"Mrs. Barkley." "How good to see you." "How kind of you to decorate our altar with such beautiful flowers." "It's a pleasure." "But please, don't let me interrupt your work." "Believe me, it's a welcome interruption." "It's only 20 feet up from the cellar... but carrying 50 pounds of plaster makes it seem like 40." "Of late I've been patching more walls than souls, I'm afraid." " How's your family?" " Fine." "How are your children?" "Wonderful." "I have 22 now." "They're planning a big Thanksgiving dinner." "It'll be a happy occasion at the orphanage." "Well, uh... perhaps this will make it even happier." "Bless you." "I wish my own parishioners would drop by as often as you do, and as generously." "If you'll excuse me, I have to get on with my work." "Mrs. Barkley?" "What is it, Mr. Tate?" "Well, uh... yesterday Nick fired me." "You were warned about your drinking." "Well, there's nothing wrong with a nip now and then." "Not on thejob." "Not when it interferes with your duties." "I'm sorry, Mr. Tate." "Well, Mrs. Barkley, you, uh- you could change Nick's mind." "My sons run the ranch." "And your condition appears even wetter today than it was yesterday." "Big people, you Barkleys." "Earthquake!" "Heath, clear the barn and get the horses out!" " I'll get the men out of the bunkhouse!" " Where's Audra?" "I was just trying to button my blouse!" "I'll get her." "Into the corral, Jeb!" "I'll get the rest!" "Heath!" "Hyah!" "Get those men out of the bunkhouse!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Get!" "Go on!" "Well, Mrs. Barkley, ain't this something?" "You and me, down here together." "I don't relish this any more than you do, Mr. Tate." "Bring the light over here." "This is where the steps were." " What steps?" " Well, this must be the cellar." "You mean we're- we're buried alive?" "But still alive." "Oh." "A kerosene lamp." "We're in luck." "Mr. Tate!" "You're all right?" "Sit down." "I'm Victoria Barkley." "This is Mr. Tate." " You're from the Modoc tribe, aren't you?" " Yes." "Well, you know, we're buried down here and there's no way out." "Thanks, Mike." "Stay out of the house, and keep everybody out in the open." "We'll be back as soon as we find Mother." " I'll go with you." " No, no, Heath." "Stay here and take charge." " She was going to visit Father Nichols." "Try the church first." " Right." "Here." "Give it to her." "Mr. Tate, one sip in our present situation is medicinal." "More would be hazardous." "All right." "All right, what now, Your Highness?" "Well, we can sit tight and hope we'll be dug out." "But first we would have to be missed, then located, and" "Then it could be too late." "I prefer we try to" "Wait a minute." "I'm trying to remember something." "Well, you go right ahead and remember." "We've got what's left of our lifetime." "My husband was once owner of a gold mine." "This cellar was part of it." "Therefore there must be tunnels!" "Above the ground and below it, the Barkleys are everywhere." "We'll search the walls." "Go right ahead." " I don't even know your name." " Naomi." "Naomi." "We'll each take a wall." "Well, we've got to try." "Naomi, you don't want your baby to be born down here, do you?" "Padre?" "Was Mrs. Barkley here?" " Mrs. Barkley?" " She came to see you." "Oh, yes, yes." "She, uh" "She brought flowers and a contribution." "Did she get out in time?" "It all happened so fast." "I didn't see anything." "There were four or five people." "I-I searched, but I-I didn't find anyone." "Padre, what you're trying to say is, you think everybody got out all right?" "Yes." "Ye" " I-I'm sure they did." "Uh, Padre." "I heard you say everybody- everyone got out." "Do you know that for certain?" "Well, uh, there were three people in the pews and Mrs. Barkley." "Oh, yes, a young Modoc woman." "An expectant mother." "You didn't see what happened to her?" "No." "No, I-I'm sorry." "I didn't." "Please excuse me." "I must get to the orphanage." "Padre." " Where does that door lead to?" " It used to be the cellar." "Mr. Tate!" "Mr. Tate!" "I found a door." "Have you got a key?" "Maybe we can batter it." "Here, hold this." "It's no use." "It's all blocked up." "Maybe we could use a beam." "There's no room for a beam." "This barrel's in the way." "Oh." "Then we'll push the barrel." "Push the barrel?" "That's a waste of energy." "Look at the size of this!" "I'll say one thing for you, lady." "You're long on nerve." "Now together." "Again." "Whew." "Here, hold this." "I'll say one thing for you." "You can be helpful when you want to be." "I found you!" "I found you!" "Fred!" "We're running out of bandages." "We need more bandages." "I'll get someone on it right away." "Harry!" "The church and the east end of town are the worst hit." " Are there any more injured?" " No, we brought in everybody we could find." " If anybody's buried" " We'll dig for bodies later." "Go see if you can find Harry." "Fred!" " Have you seen my mother?" " Everybody's looking for everyone else." "But don't worry, Jarrod." "I'm sending everyone to the flats." "She may be there." " Let's ride out." " Hold it!" "Raise your right hand." " What?" " What?" " You, too, Nick." "Come on." "Get 'em up." "Snyder." "We've got no time to waste." "I need deputies." "Get your right hand up." "Do you swear to uphold all tasks and duties as directed to you to the best of your ability?" "Fine." "You're all deputized." "Now, you've got two immediate jobs." "Patrol the town and keep looters out." " Fred.!" "Bandages.!" " I know, Doctor." "You think you can dig up some sheets in that store of yours?" "We need bandages badly." " Of course." " Fred, now listen" "You want to find your mother." "Go out to the flats, and get back in a hurry." " You see any looters, shoot 'em on the spot!" " Right!" "Okay." "Naomi." " We may have found the way out." " Leave me here." " No!" " Leave me here." "Let me stay here and die." "No, no, no, no." "We're all getting out." "Now, come on." "Come on, come on." "Let's go." "Well, the bunkhouse has buckled, but no one was hurt." "We'll all sleep out, I guess." "I guess so." "The earth shakes, but the sun still shines." " Audra, this waiting" " How much" " Heath, I'm going to town to look for Mother." " I'm going with you." "The ranch won't disappear." "Well, we haven't helped ourselves much." "It's a dead end!" "We may have missed the turn-off." "We'll go back." "I do not wish to go back." "Naomi, we are all getting out." "Now, think of the baby, and of your husband." "I have no husband." "I knew there was a good chance she wasn't married." "Hey, for a smart girl, you haven't been around very much." "I've been around enough to meet too many people like you, Mr. Tate." "Now, we've got to keep moving until we find a way out." "You're very nice, Mrs. Barkley, but it's too late for me." "Would you lead, Mr. Tate?" "Suppose I don't want to lead." "You don't have to lead." "You don't have to go at all!" "Oh, I'll go." "I like takin' orders from a Barkley." "If it wasn't for your son, Nick, I wouldn't be here in the first place." "So you say please." "Please." "Excuse me." "I'm looking for my husband" " Roy Snyder?" "Oh, yes." "Right over there, Mrs. Snyder." " Roy?" " Ann." " Are you all right?" " I'm fine." "I was worried about you." "Oh, I'm fine, Ann." "What happened to the store?" "Well, the sign fell and the windows are broken out, but otherwise nothing was damaged." "Why don't you go back home and rest?" "Oh, I couldn't rest with all this going on." "I can help with the injured." "Ann, please." "Roll bandages?" "Carry water?" "Something." "Anything?" "All right." "Come on." "Help me." " Any sign?" " Not yet." "You two were both supposed to stay back at the ranch in case she showed up there." " I can ride back later." "Wasn't she at the church?" " No." "The padre says he's pretty sure everybody got out in time." " Are we just going to stand here and do nothing?" " Take it easy, Audra." "Let's go see if Fred's heard anything." "Take it easy." "Doc'll be right with you." " Does that hurt?" " Any luck?" "No." "No, we were hoping maybe" "Well, she's not here." " What are we gonna do?" "Wait?" "Wait for what?" " Take it easy, Audra." "I'm going to the church." " Audra." " Let go of me!" " It's dangerous there!" " Let go of me!" "I don't care!" "We've got orders to stay here!" "I don't care about any orders!" "I care about Mother!" "Do something!" "Do something!" "Take it easy, Sis." "Sheriff, I caught this man looting." "All right, open it up." "I-I didn't mean to, Sheriff." "I, uh, I found these in the street, and I, uh" " Yeah, I found 'em." " Empty out your pockets." "Yes, sir." "And, uh, I found this." "And I found that." "And, uh- I meant to bring 'em in." "I found- found that too." "Come on!" "Let's have all of it!" "All of it!" "That purse!" " This is Mother's!" " Are you sure?" "I gave it to her myself on her birthday." "Don't you remember?" "I didn't open it." "I didn't touch it." " Where'd you get that purse?" " Well, there it was" "Tell me, or so help me I'll kill you right on the spot!" "Inside the church." "Inside." " Inside?" " I-Inside." "Then that means she never got out of the church." " Let's go." " Wait a minute!" " What do you mean?" " I can't let you go inside that church." " One good shake, you could all get buried alive." " Look, Sheriff" " I can't be makin' exceptions." " That's right." "We can't break the rules ourselves." " We'll handle this." " We'll take the responsibility for our own lives." "We've got to go there." "Joel, how bad is that church?" "Well, it's about the worst." "A good part of the ceiling and the altar caved in on the cellar." "If anybody's under there, why" "Is there a staircase that goes down to the cellar?" "Yeah." "It's blocked tight and filled up." " We could use explosives." " No." "A blast, and all the rest of the good walls would come tumbling down." " Then we can dig!" " Let's go." "Audra, I can't let you go with them." "He's right." "You can't help us there, but you can help here." "We'll let you know." " I'd like to come and help." " Come on." "We can use the muscle." "No... this air don't smell so good." "Or maybe it's because there's less of it." "Naomi!" "I do not want the baby." " Listen to me" " I do not want it!" "I want to die!" "Want it or not, it looks like we're going to have company." "Yeah, that's all we need is a squalling brat." "Mr. Tate, it's difficult enough" "Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself!" "We're still alive, and as long as we keep moving there's hope." "There is no hope." "Hope has brought me to this." "There is no hope." "We'll get you out, and you can go back to your people." "They do not want me." "It is a white man's baby." "Nor does he want me." "The baby will be taken care of." "To be raised and educated in a white man's school?" "Like I was taught?" "But I've learned something that isn't in your books." "You teach one way, but live another." "Does he know about the child?" "He does not want to have anything to do with it." "He said he would meet me at the church to talk it over." "He never came." "He can be forced to accept his responsibility." "I do not want him." "I do not want him!" "He never told me he was married!" "I do not want him." "I want to die." "Oh.!" "A married man.!" "What's the name of that fellow that runs the general store and trades with the Modocs?" "Ah, yes, yes." "I remember now." "I remember hearin' about those stories of him... and his midnight visits to the reservation." "That the man?" "Get up, Naomi." "Mr. Tate!" "Hey!" "Leave me alone." "Thank you, Mr. Tate." "You do have a spark of decency." "Yeah, you bring out the best in me." "But saving' her isn't gonna make any difference." "She lost her candle back there" " Come on!" "There's not much left of mine." "And when your lamp is gone, we'll all be goners." " Hey, Nick!" " Huh?" " Look at this rock!" " What about it?" "There's gold tracings in it." "Was there ever a mine here?" "Yeah, this church was built over an old shaft after it was worked out." "Yeah." "The family had an interest in it." " Do you remember where the openings are?" " No." "It was over 20 years ago." "I don't remember much about it." "There must be deeds, records or something." "They would show the openings." " Where would they be?" " Well, they'd be down at the recorder's office." "I'll go there." "What was the name of the mine?" "The Victoria." "You'll need help." "Come on." "You know, we're just crawling' along with her." "We should've left her back there." "She needed a few minutes' rest." "How many more tunnels are there?" "I don't know." "Well, that's refreshing!" "Her Highness don't know." "You should have thought to bring some more candles... and an extra supply of kerosene for the lamp." "And I should have packed a picnic lunch." "You're very tiring, Mr. Tate." "Yeah?" "Well, I'm not the drag." "She is." "Here." "You too good to drink with me?" "Here." "Listen, up there you might be queen of the valley, but down here you're nothing!" "You're no better than I am." "If I can drink out of this bottle, so can you!" "Now, here- drink it!" "Of course, Mr. Tate." "Of course." "Listen, mister, I've broken trails, hunted... and ridden shotgun with my husband." "I've kicked, clawed and gouged my way with him." "Don't you dare touch me again!" "And one thing more- from now on I don't care whether you live or die." "Just don't interfere!" "Okay." "I didn't mean anything." " It's no use." " Keep looking." " Is the land office building still standing?" " I don't know." "Why?" " There'd be records there." " Why don't I go check?" "We'll save time that way." "And hurry.!" "Jarrod!" "Look out!" " Jarrod!" " I think I'm all right, Nick." "Mark.!" "Brace this thing.!" "Get it under there." " You all right?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I think so." "Let's go back to work." "Why don't you take a couple minutes' rest." "I, uh" "I dropped a match." "Dropped it?" "You lit it!" "Well, there's- there's nothing here." "They're-They're worthless." "And burn the whole building down to prove it?" "Why?" "Why?" "You don't really know that your mother is buried underneath the church." "And you don't know that she isn't." "Or what do you know?" "Let me go!" "I want an answer!" "Come on!" "Answer me!" "Th-There's an Indian girl- s-she was- she was waiting at the church." "She" "She" " She came into town to blackmail me." "She said I was the father of her child." "I couldn't have her waiting in the store." "I" "I told her to wait for me at the church." "You know how it is." "W-Who knows who a kid like that would belong" "You're talking to a kid like that!" "And to keep your secret, you'd let people die?" "Wait a minute." "Naomi." "Please." "I can't go on." "The pain." "It's no use." "We ain't never gonna find our way out of here." "I didn't think I'd end up this way." "Not this saddle-bum." "All my life I've been lookin'for somethin'... and all I find is tough luck." "Nothin'ever works." "Somewhere, somehow I was sure I'd latch onto somethin'." "Just one piece of luck... and ol' Tate, he'd be right up there." "Hope springs eternal, Mr. Ta" "Well, not right now it doesn't." "You got any more bright ideas?" "Well, um... why don't you take that tunnel, and I'll take the other tunnel... and we'll go in about 50 feet... and then meet back here and decide which one to take." "There must be an opening somewhere." " Fifty feet." " Yeah." "All right." "We'll be back, Naomi." "Wait a minute." "What is it now, Mr. Tate?" "Why should you take this tunnel and me that one?" "It doesn't make any difference which tunnel, as long as both are searched." "All right, then, I'll take your tunnel." " Oh, for heaven's sake!" "It's not my tunnel!" " Fine!" "Then it's mine!" "I'll take this tunnel!" "You take that one!" "Ohh." "Go save yourself, Mrs. B" "It's all right." "Rest." "Have you gone out of your mind, Snyder?" "Violating your oath?" "Destroying public property?" "How could you?" "With my mother down there?" "I don't know what's gotten into your husband, Mrs. Snyder, but I'm short-handed now." "I'm puttin' him in your custody until this emergency is over." " I'm going to the church." " All right." "Roy!" "I want you to tell me everything." "I told you." "I was" " I was out of my head." "I" " I was wrong." "I'm sorry." "There's more, isn't there?" "I-I told you, I've just got to face up to what I've done." "You haven't told why you'd want to destroy those records... why you'd kill any chance of saving Mrs. Barkley." "Roy, it doesn't make sense!" "Oh, Ann." "Ann, I'm so sorry." "So am I... but for another reason." "That time you went to San Francisco..." "I forgave you for that dance-hall girl." "I thought there were other women, but I couldn't be sure." " Those trips to Sacramento, your visits to the Modocs" " Oh, Ann, please." "The padre said there were several people in the church, including an Indian girl." " Oh, really, Ann" " If she was there with Mrs. Barkley, then that's why" "Really, Ann!" "Not here!" "Please, not here!" "Here and now!" "Blast it!" "Mother's been down there for hours." " There's got to be a faster way." " Well, there isn't!" "Trying to reach that old wine cellar was a long shot." "Searching for that mine deed was a long shot." " And right now it's a long shot that we'll ever" " Wait a minute.!" "Every mining operation I was in had more than one opening." "There was always an opening for escape." "It's out there somewhere." "How long were the tunnels?" "A hundred yards?" "A mile?" " I don't know." " It was 20 years ago." "There's bound to be people around that were living then." "Joel, you were around when my father worked that old mine." "I wouldn't remember that." "I wouldn't know where to begin to look." "All right, but there still must be some old-timers around who would.!" "Well, there's old Gus." "Uh, no, he died last year." "Hank Withers- he moved to Laredo." " You'll just have to find someone" " How aboutJeb Wilson?" " He's still out at the ranch." "Of course.!" "Jeb.!" " Jeb was down there." "Heath!" "Try to find him!" "We have a- We have a big house, Naomi... and a fine ranch." "We'll take care of you and the baby." "Please go without me." "Please." "Please go without me." "It's strange." "I went to the church because- because of the orphan's fund, and now" "One more tunnel, Naomi." "We'll try one more tunnel, and then" "I can't." "I can't." "Well, you rest, child." "You rest." "Gosh, it's so long ago." "Been over 20 years since the mine was worked." "Think, Jeb!" "There must be an opening somewhere." "Doesn't anybody know?" "Uh, seems to me... finished mining', we closed it up." "All the openings?" "I think... there was one of the openings... in Little Canyon." " We've got to find it!" " I said "was. "" "Likely it's all grown over." "Never find it now." " You'll find it." "Get on your horse!" " I don't hardly remember." "The ride'll jog your memory!" "Hugh, ride into town, tell my brothers to bring dynamite, picks and shovels... and meet us at Little Canyon!" "Well?" "Don't recall those trees." "Well, is it or isn't it, Jeb?" "Let me think." "Sun sets in the west... and the opening faces out to it this time of day, I think." "But the hill's all covered over!" "Come on." "Hyah.!" "Hyah.!" "Hyah.!" "Hyah.!" "Hyah.!" "Whoa!" " Jeb thinks it's here." " Let's get to work." "All right, fill your hands." "Come on." "Jeb, what about it?" "I know it's around here someplace." "Wait a minute!" "There's some timbers!" "This is the shaft!" "Naomi!" "Naomi.!" "I hear sounds, Naomi." "Maybe help is coming." "Hold on just a bit- just a bit long- longer." "I'll get the dynamite!" " Got set?" " Yeah." "Audra, you and Jeb get out of here." "Okay, let's go!" " You all right?" " Yeah." "All right." "Mother!" "Ohh!" "Oh, Mother!" "Padre." "Padre?" " You want this child?" " Please." "I'll try to be a good mother." "It was born in darkness." "That darkness has been lifted." "Ann." "You ready to go home?" "Uh-huh." "Mother, you're going to be pampered for a whole week." "Anything you want, you can have." "Well, all I want right now is a good, warm bath." "I'll drive."