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Dad burn it.

I reckon Pa thinks I ain't got nothing better to do

then come out here

to this dang little old ghost town and clean bricks.

He lets Little Joe go all the way Sacramento

and Adam clean to St. Louis.

Dad burn it.

Come on in and I'll cut you a slice.

Should be cool enough now.

Heh. Howdy. You, uh, open for business?

No, I just live here.

I saw you pull in. You after brick?

Yeah. It's fire brick.

Good fire brick is son of hard to find around these pans.

Yeah.

I see here you put these to pretty good use.

Oh, yeah, I needed me an oven,

so I threw that together as best I could.

Oh, sit down, please, the coffee is almost ready.

Yeah. My name's Hoss Cartwright.

Well, Patch. Just call me Patch. Like these.

Well, dig in, Hoss.

I'm glad to have company. Yeah.

Hot dog. This is what I call real apple pie.

Well, to tell the truth, it isn't really apple pie.

No? No. It's called pan pie.

I just make do with what's handy.

Uh, first, you put crackers around. See, that kind of looks like apples?

And then you put plenty of cream of tartar,

give it the apple taste.

Then, of course, some, uh, salt, cinnamon, sugar, shortening.

You make a crust, put it in the oven--

I'll take your word for it. You a regular cook.

I guess I'm a little of everything.

Uh, wheelwright, carpenter, ironsmith, harness maker.

Mostly though, I just pan out slag heaps

around old shut-down mines.

That's why I'm here in Rockerville.

Son of funny. A fellow who's as good at as many things as you are--

I mean, panning slag is son of aimless, ain't it?

It's son of lonesome too, ain't it?

Oh, I don't mind.

Life is kind of aimless and lonely anyway,

no matter where you are.

You know, a fellow as talented as you are

would make a good permanent hand on the Ponderosa.

I don't know about that. I never stay in one place too long.

Yeah, but you'd like it at the Ponderosa.

No, Hoss.

You wouldn't want the likes of me around.

How come?

Because I'm not worth a plugged nickel.

Oh.

Patch, there ain't no use in running yourself down

just because things ain't going so hot for you right now.

My pa would be mighty happy

to have a man like you on the Ponderosa.

Maybe I could do a couple of things.

Say, uh, maybe I could help you get that new mine started.

Mine? We don't do no mining on the Ponderosa.

That's funny.

I only saw it from a distance the other morning

when I cut across the flats,

but it sure looked like a mine setup to me.

Hmm, reckon a couple of prospectors got out there,

couldn't read signs or something.

Oh.

We'll go over after a while and shoe them off, huh?

What if they won't shoe?

Well, we'll just give them a little nudge, then, heh.

Hey, uh, how come we don't eat the rest of that pie?

I mean, if we're gonna be going in a minute.

There ain't no use in packing something like that

that we can eat, huh?

Oh. Oh, sure, Hoss, here, help yourself.

All you want.

Whoa.

What are you doing here? What does it look like?

Well, your sign says it's mining,

but it looks more like you're fixing to put out a fire.

It's hydraulic mining, tubby.

We wash it out with high-pressure water.

Are you Bronson? Bronson's office is in town.

I do the talking here.

Well, you're going to do a little listening right now.

I know about hydraulic mining

and you ain't gonna wash nothing out of nothing around here.

This is Cartwright property.

Now, maybe it is and maybe it isn't.

Mr. Bronson wouldn't do anything unless it was legal and proper,

so why don't you talk to him?

I'm talking to you.

And I'm telling you to get this gear packed

and get out of here right now.

Hoss.

Hoss, they probably mean well.

Maybe it's just some misunderstanding, huh?

You're doggone right a misunderstanding. On their pan.

Now, you quit interfering.

But these fellows just seem to be obeying orders.

Once you talk to this Mr. Bronson, maybe it will all be straightened out.

Maybe you got something, at that.

Giddyup.

Whoa.

Howdy, fellows. Charlie, you seen my pa?

Yeah, he, uh, left about a half hour ago, headed for the hotel.

Thanks. See you in a minute, Patch.

Hey, boys, get a load of the clothes on this dude, will you?

Look at them clothes and those colors in there.

Patches. Reds, blues, greens, yellows.

What kind of a man would wear clothes like that?

Hey, Hoss, you're going to have to start paying off your hands in money

instead of old clothes.

I've been looking for a fellow like him,

scare the crews out of my cornfield.

Come on, Patch, we'll take care of you first.

Did you get that?

Good morning, Hoss.

Good morning, Miss Ann.

Miss Ann, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, Patch.

Patch, this is...

This is Ann Fleming.

I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Fleming.

How do you do?

Patch is going to be working for us, Miss Ann.

He's gonna need some new clothes.

So if you'll just put them on our account.

Oh, Hoss. Maybe you better wait and see how things work out, huh?

I'll be back here as soon as I can find Pa. I want you to meet him too.

Uh, Patch, you might as well wear your new duds on home.

All right, Hoss. Thanks.

And I sure hope you won't regret all this.

Well, now then, Mr., uh...

What's your real name?

Oh.

I answer to most anything. "Patch," or "Hey, you."

Even a good loud whistle will do.

Well, do you want to start with the boots and work up?

Or the hats and work down?

Hey, Pa.

Anything wrong? I'll say there's something wrong.

There's a wildcat mining outfit putting in a hydraulic unit

out there on that east section by Rockerville.

Who told you that? I saw it.

Don't they know they're on the Ponderosa?

Yeah, I reckon they do,

but it didn't seem to cut nothing with them.

The foreman, or whatever he was, told me

that they had legal right to be there.

Oh, he did?

What's the name of that outfit? It's a new outfit, just moved into town.

Bronson Mining Company, according to the sign right over there.

Oh.

Hoss, get over to the land and abstract office

and get me a copy of the cleared title of that piece of land.

Meet me in there. Be right back.

I'm Ben Cartwright. Pleasure.

I've heard the name, of course. Dan Bronson.

My son tells me that you've started a hydraulic mining operation

on the Ponderosa.

Bronson's 7 is out that way,

but I think you'll find that it's situated on public land.

I bought that land from Sam Hendricks 20 years ago.

Maybe it wasn't his to sell.

Hendricks homesteaded that land when the territory first opened up.

He proved up on it and lived on it until he sold out to me.

Well, apparently he neglected to apply for a patent on his land.

Some of those old-timers were pretty careless about titles.

Well, uh, I think Hendricks' ownership is a matter of record, I saw it.

Did you see the title, Mr. Cartwright?

Produce the title, I'd be most happy to vacate the premises.

Meanwhile, of course, I'll have to proceed with my operations out there.

Don't try it.

Violence isn't the solution, Mr. Cartwright.

Roy, I've just come from that Bronson Mining office--

I know, Ben. I just heard about it myself.

Bronson Mining has set up a hydraulic operation on your land.

You bet they have. Wait a minute.

Before we go further, don't you think

you better check the record to make sure it is your land?

Roy, you know that's my land. What are you talking about?

If there's something going on here I ought to know about,

you better tell me, Roy. Ben, you're not the first one.

There was a couple of small ranchers

that yelled to high heaven when Bronson moved in on them.

But they couldn't prove their title, leastways not locally,

and as much as I hated to do it,

I had to back Bronson to prevent gunplay.

So that's why I say, let's go to the record.

Where's that title? There ain't one.

There's a record of our purchase of that property,

but there ain't no record of Hendricks' title.

I've seen what that hydraulic mining can do, so have you.

Tears trees out by the roots,

gouges deep scars into good pastureland,

covers rich topsoil with rocks and boulders.

Well, Roy, it's not gonna happen to the Ponderosa,

and I'm telling you that right now. You know that I'm with you,

but right now he's got the law on his side because in this territory,

mining claims take precedence on all land,

unless they're held by the United States Patent.

That's not public land, Roy, and you know it.

I don't know any such of a thing, Ben.

I believe that is your land, but you don't have the proof of that.

And that's why I say-- And I'm just gonna say it this one time.

--Ben, keep it legal.

Mr. Cartwright, I have a suggestion.

I expect to net upwards of $50,000 from this mining operation.

I'd be happy to relinquish my claim if you can match that figure.

Mining operation? Blackmail scheme.

That's pretty strong language, Mr. Cartwright.

I hope you don't mean to repeat it.

I'm well able to protect myself.

How many men did you say were out there?

Well, I, uh, saw three.

They were all armed and they sure didn't look like no miners to me.

I sure wish Adam and Little Joe were here. We'd be four of us.

There is three of us now, Pa. I hired a new man this morning.

Huh? Lucky I run into him too, I guess.

Very talented fellow and he...

Come on, boys. Let's give old Patch a real bit of--

Hey, stop it. Give me my hat!

Stop that! Leave him alone, do you hear me? Stop it.

My new hat, please. Let me have it.

Please.

No, don't shoot! Don't!

This ain't none of your affair, Hoss.

Patch here works for the Ponderosa. That makes it some of my affair.

Besides that, he's a friend of mine. Hoss.

Hoss, it's all right. They didn't mean it. They were just funning.

Yeah? Well, I just joined the fun.

Charlie, you just bought yourself a hat.

You hear that, ma'am? Put that on his bill.

Now, ain't you fellows got something better to do?

Oh, thank you, Miss Fleming, thank you.

I--

Hoss.

Want you to meet Patch here. He's our new hand.

Sure pleased to meet you, sir. Patch.

They were just having fun.

Hoss, we better get going. I want to get to the mine site,

see what's going on there. Yeah.

You better come along with us, Patch. I'll get my horse.

Right. Come on, Patch. We'll get you a hat later.

Whoa.

Whoa.

I wonder how they could have got all that equipment in here

without us knowing about it.

I don't know, but we probably never would have known about it

if old Patch here hadn't told me.

Better take a closer look at it.

Here. You may need that.

Tsk. Tsk.

Giddyup.

Whoa, whoa.

Anybody here?

I'm here. We're all here.

All around you.

Look out. He's going to shoot.

Patch. Get him.

Patch.

Hold it. Hold your fire.

Ben, I ought to run you in for armed assault.

I warned you to let the law handle this.

Law? He's using the law as a license to steal.

Besides, we didn't start this fight.

Then how did it start?

Well,

almost by chance, you might say.

You men get back to work.

I expect to be operating here within the week.

Ben, I want your word that you won't come back here.

Until we get a legal ruling on this.

All right.

I'm certain we can work something out

to our mutual satisfaction, Mr. Cartwright.

My former offer still holds good.

Try not to move that for a while and I'm sure it will heal nicely.

I'll drop by tomorrow. You were mighty lucky, Ben.

Couple of inches over and you would have been in real trouble.

Well, I'll be going.

I'll walk you to the door, doc. Thank you.

Good night, Ben. Thank you, doctor.

Come back and see us, doc.

Well, Pa, I don't want you worrying about things around here.

I'll take care of the ranch. You just take it easy and get well.

I don't know how you're going to take care of a ranch

if you're gonna pick up ranch hands like that Patch.

Tsk, yeah.

Seems to me, a man is willing to work for a ranch,

he ought to be willing to fight for it. I reckon so.

But doggone it, Pa, it wasn't Patch's fight.

I can son of understand it.

I don't blame him much for what he done.

It seems to me, it wasn't your fight either, earlier today,

and you dealt yourself in.

Yeah.

See, I son of talked him into coming with me.

He didn't want to in the first place.

I reckon the best thing to do

is take him back to Rockerville where I found him.

People living up there again?

No, just him.

It's a ghost town like Rhyolite, Persimmonville, Genoa.

Genoa, heh.

You know, that's where I went up to see old man Hendricks.

He was doing some mining up there in Genoa just before he died.

When I went up to buy that piece of land from him

that Bronson is mining on now. Yeah?

Yeah. You know, they tried to make that the county seat once.

Is that right? Yeah.

I didn't know that. Yeah. One night a bunch of fellows,

they broke into, uh, the town hall in Virginia City,

took out a whole bunch of papers and took them up to Genoa

trying to force them to make that the county seat.

Hey, Pa.

You don't reckon that the record of old man Hendricks' title

might be up there in Genoa with those other papers?

Oh, no. An old ghost town, everything's tumbled down.

Uh...

Wouldn't mm to ride up there to find out though, would it?

You're doggone right.

I'm gonna do that first thing in the morning,

right after I talk with Patch.

Yeah. Hess?

You do agree with me--? Oh, yeah, I agree, Pa.

I got us on this hook, I'll get us off. He's out there in the tack room now.

Patch.

Patch. Ah.

Patch. No. Don't shoot.

Pete. Pete.

Shady, look out. Look out, Red.

Don't. Don't kill me. Don't kill me.

Don't kill me. Patch, Patch, wake up.

No, don't--!

It's me. It's me, Hoss, Patch.

You must have been having a nightmare or something.

Who were them fellows you was talking about?

Red and Pete and them?

I don't know.

Nobody. Nobody. I just dozed off.

Well, I better clean up here and go to bed proper.

I gotta get up early now that I'm working for the Ponderosa.

Patch.

We-- Pa and me were talking back there at the house--

And you decided I better move on?

Well, Pa just don't feel that we can take on another hand right now.

Maybe when the fall--

It's because of what I did this afternoon,

or didn't do, isn't it?

Oh, don't take on, Hoss. It ain't the first time this has happened.

Doggone it, Patch. I don't understand why you do it.

How come you let those fellows hoorah you around

in the street like that?

And then this afternoon when Pa got in trouble?

How come you want to do things like that?

Because I'm a coward.

Everybody gets scared every once in a while,

but they don't huddle up like a rabbit, wait for the wildcat to strike them,

like it was something natural.

There's a difference between being scared and being a coward.

I heard your Pa calling

and I knew I should help him but I couldn't move.

I just couldn't move any pan of me.

It was like I was stuck to the ground. Can you understand that?

You know, I warned you when we first met

you wouldn't want the likes of me around.

I'll get my gear and leave.

You don't want to be saddled with me any more than you have to.

Oh,well, uh...

I'll stop by that store in town,

pick up my old clothes, give them back the new duds.

They're almost like new.

No, I don't want you to do that.

Keep the new ones as a personal gift from me.

There ain't no big rush about you leaving neither.

I'm gonna be going into town in the morning anyhow,

and you can just ride in with me.

Now that's settled. I'll see you in the morning.

Good night, Hoss. Good night, Patch.

No more nightmares, you hear?

No more nightmares.

I'll leave your mount at the livery stable, Hoss.

Well, there ain't no need in that.

I'll be passing through Rockerville on my way back from Genoa.

I can pick her up there. Genoa?

What are you going therefor?

Well, Pa thinks maybe that the records for the sale of that east section

might be over there.

I'll tell you, since we're in town,

you're going to probably want to pick up some supplies.

Oh, no, thanks, Hoss, I don't need a thing.

Well, sure, you did a day's work, you get a day's pay.

It's yours, take it. All right. Thank you.

Good morning. Good morning.

I wonder if I might see you both in the store for a minute?

Sure.

I--

I found this in your old clothes when I was throwing them away.

You might as well show it to Hoss.

It's not a secret anymore, Mr. Saunders.

"Plainville, Kansas. Three youths slain.

Red Lindel, 17, Pete Saunders, 18, and Edwin "Shady" Barnes, 18,

were killed last night in bloody and unwarranted gunplay

they provoked when they rode into Plainville

bent on taking the law into their own hands.

Sixteen-year-old Albert Saunders miraculously escaped

the fusillade of bullets that rent the night."

Your, uh...

Your real name is Albert Saunders, ain't it? You were there that night.

I've never really gotten away from there.

That scene has been with me every hour of my life since then,

awake or sleeping.

Why don't you tell us what happened?

There were five of us,

all young hellions sprouting our cats,

doing men's work, thinking we were men.

Well, this Friday night, Dick Turpin--

He was about my best friend.

--He got into a poker game in town.

Dick was cleaning everybody.

Then this one man, he...

A guy who had lost a lot of money, he called Dick for cheating.

Well, he kept after him, pressing him,

until finally Dick had to go for his gun.

Dick used to think he was pretty fast,

but this man killed him before he got off a shot.

Well, no one did a thing about it.

Not a thing.

So we came back that night to even things up.

Yeah, but they were waiting for us on the roofs,

behind barricades on the street.

We never even got off our horses, we were shot off.

I saw my brother, Pete-- He was dead before he hit the ground.

--And Red and Shorty lying in the mud, not moving.

My horse reared, and that's what saved me.

So I slid behind this horse trough,

but you know, they kept shooting at me.

I didn't want to get killed like my brother, Pete,

so I started yelling and I kept on yelling, I couldn't stop.

They told me afterwards I kept that up,

yelling on and off for two days.

I remember the doctor saying it was some kind of shock,

that it would wear off in time, but...

Well, that was more than 12 years ago.

What a horrible thing for a boy to see.

Yeah.

You know, I wasn't even scratched that night,

but somehow they blasted the backbone clean out of me

and I've been a coward ever since. Afraid to fight, afraid to get hurt

You know, I can look up and see some man walking toward me

and I get cold all over for no reason at all.

And then I break out in a sweat. And sometimes...

Oh, sometimes, I wish I'd been killed back there with Pete and the others.

You quit talking like that.

You got a lot of good living ahead of you yet.

You just got to get ahold of yourself.

What, do you think I want to be like this?

Just smiling at everybody all the time, but really afraid of their guns?

Do you think I want to be a buffoon in front of a lady like her?

You're not a buffoon.

And firing a gun at somebody doesn't make a man.

That's right.

You're a good woman. Thank you.

Patch.

I'll talk to you some more about this.

Right now, I got to get on over to Genoa.

We'll discuss it later, you hear?

What do you suppose he's up to at this hour?

Nothing. He's too dumb to know anything.

Oh, he's big, but he's not dumb, don't you ever forget that.

I've been following the two of them since they left the ranch.

He just ordered supplies.

Saw him talking to the girl from the store.

He probably said goodbye to the new hand

after seeing him in action yesterday.

You want me to go follow him?

There are easier ways. Come on.

Oh, please let me go, please.

As soon as you tell us

what the Canwrights are up to.

I don't know. I don't know.

Maybe he doesn't. I think he does.

He and Cartwright were thick as thieves this morning.

No Cartwright is worth this.

Why hold out any longer? I don't know where he is.

I don't know.

Please. He's my friend. All right, let him down.

Oh, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bronson. Thank you.

No, no, no.

Don't shoot me. Don't hurt me. Don't.

Don't hurt me. Don't. No, no, no, don't, don't.

Anything come back to you, Patch?

He went to Genoa to get some records.

There ain't a thing in that ghost town.

They wouldn't go all that way for nothing.

They're after proof of Hendricks' title.

We'd better make sure he don't come back.

Patch, did your friend tell you what trail he'd be taking?

I don't know.

Did he say he planned on coming back through Rockerville?

Uh-huh.

Howdy, partner. I didn't mean to spook you.

Hello, Hoss.

Man, I don't care how you slice it.

That pie still smells mighty like apple pie to me.

Sure did have along, lean ride.

Well, sit down, Hoss. We'll have some pie.

Doggone, I didn't think you was going to ever ask.

Been waiting for you.

That pie is about the best-looking thing I've run across,

except this ledger I found in Genoa.

I got the proof right there that's gonna fix it

so we can run that Bronson bunch plumb out of the territory.

What's the matter?

Don't tell me Charlie and them been picking on you again.

No, no, that, uh, horse of yours shied coming over the ridge

and dumped me on a pile of rocks. I'm okay, heh.

I did me a little thinking while I was out there riding.

I come up with a dandy idea for you.

We've been needing a wheelwright shop in Virginia City

for a long time.

And there's a great spot for one.

Talk more about it after I get this ledger to Roy Coffee.

Come on, eat, buddy.

This is a celebration, not the Last Supper.

Mm, mm.

That was just a shutter. Wind's blowing up a storm out there.

Hoss, I'm going to get some wood.

Oh, wait a minute. I'll help you. No, no, you stay here.

You enjoy your pie.

Hoss.

Hoss, you've been good to me. Too good.

Aw.

Friends just help one another, that's all.

I ain't worth it, Hoss. I told you.

You shouldn't have had anything to do with me, ever.

I got him.

Get him. Get him.

Keep firing, boys. Get him out of there.

Patch. Patch.

They got me pinned down in a cross fire.

You're going to have to help me, Patch.

And firing a gun at somebody doesn't make a man.

Hoss. Hoss!

Hoss. You all right?

Yeah.

Well, we did them in, partner, thanks to you.

Hey, what's that?

I'd forgotten about it. It doesn't hurt.

It doesn't even hurt

Yeah, well, it will later on,

but you're going to feel so doggone good elsewhere

that you won't even notice it.

Thanks for helping me, Patch. I knew you would.

I don't know what made me able to do it.

Yes, I do. I heard you calling.

And I knew if I didn't help you, I'd hear you the rest of my life.

Nah.

You just saw somebody in trouble and decided to help them, that's all.

I'll tell you this, if it hadn't been for you, partner, I never would have made it.

If it hadn't been for you, Hoss, I'd never have made it.

I'll put this ledger in the safe.

It's been recorded and notarized and signed by three witnesses,

so the next time some claim jumper tries to move in on that land--

You tell me and I'll run them off. Thanks, Roy.

You know, Hoss, the only thing we need in there

is a forge to sweat our rims.

We got plenty of hardwood out on the Ponderosa.

Hi, Pa.

Patch. Mr. Cartwright.

Patch. A couple of-- Pa, it ain't Patch.

It's Albert Saunders.

Yeah, you're perfectly right. I forgot about that, Hoss.

Mr. Saunders, I've been looking over our place,

and I believe we could use the services of a man who does brickwork.

Pa, it's a good idea, but see, Al's,

Al's going into business for himself, a wheelwright.

As a matter of fact, I'm kind of going in with him, as a financier.

Mind you, I'll just be a financier.

Still have plenty of time for my chores at the Ponderosa.

Well, by golly, I'm glad to hear that.

Well, congratulations. Good luck. Thank you, sir.

I reckon, AI, that the first thing you'll be wanting to do

is pick up a few things over there at the mercantile store, huh?

I'll, uh, tend to that later, Hoss.

Uh, let me get your horses. AI.

You know, sometimes it's harder trying to buy a new hat

than it is facing up to a man with a cocked .44.

Ain't it?

Yeah.

Uh-oh.

Miss Fleming, ma'am, I'd like to buy a hat.

Hoss, I think you've made yourself a good investment.

Son, I'm proud of you.

You're getting to be a good judge of men.

How about a beer? Hey, yeah, Pa.

Uh, I hope you've got the money, Mr. Financier.

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