"Whoa!" "Easy, boy." "Whoa, there." "Whoa." "Ah." "Souvenir." "Of what?" "Oh, the great Southwest, the dangerous Indian territory." "Hey, Sarge, ya know, this is gonna make somethin' nice to hang on the wall when I retire, somethin' I can tell my grandkids lies about." "That arrow's at least a year old." "Pick up a fresh one." "Listen, Sarge, I think the arrow's extinct." "Couple of weeks, you'll be pullin' 'em out of your back." "I heard that in St. Louis a thousand miles ago." "By now, I thought we'd be hacking' our way through a solid wall of Indian flesh." "Wait until you run into Satanta, chief of the Kiowas." "You'll know you met an Indian." "Oh, he's a tough one, huh?" "Got his whole tepee covered with buck sergeants' chevrons." "The only fella gonna get those stripes is the fella I give 'em to after I got yours." "All right, let's get movin' back there!" "Comanches?" "Comanches would have taken a prisoner." "That's a Kiowa specialty." "Picket the horses while I try to find a shovel." "Great place for souvenirs." "Detail reporting to Colonel Meade." "Open the gate!" "Left to right!" "To the left, go!" "Forward, go!" "Major Howell Brady, Sergeants Luke Schermerhorn and Agustus Wilks... reporting from St. Louis, sir." "How do you do?" "Captain Neil, Lieutenant Rolier." "Still a sergeant, eh, Schermerhorn?" "I guess soldiers are like water." "They find their own level." "Pour the sergeants a bath and a drink: the drink first." "Come along, Major." "You're to be quartered here for six months under nobody's orders but your own." "Those are Gen. Schofield's words." "I don't like it, even from the secretary of war." "That's natural." "This is good whiskey." "Washington doesn't have to send anybody around, investigating my command." "As far as I know, they haven't." "Then what is it?" "Major Howell Brady taking over this fort?" "I've already turned down three." "I've been in this army too many years to be fooled." "Things haven't gone well here, and they've retired generals for less." "I haven't heard talk of retiring you." "Your record shows..." "I know." "But you're as good as your last casualty list." "All right, I'll play the game." "Game?" "By elimination, you must be here to fight Indians." "Yeah." "That's about it." "One major and two sergeants is not what I'd call a fighting outfit." "Well, it's a start." "What can you do that I haven't done?" "The Kiowas are having a field day, but why?" "Nobody's stopping them." "They don't come out by the hundreds and thousands anymore." "They raid by 10s and 20s." "They hit and they're gone." "I know." "I saw some of their work a few miles back." "Family named McMurdo." "At least they're buried under a cross." "Crude, but a cross." "How can I stop this with only one command?" "You might break it up into companies or platoons, send 'em riding in all directions." "That's what the Kiowas want." "They'd cut us to ribbons." "The only hope for law is to keep this command intact." "When it's gone, the Kiowas rule." "They seem to be ruling now." "If you're here to fight Indians, Major, there's a lot of work waiting." "I hear you have Seminoles in this territory." "Yeah, a small tribe up by Golden." "At least they're peaceful." "You know their chief, Maygro?" "Not personally, but I fought against his father in Florida." " What's your opinion of them?" " For eight years in Florida, they held back almost every regiment of the army, marines, the navy and 50,000 militia." "All that with just 400 warriors." "Incredible, wasn't it?" "Heh." "Expensive too." "The government had to scatter them all over the country so there wouldn't be another war." "Now they're a poor tribe of vagabonds living in sod huts... and trying to raise a few scrawny sheep." "But they can still fight." "Fight who?" "Kiowas." "You couldn't get a Seminole Indian to fight for his sister's virtue." "Why not?" "They've laid down their guns for good." "The Kiowas run through their village Just for sport." "Could you get me three fresh horses and $500?" "Anything, Major." "I'll have you quartered within the hour." "Well, don't bother with anything elaborate." "I'll move Mrs. Corwin out of Capt. Corwin's house." "He was killed recently." "Please don't inconvenience anyone for me." "There's room for the woman at my place." "You're the C.O." "By the way, there's a birthday party at my house tonight." "That hardly gives me time to buy a present." "Don't bother." "You've already given me one:" "the funniest story of the year." "Seminoles fighting Kiowas." "Happy birthday, Colonel." "Thank you, Major." "Excuse me." "Certainly." "So I told him he had to be in full uniform at all times." "The colonel's special blend." "Major Howell Brady, ma'am." "I came to dance, if you'd do me the honor." "We were holding a conversation, Major." "You should try holding a girl sometime, Captain." "I have a feeling that patience is not one of your stronger virtues, Major." "Consider the life span of the average human, then subtract all the minutes we waste in meaningless formalities." "Criminal." "There's little enough time for small pleasures as it is." "As I live and breathe, a philosopher." "A... a realist." "Well, whatever you are, I'm glad someone finally asked me to dance." "Is there something about you I should know?" "I'm Mrs. Corvvin." "I'm, uh, sorry about having taken over your house." "The fortunes of war, Major." "Besides, any man who's held every rank from private to major, won a field commission, been breveted twice for exceptional gallantry... and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, there just isn't enough that we can do for him." "Who told you all that?" "Col. Meade, and not without a little envy." "Oh, ah, I'm taking a room in his house." "Yes, so I heard." "And he who gossips will be out chasing Kiowas in the morning." "They should be anyway." "Don't you go, Major." "We've lost too many good dancers already." "I'm even more sorry about your husband." "When did it happen?" "About six months ago on a scouting party." "He must've been quite a man... for his memory to have kept you single on the frontier this long." "They've been proposing to me by platoons lately." "Bad training." "There are times when the individual soldier... is much more effective than the unit." "You're an exponent of the one-man frontal attack." "Yes, but I believe in cautious reconnoitering first." "Better be careful, Major." "You're revealing your position to the enemy." "Enjoy your waltz, Major?" "Were we Waltzing?" "It was more like a musical fencing match." "I couldn't get past her guard." "Nobody ever does." "She's a greater threat to this post than the Kiowas." " Something oughta be done." " You'll have to go to the end of the line." "Not him." "He doesn't waste his time on meaningless formalities." "Major Brady, perhaps you'd tell our younger officers... of your experiences fighting the Cheyenne." "They look about as friendly as the Cheyenne." "A later dance, Mrs. Corwin?" "The Captain's Quadrille." "Write 'Elaine' on your card." "Thank you." "I thought you were above flirting." "Was I?" "I hear he came from St. Louis and Washington." "He's still Just another soldier." "Well, tell me, what's he doing here?" "Trying to get Seminoles to fight Kiowas." "Why, Colonel, you're jealous of him." "Hey." "I always knew you were a brave man, Major, but goin' in through the colonel's back door ain't recommended, even for heroes." "That's Capt. Corwin's widow." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "I always figured that Corwin was too ornery to die." "Them Kiowas ain't choosy about who they kill." "You knew him?" "Yeah, I knew him." "It'd take more than a few Indians to keep me away from that." "We're ridin' in a noose." "I know." "Care to pick a number?" "At least five, or they'd be afraid." "Not 10, or they'd have cut loose." "Seven." "Lucky seven." "We'll have to fight our way out." "Yeah." "Probably try to catch us at that other rise." "Tell Wilks to keep his eyes front." "He don't even know they're up there." "He's got barroom eyes." "When we reach that rim, we'll go into a run." "Come over it shooting." "I'll take the left." "You and Wilks take the right." "How about them fellas tellin' us it was dangerous... for just the three of us to ride in this country" "They call this Coffin Rim." "It's not famous for the births that have happened here." "I'll bet you a dollar there ain't an Indian within 10 miles." "You got a bet." "How're we gonna prove it?" "Easy." "Four Kiowas have got you in their sights now." "Don't look up!" "Are you serious?" "When we hit that ridge, you do as I do... if you want to live long enough for another promotion." "Yes, sir." "Uh, you fellas is lucky I was along." "You're right." "I just made an easy dollar." "Wilks and I will do some cleaning up." "You contact the Seminoles and tell them what I said." "I'll do what I can." "All right." "Schermerhorn, I hate to bring this up, but don't you think I oughta hold the dollar?" "Just in case." "Uh-uh. if anything happens, I'm gonna need some gambling money where I'm going." "Well, that Schermerhorn." "That feller could charm the Rocky Mountains into goin' south for the winter." "Psst!" "My father, Chief Maygro, said to give you some food while he talks." "Rabbit, eh?" "We call it Texas buffalo." "Say, you talk English real good." "Why shouldn't I?" "I went to school in San Antonio." "What's your name, honey?" "Avis." "It means bird." "And do not speak of putting salt on my tail." "Some fella already beat me to it, huh?" "Uh, my name is Wilks." "Sergeant Wilks." "And this fella here..." "I forget his name." "Anyway, he's married and got 16 kids." "You make him sound interesting." "Uh, you like this life out here?" "I hate it." "Would you like to spend your life in a mud hut with corn husks for beds... and rabbit for food every day?" "Well, uh, I might if you was with me." "I won't be." "I'm going someplace." "Any particular place?" "Anywhere." "It couldn't be worse than this." "Maybe you and I could work something out." "What I want, you don't have." "Oh, try me." "Good food and clothes and a decent place to live?" "Well, that sure lets out enlisted men." "What's your father think about all this?" "My father will not let me leave." "He won't?" "How come?" "He says there's only one way to get the things I want." "He could be right." "I don't care." "I know what I want." "I'm going to get it." "Wait a minute." "There's a lot to be said for bein' a nice girl." "Weren't you just suggesting we could work something out?" "I didn't mean..." "Who are you to tell me what is nice and what isn't?" "When I get the chance, I will leave and I will do what I want." "Then you want us to help you fight the Kiowa?" "That's right, Maygro." "You Seminoles." "We are Kanyuksa Indians from Florida." "Among our people, 'Seminole' is not a good word." "All right, Kanyuksa." "We number 300, maybe 25 men who could fight." "That's more than enough." "I try to understand..." "We have to fight the Kiowas on their own terms." "A small, fast-moving, hard-hitting force, one that knows the country, understands the language, has endurance and doesn't ask any luxuries." "Why should we do this for you?" "For six months' service, the government will give you land of your own." "Like this?" "No, this will be green land... with water and cattle, trees to build houses with." "Where is this land?" "The whole Santa Media Valley." "But to get it, we must fight." "Yeah." "That is one thing we cannot do." "Aw!" "We make foolish journey to come here." "Why don't you ask your people?" "I am the law of the Kanyuksas." "I say no." "You afraid, Maygro?" "Come." "We speak with others." "Tell us, how will our families eat when men are gone?" "The army will send supplies every month." "Meantime, $500 until the first supply train comes." "We have put down our guns for good." "Fighting will only lose us the peace we find." "Peace?" "You mean hunger!" "Let me die fighting, not from peaceful starvation!" "Pino, you're too young to remember what war did to the Kanyuksa." "When you have to fight, you fight!" "Even a snake or gopher knows that." "Are we to sit around... and watch the Kiowas run through our camp for sport?" "The young men have the heart, but we have no weapons!" "If I had a gun, I would show them... that the Kanyuksa have at least as much courage as gopher!" "Pino, sit down!" "When elders speak, you listen." "Sit down!" "I am your leader." "When we were driven from Florida, we pledged to keep peace." "We knew it would be hard." "You want new leader, say so." "Then as long as I am Maygro, your leader," "I do what I think best." "You're less than women!" "I'm ashamed that I talked to you as equals, as men of courage!" "Major!" "Kiowas!" "Well, at least you got six more horses." "I never saw gun shoot like that." "Fifteen times without reloading." "It's a Henry repeating rifle." "This is the weapon you'll have." "Makes one man equal to 30." "You teach strong lesson." "I always said whoever called the Kanyuksas 'Seminoles' was right." "That's all they ever were:" "Seminoles, cowards, and renegades." "Avis, this is no time for such talk." "You might yet turn out to be men." "No one will give you anything unless you fight for it." "Quiet." "We will go with Major." "I know, and I am going with you." "You will stay in village where you belong with the rest of the women." "Try and keep me there." "Hey, Schermerhorn, you captured the wrong Indians." "Them ain't fighters:" "they're sheep eaters." "I'm beginnin' to feel a little foolish." "You got the face to go with it." "I guess you're right." "Colonel, this is Maygro..." "Who said these Seminoles were to be quartered?" "The orders, some of the fine print." "You don't pull sleeping quarters out of the air." "Give 'em a gun and a horse and they'll be gone by tomorrow morning." "The Kanyuksas will..." "I'm talking to the major!" "Go on, Maygro." "The Kanyuksas will not go." "They will fight well for land and food promised." "What land?" "What food?" "The Santa Media Valley, and a wagon train to their families every month." "I need all the supplies I have!" "The supplies will be ready at the nearest army railhead monthly." "You just furnish the transportation." "Where are you going?" "To Major Brady's house to stay with my father." "That would not be good." "They put me in a tent worse than the hut I came from." "If you would marry me, I would build a house for us." "What will you build?" "A jackal hut?" "Made of handsome sod and magnificent mud?" "No, Pino." "Never." "A house is good because of how you live in it, not how it is made." "That is not for me!" "Hello." "I'm Mrs. Corwin." "Elaine Corwin." "My name is Avis." "Your dress is very pretty." "Thank you." "Coming from another woman, that's the highest compliment." "Did it cost much?" "No." "I made it myself." "You can't buy ready-made dresses out here." "Someday I'll have a dress prettier than that." "I'll show you how to make one with my patterns." "If I had the cloth, I could sew it myself." "I might have some cloth too." "Thank you, but I'll get my own." "Afternoon, Mrs. Corwin." "Hello, Major." "You're about to have a new resident in your house." "Oh, homesick already?" "As far as I'm concerned, one house is the same as another on an army post." "I'm disappointed." "I'm flattered by your disappointment." "And I'm properly put in my place." "About my new resident..." "It's Avis." "I understand she's moving in." "I guess she wants to be near her father." "Uh-uh." "She's dying to have a dress like mine, probably so her father will realize how pretty she is." "Or Pino." "Or you." "She has a kind of untamed charm." "They say that a wild plant never lives very long indoors." "I'm gonna be too busy to conduct social experiments." "Speaking of experiments, the talk is that you'll never train the Seminoles." "The only thing that talk ever trained is a parrot." "By the way, they don't like to be called Seminoles." "Oh?" "Suppose we discuss it later?" "Be all right?" "Very well." "Well, your men are ready." "I gave 'em each a horse and a Henry repeater." "These guns will speak their own answer to the colonel." "Just load 'em up on Sunday, and they'll shoot all week." "For you." "Well, you can't see through the paper, you know." "Oh." "There's enough material for a dress, pattern, needles, thread." "If you need any more help, I can't give it to you." "Thank you." "Hope it'll give you something to do." "She told you, didn't she?" "Yeah." "I'll be a better woman than she is." "What do you do with your old losers, Major?" "All right, now, keep your elbow on your knee." "The stock dug into your shoulder." "That's it." "Just like that." "Pick your targets carefully, every shot." "All right, Luke." "Take a steady grip and squeeze." "Don't pull the trigger, or you'll jerk the barrel off the target." "Keep this little ball Just underneath what you're aimin' at, like this." "All right, one at a time." "Maygro, you lead off." "Ha!" "All right, Pino." "I'm not sure this is such a good idea." "What?" "Leaving the fort after dark." "Could get mighty dangerous out here." "Everything's dangerous in this country." "I know." "I mean, danger doesn't stop at the walls of the fort." "I know that too." "Why, even in your own home." "Once I walked into my living room, and there was a rattler." "Gave me quite a start." "Once I walked into a room... and there was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen." "Gave me quite a start." "Anyway, if I didn't get outside once in a while, I'd go crazy." "Sometimes the fort seems Just like a prison." "Why do you stay on?" "Oh, it isn't easy for a woman to pull up roots and start traveling." "Colonel Meade wouldn't have anything to do with it, would he?" "Why do you ask that?" "Because he's entirely too paternal for a man who isn't the fatherly type." "I'm very fond of jack as a friend." "Nothing more, and he knows it." "A smart officer prepares for a long campaign." "He'd have the same luck with me that he's having with the Kiowas." "That seems to be true for everybody." "Something tells me that you'll do a little better." "With you?" "I was thinking about the Kiowas." "Oh." "I don't know." "Their raids aren't haphazard." "There's a plan behind them." "I'm sorry I even mentioned it." "All right, pick a subject." "Something far away, something like Washington or St. Louis." "Oh, the buildings hem you in and the noise wears you down." "I've had a warehouseful of quiet." "Tell me about the parties and the dresses... and the crystal and the silver." "And the colds and bad food and the empty conversation?" "Oh, sounds wonderful." "To be sitting with a cold in a noisy restaurant in Washington... listening to bad conversation," "I'd give all the love that's in me." "Now or when you get there?" "I..." "I don't know what made me say that." "Don't you?" "Do your plans really include a return to the East?" "I don't know, except..." "Well, then why don't we talk about it... when you really know where you're going?" "All right, Wilks, take over." "Yes, sir." "Now, you all know how to sit on a horse." "I'm gonna show you how to jump a horse!" "Now pay attention." "Pino, follow me over." "When the time comes, you'll have to dig 'em faster and deeper." "Man should not fight in hole." "He should stand erect." "And get his head shot off?" "In case of a sudden attack, this is what we'll use these trenches for." "Ready?" "Think we had enough?" "Even the army don't work this hard." "That's why we're out here." "Come on." "He's training those Seminoles like a cross between Kentucky frontiersmen and rustlers." "Digging holes, firing dismounted, charging four at a time." "To fight Indians, you've got to give 'em a spectacle." "Stun 'em, make noise." "I'd like to be looking on when Brady's bunch meets its first party of Kiowas." "Those lads aren't interested in playing games." "It'll take him a month to round up his Seminoles again." "One way or another, I'd like to see it." "A toast... to the memory of Brady's bunch." "Oh, hello, Major." "Looking for the colonel?" "No, he's in his office." "I made sure of that." "May I come in?" "Oh, of course." "Would you like a cup of tea?" "No, thank you." "Oh, um, how's your army coming along?" "If maneuvers mean anything, we're unbeatable." "We'll know shortly." "I leave in a day or so." "Oh, so soon?" "Mm-hmm." "Elaine, I-I don't know how long this will take or how well it'll come out." "What an alarming lack of confidence." "It isn't like you." "I have my moments." "Sometimes when we play make-believe, we get overconfident." "Worse, we lose sight of what's make-believe and what's real." "Are we talking about the same thing?" "I think we are." "If we ever get the Kiowas in line," "I can just about pick my next assignment." "I've had enough of this special frontier duty to warrant it." "You're very fortunate, Major." "I thought I might ask for a tour of duty in Washington, the A.G. office or something like that." "Where the buildings hem you in and the noise wears you down." "When a man has nothing but time on his hands, no one to share it with, he concentrates on noise and cold." "He has to blame his loneliness on something." "Elaine, I..." "l-I'm not doing a very good job of this, but I'm trying to tell you I..." "I'm in love with you." "I know." "I wish you hadn't." "The other night, that was one thing." "I'm sorry for it." "This is different." "No, it's worse." "I don't understand." "It's really very simple." "I'm not in love with you." "You haven't given yourself time to think about it." "I don't have to think about it." "I know." "I don't believe that." "You and your supreme ego, Major." "Can't you stand being rejected?" "As much as you can stand being a woman." "Don't worry." "I'm a woman." "I'm beginning to wonder." "I'm genuinely impressed, Major, but I'm afraid nothing's changed." "You're so wrong about that." "I'm sorry I troubled you." "They hide out somewhere in the northeast." "Raids have been in this area." "There are certain ridges and canyons they have to take to reach this spot." "Suppose we stake this one out." "Spread out." "Thanks for volunteering to be bait, Pino." "I must make myself as strong a man as you so Avis will notice me." "My blood is slowin' down to a walk." "Stop complaining'." "We're makin' a hero out of ya." "Well, I'll trade my medals for a piece of that fire." "Go up and join 'em, then." "I think I will." "All right, go on." "On second thought, I think I'll stay right where I am." "Wait until we're sure." "The last second." "These make good graves for later." "You better dig it a little wider, Wilks." "Ah!" "Aw, you can bury me sideways." "Luke, come here." "Get 'em ready." "Tell 'em not to mistake me for a Kiowa." "Lesson grows stronger." "Here comes some more of 'em." "Major Brady!" "I almost killed ya!" "He got away!" "Who got away?" "I don't know, but he wasn't an Indian." "I better get me a pair of them eyeglasses." "Oh, forget it." "Got a match?" "Yeah, I think so." "This could have been picked up by some Kiowa off Corwin's body." "I hope so." "The man who carried it was white." "Corwin's dead." "He went on a scouting trip with a corporal and a private." "I found their bodies burned and tied to a wagon wheel." "There are his papers." "Must be some other white man fighting with the Indians." "Could be almost anyone." "There are a lot of renegades out there." "But your job is the Indians." "I know my job, Colonel." "I guess this belongs to Mrs. Corwin." "I'll see that she gets it." "Uh, Brady." "It's difficult to prove that your men killed as many raiders as you claim." "But let's assume you're truthful." "Congratulations." "Where did you find it?" "I won it." "First prize in a free-for-all." "The man who carried it was white." "Was he tall and dark-haired?" "I didn't get a good look at him, but..." "I'd say that's a pretty fair description of almost anyone." "Do you think he's alive?" "It's only a feeling, woman's intuition." "I was hoping that he had died." "He went on that scouting expedition to desert." "He wanted me to go with him." "Meade found his body." "Burned." "Who could say it was him?" "I saw his papers." "Meade showed them to me." "The whole idea's pretty far-fetched." "Roger was a very farfetched man." "He cultivated the friendship of some influential Mexicans... that didn't like the Guadalupe Treaty, that lost them their lands in Texas." "They offered him a small fortune to start the Indians fighting again." "To get Mexico back in the war?" "I don't know." "I" " I think so." "Why didn't you turn him in?" "I didn't think that he was serious." "It would have been a very difficult thing to prove." "Then when I heard he was dead, there didn't seem to be any point to it." "Quite a man you married." "Sure, I married him." "I was in love with him." "But you can't hate him any more than I do now." "Yet you insist on remaining tied to him." "You lock the gate on your emotions, refuse to fall in love again, all because you're living in wedlock with a ghost." "Apparently more than a ghost." "That's all he is." "A body was identified by Col. Meade." "That sets you free legally in any court." "There are other things besides legal freedom." "I've the feeling that he's still alive." "And now this." "This saber doesn't prove anything." "It could've been found!" "It doesn't prove that he's dead either." "Luke, you, uh..." "You didn't like Capt. Corwin very much, did you?" "I took more kindly to scorpions." "Why?" "Never did warm to these galvanized Yankees, but Corwin was the sourest pickle in the barrel." "Fought for the Confederacy, huh?" "He never stopped fighting'." "He joined us Just to get even." "I never saw one man could hate a Yankee so hard." "Enough to stand by and see a lot of 'em slaughtered?" "He wouldn't be standin' by." "He'd be helpin' out." "Good evening, Major." "Good evening, Captain." "These dances sure break up the monotony on the post." "You should try chasing Kiowas for that." "Those savages know we're having a dance in here?" "Probably." "If I were commanding this post, they'd show respect for rank." "I think they've earned their celebration... much more than your rank has earned you any respect, Captain." "Made from the cloth you gave me." "No." "I never gave you any cloth as beautiful as that." "I was going to wait here until you came out, so you would see it." "Did you wear it especially for the celebration?" "I did not make this dress for an Indian celebration." "I'm not a savage." "Did I do as I said I would?" "Hmm?" "Did I make myself a better woman for you to look at... than the woman who cried on your shoulder?" "Avis, I doubt that anywhere in the world... there's a woman better to look at than you." "Thank you." "Take everything you need." "You won't see a quartermaster for weeks." "That's as good as gettin' two weeks away from your mother-in-law." "Brady." "I..." "I just wanted to wish you luck." "That'd mean bringing your husband back, if it is your husband." "I know." "If it's me personally you're wishing luck, it'd mean bringing him back dead." "Yes." "You don't give a man a very comfortable choice, do you?" "I'm being honest for the first time in my life." "It isn't easy for me either." "But I'm the one who has to make the decision." "Boy, I never thought I'd end up one of them female 'personators." "Ha-ha!" "He don't seem to mind!" "Hey, he's prettier than me!" "Here they come!" "Boy, are they gonna get a surprise." "Take their rifles and let 'em go." "Keep that one here." "I wanna talk to him." "Speak English?" "Know any Kiowa words, Maygro?" "I can speak with him." "Ask him if there's a white man riding with 'em." "He just say, 'Kill me.'" "Ask him again." "All right, let him go." "Major, he understand only torture." "I don't." "I said let him go." "He say kill him." "He thinks we shoot him in back." "Give him an escort." "Tell him we'll keep after his people... until they stop fighting." "Yes, sir." "A Kiowa a clay keeps me rollin' in pay." "Twenty a month." "That's about 65 cents a Kiowa." "I'm gonna run a special:" "two for a quarter." "We've done all right." "Two raiding' parties a day." "That's pretty good huntin'." "It's just fair." "It's a new record for this territory." "Unless we find their leaders, it will take us the rest of our lives to wipe out the Kiowas." "The Kiowa talked." "I don't believe in torture." "He would have killed himself anyway." "He not return to tribe disgraced." "We're trying to bring law into this territory." "Yet, one life for many." "Pino!" "There is a white man." "Corwin." "He was officer in your army." "He lead Kiowa raids." "Where does he hide out'?" "Many place." "He move every day." "He has heard of us." "What'd I tell ya?" "Any outfit Agustus Wilks joins becomes immortal overnight." "He worries." "When war parties do not come back, people and their chief Satanta ask questions." "Anything else?" "He know, to rule this land, he must destroy fort." "When was that scheduled for?" "Not for long time." "But because of us, and doubt spread among his tribes, he will be forced to do it soon." "Any day." "The fort isn't easy to defend... with a hill looking down on it." "They had to build it where the fresh water was." "Let's go back and get us a drink." "Did you learn anything about..." "Yeah." "He's..." "He's still alive?" "Still alive." "What's your claim this time, Major?" "Twenty raiding parties." "Would you like to see the bodies?" "That's a nice, round number." "I'm too tired to play word games today." "You'll get my written report in the morning." "Should be stirring stuff." "Is it true you do not send supplies to my people?" "That door's to knock on!" "Before I cut you in two, tell me!" "You enlisted in this army as a scout." "I'm a colonel!" "There are limits to the liberties you can take with me!" "Tell me!" "Did you send the supplies?" "No." "We kept our word!" "Why you not keep your word?" "I gave you no word!" "But I did, through an authority higher than yours." "What are my people to eat?" "Dirt?" "The supplies haven't arrived from the Army depot." "When they do, I'll let you know." "Until then, get out of my office, Maygro!" "You can't treat him like that." "He's a chief!" "Of what?" "A worthless band of vagabonds?" "Now, if there's nothing else, Major..." "There's a lot else, Colonel!" "Capt. Corwin is alive and directing the Indian raids." "Who told you that?" "A Kiowa." "Huh." "Just before he died." "All right, he lied." "But let's assume it's true." "Then someday we'll find him." "Maybe he'll find you first." "What do you mean?" "He plans to destroy this fort." "Good." "We'll be waiting for him." "Just remember where you heard it first." "About these supplies:" "You've got more than you need." "I'm not authorized to issue them to you." "Wars are won by initiative, not authorization." "I never cared much for debates, Major, especially with junior officers." "All right, Meade, fight your own private war." "But before you're through, you'll need more than those eagles." "Brady!" "Brady, they've gone!" "Maygro?" "And all the men." "They just rode out." "You must get them back." "What for?" "To save your precious Capt. Corwin?" "There are other things to consider:" "the women and children in this fort." "I've never seen my father so angry." "Why didn't you go too?" "I told my father I would not go." "I told him we were gonna be married." "Married?" "I had to tell him something." "That's just another promise he'll think I've broken." "I'll tell him the truth someday." "Thanks." "I stayed because I want you to go after them." "You need them, but they need you more." "They've known hunger before, but this time their hunger will have a purpose." "Bring them back, Brady." "I wasn't sure I liked you the first time I saw you." "Now?" "I can stand you." "Not enough to have you give me away in marriage." "Won't help to catch up with Maygro unless we've got more than words to offer him." "Supplies from the quartermaster warehouse?" "Yeah." "Biggest wagon load of everything you can find." "Findin's gonna be easy." "Gettin' it out will be the job." "You can turn it down if you want." "Well, I've had a pretty good career in the army." "Not as good as yours, Luke, but it wasn't bad." "I'll let you wear my stripes while we do it." "I always knowed I'd get to wear them stripes someday." "Use the back gate." "Be sure to watch out for the 0.D." "How much time we got left, Luke?" "Two more minutes before the officer of the day will be making his rounds." "Maybe he'll be late tonight." "Capt. Neil is never late." "Capt. Neil!" "We'll never drink all that!" "Two of 'em is for the horses." "He'll be here any second!" "I never drink without a chaser." "Oh-oh." "Firin' squad, here we come." "Start thinkin' what you're gonna say at the court-martial." "Anybody in there?" "No, sir." "We go on." "Just a few more minutes, Maygro." "We wait too long now." "Good work!" "Did you have any trouble?" "Trouble?" "Ha!" "Aw, no, we didn't have no trouble, Major." "We was just..." "By the orders of Col. Meade, you're under arrest." "Any move to resist would save a tiresome court-martial." "Don't get drunk with power." "I still outrank you." "Temporarily." "What's the charge?" "What do you think?" "Somebody made the mistake of dropping his pay book." "The major didn't have nothin' to do with that." "This room is off-limits to prisoners." "So we took a few supplies." "You can do anything you want with your men and supplies, but not mine." "The secretary of war can't protect you now." "The supplies will be replaced." "In the meantime, they must be officially listed as stolen." "Meade, this isn't West Point: it's Indian country." "No regulations ever stopped an Indian." "My first duty is to this command." "What good were they doing sitting here?" "That's my concern." "The concern of every dead settler from here to Arkansas." "You've been waitin' for me to make a mistake like this." "You're the type." "Capt. Neil is waiting." "You'll be under guard in your quarters." "You plan to run the Seminoles by yourself?" "Yes." "I'm gonna run 'em out of this fort." "Even you can't carry petty jealousy that far." "Until the army replaces me, I'm still commanding!" "And using your rank to make a personal war!" "Out here the U.S. Army is the law!" "I'm not gonna see it handed over to a band of rabble!" "Even if they do the job better?" "Even if they can do the job better." "With them leaving and Brady under guard, that's the last of Brady's bunch." "Good evening, Mrs. Corwin." "Good evening." "We have only a few moments before we are discovered." "We need horses and guns." "They are going out the back gate now." "How'd you get in?" "Mrs. Corwin." "Let's go." "You two stay here." "You can't get rid of us." "We know too much." "It'd be desertion." "If we accomplish something, they might be good to us, but..." "It's service above and beyond the call of duty." "All right, you enlisted." "You shouldn't be here." "Get going!" "I'm not leaving!" "Don't be crazy!" "I'm staying here to prove that you'll all come back." "You don't know what they might do to you." "She made up her mind." "It's the only thing I can do to help." "All right." "There's no doubt the Kiowas are gathering to get ready for the attack on the fort." "How many you think?" "About every brave who can ride a horse." "You can't hide that many Indians." "You can decoy your opposition by sending out small parties to strike at everything." "That'll keep the colonel running in every direction." "Would Corwin know to do this?" "He's a professional soldier, isn't he?" "Then when Meade's patrols are out, he'll hit the fort with a big attack." "You told Meade about this?" "Yeah, I told him." "What is our job?" "We'll break up into scouting parties to see if Corwin uses this plan." "Let the raiding parties go out, then trail 'em to the main force." "That way we'll know where it is." "Remember, if any of us are seen or heard, the fat's in the fire." "Let's go." "Who's gonna play hide-and-go-seek this time?" "I'll take this bunch." "All here." "We move fast, Satanta." "Make sure horse do not stumble." "Kiowas ride over you." "That's the spirit." "When the attack starts, we keep going until everyone inside the fort is killed." "My tribe take big chance." "It's no chance: it's a certainty." "You make mistake, you make no more." "Stop worrying. just start counting the loot." "Well, I saw it." "How'd it look?" "Biggest war party in local history heading' in this direction." "Them Kiowas sure been breedin' fast." "Was Corwin with them?" "It's Corwin." "I got a glimpse of Satanta too." "That fella with all them sergeants' stripes on his tepee?" "Better warn Meade." "Listen, Meade would rather have you in irons... than beat the Kiowas." "He'll have his chance to do both." "Mount up." "Back to give yourself up?" "Where are all the men?" "Out on patrol." "How soon will those patrols return?" "They just went out." "What difference does it make?" "Drop your sidearms on the floor." "How many men are here?" "He said drop your sidearm." "You're under arrest." "Twenty?" "Forty?" "Fifty?" "Twenty." "Think you can put my whole detachment under arrest?" "Just you." "You'll need even me." "In a half hour, every Kiowa... in this territory's gonna be climbing these walls." "I don't believe that." "You oughta have more faith, Colonel." "Put it on the table." "You're adding one charge after another!" "I'll see you in front of a firing squad!" "You won't live to see anything if we don't get moving." "Pile up all your ammunition." "Set your artillery up on the north wall." "Put your women and children in the powder magazine." "I'll give the orders!" "By that time, the Kiowas will be finishing your meal!" "You lost your rank when you deserted!" "That's for a court-martial to decide!" "I'll make sure of that!" "Open the gate!" "Sir, we sighted a full force of Kiowas heading toward the fort." "Very well." "Major, take charge of your bunch." "I'll handle the troops that are left." "Is that all the ammunition you could find?" "That's all, sir." "We'll need 20 times that." "Not with these old pieces." "Six rounds and they'll blow up." "What good is artillery here?" "What good's a fort with a hill lookin' down its throat?" "Nobody will be able to move inside this compound." "You're overdramatizing things." "Aw, there's one in every fort." "Get that man's name!" "Come on, boy!" "Get him inside." "Inside, ladies." "That's it." "Brady, it can't be this bad." "Your husband and every Kiowa in this territory are dropping in on us." "That's right, spread it out." "As fast as you can." "I'd rather stay out here." "I want to see him for myself." "You'll be tortured if you're caught." "He wouldn't let them." "Once those Kiowas get inside, nothing will stop them." "Where's Avis?" "She's in the quartermaster warehouse, held as a prisoner." "I'd better get her." "Brady!" "Oh, Pino, I'm so glad to see you!" "I am glad too, Avis." "Put her in the powder magazine." "No!" "Go with Pino!" "But why the powder magazine?" "If necessary, we'd both rather see you die that way." "Avis, you must do as the major says." "Yes." "It is time I listened to other people." "Go on." "One of those guns is out!" "The other ain't got far to go!" "Brady, never have I been so wrong... and somebody else so right." "I owe you more than I can say." "Luke, get every man you can." "Try to drive the Kiowas out through the gate." "Wilks, get the colonel into his office." "Maygro!" "Pino!" "You men come with me!" "Right here!" "Oh, Brady." "Good luck, Major." "Take care of the Seminoles, sir." "Don't worry about them." "You just take care of Elaine." "You've made the word 'Seminole' an honorable one." "The days will be long till you return." "We'll be back someday." "Troops!" "Atten-shun!"