"Even the Barbary Coast crapshooters don't operate like that." "Let's reopen that bet, mister." "I don't like to leave that kind of a winner on the board." "Salamander City, Mr. Paladin." "Step out and stretch a mite." "Are we staying long?" "Oh, just until I hitch up some fresh horses." "What can I do for you, Dooley?" "I just wondering, have you got room for another passenger." "You got the price of a ticket?" "Aw, I just want to go as far as the next town." "I can pay you next time around, maybe." "Sorry, Dooley." "No credit." "Good afternoon, mister." "Afternoon." "Are you heading for San Francisco?" "Don't bother the passengers, Dooley." "Sorry, mister." "Will you wait for me?" "Maybe I can raise the money." "Fella seems pretty anxious to get out of town." "Yeah, poor little guy." "Reckon they're getting tired of him here." "Who is he?" "Dooley Delaware." "Says he used to be a big-time acrobat." "Now he just wanders around, one town today, another town tomorrow." "Doing back flips for spending money." "Call me when you're ready to leave, huh?" "Yeah." "Okay, Dooley, let's see you walk on your nose." "He's used to it." "Well, I'm not." "Don't start anything, please." "$50, Dooley." "$50 says you can't walk a rope across this saloon." "Well, that's an easy bet for Dooley Delaware, isn't it?" "Well, I don't have a rope." "Oh, Bolo, would you...?" "Come on, Dooley." "You can do it, Dooley." "Let's go." "You think you can make that, Mr. Delaware?" "Excuse me." "I think that I can do it, Mr. Marquette." "But I can't meet the bet." "All I've got is..." "$2.12." "I'm always willing to make arrangements." "I'll tell you what:" "If I can't walk this rope..." "I'll... curry your horse and shine your boots every day for a whole year." "You're on." "Go on, Dooley!" "Dooley, look out!" "Now, Dooley, you all in one piece?" "I reckon so." "Start shining, acrobat." "Mr. Delaware doesn't like to leave a winner on the board." "He'll repeat the bet, double or nothing." "You let him call his own bets, mister." "I only got $2.12." "I'll cover for Mr. Delaware. $100." "No shoe shines involved, just money." "Mr. Marquette ain't interested." "Are you interested, Mr. Delaware?" "Golly... for $100?" "I'd cross Salamander Canyon on a wire." "You've got yourself a bet." "Anybody got a rope?" "Never mind the rope, mister." "Get a wire." "Get one long enough to stretch clear across Salamander Canyon." "Now wait a minute!" "That's not a fair..." "My $100 against your $100 says that Dooley can't walk a wire across that canyon." "Oh, I..." "I..." "I was just, you know, making mouth noises, Mr. Marquette." "Take it easy, Ben." "That canyon is 300 feet deep." "Why, that don't mean a thing to a real wire walker." "Well, I..." "Sorry." "Sorry, Marquette." "No bet." "Come on, Dooley." "You can do it." "Show him you're not yellow." "Now just a minute!" "Come on- wait a minute!" "My money and his life and we're both going to keep what we've got." "Come on, Dooley, you've still got time to catch that stage." "He's not an acrobat, he's a monkey on a string." "Somebody throw him a peanut." "I accept the challenge." "Will you stake me, mister?" "You got the terms of the bet right?" "My $100 says you can't walk a wire across Salamander Canyon." "And I say I can." "If this gentleman will sponsor me." "It won't work, Marquette." "You're forcing the odds." "You're asking this man to risk his life for $100." "You talk too much, mister." "That doesn't help anybody's reputation." "Even the Barbary Coast crapshooters don't work like that." "All right, I'll boost the ante as far as Dooley can go- $102.12." "Can you afford that much, mister?" "Make it $1,000." "His life isn't worth that much." "Your reputation?" "I'll see your $1,000 and make it $1,000 more." "Why stop there?" "$3,000 says Dooley can do the stunt." "You are on." "My reputation, huh?" "Hold the stakes, Bolo." "Wait a minute." "$6,000." "That's too big a load for such a small character." "Mr. Marquette says I hold the money." "Easy, Bolo." "We don't want to offend our meal ticket." "We'll give it to a neutral party." "I'll take care of it, Ben." "Put it in the sack, Wally." "Mr. Marquette, I'd rather not get mixed up in this." "Wally's got a wife and two kids." "He's got to be honest." "Mr. Marquette, I'd rather not." "Put it in a sack, Wally." "You'll get all the protection you need." "You happy now, mister?" "Stage is leaving, Mr. Paladin." "Well, let it leave." "I'll stay here and look after my investment." "Mr. Paladin, I..." "I just want to tell you... $3,000?" "Golly, you sure have a lot of faith in me." "Faith?" "I was boosting the bet to get you out of it." "I was trying to make Marquette call it off." "You must have been crazy to let them laugh you into a suicide stunt like that." "It's all set up." "3:00 tomorrow afternoon." "I've been told that canyon is 100 feet across and 300 feet straight down, and a wind like the breath of the devil." "Mr. Paladin, you heard what they call me:" "A monkey on a string." "That's all I've ever been ever since the circuses quit hiring me." "What circuses?" "A monkey on a string, doing nip-ups for nickels and dimes." "I'm a man, not a monkey." "Well, of course you are, Dooley." "Maybe I won't make it across that canyon tomorrow, but they'll remember me for trying." "They'll remember me as Dooley Delaware, the man who almost crossed Salamander Canyon on a wire." "Dooley!" "Come on inside now." "Everybody is hollering for you." "Mr. Delaware has to rest for tomorrow." "Oh, but the whole crowd's going to go down to the canyon and set things up, and I thought you'd want to supervise." "Rena, whose side are you on?" "Well, Dooley's." "Isn't everybody?" "Now, come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Hello, Rena." "I thought you were part of that crowd." "Look, mister, you been doing some pretty nice things." "Be smart." "Stop being so nice, and just go on where you were going." "I can't till I win my stage fare." "From Marquette?" "He's too big." "He's bigger than you, he's bigger than Dooley, he's bigger than this whole town." "And Bolo's just standing on his shoulders." "Well, they're gonna make quite a thump when they fall." "You're not going to topple them." "Nobody ever has." "Well, I can try." "Why?" "What have you got...?" "My business." "Okay, sir, here you are." "Good morning, Mr. Paladin." "I thought you took the stage out this afternoon." "And miss a ruckus like this one?" "Not a chance." "Why, look here- the first extra ever put out by the Salamander Gazette." "Have you seen Dooley?" ""Dauntless Dooley to defy..."" "How about it, partner?" "How about a little bet on the big event?" "Five to one, he doesn't make it." "Best odds in town." "Five to one he doesn't get across that canyon." "Come on, honey." "Drink up." "Wally made that drink just for you." "Good ol' Wally." "It's called the Dooley Delaware Fizz." "One drink of that, and you can walk that canyon without a wire." "All right, Dooley, that's enough." "It's after 2:00." "So what?" "2:00 a.m.- you won't be able to find that canyon tomorrow." "Oh, leave him alone." "He's having a good time, for the first time in his life." "Yeah, let me be." "Your name is Rena, ain't it?" "Sure it is, honey." "You hear that, Mr. Paladin?" ""Honey," she calls me." "When did any girl call ol' Dooley "honey"?" "Huh?" "When?" "Hey, take your hands off my girl!" "All right, what's Marquette paying you?" "For what?" "That little job you're doing on Dooley." "Who says he's paying me?" "I say he is." "Now tell me how much it is and I'll match the fee if you let Dooley alone." "Maybe I don't want to let him alone." "Maybe I don't want to see him show up at that canyon tomorrow." "You want to scrape him off the bottom of the canyon, is that it?" "If he don't show up, he'll stay alive." "Sure." "Marquette will collect the bet, and Dooley will spend the rest of his life running away from himself." "Dead or alive, Dooley loses and Marquette wins." "Best odds in town, folks." "Make your bets here." "Hey, you." "Come over here." "Coming right up." "Best odds in town, folks." "Five to one." "How do you figure odds like that?" "Nobody can walk a wire in that condition." "Well, here's $50 on Dooley." "Leaves nothing for tomorrow." "Give the slip to Rena." "It's your money." "If Dooley wins, you get 250 bucks." "$250." "Now, how does that compare with what Marquette was going to pay you?" "Best odds in town, folks." "Take your bets right here." "More than double." "Listen, I like the little guy." "Let me fix it so he don't show up tomorrow." "Then Marquette will be happy and Dooley will be alive." "Dooley will be alive?" "He'll die every time he looks in the mirror for the rest of his life." "This town will paint him yellow and never let him forget it." "What do you want me to do?" "I've been trying to save enough money to get out of this town." "I can't afford to turn down Marquette's deal and neither can anybody else." "You can." "Now." "If Dooley makes it across that wire tomorrow." "Sure, if he does, if." "You can help." "How?" "Undo what you've been doing." "See that he shows up in decent shape tomorrow." "Take care of him the right way." "I guess I could try." "Rena, your stage fare is walking across that wire with Dooley tomorrow." "Now go on, take care of him." "Thanks." "What's the odds?" "Five to one." "The greatest odds." "All right, folks, all right." "Five to one." "Five to one." "The greatest odds." "I'll take that at five to one." "All right, all right." "Here it is, folks, right this way." "Five to one." "The best odds in town." "All right, who wants...?" "Five to one." "Let's have it." "Five to one." "The best odds in town." "Thank you very much." "Everything all fixed, eh, Marquette?" "Sure." "I even control the wind in this town." "That daredevil of yours is ten minutes late." "I know." "Another five minutes and that money is mine by default." "Well, I think Dooley will be here before the money is." "Where is it, by the way?" "In good hands." "It's all there." "All $6,000." "Well, Bolo is with it." "I'd better count it." "Later." "Now." "Bolo, protect me." "I want to count the stakes." "Hold on, you." "It's all right." "It's all right, Bolo." "Give it to him." "Well, listen." "My wife and kids are..." "Oh, shut up." "Come on, Paladin, hurry it up, will you?" "Now, you just made me lose my place." "I'll have to start over." "There's Rena." "She's got Dooley with her." "That double-crossing little..." "Bolo." "Here's your money." "Satisfied?" "Yep." "I'm very satisfied." "Bolo!" "Rena, how is he?" "I did everything." "I did everything I could." "What's wrong?" "He's scared." "Just plain scared." "You just mention this canyon and his eyes kind of roll back in his head." "Oh?" "Don't let your friend talk you into this, Dooley." "That wire means certain death." "Be smart, Dooley." "Call it off." "Paladin's only interested in his three grand." "That's right, Dooley." "Call it off." "Nobody here expected you to walk that wire anyway." "Go ahead, call it off." "Everybody here has got you marked yellow from the start." "I know what you're doing." "You're trying to shame me into it." "You're trying to shame me into committing suicide." "Don't let him make a sap out of you, Dooley." "I'll talk to Dooley alone, Bolo." "I've had enough of you." "Alone." "Wally." "Give him the money, Bolo." "Give it to him!" "Now, I'll talk to Dooley alone." "All right, Dooley, let's hear it." "What?" "Why don't the circuses hire you anymore?" "Come on." "I took a bad fall about nine years ago." "I got well, but I couldn't make myself get on the wire anymore." "Not the high wire." "They think you've lost your nerve and now that big fear is back again?" "It sure is." "Dooley, do you know what's going to happen to you if you don't get on that wire?" "You'll be a monkey on a string again." "I know." "They won't throw coins to you anymore." "I know." "They'll throw peanuts." "I know." "I know they will." "Dooley, that wire is no different than any wire you ever climbed on in a circus." "Don't listen to him, Dooley." "He's only interested in his money." "You believe that, Dooley?" "I don't want to." "Dooley, I made that $3,000 last week and I worked hard for it." "But I'd rather lose it right here and now then see you lose your life trying to do something you can't possibly do." "Now, no tricks and no jokes." "I want you to turn your back on it," "I want you to walk away." "My wagon is over there." "Come on." "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "I want to try it, Mr. Paladin." "I'm going to try it." "Come on, Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "Come on, Dooley!" "We want Dooley!" "Mr. Delaware..." "your walking stick." "You can do it." "Dooley, no!" "Bolo!" "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on, Marquette." "Get on that stake, Bolo." "Get on it, or I'm going to blow a hole in you." "Help him, Marquette." "Go on." "Now, just hold it steady." "What happened?" "The stake's splitting." "Don't quit, Bolo." "Lean on it." "I'll blow your head off." "Where's the bartender?" "Where is he?" "!" "You find him." "Why'd you let him go?" "Never mind Marquette." "Let's find Dooley." "Stage is leaving in an hour, Mr. Paladin." "What are you talking about?" "You know Marquette's behind all this." "Double-cross is a very ambiguous sign." "It points in eight different directions all at once." "Come on." "Let me go." "Please." "My wife will be worried sick." "All right, get out of here." "But if you open your mouth about this, you won't have a wife to worry about you, understand that?" "Now get out of here!" "How come you let Wally go?" "He's too scared to open his mouth." "Here, count it." ""Dauntless Dooley Delaware."" "You know, I did win that $250." "You could have wound up with a handful of air." "I think maybe you'd better have it." "Rena, I don't really believe Dooley ever worked for a circus." "Oh, no?" "Well, here." "I can prove it." "What?" "Oh!" "I thought Marquette and Bolo got it." "So did they." "How'd you pull a stunt like that?" "Dooley!" "You're not the only trickster in the West." "Observe." "Now I'll say a magic word and..." "Oh!"