Original subtitles

That's him.

I want to be an engineer.

Turns out to be a pretty good one. Sure does, sir.

Yeah, I think so, too. Yeah, just good enough to walk the tracks.

It's hard to keep the trains running. That means walking track.

Ben, nothing's going to happen to the tracks. Now, Clay Hennings is running a

bluff. You'd trick your hand to play if he wasn't, though, wouldn't you?

Well, if you want my opinion, Mr. Calvin, which you obviously don't...

hot out here. I could go for something cool.

Yeah, so could I. Come on, I'll buy you all a beer.

You go ahead.

I'll be with you as soon as I get Julie started on the work order. All right.

Right good to see you, Lieutenant.

Good to see you, too.

I'll just bet that's so.

Yes, sir, I'll just bet you've been counting the time.

Well, that's two of us that's been figuring, Lieutenant.

You must have known I was going to catch up with you someday.

Well, here I am.

I'm ready, and I'm weak.

So why don't you go ahead and draw so we can get this thing settled between us?

I have no intention of drawing.

What's done is done.

That's the way you see it, huh, Lieutenant?

That's the way I see it.

A gunfight wouldn't change a thing.

I have no intention of letting you push me into one.

If you came into town with a taste for trouble, you might as well forget it.

Unless you've also got a taste for hanging and shooting me in the back.

One barrel of flour, three sides of bacon, two large cans of lard, one sack

dry beans.

How come you're not writing it down?

You can leave the list, you know.

I've got to check it over.

Listen, Bess Hennings was in today.

She asked me to tell you that you're in a lot of trouble.

Oh? Yeah, she was really quite worried about you. She said that her father's on

the warpath.

There's no new revelation, is there?

He's been on the warpath for the last four or five weeks. He's been costing us

few delags to work, too, having to go out and check those tracks every day.

But, Ben, he lost another dozen head last night.

They were stampeded by your train coming through. They went right over the

headwall along that canyon.

He's been saying all over town that he does not intend to lose any more.

Well, I've told him a dozen times to move those cattle to a higher pasture.

That's a whole lot easier than me trying to move those railroad tracks.

Now, we need 300 feet of rope, two crowbars, two large hammers.

Why would Bess Hennings be worried about me?

Hardly ever spoken to her.

Did you ever notice the way she looks at you?

No.

Then you're blind as a bat.

No, you're not.

Matter of fact, did anybody ever tell you what beautiful eyes you have?

Thank you.

Matched only by your imagination.

I need two crowbars.

You've got

something

to do, you go do it, Beth.

Yes, sir.

Beth?

Morning.

Hello, Beth.

Dave?

You just got time for the women, folks?

Nice to see you too, Clay.

I ain't finished yet.

I got plenty to say to you.

You tell Calhoun I took all I can.

A cabbage stack of his racing through at night, spitting and belching and firing

and scaring my steer so almighty much they can't tell their horns from their

tail.

You tell Calhoun that's gonna stop. Clay, you know Ben's got a schedule to

Not out of my pocket, he ain't.

I'm not going to lose no more stock.

All right. You tell me.

I will, Clay. I'll tell him.

Right now, we got some unfinished business to get.

Mr. Henning.

I'd like to talk to you about a job.

Huh? My name's Holt Avery. I just rode into town. I wondered if you could use

extra hand.

Steers I've been losing lately.

I can hardly afford to pay what men are good.

Now I won't be able to use no extra man.

Oh, I work cheap on account of I got no love for Calhoun.

See your hands.

They're soft.

Wouldn't be no good for cutting logs.

Cutting logs?

I thought she was running steers.

You could be right. I wouldn't be no good cutting logs, but if you need a

gun, I'm fast, and like I told you, I'm cheap.

If I need a gun against Calhoun, I'll get my own.

Are you kidding?

Paul, who was that?

Just some gunhead.

Wanted to hire out against you.

Hey!

How long did it take to get that order ready, Julie?

How's tomorrow noon?

I wanted to get it on the morning train up to work camp, if I could.

Well, don't worry. If it misses the train for a little extra, I can always

it up by freight for you.

If anyone ever asks, tell them I'm giving ours of eight to one. If you

die, I'm broke.

What odds are you giving on my dying single?

Mr. Calhoun?

Miss Henningsen?

Calhoun, I'm telling you for the last time.

If you try to send your train through at night, you'd better send along some

guns.

Excuse me, I didn't know you were going to turn around like that.

Are you some kind of blind jackass boy?

It wasn't my fault. You turned around kind of... You're out of line, mister.

Good!

Good! You going to straighten me out?

You get out of line again with him.

You just put your gun where your mouth is.

That is, if you got the guts.

I got the guts. That pleasure's me just fine.

Dave didn't start it, Mr. Calhoun. He was just trying to help me out.

All right.

The party's over.

He won't always be around to hold his hand.

Well, I'm still thirsty. We're going to buy the drinks.

Some other time, Ben, if you don't mind.

The land's separate to regular time, isn't it?

That's right.

some more potatoes, Dave.

A few more beans, maybe.

No, thanks.

Hey, I believe, uh, hanging that beef improved at a good eagle, Harry Potters.

Tasted pretty good tonight.

Come to think of it, hanging would help a few friends of mine, too.

You want some coffee?

No, thank you.

I've had enough.

But I haven't had enough conversation.

You're still upset about this afternoon, aren't you?

Yeah. He'd have killed you, Dave.

He's a gunfighter. You're not. You're an engineer.

He could have killed you, too.

It's possible.

Still, I've had a little more experience at it than you have.

Does that mean we back off from every saddle trap that comes through town? No.

But he didn't just happen to ride through town.

He came here for the specific purpose of killing me.

His name is Hode Avery.

Before the war, I did a hitch with the cavalry.

Before the war?

Well, that would have to be the Union cavalry.

Before the war, that's all the cavalry there was, Barnabas.

Hode came to me out of Kansas to join my outfit.

Good man.

He was one of those fellows that never could take the discipline.

Still and all, he was about the best man I had.

One day I sent him out on a patrol looking for a bunch of Apaches that had

burned the village.

He's the only one that came back.

When I found the rest of the men later, they were all dead except one.

Before he died, he told me what happened.

They were jumped by a bunch of Apaches and hoed over at run.

Witness against him.

He gave him ten years.

Couldn't he understand that you were just doing what you had to do?

Perhaps he feels he's doing now what he has to do.

He's going to try to get at me any way that he can.

Perhaps through you boys.

So you stay away from him.

What are you going to do?

Too bad he had to come in here right now, isn't it?

Just one innings to get it to act up.

They say trouble always comes in pairs.

I suppose all a man can do is take care of them one at a time.

Where are you going?

I'm going after old Avery.

I wondered if we might have a talk.

Hello.

Reyes.

You're

a

little late, Lieutenant.

You look very good, I must say.

Consider it.

Why not?

I ain't done a lick of work in ten years.

You only have to look at the hands, see that? They're real soft.

Kind of shaky.

You see, that's from worrying and sweating when the rats are gnawing and

over you in the middle of the night. That's from bad food and solitaire.

You fixed me up real good, Lieutenant.

I didn't make the rules.

If I had it, perhaps I could have taken into consideration that even the bravest

man, one time or another, could run.

Especially a fellow like me, who knows it ain't worth it to die for a few red

savages, because he knows there's a big war coming on, and he wants to get into

it and get his share of it, because he wants to teach them gents down there in

the South a lesson they ain't never gonna forget.

Of course, everybody ain't on the same side, are they?

There's this fella, he's got to stand up in court and say... You know what you

said. The fact that my sympathies were the opposite of yours had nothing to do

with my testimony to a court -martial. Of course not.

Of course not, Lieutenant.

An officer's sympathies ain't never with his men.

They got to go to sleep with orders.

They got to get up giving orders.

They got to run you and get some boots and run you and get some horses.

An officer's got his duties.

That ain't good enough.

Now, don't give me back no ten years of my life on account of the words you

slung out there in that court -martial.

Nothing I can do about that now.

Oh, yes, there is.

You can't give me back no ten years of my life, but you can give me the

of watching you pay for it.

By the way there, Lieutenant, this Mr.

Hennings, he...

He runs cattle, don't he?

That's right.

Well, now I wonder why he'd want to hire me to cut logs.

You should have asked him.

Time's our train. Pass through the heading property.

That'll have to tap.

Better get out of there.

It's been cutting long for you anyway.

Well, ain't it a pity that Mr.

Calhoun is mad at Mr.

Hennings?

So the way I heard it was like these guys were coming in from way out in the

country and they got this town and fellas were told they were going to have

dance around the town.

They could all bring a special animal because there's no girls around there.

a couple of guys were carrying up their horses, you know, braiding their manes

and braiding their tails.

These other fellas were bringing sheep and anything they could find around

was really going to have themselves a real wing thing.

So they all get ready to come to this town and have the dance, and this one

shows up, and he's got... All

right, throw down your gun.

Clay Hennings, boys.

Well, they put it up. They can take it down.

I don't know why we're going to have to come back out here tomorrow and put it

back up again.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Look after him, Dave.

I'll see you back in town.

Come on, you heard the man. Take it down.

Well, Mr. Calhoun, what a pleasant surprise.

Good evening, Miss Hennings. Is your father in?

Even if you did come out here just to see Paul, please come in.

Thank you.

Won't you sit down?

Paul, there's somebody here to see you.

Paul, it's Mr.

Calhoun.

Don't you hear me?

My daughter sounds like we should be on it.

You'd think it was Gabriel come to call.

I don't think Gabriel knows how to run a railroad, does he?

You come about them logs on the track.

I'm assuming you put them there.

You're assuming correct.

And I'll give you a tip. You can assume some more. I'm going to keep riding on

putting them there as long as you keep running your train through at night.

We have to run that train according to a schedule. We got to keep that schedule.

Not does it cost me 810 head of good stock that iron devil of yours comes

screeching down the track.

I told you before, you can run those cattle on higher ground. There's plenty

good grazing up there.

Not like that, there ain't.

The best feeding ground in 20 miles is right there, running along your track.

And I ain't about to move my steers count. Some politician got rich selling

decent, honest men, putting a railroad through a good, tall buffalo grass where

shouldn't no railroad ever ought to have been.

Well, that's one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about. Try to get

you to understand that a railroad's there for the good of everybody, and

got to think of others.

Don't you talk others to me.

You know what that cost me last year? More than 1 ,500 headcount. I had one

steer.

One sick critter in a whole herd. They said, shoot the lot.

Don't even say the highs. Just douse them in coal oil and set a match to

That thing and others, that cost me four long years of hard work, and I ain't

counting it to cost me no more.

Paul, that don't have to mean... Wasn't talking to you, Bess.

Cahill, you said what you come to say.

I got to be up early tomorrow.

I got to cut me some more logs.

Oh, you've done real good.

Only polite to say goodbye.

It's nice to know that not all of the headings look on me as a dangerous

No enemy, for sure.

And I wouldn't say too dangerous.

I've been Calhoun.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself, making me lose control.

A man doesn't realize his own power.

Pa, sometimes you just put me to shame. Hold on.

Listen. Pa!

Who, ma 'am?

Pa, a gentleman like Mr.

Calhoun riding all the way out here with both hands open.

What ought to set us up proud he even took the time?

What the devil could be spooking her now?

Pa, listen to me.

Beth, you simmer down.

Nothing to be fortunate about.

It's just some sort of ride now, Joe.

Now you settle down, yeah?

You fool women.

You're all right.

What's the matter? What happened?

Somebody just killed Clay Higgs.

Oh, no. That's awful.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

He's had quite a shock.

I said Barnabas was over to get to Marshall. He should be here pretty

I thought perhaps you could look after him in the meantime.

Oh, of course.

What'll I do?

I ain't got nobody now.

Sure you have.

You've got a lot of friends.

Who?

You've got Julie for one.

Ben, you won't forget me.

Will you look after me?

What you need right now is a lot of rest.

I'll come back for you as soon as Marshall shows up.

Thank you, Julie.

Oh, I notice now she calls you Ben. Used to be Mr. Calhoun.

As long as you're dreaming, Julie, why don't you go to sleep?

Good night.

Yeah, Lou.

I've been looking for you.

Marshal wants you at the saloon.

Thank you.

or weakening value.

Here you are.

You're supposed to be resting.

I can't.

Miss Julie, when will Ben be back?

Oh, he shouldn't be long.

Bess, could I ask you a question?

Sure.

You're my friend, ain't you?

Um...

How much do you know about Mr. Calhoun?

Well, I know he's a gentleman, that's for sure.

And good looking, of course.

From the talk you hear, coming on to be rich.

I also know he's kind and understanding.

Real gentle, too, when he wants to be.

Except I guess he don't show that face to everybody.

I'm very glad that you can see him that way, Bess.

It might keep you from being hurt.

Hurt?

Now he's going to take care of me.

He said so right in front of you.

Miss Henry?

Hello, pal.

Miss Julie?

The Marshal's in town. He asked me to bring you over.

Ben said he was coming back himself.

He ought to be with the Marshal by now.

I just have to get my show.

We won't be a minute, Cal.

Well, I heard the shot and I went back.

He was lying there by the corral.

My question is, he was dead. I checked him anyway.

You hear the shot, ma 'am?

I run right out.

Mr. Calhoun was standing by.

And then I seen what happened and... You mind if I check out your gun, Ben?

Just for the record, of course.

Sure wasn't fired tonight.

Well, for the time being, anyway, we'll have to figure it like the lawyers say.

Killed by a person or a person's unknown.

You can't exactly say that, Marshal.

It's old Avery. It just so happens I was at Mr. Henning's place tonight.

Do you know anything about the killing?

I do.

I seen it. I seen who did it.

Could you point him out in the court of law?

I can and will now.

It was him.

I was the only witness against him in this court, Marshal.

He's held a grudge ever since.

You just sat there on your horse and watched him kill a man. You didn't even

to stop him. Well, I figured that there wouldn't be no sense in butting in.

It's a private fight. It don't make no difference to me one way or another how

it turns out.

I don't think you need a reading glass, Marshal, to see that he's just trying to

get even.

You said yourself you had words with Hennings.

You hear the man?

And they were quarreling?

Yes.

So what?

He was quarreling with everybody.

Ask any of the ranchers around here. Ask Dave.

That's right. He put the spurs to me this morning.

Is that true, ma 'am?

I didn't see it.

I wouldn't know.

Mr. Calhoun's a member of this community and highly respected, I might add.

You can't expect to just ride in here and say he shot down a man. I'm just

telling you what I saw, and that's all.

What were you doing out there tonight?

I rode out to Henning's to see about a job.

With Clay Hennings?

That's right.

He asked me to go to work for him today. There must have been plenty of people

seeing us talking on the street.

Is that true?

I couldn't say.

I wasn't there.

Let's see your gun.

I didn't say he shot him with a sidearm.

Rifle? My rifle hasn't been out of his boot in two weeks.

That's your word against his?

No, against two of us.

Me and my compadre, we was out there together.

You're going to be around?

Well, I was thinking about going up to Denver, but if you want me to stay

around, I will.

There's no need to set bond.

Just so you're here for the coroner's jury.

My sympathies, ma 'am.

I'm sorry.

I'm truly sorry.

Well, I can only say what I know.

It's not your fault.

She had a bad time.

Why don't you take her home?

Beth, it's very late.

I'm just thinking.

Anything I can do to help?

No.

The only one who can help is me.

If I can just think it out.

Well, this is a good place to think.

Quiet and dark.

I come out here to think myself sometimes.

Do you? I found that if you just

get quiet, sometimes you can remember things that you couldn't remember

Remember? You mean like maybe tonight?

Maybe.

You think I'm holding something back?

I'm glad I just say forgetting.

I said everything I know.

I told them all you got no right to make me out a liar.

I didn't make you out anything.

You just want Ben to think bad of me.

Maybe you got some notions of your own.

You got him tied all up in ribbons, broke and bridled and heading straight

the preacher's house.

Well, you ain't. I can look at him same as you can and can't nobody tell me to

stop.

I'm sorry.

You've been good to me.

I've got no right to carry on like that.

Except you've got to understand, Miss Julie.

Only thing I want is to help him. Some way.

Any way.

I don't know how to lie.

And I would.

I'd lie from now to sunup if I could.

Oh, you've got to believe me, Miss Julie.

I believe you.

Don't stay up too late.

I won't.

You're wrong.

You've got to face him and make him tell the truth.

It's like that, huh? Yes.

What if he don't want to tell the truth?

Then what do I do?

Kill him?

Let the marshal and everybody in town?

Then could I shot the only man who could appear again?

Then he's going to force you to draw some time. He wants that personal

satisfaction.

He'd get it.

Through Hennings.

Well, somebody's got to face him.

I told you to stay out. Well, maybe I can scare him into telling the truth.

Don't you believe it. He don't scare that easy.

And he wants you or me.

I don't think he even cares which at this point.

He'll taste it every time he swallows it.

Like I told you, Dave, he's... He's too experienced for you to try to handle

him.

Under the circumstances, I can't.

Why don't we forget it?

Kevin?

No, I think I have another.

I always had a hankering to live in town.

Under the circumstances, your father being killed and all, don't you think

perhaps this is a little out of order?

Pa's gone now.

There's nothing I can do about that.

Joe here.

I've heard lots of folks say to live cheap as one, providing the one does

of course.

Don't get yourself hung.

And I can see that he don't.

Well, that puzzled me a good eel.

The magic wand you proposed waving that saved me from the hangman's noose.

Well, now, don't you worry about that.

I got it all figured out.

Now, suppose I just started remembering things.

What things?

Well, like how Paul was the only one who got mad, you wasn't mad at all.

Never made no threat of promise at all.

That's pretty good for openness.

But it's not going to win the part.

Well, maybe did I try real hard.

I'd remember about Mr.

Avery, too.

Remember what?

Well, like what I heard, you see.

How Mr. Avery tried to sell himself for a gun hand.

That Paul wasn't buying nothing like that.

And never offered him no job, neither.

So wouldn't that mean Mr. Avery was lying?

Lying about you, too, I guess.

Wouldn't be no questions.

Folks would take my word.

No decent girl would lie against her own Paul or marry herself to the man that

killed him.

to catch you.

I know what I want.

And I'll spit and scratch if I don't get it.

But I'll burn nice and soft if I'm rubbed the right way.

Ben, wait.

I never manhandled a lady in my life.

Once I get you through that door, don't ever come back or I may start.

I don't need your kind of help.

Come here. Calhoun, are you up?

Good evening, Marshal. Now you tell him what you just told me.

I just told Mr.

Calhoun that nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to make me change my

What do you mean by that?

Means you won't see me hung.

How about a drink?

No, thanks.

I thought you might like to look at this.

The doc cut that out of Clay Hennings tonight.

And he was killed by a rifle.

Looks that way.

I took the liberty of taking this rifle out of your saddle boot at the livery

stable.

This is your rifle.

Yes, it is.

But I haven't used it in quite a while.

It was fired no more than six hours ago.

Do you mind handing me back that slug?

It's not my place to say it, but you got friends in town.

You'll need them.

You got to do some regrading out of Bearclaw Bend.

The railroad's got a sag in it. We might have a break.

Part of us, you're going to wear a track in the floor.

Did you hear what happened to Mr. Calhoun? He's been charged with murder.

Yeah, I know.

Hode Avery framed him.

Ben talked to Marshall into going out to Henning's place.

Maybe they'll find something out there to prove Hode Avery a liar.

In the meantime, we just sit on our hands.

I wanted to do something, but Ben overruled me.

Well, he didn't overrule me.

Where do you think you're going?

I don't know.

Hoad Avery was proved a coward once. I think he'd be forced to tell the truth.

Come here.

Come here and sit down.

You want to learn something about blueprints?

We'll start learning.

Ben doesn't want us to do anything.

All the people that have tried to get Ben Calhoun, the whole day before he

them. Right here, in our own town, with our friends all over the place, and

without even firing a shot.

And all we do is sit here, drawing lines with a pencil.

Oh,

Dave. How are you?

How are you?

I've heard of blind gated jackasses.

You calling me?

You're asking to get yourself killed, boy.

I'm just asking to walk down the street and not find a lot of trash underfoot.

I was just going in for a cup of coffee.

Take me about five minutes.

Don't be here when I come out.

Somebody ought to tell Mr.

Calhoun.

It's a pity he's going to miss the whole show.

I reckon somebody ought to tell him.

Dan, anything new?

Nothing to speak of?

We were just going over to Mrs. Keller. She's going to lend Bess a black hat and

veil for tomorrow.

I think that'll be fine.

Though I've never understood why the living should be punished for the dead.

such an innocent face should be covered by a black veil.

Seeing how things are, Mr. Calhoun, I don't feel that's a proper thing to talk

about.

Mr. Calhoun!

Mr. Calhoun!

You'd better come quick.

Mr. Turner just called out all day for...

I can't go.

You can't go?

Why? It's between them.

And you've no part in this? Ben could get killed.

Leave me alone.

You've been lying.

You've been lying.

What is it? What are you not saying? I can't go.

What is it you're not saying? Nothing.

Nothing. Come on. You're going to be alone when you tell the truth.

You're going to grow up real fast.

Me you want, Holt, not him.

It'd be a real pleasure, Officer Lieutenant.

Sorry, Dave, but it's my fight.

Don't do it.

No!

What's the matter?

Truth's going to come out, Hoot, one way or another.

Come on, now. I want you to see what you're doing. Look at this.

Look at this. No!

Julie!

I lied.

I lied so you'd need me.

I lied.

Dave, why don't you take her home?

I'll have to talk to her later.

I'll see that Holt is taken care of.

Come on, Bess.

Again, like I cook coffee.