes? What did you say? Yeah, the old tailor's quitting. If you hadn't been moping, Liza McCardell, that wouldn't have been news to you. It's been town gossip since January. But Mr. Johnson has a thriving business in Rutledge. Why would he come here? Don't you know, Liza? You'll be coming back. Such things just didn't happen in true life. Then why was it happening to me? Why did I go to the South Road each day and listen for the sound of a creaking cart? And finally, when I heard the sound and saw the sound and proved what was causing the sound, why did I run away and hide in my own room? Liza, Liza, wake up. I'm not sleeping, Mother. Well, there's someone here to see you. And it isn't John Pringle. Oh, my hair. Oh, Mother. Please tell him to go away. Say that I'm... What? Just say anything to him. Oh, there's nothing wrong with your hair, Liza McCardell. But my face, Mother. It's a good face. You know, I shouldn't be arguing with you. I should be more calculating and want a rich man's son for you, someone like John Pringle. But my dear, there's something about this young man that makes me wish I was 20 years younger. Oh, Mother, what are you saying? I'm saying I'm a brazen woman. Now bite your lips, little, pinch your teeth. Put a little color in your face. Yeah. There, that's better. Get in the garden waiting. Run, my dear. I know I'd run. Hello, Liza. Hello, Andy. Your face has changed a little. Has it? You look older. Oh, well, I am older. You look paler. Oh. I'm glad to see you. I've come back to be the tailor of Greenville. Oh, yeah. So Mother tells me. That isn't the only reason I've come back. No? I love you, Liza. But at this moment, I'm not asking you to marry me. You're not asking? I've got too much respect for Eliza McArdle to ask her to marry a man who can't even write down his own name properly. Properly? Yes, ma'am, who can't even write his own name properly. That's more proper. Is that all? Don't make fun of me, Eliza. It's a terrible thing for a grown man not to be able to write. I'm serious. I'm serious, Andy. And I ask you again, is that all? That's all, Eliza. Oh. Well, then, sit right down on that rock. What for? Just sit right down on that rock there and wait for me. Where are you going? I'm going to bring a copy book. Andy Johnson, I'm teaching you how to write. Now, don't go away. Looking for someone, Miss Liza? Oh, John Pringle. What are you doing here? Oh, you expect someone else? Well, when I went inside, I... Mr. Johnson asked me to pay his regrets. Mr. Johnson did? Mm, he did, ma'am. An urgent matter of business took him off. John, you didn't quarrel with him. Oh, I never quarrel with tradespeople, Miss Liza. Well, that's mighty condescending of you. Where did he go? Well, I gave the fella my measurements and he agreed to make a new suit of clothes for me. He explained that I wanted it in two days, because on Friday I'll have a new horse and rig. And you wouldn't want to go driving with a gentleman in a new rig but an old suit, would you, Miss Liza? John Pringle, I'm going to marry Andrew Johnson. Well, there's no quality in the man, Liza. We won't discuss him. You're throwing yourself away. And they won't discuss me. Then we'll discuss me. You know what I have to offer? Yes, John, and thank you very much. Is that all you have to say? Yes, and I happen to be very busy. I'm engaged in teaching my future husband how to write his name. And now if you'll excuse me, John, I'll just see where it's going. And DuPont Cavalcade continues, starring Miss Loretta Young as Eliza McCardle and Wesley Addy as Andrew Johnson. This is a story that took place 125 years ago in the mountains of Tennessee. The simple story of a tailor and the girl who loved him. Andy, why did you go away? I have nothing to give you. Seeing that man, I realized it. I'm entitled to a better explanation than that. It ain't good to be poor. Isn't? Speak grammatically. You're going to amount to something. Speak grammatically. You're wasting your time with me. I'll be the judge of that. You'll be poor. Well, it's no disgrace. Well, it ain't no honor either. Isn't? If you say ain't, once more I'll slap your face. You'll be poor. Have you ever been real poor? I've seen my mother poor. I know how a woman gets ground down when she has to spend every minute of her life struggling for a piece of bread. It eats all the goodness out of a person, all the woman out of it. Are you finished? She gets old before time and bitter before time and resigns to die before time. Now look here. John Pringle intended to humiliate you. Why did you allow him to do it? I ain't saying. I told you I'd slap you if you said ain't. I warned you. You've got a temper, ain't you? You're making me hit you. Yeah, that could be. And you let John Pringle send you away. I was so worried about you. I let John Pringle send you away. I was never more ashamed. Well, he asked me to make him a suit of clothes. I'm a tailor. Well, have you no pride, Mr. Johnson? I have, if you wish, no pride. Have you no self-respect then? If you wish, no self-respect. Oh. But John Pringle will give you a fine house. Your children will never know what. They say he'll stand for the legislature and he'll be elected. He's the one who'll amount to something. Oh, speaking like little children, both of us. Andrew Johnson, everything spoken between us is idle and senseless. I will stand in church on Sunday and I will say aloud to all the townspeople, I wish to marry Andrew Johnson. He does not wish it. Well, you'll say a lie then. Is it a lie? Well, I'm nothing. I have no right to you. Then I have rights, which you must respect. Sit down on that doorstep of your shop and you'll see the door. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. Sit down there and take this copy book in your hand. Sir, don't interrupt me, don't you dare. Now, you will copy each letter I have written down, capital A, small a, capital B, small b, capital C, small c. Each letter will sit on the ruled line. It will not stand out the line and nor will it slip down because each letter will have respect for itself. And you will have respect for yourself. Your ink, Andrew Johnson, your quill. Yes, Eliza. Stop digging. You're writing, not plowing. Hold your quill so, and keep the tip of your tongue inside your mouth. Now remember that and do it better. Yes, Eliza. You blotted the paper again. Don't splotch. Write your letters. Don't smear them. Once again. Yes, Eliza. Don't cramp your writing. The only writing worth reading is written in a free hand. Yes, Eliza. There. That's better. Andy Johnson, you exasperate me. Aren't you ever going to kiss me? Yes, Eliza. He worked hard. He sat cross-legged in his shop tailoring for the people of Greenville. And I read to him while he sold. I read the Constitution of the United States. I read the Declaration of Independence. I read the speeches of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. I read the laws of the state of Tennessee. I read hard facts to him. And his mind was like a sponge. Whatever I read, his mind took up and held. He learned to put on paper the things in his mind. He learned well. Very well. One day he put his needle down and he gave me his copy book. I wrote it down this morning. Oh, it's good writing, Andy. I didn't copy it from the book. I just put the words down as I remembered them. Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death do part thee and me. Oh, Andy. I have spoken to Squire Mordecai Lincoln, Eliza. He will marry us. My husband, Andrew Johnson. An ordinary man. By day he was a tailor, by night he read the law. He read the law and he began to speak to other men. The people listened to him. First a few, then many. They made him a county judge. Then they sent him to Congress. They made him a senator. They made him a governor of Tennessee. They made him the vice president of the United States of America. There was a shot fired on April the 14th, 1865. A shot that was fired in Ford's Theater in Washington. A shot fired at a man named Abraham Lincoln. Is Mr. Johnson ready? Yes, sir. A Bible? On the table, sir. Oh, thank you. I believe we may begin. Andrew Johnson. Place your hand upon the Bible. Repeat now after me. I do solemnly swear. I do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute. That I will faithfully execute. The office of President of the United States. The office of President of the United States. A tailor boy, born in Carolina, succeeded in a rail splitter, born in Kentucky. Two men who lived and died so that the federal union of the American states might be preserved forever. One of them, Andrew Johnson, my beloved husband. Our thanks to Ms. Loretta Young, Wesley Addy, and the Cavalcade Players for tonight's play, Quither Thou Goest. Ms. Loretta Young is currently starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, Cause for Alarm. On tonight's Cavalcade, the part of Andrew Johnson was played by Wesley Addy, and the script was written by Morton Wishingrad. Original music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Borez. The program was directed by John Zoller. This is Cy Harris speaking and reminding our listeners that the young men of our nation have excellent advantages, both to themselves and in helping build America's strength by joining the National Guard, a military organization of great traditions and service.
