Just watched this episode for the 1st-time today. I'm a fan of the series but generally-prefer the later color-episodes starring John McIntire, though there are many good-ones featuring the series' original wagonmaster, played by Ward Bond. "The Abel Weatherly Story" sounded promising in the program-grid description, having a sea-connection, which I always find a welcome change-of-pace for a land-based western series, though Bonanza, Maverick, and Death Valley Days occasionally have such a setting. I thought guest-actor J.D. Cannon quite-good & effective in his role as first-officer of a whaling-ship. I enjoyed scenes of the fully-rigged whaler under full-sail as it plied the seas, along with believable geographic-references, i.e., straits, islands, etc. The scene where the men are hunting-down a whale in a small-boat with harpoons at-the-ready, then attacked by the leviathan, to be quite well-done, with effective-integration of process-shots, no-doubt obtained from some unknown-movie of the past. The shots used in this fashion, including the whaler under-sail, were smooth, sharp, and non-grainy; in short, convincing, unlike many old TV-shows that made-no-attempt to disguise the trickery(unless Hollywood thought audiences of that era to be too unsophisticated to notice, my personal-theory). The general-premise & plot was intriguing which I won't repeat here. The fact that only 2-regulars from the series were featured, Terry Wilson & Frank McGrath was rather refreshing. As much as I enjoy McGrath, as chuck-wagon cook Charlie Wooster, the naievete' & near-stupidity of his character, can be a little-tedious, endearing as it is, but in this episode he plays his character somewhat-more straightforwardly & realistically. Wilson, who plays reliable trailhand Bill, is good here, too, as the solid, intelligent friend who takes the seaman's mysterious-quest in a tiny Nebraska-Territory town seriously. It's made-clear that both Bill & Charlie are fascinated by the man's tale. To be honest, though, I was at a complete-loss in understanding the episode's resolution. I just didn't "get" it, disappointing after such an involving story, but I think the fact that MeTV's audio-quality became muffled at this point, obscuring the words coming-out of a character vital to the tale's resolution had much to do with it. Possibly this aspect could've been considered far-fetched but since I couldn't hear it clearly, I don't know. Still really-enjoyed this episode, regardless. "The Abel Weatherly Story" is a whale-of-a-tale, a refreshing sea-breeze from those creaking-old wagons & jokes about Charlie's perennially-bad coffee, biscuits, & stew!