"Well, if you didn't pack the coal so tight," "We'd get more blue flame in the fire." "Oh?" "What do you know about it?" "Well, if the coals were looser, we'd get more air," "With more air there's more oxygen to burn," "At least that's what my teacher taught" "I hope you'll forgive this trespassing," "But I'm looking for a lucas mccain." "That's me." "My name is stark, mr." "Mccain, benjamin stark." "My son, mark." "I know." "Mr. Mccain, my business with you is quite simple." "This afternoon I will be involved in a transaction" "At the north fork bank." "That, uh, transaction will be conducted more smoothly," "And certainly more profitably," "With someone like yourself there to vouch for me." "Mr..." "Stark, did you say?" "Since we've never met before," "I ought to know a little more about you before I can," "Well, as you say, "vouch"." "I think you know enough about me now, mr." "Mccain." "I wouldn't gamble, mr." "Mccain," "The boy might be in the line of fire." "Noley?" "The point being, that if you introduce me" "To the bank manager, we can finish our work efficiently" "And quietly, with nobody getting hurt, except their feelings." "You want me to tell you what will happen to your kid" "If you don't cooperate?" "That's enough, cougar!" "He put it rather crudely, mr." "Mccain." "Let me simply say that my brother, noley," "Will be keeping your son company while we're in town." "We better get started, mr." "Mccain." "He couldn't be in better hands." "Noley is quite fond of children." "That boy is hurt in any way, I'll find you, stark," "I'll hunt you down, and make it the sorriest day of your life." "I give you my word, all goes well in town," "Your boy won't be hurt in any way." "Now, let's get started." "I guess you're scared of me, eh, sonny?" "I try not to be scared of anybody." "My gosh, that's the way to grow up," "Not being scared o' anybody." "You know, me, I'm scared all of the time." "Well, that's because you're an outlaw," "An' always bein' chased." "Look, son, let's understand one thing," "And then you and me can wait in more comfort." "I ain't gonna hurt a hair on your head." "Ben and cougar don't come back," "Meanin they've got into trouble." "There ain't gonna be anybody to harm you." "I'll sure ride out in a hurry, but nobody is gonna hurt you." "Feel better?" "I guess so." "Ain't no cause hurting you" "Just cause things don't go right." "Me an' ben, we figured that out long ago." "You've done this before?" "Yeah, we take over a farm just outside o' town," "I stay with somebody acting real mean." "Ben and cougar, with the farm owner, go into town." "They talk over matters with the man in the bank," "All calm and peaceful, nobody gettin' excited," "Until the bank's ready to close." "Then they take the money an..." "An' nobody gets shot." "Ben's smart." "I don't think he's so smart." "Well, I" " I mean he's- he's smarter than me." "Come on, boy, I'll help you do your chores." "Natural like," "Not as if you've got something fancy on your mind." "Keep remembering' one thing, mr." "Mccain, your son." "Anything goes wrong, noley has his orders." "Well, lucas, haven't seen you in a spell." "Hello, john." "John, this is, uh, benjamin stark." "Mr. Stark." "I'm not sayin' ben's an angel," "I'm just saying he does some good things." "Like raising me when our folks died," "An' sending me money when he was in those schools back east." "He could shift for hisself now," "Do a lot better without me." "But no, ben likes to keep me right along with him." "I don't think he's so good making you into a bank robber." "Oh, it wasn't ben's idea, not at first." "I had me a farm, one ben bought for me." "Had me a farm and a woman, and a boy." "You're married?" "Sure admired that woman, I admired the boy too," "Loved him you might say." "Something happened to them?" "She took off with him." "Up one night, took him away." "Guess I'm the kind that can't hold on to anything." "I'm sorry." "That's all right." "Got nobody to blame but myself," "Not being able to hold on to anybody." "That's why I'm so appreciative to ben." "He's the only real thing I got." "He knows I'm not smart, but he likes me anyway." "Gotta have somebody to like you, son," "Terrible feeling you look around" "And you figure nobody liking' you." "The boy liked me, wasn't old enough to know better I" "Wait up, you'll only trouble yourself!" "Hey, you went an' fell." "No cause for you to do that." "Boy?" "Boy?" "I wouldn't have hurt you, honest." "Boy?" "Boy?" "You needn't have run." "I'm afraid that would spell the limits" "Of such a loan, mr." "Stark." "We'd be happy to advance 50% of the land purchase price," "But beyond that, we'd be indulging in speculation." "Well, naturally you can't afford that." "However, mr." "Hamilton, I have another proposition" "Which might be of interest to you." "It goes this way, leave it open!" "You heard me!" "Better do as he says." "Lucas." "What is this?" "He's holding mark hostage." "Now, mr." "Hamilton put all the money from the vault in this." "Quickly, mr." "Hamilton!" "Now, you wake up, you hear." "You shouldn't have run, you just shouldn't have run!" "The keys?" "Now, it's understood that you gentlemen will stay here" "One hour quietly, and I promise you, I'll release your boy." "I'll say it again, stark, if I find that boy hurt in any way" "You've been most cooperative, mr." "Mccain," "And I promise to return that cooperation." "One hour." "Don't try to cut corners at this point." "I'm sure it will be all right, lucas." "We'll wait the hour, make sure mark's in no jeopardy." "They'll have no reason to harm him." "God help 'em if they do." "Hi, noley, everything all right?" "He run, benny, he tried to run away." "It was an accident." "I..." "I yelled to him, and he fell." "What're you talking about?" "The boy, he" "Listen, are you tryin' to say the boy is dead?" "Breathin', just breathing'." "He's in a bad way." "Now we'll have his father following' us" "To the end of the world, you fool." "You" "He said it was an accident." "That's the truth, ben, honest." "Cougar, any time you want," "We can ride in different directions." "All right." "Maybe I ought to stay with 'im, get the doctor," "Tell him what happened." "And what if he dies?" "Who'll believe your story?" "Come on, we better get out of here." "It's an hour, lucas." "Hey, that's my horse!" "Mccain just stole my horse!" "Let's find micah." "Well, you don't know who you can trust these days." "Mark?" "Mark!" "Mark?" "Mark?" "Mark?" "What did they do to you, son?" "Well, fortunately there's no fracture." "So in time he'll be all right." "You can go in, but, uh, don't be alarmed if his mind" "Is a little cloudy, it will wear off." "Are you sure he'll be all right, doc?" "With proper rest an' care, I'm sure." "Thanks." "Hello, son." "How're you feelin'?" "I guess it will be a while." "Mark?" "Who did it, son?" "Which one?" "Try to answer me, mark." "Luke, let him sleep." "It's the best thing for 'im." "Lucas, I guess you'll be wantin' to catch up to the posse." "Micah said he'd be watching him for you," "If the word on mark was good." "Luke, I said" "I heard you, doc," "But one man travels faster than a posse does." "You're not intending' to kill those men?" "Luke?" "I'm not going to kill 'em, doc." "Before I'm through, they're gonna wish I did." "Before I'm through, they'll be begging me to kill 'em." "Ben?" "Ben, I gotta rest for a while." "We've been ridin' all night." "I just gotta stop for a while." "Well, this is one time I agree with you, noley." "Yeah, let's- let's rest a while, hey?" "You know, besides," "I want the money counted an' divided before we go on." "I'd feel a lot better" "If I knew whether the kid was alive or dead." "What's the difference?" "What's the difference?" "That was a fine boy." "You wouldn't wanna see him die, would you, cougar?" "The trouble is you never had a son of your own." "Why don't you shut up?" "Look, I'm sick an' tired of you talkin' about your stupid kid!" "You oughtn't talk about the boy that way." "He's not stupid." "With you for his ol' man, how can he be anything else?" "What did I tell you about stayin' off noley's back?" "Look, I got enough on my mind" "Without having' to hear about his kid and his farm!" "And a wife he ain't man enough to keep!" "When we get to mexico, cougar," "You won't have to listen to him anymore." "We'll separate." "And you'll be nothing without ben, nothing!" "We're gonna make it, aren't we, ben?" "Don't worry, noley, we'll make it." "We got a good start," "Nobody could have followed us at the pace we set." "You see anybody?" "Don't see anyone, ben." "Nobody showing means mccain's here by himself." "The horses!" "Get the canteen!" "He almost shot me, ben." "Well, what's our next move?" "All right, mccain, what's our next move?" "Walkin' back to north fork." "Walk back?" "50 miles o' waste land?" "He's loco." "Without horses or water, we'd never make it," "We'd die half way." "That's what he's hoping." "His son must've died, ben." "If he did, mccain would've killed us outright." "Now, he needs an excuse to make it legal," "That's why he let us keep our guns." "He wants us to shoot first!" "Yeah, well, he's outta range." "We'll just have to work ourselves close enough." "I want the first shot." "If you don't listen to me, there won't be a first shot." "Get movin'!" "Let's go." "Up ahead, where the gulley angles, we'll take cover." "Noley, you make out like you've fallen behind us." "You'll fool 'im, ben, I know you would." "Lucas:" "Keep walkin'!" "You heard me, keep walking!" "Remember, I want the first shot." "Keep goin'!" "He must've got ahead of us." "How do you expect us to reach north fork without any water?" "Don't be thinking about any more tricks!" "Right now, I'd settle for that jail in north fork." "Wait." "The money." "Money!" "We give him the money, we give him half!" "We cut 'im in an'..." "An' nobody will ever know!" "Huh?" "Not a chance." "Ha!" "Well, we'll..." "We'll see." "Mccain." "Mccain!" "I got" " I got $20,000 here for you." "Just leave us with enough for a stake in mexico!" "You can..." "You can have the rest, nobody will know..." "Nobody will know." "You never caught up with us, that's all." "Look here, you can have a real..." "A real big herd." "You wouldn't have anymore worries!" "I..." "I got a better proposition for yah." "You- you- you" "We don't want any." "You can have it all!" "Ben I..." "I think maybe we're gonna die." "The one who stayed behind, he hurt the kid!" "It was noley, he hurt the kid." "But it was an accident." "Tell him it was an accident." "Look..." "Look, we'll set him up here, if you let us go, huh?" "Come here." "Come on." "Come" "You have no right to offer him, noley, to save your own skin." "He wants blood for blood, that means noley." "I didn't touch the kid." "Please, ben, mccain will kill me, I know he will." "All right, all right, I'll go along with you." "But let me try one plan first." "Maybe we won't need to give him noley." "Now, let's say we're over here, an' mccain is over here." "Now, you go here an' I'll go in this direction" "You all right, noley?" "Just along the ribs, it's cut pretty bad, though." "All right, mccain, we give up!" "We'll go along peaceful." "He's filled with vengeance." "Our only chance is in reaching north fork, noley." "Noley, a water hole." "I'm bleeding again, ben, I think I'm bleeding inside now." "Mccain, he's dyin'!" "He's my brother." "He'll die if he don't get help!" "He's my brother, don't you understand, my brother!" "Who are you?" "The almighty?" "You got no right to play god!" "Noley, forgive me." "I got you into this." "You shouldn't have to die this way." "You never meant to harm anybody." "He's dyin' like an animal." "You got what you wanted, mccain." "I came to help." "All right, son..." "Now a ranch has got 800 head o' cattle." "Each one weighs 700 pounds." "On the way to market, half the herd loses 50 pounds," "The other half loses 20 pounds." "How much does the herd weigh when it gets to market?" "I'm glad those two robbers are still alive, pa." "Hmm?" "I don't think that the one that stayed with me was too bad." "Wasn't his fault that I hit my head on that rock." "I know, son." "Now, with this problem." "A ranch has" "Pa, it wasn't your fault that the one called cougar died." "I could have taken him prisoner, mark." "Remember how you've always told me that when I make a mistake," "A bad mistake," "Well, then I shouldn't go on grieving' about it?" "I guess you can make a mistake, too." "I sure did." "Well, then you oughta do like you told me to do." "You said that if I admit to myself that I was wrong," "And I tell myself that I won't make the same mistake again," "Well, then the best thing to do is- is to just put it aside" "And not think about it anymore." "Well?" "Mark, I'll try." "Now, let's get back to the herd, huh?" "Now, a ranch has 800"