"Buenas noches, patron." " Good evening." "Gracias." "So it's you." "I might have known." "I might have known no one but you would have bone enough to come into her room here." "I neglected to order a gown for your wedding." "I'm trying to make one of hers do." "I think a sister should favor her brother's wedding with her best appearance, don't you?" "I don't think T.C. Will like this, Vance." "You know he's been particular about keeping her room same as before she died." "Mother had everything." "Calling cards for a woman whose next-door neighbor was miles off." "Jewels for a woman who never looked at herself in the mirror." "Sunshades for a woman who never left this room." "You understood her." "I never did." "No, you never did." "I'm only surprised he hasn't hung a sign on this." "'Beth." "Wifely property ofT.C. Jeffords.'" "And you're T.C.'s son, and he despises anything he can beat." "I never let him beat me." "Why do you always let him get the best of you?" "Isn't it writ in the Scripture?" "'Honor thy father.'" "Always laughing at me inside you, aren't you, Clay?" "Not always." "Why do you suppose T.C. Is coming back from San Francisco?" "Why, for my wedding, of course." " Ha!" "I know." "T.C. Wouldn't walk across the street to my wedding." "Then why is he coming back?" " I think he needs money." "T.C.?" "Oh, you must be moon-hit." "Why, he's one of the richest men in the territory- in the whole country." "Cattle-rich." "Land-rich." "I make it he's money-poor right now." "And I make it that's why he's had Scotty taking tally." "And that's why he's spreading these I.O.U.s." "Oh, they're easy to spread." "Less easy to pay off." "T.C.!" "!" "Patron.!" "!" "Patron.!" "Welcome home." "Had a hankerir to bed down in my own tepee tonight." "Got the railroad to flag me right through to The Furies." "You were in her room." "That's right." "Her gown befiits you." "Father." "Son, you make 'Father' sound just like 'son of a she-fox.'" "Daughter, Son, meet Reynolds here." "Reynolds from Old Anaheim's Bank in San Francisco." "Reynolds, meet my household." "Scratch my sixth lumbar vertebra." "This here is Scotty Hyslip." "Scotty keeps my accounts." "The man who made all those bear raids on the Huron Railroad stock... and then took to swindlir on the sound theory... that the things folks want most in life is to get something for nothing." "Oh, souvenir." "The time I met up with a party of Osages... and got an arrow in my sixth lumbar vertebra." "The scar vexes me now and then and takes kindly to scratchir." "This be El Tigre!" "The Tiger." "My ranch boss." " Senor." "El Tigre won victory after victory, for his love of his people was known to his people." "Then he hung a man." "And it was justly." "He was so taken with the dance on the air he begun hanging his people." "And unjustly." "His people took just so many hangings." "You tell Old Anaheim I got only the best working The Furies for me." "Marcel, my cook there, once dished up a mess Napoleon would give him a blue ribbon for." "And when I gifted my deceased wife... with a portrait of myself, I " "Pretty good, huh?" "Chiquita." "There's dust on me." " S?" "E patron." "But I did not expect you until tomorrow." "Cook here will rustle up a fline mess for an hour from now." "Ah, vamoose, the rest of ya." "I got a hankering to be with my kin." "Vamoose!" "Vamoose!" "T.C., you talk too much." " So I do, and so I will... till I meet up with talk better than mine." "Where is it?" " Where's what?" "The necklace you said you'd bring back." " Clay, you got a mess of good manners." "You ought to feed your sister some of'em." "Well, here's what you been 'peskying' me about." "Pearls." "Fit for dull, dove-faced little women." "I told you, anything but pearls." "You didn't dare come back without it, did you?" "I'd bed down with a rattlesnake fiirst." "Like it, Daughter?" "So did I." "It'll match her earrings." "Well, I'll go up to my room now." "For your bride." "My deepest gratitude, Father." "An hour in the room whenever he comes back to The Furies... an hour whenever he leaves." "And yet when she was dying and sent for him, he wouldn't come." "He couldn't stand to see anything that belonged to him slip away from him." "I like being T.C.'s daughter." "Yes, princess, heiress apparent to The Furies." "Good water and graze here." "Anaheim picked himself a smart appraiser." "This is the Darrow Strip, best part ofthe Furies." "Darrow's son - he is come back to the town." "I thought I'd seen me the last piece of Darrow hide." "If you permit, patron, leave this piece to me, eh?" "I permit." "Come on." "What's that?" " Sounds like a calf bawlir." "Where do you make it?" " There." "Down the draw." "Be a lesson to him not to get himself stuck in the mud." "He didn't get stuck." "He's been stuck." "It's a squatter's trick." "They mire a calf and then come for him later." "No, no." "You'll choke him." "I'll get him." " You'll do what?" "You heard me." "Many squatters here on The Furies?" " Some." "The people in the pueblecitos - the little villages - they matter not... but back in the hills there are others." "You're paid to make sure the squatters don't rob us." "Next time earn your pay." "Quite a friendship between you and Miss Vance." "Women were created so that man might enjoy his food and sleep... not to give orders." "All right now!" "Come on.!" "Now take it easy." "I'm trying to lend you a hand!" "Patron." "Ha!" "Did it!" "Didrt think the old man had it in him, did ya?" "Didn't think I could do it." "Ah, you grinnir ranahans!" "Throw me a rope." "It must be a calf." "It looks like a man, but it can't be." "Only a brainless calf would get himself stuck in the mud." "T.C., you come out of there." "You're too old to play at mud-pies." "No, muchachos." "What are they saying?" "That never will they have a fiiner chance to kill the patron." "Never will they fiind him with fewer men to help him." "Juanito " "!" "S?" "E Juanito.!" "There is to be no trouble while she is here." "No guns." "That goes for you too." "You stashed my calf away here!" "Yeah." " I told you before." "SenorJeffords... it has always been our right on the land - the right of we, the Herreras, and those of the pueblecitos... for as many years back as you have hairs on your head!" "Stop stealing cattle from The Furies!" "I told you once, I tell you now." "I'll not tell you again." "At least he riled you enough so you walked yourself out of the mud." "For a fact!" " I tell you, if the devil riled you enough... you'll walk yourself right out of the fiires of hell." "I give you my word, if I do, Daughter, I'll take you right out of there with me." "Rightly speakir, it's no concern of yourn, but I think it only fiit and proper you be a party to it." "Reynolds here representing Anaheim's Bank has loaned me $100,000 on The Furies." "That's right." " Speak when you're spoken to." "You favor my Napoleon, huh?" " It's a fline work." "He was a great one." "Started from scratch to build hisself an empire." "Hey, how do you like me?" "Well, no matter." "No matter." "About the matter of the cloud on title " " The what?" "The squatters constitute a cloud on the title ofthe Furies." "As a condition of making the loan, the Anaheim Bank... will require the removal of the squatters from the premises." "Pure legal mulch, Daughter." "It only means the squatters... gotta be booted offthe Furies, and so we gotta start bootir." "No, you don't." "Not the Herreras." " You tellir me what to do?" "The pueblecitos, all right, but the Herreras stay." " Mind your tongue." "I want your word on that, T.C. That's one thing I want your word on." "Can't I never get the best of you?" "Never?" "Never." "Ah, you're a she-fox." "You got The Furies in you, all right." "You have my word on the Herreras." "Sign the mortgage." "It's fiit and proper." "May I read it fiirst?" " Sign it." "Certainly, Father." "I suppose you'll use part of the money to pay off some of your T.C.s." "Why, you muleheaded, bone-eared " " To pay off what?" "What are these T.C. S which are to be paid off?" "Well, you see, uh, the folks hereabouts don't get to see much hard money... so I had these got up for 'em to use for money." "My word's behind 'em, and my word's enough for the folks." "Call 'em T.C.s." "Folks should like 'em, too, and why not?" "I give 'em better paper than they use in Washington." "And my motto is amicus humani generis - 'friend of the human race' - which is six more letters of Latin than e pluribus unum." "And to boot I give 'em art." "Picture of a lulu of a girl riding a bull." "Fine fiigure, ain't she?" "How many of these I.O.U. S of yours are still outstanding?" "How much do you owe?" " Piddlir amount." "Piddlir amount." "Makes a complication." "I'd better bring this situation to Mr. Anaheim's attention." "Get out." "You and bobtail talk ofT.C.s." "If I've inconvenienced you " " Get out!" "Good night, Father." "So you, uh, say you'll have to see Old Anaheim." "That's fline." "You trek on back to San Francisco and palaver it out with the old red-eye." "Of course, you understand." "I understand." "Yeah." "Duty- and honor-bound and such." "Yeah." "Matter of fact, I'll trek back with ya." "That'll be fline, sir." "Matter of fact, I'll take Chiquita along." "What?" " They say travel's improving." "Uh, Mrs. Reynolds, your wife, might get a real pleasure out of, uh, meeting Chiquita." "Uh, might help to improve Chiquita considerable." "In view of the small amount outstanding, I " "I don't think it'll be necessary to mention the T.C. S to Mr. Anaheim." "Reynolds, it's always a real pleasure to do business with a gentleman." "Uh, there'll be a conveyance for you at the railroad at sunup." "Ah, that Clay." "He's always laughing at us, isn't he?" "Clay's marryir Carol Ann Weadick." "She'll bring him Bar Double X when her pa dies." "Ah, it's lucky for Clay, 'cause I'll give him no part ofthe Furies." "And that takes care of Clay." " For a fact." "And I got to admit I'm none too catty at runnir The Furies myself." "Oh, I know I was good at puttir it together." "Startir from scratch, hookir one piece of land onto another, but... this money talk with puny moneymen." "Runnir The Furies ain't for me." " Which takes care of you." "Which leaves who to run The Furies?" " Which leaves me." "Can you run it?" "Wouldrt speak well for me if I couldn't." "It's what you've trained me for, isn't it?" "Only one thing can waddle it up." " What's that?" "The man you take to husband." " My husband will be my choice, not yours." "Maybe so." "Maybe no." "See here." "Here's half the money I got from Anaheim's Bank- $50,000." "Good sum." " It's yours for a dowry if you pick a man I could favor." "One I could sit down to table with and not dislodge my chow." "You sound like you'd rather I never married." "You won't have it easy fiindir a man." "I've spoiled most of'em for ya." "You'd want a man like me, who'd knuckle under to no one - least of all you." "You think you're top man on God's green earth, don't you?" "You know anyone better?" " No, but I'll keep looking... and when I fiind him, I'll marry him, and I won't care if it does put you off your feed." "'Burnett.'" " I'll take that." "Who's Burnett?" "No matter." "A man gets lonely, Daughter." "I'll ask no more questions." "Scratch my sixth lumbar vertebra." "Come on, slue-foot!" "Beat you here again." "Ah, it's been a long time since we raced here." "I always did get here fiirst, didn't I?" "You always did get here fiirst, didn't you?" "Juan Herrera, you let me win." "You always did - every time." "The one time I didn't let you... you scratched blood." "It's The Furies brand on you, all right." "No, Vance." "Not The Furies." "Yours." " No difference." "No?" "What is it, Juan?" "You've been on touch all day." "Look." "Wherever you see, as far as you can see, it is The Furies." "Your father's." "He has space for thousands of cattle... for hundreds of horses." "But has he space for a few Herreras?" "It's his land." "He can have on it whoever he wants." "If he doesn't want you Herreras on it, that's his say-so." "I was afraid that someday you were going to say that." "All right." "I've said it." "I don't take to anyone talking like that about T.C." "I don't take to it." "Even if we did grow up together." "Even if you are my friend." "One I can talk to." "One who understands." "And I don't take to your going." "Till our eyes next meet." "Till then." "Time?" "The kiss of a good friend." "!" "Hasta luego!" " Hasta luego." "It wasrt there." "Congratulations, Carol Ann." "Fair the bride and happy the day." " Oh, thank you, Dr. Grieve." "Evening." "Well, gentlemen, do I or don't I?" "Am I yanked by my boots or pulled by the hair of my head?" "He's here on The Furies?" "Gentlemen, I don't." "Deal me out." "Mr. Darrow." "Mr. Jeffords, sir." "My honor and pleasure." "That's far enough." "I'll have no grit-eatir blackleg gambler on The Furies, and I'll have no son of a Darrow." "Well, talk like that, sir, must be meant as a joke." "I'll be pleased to ignore it." "Ignore what you like, but drag your belly out of here." "You taint the place." "Sir, you posted an open invitation... to this gathering on every stick of lumber in the country." "To protect those present from any further unpleasantness..." "I'd like to make a deal with you." "You stop telling lies about me, and I'll stop telling the truth about you." "I heard that before." "Now get!" "I killed your father in a fair flight, and I'd be pleased to do as much for you." "Mr. Darrow, sir... this is our dance, I believe, sir." "Why did you come here?" "I'm interested in the Darrow Strip." "What do they call you?" "Some call me a grit-eatir blackleg gambler." "I run the Legal Tender." "Some call me Mr. Darrow, and some call me Rip." "Rip." "Fits you." "Like a blade cutting right through." "This wasrt our dance, Miss Jeffords, and you didn't invite me here." "Why did you let on you did?" " If I had ever seen you, I would have invited you." "I'm sure you would have." "Modest, aren't you?" " No." "You think you're top man on God's green earth, don't you?" "I'm a gambler." "When I'm losing, I cut my bets to the minimum." "When I'm winning..." "I let it ride." "Patron, the food is ready." "The bean is on, the coffee's boiling." "For them that don't like beans, there are 150 various other vittles." "So dig to it." "I'm not hungry." " Nor am I." "My rig is outside." "How very convenient." "Do you think I'll be cold?" "Do you mind if I take the reins?" "I like to know where I'm going." "I think I can trust you." "No, no." "It'll do without that." "She's smart enough to see through him." "He'll hang himself." "That'll be a different twist of the rope for you to enjoy, eh, Tigre?" "This is a nice romantic spot." "That depends on who you're with." "I know this place." "This is part of the Darrow Strip, isn't it?" " It is." "I thought you'd be more comfortable if the surroundings were familiar." "Do you always go after what you're after as directly as this?" "When you know what you want, why waste time?" "Or perhaps you'd prefer polite conversation." "Speaking of the weather, Miss Jeffords, it is a fline, brisk evening." "So it is." "That ends the polite conversation." " Mr. Darrow, sir." "May I expect the honor of your call at The Furies on Saturday?" "I take it you'll bake a cake." "Isn't that the way the courting is done hereabouts?" "I've never baked a cake before, but I'll... bake one." "If I were to come courting you, your father would send his army from The Furies." "He'd wreck the Legal Tender, and he'd wreck me." "You're not a man to be afraid." "The odds are too great against me." "I've seen so much death I want to stay alive." "Mr. Darrow, sir..." "I expect the honor of your call on Saturday." "Yes or no?" "You'll be there." "I want your word he can come calling Saturday with no trouble from you or your maggots." "Which one of them red-eyes is snorir?" "Mars entitled to quiet in his own home." "I want your word." "If I give you my word, will you give me yourn?" " On what?" "That you give me a chance to show him up for what he is:" "A dollar-grabby blackleg who'd drag his belly from here to Santa Fe... for three dollars in gold or in silver." " Or in T.C. S?" "He's a puny moneyman who's out to revenge me for the Darrow Strip... and who ain't got bone enough to fair flight." "He'll gouge back at me by doing my daughter malice and harm." "That's my lookout." "I've always worked my own leather." "I'll work it now." "I want a yes or a no about Saturday." "Have I got your word I can show him up?" " If you can, that's fair." "Then you have my word." "Bring the man on." "Well, where is he?" "Where's the dude?" "Where's the tinorn gambler?" "I think the icing on the cake - she melt away." "I think so." "Well, Daughter, appears like your caller ain't gonna show." "I wasted me most of the day." "I don't propose to waste more." "If he calls, I'll be to hand." "You deal fline." "But a slow payoff cuts down on the play." "Speed up the payoff." " All right, Mr. Darrow." "Clever of you." "Smart as a whip." "I told you I didn't want the Legal Tender wrecked." "Didrt want to take on The Furies." "That's all I need -word to get back to your father you've been here." "Do you have brains enough to know that?" "Are you cooled down?" "Gonna act like a child, I'll have to treat you like one." "No one ever hit me before." "You're like a fiilly that never had a rope on her." "I waited for you all day." " That was your doing." "You said you'd be there." " No, you said I'd be there." "I didn't say a word." "Watch me for that, Vance, and don't misinterpret." "I baked you a cake." "I brought it along." "I " "I didn't want it to go to waste." "You brought it to shove it in my face." "That's just exactly ri " " Uh-uh." "It's too good for that." "You " "You're looking at me with eyebrow lifted." "If you've a question to ask me, ask me." "Out with it." "If you have something to tell me, tell me." "Out with it." "I was so sure of myself." "I was so sure I could handle him or anyone... and now I" " I don't know." "You have love for this man, huh?" "This, uh, Rip Darrow." "Some weeks I think I know him well." "Some weeks I'm sure I don't know him at all." "Sometimes I think T.C. Is right - that he's a moneyman, that money means more to him." "Maybe" " Maybe in his time he has been hungry." "To a hungry man, money is always important." "I don't think I like being in love." "It puts a bit in my mouth." "You're in love with me." "Since you had your fiirst pony." "Tell me, Juan." "Do you like being in love?" "It has been with me for so long that... whether I like it or not, without it I would be a lost man." "Come in." "Still dealing from the bottom of the deck?" "Watch me." "Sometimes I think those are the only women that it's in you to love." "Why not?" "They're new, and they're smooth to touch." "They're exciting, and they're honest." "When they're against you, they don't make you think they're for you." "When they're for you, they bring you money." "Too bad they've got two heads." "'When they're for you, they bring you money.'" "I could bring a man money." "Lots of it." "$50,000." "You've mentioned it often enough." "It's a royal dowry." " It is." "Rip, do you ever mean to ask me in marriage?" "I do my own proposing." "Remember that." "Ask me again to call on you at The Furies." "If I ever get you there, I'll never let you go." "Ask me." " Mr. Darrow, sir... may I expect the honor of your call at The Furies tomorrow?" "Yes." "But there's never a word of love from you." "Except for women like that." "They're honest." "But they lack flesh and blood." "Welcome to The Furies, sir." "I see the retainers." "Where's the king?" "In his countinghouse, waiting." "Miss Jeffords." "Mr. Darrow, sir." "If he's smiling, be smart." "If he's not smiling, be smarter." "I believe you gentlemen have met." "Mr. Jeffords, sir, my honor and pleasure." "If I hold out my hand this time, will you shake it, or... will you shoot it off?" "Been readir me a book of Napoleors writings." "He says the only use of gals is to marry 'em off in advantageous alliances." "That's what he writ." "Scotty tells me you've been buying some cattle from The Furies for cash." "I've gone in for a little cattle brokerage and some friendly banking." "Mr. Darrow, I hate a man that's mealymouthed, so I'll come smack out with it." "Fine." " You love my daughter?" "Yes." " She love you?" "She thinks she does." " She's blind." "I aim to make her see." "I have her word I can show you up for the puny, money-loving red-eye you be." "I have your word." "I'll vow you know what this is." "$50,000." " Count it." "My daughter's dowry, if she picks a man that's fiit for her, and you, sir, ain't fiit." "You have the stump." " My daughter takes you to husband," "You'll get her as she stands, not a whit more." "But if you walk out now and let my daughter be... you can keep the whole bundle and won'th it to me." "Now take her and git, or take the money and git, but git." "Rip." " I knew it." "I knew the cash would bait him." "I'll take the money... but you really didn't have to do it." "I never told your daughter I'd marry her." " You did!" "And I had no intention of doing so." " You did!" "I'd be foolhardy to call a Jeffords a liar." "When you said you'd come calling." "Vance, I told you I'd do my own proposing... and I warned you not to misinterpret me." "Consult your father here on misinterpretation." "He's an expert." "I believe, sir, you won the Darrow Strip in court... on a theory of misinterpretation." "I told you, Daughter, he was using you to gouge back at me for the Darrow Strip." "And you're not ready to marry." "Not to me or anyone else." "Because you're married already- to The Furies." "You don't want a husband." "You'd just like to have a man handy at The Furies." "If you don't want word of this to get around... don't try to wreck the Legal Tender." "My thanks for my invitation to The Furies." "I've enjoyed my call." "Miss Jeffords." "Mr. Jeffords, sir." "T. C... we've been taken like a couple of suckling pigs." "He hit me." "No one else ever did before." "And he made me cry." "No one else ever did before." "Welcome home." "I'll unpack my bags... and stay a while." "I like a nice, simple contract." "The Darrow Bank." "The Darrow Bank is to conduct all business in this territory... for the Anaheim Bank." "Except for any business at The Furies." "I'm not exactly welcome there." "You'll handle our business at The Furies too." "Frankly, our bank wouldn't be signing with you... and you wouldn't be buying cattle for Bailey Brothers if you hadrt swindled old T.C." "Swindled is a harsh word, Mr. Anaheim." "Harsh or not, the story we had had a certain appeal for my father." "He likes anybody who can outfox old T.C." "Here's the confiirmation on El Paso." "I told you they'd weaken." "You were right again." "I mean, you've taken to business like a fur trader to sin." "I mean, you " " Oh, stop buttering up to me, Scotty." "What's that you're trying to hide?" " Oh " "Oh, T.C., have a heart." "You're spending it faster than I can make it." "Another six months away, and he'll have the entire nation knee-deep in T.C.s." "Print up another batch, Scotty." "Senor Bailey." "Welcome once again, Mr. Bailey." "Senor Anaheim Jr." "Miss Jeffords, may I present Mr. Anaheim?" "Welcome to The Furies, sir." " I'd conceived an image of you, Miss Jeffords... but it pales beside the actuality." "You have a way with a compliment." "Mr. Darrow." "I believe you know Mr. Darrow." "His bank is our new agent in this territory." "Congratulations, Mr. Bailey." "Mr. Darrow has the smell of a successful businessman." "I'm sure you know the luck I wish you." "Yeah." "Thank you, Miss Jeffords." "What about the renewal of our loan?" "Mr. Anaheim Sr. Isn't sure he'll renew his loan on The Furies." "Why not?" " Squatters." "Oh." "So that's still rubbing them - the cloud on title." "If you would permit me to drive the Herreras out " "No." "Mr. Darrow, how would I go about... persuading this son of a banker to change his father's mind?" "Your most persuasive should be persuasive enough." "Think so?" "Chiquita, food and drink for our guests." "I'll join you gentlemen in a moment." "Mr. Darrow, Scotty has a word for you." "Burn out the pueblecitos." "Get rid of them any way you can." "But not the Herreras." "I'll handle them in my own way." "Is that satisfactory, Mr. Darrow?" " Burn 'em out." "Kill 'em all." "Simple T.C. Way." " Scotty, your word for Mr. Darrow." "Any business you have with The Furies, send for me, and we'll conduct it at your offiice, but... don't ever set foot on The Furies again." "Is that clear?" "Perfectly, Miss Jeffords." "Let me look at you in your new suit." "Still as handsome as ever, aren't you?" "Burn them out!" "Juan!" "Vance, you all right?" "Next time, don't make your welcome so warm." "Buenas noches, senora." "Muchachos." "You play with big marbles." "We thought you were El Tigre come to try to burn us out." "Like those fiires down there." "I'm asking you to leave The Furies once and for all." "Is that why you honor us?" "I have T.C.'s word you won't be touched." "You look like T. C... standing there, ordering us off our land." "Gracias." "She doesn't like me any better than T.C. Likes you." "It is so." " 'It is so." "Gracias.'" "You're cold as a blue norther." "What are you so galled about?" "T.C.'s been away, and I sent for you, and you didn't show up." "Why not?" "Because I chose not to." " That's blunt enough." "I have no stomach for the way you live." "That's too bad." "Anything else?" " Yes." "You cannot blot out the fiire within you with this other man." "No more than the pueblecitos can blot out El Tigre's fiire." "If you're talking about Rip, I'm over that." "Oh." "Are you?" "Always pulling the bit on me!" "Always telling the truth!" "Juan the saint!" "Well, now I'm galled." "Go on." "Dish up the bread." "Let's break it, and let me get out of here." "All right." "Never mind looking for it." "It happens I brought some along." "Stay, Juan." "I need you." "There's no one else to pull the bit on me when I'm wrong." "Till our eyes next meet?" "Till then." "Flo, may I present my daughter Vance?" "Daughter, I'd like you to meet an old and dear friend of mine, Mrs. Florence Burnett." "Delighted, I'm sure." " My dear." "You look so wonderfully healthy." " I told you, didn't I?" "She's one in a nation." "Hey, Scotty, El Tig, let's get this gear stashed." "Mrs.?" " My husband passed on some time ago." "My dear." "I hope I shart be too much bother." "You won't be." "No bother at all." "We have guests coming all the time." "Come on, Flo." "I want to show you the house." "It was her idea, senora, not mine." "I burn out the pueblecitos, they return." "It will always be so until the Herreras are driven from The Furies." "I understand, Tigre." " Good evening." "My dear, do come in." "Do sit down." "Please." "I'm pleased the Tiger entertained you... during T.C.'s visit to his wife's room." "Of course, I knew El Tigre by repute." "At one time his name was quite a worry to Washington." "Senora Burnett, I hope your stay here will be long and memorable." "Thank you, El Tigre." "I'm sure it will be." "Burnett." "Oh, yes." "Of course." "I " "I knew I'd seen that name often." "Signed as endorsement on the backs of checks... made out by Temple to cash?" "Well, T.C. Is so loose and free and easy with his money." "Doesrt make much difference, my dear... as long as he gets his money's won'th." "But does he?" "Now that's what I like to see." "I want you two to take a shine to each other." "Why, Temple, I feel as though we were old friends already." "Ah, that is fline." "Daughter, hadrt been for Flo, I'd still have been shinir the seat of my breeches in Washington." "Oh, now, Temple " " Yeah." "It's" " Go on." "Tell her." "Really." " Go on and tell her." "Just that I'd been acquainted with the president... so that when it was necessary" " The president?" "Yeah Flo fiixed a soiree." "Plunked him right down by me." "Cut out all the red tape." "You can talk to him." "He's no 9:00 dude." "The range rights acquired from the government are valuable." "You've done The Furies a service." "You have a fline knowledge of the ways of politics." "You can hoot and holler that." "What's that?" "Uh, my favorite." "Cognac in orange juice." "Try it, my dear." " No, thank you." "The oranges will be piling up by the crate." "I telegraphed Bailey in San Francisco." "Any libation any of my folks want." "That's what my folks is gonna get." "Why, Temple, how wonderfully thoughtful of you." "I'm tired." "I think I'll turn in." "Good night." " Good night, dear." "Good night, my dear." "I'm afraid this house isn't like the houses you're used to." "I only hope you'll be comfortable." "My dear, it seems like home already." "Flo, scratch my sixth lumbar vertebra." "Say, Flo, did I ever tell you how I got this?" "Remember?" "I met up with a party of Osages?" "Yes, Temple." "I know." "You told me." " Oh, yeah." "I told ya." "Ah, that feels good." "That's it, Pop." " All right, Son." "Here." "Your payment." "If it makes any difference, Miss Vance, you gave me T.C. S for the last load." "The boss told me this time to - to make sure and got the cash." "You'll take these T.C.s." "But the boss - he says he was most particular- he " "Yes, Miss Vance." "Yes, ma'am." "Pop, you must be getting feeble." "She rode you right down." "Any other remarks, Son?" " No, Pop." "Come along." " Yes, Pop." "The last transaction with Bailey showed about... seven and one-third percent profilt?" "Not about seven and a third." "Exactly." "I mean, you do a perfect job of calculating." "I mean " " My dear, do come in." "Scotty's been making a wonderfully brave attempt... to show me the way a ranch is run, but to no avail." "I don't see how you do manage all this." "And as for blaming you" " What blame?" "For the squatters' return to The Furies." "I told Temple that's no fiit work for a lady- burnings and the like." "I told him you're not to be blamed one bit for your failure." "Thanks." " My dear..." "I had a wonderful notion." "I had a notion you'd have a wonderful notion." "To aid you." "I thought I'd write " "I thought I'd have Temple write to Mr. Bailey... to send an experienced manager to take the burden from you." "Why?" " My dear... it's a sacrilege that so lovely a creature as you has been kept at The Furies - that you haven't been granted your opportunity to make the grand tour of Europe " "Paris, Vienna, Budapest " "I like it here just fline." "You're such a brave creature." "And believe me, I do understand." " That's more than I do." "I, too, have had my full portion of unfortunate romance." "So I know exactly." "The wisest way is to forget Rip Darrow and the way you've been tormented." "The wisest way is to take a long trip." "Ah, that's what I like to see - you two hennir away together." "Come on, Flo." "This'll be fiit to watch." "MartyJaeger's breaking in that bay cayuse." " Yes, Temple." "It'll be all right, my dear." "You'll see." "The bay's got an iron mouth!" "Father." " Yes, Daughter?" "Nothing." "Ah, mayhap you're right, Flo." "She has been gettirmoody the past few weeks." "Mayhap a change for her" " Ah, Temple, you're so understanding." "I'm sorry about showing the books, Miss Vance... but she and I got to talking, and... fiirst thing I know, the safe was open, the books out." "I mean " "I know just what you mean." "ô It was in the merry month of May ô" "I just don't know how to flight her." "It's like hitting the wind." "It freezes me." "I always thought I'd enjoy seeing you broke to halter." "But I don't enjoy it, not a whit." "Turn to her." " No." "Now." "Now look at her, Vance." "You're not fiighting Bailey or the Anaheim Bank, and you're not up against the wind." "You're fiighting a woman, that's all." "Well, git 'r go, where'd you latch onto that 'un?" "I thought only a hereabout ranahan knew about that!" "I'll tell you a secret, sir." "I heard it for the fiirst time today." "I heard it, and I learned it." "I was in hopes it would please you, sir." " All right." "It was when I embraced her" "ô In my arms ô" "ô I thought she had ô" "ô Ten thousand charms ô" "ô Her caress was soft and her kisses sweet ô" "ô Say we'll get married ô" "ô Next time we meet ô" "ô Oh, curse your gold ô" "ô And your silver too ô" "ô God pity the girl ô" "ô That don't prove true ô" "ô I'll travel west ô" "ô Where the bullets fly ô" "ô And I'll stay on the trail ô" "ô Till the day I die ô" "Vance." " What are you doing here?" "I come out here when I'm restless." "It's the Darrow Strip, isn't it?" "Or is it because we rode here, you and I, that night we met?" "Take your choice." "Either way, it shows you have a haunted streak." "That's good to know." "What are you doing here?" "I ride out here whenever I'm restless too." "That was honest." "That's a dainty little Derringer." "May I see it?" "Real dainty." "Don't return here, Mr. Darrow." "I'll kill you if you do." "Vance." "Mr. Darrow?" "You're really on the prod." "Like the cattle, all set to stampede." "All set." "You'd like me to take you in my arms, wouldn't you?" "Sleep well." "What are you up to in here?" "Waiting for a chance to see you, to talk to you alone." "All right." "Sure been actir woman-y this past month." "Flo's a friend of mine." " I hadrt mentioned Flo." "And a good friend of yours too, if you'd only know it." "Fine, fline." "I'll light the candles on her birthday." "What is it she gives you, T.C.?" "All your life you've had a craving to fiind a woman and a lady in the same body." "That's it, isn't it?" "Elegance and refiinement." "You found the lady in my mother, but she wasrt woman enough for you, was she?" "That's enough of that kind of talk!" " It's more than enough!" "What's come over you, backbitir guests under your own roof?" "My roof?" " Stop talkir such dip!" "I don't know whose roof it'll turn out to be." "We've no cash." "People are beginning to mistrust the T.C.'s." "And Old Anaheim's sitting in his bank ready to knife us!" "Can't talk like that in her room." "You gotta gab dip, do it out here, not in there." "It ain't fiittir." "Go ahead, wreck yourself." "But don't wreck The Furies with you!" "The Furies is mine." "I hooked it together, and I'll crank it apart if it so pleases me." "What are you laughing at?" " You." "It's been so long since you were mad enough to bellow, I thought you were getting puny." "Me, puny?" "Yeah, don't think a good bellow ain't real pleasurable." "Daughter, when you gets an idea you stampede like a herd." "I told you once" "The Furies is yours to use and boss with me in my lifetime." "And it's all yours after that, the whole shebang." "That is my word to you." "Have I ever broken it?" "How long will she stay?" "When we hang the latch string out at The Furies, we put no time limit on it, do we?" "No." " Well, I'll tell you this." "She's fiixir to visit San Francisco before much longer." "Good." "I'll help her pack." "Temple." "I've been waiting, Temple." "Oh, yeah." "I clean forgot." "You don't mean to ride in this rain." "Oh, my dear, I'm not one who'll melt away." "Are you so sure?" "What are you doing in her room?" " My dear, do come in." "It was so good of you to have Chiquita prepare me this tea." "I always did say hot tea was a womars best ally against the rain." "I told Chiquita to bring it to your room, not here." "I shall miss Chiquita, and you, and all The Furies." "You'll what?" "I leave for San Francisco next week." "I don't know when I've enjoyed a stay more, my dear." "I do wish I could express how grateful I am to you." "My dear, don't try." "I hope you'll visit The Furies again..." "sometime." "Oh, then your father hasn't told you." " Told me what?" "Why, he's journeying to San Francisco with me." "We're to be married there." "While we're away, this room will be done over completely." "And then I think the room will suit mejust perfectly." "Why?" "I don't understand." "Why do you marry him?" "Extraordinary question." "The answer, my dear, is somewhat more simple." "A woman of my age can get very lonely, and I fiind T.C. Companionable " "That's drivel." "You want his money, and you know it." "Of course." "That too." "I once married for love." "The marriage failed for the lack of money." "Money makes life soothing." "I mean to have it." "And if some term me an adventuress, why, I suppose that's what I am." "You know, a most extraordinary thing your father did." "He gave me $50,000 outright... and then proposed to me for the fiirst time." "It's yours." "Why do you marry him?" "Perhaps for love of a man." "Or perhaps for love ofthe Furies." "You told her." " She has." "I said it was a thing I'd tell her myself." "Temple, I knew how diffiicult it would be for you." "I was my wish to ease it for you, to help you to smooth it." "Daughter, I wanted Flo to be a friend to you." "She yanked the blinkers off of me and made me see what an ornery ol' moss horn I was to " "To work you so very hard, my dear, to compel such self-sacrifiice of you." "So it's all been wonderfully arranged." "Mr. Bailey has a competent man on his way here now... to take the load of running The Furies promptly." "Yeah, it's fiittin'," "He'll evict the squatters, as Mr. Anaheim insists." "All of the squatters, including the Herreras." "No!" "I have your word they're not to be touched." "My dear, the entire territory will envy you... because you're to make the wonderful grand tour of Europe." "I envy you myself, to see all that for the fiirst time." "And, my dear, please remember... there will always be room for you at The Furies." "There will always be a room for her." "Wort there, Temple?" "El Tigre!" "Everybody!" "El Tigre!" "If she dies, I'll kill you." "Get out!" "Scotty!" "El Tig!" "Here!" "Up here!" "Dr. Grieve." " Yes?" "Your fee." " Oh." "Well " " Enough?" "Magnifiicent, sir." "A royal fee." "How is she?" " Mrs. Burnett?" "Oh, her face will be forever disfiigured - a permanent partial paralysis." "But considering that the wound was deep and bordered on a vein..." "I'd say that I did a very decent job." "Good night, Doctor." "Well, interesting night, at any rate." "Full of promise." "Where'd she go?" " To the Herreras." "Luis trailed her halfway up there." "Mr. Jeffords, she's your own flesh and blood." "She's a canker to be cut out!" "Come on, boys!" "Oh, my leg!" "My leg." "The old witch nailed me." "Ah, you'll live." "Get that sack." "Cover me!" "Toss that one on your horns, you misbegotten old bull.!" "You are afraid, huh?" "There's no need for fear." "We have waited a long time for this day." "Look at the mother witch!" "Still a ways short!" "Only one thing for it - get closer!" "Come on!" "Move it up!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Any closer, and we'd all be pigeons." "Those Herreras can hit a pigeon in the eye at 300 yards." "You willing to get killed?" "No, but it's my profession." "Mama!" "Mama!" "The crawling old fool creeps closer." "Come, my old one." "Come, my toro." "A little more and I send you to the flames!" "You are afraid, yes?" "Not for yourself, but for him." "You're afraid that he will be killed, huh?" "The old bull is pawing his way into the trap." "Ha.!" "Come, my old one." "Come, my toro." "Closer." "Now that rock, my old one." "Creep past that rock." "No, Mama." "That is enough." "We will yield to the old one." "Juanito!" " We will go away from The Furies." "My friend wants it that way." "I am the eldest!" "Since when has the word of the eldest not been the word for all?" "Since when?" "Vamonos, Vance." "Hey!" "SenorJeffords!" " Yeah?" "What is it?" "We do not admit defeat... but we will surrender... if you give me your word that we can all go free in safety." "It's a lie, a trap." "He means to throw us in for the kill." "A trap?" "Why should they lie?" "They ain't like you." "You been trespassir The Furies long enough." "Go, and good riddance to you!" "We have your word?" " Yes!" "Yes, I said!" "It is agreed." "Come up." "All right, you can come out now, my brave men!" "Come on." "Bring those horses in." "Get their guns." " Cut that bay out and bring him to me." "Get offthe Furies and stay offthe Furies forever." "You can take a horse apiece and not one whit more." "This bay here - What outfiit does he belong to?" "It belongs to me." "You know that." "The bay has a Furies mark." "He was stolen six months ago." "Dance on the air." "Tigre, you still got a hankerir to see a man hang?" "If this thief would hang, never again would a squatter dare appear on The Furies." "That's true, but I've given my word." "For trespassing, not for stealing horses and cattle." "It is our right on the land to take a horse." "A cow, a calf- enough to live on and no more." "It has always been the right of the Herreras on this land." "The thief, he talks of rights." "Well, patron?" " Hang him." "He means me to beg." "To beg him for your life." "All right, I will." " Wait." "It is true, he means you to beg." "It is also true that should you beg... he will hang me anyway." "He sits his stallion... stiff with hate." "You will not humble yourself." "This I ask." "Amen." "Juan." "The kiss of a good friend." "Till our eyes... next meet." "Till then." "Tears a body to see someone you love hurt, doesn't it?" "Do you want me to beg?" "Do you want me on my knees to you for his life?" "I'd hang him anyway." " That's what he said." "He did, eh?" "He always was smart." " Well, you're not!" "You're old, you're getting foolish and you've made a mistake!" "It's me you should have hung!" "Because now I hate you in a way I didn't know a human could hate." "Take a good, long look at me, T.C." "You won't see me again until the day I take your world away from you!" "Juanito." "Juanito." "Hi there, honey." " Where's Rip?" "He'll be back most any time." "Did you just get in off the railroad?" " Yes." "We haven't met before." "My name's Dallas Hart." "I'm new in town, honey." "Honey, you wouldn't be new anyplace." "Don't tell me." "You're VanceJeffords." "Rip tell you about me?" "No, but everyone else has." "And I can believe what they say." "Night, Dallas." "But, Rip " " I said good night." "I never could see what they see in the thin ones." "It's not what they see." "You've been away a long time." "And you've marked off the days on your calendar." "You're not so calm and collected as you're trying to make out." "I'm out to get The Furies for myself." "How?" "T.C.s." "I've been running what Scotty calls a bear raid on the T.C.s." "These past months I've covered every mile of track on the railroad." "I've spread word that they're won'thless, that my father will never be able to pay them off." "People been offering me those for 80 cents on the dollar." "I expect to buy all I need at 5 or 10 cents on the dollar." "You might." "People panic." "Just, uh, how does this get you The Furies?" "Right here." "Black and white." "In easy stages." "Have I slipped up in any part of it?" "I'm sure you haven't." "It'll work." "Fine." "There's a certain irony." "In what?" "The key to the plan lies in the Anaheim Bank." "Getting it to extend T.C.'s mortgage." " You're smart." "It wouldn't work if Anaheim foreclosed on T.C. Not now." "Not till we're ready." "I'm the correspondent bank here for Anaheim." "But the decision must be made by old man Anaheim himself." "You know that." "Why did you come to me?" " Money." "Money to buy the T.C.s." "The dowry money- $50,000." "I've kept it here for you." "It's yours." "I'll pay you for the use of it." "I hope you know what you're doing." "If this works, it'll wreck your father." "I'll not let The Furies slip away from me, and it certainly will if it's left to him and to her." "Not her." "Him." "It's T.C. You hate, isn't it, Vance?" "You've found a new love in your life, haven't you, Vance?" "You're in love with hate." "Well, if you're patient and work hard at it... it may be all you'll need to live by." "I hope it'll be enough... because hate doesn't leave room for anything else in your life." "And I speak as one who has hated the same man as you hate now." "What's in this deal for me?" "What do you want?" "The Darrow Strip, the sweetest part ofthe Furies." "By every fair right it's mine, and I mean to have it." "Look at you." "Just the thought of losing part of The Furies, and you're ready to claw and scratch." "Is it a deal?" "Does it make sense to you to give up 10%% ofthe Furies to save 90%%?" "It's a deal." "Good." "When do we go to San Francisco to hit Old Anaheim?" "The sooner the better." "May I see you to your room?" "Are you sure you won't extend the loan?" "It seems my father's been waiting a long time to get at T.C." "I'm sorry." "You should be." "Good night." "Yes?" "What are you doing up so late?" " I couldn't sleep." "Did you see young Anaheim?" " False alarm." "Talks big, means little." "I'll have to see the old man." "Old Anaheim's got to extend the mortgage, or we're licked." "Otherwise T.C. Won't round up the cattle... and rounding up the cattle's a job only T.C. Can do." "Get The Furies's cattle, and then get The Furies." "Look, it was your idea." "Don't weaken on me now." " Don't worry." "I'll take care of Old Anaheim." "Hmm." "Mighty confiident, aren't you?" "Sure you can handle any man." "Well, look at you." "You'd like to hit me right now, wouldn't you?" "I would." "Go ahead." "Now you'd like to kiss me, wouldn't you?" "Yes, I would." "What's in it for me?" "Is it won'th the Darrow Strip to you?" "Sleep well." "Good night, Mrs. Anaheim." "Delightful party." " Good night." "Thank you." "Emily, do convey my thanks to your husband." "I'll convey your thanks to my husband." "Good night." "Mrs. Anaheim, I can't thank you enough." "It's been a most interesting evening." "I'm so glad." " If you'll excuse me, my dear." "Miss Jeffords has no escort." "I'll take her to her hotel." "Then I'll stop at the club." "I expect I'll be quite late." "No, thank you, Mr. Anaheim." "I couldn't impose." "But, Miss Jeffords, I, uh " "No, thank you, Mr. Anaheim." "Very well." "Good night." " Good night." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "You could have wrapped my husband round your little fiinger." "That's right." " Why didn't you?" "I came here for one purpose - to make sure T.C. Got a 90-day extension on his mortgage." "I feel somehow if I had permitted Mr. Anaheim to see me home..." "I wouldn't have achieved that purpose." "Why not?" "In the course of the evening, I realized that you were the one to reckon with." "You're a clever one." "I don't control the Anaheim Bank... but I do control Mr. Anaheim." "And have I reckoned with you?" "I like a clever woman." "I'll help you." "Thank you." "He's a faithless husband... but he is my husband." "Come on, come on." "Quit cat-and-mousir me." "Yes or no?" "No." "We foreclose The Furies immediately." "Good day." "T.C." " Emily." "You reprobate." "I was told this meeting wouldn't occur until later in the day." "So if I'm somewhat out of breath you'll forgive an old woman." "Old?" "If you was any younger, we'd have to throw you down to get shoes on ya." "I had the pleasure of meeting your daughter." "Who?" " Your daughter." "Must be mistaken, Emily." "I have no daughter." "Not anymore." "Well, the old bear's got his claws sunk in me." "What is it you want, T.C.?" "Ninety days' time." "There's been no cattle buys and no market at all." "But now I've got me one." "Give me 90 days to round up my cattle, collect and deliver, and I'll have the money to pay you off." "Ninety days!" " You have no such deal." "Well, I'm a rotten liar, Emily." "A lie sticks out of me like a billy goat's whiskers." "I've got no deal." "Bailey's supposed to have himself a cattle buy, but with this market I doubt it." "Give me one more chance at Bailey." "I think T.C. Can have until 10:00 tomorrow morning." "Don't you?" "All right, my dear." "And if he gets a buyer, you'll give him his 90 days, won't you?" "Yes, my dear." "Thanks, Emily." "How is she?" " Your daughter?" "Oh, fline." "If only I could fiind that cattle buyer Bailey whispered about." "If only we could float some more T.C.s." "If only I had a buck for every time you said 'if only.'" "Cold, Scotty." "Can't seem to get enough sun or fiire to heat me through anymore." "I've got fiive $1,000 bills in my grouch bag." "They're yours, if you want." "Howsoever did you get you the money, Scotty?" "Where was I when you hired me?" " Just got you out of jail." "What was I in for?" "Took the next step to being a fiinance genius." "You took outright to swindlir." "Working at The Furies, I just sorta kept my fiinger in the pie somewhat." "The 5,000 is yours, if you want." "Nah, Scotty, if you was gonna steal, you shoulda stole enough to do some good." "Thank you kindly." "Keep your grouch bag tied." "5,000 would only be a spit in the ocean." "Order up some more wood." "I'm cold." "Still cold?" "Yeah." "I been cold ever since that dawn I hung him." "Ever thought of asking her for the money you need?" "Scotty!" "Scotty." "I'll get more wood." "Flo." "Supper's here." "Flo." "Please, Flo." "You said 'please.'" "You never said that to me before, Temple." "Flo, I hate a man that's mealymouthed, so I'll come right out with it." "I'm broke." "Bust." "Flatter than a poor boy's tortilla." "I need the $50,000 I settled on you, and the jewels and... well, anything a dollar can be raised on." "What you put away for a rainy day." "Rainy?" "It's a cloudburst." "That must have been diffiicult for you to say to me, Temple." "Yes, it were." "Did you really think I'd come through for you?" "Oh, son, uh, step outside, will ya?" "I'll give you a holler when I need ya." "If I gave you the money... if you saved yourself with it now, you'd get rid of me." "Well, you shouldn't talk so." "You'd get rid of me because you can't bear anything ugly." "You don't see your face when you look at me, Temple." "But I see it." "I thought you were hungry, Temple." "If you saved yourself now, you'd fiind another woman... one who wasrt marked... one who didn't drink too much." "Quite possibly one who was rich." "In any event, you'd get rid of me." "With this face, I'd fiind no one else." "I'm bound to be lonely." "Money is the only thing that makes loneliness bearable... to some slight degree." "So I must refuse you, Temple." "I must keep the money I have." "And if that isn't sporting of me..." "I can't help that." "Well, that's real." "It's honest." "I'm sorry, Temple." "Yes, I believe you are." "And I'll tell you this " "If I ever get any fresh money, I'll come and bring you back to The Furies." "I hope you do get money again, Temple." "Somehow I think you will." "Well, here's hoping." " Here's hoping." "Oh, son!" "Pour out that wine." "Fill up these glasses here." "And catch hold of one yourself." " That wouldn't be proper, sir." "I said catch hold." "We're drinking a toast to a lady." "And it's fiittir all present should join in." "Come on, wake up." "Come on!" "Come on!" "Bailey's just come through!" "Come on, wake up!" "We got a buyer!" " Go on, you old jackass." "Well, if I'm a jackass, you're my brother." "Come on!" "Wake up!" "Just got an order from Bailey." "Just got an order from Bailey!" "Huh?" " He's got a buyer for 20,000 head of cattle!" "Oh." " Enough to pay off every dime to Anaheim!" "Enough to pay every dime to Anaheim!" "Have you got 20,000 head of cattle?" "We'll rake out every last maggot that can walk and crawl." "Old cimarrons that ain't seen the light of day for a dozen years!" "And them up in them rocks that are skinnier than a snake's rump!" "We'll round up 20,000 head!" "Come on, Scotty!" "We're paying a visit to Anaheim, the old wind sucker!" "Toss me my britches!" "Yaaah-hyah!" "Hi-ho!" "Hah!" "Hey!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Come on there!" "The third horse he wore down today." "I tell ya, he must have him a cast-iron rump." "Hyah.!" "Hyah.!" " Move 'em out!" "He was so tired, he fell asleep hunkered on his spurs." "The patron." "He's the best I ever worked for." "He's the best I ever saw." "He's the best I ever heard of." "The boys already got up a tune about him." "They'll sing about T.C. And this roundup forever." "You heard it?" "ô Through mesquite and chaparral ô" "ô T.C. Cussed and flit ô" "ô And drug them cows from out the sloughs ô" "ô Until the cowboys spit ô" "ô Oh, there never was a man like old T.C. ô" "ô When he was in his prime ô" "ô He drug them cows from up the sloughs ô" "ô At T.C. Roundup time ô" "When I get through, you'll do more'n spit!" "ô Swings his boot and squatters scoot ô" "ô Ain't no man to fool ô" "ô His word is law His whip is raw ô" "ô For he was born to rule ô" "ô Oh, there never was a man like old T.C. ô" "ô A giant in his prime ô" "ô His word is law His whip is raw ô" "ô At T.C. Roundup time ô" "Well, will you look at that!" "The old rogue!" "Mean as a goat and tough as Mother Lucy.!" "Needle-horned, and an uglier rogue than me." "Prancir wild here a dozen years or more - the king ofthe Furies." "What's that?" " I said he was king ofthe Furies." "Where's my horse?" " Here." "He aims to try to throw that bull." " He does." "Hah.!" "Right there.!" "Right there.!" "Rope him!" "Right there.!" " All right, T.C.!" "Let him have it!" "Ah, patron.!" "Go, T.C., get him!" "Get him!" "That'll do him, T. C...!" "Come on, T.C.!" "I did it!" "It's still me!" "I'm still king of The Furies!" "I tell ya, Scotty boy, it's an omen!" "It's gonna be all right!" "It's gonna be all right, Scotty boy!" "Here comes Bailey now." "The roundup'll be fiinished tomorrow." "T.C.'ll be here tomorrow night for his money." "He still has no idea who's buying the cattle from him?" "He said to me, 'By all git 'r go, I don't know who's buyir and I care less." "Just let the money be there.'" "You've won." "By tomorrow night, you'll own The Furies." "Yes, I've won." "Congratulations." "Thanks." "You should be happy." "Thanks." "You've done a good job." "You know, I'd be happy to invest part of my fee." " In what?" "In dinner for the three of us." "I'm not hungry." " Nor am I." "They say the night air is freshening to the appetite." "My rig is hitched up outside." " How very convenient." "And what a coincidence." "This is a nice, romantic spot." "That depends on who " "No." "It's no use, Rip." "No use at all?" "We'll never have what we could have had, what we started out to have." "You've changed, so have I - too much." "You thought it would be different, didn't you, Vance?" "You thought that when you'd licked T.C. And fiinally gotten your revenge... it would be the greatest moment in your life." "And if I did?" " You were wrong." "Tomorrow night you'll face T.C. And you'll wreck him." "We're the same kind, you and I - we're both out for what we can get." "And we're smart." "We'd make a good partnership." "Darrow and Jeffords, orJeffords and Darrow?" "Oh, funny." "But we would make a good partnership." "And I fiigured it out." "We" "We may as well get married." "It would be much simpler than drawing up a 20-page partnership agreement." "You're wrong again." " I'm always wrong with you." "If we marry, it won't be a business arrangement." "Come here." "You haven't changed." "Don't worry about that." "And don't ask me to be your husband." "If we marry, remember one thing - you'll be my wife." "Whenever you're wrong, I'll tell you so." "If I'm ever wrong, you just keep you little mouth shut." "Mr. Darrow, sir..." "I hope you can chew what you just bit off." "Whoa." "Whoa." "We'll celebrate tonight, Scotty!" "By git 'r go, we'll celebrate tonight!" "Come on, Scotty.!" "Bailey, never thought I'd ever set toe in a Darrow bank." "The bank happens to be a correspondent of the Anaheim Bank, and my letter of" "Enough of this legal mulch." "Let's get it over with." "These are the purchasers for whom I acted as broker." "I've got your signed order for my cattle." "When do I get paid?" "Mr. Bailey, pay him off." "$145,600 and no cents." "I assume the computation agrees with your tally." "T.C.s." "Paid in my own T.C.s." "Hmph." "Worthless." "Fit to bed a pup down with and nothir more." "140,000, eh?" "Didrt know I had that much out." "That's a heap of money for one man to scatter about - his own legal tender." "Lulu of a girl ridir a bull." "I knew it was art, but I'll be double-dogged - I never thought a girl could really ride a bull." "But you did it, Vance." "You rode me proper, and you throwed me proper." "And you rode the seasonal rise in beef prices." "Sell cattle enough now to pay off Old Anaheim, every acre free and clear." "Look at her, Bailey." "She's smart, and she's a beauty, and she's full of lick and fiire." "She's one in a nation." "I tell ya, no one could have bred her but T.C. Jeffords." "You're an old rogue bull, T. C... and you'll always prance wild." "And so The Furies is in your hands, huh?" "Well, I suppose that's where she'd best be." "I'm back to scratch." "That's when I had my fun - startir from scratch." "What's your share in all this?" "The Darrow Strip." "It's mine." "You've ached you a long time to say that, haven't you?" "Yeah." "And I don't think I'll stop aching till I have a son who'll own the whole Furies." "No." "By all the 12 sons ofJacob." "I got $100 gold in my pocket." "That'll just about see us through the royalest ranahan this town ever did see." "We'll start at the Queen High." " The Legal Tender!" "It's my doir." "We'll start where I say." "We'll begin us at the Queen High." "No tellir where we'll end us." "Oh, wait, uh " "Forgot my chore." "Paid in full." "T.C. Jeffords." "There." "Come on, Bailey." "Come on, Scotty." "We're gonna celebrate, and we're gonna start right now!" "Rip " "I know." "You want it to be a three-way partnership." "Now I'll have all the fun again of startir from scratch!" "Arert you getting a little old for that?" " Old?" "Just the right age." "Old enough to know better and young enough to forget what I know." "Don't think I ain't had me an ace up my sleeve." "Scotty's got $5,000... and there's an island off the California coast named Catalina." "You've told me about that island." " Yeah, well, I didn't tell you all about it." "You mean a certain wiry little fiilly?" " Where'd you hear about that?" "No matter about her." "I tell ya, there's this island there and it's fiit for a king!" "Somebody's been shot.!" " It's T.C.!" "T.C.'s been shot!" "Someone's been shot.!" "Over here.!" "This way.!" "Get Dr. Grieve." "He's in the bar." "Get him!" "The old Herrera witch, huh?" "She could hit a pigeon in the eye at 300 yards." "And don't you go namir my grandson T.C." "That's too heavy a pack for him to carry." "He'll have too much to live up to." "'Cause there'll never be another like me." "Scotty... will you take him home... to The Furies?" "We'll put a great stone over him." "We'll carve the letters two feet high - T.C. Jeffords." "He'll like that." "And we'll have his grandson." "And we'll name him T.C. Just the same." "ô Oh, there never was a man like old T.C. ô" "ô When he was in his prime ô" "ô His word was law ô" "ô His whip was raw ô" "ô At T.C. Roundup time ô"