"Come on." "Easy." "Cut off that bay and that big sorrel." "l'll handle the old woman." "Yes, sir." "Curly, check out back." "You got it." "Stay in the house." "But, Nettie" "There's six bullets." "Save the last one for yourself, if need be." "Hand over that carbine, Nettie." "You'd best get off my property, Guy Royal." "You know I can shoot." "You can't take us all." "Best you stay alive to protect your young niece." "Get her gun, Curly." "Yeah." "You got the Olsons' land, the Burgharts' and the Tacketts', but you won't get mine." "Get that rope, pull down that fence." "Look at this lovely Hepplewhite chair." "Be awful kind of you to make it a gift." "Gift, my fanny." "That chair is the only thing I have of my mother's." "Then it would be doubly generous for you to give it to me." "Casey, blow his damn head off." "Unbend that trigger finger, girlie." "I ain't after your virtue." "Well, well, well." "It's amazing what folks is willing to share with a friend." "Royal!" "Royal, you give me that." "Casey gave it to me." "Nettie!" "Nettie!" "You get off of her!" "Rot in hell!" "Tomorrow you'll leave the territory." "Tell anybody I was here, I'm gonna throw your niece to my men and I'm gonna burn your house down with you in it." "Who is this rancher, Guy Royal?" "Guy Royal is a cattleman with more money and land than God." "What's he need with a little parcel like yours?" "Not just mine." "The Tacketts' and the Burgharts' and the Olsons'." "One day they were here, the next day, gone." "Guy Royal bought their land in foreclosure." "He paid next to nothing for it." "You look around his place, he probably got gifts from them too." "is this your place?" "Yep." "Burgharts." "Tacketts." "Olsons." "And that farm is Cody Porter's." "I guess he'll be next." "All in a line." "Must be where it's gonna come, when it comes." "When what comes, Mr. Larabee?" "The railroad." "Of course." "And they'll have to deal with whoever owns that land." "Can't go in there." "They're having a meeting." "Oh, I can go in. I'm one of them." "I know you are." "I seen you around." "You ride pretty good." "Well, thanks." "Not as good as me, but not bad." "Not as good as you." "And what do you know?" "You wanna race?" "No." "No. I'm not gonna race no girl." "Why not?" "You scared?" "Oh, for Pete's sake." "Then race me." "Pardon me." "I hear we got trouble." "Would you be interested in partaking in a little show of force?" "Show of force?" "Well, hell, thats my middle name." "Then get out to the Royals'." "You ought not stay at your ranch alone, maam." "I'm putting up at the hotel for a while." "I reckon that's a good idea." "Why don't I see you over there." "Much obliged." "Casey, you come with me." "I ain't used to gentlemanly behavior." "Hell, I ain't no gentleman, ma'am." "Just think a woman of your courage deserves an escort." "It ain't courage." "Its my dander thats got up." "That girl gets on my nerves, Buck." "Hell, she ain't even hardly a girl." "J.D., if you were any blinder, you'd be running into walls." "I've lived in this territory since I was a girl." "It was wilderness when my husband and I came out here." "He couldn't stand it, but it agreed with me." "Hell, I got seven notches on my old Spencer carbine." "Man or beast, you name it, and I've had to kill it." "You can do that with a Spencer carbine." "Hold on, boys." "What's he doing?" "is he getting a drink?" "What's wrong with you?" "Yahweh has answered my prayers." "Who's Yahweh?" "God, to you." "You been praying for Getting Gertie's Garter to come into town?" "You ready now?" "Whatever comes." "But I ain't doing nothing that keeps me out of town on Saturday the 1 4th." "And why is that, Josiah?" "I'm just telling you." "Just telling you." "And I don't aim to be killed before then either." "I'm riding with him." "Hey." "Hey!" "Where do you think you're going?" "Get off!" "This is Guy Royal's property." "Sorry, Mr. Royal." "They wouldn't stop." "All right." "What do you want?" "You got some things belong to Nettie Wells." "Hell, these small ranchers, they love me." "They give me gifts." "Just before you drive them off their land." "You're gonna make a fine profit when that railroad..." "I'm gonna tell you how it is." "I believe in the three G's:" "God, guns, and get the hell off my property." "That's nice." "Now I'm gonna tell you how it is." "I believe your men ain't good enough to face us and you're just a coward that threatens old women." "So soon as you give us what we came for we'll get the hell off your property." "Sonny, I'm just an old whore-loving cowboy." "I don't wanna get murdered by no gunmen." "Curly!" "Cut out them two horses Nettie gave me." "Turned out she's an Indian giver." "Please, be my guest." "I'm kind of a collector." "Well, your collecting days are over." "And stay clear of Nettie Wells if you know what's good for you." "This is my damn country, boy!" "Ours too." "Curly!" "Saddle up." "You're riding into Lobo County tonight." "He backed down like a yellow dog, Vin." "What's he got anyways, a dozen men?" "A dozen men, and we could've whooped them easy." "I ain't so sure it's handled yet, J.D." "What are you talking about?" "There's two parcels of land in that railroad corridor that Royal doesn't own." "Nettie's and Cody Porter's." "Men like Royal they don't walk away from the poker table because you call them." "She's burning up real good!" "I got her set pretty good in back too." "Yeah, yeah, that's good." "Burn it." "Top Hat Bob, you're burning down my place!" "Oh, Lord!" "Anybody gotta go, boys?" "Do it on him." "Top Hat Bob, there's a rider coming in." "Help me!" "Marshal Spikes?" "Guy Royal sent me." "Told me to say he needs you." "He must want me bad, made you ride this far." "Pay you triple your marshal wages." "Any burning?" "You can burn what you want, but there's seven men Mr. Royal wants you to take care of." "I know about them seven men." "Yes, sir." "So you'll come?" "I'll come." "Soon as I finish my business here." "But just so's you know I will cook and eat the liver of any man that puts a bullet into Chris Larabee before I can do my job." "Yes, sir." "To tell you the truth, Josiah the man who used to own this suit was a head shorter than you." "Don't matter, ma'am." "I'll take it." "Yes, sir." "That'll be $4, please." "What's the occasion?" "You sparking a young lady?" "No, ma'am I just like dressing up sometimes is all." "Hello." "Well, well, Mrs. Travis." "Fancy running into you here." "Do you know what this is?" "This is the mortgage to Nettie Wells' ranch." "I just bought it from the bank." "Cost me $300." "When I call this loan today, you think Miss Wells can pay for it?" "I'll have that land legal." "And there's nothing your hired shooters can do about it." "Man never drowned himself in his own sweat, Ezra." "A gentleman does not debase himself by engaging in menial labor." "Josiah, there's something I been wondering about." "In a place like this if a man get himself a tailcoat and a boiled shirt, what exactly do that mean?" "I'll tell you, Nathan but you tell anybody else, I'm gonna have to break your back." "You know I could do it too." "Yeah, I know that." "I carried this next to my heart for a half a lifetime." "She's awful pretty." "Who is she?" "Emma Dubonnet." "The one that's in that show that's coming to town?" "Getting Gertie's Garter." "Same one I saw in San Francisco when I was young and foolish." "lntroduced myself to her afterwards." "It was true love." "Saw her four times after that." "Always with a chaperone." "Why didn't you marry her?" "Oh, I asked her." "She accepted." "Then I told her there'd be a short delay that I couldn't see her for two years because I was gonna pursue a course of spiritual study with a Cherokee holy man." "I often wonder if that wasn't a mistake." "Well, I don't guess a lady wants to hear that from a suitor." "Maybe you're right." "Anyway, fate is a capricious beast." "Now I got a chance to win her again." "I'm a happy man." "I can see where you would be." "Congratulations." "Thank you, brother Nathan." "Nettie." "Nettie." "I just saw Guy Royal." "He bought the mortgage on your ranch." "He's coming to call on the loan." "Damn him." "Can he do that?" "l'm afraid so." "Ma'am, how much you owe?" "A few pennies over $300." "I've never even seen that kind of money." "What am I gonna do?" "Something wrong?" "Miss Nettie, you probably don't know this, but Ezra here is a gambler." "He sure ain't a ranch hand." "Thank you." "He's been saving his winnings to buy a saloon." "What are you attempting to suggest, Mr. Tanner?" "I'm suggesting that you got more than $300 tucked right there in that fancy boot." "Which you think I'm going to donate to this wizened crone?" "No offense, ma'am." "Have you taken leave of your senses?" "Give her the 300." "l ain't taking charity." "It won't be charity, ma'am." "Now, give her the money." "When the sanctified dead rise from their graves to receive judgment I'll start doling out cash." "I'll pay you back in an hour." "Really?" "I'll tell you what, I'll lend it to you at 1 0 percent interest if you pay me back within the hour." "After that, 20 percent." "Per day." "Deal?" "Just get it out and give it to her." "With pleasure." "My stars and garters, look at all that money." "There you go, ma'am." "I appreciate it." "Thank you." "Oh, no, don't thank me." "Thank Robin Hood over there." "You got your blood money." "Now get off my property." "I'm getting." "But I'll be damned if I can figure how you come up with $300." "Now, that's none of your business, is it?" "Come on, boys." "Good day, sir." "What do you want?" "Your money, of course." "One man gonna rob us?" "Oh, this isn't a robbery." "Seeing as how much you love the ranchers we figured you might want to make a donation to our ranch repair fund." "You know, a gift." "That's mighty generous of you, Mr. Royal." "Thank you." "You smart fellas won't be laughing after today." "I'd advise you to invest some of that money into your coffins." "Come on." "Thank you." "And the interest?" "Mr. Tanner?" "I'm so glad to be here." "Hey, how are you?" "Y'all come on over and join us at the saloon today, okay, you hear?" "Hello, hi." "Emma?" "How you doing?" "Oh, don't you look handsome." "Emma!" "Emma, it's me, Josiah!" "Josiah Sanchez!" "Why, of course." "How you doing, darling?" "Oh, Emma." "Emma, we got so much to talk about." "Why, yes, we do, don't we?" "Now, you be sure and come to the show." "Well, I will. I will." "I gotta go so bad my teeth are floating." "It was pathetic." "I swear, I saw you with my own two eyes, Josiah." "Looked like a" " Like a lovesick calf." "He was, like, mooing or something, I don't know." "What was the sound he was making?" ""lt's me." "It's me, Josiah."" ""lt's me, Josiah." -"Josiah Sanchez."" "Who wants to fight?" ""Josiah." -"lt's me, Josiah."" ""Josiah Sanchez."" "Who wants to fight?" "!" "Hold on, Josiah." "Nobody wants to fight you." "Well, then, shut up!" "Tell you what, man ought to be able to take a little joke." ""Shut up." -"Shut up!"" "They're burning Cody Porter's ranch!" "Somebody help!" "They're burning Cody Porter's ranch!" "They're burning Cody Porter's ranch!" "They're gonna hang him!" "Let's ride." "It's Cody." "Let's cut him down." "Yep." "I got a message for Chris Larabee." "Might wanna know who from." "Marshal Bob Spikes." "But they call me Top Hat Bob." "Maybe you heard of me." "You supposed to be famous?" "Hell, yes, I'm famous!" "Damn, Bob." "You just eat a dead animal?" "You tell Larabee any dealings with Mr. Royal come through me." "I'll tell him." "Say, Mr. Royal likes gifts." "I think he'd like your coat, mister." "And you'd like a face." "Guess you're both out of luck." "Somebody get his coat." "Give it up, there, mister." "One more thing." "You tell Larabee to think about the last time him and me met." "Because the next time we do, I'm gonna rip his eye out." "Can't a man play a quiet game with his knife without being distracted?" "You're not fooling anybody, young lady." "Except maybe J.D." "You're talking through your sock, mister." "If he had half a brain, he'd see you are a fine example of the gentler sex." "Now, don't you go getting any ideas." "No, no." "Now, don't you know a helping hand when you see it?" "Now, what I'm suggesting is that you let J.D. in on your talents." "I can rope, ride and spit faster and farther than any man." "Well, those are mighty admirable qualities, ma'am but J.D. might not be man enough to handle them." "J.D. is more of a man than you'd ever" "Hush, now, little girl." "You sit down." "Sit on down." "I just wanna talk to you for a second." "I want you to consider this, okay?" "Maybe you should think about combing your hair." "You got beautiful hair." "Maybe wipe off a little of that mud so we can see that pretty face." "How about that smile?" "Yeah." "And have you heard of something?" "It's called a dress." "He even said he would cut your eye out." "Top Hat Bob Spikes?" "I never heard of him." "He ain't one that would be easy to forget." "He could kill a man with his breath alone." "Chris Larabee!" "Chris Larabee!" "I'm calling you out!" "Get out of here." "Go on." "Go." "Go." "Fold." "Who the hell are you?" "You're a low-down Yankee liar if you say we've never met." "Seems to me a man would remember an ugly one-eyed coward 6 and a half foot tall, with no hair and a sissy hat." "Damn you, Chris Larabee." "You been scared of running into me since we met." "There's a couple ladies I'm scared of running into but you're not one of them." "Well, here I am." "I will not kill you without the satisfaction of you knowing why I'm doing it." "I got other business." "Oh, why don't you give him a hint." "Rail-splitting." "You pusillanimous son of a bitch." "Rail-splitting?" "If he's got other business, it's apt to be with Nettie Wells." "You sure know how to pick them, Chris." "Let's get on out to Nettie's." "Nettie!" "Too bad you wasn't Top Hat Bob Spikes." "I'd have had me another notch in my old Spencer." "Well, he's still alive, ma'am." "So we'd best get you back to town." "You been putting in a lot of hours worrying about me." "Reckon you got a soft spot for me?" "That I do." "Was she a skinny old biddy too?" "Who?" "Whoever it is I remind you of." "She was skinny." "But not very old." "Where's she at now?" "Gone." "Riders coming in!" "Stop!" "You here for Mr. Royal?" "Hold it." "You Sheriff Bob Spikes?" "It's Marshal Spikes to you, sonny." "This is a mighty fine jacket, marshal." "I wouldn't have pegged you for a man with style." "You comfortable in my bunkhouse?" "Yes, sir." "Porter's place is gone." "And tomorrow we burn out the old lady." "You're worthy of your reputation, sir." "We'll do business again." "I ain't leaving without Larabee's eye." "You take care of my business, marshal and you are welcome to any part of his anatomy you choose." "Yes, sir." "Excuse me." "Ladies and gentlemen." "Excuse me, please." "Ladies and gentlemen." "Now, quiet please." "Now, quiet down now." "Okay." "We are pleased to have for your entertainment delight the songbird of San Francisco, Miss Emma Dubonnet." "What'd you hit me for?" "Thank you all." "So good of you to come to our little play." "You sustain us in our hour." "Hello." "Emma?" "Hello." "Emma?" "Emma, you were sublime." "Well, hello again." "I saw you in the third row." "Seeing you, all I thought about were our walks on the Embarcadero." "Do you remember?" "That was fun, wasn't it?" "Emma." "I'm so sorry I had to leave you." "But those two years of spiritual study were the most important of my life." "Yes, well, I'm sure they were." "God, I missed you." "Missed you too." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Don't mention it." "Emma." "Emma, the thought of you has sustained me throughout all these years of privation and spiritual search." "Could you--?" "Could you ever think of marrying me again?" "Oh, well, let me tell you something, Josiah." "I am taken for the evening." "Besides, I don't think you could afford me anyway, sugar bear." "Let's get going, Miss Dubonnet." "I am ready and willing, Mr. Royal." "Looks like we got ourselves another lovesick calf on our hands." "You don't know nothing, Buck." "Are you gonna stand there and deny it?" "Chris, you should have seen his face when he saw that little girl." "You think you know everything." "Bob Spikes." "It was a rail-splitting contest." "Back in Indiana." "I couldn't have been more than 1 7 years old." "It was a friendly contest. I won." "He thought I cheated, he threw a punch." "It turned into a brawl." "Bob Spikes, that's right." "I could see beating him might cause a fight but that don't seem reason to want to kill a man." "No, but that's how he lost his eye." "In that brawl." "That's a reason." "You know what, Chris?" "If you don't ever tell Top Hat Bob that you remember him then he won't ever kill you." "Boys I think we should ride out to Royal's tonight." "Take out Spikes before he puts the torch to Nettie's." "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." "We leave now, we get there by nightfall." "Right." "Let's get the others." "Hey, Chris." "Yeah?" "How do you know that you can take Top Hat Bob?" "Josiah!" "You coming?" "Guess not." "God, forgive me!" "Hey!" "That's my horse!" "Much obliged." "Come back here!" "Hey!" "Royal's in the house with Emma." "The others are by the barn." "Top Hat's gotta be in the bunkhouse." "What we need is a diversion." "I got an old stick of dynamite in my saddlebag." "Think you can light that close to the bunkhouse?" "Give it a try." "Just don't blow up the son of a bitch who's wearing my coat." "Come on." "Don't worry about it." "I know what I'm doing." "I'm coming, Emma!" "Yeah." "Oh, my." "What the hell's taking so long?" "Emma!" "I'll save you!" "I'm coming!" "Josiah!" "Now, that's a diversion." "Get out of my way!" "Get back there, you yellow-bellied scallywag." "Wait a minute." "Get off of me." "Get back!" "Get down." "Get down." "Get over there." "Hey, hey, hey, it's me. lt's me." "I'm coming, Emma!" "Get down." "Get down." "Stay down." "Stay down." "All the way down." "Go." "Get over there." "Chris Larabee!" "Stay down." "You remember me yet?" "It was just a friendly contest." "Does that look friendly to you?" "You did this to me at the rail-splitting contest." "Let's finish it." "Whatever you say." "Emma, I'm here to save you." "Don't kill him." "Let me go, damn it." "Oh, damn it!" "Stop it!" "I don't want to be saved!" "Stop it!" "Now you say, "l am safe in the arms of the Lord," Mr. Royal." "You're breaking my ribs." "You're gonna stand trial for murder, Bob." "And you're gonna hang, like you did Cody Porter." "Hang?" "No, you gotta shoot me." "Put a bullet in me." "Sorry, Bob." "For the love of God." "Don't let me hang." "I don't wanna hang." "Just put a bullet in me." "Thought he had you there for a minute." "No." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "You are ruining everything." "Say it!" "I am safe in the arms of the Lord." "If you ever touch her again, he'll know." "And you'll burn in hell." "You're safe now, Emma." "You are a lunatic." "Mr. Royal will not be bothering you anymore." "Would you listen to me, you maniac?" "I wanted him to bother me." "He paid me for the privilege." "What?" "Yes, that's right." "He paid you?" "He paid me, you simp!" "What about you and me?" "I never saw you before in my life." "Yes, you did." "We walked on the Embarcadero together and you fed me oysters with them little hands of yours." "If I did, I do not remember." "Now, would you get that through that thick, wooden head of yours?" "I do not remember you!" "Damn!" "It's over, Royal." "You'll return all the goods you've stolen and give back the land to those who claim it." "In case you shoot him I'd appreciate the restitution of my jacket first." "You coming, Josiah?" "Yep." "That belongs to the Tacketts." "What do you suppose the odds are you'll even find them?" "Well, I know they moved up north." "I'll find them." "I'll bet you will." "I'm sorry it didn't work out, Josiah." "Sorry what didn't work out?" "Your romance with Emma Dubonnet." "That wasn't Emma Dubonnet." "This is Emma Dubonnet." "There you go." "You gonna tell me about her?" "Your ma." "Well, she raised me till I was 5, and then she got sick." "Putrid fever got her." "She put up a heck of a fight, though." "Sounds like a strong woman." "Yes, ma'am, she was." "Before she died, she told me, "Boy, you're a Tanner." "Don't you ever forget that."" "Even though I was just a little feller those words have echoed in my heart to this day." "Reckon I just wanna live up to being a Tanner." "You do, son." "You do."