WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:12.000 The Cavalcade of America, starring Paul Mooney, presented by the DuPont Company, makers of 00:12.000 --> 00:19.000 better things for better living through chemistry. 00:19.000 --> 00:36.000 I'm innocent. I didn't know the man whose broken leg I set was a murderer. I'm innocent. 00:36.000 --> 00:42.000 That was the plea of Dr. Samuel Mudd, a Maryland physician who was implicated in the conspiracy to 00:42.000 --> 00:51.000 assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Did he tell the truth? Was he guilty? Well, today, after 83 00:51.000 --> 00:58.000 years, even historians do not agree. Tonight, Cavalcade presents Paul Mooney in the role of 00:58.000 --> 01:00.000 Dr. Samuel Mudd. 01:00.000 --> 01:27.000 Now, the DuPont Cavalcade of America, starring Paul Mooney as Dr. Samuel Mudd. 01:27.000 --> 01:32.000 Tell the court, Dr. Mudd. Isn't it true that you knew the actor John Wilkes Booth before the 01:32.000 --> 01:34.000 assassination of President Lincoln? 01:34.000 --> 01:36.000 Yes, I met him two or three times. 01:36.000 --> 01:39.000 And yet you failed to recognize him when you operated on him? 01:39.000 --> 01:45.000 The man whose broken leg I set wore a full beard. John Wilkes Booth was clean shaven. 01:45.000 --> 01:51.000 Tell me, doctor, why didn't you report this strange operation performed in the dead of night on a man 01:51.000 --> 01:56.000 who was obviously a fugitive? You knew this entire area was swarming with proof, looking for the 01:56.000 --> 01:58.000 President's murderer, didn't you? 01:58.000 --> 02:02.000 No, sir. As a matter of fact, I didn't find out until many an hour later that President Lincoln had 02:02.000 --> 02:09.000 been assassinated. When I did report it, it was too late. John Wilkes Booth had disappeared. 02:09.000 --> 02:17.000 All right, Dr. Mudd. Continue with your story, please. Tell us what happened that night. 02:17.000 --> 02:23.000 Well, gentlemen, it was about four o'clock in the morning, about April 15th. I'd awakened out of a 02:23.000 --> 02:26.000 sound sleep by a knock on the door. 02:26.000 --> 02:41.000 It is 1865. The war is over. In a crowded courtroom, Dr. Samuel Mudd, the Maryland physician, 02:41.000 --> 02:51.000 tells his story to a military court. Is he telling the truth? 02:51.000 --> 02:57.000 And so I went downstairs wondering who it could be at four o'clock in the morning. I opened the door. 02:57.000 --> 03:04.000 A young man about 20 was standing there. His clothes were torn and dirty. He was out of breath. 03:04.000 --> 03:08.000 Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry to trouble you. You're a doctor, aren't you? 03:08.000 --> 03:11.000 Yes, I am. What can I do for you? 03:11.000 --> 03:15.000 My friend out here is hurt. It's his leg. Could you take a look at it, please? 03:15.000 --> 03:17.000 Oh, well, where is he? I don't see him. 03:17.000 --> 03:22.000 He's over there in the field behind the house. You'll have to help me carry him in. 03:22.000 --> 03:27.000 Oh, well, I don't believe I've ever seen you before, Mr. 03:27.000 --> 03:29.000 Tyson, Dr. David Tyson. 03:29.000 --> 03:31.000 And your friend? Do I know him? 03:31.000 --> 03:49.000 Oh, no, sir. His name is Tyler, Edward Tyler. 03:49.000 --> 03:53.000 Hand me that alcohol, please, and the swab. 03:53.000 --> 03:58.000 Here you are, Doctor. Is it set now or fractured? 03:58.000 --> 04:05.000 Yeah. Good thing your friend drank so much whiskey before he got here. 04:05.000 --> 04:13.000 He's been unconscious ever since. Well, well, well, well. Looks like he's coming, too. 04:13.000 --> 04:16.000 How are you feeling, Mr. Tyson? 04:16.000 --> 04:24.000 Oh, Doctor, I must have fainted. First time it's ever happened to me, I assure you. 04:24.000 --> 04:30.000 Your foot is badly lacerated there. I had to cut off your boot to get at the wound. 04:30.000 --> 04:32.000 You must have been riding very hard. 04:32.000 --> 04:36.000 Oh, yes, yes, Doctor. 04:36.000 --> 04:38.000 We were in a hurry to get here. 04:38.000 --> 04:42.000 Gosh, Doctor, first time he's left since the accident. 04:42.000 --> 04:46.000 Bring that lamp a little closer, please, Mr. Tyson. 04:46.000 --> 04:47.000 Yes. 04:47.000 --> 04:50.000 Here? So, it was an accident? 04:50.000 --> 04:53.000 Yes. You see, Dr. Mudd. 04:53.000 --> 04:55.000 How do you happen to know my name, sir? 04:55.000 --> 05:03.000 Well, in the village, Doctor, they told us your name and that your sympathies were with the South during the war. 05:03.000 --> 05:08.000 The war is over, Mr. Tyler. Oh, still, please. 05:08.000 --> 05:13.000 There. 05:13.000 --> 05:17.000 Well, Mr. Tyler, that's all I can do for you. You can get up now. 05:17.000 --> 05:19.000 Doctor, do you mean you're going to send him away with a broken leg? 05:19.000 --> 05:23.000 Well, I said it, sir. That's all I can do. My house is a small one and I... 05:23.000 --> 05:24.000 Well, Doctor, you can't... 05:24.000 --> 05:26.000 Dr. Mudd, if you'll be kind enough to tell me your fee. 05:26.000 --> 05:28.000 Uh, $25. 05:28.000 --> 05:31.000 Here you are. Mr. Tyson, help me down from this deal. 05:31.000 --> 05:33.000 Yeah, yeah, hold him. 05:33.000 --> 05:37.000 Doctor, he's fainted again. I can't take him out this way. You'll have to keep him... 05:37.000 --> 05:51.000 Very well. Put him back on the bed. He can stay here until he feels strong enough to travel. 05:51.000 --> 05:57.000 And that, gentlemen, is the truth, the whole truth concerning the events of that night. 05:57.000 --> 06:03.000 And do you mean to tell this court, Dr. Mudd, that you still don't know that this man whose broken leg you had just set, 06:03.000 --> 06:09.000 whose face must have been as close to you as mine is now, was John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of Abraham Lincoln? 06:09.000 --> 06:18.000 I didn't know he was Booth. I didn't know Lincoln had been murdered. I swear it before Almighty God. 06:18.000 --> 06:23.000 Go on with your story, please, Doctor. What happened the next day? 06:23.000 --> 06:33.000 Well, the next day was Saturday. Sometime during the afternoon, my wife took a tray with some cakes and oranges up to Mrs. Tyler. 06:33.000 --> 06:37.000 It was just after sundown that I returned from a visit to a patient. 06:37.000 --> 06:40.000 Well, dear, how's Mrs. Manning? 06:40.000 --> 06:48.000 She's all right. Sarah, I just heard terrible news. President Lincoln was assassinated last night. 06:48.000 --> 06:51.000 What? Oh, my. 06:51.000 --> 06:53.000 By an actor named John Wilkes Booth. 06:53.000 --> 06:57.000 John Wilkes? Why, you know him, don't you say? 06:57.000 --> 06:59.000 Yes, not very well. 06:59.000 --> 07:00.000 Oh, my. 07:00.000 --> 07:05.000 He escaped. The troops are searching this entire area, every house, every barn, every woodshed. 07:05.000 --> 07:10.000 Oh, what a terrible thing. I hope they catch him. A man who'd do a thing like that. But what kind of a man can he be? 07:10.000 --> 07:14.000 A legal maniac, a confused man with a terrible pride. 07:14.000 --> 07:15.000 Oh. 07:15.000 --> 07:22.000 They say he was in a conspiracy to kidnap Mr. Lincoln. When his friends backed down, he told them he didn't need them. He'd do it himself. 07:22.000 --> 07:24.000 Oh. 07:24.000 --> 07:26.000 Ah, I'm tired. 07:26.000 --> 07:31.000 She's wonder, dear. Out all day on calls and up all night with that awful Mr. Tyler. 07:31.000 --> 07:35.000 Oh, yes. How is he, by the way? Did you send up something for him to eat? 07:35.000 --> 07:42.000 I took it up myself, and he refused. He asked for brandy instead. Brandy in my house. 07:42.000 --> 07:49.000 Well, I told him a thing or two, and it evidently had some effect because ten minutes later they left, the two of them, and good riddance, too. 07:49.000 --> 07:51.000 Well, it seemed like a nice enough chap. 07:51.000 --> 08:00.000 That's what you think. Let me tell you something, Sam. When I heard a noise on the stairs and went out to see what it was, I saw that young fellow helping Mr. Tyler down, 08:00.000 --> 08:08.000 and Mr. Tyler's beard was brushing up against the young fellow's arm, and there was something funny about that beard. It didn't look natural. 08:08.000 --> 08:12.000 You know what I think. I think he was disguised. It's my belief that he... 08:12.000 --> 08:18.000 Just a... just a moment. Sarah, are you sure that beard was false? 08:18.000 --> 08:22.000 I think it was. I'd almost be willing to swear... Sam, where are you going? 08:22.000 --> 08:31.000 Back to Bryantown to notify the authorities. Sarah, do you realize the meaning of this? The man might be the fellow they're looking for. It might be John Wilkes Booth. 08:31.000 --> 08:33.000 But that's ridiculous, Sam. You know Booth. 08:33.000 --> 08:39.000 Yes, but I'm not so familiar with his face that... well, what, with a false beard? I'd better go back and report it. 08:39.000 --> 08:45.000 Now, dear, you're all tired out. You're going straight to bed. Tomorrow's Sunday. You can report it when we go into church. 08:45.000 --> 08:46.000 But Sarah... 08:46.000 --> 08:49.000 Now, dear, that will be time enough. 08:49.000 --> 09:13.000 Ah, all right. You think it's best that way. Good night. 09:13.000 --> 09:21.000 As we drove through the town the next morning, I kept looking about for Lieutenant Lovett, one of the army officers in security patrols. 09:21.000 --> 09:29.000 I wanted to tell him about the suspicious character I had for a patient, but I saw no one. 09:29.000 --> 09:40.000 And since the services were about to begin, we went into this church. 09:40.000 --> 09:47.000 Some time later, just as we were leaving after the service, an army officer rode up. It was Lieutenant Lovett. 09:47.000 --> 09:51.000 Well, Dr. Martin, I've been up to your place looking for you. 09:51.000 --> 09:58.000 That's strange, Lieutenant. I've been looking for you. By the way, this is my wife, Lieutenant Lovett, dear. 09:58.000 --> 10:00.000 How do you do, Lieutenant? 10:00.000 --> 10:04.000 How do, ma'am? Doctor, I'd like a word with you in private, if I may. Will you excuse us, ma'am? 10:04.000 --> 10:08.000 Certainly, Lieutenant. 10:08.000 --> 10:10.000 So, Doctor, you were looking for me, eh? 10:10.000 --> 10:14.000 Yes, Lieutenant. I'd like to report an event of a suspicious nature that occurred early yesterday morning. 10:14.000 --> 10:16.000 I'm listening, Doctor. 10:16.000 --> 10:21.000 It was about four o'clock, well, or thereabouts, that two men knocked on my door. One of them had a fractured leg. 10:21.000 --> 10:23.000 Really? And you said it for him? 10:23.000 --> 10:26.000 Well, naturally. I'm a doctor. It was my duty to... 10:26.000 --> 10:28.000 Yes, naturally. 10:28.000 --> 10:31.000 This fellow with the broken leg, what did you say his name was? 10:31.000 --> 10:38.000 I didn't say Lieutenant, but he said it was Tyler, Edward Tyler. And had you ever seen this man before, Doctor? 10:38.000 --> 10:41.000 No. No, I hadn't. 10:41.000 --> 10:43.000 I see. 10:43.000 --> 10:46.000 Doctor Mudd, why are you telling me this? 10:46.000 --> 10:53.000 Well, Lieutenant, I've read the proclamation about the President's death. It says we should all be on the lookout for suspicious characters, so I... 10:53.000 --> 10:56.000 Yes, yes. Did you also read the name of the man who assassinated the President? 10:56.000 --> 10:59.000 Yes. John Wilkes Booth. 10:59.000 --> 11:02.000 Do you know him, Doctor? This man Booth? 11:02.000 --> 11:05.000 Casually. I've met him two or three times. 11:05.000 --> 11:09.000 And would you be prepared to swear that the man whose leg you attended was not Booth? 11:09.000 --> 11:11.000 Yes, I would. 11:11.000 --> 11:16.000 Well, that would seem to be satisfactory, Doctor. If it weren't for one small circumstance. 11:16.000 --> 11:18.000 What's that? 11:18.000 --> 11:23.000 Doctor Mudd, since you were not at home when I called a few minutes ago, I took the liberty of looking around your establishment. 11:23.000 --> 11:28.000 I found this under the bed on which you performed the operation. This boot. 11:28.000 --> 11:30.000 Have you ever seen it before, Doctor? 11:30.000 --> 11:33.000 Yes, Lieutenant. It's the one I cut from Tyler's foot when I set his leg. 11:33.000 --> 11:34.000 You admit that, then? 11:34.000 --> 11:36.000 Why certainly. Why shouldn't I? 11:36.000 --> 11:42.000 Because, Doctor, the name of the owner of this boot happens to be inscribed in the lining. And that name is John Wilkes Booth. 11:42.000 --> 11:45.000 Doctor Mudd, you will consider yourself under arrest. 11:45.000 --> 11:52.000 Well, gentlemen, that's the story. A full and complete account to the best of my knowledge and memory. 11:52.000 --> 11:58.000 After my arrest by Lieutenant Lovett, I was remanded to prison and finally brought before this court. 11:58.000 --> 12:05.000 All I ask now is justice and a verdict that will clear my name and assuage my crime. 12:05.000 --> 12:08.000 And I will be able to prove that I am guilty. 12:08.000 --> 12:20.000 I was remanded to prison and finally brought before this court. All I ask now is justice and a verdict that will clear my name and establish my innocence of evil intent for all time. 12:33.000 --> 12:36.000 The prisoner will now rise and face the court. 12:36.000 --> 12:46.000 The charge against you is that you did willfully and knowingly advise and encourage, receive, entertain, harbor and conceal John Wilkes Booth and his confederates. 12:46.000 --> 12:51.000 This commission does therefore sentence you, Doctor Samuel Mudd, to life in prison. 12:51.000 --> 13:02.000 You are hereby remanded to the island penitentiary known as Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas, where you shall spend your days at hard labor for the rest of your natural life. 13:02.000 --> 13:08.000 I am innocent. I swear it, I swear it before Almighty God. 13:08.000 --> 13:33.000 You are listening to Garden Key starring Paul Mooney as Dr. Samuel Mudd on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. 13:38.000 --> 13:59.000 Dr. Samuel Mudd, a Maryland physician, was found guilty of conspiracy in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln and sent to Garden Key, a barren, windswept island in the Gulf of Mexico. 13:59.000 --> 14:15.000 Here on a coral sand outpost is the little known monument to American engineering skills, Fort Jefferson. But to this isolated citadel were sent deserters, traitors, all those who had broken faith with their country and its laws. 14:15.000 --> 14:24.000 And here one day in 1865 arrived Dr. Samuel Mudd to spend the rest of his natural life. 14:24.000 --> 14:29.000 So your name is Mudd, huh? That's a funny one. 14:29.000 --> 14:40.000 Well, Mr. Mudd, first thing I want to do is put your mind at rest and save you a lot of trouble. If you can't swim 70 miles, there's no chance to escape. You got that? 14:40.000 --> 14:41.000 Yes, sir. 14:41.000 --> 14:53.000 Number two, any infraction of the rules and you get leg arms. Second infraction, you get elected to the Society of Cannonball Carriers. That means you lug a 42-pound shot around the parade grounds. You got that? 14:53.000 --> 14:54.000 Yes, sergeant. 14:54.000 --> 15:05.000 And if you're especially nasty, we've got another treatment. We tie the cannonball around your leg, chuck you into the sea and let you soak a while. And then we fish you out and throw you in the dungeon. You got that? 15:05.000 --> 15:07.000 Yes, sergeant. 15:07.000 --> 15:14.000 All right. Now, Mr. Mudd, ain't you got a first name or something? I hate to call a man by a name like that. 15:14.000 --> 15:16.000 My given name is Samuel. 15:16.000 --> 15:25.000 That's better. Well, Sam, everybody works around here, see? Now, what'll it be? The unloading gang, the wheelbarrow brigade, what's your preference? 15:25.000 --> 15:30.000 Sergeant, is there a physician on this godforsaken island? 15:30.000 --> 15:32.000 Sure, Major Smith. Why? 15:32.000 --> 15:34.000 I should like to be his assistant or his orderly. 15:34.000 --> 15:37.000 You would, huh? You know anything about medicine? 15:37.000 --> 15:40.000 I ought to. I'm a doctor. 15:40.000 --> 15:46.000 Well, you don't tell me. I'm sure the Major could use a help. Wait a minute, I'll ask him. Major, Major Smith. 15:46.000 --> 15:48.000 Yes, sergeant? 15:48.000 --> 15:49.000 What is it? 15:49.000 --> 15:53.000 Major got a new man here, says he's a doctor. He wants to be your orderly. 15:53.000 --> 15:55.000 Oh, he does, huh? What's his name? 15:55.000 --> 15:58.000 His name is Mudd. Samuel Mudd. 15:58.000 --> 15:59.000 What? 15:59.000 --> 16:00.000 Samuel Mudd? 16:00.000 --> 16:01.000 Yes. 16:01.000 --> 16:03.000 Sergeant, do you know the crime this man committed? 16:03.000 --> 16:07.000 No, Major. The records of this last batch ain't been sent up yet. 16:07.000 --> 16:12.000 Sergeant, this is the same Dr. Mudd who helped John Wilkes Booth escape by setting his fractured leg. 16:12.000 --> 16:17.000 John Wilkes Booth? You mean the fellow that murdered President Lincoln? 16:17.000 --> 16:19.000 I do indeed. 16:19.000 --> 16:21.000 And he helped him? 16:21.000 --> 16:27.000 Ah, say no more, Major. I'll cook his goose. 16:27.000 --> 16:37.000 All right, Mudd. About face. On the double. Ha! 16:37.000 --> 16:50.000 The Sergeant's reaction was shared by everyone on the island. 16:50.000 --> 17:00.000 Dr. Mudd led a lonely life, an outcast among outcasts. Even the prisoners shunned him. 17:00.000 --> 17:05.000 If both killed Lincoln, then he was shot. Why didn't they shoot a scunt like this Mudd? 17:05.000 --> 17:11.000 At the conspiracy they said it was to kill the President, and there was nine of them in her mouth. 17:11.000 --> 17:18.000 Yeah, and they hanged four out of the nine, and one of them was even a woman, that Mrs. Zarat. 17:18.000 --> 17:23.000 Yeah, but him, they sent here, it ain't just... 17:23.000 --> 17:28.000 All right. See, you know what we do? We ignore him, just like he wasn't there. 17:28.000 --> 17:39.000 Nobody talks to him, see? Nobody looks at him. We'll fix him. 17:39.000 --> 17:45.000 One day, after a change in the prison authorities had brought about especially inhuman treatment, 17:45.000 --> 17:49.000 Dr. Mudd attempted to escape on a departing ship. 17:49.000 --> 17:55.000 He was apprehended and brought back to Garden Key, and confined to the dungeon in double chains. 17:55.000 --> 17:58.000 Here he stayed for many months. 17:58.000 --> 18:13.000 And then one day disaster hit the island. Yellow fever, bringing in its wake death and the delirious cries of the dying. 18:13.000 --> 18:17.000 Doctor, doctor, help me, please. Please, doctor. 18:17.000 --> 18:21.000 Water, water, for God's sake, water. 18:21.000 --> 18:24.000 Honey comes marching home again. 18:24.000 --> 18:28.000 The Lord is my separate. I shall not want him. 18:28.000 --> 18:30.000 Take his bed to lay down and drink. 18:35.000 --> 18:38.000 Major, Dr. Smith. 18:38.000 --> 18:43.000 Major, they need you. The prisoners, the garrison people, they're all dying like flies. 18:43.000 --> 18:47.000 Oh, Major, wake up. Can't you hear me, Major? 18:47.000 --> 18:52.000 He's dead. The Major is dead. He's dead. The doctor is dead. 18:52.000 --> 18:57.000 The Doctor 19:04.000 --> 19:06.000 Doctor, Dr. Mudd. 19:06.000 --> 19:08.000 Yes, sir. 19:08.000 --> 19:10.000 Yes, hello. 19:10.000 --> 19:14.000 It's you, Sergeant. It's hard to see you in this dungeon. 19:14.000 --> 19:16.000 Listen, were you really a doctor? 19:16.000 --> 19:22.000 Yes, I was, once. 19:22.000 --> 19:25.000 Do you think you remember anything about doctoring? 19:25.000 --> 19:37.000 I don't know. It's been so long. How long, Sergeant? How long have I been down here? 19:37.000 --> 19:40.000 Doc, I'm asking you, do you remember anything about doctors? 19:40.000 --> 19:44.000 Go away. Take your puny maladies to Major Smith. 19:44.000 --> 19:45.000 But, Doc, this ain't puny. 19:45.000 --> 19:48.000 A running nose, a stomach upset, go away. 19:48.000 --> 19:53.000 Doc, please, it's yellow fever. It's all over the island. We'll be dead if you don't help. 19:53.000 --> 19:55.000 Yellow fever? Where's Major Smith, isn't he? 19:55.000 --> 20:00.000 He's gone, Doc. The fever's got him too, Doc. Get up. Come on, please, get up. 20:00.000 --> 20:03.000 Yes, yes. Yes, help me up. 20:03.000 --> 20:05.000 Sure. I'm coming, Doc. 20:05.000 --> 20:06.000 Yes. 20:06.000 --> 20:08.000 But, Doc, do you remember? 20:08.000 --> 20:09.000 Huh? 20:09.000 --> 20:10.000 Do you remember anything? 20:10.000 --> 20:16.000 I remember, yes, yellow fever, symptoms. 20:16.000 --> 20:18.000 Headache? 20:18.000 --> 20:30.000 Nausea, delirium, treatment, a pneumatic followed by colonel, mustard foot baths. 20:30.000 --> 20:44.000 Yes, Sarge. Yes, I remember. Come on. 20:44.000 --> 20:50.000 For three weeks, Dr. Mudd fought this epidemic. He tempted the sick and the dying. 20:50.000 --> 20:54.000 And when they saw him coming, these men who had denied him companionship, 20:54.000 --> 20:59.000 they raised their stricken eyes to Dr. Mudd and hope entered into them. 20:59.000 --> 21:03.000 Help me, Dr. Mudd, please. Help me, please, Doc. 21:03.000 --> 21:16.000 Doctor, oh, Dr. Mudd, thank God you're here. Thank God you're here. 21:16.000 --> 21:23.000 And when the epidemic was over, Darden Key came to life again and things were normal. 21:23.000 --> 21:29.000 But not Dr. Samuel Mudd, for the doctor had himself come down with a fever. 21:29.000 --> 21:37.000 For days he lay on his cot, bitter even in his delirium. 21:37.000 --> 21:55.000 Gentlemen of the graduating class, you will repeat after me the oath, the oath of the Hippocrates. Yes, Professor. 21:55.000 --> 22:08.000 On my honor, I solemnly swear by what I hold most sacred that I will be loyal to the practice of medicine. 22:08.000 --> 22:11.000 Yes, yes, Professor. 22:11.000 --> 22:26.000 That I will lead my life and practice my art in uprightness and honor. Honor, my honor. 22:26.000 --> 22:40.000 Yes, Professor. Yes, Professor. Yes, yes, Mr. John Wilkes Poole. 22:40.000 --> 22:52.000 Yes, gentlemen of the jury, my honor. 22:52.000 --> 23:02.000 Samuel Mudd didn't die, he recovered. And his great unselfish labor for those who scorned and reviled him was not to be forgotten. 23:02.000 --> 23:11.000 Some months later as Dr. Mudd lay recuperating in the sun on the roof of the fort at Darden Key, Sergeant Folsom rushed up breathlessly. 23:11.000 --> 23:14.000 Doc, it's come, it's come. 23:14.000 --> 23:17.000 What? What's come, Sergeant? 23:17.000 --> 23:19.000 The pardon, the one we all asked for. 23:19.000 --> 23:23.000 The pardon? Who asked for? What are you talking about? 23:23.000 --> 23:27.000 Well, look, Doc, a couple of months ago we, all of us on the island held a meeting. 23:27.000 --> 23:40.000 We wanted to do something, Doc, something for you. So we wrote out a paper giving an account of what you did for us and how you saved our lives during the epidemic and worked yourself almost to death and finally come down with a fever yourself. 23:40.000 --> 23:50.000 And then we wrote on the bottom of the paper how we recommended that you be given a pardon and sent home. And then we all signed it. Every man and woman on Darden Key. 23:50.000 --> 24:01.000 I see. God bless you, Sergeant. I'm very grateful to you. And to whom did you send this strange request? 24:01.000 --> 24:05.000 Well, Doc, we sent it to the President of the United States. 24:05.000 --> 24:29.000 So finally, after four long years, Dr. Mudd came home to Maryland, a free man, broken in body and impoverished, but free. 24:29.000 --> 24:36.000 Back in Bryantown, he issued a statement. It was an old, familiar statement. 24:36.000 --> 25:04.000 I say again that I did not know that the man whose broken leg I set, whom I sheltered instead was John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of Abraham Lincoln. This I swear before the Almighty God. 25:06.000 --> 25:15.000 Next week, Cavalcade will present the story of the great Negro educator, Booker T. Washington, our play is called The Burning Bush. 25:15.000 --> 25:25.000 And in the role of Booker T. Washington, Cavalcade will feature Juan O. Hernandez, who has just scored a personal success on Broadway in the theater guild production, Set My People Free. 25:25.000 --> 25:35.000 Be sure to join us next week for the story of Booker T. Washington, presenting Juan O. Hernandez on the Cavalcade of America. 25:35.000 --> 25:44.000 Here's a special announcement. Two weeks from tonight, on November 22nd, in response to many requests, Cavalcade will again bring you its special Thanksgiving program. 25:44.000 --> 25:50.000 It is a fable, an immigrant's idea of the first Thanksgiving, as told by a student in a naturalization class. 25:50.000 --> 25:56.000 Hey, Jack. Hey, Jack. Mr. Barachek is not. Children didn't land on Ellis Island. 25:56.000 --> 26:01.000 You will again hear that incorrigible Mr. Bauer. And the Chief of the Friendly Indians. 26:01.000 --> 26:13.000 It's me, Chief of Friendly Indians with Food for Pilgrims. 16,000 sandwich. Besides 16,000 sandwich, we bring it 16,000 dill pickles. 26:13.000 --> 26:21.000 Be sure to listen to Us Pilgrims, Frank Gabrielson's warm and humorous story, starring George Tobias and the original cast. 26:21.000 --> 26:26.000 You'll enjoy it. The date, November 22nd, Cavalcade time. 26:26.000 --> 26:31.000 Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade, Garden Key, was an original radio play written by Arthur Aaron. 26:31.000 --> 26:37.000 The program was directed by Jack Zoller. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Bryan. 26:37.000 --> 26:47.000 The narrator was Ted Pearson. Cavalcade of America comes to you each week from the stage of the Longacre Theater on Broadway in New York and is presented by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. 26:47.000 --> 26:59.000 This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.