The Depart Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, Dane Clark. Action of action with Dane Clark as David Porter. The year is 1843. David Porter, the United States Minister to Turkey, sits quietly in his garden in Constantinople. Bring me the flag, Abdel. Let me look at it. I was about to raise it, Your Excellency. Let me have it. It's getting old and worn, Abdel. Ah, but it's killed. Yes, Your Excellency. A great flag. Your flag. Yes, it's mine. I've served it. Oh, not like now, sitting here, landlocked in a Turkish garden. But at sea. At sea in a ship under full sail with all the guns manned, bearing down on the enemy. Your Excellency, do not exert yourself. The doctor say you must be careful. Careful. I've never been careful. I don't intend to start now. Risks, chances. That's a man's life. Risks, chances for this, this flag, Abdel. Do you know I was 16 and already an officer in the Navy when I took my first great risk? I was on a merchant ship off Santa Domingo when a British frigate boarded me and tried to force me into British service. What is your name, lad? My own affair. Do they teach no manners in America? How old are you? I'm old enough to know that you had no right to take me from my ship. You had no rights. Rights? You Americans speak of nothing but rights. Put them in ions and the whole. Perhaps then we shall hear less of these rights. Hissed, lad, are you awake? I'm awake all right. Have you ever tried to sleep in these? Quiet, quiet. You've come to torment me. You can save your breath. Oh, your breath, boy. Talk civil. Now take my hand from your mouth. There you are. Now listen, I have the key to these ions and I've come to help you off this ship. But you're a British. Aye, that I am. But you see, I asked the captain and my mates and I were. We liked the bold way you stood up to him. We liked the cocky, gutty, and jib meaty. There, you're free. Now listen, there's a Danish big board 50 yards off a starboard bow. You can swim. I can swim. Good. Now, you can catch as long as you can and when I give the word, one of us will slip aside the ash grating above. Run like the wind, lad, and then dive. Are you ready? I'm ready. Good. Wait. You know this is risky. You're willing to take a chance? Why not? You might get killed by one of the guards. I'll take my chances. Good boy. On deck, then. Get a move on with the ash. Good luck, lady. Up you go. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Is that a star? Who's that? Hold them. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Who's that? Hold. No. No. No. No. Chances, yes, Abdullahi started early. It was not the careful ones who put the stars in this flag or kept the flag aloft, and there There weren't very many stars in the flag when I first managed to keep her aloft against odds. I was 20 and second in command of the schooner experiment under Captain Melee. It was off Haiti and we were attacked by the pirate Rigo with 12 pirate barges with swivel guns in their bows. It looked hopeless to Captain Melee. Lieutenant Flora. Aye, aye, Captain. You will strike the colors. Without firing a shot? They have us outnumbered ten to one. You will strike the colors. And yield an American ship of water to that filthy mob of pirates? Order. Lake Downs, I say we fight. Are you with me? Aye, we're with you. Lieutenant Flora, I'll have you put in chains. I am in command of this ship. All hands to quarters. Man the guns. Load with grape and canister. All hands to quarters. You'll be broken for this. I'll bring charges. You're a hot-headed boy and I'll bring you to trial. If we win, Captain, the credit will be yours and the punishment mine. But if we lose, well, dead men tell no tale. Battle stations, fully manned, sir. Guns ready, Lieutenant. You may order a broadside. Aye, sir. Commence fire! Fire! After seven hours of desperate fighting, we won the day. And the credit went to Captain Mailey. But the risk for the cause... That is my nature. I remember when I was aboard the Philadelphia, when she went aground off Tripoli. And even as brave a man as Captain Bainbridge thought that we should remain in the Vashaw's prison and not attempt an escape. But again I wanted to take the risk. What you're proposing, Porter, is extremely dangerous. Captain Bainbridge, I will be frank. I'm not just proposing a plan for escape. It's all set up. We await only your word. Aye, I don't understand. We have been digging a tunnel to the dungeon below where the crew is quartered. And two days ago we broke through. But it's dangerous, Porter. It's extremely dangerous. If we are discovered, it means torture. Perhaps death. I shall take full responsibility. You'll take a good deal, Mr. Porter, but you don't suppose I'd allow my junior officer to take responsibility for an act such as this? We don't have to be discovered until it's too late for them to do anything about it. I have been in communication with the crew. We've exchanged letters. What? How? Well, among the books the Danish consul brought us in prison, there was one telling us how to make a secret ink, a vanishing ink that reappears when the paper is washed in water. And you risked your neck on a thing like this, a magician's trick? Well, it's better than sitting here the rest of our lives. If we can alert the crew when the time comes, we can shoot to God. Captain Bainbridge? Yes? Which of your officers is Lieutenant Porter? I am Lieutenant Porter. You will come with me? Wait. I'm in command here. I am responsible for whatever happens to my officers. Where are you taking me? To the audience chamber of the bus shore. Porter, be careful. Keep your head. You have no idea. Come along. The bus shore is impatient. Lieutenant Porter, you have been communicating with the members of your crew, have you not? You do not answer. Well, Lieutenant, if you do not use your tongue, the guard there, with a single stroke of his knife, can arrange that you shall never use your tongue again. You do not tremble. Perhaps you are ignorant of our customs. I have heard of your torture. Oh, so he speaks, and with such arrogance. You may wonder how we know that you have been communicating with your crew. The art of making secret inks is old in the countries of Islam. He still has nothing to say. Guard, the whip! The bus shore thinks that only his corsairs have courage and he has much to learn. And you are prepared to teach me then, huh? To furnish us with an example of, shall we say, Christian fortitude? I am. And remember this. I am nothing. But the uniform I wear is the uniform of the Navy of the United States of America. And each blow you strike on my back will call up a broadside on your marketplace. Commander, Preble's fleet rides at Malton tomorrow. The next day or next week he'll bring your palace down around your dirty ears. Preble's the greatest sea fighter in the world today and when he... Wait! Wait! Wait, I say! Put your whip away! It is plain, Lieutenant Porter, that you are a man of spirit, and such we admire. You will return to your countrymen in the prison. But do not think hereafter that we are so innocent that we do not know what is going on in our prisons. Oh, it wasn't all hard tax, all forced and beat to quarters. After Commodore Preble made good my threat, I returned to America. And a somewhat different kind of risk. I met her in Washington at a party. Her name was Evelina Anderson and she was very pretty. Very pretty. They told me you were of the dashing sort, Commander, but I declare you've quite outdone all the heroes of my acquaintance. You know many heroes, girl. Oh, yes. All of Commodore Preble's pirate chases are visited here. Even the great Stephen Decatur. But none of them is asked for my hand in marriage within an hour of first acclaim. Well, my mind is made up, girl. We're to be married. Oh, don't stop calling me, girl. I'm not under your command. Evelina, I... Well, perhaps I've been too hasty. I've been little ashore these past years. I've been a deep water sailor since I was twelve. I... I don't know the right words. Oh, I've fallen in love with you, girl. Perhaps you could manage to sound a little... well, a little less explosive, boy. Evelina? Hmm? Darling, I love you with all my heart. I knew it the moment I saw you. Well, I said... Then you will... you will marry me? Well, I... I do like you, David, and when I first saw you... Well, something happened. But I'm not a pirate schooner to be taken by storm after one broadside. Sorry, I... I... Well, in any event, you'd need to ask my father's permission. Yes, I suppose I must. Goodbye, Evelina. Where are you going? To ask your father's hand in marriage. But, David, I haven't said you might. David! You are the Honorable William Anderson? I am? I am David Porter, commander of the United States Navy. I have the honor, sir, to request the hand of your daughter in marriage. Well, of all the unmitigated gall. Young man? Yes, sir? Listen to me. No penniless sailor can ever hope to marry my daughter. You have no future, young man, and I forbid you to marry her. Is that all, sir? Yes, that's all. Thank you. But I must warn you, sir, the breaching of obstacles is the joy of my life. Good day, sir. I think I need hardly add that Evelina and I were married shortly after with the blessings of Mr. Anderson. Congress crippled the Navy, but I was able to keep my hand in fighting pirates in the Gulf and their lawyer friends ashore in New Orleans. And there in New Orleans, Evelina and I adopted a son whose name, like mine, was David, and who, like me, loved the Navy. Mother? Yes, David? Will there be war? Well, perhaps we'll know today when the commander returns. Will they get him a ship? Will they make him captain? If they don't, he's quite capable of marching on Washington and breaking down the president's very door. Oh, I think I hear him coming. Evelina! Glorious news, glorious! What's happened? The country has decided to cringe and crawl no more. My commission as captain is in the hands of the secretary, and I'm to command the Essex. Thirty-two guns. Think of it, I'm to have the Essex. Then what am I to have? Years of loneliness, years of widowhood, Babs. Oh, my dear Evelina, you understand. You've always understood me. Be happy with me. I shall try. You'll have our children, Evelina. That is all except David, yeah? And why not David? His commission is midshipman, and the Essex will arrive at the same time as my own official promotion. What? Baby? Little baby? He's only eleven years old. Well, it's high time he put to sea. What do you say, lad? Isn't it high time young David Farragut put to sea? Aye, aye, sir. Good for you, midshipman Farragut. Our DuPont cavalcade returns to the story of David Porter with Dane Bart. And so the outbreak of the war with England in 1812 brought me in command of the Essex. I was ordered to join my old friend, Captain Bainbridge, commanding the USS Constitution somewhere in the South Atlantic. Exact whereabouts unknown. Our mission to destroy England's commerce. But I couldn't locate Bainbridge, so I disguised the Essex as a British man of war and put in at a Portuguese island in search of information. Captain Porter, sir? Yes, midshipman Davy Farragut. What is it? Must I always call you Captain when we're on board ship, sir? Always, Davy. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another midshipman. Midshipman David Farragut. Is the Captain Bainbridge we're trying to find, is he the same one you were with in prison in Tripoli, Father? Sir? Yes, boy. The time you used the Vanishing Ink? Oh, that must be Lieutenant Downs with news of Bainbridge. Come in. Captain Porter, sir? I called upon the governor resorted. He's completely deceived. He believes we're an English ship. And what news of Bainbridge? None of Bainbridge, Captain, but two British frigates have visited here in the past week via Castor and the Morgiana. The Morgiana. There are no such ships in the English Navy? Well, sir, the Acastus Captain left a letter addressed to Captain Sir James Yeoh in England. I told the authorities we'd deliver it. Let's see it. Sir. Let's see. My dear friend Yeoh, probably you may stop here or we may meet at San Salvador. I should be happy to converse on our old affairs of captivity, recollect our secret in those times. Your friend of H.M.A.C.T.A, Captain James Kerr. It's not much use to us, is it, sir? Old affairs of captivity. Recollect our secret in those times. Sir. Come over here, will you? This bowl of water. I don't understand, sir. Do you know this, Captain Kerr? Now, I placed this letter in the bowl of water. Now watch. Just watch the back of it. There, you see? You see? There's writing. Well, read it, Midshipman Targott. My dear Porter, go off Cape Rio to the northward of Rio de Janeiro and keep a lookout for me. Your former fellow prisoner, William Bainbridge. Make sail, Lieutenant. We're bound for Rio. But Bainbridge and the Constitution were not to be found, though we searched for months. Finally, with our supplies running low, our situation grew desperate. And in December, I called an officer's council. All the officers are here now, sir. Good. Gentlemen, gentlemen, our supplies are running low and the British have blockaded every port we could reach. Our choice lies between starvation and capture. I take it, I take it that you have all sailed with me long enough to know that I shall accept neither of these choices. I take it also that you came to see to fight and to do our enemy as much damage as may be. Now, if we remain in the South Pacific, we must starve or we must surrender. We head north, we face capture or blockade in the home port. Therefore, gentlemen, I propose to take this ship around the Horn and into the Pacific. Captain, we'll never make it, sir. What? This is no whaling ship, sir. We're not built to take these Cape Horn gales. We can't make it, sir. We can and we will. And we did it. We did it. We did it. We did it. We did it. And we did. And when we reached the Pacific, we found, as I had expected, that the British had left their Pacific commerce without protection. And we fell upon them, taking prize after prize. And after a year of tremendous success, however, we awoke one morning in a neutral Chilean port and found that two British frigates were patrolling the harbor entrance. I arranged a meeting with Captain Hillier of the HMS Phoebe. Delighted to see you, Captain Porter. I have come halfway around the world to meet you, sir, all the way from Calcutta. Captain Hillier, do you propose to respect the neutrality of this port? Oh, come now, Porter. Must we move so rapidly to business? I had wished to congratulate you upon your recent exploits over a bottle of wine. Thank you, thank you. But I must know... Why, man, your name is ringing through the wardrooms of all the world's navies and through half the counting houses in England. To say you well-nigh ruined Lloyds of London... Still, Captain, I must press for an answer. Do you intend to respect Chilean neutrality? Since you have paid so much respect to it, I am bound to do likewise. Good. And I will not need to keep my crew at quarters day and night. On the other hand, sir, it would give me the greatest pleasure to settle all differences between us. Is this a challenge, Captain? Well, since mine is a smaller ship, I should be condemned by Navy Department if I offered a challenge. But a challenge from you would be most welcome. I have two ships, Captain Porter. I fear the lords of the Admiralty would expect me to use both of them. Captain, I'd be outgunned and outranged by the Phoebe alone. Let the cherub stay at anchor, take out the Phoebe and I will follow. And I can promise you a most interesting morning. And I can promise you, Captain Porter, that I would be forced to use both my ships. Therefore, I doubt if you will leave the port of Valparaiso. May I offer you more of this excellent wine? Now, there you have it, midshipmen, Farragut. Two ships against one. Short-range guns against long twirls. Safety in port. Possible death and destruction beyond the harbor. Well, there's a tactical problem for you, boy. What would Commodore Preble have done, sir? That's what I've been asking myself, lad, these past three sleepless nights. There's a gale blowing up, sir. Yes, I see. In an hour there'll be heavy weather beyond the harbor bar. We might just slip by, sir. I've taken notice of the weather, lad. It's a habit we have. Sorry, sir. Oh, I'm sorry myself. My nerves are on edge, son. Oh. I'm decked with you. Tell Lieutenant Cowell I wish to see him at once. By heaven, I won't stand it. We're getting out of here, whatever the odds. We'll never make it, Captain. Why not? The British are bearing down on us fast. Well, bend on more sail. But this wind may blow away our main top man. What's that? Captain, Captain, there it goes. There goes the main top man. Captain, we can't bring our guns to bear on them. The wind keeps our stern towards the British. Wiggle lines from the stern to the anchor cable. Try to warp around so we can bring it rock side to bear. We can't make it, Captain. We can't bring it around. We can only fire with the three stern guns. What canvas can we set, Lieutenant? Only the flying jib, Captain. Then cut the anchor cable and set the jib. If we can move it all, we'll try to board them. What? Board them? By heaven, we'll crawl toward them on our hands and knees. Stand by to board. Captain. Captain, we can never get in close enough to board, sir. I know, I know, I know. We have no guns left that can fire, sir. It was a risk, Lieutenant. We had to take it. We had to take the chance. Captain Porter. Captain Porter. It's hit you around the feet, Captain. Captain Porter, will you strike your colors? No, no, no, no. Will you surrender, Captain Porter? Oh, sir, his next broadside will blow us out of the water. Strike the colors, Lieutenant. Strike the colors. Captain Hillier, I presume I am your prisoner. Captain Porter, if it is any satisfaction, I did what I had to do, but with a heavy heart. I must say never in all the annals of the sea has a ship fought against great odds with greater courage or greater skill. Your Excellency. Yes, yes, I've gone and told you that entire story again, haven't I? May I take the flag now? It is sunrise. It is time to raise it. Yes, Abdul. Take it. Raise it. Each morning is a new morning and all defeats should be forgotten. There will be fresh victories on the morrow. Not for me or for the rest of Preble's boys, but for other young men of faith, courage, and daring. To the fiery young men known as Preble's boys who served under Commodore Edward Preble against Tripoli and founded the fighting tradition of the American Navy, and to Porter's sons, Admiral David Dixon Porter and Admiral David Farragut, and to the officers and men who uphold that tradition today, this broadcast is respectfully dedicated. Our thanks to Dane Clark and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story. Ladies and gentlemen, in the annual awards poll conducted by the Radio Television Mirror magazine, among its almost half million readers, the DuPont Cavalcade of America was chosen as their favorite educational program. We greatly appreciate this honor and will do our best to have Cavalcade continue to win your approval. Thank you. Next week, the DuPont Cavalcade is called No Doll Was Abigail and stars Miss Joan Bennett as Abigail Scott Dunaway. Abigail created quite a stir in the early Northwest Territory where men were men and women, well, definitely not dolls, as you shall see. We invite you to listen. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was written by George H. Faulkner and was adapted from the book Preble's Boys by Fletcher Pratt, published by William Sloan Associates. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Borey. The program was directed by John Zoller. This is Cy Harris speaking. Don't forget next week, Joan Bennett in No Doll Was Abigail. DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. Music.
