Original subtitles

As the lawyer representing the business interests in Scalpelock, Mr. Calhoun,

I'm telling you something has to be done about the way your crew behaves.

They're giving this town a bad name.

Monday morning matter, Mr. Wilson.

Oh, Kentucky wheat.

Prairie sweet. Smell that.

Very poetic.

You know, I can think of nothing more entrancing to do on a Saturday night

smell the fragrance of Kentucky wheat prairie sweet.

I've been looking forward to it all week.

Good night, young Judy.

Mr. Calhoun.

Barnabas, let's get a couple of sacks of this wheat and three sacks of oats.

Make it four sacks of oats.

So you figure the crew's giving the town a bad name, huh, Mr. Wilson?

Surely you can hear and see for yourself.

I hired those men, Mr. Wilson. I don't own them.

Now, six days a week, they break their backs for me, laying track.

What they do on a Saturday night's their own business.

Then you won't do anything about it?

No.

I figure with the money that they spend in here, the...

A town can put up with a little bit of noise.

But don't be surprised if the citizens of this town make a complaint to the

federal marshal.

As it is, he spends more time here than any place else in the territory.

He'll listen to us.

Good night, Mr. Calvin.

Miss Parsons.

Good night.

I'll get your order together tonight, and you can have it the first thing in

morning, Mr. Calvin.

Thank you, Andy.

Andy, I'll stay a while and help you.

Ready, Judy?

Oh, yes, I've been ready for the past hour.

You sure you don't plan any further detours?

Well, I could go by the livers table and pass time of day with the Smithies.

This must be the wrong Saturday night.

Or we could go out for a walk and take a look at the moon and the stars and the

old mill stream.

Well, that sounds much better.

Providing, of course, that you don't stop and buy one of each.

Every stuff's in the storeroom, Barnaby. It's better to take a lamp from there.

Careful in there, Barnabas. Don't tear up the place.

The oats are over near the alley door.

Hey.

What are you doing?

No!

No!

No!

I told Calhoun this would happen, Marshal. I warned him.

All those hooligans in town.

Now, go home, Mr. Wilson. There's nothing you can do here.

Go on home, boys.

How much money was taken?

Near as I can tell, about $90.

Maybe a little more.

Senseless.

Now, let's go over it again.

Maybe there's something you can remember about the man. Anything.

Just the boots.

That's all I saw. They were that different.

I tried to help old Andy. I tried.

But I just couldn't move fast enough.

Marshal.

I never said enough.

Whoever killed old Andy is far gone by now.

Well, you keep on going unless we get something more definite.

A pair of boots isn't much to go on.

There's nothing more we can do tonight.

I want to talk to him again in the morning.

Let's take him over to the saloon, give him a couple of drinks, put him to bed.

He left you to come away from that with just a bump on the head.

I'm just grateful that you weren't up in front of the store with poor old Andy.

Have another drink, partners.

You've had too much already.

Well, sometimes too much is just what a man needs.

I need you to teach him bad habits.

Don't overdo it.

Hey,

here's the thing.

Here's the thing.

That's Calhoun. Let me go.

Let me... Stop it, Mr. Calhoun. He killed old Andy.

He's the man.

You sure about this, boy? He's the man that did it? Yes, sir.

Anybody here feels that they're qualified to judge the guilt or

this man, then we'll turn him over to you.

Unless you're prepared to give me that proof.

You're going to have to go to the top of us to get at him.

All right, Mr. Calhoun. The law can have him for now.

But I'm telling you, if the law don't deal with him, we will.

Any money on it?

$93. I'm sure glad to see you, Mr. Calhoun.

Barnabas, that's a fact.

I just ain't got no stomach for hard liquor, I guess.

Come to bail me out?

Not this time, Billy.

I want you to take off one of your boots and hand it through the bars.

What'd I do?

Break a window or some furniture or something?

I'll pay for what I did.

Mr. Calhoun here can take it out of my pay.

Yes, sir, they're the same boots. Same one as what?

What's going on here?

I want you to take a good look at them and see if there's anything else you

recognize.

He's about the same size, that's all I can say. All right, Barks, wait outside.

Where were you last night between 8 and 8 .30, Billy?

Well, there was a poker game down the depot.

That's where I was until I went to the saloon. Were your uncles with you?

Jess was.

Uncle Albert was supposed to come around, but he didn't show up.

And Jess and me, we give him half our pay to hold for us. We save him up.

But he didn't come around.

Is there anybody else who could vouch for you? You know how them poker games

are, Mr. Calhoun. People drifting in and drifting out.

What's going on here?

I got a right to know.

Old Andy was killed last night in a feed store.

About ten o 'clock.

Old Andy got killed?

You think I've done it?

You don't think that, Mr. Calhoun.

Well, you don't think I've done it.

I don't know, Billy.

I really don't know.

We didn't come to make no trouble. I just want to talk to him.

You can have five minutes.

Uncle Albert!

Uncle Jess.

Hey there, Billy.

I've fetched him.

Everything's going to be all right now, boy. Uncle Albert, I've been praying

you'd come.

You hear what they're saying?

They're saying I killed somebody.

Well, then we'll have to convince them that they're mistaken.

But I want to hear the whole story from you.

This could turn into a mighty long day.

Boy, his uncle's worked for you, too, huh?

Al's a foreman on the number one gang.

Jess and Billy work on the number two gang.

Circuit judge is due in this afternoon on his regular rounds.

I got a hunch we'd better get Billy to trial right away. We may not get him

there at all.

I thought you was Billy's friend. How come you lied about seeing him there?

Mr. Pardue, I'm sorry, but I saw his boots.

Well, you're mistaken.

You can take my word for it, friend.

That boy in there didn't kill anybody.

You'll have a chance to prove that in court, Al.

The first thing we've got to do is get him a lawyer.

I've been wondering to talk to you about Barnabas.

What about him?

Well, I've noticed him sort of moping around the depot, and Billy Pardue used

be his friend, didn't he?

Yes, he was.

Well, I think Barnum is all torn up about, you know, what he has to do.

I don't think it's good for him to be left alone while you and Dave are in

Miller's Falls.

So you know our work schedule, too.

Well, I just thought that maybe he could come to work for me while you're gone.

You know, help out around the store. It might take his mind off of things.

I can't leave here until this is all over with.

Miner's up at Miller's Falls. He's going to have to wait.

I appreciate your suggestion, but I think it's a good one.

Incidentally, you still owe me half a date.

Ben.

And did you get a lawyer?

No, not yet.

Well, maybe you better know something.

That boy's like a son to us.

He was our sister Alice's child.

She died with a fever when he was just a baby. We raised him up.

He had a little too much to drink, maybe.

And maybe that was my fault because I... I let him go without me in the town.

And maybe he gets him Mike Wilford when he's drunk, but he never killed that

man. I understand how you feel.

It's going to be up to a jury to decide that.

You're an honest man.

You know that a track hand ain't gonna get a fair shake here, nothing this

What's the matter?

Who is he? Tell him, it's his name.

Circuit Jeff.

He's gonna try Billy.

Yes.

I've seen him once over Rising Creek.

He hung three horses there.

A man in town told me the judge got rope fever.

That no accused man ever left his court without the sentence of death.

I give you my word that Billy's going to get a fair trial.

Well, I'm telling you, he told you the truth.

He was in a poker game.

And he went to the saloon to celebrate.

You've got to believe him. It's not important whether I believe it or not.

The important thing is that Billy makes the jury believe it.

His life's going to depend on it.

Judge Pelham, this is Ben Calhoun.

You've sent him a subpoena.

I'm sure you don't mind waiting, Mr. Calhoun.

Who's the undertaker in this town?

Harvey Ferguson.

See if he has a coffin handy.

Standard six -foot pine.

And I want a jury. Any number from six to twelve will do.

This is your authorization to hire two carpenters for the gallows.

a coffin even before the trial?

I have one day in town, Mr. Calhoun.

I hold court seven days a week.

I have jurisdiction over 10 ,000 square miles.

I have to order things in advance in case I need them.

Did it ever occur to you that Billy Pardue might be innocent?

Real life is not a dime novel, Mr. Calhoun. He appears to be guilty. I'd be

surprised if he wasn't. In my 20 years on the bench, I've never been surprised.

So you order a gallows, build a coffin, and get it over with, huh?

Not quite.

I can't find a lawyer to defend him, so I'm looking for a literate man to defend

him. The way you sounded here, I'd say that you were a logical choice.

Me?

Sorry, not a lawyer.

If you don't defend him, he'll end up having to defend himself.

Nobody in this town will raise a hand.

And if I do defend him and lose, then you can hang him and ride out of town

a clear conscience. Is that it?

I never lose any sleep, Mr. Calhoun.

And the trial will be held whether you defend him or not.

Since the town of Scalplock hasn't got a courthouse, the trial will be held at

the church tomorrow morning at 9 o 'clock.

Maybe you'd better inform Billy Pardue that you're his legal counsel.

You think that'll make him feel any better?

At least he'll know that somebody's defending him.

Blackstone, Chitty, Packingham, and any other set of law books that we can find.

Ben, are you serious about going through with this thing? Somebody has to.

It's going to be like drawing to an inside straight for higher stakes than

ever played for.

What'd Billy say when you told him you were going to be his lawyer?

What he said all along, that he's innocent.

And he knows that I'll be able to convince the town of it. You heard who

court appointed as prosecuting attorney?

Sam Wilson.

That doesn't surprise me any. He's going to be out for blood.

You know, I may have found something here.

A case that has all the same aspects in it that we've got in this one.

Seems that if I could create enough reasonable doubt, we maybe could get him

with a jail sentence and then have the right to appeal it and get him a new

trial.

You wanted to see me, Mr. Calhoun?

Sit down, Barbas.

It's a nasty bump, Linus.

I'll get something cold to hold down the swelling.

You a doctor, me a lawyer.

I guess you've heard by now that I'm going to act as Billy Pardue's lawyer.

Yes, sir.

Since you're the chief witness of the prosecution, I'm going to have to ask

a lot of questions tomorrow.

Perhaps by the time I get through, you'll think I'm the meanest man on this

of the devil's kingdom.

But I just want you to know that it's only your testimony that I'm

not you.

You understand?

Yes, sir.

Is that all?

I know you got to defend him, Mr. Calhoun, but he's guilty.

He's guilty of sin.

Nothing you can say is going to change that.

Better wrap, boys. We're going to be pressed for time. The trial starts at 9

'clock.

Al. Al, what's all the timber for?

They're going to build a gallows.

Well, we can't let them hang little Billy.

No, it doesn't. They ain't going to hang him.

We're going to get little Billy and we're going to get us a farm some ways.

farm with a fishing creek. That's right, isn't it?

But they got little Billy all locked up.

They ain't going to let him go.

By the time we get through with them, they'll let him go, all right?

They're going to let little Billy go scot -free.

We are not here to judge the lawless elements the railroad has brought into

town.

The brawlers, the drunkards.

No, I ask you to set aside your prejudices against these men as a group.

I only ask that you judge this single act of cold -blooded murder by a drunken

thief who struck down one of the finest men this town has ever known.

I ask only for justice.

In all conscience, you must return a verdict of guilty.

An eye for an eye, gentlemen.

A life for a life.

Mr. Calhoun, you're entitled to make opening remarks for the defense.

My opening remark is, Your Honor, I want the whole matter dropped, because Billy

here didn't get a preliminary hearing as required by the law.

Eastern law, perhaps, but this is the law of the territory, denied.

I'm going to ask something else.

I think we ought to change the place where this trial is to be held.

Change venue, they call it in the book here.

Of course, I don't think that Billy can get a fair trial in a town where the

judge has already ordered a gallows to be built outside the courtroom for his

execution.

The court has the right to construct gallows wherever and whenever it wishes

tonight.

Anything else, Mr. Calhoun?

Mr. Wilson, call your first witness.

I called Marshal Roy Anderson.

And so the murderer must have come through the back door and waited in the

storeroom until he had his chance.

How was Andy McGuire killed?

Well, there were signs of a struggle in the store.

But old Andy didn't have a chance.

The murderer must have picked up a tack hammer from the counter and hit him over

the head with it.

Causing his death.

That's right.

How much money was taken from the store?

Well, Andy was checking his cash register and writing the totals down.

I'd say the killer got away with about $90.

Mm -hmm.

Now, when the defendant was brought into your office on Saturday night, did you

search him? Yes.

How much money did you find on him?

$93 .25.

Your witness, Mr. Cowper.

I've just got one question, Roy.

Was there anything about that money that you found on Billy to tell where it

came from?

No.

So that it could just as easily have come from a poker game. Isn't that

mean, money's money.

Well, there's nothing to tie that particular money to the store, if that's

you're asking.

That's what I'm asking.

Thank you.

You may step down, Marshal.

And then when he ran out of the door, I saw his boots.

They had sort of a red leather eagle on the front of them.

Take a look at this one, Barnabas.

The marshal took these off the defendant just before the trial, Your Honor.

Yes, sir. They're the same boots.

Ever seen boots like these before?

No, sir.

I agree with you. They're quite unique.

How big was this man who jumped you in the store? You testified that you saw

against the light.

5 '10", 5 '11", maybe.

About the size of the defendant?

Yes. That's all. Your witness.

Guard Boot Company in San Antonio, Texas.

They make thousands of pairs of boots every year.

Now, wouldn't you say that it was possible?

No.

Wouldn't you say it was probable that they had made hundreds of pairs of boots

similar to this design?

He's calling for a conclusion on the part of the witness, Your Honor.

The witness can only testify to his personal knowledge.

Sustained. Well, then we'll see if we can't make it a part of his personal

knowledge.

Come on up here, Tom.

What?

Now, Barnum, sir.

Take a good look at these boots.

See if you wouldn't like to change your mind and maybe admit that you could have

been mistaken.

No, sir. The boots I saw were black.

I think this business about the boots has gone on long enough, Your Honor,

unless Mr. Calhoun intends to swear these two men so that I may cross

to make sure that he didn't provide them with the boots for this futile display.

Agreed, Sam. I agree with you. You two can sit down.

Proceed with your questioning, Mr. Calhoun.

Now, Boris, you said that you've got hit in the back room.

You were knocked down.

You were knocked down so hard that you couldn't get back up on your feet right

away. Is that it?

Yes, sir.

But after you finally did get up, you staggered back out into the main part of

the store. Now you got hit again.

Yes, sir.

Do you have any idea what you got hit with?

Uh, well... Well, I mean, was it a fist? Was it a gun butt? What was it? I don't

know.

I mean, I was hit from behind in the storeroom, and when I went in the store,

blew out the lamp.

Oh, and you were barely conscious, right?

Yes. Now you're lying there, half conscious, and a man runs out wearing a

of boots, and I take it he was running.

Can't imagine he'd want to hang around there too long.

So how long is that going to take?

One, two, possibly three seconds at the most? I don't know.

About that, maybe. And now you expect this court to believe that you, lying

there, half conscious, in a half -lit room, could recognize a pair of boots on

the feet of a running man that was only visible for one, two, possibly three

seconds, and not only recognize him, But then describe the insignia. I'm sorry,

Mr. Calhoun. Old Andy needed help and I couldn't give it to him. But I could

see. And those were the same boots.

Call the next witness.

I call Jess Pardue.

Jess.

Witness for Billy here.

He's my witness. We're more interested in the truth than in protocol, Mr.

Calhoun. Jess Pardue will take the stand.

and me helped raise that boy since his ma died 15 years ago.

Just answer the question.

Well, we got paid that afternoon, and little Billy and I gave

half our pay to Albert to hold.

See, the three of us are saving up. We're going to buy a farm.

How much did Billy win in the poker game?

Forty -three dollars.

You're paid $50 per month, a combined total of $100.

Half going to Albert, leaving $50 plus $43, allegedly one.

That's $93.

That would be just about the amount stolen from old Andy, wouldn't it? You

have to answer that, Jess.

Well, that's right. You're not required to respond to that question.

You didn't leave Billy at any time during the game?

No, sir.

Did Billy ever leave the game?

No, sir. Not even for one hand?

That's all it need take for Billy to leave the depot, rob the store, and come

back again.

Your Honor.

I'll go to another line, Your Honor.

You say Billy won that money in the game?

Yes, sir.

You must have been pleased about that. Yes, sir.

I don't think you're telling us the truth, Mr. Pardue.

You couldn't have been with Billy at every minute.

Billy showed up at the saloon by himself. Now, where were you when he

the saloon?

Well, I... Isn't it a fact that Billy lost in that game, Mr. Pardue?

Isn't it a fact that you went with him to the feed store looking for some way

get back your money before your brother found out that you gambled it all away?

Isn't it a fact that you were waiting outside in the street while your nephew,

Billy Pardue, killed that old man and rifled the cash register?

Now, isn't that what happened, Mr. Pardue? He hasn't got one shred of

for any claim that he's made. I demand an answer from the witness.

You're out of order, Mr. Calhoun. Sit down.

Answer the question.

Where were you when your nephew went to the saloon?

I don't know.

Maybe I was looking for Albert.

Or maybe I was seeing after the horses.

You see, I get mixed up by everything.

It goes too fast for me, Sawyer.

But Little Billy never hurt nobody.

You've got to believe that.

That's all, Mr. Calhoun.

You're going to let Little Billy go, ain't you?

Any questions, Mr. Calhoun?

No.

I told them Little Billy never hurt nobody. I think they're going to let him

out. Now, listen to me.

You've got something to do.

Shoot. I want you to get these things.

You go to the last car on the train at the depot.

Last car? I got the door.

You go inside.

Stay out of sight.

And you wait for me.

I'll take, gentlemen. Sure, I will.

Finally, gentlemen.

The law says that you're to find Billy Pardue guilty.

Only if you're convinced beyond any reasonable doubt of that guilt.

A reasonable doubt.

That's a big phrase in this case, because the whole thing is filled with

Why do you think Mr. Wilson here made such a to -do about the differences

between the railroad workers and the town?

I'll tell you why.

To play on your prejudices. Because he didn't have a case.

Though he tried to string together a series of circumstances and coincidences

make it look like he had a case.

But not one piece of evidence that he brought up was beyond any reasonable

doubt.

Now, Barnabas Rogers works for me.

And I trust him with my life.

But I've known many trustworthy men that at one time or another could make an

honest mistake.

And this time, with the circumstances as we know them by his own testimony, half

conscious in a dimly lit room, I think he is mistaken.

He's interested in seeing the murder of Andy McGuire brought to justice and

hung. Well, so am I.

So is every man in this room.

But I'm just as interested to see that an innocent man's not hung.

So Billy Pardue owned a pair of boots that were similar to those worn by the

murderer.

But this court wasn't in such a hurry.

I could go out of here and bring in a hundred men with black boots that have a

similar design.

But even if Barnabas could remember accurately, which I don't really think

could under the circumstances, is that enough evidence to hang a man?

Would any of you want to be hung because you owned a pair of boots that were

similar to a murderer's? Is any of it beyond a reasonable doubt?

And can you hang a man because his Uncle Jess couldn't remember?

Because he got confused and because Mr. Wilson here, the prosecutor, tried to

confuse him even further.

Now, the prosecutor also tried to imply that Billy Pardue left the card game in

one hand.

Went down to the store.

Well, killed a man, rifled a cash register, and then got back before the

hand was played.

Now, all of you have played cards before.

We've all played poker.

How long does a hand of poker take?

Well, the difference could be long or short.

Depends on how the cards fall and how the bets run, how many players there

Depends on how long it would take a man to run from the depot down to the store,

do what was done, and then get back.

Is any of this without its doubts?

Could any of it be beyond a reasonable doubt?

Now, you're all honest men.

I know you to be good men.

I know that none of you would want to send an innocent man to be hung.

So I'm going to ask you, I'll even beg you, to go out of here and vote

for Billy Pardue's acquittal.

It seems to me this is a pretty open and shut case, so it shouldn't take you

long to make up your minds.

Take out the jury.

This court stands recessed.

There's a gun under this coat, Barnabas.

I'll use it if I have to.

What do you think you're doing?

Not a word, Miss Julie.

And you act like nothing happened.

Walk natural.

Nothing's going to change, Mr. Pardue. You know... Don't talk.

You got one chance to save Miss Julie's life.

Don't waste it.

Now move.

Get up there.

Up there.

Inside. Door's locked.

Not anymore, it ain't.

Inside.

Al, did you ever see anything as pretty in your life?

Old Ben Calhoun do live high on the hog, don't he?

Get down the other end of the car and watch the door.

Oh, sure, Al.

Anything you say.

Sit down, Barnabas. Miss Julie.

Look, I understand how you feel, Mr. Pardue, but this isn't going to solve

anything.

I'll take my chances at will. You got yourself into this fixed boy, nobody

but lying about Billy.

But they ain't going to hang him.

I'll see to that.

But you don't know that they're going to find him guilty. There hasn't even been

a verdict yet.

I got eyes.

I saw the stuff they dumped in the street. They don't build gallows unless

aim to hang somebody.

But the jury will make that decision, not the judge.

They turned Billy loose.

I'll let Barnabas go.

There's nothing to worry about.

Well, there's no point in keeping Julie here, then.

All right.

Now, you go tell Calvin what I said.

I want to talk to him.

You tell him he better make it fast.

But Ben defended Billy, remember?

Why him? Of course, Calvin's the only man I know who can keep Billy from

swinging. You tell him I got a whole lifetime wrapped up in that boy, so I

nothing to lose.

Now put your hands behind your back.

You don't have to tie me up, Mr. Carter.

You're Billy's last chance.

You get loose and I got... I got nothing.

Have you reached a verdict?

Yes, sir, we have.

We find the defendant guilty as charged.

With the recommendation that he be sentenced to a life term in the

prison.

This court is not adjourned. I will have order here.

Ain't you going to get a new trial?

In this territory, it is the right of the jury to render a verdict.

But it is the right of the court to set the punishment.

Will the prisoner rise and face the bench?

Willie, poor dude, do you have anything to say before sentence is passed?

No, sir.

It is the sentence of this court that you be held in jail until dawn tomorrow,

at which time you will be removed to the gallows to hang by the neck until dead.

No! On your soul.

Now, we've got a right to get that boy a proper attorney to appeal this case.

Appeal denied. This court is adjourned.

He's going to hang me. No, they're not.

We could wire the governor, but I don't think it'll do any good.

Billy's uncles are holding Barnabas in your private car, and he said you should

get there fast.

Come on, Billy, I gotta take you back to jail.

My aunts will think I'll let you hang me. Come on, let's go.

I can get some men here if we need them.

Al's a reasonable man.

I'm gonna talk to him. I've worked with him, Ben. I know how he thinks. Let me

talk to him.

We're gonna do it his way.

We'll round up the fireman and the engineer.

Tell them to build up full head of steam.

Al.

Is this Ben Calhoun?

I'm not Al. Can you hear me? I can hear you.

Let the boy go.

Then we can talk.

I hold the high cause this time.

Now come on in.

Now take it slow and easy.

I see the gallows going up. The people on the street, they found him guilty,

didn't they? Yes, they did.

That don't leave me no choice, Ben.

Stay where you are, Ben.

You're an intelligent man, Al.

You can't get away with this. Get out of here, Mr. Campbell. All right.

What's your proposition?

Barnabas for Billy.

As simple as that.

You bring Billy here and saddle us three horses.

A judge is not going to let Billy go. You know that. You find a way, Ben.

I mean business.

You bring Billy here and load the horses into the baggage car and take us up

north. There's wild country up there and we'll get a fair start.

You can't outrun the law.

We'll make it.

You're giving us the chance.

I'll talk to the marshal.

But it may take a little time.

Better make it fast, Ben.

My patience is wearing thin.

I don't know what you have in mind, Calhoun, but I think he's bluffing.

I say we get some men, confront him with a show of force.

Now, what's holding you up, Calhoun?

I mean what I say.

He may be bluffing.

Well, he can't afford to call his hand.

What do you have in mind, then?

And remember the most important thing, that he thinks we're going along with

him. Start down towards the jail and then double back.

Take a little while, Al.

The marshal's got to go down and talk to the judge.

Hard trick you're trying to pull, man.

No trick.

Got a head on a boxcar in order to carry the horses.

Tell him to hold his fire.

Hold your fire!

All right, Dave.

Now go ahead and uncouple it.

Get those three horses.

Bring them up here.

It may take a little while to get everything arranged.

Mind if I come inside?

All right, come on in.

Ben, I'm much obliged to you for defending Billy.

Sorry I have to do this, but there's no other way out.

This isn't a way out either.

As soon as you take Billy, Marshall will be right on your trail.

They're trying to trick us, Al.

They ain't fetching no horses. They're just standing.

What are you trying to pull, Ben? Takes time to get all that done.

Not this long.

Back off, Mr. Calhoun.

If you back off, I'll kill him.

You had your try, Ben, and you lost.

No, I'm telling you.

You bring Billy and the horses here in 15 minutes, or Barnabas is a dead man.

Anyway, we haven't got time to talk about it now. As far as I'm concerned,

matter is closed. Let them stay where they are. They have ringside seats for

hanging. There's not going to be any hanging.

Not tomorrow, anyway.

Oh? He won't get far. We'll have him back here in 24 hours.

You ready to replace him, Marshal?

Why, you can't do that.

He's a federal prisoner convicted for murder.

You turn him loose, that makes you an accomplice. How many people do you think

are going to swallow that?

I'm the judge in this district. I'll make it stick.

They won't hurt your friend.

Swear in some deputy, show them you mean business.

You think I'm going to let you gamble Barnabas' life on a bluff like that?

Or let your bullheadedness kill him, you've got another thing coming. Maybe

judge is right, Calhoun.

Maybe there's another way to work it. We make one move, they'll kill Barnabas.

If I turn him loose, every two -bit gunfighter I caught would try the same

thing.

You let them bluff you once, they'll keep right on trying.

But if I was a private citizen, I might do something else.

I see your point. But since I'm the marshal, well, I'd better see if I can't

scout up some deputies.

Marx was right. The law is the law, Calhoun. If a man breaks it, then he has

be judged according to his crime.

And nothing outside of that judgment can be allowed to interfere.

Well, you may be right on that, Judge.

And Billy may be guilty.

The only thing I know for sure is that he wasn't proven guilty in your court.

We're doing what we have to do, Calhoun. I understand.

And so am I.

You go in there and let him out.

You picked the wrong man, Calhoun.

You heard what I said to the marshal. The same goes for you.

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone, Judge.

First, I'm going to get Barnabas out of there and save.

Then I'm going to see to it that Billy Pardue gets a fair trial.

Dave, you go get some horses.

When Al and Jez make a run for it, you follow and bring Billy Pardue back here.

Then have three horses waiting for me up at the depot.

Right.

You intend taking my prisoner away from me? I intend taking your prisoner over

to Miller Falls, where he'll get a fair trial.

It's out of your jurisdiction.

Now, you get in here with me, where I can keep an eye on you.

Sure, Mr. Kim.

The Europeans are waiting down in my private car.

You get out on that street, you run for all you're worth.

And let me tell you now, if anything happens to Barnabas, you're going to

they had it on you.

Hold your fire.

Hey, they turned old Billy loose.

Here he comes.

They shot him!

They let him get close, then they shot him!

I told you what was going to happen.

Now it's going to happen right in front of you.

Billy, you never had no luck at all.

No, look at all.

You didn't know old Andy would still be there.

You didn't figure that, Billy.

What did you say?

That Billy didn't know Andy was in there?

No, he didn't.

Billy didn't do nothing.

Nothing at all, Al.

Tell the truth, Jess.

He won that money in that talking game, like... Like I told you, Al.

Make him tell you the truth, Al.

Al.

Billy said you'd be mad.

Now you tell me what happened.

Al.

Billy was drunk.

He was afraid you'd be mad because he lost the money.

But he didn't mean to hurt nobody.

You've got to believe that, Al.

Maybe it's better this way.

A whole lot quicker than hanging.

Al, you... You ain't sawing me no more, huh?

I mean, it's going to be like... Like old times with us again, ain't

it? Yeah.

Yeah, just like old times.

I don't see any point in holding it, Marshal.

They didn't hurt anybody.

Are you trying to tell me how to run things too, Terrence?

All right, bury your boy.

And I don't want to see the two of you around here ever again.

You going to let us ride free?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'd be much obliged if you got a proper stone for little Billy.

We'll take care of it.

Good luck to you.

I want that man arrested. I want him in jail.

I said I wanted him arrested.

Billy Pardue's dead, Judge.

What more do you want?