"Paging mr." "Wilkins." "Mr. Wilkins?" ""howard lumber company faces bankruptcy." ""mrs." "Sara howard, sole owner of the howard lumber company" ""founded by her late husband," ""claimed in an interview today at the hotel carlton" ""that her step-son, ben howard," ""is crippling production and making it impossible" ""to meet contract delivery dates."" "Hey boy?" "Mr. Paladin." "I want you to find mrs." "Sara..." "Howard." "And give this to her, please." "Mrs. Howard, very attractive woman." "Very rich, too." "I'm very happy that you approve." "Well, you can see how ridiculous, how childish it is." "It's been this way since he contested his father's will and lost." "How long has that been?" "Six months." "Can't operate a saw mill without logs, it's that simple." "Ben sees to it that there aren't any logs." "Just how does he do this?" "He dynamites the roads." "He stampedes the animals that do the hauling." "He shoots at the crews." "Has anyone been hurt?" "Not yet." "He's just scared off the men, so far." "He's like a wild animal." "We never see him." "He roams the woods." "Spying, always there." "It's as though the trees were haunted." "Oh, we've tried to catch him." "But we've failed." "Are you saying you offered him a cash settlement after the funeral," "And he refused it?" "Just what is he after?" "It's me." "He wants to ruin me any way he can." "Well, considering the amount of money at stake," "My fee will be somewhat high." "Five thousand dollars." "Oh, that is high." "Suppose you fail?" "If I fail, there'll be no fee." "Well, that's fair enough." "It'll be a welcome relief to leave a man's work to a man." "Tomorrow morning, mr." "Paladin?" "Tomorrow morning." "The land starts there, on the other side of the lake." "A great deal of wealth, barely touched." "All it needs is a strong hand" "To reach and out and make it produce what it should." "One man stands in the way of it producing what it should." "What should it produce, besides lumber?" "Oh, paladin, you're a business man in your own way." "I'm a business woman in my way." "This land can give me many things that I want very badly." "Position of importance?" "Wealth?" "Power?" "You do understand." "Those are the only important things in the world." "Are they?" "Shall we go?" "Paladin?" "I didn't mean the very most important." "You see, when I was a little girl," "My family had nothing." "I had nothing." "Not even decency." "I used to cry every night." "Then I'd swear to myself that when I grew up," "I'd get all the things I never had." "All of the good things." "Well, I can assure you, you've accomplished one thing." "What?" "You've grown up." "You see how busy we are." "We used to cut between 40 and 50,000 board feet of lumber a day." "Now we're lucky if we can get that in a week." "Flannigan, what happened?" "Chain snapped, caught my arm." "I think it's broke." "Another accident." "Another delay." "You think we might do something about his arm?" "Oh, yes." "Get birdie." "We get him to a doctor." "Birdie's been setting bones around here a long time." "She's alright with me." "Accidents happen around a logging camp." "This was no accident." "This thing's been filed half-way through." "Ben." "Who else?" "See, this is an example of the kind of..." "Flannigan, I'd like you to meet mr." "Paladin." "I've hired him to put an end to this sort of thing." "Let me give you a hand." "Thanks, birdie." "You did a good job." "I'd like to meet some of the workmen." "Where do I find them?" "Well, I'm supposed to be superintendent." "I'll show you around." "You all right?" "Come on." "Hey, here comes flannigan." "Got somebody with him." "What happened to your arm?" "Load chain snapped and broke it." "This is mr." "Paladin." "Mrs. Howard brought him up from san francisco." "He's here to take care of ben." "This is paul eckert, our gang boss." "Mr. Paladin wants to ask you some questions." "Answer 'em." "Sure, why not?" "Well, ben seems to have done a lot of shooting, and nobody's been hit." "How do you account for that?" "Maybe he's a bad shot." "Yeah, maybe he's not trying to hit anybody." "Maybe all these things that happen are accidents." "No one's been hurt." "Take a look at the chain that broke flannigan's arm." "That was no accident." "The chain was filed and flannigan could've been killed." "Well, if ben did file it, he probably meant it to break sooner" "So the logs would block the road." "That's it." "Ben wouldn't mean to hurt anybody." "Especially flannigan." "I see." "Well, you gentlemen seem to have your minds well made up." "I'm sure I'd be wasting time to talk any further," "At least for the present." "However, there's one thing you might keep in mind." "Death is just as final met by accident as by design." "Good day." "Was heading for the mill and I heard shots." "A personal welcome from our friend, ben." "He moves around a great deal for one man." "I see you ain't hurt." "No, but he certainly is a very good marksman" "To have missed me on three of those shots." "What happened?" "I don't know." "We were moving up to the new section," "When suddenly everything blew up in our faces." "Somebody set a charge right in our path." "He's badly hurt." "Looks like he was hit with a rock." "Let's get him to the bunk house." "Easy." "Well, if this accident was designed to slow up the work, I'm sure it'll be effective." "Don't you think the price might be just a little high this time?" "He's right." "Next time it could be any..." "Shut up!" "Well, birdie?" "Is too soon to tell." "He may die." "Oh." "All right, birdie." "I-I'm going back to the house." "I don't feel well." "Oh, miss..." "I'd better go back in the house, see if I can be of some use." "Flannigan, one thing you better start thinking about." "This business has gone beyond a game of indian in the woods," "Or intimidating that woman." "That man in there dies, somebody's a murderer." "May I come in?" "Well, birdie, that coffee smells good." "May I have a cup?" "Yes, mr." "Paladin, I'll bring it into the dining room." "Don't bother, birdie, I'll have it here." "Birdie?" "Will you talk to me?" "How can we talk, mr." "Paladin?" "I raised ben." "And you came here to kill him." "Don't be too sure of that, you could be wrong." "I carry this," "And I use it well." "But I don't like to use it." "And I hope I won't have to use it here." "Birdie, I think you can tell me more about ben than anyone." "I know the things he would do, and the things he would not do." "Will you tell me?" "Ben is like his father, stubborn, hot-tempered." "But like his father, he's a good man." "Good to the people who work for him." "They're his friends, and he would not hurt them." "Birdie, two men have been hurt." "When did all this business start?" "When she came here." "It was ben's fault, too." "He was jealous." "She didn't understand." "Ben and mr." "Howard had always been very close." "That soon changed." "Ben knew she came between his father and himself." "He didn't know what to do about it." "He hated her for that." "And she knew it." "That still doesn't explain ben being disinherited." "About a year ago, mr." "Howard was very sick." "She told something terrible about ben." "He believed her." "He changed his will." "What did she accuse ben of?" "Ask her." "Thank you, birdie." "Mr. Paladin?" "Nothing." "I've been expecting you, come in." "Thank you." "Something wrong?" "Well, I don't think so." "But I did talk to birdie today." "Birdie?" "What about?" "About ben?" "And about you." "I'm sorry, it's..." "Birdie hates me just as much as ben does." "Anything she says would be a lie." "Why should birdie hate you?" "'cause I didn't happen to be born here." "Nor live here all my life like their precious ben." "They've all conspired with ben against me." "Flannigan, birdie, all the old ones." "I have no one here but you." "That's the real reason I hired you." "If they can't frighten me away, they'll do it some other way." "I've been alone." "But now I have a witness to tell my side of the story, no matter what happens." "What do you mean?" "Well, don't you see?" "This time ben has gone too far." "When that man dies, ben will be a murderer." "They could cover for him, say he was with them at the time of the explosion." "All their words against mine." "But you being here makes it different." "Now they'll have to tell the truth." "Ben wouldn't accept the settlement I offered him." "All right." "Now he's going to get exactly nothing." "I think I told you once," "I like leaving a man's work..." "To the right man." "Sara," "When your husband was ill," "What did you tell him about ben that made him disinherit the boy?" "Oh, that again?" "Well, that's just one of birdie's stories to solve ben's feelings." "I didn't tell his father anything." "I swear it." "Excuse me, miss howard," "But I'd like to talk to mr." "Paladin." "I think anything you have to say to mr." "Paladin can wait until morning." "It's alright, it's no bother." "And I probably should talk to him tonight." "Good night." "Just had a talk with birdie," "She told me something interesting." "She told me something interesting, too." "She mentioned that." "She also told me at the time of the explosion this afternoon ben was with her." "She took him some food." "So?" "Well, if ben was with her, he couldn't have touched off that blast." "That's an interesting conjecture." "Let me show you something else." "Take a look at that." "Deliberate cut, and fresh, too." "I climb or lean back against that 100 feet off the ground," "We'd have a fatal accident for sure." "How'd you find it?" "This is brad's spare belt." "Lucky chance, he checked it." "He was gonna use it tomorrow." "Well, someone is becoming a very dangerous person." "You obviously don't think ben did this." "That ain't ben's way of doing things." "I want you to find ben tonight." "Ask him to do me a favor." "Turn around and ask him yourself." "He's right behind you." "Well, you're up bright and early." "What's wrong?" "There's been another accident." "You better come." "Well, what happened?" "Tell you on the way." "That your hired gun, sara?" "That's him." "That's ben!" "You don't look so good, sara." "You been worrying about things?" "Step out in the open, ben." "I want to see you." "Want to see what kind of man hides behind trees from a woman." "Why do you want to see me, hired gun?" "So you can kill me?" "Sara didn't need any help to kill my father." "No, she did that all by herself." "No, you wouldn't stand a chance." "Just get me out of here." "Look at the hired gun run!" "And the good little wife right along with him." "What's the matter, sara?" "Why is the good wife running?" "I was a good wife!" "Were you a good wife when you told him I tried to make love to you?" "That lie killed him, sara." "And you haven't stopped lying since." "There's the accident." "He's been shot." "He may be alive but somebody's gonna have to go up there and find out." "None of the men will go." "You'll have to order someone." "You can't blame the men for not wanting to go up," "None of them are high climbers except brad, and that's him up there." "I even got brad's other safety belt from the bunk house." "But it ain't no use." "How the noble have fallen." "They'll tell any kind of a lie to frighten a woman." "They haven't got the stomach for a man's job." "You got the stomach for it?" "Put 'em on." "Paladin, stop!" "It's not your job, it's theirs." "I can't just let a man die." "Ben!" "Ben can climb, let him go!" "paladin, stop!" "Well, stop him!" "Paladin, don't!" "I need you!" "The rope!" "It's been cut!" "All right, brad, come on down." "Flannigan and brad and I knew this rope was cut." "How did you know it, sara?" "I could try and lie." "But I'm tired of lying." "Ben and flannigan told me they knew who set off the dynamite." "And who cut this line." "I had to be shown." "Well, in one way, you're lucky." "The foreman's not gonna die, he'll be alright." "What are you going to do?" "Well, all ben wants is to run this mill." "I'm sure he'll share the profits with you on some fair basis." "Provided you go away somewhere, permanently." "And if I don't?" "There's always the matter of attempted murder." "I thought I had it all figured out." "You see, I thought if I could turn the men against ben," "Then they'd drive him away for me." "But my idea didn't work." "It lost you a fee, mr." "Paladin." "I'll take care of that." "Considering the way it turned out, I think that's only fair." "I'll go pack my clothes." "I'll let you know where to send the checks." ""through all the drama, whether damned or not," ""love guilds the scene and women guide the plot."" "¶ have gun, will travel, reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ a knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ his fast gun-for-hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ a soldier of fortune is the man called... ¶" "¶ paladin ¶" "¶ paladin, paladin, where do you roam?" "¶"