Reap the Wild Wind Page #4

Commodore will have a stroke.

DEVEREAUX:
Don't talk to me of

barratry when you've got no proof!

In short, sir, you were not only

unconscious when your ship struck...

- but you don't know what hit you.

- I've already said...

I'm not interested in excuses!

I'm interested in performance.

Take up the model of your command, sir.

[Sombre instrumental music]

DEVEREAUX:
Put her in Rotten Row.

Put her with the rest

of the fine ships...

that you and your kind have

sent to rot on the bottom!

[Sombre instrumental music continues]

And take your eyes

off the Southern Cross.

We don't want her turned into kindling!

- You can cat-haul me both

ways... - Choke your luff.

DEVEREAUX:
Wait outside.

JACK:
I'm only asking...

I said outside!

Commodore Devereaux. Really

you mustn't. Here. Drink this.

DEVEREAUX:
I'm all right, Doctor.

DR. JEPSON:
That'll do

you a world of good. Here.

Don't coddle me. I'm no derelict.

You look strong as a bull, sir. Why don't

you come down first thing next week...

That Jack Stuart has cost us...

It wasn't Jack Stuart who

cost us the Jubilee, sir.

It was those Florida reefs.

Am I to remove the reefs, or

the captains who can't miss them?

Perhaps you should remove the

Key West pirate wreckers...

who swarm those reefs like

a school of killer whales.

And get rid of the man who's

behind them all:
King Cutler.

Are we to go out of business

because we can't hang Cutler?

He got 50% of the Jubilee's cargo.

Cutler or no Cutler,

I'll get my ships through!

- Lf I have to hire and fire...

- Commodore, please.

Don't coddle me.

Gentlemen, I asked Lt.

Farragut to sit with us today...

hoping the United States

Navy may give us protection...

against Cutler and his kind.

We need some sort of protection.

Better than one ship a week

is piling up on those reefs.

MAN 1:
At a cost of $5 million a

year. MAN 2:
Yes, sir, and more.

Gentlemen, the Navy is

more anxious than you are...

- to blast those vultures out of the Keys.

- Good.

But you present no evidence

against this man Cutler.

Give us proof of deliberate wrecking.

FARRAGUT:
We'll do the

rest. DEVEREAUX:
Proof?

No one dares testify against Cutler.

We sent men down there

to find witnesses.

- What became of them?

- I don't know, sir.

But I suggest that

you send one man more.

- Who, for instance?

- Me, for instance.

You? Why, Tolliver, you wouldn't

last 15 minutes in that pirate's nest.

You're a lawyer, not a gunboat.

But the gunboats won't

come until we get proof.

Gunboats or no gunboats, if we

don't stop that gang mighty soon...

the American flag won't

be at many mastheads.

- But I don't favour losing a good

sea lawyer. - Thank you.

I know Cutler, Steve.

You wouldn't stand any more

chance than a rat in a tar barrel.

Confound it. If they kill him,

he's not the man for the job.

That's very aptly put, sir.

Perhaps Jack Stuart

could sail south with me.

The Southern Cross is refitting

at Havana. If you'll recall...

You'd give the Southern Cross to

the man who just lost us the Jubilee?

Gentlemen, we're in business.

Capt. Stuart has increased the

earnings of every vessel he's commanded.

Twice he's weathered

typhoons in the China Sea.

And he's broken the record

from Rio to Martinique.

I personally don't like him, but

he gets the most out of a ship.

And then throws it

away on a Florida reef.

I expect to get proof that Cutler,

not Stuart, wrecked the Jubilee.

DEVEREAUX:
You expect. STEVE: Don't you?

Ormsby, order Capt. Stuart to

proceed to Key West immediately...

as mate of the Pelican.

There he'll be set ashore

without pay, to await orders.

- But that's unfair.

- You'll have his papers in your pocket.

If you find proof that clears

him, give him the Southern Cross.

- You're a great old sea lion. I'll tell

him. - You'll do nothing of the sort.

Let him sweat on the beach,

and see how he takes it.

And my personal opinion of you

is that you're a young fool.

Thank you, sir.

You'll never leave Key West alive.

But I have to. You see,

I expect to be married.

MAN 3:
Well! MAN 4: What's her name?

Gentlemen.

ORMSBY:
You'd better hurry

before you start to Key West.

MAN 1:
Who's the lucky girl, Steve?

[Orchestra playing the waltz]

I'm so sorry about your nice

sea captain. Father told me.

Too bad.

Loxi, he's waiting for you by the

round window in the vestibule. Jack.

And he looks like a thundercloud.

Capt. Carruthers, would you

want to do something for me?

- Command me, Miss Loxi.

- Excuse me for a minute, will you, please.

I watched for your

ship every single day.

That dress makes you

sparkle like sun on water.

Jack, tell me. How did

it go with the Commodore?

I think they've got me

busted flatter than a haddock.

But your new command. Aren't

they going to give you the...

The Southern Cross?

Might as well be

dry-docked on the moon.

They put me on the Pelican.

The Pelican! They're asking

you to command that old pigboat?

Command? I'm second mate.

- Second mate! Why, of all the...

- We sail within the hour for Key West.

They're beaching me

there till I dry-rot.

No, Jack. Nobody's going

to break us up that easy.

That's what he's trying to do.

- He? Who?

- Wait here for a minute, will you, please.

Mr. Tolliver's bitten off just a little bit

more than he's going to be able to chew.

Observe closely this

harmless-looking little object.

- Just look here what Steve's got.

- What is it, a toothpick?

- No, they call them matches.

- Matches. What are they for?

I'll show you. Carruthers,

loan me the sole of your boot.

- Goodness gracious!

- Mr. Tolliver, they're terrifying!

MAN 1:
I'm hanged.

GIRL:
Do another, Steve.

I'd adore to do one, Steve.

Cousin Steve, you do

get the quaintest things.

They'll never be popular,

Tolliver. Too dangerous.

MAN 2:
This is ours, I believe. MAN

MAN 1:
May I have the

honour? GIRL:
I'd love it.

I was just coming to

beg you for this dance.

LOXI:
I'd like to speak

to you out on the balcony.

- Like Romeo and Juliet?

- Not exactly.

Henrietta, do you allow your

niece to wander off un-chaperoned?

Oh, my dear.

I've been just bubbling

over with excitement all day.

Mr. Tolliver's asked for Loxi's hand.

[Orchestra continues playing]

Ettie, Loxi and Mr. Tolliver.

Oh, my goodness! That is news.

Engaged? Stephen?

- To that little savage from Key West?

- She's a pretty little savage.

Moonlight and magnolias. Just

fits what I want to say to you.

What you've done is the most

cowardly thing I've heard of.

- Coming to the races tomorrow?

- I hope your filly wins, Col. Ogier.

Bound to.

It's vicious, and low and cruel.

You're very desirable when you're angry.

You think you're mighty clever.

Putting Jack on an old tub,

beaching him in Key West...

Easy now, what really happened...

What really happened was that

you saw I loved Jack Stuart.

- No, I didn't see that.

- Oh, yes, you did. And you're right.

I love him. I'll marry him.

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