" My turn." " No, give it to me." " No, it's mine!" " It's mine, give it to me." " Hey!" " Run, Jimmy!" "What the hell are you doing, you little vermin?" "Look at my door!" "Get the hell out of here, you little bastards!" "My, oh, my." "Hey, killer, what's the count now?" "You'll be happy to know that I have slain 73" "Seventy-four of the enemy thus far today besting my record by this time of day yesterday by four." " You got another swatter?" " No, sir." "And I refuse any offers of help." "This is a private feud." "Thanks for the pull, Bob." "Here you are." "Good as new." "Use it on the next one." "What can I do for you, friend?" "I thought you might know of a job, even a temporary job." "Let me let you in on a little secret." "I did know of a job one time around here." "That was about eight months ago." " Seven men lined up to get it." " I should have stayed on that train." " When's the next one?" " They've got a very scientific schedule." "It's figured in terms of miles and weight and steam pressures and circumference of the wheel and revolutions per minute." "It's very precise." "Can't you just tell me when the train comes in?" " That is one secret I do not know." " Oh, hell." "How'd you like to make $3.10?" "$3.10?" " What do I have to do?" " That place over there belongs to me and I'm thinking it don't look right." "That door sticks out like a sore thumb." "I want you to repaint it." "I'd do it myself, but I'm feeling plumb lazy." "All I gotta do is paint that door and you'll pay me $3?" "Yes, sir." "There is one thing." "The fella I'm renting that place to he's kind of peculiar, off in the head." "He might complain." "Thinks he owns the place." " You just pay him no mind." " I ain't looking for no trouble." "How about I give you the money now?" "Now, that's a different story." "There you go." "I ain't heard a word." "I was in the back the whole time." " Monte." " Shorty." "Chet." " What are you doing?" " I'm painting the door." "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Look at my door!" " I got a job to do, mister." " Get out!" "Get out!" "It's my door!" " I'm a lawyer!" " You're a lunatic!" "Get off my porch, you stupid clod!" "Who you calling a clod, pig-face?" "No, no!" "Stop!" "This is your doing, ain't it?" "You could break a leg doing that." "I got two." "Let's go get paid." "Yes, sir." " Can you do that, Monte?" " Yep." "Well, let's see you do it." " I just did." " What you talking about?" "You got off your horse, I got off mine." "You're standing on the ground, I'm standing too." "Ain't that right, Chet?" "Yep." "Looks like we all did it, Shorty." " Afternoon, Mr. Rollins." " Afternoon, Mrs. Wilder." "The hardware widow." " What a lovely caboose." " I'd like to hammer a nail in there." "Mind your tongue!" " What'd I say?" " Ain't you never read the Bible?" "I don't remember nothing about no hardware ladies in it." "I'm going for a drink." " What does the Bible say about widows?" " To treat them kindly." "Hammering a nail into her might be the kindest thing in the world for her." "Says something about being respectful too." " Hey." "Howdy." " Hey there." "How you doing here?" "I'm buying." "Thanks, Chet." "Yeah, thanks, Chet." " Monte." " Henry." "Here's $2." "Keep it for me." "I want to be able to eat while I'm in town." "Don't give it back even when you're begging for it?" "I never beg, Henry." "Even when you threaten to climb across and twist my head off?" "Especially then." " I sure feel the chill." " Winter's coming." "What do you miss most in winter, Shorty?" " The ladies." " Ladies?" " Yeah." " I heard you had such a fast fuse they hardly knew you came to call." "They're all chipping in to return your money." "That's it." "Why did you do that?" "Especially since we won't see him all winter." " You know how he is." " Too short-fused is how he is." " You don't have to keep needling him." " Needling people's what I do." " I guess I'll go back to the saloon." " You know where I'll be." "You had your hair cut." "I didn't want to waste any time." " Good evening, Mr. Rollins." " Evening to you, Mrs. Wilder." "Such pretty flowers." "Please, come in." "You really love this life." "Don't you, Monte?" "Yes, I do." "I dislike winter very much." "They didn't have winters where you grew up?" "Sure, they had winter, big, cold, snowy winter." "But I was a little girl then." "It was fun to play in the snow." " And now?" " I still like playing in the snow but around here when there is snow, there is no one to play with." "Now, that's a sad story." "It is a sad story." " What are we doing here, Monte?" " We're cowboying, Chet." "It's a hell of a life." "A cowboy can ride down to Texas and up to Canada and back again and get paid for it." "Hell of a life." "Yeah." "A hell of a life." "And this ain't a good stove." "And there ain't any more strays gonna get past here because they're all frozen." " Worst winter I can remember." " I seen worse." "You'll feel different in the spring." "I'll be happy if I can feel anything in the spring." "This heifer ain't gonna last long unless we mother her up." " You ever been in love, Monte?" " Nope." "I've been a cowboy all my life." "It might be kind of nice." "Good bottle of whiskey might be kind of nice too." "I take it back." "I was in love once with this lovely gal in El Paso." "I met her in a cantina." "She brought me food and when I looked up into her eyes, I just knew." "You know what I'm saying?" "I just knew that it was gonna be my night." "You've been telling me this all winter." " You brought it up." " I brung up love three months ago and all you've talked about is sex!" " Same thing." " No, it ain't." "You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I happen to see it different." "Can you do that, Chet?" "Yeah." "But give me a little time to get dumber." "Chet." "Monte." " Brennan." " Howdy, Mr. Brennan." "What's going on here?" "These boys looking for work." "Winter wiped out most of the ranches." "Including the Cross Bar?" "Yes, sir." "Old man Hendricks left that for you." "This is a month's pay." "We were up there all winter." " Plus we got $15 coming for three wolves." " He could've left us nothing." " What happened to Slash Y, Mr. Brennan?" " It's gone." "A company called Consolidated Cattle bought me out, along with the rest." " Who are they?" " A pack of accountants, as far as I can tell." "Big Eastern money." "They asked me to stay on and run it." " Range manager is what they call me." " Accountants." "They want to keep the Slash Y running until they know what to do with the other holdings." "They're gonna put up the money." "Capital is what they call that." " Cowhands are a dime a dozen right now." " Yes, sir." "But I'm fixing to build something real special." "I'm only hiring the very best." "How many horses you need broke?" "Already got a bronc stomper, Monte." "I'm in a position to offer you boys what you might call a regular job." " How's that sound?" " Awful." "Bronc stomping's a young man's game, Monte." "You ought to think real hard on this one." "It don't take real hard thinking on my part." "Count me in." "Who's cook?" "Skimpy Eagens from the Flying O." " Hear he can cook." " Yes, sir, he can cook." "I ain't doing nothing I can't do from a horse." "I'm not asking you to, Monte." "I'll be looking for you." "Damn winter." " Henry." " Monte." "You need a haircut." "Don't be messing with my hair in here." "Well?" "Well?" "Let's go." "What is it exactly that you have in mind?" "I don't know." "Dinner?" " Well, hell, countess" " Don't call me countess." "I thought all you foreign ladies was countesses." "Just because a woman is a foreigner doesn't make her a countess." "Anyway I have an appointment." "I have to leave." "Oh." "Perhaps I will cancel my appointment." " I do believe we're ready." " I do believe you're right." "Let's ease up a little." "It wouldn't do to have old Cal think we was too anxious." "Yeah." "Who's that?" "Monte Walsh." "Chet Rollins." "Nobody sits a horse like Monte Walsh." "You used to sit one pretty good yourself." " I used to do a lot of things pretty good." " You still do." "You should know, Sairy." "I do." " Howdy, Mr. Brennan." " Mrs. Brennan." " Morning, boys." " Fellas I heard about what happened to the Cross Bar." "Yes, ma'am." "Rough winter." "For us all, Monte." "For us all." "Chet and Monte, I want to introduce you two boys to the future." "Twentieth century in person, Robert Slocumb." " This is Chet Rollins and Monte Walsh." " Pleased, I'm sure." "Same." " Robert." " Robert's from Consolidated Cattle." " He's here two weeks learning cowboying." " Two weeks?" "What'll he do the second week?" "A couple of the boys are out castrating calves." "Chet, maybe you and Monte would like to put Robert to work." "Oh, no, no." "That's fine." "I'm more interested in the business part." "That is the business part." "Well, I meant the numbers and such." "Robert's a great one for the numbers." " How about turning a herd in a thunderstorm?" " Robert's a great one for the numbers." " I could tell that." "Couldn't you, Chet?" " I could tell that." " Looky here." " Hey, Sunfish." "Haven't seen you boys in a while." "Hi, Monte." "Chet." "How's the grub?" "Good." "It's good." " Hey, Joe." " Hey, Chet." "Monte." " Hi." " Who's got what?" "Those two don't belong to no one." "You play that thing much?" " Yeah, unless people object." " I object." "You don't like music?" "I do." "How's the grub?" "Good." "It's good." " Who's the foreman of this outfit now?" " Hat Henderson." "You know him?" "Know of." "He's all right." "Name's Sug." "Sugar Wyman." "I got throwed." "Monte Walsh." "Chet Rollins." "I heard about you." "Anything good?" "Heard you used to be the best bronc rider south of Snake River." "North of the Snake too." "Mr. Brennan reckons he has the best bronc stomper in the territory." "What do you say?" "He better take good care of him." "Who is it?" "Why, Shorty Austin, of course." "My, oh, my." "Come and get it!" " Howdy." " Hey, boys." "Hat Henderson." "I'm foreman here." " Chet Rollins." " Monte Walsh." "How you doing?" "Better, since I gave up hope." "Dally Johnson." " Nice to meet you." " Dally." "Well, I'll be damned." "You already are." " Monte." "Chet." " Hey, Shorty." " Ain't you hungry?" " Too tired to eat, I guess." "Not eating makes you tired." " Smart dog." " So, Monte Sugar down there tells me you don't agree with Brennan about Shorty here." "Well, that depends on your definition of bronc stomping." "God allow as I seen Shorty kill a few in his day there are some people who see it kinder to shoot a horse than to ride it to death." "That smell ain't something you get entirely used to, that's for sure." "If you're starving, you'll eat." "Can't somebody tell him?" "Tell the cook?" "You know better than that." " Where was you last?" " Cross Bar." "How's the cook?" "Nothing like you." " Amen." " Ain't that the truth?" " What are you doing?" "!" " I got his leg!" "Come over here!" "My leg!" "Giddap." "Easy." "Easy." "Steady, now." "Playful, ain't he?" " Watch him, Shorty." " I got him, I got him." "That's it." "I busted everything so far except this bay horse." "You can have him for a pet when I'm done." "Think I'll live that long?" "Watch and learn." "Turn him loose!" "Stay on him, Shorty!" "Stay with him!" "He don't even want the saddle." "He's something, huh?" "It's still a horse, ain't it?" "Think maybe he's too much for you?" "Well, I'm the only one gonna find that out." "Giddap." "Hey, Monte." "If that old wagon's too tough for you to ride I can get old man Brennan's rocking chair for you!" " Something on your mind?" " Yep." "Wanna tell me?" "Till just now, I didn't think there was a horse foaled that I couldn't ride." "Now what do you think?" "He's Shorty's worry, not mine." "Howdy." "Good morning." " Where you want it?" " You can drop it right there." "Don't you boys be feeling sorry for me fixing fence." "Boys say you rode with General Hooker in the war." "That's right." "Took his name too." "Fighting Joe Hooker, that's me." "I was charging alongside of him in '63 when he led the army of the Cumberland at Missionary Ridge." "We was all young on Missionary Ridge." "Thought we'd always be that way or die young." "I've had a good life." "General Hooker's pipe." "His missis gave it to me." "Anything else we can do for you, Joe?" "You can bring me two women and a fine bottle of whiskey." "So long, Joe." "Talks like his life is over with." "Might as well be, riding fence." "Mr. Brennan." "Have a good time, boys." "I should charge you for haircuts." "I should charge you for something." "How much you've cost me all these years." "Don't complain, or I'll start charging you." "You don't think I'm worth paying?" "Oh, yes." "You're worth it." "Are all you foreign ladies so interested in a man's hair?" "I don't know." "Finished." "How do I look?" "The light is better over here." "It's mine, Sunfish!" "It's mine!" "Goddang it!" "Hey!" "Them's Brennan's mustangs." "They belong to them accountants." "Makes no difference who owns them 'cause we never done it for the owner anyway." " Monte, you cowboy for the money?" " Not likely." " Me, I like the hours." " Me too." "I love sleeping late." "These horses are going to the railhead." "Then they're army property." "Let's get at it." "Move!" "I'll turn them, Monte!" "Giddap!" "What kept you, Shorty?" "There they are." "There they are." "Let's have a little fun." "That's it!" "Sons of bitches." " That's it." " Hold on." "Let's not get too hasty." "Hasty?" "I'm fixing to rip someone's arms off." "I'm gonna rip somebody's head off!" "Come on, Joe!" "What the hell." "This is gonna be one hell of a mess." "Let's get out of here." "We'll come back and pick up these nags later." "Let's pull, boys!" "Keep it tight, boys!" "Pull!" "Son of a bitch!" " Tear it off of there!" " Come on, guys, come on!" "Come on!" "Damn sons of bitches!" "Sons of bitches!" "You stinking coward!" "No call for gunplay." "No call for this thing, neither." "No." "No call." "This was a nice, simple fistfight, Newley." "No reason to be hitting someone with a wrench." "Yeah, well, I thought it was a holdup." "They would've had their guns out, stupid." "And what in holy hell am I gonna do about this train now?" "Can't get any decent draft with no stack." " I can't budge the damn thing!" " What's your name?" "Rudy." "Rudy, you can't have no idea how little I care." "Come on, let's go." "Forget these bastards." "Joe, how's your head?" "I sure know I got one, but that won't bother my riding." " How's that leg?" " My ankle doesn't feel too good but it won't be nothing on a horse." "Sugar!" "Dally!" "Get them horses over here." "We got 43 foal critters to find!" "I see that they had provocation." "I even sympathize." "But the company would never approve payment." "Those men are personally responsible." "They're gonna have to pay." "The company will require them to pay." "The company doesn't know anything about horses." "It doesn't know anything about men." "Are you saying the rail road shouldn't get paid?" "No, sir, that's not what I'm saying." "Our boys stomped on that rail road crew pretty good." "Tore up their rig." "Railroad's got a right." "Then?" "Our boys make $25 a month, buy their own gear." "They are not going to pay." "I'm ordering you to make them pay." "I can fire you, you know." "You'd lose your job for them?" "I'd lose my life for them, and they would for me." "Who are you people?" "Maybe the company will pick up part of it." "That's the best I can do." "See, these boys have no home except for a horse and a cook shack." "They got no property but a saddle and a gun." "They don't earn any money." "Got no wife, got no kids." "They spend their entire life pushing cattle around to where they don't want to go." "Sounds like a terrible job." "Yes, sir, it is a terrible job, but it's their job." "All they got is freedom and pride keeping their word and looking out for one another." "All they got is their rules." "And where are these rules written down?" "They're not written down, you damn fool." "They're lived." "But they work for us." "They don't work for anybody." "They work for the life." "How do you know all of this?" "'Cause that's how you are." "Which is why the company has to pay the rail road." "And if we don't, you'll quit?" "Every last one of us." "Well, Mr. Brennan, there aren't any other jobs." "And before I go, I will kick your ass." "The company will pay." "You ain't eating, countess." "No, I'm not." "Is something bothering you?" " Yes." " You wanna tell me about it?" "No." " You gonna eat them potatoes?" " You can take them." " You sure?" " Yes." "I like to see you eat." "How come you ain't sleeping?" "This is our last night." "I'm moving to Antelope Junction." "That ain't no place." "I know but I operate in a profession of diminishing returns." "What's that mean?" "It means that things change." "There's no one left here except town people and a few farmers." "Well, you can do better than that." "Antelope Junction has a rail road spur." "There's nothing else I can do." " Things don't have to change." " Monte as time goes by, we all have to take the best we can get." "Perhaps, one day, you'll find that the same applies to you." "I ain't changing." "Oh, God, I hope not." "Antelope Junction's 20 miles away." " It's better part of a month's pay." " No." " To help settle in." " No, I've never taken any money from you." "It ain't money, it's capital." "That's what they call it these days." "Go on." "Come on, now." "It ain't like I don't have a horse." "Hey." " How is it with the herd?" " Good." "It's good." "You serve up some of your revenge for breakfast, Skimpy?" "Don't have to be for breakfast." "Could be anytime." "Ain't much of a herd so far." " Well, if it ain't Rufus Brady." " Powder." "Can you all feed another couple of mouths?" "Sure we can, Rufus." "Monte." "Powder." "I don't suppose there's any work around here." "I didn't think so." "How'd it go in Charleyville?" "I tried working on the rail road, but it ain't for me." "I like horses." "Ain't like it used to be, hey, Rufus?" "Ain't never gonna be like it used to be." "Don't have to be." "Gonna be better." " Ain't that Fighting Joe?" " That fool." "He ain't gonna be worth a bent nickel he don't slow down." "What's he doing?" "Coming down Missionary Ridge." "He'll never make it." "He don't want to." "Must have all caught up with him." "Do you suppose he felt anything?" "Mostly, he felt it before he jumped." "Sure is nice of Brennan to send these over." "Hard to bury somebody without it." "Told me he was charging Consolidated for six quarts of wolf poison." "Consolidated's getting off cheap." " What was his name?" " Whose name, Dally?" "Fighting Joe Hooker." "I'm gonna carve a marker for his grave." "I ought to use his real name." "Yes, sir." "This here bag's got his belongings." "Albert Miller." "What's your first name, Shorty?" "Frank." "What's yours, Dally?" "In case you go first, I'll make your marker." "It's Wallace." "My name's Henry." "Got a middle name too." "I want them both on my marker." "Henry Lewis Wyman." "What's your real name, Skimpy?" "Skimpy!" "Why y'all fussing so about your real names?" "Nobody got family to visit their graves." "Hey, Monte." "What's your real name?" "Don't Monte sound real?" "Ain't never sound real to me." "What is it?" "Montelius." "What the hell was that for?" "To prevent smiling." "Well, you just better make your own marker." "Nobody could spell your name, anyway." "I figured on a small herd, but not as small as we have." "Consolidated won't spend any money on cows." "I gotta let four of you go." "Joe Hooker's dead, so that leaves three." "Sugar." "Shorty." "Joe Joslin." "The three youngest." "That's as fair as I could figure it." "One of you can stay on if you want to ride fence." "Good luck to you, boys." "What are you gonna do, Shorty?" "I don't know." "One thing's for sure." "I ain't gonna ride fence." " Good luck, Shorty." " See you." " Monte and me have a couple extra" " Better keep it..." " ...the way things been going." " Go on." "Take it, Shorty." "It ain't gonna make no difference to us." "We're getting our three squares." "Thanks." "Besides I can always get it back from you in a poker game." "Wish I knew something besides cowboying." "Shorty." "Well, I ain't gonna ride you now." "Bay's all yours now, Monte." "So long." "Why did Brennan have to let them go?" "What?" "Why did Brennan have to let them go?" "Brennan had no choice." "Consolidated sends word, that's the way it's gotta be." "I never thought about it like that." "Well, you think wrong too damn much, Dally." "Well, yes." "By God, I do." "Come on, Montelius!" "Come on!" "All right." "Now, that's enough." "Break it up!" "I said, break it up!" "Damn it, Hat, that was a good hand." " Just calm down, Sunfish." " All right." "His was too." "My, oh, my." "Stop hitting me." "My leg." "Get off my leg." "Stop it." " What's going on, boys?" " Get off my leg." "You're crushing me." "What's this all about?" "I plumb forgot." "Well, what do you know?" "I ain't felt so good in months." "You know, maybe I was wrong." "No, you weren't wrong, Dally." "It's just ain't nothing been right these days." " Monte." " Yeah?" "Mary and I are gonna get married." "How's that gonna work?" " What do you mean?" " You being a cowboy." "I ain't gonna be much longer." "What you gonna be?" "A hardware man." " In a store?" " In a store." " So you're gonna live in town?" " Look, Monte you have any idea how many cowhands there were 10, 15 years ago?" "There's a hell of a lot fewer now." "Pretty soon there won't be hardly any." " Come on." "It ain't that bad." " Yes, it is, Monte." "You can ride down to Texas and up into Canada and back, and that's fine." "But there ain't no one that's gonna pay you for doing it." "Anyway, I figure if folks like us and Cal Brennan and even Shorty are gonna be pushed around by accountants then some of us might as well get in on it and do a little pushing." "Well, it ain't my idea of how to live." "Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever, Monte." "Turn around slow, Brady." " There's a gun on you, Rufus." " You stay out of this, sonny." "Maybe we should get a doctor." "Ain't no need." "Let's get out of here!" "Brady and Powder is wanted for robbing a bank in Charleyville." " I don't know what to do." " Rufus robbing a bank?" " It's more Powder's style." " $500 reward out for him." " He must be getting mean." " I never been in a bank." "Soon as word's out, they'll send for help." "If he'd told me he was a marshal, then" "When this settles down you can tell it your way." "Climb aboard." "You don't have much time." "If I was you, I'd ride south." "If you make a fortune there, send us some." " Things look pretty good around Laramie." " If there ain't no work, try the banks." "I ain't never killed a man before." "Get going." "I'm gonna miss that short-fused son of a bitch." " Nice store." " Sure is." " Nice wedding." " Sure is." " You boys ever been to a wedding?" " Nope." "Then how the hell do you know if it's a nice one?" " Seems nice." " It do." "Ain't you gonna eat, boys?" "Sure we are." "Would you like to dance with me, Monte?" " Well, thank you, ma'am." " Mary." "Mary, I don't know how to dance." "Hell, Monte, neither do I. Mary'll show you." "I would like to kiss the bride." "I know how to dance, Mary." "I'd be delighted to dance with you, Hat." "Sorry we're late." " Mrs. Brennan, Mr. Brennan." " Congratulations, Chet." " Thank you." " Monte." "Heard you sold the bay." "Yes, sir, to a Wild West show." "Didn't earn his keep." " Chet, how about a drink?" " How about a few?" "Looks like a two-quart wedding to me." "I've seen you at two-quart weddings." "You better dance while you still can." " I been dancing with you for 40 years." " Sooner or later I'll teach you to lead." "This mean I gotta buy my own tobacco?" "You'll be alone in that shack this winter." "The hell I will." "I'll have a horse and a mule with me." "So you won't even miss me." "Well, as long as I got that mule with me, I won't even know you're gone." "Lot of miles, Monte." "And some pretty good ones too." "Yeah." "This ain't no place." "No place at all." " Since when?" " Since I got here." " You all right?" " Sure." "Was your mother and father married?" " Probably." "I don't really know." " How come we never got married?" "You never asked me." "Well, I never thought of it." "Cowboys don't get married unless they stop being cowboys." "Chet's gotten married." "Did you ride 20 miles to tell me that?" "I came here thinking I should get myself a job and get us married." "What do you think?" "I like it." "Marriage is a common ambition in my profession." " You want to think on it?" " No." "The idea always appealed to me." "Well, yeah, I guess it might at that." "The way things are going, a cowboy don't make enough to live right." "I don't know what else I could do." " I don't belong in no hardware store." " I know you don't." "I don't know much about love, Martine." "That's all right." "I know enough for both of us." "My, oh, my." "So you gonna be ornery for a Wild West show now, huh?" "You know what I'm gonna do for you?" "I'm gonna teach you some manners before you leave." "Easy." "Whoa." "This ain't Shorty you're talking to here." "This is a master bronc stomper." "Easy." "When we get through, you're gonna want to take a nap sit on the porch and wait for the mares to come calling." "You'll have to do better than that." "Now, let's go back real peaceful-like." "Well, well." "I have seen riding in my day, young man and I take my hat off to you." "Now, I hope you don't mind my speaking to you, but you are riding my horse." " Excuse me, cowboy." " Don't worry." "I'll pay for all of the damages." " Colonel Wilson's my name." " Monte Walsh." "Well, why don't you come on inside, Mr. Walsh, and have a snort?" "Thanks." "Hell of a ride, son." "Hell of a ride." "I've been looking for someone to take over for my bronco rider." "He's getting a little moss-grown." "Now, I pay 30 a week, plus all expenses." "You'll have enough put away to get a place of your own in a couple years." "How'd you like to be Texas Jack Butler?" "Star cowboy, bronc buster and all around wild man of the West." "Just plain Monte Walsh'll do fine." "But, you see, it won't do." "Texas Jack Butler is a long-established name." "It's a name with history and pedigree." "Now, who knows you, Monte?" "Maybe here in Antelope Junction they do." "But we're just passing through." "Back East's where the people see us and back East, well, people want Texas Jack Butler." "Savvy?" "So who is this Texas Jack Butler?" "The first one was a real nice fellow, born in Joplin, Missouri." "Got runned over by a streetcar in Chicago about 6 years ago." "Couldn't ride a horse worth a damn, but he put on a real good show." "I been Monte Walsh for a long time." " So I'm Texas Jack Butler." " Fine." "Good." "It's a deal." "Now, that's what a new century cowboy ought to look like, Monte." "Times change, men change with them." "Otherwise, you get left behind." "No more small operators." "Everything amalgamates." "Business is big, getting bigger." "Machines do all the work." "Another 20 years, we'll all be sitting on cushions and eating ice cream." "What's ice cream?" "Monte, you ain't keeping up." "It's all about seeing things you never seen." "And making new friends." "And sleeping with new women." "And living high up on the hog." "And all for a couple hours work a night." "It's the 20th century." "I ain't spitting on my whole life." "So this fellow offers me a job in one of them Wild West shows." "And it would mean that I could quit cowboying and get married." "I don't want to stop cowboying, Martine." "You told him no." "Yes, I did." "You can't be something different than you are, or you won't be." "It comes to the same thing." " I'm sorry, Martine." " I'm glad you didn't take it." "You are?" "They trap cougars, put them in a cage and drag them around the country to show them to people with vests and straw hats." "And the people think they're seeing a wild cougar, but they're not." "That's not a wild cougar anymore." "You know, I was just thinking if I go back to the Slash Y, I could maybe start saving my money." "Maybe even ask Cal Brennan for a raise." "I don't want to lose you, Martine." "I'll be right here, Monte." "I'm telling you, Monte, maybe they was rustled." "And maybe they just moved away from the herd." "Sure don't look that way to me, Monte." "Over here!" "Them's ours, all right." "Afternoon." " Where'd you get them black cows?" " Bought them." " When?" " Week ago." " Who from?" " Three cowboys." "Said their ranch was finished." " One of them riding a paint horse?" " That's right." " I got a bill of sale." " It ain't worth nothing." "Them cattle was rustled." "I couldn't sleep if I rustled cattle." "Where's Powder?" "Out stealing or out selling?" "It ain't like we're rustling from anybody we know." "They all belong to a bunch of fat-bellies back East." "I thought robbing banks was your style, Brady." "We couldn't get work, Monte." "A lot of good boys can't get work." "If I was starving I wouldn't rustle." "Yeah?" "Well, you ain't." "You're getting your three squares a day." " Ain't no use talking to him." " Brennan's a good man." " They ain't his!" " Makes no difference." " They belong to the Slash Y." " The Slash Y?" "The life you're talking about's dead." "Snow buried it." "It ain't dead!" "As long as there's one cowboy taking care of one cow." " You go to hell, Monte." " You shut your mouth." "Get out of here, Shorty." "And put that thing away!" "What happened here, Monte?" "Shorty got away." " It ain't gonna happen." " He'll stake us." " More than likely, he's gonna turn us in." " Hey, Monte didn't and neither will Chet." "Shorty." "What are you doing here?" "Well, things been pretty tough for us, Chet." "Thought you might be able to give us a little cash." "So as you can run?" "You gonna run your whole life now?" "A stake will get me where nobody knows me." "Ain't never happens that way." "Give yourself up, Shorty." " Just what I figured." " Stay out of this." "Sugar'll tell how the marshal drawed without showing his badge." "We ain't getting nothing." " I told you to stay out of this!" " Unless we take it!" " Hand over what you got." " The hell I will." "You want to widow your woman twice?" "Shorty" "Oh, my God, no." "No." "No!" "Not going to Chet's funeral?" "To me, Chet ain't dead yet." " I got word from Consolidated" " I ain't interested." "Well you need to be interested." "Consolidated's giving up on the Slash Y for the time being." "Seems they're fixing to fence in all their land and that's all." "Gonna be a lot of fence." "I'll be telling the boys after the funeral." "I figured I'd square with you now." "Thanks." "Will you tell Dally to put "Chester Rollins" on his marker and that he was from Illinois." "Chet was proud of that." "Yes, sir." "And tell Mary why I'm not there." " Hey, Monte." " Hello, Sugar." "You'll never guess who come by earlier." " Shorty." " Yeah." "I'm after him." "Since when you been doing the law's work, Monte?" "Since Shorty blew Chet in half with a shotgun." "God, no." "Why?" "Chet couldn't say." "What a short-fused bastard." "How long you been working here, Sugar?" " You like it?" " It's a job." "I figure I'll stay through winter." "It's got a good stove." "Last winter, Chet and me was in a line shack for the Cross Bar." "I was punching for the Double Six." "Hey, Monte?" "I hate to be the one to tell." "I heard Martine's in a real bad way." "You're too late, mister." "Just before sundown." "She didn't want to hold on any longer." "Pneumonia." "You must be Walsh." "She said you'd be around." "This box is for you." "It's funny." "She held on to it right to the last." "I did everything I could." "Believe me, I did." "I want her to have a proper funeral." "I got some cash." "It's all fixed up." "Funny thing, that." "Seemed like she was real particular about some things." "Had enough set aside to give herself a real nice one." "Plain, but nice." "Foreign girl, wasn't she?" "She was a countess." "Girls like that sure do get some strange notions." "The whole time she was here she held on to that old box." "Ain't you ever coming out?" "I knew you'd be coming for me, Monte." "No sense wearing out good horses chasing." "I figured you'd be here when Sugar told you about Martine." "I'm sorry." "You should've told Sugar about Chet." "Sorry about that too?" "There's no use talking, I suppose." "No use." "Turn around." "Turn around, damn it!" "Get on." "Get on!" "Get on." "I'm here, Shorty." "I rode down the bay." "You had to sit him high." "Well, that's what it was." "That figures." "Well, I'll vow." "That's Monte Walsh." "Ain't nobody sits a horse like Monte Walsh." "This ought to be good." "It's a shame everyone's not gifted with proper manners." "Say, I know you." "You're Walsh from the Slash Y." "I'm Slocumb." "The accountant." "Range manager now." "That's all my land." "Your land." "Well, Consolidated's land." "This fella's a cowboy, Annie." "The real thing." "I've never seen a real cowboy before." "Ma'am." "Well, why don't you move your nag out of the road so's I can get by." "Won't be long before no horses will be allowed on these roads." "Would you mind moving out of the road so that I might pass?" "Ma'am." "It's the 20th century, Walsh." "Stay out of the way of progress." "I believe I will." "Damn thing stinks worse than goats." "Damn near gave up hope of ever seeing you again." "How long's it been, five years?" "More like seven." "Where you been?" "Well rode down to Texas and up to Canada and back again." "Trick was seeing if I could get paid for it." "And did you?" "Some of the time." " You wiped out them flies yet, killer?" " The battle's changed, Monte." "We've made significant progress in the technology." "Sure seen a lot of fenced-in land around here." " Consolidated." " Figures." "What are they doing with it?" "Nothing, but those accountants don't buy things for nothing." " What are they doing with you?" " Nothing." "They fired me." "Figures." " What do I owe you?" " Those are a nickel now, Monte." "Here." "Might wanna take this along." "Snakebite." "Thanks, Bob." " Ain't fixing to stay?" " Too many fences." "Too many automobiles." "Figured I'd stop by Harmony, pay Chet a visit." "There ain't no Harmony anymore." "Just a ghost town now." "It's only a ghost I care about." "Hey, mister!" "Are you a real cowboy?" "Yes, I am." "Could you teach me how to rope?" "Well, son, I'm fixing to leave but that man there he can teach you to rope." "He's a cowboy too." "Cal." "There's that cowboy." "Monte!" "Hey, Monte!" "My, oh, my." "You could think about helping us out of this mess." "I could." "Well, maybe you could pull us out." "I could." "How about it?" "We've got to get into town before dark." "I can't budge this damn thing!" "You know something?" "I seem to have forgotten your first name, Mr. Slocumb." " It's Robert." " Robert." "You can't have no idea how little I care." "[ENGLISH]"