"Well, Adam, I want you to get the best breed cattle you can find in California." "If it costs more, you pay it." "There'll be a letter of credit waiting for you at the bank in Sacramento." "Sure wish I was riding with you." "Hoss, you know it was already decided it was my chance to get a look at some of them city gals." "When did we decide that?" "Oh, he decided all by himself." "And when Pa mentioned this would be a good week to do some fence repairing." "(laughing)" "Those fences will still be waiting for you when you boys get back." "Now use your judgment, Adam." "Make sure you get what you pay for." "You watch them city gals, too, you hear that, Little Joe?" "I intend to do just that." "(Ben chuckles)" "Take care." "One more place, please, Ben." "You sign right there." "Ah." "There, that should do it." "Folks, my name's Zach Morgan." "These are my brothers, Ned and Billy." "Morgans!" "That's right." "Start collecting it." "Now there's been a lot of loose talk going around town about us being killers." "Well, don't you believe none of it." "Don't get any notions." "All righty, let's have the rest of it." "That's all there is." "You know, I bet you go home and have lunch with your wife, don't you, mister?" "Well, I'll tell you what, how would you like us to drop you off there... (pistol cocking) dead?" "That's all there is, I swear it." "TELLER:" "Somebody stop him!" "Hoss!" "(gunshot)" "(gunshots)" "(theme song playing)" "He's gonna be all right." "I had to probe pretty deep for that bullet." "That's all right, Doc." "He'll be all right as soon as I get him home." "He'll bleed to death before you get him half way there." "Internal hemorrhaging." "He's got to be bedded tight." "Strapped down if need be." "Ben, Ben..." "You can stay at my place." "That'd be best, Hoss." "I'll get him a clean shirt." "Give me a hand with him." "No, wait... wait a minute." "The young Morgan boy-- he was hurt pretty bad." "If he dies, the whole Morgan gang will be back." "I owe you something, Ben." "I haven't forgotten." "Come on." "Easy now, Pa." "Easy." "Easy." "Ben, I'm sorry." "Oh, that's all right, Sam." "You going after them?" "Well, yes, sir." "Now, you be careful." "That Carl Morgan-- he's smart as a lobo." "I'm not forgetting what he did to my deputy." "Now don't let your anger lead you into a trap." "HOSS:" "Come on, Pa, it's no time for talking." "I need two good men to ride after the Morgans." "Two good shots." "Just two-- to ride with me and my deputies." "Any of you." "I'll ride with you." "PRYOR:" "Give me a gun." "Pryor, you're drunk." "I said I'll go." "Give me a gun." "Not you, Tom." "Not this time." "Well?" "All right." "It took long enough to wake up." "We'll get the guns for you down at the jail." "Just a little ways now, Billy." "You just hold on." "Carl's gonna skin us when he sees Billy's shot." "Maybe we ought to rest him, Zach." "Nah, it ain't far now." "There's nothing we can do for him here no anyway." "Hyah, hyah." "It's blood all right." "Fresher than the last we spotted." "Why didn't you watch out for the kid?" "We tried." "We did just like you told us." "Don't take it out on me." "Ben Cartwright shot the kid." "His time's coming." "What about him, Skinner?" "You're supposed to be able to patch people up, aren't you?" "I only tended to mules in the army, Carl." "That don't mean I can work miracles." "You're no better than that prison butcher that hacked up my leg!" "Carl!" "Shut up!" "Now... now you listen to me, Billy." "You listen good." "You're gonna come out of this." "You're gonna get yourself up and you're gonna ride out of here with us." "You're gonna do what I tell you." "Billy?" "You hear me, Billy?" "!" "You get up now!" "Ain't no use talking to him." "He's dead." "Was me raised him." "First time I fought with Pa was when he got liquored up and started in to thrash Billy." "I'll settle for you, son." "That's a promise I'll keep." "We're all ready to ride in, Carl." "You just give the word." "(horse approaching)" "Posse's coming!" "Well, who'd of thought they'd have guts enough to comelooking for us?" "Get the rifles." "We're gonna set up." "We gonna have a little surprise party?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we gonna have a little party for 'em." "Smell a touch of wood smoke?" "Let's move out." "Don't make a move." "You ain't gonna shoot me, are ya?" "Just keep your hands high." "Don't worry, I ain't gonna make a play." "All right, boys, rope him." "Search the camp." "(horses neighing, man screaming)" "(yells)" "Feel better, Ben?" "Hmm." "Just don't like making you miss your work." "Guess they can go on getting drunk without me." "Ben, do you think you could sleep if I pulled down the blind?" "Anne, I don't like being moved in here and maybe put you in danger." "Plenty of people in town who'd have bedded me down." "Are you sure?" "Don't count on them, Ben." "You'll make the same mistake my husband did." "So much bitterness-- it doesn't become you." "I don't think Ed would have wanted it that way." "Doesn't really matter, does it?" "He's dead." "Ben, at the trial, he kept saying to me there was nothing to worry about." "He said, "People in this town are my friends."" "Well, it was his friends that let Tom Pryor talk them into a hanging." ""People in this town know me." "They're my friends."" "(sighs)" "I guess it wasn't till they put the rope around his neck, he knew any better." "Sometimes a lawyer can sweet talk a jury into making mistakes." "They wanted to see Ed hang." "They're like a pack of vultures." "All except you, Ben." "Look at them down there now." "The whole town all excited over a shooting and a killing." "Oh, how's Ben doing?" "Well, sir, he's still pretty weak, but he's getting some rest now." "Well, tell him not to worry about the Morgans." "We're all right here." "I reckon he knows how all of you feel, Mr. Stanford." "Hoss, tell Ben we'll be up to see him." "I sure will, Mr. Martin." "We expect him to be up and snorting for the celebration when the sheriff brings in the Morgan gang." "Yes, sir." "(knocking)" "Hoss." "Howdy, Miss Samuels." "(door closes)" "Howdy, Pa." "Pa, they wouldn't even let me pay for that food." "That's how everybody's feeling about this thing." "Ben, how are you doing?" "Too much mollycoddling." "Well, I'll tell you one thing:" "The Morgans sure picked the wrong man to shoot this time." "Ben, this town hasn't been so worked up since Ed Samuel's trial." "Oh, uh... well, uh, what I meant to say was..." "I'm sorry, ma'am." "You're sorry." "Well, that helps a lot." "As I was saying, Ben, this town is sure worked up about all this." "The Morgans have been terrorizing this neighborhood long enough, Ben." "It's time they got what was coming to them." "You saved my life, Ben." "And I ain't aiming to forget it." "Thank you, Ralph." "Now, there's not going to be any trouble, mind you." "Not with the posse after the Morgans." "Well, we'd better not stay too long." "Don't forget, Ben, we're keeping a drink warm for you down at the bar." "It's good to know you have friends." "Oh, Ralph, say thank you to everybody for all this." "It's no more than you'd do for us." "Just take care of yourself, Ben." "(door closing)" "Now, don't look like there's going to be any trouble, Pa." "(grunts)" "Hope not." "But you know the Morgans." "Yeah, well, even if they give the posse the slip and try to come in, whole town's going to be backing us." "I'm counting on that." "What's the matter, Pa?" "(quiet groan)" "(sighs)" "I'm all right." "It's no good being helpless like this." "Put a pillow behind my head?" "Yes, sir." "Well, there..." "Don't you worry, now." "Old Sam's posse's probably got them already rounded up." "I hope Sam isn't too anxious." "That Carl Morgan." "He thinks more like an animal than a man." "That's the way you have to fight him." "Yeah." "(horse snorting, hoofbeats thudding outside)" "(horse snorting)" "Sam?" "Sam!" "No." "Let me go!" "It's no use, Mrs. Toller." "It's no use." "What is it?" "Don't look like the posse got them, Pa." "Made out to Ben Cartwright." "It says, "We're coming into town before sundown."" "I guess we all know who wrote it." "Well, what's the matter, good people?" "The sight of death chill you?" "Shut up, you drunken hangman." "Sam Toller had no call to go out like that." "He left the whole town unprotected." "It's Ben Cartwright they're after." "Maybe we can sneak him out of town." "Hide him somewheres." "He'll be dead in an hour if you try to move him." "If Sam Toller and his posse couldn't take the Morgan gang, what chance have we got?" "Looks like you boys are going to have to do a little fighting." "Sending an innocent man to the gallows wasn't enough for you, was it, Pryor?" "Talked the town into hanging Ed Samuels." "Now you're trying to talk us into more trouble." "You drunken troublemaker." "The Cartwrights shouldn't have shot that Morgan boy." "That's what started all this." "(laughing)" "What are you laughing about, Mr. Pryor?" "Look at them." "All the big men." "All the big men in town that were going to stand back of Ben Cartwright, way back!" "(laughing)" "I think it's very funny." "(laughing)" "Five dead bodies, Mr. Pryor." "That ain't very funny." "You won't be doing much business today." "(clock ticking)" "What time does it start?" "4:00, maybe." "Before sundown." "Adam and Little Joe on their way to California, and you and me trapped here." "Ah, take it easy, son." "You know, maybe this whole thing's for the best." "What do you mean, Pa?" "Well..." "Carl Morgan and his brothers have been preying on this territory like a pack of wild dogs." "And that's just the way they have to be fought." "Pa..." "Maybe I could get some of the town's men and ride out and meet him." "And come back slung over your saddle?" "You know, when I was a boy..." "I don't think I ever told you boys this." "My uncle sent me out hunting a pack of dogs that were stealing my pet sheep." "Slogged around for a couple of days, never-never even got a smell of them." "Now, when my uncle sent me out there..." "He sent me out there to teach me something." "When I got back, he showed me." "He took an old goat and he tethered him outside." "And then we got our guns and we waited until that dog pack came." "Carl Morgan is like that old brown dog." "Wild, smart." "But now there's an old goat tethered in here that he wants bad enough to walk into a trap." "Which way do you figure they'll come in, Pa?" "Right down Main Street." "BEN:" "They'll figure we won't expect them to come in right out in the open." "Hyah!" "That's the way they'll go out, too." "It's broad and clear." "Less chance of them getting cut off." "Mm-hmm." "They'll probably wait till almost sundown, hoping we'll panic." "Now, we can't keep them from coming in." "Got to figure us how to stop them from getting out." "Pa..." "I can close off all those side streets with wagons and crates and stuff." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's good." "Hoss... let's get a rope." "Get a long rope... and pull it right across Main Street." "Cover it up with a lot of dirt, and you wait till they ride past, then you pull that rope tight." "Yeah." "And put about half your men down there, and make sure they don't shoot" "Until the Morgans are trapped by that rope." "Yes, sir." "Get Carter and Stanford and Martin." "They're all good men." "Yes, sir." "(distant dog howling)" "(entrance bell tinkling)" "(clock ticking)" "Ma'am, I'd like to talk to Mr. Martin." "My husband's sick." "Ma'am, I just saw him this morning." "He's sick." "(footsteps thudding in other room)" "You leave him alone." "Mr. Martin, I need you." "Hoss, I'm the first one in town to want to help Ben." "The first one, but..." "I'm listening." "I got a wife and children to think about." "Sometimes a man's got to think about something besides himself, Mr. Martin." "Well, you tell that to Sam Toller's wife and kids." "Look, Hoss, I can pay your Pa back everything that he loaned me on what I still own for the store." "But I can't go out there, Hoss." "I can't." "Hoss!" "I can, I can pay him back everything, see?" "Thank you, Mr. Martin." "It ain't money I'm needing right now." "Good day, ma'am." "(entrance bell tinkling)" "It's not my job out there, Hoss." "You know that." "I'm the only doctor in this town." "What if the Morgans kill me, the way they did the men on the posse?" "I'll tell you something right to your face." "I've got no quarrel with the Morgans, and I sure ain't gonna go out there and get my head blown off just to save Ben Cartwright." "No, sir." "I reckon you ain't." "How's Ben's wound?" "Well, it soaked through a little bit, Doc." "That bandage ought to be changed, but I'm sort of busy." "I'll take care of it." "Hello?" "!" "Mr. Davis!" "(indistinct chatter)" "Mr. Carter!" "Mr. Carter, I need you real bad." "(indistinct chatter)" "What's the matter with all of you?" "You think you can sit in here and hide from the Morgans any better than you did from me?" "No use making trouble." "It's the Morgans that's making the trouble, not me." "Can't you get that through your heads?" "It ain't our fight." "Yeah, that's right." "It's your Pa they're coming after." "Let the Cartwrights fight their own battles." "They ain't part of this town." "Well, what about it?" "Any of you got guts enough to stand up and take sides?" "I ain't gonna bother asking you again, Mr. Carter." "You told my Pa when he saved your life that you wasn't going to be forgetting it." "Pretty hollow-sounding words, ain't they?" "Well, I ain't gonna do no more begging." "Hoss." "I'd like to go along, if it's all right." "I won't be much use, I guess." "I can't shoot." "I never killed a man." "Except Ed Samuels." "Except Ed Samuels." "Maybe you don't want me." "Mr. Pryor, when I came in here," "I was asking for men to step forward." "As far as I'm concerned, you're the only man in the whole room." "I'm ready to go." "All I need is a gun." "And maybe a couple of more drinks!" "(laughing)" "It's a pretty sad thing, the smell of fear in this room." "Come on, Mr. Pryor." "Well, we're ready when you are, Hoss." "Good." "You know, your pa once saved me from a bunch of drunken trail hands-- I ain't ever forgot that." "Mighty glad you're with us, Mr. Stanford." "I didn't know what I was gonna tell Pa." "Yeah, I guess you already got the others posted around town, huh?" "That's it, ain't it?" "Not exactly, no, sir." "Change your plans?" "I mean, you got the others to go along with you, haven't you?" "Same as me?" "No, sir, there... there ain't nobody but you and me and Mr. Pryor here." "Well, there's Martin and, uh, Ralph Carter-- they'll go along with us." "No, sir." "Just you and..." "me and Mr. Pryor, that's all." "Just, uh, you and Pryor, huh?" "That's right." "Well, no offense intended, Hoss, but, uh..." "Pryor here ain't much of a man with a gun." "HOSS:" "No, sir, I.." "I reckon he ain't, but he's willing to try." "You'll need good men to face the Morgans." "I guess you and Ben know that, don't you?" "Yes, sir." "That's why I'm mighty glad you're with us, Mr. Stanford." "Yeah." "Well, I didn't figure on going it alone." "You're a good man with a gun, aren't you?" "Well, I ain't that good." "I mean, I'm no gunman, you know that, Hoss." "Yes, sir." "I reckon you ain't no gunman." "It'd be... be different if... there were others, but..." "Well, you understand, don't you, Hoss?" "Yes, sir, I understand." "(clock ticking)" "You look real home-like now." "(laughs softly)" "They shut down the saloon for the day." "Something wrong?" "No, everything's fine, Ben." "Wish Hoss would get here with those men." "(groans):" "Plans to be made." "They'll be along." "(sighs)" "(horse galloping in distance)" "Skinner's never done a right thing in his whole life." "He should've sent me or Zach into town." "Uh-huh." "Maybe with a big red flag, so's they'd be sure to spot you." "But I'm parched, Carl!" "What are they doing in there?" "Nothing." "Just nothing at all." "Doesn't sound like Ben Cartwright." "But if it was a trap, you'd have seen them setting up for it." "That's right, there ain't no trap, Carl." "Let's ride." "(entrance bell tinkling)" "You'd better come on in the back." "You don't want to get hit by a stray bullet." "You want me to go out there, is that what you want?" "Well, say it, if that's what you mean." "Do you want me to get killed?" "Do you want me to leave you and the kids alone in the world?" "I'm doing what I'm doing for you." "I mean it, I'm doing it for you!" "(clock ticking)" "It ain't that I'm afraid." "I ain't afraid." "(entrance bell tinkling)" "(clock ticking)" "(entrance bell tinkling)" "(ticking)" "(ticking)" "(glass placed on bar) CARTER:" "Brandy." "What are you looking at?" "Nothing, Mr. Carter." "Can't you get any decent brandy in this place?" "Shut up, Carter." "You got no right to kick." "None of us got any right to kick." "If you feel that way about it, why don't you go out there?" "You're packing a gun." "Yeah." "I'm packing a gun." "(horse neighs)" "We wait here till sundown." "I want to see the Cartwrights sweat." "I want to see 'em crawl." "(ticking)" "They're not gonna do you much good, Ben, not in your condition." "Oh, a man feels better with a gun in his hand." "Why do you need it, Ben, if your friends are going to fight for you?" "Where are they, Ben?" "Why aren't they here?" "Well, these things take time." "Men have to get ready." "They've had plenty of time, Ben." "I told you before and I tell you now, don't put your faith in any of them." "(knocking)" "It hasn't been misplaced, Anne." "(knocking)" "Ma'am, Mr. Pryor here is the only one that'd come along." "Your father's waiting to see you." "If you'd prefer, I'll stay out here." "It doesn't matter." "Come on in, if you like." "I've wanted to talk to you, to tell you how sorry I am about everything." "Oh, everybody's sorry, but that doesn't bring back my husband." "No." "Nothing can do that." "(sighs)" "But it was a mistake." "At the time I was certain that Ed was guilty." "You didn't care whether he was guilty or not." "You only wanted to win a case, to see him hang." "Big district attorney, make a name for himself, further his political career." "It's as simple as that, isn't it, Mr. Pryor?" "Admit it." "I've paid, Mrs. Samuels." "I hope you never stop paying for it." "Pa wants to see you." "I'm surprised to see you here, Pryor." "I've already told Pa how everybody drew lots to see who'd be the town spokesman." "They picked a strange spokesman." "I have some reputation left as a good spokesman, Mr. Cartwright." "Are the men ready?" "All that are willing." "How many are there?" "The town spoke with one voice, sir." "All your friends took the same stand." "That's right, Pa, everybody feels the same way about it." "BEN:" "Well, keep them calm-- don't let them get nervous." "Remember, don't let them shoot till the Morgans get past the center of town." "I'll tell them, Pa." "I'd rather be out there with you." "HOSS:" "I know, Pa, but..." "don't you worry, everything's gonna be all right." "Tell him, Hoss." "Tell him the whole story." "I've already told him everything he needs to know." "You holding anything back, Hoss?" "HOSS:" "Only that we figured not to put anybody up here, because he'd just draw fire anyhow." "Mm." "That makes sense." "Should be pretty soon now." "Take care of yourself, Hoss." "Yes, sir." "Hoss?" "Why didn't you tell him?" "Well, ma'am, I can't just tell him that all his friends quit on him." "You can't face Morgan alone." "Not... not with him." "Well, we got to do the best we can." "But you'll be killed." "Right now, ma'am, that seems most likely." "(door opens)" "(door closes)" "All right, time to move out." "(horse neighs)" "All right." "Well, it's just about that time." "Ought to make a real good show." "What about us?" "If there's fighting, the Morgans are gonna shoot up this town." "That's for sure, maybe get some of us killed to boot." "I don't want to be around when the lead starts flying." "It's so blamed unparticular just who it hits." "Hey!" "Hey!" "HOSS:" "That's good." "Hold it." "Well, looks like the show's gonna be right here." "Well, that means shooting." "Let's drift." "Yeah." "HOSS:" "All right, let's go, Mr. Pryor." "Now, wait, I need a drink." "Not now." "Hoss, I tell you, I need a drink." "Not now, Mr. Pryor." "You want me to die out here?" "Mr. Pryor, you listen to me." "I don't care what you do once this thing's over with." "You can lay down and die and rot in the street." "But you offered to come along on this thing, and you're gonna stick till it's over with, Mr. Pryor." "Do you understand that?" "You're gonna stick!" "(panting):" "All right, let's go." "(ticking)" "(feet shuffling nearby)" "Now, get on back across the street and stay out of sight." "As soon as the Morgans ride across the rope, pull the stove loose." "You understand?" "Yeah." "Mr. Pryor, I know you're feeling bad, but you just gotta make it." "It ain't gonna be long now." "I don't know." "I don't think I can make it." "You gotta." "Just do the best you can, Mr. Pryor." "That's all any man can do." "(clock ticking)" "(coughs)" "Well, gentlemen, I find myself drinking in worthy company." "Yes, gentlemen," "I'm a deserter just as you are." "Shut up, Pryor." "Bartender, give me another drink." "Help me to drown my soul as my friends have succeeded in doing." "The surcease they find in this is only fleeting, for tomorrow and all their tomorrows they'll awaken to new pangs of conscience." "Why don't you shut up?" "You let me hound an innocent man to death, and you cheered while he died." "Well, now, gentlemen, it's you who are the executioners." "You're letting good men die when you could save them." "You were out there." "Why ain't you out there now?" "I was afraid." "(sighs)" "Just like you, gentlemen, I was afraid." "You're hiding, gentlemen." "You're hiding from yourselves." "And you're running." "You'll never be able to stop because you can't hide within yourself." "I'm only good for making speeches and speeches aren't much good now, are they?" "There's no time for speeches." "What's he up to?" "I don't know." "Where you going, Doc?" "Out to keep an obligation." "(ticking)" "Anne, are you sure that everything's ready?" "Yes, Ben." "And Hoss got all the men placed?" "All of them." "It's gonna be fine, Anne." "It's gonna be just..." "BEN:" "What is it?" "They're coming in, Ben." "The Morgans are coming in." "Where's Pryor?" "He's gone." "His nerve didn't last." "Ain't you gonna run, too?" "I got some of my nerve back." "I'm no hand with a gun, but maybe there's something else I can do." "There is, Doc." "Look here." "It's too quiet, Carl." "Maybe they took Ben Cartwright out." "He's here." "He wouldn't run away from a fight." "(banging)" "Sure enough thought..." "Shut up!" "Sure, Carl." "Stay close and tight." "I'm not covering for anybody that's got no more sense than a stray getting cut out of the herd." "(hoofbeats thudding outside)" "Ben Cartwright!" "Come on out to face me or be dragged out!" "Something's gone wrong." "They should've been cutting them off by now." "Cartwright!" "Listen to me, and listen good." "Whoever's hiding the Cartwrights better get them out here and fast!" "Or I'm not going to just tree this town," "I'm going to burn it to ashes!" "Help me." "Hoss lied to me, didn't he?" "Yes." "There's nobody out there to face them but him." "It's no use, Ben, you'll only get yourself killed!" "All right, you had your time." "Now I'm going house by house, and I'm going to kill everything that moves till I get to the Cartwrights!" "(horses neighing)" "(gunshots)" "I can't get a clear shot, get me outside!" "Hyah!" "(groans)" "Over here, Morgan!" "(screams)" "Pa, you all right?" "I gotta get you upstairs." "I'm all right." "We'll wait here together." "I don't feel much of anything now." "Love." "Hate." "Nothing." "That's only for the living." "Anne... forget the hate." "It's too quiet, Pa." "They're trying to keep us guessing." "You killed them, Cartwright!" "You killed all my brothers!" "Now make your play face-to-face if you got the guts for it!" "This is my play, Hoss." "Pa, I can't let you do it." "Hoss..." "Yes, sir." "(cocks gun)" "Billy." "I tried, Billy." "(townsfolk murmuring)" "Pa, are you all right?" "Ah, I'm all right." "Tired." "(sighs heavily)" "A man... a man expects a lot." "Too much." "I don't know, Pa." "I reckon they done about as much as they could." "Tom Pryor, Doc Travis." "Sure right." "Shouldn't have forgotten about them." "There are men who... who do as much as they can." "Even more." "It makes up for all the rest."