Ah! Ah! Pearl parrots, you speak for themselves! Ah! Ah! Hip-ahoy, you lubbers! All aboard for the transcribed premiere production, the cruise of the pearl parrot, that thrilling, exciting story of the sea. In our last adventure, we left Captain Dalton, Dickon, and his pearl parrot, and Johnny Robbins in Mr. Grange's cabin. Ezra Grange has just insisted that Johnny, who was left by Al Teste in a cask on board the pearl parrot, be sent home on the first returning ship they meet, simply because he apparently doesn't like the boy's name. Immediately afterward, Grange discovered his own sister, Sue, stowed away in his sea chest. It is now just a few moments later, and Grange is furiously addressing his sister. Sue, you are without question of doubt the most headstrong little girl I've ever known. You deliberately disobeyed your parents' wishes and mine. Well, I never have gotten what I wanted. I knew the only way I could go on one of these cruises was to go by myself. You'd never take me! This means simply that you will have to go back home on the first boat we meet, just like the boy. Avast, Mr. Grange, you can't send the girl back on a strange craft all by yourself. Mr. Dalton, this is my ship, and I'm perfectly capable of taking charge of my own affairs. And I'll thank you not to meddle in them. Blow me down. Mr. Grange, I'll have you know I'm master of this ship, and whose sails on her is my business. Why this talk of sending the lad back to port? Because you don't like it. His long first name is a lot of nonsense. His first name doesn't have anything to do with it. I won't have anyone on my ship named Robbins. And why not? None of your business. Well, there is evidently something about this cruise other than whaling. I wish you would explain it all to me before I sign on as skipper of this craft. But you're the owner, and I suppose you know what you're doing. Now you're acting sensible, Captain Dalton. Well, we'll send them back as soon as we hail a ship. But where do you want the lad to bunk in the meantime? But I don't think you should send either one of us back. Now you stay out of this. Keep the boy in your cabin, Captain Dalton. I'll take care of my sister. Dickon, what are you standing there gaping at me for? Take that parrot and get on deck. Aye, aye, sir. I'm sorry, sir. Come along, Johnny lad. We'll go on deck. Oh, Captain Dalton, I'm sorry to cause all the trouble, but I do wish Mr. Grange would let me stay. Well lad, it may be all for the best. But batten down my hatch. I don't understand what he has against your name. Careful, sir. I'll raise the hatch. Blow me down, sir. I'm bloomin' sorry the youngins can't stay aboard. I'd like the chance to teach him the ropes. I'd sure like to have you teach me, Mr. Dickon. Stow that mister stuff. The parrot's right, lad. I'm just plain old Dickon. Well then, Mr. I mean Dickon, maybe you'll at least tell me a few yarns before I have to go back to New Bedford. Oh, that I will, my lad. And you can lay to that. There's Mr. Wainwright at that. We'll see what luck he's had in scouring the ship for a stowaway. Ahoy there, Mr. Wainwright. Ahoy, sir. Right there. I feel sorry for that little girl, too. She wants to go along as badly as I do. Well, lad, Sue's like all the Granges. When she wants a thing, she goes after it. Even if it comes to stowin' away in her brother's sea chest. I admire her spirit. But I don't know what to think of Mr. Grange. It strikes me he's a peculiar hard man, wantin' to ship two youngins back all by themselves on board a strange ship. Alas, Captain, we've searched the ship from stem to stern, and there's not so much as a footprint to tell us of any stowaway. I'm blowed if I know where anybody could be stowin' away. It looks like dirty weather ahead to me, Mr. Wainwright. I've some news for you. Mr. Grange has just found his little sister, Sue, stowed away in a sea chest. I'll be hornswoggled. She's a game little one, you can lay to that. That's not all. Mr. Grange insists that both she and the lad be shipped back to New Bedford by the first craft we meet. Johnny be shipped back? Well, now, that's a bloomin' shame. The funny part of it all is Mr. Grange won't have Johnny aboard because his last name is Robbins. Oh, there's more in that than meets the eye. There's some reason for that. I wish little Sue and I could have stayed aboard. We'd have had lots of fun, I bet. Strike me sails. I think the lad's liking the little girl. Oh, no, that's not it. It's just, well, she just seems to have a lot of courage and everything. I think she'd be almost as much fun as another boy. Ah! You can't fool me! There's a trim schooner in the offing. Ah! Old Paul Parrott thinks she's a trim schooner, Johnny lad, and that you've taken a liking to her. And he's a hard one to fool, maybe. Oh, I wish I hadn't said anything. I just meant we'd have a lot of fun learning. I mean, oh, gee. I understand, lad. Well, it's too bad things had to turn out this way. But the winds may change, you never can tell. Meanwhile, Johnny, I'll get all the outfit and clothes you need from the Slop Chest. And you can bunk in my cabin till we meet a ship. We may hail one before the day's over. I don't like that, Mr. Grange. I think he's awful mean to his sister, not letting her have anything she wants. They're down in his cabin alone now. I wonder what he's saying to her. I bet he's scolding her terribly. Well, I told you you couldn't go along, Sue, and I meant it. You'll simply have to learn your lesson. You must go back on the first ship we meet. Well, Ezra, Father will be a lot angrier with you for sending me back alone than he will with me for running away. What do you mean? Just as Captain Dalton said, it's dangerous to send us back with no friends on a strange ship. I'd be a lot safer on board the pall pad with you to watch out for me. Confound it, Sue. A whaler is no place for you. Why not, Ezra? I won't get in anybody's way. And think of all the fun I'll have. Wow, I'll learn a lot of things about foreign countries and things that I never could find out just by going to school at home. But there's too much danger in whaling. That's just why you all let me stay. Just think, if one of the men gets hurt, why, I could take care of him. And you know how I nursed you last winter when you were so sick. Well, that's true. Do you think you could help us that way? Of course I could. And lots of skippers take their wives along on their cruises. Now, why couldn't you take your sister? Sue, you're a true grange. What you want, you'll stay after until you get. Then can I stay? Well, if you promise to stay out of mischief and always remain here below in bad weather or when the men are busy on deck cutting in a whale or trying it for oil, you keep out of the way and I'll let you stay. Oh, Ezra, you're a darling. Here, here, don't hug me so hard. You'll ruin my cravat. Dash it, Sue, I've had to give in to you and that's more than I do for any man that works for me. Oh, you're sweet, Ezra. I knew you'd understand if you'd just give me a chance to explain. Ezra. Now what? Count you nest a little boy, stay too. Now, look here, if you think you're going to get me to consent to that too, you'd better change your mind in a hurry, young lady. That's none of your affair. But you really need a cabin boy and this little boy looks very smart to me. Well, we could use a cabin boy, but not that boy. I won't have anybody on board my ship named Jonathan Robbins. That sounds like a very nice name to me, Johnny Robbins. You don't know anything about this. But his name can't make that much difference. Why, if he'd be a good hand, no kind of a name could really matter, Ezra. Wait a minute. What's that paper? Mind your manners, Suzanne. This is my business alone. Even though it is the same name, he might not be. And if he is, he might know something that would help me out instead of... We'll think it over, Sue. Oh, Ezra, you are the darliness brother any little girl ever had. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Don't climb all over me again. All that sweetness won't make up my mind for me. I make my own decisions. Just a minute till I put this back. Now, that all depends on whether... What's that? Sounds like chopping. It's coming from down under the cabin. On this side of the ship, deep in the hold, I'd say. Maybe the Cooper is fixing some cast down there. He wouldn't be doing that at this stage of the voyage. Sue, you run up and tell Captain Dalton to come below immediately. Do you think he might know what it is? I want him to listen. He may be able to find out. Then I want to tell him about you staying. And then we can settle the matter of keeping this Robbins boy. Oh, good. You will let him stay, won't you? I'll run on deck, will you? Fetch the captain and stop asking questions. Right away, sir. Captain Dalton. Oh, Captain Dalton. Aye, aye. Who hailed me? Here I am. Over here by the hat. Wait for me. It's little Miss Grange and she looks excited, sir. Shiver me timbers. Every seas the starboard mates reef in the top gallonsols. Stow that jatterpaw. Stow it. Something's in the wind. Blow me down, Miss Sue, has something happened? Captain Dalton, my brother wants to see you in his cabin right away. Maybe he's taking it into his head to let the skipper know what's going on aboard his own craft. Oh, Captain, he's going to let me stay aboard. He is? Oh, I'm glad of that. Blow me down, Captain. You were right when you said the little lady was the sort that always got what she wanted. And I think he may let the little boy stay, too. Really? Oh, that's wonderful. Flash me to a yard arm. But this little one certainly knows how to fix things. And that's why he wanted me below, eh? Well, not only that, but there's a strange noise down in the hole under our cabin, like somebody chopping wood. Blow me down. That will call for looking into. Stand by with a few hands, Mr. Wainwright, to search the hole when I get back on deck for Mr. Grange's cabin. I'll be right back. Aye, aye, sir. I'll fetch them now. You made him let me stay, Miss Grange. I think that's just too good to be true. I don't know just how to thank you. Oh, that's all right, Johnny. You mustn't call me Miss Grange. All my friends call me Sue, and we're going to be friends, aren't we, Johnny? Gee, I hope so, Sue. My hat's off to you, Miss. You can do more with a gentleman than the captain himself. Sink me, but I think you ought to be a lady skipper. Smooth sailing ahead, me hearties. Smooth sailing. I wonder what that noise in the hole is. Maybe I'll test he managed to stay aboard after all. If he did, he's giving himself away this time. They'll find what he stowed away now, and you can lay to that. Well, I must be getting knocked. So long, me hearties. So long. Good luck to you. See you later, Dickon. But Sue, how did you ever get Mr. Grange to let me stay aboard? Well, really, I didn't have anything to do with that. He just changed his mind all of a sudden. That's all. Why, I wonder? Well, we were talking about you, and then he took out a big paper out of his waistcoat pocket and unfolded it, and looked at it, and talked to himself for a minute. And then he said he'd see about letting you stay. But what kind of a paper was it? Oh, it was sort of funny. It looked real old and like some kind of a map. A map? Yes, and the funniest part of it all was this. He wouldn't let me look at it. He said it was none of my affair. But I couldn't help seeing the one corner of it, and two names were written on there. What were they? Well, one was real scratching, and I couldn't make it out from where I was standing, but the other one I saw plainly, and it was your name. My name? On Mr. Grange's map? Yes, isn't that strange? It was written very clearly. Jonathan Robbins. And after it was a harpoon and a fork with three prongs on it. Why Sue, that's the signature of my father. Ah, there he is, son, you lovers. Ah! Well, here's something new. What is Ezra Grange doing with a map with Johnny's father's name on it? I wonder if that's the reason Mr. Grange didn't want Johnny aboard at first. But then why did he change his mind? And what could that chopping noise be down in the hole? Is Al Testy doing it, and if he is, will he be caught? Now that we know Johnny and Sue are going on the cruise, we can see plenty of excitement ahead. So be sure not to miss even one of these exciting adventures on the cruise of the Paul Parrot. Your Paul Parrot announcer is Dave Ward.
