"Good afternoon." "Afternoon." "Quite a pony you got there." "Yeah, she's a runner." " Indian?" " Modoc." " Well, they breed 'em right up there." " Except for one thing." "And what's that?" "They don't know how to back up... so if you'll just pull that crock head off this bridge" "Well, now I'd gladly do that for you, boy, except for one thing." " What's that?" " This one's a Modoc too." " Hot, ain't it?" " Yeah, you can really raise a sweat this time of year." "That's a fine-looking blowpipe you got there." " Mexican." " That a fact?" "Got the bite to blow the head off a grizzly." "That is, if you get to it in time." "Don't need to." "Just think it." "Eyeball or button I want to pop, and pow." " English." " Do tell." "Core an apple at a half a mile." "On the tree or fallen?" "On horseback, in a hurricane." "Where's the Swenson property?" "These three sections." "Our track goes by it... here." "You've served him notice?" "Swenson, Sample, Wirth." "The papers went out this morning." "Mr. Barkley will see you in his car now, Mr. Crown, sir... at your convenience." " How many of your people have you called in?" " About 200." "Keep them chained." "I mean that, Hoak." " Bring 'em in, you said- 200 hired guns." " If and when needed." " They'll mop up these hayseeds in one day." " And we'll be ripped to shreds." "Nothing like brave little men fighting a railroad to wind up public opinion." "Tell Mr. Barkley, uh, two minutes." "Yes, sir." " How you gonna stop it?" " Stop it?" "A fight?" "I can't." " But maybe he will." " Barkley?" "Sure." " Like his father did six years ago." " His father's dead." "They're his sons." "They still have his horns." "Do they, Hoak?" "Are you so sure?" "Or is it just the name?" " May I offer you a bite of lunch?" " I usually don't." " No?" " Not really." "That's the mark of an ambitious man." "Also leads to an ulcer." "Eat lunch, Crown." "It's good for your health." "Well, what shall we drink to?" " To a new day." " No." "No, I think I have a better one." "To the man who won it, your lord and master, HannibalJordan." "Who, with one quick tug of his fat, grubby little fist... makes paupers out of 2,000 men." "Think of it, Crown- the genius." "2,000 farmers, living on land they settled, homesteaded, worked" " Railroad land." " Sold to them." " Leased." " Sold to them, 10 years ago at auction, and you know it." "You took that case to the legislature." "You got your bill onto the floor and passed." " And vetoed." " It was illegal." "The governor killed it." " Jordan killed it." " And now you're preparing a move to rescind." " I am." " So meanwhile, to peace." "You know, Crown... over that hill there there's a town" "land worked and tilled- olives, figs, grapes, cattle" "That's an awful lot to ask a man to give up... peacefully." " That's what you're going to tell the men?" " I, Crown?" "You're the one they're going to turn to- like they did your father." "You'd like to know how I'm going to advise them." "Is that it?" "Well, let's say I'd like you to know what will happen if you advise improperly." "How many was it last time, Barkley?" "Ten dead?" "Twelve?" "Not even for openers." " The day of the spike and iron." "Is that it?" " No man can beat it." "Well, there's one who's sure trying." "Oh, not a chance." "Fifty." "100." " 500." " 750." "A thousand." "1,250." "1,500!" "So no man beats the iron, eh, Crown?" "Well, sometimes, maybe for a while." "But sooner or later, like all men, they die... and all they leave behind is dust." "That from a man who doesn't eat lunch." "All right." "Break it up!" "Come on." "You heard me!" "Hey, Harry.!" "Your new deputies having themselves a day?" " Soong, you ugly Mandarin!" " Mr. Barkley!" "Jarrod!" "Where's my brother?" " Nick!" " Ha-ha.!" " How you been, boy?" " Hey, hey, hey, hey." " Say, where you been?" "Through the mill?" " No, a millstream." "I've been chasin' the wind, boy, hollerin' at the breeze." " Hey, you're gettin' fat." " What are you talking about?" "A mere pound." " How was Frisco?" " Cold." "Well, if it's heat you want, we got it here." "The railroad is really bringing 'em in." "They must have turned up every rock in the hills." "Now come on, boy." "I got your mount outside." " For the love of" " Get off of me." "A cat." "A blonde-haired, blue-eyed" "I'll feed you to the wolves." "I'll cream you!" " You're hurting." " Drop it." " I planted those flowers." " So?" "You were tramping on them." "I saw you." " Who are you?" " I was about to ask you the same thing." "I don't have to tell you that." "No, ma'am, I guess you don't." "Audra Barkley." " Then" " He was my father." "Well, then I am sorry." "What are you doing here anyway?" "Who are you?" "You're not from around." "I was on my way to your place, looking for work." "I got fouled up in the woods there and ran across this grave." "It's not a likely place for a grave." "He died here." "It's where they shot him." "A thousand people came from the valley to bury him." " He was that kind of man." " I know." " What do you mean, you know?" " I mean, I know what it's like to be without your father." "If you tell me the way, I'll, uh, be off." "There's a trail about 10 yards off in the woods." "It'll take you into the road leading up to the ranch." "Hey." "See my brother Nick." "He runs the hiring." "I'll do that." "Hey, Mr. Jarrod!" "Ciego, cómo está?" " We don't see you for months." "How is San Francisco?" " Cold." " Well, maybe you want heat?" "We got it here." " We got it here." " I know." " Sí, senor." "We got it here." " Jarrod!" " Hi there, Doctor." "Or is it lawyer this week?" "Nope, I have it, Nick." "I think it's poet." "He's got the look in his eye." "What's all this about- all these, uh, wagons?" "They got notice from the railroad this morning." " Pay or vacate." " Who do you mean, they?" "Swenson, Sample, Wirth." "They're inside." " Silas!" " Mr. Barkley!" "By heaven, you're getting younger every day." " Shh." "Your mama" " She's sleeping." " Oh." "You look fine, Mr. Barkley- just fine." "How is Frisco?" "Uh, balmy, Silas." "Fair and balmy." " Jarrod." " Sig, how are you?" " Frank, Abe." " Jarrod." "Ain't you something to see though?" " Say, you really gave it to 'em up there, huh?" " Sure he did." "I told you that." "Hey, these papers- They're bluffin', huh?" "Twenty-five dollars an acre." "For my own land!" "Pay, or they sell it out from under me." "Who's that railroad think they're trying to bluff?" " By midnight tonight, huh?" " Yeah, ain't that the note of it though." " Frank, yours?" " Till 8:00 in the morning." " Noon tomorrow." " I was gonna feed this thing to my goat... but I figured, hey, I ought to show it to you first, for a laugh." " So that's how they're hitting you- one at a time." " Yeah, they think they can" "What do you mean, hittin' us, Jarrod?" " I thought you knew." " What?" " You saw the governor." " You said you were gonna meet with him." " I saw the governor." " Oh, my God, no." "He vetoed it." "I'm sorry." "Well, it ain't legal." "It can't be!" "Not by any moral standard I know, but it's legal." "Twenty-five dollars an acre- How am I ever gonna raise that much money?" " How many men do you have under hire?" " Why?" "Thirty-five, 40?" "We can match that, Sig, in one hour." " For what, Frank?" " Fight 'em, Jarrod." "He's right!" "Just like we did before with your daddy." "And who do you think you'd be fighting, Sig?" "A half dozen mud hogs off a flatcar?" "No." "Go into town and take a look." "It's crawling with 'em." "They've hired themselves an army." "You asking us to give in to it, Jarrod?" "That what you're askin'?" "Give up all we own- my house, my field?" "My oldest boy's buried by that house." "I give that up?" "Frank, I think you know me better than that." "Nick, what time's that courthouse open in the morning?" "How would I know?" "9:00." "All right." "Now first thing in the morning, I'll initiate injunctive procedures." "That'll give us time to weigh our moves." "Now don't worry, boys." "Nothing's gonna happen." "Not tonight anyway." "Let's talk tomorrow." "Frank, can you be here?" "Yeah, if you say so." "Good." "Suppose we, uh- Suppose we make it at this time- 6:00." " Abe?" " All right, Jarrod." " Sig?" " Yeah." "Now, let's have a drink before you go." "Drink?" "No, I gotta wet a field down." "Fletcher and Schmidt." "Maybe I can bring them in." "They're good men." "Frank, suppose you talk to them." "Drink?" "Drink?" "Yeah." "Whiskey or scotch?" "Well, it's always been scotch." "Well, now I wasn't sure what other taste you might have changed." "Whatever that's supposed to mean." "Injunctive procedures." "Who do you think you're kiddin'?" "There isn't a court around here the railroad doesn't own." "It's fight or nothin'." "Well, that's fine, Nick." "That's just great." "You go ahead." "Go on a tear." "That's the way you've always done it." "Well, those tactics may work in a barroom brawl, but they won't work here." "This is the state you're swingin' on, boy, or maybe you think you're up to it." "Eugene, you tell him." "Well, there's right to what both of you say." "I don't know." "I just got to think about it." "That's right, kid!" "You go ahead and think!" " You think while a barn's burnin' down!" " Now just a minute!" "Jarrod." "Jarrod, darling, how nice to see you." " Hello, Mother." " I'm ashamed of myself." "I should get down to visit you" " Oh, you're putting on weight." " Well, a pound." "I" "Dear Nick, must you shout at the top of your lungs when I'm trying to take my afternoon nap?" "Now where's Audra?" "She knows enough to be in before dark." "Jarrod, I do wish you'd speak to her." "I'm afraid she has her father's flair for rebellion." "Oh." "Kindly see to your visitor." "I'll enjoy your company at dinner." " A small world, ain't it?" " Something for you?" "Mr. Barkley, if you know where I can find him." "Take your choice." " Well, I was told Nick does the hiring." " Of what?" "Well, line boss, hay waddy, hasher, cow prod, jingler." "You name it." "I've done it." " What's your name?" " Heath." "I was on that train this afternoon." "Quite a race." "No contest." "Not the way those cabbage stacks come off a turn." " Where you from?" " West of the divide." " How west?" " Pretty much all over." " Last place you worked?" " Corning." "Sign him on, Nick." "To what?" "We're full." "Well, he did me a little favor this afternoon." "Sign him on." "Now take your gear over to the bunkhouse." "See McNally." "Tell him to sign you on." "Get dressed." " All right." "Let's hear it." " Well, you just name the tune, and I'll try to hum it." " Corning." " Nice town." " Last place you worked?" " That's right." " That's a hundred miles from here." " So?" "You usually travel a hundred miles between jobs... with a dozen likely spreads on the way, huh?" "I asked you a question, boy." "Aw, you're no more a trail hand than a Modoc." "Let's hear it, boy- the truth." "What are you doin' here?" "Who sent you here, boy?" "The railroad?" "Crown?" "Thorton?" " They sent you, didn't they?" " No man sends me anywhere." "Who then?" "Who are you?" "I want to hear." "I said, who are you?" "Your father's bastard son." "Jarrod.!" "Jarrod, Eugene, get down here.!" "Nick, what in the name of" "Now I've had me a day." "Fight and dunked in a stream... and near killed by a train." "And this one's gonna be peaceful, you hear?" "So this is what it is." "Well, I wondered." "Well, the old stud himself." "Boy howdy, don't he look proper." "You know, I bet they buried him in those clothes... with his buttons all shined and his hair all spit and slickered... and a rose in his teeth... and the honeybees buzzin'." " Oh, well, now that's all" " Nick." "I'll bet a band played... and there was singin' and wailin' and ever so good a time... and some parson reading'." "Well, they buried my mama." "But it wasn't in refinement, and no thousand people "weeped" over her grave... but in a potter's field, like she was nothin'... human or flesh." "The night I was born, she was alone... in a tent... in a rotten rathole of a mining camp up the Stanislaus." "And the rain beat down and turned the straw to mud." "Do you know what she was?" "She was warm... and gentle and fair... and left to her own... when her husband got liquored up and drowned in some stinking creek... until he came." " How long ago was this?" " Twenty-four years." " Where?" " In a mining camp." " You told us that." " What mining camp?" "Strawberry." "Come on." "You know there was a lot of men in those camps." " You know the kind of women." " Nick!" "There was only one of my mother." "Just the simple, sweet, innocent little" "What my brother is clumsily trying to determine..." " is when you came to hear" " A month ago." "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure." " What happened a month ago?" " My mother died." " Confessions from a deathbed." " Nick, that'll be enough.!" "Well?" "I'd been up on the Klamath." "They called for me." "Said she was sick and was dyin'." "She never talked about it- who my father was." "Not in all these years." "But it was something she wanted me to know- something she couldn't take to her grave." "There was a Bible in a box... and she told me to get it." "She said, "Turn to the back, to the last page. "" "I started to, and this fell out." "I picked it up... and I read it." "And I looked at her... and she was gone." "This it- all of it?" "Just one piece of paper?" " He was my father." " All right, boy." " You don't believe me." " Get his horse, Eugene." " You're not dumping' me the way he dumped her." " Keep your voice down!" "You put together a touching story." "Not convincing, but touching." "However, considering whom it might hurt, even though it is a lie..." "I'm willing to pay." "300, 400-What'll you take?" "What I'm entitled to." "A name, a heritage... a part of it all-what's mine!" "All right, boy." "Now you listen to me." "I want you out of this house, off this place and out of this valley." "And know this." "If I ever lay eyes on you again, I'm gonna finish what I started tonight." "Hey!" " I'm hurt." " Hurt?" "You're lucky you're not dead, you little fool." "What were you doing out there?" " Well?" " Nobody talks to me like that." "Not ever." " No?" " No!" "Try them." "I heard my brothers talking about it- what was in town- and I wanted to see." " You don't believe me." " Sit down." "You're a rough one, aren't you?" "I've crossed a few hills." "That's what I've always wanted to do- see places like you have... do what I want, no matter whatever." "Hold still." "My brother Nick- He takes nothing' from anyone." " You're tellin' me." " That's how I'd like to be." "My father was like that." "My mother thinks I'm shameless." "Jarrod says I'm spoiled." "Nick" " He understands." "You're like Nick." "Some guy really put his fingernails into you." "Get some soap to that when you get home, you hear?" "Is that where you're taking me- home?" "Yeah, I think we both had ours for the night." "Have we?" "I guess you know where you are." "Alone... in a room... with a man." "It's the first time." "And there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" "To run... to talk... to love." "To test your brother." "Isn't that what you're doing?" "You liar." "Lies!" "I'll say one thing for that old bear." "He bred 'em wild." "All of it- Everything you told them- lies!" "Well, I don't fancy his breeding', miss... and it's no pride I got in him for a daddy." "But it's a proud name, and it's mine." "And I'm gonna wear it, and people- boy howdy, they're gonna look up to me... just like your brothers." "And everything that's Barkley I'm gonna be too." "I told you, man." "Out, boy." "This is work for men." "That's all of it." "I'll let you explain to your family, Miss Barkley." "They can explain to me." "We're all right from here, Sheriff." "Thank you." "You're new at the Barkleys', aren't you?" "Well, he saw me ride out." "He came after." "So you said, miss." "What's your name?" " Heath." " Heath what?" "That's Swenson's place." "Hep!" "They came-just came- with guns and torches... hollering out like wolves." "And I just stood there and sighed and... watched 'em do it." "Well, not my place." "And hanged I'll be after paying for what I own." "I got a paper here that says I have to do just that... by 8:00 in the morning... or have my place took out from under me." "Well, I ain't." "You hear?" "I ain't!" "Who stands with me?" "No one stands with you, Frank." "I'm sorry, but legally, after tomorrow, the land's no longer yours." "Nick." "Jarrod, Eugene, listen." "Six years ago, your daddy and mine fought and died for this... because your daddy said it was right to fight." "And what did it gain you?" "Any one of you?" "Your father, and yours, 10 others- dead." "Six years of false hope." "I bow to no man in my regard for Tom Barkley, but he was only a man." "He couldn't fight a giant and win any more than can you... or you or any man." "So worship him, pray for him... but follow him?" "You follow a dead man to his grave." "Is that true- what he says?" "Your daddy gave us nothing?" "No way to fight?" "Never did." "Harry, I've known you most of my life... and respected you enough to be honest." "Any man that comes to try to take that farm- He's gonna be killed." "I'm sorry to hear that, because I'm going to be with him." "He was an imperfect man, my husband... and in so many ways that could hurt." "But he never destroyed- only built and gave life." "For he knew that what he brought was a changing way- a revolution of its own that said..." ""You are a free man... no one- not railroad, norJordan nor Thomas Barkley- can own. "" "And he knew it was something you won only with... courage, pride and leadership." "That's what he tried to instill in his sons." "If you hadn't ridden away tonight, you would have seen that he accomplished it." "It's not a battle that can be won in a day... a year, or even 10." "And then one day he made a terrible, wretched mistake." "He died... before anyone really understood." "And so, if you were my son, I would say to you, "Be proud"... because any son of my husband has a right to be proud." "Live as he would live, fight as he would fight... and no one- no one... can deny you his birthright." "That's what I would say to you... if you were my son." "I tried to run for cover... but these claws were ripping right into my back, and the teeth were hitting my neck." " I've been up against some cats before" " How'd you get out?" "Her husband came home." "What time is it?" " Ten minutes to 8:00." " Oh." "Jarrod." "Nick." "Nettie!" "Where are the kids?" "In the cellar." "Get with them." "That's far enough, Harry." ""At 8:00 a. m., by order of the governor of the state of California"" "We know what it says, Harry." ""and the power vested in me as sheriff of this county"" "We know what it says." "Frank, these people have been empowered as agents of the Coastal and Western... to take possession of your property." " I'll be dead first." " Now, Frank, you listen." "All of you, listen." "These men have been duly sworn and deputized... and every one with the right to do as they see fit if they're defied." "Frank, you've got families." "Now that must mean something." "You think of your people." "In the name of God, Jarrod." "Nick.!" "You have no way." "Jarrod, tell 'em." " Get out of this, Harry." " You men are asking to be killed." "You're fighting for something you haven't a chance of winning." "The courthouse opens at 9:00." "Will you wait?" " Good morning, Mother." " Morning, dear." "Good morning, Mother." " Good morning, Ma." " Eugene." " Good morning, Mother." " Good morning." "Good morning, Nick." "I was under the impression, Nicholas, that food is not eaten until grace." " Bless these" " Further, that such is not spoken... until the entire family has assembled." "Well, now that does raise a point." "None that was not discussed quite thoroughly and well into last night, as I recall." "Wait a minute." "That story of his- Do you really want it taken apart?" " I'll get him." " Sit down.!" "Nicholas, please, your voice." "I can take that story of his apart piece by piece." "Tell 'em." " Well" " Just what I said." " Silas, we seem to be shy of linen." "Would you, please?" " Yes, ma'am." "Just like that, we pick up a brother." "Is that what you're trying to tell me?" "Not quite just like that." "Well, if that boy's a Barkley, he has a job to learn... and I'm gonna make sure he knows what it is." "That little war at Sample's farm- That wasn't a war." "That was a pea shoot compared to what Crown can pull off down here." "And I'll tell you something." "I'll give Crown just six weeks to nurse his wounds." "That's a billion-dollar haul he can make out there... and he's not gonna blow it over 20 dead men." "And the rest of it- water to bring down out of the hills... and I can think of a few that would like to stop that." "This valley is gold... and every son of a jackal's gonna put his filthy mitts in it and try to grab it." "Hoodlums pouring out of Frisco like locusts." "And out of the gold fields- red-eyed, washed-out losers... hot to tear the world apart for their luck." "And crops and lumber... and feed and transportation and roads to keep open" "And let's make one thing very clear." "This is a working ranch... and he pulls his weight." "And that means up in the morning, every morning... with the rest of the crowd at 5:00, and sweat!" "Just let him come to me just one time with a dry shirt on his back." "I was fixin' a fence, and I had a patch of mesquite to clear that's just beggin' for fire." "And that bridge has got to be fixed before my Modoc breaks a leg..." " which I don't cotton to happen." " Where the devil you been?" "We start with the bridge or the mesquite." "Take your choice." "Oh, heavenly Father... we thank thee for thy blessings... for the food on this table... and for thy boundless love."