"There he is." "There's the stallion." "That's War Winds." "Beautiful." "That's my daughter riding him." "Leslie." "Leslie's my daughter." "She's riding him." "Doctor, that sure is a beautiful animal." "Yes." "Well, we'll get to the horses first thing in the morning." "Right now you're coming up to the house and get ready for dinner." "So you're from Nevada, Mr. Beckwith?" "Texas, Mama." " Oh, yes." "Texas, Mr. Beckwith?" " Yes, ma'am, Texas." " Benedict's the name." " Oh, yes." " Oh, you're here about the horses, aren't you?" " Yes, ma'am." "I came here to buy your stallion, War Winds." "That is, if your daughter don't mind too much." "In all likelihood, our Leslie will be leaving us soon in any case." "Hmm?" "Sir David is with the embassy in Washington and he's being called back to England." "Will she like it there, do you think?" " She's going to marry him?" " Well..." "Mother." "Let me sell Mr. Benedict War Winds." "I can tell you all his bad points." "For one thing, he eats too much." "Doesn't he, Papa?" "But you see, it's either War Winds or me." "Something has to go." "Now, Leslie, you know very well that horse is just too spirited for any woman to ride." "I know, Miss Leslie, that your horse is gonna miss you and all this green country but I'll make him feel right at home in Texas." "Isn't Texas green, Mr. Benedict?" "Well, no, ma'am." "Not altogether." "You must tell us about Texas, Mr. Benedict." "Well, ma'am, it's not that easy." "Um..." "It's different than any other state I think." "At least that's what we think." "But it's almost a different country." "Hmm, from an Englishman's point of view the mere size of it takes your breath away." "It's big, all right." "And how large are your ranches?" "Almost every size." "Large, small." "Mr. Benedict's Reata is one of the largest of them all." "Oh, really?" "Well, just how large is that?" "Oh, it's one of the biggest." " Hmm." " How big is that?" "Well, there's one or two others as big, I suppose, up where we come from." "One or two others a bit larger down on the coastal plains." "Heh." "But come, now, Mr. Benedict, can't you be more specific?" "Well, what's the size of your place?" "Fifty thousand, 20,000 acres?" "Around a half a million." "Five hundred and ninety-five thousand acres, to be exact." "Ha, ha." "I'd call that quite a parcel." "How many acres did you say, Mr. Benedict?" "He said 595,000 acres, Mama." "And you should see the greedy look on your face." "Witness excused." "Won't you join us at the Hunt Ball, Mr. Benedict?" "I'm sure you'll enjoy it." "Oh, no, thank you anyhow, Miss Leslie." " I'm afraid I'd look good there in this outfit." " Ha, ha." "I like your country." "Why don't you stay on a while, really see something of it?" "Roundup time in my country." "Big spring roundup." "Your country?" "Reata." "Your country, my country." "Jordan, you make us sound so far apart." "Maybe you could come out and see it when you get a chance." " Leslie..." " Leslie, dear." " Miss Leslie." " Leslie?" "I guess I'll be off real early in the morning, so goodbye." "I'm really awfully glad you came." "And I'm not going to say goodbye to you here in the moonlight." "It would just be too touching." "Good night." "Oh-ho." "Texas." "Are you in love with him?" "Yes, I think so." "Now, will you do me a favor and run along to bed?" " Leslie?" " Good night." "If you're not going to marry David Karfrey will you give him to me?" "Yes." "Now, good night." "As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Lynnton, it's a deal." " Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money." " He sure is a lot of horse." "Let's have some breakfast and get going." "Hello." " Why, Leslie." " Good morning." "Good morning." "Well, you don't look as if you've been dancing all night, Miss Leslie." "I came home at a quarter to 11." "And I read about Texas until 5 this morning." "Oh, Leslie, let the poor boy eat his breakfast in peace." "Ma'am, that takes a heap of reading, Texas does." "We really stole Texas, didn't we, Mr. Benedict?" "I mean, away from Mexico." "You're catching me a bit early to start joking." "But I'm not joking." "It's all there in the history books, isn't it?" "This man, Mr. Austin, came down with about 300 families, it says." "The next thing you know, they're up and claiming it from Mexico." "But, Leslie..." "Why, I never heard anything as ignorant..." "Oh, please, Jordan." "I'm speaking impersonally, about history." "You all think that the glory happened here in the East..." " ...with Valley Forge and Bunker Hill." " Oh, Jordan...." "Do you know about San Jacinto?" "Have you heard about the Alamo?" "Well, certainly." "I read about them all last night." "I didn't mean to be impolite." "But it's so new to me." "I just mean..." "It's just all so new." "And so fascinating." "Leslie, you mustn't talk that way to a Texan." "They feel very strongly about their state." "He shouldn't take it so hard." "Jordan, you would think somebody had spoiled you terribly." "Your wife or something." "I haven't any wife." "I live with my sister." "Why aren't you married, Jordan?" "Leslie, first you attack a man's country, and now you try to pry into his family life." "Thank you, doctor." " Good morning." " Good morning." " Good morning, Lacey." " Good morning, Papa." "How are we doing?" "We'll have to be getting along soon, Jordan, if you're going to make your train." " Well, good morning, everybody." " Good morning, Nancy." "Good morning, dear." "Good morning, Mr. Benedict." "Oh, isn't it a beautiful morning?" "Leslie, if Mr. Benedict has finished his breakfast why don't you show him the stables?" "We have just quarreled in a polite way about Texas." " There's no use trying to pawn me off on him." " Oh." "And anyway, Mother, Mr. Benedict is probably engaged to marry the daughter at the adjoining ranch who, though beautiful, is comparatively poor and only has 200,000 acres and half a million cows." "Oh, heh." "Is she, um, pretty?" "Ma'am?" "We must hurry." "Mr. Benedict and I will have to be leaving now." "Oh." "Goodbye, everybody." "Benedict." "Who, may I ask, is the lucky young lady that you're going to marry?" "With all those cows." "Benedict." "I'll get the car." " Funny thing, ma'am." " Yes?" " My neighbor is a girl." " Oh?" " Vashti Hake." " Hmm." "Maybe there was some talk of my marrying her, but I'm not." "Come along, Benedict, if you want to catch that train." "Oh." "It all sounds so romantic." "Come along, David." "You're for me." "What's that, a wolf?" "No, honey." "Just a little old coyote." "Oh." "Don't you think you've done enough sightseeing for a while?" "Tell me as soon as we're in Texas." "That's Texas you been looking at, honey." "For the last eight hours." "I don't know how other brides feel on their honeymoon, Mr. Benedict, sir but I'm having a lovely time." "You can't say it's been dull, honey." "That is, um, so far, anyway." "Wake up, honey." "We're here, honey." "We're where?" "Oh." "Hello." "Good morning." "Is that Texas?" "It's Benedict, honey." "It's where we ship from." "These people never learn." "I'm Mrs. Benedict." "Oh." "That means "Welcome the newlyweds." Gracias, Angel." "Oh." "Gracias." "Gracias, gracias." "Let's go, Leslie." "And what is your name?" "Angel." "Angel Obregon." "Oh, my, that's a beautiful name." "Gracias, Angel Obregon." "Come on, Leslie, it's 50 miles to coffee." "This is it, honey." "This is your home." "But it's huge." "I thought it was a ranch house." "My old man built it to show the cotton crowd that cattlemen were just as high-powered as they were." "Why, it's enormous, just for two of us." "Luz lives here with me." "With us." "She's run the house ever since Ma passed on." "Some say she even runs the ranch." "Gracias." "Gracias." "Take it easy, Leslie." " What are your names?" " Lupe." " Petra, señora." " Lupe?" "Petra?" " Gracias, Lupe." "Gracias, Petra." " Gracias, señora." "Leslie." " You can't behave like that." " What do you mean, behave?" "Down here, making a fuss over those people." "You're a Texan now." "Well, is that a state of mind?" "I'm still myself." "You're my wife, honey." "You're a Benedict." "I still have a mind of my own." "Elsewhere, being gracious is acceptable." "We're gracious, but..." "Fine thing, standing here quarreling the rice still in our hair." "Oh, it's so nice and cool." "Luz." "Heh." "I thought somebody was hurt." "We, uh, didn't know you was there." "Well, we're home." "We're here." "Been looking for you for weeks." "We weren't expected to be back sooner, were we?" "Well, with all this spring work to be done." "Roundup." "I didn't figure Bick would stay away." "Well, if I miss roundup every time I have a honeymoon..." " ..." "I wouldn't be missing much, would I?" " Ha, ha." "I thought I fired him off this place." "Hey, Jett." "Where do you think you're going with my automobile?" "Just hold on." "Don't go taking off on me." "That old truck broke down again." "Just simmer down." "You want me going down the road?" "That's exactly what I was gonna do." "But she said to me, "You stay on here and do your work."" "Next time I tell you to get, you get." "Jordan and Jett are everlasting jangling about something." "Excuse me." "Tell Madama." "She's the one that told it to me." "That's right." "With you away, we needed the help." "You know how scared they are of her." "They're scared to death of her." "You know that." "Every one of them except me and you." " You just tend to your work." " Tell me who's the boss around here." "I'll be glad to do anything they want me to do." "Just tell me who's the boss and, uh..." "Jett, this is Bick's new wife." "Leslie, this boy here is Jett Rink." " Hello." " Works for us." "You'd better get going, Jett." "Get that truck fixed." "Ain't nobody king in this country." "Ain't nobody, no matter what they might be thinking." "Sorry, honey." "Things go loco around here every time I'm away." " Remember the time at the big rodeo?" " Yeah." "Old Kale Beebe blew in higher than a kite slept on the sofa down there in Bick's office." "He must've rode nightmares all night." "He cut the couch to ribbons with his spurs." "This here is Bick's room." "This down here is your room, honey." " Ha, ha." " Ha, ha." "Look, uh..." "Luz, uh, we're married." "Well, you know how that is." "We, uh..." "We'll take these two connecting rooms here." "Make that into a sitting room where we can sort of sit and talk where the breeze can get at us." "Yeehaw!" " Howdy." " Oh." "Petra's got your breakfast ready." "You and Jordan have had breakfast already?" "Sure, Bick and me, we have our coffee and talk every morning of our lives at 5:00." "Trying to get things rounded up for the day." "Oh, I..." "I thought I was going riding with him to the roundup." "It would have been too hot for you." "I told him so." "Oh." "Petra, bring it in here." "You gotta watch out for that sun." "It's rough." "Sit down." "Your blood's too thin." "That's the trouble with a lot of Easterners." "Thank you, Petra." "Gracias." "Gracias." "Oh, I'm fine, Luz." "I'm a lot tougher, perhaps, than you think I am." "Me I never had a sick day in my life." "Except when I got throwed and tromped on." "All you gotta do is take it easy." "This rich Texas air will fix you up." "And don't you worry none about being lonesome." "I'm gonna round up the neighbors." "You're gonna meet some folks." "Yes, indeedy." "You're gonna meet some folks." "This is Mr. and Mrs. Bale Clinch." " Bick, it's about time." " Howdy, Bale." "Howdy, ma'am." "I'd like you to meet my wife, Adarene." "I'm mighty pleased to meet you." " Howdy, Adarene." " Howdy, Bick." "This is our Judge Whiteside." "How do you do?" "We sure are proud to have you here." "Bick, congratulations." " Might happy for you, boy." "She sure is pretty." " I think so." " Eula Japes." " Glad to meet you, ma'am." " Howdy." " Good to see you." " This is Miss Wortan." " Howdy, Leslie." "I'm mighty happy to meet you." " Howdy." " Hello, Bick." " And Fernie Clang." " Miss Leslie, we're so glad to have you with us." " You've really done well for yourself." " Thank you, Fernie." "Hey, Fernie." "Leslie." "You're gonna meet the neighbor I told you about." "My next-door neighbor?" "Only lives 50 miles from here, with all those cows?" "Vashti." "I'd like you to meet my wife." "Hello, Vashti." "So nice to meet you." "Jordan's told me so much about you." "Mighty glad to know you, Mrs. Jordan Benedict." "I'm awfully glad we're neighbors." "And I hope we'll be real close friends." " Hi, Bick." " Well, howdy, Pinky." "Hello, Mrs. Benedict." "My name is Mort Snythe." "They call me Pinky." " Bick." " Yeah?" "You, Bick." "Come here." "What do you want?" "Excuse me, ma'am." " We'll be seeing you." " All right." " This will perk you up." " Oh, thank you." "Folks, I propose a toast to a daughter of old Maryland that's blooming into a citizen of the Lone Star State." " To the bride." " To the bride." " You all right, honey?" " Oh, I'm fine, thank you." "There's more than one bride here today." "How's that, Vashti?" "Mort Snythe and I were married yesterday in Hermosa." "Leave the boy alone." "I want to kiss him." " I guess that leaves only me." " Aw, Luz." "Why, everybody in the county knows you'd rather herd cattle than make love." "Yeah, well, one thing you gotta say for cattle." "Boy, you put your brand on one of them, you're gonna know where it's at." "Come and get it!" "Or I'll throw it in the creek." "It's the best food you ever ate, honey." "It's real Mexican barbacoa." "It's where we get the word "barbecue."" "What is that?" "Calf's head." "We take it and wrap it in clean white cloth and then wrap it tight in canvas and put it down in a pit of hot mesquite coals." "It stays down there 18 hours, and boy, them brains are sure sweet." "How fascinating." "Honey, I don't think I'm really terribly hungry." "It must be the heat." "You call this hot?" "Wait till July." "Eat it while it's hot." "What's the matter with her?" "That's what I was afraid of." "Leslie?" "Good morning, Luz." "What you doing up?" "Getting breakfast." "Look, Luz." "I think there's something that we should get in the clear and in the open." "I don't want to take your place." "I want you to know that." "But I can't have you taking my place either." "I can't be just a guest in my husband's house." " There you are." " Good morning, darling." " How do you feel?" " Fine." "Ah, you look fine." "I want everybody to know, no matter what happens around this ranch in the future I am never going to faint again." "Well I'll never get the hang of you, Mrs. Benedict." "Horse like that, that cost you a lot of money I'd use for breeding." "I wouldn't let anybody ride him." "I don't care if she's your wife or who she is." "Bick, I'd see she rides a more gentle animal if I was you." "She's gonna fall off and break her neck." "That's Old Polo." "He's head vaquero." "He's been here longer than any of us, I guess since Grandpa Benedict's time." "Look at them, honey." "There's never been anything like them in this world, I can tell you." "Did you ever see such stock?" " Are they all ours?" " Yeah." "These and 49,000 others just like them." "Granddaddy and his boys used to drive his longhorns right through here, all the way to Kansas." " Imagine." " Yeah." "Yeah, he was a pretty good old boy." "I mean, he was tough too." "My old man brought stock from Europe and bred them to the best we had." "Look out, you loco..." "This right here is the result, honey." "Look at them." "How you doing?" "Whew." " Tired, huh?" " Now, don't you worry about me." "I'm a tough Texan now." "You know I love you, Tex." "Hello, Luz." "Hi, everybody." "Jett, hold on a minute." "I want you to take Mrs. Benedict back in with you." " Honey, you go along with Jett." " Honey, I'm fine, really." "There's no use overdoing it." "Go along with Jett." "Good morning, Jett." "You take it easy, Jett." "I don't want to chew on this, Bick but I think we'd better get it straight." "I run the house, don't I?" "Her house, her kitchen, her help." " She don't even speak Spanish." " Oh, they understand plenty English." "I know how to handle Mexicans." "Doing it all my life." "They'd sit on their honkers all day..." " ...if I didn't keep after them." " All right, Luz." "Cool off." "Well, I thought we ought to talk without her around." "I just don't want to feel that you're setting up against me, Bick." "Nobody is setting up against you, Luz." "That gal is my wife." "And you're fair enough, I think to try and get along with her." "All right, I..." "I'll catch me up a horse and help push the stock along for a while." " Maybe it'll make me feel better." " All right." "If you gotta push something." "When I get enough, I'll ride on in." "Why did you come to Texas?" "Well, I mean, seems like everybody else is trying to get away from here." "Me, I'm gonna get out of here one of these days." "This is my husband's land." "This is his home." "Who gets ahold of this much land unless they took it off somebody else?" "You're not exactly loyal to your employer, are you, Jett?" "No, sir, I'm not complaining." "I'm not complaining." "They bought this land long ago." "Benedicts." " They got it through purchase years ago." " They took it off a bunch of Mexicans." "Why, that's not true, Jett." "They bought and traded for Spanish land grants." "Paid for it, all right." "They paid 5 cents an acre." "I know my folks is here in Texas long enough to get rich too." "Except they just weren't so foxy." "Leave it on, boy." "I'll ride him." "Nobody ride him but the señora." "Been riding what I want to here for 30 years." "He buck off Lopez." "If he bucks me down, he won't be the first one that's done it." "I suppose you came out here to show me how to run things too." "Let's go." "Now, I'm not too awful bad now." "I got a few friends." "Madama likes me." "And old Bick, now even old Bick he likes me a little bit." "Well, now, but they don't like me quite enough to kind of divvy up what they got way too much of." "You are an odd one, aren't you, Jett?" "But I like you." "I like you too." "I guess you're about the best-looking gal we've seen around here in a long time." "I think the prettiest one I think I've seen down here." "Why, thank you, Jett." "That's a very nice compliment." "And I'm gonna tell my husband of that, with your approval." "Oh, well, now, I..." "I wouldn't do that." "Well..." "No, I..." "Whew." "No, I wouldn't do that." "Beautiful Reata." "Tsk." "Them's your neighbors live there." " Who?" " Them kids there." "Them's your ranch people." "Them's Angel Obregon's kids." "That's the man that met us at the train." "They're sure in good shape, ain't they?" "Whole bunch of them sick." " What's the matter with them?" " I don't know, just sick." "Every one of them." "Wait a minute." "I want to get out here." "Well, I wouldn't do that if I was you." "Wait." "You are the boss." "And you know it too, don't you?" " May I come in?" " Enter." "I'm Mrs. Benedict." "Perdóneme that I do not rise." "The baby is sick." "My milk is not good." "Poor darling." "Have you seen a doctor?" "Doctor..." "He is too far to come." "Say, Miss Leslie?" "I think we better be getting on." "This baby is extremely ill." "Well, you're not supposed to be in there." "It's..." "Try not to worry, Mrs. Obregon." "I'll be back soon." "Old Bick's gonna blow a gasket." "What is it?" "What's happened to him?" "What's wrong?" "Where in the world have you been?" "Good Lord, I've been looking for you too." "What happened to her?" "We stopped by the village." "What happened?" "Just awful." "I don't know." "She was riding War Winds." "She got thrown or something." "What does the doctor say?" "Bad." "She hit her head on a mesquite stump." "She's been riding since she was 6." "She could ride anything." "And now this happens." "How is she?" "She's in a state of shock." "Very serious." "Concussion, possible hemorrhage." "I'm doing all I can do." "I called Dr. Borneholm, got him on the phone." "He ought to be along any minute now." "Doctor?" "If I only hadn't bought that horse." "Don't blame yourself, Jordan." "If I hadn't, she'd be alive right now." "Don't blame yourself." "This is a great misfortune but no one's to blame." "Yeah." "Things happen." " Dr. Walker?" " Mrs. Benedict, this is Dr. Borneholm." "How do you do?" "Bick, I sure wish I could have made it for Luz." "Dr. Walker did everything he could, I assure you of that." "I know." "Thank you." "Dr. Walker, there's more for you to do, I'm afraid." "Mrs. Obregon's baby is very sick." "His temperature must be at least 105." "Will you stop by, please?" "Mrs. Obregon?" "In the village." "Jett will take you." "I'll go with you myself, doctor." "Leslie." "What is this?" "He can't do that." "He can't go there." "He's our doctor." " Our doctor?" " Yeah." "You mean the Benedicts' only?" "No, I mean all of us." "He don't tend those people." "They have a way of doing things by themself." "How'd she get there, Jett?" "Oh, don't go climbing onto me." "I don't feel none too good about it." "Jordan, darling, I don't think you quite understand." "There's a child who's very sick." "I must take Dr. Walker." "You'll go, won't you, doctor?" "I'll be back just as soon as I can, darling." "I'm a lot better, honey." "That's a good boy." "Where's my horse?" "I shot him." "Bone was broken." "Somebody had to do it." "Thought it'd be better if it was me." "The baby?" "Alive." "Thanks to Dr. Walker." "Good." "Bick." "Excuse me, but we've gotta have you in here for a few minutes, if you can break away." "Jordan." "Say, Bick, you're sure holding up fine." "It's times like this that folks really show what they're made of, and you're holding up fine." " Mrs. Benedict, bye-bye." " Oh, goodbye." "Vern and me thought a lot of Luz, Mrs. Benedict." "But I guess everybody did." "Yeah, at least everybody came." "Biggest gathering for a funeral I ever saw in Texas." "Mm." "Shame Luz wasn't here to enjoy it." "Well, I mean, she always did like a big get-together and everything." "Heh." "She'd have had a fine time." " Well, bye." " Goodbye." " Come see us." " Thank you, bye-bye." "Come see us." "Jordan I think you'll agree with me that your sister was a very generous woman." "She wanted that boy to have something something worthwhile." "Now that little piece of land is worth, oh, 5- 600 dollars at most." "I'm going to ask you, in reverence to the memory of Luz Benedict I'm going to ask you to give one Jett Rink a check for twice the value of that land." "We can clean up the whole matter right now." "Jett, come on inside." "I want to talk to you." "Now, just a minute here, Bick." "Afraid I'm gonna beat you to it." "I'm quitting." "I lost the one friend I had in this place, and I know it too." "So I quit." "I'm dead quit." "Don't have to say another word to me." "Nobody's firing you, Jett." "Boy, howdy, nobody's firing me." "I told you, I quit." "Nobody wants to fire you." "Now, just come on inside and listen to what we have to say." "Come on in here, Jett." "Come on in here, boy." "Heh." " Hi, Jett." "Nice to see you." " Hi." " Howdy." "Good to see you." " Howdy." "Have my seat here, boy." "Sit right down." "Sure looking good today." "Sit down, Jett." "Gonna tell you about a little piece of luck's come your way." "Sit down, young man, sit down and make yourself comfortable." "It's a real bad wind that doesn't blow somebody some good." "Amen." "Jett, I don't guess I have to tell you Luz was a woman of strong sentimental feeling." "She prepared a list of things that she wanted to give the people on Reata." "Yes, we find that she wanted to..." "Heh." "Well, that is we find that her bequest to you is in the nature of a little piece of ground." "It's that little piece we used to call "Buffalo Wallow."" "Now..." "She wanted to give you something." "I know she did." "It's always been my aim to kind of keep Reata intact, within the family." "Now, that little piece is worth hmm, at the most..." "How much, Bale?" "At the most, 5- or 600 dollars, Bick." "Yes, now, um, Mr. Benedict, wanting to honor his sister's wishes and, of course, right along with his own personal feeling for you now, he wants to see to it that you get something really worthwhile." "Well, now, to get right down to the point, Mr. Rink we're prepared to place in your hands in cash the sum of $1200." " Yes, sir." "Ha, ha." " Boy." "Twelve hundred dollars which any of these gentlemen here, I'm sure they'll be happy to tell you..." " ...it's twice the value of that land." " Definitely." "At least." "Twice the value of that land." "That's a lot of money, Jett." "What are you aiming to do with all of it?" "You're in the chips now, boy." "There it is." "There it is, boy." "Ha, ha." " And it's all yours." "Ha, ha." " Sure is." "I don't know what to say." "Ha, ha." "She was a fine lady." "Yes, she was a fine lady." "Hallelujah." "Amen." "Amen." "And I..." "I want to..." "I want you to know that I appreciate her, uh, generosity." "And yours too, Bick." "And you all." "I sure do want to thank you for it." "You know something, Bick?" "Ahem." "I don't know, but what it just might not be a pretty good idea to gamble along with old Madama." "How do you mean?" "Just gamble along." "Just keep what she give me." "I'm sentimental too, Bick." "I just think that it's good to gamble along with her." "I know that land ain't worth much but then, someday I just might up and put my own fence around her." "Call her "Little Reata."" "See you." "There's only one thing more important than money, and that's land." "Why, I've heard Luz say it a thousand times." "Pa said it, and Bick Benedict says it." "And it's true." "You ever get up to Deaf Smith, you come and pay us a visit." "We're just on the outside of Umbarger." "Only a little bitty piece, only we had a run of luck." "Only?" "Well, a gusher come in last year." " How wonderful." " Right now it's bringing in a million." " A million gallons?" " Dollars." " A million dollars a year?" " Million dollars a month." " Oh, a month." " Goodbye." " Thanks for treating us right." " Thank you for coming." "I just love talking to you, Uncle Bawley." "Now that it's over, you get that fellow of yours to take you around and show you our country." "See San Antonio Dallas and Houston." "I'm so impatient." "I want to see it all right now." "You don't have to hurry, honey." "It'll be here when you get around to it." "Been here a long time." "And once you see it all, and have lived with it as I have well, let's say 25 years from now, you'll feel about Texas just like I do." " Twenty-five years from now." " Mm-hm." "Twenty-five years from now, I'll be almost 50." "It's a nice age, Leslie." "You'll see wonderful things in Texas when you're 50." "Perhaps." "But I won't care as much then." "You will care more." " Because then..." " Hey, Bawley." "...you'll have been part of it all." " Come on, we need you in the powwow." " Coming." "Judge, how's it shaping up?" "It's gonna be all right." "You get with it, Gomez." "Get your people out." "I don't want them sitting on their honkers come election day." "Everything will be bueno, señor." "It will be the same, good." "Adiós." "Goodbye, Gomez." "I love you." "Well thank you." "We're just talking business." "Just business." "Oh, please don't mind me." "Do go on." "I'll listen quiet as a little old mouse." "You'd be bored, honey." "This is dull." "Why, I'd be fascinated." "Leslie, we're talking about politics." "You married me in Washington, remember, darling?" "I lived next door to politics, brought up with it." "Please do go on talking." "I'd love it." "This is men's stuff." "Leslie, how about a cup of coffee or a drink or something?" "Men's stuff." "Lord have mercy." "Set up my spinning wheel, girls." "I'll join the harem section in a minute." "Now, Leslie." "Don't you go worrying your pretty little head about politics." "Heh, heh." "You mean my pretty, empty head, don't you, judge?" "Could I get the coffee for you, Leslie?" "You too, Uncle Brutus?" "You don't feel well, Leslie." "I feel just great." "My adrenaline glands are pumping beautifully." "Boo!" "If I may say so before retiring you gentlemen date back 100,000 years." "You ought to be wearing leopard skins and carrying clubs." "Politics." "Business." "What is so masculine about a conversation that a woman can't enter into it?" "Leslie, you're tired." "Perhaps I am." "Judge, I think if you get down in Brewster county and campaign..." "Yeah, well..." "Pinky, I reckon I'll go on upstairs and get my beauty sleep." "You go ahead on, honey." "Good night, gentlemen." " Good night, honey." " Good night, Vashti." "Good night, Vashti." "That's right, send the children on up to bed so the grown-ups can talk." " Good night, Leslie." " Night, honey." "Oh, I must've dropped off." "Oh, darling, I am sorry about my caveman speech." "I'll apologize to the others first thing, I promise." "That's big of you." " You certainly distinguished yourself." " Shh." "They can hear." "Hear?" "They heard you already." "Every word you said out there." "We date back 100,000 years." "I said I was sorry about the name-calling." "It was very impolite, I know." "But in principle, I was absolutely right." "You come down here and you try to tell us how to run things insulting my friends and everything." "Now, you look here, Leslie." "You're my wife." "Mrs. Jordan Benedict." "I'm asking you, when are you gonna settle down and behave like everybody else?" " Never." " Who do you think you are?" "Joan of Arc or something?" "!" "Jordan, where are you going?" "Jordan, take off your hat." "Carrying on like Carrie Nation, preaching stuff that's none of your business." "Fixing the world." "Why don't you join a club?" "Honestly, Jordan." "You make me sound just awful." "I'm not all that bad." "You knew what a frightful girl I was when you married me." "I did not deceive you, sir." "Why, from the very first moment, I couldn't have been more unpleasant." "Anyway, you're stuck with me." "Yeah, I guess." "Honey, take your hat off." "Besides, you love me very much." "Yeah." "But that fine mind of yours gets pretty repulsive at times." "That's not what you told me on the train." "Now you're gonna throw that up to me." "I thought what we..." "I thought what we said on the train was in confidence." "Well, of course, darling." "But I'll never forget a single word you said to me." "You know, you can be pretty wonderful at times." "Come on, partner." "Why don't you kick off your spurs?" "Oh!" "What a glorious, gorgeous, brand-new day." "Let's spend every hour of it just you and I." "Oh, honey, I'm beat." "Why?" "Today you have all the good things in the world and a woman who loves you very, very much." "I know, but..." "That arguing takes a lot out of me." "Oh, that was just frightful." "Best part about quarreling is the making up." "When we make up, we make up too, don't we, honey?" "Hmm?" "Why can't we take a trip, really see Texas?" "Just let somebody else run Reata." " Hmm?" " Oh, couldn't we?" "Honey, I want you to understand this:" "I run Reata at all times." " Of course, Jordan." " And that's the way it is." "Everything that's in it and on it is run by me." " Jordan, don't raise your voice." " That's the way it's always been too." "Everything that has a Reata brand on it is run by me." "Does that include me?" "That's the way my father ran this outfit and the way my grandfather ran it, all of it." "He kept it together for his son and my father kept it together for his." "And I'm keeping it together for mine." " All 500,000 square miles?" " All of it, for my son." "You could at least say "our son."" "Our son." "Don't you think that might be just a bit too much for one little baby?" "Heh." "Not if he's a Benedict." "Hmm?" "Well, better hope this is a boy." "Hmm?" "Our baby." "I just said I'm hoping it's a boy." "What do you mean?" "I mean, why didn't you tell me?" "I'm telling you now." "Well, honey why didn't you tell me?" "I mean, well, I should've known." " You sure?" " Sure." "And our baby is going to be a boy, Jordan." "I know it." "A boy very much like his father." "In many ways but not all." "Shouldn't she be putting on weight, honey?" "Well, it's natural, I think, darling, for him to be gaining faster." "Let me see." "They are heavy." "Hello, sweetheart." "Well, he's building up fine." ""I am now stronger than ever and am helping a young Dr. Guerra get started here." "Most every day I find myself walking three or four miles to the dusty and dirty street of Vientecito Village." "Hello, Angel." "How are you?" "I'd like to speak to Mr. Gomez, the boss, the man that runs this place." "Mrs. Benedict, what is it I can do?" "Mr. Gomez, I'm going to leave Dr. Guerra here with you." "He'll tell you a number of things that must be done." "This place is a scandal." "Thank you, Dr. Guerra." "I'll get in touch with you." "Hello, Jett." " Howdy, Miss Leslie." " How are you?" "I'm doing pretty good." " You made some improvements." " Do you like it?" "Looks good." "Well, it ain't much yet, but it's coming right along." " You know, I wouldn't have believed it." " Believed what?" "Truthfully, I wouldn't have expected this sort of talent to be one of your virtues." "That's the first time I was ever accused of having any of that." "It really is nice, Jett." "Real nice." "Someday I want to have a place no one will be ashamed of." "Oh, I cut them out of the newspaper." "I thought they'd dress the place up a little bit." "Sweet of you." "Want to come on in here and sit down?" " Rest a minute?" " Thank you." "Having kids seems to agree with you, you know it?" "You're looking prettier than ever." "Just as good, anyway." "My goodness." "And tea." " You like tea?" " Of course, I love it." "Just seems down here everybody drinks gallons of coffee." "Yeah, I know it." "Mind if I pay you a rather personal compliment?" "What is it?" "You make a very excellent cup of tea." "Yeah, well, I do a lot of things in a pinch." "Would you like one lump or would you like two?" "Well, I think I'll take mine straight." "That's good enough for me." "Oh." "Boy." "Ahem." "It's not too good, is it?" "When are you gonna get married, Jett?" "Don't you need somebody to help you with this kind of responsibility?" "Well, when I get some time to look around, I'll go back East." "To Maryland, places..." "Say, got any good-looking sisters back there might be interested in some poor people?" "Money isn't all, you know, Jett." "Not when you got it." "Heh." "Jett the other people around here, why don't they help themselves like you've done?" "Well, now, ahem, when you say "other people," what do you mean?" "Well, I've just come back from Vientecito." "Oh, that bunch of wetbacks." "Well, don't go getting me mixed up with none of them." "I'm just as much of Texas as Bick Benedict is." " I'm no wetback." " Oh, I know that." "You're like Jordan in that respect, attitude, everything." "But your situation is so different." "You're a workingman." "Well, that's something I'm gonna try to fix." "Someday I will." "All right, Gomez." "Yeah, I understand." "Yeah, thank you." "Well, thanks for the tea party, Jett." "And don't be such a stranger." "Stop by and pay us a visit." "Well, I don't know about that." "Old Bick's still got his kettle on for me." "Leslie?" "Hello, darling." "I was just having tea with Jett Rink." " Gomez telephoned." " Oh?" ""Mrs. Benedict comes to Vientecito." "I hope you're not displeased," he said." "Look, I told you before..." "What about Jett Rink?" "He made tea." "Isn't that unbelievable?" "He does so want to improve himself." "But your man Gomez, that camp he runs..." "It's hopeless." "You can't tear around this place with no regard for who you are, interfering with those people." "Jordan, that place is a scandal." " Dr. Guerra threw his hands up in horror." " That's his problem." "You've been a big powerful rich Texan for a hundred years." "Do something." "I'm not the Red Cross." "If you won't, I will." "If you go near one of those dumps again, if you get mixed up in this migratory mess, why I'll..." " Just what will you do?" " I'll leave you." "That's what I'll do, I'll leave." " Oh, there's my darling little girl." " How are you, big boy?" "Did you think your naughty mama was never gonna come up to see you?" "There's one thing you can be sure of." "One of these days, I'm gonna run Jett out of this country." "Who is it?" "Can you say hello to Luz?" "Say, "Hello, Luz."" "Lookit there." "Lookit there." "Say hello to little Luz." "I don't care what you say, Leslie, she does look like Luz." "Oh, honey." "Y'all are gathered here on this fourth anniversary of my son's birth." "And your daughter's." "Well, of course." "I want to take this auspicious occasion to say that this young fellow right over here is gonna grow up to be one of Reata's top hands." "Hi, Daddy." "I mean, this boy's gonna be the best." "He may even grow up to be better than his old man." "Maybe." "Oh, girls, look at the pony." "Come on, look at that." "There he is, son." " He's all yours." " All mine, Daddy." "No!" "No!" "Jordan..." "Take him around, Angel." " Take it easy, son." " Honey, he doesn't want to." "Oh, I rode before I could walk." "But that was you." "This is another person entirely." "He's a Benedict." "He's gonna stay on that saddle if I have to tie a hitch on him to keep him there." "Take him away." "Angel." "No." "Let him ride, Polo." "Let him ride." "Would you take him up for his nap?" "I think he's tired." "Ho." "There, now, that wasn't so bad, was it, son?" "Leslie Bick knows all there is to know about running a ranch." "Bone, hide and hair." "He don't know a dang thing about raising kids any more than his father did." "So you just stay with it your way." "Help those children grow up to be what they want to be." "I will, Uncle Bawley." "I promise." "Well we're gonna hit the hay." " Night, Leslie." " Night." " Night, Bick." " Night, Pink." "Good night, kids." "Night, Vashti." "Well, I guess it's time for me to turn in." "Night, Bick." "Night, Bawley." " Night, Leslie." " Good night, Uncle Bawley." "Good night, everybody." "And don't forget to turn off the rain." "Tired?" "No." "Jordan..." "What's happening is we're getting on each other's nerves." "Could be." "We've been together every day and every night since we first met each other." "Is that bad?" "No." "Only we're getting in the habit of snapping at each other on things we should have adjusted to years ago." "Jordan, I think it would be a good idea if I took the children home for a visit." "Home?" "Well, if you're homesick..." "I mean, if that's the way you want it." " That's not the way I want it, Jordan." " All right, then." "It'll be better for us if we're apart for a while." "Better for us and the children." "It'll give us both a chance to think things out for a while." "Gee, Les I don't know." "You know best, I guess." "I think it will be best." " Hi there." " Morning." "Fine day for riding." "Oh, just magnificent." "See you later." "She's a lucky girl." "If I had it to do it again, I'd still walk off with Jordan." "Even if I knew it was gonna end like this." "Leslie!" "You'll have no time to be homesick with this wedding and Thanksgiving on us together." "Here, Pedro." "Pedro, come here, Pedro." "Pedro, Pedro, Pedro." "Pedro, eat your dinner like a good boy." "Pedro, eat your dinner like a good boy, Pedro." "Look at that." "Look at that." "Merciful Father, we bow our heads in gratitude on this, our Thanksgiving Day." "We give thee hearty and humble thanks for thy bounty beseeching thee to continue thy loving kindness to us that our land may still yield her increase to thy glory and our comfort." "Amen." "Pedro." " That Pedro?" " That Pedro?" "Yes, darling." "Yes." "Mm-hm." "Oh, darling." "It's all right, baby." "No!" "No!" "There, now, darling." "Oh, now, darlings." "It's a day when we're supposed to be happy." "Come on, now, and smile like Mommy." "Something wrong, Miss Leslie?" "Now maybe you'll stop crying." "It's a message to you from your father." "Is he gonna be here for dinner?" "Well, no." "But he says:" ""I hope my darlings are all very happy." "I want them to know I miss them very much and love each one very much."" "I could see you coming." "Why, Mr. Benedict, this is a good surprise." "Hello, Jefferson." "We're having a wedding." "Just plenty of excitement." "Dearly beloved we are gathered together here in the sight of God and in the face of this company to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony which is an honorable estate instituted of God." "David, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife?" "To live together after God's ordinance in the holiest state of matrimony?" "Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep thee only unto her so long as ye both shall live?" "I will." "Lacey, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband to live together after God's ordinance in the holiest state of matrimony?" "Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shall live?" "I will." "Bless, O Lord, this ring that he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in thy peace and continue in thy favor unto their life's end." "Amen." "With this ring, I thee wed." "Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder." "For as much as David and Lacey have consented together in holy wedlock I pronounce that they are man and wife." "Are you ready to come back to your old beat-up cowhand?" "Jordan, I'm no different than I was when I left." "Well, we Texans like a little vinegar in our greens, honey." "Gives them flavor." " What do you think of old King Tut?" " Boy, howdy." "Some hunk of beef." "He's gonna make history too." "By the time Bick finishes his breeding program, he'll have an animal that's 99%o beef and the rest exaggeration." "Say, Ollie see that?" "That's Rink's truck." "I don't want him hauling through my place anymore." "Jett's got the easement, Bick." "He's got a right to go through the land." "No two ways about that." "I'm sick and tired of his prospecting." "I want him out." "He's borrowed about all he could." "He's down to his last collar button, Bick." "Sure is." "Buy him out, Ollie." "Buy him out, and get him out of here." "Hello, Jett." "What do you want?" "My well came in, Bick." "Fine." "Why, that's wonderful, Jett." "Everybody thought I had a duster." "You all thought Spindletop and Burk Burnett was all the oil there was." "Well, I'm here to tell you it ain't." "It's here." "And there ain't a dang thing you gonna do about it." "My well came in big, so big." "And there's more down there, and there's bigger wells." "I'm rich, Bick!" "I'm a rich one." "I'm a rich boy." "I'll have more money than you ever thought you could have." "You and all the rest of you stinking sons of Benedicts." "Leslie, you go in the house." "Take the women with you." "Jett, we're real glad you struck it." "Now, you go on along home." "Oh, my, you sure do look pretty, Miss Leslie." "You always did look pretty." "Just good enough to eat." "Wait a minute, Bick." "Wait a minute." "Boy, take it easy, take it easy." "Wait a minute." "My, you're testy, Bick." "You're testy as an old cook." "Bick you should have shot him a long time ago." "Now he's too rich to kill." "You tell your client that Reata's my property and the name of Reata's my property." "Texas courts are fair." "He's to cease using the name of my ranch in his oil schemes." "I won't have oil-digging on Reata, and I won't stand for its name being used." "Is that clear?" "Ma?" "Mother!" "They say Aunt Luz was in love with Jett Rink even if she was old enough to be his mother." "Now, Luz." "She was a character." "They say she was always trying to keep him from getting married." "He had to run off to marry you." "What's that?" "Who said what?" "Oh, somebody." "I forget." "Heh." "You know what they say?" "They say that every girl in Texas was trying to catch Papa." "They said, quote, that "there wasn't a prize bull like him since Sam Houston got married."" "That's enough from her, Leslie." "I'm sure it's quite true, darling." "It took me two whole days to land him." "Oh, really?" "It all sounds so fascinating and uncouth." "Where are you going?" "Down the road to Smitty's for a Coke." " With who?" " Nobody." "Stay home." "Hey, you." "Hello, Papa." "Howdy." " Where you been?" " Down the road for a Coke." " With who?" " Bob." " Howdy, Mr. Benedict." " Hello, Bob." "Well, good night, Mr. Benedict." "Excuse me, Papa." "Look, Papa, you busy now, Papa?" "Never too busy for you, young fella." "What's on your mind?" "Well, Daddy, it's like this." "I am, Mama." "I'm gonna be." "I want to go to Harvard and then on to Columbia premed." "So you want to be a doctor?" "Yes, ma'am." "What about Reata, Jordy?" "He's counting on you to take over." "Yeah, I know he is." "I know it." "But there's 50,000 guys can do it better than I can." "I don't want to live my life pushing cows around." "Oh, Mama, I'd die for Papa if I had to." "Your father doesn't want you to die for him." "He wants you to live for him." "Talk to her, will you, Daddy?" "Reason with her." " I don't want this pinned on me." " I'll take all the blame." "You just sort of soften the blow a little bit." "I'll talk to him myself." "You can sway him, Mama." "I know you can." "It's not gonna be easy, honey." "Well, maybe I can catch her at a weak moment." "You can do it, Daddy." "I know you can." "Darling, I've been thinking..." "Me too." "About the children." "That's funny." "Me too." "We must be getting old." "Speak for yourself." "I wonder if we'd love them enough to do what's really right for them." "Why, sure." "I hope so." "I mean so we love them too much, perhaps." "So much we keep from doing what's right for them." "Not me." "You don't have to worry about me." "It's always the mother." "Theory is, she don't want her fledglings to leave her nest and try their own wings." "All that sort of stuff." "You mean you'd be perfectly willing to sacrifice?" "Yeah." "I'd sacrifice for her." "You know that." "I'm not so sold on that girls' school in Switzerland you're stuck on." "Now, don't get your feathers up." "Judy's not so crazy about that Switzerland stuff either." "Of course she isn't." "That's exactly why she needs to go." "Well, I wouldn't push her." "She, uh wants to go to Texas Tech." " That is a man's school." " Well, girls go too." "It's got the best animal-husbandry course in the country, she says." "She wants to be a rancher like her old man." "Like Bob Dace." "She's just got a little schoolgirl crush on that hulking Bob Dace." "Well, she's got her mind set on it." "That's what she wants." "And I, for one, am willing to sacrifice." "Well..." "What do you say?" "It seems we've hatched an odd pair of fledglings, darling." "Yeah." "Brace yourself." "Jordy wants to be a doctor." " He wants what?" " He wants to be a doctor." "He's set on it." "Over my dead body." " You know what he's supposed to do." " Well, he's not." "He'd die for you, but he's not going to live his life for you." "And he's right." "He'll do as we've all done." "He wants to go to Harvard first and then to Columbia premed." "You're pretty handy with those terms." "I can see who's been cooking this thing up." "Of course this would mean a big sacrifice on your part." "Well no matter where he goes to school he comes right back home and runs Reata." "Well, I guess you were right about one thing, Jordan." "Me?" "On one thing." "We are getting old." " Who?" " We are, Jordan." "We're the older generation." "Aren't we?" "Suddenly." "Yeah." "I guess so." ""...until a well 1000 feet in depth has been drilled unless oil or gas shall have been struck at a lesser depth."" "Is that Vashti Hake's ranch?" " Yes." " Heh." "Good." " How about Reata?" " No." "That Benedict's a hard guy to crack." "Mm-hm." "Let's just keep punching, boys." "Hey, you." "Hospital." "What's he covering up now?" "That hombre's going to overstep the mark one of these days." "Just give him enough rope." " Give him enough rope and he'll hang you." " Heh." "I'll get it." "Hello?" "Yes?" "No, this is her daughter." "You did?" "Oh, you have to find that out for yourself." "Luz, take your social life on the other phone." "It's for you." "I think he's nice." " Who's nice?" " Jett Rink." " I don't want to talk to him." " What will I tell him?" "Let me talk." "I'll tell him." "I'll talk to him." "Hello?" "You've heard from me before on this, Jett." "Judge Whiteside told you, and I told you." "This is a cattle ranch, not an oil field." "That's the way it's gonna stay." "About the most expensive call you ever made." "Cost you a billion dollars a year for the next 50 years." "Couldn't we have just one little itty-bitty oil well so I could get my own private phone?" "The Naval Secretary told a press conference that the battleship Arizona and five other warships were lost in the Japanese air raid on the naval base at Pearl Harbor a fortnight ago." "He reported that 91 officers and 2638 enlisted men were known dead." "Aside from the Arizona..." "That only makes me realize that I'm losing you." "Round yon virgin mother and child" "Holy infant so tender and mild" "Sleep in heavenly peace" "Sleep in heavenly peace" "Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way" "Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh, hey" "Jingle bells, jingle bells" " Here they are." " Hello." " Come on down." " When did you two sneak in?" "The honeymooners." "Running off and getting married like that." "Boy, you're gonna get it." "You know Mom wanted a big wedding." "Now, that's not true, Luz." "Oh, darling." "Well, not quite true." "Come down here and face the jury." "Come on down, darling." "Howdy." "Merry Christmas." "See what your mama and papa brought you from Dallas." " Oh, lucky you!" " Isn't that beautiful?" " Oh, Judy." " Look at that." "Thank you, Mother." "Well." "We came for you to see Angel." "He's the first soldier from Reata." " Merry Christmas, Polo." " Merry Christmas." "My." "Isn't he a fine-looking soldier?" "Oh, just a minute." "Merry Christmas, Angel." "Thank you." "Today the wish of all of us is that the war ends quickly and that you, Angel, return safely to Reata and to all of those who love you very much." "I'll drink a toast to that with anything in force." "Come on now, and open it." " Hello, Dr. Guerra." " Hello, Dr. Benedict." "Just a little premature." "Oh, I know, it takes time." " Oh, Jordan, this is Juana." " Hello." "She's been training out at the hospital." "Oh." "Must be that darn north wind static or something." "Ha, ha." "Don't tell me that you haven't learned that dry wind, friction and a heavy carpet are not the only means of creating electricity between human beings." " How are you?" " Oh, Dr. Guerra." " Thank you." " Adiós, Angel." "Hey, Angel?" "Can't you hang around and give me the lowdown on what it's like?" " See y'all." " See you later, Pinky." "Juana?" " Oh." "Very nice meeting you." " Nice meeting you." " Goodbye, doctor." " Adiós." " Boys, let's get us some Christmas cheer." " You talked me into it." "I'll go for that." "I was afraid we were going to have a mighty dry Christmas." "I'm going to drink a toast to the two young men of Reata." "My two sons." "Jordy and Robert." "Thank you, Mr. Benedict." "Ah." "Better take it easy on the bourbon, Dad." "It's not good for you." "I'm not kidding you." "Certainly hate to see Angel go." "That boy is the best dang man on the place." "Now that you've finished college, it's time for you to take your place here and produce beef for the war." "They need doctors, Dad." "They need doctors in war too." "I'm going to finish medical school if I can." "You are being bullheaded." "I never would be any good running this place." "Any man on Reata can do it better." "Jordy, you're the one with a responsibility to Reata." "Your blood pressure's going up just while we're talking here." "Now, please, Papa, it isn't good for you." "Just relax." "Don't you get fresh with me." "We're talking." "Yes, I heard." "It's Christmas morning." "Isn't this something that could be discussed tomorrow?" "There's nothing to discuss." "When I come home, I'm gonna work with Dr. Guerra in Vientecito." "I love Texas as much as you do, Dad, and I want to work here." "I just want to work in a different way, that's all." "Come on, Jordy." "Work with Guerra." "Here's to you, Mr. Benedict." "You look beat, Mr. Benedict." "Here's to you." "It's pretty good stuff." "You make that yourself?" "Make it every year." "My Christmas special." "No, sir, I mean the liquor." "Do you make the liquor yourself?" "If you don't, it's about the only thing you don't produce on Reata yourself." "Say, boy." "Come over here and sit down." "I got some serious talk to make with you." "I've been watching you pretty close for a lot of years." "You're a ranchman." "And you're smart." "You're wondering why I'm talking to you." "Bob Dace look me right in the eye." "You could never be anything but a rancher." "Could you?" " No, sir." " That's my boy." "But somebody else thinks I could." "Not Judy." "Not my Judy." " No, sir, it's not Judy." " Who?" "President Roosevelt." "Listen to this." ""To Robert Haskell Dace:" "Greetings from the president of the United States."" "Let me see that." ""You are hereby notified to report on December 28th, 5 a.m., for induction."" "Well, it don't matter." "Your draft board won't let you leave this place." "They'll make you stay." "This is just as important as carrying a gun." "I appreciate your confidence, sir, but..." "Well, this is one thing that I'm not gonna try to get out of." "Fine." "Heh." "Have it your way." "You might as well." "Everybody else does around here." "Well, I'll show you my heart's in the right place." "When you come back and this fracas is over with the job's yours." "It'll be waiting for you." "I couldn't take it, sir." "Papa, Bob and I have planned." "We want a place just our own." "You..." "You crazy kids, you." "Can you imagine you'll ever have anything like this?" " Like Reata?" " Gosh, no, sir." "We just want a little place." "Just a little place, Daddy, that will allow us time for experimentation and progress." "You see, sir, well, big stuff is old stuff now." ""Big stuff is old stuff"?" "Daddy, Bob didn't mean to upset you." "He just wants to be honest, that's all." "We just want something little that's our own, that's all." "Just ours." "You see, Dad?" "Yeah, honey." "I see." "See you, Daddy." "Hey, Angel, come on." "Keeping it together all my life for them." "I battled in mesquite, dust, wind keeping it big." "And for who?" "I might just as well give it back to the dirt-eating Comanches." "That's the Christmas spirit." "Give it all back to the poor old Indians." "Don't tell me, I know." "You're Jett Rink." " You're Judy?" " No, I'm Luz." "Oh." "Luz Benedict." "Ha, ha." "That I am." "Come on in." "Dad's over at the bar." "Feel free, it's Christmas." "Everybody gets one." "Christmas?" "I thought that was next week." " Somebody ought to have told me about that." " Ha, ha." "Christmas greetings from Mr. Jetexas himself." "Hello, Bick." "Oh." "Sit down." "I guess Christmas is just about as good a day as any to talk a little business." "Run along, Luz." "We got business to talk about." "Bye, now." "Bye, Mr. Rink." "Everybody calls me Jett, honey." "Bye-bye." "What's on your mind?" "The country needs petroleum." "I'm going to Washington, Bick." "The reason I'm going, and the reason I'm here, is oil." "I figured." "Want to talk a little business?" "I'm ready." "Seems like every time we made a deal, me and you it just turned out pretty lucky for somebody." "You know, all this oil around here hasn't made a lot of difference." "We live pretty much the way we always have here at Reata." " Mm-hm." "Just like we Benedicts found it." " Yeah." "Bick Lord was good to you, setting that concrete pool right down in your own yard." "Hey, come on in." "Ha, ha." "Oh, not now, Luz." "Well, it's good for the young folks." "We'd have made improvements around here, oil or no oil." "Now, Bick, that 27.5 percent tax exemption on oil helped out some, didn't it?" " Bale, I'll tell you what old Pinky thinks." " What?" "That oil tax exemption is the best thing to hit Texas since we whupped Geronimo." "Yahoo!" "One of the finest laws ever passed in Washington." "All joking aside, Bick Bale and I are not adverse to accepting a share of the credit for it." "Not at all." "How about an exemption for depreciation of first-class brains, senator?" "Whose?" "Yours?" "My father's, for instance." "He spent his life saving other people's lives." "How about some tax exemption there?" "Leslie's always been real sharp-talking, hasn't she, Bick?" "Fair enough, judge." "You've always been smooth enough for two." "Do you take each other for better or for worse for richer or for poorer in sickness and in health, until death?" "Jordan Benedict wilt thou take Juana Villalobos, here present for your lawful wife according to the rite of our holy mother, the Church?" "I will." "Juana Villalobos wilt thou take Jordan Benedict, here present for your lawful husband according to the rite of our holy mother, the Church?" "I will." "Join your hands and kneel down." "Turn right back and then go along" "The lady in the front and the gent follow along" "Now you're home and now you swing Round and round with a pretty little thing" "On the corner with the old left hand It's a right to your honey and a right, now round" "Hurry up, Grandpa, can't you see You ain't as spry as you used to be" "Barbed-wire gates and a great big date Promenade round or you're gonna get sprayed" "Now the gals to the center and back to the bar And the gents to the center with a right-hand star" "Now back to the left and not too far" "Greet your honey, pass her by Pick up the next gal on the sly" "Now the gals go in with a full turn round Like a jaybird walking on the frozen ground" "Now the men go in with a full turn round Like a scared little rabbit chased by a hound" "Spread that star way out wide Let's do-si-do on every side" "Do-si-high and do-si-low Just turn around and here we go" "Gals to the center and back to the bar The gents to the center with a right-hand star" "Now back to the left and not too far" "Greet your honey, pass her by Pick up the next gal on the sly" "Yeehaw!" "Now the gals go in with a full turn round Like a jaybird walking on the frozen ground" "Yahoo!" "Now the men go in with a full turn round Like a scared little rabbit chased by a hound" "Spread that star way out wide Let's do-si-do on every side" "What did they say?" "Gals to the center and back to the bar And the gents..." "Friends and neighbors, uh I want you all to meet my wife." " This is Mrs. Jordan Benedict III." " Well, congratulations." "Congratulations." "He was the first Reata baby I ever saw." "I remember it as if it were yesterday when I picked him up." "He had a fever." "I didn't think he was going to live the day out." "On behalf of the United States Army I am proud to present to you the flag of our nation which your son defended so gallantly." "Oh, say, can you see" "By the dawn's early light" "What so proudly we hailed" "At the twilight's last gleaming?" "Whose broad stripes and bright stars" "Through the perilous fight" "O'er the ramparts we watched" "Were so gallantly streaming?" "And the rocket's red glare" "The bombs bursting in air" "Gave proof through the night" "That our flag was still there" "Oh, say does that star-spangled..." "Everyone, just everyone in the world's gonna be there." "I'm gonna fly up to Dallas and I'm going to Neiman's." "I'm gonna buy myself a sort of a starlight-white evening dress." "Very plain and simple, and deadly." "Before you get so elaborately simple, you'd better hear what your father has to say." "We're certainly going." "I promised Jett." "Jett." "What are you talking about?" "He likes me." "He likes my family too." "He's always talking about you." "My dear, darling Luz." "If I didn't know you had a Benedict head on those immature shoulders I'd prescribe a good spanking." "Oh, he's dreamy." "Ask the Snythe girls." "Ask anyone." "He's just a rough diamond." "He's a rough rhinestone, and he's old enough to be your father." " What are you six evil men up to now?" " Oh, honey." "It's a coronation." "Old Jett's fixing to get himself crowned king." "Gotta have 10 million to be on the list." "All the most important people in the country will be there." "A coast-to-coast broadcast." "Jett's gonna make a magnificent speech." "I know." "Ha, ha." "I'm gonna write it for him." "It'll be heard across the nation by everyone." " Eliminating one." " Yeah?" " That's me." " Good." "Hooray!" "You stay away, you'll be the only folks in Texas who ain't there." " I suppose you're right." " You're roped in with the herd." "You'll be dancing to Jett's fiddles just like all the rest of them." "Well, if we go, then we'll do it right." "We're oil rich just like the rest of them so we'll go like the rest of them, only better." " Now you're talking like my father." " The old Benedict spirit." "Set up one of your grand weekends." "Invite everybody." "We'll take them down there with us." "We'll show that so-and-so who's top people around this part of the country." "I'll even buy that four-engine Douglas." "You can fly in some orchids from Hawaii." "We'll load up our party, buzz in low on top of that building shake the tiles right off that hotel roof." "Oh, there's Lola Lane." " I'll bet even Hollywood isn't so exciting." " Isn't it something?" "It's perfectly fabulous." "Jett's always trying to do things bigger and spend more money than anybody else." "I can't wait to meet him." "What does he do?" "To some he's just a no-good so-and-so." "Cars for the Benedict party." "There he is." "There's the emperor himself." "Hey, isn't this terrific?" "Look at Luz." "She's queen of the parade." "You didn't tell me." "You know about this, Leslie?" "No, I didn't." "Oh, Lord." "My daughter, queen of Jett Rink Day." "What is this?" "I don't know, Jordan." "She's done things before I haven't gone along with, but this..." "She's never been sneaky." "It's not exactly sneaky, Jordan, appearing in a parade." "Don't try to be funny." "I'm not." "I'm just as upset as you are." "I just know that Luz is intelligent enough not to be imposed on by anyone." "Give me the desk." "This is Bick Benedict." "Did my daughter Luz Benedict come in yet?" "Now, get this." "As soon as she comes in, have her call me." "Say, Luz..." "You know what I think I'll do?" "Hmm?" "I'm gonna keep it just like this." "I'll keep all those people, send them home." "I'm not even gonna open up this place." "Some girls might like a hotel all to themselves." "Me, I like company, Jett." "I like lots of people." "Well, all right." "All right." "You want lots of people?" "I don't see any problem there." "Honey if there's anything you want you just say it and you've got it." "All right, I'd like a Coke." "Whew." "Ha, ha." "Oh, now, that's impossible." "That's just impossible." "You know as well as I do, Cokes are taboo." "All soft drinks." "You make the rules." "I make the rules." "You like things your own way, don't you, Jett?" "Let me ask you something." "Do you like things your way?" "Not very many people have things their way, do they?" "I don't get them my way very often." "Nope." "And you won't either, until you get married get your man to give you what you want when you want it." "So?" "So if I was you, I'd start thinking about getting married." "Well, that's an idea." "You looked like a queen in that parade today." "That was my job." "It's just what you are Luz Benedict Il." "You know, you could be the head lady of this part of the whole country." "If you wanted to." "If you married right." "If you married the right man." "Hmm, that's a sweet idea." "Why don't I just announce it tonight all them thousands of people out there just sitting, listening?" "The whole of Texas." "Boy, wouldn't that blow the roof off?" "Jett, tell me something." "Hmm?" " Is this a proposal?" " Does it sound like one?" "Oh, after a fashion, but not quite." "What do you want me to say?" "You want me to say something you can laugh at?" "No." "What I wanted to say is I think you're a wonderful girl." "And I do think you're beautiful, and I think..." "You're fascinating to me, and I've always been looking for a girl like you." "That sure would blow the roof off, wouldn't it?" "Hey, you've got a long way to go tonight." "Look, I'm very flattered." "Any girl would be." "Oh." "You be a good boy, now." "I'll see you later." "I hope the storm doesn't louse up your party, Mr. Rink." "Slip-up, boy." "I just forgot to order the right kind of weather." "I heard a twister hit Waco." "What's the matter?" "Can't you talk United States?" "You're talking to my wife." "My name's Benedict, Jordan Benedict, if that means anything to you." "Okay, Mr. Benedict." "I was just following orders." "Mr. Rink said he'd have my neck if I let any wrong people in." " Benedict." "Jordan Benedict." " Registering, please." "You Benedicts are all close together." "They've got the Coronado Suite." "You're in the Fernando Suite." "I'm a mess." "I must go to the beauty parlor." "You run for it before they close." "The grand opening of the Jett Rink Airport and Emperador Hotel is the latest milestone in the dramatic life of this virile son of Texas." "Virile so-and-so." "Howdy, everybody." "Hi, Adarene." " About time you got here." " Where's Pinky, the old bat?" "Fernando Suite for Mr. Benedict, please." " Beauty salon." " Can you take me?" "Yes, if you can come right along." "Ha, ha." "Thank goodness." "I'll be right in." " Who's calling, please?" " Mrs. Benedict." " You come right along, Mrs. Benedict." " Ha, ha." "Thank you." " Bawley." " Yo." "Keep everybody freshened up." "We'll be with you quick." "We're anxious to see old Jett come out of that chute." "Yeehaw!" "Why couldn't they ride with us the way other people's kids do?" "No, Luz had to fly her own plane, and Jordy and Juana had to drive." "Thank you." "Anybody here?" "We're all booked up." "I just called." "I'm Mrs. Benedict." "I'm sorry, but we're busy." "I wait a little." "They're driving." "It takes time." "Oh, I know it takes time, I know it." "I made the trip myself 400 times." "But don't worry about the children." "Their behavior is odd, but their manners are beautiful." "Now, listen here, boy." "I've taken just about enough of this from you." "I didn't want to come in the first place." "I wouldn't be here unless you'd let them bully you into it." "Now, for heaven's sakes, let's make the best of it." "If you'll cool down, go on shaving, and finish dressing, I'll go down with you." "Otherwise, you can go alone." "You know, honey you're awful cute when you get riled." " Hello, Mr. Benedict." " Hello, Uncle Bawley." "Hey, Jordy." "You better hurry on in there." "Your ma and pa are sure having a battle." "Whew." " Hello, honey." " Well, where have you been?" "We got tied up in traffic in town." " Where's Juana?" " She's in the beauty parlor." " Here, darling." "Hello, sweetheart." " Where's Lupe?" "He's all right." "He just didn't get his nap." "How's my child, Grandpa Benedict?" "Is that Judy crying?" " Oh, I hope I'm not too late." " Not too, come right in." "Yeah?" "Oh, hello, Juana." "Yeah, he's here." "Jordy, it's for you." "Yes, dear?" "Well, you stay right there, honey." "I'm coming right down." "Don't you folks wait on us." "We'll catch up." "Son, you're way behind." "Howdy, everybody." "Look who we found." "Well, there you are." "We were getting worried." "Say, you'd better get dressed, Jett." "Oh, yeah." "You wanted me to go over the speech with you too." "Come on, we better hurry." "Well, I'm sorry, but it happens to be Mr. Jett Rink's orders." "And I'm just working here." "It's everybody's orders." "Same all over town." "The young lady should've gone to a place where they do her people." "Well, if it isn't the queen herself." "Hi." "You having fun?" "We're making out." "How you doing?" "Good." "Where are they, Mom and Dad?" "Don't trifle with your luck." "There you are." "Oh, you want to talk to me, Dad?" "Yes, if you can spare me a few moments of your time, I'd like to talk to you." " Oh, Dad, must we now?" " Yes." "We must hurry if we're gonna be on time for the grand entrance." "Oh, Luz, darling, you look just beautiful." "Uncle Bawley, help me round everybody up." "I'm sorry I'm so late." "All right, people." "Hyah, hyah, hyah!" "Hyah, hyah, hyah!" "Hyah, hyah, hyah!" "Get along, there." "There's a clause here..." "Did some of you boys change this?" "Lord, man, no." "We haven't changed a single comma." "Changes tend to throw you." ""Columbus discovered only the shell of this country." " Agassiz came and discovered fossil..."" " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Members only." "Where's Rink?" "He went that way." "Looks like I just come in for a root beer." "Ha-ha-ha." "That, my friend, is a Texas rain." "Hey, Bick." "What you doing sitting up there?" "Come on, sit at our table, boy." "...the Texan said, "Paul Revere?" "Oh, yeah, ain't he the fella that had to ride for help?"" "In just a few moments Mr. Rink himself will be here at the microphone." "Come on, let's go." "Jordy smashed up the beauty parlor." " He's looking for." " What?" "Where we have our hair done." "Jordy's looking for Jett to fight him, says it was his orders." " Why?" " Juana." "The girl said they didn't take wetbacks." "...of our entire country." "Thank you, Congressman Bale Clinch." "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "You cannot get away" "Do not think you can escape them" "At night or early in the morn" "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "Till Gabriel blows his horn" "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "Stay here, honey." "I'll be right back." "All the livelong day" "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "You cannot get away" " Is this young Benedict?" " You invited me down here to insult my wife." "And you're gonna answer for it." "Aren't you the one who married a squaw?" "What's the matter?" "Ain't you having a good time?" "Get them up, Rink." "Everybody knows you got this coming to you." " Jordy, no." " Get them up, Rink." "Let go of me." "You want it now, in front of everybody or you want to come outside?" "I don't care much whether it's here or outside so long as I get one punch at that stuck-up face of yours." "Sit down, sit down." "Heh, heh." "Governor, how are you this evening?" "Fine." "And now to introduce our guest of honor we hear from a man known from the rocky coast of Maine to the Golden Gate in California." "Ladies and gentlemen our own Senator Oliver Whiteside." "Mr. Toastmaster Governor North ladies and gentlemen..." "The eyes of the entire nation are on us tonight as we gather here to honor them..." "Get them up." "You had this coming to you for a long time." "Texas has been kind to Jett Rink and is ever ready..." "You're gonna get what you gave my boy." "Get them up." "Get them up!" "...proud, friendly warm-hearted, successful." "Yes, successful, I am sure beyond his wildest dreams." "But Jett Rink has never lost the common touch." "You ain't even worth hitting." "Jett, you want to know something true?" "You're all through." "...all old friends who have known him and loved him since boyhood." "Dear friends I'm going to ask you to come with me tonight as I turn back the pages in my book of happy memories and I recall the first time I saw young Jett Rink." " Where's the boy?" " He went upstairs." "Come on, let's get out of here." " I'll go get Luz." " Hurry up." "...moves the sand of glorious..." "Luz, we're leaving." " ... in his face shone that light..." " Would you excuse me, please?" "...that destiny always uses..." "The years pass quickly, as the years have a way of doing." "And now I see Jett Rink as a young man afraid of neither opposition nor hard work his eyes set on a far distant goal towards which he's ever working learning, striving." "And now we come to Jett Rink, the man." "Texas has been kind to Jett Rink." "And Jett, never forgetting this kindness is ever ready to devote his resources to the greater glory of the state which reared him and which, in turn, does honor to him tonight in this great gathering here present." "And now, my friends, here and to the many thousands of you listening across the nation I have the privilege yes, I have the great honor to introduce a legend in his own time a great Texan an outstanding American yes, my friends, a man." "I give to you Jett Rink." "All the livelong day" "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "You cannot get away" "Do not think you can escape them" "At night or early in the morn" "The eyes of Texas are upon you" "Well, you can count on me." "All right, then." "Goodbye." "How bad?" "It hit pretty hard in Vientecito." "Dr. Guerra set up an auxiliary hospital." "He needs help." "I better get down there." "You'll make better time if you wait till first light and fly." "I don't relish the idea of spending the night under Jett's roof." "Me too." "If it weren't for transporting this circus, we'd all hightail it out of here." "I hope she don't let this upset her too much this business tonight." "It's just one of those things." "Best thing to do is forget about it." "Yeah." "Well, go ahead." "You forget it." "Me, I'm gonna remember it." "Now, look, Jordy." "Take it easy." "We've had just about enough excitement around here for one night." " Yeah, I guess so." " Sure." "You've always had a mind of your own, and you've always used it." "Done things pretty near your own way." "You knew what you was doing when you married in that direction." "I told you myself the morning after you broke the news." "Remember?" "I told you then that I knew Juana was a mighty-fine little gal but when you and she got married, you was asking for trouble." "Remember?" "I told you that." "Lots of folks in this part of the country are pretty jumpy about that sort of thing." " Jett's only one of them." " I know those people." "Just leave them to heaven." "We're doing fine." "Look, Papa, if I'm concerned, it has to do with the people that ought to know better." "Like my own father." " Hmm?" " Just the simple truth, that's you." "That's the way you think." "Oh, good Lord, I don't care about Jett Rink." "But you, Papa, that's different." "Now, you look here, Jordy." "You can't talk to me like that." "Why, Lord, no man can." "I'm a fair man, and I've been fair all my life, with everybody." "And you, my own son, can't sit there and tell me that I'm not a fair man." "Look, Jordy there's ways of living and there's ways of doing things that folks abide by when they want to live right and happily in comfort with their own people." "And I always say Juana's a mighty-fine little gal, but..." "Don't sit there and prove what I say!" "I don't like to hear you do it." "Dang it, boy, you're not being fair." "When that ruckus started down there tonight, who went after Rink?" "Your old man." "Who took him to count?" "Your old man." " And why?" " Why?" "Because I..." " Because of my wife?" " Yes." "No." "No, because your son Jordan Benedict, descendant of the long, proud line of Reata got knocked right flat on his back in front of all Texas." "That's why." "Now, look, Papa." "Just forget it." "Don't worry yourself about it." "Look, Mama, I guess you made a big mistake when you got yourself mixed up with us rowdy Texans." "Well, I'm shocked at you, and I'm shocked at all of us." "I'm just so ashamed." "I'll never be able to forget the sight of my brother barging into the grand ballroom disgracing us." "Then my father had to make it a bigger brawl." "I don't know when I'll be able to face people." "Keep seeing Jett, you won't have to face me." "Children." "Well, how about that, anyway, Mama?" "I haven't been asked." "It seems that my family just can't tolerate his success." " My darling Luz." " Well, tonight meant a lot to Jett." "Really, I know." "If I only knew how to apologize to him, I'd go to him now." "I can't face all those people." "The party's over." "They've all gone home." "All?" "He passed out like a light in front of the whole crowd." " Oh, no." " That's what we heard, Luz." "Well, he must have been ill." "Weak with shame or something." "He was plain drunk, if you'll forgive me." "I don't believe you." "Party broke up early, but not a minute too soon." "Give me Mr. Rink's penthouse, please." "Luz Benedict." "You are not going up there, Luz, if I have to sit on you." "Well, it's important." "Do you know where he is?" "Luz, it's not like you to make a fool of yourself." "I know where he is, honey." "Come along with your Uncle Bawley." "All right, Luz." "If you must go." "I must." "I've always held a strange power over your mother." "I'm sorry, Mother." "What do you say, dollface?" "About ready to come along with your old pal now?" "It's time we hit the hay." "I give up." " Can we go to work now?" " Leave him alone." "He owns the place." "Let him enjoy it." "Shut up!" "Ladies and gents..." "Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests." "I just want to count the blessings that this great domain has bestowed upon her humble son." "My friends this is a man." "Old Mother Texas." "What did she give to me?" "Not a goldarn thing." "You gotta work and sweat and steal it from her." "But I got mine right out of the ground." "Poor Jett fighting for what is good." "Lucky." "Lucky for Bick Benedict her husband." "Poor Jett." "Poor, pretty Leslie." "Pretty Leslie." "Pretty Leslie, wonderful, beautiful girl-bride." "Poor boy." "Rich rich Mrs. Benedict." "She's beautiful." "Lovely." "The woman a man wants." "The woman a man's gotta have too." "Thank you, Uncle Bawley." "Governor." "You know what you can do." "Down Mexico way" "That's where I fell in love" "When stars above came out" " Just as soon as it lands, I'm gonna sell it." " Good." "This is for me, boy." "The simple life." "No more of this highflying nonsense." "Say, Juana, how does a hamburger and a piece of pie sound to you?" " Sounds very good." " A what?" "No more of this highfalutin stuff." "Let's stop in up here and have us some chicken." "Then we can eat it with our fingers." " Over here, honey?" " Yeah." " Howdy, folks." " Good afternoon." "Howdy." "Nice place you have here." "Been intending to stop..." " ...every time I drove by." " Thank you." "What do you recommend, landlord?" "How's fried chicken?" "Little Jordy wants ice cream, Grandpa." "Grandpa." "Ice cream it shall be." "Give the little fellow some ice cream." "Ice cream?" "I thought that kid would want a tamale." "All right, sweetheart, give them what they want." "What do you say, Juana?" "It's all right, isn't it?" " It's good." " Yes, sirree." "After all that fancy food and high living, this is the life." "Hey, you." "Now, let's see, the big plane should be arriving in Benedict around 1:30." "You're in the wrong place, amigo." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Vamoose, ándale." "Your money's no good here." "Come on, let's go." " You too." " Hold on a minute." "Yes?" "What do you want?" "Now, look here, Sarge." "I'd sure appreciate it if you were a little more polite to these people." "Oh, you would, would you?" "I'm Bick Benedict." "Your neighbor, you might say." "Does that give you special privileges?" "The name Benedict's meant something to people around here for a considerable time." "That there papoose down there his name Benedict too?" "Yeah, come to think of it." "It is." "All right, forget I asked you." "Just go back and sit down, and we ain't gonna have no trouble." "But this bunch here's gonna eat somewheres else." " All right, come on, let's go." "You too." "Sue me." " Take your hands off him." "Now, you're out of line, mister." "Poor Daddy." "Just leave him alone!" "Is that the best that old horse thief can do?" " He's feeling your mood." "Simpatico, darling." " Hmm." "There's a lot of clair de lune in both of you old fire-eaters." "You're both rather gentle creatures, you know." "How awful." "Those kids." "Look at them." "Those kids, in their infinite wisdom are smarter than we are." "They know I'm a disgrace and don't hesitate to say so, either." "Sure, even the calf's got my number." "Well, I don't have to take it from a sheep." "Now, Jordan." "Hello?" "Hello, Vashti." "Oh, we're all fine." "How'd you make it back?" "Good." " They all made it back in one piece." " Jolly." "Well, all the guests have finally gone." " Thank goodness." " Thank goodness." "But more have left than we bargained for." "Luz has gone on to Hollywood with Lona or Lola or whatever her name was." "She decided she'd like to see how she liked Hollywood." " No, we've never had one, not on this side." " Good lord, an actress." "Well, Vashti all you can do is raise them." "You can't live their lives for them." "No." "Judy and Bob are out looking at a ranch." "A small one." "Yeah." "Jordy and Juana are gonna move into Vientecito." "And we, we're home minding the babies." " Hey, Bick?" " Huh?" "The sun's going down over the yardarm." " When are you gonna open up the bar?" " Anytime, go ahead." "Just remember, one day, that bourbon's gonna kill you." "Okay." "It'll be me or it." "One of us has gotta go." "Oh, me?" "I'm gonna stay right here." "It's coming on spring." "Roundup time is no time to be away from Reata." "Yes, dear." "Mm-hm." "Okay." "Bye-bye." "Yeah, honey, everybody's on the move." "Strays leaving the herd." "Mm." "I suppose I wouldn't mind it too much if you wanted to go pack up and go back home for a spell." "Home?" "Where do you think I've been this last breathless quarter of a century?" "Home." "Look, boy, I belong here." "You really want to know what's gotten my goat?" "What, honey?" "My own grandson don't even look like one of us." "So help me, he looks like a little wetback." " Jordan." " Well..." "Little muchacho fires up, don't he?" "Well, I'm sorry, Jordan Benedict IV." "There's times a man just has to be honest." "You know something, Leslie?" "There's no use for kidding, either." "I'm a failure." "Nothing just turned out like I'd planned." "I just..." "I just feel like my saddle's turning right out from under me." "Do want to know something, Jordan?" "I think you're great." "Oh, don't ask me why." "There are some things that are difficult to explain." "You know all that fine riding you used to do, and all that fancy roping and all that glamour stuff you did to dazzle me?" "Oh, it was impressive." "But none of it ever made you quite as big a man to me as you were on the floor of Sarge's hamburger joint." "When you tumbled rearward and landed crashing into that pile of dirty dishes you were at last my hero." "That's what you always wanted to be, you know." "Could be." "When we went into that place, before the fight started..." "Oh." "Oh, what a fight." "It was glorious." "Before we went into that place I was feeling like you are now." "I was thinking to myself:" ""Well, Jordan and I and all the others behind us have been failures."" "And then it happened." "You wound up on the floor, on your back in the middle of the salad." "And I said to myself:" ""Well, after a hundred years the Benedict family is a real big success."" "You want to know something, Leslie?" "If I live to be 90 I'm never gonna be able to figure you out." "[From SDH - tags removed]"