"Did you see what I saw?" "Come on, Joe." "Open her up." "We're gonna have a big day today." "Come on, get the door open." " You in a hurry?" " Yeah, I sure am." "You're a fool." "Come on." "All right, all right, ladies and gentlemen, let us begin." "Now, will the bride and groom kindly step forward?" "Will Kane and Amy Fowler, you appear before me in my capacity as justice of the peace of this township to be joined together in the bonds of holy matrimony." " Man, it sure is hot." " Hot?" "You call this hot?" "Well, I'll be..." " What's the matter?" " Thought I saw Ben Miller." " He's down in Texas somewhere." " I know." "Looked like Pierce and Colby, too." "It couldn't be, though." "My goodness gracious." " Noon train on time?" " Yes, sir." "At least, I think so, sir." "Don't know a reason why it shouldn't be, Mr Pierce." "How are you, Mr Miller?" "Mr Pierce?" "Mr Colby?" "Do you, Will Kane, take Amy to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?" "I do." "Do you, Amy, take Will to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?" "I do." "The ring, please." "Then, by the authority vested in me by the laws of this territory," "I pronounce you man and wife." "I can't speak for the rest of you men, but I claim an ancient privilege." "Moving mighty fast for a Sunday." "Will!" "All those people." "Amy, seems to me like people ought to be alone when they get married." "I know." "I'm going to try, Amy." "I'll do my best." "I will, too." "The honeymoon is officially over." "Come on, everybody." "And don't look so shocked." "No way to treat a man on his honeymoon day, is it?" "Well, one more ceremony and Will's a free man, more or less." "Well, Marshal, turn in your badge." "To tell you the truth, I kind of hate to do this without your new marshal being here." "Will, Fuller, Howe and I are the entire Board of Selectmen of this community." "We're also your very good friends." "With the fine job you've done here, I feel free to say, and the judge will bear me out, this town will be safe till tomorrow." "You win." "But don't ever marry a Quaker." "She'll have you running a store." " I can't picture you doing that, Will." " I can." "So can I. And a good thing, too." "Thank you." "You didn't talk that way when you were wearing a star." "All right, it's coming off." "But I got to be paid first." "Let me down!" " Not till you kiss me." " Let me down, you fool." "Nice delaying action, Will." "You should've been a lawyer." " I was cut out for bigger sport." " Marshal." "Marshal, telegram for you." "It's terrible." "It's shocking." "They've pardoned Frank Miller." " What is it, Will?" " I don't believe it." "A week ago, too." "Nice of them to let you know." "And that ain't all." "Ben Miller's down at the depot now with Jim Pierce and Jack Colby." " He asked about the noon train." " The noon train?" "Will, you get out of this town." "Get out of this town this very minute." " Come on, let's get him going." " What is it?" "Never mind that now." "Just get going and don't stop till you get to Clarksburg." "But what is it, Mr Howe?" "Don't you worry, madam." "You'll be out of town in a minute and everything'll be all right." "Go on, Will, we'll take care of everything." "I think I ought to stay." "Are you crazy?" "Think of Amy." " Goodbye." " Goodbye, Amy." "Don't you worry." "Everything will be all right." " Well done, boy." " Hurry." "That's funny." "What?" "Well, you can't see now." "Kane and his new wife just took off in a big hurry." " What's so funny?" " I mean a big hurry." "Hey, you don't suppose Kane's scared of those three gunnies?" "Well, you didn't see him." "I never saw him whip a horse that way." " Sam!" " Come in, Helen." "Ben Miller is in town." "He has two of the old bunch with him." "I guess I'll take a look around." " Why are you stopping?" " It's no good." "I've got to go back, Amy." "Why?" "This is crazy." "I haven't even got any guns." "Then let's go on." "Hurry." "No, that's what I've been thinking." "They're making me run." "I've never run from anybody before." " Well, I don't understand any of this." " Well, I haven't got time to tell you." " Then don't go back, Will." " I've got to." "That's the whole thing." " Kane's back." " I don't believe it." "I just seen him." " How many coffins we got?" " Two." "We're going to need at least two more no matter how you figure." "You'd better get busy, Fred." "Please, Will, if you'd just tell me what this is all about." "I sent a man up five years ago for murder." "He was supposed to hang." "But up north, they commuted it to life." "Now he's free." "I don't know how." "Anyway, it looks like he's coming back." " I still don't understand." " He's a..." "Well, he was always wild, kind of crazy." "He'll probably make trouble." "But that's no concern of yours, not anymore." "I'm the one who sent him up." "Well, that was part of your job." "That's finished now." "They've got a new marshal." "He won't be here till tomorrow." "Seems to me I've got to stay." "Anyway, I'm the same man, with or without this." "Well, that isn't so." "I expect he'll come looking for me." "Three of his old bunch are waiting at the depot." "That's exactly why we ought to go." "They'll just come after us." "Four of them." "And we'd be all alone on the prairie." "We've got an hour." " What's an hour?" " Well, we could..." "What's 100 miles?" "We'd never be able to keep that store, Amy." "They'd come after us and we'd have to run again as long as we live." "No, we wouldn't." "Not if they didn't know where to find us." "Oh, Will." "Will, I'm begging you, please let's go." "I can't." "Don't try to be a hero." "You don't have to be a hero." "Not for me." "I'm not trying to be a hero." "If you think I like this, you're crazy." "Look, Amy, this is my town." "I've got friends here." "I'll swear in a bunch of special deputies and with a posse behind me, maybe there won't even be any trouble." " You know there'll be trouble." " Then it's better to have it here." "I'm sorry, honey." "I know how you feel about it." "Do you?" "Of course I do." "I know it's against your religion and all." " Sure I know how you feel." " But you're doing it just the same." "Oh, Will, we were married just a few minutes ago." "We've got our whole lives ahead of us." "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" "You know I've only got an hour and I've got lots to do." "Stay at the hotel until it's over." "No, I won't be here when it' s over." "You're asking me to wait an hour to find out if I'm going to be a wife or a widow." "I say it's too long to wait." "I won't do it." "Amy!" "I mean it, if you won't go with me now, I'll be on that train when it leaves here." "I've got to stay." " Glad you got here, Perce." " Are you?" "Have you forgotten that I'm the man who passed sentence on Frank Miller?" "You shouldn't have come back, Will." "It was stupid." "I figured I had to." "I figured I had to stay." "You figured wrong." "I can deputise a posse." "Ten, 12 guns is all I need." "Yeah, my intuition tells me otherwise." "Why?" "No time for a lesson in civics, my boy." "In the fifth century B.C., the citizens of Athens, having suffered grievously under a tyrant, managed to depose and banish him." "However, when he returned some years later with an army of mercenaries, those same citizens not only opened the gates for him, but stood by while he executed members of the legal government." "A similar thing happened about eight years ago in a town called Indian Falls." "I escaped death only through the intercession of a lady of somewhat dubious reputation, and at the cost of a very handsome ring which once belonged to my mother." " Unfortunately, I have no more rings." " You're a judge." "I've been a judge many times in many towns." "And I hope to live to be a judge again." "I can't tell you what to do." "Why must you be so stupid, Will?" "Have you forgotten what he is?" "Have you forgotten what he's done to people?" "Have you forgotten that he's crazy?" "Don't you remember when he sat in that chair and said," ""You'll never hang me." "I'll come back." ""You'll never hang me." "I'll come back." ""I'll kill you, Will Kane." "I swear it, I'll kill you"?" "Here you are, ma'am." "This'll take you to Saint Louis." "Thank you." "Maybe you'd rather wait somewheres else." "Like at the hotel, maybe." "All right, thank you." "I'm awfully sorry about all this, Mrs Kane." "But don't you worry, the marshal will take care of himself all right." "Thank you very much." "Hey, that wasn't here five years ago." "So what?" "Nothing." "Yet." "Harvey, don't you think Kane will be looking for you about now?" "Yeah." "You're really sore at him." "Wouldn't you be if you were me?" "I suppose." "If I were you." "Be back in a little while." " Bye, Will." " Goodbye." " Think I'm letting you down, don't you?" " No." "Look, this is just a dirty little village in the middle of nowhere." "Nothing that happens here is really important." "Now get out." "There isn't time." "What a waste." "Good luck." "Johnny." " Why aren't you in church?" " Why ain't you?" " Look, will you do something for me?" " Sure." "Go find Joe Henderson, Mart Howe and Sam Fuller" " and tell them I want them here." " Right." " And then find Harv Pell." " Don't have to do that, here I am." " Well, where have you been?" " Busy." " You know what's doing?" " Sure." "Well, come on, we got lots to do." "Hold up a second." "This ain't really your job, you know." "Well, that's what everybody keeps telling me." "When I tell you, it means something, so you can just listen a second." "All right, I'm listening." "Now, this is the way I see it." "If you'd gone, with the new marshal not due here till tomorrow," "I'd be in charge around here, right?" "Right." "Well, tell me this, then, if I'm good enough to hold down the job when there's trouble, how come the city fathers didn't trust me with it permanent?" "I don't know." " Don't you?" " No." "That's funny, I figured you carried a lot of weight." "Maybe they didn't ask me." "Maybe they figured you were too young." "You think I'm too young, too?" "You sure act like it sometimes." "Come on." "It's very simple, Will." "All you gotta do is tell the old boys when they come that I'm the new marshal." "And tomorrow they can tell the other fellow they're sorry, but the job's filled." " You really mean it, don't you?" " Sure." " Well, I can't do it." " Why not?" "If you don't know, it's no use me telling you." "You mean you won't do it." "Have it your way." "All right, the truth is you probably talked against me from the start." "You've been sore about me and Helen Ramírez right along, ain't you?" "You and Helen Ramírez?" "It so happens I didn't know, and it doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other." "You ought to know that." "Yeah, you been washed up for more than a year." "Oh, you go out and get yourself married, only you can't stand anybody taking your place there, can you?" " Especially me." " You're a..." "I haven't got time, Harv." "Okay, then let's get down to business." "You want me to stick, you put the word in for me like I said." "Sure, I want you to stick." "But I'm not buying it." "It's got to be up to you." "I thought you'd grew up by now." "I thought your disposition might have sweetened up a little down in Abilene." "I guess we're both wrong." "What's so funny?" "Did you really think you could put that over on Kane?" "Why not?" "When are you going to grow up?" "I'm getting tired of that kind of talk." " Then grow up." " Cut it out!" "All right." "Why shouldn't he have gone for it?" "He needs me." "He'll need me plenty when Frank Miller gets here." "That's possible." "Should've had me made marshal to begin with." "He's just sore, is all." "Sore about you and me." " Is he?" " Sure." " You told him?" " Sure." "You are a fool." "Why?" "Didn't you want him to know?" "Hey, who did the walking out, anyway?" "You or him?" "Get out, Harvey." " I might just do that." " Then do it." " You don't mean that." " Try me." "You're gonna talk different when Frank Miller gets here." "You might want somebody around you then when you try to explain to him about Kane." " I can take care of myself." " Sure." "Only from what I've heard, you might not be so pretty when he gets through with you." " I won't be back." " Good." "Come in." "I just saw Harvey." "Is everything all right?" "I think I have to talk with Mr Weaver." " You're getting out?" " Yes." "You want me to give Kane a hand?" " No." " All right." "May I wait here for the noon train?" "I said, may I wait in the lobby until noon?" "Sure, lady." "Thank you." " You're Mrs Kane, ain't you?" " Yes." " You're leaving on the noon train?" " Yes." "But your husband ain't?" "No." "Why?" "No reason, but it's mighty interesting." "Now, me, I wouldn't leave this town at noon for all the tea in China." "No, sir." "It's going to be quite a sight to see." " Will, I just heard about..." " Hello, Herb." "You can count on me." "You know that, don't you?" "I was figuring I could." "The way you cleaned this town up, you made it fit for women and kids to live in." "Miller nor nobody else will ever drag it down again." "I was hoping people would feel that way." "What other way is there?" "How many men you got lined up?" "None, yet." "Well, you better get going, man." "I'll be back in 10 minutes, loaded and prepared." "Where is he?" "He's coming up the back way." "There's a careful man." "Come in, Mr Weaver." " Hello, Mrs Ramírez." " Hello." " Sit down, please." " Thanks." " Is there anything wrong, Mrs Ramírez?" " No." "Then why did you send for me?" "I'm leaving town." "I want to sell the store." " You want to buy me out?" " Well, how much did you want?" "$2,000." "I think that's fair." "Well, it's fair, all right, but I couldn't raise that much right now." " How much can you raise?" " Oh, $1,000." "All right." "You can pay Sam the rest in six months and he'll get it to me." "A deal?" "Yes, ma'am." "All right, Mr Weaver." "Thank you." "Mrs Ramírez, I want to thank you for everything." "I mean, when you first called me in and put the deal to me about staking me in the store and being a silent partner." "You know, my wife thought..." "What I really mean to say is that you've been real decent to me right along." "And I want you to know that I've been honest with you." "I know you have, Mr Weaver." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Mrs Ramírez, and good luck to you." "Thank you." " Oh, Will." " Amy." "You've changed your mind." "I thought you had changed yours." "No, Will, I have my ticket." "I see." "Open 19 and clean it up good." "Mr Miller's very particular." " Is Helen Ramírez in?" " I guess so." "Think you can find it all right?" "Come in." "What are you looking at?" "You think I have changed?" "Well, what do you want?" "You want me to help you?" "You want me to ask Frank to let you go?" "You want me to beg for you?" "Well, I would not do it." "I would not lift a finger for you." "I came to tell you he was coming." "I should have figured you'd know about it." "I know about it." "I think you ought to get out of town." "I might not be able to..." "Well," " anything can happen." " I am not afraid of him." "I know you're not, but you know how he is." "I know how he is." "Maybe he doesn't know." " He's probably got letters." " Probably." "Nothing in life is free." " I'm getting out." "I'm packing now." " That's good." "Goodbye, Helen." "Kane, if you're smart, you will get out, too." " I can't." " I know." " May I ask you something?" " Sure." " Who is Miss Ramírez?" " Mrs Ramírez?" "She used to be a friend of your husband's a while back." "Before that, she was a friend of Frank Miller's." "I see." "Thank you." " You don't like my husband, do you?" " No." " Why?" " Lots of reasons." "One thing, this place was always busy when Frank Miller was around." "I'm not the only one." "There's plenty people around here think he's got a comeuppance coming." "You asked me, ma'am, so I'm telling you." "You know, I think I'll go get some liquor." " Do you have to have it?" " Yeah." " If you're going after that woman..." " I said I was going for liquor." " You keep away from Kane." " Sure, I can wait." "Hiya, Harvey." " Hello, Harv." " How are you?" " Where's the tin star?" " I turned it in." "I quit." "Smart move." "I didn't ask you for your opinion." "Hey, Ben!" "Hey, how are you, Ben?" "Look who's here." " How are you, Ben?" " All right, give me a bottle." "Sure thing." " It's been a long time, Ben." " Yeah." "Yes, sir." "How's Frank?" "He's not complaining." "Well, there'll be a hot time in the old town tonight, eh, Ben?" "I wouldn't be surprised." "I'll give you odds." "Kane's dead five minutes after Frank gets off the train." " That's not much time." " That's all Frank'll need because I..." "You carry a badge and a gun, Marshal." "You had no call to do that." "You're right." "No." "I guess you all know why I'm here." "I need deputies." "I'll take all I can get." "You must be crazy coming in here to raise a posse." "Frank's got friends in this room." "You ought to know that." "Some of you were special deputies when we broke this bunch." "I need you again." "Now." "Things were different then, Kane." "You had six steady deputies to start off with." "Every one a top gun." "You ain't got but two now." "You ain't got two." "Harv Pell here says he just quit." "Why?" "That's between the two of us." "You're asking an awful lot, Kane, considering the kind of man Frank Miller is." "All right, we all know what Miller's like." "That's why I'm here." "How about it?" "Mildred." "Mildred, he's coming." "Now, you do like I told you." "I'm not home." "Don't let him in." "No matter what he says, I'm not home." "Sam, he's your friend." "Don't argue with me." "He'll be here in a second." "He won't believe me." "He'll know I'm lying." "You do like I tell you." " Hello, Mrs Fuller, is Sam in?" " No." "No, he isn't." "Do you know where he is, Mrs Fuller?" "It's important to me that I find him." "I think..." "He's in church, Will." "He's gone to church." "Without you?" "I'm gonna go in a little while, as soon as I dress." "Thank you, Mrs Fuller." "Goodbye." "Now, what do you want?" "Do you want me to get killed?" "Do you want to be a widow?" "Is that what you want?" "No, Sam, no." "Kane." " What's the matter, Jimmy?" " Nothing." "I've been looking for you." "I want a gun." "I want to be with you when that train comes in." " Can you handle a gun?" " Sure I can." "I used to be good." " Honest." " But why..." "It ain't just getting even." "It's a chance, see?" "It's what I need." "Please, Kane, let me get in on this." "All right, Jimmy, I'll call you if I need you." "Get yourself a drink meanwhile, huh?" "Come in, Sam." "You're leaving town?" " Where are you going?" " I don't know yet." "That doesn't make much sense." "You're afraid, huh?" "Afraid of Miller?" "No." "Sure you are, or you wouldn't be running." "You got nothing to be worried about as long as I'm around." "You know that." "I'm not scared of Miller." "I'll take him on any time." "I believe you." "Then why are you going?" " You cutting out with Kane?" " Oh, Harvey." " Then why are you going?" " What difference does it make?" "It's Kane." "It's Kane, I know it's Kane." "It isn't Kane, but I'm going to tell you something about you and your friend Kane." "You're a good-looking boy." "You have big, broad shoulders, but he is a man." "It takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man, Harvey, and you have a long way to go." "You know something?" "I don't think you will ever make it." "Let me tell you something." "You're not going anywhere." "You're staying here with me." "It's going to be just like it was before." "You want to know why I'm leaving?" "Then listen." "Kane will be a dead man in half an hour, and nobody is going to do anything about it." "And when he dies, this town dies, too." "I can feel it." "I am all alone in the world." "I have to make a living." "So I'm going someplace else." "That's all." "And as for you, I don't like anybody to put his hands on me unless I want him to." "And I don't like you to anymore." "Our text today is from Malachi, Chapter Four." ""For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven," ""and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be..."" "Yes?" "I'm sorry, Parson." "I don't want to disturb the services." "You already have." "You don't come to this church very often, Marshal." "And when you got married today, you didn't see fit to be married here." "What could be so important to bring you here now?" "I need help." "It's true, I haven't been a church-going man." "And maybe that's a bad thing." "And I didn't get married here today because my wife's a Quaker." "But I came here for help because there are people here." "I'm sorry, Marshal." "Say what you have to say." "Maybe some of you already know it, but if you don't, it looks like Frank Miller's coming back on the noon train." "I need all the special deputies I can get." "Well, what are we waiting for?" "Let's go." "Hold it a minute." "Hold it." "Before we go rushing out into something that ain't gonna be so pleasant, let's be sure we know what this is all about." "What I want to know is this." "Ain't it true that Kane ain't no longer marshal?" "And ain't it true there's personal trouble between him and Miller?" "All right, all right." "Quiet, everybody!" "If there's a difference of opinion, let everybody have a say." "But let's do it like grown-up people." "And let's get all the kids out of the building." " Anything on the train?" " It's on time as far as I know, sir." "I say it don't really matter if there's anything personal between Miller and the marshal here." "We all know who Miller is and what Miller is." "What's more, we're wasting time." "All right." "Coy." "Yes, we all know who Miller is." "But we put him away once." "And who saved him from hanging?" "The politicians up north." "I say this is their mess." "Let them take care of it." " Sawyer." " Well, I say this." "We've been paying good money right along for a marshal and deputies." "Now the first time there's any trouble, we're supposed to take care of it ourselves." "Well, what have we been paying for all this time?" "I say we're not peace officers." "This ain't our job." "I've been saying right along, we ought to have more deputies." "If we did, we wouldn't be facing this thing now." "Just a minute." "Just a minute." "Everybody, quiet!" "Keep it orderly." "You had your hand up, Ezra." "I can't believe I've heard some of the things that have been said here." "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves." "Sure, we paid this man and he was the best marshal this town ever had." "It ain't his trouble, it's ours." "I tell you, if we don't do what's right, we're gonna have plenty more trouble." "So there ain't but one thing to do now." "And you all know what that is." "Go ahead, Kibbee." "This whole thing's been handled wrong." "Here's those three killers walking the streets bold as brass." "Why didn't you arrest them, Marshal?" "Why didn't you put them in jail where they ought to be?" "Then we'd only have Miller to worry about instead of the four of them." "I haven't anything to arrest them for, Mr Trumbull." "They haven't done anything." "There's no law against them sitting on a bench at the depot." "I can't listen to any more of this." "What's the matter with you people?" "Don't you remember when a decent woman couldn't walk down the street in broad daylight?" "Don't you remember when this wasn't a fit place to bring up a child?" "How can you sit here and talk and talk and talk like this?" "What are we all getting so excited about?" "How do we know Miller's on that train, anyway?" "Well, we can be pretty sure he's on it." "Time's getting short." "Parson, you got anything to say?" "I don't know." "The Commandments say, "Thou shalt not kill."" "But we hire men to go out and do it for us." "The right and the wrong seem pretty clear here." "But if you're asking me to tell my people to go out and kill and maybe get themselves killed," "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say." "I'm sorry." "All right." "I'll say this, what this town owes Will Kane here, it can never pay with money." "And don't ever forget it." "He's the best marshal we ever had, maybe the best marshal we'll ever have." "So if Miller comes back here today, it's our problem, not his." "It's our problem because this is our town." "We made it with our own hands out of nothing." "And if we want to keep it decent, keep it growing, we've got to think mighty clear here today." "And we've got to have the courage to do what we think is right, no matter how hard it is." "All right." "There's gonna be fighting when Kane and Miller meet." "And somebody's going to get hurt, that's for sure." "Now, people up north are thinking about this town." "Thinking mighty hard, thinking about sending money down here to put up stores and to build factories." "It'll mean a lot to this town." "An awful lot." "But if they're gonna read about shooting and killing in the streets, what are they gonna think then?" "I'll tell you." "They're gonna think this is just another wide-open town, and everything we worked for will be wiped out." "In one day, this town will be set back five years." "And I don't think we can let that happen." "Mind you, you all know how I feel about this man." "He's a mighty brave man." "A good man." "He didn't have to come back here today." "And for his sake and the sake of this town, I wish he hadn't." "Because if he's not here when Miller comes, my hunch is there won't be any trouble." "Not one bit." "Tomorrow we'll have a new marshal, and if we can all agree here to offer him our services," "I think we can handle anything that comes along." "Now, to me, that makes sense." "To me, that's the only way out of this." "Will, I think you better go while there's still time." "It's better for you, and it's better for us." "Thanks." "Why don't you put that thing away?" " Bang, bang, bang!" " Bang, bang, you're dead, Kane!" " I sent a kid to find you." "Didn't he come?" " He was here." "You've been my friend all my life." "You got me this job." "You made them send for me." "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be like you, Mart." "You've been a lawman all your life." "Yeah, yeah, all my life." "It's a great life." "You risk your skin catching killers, and the juries turn them loose so they can come back and shoot at you again." "If you're honest, you're poor your whole life." "And in the end, you wind up dying all alone on some dirty street." "For what?" "For nothing." "For a tin star." "Listen, the judge has left town," "Harvey's quit, and I'm having trouble getting deputies." "It figures." "It's all happened too sudden." "People got to talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it." "Maybe because down deep they don't care." "They just don't care." "What'll I do, Mart?" "I was hoping you wouldn't come back." "You know why I came back." "Well, not to commit suicide." "Sometimes..." "Sometimes prison changes a man." "Not him." "This is all planned." "That's why they're all here." "Get out, Will." "Get out." "Will you come down to that depot with me?" "No." "You know how I feel about you." "But I ain't going with you." "Seems like a man with busted knuckles didn't need arthritis, too, don't it?" "No, I couldn't do nothing for you." "You'd be worried about me." "You'd get yourself killed worrying about me." "It's too one-sided like it is." " So long, Mart." " So long." "It's all for nothing, Will." "It's all for nothing." "Excuse me, what is Mrs Ramírez's room number?" " Three." " Thank you." "Come in." " Yes?" " Mrs Ramírez?" "I'm Mrs Kane." "I know." " May I come in?" " If you like." " Sit down, Mrs Kane." " No, thank you." " What do you want?" " Oh, please..." "It's just that I'm afraid if I sat down, I wouldn't be able to get up again." " Why?" " It wasn't easy for me to come here." "Why?" "Look, Mrs Ramírez, Will and I were married an hour ago." "We were all packed and ready to leave, and then this thing happened and he wouldn't go." "I did everything." "I pleaded, I threatened, I just couldn't reach him." " And now?" " Well, that man downstairs, the clerk, he said things about you and Will." "I've been trying to understand why he wouldn't go with me, and now all I can think of is that it's got to be because of you." "What do you want from me?" "Let him go." "He still has a chance." "Let him go." " I cannot help you." " Please." "He isn't staying for me." "I haven't spoken to him for a year until today." " I am leaving on the same train you are." " Then what is it?" "Why is he staying?" "If you don't know, I cannot explain it to you." "Well, thank you, anyway." "You've been very kind." "What kind of woman are you?" "How can you leave him like this?" "Does the sound of guns frighten you that much?" "No, Mrs Ramírez, I've heard guns." "My father and my brother were killed by guns." "They were on the right side, but that didn't help them any when the shooting started." "My brother was 19." "I watched him die." "That's when I became a Quaker." "I don't care who's right or who's wrong." "There's got to be some better way for people to live." "Will knows how I feel about it." "Just a minute." "Are you going to wait for the train downstairs?" " Yes." " Why don't you wait here?" "Well, I got no use for Kane, but I'll say this, he's got guts." "You're mighty broad-minded, Joe." "Now, you, Harv, I always figured you for guts, but I never gave you any credit for brains, till now." "What's that mean?" "Nothing." "Only it takes a smart man to know when to back away." "If I can't pick my company when I drink in here, I ain't coming in here anymore." "Okay." "All right." "Look at the boy with the tin star." "All right, if that's the way you want it." "All right, boys, what are you going to have?" "Put a saddle on him, Kane." "Go on, saddle him up." "He'll go a long way before he tires." "That's what you were thinking, wasn't it?" " Kind of." " You scared?" "I guess so." "Sure." "It stands to reason." "Come on, let me help you." "Seems like all everybody and his brother wants is to get me out of town." "Well, nobody wants to see you get killed." "Hold it." "Where are you going?" "I don't know." "Back to the office, I guess." "Oh, no." "You're getting on that horse and you're getting out." "What's the matter with you?" "You were ready to do it yourself." "You said so." "Look, Harv." "I thought about it because I was tired." "You think about a lot of things when you're tired." " But I can't do it." " Why?" "I don't know." "Get on that horse, Will." "Why is it so important to you?" "You don't care if I live or die." "Come on." "Don't shove me, Harv." "I'm tired of being shoved." "I hate this town." "I always hated it." "To be a Mexican woman in a town like this." "I understand." "You do?" "That's good." "I don't understand you." "No matter what you say." "If Kane was my man, I'd never leave him like this." "I'd get a gun." "I'd fight." "Why don't you?" "He is not my man." "He's yours." "You got some clean water I can use?" "Why, sure, Marshal." "Sure, sure." "Sit down." "Run into some kind of trouble, Marshal?" "No, no trouble." " What are you building?" " Oh, just fixing things up out back." "Now take it easy, Mr Kane." "Just settle back." "That's it." " Fred, Fred, hold it a while, will you?" " Hold it?" "You just stop till I tell you to start again." " Thanks." " You're welcome, Marshal." "No charge..." "You can tell your man he can go back to work now." "Will!" "I guess I forgot about you, Herb." "I'm sure glad you're here." "I couldn't figure out what was keeping you." " Time's getting pretty short." " Sure is." "When are the other boys gonna get here?" "We got to make plans." "The other boys?" "There aren't any other boys, Herb." " It's just you and me." " You're joking." "No, I couldn't get anybody." "I don't believe it." "This town ain't that low." "I couldn't get anybody." " Then it's just you and me." " I guess so." "You and me against Miller and all the rest of them?" "That's right." "Do you want out, Herb?" "Well, it isn't that I want out, no." "You see..." "Look, I'll tell you the truth." " I didn't figure on anything like this, Will." " Neither did I." "I volunteered." "You know I did." "You didn't have to come to me." "I was ready." "Sure, I'm ready now." "But this is different, Will." "This ain't like what you said it was gonna be." "This is just plain committing suicide." "And for what?" "Why me?" "I'm no lawman." "I just live here." "I got nothing personal against nobody." "I got no stake in this." "I guess not." "There's a limit how much you can ask a man." "I got a wife and kids." "What about my kids?" "Go on home to your kids, Herb." "You get some of the other fellows, Will, and I'll still go through with it." "Go on home, Herb." "What do you want?" "I found them, Marshal, like you wanted me to." " All but Mr Henderson." " I found him." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "Marshal, listen." "Let me fight with you." "I ain't afraid." " No." " Please let me, Marshal." "You're a kid." "You're a baby." "I'm 16." "And I can handle a gun, too." "You ought to see me." "You're 14." "And what do you want to lie for?" "Well, I'm big for my age." "Please, Marshal." "Well, you're big for your age all right, but, no." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Go on." "Hey, Charlie, you can go home now." "Thanks, Marshal." "I sure appreciate it." "I certainly do." "You don't happen to know if the saloon's open, do you, Will?" " I said go home, Charlie." " Yes, sir." " So long, Helen." " Goodbye, Sam." "Take care." " Hello, Frank." " How are you, Frank?" " Everything ready?" " Sure." "Just the way you want it, Frank." " Yeah, we got your gun over here." " Let's get started, then." " Can't you wait?" " Just want to be ready." "Miller." "Go!" "All right, Kane." "Come on out." "Come out, or your friend here will get it the way Pierce did." "I'll come out." "Let her go." "As soon as you walk through that door." "Come on." "I'll hold my fire." "As soon as you walk through that door." "Come on." "I'll hold my fire." "(TEX RITTER SINGING HIGH NOON)" "(INAUDIBLE)" "(CHURCH BELL TOLLING)" "Did you see what I saw?" "Come on, Joe." "Open her up." "We're gonna have a big day today." "Come on, get the door open." " You in a hurry?" " Yeah, I sure am." "You're a fool." "Come on." "All right, all right, ladies and gentlemen, let us begin." "Now, will the bride and groom kindly step forward?" "(ORGAN PLAYING)" "METTRICK:" "Will Kane and Amy Fowler, you appear before me in my capacity as justice of the peace of this township to be joined together in the bonds of holy matrimony." " Man, it sure is hot." " Hot?" "You call this hot?" "Well, I'll be..." " What's the matter?" " Thought I saw Ben Miller." " He's down in Texas somewhere." " I know." "Looked like Pierce and Colby, too." "It couldn't be, though." "My goodness gracious." " Noon train on time?" " Yes, sir." "At least, I think so, sir." "Don't know a reason why it shouldn't be, Mr Pierce." "How are you, Mr Miller?" "Mr Pierce?" "Mr Colby?" "Do you, Will Kane, take Amy to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?" "I do." "Do you, Amy, take Will to be your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward until death do you part?" "I do." "The ring, please." "Then, by the authority vested in me by the laws of this territory," "I pronounce you man and wife." "(ALL CHATTERING EXCITEDLY)" "I can't speak for the rest of you men, but I claim an ancient privilege." "(LAUGHING)" "Moving mighty fast for a Sunday." "(PEOPLE CHATTERING)" "Will!" "All those people." "Amy, seems to me like people ought to be alone when they get married." "I know." "I'm going to try, Amy." "I'll do my best." "I will, too." "The honeymoon is officially over." "Come on, everybody." "And don't look so shocked." "No way to treat a man on his honeymoon day, is it?" "Well, one more ceremony and Will's a free man, more or less." "Well, Marshal, turn in your badge." "To tell you the truth, I kind of hate to do this without your new marshal being here." "Will, Fuller, Howe and I are the entire Board of Selectmen of this community." "We're also your very good friends." "With the fine job you've done here, I feel free to say, and the judge will bear me out, this town will be safe till tomorrow." "You win." "But don't ever marry a Quaker." "She'll have you running a store." " I can't picture you doing that, Will." " I can." "So can I. And a good thing, too." "Thank you." "You didn't talk that way when you were wearing a star." "All right, it's coming off." "But I got to be paid first." "(AMY EXCLAIMING)" "Let me down!" " Not till you kiss me." " Let me down, you fool." "(ALL LAUGHING)" "(ALL CLAPPING)" "Nice delaying action, Will." "You should've been a lawyer." " I was cut out for bigger sport." " Marshal." "Marshal, telegram for you." "It's terrible." "It's shocking." "They've pardoned Frank Miller." " What is it, Will?" " I don't believe it." "A week ago, too." "Nice of them to let you know." "And that ain't all." "Ben Miller's down at the depot now with Jim Pierce and Jack Colby." " He asked about the noon train." " The noon train?" "Will, you get out of this town." "Get out of this town this very minute." " Come on, let's get him going." " What is it?" "Never mind that now." "Just get going and don't stop till you get to Clarksburg." "But what is it, Mr Howe?" "Don't you worry, madam." "You'll be out of town in a minute and everything'll be all right." "Go on, Will, we'll take care of everything." "I think I ought to stay." "Are you crazy?" "Think of Amy." " Goodbye." " Goodbye, Amy." "Don't you worry." "Everything will be all right." " Well done, boy." " Hurry." "Huh." "That's funny." "What?" "Well, you can't see now." "Kane and his new wife just took off in a big hurry." " What's so funny?" " I mean a big hurry." "Hey, you don't suppose Kane's scared of those three gunnies?" "Well, you didn't see him." "I never saw him whip a horse that way." " Sam!" " Come in, Helen." "Ben Miller is in town." "He has two of the old bunch with him." "I guess I'll take a look around." " Why are you stopping?" " It's no good." "I've got to go back, Amy." "Why?" "This is crazy." "I haven't even got any guns." "Then let's go on." "Hurry." "No, that's what I've been thinking." "They're making me run." "I've never run from anybody before." " Well, I don't understand any of this." " Well, I haven't got time to tell you." " Then don't go back, Will." " I've got to." "That's the whole thing." " Kane's back." " I don't believe it." "I just seen him." " How many coffins we got?" " Two." "We're going to need at least two more no matter how you figure." "You'd better get busy, Fred." "Please, Will, if you'd just tell me what this is all about." "I sent a man up five years ago for murder." "He was supposed to hang." "But up north, they commuted it to life." "Now he's free." "I don't know how." "Anyway, it looks like he's coming back." " I still don't understand." " He's a..." "Well, he was always wild, kind of crazy." "He'll probably make trouble." "But that's no concern of yours, not anymore." "I'm the one who sent him up." "Well, that was part of your job." "That's finished now." "They've got a new marshal." "He won't be here till tomorrow." "Seems to me I've got to stay." "Anyway, I'm the same man, with or without this." "Well, that isn't so." "I expect he'll come looking for me." "Three of his old bunch are waiting at the depot." "That's exactly why we ought to go." "They'll just come after us." "Four of them." "And we'd be all alone on the prairie." "We've got an hour." " What's an hour?" " Well, we could..." "What's 100 miles?" "We'd never be able to keep that store, Amy." "They'd come after us and we'd have to run again as long as we live." "No, we wouldn't." "Not if they didn't know where to find us." "Oh, Will." "Will, I'm begging you, please let's go." "I can't." "Don't try to be a hero." "You don't have to be a hero." "Not for me." "I'm not trying to be a hero." "If you think I like this, you're crazy." "Look, Amy, this is my town." "I've got friends here." "I'll swear in a bunch of special deputies and with a posse behind me, maybe there won't even be any trouble." " You know there'll be trouble." " Then it's better to have it here." "I'm sorry, honey." "I know how you feel about it." "Do you?" "Of course I do." "I know it's against your religion and all." " Sure I know how you feel." " But you're doing it just the same." "Oh, Will, we were married just a few minutes ago." "We've got our whole lives ahead of us." "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" "You know I've only got an hour and I've got lots to do." "Stay at the hotel until it's over." "You're asking me to wait an hour" "You're asking me to wait an hour to find out if I'm going to be a wife or a widow." "I say it's too long to wait." "I won't do it." "Amy!" "I mean it, if you won't go with me now, I'll be on that train when it leaves here." "I've got to stay." " Glad you got here, Perce." " Are you?" "Have you forgotten that I'm the man who passed sentence on Frank Miller?" "You shouldn't have come back, Will." "It was stupid." "I figured I had to." "I figured I had to stay." "You figured wrong." "I can deputise a posse." "Ten, 12 guns is all I need." "Yeah, my intuition tells me otherwise." "Why?" "No time for a lesson in civics, my boy." "In the fifth century B.C., the citizens of Athens, having suffered grievously under a tyrant, managed to depose and banish him." "However, when he returned some years later with an army of mercenaries, those same citizens not only opened the gates for him, but stood by while he executed members of the legal government." "A similar thing happened about eight years ago in a town called Indian Falls." "I escaped death only through the intercession of a lady of somewhat dubious reputation, and at the cost of a very handsome ring which once belonged to my mother." " Unfortunately, I have no more rings." " You're a judge." "I've been a judge many times in many towns." "And I hope to live to be a judge again." "I can't tell you what to do." "Why must you be so stupid, Will?" "Have you forgotten what he is?" "Have you forgotten what he's done to people?" "Have you forgotten that he's crazy?" "Don't you remember when he sat in that chair and said," ""You'll never hang me." "I'll come back." ""You'll never hang me." "I'll come back." ""I'll kill you, Will Kane." "I swear it, I'll kill you"?" "Here you are, ma'am." "This'll take you to Saint Louis." "Thank you." "Maybe you'd rather wait somewheres else." "Like at the hotel, maybe." "All right, thank you." "I'm awfully sorry about all this, Mrs Kane." "But don't you worry, the marshal will take care of himself all right." "Thank you very much." "Hey, that wasn't here five years ago." "So what?" "Nothing." "Yet." "Harvey, don't you think Kane will be looking for you about now?" "Yeah." "You're really sore at him." "Wouldn't you be if you were me?" "I suppose." "If I were you." "Be back in a little while." "(HARVEY WHISTLING)" " Bye, Will." " Goodbye." " Think I'm letting you down, don't you?" " No." "Look, this is just a dirty little village in the middle of nowhere." "Nothing that happens here is really important." "Now get out." "There isn't time." "What a waste." "Good luck." "Johnny." " Why aren't you in church?" " Why ain't you?" " Look, will you do something for me?" " Sure." "Go find Joe Henderson, Mart Howe and Sam Fuller" " and tell them I want them here." " Right." " And then find Harv Pell." " Don't have to do that, here I am." " Well, where have you been?" " Busy." " You know what's doing?" " Sure." "Well, come on, we got lots to do." "Hold up a second." "This ain't really your job, you know." "Well, that's what everybody keeps telling me." "When I tell you, it means something, so you can just listen a second." "All right, I'm listening." "Now, this is the way I see it." "If you'd gone, with the new marshal not due here till tomorrow," "I'd be in charge around here, right?" "Right." "Well, tell me this, then, if I'm good enough to hold down the job when there's trouble, how come the city fathers didn't trust me with it permanent?" "I don't know." " Don't you?" " No." "That's funny, I figured you carried a lot of weight." "Maybe they didn't ask me." "Maybe they figured you were too young." "You think I'm too young, too?" "You sure act like it sometimes." "Come on." "It's very simple, Will." "All you gotta do is tell the old boys when they come that I'm the new marshal." "And tomorrow they can tell the other fellow they're sorry, but the job's filled." " You really mean it, don't you?" " Sure." " Well, I can't do it." " Why not?" "If you don't know, it's no use me telling you." "You mean you won't do it." "Have it your way." "All right, the truth is you probably talked against me from the start." "You've been sore about me and Helen Ramírez right along, ain't you?" "You and Helen Ramírez?" "It so happens I didn't know, and it doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other." "You ought to know that." "Yeah, you been washed up for more than a year." "Oh, you go out and get yourself married, only you can't stand anybody taking your place there, can you?" " Especially me." " You're a..." "I haven't got time, Harv." "Okay, then let's get down to business." "You want me to stick, you put the word in for me like I said." "Sure, I want you to stick." "But I'm not buying it." "It's got to be up to you." "I thought you'd grew up by now." "I thought your disposition might have sweetened up a little down in Abilene." "I guess we're both wrong." "What's so funny?" "Did you really think you could put that over on Kane?" "Why not?" "When are you going to grow up?" "I'm getting tired of that kind of talk." " Then grow up." " Cut it out!" "All right." "Why shouldn't he have gone for it?" "He needs me." "He'll need me plenty when Frank Miller gets here." "That's possible." "Should've had me made marshal to begin with." "He's just sore, is all." "Sore about you and me." " Is he?" " Sure." " You told him?" " Sure." "You are a fool." "Why?" "Didn't you want him to know?" "Hey, who did the walking out, anyway?" "You or him?" "Get out, Harvey." " I might just do that." " Then do it." " You don't mean that?" " Try me." "You're gonna talk different when Frank Miller gets here." "You might want somebody around you then when you try to explain to him about Kane." " I can take care of myself." " Sure." "Only from what I've heard, you might not be so pretty when he gets through with you." " I won't be back." " Good." "(CLOCK CHIMING)" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "Come in." "I just saw Harvey." "Is everything all right?" "I think I have to talk with Mr Weaver." " You're getting out?" " Yes." "You want me to give Kane a hand?" " No." " All right." "(CHILDREN SHOUTING)" "May I wait here for the noon train?" "I said, may I wait in the lobby until noon?" "Sure, lady." "Thank you." " You're Mrs Kane, ain't you?" " Yes." " You're leaving on the noon train?" " Yes." "But your husband ain't?" "No." "Why?" "No reason, but it's mighty interesting." "Now, me, I wouldn't leave this town at noon for all the tea in China." "No, sir." "It's going to be quite a sight to see." "(SINGING THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC)" " Will, I just heard about..." " Hello, Herb." "You can count on me." "You know that, don't you?" "I was figuring I could." "The way you cleaned this town up, you made it fit for women and kids to live in." "Miller nor nobody else will ever drag it down again." "I was hoping people would feel that way." "What other way is there?" "How many men you got lined up?" "None, yet." "Well, you better get going, man." "I'll be back in 10 minutes, loaded and prepared." "(CHARLIE SNORING)" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "Where is he?" "He's coming up the back way." "There's a careful man." "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "Come in, Mr Weaver." " Hello, Mrs Ramírez." " Hello." " Sit down, please." " Thanks." " Is there anything wrong, Mrs Ramírez?" " No." "Then why did you send for me?" "I'm leaving town." "I want to sell the store." " You want to buy me out?" " Well, how much did you want?" "$2,000." "I think that's fair." "Well, it's fair, all right, but I couldn't raise that much right now." " How much can you raise?" " Oh, $1,000." "All right." "You can pay Sam the rest in six months and he'll get it to me." "A deal?" "Yes, ma'am." "All right, Mr Weaver." "Thank you." "Mrs Ramírez, I want to thank you for everything." "I mean, when you first called me in and put the deal to me about staking me in the store and being a silent partner." "You know, my wife thought..." "What I really mean to say is that you've been real decent to me right along." "And I want you to know that I've been honest with you." "I know you have, Mr Weaver." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Mrs Ramírez, and good luck to you." "Thank you." " Oh, Will." " Amy." "You've changed your mind." "I thought you had changed yours." "No, Will, I have my ticket." "I see." "Open 19 and clean it up good." "Mr Miller's very particular." " Is Helen Ramírez in?" " I guess so." "Think you can find it all right?" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "HELEN:" "Come in." "What are you looking at?" "You think I have changed?" "Well, what do you want?" "You want me to help you?" "You want me to ask Frank to let you go?" "You want me to beg for you?" "Well, I would not do it." "I would not lift a finger for you." "I came to tell you he was coming." "I should have figured you'd know about it." "I know about it." "I think you ought to get out of town." "I might not be able to..." "Well," " anything can happen." " I am not afraid of him." "I know you're not, but you know how he is." "I know how he is." "Maybe he doesn't know." " He's probably got letters." " Probably." "Nothing in life is free." " I'm getting out." "I'm packing now." " That's good." "(SPEAKING IN SPANISH)" "Goodbye, Helen." "Kane, if you're smart, you will get out, too." " I can't." " I know." "(CLOCK CHIMING)" " May I ask you something?" " Sure." " Who is Miss Ramírez?" " Mrs Ramírez?" "She used to be a friend of your husband's a while back." "Before that, she was a friend of Frank Miller's." "I see." "Thank you." " You don't like my husband, do you?" " No." " Why?" " Lots of reasons." "One thing, this place was always busy when Frank Miller was around." "I'm not the only one." "There's plenty people around here think he's got a comeuppance coming." "You asked me, ma'am, so I'm telling you." "(PLAYING MELODIOUS TUNE)" "You know, I think I'll go get some liquor." " Do you have to have it?" " Yeah." " Lf you're going after that woman..." " I said I was going for liquor." " You keep away from Kane." " Sure, I can wait." "(LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING)" "Hiya, Harvey." "(SIGHING)" " Hello, Harv." " How are you?" " Where's the tin star?" " I turned it in." "I quit." "Smart move." "I didn't ask you for your opinion." "Hey, Ben!" "Hey, how are you, Ben?" "(MEN CHATTERING EXCITEDLY)" "Look who's here." " How are you, Ben?" " All right, give me a bottle." "BARTENDER:" "Sure thing." " It's been a long time, Ben." " Yeah." "Yes, sir." "How's Frank?" "He's not complaining." "Well, there'll be a hot time in the old town tonight, eh, Ben?" "(MEN LAUGHING)" "I wouldn't be surprised." "I'll give you odds." "Kane's dead five minutes after Frank gets off the train." " That's not much time." " That's all Frank'll need because I..." "You carry a badge and a gun, Marshal." "You had no call to do that." "You're right." "No." "I guess you all know why I'm here." "I need deputies." "I'll take all I can get." "You must be crazy coming in here to raise a posse." "Frank's got friends in this room." "You ought to know that." "Some of you were special deputies when we broke this bunch." "I need you again." "Now." "Things were different then, Kane." "You had six steady deputies to start off with." "Every one a top gun." "You ain't got but two now." "You ain't got two." "Harv Pell here says he just quit." "Why?" "That's between the two of us." "You're asking an awful lot, Kane, considering the kind of man Frank Miller is." "All right, we all know what Miller's like." "That's why I'm here." "How about it?" "(MEN LAUGHING)" "(WHISPERING) Mildred." "Mildred, he's coming." "Now, you do like I told you." "I'm not home." "Don't let him in." "No matter what he says, I'm not home." "Sam, he's your friend." "Don't argue with me." "He'll be here in a second." "He won't believe me." "He'll know I'm lying." "You do like I tell you." "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" " Hello, Mrs Fuller, is Sam in?" " No." "No, he isn't." "Do you know where he is, Mrs Fuller?" "It's important to me that I find him." "I think..." "He's in church, Will." "He's gone to church." "Without you?" "I'm gonna go in a little while, as soon as I dress." "Thank you, Mrs Fuller." "Goodbye." "Now, what do you want?" "Do you want me to get killed?" "Do you want to be a widow?" "Is that what you want?" "No, Sam, no." "JIMMY:" "Kane." " What's the matter, Jimmy?" " Nothing." "I've been looking for you." "I want a gun." "I want to be with you when that train comes in." " Can you handle a gun?" " Sure I can." "I used to be good." " Honest." " But why..." "It ain't just getting even." "It's a chance, see?" "It's what I need." "Please, Kane, let me get in on this." "All right, Jimmy, I'll call you if I need you." "Get yourself a drink meanwhile, huh?" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" "Come in, Sam." "You're leaving town?" " Where are you going?" " I don't know yet." "That doesn't make much sense." "You're afraid, huh?" "Afraid of Miller?" "No." "Sure you are, or you wouldn't be running." "You got nothing to be worried about as long as I'm around." "You know that." "I'm not scared of Miller." "I'll take him on any time." "I believe you." "Then why are you going?" " You cutting out with Kane?" " Oh, Harvey." " Then why are you going?" " What difference does it make?" "It's Kane." "It's Kane, I know it's Kane." "It isn't Kane, but I'm going to tell you something about you and your friend Kane." "You're a good-looking boy." "You have big, broad shoulders, but he is a man." "It takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man, Harvey, and you have a long way to go." "You know something?" "I don't think you will ever make it." "Let me tell you something." "You're not going anywhere." "You're staying here with me." "It's going to be just like it was before." "You want to know why I'm leaving?" "Then listen." "Kane will be a dead man in half an hour, and nobody is going to do anything about it." "And when he dies, this town dies, too." "I can feel it." "I am all alone in the world." "I have to make a living." "So I'm going someplace else." "That's all." "And as for you, I don't like anybody to put his hands on me unless I want him to." "And I don't like you to anymore." "(SLAPPING)" "Our text today is from Malachi, Chapter Four." ""For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven," ""and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be..."" "Yes?" "I'm sorry, Parson." "I don't want to disturb the services." "You already have." "You don't come to this church very often, Marshal." "And when you got married today, you didn't see fit to be married here." "What could be so important to bring you here now?" "I need help." "(ALL MURMURING)" "It's true, I haven't been a church-going man." "And maybe that's a bad thing." "And I didn't get married here today because my wife's a Quaker." "But I came here for help because there are people here." "I'm sorry, Marshal." "Say what you have to say." "Maybe some of you already know it, but if you don't, it looks like Frank Miller's coming back on the noon train." "(CHATTERING WORRIEDLY)" "I need all the special deputies I can get." "Well, what are we waiting for?" "Let's go." "Hold it a minute." "Hold it." "Before we go rushing out into something that ain't gonna be so pleasant, let's be sure we know what this is all about." "(ALL AGREEING)" "What I want to know is this." "Ain't it true that Kane ain't no longer marshal?" "And ain't it true there's personal trouble between him and Miller?" "(ARGUING)" "All right, all right." "Quiet, everybody!" "If there's a difference of opinion, let everybody have a say." "But let's do it like grown-up people." "And let's get all the kids out of the building." "(CHILDREN CHEERING)" " Anything on the train?" " It's on time as far as I know, sir." "I say it don't really matter if there's anything personal between Miller and the marshal here." "We all know who Miller is and what Miller is." "What's more, we're wasting time." "All right." "Coy." "Yes, we all know who Miller is." "But we put him away once." "And who saved him from hanging?" "The politicians up north." "I say this is their mess." "Let them take care of it." " Sawyer." " Well, I say this." "We've been paying good money right along for a marshal and deputies." "Now the first time there's any trouble, we're supposed to take care of it ourselves." "Well, what have we been paying for all this time?" "I say we're not peace officers." "This ain't our job." "(ALL ARGUING)" "I've been saying right along, we ought to have more deputies." "If we did, we wouldn't be facing this thing now." "Just a minute." "Just a minute." "Everybody, quiet!" "Keep it orderly." "You had your hand up, Ezra." "I can't believe I've heard some of the things that have been said here." "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves." "Sure, we paid this man and he was the best marshal this town ever had." "It ain't his trouble, it's ours." "I tell you, if we don't do what's right, we're gonna have plenty more trouble." "So there ain't but one thing to do now." "And you all know what that is." "Go ahead, Kibbee." "This whole thing's been handled wrong." "Here's those three killers walking the streets bold as brass." "Why didn't you arrest them, Marshal?" "Why didn't you put them in jail where they ought to be?" "Then we'd only have Miller to worry about instead of the four of them." "I haven't anything to arrest them for, Mr Trumbull." "They haven't done anything." "There's no law against them sitting on a bench at the depot." "I can't listen to any more of this." "What's the matter with you people?" "Don't you remember when a decent woman couldn't walk down the street in broad daylight?" "Don't you remember when this wasn't a fit place to bring up a child?" "How can you sit here and talk and talk and talk like this?" "What are we all getting so excited about?" "How do we know Miller's on that train, anyway?" "Well, we can be pretty sure he's on it." "Time's getting short." "Parson, you got anything to say?" "I don't know." "The Commandments say, "Thou shalt not kill."" "But we hire men to go out and do it for us." "The right and the wrong seem pretty clear here." "But if you're asking me to tell my people to go out and kill and maybe get themselves killed," "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say." "I'm sorry." "All right." "I'll say this, what this town owes Will Kane here, it can never pay with money." "And don't ever forget it." "He's the best marshal we ever had, maybe the best marshal we'll ever have." "So if Miller comes back here today, it's our problem, not his." "It's our problem because this is our town." "We made it with our own hands out of nothing." "And if we want to keep it decent, keep it growing, we've got to think mighty clear here today." "And we've got to have the courage to do what we think is right, no matter how hard it is." "All right." "There's gonna be fighting when Kane and Miller meet." "And somebody's going to get hurt, that's for sure." "Now, people up north are thinking about this town." "Thinking mighty hard, thinking about sending money down here to put up stores and to build factories." "It'll mean a lot to this town." "An awful lot." "But if they're gonna read about shooting and killing in the streets, what are they gonna think then?" "I'll tell you." "They're gonna think this is just another wide-open town, and everything we worked for will be wiped out." "In one day, this town will be set back five years." "And I don't think we can let that happen." "Mind you, you all know how I feel about this man." "He's a mighty brave man." "A good man." "He didn't have to come back here today." "And for his sake and the sake of this town, I wish he hadn't." "Because if he's not here when Miller comes, my hunch is there won't be any trouble." "Not one bit." "Tomorrow we'll have a new marshal, and if we can all agree here to offer him our services," "I think we can handle anything that comes along." "Now, to me, that makes sense." "To me, that's the only way out of this." "Will, I think you better go while there's still time." "It's better for you, and it's better for us." "Thanks." "(SHOUTING)" "(PLAYING MELODIOUS TUNE)" "Why don't you put that thing away?" "(CHILDREN SHOUTING)" " Bang, bang, bang!" " Bang, bang, you're dead, Kane!" "(KNOCKING ON DOOR)" " I sent a kid to find you." "Didn't he come?" " He was here." "You've been my friend all my life." "You got me this job." "You made them send for me." "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be like you, Mart." "You've been a lawman all your life." "Yeah, yeah, all my life." "It's a great life." "You risk your skin catching killers, and the juries turn them loose so they can come back and shoot at you again." "If you're honest, you're poor your whole life." "And in the end, you wind up dying all alone on some dirty street." "For what?" "For nothing." "For a tin star." "Listen, the judge has left town," "Harvey's quit, and I'm having trouble getting deputies." "It figures." "It's all happened too sudden." "People got to talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it." "Maybe because down deep they don't care." "They just don't care." "What'll I do, Mart?" "I was hoping you wouldn't come back." "You know why I came back." "Well, not to commit suicide." "Sometimes..." "Sometimes prison changes a man." "Not him." "This is all planned." "That's why they're all here." "Get out, Will." "Get out." "Will you come down to that depot with me?" "No." "You know how I feel about you." "But I ain't going with you." "Seems like a man with busted knuckles didn't need arthritis, too, don't it?" "No, I couldn't do nothing for you." "You'd be worried about me." "You'd get yourself killed worrying about me." "It's too one-sided like it is." " So long, Mart." " So long." "It's all for nothing, Will." "It's all for nothing." "(WHISTLING)" "Excuse me, what is Mrs Ramírez's room number?" " Three." " Thank you." "HELEN:" "Come in." " Yes?" " Mrs Ramírez?" "I'm Mrs Kane." "I know." " May I come in?" " Lf you like." " Sit down, Mrs Kane." " No, thank you." " What do you want?" " Oh, please..." "It's just that I'm afraid if I sat down, I wouldn't be able to get up again." " Why?" " It wasn't easy for me to come here." "Why?" "Look, Mrs Ramírez, Will and I were married an hour ago." "We were all packed and ready to leave, and then this thing happened and he wouldn't go." "I did everything." "I pleaded, I threatened, I just couldn't reach him." " And now?" " Well, that man downstairs, the clerk, he said things about you and Will." "I've been trying to understand why he wouldn't go with me, and now all I can think of is that it's got to be because of you." "What do you want from me?" "Let him go." "He still has a chance." "Let him go." " I cannot help you." " Please." "He isn't staying for me." "I haven't spoken to him for a year until today." " I am leaving on the same train you are." " Then what is it?" "Why is he staying?" "If you don't know, I cannot explain it to you." "Well, thank you, anyway." "You've been very kind." "What kind of woman are you?" "How can you leave him like this?" "Does the sound of guns frighten you that much?" "No, Mrs Ramírez, I've heard guns." "My father and my brother were killed by guns." "They were on the right side, but that didn't help them any when the shooting started." "My brother was 19." "I watched him die." "That's when I became a Quaker." "I don't care who's right or who's wrong." "There's got to be some better way for people to live." "Will knows how I feel about it." "Just a minute." "Are you going to wait for the train downstairs?" " Yes." " Why don't you wait here?" "Well, I got no use for Kane, but I'll say this, he's got guts." "You're mighty broad-minded, Joe." "Now, you, Harv, I always figured you for guts, but I never gave you any credit for brains, till now." "What's that mean?" "Nothing." "Only it takes a smart man to know when to back away." "If I can't pick my company when I drink in here, I ain't coming in here anymore." "Okay." "All right." "Look at the boy with the tin star." "All right, if that's the way you want it." "JOE:" "All right, boys, what are you going to have?" "(HORSE SNORTING)" "Put a saddle on him, Kane." "Go on, saddle him up." "He'll go a long way before he tires." "That's what you were thinking, wasn't it?" " Kind of." " You scared?" "I guess so." "Sure." "It stands to reason." "Come on, let me help you." "Seems like all everybody and his brother wants is to get me out of town." "Well, nobody wants to see you get killed." "Hold it." "Where are you going?" "I don't know." "Back to the office, I guess." "Oh, no." "You're getting on that horse and you're getting out." "What's the matter with you?" "You were ready to do it yourself." "You said so." "Look, Harv." "I thought about it because I was tired." "You think about a lot of things when you're tired." " But I can't do it." " Why?" "I don't know." "Get on that horse, Will." "Why is it so important to you?" "You don't care if I live or die." "Come on." "Don't shove me, Harv." "I'm tired of being shoved." "(HORSES NEIGHING FRANTICALLY)" "I hate this town." "I always hated it." "To be a Mexican woman in a town like this." "I understand." "You do?" "That's good." "I don't understand you." "No matter what you say." "If Kane was my man, I'd never leave him like this." "I'd get a gun." "I'd fight." "Why don't you?" "He is not my man." "He's yours." "You got some clean water I can use?" "Why, sure, Marshal." "Sure, sure." "Sit down." "Run into some kind of trouble, Marshal?" "No, no trouble." "(HAMMERING)" " What are you building?" " Oh, just fixing things up out back." "Now take it easy, Mr Kane." "Just settle back." "That's it." " Fred, Fred, hold it a while, will you?" " Hold it?" "You just stop till I tell you to start again." " Thanks." " You're welcome, Marshal." "No charge..." "You can tell your man he can go back to work now." "Will!" "I guess I forgot about you, Herb." "I'm sure glad you're here." "I couldn't figure out what was keeping you." " Time's getting pretty short." " Sure is." "When are the other boys gonna get here?" "We got to make plans." "The other boys?" "There aren't any other boys, Herb." " It's just you and me." " You're joking." "No, I couldn't get anybody." "I don't believe it." "This town ain't that low." "I couldn't get anybody." " Then it's just you and me." " I guess so." "You and me against Miller and all the rest of them?" "That's right." "Do you want out, Herb?" "Well, it isn't that I want out, no." "You see..." "Look, I'll tell you the truth." " I didn't figure on anything like this, Will." " Neither did I." "I volunteered." "You know I did." "You didn't have to come to me." "I was ready." "Sure, I'm ready now." "But this is different, Will." "This ain't like what you said it was gonna be." "This is just plain committing suicide." "And for what?" "Why me?" "I'm no lawman." "I just live here." "I got nothing personal against nobody." "I got no stake in this." "I guess not." "There's a limit how much you can ask a man." "I got a wife and kids." "What about my kids?" "Go on home to your kids, Herb." "You get some of the other fellows, Will, and I'll still go through with it." "Go on home, Herb." "(WILL SOBBING)" "What do you want?" "I found them, Marshal, like you wanted me to." " All but Mr Henderson." " I found him." "Thanks." "You're welcome." "Marshal, listen." "Let me fight with you." "I ain't afraid." " No." " Please let me, Marshal." "You're a kid." "You're a baby." "I'm 16." "And I can handle a gun, too." "You ought to see me." "You're 14." "And what do you want to lie for?" "Well, I'm big for my age." "Please, Marshal." "Well, you're big for your age all right, but, no." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Go on." "(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)" "(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)" "(KNOCKING ON WALL)" "Hey, Charlie, you can go home now." "Thanks, Marshal." "I sure appreciate it." "I certainly do." "You don't happen to know if the saloon's open, do you, Will?" " I said go home, Charlie." " Yes, sir." " So long, Helen." " Goodbye, Sam." "Take care." "(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)" " Hello, Frank." " How are you, Frank?" " Everything ready?" " Sure." "Just the way you want it, Frank." " Yeah, we got your gun over here." " Let's get started, then." " Can't you wait?" " Just want to be ready." "Miller." "(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)" "(GUNSHOT)" "(HORSES NEIGHING IN FEAR)" "Go!" "(KANE YELLING)" "(GUNFIRE)" "All right, Kane." "Come on out." "Come out, or your friend here will get it the way Pierce did." "I'll come out." "Let her go." "As soon as you walk through that door." "Come on." "I'll hold my fire." "As soon as you walk through that door." "Come on." "I'll hold my fire."