"What are you doing there, fella?" "I just cut these." "You better come along with us." "Taking it off here, Boss." "Yeah, take it off, Dragline." "Wiping it off here, Boss?" "All right, Koko, wipe it off." "Drinking it up here, Boss." "All right, drink it up, Gambler." "You eyeballing there, Society?" "Checking my yo-yo, Boss." "Drag, new-meat bus." "Bunch." "Must be half a dozen new-meat." "No more than five, for a cold drink." "All right, you men get lined up there." "Dogboy, shut them dogs up." "They just smell new-meat, s'all, Boss." "What did they bring us today?" "Gibson, 507 manslaughter." "Good for a two spot." "It was an accident." "I've never been in trouble before." "You call the Captain, "Captain."" "Edgar Potter, 302 and resisting arrest." "One year." "I was trying to keep in out of the rain." "Get the wax out of your ears." "You call the Captain, "Captain."" "And you call the rest of us "Boss," you hear?" "This man is going to make us proud of him, Mr. Hunnicutt." "Raymond Pratt." "Yes, Captain." "Breaking, entering, and assault." "Five spot." "And a seaman." "'Spect that should come in real handy around here, Captain." "Maybe." "Lucas Jackson." "Here, Captain." "Maliciously destroying municipal property while under the influence." "What was that?" "Cutting the heads off parking meters, Captain." "We ain't never had one of them before." "Where do you think that's going to get you?" "I guess you could say I wasn't thinking, Captain." "It says here that you did real good in the war." "A Silver Star, Bronze Star, couple of Purple Hearts Sergeant." "Then came out the same way you went in." "Buck Private." "Like I was just passing time, Captain." "Well, you got yourself some time now...two years." "Well, hell, that ain't much." "We got a couple of men here doing 20 spots." "We got one that's got all of it." "We got all kinds, and you're going to fit in real good." "Of course, in case you get rabbit in your blood and you decide to take off for home, you get a bonus of some time and a set of leg chains to keep you slowed down just a little bit." "For your own good, you'll learn the rules." "It's all up to you." "Now I can be a good guy or I can be one real mean son of a bitch." "It's all up to you." "All right, let's move it." "One at a time." "Move it!" "Them clothes got laundry numbers on them." "You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number." "Any man forgets his number spends a night in the box." "These here spoons you keep with you." "Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box." "There's no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building." "You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon." "Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box." "First bell's at five minutes of eight when you will get in your bunk." "Last bell is at eight." "Any man not in his bunk at eight spends the night in the box." "There is no smoking in the prone position in bed." "To smoke you must have both legs over the side of your bunk." "Any man caught smoking prone in bed spends a night in the box." "You get two sheets." "Every Saturday, you put the clean sheet on the top the top sheet on the bottom the bottom sheet you turn in to the laundry boy." "Any man turns in the wrong sheet spends a night in the box." "No one'll sit in the bunks with dirty pants on." "Any man with dirty pants on sitting on the bunks spends a night in the box." "Any man don't bring back his empty pop bottle spends a night in the box." "Any man loud talking spends a night in the box." "You got questions, you come to me." "I'm Carr, the floor walker." "I'm responsible for order in here." "Any man don't keep order spends a night in the box." "I hope you ain't going to be a hard case." "Ain't but four." "What did I tell you?" "You owe me a cold drink." "I owe you." "I owe you." "Hey, any of you guys from Connecticut?" "Forget it." "Wash them up!" "Wash them up!" "Well, what are you still doing here?" "Get at them beans!" "Next time you stay out of my place." "You try that again and I'll bounce you off the floor." "Well, man, I didn't know it was your special seat." "You don't take another man's seat, man." "It wasn't his fault." "Nobody said anything..." "You better mind you manners, boy." "You're acting like a hillbilly tramp." ""Tramp." There you go, Beauty." "Hey, yeah, man, you got your bull-gang name now." "Yeah, well, it ain't no worse than some I been called." "When I was in the Navy..." "All you new-meats you're going to have to shape up fast and hard for this gang." "We got rules here." "In order to learn them you gotta do more work with your ears than your mouth." "Somebody say something?" "No, I didn't say nothing, Boss." "What have we got there?" "Got a Lucas Jackson." "You don't have a name here until Dragline gives you one." "Maybe we ought to call it No-Ears." "You don't listen much, do you, boy?" "I ain't heard that much worth listening to." "A lot of guys laying down a lot of rules and regulations." "New-meat looks like a poker player, Drag." "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me none." "I know you've got five dollars pocket money." "That would buy you a whole fistful of cards." "You in or out?" "Out." "First bell." "How'd you get that scar?" "What scar?" "Last bell." "Last bell." "Fifty, Boss." "Right, Carr." "Fifty." "Getting up here, Carr." "Get out of my eyeballing seat, you new-meat dummy." "I'm a salesman." "I used to drive these roads all the time." "Drag, it's going to be one hot mother today." "Yeah, I reckon the Bear's going to be walking the road today." "Then I'm lucky I got me a broom." "I work on top, real cush job." "I would hate to be down in that ditch today." "We work in a ditch?" "What's the matter with you?" "All your big-time driving around, you never seen a chain gang before?" "I ain't used to hard work, neither." "I always tried to avoid it." "I ain't exactly crazy about it, myself." "Well, man, it's going to be one tough day to learn on." "Why don't you give one of these new-meat a break and let him use your broom today?" "Oh, hell, Society, I ain't going down in that ditch." "Well, I sure would appreciate it." "I ain't in too good a shape right now." "Hey, Koko, you really going to sell your job?" "Well, Drag, I may have to." "Maybe that Lucas War Hero would give you your price." "I'll give you 50 cents." "Fifty cents for a sweet job like that?" "That's worth at least a buck." "I'll make it a dollar." "Dollar's a deal." "Where'd you get that about war hero?" "A little birdie told me." "Tearing the heads off of...what was it?" "Gumball machines?" "What kind of thing is that for a grown man?" "You know how it is." "Small town." "Not much to do in the evening." "Mostly was just settling an old score." "Boss, I made this arrangement with this man to take his broom." "You don't understand, I made this deal." "Get moving." "But I made this arrangement." "Get to work." "Better take it easy." "You won't last two hours." "Taking it off here, Boss?" "Yeah, Dragline, take it off there." "Taking it off here, Boss?" "Take it off." "Drinking it up here, Boss?" "Man bear-clawed here, Boss!" "All right, men." "Let's eat them beans!" "Cold drink he don't make it." "He won't." "Hey, Babalugats, got a bet here." "Boss, drinking it up here." "Right." "Who's that?" "That's Godfrey." "The Walking Boss." "Don't he ever talk?" "Think he just said somethin'." "You owe that fella a cold drink." "All right!" "You, Gibson, step out." "Boss Paul says you wasn't happy with your job." "Says you was complaining." "Well, we going to give you a chance to think about it." "All right." "Let's go." "Get them clothes off." "First bell." "Plumb busted out." "Looks like the hard road finally got to Mr. Lucas War Hero." "I'll be back at it in the morning." "Just need a little nap." "Man, I never thought they'd put him in the box on his first day." "It was only supposed to be a joke." "There ain't no brooms." "Well, can't expect to learn everything the first day." "They've taught him a very valuable lesson." "You guys sure give him all night to think about it." "We can't help it if he's square." "Huh, Drag?" "Of course not." "He ain't in the box because of a joke played on him." "He back-sassed a free man." "They got their rules and we ain't got nothing to do with that." "Probably happen to him sooner or later anyway, complainer like him." "He's gotta learn the rules, same as anybody else." "Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get." "Trying to say something?" "Last bell!" "Last bell!" "One of these days I'm gonna have to flap me up some dust with it." "Forty-nine and one in the box, Boss." "Right, Carr, 49 and one in the box." "Putting them on here, Boss." "You see that, you see that?" "I got eyes, don't I?" "How am I not going to see someone that looks like that?" "Man, oh, man, look at that." "Look at that!" "Wipin' it off here, Boss." "Wipe it off." "Taking them off here, Boss?" "All right." "Damn thing's blocking the scenery." "Oh man, I'm dying." "I'm dying!" "Nice broad." "Great set." "Lucille, baby." "Oh man, I'm dying!" "I'm dying!" "She ain't got nothing, but...one safety pin holding that thing on!" "Come on, safety pin, pop!" "C'mon baby, pop!" "Hey, Lord whatever I done, don't strike me blind for another couple of minutes." "My Lucille." "Your Lucille, boy." "Where did you get that?" "That's Lucille, you mother-head." "Anything so innocent, and built like that just gotta be named Lucille." "Rub it, baby." "Clean that car." "Rub...rub..." "She don't know what she's doing." "Oh boy, she knows exactly what she's doing." "She's driving us crazy, and loving every minute of it!" "Shut your mouth about my Lucille." "Shut up, Babalugats." "You leave him alone?" "He's happy." "Because he's a damn moron!" "Oh, man, that little Lucille." "She was really a big lot of little gal, wasn't she?" "Did you see how she was just about popping out of the top of that dress?" "Come on, Drag, cut it out." "And down below man, that thing didn't reach no higher than..." "She's liable to catch a cold running around like that." "It was stretched so tight across her bottom I do believe I saw one of those seams bust loose." "And the opening got wider and wider...and wider." "Forget it, man." "What do you mean, forget it?" "Stop beating it into the ground." "You ain't doing nobody no good." "Okay, new-meat." "You get some sleep." "And save your strength, 'cause you're going to need it." "Tomorrow." "Why don't you just stay down, Luke?" "He's just going to knock you down again, buddy." "It's not your fault." "He's just too big." "Let him hit you in the nose and get some blood flowing." "Maybe the bosses'll stop it before he kills you." "I don't want to frighten him." "Stay down, Luke." "Stay down, Luke." "He's gonna kill you." "Stay down!" "Somebody ought to stop this thing." "Stay down." "You're beat!" "You're going to have to kill me." "All right, pass right." "Here we go." "King gets a three, queen deuce, seven pair of savannah's right here." "Deuce gets a four." "No hell." "Three gets a big ace." "I call." "Kick a buck." "A dollar?" "One time." "All right, I'll call." "Hell, if I catch, I'm gonna burn you out." "I call." "King, three, he got a four." "Queen, deuce gets a five." "Pair of seven gets a john." "And the big ace gets...slop in the face." "Okay, you still do the talking." "Cuter again." "I call." "Kick a buck." "What you got?" "Pair of sevens." "I can see that, mother-head." "What have you got in the hole?" "He ain't got nothing showing." "Raze his head off." "He's been betting..." "All right, why don't you call him." "You've got to see it, Gambler." "I can't." "I can't catch a damn thing..." "I'm snake-bit." "I fold." "King, four, three." "You got a nine." "You got a nine." "Nothing visible." "Pair of sevens and a jack gets a six." "Savannahs, you still a better, man." "Kick a buck." "Kick him back a buck!" "I'll see your buck and back a buck." "Kick a buck." "Damn!" "Don't look at me, mother-head." "What're you going to do, play like a coconut?" "You got to call him." "I know he's got a pair of kings." "You don't have to stuff'em up my nose." "Well, you still got to call him, anyway." "The man's got kings." "Get your tail out." "You wanna see him?" "Right there." "Nothing." "Handful of nothing." "You stupid mullet-head, he beat you with nothing." "Just like today when he kept coming back at me." "With nothing." "Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand." "Move over." "I'm going to sit in here next to my boy." "Cool Hand Luke." "Hey, Loudmouth!" "Come on, get up there." "Your mama's waiting for you." "She never leaves me alone!" "Be glad you got somebody, kid." "Luke, visitor for you." "Coming out here, Boss." "Come out, Luke." "How did you find me?" "That Helen she sent your things along with a note and then John here, he wrote to the police." "Goin' around here, Boss?" "Well, Arletta, I've got to stay here." "I always hoped to see you well-fixed have me a crop of grandkids to fuss around with." "I'd like to oblige you, Arletta, but right off, I just don't know where to put my hands on 'em." "You know, sometimes I wish people was like dogs, Luke." "Comes a time, a day like when the bitch just don't recognize the pups no more, so she don't have no hopes, nor love to give her pain." "She just don't give a damn." "They letting you smoke here?" "Smoking it up here, Boss?" "You done your best, Arletta." "What I've done with myself is my own problem." "Oh, no, it ain't, Luke." "You ain't alone." "Everywhere you go, I'm with you." "And John, too." "You never thought maybe that's a heavy load?" "Why, we always thought you were strong enough to carry it." "Was we wrong?" "I don't know." "Well, things are just never the way they seem, Arletta, you know that." "A man's gotta go his own way." "Guess, I've just got to got to love you and let go." "I guess." "I ain't asking what you're going to do when you get out because I'll be dead and it don't matter." "You never did want to live forever." "I mean, it wasn't such a hell of a life." "I had me...some high old times." "Your old man, Luke he wasn't much good for sticking around but, dammit, he made me laugh." "I would have liked to have known him, the way you talk about him." "He'd have broke you up." "What went wrong?" "Nothing." "Everything's cool as can be." "Arletta, I tried." "I mean to live always free and above board like you, but I don't know, I just can't seem to find any elbow room." "You always had good jobs." "And that girl in Kentucky." "Oh..." "I'd taken a shine to her." "She sure took off with that convertible fella." "Well, why not?" "Idea of marrying got you all, all bollixed up." "Trying to be respectable." "You was boring the hell out of all of us." "I'm leaving the place to John." "That's good." "He earned it." "Ain't nothing to do with it." "I just never gave John the kind of, you know, feeling that I gave you." "So, I'm going to pay him back now." "Don't feel you have to say anything." "The way it is, you see sometimes you just have a feeling for a child or else you don't." "With John, I just didn't." "I gotta go, Arletta." "Laugh it up, kid." "You, you'll make out." "Uncle Luke, why can't you have chains?" "John-Boy, let me tell you something." "You know them chains ain't medals." "You got them for making mistakes." "And you make a bad enough mistake, then you've got to deal with the Man." "And he is one rough old boy." "So long, Arletta." "Take care." "You know it, kid." "Now there ain't nothing to come back for." ""Just a closer walk with Thee." ""Grant it, Jesus, is my plea." ""Daily walking close to Thee." ""Let it be, dear Lord..." ""..." "let it be." ""Through the days of toil that's near..." ""...if I fall, dear Lord, who cares?" ""Who but Thee..." ""...my burden shares?" ""None but Thee..." ""...dear Lord, none but Thee!"" "This gang's been doing so good the Captain decided to give you something special." "You've got yourselves a whole road of tarring to do." "And I want to see you roll it." "Pick up your shovels." "Get with it." "Move!" "We're sure going to be walking the road today." "What's the deal?" "Man, you think you been working hard?" "This mother's going to break your back." "Let's move!" "Let's see those shovels!" "Going to twist my arm off if it don't kill me first." "Right, Boss?" "Hey, buddy, slow down." "That's a long road." "Well, the man wants speed, let's just give it to him." "Cram it in and break it out." "Yeah." "Go hard." "What are we racing for?" "Wants speed, let's give it to him." "Use that shovel like it was your spoon." "The man, boy, get the man!" "Moving it up here, Boss." "Now you tell me, Rabbit, what's going on here?" "I don't know, Boss." "Think they're all bear-clawed." "They don't know whether to smile, spit or swallow." "Well, they've never seen a bull gang before." "Where'd the road go?" "That's it." "That's the end of it." "Man, there's still daylight." "About two hours left." "What do we do now?" "Nothing." "Oh, Luke, you wild, beautiful thing!" "You crazy handful of nothing!" ""As Carol pressed her lips to him..." ""...his right hand started a slow descent down her silken body." ""Desire and fear, temptation and terror..." ""...yearning and horror warred within her beautiful young body."" "Have to close those things, or we'd drown, but it's suffocating in here." "Talk about drowning." "When I was in the navy I was on submarine duty once, and when you get down there..." "Will you tell your story walkin'?" "It's too hot." "Did you see my skinny little boy chow tonight?" "He's matching you plate for plate." "I wasn't feeling good." "I think I got an ulcer or something." "He had a bigger spoon." "Make you look like yours had a hole in it." "Come on, Clarence." "What do you mean, Clarence?" "You call me a liar?" "No, not a liar." "You just have a common, likeable tendency toward exaggeration." "That there's the champion hog-gutter of this camp." "Well, I've seen him eat ten chocolate bars and seven cold drinks in 15 minutes." "He can eat busted bottles and rusty nails, any damn thing." "If you be so kind to let me cut off your Yankee head, he'll even eat that." "I can eat 50 eggs." "Nobody can eat 50 eggs." "You just said he could eat anything." "You ever eat 50 eggs?" "Nobody ever eat 50 eggs." "Hey, Babalugats!" "We got a bet here." "My boy says he can eat 50 eggs, he can eat 50 eggs." "Yeah, but in how long?" "In an hour." "Well, I believe I'll take part in that wager." "Two dollars." "Right here." "Come on now, let's talk some money." "All right, $20." "Anything." "The syndicate will cover any bet you want to make." "Koko, get some paper." "Drag, 50 eggs got to weigh a good six pounds." "Man's gut can't hold that." "They'll swell up and bust him open." "All right, get your money up." "Now, Gambler, Dynamite, come on, get it up." "Koko-head's going to take all the money." "Come on, Loudmouth, get it up." "Wait just a minute, now." "How's he gonna eat them?" "Boiled for 15 minutes." "Eat the whole thing in an hour." "One rule." "No throwing up." "He throws up, you forfeit everything." "Now when was the last time you ever saw my boy throw up?" "Now shut your mouth and give your money to Koko." "Why did you have to say 50 for?" "Why couldn't you say 35 or 39." "It seemed a nice round number." "That's money you're talking about." "What's the matter with you?" "Yeah, well, it'll be something to do." "Ten!" "Ten, right!" "What did I do?" "I stole and I told lies." "But I loved my neighbor." "And his wife." "He'll never make it." "What we've got to do is stretch that little old belly of yours." "Get all this stuff out of the way." "Them eggs's coming down." "We've got to get it all in fighting shape, like a barrage balloon." "Ready and go!" "Hey, Boss, man needs a brown bomber and a dose of salts." "You can't do that!" "I want my money back." "No money back." "Twenty of those pills still won't make any difference." "What are you worried about?" "He can't do it." "What's he doing?" "All right, stand back, you pedestrians." "This ain't no automobile accident." "That's all 50?" "Move over, losers." "I got money riding here." "All right, I've got it figured out." "If he eats an egg a minute, he's got ten minutes left to swallow them." "Hey, I just got five bucks from a rodeo outfit." "Hey, you're peeling his eggs." "That's right, mister." "He peels his eggs himself." "That's understood." "Now you may be just great at hanging paper around the big city and passing bad checks but us country boys ain't entirely brainless." "When it comes to the law, nothing is understood." "Wait a minute!" "Wait a minute!" "Who made what law about peeling the eggs?" "I'm his trainer." "I'm the syndicate covering all bets." "And I'm his official egg-peeler." "That's the law." "Just wait till the hour starts, that's all." "I was banking on the fact he had to peel 'em." "What's going on?" "You ready, Champ?" "Ready?" "Go!" "Two three..." "Man, he's going to lose a finger eating eggs like that." "Twenty-four twenty-five..." "Slow down a little." "Twenty-six..." "Forget it, he's wasting time." "Thirty-two." "Just have 18 more to go..." "What's wrong?" "I think he's gonna throw up!" "Oh, no." "That's it." "He's finished." "C'mon Luke!" "Eighteen to go." "He's finished." "Just like a ripe watermelon that's about to bust itself open." "Your boy's done for, Drag." "I'm putting in my last tenner." "lt don't look good, Drag." "Man's gut can't hold more than that." "He's all right, he's all right." "He's going to make it." "I give you a dollar he don't eat all 50 eggs, I get two dollars back." "Fixer, you're a sweet old boy." "Better take that dollar and buy yourself a new spark plug or something." "But as long as you done took a stand why don't you put some money where your mouth is and not no measly buck!" "Well, all I got is 3.75, Drag." "That's a bet, Koko." "All right, now the rest of you, I want to hear from some big-money men." "Where's all the high rollers?" "I believe you've got it all, Dragline." "Every cent in the camp is riding." "What's the time?" "Come on, baby." "Twenty-four minutes to go." "Just let that little old belly sag and enjoy itself." "Forty-one." "Stay loose, buddy." "Just nine more between you and everlasting glory." "ls he eating them, Alibi?" "He's chewing." "Look at that." "They're pigeon eggs, that's all." "Fish eggs, practically." "How much more time, Carr?" "Six minutes to go, Stevie." "Chew, chew, chew!" "You're helpin' him chew now!" "Oh, no." "Forty-two." "Tiny, tiny egg." "Two minutes to time!" "Forty-four." "All right, now, get mad at them damned eggs." "Eat it there, boy." "Chew on it." "Gnaw on it." "Thirty seconds." "You got the last one." "Stuff it down in there." "Get it in." "That's the last one in there now, baby." "Chew." "Chew." "Ten...nine...eight seven...six...five four...three...two one...zero!" "Hold it!" "He didn't swallow the last." "You think so?" "Just take a look here." "Open that mouth." "Nobody can eat 50 eggs." "Snake in the grass here, Boss!" "Get it." "Get it!" "Hey, Boss." "Forgot your walking stick?" "Man, you sure can shoot." "You gone too far when you mess with the Man With No Eyes." "You'll be out of here in a little bit." "Why don't you take it a little easy?" "All right, everybody in the trucks." "Boy, look at Him go!" "Bam!" "Bam!" "Just knock it off, Luke!" "You can't talk about Him that way." "You still believe in that big bearded Boss up there?" "You think He's watching us?" "Get in here!" "Ain't you scared?" "Ain't you scared of dying?" "Dying?" "Boy, He can have this little life anytime He wants to." "You hear that?" "You hear it?" "Come on!" "You're welcome to it, Old Timer." "Let me know You're up there." "Come on." "Love me, hate me, kill me, anything." "Just let me know it." "Just standing in the rain talking to myself." "Blind Dick is paying back three and borrowing five." "Next." "You borrowing or paying back?" "Borrowing." "Well, Mr. Cool Hand here is the soft heart in our loan department." "I just need five, Luke." "I knew you could really eat all them eggs." "Yeah, well, I didn't." "That's my darling Luke." "He grins like a baby but he bites like a 'gator." "I believe I still owe you thirty." "I don't suppose you'd care to take a check?" "For you." "His mother's dead." ""I don't care if it rains or freezes..." ""...as long as I got my plastic Jesus..." ""...sitting on the dashboard of my car." ""Comes in colors pink and pleasant." ""Glows in the dark 'cause it's iridescent." ""Take it with you..." ""...when you travel far." ""Get yourself a sweet Madonna..." ""...dressed in rhinestone sitting' on..." ""...a pedestal of abalone shell." ""Going 90, I ain't scary..." ""...'cause I got the Virgin Mary..." ""...assuring me..." ""...that I won't go to hell." ""Get yourself a sweet Madonna..." ""...dressed in rhinestone sitting' on..." ""...pedestal of abalone shell." ""Going 90, I ain't scary..." ""...'cause I got the Virgin Mary. assuring me..." ""...that I won't go to hell."" "Luke, fall out." "When a man's mother dies and he gets to thinkin' about her funeral and paying respects before he knows it, his mind ain't right." "He's got rabbit in his blood and he runs." "We're keeping you off the road for a while." "I'm going to say a prayer for your ma, Luke." "Sorry, Luke, I'm just doing my job." "You've got to appreciate that." "Calling it your job don't make it right, Boss." "Ma's in the ground now, God rest her soul." "You best forget about it, Luke." "Got a day and a half lay-in." "Tomorrow's a holiday." "Happy Fourth of July!" "Same to you!" "Break it up." "Come on, you've had your fun." "First bell!" "Move it, Stevie." "What have you got, another one of them dirty books?" "Do yourself a favor." "Read this part that Koko underlined for me." ""She moved her head another inch while he reached up..." ""...and put his left hand on Carol's..." ""...as Carol pressed her..."" "Oh, I can't stand it!" "You're just coming to the interesting part now." "I can't hear you. -"Her trembling body..."" "Last bell." "Last bell." "Move it." "What's that noise outside?" "Man on the fence, Boss!" "Wait a minute, damn it!" "Come back here!" "Dammit!" "Forty-eight, Boss." "One in the box and one in the bush." "Forty-eight." "One in the box and one in the bush." "Oh, listen to Blue sing!" "He's on to him, he says." "He's got him." "Hell, that dog's running around in circles." "No, he's on to him." "Captain says for us to wait till the patrol gets here." "Shoulda waited for me to get him out." "Loose like that he can run him crazy." "Didn't even have enough sense to run from the road like everybody else." "Oh, I'm beat." "This ain't my job nohow." "Your dogs are crazy." "He's smarter than a dog." "Let's go!" "He made it!" "Look, Captain!" "Look what he done to Blue." "He's dead." "He run himself plumb to death." "Get in line facing the Captain." "You're going to get used to wearing them chains after a while, Luke but you never stop listening to them clinking." "'Cause they're going to remind you of what I've been saying for your own good." "Wish you'd stop being so good to me, Captain." "Don't you ever talk that way to me." "Never!" "Never!" "What we've got here is failure to communicate." "Some men you just can't reach." "So you get what we had here last week." "Which is the way he wants it." "Well, he gets it." "I don't like it any more than you men." "Well, lookie here." "I knew they'd get you." "Them chains and a bonus of a couple of years..." "Your running days are over forever, boy." "Hell, I'd like to see you try to run again." "You know, you getting so you smell so bad I can track you myself." "Yeah, well, that ought to be easy for a genuine son of a bitch." "What happened." "How far did you get?" "Shut up and let him eat." "About a mile and a half." "This supermarket parking lot." "Found a car with keys in the ignition." "Hit this red light and this police car slides up alongside." "Then what did you do?" "Waited for that light to change." "This cop kept looking over, wondering what somebody looks like me dressed in state issue, was doin' driving a shiny new buggy." "So what did you do?" "He leaned over and said, "Hey!"" "Top flight police work, that's all there is to it." "Fella's probably a lieutenant by now." "Now, we're just gonna lay low and build time." "Before you know it, the heat's going to be off of you." "Everything will be right back where it was." "Right, sweet buddy?" "I hear tell you don't believe in no God, Luke." "I was wondering how come a nice, clean-cut young fellow like you gets put on the hard road." "Now I reckon I knows." "I've been on the road gang almost 22 years." "In all that time, I ain't never killed a white man but I ain't afraid to because..." "Excuse me, Boss, don't mean to interrupt." "Caught short here." "So did I. It's okay." "You just go on out there behind them trees." "Man's gotta have his privacy sometime." "You just keep shaking that bush so we know you're there." "Just keep shaking that bush." "Shaking it up here, Boss!" "Still shaking it, Boss." "I'm shaking it, Boss." "He's gone." "Get the dogs." "What you got them on for?" "How do you take your pants off?" "Best way is to get rid of them leg irons but you ain't strong enough." "Strong enough for what?" "Hell, you couldn't heft an axe." "Can, too." "I bet you can't." "Can, too." "Bet you can't." "Well, then, go get it, man." "What's your name, boy?" "Aren't you going to take those stripes off your pants?" "You know it, kid." "You want to see something real funny?" "Yeah?" "Well, you go on in there and you get me chili powder and pepper and the like." "You better let me handle that, son." "Here they are." "Thank you, son." "What's the matter with him?" "He'll be all right." "Now listen." "You're going to have some fun." "You hear that?" "Well, you remember how them dogs do when they come through here so you can tell me about it someday, okay?" "My wife hasn't written me for a month." "She's probably sick of you." "Magazine for you." "Hey, Koko, who's sending me magazines?" "Don't know." "It's from Atlanta." "My uncle!" "Ain't heard from him in eight years and now he's sending me magazines!" "He must have gone crazy!" "Look at that!" "That's Luke?" "Look at that, two of 'em." "What's the writing say?" "What's that, that writing say?" ""Dear Boys:" "Playing it cool."" "They must be six feet tall." "Look at that!" "My baby!" "We're in here digging and dying he's out there living and flying." "Koko, will you stop that?" "Why don't you try making me?" "Hey, Drag?" "Let me see the picture." "What for?" "Come on, Drag, let us see the picture." "No, you're just a kid." "What you know about it?" "You don't want to see that dirty picture." "Luke and those broads and all that booze." "Come on, let me take a look." "It would go to your coconut head." "You're liable to get ideas and pass right out." "Now, what you figure it's worth?" "A peek at that there picture?" "A quick look now." "I'm not talking about no memorizing job." "Cold drink." "A coke?" "One cold drink to feast your starving, fishy, little eyes on the picture?" "A true vision of paradise itself with two of the angels right there frisking around with my boy?" "Okay, it's a deal." "One cold drink, in advance." "One chilly bottle right in my hot little hand." "That goes for the rest of you mother-heads, too." "Let me see." "Did you pay?" "Come on in there, Wicker Man." "You run one time, you got yourself a set o' chains." "You run twice, you get yourself two sets." "You ain't going to need no third set because you're going to get your mind right." "And I mean "right."" "Take a good look at Luke." "Cool Hand Luke." "Easy, easy!" "Let him breathe!" "Oh my poor baby." "They done you real good." "I don't know if you're going to have the girls chasing you." "I'll get some aspirin." "He should have a doctor." "Ain't you gonna learn?" "They ain't gonna let no doctor see what they done." "Get your razor." "We'll clean up some them cuts on his head." "How you feeling, buddy?" "How you feeling?" "Somebody ought to give him something cold to drink." "That's my baby." "Now he's going to be all right." "Hey, Luke, look we got the picture you sent us." "Look here." "You really can pick 'em, Luke." "Come on...tell us." "What were they like?" "Can't you wait until he stops bleeding?" "Why don't ya go back to your knitting?" "Oh, knock it off, you guys." "Picture's a phoney." "Cost me a week's pay." "What do you mean, a phoney?" "What you talking about, man?" "We saw them two women right here in the picture." "Did you have them both at once?" "I mean, together?" "Picture's a phoney." "I had it made up for you guys." "What do you mean?" "We saw it all!" "You was having a big time, man." "You had it made!" "Nothing." "Made nothing, had nothing." "Couple of towns, couple of bosses." "I laughed out loud once, he turned me in." "But I got it here!" "Oh, come on!" "Stop beating it!" "Get out there yourself!" "Stop feeding off me!" "Get outa here!" "Can't breathe." "Give me some air!" "Well, he ain't himself, can't you see that?" "He's all beat up." "He don't know what he's sayin'." "All right, come on, break it up." "Now, straighten out that bench." "You were eyeballing." "Can't get your mind on them weeds if you're eyeballing." "You don't need reasons to kick me, Boss." "First bell." "Move it." "He'll never make it." "What are you talking about?" "That old box will collapse and fall apart before old Luke calls it quits." "Your Luke's got more guts than brains." "Well, I don't see no sign of guts in you." "No." "No chains, either." "Big deal paperhanger, passing two bit checks." "You haven't had much luck playing follow-the-leader, have you?" "You want to spend the night in the box, too?" "Well, here's our champion hog-gut." "Hasn't eaten for four days." "You're going to need a little extra." "Got plenty for you." "Now you know the rules." "Got to clean your plate or go back to the box." "Right, Boss?" "That's enough, Dogboy." "Oh, man used to free-world food has got a big appetite." "We're going to stretch that hog-belly right out?" "Well, you made the week, boy." "Now you got a day and a half to rest up for old Monday." "That ditch is Boss Kean's ditch." "I told him that dirt in it is your dirt." "What's your dirt doing in his ditch?" "I don't know, Boss." "You better get in there and get it out, boy." ""We work in the morning hear the ding-dong ring..." ""...go march to the table, see the same damn thing." ""Well, it's on the table, a knife, a fork and a pan." ""Say anything about it you get in trouble with the man." ""That Midnight Special." "Shine a light on me." ""Let the Midnight Special shine your ever-loving light on me." ""If you ever go to Houston, boy, you better walk right." ""And you better not stagger, and you better not fight..." ""..." "Because the sheriff will arrest you."" "Luke, what you think you're doing?" "Just getting my dirt out of Boss Kean's ditch, Boss." "I'm damned if you're going to put your dirt in my yard." "You hear me?" "Now let's get it out of here." "I told you to get your dirt out of Boss Kean's ditch, didn't I?" "Yeah, Boss." "Then how come it ain't out?" "I don't know, Boss." "You don't know." ""Ain't no grave going to keep my body down." ""Ain't no grave..." ""...going to hold my body down." ""Keep Your mind on me above." ""Keep Your heart full of love." ""Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down..."" "What's all this dirt doing in here?" "I don't know..." ""When I was a little bitty baby, my mamma used to rock me in my cradle." ""In them old cotton fields back home."" "Don't, Boss." "Get to work." "Don't, Boss." "Don't hit me anymore." "For God's sake, don't hit me anymore." "What was that you said?" "What was that name you used, Luke?" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God, I pray to God you don't hit me anymore." "I'll do anything you say, but I can't take anymore." "You got your mind right, Luke?" "Yeah mind right." "Oh, I got it right, Boss." "Suppose you was to backslide on us?" "Oh, no, I won't, Boss." "Suppose you was to back-sass?" "Oh, no, I won't." "I won't." "I got my mind right." "You try to run again, we're going to kill you." "I won't, I won't, Boss." "Go get cleaned up and get yourself some sleep." "Expect you need it." "Come on, son." "Come on up outa there." "I got my mind right." "Where are you?" "Where are you now?" "All right." "Smoke it up." "Yes, sir." "Luke, water 'em down." "Yes, Boss." "Luke!" "Fetch the rifle." "You got him, Boss." "You got him." "Go fetch it, Luke." "There he is, Boss." "Deader than hell, but won't let go." "You cut that up for our lunch, Luke." "Yes, Boss Paul." "He took the keys off of Dogboy's truck." "He got the keys here, too." ""I'm shaking it here, Boss." "I'm shaking it."" "That's my baby, Luke." ""Don't hit me, Boss." "Only don't hit me." ""I'll do whatever you say."" "You are an original, that's what you are." "Those mullet-heads didn't even know you were fooling." "Fooling them?" "You can't fool them about something like that." "They broke me." "But they didn't get my mind right." "Not with no sticks." "No, sir." "All that time you were planning on running again." "Never planned anything in my life." "That's just a little old farm road." "Clean as a whistle." "I worked it a couple times." "We're home free." "Come on." "We ain't going nowhere." "Now, what are you talking about, Luke?" "We're going by my house and we're going to have a big meal." "Then I'm going to show you a couple of farm girls that really know what fun..." "And then we're going to get Koko out of there." "And then the terrible trio is gonna be complete again." "Man, this old free world ain't going to know which ear to stand on." "Yeah, well, you and Koko can handle it without me." "What's you mean, Luke?" "I done enough world-shaking for a while." "You do the rest of it for me." "Send me a postcard about it." "But Luke..." "Take it easy, Drag." "Where are you going?" "Just on my own." "But what am I going to do all by myself?" "Man, if I hadn't lost my head." "I only had a couple of years to do." "But when I saw you tearing down the road in that truck..." "Well, you're right, Luke." "We ought to split up." "And then, and then it will be safer for the both of us." "Just the same, you're a good old boy, Luke." "You take care!" "Anybody here?" "Hey, Old Man." "You home tonight?" "Can You spare a minute." "It's about time we had a little talk." "I know I'm a pretty evil fellow killed people in the war and got drunk and chewed up municipal property and the like." "I know I got no call to ask for much but even so, You've got to admit You ain't dealt me no cards in a long time." "It's beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can't never win out." "Inside, outside, all of them rules and regulations and bosses." "You made me like I am." "Now just where am I supposed to fit in?" "Old Man, I gotta tell You." "I started out pretty strong and fast." "But it's beginning to get to me." "When does it end?" "What do You got in mind for me?" "What do I do now?" "On my knees, asking." "Yeah, that's what I thought." "I guess I'm pretty tough to deal with?" "A hard case." "Guess I gotta find my own way." "Is that Your answer, Old Man?" "I guess You're a hard case, too." "Luke, you all right?" "They got us, boy." "They're out there, thicker than flies." "Bosses, dogs, sheriffs more guns than I've ever seen in my life." "You ain't got a chance." "They caught up with me right after we split up." "And they were aiming to kill you." "But I fixed that." "I got them to promise if you give up peaceful they ain't even going to whip you this time." "They even going to give us our same bunks back?" "Sure, why not?" "We only been gone a couple of hours." "They're reasonable men." "You've got to listen to me." "All you've got to do is give up nice and quiet." "Just play it cool." "Yeah, like I always do?" "Yeah, just play it..." ""What we got here is a failure to communicate."" "Go get him." "You hang on in there, Luke." "You hang on." "There's going to be some world-shaking, Luke." "We're going to send you a postcard." "You follow me and I'll radio the emergency clinic to open up." "I'm taking him to the prison hospital." "But that's an hour away." "He isn't going to make it." "Get out of the way." "He's ours." "They took him right down that road." "What'd he look like, Drag?" "Yeah, Drag." "Did he have his eyes open or closed?" "He was smiling." "Smiling?" "!" "That's right." "You know that..." "Luke smile of his?" "He had it on his face right to the very end." "Hell, if they didn't know it 'fore they could tell right then that they weren't ever going to beat him." "That old Luke smile." "Oh, Luke." "He was some boy." "Cool Hand Luke, hell!" "He's a natural born world-shaker!"