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It's from Chalk Hill.

Red Pony and his renegades hit a ranch there this morning.

Sweet Water this time.

So far 28 known dead,

12 ranches looted and burned.

Hoss and Little Joe rode up that way two days ago.

Sweet Water again.

It just stopped... right in the middle of a word.

Well, I'd better get back to the Ponderosa and get up to Sweet Water.

Thank you, Tim. Put him up, will you?

Yes, sir.

- Lieutenant. - I'm Lieutenant March, sir.

We were on a routine training patrol and ran into an ambush.

You'd better get the wounded inside the house.

Get a doctor from town. Hurry up, Joe.

Sergeant, take the wounded inside.

I lost half my men before I realized what hit us.

How big a war party?

35, 40. I counted at least 20 rifles.

The rest were armed with bows and lances.

Well, they'll have more rifles now. They just looted the Sweet Water ranches.

Come on, come on. Yah! Giddyap, giddyap.

That thing's in there real deep. This... This is gonna hurt.

Just go on, get it out of there.

Dad burn it.

The shaft broke.

Joe, I'm gonna get you out of this, you hear?

Everything's gonna be all right.

I promise you.

My orders are to find, harass and delay the renegades

until a major force arrives.

Hardly possible with one non-com and one trooper able to ride,

but I can scout this whole area.

Well, Lieutenant, my sons rode up in that area to warn the ranchers

and I haven't heard a word from 'em.

- I'm riding with you. - Be happy to have you, sir. Let's go.

I've checked these rocks out and it looks safe here.

I don't believe there's any of them Indians here.

You need anything?

Yeah, can I... can I have some more water?

Sure.

Here. Drink all you want. There's plenty.

You want more? There's plenty.

No, thanks.

Hey, Joe, there's a campfire over there.

I can see smoke about a half mile away. Maybe help.

Maybe just a bunch of more Indians.

No. No, they wouldn't give themselves away.

I'll be right back. You'll be safe here in the shade.

There's plenty of water here. I'll be right back.

Ho! The camp!

Anna, you keep out of it.

Get back on that horse and ride out.

There's renegade Indians right over that hill.

They're killing and taking scalps. That smoke will attract their attention.

So will that gunfire.

You heard me. Ride out.

My little brother's out there with a broken arrow in his shoulder.

I need some help and I need it bad.

Why don't you help the man, Breck? It ain't gonna hurt you.

Get back on that horse. Get going.

What were those shots?

A drifter, Mrs. Dawson. I'm just running him out of here.

Mrs. Dawson, the man says his brother needs help.

You were told to leave. You'd better do exactly that.

I came here for help for my little brother and I'm gonna get it.

You're wrong, my friend.

Drop the rifle.

I am an impatient man. Drop it!

You'd better do what he says, pilgrim.

Jonathan Frazier's an old hand at shooting people in the back.

My little brother's out there in bad shape.

While we're standing around here talking, he might be dying.

Give the man his gun, Mr. Frazier, and put yours away.

Do as I say, Mr. Frazier.

Now, you're the wagon boss, but I own the wagons.

Isaac, please.

We made camp so you could rest.

We can't go on till you do.

I'm supposed to rest with gunshots and shouts all over the place?

You stirred up quite a fuss, young man.

- The man's got a good reason, Doc. - Doc?

Yeah. Dr. Isaac Dawson, sir.

Boy, that's the best luck I've run into in a long time.

- Doctor, my little brother's got... - An arrow in his shoulder.

And you want me to remove it, huh?

With these hands?

Hardly possible.

Joe.

Heard... Heard the shots.

I thought you were in trouble.

Just take it easy. See there, Doc?

He needs immediate surgery.

Looks like the pilgrim was sure telling the truth.

Isaac, you can't.

Even if you could hold a scalpel, you haven't got the strength.

Estelle, you've been at my right hand with hundreds of patients.

This time you'll be my right hand.

That cot.

I want you to take the patient over there, but gently, gently.

Estelle, the instruments.

Operating on strays with raiding parties all around.

You're gonna get us all killed.

All right, Mr. Cartwright, I'll remove the arrowhead, but there's a fee.

Your services, you and your gun, until further notice.

You got a deal.

Joe...

We're in luck. We got a doctor and a nurse.

They're gonna patch you up just good as new.

You can leave now. We can get along without you.

Cut the shirt open, Estelle.

Young man, this is going to hurt like the devil.

So it would help all of us if you lie as still as possible.

Mr. Mulvaney, can you spare some of your bottled painkiller?

Sure, Doc.

I don't want any of that. Just get it... Just get that arrow out.

All right. You may leave, and take that with you.

Uh, swab that with some alcohol now.

Easy.

That's fine. A scalpel.

A little higher.

Now, with a firm hand...

Good.

Whoa. Whoa.

Those hills, are they part of the Sweet Water range?

Yeah, they are. Go a lot farther than they seem too.

Breck.

Breck, take the first watch up on the hill.

Why not him? He's the one that's spooked by Indians.

Well, you know how I feel about Indians,

but I'll be glad to stand guard if you want me to.

I don't want you. Now, move out!

Holler if you hear anything!

No shots and stay off the skyline!

You'd be no good up there now.

You'd be watching the camp and nothing else.

You ever get your brother patched up, you'll stand guard duty.

I'll be ready.

Red Pony, huh?

It's getting to be a small world, Cartwright, ain't it? Too small.

You... You heard of Red Pony?

Yeah, yeah, I heard of him.

You know, I was going to ration this, make it last,

but now it's beginning to look like I'm gonna have more whiskey than time.

- Have a bite? - No, no, thanks.

Guess you must have been wondering about us, huh, Cartwright?

That fine warm welcome everybody gave you when you drove in.

The way everybody jumped up to help you.

Yeah, as... as a matter of fact, I was.

You know, I've seen a lot of wagon trains west,

but I don't believe I ever saw a bunch like you.

No.

Two women, two thieves, a dying man,

a discard who should have been dead a long time ago.

But we ain't a-marching towards the golden promise

of your grand and glorious west, Cartwright.

No, we've been there. We had a bellyful.

Now we're heading back east, running out with our tails between our legs.

Cartwright, looks like you joined the company of the losers.

Well, little brother, you gave me quite a scare there for a while.

You're looking pert as a jaybird now.

That's just how I feel too.

It isn't the time for talk, Mr. Cartwright.

Your brother needs rest.

I'll be all right.

Ma'am, I don't know how I'm gonna ever thank you and your father

for what you've done.

I want no thanks.

Dr. Dawson's getting the sleep he should have had hours ago.

He mustn't be disturbed.

And he's not my father, Mr. Cartwright.

He's my husband.

I know, I know, honey, you... don't approve.

I wish you wouldn't.

Yes, well, it's my fault that you're here, Anna.

That's why I need a taste of this,

to get the taste of that out of my mouth.

Smack damn in the middle of Indian country.

War parties all around us.

I brought you out here to get you killed.

No, Papa, don't say that.

Oh, yes, not just you, all of us. All of us are going to be killed.

Oh, why... why didn't I leave you in Virginia City?

There's one good thing about it.

You won't even see them or hear them till it's too late.

That's how it was at Bishop's Creek, Anna.

200, 300 of them.

Half the troop were dead before we even heard a sound.

Papa, don't think about it anymore.

I should have been dead too.

I would have been if my horse hadn't bolted.

He took the bit in his teeth and he...

I couldn't stop him any more than I could stop the wind.

That was a long time ago.

No, the worst... the worst part of it all,

my own daughter, my own flesh and blood, doesn't believe me.

Of course I do, Papa.

Oh, sure, sure you do.

Just like the court martial board believed me.

I wouldn't do that.

I thought I heard him call.

- I... I was just trying to help. - With a gun in your hand?

Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.

But you're supposed to be in bed.

Yeah, I guess we both are.

Yes, but first I'm gonna take a look at my patient. Come along with me.

Look, Doc, I'm feeling fine.

Now, just lie down there and let me take a look.

- How does it look? - Looks pretty good.

Ah, no fever.

That's good.

I wanna thank you for your concern, young man, but it wasn't necessary.

I could hear someone coming.

I was waiting for him, with this.

What's it all about, Doc?

Well, I... I couldn't employ any honest men to drive my wagons

in the face of all this Indian trouble. I had to take what I could get.

Well, when you hire a thief, you expect him to try to rob you.

I have two thieves in my employ, Breck and Frazier.

They both have the idea that I have a considerable amount of money

stashed away in that wagon.

And I let 'em think so.

You not only head into trouble, you... you bring it along with you.

No, not really. You see, they keep an eye on each other.

This is the first time either one of them

has had the chance to get near my wagon alone.

Look, Doc, why don't you be smart and go back to Virginia City?

Why take the risk? Wait till the Indian trouble's over with.

How long will that take?

Two, three weeks, a month at the outside.

I'm... I'm trying to get back home, Mr. Cartwright.

I want another look at the place where I was born.

I wanna see my son.

I wanna see my granddaughter. I've never seen her.

I can understand that, but... what difference does it make

if you see her now or a month from now?

I don't have a month.

I don't have three weeks to spare, Mr. Cartwright. I'm a dying man.

Get yourself some rest.

- Papa? - Huh?

Mr. Frazier said I should give you this.

You're next to stand guard.

Oh, yeah.

Yes, thanks, thanks...

I guess I kind of talked too much last night, didn't I?

It's all right. I didn't mind.

Anna, whatever happens, I just want you to know

that you're the finest daughter a father ever had.

Thank you, Papa.

Whatever happens.

Cold beans and yesterday's biscuits.

You must be feeling pretty good the way you're eating, Joe.

- No reason I shouldn't, is there? - No, no, no. No reason.

You know, Joe, I promised these folks that I'd ride with 'em,

be an extra gun in case they run into Red Pony.

That's two guns. I can still pull a trigger.

They ain't going to Virginia City, Joe. They're... They're going east.

- Where is he? - I don't know.

How long has he been gone?

Just a few minutes ago I gave him breakfast.

All right, all right, what's all this about?

Mulvaney's gone along with half the shells we got left.

He did it again, huh? Bishop Creek all over again.

That time he left a troop to get chopped up and this time he leaves his daughter.

- No, he wouldn't. - He did.

His saddle and his horse are gone, and the tracks lead straight east.

He was drinking. He didn't know.

Don't make no difference why or when or how come.

A man out there alone ain't gonna last long.

- We're gonna have to go get him. - Not me. I say good riddance.

Well, my job is here. I gotta take care of the women and Doc Dawson.

Well, get with it.

He jumped me. He jumped me before I could even draw.

I don't know. I got so scared I couldn't think, Cartwright. I...

- All I could do was run. - We better get out of here.

There's more of them out there too. They're liable to jump us any minute.

Yeah, and they probably heard that gunshot.

But they ain't too close or they'd have already been on us.

Come on, let's get out of here.

Sergeant, you and Burns take the west fork around Half Butte

- and then back to Virginia City. - Yes, sir.

Sergeant, just remember there are two of you and a hundred of those Indians.

Yes, sir.

Report back to headquarters when you get there.

You can ride back with them, Mr. Cartwright.

Well, my sons are still somewhere out here, Lieutenant.

We'd better move out. We're wasting time.

It's a good thing Mulvaney rode east to see what was out there.

If he hadn't, that Indian scout'd have seen these wagons coming

and it all would have been over real quick.

The rest of that war party'll find a dead scout and two sets of tracks

and then they'll be all over us, thanks to Yellow Belly.

Well, that's why we gotta get moving and get moving quick.

There's a stage station back on the trail to Virginia City.

But that's behind us, west.

Yes, ma'am, but we can find men and guns there,

and even if we don't, we can fort up and make a decent fight of it.

But we don't want to go back. Tell them, Isaac.

We want to go east.

Uh, we... we should have stayed in Virginia City.

If you guide us, we might get back there alive.

We'll make it.

We'll save time by lightening the wagons.

We'll jettison everything but what is absolutely necessary.

No, Isaac. Not the gifts you're taking to your children and grandchildren.

Presents from a man they've never seen or long forgotten.

We'll leave them here and hope they delay and interest the Indians

long enough to save a life or two.

You're catching it pretty rough, Doc.

I'll ask 'em to slow down.

No, no, don't do it. I'll... I'll be all right.

You'd better stop, Mrs. Dawson. Your husband needs you.

Go ahead, say it.

I've heard it all before.

I wasn't going to say anything.

Well, then, don't sit there staring at me like that.

- I... I don't like it. - I wasn't staring, Papa.

Yes, you were staring, just the way all the rest of 'em look at me,

like I was some kind of piece of filth or something.

I suppose I am.

No, Papa. That isn't true.

- What's the holdup? - Dr. Dawson.

Mrs. Dawson is giving him some medicine.

Yeah, and I'm taking mine. Brave water.

Hey, go ahead, Cartwright.

Tell her what I was doing when you found me this morning.

You better go easy with that whiskey. We got a long ways to go.

All right. Then I'll tell you what I was doing when he found me.

I was running, running away.

Papa, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter? What do you mean, it doesn't matter?

I was running away. I was gonna leave you behind to be killed.

Papa, I said it doesn't matter.

I'm gonna go talk to Mrs. Dawson.

How's your husband, ma'am?

We have two very sick men in this wagon.

Little Joe's worse, huh?

Burning up with fever. Infection has set in.

Hah!

Whoa!

- Where is that stage station? - Right around the bend.

No sign of life.

I'd feel better if there was some smoke in the sky.

I'm just happy there ain't no buzzards up there.

- Get 'em out of here, quick. - Yeah.

Hah! Hah!

Hah! Hah!

Yah!

Yah!

Isaac. Isaac.

Isaac?

I don't know where you came from, Pa, but you're sure welcome.

Get inside!

- What happened? - I'm all right, Pa. Don't worry.

- Joe? - We're in luck.

Here are some extra weapons.

You take that side window. You cover the back.

There's only three or four of 'em now, not enough to make a real fight.

But they'll keep us pinned down till the gunfire brings the rest of 'em.

What happened to Joe?

He got an arrow in his shoulder, Pa.

- We've got a casualty. - Huh?

We've got a casualty. The old man. He's going fast.

Isaac? Isaac?

Can you hear me?

I went away for a little while, but then I heard you and I came back.

All of you paying for my foolish stubbornness.

I've done you all great harm.

Shh.

We'll be all right. Don't worry.

You're going to be all right, Isaac.

You will.

No, we both know better.

But at least there's no pain now.

Please take care of her.

She's a fine woman.

She's gonna be all right. You're gonna be all right too.

No pain.

No pain at all.

The kindest man that ever lived.

How's that wound of yours?

It's nothing I can't stand.

Joe, why don't you go get some rest? And just sing out if you need us.

If I waited for you two to sing out, I... I'd have been scalped by now.

I'll tell you what, Joe, if we need any help, we'll sing out.

Anna...

Anna, at Bishop's Creek...

my horse didn't bolt.

No, I nearly ripped his sides open with my spurs getting me out of there.

And today, when I was supposed to be out scouting, looking for help,

I wasn't, I was just trying to save my own worthless neck.

Papa, why don't you stop torturing yourself?

Worst thing I ever did was to bring you out here

when I knew there could be trouble.

I... I don't know why you even speak to me.

You're my father.

If I was you, I'd be ashamed to admit it.

As much as we need the guns, there's one man here we could do without.

- You mean Mulvaney? - I mean Bishop Creek Mulvaney.

He ran and got a whole troop slaughtered.

He's not the man to cover that corner.

I'll talk to him.

Anna, Mrs. Dawson can use you.

Of course.

Don't need to tell an old soldier that that barn gives us a blind side.

Couple of them could sneak in from the other side and come charging through

before we ever knew they were there.

Sure.

We need a good man here, keep an eye on that barn.

Not me. I'll get you all killed.

Mulvaney, you made a big mistake and paid a big price.

Court martial, disgrace, lost career.

You have a chance to even things up right now.

Did Hoss tell you what I did this morning?

Yes, he told me.

And you'd trust me? A man who'd run out on his own daughter?

Things have changed now. You can't run.

20 feet out of there, you'd be killed.

You gotta fight to stay alive this time.

Even a cornered rat or a coward...

Rat, coward, animal, dog, tiger, man.

You got a shotgun, you got shells, you got a six-gun.

What's more important, you got what very few other men have.

- Hm? - A second chance.

Pa, Hoss, over here.

They heard those gunshots and they came running.

They'll talk to see how they're gonna do it and then they'll come.

I sure wish that wagon wasn't out front.

That makes two of us.

That... That barn back there isn't the only blind spot.

The wagon out front's another one.

You know, they could sneak in behind it, push it up to the front door.

They'd be inside on top of us before we know what happened.

Well, let's hope they don't think of that.

They will, they will. If only we had a little dynamite.

Two or three sticks'd blow the wagon to smithereens.

They'd never be able to use it for cover.

We could use a troop of cavalry too. We don't have them either.

I counted 12 of them out there. They're gonna keep us pinned down

until we run out of shells and then burn us out.

I also spotted a horse out back.

Now, if you give me covering fire, I can ride out and get help.

Listen to him, huh? You hear the panic in him?

He's got the shakes, wants to save his own hide.

I'm an old hand at running, Johnny. I know all the signs.

Now, don't try it. Don't even try it.

Stay right where you are. They'll kill you before you get ten yards.

It's quiet now. It's worth a try.

Better get back to that window. They'll be coming any minute.

Joe. Joe.

- I'll get up. - No, Joe.

Mr. Cartwright, you can go back to your front window.

I'll defend this one.

That last attack was supposed to cover this sneak attack from the barn.

It didn't work.

They'll push that wagon right up to the door.

All right, everybody, get ready.

Papa.

It's gonna be all right, Anna.

Of course.

I mean it. I mean it. It's gonna be all right.

- I won't let them hurt you. - Of course, Papa.

This...

Could I... Could I take this?

Mulvaney, what are you doing?

Easy, now, everybody. Everybody just stand easy.

You can't go out there. You saw what happened to Frazier.

It's what I do best.

White flag or no white flag, they'll kill you.

He had to pull the trigger to make it work.

We're ready to leave when you are, sir.

Miss Mulvaney, one request, ma'am.

I'd like to send this back to West Point.

They have a museum there for weapons used bravely and valorously.

I'm sure they'd be proud to have it.

Daddy would be proud too.

This has been a color production

of the NBC television network.