"ANNOUNCER:" "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC." "(fanfare plays)" "(mooing)" "♪♪" "Hey!" "Hey, you with the calf!" "Where's the Ponderosa?" "You're on it." "Ja?" "What's your name, bogwright?" "My name is Hoss Cartwright." "My..." "My pa owns this land." "You're Benjamin Cartwright's boy?" "That's right." "Can I help you?" "How could you help me?" "I ain't stuck in the mud." "You're a mountain man, ain't you?" "Why you get that funny hat, sonny?" "I don't think it's funny." "(laughing)" "Mister, you're going to pick that hat up." "Uh, you going to make me pick up that hat?" "You get down off that horse." "Well, big mouth, what you going to do to make me?" "(laughing)" "(grunting)" "(laughing)" "(grunting)" "(laughing)" "Hey." "The cow has to get you out now, my nephew." "Nephew?" "I am your Uncle Gunnar." "Long time since you see me, sonny, ja?" "(panting, laughing)" "Hi, Uncle Gunnar." "(both laughing heartily)" "(theme song playing)" "Hey, Pa!" "Come see who's come to see us." "What'd you say?" "Hello, Benjamin." "How long since the last time I see you?" "20 years?" "Hey, you got a touch of snow around your ears, like me." "Gunnar..." "Gunnar Borgstrom!" "(laughing raucously)" "What a wonderful surprise!" "What are you doing around this part of the world?" "Oh, I go lots of places." "You know that, Benjamin." "Who are you?" "I'm Adam, Uncle Gunnar." "You don't remember me, do you?" "Ah, little Adam." "Not anymore." "We got another brother now, Uncle Gunnar" " Little Joe-- but he's off visiting some friends--a female friend." "Gunnar, where you headed?" "Oh, who knows?" "Dakota, Canada." "A few compadres follow this old Swede to the north to seek their fortune." "Ah, compadres, eh?" "Yeah, men like myself." "Men with no ties, no roots." "We make camp in the mountains." "How come they didn't ride down with you, Uncle Gunnar?" "Because they ain't so sociable as me--that is why." "I ride all these miles just to see my relatives." "Uh, maybe my sister's husband invite me for supper, huh?" "Oh, Gunnar, please forgive me." "In all the excitement..." "Of course, of course." "You'll have supper with us." " Come on in." " Ah, good." "Maybe I'll take a bath, too, huh?" "I think maybe I don't smell too good at supper." "(all laughing)" "I eat different from you, ja?" "You..." "You eat a lot, that's for sure." "I think a pig have better table manners than me." "But I spent my life in brazos de Dios, in the arms of God, under the stars, like an animal." "You sure been lots of places, ain't you?" "Since I last seen your father, I been in 26 countries across five oceans." "26 countries and five oceans." "You hear that, Adam?" "I sure did." "That was an Indian lance you were carrying, wasn't it?" "That pig sticker?" "Ja." "I got that from a Comanche chief." "He didn't have no more use for it." "Maybe because he was dead, ja?" "(Gunnar chuckles)" "You, uh... you fight the Comanches, Uncle Gunnar?" "I fight anybody." "You ought to know that by now, my nephew." "BEN:" "Uh, Gunnar, you, uh..." "you say you, uh... you fought the Comanches." "Do you ever trade with them?" "Well, when we don't fight, my compadres and I, we trade." "Why you ask?" "Oh, I was..." "I was just wondering if you ever ran across a bunch of, uh, renegade buffalo hunters-- Comancheros." "Ja, ja, I..." "I have heard of them." "Pretty wild bunch, I hear." "They raid the white settlements, and then they trade off the goods to the Comanches." "Is that so?" "Maybe..." "Maybe that's why they call them Comancheros." "I, uh..." "I never seen none of them." "(knocking at door)" " Buenas tardes." " Hello." "Ah, there is my compadre." "Buenas tardes, señores." "I thought maybe I'd find you under this roof, Oso." "What you doing here, Vaca?" "It gets very cold on the mountain sleeping, and my s-serape is very thin." "I thought maybe, uh..." "Oh, we have some extra blankets you could use." "He don't need none." "It's all right." "I'll get them." "Oh, you must be a very rich man to own such a magnifico hacienda." "You get back to camp, Vaca, pronto." "VACA:" "And you, Oso-- when are you coming back to camp, huh?" "I go when I am ready, Vaca." "Maybe you like it so much here with your relatives, you're going to stay, huh?" "Oh, gracias." "I gonna sleep good tonight." "I very much enjoy meeting you rancheros." "Maybe, eh, primero, Vaca will meet you again sometime, huh?" " VACA:" "Adios." " Adios." "I'm..." "I'm sorry that one come here." "Oh, that's all right." "I gotta keep a strong hand on that one." "Well, the food was good, Benjamin." "I go now." " So soon?" " HOSS:" "Hey, wait a minute." "Hey, Pa, how come he can't stay in that extra bedroom?" "There ain't no use in him going back out on that mountain." "Well, of course, he can." "He'll sleep the night here." "Oh, no, no." " I don't, I don't think so, no." " Oh... of course you will." " Oh, come on." " Why, it's cold up there." "We'd, uh... we'd be glad to have you." "Well, uh, where would I sleep?" "Right there, in that extra bedroom." "You make yourself at home." "There we are." "Well, uh... all right." "Ah, good." "I, uh..." "I don't sleep in a fine house for a long time." "If I snore, you pound on the door, ja?" " (laughing):" "Yeah." " We'll pound hard." "Good night." "Well, that's quite an uncle we've got, Hoss." "He sure is." "Sure hate to have him get riled up at me." "You know, he reminds me of an old Viking." "Yeah." "I'll bet you Uncle Gunnar would like being called a Viking." "The Vikings were ruthless raiders and killers." "Not much better than the Comancheros." "Come on, we got a lot of work to do tomorrow." "Let's get to bed." "(door opens and closes)" "Ja?" "Well, Benjamin." "The last time I see you was at the funeral." "Yes." "Yes, that's right." "She was a good woman, my sister." "Yes." "She was... a good woman." "A wonderful wife." "We have much fun, Inger and me, when... when we were young." "And all I had in my mind was dreams of glory and gold." "It is good to dream when you are young, Benjamin." "Oh, you can dream when you're older, too." "Yeah, but now, when the fur is flying and the iron is hot, there is no time to dream." "No, the fur was always flying with you, Gunnar." "I remember you as a boy." "(chuckles) Always had to have a... a new pot of devil's brew every day." "Not just as a boy; all the time." "All the time, I need a good, strong life." "A man's life." "Reap the rewards and pay the piper when he calls." "That's Gunnar Borgstrom." "(Ben sighs)" "You ever... you ever lonely?" "Lonely?" "Lonely for what?" "Oh... companionship." "A woman." "I never... never lacked for the company of women." "(chuckles)" "But you, uh..." "you never got married." "Marry?" "Gunnar?" "I was not cut out for fathering and farming, Benjamin." "I had to move-- move with the turn and tide of things-- not sit on my backside like a Yucatán turtle." "Well, I-I never exactly considered myself a Yucatán turtle." "Oh, you ain't, Benjamin, you ain't." "You got a... a good ranch here;" "fine boys." "It's..." "It's just the Almighty didn't cut us all in the shape of plowmen." "You..." "You can't plant a roving man's feet in the earth." "Mm... maybe that's because a... a roving man doesn't want to stand still long enough to take a look at himself." "I ain't a young man now, Benjamin." "And I got no regrets for the sins I commit in this world." "I see what I want and I take it." "And I'm not going out on my back begging forgiveness from nobody." "Gunnar... now why did you come here?" "I come to see my sister's boy; my blood." "Maybe..." "Maybe I don't get no other chance." "I am tired now, Benjamin." "I..." "I go to sleep now." "Yeah." "Good night, Gunnar." "Benjamin." "Do you ever dream, Benjamin?" "Well... yeah, sometime." "I always have the same dream." "It's night." "Black and velvet, it is." "And there's a warm August wind blowing." "And it's on a great ship, I am." "And I'm flying with that wind over a smooth sea, chasing a wisp of a small boat." "It always seems to... to hold its lead far ahead of me." "And so dark it is." "So dark, I..." "I can't make it out." "But somehow I know, I know..." "I know I got to catch it." "(wolf howling in distance)" "Vaca, my friend, did you find El Oso?" "Si, I found him... visiting with his relatives." "Stuffing his face with good food while we sit up here and eat dry bread." "When do we move?" "Gunnar say we would find fat picking here." "Promises, promises." "That's all he does anymore, promises." "It has been a month since we have made a good raid." "I trust Gunnar." "He's been a good leader to us." "Ah!" "He's an old woman, warming himself by the fire." "Is that the kind of leader you want?" "I do not care who leads us just so we raid and get rich." "We will raid, Duzzaq." "I promise you." "And we will get rich, too." "And the first fat goose we will pluck will be the Ponderosa." "(rooster crowing)" "Morning, Uncle Gunnar." "You sleep good last night?" "I sleep good, I sleep good." "That mattress is chucked plumb full of real goose feathers, you know." "Goose feathers!" "I got off them goose feathers." "I sleep on the floor." "I ain't so used to goose feathers as you." "I reckon we are getting a little soft around here at that." "Hey, how about me showing you around the Ponderosa before you leave?" "We ain't had much of a chance to get to know each other." "It ain't every day that a man just finds an uncle." "Sure, sonny, I guess I got the time." "Maybe I don't come back again so soon, ja?" "Yes, sir, I..." "I sure would like for you to meet Little Joe before you leave, too." "He..." "He's over at the McClanes, helping them build a fence." "He ought to be back any time." "Aren't you even gonna stop work long enough to have a drink of water?" "Carrie, just looking at you is more refreshing than anything you've got in that bucket, but, uh, I can use some of that, too." "Your flattery, Little Joe, is exceeded only by your ability to build a fence." "Since you walked all the way out here, why don't you stay awhile, let me show you what I've done?" "Oh, I know what you've done." "Uncle Abe has been singing your praises all morning." "He thinks you're just about the finest thing there ever was." "And, uh, how about you, what do you think?" "Well, I told you I was glad you came over to help out, didn't I?" "Mm-hmm." "Is that the only reason you're glad?" "You know it isn't." "It's just that I want you to know" "I think it's wonderful the way you and your pa and Adam and Hoss have helped uncle Abe and me since we've been here." "Oh, it's pretty easy to help a man like your uncle, especially when he's got a beautiful niece to say thanks for him." "I think you're a flatterer, Little Joe, just like your pa." "Thank you, ma'am." "We try to please." "Can't you ever be serious?" "You know how proud we are of your uncle." "He's done a lot more with this place than we ever thought possible." "Because you Cartwrights have helped him, Little Joe." "He was so discouraged when he came here:" "the drought and the wind and crop failures." "We had such big dreams." "Well, I think his biggest dream was raising you after your folks died." "He's done a real fine job." "Hasn't been easy for him." "Sometimes I feel I've been a burden." "Hey, you better not let him hear you say that." "He's proud as a peacock of you..." "I'd say with good cause." "I feel guilty about you working around here so much." "Mm-hmm." "I wouldn't mind becoming the permanent fence-fixer around here." "There it is, Uncle Gunnar." "Ain't that the prettiest little pond you ever saw?" "Yeah, this a good place." "A quiet place." "Pretty as a pond I never see." "Uncle Gunnar... there's something I been wanting to ask you." "You know, I was just a little feller when my mother died." "I don't remember much about her." "Pa's tried to tell me everything he could, but... well, I..." "I thought maybe, you being her brother, you could... you could add something to it." "Well, we didn't get along so good." "I..." "I was a wild one and, uh, she didn't like that so much." "But she had a soft heart, that girl." "Pa says she sure was pretty." "Great big blue eyes and blonde hair." "Ah, blonde as the snows of Dalerner." "But it ain't good to talk about the dead, sonny." "You-You can't bring nobody back once they're gone." "No, I reckon you can't." "I guess that's why I want to know as much about you as I can before you have to leave." "You want to know about me?" "You wouldn't like what I had to tell." "Maybe I wouldn't." "Then, again, maybe I would." "I think you wouldn't." "Uncle, Gunnar, what you gonna do in Canada?" "Canada?" "Yeah." "That's where you're going, ain't it?" "Oh, ja, ja, ja." "Ja, I think I go there." "Why don't you stay here with us?" "Because I ain't no Yucatán turtle, that's why." "You ain't no what?" "I got to move with the tide and turn of things, so I..." "I don't have to take a good look at myself." "Ja, this is... this is a good place, sonny." "It's quiet here." "Well... you fellows have a good ride?" "Sure did, Pa." "I took him out by the lake." "Yeah?" "That's a pretty good mud puddle you got up there, Benjamin." " (Ben laughs)" " Hey, what you doing there?" "Oh, making a new batch of soap." "We make our own out of hog lard and lye water." "It's a little bit strong, but it sure will get you clean." "Well, what did you think of the Ponderosa?" "Well, I think if you work hard, you can have what you want, too." "Yeah..." "Gunnar, do you have what you want?" "Ja, I got what I want." "Pa, Hoss and I gotta get at that hay, and I think I'll ride over to McClanes' and remind little Joe that he has work around here, too." "Oh, he'll be back pretty soon." "Well, I got to go now, boys." "You got a fine ranch here, Benjamin, and fine boys." "Well, Gunnar, it was wonderful seeing you again." "Wonderful." "Goddag, Benjamin." "Good-bye, Uncle Gunnar." "Goddag, Adam." "Bye, Uncle Gunnar." "I wish you could have met Little Joe." "Well, them compadres, they vamoose without me, if I don't show up." "And I got to hear other saddles creaking besides my own." "Good-bye." "I don't remember giving no orders to move out." "You didn't give it." "I did." "You think you're man enough to be the padrone of these Comancheros, Vaca?" "Sure, I ain't got no relatives." "What does that mean?" "When a man got ties, he gets soft in the belly." "I ain't got no ties." "No?" "These hombres, they eat your dust all the way from Taos because they believe what you tell them." "They begin to wonder now if what you tell them is the truth." "When I get ready to strike, I will tell you." "The Comancheros, they are beginning to think maybe you're getting a yellow streak." "The bear makes a big growl, huh?" "But how sharp are your claws?" "Is El Oso a man of strength and power?" "Or is he a tired old viejo who should lie down and die?" "I ain't dead yet, Vaca." "Prove it." "The big plunder is down there-- the Ponderosa." "The Ponderosa would not be easy to loot." "There are too many men there." "It would be dangerous." "I spit on them!" "What is danger to the Comancheros?" "I, Efemerno Vaca, I tell you, we are going to raid the Ponderosa!" "(men cheer)" "I give the orders here!" "Why did you bring us to this valley, huh?" "Why?" "So we could sit still in the middle of all this wealth while you go visiting your parientes?" "There are other ranches in this valley." "We seen one in the foothills we could take with our hands tied." "So you are tired of waiting, ja?" "Your blood is hot and you wait for the word of your padrone." "Well, I give you that word." "We raid that ranch in the foothills." "(men cheering)" "Get the horses ready to move out!" "I hope you're real hungry, Little Joe, because I baked an apple pie." "An apple pie, huh?" "Don't you like it?" "Like it?" "It's my favorite dish." "Vamanos, amigos!" "(whooping, gunfire)" "Wait." "(gunfire)" "Oh!" "Carrie, wait!" "Stop!" "(laughing)" "Is this your sweetheart, my little mosquito, huh?" "If he ain't, maybe I can be your sweetheart, huh?" "No!" "No!" "What's your name, muchacho?" "What's it to you?" "I want to put on your tombstone." "I don't want you to lie in a grave which is unmarked." "Yeah, well, the name's Cartwright--Joe Cartwright." "Be sure to put it in big letters, so everybody can read it." "You say you got no ties, huh?" "So maybe we take one of your relatives for hostage, huh?" "I mean, you say you don't care about them, right?" "He ain't no relative of mine." "He say his name Joe Cartwright." "Get up, sonny." "I don't know no Joe Cartwright." "Tie them up." "We take them back to camp." "Andale, pronto!" "(indistinct chatter)" "There's nothing to be scared of." "They're going to let us go pretty soon." "No, they won't." "They'll kill us." "Like they killed Uncle Abe and Mr. Crager." "Carrie, don't start thinking that way." "If they were going to kill us, they would have done it back there." "Come on." "(speaking Spanish)" "I'm so tired, Joe." "I wish I could sleep." "You like some cafecito?" "I'm sorry if you're not very comfortable." "Save your breath." "You're gonna need it when half this country comes looking for us." "Why are they looking for you?" "You something special?" "Your papa's a very rich man, huh?" "Importante." "Yeah, importante." "Yeah, enough to have the sheriff and 200 mountain men down on your back." "(chuckles)" "I do not think your papa do that, muchacho." "Your papa got too many relatives to worry about." "What relatives?" "Him." "He's your papa's brother-in-law." "You're a liar." "No, I tell you the truth, muchacho." "That old bear-- he's your uncle." "He's visiting with your papa while you were visiting with your sweetheart." "(chuckles)" "You sure you don't want some cafecito?" "Get the men to lighten the wagons." "We move out tomorrow." "I don't want any junk slowing us down." "Oso... why don't you tell them who you are, huh?" "He said you were my uncle." "Maybe I am." "What difference would it make?" "Ask him." "Ask him if he ain't Gunnar Borgstrom." "Gunnar Borgstrom..." "Hoss's uncle?" "(laughing)" "Wait!" "No, you ain't no uncle of mine." "You couldn't be." "You're a filthy murdering' skunk." "You got a big mouth, like your brother Hoss." "I just can't believe it." "He's been talking about you ever since we were kids." "I don't need any of his talk." "Now, that's right, you don't!" "The only thing you need is a box big enough to bury you in!" "I have been with El Oso a long time." "I see something in his eyes that ain't been there before." "Like what?" "Like pain... where there is no wound, no blood." "Maybe he's sick." "Si." "With a sickness which drains a man of his fire." "He's dying, my compadres." "He's dying of conscience and remorse." "Soon he will crawl into his hole and shut off the world behind him." "Then why we not just wait and see?" "Because it is dangerous to those around him and because I want to see him squirm before he dies-- squirm in his belly, in his heart." "Duzzaq... find me a culebra." "A snake?" "With an angry face and death in his mouth." "El Oso does not like snake, you know that." "I know that very well." "We're going to have some fun." "Maybe we watch the big bear dance tonight." "(struggling to call out) ...Ben!" "It's Abe McClane, Pa." "Is he alive?" "Just barely." "Come on, let's get him inside." "(laughing, talking indistinctly)" "(laughing)" "(laughing)" "Stop it!" "(screaming)" "(Carrie screams, struggles)" "Fellow Comancheros," "I bring you His Majesty, the king of the chamiso bush-- monsieur rattlesnake." "(drunken chortling)" "Duzzaq..." "I bet you five dollars he goes north when he comes out of that bag." "And I bet you..." "I bet you five dollars he goes south." "(all guffawing)" "Hey, Duzzaq, where did you get that chicken snake?" "Hey, don't let him out of that bag, or we'll all be dead chickens." "He's no chicken snake!" "He's 100% rattler and he can spit and strike like the devil." "Duzzaq." "There he goes." "(rattling)" "(rattling stops)" "So this Cartwright don't mean anything to you, huh?" "Look at him, my compadres." "Sweating like a stuck pig." "I ain't taking no more orders from this old woman." "His orders are to protect his parientes, not us." "From now on, I give the orders here." "Look like I shoot the wrong snake." "This snake can strike like the devil, too." "Drop that gun, hombre." "(torch whipping, hissing)" "(blows thudding)" "Now, if there are any more snakes among the Comancheros," "Gunnar wants to know about them." "No?" "All right, then." "Go to sleep." "We move out at dawn." "(wolf howling in distance)" "♪♪" "Pa, you should've seen that place." "Old man Crager was dead, everything was ransacked, looted, busted up..." "Was there any sign of Joe and Carrie?" "Only signs of where he was working, Pa." "Pa, if it was Indians, they sure didn't leave no sign." "It couldn't have been Indians." "They needed wagons to haul away as much stuff as they did." "What difference does it make who it was?" "!" "They've got Joe and Carrie, haven't they?" "(calls out weakly)" "It's all right." "Abe, it's-it's Ben Cartwright." "Take it easy now." "Everything's all right." "Ben?" "Abe, who was it?" "The leader was... on a... big black horse." "Old man... w-with a beard... b-b-big M-Mexican h-h-hat." "Abe..." "Abe!" "Was he carrying an Indian lance?" "(groans weakly)" "Pa, it... it just can't be." "Now, Hoss, it's like Gunnar said-- he was born like an animal under the stars." "Pa, it just don't make sense." "The other day, up at the lake..." "Now, don't try to understand it." "You just can't look that deep into a man's soul to see what he's really like." "Let's go get Little Joe." "Adam, get one of the men to look after Mr. McClane." "Looks like we lost the trail." "This rock's so hard, nothing'll make a track on it." "Pa, I think we ought to split up." "(wolf howls, Ben grunts)" "I don't know if that's such a good idea." "Must be a lot of them." "It's the only way we'll find them, Pa." "Besides that, it'd be a lot quieter." "All right." "On one condition." "That none of us tries to get Joe out of there by himself." "And they must've camped somewhere around here for the night." "All right, whoever finds that camp, we don't do anything about it." "We, We meet on top of that ridge about an hour from now, and then we decide what to do." "Agreed?" "(wolf howling in distance)" "♪♪" "♪♪" "(grunts)" "I hurt my ankle." "Keep running." "I can't leave you, Little Joe." "I said keep running!" "Now, muchacho." "(screams)" "(Carrie screams)" "(horse neighs)" "(sobbing softly)" " (screaming)" " Carrie!" "Carrie!" "Carrie, it's me, Hoss!" "(screaming):" "No!" "Let me go!" " Carrie!" " (slap)" "Everything's gonna be all right." "Now, where's Joe?" "(sobbing):" "Oh!" "Carrie, where is he?" "H-He's... dead, Hoss." "(sobs) He's dead!" "(sobbing)" "What are you talking about?" "I saw it." "He shot him." "Carrie, are you sure?" "Where'd it happen?" "He's back there in some rocks." "(crying)" "Come on." "No, Hoss!" " Carrie, now, you listen to me." " No!" "I ain't gonna leave you here, and I ain't turning back." "Now, you come on, you hear?" "!" " Come on now!" " All right." "I used to lay in bed at night, when I was a little boy, wondering where my Uncle Gunnar was, wondering what he was doing." "I told you you would not like what I had to tell." "You killed Little Joe." "And uncle or no uncle, I'm gonna kill you." "Oh, no, Hoss, no!" "You stay out of this!" "(both grunting)" "(straining)" "(Hoss and Gunnar grunting, struggling)" "(groaning)" "(gun cocks)" "Hoss!" "Look, Hoss!" "Oh, Joe!" "(gasping)" "Are you hurt bad, Joe?" "Hey, punky..." "I thought they done killed you, boy." "No, not this time." "(panting)" "It was your uncle, Hoss." "Yeah, I know." "He saved our lives." "And then he helped us get away." "I tried to tell you, Hoss." "VACA:" "Amigos!" "I'm going to kill you, amigos." "Don't move." "I know the old man pretty well." "When I kill you, he will die, too." "(Vaca chuckles)" "Vaca!" "Don't move, old man!" "Don't move!" "You move, I-I will kill them." "Take your choice, Vaca." "Them or me." "(groans)" "(groans, moans)" "I just didn't understand, Uncle Gunnar." "Don't you go getting stuck in the mud, sonny." "Sometimes it's... it's not so easy to get out." "Don't talk." "I'm not asking forgiveness from... from nobody, you hear?" "I hear." "What I done, I done because I wan... wanted." "It's the strength in man." "Yes, sir." "(grunts weakly)" "Forgive me, sonny." "For..." "Sheriff tells me the Comancheros have pulled out." "Posse's after them." "Uncle Gunnar liked this place." "Said it was peaceful, quiet." "Said it was a "gud" place." "Eh, I guess that's what he was always looking for-- peace and quiet." "That little boat that was always just out of his reach." "What little boat?" "Oh... boat he was always dreaming about." "Pa... you said that it wasn't possible for a man to see inside another man deep enough to know what he was really like." "I think I did, just before he died." "Come on, he-he wouldn't want us to mourn over him." "No." "No, I reckon he wouldn't, at that." "He just wasn't that sort of man, was he?" "ANNOUNCER:" "This has been a color presentation of the NBC Television Network."