"Say, buddy, will you stake a fellow..." "Hey, mister, will you stake a fellow American to a meal?" " State lottery, señor?" " Beat it." "I ain't buying no lottery tickets." "4,000 pesos is the big prize." "Get away from me, you little beggar." "The whole ticket is only 4 pesos." "It's a sure winner." "I ain't got 4 pesos." "Buy a quarter of a ticket for 1 peso silver." "If you don't get away from me, I'll throw this water right in your face." "Then one tenth of a ticket, señor, for 40..." "Señor, buy one twentieth." "One twentieth costs you only 20 centavos." "Look, señor, add the figures up." "You get 13." "What better number could you buy?" "It's a sure winner." " Yeah, how soon's the drawing?" " Only three weeks off." "Give me a twentieth so I don't have to look at your ugly face." "Come again next time." "I always have the winners, all the lucky numbers." "Good luck." "Thirteen." "Excuse me." "Cigarette?" "Thanks." " It's hot." " Yeah." "What a town, Tampico." "You said it, brother." "If I could get a job that'd bring enough to buy passage..." "I'd shake its dust off my feet soon enough, you bet." "If I was a native, I'd get a can of shoe polish... and I'd be in business." "They'd never let a gringo." "You can sit on a bench till you're three-quarters starved." "You can beg from another gringo, or even commit burglary." "You try shining shoes in the street... or peddling lemonade out of a bucket and your hash is settled." "You'll never get another job from an American." "Yeah, and the natives would hound and pester you to death." " Some town to be broke in." " What town isn't?" "Can you stake a fellow American to a meal?" "Hey, mister." "Will you stake a fellow American to a meal?" "Such impudence never came my way." "Early this afternoon, I gave you money." "When my shoes were being polished, I gave you more." "Now you put the bite on me again." "Do me a favor." "Go occasionally to somebody else." " It's beginning to get tiresome." " Excuse me." "I didn't know it was you." "I never looked at your face, just your hands and the money you gave me." "Beg pardon." "I promise I'll never put the bite on you again." "This is the very last you get from me." "Just to make sure you don't forget your promise, here's another peso." " Thanks, mister." " But from now on... you have to make your way through life without my assistance." "Hey, buddy, will you stake a fellow American to a meal?" "I won't give you a red cent." "If you want to make some money I'll give you a job." " What's the catch?" " There's no catch." "I got a job if you want." "It's hard work, but good pay." " Did you ever rig a camp?" " Sure." "The ferry's making off, one of my men hasn't shown up." "I don't know what's happened to him." "He's probably drunk in some dive." " What's the pay?" " $8 a day." "Don't just stand there." "Make up your mind, the ferry doesn't wait." " I'm your man." " Come on." " Hello, there." " Hello, yourself." "Okay, you guys, get aboard." "Take it your way." "What's the matter with you two?" "Can't you take it?" "It's 130 in the shade, and there ain't any shade up there on that derrick." "Just figure you're a couple of millionaires in your own private steam bath." "And the sooner we're through... the sooner we'll be back in town drinking cold beer." "We finish within two weeks, I'm giving you fellas a bonus." "Yeah, it's coming to us working 16, 18 hours a day like we do." "Don't go crying to your mamas." "What do you want?" "I'm paying top salaries and a bonus." "What about our pay anyway, and when do we get it?" " I ain't seen a buck out of you yet." " You'll get your dough, all right... don't worry about that, when we get back to Tampico." "What could you do with money out here anyway, except gamble and lose it?" "You'll be paid as we step off the ferry." "The agent was supposed to be here with the dough." "Don't know what could've happened." "But don't worry." "I'll go to the office and pick up the money." "You men stay here." "Any objection to a couple of us coming with you?" "Don't you trust me?" "You think I'd run out on you?" "I don't think you'd do that." "But I ain't got a cent, not even enough to buy me a glass of beer." "Say, you two guys meet me over at the Cantina Madrid." "It's 2:15 now and I'll be over there no later than 3:00." "Pat McCormick." "He comes here from time to time." "I haven't seen him lately." "Pat McCormick?" "What about Pat McCormick?" " He's supposed to meet us here." " Does he owe you any money?" "Say, how long you guys been around Tampico, anyway?" "What's that got to do with it?" "Only foreigners and half-baked Americans fall for McCormick's tricks." "How do you mean?" "I mean, he hires dumb guys like you to work for him." "When it comes time to pay off, he takes a powder." "How much we got left of that $10 he gave us, Dobbsie?" " $2.50." " That's not even enough for one bed." "I know a joint that's full of rats, scorpions and cockroaches." "The cots are only 50 centavos a night." "Have another jobs for a dime a dozen ain't to be had at all." "Streets are full of guys... pushing each other over the hill." "...not 10 days from here by rail." "The mountain's waiting for the right guy to discover and take her treasure." "The question is:" "Are you the right guy?" "Real bonanzas are few and far between." "They take a lot of finding." "Answer me this, will you?" "Why is gold worth some $20 an ounce?" " I don't know." "Because it's scarce." " A thousand men go searching for gold." "After six months one of them's lucky." "One out of the thousand." "His find represents not only his own labor but that of 999 others to boot." "That's 6,000 months to 500 years... scrambling over mountain, going hungry and thirsty." "The gold is worth what it is 'cause of the human labor that went into finding it." " Never thought of it like that." " There's no other explanation." "Gold ain't good for nothing except for making jewelry and gold teeth." "Gold's a devilish sort of thing." "You start out to tell yourself you'll be satisfied with $25,000 worth." "So help me Lord and cross my heart." "Fine resolution." "After months of sweating yourself dizzy, few provisions, finding nothing... you finally come down to $15,000, then $10,000." "Finally you say, "Lord, let me just find $5,000 worth..." ""and I'll never ask for anything more the rest of my life."" "$5,000 is a lot of money." "In this joint it seems like a lot." "But if you made a real strike, you couldn't be dragged away." "Even the threat of death wouldn't keep you from adding $10,000 more." "$10,000, you'd want $25,000." "$25,000, you'd want $50,000." "$50,000, $100,000." "Like roulette." "One more time, you know." "Always one more." "It wouldn't be that way with me." "I swear, it wouldn't." "I'd take only what I set out to get." "Even if there was still $500,000 worth... lying around, waiting to be picked up." "I've dug in Alaska and Canada and Colorado." "I was in the British Honduras, I made my fare back home... and almost enough over to cure me of the fever I'd caught." "Dug in California and Australia." "All over the world practically." "Yeah." "I know what gold does to men's souls." "You talk as though you struck it rich sometime or other, pop." "How about it?" "Then what are you doing in here, a down-and-outer?" "That's gold." "That's what it makes us." "Never knew a prospector yet that died rich." "Make one fortune, he's sure to blow it trying to find another." "I'm no exception to the rule." "Sure I'm a gnawed old bone now but don't you guys think the spirit's gone." "I'm set to shoulder a pickaxe if anybody's willing to share expenses." "I'd rather go by myself." "It's best to go alone." "But you got to have a stomach for loneliness." "Some guys go nutty with it." "But going with a partner is dangerous." "Murderers always lurking about." "Partners accusing each other of all sorts of crimes." "As long as there's no find, the noble brotherhood will last." "But when the piles of gold begin to grow, that's when the trouble starts." "I wouldn't mind a little of that kind of trouble." "I think I'll go to sleep... and dream about piles of gold... getting bigger and bigger." "Do you believe what the old man... who was doing all the talking at the Oso Negro... said the other night... about gold changing a man's soul so that he ain't the same kind of a guy... that he was before finding it?" "Guess that all depends on the man." "That's exactly what I say." "Gold don't carry any curse with it." "It all depends on whether or not the guy who finds it is the right guy." "The way I see it... gold can be as much of a blessing as a curse." "Look who's coming out of the Hotel Bristol." "Is that Pat McCormick or am I seeing things?" "It's him." " Let's get him." " Let's get him hard." "Why don't you and me go and buy me something?" "I could use a new pair of shoes." "Hello, fellows, how are you?" "Glad to see you." " Mr. Dobbs and Mr. Curtin, Señorita..." " López." "López." "I want you guys to come and have a drink with me." "I've got business to attend to with these men." "You go back up to the hotel and wait." "I won't be long." "Okay." "Fellas, let's have that drink." "Where have you been?" "I've been looking all over for you." "Three shots of rye." "Make mine brandy, Three Star." " Two brandies." " Rye is good enough for me." "I suppose you're wondering about that money that's coming to you." "The fact is I haven't been paid off on that contract myself." "If I had the money, you'd get it first thing." "I'll put you both on my next contract." "It will come through by Monday and we can set out Friday." "Here's mud in your eye." "We want what's coming to us." "We want it right here and now." " But didn't I just tell you..." " You better come across." "And the balance, say, the middle of next week?" "Nothing doing." "Right here and now." "Every cent or you won't walk out of here." "You'll be carried out." "Let's don't stop being friends." "How about another drink?" "Two more brandies." "Put the bottle on the bar." "If you want to get us liquored up..." "No, I'm just inviting you to have a friendly drink with me." " I'm licked, boys." " Give us our money." "Yeah, give us our money." "I can't see." "$50. $100." "$200." "$300." " That's it, ain't it, Curt?" " Yeah, that's it." "Let's beat it before the law arrives." "Here's for the drinks and the use of the cantina." " You know something, Curt?" " What?" "We ain't very smart, hanging around Tampico waiting for a job." "Money's getting shorter every day... and soon we'll be right back where we were, on the bum again... pushing guys for dimes, sleeping around in freight cars." "That's right." "Got any ideas?" "That old man in the Oso Negro started me to thinking." "What about?" "Why not try gold-digging for a change?" "It ain't any riskier than waiting around here for a break... and this is the country where the nuggets of gold are crying for you... to take them out of the ground, make them shine in coins... on the fingers and necks of swell dames." "One thing, living in the open is cheaper than it is here in Tampico." "Our money'd last longer." "The longer it lasts, the greater our chance of digging something up would be." "We'd have to have equipment, all right." "Picks and spades, pans, burros." "Wonder how much it would all cost." " That old man would know." " Yeah, he could give us some pointers." "He's too old to take along." "We'd have to pack him on our backs." "You can't tell about some of those old guys." "It's surprising sometimes how tough they are." "I don't know what gold looks like in the ground." "I've only seen it in jewelry store windows and people's mouths." "You know anything about prospecting?" "Not much when you come right down to it." "We might have real use for an experienced guy like that old-timer." "Let's go hunt him up right away." "Will I go?" "What a question." "Of course I'll go." "Any time, any day, I was waiting for somebody to ask me." "Out for gold?" "I'm always at your service." "I got $300 ready cash in the bank." "$200 of it all set to invest." "Last money I got." "When it's gone, I'm finished." "If you don't take a risk, you can't make a game." "How much dough you guys got to put in?" "I've got $150 and Curtin's got the same." "$500 ain't hardly enough to buy tools, weapons and essential provisions." "What do we need weapons for?" "Meat's one thing and bandits another." "Bandit country's where we'd be going." "We need $600 between us." " That much?" " Can't you dig up any more?" "Not a red cent." "Give me my money, señor!" "Get away from me, will you?" "Please, señor." "Whoever draws the lucky number... gives a present to the seller..." "I don't want any lottery ticket!" "If you don't, you have bad luck the rest of your life." "What?" "Wait a minute." "What did you first say?" "Why, he's trying to tell you he sold you the winning ticket." "Hey, wait a minute." "This what you mean?" " You say it's the winner?" " 200 peso prize." "Where?" " That's my number." " Sure enough." "Just look at that fat, rich, printed number." "That's the kind of sugar poppa likes." "200 pesos." "Welcome, sweet little smackeroos." "Here, son, here's a present for you with my blessing." "Would you like to shake the hand that bought that ticket?" " Congratulations." " Congratulations, yourself." "You stand a profit out of this the same as I do." "How do you make that out?" "Didn't he just say we needed $600?" "That's what we've got now, ain't it?" " Yeah, but..." " But what?" " Why are you putting up for me?" " This is an all-or-nothing proposition." "If we make a find, we'll be lighting our cigars with $100 bills." "If not, the difference between what you and I put up... ain't enough to keep me from being where I was this afternoon:" "Polishing a bench with the seat of my pants." "Put her there, part." "We'll buy our burros at Perla and head northwest away from the railroad." "It's no use looking near a railroad... or any kind of a road at all... because construction engineers examine every bit of ground around the road... while they're building them." "We got to go where there's no trails... where no surveyor or anyone who knows anything of prospecting has been before." "The best place to go to is... where any salaried person wouldn't go, because he wouldn't want to risk his hide." "I got three of them!" "How many did you get?" " A couple." " I'm one up." "I bet I got more than you did." "I got three." "Nice shooting?" "That bullet hole's two inches from my head." "That was close." "The bullets were sure flying thick and fast in here." "It sounded like a swarm of bees here." "That bandit with the gold hat, I had my sights on him, nice as you please." "The train gave a jolt and I missed." "Wish I'd got him." "Big boulder on the track so train stop." "Bandits got big surprise because soldiers on the train waiting for them." "Not many passengers get killed." "Here's where we're bound for." "Don't show whether there's mountain, swamp or desert." "That shows the makers of the map don't know." "Once on the ground, we open our eyes and look around." "Blow our noses, too." "Believe it or not, I knew a fellow... who could smell gold like a jackass can smell water." "What's all that about?" "We're going into country very wild and dangerous." "Have to cut through jungles... and climb mountains so high they rise above the clouds." "Tigers so strong they can climb trees with burros in their mouths." "Good." "Glad to hear such tall tales 'cause it means few outsiders have set foot there." "Well, let's get going." "If there was gold in them mountains, how long would it have been there?" "Millions and millions of years, wouldn't it?" "What's our hurry?" "A couple of days more or less ain't going to make any difference." "Remember what you said back in Tampico... about having to pack that old man on our backs?" "That was when I took him for an ordinary human being... not part goat." "Look at him climb, will you?" "What gets me is how he can go all day in the sun without any water." "Maybe he's part camel, too." "If I'd known what prospecting meant..." "I'd have stayed in Tampico and waited for another job to turn up." " What's the matter?" " Look." "Look at it glitter." "It's yellow, too, like..." "Gold." "Come back, we've found something!" "Look, Curt, there's a vein of it, here, in this rock." "Look here." "Look, it's all around." "What else could it be?" "Only gold shines and glitters like that." "We've struck it, Curt." "Look, from the looks of things... we've struck it rich." "Look, it's all over here." " We found a what do you call it..." " Mother lode." " That's right." " Howard!" "Come on." "Look." "Here, look at this rock." "It's full of gold." "Veins of it." "This stuff wouldn't pay your dinner for a carload." "It ain't gold?" "Pyrite." "Fool's gold." "Not that there ain't plenty of the real stuff here." "We've walked over it four or five times." "A place yesterday looked like rich diggings, but the water... for washing the sand was 11 miles away." "The other places, there wasn't much gold to pay us a good day's wages." "Next time you strike it rich, holler for me... before you start splashing water around." "Water's precious." "Sometimes it can be more precious than gold." "Burro." " What's up?" " Norther, looks like." "A "norther"?" "What's a "norther"?" "Big winds from the north this time of year... when they blow hard, this desert country stands right up on its hind legs!" "There's only a few more miles of this heavy stuff." "Pretty soon we'll be out of this valley." "You fellows, how about some beans?" "You want some beans?" "Going through some mighty rough country tomorrow." "You better have some beans." "You know what I'm thinking?" "I'm thinking we ought to give up... leave the whole outfit... everything behind." "Go back to civilization." "What's that you say?" "Go back?" "Tell my old grandmother!" "I got two elegant bedfellows who kick at the first drop of rain... and hide in the closet when thunder rumbles." "What great prospectors." "Two shoe clerks reading about prospecting for gold... in the Land of the Midnight Sun, south of the border or west of the Rockies." "Shut your trap or I'll smash your head flat!" "Go ahead, throw it." "If you did, you'd never leave this place alive." "Without me, you two would die here more miserable than rats." "Leave him alone." "Can't you see the old man's nuts?" "Nuts, am I?" "Let me tell you something, my fine bedfellows." "There's nothing to compare you with." "You're dumber than the dumbest jackass." "Look at each other." "Did you ever see anything like yourself for being dumb specimens?" "You're so dumb... you don't even see the riches you're treading on with your own feet." "Don't expect to find nuggets of molten gold." "It's not that rich." "Here ain't the place to dig." "It comes from someplace further up." "Up there." "Up there's where we've got to go." " Is that it?" " That's it, all right." "Gold, I mean." "Sure don't look like I thought it would." " Not much different from sand." " Yeah." "It's just like plain sand." "It don't glitter." "I thought it would." "It will when it's refined by some other guy." "All we got to do is mine it and get it back there." "Gold ain't like stones in a riverbed." "It don't cry out to be picked up." "You got to know how to recognize it." "The finding ain't all." "Not by a long shot." "Got to know how to tickle her so she'll come out laughing." "Yeah, it's mighty rich." "It'll pay good." " How good?" " About 20 ounces to the ton." " That's $20 an ounce." " How many tons can we handle a week?" "Depends on how hard we work." "We better pitch our camp down the mountainside." "Why, when the digging's here?" "Anyone comes by, we say we're hunters, and get away with it maybe." " Wouldn't it be easier to file a claim?" " Easier but not so profitable." "An emissary from a big mining company would be here soon... with a paper in his hand showing we had no right to be here." "How does it feel to be men of property?" "The tanks'll leak some at first... until the boards begin to swell and close the seams." "I sure had some cockeyed ideas about prospecting for gold." "It was all in the finding, I thought." "I thought you just had to find it, pick it up, put it in sacks... and carry them off to the nearest bank." "You're learning." "Pretty soon I won't be able to tell you a thing." " Tank full yet?" " Right to the top." "Open the sluice gate." "How much do you figure it to be now?" "About $5,000 worth, I reckon." "When are we going to start dividing it up?" "Anytime you say." "Why divide it at all?" "I don't see any point." "We're all going back together when the time comes." "Why not wait till we get paid and then divide the money?" "Either way suits me." "You fellows decide." "I'm for dividing it up as we go along." "Make each guy responsible for his own goods." "I'd just as soon have it that way." "I don't like the responsibility of guarding your treasure." "Who asked you to?" "That's right." "You never asked me." "Only, I thought I was the most trustworthy of the three." "You?" "How come?" "I said the most trustworthy." "As far as being the most honest, no one can say." "I don't get you." "Suppose you're charged of taking care of the goods." "One day I'm deep in the brush and Curtin's on his way to get provisions." "That'd be your chance to pack up and leave us in the cold." "Only a guy that's a thief at heart would think me likely to do a thing like that." "Right now, it wouldn't be worth your while... but when the pile's grown to 300 ounces, think of such things you will." "How's about yourself?" "I'm not quick on my feet any longer." "You're a lot tougher than when we started out." "By the time the pile's grown to be really tempting..." "I won't be able to run half as fast as you." "You'd catch me and string me up in no time." "That's why I think I'm the most trustworthy." "Looking at it that way, I guess you're right." "Maybe it'd be a good idea... to cut the proceeds up three ways every night." "It'll relieve you of a responsibility you don't like." "Swell by me." "After we got a couple of hundred ounces... it'll be a nuisance carrying bags around our necks." "Each of us will have to hide his share from the others." "And after that, he'll have to be forever on watch that his hiding place's not found." "What a dirty, filthy mind you've got." "Not dirty, baby." "Only I know what kind of ideas... even supposedly decent people get when gold's at stake." "All right." "Here she goes three ways." "Dobbs!" "Howard, come quick!" "He's coming around." "Lay still a minute till you get your senses back." "What happened?" "Part of the mine caved in on you." "Got a knock on the head." "No bones broken?" "I don't think so." " Who pulled me out?" " Curtin did." "I owe my life to you, partner." "Forget it." "What'll you do with your hard-earned money... when we get back and cash in?" "I'm getting along in years." "I can still hold up my end... when it comes to a hard day's work, but I'm not the man I was once." "Next year, next month, next week, by thunder, won't be the man I'm today." "I think I'll settle down in a quiet place... get a little business, hardware, grocery store... spend the better part of my time reading comics and adventure stories." "One thing's for sure." "I won't go prospecting again... wasting time and money trying to find another gold mine." "How about yourself?" "What plans have you, if any?" "I figure on buying some land and growing fruit." "Peaches, maybe." "How did you come to settle on peaches?" "One summer, when I was a kid..." "I worked as a picker in a peach harvest in the San Joaquin Valley." "Boy, it sure was something." "Hundreds of people, old and young." "Whole families working together." "At night, after a day's work... we used to build big bonfires and sit around and sing to guitar music." "Till morning sometimes." "We'd go to sleep, wake up and sing, and go to sleep again." "Everybody had a wonderful time." "Ever since then I've had a hankering to be a fruit grower." "It must be grand watching your own trees put on leaves... come into blossom and bear." "Watching the fruit get big and ripe on the boughs, ready for picking." "What's all that about?" "We're telling each other what we aim to do when we get back." "Now me, I got it all figured out what I'm gonna do." "Tell us about it, Dobbsie." "First off, I'm going to a Turkish bath to sweat and soak... till I get all the grime and dirt out of my system." "Then I'm going to a haberdasher and gonna get myself a brand-new set of duds." "Dozen of everything." "Then I'm going to a swell cafe... order everything on the bill o' fare and if it ain't just right... or maybe even if it is, I'm gonna bawl the waiter out... and make him take the whole thing back." "What's next on the program?" "Well, what would be?" "If I were you, I wouldn't talk or think about women." "It ain't good for your health." "Yeah, maybe you're right, seeing how the prospects are far off." "You know what?" "We ought to put a limit on our take, agree between us... when we get so much we pull up stakes and beat it." " What do you think the limit ought to be?" " Say $25,000 worth apiece." "$25,000, small potatoes." "How much do you say?" "$50,000 anyway, $75,000 would be more like it." "That'd take a year if the vein held out, which wouldn't be likely." "What's a year more or less when that kind of money is to be had?" "$25,000 is plenty as far as I'm concerned." "Enough to last me the rest of my lifetime." "Well, sure, you're old, I'm young." "I need dough and plenty of it." "$25,000 in one piece... is more than I ever expected to get my hands on." "Small potatoes." "There's no use making hogs of ourselves." "Hog, am I?" "Maybe you don't know, but I'd be within my rights... if I demanded half again as much as you get." "How come?" "There's no denying I put up the lion's share of the cash." "So you did, Dobbsie, and I always meant to pay you back." "In any civilized place the biggest investor gets the biggest return, don't he?" "That's one thing in favor of the wilds." "Not that I intended to demand it, but I'd be within my rights if I did." "Next time you call me a hog just remember... what I could've done if I'd wanted to." "I think it'd be wise not to put things strictly on a money basis." "Here you are, Dobbs." "What I owe you with interest." "I just don't like being called a hog, that's all." "Don't scare me like that." "I might have let you have it." "Out for a midnight stroll?" "Tiger around, I went to check on the burros." " So?" " What's the matter?" " I think I'll see if the burros are all right." " Go ahead." "Help yourself." " What's up?" " Nothing's up." "Where is Dobbs?" "Poking around in the dark out there." "He's sure taking a long time out there." "I think I'll go have a look-see." "Where's Curtin?" "He's out there somewhere." "Said he was gonna have a look-see." "It's my turn again but I won't take it... if you won't stop worrying about your goods and go to bed." "We got work to do tomorrow." "Can't catch me sleeping." "Don't you ever believe that." "I'm not that dumb." "The day you try to put anything over on me... it'll be a costly one for both of you." "Any more lip out of you and I'll up and let you have it." "If you know what's good for you, you won't monkey around with Fred C. Dobbs." "You ought to see Dobbs." "He's talking to himself a mile a minute." "Something's eating him all right, I don't know what." "He's just spoiling for trouble." ""We're running short of provisions, Dobbsie." ""How about you going to the village?"" "Who does Howard think he is, ordering me around?" "What's that, Dobbs?" " Nothing." " Better look out." "It's a bad sign when a guy talks to himself." "Yeah?" "Who else am I gonna talk to?" "Certainly not you or Curtin." " Fine partners you two are." " Got something up your nose?" "Blow it out, it'll do you good." "Don't think you two are putting anything over on me." " Take it easy." " I know what your game is." "You know more than I do." "Why am I elected to go to the village instead of you or Curtin?" "Don't think I don't see through that." "You two are together against me." "The two days I'd be gone... would give you lots of time to discover where my goods are." "If you fear along those lines... why don't you take your goods with you?" "And run the risk of having them taken from me by bandits?" "If you run into them, you'd be out of luck anyway." "They'd kill you for the shoes on your feet." "So that's it." "Everything's clear now." "You're hoping bandits will get me." "That would save you a lot of trouble, wouldn't it?" "And your consciences wouldn't bother you none neither." "All right, Dobbs, forget about it." "Just like I thought." " What's the idea?" " Put your hands up." "I've a good mind to haul off and pump you up, chest and belly alike." "Would you mind telling me what this is about?" "It won't get you anywhere playing dumb." "Well, I'll be." " So that's where your goods are hidden?" " Hey, what's the trouble here?" "Seems like I accidentally stumbled on Dobbsie's treasure." "Accidentally?" "Why were you trying to pry up that rock?" "I saw a gila monster crawl under it." "Brother, I got to hand it to you." "You can certainly pick up a good story when you need one." "Okay, I'm a liar." "There isn't a gila monster under there." "Let's see you stick your hand in and get your goods out." " Go ahead." " Sure I will." "But you try any bad moves..." "Don't worry." "I'll stay right where I am." "I want to see this." "Reach in and get your goods." "If you don't, we'll think you're yellow, won't we, Howard?" "They never let go, do they, Howard, once they grab onto you?" "You can cut them in two and the head will still hang on till sundown, I hear." "By that time the victim doesn't usually care 'cause he's dead." " Isn't that right, Howard?" " I reckon." "Why don't you stick your hand in and get your treasure?" "Couldn't be because you're scared... after the way you've been shooting your mouth off?" "Show us you ain't yellow." "I'd hate to think my partner had a yellow streak up his back." "I'll kill you, you dirty, thieving..." "Okay, Howard, I got him covered." "Another bad move out of you and I'll blow you to kingdom come." "Howard, turn that rock over, will you?" "The federales are very efficient." "Yeah." "Bandidos, eh?" "Yeah, seems between them they had a diamond ring... pearl earrings, a lot of money and a railway ticket... with the date of the Aguascalientesile train robbery on it." "They've been here several days, drinking, shooting..." "The villagers are afraid to go out of their huts." "Where are they taking them now?" "To the cemetery." "The federales don't operate in our American way." "They're not fingerprint experts, but they can follow any trail." "Against them, no hideout is any use." "They know all the tricks of the bandits." "You can bet your sweet soul they'll trace down... every last one of that group that attacked the train." "It'll take time, months maybe, but they'll do it." "Not many Americans get around this way." "You're the first I've bumped into in a long time." "That so?" " Mighty rugged country hereabouts." " Yeah." "My name's Cody." "I'm from Texas." " What's your game?" " I'm a hunter." " Professional?" " Yeah." "What all do you hunt?" "Tiger cats, anything of commercial value." "How long did you say you'd been in these mountains?" "A few months." "Ever seen anything that looked like pay dirt?" "I've a hunch there's loads of the real goods up in those mountains." "No, I know the whole landscape around here." "If there'd been gold, you can bet I'd have seen it." "There's nothing doing here for gold." "I can look at a hill five miles away... and tell you if it carries an ounce or a shipload." "If you haven't found anything..." "I'll come with you, put your nose in it." "There's indications in the valley, lots of indications." "By tracing the rocks, I find they come from a ridge... washed down by the tropical rains." " You don't say so." " Yes, I say so." "So much for those bandits." "You gotta hand it to the Mexicans when it comes to swift justice." "Once the federales get their mitts on a criminal... they know what to do." "They hand him a shovel, tell him to dig." "When he's dug deep enough... they tell him to put the shovel down, smoke a cigarette and say his prayers." "In another five minutes he's being covered over with the earth he dug out." "Yeah, you gotta hand it to them all right." "I meant what I said about going along with you." "Those are my burros." "I'm ready to start if you'll let me go with you to your camp." "Thanks anyway, but I prefer going it by myself." "Good luck." "I went way around, stayed on hard ground which wouldn't show the tracks." "Every time I hit a high point and looked I'd see he was still following me." "I guess it's only a matter of time till he shows up here." " I move we tell him straight off to beat it." " Now, no, that'd be foolish." "He'd sit for an hour playing the innocent and then report us to the officials." "Once they come, we can't stay or take our goods with us if we left." "There's nothing else to do but kill him the minute he appears." "No crime to visit these mountains." "He may be a guy that likes to wander." "You can't shoot him for that." "If you were to shoot him it might come out." "We don't have to shoot him necessarily." "We can push him off a rock and claim it was an accident." "Just who's gonna do the pushing, you?" "We'll toss for it." "You're sure he was trailing you, are you?" " Absolutely." " How come?" "Because there he is." "Come over by the fire." "I know quite well, you fellas, I'm not wanted here." "Even after what you told me..." "I couldn't resist the desire to sit and jaw with an American." "Why don't you go where Americans want to talk to you?" "Durango isn't too far off." "They got one of them American clubs there." "I'm not after that." "I've got other things on my mind, more important." "So do we." "Don't make any mistakes." "Our biggest worry is your presence here." "We got no use for you." "We don't even want you for a cook or a dishwasher." "No vacancies, understand?" "In case I don't make myself clear, you'll be doing yourself a favor... packing up and getting out tomorrow morning." "Go back where you came from." "Take our blessings with you." "Thanks." "Go ahead." "Help yourself." "We're no misers." "We don't let guys starve to death." "Tonight, you're our guest." "But tomorrow morning..." "look out, no trespassing around here, you know?" ""Beware of the dogs." Get it?" "I got myself five foxes and a lion while you were away at the village." " How are the hides?" " Pretty good." " Where'd you hit them?" " Right through their eyes." "Excuse me for butting in, but there's no game here worth going after." "It wouldn't take a week for a hunter... to clean up all around for five miles in each direction." "Yes, there's no good hunting here." "That's why we made up our mind to leave... so that we could look for something better." "Yes, stranger, you're dead right." "Awful poor ground." "It took us some time to find it out." "Poor ground, you say?" "Depends on what you're looking for." "For game, yes." "Mighty good ground for something else." "What might that be?" "Gold." "That's a good one." "I told you in the village, there's no gold around here." "If there was one single ounce of it, I'd have seen it, believe me." "If you haven't found any gold here, you're not as smart as you appear to be." "Well, maybe, you're right." "Who knows?" "We never thought about gold." "Gives me an idea." "Guess I'll sleep on it." "I'll hit the hay." "Yeah." "Me, too." "See you in the morning, mister." "I can't figure this bird out." "Is he wise to us or not?" "Whether he is or not, he looks fairly harmless to me." " Looks can be mighty deceiving." " No denying that." "I'm keeping my boots on this night." "Might take it in his head to murder us in our sleep." " Anything can happen." "I'll tell you what." " Well, then?" "You guys go to sleep and I'll be watchdog for a few hours." "Then you both can take your turns." " Okay." "Got your gun handy?" " Yeah." "Right here." "Good morning, friend." "Where'd you get the water to make coffee?" " I took it out of the olla." " You did, did you?" "We didn't carry that water here for you to make coffee." " I didn't know water was so hard to get." " You know it now." "I'll fill it up for you." "What's up?" "I caught this guy stealing our water." "The next time I'll let it out of you through two little round holes." "I thought I was among civilized men who wouldn't begrudge me fresh water." "Who's not civilized?" "I could easily do the same for you." "It's not settled yet who'd come out on top." "This time I took it." "Thanks for your kind attention." "If I was you, stranger, I'd pack up and go while the going's good." "I mean to stay right here." "The brush and the mountains are free, aren't they?" "Sure." "That's right, whoever's first on the spot." "That holds for hunters, but not for gold miners." "Unless they have happened to have registered their claim." "Who says we have a claim to register?" "Whatever you say or don't say, tomorrow I start to dig for gold here." "I know you guys can bump me off any minute... but that's a risk worth running considering the stakes." "Let's lay all our cards on the table." "As I see it, you guys have to do one of three things:" "Kill me, run me off or take me in with you as a partner." "Let's consider the first." "Another guy may come along tomorrow." "Maybe a dozen other guys." "If you start killing them... how far are you prepared to go?" "Ask yourselves that." "Also, don't forget, the one actually to do the bumping off... would forever be in the power of the other two." "The only safe way would be for all of you to drag out your cannons... and bang away at the same instant like a firing squad." "We wouldn't stop at anything to protect our interests." "I claim killing me isn't it." "But, of course, that's for you to decide." "As for choice number two... you run me off, I might very well inform on you." "We'd get you if you did that." "We'd get you if we had to go all the way to China." "Of your find is the reward I'd get." "And that would be mighty tempting." "It's a strong argument in favor of number one." "I don't deny it." "But let's see what number three has to offer." "If you take me in as a partner, you don't stand to lose anything." "I'll not ask a share in what you've made so far, only in the profits to come." "What do you say?" "Mind, stranger, letting us talk this over among ourselves?" "Not at all." "Go ahead." "I have to look after my burros anyway." " What do you think?" " Sending him away is out of the question." "Either we bump him off or make him a partner." "F.C. Dobbs ain't a guy that likes being taken advantage of." "Do the mug in, I say." "He told us how, didn't he?" "All of us hold out our cannons and let him have it." "What do we gain by bumping him off?" "If he was asking to share in what we made it'd be different." "I don't mind being taken advantage of... if it isn't money out of my pocket." "And whoever else comes along... they're to be invited in, too." "Come one, come all?" "You got a point there." "No question about that." "But killing..." " What's the matter, ain't you up to it?" " Sure, I'm up to it." "Let the majority decide." "What's your vote, partner?" "For or against?" "For." "Let's make it short and sweet for him." "So it's number one, is it?" "Better take a look down that hill first." "I can't make out what they are." "They must be soldiers." "So that's your stinking game, is it?" "Informing." "I knew you were an informer." "I knew it all the time." "You're wrong, brother." "This means all our funerals." "What's that?" "If it's what I think it is, may the Lord be with us." "They're not soldiers, they're bandits." "After guns and ammunition, not gold." "Some villager must have told them about the American hunter." "They don't look like soldiers to me, either." "They are bandits." "We better start thinking of a way to defend ourselves." "We can hide in the rocks but we'll lose the burros and the whole outfit." "The best thing is to fight." "You have good eyes." "Stay here on this lookout... for the time being and watch their movements." "You herd all the burros in that thicket there." "Dobbs, we'll wrap up all our belongings and dump them in the trench." "They're turning onto the trail." " How many of them are there?" " About a dozen." "They'll be an hour getting here so we better eat something." "Come on down, friend." "next sub" "Look, Howard." "The one in the gold hat, remember?" "Yeah, the man in the train robbery." "They'll think whoever was here is gone." "Some want to go back down the mountains, others want to stay... and use this site as headquarters to raid the villages." "How about pouring it into them?" " Bumping off as many as we can, real fast?" " No, let's hold our horses." "We are federales." "You know, the mounted police." "If you are the police, where are your badges?" "Badges?" "We ain't got no badges." "We don't need no badges." "I don't have to show you any stinking badges." "Better not come any closer." "We didn't try to do you any harm." "Why don't you try to be a little more polite?" "Give us your gun and we'll leave you in peace." "I need my gun myself." "Throw that old iron over here." "We'll pick it up and go on our way." "You go anyway without my gun, and go quick." "All right." "Look here, amigo, you got the wrong idea." "We don't want to get your gun for nothing." "We want to buy it." "Look, I have a gold watch with a gold chain... made in your own country." "The watch and the chain, they're worth at least 200 pesos." "I'll change it for your gun." "You better take it." "That's a good business for you." "You keep your watch, I'll keep my gun." "Oh, you'll keep it?" "You will keep it?" "We won't get it?" "I'll show you." "Anybody get hurt?" "Looks like we won that round." " That guy with the gold hat, ain't he..." " We spotted him, too." "The train robber." " Maybe they got enough?" " I doubt it." "Since they know there's four guns, they'll be more determined than ever." " What do you suppose they'll pull next?" " No telling." "All we can do is sit tight." "Cody, are you all right?" "He's dead." "Got it right through the neck." "One less gun." "Chopping wood for camp, that's funny." "If they're up to what I think they are, it ain't funny." " What's that?" " They're building moving barricades." "An old Indian trick." "They crawl and push the barricades." "You can't see where to shoot." "I'd be willing to trade my share of the mine right now for a few hand grenades." "You'd better get to your posts." "They're beating it." " What do you make of that?" " Your guess is as good as mine." "Wait a minute, this may be some trick to lure us out." "I don't think so." "They ain't good enough actors for this kind of a trick." "Hey, partner." "Up here." "Here's a sight if there ever was one." "Federales." "Look at them." "I could kiss every one of them." "They must've gotten it from the villagers there were bandits headed here." "Why don't they wait here, make a fight of it?" "They know all the tricks that's why." "With us behind and the federales facing them, they wouldn't have a chance." "Go get them, sick them, tie them." "Chew them up and don't spit them out." "Swallow them." "Am I happy." "Tell you the truth, I was already eating dirt." "I wonder who he is." "And if he's got any folks." "Supposing he has?" "Let's take a look at his belongings." "A few hundred pesos." "Name's James Cody." "Dallas, Texas." "A letter from Dallas, too." "It must be his home." "Reckon she's his girl." "Not bad." ""Dear Jim:" "Your letter just arrived." ""It was such a relief to get word after so many months of..." ""silence." ""I realize, of course, that..." ""there aren't any mailboxes that you can drop a letter in..." ""out there in the wild."" "You better read it." ""But that doesn't keep me from worrying about you." ""Little Jimmy is fine, but he misses his daddy almost as much as I do." ""He keeps asking, 'When's Daddy coming home?" "'" ""You say if you do not make a real find this time..." ""you'll never go again." ""I cannot begin to tell you how my heart rejoices..." ""at those words, if you really mean them." ""Now I feel free to tell you..." ""I've never thought any material treasure..." ""no matter how great, is worth the pain of these long separations." ""The country is especially lovely this year." ""It's been a perfect spring." "Warm rains and hardly any frost." ""The fruit trees are all in bloom." ""The upper orchard looks aflame..." ""and the lower, like after a snowstorm." ""Everybody looks forward to big crops." ""I do hope you are back for the harvest." ""Of course, I'm hoping that you will at last strike it rich." ""It is high time for luck..." ""to start smiling upon you." ""But just in case she doesn't..." ""remember we've already found life's real treasures." ""Forever yours, Helen."" "I guess we better dig a hole for him." " Yeah, not so good." " Not so good as yesterday." "Want my opinion?" "Lt'll be a lot less from now on." "We've taken all the gold this mountain has." "How much do you figure we got today?" "Not as much as we were aiming to collect." "Not $40,000." "I'm willing to lower my hindsight." "We've got upwards of $35,000 apiece." "I tell you, we ought to be plenty thankful." "Let's call it quits and pack up and leave." "The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned." "I don't want to keep that dame waiting." "It'll take a week to break the mine, put the mountain back in shape." "Do what to the mountain?" "Make her look like she was before we came." "I don't get it." "We wounded this place." "It's our duty to close her wounds." "The least we can do to show our gratitude for all the wealth she's given us." "If you guys don't want to help me, I'll do it alone." "You talk about that mountain like it was a real woman." "She's been a lot better to me than any woman I ever knew." "Keep your shirt on, old-timer." "Sure, I'll help you." "I reckon that's about everything." "Each man's burros with his goods will be his own responsibility." "Come on." "Goodbye, mountain, and thanks." "Yeah, thanks, mountain." "I've been thinking about her." "Cody's widow, I mean, and the kid." "You know what?" "We ought to give them a fourth just as if he'd been our partner from the start." "What?" "A fourth of all our goods?" " That's right." " Are you crazy?" "If not for him, we wouldn't have walked away from that mountain." "Ask Howard." "The buzzard would have gotten fat on us all right." "Yeah, it might just as well have been one of us." "But it wasn't." "It's our good luck and his bad." "Whatever you guys do, I'm going to give a fourth." "I got more than I need, anyhow." "Half what I got is enough to last me out." " Fourth?" " Sure." "You two guys must have been born in a revival meeting." "We got company." "Steady, boys." "Coffee." "Give him some tobacco." "We give them our tobacco, they give us theirs, I don't get it." "Why not everybody smoke his own?" "Take some and thank them." "They're after something." "Takes them a while to come to the point." "To say what you want right off the bat isn't considered polite among Indians." "They got nothing but time?" "His boy fell in the water, they fished him out." " He ain't dead, but he just won't come to." " Tough." "I'll go have a look at the boy." "I'll be back in a little while." "Before morning, probably." "Look after my goods while I am gone." "Tequila." "Artificial respiration did it and a few Boy Scout tricks." "I think it was more shock than drowning." "He hadn't swallowed much water." "Maybe he was stunned while diving." "How did these Indians know we were in this neck of the woods anyhow?" "When you're near their villages, don't ask me how, they just know." "What's up?" "He's insisting we return to his village and be his guests." "Tell him to forget it." "Tell him he don't owe us a thing." "If he doesn't pay off his debt all the saints will be angry." "This is no laughing matter." "I'm afraid he's determined to take us with him, even if it means force." "I'll handle this." "Wait a minute." "You can't fight your way out of this." "Put your guns away." "Have every Indian in the mountain on our trail." "We'd be scalped in half an hour." "What'd he say then?" "It didn't make any difference about you guys but I have to come." " It's like that, he just wants you." " Looks like it." "Why don't you go with them?" "Stay a few days and we'll meet you in Durango." "We'll wait there." " What about my goods?" " Why don't you take them with you." "If they found out they might forget he was their honored guest and bump him off." "What'll I do?" "Dump them on the ground?" "We'll take them with us if you want us to and wait for you in Durango." "I reckon that's about the only solution." "I bet you'll remember this the next time you try to do a good deed." "Maybe after I've stayed with them they'll give me a horse." "Then I'll be a day or two behind you." "That'll be swell." "Good luck, Howard." "Yeah, all the luck in the world." "We'll be lonesome without you." "But my Sunday school teacher used to say:" ""You got to learn to swallow disappointments in this sad life."" "Hurry up and join us." "Look out for those Indian dames." "They tell me they're smart." "One of them squaws might marry you." "Maybe I'll do just that." "Pick out a good-looking squaw and marry her." "They're easy to dress, feed and entertain." "They don't nag at you, either." "So long, partners." "See you in Durango." "Ain't it always his burros that won't march in line... stray off the trail and smash their packs against the trees and rocks?" "I wish they'd stray off far enough to fall down about 2,000 feet of gorge." "Why'd you offer to carry his goods for him?" "As if he couldn't manage by himself." "He knew what he was doing when he turned them over to us." "Mighty cute of him, wasn't it?" "What's the use of railing against the old man?" "It won't do any good." "Save your breath for the next piece of trail." "I'm stopping here for the night." "If you want to go on it's okay with me, but take his burros with you." "They ain't my responsibility." "It's early." "We can make four, five miles more before dark." "Nobody ordered you to stay here." "You can go 20 miles more for all I care." "Ordered me?" "You?" "Who's ordering who to do anything?" "You talk like you're boss of this outfit." "Maybe you are, let's hear you say it." "All right, if you can't go any further." "Who says I can't?" "Don't make me laugh." "I can go four times as far as a mug like you." "But I don't want to." "I could if I want to, but I don't want to, see, mug?" "What's the use of hollering?" "We're started on something and we've got to finish it, like it or not." "We'll camp here." "Wonder what the old man's doing now." "Eating a meal of roast turkey and drinking a bottle of tequila probably." "This is the first day we've had to manage without his help." "Once we get the hang of it, it'll be easier." "How far away do you suppose the railroad is?" " Not so far as the crow flies." " We ain't crows." "I figure we can reach the high-pass in two days more... then it'll be three or four days to the railroad." "That's figuring no hard luck on the trail, of course." "What's the joke, Dobbsie?" "Aren't you going to let me in on it?" "In on it?" "Sure I will." "Sure." "Go ahead, spill it." "What's so funny?" "I was thinking what a bonehead play that old jackass made..." " when he put all his goods in our keeping." " What do you mean?" "Figured he'd let us do his sweating for him, did he?" " We'll show him." " What are you getting at?" "Can't you see?" "It's all ours." "We don't go back to Durango at all." "Not at all." "I don't follow you." "Don't be such a sap." "Where did you ever grow up?" "All right, to make it clear to a dumbhead like you... we take all his goods and go straight up north and leave the jackass flat." "You aren't serious, are you?" "You don't really mean what you are saying." "Fred C. Dobbs don't say nothing he don't mean." "As long as I'm here and can do anything, you won't touch the old man's goods." "I know exactly what you mean." "You want to take it all for yourself and cut me out." "No, I'm on the level with the old man, like I'd be with you if you weren't here." "Get off your soapbox." "You only sound foolish out here in this wilderness." "I know you for what you are." "For a long time I've had my suspicions about you and now I know I've been right." " What suspicions?" " You're not putting anything over on me." "I see right through you." "For a long time you've wanted to bump me off at the first opportunity... and bury me out here in the bush like a dog... so you could take not only the old man's goods but mine in the bargain." "When you get to Durango safely you'll have a big laugh... thinking how dumb the old man and I were." "You make another move towards me and I'll pull the trigger." "Now, get your hands up." "Come on, get them up." "Was I right, or was I?" "You and your Sunday school talk about protecting people's goods." "You." "Go on, stand up, and take it like a man." "Come on, get up." "Let go of it." " The cards are dealt the other way now." " Yeah." "Now listen to me..." "Look, you're all wrong." "Not for a moment did I ever intend to rob you or do you any harm." "Just like I said..." "I'd fight for you and yours like I'd fight for the old man's." "If you really mean that give me back my gun." "My pal." "Wouldn't it be better the way things are to separate tomorrow or even tonight?" " That would suit you fine, wouldn't it?" " Why me more than you?" "So you could fall on me from behind, sneak up and shoot me in the back." "All right, I'll go first." "And wait for me on the trail to ambush me?" "Why wouldn't I do it now if I meant to kill you?" "I'll tell you why, because you're yellow." "You don't have the nerve to pull the trigger while I'm looking you in the eye." "If you think like that, there's nothing to do but to tie you up every night." "I'll tell you what." "I'll make you a little bet." "Three times 35 is 105." "I'll bet $105,000 you go to sleep before I do." "Get up there at the head of the train." "Get up!" "The cards are dealt the other way now, and for the last time no more shuffling." " What cards are..." " I'm going to finish this right now." "I won't take orders from you like I had to do today." " You mean you're going to murder me?" " No, brother, not murder." "Your mistake." "I'm doing it to save my life that you'd take from me when I wasn't looking at you." " The old man'll catch up with you." " He will, will he?" "I got an answer for that one, too." "Know what I'll tell him?" "I'll tell him you tied me to a tree and made your getaway taking all our goods." "He'll be looking for you and not me." "Up." "March." "Today I had to march to your music, now you march to mine." " Where?" " To your funeral." "Come on, keep going." "Get up." "Sleepy?" "You'll be asleep soon enough." "Sound asleep." "Maybe I didn't kill him." "Maybe he just staggered and fell down without being hit." "You keep it, it's yours anyhow." "No, they won't find him." "I'll dig a hole for him first thing in the morning." "This fire... don't give much heat." "Conscience." "What a thing." "If you believe you've got a conscience, it'll pester you to death." "But if you don't believe you've got one... what can it do to you?" "Makes me sick all this talking and fussing about nonsense." "Maybe I'd better leave him like he is." "Ain't very likely anybody will find him." "In a week, the buzzards and the ants will have done away with him anyway." "I don't know what's getting into me." "Was that really a tiger?" "No." "What if his eyes are open, looking at me?" "Best thing to do is to get to the railroad in a hurry." "Burro." "It's better not to have buried him." "I did right, yeah." "What I should have done, maybe, was bury his clothes... and leave him to the ants and the buzzards." "Buzzards!" "If somebody saw them circling, they'd know something was dead." "Buzzards ain't spotted him yet." "Lucky for me." "Curtin!" "Where are you?" "I better get a hold of myself." "I mustn't lose my head." "There's one thing certain, he ain't here." "I got it." "The tiger." "Yeah, that's it." "The tiger must have dragged him off to his lair, that's what." "Yeah, pretty soon, not even the bones will be left to tell the story." "Done as if by order." "I came to in the middle of the night." "My gun was on the ground beside me." "He must have left it there to make it look like suicide." "I figured he'd come back in the morning to see if I still had a flicker of life." "I thought about waiting for him and letting him have it... but there was a good chance in my condition I might miss... so I decided to crawl away like a poisoned dog." " Take it easy, you're talking too much." " Don't you worry about me." "I'll pull out of this if only to get that guy." "It appears our fine Mr. Dobbs has made off with our goods and is on his way north." " Yeah." " I reckon we can't blame him too much." "What do you mean?" "I mean, he's not a real killer, as killers go." "I think he's as honest as the next fella, or almost." "The mistake was leaving you two in the depths of the wilderness... with more than $100,000 between you." "That's a big temptation, partner, believe me." "He shot me down in cold blood." "After I was down he shot me a second time just to make sure." "If I was young and out there with one of you, I'd have been tempted, too." "Maybe I wouldn't have fallen, but I reckon I would've been tempted." "There now." "You're almost as good as new." "Now, to find that thief and get our goods back." "They're not only giving me a horse but coming to protect me." " You ain't going." " Who says so?" "You wouldn't be up to the hard riding." " You aren't leaving me behind." " Look at you." "You're weak as a kitten." "Don't worry, I'll look after our interests." "I'm going." "Well, I reckon you're going." "Burro!" "Made it." "Have you got any cigarettes?" "No, I haven't." "I've got a little tobacco... if that'll do." "No paper to roll it in?" "Papers?" "Here you are." " Going to Durango?" " Yeah." "That's where I'm headed." "I've got to sell my burros." "I got to get some money." "I haven't got a red cent." "Matches?" "Money?" "We need money, too." "Yeah?" "I could use a good mule driver... maybe two or three." "How much is the pay?" "Two pesos." "Of course, I can't pay you in advance..." "I got to wait till I get to town so I can get the money." "Do I know you from someplace?" "Maybe I know you." "No, I don't think so." " Are you alone?" " No." "I'm not alone." "I got a couple of friends coming along on horseback." "Yeah, they ought to be here any minute." "That's funny." "A man all by himself in bandit country with a string of burros... and his friends behind him on horseback." "Your friends must be very far behind you." "Pablo cannot see any dust even from their horses." "They'll be along any minute, I tell you." "I know who you are." "You're the guy in the hole." "The one who wouldn't give us the rifle." "I never laid eyes on you until now." "What you got in the bags?" " Seems to me like hides." " Yeah." "That's what they are, hides." "Ought to bring in quite a lot of money." "Yeah." "Sure you don't want to come along with me and help me with the burros?" "Burro." "Get away from my burro." "We can sell those burros for just as good a price as you'd get." "Get away from my burro." "You can't frighten even a sick louse with that." "You can only shoot one of us... and he wouldn't mind too much." "The federales are after him anyway." "So what with your gun?" " We'll take that chance." " Get back there." " Shooting." " Volley." "Execution probably." " Dobbs is dead." " What?" " Bandits got him." " Our goods." "What about our goods?" " What?" " He says our goods are safe in his office." " It's not here, Howard." " Keep your shirt on." "What?" "He heard the bandits talking while they were waiting to be shot." "They thought it was bags of sand hidden among the hide... to make it weigh more when Dobbs went to sell them." "Where are they?" "They're in the ruins outside town." "Come on!" "Laugh, Curtin, old boy, it's a great joke played on us... by the lord of fate or nature, whatever you prefer... but whoever or whatever played it certainly had a sense of humor!" "The gold has gone back to where we found it!" "This is worth ten months of suffering and labor, this joke is!" "Well, Howard, what next I wonder?" "I'm all fixed as far as I'm concerned as a medicine man." "I'll have three meals a day, five if I want... roof over my head, and a drink now and then to warm me up." "I will be worshipped, fed, and treated like a high priest... for telling people what they want to hear." "Good medicine men are born not made." "Come and see me sometime, my boy." "Even you'll take off your hat when you see how respected I am." "The day before yesterday, they wanted to make me their legislature." "Their whole legislature!" "I don't know what that means." "I think it's the highest honor they can bestow." "Yeah, I'm all fixed for the rest of my natural life." "How about yourself?" "What do you aim to do?" "I haven't got any idea." "You're young." "You've got plenty of time to make three or four fortunes." "You know, the worst ain't so bad when it finally happens." "Not half as bad as you figure it'll be before it happens." "I'm no worse off than I was in Tampico." "I'm out a couple of hundred dollars when you come down to it." "Not very much compared to what Dobbsie lost." "Any special place you're bent on going?" "No, all places are the same to me." "You can keep my share of what the burros and the hides'll bring... if you use it to buy a ticket to Dallas." "See Cody's widow." "Better than writing." "And besides, it's July and the fruit harvest." "How about it?" "It's a deal." "Well, let's get going." " Goodbye, Curtin." " Goodbye, Howard." " Good luck." " Same to you."