Your Coca-Cola Bottler presents Claudia. Claudia, based on the play and novels 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. Have another cup of coffee, David. No, thanks, it's fine. You sure? Positive. Here if you want it. Well, I don't. David, are you going to be busy this afternoon? I expect I'm going to be busy all day. Well, can't you be a little less busy at four o'clock? Well, I've got to go up to Redberry, darling, at about one o'clock, and I couldn't possibly get back before five or six. Oh. What is it? Anything important? David, at four o'clock this afternoon, the doctor said we could come to the hospital and take Bluff home. Oh, so he did. Now, will you go to Redberry? Well, I wish I didn't have to, but business before pleasure, darling. Certainly going to be good having Bluff home again. I can't wait! David. What's the matter? I won't be able to bring him home. Why not? Well, if you're going to be going up to Redberry, that means you'll be taking the car, doesn't it? Well, I don't intend to walk. So? That means I won't be able to take Bluff home from the hospital. You certainly can. Take a taxi. He doesn't like taxis. He doesn't like the way they smell. You mean you don't. Bluff and I agree on all such matters. He'd much rather ride home in the car. How about an ambulance? The doctor said he'd be all right, so I don't think he'll need an ambulance. Are you serious? Of course. Well, take a bus or a subway or a walk or something, but you can't have the car. That's fine. I cannot understand you at some time. What now? You would take that car right out from under Bluff. And I'd do it without one hand. I never would have believed that I could poor little Bluff all weak and stiff and thin. You are heartless. I just don't believe in pampering dogs any more than people. I bet you'd be just that mean to me if I went to the hospital. If you ever have to go to the hospital, I'll be furious with you. You will? Why? I won't have you going off and getting sick and not feeling well. Well, I'll have to go to the hospital when I have the baby. That, well, that's not like going to the hospital. It isn't. That's like going out to the store and buying something you want very much. But it's not a bargain sale, I can tell you. Three hundred dollars. David, do you think Bluff will be happy to come home? Happy? He'll be beside himself. What do you suppose is the first thing he'll do when he comes home from the hospital? Oh, open the icebox door. Then I think I'll go and get him a steak. A steak? This celebrator's coming home. Claudia, you're going to get that dog into a terrible lot of habits, pampering him like that. Oh, David, if you were coming home from the hospital, nothing would be too good for you either. Well, I'm glad to hear it. And I love that dog just as much as you do, but there are limits. I don't see why there have to be. Darling, that dog is a grown-up man. He's not a little girl and he's not a doll. I don't think he's going to want to be pampered. I think he's going to want to be treated as the sort of person he is. He's big and rough and ready. I don't intend to lift one finger, not one, nothing, for him any more than I normally would. I don't think you have any soul. I think you ought to behave the same way. I know that's the way I'd want to be treated. You would? Well, we'll see. Oh, I know what. What? I'll get Mama to go with me to the hospital and bring Bluff home. Darling, why don't you hire a small orchestra, a drum major in white satin, six black horses, and really do this thing upright? Say, you know, that's not a bad idea. Claudia, isn't it an awfully cold afternoon to be bringing that dog home from the hospital? Mommy, he's got to get used to going out in the cold. I know, but he's been laid up for a week. David says they wouldn't let him come home if he weren't perfectly all right. I wish I was sure. Mama, are you worrying about him? I should say not. He's big enough to take care of himself. Don't pretend you are worried. Well, he's a very sweet pup. I'm surprised David didn't want to come along with us. He's such a fool about that animal. David had to go up to Redberry. And he's not such a fool about him as you think he is. He gave me a long lecture about not fussing over him, but about not treating Bluff as if he'd been sick or anything. That's a man for you. Do you know, I think David's right. I think maybe the best thing is to treat Bluff as if he's never been away at all. Then he'll feel more as if he's at home. You sound as if you know what you're talking about, but I'm not convinced. About what? I don't think you do know. Well, Mama, here's the hospital. I can read. I can see that sign. It says hospital. What do you think I am? Want me to tell you? I do not. Well, Mama, all of a sudden I feel sort of nervous. Nervous? Ridiculous. What better be nervous about? Well, maybe that's not exactly the word. Maybe I mean excited. Well, I don't know what there is to be excited about either. Mama, imagine. This could be me coming to take my baby from the hospital. Claudia, it couldn't possibly be that and you know it. Why not? I'm having a baby. Much as you act as if you don't think it's possible. Of course, my dim-witted child. You wouldn't be coming to the hospital to take that baby home with you. You'd be at the hospital with it. Well, it's almost the same thing. Must be wonderful to be a mother. It has its disadvantages. Right now my feet are freezing. Come, let's go in and bring him back alive. Well, here he is, Mrs. Motton. Good as new. Thank you, Dr. Mixel. Bluff, hello, Bluff. Mama, he knows me. Of course he knows you and he's very fond of you. Is he really all right? Couldn't be better. Infection disappeared completely and very fortunately it was absorbed. We didn't have to operate. Oh, I couldn't have stood it if you had had to operate. Was he a good patient? An excellent patient. A very happy dog. Seems to be very well adjusted. Well, I think he would be. David is very well adjusted and so am I. Hush up, Claudia. Do you have any special instructions for my daughter about the care of Bluff? No, nothing special. He has normal diet. There's no need to pamper him. Well, David was right as usual. Oh, Doctor, you've been just wonderful. My, thank you. Thank you very much. It's not everybody who knows enough to treat a dog as if he were a person. Oh, Mama, look. Do you suppose he knows he's home? All I can say is I'm glad I know I am. That big dog certainly makes the taxi feel awfully small. I think he gets carsick in a taxi. Well, aren't you going to open the door and let us in? The door's open. Oh, I suppose Bertha's up here cleaning. She's the most wonderful woman. Bertha, look who we brought in from the hospital. Ah, well, good evening, Mrs. Norton. About time you got back. Ah. So you're David. Yeah, I'm David. Hello there, Bluff. Oh, boy. Welcome back. You wouldn't think of saying hello to your poor old mother-in-law, would you? Have you been in a hospital? I just came from one. Oh, you beautiful thing. They fed you up well, didn't they? Put a little meat on those bones. That's fair. I think I'll go in the kitchen and put a little meat on a plate. Did you ask the doctor, is it all right to feed him? What would you prefer to do, starve him? No, but I want to be sure we do the right thing. I asked the doctor, darling. He said it was perfectly all right. He can have meat and his usual diets. Just as usual. David, the doctor said... Well, let's be careful, not give him too much to start out with. He's probably feeling a little weak. Oh, he's very delicate, that undersized buffalo. Don't you listen to her, you beautiful... Hey, come to think of it, Mr. Norton, the house had your home so early. I nearly broke my neck to get here. Well, let me see. You think I want this dependent of mine to come home from the hospital into a cold and empty apartment with nobody here to take his paw and welcome him home? Oh, he'd have been heartbroken. Well, he would, wouldn't you, Bluff? He looks sort of thin to me. Thin? Oh, Claudia, I picked up some meat for him on my way home. It's in the icebox. I bought him some meat too, darling. My butcher gave me some. What'd he give you? What you said to get. Scraps and leaveings. Fine thing for his first dinner. But you said that I'd get him, David, breath of Guinea hen. I should say not chicken for a dog. I got him a... well, I got him a steak. A steak? Well, it's not the choice cut, but it's a steak. Mama, I'll never believe anybody again as long as I live. What are you talking about? My own husband. He's a traitor. David, I thought you told me this morning not to make a fuss over him and pamper him. I'm not making a fuss, just taking a normal entrance. More than normal. Abnormal. You know, I don't think that this pooch is completely mended. What's the matter with him? Where? He seems all right to me. Look at him. He's walking around on three legs. He's got his paw lifted again. That's funny. He didn't do that in the hospital. You didn't make him walk home, did you? Walk? I practically carried him into the taxi. He looks awfully sad. Come here, Bluffo, and tell your paw what's the matter with your paw. Oh, you make a pretty picture. You two big baby boys. Come on, boy. Come on. Come on, tell Papa. These two women here don't understand. Mama, I'm sure he didn't limp at the hospital, and he didn't limp on the way home, and he didn't limp coming down the hall. He didn't even walk. He leapt all the way. And so gracefully on all four feet. Yours and mine. I'm going into the kitchen and get his steak dinner. How about a few french fries with it? I'll ask you, David. Wonder who it can be? Come on, old boy. You sure you're all right, old fella? You've got me awfully worried. I want you to take it easy here. Yeah. I don't want you to run around too much, and you don't even have to go for any walks if you don't want to. Now, come on. Tell Papa how you are. I can't wait to see you. Lottie has some kind of a message for you. All right. I'll take it. Keep an eye on him, Claudia. I'll be right back. I don't like the way he's nursing that paw. David, he's coming after you. Hey, be careful. He's going to knock you down. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I'm not going away. I'm right here. I'm right here with you. David, he ran on all four feet. He did? Oh, no. You're imagining that paw. No, I'm not. He ran on all four feet. You... Listen, darling, I have an idea. You run across the room and see if he follows you. Then we'll know. All right. You tell Lottie to wait. Now, come on, Bluffo. Come on, boy. Come on. Let's go. Come on. Come on. He's all right. He is. What's all this ruckus in here? You'll be evicted. He's fine, Mother. He's fine. That's a load off of my mind. All he needed was a pat on the back from me, and his paw is all right. You mean all he wanted was a little attention. Oh, Mother, what are you trying to say? What do you mean? I mean that as long as you pamper him, that dog will be walking on three feet. Walking on three feet? Oh, I see what you mean. Oh, Mom, I love David for pampering him. But... Oh, now I can't wait till I go to the hospital. Oh, it's worse not. I've only got two feet. These programs star Katherine Bard as Claudia and Paul Crabtree as David. And the entire production is supervised and directed by William Brown Meloni. Some homes just naturally seem to attract folks. It's a pleasure to enter. It's fun to linger. And it's not pure coincidence that those homes usually have plenty of refreshing ice-cold coke on hand. For Coca-Cola makes hospitality so easy. Easy on the hostess and easy on the pocketbook, too. And ease is the first rule of hospitality. Invite people to enjoy the pause that refreshes with ice-cold Coca-Cola and watch them return again and again. 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 Monday 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.