"Well, if it isn't Mr. Paladin in the flesh." "As he usually is, and how are the Irish this morning?" "Oh, tolerable." "You're not coming down with a cold, are you?" "No, Maggie, I never felt better." "Oh, I don't know." "You've got a little touch of red to your nose there, and..." "You're not wearing your longies." "Maggie, it's summer." "Temperature is 72, and the birds are singing in the trees." "Well, it's freezing in the high mountain areas, and who knows where you're gonna be traipsing off to next?" "I mean, sending out your fancy cards and all." "Cards?" "Well, as a matter of fact, what brought it to mind was when I was dusting your room this evening, and I-I noticed that your supply had vanished." "I mean, uh, like the little folks themselves had got at 'em." "Maggie, as of yesterday there were over 100 cards in that desk." "Well, now, it's not worth getting yourself excited about." "I mean, Mr. Paladin, after all, what's a friend for but to help one what needs it?" "Help?" "Now, what kind of help are you talking about?" "And I have a terrible feeling" "I should never have asked that question." "Mr. Paladin, your worries are over." "Come with me." "Behold." "Me finance," "Big John Donovan." "He's lately retired from his ship, and he's going into the..." "Printing business." "Well, now, how did you know about that?" "Show him." "Well, what do you think of it, dearie?" "200 of those, please." "Mr., uh, Paladin?" "That's correct." "This is the plate, which I'll want returned." "A chess knight." "Well, a little obvious, shall we say?" "Perhaps a coat of arms?" "Something suggesting a Saracen, of course." "Your knight charged rampant upon a field of..." "As is." "Beg pardon." "Large order, please." "Pressing business." "100." "Paladin?" "What a rare stroke of fate." "Timed to perfection." "I need your services." "Name's Wire, Bob Wire." "Now..." "if you'll just step outside." "Not for usual reason, of course." "Good, very good." "Now, where did I put my?" "Oh, yes, here it is." "Salesman." "Well, Mr. Wire, you made some mention of requiring my services." "A very valuable wagonload." "Must take to right market." "And where's the right market?" "200 miles." "Town of Anderson." "Rough trail, looters." "I'm a salesman, not gunman." "Do need protection." "My fee is a thousand dollars." "Oh." "Pay when delivered?" "Pay on delivery." "Done." "Now, what in the world is so important?" "Ow!" "Well, what else?" "Bob Wire." "Whoa." "Journey's end." "That's right." "And so far, no complaints about overexcitement." "Pay on delivery agreement." "Now, I think the most interesting unanswered question would be why this load is worth a thousand dollars of insurance." "Fetch five on delivery." "Well, that's a high price, but..." "You're strangers here, ain't you?" "That's right." "What are you coming to this town for?" "Mercantile interest, sell goods, exchange for money." "Free enterprise, the American system." "Good day, ma'am." "My, my." "A sight for eyes." "A morning in May." "Love's young dream." "You watch your tongue." "Well, this has been very interesting, but if you will excuse us." "Just hold on." "What are you toting on this wagon?" "Now, that is our business." "Mister, this is cattle country, it always has been, and right now there's a bunch of farmers meeting in this town, talking over cutting up the rangeland with fences." "Free country." "The name of this town is Anderson." "Mr. Anderson is a cowman, and Mr. Anderson hired me to look after his interests." "Now, what's on the wagon?" "Pack it up, ah-ha." "Ain't he something, though?" "He ain't so much, a bullet won't cut him to size." "That fancy gun and all." "Oh, not that one." "I mean the little fella, the one with the fancy words." "Protecting you from looters is one thing." "Bringing that wire into the middle of a range war is quite another." "Good market, premium price, premium fee." "Well, the fee would have been higher." "If I'd known what I was getting into," "I probably wouldn't have come at all." "Exactly, but I know your reputation." "Now here, will perform duty." "Which is to deliver you here safely." "Now, don't forget, pay on delivery." "Collect fee, punch nose, no extra charge." "Deliver eulogy if necessary." "Get around there, hyah!" "Whoa." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Hey, wait a minute, that's not..." "The time has come for action instead of words." "The, uh..." "We all have plenty to lose if..." "Gentlemen." "I beg to intrude." "I bear glad tidings." "I've just arrived through deadly peril with essential item." "March of progress, unstoppable." "Destiny of land." "Outside, a wagonload of fate." "Permanent nomenclature." "What's your name, squirt?" "Wire," "Bob Wire." "Yes, sirs." "Wire, the perfect barrier." "Sea to sea, the farmer's lifeline." "Gentlemen." "Gentlemen, I apologize for his bursting in here like this." "I suggest you look at the legs of these men." "I further suggest to you that they are not farmers." "Wrong meeting." "Now I'll take him out of here." "I hope without any interference." "No, n-not so fast." "You know the name of this town, sonny?" "Anderson." "Handsome village." "Booming, soon metropolis." "Farmer's para... dise." "I'm Anderson." "How do you do?" "You know what him and this runt have a wagonload of outside?" "What?" "Wire." "Barbed wire." "This is church." "Claim sanctuary." "Gentlemen, guns are my business." "There's a bunch of clodbusters holding a meeting down at the general store." "Now, about all that's needed is one gunshot to set off the fuse." "You figure to spark that?" "No, sir." "No, sir, Mr. Anderson, not if I can possibly avoid it." "Especially with that young lady present." "Anna!" "Yes, Father?" "Stop simpering at that fool." "Your father?" "Mr. Anderson, I suggest we talk this over in private." "Let me take care of 'em, Mr. Anderson, I'll..." "Shut up, Dane!" "You lose your gun someplace?" "Are you indicating we have something to discuss?" "I am." "All right, mister." "We'll talk." "Outside." "Alone." "Simple error." "Wrong meeting." "Understandable." "Very sorry." "Lovely girl." "I walked out of there because I'm a peaceful man by choice and because you sound like a man who'll bargain." "Excuse me." "Don't interrupt!" "Now, I've got a thousand-dollar fee coming when he sells that wire." "He expects to get $5,000 from the farmer." "I will sell it to anybody for $4,000." "$4,000, hmm?" "Yeah, we could ship it to St. Louis and get most of that back." "All right." "It's a deal." "I'll go tell the boys." "May help prevent a shooting war, anyway." "Well, blessed are the peacemakers." "Fine, fine." "Agreed, Mr. Tagg." "Oh, my, uh, associate." "Pardon, please." "What did you tell those people?" "Have wire, will sell." "I just sold the wire to Anderson." "Impossible." "Just sold to Tagg." "Mr. Wire, you are a natural idiot." "How much?" "$3,000." "Quick deal." "Uncertain future here." " Anderson?" "How much?" " $4,000." "Ouch." "Mr. Tagg, I deeply regret." "Behind my back, my..." "I told you it was some kind of a trick." "He's dickering with Tagg." "Anderson... it's a trap!" "Bad wound?" "'Tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church door, but 'twill serve." "I'm killed." "You fainted." "Faint from hunger, no food all day." "Back in San Francisco you said you knew my name." "Since it is probably the last thing that I will ever learn, from where?" "Well... last year, selling perfumes, an actress." "Beautiful woman." "Face of goddess." "Red-gold hair." "Like ivory cameo." "Sacramento." "Like an ivory cameo, red-gold hair... beautiful face." "She always was trouble." "Anderson!" "I hear you!" "Tagg!" "What do you want?" "!" "Let's parley before someone gets killed!" "What do you say, Tagg?" "Talk's cheap, but all right." "No funny stuff." "Did you order that wire?" "Yeah." "We made up our minds to fence off our land." "You ever see what cattle do to crops?" "Now you people are gonna have to settle this thing peacefully." "You can't just go on shooting at one another." "You've already hired a gunfighter." "Tagg's recourse to that will be to hire one of his own." "That's gonna lead to burnings, killings, bloodshed." "Well, if that's what it takes to put up that wire and keep it up, that's what we'll do." "Don't you even lay your hands on it." "Did you ever see what barbed wire does to a cow?" "Ordinary wire won't stop cattle!" "It will unless they're stampeding!" "Now, wait a minute." "There is a solution." "Like what?" "Let him string his wire." "What kind of a solution is that?" "All you want is to get paid." "You're missing the logic." "If what he says is true, let him string his barbed wire." "Outside the barbed wire, you string smooth wire." "His crops will be protected and your cattle will be protected." "I don't buy your double-talk, mister." "Dane, let her go." "Not yet, old man." "I got a score to settle, and I ain't taking any chances on it backfiring." "Turn her loose." "I'll oblige you." "Not your way, gunfighter." "Mine!" "Any way will do." "Good." "Give him your holster." "I won't hesitate to shoot!" "Take out all but two bullets." "Give it to him." "Now, no fancy draw, gunfighter." "Just one gun and two bullets for each man." "Now tell 'em to clear out." "Hyah!" "That's his two shots!" "All right, those are your two shots." "Now, I don't want to kill you." "Just get on a horse and get out of here." "That's sporting of you, gunfighter." "Well, you don't count very well." "Now get him out of there." "Get him to a doctor and get that arm fixed up." "Then get him out of town." "I wish you'd stop giving guns to people like him." "Mister, I've been thinking about what you said about the plain wire and the barbed wire." "Well, unfortunately, we don't have any plain wire." " Yeah." "I mean, no." " I thought it sounded too easy." "Gentlemen, let's first settle barbed wire price." " $1,000." " Insult." " $2,000." " $3,000." "Sold for $2,000." " Wait a minute." "I've got a bid!" " $2,000." "Well, what about the plain wire?" "If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," "I think I have an idea where we might get some." "How much has he done?" "Feet or yards?" "Dollars." "Oh, about $600." "He owes me a thousand." "You don't suppose that squirt and Anna?" "Oh, Paladin... how much more to take him with you?" "Not for all the wire in America, Mr. Anderson." "However, if things get too tough, just wire Paladin, San Francisco." ""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" "Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?"