"Little brother?" "Yes, it is I." "Those words are like a benediction." "Now the day has meaning and purpose." "I sent for you, little brother because my church is being taken from me." "But it is your church." "You will remember I needed a steeple and I added other trappings borrowing 2000 dollars to pay for it." "The loan is due." "I cannot meet it." "You know, I have no money." "That's not why I sent for you, little brother." "Come along." "Behold." "A carnival trinket not worth a quarter when it was purchased." "You see, before I entered the Lord's service I was in a traveling show." "I had a partner, Jennie Malone." "Johnson and Jennie." "We prospered." "But one morning Jennie was gone with 1 000 dollars of mine." "But why did you send for me?" "Long, long ago, I gave this trinket to Jennie." "Last Sunday, it was dropped into my collection plate by a drifter." "I questioned the drifter and learned that Jennie now runs the Paradise Saloon in Arizona City." "She has sent me a sign." "She needs me for something." "But this time, I'm ready for her." "That 1 000 dollars is going to be 2000 with interest." "I'm going to save my church, little brother." "That's why I sent for you." "I'm going to Arizona City and I need a pair of eyes." "Serenity, there are others who can lead you." "None whom I trust." "There is something you want." "You wish to save your church." "But I also have want." "I know I am selfish." "It's a privilege we arrogate to ourselves when we grow old." "Serenity, I would like to help you but I cannot pause now." "You are looking for your brother." "I know what it means to you." "If it were just a matter of money or just a matter of the church" "What else?" "I am feeling my mortality, little brother." "Will you come?" "I will come." "Your tread must be light and sure as though your path were upon rice paper." "It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls." "Looked for, he cannot be seen." "Listened for, he cannot be heard." "Touched, he cannot be felt." "This rice paper is the test." "Fragile as the wings of the dragonfly, clinging as the cocoon of the silkworm." "When you can walk its length and leave no trace you will have learned." "We are in the vixen's den." "What is it, Serenity?" "A small passing warning." "They come now and then." "You must rest after this journey." "I didn't come to Arizona City to rest." "If you do not rest you will not be strong enough to accomplish anything." "City girl!" "Come in, boys!" "Come in, come in, come in." "Glad to have you with us." "Well, stay a while and play a while." "We've got everything you need, gents..." "...and everything's for sale." "l want you, Jennie." "Well, I admire your taste." "Have a drink." "Hey, you." "If you have any trouble holding a drink, maybe I can help you." "l never need help." "Good." "Then there's plenty of room at the bar." "Don't let me keep you." "Look, I have customers, friend." "I'm no friend, I'm Bix Courtney." "You know that." "You know why I'm here." "Of course. I run the best saloon in Arizona." "You wanna waste time with that kind of talk, all right." "But your time is running out." "Your friend is dead." "I don't make friends with gunslingers." "He was no gunslinger but a cheap saddle bum and a crook to boot." "But he was a friend of yours." "And he did something stupid which is why he's dead." "He took something that belonged to me." "Are you trying to tell me that this was your property something that you owned?" "Something that I had." "My brothers, Lloyd and Spiff, have been here all week." "Nothing's gone out except trash, and they checked it every day." "So it's here." "All right, Jennie, women die too, and they die no harder than men." "And I'll be around." "I remember Jennie Malone." "She'll know I'm in town before I stretch out on this bed." "Then you must stretch out on this bed." "We will wait for her." "I do not like taking orders from my juniors, little brother." "You could avoid that by no longer calling on your juniors." "Arthur, player says that's gold." "He wants 200 dollars for it." "Oh, Jennie that dude you've been expecting came in on today's stage." "Serenity Johnson?" "All right." "He's in the Frontier Hotel." "He'll be around." "Thanks, Fred." "Bix Courtney is an evil man, Jennie." "Dangerous man." "Maybe the most dangerous in Arizona." "This isn't the boondocks." "We do have a sheriff." "Sheriff is afraid too." "You do not look well." "I was not born a descendent of Apollo, little brother." "You are ill." "It passes." "Within the hour I'll be my old self for a little while." "Take this to Jennie Malone." "You know what I like, don't you?" "All right, bets." "Hundred." "How about you?" "Hundred goes, right." "How about you?" "Okay, you're covered." "Make way for two thirsty gents." "Step up to the bar, boys." "And the first drink will be on the house." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "Thank you very much." "I'm weary." "I've been on my feet too long." "I've got to sit down for a while." "l'll be here." "l know." "That's why I can sit down for a while." "Jennie Malone?" "Well, if you have to ask, you must be from someplace far away." "I have something for you." "From the looks of you, my friend, I doubt that very, very much." "There must be 8000 of these floating around the country and all exactly alike." "Serenity Johnson says this one belongs to you." "Nobody knows what belongs to me but me." "Yet you keep it." "Just to end the argument." "I am not arguing." "Maybe you won't mind if I close this stimulating conversation." "Food can be provided if you wish to eat." "You are kind." "I thank you." "I have eaten." "I do not wish to pry but do you remain in Arizona City for considerable period?" "No." "Since I am familiar here please consider me a source of information and assistance." "You are generous." "We are not strangers you and I." "Yeah." "He needs more money." "This ring's worth 500, Chan." "I'll take 1 00." "I've been losing." "Now's my chance to get even." "Let's go, let's go. I'm in a hurry." "Will you hurry up?" "I need that 1 00." "Your ring is worthless." "You're a liar." "It's not a diamond." "It's not a precious stone of any species." "I told you, I paid 500 for it." "If that is true, you were cheated." "What do you mean, if it's true?" "I told you it's true." "You and I have nothing more to say to each other." "Listen, you" "Get him." "There you go, buddy." "Are you all right?" "Please, sit down." "Milt." "Yeah?" "Take his bet. I'll cover it." "All right." "What do you do?" "Bet 1 00." "Hundred." "I'll see it." "What do you got?" "One." "Two." "Three Queens." "Just a minute." "You lose." "I've got a straight, five, six, seven, eight, nine." "Wait." "Take your glass with you." "All right, there's been enough roughhouse around here." "You must play." "Out." "Right now." "Stay close." "Come on." "Start." "All right, boys, one seat open." "Come on." "Anybody wanna play?" "How about one of you get in the game here." "Everybody wins right here." "Miss Jennie's waiting for you around the side." "Let's have a look at that cavalier." "Sheriff, my badge, my commission." "Federal marshal." "Well, what brings you here, marshal?" "Silver bullion, 80 pounds of it." "You mean those stolen silver bars?" "Well, that stuff was taken 200 miles from here." "You're even in the wrong county." "They don't pay me to make mistakes." "May I?" "My guess is they've got that silver hid." "They're gonna wait for the chase to peter down." "A saddle bum was killed about 1 0 days ago west of here." "He was drunk the night before." "Claimed he struck it rich." "He said he had a load of silver hid away." "Miners say bags of silver, not loads." "My men went through the dead man's stuff." "Found this." "Paradise Saloon." "You're wearing a better perfume, Jennie." "Yes, I can afford it now." "What she means, little brother, is that she couldn't when she was with me." "Nothing wrong with your memory but old age has caught up with your manners." "I remember you'd get to your feet when a lady would come through the door." "He has been ill." "Leave us now, little brother." "What Jennie and I have to say would only bore you." "Well, now you're not exactly living deluxe." "You didn't send expenses with that hat pin, Jennie." "I didn't think that you'd take money from a woman." "I would if it's mine." "You owe me, little lady, 2000 dollars." "You not only lost your mind, you lost memory too." "You left with 1 000 of my money." "I'm only adding fair interest." "So that's why you wanted to see me." "As usual, you've reversed the truth, Jennie." "It was you who sent for me." "If you want my services, you'll fork over the 2000." "Never." "Serenity, your eyes." "There's a water pitcher on the wash stand." "Throw it me." "Throw me the water pitcher." "Go on." "Now the basin." "Throw it hard." "Pick it up." "Pretend the cane's a sword." "Stab me." "Do it." "Try it again." "Can't you even touch a blind man?" "Pour us a drink." "Where'd you take Jennie?" "Who's she seeing?" "What's your business here?" "My affairs are my own." "You didn't send to Lordsville to give me an easy job, Jennie." "Now, what's hard about it?" "I give you something and you take it to San Francisco." "Where is it?" "How big is it?" "Well, it's-- lt's in my parlor and it's the size of a hatbox." "Must be quite a hat to pay 2000 to get it to San Francisco." "Look, will you do it?" "A man would want to be with his only daughter when she's getting married." "My little girl." "I'm taking her to San Francisco for her wedding." "Serenity, you haven't even got a daughter." "She works for you." "Oh, I knew I was wasting my time." "Somebody wants your hatbox or you'd march it down to the post office and let the United States deliver it for you for a lot less than 2000 dollars." "So I must be smarter than whoever will be after me." "So I invent a daughter and a marriage." "Her name is..." "..." "Alice." "My own flesh and blood." "You get my daughter, Alice, packed and I'll be by to take her and her trunk to San Francisco." "Maybe I shouldn't have left you that time." "I'm glad you mentioned that melancholy chapter." "Remember I'll be taking 2000 dollars with me when I start for San Francisco." "I can find my own way back little brother." "We got our marching orders, little brother." "We're escorting a young lady to San Francisco." "Little brother?" "What perplexes you, little brother?" "Whiskey and glasses basin and a pitcher there." "And the cane." "When I left, you were ill." "A faint spell, little brother." "They come and go." "In Lordsville you said you thought you would die soon." "Why have you lied to me?" "I have and I haven't." "I had to be sure you would come with me." "You betrayed me." "lt isn't all one way, little brother." "I believe-- l still believe this expedition will be profitable to you too." "What use is a saloon to me?" "Trust me." "Cast your bread upon the waters." "What does that mean?" "lt means anything you want it to mean." "There's hope in the words and faith, expectation and desire." "All your heart's dreams and yearnings, little brother." "Stay with me." "You will be rewarded." "I feel it. I know it will happen." "We will both end with good fortune." "I can no longer trust you." "Straight ahead and slow, and don't try anything." "Here he is, Bix." "Watch his feet, Bix." "It looked like he was leaving town." "You came into town with an old man." "Why are you leaving without him?" "It is a private matter." "Tell me about it." "It is between him and me." "All right." "Why is he staying?" "I do not know." "Now tell me where you're going." "That too is a private matter." "He's not telling us nothing, Bix." "Maybe he's got nothing to tell." "There isn't room in his bag for no more than three peanuts." "So maybe he's got nothing we're after." "Wherever you were going, go there fast for the next time I meet you I'm gonna stomp on your feet!" "You know what I mean." "Why have you come back?" "l have come to warn you." "I believe you are in great trouble." "Thank you, little brother, but it's no surprise to me." "I knew that when Jennie Malone sent me her trinket." "I do not mean that Jennie Malone, herself, will bring you trouble." "You mean there's trouble all around her." "There always was." "You are not serious." "I believe you are in danger." "Do you know of a man named Bix?" "Bix Courtney, a true son of Satan." "The most evil hombre on either side of the Rockies." "He's here in Arizona City and there are others with him." "They met me when you asked to be alone with Jennie." "They asked questions about her." "I know just about how much you told him, little brother." "A few moments ago they met me again with a gun at my back." "Something of great value has been stolen from this man, Bix." "It's known as cheating cheaters, little brother." "Anything that Bix Courtney has he stole." "Serenity, he is a very determined man." "A man must be determined to be successful, even a thief." "Go back." "Go back to Lordsville." "Your church is not worth your life." "The church is my life the one thing I hold precious on this earth." "Without it, there is no life for me." "I am sorry." "You choose to stay in Arizona City." "I told you, I'm going to San Francisco." "Bix Courtney will stop you." "Goodbye, little brother." "All right." "Oh, Alice, come in." "Well, I was just packing." "Jennie?" "What?" "I'm going to San Francisco pretending I'm getting married?" "Correct." "Well" "What would I do in San Francisco?" "You check into the Sutter Hotel." "Sutter." "And you stay there." "ln my room?" "ln your room." "And you eat there too." "I'll be just like a prisoner." "What do you think you are now?" "You're stuck here in Arizona City because you can't go anywhere else." "And you're stuck here in my saloon because you hate the alternative." "That is, to marry some sod buster and ruin your pretty hands working 24 hours a day." "And in 1 0 years, you won't have any alternative, you'll end up like me." "And that's a terrible life, child." "Unless" "Unless you're in Paris and in London with all the money you ever need helping me spend it." "How would you like that?" "Oh, Jennie, thank you." "All right, then." "Let's get busy." "Pardon me." "Lloyd." "Can I help you, sir?" "Spiff." "You may take me to Miss Jennie Malone, that's a good lad." "Miss Jennie is not here right now, but this is Mr. Chan, her partner." "May I serve you, sir?" "l am Serenity Johnson one of Jennie's ex-partners." "This way, please." "Then I have profited by your loss, Mr. Johnson." "That makes you incalculably wiser than me, Mr. Chan." "There's a chair here." "Sit down." "Well, there he is, your father." "Be careful." "Serenity, here's your daughter Alice." "My dear, dear child." "Well, shall we continue this celebration seated?" "Fred, the drinks." "Your traveling companion is there." "We do not travel together any longer." "I have come to bid you farewell." "Oh, I'm most distressed." "I want you to leave as quickly as possible." "We can't have Alice late for her wedding." "Don't worry, she's in good hands, Jennie." "I'll believe that when you get to San Francisco." "I'll send up a rocket." "I fear it will be a dangerous journey." "I have asked him not to go." "As you can see, he is determined." "He may not be equal to the risks alone." "I have my own goal to gain." "I wish only to resume my journey." "To the wedding." "To the nuptial." "To the bride." "I would have thought her wedding celebration would have called for your best whiskey, Jennie." "And so it is." "Not to my palate." "Howdy, sheriff." "Well, one thing about you, sheriff you can smell a celebration from one side of town to the other." "Come on in." "We're having a kind of wedding party." "This here is the federal marshal." "I've got nothing against federal marshals." "Welcome." "Sit down, boys." "This is business. I want to talk to you." "There goes the party." "Honey, you wait in my place." "All right, marshal, it's your turn." "Len Quick was carrying that, Miss Malone." "That name mean anything to you?" "No, never heard of him." "Len Quick was killed about two weeks ago." "Nope." "The only names I remember belong to dudes that owe me money." "Those are my sentiments exactly, my dear." "Who are you, mister?" "Serenity Johnson." "I'm the lady's escort." "Well, she isn't going anywhere yet." "I'll tell you flat, Jennie." "I want that silver." "And I'm gonna tell you flat, marshal." "I'm a business woman and my business is running this saloon." "I deal in whiskey and gambling, and you're blocking my path." "Well, I reckon you better get used to it, lady." "Come on." "Come on." "The marshal said something about silver, did he?" "Did he?" "I seems to remember a theft silver bullion." "Federal stuff." "News to me." "Three or four men involved." "A couple of people got killed." "You know, the marshal should've questioned you." "I think he knows what he's doing, Jennie." "What was it you said you were sending to San Francisco?" "All right." "Len Quick needed 1 00 dollars, so I gave it to him and he left something for security." "Yes, he certainly did." "I understand you're a full partner in this place." "Would you like to buy chips?" "I'm like the marshal, I got a chip." "I got it from the same place he did." "Would you care to buy more?" "You're in too much trouble to play it dumb." "There's a property of mine in this place and your partner knows it." "I want what belongs to me." "If I don't get it there's gonna be a ruin around here like you never had." "So help me." "Well, there you are, honey." "Your very own ride to San Francisco courtesy of Jennie Malone." "Nothing's too good for the bride." "Up you go." "I didn't want you to take the stage, so I hired this wagon to take you." "When will I learn the reason for that investment?" "When you get to San Francisco." "Easy with that trunk." "All right." "There's a matter of 2000 dollars, dear lady." "Cash on the barrelhead." "I never pay in advance." "Why, San Francisco is west." "You might decide to go east if you had the money." "You judge everybody by yourself, don't you, Jennie?" "Adios, my friend." "Have a good trip." "The driver said Jennie hired him special and the horses." "She's got the fastest team in this part of the state." "She told him to head straight for Angel's Fork and then on in San Francisco." "She's in some kind of a hurry, isn't she?" "Why?" "We're gonna go with them, that's what." "I wanna know what's in that trunk." "Wait." "Please." "Are you all right?" "The journey to San Francisco has begun." "I fear it will not be completed." "Will you not help?" "We discussed this. lt is decided." "I ask your indulgence." "I know you wish to travel on your own journey, but" "Yes, that is so." "I do not pursue you on Serenity's behalf, nor on behalf of the girl, Alice." "There are others involved in this venture?" "There is one other." "Who?" "Jennie Malone and I have been together now for 1 2 years." "We are partners." "The Paradise is ours." "I know." "I am no longer young but I know what I have to say will sound like a silly, witless, trifling chatter of a callow boy." "Please tell me." "You will be driven to laughter." "No." "I am content with Jennie." "Her appearances each afternoon of my life assure the serenity of my day." "When she stands beside me to converse I am younger than my years while she remains." "Jennie likes me." "One knows when one is favored." "You are in love with her." "I'll have you know that such a deduction is folly." "I believe it is not." "I would proceed to the reason for my presence." "You are not a total stranger to our countrymen here in the West." "Nor is the reason for your presence in America a mystery." "I speak, of course, of your search for your brother." "What of my brother?" "I do not like what I'm about to do." "It is offensive to me, but if you will lend your protection to Jennie, I will profit but you will profit too because you will find your brother." "You give me nothing." "All right." "Right time now." "We can go." "Let's go and take a look at that trunk." "Spiff!" "Lloyd!" "Keep them covered." "Hold it there." "Open the trunk." "I do not have the key, nor do my companion." "Think before you say anything, old man." "How do you think I lived to be an old man?" "All that talk with two guns aimed at your head." "Are you tired of life?" "I've been listening to bullies since I was a boy." "You're ruining those" "Do that again and I'll kill you." "Don't you know a murderer when you hear one?" "Listen to him, girl." "He'll save your life." "Yeah." "Where is that silver, old man?" "Quick." "To be quite frank, sir, I'm in the dark, in more ways than one." "Come on, Bix." "Jennie's still got it back at the saloon." "She'd better or I'm gonna burn that saloon down." "Bix, Arizona City is back that way." "Come on." "Here's your hat." "Oh, thank you." "What'll we do now?" "Quiet, let me think." "Come, my dear." "We can proceed to your wedding." "People in need will call on me for help." "And will you help them?" "With all my heart." "Will there be difficulty and danger for you?" "Yes, master." "Oh, Jennie, you don't know what happened." "My dear child, she arranged it." "Still up to your old tricks, eh, Jennie?" "It can't be gone. lt can't be." "It isn't." "Using me for sacrificial lamb." "Throwing me into Bix Courtney." "All right." "Let's get out of here." "You brought me to Arizona City, Jennie." "You wanted your hatbox out of town. lt's out." "Now you pay or you stay right here." "You blind, old fool." "One word to that driver and you stay." "Right along with you, Jennie, I promise you." "Oh, all right. lt's in my saddlebag." "Cover them, Spiff." "Lloyd, you're with me." "Jennie, you got a good business back in town." "I'm gonna give you some advice." "Stay with it." "Give me what I want." "What if I were a man?" "We need partners and a lot more." "Now, Jennie, if you're here, the silver's here." "Tear this wagon apart, boys!" "Get the saddlebags." "l'll help." "Let me help." "Cover them." "You've got the silver you came for, Courtney." "What more do you want with us?" "They're gonna kill us!" "Lloyd!" "We can still make it to San Francisco." "Driver." "You were right, marshal." "There's the silver, and that's Jennie's horse." "Better take care of them, sheriff." "Well, now, Jennie." "Do you want to tell me how the silver got into your hatbox?" "You know, marshal I was just trying to figure that out myself when you arrived." "Why did you come, little brother?" "You owed me nothing after what I did."