Sentinels Of The Deep

Originally Aired: October 14, 1936 Cavalcade of America #53, "Sentinels Of The Deep," presents two dramatic tales of courage and sacrifice in America's lighthouse service. The episode opens in 1712, when Captain and Mr. Squires navigate a battered British merchantman through a violent nor'easter toward Boston Harbor. Aboard are passengers including young Donald and his parents, hopeful emigrants seeking their new home in America. Without lighthouse beacons to guide them through the treacherous shoals and reefs, the leaky ship and her exhausted crew face mounting peril as they attempt a desperate night approach to port. The story then shifts to a remote lighthouse on an isolated rock, where keeper John, his wife, and young son David face a different kind of crisis. Cut off by ice flows and winter storms, the family has gone three days without food while waiting for the overdue supply ship. As their oil reserves dwindle and starvation threatens, John faces an agonizing choice between keeping the beacon burning to guide ships safely past the rocks or using the remaining fuel to keep his family from freezing.