"I've been offered a dozen good ways to get myself killed since I came to this town." "Now I'm going to make a few offers myself." "It's hard to realize it, Signore Paladin- only last week he was fitting the same coat and now he's dead." "He was my friend for many years, Gino." "I'll miss him." "Of course, for Uncle Polo, the trouble is over." "It is for Angela that I worry now." "Polo's little girl?" "Not so little, signor." "A young lady now." "Why should you worry about her?" "We are losing the shop, signor." "You're losing this shop?" "Creditors- it's only a matter of time." "The arms, signor, raise it a little please." "Gino, your uncle was a wealthy man." "Si, signor, until he got into the mining business." "When a tailor gets the gold bug, he's a sick one for sure." "I remember when your uncle bought the Grail." "He paid $40,000 for it." "That's a lot of money, but..." "Nothing compared to what he put into it." "Always, signor, he was putting good money after bad." "Until the time of his death- a pauper." "Whoa, whoa." "I'm expecting no one today." "Gino?" "Gino?" "Well, Angela, what are you doing here?" "Gino, from out of the blue, an offer for the mine." "I got it this morning." "From whom?" "Papa's foreman." "He's interested some men in buying it." "He says he thinks he can sell it for as much as $20,000." "$20,000!" "Mama mia!" "Salvation!" "The deed must be here with Papa's business papers." "Probably the locked drawer of the desk." "I'll..." "Oh, Signore Paladin, scusa." "This is my cousin, Signorina Angela De Marco." "Miss De Marco, it's an honor." "Your father was a friend." "Oh, he spoke of you so often, Mr. Paladin." "You were his favorite client." "The one whose taste was beyond reproach." "I know you'll forgive this intrusion, but you're selling the mine?" "Of course." "Well, don't sell it too quickly, Miss De Marco." "Your father had faith in it." "So much so, it killed him." "But if you sell it without at least first investigating, your father's death will have gone for nothing." "What is there to investigate?" "Well, the circumstances of his death, for one thing." "What was he doing down in that mine?" "Are you suggesting he was murdered?" "No." "I don't know enough to suggest that." "But I will say that the $20,000 offer makes me want to know more." "Miss De Marco, give me one week." "One week to investigate the operation of The Grail and the circumstances of your father's death." "If in that time, I've uncovered nothing, then go ahead, sell the mine." "Just how would you conduct your investigation, Mr. Paladin?" "If you are right, fancy clothes and pretty words won't stop accidents." "¶ ¶" "That's far enough, Mister." "If you say so." "I ain't seen you around here before." "I ain't been around here before." "Are you looking for trouble?" "No." "Right now, I'm looking for a match." "Are you looking for a cigar?" "Yeah, I don't mind." "It's a nice-looking gun you've got there." "Does the job." "Thanks." "Course, I could have drawn on you when you were lighting that cigar." "You must be a stranger." "No one around here draws on The Jockey." "I could light another match if you'd like to try it." "No, thanks." "I've got other business today." "Just what do you want, Mister?" "Work." "Well, try the Blue Eagle about a mile back down the road." "I hear they're putting on men." "Well, what's wrong with The Grail, as long as I'm here?" "That makes you a newcomer." "Well, there's a line a mile long waiting to get on at The Grail." "Signed up all the way back to last April." "Oh?" "Well, thanks." "Sure." "What did he want?" "What do they all want?" "Jack, you over by the livery stable." "Tom, in front of the blacksmith's shop." "Ed, around by the store, and Pete, you better go with him." "And remember, whatever you do, don't let him draw." "I beg your pardon." "Did I interrupt something?" "That's a good way to get yourself killed, Mister." "You know I've been offered a dozen good ways to get myself killed since I came to this town?" "What are you doing here?" "I'm looking for a man named Casey Bryan." "He's the foreman of The Grail." "You a Grail man?" "Well, if I were, I'd probably know where to find Bryan, wouldn't I?" "Try all the saloons." "He's got money enough for drinking." "Ain't nothing but Grail men at the bars anymore." "The Grail seems to be a hard place to get a job." "You try again tomorrow." "There's gonna be a vacancy." "Oh, I see." "Well, thank you very much, gentlemen." "All right, get in position, but don't shoot till I give the word." "I come for Hannah, Jockey." "I got first claim." "I just bought off all claims, Morgan." "Show him, baby." "You Grail muckers think you can buy anything." "Girl like Hannah likes the finer things in life." "You can't handle that on four bucks a day, Morgan." "Used to be enough." "It isn't now." "Why don't you Blue Eagle gophers get smart?" "The only thing you're ever gonna rate is our leftovers." "I'm taking Hannah home." "You're gonna stop me?" "That's just what we had in mind." "Now, Jockey... how are things tonight?" "Looks like the beginning of a busy evening." "You keep out of this, Mister." "This a personal fight with The Grail." "That a fact?" "Too bad you had such a long waiting line this morning." "You want a job at The Grail that bad, friend, you got one, starting now." "You can have it any way you want it, gentlemen." "I saw you out of the corner of my eye." "That was a good draw." "Thanks." "I figure I shaded you just a mite, though." "Well, as long as we weren't facing each other, it doesn't matter." "You're all right, Mister." "Anything you want, anything The Jockey can ever do for you, you just name it." "Well, I already have." "What time do I report to work in the morning?" "Be there at 6:00." "Thank you." "Come on, Hannah." "¶ ¶" "Hold it!" "Want a cave-in?" "Hey, you taking over here, Mister?" "There's a pull here at the tracks." "Looks like it's weakening." "Jim, get some timber." "Hold that powder until I say." "Can't recall seeing you around here before." "Where you work?" "Here, there." "I know about here, but where's there?" "Orofino, Bingham Canyon, Big Bonanza." "You move around." "I just follow the gold." "I'm glad you saw this." "You seem to know your stuff." "It's the only way to stay alive." "I understand your boss didn't." "You understand what?" "I understand your boss didn't know his stuff." "He got careless around the dynamite." "It was just an unfortunate accident." "Could have happened to anybody." "¶ ¶" "Quitting time." "Everybody out." "Quitting time." "Everybody out." "Quitting time." "Everybody out." "Come on, get a move on." "Get moving." "You got gold on you?" "Any gold?" "How about you, any gold?" "Any gold on you?" "You got any gold on you?" "Small filling in a back molar." "Get moving." "That's all?" "What do you want, a bag?" "Get moving." "Got any gold on you, Reed?" "Any gold on you?" "Well, that's some inspection." "Well, we have to take precautions." "You never can tell when some thieving' mucker might try a little high-grade." "I did not expect to find you at The Grail, working as a miner." "I didn't expect to find you at all." "You almost gave me away this morning." "Why did you come?" "Because I've had another offer from the syndicate represented by Casey." "Casey?" "Mr. Bryan- Papa's foreman." "He wired just as soon as you left San Francisco." "Offering to increase the price just as soon as you said you'd like to wait a while." "Well, yes." "How did you know?" "Because I've seen muckers getting rich on a mine that drove the owner into bankruptcy." "You're being high-graded." ""High-graded"?" "That's a polite word for "stealing."" "The miners take the rich ore- almost pure gold- for themselves." "The low-grade ore- they call it "company ore"- that they load into the cars." "That's impossible." "Casey" " Mr. Bryan- he personally conducts an inspection of the men every day." "I've seen the inspection." "What are you implying?" "I'm not implying anything." "Here." "I'm stating flatly," "Mr. Bryan is not to be trusted." "I trust him." "You don't know him." "Mr. Paladin, I know him better than I know you." "Miss De Marco, you don't know that man as well as you think you do." "Unless you can give me definite proof," "I cannot believe your wild accusations." "So, if you'll excuse me," "I have an engagement." "All right, Miss De Marco." "But we agreed I'd be here for a week." "That means I still have a few days to work." "And in the meantime, will you keep this in mind:" "If your father did suspect something," "Mr. Bryan may very well be the man responsible for his death." "Jockey." "Hi, Casey." "Come on, I'll buy you a drink." "Not now." "You got a job to do." "What's the trouble?" "Your friend Paladin didn't pay his employment fee." "Is that all?" "Eh, probably just slipped his mind." "I don't figure it that way." "I saw him go into the hotel and checked on him." "Hew went to Angela De Marco's room." "A company spy." "You know what to do." "Get some of the boys out of the saloon." "I will..." "but just for an audience." "I ain't gonna need any help." "Hold it, Paladin." "Well, Jockey, what's on your mind?" "A little matter of $25." "What for?" "Employment fee." "$25 a day." "Hand it over." "Well, I thought I'd pay that to Bryan myself." "Give it to me." "I do his collecting." "That's fine." "Now you can die with a clean slate." "What's the occasion?" "A little party." "The kind we give company spies." "You're a brave man, Jockey, with that mob behind you." "This ain't no mob- they're witnesses." "Witnesses to what?" "To the fact that you drew on me and I killed you in self-defense." "You sure this is what you want?" "I saw you draw once, Paladin." "I figure I shaded you." "You ready?" "Any time you say." "Fast... but not accurate." "Anybody figure he can do better?" "See you tomorrow, at The Grail." "Well, when your father told me what he paid for the mine," "I advised him to get out as best he could." "I wish he'd taken your advice- he'd still be alive today." "That's very true." "But if the mine is a bad investment, why do these men wish to buy it?" "Well, The Grail could be made to show a profit, if a great deal of money were invested in new equipment, and if it had professional management." "With all due respect, Miss Angela, your father was an amateur in this business." "I understand." "Really, I hardly know what to do." "Well, because of you, I feel a deep responsibility, so I got the investors to agree to a price of $30,000." "30,000?" "But only if you'll agree at once, so they can begin the new improvements." "$30,000, eh, Bryan?" "Don't bother to rise." "$30,000 should just about cover two months' profit." "$15,000 a month- that's about what you're taking out of The Grail, isn't it?" "Mr. Paladin, what are you doing?" "What are you doing?" "!" "Well, I came to tell this man he needs a new collector." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Of course you do." "You need somebody to collect the $25 a day you charge the miners for the privilege of stealing all they can carry." "There are a lot of men working in The Grail, Miss De Marco, you figure it out." "It won't take him long to get $30,000." "This man is insane." "Not at all." "Miss De Marco, there's no group of investors." "Bryan is planning to buy the mine for himself with money he's already stolen from you." "Miss Angela, there's one way we can disprove all this nonsense." "How is that?" "I can show you the actual working shift in The Grail." "You can see for yourself there are no easy riches there." "Well, that is reasonable." "What do you say, Mr. Paladin?" "I don't like it." "Why not?" "It seems to be the perfect chance to disprove, or prove, your accusations." "I think Mr. Bryan shows his innocence by inviting me to see the mine." "You show your innocence by even considering it." "I don't know what you mean." "Your father got the same invitation." "Mr. Bryan, I accept your offer." "Thank you for your confidence, Miss Angela." "Well, that leaves me only one alternative." "You'll be short $25 tomorrow." "Miss De Marco, I quit." "Oh, this is the principle ore vein." "It runs diagonally downward through this rock strata here." "Well, it does look as though the vein is quite rich." "All that yellow's showing through." "It's worthless." "The miner's call it "fool's gold."" "Oh, I didn't know." "Of course not." "Neither did your father." "Did he see this part of the mine?" "Yes." "As a matter of fact, it was very near here he had his unfortunate accident." "Oh, excuse me a minute." "Wha... what's that for?" "Bryan!" "Run!" "There's dynamite back there!" "Run!" "Run!" "Don't stand there!" "There's dynamite back there!" "It's gonna blow!" "He lit the fuse!" "There's dynamite back there!" "Run!" "Get out of here!" "What was that?" "It looks like your friend, Mr. Bryan, had an unfortunate accident." "But the lapel, Signore De Marco, they're too wide." "Never." "You must have the Parisian slight wing with a taper." "Signore Paladin." "Excuse me, signor." "Signore Paladin." "I have your suits ready." "I will get them." "Thank you." "Governor, it's an honor to see you again, sir." "It's my pleasure, Mr. Paladin." "This is Governor Irwin." "Miss De Marco." "Miss De Marco." "Gino, you're breaking His Excellency's trousers above the shoes." "And the line here?" "And the Parisian lapels are much to extreme for His Excellency." "Straight London for him." "But Signore Paladin..." "You're right, of course." "I will take care of it immediately." "Paladin, I wish I had you around to handle legislature for me." "My congratulations, Miss De Marco." "I read in the financial pages of your good luck in the mining business." "Did you know that Miss De Marco was a mine owner," "Mr. Paladin?" "Without the help of Mr. Paladin," "I'd have had nothing." "And his fee!" "Exorbitant?" "Hardly." "All he would take is two suits a year... for life." "It'll add up." "I expect to live a long time."