"Libby?" "You hear me, Libby?" "Libby!" "Libby, are you up?" "Libby!" "Libby?" "Don't!" "Get him out of here, Libby!" "I begged you not to bring that dirty creature in here." "Get him out." "He smells dog." "I think your father went out early." "He went out." "I can tell when he's in the house." "What was he talking about last night?" "I could hear him." "Didn't you listen?" "N- n-no, ma." "No, mother, Libby." "Must I always remind you?" "That you was a lady?" "You were a lady, Libby." "Look at you." "What do you go around like that for?" "Just because there's nobody to see you?" "Well, I do." "You're all I ever see." "Look at that hair." "I suppose he told you he was going to sell this house and move away." "How can he with me flat on my back in this bed and you the way you are?" "Half the time, you can't even talk straight." "Maybe he told you I could get out of this bed if I wanted to." "Maybe the doctor said so, too." "Doctors- a lot they know." "Why doesn't he try something new?" "He knows nobody would buy a farm like this." "We could have settled anyplace in California, near a town, maybe." "Oh, no." "He had to pick a spot that even the coyotes are lonesome in." "Like a desert island." "If you'd taken the trouble to save some batter," "I could have some pancakes for my breakfast." "Doesn't matter." "Makes no difference if I don't eat." "With honey." "What's that, pancakes?" "For her?" "I'll take some of those eggs..." "And a scrap of that meat if you haven't fed it all to your dog." "I've seen good soup made out of less than that." "So it's all right, I suppose." "A man with a wife and an able-bodied daughter has got to get up and do his own milking." "Where were you?" "I" " I-I d-didn't wake up." "You d-d-don't wake up half the t-t-time." "When you do, you're only half awake." "It's all my fault, I suppose." "It's all my fault you can't talk, too." "The d-drainpipe is broke." "What's the difference?" "I" " I-I'll be down and f-f-fix your eggs." "Why don't you sit down and eat something like a human being?" "Ah, I think it r-rusted and b-broke in the wind." "What broke?" "The drainpipe." "S- screen fell out of ma's window." "Yeah?" "That's your lookout." "I" " I don't know how to fix it." "You mean you're too lazy." "You'd rather spend your time wandering around the woods like a wild indian." "Minnehaha." "I like the woods." "They're quiet..." "Peaceful." "They are, are they?" "Not to me, they ain't." "They're just so much stove wood." "Come on, Joe." "No, Joe." "Not today." "W- we're not going to our place." "Well, s-some other time." "C- come on, boy." "Go on." "Hello, snoopy." "Yes." "Isn't that nice?" "That's good, isn't it?" "Mm-hmm." "You like that." "I've got a real treat." "What about that?" "Oh." "What about that?" "Mm-hmm." "I've seen g-good soup made out of less than that, snoopy." "Joe!" "Come, boy!" "Hi, Jeff." "Coming up for air?" "Yeah." "Got any?" "All I can find around here is heat." "Plenty of that." "Tough country." "It sure is." "I never saw so much rock and forest in my life, and look at the mess we're making of it." "A lot of road behind us." "Yeah, but it's this mile up ahead" "I'm worrying about." "What's the matter?" "Anything wrong?" "No, no." "I just thought that gang up ahead was drifting left." "O.K., you guys, let's get with it!" "Sir, it's the same one I seen." "Been watching us for the last 4 miles." "It must be my manly figure, I figure." "You'd think a dame was chasing after you if you was a leper." "Come on, break it up." "Get moving." "You didn't hear no whistle, did you?" "Maybe that was him snoring." "What's that, con?" "You got something to say?" "Just what was that again?" "I didn't mean anything." "Just shooting off your big yap, eh?" "Look, I- I was just- yeah?" "Yeah?" "Forget it, will you?" "Take it easy, San Quentin." "They're working all right." "O.K. Look, I don't take no lip, get it?" "Now get in there and start swinging." "Come on, get moving." "You, go up there, clear that brush away." "Hey, look what's here." "Berries." "Come on, men." "They're going to blast." "Let's clear out of here." "Where is it?" "The ridge up there?" "That's right." "We're all ready, Mr. Barker." "O.K. You're sure the area's cleared?" "Yes, sir." "It's the center ridge we're blowing." "All right, then." ""They were richly clad, each in the m-manner most becoming to her age, the first in a silver gray, and the s-second in a delicate, p- primrose yellow-"" "go on, Libby." "Just read it-color." ""Which m-matches so well with a d-dark complexion and... "" "Ma..." "Tell me a-about the d-dress you wore to your f-first dance, will you?" "It was a pink dress..." "All covered with tiny green clover leafs." "Had green bows at the neck and the sleeves, and I wore a pink flower in my hair." "All the young ladies had beautiful dresses, Libby, but I think mine was the most beautiful." "I always had wonderful things." "I tried." "You remember, Libby." "You must." "Don't you remember the sideboard that was downstairs?" "No." "I-I don't remember nothin'..." "'Cept like it is now." "And my piano that was in the sitting room?" "He sold them." "Everything I had." "What did he care?" "You do remember, Libby." "You were old enough." "You talked as good as anybody up to that." "He struck me, and you saw it." "N- no." "I" " I don't remember, ma." "Honest." "P- please don't talk about it." "I've got to talk to somebody." "What is it?" "I" " I thought I heard him on the s-stairs." "He wouldn't dare." "He hasn't put a foot on those stairs in seven years, and he never will, and I wouldn't step across that threshold into his dirty, mean world..." "Not if the house was on fire." "No." "It'll have to go on just as it is." "You've got me, Libby." "You love your ma, don't you?" "Well..." "I" " I guess I" " I don't love anyone." "Oh, s-sometimes I f-feel sorry for pa." "For him?" "Well, you needn't." "I worry if you don't get your meals on time, but..." "Oh, ma, will it always be like this?" "What can happen?" "No decent people would ever come near a place like this." "Yes." "I know, ma, but... always?" "I don't know, Libby." "This place has been dead for years..." "Locked in by the sea and the mountains." "No way to get in..." "And no way to get out." "You know that better than I do." "Them hillbillies sure let a place fall apart." "It looks deserted." "Might not be." "I'll check it." "There's a well." "Drive on around." "Hello, miss." "The filter pump at camp broke down this morning, and I was wondering if I could get some drinking water from your well." "Well, I thought I heard somebody talking." "I figured it couldn't be you." "What was it you were looking for-drinking water?" "Yes, sir." "Our filter pump broke down, and the boys get pretty thirsty during the heat of the day." "Well, I guess it could be arranged." "You know, it's funny how valuable a simple little thing like drinking water can be when you haven't got any." "Gosh, you might have to shut down the works, lose a whole day maybe." "That's right." "We might." "That, uh..." "That would cost quite a lot of money." "It's for a pretty good cause, sir." "It's your highway." "It goes right past your door." "Right across my meadow, you mean." "You weren't using that meadow." "You got a very good price for it." "Not half enough." "Besides, I didn't figure on..." "On having things like that running loose all over my place." "Hey..." "Cut that out." "You, can that playing with the dog." "What I mean is, water being so valuable, it seems to me you ought to be willing to pay a couple of dollars a barrel." "Thanks." "Thanks." "Forget it." "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "Now, don't rush off like that." "Take all the water you want." "I was only kidding." "You didn't sound like you were kidding." "Ah." "Can't you take a joke?" "All right." "Thanks." "Fill up the casks." "All right, let's go." "I'm sorry." "I must have misunderstood you." "Have a smoke." "Thanks." "My name is Cliff Saul." "I've been around these parts, oh, over 25 years." "Jeff Barker's my name, Mr. Saul." "I'm the engineer down below." "Oh, I'm glad to know you." "This is my daughter Libby." "Hello." "She don't have much to say for herself." "You wouldn't take her to be 22 years old, now, would you?" "I don't know." "Say, you might like a visit with some just plain folks once in a while." "Why don't you drop around sometime?" "Well, we're pretty busy most of the time- suit yourself, but I can promise you a game of cards and a nice, cold bottle of beer." "You know, I might take you up on that." "I just got out of the army, and I sure didn't figure on being back in a camp this soon." "Yeah." "I know how it is." "I was in the last war myself." "Say, how about coming around tonight?" "Ha ha ha!" "I take you guys in and lock you up, then I take a shower, change my clothes, and I step out." "And you poor animals spend the rest of the night in your little cage." "Ha ha ha!" "Oh!" "Get up, you dirty mug!" "I'll pick you up and knock your brains out!" "You'll get 20 years for this." "I told you to cut it out before, didn't I?" "Put your hands up, or I'll run this right clear through you!" "Hold it, now!" "You want to kill a man?" "You get out of this!" "This is my business!" "He slugged me!" "Lay off!" "Better put your hands up, fella." "This guy's gone crazy." "O.K. The dirty pig, treating us like we were animals just because we look at a girl." "I'll fix you." "Get up on the truck." "What's the matter with you?" "Hold still, can't you, Libby?" "Now, if you'll only remember to smile." "It's your best point." "And don't talk any more than you have to, and maybe he won't notice it so much." "There." "Smile, Libby." "Can't you do anything to help?" "You act as if you didn't even care." "You must." "Now that the road's here, it's all going to be different, Libby." "There will be people, young men." "Women have got to care." "You're O.K., Barker." "You go down, pretending you're just going to the kitchen." "You act-well, you can try anyway- act kind of surprised, and then smile like you're happy and say, uh, "Good evening, Mr. Barker."" "No." "You'd stumble on his name, so leave that out." "Say, "I didn't think you'd make it on a night like this."" "Then you smile at Mr. Saul and say," ""Can I get you some beer and sandwiches, father?"" "C- can I g-get you some b- beer and s-sandwiches, f..." "You don't have to say father." "Now... go on." "It's all right." "Remember, Libby- you're happy." "Smile." "I'm going to stop trying to teach you this game and take a few pointers myself." "I told you I was good at cards." "I learned during the last war." "I came home with enough money to buy a cow and a couple of pigs." "Let's see." "6, 19, 27." "If you win three more points this next hand, why, you'll blitz me." "Blitz?" "What's that?" "All the points are doubled." "Good evening, miss Libby." "G- good evening." "He's teaching me to play gin rummy." "I get a little poker, a little blackjack, and the rest just plain rummy." "That's all." "The storm almost blew my jeep off the road, but I'm sure glad I came." "I d-didn't think you'd m-make it on a night- night like..." "It's worth the trip, miss Libby, to see you in such a pretty dress." "You know, it's astonishing what a little sprucing up will do for these gals." "You'd never take Libby to be real pretty, would you?" "I mean, not seeing her around in an old shirt and pants." "Closet full of dresses, and she goes round in jeans." "Oh, but this is the only d-dress I've got." "Ah, Libby must be a great help to you, Mr. Saul." "You're a widower, aren't you?" "Not exactly a widower." "You see, Mrs. Saul is not feeling very well tonight." "Oh, I'm sorry." "How is your mother, Libby?" "Well, s- she's like always." "Uh, c-can I fix you some b-beer and sandwiches, pa?" "We don't mind, do we, Barker?" "Oh, no." "That would be swell." "Thanks." "You know, it's funny." "Some days she's like that, and other days she don't do it hardly at all." "What's that?" "That uh-uh-uh-uh business." "It's contrariness mostly." "Oh, no." "I've read about people that get cured of that all the time." "You mean you don't mind especially?" "Me?" "No." "Well, I never thought much about it." "Say, you're all right, Barker." "I like a fella that don't hold it against a girl just 'cause of a little thing like that." "Libby's all right, too." "Yeah." "She does everything around here." "You know, she'd make a mighty fine- say, whose deal is it?" "It's yours." "Oh." "What's that?" "Nothing." "Just a shutter tearing loose." "Houses near the sea always have some little thing." "I better go fix it, though." "Before it busts itself to pieces." "Can I do it for you?" "No, no, no." "No, thanks." "You wouldn't know which one." "I'll fix it." "You just stay here and talk to Libby." "I'll be back in a minute." "Boy, that looks good." "Here." "Let me help you." "Where's p-pa?" "He's out fixing the shutter." "This is the first beer I've seen this side of king city." "Uh, w-w-what..." "What are you trying to say?" "Here." "Sit down and talk to me." "Come on." "That's it." "What did they d-do with that man?" "Who?" "That man." "Oh, you mean that fella this afternoon?" "They locked him up in a toolshed." "They'll send him back to San Quentin tomorrow." "They will?" "Then what?" "Oh, he loses his good behavior, serves five more years." "He would have been out in two otherwise." "Five years?" "Yeah." "I'm sorry that you had to see it." "He's one of the kind that hits before he thinks." "He tries to solve everything by hitting." "The world just can't hold him, that's all." "When they t-took him..." "Took him away," "I" " I had a f-feeling that..." "Feeling that I was him." "Ah, I see." "Let's have a sandwich." "Libby, how would you like it if I came over to see you sometime instead of your father?" "I- we'd go dancing maybe up to monterey." "I" " I don't know h- how to dance." "Well, I'd teach you." "It would be fun." "No." "I-I'd be afraid." "Afraid of what?" "People?" "You're not afraid of me, are you?" "Yes." "Oh, but you shouldn't be, Libby." "I like you very much." "Whew!" "What's the matter?" "Where's Libby?" "She went into the kitchen." "I'm afraid she doesn't think much of me." "I'll attend to her." "She can't treat people who come here like that- oh, forget it, Mr. Saul." "It wasn't her fault." "I better get going anyway because this storm's going to get worse." "I wish you wouldn't go, Barker." "It's early yet." "We haven't finished the game." "I'll come back and see you again sometime." "You're too lucky tonight." "So long." "Well, good night." "That was a fine thing to do, my high-and-mighty miss." "You insulted my guest." "That's the kind of women I got in this house." "She thinks she's too good for people." "Now you, you with your yammering." "Please don't, pa." "I'm sorry." "I try to get nothing but the very best for you, and what do you do?" "You go and act like a fool!" "Yeah, well, all the fine, fancy manners she brags about, it's too bad you wouldn't try and learn some common ones." "Stop it, pa." "Libby!" "Libby!" "Yeah, go on!" "Go on upstairs and soak up some more of the poison she pours into you." "That's what you want to do." "Mumbling and mumbling, night after night." "Don't, pa." "P- please don't." "Y- you h-hate her, and-and y-you hate each other..." "You shut up!" "Your h-hate creeps up and d-down the stairs." "I- it's been in this house ever since I can r-remember." "Shut up!" "And you hit her." "You shut up, do you hear me?" "Yes, you did!" "You hit her, and I saw you." "I saw you!" "Shut up, I tell you!" "Hey, what was that?" "Libby!" "It's a landslide!" "Sounds like half a mountain pitching into the sea." "Libby!" "Why don't you answer me?" "Are you going to bed?" "Did you take my matches?" "I want to light the light." "Libby!" "Libby." "Yes, ma?" "What was that awful rumble?" "It shook the whole house." "A landslide, I think." "Did you find my matches?" "Why don't you light the lamp?" "I will, ma." "What was all that with him?" "I could hear him yelling clear up here." "He... h-hit me." "What?" "He hit me." "What have you got on?" "You're not going out in this storm, are you?" "Yes, ma." "What?" "I'm going, ma." "Libby, you can't go away." "You wouldn't- you wouldn't leave me when you're all I have in the world." "What will become of me, Libby?" "You got to think of that." "I'll die." "I'll simply lie here and die." "You couldn't be so cruel." "Don't go, Libby." "Please." "Please don't go." "You can't leave me here helpless, flat on my back, alone in the house with him." "You're not helpless." "You're up and around this room all the time, and you never think of anyone but you." "You just s-stay up here and go on hating and hating." "If I s-stay, I'll get to doing it, too." "That's why I'm going, ma." "Libby, don't." "," "Libby, come back!" "It will be different, Libby, I promise." "I'll get up." "I'll even let him come upstairs." "Libby!" "Libby!" "Come back!" "Libby!" "Hey, you fellas, come on down and give me a hand." "What is it?" "What is it?" "The toolshed we locked that guy up in last night." "Better get a tarpaulin." "This ain't gonna be pretty." "How many?" "15 dead, not counting the 2 guards." "That leaves three unaccounted for, don't it?" "I'm afraid you'll find those 20,000 tons of rock and stuff will do the accounting, sheriff." "Not till I see them, it don't." "Hey, it's empty!" "He ain't there!" "What?" "You're crazy." "Just uncovered the toolshed, Mr. billings." "He ain't in it." "Well, there you are." "That's another one." "O.K." "I'll have to deputize all you men." "Nobody in the county's going to be safe with birds like that running loose." "All right, billings, better get your men out and start patrolling the beach." "I'll get in touch with the sheriff in the next county, and we'll organize a posse." "What about the woods?" "We'll take care of them." "Them mountains are solid for 60 miles, but we'll scour them if we have to shinny up every tree." "Libby!" "Libby!" "Libby!" "Libby." "Joe, we're home." "Boy, I..." "let's go for a swim, huh?" "Come on." "Come on, Joe." "Good boy." "Ah!" "Don't do that again." "No, Joe!" "Get away from me, or I'll brain you!" "Please, please." "Y- you b-better put out the f-fire." "Someone m-might see the s-smoke." "Where are we?" "I mean, how far is it from the camp down there?" "Well, I-it would take them a w-whole day unless they knew the t-trail." "Anybody else ever come up here?" "No." "No one ever came before." "Y- you're the first." "H- how did you get away?" "Did you s-shoot someone?" "No, I didn't." "I picked this up off a guard." "The whole mountain must have fallen on us." "Must have killed everybody, everybody but me." "Soon as they find out I got away, they'll be after me." "They won't find you." "What makes you think they won't?" "A convict don't escape one time in 100." "Well..." "I" " I'll help you." "Who do you think you're kidding?" "If I turn my back on you, you'd be off like a shot to tell them." "You can go north off of the Castro draw if you know how to find it." "I'll show you." "Why should you help me?" "Wait a minute." "Where do you think you're going?" "I was only going to let him in." "You leave him alone." "Leave him alone." "We're staying right here." "It's a pretty good hideout." "You try to run away or pull anything funny, you're going to get hurt, understand?" "No." "Well, you better." "Why should you h-hurt me when I w-want to help you?" "Yeah." "You want to help me." "That's where the "Why" comes in." "Why?" "Well, I-I know how it feels to be s- shut up and k-kept away from everyone who's happy and loves each other." "No, you don't." "No one does unless he's been where I've been." "But I do." "I'm running away." "Don't you see?" "I'm running away, too." "I" " I'll get us s- something to eat." "Come on, boy." "Here we are, now." "Watch it." "This is very special." "Gee, that's wonderful." "My old man taught me to make fish traps." "Your pa?" "Yeah." "He ran a machine shop down in L.A., but we used to go up in the woods together a lot." "Did your mother and father love each other?" "Oh, I don't know." "I guess so." "They were always laughing." "I used to hear them in the middle of the night just laughing." "My old man wasn't much good after ma died." "He didn't last long, and I'm glad of it." "Oh, y-you mustn't say that." "Why not?" "I mean it." "What happened to me would have killed him anyway." "Shh!" "Got away." "Yeah." "Too bad you don't wear any stockings." "I" " I don't have any stockings." "If you did, I could make a fishnet." "Did you like the woods?" "Not as much as the sea." "I was always crazy about boats." "I had a boat of my own once." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I like nothing around me but..." "Open space, open water in all directions..." "As far as you could see, as far as you could think, even." "I" " I like the woods." "I like the big trees over me and..." "Close to me." "Listen." "No." "I meant listen to the trees." "Don't you hear?" "I hear the wind, and that's all I want to hear." "Oh, I hear much more than the wind." "I" " I hear them w- whispering and laughing." "You're the funniest kid I ever saw." "A- and then s- sometimes," "I like to climb to the very top of a mountain, look way off into the distance, then hurry back home to the valley and the trees again." "I- it's nice that way." "Not me." "Open water and going, going, going." "I was in the Navy during the war." "Were you?" "Yeah." "Pt boats." "I was in four battles." "Gee." "I liked that." "You mean you..." "You really liked them?" "Sure." "You forget everything." "I was up for the Navy cross." "Didn't get it, though." "Got a general court." "What's that?" "Eight months in the brig, that's what." "J- jail?" "Sort of." "Guy had it coming, though." "He bought it." "Who?" "Oh, I hit a petty officer pretty hard." "Broke his jaw." "Oh, Barry, why did you do that?" "Say, he was a pretty tough mug." "I can't take people pushing me around." "Anyway, I didn't mean to break his jaw." "I- is that how you got into prison?" "Now, lay off." "I told you twice already to lay off that, didn't I?" "I'm out, and I'm going to stay out, and that's that." "But I-I w- want to know." "O.K. One night, I was in downtown L.A." "With a bunch of boys, and believe me, we were feeling no pain." "Pain?" "I was drunk." "You understand?" "And so were they all." "I didn't know who they were." "They kept changing all the time." "Finally, we found ourselves in one of them jewelry stores down there." "I don't know how we got there." "I didn't want the junk." "Well, nobody believed that, of course." "And the next thing, a bunch of clowns came in and began grabbing at us." "A couple of guns went off." "I started fighting my way out of the joint, hitting at every face that showed." "Barry, again?" "You asked me, didn't you?" "Then the police swarmed all over us." "Found a dead man on the floor." "Fractured skull." "Y- y-you..." "K- killed him, Barry?" "They all said I did." "I don't know." "I did an awful lot of punching." "On account of my four battles, they let it go for manslaughter" "1 to 10, 6 years if you're a good boy." "You satisfied?" "Well..." "I" " I'm glad you didn't mean to." "Huh." "I never do." "I always find out I didn't mean to after it's all over." "Did you- did you ever love anyone?" "Shh." "Look." "Where?" "Right there." "Right there." "See?" "He's a big one." "It's a whopper." "Yeah." "Yeah, I see him, Barry." "Look, he's going in the trap." "Quick, get him!" "Don't let him go!" "Got him!" "Yeah!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Hey, watch it, will you?" "What are you trying to do, drown?" "Did anybody ever tell you that you're a pretty swell cook?" "That trout was out of this world." "I'm glad you liked it." "I want to be good at a lot of things." "You are." "You're the best." "Maybe-maybe they ought to keep more girls shut off from everything the way it happened to you." "Say, Libby, you sure about that smoke from the stove?" "Oh, it's all right at night." "There's a little fog anyway." "Didn't you notice the moon?" "Nope." "Oh, thanks." "Here." "Libby, out there, you asked me did I ever love anybody." "I didn't say anything." "I guess you thought I didn't even hear you, or maybe you thought I was looking for a fish or something." "I was looking at the whole show, and I saw what's been wrong." "There's always been just me, Barry Burnett- scared of nothing, don't give a hang for nobody." "Now I care for somebody, and I'm scared plenty, Libby." "I'm scared for us." "I'm scared stiff." "I'm not." "I'm not scared of anything anymore." "Well, then neither am I. You see what I mean?" "You see how it works?" "What can they do to us?" "Yeah, what can they do to us?" "Here I am, all messed up like this." "Why couldn't you find some other guy?" "There are a million swell guys in the world." "Hey." "Hmm?" "You're not even listening." "I was just thinking that, well, this is the first real happy day of my life." "Look, Libby, why don't we go to San Francisco?" "You can get lost in a big town like that." "I can get a job, and I can make enough for us to start on." "And I could get a job, too." "Maybe we could get a job together." "Oh, but first of all, we got to get you some other clothes..." "And then we'll need something to eat on the way because it's miles and miles through the mountains." "What were you going to eat?" "You were running away, too." "There are some woodcutters up in the draw, and they used to come to our place sometimes." "I knew they'd help me." "I wouldn't dare go near them." "Libby, why don't you go alone?" "You can make it to San Francisco, and I'll get there somehow." "I know." "I'm going home." "Now you're talking sense." "Oh, Barry!" "I didn't mean that." "I only meant to get you some clothes." "There's some old ones hanging in the barn, and something for us to eat." "Don't you see?" "That's the only way that's really safe." "And tomorrow, I can be back with everything." "I wonder what I did with my hat." "You're going to start down there now, tonight?" "Why not?" "I came up at night." "Besides, I have Joe." "You will be careful, won't you?" "You mean this, huh?" "Oh, Barry." "I'm so happy." "I know nothing can happen to us." "You better go now, or I might not let you." "Will you miss me?" "And you'll stay right here?" "You won't move?" "I won't even breathe." "Come on, Joe." "Come, boy." "Go and sit down." "You're in the way." "Gets a little lonely up there." "Not when you got everything to do like I have." "Are they going on with the road just the same?" "Yeah." "Across the meadow?" "Want some of this plum preserve?" "Yeah." "The wind blew the screen out of my window." "I wish you'd come up and fix it." "Needs a new angle iron, I guess." "It's always something." "Oh, I, ah, I sold that piece of meadow." "Did you?" "Get much for it?" "Yeah, pretty good." "They wasn't handing out nothing, you can bet." "We could sell the whole place now that the road is here." "Move into town somewhere." "Get a little cottage maybe." "Not now, Cliff." "Is there some of that preserve?" "Stay, Joe." "Hello, Libby." "Hello, ma." "Take your coat off and bring a chair." "I'll fix you some eggs." "Thanks, ma." "I'm a little hungry." "I've been in the woods." "In the woods, eh?" "Did you run into any of the posse?" "What posse?" "They was here yesterday searching all over the place." "They even looked in the well for him." "For who?" "Well, they got them all but one, but don't you worry, they'll get him." "Funny you didn't run into any of the posse." "Stop worrying her about those convicts." "She's tired." "That fella, Jeff Barker, was asking about you yesterday." "I knew he'd be back." "I could tell by the way he looked at you." "Excuse me, ma." "That's funny." "That's mighty funny." "What's funny?" "Because she's tuckered out?" "No." "Didn't you notice?" "She talks as plain as I do." "Always said she didn't have to- let's forget what we always said, Cliff, shall we?" "All right, Elly." "Whatever you say." "I guess you're right." "I'll, ah, I'll go and try and find that angle iron for your screen." "Oh, I think I'll cord up some wood, too." "Hello, Saul." "Hi!" "We picked up a trail." "All right." "Better get your men out." "Libby, what you doing?" "I supposed you were having a rest." "Well, I-I just thought these clothes of pa's might need some fixing." "You don't have to do that anymore." "Oh, I don't mind." "That's my job now." "You can do your sewing on your own things." "Couple of dresses in my closet wouldn't look bad on you with a little fixing." "Thanks, ma." "Anytime you feel like talking, Libby..." "Yes, ma." "Hello." "There you are, miss." "Your pa was saying the coffeepot might still be on the fire and I could get myself a cup." "I" " I'll get it for you." "I'm sheriff akers." "I remember you as a brat about so high." "W- won't you sit down?" "Hope it ain't too much trouble, miss." "Your pa is being mighty helpful in all this." "He's letting some of our boys sleep in your downstairs." "When?" "Oh, next night or two, I guess, if we don't catch the critter before then." "No, I mean, when are they coming?" "Oh, 9:00, 10:00." "They won't get out of the woods before then." "Your pa says you been just back from a little camping trip, didn't see none of our boys." "Where was you?" "Oh, up towards stone ridge." "Yeah, they didn't start in there till this morning." "Can't nobody get through there now." "No, I guess they couldn't." "We figure he must be heading for Castro draw, but we're searching all the valleys this side first." "You know that ground?" "N- not very well." "You know something, miss?" "I don't get much fun." "Pretty gals and gambling - no more of that." "Course I take a drink now and then, but mostly just catching criminals, that's my fun." "You want to see a picture?" "This is the hanging of Whitey Lewis." "They hung them in them days." "That's me holding the noose." "I got a lot of pictures like that." "Excuse me." "I've got some straightening to do." "Sure, go ahead." "I was just gassing." "We know you're in there, Burnett." "Come on out and keep them reaching." "Come on, boys!" "No." "No." "No." "You don't discard a nine." "You don't?" "Why not?" "Because that's just what I want." "Well, I don't mind." "It's only for fun." "Don't you see, Elly?" "It gives me gin." "Then we win, don't we?" "What's so complicated about that?" "Where you going, Libby?" "Nowhere, pa." "Well, you got your coat on." "I thought you was all played out." "I" " I thought I'd go out for a bit." "Oh, well, wait a minute." "I forgot to put my saw in the barn." "I'll go with you." "It's been sort of a long day." "I think I'll go to bed." "Good night." "Good night, Elly." "Good night, ma." "Hey, what's your hurry?" "Hello." "Anybody home?" "Sure, sure." "Come in, Barker, uh, Jeff." "Now, what did I tell you?" "Here's Jeff Barker come to see you." "Hello, Libby." "Hello." "I was just driving by." "I've only got a minute." "Driving by, huh?" "That's a good one." "The road only goes to our place." "I stopped by yesterday, but your dad said you'd gone into the woods." "I was worried about you." "Don't you worry about Libby." "She can take care of herself." "She just needs a little cheering up, that's all." "Well, make yourself at home." "What do you have to be cheered up about?" "Oh, that's just pa." "You're O.K., then?" "Of course I am." "You don't look it." "You look pretty, but you don't look happy." "Well, I am." "Libby, you're not holding what happened the other night against me, are you?" "You know, I'd like to think that" "I had something to do with your feeling good- a little bit maybe." "You're a nice man, Mr. Barker." "How about Jeff being a nice man?" "Jeff." "That's better." "You know, I wasn't kidding." "I really got to get going." "You better get used to my dropping in, Libby." "Look, I was going out for a walk." "Could you drive me down to the foot of the road, and then I could walk back?" "Sure." "I'd be glad to." "Come on in, fellas." "Well, here they are, Libby." "These are the fellas I was telling you about." "Can you dig up some blankets for them?" "This is my daughter Libby, fellas." "I guess you know Jeff Barker." "Hello, boys." "These men are just down from the mountains." "There's a report that somebody heard some firing going on up past stone ridge." "Might have been hunting, though." "Just as likely." "Come on out in the kitchen, boys, and have some beer." "Sure." "Are you all right?" "Come down." "Wait." "Wait, Barry." "Barry." "Hold me." "Libby- shh!" "Don't say anything." "They're in the house- four of them sleeping." "What was that?" "I don't know." "Nothing." "Just the wind, I think." "Barry, come on." "I know where to go." "Just a minute, Barry." "I know where there are some matches and a lantern." "What about the light?" "I'll be careful." "They won't see it." "Libby, does this truck work?" "Not since last fall." "Let's hurry." "Wait a minute." "I'd like to look around, see where I am." "Might have to get out of here in a hurry." "Oh, no." "No." "Please don't." "They have guns." "You're telling me." "They shot at you, didn't they?" "Yeah, and it's not so hot when you can't shoot back." "They're not going to get me, Libby." "I'd rather get shot a dozen times." "This is crazy." "I won't have a chance." "It's only a shutter banging." "Trust you." "I'm dying on account of what I'm doing to you, but I had to come back, Libby." "I didn't know which way to turn." "It was just luck I found the way back." "Oh." "I'm so happy you're here." "Come on." "Does anybody ever come up here?" "Pa might, but I don't think so." "He comes to the barn, but he never comes up here." "Barry, if he did, you-you wouldn't- what are you talking about?" "What do you think I am?" "How about the posse?" "Won't they search?" "They already searched." "They looked everywhere around here." "They might search again." "Well, it's just till we can get away." "I guess you're right." "Just have to risk it." "Are those the clothes?" "Yes." "I hope they fit." "As soon as the posse's out of the woods, we're on our way." "Keep an eye peeled outside." "There we are." "It's a little out of press, but better than dungarees." "I" " I thought you said you couldn't shoot back." "I didn't hit anybody." "I wouldn't have got the gun at all if I had a minute to think." "I'm sorry, Libby." "I know we're not, but..." "I have a feeling we're safe." "Maybe only for a minute." "I don't know." "I don't know." "Maybe it's the last minute we'll ever have." "Look." "It's almost daylight." "I must go." "But I'll come back again tomorrow." "I'll wait for every chance, and I'll bring everything, and then we'll make our plans how to get away, won't we?" "You better take care of this, Libby." "I've seen all the guns I want to see for the rest of my life." "Oh, thank you." "Don't worry, darling." "I never said "darling" to anyone before." "I did, but I was a liar." "Nice morning." "Oh, ma, don't tickle." "Don't you think just a little lower in front?" "I never saw anything like it." "All you young girls want everything lower in the front and tighter in the back." "What are you so proud of?" "It isn't that, ma." "It's just that- well, look." "See?" "What's funny about it?" "Disgraceful." "All this giggling." "All this primping and fussing." "I don't know what's got into you, Libby." "It's because everything's so different, ma." "W- we're all happy now." "We've changed." "No doubt about your pa changing." "There he is down there hammering and heaving on that old truck like his own hired hand." "Turn around." "Positively immodest." "Yes, indeedy." "If it figured reasonable," "I'd say that miss Libby was in love." "That's what I'd say." "Oh, ma." "That's the way it looks to me." "Laughing and singing around, dancing down the stairs like you've forgotten how to walk." "I tell you, it's coming out of your ears almost." "Every time he gets a chance, could it?" "Oh, well, he is sort of nice, isn't he?" "And he brought me a book from king city- 500 pages." "Pa likes him." "I'm no more against him than any other man." "Somehow I didn't think it would happen just like that- with Jeff Barker, I mean." "I think you ought to wait, Libby, and be careful." "Let's see." "It's not bad." "Real pretty, if I do say so myself." "Don't stand so straight, dear." "Throws you too far out in front." "Oh, ma, thanks." "It's wonderful." "Ma..." "Am I pretty?" "I mean, if somebody said it, would they mean it?" "They wouldn't be just being nice, would they?" "Like who, Jeff Barker?" "Oh, never mind." "Now get out of it, and let me take a tuck in that waistband." "Oh, no." "Please let me keep it on." "I'll be careful-honest." "All right." "All right." "Keep it on, then." "I've got to go down and start fixing dinner." "Thanks, ma." "I like wearing it." "So you don't mind hanging around with the old man these days, huh?" "Well, well." "I'll help you with the dinner, ma." "Not in that new dress, you won't." "Then I'll set the table." "Oh, I remember." "I set it right after breakfast." "Are you sure your name's Libby?" "Think I'll feed the chickens, ma." "Libby, did we finish up all that ham last night?" "More things disappear in this house." "Here." "Chick chick chick." "Here, chick chick chick." "Hey, Libby, throw some up here." "Might taste good with this hay." "Barry, you shouldn't have done that." "They might have heard you, and I brought you a whole end of a ham, and only last night, four boiled eggs, a quart of milk, a whole pie, and six tomatoes." "Look." "I can't live forever on a couple of hard-boiled eggs." "Is that all you've got to say?" "Seems to me there's something different about you." "I can't quite figure it out." "Don't tell me, now." "Don't tell me." "Let me see..." "The dress." "Have I seen that dress before?" "I would have remembered it." "No." "It's new." "Ma made it." "She did?" "She's making me another one, too." "Oh, that's nice." "Rayon." "Rayon?" "Gee." "You're laughing at me." "I'm laughing because I'm happy, Libby." "It's crazy, but I'm happy." "I always knew you had a funny little mug, the kind I like, but I never knew you were the most beautiful girl I ever saw." "Oh, Barry." "Yeah." "Come on up here, Libby." "I want to look at you." "If you don't, I'll come down." "Oh, no." "No." "All right." "The closer you get, the more beautiful you are." "Someday, I want a whole town to look at you and say," ""That's Barry Burnett's wife." "What a gal he's got."" "It's just your pa." "He came out the back porch for a minute." "It's all right." "What's he say about that truck?" "It needs fixing." "If it didn't, we could make a break in it down to the highway." "But, Barry, the woods are much safer." "Besides, I know them, and pa heard the posse's moving South." "We got a clear route." "Somebody's sure to come busting in." "We won't have a chance to run for it." "Let's get going." "Oh, we will." "We will, maybe tomorrow, just as soon as the posse moves on and we have a chance to get through, but now it's safer here." "Oh, please, don't be too unhappy." "Unhappy?" "I'm so happy, I keep forgetting how crazy it all is." "That is a pretty dress." "I'm glad you like it." "You know, Barry, uh, I saw a picture of a man in one of pa's magazines in a brown suit, and I cut it out." "Last night I went to sleep thinking of you in it." "Of course, you can pick out your ties and stuff like that, but I'd like to pick out your suits." "You'd look good in blue, too, but I think I'd like brown for when we get married." "Hello there." "Hello, Jeff." "So you're the little girl that has only one dress to her name, huh?" "That's two new ones I've seen in the last three days." "Y- you like it?" "Sure, I like it." "I'd be mighty proud to call on a girl in a dress like that some night- say tonight?" "Hello, Mr. Barker." "Hello, Mrs. Saul." "I was just trying to date up your daughter." "That'd be nice." "Wouldn't it, ma?" "He's not asking me, Libby." "What's the news?" "Oh, things are still going tough." "That slide's held us back a lot." "Find that convict yet?" "No, not yet." "They think they've bypassed him if he's still alive." "The boys are searching back this way again." "Ah, Saul around?" "Down there monkeying with the truck." "He hasn't done anything else for the last three days." "That's good." "I've got some gas and oil here for him." "Hop in, Lib, and we'll take it down to him." "All right." "I don't get a chance to talk to you very much once I get started with your dad." "Well, she's got everything a truck ought to have, but I can't make her run." "Well, maybe you need a new battery." "Let's check it." "You haven't even got a battery." "I haven't?" "We'll see if we can get you one down at camp." "They ought to have a few spares." "It's kind of nice having an engineer around the place, ain't it?" "We're going into business together, Jeff and me." "Did you know that?" "We're going to open a filling station right where the highway takes a turn across the meadow." "I'm putting in the land, and Jeff, he's buying the pumps and stuff." "He, ah, kind of likes it around here." "Don't you, Jeff?" "Yeah." "Yeah, it's fine country." "I've got some gas and oil here for you." "Where do you want it?" "In the barn, I reckon." "I'll do it." "I'll do it." "Would you?" "Thanks." "That's fine." "What's the matter now?" "Oh, nothing, pa." "Nothing." "I was just- hey, Jeff!" "Bring me the old tire pump, will you?" "Where is it?" "Standing up in the corner." "O.K." "Did you say in the corner?" "No, it ain't neither." "It's up in the loft." "I" " I'll get it, pa." "I'll get it." "Here." "I'll take it, Libby." "You see, there are so many things up there," "I" " I didn't think you'd be able to find it." "That's why- oh, that's all right, Libby." "Oh, thanks." "That's fine." "Now you and me can fix up that tire." "I'm sorry, Mr. Saul." "I've got to get back." "I just came up between jobs." "Wait a minute." "Why shouldn't I drive down to camp with you and see about the battery myself?" "I could do that, couldn't I?" "Why not?" "Oh, sure." "Sure." "That's fine." "And you could have supper with us, and after supper, we could have another little session of gin rummy." "No, sir." "Not tonight." "Tonight I'm coming over to see Libby." "Oh, excuse me." "Isn't that so, Libby?" "All right." "O.K. I'm ready." "I'll bring him back for supper, Libby, with his hair brushed and a clean shirt and smelling like a daisy." "Barry." "It's no use, Libby." "I'll always be like that." "I'll never change." "I'm not dragging you into it." "Don't say that." "I never really figured I was a criminal..." "Until now." "Oh, but you're not." "You're not." "So I don't know what goes on in my own head?" "No." "Libby, you just don't understand." "I heard that guy down there." "I heard his step on the ladder." "I knew in one second he'd come up and find me trapped." "In that one second, I felt every day of the seven years of torture in me." "I felt it in my insides." "I felt the life, Libby, the life that you and me could have together being taken from us." "Why, hello, miss Saul." "It's mighty nice to see you moving around again after all these years." "Feeling better?" "Yes." "Thank you, sheriff." "Husband home?" "No, he's not." "He'll be along directly, though." "Can I do something?" "Well, I guess I can talk to you just as good, miss Saul." "Then won't you come in?" "Would your men like some coffee?" "Well, thank you, no." "Listen, miss Saul." "I don't want to scare you, but this house is the only one around here that he could raid for food and stuff." "What are you talking about?" "This convict fella." "You ain't been missing any food or clothes or poultry maybe, have you?" "No, I don't think so." "Can't say as we have." "Is he around here, do you think?" "Well, we're pretty sure he backtracked this way." "Picked up a trail finally." "Leading to here?" "Somewhere around here." "I've got a ring of posse men closing in." "Is Libby home?" "Yes, but I don't know where." "Well, I'll leave you one of my deputies if you'll feel safer." "Saul will be along." "He's bringing Mr. Barker with him, too." "Oh, that's O.K., then." "That's fine." "Oh, I almost forgot something." "This belongs to miss Libby, I believe." "We found it in that cabin up beyond the stone ridge where we jumped that convict fella." "She must have left it there sometime or other." "You must be tired, sheriff." "Not a bit." "Tell you the truth," "I've enjoyed every minute of it." "You know, I've got an idea we're going to get our man tonight." "I hope so, sheriff." "So long." "Good-bye, sheriff." "Mostly on boats, that's for me." "Wait till you see our cabin on our boat." "Will it have everything?" "A mirror on the back of the door?" "Sure, a mirror." "Anything you want." "Just ring a bell, a little guy in a white coat comes, bring you anything you want." "And then we'll definitely come to a big city." "Will we go to a regular hotel?" "Honey, we'll go to the Waldorf." "Nothing but the best for Mrs. Barry Burnett." "We'll have" "we'll be a couple of swell people, Libby." "That convict stuff is long gone and forgotten, and someday I'll go to the Governor." "I'll say, "Look, Gov, a long time ago, I escaped from a road gang, but look how good I've done since then - me and my wife." "Look at our swell kids and our business and our house." "I didn't mean to do it, Gov, so how about a pardon, just for the record?" "We'll be the best people in the whole state... "" ""If you'll just give us a chance."" "Ma." "We love each other." "Please help us." "Help a convict with blood on his hands to run away with my own child?" "Oh, but he-he's not a criminal." "He never meant to do anything wrong." "You'll both be killed before you get out of these woods." "Even if you do get away, you'll spend your life in misery." "Don't say that." "Come on, Libby." "We can't stay here now." "We got to make a run for it." "Ma, I-I love you, but you just don't understand." "Libby, no decent man would ask a girl to go sneaking through life with him- lying and hiding, afraid of every policeman, running from one dirty job to another, living in shacks, afraid to show your faces." "Hunted." "Hunted like criminals." "Seems to me, ma'am, you and your husband are more like criminals for what you've done to her." "Come on, Libby." "Libby." "Libby." "Libby!" "Libby, you can't get away." "They know he's here." "The sheriff told me, that's who." "The woods are full of them." "You'll both go to jail." "Libby." "Libby, come back!" "Libby!" "Libby!" "That certainly was some ride." "I'll go see if supper's ready." "Libby!" "Libby." "Elly!" "Elly, what is it?" "Where are you?" "Are you crazy?" "Libby, what are you trying to do?" "Leave me alone." "Don't try to stop her." "She's going with me." "You haven't got a chance." "You want to get her killed?" "I'm going, I tell you." "Get away." "Let her go!" "Will you let her go?" "We love each other." "Don't you understand?" "Now let me go." "You heard what she said, you" "Jeff!" "Jeff!" "Libby, the posse is right down there." "You haven't got a chance." "Oh, Barry." "Jeff!" "Barry." "Hey, what's going on out there?" "Wait." "Wait." "I can't keep up." "Don't you want me?" "It's no good, Libby." "Let go." "No." "I don't want to live, then." "You'll get hurt, Libby." "No." "Barry!" "Barry!" "That's him." "Barry!" "Barry!" "Ugh." "Barry!" "Barry." "Barry." "Look." "Libby, look." "It's a big one." "I think we got him." "Look." "Shh." "We can't stay here." "Do you think you can walk if I help you?" "I got ahead of them through the cut, but they'll be here any minute." "Barry." "They won't catch me now." "They're too late." "That's one on them, I guess." "I don't know why I came up here." "I just had to." "You know, I got the funniest kind of a free feeling, Libby, like I was way out in the ocean on a boat, you know?" "Yes." "Don't talk, darling." "Come to think of it, I don't mind much." "I just had to have somebody..." "Somebody..." "Just once, who'd know what was inside me." "Who'd know I didn't mean to." "I know." "And I'll never be the same for knowing the love you've given me." "Enough to last me all my life." "Look." "Look." "See?" "He got away." "Barry." "Barry." "Yes, darling." "He's free, too." "Dinner's almost ready." "How do you like it?" "Thought I might as well thought you said young Barker was going in this with you." "He is." "We're partners, sort of." "That's him..." ""and company."" "Seen Libby?" "She was around here a little while ago." "Hello, Libby." "Hello, Jeff." "Well, we're moving right along now." "That's the way it goes-in spurts." "You ought to have a coat." "Here." "Get into this."