Original subtitles

Two men coming up the road, Uncle George.

If you listen to me, boy, you take this here piece of paper and you hide it,

and you don't let nobody see it. Do you hear me?

Yeah, but... Keep your mouth shut.

Just listen. They're coming. There ain't much time.

Now, you go to your uncle Arden's place down at Three Forks,

and you'll wait for me. You let anybody see that paper,

and I'll take the height off on you. Now, do you understand me?

I understand. All right, I'll get it.

Oh, George, you're trying to kill me with an empty rifle. Ain't I just like him?

Where you been, George?

I've been thinking about you since you're supposed to be holding the money.

Well, I... I lost it, Murrell.

I...

There was so much shooting that I dropped it in the dark when I was getting away.

They've been telling me down at the saloon you've

been buying drinks from the strength of a map.

They also have been saying you've been telling people you got $60,000 stashed away.

There ain't no map.

You go ahead and look around, Morrell.

Tear the place apart if you want to. There ain't no map.

That boy who lives here, he's your nephew, ain't he? Where is he?

Boy? There ain't no boy living here.

We thought we saw somebody right in here.

No, nobody here but me.

Well, I guess we might as well say goodbye. Is that right? That's right.

No, pick along. No, absolutely not. I will not serve pheasants to the passengers.

But I can get a real bargain, Captain.

No, I need money to keep afloat, but not to waste it on rare birds.

If anybody wants me, I'll be in the pilot house.

Captain Holden? No, Chip, later, later.

I brought you your coffee. I said later!

What's the matter? He's worried.

He's just gonna stay broke, that's all. Because he's so pig-headed.

He didn't make any money this trip.

Well, he'll get a cargo.

But he needs passengers, too.

The kind that eat good food.

Order down to half speed, Mr. McGregor. We're coming to a bend. Can't you see us?

Aye, sir.

Half speed, Mr. Carney. What's the matter with you? Something wrong?

Everything's wrong, all the way from St. Louis.

First the port boiler goes up,

then you want to remodel a cargo hold for more efficiency,

and I'll pick along once big pheasants on board.

Sir, Captain, there's a raft dead ahead in the rocks.

We're gonna run him down.

I gotta stay clear of those rocks. Keep in the channel. Hey, you men, get forward!

There's a boy on a raft there!

Pick him off! Don't let him go under!

Let's see if we can get him behind the line. Yes, sir.

Can't you stay out of the way, or I'll pull you right in my path.

What's the big idea of trying to run me down?

Run you down?

I had a right to be out there. You don't run the river.

That's possible.

What's your name, son?

Sam Dexter. Have you heard of my pa, Willie Dexter?

No, no, I can't say that I have.

Then you must be pretty dumb.

Yeah, that's possible, too.

He was a member of the Morrell Gang.

Morrell Gang?

Mm-hmm.

Where are you heading, son?

I got an Uncle Arden in Three Forks, Tennessee.

Chip, you take Sam up here to my cabin and see if he gets a bath.

Yes, sir.

A bath? No! Oh, no!

Yeah, and something to eat, too.

Take your hands off of me.

I can walk.

That isn't Captain Holden's idea of a bath. Yeah, well, it's mine.

I'm ready for that last piece of pie now.

You cleaned up two helpings of everything. Haven't you ever eaten before?

Of course I have.

What's your name, kid?

Chip.

Chip, you the cabin boy?

Yeah.

You ever work in the galley?

Sometimes.

Bet you can't get food out of the galley.

I can, too. Mr. Pickalong lets me have anything I ask for.

Bet you can't read.

You want to bet?

You know, I like you, kid.

Come here. I want to show you something.

Now, before I show you this,

you gotta swear in your life that you'll never tell a living soul what it says.

If you do, lightning will strike you dead.

What is it?

First swear.

All right, I cross my heart. Now show it to me.

My Uncle George made me promise not to open it.

Treasure map.

Is it real? Of course it's real. There's probably a couple million buried there.

Jewels, you know, stuff like that.

Pirate treasure?

Sure.

I know lots of pirates.

Now, it says right here that...

Ninety pickets.

Yeah, and it says right here... Six steps into the cemetery.

Yeah, six steps into the cemetery.

Uh, I thought maybe me and you could go halves.

Of course, if you don't want to be rich, I... I

don't need all that money, but the captain does.

The boat's losing an awful lot of money.

Well, you think on it for a while. There ain't much you gotta do.

Get some food and help with the digging.

Food?

We gotta eat, don't we?

Yeah.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll let you do all the digging.

I'll think about it. Remember, don't say a word or I'll strike you dead.

Gee, a million dollars.

Watch it, boy. Now you watch where you're going.

Oh, excuse me, sir.

Yeah, all right, you're excused.

Captain? Yeah, what is it, Chance?

Well, suppose, suppose this fella, suppose.

Suppose, suppose what?

Well, suppose this fella wants to help his best friend,

but he promised not to talk about the buried treasure,

and he had to go away for a little while.

Hold on now, catch your breath now.

Real buried treasure?

Now, who's this fella's best friend?

The friend he wants to help?

Uh-huh.

The most wonderful person in the world.

Yeah.

Well, now, let me give you a little advice, Chip.

You see, usually buried treasure is fake.

And boys who run away from home usually get paddled.

But I thought you said you needed money.

Chip...

Have you been talking to Sam Dexter?

Yes, sir.

Well, you just stop listening to his cock and bull stories now, you hear?

Yes, sir.

So on that brass button?

Yes, sir, Captain.

All right, scoot.

But I like Sam.

I really do.

Joshua, you see Sam Dexter? Yeah, he's down on the cargo deck with Chip.

They're thick as thieves. Thick as thieves, huh?

That's an unfortunate simile.

Joshua, what do you think of Sam?

Well, he's not very straightforward, but he has made a friend of Chip.

Yeah.

Well, finished your work yet?

Yes, sir.

Did I do something wrong?

Oh, no, no. Why'd you ever get that idea?

You spent most of the morning with Sam, didn't you?

Yes, sir. He helped some in the galley.

Oh, well, that's good.

That's fine.

You don't get much of a chance to play with

boys your own age here on the Enterprise, do you?

No, sir.

Yeah.

So what I'm going to say, well, you may not understand, but try to understand,

will you, Chip? See, I'm going to have to turn Sam over

to the authorities when we dock at Hadleysville.

Why are you having him arrested? He didn't do anything wrong.

Oh, no, I'm not having him arrested, Chip, and he didn't do anything wrong.

It's just that... Well, you see, I'm a riverboat captain, Chip,

and I haven't got time to look out after a boy like Sam.

See, he needs a mother and a father.

I don't think you ever did have a mother and not much of a father, like you did.

You see, there are folks in Hadley'sville who don't have kids,

and they'd like to take a boy like Sam and try to make something out of him.

I wouldn't know how to go about it.

I mean, he needs the love and affection that a woman

and somebody who cares for him can give him.

Do you understand?

Yes, sir, I understand.

You sure now?

Captain?

How much money do you need to keep the boat afloat?

Chip, keeping the boat afloat's my problem.

Why?

Well, something's wrong. Your disposition hasn't been very good lately.

Oh.

Well, thank you, Chip. I'll see if I can improve my disposition.

And you leave the money worries up to me, huh?

Yes, sir.

Maybe I shouldn't go. You saw the sheriff come aboard.

Do you want him to throw me in jail?

Yeah, I saw him, but maybe I shouldn't. A couple of millions is a lot of money.

Yes, come in, Josh.

Captain Holden, this is Sheriff Bates.

Sheriff!

Sheriff wants to see you.

Well, what can I do for you, Sheriff? It's about that boy you picked up, is that?

You better bring him up here, Joshua. My, sir.

Sit down, Sheriff.

Well, what's this all about? Morrell's gang raided two banks upriver.

Got away with $60,000 in gold.

I see.

Well, what does all this have to do with Sam? Well, in the robbery,

the money was entrusted to a man named George Dexter. Dexter?

Do you know him?

No, no, I don't know him.

Go on, Sheriff, go on.

We think that Dexter tried to hold out the money on Morrell,

so he was shot and killed.

But he had a nephew living with him, a lad about 13.

Now the boy's disappeared.

I trailed Morrell down in this direction and lost him. I think he's after the boy.

Why? Well, he probably thinks the boy has a map to where the money's hidden.

Cop.

Trouble, Sam's not in this cabin. I checked with Miller on the deck,

and he says that Sam and Chip went ashore 15 minutes ago. Excuse me, Captain.

What kind of trouble has Sam gotten into?

Well, you know, Chip, always talking about that treasure. Yeah, well, it's true.

Apparently, Sam's got some stashed away in the hills back there.

You got any idea where they might have gone?

Where did Sam say he was heading for when we picked him up? What was it?

Three rivers? Three forks.

He's got a knuckle living there. Listen, you go ashore,

see if you can find a couple of horses for us. We'll

be able to cut them. They're on foot cutting.

Well, we'd better before Morell does.

Captain, I've got the horses. All right, Joshua.

Did you find out where Three Forks is? It's about eight miles from here.

Eight miles, huh?

You got something to tell me, old man?

$50. I thought our bargain was for $5. Now, correct

me if I'm wrong, old man, but I'm sure it was $5.

It's worth more.

I'm not one to fool around if it's worth more.

Then that's what you'll get.

The boy was on a riverboat like you figured.

But he left at Hadleysville and took the road to Three Forks.

But you watch out.

They know you're around here.

Two men went after the Dexter boy.

Well, I guess we go to Three Forks.

If I remember correctly, George Dexter had a brother there.

It all makes sense. I wonder why that boy runs from me. I like kids, you know that.

All I want is the map.

I gotta go, but you pay me first.

Sure.

See the paymaster. Is that right?

That's right.

That's my Uncle Arden, I'll tell you.

Well, my pa's funeral. If he's your uncle, why don't we go up to the house?

Sometimes he gets pretty mean.

He doesn't look like that type of man to me.

Besides, me and Andy are getting pretty hungry.

All the cheese and bread's gone.

Can't go looking for the treasure without food.

All right, come on.

You don't recognize me, do you, Uncle Arden?

Sam? Is that you, Sam?

Yeah, it's me.

You boys get in the house, quick.

Nancy?

This is Sam.

He's come to visit us.

Why, Sam... Sam, you're just a sight for sore eyes.

You don't know how glad I am to see you.

You know, your mother and me was very close friends.

And who's this boy?

I'm Chip. I'm Sam's friend.

Well, you're just more than welcome to, Chip.

You boys are just in time for something to eat.

Come on, boys. Sit down. You know, Sam,

there was some sheriff's man through here yesterday.

And they said your Uncle George got shot. Is that right?

Uh, I don't know. I haven't worked there.

There's a story going around that your Uncle George,

uh... Well, that he hid some money.

And that he, uh...

Had a map showing where he hid it.

Is there a map like that, boy?

Did Uncle George give it to you?

I don't know nothing about no map.

Nah, if you got the map, boy, you better let me have it. Be a whole lot safer.

Now, just as soon as you boys finish eating, you're gonna have a nice hot bath.

Again? Now, don't you try to talk me out of it.

Both of you need cleaning up. Who's that?

Keep the boys in the other room.

Well, what for?

Keep them quiet, keep them quiet, hurry up. I know things,

these men can be dangerous.

Hurry. All right boys, come on, over here.

That's close enough.

Are you, uh, are you Arden Dexter? I might be. Who are you?

I'm Gray Holden, captain of the Enterprise docked

down at Hadleysville. This is Joshua McGregor.

What do they want, Arden?

Well, your nephew Sam ran away from my boat, and he took my cabin boy with him.

Oh, but they didn't do nothing.

I'll handle this, Semante.

We ain't got no nephews, Captain. You mean Sam Dexter isn't your nephew?

You feel like arguing the point with me?

Well, I, uh...

I know you must be suspicious,

but if we can just sit down and talk this matter over, why,

I think we can iron it all out. You're about five miles from town, Captain.

If you don't get started in the next ten seconds,

I got a feeling you ain't gonna make it at all.

Thanks for the directions.

Why'd you lie to him?

Sam knows where $60,000 is hid, and I intend to have it.

What's got into you? You can't touch stolen money, and you know it.

And I figure I got it coming to me.

Just look around you, Samantha. Look at this shack. Look at that dirt out there.

It's so poor you couldn't raise a peanut to the acre.

And whose fault is it?

I don't mind being poor.

My brothers.

Nobody will lend me any money because I had two brothers with the Morrell gang.

So I figure I got that $60,000 coming to me.

I'm going to follow them into town and see what they're up to.

The boy's here.

Where do you think he's going?

After us, probably.

If he's like the rest of the Dexys,

he's gonna be itching to get his hands on that $60,000.

He got no word on what he's gonna do.

Come on, boys. I want you to get into the other room.

What for? Don't make a sound. Come on, hurry up. Hurry up.

What do you want?

We're looking for the Dexter bar, ma'am.

This is it.

My husband's away right now.

Well, we're not exactly looking for your husband.

We're looking for a boy who ran away with your nephew, Sam.

His folks is mighty worried about him.

There's no boys here.

Well, if there's no boys here...

You don't mind if we look around?

You can't come in. Come on. Go out the back window.

There's one little information, Mrs. Dexter.

Talk with your nephew, Sam.

Nobody in there.

My nephew don't make his home here.

Make her talk.

No.

Josh!

Josh, are you all right?

My head's crossed in the low wind.

They're here! They're here!

My name's Morrell!

I know you, Captain Holden!

The next time we meet, I'll blow your brains out!

I'll never get just now, because you and me are

the only ones who know where we're going.

I'm not gonna take a chance on betraying that poor boy again. Besides,

I don't know where he's gone. That's the truth.

Well, did Sam ask any questions about the country around here? Why? Well,

it might give us an indication where he went.

I only knowed I could trust you.

You have no choice, Mrs. Dexter. You gotta trust us.

Well, he was curious about the country where his Uncle George was brought up.

That's about eight miles east of here.

What's the name of the settlement?

Hawk Hill.

It isn't there anymore. It burned down 10 years ago.

Is the family house still standing?

No, no, it burned down too. There's nothing left there but the churchyard.

Churchyard?

No, he wouldn't go there. It's all gone.

Well, we'll go to Hawke Hill and send you a chance to find the boys.

Captain Holden.

Don't let anything happen to Sam.

He's been through so much.

And bring him back to me.

Stay where you are.

What are you doing?

Went all the way into town before I found out they double-crossed me.

I figured they'd be here. Where are the boys?

No, Morrell was here. There was a fight. The boys run away.

He thinks Sam went to Hawk Hill.

Let the captain go on. He only wants to help the boys.

Captain only wants to get the $60,000. That's what he wants.

Look, Mr. Dexter. I'll kill you. Believe me, I will.

You know, I think you would, Mr. Dexter. I think you would.

Had two killers in your family, why shouldn't there be a third one?

Not this time. Not this time.

I don't intend to give Morrell a chance to catch those boys.

Go on, Captain.

Bless you.

Dirt poor. That's what it'll be the rest of our lives. Dirt poor.

Oh, it won't be so bad.

Besides, now that George is dead, maybe Sam could come live with us.

I don't know.

It's mighty lonely here.

Maybe he could help you with the plowing.

Maybe. Hey, you think Sam's heading for Hawk Hill?

No, I don't.

And he never said nothing about no map or any money.

That's all in your imagination.

Morel was sure about something.

That's why he come after Sam.

Where you going? It is something I can do to help the boy.

You lying to me.

You're lying to me. You just can't get that money out of your mind, can you?

I never said nothing about money. I'm going to do what's right and proper.

No good will come of it.

Maine was killed for that money.

I gotta rest. My feet are burning up.

We have to go on. It's only a mile or so. I'm a river man,

and I've got the blisters to prove it. Look at that.

All right, rest for a little while.

You know what, Chip? I'm going to tear the map up. I know it by heart.

Go ahead. It's your map.

Your Dexter brothers seem to be troubling me all the time. What do you want with me?

Where'd they go? Who? Don't beat around the bush with me.

Sam and his pal. I don't know.

No need to threaten a Dexter with a gun.

There are other things that work much better. Money.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I got a brain, Mr. Dexter.

I know you're out looking for your nephew and his pal,

but you're not riding a horse. You're driving a wagon.

So I say...

He must be figuring on hauling something.

And then I say, what is he going to haul?

The answer comes back real clear.

Gold.

You can kill me, Morrell, but you leave Sam alone.

I'm not going to hurt Sam. Sam can go as free as a bird.

All I want is the gold.

Now, I'm not a greedy man, Mr. Dexter.

I'd say if someone was to help me, it would be worth about 20%. 50%.

Now, you're being greedy, Mr. Dexter. If you can't get it alone,

you'll have to fight me and that riverboat captain. Forty percent.

Forty percent.

All right.

On one condition.

No violence, and you let the boys go.

Why, of course, Mr. Dexter.

All I want is that map that lead us to our goal. Right?

Oh, Well, the last sign that we saw said Hawk Hill five miles.

We've got to lease that far. Yeah, we have.

Well, at least we know Hawk Hill's somewhere around here.

But where? Well, I think you're right.

You know, if we go right up in that direction, we'll be right on course.

Up that way, huh? Right. You really think you're going to be able to find it?

You know, there was a general that asked me that very same question.

Are we out fighting Indians?

You know what happened? Yeah, you got lost. Yeah!

You know what I'm going to do with my money?

I'm going to give a million or so to the captain,

maybe buy Andy a new collar and give the rest to the poor.

You can do what you want with your money.

Me?

I'm going out west and buy me a ranch with nobody else around for miles.

That sounds lonesome to me. Besides, there'll be Indians around.

There ain't gonna be no Indians where I'm going.

There's Indians everywhere, even here.

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if there ain't

a bunch of Indians watching us right now.

There ain't no Indians around here.

Are you sure?

Now all we gotta do is find the money.

How come your uncle buried all the money in this graveyard?

Because nobody ever comes here. He was smart.

Sure hope you remember what that map says.

I do.

We gotta find something to dig with.

A map said to count 90 pickets up from the fence post.

Come on, let's start counting.

Are we going in there?

Sure, why not?

Well, go ahead.

Well, all right.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Go on.

I can't count any farther.

Well, I can. Captain Holden and Joshua taught me.

Captain Holden's just like a father, and Joshua's just like a mother.

Tia, a mom and a dad.

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,

What are we stopping here for? Well, the churchyard's right over the hill.

You ain't really going to pay him that 40%, are you?

You're the paymaster. What do you think?

Yeah.

I'll pay him when he leads us to the map. All right. Right.

Now we gotta go six steps into the cemetery.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

You better do two more or your feet aren't as big as your paws.

This is it.

Joshua, about that general and those Indians, what really happened?

What happened? Yeah. We got lost.

Yeah, that's what I thought. All right,

let's go back to the sign and start over again.

What's he walking at? Somebody's coming.

Did they have a dog with them? Yeah.

I say we found it.

Without a map. Here, get to work, start digging.

You better go find the boys. What do you want them

for? You don't need them now. You got the money.

I'm not going to hurt them.

I just want to make sure we're digging in the right spot.

All right, you stay here. I'll go find them. Oh, I'll help you. I'll help you.

There ain't nobody in there.

After they started digging up the cemetery?

Mr. Dexter, how big a fool do you think I am?

Hello, boys.

Say, I need your help real bad.

Please, Morrell, please.

Don't be frightened, Sam.

All I want to know is, did you start digging out there in the graveyard?

You better tell him, Sam. Better start talking, boy.

We'll stay here all day and all night.

You know, that stolen money is really mine.

It is?

Yeah, but he stole it.

Yeah, but can you prove it?

Honest engine.

Money's mine.

I ain't got it.

That's right, he tore it up and threw it away.

You did start digging that hole out there.

Yes, sir, but I just remembered what the map said.

Oh, that's just fine.

We'll keep on digging.

You stay here. I want to make sure you've got a good memory.

You're gonna help dig, come on.

I hope you were right about what that map said.

Yeah, me too.

Can you see anything?

Nah.

I was just thinking.

Even if we wouldn't have got the money, it'd make no difference.

Make no difference no matter what.

I ain't got no place to go. I thought you were going out west.

Be no better there than it is here.

You could go live with your Uncle Arden and your aunt.

She's real nice. Yeah, she sure is nice.

But him, he's like my old man and my Uncle George.

Maybe not.

You know, Chip, you're the only real friend I've ever had. Well,

Andy Jackson's your friend, too.

It's a metal box.

Well, dig it up.

I got a job I haven't finished. That right? That's right.

Hold your fire!

Carry on!

Put him right down here.

Get the horses, come on.

I'm sorry, boys.

I just had the gold fever for a while.

There ain't no cure for it, except one.

You tell your aunt, Samantha, I made one right decision.

I wasn't like my brothers after all.

You tell her that, yeah.

You knew where we were hiding, but you didn't tell Muriel.

Why?

Why?

I just couldn't, Sam.

You see, you're my family.

He knew where we were hiding, but he didn't tell on us.

Why did he have to get killed?

He's not dead now, Sam. Gotta get him to a doctor real

quick. Now, come on, Chip, get up here. Come on.

Where's the ship?

Took to Captain's cabin.

Well, I don't know. I think he conducted himself like one of us. Yeah,

but he did run away, and that's bad. 60,000 gold.

I think it would give him a reward. Well,

I hope that you learned a lesson this time,

spending all that time in the graveyard. Boy,

there's something I want you to understand. A runaway boy is not a hero.

Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir.

Yes, sir, no, sir, what?

Yes, sir.

You understand? All right.

Now, those banks are mighty grateful to get that money back,

and I'd like to thank you for wanting to share your reward money with me.

I did it all for you.

I know, but we're going to save that money for your education later on.

You were wrong about Sam, weren't you?

I beg your pardon?

I mean, there is a lot of good in him after all.

Yeah, there's a lot of good in him.

You just need a little goodness and kindness to figure it out, that's all. Bye!