Places in the Heart Page #5

Okay. We better hire them.

- Hire pickers?

- With what, Mrs. Spalding?

You said yourself you only had

$24 in the bank.

That ain't near enough

to hire 10 pickers.

I'll pay them out of the first bale.

What happens if you don't get

the first bale in?

Then I'll pay them out

of the money I get from the gin.

If you do that,

you'll have hardly any money left.

I'll take that chance.

We ain't got much time before

them pickers in the South...

All right, ma'am.

You got what you asked for.

Have they had breakfast yet?

I doubt it.

Governor Johnson appealed to

President Roosevelt today...

...for emergency relief due to

the failure of the WPA program...

...to get started in Dallas.

The governor had asked

the administration...

...for $1 million

in direct relief yesterday.

Texas was allotted

$500, 000 instead.

Governor Johnson said the situation

was becoming critical.

Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge...

...Huey Long's last legislative

measures, 37 of them...

...took a fall last Tuesday, as the

administration he left behind him...

...pushed its investigation

of his assassination 10 days ago...

...by Dr. Carl A. Weiss, Jr.

The Chicago Cubs retained their lead

in the National League pennant race...

...by defeating the New York Giants

8- 3...

...before a crowd of 29, 740...

...at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

It was the Cubs' 13th

straight victory.

Second place St. Louis Cardinals

beat Brooklyn 1-0.

The Giants are now four

and a half games behind the Cubs.

The weather in central Texas today

will be clear, no sign of rain.

Over here, Mr. Will!

- Moze, the pickers are here.

- How you know that?

I heard 11 trucks

pass by the house...

...and from the direction

they were headed...

...they were going out

to the Rapp place.

- How much land the Rapps have?

- Four hundred acres.

That means we got three days left.

We ain't got no time to waste!

Let's get to work!

Get along there!

Get along now.

You ain't no more tired than I am.

Get along!

Morning, ma'am.

Mrs. Spalding, I hate to be

the one to tell you this...

...but that sister of yours doesn't

have a natural talent for cooking.

I got to thinking, if we all weren't

gonna die of ptomaine poisoning...

...I'd have to do something about it.

So I'm fixing us some green beans

like my mother used to make.

Mrs. Spalding?

Mrs. Spalding, are you okay?

I was remembering a dream.

What day is this?

It's Friday, ma'am.

When do we have to be at the gin?

Tomorrow morning.

Recordings for The Blind presents:

Trent's Last Case, by E. C. Bentley.

Chapter one, "Bad News. "

Between what matters

and what seems to matter...

...how should the world

we know judge...?

You all right?

The end.

Ma'am?

Mrs. Spalding.

Hey, Mrs. Spalding!

We're finished.

We done it.

He'll be here any minute.

Get this straight.

He'll try to charge you

for ginning the cotton.

- I'll tell him no, do it for the seed.

- He'll say he'll take all the seed.

I say he can only have half.

No, we offer a third

and settle for half.

We gotta get 3.5 cent a pound,

even with the prize money.

You gotta remember that...

Here he comes.

- Howdy, Mrs. Spalding.

- Howdy, Mr. Simmons.

Nice load of cotton.

You ought to be real proud.

Real proud. Let's go into my office

and see if we can do some business.

Well, look who's here.

Go on and have a seat.

I ought to explain to you

how things work around here.

I gin the cotton for a fee, then I buy

your cotton if we agree on a price.

For ginning, it's customary

to charge $5 on the ton.

Excuse me.

I was told that you sometimes

gin the cotton for the seed.

Yes, that's another way of working it.

I gin the cotton and keep the seed.

The way it was explained to me,

you're supposed to keep...

...a third.

I'll tell you right now,

I won't pay that. Excuse me.

A little too much sun.

Out of respect for your late husband,

I am prepared to go 50-50.

Fine.

I expect you realize the bottom

dropped out of the cotton market.

I'm pretty much doing you a favour,

taking it off your hands.

Mr. Simmons, I want 4 and a half cents

a pound for my cotton.

You don't want me,

you want Santa Claus.

I'll pay you 2.75

and not a red cent more.

Four?

Maybe you haven't heard about

the Depression.

I can't pay that

or anything close to that.

Three cents a pound,

take it or leave it.

You know what your trouble is? You're

the victim of unbridled greed. 3.5.

- No.

- Ma'am, that is the honest price.

That's it.

I did my best. I tried to help.

You can't blame me.

I can't do no more for you.

Go on down to the square and see

how much you get for your cotton.

Mr. Simmons?

It just occurred to me. I was looking

at the pictures here on your wall.

I remember how much store

your daddy set...

...on ginning the first bale

of cotton each year.

This'll be the first year

since I don't remember when...

...that y'all aren't first.

I guess Mr. Wheeler at Wheeler's Gin

will be pleased to meet my price...

...just so he can show off

all next year at the Masons.

Mrs. Spalding...

...come back and sit down.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

Let's get this wagon

to the loading bay.

Well?

What happened?

How much did you get?

3.75 cents per pound.

That's more than market price.

If we'd planted the other 10 acres in

cotton, think what we would've made.

We would've been dead.

- Mr. Estes is selling 12 acres.

- Have you taken leave of your senses?

- We'd have almost 60 acres of land.

- You can't afford that!

We only need one crop of cotton.

Just one good crop, and we could

afford to buy us a tractor.

A tractor.

I always wanted to have a tractor.

I always thought if I had a tractor,

ain't no telling what I could do!

Mrs. Spalding?

Yes.

Could I trouble you for a cup of tea?

Of course. I'll put

the water on for you.

Do you mind if I wait in here?

Not at all.

Trying to fix Frank's shoe.

It's got a big hole in it.

Mrs. Spalding, can I ask

you a question?

Yes.

What do you look like?

I have long hair

and I tie it up in the back.

And I have brown eyes.

I always wanted to have blue eyes,

like my mama, but...

...Margaret got those.

And my teeth stick out

in front a little...

...because I sucked my thumb

a long time when I was a little girl.

I'm no real beauty.

I'm all right.

Thank you.

Your tea's ready.

All right, friends...

...one of our all-time favourites,

"A Golden Dream. "

Mama?

May I please have this dance?

Frank Spalding...

...I'd be most pleased.

One...

Twenty-five dollars.

Mrs. Spalding give me $25.

She ought not to have done that.

She can't afford to go around...

What's the matter?

I thought I heard something.

Course you did.

You heard me talking.

You ought to speak with her.

If she goes around spending money...

Moze, there's somebody out there.

I don't expect so, but I'll go see,

just to make you feel better.

Light's on in the barn.

Be right back.

Get him!

Moze!

Hold him!

I'm gonna hit him again.

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