"You hired me to keep that mob from lynching andy." "Now you tell me to hand him over." "Just which side of that badge are you going to stand behind, sheriff?" "Hey boy, my compliments to the management." "This is an excellent sherry." "I'm glad you like it." "Some more." "] "volunteers to be paid out of the sheriff's own pocket," "But thus far, no takers."" "I know you go away." "Business in town, mister?" "Yes, ma'am." "With?" "The sheriff." "Answering his call for men?" "About jim briggs' murder?" "Right." "I'll bring a bag in later." "We don't need outside help." "That's for the sheriff to say, isn't it?" "I got more say than any sheriff." "Jim briggs was my son." "I'm sorry, mrs." "Briggs." "Not mrs." "Briggs, widow briggs." "No husband, no son." "Just widow briggs." "Excuse me." "Paladin." "Harry, you and boak got back to the ranch." "Get tom here." "Sheriff grayson, my name is paladin." "Come in, paladin." "That bad?" "Not yet, but it can be." "Glad to see you, paladin." "I guess I don't have to tell you that." "Any other volunteers?" "No, it'll be just the two of us." "Have they started anything yet?" "Just talk." "Sometimes if they talk enough, they talk themselves out of it." "The prisoner andy'll get a fair trial" "When the judge gets here from placer on Wednesday." "All we have to do is keep them from triggering anything." "Excuse me, papa." "That's all right, honey." "My daughter julia, mr." "Paladin." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "I was hoping to bring some cookies to andy." "Why, certainly, honey." "Come with us." "I'll show you the prisoner." "There he is." "Hello, andy." "Hello, julia." "I brought you some cookies." "Sit down?" "I just baked them myself." "I heard an owl last night." "Did it keep you awake?" "Awake?" "No." "I pretended it was you." "You were calling me that it was time for us to go on a picnic," "Up to the old barn." "Try a cookie." "Here." "How long has he been like that?" "Since he was six years old." "Follows julia around like a puppy dog." "Julia's always wanted to put him in a hospital where he'd be looked after." "No kinfolk." "You can't hold a man like that responsible for his acts." "Well, all I know is that they found him at the old smith barn" "Sitting near the body." "Jim was stabbed right here." "Sharp stake, or a spike, something like that." "They say that a person like andy" "Probably didn't even realize that he'd done it." "Just sat by the body." "Well, judging isn't my job." "Holding the mob back is." "It'd be easier if we could establish reasonable doubt about his guilt." "Was there anything in the barn?" "A lot of men have gone over that barn." "No murder weapon." "Nothing." "No murder weapon?" "Nothing." "I'd like to have a look if I may." "Sure." "Tom." "That's him." "You think he knows what he's about?" "With a gun, he does." "That'd be a man to cut a notch on." "No need to be ashamed of that notch." "Big man." "A big target's easier to hit." "But that man's got to be beat." "I can beat him." "This ain't the time to think that way." "We've gotta even things for jim." "He's gonna try to stop us." "The three of you do it." "I don't need them." "Tom, we've got to be sure." "What are you doin' here, mister?" "Just looking around." "For?" "That's my business, isn't it?" "Well, we don't want any troublemakers around here, mister." "Get out." "When sheriff grayson tells me my job is finished." "I've got some witnesses here." "They'll back me up." "About?" "About how you drew on me first." "There's three of us, mister." "You haven't got a chance." "I don't like it that way." "But that's the way it is, nevertheless." "It don't matter." "It'll be better this way." "Make the town move faster on andy" "When they find out the sheriff's bringing in gunslingers." "That'd be a man to cut a notch on." "Here she comes with the men." "Widow briggs." "Get in there, honey." "I think she just wants to talk." "She'd have brought more men if she wanted a showdown." "Widow briggs." "You're turning andy over to us, neil." "No, andy's staying here till he gets a fair trail." "We're willing to give him a trial." "What kind of a jury?" "Men'd as soon hang him." "The town don't like gunslingers moving in." "If that's the kind of law we're gonna have around here," "We're taking matters into our own hands." "The men are coming back with me at 3:00." "We want andy then." "You'll have me to reckon with." "You." "And him, and julia." "It ain't an easy thing to lose your own flesh and blood, neil." "I know that." "So?" "You can't have andy." "3:00." "Tom?" "3:00." "Papa, will they really come?" "Yeah, they'll come, all right." "She won't rest until she sees andy swinging from a tree." "We've got about two hours." "We'll never be able to hold them off." "This crime doesn't make any sense." "A man, even like andy, wouldn't kill someone," "Hide the murder weapon," "Then not try to hide the body or at least try to get away." "You can't prove that." "Nobody knows how andy's mind works." "Grayson, if he hadn't known what he was doing," "He wouldn't have tried to hide the murder weapon." "Of course." "He's right, papa." "They won't listen to words!" "That's right." "It's got to be something they can see." "I'm going back to that barn." "It's the one slim chance we've got." "All right." "I'd like to come, too." "No!" "I don't want you in the streets." "Andy's my friend." "I want to help." "Maybe I could answer questions, show you things." "It might help." "Julia, I don't want you to get involved." "Perhaps she could help." "Please, papa." "All right." "1:30." "Won't be long now." "A woman." "A jealous woman might have killed him." "Did he have many lady friends?" "Yes." "Many." "He's true to none of them." "Anyone one of a dozen people might have killed him." "Not just a lady friend." "There's the barber." "Had a terrible fight a few months ago." "About what?" "A gambling debt." "Then there's jim mother." "She was jealous of anyone he got serious about." "Furious." "We'll have to find something more concrete than suspicions." "No, no, don't!" "Don't!" "Stop it!" "Now I'm going to have to see what's behind the door." "Is this what killed jim briggs?" "Caught this, right between the shoulder blades?" "I couldn't..." "How do you know?" "Come on." "Outside, come on." "Was the spike the weapon that killed jim briggs?" "But not andy." "Then, who?" "Julia, who?" "I, for one..." "I did it." "Why?" "How?" "I..." "I agreed to meet jim here." "It was the first time." "He never looked at me before." "I always thought he was very nice." "And you found out he wasn't very nice." "Most girls liked him." "He was used to having his own way." "He thought that I was like that." "And you weren't, and he didn't like that." "He tried to..." "Well, he got rough." "We struggled." "I pushed him away." "He fell..." "Against that spike." "Julia." "What is it?" "Julia'll tell you." "What is it?" "What I had to tell you is..." "I killed jim briggs." "Here they come." "You tell them." "Men, let's go!" "Get him out of there!" "Tom." "Come on, andy." "Let's get this party over with." "Bring him out!" "Over here!" "Come on!" "You stupid, blundering..." "Andy is..." "What's he got to live for?" "Andy didn't kill briggs!" "I've gotta protect my daughter." "Now you stand back." "Grayson, it was an accident." "Nobody will blame julia." "Papa!" "There you go, boy!" "You'll be all right, everything's all right." "No!" "No!" "Julia." "Tom." "Julia and andy about ready to leave?" "Almost." "So many years," "Thinking of myself as a man of principle," "Upholding the law." "And I find myself acting like a criminal." "Or a human being." "At any rate, I'm gonna give up this badge." "That would accomplish nothing." "At least it'd give me more time with julia." "A fine parent I am." "She couldn't trust me to come and tell me what she'd done." "That what's bothering you?" "Well, maybe it is better you know the truth." "Go inside and watch." "No matter what I do, just stand there and watch." "Come on." "You know we're going away, don't you?" "You'll like it there." "There'll be lots of nice people and things to do." "Friends." "Ready to leave?" "All ready." "Come on, andy." "Never mind about andy, you just come with me." "Come on." "What are you doing?" "Andy!" "No, andy!" "What are you doing?" "He wasn't hurting me!" "My friend, he's my friend." "Andy, let go, andy!" "You'll kill him." "It's all right now." "It's all right." "Here's your hat, andy." "You knew." "I knew." "You take andy outside." "That's it." "There you go." "You be a good boy." "Andy did kill him." "He did." "I hadn't realized until now how strong andy is." "How did you know?" "Well, two things:" "First, it didn't make sense for julia not to confess," "If it was an accident caused by briggs forcing his attention on her." "And?" "And briggs was slammed into a hook higher than my shoulder." "Julia couldn't do that." "It'd take a man of real strength to lift a man, as you just saw." "But, why?" "I suppose andy came on them struggling and moved in to protect julia." "Don't question your daughter about it." "She wants it this way." "We shouldn't let andy go free." "Free?" "Hardly." "I think that hospital will take a lot better care of andy" "Than any jail or lynch mob could." "And, sheriff..." "I think you ought to wear that badge." "You've done a good job for this town." "A good job for your daughter, too." "Goodbye." "Hey!" "Thank you." "Thank you." "¶ have gun, will travel reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ a knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ his fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ a soldier of fortune is the man called paladin ¶" "¶ paladin, paladin where do you roam ¶"