Original subtitles

Sissy, how long is Uncle Bill going to live at his office?

Oh, he doesn't really live there, Jody.

Doesn't he like to eat with us anymore?

Oh, of course he does, Buffy. It's only his work that keeps him at the office.

It has absolutely nothing to do with his affection for you.

Let's go.

Come on.

Bye, Mr. Prince.

Bye, Mr. Peter.

Bye.

The invoice dated yesterday and the delivery verified.

Is this the superintendent's initials? Right. I checked. He verifies the load

every truck before signing.

How can anybody steal 10 ,000 feet of electric conduit and 100 gross outlet

boxes?

I don't know.

But we're one more day behind schedule.

Anything look suspicious at all?

No.

How far behind are we?

Nine days.

Nine days.

That's $5 ,000 a day in contract penalties.

Well, we've got to find out some way to stop these thefts.

At least none of the workmen on that job know who you are up to now.

Sooner or later, you're going to find out who the thief is.

Well,

I'm going back to the tunnel tonight to check out how many orders we need so we

can reschedule.

Davis residence.

Friends, I'm going to be tied up again tonight. I won't be able to have dinner

with the kids. Put one of them on, will you?

Oh, I'm afraid they're out for the evening, sir.

Now, where?

Well, Miss Sissy is at the library with Miss Sharon.

Jody is spending the evening with his friend Richard.

And Buffy is upstairs assisting Mrs. Sutton with her dishes, sir.

Spread out all over the place.

Well, I'll see you at home.

Child time, buddy.

Yeah.

I worked with a welder named Davis on a job up in the Bronx.

Well, let's see what the wife made up today.

Meatloaf sandwiches.

Hard -boiled egg.

Applesauce.

Cheese.

Piece of cake.

Oh, that sounds pretty good.

And I've got, uh... peanut butter and jelly again.

Oh, sit down. How are the kids? Thank you. Oh, all returned to the fold, huh?

Seems like the minute I get tied up with something, this whole family starts

falling apart.

Oh, there's no need to be concerned, sir. They're all sleeping peacefully.

Hmm.

And look like I'm much of an uncle.

Well, they do miss you, of course, but it'll all be all right again, sir, when

you're able to spend evenings at home.

Yeah, trouble is, I don't know how long this job's going to take. Well, I better

get some sleep.

Oh, excuse me, sir. Was our lunch satisfactory?

Yeah, listen.

I know I told you not to pack anything fancy, but do you think you could think

of something maybe a little bit fancier than the peanut butter and jam?

Of course, sir.

Well, I'll have to be up at five. Good night.

Good night, sir.

Oh, dear.

I suppose I'd better set my alarm for 4 .30.

Something fancier than peanut butter.

Bacon and tomato, perhaps?

No, no, no.

Oh, dear.

Fried chicken, to be sure.

Peel off again.

Oh, I got fried chicken.

Here, have some.

Okay, here.

You been in this racket long?

Twenty years.

I've been at it ten.

Never worked with the same welder twice.

Well, that can happen in New York.

Welding's okay.

What I really want to be is a draftsman.

Only I'd have to go to night school to learn drafting, and I can't afford to

quit my other job.

You got another job?

Yeah. I work nights as a gym instructor.

Show white -collar guys how to turn their flab into muscles.

Trouble with working two jobs, though, I don't get to spend much time with my

kids except on Sunday.

I know what you mean.

How many kids you got?

I got four.

I wish I could spend more time with my kids, too.

Tell the missus to keep them busy. That's the whole secret.

I haven't got a wife.

Oh. Sorry.

Some kind of family project is a good idea.

Get them all working together.

How do you do that?

Figure out something of interest to all of them. Something around the house.

You know anything like that?

Sure. Fish.

Fish?

Live tropical fish.

In aquariums.

Fish are a real family project at our house.

Kids watch those fish like television.

Even older kids? The whole family.

Tell you what.

I'll bring you a couple of guppies. Try them out.

Do you think they stay home and watch fish?

Why not?

Mine do.

Hey, anybody home?

Hi, Bill.

Hi, how are you? What a pleasant surprise to have you home, son.

Well, I have to go back. I just came home to bring surprise.

Surprise? What is it?

How's that?

Oh.

I never saw little live sardines before.

Guppy.

Guppy. That's funny.

They're going to give birth to little ones.

When? Oh, pretty soon. The guy said they had about 60, 70 babies.

That's a lot of babies.

Yeah. They come from Trinidad.

That's an island off the coast of South America someplace.

Just like our teacher said, everybody but the Indians come from someplace

Yep. Well, we go for guppies?

We sure do.

They're cute for fish.

Sir, at blessed event time, won't that little jar become a bit crowded?

Oh, yes.

Well, we'll get an aquarium and see how the kids are so interested.

Aquarium?

What's that?

It's a big glass tank, you know, to hold the fish.

If we're going to do this right, the whole family's going to watch fish.

Okay, now let's see how the cuppies like their new home.

Where'd they go?

I can't see them anymore.

There's one.

Oh, now it's hidden behind the greenery.

Uncle Bill, I could see them better in the jar.

They do look kind of lost in there.

I think we need some more fish.

Good, let's go out and get some more fish. Lots of fish.

Do you intend to specialize in live breeders or egg layers?

Oh, neither one. We just want to get the aquarium looking a little more

populated.

genus Sophophorus hellery heckle, commonly called swordtails.

Okay, we take a couple.

Hey, can we have one of these?

Yeah, you should have a pair of the platys, Mr. Davis. They're most

a community aquarium.

Fine.

Hey, look at these funny ones. Yeah, he's got whiskers. A Nigerian catfish.

Very good to help keep the tank clean.

We'll take two of them.

with the stripes.

we supposed to change the water?

Oh, we don't change it. We just add more whenever we need it.

Has to be aged water.

Aged water, sir?

Yeah, you let it sit around for a few days till the chlorine goes out.

You got someplace in the kitchen you can let a big pot of water sit around?

Quite so, sir.

I better call Sharon and tell her I won't be able to come up tonight.

Okay, I have to go back to the office, too.

You kids keep an eye on the livestock now.

Okay, Uncle Bill. We will.

How often do we feed them?

I don't know. Look it up in the book.

Look at him.

That family project idea really works.

Yes, sir.

I'll meet you there right after dinner.

Bye. Hi, Sissy.

Hi, you guys.

Sissy? Will you ask Mr. French if I could go play with Peter after dinner?

got new toy soldiers.

And I want to go up to Mrs.

Sutton's. She's going to teach me how to sew.

Why don't you ask Mr.

French? We already did.

He said we have to stay home and watch the fish.

Uncle Bill wants us to.

Well, Mr. French is right.

With Uncle Bill working day and night, the least we can do is look after his

fish.

Okay.

I'll sure be glad when Uncle Bill can take care of his own fish.

She has enough kids.

I think I'll call and see how they do it.

Oh, there goes another one.

Oh, Mr. French, do something.

Just one moment.

Oh, I can't stand it.

Davis residence.

Hey, what's going on?

Sir, baby guppies are arriving by the dozens and other fish are eating them.

for it.

Oh, it's too late.

Sir, what do you suggest I should do?

Well, I'll call up. the fish store and have them deliver another aquarium.

Another aquarium, sir?

Yep. You've got to keep the mothers and the babies separate from the other fish.

Oh, yes, sir. Of course. I see. Very good, sir.

The big fish are eating a little.

What happened?

I remembered my mother used to cure a sick goldfish by putting them in salt

water.

Here.

He looks awful.

Hmm. Well, we have to give him a little time.

You want to go back to bed now?

Uncle Bill, can we sit up and watch him?

Oh, how about that?

Hey.

Uh -oh.

Time to get up.

I bet you're the best restocker in the whole world.

Yeah, fine.

Boy, you must have tied on a beauty last night.

No, I was up all night with a sick fish and I put him in salt water.

That's a good way. But you should feed him live food once in a while.

Like what?

We raise worms.

Easy to do. Don't take much space and the fish love them.

I suppose they do.

No, I don't want worms in a house.

Feed them mosquito wigglers. You know, mosquito larva.

Buy a pint. Any tropical fish store.

Well, if this project is working wonders for the family, I guess I'll have to

keep it up.

Mr. Davis, there's a plague of mosquitoes.

I'm all lumpy.

Well, a fish is supposed to be eating them.

It's okay, Uncle Bill. We like mosquitoes, too.

Yeah, now we can watch fish and mosquitoes.

I just hope you know what you're doing, Bill.

Well, I think I do. That truck was going right through the gate with a load of

material. The foreman had checked it. It was unloaded.

What's that to you?

This is Mr. Davis. He's the head of the whole construction company.

Come on, bring those guys in. Yes, sir.

You can call the police.

Yes, sir, Mr. Davis.

William R.

Davis?

You want to work in my office as a draftsman?

I don't know anything about drafting yet.

Well, we'll teach you. Come on.

What time do you tell the kids to be home?

8 .30, sir. They're quite prompt as a rule.

Is there anything else, Mr. Davis?

No, thanks.

early from now on. Good.

Peter's new toy soldiers are great.

Hmm. Mrs. Sutton is helping me make a nightgown for Mrs. Beasley.

Hey, Uncle Bill!

Is anything wrong?

No, I just rejoined the family. I was hoping we'd spend the evening together.

Oh, doing what?

Oh, looking into fish.

They don't do anything except... swim round and round.

Sure, that's what fish do.

Uncle Bill, as soon as I know how to sew better, I'll make you a nightgown, too.

Do we have to watch your fish all the time, Uncle Bill?

What do you mean, my fish? They belong to all of us.

Oh.

Sure, families should do things together. You know, family projects.

play toy soldiers with us.

Gee, we never realized we should be interested in the same thing.

All of a sudden, I wonder why I ever thought we should.

Gee, Uncle Bill, we don't need anything special like fish to keep us together.

We sure don't.

Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. If I don't have to listen to your music or

learn how to sew and play with Peter's soldiers, you don't have to look at the

fish either.

Okay.

Agreed.

You're right. All they do is swim around.

And multiply, sir.

You know what I think we'll do? We'll give these to the guy that suggested the

whole thing. His family really likes to look at fish.

Splendid, sir.

You know, sir, I was beginning to feel a little nervous about them.

I had the uneasy feeling that the fish were watching me.