Lifeboat Page #5

- The little box on the top.

- Right.

Ask him how much of

that stuff he can drink.

Go ahead, Gus. The works.

Down the hatch.

I'll never forget you.

Joe, clear away

some of that stuff.

We'll lay him out here. We'll need

something for weights to hold it down.

Kovac...

you know what I think of that no-good,

snake-in-the-grass friend of yours, Al Magaroulian?

Magaroulian's no friend of mine.

Magaroulian's a skunk.

Two-legged skunk.

- hate his guts.

- You're okay, pal.

Hi, Loot.

Hiya, Gus.

Well, anyway, it's an experience.

I oughta have my head examined.

I didn't have to go to sea.

I coulda got a job in a defense plant

making good dough.

I coulda joined the army,

or even the navy.

'Stead of that, I got assigned

on a stinking ol' rust bucket.

Mr. Rittenhouse?

Yes, son?

Call me Gus.

Hiya, babe.

- Hi, toots.

- Give us a kiss, will ya?

Hey, Joe.

What'd ya stop playin' for?

Come on. Give us a little music.

No, no. None of that slicker music. Come on.

Come on. Boogie it up. Boogie it up.

- Tell him to hold the boat

as steady as possible.

- Steady as you go, Sparks.

- Righto.

Saying a thing like that. Just because

she likes to dance and have a good time.

Nobody's gonna call Rosie...

Hey, Kovac.

You're a no-good heel.

Take his backrest away.

All right.

Look alive now, Sparks.

Righto.

Bring more bandages.

Joe.

Mr. Kovac.

Keep her steady, you fool!

Open.

- Stay.

- Three cards.

Bet one.

Call. Nines.

Queens.

- Give'em a good shuffle.

- Okay, cut'em.

Fill another inside straight,

I'll cut your throat.!

It's lucky for Gus we had somebody aboard

who knew how to meet an emergency like this.

Two more cards, darling.

You know, by golly,

the thing that got me...

Play cards, Ritt.

Say, what are you two

gabbing about?

Currents. Not the pie kind,

darling, the ocean kind.

Fascinating subject, currents.

They're either for you or agin you.

Connie, darling, do you stay

or do you pass?

Ritt, darling,

I've already stayed.

- Yeah, well, it'll cost you two bucks more.

- Oh.

Connie!

- Hold your horses, darling. I'm in a conference.

- Mm-hmm.

Women and poker!

I'll stay. Fortunately, Kapitn seems to think

we're on a favoring current, quite swift.

- We got a favoring breeze, too.

- Good. Then we ought to be in Bermuda in no time.

- hope so, for Gus's sake.

- That is, if we're on the right course.

- Well, does he still think we're not?

- He didn't say anything about it.

Well, ask him.

One can't be sure without a compass.

He was pretty certain

a few hours ago.

Yeah. I wonder what

made him change his mind.

We probably drifted somewhat

on account of the current.

We've been through all that. What's

he doing in this part of the boat, anyway?

- Why? s he in quarantine?

- Tell him to get back to the bow, where he belongs.

I'll do nothing of the sort.

You may be skipper of this lifeboat,

but you're not dictator. Or are you?

Wait a minute, Kovac. There's no sense

treating the man like a leper.

He did save Gus's life, you know.

For the time being. After all,

it was an emergency operation.

Don't you realize that it's imperative that

we get Gus to a hospital as soon as possible?

- Sure, I do.

- Then, why not listen to somebody who knows?

How do you like that? Now he isn't sure.

Says he won't take responsibility.

But that's not the point.

The point is, are we headed for Bermuda?

What's come over the man?

All you got to do is answer yes or no.

He admits we're on

the wrong course.

Admits? He's only saying

what he said before.

- had to drag it out of him. He says...

- don't care what he says.

- Yeah, but suppose he's right.

- That's my funeral.

No, it's not.

It's Gus's funeral.

Whose funeral?

Hey, wait a minute.

What is this?

Well, fella,

how do you feel now, huh?

In the pink.

Outside of a little hangover.

Right now I'd give

the other leg for a cigarette.

Here, darling.

Guess maybe I lost

a little weight, huh?

Well, skipper, how soon

do we get to Bermuda?

Pretty soon, Gus. We've got

a good breeze and a favoring current.

There's a little difference of opinion

about the direction we're headed.

Trouble is, I'm not sure

about our course.

I'm only sure of one thing.

I don't trust that Nazi.

There must be other submarines around and he

knows where they are, or maybe a supply ship.

He knows where that is too.

On general principle,

I'd copper anything he says.

That's how I stand.

You agree with me, Sparks?

Well...

Does anybody agree with me?

You're the skipper.

All right, Sparks.

Follow the German's course.

I, uh, was admiring your bracelet.

- Gift from a husband.

- t's gorgeous.

My first husband.

Glad the freighter

was torpedoed.

- What?

- That's what you said yesterday.

That was a stupid thing to say.

I didn't mean it, exactly.

What did you mean, exactly?

I only meant I was

rather glad that we...

Well, I wasn't particularly

anxious to get to London.

- What are you afraid of in London?

- Myself.

I mean, uh, it's a personal problem.

In other words, l...

I know, darling. I know.

Genus Homo. Male.

And married, but not to me.

- You call that a problem?

- t is to me.

Fiddlesticks.

I don't want to pry into

your personal affairs, darling...

but you know

what's the matter with you?

You've been reading Kipling.

"The sins ye do by two and two...

you must pay for one by one."

'Course I don't know

who the guy is.

But I know men,

especially married men.

Some of my best friends...

Don't let her upset you.

- She certainly has a way of getting at things.

- That's right.

I didn't mind her prying, really.

I wanted to talk.

Maybe that's why I'm all mixed up,

because I've never told anybody.

I think I'd rather tell you

than anybody.

His name is Stephen.

He's a doctor.

We worked in the same hospital.

All the time,

I knew he was married.

His wife's a fine woman,

and they have two beautiful children.

So, you see, it was hopeless.

It was quite hopeless.

Yes, of course. I-I see.

Well, we both decided

to forget about it.

And when he enlisted

and was sent to London, I was glad.

I was really glad.

I tried to forget him,

but I couldn't.

He wrote several times.

I never answered.

And then when I was

assigned to London myself...

Well, I knew if we met there

away from home, away from every...

I'm sorry.

Maybe I better wait till I get home and take it

up with Mr. Whosits on the Goodwill Hour.

Sometimes that program's funny.

Sometimes it isn't a bit.

When people are in trouble,

they turn themselves inside-out.

Seem to feel better when they

get some sort of an answer.

Whether they get an answer

or not, they feel better.

Thank you, Stanley.

Lovely night we're having.

Lots of stars out tonight.

I remember the night before we was

torpedoed. Nolan was... He was my first.

- Yes, I met him on the boat.

- That's right. Yes.

He was telling me all about his wife

going to stay with her family in Bermuda.

And how it's changed

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