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♪♪

♪♪

They make it pretty rough on us in there, don't they, old man?

Like I said, Mr. Cartwright,

you'll buy yourself a whole new herd

with what you earn on those shares.

Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Fielding,

I don't usually invest in gold mines...

but I guess a little diversification

is a pretty good thing now and then.

Then shall we call it a deal?

Yeah, it's a deal.

I'll get the certificates

out of my safe and be back in a few minutes.

Fine. I'll be, uh... I'll be inside here.

I'll have a beer, please.

Help yourself to some whiskey, friend.

Well, thank you, friend, I think I'll just stay with the beer.

Thank you. All right.

Thank you. Oh, me.

This is gonna be a night.

Are you, uh, you celebrating?

A hardworking man don't need nothin' better

than a Saturday night for celebrating.

I guess you're right. Mmm.

Oh, that... that...

that there is gold dust.

Been havin' a run of luck in Downieville.

Yes, so I understand. Mm-hmm.

Give these duds of mine a good shakin',

a man could collect himself a fair stake.

Hey, half-breed,

bring me a beer.

My boy has got a name.

I called him by his name. Half-breed!

Things gets a mite fierce around here at times.

Yeah, I can see that.

Hey, Jenkins is my name.

You a stranger in town?

Well, I'm here on some business.

I'll be leaving first thing in the morning.

Stay clear of Big Charlie Monahan.

He cheats at them cards.

I'll try to remember that.

I ain't tellin' you no lie.

I lost my first stake to Big Charlie,

clean down to my mule and my pickax.

Oh, sorry to hear that.

Seein' as how you're a stranger in town and won't tell...

I'm gonna let you in on a secret.

0h?

I'm gonna get things evened up.

Old Jenkins is gonna get even with Big Charlie tonight.

Oh, well, uh... why don't you hold off till morning?

Things will look a whole lot different then.

I had this notion for a good long while.

It's the only good'un I ever did have.

And I'm gonna get it off my mind tonight.

Somebody's got to show him...

and I'm just the one that can do it.

I see you've met old Jenkins, Mr. Cartwright.

Old Jenkins.

Well, he sure was making some threats.

Oh, Jenkins is always threatening to do something.

He's always mad at somebody.

He seemed pretty determined.

Folks in Downieville

don't take that old codger serious anymore.

No reason why you should.

Yeah.

I guess you're right.

How about a beer?

♪♪

What's the matter, friend?

Feeling a little tired this morning?

I done it, friend.

You done what?

Burned down Big Charlie's shack.

Burned him out of everything he has.

Burned it clean to the ground.

Oh, made a grand blaze while it lasted, but...

You know something, friend?

The taste of ashes is bitter, isn't it?

That's right.

It ain't that he didn't deserve it.

Well, there ain't a man in town

that wouldn't like to see Big Charlie get done in.

Do you realize what a terrible thing you've done?

I do now.

Well, what are you gonna do about it?

I-I just don't know.

Reckon I have to own up to it.

But then I'm scared, if... in do,

he's gonna knock me crosswise.

Might've been a good idea

if you'd thought of that last night.

Where's this place you're talking about?

It's just over on the other side of town there,

what's left of it, couple of miles.

Well, I... I got to be getting home.

Friend...

would you...?

Would I what? Well, I... I hate to go over there

and face him all by myself alone.

Would you...?

Well, would... would it make you feel better if I went with you?

Would you? Well, you just wait right there!

I got to go round up Sonora Sue!

She got lost in the fracas last night!

I got to go... find her.

Sonora Sue! Sonora Sue!

Sonora Sue!

Where in the... where's that dang Sonora Sue?

Oh---...

Sonora Sue!

Where in the...

Oh. Come on, now...

Come on, follow me.

Got a job to do.

Come on.

I find out who done this, I'll kill 'em, so help me!

Yeah, maybe it was that miner you beat up in town, Pa.

No, nobody who felt my fist would come near this place.

They wouldn't dare.

I don't know why I hang around this town anyway.

There's a lot better places than this rotten hole.

You ain't thinking of pulling out, are you, Pa?

What's to keep me here, this?

Yeah.

This.

A grave.

Remember how it was when your mother was alive?

How we all tried to live...

fine and happy?

Not botherin' nobody.

You remember how it was, Charlie Two?

I remember, Pa.

I loved your mother.

She was a Shoshone,

and they wore her down with their insults and their hate,

and it killed her.

That's why I've been stealing 'em blind ever since

for what they done to her.

I remember... Ma crying.

Even her own people turned against her.

Marrying a white man, me.

So both white and Indian treated her like dirt.

The way they treat you now.

Well, I don't care about them. I don't need 'em.

You don't need anybody, long as you get the first jump.

Because it's them that steals before they get robbed

and shoots before they get shot that survive in this world.

You hear me, boy?

I-I hear you, Pa.

You do the other fella before he does you.

That's what I've been trying to drum into you

ever since your mother died-- and don't you forget it.

Pa, if...

if you pull out, you ain't gonna leave me alone, are you?

Oh, well...

come along if you want to.

I'll come with you, Pa.

♪♪

There ain't no reason why me and Big Charlie

can't talk this out, is there?

Uh, if Charlie wants to talk.

Look, I've been having a run of luck lately.

I-I got more than enough to help him build a new shack.

Well, why don't you tell him that right off?

I aim to. Good.

Oh, come on, there's nothing left here we can use.

Hey, Pa? Huh?

Oh.

Yeah. Yeah.

♪♪

Let's get into town.

I want the one who done this.

Uh, it's right over here.

Whoa.

Right over there.

I sure am much obliged to you, friend,

for comin' all this way out here with me.

Much obliged to you.

Well, uh, don't you want me to go the rest of the way?

I got to face up to him sometime alone.

Oh, you're gonna have to do that, all right.

You sure you want to do it now?

I'm sure.

Come on, Sonora Sue, let's go.

Hyah.

Pa, he didn't even have a gun.

So? He'd be just as dead if he had one.

Just take that gun out real easy.

Throw it over here.

Don't you try anything, son.

You killed him. Yeah.

He came here to say that he was sorry for what he'd done.

He said it.

He wanted to pay you.

Well, we'd better get into town and see the sheriff.

That's fine. He burnt me out.

You killed him, and he didn't have a gun.

Put him on his mule.

Mister, you give me any trouble, I'll see you dead.

Why don't you stay for the hanging, Mr. Cartwright?

Oh, I've seen plenty of them in my time, Mr. Fielding.

This could be a special day for Downieville.

You don't get to see a thing like this every day.

Uh, are you sure now you can't stay on a bit?

No, I got some stops to make before I get home.

Well, this is our first legal hanging, you know.

This is a far cry from a length of rope and a handy tree.

Progress is what it is.

You'll have real progress, Mr. Fielding,

when there won't be any more need for hangings.

When men stop settling their differences with guns.

What about Monahan's son?

Well, if he's got any sense, he'll go to his mother's tribe.

Do you think they'll accept him?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But he never did fit in here.

We don't cotton to Indians.

Never was one you could trust.

The boy get a chance here in Downieville, Mr. Fielding?

Well, folks don't want him here.

But that's not your problem, Mr. Cartwright.

Here's your son, like you asked.

Leave us alone.

You just got a couple of minutes.

That'll be enough.

I didn't know if you were still around.

No place else to go.

Pa, I, uh, wish I could have helped you

the way you always done for me.

Well, it's too late for that now.

Where you been sleepin', boy?

Oh, I pitched camp down by the creek.

There's no reason for you

to hang around Downieville any longer.

I got someplace for you to go after...

after the hangin'.

Where is that, Pa?

You're gonna do something for me, boy.

You're gonna give me your word on it right now.

What is it?

Nobody...

nobody'd ever found that Jenkins,

nobody would have missed him if it hadn't been for Cartwright.

You and me, we'd be free and runnin'

if it hadn't been for him.

You're gonna get Ben Cartwright, Charlie Two.

Well?

You want me to kill him?

Yes.

I'm gonna die like a wrung chicken

at the end of that rope

all on account of Ben Cartwright.

And I won't die peaceful until you say you're gonna get him.

I want to wipe him clean off the face of the Earth.

No man ever did wrong to a Monahan and lived to tell of it.

And you're gonna see that it stays that way.

You hear me, boy?

Yes, Pa.

Then swear it.

Take an oath, Charlie Two.

Swear it.

You hear me, boy?

Swear it.

On your father's grave, swear it.

I swear it.

♪♪

♪♪

Sheriff Calvin, we appreciate

your coming all the way out here.

Oh, I had to see the marshal in Carson City.

Wasn't any trouble stopping here.

Well, we're glad you did.

Charlie Two will probably go off to join the Shoshones

and never give a thought to his promise.

But I thought your pa ought to know about it.

Well, I'd better be on my way.

Thank you again.

You're entirely welcome.

Thanks again, Sheriff. Have a good trip.

Thank you very much.

What do you think, Joe?

I don't know.

It could be nothing.

I think I'll ride to Downieville by way of Elkton,

see if I can't find Pa.

What if you don't find him?

Well, I'll see if I can track down this Charlie Two.

Yeah. I'll go with you.

No, no, you better stay here and warn Pa in case I miss him.

What happens if you find this Charlie Two? Then what?

I don't know.

All I know is there's a man somewhere

with an oath to kill Ben Cartwright.

I got to find Pa before he does.

♪♪

Let me have a beer.

Thanks.

Maybe you could help me. I'm, uh...

I'm looking for a fella named Charlie Two.

Know where he is?

Charlie Two?

You a friend of that half-breed's?

I don't remember talking to you.

Well, whether you remember or not,

if you're a friend of that dirty Indian,

we don't want you around here.

Why don't you mind your own business.

I think I Will.

Get the sheriff.

Thanks.

I come for my pa's wages.

There.

That's all he had comin'?

That's right.

What happened?

He drew on me with my back turned.

This fella shot first. Saved my life.

That right?

You saw what happened. Tell him.

It's like he says.

Hey, wait a minute.

Yeah, what do you want?

I want to thank you.

What for?

What you did for me in there.

Oh, that's all right. It's good practice.

You didn't look like you need any practice.

You can really handle that gun.

Yeah, well, uh, hope you can handle one, too.

Now, what's that supposed to mean?

Well, you stick around town much longer,

that miner will be looking for you.

Well, there's somebody I got to find first.

Good luck.

Uh, Sheriff, you, uh, you know a fella named Charlie Two?

The half-breed that just saved your life.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

What are you doing here?

I saw you riding up ahead.

If we're going in the same direction,

I might like some company.

Me?

Yeah. Why?

I'm a half-bread.

My name's Joe.

They call me Charlie Two.

I thought you said you were staying in Downieville.

Uh, yeah, I was, but, uh,

the fella I said I was looking for, he'd already left.

Big Charlie Monahan.

I guess you never heard of him.

Everybody in Downieville knew him, though.

Sounds like a pretty important man.

Oh, he was important.

One day in his life--

The day they hanged him.

He was my pa.

I'm sorry.

Raised me from the time I was a little kid.

What happened to your ma?

She died when I was a baby.

Yeah, so did mine.

Never even knew her.

Are you heading out?

Yep.

Where you going?

Virginia City.

Yeah, well, look, I, uh, live in Virginia City.

Why don't we ride along together?

Virginia City, huh?

You know, uh, Ben Cartwright?

Yeah. Yeah, I know him.

Has he got a family?

Mm-hmm.

Friends of yours?

Yeah, yeah, they're, uh, real good friends of mine.

You don't pick the right kind of company.

Well, I picked you, Charlie.

♪♪

Can I give you a hand, neighbor?

No thanks. I got this axle about fixed.

Well, you sure I can't help you?

Yep. Well, I'll be doggoned.

Ain't you Little Joe... Hey, how-how you doing, Jed?

Good to see you. How are things on the Ponderosa, Joe?

Well, they're fine, just fine.

Say hello to your pa and Hess.

Yeah, I sure will do that. You take it easy, now. Okay.

Starting to smell good.

I'm hungry. How about you?

You sure talk a lot, Charlie.

I Ch, I come from Salem City I

I With a washbowl on my knee ♪

♪ Going to California I

♪ Gold dust for to see... I

What's the matter?

What... you don't like my singing?

Oh.

Well, whenever I'm hungry, I sing.

♪ La, dee-dee-dee, dee, dee-dee-dee, dee ♪

♪ Dee-le, dee-dee, dee-dee. I Then let's eat.

Oh, I guess it's not too good, anyway.

Mmm, this is good.

You know that ranch of ours I was telling you about?

You'd really like it.

It's the...

It's the kind of land a man can feel free in.

That's what my pa saw in it when he first started.

I think you'd like my pa.

We got a... got a lot of cattle, good grazing land.

Real good fishing, great trout fishing.

A lot of hard work, but...

but a lot of fun along with it.

What's the matter? Don't you like my cooking?

Where you going?

Something I got to do alone.

Who you gonna kill, Charlie?

That's what it's all about, isn't it?

You riding into Virginia City alone.

You're gonna kill that Ben Cartwright, aren't you?

What's that got to do with you?

You saved my life. I'm trying to do the same for you.

You're riding into a lot of trouble.

There's no reason why we can't ride along together.

Suit yourself.

Hi, Hoss.

Oh, hi, Pa.

Good to have you home.

Good to be home.

Well, how's everything going?

Fine, fine. Good.

Where's Little Joe?

Well, he ain't here, Pa.

You and me need to do some talking.

What's the matter? Something wrong?

Oh, probably not, Pa. Look, just sit down and relax

and let me get you a cup of coffee

and I'll tell you all about it.

We better take it easy on our horses.

This desert country's gonna be pretty rough on 'em.

Here.

Thanks.

So you're just gonna kill him, huh?

How you gonna go about it, Charlie?

You just gonna ride into Virginia City,

ask for Ben Cartwright and start shooting, huh?

Maybe. Maybe.

What do I have to say to you?

How do I make you listen to sense?

Well, don't try. Just don't try.

'Cause we're on different sides.

You don't understand me.

Oh, come on, stop feeling sorry for yourself

'cause you're a half-breed.

No, no, you don't understand

what it's like to have people laugh at you

and make fun of you and call you names.

To look in their eyes and see nothing but hate.

You don't understand any of that.

You're just like all the rest of 'em.

Am I, Charlie? Yes, yes, you are.

Yeah, maybe you're right.

Maybe you're right, Charlie. I'm a white man.

I'm a white man, Charlie.

I don't know that kind of hate.

But I know enough about hate to see it in your eyes.

You want to kill a man. You don't care if you're right

or you're wrong; you just want to kill him.

Oh, what's the use?

Just trying to make you see it, Charlie.

I'm trying to make you see it

because I want to be your friend.

But you got to give me a chance.

♪♪

How you doing, neighbor? Howdy, howdy, howdy.

We, uh...

Hey, good to see you. Yeah.

Uh, we could sure use some water.

Yeah, yeah, you can...

You're welcome to anything you'd like, young fella.

Just a pot of coffee in there.

You and your friend here are welcome to a cup.

I'm riding out to Virginia City.

Charlie, why don't you, uh,

why don't you go fill those canteens, huh?

I got to get this horse reshod.

Stage coming in tomorrow.

They gonna need him.

Don't look around at me when I'm talking to you.

My name is Cartwright, Joe Cartwright.

The fella I'm with is called Charlie Two.

He's out to kill my father.

When you get to Virginia City, I want you to warn the sheriff.

You say something, young fella?

Yeah, we're, uh...

we're much obliged for the water.

What say we grab some of that coffee

he was talking about?

You were gonna tell him

to warn the Cartwrights, weren't you?

Don't make no difference, Joe.

Don't make no difference.

I want your gun, Charlie.

I got to stop you.

I've done everything I know how.

See, the man you want to kill, Ben Cartwright--

He's my father.

All right, unbuckle your gun belt.

Slow and easy and drop it on the ground.

Tomahawk, too.

Nice and easy.

♪♪

Whoa. Whoa.

Little Joe should have been back by now.

Oh, Pa, go easy on him.

He just lost track of the time he's been gone, that's all.

Well, he's always losing track of time.

He should have more concern about the feelings of others.

He could have sent a message.

Maybe he will.

Unless he can't.

Unless he's in some kind of trouble.

Wait a minute. Where are you going?

Well, maybe I'd ride down around Downieville.

He should be around there somewhere.

Yeah, and what if you run into Charlie Two?

Well, if I run into him, I run into him.

Look, Pa, he knows you.

He ain't never seen me before. Why don't I go?

Hoss, I'm a big boy now.

I'll just find Little Joe, and we'll come on back home.

♪♪

Hyah.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

You stay. Stay right there.

You get ready to draw.

It's no way to settle anything, Charlie.

Well, it's my way.

A gun isn't gonna make any difference.

Won't make up for anything.

It'll-it'll make up for what you did to my pa.

You saw your pa shoot an unarmed man.

And if it wasn't for you, my pa would still be alive.

Maybe he'd be alive if it wasn't for the law.

And if it wasn't for laws, maybe none of us would be alive.

I don't want to hear any more.

Now, draw!

Charlie!

Joseph, stay out of this!

Well, go ahead, Charlie, shoot me.

Go on. What are you waiting for? I haven't got a gun on.

Well, go on, shoot me!

You're Big Charlie Monahan's kid.

Prove you're a killer just like he was.

Well, go ahead, shoot me!

♪♪

You couldn't kill me, Charlie.

You never wanted to kill anybody.

It's just not in you.

Let it all out, kid.

I-I swore.

I. I swore an oath.

♪♪

Hello, Ben.

Hello, Clem. Good to see you.

Good to see you. Just got back from Carson City.

I stopped on my way in Downieville. Uh-huh.

Sheriff Calvin told me what happened. I'm sorry.

I understand you got the Monahan boy here.

Well, yeah, he-he's inside the house.

Well, I'll take him off your hands.

What for, Clem?

Oh, Sheriff Calvin told me that boy threatened your life.

Now, that's true, isn't it?

Sheriff Calvin told you that?

I wonder why he'd tell you a thing like that.

Hey, Clem. How are you doing?

Little Joe, I'm doing fine. Good to see you.

Oh, this, uh... this here's Charlie Two.

Charlie Two? Yeah. Yeah, Pa, me and Charlie

are gonna take a ride around the ranch.

I want to show him some of the Ponderosa.

Oh, good idea.

Go on, son.

Charlie, I'm gonna show you a stream

that's got the biggest trout in it you ever saw in your life.

I Ch, I come from Salem City I

♪ With a washboard on my knee ♪ -Joe? Joe?

♪ And I'm... ♪ Huh?

You, uh, told me once you only sing when you're hungry.

Is that right? Yeah, that's right.

Mm-hmm. Well, let's go catch some of that trout

and start eating fast.

Hmm.

Oh, Ben.

You got any plans for that boy?

Well, he hasn't had any schooling,

and I thought if he wanted to have an education,

I'd see to it that he got one.

Of course, he'll have to make his own plans. I...

I'll just help out any which way I can.

Well, then, I guess he's gonna be your responsibility.

Yeah.

You know, Clem, I guess in a way, he has been

ever since that day his father was hanged.

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