"ANNOUNCER:" "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "(fanfare plays)" "Hi, Mary, Little Joe." "♪♪" "(woman screams)" "(theme song playing)" "♪♪" "Jake Parsons." "Well, by golly, it's good to see you." "I figured you might feel like that." "Yeah." "Nice to see you, too, Ben." "Well, come on in." "Not many days happen like this, Ben." "I figure a man ought to enjoy 'em while he can." "Yeah." "Like it says in the Good Book, it ain't what a man's got, it's his begats that counts." "Well, Jake, I, uh," "I agree with you there." "I guess we're lucky to have our children." "You're right." "Come into this world with nothing, we go out with nothing." "Yeah." "What's the reason for man's existence if it ain't to look out for his kids?" "Very little, I guess." "Well, I've been blessed that way-- two strapping boys and a girl." "Of course, the boys have given me some trouble, but not my Mary." "She's as good as they come." "I agree with you, Jake." "She's a mighty fine girl." "Sometimes I used to think that the only thing you could raise on my land was a ruckus." "Two years without rain or grass, and when the grass came, fire and rustlers." "You've had your share of hard luck, Jake." "There's no denying." "The Lord's will." "Keep working hard and sweating and things get better." "I'm going to send 600 head of cattle to market this year." "600 head?" "Well, by golly, Jake, that's wonderful." "Ben, I want to do my share for the young'uns." "Well, every father should." "You got good land to spare, I got cattle, and together we can scrape them up a nice little spread-- start 'em in right." "Yeah." "My Mary and your Little Joe." "Been hoping that'd happen." "I'm purely happy it did." "Jake, I..." "I..." "I don't rightfully know what-what you're aiming at." "Well, now, a church wedding would have been more to my taste, and a barbecue and a dance after and, but..." "I finally tracked that sorrel down, Pa." "How you doing, Mr. Parsons?" "Well, Little Joe, how's Mary?" "Mary?" "Uh, Joe, I..." "Sit down, Joe." "It was bad enough for Mary to elope, but the least you could do would be to bring her back afterwards so we could help celebrate." "Mary eloped, huh?" "Who with?" "Oh, now, Little Joe, I know about you young'uns." "I couldn't be happier." "Jake, Jake believes that... that you eloped with his daughter, Mary." "Me?" "Oh, heck, no, sir." "I didn't elope with anybody." "Now, Little Joe, there's no..." "no need to lie about it." "I'm not lying." "I haven't even seen her." "Mary told me and the boys that you were going to take her on a picnic yesterday." " Me?" " Yes, you." "She drove out in the buggy to meet you a little after noon, and she ain't been back since." "Now, if you didn't elope, suppose you tell me where she was all last night and where she is now." "Well, I don't know." "I told you, I haven't seen her." "Where was he last night?" "My son is old enough to answer for himself." "You know where I was." "I was out looking for that sorrel." "It got late, so I camped in Buckhorn Flats." " That's your answer, Jake." " Where is she?" "!" " Jake!" "Look, all I can tell you is the truth." "I didn't see her." "If she went on a picnic with someone, it wasn't me." "Jake." "She said she was going with you." "Well, you must have heard her wrong." "She says you've been courting her for two months." "You deny that?" "I have to because it isn't true." "You're calling my Mary a liar?" "No, sir." "I'm saying there must be some mistake." "It appears to me there is some kind of mistake." "Some bad mistake." "It appears to me, too, there's going to be a wedding when my Mary comes home and tells me the truth about all of this." "Jake, I know you're upset, but my son doesn't lie." "Neither does my Mary!" "Parsons may not be as rich as Cartwrights, but we do know the difference between right and wrong." "We found Mary, Pa." "She's dead." "The buggy was near Indian Leap." "Her body was at the bottom of the cliff." "Jake, this... this is terrible." "Is there anything we could do?" "You Cartwrights have done enough." "I want to see my daughter." "You boys take me to her." "We'll be back." "Oh, no." "Someone might come in." "Let them." "We're engaged, aren't we?" "I want the whole world to see and know how lucky I am." "Darling, do you think the governor will be at the reception?" "I don't know." "That's the tenth time you've asked me that." "Does it really matter that much?" "Of course it does." "I want to meet him." "Contacts like that are very important in the legal profession." "Jerome, can't you ever forget business?" "Sweetheart, I didn't have the start that your father did." "If I want to be worthy of you," "I've got to make every moment count." "Mr. Cartwright, I didn't know you were coming in this afternoon." "Well, we hadn't intended to, Mr. Bell." "Hello, Betty Mae." "Is Hiram in, please?" "Yes, sir." "I'll tell him you're here." "Thank you." "Mr. Cartwright to see you, sir." "Ben?" "Little Joe." "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." "What brings you into Virginia City, Ben?" "Well, Hiram, trouble." "We need your help." "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Ben." "That's what I'm here for." "Come in, come in." "Hiram, uh, this isn't an ordinary legal matter." "You make it sound pretty serious, Ben." "Well, it is." "It's quite personal." "I'll be outside if you want me, Mr. Wood." "What do you think the trouble is, Jerome?" "I've never seen Ben Cartwright so upset." "People are always upset when they come to a lawyer's office." "That's why attorneys like your father get such large fees." "Jerome, that's a fine way to talk about your future father-in-law." "If you worked as hard as he does..." "Well, darling, I would, but every hour I work is an hour away from you." "Well, try working for an hour anyway." "I'll be back at 2:00." "We can leave for the reception from here." "I'll be waiting for you." "Ben, I can understand your concern about this, but I don't see what you got to worry about." "If Little Joe was chasing a horse in Buckhorn Flat all day, there's no way he can be implicated in the death of this girl." "Well, maybe not legally, but Jake Parsons and his boys think he is implicated." "Well, Ben, it was a terrible tragedy." "They were overwrought." "I can understand that." "But I don't want my son gunned down by someone taking the law into his own hands." "Don't you worry about the Parsons boys, Pa." "I can take care of them." "You'll do no such thing." "You'll go to the sheriff and give him a full account of your whereabouts these last few days." "And, Ben, you tell him what transpired between Jake Parsons and yourself." "That way, any protecting that needs to be done will come from the law." "Mm." "Well... all right, Hiram." "I came to you for advice." "If that's what you think we should do..." "That's what you should do." "Roy Coffee will know how to handle it." " Yeah." " Sheriff Coffee's not in town." "He's in Carson City on that rustling case." " Oh, yeah." " The new deputy, Rick Conley," "I think, is in charge." "You think that will make any difference, Hiram?" "Well, I haven't had a chance to get acquainted with Deputy Conley." "But just to make sure, I'll send Jerome along with you to see that your statements are taken down properly." "Thank you." "Jerome, would you step in, please?" "Yes, sir." "Jerome, I want you to go to the sheriff's office with Ben and Little Joe." "They're going to make a statement and I want you to protect their interests and see that it's recorded correctly." "You want that taken care of immediately, sir?" "You know Betty Mae and I are due at the reception." " Well, that'll have to wait." " Of course." "Is this Ponderosa business?" "Well, not exactly." "Little Joe is going to make a statement as to his whereabouts at the time of Mary Parsons' death." "Mary Parsons?" "I hadn't heard." "Her body was found at the bottom of Indian Leap." "(mumbling)" ""..." "Parsons and the company of others."" "Well, this seems to be perfectly all right." "All right for you both to sign it." "I'll just witness it." "That should take care of things." "Unless there's an inquest." "Inquest?" "I see no reason for an inquest." "It was obviously a case of accidental death." "Well, maybe it was and maybe it wasn't." "That's not for me to decide." "That's up to the coroner." "I feel that an inquest would be completely out of order in a case like this." "Well, mister, I don't care what you feel." "I'm running this office until Sheriff Coffee gets back, and I'm not about to decide anything until Doc Martin tells me whether it looks to him like this girl was hit, choked, shot or whatever before she took that fall." "We can understand your position, Rick." "And we'll go along with anything that's necessary." "Do you want us to stay in town?" "Might be a good idea, Mr. Cartwright." "Jake and his boys brought the girl's body in." "Doc Martin is making the examination right now." "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I'm late for an appointment." "I really must advise you that even if there is an inquest, there's no need for you to stay in town." "There was no witness to involve Little Joe." "I'll be able to handle everything at the proper time." "Thank you, Mr. Bell." "Good-bye, sir." "He's right, Mr. Cartwright." "I can't keep you in town unless you want to stay." "Well, we'll, uh..." "we'll stay in town until after the doctor's made his examination." "We'll be in his office if you need us." "All right, sir." "What's the doctor going to be able to tell us?" "I don't know." "The more information we have, the better we'll be able to reason with Jake Parsons." "Yeah." "That girl fell 200 feet." "I don't see how they could tell anything." "(door opens)" "Doctor, were you able to reach any conclusion?" "There's one conclusion that was easy to reach." "What was that?" "Every bone in her body was broken." "Was there anything to indicate that it was anything but an accident?" "Not specifically." "Well, then it was an accident, then." "It could have been." "Or it could have been suicide." "Suicide?" "What makes you say that?" "She wasn't married, was she?" "Well, you know she wasn't." "She should have been." "Son..." "No, Pa, I was never even alone with her." "I'm gonna have to tell this to Deputy Conley right away." "I guess you know that, Ben." "Yeah, I know that." "I... was just thinking about what Jake Parsons is going to do when he finds out the truth." "Thank you, Doctor." "Come on, Joe, we'd better go home." "Hi, Ben." "Hello, John." "Oh, hello, Doc." "What's got into Ben Cartwright?" "He and Little Joe went by me like I was a rock in the road." "It's nothing personal, I'm sure." "They're concerned about Mary Parsons being found dead." "Mary Parsons dead?" "When was this?" "Her brothers found her body yesterday." "Happened the day before, though." "The day before?" "I saw her that day around noon." "Where'd you see her?" "Why, right on the road to Indian Leap." "Must have happened right after I saw them." "Them?" "You mean there was somebody with her?" "Sure there was." "She was with Little Joe Cartwright." "I even waved to them when they went by." "Are you sure you saw her with Little Joe Cartwright?" "Don't you think I know Little Joe when I see him?" "Well, you'd better be sure, because you're going to have to tell that to Ben Cartwright." "Tell Ben Cartwright, why?" "Because as soon as you sign a statement of that effect and everything is legal, you're going with me out to the Ponderosa to arrest Little Joe for murder." "Doc, you better witness this." "All right." "Mr. Hardner?" "Howdy, Rick, Mr. Hardner." " Howdy, Hoss." " Howdy, Hoss." "Your pa home?" "Yeah, he's inside." "Come on in." "Come on in, men." "John, Deputy." "Well, come on in, gentlemen, sit down." "Thank you, Mr. Cartwright, but we're here on official business." "Oh." "Well, what does that mean?" "You go ahead and tell him what you told me, Mr. Hardner." "Sorry as I am to say it, Ben," "I saw Little Joe and Mary Parsons driving up toward Indian Leap day before yesterday." "You what?" "You were in Parsons' buggy, Little Joe." "Your paint horse was tied on behind." "Mr. Hardner, that's not the truth!" "I wish it had been somebody else that saw you, Joe." "It ain't easy to do this to a friend." "Pa, he's lying." "Pa, Little Joe wasn't in that buggy-- he wasn't nowhere" " near Indian Leap." " I know that." "Well, what are we doing standing here listening to this for?" "Well, John--for some reason-- thinks that he saw Little Joe and Mary in that buggy." "He believes it." "Now that kind of believing can put a rope around Joe's neck." "And you still say that you weren't there." "Of course I say it." "I wasn't within 20 miles of that place." "All right." "Comes down to your word against Mr. Hardner's." "In a case like that, a jury's gonna have to decide it." "I'm sorry, Joe, but I'm going to have to take you in." "Get your horses ready." "We're going to town." "We believe you, boy." "Never doubt that for an instant." "I'll take that, Joe." "Stop right there, all of you!" "You don't have to do this." "Little Joe's under arrest." "We're on our way to town." "Get out of the way, Cartwright." "I come out here to get one, but I'll take two if I have to." "Little Joe's not wearing a gun." "You can't shoot an unarmed man." "What chance did he give my sister?" "I never even saw your sister." "That's what you'd say, sure." "But she said she was going to meet you and that's good enough for me." "Get out of the way, Cartwright!" "Don't be a fool, Pete." "Let the law handle this." "Cartwright is a big name around these parts." "One kind of law for you and another kind for the rest of us." " That isn't true, Pete." " Not this time, it ain't." "I'm going to have me an eye for an eye." "You ain't out of the woods yet, Cartwright." "Wait till my pa and brother hear about this." "Let's get it over with, Joe." "I'll say it again, I wasn't within 20 miles of Indian Leap." "Then you got nothing to be afraid of." "Haven't I?" "All I saw was a rabbit, a buck and that sorrel." "Are they going to testify on my behalf?" "(sighs)" "I guess somebody better tell Jake Parsons about Pete." "Don't worry, I don't doubt that all the Parsons have heard about it by now." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "I'm going to see Hiram Wood." "You boys coming along?" "No, we'll keep Joe company." "Yeah, and make sure he don't get no uninvited company." "That's a good idea." "I didn't want to hurt Pete, but I just couldn't let him kill somebody in cold blood, could I?" "I had to shoot." "Of course you did, Ben." "Of course you did." "But right now, the Parsons are the least of your worries." "Well, let's face it, this has turned out to be a lot more serious than I'd anticipated." "With a witness like John Hardner..." "Could John have any reason to lie, Ben?" "Oh, no, not John Hardner." "Ben, this is a difficult question for me to ask you." "Are you sure that Little Joe is telling the whole truth?" "You ask me to doubt my son?" "No, no, no, no, I'm not asking that." "All I'm asking is do you think there's any chance that Little Joe..." "If I were to start doubting my son at this point, everything I've lived and worked for would be lost." "Ben, I'm your lawyer." "I have to think the way a jury is going to think." "Believe me, with this latest news about the girl and John Hardner's testimony, this is going to come before a jury." "Hiram, what do we do?" "Well..." "You two have a good time at the reception?" "Oh, Father, it was absolutely wonderful." "Jerome made such an impression on the governor, the governor hardly noticed anyone else." "I was surprised how young he is." "We did seem to have a lot in common." "He even wanted to know my views on politics." "That's fine, Jerome." "That's fine." "But right now politics can wait." "We've got something much more urgent to consider at the moment." "Well, yes, sir, of course." "As a matter of fact, it's been on my mind all during the reception." "I'm glad to hear that." "Did you come up with any ideas?" "Well, sir, I don't like to say this about the dead, but with that girl's reputation," "I don't think there's a jury in Virginia City that would convict Little Joe." "Jerome!" "What a dreadful thing to say." "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but we're fighting for a man's life." "Hiram..." "Hiram, suppose... suppose we took Jake Parsons' buggy back up to Indian Leap again and have John Hardner show us exactly what he saw." "That might be an excellent idea, Ben." "If there's any possibility of showing that John Hardner was mistaken," " why, I think..." " That's just it." "But what happens, sir, if it confirms" "John Hardner's statement?" "Then we'll have no case at all in court." "No, sir, I think we've got to fight this out on the basis of the reputations of that girl and Mr. Cartwright's son." "Mr. Bell, we are going on the assumption that Little Joe is innocent." "Yes, sir, of course." "I'm just pointing out that legally we might be taking unwarranted risk." "He's got a point there, Ben." "There would be some risk involved." "It's a risk I'm perfectly willing to take." " I hope we don't regret this, Mr. Wood. -(door opens, closes)" "I want the man that shot my son." "Your rifle, Jake, put it down." "You won't need it in here." "JAKE:" "Where's Ben Cartwright?" "I'm right here, Jake." "Pete took the law into his own hands, tried to shoot an unarmed man." "Mr. Cartwright did the only thing he could do, in self-defense." "It's true, Jake, I saw it." "Hardner, seems to me like you jumped the fence." "You was going to testify Little Joe was with my Mary." "Now your siding with Cartwrights." "I'm not siding with anybody." "I saw Little Joe and Mary up at Indian Leap." "I'll say it under oath." "I also saw Pete trying to shoot an unarmed man." "I'll swear to that, too." "I had no choice." "I'm sorry it happened, Pete." "One of mine dead, one shot and all I hear anybody say is, "I'm sorry."" "There's one thing we can do, Jake." "We can take your buggy up to Indian Leap again in the morning." "Why?" "So John Hardner can show us where he was when the buggy passed him." "We can all get a good look at what he saw." "Hardner says he seen Little Joe." "You want him to change his mind?" "My son's life is at stake." "I'm just trying to get at the truth." "All I'm thinking about is my daughter was killed, and your son did it!" "Well, now supposing it wasn't Little Joe." "Suppose it was somebody else." "Wouldn't you want to know who it was?" "All right, boys." "We'll give them that chance." "But if we find what I think we will, there won't be no need of holding a trial." "BEN:" "All right, bring on the buggy." "Hold it." "John, is this as close as you got to that buggy?" "Just about the exact spot, Ben." "Well, we can't see the man's face and we're afoot." "How can you see him, sitting as high as you are?" "I didn't say I could see his face from here." "I sure saw his paint horse tied on behind the buggy." "He probably turned and looked when you got down on the road." "Ah, stop putting words in his mouth." "Move the buggy on down the road." "Now you ride down to the road and make your turn." "I remember." "Now I can tell you how I knew it was Little Joe." "When the buggy made the curve, the man had his foot on the dash." "I could see his leg." "Well, what does that prove?" "When did you see his face?" "I didn't have to see his face." "His leg was enough." "He was wearing his gun tied down to his left leg." "That's how I knew it was Little Joe." "Well, what did you find out?" "Just what we knew we'd find." "Well, Deputy, what do you say now?" "Inquest will be in my office at 2:00." "I'm just seeing to it that whatever needs doing is done proper and legal." "My sister is dead." "The man that pushed her off that cliff is still alive." "You call that legal and proper?" "I said there'd be an inquest and a trial." "There'll be a trial and a hanging." "We heard what you said, Mr. Hardner, and if you don't say it again so everybody can hear, you won't live to get off that witness chair." "(murmuring)" "Thank you very much, Mr. Hardner." "Will the foreman of the coroner's jury please rise?" "Have you reached a verdict?" " FOREMAN:" "Yeah, we sure have." " MARTIN:" "State it." "Mary Parsons was murdered... by Little Joe Cartwright." "Jim, you know better than to say that!" "All you're to determine is the cause of death." "Anything else will be decided by a judge and jury at the proper time." "Well, that is the cause of death." "Little Joe Cartwright pushed her off of that cliff." "If the jury finds that she died by violence, it'll have to be it." "Deputy Conley?" "Joseph Cartwright... you are hereby bound over to stand trial for the murder of Mary Parsons." "(sighs)" "Well, I never thought owning a paint pony and being left-handed could get a fellow in so much trouble." "Hiram, the boys and I know that Joseph didn't murder Mary Parsons." "I don't care what anybody says, he didn't do it." "Pa, wait a minute." "What?" "What Joe just said about the pony and being left-handed." " Well?" " What about it?" "Well, now, Hardner didn't say he saw the man's face." "He just said he saw a paint pony and a left-handed gun." " Yeah, it was enough to hang me." " Yeah, but is it?" "What are you driving at, Adam?" "Well, why would Mary Parsons tell her father that she was going out with Little Joe, when we know that she wasn't?" "Yeah." "Why would she, Pa?" "Well, obviously, because she didn't want her father to know that she was going out with whoever it was." "Yeah, and..." "yeah, and whoever it was must have a left-handed gun and a paint pony, right?" "How about that, Hiram?" "Fine, but how do we prove it?" "Well, first let's find this whoever-it-was." "Hoss, you check with the harness makers." "Adam, check the livery stables." "Right." "Hiram, I don't know why we didn't think of this before." "Ben, if this works..." "I'll get Jerome Bell working on it right away." "(knock on door)" "Sweetheart, what a surprise." "I really shouldn't be here, but I wanted to talk to you and Papa said you'd be here working." "I'm glad you're here." "I'm always glad to see you." "The shy and proper Betty Mae." "All these books..." "Do you have to go through them all?" "I'm planning Little Joe's defense-- or trying to." "If I had it my way in the first place, we'd be in a lot better shape." "Jerome, I'm sure Father knew what he was doing." "I hope he lets me take over this case." "I feel I can do as well as any man alive in that courtroom." "But I have to win your father over first." "Sweetheart, you could help me with that." "This is such an important case, Jerome." "Little Joe's life's at stake." "That's what I mean-- if I win this case," "I'll be the most sought-after lawyer in Virginia City." "We can get all the things that we've planned for." "Your father will take me on as a full partner, and... well, who knows?" "The governor was a lawyer-- that's the way he started." "Of course, Jerome." "I'm sure all those things will come in time, but right now, we must be thinking about Little Joe." "Thinking isn't enough." "The evidence clearly indicates his guilt." "Well, I don't think he's guilty, but it's what I can convince the jury of that counts." "Oh, I can't believe he's guilty." "Jerome, I don't believe he'd push anyone off a cliff." "Given sufficient provocation, any man can commit a murder." "That's not my definition, sweetheart, but you'll find it in any legal text just the same." "It was such a shuddery feeling sitting in that buggy on Indian Leap." "I dreamed about that girl, only she didn't have a face." "You know, I always was a little envious of her." "She was such a pretty girl." "I never paid much attention to her." "She was cheap and flashy." "Let's not talk about morbid things, darling." "Let's..." "let's talk about us." "You will help me with your father?" "Jerome, must we always talk about my father?" "Why not?" "We both want the same things-- a big house, beautiful clothes, fine horses." "I just want happiness." "I just want..." "Shh." "No." "I have to say this, Jerome." "You want success so badly that, sometimes," "I wonder if you want to marry me just because I'm Hiram Wood's daughter." "You silly girl." "You know better than that." "All I want is you." "Cartwright." "I'd like a word with you." "(gun cocks)" "I said I'd like a word with you." "(chuckling):" "Well... to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure, huh?" "I thought you and Jerome were going to the governor's ball this evening." "We are, Father, a little later." "Jerome went to the hotel to change." "He's been working so hard." "I was..." "I was lonesome, so I thought I'd wait here." "Am I interrupting anything?" "No, no." "Just catching up on some odds and ends." "Here, here." "Sit down." "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately, darling, but I just never seem to get caught up." "Now this nasty business with the Parsons girl has to come up." "I know, Dad." "It's been a strain on Jerome, too." "I wish you both could slow down." "(chuckling)" "Now you sound just like your mother used to." "I can't imagine Mother ever scolding you about anything." "She was a wonderful woman." "Wonderful woman." "I just hope that you and Jerome will have the happiness your mother and I had." "Of course you will." "I hope so, Dad." "Well, you don't have to sound so desperate about it." "Dad, we don't have to lie to one another." "Most girls my age are married five years and have a family." "Well, I'm not the prettiest girl in town, and... well, I just don't want to make a mistake." "Now, now, now, now, now, what's this?" "Have you and your young man had words or something?" "I suppose I'm being silly." "It's just that..." "sometimes... sometimes it seems as if Jerome loves his work more than he does me." "(chuckling):" "Oh, so that's it." "Well, sweetheart, I doubt very much that you're the first woman ever to say that." "Jerome's a very ambitious young man." "That's it--ambitious." "So terribly ambitious." "It frightens me." "Dad, at the reception, when Jerome met the governor, it was just as if, suddenly, I ceased to exist." "Baby, baby, now you are being silly." "I suppose I am." "I shouldn't be bothering you with my troubles." "Of course you should." "Of course you should." "That's what I'm here for." "Now, you run along and have a good time." "World looks a lot prettier under a full moon, you know." "Thanks for talking to me, Dad." "(door opens)" "(door closes)" "(knock on door)" "Betty Mae." "What are you doing here?" "Is anything wrong?" "No." "There's nothing wrong." "I just wanted to see you." "You shouldn't have come here." "Why?" "I'm in love with you." "I was lonesome." "Someone might have seen you." "You know how the gossips are in this town." "Let them talk." "I'm not ashamed of my love." "Are you?" "Of course not." "I just didn't want you to see how I live." "I'll be with you in a moment." "But I want to see where you live." "I want to know everything about you." "I want to know every thought you have." "Come on, sweetheart." "Let's go." "Who's the girl in the picture?" "Well, just some girl." "Nothing important." "That's a picture of Mary Parsons, isn't it?" "I picked it up today in connection with the trial." "You knew her, didn't you?" "Betty Mae, you're being unreasonable." "Being a lawyer, I meet many people." "If you had told me, I wouldn't have cared." "I knew there were other women." "Jerome, why did you lie to me?" "Well, there wasn't anything to tell you." "There wasn't anything between us." "Then, why did you lie?" "Well, I-I didn't want your father to know." "I was afraid he might object." "Darling, please, let's forget it." "She was very lovely, wasn't she?" "She was prettier than I am-- younger and prettier." "That isn't so." "You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." "Darling, I love you." "Don't you know that?" "No, I don't know it." "I wish I did, but it isn't so." "I guess I knew that right from the start." "How can you say that after all the plans we've made?" "A big house, fine clothes, the best carriage in town, the governor's mansion?" "Those were your plans, Jerome, not mine." "Well, what's wrong with that?" "Why do you object to those things?" "Mary Parsons couldn't get them for you, could she?" "I told you to forget about Mary Parsons." "Can you forget her?" "She was nobody!" "She was cheap!" "She was trying to blackmail me." "She was going to go to you." "You killed her." "No." "No, no." "It was an accident, sweetheart." "We... we went for a ride." "It'll be all right." "I'll..." "I'll win the case, Little Joe will go free, and... and we can get all the things that we've always wanted." "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to tell my father." "Betty Mae, I couldn't let you do that." "I couldn't let you do anything like that." "Betty Mae." "Betty Mae." "Betty Mae." "(gun cocks)" " Right there, Cartwright." " Don't move." "You want to see your pa, don't you?" "Move." "What's this all about, Pa?" "Oh, these stupid people think they can take the law into their own hands." "We don't think it;" "we know it." "We're going to move on that jail, take out your son and string him up." "Little Joe didn't kill your Mary." "We got the proof." "There's a bill of sale for a paint pony." "Let me see." "Here's one for a left-handed holster signed by John Sully." "Jerome Bell." "That's right." "Do you believe us now, Jake?" "I hope this ain't a Cartwright trick." "All right." "We're going to pay a visit to Mr. Jerome Bell." "All right, boys." "(screaming)" "Bell!" "Stay away!" "All of you." "You try anything, and I'll throw her off of here." "Bell, it's no use!" "We found out!" "Well, you don't try to stop me." "(screaming)" "(crowd murmuring)" "Better go to your daughter." "Jerome." "Betty Mae, it's all right." "It's all right." "You know, I don't think I could ever get used to living in there." "Good to have you out, Joe." "Oh, I don't know." "It's been kind of peaceful around the Ponderosa the last couple of days." "(all chuckling)" "Little Joe." "♪♪" "ANNOUNCER:" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."