Your Coca-Cola Bottler presents Claudia. Claudia, based on the original stories by Rose Franken. Brought to you transcribed Monday through Friday by your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. Relax, and while you're listening, refresh yourself. Have a Coke. And now, Claudia. Well, I'm through packing this truck. And that takes care of all the packing. Good. Where's the evening paper? Oh, someplace wrong. See, that trunk certainly looks as if it had eaten a big dinner. Oh, and that reminds me, David, if you haven't got anything to do, you can come help me in the kitchen. I thought as much. No peace for the weary. You mean the wicked. Come on, Shakespeare, you can help me too. Careful, you're stepping on him. Now hand me the ladder, will you? I want to see what's on the top shelf of the cupboard. Nothing up there. You can't reach it. Now where's my paper? I'd better just look to make sure. I may have hidden something away. I'll do it. You'll only fall down and break in little pieces. Oh, if I had the wings of an angel, one jar of preserves coming down. Oh, wonderful, it's brand new. We'll take it with us. Oh, if there's a half a jar of honey coming down. David, don't throw it. The lid will come off. It'll spill. The step ladder's tipping, David. Out of my way. Out, out of, jumping. You all right? Certainly I'm all right. Didn't you see my parachute open? I'll never ask you to help me again as long as I live. Good. How's the step ladder? One leg's cracked. You see, it wasn't safe. And don't ever let me catch you climbing up on anything that's not safe. I've climbed up on that step ladder a hundred times. It's safe enough for me. I'm light as a feather. And I have a wonderful sense of balance. What are we doing this job, honey? Now we've got it. Put it in that crate with the rest of the preserves if you insist on keeping it. I don't insist on keeping it. I just don't want to throw it away. And I don't want to take it with us. You're making sense. Yes, I am perfect sense. I don't want to throw it away because I don't believe in throwing things away. And I don't want to take it with us because I... I know, I know. We're moving with everything new. Because it will open and it will spill. No. I know I'll put it here on the table and give it to Mama in the morning. Mama will be delighted. Well, that's all for the kitchen, isn't it? Looks like it. David, now could you take that hat box from the shelf in the hall closet? Can't we do it in the morning? Oh, I'd rather finish up everything tonight. Then I could sleep without a conscience. Any sacrifice is worth that. Take a look and see if you find Mama's umbrella while you're there. What would it be doing up here? I don't know. Where do umbrellas go when you can't find them? Do you see anything? Just dark. Get me some matches, dear. What was that? I didn't hear anything up here. I'd better go to the kitchen and see. I'll be right back. Oh, no umbrella. Oh, Shakespeare, look what you did and look at you. Don't cry to me for sympathy. Oh, wait till David sees this. Wait till David sees what? He was in the honey jar. He must think he's a bear. He looks lovely basted in honey, don't you think? Hey, get away from me, Shakespeare. Get off. He's rubbing honey on your trousers. Scat! Get away! Scat! Scat! He's sticking to the floor. I always thought he was a clinging vine. Shakespeare, honestly, you're a mess. Go away. Nobody wants you. Hey, come here. I'll give you a bath. Darling, kittens don't take baths. This one is going to have to. We can't have him running around like this. It's like living with a piece of fly paper. Oh, that's not a bad idea. Let's hang him on the chandelier. We have no chandeliers, so we'll give him a bath instead. I repeat, kittens don't take baths. They wash themselves. Maybe they don't take baths, but they get bathed. I read it in a book. What book? I forget. All the cats I've ever known licked themselves clean. It'll take him a year. Then let it take him a year. We'll keep him busy and out of trouble. We can't move upstairs with him like this tomorrow. He'll get in all the paint and mess everything up. He'll get in all of the paint anyway. Besides, he'll feel awful. Everything else is going to be so nice and clean and new. He'll get a complex moving in like an old jar of honey on his back. Fine. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something sticky. That's for bribes, not for cats. Shakespeare, come here. David, don't let him go in the living room. Catch him! You catch him. I'm not going to touch him. Oh, you're a great help. Hey, come back here, you... David, run the water in the sink. Throw him in the bathtub. He'll drown. Cats swim. I saw a picture of one swimming the other day. Here I come. Stand aside. Want me to get you a shower cap or a bath salt? Yes, please. All right, now in you go. Oh, he loves it. He's a real water baby. He does. Oh, Shakespeare, don't scratch him. I'll be feeling it. Let me wash you if you feel like it. He doesn't. You get soap in your eyes if you want to feel you little... That's a boy, Shakespeare. Don't let her make a sissy out of you. Stand up for your rights. David, if you say another word to him... I'm just giving him a little moral support. Shakespeare, please, we're almost finished. He's holding a pill. David, take my hair out of my eyes. I can't see what I'm doing. He looks like a drowned rat and so do you. Shakespeare, you're scratching. You're getting water all over me. He certainly loves this. You'll have to give him a bath every Saturday night. There, now I've got him all soaked up. Turn the faucet on, please. I just can't let go of him. Hot or cold? Hot. And hurry. He's slipping out of my hand. He ought to end up with a cold shower like I do or he'll catch cold. I wouldn't dream of it. Make it warm. He's just a kitten baby. Let him become a man then. He's much too young. You know what you're doing, of course. You're holding him back, keeping him a baby longer than he wants to be. Only four weeks, so stop brushing him. All right, all right. Make a sissy out of him. Don't give him his long pants till after all the other boys on the block have gotten theirs. Soap in his eye. Turn on the water now. All right, he's all yours but your baby. Now, see, he's enjoying this. He's not coming anymore. He doesn't want to swallow a mouthful of soap, do you, fella? Now, have me the towel. I'll wrap him up in it and get him all nice and warm. We'll go in the living room. It's warmer in there, baby. I am exhausted. You're exhausted. I repeat, I'm exhausted. And if you and that cat don't mind, I'd still like to have a look at the evening papers. Go right ahead. We don't need to be entertained, do we, Shakespeare? Now, kitty, you just sit down here and we'll get you all nice and... Oh, it's a sweet little kitty, sweet. Come on, my sweet. David. He's purring now. He's growling. Growling? I have no further interest in him. Any cat who allows himself to be given a bath is not for me. That must be Mama. Want me to answer? No, I'll go. You watch, Shakespeare. Now, you sit there and be still, you naughty little kitty. See? He understands. He says yes to everything. Just a cat for milk, though. Mama? Yep, we're all through packing. Say, how would you like a half a tomato? Well, you're very ungrateful. Guess what? We just gave Shakespeare a bath. We had to. He fell into a jar of honey. No, he loved it. Not the honey, the bath. Of course he loved it. Say, why don't you come over in the morning, Mama? About nine o'clock. That'll be fine. Bye. That was Mama. Oh, David. David, where are you? Looking for the first section of the paper. Have you seen it? How many times do I have to tell you no? Say, if you've got a little pocket comb I could use on Shakespeare. No, I have not. Use your own comb. Well, that's new. Come here, Shakespeare. Where'd you go? David, he's not on the chair where I left him. What's the difference? He's around here someplace. You'll catch his death of cold running around all wet. Shakespeare, come back here. You, you, you, catch you. I don't see him in here, do you? He heard you say you were going to comb him. He's not on top of any of the furniture. Get pushy, pushy, pushy, pushy, pushy, pushy. Please, daughter, let us know. Let's be in the bedroom. While you're under the bed, will you look for the paper? David, look under the radiators and in the hall. He often sits under the console. No. No what? No cat. He isn't in here. Where on earth could he have gone? Look in the sink. Maybe he's taking another bath. Oh, don't be silly. Cats don't like baths. Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Oh, maybe he's under the stove. David, are you sure he's not in the living room? Not unless he opens that trunk and pulls the top down after him. Have we got a flashlight? It's packed. Not in the kitchen. The only other place must be under the break front in the dining room. Give me some matches. What are you going to do? Take a look. I'll do it. You'll set the house on fire. I don't think you can see under it. You have to pull it away from the wall. Well, I guess I'm stronger than I thought I was. Shakespeare under there? Yeah, can't see him. I'll light a match for you. Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. I've got something. Is it here? No. Your mother's umbrella. No. Yes. Well, if mother's umbrella can get under the break front, you can imagine where Shakespeare's gotten. We'll never find him. David, why didn't you watch in the way I asked you to? I'm not a cat sitter. Think he could have jumped out of the window? What window? I noticed a little window open in the pantry. It's just open a few inches. He wouldn't have. He's just a kitten. Do you see anything? Only the fire escape and it's pitch black out. I'm sure he wouldn't have gone down that. Would he? He loves it here with us. No bath at all. Come on, come on. Let's go to bed. I'd be a lot happier if I knew where he was. Oh, he's probably in a closet or under some piece of furniture where we can't see him. He'll come out in the morning when he's hungry. I wish I was sure. Well, I am sure. And I am turning out the light and I am turning into bed. Come on, darling. Turn around and come along. Say, now who do you think that is at this hour? We're practically in bed. Look, darling, Shakespeare is too small to ring the buzzer himself. Oh, silly. How, Lancet? I'm already there. Mrs. Norton, I'm sorry to disturb you, but... You're not disturbing us, Fritz. I find your kitten on the street. Versa said right off that it's Mrs. Norton's kitten, Shakespeare. Shakespeare on the street? I find him fighting in the alleyway with a great big cat. Shakespeare fighting? Yeah, yeah. Let me take him, Fritz. Oh, you get dirty. He's not quite clean. But I just gave him a bath. You've never suspected now. It's Shakespeare, but you hardly know him. It's him, all right. I said it couldn't be, but Versa said she was sure, and Versa was right. He must have gone out the window. Now, that's some cat after all. Oh, look at you, all filthy and black. Come here, you nice business running away. And Fritz, we can never thank you for bringing him back. Good night, Fritz. Thanks a lot. Shakespeare say thank you to Fritz. Now go on. Good night. Good night. David the rascal. Hey, look. Look, he's missing a big patch of hair. Where? There, right there behind his left ear. It's his battle scar. I'd better get the eye down. Oh, leave him alone. He's proud of it. He looks fierce. He isn't a mama baby anymore. One little evening out and look at him. Oh, look at him, would you? He sure is proud of himself. His tail is sticking straight up in the air like a flag. His battle flag of freedom. Just like a man strutting around. Claudia, Claudia, I hope you realize what this means. What? Shakespeare will stand for no more pampering. No siring. He jumped out of that window. A child. And he's come back a man. This broadcast of Claudia was supervised and directed by William Brown Maloney. What are you planning for your club meeting snack? Whether it's a salty salad or a sandwich, a sweet cake or cookie, there's one thing that'll go with it perfectly, and that's frosty, delicious Coca-Cola. And you won't have to leave your guests to get Coke either. Just reach into the refrigerator, fill a tray with bottles, and bring them in. That's easy hospitality everyone appreciates at any hour. Every day, Monday through Friday, Claudia comes to you transcribed with the best wishes of your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. So listen again tomorrow at the same time. And now this is Joe King saying au revoir and remember, whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of Coca-Cola, for ice-cold Coca-Cola makes any pause the pause that refreshes.