"* long gone * ain't he lucky?" "* long gone * to Kentucky" "* long gone * what I mean * long gone Sam on the bowling' green * * bowling' green" "* sewing' machine * sewing' machine" "* sew so fast * sewed 11 stitches * in a little cat's tail" "* I left my home in Nashville * * a-look a-here what I got, Jack * * a-twenty long years on a chain gang * * a-sweatin' and bustin' rock *" "* a judge, he come from Memphis * * a-put me in the pen * if I ever see his face once more * * he never get home again * that judge be long gone * to Kentucky * long gone" "* don't mean maybe * a-long gone * oh, what I mean * a long gone judge on the bowling' green * * bowling' green" "* a sewing' machine * a sewing' machine will you listen to him?" "We ought to make him ride up here in front see how much singin' he'll do then." "* a little cat's tail shut up, you hear me?" "Shut up!" "* long gone did you hear what I said?" "I said, "shut up!"" "* ain't he lucky?" "Shut up, will you?" "* long gone * to Kentucky" "* long gone you heard what the man said, nigger." "Now, shut up!" "You call me "nigger" again, Joker, and I'm gonna kill you!" "Make your move." "Look out!" "Sheriff muller speaking." "No, governor." "Nobody dead." "Yes." "Sideswiped." "Yes." "Only 2 escaped." "Yes, governor." "I know what my first obligation is." "We're still waiting on the dogs." "Yes, governor." "Any minute now." "I got to call in to warden comisky." "Yes, governor." "I'm quite sure you will." "Hello, Max." "Dave." "Am I the first?" "You're the only one I called." "Anything new?" "Not a thing." "The drivers are still unconscious, and the men don't know anything, or won't say." "Who was that on the phone?" "Governor." "Oh?" "Anything I can print?" "Sure." "He says he's going to get to the bottom of this." "Well, that's nice of him." "It's an election year." "Well, it's election year for you, too, Max." "Try warden comisky again." "We need that laundry for the dogs." "Ok." "And call marysville." "See if they located that dog man." "Here you are, sheriff." "Some coffee." "Thanks." "Thanks." "It's hot." "Oh." "Come on, boys, let's go." "Pile it out, let's get the lead out." "That's right." "Pile it out, will you, boys?" "Let's go." "We have no time to lose." "Here we go." "Now what the devil?" "Well, here we are, Max." "Who sent for you?" "I called them." "What am I going to do with them?" "Deputize them." "We're short-handed." "I only have 6 men..." "Turn that radio off, please?" "If those roadblocks don't pick those boys up, we may have to fine-comb a lot of ground before we're gonna flush 'em." "Well, watch how you play with those guns." "They're not toys." "You kiddin', Max, after all the hunting we've done together?" "It's just like hunting' rabbits." "These are men." "Same thing." "Sure, men and rabbits, same thing." "It's not the same thing." "Well, we just wanted to give you a hand, Max." "Help out." "Want to be helpful, Lou?" "Sure, Max." "Good." "Get rid of this." "All right, boys." "Chow down the line, huh?" "Let's eat it up." "Off we go." "When you gonna quit being a stubborn dutchman?" "They really want to help, and they can come in handy." "I GUESS SO." "All right." "Now, what about those 2 men who escaped?" "SHERIFF!" "I GOT THE WARDEN ON THE PHONE." "Fine." "Uh, you can get the captain to show you the transfer records." "Get everything you want from them." "COME IN 21 attention, plan "a" cars." "Cover all ramps to wall street west station men at all Bridges." "Attention all cars." "Attention all cars." "Be on lookout for 19" "Noah Cullen, negro." "Assault and battery, intent to kill, 10 to 20." "Parole refused, solitary, work camp." "John Jackson, Caucasian." "Armed robbery" "Caucasian?" "Caucasian, 5 to 10, attacked guard, additional 5, parole refused." "Hey, Max, how come they chained a white man to a black?" "The warden's got a sense of humor." "What'd he say just now?" "He said not to worry about catching them." "They'll probably kill each other before they go 5 miles." "Hey, you, Max!" "Stop aggravating those dogs!" "What's he so excited about?" "For heaven's sake, you shouldn't be eating in front of the dogs." "That isn't very nice." "After all they've got feelings, too, you know." "Now, shut up in there!" "Calm down, solly." "We're not hurting their feelings." "I'm sorry, sheriff, I shouldn't have yelled at you, but look, my dogs are very high-strung." "Now, will you please..." "I'm sorry." "What are those?" "These beauties in here, these are dobermans." "You just don't know nothing about dogs, do you?" "Not that kind." "Well now, you see, my bloodhounds here, they won't even touch a hamburger, but these here beauties..." "Well, when my bloodhounds track them down, these boys will take care of them all right." "We ain't gonna need 'em." "We're dealing with dangerous criminals, sheriff." "No telling what we'll run into." "How dangerous can they be, chained together?" "Excuse me, solly." "Look, muller, come here." "You're new to this kind of operation." "If your views are humanitarian, you better start thinking about the farmers here as well as your own deputies." "Will you let me do my own thinking, captain." "It's your show, sheriff." "But I say the dogs go along." "I've got my own men to think of." "All right, but kept on leash." "Hear that, solly?" "You keep those dogs on leash." "Don't matter to me." "Don't let them go unless I tell you." "All right." "All right, solly, get busy." "You'll find the old clothes in the back of the squad car." "All right, I'll have to make a pretty big circle, though." "Your men been tramping all around this here place." "Yeah." "Helmick!" "Get everybody up to the Jeep!" "I'm going to buy me a pair of buckskin shoes, with a brand new suit, and a silk shirt, and I'll be Charlie potatoes." "Charlie potatoes coming down the street with a Panama hat and a good-looking gal." "Come on, boy." "You got a free arm." "Come on, boy." "Hit it!" "Come on, boy." "Hit it now!" ""Boy," eh?" "Yeah, hit it." "Yassah, boss." "No more "yassah, boss."" "I'll catch a boat to rio and never be found." "No more "yassah, boss."" "I'll never be found." "No more "yassah, boss."" "It won't break." "Need a chisel and a hammer." "Come on, let's go." "Go where?" "Pineville." "Let's head for pineville." "Pineville's south." "I don't go south." "I used to know a girl in pineville." "If she's there we'll get this broke." "And then what?" "I'm a strange colored man in a white south town-- how long before they pick me up?" "Get off my back!" "I ain't married to you." "What do I care?" "COME ON!" "You're married to me, Joker, and here's the ring." "But I ain't goin' south on no honeymoon." "We're goin' north." "Through the swamp?" "WE GO ROUND IT." "Used to work a turpentine mill 60 miles north of here." "There's a train come to pick up the turpentine every day, come out of the west end of the swamp heading' cross the line to the paintmakers up north in Ohio." "Now, we try for that train." "How long you been in jail?" "8 years." "Then how do you know the train's still running?" "I DON'T KNOW." "You don't know." "You're asking me to go 60 miles, and you don't even know?" "What're you inviting me on?" "A long walk off a short pier?" "And I'm going to come up with a wet head." "Nothin' doin'." "Now, come on." "Come on, damn you." "Come on!" "Ha ha ha." "You're Charlie potatoes, huh?" "Yeah." "You're going to dance down the street with a gal on one arm and this on the other?" "You're gonna grab a boat to rio pulling your own anchor?" "We can get this broke." "What are you going to do?" "Bite it through with your teeth?" "Maybe your head's hard enough." "Time's going to come, Joker." "The time's going to come." "But if you want it to be right here, right now, that's ok with me." "You've got the advantage, boy." "You're tough to see if the light ain't good." "But you can hear me, Joker, so listen good." "Either we go north together, or together we go them 10 miles right back to dead street." "You're right, boy." "Man, you're right." "The time is going to come." "It's sure going to come." "All right, now north is up that way." "All right, men." "We're ready to move out." "The sheriff's in charge, and I'm second in command." "You take your orders from us." "At the command to proceed, you'll deploy into 2 groups in a skirmish- line formation, pivoting around the headquarters group, which consists of the sheriff and myself." "You, douse that radio." "One more thing-- this may take a couple of days, maybe more." "So all check your gear, your rations, ponchos." "You new deputies, you check with the troopers." "Keep your lines dressed." "Don't fall behind." "Just one minute." "Anything you'd like to add, sheriff?" "Negative." "Deploy." "Let's move out." "Boy, I can't..." "I almost swallowed half that river." "Thanks." "What for?" "For pulling me out." "Man, I didn't pull you out." "I kept you from pulling me in." "What is it?" "You didn't approve of dogs." "What are you talking about?" "I got nothing against dogs." "They're man's best friend, aren't they?" "What are you looking for?" "Lipstick?" "All right, solly." "Get going." "Wait a minute, sheriff." "I can't run my dogs anymore today." "They need a rest." "We got another good hour of daylight left." "Never mind." "Our men need a rest, too." "Ok?" "Ok, solly." "It was that last waltz that did it." "You're giving those cons a pretty good head start." "They have to rest, too, you know." "You don't look so good yourself." "Now." "Got him." "Listen to them." "What are they?" "Night birds, mostly." "Bugs." "I wish they'd shut up." "Thanks." "Ah." "I keep listening for the dogs." "It's too soon." "They must have started by now." "How fast do you think they can go?" "Ain't no road." "They have to come on foot same as us." "Animals in there?" "Some." "What kind?" "All kinds." "Like what?" "Like 'gators and wild pig, black bear." "How come they don't make any noise?" "They're animals, they're either being hunted or hunting." "Either way, they don't make no noise." "I go with that." "Listen to them." "There must be a million of them, and not one understands what the other one is saying." "They're just bugs." "Bugs or people, nobody understands anybody." "Them animals, they're smarter." "You keep quiet, and you hunt for yourself." "I go with that." "What was that?" "Weasel." "Hoot owl must have got him." "I thought you said they didn't make any noise." "Only when they're dying, Joker." "That's a great way to live." "You keep quiet all your life, and the only time you open your mouth is when you're dying." "Thanks." "Ah, why don't you cut it out?" "Hmm?" "You keep saying "thanks." I hate that word, "thanks."" "Don't mean nothin'." ""Don't mean nothin'," eh?" "You try making a living with that word, you'll find out." "I used to park cars in Nash's." "Big, fancy hotel." "Fella'd give me his car, and I'd say, "thank you, sir."" "Here I was doin' him a favor, but I had to say, "thank you, sir."" "And the louder I said it, the bigger the tip." "That figures." "That don't figure nothing." "You got to be Charlie potatoes, the man with the money." "Then you don't have to bow down to nobody." "That's the way I'm gonna live." "Even when he didn't give a tip," "I still had to say "thank you."" "That word got like it was sticking needles in me every time I said it." "That can happen with a word." "You know what I mean, boy?" "Yeah, and I got a needle sticking in me right now." "Look, Joker, don't call me "boy."" "Why, you're just too sensitive, man." "I'm too nothin'." "That's right, you're too "nothin" is right." "But I got a little advice for you, man, because I like you, man." "You gotta take things as they are." "You can't keep fighting them, unless you wanna be unhappy." "I see you got a lot to learn, boy." "Like you livin' in that fancy hotel." "Yeah, like me living in that fancy hotel." "You think they're gonna let me in that fancy hotel, too?" "Oh, sure, they're gonna let you in that hotel." "Through the back door, if you got a pail and a mop." "And you through the front door, just long enough to collect your tip." "What's eatin' you?" "Just because I called you a ni-- yeah." "Well, that's what you are, ain't it?" "It's like calling a spade a spade." "I'm a honky." "I don't try to argue out of it." "You can call me a bohunk." "I don't mind." "You ever hear tell of a bohunk in a woodpile, Joker?" "You ever hear tell of "catch a bohunk by the toe"?" "Depends on how you mean it." "How'd you mean it?" "Like I said it, don't crowd me." "I didn't make up no names." "No, you breathe it in when you're born and you spit it out from then on." "That name sure bugs you, don't it?" "Well, that's the way it is, and you're stuck with it." "'Cause I didn't make any rules." "No, but you sure live by them." "Everybody lives by 'em." "Everybody's stuck with what he is, even them swamp animals." "Even that weasel." "You calling me a weasel?" "No, I'm calling you a white man." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Come on, let's get out of here." "HEEYA!" "HAA!" "HEEYA!" "Heeya!" "Haa!" "Do you think he saw us?" "I don't know." "What is this?" "Where are we?" "I think it's some kind of Clay pit." "Come on." "Let's get out of here." "Why don't you let go of the chain?" "You telling me what to do?" "Come on, let's try it again." "Let me try it." "Let me try it on your shoulders." "Come on." "Give me a little slack." "I can't." "Don't let go now." "Hold on." "Hold on." "I got it!" "I got it!" "Don't slip!" "Hold on!" "What are you doing?" "Looking at this hand." "What for?" "It looks infected." "Well, what're you gonna do about it?" "Needs fixing." "Don't do me any favors." "I ain't doin' you no favors, Joker." "That feels nice and cool." "It's a poultice." "What do you want me to say?" "Want me to say "thanks"?" "All right, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks!" "Ha ha ha ha!" "That word sure bugs you, don't it?" "Well, I been sayin' it all my life." "When I was a kid, I didn't have no shoes." "My old man'd take me to church and I'd sit there with the rest of the kids, and I'd say, "thank you, lord." "Thank you."" "Well, they didn't have no shoes either, Joker." "All god's children got shoes." "Come on." "Muller speaking." "Kill the roadblocks." "They've headed north." "No, there's chance of them circling back." "THEY'RE ALREADY ACROSS THE McHenry." "Well, trail's still pretty fresh." "We should have them in a day or 2." "Max, I got something I want to say to you." "It's important." "Come on, baby, just get down here." "Thanks, we'll make it all right." "Call my wife, will you?" "And tell her everything's ok." "Fine." "Listen to what I gotta to say, Max." "It's important." "No matter what," "I'm not letting my dogs cross that water out there." "You hear?" "Fine." "It better be fine." "I ain't lettin' nobody make me ruin my dogs." "I sure hope you treat your grandmother the way you treat those dogs." "That's funny." "Th-th-that--you're a real big, funny man." "It wasn't meant to be." "Uh-huh." "I tell you something, I think more of these here dogs than I do about any 2 old, stupid, stinking convicts." "Don't you forget that, huh?" "Good, good." "Come on, baby, come on." "Max, you don't care if I use your phone, do you?" "Got anything?" "Well, the way I got it figured, we'll Ford it h" "*" "We'll Ford it here and regroup across the river, then backtrack and pick up the trail." "Fine." "You know, that detour'll cost us 2 hours." "Can't be helped." "I think it could." "Why don't we call cumberland while we still got the Jeep." "For what?" "To ask for a tank and a couple of armored divisions?" "You realize those men have a 12-hour start, and we're about to lose 2." "I appreciate the arithmetic." "Catching men is my business." "And making the decisions is mine." "It don't look like much." "That the company store?" "Yeah." "There's tools in there, and food, too, a-waitin' for us." "They'll be asleep pretty soon." "We better hunker down before somebody sees us." "They slopping' the hogs." "That means suppertime's over." "I used to feed the hogs at the prison farm sometime." "That sure was a nice farm." "Yeah." "All that machinery." "You know something, a fella get himself a farm, he'd have a pretty sweet setup." "Long as a fella don't have to scratch it out with hand tools and a mule." "Leastways you always got somethin' to eat." "I worked 36 acres by hand once." "My w" "my wife helped me." "Sometimes even my little kid." "Man, we never had enough to eat." "I didn't know you was married." "What happened to your kid?" "He was just 5 years old when I left." "He don't even remember me no more." "Everybody winds up alone, not just you-- everybody." "That's the way it is." "One down." "5 to go." "I got an old man around someplace." "Last time I seen him since I was 14 years old was the day I got out of the army, and we spent half my bonus check getting lushed up together." "Ah, I got nothin' against him." "My old man..." "He was a Bible-thumper." "Oh, he was always trying to teach us something." "What's there to know?" "I used to work in automobiles, transmission man." "$1.80 an hour, so some fink driving a Cadillac could it drive around without having to shift gears." "That's pretty good pay." "Well, maybe for you it's pretty good." "You know what it meant to me?" "Saturday night in a gin mill being Charlie potatoes with a blonde, or maybe a redhead." "Anything I wanted." "Then bright and early Monday morning there I was back in that pit with the grease in my eyeballs." "Yeah, somebody got to fix them cars." "Yeah, well, let somebody else fix them cars me, I want to drive them." "You got to buy them first." "At $1.80 an hour?" "That's just a stopover for a secondhand Chevy." "No, not for me." "I got smart." "You're a maker or a taker." "Me, I'm a taker." "Yeah, that's how you wound up in jail." "I wound up in jail because I didn't know how to be a big enough taker." "I was just a stealer." "You got to be a big enough crook so you can get away with anything." "Just a few more lights now." "What did they get you for?" "Assault and battery." "Intent to kill." "Oh, that's great." "Man come on my land because I didn't pay the note." "I gave him an argument." "He pulled a gun on me." "I took it away from him." "They put you in jail for that?" "I whipped his head good." "Were you gonna kill him?" "Maybe." "If they hadn't pulled me off him, I would." "You gotta learn to roll with them punches." "Yeah!" "What are getting so mad about?" "I ain't gettin' mad, Joker." "I been mad all my natural life." "I'm just telling you the facts of life." "I don't want to hear it!" "I been listenin' to that stuff all my life." "From my wife, "be nice."" "They throw me in solitary confinement, and she says, "be nice."" "A man short-weighed me when I turned in my crop." "She said, "be nice, or you'll get in trouble."" "She teach my kid that same damn thing." "I never could get that woman to understand how I was feeling inside." "All of a sudden, there was nothing left to say." "Ain't they never goin' to sleep?" "I used to think if I could get her away someplace, you know?" "Someplace where folks weren't always so afraid, maybe she won't be so afraid all the time." "Man." "There he go." "Well, that buttons it up for the night." "If we leave now, they'll be asleep when we get down there." "Come on." "What's the matter?" "Your white face." "It shines out like a full moon." "Don't take it wrong." "What am I going to do about it?" "I don't know what you" "here." "How's that?" "You missed a couple of spots." "Now just the meanness shines through." "Then we sure look alike." "Check." "Come on." "Chain." "Can't see much." "Go on." "I can't--i can't reach it." "I'm SLIPPING." "GRAB THE CHAIN." "Uh!" "Grab a hold of the chain." "How you doin', Joker?" "My wrist." "My wrist." "I'll bet we woke up this whole town." "SOMEBODY'S IN THERE." "I HEARD THEM." "HEY, OVER HERE!" "Can you see anybody?" "There's somebody in there." "The counter's down." "Where's Claude?" "He's got the keys." "Yeah, let's try the back door." "They're in there." "I know it." "You stay at that window." "You hang on to me, Joker, the best way you can." "We're gettin' out of here." "Hey, come on back here, you!" "Come on, now!" "Hold it, you guys!" "Here they are!" "Hold it!" "Looks like you 2 boys are in for trouble." "Mac, THEY HURT Joe REAL BAD." "Say!" "This one's white." "Here, Max." "You look pretty beat." "I figured sure we'd grab them sometime today." "Better take it easy." "Here comes capt." "Bligh." "How about a nice hot cup of coffee, captain?" "No." "I thought you might want to know the casualty report." "Sure." "Go ahead." "3 men." "How bad?" "Legs." "Send them back." "Someone's got to go back with them." "Pick someone out." "That's a lot of men out of the line." "What about it?" "Well, solly says the trail'll get no fresher." "So?" "So I'd just like to make it a matter of record that I requested help." "You refused." "So it's your responsibility." "It is my responsibility." "Anything else you'd like to remind me of?" "Just this." "I happen to be civil service." "I don't have to worry about my job." "He's got a point there, Max." "Aahhh." "If I listened to him, I'd be calling out the marines." "Still, if those men get away because you refused to call in help, you're gonna look pretty foolish." "And I'd have to print it, Max." "Look, let me tell you something, Dave." "I got a wife and 2 kids, and a mortgage." "My job as sheriff pays me $6,800 a year." "It comes in steady." "I don't have to work too hard." "It's a good set-up and I like it." "But, ah, don't frighten me about losing it." "I can always go back to practicing law." "Max, no offense." "We've been friends a long time." "You never made much of a living as a lawyer." "Stop kidding yourself." "I didn't think it was possible, but I'm beginning to hate those 2 men." "I'll get them." "Rafe, get rid of the women and children." "All right, ladies, let's go." "WHAT YOU MEN FIXIN' TO DO?" "OLD-FASHIONED PRAYER MEETING, MA'AM." "Let's go, now." "Come on." ""Prayer meeting." That's pretty funny." "Give us a break, buddy, huh?" "I ain't your buddy." "You got your buddy." "Which one of you did it?" "Did you do it?" "Why did you do it?" "How is he, Sam?" "He ain't come to yet." "He ought to be all right." "He ought to be." "Did he do it?" "Are you protecting your buddy?" "Well, it don't matter." "You're both gonna hang." "You can't do anything to us." "We're escaped cons." "So?" "So they're gonna be lookin' for us." "What are you going to do when they find us?" "You're gonna be crow meat when they find you, that's what's gonna happen." "Well, you ain't gonna get away with it." "Nobody's gonna know who pulled the rope." "Don't you know there's a-a reward for escaped convicts?" "Rewards always say "dead or alive."" "Don't you understand?" "You can't go lynching me." "I'm a white man." "You are?" "I'll tell you the kind of white man you are." "Spit on him." "For god's sake, Mac." "Go on." "Spit on him." "Mac." "Let me alone, Sam!" "We're just having a little fun, huh, boys?" "Come on." "Come on." "You heard me." "WAIT A MINUTE!" "Get out of my way, Sam, or you gonna have trouble, too!" "I've already told you, Joe's gonna be all right." "You told me fine." "You just don't give a damn, do you?" "All right, the rest of you big men, you want to lynch them, huh?" "You, glover." "You look anxious." "Go ahead, tie it around their necks." "Go on!" "You want blood, huh?" "Here." "Go ahead." "Chop 'em up!" "Go on!" "Or do you want to burn 'em?" "You want to burn 'em, huh?" "You wanna burn 'em?" "Or do you want to burn 'em?" "Go on!" "Burn 'em!" "Mac!" "Go on!" "Burn their eyes out!" "Now..." "Any more big men?" "Joe's all right." "Took 6 stitches, but he's ok." "All right." "Lock them 2 up." "I'll take them back in the morning in the wagons." "Put Mac in his shack where he belongs, and the rest of you go on to bed." "* long gone * ain't he lucky?" "* long gone * to Kentucky" "* long gone * what I mean * long gone Sam on a bowling' green * * now, bowling' green" "* sewing' machine * a little kitten sittin'" "* on a sewing' machine * sewing' machine" "* sew so fast * sewed 11 stitches you know you must have been crazy to do a thing like that." "They might have beat us to death." "They still might." "What you got to live for, Joker?" "You want to spend the next 20 years of your life on some chain gang bustin' rock?" "It's better than being dead." "You ever seen a lynching'?" "Why?" "Because anybody as scared as you was, man, they..." "They got to have seen a lynching'." "Yeah, I seen a lynching'," "I've seen what they do to a guy, how they drag him out of jail in the middle of the night, how a mob like that mob out there, they start drinking and then they start thinking," "and big Sam, he falls asleep somewhere." "Then that mob comes in here, and they get us." "Then what?" "That should be mighty easy for you, Joker." "You just go ahead and tell them that you're a white man." "Wait a minute." "What are you doing?" "I didn't hear any wagon being hitched up." "I'm letting you loose." "Why?" "What do you mean, you're letting us loose?" "I already told you." "I'm letting you loose." "Wait a minute." "How about letting us have that crowbar?" "Don't go to pressing' your luck too far, boy." "Come on." "Wait a minute." "You get caught, wasn't nobody let you loose." "You broke out yourselves." "Understand?" "Yeah, yeah." "Thanks." "Run, chicken." "Run." "Hold on, man." "Wait." "Wait." "I've got to rest." "We must have run a million miles." "How far do you think we run?" "Man, you sure can run." "You'd kill us both if I didn't make you stop." "Well, why don't you say something?" "What do you got to squawk about?" "We got away, didn't we?" "You got nothin' to say, huh?" "You ought to be thanking me." "You didn't put up any fight." "I had to do all the talking." "Look, man, don't give me that look." "You should have got what was coming to you after spitting in that guy's face." "Why you-- what's the matter?" "You afraid of catching my color?" "You picking' a hand to me?" "To you?" "The big-shot taker?" "You're nothing." "You're just a talker." "Go on, tell me all that big talk about Charlie potatoes when the chain's off and nobody's chasing you." "Come on." "You can't, can you?" "You can't because you're nothing." "You're not even a man." "You're a monkey on a stick." "That cracker mob back there, they pulled the string, and you jumped!" "You said one day we're gonna tangle, Joker, you said the time was gonna come." "And that time is now!" "Uh!" "I'm gonna kill you." "That's right, white man." "You kill me." "Only it ain't so easy to kill me, is it?" "PUT UP YOUR HANDS." "Come on up here!" "Come on, let's go." "Let's get out of here." "Cullen, there may be people around!" "Wait a minute." "He bumped his head." "Come on." "Let me go!" "Keep him away from me!" "Don't let him hurt me!" "He ain't gonna hurt you." "Where you live, kid?" "Go on answer him." "Over the hill." "That way?" "Tell him." "Yeah." "What you doing out here?" "Hunting." "How come your pa let you out hunting by yourself?" "He ain't here no more." "Who you live with?" "My ma." "Just you and your ma?" "Uh-huh." "How come you chained together like that?" "You taking him to jail?" "Well, something like that." "You-you must have a lot of friends, a small kid like you." "A lot of neighbors." "Uh-uh." "Just ma and me." "We work the farm." "Sometimes on Sunday we go over to cumberland to visit my uncle George." "What's your name, boy?" "Billy." "Billy, uh." "Come on." "We'll get you home, Billy." "What's the matter?" "Nothin', ma." "I'm all right." "What do you want?" "Don't get excited, lady." "All we want is something to eat." "Come on." "Hey kid, come here." "Where you goin'?" "You said you wanted something to eat." "Got a chisel and hammer?" "In the shed, if I can find them." "Go find them." "Is it ok, ma?" "Go ahead." "Where's his?" "Get him some." "Go on." "You ain't feelin' so good, eh, Joker?" "I'm feeling fine." "Don't worry about me." "I ain't worrying' about you." "I got some coffee." "Thanks." "Him, too?" "What are you looking at?" "Where you from?" "You can talk to me." "You don't have to be afraid to talk to me." "Gets lonesome here." "That's a nice picture." "I made it myself." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "It ain't so much." "You can buy 'em in the store." "It's got numbers on it where you're supposed to put the colors, you know." "It's all right." "I like pretty things." "Yeah." "Did you paint that one, too?" "That?" "No." "No." "I cut that out of a magazine." "Mm-hmm." "What is it?" "It says, "a scene of gay revelry at the mardi gras" ""in old new Orleans."" "Where's that kid?" "He'll be back." "Relax, Cullen." "He'll be back." "Yeah." "I've been to the mardi gras." "Yeah?" "Mm-hmm." "Is it really like what it says?" "It's all right." "Oh." "You mean it ain't like what it says?" "No." "It's fine." "It's very nice." "A lot of music and a lot of dancing..." "Good-looking women." "Oh, I..." "I must look awful." "I..." "I've been doin' the washing'." "You gonna be stayin' long?" "No?" "They comin' after you?" "There's a train..." "Tomorrow." "Hits the Ridge about 1:00 in the afternoon." "It's a good place to catch it, too." "Goes slow up the Ridge." "How come--how come you know so much about a train?" "My husband used to work for the line." "I found them." "You got enough room for a swing?" "You just hold that chain, Joker." "Now me." "Here." "Hold it." "We cut loose now." "What's the matter with him?" "What is it?" "He's sick." "He got poison in his system." "Go heat some water, quick." "You stay where you are, kid." "Do like I told you!" "Well, you get in there with him." "Now, all right." "They hit you." "And then what happened?" "What did you do to them?" "I don't know." "Next thing I know, the doctor's fixing me up." "Hmm." "Do you know what happened last night?" "No, huh?" "You, lady?" "You." "Or were you deaf and blind last night, too?" "They sent us women away." "Why?" "Ask them." "Sam, what'd you do with them?" "It's like I told you before, sheriff." "We caught them, locked them up." "They broke out and run away." "Those Jimmy marks are on the outside of the door." "They didn't break out." "Somebody broke in and got them." "Who was it?" "I wouldn't know about that, sheriff." "You see, I run a turpentine camp, not a jail." "Who came for them, Sam?" "Who came and got them?" "Sam, if you took them out and lynched them, you better tell me about it now." "Because the dogs are gonna find them anyhow." "Why'd we want to kill them?" "Appears to me like you're better rigged for that than us." "All right." "That's enough." "Solly, get going." "Now, wait a minute." "You've been rushing my dogs since early this morning." "They're bushed!" "I ain't gonna let you, or anybody" "I'm tired of your complaining about your dogs!" "Will you get going, or do I have to run them myself?" "Wait, Max." "How about us?" "We're dead tired on our feet." "Oh, Max, have a heart." "It's gonna get dark pretty soon, anyway." "You wanted to be deputies, didn't you?" "Well, you are, and you're under orders, so pick up your gear and get ready to move out." "Come on, come on." "You call cumberland." "Tell him I want every man they can spare." "I want them to sweep along the west edge of the swamp." "Well, these men better be field-equipped." "It's gonna be dark before they get started." "I don't care when they start!" "You get them moving!" "All right, sheriff." "All right." "You know that's the first time" "I seen him smile." "Yeah." "Where is he?" "Shh." "How long have I been asleep?" "Couple of hours." "Where's the kid?" "In the other room." "I better wake Cullen." "No." "Don't go yet." "You're feverish." "You've got plenty of time." "What time is it?" "About 2:00." "You been sittin' here all night?" "Mm-hmm." "Why don't you go and get some sleep?" "I want to stay." "What is it?" "I was just thinking of the last time somebody sat up all night taking care of me." "Your wife?" "No." "It was a skinny old man with a mustache, red eyes, and a torn t-shirt." "He was an orderly in the prison hospital." "I had a sunstroke from working on the road gang." "I ain't married." "What's it like?" "What's what like?" "You know, prison." "How are you going to explain it?" "Is it lonesome?" "Yeah..." "What happened to your old man?" "He run out 8 months ago." "I been stuck here." "It must get pretty lonesome for you." "It's like that in jail, ain't it?" "Yeah, it's like that." "Does it ever get real bad?" "Mm-hmm." "No..." "No, I mean..." "I mean so bad that you just feel kind of empty inside, you know?" "Like a big, empty thing." "All you want to do is fill it up with tears." "I'll tell you something." "You fill it up with tears, and you're a goner." "What can you do?" "I fill it up with dreams." "You got to know about something before you can dream about it." "Oh, no, you don't." "Look, I was born 20 miles from here, and I just don't know nothin' else." "You don't have to know." "All you have to do is want." "Then you make up a million pictures in your own head." "Pictures?" "Mm-hmm." "What kind of pictures?" "All kinds of pictures." "Different things, different places, different people." "All the things you ever wanted, but you ain't gonna get." "Sometimes it's music and bright lights and paper streamers, and I'm dancing in the streets." "Like the mardi gras?" "Mm-hmm." "Just like the mardi gras." "And sometimes..." "Sometimes I'm on a boat..." "A long boat, and I'm going far away." "I'm going to places that I never seen before..." "White sand..." "Hot sun..." "And tall buildings..." "Tall, tall buildings, reaching way up into the sky..." "Tall buildings made of glass..." "And there's always somebody waiting..." "Somebody clean..." "And warm..." "And nice." "Is she beautiful?" "I better get Cullen." "Is she prettier than me?" "Oh, it's been so long." "I get the dreams mixed up with the real thing." "It's real now." "Don't go away." "I ain't goin' anywhere." "DON'T GO AWAY." "Hi." "Good morning." "You're up early." "Uh-huh." "I'll change your dressing." "Thanks." "It's ok." "That feels just great." "Thank you." "I made you some breakfast." "Fine." "What's that?" "That your old man's?" "Mm-hmm." "You're just about the same size." "You're a good-looking woman." "He must have been crazy to leave this place." "This place is no good." "It needs a man." "Well, he'll be back one day." "Yeah?" "Mm-hmm." "Well, I won't be here." "Where you figuring on going?" "Where do you?" "I'm long gone, lady." "I'm bound for rio." "Listen-- I ain't got time." "No, n-now, wait a minute." "What?" "You like me, don't you?" "Yeah, yeah, I like you." "I like you a lot." "Take me with you." "The law's on my tail." "I'm running scared." "I don't care." "Take me with you." "You gonna ride the freights with me?" "We don't have to." "I got a car." "A car?" "Uh-huh." "In the shed in back." "Oh, wait a minute!" "It's busted." "It won't start." "Get in and try it." "Do like I tell you." "It won't start." "How long this car been sittin' here?" "About 3 weeks." "All right, hit it." "Try it again." "Well, I am." "Try it again!" "I am!" "It's the battery." "You got a crank?" "I don't know." "Do I?" "Put it in neutral." "It's in neutral." "Ok?" "I gotta get Cullen." "No." "We can't take him." "Well, why not?" "Well, they'll recognize you in a minute." "They're gonna spot us anyway." "No, they won't." "They'll be lookin' for 2 men." "We'll travel as man and wife." "Well, what about Cullen, then?" "What's the difference if they follow one or 2 of you?" "You ain't hurtin' his chances any." "What about Billy?" "What do we do with the kid?" "We can drop him off at my brother's in cumberland, double back and go south." "N-now, wait a minute, we're just going too fast." "I got to think." "Honey, there ain't no time to think." "Will you come on?" "All right." "Get packed." "We'll leave in a couple" "nice shirt." "We're going south." "We?" "Me and her." "In this?" "Yeah." "It runs." "Yeah." "You're wasting your gas." "They'll be watching the roads." "They'll be watching where the dogs are going." "That kind of makes me the bait, don't it?" "Cullen, when we're traveling together, we're like a sign that says "come and get us."" "He's too weak to travel on foot anyway." "You got the same chance alone, maybe better." "I'll fix you something to eat." "You got it all figured out." "Hey, you better go and get washed, Billy." "How far is it to that railroad from here?" "Oh, about 12 miles if you go through the hill." "I'm fixing some sandwiches." "There's coffee there." "What do you mean, if I go through the hills?" "Is there another way?" "Mm-hmm." "You can shortcut through the swamp." "The swamp?" "Save you a couple hours." "Make it hard for the dogs." "You can find it easy." "Which way is that?" "Well, go right up here by the shed." "You'll see a path." "Follow that until you get to the swamp." "The water ain't over a foot deep." "You'll see a big cypress over on your left about half a mile." "Follow that, that's all." "Then what?" "Well then nothing." "The rest is easy." "You just head for the railroad, that's all." "Thanks for the grub." "Thanks." "Hey, Cullen." "Yeah?" "So long." "So long, Joker." "Here, I'll burn that." "Not now, honey, please." "We got plenty of time." "Suppose" "we're going on a trip, honey, to cumberland." "Now?" "Now." "Go on outside and take your clothes off the line." "To cumberland?" "With him?" "Yeah." "You like him, don't you?" "Sure." "He's all right." "Well, go on." "Can I tell you something?" "You better talk to that kid." "On the way." "He's a smart kid." "I wonder what they'll do to Cullen if they catch him." "Don't worry." "They won't." "What makes you so sure?" "Look, will you quit worrying'." "They ain't gonna catch him because he ain't never gonna get out of that swamp alive." "What are you talking about?" "Didn't you tell him right?" "Well, there ain't no right." "It's all bogs and quicksand." "Why'd you do it?" "Well, suppose they caught him." "What if he told them?" "What if he told them what?" "What if he told them what?" "What could he tell them?" "Wh-- so they wouldn't come looking." "So--so we could have time." "Time for what?" "Time!" "Time for us to get away, t-to get to a city, a big city, so big they could never find you." "Oh, look." "Look." "I got $400 insurance money saved up." "We could live good." "We could do all those things you was talking about." "We could go dancin' and-- and we could eat in restaurants every day and go to shows." "You could start a whole new life." "If we needed more money, I could sell the farm." "What should I do with these?" "You're a smart kid like your mother, you think of something." "Go drop them down the well." "Yeah, like you dropped Cullen down in the swamp." "Oh, what do you get so excited about that negro for?" "I did it for you!" "You don't even know me!" "For us!" "For the two of us." "You don't even know my name." "Well, I don't care what they call you!" "They call me Johnny." "That's what they call me." "They call me Johnny." "Johnny." "Oh, Johnny." "You don't even know me." "Please." "We don't have time." "You said so yourself." "They're coming after you." "You don't know anything about me." "No." "No!" "Where you goin'?" "Get out of my way!" "No!" "No, what'd I do wrong?" "Please, what's the matter?" "What'd I do wrong?" "Listen to me, Johnny." "Please listen." "All my life I been waitin' to get away from here, from the mud gumbo and the loneliness." "I-I'd only see my husband 2 times a week, and he didn't come back." "I don't blame him." "But I don't want to stay here, either." "Oh, Johnny, I'm beggin' you." "Oh, please take me with you!" "Don't leave me here, Johnny, please!" "Charlie, bring in that water, will you?" "Here you are, you can take your full ration." "You must have heard something, kid." "What'd they talk about?" "I don't know." "You don't know, huh?" "Ok." "Beat it." "They're not around here." "Everything's clear." "All right, so they ate." "Then what'd they do?" "They must have taken something with them." "Nothin' you can put them in jail for." "Lady, you're not cooperating." "I want to tell you something-- let's not waste any more time, frank." "Ok." "Let's go." "Look, ma'am," "I don't know what you been thinkin' or why." "Whatever it is, it can't work because, so help me, they're going back in jail." "Cullen!" "Cullen!" "Where are you?" "Cullen!" "Cullen!" "Cullen, where are you?" "Cullen!" "Cullen!" "Cullen!" "Cullen, where are you?" "Cullen!" "What do you want?" "Cullen, where you been?" "I been lookin' all over for you." "They catching' up?" "Yeah." "How come you're here?" "What you want with me?" "That woman told you wrong." "Why'd she do that?" "She said if they caught you, you'd squeal." "What happened to your shoulder?" "The kid shot me." "If we hit high ground, we could still make it." "Come on." "No, Cullen, I can't make it." "Come on!" "Cullen, I can't make it." "Come on, man." "You draggin' on the chain." "That dame." "$2.00." "Why would she do a thing like that?" "She was just trying to help you." "Yeah, well, she sure helped, all right." "Can't blame a body for what they don't know." "I blame her." "I blame her, all right." "Halt!" "Sweetheart picked up the scent, all right." "They turned off here." "Yeah, they can't be far away." "Solly, bring up the dobermans." "Here we are." "Wait a minute." "What's the matter?" "No dogs." "Max, do we have to go all over that again?" "No killer dogs, frank." "Look, Max." "We crossed the county line this morning." "I didn't want to bring this up, but you're out of your jurisdiction." "Take off the muzzles, solly." "Wait a minute, solly." "You're wasting time, Max." "We're supposed to find them, not execute them." "I'm giving the orders." "Go ahead, solly." "Just a minute, solly." "You make one move, and I'm gonna shoot them." "For the love of Mike, Max!" "You gonna listen to me?" "Hold everything, solly." "Come on, boys." "Come on." "All right." "I'll take those trackers." "When we close in, I'll go on ahead by myself." "Anything happens to me, you can let the other dogs loose." "Not before." "I don't like it." "You don't have to." "Cullen." "Come on, Joker." "Cullen." "Run!" "Come on." "I can't make it!" "I can't make it!" "Hold it, Joker!" "How you doin', Joker?" "Ok." "You hurt bad?" "I feel fine." "Sure you do." "You--you gonna make somebody a fine old lady one day." "Ain't it the truth?" "Them the dogs?" "Just rest easy, Joker." "Cullen?" "Yeah?" "We gave them a hell of a run for it, didn't we?" "Yeah." "Charlie potatoes." "I'm mashed potatoes now." "So are you." "We're doing all right, Joker." "Yeah." "* long gone" "* ain't he lucky?" "* long gone * to Kentucky" "* I left my home in Nashville * * look a-here what I got" "* 20 long years on a chain gang * * sweatin' and bustin' rock *" "* judge, he come from Memphis * * put me in the pen * if I ever do see his face once more * * he'll never get home again * * that judge be long gone * * to Kentucky" "* long gone * don't mean maybe * long gone * what I mean * a long-gone judge on a bowling' green * * bowling' green" "* sewing' machine * a little kitten sittin' * on a sewing' machine * sewing' machine * sew so fast" "* sewed 11 stitches * in a little cat's tail" "* bowling' green * sewing' machine"