Original subtitles

DRIVER: Hyah! Come on!

The West was not all prairie

and mountains and fertile valleys.

Some of it was pretty desolate country

like the Rocking Horse Hills

up near The Dakotas.

Years before, gold had been discovered in these hills,

but the veins petered out

and the miners drifted on to greener fields.

Now, only an occasional outlaw

holed up here in the Rocking Horses.

It was great hiding-out country

for those who had reason to hide.

By linking together two towns

on either side of the badlands

with a stagecoach route,

Wells Fargo brought the Rocking Horse Hills

their first touch of civilization.

But apparently, civilization wasn't too welcome

to some of the lost men who called

the hill country their home.

My name is Jim Hardie,

Special Agent for Wells Fargo.

I usually spent my vacations

visiting some part of the country

I'd never seen before,

which explains why I happened to be

near the Rocking Horse Hills that summer,

just taking it easy

and relaxing a little.

I was stopping off in the small town of Hillview.

I've always been partial to small towns.

The folks who live in them

are generally pretty friendly people.

Hey, Jim.

I gotta talk to you.

Be right with you, Frank.

Now, don't you go away, honey.

Oh, I won't.

Jim, hurry back.

Yeah.

Jim, our stagecoach from Prairie City is long overdue.

I'm getting some worried about it.

What time was it due in?

Supposed to pull in late yesterday afternoon.

Were they carrying a payload?

Not this trip.

Well, maybe they just broke down somewhere then.

Well, maybe so. But I think...

But you think I'd better ride back down the trail

to Prairie City and see if I can see him, huh?

I guess that might be a good idea.

Sorry to interrupt your vacation this way.

Story of my life.

Interrupted vacations,

unfinished business.

FRANK: You won't find any water in them Rocking Horse Hills.

Don't forget to fill your canteen.

See you.

But, Jim, what about the dance tonight?

Yeah.

I guess you're gonna have to go

with that cowpuncher friend of yours.

Oh, him?

So long, Caroline.

Here was a land that God built

and then forgot.

Here was a thousand hills,

each as alike as a thousand apples.

Unless a man left a trail to backtrack on,

he could ride into this stretch of badland

and never be seen again.

Keep riding, stranger.

JIM: I got out of there. A man would be a fool

to ignore a suggestion like that,

especially when there were three of them

and only one of me.

JIM: It was evening when I came in sight of Prairie City.

And outside of the three men

that took potshots at me,

I hadn't seen much of anything,

or anyone.

I got to thinking maybe the stagecoach

had never left Prairie City at all,

but it had,

and right on schedule.

It's funny you didn't see it anywhere along the route.

Yeah, it's funny.

Well, I guess I'd better backtrack,

see if I can pick up their trail anywhere.

They must have pulled off in the hills.

Why?

I don't know why.

What were they carrying?

Bag of mail and two passengers,

important passengers.

Who?

Billy Thompson and his lady friend from Boston.

They're fixing to be married soon as they get

to his pa's ranch out the other side of Hillview.

Is that Big Ben Thompson's boy?

That's who.

Folks claim Big Ben owns most of this here state.

They also claim the government tried to buy it back.

They couldn't meet his price.

Need any help from our local sheriff?

No.

As you know, we like to take care

of our own trouble when we can.

If you don't hear from me in say three or four days,

maybe you better get the sheriff out with his posse.

We'll be ready.

JIM: The next morning, I started back for Hillview.

It was slow traveling, because I couldn't take my eyes

off of the road for a second.

We warned you to stay out of here once, stranger.

JIM: One thing about working for Wells Fargo,

you met all kinds of people.

Some friendly...

and some downright inhospitable.

His horse led me right to it.

Funny, coming on a town out here

in the middle of nothing.

Then I remembered about the gold rush

in these hills.

Here was a town the miners built and then left.

And now, only ghosts walked the streets.

Hey!

Hold him.

Put him in with the other two.

Wonder if Wells Fargo would pay out any money

for a slightly used detective.

How are you feeling?

Not very good.

Who are you?

My name's Hardie.

Jim Hardie. I worked for Wells Fargo.

I used to think I was a detective.

After what I ran into, I'm not so sure.

You, I guess you're Billy Thompson, huh?

Yes, I am.

This is Jeannie Wilcox, my fiancée.

JIM: What happened to that guard and driver?

They killed them.

And they're holding you for ransom, I suppose?

Fifty thousand dollars' worth.

Which won't be paid.

They've been trying to get me

to write my father a letter.

I don't know how much longer I can stall them off.

They're gonna want action pretty soon.

Billy, promise me you won't write that letter.

Honey, we're in no position to bicker with them.

I don't know what else we can do but to have my father

pay the money they ask.

There's a principle involved, Billy.

Kid, I want the letter. I want it now.

Well, I... You see, it's like this,

I don't know if my father...

I think you've been stalling me

about long enough.

Now, that's the last of you're drinking water

till I get the letter.

How long you think you can hold out in this heat, huh?

Two days, maybe three?

I'll write it.

They can get in touch with Ben Thompson

and straighten it out with him.

Guess that'd be all right.

While you're at it there, tell Wells Fargo

we got a detective for sale.

You tell them they can have him alive for $5,000,

and he if ain't worth it, they can have him free, dead.

The last time this happened to me,

they only asked 3,000.

Glad to see somebody around here realizes my value.

Hmm.

What's this here about, uh,

"It's been four days since I was in Prairie City

talking to you"?

That'll identify me to the man in Prairie City.

And be sure you send it there.

He's the only one who knows I'm in this territory.

Hmm. You signed.

And send my badge and papers along.

How about a refill?

Wells Fargo must be proud to have

such a brave man in their employ.

Well, I'm top dog with Wells Fargo, all right.

I just hope their money is where their heart is.

What kind of a man are you to negotiate

with thieves and murderers?

JIM: They're not really so bad, Jeannie.

My name is Miss Wilcox.

All they wanna do is

spread the wealth around a little.

Take Billy's dad there,

he won't miss $50,000 anymore

than the Mississippi would miss a bucket of water.

As for Wells Fargo, all they gotta do to get their money back

is just up the freight rates a penny or two.

There goes one of them on the way to town.

It was just one of those days

when nothing worked out.

Now my trail would be blown south

all the way to the Rio Grande.

That made the odds against the sheriff's posse

from Prairie City finding us

at about 50,000 to 1.

Isn't it about time that fella got back from town?

I haven't heard him ride in.

Watch that window.

One of them's coming this way.

What happened? Fargo man.

Hold it right there.

Give me the key.

Get over against the wall.

What's been happening?

Been playing hide and seek.

Now it's our turn to hide.

That rider's coming back.

Wait here.

Hold it!

How was everything in town?

Your picture still hanging in the post office?

JIM: We rounded up all of the horses we could find

and got the stage rolling towards Hillview.

Before we left,

we buried the two dead outlaws.

Put them in graves side by side.

Partners in death

like they'd been in life.

Two more ghosts

to haunt the streets of that dead town.

I got to wondering,

do you suppose on nights when the moon is full,

if a man listened real carefully,

he might hear those two walking over the dust

in the empty and forgotten halls

of that old hotel.

Back at the Hillview Office,

there was a message waiting for me.

Wells Fargo wanted me out in California.

Some trouble with a gold shipment.

So I said goodbye to Billy...

and Jeannie.

Can you ever forgive me for what I said to you?

When we were in jail?

There's nothing to forgive.

You were right.

So was Billy in a way.

Billy.

I think he's about the luckiest man I know.

Goodbye, Miss Wilcox.

You don't seem to be able to get my name right, do you?

Goodbye, Jeannie.

Goodbye, Mr. Hardie.