Personal notice, danger to my stock and trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Music Standard Oil Company of California, on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West, invites you to let George do it. Music Portuguese coal, another adventure of George Valentine. Music Okay, here's your mail, Captain. Hey, who sent you those letters with all the fancy stamps anyway, Captain? Madagascar, Port-au-Prince, you got a girl in every port? My name is Captain Lamego. Sometimes it's spelled with a double. Oh, here, here, dress pattern's for that housekeeper of yours, Mrs. Jewel. Hey, how about this? From Manila, Captain Alva P. Give me that. Put the rest of it in the box, young man. Hey, what's in it? Come on, Pop, let's see the mystery, huh? You're the only guy around here, writes to anyplace exciting. Trouble in the Lonely Hearts Club in Manila? You look like you lost your last friend. Hey, maybe some little native girl. Hey, look out, Pop. Music Dear Mr. Valentine, that's exactly what I saw happen. He struck me. He struck the mailman. Now, I've lived in Portuguese coal for nearly ten years, and for all ten of it, I've taken care of Captain Lamego. I've kept his house and done his cooking for him in the times when he's not out on his tuna boat. There never was a finer man in all the world, so upright and good and virtuous. And he's kind, the last person who would ever just flare up and strike anyone like that. Unless, of course, it was justified, or unless, Mr. Valentine, unless the poor dear man is in some kind of trouble, some kind of danger. Music There, Mr. Valentine, he hit me, but I didn't die from it. We're only checking up on a story that was told us by... Mrs. Jewel. I guess she must have seen it, but... Well... But what, my friend? Well what? Um, she mentioned she saw him crying? Crying? All over himself, dusting me off, picking up my mail sack? You mean the guy was pretty apologetic for what he'd done? I never saw anything like it. The old pirate acted like a wrestler who accidentally hurt somebody in the ring. Ram right unbent like a dishrag. So, skip the whole thing, will you? Forget it. Well, I didn't intend to make anything out of it. I'm just curious. Well, so am I. Maybe that's my trouble. Look, I'm new on that route. The boys tell me Captain Lomago's the biggest shot in the whole district. I mean, he's the head of one of them old country families, the Patriarch, you know? Everybody loves him. Well, I don't want to get into any trouble there. Besides, maybe he was justified. He explained to me why he did it. Oh, he did? Well, go on. Why? Well, all those foreign letters were from some seaman's outfit. He'd been trying to locate an old buddy, a sailor named Joe Murphy. Well, Lomago showed me the clipping. Outfit found out that Joe Murphy died of pneumonia in Manila six months ago. Oh, so that's it. Sure, these old fishing families, they're pretty emotional, that's all. See? This Joe Murphy wasn't a member of the family, was he? Oh, no, no. Of course not. Only... What's the matter? Well, you won't repeat any of this. He didn't say I shouldn't tell anyone, only... Only he said, don't mention it to the twins. The twins? Who are they? I don't know. Part of that big spread out tribe, I guess. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but... Well, I was under the impression that one of them was dead, too. One of the twins was dead? Yeah, but don't ask me anymore, huh? Funny place, Portuguese Cove. Sure, I tell you, sure. Mrs. Joy should be downstairs pretty quick. Why worry? Oh, I'm not worried. You know, you play that very well. See? Very well. I think so, Miss. What's your name? So sad. Hmm? You mean the piece? No, the name. Ah, I have forgotten what difference is in a name. So sad they all say, so, all right. Since I was a boy, run errands, do this, do that. So sad. It's a joke, you know? But you're not a member of the family, the Lemego family. Oh, but see who is not? Only I am not very close. I am the one way out on the leave. Still, I own the boat, the finest boat in the world. What? Yes, we all own that boat. Do you have an idea how much it costs, a deep sea tuna boat? You own the boat? Is that the one that Captain Lemego... See! Oh, yes, the whole family owns that. Maybe I only have ten dollars worth, but is that important? I can cook on the boat, can't I? I can play music. I can watch a man happy. I can watch a man die. You... what did you say? Ah, Mr. Valentine. What would you like to hear? Hello, Angel. Wait a minute, George. So sad. What was that you just did? Dinner will be ready pretty quick. What tune? Any music. What is it, Brooksy? Well, he said something about... He talks all the time. It doesn't mean anything. Don't even know what you're saying, do you, Nettie? Why should I? Who cares what people say? Now, some music. The kind you like, Johnny. Dinner won't be ready unless you get out there. Oh, but Johnny, I just want to... Go on, go on, go on. Get out of here. Mean, aren't I? Pushing the Nettie around. A mean, mean guy. Yes, horrible. Johnny? Yeah. Oh, I know. You're those friends of Mrs. Jules. Hello, twice. Same to you. Thanks. It fits. I'm the twins. The twins? That's the trouble with us men in the Lomago family. We disintegrate like nutty there. Hey, clear it up, will you? Why? We're just a backwater bunch of suckers listening to old country music and live the old country way. Radio? What do you think we are, crazy? Give me a wet finger in the sight of Polaris any day. Sure, we can haul in more tuna than anybody in the whole fleet. All right, all right. I'll get off the soap box. Want a drink? No, thanks. Are you sure you do? Positive. Because you're twins? Forget I ever said it. Forget it. All right. Maybe you just see double. Never used to touch this stuff, would you believe it? Six months. That's how long I've been here. College boy, that's me. Waste your time studying the scientific wiggles of fish. Mr. Time. Haven't figured it out? Haven't you seen it? It's standing right there on the porch. Huh? Sure, sure. See him there? Pretending he's not listening. Oh, no I didn't. The captain. Watch this. Hey, old ghost. He's a giant. Hey, king of the sea. Big shot. Good gray uncle. Good evening, Miss Brooks. Mr. Valentine. Hello, Captain. He can't hear me, see? Rose office valentine. Mrs. Jewel asked me to say she'd be down directly. Oh, thank you. These people don't understand about little tin-guards, skipper. Tell them who's the only man left in the Lemago family. Darling, for heaven's sake. Tell them about the rights and duties of a captain at sea. Tell them about the big, strong, upright man who won't let anybody else run anything. Oh, Buster. Let go of me. The only chance I get to talk back when I've had a few drinks under my belt and one in my hand. So give us a speech, skipper, on the high moral code of the young. You're high on your knees. Tough, isn't it? Why, you asked for it, Buster. Time. There. Well, give me Miss Brooks. Now I'll have to mix another drink. You will not. Not in this house. Well, who says so? I say so. Let's see how you are about it. Now wait a minute, Captain. You're only half my age. Go on, argue. Cut it out, will you, both of you? I'm not going to touch him. That's all he wants me to do. You're a sniveling troublemaker like your brother. I say cut it, will you? Stop. Mrs. Jewel. Stop. Stop the things you're saying. Yes. Good night, all of you. Captain. Good night. Well, they lit the fuse, didn't they? Oh, Mr. Valentine. Ah, yeah, let's change the subject. Mr. Valentine, I want you to leave the house right now. What? Mrs. Jewel, you and I had no business getting you here. It was very wrong of me to interfere. What shall we do? Go on, Mrs. Jewel. The captain's been upset like this only because someone died. What? Died of pneumonia. An old dear friend, a sailor named Joe Murphy in Manila. The captain told me about it. Mrs. Jewel. No, be quiet, Johnny. That's why he struck the mailman. Well, what if I say that wasn't all it was? What if I say Joe Murphy was no friend of his? It's a lie. What? Joe Murphy was just a sailor on a trip to Mexican waters over a year ago. Just one guy and a crew of 12. Johnny, please. I'll bet they never spoke two words together the kind of a Captain Lamego is. Upset because his friend is gone. Then why was Murphy so important? Johnny, it's none of their affair. And so sad he has dinner ready. You've been up in my room, haven't you? That thing you've got there. Johnny, please, not now. Give that to me. No, no, I don't. No, George. It's just a book. Yeah, a diary, isn't it? Sure. His diary. You mean the captain's? Mrs. Jewel, I guess you found the same thing I did. There's an entry in the diary he made in the last day. But whose diary? Joe Murphy was so important because he was the only sensible witness to a murder by the great tin god. The only man left in the family, Captain Lamego. The diary was Jimmy's, Mr. Valentine. And who was Jimmy? A troublemaker like me. A mutineer, no less. That's what Joe Murphy supposedly witnessed. A righteous old swindler was defending himself from a mutineer. Sure, sure, it was on that trip over a year ago that the disintegration of the male ranks of the family started. Johnny, don't. That was the excuse the good man used to stay on top. The excuse Captain Lamego used for killing my twin brother. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. Maybe you've already started a checklist of things to take along on your summer vacation. Well, there's a friendly man in your neighborhood who also has a checklist that will help make your vacation the best one you've ever had. You'll find this man at your standard station or independent Chevron gas station. His checklist includes everything your car needs for carefree vacation miles. So before you start out, let him give your car a thorough inspection. That way, there will be less chance of your wasting precious vacation hours because of a dead battery, a broken fan belt, or corroded battery cable. Once you're out on the open road, remember, wherever you go in the West, you're never far from this same type of car-saver service. It's the friendly service you get at all independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Now back to tonight's adventure of George Valentine. The Portuguese cove, a little old-fashioned seacoast village, the home of the Lomago family, the anchorage for the one wealth of their life, the tuna boat they all own together. But the skipper of the boat, the self-elected head of the family, is even stranger than the village itself, Captain Lomago. You first heard of him because he had struck a mailman, but now you find that a year ago he struck one of his own relatives, one of the twins, and killed him. Self-defense, that's all I know. Justifying him. He was within his rights. He was the captain of a ship at sea. That doesn't always mean that. I'm so stupid about these things, and the captain would never let anyone talk about it around the house. I can imagine. Captain's still doing a lot of thinking about it. At least he tried to get in touch with that witness, that Joe Murphy. Why? There were some Panamanian boys on the crew. They didn't even speak English. Everybody understood that Jimmy had tried to use them to cause trouble. Let's see, this mutiny thing that Johnny mentioned? He doesn't know anything. He was in college at the time, I mean. But Jimmy was a troublemaker. He couldn't stand taking orders from anyone. He couldn't stand not being able to run the family boat himself. That's what everyone understood. And one night he actually tried to attack the captain. Mrs. Jewel, wasn't there an investigation at the time? No, it was a hearing of some sort, Mr. Valentine. There's a record of it. I know the captain has some papers down on the boat, but it was kept very quiet. Why would anyone doubt the captain's word? And poor Jimmy had been buried at sea. Hey, I play music for you. You like to hear some music? No, no, no, no. When Jimmy died, did you see what happened so sad? Oh, si, si. Oh, it was horrible. Can't you remember? Oh, yes, he died. Yes. Why shouldn't I remember? It was at night. I was peeling the potatoes. Always potatoes. No, no, look so sad. Just what happened? Well, everything happened all at once. The captain steps out of his cabin, and then I see Jimmy in the dark waiting for him. He'd been drinking. They all say that. Only maybe Joe Murphy sees him first, because he yells a warning to the captain. This Jimmy have a knife in one hand and a guff, you know, for the fish, in the other. And he yells something I cannot say out loud, and he swings his arm. Only the captain swings first, and the next thing, there is Jimmy on the deck, with blood where his head hits a cleat. Si. Oh, just the captain is very strong. Self-defense. Justifiable accidental death. Only the diary, Mrs. Jewel. The boy's diary that Johnny had. Let's see that last entry, the one that made you try to get me off the case. And it burns me up the way the old goat picks on me all the time. The way he keeps telling people I cause trouble. The way he keeps dragging such crazy old words as mutiny into the talk whenever I'm around. Boy, he should be in a museum, stuffed, alongside of Captain Bly. He says there's none of us in the family fit to take over his job, there's a laugh. He's got this boat and he'll never let go. But maybe I'll go up to his cabin one of these nights and tell him we'd get along all right if he'd just quit riding me. Maybe tonight. Hmm. That's all, George. Well, now that doesn't sound exactly like a mutineer thinking of murder. A boy planning an attack with a knife in one hand and a gap in the other. Brooksie, I think we'd better dig out the real facts of what happened fast. Before something else like this happens again. It's dark, George. Why don't you look out for the rope? It's not such a tidy boat, is it, for all the big talk? No, it's not. It's great. Run down, rusty at the seams. Here we are. You see the man? Yeah, he's in there all right. His cabin. This is a bad care, George. Quiet. The captain's on the bunk. The other cabin is sound asleep. It's against the law, probably, what we're doing. George, what are you... I expected to ask, but while we're cutting corners, save the time checking the city for an official copy. George, right in front of us. Record of proceedings maritime. Let me see. He's looking at it in stuff. Why, George? Come on, come on. Let's start to work. Federal court jurisdiction concerning the death at sea of James Lemego of Portuguese cold. We should have waked him up and just plain asked him. Has that finally been you, George? No, Murphy didn't say much at the hearing. Saw the captain swinging at Jimmy, caught sight of the knife in the kid's hand. Well, that's the same as we already. They had trouble all right. Captain had already hit Jimmy once, smashed his wrist with a hook the afternoon before. What? Yeah, the kid was horsing around. Only the tuna hooks were flying. The captain said somebody might have got his eyes torn out. But the facts? I'm afraid they died of pneumonia and manila, Brooksie. With Joe Murphy gone... Well? Uh, Captain, we... You know, you know, I have a sort of premonition you might be down Mr. Valentine. Not so? Yeah, I left out the things you might want to see. Oh, Jimmy's death, sure. After so much bad manners and waving of the emotions up at the house, he was a troublemaker, I guess you could say. Just like your sorry brother Johnny, yes. He seemed to have been a little rough with Jimmy the day before his death. Oh, that, yes. Too bad. There's no space on a tuna boat for little boy things horsing around. Too dangerous. Yeah, yeah. And besides, everything has to be neat and tidy. Dabbing to get rid of such a person as Jimmy in self-defense is just one of them things. We mustn't blame him for his weakness. Not everyone can live on the strong moral plane, but a man, that's the general idea of what I want you to... Yeah, Captain, I'm beginning to understand why you knocked that drink out of Johnny's hand earlier tonight. Why you spout so much so righteously, why you slept so heavily in there, why the family's boat here is in such a mess. To put it mildly, the good, gray, patey, or I can't stand up straight, can he? And boy, you've had enough to float it here. Get off my ship! Get out of here, I won't listen to you! This is my ship! Get out of here! Self-defense. But Johnny, the trouble started a day earlier. Jimmy got his wrist smashed and must have been pretty sore at the old boy. So said, how come you told me Jimmy was carrying a knife and a gaff? See, that is so, he was. But with a wrist like that, wouldn't it be a little hard to carry anything? You're sure he wasn't just carrying a knife like Joe Murphy said? See, I think that is right, see. Put your grab. So said, you want to agree with me, don't you? But of course, why not, Mr. Valentine? No matter what I say, no matter what anybody says. He's not much of a witness, I'm afraid. But say, he didn't used to say the gaff. Where'd you get that idea now? Yeah, that's what I mean. The story's being added to. To make the self-defense even stronger. But why? Sometimes self-defense is a way of committing murder, Johnny. You mean the captain's been coaching Nutty here? Yeah, justifying himself. I do not understand. There was a motive for Jimmy's death, wasn't there, Johnny? Oh, sure. But the captain thinks nobody's good enough to take over the boat from him. That boat's worth a lot. The man who runs it gets most of it. Family ownership doesn't mean much when there aren't any men left. Jimmy and I always had different ideas for new ideas. Mr. Valentine, look. Here, look at this. Yeah, a gun, huh? Revolver. It's loaded and it's brand new. That's why I chased down here looking for you. Nutty found it in the captain's room tonight. The captain? Why would he buy it? Nobody else is going to attack him. Maybe he thinks you are. What? Oh, look, I've tried to figure this whole thing out. It's driven me crazy. I wrote letters like mad trying to locate Joe Murphy myself. I asked questions, but I couldn't. The captain. Here, give me that gun. No, no, why should I? I thought for one minute he really meant to kill my brother. What are you doing down there? I told you to get out of here. Honey, I said give me that gun. Get out, you and that yellow belly there. Now, stop it. Honey, take it easy. Shut up, will you? Go on, hit me, both of you. Listen, you see how he does it? Go on with my bare fists. No, no, you can't. Not this time. I told you to shut up a long time ago. There won't be any self-defense this time. Give me that gun back, nutty. Sure, Johnny, sure I will. You missed the captain with your first shot. He's down now. Go ahead, shoot him. What? Yeah, you heard me. There won't be any self-defense murder. You'll have to do it in cold blood. Try the shoe on the other foot for a while, Sonny. On who goes home. On who's been waking up the sleeping dogs around here. You trying to be funny? You're the one who primes so sad with that gaffe story, aren't you, Johnny? Just to make it look like the captain was desperately padding the evidence. You have to be the one. The skipper had seen the official record. He knew about the smashed wrist that made it impossible. Hey, Mr. Valentine, listen up. Yes, Johnny, and that broken wrist also made it impossible for Jimmy to write in his diary on his last day. I guess a handwriting expert can tell me who wrote that last entry. The entry that made it seem so unlikely that Jimmy could have been really thinking about mutiny. But everybody knew how Omega treated Jimmy. Let's just believe what we know. That Jimmy was a troublemaker, a mutineer, who was killed accidentally in self-defense. Only it gave you the bright idea of duplicating the stunt with malice aforethought. I've been trying to find Joe Murphy to learn the facts of this. You have not. You've been making up the facts. Capitalizing on the captain's feelings about a tragedy. You've been doing it for six months. Ever since you knew the only witness was dead. No, no. And you had to know Buster because you told me you kept writing to locate him. And yet someplace I remember the postman, the mailman himself, saying that Captain Omega was the only guy around here who ever wrote to strange foreign places. All right, smart boy. No, no, no! Jimmy, I... I guess Portuguese coal won't be having an ambitious new tuna skipper for some time, Johnny. Jimmy was the same as Johnny. Yes, he was the same. Skipper, Johnny admitted that he was working for a chance to kid you. Now you'll keep the boat, Captain. That's what you are. It's what people say I want. Yeah, of course. Yeah, I know, I know. You won't defend yourself, will you? Too proud. You'll just get secretly drunk and beat your head over the rail and haunt yourself with how you once hit a man. My fist is so big. It happens so suddenly. And I won't admit that you really hurt yourself every time you lash out and say there aren't any more men in the family. Trying to smother that conscience of yours. The same oversized conscience Johnny kept preying on. You won't ever admit how lonely you can get being the captain, being responsible for the family, or how close you got to wanting to shoot yourself over the guilt that really shouldn't have been yours. Uh, Mr. Valentine, the poor man over there plays excellent dance music. So sad. It's such a funny name. Wouldn't you two like to dance, Miss Brooks? Yes, I'd love to. But it's all over now, isn't it, Captain? Yes, yes, of course. Don't worry. I, uh, I only wish you knew something about tuna fishing, Mr. Valentine. We could use a man like you in the Lemago family. Music Maybe one of these days you'll be going on a picnic with some friends. If they're going to ride in your car, you'll want more than ever to have that new car feeling. You know, fast starts, easy getaway in traffic, and dependable, pin-free power on hills. Well, to get and to keep that new car feeling, go on Chevron Supreme gasoline. Most raw gasolines contain impurities that form power-robbing gum. And Chevron Supreme is the gasoline that's super refined to get rid of engine-sticking gum. But you don't have to wait for a picnic trip to get that new car feeling. Try Chevron Supreme tomorrow. Another thing you'll like about this premium quality gasoline is that it gives full mileage in the kind of driving you do. Ask for it at independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations, where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Music Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard Oil Company of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George, with Virginia Gregg as Brooksie. Let George Do It is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Don Clark. Francis X. Bushman was heard as Lemago, Walter Burke as Johnny, Elliot Reid as So Sad, Glenn Delano as Mrs. Jewel, and Harry Bartel as The Mailman. The music was composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer, John Heaston. Listen again next week, same time, same station, to Let George Do It. This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. Music
