"Go on, pull the trigger." "But if you do, there'll be an oil fire." "Never seen an oil fire, have you?" "It'll wipe out everything you've worked for." "Ladies and gentlemen," "San francisco's most respected wine connoisseur," "Mr. Paladin," "Has just chosen the blue-ribbon award winner." "Tell us which wine you selected." "Mr. Chairman, gentlemen," "This is a perfect riesling." "Tart, early dry, light and clean to the taste," "With a slight greenish- amber cast in the color." "Mm, let me see, I have the list right here." "The riesling is the entry of the donatello vineyards." "Is sr." "Renato donatello present?" "Sí." "Sí." "Grazie." "Grazie." "Sr. Paladin, I cannot tell you what this honor means to me." "I cannot thank you enough." "Yes, you can, by sharing a bottle of your excellent vintage with me." "Sí." "Well, I would've expected renato donatello to be making a barbera or chianti." "Twenty years ago I came here from asti in the old country." "Now, I'm an american, I make many wines." "I drink to your continued success." "Oh, no." "It is all over." "Next year, the poorest peasant will spit my wine upon the ground." "It is for goats to drink." "Well, it's a crime to let anything happen to a wine like this." "Perhaps there's some way I can help?" "Oh, no, sr." "Paladin." "You are a gentleman, an epicure." "The help I need would be a regiment of carbinieri." "A moor." "I will need a band of sicilian cutthroats." "Well, sr." "Donatello," "I'm gonna have to go and judge the horsemanship trials." "If you should change your mind," "If you should find there's some way I can help you," "Will you leave word at the judge's stand, please?" "Thank you." "Excuse me." "Two things." "Two things at this stage of my life" "That ruined what I have been." "A madman, and a well." "From a well, there should come life, refreshment, water." "From this well, comes evil," "Stink, blackness and ruin." "Oil...?" "This black slime drains onto my land." "Ruins my vines." "The smoke from the boilers coats my grapes," "And the wine's bitterness will crack the very bottles." "Well, that should just about cover the well." "This madman is cunning." "He is powerful." "He defies me." "He will not pay damages, and will not change his ways." "What did you say the fellow's name was?" "Gorman." "Tim gorman." "Irish." "Oh, are the irish so bad?" "What kind of savages would drink whiskey made from potatoes?" "Come in, come in." "Renato!" "I miss you!" "Basta, basta, we have a guest." "This is sr." "Paladin of san francisco." "A great judge of wines." "Look what he gave me, the first prize." "Ah, magnifico." "This is my niece, teresa." "Benvenuto, sr." "Paladin." "You are welcome in this house." "Thank you, your uncle didn't tell me you're a very attractive woman." "Teresa is also the finest cook this side of rome." "Today, I make scaloppini." "Very nice, it is waiting for you." "I'll go see..." "Oh, no, you must eat." "Please sit down, sr." "Paladin." "I will join you in a moment." "Renato." "Where are you going?" "Get some wine for the scaloppini." "Signorina, you're worried about your uncle?" "Sí, sr." "Paladin." "Renato is so upset." "It is this terrible fight with sr." "Gorman." "What's your opinion of gorman?" "He is a bad enemy." "But he would be a good friend." "Please, do not tell my uncle," "But today I sent sr." "Gorman some scaloppini." "It is my finest dish." "That's a very fine peace offering." "The noise we heard was nothing." "Just a bottle exploding." "Sr. Paladin," "This is last year's riesling that won the prize." "This is this year." "Taste it." "Tastes like the inside of a chimney." "Ah, sr." "Gorman does this." "He shoots my scaloppini." "What I thought." "I will go up there and curse that savage." "No you won't." "Ah." "That's my job." "All right, give me a hand with this." "What're you doing?" "!" "Get back on your own end." "Go on, move!" "All right, give me a hand." "Well, don't stand there staring, go get those barrels loaded." "Gorman?" "Yeah, that's me." "Who are you?" "My name's paladin." "Sorry I can't shake hands right now." "Well, put the casing down." "Oh." "How did you get in here?" "I walked in." "It's a wonder you weren't shot." "I got rifle guards all around the place." "I noticed." "What's the reason?" "I'll tell you the reason." "That crazy italian's trying to ruin me." "You look like a good man in a fight." "How'd you like to work for me?" "I'd like that very much, except for one thing." "What?" "Well, I already work for that crazy italian." "Now, before we discuss this," "There are two things I'd like to make clear." "He's not crazy, and he's an american, all right?" "Why don't you show me around?" "Looks like a good rig." "What would you know about it?" "I was in texas when the tavole came in. 100 barrels a day." "It's a nice rig you got there." "Only two things wrong with it." "Oh?" "Name 'em." "The main drainage ditch and the smoke from that boiler." "Waste drains onto donatello's land," "Smoke drifts over and coats his vines." "The wind takes care of my smoke," "And gravity hauls away my waste." "None of my business what they do with it." "So now it's my business?" "And you're business is killing?" "Not if there's a better way." "Do you know any?" "I think so." "Dig a sump, right over there." "Pump the waste over that rise and drain it off the opposite side." "And a twenty foot stack on the boiler" "Would carry the smoke above a down-draft." "Be carried off harmlessly." "I could do those things you said." "But it would cost money, a lot of money." "I haven't got it." "Every cent I could beg or borrow went into this well." "I have to run full-blast just the way things are." "Otherwise, I'll go broke." "Lose everything." "Understand?" "Perfectly." "If donatello gets hurt in the process, so much the better." "He's fought me every step of the way, from the minute I bought the land." "If I can ruin him, that's just fine." "Personalities aside, it's a crime to ruin a vineyard" "That produces the finest wine in the state." "I never tasted wine." "When I want a drink, I take white mule, straight." "That's a man's drink." "It has its virtues." "Oh, one more question," "What do you think of teresa donatello?" "Well, she's not a bad looking woman." "I kind of liked her, until she tried to poison me." "That italian food hits me the wrong way." "Well, the scaloppini was well-meant." "I took one taste, and it bit me." "So I figured I better shoot it before it got loose and ran wild." "Would you shoot an unarmed scaloppini?" "I would shoot anything that gives me trouble." "I like you, paladin." "But be careful." "You could end up looking like that kettle." "Renato." "You saw the oil well?" "I did." "The well, the boilers, the refinery, everything." "Good, now you can lead an attack." "I will pass out the guns." "We will wipe out this menace." "Renato." "I'm afraid it's not quite that simple." "The vineyards, the winery," "They mean a great deal to you, don't they?" "This is my whole life." "I have no wife, no little ones." "But I have my vines that I put in the ground with my own hands." "I make them grow with water I carry on my own back." "These are not vats of wine." "These are years of my life." "I understand, believe me." "And I want you to understand." "Tim gorman feels exactly the same way about his oil well." "Oh, no!" "You cannot compare my beautiful wine with that black slime." "I agree." "But the principle's the same." "The oil business is here to stay and night raids won't stop it." "But why?" "Who needs this oil?" "Some very useful things come from it." "Oil for the lamps, benzene for cleaning," "Very useful things." "Well, what must I do?" "Let myself be ruined?" "No, you must loan tim gorman $3,000." "Never!" "I will cut my throat first." "Sr. Paladin, you're a fine judge of wines, but nothing else." "Go back to san francisco and leave me to my battle." "No, when I take a job, I see it through." "I have to go into stockton and see a lawyer about technical details." "Will you loan me a horse?" "Oh, sí, and if you do me the favor of not returning," "You may keep the horse." "You have the key?" "Sí,sí, tutti pronto." "Open the lock." "The time of choice is past." "We must fight or lose everything." "If I've been good to you," "Stand by me at this moment." "Now..." "Who will have guns?" "Fire!" "All right, this is it!" "Take cover along the banks and start firing!" "Dirty, rotten, tight-squeezing..." "Attack!" "Sr. Paladin." "I tried to pray, but I cannot." "Not for this." "What's happened?" "Renato will be killed." "You must help!" "They're dropping back!" "After them!" "We must attack." "We must attack." "Clean out those bushwhackers and head for the wine shed." "Boys, come on!" "We got 'em on the run!" "Hold it." "Call 'em back." "Call 'em!" "Hold it, wait." "It's a trap, come back." "That's fine, more of the same." "Everybody back." "It's a trap, everybody get back to the line." "Don't stare, get back to the rig." "Go on, move!" "Keep going now!" "So that's how a big-time gunman acts?" "Trotting up to shoot people in the back?" "You didn't get shot." "I thought you'd listen to reason." "Otherwise, I'd have had to shoot a half dozen innocent men." "You talk big, paladin." "But the next time we meet," "You better be ready to back it up." "I'll look forward to the occasion." "'night, mr." "Gorman." "Renato, I think you know by now" "That your move tonight was a foolish one." "Paladin, I'm a ruined man, I don't need you to insult me." "Please go away and leave us." "Gorman can ruin my vineyard as he pleases," "But I won't stay here to see it." "Tomorrow, teresa and I will pack." "We move as soon as the wounded can be taken elsewhere." "Tomorrow, if you still feel like moving, I'll help you pack." "In the meantime, tonight I'd like to use a barrel of your wine." "A whole barrel?" "A keg, small barrel." "Not the prize riesling, but something fairly good." "Why not?" "Nothing matters now." "Here." "Thank you." "Where is sr." "Paladin going?" "To get drunk, I guess." "You better get back to the men." "Come in." "Good evening." "Oh, I'm sorry to have missed dinner." "It is not too late, sr." "Paladin." "Sit down, please." "Eat something." "We cannot, you see." "The lasagna's delicious, but it chokes me." "If you'll come with me, I think I can show you something" "That will help your appetite." "What will you show me?" "I will show you what the poet omar khayyam meant" "When he said, "the grape with logic absolute" ""shall all the warring tribes confute."" "Come on." "This is crazy." "We'll be killed." "Not if you do what I tell you." "We can't get through the lines." "After what happened," "Gorman has every man armed and watching." "I know, I counted on it." "Watch the rise." "What's that dark spot over there?" "That's your keg of wine." "They steal my wine." "They're supposed to." "What do we do now?" "Now we wait for the wine to lull the red-eyed anger into sleep." "That's omar khayyam again." "Is it?" "Fitzgerald translation." "Renato!" "Come down off there!" "I'll blow a hole through ya!" "Be a big fire if you do, gorman." "I mean it, paladin, I'll give you just five seconds." "Time's up." "My life's not worth that to you." "Now put the gun down." "Go..." "Go ahead, start the fire." "Not unless I have to." "Now, first I want you both to read that." "And sign it!" "That's an agreement drawn up by the lawyer in stockton." "It says that you, renato, will give gorman $3,000" "To build a new drainage set-up." "Put a stack on that boiler." "In return, you'll get a share in the oil," "And a say in how the well's run." "Why should I pay $3,000?" "Go ahead, start the fire." "You've never seen an oil fire, have you?" "I put this torch in there, that oil will bubble and explode." "In a few minutes, your vineyard will be covered with burning oil." "You'll both be wiped out." "Go ahead, gentlemen, take your choice." "With that agreement, you can both operate your businesses profitably." "Otherwise..." "Partners." "Partner." "Grazie." "Here's to the new partnership." "This wine ain't half bad." "'course, it don't have the kick of white mule," "But it feels all right." "How do you mean?" "I don't know." "When I came in here, I hated everybody." "But now..." "I consider my job well done." "I hope you won't forget my fee, renato." "Case of riesling, delivered to your hotel, each year," "I will never forget." "And the dinner is almost ready." "Wait 'til you taste it." "I'll get the dinner wine." "I have just the thing, a fine porto." "Oh, good." "Listen, you've got to get me out of here." "Think of some excuse, you're smart." "Why, what's the trouble?" "Teresa's a fine, handsome woman," "But that italian food she cooks scorches my insides." "Oh." "Teresa." "Why don't you show mr." "Gorman your special new dish?" "Irish stew."