"Don't be afraid." "You're all right." "Just keep thinking about your baby." "Grandpa, I know I made a terrible mistake." "I gotta do something about it." "But I don't know what to do." "The only thing I know is I want you with me." "I don't want you against me." "The mountain had been our home ever since the first Walton put his ax to a pine tree and built his cabin on a plateau near the summit." "Since then, each Walton child had been instilled with a regard for the traditions of the land on which we lived." "Ironically, it was I who violated those traditions and exposed our mountain to a danger unforeseen and literally unknown in our sheltered community." " Mr. Carter?" " Yes." "My name is John Walton, Jr." "Walton." "Yes, yes." "Nice to see you." "We have your note here, bought from Mr. Johnson." " Sit down." " Thank you." "I wanted to talk to you about the note." "Let's see here." "Looks like you are a couple of months in arrears with this, John." "I know." "I've been trying to meet my payments." "You see, I just started a newspaper." "It's called The Blue Ridge Chronicle." "I don't know, maybe you've seen it around." "Yes, yes." "You're doing a commendable job with it." "Thank you." "See, I need a little more time to make those payments." "'Cause my advertising is growing." "In about six months I should have a real solid paper going for me." "I don't doubt that, John." "And I'd like to help you as much as I can." "But money is hard to come by these days." "And if the bank examiner walks in here and sees that this loan is two months in arrears," "I'm going to be in trouble." "You do understand." "I do." "It's just that, if I had the press, I could keep making money." "That way I could meet my payments faster." "That'd be good for both of us." "It should be a working press, and I don't see what good it's gonna do if somebody just picks it up and puts it in storage." "If I could show some kind of collateral along with the press, we might be able to work something out." "You got anything you can put up?" "I have a car." "It's an old car." "No, I'm afraid we couldn't do anything with that." "I have a piece of land." "Land's a drug on the market as far as we're concerned." "I probably shouldn't sell it anyway." "It's in the family, you know." "I don't know what I can do for you." "I surely don't want your press." "But come Wednesday, I'm afraid we'll have to take possession of it." " I'm really sorry." " No, I understand." "Listen, I know you don't want to part with your land, but if you change your mind, there's a new firm just moved in up the street." "Think it's called the Interstate Land Company." "I hear that they're buying land." "About $1 an acre or what?" "I have no idea." "Fellow's name is Shelby if you want to look into it." " Shelby?" " Yeah." " Thank you very much." " Okay." "I'll be back as soon as I can." "It's gonna be hard to keep the family going without you." "These days, a man's gotta take work where he can find it, honey." "I'm just looking for an excuse to make you stay." "You're reason enough for any man to stay home." "A houseful of kids, I got to take that Waynesboro thing." "You know how long you'll be gone?" "Can't say." "Those Waynesboro girls are kind of hard to get away from." "You just put your mind to it." "That's great." "You keep it up, Mrs. Brimmer." "Mary Ellen, would you believe I lost four pounds in just 10 days?" "That's wonderful, Mrs. Brimmer." "Congratulations." "I stopped sampling at the stove." "Makes all the difference." "You keep at it now, Mrs. B. I want you skinny and flirty." "Skinny, I can handle." "I gotta get back and start lunch." " Bye, Mary Ellen." " Bye-bye." "Okay, I'll see you Tuesday." " Thank you, Doctor." " All right." "Bye-bye." "This place looks mighty empty." "Where are all the patients?" " You probably cured them all." " Yeah." "Listen, while you were at the post office, Miss Nora sent word that the Haleys had come down with something." "Could be measles." "I hope not." "I'm going to drive up there and see." "I'll be gone for a while." "You want me to come with you?" "No, you'd better stay here and keep things straight." "Think you can stay out of trouble while I'm gone?" "The world won't fall apart." "You see that it doesn't." "Doc!" "Doc!" "Doc, we need you." " What's happened?" " Martha Rose fell off a ladder." "Now that is a dumb thing to do." " She's hurt real bad." " All right." "Let's go." "That stings, Mary Ellen." "You've taken some skin off the side of your face." "Does that hurt?" "I hurt all over." "I told her to stay off that ladder, but she wouldn't listen to me." "How far did she fall?" "Clear from the top of the chimney." "Squirrels had built a nest in it, and nothing would do except she had to make sure they weren't in there before we built a fire." "You could've called me, honey, I was right out in back." "Had to do it herself." " You having any trouble breathing?" " Some." "You've broken a few ribs, and you've got some bruises right here." "You're lucky you didn't break your neck." " She gonna be okay, Doc?" " Yep." "In time." "I've got a couple of calls I've got to make, and then I want to take her in to the hospital." "Do some x-rays." "Do I have to?" "I can't put you back together until I see where you're broken." "I want you to lie still, no jumping around, you hear?" "Yes." "I'll call the hospital in Charlottesville and tell them we're bringing her in." "Don't go." "If you don't need me, Curt, I'll stay with Martha Rose." "We'll take her over in my van." " Appreciate that, Doc." " I'll be right back." "Are you sure it's just broken ribs?" "Can't be sure without x-rays, but keep her quiet, don't let her move any more than necessary." "And watch her breathing." "Should be no trouble." "I'll get back as soon as I can." " Yes, sir." " Carry on." "I'm gonna start Chapter 8 with the fifth grade on Monday." "That's fine, Olivia." "I don't think you'll have any problems finishing the book by the end of the term." " How are your fractions coming, Elizabeth?" " Better." "If they are, I can't tell." "I'll be a..." "A little more careful next time." "What are you going to name the baby?" "If it's a little boy, we're gonna name him Joseph, after Matthew's father." "And if it's a little girl, we're gonna name her Margaret, after my mother." "I am trusting that with the name Joseph, he'll be more inclined toward carpentry than his father." "John'll be glad to help you with that when he gets back." "Thank you, Olivia, but I intend to see this project through to completion." "The instructions inform me that a child of 10 could assemble it." "Do you want me to try?" "That's a good idea, Elizabeth." "Why don't you just sit down there and read me the instructions?" "How are the other children?" "Seems like the only time I get to see them is at church on Sunday, and they usually rush off so fast, I don't get a chance to talk to them." "Jim-Bob isn't Jim-Bob any longer." "Now it's James Robert." "He's growing up." "They're all getting so big, rushing off in so many different directions, it's hard for me to keep track of them all." "How does Mary Ellen like being a doctor's wife?" "It was a stormy romance." "I have a feeling the marriage is going to be the same way." "She loves that wild man." "She's got her nursing." "We never thought it'd be like this when we were in school." "Is your throat getting tight?" "A little, but it's all right." "Could I just have a little water?" "Thanks." "You didn't like me too much when we were in school." "You weren't too crazy about me, either." " I was jealous of you." " Of me?" "You were the one who had everything." "Clothes." "A bicycle." "You remember the time we both tried out for Pocahontas in the school play?" "I could have wrung your neck when you showed up in a real buckskin dress and a braided black wig." "A lot of good it did." "You got the part." "Only 'cause I could yell louder and they could hear me in the back." "You were the worst Pocahontas I ever saw." "You were going to be a famous radio actress and marry a millionaire and live in New York." "I never got there." "I'm not a bit sorry, though." "I married a good man." "I have everything I'd ever want." "Martha Rose, is it getting hard for you to breathe?" "Russell?" " Russell!" " What is it?" "Martha Rose is having trouble breathing." "Go see if you can find Curt." " Can I do something for her?" " Yes, go find Curt!" "Just try to relax." " What happened?" " She's choking." "Muscle spasms closing the larynx." "Here, clean the area, quick." "What's wrong, Doc?" "I got to do some surgery." "Get out of here, Russell." "Get out!" " What are you going to do?" " Tracheotomy." "She needs air." "Hold her head, Mary Ellen." "Mary Ellen?" "Mary..." "Russell?" "Russell!" "Mr. Shelby?" "Yeah, yeah." "What can I do for you?" "My name is John Walton, Jr." "Mr. Carter over at the bank said I should come see you." "Said you might be buying some land." "Yeah." "Mr. Carter is right." "I'm just moving in here." "I'm not quite set up for business yet." "You got some land you want to sell?" "Not necessarily." "But I do have some and I was curious what it might bring." "All depends on where it is." "I mean, there's a lot of ground around here." "Some of it's worth something." "Now, a lot of it's not." "I know." "Right here..." "Right here we are in Charlottesville, right there." "Now, where's your property located?" "We're right up here." "It's Walton's Mountain." "And my piece is about 10 acres right up above there." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's marketable land." "There's nothing on it now." "It's just a meadow." "There's not even enough trees for logging or anything like that." "How much you want for it?" "It's not for sale, but..." "See, I was just wondering if, in the future, I should decide to sell it," "I'd like to know what it's worth." "I'll give you $4 an acre." "$4 an acre?" "That's what I'd pay you." "Now somebody else might give you more." "More?" "Mr. Shelby, how long you been in this part of the country?" "Virginia, a long time." "Blue Ridge Mountains, not so long." "Well, I..." "I tell you, it may not be very smart business for me to tell you this, but you can buy land all over these mountains for $1 an acre, maybe even less." "My offer still stands." "Listen, I'll tell you." "You give me..." "Yeah, here we are." "You give me an option to buy your land in 30 days, $4 an acre, and I'll give you $5 right now." "Now, if I don't buy the land, you get to keep the $5." "$5, that wouldn't help me out right now." "All right." "I'll pay you $40 cash right now." "$40 cash?" "That seems crazy." "I mean, what would you do with it?" "What would you do with a piece of land like that?" "Interstate Land is a diversified company." "We might fatten a few cattle up there." "It would be part of a long-range investment program." "Son, I'm not twisting your arm." "Now, you came in here and asked me what I'd pay, and I told you." "I know." "I know it." "I don't mean this personally, but" "$4 an acre, seems like there's got to be some catch to it somewhere." "If you feel that way, you shouldn't sell it." "I mean, if you've got any reservations at all, don't do it." "Doc, can I see Martha Rose?" "Quietly." "Mary Ellen, if there's anybody to blame, it's me." "I should've known that you weren't ready for that." "It's nothing to be ashamed of." "I've seen medical students keel over." "I want to go home, Curt." "I want to be with my family for a while." "Why don't you just forget it?" "Martha Rose is all right." "A couple of days in the hospital, she'll be fine." "I did such a slick job, the scar won't even show." "Come on, shake it off." "I wanna go home." "Hold steady, old fool!" "You know you're about the only mule in the county that's pampered like this." "You know my back has been kicking up." "It's predicting we're gonna have the biggest rain since the storm of '93." "I'm sorry it's bothering you." "Yeah, it's good to have your old body tell you what the weather's gonna be like, but I'd just as soon hear about it on the radio." "What are you brooding about?" "Mr. Johnson sold my note on the press to a bank in Charlottesville, and they've given me till Wednesday to come up with the $30 I owe." "Oh, dear." "You've been keeping real close-mouthed about it." "You and Daddy have had your problems." "This one was mine." "It was?" "You think maybe you've come up with an answer?" " I have." " What's that?" "You're not going to like it, Grandpa." "I sold the meadow." "I had to." "Come down to the meadow or the newspaper." "You have to understand something, Grandpa." "I had to set some priorities." "I would've lost that newspaper." "I swear to you, I would've lost it." "If I thought I could've kept that land in safekeeping for the future, you would've been the one person that I would've trusted." "Grandpa, I know how much the land means to you, but you got to understand how much my newspaper means to me." "We Waltons have kept that land through the Yankee soldiers, the carpetbaggers and the land speculators." "And to think..." "To think that you would be the one to just throw it away." "I'm sorry you feel that way." "But I'll tell you something, that piece of land is just sitting there." "It's not doing anybody any good." "Except for the squirrels that are sitting on it." "And the squirrels and the birds are gonna be sitting on it when you and me are long gone." "Ben, the land company has got a new project out on Route 6." "I'm going to take a look." "I'll pick you up at noon." " Okay, just don't be late." " I won't." "Afternoon, folks." "Hello, what can we do for you?" "Are you Mr. Godsey?" "That's what they call me." "And this is Mrs. Godsey." "How do you do?" "I'm Bill Shelby, Interstate Land Company." "We're interested in property in this area." " For what purpose, Mr. Shelby?" " For industrial development, ma'am." "See, my company made some geological studies, and we found a vein of low-grade gold ore running through here right near the surface." "Now all it needs is for somebody to come along and just kind of coax it out of the ground and there'd be a whole new industry here." "And how do you plan to do that coaxing?" "We call it hydraulic mining." "See, instead of digging the ore out, we use water under pressure." "I've heard about that hydraulic mining, and I don't think folks around here are interested in it." "As a matter of fact, I don't think folks around here like mining at all." "We've already bought some of the Walton land." "I'm astonished to hear that." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Ten acres." "Ten acres right up here, right next to your 12 acres, Mr. Godsey." "Sold to us by John Walton, Jr." "I didn't think John-Boy would sell that meadow for a hundred years." "I think he recognized the service he'd be doing the folks around here by bringing some jobs in." "Now, just what are you proposing, Mr. Shelby?" "I'd like to buy up a total of about 80 acres." "Now, if folks will cooperate, you'll see a business boom in this community." "You must have the only general store here in five miles..." " Six." " Six!" "Well, I tell you," "I see you doubling the size of this store within a year's time." "Any eventuality of that is certainly worth sober consideration." "Just how much were you planning to offer me for my land?" "I'm offering $4 an acre." "I don't believe we could consider anything under $4.50." "I think you'll have to make us a bit more of an appealing offer." "I'm sorry, folks, but I'm not authorized to offer any more than $4 an acre." "Now, I know that won't make you rich right off, but it's the long-term profits you got to think about." "We certainly have to think about the future." "Now, I have here what is called an option to buy." "Here, just put it right down here and we'll..." "Yeah, see, all it means, really, is that I pay you $5 right now, if you agree to sell me your land later, say 30 days, for the full price of $48." "Now if I don't buy it, you keep the $5." "It sounds good to me." "All it does, see, is protect me in case I can't round up the full 80 acres." "All right, you just..." "You just sign right there." "Prosperity is just around the corner!" "Now here's my check for $5." "I'm afraid you're gonna find that that 80 acres is divided up among quite a few people." "Yeah, as a matter of fact, you're the first I've been able to locate." "I tell you, there are more back roads around here than limbs on a tree." "Yeah, they're scattered all over the place." "Now, if you want, Mr. Godsey could stand up after the services and announce a community meeting." "That way, all the landowners who are interested could stay and listen to what you have to say." "Corabeth, that's a wonderful idea!" "I tell you, folks like you and John Walton are gonna put this place on the map." "Thank you very much." " Bye, now, Mr. Shelby." " Bye." "Well!" "What a nice surprise!" "Is Curt with you?" "He dropped me off." "He's going up to the Haleys." "Something wrong?" "I had an awful experience, Mama." "Martha Rose Travis got hurt." "Yeah, I know." "Erin heard it at the telephone office." "Curt called the hospital." "I was taking care of her and she started choking." "Curt had to do a tracheotomy." "I fainted." "Passed out, right on the floor." " How's Martha Rose?" " Fine." "Curt pulled her through it, no thanks to me." "I feel just terrible." "The first time I had to face something serious." "The first time Curt really needed me." "Mary Ellen, I'm sure that could happen to anyone who's not experienced." "But it shouldn't have happened to me." "I've never fainted in my entire life." "You don't know how I felt, waking up lying on the floor like a useless lump while Curt was saving Martha Rose's life." "Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't help." "I'm sure Curt understood." "He was kind and sorry and blamed himself." "He even said it could have been emotional because Martha Rose and I used to hate each other so." "That made it worse." "I never could stand weak, spineless people, and now I find out that I'm one of them." "Mary Ellen, you are not weak." "You're a human being, and stronger than most." "I'm sure this will never happen again." "How do I know it won't?" "How can I ever face another emergency, scared to death I'm gonna pass out again?" "Curt needs a wife he can depend on." "He'll never be able to depend on me." "You know, sometimes when things seem a little more than I can manage," "I go down to the church." "I sit there and I think about my problems." "Doesn't always solve them, but it does help lighten the load." "Your grandpa was right." "We're in for a good one." "I'll take care of Myrtle." "You lock up the mill." "Okay." "Jim-Bob, that tree is no place in a storm!" "Come on down!" "Rover doesn't wanna come down!" "Rover's a bird." "He can stay up there." "Now, come on down and let's close up the mill." "Come on!" "Where's Grandpa?" "I don't know." "I haven't seen him." "Why don't you ask Jason?" "He's in the barn." "Okay." "Jason?" " Yeah?" " Do you know where Grandpa is?" "Grandpa's pretty upset." "He took his wheelbarrow to the upper meadow to transplant some wildflowers." "I gotta talk to him." "Do you know what Shelby's gonna do with the land?" " We all know about it." " How do you know about it?" "Ike told Grandpa." "See, the agent bought some of Ike's land, too." "No!" "You know what that guy's doing?" "He's sneaking all over the county, trying to buy land." "He's probably using my name to do it." " What are you gonna do about it?" " I don't know." "Grandpa?" "Grandpa, I wanna talk to you." "Grandpa, I know you're angry with me about this and I don't blame you." "But you don't know the whole story on it." "You needed the money and you made your choice." "I made the choice 'cause I didn't know the facts!" "I didn't know they were gonna mine up here." "Shelby never told me that." "If he had told me that, I never would have sold in a million years." "That's why he didn't tell you." "Grandpa, I made a mistake." "I made a terrible mistake." "I gotta do something about it, but I don't know what to do about it." "The only thing I know is I want you with me." "I don't want you against me." "This land was yours to do with as you saw fit." "What's done is done." "We'll talk no more about it." " Could I help you with this?" " No, thank you." "Reckless." "Mary Ellen!" "Mary Ellen!" "Mrs. Fordwick, let me help you." "The baby's coming." "Matthew went to get Curtis." "Curt's way back in the hills." "Thank heaven you're here." " Zeb!" " Yo!" "Now you're just gonna make your back worse." "Can't be any worse than what it is right now, Esther." " Is it worth it?" " It is." "Stop that." "What are you going to do with those wild things?" "I'm going to preserve them." "Increase them." "There's a specimen here from every wildflower in the upper meadow." "Zeb, now, will you stop that?" "Now John-Boy selling that land of his has just got you going off in all directions." "You help me and give me a hand here, Esther." "I'm gonna make another trip." "Will you try to understand that, to John-Boy, that newspaper and his future mean more to him than a hunk of land on the top of that meadow." "If I don't increase and propagate them, they'll be lost to future generations just like the wild passenger pigeon was." "Will you listen to me?" "There's a storm coming." "You know that and you're acting like you don't have a brain cell worth..." "Here's a wild white azalea." "Englishmen had come over to our mountains over 200 years ago." "They took it back to the Kew Gardens." "It has adorned the gardens of royalty ever since." "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" "And here's a wild bloodroot." "You know, the Indian squaws, they used to use it to dye their clothes." "And the warriors would use it to paint their faces when they went on the warpath." "And here..." "Here, Esther." "Here's some wild mint from alongside the splashing streams." "For your tea." "What am I gonna do with you?" "I'm gonna plant these right below your window, Esther, so you can see them most everyday." "These are wild bird's-foot violets, for your hair." "You old fool." "I love you." "That goes both ways, old dear." "Here, come on." "Give me a hand here, would you?" "The pains are getting closer." "Mrs. Fordwick, you've got to let me go get Mom and Grandma." "No." "But they'll know what to do." "They've delivered babies." "Don't leave me." "It's gonna be..." "It's gonna be soon." "Okay, I'll need some scissors and some twine." "It's there, in the drawer." "I am so fortunate you're here." "I hope so, Rosemary." "That's the first time you've ever called me Rosemary." "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I did it." "You're not my student anymore, Mary Ellen." "You're my friend." "Ike?" "Ike, I wanna talk to you about this man Shelby." " Do you know where Curt is?" " No, is somebody sick?" "Rosemary Fordwick is about to have her baby." "The reverend came in here and he tried to raise Curt on the phone." "He couldn't, and so he went out looking for him." "Is she alone?" "I hope not." "He tore out of here so fast that I couldn't ask him any questions." "Breathe deep, Rosemary." "Elizabeth, you wanna help me put things on the table?" "Mommy, I'm..." "See, Miss Margaret, she's scared of the lightning." "So you tell Miss Margaret there's not a thing in the world to be afraid of." "At least she's inside." "Lord knows where the rest of the family is." "Grandma?" "Mama?" "Rosemary Fordwick's having her baby." "She's all by herself." " Where's Matthew?" " He's out looking for Curt." "Elizabeth, you go upstairs and stay with Erin." "We'll be back as soon as we can." "That's it." "Don't be afraid." "You're all right." "Just keep thinking about your baby." "Yeah." "Dear Lord." "It doesn't matter." "Don't worry." "I'm right here." "We ought to try and find Mary Ellen." "I know more about birthing a baby than Mary Ellen ever will." "Can't this contraption go any faster?" "I'm going as fast as I can, Grandma." "Do you want me to run us into a ditch?" "Of course I don't." "Just go faster." "This is spooky." " Why don't we tell ghost stories?" " Ben!" "This is no time to tell ghost stories." "I hope Rover's all right." "I hope Mrs. Fordwick's all right!" "It looks like you managed without us." " You and the baby all right?" " We're fine." "Rosemary?" "It's all over." "Our friend helped us." "Thank you, Mary Ellen." "It's a girl." "This is our Margaret." "This is our Mary-Margaret." " Howdy, Reverend." " John-Boy." "How's that new baby of yours doing?" "Strong and healthy." "Just like her mama." "You know we're all so happy for you." "Becoming a father is surely one of life's most solemn and moving experiences." " Reverend, I wanna ask you a favor." " Surely." "You know how sometimes on a special occasion we have the service up on the mountain?" "Yes." "I think tomorrow is gonna be one of those times." "Come on inside." "I think what happens tomorrow could affect every member of your congregation." "I like to think that every one of my sermons is powerful." ""This morning's service will be held in Walton's Meadow." ""Let us take advantage of this glorious day to refresh our spirits" ""and stir upon God's land." ""Reverend Fordwick."" "I do wish that I had been given the benefit of some advance notice so I could have worn more suitable shoes." "Mr. Godsey?" "Mr. Shelby." "Morning, folks." "I hope I'm not late." "No, you're not late at all." "Mr. Shelby, I'm afraid there has been a change of location." "Our reverend occasionally gets the urge to commune with nature." "So services will be held on top of the mountain this morning." "It's in walking distance." "I'll just join you, if you don't mind." "Fine." "Mr. Walton?" "Would you be kind enough to lead us in our closing prayer?" "O Heavenly Father, we thank you for our gathering together here in the glory of your universe." "We ask you, O Heavenly Father, to walk with the people of our community in good heart and in good health." "We also ask you, dear Father, to hold up a protective hand over all the little wild things, the birds, the animals, the trees and the plants, that live here on this earth with us and give us so much joy." "Amen." "Let's go catch butterflies." "Today, before we adjourn, one of our members wishes to make an announcement." "John?" "Thank you very much, Reverend." "I think maybe you all haven't got the word yet, but there's a man here today who's going to offer to buy your land from you." "Now, his name is Mr. Shelby, and he represents a land company, and what this land company of his wants to do is to destroy everything up here and turn it into a mining camp." "I'd like to try to keep you all from doing something that I did." "I made a big mistake." "I was in a pretty desperate situation and I found a way here of making a little money pretty quickly." "So I sold this piece of land." "This piece of land that belonged to me." "But I never would've sold it, not in a million years, if I knew what Mr. Shelby planned to do with it!" "Now, wait a minute." "All right, now I'd like to have my say here, now." "This..." "This young man here came to me." "I didn't go to him." "He had some property to sell." "I bought it, at a fair price." "I took an option on the Godsey's land, too." "Now, certainly I stand to profit." "I'm a businessman." "But look what a mining operation here could do." "It could bring jobs, prosperity, food on the table, getting out of debt and living like human beings again!" "Mr. Shelby, you neglected to tell me something that it would mean." "It would mean a mining town." "It'd mean a company town!" "You know what a company town means?" "It means that you blast everything that lives off the face of these mountains and it ends up scarred, and it ends up dead, just like the dustbowl is!" "And it means there's gonna be trucks rolling up and down your roads night and day, and there'll be rows and rows of them ugly clap-trap look-alike houses!" "Them company houses!" "Mrs. Brimmer, when you wake up in the morning and you look out of your window, don't you just like to look up here at this pine forest?" "It's a view I treasure." "I guarantee, if you sell your land up here, in a year's time, you'll be looking at nothing but slag heaps and mountains of dirt." "Some of you people had your families living up here for 100 years." "Some even longer than that." "And how come?" "What makes you stay up here?" "Is it because of the money underneath the ground?" "Or is it because of the beautiful things on top of it?" "All right, all right." "All this makes right pretty talk." "Now let's get practical." "When it comes right down to it, what good is a view if you don't have any money to buy food for your kids or put clothes on their backs?" "You hold on a minute there, Mr..." "Whatever." "We here, and our family and these families here, we've kept care of our families and fed and clothed them for over 100 years, and I think we could continue to do so without destroying the land." "This land is given to us here in trust, just for a little while, to take care of, and if you blow it up and blast it up and mine it and pour cement all over it, it's gone forever!" "Mr. Walton, you can't stand still!" "The world is changing." "This is 1937." "We have radios, we have airplanes." "The days of Daniel Boone are gone." "America is a highly civilized, mechanized country." "What we're planning here is progress!" "Whose progress?" "Now, I believe in progress, too!" "It means working together with your fellow men and helping to hold on to some of the wonders of this world for our children and our children's grandchildren to enjoy." "Where will we be?" "Or our great-great-grandchildren?" "Where will be the air and the trees?" "Clean air for them to breathe?" "You'll always have trees and clean air for people to breathe." "Where?" "Where will they be?" "After you and your kind get through with it, just where will they be?" "Thank you, Grandpa." "I think you..." "You heard what my grandfather had to say about it." "But you all gotta make up your own minds." "If you want to sell your land, then Mr. Shelby is right here." "I think you ought to step right up and talk to him about it." "I guess I could use a few dollars in my pocket." "Now, that's all I'm saying." "Mr. Shelby's your man." "Just step right up." "I don't wanna raise my girls around a mining camp." "You ever see country after hydraulic machines were through with it?" "I've been told hydraulic mining isn't half as bad as strip mining." "Yeah, why don't you go over to the other side of Rockfish and take a look?" "Make you sick, mister." "This mountain will never be the same if we let them in here." "We got to stand up to these people." "I guess I kind of went off the deep end." "You were pushed a little." "Ladies and gentlemen, our service for today has concluded." "I'll see you in church next Sunday, all right?" "I reckon you'd like to sell me back my land now, wouldn't you, Mr. Shelby?" "No." "I think I'll hang on to it." "But why?" "I mean, 10 acres, that's not enough to mine on." "What would you want with 10 acres of land?" "Let's just say I'm keeping my toehold here." "I'll be back someday, when all you bird watchers and flower lovers are gone." "I hope that time never comes." "Although it had been spared, that piece of land was never again to belong to us." "Mr. Shelby has never returned, but the flower lovers and bird watchers are waiting." "I saw Mrs. Fordwick's baby today." "How'd she look?" "Well, I don't know." " You saw her, didn't you?" " Sure." "Well?" "What do you think?" "Not so hot." "Elizabeth, in a few weeks, little Mary-Margaret will be a beautiful baby." "That's a relief." "Good night, everybody." "English"