"The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "Now, now can I have that drink?" "Not until you finish your story, Charlie." "You have to tell us about General Fremont." "Yes, let me see, where was I?" "Oh, yeah, that was the time that me and the general come through here together." "That was in the summer of '47." "As a matter of fact, there wouldn't have been no Virginia City if it hadn't been for me and the general." "I told you to shut up your lying, didn't I?" "I ain't lying." " You are lying." " I..." " Ain't you, ain't you?" "!" " Yes, sir, yes, sir." "Now, wait a minute, mister, old Charlie here don't mean any harm." "He's just an old man hangin' around the saloon." "We like to hear his stories." "Well, I don't like to hear them." "Now, did anybody ask you to put in your two bits' worth?" "" "Why don't you fellas leave me be?" "I tell you, I did scout for General Fremont." "I tell you, I did." "Why don't you leave me be?" "All right, old man." "Latigo, give me a knife." "What you aiming to do?" "Well, now, anybody that's fought as many Indians as you claim you have ought to have a few scars, shouldn't he?" "No." "Suppose we just scratch off some of this beard and..." "Ow!" "So's we can... put on some war paint." "Leave him alone!" "Come on, Charlie." "Let's get you out of here before you get in any more trouble." "Thank you, Hoss... thank ye." "My friend Charlie don't like to be treated like that." "I don't like it neither." "You dropped something." "Yeah." ""Fremont Expedition, 1847."" ""Presented to Charles Trent," ""chief scout, for services above and beyond the line of duty."" "Charlie, you... you wouldn't want to lose that." "You're about the only real friend I got in town." "All I seem to do is a-cause you trouble." "Charlie, you promised me solemn you wasn't goin' back in that saloon again." "Well, I-I didn't mean to." "Just them fellas wanted to hear some of my stories, that's all." "Yeah, for a couple of drinks." "I guess..." "I guess you won't give me another chance, will you?" "Dad-burnit, Charlie, how many chances you gonna have to have?" "I talked Pa into giving you a job on the ranch." "And what do you do?" "The first payday you take off and we don't see you again for a week, and you come back drunk." "That was, that was a mistake, Hoss." "Charlie, it's that way with every job you got around here." "There ain't nobody around here going to give you a chance now." "I, I guess you're right, but I ain't gonna to bother you no more," "I can promise you that much, 'cause I'm, I'm gonna take up scouting again." "Yeah." "General Fremont-- he'll be sending for me any time now-- today, tomorrow for sure." "Charlie, I, I wouldn't count on it too much." "General Fremont's a busy man with, uh, this war talk and all." "Oh, I know, I know he, he wouldn't go back on me." "You see, him and me--we crossed the Great Salt Flat together." "I'd better, better go fix up a little, though, I guess." "Charlie... it..." "it just ain't no use." "I..." "I done made up my mind what I'm gonna do with you." " What?" "Well, I'm, I'm gonna go in there and get some money and I'm gonna, gonna fix you all up nice and clean, and I'm gonna put you on the first stagecoach out of here for San Francisco." "That's mighty kind of you, Hoss, I, I appreciate it, but I can't go to no big city." "I belong out here, I got to stay here." "Charlie, I, I been all wrong about maybe you getting a new chance here." "It's..." "The big city's the only place for you." " I..." " You stay right here." "Don't you go no place, you hear?" "Hoss!" "Gone..." "Hoss..." "Hold on, Cutter." "Where you going?" "I heard a couple friends of mine was passing through." "Thought I'd talk to 'em is all." "Well, I have a strict schedule on this mission." "You be back here and ready to lead out in one half hour." "Cutter." "Cap'n..." "I think it's about time you and me had us an understanding." "Now, I been loning it through this territory for a goodly time and I ain't never taken no orders yet, not from a savage and not from no soldier boy." "You signed an army contract to scout trail." "You're going to fulfill it-- and to the letter-- or you'll be relieved." "Why, mister, you've got about as much chance of crossing that desert without me as a blind hooty bat has of reaching the sun." "All right, carry on, men." "Cap'n, Cap'n, I know that whole desert." "I mapped out the first trail to Salt Lake City." "I know the whereabouts of every water hole." "Yeah, well, I-I can't sign on anybody just because they claim to be a scout." "You don't, you don't, you don't believe me, huh?" "Yeah, yeah, look at that, look at that." "Fremont Expedition?" "!" "Yeah, you can read what's written on the other side, too." ""Presented to Charles Trent, chief scout, for services..."" "Trent?" "Yeah." "Are you the same Trent that scouted for the border expedition against the Apaches?" "Yeah, that was back in, back in '53." "I wouldn't have known you." "I mean, it's been so long." "Of course, you wouldn't remember me." "I was just a shavetail, but... that was my first assignment." "I guess it would have been my last if you hadn't led us out of that Apache trap." "Charlie Trent." "You'll give me a chance then?" "Now, Charlie, that gold shipment is vital, maybe with a war coming on." "We've got a scout." "Perhaps next time I make a trip, Charlie." "Cap'n." "That old bum was pretty drunk, thinking he can scout for you, sir." "Corporal, "that old bum"" "was the finest scout in the United States Army." "Whatever I know about this territory I learned from him." "Oh, I'm sorry, sir." "I am, too." "Give us a bottle." "Give old buzzard bait a drink here, too." "Wake up, the man's buying you a drink." "Huh?" "Oh." " Charlie." " Huh?" "Huh?" "Oh, oh-ho!" "Hoss, did I ever tell you about the time" "I led a expedition up the Columbia River?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you told me, Charlie." "Come on, let's go down to the stable and you can clean it off." "I tried..." "Hoss." "Honest, honest, I tried hard." "You ask them soldier boys if I didn't." "That captain-- he just didn't want me." "Joe, give me a cup of coffee and a sandwich." "Cutter's in here, Cap'n." "You ain't making no friends with none of us, Cutter, way you're treating the cap'n." "I told you to be back and ready in half an hour." "Mm-hmm." "Seems to me I do remember you saying something like that." "Well, don't you mind now." "I'll be along a little while." "Barkeep... set my friend the captain here up a drink." "Last man that grabbed me like that was a Blackfoot chief." "I cut his liver out." "A man don't live long without a liver, Captain." "That's a pure medical fact." "I'm giving you a direct order." "Get outside and join the detail-- now." "Or what?" "Or you're through." "Well, now, that don't seem so likely, mister." "You need a scout, and I'm the only one there is." "You're a long way from being indispensable, Cutter." "There's a man who knows the wasteland country better than you or any scout alive" "Charlie Trent." "Trent?" "Where you gonna find him?" "Charlie." "That's Charlie Trent?" "The great Charlie Trent, huh?" "Remington massacre." "You remember, Charlie?" "You led them soldier boys right into an ambush, right smack-dab up to where them Injuns was waitin'." "He's just the kind of a scout you need, Cap'n." "Collect your gear from the wagon and then clear out." "Take along plenty of water, soldier boy, plenty of water." "Charlie..." "Charlie, you asked me for a chance." "This is it." "Now, don't give me any cause to regret it." "We'll provide you with your mount and your gear." "Get anything else you need." "We'll move out as soon as you're ready." "Well?" "Cap'n..." "Cap'n, I..." "He'll do it, Cap'n." "Uh, Charlie!" "Cap'n... my name's Cartwright." "I..." "I'm a friend of old Charlie's." "I'll see to it he's ready to go in no time." "We rode together." "Cap'n... let him ride with you again." "I haven't much choice." "Thank you, sir." "I..." "I'll get him." "Charlie..." "Charlie..." "I been looking all over this town for you." "The cap'n's down there waiting for you." " You got to get your gear and..." " Leave me alone, please, sir." "Please leave me alone." "Just go... go tell that captain man you couldn't find me, that's all." "Charlie... he's offering you the chance you've been waiting for." "If it was just me, I-I wouldn't mind." "But, you see, it's Pender and all his men depending on me..." "Charlie... you led the first map party across that desert." "The first white man that ever crossed it." "Now, if you can do that, you can lead Pender and his men now." "Or..." "Or was that just one of your lies about leading that map party?" "No. 'Cause that was true, Hoss, that was true." "All right, then." "Now, Charlie, you listen to me, and you listen real good." "If you let Cap'n Pender and those men go out across that desert without somebody to scout the trail for 'em, you are gonna be a coward and a murderer." "Charlie, you got to do it!" "If you..." "if you would help me, if you'll come with me." "Well, Charlie, I..." "Just like... just like you... just like you said yourself, this here is the chance I've been waiting for." "Will you please help me?" "Will you please come with me?" "Yes, sir, I'll go with you." "Ah." "Thank you." "Oh, hey..." "Well, good-bye, Captain, and good luck." "Thank you, Mr. Johnson." "Detail... forward!" "Forward!" " Hyah!" " Ho!" "Hey, Charlie." "This time don't go letting them injuns get your scalp." "You stand there laughing like you just done something great, Cutter." "But all you've done was to mess up things real good." "It's working out just the way I wanted, Buck." "And how do you make that?" "We had a plan, a plan to get the gold-- now we've got nothing." "I changed plans for a better one." "We still get the gold." "Maybe you'd better tell us what you got in mind." "Way it works out now," "I don't have to explain me surviving'." "They get lost, sand covers everything, ain't a trace of nothin' left, and everybody figures it's old Charlie Trent led 'em wrong." "You were gonna lead them soldiers out into the desert." "What if this Charlie takes 'em another way?" "Them renegade bands down south would like nothing better than to get their hands on that gold." "Cheyenne on the warpath up north." "They got nowhere to go but across that desert... with us following 'em." " Detail..." " Detail..." " halt!" " halt!" " Forward!" " Forward!" " Ho!" " Yo!" "Hyah!" "Get out there!" " Detail..." " Detail..." " halt!" " halt!" " Dismount!" " Dismount!" "Looking for something, Charlie?" "Oh-ho..." "Oh, no, no, I wasn't looking for nothin'." "I..." " Just-Just lookin'." " A bottle?" "What bottle?" "Heh." "You ain't gonna find it." "Hoss..." "Hoss, that was all I had." "I..." "I didn't want to... drink it, I just wanted to know it was here, that's all." "I..." "I wasn't aimin' to drink a drop of it." "I..." "I..." "I promise." "Cross my heart." "I poured it out this morning, Charlie." "I..." "I can't make it without a drink, Hoss." "Hoss, I can't make it!" "Charlie, you done made it almost a week now, just on a pint." "Yeah, what we've come through is nothing-- like taking a walk down a boulevard on a bright, sunshiny day." "You wait'll we get across that there mountain and hit the Great Salt Flats." "A man... a man's got to have something in his insides when he tackles that desert." "And you done took and poured my insides right out on the ground." "Charlie... you're just gonna have to grow some new ones." "'Cause if you don't take us across that desert, we'll all gonna die and rot out there." "All right, I'll..." "I'll try, Hoss." "Honest, I'll-I'll try." "Here." "You drink your coffee and... quit worrying'." "You're gonna make it." "I..." "My!" "There they be." "Getting ready to bed down like nice soldier boys." "Come dark, we gonna ride." "From here on out, we stay ahead of 'em." "What's our line of march?" "Uh... due east, Cap'n." "You see, once you hit that there desert, there ain't no landmarks to guide you." "You have to kind of..." "kind of sense things, you know?" "Kind of... kind of feel your way along." "Charlie, Charlie, that's what we're depending on you for, to take us to that first water hole in a two-day march-- and then after that, you'll have to lead us to the next water hole," "then on to the last one." "Can you do all that, Charlie?" "I tell you what..." "I been, I been, I been thinking it over, and I reckon it might be our best bet to head due north, you see, and that way we can circle the desert entirely, you see?" "With Yellow Star and the whole Cheyenne Nation on the warpath?" "Look, I didn't bring you along to tell me how to get us all killed." "We have to cross that desert." "Now, you signed on as a scout to lead us over it." "Now, can you do it?" "Me and Hoss'll lead out." "Prepare to move." "Prepare to mount!" " Forward!" " Forward!" " Ho!" " Ho!" "You aimin' to take 'em on tonight?" "Nah." "You ever see the Zunis hunt fox?" "No." "Well, they just let 'em keep on runnin' till their tongues are all swole up and hanging out." "Then they walk up to 'em real peaceful like and club 'em to death." "Yes, sir, we're gonna let those soldier boys just ride on a piece." "Far enough so there ain't no way back." "Sort of like being out on the ocean, ain't it?" "Only difference is that... we're looking for water instead of land." "You got your bearing yet, Charlie?" "You don't... you don't reckon we could've circled back on ourselves, do you, and gotten lost?" "No, no, no." "Of course not." "Ain't much daylight left, Charlie, and you said we'd sure find that water hole before sundown." "That there water hole has got to be within an hour's march of here, I'm tellin' you." "You go back and tell the cap'n." "And capt'n will bring them soldiers of his'n up here right away." "You sure, Charlie?" "Sure?" "No, of course I ain't sure." "But I got to act like I was." "I got to fool them soldiers into thinking I'm sure." "'Cause if just one man panics, it'll spread like wildfire, and we'll find ourselves a bunch of buzzard bait." "You..." "You said you had faith in me, didn't you?" "Yes, sir, I do." "Well, hang on to it, son." "Hang on to it, 'cause that's all I got to hang on to myself." "I'll tell 'em." "Ah." "Now, when I find that there water," "I'll fire three shots in the air." "Yes, sir." " Detail..." " Detail..." " halt!" " whoa!" "Captain." " Dismount." " Dismount!" "Captain... just a little piece further." "I made a mistake trusting him." "I think it's time we admit it... both of us, we're lost, and you know it." "Cap'n, you're wrong." "With the captain's permission." "Me and the men would like the captain to tell us straight out how we stand." "Cap'n." "Men, you've got a right to know." "It's Charlie." "He found water!" "Prepare to mount!" " Mount the horses!" " Yee-haw!" "Hyah!" "Forward!" " Hyah!" " Yo!" " Cap'n!" "Ho!" "Ho!" " Detail, halt!" "Hold 'em back!" "Master Sergeant, slow down!" "Cap'n, hold your men back!" "Keep your men back, Cap'n!" "Don't let 'em come here!" "I knew you'd find it, boy!" " Detail, ten-hut!" " Detail!" "What's wrong?" "That there water's been poisoned." "See that animal over there?" "Yeah, well, the same thing'll happen to any of us that drinks this here water." "We don't need a scout to find poison water for us!" "Sergeant." "Yes, sir?" "Move the detail to that area up ahead." "Make camp." "Issue half rations of water to the men and the mules." "None to the mounts." "Detail... forward." "All right, Charlie, how far to the next water hole?" "It's about a day's march." "But me nor nobody else can say whether that water'll be any more fittin' to drink than this is." "Can you find it?" "Found this one, didn't I?" "What do you think, Cap'n?" "We can make our water last another full day." "We'll have to lose our mounts." "The mules can keep going as long as they get some water." "You got to make the decision, Cap'n." "Well, if we turn around and go back, the men and the gold will be saved, but... if we go on up ahead and that water's poisoned, too, it'll be too late to turn back." "There's nothing in my orders about turning back." "Charlie, we'll move out just before dawn," " while it's still cool." " Yeah." "You're gonna poison this one, too?" "That's what I'm gonna do, Buck." "They're liable to get suspicious." "That don't make no difference." "Besides, they can't never know just how it got done." "Now, go on, do like I told you, start brushing out our tracks." "Look, all we've been doing is riding around this miserable desert." "Now, I say we stay here and finish off them soldiers." "All I want is to split that gold, and I got nothin' so far but sun-baked." "Latigo?" "I'll side with them." "Now, them soldiers have got to come here." "All we got to do is wait for 'em." "But if you feel you'd rather not make the stand with us, you can clear out." "No hard feelings." "No hard feelings, huh?" "Now, you listen to me, every last one of you." "There ain't one of you got a chance of leaving these salt flats alive less'n I lead ya." "Now, where would you ambush eight men on flatlands like this?" "But up ahead, there's places where we can pull it off." "Now, go on, do like I told you, start brushing out our tracks." "It's poisoned." " Kelly!" "Kelly!" "Get out!" "That water's poison!" " Kelly...!" " Get out of there!" "The water's poisoned!" "The water's poisoned!" "Get out of there!" "Have you lost your head?" "The water's good!" "It's not poisoned!" " Let me have some more!" " Kelly!" "Kelly!" "You just drunk your death, man!" "That water's good!" "The water's good!" "It's not poisoned!" "Stand back." "Charlie... make sure." "Test that water again." "No need to, Cap'n." "Kelly himself will prove I was right." "You drunken old sot!" "That belly is loaded with so much poison now from liquor you don't know what you're doing!" "You took us where there's water!" "You don't..." "Sergeant, bring a canteen." "Ain't no use doing that, Cap'n." "He can't swallow none nohow." "Move him over under the wagon and cover him with a blanket." "It's four riders and one spare horse, all headed away from here and riding fast for the next water hole." "And poison that one, too." "Yeah." "Another thing, Cap'n-- only a scout would know his way around here like them bushwhackers are doing." "A scout-- that would have to be Cutter." "We'll go ahead while we still have some water left and try to fight our way through." "Eh, Cap'n..." "Cap'n, there's rocks around that there water hole." "Best place in the world for ambush." "They'd pick us off before we ever seen 'em." "We're not gonna stay here and die, not without a fight." "You got an idea better than that?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "If they are still at that water hole, that water will be good until after they finish us off." "That makes sense, Charlie." "Go on." "Yeah, but... we got to make sure they are still there." "So when the moon sets, I'll start out, see?" "I should make it in..." "oh, an hour or two." "No, Charlie, no." "I'll go with some of my men." "Sergeant, you and Johnson will go with me." " Corporal..." " No, Cap'n." "I'm, uh, I'm a scout." "I can do a better job alone." "All right, Charlie." "But after you get there, what then?" "Well, if they ain't there and the water is still good," "I'll fire three shots." "No..." "No, Cutter may have heard that signal before." "So this time I'll fire three shots, wait a while, then fire two more." "And, Cap'n, when you hear them five shots, you come a-runnin'." "And if I don't hear the five shots?" "If you don't hear 'em, you head due north." "Forced march, traveling by night." "And with any luck, you ought to make the highlands and water in about two days." "Course, the, uh..." "Cheyennes might be there, too." "Buy then maybe..." "maybe it's better to be scalped than to die of thirst, huh?" "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Charlie." "Oh, ho-ho..." "Oh... thank you, Cap'n." "Thank ye." "Well, bye, Hoss." "Charlie, when I promised to come along on this deal," "I meant all the way." "No, no, you've done enough for me already." "I just ain't worth it, can't you understand that?" "If you leave me here, I'll..." "I'll just tag along after you." "Hoss, you ain't a-comin' with me." "'Sides, I..." "I travel faster alone." "Charlie... if I let you go out there alone," "I'd feel guilty the rest of my life." "That's better than being dead, ain't it?" "You know better than that." "Yeah." "Five shots, right, Cap'n?" " Charlie?" " Yeah?" " There sure ain't no sign of 'em." "Yeah." "That don't mean those fellas ain't up there hidin' in them there rocks." " Well..." " I don't like it." "It just..." "it just don't feel good." "We're gonna have to take a chance on it anyhow." "Let's go." "All right, but you be careful, son." "Dad-burnit, Charlie, is it gonna take you all day to make up your mind?" "Ha!" "Whoo!" " Water!" " Hola!" "Oh, boy!" "Oh!" "Now, ain't them a happy pair of fools?" "Drink your fill, boys." "Then we're going to have a nice, long talk about my good friend Cap'n Pender." "Why didn't them soldier boys come with you?" "How many of them are there left?" "I reckon that's something you're going to have to find out, mister." "Well, that's something I'm just going to find out." "Cutter!" "They're back at the other water hole." " Charlie!" " There's..." "There's five of 'em." "One of 'em died." "They're waiting for my signal to come on ahead." "Charlie!" "Cap'n Pender got any suspicion of me?" "No, course not." "No, if, if we had any suspicions, you don't suppose that me and Hoss would have come walking in here the way we done, do you?" "No, I reckon not, being the scout you once was." "What's that signal?" "I ain't a-gonna tell you." "You ain't a-gonna tell me?" "Hey, Latigo, fetch me my saddlebag." "You ain't a-gonna tell me." "Charlie, this ought to make you talk, huh?" "It's all yours, Charlie, you just tell me what that signal is." "My, I bet you got mighty dry for this, too." "Mmm!" "Smell it, Charlie, huh?" "What's the signal now, huh?" "Don't you tell him, Charlie." "Mmm!" "That's too good to waste on you, but..." "Tastes good, huh?" "Yeah." "What's the signal, Charlie?" "And it's all yours, every last bit of it." "Signal?" "Three sh... three sh..." " Louder, Charlie, louder." " Three sh..." "Three shots." "Charlie!" "Charlie!" "Three shots." "The signal is three shots, and when, when Pender hears them, they'll move out and join us here." "Three shots, just like before." "Well, I wanted to make sure." "Eh, just like before, huh?" "Yeah, that's right." "Hey, Buck, untie him." "What about him?" "Ah, untie him." "He ain't going no place." "Yeah, now..." "Now give it to me." "Give it to me." "Here's your reward, Charlie." "Is it, is it all right, Hoss?" "Yeah, I..." "I reckon you earned that one, Charlie." "This ought to bring 'em running like a flock of dumb sheep." "Three." "Go on, Charlie." "Just fire two more times." "Five shots, he said." "He's trying to warn us." "They run into trouble." "We..." "We sure fooled 'em that time, didn't we, huh?" "Cutter thought he was tormenting me into telling the truth." "And all the time it was Cutter himself that gives the signal for Pender to start moving north." "Yep, but... they're gonna find out in a minute." "When they do, they're liable to be real mean, Charlie." "Yeah, well, I, I..." "You know... you know, it's a funny thing." "I got plenty of this doggone stuff." "I don't seem to want it." "You know, it kind of, uh, kind of burns my insides." "Hey, Cutter." " Cutter." " Look, here they come." "Three soldier boys." "Only three." "Ain't none of 'em Pender." "He's a smart one." "Maybe he figures on going behind this butte and having himself a look-see." "Hey, Latigo, you get up on one of them rocks, keep your eyes peeled." "You let me know, but don't you do no shooting'." "You hear?" "I..." "I guess the only reason I drink the doggone stuff is so that I can stop remembering." "I just don't understand it." "That wasn't the signal for them to come up here." "You see, Hoss, years ago," "I led a whole detachment of cavalry into a Kiowa trap." "They was all butchered and they died cursing me." "Wasn't your fault, Charlie." "Yeah?" "That ain't good enough." "Buck, you keep watching that wagon." "Morgan, you take those two and you keep 'em out of sight." "I may need the old man later, to wave these on." "You two get over behind those rocks, and don't try to let 'em know we're here or I'll break this gun barrel right over your heads." "Stay low!" "In no time at all now, we gonna be divvyin' up that gold." "He must have spotted the others." "Now, you stay here, Buck." "No shooting till I start it, and you be mighty careful how you go hitting them mules." "Two of 'em, coming from high up and behind us." "One of 'em's the captain." "Well, that makes it easier for us." "We'll just let 'em sneak up on us before we start shooting" "Come on." "We gotta do something, Hoss." "We gotta..." "Shut up!" "Old man, don't be so hoggy with that whiskey." "Fill that cup." "Sure." "Bring it over here." "Careful." "Good work, Charlie." "You go get Buck, I'm going after Cutter." "Right." "Well, if they're down there, they're not giving it away." "Let's go down to those four big rocks down there." " See 'em?" " Yeah." "I'll go first." "Doggone it, I had him dead to rights." "We got him pinned down now." "We can blast him out of there easy." "Cutter!" "Hey, the wa--the water is good, Cap'n; you can drink it." "Ah, it's just a crease, Charlie." "Hey, Corporal!" "Corporal!" "Bring up the wagon!" "Get yourselves a drink!" "Yee-ha!" "Ha-hoo!" "Hyah!" "Detail, atten-hut!" "Scout..." "lead us out." "Sure, Cap'n." " Detail!" " Detail!" " Forward!" " Forward!" "Ho!" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."