"Sorry, friend." "We ain't open yet." "You can bring that over to the table." "You, bring me a bottle." "Tell him." "You tell him." "I'm eating." "Sorry, friend." "No sense in you hanging around." "Like I told you before, we ain't open this early." "Are you deaf?" "Who?" "Me?" "Yeah, you." "Huh." "Well, I guess you didn't hear me." "I said I wanted something to eat and a bottle." "And I want it on this table." "If it was here now, it would be late." "Can't you see I'm eating?" "Now you can bring me a bottle." "Open it." "What?" "Are you sure you ain't deaf?" "Who knows Steve Sinclair?" "Who?" "Steve Sinclair." "We both know him." "Everybody knows Steve." "He owns the Double S Ranch." "Him and his brother." "Big ranch owner, huh?" "Pretty big." "He and Tony own almost a third of the valley." "Mr. Deneen owns all the rest." "You finished with my breakfast?" "Sinclair ever come around here?" "Sometimes." "Think he might come in here today?" "Look, mister, I'm no mind reader." "I ain't asking you to read minds, pig face." "I'm asking you if you expect Steve Sinclair to come in here today." "They sent the herd out a couple of weeks ago." "Could be coming back for supplies." "If you're looking for trouble, I hope you take it outside." "Mr. Deneen don't like gun play around here." "We're obliged to him." "We like to see that he gets what he wants." "He sure don't appreciate gun play." "Mr. Deneen don't appreciate gun play, and I don't appreciate watered liquor." "If either of you see Steve Sinclair, don't tell him he's got a caller." "I want it to be a surprise." "He's an old friend of mine." "Do you hear that?" " Yahoo!" " Hey, Steve." "You better have about $ 7800 on you or you can just ride back the way you came." "I didn't lose a steer the whole way and I got $5 more a head than we figured." " You're lucky." " I'm good, that's what I am." "Good." " Whoo." " Ha-ha-ha." " Good to have you back, Tony." " Yeah, sure." "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Steve." "I'm shy a few dollars." "I paid $286 for that team and wagon." "How much did you pay for what's on it?" "A little surprise, Steve." "This is Joan Blake." "Glad to know you, Miss Blake." "This is my brother, Joanie." "This is Steve." "Tony's told me all about you, Steve." "She's from Jeweltown, Steve." "Aww." "Come on." "Manuelo." "Manuelo." " Senor Tony, how are you?" "Ha-ha-ha." " Manuelo." " Hey." " Nice to see you home." "Hey, Joan." "Joan." "This is Miss Blake, Manuelo." "She's gonna stay here with us." "Joanie, go with him." "Go ahead." "You come with me, senorita." "Da-da-da-da" "Manuelo, put her in my room." "I'll bunk with Steve." "Do you like her?" "I know you're gonna like her." "Ain't she beautiful?" "Yeah." "Where did you meet her?" "How'd you come to bring her here?" "You're looking at a man with a rope in his hand, ready to tie the knot." "I'm gonna get married." "We're gonna get married." "Joan and me." "Ain't it the darnedest thing you ever heard?" "Yeah, it's great." "Congratulations." "You bet it is." "It is great." "Come on inside." "I got something else I wanna show you." "Tony." "Hamp." " I'd like to wash up." " I'll bet you would." "I wanna hear what's been going on the past few weeks." " Thought you'd keep an eye on him." " Can't keep an eye on that kid." "Looking after your brother is like poking hot butter in a wildcat's ear." "It just can't be done." "Where did he meet the girl?" "I don't know." "Only thing I know is the morning we started back I see this girl outside the dancehall in a brand-new buckboard." "We got instructions from Tony to call her Miss Blake and he was bringing her back to marry." "What did you do?" "I shut my pipe and mounted up." "That kid brother of yours can get mighty hard-nosed if you crowd him." "He must have been dead drunk or sun-struck." "He wasn't either of them." "He just found something he liked." " He's of age, Steve." " That's not the problem." "Could be she might settle him." "Women have a way of doing that with a kid." "Not that woman." "Not this kid." "Tony?" "Hey, Steve." "This here's a present from me to you." "That's me." "Looks like you." "How'd they get you to hold still long enough to make that?" "They sneaked up on me, I guess." "Hey, I got something else to show you." "It's something I bought for myself." "Where did you get it?" "I bought it." "I had a gunsmith fix it up for me." "I don't like tricked-up guns, Tony." "Got that trigger honed down so fine, you could sneeze it off." "Old Sourdough Sinclair." "With a little practice, I could draw that gun in one second even." "Hey, everything all right, Joanie?" "You all right?" "You look great." "Steve, ain't she beautiful?" "Ain't this the most beautiful thing you saw around this place?" "You'll embarrass the poor girl to death." "Don't pay any attention to Steve." "He's a poker player." "You never know what he's thinking." "You know what I mean?" "Come on outside." "I'll show you my new gun." "If I were you, I'd live with that a while before I took it in anyplace." "I can't live with it unless I use it." "Joan, I'll show you the fastest gun in the West." "Come on, Steve." "Tony." " Now, watch the plowshare." " I'd like to talk to you..." "I'd like to talk to you about that girl." "Oh, I'd love to talk about her, but not now." "Will you put that gun away?" "Hey, hey, hey." "Why the crouch?" "You afraid that thing's gonna draw?" " Let's keep it in the family." " I asked you." " You afraid it's gonna draw against you?" " Maybe someday." "What?" "You got something against practicing?" "Don't needle me, Tony." "You know how I feel." "I told you a hundred times." "I got something against the breed that over practices." "How do I get that to register?" "Crawl in your head with an iron and burn it there?" "Hey, Steve." "You don't understand." "See, I'm doing this for you." "I gotta take care of you." "You know, you're a reformed character, an ex-gunfighter and you don't use that iron of yours anymore." "Now, supposing somebody comes looking for you maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, maybe never." "You know, I gotta be good." "I gotta be really good." "We got this valley to look after." "Steve, I'm your brother." "Now, maybe you don't like it, but I'm not a kid anymore." "You're not a kid anymore either." "I mean, you're getting on, you know?" "And..." "Well, it's my right to protect you, and I intend to." "I understand, Tony." "Maybe better than you think." "Go on inside." "Go ahead." "Go on." " You want some coffee?" " No, thank you." "When the lady's in the house, there should be something of beauty." "Manuelo." "Thank you for the flower." "It's lovely." "Well, do I pass muster?" "You're not being judged, Miss Blake." "I'm the kind of a girl that likes to know whether or not to unpack her bags." "Call it a family trait." "It's not a bad trait." "Okay, sit down." "I'll lay this right on the line for you." "Tony's a kid." "He's not ready for a wife, and this ranch isn't ready for a woman." "Not yet." "You have plenty of room." "Tony says you're running a big valley here." "Tony's got a healthy imagination." "We don't run this valley." "We own a third of it." "We'll be 20 years paying for that." "There's an old man here named Deneen." "He opened it up a long time ago." "I was his trail boss for three years." "Then, thanks to him, I had a piece of land and a start of cattle." "And you're not about to give any of it away, are you?" "Let's just say I'm particular about who I share it with." "You don't think Tony's particular enough." "Outside of a first and last name, I don't know who you are." "Also, nobody's told me what you want." "I came here to marry Tony because I want a home." " Mm-hm." "Maybe you're not particular enough." "Maybe that's what bothers me." "He takes to a gun, doesn't he?" "You wouldn't be expected to know that." "He walks into your dancehall with money and he's fair game." "Couple of songs and a half a bottle later, he's bought you a rig, promised a valley." "I'm no slut, Mr. Sinclair." "He didn't buy me like he bought that gun." "All right, I've got an open mind." "Where are you from?" "A lot of places." "I spent the first 12 years of my life going from one dirty little frontier town to another." "My father was a hide hunter." "After so many years and so many bottles he couldn't tell the difference between a buffalo and a burro." "I'm not trying to give you this with a piano." "You asked me, and I'm telling you." "All right, then." "Tell me how you feel about my kid brother." "Give it to me straight and honest." "A couple of days ago, this kid came in, he called me "miss."" "He asked me to sing this song that he likes so much." "Well, I'll tell you something." "You..." "It was like a breath of fresh air." "You know saloon singers, don't you, Mr. Sinclair?" "You know they're not called "miss."" "Later, he bought me supper, and we talked." "Oh, we talked for a lot of hours about me and him." "Then he told me about you and this valley here." "And he made it sound like..." "Like I had to come here." "One more chorus in that dirty little room, Mr. Sinclair and I'd have spit in somebody's eye, or got sick, or..." "Or just died." "Straight and honest, just like you ordered?" "You know, Tony said you were his big brother." "Anyone ever tell you you sound like his father?" "I've been his father since he was 4 years old, and his mother." "Look, there's a lot about this kid even I don't understand." "So how do you expect to know him?" "This boy has problems." "I take it so does his brother." " We're talking about Tony." " Well, I'm talking about you now." "I know Tony's problem, or at least part of it." "But I was watching you out there too." "Don't tear out your palms, Mr. Sinclair." "I've seen reformed gunmen before." "So I said, "Steve, that's not all I brought back."" "You should have seen his face." "Hey, Fred." "Fred, you're sitting right next to her." "Now, ain't she the most beautiful girl you ever saw, huh?" "Oh, you know I don't see many girls up here." "Hey, Hamp." "Hey, Hamp." "What's your opinion?" "I mean, you're older than any of us." "She sure is pretty." "Attaboy, Hamp." "I'd knew you'd be with me." "Isn't that right?" "Now, here's a man that goes into Jeweltown every year, twice a year and he's never brought back a woman yet." "Where are you going?" "I gotta stick new shoes on my horse." "We gotta go to town to put that money away." " I'll give you a hand." " Wait a minute." "Aren't you forgetting something?" "Oh, oh." "Ahem." "The boys wanted me to tell you how happy we are to have you here." "And?" "Oh." "And if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know." "We'll be glad to help you." " What are you doing?" " I have to clean the table, Senor Tony." "Well, you're not gonna clean the table now." "Not now?" "Why?" "Hey." "Did you like his speech?" "I think you wrote it very well." "Look, relax." "You're gonna like it here, and Steve's gonna like you." "You know, it's kind of sudden." "He's gotta chew on it for a while." "So it seems." "I got no worries." "It's gonna work out just fine." "You know, it's funny with him." "He still treats me like a kid, and that riles, it really does." "But I'll tell you something, Joanie." "He's the only one I'll take it from because he's number one." "I gathered." "You don't like him, do you?" "That's because you don't know him." "I've lived with him all my life." "This is a man that rode with Quantrill's Raiders." "This is a man that I saw outdraw five men before I was 12 years old." "This is a man..." " What's the matter?" " Nothing." "You just have kind of a special look when you talk about your brother." "What's the matter?" "I do something wrong?" "Hmm?" "Who gave you that smile?" "What smile?" "The one I'm looking at." "I like it." " You wear it well." " Heh." "I always figured it was an ordinary smile." "Well, it came with the face." "Hey..." "Hey what?" "Hey, sing to me." "Just like that?" "Just like that, for old times' sake." "For old times' sake, like two days ago?" "Come on, sing for me and I'll smile for you." "Sometimes I'd like" "To saddle the wind" "And ride to where you are" "We may meet in a valley" "Or on a green hill" "Will I be yours?" "You know I will" "Dearest one" "My place in the sun" "Is by your side" "I know" "So if I could" "I'd saddle the wind" "Some starry night" "I'll saddle the wind" "And straight to your arms" "I'll go" "What's the matter with you?" "You kiss me like you paid for the privilege." "I don't like that kind of kiss." "I don't know how to figure you." "You sing to me like you invited me in, and then you shut the door on me." "I mean, I'd like to understand you." "I'd like to know what you want." "Gently, Tony." "Anything you do for me, do it gently." "Understand?" "All right." "All I need is time, and I'll do everything the way you want." "Put this money away, Tony." "See you later." "All right, all right." "Steve, I'm broke." "Here." "Hamp?" " Bam!" " Bam!" "You got me." "Ha-ha-ha-ha." "Tony." " Are you getting fat?" " Are you getting fat?" "Oh, this is my boy." "Hamp, well, welcome back." "Glad to see you, boy, glad." "They tie you to that saloon, son?" "Ain't you got a home?" "Not since Steve run me off." " Is he mean as ever?" " Not to everybody." "Just to no-good drifters like you." "This must be that girl I've been hearing about." "That's right." "Take your hat off." "Joan Blake, this is Dallas Hanson." "He used to work for us." "How do you do?" "Formerly of the 4th Alabams." "Confederate States of America." " We held our ground at Shi..." " We held our ground at Shiloh." "Heh." "If there was four more like you, we'd have lost the first battle of Bull Run." "Hoo-hoo-hoo." "Hoo." "I do believe this calls for a celebration." " Would you do me the honor?" " Wait a minute." "Right this way." "Hi, Hank." "Hello, Joe." "I'd like you to meet Miss Blake." "Tony's intended." "How about a little service?" "Two." " Dallas." " Huh?" "It's a lady." " Well, I know it's a lady." " A lady shouldn't drink at bars." "Well, then, I'll take her to a table." "Right this way." "This table's sort of a mess here." " Listen to me..." " Hey, Joe, buy Hank a drink, will you?" "Heh." "Drinks for everybody." "On me." " Tony, where's Steve?" " What?" " What's the matter?" " He's in big trouble." "There's a guy came in here yesterday morning, and..." " Where's Steve Sinclair?" " He ain't here." "The..." "This here's his brother, Tony Sinclair." "He won't do." "If you got business with my brother, maybe I could deliver the message." "Well, I'll tell you, I never like to send a boy out on a man's job so I'll deliver my own message." "That was an offer, mister." "Now let's just say I'm telling you." "I think you better give me that message." "Keep your hands off." "Nobody's inviting a draw." "Somebody educate this kid to keep his own gun hand inside." "Kid's name is Tony." " Maybe you didn't hear." " I heard." "Then say it." "Sonny, why don't you take a flying jump at the moon?" "Boy, you're making it hard, drifter." "I ain't meaning to." "I know what I like and don't like." "And I don't like Steve Sinclair." "I'd like to tell him that myself." "Now, if you wanna register a complaint, you go right ahead, sonny." "Tony." "Hmm." "I think you'd better stand clear, mister." "It's reached that, huh?" "That's the idea." "Unless you'd like to apologize." "Tony." "You got quite a lip, sonny." "Look, boys, Mr. Deneen don't want gun play here." "There won't be any gun play, Joe." "If the drifter here wants to back off." "I'm waiting for the word, gunner." "Now you're making it hard, sonny." "I'm waiting." "You fast, little friend?" "Boy, you got a good chance to find out." " Oh, you want me to draw?" " You got the guts?" "I got the guts and the know-how to puncture your belly six times before you could breathe." "Tony!" "Oh." "Hey, Steve." "He was..." "What's the matter with you?" "Tony, look, there wasn't an hour in the year he couldn't outdraw you." "That's Larry Venables." "He was the fastest gun I ever knew." "He was gunning for you, Steve." "Tony, I'm obliged for the service." "The next time somebody comes into town looking for me call me, not him." "Is that all you got to say, Steve?" "I said I was obliged to you." "He ain't asking you for no medal." "This is Sinclair talk." "Your name Sinclair?" "I'm only asking you to remember one thing." "In every gun fight, there's one who walks to the bar and buys the drinks and there's the other who gets his name carved into a stone." "At best, the odds are 50-50, Tony." "Okay, Steve." "I'll go tell the old man." "Steve." "Was Venables faster than you?" "Tony, take me out of here, will you?" "Sure." "Tony." "Let's go now." "Please." "Sure, now." "I just want a drink first." "In a minute, Joan." "Just give me a minute." "This here is my boy." "If we'd had him in gray, Jeff Davis'd be president the capital would be Richmond." "How about that, Tony?" "Oh, don't you worry about Steve." "He's just a little bit jealous, that's all." "It's been good shooting going on here today." "He's just a little bit jealous, huh?" "How about that?" "How about that, Tony?" "I wanna buy drinks for all these men." " Well..." " I want these men to have drinks on me." "Where did you learn to shoot like that, Tony?" "Pretty fast gun he's got there." "Look at that." "And the boy that used it ain't so slow either." "Let me see it." " Give me that gun." " Tony, will you?" " Just one second, Tony, please?" " Give me that gun." " All right, Tony." " Well, now." "Let's get all these drinks out here, and I got a proposal to make." "Here." "I give you a toast to..." "It ain't every day you kill somebody." "Tony Sinclair, huh?" " More valuables for you." "Free whiskey." "MAN 4:" "All right." "Howdy, Steve." "I heard your crew got back." " Where's Mr. Deneen, Brick?" " Inside." "Tell him I'm here, will you?" "Sure, but what's the trouble?" "There's been a gunfight in town." "A man is dead." "What's it about, Steve?" "There's been a shooting, Mr. Deneen." "There's been a killing, Brick tells me." "His name was Larry Venables." "He was gunning for me." "A long time ago, I had to kill his brother." "And now you had to kill him." "Tony had to kill him." "Tony?" "Oh, you're here to defend him." "Is that it?" "No." "I'm here to explain it." "Maybe I didn't make myself clear, Mr. Deneen." "A man rode into town to gun me down." "Killing him was a service." "You'll forgive me if I don't choose to argue the fine points of what we call it." "I want to ask you how does your brother feel after having killed his first human being?" "Healthier than if he'd turned his back." "And what if he'd turned the other cheek and not been eager to reach for the gun?" "I think you ask a lot, Mr. Deneen." "Do I?" "I asked the same of my own son before you rode into this valley." "He was young like Tony." "And they brought him back to my ranch one Sunday afternoon flung over a saddle like a sack of bloody meat." "Just 19." "He died before he knew very much about living." "Do I ask too much?" " No, I guess not." " You don't have to guess." "This is as near to the law as there will ever be around here." "Gunmen are not welcome." "You're talking about my brother." "I'm talking about a young man and a gun and first blood." "And when it applies to Tony, it makes me break out into a cold sweat." "You can tell your brother from me that if he kills again I don't want him in this valley." "I have to take that as if it were said for both of us." "It is said to both of you." "But it's said to you, Steve because I don't wanna live through another Sunday afternoon." "I don't want to see you draped over a saddle." "I'd rather send a son of mine riding and never see him again than have to bury him." "Try to understand that, Steve." "For my sake." "You can count on it, Mr. Deneen." "It took a lot for him to come here and tell you that." "You picked him right." "But the brother?" "I know all about the brother and the sickness inside him." "He didn't get that from Steve." "He was born with it." "I don't think that Tony ever did get born." "I think that somebody just found him wedged into a gun cylinder and shot him out into the world by pressing a trigger." "Remember that girl?" "When the man gets out of these, get more drinks." "Do you remember her?" "And Dallas snatching anybody." "You know, every time we get together, it is the greatest..." "I bargain the lady had no gun." "Tony's still in there?" "And having a wonderful time." "Hey, wait a minute, will you?" "I've got him down, I shot him." "He's cold dead." "Come on." "I'll take you back to the place." "You all right?" "Don't worry about me." "Haven't you ever seen a woman cry before?" "I guess I have." "That was rough back there." "I don't blame you." "I don't think a death ever goes down easy." "Well, I'm sorry you had to see it." "So we understand each other and so you don't fall off looking for the right word I don't want your sympathy." "This isn't the first time I've been left alone in a saloon." " They breed you tough, don't they?" " Now do me a favor, will you?" "Go riding and leave me alone." "I told you I was gonna take you back to the ranch." "I'm not about to leave you." "I'm gonna give you this just once, Mr. Sinclair." "The people here may call you boss and the cattle may wear your brand but I'm not part of the stock." "Now, you listen to me." "Tony isn't just any kid with an eye for pretty legs and a soft voice." "This is a kid who saw a half dozen men shot down before he was 12 years old." "His god happened to be his brother, and is responsible for five of those men." "If this kid doesn't come with a halo, that's too bad." "Nobody tied you to that buckboard." "Nobody dragged you in here with a rope." "If you were dumb or miserable enough to follow a kid's grin then weep for your own problems, don't hate us for ours." "I'm sorry, Joan." "I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted." "Or that we're not what you want." "Come here." "I wanna show you something." "When Tony was a kid, real little, he used to play here." "This was his hiding place, he called it." "I whaled the tar out of him because he broke my good knife doing that." "That's the way of the world." "They grow up on you when your back's turned and you can't link what you remember with what you see." "I see Tony, 12 years old, carving his name in that tree." "I don't see the kid back in the saloon with a bottle and a bloody floor." "I'm not used to giving an inch, Steve." "I haven't given you any room at all." "I haven't even tried to understand." "I wish you'd give me a little room now." "Let me try." "Sure." "It's a big valley, plenty of room." "What's that?" "I don't know." "I think we better find out." "Clay, no trouble, please." "You gonna fight them, Pa?" "I hope not, but I will if I have to." "You better wait here, Joan." "Who's in charge here?" "Who wants to know?" "My name's Sinclair." "You're on somebody else's land." "Well, I see that different." "We have a right to be here." "For what reason?" "Hunting?" "That depends on you." "I came here friendly." "A pointed gun gets my back up, mister." " Be careful, will you, Clay?" " I don't need to be careful." "We're on here legal, and we stay on here." "I didn't bring you from Pennsylvania to scurry away the minute somebody rides in with a raised voice." "We're here legal, we stay here." "You're twice wrong." "You didn't take this land legally, you squatted on it." "You're not staying." "Now, you better hear me out." " This land belonged to my..." " This land belonged to Jacob Ellison." "He lost two herds from the winter, and then he went East." "That was 20 years ago." "We've had free trespass across this strip since I've been here, and before that." "My name is Clay Ellison." "My father died and the land is in my name now." "All right, mister." "You wanna try and put us off?" "I mean to talk sense to you, that's all." "You make your own decision." "You see up there?" "There's a storm coming up." "You get a lot of rain here, this draw you're camping in will be full of water." "You picked a bad spot." "There are others." "This strip runs six miles." "We'll find another spot." "Not around here." "This isn't farming country." "We'll make out." "Even if you do, there's cattle north and cattle south of you." "Never saw a cow that could tell the difference between young grass and young wheat." "You ever hear of fences, Mr. Sinclair?" "I'll give this to you just once, Ellison." "This is cow country." "A lot of good men made it cow country." "And that wasn't done just so that one day you could come in here and stick up a lot of fences and bleed us to death." "This deed says the land belongs to me." "I can do what I want with it." "It's the law." "The government says it." "You can frame that and hang it, but it won't raise crops for you." "We made a bad decision coming here, Clay." "We'll make a better one if we go?" "There's a storm coming like he says." "I'm tired, Clay." "My kids are tired." "Take your time." "It may be muddy, but you'll be able to move out." "You're a Texan, aren't you?" "You're not far wrong, I was raised there." "Laredo." "I figured from the saddle." " You got something against Texas?" " Not anymore." "But I had to shoot a number of your brethren when they were wearing gray." "Then what's your complaint, mister?" "You won, didn't you?" "I wonder sometimes." "Look, don't bring that rag of a uniform out here and expect to win battles with it." "There won't be any bugles." "Just move out when you see the sun." "Hey, you." "We're not beholden to you for the right to live and breathe." "We've been frozen and roasted and half sick to death so it's gonna take more than you to make us pull out, you hear that?" "More than you." "More than your kind." "Do you hear me, Sinclair?" "Do you hear me?" "Do you?" "Please, we've had kind of hard times." "He's not himself." "Get a night's sleep." "But in the morning, you be up and out of here." "Heeee!" " Hey, Dal." " Huh?" " You got anything to drink?" " No, I ain't got anything to drink." " Hey, Dal." " What?" "How fast?" "How fast do you think I drew?" " Huh?" " How much ahead of him was I?" "I swear, I thought he had his gun out even with mine." "What difference does it make?" "You left him back there on his face, didn't you?" "You're fast, didn't you know that?" "Did you ever see a man fall like that?" "Heh." "I never saw a man fall like that." "Ha-ha." "I never did." "Ah." " That's smoke." " Squatters' smoke." "Smack dab in the middle of the strip." " Hey." " Oh, get out." "You thinking what I'm thinking?" "You like squatters?" "Well, look, I don't like squatters any more than I like Venables." " You know how much I like Venables." " Yeah." "Well, now, let's make them unsquat." " Let's do." "Hah!" " Git, boy." "Come on, squatters." "Yow!" "Yee-hee-hee-hee!" " Aah-ha!" " Don't worry, Mary." "Yee-hee-hee-hee!" "Haa-haa!" " Hey, Dal." " Yeah?" "What are we gonna do?" "I don't know." "Whatever we're doing, do it slow." "Well, let's go, daddy." "Yee-ho!" "Hey, squatters." "Hey, Dal." "Yeah?" "You got something to drink?" "I ain't got nothing." "You got anything to drink?" "No, I ain't got anything." "I bet he's got something to drink." "What makes you think so?" "Ooh." "Somebody told me." "Who?" "Somebody." "Let's ask him." "Let's do." "Tony, I think we found ourselves a plum here." "Not only is this man a squatter and pig farmer but I do believe I detect what was once a Yankee uniform." "What was on the shoulders?" "Maybe you were General Grant's adjutant." "I was a brevet major with the 5th Pennsylvanians, rebel." "If you was at Cemetery Ridge, you'd know." "Cemetery Ridge." "Now, let me review that in my mind." "Wasn't that the place where the Federals was all lined up in a row and when they seen the first man in gray uniform charging up to them didn't they take off like rabbits?" "I believe there was two regiments that was never heard from again." "And I bet this fellow here, he was the fastest one of the bunch." "Uh-oh." "Here he comes." "Look at him." " He's a big one." " He sure is a big one." "You got 15 seconds to get off my land, rebels." "You know something, mister?" "You got a big fat Yankee mouth on you." "And I'm gonna close it for you." "They're going down." "Yeah, let's go." "Go ahead, Pa." "Pick it up." "Watch him, Dal." " Watch him." " oh-hoo-hoo." "Watch him, now." "Come on, come on." "Go ahead, Pa." "You better get away from Pa, son." "Get away." "Say it like you meant it, mister." "Say it like you didn't know that kid was keeping you alive." "Jamie." " Look." "Look at him." " Oh-ho-ho-ho." "Hey, that's it." "That's it." "Go on, Pa." "Dance for me." "Come on." "Ho-ho-ho." " Pick it up, Pa." " Come on dance, Pa." "Come on dance." "Please, Pa." "Dance, Pa." "Aah!" "Ha-ha-ha!" "Tony." "Tony." "If you weren't drunk, I'd..." "Now, get out of here, Tony." "Next time, I'll kill you, squatter." "Get up, Dallas." "I'll give you just a minute and a half to get out of sight." "And don't stop in town, just keep on going." "Ellison." "That will pay for the wagon and then some." "Don't let it delay your getting out of here." "If that money would pay for a wagon it will also pay for some wire to keep you and your animals out." "Are you Dennis Deneen?" "I'm his foreman." "What do you wanna see him about?" "Who is it, Brick?" "Ellison." "Clay Ellison." "Have him come in, Brick." "I've been expecting you." "I heard all about what happened over at your camp." " I'm sorry." " How sorry, Mr. Deneen?" "My father told me you ran this valley." "But he said you had principles." "Mister, you'd best mind what you're..." "Just a minute, Brick." "Go ahead, Ellison." "Make your point." "I wanna know if that's all I can expect from you." "Apologies." "What more did you have in mind?" "Your assurance that it won't happen again." "I give you my guarantee." "All you have to do is sell me your land, Mr. Ellison." "I'll pay whatever you ask." "Listen, Mr. Deneen, I'm not gonna be talked off, I'm not gonna be bullied off I'm not gonna be bought off." "I didn't come to you to sell my land." "I came here to protect it." "You want to farm that strip and you want to string wire." "In other words, you want me at your elbow while you close up the range." "Forgive me, Mr. Ellison, but you've got a devil of a lot of gall." "To want what's mine?" "That's not gall, that's a man's right." "And you place quite a stock in a man's right, don't you?" "His right and his honor, Mr. Deneen." "And I bought and paid for both with this uniform." "At Chickamauga, both Bull Runs, Chancellorsville." "I had major's epaulets on my shoulders, and they were earned." "No dirty range tramp can tell me there's no honor to these names and to this uniform." "I'm putting this right to you, Mr. Deneen." "I can't fight those men on their terms." "I'm not a gunman." "So I have to come to the one human being who can keep me and mine alive." "Tomorrow morning, I'm going into your town and I'm going to buy seed, tools and wire." "I'd like you to be there, Mr. Deneen to see that I won't need a casket to go with it." "There are only two things I've hated all my life, Ellison." "One is violence, and the other is barbed wire." "But I hate violence much more." "Tomorrow morning, you stop by here on your way to town and Brick and I will ride in with you." "And no man is going to stop you from doing whatever is your right." "Hi, Steve." "I'm out of tobacco." "That's the least of your worries." "Get up on your feet, Tony." "I've got a lot to tell you." " Like what?" " Like this." "You know what people think of you around here?" "You think I care?" "They've got you pegged as a gun-happy loco kid." "That's what everybody's thought since you shot your first rabbit." "You could've walked the street of that town and gotten 20 money bets the next thing you killed would walk and talk." "You should've covered their money then." "I should've begged their pardon, apologized because it was my brother who made them wanna bolt their doors." "How should I feel now, Steve?" "You tell me." "I killed a top gun who'd bushwhack you quicker than you can say your name." "Can't you let loose of a dead man?" "Do you have to wear a carcass like a medal?" "I'm not gonna get on my knees and tell how sorry I am." "That's what I'm not gonna do." "I saved your skin, buddy." "It was me who stood up to him." "It was me who drew on him." "All you could do is take a long slow crawl on your belly back to that old man." "Well, there's plenty who stood on line to shake my hand this morning." "Couldn't wait for them, could you?" "Then you had to ride out digging up trouble." "You were ready to gun down a farmer, and maybe his wife and kids too." "You did okay." "If you set out this morning to prove to everybody right that you were a strutting, itchy-fingered monster, you did okay." "You proved it." "I'll tell you what I proved." "I proved that I was twice the gunman you ever were." "That I had stock in an open range I was willing to fight for." "And I proved..." "I proved that you are jealous of me." "Oh, boy, Steve, you better open your eyes." "Because I'm not just a kid brother anymore." "I'm a full partner, I ride abreast to you." "And you're not sitting on me anymore." "I never sat on you, I never tied you down." "I wanted one thing in my life." "That was to see you rise up." "You only got up as high as your gun belt and that's a low height for a man." "Oh." "I am Dennis Deneen." "This is Joan Blake, Mr. Deneen, she's from Jeweltown." "I'm honored, but I have short business here tonight." "You can go ahead, the lady can share it with us." "Fair enough." "I'd like to know what yellow-backed bully tried to fire the camp on the Ellison strip today." "You're looking at him, Mr. Deneen." "A formidable act." "I suppose I'm in the presence of courage." "It won't happen again, Mr. Deneen." "It's done with." "It's done with?" "Is that the epitaph you put on the stone?" "It's done with?" "Well, you can take this as gospel." "I won't have a man killed for one square foot of soil or for an inch of it." "How about for an open range, Mr. Deneen?" "I must inform you, young Master Tony, you did not invent the open range." "All you've done is enjoyed it." "Clay Ellison is riding into town tomorrow to get some supplies." "I'm in hopes that, eventually, he'll sell out to us." "But in the meantime, he'll do as he will." "That's his right, and I'll back up his right." "It's been a pleasure meeting you, miss." "I'm sorry the circumstances have been so strained." "May you live a long and full life, Tony." "And may you beget a long line of cattlemen." "And may you live long enough to raise them." "Ahh." "Ellison's coming into town this morning." "He's gonna buy wire." "So they say." "So we just step aside, huh?" "Is that what we do, Hank?" "We just step aside we bow him into the general store where he buys wire to cut our throats." "That ain't right, is it?" "Is it right, Hank?" "Tony, you know we've gotta do whatever Mr. Deneen says." "You've gotta do whatever Mr. Deneen says." "I don't care what he says." "I wanna do things my way." "You sure pick funny friends, Steve." "You're standing right in the doorway." "I could be moved." "Idea is, we don't wanna have to make you move." "Wait a minute, Brick." "Tony, I want you to back off." "Why don't you tell that to Ellison, Steve?" "Tony, I'm telling you to get back." "And I'm telling you to say it to him." "I got a list of supplies to buy in that store there, Sinclair." "You got wire on that list?" "At the top." "Then I think you better change your mind." "Tony." "You do it your way, Steve." "I'll do it mine." "Squatter, you've got one more chance to back off." "One more chance." "You can go to hell." "That's Cemetery Ridge." "Tony." "Tony, listen to me." "You're not fighting barbed wire and squatters anymore." " Now you're fighting me." " Not unless you make me, Steve." "You're my brother." "Or maybe you've forgotten that." "No, I haven't forgotten that." "That's why I'm standing here." "That's why I'm gonna stop you, Tony." "Get out of my way, Sinclair." "Nobody is stopping me." "Nobody is buying any barbed wire." "Why don't you let this squatter fight his own fight, Steve?" "The other day, he was hiding behind women and little kids." "Today, he's hiding..." "Heh." "That's very funny, because he's hiding behind you." "It's funny because you don't know that Steve's gone soft." "And you're no protection for this slimy, yellow-bellied, little..." "This is one the two of you can share." "You and Tony." "Charlie Harris." " Yes, sir." " Can you read this?" " Yes, sir." " Well, if you can read it, fill it." "Send it all over the Ellison strip." "I'll be there waiting for it." " The wire too?" " Yes, all you have." "Perhaps you'd better send away for more." "After I wire the Ellison strip I'll be doing the same thing all along my property line." "And if the wire isn't enough, I'll use this." "You're to keep your cattle off my land." "And I don't want anything I own touched by you." "Harris." "If you want my business, you can't do any for them." "These two gunmen, I want you away from this valley." "Both of you." "All right, Brick." "Come on." "The use of it, you may have got from me but what about the love of it?" "Where did you get the love of it, Tony?" "Steve." "Steve?" "What's the matter?" "You lonely?" "You've got company, Tony." "And if you get bored, you can scalp him." "All right." "Start digging." " Hamp." "Hamp." " Here I am, Steve." "Call everybody in." "I wanna see all the hands right away." "They're wiring off the Ellison strip." "And after that, they're going to do the same thing all along Deneen's line." "You know there's a way to stop that, Steve." "Not for me, there isn't." "I got this land from the old man." "Tomorrow, it will go back to him." "You can stay here, all of you, and work for him just as before." "Or you can pull out." "I'll see you all draw a full month's pay first thing in the morning." "I'll miss you." "That's it, Hamp." "I didn't want much." "I didn't want much at all." "I just wanted him to walk with his head up." "I tried too hard, I guess." "Whatever's wrong with a man, he tries to change with a kid coming up." "But it isn't right, because he really does it for himself." " Steve." " No, it's true." "I tried to bend that kid a certain way, tried to shape him." "Like he was some kind of tough leather I had to make soft." "He didn't soften any." "He wasn't made that way." "This was rotten leather, and it came apart." "Did it come from me?" "Was it because of me?" "Do you know what I think, Steve?" "I think everything good in him came from you." "I think when he smiled, that came from you." "And when he loved, that was something you gave him." "If you've got a reason to be here, say it in a hurry." "My gear." "I came to collect my gear." "Collect it and get out." "You're getting the boot too, huh?" "I'm leaving because I want to, Tony." "No one's pushing me." "Yeah, well, you're lucky." "You don't mind if I take this?" "Take everything you can carry." "The rest goes back to Deneen tomorrow." " What do you mean?" " Leave tonight, I leave in the morning." "Are you crazy?" "I've already told the men." "They can stay and work for the old man if they want." "You're gonna toss it all away, land, cattle, everything?" "That's right." "Now get your gear." "Oh, boy, Steve." "I thought you were number one." "You're nothing but a drifter." " You're nothing." " Let him alone, Tony." "Let him alone?" "I'll let him alone." "I wouldn't touch him with gloves." "Hi, men." "Hi, Red." "How's the boy?" "There's been a lot of talk about the old man taking over." "Forget it." "This ranch is Sinclair-run." "And as of now, I'm the Sinclair that runs it." "Well, I can't speak for the others, but I take my orders from Steve." " I'm sorry, Tony." " Don't be sorry." "You can leave tonight." "Tony." "Are you asking or telling?" "If you're asking, the answer is no." "And if I'm telling?" "Then the answer is, let's hear Steve say it." "Steve?" "Heh." "Steve heard the word "fence."" "I think that scared him a little." "The only thing you'll hear from Steve is goodbye." " I figure that's his right." " Well, it's not your right to figure." "Steve's out." "That's it." "Senor Tony..." "Now, look, Manuelo, you have your job here." "The rest of you men have yours." "Now, if you wanna stay, you'll have to remember that Steve nor Deneen nor anybody has anything to do with the running of the Sinclair ranch." "I'm the only one you call mister." "You haven't packed your gear, Tony, and you're a long way from your horse." "I'm as close as I wanna be." "You're not as close as I want you to be." "I told you men this land goes back to Deneen." "I also said you could all keep your jobs." "If anybody's got any doubts about who's in charge here I'm ready to clear up those doubts." "Whatever you say, Steve." " We're with you, Steve." " I won't let you down." "Stay away from me, Tony." "If you still got this big yen to die, die someplace else, away from me." "I'm tired of digging graves." "All right, take it easy, Tony." " Relax, Tony." " All right." "All right." "I'm all right, I'm all right." "We'll see who runs this outfit." "Come on." "Giddap." "What will become of him, Steve?" "He'll keep on the way he's going." "He'll meet somebody faster with a gun, because that's the way it happens." "They'll bury him." "If he's lucky, he'll have a marker, if he isn't, it won't make a difference because there won't be anybody to mourn him." "Except me." "I'll mourn him." "Come on." "What's your pleasure, young Mr. Sinclair?" "I didn't come here to talk about pleasure." "I came here to talk about my business." "Now, in case you didn't hear, I run the Double S Ranch now and my first order of business is for you to get that fence down." "You're on my land." "Get off." "At least you say it like a man." "Yes, but not to a man." "I'm telling it to a dirty, little, trigger-happy jackal without a heart in his body." "I can't say it much plainer than that, Tony." "Well, in that case, Mr. Deneen, I guess you better use that gun because I'm afraid I might have to kill you." "Mr. Deneen's been shot." "It happened early this morning." "He's hurt pretty bad." "We know who did it." "He couldn't have gone far, Steve." "He was hit." "We followed a blood trail toward the hills, then it stopped." "We figured he'd come here." "He didn't." "We're gonna keep on looking for him, Steve." "If he's in trouble, I think I know where he'd go." "I'd be obliged if you'd let me go after him, Brick." "I've been with that old man for 38 years." "I love him too." "Will you wear your gun?" "All right, Steve." "Wait for me." "I will." " Tony?" " Huh!" "Tony." "You didn't get very far." "I got a little bullet in my leg." "Who did you bring with you?" "Nobody." "I came alone." "Don't take any walk, Steve." "It's no day to walk." "It's hot." "Good day for a man to die." "He would never know the difference." "I'm coming for you, Tony." "I'm gonna take you back." "I'm not gonna let you, Steve." "Stay where you are." "Or I'll have to kill you." "Steve, don't." "I'm asking you not to." "Please, Steve." "I'm gonna take you back, Tony." "And what if I don't go?" "Tony." "Tony." "Heh." "Steve, I had to protect you." "You couldn't kill your kid brother because..." " Steve." " Yeah?" "Did you find Tony?" "Yes." "What about Mr. Deneen?" "He's gonna pull through." "When he's able to listen, tell him..." "He's able to listen now, Steve." "I think he'd like to hear it from you." "I'm glad you're all right, Mr. Deneen." "Tony's dead." "Steve." "Come back here." "Now, don't you start running away from something you've already built." "I'm not gonna moralize and tell you what happened is for the best." "But it has happened." "And there's nothing you can do about it." "There's a lot of work to do in this valley." "And it's our valley, Steve, remember that." "I'll be needing a lot of help." "I'd like you to stay." "I'll stay." "You better be getting back to your place and let them know that the Sinclairs are still in the business."