"A couple of saddle tramps just rode in." "Looks like they're stopping at the Lost Love." "But they're not going in." "Yes, sir, I know, I know." "You people are thieves." "Did you know that?" "I've been paying interest so long, I plumb forgot what the capital is." "Nobody forced you to come in..." "Force?" "Did you hear that? "Force"?" "Me with a wife, a mule, two Leghorn roosters looking for a hen and six young ones to feed, and all this fool can say is "force"?" " It'll be a cold day in..." "Never mind the hard stuff." "We'll just take the paper." "Come on, come on, give me your gun." "This is force, mister." "Get out!" "Cort!" "Drop it!" "Pick it up." "Don't let me stop you." "Come out!" "Drop them!" "Don't look too good, does it, Bishop?" "Roscoe, go open up the cells." "Cort you and Hawkins help me cover them." "If one of them even spits, blow his head off." "I need a doctor." " You ain't hurt." "Move!" "They shot Nathan Stoner and killed one of my clerks." "Get your hands up." "John, get Doc Curtis over here right away." "Bishop, you and one other in that first cell on the right." " In there, old man." "Pa." "I figured you'd hit me a turn one of these days, Bishop." "When they write about you they'll call Val Verde your end of the line." "Well, I've never seen anything so bad that a little money or talk can't settle." "You can talk till you're blue in the face if you've a mind to." "I'm a different kind of sheriff than you've been used to." " What's that supposed to mean?" " Means you can't beg, borrow, steal buy, break or pray your way out of my jail." "July!" "Nathan Stoner just died." "Roscoe, you men search them and take their gun belts." "All right, let me have them." "Give me a Rosebud, will you?" "Coming up." "Say, have you heard about any jobs to be had around San Anton?" "No, and a hundred others have asked me the same thing since sundown." "Uh-huh." "Who do I see about getting a cot tonight?" " Me, if you got 50 cents." " Fifty?" "The sign over there says 25 cents for a cot." "That's when things are slow." "50 cents, take what you can find." " It's kind of steep." " No laughing, no talking no singing, no drinking and no snoring and no spitting." "Right through that door, and don't step on anyone." "I wanna bed down the horse." "Is there a livery handy?" "Across the street." "He charges 60 cents." "Well, that seems fair enough." "Seems to me like you could stand a good scrubbing yourself." "Water washes away a man's protection lets miseries into his body, and I'm too old to take chances." "If what you're saying's true, you're the best-protected man in town." "Well, I ain't sick, never been sick and don't intend to be sick." "Next!" "Now, if you're gonna shave, I'll fill a pan but if you ain't, I won't." " Fill the pan." "They tell me you're a hangman." "They told you right, friend." "Left Oklahoma City three weeks ago and headed for Val Verde, Texas." "This'll be one of the biggest jobs I've had in years:" "The Bishop gang." "Judge found them guilty as sin." "Sentenced them to hang high as a Georgia pine." "Good for the state of Texas too when they're out of the way." " How many did they catch?" "They killed one, caught five." "Ex-Quantrill men, mostly." "Leastways, Bishop is." "Be the first Texans I ever hung." "I plan to enjoy it." "Hey, bring my clothes over here, will you?" " Ain't you gonna shave?" " No." "What in the world...?" "Can't make up their mind." "I can't stand it I've gotta keep this place spick-and-span." "A fella can't even make up his mind..." "Afternoon." " Howdy." "Get down and set a spell, friend." "Got more fish here if you're hungry." "Mighty generous of you." "I'm a generous man." "Believe in it." "Make yourself at home." "Coffee there." "Sweet biscuits there." "Hey, you got all the comforts." " Yes, sir, friend." "I enjoy life." "My soul's on fire with the spirit of it, if you know what I mean." "That's fine." "Well, it looks to me like you must be a rope drummer." "Oh." "No, just the tools of my professión." "I'm a hangman." "A hangman?" "Well, I declare." "On my way to hang the Bishop gang down in Val Verde." "Oh, yeah." "I heard about that." "Well, they finally got that bunch, huh?" "Caught, jailed, tried and gonna hang." "Well, I sure am happy to come across you, Mr..." "Grimes." "Ossie Grimes, of the Oklahoma Grimes." "Mr. Grimes, yes, sir." "Yeah, I sure am happy I've run across..." "You know, I've always been sort of curious about your job." "Well, there's a lot more to it than most folks think." "There's nothing worse than a sloppy hanging." "Back in Oklahoma, I once watched them hang a fella five times before it took." "Five times?" "Five?" "Just exactly what do you have to know, Mr. Grimes in order to make a good, clean, professional job of it?" "Well, just about everything." "You have to know how tall your subject is, how much he weighs his neck size and how he feels about it all." " Then you have to be certain..." " Excuse me." "You mean to say you have to know how the fellow you're gonna hang feels about it?" "Oh, yes, sir." "A scared man who's crying and praying and shaking and moving around is harder to send to his maker than one who's decided to just stand there and take it." "Uh-huh." "Why, I had a subject last year took me an hour just to get him up off his knees." " Is that a fact?" " That's a fact." "You can't hang a subject when he's on his knees." "It just don't look right." "And I'll tell you one more thing." "When you select a rope..." " What are you looking at?" " You tell me." " Hey, Robbie." "What?" "I got a young boy here who's worried about his future." "Yeah." "I reckon he is at that too." "I hope to God that they don't dump himself and myself in the same hole." "I have enough explaining to do up there without having him along." "Fine pair of lookouts, you and your pop." "Let me tell you something, Bishop I've been on the wrong side of the law for over 40 years and I ain't been in jail long enough to soften up a chaw of tobacco." "I ride out with you, and here I am watching them build my own gallows." "Well, everybody else has had their say." "What about you?" "It don't look too good, does it?" "Ossie Grimes is the name, sheriff." "Down from Oklahoma to prove again that the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons." "That's true in Texas just like any place." "The Southwest will be a better place when I'm finished." "Well, I'm July Johnson, Mr. Grimes." "I'm the one that sent for you." "This here is my deputy, Roscoe Bookbinder." " Glad to know you." " Howdy." "Known him all his life." "Born in a hogan north of El Paso." " A fine boy." " Fine, fine." "Well, first off, sheriff, I'd like to see the subjects, if you don't mind." " The what?" " What?" "The..." "The subjects." " The prisoners?" " In my professión, they're subjects." "In my jail, they're nothing." "Follow me." "Here they are, Mr. Grimes, all ready for you." "Well, I'd have to say now..." "I wonder if you fellas would move forward a little to the bars." "Would you come forward?" "All right, do what the man says." "Ah..." "Well, sheriff, seems like to me you got four good necks here that ought to snap pretty good." "I'm just not quite sure about this one." "How much do you weigh, son?" "Uh..." " I don't know." " You don't know?" "Well, maybe it'll be all right." "I always like to do a nice clean job." "Usually when I have a lightweight I strap on a 50-pound bag of sand, get some weight on him and then that neck:" "Just like that." "How do you feel about it all, son?" " You're crazy." " Now, you're not gonna be praying and crying and all that stuff?" "You'll just hold up the procedure." "Won't make it any easier for me or you." " This one Bishop, sheriff?" "Yeah, that's him." " You rode with Quantrill, did you?" " All the way." "And at Lawrence, Kansas?" " You were in on that?" " I was there." "You must have made your mother mighty proud." "Hangman." "I never harmed a woman or a child." "We're planning on high noon tomorrow, if that suits you." "That'll be fine." "You know, sheriff, when a man in my professión gets a chance to work with equipment like that, it just makes him proud." " Uh-huh." " You're expecting a big crowd, I imagine?" "It's a free country." "Folks got a right to watch a hanging." "Well, then I'd like to advise you about two things, sheriff." "I've found out from bitter experience that when folks come for a hanging all guns should be confiscated until after and all saloons should be closed." " Well, I'll see what I can do." " Good." "These men deserve to hang but they don't deserve to hang sober while drunks stand around watching." "That man sure loves his work." " I'll bed your horses, Mr. Grimes." " Fine." "These ropes stay with me." "Her name's Maria Stoner, hangman." "One of the men you're gonna send away tomorrow killed her husband." "Have that sorrel ready for me in the morning, huh?" "And this is the last one, Mrs. Stoner." "Well, the unfortunate demise of your husband has left you quite a sizable estate." "You mean the death of my husband has made me the wealthiest woman in this county." "Well, that's quite a jump for a little girl from south of the border." "I have to be going." "Mrs. Stoner, it might be wise if we discussed the disposition of your ranch." " Disposition?" "Yes." "Several weeks ago I had a discussión with Nathan about a possible sale." "I made him an offer." " He seemed quite agreeable." " The ranch is not for sale." " You don't expect to live out there..." " I intend to keep it." "But you don't intend to run it." "No woman in her right mind would attempt to operate a 150,000-acre spread." "Whether or not I succeed in operating it, Mr. Carter is not your concern." "I can take care of myself." "I think you overestimate your ability, Mrs. Stoner." "Perhaps I do." "Good day, Mr. Carter." "Mr. Carter, I was a whore at 13 and my family of 12 never went hungry." "When you figure we'll make our play, Dee?" " Not tonight." " We don't do something tonight we're gonna hang tomorrow." " You got any ideas?" " No, but you should." " Well, I do, old man, so shut up." "Hey, laddie, tell me:" "What miracle are you going to perform when the sun comes up, huh?" "All right." "Step up and get it." "Same damn chili and beans." "Did you ever hear of beefsteak?" "Beefsteak, my ass." "Hell, pork chops up 15 cents a pound and the man's talking about he wants beefsteak." "Nice night, isn't it, Mrs. Stoner?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "How do you know my name?" "I get the idea just about everybody around here knows your name." "I'm very pleased to meet you." "I'm..." "I apologize for the intrusión." "I'm being a little forward, and I..." "Oh, please." "Don't go." " You are the hangman, aren't you?" " Well, I'm..." "Hear them in there?" "Getting all liquored up for the big day tomorrow." "Celebration over the death of fellow human beings." "That is a strange thought for a hangman." " Do you have a family?" " A brother." "He's all that's left." "It was the war, Mrs. Stoner." "The war took our family." "Almost took me, but I'm a pretty fast runner." "Good night." "Good night." " I didn't know him but I'm sorry about your husband, Mrs. Stoner." "I'm sorry." "Thank you." "Gonna be a big day tomorrow, Roscoe." "Better get some sleep." "Mrs. Stoner." " Maria." " Yes." "Do you mind if I come in for a minute?" "Well, I would prefer you didn't..." " I won't take but a minute, ma'am." "What is it, sheriff?" "My friends call me July, ma'am." "I wish you were one." "I'll tell you what, ma'am." "I'll be your friend, and you just don't bother about being mine." "The reason I come up here tonight was to see if there was anything I could do for you." "Anything at all." " No." "No, there's nothing." "I'm going home tomorrow." "Oh." "I see." "Well, it still goes." "Anytime." "July." "Thank you." " Morning." " Good morning." "Well, let's see you trip her." "They got it working fine, hangman." "Now it's up to you." "A man that's been hung by Ossie Grimes stays hung." "Bishop, it appears to me I have misjudged you." "The town's filling up, and you ain't even made a move." "Well, it appears to me I misjudged you too, Pop." "You're scared." "It's my boy I'm thinking of." "He ain't even full-growed yet." "I'm scared, Dee, and I ain't ashamed of it." "Babe, when the time comes whatever we have to do, we'd better be quick about it." "You too, Robbie." "When we have to move, move." "Right, laddie." "I'm sorry." "Come back after." "Yeah?" "Well..." "Hey, check your guns in over there." "Sorry, closed till after the hanging." "Hey, it's that way." "Put the rifles over there, gentlemen." "Put your rifles in that pack." "I'll tell you what, don't lose my gun." "We asked you not to wear them to town in the first place." "The holster too." "You'll get it back in a little while." "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Giddap!" "It's about that time, ain't it?" "Yeah, just about." "Run them out." "All right." "Clear a path down there." "So hold it right there." "All right." "Come up the steps one at a time." "You first, Bishop." "Move down the line and then turn around." " Aren't you gonna tie their hands?" " First things first, sheriff." "Be a long time before the likes of them ride into Val Verde again." "Hold it!" "I'm a fair man, sheriff." "Now, you be good, and I won't kill you." "Tell your deputy to drop it." "Tell him!" "All right, do it, Roscoe." " Move it." " I knew you'd do it, laddie." "Who you gonna hang now?" "Hold it right there." " All right, break the crowd up." " Get back there." "Come on." "Come on, get back there." " Get back!" "All right." "Move it." "Bring that wagon up here." "Come on." "Get out of it." "Goddang!" "Keep them covered." "Take what you need and get rid of the rest of their guns." " Do you think you'll get far, Bishop?" " Not as far as you were gonna send me." "Let's go!" "Let's get the hell out of here!" "Giddap!" "Hyah!" "Let's go, men!" "They're headed southwest." "All right, hurry up with the wagon!" "Get your guns!" "Don't worry about getting your own gun." "Just get a gun!" "Get back there!" "You know what they did, so if you're going with me, be ready." "When we come on them, shoot to kill." "Hyah!" "Hasn't been one of your good days, has it?" "Well, I wouldn't exactly say that." " Can I help you?" " Yes." "Yes, I'd appreciate it very much if you'd fill these up with money." "But you're the hangman..." "No." "Now, you see, you're wrong about that too." "And I don't really feel I have time to explain it all to you so just do as I say, and you'll stay healthy and everything will be all right." "Just fill them up." "Get in there." "That's it." "It's a tough world, isn't it?" "We ain't got no time." "You ain't planning to waste none of it around here, are you?" "Well, if you wanna cross that border with no grub, go ahead." "And take the kid with you." "Hurry up." "Take as much as you can." "You didn't have to do this." "I didn't do it, he did it." "And if he hadn't done it, I'd have done it." "Dee." "Robbie, take her to cover." "Leave me alone." "Now." "They got that Stoner woman!" "I almost shot her." "Yeah, I know." "Pass the word, Roscoe." "God help the man that hurts her." "Right." "How does a man become an animal like you?" "Don't shoot the Stoner woman." "Don't shoot the Stoner woman." "You gonna let her stop you?" "You can't ask..." "I haven't asked anything, Carter!" "Who in the hell's that?" " Johnson, they're getting away!" " Don't you think I know that?" "!" "Don't you, by damn, think I know that?" "!" "Roscoe!" "Go track them as far the border." "Wait for me there." "I'll be along." "Yes, sir." "Come on." "I want 10 volunteers." "Ten good horses, 10 good guns." "No clerks, no storekeepers." "We'll outfit at the Stoner ranch." "The rest of you, take care of the wounded and go on back to town." " You going across the border?" " That's right!" "After them or after her?" "Hey, sheriff!" "He robbed the bank!" "Who did?" " The hangman." "Mrs. Stoner, you're gonna be with us until we don't need you no longer." "Then you can go on home." "Hmm?" "Have you no plan, laddie?" " My plan is to stay away from a rope." "That's a dandy one, that is." "Indeed it is." "She sure is pretty." "She's not pretty, she's beautiful." "Beautiful as something real fine." "Something you can't never have, no matter how bad you want it." "Looks to me like we got her." " You ain't got nothing, kid." "Forget it." " I don't mean nothing." "That's right." "You don't mean nothing." "Shh." "Listen." "Dee, you gone plumb loco?" "Get down, Mace." "Help yourself." "It ain't much." "It's just like a woman I once had back in Kentucky:" "Warm and free." "Why, it's the hangman." " Hey, what's he doing here?" " That ain't no hangman, Pop." " That's nobody but my brother." "Your brother?" "Mace, this is Pop Chaney." "That's his young fine son back there who's studying for the ministry." "Babe Jenkins." " Robbie O'Hare." "Hi." "Mrs. Stoner." "You all right, Mrs. Stoner?" " Hey, you!" " Pop." "Apologize for what happened to you, Mrs. Stoner." "You can go home in the morning." "Mrs. Stoner goes home when I say she goes home and she ain't going home in the morning, Mace." "When I ain't got no blood-in-the-eye posse running up my backside then she can do what she wants." "Until then, she stays." "So you never harmed a woman or a child, huh?" "She's harmed?" "She ain't harmed." "You sure put her in a good position." "I'd like to have my gun back, Dee." "Robbie." "Still picking up after your brother." "Mama would be proud of that." "Seen Mama lately?" "Not since the funeral." "Mama's dead?" "I buried her six weeks to the day after Appomattox." "It was raining." " She didn't suffer?" " Only in her mind." " Because of me, you mean." " You're the one who said that." "I killed her." "That's what you mean." "You never did her any good, Dee." "That's what I mean." "The day she found you joined Quantrill she started going downhill for the last time." "And when you fellows burnt Lawrence, Kansas after that, she never spoke another word." "She just sat by the fire and didn't say anything." "Hey, Robbie." "Here's a mama for you." "One boy goes with Quantrill, the other goes with Sherman." "One helps burn down a town, the other helps burn down a state." "The one that burned the town is the one that done in his mama." "Sherman was war, Dee." "Quantrill was meanness." "Well, what about this big sheriff and his bunch?" "Think he's gonna cross the border?" "A South Texas sheriff who once rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest." "A man who was made a fool of in his own town." "He'll cross it." "If there's something you know that we don't I think you'd better tell us what it is." "You're with us." "Whatever happens to us happens to you." "Maybe even more so." "The country we have been through between here and the Rio Grande is patrolled by the federales." "From here to south is the territorio bandolero." "Well, what's that, "territorio bandolero"?" "Bandit country." "They kill every gringo they can find." " You don't look too worried." " I am not a gringo." "Well, there's a town called Sabinas just south of here." " It is a three-day ride." " We'll be safe there." "The sheriff won't follow us that deep in." "He will follow." "What makes you so certain?" "Because you have something he has wanted for a long time." " What's that?" " Me." "Four, maybe five hours." "This is the first time I have been in my country since I left." "I always knew I would come back again but not quite this way." "How'd you come to marry your husband, Mrs. Stoner?" "He bought me, Mr. Bishop." "He found me in the backroom of a cantina." "He liked me, and he bought me." "He gave my father five cows and a gun." "It made my father the richest man in our village." "Did you ever come to love him?" "No." "But he was kind to me." "He was considerate." "And he took me from something I never felt a part of." "He gave me a home." "Now here I am." "Well, from the looks of you, Mrs. Stoner, you have a long way yet to go." " Want some coffee?" " No." "Excuse me." "Mace, if you're ever alone with Pop and his little boy don't you turn your back on them." " I know." "I can't decide which of us they hate the most." " Oh, it's you." " I think you're right." "Mace, I ain't had a chance to tell you, but it sure is real good to see you again." "And sometimes I think back to how it used to be with you and me." " You remember when...?" " Dee, that was yesterday." "Now, let's talk about today." "All right." "What about today?" "Now, why do you ride with men like these?" "Oh, I don't know." "I just got used to it, I guess, through the years." "You know, you begin to go one way and keep on going that way pretty soon, there's no other way." "You really believe that?" "No, I guess not." "You sure are pretty." " Pretty." "A pretty woman ain't good for nothing but smelling sweet and laying around the house." "Just so pretty." "Is it after a little kiss you are, Babe?" "Oh, he's a great kisser, ma'am." "He's the best damn lady-kisser in the whole of Texas." "Leave the woman alone." "Oh..." "Hell, he wouldn't harm a hair on her head, laddie." "She's a lady." "Treat her like one." "It's time you got some sleep." "How far are we going, July?" "I mean, are we just gonna keep following them till we come up on them or what?" "No matter how far they go?" "That's right." "Suppose they just keep going on forever?" "Then we'll just keep going on forever." "What if we lose them?" "There's only a couple of places they could be headed." "There's only a couple of places with water." "I won't lose them." "I'll find them, or I'll find their bones, but I won't lose them." "Hold up, July!" "This don't make sense no more, July." " What don't make sense, Hawkins?" " We've come too far already." "Ain't no telling where we'll end up, dead most likely, if we keep going." "You wanna turn back?" "Wanting ain't part of it." "I'm turning back." "Anybody going with me?" "Ain't nobody coming with me?" "Maybe he's right, Johnson." "It don't make no sense no more." "I mean, it just don't make sense." "Goodbye, Ross, Hawkins." "You coming with us?" "It's not the Bishop gang he's after now, it's the Stoner woman." "Just like Carter said." "Hey!" "Wait up there!" "Wait for me!" "What are you hurrying so for?" "That sheriff can't go any faster than we can." "Are you giving out, Pop?" "Oh, it's just that I don't see no sense in hurrying, that's all." "So the old bastardo is not as tough as he smells." "How can two brothers be so different?" "Who, Mace?" "Oh, he believes in the goodness of his fellow man." "He's never seen it, but he believes in it." "I don't believe in it." " What do you believe in?" " I believe in myself." "You fool nobody but yourself." "And I don't believe you even do that." "You really think you had a hard life, don't you, Dee?" " You don't understand." " No?" "What would you know about having to scrape for a living?" "I could tell you a lot about the hard life but you'd have to live it to understand it." "Yes, I believe that." "Johnson!" "We ain't going no further." "This is it." "We're turning back." " All of you?" " All of us." " You just ain't gonna find them." " I'll find them." "Do you know how big this country is?" "Why, it just swallowed them up." " For all we know, they..." " Now, who's missing?" "We came into that pass with 10 men." "I count eight of us now." "Clyde Anderson ain't with us, July." "Wade Phillips is missing too." "July." "All right, Cort, you and the men can ride back home if you want to." "Course, that's the only way." "Unless you wanna ride 50 miles around." "All right, then." "You stay here till we get back." "Stay where you are." "You wouldn't recognize him anyway." "I reckon the other one's around here somewhere." " The Indians, July?" " No, bandits." "If you wanna ride for home, you leave right now from here." "I'll understand." "I'll tell the others I sent you home to report." "I'll stay with you, July." "Now, you don't have to." "I just want you to know that." "No, I'll stick." "Then if anybody ever says to me:" ""Did you ride all over Mexico with July Johnson?"" "I can say to him, "Yep I rode all over Mexico with July Johnson."" "You're a good boy." "I always said it." "You stop picking your nose, boy." "It ain't mannerly." " You had no call to do that." " Now, none of your lip." "You're raising up your boy to be a good Christian, I see." "I'm learning him what my pa learned me." "The Almighty rest his damn bones." "There's three things a man ought never do:" "Spit in church, scratch himself in front of his ma and pick his nose." "Yes, sir." "That's what my pa learned me, and it stood me in good stead." "I don't imagine your pa ever mentioned shooting people and burning houses and things like that." "I'm talking about mannerly things, Mr. Bishop." "I ain't talking about making a living." "Oh." "What the hell, Bishop?" "You were leaning on my saddle, Mr. Chaney." "You lean on your own saddle." "Babe, get out there and see if anything's moving." "Dee." " Something wrong?" " Things have been wrong a long time." "Don't you think it's about time we have a talk?" " Well, I'll tell you the truth..." " Yeah, liars always start that way." "No, Mace, I'll tell you the truth." "I can't remember a single instance where talking's ever gotten me anyplace." "But go ahead." "Tell me what you wanna talk about, maybe I'll join you." "All right." "I wanna talk about us having a place of our own." "Our own ranch." "How's that sound to you?" "Not worth a rooster without a hen." "How come?" "Seems to me I can remember back to a time you wanted a place of your own awful bad." "That was before the war." "We were younger then." "Well, not that much younger." "Young enough to think about a good woman." "You know how long it's been since I been with a woman I could respect?" "I may not be good, but I sure do know what good's supposed to be." "We were young enough back in those days to think about children." "You're not saying you're too old to be a father?" "I'm just saying you reach a time when all them things are lost to you." "They're not lost to you, Dee." "They're not lost." "You may have thrown some of them away." "They're not lost to you." "Get up, Babe." "Get up!" "Honest, Dee, I wasn't gonna do nothing but kiss her." "Well, what's wrong with a little old kiss?" "Ain't nothing wrong with a little old kiss, Dee." "A little old kiss never hurt nobody." "From now on, you and me are gonna be close together whether you like it or not." "I can't stand the thought of something like him with his hands on something like you." "I thought he was your friend." "He is, but that don't make him any less disgusting." "Matter of fact, all my friends are disgusting." "You take Pop, for instance." "He was due to be shot the day he was born." "And that heart of his is nothing but a festering sore." "His kid, he's something, ain't he?" "If you feel that way about them, why are you with them?" "I know where they stand." "I've never known where respectable people stood." "Maybe they don't know themselves." "You say the sheriff's always wanted you?" "He is a good man." "I..." "I reckon he's got you all to himself now." "He's a good man, but I feel nothing for him." "Why do you laugh?" "I was just thinking." "We'd make a perfect pair, you and me." "I'm broke, without a woman and you're rich and without a man." " This ain't Sabinas, is it, laddie?" " Is this what you brung us to?" "This is the town." "Why, it's a ghost." "Looks that way, Mace." "Sure does look that way." "A lot of horses through here lately, Dee." "Maybe not more than a day or so." "Mostly barefoot." "This is your country." "What do you think happened to these people?" "Bandoleros." "They demand too much of the people." "When they grow tired of being raided, they leave." "As they have done here." "You mean to say a whole town just packs up and leaves and never comes back?" "Well, sometimes they go to a larger town where they can be protected by the soldiers of Benito Juárez." "Mace, we'll put up over in that cantina." "That's the best place around." "What do you plan on doing now, Dee?" "Well, I'll just rest up here a few days ride on to Hidalgo for supplies and push on to Matamoros." "I got friends in Matamoros." "Well, what about Mrs. Stoner?" "Mace, you think we could make a go of it in Montana?" "Dee, there's a town up there called Missoula." " Prettiest place you ever saw." " What about the Indians?" "And the Rockies, they're snowcapped, and the slopes are forested and there are lots of lakes and..." " What about the Indians?" "And there's deer in Montana, Dee." "And antelope and elk..." " Mace, what about the Indians?" "...and black bear and..." "What Indians?" "Ain't there no Indians in Montana?" "Well, a few." "Ain't there Northern Cheyenne in Montana?" "The Northern..." "Well, the Northern Cheyenne..." " I wouldn't lie to you." " The Crow and the Sioux?" " Well, they're around." " What else, Mace?" " Listen, Dee..." " What else?" "Well, the Blackfeet and Chippewa." " Some Cree?" "Yes." "Yes, there are Cree in Montana." "And the Shoshone and the Kootenai and the Stoney." "Just what are you trying to say?" "I'm trying to say there's a lot of goddamn Indians in Montana, Mace." " You're impossible to talk to." " Wait a minute." "Will you sit down, Mace?" "I'm tired, Mace." "Bone-tired." "I can't even remember what it feels like to get up in the morning feeling rested and clean, having a good breakfast." "I can't remember what it feels like to slip down in between some cool, clean sheets." "Mace, we'll need money." "Have you thought about that?" "I think I know where I can get my hands on some." "Your brother won't never make it." "There's only one way for him for me, for any of us." "Well, what way is that, Mr. Chaney?" "This way." "The way we know." "The way we growed." "Well, now, that may be so for you, but for my brother, it's different." "I don't care if he is your brother." "The son of a bitch..." "Now before you apologize, I'm gonna tell you something, Mr. Chaney." "My brother and I are the sons of an honest dirt farmer." "A man who slaved all his life from sunup to sundown and never took time except to deliver his children and go to meeting on Sunday." "A man who died of old age at 45 and who never saw more than $ 10 at one time in his whole life." "We're the sons of a woman that married him for his goodness because she was good!" "And now you can apologize for slandering my family, Mr. Chaney." "I'll blow your head off." "You ain't no killer." "You ain't got the stomach for it." "Apologize!" "I'm sorry, Mr. Bishop." "I didn't mean no harm." "I'm going outside, Dee." "I'd appreciate it if you see I don't get shot in the back." " July?" " Mmm?" "What if she won't have you?" "Why shouldn't she have me?" "Well, I don't know." "It's just, she might not want you." "You trying to tell me something, Roscoe?" "No, July, it's just..." "Well, because you want her doesn't mean that she's gotta want you right back." "Does it?" "I don't wanna talk about it." " Why?" " What?" " Why don't you wanna talk about it?" " Roscoe, I just don't." "Now, Roscoe, you been a good boy all of these years." "Now, don't spoil it." "Who's standing guard?" "Jeeters." "Well, I reckon I'll go spell him." "Well, there's another one'll never make it to Matamoros." "How many does that make?" " Three." "Looks to me like we'll be mostly walking when we leave." "You two have gotten pretty close, haven't you?" " Nothing's been said." " Well, nothing has to be said." "It's just a feeling, Mace." "You know, it's just a feeling, but..." "But what?" "I don't know if she has the same feeling." "Have you thought about asking her?" " Asking?" " Dee I know you don't believe in talking and you've said that talking never got you anywhere but how are you ever gonna find out anything from anybody if you don't talk?" "There will be coffee soon." " I wanna ask you something." " Yes?" "I know I've done you real wrong and even if I wanted it's kind of late for apologizing." "I know there's no reason in this whole world why you wouldn't like to step on something like me but do you think you could ever take to a man who dragged you from your home and done you the way I done you?" "Well, I'll be damned." " What'd she say?" " Nothing." "Oh, well, you two are gonna be very happy." "Mace, what'd she mean by that?" "She just looked at me, hugged me." "Didn't say nothing." "Oh, boy." "Oh, you're a sorry..." "Dee, you're so dumb." " I am?" " Yes, you are." " How'd you like a knock in your teeth?" " No, listen to me, Dee." "Do you wanna go up to Montana with me or don't you?" "Do you wanna help me build our spread up there?" " I reckon, yeah." " And the children, what about them?" " What children?" " Children of your own." "The ones you used to want." "What about them?" "And her?" "Do you want her to go with you to Montana?" " It'd be right nice, yeah." " Well, then go and tell her." "You're right." "That's right, Mace." "Now, why didn't I think of that?" "Bishop, close the door." "Come on in." "All right, tell them it's over, Roscoe." "Now, just so we understand one another you make one move I don't like, and I'll kill you." "Now, what's your real name?" " Mace Bishop." " Bishop." "You're brothers." "You hear that, Roscoe?" "They're brothers." "All right, brothers." "Where'd you hide the bank money?" " What bank money?" " Oh, it's gonna be that way, is it?" "The $ 10,000 your brother there took out of the Val Verde Bank." "$ 10,000 that he helped himself to when the rest of you lit out." "That's what bank money." "You robbed a bank?" "You, Mace?" "Well, Dee, the bank was there and I was there, and there wasn't very much of anybody else there and it just seemed like the thing to do." "You know, it's not like something you never heard of." "Lot of people rob banks for all sorts of different reasons." "You just walked into a bank and helped yourself to $ 10,000 because it seemed like the thing to do?" "That's about the way it was, yeah." "That's as well as I can remember, yeah." "I don't know what to say to you." "Well, just don't say anything, Dee." "Don't say a word." "Why, you old bastard." "Now I know what you meant by, "I might be able to get some money."" "You planned on us..." "We were gonna start our new spread on stolen money?" "Just a thought, Dee." "Just a thought." "Well, I'm sure glad Mama ain't around to hear all this." "Well, I sure wish Papa was around to hear all this." "Wouldn't it be wonderful to see $ 10,000 in Papa's hands?" "$ 10,000 in the hands of a man that didn't know there was that much money in the whole world." "I think I'm gonna be sick to my stomach." "Tie them up." "Tie them all up!" "We're going home in the morning, ain't we, July?" "I sure hope so." "I've found a place for you to sleep tonight, ma'am." "I don't mind sleeping here." "Oh, yes, ma'am, but I don't think you should." "It just don't seem right, somehow." "Right over there." "Now, there's no need to worry." "There'll be somebody on guard all night long." "Now, this isn't much, but it's the best I could find." "You'll be safe here." "I was not worried about my safety." "You don't have to be with them Bishops now." "You know, I like them." "Beg your pardon, ma'am?" "I said, I like them." "Both of them." "I'd like to talk to you about something, Maria." "You have ridden a long way for nothing if it was for me." " Look, I'm stable." " I know." " And I'm reliable." " I know, July, but don't you...?" "Roscoe said just because I like you you don't have to like me back, and that's the truth, but..." "Oh, what are you looking for, ma'am?" "Nothing." "I have found it." "You men!" "Pack all the water we can tote." "Throw away everything we don't need." "All right, I'm gonna ask you again." "And I don't wanna hear about your mama." "I don't wanna hear nothing about how disappointed you are in each other." "I don't wanna hear nothing about how the Lord will forgive you for sinking so low." "Where'd you hide the money?" "You know, it'd go a lot easier on you if you told me where it was hid." "What about my brother?" "Money or no money, your brother's gonna hang." "Your kind don't live long in prison, Mace." "Why don't you tell him where it is." "Go on, give it to him." "Well, sheriff I figure if I ever want money bad enough again I can always rob another bank." "I never knew it was so easy." "Come on, help me up." "Don't do it, Bishop." "We'll get you out of this." "You ain't getting out of nothing, so shut up." "It's a long way to the border, sheriff and I'm gonna take special pleasure in cutting your..." "Tough world, isn't it, Mr. Chaney?" "There it is resting like a baby." "Is that really the best you could hide it?" "Go tell July we're ready." "July..." " Untie us!" " Get back on the floor!" "Come on, sheriff, untie us and give us guns!" "You'll never hold off that many!" " All right, Cort, turn them loose!" " Come on!" "All right, Dee." "Pa." "Leave me be, boy!" "Pa!" "Get back in here!" "I hope they kill you, you hear me?" "I hope you die!" "No!" "My God." "When you hugged me, did that mean yes or no?" "It meant yes." "You really would've been my woman?" "My wife, I mean?" "Yes." " You'd have gone to Montana with us?" " Yes." "Did you hear that, Mace?" "You here, Mace?" "I'm here, Dee." "Babe was right." "A little old kiss never hurt nobody." "Dee?" "Dee." "Did you mean what you said to my brother?" "For the first time in my life." "I'm glad." "I'm awful glad." "Because, you see, Dee always wanted to believe." "He always..." "He always wanted the right things." "But there was just something in him." "It just..." "It was always hard for Dee to see the light at the end of the trail." "It almost worked." "No one will even know who lies here." "Does it matter?" "Perhaps not."