"ANNOUNCER:" "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "(fanfare plays)" "Driver, stop here, please." "Whoa, whoa." "We still got quite a ways to go before we get to the ranch house, ma'am." "I have never seen anything as beautiful as all this in my whole life." "DRIVER:" "Yeah." "The Ponderosa's really something, all right." "WOMAN:" "All this is the Ponderosa?" "DRIVER:" "It sure is." "Biggest spread this side the Sacramento Valley." "Folks around here claim it could be biggest west of Saint Lou." "And it all belongs to Ben Cartwright?" "It sure does." "Ben and the boys raise more cows and sell more timber than anyone else in the territory." "You know, I've heard so much about that beautiful house he built up here in the mountains," "I can't wait to see it." "(chuckles)" "Whoa." "This is it, ma'am." "You can unload my luggage here, please, and-and very carefully." "Thank you." "I expect when you get ready to leave here," "Ben Cartwright will tend to it hisself." "No more need for me." "Oh, I'm sure I'm in good hands now." "Yes'm." "And I thank you." "Oh, thank you, ma'am." "Thank you very kindly." "Excuse me." "HOSS: ♪ Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care ♪" "♪ Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care ♪" "Whoa." "Oh, fine horse, isn't it?" "Well... yes'm." "He's purebred stock." "We imported him all the way from Kentucky." "Kentucky?" "Well, that is a long way, isn't it?" "(chuckles)" "You must be the one they call Horse." "Oh, no, ma'am, not-not Horse." "Not H-O-R-S-E." "Just plain Hoss" " H-O-S-S." "Well, Hoss, when you're finished here, would you please take my luggage inside?" "Ma'am, you--Are you sure you got the right place?" "Well, this is the Ponderosa, isn't it?" "Yes'm." "Well, then I've come to the right place." "Oh, you know, I would have known you anywhere." "You're exactly as Ben described you." "Ben, ma'am?" "Yes, Ben." "I'm Mrs. Cartwright." "Mrs. Ben Cartwright." "(theme song playing)" "You mean to tell me that Pa would get married and send the bride back here by herself?" "Now, there's something wrong." "And what did you have to put her up here for?" "Adam, now, what the heck did you expect me to do, tie her to the hitching rail out there and leave her?" "Well, you could have come after me." "How am I gonna do that?" "You and Joe were both up in the flats tallying." "Come on, Adam, settle down." "You know there's nothing else he could do." "Besides, what's the harm?" "When Pa comes back, he'll clear the whole thing up one way or the other." "Dad-burnit, Joe, don't this beat all?" "Hey, well, c-come on, what-what's she like?" "Oh, wait till you see her." "She is really something." "Mm!" "Hey, sounds like quite a woman, Adam." "I'm not interested in what she looks like." "I'm interested in finding out what this is all about." "Oh, you think it's so impossible that our pa could get married?" "I think it's impossible that he'd do it this way, yes." "And if either one of you had any sense, you'd see it that..." "What's the matter, Joe?" "Gentlemen." "May I join you?" "Uh, I-I-I'm Joe Cartwright." "Well, how do you do, Joe?" "Ma'am, this... this is our older brother, Adam." "Adam." "Uh, how do you do." "Your father told me you'd be surprised, but" "I hope that isn't disappointment I see on your face." "Ma'am, it-it takes our-our brother Adam a little longer to get used to things." "Have you, uh... known my father long, Miss, uh...?" "Not Miss, Adam, Missus." "Mrs. Jennifer Cartwright." "And, no, I only knew your father a few days, but, well, it seemed like a long time." "It seemed like I'd known your father all my life." "Well, now, isn't it a little unusual to marry a man you've only known for a few days?" "It's unusual, but not impossible." "Not for us." "Ain't that romantic, Joe?" "If, uh, y-you'll excuse me for saying so, ma'am, looking at you, I can see how's that might happen." "Well, thank you, Little Joe." "You know, I appreciate your saying that, even though Ben did tell me you were the flatterer of the group." "(laughs)" "Uh, Miss, I'd like to know where my father is and, uh, why he didn't come back with you." "He still had some more cattle to buy, and after all, a trip like that's no place for a honeymoon." " Ain't that just like Pa?" " (chuckles)" "But he didn't start out to buy stock." "No, and he didn't start out to get married either, but he did." "Oh, look, I-I know this has been a big surprise to you, but when your father gets home, he'll explain it all." "Yeah, that's right, Adam." "And, look, why don't we, uh, why don't we have a drink, celebrate?" " I'll get it." "Okay." " Thank you." "Here's to the Cartwrights:" "to Hoss, Little Joe, Adam," "Ben and Jennifer." "I just don't understand it." "Now, he had no intention of getting married." "And even if he did, he wouldn't do it this way." "He wouldn't do it without telling us." "She's gonna hear every word you're saying." "I don't care what she hears!" "Aw, come on, Adam, calm down, will you?" "She hasn't done anything to you." "Besides, this isn't even any of our affair." "Well, it's Pa's affair, and that makes it mine, and it should make it yours." "Yeah, well, from what I see," "I think marrying her'd be a good idea." "He could've done a lot worse." "(horse approaching)" "Hey--anyway, we're gonna find out now." "(horse neighs)" " Hey, Pa!" " BEN:" "Hey, boys." " Welcome home." " Thank you." "Have a nice trip?" "Just fine, Hoss, just fine." "You, uh, find any new breeding stock this trip, Pa?" " Breeding stock?" " Mm-hmm." "I went to Carson to see the railway people about selling some timber for that new line they're planning up north." "You know that." "Uh, Pa, you didn't meet nobody new or nothing?" "Well, let's stop beating around the bush." "Did you get married?" "Did I what?" "!" "(Ben laughs)" "There's a woman inside who claims she's Mrs. Ben Cartwright." "Says I married her?" "Yes!" "She's a real good-looking woman, Pa." "Oh, she is, eh?" "Well, uh, let's have a look at this good-looker." "(chuckles)" "Will you join me, boys?" "All right." "Where is this, uh, good-looking woman?" "Oh, she's, uh..." "She's upstairs, Pa." "Oh, is she?" "Well, uh, I guess you'd better have her come down, eh?" "Oh, Pa, I think she's asleep." "She's kind of tired." "I don't give a hoot." "Just have her come down, right this minute." "(door closes)" "Mrs. Ben Cartwright, this is Mr. Ben Cartwright." "All right, now, come on, now, boys, who is this lady?" "Is this some kind of a joke?" "Who is this?" "Well, ma'am, that's just what I was asking." "Why are you doing this to me?" "Are you trying to confuse me?" "Is that it, Hoss?" "Are you hoping I'll say this is my Ben?" "No, ma'am." "We-We wouldn't do nothing like that." "Th-This is our pa, ma'am." "This is Ben Cartwright." "Little Joe?" "But this isn't the man I married." "This isn't my Ben." "I don't know who this man is!" "Ma'am... maybe you'd better tell me about this other Ben Cartwright." "I met him in Crater Plain, and we were married there." "He told me all about his sons." "And he told me all about the Ponderosa." "And when I got here, it was... it was exactly the way he said it would be." "Ma'am, I-I'm afraid you've been taken in." "Taken in?" "I loaned him $4,000." "It was the legacy my parents left me." "He-He said he was buying cattle for the Ponderosa." "Well, ma'am... w-what does he look like?" "Did he give you anything, anything by which he could be identified?" "No, I have nothing." "I have nothing except a marriage license:" "Jennifer Lane to Ben Cartwright." "I guess that really isn't much good, is it?" "There, there, now, please..." "I'm sorry." "(door closes)" "Poor little gal." "Sure do feel sorry for her." "Somebody really took her for her $4,000." " (Ben grunts)" " A lot of money." "Said she got married in Crater Plain." "Whereabout's that?" "It's that little mining town across the line in Utah Territory, isn't it?" "Yeah." "(scoffs) A man running around the country, using my name, swindling women." "Maybe it'd be a good idea if we went over to this Crater Plain, had a look around." "Well, I don't know about we, but I'm certainly going to." "Well, what about Miz..." "that-that little gal?" "Yeah." "She's the only one who could really identify the man." "I suppose I'll have to take her with me." "Aw, come on, Pa, that's a four-day ride." "Can't make that trip alone with a woman." "No, Pa, that-that wouldn't look right at all." "Maybe-Maybe Joe ought to go along with us." "Us?" "Who said anything about you going?" "Well, now, Crater Plain is a tough mining camp, and, uh, it's a long ride." "I-I think it'd be better if we all went along." "Now, just a minute now." "Until you boys came into my life," "I was perfectly able to take care of everything." "I guess you're right, though." "Look, let's have a good night's sleep, and we'll tell the lady what we've decided to do in the morning." "Well, better make up a bed in the bunkhouse." "(Hoss, Little Joe and Adam snickering)" "(Ben speaking quietly)" "Well, I'm all ready, Mr. Cartwright, but, uh, well, I do feel awfully guilty about getting you all involved like this." "Oh, nonsense." "We've already talked that out, and it's really a case of helping each other." "Thank you very much." "There it is, Miss Jennifer." "Limits of the Ponderosa." "It's might near as big as the whole state of Rhode Island, ain't it, Pa?" "Yeah, just about, I guess." "Must be wonderful to live on a place like the Ponderosa." "A place almost as big as an entire state." "Well, Miss Jennifer, it's not what a man has that's important, it's how he got it and what he does with it that really counts." "But how does one man get so much?" "By working till his back's near broke, like our pa did." "Other people work hard." "Yeah, but maybe other folks don't dream like our pa did, Miss Jennifer." "Yeah, fight to keep it." "(horse neighs)" "Howdy." "Howdy, stranger, howdy." "Light and set a spell." "Oh, thank you." "Uh, thought we could water up our horses." "MAN:" "Why, sure." "Water's cheap, and I got lots of it." " Thank you." " Been traveling quite a piece?" "Yeah, from up near Tahoe, near the Nevada-California line." "Water up, boys." "You don't say?" " I never been over there." " No?" "Uh, heading for Crater Plain, I reckon, eh?" "Yeah." "Lots of folks are nowadays." "It's quite a little town." "But mind you, watch your pocketbook." "The gamblers are cleaning up more pay dirt than the miners." "Well, thank you for the warning." "Is it much farther to, uh, to Crater Plains?" "About eight miles as the crow flies." " Thank you." " Trouble is, you ain't riding crows." "I say, you ain't riding crows!" "(both laugh)" "I guess we aren't." "Oh, uh, is the trail marked?" "Good and plain." "You won't have no trouble." "Well, thank you very much for the water and for your kindness." "Uh, and I'll remember what you said about the gamblers." "You do that now." "BEN:" "Thanks again for the water." "Well, what are you doing around here?" "Doggies, I don't hardly recognize you without a card table between us." "I ain't got any gold dust to lose, but I got a bottle in the shack." "Might loosen up your tongue." "Reckon?" "Come on in." "(cocks gun)" "(hammering in distance)" "Whoa." "Adam, you and Little Joe take Miss Jennifer to the hotel." "See that she gets a good room." "What am I gonna do, Pa?" "Well, soon as we make arrangements for the horses, we'll go see the sheriff." "Afternoon, Eb." "W-What do you want in here?" "Y-You shouldn't come in here." "What's the matter, Eb?" "Every citizen has the right to bandy a word or two with the town clerk." "I've done all I can for you." "Leave me alone." "I find now I can use your services." "No." "No, last time was enough." "No more." "You leave me alone." "(cocks gun)" "Town clerk's here to serve the people." "All the people." "What do I have to do?" "(uncocks gun)" "You remember Ned Birch?" "Yeah." "They're bringing his body into town." "I think you ought to let his friends know." "Hello?" "Anybody here?" "Howdy." "What's all the ruckus?" "Well, we were looking for you, Sheriff." "Don't think I've seen you around Crater Plain before." "No, we just rode into town." "People come looking for the sheriff ain't so plentiful around here." "What's your name?" "Well, I'm Ben Cartwright." "This is my son, Hoss Cartwright." " Howdy." " Cartwright?" " (door opens)" " MAN:" "Sheriff." "(crowd murmuring outside)" "(whispering)" "(crowd murmuring)" "(quietly):" "I'll talk to you later." "Get rid of the body." "Ben Cartwright, huh?" "Yeah, Ben Cartwright." "And that's why I'm here, Sheriff." "That's why you're gonna stay here." "Ben Cartwright, I'm arresting you for murder." "Murder?" "(chuckles):" "What-What are you talking about?" "They just found that on the body of that dead miner out there you shot in the back." "Well, Sheriff, this is why I wanted to talk to you." "See, there's another Ben Cartwright..." "Pa ain't the man you're after, Sheriff." "You look like a nice boy." "Why confuse things?" "You stay out of it, huh?" "I'm looking for a Ben Cartwright." "You say you're Ben Cartwright." "That'll do for a start." "Now, just one minute, Sheriff." "I came here to clear my name!" "Yes, I'm Ben Cartwright of the Ponderosa, Nevada Territory, but some crook is running around these parts, using the name of Ben Cartwright..." "Now, you wait just a minute." "I'll hear your story in there." "Hoss, go get Jennifer." "She'll clear this thing up." " She's..." " Just a minute." "She's the one that was swindled by that crook!" "(no audio)" "Oh, hi, Eb." "Mighty fine..." "That's a little rich for you, ain't it, Eb?" "Well, I... just came into some money." "I expect that's my business." "Oh, makes no never mind around here." "(chuckles)" "Some days you got it, some days you ain't." "Uh, no need to fret about it." "You, uh, closed the town up a mite early today, didn't you, Eb?" "Well, today ain't no ordinary day." "Today's something special." "Been just an ordinary day for me." "What's so special about it?" "They found Ned Birch up at his shack, dead." "They just brought him in." "Ned Birch dead?" "Why, he was in here just a couple days ago." "Well, he won't be back in again." "He was murdered." "Shot right in the back!" "(pounding on door)" "Oh, Hoss, is anything the matter?" "Oh, yes'm." "Ma'am, they got our pa locked up down here in jail." "In jail?" "Well, what on earth did he do?" "All I know is, we-we walked in there and-and Pa introduced himself to the sheriff as Ben Cartwright, and the sheriff arrested him for murder." "Murder?" "But that's impossible." "Ma'am, we-we figured you could help us more than anybody else." "You see, the sheriff has got Pa mixed up with the same man that stole your money." "If you'd go down there and tell him what you told us, then he'd know he's got the wrong man locked up." "Well, of course I'll go." "I'll go right away." "Thank you, ma'am." "I'll go see if I can find Adam and Little Joe." "You just leave your father to me." "He'll be in good hands." "We're supposed to be helping you." "Looks like things sort of got themselves turned around, don't it?" "Your father said we'd be helping each other." "That's all I'm trying to do." "Ma'am, I sure do thank you." "We all do." "If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't be here, and he wouldn't be in jail." "I'm only doing what I can, but I'm sure it'll be enough." "No need for you to worry about this." "I'll take care of it." "(door closes)" "Yes, miss?" "Good afternoon, Sheriff." "I, um, think I might be of some help to you." "(chuckles):" "Well..." "Lord knows I need it." "What about?" "I understand you have a Ben Cartwright in jail." "Well, news travels faster than the plague about him." "What kind of help you figure I need?" "I also understand there's some confusion about two Ben Cartwrights." "So he says." "Well, I can identify the man you're looking for if I can get a look at him." "I'm not interested in playing games, ma'am." "This is no game, Sheriff." "All right." "Well!" "Sheriff, it's about time somebody talked some sense into you." "Just simmer down, Cartwright." "Let this young lady take a gander at you." "Take all the time you want." "Just make sure." "You just tell him the truth, Jennifer." "That's all we need here, just the truth." "I might say the law looks unkindly on anything else." "He says he's the Ben Cartwright of the Ponderosa, Nevada Territory." "Ben..." "Ben, I begged you not to get into any more trouble." "What?" "This is the man, Sheriff." "What makes you think I'll take your word for it?" "Because I'm Mrs. Ben Cartwright." "Jennifer!" "(knocking on door)" "Oh!" "Now, Frank, what is this?" "I was just down at the jail, and the sheriff told me they were charging Ben with murder." "Honey... you don't believe everything you hear, do you?" "Oh, Frank!" "Jenny..." "Jenny, you know it's not true." "Now, why worry your pretty little head about details?" "That's what I love the most about you:" "You're always worried about other people." "Jenny, you and I... we're gonna have everything we ever wanted." "Frank." "Why would she just stand here flatfooted and lie like that?" "Didn't sound much like lying to me." "Sounded like a woman who married the wrong man." "LITTLE JOE:" "But why?" "Why would she want to do a thing like this to you?" "Dad, there's got to be more to this." "Yeah, but what?" "And how are we gonna find out?" "Oh, we're gonna find out, if we have to tear this whole town apart." "Now hold on." "You boys stay out of trouble, you hear?" "One Cartwright in here is already one too many." "It sounds like pretty good sense to me." "And if you want some friendly advice, boys," "I'd play it pretty easy." "Ned Birch had a lot of friends in this town." "Pa, I promise you, we'll get to the bottom of this." "Adam, find out everything you can, but stay out of trouble." "You listen to your daddy, boys." "None of you young Cartwrights are so big you can't end up right in here beside him." "Keep that in mind." "All right, time's up now." "You're making the biggest mistake of your life, sir." "Just doing my job, boy." "He doesn't belong in there, Sheriff." "I don't know why you don't listen to him." "He's telling you the truth." "I have listened to him, boy." "I'm as good a listener as you're gonna find in this town." "Have been for years." "Yeah, but you don't know the truth" " when somebody tells it to you." " Take it easy, Joe." "Now listen, boy..." "I keep hearing about two Ben Cartwrights and the wife who ain't a wife." "I admit we get a John Smith through here two, maybe three times a month... a few Barts, a couple Reds, a couple of Blackies, but Ben Cartwright just ain't John Smith, you know what I mean?" "Just ain't so easy to believe." "Yeah, but you believe that woman when she says she's my pa's wife and she isn't." "I don't see you making any effort to find out about her!" "Boy!" "Don't tell me how to do my job." "Oh, come on in, Eb." "You sent for me, Sheriff?" "If-If you're busy, I-I can come back." "No, no, no, just busy waiting for you, Eb." "Stick around, boys." "This might interest you." "Not unless it has something to do with our pa." "Stick around." "You been reciting many words from the book lately, Eb?" "Weddings?" "This town ain't much for getting married, Sheriff." "You know that. (chuckles)" "Folks too busy for that sort of thing." "And you'd remember if you hitched anyone lately, wouldn't you, Eb?" "Well, I..." "I don't know, Sheriff." "I-I've been a little peaked with the misery lately." "My memory, it, it might not be what it should." "You..." "You look a little peaked to me right now." "Are you, uh, some kind of minister?" "Minister?" "I'm the city clerk." "See what I mean, boys?" "Just trying to do my job." "Have a look at this, Eb." "It's your writing, ain't it?" "Well, uh... yes, yes, I-I s'pect that is." "You remember the man, Eb?" "Remember this Ben Cartwright?" "Well, uh... maybe if I... if I saw him." "Well, let's have a look." "Well, uh..." "Well, a man wears his best duds to his wedding." "If..." "If I could see him in..." "Is that the man, like it says in this paper?" "Yes or no?" "EB:" "That's him." "Sheriff!" "That's the man." "(Eb gasping)" "You better get to talking, buster, and telling the truth, or I'm gonna squeeze you real..." "Let him go!" "I've been a patient man." "I've been patient, hoping you'd come up with something... (door closes) ...but my patience is over now." "Boys, you-you'd better go." "All right, are we going to give up that easy?" "Course we ain't." "Then let's go back in there and blast him out." "No, now, wait a minute." "You two find a place to light." "Try the saloon." "I'll meet you there later." "What are you figuring on doing, Adam?" "I'm gonna have a talk with that lady." "Sheriff." "Sheriff!" "You said I'd have a chance to talk." "I figure you've had it." "Well, I didn't want to say anything when the boys were here." "They're hot-tempered, but, well, I have my rights!" "Sure, you have, like everybody else." "Well, then will you please pay a little attention to what I have to say?" "That man that was just here, he's lying." "The woman that was here before, she's lying!" "She's not my wife!" "She said she was." "Sheriff!" "Now hang it all, man, why can't you send somebody to Virginia City?" "There are a hundred people there who can identify me!" "Virginia City?" "Take the better part of a week, round trip." "I've got the time, but I don't know about the town." "They might have different ideas." "(door shuts)" "(knocking at door)" "(knocking continues)" "What do you want here?" "Why did you lie about my father?" "I don't know what you mean." "Look, my father's life is threatened." "Now I want the answers to some questions." " You're hurting my arm!" " I'll break it!" "Now what's it all about?" "!" "Start talking!" "Get your hands off her, Cartwright." "You're pretty good at threatening a lady." "What lady?" "Get his gun, Jennifer." "(cocks gun)" "What are you doing?" "!" "Get out of the way." "Frank, you can't do this!" "I won't let you!" "Get out of the way!" "No, Frank." "Cartwright, you get out of here." "Get out of here!" "Please, Frank!" "Look, Jenny, we're in this thing for money-- $10,000!" "But how far do we have to go?" "Look, Frank, I got Ben here." "I got him in jail." "I even got his sons to come..." "All right!" "All right." "You've done real fine." "I'm not complaining, Frank;" "I never have." "(gun uncocks)" "I've always done exactly as you told me to, even when I didn't want to." "But when you had that gun in your hand, it scared me." "Frank, it's not like you." "It's not like us." "Yeah, I guess I got excited." "Maybe I was even a little scared." "All I've ever really wanted was you." "Oh, Frank, please, why can't we just take the money and get out of here?" "!" "We can't do that, Jenny." "Not just yet." "But why can't we?" "That was the plan." "Jenny... are you gonna be satisfied with $10,000?" "Isn't that enough?" "Is it?" "After you've seen the Ponderosa?" "Frank!" "We can have it all-- the big house, everything that's in it... all of those thousands of acres of land." "It's just that I want so much for you." "There now... you're not afraid, are you?" "No." "No, not when you hold me like this." "It's just that..." "I don't want you to kill." "I'd do anything in the world for you, but... but not murder." "Once you murder, there's no way back." "You know that, don't you?" "That's right, Jenny." "Once you murder, there's no way back." "You gotta go all the way." "How'd you do?" "You see Jennifer?" "One of you give me your gun." "What happened to yours?" "That Jennifer of yours, she had a man hidden in her room waiting for me with a gun." "That's our man." "Let's go get him." "Now, it's my gun he took, I'll handle it." "Wait a minute, Adam, we can't do it this way." "You know what Pa said about staying in the boundaries of the law." "Hoss, what good's the law gonna do us?" "That sheriff will believe any lies anybody'd tell him." "Joe's right." "Now give me your gun." "Look, if we're gonna get any information, we're gonna get it together." "All right, let's go." "You're them Cartwrights, ain't you?" "We've never denied our name." "Well, we want you out of town." "We're not leaving here as long as our pa's in that jail." "And we say you are." "That man your pa killed-- Ned Birch-- he was a good friend of ours." "Our pa never killed him." "You say that, and we think different." "Ned Birch never hurt nobody in his whole life, and we don't take to him being shot in the back." "Real friendly people they got in this town." " (guns cocking)" " Hold it!" "All right, everybody over on that side, away from the door." "Come on, move!" "HOSS:" "Move it right around, boys." "Adam..." "LITTLE JOE:" "Be real good, nobody'll get hurt." "Come on, keep moving!" "Move it around, boys, move it on around." "Hold it." "Stay right where you are, everybody." "Wouldn't want me to turn loose a load of double-aught buck, would you?" "Now if I was you, I'd put them things away." "Might turn into something pure illegal." "And if there's one thing I hold to, boys, it's doing everything all neat and legal." "Yeah, like hanging an innocent man, huh?" "No, not if he can prove himself innocent." "Boys, you all know I don't hold with this kind of doings." "Then run them out of town, Sheriff, or there's gonna be plenty of trouble." "Ned Birch had a lot of friends." "There's talk of stringing up all these Cartwrights." "We don't like the idea of them running around loose, packing guns." "I reckon I can take care of that." "Now, are you gonna do it my way, or you want to try it your way?" "Your way, as I see it, you run them out of town." "They lay out behind rocks with rifles, and pick you off one by one if they have a mind to and maybe they would have." "Might be they take after their daddy." "And your daddy told you to stay out of trouble." "Well?" "You going to let me handle this?" "What do you aim to do, Mike?" "Put these Cartwrights where they'll be safe." "Like I say, I like everything all neat and legal." "I don't want a bunch of wild killings." "Your guns, boys." "All right, Cartwrights, I'm going to lock you up for your own good." "Excuse me, Sheriff." "Take your choice, Sheriff." "It's two of us or one of him." "If you got any liking for that brother of yours, you better start hoping he comes in of his own free will." "I ain't going to be responsible for what happens to him when this town gets liquored up tonight." "Not if he's outside my jail, I ain't." "Get in there!" "(dog barking)" "(men clamoring)" "Boys, are we going to stand by and let strangers ride through and kill off our friends?" "ALL:" "No!" "Are we going to forget about our pal Ned Birch?" " ALL:" "No!" " Ain't none of us safe, as long as the Cartwrights are alive." "(men clamoring in distance)" "I don't like this, Frank." "The whole town's getting stirred up." "It's not the town I'm worried about." "If it hadn't been for you, that Cartwright wouldn't still be on the loose." "Frank... who turned you into a killer?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "I don't like this." "Let's just forget the money and get out of here." "You're not going anywhere." "This isn't like you." "Who's changed you?" "Who's making you do this?" "(Jennifer screams)" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Frank..." "(gunshot)" "(sighs)" "Frank?" "Frank?" "Frank?" "Oh, no!" "No!" "I didn't want it to be like this." "No." "I only wanted him to do some talking." "He won't talk now, Mr. Cartwright." "Whatever it was you wanted him to say, he won't talk now because you killed him." "And I hope you and your father both hang!" "You loved him that much, did you?" "Yes, I loved him that much." "Enough to want to steal the Ponderosa?" "Bad enough to want to kill for it?" "Kill for it?" "No, I didn't want killing." "Well, somebody killed that miner." "My father is going to die for it unless you put a stop to it." "All I know was I was supposed to pretend to be Mrs. Ben Cartwright and then Frank and I were gonna go away together." "And then who was going to take over?" "I don't know." "That's what I was trying to find out." "Tell me who it was." "But I don't know;" "I swear I don't." "Stop lying, will you?" "But I'm not lying." "Why should I with Frank gone?" "You lied about being married to my father." "But Frank asked me to and I always did what Frank asked me to." "(men clamoring in distance)" "I'm asking you now." "Will you go down there and tell the sheriff that you're not Mrs. Ben Cartwright?" "I don't know." "Please, I..." "I just don't know." "How do we know it was Ben Cartwright that shot our pal Ned Birch, huh?" "How do we know it wasn't one of them other Cartwrights that did it?" "All them Cartwrights cut out of the same cloth, you ask me." "There's one way to make sure, and that's hang the bunch of them." " (men yelling in agreement)" " Yeah, hang 'em all!" "Dirty sound that." "Some men hear it only once in their life." "BEN:" "What are you going to do about it?" "I'll go out there and try to stop it." "That's my job." "I like things clean and legal." "Course, only so much one man can do." "Well, you can at least give us a chance to protect ourselves." "Give us some guns." "(chuckles)" "I wouldn't likely do that, would I, Cartwright?" "You might decide to shoot me in the back." "You've already proved you're good at back-shooting." "That's what that mob out there is so all-fired stirred up about." "He don't care, Pa." "He don't care what happens to us." "(angry shouting)" "Yes!" "That's what he said!" "That's what he said!" "I say go get 'em and drag 'em out." "They deserve no more of a chance than they gave our pal, Ned Birch." "(all agreeing)" "ADAM:" "Now, wait a minute, Sheriff." "This girl has something to tell you." "Get in there with your brothers, Cartwright." "Sheriff, Frank's dead." "And I lied about being Mrs. Cartwright." "Frank told me to." "Maybe you ain't his wife, Jennifer, but only you and me knows it." "I know it, Sheriff." "That mob's coming for the Cartwrights, not for me." "Oh, no." "No, no, no, you can't do this." "You don't want the Cartwrights!" "They're innocent!" "I'm telling you!" "The Cartwrights are innocent." "They didn't have anything to do with this." "No, please listen to me." "You can't do this." "I lied!" "This is all a plan." "It's not true!" "I'm not Mrs. Cartwright!" "Look out!" "Why'd you try it?" "Ponderosa's a pretty big spread." "I wanted a place like that all my life." "Not much chance with a sheriff's salary." "I figured with you Cartwrights dead, only the widow..." "Would have worked real fine." "Ah, this place of ours is so beautiful." "Every time I see it, it's as though I'm seeing it for the first time." "You came pretty close to seeing it for the last time, Pa." "She was sort of pretty, wasn't she?" "LITTLE JOE:" "Mm-hmm!" "Pa, in the future, if you ever do decide to get married and send the bride home by herself, just do us one favor will you?" "What?" "Don't." "(all laughing)" "ANNOUNCER:" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."