Cabin in the Sky Page #3

- Oh, yes, I can.

I done changed already. Yes, sir.

I'll spread the light

and preach the word. Hallelujah.

Wait a minute, Little Joe.

There's one catch in this.

You're not gonna remember anything...

...when you wake up

and become alive again.

- I ain't?

- No, you're not.

You see, your human mind

is gonna be blank about all this.

Your human mind is over there

in your human body.

How am I gonna reform

if I don't remember...

...what a mess I was in when I was dead?

- It's gonna be like this, Little Joe.

We're gonna be around telling

your conscience the right thing to do.

Of course, you won't see us,

but we'll be there.

And is he gonna be around telling

my conscience the wrong thing to do?

Oh, I'll be there, all right.

You can depend on that.

That's bad.

Well, I'll be seeing you, Little Joe.

So long.

We'll give him a fight.

Go back, Little Joe, to your human body.

I hope that in this second life...

...you fight a good fight.

I'll be in there pitching, general.

Good luck, Little Joe.

- Petunia! Petunia!

- Great day in the morning.

Here I am, darling.

- Little Joe.

- Petunia.

- You're alive.

- Oh, Lord. This is sure enough a miracle.

- I'll get the doctor.

- We don't need the doctor.

Tell the reverend, tell everybody.

Little Joe's all right.

Lord, I thank you. And right now

I'm so happy, I can't talk.

But I know you understand.

- Petunia.

- Don't move.

Be quiet.

Good morning, Petunia.

You're looking

mighty happy this morning.

I was till this minute. What you

and Dude coming here for, Jim Henry?

We is devotees of good singing.

But you ain't here

because you're music lovers.

We was just wondering

how Little Joe's getting along.

Oh, Little Joe just getting along fine.

Doc Jones says he'll be up and about soon.

I'm seeing to it he don't get mixed up

with you and your crowd again.

That suits us. But there's a little business

matter we'd like to take up with him.

We didn't want to bother Little Joe

till he got better...

...but it's been over a month now.

Very thoughtful of you.

I suppose this business matter is money?

Yes. As a matter of fact,

I has the IOU right here for...

- Four dollars. And you?

- Six.

Well, Jim Henry...

...you being such a bigtime sport...

...you wouldn't take advantage

of somebody like me...

...who don't know

nothing about gambling?

- No, no.

- Well, I tell you what.

Suppose we shoot your dice for,

I think the phrase is, "double or nothing"...

...for that money Little Joe owes you.

- That sounds fair enough.

And to show you that we mean you good,

we gonna let you roll them.

You mean I can throw them

down there on the ground?

- Yeah, sort of out of the way.

- I see.

- Now, look, I can practice a little bit?

- Oh, that's perfectly all right.

- A one and another one.

- That's snake eyes.

- Is that bad?

- It ain't good.

- A two and a one. What's that?

- That's bad news again.

Look here. Ain't there

no good news on these things?

Oh, yes, the number's there

if you is lucky.

Something tells me I ain't lucky.

Let me see you roll them, Jim Henry.

Anything to pleasure a lady.

You got your money, ain't you?

- Why, of course.

- Well, all you have to do...

...is to lay your money on the ground.

Well, coming at you.

Your announcer is Jim Henry.

Big natural, dice.

- What's the matter?

- I done changed my mind.

- I think I'll roll them myself.

- But you passed the dice to me.

I know, and now I'm passing

the dice back to me.

- And these the same dice I had before?

- Oh, yes.

- All right...

- You don't wanna tire yourself out.

Oh, ladies first, Jim Henry.

Never forget your manners.

This time it's for keeps.

Seven.

Ain't that funny how my luck

done changed all of a sudden?

I guess I'm just dumb and lucky.

That takes care of you business,

little Jim Henry.

Now, put your money down here

so I can take charge of you, son.

I... I... I think I'm gonna let mine ride.

You must have thought that

I didn't hear myself speak.

- Read it.

- Eleven.

Correct. Switch dice on me, will you?

That's the stuff you been pulling off

on Little Joe. Get out of here, you two.

If I catch you here again,

I'll set the law on you.

Oh, Lord.

Please forgive me for backsliding.

But sometimes

when you fight the devil...

...you got to jab him

with his own pitchfork.

- You know something, Petunia?

- What?

When I gets recovered...

...I ain't gonna let you break your back

working for me.

Oh, I don't mind, sugar,

long as it's you I'm working for.

Well, I'm gonna be good to you

from now on.

I'm gonna buy you

electric washing machine.

You ain't gonna do

nobody's scrubbing but your own.

Sure enough? Little Joe, you just about

to kill me with kindness.

Oh, Petunia, you know I ain't never

done nothing for you before.

Why you've worked your fingers to the bone

to see that I had a pleasant recuperation.

You snatched me from the clutches

of all those hoodlums I ran with.

I tell you, I feel like a new man.

And that's just the way

you gonna continue to be.

How do you know that?

Oh, the Lord gives me proof in here.

How do you mean?

Little Joe, when you're good...

...something in here starts singing.

And the Lord seems to say,

"Petunia...

...all my angels

are playing beautiful music...

...because they feel so happy for you.

Can you hear it down there?"

And I listen.

And sure enough I hear it as plain

as if I was up in heaven myself...

...and they were teaching me

their prettiest tunes.

Then I realize that's the Lord's way

of telling me to be happy.

Petunia, how many tunes

do you suppose the angels know?

Well, nobody can say that down here.

But if you just keep on being good...

...me and you gonna hear

them together someday.

You mean way up there in the deep blue?

- You suppose they'll let us be together?

- Of course they will.

If we do the job right here,

they won't let us down...

...when we're finally ready to go home.

Do you reckon the angels know

any of the songs you sing?

They sure do.

Oh, I suppose they do sing awful pretty.

But I'd rather hear you any day.

Boogie!

Oh, boogie, boy.

Hey! Stop that noise!

What's going on around here?

Is this what you calls

office efficiency?

- You imps is supposed to be working.

- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Well, boys, we's on the spot.

Pappy said we gotta get Little Joe, or I ain't

gonna be the head man around here.

You know that means there's gonna be

a shakeup in the Idea Department too.

Why is Lucifer so doggone bent

on getting that Little Joe?

Pappy's gotta make a test case

out of this one.

He won't let the Lord get away

with breaking the rules...

...by giving Little Joe another chance.

If the Lord gets pigheaded

about this case...

...I don't know how we gonna win out.

We never has yet.

Boys, we's got to pull something big.

We's got to get a colossal idea.

Like the time we got

King Pharaoh of Egypt...

...to force the children of Israel

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