"ANNOUNCER:" "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "(fanfare plays)" "(gunshots)" "(men laughing)" "Willie!" "Please, Willie!" "Oh, get away, Mary." " Please!" " Leave me alone." "HOSS:" "Willie!" "Willie!" "Willie, you're-you're going to hurt somebody, Willie." "Draw." "Here." "Here." "Draw." "Draw." "Willie, you don't want to shoot me." "Oh, yes, I do." "Give me the gun, Willie." " No." "No!" " Give me the gun, Willie." " Willie, give me the gun." " No!" "Willie." "You killed him." "You killed my Willie!" "You monster!" "Oh, Willie." "(sobbing):" "Willie..." "Willie..." "Oh, Willie..." "Oh..." "Willie... (sobbing):" "Willie... (sobbing continues)" "(theme song playing)" "Were you a friend to Willie?" "Yes." "Willie and I were friends." "Well, what do you mean to do about it?" "Do about it?" "About Willie." "He was killed, wasn't he?" "Yes, yes, he was killed, but not the way you're thinking." "You see, he'd been drinking..." "No, I don't want to see." "I don't have to." "Whatever Willie did, he didn't deserve to be killed." "I know." "I'm his brother." "You're Red-- his brother Red." "He told you about me, then." "Oh, yes, he talked of you often." "I should have been here." "Just what were you to him?" "He was kind and gentle to me." "I loved him." "Kind and gentle." "And he ended up like this." "He talked about you many times." "What did he say?" "Oh, he said that you scout for the army and hunt buffalo." "Then, he must have told you that I take care of my own." "Willie was my brother." "I've been asking around." "I know the name of the man who killed him:" "Hoss Cartwright." "Do you know him?" "Everybody around here knows the Cartwrights." "I don't." "But I will soon." "Please, the... the Cartwrights were friends to Willie." "Willie was my brother." "A man killed him." "That man's going to pay." "Do you want me to help you with that?" "No, I don't need any help." "As soon as we get this finished, I guess we ought to get out and help the other boys on the roundup." "Look, Hoss, you're going to have to stop brooding." "It was just an accident." "Look, I know how you feel." "Um..." "I mean, anybody would, but..." "Where are you going?" "I'm gonna take a ride down to the low country." "There's some fences down there that need to be mended." "Uh, I think you better go along with him, Joe." "You'll get the job done much faster." "Never mind." "It's... it's a one-man job." "If he'd just stop feeling guilty." "I don't think he should be alone." "Yeah, maybe it's best." "You know the way he is." "Where's Hoss going?" "Said he was going down to the lower section, do some fence-mending." "You think I ought to keep an eye on him?" "No, I don't think so." "Best way for Hoss to work things out is for us to leave him alone." "(horse neighs softly)" "Let's go, boy." "(cocks gun)" "Go, boy." "♪♪" "(horse whinnies)" "♪♪" "What do you think you're doing?" "Don't you know better than to sneak up on a man like that?" "I asked you a question." "All right, I'm worried about Hoss." "It's not like him to stay out all night." "It's almost daybreak." "And what are you going to do about it?" "Gonna ride out and find him." "I don't want him to be alone." "Did you tell Pa this?" "No, I didn't." "I'd just as soon you wouldn't tell him, either, Adam." "I'll think about it." "Where do you think you're going?" "Well, he's my brother, too." "What are we waiting for?" "Come on." "♪♪" "Ah." "Doesn't look like Hoss did much fence-mending." "I doubt he intended to." "He probably... (gunshot)" "Came from Mud Creek." "Let's go." "Hyah!" "It's Hoss!" " Brother." " Is he all right?" "Whoever did this couldn't have gotten far." " Now, Joe, wait..." "What do you mean, wait?" "!" "I can get him!" "If you want to save your brother's life, you'll get Pa and a doctor." "Now, if we don't lose any time, maybe we can keep him alive." "I'll stay here with him." "Now, get going!" "He'll sleep for a while now." "I gave him a sedative." "Might just as well leave him alone." "Tell me the truth." "How is he?" "Well, I'll be honest with you, Ben." "It's a bad wound-- he's lost a lot of blood." "I tried to encourage him, to tell him he'd be all right, but it's as if..." "he didn't want to listen." "I know." "I know." "It's been that way ever... ever since Willie Twilight's death." "It..." "I..." "Listen, Ben." "You know that that wasn't Hoss's fault." "Oh, I know." "You know." "Everybody knows except Hoss." "He feels guilty." "If there was only some way we could make him understand that it wasn't..." "Ben, you're not going to make him understand anything for a while." "That bullet wound alone would've been enough for most men." "It might be enough for him, Ben." "What can we do?" "Wait." "Just wait." "I'll be back just as soon as I can." "In the meantime..." "just pray and hope." "We'll all do that, Doctor." "Thank you, Doctor." "There isn't much the doctor could tell us." "Just this standing around waiting." "I'm gonna go up and see him." "No." "No, the doctor gave him a sedative." "Hoss is asleep." "Said he should be alone for a while." "Isn't there anything we can do?" "We did what we could." "Thank God you two boys disobeyed me and went after him." "Well, what'd the doc say?" "Did, uh... did he get anything out of him?" "He talked to him, but... that's about all." "Got to find out who did this to Hoss." "We'll let the sheriff find out." "You think it could've been an accident?" "A deer hunter, maybe?" "With a buffalo gun?" "Not likely." "Well, who could it be, then?" "Hoss never had an enemy in his life." "I just hope this had nothing to do with that Willie Twilight accident." "Look, I, uh..." "I think I'd like to go up and sit outside his door, just-just in case he wakes up." "Be very quiet." "Right." "Adam, send one of the boys into the... the sheriff's office and have him find out if Willie Twilight had any special friends." "Well, how is he?" "He's still sleeping." "(hoofbeats)" "That might be the sheriff." "I hope so." "Maybe we can find something out." "Oh, Mr. McNeil." " Hi, Ben." " Come in." "I'm sorry to be late, but the sheriff's over in Carson City and I got tied up." "How's Hoss?" "Well, as well as can be expected." " You know the boys, Mr. McNeil?" " Oh, yes." "ADAM:" "Hello, Mac." "How are you?" "Joe." "Hi." "Did you find out anything?" "Well, as a matter of fact, I did." "Uh... uh..." "is that fresh coffee, Adam?" "Sure." "Let me pour you some." "Just black, please." "There you go." "Thank you." "Well, what'd you find out?" "Well, we were wrong about Willie Twilight." "He does have a relative." "Well, who is he?" "Is he around here?" "If he is, I want to see him." "Well, you just sit down and take it easy." "Look, uh, why don't we all sit down and, uh, let's hear what Mr. McNeil has to tell us." "Ben, I came out here to tell you this because I... well, because I didn't want your boys to find it out someplace else and go off half-cocked." "Well, thank you, Mac." "Three days after Willie Twilight was killed, a man appeared in town." "First, he went out to visit Willie's grave." "Then he talked to Willie's girl Mary." "Then he went to the hotel and registered under the name of" "Red Twilight-- Willie's brother." "All right, that's the man that shot Hoss." "How do you know that?" "All right, you said he's Willie's brother." "You said he came into town three days after the accident." "My brother was back-shot on the fourth day." "Now, what more do you want?" "Positive proof-- that's the "more" that I need." "Oh, you want positive proof!" "You go around scratching for this so-called proof while this man rides halfway to California!" "Now, Joe, please, please, just quiet down." "All right." "All right, I'll quiet down, but you just give me one good reason why this Red Twilight shouldn't be arrested and hanged." "I'll give you two good reasons, Joe." "First place, your brother isn't dead." "Second place, I can't arrest anybody for anything unless somebody comes up to me and says, "I saw him do it,"" "or until I find a piece of material evidence that will convince a judge." "Oh, come on." "Forget the judge!" " You know he did it, and we know he did it!" "Joe." "Joseph." "You see, Ben?" "That's why I came to the Ponderosa the minute I found out." "I don't want your two boys coming into Virginia City and shooting up a man who may turn out to be innocent." "Now, Mac, I don't recall anyone saying that's what we're planning to do." "But if this Red Twilight is guilty..." "All right, but I'm warning you two-- stay out of my town until I get me some facts." "BEN:" "Mr. McNeil, my sons won't do anything foolish." "Thank you, Ben." "But I'm riding into Virginia City with you." "I want to see this Red Twilight." "I'd like to talk to him." "Now, you two boys are to stay here." "And this time, you're not to disobey me." "And please do as I ask." "You're, uh..." "Willie Twilight's brother, Red Twilight." "That right?" "Yeah, that's right." "That's my name." "My name is Ben Cartwright." "My son that was shot-- have you heard?" "Yeah, I heard about it." "Wish I could say I was sorry, Mr. Cartwright, but I didn't even know your son." "What can I do for you?" "I just wanted to say that, uh... your brother's death was, uh... accidental." "I'm sorry it happened." "That makes two of us." "I'm sorry it happened, too." "Haven't seen you around here before." "That's 'cause I haven't been here before." "My sons and I, we, uh..." "we run a ranch just west of here" " Ponderosa." "What do you do?" "Mind my asking?" "No, I don't mind." "I scout for the army, fight Indians, hunt." "Do you, uh..." "you ever hunt buffalo?" "Mr. Cartwright, I've hunted just about everything." "Do you own a buffalo gun?" "I think, uh, that's my business, isn't it, whether I do or not?" "The man who shot my son was using a buffalo gun." "Mr. Cartwright, are you accusing me of murder?" "No." "No, it's up to the law to make that kind of accusation." "But if my son dies..." "Then, he isn't dead?" "No, he isn't dead." "Well, that makes you lucky, don't it?" "'Cause my brother is." "RED:" "Mary." "Going out to the grave?" "Yes, I am." "Listen, what are you going to do with yourself from here on?" "I haven't thought of it." "Come on inside." "Let's talk about it." "You see, I'll be leaving town in a day or so." "I thought you could come with me." "Oh, please..." "you don't owe me anything." "I'll just stay here." "Why?" "Willie's gone." "Well, you got nobody else." "I know, but..." "Willie and me, we were happy here." "This is the only town I know." "Think he'd want me to stay." "For whatever they're worth, I..." "I've got memories." "Like what?" "Like him lying dead up on the hill?" "Don't have to remind me." "It appears to me I do." "Look, I've been thinking about it since-- getting over the bitterness." "It wasn't Hoss Cartwright's fault." "Willie is dead." "He stuck his guns right into Hoss's chest when Hoss didn't even have a gun in his hand!" "But Willie's dead!" "I'm trying to tell you it was an accident!" "My brother was making harm to nobody, and they killed him." "I won't be satisfied until Hoss Cartwright dies." "Then, it was you." "Yeah." "I'm a good shot." "I just didn't aim high enough." "That's why you've been waiting in Virginia City--to make sure." "He'll die before I leave, one way or the other-- for certain sure." "I think that you should go away now." "Not until he's dead!" "I-I can see you shooting Hoss in the back for... for revenge, but now it's done." "The thought of him lying in bed maybe dying, and you still saying that you want to..." "Kill him?" "Yeah." "I'm going to make it up to Willie." "I wasn't here when he needed me, but I'm going to make it up to him now." "Oh, no, you're not doing this for Willie." "He wouldn't want any part of this." "You're doing it for yourself, because you're something sick, something dirty... because you like to kill, don't you?" "You enjoy it." "Take your hand away from me." "Little Joe." "Oh, Joe?" "What do you want?" "Uh, will you check these figures over for me?" "I, uh..." "I'm getting kind of groggy." "You sat right next to him." "That's right, I sat right next to him." "Sat right next to the man who shot my brother, and you did nothing." "BEN:" "That's right, too." "Because there was no proof he did it." "Yeah, just like the sheriff!" "You take it nice and slow and easy with my brother dying upstairs." "If there's any proof he shot Hoss, the sheriff will find it." "If the sheriff finds the proof, the courts will handle it." "Courts?" "Come on, will you, Pa?" "Now, look!" "You're not the only one around here who's worried." "We're all of us worried, but there's a right way and wrong way to everything, even to worrying." "Look, why don't, uh..." "why don't we all go to bed?" "We can finish this in the morning." "What about it, huh?" "(door opens and closes)" "It's really got to him." "Ah, he'll simmer down." "♪♪" "Hoss." "Hoss, I promise you..." "I'm going to find the man that did this to you, and when I find him, I'm going to kill him." "Before I kill him, I'm going to make him know why." "I promise you, I'm going to make him know why." "♪♪" "Wonder if you could tell me something." "What?" "What's to the west of Virginia City?" "(chuckles)" "Well, now, I calculate, if you went far enough and long enough, you'd hit the Pacific Ocean." " (laughs)" " No." "No, I mean around here." "Uh, any place a person could ride on quick notice?" "Except the Ponderosa." "No." "No, I'd think not." "Uh, except if you was to drop into Lake Tahoe." "(chuckles) But, then, of course, the east side of that's just about all Ponderosa likewise." " Yeah." " Yeah." "Well, I'll be pulling stakes." "You get my bill ready, and, uh, I'll leave in about an hour." "Fine and dandy, Mr. Twilight." "Don't you want any forwarding address?" "Forwarding address?" "Most transients don't leave 'em." "Well, then, here's one who does." "I'm going to California." "That's kind of a big state, ain't it?" "All right." "Uh, make it Sacramento." "Sacramento." "And I'm going by way of the Geiger Grade." "Matter of fact, I'm going to camp at Sulphur Springs." "Well, now, do you want all that put on your forwarding address?" "I'm just telling you where I'm going." "That's all." "Oh, sure, sure." "No offense." "No offense." "♪♪" "Ah, morning, Pa." "I looked in on Hoss earlier." "I think he looks better." "Don't you?" "Yeah, he's, uh... seems to be breathing more evenly now." "Yeah, I thought so, too." "Think the doc will come out again today?" "Well, he said he would." "Pass me the bread, please." "Thanks." "Little Joe up yet?" "I haven't seen him yet." "Probably didn't sleep any better than we did." "Boy worries me." "Well, Pa, it's only natural for him to feel the way he did last night." "You know him." "He'll get over it." "Yeah." "Adam, go up and ask him to come down." "I'd like to talk to him." "♪♪" "Must have gotten up early." "I'll take a look outside." "He's not out there." "His horse is gone." "Maybe he went out looking for stock." "Oh, Adam, there's no need for us to fool each other." "He went out looking for Willie Twilight's brother." "Well, what do you think?" "One boy in trouble is enough." "Find him." "Bring him back here before he does something he'll regret for the rest of his life." "♪♪" "Hoss." "Can you hear me, son?" "Son." "Hey, listen to me." "I know how you feel." "I know what conscience can do to a man like you." "Uh, Mr. Cartwright?" "Mr. Cartwright?" "(knocking)" "Oh, I..." "I'm sorry." "I, uh..." "Don't I know you?" "I'm Mary." "I..." "I was Willie's girl." "Oh." "Yes, I remember." "Uh, please." "Uh, there wasn't anyone around, so I just came in." "I..." "I didn't mean any wrong." "No, of course not." "Uh... we were... we were all mighty sorry about... about Willie." "All of us." "I know that." "That's what I came to tell you." "I hold no blame against you." "We're all of us grateful." "Mr. Cartwright, would you listen to me?" "Yes." "What-what is it you wanted to tell me, Mary?" "I don't even have the words to think it out, but..." "Willie and me, we loved each other, Mr. Cartwright." "We... we were to be married." "We would have been, too, if Willie hadn't gotten sick." "Oh, I..." "I didn't know Willie was sick." "That's just it." "He didn't want anyone to know." "He went to Placerville." "I went with him." "He talked to a doctor there." "Yes?" "The doctor said that Willie's heart was so bad that he could die any day if he didn't take care of himself." "But he just wouldn't do it." "I don't know why, Mr. Cartwright, but all of a sudden, it was as if Willie wanted to die." "He wanted to die?" "Oh, he changed completely-- started drinking and fist-fighting with everyone." "He shouldn't have done that, Mr. Cartwright, not with his heart the way it was." "He said he was..." "he said he was tired of waiting." "He said that..." "he was going to die anyway and he wanted to get it over with quick." "When he went out with those guns, I tried to stop him." "I knew he was going out there to get himself killed." "Are you sure of this?" "How could you possibly be sure?" "MARY:" "He told me." "Just before he went out on that street, he said he'd never see me again." "HOSS:" "Pa." "Pa, what'd she..." "Pa, what'd she say?" "Hoss." "Hoss, did you hear?" "Did you hear what she said?" "You didn't kill Willie." "He wanted to die." "You didn't kill him." "Willie liked you, Hoss." "He wouldn't want any harm to come to the Cartwrights." "He wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this." "Did you hear that?" "I shoved him, Pa." "I..." "I killed him." "No!" "No, that's what Mary drove all the way out here to tell you." "Can't you understand that?" "I understand some of it." "But, Pa, there's... there's something else that worries me." "Last night... something I..." "I can't remember." "Hoss, don't worry about anything else." "Mary, does anyone else know about this?" "I tried to tell his brother, but he-he wouldn't listen." "He's not like Willie was at all." "He's a killer." "When he found out that Hoss was still alive, he said he had to go back and kill Hoss." "Then, it was Willie's brother who shot Hoss." "Now, I..." "I-I must tell the sheriff about this." "Mary, would you repeat to the sheriff exactly what you told me?" "I'll tell him." "I know that's what Willie would want me to do." "Thank you, Mary." "Now, Deputy McNeil, he's over at the Templeton place." "Now, uh, if you'll stay here with Hoss." "Uh, he's close by-- I can..." "I can go get him." "I'll send one of the ranch hands in to stay in the house with you." "I'll stay with him." "I'll take care of him." "I'll be back very soon, Hoss." "Pa." "Pa, don't let Little Joe..." "Hoss, don't worry yourself none." "You just rest." "Mary, thank you for coming out." "Thank you for everything." "I'll be back very soon." "Willie was a..." "was a good little feller." "I'm sorry." "I'm glad that you heard what I said about Willie, Hoss." "He would have wanted me to tell you." "(bell dinging)" "Hi." "I'm looking for a man named Red Twilight." "Oh, he pulled up stakes not more than a half hour since." " He's gone?" " Mm-hmm." "Could be that, uh, deputy kept a glassy eye on him." "He looked in once or twice." "And you don't know where he went?" "Of course I do." "Yeah, he left a forwarding address." " A forwarding address?" " Yeah." "Sacramento, by way of the Geiger Road." "Uh, he even said how he was going to camp out at Sulphur Springs." "Well, thanks." "Thanks a lot." "I'm going with you." "If you like." "On one condition." "What condition?" "When we find him, I'll go as far as beating a confession out of him, if necessary, but that's all, understand?" "You never heard me say any different, did you?" "We bring him and the confession back to Virginia City alive." "Now, I mean it, Joe." "I know how you feel." "I know what you'd like to do, but it's wrong." "You want to stand here talking all day?" "And all that business about the forwarding address was just for our benefit-- you know that." "Yeah, I can see through that..." "but if he wants to see me, we're even, because I want to see him." "But that doesn't change the condition-- confession, and then we let the sheriff take over." "All right?" "I said I heard you, didn't I?" "♪♪" "(whinnies)" "♪♪" "Not a sign of him." "Couldn't have gotten this far ahead of us." "He must have cut off on us." "We'll have to backtrack." "All right." "Take a look at this." "Yeah, that must be where he cut off." "Hey, that'll take him back to the Ponderosa." "Right." "He wasn't an army scout for nothing." "He's doubled back on us." "We can cut him off at the Mill Road." "Come on!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Hyah!" "Come on!" "Can I help you?" "You one of the Cartwrights?" "No, I'm just one of the hands." "Mr. Cartwright sent me back to look after Hoss." "He's upstairs." "The rest of the crew are still at the roundup." "It's Willie's brother Red." "He's coming toward the house." "What shall I do?" "In the... in the big room downstairs," "Pa's desk, there's a gun." "Get it to me quick." "(birds chirping)" "You wouldn't shoot Willie's brother, now, would you?" "Just go away, Red, please." "Just go away!" "(cocks gun)" "(birds chirping)" "(door latch clicks)" " (cocks gun)" " Far enough, friend." "Maybe I didn't do a 100% job on your brother the first time, but I guess it's better this way-- two for one." "First I get you, then I finish him." "Now, drop that gun." "(weakly):" "Joe!" "Adam." "You stay here." "(groans)" "(grunting)" "(grunting and groaning)" "(cocks gun)" "All right, now, back-shooter." "All right, now I'm going to kill you." "RED:" "No!" "Please, don't!" "No, don't, no!" "I made a promise, back-shooter, but I want you to taste it first." "I want you to feel it before I blow your brains out." "Joe, don't." "Now, you stay out of this, Adam!" "All this time, you intended to kill him." "I made a promise to Hoss, and I'm going to keep it." "You got his confession." "That's all the evidence the sheriff needs." "And that's all the evidence that I need!" "All right." "If you got to do it, go ahead." "Blow his brains out." "It'll only bring you down to the same level as the man you're going to kill." "I hope you enjoy it." " All right." " (approaching footsteps)" "All right, we'll take him back to the sheriff." " HOSS:" "Adam." " Adam." "Joe, you... you all right?" "How you feeling?" "What are you trying to do, kill yourself?" " I'm fine." "I'm going..." " BEN:" "Hoss!" "I'm going to be all right now, Joe." "Hoss." "Adam." "It's all right, Pa." "He got down under his own power." "You didn't..." "I was worried about something else, too." "Oh, come on, Pa, don't tell me that's all the confidence you have in your own son." "Come on, let's get this lug back to bed." "Hey, Joe." "Joe, I'm..." "I'm-I'm glad you didn't kill him." "(Joe chuckles)" "What do you mean, kill him?" "Think I'd kill a man just 'cause he took a shot at a big ox like you?" "ANNOUNCER:" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."