1984
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Treasure Hunts
With great difficulty, Sam and Jeff lift a large old chest into the children's department. They're both out of breath when they finally set it down, but Sam claims (as he pants with his head against the chest), "Strong types like Jeff and me, we could have carried it forever!" However, he doesn't really understand why it was so heavy until Muffy pops out of the box. "Surprise! Can you believe your eyes?"
"Muffy, what are you doing in Sam's trunk?" asks Jodie.
"It's just the perfect place to hide for mice who want their own free ride!" Muffy explains.
Jodie has borrowed the chest from Sam because she is setting up a treasure hunt in the store and wants to put the treasure in Sam's old chest. Clues will be left around the store, each clue leading to another until one finally leads to the treasure.
"That sounds like fun!" says Jeff.
"Oh it will be," says Jodie, "especially with Sam's old trunk to put the treasure in."
Muffy can see it's old, and quite worn. In fact, the inner lining is torn.
Jeff reaches into the tear and finds a pouch with a paper inside. It's a map! A treasure map! Sam had never noticed it before, and thinks maybe it belonged to his grandfather who once owned the trunk. Maybe it even led to a real treasure. Sam invites Jodie to use the treasure map in her display and goes to find some more things she might be able to use. Muffy scurries off to put on her pirate costume, and Jodie runs off, too.
Left alone, Jeff examines the little velvet pouch that the treasure map was in. He reaches inside and finds that there's a gold coin inside. On it there is an inscription, "Rub me once, my place is found, rub me twice I'm -- " the other words are obscured by dirt, which Jeff rubs off. "I'm homeward bound." the rest reads. Meanwhile, a pirate has appeared behind him, but he hasn't noticed. "I wonder what that means?" Jeff says to himself. But then he peers out into the audience as if he hears us telling him something.
"There's what? There's a pirate behind me?" He turns and jumps, startled at the sight of a tall, fierce looking man. "You were right! What are you doing here?"
The pirate explains that he's here after his treasure and Jeff must have it because he's "the only pirate around."
Nervously Jeff responds, "I'm not a pirate. I'm Jeff. And, and if I had your treasure -- oh, boy, I'd give it right back to you. Yes I would."
Fortunately, the pirate, (played by Don MacQuarrie), believes him. He introduces himself as "Peter the Poor," but invites Jeff to call him "Pete." He is called Peter the Poor because he has lost his treasure. That's why he's here, because he can't be a real pirate without a treasure.
Jeff thinks the idea of being a pirate sounds wonderful, and Pete begins to sing about the joys of "A Pirate's Life," with Jeff joining in near the end.
Meanwhile, Muffy is in her room, dressing up like a pirate, and Sam is in the computer room searching for something else that might enhance Jodie's display. TXL tells him that there's a stranger in the store.
Flustered, Sam cries "A stranger! Here in the store? Oh, well why didn't you tell me that before? I gotta go and tell the others, no, no, no, first of all I should call the police -- no, no, no -- first of all I should sound the alarm, that's what I should do!" He tries to sound the alarm but only manages to bring up the speaker with his voice singing "Yo He Ho." "Oh, not YOU again!" he tells the speaker in frustration. "Oh, yeah. Gotta tell the others and then I gotta call the police and then . . . well, or maybe I should tell the others while I call the police, or call the police while I'm telling the others! Oh, my!" and he rushes off, leaving TXL to remark, "People certainly are unusual creatures."
In the children's department, Jodie is carrying a load of boxes when Jeff excitedly tells her that there's a pirate in the store. Naturally, Jodie doesn't believe him, but when she asks him to hand her another box, Pete hands it to her instead. Gasping, she drops all the boxes on the floor.
Just then Sam comes in, and after excusing himself to Pete for interrupting, proceeds to tell everyone that there's a stranger in the store. "Now I'm going to call the police," he says, and then looks back at Pete. "It's a PIRATE!" he shouts.
Muffy hears him and comes in, saying, "You're looking for a pirate? Here I am! How do you like my costume Sam?"
"It's very nice," Muffy, Sam says. "It's almost as good as his!" he says, jerking his thumb in Pete's direction.
"Well, that's no fun! I've been outdone!" cries Muffy.
Jeff introduces everyone to Pete, a REAL pirate.
"But I don't understand, Jeff, how did he get here?"
"Well, I think it has something to do with Sam's chest, and this little bag and the map," explains Jeff.
"Map!" cries Pete.
Sam shows him the treasure map.
"That's it!" says Pete. It's the map that leads to his treasure. Sam begins to examine the map carefully -- and once Pete turns it right side up - he recognizes that it leads to a little park near where he lives. Jodie recognizes it, too. They decide to go there at first light.
Once again, everyone rushes off. Muffy goes to get some tools, Jodie goes to get a flashlight, with Pete in tow, and Sam goes to get a compass, leaving Jeff all on his own again.
In her mouse hole, Muffy gets a mouse-sized shovel and pick. In the computer room, Sam changes into his Cam the Detective outfit, finds a compass, and shows TXL how it works. He tries to walk out the door using only compass for direction, but he accidentally walks into the wall instead and right into the alarm button.
When everyone gets back to the children's department with their gear, they're all so excited that they forget that Jeff can't go along. Jeff says, "That's O.K., Jodie, just remember everything and then tell me about it when you get back."
Knowing Jeff can't go along makes everyone just a bit sad, until Muffy suggests that Jeff go on the treasure hunt that Jodie has set up in the store. That way, Jeff can check it out for Jodie to see if it goes well, and they can all hunt for treasure together.
Jodie sings, "This is the place where the hunt begins, when treasure's found, then everyone wins. We'll know just when we're getting hot because an 'X' marks the spot!" They all join in and sing until finally, the rest of the gang is gone and Jeff is left singing all alone. He looks at us.
"Well, here I am on my very first treasure hunt. I'm gonna need all the help I can get. So if you know what I should be doing -- shout it out!"
We help by calling his attention to a note in a mannequin's hand with an "X" on it.
Jeff opens the note and reads, "Go to the place within the store that's lower down than any floor." That's the basement. So off Jeff goes, singing that an "X" marks the spot.
Meanwhile, the others have reached the little park and are carefully following the map to Pete's treasure. Sam is the guide but he gets a bit confused from time to time, so he has to use the compass to find which way to go. As they go, they sing.
In the basement, at the store, Jeff looks around for the next clue. He finds it in a small box with an "X" on it. It says, "Climb very high up in the air, you'll find the treasure when you're there."
So up Jeff goes to the roof.
In the park, the others have reached a place where they need to take five steps to the South. Sam and Jodie carefully count out five steps, but Sam trips on some rocks. On closer inspection, it turns out that the rocks are placed to form a large "X". This must be the place!
Back in the store, Jeff reaches the roof and finds a large chest there with an "X" on it. But inside, he finds just another note. "Turn around and you will find, the final clue is right behind." He turns around and looks at the planter box. The beams of the box form an X! The treasure is in the planter box.
Meanwhile, Muffy is digging quite deep, but they can find nothing so far. She keeps digging, reminding the others, "I'm only a mouse not a muscle man!"
Now the screen is split. We can see Jeff on the roof in on one side and Jodie, Sam, Muffy and Pete on the other. They sing, "It's most closer than we thought! Look at all the gold we've got!" Pete's treasure is in a small box. Solid gold coins. Jeff's treasure is filled with golden coins, too, but they're filled with chocolate.
The treasure hunters all return in triumph to the children's department. Pete tells them it's time for him to go home. He looks through the bag of gold coins from the treasure to find a special coin with a spell written on it. But he can't find it. He explains that the coin says, "Rub me once, my place is found," and Jeff finishes the rhyme, "Rub me twice I'm homeward bound." Pete wonders how Jeff knew the spell, and Jeff pulls out the gold coin that he had found in the velvet bag. Now they realize that Jeff must have rubbed the coin and brought Pete there in the first place.
Pete is thrilled and very grateful for his new friends. He wants to give them all a reward, but Jodie says that just being on a real treasure hunt was enough reward for them. Still, Pete wants to leave them with some of his treasure, so he tells them to hold out their hands. They all hold them out and a real gold coin appears in each of their hands. When they look up to thank Pete, he is gone.
"I wish he could have stayed." says Jeff.
"It's true, Jeff, he's gone," comforts Muffy, "but he left this treat, so we'll always remember our Pirate Pete."
Quizzes:
- Three of these things were inside the chest, which one wasn't? (Of the map, the bag, Muffy and the sailboat, only the sailboat wasn't in Sam's chest).
- Of the map, the compass, the shovel and the flashlight, which did each did Jodie bring on the treasure hunt? What did Pete bring? What about Muffy and Sam? (On solving the quiz, TXL says, "You're very good at this. Remind me to take you on every treasure hunt.)
Nursery Rhyme:
This episode did not have a nursery rhyme.
Notes:
- Interestingly, Muffy's costume, with its gold buckles and patterned scarf, looked just like a costume, the sort one might wear for Halloween or a costume party. Pete's outfit looked far more genuine and streamlined, like something someone might actually wear while out on a ship.
- This episode chose to ignore the violence and thievery involved with piracy, only concentrating on the treasure. In "A Pirate's Life," Jeff and Pete sing about "searching for treasure on sunken ships," and digging for gold in the sand, but nothing about the way most pirates get their treasure, by hijacking other ships. I always found this just a bit disturbing, especially since there are still real pirates.
- In this episode you can really see Jeff Hyslop's comic talents growing. By the time Today's Special concludes, Jeff is a master of comedy timing, and it's quite evident in "Treasure Hunts."
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