"Come in." "Hey boy." "Mr. Paladin." "Nobody know what it means." "Not even mailman." "turn it over." "Banjo?" "A banjo." "Of course." "Pack the bags, hey boy." "let him have it." "That's all." "Yee-hoo!" "Come on." "give me the gun." "I'm sorry." "Don't be sorry." "Give me the gun or turn around and ride on out." "I can't do that, sheriff." "I just arrived here on business." "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." "We got an election going on here" "I'm trying to keep from turning into a war." "That is no way to bring about disarmament." "You don't have to be like that." "You'll be safe." "I'll give it back to you right after the votes are counted." "Take it." "I'll want it back in good condition." "Yeah." "Right after the show." "crazy grasshoppers is just flyin' high!" "Flyin' high, doin' nothing!" "But you know that you can't catch a grasshopper," "But you just step on an ant." "There's the moral to that story." "yee-hoo!" "Yee-hoo!" "Ya-ya-hoo!" "Yee-hoo!" "I wanna tell you about the mexican war." "The mexican war." "yee-hoo!" "I have fought and I have bled and I have... that a boy, billy!" "You about to say you'd died for your country?" "Paladin!" "It's him, honey." "Meet the wife." "Hi, honey." "How do you do?" "End of speech." "That's all there is." "No!" "No, no, no!" "Come on!" "More!" "You know what this is?" "Him and me." "It's a class reunion." "Top and bottom." "Buster, take over." "Shake up the piano." "Come on." "Come on." "Billy, I gather you're running for senator," "But do you expect to win with speeches like that?" "He charms the cowhands right out of their boots." "He'll have to to win any election." "Ha!" "Some friend you are." "Rolls." "Paladin, I got tired of being a slob, you know." "It got hard to stay lazy and out of work." "It's a lost art." "You could throw a rock anywhere in the country and hit somebody" "That'd make a good mother or a fine president." "Jam." "Anyways, it's not me that's ambitious." "It's elise." "Well, I'm certainly relieved to hear that." "By the way, is there another candidate?" "Martin jansen." "We'll bury him and his miners." "Honey, listen, you can't push..." "You say jansen and his miners?" "They don't do anything they're told anymore." "That jansen." "That ex-australian." "He's got 'em thinkin' they run the mine." "Elise owns the mine." "My daddy came within an ace of gettin' killed" "Finding and starting that mine." "You know what he'd have done." "He'd have called for the ranch hands." "Elise owns most of the ranch lands hereabouts." "And shortly, she'll own the state senator." "It's better than a tavern keeper." "Elise owns the tavern." "Well, billy," "What do you want with me?" "Elise." "Hmm?" "What?" "My business with paladin is private." "Honey, I'm serious." "That's all right, honey." "Why, billy, you two wanna talk man's business." "Well, that's all right." "You go right ahead." "You don't have to consult me." "Hey, would you like me to bring you in some brandy and cigars?" "Before you say anything, I love elise." "She's got her faults, but I love her." "I know that." "I don't know why you need me." "To protect jansen from elise." "She's gonna get him killed." "What's the matter with that sheriff?" "Cooley?" "He'll fold at the first sign of trouble." "Her ranch hands drove jansen's people off the street tonight." "She won't listen to me, and somebody's gonna get killed." "And then it wouldn't be fun anymore." "Hmm?" "Well, I didn't ask for a sermon." "Will you help jansen?" "Well, I should consult jansen first." "If he refuses my services, I'll return this." "One thing." "Don't tell elise." "Hey, sheriff, hand me my hat." "Cooley, can you tell me where I can find jansen?" "What do you want with him?" "That would be private." "He's flat on his back where this fella left him." "Well, mrs." "Jones said not to..." "Shut up, prisoner." "A bunch of hands broke up a jansen meeting tonight." "Stomped jansen and a couple miners." "How long you gonna hold me?" "Till I get tired of you." "I gotta chain him up here." "To keep the ballot box safe, I have to lock it in the cell." "Find jansen yourself." "He's a severe man, old cooley." "Hand me my hat, would ya?" "What have you got against miners?" "Oh, nothing, except they stink." "They're dirty and untrustworthy." "Hand me my hat here." "My name is paladin." "I was told I could find jansen here." "What do you want me for?" "If your name's jansen, I've been hired to protect you." "Looks like I might be a little bit late." "Hired?" "News travels fast here, mister." "I know that you've come from that banjo-playing clown." "Now I wanna show you something." "this happened tonight?" "that's right." "I thought I'd speak up" "For these poor bloody people stopped up in their mines" "Like your friends was drowning gophers." "How do you think fred feels about my speech?" "Worth it to him, do you think?" "Billy made a deal." "He hired me to protect you." "I can make him stick to it." "The fee is that high?" "You've seen your friend's idea of democracy in action." "Get out of here." "Mr. Jansen." "My sole professional secret is to make profit agree with principle." "I'd like to help you." "Yes." "Billy banjo would like to make a fool of me." "Hiring a gunslinger to protect me from his wife." "Billy'd like to win fairly." "He thinks he can do it?" "His wife is smarter." "She knows what she has to do to win." "That's right." "He's dead." "Just like she held a gun to his head." "Mrs. Billy banjo." "Are you fair dinkum?" "Fair dinkum." "All right." "Then do it." "Give me a fair chance, and I'll lick your friend" "And his fat wife and their cowhands." "¶" "Where do you think you're going with him?" "One of those miners that was stomped died a few minutes ago." "He did, huh?" "You're sure pickin' strange company." "I told you cooley wouldn't do anything." "Now, that man was murdered." "That changes the charge and the penalty a little, doesn't it?" "Is this your business?" "These are my people and I've never seen 'em like they are." "A murder trial now'd bust this town wide open." "I aim to wait till the election's over and tempers cool." "Your people are less than half of this town." "The other half you seem to forget about." "They're not cooling off." "They're about to boil over." "I'm trying to keep 'em alive." "When I get that solved, I'll worry about their rights." "An election isn't worth holding unless it's a sure thing." "Jansen, will you wait here?" "So old general scott come to me and said," ""billy, we need your help."" "So naturally, I..." "What I've got to say to you, I'd like to say in private." "Restrain your enthusiasm." "I'll be back." "Aw!" "No." "Come on." "We want more." "You've killed a man." "You still wanna be a senator?" "What are you talking about?" "I didn't touch anybody." "One of the men injured tonight died a few minutes ago." "The big campaign and all the fun and the cheering just stopped." "Well, what do you want?" "I asked you to protect jansen." "The only way to protect jansen is to quit the race." "Get a shovel and join the burying party for that man." "Elise won't like that." "I feel sorry for the man, but I'm not gonna quit." "Billy, you'd be a major disaster as a senator." "Well, my friends have got a right to find out." "You do your job and nobody'll get hurt." "I do my job and you'll get a fair election" "Whether you win or lose." "So he hired this paladin to protect jansen, and..." "That miner you stomped died." "Old tom moore, a relic of bygone days..." "Lover." "Why did paladin come here?" "Hmm?" "Nothing." "We're just old friends." "What did you want the thousand for?" "I didn't give him any money." "Yes, you did." "You hired him." "For what?" "You don't like the way I do things?" "Oh, you bonehead!" "There are three miners for every cowhand in this county." "In a fair election, they'd bury you." "And they'd hang you!" "Look, elise, you can't push people around the way you do." "No?" "Mrs. Jones..." "Oh, mrs." "Jones," "There's no chance of jansen winning, is there?" "'cause he'd close down this town." "Me and my herd wouldn't be around anymore." "Grey heart here is gonna fix everything." "But just in case..." "Cooley." "Yes, ma'am?" "You give them back their guns." "Now, mrs." "Jones..." "Come on, cooley." "Who's gonna win?" "I can't think of any other way to keep those miners" "From coming in here and wrecking this town." "All right." "Let's go." "That's more like it." "Let's go." "Cooley'd be the first rat off a sinking' ship." "But we're all right." "Get in line!" "You'll get your guns." "Hold it!" "Like the man said, get in line." "You'll get your gun back." "about here?" "I was in there just once, mister." "You hit the sheriff's office about 15 feet from that corner." "The cell should be here." "The bed lets down from this wall." "Now." "While they're making all that noise." "Not all the way through." "Stay with us, jansen." "Right." "The sheriff's sitting in his office." "We ready?" "It's almost through in two places." "I can tell by the sound." "Did I make a hole?" "Just a minute." "It'll be nice if they don't notice the draft." "Mrs. White, we're ready for the men to vote." "Yes, they're ready." "Jansen." "We get 'em all?" "Enough." "Enough to win." "All right." "The polls are open." "Hold it." "Haven't you forgotten something?" "An election isn't legal unless there are witnesses." "I wanna be dead sure this one's legal." "What do you want?" "To help keep the peace." "Let him." "Can't hurt." "All right." "Go ahead." "Now you're really pushing your luck." "You didn't have to do that." "Only one." "Wait a minute." "He's disqualified, sheriff." "There's no need to cross him off." "I took out the extra ballots." "He killed one vote for jansen." "Cross him off and make it even." "That's fair." "You asked for that." "Wrong time, wrong place." "Later." "Boots, guns." "You name it, and I'll make you eat it." "All right." "Come along." "Well..." "Looks like your friends didn't make it." "I'm ready if you are." "Bill banjo." "His legal name is jones, but I'll let that go." "One for jansen." "Jansen?" "Somebody doesn't know where his bread's buttered." "Jansen." "Jansen." "Billy." "Jansen." "Banjo." "Jansen." "Jansen." "Jansen!" "Where did you get that?" "Same place I got the ballot box." "Now, sheriff, would you like to count," "Or will you take my word that 346 miners voted?" "All except fred wade, and he died." "The diggers are paradin' in the street!" "We're having our victory parade and burying our dead." "You gonna let them defy you, elise?" "This kind of story gets told over and over." "They'll never let you forget how you let your town get away." "Go on, cooley." "They're daring you." "That's right, cooley." "This is your last chance to decide which side you're on." "They won't let you live." "They'll make you eat that badge." "Go ahead, cooley." "Let 'em break up a peaceful funeral," "Burn the ballots and leave a murderer unhung." "How long do you think you'd get away with it?" "Wait." "You can't run out on me like this." "You dirt-grubbers stay put." "Make up your mind, cooley." "If I don't get you, cooley, I'll get bill" "Or the gunfighter or the fat lady." "Come and get me." "You!" "Cooley!" "Come on." "Stop them." "Stop them!" "Why don't you shut up?" "We don't have to listen to you anymore." "You're nothing but a big, fat la" "Now, you keep a civil tongue in your head." "You done it yourself." "You paid him to wreck her." "It's all done now." "Go on." "Get out of here." "Must be plenty of saloons need a loud man on a banjo." "Billy." "¶ "have gun, will travel" reads the card of a man ¶" "¶ a knight without armor in a savage land ¶" "¶ his fast gun-for-hire heeds the calling wind ¶" "¶ paladin, paladin where do you roam ¶"