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All right, men, you know your orders.

Move out, Benson.

Napoleon, don't you think somebody with experience

ought to steal those horses?

Like maybe Sampson, here?

I give the orders.

I expect them to be obeyed.

But I know the Cartwrights, if I get...

I gave you an order, Benson.

Now carry it out, or face court-martial.

Did you just hear something?

Hmm?

What was I supposed to hear?

Thought I just heard the gate squeak.

Go after those horses, Captain.

Send Benson after another one.

Yes, sir, General.

Did you lock the corral when you...?

Couldn't hear anything over that snoring.

I'll go check.

Unbelievable.

Hey, Pa, somebody's stealing the horses!

They have guns.

Retreat.

Ever seen him before?

No, I never have.

See anything?

No, it's too dark.

If there's any of them left, they sure scattered.

Yeah, well, let's get this one into town.

Saddle up the horses.

Yes, sir.

What do you figure they'll do to Sampson?

They'll put him in jail.

We'll get him out.

And when we do,

Virginia City'll have reason to remember Napoleon.

It might go a lot easier with you, boy,

if you told us who was with you.

You and everybody else is gonna be sorry you ever saw me.

I got friends who are gonna bust me out of here.

I'm telling you here and now, start talking.

I done my talking.

You're gonna get your town tore up.

Whew.

It's no use, Ben, I'm not gonna get a thing out of him.

I wrote the sheriffs in adjoining counties.

That might turn up something on him.

Just can't figure what's eating

at some of these youngsters today.

You know, he's barely old enough to shave.

He's old enough to steal horses, he's old enough to go to jail.

Yeah, I suppose so.

Well, uh...

see you later.

Hello, Ben.

Oh, Grace.

How are you?

Donny.

Hey, Don, when are you coming out to the Ponderosa,

break some horses for me?

I've got other things to do.

Donny.

Where are your manners?

So long, Mr. Cartwright.

Ben, I'm so sorry.

I just don't know what to do with that boy.

He's changed.

He's never around anymore.

Why, he used to help me out over at the store all the time,

but, well, lately he's...

Ben, you understand boys.

I wish you could talk to him.

He misses his father so much.

Well, so do I.

We all do, Grace.

He was a good friend.

But Donny, I...

You know, it's one thing to raise three sons of your own,

it's another to, you know, talk to somebody else's son.

I-I'll tell you what to do.

Why don't you bring him out with you Friday night

to the, uh, school benefit social at the Ponderosa, huh?

Well, I...

Well, you are coming, now, aren't you?

I mean, what-what would we do

without one of your famous chocolate cakes?

Of course, Ben.

I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world.

Good. Well...

I'd better be going now.

I have to open up the store.

All right, see you Friday.

Napoleon Bonaparte was considered

the greatest strategist and natural commander of all time,

and that's the way we're gonna run this army.

Just the way Napoleon would have run it.

You planned things last night, Napoleon.

They didn't go too good.

You're wrong, J.W.

It was a training mission.

Do you know what "blooding the troops" means?

Put them under fire.

Watch how they react.

That's what I was doing last night.

Sampson got caught.

We'll get him out.

You're late, Private Benson.

I had to help my mother at the store.

What kind of an excuse is that?

You know your way

around Virginia City pretty well, don't you?

Yes, sir, I lived there all my life.

The rest of us aren't known over there.

And I don't want us to be.

Not just yet.

Could you get me the layout to the jail?

Sure, I could, Napoleon.

All right.

Let's see exactly what kind of a spy you'd make.

Exactly what happened in Virginia City today?

Nothing special.

Most everybody's getting ready for that big benefit social

out at the Ponderosa Friday night.

And Ben Cartwright was in at the jail, but Sampson didn't talk.

Of course Sampson didn't talk.

He's a soldier.

I'm gonna give you a chance to be one.

I want daily reports.

Do you understand that?

Yes, sir.

I'm not gonna hold any more meetings here.

That drunken uncle of mine is beginning

to ask too many questions.

You'll never meet me in the same place twice, you understand?

Benefit social, huh?

And we've already had a chance to look around the Ponderosa.

I don't know, Napoleon.

We've never tackled anything like the Cartwrights before.

You've got it wrong, J.W.

The Cartwrights have never tackled anything like us before.

Now scatter, men.

I don't want any two of you seen at the same time together.

My uncle's coming back here in a few minutes.

Well, I was wondering if you two were gonna get here.

Hello, Ben.

We had a last minute rush of business at the store.

Oh, Ben, the place looks just beautiful.

Doesn't it, Donny?

Yeah, it looks all right.

Uh, Grace, if I know boys, and I think I do,

at least I ought to,

I think that table back there, the one with the food is

the one that's going to interest Donny most.

Donny, how about coming over there with me--

We'll have something to eat, there's enough for everybody.

Let me take that beautiful chocolate cake.

Mmm, boy, that looks good.

Mmm, that's good. Ben Cartwright.

You're as bad as Donny.

Mmm, it's good.

Hey, Donny.

Think, uh, that, uh, you and I could finish this

just by ourselves?

I don't like cake that much.

Um...

Grace, let's have some punch, huh?

Oh, yes.

Now, Grace, Donny's gonna be all right.

Now, stop worrying about him.

Ben, I wish you could talk to him.

Look, you're here to have a good time, so have a good time.

This was a marvelous idea of yours,

raising money for the school this way.

Well, I think by the time we have our big meeting

at the town hall, we'll have reached our objective.

Grace, will you excuse me?

I see the sheriff wants to see me.

I hope I'm not in trouble.

Having a good time?

You're not kidding.

Ben. What's on your mind, Clem?

Well, I thought you might like to know

I got a report on that horse thief you caught.

Well, that's fast work.

All right, what'd you find out?

Well, it's not the first time he's been picked up.

Been in trouble in Carson City,

always runs with a gang from Gold Hill.

Gold Hill, huh?

I hear there's a pretty rough gang of kids over there.

As long as they stay on their own side of the divide,

nothing much I can do about it.

This, uh, this fellow Sampson,

what he did, uh, was that serious?

Serious enough.

Going back to Carson City Monday morning to stand trial.

I believe that boy's going to prison.

Young fella like that, too.

Well, I see you're sampling the food.

Don't forget to leave your donation.

All right, men.

You've been trained thoroughly for this mission.

The key to our success

is speed and surprise.

Reb.

I get the guns.

J.W.?

I get the cash box.

Fritz?

I get guns, too.

The rest of you men know your assignments.

See that you carry them out.

We attack simultaneously on my command.

Operation Austerlitz.

Where you gonna be, Napoleon?

At my command post.

All right, put on your masks and move out.

Donny?

How's it going? Having a good time?

Yeah, I guess so.

You know...

You and I, uh, we ought to have

a long talk one of these days.

What about?

Hmm, nothing in particular.

Just that your father and I, we were close friends.

And, uh, seems to me that a fella needs a man

to visit with sometimes, that's all.

My mother's been talking to you about me, hasn't she?

Well...

Yes. Yes, she has, Donny.

Well, listen, you tell her to quit worrying.

Because there's nothing wrong!

Yeah.

Cherry?

How much is he?

Two dollars.

Oh, thank you.

Here you are.

Austerlitz!

Yee-h aw!

Yee-haw! Yee-haw!

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

All right, calm down. They stole the horses!

Calm down! The horses!

Ben, keep these people here-- all of them. Come on!

Little boy try to steal horse.

Little boy break up social.

In China, little boy have respect for elder.

Should be same thing here.

Hey, I'll get it. I got it.

Hey, Clem, come on in. Hi, Joe. How you doing?

Ben, Hop Sing, Hoss.

Howdy, Clem. Clem, good to see you.

Your timing's not too good.

We just finished eating.

But Hop Sing can rustle up some food.

Oh, no, I don't want anything to eat.

Listen, Ben, I took a ride over to Gold Hill to... Right.

...just to check, see what I could find out about that gang

of kids been raising such a ruckus over there. And?

I ran into some kind of strange story.

Oh?

The leader of this outfit

calls himself Napoleon.

Napoleon?

That's right.

The gang's his army.

He drills them, figures out

every single move he's gonna make.

Well, that bunch of kids that was over here

sure had things planned out, didn't they?

Well, that's what I figured.

They stole the donation money and six guns.

Now, he lives with an old duffer.

He-he used to be a professor.

That mean anything to you?

Say, there was a fellow here about a month ago.

Spent a couple of hours with me right here.

He was a professor from back east.

Lives around here somewhere.

Do you know where it is? Yeah, I think so.

Do you think you can find the place?

Well, sure.

Well, let's you and I go and have a talk with him.

See you later.

♪♪

This must be the place.

Come in.

It's not locked.

Gentlemen, welcome.

What can I do for you?

Professor, it's good to see you again.

Oh, well, Mr. Cartwright.

Yes, it's very good to see you.

Clem Foster, Sheriff of Virginia City.

Very happy to know you, Sheriff.

Uh, Mr. Cartwright, I've been

planning to pay another visit.

But, uh, my research has kept me

pretty much tied to my desk.

What-what kind of research are you doing?

History, Mr. Cartwright.

History.

Even before I was a professor

at Harvard University...

Um, excuse me for a-a moment, please.

Medicinal.

I've felt a cold coming on.

Would you gentlemen care to join me?

No-no, thanks.

Thank you.

Those were happy days at Harvard.

All those eager young minds

thirsting for knowledge.

Oh.

I... I forget myself.

Surely you didn't come by

to listen to an old man prattle on about the past.

As a matter of fact,

we came to ask you about a young man.

Uh, Napoleon I think he calls himself.

Yes, Napoleon.

His real name is Ted Arsenaux.

He's my nephew.

He's an avid student of the Napoleonic wars.

And that explains his nickname.

C-Could you tell us where we might find him?

Oh, he comes and he goes.

That's the way it should be.

I believe in complete freedom for young people.

Don't you?

In-Interesting boy.

Interesting.

I brought him out here with me

when I contracted a common human ailment.

Greed.

I, uh, thought I was going to make a fortune

mining silver.

In-Instead...

Well, no matter.

Now, about the boy.

Brilliant mind, uh, brilliant.

He's a perfect student.

Why do you want to see my nephew?

Is there anything wrong?

Well, I, um, I just want

to talk to him is all.

Oh.

Well, he comes and go-goes.

But when I see him I'll tell him.

Uh, uh, thanks, very much.

Thank you.

Napoleon.

It's a strong name.

That's why he likes it.

Gives him a sense of power.

That boy will go far.

No matter what he chooses

for his life's work,

he'll be a success at it.

And I heard the sheriff say they're gonna move Sampson

to Carson City next Monday morning.

Very well.

What else?

Well, Sampson's in the first cell on the left.

And the sheriff goes to lunch at 12:00.

And sometimes he leaves a deputy.

Sometimes he just locks the door.

What about the keys to the cells?

Well, they're hanging by a ring just inside the door.

Very good, Private Benson.

Before long, every man will be armed

and qualified to use his weapon.

Do some practicing, Private Benson.

When you can show me that you know how to shoot...

I'll see that you get a horse.

♪♪

Hello, Donny.

Where'd you get the gun?

Oh, uh, in at the store.

My mom said I could practice with it.

Mind if I have a look at it?

Sure.

Doesn't look like a very new gun to me.

It's pretty well used.

Now, you didn't get this at the store, did you?

Uh, no, sir, I-I found it. I...

I was afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Well, think maybe we'd better take this back to town

and find out who lost it.

I was just practicing with it.

How'd you get out here?

Oh, I... I thought I'd take a walk out here

by myself for a while, that's all.

Well, I'm going back to town.

Mount up, I'll give you a ride back.

Yes, sir.

Whoa. Whoa, whoa.

Whoa, Buck, whoa.

All right.

Hey, Joe.

Hey, how you doing, Pa?

See you picked up a stray. How you doing, Donny?

Hi. Yeah, I picked Donny up

a ways out of town.

Uh, how's everything going?

Uh, just fine, fine. Picked up the mail,

got all the papers straightened out.

How long you gonna be in town?

Oh, about an hour or so. Why?

Good deal, I'll wait for you, ride back home with you.

Fine. Where'll you be?

By my horse. All right.

Donny, Ben.

Clem.

Uh... Donny here

found a gun near the Black Rock Cutoff, wasn't it?

Yeah.

And he wanted to bring it in to you.

You found this?

Uh, yes, sir.

Just like Mr. Cartwright said.

It could be one of those stolen at the Ponderosa.

I'll check into it.

Owner always recognizes his own gun.

And, Donny, thanks a lot for bringing it in.

Sure.

Can I go now?

Certainly, as far as I'm concerned.

All right, Ben, what's the rest of the story?

Oh, I was just, uh,

riding along right near that cutoff

when I heard some shooting,

so I went over to investigate...

Mm-hmm.

...and, uh, Donny was there

and he was practicing with that gun.

Do you think he found this?

Oh, I don't know, Clem.

I know his mother's worried about him.

Yeah, I suppose I'll have to tell her.

You know, Ben, that's a part of this job

they don't say anything about

when they put your name on the ballot.

Good-bye, Ben.

Thank you for coming in. Well...

I'll get your order out as soon as I can.

Thank you. I'll see you soon, Grace.

All right.

Donny...

Donny, come here a minute, please.

I'd like to talk to you.

What about?

Donny, you know how I feel about guns.

And whether you found that gun or didn't...

Boy, that Ben Cartwright couldn't wait to get over here

and tell you all about it, could he?

Ben Cartwright had nothing to do with it.

Clem Foster told me about the gun.

Well, he had to.

It's part of his duty.

You know, I don't know why everybody's got to be

sticking their nose into my business.

I found a gun and I shot it a few times.

Is that such a crime?

Nobody said it was a crime, Donny.

But I just don't like you fooling around with guns.

You just don't like anything I do, do you?

Well, I'm sick and tired

of being treated like a two-year-old.

Now will you leave me alone?

Military organization is based on a chain of command

for a very good reason.

Any man,

including myself,

may be a casualty.

A general knows he may have to die.

But in dying, he never really loses command.

Hey, you really believe

all that stuff you read, don't you?

I not only believe it... I live by it.

You mean you'd be ready to die for all of us?

Naturally.

You're my troops.

And I'm your commander.

Here comes our spy.

You missed a very good lesson, Private Benson,

but I'm glad you're here, anyway.

What's your intelligence report?

Nothing special.

Nothing special?

I saw Cartwright ride up.

I saw him take that gun away from you.

What happened?

Ben Cartwright turned the gun over to the sheriff.

I told him I found it.

Those Cartwrights are starting

to get in the way quite a bit.

It's Joe Cartwright's fault that Sampson's in jail.

And now Ben Cartwright takes a gun

away from one of our troops.

Was the old man the only Cartwright in town?

No, Joe was there, too.

I heard them say they were going

to ride back to the ranch together.

That's very interesting.

All right, men, Operation Jena.

Operation Jena? What's that?

You'll find out.

J.W., move out.

There'll be no shooting,

so leave your guns here at the command post.

We don't want a murder charge on us.

Not yet.

Mr. Cartwright?

You're not Hoss Cartwright.

How you tell?

Mr. Hoss over by barn.

Mr. Cartwright, come quick, I need help.

What's-what's wrong, buddy? What's happened?

A bunch of us kids were racing

and one of the boys fell off.

He's hurt bad, I think it's his back.

Just calm down.

I'll be right with you.

We'll do what we can.

Third division, across the draw.

Attack on my command!

He's right down there, around that bend.

I'll go get a wagon.

Shh.

There we go!

Second division, attack!

They're trying to kill him!

Napoleon, call them off!

You-you said we weren't gonna hurt him.

Call them off! Now just watch this, Benson.

This is where strategy pays off.

Just like the battle of Jena,

catching the enemy completely by surprise.

Third division, attack!

That story about Napoleon sounds almost unbelievable.

I know it does.

But it's true.

Now, Clem feels that...

Whoa.

Isn't that your brother's horse?

Yeah, it looks like Chub.

What's he doing here?

I thought he was working at the house.

Hoss.

How is he?

Hoss.

Hoss, what happened to you?

I got clubbed.

Got clubbed real bad by...

a bunch of kids.

Well, this does it, Ben.

I got to find that Napoleon.

There's just not much doubt it's the same bunch of boys.

This not work of little boy--

This is work of mad men.

And it was well planned.

Why?

I'm going over to the professor's shack

and wring it out of him one way or another

where this Napoleon is.

Let me go with you.

Well, you'd better stay right here, young fella.

How do you feel, son?

Oh, I'll be all right, Pa.

Be up and at 'em in a day or two.

No, no, no.

My boy Ted wouldn't do a thing like that.

You have no proof that he had any part in it at all.

You told me you know the one I've got locked in now, Sampson.

Yes, yes. He comes here often.

He's my boy's closest friend.

All right, then the least you can do

is come to town with me and talk to him.

You can do that much.

Maybe you can get it out of him, what's been going on.

If this Ted Arsenaux of yours hasn't been involved,

I'd be just as happy as you about it.

I have always trusted Ted.

He's an excellent student

and a fine boy.

If I were to do that,

I would be betraying my trust in him.

If you don't do it, you leave me no choice.

I'll mount a posse and hunt him down now.

Are you coming with me or not?

No, Sheriff, I'm not.

Oh, I know you're a good man,

but I can't forget that you came here

only to accuse a boy

who is as close to me as a son.

Good night, Sheriff.

I'm afraid you made a trip for nothing.

All right, Professor.

Have it just your way.

Who was that?

What did he want?

Ted.

Ted, my boy.

I was beginning to worry about you.

I asked you who that was.

Sit down, boy.

Sit down. I want to talk to you for a moment.

I can hear standing up.

Now, you gonna tell me or not?

It was the sheriff, uh, from Virginia City.

That's what I want to talk to you about.

Oh, those lawmen are all alike.

Just because some kids want to have a little fun.

I told him that's what it was, Ted.

I knew that's what it was.

I knew you wouldn't be involved in anything

like raiding a-a school benefit

or beating a man.

You wouldn't, would you, Ted?

Why don't you crawl back in your bottle

where you belong, and leave me alone?

I just wanted you to know...

if you ever did get in any kind of trouble,

I'd want you to come to me,

because I'm here to help you.

No matter what the trouble was,

I'd want you to talk to me.

And who wants to talk to an old drunk like you?

♪♪

Ted?

T-Ted, boy, come back.

I was trying to be reasonable, but Donny just flared up.

He hasn't been home all night, Sheriff.

Go ahead, Sheriff, go chase after little lost boys.

Maybe it'll save your neck when my friends come to get me out.

Pipe down in there.

Aw, what's the matter, Sheriff?

Getting nervous?

Grace, I'll do everything I can.

Now, there has to be an answer to this,

and until we get it, just stop worrying yourself to death.

Thank you.

Morning, ma'am.

Hello, Grace.

Grace, I'm glad we ran into you.

We were gonna stop by the store

to see if you'd sit with us at the school board meeting.

Ben, Clem told me what happened to Hoss.

If I thought Donny had anything

to do with that, I... There's no reason to believe

that Donny had anything to do with it.

He ran off yesterday afternoon and he hasn't come back.

Um... oh, Clem, excuse me, I want to ask you something.

Did you, uh... did anybody see any of 'em?

Nobody's turned up yet.

You heard anything from Sampson?

Did you get anything out of him?

Not a word, and I don't think I'm going to, Ben.

Well, I... we'd better get along to that meeting.

Okay.

♪♪

All right, men, you know the plan.

We've been through it a dozen times.

The minute that town hall bell starts ringing, we move.

We'll get the rifles first.

Rifles? You didn't say anything to me about any rifles.

Where are we gonna get 'em?

In case you forgot, Private Benson,

your mother's store is full of rifles.

I'm not gonna rob from my own mother.

You don't have to.

All you have to do is let us in.

I won't do it.

You'll do it!

All right, men.

Open it. I won't do it, I tell you.

It's the way my mother makes her living.

It's the only way she's got.

That's very touching, Benson.

I know you have a key. Use it!

Hey, you want your arm broke?

Go ahead, Donny.

He'll break it if you don't. I know he will.

Oh, all right!

Now, please...

let me go-- I don't want to have anything more to do with this.

Let you go and tell the sheriff?

I don't think so.

I won't let you do it! Grab him! Grab him!

J.W., go get some rope.

Tie him up and gag him.

No, wait.

This is the gun for you, Napoleon.

All right, sentries, take your positions.

I'll move to my command post.

♪♪

Stay where you are!

All of you!

The next one moves gets shot.

My sentries are covering every inch of this street.

I want your sheriff to open the jail and let my friend out.

You do that, and we'll leave here quietly.

Anybody crosses me up, somebody's gonna get hurt.

No, Sheriff, please.

He's just a boy.

Young man, you're... you're going about this the wrong way.

You keep your advice to yourself.

All right, where's the sheriff?

I can talk to him. Please let me try.

All right, try.

But I'm backing you up with this gun.

Ted.

Ted, listen to me. Stay out of this!

You know how wrong this is, boy.

All those years we've spent studying together, boy,

I wasn't preparing you for this.

Shut up, you drunken bum!

Who's asking you?

All right, get my friend out of jail, or we start shooting!

I've got to stop you, son.

I told you to shut up!

All right, boy!

Sheriff, you're gonna walk me over to that jail

and release Sampson!

As long as I've got your word there'll be no shooting.

Sheriff, we're gonna walk over to that...

You want me, you're gonna have to get him!

Don't shoot! Don't shoot!

No, don't shoot.

He said he'd die for us, didn't he?

I'm gonna give your leader here

a chance to show you how much guts he's got!

Gonna give him a chance you didn't give my brother!

It's just gonna be him and me!

Shoot.

No, don't shoot.

All right, I saw you beat up an old man.

Let's see how brave you are

against somebody that's got a gun.

Go on, big man, pick it up.

Pick it up!

Is this your leader?!

This the man you want to follow?!

♪♪

Thank heaven Donny wasn't with them.

You Donny's mother?

Yes.

What do you know about him?

Where is he? Is he all right?

Yes, he's all right, ma'am.

He's over in back of your store.

But you'd better get to him.

Come on.

Donny. Donny.

Mom, I tried to stop them from getting in, but they forced me.

Donny... Donny, are you all right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Donny, let me get you now.

Here.

What's gonna happen to them, Mr. Cartwright?

Well, I guess... Sampson there'll go back to jail.

Napoleon, as he calls himself, he'll have to go to prison.

The rest of them, well...

they did give themselves up-- I guess they'll...

well, they'll get about 30 days hard labor.

I have to go with them, Mr. Cartwright.

Donny, what are you saying?

I was out at the Ponderosa that night, Mr. Cartwright,

and I helped trap Hoss.

I didn't know he was gonna be hurt, but...

still I was a part of it.

Don't you see, Mama?

I'm as guilty as they are.

I've got to pay, too.

Oh, Donny.

♪♪

Oh, Ben.

Now, Grace...

there are many ways a...

boy can prove himself a man.

Donny just did it his way.

♪♪

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