Original subtitles

DRIVER: Hyah! Hyah!

JIM: The town of Kimball was a few stores, a hotel,

a saloon, and a Wells Fargo office.

Most of its business came from the ranches around it.

That was enough to draw the wrong kind,

especially when the spring sale money

was due in on the stage.

There you go, Henry, you old worry wart.

Safe and sound.

You're ten minutes late. Have some trouble?

Sure did. Troubles keepin' awake.

Well, let's roll, friend.

See you Friday, Henry.

You be good, young fella.

DRIVER: Giddup!

JESS: You the agent?

Inside.

JIM: I was on my way home from a few days' visit

with a friend who owned a ranch near Kimball.

It was afternoon, and I was thinking about dinner

when I heard the shots.

HENRY: Help! Somebody, help! Get a doctor!

Help. My leg, my leg.

Hold on, Henry. We got a doctor comin'.

Did you stop 'em, Jim? I got one of 'em.

The one with the saddlebag.

Had you ever seen any of 'em before?

No, and I'd remember that young'un.

You think you'd recognize him if you saw him again?

He did this. I'd recognize him in the next life.

JIM: The young outlaw managed to avoid our posse,

so I had "wanted" circulars

sent to every sheriff of the territory.

Because his description matched any number of men,

I figured we'd have trouble locating him.

What I didn't figure on was how much.

Afternoon, Miss Sinclair.

Speakin' to her is a waste of wind.

Oh, it wasn't before her husband died.

That's her trouble. She should've died with him.

Who said she didn't?

Ah!

Oh, my!

Afternoon, ma'am.

Didn't mean to give you a fright.

May I help you?

No, no.

I'll be all right, just...

let me catch my breath.

May I help you with your things?

LOUISE: What?

Who are you?

Well, now, if I...

If I told you the truth, why,

you wouldn't know any more than you know now.

And if I told you a lie,

well, how would you know I wasn't telling you the truth?

Where would you like these things?

You put 'em right down there on the steps.

Oh, no, ma'am.

You do what I say.

And then you get.

I don't want you here.

Or anyone here.

Nobody ever said that

Jess Wilton didn't know enough to do what a lady asks.

Or that he didn't know a lady when he sees one, either.

I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't mean any harm. I...

Well, I thought I might get some water,

and something for it to wash down.

I'm sorry.

I-I didn't mean to upset you, either. I...

Well, to tell you the truth, ma'am, I...

Your place just looks so homey, that I...

I'm sorry.

Young man?

I-if you don't mind...

that box is heavy.

Yes, ma'am.

Back way.

Anything you say, ma'am.

And then you're to leave

soon as I've warmed you some leftovers, you hear? Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

JESS: So I decided to push out from California

and work my way out here.

That's what took all my time, you see.

Money doesn't come easy to me, ma'am. No, sir, I have...

Here I've been talking your leg off. I'm sorry.

Our boy was quite a talker.

This is a picture of him.

It was taken just three months before he was killed.

Mr. Sinclair was never the same afterwards.

He died the following year.

Well, he's a... He's a fine-looking boy, ma'am.

Wasn't much older than me.

No, he wasn't.

Well, now...

that's about as fine a meal as I've ever eaten.

Oh, now, Jess... No, on my honor, ma'am.

That's... Before I left the orphanage or after.

Orphanage?

Well, yes, ma'am.

You see, I never knew my folks. I...

My... My folks was killed.

A outlaw, same as your boy there.

Well, I managed to get by. I...

You know, I left the place, and...

Somebody's out there.

What?

I thought you told me nobody came here.

Ah, it's only Ham Yensey,

one of my neighbor's hands.

They run my cattle for me.

Oh... Well, he gave me quite a start. I...

I thought maybe someone was tryin' to sneak up on ya,

rob you of your cash.

They'd get precious little.

What money I've got's in the bank,

and it'll stay there, too.

Well, there's...

There's more treasure than gold in this house, ma'am.

What do you mean by that?

Why, the reason's as plain as your pretty face.

Oh, fiddlesticks.

No, no, I mean that, ma'am.

Why, you're a pretty woman.

Now, somebody could come in here and steal your heart

and everything that goes with it. Oh, Jess...

No, No. I bet your neighbor's planning to do just that.

Nonsense.

Jason wouldn't consider 2,000 head of cattle

worth the trouble his wife would give him.

Well, that doesn't mean you're safe from everybody, ma'am.

Lots of folks know you live out here all alone.

Only people who live around Buttonwillow.

You didn't know it, did you, Jess?

Well, now, supposin' I did.

Supposin' I heard some talk,

say, down at the saloon

or the livery stable, about a...

a rich widow lady who lived out on a ranch all alone.

But the truth is, I didn't.

Well, I... I think it's time that I be shoving on. I...

I sure wish that I could pay you for that meal, ma'am.

Oh, for goodness sake.

Wait a minute. I know how I could.

There's broken panes in the parlor. Why...

I could ride right now into town, get some glass,

and put 'em in for ya first thing in the mornin'.

You don't have to do that.

Oh, I know, but I'd like to, ma'am.

Now, if you'd just show me

where I bed down when I get back...

Well...

I don't know. I... JESS: Please, ma'am.

You've been so kind to me,

I just wouldn't feel right

unless I had some way to pay you back.

Well, I guess it'd be all right for one night.

JIM: For a month after the robbery,

I was kept busy by sheriffs

who thought they'd seen the young killer.

But things finally quieted down,

until one day I got a letter

from Sheriff Sam Reach, of Buttonwillow,

not three miles from my own ranch

in the Sacramento Valley.

I was gonna have your office contact you, Jim.

After I rode out to your place, I got to thinkin', and I...

I decided against it.

Any special reason why?

This fella can't be the man you're lookin' for, Jim.

Well, in your letter, you sounded almost positive.

I know, I know. He looks like that fella on your poster.

Even has the same measurements.

But that's where the resemblance ends.

Well, I think you're gonna have to explain that.

Well, he's been livin' out at the Sinclair ranch.

Been workin' out there like a dog.

I thought Miss Sinclair had shut herself off against the world.

She had.

Then he went out there to stay about a month ago.

You ask me, Jim, he saved her life.

She's changed.

She's more like she used to be,

and it's all because of this boy, Jess.

That's his name, Jess Wilton.

Now, a man that can restore the faith to live

in an old lady that's given up,

well, he just can't be the shotgun killer you're lookin' for, Jim.

I see.

You had a chance to question him yet?

No, I just said hello, one thing and another.

And you say he came about a month ago?

SAM: That's right.

Well, I'd like to question him.

Why?

You can't identify him, you don't have enough evidence

to prove anything one way or another.

What's the good of askin' questions?

Because I've never seen a guilty man

after you start to question him

just stand around and wait to get arrested.

And you think he might run?

If he's guilty.

I think he'd clear out before mornin'?

Want to come along? Come on.

Hello.

SAM: How do?

How are you, Jim? Good to see you.

Hello, Miss Sinclair Good to see you.

Sheriff. I believe you're right.

You does look twenty years younger.

Jim Hardie, you haven't changed a bit.

Come on in the house, I'll make some coffee.

No, I'd like to, but I don't believe we can right now, ma'am.

I might've known.

Two lawmen, out ridin' together.

Well, what is it?

One of my new hands been cuttin' up in town?

It's a little more serious than that, I'm afraid.

There's a man, he fits this description

and looks a little like that drawing.

He held up the Wells Fargo office

and killed a man in Kimball about a month ago.

Wondering if you could recognize him.

Doesn't look like anyone I know.

Well, the Sheriff thought he looked a little

like your new foreman.

Sheriff thought wrong.

That's nothin' like him. Nothin'.

Would you mind if we ask him a few questions?

LOUISE: He won't be back till dark.

I guess we can wait.

Not here, you can't.

We're just tryin' to do a job, Mrs. Sinclair.

Is that what you call it?

Tryin' to make me believe Jess is something rotten?

Well, I know better.

I know what he is.

You're wrong,

so you get outta here.

Now, Miss Sinclair, please, just...

Get out! Get off my property!

Go on, get outta here!

Go on, now! You get out!

Get off this property, and stay off!

You hear me? Don't you come back!

JIM: I'd never known a criminal that didn't try to run

when he felt the law closing in,

and If Jess Wilton was the man I wanted,

I figured he'd be pullin' stake

soon after he learned about our visit.

If he didn't,

then I'd owe both Miss Sinclair and Wilton an apology.

They said the robbery took place a little over a month ago.

Must've been just before you rode in here.

What, uh... What else did they say?

Nothing very important.

The way they acted!

So high and mighty. Sure got my dander up.

Here. You sit down and eat now.

They, uh... They say why they came here?

Oh, they gave some silly reason.

Nothing for you to fret over.

Well, what reason did they give?

Jess, it's all over and done with.

What reason?

Oh, all right.

They said they wanted to ask you some questions.

As if you'd know where all our new hands had been a month ago.

Yeah.

And after they showed me that "wanted" circular,

I told them there wasn't anyone here who looked like that.

Like what?

The likeness on the circular.

I'd say it was a man about your age.

They said they wanted to talk to me about the hired hands?

Jess, there's nothing for you to worry about.

If Jim Hardie believed, you'd done something,

he'd have been here waitin' when you rode in.

That's right.

And if he had been,

I'd have put him straight right enough.

I know my boy.

I know he couldn't do anything wicked.

No, Ma, I couldn't.

JIM: We stayed out watching the Sinclair ranch all night,

but Jess Wilton didn't run.

It wasn't the first time I'd been wrong.

It's not gonna be the last, either.

Next day, at my place out in the valley,

I had an unexpected visitor.

Then I wasn't so sure I'd been wrong.

Well, there's your broke horse.

Be right with ya.

Hardie, I understand you paid me

a visit yesterday. I'm Jess Wilton.

Well, yes, I did.

Sure got the old lady riled up.

When she said you wanted to ask me some questions,

I thought, well, I better hurry over and get them over with.

I see.

Well, I don't believe that'll be necessary now.

I think we've got our answers.

JESS: You have? I think so.

Oh. Well, then,

looks like I made the trip for nothin' then.

Oh, I almost forgot.

The old lady is a little sorry she was so fractious yesterday.

Wanted me to invite you over for dinner.

How about Tuesday night?

Tuesday will be fine.

Good. We'll see you then.

All right.

So long.

That is not a good man, Senor Jim.

Got a reason for saying so?

No.

Only here, inside.

Sometimes that's the best kind.

Saddle my horse, Pedro. I think I'll take a ride into town.

Muy bien.

JIM: I sent a telegram back to Kimball,

then rode on down to the Sheriff's office

to tell him what I'd done.

Jim, I'm glad you came into town.

I was gonna ride out to your place.

Is that right?

Remember I told you I'd let you know

if I found out the reason

why Wilton was staying out at the ranch?

Yep. I think I found it.

Want you to have a word with Miss Sinclair's lawyer.

How are you, Mr. Beevers? Hello, Jim.

You've been away for a while.

Well, I travel a good deal nowadays.

Mr. Beevers, you tell Jim what you just told me.

Ahem, well, um, uh...

I don't really know that it amounts to anything or not.

It does.

Well, um, uh...

This new foreman Mrs. Sinclair has hired,

uh, and against my better judgment, I might add.

No one knows the first thing about him.

Uh, anyway, um, he came in this morning,

got an awful lot of gall.

He told me Louise sent him with some notes

to include in a change in her will.

She's changing her will?

That's right.

And the new beneficiary, I suppose, is Jess Wilton.

He is.

SAM: Could be why he stayed on, Jim.

Sinclair ranch and that herd worth a lot of money.

Have you delivered the will to her yet?

Not yet.

You don't think, this boy would do anything to Louise?

If he's who I think he is,

her life's not worth a plugged nickel.

Would you mind if

we delivered the will in your place?

I guess that's all right.

It's in my office.

Oh, my, Jess.

Are you... Are you sure

that Mrs. Sinclair wasn't mistaken?

A new will?!

Are you... Are you sure?

Jess! That's enough, Jess!

You'd think I was gonna steal you out of house and home.

Maybe... maybe... Maybe even murder you.

Oh, dear!

Coming!

Why, Jim Hardie.

Good evening, Mrs. Sinclair. Sheriff.

Come on in.

You both know Jess.

Yes, we've met him.

What brings you out this way tonight, Jim?

Mr. Beevers asked us to drop your will by

since we were coming this way.

Oh, that was very kind of you.

Will's a good thing to have

even if you are in good health.

I believe you're going to be with us a long time.

Don't you, Jess?

Hardie, you know, I just can't help feeling that you're doggin' me.

Now, what would give you that idea?

Matter of fact I was gonna ask you to help me.

Friend of mine, Henry Berman,

he was shot in a hold-up about a month or so ago.

He coming in on the stage tomorrow.

What's that got to do with Jess?

Well, I was gonna see if Jess wouldn't take us out

and look over some of your new hands.

If the guilty man's here,

you'd want to know about it, wouldn't you?

Yes. Yes, I would.

Good. See you in the morning.

Good night. Well, good night.

Night, Miss Sinclair.

Thanks again for bringing this to me.

Night, Sheriff.

Think nothin' of it.

When I wired Henry,

I told him what he'd more than likely be up against.

I also told him we'd give him all of the protection we could.

He knew he didn't have to come,

but he had a strong reason

for wanting the man that had shot him.

Mighty strong reason.

Ah, hiya, Jim. Hello, Henry.

Good to see you. How's things?

Help me with these crutches, here.

I haven't got too used to these.

There you go.

Ah, you've got enough rifles in the street.

Doing the best we can. Don't want anything to happen to you.

Ah, you won't.

Say, you suppose we got time enough for a cup of coffee?

Yeah, right across the street.

You all right, Henry?

Yeah, yeah, I'm all right.

But look at this.

It was Wilton, Jim. He was in the hay wagon.

I think he's headed out toward the Sinclair ranch.

Take care of him.

Hyah!

Ma? Jess.

Ma, look, I've got to get out of here.

I've had a little trouble with Hardie.

Jim Hardie? Why, Jess?

I don't know why. Why has he been dogging me like he has?

Now, look, Mama, have you... Have you got any money?

All the money I have in the house

is the pay for the new hands.

Good. Good. Would you get that?

Well, Jess.

Here.

No, Jess. No, no.

JIM: Mrs. Sinclair?

Tell him I'm not here.

Please, son, let me try to straighten out the trouble.

Let go, lady.

Will you please go and do as I tell you?

Oh, Jess.

Why you... You're...

Tell him, now!

Mrs. Sinclair,

I'm looking for Jess Wilton.

He tried to kill the only witness we had

that could identify him.

Is he here? No.

I see.

If he shows up, you be sure...

Jess!

Jess!

Jess!

Oh, Jess.

JIM: The loss of Mrs. Sinclair's son was the prime factor

in accepting Jess Wilton as a substitute,

even though she knew instinctively

that he was an outlaw.

The doctor, however, says

that she's pretty well over it now

and that time will do the rest. I hope so.