"As quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand." "When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave." "Time for you to leave." "Howdy." "Howdy." "Do you know the road to Sante Fe?" "Why, it's the one going north." "That's to your left." "Thank you." "lt's a long way." "Hope you got a good horse." "I have good feet." "You mean you're going on foot?" "Hey, did you hear what he just said?" "Well, I'll be doggone." "How far you come?" "l do not know." "Many miles." "Well, I suppose maybe, if you're gonna walk clean to Santa Fe you might like to have a beer." "Thank you, no." "No?" "Well, how about some water?" "Clean and cool." "Yes, I would like that." "Sure, why didn't you say so?" "Hey, Pa!" "Look out." "Look what we found out here." "Set him down here." "Come up here." "Come up here." "There you go." "You know what we're gonna do?" "Hey, boys." "Hold him." "You know what we're gonna do?" "We're gonna pour this firewater down his gullet...." "Then what we gonna do?" "Then we're gonna...." "We're gonna set him outside." "And we're gonna target practice on a genuine cigar-store Indian." "That's all, boys." "Leave him alone." "What'd you say?" "l said leave the old man alone." "You move over here, buddy." "You went and spoiled our game, old boy." "Let's see now if you're good enough to make it stick." "Save your breath, son." "l don't have a gun." "We can get you one real quick." "Joshua, you shut up!" "Don't you know who that is?" "Doesn't matter- l didn't recognize him without his gun." "That's Lucas Bass." "Lucas Bass?" "I heard he retired." "I heard he took on three pros in Vicksburg a few years back." "That's right, killed them all." "Josh?" "Let's go on out and cool off a little bit." "Come on, brother." "Mr. Bass, this is your lucky day." "Would you come on?" "Come on." "I'm sorry." "They're just wild kids." "They didn't mean no harm." "Are you all right?" "Yes, thank you." "Could you please tell me if there is a white doctor in this area?" "l do not know." "Perhaps." "Where'd you come from?" "My son is very ill." "He's outside." "Nearest white doctor's in the town of Purgatory." "That's over 20 miles from here." "Besides, they don't take to strangers." "Particularly you." "Thank you." "Sorry." "Can I be of help?" "Any man can be of help to another man." "What have you to offer?" "Help." "Your eyes...." "You are from another land." "I am from China." "Do you know the white man's medicine?" "He is beyond all medicine." "Hawk of Peace what is the meaning of this?" "That you should die before me." "When I that came first should remain to be last." "Goodbye, my son." "Would you please help me up, my friend?" "You will need help to bury him." "I will need help." "But we cannot bury him." "Don't be of long face, my friend." "He knew happy times as well as sad." "His life had more fullness than most." "Do you not mourn for your son?" "His death, yes." "I am sorry he had to go by way of smoke." "It is not without honor." "But I have wished that he would have been buried." "Why could he not be buried?" "Because he did not die on the land on which he was born." "We must return to the place where we were born to prepare for the journey beyond." "I myself was on the way to that sacred, final resting place when Hawk of Peace became sick." "Then he was taking you." "Yes." "Will you go back to your people now?" "My people?" "I am my people." "There is no one else left." "You mean you are alone?" "I mean my people are all dead." "I am the last." "What will you do now?" "My way is clear." "I must go back to the land where l was born." "So that I can die." "ls death all you wish?" "My wish is beyond." "It is only in that hope that I have put off dying long enough to journey past the mountain to the land of my birth." "The journey will not be possible for you alone." "I know that, my friend." "I am willing to pay you to come with me." "I have a paper here with white man's words that my son told me had great value." "I also have three pouches full of gold." "White men kill for it." "You may have it after I am buried." "You are very generous." "But I have no need of wealth." "And my direction lies another way." "If you will not accompany me out of greed do so, then, out of friendship." "How far beyond the mountains?" "A day's journey." "Maybe two." "And you will never see a more beautiful valley." "The fields yellow with corn." "And the trees shining green in the sunlight." "Come, my friend." "The sight alone will be worth the journey to you." "Young Caine, when I was a boy I fell into a hole in the ground, and I was broken and could not climb out." "I might have died there, but a stranger came along and saved me." "He said it was his obligation." "That for help he had once received, he must in return help 1 0 others." "Each of whom would then help 1 0 others." "So that good deeds would spread out like the ripples from a pebble in a pond." "I was one of his 1 0, and you became one of mine." "And now I pass this obligation on to you." "My name is Kwai Chang Caine." "A noble name." "Ancient Warrior is the name given to me by my people." "A noble name." "Where does your pebble walk to, grasshopper?" "It walks." "Its journey is to nowhere." "Each journey begins and also ends." "Then the ending is the bottom of the pool." "Does not the pebble entering the water begin fresh journeys?" "It seems..." "...unceasing." "Such is the journey through life." "It begins. lt ends." "Yet fresh journeys go forth." "Father begets son, who becomes in turn father who begets son." "Then the roots I have are me." "And I am they." "Grasshopper, seek first to know your own journey's beginning and end." "Seek then the other journeys of which you are a close part." "But in this seeking, know patience." "Wear that traveler's cloak which shelters and permits you to endure." "I don't recognize anything." "Perhaps in the valley beyond." "Yes." "I must have forgotten." "Stop." "This is it!" "This is what?" "This is it!" "My burial place!" "Right here on this spot." "We've found it, Kwai Chang Caine." "This is where l am going to be buried." "Go get my shotgun." "You cannot do this." "Why not?" "l am tired." "You must make arrangements." "Arrangements." "lt is dangerous to sit in the middle of the street." "All right, Kwai Chang Caine." "How do we make arrangements?" "We must find someone to speak to." "You responsible for this heathen?" "I came with this man." "Are you the sheriff?" "We're his deputies." "I am Kwai Chang Caine." "This is Ancient Warrior." "All right, folks, go on to church." "We can handle this." "Now, you get that heathen on his feet." "And you march out of town the same way you came in." "This is not possible." "Ancient Warrior is very old and very tired." "What tribe you with, old man?" "Dead tribe." "Well, what do you want here?" "l come here to join them." "Ancient Warrior is dying." "He has journeyed very far to return to the land of his people." "He wishes to be buried in a sacred place." "And where would that be?" "Here." "Where he is seated." "In the middle of the street?" "An Indian?" "You both gotta be crazy." "Well, now, folks around here won't mind seeing another dead Indian." "But they sure wouldn't take to having him buried in their town." "But it is his right." "Not no more it isn't." "Give me the paper." "Hey, now." "Now, how do we know whether or not this is real?" "is there someone in authority?" "Sheriff Pool won't be back till tomorrow noon." "ls there no one else?" "Judge Marcus." "Yeah, Judge Marcus." "You come with us." "We will go and speak with someone in authority." "Speaking to white men of authority takes time and patience." "I have little time left." "I will stay here." "Well, now, it cites here President Andrew Johnson's Indian Treaty of 1 868." "It's authentic, all right." "See here. lt was registered over at the county seat, Tombstone." "Take a look down at the bottom left-hand corner." "Well, what does it mean exactly?" "What does it mean?" "It means that that old Indian chief is legally entitled to the entire valley." "Now, don't that beat all?" "But he wishes only one small piece for his final resting place." "Sure, right smack dead center of town." "Sounds fair enough to me, considering he could lay claim to the whole of it." "Now, judge." "Sheriff Pool's out deer-hunting." "Now, he won't be back here till tomorrow." "What do you think that Ty and me should do?" "What should you do?" "If I were you, I'd go over to Mayor Simms and show him that document." "I would like some water for my friend outside." "He is ailing." "That old Indian sitting in the street?" "Mister." "That red man could die of thirst before he gets water from anyone in this town." "Especially me." "l do not understand." "Don't you know what happened here?" "Can't you see how these people feel about Indians?" "Then I'll tell you." "There was a massacre here eight years ago." "Fourteen white men were killed, my younger brother among them." "Killed and scalped!" "Cavalry had to be called to make this town safe." "Most of us remember what happened." "Just like it was yesterday." "It would not be easy to forget." "Well, we couldn't if we wanted to." "Sheriff Pool sees to that." "See, he's hide-bound on keeping our place safe from outsiders." "Indians or anyone else." "So if you place any value on your life you better take your Indian friend and get out of here fast." "You come on over to my office, and I'll see that the old chief gets a drink of water." "Darn!" "You are a couple of morons." "You better get it all up." "Hey, you wanna have some fun?" "Hey, old buddy, let me see these glasses." "I didn't know they made glasses for Indians." "There's a powerful lot of hate in this town." "I hope your Indian friend can survive it." "We'll just give him a little face powder." "Look out." "Look at him." "Look out for him!" "Mayor says we gotta lock both of you up till Sheriff Pool gets back." "Thank you, Judy." "Good morning, Emmett." "Morning, Mayor Simms." "Get yourself a plate over there and join me for breakfast." "No, thank you, Howard." "I've already had my breakfast." "Well, now." "I am here to talk to you about the Ancient Warrior." "The one that wants to be buried in the center of town?" "Yep, that's the one." "What about him?" "He's dying, Howard." "Why not let him go with a little dignity?" "You mean, give in just like that?" "Well, why not?" "It wouldn't harm anyone." "Then tell me something." "How do you think that the people who lost sons and fathers and brothers in the massacre would feel about something like that?" "He has a valid deed. lt's his right." "Sheriff Pool will be back at noon." "We'll figure something out then." "Sure you won't have some of this?" "How?" "By cooking up some phony charge and hanging him?" "Like that young Comanche you hanged last summer?" "That boy was a horse thief." "The only crime he committed was that of being an Indian." "Pool is a first-rate sheriff." "Pool is also a bigot and a tyrant." "I've seen nothing to convince me that what you say is true." "It's true." "You just don't want to see." "He made this town a safe place to live in." "But he is using the wrong methods." "We tried your way, or have you forgotten?" "The thieves were breaking out of jail faster than you could bring them to trial." "Expediency is no substitute for justice." "The only justice that works out here is frontier justice." "This is a mining town." "There is gold here." "And we both know that wherever there's gold there's going to be lawlessness and Pool is our only way of counteracting it." "Howard, I don't believe that." "Not anymore." "I've done considerable thinking ever since the courthouse doors were boarded up." "And I believe in fair treatment for everyone, guilty, innocent or Indian." "They haven't been getting that sort of treatment here and I for one intend to try to do something about it." "Emmett?" "Yeah?" "I'll call a meeting of the citizens' committee at 1 :00." "Have your Indian friend here." "He'll get a fair hearing." "You have been like a long drink of silence since they put us in here yesterday." "I have been wondering where you will go if they will not let you be buried in the sacred place chosen by your people." "But, surely they will." "I have offered to take a pebble of land in exchange for an entire valley." "I have even forgiven them in my heart for the shameful, unmanly things they have done to my people." "I shall not take hatred and vengeance into the next life." "What more can they ask of me, Kwai Chang Caine?" "Morning, judge." "Morning, Ty." "What can I do for you?" "Well, sir, I am here to post bail for Kwai Chang Caine and Ancient Warrior." "Now, you gonna have to wait for the sheriff to get back, judge." "Well, how can that be?" "Aren't you his appointed deputy?" "Yes, sir, but I don't even know what the bail is." "Sheriffs don't fix bail in this county." "They just collect it." "The justices of the peace fix the bail." "And I guess you know who that is in Purgatory." "Yes, sir." "Now, what is the charge?" "I don't rightly know, judge." "Well, now, could it be loitering?" "Or malicious mischief with attempt to impede public utilization of a county right-of-way?" "I guess that's all right." "We'll see here." "That would be under "Misdemeanors, Miscellaneous."" "It says right here, "Bail should be not less than $ 1 0, no more than $50."" "We have it right here, $ 1 0 apiece." "There's $20, deputy." "Now, where are the keys?" "Well, here they are." "Well, don't you bother, Ty." "I'll just take care of things for you." "Make yourself comfortable." "Ancient Warrior has not much time." "One day." "Perhaps, two days." "I'm not gonna lie to you, Caine." "It's gonna be hard to get that vote from the committee." "There'll be seven votes, including Sheriff Pool, the mayor and myself." "I do believe that Cole and Brandeis will vote with us." "They're as opposed to Sheriff Pool's tactics as I am." "But...." "Anyway, I've taken the liberty of drawing up a last will and testament here for your Ancient Warrior." "It might help us to get the vote when it comes to a showdown." "You just get him to put his mark on there, will you?" "Here he comes." "That, my friend, is Sheriff Pool." "Don't know what you're doing here, red man, but I'll tell you this:" "You're either gone or dead by sundown." "Sheriff." "Guess who's riding into town, bigger than life?" "Who?" "Lucas Bass." "Was he wearing his gun?" "He's got it with him." "I thought you retired." "So did I." "Well?" "You hanged my son." "Well, if we did, he had it coming." "Not without a fair trial." "What was his name?" "Vincent." "Vincent Laughing Eyes." "That Comanche?" "Well, I heard you had a couple of kids somewhere." "But I didn't know you were a squaw man." "You talk too much." "All right, I'll say it once." "You get back on that horse and ride out of here." "After." "After what?" "You know." "No need for this." "You first." "All right, bury him, Clay." "I'm due at the mayor's place." "Mr. Mayor and gentlemen of the citizens' committee." "On behalf of Chief Ancient Warrior I submit to you two documents." "The first is a valid deed entitling the Ancient Warrior to the entire area which this town is built on." "And the other, a last will and testament designating his rightful heir who will succeed him in sole ownership of said land." "Could I see that will, please?" "This heir, Long Drink of Silence, who's he?" "He is my son." "Who's likely to be far less generous in his demands than the Ancient Warrior." "Therefore, gentlemen, and also kindly indicating to some of you here in this room that be not too far removed from facing our own maker, I hereby resolve that Chief Ancient Warrior be granted the right to be buried in his chosen burial ground in exchange for transfer of ownership of this entire valley to the community of Purgatory." "So resolved." "Do I hear a second?" "l second." "Seconded." "Now, before we vote on the judge's resolution the chair will hear relevant arguments from the floor." "Mr." "Mayor." "Arlo." "Gentlemen." "Gentlemen, if we let this heathen be buried here his grave will just be some kind of a monument who just sacrifice white men's scalps to their pagan god." "Why is there so much hate in your heart?" "Well, because...." "Well, because history has recorded the massacre of 1 4 white men and boys on this very ground, just eight years ago." "Now, do you deny it?" "White history sees only with the whites of its eye." "Why did it not record the 1 4 men of my tribe who were killed first?" "Why did it not record the 67 men, women and children who were slaughtered by the white soldiers one week later?" "Why can you not try to forget and feel the happiness of forgiveness as I have?" "Old man your tribe killed my brother and then they cut away his scalp." "So, if they agree to bury your body in the street..." "..." "I will personally dig it up!" "Arlo." "Just sit down." "Now, we all know you've suffered a grievous loss but you're too choked up with hate right now to make sense." "So just sit down." "All right." "Now, before we vote, any further discussion from the floor?" "Mr. Mayor." "Aldon." "Well, well, well." "First, I'd like to compliment Mr. Strunk on having the courage" "The courage!" "To speak out and say things the way they are." "I not only agree with his views but I think it's my duty to inform this committee that if this resolution is passed, you're gonna be looking for a new sheriff." "Now, isn't that a little drastic?" "If I don't have a right to a voice in these things, who does?" "I mean, not more than an hour ago, I risked my life to make this place safe for all of you." "We've heard about that, and we're all very grateful." "It was not so great a risk." "Well, now." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Your life was in no danger." "You had your deputy shoot Lucas Bass in the back with a rifle." "Now, that's a very serious charge." "He's a liar." "You need only examine the body and you will know I speak the truth." "Dog-eat-dog with a killer like Bass." "A man does what he has to." "The knack for survival is what makes for a good sheriff." "And I swear, you're gonna lose one if that red man is buried in this town." "That's all." "So be it." "Those in favor of Judge Marcus' resolution will signify by saying "yea."" "Those against will say "nay." l'll call the roll." "Emmett?" "Yea." "Emmett, yea." "Arlo?" "Nay." "I didn't hear." "Nay!" "Arlo, nay." "Jed?" "Nay." "Jed, nay." "Jacob?" "Yea." "Jacob, yea." "Percy?" "Yea." "Percy, yea." "Aldon?" "No." "Three for and three against." "I vote yea." "Resolution passed." "These are violent times." "Being a sheriff isn't easy." "I think you'll find that out when you try to replace me." "Meeting's adjourned." "Gentlemen, there's brandy and cigars in the library." "You have won." "You will have your burial place." "It cannot be changed." "It is a hollow victory." "This place is filled with hatred." "The Great Spirit no longer touches its soil with fertile sweetness." "Come, Long Drink of Silence." "Take me away from here." "I want to die in a pine-filled forest near the things I have grown to love." "Master, what is the best way to meet the loss of one we love?" "By knowing that when we truly love it is never lost." "It is only after death that the depth of the bond is truly felt and our loved one becomes more a part of us than was possible in life." "Are we only able to feel this toward those whom we have known and loved a long time?" "Sometimes a stranger known to us for moments can spark our souls to kinship for eternity." "How can strangers take on such importance to our souls?" "Because our soul does not keep time." "It merely records growth." "Dead." "Yes." "I'm sorry." "There is no need to be sorry." "Especially with one such as he." "He asked me to thank you, but he does not wish to be buried here." "I thought he decided that this was the most beneficial place for his soul." "He gave up that dream for another." "That it is better to cover the land with love than to let it cover you with hate." "An act of forgiveness." "Do you think the people will understand?" "Not all the people." "But for those who do not there will always be the story of the Ancient Warrior."