The Real Glory Page #3

in his horticulture,

and the doctor has his hands

full of patients and things,

but I have nothing to do.

I'd love to show you all the sights.

The public library, the art museum.

And we could swim out 10 miles

and see my island.

I'd like to show you

my orchids sometime, Miss Hartley.

No, I'm not at all busy with patients.

I only have two. A couple of rats.

One of them's pretty sick.

What's the matter with him?

Dying of a lonely heart, like I am.

Well, here you are, Miss Hartley.

Here's where you live.

Well, thank you.

Thank all of you.

Linda!

Dad!

How did you... When did...

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Didn't you recognize me?

Well, you've changed.

Where are the freckles?

What did you do

with the skinny legs and your braids?

You see, if I'd waited any longer,

I'd have been an old woman.

After the earthquake at San Francisco,

I just made up my mind.

You'll never know

how much I worried about you.

Even when I knew you were safe,

I wanted to hop the first boat.

And I beat you to it.

Why didn't you write you were coming?

I was too smart. You might have said no.

Oh, you are glad to see me, aren't you?

Glad?

Linda, you're the one person

in the world I wanted to see most.

I have the cutest little place

fixed up in Manila.

Right near the Luneta.

Oh, darling,

could you possibly be as happy as I am?

We're going to have to

change our plans a little.

Don't tell me there's been another delay

in your leave of absence.

My leave's off.

I'm assigned here indefinitely.

George, it was all arranged.

Sorry, Mabel. Can't be helped.

The C.O. Died, and...

Who?

Colonel Hatch. You never met him.

So, you see, that puts me in command.

Well, it was a mighty nice little house,

but I guess we can make this one do.

Oh, George.

Sorry, Mabel.

All the way over

I kept thinking how wonderful it would be

to drop in on you like this,

as if I'd come from just around the corner.

But, Dad, what happened?

Oh, I got it last year.

But it's all right now.

We'll paint the town red.

We'll have a wonderful time.

The boat stops over for four whole days.

Four days?

Oh, no.

This time you don't get rid of me

so easily. I'm here for keeps.

Linda, I'm sorry,

but that's impossible just now.

There's nothing I'd like better,

but you couldn't have

chosen a worse time.

I wouldn't have much time

for you, darling.

You'd be alone most of the time.

I've been alone most of the time.

I know.

Manning.

(MAN BARKING ORDERS)

(SINGING IN SPANISH)

Come on. Buck up, old girl. It's your party.

Sorry, darling.

I was just trying to get used to the idea

of going back again

without you.

Buy you a drink.

And tonight, just before I came over here,

the rat that had been

getting polished rice died.

Died of beriberi.

(SCOFFING) No beriberi on my island.

No rats. No mice.

No doctors.

You should see it as I first saw it,

shining in the sun,

a pearl set in turquoise.

A pimple in the Pacific.

Excuse me, Miss Hartley.

I'm officer of the day

and I won't be able to stay for the dancing,

and I thought if you...

I...

Here.

Why, thank you, Lieutenant.

Why, it's lovely.

I've never seen one like this before.

It's a Paphiopedilum fairrieanum.

Oh, no, Bill.

It's a Brassocattleya trufuttiana.

Don't let him scare you. It's just an orchid.

Will you wear it?

I'd love to.

I brought a pin.

Thank you.

I'm breeding a species of my own,

a white orchid,

and, well, I'd like to name it after you.

Orchidaceae linda.

If you don't mind.

Well, I'd be greatly honored.

Well, thanks, that's...

I gotta go now.

I gotta pollinate.

To us.

(SLOW MUSIC PLAYING)

Linda. That's Spanish for "beautiful."

Linda. That's what I'll call my island.

Linda Island.

Look.

It's 10 miles off there,

with a beach like swan's down

when you stretch out on it

and gaze up at the powder puff clouds.

And the birds sing,

and your heart sings with them.

Then the sea steals up

and tickles your toes,

which is bad if you're ticklish.

Oh, I see.

How long have you been in the service?

Three years.

I expect to quit next year

and hang up my shingle back home.

I'd never quit if I were in the army.

You like the service?

I think it's the most wonderful career

in the world.

When I was six, my greatest ambition

was to be a top sergeant

in my father's company.

Queer ambition for a girl.

I don't see why.

The happiest time of my life

was when I was a kid at the presidio.

LINDA:
Most children had to be satisfied

with toy soldiers.

But I had real ones.

Most of my male ancestors were soldiers

with a remarkable talent for getting killed.

When I was 10,

my father bought me a uniform.

I liked it much better

than any dress I ever had.

I guess I should have been born a boy.

Oh, no.

My great-grandfather

was Wellington's adjutant.

He lost a leg at Waterloo.

My grandfather,

he was only a sergeant major,

he drowned in his own blood

at the Alamo with David Crockett.

- Really?

- My father lies at Chickamauga...

And lies. And lies, and lies, and lies.

Datu, there's something

I'd like you to do for me.

Very glad.

My wife's going back to Manila,

and I'd like to give her a little present.

You deal in pearls, and I thought maybe...

I could get you some,

but not before the boat leaves.

Oh, that's too bad. I did want to...

There is a lace peddler outside,

with shawls and scarves.

He may have something

your wife might like.

Oh. Thank you, Datu.

(SPEAKING MORO)

(MABEL CONTINUES SCREAMING)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(SPEAKING MORO)

(MABEL CRYING)

(SOBBING)

- Go in, Zeruphina.

- Okay.

You better go home and get some rest.

Isn't there anything I can do?

She's all right now.

She'll need some looking after

when she comes out of it, though.

I'll hang around.

She was so happy

when I met her on the boat.

All she could talk about was him

and how she was going to take him

back to Manila with her.

She was so frantic to get here, and...

What brought you here?

An earthquake.

The one at San Francisco.

It was ghastly.

Everywhere people were crying out,

calling for help.

The living and the dying,

all calling for someone.

And suddenly I found myself

doing the same thing.

I was calling to my father.

I hadn't seen him for years,

he was thousands of miles away,

and yet I called to him

as if he really could help me.

Funny, wasn't it?

No. No.

People always have to

have somebody to call to

when they're in trouble.

You find that out

when you attend the dying.

If they haven't got somebody,

they usually invent somebody.

Even when they're not in trouble,

people make up people.

I used to do it

when I was a kid, my kid sister and I.

I invented my first patient.

Who was he?

The President of the United States.

(CHUCKLING) Really?

He had a strange new malady.

Nobody knew what it was.

All the specialists in the world

couldn't do a thing for him

till they sent for me.

I cured him. Just like that.

I guess that's what made me decide

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