They say one of them mountains is gold-
solid gold-
clear through to Reno, on t'other side.
Men come looking for that mountain.
There's also men that don't hunt gold.
They hunt the prospectors- rob them, maybe kill them,
maybe leave them naked to die.
Why, it's a gold fever.
A stranger alone don't dare stop for a friendly word,
nor trust a soul, nor even to sleep.
Uh, hey, mister.
Uh, you traveling alone?
I was.
Mm-hmm.
Any place further along the trail?
A posting station about halfway up.
Five dollars, I stand guard all night.
Wake me at 5:30.
You in a hurry to get there, huh?
I was just gonna move you over.
You're on my side.
Hey, hey, Preston, this guy's got a gun on me!
Don't move your hand.
What's going on down there?
Just gonna move him over.
He was taking up ten dollars worth of room.
Take a look at his hand!
He's right.
You're on his side of the line.
Take a good look at his hand!
You're still on his side of
the line.
I paid you five dollars to keep from being robbed!
How much did he pay you for the privilege of robbing me?
Shut up!
You don't like it, you sleep outside!
All right, I'll just leave you two
to the mercy of your customers.
Mister, you better hope I don't meet you
somewhere along the trail!
Take his money...
Take his money belt.
Oh! All right.
Let's go, hmm?
¶
Ah, I'm all full up for the night.
But you're welcome to sleep with your horse.
Well, that's fine.
I can trust him.
Yeah, well,
you probably know him better than I do.
But gold fever can make even a horse turn mean.
Five dollars a night.
Well, you don't need a gold mine, do you?
You've got one right here.
I'll give you...
one dollar.
Stall and feed.
I, uh... got a little map of the gold fields here.
Not interested.
Now, mister, listen, listen.
A man come through here,
he seen gold nuggets in Threadneedle Canyon, huh?
Another one comes through and says he's panned gold
in Brent's Creek.
Men from all over.
They find just a little bit, and then it's all mined out.
Now, you put that on a map
and pretty soon you begin to see a sort of...
a sort of a, a pattern.
And they ain't got nothing but bits washed down
from that mountain of gold that they haven't found yet.
But I know where that mountain is.
Half a mile high.
You scratch it almost anywhere
and it would shine like pure gold.
Where's that mountain, mister?
That'd be telling.
He doesn't know anything.
You think he'd be running a stable here
if he knew where there was any gold?
But what would a man with a leg like mine
do in country like this,
eh?
Where's that map?
That map is only for sale.
I'd have to have $500 for that.
Fred, that's all the money we got!
Shut up, Sib.
Leave it or steal it.
Don't give him any money for that map.
I don't wanna steal nothing.
But I'm at the end of my rope. I gotta do something.
You can't take my map.
I spent my life finding out what's put down on that.
Mister, I'll give you what we got- $25.
$25 for a mountain of gold?!
Fred, that's all there is left.
So, it's all there is! You-You suggest something.
We've been up on that mountain twice.
And we lost twice. We gotta have some direction.
Now, wait a minute... don't give him your last cent for a map
that he sat up last night and drew on a piece of paper.
You shut up.
Give me that map.
Sib, is the cart ready?
Yeah.
You better run fast, boy.
This man catches up with you, you're in trouble!
And, uh... what was you gonna say?
That you're a liar and a swindler.
Well, what does it matter where they look for gold?
They're just as likely to find it
where I marked it on that map as anyplace else.
And besides, they've got hope now.
They never had that before.
Look what they done to me.
Well, what'd you expect me to do?
Let you rob me?
Been better if you had.
Mister, they just shot your horse.
Take his coat and his, uh, gun.
The hat's mine.
You're going to Reno, mister. Over the mountains.
And we'll be right behind you.
Well, he'll never make it alive.
He won't freeze.
Lots of torn-up clothes along the trail.
These are great folks here in the gold fields.
They tear up what they leave.
They bust their tools, rather than give 'em to somebody else.
They mix sugar with salt.
They burn their bacon.
He'll starve, likely.
There ain't but one way over the mountain.
You turn right, and we'll be right behind you.
You turn left,
and we'll still be right behind you.
Well, don't look to me.
I've got to live here.
Now, get moving.
¶
Hello.
Now, you hold off there!
I'm on foot and alone.
Scavengers shot my horse.
I'd like to join you.
No, sir.
Fred, for crying out loud!
We don't even know who he is.
Gunfighter.
What's your name?
Hensoe.
Mr. Hensoe, I can help you pull that wagon.
And if I join you, you'll only have
six hours of guard duty, instead of nine.
You were awful anxious to keep me from buying that map.
Couldn't be you wanted it for yourself.
Have you looked at it yet?
You still think a man'd sell you a map for $25
if he knew where gold was?
You forget something.
He didn't want to sell it. I had to put a gun on him!
Now, you go on back down.
I'd like to buy some pemmican or whatever you can spare.
When you're ready, you come and get it.
Fred, he says they shot his horse!
Sib, he says they shot his horse.
What's he doing here?!
Nobody tries to go over these mountains in winter alone.
Well, there's his friends.
Just waiting for him to catch us off guard.
I told you those are scavengers,
living off the dead, stealing garbage!
I caught them stealing, and they shot my horse!
Yeah? Well, if they want to kill you,
that's your trouble.
I don't aim to let you make it mine.
Let's break camp.
You didn't figure I was gonna let you stop to dine, did ya?
Get moving!
What do you figure to do with that thing?
You stand first watch, and you stay awake.
Come on, Sib.
You know that map's no good.
I don't know nothing...
except he's got hope.
And that's better than nothing at all.
You're a loyal boy.
That's fine.
But the next time I come here, I'm going to have to fight him.
Ah, leave us alone.
That's not asking much, is it?
You think it over, boy.
Mister?
This is dried buffalo meat.
Now, get out of here.
And don't make me kill you.
Yeah.
Give me that here.
Merton...
you go ahead and shoot.
That's probably better than what you got planned for me, anyway.
You want this meat?
Well, you come and get it.
Get him!
That's the last chance you'll ever get
to do a thing like that again.
Now, get going.
Get going!
¶
All together!
We got to drop off stuff.
Yeah.
Boy, help your daddy here.
We get off some of this heavier stuff,
get off these pots...
We can do without the...
Ah, that ought to be enough.
Maybe we can make it now.
Now, lay in and push!
Push!
Lay into it!
What's the matter with you?
Morning.
Your name John?
Yes, sir.
Now, you stop right there.
You gave me food before, John.
You must have had some reason.
Well, I thought you was hungry.
You look pretty bad.
First you give me food, and now you want to kill me?
You tried to kill us.
Are you going to kill me, John?
I'm alone...
and you can have it either way.
Now, sir, you stop.
Please.
John!
Pa...
All right.
Hensoe, it's all up to you now.
Put 'em down!
What are you going to do with us, mister?
What am I going to do with you?
Will you get me some food?
That's all I ever wanted- some food!
I still ain't sure what he's here for.
You and John letting him pull the wool over your eyes.
Ah, you old fool.
You been fed when your mother and me was hungry.
You ain't never had to worry about anything yet.
Now, you wait till you grow up
and face a few things on your own.
Till then, you keep your mouth shut.
Hensoe, sometimes I think it'd be better
if human beings were more like the lower animals.
Lower animals, there comes a day when the mother
and the young don't recognize each other anymore.
Everybody starts off clean.
Oh, he's had it too soft.
He's rotten spoiled.
And what are you- to him?
You give me that map.
Give it to me!
You see?
Boy...
this is the last thing on earth belongs to me.
Now, you watch it.
It was your hope for the future.
It's everything I worked for, all of my life.
No! No!
No! No! No!
John?
Yes, sir.
Your father's hand's burned.
I am sorry.
Uh, the map was my hope. I...
It was all I had.
It's too late, but I'm sorry.
I just wanted to say, mister, that...
you're welcome to travel with my father and me.
Thank you.
I thought I gave you the idea this man was to have no help.
Now, get up.
Slow.
What was that spear thing you threw?
It's called an "atlatl."
Used by the Aztecs against the Spaniards.
The aboriginal Australian uses it today.
So does the Watusi in Africa.
Well, we owe you some help.
Would you mind if we joined you the rest of the way?
Mr. Hensoe, I'd be pleased for the company.
¶ "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
¶ A soldier of fortune
¶ Is the man called Paladin
¶ Paladin, Paladin
¶ Where do you roam?
¶ Paladin, Paladin
¶ Far, far from home.