" Captain, what's this town called?" " Puerto Miguel." " Is it alive?" " It's asleep." "When the sun falls people will get up." "They call it a siesta." "Do we have to siesta here for 4 weeks?" "4, 5, 6..." " Take that long to fix an engine?" " Not me." "The engineer." "I didn't make the steamboat, I just operate one." " Captain, wait!" " Every mother's son is picking up gold by the fistful in California and I'm marooned in a Mexican village called Pu..." " What did he call it?" " Puerto Miguel." "Puerto Miguel." " But what can we do about it?" " Nothing." " They must have some alcohol." " I think so." "There we are." "It's a funny thing." "I know everybody on board except you." "I don't know anything about you." " Your called Hooker and that's it." " That's it." "That kid thinks he knows you from Texas, but he can't remember." "Then it couldn't have been much." "And even if it was, it wouldn't be any of my business." "I can't see how." "Being a professional gambler, I like to know the people I meet because I might play them sometime." "That's what makes me so inquisitive." " That's natural." " I'm also a kind of poet and all kinds of people interest me." " That makes sense." " I see what I can get out of them, either their money or their character, or both." "You've heard of "getting blood out of a stone", haven't you?" " Yeah." " That's what I'm getting out of you." "Two drinks." "Two drinks." "This is the way my luck's running." "I can speak two languages, but I'm in a country that isn't one of them." "I found that pretty women speak the same language everywhere." " What about the ugly ones?" " I never listened." "It's not as bad as I thought it'd be." "It's worse." "Somebody once said:" ""Believe nothing a woman says, but believe everything she sings."" " Who said that?" " Me." "What's the trouble with him?" "What's he saying?" "He disliked the way that man was looking at his girl." "You see we want to be peaceful and friendly." "We may be here for quite a while." "I can handle myself." " I'm sure of it." " You think not?" " He just said "he was sure of it."" " Relax, Daly." "It may not be as bad as you think." "We can fish in the mornings, get drunk in the afternoons and we can play cards at night." " You might even get lucky." " Like catching lighting in a bottle." "Fiske, you know what you can do with a deck of cards?" "You can tell my fortune." "Anything you like." "The Red Queen." "That means that..." "What do you know." " What's she saying?" " She's got a mine." "Her husband is trapped in a cave-in." "She wants help to get him out." " She'll pay 1,000 dollars a man." " There ain't a man at the bar." "Did you hear what I said?" "Did you understand?" "He just told us." "I offered them a thousand a piece." "I'll double it for any of you if you'll help." "A man is lying out there hurt, maybe dying." "An American." " If that isn't enough..." " The price is right." " But, why is it so high?" " Is a man's life too high a price?" "I didn't put the price on it, you did." "I don't know what to do or what to say." " I've got to get help or he'll die." " Lady, won't you sit down?" "Why will none of them go even for so much money?" "None of them will go out there." "They're afraid of the Indians." "Are you?" "You don't look afraid." "Ma'am, the thing I'm afraid off still hasn't been found." "He says only fools go up there." "He must be one." "He's going with her." " You said 2,000 dollars?" " You've got it in your hand." " All right, I'll go." " 2,000 for each of the rest of you." "You?" "Madam, I can live anywhere in the world for 6 weeks, but alone in this town." "Meet me in an hour at the blacksmith's shop." "I'd like for one of you to come with me now." "You." " Are we lost?" " No." "We pass the face of that cliff." "What's this all about?" "There's Indians here and they left a message." " What does it say?" " It's Apache." " What else?" " That's enough." "Isn't there another way we could go back?" " Not that I know of." " Great." "How did you find this place?" "With a map from an old priest in Sacramento." " He warned us against it." " What did he come here for?" "For God." "A better reason that ours, isn't it?" "Vicente's marking the trail." "Do you think he'll want to come back?" "He just might want to get back from this one." "How did you happen to be in Puerto Miguel?" "We came around the Horn headed for the gold fields." "The ship broke down and we headed into the port." " You came together?" " No." " So, you don't know each other?" " No better than you do." "Look at her." "Taking 4 men like us to a mountain of gold." " She took what there was." " That's true." "The barrel was empty, she scrapped the bottom." " How far is this place?" " Several days." "I wonder how she remembers the way." " Maybe she's got a good memory." " No." "No, she's got a map." "She takes it out, unfolds it, and then puts it away carefully." "When she thinks no one's looking." " But you were." " Always." "Look." "You see that?" "Before this is over, you'll be just like that horse." "Eating right out of her hand." "Maybe it isn't the woman, maybe it's the sugar." "Not you, Daly." "Me." "I got a better reason." "You telling me what to do?" " Just this once." " Just once, Hooker." "Nobody ever tells me what to do." "All right." "This time I'm asking you." "I don't think I like him." "I don't think I like any part of him." "You understand?" " There's nothing more simple." " And I'm not sure if I like you." "I'm talking." "Don't turn your back on me." "You're right." "A man should never turn his back on you." "Not if he cared for his life." "But I'm a peculiar man." "I don't care." "You followed me, didn't you?" "If you want to know where you're going, ask me." "You can tell the others too." "Tell them, that without me they're nowhere, they're lost." "And when you're lost in this country, you're dead." "Then you won't need that gun." "You underrated me, Hooker." "Don't do it." "I don't think I will." "It looked like a good thing." "It looked like a miracle." "A woman leading you to a gold mine in a country where nobody goes and anything can happen." " Go on." " Did you imagine I thought you were doing this to save a man's life?" "A miserable little thing like a man's life?" " Are you?" " You don't think so?" "I think so." "I think anyone would care about a man's life being in danger, especially if it was in a gold mine." "Say, Hooker, before you became an idiot looking for gold, what were you?" "An idiot without any." "Is he still marking up the way?" "I think he's memorizing it." "Are you?" " Does he know she's wiped his marks?" " I doubt it." "You'd think she'd get tired." "She's like something hammered out of silver." "Now you, you're made out of leather." "Vicente, volcanic rock." " And you?" " Words and flesh." "I think I'm the only human being here." " She's human." " How can you tell?" " Because of what's driving her." " And what is?" "That man in the mine." "It makes every mile and every hour precious." "Well, you sound almost human yourself." "We'll camp there for tonight." "Not many hours old." " Some kind of a ceremony or ritual." " Who?" " Apaches." "A new moon last night." " So what?" "This is a special month for them." "It's, "The Moon of the White man."" " How do you know?" " He knows everything." "Let him talk." "It's from when they wiped out all the settlements, like this one." "You know, back in that saloon 2,000 seemed like quite a bundle, but out here it's dwindling fast." "Don't listen to him, it's a legend he got from the priest in town." "But he was here." "This was his church." "Do you think they care about us?" "They killed those who took the land and built on it." "People who made homes and fences and came to stay." "People like us, who hunt for gold and run away with it, do you think we're worth killing?" "Maybe you're right when there were two of you, a man and his wife." " But now..." " Now you listen to me, all of you." "I hired you to save a man's life." "It might be a little dangerous, that's why I paid you good." "If a man's life isn't worth a risk, tell me how much you want." "Go ahead." "Tell me how much more." " What's eating her?" " She's just tired." "Let's make the coffee." " She put you in your place." " All of us." "At first I thought she was one of those women who come along and fascinate men without trying or knowing why." "And now what?" "She tries and she knows why." "Tell me some more about this White Man's Moon." "It's an open season." " On what?" " On you and me." "What do you want?" "What you said about quitting and leaving with the money." "You didn't mean me, did you?" "I didn't come along for that." "They did, but I didn't." "That's all they're after, but not me." "And don't be afraid of them because I'm watching them." "I'm with you, Leah." "I know what's going on, but I'm not with them." "It ain't the money with me, it's you, you know that?" "Take your hands off me." "You animal!" "You scum!" "Go to bed." "We got enough trouble without your problems." "That's all." " Is it?" "Is that all?" " You heard me." "What if I say it ain't all?" "What if I say it ain't?" " Say what you want." " All right." "I'll say something." "Yeah, I think I'll say something." "I've had a gutful of you, Hooker." "And I'll say it the way I talk the best." " Put that way, Daly." " I've killed men like you before." "Yeah." "I know about you." "You killed them for rewards on their head when nothing could be done except give you the cash." "You shot them at tables or in their beds." "Wherever their eyes were shut or their backs turned." "I know about you." "I'll let you square yourself." " Killing a man face to face." " I'm telling you, Hooker." "I'm telling you!" "I'm telling you!" "Stop it." "Blame yourself." "Don't blame Daly or me, or anybody but yourself." " What do you think you're saying?" " I know what I'm saying." "And so do you." "If you want to get where you're going, get some rest." "Go on." "Here." "Wash your face." "You'll be all right." "You just made a fool out of yourself." "Don't think it hasn't happened to anybody else." "All of us." "You just didn't understand it." "There's only one thing in her head." "That man out there." "Nothing else." "Now you know." " Why didn't you kill me?" " I need you." "You don't need anybody, Hooker." "You don't need any of us." "I will." "We'll all need each other." "Come on, now." "Get to bed." "You got everything fixed now?" "It'll hold for a while." "You see how it is?" "Now she's got you fighting for her honour." "She's got you going unharmed against a man she turned into an idiot." " A boy." " It was very heroic." "I admired you enormously." "I'm sure she did, too." "Some day, like Salome, she'll have you bringing her the head of Vicente in a frying pan." " Or yours." " No, not mine, Hooker." "Mine belongs to you." " And you know what they say." " What do they say?" "Two heads are better than one." "Take one." "Put it back." "Sí?" " What's he say?" " He wants to do it again." "Shuffle?" "Cut?" "Cut?" " How far will it be now?" " Tomorrow." "We could ride tonight and be there in the morning." "Only the horses don't ride." "Do you want to tell me about him?" " Tell you?" "Tell you what?" " Anything." "He's a mining engineer." "We prospected in California and we got a map from a priest." "A map of this country, this place." "It was a boom town once." "A volcano covered it with lava." "Everything except a church steeple and a mine shaft." "In 3 hours they lost half of God and most of the gold." " And they never went back?" " No, they were afraid." "Indians?" "Yes, after the volcano it became sacred to the Indians." " A place of evil spirits." " But you don't believe in them." " Do you?" " I believe in Indians." "That's it." "The town buried in the lava from the volcano, and the mine's on the other side." "Let's ride." "He's alive." "He's all right." "He's alive." "Here, take it easy." "Be careful." "I tried that and it caved in." "We'll need timbers to support this." "Get some timbers, Daly" "Here, try this." "Hold up that end." " Use this for his feet." " All right." " Watch out when you lift his leg." " Roll him over." "There we go." "Vicente, get on that end." "Take him to the house." "All right, get out." "I want to try and fix his leg while he's still out." " I'll help you." " Take her out." "Come on, let's go." "Leave him alone." "Don't talk." "Don't try." "You'll be all right." "It was right there." "I kept shooting at it." " I kept missing..." " Don't talk about it now." "You..." "You..." "You came back." "I'm here." "You'll be all right." "He will be, won't he?" "He'll be all right?" " He has a fractured leg." " Is it bad?" "I don't know." "He'll live." "Get him some hot coffee and soup." "Heat some water and wash him." "How bad is his leg?" " I don't know." " Can he ride?" " Not sure." "Maybe when he's stronger." " What if he can't?" "He'll have to be carried on a litter, if he does go." "What do you mean "if "?" "He may stay." "He's got supplies here." "He came to stay." "Where's Daly?" "He's in the mine." "He's digging gold out of the wall." "I told him we'd be staying, no need to get it all in one day." "He's crazy again." "First it was the woman, not it's the gold." "He wants one or the other even if it gets him killed." "It could." " What will you do?" " Wash up with some water over here." "How is he?" "He's sleeping." " Who's he?" " He came back to help get you out." "He fixed your leg." " Is it bad?" " I can't tell." "I can." "Just lie there." "I've made you soup and coffee." "I'll get it." "You better stay off of that awhile, Fuller." " Where did you find him?" " Puerto Miguel." "Here, drink this." "You found him." "Just like that you found him." "Just like that." "A woman like her going all the way to Miguel and coming back for me." "Can you imagine that?" " I don't have to." " I have to." "Days and nights in that black hole trying to imagine it." "But I had time to think." "And you know what I thought about?" "You and me." "And I said to myself:" ""Sure, she'll be back."" ""She'll be back, but not for you"." "And I knew then that none of it was ever for me." "From the beginning to the end of it, in that black hole." "And I knew what a fool I was to be there and who made me that fool and why." "It was the gold, Leah." "Never anything else." "I was in love with you." "How could I know that all you saw in me was someone to risk his life to grovel, to dig?" "That's all I ever meant to you." "A pick and shovel to get your gold." "Yes, I wanted gold." "I wanted all the things it can buy." "Most people do." "I didn't want it like this." "Here, take this." " Why?" " You want to live, don't you?" " Who cares?" " Just drink it, Fuller." "You falling for it too?" "You're next." "You follow me." "I don't follow anybody." "You think I'm wrong." "You think I've gone crazy." "I think you talk too much." "One thing, you don't have to worry about me." " I'll try not to." " Because it's being taken care of." " What is?" " Me, her, all of you." "They're up there in those hills, hundreds of them." "They came to the door of the mine and stood there and looked at me." "You know why they didn't kill me?" "Because they couldn't come up with a worse way to do it." "But they will for you and her and that scum." "You tell her that." "Tell her not to worry about me." "We'll all be murdered together." "Tell her!" "Tell her!" "Vicente has got a bottle of mescal in his bag." "Would you like some?" "No, thanks." "I wouldn't take it too seriously." "He's had a bad time." "He's a bit out of his head." "No, he isn't." "He's wanted to say that for a while." "And he finally said it." " Is it true?" " It is to him." "What is it to you?" "No one is all true to anybody or anything." " Some people are." " Yes?" "Where are they?" "I don't know." "I don't move in those circles." "But some men have." "Like this one." " What were you before?" "A preacher?" " A sheriff." "They're robbing you." " Did you think they wouldn't?" " No." "When do you get yours?" "Or is it yours already?" "In a little while it won't be anybody's." " Why do you say that?" " We've got company." "Up there in the hills." " Do the others know?" " They don't know anything." "They just want to get rich before they die." "Let's go, partner." " Can you guide them back?" " I'd just go with the sun." "Then get out of here tonight." "I'll build a fire and move around." "It'll fool them long enough to get a head start." " And Fuller?" " You take him with you." "I thought you hated each other." "I don't hate him." " He's trying hard to hate you." " I know it." "You took him too far." "You took him over his head." "You made a coward of him and he hates you for it." "It could happen to any man with a woman like you." " Any man?" " Well, almost." "There's gold in that shack." "Everything that's been taken out." "It's yours." "I'll show you where it is." "You can have it if you take him with you." "I'll tell them." " Who's giving the party?" " It's rather impromptu." "They're inheriting a fortune from Fuller." "I hope they don't get tired of hats." " What'd you tell him?" " That when you stop fooling around you can go up and string their bows for them." " They're up there behind us." "Indians." " How do you know?" " Fuller." " He saw them?" " He's crazy." "He's out of his head." " I'm not." " You saw them?" " I saw their smoke." "Let's get out of here." "What are we waiting for?" " She has an idea." " What?" "What's her idea?" "You want to tell them?" "I thought it'd be better if you left at night." "I'll stay and keep a fire going." "They'll think you're still here." "It'll give you a long time, a good start." "I don't get this at all." "What's the trick to this?" "We take Fuller with us." " Can he ride?" " If he can't, we'll carry him." " Carry him?" " On a litter." "Are you crazy?" "You can't carry him on a litter across that country." "Ask him." "Ask him if he'll carry Fuller." "And how about you?" "Maybe you and Vicente?" "Besides, why doesn't he stay?" "He risked his life for a ton of gold, I didn't." " I'm not losing mine for him." " You'll lose it if no one stays." "Can't Fuller stay?" "We've all got business in P. Miguel?" "Now, wait a minute." "What she means is if somebody stays and moves around the fire, it'll look like we're still here." "And Fuller can't move." "You've got no choice because you only have one chance." "What's she trying to prove?" "That one of us is a hero or a fool, or both." "Anyway, it's her funeral." "I don't go to any but my own." "You think it's a good idea.?" "At least it is one." "You mean, you let her stay?" " Why didn't you ask her?" " Ask her, what?" "Ask her if you could." "I liked your speech out there." "I thought it had a good idea." "It was very dramatic too." "You staying behind to save the life of the man you once loved." "I didn't believe the truth could move you so much." " What truth?" " What Fuller told you." "He couldn't get to you heart so he got to your pride." "And you decided to make this play." "You'll stay behind." "It isn't that much." "A few hours might give you a whole night." " Don't make more of it than it is." " I'm not." "I'm making it exactly what it is." " What are you trying to say?" " That it's a fake..." "A grandstand, a trick." "That you think no one will let you stay." "That you never had the least intention of staying." "That no 5 men will ride away leaving you here for a decoy." " You believe that?" " Just like you do." "But it's a good trick, and it'll work." "On who?" "On me." "Because I'm staying with you." "Why?" "Because I'm a fool." "Not to me." "What am I to you?" " Maybe it'll help if I tell you." " It won't." "It's easy because it's nothing." "You're nothing at all." "Just nothing." "Another, Leah?" "This one understands you, but still he can't help it." "Now I know if I'd have understood it, I'd have been the same." "They'll work and kill and even get killed for you." "How do you do it, Leah?" "What are you?" "I'll get you ready to go." "You're staying and he doesn't believe it." "He doesn't believe in you." "He despises you." "But he'd stay." " Leah." " Yes." "So would I." "I don't need it." "I can ride." " I think I can ride." " All right." "Try that horse." " Let's get rid of this." " All right." "It's all right." "I can ride." " How long will you stay?" " Don't worry." "Here's the map." "If his leg holds up we ought to get pretty far." "What should we do, stay and gab about it?" " I don't go for this." " Then stay out of it." "It's a little late for that." "It's too late." "Get on your horse." "You heard him." " Are you sure you want it this way?" " You'd better get going." "I think you're right." "This will do." "We'll rest here." "On the dead run we don't have too good a chance." "With this cripple along to slow us down." "Now you want to camp." "We're going to rest." "He's exhausted." "He can rest later." "I say we keep moving." " If that's what you think, go ahead." " Alone?" "Followed by Indians?" "You've got a sack of gold, buy them off." " I'll build a fire and make coffee." " No fire." "Don't you think they know where we are?" "Or how you came or how you'll have to go back?" "This isn't your best chance." "You have to ride and fight for it." "But you'd have to get rid of me." "Have you thought about that?" " I haven't." " No, but they have." "That young one has, hasn't he?" "Why don't you answer?" "Why don't you say it?" "All right, I'll say it." "You have to cry like a sick cat." "How many times will you have to die?" "You never wanted to share your gold." "What do you want them to share your death with you for?" "Somebody else got something to say?" "Fiske, Vicente, watch that end of the ridge." "You, take this end." "He's really not like this." "He's not this way." " None of us are." " You are." "I'll go fix some food." "Come here." "You want to get rid of me?" "You hate me enough." "I don't care about you one way or the other, but we might get out of here and you're blocking it." "I won't any more." "Help me with a horse." " Where you going?" " What does that matter to you?" "Nothing" "Hold it, Daly." "He's dead." "He let Fuller get away." " Why didn't you stop him?" " I tried." "Get on your horse." "Hooker, here." "Why don't they take us?" "What are they waiting for?" "Maybe they like it this way, one at a time in a place they pick." "John!" "Don't look, it's no use." "Hooker." "Easy." "This ought to do." " Coffee?" " No fire." "No coffee." "There's a little cave over there." "I could build a fire in it, cook something warm for her." " Do you think we ought to?" " It doesn't matter any more." "Go ahead." "We'll camp." " You couldn't sleep either?" " I did for awhile." "Every time I close my eyes I see that cross." "I didn't think he hated me that much." "That he couldn't stay near me." "Maybe he didn't." "Maybe he loved you." "After all he said?" "After all any man says, it's what he does that counts." " How do you mean?" " I mean..." "He was a dead weight." "He was holding us back and he knew it." "You gave him a chance to live." "Maybe he did the same for you." "I wish I could remember him like that and believe it." "I do." "Go on to sleep." "A cross isn't a bad thing to see." "It can be beautiful and everybody has one." "That was his." "Go on to sleep." " Are we near that trail?" " It's a little way." "It's narrow, they might not follow us." "Ride for it." "This looks like the place to stay." "When they want to try that trail they're welcome." "Couldn't they come around the hill?" "It'll take them a long time." "Too long for them" "This is the chance I thought we had." " You mean, if we stay here?" " Or one of us." "What does that mean?" "You take her and get out of here." "I'll stay here for awhile." " How long?" " I can hold it pretty long." " I couldn't?" " You're a cardsharp." "With a rifle you can't hit a broadside of that mountain." " You want to bet something?" " I haven't got anything." "Neither have I. How about our lives?" "They're not worth much." "Just do what I told you." "Hooker, you told everybody else, but don't tell me." "Don't tell me what to do." " No one of you are going to do this." " Why not?" " Not for me." " Who said anything about you?" "This is between us." "This is a bet we're making." "Don't listen to him." "He's tried to make me bet something for a long time." "I accept." "All right." " High card stays?" " That's good enough." "You never trust me." "I was always told, cut the deck." "You can't win but you'll last longer." "Are you both crazy?" " Have you gone crazy too?" " You stay out of this." "For once something has got nothing to do with you." "Cut." "Age before beauty." "You lose." "Now get out." "You bet something and you won, so take it." "Take it and get out." "And take her with you." "This is the only thing I was ever lucky at:" "cards." "See you later." "Sure, see you there." "You're in the clear now." "The old priest called it, "The Garden of Evil."" "Fiske." "He cheated me back there." "I don't know how, but I know why." " Why?" " You." " You'd have stayed if you'd won." " Yes." " Why?" " Somebody always stays." "All over the world, somebody gets it done." "He cheated me." "He's better than I thought he was, in every way." "I've got to go back and tell him." "I've got to go back now." " You knew that?" " Yes." "I'll see you sometime." "No, don't." "Don't move me." "You... you said I couldn't hit the side of a mountain." " Look at that." " You did real good." "One thing I had against you, you knew so much." "You always knew everything." "Not quite." "You were right about her." "But not about you." "You cheated me." " You come back to tell me?" " That's right." "There it goes, Hooker." "Everyday it goes and somebody always goes with it." "Today it's me." "Yeah, I cheated you." "You want to forget it?" "No." "Go home, Hooker." "Go home." "Build one somewhere." "Get a hammer and nails." "You know how, you know everything." "Take..." "Take her home." "The Garden of Evil." "If the earth was made of gold," "I guess men would die for a handful of dirt."