"ANNOUNCER:" "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "(fanfare plays)" "Please no." "Please, I..." "Ross, I can't stand anymore!" "Ross, stop." "Please, why are you doing this?" "Why?" "No, no, please stop!" "I'll stop when you admit this thing with Adam!" "There's nothing between Adam and me." "Ross, Adam Cartwright's your best friend." "There's nothing between us!" " You lie!" " No!" "Ross..." "Ross, please stop." "Please, please, please, Ross." "Ross, you don't know what you're doing." "Admit it!" " (groans)" " Now admit it." "Admit it!" "All right, it's true." "It's true, it's true." "Put it in words." "Adam Cartwright and I have been seeing each other." "Adam Cartwright and I have been seeing each other." "Yes, yes!" "Yes!" "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes... (theme song playing)" "(cattle lowing, men whistling)" "Is that all the critters you got out of that draw?" "That's all." "Did you go clean back the buttes?" "I went clear to the rimrock." "I looked in every gully big enough to hide a coyote and beat every bush big enough to hide a jackrabbit." "Doggone it." "I know Pa's figuring on getting at least 50 or 60 head out of that piece of range." "Well, I know they were supposed to be there, but they just weren't." "Beats all, Adam." "This is the skimpiest spring roundup I ever remember." "We're going to be dang lucky if we come up with 2,000 head." "Yeah, it was a mean winter." "Yeah, I reckon we lost more to the blackleg than we figured on, too." "Well, I'll take this bunch on in with mine." "Pa wants to see you back at the corral about something or other." "All right, take good care of them." "I worked hard for that beef." "Don't worry none." "(whistles and shouts)" "(cattle lowing)" "All right, baby." "Your mother will be looking for you." "Hey, Little Joe!" "Get another one yet?" "(whinnies)" "(bleating)" "Hold it." "All right." "Let her go!" "Hyah!" "Be back with another one, Pa." "All right, Joe." "That one there will make 56, don't it?" "57 if you count that runty-legged one." "Well, if you add the maverick yearling, that makes my tally 58." "What's the matter with you?" "Didn't you ever learn how to count?" "Well, it's them big numbers that throw me." "Anytime they get over ten, I got to take my shoes off." "You know, I..." "I knew a lad once." "Every time he'd tally, he'd be short ten in every hundred." "Ah, he'd be regular as clockwork." "I couldn't talk him out of it." "Did you ever cure him of the habit?" "Yeah, I finally did." "Took a while, though-- wasn't easy." "Had to shoot a finger off his left hand." "Well, how'd that help?" "Well, like Jake here, you know, he counted on his fingers, figuring ten for each time around." "Trouble was, he had, uh, six fingers on his left hand." "(laughter)" "(bleating)" "Hey, how'd you make out up on Goose Creek?" "I only found about ten head." "Ten head?" "There should have been close to 50 head up there." "I know, Pa, but that's all there were and I went clean to the rimrock." "Jake, take my horse, will you?" "Let me have that." "Well, did you see any bones to speak of, like, uh, like they were packed up in a storm or died off with the black quarter?" "One carcass, that's all." "Hmm." "Let's have some coffee." "(sizzling)" "That's warm enough." "One carcass was all, huh?" "Well, I..." "I expect that they came down to the forks and crossed over." "We'll likely find them when we drive the north side." "And when we do, we're going to need a lot more help." "I imagine we will." "Uh, Hoss said you wanted to see me about something." "That's what it was about." "I want you to go in and, uh, see if you can talk" "Ross Marquette into coming over and checking out his own brand." "Uh, tell him, uh... tell him, um, we've already got about... 50 head of his stock in our herd." "Well, he's probably busy with his own branding." "Well, we'll help him when we're done here." "You shouldn't have too much trouble talking him into it, seeing how close you two are." "Well, all I can do is try." "We don't have 50 head of his cattle up here." "Well, Adam, we've got two or three head." "And who's to say we won't run into a whole herd of his before he ever gets here?" "Anyway, we need help." "You're a conniving old pirate." "Ross?" "Ross?" "Del?" "Hey, Ross!" "Where are you, skinny?" "(sighs)" "You scared the daylights out of me." "All right, you look as tough as a year in jail and the bore on that gun looks as big as a rain barrel." "Now what?" "You going to start out by robbing all the men and kissing all the ladies?" "Well, you got a reason for pointing that gun at me?" "Speak up or put it down, you're not being very funny." "Why'd you come here, Adam?" "I come looking for you, you big skinflint." "Pa said you come up and help us, we'd help you." "Besides, we got a few head of your cattle in our herd." "Now, what's wrong with that?" "Because it's a lie." "That's what's wrong with it." "You didn't come here to see me." "You came here to see Delphine." "You figured I'd be out on the range someplace." "What are you talking about?" "About you and my wife." "Ross, will you make sense?" "You been meeting her here." "I know all about it." "You're not serious, now." "What are you trying to say?" "That you're in love with her." "You're trying to take her away from me." "Well, of all the dirty, rotten... (cocks gun)" "Boy, now you put down that gun, or I'm going to take it away from you and bend the barrel over your thick skull." "(glass shattering)" "I'm not fooling, Adam." "No!" "Ross, no!" "(grunting)" "Ross, what the devil's wrong with you?" "There ain't nothing wrong with me." "I just caught up with you two, that's all." "My best friend!" "My wife." "Now that's-that's something to think about, now isn't it?" "Del, what's wrong with your face?" "Nothing, Adam, go away." "I'm all right." "Did you do this?" "You bet I did." "Ross, we've been friends for 15 years." "I handed you the ring at your wedding." "This girl is your wife." "You've told me thousands of times how much you love her!" "She admitted it was true." "Del?" "Adam, it's a lie." "It's a lie." "I told him it was a lie, I told him over and over again." "He wouldn't believe me." "He kept... he kept hitting me and hitting me." "I couldn't stand it, so I told him it was the truth." "I'm sorry, Adam." "I'm so sorry." "Oh, Ross." "Stop, both of you!" "Quick, get me something to tie him with, Del." "I'm sorry, it was the only way." "Adam, what can we do?" "Well, we can get you out of here until I can put some sense into his head." "Get a few clothes together, I'll saddle up a horse for you." "You're going to the Ponderosa." "Well, but what about Ross?" "Don't worry about him, I'll take care of him." "Now do what I told you, get moving." "How long has it been going on, Del?" "Hmm?" "Months." "Why didn't you tell us about it?" "Well, it hasn't been bad until just recently." "I..." "I kept thinking he'd get over it." "Well, he just keeps getting worse." "I'm frightened, Adam." "I know Ross like I know the inside of my hat." "I just can't believe he'd act like this." "Neither can I." "You know, sometimes he... he seems almost mad." "Well, there's something wrong, that's for sure." "Try not to worry about it too much." "I'll..." "I'll take care of him." "Adam..." "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to." "After what he said, I..." "Regardless of what he said, he's my friend." "And you don't drop a friend that easy." "Come on." "All right, on your feet." "What are you doing to me?" "Untie me." "I'll untie you." "I just want to see if you're thinking straight first." "Sit down." "Oh, I'm thinking straight." "All right, then you understand why Del's going to stay at the Ponderosa with us for a few days." "(sighs)" "She stopped by to tell me good-bye." "What got into you, Ross?" "I mean, how could you do a thing like that?" "I don't know." "Maybe you're right, Adam." "Maybe it's a good idea that she gets away for a while." "Get up." "I'm sure it'll be for the best." "I'll drop by in a couple of days and we'll talk." "Oh, Adam, you've got my gun." "That's right, I have." "Well, I'd like it back." "Sure." "(door opens)" "You want to see Monk Hartley-- why?" "I'll tell Monk Hartley." "You watched me ride up here..." "you know me." "A man don't read wanted posters doesn't know who you are." "You're wanted for robbery, murder." "Reward's $5,000 now, ain't it?" "Would you like to try and collect that $5,000?" "I want a deal with you." "I'm listening." "You've got a lot of law looking for you and your crew." "You got no place to hide." "I got a place to hide and no crew." "Where is this place to hide?" "Right here on this ranch." "See, I fired all my hands." "I need new hands to do the work." "I'm a respected man." "No one would ever believe that I was hiring wanted men or keeping a killer." "Keep talking." "Gold and silver bullion move on a stage road less than a day's ride from here." "I can name six banks within three days' ride." "You ain't told me nothing new yet." "Can you shortcut across the Ponderosa in broad daylight to get to that stage road?" "Well, it'd sure save a lot of time, but, uh..." "I don't know anybody can get away with it." "I can." "That's something new for you, now ain't it?" "Sure is." "Right under ol' Ben Cartwright's nose." "All right, boys, you can relax now." "Looks like we've found us a home." "You mean this place here?" "I mean this place here." "Now, stable all the horses." "We're going to be here a while." "Adam, I've known Ross as long as I've known you." "Done a lot of business with him, like him fine." "You couldn't find a better man till two, three months ago." "Then he just went sour." "Well, Mr. Beatty, I thought maybe if he were having money troubles again, I could help him." "Late last fall, there was reason to worry." "That ranch of his nearly went under." "I know." "Lost most of his young stock to the blackleg." "You remember that." "Yeah, the Ponderosa lost its share, too." "Tried to help him then, but you know Ross, how proud he is." "He didn't need help, apparently." "After he changed his brand to the Silver Dollar, his luck changed." "Bought up new stock with money he said he got from the East." "Came on fine." "He's solvent now, got a nice balance here at the bank." "Well, that makes it tough." "If it were money problems again, it'd be easy to cure." "Ross was never what I would call a religious man, but when he stopped attending services, I was concerned." "How long ago was this, Joe?" "Late fall." "I went to the Silver Dollar ranch to talk to him about it." "He didn't welcome me." "I don't understand, he always liked you." "He didn't that time." "Adam, I hate to say this, but..." "I was thrown out of the house bodily." "What?" "Well, he seemed to enjoy the offense against the Church, the, uh, desecration, if we can call it that." "I don't know what to say." "Ross isn't like that." "He's..." "Joe, do you have any idea what might be wrong?" "I mean... is there anything that we could do?" "Adam, I think of the force we call the Devil as... as a sickness that comes to the human soul." "I think of evil as a... well, as a symptom of that sickness, like fever or pain." "And I think of hell as the death that results from that kind of sickness." "A sort of spiritual oblivion." "You think he's sick?" "I believe the sickness has come to the soul of Ross Marquette." "And I believe his soul is sickened almost to the death with it." "Prayer may alleviate suffering, and God, in his infinite mercy, may speed the end, but, Adam..." "I don't think there's any other cure for a soul as sick as his." "He talks the same as you and me, he looks the same." "Do you think he's insane?" "From what I've told you?" "When a man behaves the way Ross is behaving, you can certainly say he's unbalanced to some degree, but to what degree?" "It's as if he's gone through a dark gate, and, as yet, we have no key to that gate." "All we know is that... if he goes too far, there's no return." "Paul, it seems to me the time to help him is before he goes too far." "Isn't there something a doctor can do?" "No." "But doctors are beginning to ask themselves that question more and more." "A lot of us believe that insanity is a mental illness... can be cured with the proper treatment." "Someday someone will find the cause, and the key to that dark gate, but the day is not yet." "Now all we can do for an insane person is to take his clothes away from him;" "lock him behind barred windows;" "let him stare or rave his life away." "(sighs)" "Or wait until he kills somebody, and send him to the gallows." "That, or cut him down with gunfire." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Here she comes, Monk, $30,000 in gold bullion." "Hyah!" "Yeah, that bullion's well guarded." "Four men ain't too many for you to kill." "One man's too many to kill." "You killed more than that." "Never wanting to." "There's the difference." "Maybe that is a difference, Monk." "You think I'll be satisfied with $30,000 in gold bullion?" "Well, what will you be satisfied with?" "For a starter... the Ponderosa." "Pretty big ambition." "That still don't mean we got to kill those men." "And if we don't, they'll recognize us." "That means we'll hang sooner or later." "I'm not in the habit of taking chances; we cover our faces." "I've already bought my ticket to the gallows." "You stay here, out of sight." "Okay, we go." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "(gunshots)" "Whoa!" "(gunshots)" "The bullion's all we want." "You men keep your hands in the air, and you'll live to tell about it." "You, throw that box down on the ground." "(gunshot)" "(gunshot, horse neighs)" " (two gunshots) - (grunts)" "(two gunshots)" "(gunshot)" "(horse neighs)" "You hurt bad, Monk?" "Yeah, I'm hurt." "I don't know how you got hit that way." " Why, you wasn't even turned..." " He's hit, that's enough!" "Ain't no time to be standing around talking." "Now you and Billy unpack that bullion." "Take the Sandy Creek trail to the forks." "Then come into my place after dark from the east." "I'll take Monk in the shortest way." "What about it, Monk?" "Come on, help me get him on his horse." " Easy with him." "Easy with him." " Come on." "That's as far as you go, Monk." "I ain't finished yet." "You may not know it, but you're finished." "You're the one that shot me." "I shot the driver to start the hurrah, then I shot you." "I don't need you anymore, Monk." "All I need's a crew." "You wouldn't ride off and leave me, would you?" "Might take me a couple days to die." "Give me a shove." "Sure, Monk... (cocks gun)" "I'll give you a shove." "(footsteps approaching)" "Hi, Del." "Adam, I thought you were still on the roundup." "No, we needed more supplies, so I elected myself to come and get 'em." "Well, I see you've been keeping busy since you got here." "It's better that way." "Gives me less time to think." "It's almost finished." "What you been doing, working day and night?" "Well, almost." "Think you'll find the house a lot cleaner, too." "Well, now, it wasn't dirty." "Maybe it wasn't dirty to a bunch of big hulks like you Cartwrights." "Adam, I have to know:" "have you heard anything about Ross?" "No, not a word." "Well, it's-it's been a week." "I'm worried." "Oh, now stop it, Del." "You've been worrying and fussing about him since the first night you met him." "I wonder what he's doing." "He's probably branding calves." "I rode by on my way here." "Was there anybody there?" "No, but all that gear in the bunkhouse says he's got men working for him again." "I expect they're out on the range." "Anyway, they should be." "There's a lot of work to be done." "Adam, don't you think I should go back there?" "Isn't that my place, really?" "I think you ought to wait a couple of days." "He's working again." "That's a good sign." "He hasn't come here looking for trouble." "That's a good sign." "No, things are getting along fine." "I don't think we ought to hurry it." "You'd think he'd at least send some word." "Well, I expect he's feeling just a little bit ashamed just now." "Ah, Del, let's stop this stewing." "You know, what you need is a breath of fresh air." "Now, why don't you get in some riding clothes, and I'll saddle up a horse." "A ride up to the butte and back will make a new woman out of you." "Adam, you don't know how I'd love to get out of the house for a little while." "All right, then you're gonna do exactly that." "Come on." "Now get going." "♪♪" "Didn't think that old plug of yours would ever get here." "This old plug got a rock in his foot." "You are a big liar." "You wanted me to come up here alone." "Well, what's wrong with that?" "A view like this should be looked at the first time alone." "One thing's sure, anybody down at the mouth should see it." "Wouldn't stay down at the mouth long." "It's very beautiful, Adam." "ADAM:" "Yep, see halfway to Boston on a clear day." "I believe you could do just that." "It's gettin' pretty near sundown." "I think you've had enough of this." "We better be getting along." "You suppose you could keep up with me on the way back?" "Well, now why don't you just take a nice long lead and I'll show you." "Come on!" "Come on!" "That rangy bull almost cost us a saddle, boss." "BEN:" "Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard to fix up." "Better get Sam to make up three or four new ones, anyhow." "Yeah, it's pretty near falling apart now." "Okay, set 'er up." "Pa, did you find any more of those changed-over brands?" "I'm afraid so, son." "About half a dozen." "Sheriff ought to be along pretty soon." "Yeah, I saw some trail dust back over in the west." "I reckon that's probably him and Joe now." "Yeah, expect so." "Mike says he saw Adam coming up Coyote Canyon." "He ought to be along pretty soon, too." "Yeah." "You-you gonna tell Adam about the brands?" "I don't know how I can keep it from him." "Yeah." "I'd just as soon hit him in the face with a gun butt." "What kind of roundup is this?" "More people than cows." "Well, you're not too far wrong, son." " Roy." "Adam." "Dooley." "What are you doing here?" "Got some bad news for you." "We come out of this roundup about 500 head short of what we should have had." "We finally figured out where they went." "Hoss, hand me our brand." "That's a Ponderosa brand." "Hoss, give me the Silver Dollar brand." "I'm gonna show you where our cattle went." "BEN:" "When Ross Marquette said he bought a new herd with Eastern money when he lost his young stock to the blackleg... he didn't buy a new herd, he just changed his brand to the Silver Dollar and stole a herd from the Ponderosa." "I don't believe it." "I can't believe it." "Adam, I'm gonna add to your troubles." "In fact, I'm just about gonna kill you." "Now, I've been riding from sunup to sundown for days now, trying to cut the trail of the men who killed the guards and the driver and took that shipment of bullion." "I haven't been able to find a track-- nary a one." "But now I believe I know why." "I didn't check out the Silver Dollar ranch." "Ross isn't a killer." "You know better than that." "Wife beater, cattle thief-- can murder be far from those?" "I'm not accusing Ross, you understand." "I just want a long talk with him and a close look at that ranch of his." "Go with me, Ben?" "You know I will." "Mike, you and Forbes finish up here." "Leave the riding stock, we'll come back after them." "But take the chuck wagon in." "Joe, Hoss, you ride with me." "Right, Pa." "Adam, you go back to the ranch." "We're enough without you." "You give him a chance to talk." "Every chance." "You know that, son." "If it was me, I believe I'd be worried about Marquette's wife." "You know, man helped kill four men." "He'll liable to do almost anything." "Del!" "Delphine!" " Delphine!" "Adam... (weakly):" "Adam?" "Oh, no." "Adam." "Adam." "It was Ross." "He... he broke in." "He..." "He..." "He did this to me." "Where-where is he?" "Where'd he go?" "I don't know." "Adam, why did he do this?" "He was... trying to kill..." "You-You're gonna be all right, Del." "Adam..." "Can't take much more of that man." "He likes killing and all too much for me." "I ain't never seen a beat of it." "And don't you think he wouldn't turn on you and me just as quick as he did Monk, too." "You ain't seen me turn my back on him, have you?" "No, you're too smart for that." "(hoofbeats approaching)" "That must be him now." "Him and his woman." "Maybe... maybe not." "We might as well go up the house and get him now." "I want to make sure first." "That's a posse." "That's the law." "Don't look like there's anybody around." "They might be inside." "They're coming after us, Sam." "They're gonna hang us." "They're gonna hang us!" "Shut up." "Let me think." "Well, we've gotta kill 'em!" "We've got to kill them first, don't you see?" "!" "They're gonna hang us!" "As sure as anything, they're gonna string us up!" "(gunfire)" "Now you blowed it!" "(softly):" "Dooley." "(louder):" "Dooley, you all right?" "I'm gonna check him, Pa." "Joe..." "Durn kids." "He's dead, Pa." "(gunshot)" "BEN:" "Joe, Hoss, you take care, now." "(gunshot)" "Poor old Dooley." "He had a ma to take care of." "Who's gonna tell her?" "(pistol cocking)" "Come on, stay down." "You in the bunkhouse, this is the law." "You come out with your hands in the air." "I hope he didn't have no ma." "You in there, now there's no way of getting loose." "You'd best come out while you're able." "Don't shoot!" "I'm coming out!" "Don't shoot!" "ROY:" "Now, come on." "Throw that gun out first." "Don't shoot!" "Anybody else in there?" "No, no." "No, I'm by myself." "I'm the last one--I swear it!" "Joe, be careful." "I didn't want to kill him." "He made me do it!" "I didn't want to kill him, I swear!" "I didn't want to kill him!" "What are you gonna do?" "He wasn't lying, Pa." "He's the last one in there." "There must be a safer way to find out." "Come on, on your feet." "Come on, on your feet!" "Now, where's Ross?" "I don't know." "Where is he?" "!" "MAN: he's around here somewhere, somewhere close." "I don't know just where." "Where'd he go?" "!" "He went to the Ponderosa to get his woman." " That's all I know." " Delphine." "She's there alone, Pa." "♪♪" "♪♪" "♪♪" "(rifle cocking)" "♪♪" "♪♪" "ROSS:" "Drop that gun!" "Turn around slow." "I've been looking for you, Ross." "Who are you?" "It's me, Ross--Adam." "You're one of them's been chasing me." "Everybody's chasing me!" "Ross, nobody's chasing" "Don't you move!" "One more move, and I'll kill you." "I don't want nobody pushing me around!" "Ross, I just saw Delphine." "You're not gonna stop me!" "Nobody's gonna stop me!" "Ross, I want to help." "I warned you!" "Adam?" "Oh, am I glad to see you." "I don't know what happened." "I'm hurt." "Easy, boy." "Something happened to me." "It sure hurts." "(gasps)" "You've got to get..." "get me back to the ranch." "My fifth wedding anniversary is coming up." "Delphine will have my scalp if I'm not there." "Your anniversary was ten months ago." "Oh, you're joshing me." "It's not for two weeks yet." "Oh..." "Oh, it sure hurt, Adam." "What happened to me?" "Why am I here?" "You went away for a while." "You just got back." "Oh..." "I'm sliding away, Adam." "I..." "I'm cold." "Hang on to me, Adam." "Where am I going?" "Huh?" "To Delphine." "She's waiting for you." "I got your hand, boy." "Adam..." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Adam, you... you had to do it." "There just wasn't no other way." "Those last few minutes he was just like we always knew him." "He was with a friend, then, wasn't he?" "He didn't die a stranger." "ANNOUNCER:" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."