02x04 - Mystery on the Docks

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

The night

Was dark

And cold.

The fog was thick
as homemade soup.

I was in charleston harbor,

Hot on the trail
of big mama blue.

Shhh!

I couldn't hear a sound.

It was midnight,

And I was all alone
on the docks.

♪ O sole mio ♪

Or was i?

I didn't have
the foggiest notion

Where to look next.

Then I got it.

I knew there was
only one place

I could look
for a clue,

One page I dare not
leave unturned.

I might get a lead
from ralph,

The hero of one
of my favorite books,

Mystery on the docks.

Ralph really knows how to
spot a rat when he sees one,

And he's handled some
pretty tough customers.

Ralph, the short-order cook
at the diner on pier 46,

Was washing up
for the night.

He sang as he washed.

♪ O sole mio ♪

Ralph loved to sing.

On his nights off,

Ralph headed
for the opera house

To hear the stars sing,

Or he strolled down pier 46,

Playing the accordion and
singing to stars in the sky.

But tonight
there were no stars.

A cold and clammy fog
crept over the docks.

A foghorn blew.

Hmmmmmmm.

The pier creaked.

Creeeeeak!

Then, all was quiet.

Or was it?

Ralph stopped singing.

He heard

A ship's engines throbbing.

He saw a dark ship
gliding to the dock.

Thud!

He heard a gangplank fall.

Two rats
slunk out of the gloom.

They headed straight
for ralph's diner.

"Fish and fries,"
snapped the shorter rat.

"Righto," said ralph.
"You work on the ship?"

"None of your business,"
snarled the taller rat.

"Hmmm," thought ralph.
"Tough customers."

While the rats
gobbled their food,

Ralph read the newspaper.

Suddenly, a headline
caught his eye.

"Singer mysteriously vanishes!
Ratville, may 16--

"The day before his
gala concert

"At the opera house,

"Eduardo bombasto--
whose thundering voice

"Is known to concertgoers
throughout the world--

"Disappeared under
mysterious circumstances.

The police have no clues."

"Oh, no!" Cried ralph.

"My favorite singer
is missing!"

Bam!

The diner door slammed.

Ralph whirled around.

The two rats were gone.

"Hey! Come back here!"
Ralph yelled.

"Pay up!"

But the pier was empty.

Or was it?

A car screeched
to a stop

In front
of the dark ship.

Three rats jumped out.

Ralph hid behind a crate.

"Get the sack
out of the trunk!"

Shouted a huge rat.

"Right, big al."

Ralph tiptoed closer.

Crash!

He tripped on a rope.

"Catch him! Snatch him!"
Yelled big al.

Ralph scampered
down the pier.

But the rats
were too quick.

"Throw him in the hold,"
snapped big al.

"Welcome aboard! Ha ha ha!"
Laughed the two rats

Who hadn't paid
for their fish and fries.

The dark ship pulled away
from the dock.

Ralph was alone
in the hold.

Or was he?

The sack behind ralph
began to wiggle.

"Who's there?"
Ralph cried out.

"Help!"

"Help!"

Ralph untied the sack.

Out popped eduardo!

"Who are you?"
Eduardo asked suspiciously.

"I'm your biggest fan,"
replied ralph.

"What are you doing here?"

"Big al kidnaped me,"
said eduardo.

"I'm dead if he doesn't
get his ransom."

"We've got to get off
this ship!" Cried ralph.

Ralph and eduardo
sneaked on deck.

Big al was on guard.

The night was
black as coal.

The ship was far out
in the harbor.

"Ah-ha!" Yelled big al.
"Trying to escape!

We'll fix you!"

Ralph and eduardo
ran up the mast

Into the crow's-nest.

"Look! Flares!"
Shouted ralph.

"We can signal for help."

"The fog is too thick,"
said eduardo.

"The police won't
see the flares."

"What can we do?"
Said ralph.

"I can sing!"

Exclaimed eduardo.

A police-boat siren
wailed in the distance.

"They saw the flares!"
Cried ralph.

"No," said eduardo.

"They heard me sing."

Big al was hopping mad.

"Full steam ahead!"
He shouted.

But the dark ship
was slow.

The police boat was fast.

"Come out!"
Yelled the police chief.

Big al would not give up.

He was too tough.

Besides, he was winning.

Or was he?

Suddenly, two figures
swooped down out of the fog,

Ralph and eduardo
to the rescue!

Whap! Bam! Skaboom!
Splash! Kapow!

"Rats overboard!"
Yelled the police chief.

The police fished
big al and his g*ng

Out of the water.

Their fur was dripping.

Their teeth
were chattering.

Their dark ship was
towed back to the pier.

They were towed to jail.

The next day,

Ralph's picture was
on the front page

Of the newspaper.

He was a hero!

Eduardo gave him
a front-row seat

For his concert
at the opera house.

After the concert,

Ralph invited eduardo
and all his friends

To a party on pier 46.

The stars were
shining brightly.

Ralph played the accordion

And sang for his favorite
opera star.

Everyone danced
and munched fish and fries

And toasted ralph,

Who had saved eduardo
from big al

And his g*ng
of nasty rats.

That was the end
of the story

For big al and his g*ng
of nasty rats.

Or was it?

Ohhhh!

Nothing like a long walk
off a short pier

To make you real crabby.

Guess I really
missed the boat that time.

Ralph and eduardo
showed me what to do

If I'm ever in real trouble--

Sing for help.

♪ Help ♪

Thank you.

♪ Thank you ♪

Sometimes it's more fun
to sing it than to say it.

That's what's so great
about opera.

♪ Ahh-ahhhhh ♪

If you were a great
opera star like eduardo,

What would you sing about?

♪ Love rock 'n roll
because it's so hot ♪

♪ So hot ♪

♪ Get down ♪♪

♪ I love dinosaurs ♪

♪ Get another shovel
and dig up sombones ♪

♪ I love dinosaurs ♪

♪ Tyrannosaurus ♪♪

♪ We like to jump rope ♪

♪ Together ♪

♪ Especially double dutch ♪♪

♪ When me and my brother ♪

♪ Play baseball ♪

♪ When he gets me out ♪

♪ I get so mad
and I go like this ♪♪

♪ I like baseball,
I like baseball ♪

♪ I get to whop it
across the fence ♪

♪ I like baseball,
I get to whop, whop, whop ♪♪

♪ We like to roller skate ♪

♪ Roller skate,
roller skate ♪

♪ We like to roller skate
in the park ♪♪

♪ Ohhhhh ♪

♪ I like to boogie ♪

♪ I like to jam ♪

♪ I like to
show myself around ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪♪

There are still many
mysteries on the docks,

Even when the fog
rolls away.

I'm about to rendezvous
with big mama blue.

The port of charleston
would be sunk without her.

I wouldn't mess around
with this mama.

She's 222 feet tall,
works 24 hours a day,

And never sleeps.

She lifts 80,000 pounds
in a single handful.

I'm standing
on top of her now.

How do you do,
big mama blue?

Big mama blue is one
of the huge cranes here.

She was named by
the charleston schoolchildren.

She loads and unloads
some huge freighters

Like the leise maersk here.

You're looking at
the crane operator's cab,

The heart and brain
of big mama blue.

Her huge steel muscles

Can pluck a tractor-trailer
from a freighter's hold

Almost as easily

As you can pick a petal
off a daisy.

Each of those containers

Weighs as much as
six full-grown elephants,

More than 571 people
my size.

It costs $50,000 a day
to run a ship.

Getting cargo from
ship to shore fast is important.

It goes from big mama blue

To trucks and trains

And then to you.

Here's another
mystery for you.

Just how big
is this ship, anyway?

Here are some clues.

She's as high
as a 16-story building.

Three football games
can be played on her decks

At the same time.

More than 3,000 of these
containers will fit inside.

The leise maersk may be
the most important vessel

In the harbor today.

Or is she?

Huge freighters
like the leise maersk

Would be in hot water

Without the spunky
scarlet tugboats

That guide them
in and out of the harbor

And help them dock.

Many of these ships
need a tug or push

From these workhorses
of the harbor.

How does a little tug

Push a freighter
nine times its size?

Let's go see.

Tugboat captains
are a special breed.

They have to be ready


To help ships
in and out of port.

I've been a tug captain
about eight years.

We're out in the open.

We ride around and see
what's going on.

We enjoy nature.
We watch birds and fish.

We really have
a nice time.

Robert mazeek is the captain
of the south carolina.

His job, together
with the tugboat hinton,

Is to turn
this freighter around.

Many times, two tugs
have to work together

To get the job done.

They communicate with
radios and walkie-talkies

To make sure
there aren't any mistakes.

Ships do real well
when they're in the ocean,

But when they get around
small areas,

They're not
too maneuverable.

What we have to do

Is help them
to maneuver themselves

So they can get
in tight areas.

A tug can handle itself
in a small situation rapidly.

It's got plenty of power
for its size.

The lines that we have,
some are heavy.

Some of them aren't.

Of course, the heavy lines
are the stronger.

The heavier they are,
the stronger they are.

They weigh three or four
pounds per foot.

They're heavy to handle.

Tugs have a lot
of horsepower.

It takes a strong line
so it won't break

When you're pushing
or pulling the ship.

Our tugs are red

Because they seem
to show up better.

They look good.
They're pretty.

The stacks are black

With an orange band
around the stack.

Before you had
radio communications

As we do today,

The tugs used to
race out to sea,

And the captain
on the ship--

Whichever tug
he saw first

Was the one
he would use.

Our tugs' orange bands
were seen first,

So they could
get the job.

We're on our way
to meet a ship coming in.

This ship
will have two tugs--

One on the bow
and one on the stern.

We'll bring the ship to the dock
and tie it up.

♪ I see the seagulls flyin' ♪

♪ Over flags
from every land ♪

♪ I see great ships
from every port ♪

♪ They are looking
mighty grand ♪

♪ I am a tugboat captain ♪

♪ Here's the song
I've always sung ♪

♪ My boat may be
a small one ♪

♪ But it gets
a big job done ♪

♪ Away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Movin' all
the mighty ships ♪

♪ In and out of the bay ♪

♪ Shiny ocean liners ♪

♪ Oil tankers, too ♪

♪ Cargo ships and barges ♪

♪ We've got to
pull them through ♪

♪ I am a tugboat captain ♪

♪ Here's the song
I've always sung ♪

♪ My boat may be
a small one ♪

♪ But it gets
a big job done ♪

♪ Away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Movin' all
the mighty ships ♪

♪ In and out of the bay ♪

♪ Away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Haul away ♪

♪ Movin' all
the mighty ships ♪

♪ In ♪

♪ And out of the bay ♪♪

[Honk]

You don't have to be big
to be important.

Well, if you liked
mystery on the docks,

Here are some other books
about boats and mysteries

That you might enjoy.

My name is jason catcher.

I'm interested
in all kinds of books.

This book
is all about boats.

It is called
big city port.

I really liked
the fire-engine boat.

Do you know they have
g*ns and hoses

That squirt water onto fires
on ships or on sheds?

The people that wrote
and illustrated the book

Did a good job on squeezing
those cranes and boats

Into places where
it could be impossible.

This book is really
fantastic, kids.

I would go out
and get this book right now

At your nearest library.

It will knock your
wits out about boats.

Hello, I'm nelson.

I've finished reading
a real fascinating book.

It's called
the wreck of the zephyr.

You'll want to
read it over again.

It's about a boy who dreams
of being a great sailor.

He gets shipwrecked
on an island.

The island
has flying boats.

He pleaded with the sailor

To teach him how to fly
his own boat, the zephyr.

The townspeople
felt the boy was crazy.

He finally wrecks
the zephyr.

The pictures in this book
look like pastel paintings.

At the end,
there's a kind of mystery.

This book can teach you

About trying to stretch
your dreams too far.

My name is ramona.

Have you ever been
sprayed by a skunk?

I think you'll
like the book

Nate the great
goes undercover.

It's about a boy detective
named nate

Investigating the case
of the tipped-over garbage can.

He gets sprayed by a skunk
and has to take a bath.

He hides
in a garbage can twice.

Some people will do anything
to solve a case.

Nate finds out who's
tipping over the garbage can.

If you want to find out,
read the book.

There are many more
nate the great books.

You'll want
to read them all.

It's been a busy day
down on the docks.

I didn't feel quite
as shipshape as usual,

But that's all
in a day's work.

With the help
of big mama blue,

I'd untangled more
than my share

Of mysteries on the dock.

It was clear that
time and tide wait for no man,

And for no mouse,

As ralph would be
the first to tell you.

Adieu, big mama blue.

We've really covered
the waterfront,

And this case is
all wrapped up.

Or...

Is it?

Bon voyage.

See you next time.

Today's reading rainbow
books are:

Mystery on the docks
by thacher hurd,

Published by harper & row.

Big city port, by betsy maestro

And ellen delvecchio,

Illustrated by giulio maestro,

Published by four winds press.

The wreck of the zephyr,
by chris van allsburg,

Published by
houghton mifflin company,

Nate the great
mystery series,

By marjorie weinman sharmat,
illustrated by marc simont,

Published by coward, mccann.