Quiet, folks.
I hereby christen you Windy Miller. Look out for your eyes.
- Al, where is Windy? - I haven't seen him since last night.
Anybody here seen him?
- No! - Look out!
Put it up over the lights.
- Little previous, ain't you, Jim? - It won't be long, brother.
You did?
- You got anything to say, Bud? - Sure, I'm guilty, Judge.
I've been away so long from towns and people, I just didn't know what I was doing.
I was with Sherman down in Georgia.
- How long's this fella been in jail? - Since this morning, Your Honour.
- What time this morning? - 3:00, I reckon.
3:00?
2:30.
I sentence you to 11 and a half hours in jail.
Sentence to set back to 3:00 this morning.
- Now hightail it out of here. - Thank you, Judge.
What's next?
Dan Thomas...
and Tod Ramsey.
You boys get up there.
You're charged with trespassing on private property...
of farmer O. V. Martin.
And of stealing a hog, which was recovered at the point of a musket.
Don't you Johnny Rebs know it's against the law to go stealing of?
It wasn't against the law for Sherman down in Georgia.
- What he means-- - I know what he means.
- How do you plead? Guilty or not guilty? - Not guilty.
- What's that? - Not guilty.
Why, Constable, you said the farmer caught them red-handed.
He sure did, Your Honour.
We took the pig, Judge...
but we're not thieves. We were hungry.
We hadn't eaten for several days...
and we got kind of tired of people closing doors on our faces...
just because we have the wrong kind of uniform on.
Have you got anything to say before sentence is pronounced?
We only came up to work on the railroad, and we found that finished.
We're on our way to Texas.
Texas? It's a mighty good place for the likes of you two.
You, Lee, and Beauregard, and the rest of that rebel riffraff...
can get together down there...
and maybe you can start another secession movement.
You dirty Yankee!
Danny, wait a minute.
You can't do that in this court. What's the matter with you?
Order.
Order in the court.
You young whippersnappers.
I find you both guilty. I'm gonna fine you $50 apiece.
And as for you, I'm gonna make an example out of you.
I'm gonna hold you for contempt of court...
and fine you another $50.
We haven't got $50, let alone him having $100.
Take them away. Next case.
Bats Delaney.
Take your hands off them.
Here's the fine for both of them.
That's a little bit irregular, Mr. Miller.
Everything's irregular in this two-by-four court.
Including your remark about Lee and Beauregard.
There's $20 for the fine of Bats Delaney. Come on, Bats.
- He ain't entered his plea. - He pleads guilty.
That's $20, and the fine's only $10.
Take the change and get some of the stink out of this place.
Come on.
Court's dismissed.
Come on.
- Mr. Miller? - What do you want?
- We'd just like to thank you. - Yeah, thanks a lot.
Don't give it a thought.
What outfit you boys with in the war?
Jeb Stuart's cavalry, army of Northern Virginia.
I might've known it.
Nobody but a Virginian or a Texican would jump a judge in his own court.
We'd like to work that money off, if you'd let us.
Ain't often a stranger will do you a favour like that.
I ain't no stranger where a Johnny Reb is concerned.
I'm a Texican myself.
You boys still hungry?
I got the same appetite I brought to town with me three days ago.
Bats, take them down to Camp 18 and feed them.
And keep your nose out of that jug.
You boys look me up at the fight tonight.
Come on, I gotta get rid of them high-collar dudes from Chicago.
Who is that one-man cyclone?
You mean you ain't never heard of Windy Miller?
No, we never did. But from now on, we're for him.
Where's that food he was talking about?
Come on.
Oh, don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike
Who crossed o'er the mountain with her lover Ike
With two yoke of oxen, a big yeller dog
A tall Shanghai rooster, and one spotted hog
Oh, sing, goodbye Pike County Farewell for a while
We'll come back again when we've panned out our pile
They soon reached the desert, where Betsy give out
While down in the sand she lay rolling about
Come on, let's have the fighters in here!
Quiet!
Ladies and gentlemen...
we beg your indulgence for a few more minutes.
We can't start this fight till Windy Miller gets here.
He's being detained at the hotel on business.
What business?
The railroad's finished, ain't it? Start that fight.
Get Windy here in a hurry.
- Get your fighters in the ring. - All right.
Quiet, now.
The fighters will be right in the ring.
Get them out of here.
This is all right. I think I'm gonna like this town.
Yeah. Plenty going on here, huh?
Introducing the pride of Camp 19.
The best track layer west of the Mississippi:
Dutch Henry!
Hurray!
Boo!
Quiet.
Introducing the pride of Camp 18:
Matt Sawyer!
Boo!
- What's the matter with you? - My leg, it's busted.
Somebody get a doctor.
Get a doctor, somebody.
A fine time you picked to be a high-jumper.
Get him out of here.
We got to have a fight.
There's Windy now. Come on.
Don't you worry, folks, don't you worry for a minute.
We'll have a fight if I have to take him on myself.
- Come here. - Hey, big fella. I'll take you on.
- Excuse me. May I get through, please? - Go on back and sit down.
- I'd like to get through to the ring. - Go on back and sit down.
- Wait a minute. - Just a minute.
You want to make something of it?
Hey, you Jeb Stuart boy!
Come over here.
How would you like to pick up $200 in a hurry?
I'd even spend some time to pick up that much money.
Start getting out of your clothes, you're gonna fight Dutch Henry.
No. Wait a minute. I'm no fighter.
Win or lose, $200 in cash.
I'll do it for $50.
What?
We owe you the rest.
You've got a good memory.
- I'll bet it on you. - Thanks.
- What's your name? - Dan Thomas.
We'll tell them Texas Thomas. Get ready.
All right, get him ready.
You're crazy to do this.
Henry's a professional fighter. He'll beat your ears down.
- We got $50 to take us to Texas, haven't we? - Yeah.
- Hold on to it. - All right.
I told you folks we were gonna have a fight.
Introducing the champion of the Lone Star State:
Texas Thomas.
Do you think that this is another one of Windy's tricks?
Work him around to this corner. We'll take care of him.
This is going to be a decision fight, gents...
according to the London Prize Fight rules.
There'll be no biting in the clinches.
When a man goes down...
that ends the round.
If he can't come to the centre of the ring and toe the mark inside of 30 seconds...
he loses.
- Are you ready, Texas? - Yeah.
- Are you ready, Henry? - Yep.
Let her rip.
Let me at him. Leave me at him.
What's going on here?
He grabbed Dan's foot.
You do that again and I'll take you apart myself.
Get back there and let's get this fight going.
I'll bet you all thought it was real, didn't you, folks?
Just a little entertainment I put on between the rounds.
What did you let him see you for?
Round two coming up. Time.
Where's Tex? Where did he go? Anybody see him?
Windy, here he is.
Come on, get up here and fight.
I'm all right, Tod. Don't worry.
Good boy, Tex. Go get him.
Wait a minute, Danny.
Wait a minute, Danny. Come on.
Time!
More water. Some more water.
Round four. Time!
How long is he gonna keep getting up?
Round 10. Time!
Time!
- What round is it? - Thirty-five.
Round 35. Time!
- I'm getting mighty tired of this. - I don't blame you.
Are you all right, champ?
- Why don't they start the fight? - Time!
Danny, are you all right?
Tex, do you want to quit?
- What happens to your bets if I quit? - I win, of course.
You what?
You didn't really think I'd bet on you, did you?
Round 40. Time!
No, but I'm gonna make you wish you had.
Let him fall!
Come on, Tod.
- I guess we lost them. - Yeah.
- You feel all right? - Yeah.
That $50 makes everything all right.
- Danny. - Yeah?
- We haven't got that $50. - What?
- I bet it on Dutch Henry. - You what?
You sure don't have to be told what state this is.
Too big.
Do you realise we've been riding a week without seeing a single human being?
It's kind of quiet and peaceful, though, after coming through that Indian country.
Right now, I wouldn't even mind seeing an Indian.
You'd think people would hang out a sign.
If we keep on going, we're bound to hit something.
All right, everybody, out of that coach, and keep your hands up.
Looks like you could have picked a shady spot.
Shut up.
Which one of you fellows is the cattle buyer from New Orleans?
Go through them.
I wish you wouldn't take those.
Went all the way to Kansas to get them for Mrs. McLane.
- She needs them bad. - Are you a dentist?
You don't think them things would fit a horse, do you?
- There's a point. - Come on.
That's real nice of you, brother.
It must be you. Give me that $10,000 and quick.
- How did you know I was the cattle buyer? - Never mind that. Get back in that coach.
- They're good at it, ain't they? - Yeah.
Let's be moseying.
- You're always doing something like that. - Is that so?
I was holding up stagecoaches before you got your diapers off.
If I hadn't stopped you, you'd still be arguing with that tooth-yanker.
But a horse could wear false teeth.
I remember one time, when I was way back in--
I know you knew a horse in Tennessee that wore a pair.
Yes, I did.
What did the boss want to meet us here for?
You know as much about that as I do.
Don't know what them Texans fought so hard to get this state for.
- Hardest ground in the world. - Where's it any different?
In Cheatham County, Tennessee, the ground is so soft...
they use it to stuff mattresses with.
What's the matter with him?
All right, on your feet. Get moving and keep those hands up.
Get over there, you two.
- Who are you? - Just a couple of strangers passing through.
All right, now, lie down.
- Can't we make some arrangement? - Not today. Get down there.
You ought to split with us. That'd be the honest thing to do.
- This ground is hard. - All right, stampede their horses.
- We'll meet again, someday. - I hope you're carrying as much money.
I don't think there's a town in the whole state of Texas.
Here we are with all this money and nothing to spend it on.
The way you talk about that money, you'd think it was really yours.
Listen, Tod, what's the sense of...
We can eat, anyway.
Get a fire going, I'll cut one of them out. And hang on to this.
Right.
- Hello. - Get them up, son.
- You're the sheriff? - That's right.
Here's the holdup money.
- Sure it's the holdup money. - Then you admit it?
- Where's the rest of your gang? - We...
Wait a minute. I didn't hold up no stage.
You're gonna tell me you waylaid the fellows who did.
- That's just what I did. - Where's a tree?
- I was gonna return the money. - I never saw the beat.
Every time I wanna hang a fella, there's no tree.
- There's a big oak a mile back. - You can't do that without a trial.
As Sheriff and justice of the peace, you are guilty and will be hanged.
- Get on your horse. - Just wait a minute.
Come on, get on your horse.
They say as how this tree was planted 40 years ago by Davy Crockett.
Why don't you wait and ask the stage driver?
Son, I'm a court of law and evidence is what counts.
You had the money, didn't you?
- Indians! - Where?
Right behind me. Hundreds of them.
Here, boy. You're on your honour now. Take for the hills, men.
Come on, boy, come on.
Ain't I the darndest liar? Come on.
Where are they going?
We've been hornswoggled. Get after them.
- We've got to separate. Separate?
It's our only chance. I'll catch up with you some day.
Texas ain't that big.
You ain't much to look at, but I'll sure miss you.
I ain't forgetting you, either.
- Good luck, fella. - Take care of yourself, Danny.
All right, folks, step down.
What do you think you're doing?
Sorry, lady, but I've got to take one of your horses.
You'll do no such thing.
- I'm telling you to get off. - I will not.
You get off, or I'll take both horses and the buckboard, too.
Now get off.
Will you help me down?
Stop!
Pull up.
- I can't stop here. - Get out.
- Lady, there are some men after me. - Get out.
If they get me, they'll kill me for something I didn't do.
I could kill you for what you've done. Get out.
The blankety-blank.
I've never seen a person do so many things wrong in such a short time.
What I do is none of your business.
Just leave me alone. I'm perfectly comfortable.
You're sitting in a lot of ants.
I like ants. Ouch!
Come here.
I can't unhook you if you don't stop wiggling.
Hurry up. Let me go.
You can have your rig back now.
- I'll walk the rest of the way. - I hope you break a leg.
Thanks for the lift.
- Don't mention it. - One more thing.
You sure are pretty.
GiddyuP!
Slim.
I'm sorry. I thought you were Slim. Where did you come from?
I was right over there.
No, I mean, do you work around here?
Since when?
- This afternoon. - Fine.
You've got some dirt right on your face, up right...
If you'd been bounced around on your ear in the back of this thing...
as much as I have, the least you'd have is a dirty face.
- How come you did that? - It's a long story.
Unhitch these horses and give them a good rubdown.
Yes, ma'am.
- Do you belong here? - Yes, I'm Mike King.
That's a funny name for a girl. How did you happen to get a nickname like that?
It's not a nickname. It's Michael.
Kind of a mean trick to play on your parents, isn't it?
They expect a boy, and get his name all picked out, and then you come along.
Yes, guess it was.
I almost forgot, when you're finished, will you take an extra horse...
and go six miles out the Del Rio Pike and pick up Hank?
- Yes, ma'am. Who's Hank? Your sister? - No, he's the foreman.
- May I help you down, ma'am? - Thanks.
- I'll see you later. - Yes.
Listen, you, that food's only free with your drink.
- Do you understand English? - No savvy.
- You broke? - Yeah.
Why didn't you say so?
We got a right hospitable little town here.
Never turn away anybody that's hungry or thirsty.
If you're gonna eat free, you might as well drink free.
Come on over and have a drink on the house.
- Thanks. - Don't give it a thought, brother.
Here you are.
Get out of here.
Hi, boys. Hot, ain't it?
Give me a beer.
Beer.
Never mind about that beer. Get your hands up.
Indians, huh?
Pretty smart, wasn't you? Who's smart now?
Listen, Sheriff--
No, you don't. Come on out from behind that bar.
Get out from behind there.
- You're making an awful mistake. - I ain't making any mistake.
Get his gun, Walt.
Keep him covered.
Ouch!
I told you, you made a mistake.
Son, you'd better be careful now.
- This won't do, you know. - Come on, turn around.
Get back all of you. Get back.
Move.
- If you like your sheriff, don't start anything. - No, boys, don't start nothing.
- What's going on here? - Out of the way, mister.
Don't argue with him. It's my back he's got the gun into.
- Get out. - He don't look dangerous. What'd he do?
Held up the southbound stage.
Move out of that door.
Wait a minute.
You got the wrong man, Sheriff. If you got him.
- We caught his partner with the money. - You did?
And there were no Christmas trees out there either.
That's funny. I was on that stage and he wasn't one of them.
How could you tell? They was all masked.
A mask only hides your face.
It doesn't change your voice or the way your bones is hung together.
And I'll swear he wasn't one of them.
- What about it? - The Doc's word's good enough for me.
But it's sure kind of queer.
It's this heat. You can't believe what you see.
Can I have the gun?
Stubborn cuss.
Thanks, mister. That was kind of a tough spot.
No sense in a man getting hung for something he didn't do.
All this talking has made me kind of thirsty.
Come on.
Give me a bourbon.
- What'll you have? - A cold glass of beer.
I guess it did look kind of bad to the sheriff finding your partner with that money...
- after the stage was held up. - I guess it did.
How'd you get it?
Me and my partner held up the bandits.
Then, when I was out running down some beef...
the sheriff held up my partner.
So, I held up the sheriff.
Sounds like you was playing some kind of a game.
It does, doesn't it?
Doc, can I come up to see you this afternoon?
- Any time. - Thanks.
Was you gonna return that money?
That was my partner's idea.
But you was going south with it, huh?
Sure I was, till the sheriff took it away from us.
By George, I like an honest man. What's your name?
- Dan Thomas. What's yours? - Thorpe, Buford Thorpe. Call me Doc.
- You live around here? - Nope.
- Got any relatives around here? - Nope.
- Where you headed? - No place.
What kind of work do you do?
I ain't particular. Anything that's a living.
Wait a minute, open your mouth. Come on, open it wider.
It never fails.
I can always tell the way a man's eyes look.
- Tell what? - When he has a bad bicuspid.
And that's as bad a bicuspid as I ever seen in 30 years of dentistry.
Bet you've never felt a twinge of pain from that molar yet, have you?
- No. - You see? That's how bad it is.
That's the kind of tooth that falls apart all at once.
Come on up to the office and I'll fix it for you.
- Put that on the book, Walt. - All right, Doc.
You sure you know how?
Son, I'm the best dentist in this town...
and there's only two ways to be the best dentist in a town.
- One of them is to do the finest work. - What's the other?
To be the only dentist.
I guess it's kind of hard for an ex-soldier to make a living.
Everybody treats them well when the war is on...
but when the war is over, they're sort of out of place.
Get pushed around from pillar to post.
That's bad for a young fella. It makes him sort of bitter.
Makes him disgusted with conditions.
It sure does.
Gonna be a lot of activity in cattle around here...
now that the railroad up in Abilene is finished.
How did you know the railroad was finished?
Ain't it?
Seems to me I read somewhere where they was gonna finish it this month.
Ain't they done with it yet?
I don't know, I was just asking.
That drill hurt?
I've had things done that felt better.
What'd you say?
I said, "I've had things done that felt better."
The dang drill's kind of dull. Guess I'll have to get some new ones.
There you are.
There's a chance for a man to make a lot of money down here...
if he can just get his beef up there.
- Is that so hard? - It seems to be.
There you are, just bite your teeth together and kind of grind them.
Spit the pieces out.
Rinse your mouth out.
Looks like I might be able to get a job.
You might at that, if you hit the right place.
Come in.
Hello, Matt.
- You want me to come back later, Doc? - No, we're all through. Come on in.
Son, shake hands with Matt Lashan.
He's got as many cows as the next man, I guess.
Glad to know you.
This is Dan Thomas. Him and his partner is the ones...
that held up them stagecoach bandits and recovered all that money.
That was a mighty fine piece of work.
This boy's full of fire and vinegar, Matt.
Only thing is, he's had a little trouble finding a job and he's sort of disgusted.
Seems like there ought to be something around here he could do.
You're gonna be needing more men, ain't you...
now that all them cattle's going up to Abilene?
- Why don't you put him on? - I might at that.
Once the Doc gets through gnawing on me, we'll talk it over.
Thanks.
Just wait in there.
Get in the chair here, Matt.
Doc, I meant to tell you. I'll have to work this out.
I don't have any money.
It's only a dollar. Pay me out of your first month's wages.
How's them sore teeth treating you?
Doc, this one on the right...
Tennessee, will you learn a new tune?
I been listening to that same thing forever and I'm tired of it.
A steer bell's the same thing and you don't get tired of it, do you?
I don't have to bunk in the same room with a steer.
You couldn't anyway. The steer wouldn't let you.
Evening. Matt Lashan said I was to bunk here.
I'm a new hand.
Come on in.
He'd have brought me down himself, only he said you'd take good care...
We'll take very good care of you.
Ain't it a small world, though.
Stand still. Keep those hands right where they are.
Where's that $10,000?
- Can we talk this over? - Not tonight.
Go get his gun, Tennessee.
Don't shoot. I'm here.
Go after him.
I got him.
Get him inside.
Somebody get a light.
Get him down.
What's the matter with you? What's going on here?
- Why didn't you say who you were? - What do you think I was trying to do?
- We thought you were somebody else. - You mean me?
Nice little reception you had fixed up for me.
But I didn't think it would turn out quite like this.
All right, drop those guns.
Move back in that corner. Come on, get moving.
Wait a minute, Thomas. Don't be in a rush.
The boys that work for me got pretty good jobs.
We'd kind of like to have you stay, join the family, wouldn't we, boys?
- But that's the fella that held us up. - I know. That's why I hired him.
There's an empty bunk right over there, next to mine.
I'm Tennessee.
Dan Thomas.
Openly speaking, we're what you might call cattle separators.
- What? - Don't you savvy?
We separate the cattle from the owners.
We ain't so awful busy, unless someone tries to take a herd up north.
North?
Then we raid them to keep them from getting the cattle to market.
What happens to the cattle you rustle?
We change the brands on them, keep them hid.
When the price gets high enough, we're gonna take them up to Abilene ourselves.
According to that, Lashan ought to make a lot of money.
We all are.
This ain't the kind of a country a man comes to for his health.
No.
I ain't so much interested in my health, either.
Round them up, boys!
Men, the reason I asked you to meet here in secret like this is...
we've got to take some steps to protect ourselves.
I'm fed up on the whole thing. It ain't worth it.
The trouble with us is, we're not organized like the rustlers are.
Look at Townsend. They slaughtered his cattle and burnt him out.
- I don't want that to happen to me. - It won't.
From now on, we're going to fight fire with fire.
That's why I asked you to come here.
Right here in Texas, we've got the greatest gunslingers there are.
John Wesley Hardin, Clay Allison, King Fisher...
Jim Courtright, Manning Clements...
and I want to hire them to work for us.
Dusty's right, that's what we need.
Blaire, come on!
What happened?
Father!
I'm going out to California. I'm going to give Texas back to the outlaws.
- You can't lick this thing by running away. - And you can't lick something you can't see.
It's four months since Dusty was killed. Nobody's been caught yet.
All the sheriff ever does is go out and look around and come back and say:
"The rustlers must have come down from the Indian nations."
- We just have to keep on trying. - It ain't as easy as that, Matthews.
If I could get a fair price for mine, I'd sell out, too.
Evening, Mike. Evening, Tod.
- Hello, Doc. - Evening, Doc.
This ain't a very good place for it, is it?
- For what? - Sparking.
In my day, a young feller didn't stand along the main street doing his sparking.
Doc.
- When's the marriage coming off? - Marriage?
You've heard of it, ain't you?
He hasn't asked me yet.
Four months and he ain't popped the question yet?
Evening, Bert.
I think we'd better go in now, don't--
You may know how to run a ranch, young man, but you sure can't run her.
We might as well go in.
Yes, I guess we better.
Good evening, folks.
Hello, there, how are you? Oh, Albert.
Doc, how about a little tune while we're waiting?
I ain't heard that organ since you brought it in here.
- You will tonight. - Learnt to play it yet?
I don't have to. I got a first class accompanist.
- Mike. - Yeah?
They want a little music.
- How about wakening them up? - Sure.
Tod here can do the pumping. He ought to be useful for something.
- I thought you said this meeting was free. - It is.
Kind of looks like I'm paying.
Tod, see that man over there with the leather jacket?
- What about him? - He's the one who held me up.
Yeah?
- Come here, I'd like to talk-- - Tod, you old buzzard.
You old son of a gun, what are you doing here?
- What are you doing here? - How'd you get away?
- They couldn't run fast. - I thought they'd have--
What is this? You two act like long-lost brothers.
- We are, sort of. - If it isn't the Cactus Kid.
- Hello. - Stay away from me.
Yeah, what's this about you trying to kidnap her?
Is that what she told you?
- I wasn't trying to kidnap her. - You were, too.
I was just in a hurry to get a ride that day. You ought to remember.
That day? Mike, this is Danny. He's the fella I told you about.
Mike, I'm sorry for the way I messed you up...
- but then you were awful stubborn. - I was--
All I wanted was one horse, but you--
You were lucky I didn't take a shot at you, that's all.
That makes us even. Friends?
Mike, Tod, come on over here.
Let's get this music started before these folks fall asleep.
All right, Doc.
- Come on, you can help me pump. - Sure enough.
Now we're gonna start with Buffalo Gals.
And I want you to whoop it up when I get to you.
Give me a "G" or something on that organ there.
As I was walking down the street
Down the street, down the street
A pretty little girl I chanced to meet
And she was fair to view
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya
Coming out tonight, coming out tonight, coming out tonight
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight
And dance by the light of the moon
Her teeth were white as the drifted snow
The drifted snow, the drifted snow
She said she bought them in a hardware store
She was fair to view
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight
coming out tonight, coming out tonight
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight
- Ain't you? - And dance by the light of the moon
Your eyes are like the stars so bright
Stars so bright, stars so bright
I hope they don't come out at night
You are so fair to view
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya
I thought you were gonna help me pump.
I can't pump and look at her at the same time.
That's the girl for me. Want to come to the wedding?
Now look here, Danny, Mike is not...
She bellered like an ailing steer She was fair to...
And she was...
She...
- What's the matter here? - I don't know. The handle came out.
The dang thing's always coming out. Get it right in.
- There. Now, get going. - All right.
That's just fine.
Keep right on going.
I'm a hen-peeked man but I don't care, I don't care, I don't care
Her father's got millions and she's the heir And she was fair to view
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight
coming out tonight, coming out tonight
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight
And dance by the light of the moon
Hello, Windy.
I'm sorry I'm so late.
I've been entertaining them. Take it away.
Right you are.
It sure is good to see you all again...
but we'll get sociable a little bit later.
I'll get right down to business.
I guess you all know why I came down here from Abilene.
I worked hard promoting a railroad to haul cattle...
and I ain't getting no cattle.
These cattle ain't quail. They can't fly up there.
That's a point.
But you don't realise how badly the East needs beef since the war has been over.
Maybe you can tell us how to get them through the rustlers and Indians and raids.
If you think it's so easy to get them there...
- why don't you take them yourself? - Yeah.
Brother, that's exactly why I'm here.
I'm going to buy the beef from you right here and take it through myself.
But, remember this:
it's going to be just as tough on me getting this beef to Abilene as it was on you.
That's right.
Since I'm the one who has to take all the risk...
I feel that it's only fair that we establish a price...
that will give me at least an even break.
Since I'm the one who's going to have to worry about the stampedes and things...
I figure that a fair price for your beef would be...
- $2 a head. - $2?
That wouldn't even pay for the hide.
Just a minute, friends.
I knew this was too good to be true.
You'd think from the way you're acting I was trying to rustle your cattle.
There ain't a man in here who can say that I ever took advantage of a living soul.
You're being a little unreasonable.
I think $2 a head for your beef is a fair price.
- What'll you sell them for? - Yeah, what'll you get for them?
I don't even know I'm going to get them through.
I might have to turn back the same as you did.
Windy's right. We can't get them through...
and there ain't no sense of fooling ourselves anymore.
Of course, $2 a head ain't very much.
You can have mine for $2.
I've got 4,000 heads you can have at $2.
Mine, too, I have 5,000.
You can have the Flying W.
- What's the matter with you? - Listen, friends!
Maybe Windy is trying to help us...
and then again, maybe he is trying to help himself.
You know as well as I do if the East hasn't had beef for four years...
the market price is way up.
That means the average steer should bring $15, $18 a head, maybe more.
I ask you people, just who do you think Windy's more interested in:
us or himself?
Please, just a minute.
Shut up. Go ahead, Tod, say your piece.
- Yeah, go ahead. - All right.
All I'm saying is that the $2 a head that Windy's offering...
that may be a lot of money to his way of thinking.
But $18 a head is a whole lot more and that's what we can get in Abilene.
You've tried it and failed.
Sure we failed because this is the same as the gold rush.
Everybody trying to get there first.
But you've proven what Dusty King tried to tell them for months.
That the only way we'll make it is to get together a big herd.
The biggest this state ever saw...
and some of them are bound to get through. I ask you men here with big herds...
isn't $18 a head worth taking some risks for?
- Come on outside and settle it like a man. - What?
They're gonna be talking about cattle for hours, let's go.
I happen to be interested in what they're talking about.
That's because you've never listened to me.
Come on. Tod can take care of that.
What?
- Nope, you ain't. - I ain't what?
You ain't as pretty in the moonlight as you are in the sunlight.
Why you, blankety-blank hamstrung hunk of jerky beef, I--
Don't get upset, nobody's perfect.
- I'll marry you, anyway. - You...
I wouldn't marry you...
- if you were the last man in the world. - Last man in the world.
Good night, Mike.
Come in.
Sit in the chair there, Windy.
It kind of bothered you, didn't it?
First time in my life I ever upset the apple cart with one of my own speeches.
There ain't no use denying it. We've got a mess on our hands.
You may remember I didn't want to come to Texas in the first place.
- It was your idea. - This is not the first idea...
something's happened to us. You got a bad bicuspid there.
Wait a minute. You fixed that the last time I was here.
- I did? - You sure did.
It looks like there ain't but one thing left to do. That's to get Tod Ramsey.
- I can go out there-- - I like you, Matt.
You're a simple man of direct action.
Thanks, Doc.
But it so happens that's the worst thing we could do right now.
Let me take a look at that, Windy.
After that meeting tonight...
Tod Ramsey will be the rallying point for every rancher in this section.
- Are you sure I put that in? - Yes.
You ought to know.
If he gets hurt, I'm afraid people will begin to wonder why.
That's 100% right. But remember this, Doc...
if one man gets through to Abilene with his cattle...
we might as well throw all our ideas out the window.
This young squirt ain't going to get through.
We've just got to begin all over again...
at the beginning.
It came out.
I knew that wasn't one of mine. It's one of them dang Kansas City jobs.
You go back to Abilene, Windy.
Matt, you take 1,000 head and join the drive.
That's crazy, Doc. Me join the drive?
It'll be crazier if you don't.
The colour of this whole thing has changed in the last few hours.
Every rancher around here is going with him...
and the quickest way to attract attention to yourself is not to go.
- But you're gonna raid them, ain't you? - You can bet your life we are.
This time, they'll know it, too.
It'll hit them so hard that in the future...
not a man in this state will move a steer out of his own backyard.
What do you know? You had two bad ones.
That's the trouble with using that cheap stuff.
A little gold in that.
Forward eight, fall back eight
Forward again, with a right, left through and a right, left back
Meet your pardner, promenade eight
Round the old track till you come out straight
Alaman left with your left hand, back to your pardner, right and left grand
Rope that cow, brand that calf Meet your honey with a once and a half
Treat them all alike, treat them all the same Treat them all alike, no cheating in the game
Meet your pardner with an elbow whirl Promenade around the world
Promenade, you know where, I don't care
And put that pretty girl in this chair
Time out for refreshments.
While I'm still up here, I want to make a little speech.
Tomorrow is a big day in the history of Texas.
Tod Ramsey is going up the trail...
with 6,000 head of cattle.
Seven thousand, Doc, you forgot mine.
Thanks, Lashan. Seven thousand head of cattle.
I want to say...
here's hoping he gets through to Abilene, without losing a single steer.
- Sanctimonious old buzzard, ain't you? - It pays, don't it?
- How's things? - Fine, Doc.
Boys all set?
- They're riding advance guard. - Guard?
- Just to see that nothing happens. - That's good.
- Doc, I want to talk to you about my teeth. - What's the matter with them?
They're noisy, that's what they are, listen.
They're bound to clatter a little at first until they get set.
That ain't what you told me.
Just keep right on chewing with them and they'll be fine.
You'll get them back if they don't stop clicking.
Why so quiet?
- I'm just thinking. - What about?
Why are you going to New Orleans?
To see about a new cattle market.
- How long you gonna be gone? - Couple of weeks.
- Going to miss me? - You know I will.
I'll miss you, too.
But then we'll be together a long time after we're married.
What's the matter? You are in love with me, aren't you?
- Is that what this is? Love? - What else?
I don't know, Dan.
It's all happened so fast.
That's the way it's supposed to happen. Fast.
- What about it? When do we hit them? - I want to talk about that.
We've already let them come farther than Lashan said.
He said to hit them after they crossed the Red River.
They did that three days ago.
I know what he said. You've told me enough.
Why don't we move in there and break up that drive?
You act like you got a private reason for not wanting to.
I have. Money.
Money?
Did you fellas ever try figure out what you're getting out of this?
- $45 a month. - But we got a promise of a lot more.
You can't spend promises. Look, we're rustling.
Somebody's making big money out of the cattle we rustle.
Yet we take all the risks. Ain't we entitled to some of the profits?
Maybe we are, but Lashan would never stand for that.
I don't think he'll have anything to say about that.
Wait a minute.
Lashan's a friend of mine and I'm not going to stand by and see anybody do him dirt.
Hold that, Comstock...
and let Danny finish what he was going to say.
None of us ever expects to have more than $50 apiece in our lives.
But if I tell you how we can have $2,000, $3,000, maybe $4,000 each...
who would you listen to, me or Lashan?
- I'd listen to you. - So would I.
- Me, too. - I thought Lashan was a friend of yours.
Well, he's $50 worth a friend, not $2,000.
Then we're all agreed.
- Sure. - Yeah.
Go ahead.
We don't bother those cattle at all. We let them go right on into Abilene.
- What are we gonna do? - I'm working on that.
- What's the matter? Lose something? - No, of course not.
Abilene's only about 10 or 12 miles from here.
- I ought to be back before dark. - Think it'll work?
Can't help it. This is the only road running south.
They gotta pass this way. See you later.
Kind of slick, ain't it?
- Who's the cattle buyer around here? - I am.
I'm with that herd coming up from Texas.
You might like to know we're bedded down 10 miles out.
Be here in the morning.
Don't tell anybody else about it. I want them all.
First come, first served.
I'll come buy them right there. How many heads you got?
- Seven thousand. - I'll be there in an hour.
Bring the money with you.
Windy, I been looking for you.
- They got through. - How do you know?
A cowboy just rode in. Says they're bedding down 10 miles out.
Parkhill and the others are going to buy the cattle.
We got to hurry. You find Red and get the horses, I'll go pick up some money.
- Are they coming? - They took it hook, line, and sinker.
They ought to be here in about a half an hour.
- Got any more coffee there? - What's this?
- Must be them. - They sure didn't lose any time.
- Looks like they're anxious to do business. - So are we, better get mounted.
What is this?
Hello, Windy, what are you doing here?
- Where's them cattle? - About five or six miles further on.
- Why? You aiming to buy them? - Yes, and if I don't get there first...
I'll have to pay three prices for the lot of them.
- What's so funny? - Windy, we're gonna give you an even break.
One price for the whole herd. Hand over that money.
I ain't gonna argue. Hand it over or I'll blow you off that horse and pick it up myself.
You sure you're not making a mistake?
- Come on, where is it? - It's in my saddlebag.
- Pretty cute little trick. - Ain't it?
- Just wanted to make sure. - Think this up all by yourself?
Yeah. Come on, get off your horse.
- What? - Get off!
How're we gonna get back to Abilene?
That 7,000 head of cattle you just bought...
will be along here first thing in the morning.
Just pick out the ones that fit your legs and hop aboard.
That dirty little polecat can't do this to me!
Why didn't you do something?
All right, Mr. Ramsey, there's your cheque.
I'll take all the beef you can bring up.
We'll be back. The trail's open now.
- There's no stopping us. - Good luck to you.
This calls for a little celebration.
Sure does. You boys go on down to Bullshead.
- See you there soon as I cash this. - We'll be there.
I've known for a week something was wrong...
- but I couldn't do nothing by myself. - This is wonderful.
It was my idea to get the railroad here to haul in the beef.
I fought to bring in the first herd. Now the town's full of cattle...
and not a single head of them is mine.
And just to make it perfect, I'm out $20,000 on the deal.
You got to blame Doc Thorpe for that. He hired Thomas.
This country ain't so big, but what I won't catch up with him one of these days.
- What are we going to do now? - You do what you like.
I got to be the first to go down and congratulate the cowboys...
on getting through to Abilene.
You already bought what you wanted. Let's get out of here.
- What's the matter, scared? - No, but this is Windy Miller's town.
We're crazy to be here. We're asking for trouble.
Maybe you should've gone back with the others.
I was just saying how crazy--
Go and see if the blacksmith's done with our horses.
I'll meet you as soon as I pick up the saddle.
We're going to walk smack-dab into something.
- Finished? - Almost.
You by any chance one of them Texans who brought up the cattle?
Yeah.
I thought nobody but a Texan would buy a fancy thing like this.
Hurry it up, will you?
Listen here, young feller, nobody ever done good work by hurrying yet.
And I ain't gonna spoil the looks of this saddle by doing a bad job of engraving.
Looks all right to me.
Then your eyesighfs bad, because I ain't finished the
Out of my light.
Come on up, fellows. It's on Texas!
No. He hasn't got that much nerve.
Maybe not, but he's in the saddle store right now.
I'll see you boys in a couple of minutes.
You must think an awful lot of this Mike...
to give him as costly a saddle as this.
There you are. Take it away.
- Anything extra? - No, Mike's thrown in.
What's your hurry, Tex?
I didn't expect to see you so soon.
I want that money back.
Sorry, Windy. It's too late.
I wouldn't if I were you. Drop it.
Don't bother to come back to Texas 'cause I'm taking over.
Come on, Danny, get off the street.
Windy Miller.
When I tell my grandchildren about this, they won't believe it.
What are you doing in Abilene? Where'd you get money for the saddle?
I told you my Uncle Rodney died.
You're not fooling me. You held up those cattle buyers.
Think what you like.
I see the answer to a lot of things folks back home have been wondering about.
You fell on one side of the fence and I fell on the other.
- It's too late to argue about it. - I won't argue, but--
Don't give me a lecture on morals.
You saved my life and I saved yours. That makes us even.
And what I do from now on is none of your business.
Yes, it is, because I happen to be in love with Mike, too.
I never said anything to her...
because I knew how she felt about you. That was all right with me up to now.
- So? - You can't have her.
I don't think you'll have much to say about that.
I'm saying it now.
Danny, we gotta get out of here.
Somebody just killed Windy Miller and we'll get blamed, sure as shooting.
Got him smack-dab through the heart.
Sorry it had to end this way, Danny. Remember what I told you.
Look at all the decorations. Wonder what's going on.
Must be fixing up to welcome us back.
As long as you don't see a rope with a noose at one end, it ain't for us.
Giddyup.
Hello, there.
Hi, Doc. What's all the flags out for?
Tod Ramsey and the others got through to Abilene with their cattle.
We're fixing to welcome them home.
That's fine. Now maybe Lashan will pay us that back salary.
This ought to cause a lot of debts to be paid off.
- How was New Orleans? - All right.
- Spare me a minute? - I guess so. What's on your mind?
Come on up to the office.
- Wait here for me, Tennessee. - Sure.
I understand you're taking over Matt Lashan's ranch?
- News travels fast, don't it? - Don't it?
Matt and I made sort of a deal.
- That's a bad deal for you. - Yeah? Why?
It ain't his to begin with.
- Whose is it? - It's mine.
- Yours? - That's right.
- Then you and Windy were a combine? - Yeah.
I gotta hand it to you, Doc, you're all right.
Thank you, Danny, so are you.
You're a little ambitious...
but I think we can work that out, can't we?
Anything you say from now on goes, Doc.
I gotta take my hat off to you.
I ain't butting in, am I, boys?
You're faster than the telegraph.
Ain't you forgot what I told you up in Abilene?
Take it easy, Danny.
If he's in, I'm out.
We can settle this later. Put that hogleg away.
If you and me's gonna be partners, you're gonna have to depend on me a little.
Go on.
I like you, Dan. I like the way you act...
even though you did let them cattle get through.
What's done is done and maybe it's for the best after all.
It sort of establishes this Tod Ramsey as a man able to perform miracles.
From now on, they'll sort of look up to him as a leader...
since he's inherited Dusty's place.
They'll go when he goes, not before.
And if he don't go at all, they won't go at all.
Don't that sound simple?
- All we have to do is kill Tod Ramsey. - Exactly.
That'll scare them off.
And even if two or three more do try to get through after that...
they won't be hard to stop.
I think you forgot something, ain't you, Doc?
Wait a minute, Danny.
In a normal situation...
I can see where a young man would rebel at the idea of killing his best friend...
but this ain't a normal situation. It's just like a bad bicuspidy.
I'm with you all the way, Doc, except we don't touch Tod.
Let's not you and me start this partnership with a difference of opinion.
I'm better qualified to do the thinking than you are.
You better start thinking then, because we're not gonna touch Tod.
Blankety-blank.
Ain't that a new petticoat?
- I ought to... Oh, Danny. - Hi, Mike.
That's a fine way to treat a present I bring, kicking it around like that.
Present? What?
It's the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It's got my name on it.
- You shouldn't buy me presents like this. - That's only the beginning.
I'm so happy I could almost explode. Everything happens at once.
Tod sells our cattle, and you come home.
- Did you miss me? - More than you'll ever know.
We'll take care of that. Let's get married. Right away. Today.
Without Tod?
- What's Tod got to do with it? - He's your best friend.
- We'll surprise him. - No, I couldn't.
Why not?
Silly, a girl can't just square off and get married like that.
You have to have clothes...
Besides, they're coming back from Abilene tomorrow.
Lashan's here now and he said the others were right behind him.
You wouldn't want me...
to have all the excitement in my life at one time, would you?
It seems the wrong way to start out married life...
but you're the boss.
Here they come!
- Tod. - Mike.
It's about time you paid some attention to me.
- Nice going, Tod. - To think that you've really done it.
- If only Dad could have been here. - That would have been nice.
- How was New Orleans? - Fine.
You should see the wonderful present he brought me.
Wouldn't be a saddle by any chance, would it?
- How did you know? - I know Danny.
- You're not married yet, are you? - No, we were waiting for you.
That was thoughtful of you.
Tod, come on, we're waiting for you.
Come on, hurry up. The gang is here watching.
All right, I'm coming. I guess I better get over there.
Do you mind if I tear your prospective bridegroom away for a drink to celebrate?
No, take him along.
Why don't they have saloons that women can go into?
- I'll build you one. - Oh, you.
Come on here.
- Fine job, fella. - Thanks.
What's it gonna be?
- Bourbon. - Bourbon.
- Nice work, Tod. - Thanks, Bob.
Here you are, my boy, the best in the house.
- When did you start drinking? - Just now.
- I want to shake hands with you, Tod. - Thanks, Stub.
Go in the back room. I want to talk to you.
- Go on, talk. - This is private, go on.
I'll see you later, fellows.
I've been with you long enough to know you can't be made to do anything.
But you've gotta see this isn't fair to Mike.
- What ain't fair? - Marrying her.
Why don't you say you want her for yourself?
That has nothing to do with it.
Sure, you're just thinking of her future.
I wouldn't call it very much of a future being married to you...
spending the rest of her life on the run.
I ain't running anywhere. I can take care of myself.
- Sure, you can, but what about her? - Let's drop it.
You said it once yourself.
You fell on one side of the fence, I fell on the other.
That's the way it still is and I got a feeling that's the way it'll always be.
Is that any kind of life to offer a girl? Is it?
You know it isn't. You're just too doggone stubborn to admit it.
Come on, what do you say? Let's get out of here.
I'll leave with you. That's how much I think of her.
- You would, too, wouldn't you? - Let's get started.
You don't have to leave with me.
- He shot Tod. - Run, Danny, run.
Break it up.
All right, Lashan.
Go around the other way.
Pardon me, Sheriff.
On the roof.
What do you think, Doc?
He ain't bad hurt, just a flesh wound. Get him to my office.
Pick him up.
Tod, what happened? They say Danny shot you.
- That's not true, he didn't. - Then who did?
I don't know, but it wasn't Danny.
- We've got to do something. - Now--
If those men catch him, they'll kill him.
Don't worry. They won't catch him. They won't even come close.
He's in there, men, spread out.
Danny!
As I was strolling down the street
Down the street, down the street
A pretty little girl I chanced to meet
And she was fair to view
Oh, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya, ain't ya coming out tonight, coming out
This is it, Doc.
Wait a minute, Danny.
Don't you think we'd better talk this thing over?
Oh, Danny.