"My name is Joy Adamson... and for many years my husband George was senior game warden... of the northern frontier district in Kenya." "for some of those years we had a lioness for a friend, whose name was Elsa." "get down, you fool." "because of the danger from poachers..." "George and I had been looking for a new home for Elsa and her family." "so when the trouble came, George knew the area I was scouting... and could send Nuru to find me." "I had paused briefly in a Masai village to witness an increasingly rare sight... in modern East Africa-- the rituals and ceremonies of the Morani, or young warriors... prior to a hunting expedition." "Nuru, what is it?" "It's Elsa." "Very sick." "Well, what do you mean?" "I think she's dying." "I think she's dying." "I think she's dying." "How could she be?" "she'd seemed in perfect health when she brought her babies... to visit us at Christmas." "she and her sisters had been our babies once... and we their only family." "but from the very beginning there was a special feeling... between Elsa and ourselves." "Of course, it was hard not to love them all." "When they grew older, it became clear that we couldn't cope with all three." "sadly, we had to let Elsa's two sisters go to a zoo in Holland." "but we refused to part with her." "in return, she gave us the gift of her love and friendship and trust" "a gift she extended to Nuru, our houseman... and Makedde, our chief game scout, as well." "but it was when she became fully grown that our difficulties began." "The final straw was the elephant stampede she caused." "not the two-year-old baby elephant she brought home for a souvenir... but the damage that had been done to local crops." "although we suspected there would be trouble... we were stunned when John Kendall... the district commissioner and George's boss... told us we couldn't keep Elsa any longer." "I'm not responsible for the decision." "Don't you see she's too big now to be allowed to roam about... even with Nuru or, with all respect, yourselves?" "And you can't keep her caged." "That would only frustrate her... and could easily make her vicious." "I'm sorry, but I think you've got to find some zoo that will take her." "You'd have no difficulty." "She'd make a wonderful attraction for any zoo." "Well, of course we've always known that" "I'm certain we can easily find a good zoo for her in a month." "I don't want her to go to a zoo." "I want to set her free." "You're mad." "You can't be serious." "You'd be sentencing her to death." "You might as well shoot her here." "John's right." "She can't fend for herself." "She's never killed to eat." "She'd starve in the bush." "But we could teach her." "You've waited too long." "Anyway, it's never been done successfully." "But we could try." "You know how intelligent she is." "Well, we could teach her, train her." "George, please!" "Let's try." "I know you think I'm foolish, but I know Elsa." "She'd be miserable in a zoo." "Don't you see she's been free too long?" "John, as a friend,Just give us three months to try." "Please!" "Please?" "All right, my dear." "I'll get you three months, but you're wasting your time." "for a long while it seemed as if John Kendall was right." "When we introduced her to her first boyfriend... it was a disaster." "she had no idea how to fend for herself." "and finally, she became so ill that she almost died." "It won't do." "Look, by now it's perfectly obvious we've made a mistake." "She can't fend for herself." "She can't live with other animals." "She can't do anything a wild animal has to do to in order to survive." "You-- well, we've made too good a job of her." "We've made her tame, and it's too late to try and make her go wild now." "All we're doing is torturing her, making her miserable." "How can you be so cruel?" "Do you think I enjoy it?" "Oh, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours anymore." "You've got this fixed idea." "What's wrong with a zoo anyway?" "Nothing, except she won't be free." "Is freedom so important?" "Yes!" "Yes, it is." "She was born free, and she has a right to live free." "Well, why don't we live in some nice, comfortable city?" "Other people do." "But we've chosen to live here because it represents freedom to us." "Because we can breathe here." "That's because we're fit for it." "But she can be too!" "She can." "She can." "She'd be safe in a zoo." "Oh, yes." "Safe." "And fat and dull... and lazy, like some cow on a milking machine." "Look." "Joy, tell me honestly." "You just don't want to give her up." "What you're hoping is that she can go on living out here." "Wild, but not too wild." "And you can see her now and then." "That's it, isn't it?" "That's not the whole truth." "But I won't deny I would like it." "It's impossible." "It can't happen." "If she were able to go wild, which I doubt, then that'll be the end of it." "You'll never see her again." "But at least she'd be free!" "At least she wouldn't be in a cage for the rest of her life." "but she recovered and proved that she could indeed... hold her own as a wild lioness." "but still she remained our friend... and always brought her cubs to visit us whenever we camped in her territory." "We rarely glimpsed her mate, but we were always aware ofhis presence... somewhere nearby." "although the cubs seemed to sense the bond between their mother and us... and although they made themselves at home and accepted their free meals... and the cod liver oil they were so mad about... they kept their distance too." "for our part, George and I had agreed... never to fondle or to hold them as we had Elsa... but rather to let them grow up wild and free." "from the start, the leader of the cubs was one of the two males" "Jespah, which in swahili means ""brave leader. "" "and he was, in fact, the bravest and the brightest of the three." "Little Elsa, like her mother had once been... was the smallest of the litter, but very clever." "The third cub, another male, was very shy... so we called him Gopa... which in swahili means ""timid. "" "Little Elsa worshiped Jespah... while cautious Gopa always brought up the rear." "They were a happy family." "but now, if Nuru was right, Elsa was dying." "if it was true, who would look after the cubs?" "Thanks, Dave." "So it wasn't poachers?" "No." "It was definitely some kind of an infection." "Though there have been poachers around." "And her mate?" "Come to think of it, I haven't seen the cubs' father at all." "That's very strange." "What about the cubs?" "They've disappeared." "They'll starve!" "They're much too young to fend for themselves." "Yes, Joy." "I know." "I'm sorry." "You must be tired." "I'll be all right now you're here." "Will you take me to where she is now?" "Yeah." "Is this all that remains of Elsa?" "Of our life together?" "Is this the end?" "No." "She'll always be alive for us." "You know that." "Yes." "Yes, she will." "That sounds like the cubs." "Better look." "They'd grown considerably since I'd seen them last." "but it was plain that they were puzzled by the disappearance of their mother." "and then I did a very foolish thing." "My poor little Jespah." "We'd better get something on that straight away." "Yes." "I know what I did wrong." "I know." "I said I would never try to treat them like pets-- never try to touch them." "Well, the exact words were..." """They were born wild, so they have to live wild."" "But how can one be sure that they'll live at all now that Elsa's dead?" "Well, they'll either live or die... like other wild animals, won't they?" "If you think that's easy for me to say, you're wrong." "I know." "Thank you." "The thing is, they're too young to hunt for themselves." "If they were part of a pride, they'd learn." "They may join a pride, with any luck at all." "Or they may not." "As it stands, we're their pride." "Ah,Joy, it just-- Listen, George." "Please." "We could teach them to hunt for themselves." "We did it with Elsa." "And it would be much easier with them because they're already wild." "Jespah's intelligent." "He'd soon learn, and then he'd teach the others." "We don't have the time." "We had six months with Elsa." "Now we have no time at all-- and me?" "I shouldn't be here." "I have work to do." "George, isn't there anything that you can do?" "They're Elsa's cubs." "Please." "I suppose I could ask to take my leave now." "But I'm only due six weeks." "You are an absolute darling!" "Six weeks!" "Well, anything can happen in six weeks." "We've had miracles before." "Well, before we start counting on miracles... first we have to find out where those three little perishers live." "so we went looking for the ""three little perishers. "" "but it was like looking for three very small needles in a vast haystack." "Watch out." "There could be leopards." "Dangerous beast." "I thought he'd got me." "I wish there was some other way back." "Yeah, so do I." "Do you want me to carry you?" "No, thanks." "Well, how about carrying me?" "Idiot." "all too quickly George's leave was over." "We were miserable at having to stop looking for the cubs." "Just in case they ever did come back, we left them a farewell meal... and some of their favorite drink, cod liver oil." "I'm sorry, darling." "I know you are." "You've been wonderful." "But I'm not going to stop looking for them until I know they're all right." "I'm coming back as soon as I can." "I never thought you wouldn't." "So will I, somehow." "actually, I was able to return in a few days." "and George came back as soon as he could." "but we found no trace of them." "east africa is beautiful, but it's not a safari park... where attendants look after and feed the animals." "in the bush, carnivorous animals kill and eat other animals... in order to stay alive themselves." "The cubs would have to learn to hunt if they were to survive... and we hoped that Jespah, with his innate courage and ingenuity... would provide the necessary leadership." "but if they couldn't learn to kill for themselves... they would have to become scavengers and freeloaders... like the hyenas and the vultures... and the marabou storks." "if they joined this motley crew, they'd have to take their chances among them." "With some animals, especially young ones like themselves... the cubs would maintain a kind of armed neutrality." "but the cubs had no parents to protect them... particularly against other species... with whom there would always be an instinctive hostility... and, indeed, warfare." "but on the whole, we were more worried... about the danger from human beings." "east africa is very large and impossible to keep under constant watch... particularly as poaching has become more sophisticated in recent years." "but the sad truth was... that for the cubs, all human beings were dangerous." "Lady!" "Where is that silly dog?" "Come on." "Here." "Oh, my god!" "Herbie!" "Lions!" "Don't panic!" "Our great hope was that the cubs would find and be adopted by a pride... and in that way learn by example... how to hunt and eventually feed themselves." "but if the cubs were not accepted by a pride... then there was great danger that hunger might drive them towards villages... and domestic animals." "at this time, George's duties took him into the area I was searching." "so while he kept an eye out for the cubs..." "I was able to go into nairobi to meet our friend and publisher Billy Collins." "Billy had been a friend of Elsa's too." "indeed, the last time Billy visited us... he and Elsa had, in a manner of speaking... spent the night together-- an experience Billy never forgot." "but that was in happier days." "now as I took Billy to our camp, we ran into bad luck... in the midst of a large troop of baboons." "The trouble with baboons is... that while they may look deceptively appealing from a distance... they can be extremely dangerous." "John, thank you." "It was all right, but I was beginning to wonder if they'd ever go." "Oh, you remember Billy Collins, don't you?" "Nice to see you." "Welcome back." "John, you're not here by coincidence, are you?" "No." "I've been trailing you all the way from the airport." "There's trouble." "Not George?" "No." "The cubs." "A report has come in that they've been raiding villages... and killing goats in the Tana River area, just outside the reserve." "George is checking on it now." "Sorry." "You see, if it's true, I'm afraid they'll have to be destroyed." "But it can't be true." "I don't believe it." "Under the circumstances, Billy canceled his visit with us... and I hurried to George to learn the truth." "On the way I had to pass the same rock... where Elsa and her family had lived so happily." "and here I had the most wonderful surprise." "Nuru, would you pass me the field glasses, please?" "What is it?" "The cubs." "They've found a pride." "Over there, on Elsa's rock." "Are you sure?" "Look." "It's very far, you know." "Maybe you drive closer." "No, no." "That might scatter the pride." "Yes." "Yes, I'm sure of it." "It couldn't be a coincidence, not on Elsa's rock." "Ah, yes." "That's Jespah." "I'm almost positive." "But if those are the cubs, they're not raiding villages." "It would be too far." "Yes." "It would be too far." "I hope you are right." "I'm sure of it." "I can't wait to tell George." "Okay." "Tell him I'll pay for all the goats." "George, it isn't the cubs." "We've seen them up on Elsa's rock." "They'd never get this far." "When did you see them?" "Early this morning, didn't we?" "I think so." "But we see them through field glasses." "Yes." "It wasn't Elsa's cubs that you saw." "I wish it had been." "Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa raided the village next to this one... early this morning-- and I didn't see them through field glasses." "I saw them close." "They were our cubs." "I'm sorry, darling." "So what do we do now?" "I'll show you." "All these villages here are the targets." "The cubs pick whichever one they happen to fancy at any time." "It spreads out our scouts pretty thin, I can tell you." "I don't want the cubs shot, George." "Neither do I." "I've made a deal with the elders." "We buy every goat that's hurt or killed... and they've agreed not to shoot or harm any of the cubs... until we can think of a way to handle this." "This goat-buying business has turned out somewhat expensive." "That doesn't matter." "Now, the real problem is how to discourage the cubs... from raiding these villages." "That's right." "Now, they were driven off from that village there this morning." "So there's a pretty good chance we may see them here tonight." "I'm afraid it's perfectly obvious we're responsible." "But how were we to know-- We introduced the cubs... to goat meat when they were very small." "And when they couldn't join a pride... when they found difficulty in hunting other wild animals... quite naturally they turned back to tame goat." "You can't blame them." "No." "But it obviously can't go on." "It can't." "They'll have to be moved." "Taken away from here to where there are no people or domestic animals nearby." "That's right." "But first we have to catch them." "And that's not going to be easy now, my love." "I understand it is the cubs." "We're afraid so." "So what happens now?" "Well, I've arranged a warning system that should keep them away." "That'll be ready in a day or two." "It will mean keeping quite a few of the game scouts in the area, I'm afraid." "I'm afraid all this sounds a bit temporary." "We realize this is not a permanent solution." "Obviously the cubs will have to be caught and moved away from here." "Moved?" "Where?" "Somewhere away from villages, people and domestic livestock." "To a reserve." "We had thought of the Serengeti." "It's a paradise for wildlife." "Yes." "It also happens to be 700 miles away." "How do you propose to do it?" "Well, obviously the first thing that we have to do... is find where the cubs are lying up, which has to be around here somewhere." "Then we'll have to lure them away somehow." "Then after we've gained their confidence and fed them regularly-- to keep them out of temptation's way and also to keep them away from here" "we'll get them into cages." "Again, somehow." "And then we'll drive them to Serengeti." "I see." "And how long do you think all this will take?" "Well, a great deal will depend upon luck, of course." "I know what John means." "Bad luck or good, it's going to take too long a time... for a senior game warden who's got other things on his plate as well." "What are you talking about?" "I am right, aren't I,John?" "No." "If you can round up the cubs in a week or so, there'd be no problem." "We'll ship them somewhere." "It's impossible." "It can't be done." "Not in two or three weeks." "It could take months." "I think I have to resign." "George, you've never said anything about resigning." "You can't." "You mustn't let him." "I don't intend to." "I'm not gonna have it, George." "I think it's the only way." "No, George!" "I'm not gonna lose you for three cubs, even Elsa's cubs!" "I'd rather have them put down." "I mean it." "John, couldn't we talk about this tomorrow?" "Yes." "By all means." "But it's your life that I'm thinking about." "You can't do it." "You can't leave the service." "And I tell you again, I have to." "There's no telling how long this will take." "I can't ask for any more leave." "I have got to resign." "But the service has been your whole life." "Twenty years, you've given it." "Twenty years." "It's given me a lot too." "The best years of my life." "Then how can you leave it?" "Because we have an obligation to those cubs of Elsa's." "Now you said that yourself when all this started, and you were right." "So why not give in?" "And give us a kiss." "But I know why you're doing it." "You make me feel very selfish." "Selfish?" "Why, you're a bloody saint, you are." "He'll only be a moment." "Oh, good." "His drawings for the cages took longer than we thought." "He's been up all night." "Here they are." "Thank you." "Sorry to keep you,John." "It's all right." "I'm really sorry about leaving the service." "Ah, you know that." "Not as sorry as I am, I'm afraid." "I had plans for you." "Oh, yes." "Another five years, and I'd get a gold watch and a six-course dinner." "No, George." "I'd hoped you'd take my place when I retired." "What?" "Mmm." "good Lord, I'd no idea." "I'm terribly sorry." "I'm a bit slow on the uptake this morning." "You're a good friend." "Well, I'll do my best with the Serengeti." "I'll let you know as quickly as I can." "But I don't know how much time I can give you here." "I wouldn't count on more than three months, if that, either of you." "Of course, we understand." "Look after yourself, won't you?" "Yup." "And get some sleep." "As soon as I can." "Nuru?" "Coming." "George did resign, and Makedde left the service with him." "All right, Makedde." "Let's get to work." "George set about strengthening the thorn barriers surrounding the villages." "Then he and Makedde inaugurated an early warning and defense system." "The idea was to frighten the cubs away from the villages... without damage to either the cattle or the cubs, if possible." "and the system had its chance the very next night." "I think our young friends have had a little surprise." "So far, so good." "Now what?" "We wait some more?" "Oh, yes." "Now that we know they're on the prowl tonight... we do indeed wait some more." "If I know Jespah, he won't give up that easily." "Well, it works." "Now all we've got to do is find out where those cubs are living these days." "good morning." "This was the great test." "The cubs were older and wilder now." "Would they remember George?" "Would they still at least have their old passion for cod liver oil?" "it was essential that George should get them to trust him now... at this meeting, for there might never be another." "as always, it was Jespah who made the decision." "It's good luck they like cod liver oil, eh?" "Yes." "Thank god forJespah-- he remembered." "You know, that cub could very easily become my favorite lion." "Well, now we know where they live." "You get some sleep." "You work all the time." "Makedde, the real work starts now." "We're going to have to feed them every day." "We're going to have to move them away from the villages." "And do you know when we start?" "Yes, I do." "Right now." "George immediately made a new camp... as near as possible to the cubs'hiding place... and as far as possible from the villages and their goats." "Then he began to lure the cubs towards the new camp for their meals... in order to ward off temptation and evil thoughts of domestic cattle." "but all this took time, and so did everything else." "I put George's plans into work... only to discover that we had other problems as well." "You see, I'm awfully very sorry, Mrs. Adamson... but, you see, your account seems to be overdrawn." "Well, I knew it was low, but I had no idea." "Look, I am expecting some money soon." "Do you think the manager would let me have an overdraft?" "I will go and ask him." "Thank you." "Oh, hello,Joy." "John, hello." "Is there anything wrong?" "No, nothing." "I'm just waiting." "I see." "Well, I have news for you-- some good, some bad." "I was going to write this afternoon." "No, please don't." "Tell me now." "Well, the good news is the Serengeti will take your cubs." "That's wonderful." "Thank you." "Thank you,John." "And the bad news?" "I'm afraid I can't get you more than 60 days to capture them and get them out." "Sixty days." "I see." "Well, we'll Just have to get Jespah to cooperate somehow." "Thank you,John." "I know you did your best." "good morning." "We'll be very happy to give you an overdraft, Mrs. Adamson." "For as much as you need." "Thank you." "Thank you very much indeed." "Not at all." "I do wish you'd say something, anything,John." "I can't stand your silent disapproval." "Why should I disapprove?" "I'm sure everyone in the whole world... is accustomed to people giving up a job and a career... spending themselves broke, using up their life savings over some lion cubs." "I'm sure you're right." "About what?" "Everything." "You're always right." "If you needed money, why didn't you come to me?" "Because there's a limit, even to a friendship like ours." "Besides, you've done enough for us already." "Unless you'd like to help me find a special truck we're going to need." "Come on." "finally the cages and the specially built truck were ready." "but by then, we had all too little time left." "I was getting desperate... and I knew that George must be waiting for my return with equal anxiety." "I hated to stop even for one night... and agreed to only because we would have lost our way in the darkness." "That night, some of the enemies we'd made among poachers... took their chance at revenge." "Are you all right?" "Luckily, they'd not tried to burn our new truck as well... or perhaps Nuru's shots had frightened them away before they were ready." "dear Nuru-- we've always owed him a great deal." "You see?" "I've got them." "Oh, very good." "Where's Bwana George?" "He's up there." "Boo!" "I'm more accustomed to cheers, actually." "I missed you." "I'm surprised you had time." "How did you manage it?" "Tell you later." "How was Nairobi?" "I'll tell you later." "You must be-- You must be exhausted." "They look marvelous." "They should do." "They eat like pigs." "What's that for?" "It's my early-warning system to tell the villagers that the cubs are about." "But I don't think there'll be any raids tonight." "They've put away enough food today, I think." "That's the second part of my system." "So, you won't be on guard duty tonight." "No." "I don't think I will." "good." "I think so." "glad you're back." "So am I." "Oh, God, not tonight." "Damn." "it was probably only sheer high spirits that brought the cubs there... but the consequences were disastrous." "and, as luck would have it... it was Jespah who caused the disaster." "for, by entering a hut, he had made himself an outlaw." "Luckily, the boy who shot Jespah was too young to be allowed poisoned arrows." "Otherwise,Jespah would have been dead in minutes." "but the arrowhead remained in his side, and the wound was open." "The very next day, we started setting up... the combined traps and cages George had designed... because, ironically, to guarantee the cubs their freedom... we had to make them prisoners first." "Obviously, it would have been simpler if we could have used tranquilizers." "but, in our opinion, the chances of a fatal overdose were too great." "so we had to do it another way, and, as it turned out, the hard way." "We had three cages, and there could only be one cub in each cage... because we knew that fear and frustration in close confinement... would make them fight and hurt each other." "additionally, we had to capture all three cubs simultaneously... because the ones that were not trapped would never come near the cages again." "and we had to keep the cage doors from breaking bones when they came down." "George devised a way of operating the traps from two different positions." "Ready?" "and, finally, it was all done." "We could only keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best." "but that same day we received the worst news of our lives from Nairobi." "and John Kendall's letter told us that we had only 60 days to get the cubs out." "With no time to be lost, we set to work immediately... luring the cubs towards the cages." "Whoa!" "Take it easy." "I think something will have to be done about Jespah." "at last we got them there." "and, to our joy... they approached the cages with no sign of fear." "That first day, we thought we were going to have an astounding stroke of luck." "and then we knew it would not be as easy as all that." "Oh, well." "There's always tomorrow." "and tomorrow, and tomorrow... until only two weeks remained... while the cubs did everything possible to fray our nerves." "get in further, Little Elsa, please." "go on,Jespah, get in!" "To make it all worse, it was now clear... that the arrowhead had not worked itself out of Jespah's body... but was still imbedded in his side... and that his wound was, in fact, festering." "You know something?" "Even if it doesn't work, it was a brilliant idea." "Thank you." "You're very talented." "You could have gone far." "I am devoid of ambition." "Yes, I know." "That's why I love you." "go on,Jespah." "Stop messing about. go in." "Oh, blast." "Well, we'll try again tomorrow." "We're running out of tomorrows." "It's all right." "They'll be holed up somewhere." "They'll be back when they're hungry." "It's Jespah's wound I'm worried about." "We've got to do something about that arrowhead." "Elsa died of an infection, remember?" "Yes, I remember." "But it didn't seem to be troubling him too much the last time we saw him." "Though it should come out, of course." "Come on." "Cheer up." "The sun'll be out tomorrow, I promise you." "George was wrong." "High in the mountains, the heavy rains were culminating in a flash flood." "it came at dawn." "Joy, wake up!" "My god!" "What's happened?" "god, those cages!" "If they've been damaged by the flood, we've had it." "it was too much." "it was just too much." "now it seemed that everything had fallen apart on us... and we were down to our last week." "as for the cubs, they never came back after the night the cage doors jammed." "I'm afraid I've had it." "Come on." "I'll take you back." "I'll take myself back, thank you." "I'm sorry, darling." "It's Just... that I've never been so depressed in all my life." "We've three days left." "We've got three days and eight hours." "Come on." "I think I'll watch just a little while longer." "You've done it!" "You've done it!" "Oh, I'm not prejudiced, but you are absolutely wonderful!" "It's easy when you know how." "as quickly as possible, we set out on our 700-mile trek to the Serengeti." "it was a difficult trip. it must have been even more difficult for the lions." "Welcome to the Serengeti." "Thank god." "He's lost his brakes." "We've got to get ahead and stop them." "He's trying to pass." "Here we go." "Hold tight!" "Welcome to the Serengeti." "Welcome to the Serengeti." "Thank you." "My name's Weaver." "And may I congratulate and thank you for a good job." "What I mean is, you've made me richer by 12 pounds." "There were, among my colleagues... certain skeptics who thought you'd never make it." "We're happy to have disappointed them." "good!" "Now, let's see those famous cubs of yours." "You can release them anywhere around here." "There's lots of game and water." "It's a paradise." "Well, they look in pretty good shape, everything considered." "We hope to have them in much better shape by the time we leave." "By the time you leave?" "I'm sorry, but you can't stay, you know." "But we can't leave them until they're able to fend for themselves." "We can't allow you to hunt for them here." "They're going to have to learn their trade like any other cubs." "But other cubs have a mother to teach them." "I'm sorry." "You mean you really want us to leave?" "Yes." "Now, I promise you we'll keep an eye on them." "But if they're ever going to join up with a wild pride... this is where it's gonna happen, okay?" "it was not the way we'd planned it or what we'd hoped for." "and we were desperately worried about Jespah... but there was nothing that we could do about it." "and so we drove them to an area that reminded us... of where Elsa and her cubs had lived happily... many long months before." "it had been a lengthy journey... and the cubs, after being caged for so long... were afraid to venture out of their prisons." "Thank you, Makedde." "Oh, come on,Jespah." "You know you love it." "good-bye,Jespah." "good-bye, Gopa..." "Little Elsa." "Will we ever see them again, do you think?" "They'll be all right." "At least they're free." "Yes, they were free." "They would still have their problems to face... and dangers to meet... but they were free-- living free."