"Whoa!" "Morning, Mr. Tyler, and Mr. Jenkins." "Frank." "Over here, please." "Name, please?" "Marie Ellis." "You may not like it here, miss." "Sweetwater's a family town, if you get what I mean." "You better tell me something about yourself." "Our marshal's mighty particular about what new folks' business is." "Well, gentlemen, I think your marshal will be a good deal more interested in my business." "I waited a long time to meet him again." "I'll be out in the street when he's ready." "You must be out of your head." "Marshal here is Tom Carey." "You always was a mite too sure of yourself, Paladin." "Still a split eyelash faster." "Always was, always will be." "You know, I was beginning to think you... you was dead." "Well, I wondered the same about you." "Army let the scouts go, you just dropped out of sight." "Well, the buffalo all gone, the Plains tribes breaking up, just didn't seem to be no place for me." "Hm." "Well, Tom, the newspapers made a big show out of your return." ""Legend from the past offers to clean up Sweetwater," they said." "They thought I was too old." "Well, I showed 'em." "Tyler!" "Bustle on over here." "That's a fine piece of shooting, Marshal." "So fast, I couldn't see your hand move." "Pass the word..." "Mr. Paladin will be my guest, long as he cares to stay here." "Yes, sir, Mr. Carey." "We'll see that he's treated right." "That's the female who got off the same stage." "Tom, that is Marie Ellis." "I understand she bought the Gold Lily Saloon from a man in Abilene." "Bill Houghton didn't tell you he was gonna sell his place to a woman." "No wonder he didn't come back." "I'll look in on her later." "Got to be careful things don't slide back like they was before I came here." "Come on." "I'll show you a town that's run like a town ought to be run." "The only sickness your boy's got is plain laziness." "I'll expect to see him in school tomorrow." "See how it works?" "A boy dodging school could lead to all sorts of things." "My system is to fix problems 'fore they start." "Tom, you don't think it was the mother's province to say whether or not the boy was sick?" "You don't understand." "I only step in when folks decide wrong." "Now, you take Harry Brawley there." "He's got more grazing land than he can use, but no... never occurs to him to help out his neighbor." "I got plans for that land." "It ain't your job to mess in my private affairs." "It's a marshal's job to stop trouble, ain't it?" "You give Joe Elkins any trouble when he starts fencing tomorrow, and I'll do my job." "Him and his missus are giving me more bother than any ten families." "It's funny... me, who never lived in a town in his life before, and the minute I walked in, I could see what was missing." "Like skinning a buffalo... there's a right way and a wrong way." "Folks just need someone to show 'em the right way." "Yes, sir." "Trouble can start even in little things." "Like overcharging three cents on a pound of flour." "Oh, Mr. Carey's always fair." "Uh..." "Life's a lot simpler since he came." "Well, Tom, it's hardly a new system." "Now, aside from the fact that the law is very clear and specific as to what a lawman can and cannot do..." "Mr. Paladin's a great reader of books." "Give him half a chance and, well, he can go on for hours with all the, uh... fancy ideas he's come across." "Well, Tom..." "I've had a long, hard day." "I'll check into my hotel, and maybe we can talk later." "Excuse me." "You can tell Marshal Carey..." "The bar is open, gentlemen." "The first drink is courtesy of the new management." "I'm sorry, ma'am," "Mr. Carey doesn't allow any drinks to be sold until 7:00." "Then only three to a customer." "I can't make a living that way." "It won't even pay expenses!" "That's why Houghton sold you the place so cheap." "Bartender," "I'd like a brandy, if you have it." "Ooh, Marie..." "Brandy's made to be sipped slowly." "Enjoy it." "Try to cure your troubles with it." "Have you known him for a long time?" "Mm-hmm." "When I was a young cavalry lieutenant, my first command, he was our scout." "I guess he was just about the best friend I ever had." "Is he really faster than you?" "He says so." "Well, men change, Paladin, and when they do, it can be awful dangerous if your feelings about them don't change, too." "Take it from someone who found that out the hard way." "Well, look at all the yellow-bellies, just waiting around for permission to breathe!" "Hah!" "Harry Brawley makes up his own mind, honey." "I've already had one; you could just serve me up another." "Bring the man a bottle." "Maybe what he's got'll be catching." "Now, that is the bottle there, friend;" "I'm the management." "You can set me up, too." "Maybe it's high time some folks around here started to..." "The lady'll obey any proper voted laws, Carey." "Anything else, she figures, is just one man's opinion." "Well... being as I got an old friend in town tonight, Mr. Tyler..." "I reckon it's close enough to 7:00 for folks to have a drink." "Let's have another bottle down here, Nick." "Sort of slithers... like a mountain cat when she moves." "Wild-like." "That's the kind that makes the most trouble." "Tom, I didn't realize you were such an expert in the field." "Well, a man don't have to be a swimmer to recognize a poison water hole." "Now, listen... you didn't see what it was when I came here." "Brawley, who was so worried about a few acres of grazing, he couldn't raise cattle as fast as they was being stole." "The bank was closed." "Murphy, the storekeeper, had both his boys shot down in the street." "And the one thing that changed all that was a set of rules folks could depend on." "Your rules." "Now, look around you, man... no loafing', no thievin'." "Well, ain't that better than folks getting themselves all mixed up with their own ideas?" "I'd like to think you're joking." "The two things that made all the trouble here before was that." "And that." "And another one down here." "Well, how about it!" "When I wrecked Houghton's business here, I..." "I thought I was finally rid of both of them." "Now they're both back." "Tom... you sure that's why you can't keep your eyes off her?" "I'm trying to do my job." "I saw the kind of woman she was the minute I saw her walk down the street." "Tom, this is an area about which you know absolutely nothing." "Now, if you try and master it at your age, you're gonna make a fool of yourself." "Well... let's just see how much I do know about it, hmm?" "I'd like a word with the lady, gentlemen." "Just struck me, ma'am, you didn't say where you came from." "Abilene." "Oh." "Well, lots of us here know Abilene real well." "What part of town?" "Out of town a bit." "Sort of the edge of town?" "All right, Tom, that's enough." "You don't have to answer any more questions." "I'd hate to have words with an old friend." "Keep out of it, please, Mr. Paladin." "I'll have to handle it myself, sooner or later." "Now, I want to make something clear, right here and now." "I scraped and I saved till I had me $1,200." "And there isn't a one here who'll ever know what it cost me to get it." "I spent 12 cents on a bar of lye soap, and I scrubbed till my skin was raw... then $20 for a new dress... and the rest I gave to a man to buy this place here." "A saloon, because I'd had a lot of time to see how they was run, and I figured I could run me one, too... and be a lady at the same time." "All right, that's enough." "You don't have to tell him anything more." "If he doesn't understand now, he never will." "Do you understand?" "I would rather die than go back to where I started." "You see..." "I'm betting my life... that I can run a decent business and still be the kind of woman..." "Listen to Paladin, lady." "You stood up to him better than any man here." "Don't spoil it by begging him." "As usual, Mr. Brawley's out of step with everybody." "Not everybody, Tom." "Now, I don't want you to bother her again." "You're asking me, of course." "I'll start with that." "I'm asking you not to bother this girl again." "And if asking me to turn from what I figure is right... costs us about the last drop of friendship we got?" "That's a stiff price." "But if you force me to it, I'll pay it." "I'm sorry." "I'm gonna bring my missus down tomorrow to meet you, Miss Ellis." "She'll like you a lot, or she ain't the kind of woman I think I married." "From what I've seen in Mrs. Brawley, they have a lot in common." "Real common." "Ain't enough to make him un-pin his badge." "He ought to be hung." "Plenty of us would have tried to stop him, but it all happened so gradual." "You knew, mister." "Every one of you knew." "First thing you gave up was a piece of your backbone." "You didn't feel it, you should've known something was wrong when you tried to walk, and all you could do was crawl." "Now, at the risk of being trampled to death in the brave rush to sign, who do I offer this thing to first?" "Go ahead and sign it, Mort." "I'll sign after you." "Miss Ellis?" "It's Tom Carey." "Ed and I'll get the rest of the signatures tomorrow." "Miss Ellis?" "I..." "I'm sorry, but I've turned in for the night." "I want to talk to you." "I, uh..." "I been thinking that, uh... maybe it could be that..." "I... well, ain't been exactly fair." "Maybe if we could kind of talk about it?" "Well, I-I'd be happy to talk about it tomorrow." "You're mighty pretty, ma'am." "Too pretty to be bad, I mean." "I tried sleeping, but..." "I kept tossing... and tossing and thinking how... how all young animals is pretty wild." "Well, th-that's their way." "And how they sort of... need someone to guide them." "All you need is a little help." "And I think..." "Well... maybe I ain't had the... practice at this fancy talk like some, but... maybe I seem a little old... but please..." "I-I'm just not interested." "Can't you understand that?" "Well, you said yourself that... everything you got is staked on your one chance here." "Now, suppose that... instead of going it alone... there was... you... and me, sort of together." "Understand?" "Well, you said you always wanted to be a lady." "Well, folks in this town will do anything I tell them." "Now... now, suppose I..." "I figure out that there wasn't anything... anything that was t... too good for you, and..." "He won't let you leave." "Not now." "Not alive." "Don't you know that?" "We'll leave in the morning." "And I'll take you over to the county seat till this is over." "We got eight more signatures." "Are you sure that'll be enough?" "Where's Miss Ellis?" "I thought you were bringing her baggage." "The marshal's in there with her." "You wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it." "He's laughing and having himself a drink or two." "Driver." "Be two of us going out;" "you mind waiting?" "Ain't no rush." "Marshal says this stage don't leave till he gives the word." "Um, we'll get you a horse." "You can get away while she's got him busy in there." "Miss Ellis... the stage is waiting." "Well, I changed my mind." "You just run on alone." "Now, you said he could go." "We made an agreement." "Well, will you please leave here?" "We don't want you around." "That's a very nice try, Miss Ellis, but it's a bad gamble." "I don't know what he's talking about." "Then I reckon you won't mind if I kill him." "After all, he has it coming... turning against me like he did, laughing at me when I came calling last night." "I always let you draw first." "Whenever you're ready, Paladin." "Paladin!" "Paladin... one more step and I'll kill you!" "You old fool!" "Can't you see he's trying to save your life?" "Why do you think I was hugging and kissing you?" "Did you really think I wanted to hold a stupid old man like you?" "!" "Tom..." "I never killed a man before." "Mm-mm." "I could always beat him." "I let him think he was faster because it pleased him." "You can go ahead, driver." "Miss Ellis won't be leaving after all, and I'll be staying on to make some arrangements for an old friend of mine." "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?"