Original subtitles

Hyah! Hyah!

Mr. Clark? That's right.

I'm Mallory Butler, from the New York Herald.

How do you do, Mr. Butler?

Come in and make yourself comfortable.

Thank you.

You came a long way to sell your papers, didn't you?

I'm a featured correspondent,

not a salesman, Mr. Clark.

I know. Actually, I've been assigned

to do a series of articles on the American frontier.

As well as some of its more colorful personalities.

Among them, your Jim Hardie.

I see.

I was hoping that he'd be here.

Well, he's working on a case down at the docks,

but you will see him.

Possibly, you could fill me in, while we are waiting.

Yeah, I guess, I could.

I like to think that maybe I helped raise Jim Hardie in a job

that he's managed to make famous.

And I don't mind pointing out, even to a stranger,

what a difference there is in the man he is now,

and the boy he was when I first met him.

Where did he come from?

Louisiana,

little town outside New Orleans, good family.

Father was famous for the fine horses he raised.

He died when Jim was 19 years old.

Then an incident occurred,

well, I'm not too sure about it, but,

anyway, Jim sold the farm, his younger brother and sister got married,

Jim moved his mother on into New Orleans.

After that, just became a drifter.

Well, it was at this point in his life when I ran across him

in a lawless little town in Texas.

And I'll never forget the name of it.

"Sweet Slumber."

TOM: I guess, he got that name

because it was considered bad manners to disturb the dead.

Well, at least until the town mortician got around to it.

And he was a very busy man.

I'd opened the first Well Fargo office in this part of the country

about a week before.

Our first stage was scheduled

to roll into town, the following day.

That late afternoon, was the first time I ever saw Jim Hardie.

He looked like what he might well have become.

A drifter, tough and cynical,

with a gun to do the bidding

of his lightning-fast left hand.

That day was also the first time I saw High Willy Crane,

or any of his delightful little group.

Hey,

Get up.

Move.

That's funny.

I don't seem to hear anybody say, "Welcome home."

Good Afternoon.

Like to pawn this.

How much could you let me have?

Well, I couldn't say offhand.

It's nice and clean.

Nice action too.

If I loaned you, say, $10, son,

would that be about right?

I paid $30 for it in Louisiana.

But, this ain't Louisiana son.

Out here we got these things stacked up

like they was hatched by mother hens.

Son...

tired ain't you?

Hungry too.

I didn't say that.

Let's see the gun again.

Let's say $20 then.

Hope you get a good night's rest.

You might as well keep that, son.

Herman...

that'd a real tired boy, if I'm any judge.

Tired as a hunted bobcat.

And he could be as hard to handle.

I bet he could.

That big man standing there,

did you see him, riding into town?

Sure, you could hardly miss him

Must have been about six and seven, with him.

One there was a big tall fellow leading 'em.

Sounds kind of crazy, but he had the look of, uh...

an emperor in his eyes.

Thank you. It's what I wanted to know.

What's the matter with you?

There's nothing the matter with me.

I just happen to know when it's time

to clean the stock off my shelves.

But, why? Why?

'Cause High Willy Crane's come home, that's why?

And just between us,

if I was a Wells Fargo agent, Tom,

I'd go look for a place to hide.

Yes, sure nice to be back

among old friends and neighbors.

You know that, Otto?

Nice to have...

have everybody talkin'

and all at once, it's, uh...

it's, so friendly.

Give me a bowl of that lentil soup.

Well, I'm glad somebody found his voice.

You can be the first to have a drink with me, friend.

No, thank you.

Think I'll just have a bowl of soup.

Where's your gun, boy?

Some sheriff take it away from you?

Or did your mom?

Well, how about it, Freight Car?

Willy: You still think his ma took it away from him?

Give him a gun and let's find out.

Somebody...

Anybody, give him a gun!

Pick it up, boy.

Pluck it, just like a daisy.

Freight Car will be ready anytime.

Pick it up!

I like that boy.

You just go chew another bone.

I like him well enough to buy him a bowl of lentil soup.

Hey, Otto.

Bring this boy a bowl of soup,

and one of them dollar steaks.

Well, what do you think Willy Crane's up to?

I don't know.

Willy and his four brothers,

along with Freight Car

and a little man called Joe Caboose

used to live around here.

Willy was always the brains,

and they say that

his brothers wouldn't have hung by their necks,

if they'd listened to him.

All four of them are hung?

Like holiday turkeys all in a row.

They robbed a bank and killed two deputies

at Harper's Flats three years ago.

Willy wasn't with them at the time.

When Judge Hackett sentenced them,

he said that his only regret was that they all couldn't hang together.

Judge Willard T. Hackett?

Yeah, why?

Judge Hackett, is due in here tomorrow

on the first run of the stage at 2:00.

Hey, Otto. Better take it out of way.

I don't think the boy wants it now.

Hey, Freight Car!

Imagine what that boy might have done to you

if you had a good night's sleep.

Oh, you feel any better?

Yes, I do.

Night's sleep, some food, they affect me that way.

Now...

what makes you such a good Samaritan?

Maybe because I liked the way

you handled yourself last night.

You think I had a choice?

Another thing,

I thought you might be looking for work.

Can you handle dynamite?

I've handled my share.

What do you want blown up?

Small bridge, 10-12 miles, south of here.

Who does it belong to?

Well, we'll just say it's mine, we'll say that I'm

in the cattle business, sort of.

My cows get lost, when they wander across the bridge

to the other side of the gorge.

I want it blown up.

And you can't blow it yourselves?

We are not very smart with dynamite.

Are we, Harry?

Harry, hold up your hand.

Any more questions?

Just one.

How much?

$100,

in advance.

For $100, I'd blow my grandmother out of her corset.

HARDIE: Hang on to this.

Hey, shouldn't that fuse be a little longer?

They don't burn as fast as most people think.

Wouldn't want to frighten you, Freight Car.

Or Willy's cows.

Curious as to what happened to those cows.

They went to pick apples.

And you didn't get paid a $100

to come up here and get curious.

If you're gonna blow that bridge blow it now,

got somebody coming.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Hey! Hey!

Bueno! Bueno, hombre!

It's a great place for an accident, ain't it?

No, Freight Car.

The boss will know he is no accident.

He likes this boy.

Yeah, he likes him.

He likes him too much.

We were dirt under his feet when his

brothers were alive, we're gonna be dirt again.

He'll have us fixing this tramp's breakfast,

cleaning his shoes.

I know what you mean.

Just the same, you cannot drop him down

into the gorge with $100 in his pocket.

Yeah. Can you?

All right. Get the money. You keep your hands up.

Put the dynamite in 'em?

Drop the dynamite.

The way it is now, it's as worthless as

two pounds of potatoes.

Well, ain't it?

Drop it!

You're gonna have to answer to the boss for this.

Move!

Would you recognize him?

No, sir.

Well, I just figured they were the High Willy boys.

I thought the best thing for me to do to keep from having trouble

was to get outta there in a hurry.

Well, you're right about that.

What do you think, they are up to, Mr. Clark?

Well, the whole town knows what they are up to, why shouldn't you?

They haven't been keeping it a secret.

When this stage gets in at 2:00 today,

Willy figures to hang Judge Hackett,

just like the judge hung his four brothers.

Got just about an hour.

I don't think I would be on the street

too long, if I were you.

Giddy-up.

I wanna get my own gun back.

Well, didn't take you long, did it, son?

I got a job.

Taking care of Freight Car?

Joe Caboose?

Blowing up a bridge?

Who are you?

Name's Tom Clark, Wells Fargo.

I'm responsible for the stage

that gets in here at 2:00,

as well as the people on it.

You don't seem very happy about it.

Give him back his bloody money, Herman.

I'll see you get paid,

but not like that.

I don't know who you are

to start preaching, mister.

But if you're worried about the big Ox,

who tried to dump me into the gorge, don't.

Freight Car?

From what I know about him, I don't care

whether you shot him, scalped him,

or blew him up with the bridge.

I'm talking about the federal judge that Willy Crane's

planning on hanging at 2:00 today.

Hanging? Yes.

You didn't know that, son?

How would I know it?

You mean you didn't ask him

why the bridge was to be blown?

I'll tell you why.

That bridge was blown

so that Willy Crane could get control of this town completely.

How?

The stage comes in from the north.

I sent the Harper's Flats for help.

That's south of here, and so is the bridge.

That help's never gonna get here,

you took care of that,

when you dynamited the bridge.

Hey, boss. Over there,

the horses- Freight Car's, Joe's.

If you're so worried about that judge getting hung,

why don't you send somebody out to stop the stage?

I sent a volunteer rider out this morning.

His horse was shot out under him.

They got a man, north of town.

There haven't been any more volunteers

Look, Hardie, you were willing

to do Willy Crane's dirty work for money.

Wells Fargo will hire you,

pay you the same price to help me.

What are you gonna do?

I'm seeing it out with Tom.

I suppose you're wondering what an old coot like me

can do against a bunch like that?

Well, at my age,

with the judgment day crowding a little close,

don't matter so much how long you live.

The big thing is the manner in which you go out.

Sooner or later, a man has

to stand with the sheep or the jackals.

I suppose somebody like you that's been kicking around

could go either way.

It's a thing to decide for yourself.

Better get up there.

Haw! Haw!

Well, those are their guns, all right.

How do I know you didn't kill them?

You don't.

You have to take my word for that.

I fired a couple of shots over their heads.

They almost fell in the gorge.

Almost,

but, not quite.

It'll take them a while to walk back, but they'll be here.

This was after you blew the bridge, huh?

Unfortunately.

Unfortunately?

Not every judge I've met

in the past two years, been specially kind to me.

But the thought never occurred to me to hang one of them.

Did one of those judges ever hang your brothers,

four in a row?

But my brother never help up a bank and killed two deputies.

Now, what's that supposed to prove?

Something that this town doesn't already feel?

They laid down and quit, when you walked in.

They act like a dog that's been kicked in the belly.

All they do is sit and whine.

You wanna make it any different, boy?

I could try.

But I think I could find a better place.

There's an old man sitting over there in that gun store.

He and the fellow from Wells Fargo,

they don't want to see the judge get hung.

And you?

Me?

I keep thinking about that old man.

He's got more guts than me and you combined.

That's why, I took that slap.

I was gambling.

Gamble? On what?

That when I walk outta here to join them,

that you're not going to shoot me in the back.

Keep going, boy.

And when you get to that gun shop, just remember

the party is no longer on me.

You two, upstairs.

The boy's coming now.

I don't know whether he's with us,

but they're watching him through the saloon.

Now.

Hardie?

I'm coming out, Hardie.

Willy: It's just the two of us now.

Whenever you ready, boy.

It's like I said,

just you and me.

Stay out of it.

I owe him this much.

Too bad in a way.

Is it?

Herman Jackson's dead too.

Like the old man said, Jim,

you can run with the jackals,

or stay with the sheep.

Choice is still up to you.

And, since then,

he's been everything you've heard about.

Everything Wells Fargo could want.

Oh, Mr. Butler,

mind stepping over here, please?

There's your Jim Hardie, right there.

And,

there but for the grace of God

could be another High Willy Crane.

Well, you've been very helpful, Mr. Clark.

You've certainly given me

enough information for an open article on Jim Hardie.

Thank you, very much, sir.

Not at all.

Feel free to call on me anytime I can help you.

Good day, sir. Good day, Mr. Butler.

Oh, one more thing.

You mentioned that after Hardie's father died

something happened that caused him

to sell the farm and become a drifter.

You wouldn't know what that something was?

Well, it's only a rumor, I'm afraid, but

I hear that it all started over a girl.

A girl named, Annabelle Sutton.

It usually does, doesn't it?

Thank you, sir.