Original subtitles

Got time for another tie, Silver.

Let's get hid.

Fool thing.

What?

All of a sudden, I'm kinda hungry.

It takes a man like that sometimes,

especially at first.

Easy now.

Put 'em way up, gents,

and don't turn around.

Hold it!

Finish him off.

I thought you said no shooting.

The box.

Got it! Let's go!

Dan! Dan!

Dan! Dan!

I'm Jim Hardie,

special investigator for Wells Fargo.

Rob a Wells Fargo stagecoach,

an express car,

it won't be long before we meet.

If you kill a Wells Fargo employee,

I'll bring you back dead or alive.

"Wanted, dead or alive,

"Dan Francis, railway robbery.

"Last seen at Nine Mile Cut,

"vicinity of Latimer.

Reward $500."

Dead or alive?

How did you get identification?

His partner was an old-timer named Silver Logan.

Figured Francis ran out on him,

gave us the whole story before he died.

Well, Jim Hardie.

Come on in.

Hello, Roy.

You got here fast.

Well, I thought it would be a good idea,

so I got here as quick as I could.

Jim, meet Lucas Rainey.

Represents the railroad.

This is Jim Hardie, one of our investigators.

Pleased to meet you, sir.

How do you do? Sit down, Jim.

Well, what's developed?

You haven't seen a Sam Coogan's statement.

He's the engineer who got shot.

Got a pretty good look at our man.

You couldn't tell it by this.

Where can I talk to him?

He's up in Latimer,

and I can assure you he'll cooperate fully.

This might interest you.

Why dead or alive?

Why not?

Three railroad men were shot and wounded.

And if some bounty hunter kills him

before we've had a chance to ask a few questions,

it'd be $10,000 up the flue.

500, dead or alive, is the railroad policy in a case like this.

You'll find your man, Mr. Hardie. I'm sure of it.

Good luck. Thank you,

and good luck to you, sir.

This poster sets him up

like a 20-pound gobbler at a turkey shoot.

Yeah. All I've gotta do now is track him down

and find him before some bounty hunter collects first prize.

It was late afternoon when I hit Latimer.

From the looks of things, it hadn't taken long

for the word of the reward to spread.

The first man I asked told me

that if Sam Coogan wasn't dead,

he'd be across the street in Fat Pat's Roundhouse Bar.

You sure there's nothing else about

this kid Francis you remember?

A limp, a scar, anything?

I was just thinking...

What?

Hadn't you better put the top on your whiskey now,

now that we ain't drinking anymore of it?

BRISCOE: Help yourself.

Well, pass the Jimmy John if you don't mind.

Well?

Now, let me see.

Sam Coogan?

What do you want?

I was wondering if one of these gentlemen

was Sam Coogan, the other one Blackie Dow?

Oh, Sam Coogan indeed, but no gentleman.

Sit down, sit down.

This here is Blackie Dow.

And this is, uh, Mr. Briscoe.

Now, what can we do for you?

I'd like to ask you couple of questions.

Oh, dusty work, answering questions.

Ahh.

Now, that's a mite better.

What's on your mind?

You were telling your story about the robbery.

I was wondering if maybe

there wasn't something you might have forgotten?

Well, you just keep right on wondering, friend.

You know, Sam, there was one thing

that kinda puzzled me, and that was

why that young fella didn't finish you off

when the other one told him to.

Mister, I was wondering something myself.

What's that?

How you'd look going out that door.

What else do you remember?

Mister, I know a couple of three different ways out of town.

If I was you, I'd take one and take it quick.

Or what?

You guess.

Get out.

I don't remember nothin' else.

I'll say one thing for you, mister.

You're pretty well-trained.

Don't count on it. Good day.

All right, then, Harris, you look for him

in the whole southeast section right down to Gila.

And, remember,

don't shoot him if you can help it,

'cause we want to hang him right here in town

where everybody can see him.

Now get going.

Sheriff.

What do you have?

A little help if I can get it.

Doing what?

I'm looking for Dan Francis.

Well, don't let me stop you.

Are you this friendly to everyone,

or am I just somebody special?

Mister, I just don't like bounty hunters.

I don't blame you.

Neither do I.

I'm Jim Hardie from Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo?

Well, am I glad to make your acquaintance.

Won't you sit down, Mr. Hardie?

Thank you.

Hope you'll excuse my manners,

but I got a touch of indigestion... raw onions.

By jingles, they'll do it for me every time.

Now, what can I do for you?

Did this fellow Francis have a record?

Well, none that I know of.

This poster here will tell you

just as much about him as I know.

He's about 6-foot, about 180,

dark hair, about 30.

Last seen out to Nine Mile Cut

a-headin' north on a bay horse.

Did you check his description

with the United States Marshal's office?

Yeah, and the Pinkertons, but nothing.

I'm afraid I can't help you much.

Did you read Sam Coogan's statement?

I took it down.

Anything strike you as funny?

Well, no, but then I'm kinda country.

What struck you?

The fact that no one saw him use his gun,

and yet I see all this business about

"wanted, dead or alive," about...

everybody wanting to hang him. Why?

Well, he was there,

and that alone's enough to give him his ticket to the dance.

Well, I'm gonna have to get moving, I suppose.

I want to take a ride out to Nine Mile Cut.

I'm afraid you're gonna find

that that's a mighty cold trail by now.

Probably so, but it's better than no trail at all.

Well, if I can do anything for you, I'll be glad to.

Thank you.

There is one thing. You know of a man named Briscoe?

Yeah, he's a bounty hunter. Why?

Probably nothing important.

He just invited me to get out of town is all.

Well, don't low-rate him. He's bad medicine.

All right, I won't.

Take good care of your stomach.

You take care of your skin.

Thank you. Good day.

It wasn't hard to find

where Francis and his partner

kept their horses during the robbery.

Naturally, the ground was pretty well chewed up.

But there was a birch with the bark gnawed off,

about like a tied-up horse would do.

Wasn't much,

but it wasn't hopeless.

BRISCOE: Draw and you're a dead man.

Get up.

You've got quite a sense of humor, Briscoe.

Then why aren't you laughing?

'Cause there's something about a face full of hot coals

that dulls my sense of humor.

That's nothing to what's gonna happen

if you don't give up trying to find Dan Francis.

You told me to get out of town, so here I am.

You must think I'm stupid.

You said that, I didn't.

This is a gun, Hardie.

It makes a big noise. Maybe you'd like to hear it?

Thank you, but I'll pass.

Now, this is your second warning.

There isn't gonna be any third.

Francis is mine.

If I catch you trailing him,

I'll leave you for dead.

That's a promise, friend.

I wasn't about to forget my old friend Briscoe.

The next morning, I set out

to pick up Dan Francis' trail from the hold-up.

There's lots of things I'd rather do

than try to follow a cold trail.

But with a little luck and a little help,

from folks who thought they remembered a man

coming by on a bay two or three days before,

I managed to keep pretty close to it.

I never go back on a promise, friend.

Hello?

Hello?

Howdy. Howdy.

How long have I been here?

Mm, about 24 hours.

Here, I washed your shirt out for you.

Thank you.

It seems to me I owe you pretty good favor.

Could you use some venison stew?

Got a nice buck yesterday.

Well, it sounds good.

Tastes better if it hangs a while, I suppose,

but it'll do you more good this way.

Sit down.

I'd be interested to know how I got here.

Well, I found you on the road

about five miles down. You were shot.

You've been out off and on for about 24 hours.

24 hours?

That's more sleep than I've had in last ten years.

If I'd have had to bury you,

I wouldn't have even known your name.

Unless it's Briscoe.

Why Briscoe?

Uh, you said it once or twice when your fever was up.

Maybe he's a friend of yours.

No.

No, just a name.

By the way, my name's Howell. Jim Howell.

Dave Ferguson.

Oh.

Well, did I say anything else while I was out?

Oh, nothing I can make much sense out of.

You got a nice spot here.

I built it myself about four years ago.

Kind of a wild hare.

I figure there's ore around here somewheres.

I should have been suspicious sooner,

but the sheriff's description wasn't very good.

Then you're married?

About as married as they come.

It's funny, I wouldn't have taken you for a married man.

Got a brand-new boy to prove it.

Then where's your wife?

Oh, we keep a little farm near Flagstaff.

Marcy tends it between the harvest and plowing time,

when things kind of slack off.

Well, I'm dog tired.

I think I'll turn in.

Yeah.

Good night, Dave.

Good night, Jim.

Looking for something?

All right, put it back.

I'm sorry, Dan.

Get over here.

Turn around.

Put your hands behind your back.

I guess I should have left you there on the road.

All right, Dan.

We're ready.

Jim, what do you think I'll get?

I don't know.

Well, I do.

Hemp. 20 feet of fine manila hemp.

The funny part is, I didn't do any of the shooting.

You believe that?

I certainly do,

and I think it's gonna go a long way in your favor.

You're taking me back to a railroad town

for shooting two railroad man.

You know how much chance I got.

I also know that no one's ever

taken a man away from me and hung him yet

without a fair trail.

They're not going to this time, either.

Let's go.

Before we go, there's one favor.

What's that?

Could we go by way of Flagstaff?

I'd like to say goodbye to Marcy and my boy.

We'll see.

How'd you ever get mixed up in this to begin with?

Because I didn't want see my son growing up

scrabbling his living out of 20 acres of rock.

Because I got sick of seeing Marcy agin' two years for every one.

Figured we could live in Mexico.

Always kinda wanted to see Mexico.

Well, I can understand that, I suppose.

Jim, let's get one thing straight.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a one-way trip for me.

If I get a chance to make a break for it, I'm gonna take it.

Well, you won't be the first one that's tried that.

Look out!

Who was it?

Fella named Briscoe,

the one that tried to kill me before.

I thought the bounty was on me.

It is. He wants to be sure

there's no one else to collect it.

Think you scared him off? Nope.

He'll be waiting up the road for us somewhere.

Then he can get a better shot.

Let's go.

That's two I owe you. Thank you.

Don't thank me.

If I had the brains of a warthog, you'd be dead.

Hey, Jim, look over there.

That'll be Briscoe.

Whoa.

So this is it. Yeah.

All right, you go on in.

I'll wait out here for you.

With what I told you up at the cabin?

You're taking a chance.

Maybe.

MARCY: Dan! Dan!

Darlin'.

Hiya, solider.

He's got a tooth.

A tooth? Mm-hmm.

A tooth.

Hey, Jim! Jim, come here!

The kid's got a tooth.

Is that right?

Jim, I'd like you to say hello to my wife Marcy.

Marcy, this here is Jim Hardie.

Uh... a friend of mine.

Pleased to meet you.

Pleased to meet you, ma'am.

Won't you come on in the house?

Coffee's fresh.

Well, we're gonna have to be going along in a minute.

Well, I got what I came after, boy.

I don't think I'm gonna be needing you anymore now.

You better stay here and look after your family.

Nice to have met you, ma'am.

I hope I see you again.

Good luck to you, Dan.

MARCY: Dan!

Dan.

I've carried my share of men

to their six feet of ground, all right,

but I can't recall ever having liked the job.

Now, Dan Francis made a mistake.

He made his choice himself.

Maybe he was right, and maybe he was wrong.

It's not my place to judge.