"A single blow to the base of the neck can be a fatal stroke." "Master, these things which we are taught I cannot do them." "You find the exercises too difficult?" "No, master." "Too cruel." "And to be killed?" "What is that?" "I must learn these exercises to defend myself?" "Learn first how to live." "Learn second how not to kill." "Learn third how to live with death." "Learn fourth how to die." "Just run your hands through that thick fur." "By gum, I tell you true, Andrew this here's just like the old days when we brought in pelts so thick you'd just" "Husband, look!" "It's Tom Wilson." "Take him around back and saddle my horse right away." "Do you know what happened?" "I saw it." "It was an ambush." "Where?" "Where the road crosses the stream in the woods." "He has come a long way, my husband." "May he not rest?" "I have hot tea." "Yeah." "Get some tea and something to eat." "I won't keep him a minute." "I'm Andrew Swan." "I am Kwai Chang Caine." "You saw the murderer?" "He broke the rider's neck..." "...with a blow from his hand." "His hand?" "He threw something at the driver." "Did you see his face?" "No." "But I would know him from the way he moved." "It was unusual." "Well, you've done your civic duty." "I'll take the body to town, myself." "Want me to come with you, Mr. Swan?" "No, it's all right, Dan." "You're Oriental, aren't you?" "My mother was Chinese." "Then I think you'd better stay here." "Do you live around here?" "No." "I seek work." "Well, I'm looking for strong hands to work in my forge." "Then I will work for you." "Good." "Dan, show him where he can kip." "Come on, friend." "I'll show you your fancy quarters." "You can go to lunch." "Right." "You got nothing better to do than curry that old waybelly?" "Makes him feel young again." "What's this doing over here?" "I told you to wear that!" "Pa, ain't nobody gonna be shooting at me." "You're sure of that, huh?" "What's Mackey doing back so soon?" "He looks drunk." "He's hurt." "There was two of them." "One in a tree." "A fiend himself." "Oh, no. I'm burning up." "Who shot you, Mackey?" "Got me with this." "Andrew Swan's men done this to you?" "One had a mask." "All in black." "Other looked Chinese." "Big." "Japanese, more likely." "Pretty decent for an Englishman." "Pays good wages, but gets a lot of work out of you." "Someone else lives here?" "Swan's blacksmith." "Queer kind of devil." "You ought to hit it off just fine." "He is also Japanese?" "Brought him back from his last trip." "Takes the wife and girl, you know." "No gun?" "I do not use one." "You work here, you better think about starting." "Hey, Pa. lt's Wilson." "Who shot him?" "His neck was broken, I understand." "You understand, huh?" "The man who brought him in said so." "There's no wound." "Noah, why aren't my pelts on the St. Louis run?" "We got lumber contracts, Mr. Swan." "He don't want to hear that, son." "Swan he still thinks me and him are young and simple." "He don't want to know the times, they are changing!" "You don't change, Noah." "You still want to put me out of business and take it over for yourself." "I got my own business." "And I know enough to mind it." "My condolences to Mrs. Wilson." "Tom was a good man though foolish enough to work for your father." "I ain't through talking to you yet, Swan!" "You want to shoot me in the back like you did my brother?" "You'll never have a better chance." "My pa didn't kill your brother." "Barlow, come here." "Mackey said something about a big Chinaman." "Yeah. lf Swan's hired a Chinese killer we're gonna have to guard every wagon." "You go find me that Chinaman and bring him back here." "I want to talk to him." "Master say you from China." "Master?" "Mr. Swan." "If you are priest, China then I am samurai." "Aggie." "I mean, Miss Swan." "Mr. Jones." "It's a nice day, isn't it?" "You have come a long way to tell me what I already know, Mr. Jones." "Won't you call me Abe?" "It just don't make sense." "I haven't done anything to you." "Just because our fathers don't like each other that's no reason why we can't be friends." "You have given the most important reason that we cannot be friends." "That's no reason at all." "I'm me." "And I am my father's daughter." "I came to see the doctor." "They told me in town he was out here." "I'm sorry." "Perhaps my father knows of him." "Yes, the doctor's been here." "He said he was going out to the Russell place." "He's got some sick kids." "I'm sorry about yesterday, Mr. Swan." "It's too late, Abe." "You're a nice boy, but it's too late." "Good, China." "Keep hot." "I must post some letters." "My father does not wish me to go to town alone." "I will go with you, if you wish." "My father wishes." "May I ask your name, please?" "Kwai Chang." "You are called Aggie?" "That is what my father makes of Akiko." "Akiko." "That is what you should be called." "A woman should do as her father wishes." "Your father is honored to have so obedient a daughter." "But sometimes I am not so obedient." "Could it be that this is one of those times?" "I fear it is." "My father said to ask the smith to escort me to town." "He did not forbid you to go with me?" "No." "Then perhaps since your father hired me as an apprentice to the smith perhaps you have not disobeyed your father but merely anticipated him." "These were my wishes too." "You must think me as bold as an American woman to come alone with you this way." "Does it make you lonely to be always in your father's trading post?" "And you, Kwai Chang?" "Are you not also lonely sometimes?" "Sometimes." "When I think of where l come from." "My heart goes out to her." "To who?" "Your wife or...." "l have no wife or...." "Forgive me. I am a woman and, therefore, overly curious." "It pleases me to see a girl so lovely with so curious a mind." "Others would be less patient." "All right, girl." "You take this thing right on in to the freight yard." "And, you." "You keep your hands right where they are in plain sight." "Bring that thing right up here!" "Take a look." "That's him." "Came in nice and easy, boss." "Get down." "Please, he works for my father." "You go on home to your pa, where you belong." "I got no quarrel with you." "And tell him I've got his Chinese bushwhacker." "Kwai Chang." "Go to your father." "Be an obedient daughter." "It was not I who killed your driver." "You work for Swan." "His own daughter just admitted it." "Today." "Not yesterday." "You and your mother will be loading for the rest of us when they come." "Perhaps Mr. Jones will not come." "Oh, he'll be here." "He's been looking for an excuse for a long time." "Well, it's time it was all settled." "Either Jones and his son will be dead, or I will be." "And I, my husband." "Jones won't kill women if it ends wrong." "But it won't." "Father?" "What will happen to Kwai Chang Caine?" "Oh, Jones will send him to the marshal." "Father, I know him." "He could not kill." "You don't know anything about Caine." "None of us does." "Much as I hate Noah Jones Caine may have murdered one of his men." "But he came to you." "Well, I don't know why, Aggie." "He's Chinese." "He's not like us." "I am not like us." "Forgive a humble wife for intruding." "Your father has spoken." "It is not a daughter's place to question his word." "Look, I'm sorry." "I'd like to help Caine." "He works for you." "He's worked for me for less than a day." "Look, I owe him nothing." "And there's nothing I can do." "It is not a simple thing to be a younger woman in this strange land." "But for you, my daughter, it is less so." "You were not much older than I when you became a wife." "How did it come about, Mother?" "It was arranged by my father in proper way." "And when it is my time it will be arranged by my father?" "There is much time, daughter." "I am thirsty." "Are you ready to talk?" "Yes." "Well, talk." "Who hired you to ambush my wagon?" "I did not do it." "I witnessed it, as I told you." "You're gonna hang right there until you decide to tell me the truth." "I have already done so." "Ever seen that before?" "It is a shuriken." "There!" "You recognized right away what was thrown at my driver." "The man." "is he alive?" "Just barely." "I can help him." "Sure." "Help him right into the next world a little faster, you mean." "If he is not helped, he will die." "Well, you better pray that he don't." "Because if he does that rope is gonna go around your neck." "Mackey." "Take some water, Mackey." "Well, where's the doc?" "He couldn't come." "Did you tell him this man is dying?" "Look at his arm." "He's up at Russell's." "Four of the kids got diphtheria." "Doc wouldn't let me come near the house." "He said...." "He said what?" "He said it sounded to him like his arm's gotta come off." "Who cut you loose?" "Does the driver still live?" "Yeah." "But he's gonna lose his arm if he lives at all." "You could have gotten clean away." "The tip of the shuriken carried a poison." "I must have herbs from my bag in the trading post." "I can get them." "Can you save his arm?" "I will try." "Caine. ls he hurt?" "Listen, Aggie." "I've come for the Chinaman's things." "He says there's some kind of herbs." "Daughter!" "Please." "Listen." "You want me to take a message to him for you?" "You're a lady." "Act like one." "No." "There is nothing." "Get inside, Akiko." "I want the Chinaman's bag, Mr. Swan." "That's all." "What?" "He says there's some kind of medicine or herbs in it." "He needs it for Mr. Mackey." "Please, Mr. Swan." "The man is dying." "Husband, Mackey has done us no harm." "Come with me." "Master." "Where's Caine's bag?" "China not come back, so...." "Mr. Swan I gotta warn you." "If Mackey don't live, my pa's going to come back here looking for blood." "You tell your father if he comes here I'll be ready." "A shuriken?" "Yes, master." "From China's pouch." "Anything else I can do?" "For this man, no." "The violence has not ended." "You must not give in to it." "He's still sweating a lot, eh?" "That is good." "is he going to make it?" "Yes." "He will require two more of these poultice." "And then it will be finished." "What do you know about the Swan girl?" "She is very lovely and an obedient daughter." "Do you like her?" "Yes." "If your father's hatred is not ended Akiko may be killed." "I think you better hold your gun on him, son." "He's done good here, Pa." "And he's killed a man." "This time we're going to see he don't get loose." "Now, I'm sorry it has to be this way." "So am I." "Kwai Chang I saw you leave." "I thought they had hurt you." "Forgive me." "I am wicked." "You will rightly be angry at my boldness." "I do not forgive you." "I am grateful." "You are leaving?" "I escaped in the night." "Jones will be here looking for me." "Last night my father prepared rifles to await Jones." "I do not like guns, but he's my father." "Why does your father hate Jones?" "I do not know what began their anger or if they truly know themselves." "I have seen a tree, Akiko, struck by lightning." "Inside, a small fire grew and devoured the tree." "I am afraid, Kwai Chang." "And I do not hate." "I fear to stay, and I fear to leave." "What should I do?" "You must choose." "You think I should leave here alone?" "I, too, am afraid of guns and hatred." "And so I choose to leave." "Perhaps you have come to an age when you must seek out your own life and your own future." "I must consult my father." "He will make the arrangements if he approves." "Arrangements?" "I cannot be so disobedient." "It is the proper way, Kwai Chang, for a woman like me to marry." "Akiko I have no thought of marriage." "I think only of your safety." "I am ashamed, Kwai Chang." "Akiko there is no need for shame." "It was no doubt foolish." "My duty is to stay with my father and stand against his enemies." "Akiko-- -l cannot bear to have you see my face." "Akiko." "Look." "It is the face of a young girl who has made a very small and flattering mistake to think the affection and respect of a humble man to be worthy of her love." "Thank you, Kwai Chang." "Yet I do not know what to do." "I am still afraid." "Speak to your mother." "If you wish I will take you to a place of safety." "If we leave, where will you be?" "Where the road meets the creek." "I will wait for you until midday." "What beautiful image have you made, grasshopper, to please your eyes?" "The branch of a tree." "is not painting the joyful reaching out of a man so filled with beauty that there is not room enough in him to contain it?" "Master I do not know if I should speak of what it is that troubles me." "I have seen a girl." "Her hair is soft and rich." "Her voice liquid." "Her eyes bewitch me." "My sleep is filled with restless dreams." "My wakefulness with longings." "How shall I know if this is love?" "What do you see?" "Two glasses joined together." "One filled with sand." "One only?" "The other is empty." "Look." "To know love, be like a running brook which deaf, yet sings its melody for others to hear." "Feel the pain of too much tenderness." "Awake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for yet another day of loving." "Empty yourself and yet be filled." "An old man tells you this is how to know love." "Husband, I am troubled." "You're afraid?" "I have waited to speak." "But Jones' men were attacked by a man who became a part of a tree and fled with the wind." "A man dressed in black with a mask." "That's right." "And I have heard Mackey is now well but was in great danger from a shuriken dipped in poison." "Where did you hear that?" "From Kwai Chang as he was leaving." "You've heard correctly." "The report is of an assassin." "A ninja?" "May I have some more tea?" "Forgive my boldness, husband but have we a paid assassin?" "I've never lied to you, and I don't like to hold things back from you." "What need have we for ninja?" "Jones' men have been killing our men." "That's why we need a ninja." "And Akiko?" "We'll just have to make her understand, that's all." "I do not like this but I have given my life to you." "And in return you have given only kindness." "I am yours in all that you do." "We have been together years." "is it too late to speak of love?" "No." "Then I love you." "I will get your tea." "Mistress?" "Mistress?" "Yes?" "I have been to town." "The wagon driver is dead." "Mr. Jones has men, and they search for Caine." "l must warn him." "lt is too dangerous." "I could warn him." "He is where the creek crosses the road." "Wait!" "You must tell him that l-- l can't come because I will only burden him." "And he must escape at all costs." "Perhaps when this is all over...." "Tell him I will be with my father." "Tell him...." "Tell him...." "Tell him to be careful." "Beast." "Ninja." "Tell me, what makes the shadow?" "The arm of the sundial." "But what of the sun?" "Yes." "The sun." "Both help us." "They tell us time." "Yet does not that sundial standing in the way of the sun defeat its light?" "Master, I do not understand." "Like many things you teach me it is a contradiction." "Shoot the arrow." "Which brings it to its target?" "The bow or the arrow?" "Launched, the arrow has no choice but to seek its target." "Yet without the arrow the bow is an empty promise of flight." "Still I do not understand." "When you must choose between one good and another or one evil and another remember this:" "If men would contend with you seek not their death but choose your own life." "Jones, turn around and go back." "Not without Caine." "He's gone." "This is my place, Noah." "You come in here, and I'll kill you." "Kwai Chang Caine did not kill anyone!" "Aggie, please." "get out of the way." "Here is your assassin." "And here are his weapons." "There was two ambushers." "Him and you." "Well, actually, Mr. Jones." "Chinaman here was on the other side of the creek." "Pa, there's been enough killing." "Swan, you hired a killer." "And what do you call those two?" "Each of you seeks to be the stronger in his hatred." "But can you not have the strength to end it now?" "Stay out of this." "It's between Jones and me." "And when one of you is killed what of these others?" "Will they honor your ancient hatred with yet another killing?" "Father." "You love me." "Would you use this against me?" "Or you, young Mr. Jones?" "Or you?" "If Noah Jones kills you Mother will seek his life blindly out of grief for you." "And if you kill Mr. Jones will not his son, loyal to his father, continue?" "And so on endlessly?" "Kill me then, Father, if that is what you wish." "It's coming to me that I don't want to be the next dead man here, Mr. Swan." "Or the next killer." "Well what do you want to do?" "Shoot it out with an old man and a couple of women or go get a drink somewheres?" "Where?" "It is over." "Admit it." "Come on, Pa." "It can't be over." "If it is not over then who will you kill but yourself?" "I am sad to see you leave, Kwai Chang." "And I to go." "To think a thing of such beauty kills." "As hate kills a loving heart." "I will treasure this, Kwai Chang because you made me see myself in it for the first time." "I hope I shall pass this way again." "I too." "I will be older and wiser then." "Not too much wiser."