"But he finally doesn't know what he is doing anymore." "I just casually suggested, we raise the stakes." "Ten minutes later, I got 'im cleaned out," "Like panning' gold in the denver mint." "Come on, drink up there!" "What will it be, boy?" "Red eye?" "Sure thing." "Hey!" "Hey the drinks are on me, fella." "Celebrating a little strike I just made." "Eh, strike, eh." "Oh-oh, I guess my money is no good, fella." "Hey, you get a load of 'em breeches?" "Look at them moccasins, too." "What are you doing, boy?" "You playing injun, or somethin'?" "Huh?" "Woo woo woo woo!" "Hey, that's a mighty fancy throat sticker you got there." "Aren't you afraid you'll cut yourself with such a big knife?" "Huh?" "Yes, sir, that's mighty fancy." "Let me have a look at it." "Fella don't care about livin' very long." "I'm going over to see nils, son," "You run along and get your nails, huh?" "Why, I've only got a nickel." "Well, you can put the nails on my account." "Oh, and what about the nickel?" "Oh, you're not gonna buy any more peanut brittle, mark," "Not while you still got a half a bag left." "Hey!" "Let's see now, we have a fryin' pan, and a fork and spoon." "That comes to 60 cents all together." "Morning, myrtle." "Well, hello, mark." "I'll be with you in just a minute," "Just as soon as I finish with this customer." "Now, what was it you wanted, mark?" "Um, just some, er, nails." "Nails?" "What kind?" "10 penny?" "8 penny?" "Finishing nails?" "Shingle nails?" "Um, 10 penny, for my chicken coop." "10 penny, how many?" "Er, 2 pounds, and a door latch." "Here you are, mark, 2 pounds of 10 penny nails" "And an all-weather latch." "That will be 40 cents." "Well, pa said I could sign." "All right." "Thank you, myrtle." "Be sure and say hello to your pa, mark." "All right." "That sure is a swell lookin' knife you've got." "I've never seen a knife quite like that one before." "Want some peanut brittle?" "It's real good." "What's the matter, can't you talk?" "Gee, I wish I could do that." "Oh, I almost forgot, my name's mark, what's yours?" "You got a sore throat?" "You mean..." "You can't talk?" "I'm sorry." "Me?" "Write?" "Well, can I write?" "Oh, sure." "Can you?" "Oh." "Can..." "I..." "Write?" "Can I write my brand?" "Uhm..." "Oh, my name?" "Me write my name?" "Oh, sure." "Here." "That..." "You." "Your- your name's mark, too?" "I'll be!" "And you've never seen it written before?" "Say, mark," "Well, if you're gonna be in town for a while, maybe we can meet," "And..." "And I could teach you a little writing'," "And you could teach me how to throw a knife." "Let's see, I've gotta fix the chicken coop tomorrow." "How about Saturday mornin'?" "Mark?" "Mark, come on, son, we gotta get going." "Comin', pa!" "I've gotta go now, mark, it's been nice meetin' you." "Well, I'll meet you here Saturday morning, all right?" "Mark!" "Comin', pa!" "So long, mark." "Who were you talkin' to, son?" "That was mark." "Mark?" "That's his name, only he can't talk." "He showed me a scar on his throat," "He must have had an operation on his voice or somethin'." "Oh, what's his last name?" "I don't know." "Haven't seen him around here before." "Neither have I, I met him at the store." "I'm gonna meet him Saturday mornin', teach him how to write." "That's a very fine thing to do, son." "He's real nice." "Mm." "What about the harness?" "Oh, it wasn't finished, be ready Monday." "Oh." "There he is." "Now is a good as time as any, to even things up." "You..." "You get out of town." "Far and fast." "If you don't, I'll find you and cut you down to nothin'." "Hi, pa!" "Where you been all mornin', son?" "With my friend mark," "He took me up to the place where he's camped" "Oh, see if you can get at that fifth wheel, will you?" "All right." "It must be awful to be alone, pa." "I guess it is, but just the same," "I don't think you should go traipsing off" "With him without tellin' me." "We don't know too much about him." "Well, he told me a lot about himself today." "Of course, it's kinda hard to understand sometimes," "But today he told me how he lost his voice." "The indians killed his parents, when he was a little boy." "They took him away with them." "He said he was awful scared, and that he was so scared," "He couldn't learn to talk their language." "Well, they thought that he was only being stubborn or somethin'" "So they cut out his voice, so he wouldn't be able to talk at all." "Then he told me somethin' else," "He said that since the knife cut out his voice," "He'd have to let it talk for him." "You can let it down now." "Mark, why don't you go out and invite your friend here" "For supper, I'd like to meet him." "I knew you would." "I think he'd like to meet you, too." "I told him a lot about you." "You did, huh?" "Now, look, when you get your other chores finished," "Why don't you ride back to his camp and bring him here." "By the time you get back, I'll have supper ready." "All right, I'll be back by sundown." "Would you care for another piece of pie, mark?" "Well, I don't have to ask this mark if he wants another piece," "His middle name is pie." "Why, I can't help it, if pa is such a good cook," "Fact is, I think pa missed his calling'." "I hear you two been havin' yourselves quite a time" "Out at your camp on millers creek." "Reminds me of my younger days back at the nations." "My friends and I used to go camping every chance we got," "Up in the ozarks." "That's when I got my education, at the camp of know how." "From the masters, the cherokees." "I know, mark's told me of your treatment by the indians," "That's a shame, son." "It's a shame." "Nobody can blame you for feeling the way you do." "Right now you're full of bitterness and hatred," "But you can't let that knife speak for you" "The rest of your life." "Now, even though you got hurt real bad," "There's still a lot of things you can do to help yourself." "One of the best is to get an education." "Now I know a special school in denver be just right for you." "It's pretty expensive, might cost as much as $500 tuition." "But you could earn your way by getting a job." "As a matter of fact, I'd be mighty glad to help you" "Get started, what do you say?" "Mark, I tried to show you I was your friend." "You just don't seem to know what the word friend means." "Mark!" "Mark!" "Come back." "Let him go, son." "You shouldn't have talked to him like that!" "What should I have said?" "Thanks, for breaking a bow that meant a great deal to me?" "I don't mean that, you just shouldn't have lost your temper." "I lost my temper?" "Oh, not exactly, but you sure bawled him out." "Well, maybe I did." "It's only because I was thinkin' of him." "You see, son, a lot of times, people can't help doin' things" "They know they're wrong." "And when they find out they can't get away with it," "Well, way down inside they feel bitter." "I think I know what you mean." "Well, now, since I did the cooking'," "How about you doin' the dishes?" "All right." "Mark, come here, son." "I think it might be a good idea, if tomorrow mornin'," "You rode back to your friend's camp." "I think he'll be wantin' to see you." "Thanks, pa." "I warned you to leave." "Now I'm glad you didn't." "'cause I've got a lot of evening' up to do." "You take that throat sticker and throw it down on the ground," "And you do it real easy like." "I'm gonna enjoy what's comin'." "What's the matter with you?" "Look, I'm getting tired of talkin', and getting no answers." "Now throw down that knife!" "For the last time, throw it down!" "I'm talking to you, answer me!" "What is it?" "Are you a dummy or something?" "Mark!" "What happened?" "!" "Mark!" "Let him go!" "Please, mark, you're gonna kill him!" "Please let go!" "What happened?" "That's the third time he's jumped me." "He ought to be locked up or something." "He's an animal." "What did you do to make him act like that?" "You must have said or done somethin'." "I didn't do nothin'." "He wouldn't answer me, when I talked to him." "I just asked him if he was a dummy, that's all." "Mr. Macowan, he can't talk, that's why he got mad." "You shouldn't have called him that." "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark!" "Mark, come back!" "You say, he almost choked the life out of macowan?" "Yeah, right over there." "I thought he'd turn purple and bust." "A boy like that, after all he's gone through," "He's got a lot of hate built up inside." "It could explode like a keg o' powder, if he's pushed too far." "Yeah, but he shouldn't talk to him like that." "Well, he shouldn't have, son." "But knowing' macowan," "I'm inclined to think he did more than talk to him." "Well, it doesn't look like your friend's comin' back" "For a while." "He might have gone into town." "Let's go, I've got to see john hamilton anyway." "Now, slow down, slow down!" "Where'd it happen?" "Four miles north o' here, in that little canyon." "I slowed down to take them curves, an' all of a sudden," "There was this fella on top my coach." "Boy, that was a slickest operation I ever saw," "He just appeared out of nowhere, and landed on the coach," "And carrying' a big knife!" "He made harv stop the coach and made us throw our guns down," "Then he motioned to harv, to open the box." "Yeah, and then he took the money." "But what beats me is," "Why he just took $500." "$500?" "But he can't be too far away yet," "We opened 'em up all the way into town." "What'd he look like?" "I never got a good look at him," "He stayed behind us all the time." "But he had the wickedest looking knife I've ever seen." "And another thing, he never said nothin', not a word." "Just let that knife do all the talkin' for him." "Looked like he was wearin' buckskin breeches" "And injun shoes." "That sounds like the hothead who pulled into town yesterday!" "First he held a knife on me in the saloon," "Then he jumped me out here in the street!" "I knew he was real trouble all along." "Which way did he ride, harv?" "Up on the hills, towards millers creek." "I know where he's camped." "I'll take a couple of men and we'll bring him back." "No, you won't, macowan, you'll stay right where you are." "What say you got in this, mccain?" "With the marshal out of town," "This is a matter for the city council." "And speaking for them," "Macowan, we don't want you handling' our law." "You're right, lucas." "We'll form our own posse, and go after 'im." "Mike, I know that boy, he doesn't strike me as an outlaw." "We go gunnin' for him, we'll push him into being one." "I've got a hunch why he hit the stage." "And I think if I talked to him," "I can bring him and your $500 back." "If I'm alone." "All right, lucas, go ahead." "Thanks, mike, you stay here, son, I'll be back soon." "Mark!" "Mark, its lucas mccain!" "I didn't come here to harm you, I'm sure you know that." "And I don't expect you to harm me." "I came here to talk to you as a friend." "Now, I think I know why you hit that stage today." "But you can't strike back at the whole world" "Because of what happened between you and macowan." "Or what happened between you and those indians." "Don't let the worst kind of people warp your judgment." "Now, you've had long talks with my son, and I'm proud" "To call him my son." "You know what a fine boy he is." "Don't destroy his faith in you." "He thinks you are a fine, decent person" "He'd like to call a friend." "I want him to keep thinking that way." "Well, let's you and I take that $500 back where it belongs." "I'll try to make 'em see your side of it." "Good news, lucas." "The manager of our denver office says he'll be willing to watch" "Over the boy while he serves his probationary period." "Is that all, mike?" "In addition he says he'll be able to get a job up there," "To help pay for his schooling." "Young man, you owe a great debt of thanks to mr." "Mccain." "Oh, he doesn't have to thank me, mike." "It was his turn to get a fair break." "Thanks..." "Mark." "I'm sure glad everything' worked out all right for him." "Only you think he can keep out of trouble?" "Well, now that a certain long legged young doggy" "Has taught him the meaning of friendship," "He ought to get along just fine, son."