"Ab!" "Probably a lawman." "Hey, that don't mean he's after us." "Everybody in this territory's after us." "Hasn't spotted us yet." "And we ain't waiting around until he does." "Now he's spotted us." " Let's make a run for it." " We've been running." "It would've been easier to kill you." "You should have, mister." "Don't threaten a man while you're down." "You killed my brother." "He never harmed anybody... anybody in his whole life." "Except he tried to bushwhack me." "You were hunting us." "I was heading for Stone Junction." "You tracked us up here." "I don't even know your names." "Ab and Joe Conners." "I never heard of you." "You must be lying, mister." "You were probably backing up the posse." "Or helping the Indians trying to find us." "Posse?" "Indians?" "You didn't know we were being wanted?" "Marshal, you mean to say... that you were just riding by down there... all peaceful-like?" "Minding my own business." "You hear that, Ab?" "We opened fire... and he wasn't even after us." "If you've got a posse and Indians both after you..." "We didn't kill that Indian!" "I'm gonna take him and you to Stone Junction." "You ain't taking me to Stone Junction." "Find out what this is all about." "My life isn't worth two cents there." "Indians get you, it'll be worth even less." "You mean... you didn't hear anything about us in Kansas City?" "No, not a thing." "How come you were headed towards Stone Junction?" "I have business there." " Law business?" " No." "Personal." "This man Conners?" "This is his brother." "It was for us to kill him!" "Pity he didn't know that before he started shooting at me." " This one." " This one I'm taking in." "He come with us." "No." "He'll be tried in a white man's court." "White man's court." "For many moons we have been at peace with white man." "You want this peace end because of him?" "Before we start spilling blood, tell Chief Little Bear what I said." "I'm the one called Reno." "He knows me as a man of honour." "Bluffed them out." "Don't count on it." "Duggan!" "Look at them staring at me." "How does that shoulder feel?" "Like a bonfire going full blast." "Joe Conners all right." "The other one under the blanket must be his brother Ab." "That's the first ghost I've ever seen in broad daylight." "Joe Conners?" "No, Mr. Tomkins, not Joe Conners." "Then you must mean that marshal." "The man they call Johnny Reno." "Reno?" "Why, he used to be one of the top gunfighters." "He used to be a lot of things." "It's Conners, that stinking little Indian-killer." "Marshal, you better move on with that prisoner of yours." "Send for the doctor." "But he can't stay here." "Go fetch the doc." "That's Ab Conners." "He needs burying." "That figures." "But I don't want nothing to do with him." "As soon as he's patched up, I want you to get him out." " He'll be here for the night." " Not in my jail." "You don't have any choice." "My people are all riled up." "They'll be wanting to bury him, too, before morning." "You see what I mean, Reno?" "They don't want me." "Not alive." "If your posse had caught up with us, Ab and I would have been killed on sight." "No." "I was gonna turn him over to the authorities." " You mean the Indians." " I didn't say that." "Hodges." "This marshal giving you a bad time?" "He wants me to lock Conners up." "We don't want filth like Conners dirtying up our jail." "Why, sure we do." "Now, Marshal, since you've already delivered your prisoner... why don't you just ride on out?" "That there is Jess Yates." "He's the Mayor of our town." "We'll give him a fair trial." "Crime against an Indian is under government jurisdiction." "The trial will be in Kansas City." "Don't you bother none, Marshal." "We'll see that he gets to Kansas City." "I'll see to it." "We can't let that happen." "What are you people afraid of?" "A corpse and a wounded man?" " Papa!" " I thought I told you to stay home." "It's the Indians we're afraid of, Marshal." "They find out he's here, they'll ride in and sack the town." "They already know he's here." "You get on home and stay there." "Girl had the right idea." "That's a U.S. marshal standing up there." "Time comes for us to go against the law in this town, I'll call it." "Now, you do that, Mr. Yates." "In the meantime, you tell them that this prisoner is in my protective custody." "Anybody wants to get to him... is going to have to step over my dead body." " Tough customer." " So am I." "We know that, Jess." "We've got a problem." "Yeah." "I'd say a slight problem." "Yeah, that was the song that year." "Nobody was ever as young as I was then." "Or as dumb." "Isn't that right, Rosie?" "Rosie Redtoes." "We should know, shouldn't we?" "You know, she was first prize at a shooting match Reno won." "I was sort of a prize myself that afternoon." "At least, that's what he said." "He was the sheriff in the town where you lived, right?" "Most righteous lawman you ever saw." "That must have been after his outlaw days, when he hung up his guns." "He didn't hang them up." "He was given amnesty if he'd pin on a badge and clean up a town." "Way I hear it, he's been wearing a badge ever since." "Got carried away with a shiny tin star and all that goes with it." "For that matter, so did I." "And that's the song they were all singing back in those days." "What happened between you two?" "I broke the law." "Don't laugh." "I did." "That was the first time." "I helped a man escape from jail." "He was my brother, and I thought he was innocent." "You see how dumb I was?" "He wasn't innocent." "And after he put my father and two other good, honest men in their graves..." "Reno had to track him down and kill him." " Wasn't your fault." " Yes, it was." "I made a mistake." "I let the wrong man out." "I tried to tell Reno how sorry I was... but I guess I didn't say it loud enough because he didn't seem to hear me." "And I haven't seen him since." "Until today." "I would just like to know what a U.S. marshal is doing in Stone Junction." "I tell you, nobody outside this whole town... even knew about this Conners mess." "Nobody except the Indians, that is." "They sure didn't send for a marshal." "How come he just ran into the Conners brothers?" "Except maybe it figures." "He was on the trail headed here." "But why Stone Junction?" "There's no government business here that needs his attention." "Maybe he came here to see somebody he once knew." "Who?" "No, he wouldn't." "Not after all these years." " He's forgotten by now." " You haven't." "If Johnny Reno does come in here looking for me... you tell him that I've left town and you don't know where I've gone." "Is it that bad, Nona?" "Please, just do as I ask." "And turn off that damned piano." "Doc says he's gonna survive the bullet wound." "But I wouldn't say how long he's gonna live." "I would." "Why?" "Because you're going to do something about it?" "I wouldn't make any bets on that." "Maybe you'd like odds." " I mind my own business." " This is law business." "You ain't got no idea the trouble you're gonna get me into." "You don't back me up all the way, you'll be in real trouble." "I know my job." "The way Mayor Yates laid it out for you?" "I'm my own man." "You'd better remember to be that." "Even when it's unpopular, your job is law and order." "Marshal, what is law, and what is order?" "If those Indians find out that Joe Conners is here... this town's doomed." "I work for this town, and all the people in it." "My loyalty belongs to them." "Your loyalty's to that badge... and if you're thinking any other way, you'd better take it off before I tear it off." "It's a nice town." "Quiet, peaceful." "There ain't no crazy gunslingers around here." "It was quiet and peaceful." "Yeah, but feelings are running high and people are scared... and I can't say I blame them." "Are you going to back me up?" "I told you I know my job." "Is it your job?" "That's what the rule book says." "I want a straight answer." "I'll get fired for it... but there's other towns, other jobs." "Yeah." "Sure." "I'll back you up." "I've heard that the Palace Saloon is owned and run... by a woman by the name of Nona Williams." "Yeah, sure." "You know her?" "I did once." "I'll be over there." "If there's any sign of trouble, you send for me." "You bet I'll send for you." "I ain't no hero." "I'm not making this stand alone." "Whatever you think you came here for, Wooster, just forget it." " Whose side are you on?" " Law and order." "That's real good, Sheriff." "The "order" part, I mean." "'Cause I just brought you an order from Mr. Yates." "Give me a whiskey." "We don't sell it here." "There's something you ought to know." "You tell Mayor Yates that I want a drink of whiskey." "Give it to him." "You see?" "I'm not an unreasonable man." "I don't see the owner of this saloon." "I don't think you're unreasonable, either." "Nona Williams." "She left town a few days ago." "Seems she forgot something." "Didn't say where she was going." "To show you how I feel, I'll have a drink with you." "I'm particular who I drink with." "Jake!" "We have respect for the law." " He doesn't seem to have." " Jake's a little edgy." "I'd like you to meet my friends." "Jake owns the general store." "Charlie here is our best bartender." "Ed Tomkins owns the biggest spread in this part of the country." "We're willing to pay you to get out of Stone Junction." "Without the prisoner." "Well, if I could find out why..." "You weren't sent out to get the Conners brothers." " No, that's right, I wasn't." " It just happened." "And it can just happen that you never saw or heard of them." "Go back to Kansas City and keep my mouth shut." "With $10,000 in your pocket." "A lot of money." "Probably more than you'll make in a lifetime." "Too bad I have to turn it down." "You must be crazy." " Nona said he was a righteous..." " Then she is here." "No, Reno, that was..." "She used to talk about you." " Town full of liars." " All you gotta do is ride out." "Not until I find out what's eating you people." "All right, I'll tell you what!" "We're proud of this town." "It's a good, clean community, not a taint on it." "And it has to be that way because this is Indian territory." "Word gets out that Chief Little Bear's son was murdered on our streets... our land could be confiscated." "Wipe us out, everything we own and have worked for through the years." "That's not all." "Those Indians out there are demanding blood for blood." "We're sitting on a powder keg that could blow us to hell and back." "You figure if you give Joe Conners to those Indians..." "As soon as you leave, that's exactly what we're gonna do." "They're gonna get him, dead or alive." "I'm not leaving here without the prisoner." " Yes, you will." "One way or another." " Don't be a fool, Jake." "People in Kansas City know he was headed this way." "If he doesn't come back, they'll start sending out investigators." "Before they get through, they could wind up sending the Army." "You're sure right about that, Jess." "Gotta hand it to you." "But you're leaving, Reno... because I am personally gonna throw you out." "This is my town, and I'm willing to fight for it." "Aren't you afraid of what I might tell them in Kansas City?" "Our word against yours." "Now, come on, Reno, either get out of this town or fight." "I'm just getting started on you, tough boy." "Ain't no man alive can whip me." "Put that away." "You said there's no man alive that could do what?" "What happens now?" "Now we go the other way." "Tell Wooster." "Something's gotta work." "Something will." "Give me that doll." "And turn that thing off." "Now don't try anything else." "Haven't you got any respect for this town?" "I just lost it." "Papa, let me help." "When I need your help, I'll ask for it." "Looks like you had a meeting with Mayor Yates." "Yeah." "He invited me to get out of Stone Junction." "I figured that." "Frightened men in a frightened town." "I just deputised some of those frightened men." " You put rifles in their hands?" " On the orders of the Mayor." "You were going to back me up, not him." "That still goes, but I..." "But you have a sudden need for deputies." "In case the Indians come riding into town." "If they're hostile Indians, deputies won't help." "Everybody will have to fight." "What am I supposed to do?" "Am I supposed to stand here and hand out rifles... when the firing has already started?" "I don't think it's the Indians Yates has in mind." "That's right." "He don't want to kill a U.S. marshal." "He may have to." "You think he might force your hand?" "Nona Williams was not in the saloon." "She's up at that ranch house of hers." "That answer came awfully quick." "That's where she usually is when she ain't in the saloon." "I was told she left town." "Sounds like you don't believe that." "Where is this ranch house?" "It's about a mile south of town." "You can't miss it." " You all right, Conners?" " Yeah." "Doc said I'd live." "Be in shape to ride tomorrow?" "I'll be in shape." "I'll also be in shape to hang when you get me to Kansas City." "That's better than being staked out on an anthill... with the hot sun burning down... and a bunch of Indians watching the ants eat you alive." "Don't you worry about a thing, Marshal." "I said I'm with you and I am." "All right, round up the boys." "Gotta hand it to you, Jess." "This is something that has to be done." " Who is it?" " Reno!" "Reno, go back where you came from." "I don't want to see you." "It's been a long time." "I've come a long way." "No, Reno, you went a long way." "I thought it was locked." "As you see, I'm not dressed." "I'll wait." "I suppose if I pretend to be modest you'll get a big laugh out of it." "I never laughed before." "That was before." "This is now." "The brazen saloon woman." " Never tell a man your secrets." " It's no secret." "I don't want to hear about it." "With my father and brother both dead... how was I supposed to get along after you left?" " You had the ranch." " Sure, mortgaged to the teeth." "You had relatives back East." "A cousin in Boston who never answered my letters." "It's no good arguing about that now." "I had you." " I walked out." " "Ran" is a better word." "The last good hope I had on Earth was you." "We both got hurt." "Because I made a mistake, and you couldn't forgive me." "Here, give me a hand." "I see you found Rosie Redtoes." "Yeah, I thought I'd lost her for good." "You have, Reno." "It's been a long time since I've helped a woman dress." "You bragging or complaining?" " I don't like that kind of talk." " Saloon talk." "You see, I made out just fine." "I own that saloon, lock, stock, and barrel." "I even own this old ramshackle ranch house." "And what did it cost?" "How shall I add it up?" "In dollars or customers?" " Stop it." " What's the matter?" "I'm not the same Nona you came looking for." " I'm not the same, either." " Yes, you are." "Righteous Reno, the reformed killer... atoning for all the gravestones that used to spring up wherever he went." "If I'd had any idea that you were still as bitter as this..." "Here we are, face to face." "The saint and the sinner." "You in your halo and me in my pretty red garters." "...or that you hated me this much..." "Why did you come looking for me?" "Last time I forgot to say goodbye." "Goodbye, Reno." "Freeze, mister!" "You ain't going nowhere." "Get your hands up." "That was real touching." "Wooster, what are you and Bellows doing in here?" "You didn't know they were here?" "I'm not in the habit of taking a bath in front of a couple of peeping Toms." "We want him, not you." "Just wanna keep him busy till we send Conners' body to the Indians." " The Indians want him alive." " We want him dead." "Then it wasn't true that Yates intended to turn him over." "Just a nice, cold corpse." " Now it begins to add up." " What does?" "The stink in this town." "You'd be better off minding your own business." "Joe Conners told me he and his brother were innocent." "I didn't believe him." "But even if I had..." "I would probably have made a speech about a fair trial." "Those Conners boys didn't have any reason to kill that Indian." "Everybody in town knew Ed Little Bear." "Did you see Ed Little Bear killed?" " No." " Way it figures... they want Joe Conners dead because he might tell what really happened." "He ain't gonna tell nobody nothing." "Not with a rope around his neck." "And right about now they're hanging him." "If you're gonna stop that lynching, you better hurry." "I'll be all right." "There's a back door to the Sheriff's office." "Go on." "I forgot to say hello." "I say let's string him up and get it over with." "I still don't like it." "You know, the marshal..." "We know he won't be here, don't we, men?" "All right, I guess there ain't no use for me to stand in your way." " Then bring him out here." " No, I ain't gonna do that." " I ain't gonna give him to you now." " Then we're going in after him." "You drop those keys." "Any other man want these keys, just step right up." " Marshal, I didn't expect you..." " No, you sure didn't." " I couldn't face them all alone." " You didn't try." "Drop that rifle!" "All right, Sheriff, collect those rifles you issued a while ago." "Yes, sir." "You're a stranger here, Reno." "Leave this to us." "I leave a lynching to nobody." " Joe Conners is not your worry." " No, he's yours." "Now go ahead and tell these people why." "Mister, do you want that rifle or do you want a hole in the head?" "Drop it." "The rest of you do the same." " He's bluffing." "Pick up your guns." " He don't bluff." "Pick up your guns!" "If any one of you picks up a gun, Mr. Reed is dead." "You wouldn't do that." "I'm not even armed." "Neither is Conners in that jail cell." "Go ahead, maybe they didn't hear you." "Tell them to pick up their rifles." "What are we supposed to do if the Indians should ride in?" "You should have thought of that before you ordered a lynching." "I didn't order a lynching." "Where is Yates?" "He and Duggan and Tomkins are over at the..." "It wouldn't look so good for the leading citizens of the town... to help in the lynching." "If a mob does it, nobody gets any blame." "You haven't heard the last of this, Reno." "Or maybe they didn't want to take a chance... of being shot down on the street." "You go tell His Honour, the Mayor, there's not going to be any lynching." "You decoyed me." "Oh, no, the Mayor said that..." "You sent me out to that ranch house to sit out a lynching." "I expected it'd all be over with before you'd come back." "Or that Wooster and his friend would kill me." "They were only supposed to hold you out there for a while." "They won't be holding anybody anymore." "You better send somebody out to pick up their bodies." "Marshal, you gotta listen to me." "I'm glad there wasn't a hanging... but everybody told me that this was the best way out for both of us." "We're going to need outside help." "There ain't no telegraph office in this town." "Never was." "That figures." "Now, I want you to tell me something." "Ed Little Bear, who killed him?" "Why, the Conners brothers, of course." "Everybody knows that." "Joe Conners told me different." "Oh, I know." "You've heard that before." "Sure." "Every guilty man I've ever had in here... said the same thing: "I'm innocent."" "Maybe some of them were." "I hear that Ed Little Bear was welcome in this town." "Why, sure." "He was a nice, educated young Indian." "And when he was murdered for no reason..." "I think there was a reason." "Marshal, I don't know what you're getting at." "But whatever it is, believe me, I don't know about it." " You lie pretty good." " I ain't lying!" "That's all you've done since I got here." "But you can believe me this time." "A man's gotta live with his own conscience." "If this town's hiding something, I want to know what it is." "A big, rotten stench, and you didn't smell anything?" "You know, it is kind of curious... they're so anxious to have Conners dead and buried so quick." " But I thought that..." " They were just riled up." "Yeah, it's like I said before, they're just riled up." "You think I can trust you to just sit here and not issue any more rifles?" " You have my word." " I had your word before." "They want any more rifles, they'll have to kill me." "They won't." "I will." "Sun's going down." "It'll be a long night." "If you want to live through it, Reno, forget me and get out of this town fast." "No chance." "You heard that lynch mob out there." "It's no good, they'll be back." "One way or another they'll get me." "If they want to try it again..." "You can't fight a whole town single-handed, Reno." "There's something else I can't do:" "run away." "You don't and they'll get you, too." "You said you and your brother were innocent." "Shouted until I was blue in the face, and nobody would listen." "Including me." "You listening now?" "I'm listening now." "What made you decide to?" "This town." "I never thought anybody would ever listen." "The way it happened, I can hardly believe it myself." "And I know we didn't kill that Indian." "We came riding into Stone Junction minding our own business... and everybody was real friendly." "Real friendly." "Why, over at the saloon, we couldn't even buy a drink." "They just kept buying them for us." "This town isn't that friendly." "And then finally somebody reminded us that we'd left our horses out front." "That was thoughtful of them." "So we decided to take them over to the livery stable... got about a block or so... and there was this Indian riding toward us... and then, all of a sudden, there was a whole bunch of shooting... and the next thing I knew the Indian was off his horse... and lying there, dead." "Who fired the shots?" "We didn't see anybody firing." "They just came from all over." "And then everybody started crowding around us, saying we killed him." " For no reason?" " Oh, yeah, they gave us a reason." "They said our being drunk and all, and seeing an Indian had spooked us." "But that was no painted savage." "And we weren't scared." "Besides, afterwards Ab said it looked like... it was already a dead man propped up in that saddle." "Nobody would listen." "And then there was that woman that kept screaming." " You ever seen her before?" " No." "But she was the one that was out there on the street when you brought me in." "How did you and your brother get away?" "While she was screaming and carrying on... and everybody was trying to quiet her down... we just rode hell-bent right out of town." "Good thing you did." "They got word to the Indians that we did it." "Even so, way it figures... they didn't really want those Indians to find you." "Yeah, they had their own posse out looking for us." "They probably sent Chief Little Bear... off on a wild-goose chase in some other direction." " But why?" " To keep you from talking." "Indians wouldn't have believed me or Ab." "Maybe they would have." "A story that far-fetched?" "Not without some reason." "Maybe there is a reason." "Doesn't make much difference no more." "But like I said, Reno, you stay here... we'll both be dead in the morning." "Marshal, there's something going on in the street." "Like I said, Conners, I'm not running away." "You keep an eye on the prisoner." "It won't be long, Molly." "We'll send for you." " Papa, I don't want to go." " I don't care what you want." "And you never have, not once since Ma died." "Trying to embarrass me in front of these people here?" "I'm gonna..." "I don't care what you say, you're going along with the rest." "You're not telling me what to do." "I've got roots here." "Tell him, Reno." "Maybe somebody would like to tell me what this is all about." "He says the Indians are coming in from the South... and they're sending people up North to the abandoned fort." "We just got definite word that the Indians will be here by morning." "I can guarantee you there'll be hell to pay." "We know Chief Little Bear." "So do I." "You want to see women and children massacred?" "He claims that he and these other big, brave men are gonna stay here to fight." "They're not that big and they're not that brave." "Reno, why don't you stop meddling in our business?" "Why don't you stop meddling in hers?" "If she wants to stay, she stays." " Leave me alone." " Now, look." "We've had enough grief because of you." "Now you get out of here." "All right, Papa." "I'll go, and I'll keep right on going." "You've been having a lot of trouble with her." "My daughter is no concern of yours." "Or is she always that skittish?" "Like the night Ed Little Bear was murdered." "You ever say anything like that again, I'll kill you." "I hear she stood on the street, screaming." "You've got the facts all wrong." "You look like somebody stepped on your sore toes." "I told you, I'll kill you." "I've never seen him that mad before." "I think he has good reason." " The caravan left without you." " I've got a saloon to run." "I think I should have let you go." "Just when I finally got you in the same town again?" "The men that stayed on here have a guilt they're sitting on... and I think they'll kill anybody, man or woman, who finds out what it is." " Then it's not the Indians?" " No, the Indians, too." "This town has got a lot to worry about." "Johnny, you're scaring me." "Like Joe Conners said, it'll be a long night." "You took a chance going out there, Reno." "Looked like a ghost town out there." "Yeah, but Yates ain't gonna give up this easy." "Lot of men kill Indians, don't think anything about it." "John Wesley Hardin brags he's killed 35 men, not counting Indians." " Doesn't even count them." " Nobody does." " But a U.S. marshal." " It has to be, Jess." "Yeah." "It has to be." "I've never seen Mr. Yates drink that much before." "He'll be all right tomorrow." "We all will." "The whole town." "Now look, if we put snipers on rooftops... in between buildings, all over the place..." "It's no use, Jess." "Reno won't come out tonight." "Maybe there's a way of getting him out." "Don't look at me." "What are you getting at, Jess?" "A way of baiting Reno onto the street." "If you think you can kill Reno..." "The lady's got big ears." "I understand you and Reno used to be very cosy." "He wouldn't stick his neck out for me." "Why not?" "You stuck yours out for him by staying behind when all the others left." " It wasn't for him." " Yes, it was." "You wanted to be sure you didn't lose track of him again." "Jess, there's a song on that piano... that kind of goes with the way she feels about Reno." "You keep out of this." "Now, maybe he feels the same way about it." "He must." "He came all the way from Kansas City to see her." "Real quiet out on the street tonight." "Maybe if we turn that piano up loud enough, he'll hear it." "Seems like I'm right." "She's afraid he'll hear it." "Only that's not all he's gonna hear." "He's gonna hear her screaming her head off!" " Got to hand it to you, Jess." " Quit handing things to me!" "Like I said before, men up on the rooftops, in between the buildings... when Reno comes out onto the street, start blasting." "You heard him." "Outside." "Rest of you out back." "Get that music roll back into the piano!" "You start screaming." "Nothing you can do will make me scream." "Scream or I'm gonna kill you!" "Go ahead!" "Don't go out there, Reno!" "All the other women left, and I let her stay." "They'll blast your head off." "They kill you, I won't be any good around here alone." "They kill her, I won't be any good for anything." "You ever see a bullet come straight at your face?" "If Joe Conners is innocent, like you say... it's your job to stay here and protect him." "You still ain't scaring me." "Cover me." "Reno must be out there somewhere." "They got him." "That isn't Reno." "Looks like Sheriff Hodges." "Don't make me laugh." "When the shooting starts, Hodges hides." "I told you that was Hodges." "I didn't think he had the sand for it." "You never know about a man." "Sheriff's office." "Back way." "Thank God, you're all right." "I'll say amen to that." "Get him a gun and bring the keys." "You must believe what I told you is true." "This is one way of finding out." "Where's the Sheriff?" "He set himself up." "For me." "Or maybe it was for you." "Here." "Watch that door." "Shoot anybody who tries to come in." "Be a pleasure." "Light's out." "He made it." "You can't stand them off forever." "I can try." "About the guilt this town had, you're right." "But as for the Conners brothers, I was wrong." "I made a mistake." "You mean, like I did?" "I thought they were guilty." "And at the time, I thought my brother was innocent." "It only proves you're human." "That's something you never believed." "You never let me." "You'll never forget that I wouldn't listen, will you?" "It's forgotten." "I never should have left you." "Just be sure you don't ever leave again." "For now, you're going to have to leave." "Without you?" "I'd never stand a chance of making it out of here with Joe Conners." " They'd run us down..." " Well, but..." "But for you, they wouldn't even know you were gone." " Then go without him." " It doesn't work that way." "Still the shiniest tin badge in the territory." "Some things just don't ever change." "If you don't go, I'm not going, either." "I want you to go to the closest telegraph office and send for help." "Help would never get here in time." "There's not more than a dozen men left in this town." "I might be able to hold them off..." "Hold them off for how long?" "A few days, a week?" "Nona, you're the only chance I have." "I don't believe that for one minute." "Neither do you." "But if it means that much to you, that you'd lie... find an excuse to get me away where I'll be safe..." "Don't start crying." "Just when I thought I'd stopped." "Maybe we can slip out the back way to the livery stable." "I'll slip out the back way to the livery stable." " I can hitch up a horse and a buggy." " You can't go out there alone." "But you can stay here alone, can't you?" "You and Joe Conners." "Those men with the torches, they're not going to the livery stable... they're coming here." "I'll telegraph from the first place I reach." "Nona, if anything happened to you now..." "Nothing will happen to me." "Nothing ever has." "He's expecting company." "What company?" "Looks like they're gonna try to burn us out." " Let's make a run for it." " You tried running once." " You got any better ideas?" " I might." "That should do it." "Jake said he'd be back in a couple of minutes." "Jess, if I'd known what you were getting us into..." "I told you to shut up about that." "You said that if we'd be a party to killing Ed Little Bear... it would be a favour to humanity." "That's what you said, Jess." "You've been leading us around like we had a ring through our nose." "I'm telling you, Ed, shut up!" "Wasn't my daughter got mixed up with an Indian." "Now, you'll do as I tell you!" "I always have, Jess." "All of us always have." "Jess, here's the kerosene." "Come on, let's go." "That's far enough!" "Any closer and I'll blow you to kingdom come." "It's dynamite." "I'm glad your aim wasn't that good yesterday." " I'll keep watch back here." " All right." " How long can we hold out?" " As long as our luck holds." "I've never been very lucky, Reno." "Don't expect I will be tonight." "What, somebody bust in?" "And busted right out again." "Come on, give me a hand." "Let's get this desk up there." "He's killing us off, Jess." "One by one, he's killing us off." "Open your bellyaching mouth once more, I'll kill you off myself, personally." "All right, Jess." "Tomkins!" " You running out, too?" " I need a drink." "What are they waiting for?" "Us." "To make a mistake." "Mistake I made was being born." "They still out there?" "All around us." "Make a break for it, Reno, before it's too late." "They won't ride out after you." "Isn't you they want." "Don't be so anxious to die." "What makes you so anxious?" "Just don't want nobody dying useless, and on account of me." "Sorry, Reno." "Just let me for once... do something in my mangy life." "This is Joe Conners!" "If I come out of here with my hands up... will you let Reno ride out free and clear?" " Maybe it's a trick." " Maybe." "Let's find out." "All right, Conners." "Tell him he can ride out if he leaves here peaceful." " He sticks his nose out of there..." " Not until we have Reno." "All right, hold your fire, men!" "Now, you tell Reno we're getting him a horse." "No, you tell him." "You tell him he can go home." "Now, all I want... is that somebody in this rotten town gets to leave." "Where is Reno?" "He wouldn't let me give myself up, so I took things in my own hands." "What's the matter with you people?" "I thought all you wanted to do was to kill me on sight." "Come on, kill me!" "Come on, you yellow jackals, kill me!" "I'm here, here where you want me." "They swore they'd let you go, Reno." " You got the honours, Jess, kill them." " Oh, no." "The honours aren't done that way in this town." "Kill them!" "You ought to know that by now, all of you." " You've got to kill them." " We've got to kill them." "Just the same as it was with Ed Little Bear." "We're all going to be in on this." "You've got a whole town to do your dirty work." "Everything was all right until you came along." "Sure, you put the blame on a couple of..." "Saddle tramps, drifters." "And you wanted to be sure those drifters were good and dead... so they couldn't tell the Chief they didn't do it." "Because Chief Little Bear knew his son was seeing your daughter... and he might believe the Conners brothers." "I don't care about a dead Indian or a couple of dead saddle tramps." "You're a different thing, you're a U.S. marshal." "But you forced my hand." "Who's gonna get the blame for killing Reno?" "You are, bucko." "You killed a U.S. marshal while trying to escape." "And no one's ever gonna know the difference." "So that's why you sent the women and children and old men away." "That's right, Reno." "They won't see, or ever even know about it." "And after you're dead and buried, this'll be a nice, clean town again." "A good, model community." "When I give the signal, each of us fires." "We've got the prisoner, Chief Little Bear." "We were holding him for you." "I told them, Jess, the truth." "You did it." "You made us kill his son." "You're crazy!" "Because you were once married to an Indian woman." "You didn't think I knew that, did you?" "You were a squaw man and trying to live it down." "He's talking out-of-his-mind." "And then an Indian fell in love with your daughter... and you could see the whole thing starting over again." "I caught up with them less than an hour ago." "Murderer!" " He didn't kill Ed Little Bear." " But everybody said..." "Everybody lied." " But my father..." " Your father lied most of all." "I'm sorry, young lady." "All you people can go back now, go back to Stone Junction... what's left of it, bury your dead." "In time, perhaps it'll become a town again." "I wish you all good luck in your new community." "They will make a town of it, one they can be proud of." "Nona?" "You're not coming back?" "Am I?" "No, we won't be coming back."