( theme music playing )
( squawking )
( cow moos )
These were tight as a fiddle string when I left them.
Look at that.
I guess I can stop wondering what I'll be doin' tomorrow.
And the next day, and the next day, and the day after that.
One way to get out of doin' something twice
is to do it right the first time.
( gunshot )
.30-30.
( gunshot )
Close.
Looks like we lost him!
Yeah, looks like he's goin' downhill!
We can pick up his trail down on the flats!
Hey, will you help me with this one?!
Ow!
Tabby!
Stop it!
You're a big girl now, Tabby.
Start acting like one, or I'll bend you over my knee
and paddle you good.
You just try.
You may be a girl, Tabby,
but you got more claws than a wildcat.
You dragged me off my horse.
You wait.
Just wait till my daddy hears about this.
Fine. We'll all ride over and tell him,
and then we'll come back and show him the steer you shot.
I thought it was an elk.
You're lying.
You couldn't mistake a steer for an elk,
not out in the open.
I thought it was an elk.
You thought it was an elk.
All right, we'll let it go at that.
But it better not happen again.
And I don't want to see you on this ranch again, ever.
Get on your horse and go home.
Now.
You sure handled that real nice, didn't you?
What do you mean?
First she kills one of our steers,
then she comes along, claws me up one side and down the other,
and you come and give her a little pat on the head
and send her on home.
What do you think we ought to do?
We should've took her home and told her folks.
She says it's an elk, we say no.
Who do you think Tucker McCallum's gonna believe?
You want to be the one to ride in and tell old Tuck
his darling daughter's killin' our beef just for the fun of it?
Who, me? Yeah.
Oh, no. I'd rather go hunt a grizzly with a broom.
There's something wrong with that girl.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's the way she looks at you.
It's the way she thinks.
Spends all her time dreaming up meanness.
Everyone's her enemy, and that's just the way she likes it.
Why?
So she can have the fun of gettin' even.
What are you doing?
I just came in, Pa.
And I was goin' out just for another ride.
You were gonna take Buck?
Well, I didn't think you'd care.
You know doggone well I told you to keep off him.
He's stove up.
He wouldn't carry you ten miles.
You were gonna leave your horse like this?
Saddled? Lathered?
Look at him.
You must've run his legs half off.
I couldn't help it, Pa.
A bear spooked him.
I had to let him run.
And I was gonna wipe him down and cool him off
and put him away before I left.
I ought to wail the tar out of you.
You know that, don't you?
I ought to.
You've done it enough.
And don't think I won't do it again if you need it.
You can bet your shirt on that.
Now, you take care of that horse.
Then you get in the house.
You ain't goin' no place else today.
( mimics coyote call )
( coyote call continues )
You suppose he's after my hens?
I don't think that's a real coyote.
That's my gal come calling.
Tabby McCallum? Mm-hmm.
I might've known.
Well, ask her in.
There's no sense in her standing out there
foolin' around like a wild Indian.
I'll ask her.
I'm over here, Dan.
Evening. Not now.
Come on. No, Dan.
Tabby... No.
No, Dad, no. Not now.
What's the matter?
Ma says I should ask you to come in the house.
Did you have to tell her I was here?
Why not?
We're gonna be gettin' married pretty soon, aren't we?
Aren't we?
I suppose so.
But I wanted to talk to you alone.
I wanted to ask you a favor.
What?
Will you loan me a horse?
A horse?
You mean to tell me you walked all the way over here?
I didn't want anybody to know I'd left.
Oh.
Will you loan me the horse?
Hmm...I guess so.
But wherever my horses go, I go, you know.
No, Dan. Mm-hmm.
It's a nice night.
What are you gonna do, anyway?
Go get the horse.
I'll tell you when we get there.
Right.
Tabby, what kind of a trick can you play on Judge Garth?
He ain't even here. He's back east. You know that.
The Virginian's here.
What are you gonna do?
Just wait and see.
If you don't like it, you can go back to the horses.
Well, I don't like it, but I'm not going back.
Then wait here.
I'll only be a minute.
( snorts )
( horse neighs )
( neighing and snorting )
( neighing continues )
Come on, let's go!
What did you do?
Never mind. Come on, hurry up.
We've got to get out of here.
I want you to tell me what you did.
I said, never mind. Come on, run.
Tabby, you've got to tell me what you did.
No! Let's go!
No, you've got to show me what you did.
No!
Let go of me! Let me go!
No!
Let me go.
You--
Come on, we've got to get out of here!
( neighing continues )
Fire! Fire!
The barn's afire!
Fire!
Come on!
Hey, stop!
Stop! Hey, stop!
Who was it? Somebody runnin'.
I tried to scare 'em into stopping. They just kept going.
Cut those horses loose!
Dan! The barn's powder dry!
Danny, listen to me! We've got to save what stock we can!
Get the blindfolds on those horses!
Hyah!
Move the wagon out of there!
Hyah!
Steve!
Get around back! Take what stock you can out through the corral!
Betsy, don't come any closer!
( neighing continues )
Hyah!
Todd! Yeah!
What about the Judge's bay? Who brought her out?
She was in the box stall at the north end.
I put her in there this afternoon, she's about to foal.
Sam, I thought you said that end was clear!
Forget the box stall. I'll go get her.
No, you don't! It's too hot! Get back!
Hey, the kid's goin' in!
( coughing )
Where's the Virginian? Still in there.
( coughing )
Trampas!
Virginian, where are you?
Trampas! This way, over here!
Hurry, get him out!
( coughing )
Put him in the bunkhouse!
All right, men, gather round!
Let's get a bucket brigade goin',
see what we can save! Come on!
Ohh, give me the towel.
Heh heh. That felt good.
Here.
Better get in line if you want to wash up.
Oh, no hurry. I--
Hey.
Fine crop of blisters you got there.
Just a minute.
I don't know how this salve works on people,
but it's sure great for horses.
We'd have lost every head of stock in that barn
if it hadn't been for Ben.
Yeah, and somebody would've been hurt for sure, too.
Boy, the way a horse screams when it's caught in a fire--
you can't stand it. You've got to try to do something.
How does it feel to be a hero?
Can't talk, huh?
Soar throat? I know what you mean.
I do, too. All that smoke.
It was lucky you saw that fire before it got goin'.
How'd it happen?
What were you doin' around here that time of night?
A little late to court Betsy, wasn't it?
Or were you planning on serenading her?
Here's a prime example
of what young love can do for the country.
Save a barn full of horses.
Danny, you seen anybody around that barn
before you seen the fire? No.
I seen someone runnin' away when you hollered us out.
I didn't see anybody.
Thought maybe you saw who it was.
No, I didn't see anybody.
It's funny you didn't. I didn't!
Danny, that's all right.
I--I gotta go home. My ma's--
Why don't you boys put your shirts on?
Danny, we think a lot of you around here.
We owe you a lot, too.
You can talk to us. Any man here will listen.
Just try us. Something on your mind? Something bothering you?
Look, I--
I don't know what you mean.
I told you, I didn't see anybody.
Well...
I guess you're right about your ma worrying about you,
you being out so late and all.
We're sure obliged for what you did.
Go on home, now.
I reckon I'd better.
Come back tomorrow and tell me the truth, huh?
What do you mean?
'Cause you're lying to me now, Danny.
You saw who it was that was running away from that barn.
I don't know who you'd cover up for,
or why you'd do it...
but I do know you'll come back
and tell me the truth about it tomorrow...
after you've had time to study it out.
Go home now, Dan.
Aren't you makin' a mistake?
I don't think so.
There's a good chance that boy had something to do
with settin' that fire.
Oh, come on, Trampas.
There's no sense hiding from it.
Bad blood's got a way of showin' up.
Bad blood's got nothin' to do with it.
The young come into this world brand new, inside and out.
Some folks don't agree with you.
What's bad blood figure to do with this kid?
His pa was a cattle thief.
They had to hang him for it.
We'll have to take out that whole back wall.
It's all gotta be replaced.
Tucker. Bruce.
Fire's about the worst thing that can happen to a man.
Yeah. Lose any stock?
No, just the barn.
That's a blessing.
Takes longer to raise horses than it does a barn.
Yeah.
We're looking for Tabby.
She didn't come home last night.
Thought maybe she might've stayed here with Betsy.
No, we haven't seen her.
I told you we should've gone to the Flood ranch, Pa.
We'll get there.
Why the Flood ranch?
Dan Flood's been hanging around Tabby.
Told him to stay away, but he don't hear so good.
He'll hear me this time.
Hold on a minute, Tucker.
Sam, that fella you shot at last night-- which way did he go?
He was headin' over the hill back of the bunkhouse.
Go get your horse. We got some riding to do.
Sure.
SAM: Over here!
There was two horses tied up here.
Look at the boot tracks.
There's a handprint. Must've fell down.
See? Knee hit right here.
Small, woman-sized.
SAM: Somethin' else.
I know, I saw it.
Some more up there. Blood spots.
I aimed to fire high.
I must've fired too quick.
We'll find out.
Whoever it was must've finally got on right here.
SAM: Tracks leadin' up that way.
Come on.
Pa?
Stay where you are.
Shoulder wound.
She bled to death.
She didn't need to die.
She wouldn't have if she had any help.
You wound an animal-- a deer or an elk--
any four-footed thing--
you don't just leave it to crawl away and die in misery.
No.
You track it down,
no matter how long it takes.
You do that for an animal.
But not for my daughter.
We didn't know she was hit.
You didn't know, or you didn't care?
We didn't know.
You let her crawl away to die.
I didn't mean to do it. I swear I didn't.
I'd never shoot a woman, no matter what she'd done.
You'd say that now.
Sure he would!
You killed Tabby, and now you're trying to back out of the blame.
A wild shot, 150 yards in the dark?
Sam didn't know. He couldn't know.
You didn't track her down.
Sam thought he missed. He tried to miss.
It was black dark, and we had a barn goin' up in flames!
Get Tabby's horse.
They're lyin' to you, Pa!
Maybe, maybe not.
When I decide which,
then I'll know what I got to do, and I'll do it.
Get the horse. No.
Not until I give Sam here another chance
to show how fast he is.
I said, get the horse.
Tabby was runnin' from the fire,
and him that set it.
That much I'm sure of.
We don't know who set the fire, if it was set.
Dan Flood set it.
That's just a guess.
No better than his father.
It's my thinkin' that he had as much to do with killin' Tabby
as if he'd pulled the trigger himself.
Maybe more.
The killing was an accident, Tuck.
Not in my eyes.
It was murder.
And somebody's going to pay for it.
If you feel that way about it, there are courts, you know.
I don't need no courts.
I square my own accounts.
Sam's a friend of mine.
So is Dan Flood.
What you do to either of them, you do to me.
Make no mistake about that, Tucker.
I square my own accounts.
And I bury my own dead.
I'd be obliged if you'd leave us now.
I didn't set fire to the barn.
No, but Tabby McCallum did.
And you was with her. It's the same thing.
It's not the same thing.
I don't think Tabby did it on purpose.
She--Well, she lit a match to see in the dark,
and she dropped it. That's what happened.
The fire got out of hand.
The only thing she could think to do was to run.
She done it on purpose.
Why would she do something like that on purpose?
Because she's an evil girl, that's why.
The devil's in her, Dan.
You can see him lookin' right out of her eyes.
Ma, just a minute. Before you say anything more about Tabby,
I think you ought to know something.
Tabby and me are figuring to get married.
Married?
( knock on door )
Mrs. Flood.
I was comin' over to tell you about the barn.
Honest, I was.
I just wanted to tell my Mom about it first.
Well, you can see how she is.
I didn't want to leave her like this.
It's a thin door, Dan.
Don't worry, Mrs. Flood.
Dan?
We found out that it was Tabby.
She was runnin' away from that fire last night.
The shot that Sam Hicks fired
was lower than he thought.
He hit her.
Tabby's dead, Dan.
I'm sorry.
It'd be best if he rode in with me
and talked to the sheriff.
Oh, please. No.
With Tabby dead, there's got to be an inquest.
It's only reasonable that they'll want to talk to Dan
about the fire.
He might even have to stand trial. I don't know.
They'll send him to prison.
I don't believe so.
I'll ride in with him and speak up for him.
He stayed and fought the fire with us.
We owe him a lot.
First my husband...
now my son.
You're not alone, Mrs. Flood.
You've got a lot of friends, you and Dan.
I brought one of 'em along.
Betsy?
This is a sorry time
to be seeking solace in a bottle.
Bruce better be goin' for the preacher
if we're gonna have one to read the words.
No preacher.
I can read from the book as good as any man.
Be a kindness to me to have a preacher.
I'd feel easier in my heart.
No preacher.
I'll want that patchwork quilt.
The one she liked when she was a yearling.
And a down pillow for her head.
She was my daughter, too.
Is it too much to ask for a Christian burying?
Will you go in the house, Sophie?
You're not thinking about Tabby.
You're thinking about more killing.
And if I am?
What happened was the Lord's will.
Shot down for no reason?
Left to bleed and die?
That's the Lord's will?
Not for no reason.
Bruce says their barn was burned to the ground.
If you found your barn afire,
and somebody runnin' away,
I expect you'd shoot.
The doc says you're not to get yourself upset.
You keep goin', you'll come down sick again.
It's not me that's bothering you.
It's what you know and won't admit.
Tabby set that fire.
Dan Flood was there.
How do you know he didn't do it?
Dan never hurt a living thing, man or animal.
Tabby was using him,
the way she used everybody else
to get what she wanted.
She hurt everything and everybody
she ever touched.
She killed the first pony she ever had.
That was a long time back.
She didn't change.
She set that fire.
You can't deny it.
I won't admit it, neither.
Our fault-- yours and mine.
Maybe if the Lord had sent 'em to us
before were so far along in years
and set in our ways,
it might've been easier for all of us.
Kindness and understanding
helps to raise young'uns.
But you didn't hold with that.
You reached for a tug strap every time.
Whatever she done...
they let her bleed to death like a shot coyote.
Somebody's gonna pay for that.
We're payin' for it, husband.
You and me.
I want you to promise me there'll be no more killing.
Go in the house, Sophie.
Promise me, husband.
I promise you nothin'!
Now, get out of here!
Saddle up.
Your ma wants a preacher for Tabby's buryin'.
You changin' your mind?
What do you mean?
When are we goin' after Dan Flood and Sam Hicks?
When I decide.
Not until.
Now, do what I tell you.
Tabby's lyin' dead!
Sam Hicks pulled the trigger!
Dan Flood same as killed her,
and they're walkin' around, free as air!
If you was half the man you used to be, they'd pay before this!
Say another word to me, boy,
and I'll take the hide right off your back!
Now, get!
As foreman of this here jury,
I think I ought to have the strongest voice in the deliberation.
Your voice is no stronger than any other voice.
It is only louder.
Then why am I foreman?
Because you trampled over Fred and Alva
to get to the foreman's chair first.
It ain't gonna do you no good
to get smart with me.
Either now or later. I won't forget it.
And it won't do any good for you to threaten me, Mr. Pingree.
I know you can get me fired,
but I can find another job.
Here's the way we've got to look at this.
There ain't no worse scum on the face of the earth
than a firebug, right?
And that kid's a firebug.
I don't care what you say,
what the Virginian says, what anybody says.
He and that McCallum gal set fire to that barn
just to get excited.
Once they do it, they'll do it again.
That's why I say we ain't go no choice in the matter.
We've got to see to it that he's put away
for a good, long time.
It's our duty! You're right.
Now...
let's take another vote.
And, gents...
let's make it the last one.
Guilty?
Same as before! Same as this morning!
Ten of us were puttin' him away for a good, long time.
And you and Horace are lettin' him go.
For goodness' sakes, Emmet, Mr. Pingree's got the right idea!
I got chores to do!
You ain't the only one with chores, Will.
But there's something bigger than chores at stake here.
A boy's life's at stake.
No one's going to hang the boy, Horace.
Though it might save time in the long run,
seeing as we had to hang his father.
How am I gonna get you to listen to reason?
When you become reasonable.
In times past, we've convicted men,
even hanged them,
for no better cause than hatred and fear.
That time has passed.
Now sense and reason must prevail.
Mr. Pingree owns a lumberyard.
The thought of arson scares him out of his wits.
The voice of reason will tell you
that Dan Flood had no responsible part in setting that fire.
Clear your mind of the fact that his father was hanged as a thief.
Disregard Mr. Pingree, and you'll hear that voice.
You're setting yourself up to be the voice of reason?
EMMET: The voice of reason was the Virginian's voice
when he said he couldn't believe
that a boy who gave the alarm,
who stayed and helped put out the fire,
almost lost his life at it,
had any real part in setting it.
But, since the Virginian can't be here to say it again,
I'll be the voice of reason in his place.
And you, gentlemen--
you'll stay here until you hear me clearly.
We're doin' a lot of talkin' here.
But we ain't gettin' anywhere!
Let's take another vote.
Right!
JUDGE: In view of your conduct during the fire,
I'm taking into consideration
the jury's recommendation of leniency.
I'm giving you the minimum sentence.
30 days in jail.
Court's adjourned.
Tabby's in her grave,
Sam Hicks goes scot-free,
and the boy gets 30 days in jail.
That's how they do things today.
That's the way they even things up.
You're not gonna stand for it, are you?
You're gonna show 'em what happens
when you gun down a cattlewoman, aren't you?
Pa, they let her bleed to death!
I always keep a pail of buttermilk in the well
so it's nice and cold.
Thought some might taste good right about now.
You thought right, ma'am!
( laughs )
Oh, oh, oh.
( laughs )
Ahh! Never had better buttermilk.
I never poured for more deserving men.
You're not meaning to include Steve in that remark, are you?
STEVE: Why, may I ask, should she include me in the honor roll?
'Cause anybody can do more work in an hour
than you can do in a whole day.
Oh, you two.
Why, you know that this farm
would've gone to rack and ruin
if it hadn't been for what you men have done.
And with Danny comin' home in a couple of days,
everything is just about perfect.
Oh.
( horse snorts )
What do you think you're doin'?
I, um...
I come to say good-bye to Tabby.
Well, now, ain't that real sad?
Her gettin' killed was your fault,
and here you are, saying good-bye to her.
It wasn't my fault. It was an accident.
It was cold-blooded killin'.
What worse, she didn't die right off.
Naw, she bled to death.
Look, I don't want any trouble with you.
Aah!
( neighs )
( grunting )
Let me be!
Now, you get out of here.
Don't let me catch you around here again.
What'd you pull me off him for?
Hey! What'd you pull me off him for?!
I was only doin' what had to be done.
You'd have killed him.
And then the posse would come.
You'd be lyin' right here beside Tabby.
Go on home, boy.
Well, somebody's gonna die for killin' Tabby.
I promise you that.
Somebody's gotta die for killin' Tabby.
Looks like it's gonna be you.
I swear I didn't mean to kill her.
I don't suppose that makes any difference to you now.
I'll give you the same chance you gave her.
None. It was an accident.
Yeah. Like this is gonna be.
You know any prayers?
Now's the time to say 'em.
I ask you decently to let me go on my way.
Try beggin'.
I might change my mind.
I ain't never learned how.
I don't aim to start now.
Hyah! Hyah!
Hyah!
Hey, wait!
MAN: That's Sam Hicks, a man who works for the Virginian.
Found him on the road, dead.
All right, that takes care of everything, Pingree.
All right, let's go!
The rest of you, break it up! It's all over!
Come on, move along.
Where's the Virginian?
Probably in the barn.
Sam Hicks got shot!
He's dead.
Ken, I need a couple of men for a posse.
See who you can find along the street.
You wouldn't be takin' a posse
if you didn't think the kid was guilty, same as I do.
I don't need a posse to bring in Dan Flood, guilty or not.
But that McCallum outfit--
it's an entirely different breed.
The McCallums?
Have you forgotten the name of the girl that Sam killed
was McCallum-- Tucker's daughter, Bruce's sister?
You think one of them done it?
They had just as good reason to do it as Dan Flood.
Far as I know, they're the only three that had any reason.
I'm gonna bring 'em in and ask 'em some questions.
And I don't expect that Tucker and Bruce will like the idea.
No reason I couldn't go along...
if you're shorthanded.
All right, Pingree.
It'll give you a chance to see the way we do things now.
Without a rope.
Ohh.
I'm miserable.
Aw, that's too bad.
Now, that's just too bad.
Gonna have to wait till the Virginian or somebody
gets to worry about me and comes after me in a buggy.
I could never ride home.
You stay. You're welcome.
Well, a lot of sympathy I get from you people.
Well, it's your own fault.
It's not my fault. It's your ma's.
( laughs ) She didn't make you
eat that third piece of pie, you know.
No, but she offered it to me.
( laughs )
( horses approaching )
Now, who could that be?
It's, the, uh-- It's the sheriff...
Ken Bower, Mr. Pingree.
A couple of others.
Mr. Pingree and the sheriff.
What on earth for?
Now, Ma, stop it.
Nothin' to worry about.
Evenin', Sheriff, men.
Light down, come on in.
Plenty of coffee left from supper.
Won't take me a minute to hot it up.
That's right kind of you, Dan.
Some other time, I'll take you up on that.
This evening, I'm here on business.
Where were you today around 1:00?
I was out all day along Willow creek, hunting strays?
I got as far as Rocking Chair Butte.
Anybody with you?
No, alone.
Afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to come with me, Dan.
What do you want him for, Sheriff?
I'm not arresting your boy, Mrs. Flood. I just want to talk to him.
Comin' with me, Dan?
Sure, Sheriff, if you say so.
What do you want to talk to him about?
No need for you to be upset, Mrs. Flood.
You tell me, Sheriff,
or he won't go.
He's not of age yet, and I'm his ma.
Sam Hicks was killed this afternoon.
Shot riding along the Shiloh road,
about an hour out of town.
He left at noon.
Sam?
Because his shot killed Tabby.
That right, Sheriff?
You think Danny did it on account of Tabby?
I don't know who did it, Mrs. Flood.
I have to question anyone that might have a reason.
Unless he was standing in the middle of a crowd at 1:00.
But you all came after Dan!
Danny's only one.
Tucker and Bruce McCallum are two more.
I'm going there next.
MRS. FLOOD: No, Sheriff. No.
It's all right.
You go on in the house, Ma.
No, Danny.
I said, go on in the house.
No. No, you're not gonna take--
I said, go in the house!
Sorry about your ma, Dan.
I didn't do it, Sheriff.
I'll tell you that right now.
But I'll go along with you.
I'll get my hat and saddle the horse.
You ain't gonna take him, Sheriff.
Ma, no! No, sir. No, sir.
SHERIFF: We know we're going to be met with a gun at the McCallums'.
But we didn't expect one here, Mrs. Flood.
It was men like you that come and took my man
and hanged him for next to nothin'.
Now, you're not takin' my boy!
We're not gonna hang Dan!
This is a sheriff's posse, not a lynching party.
There was a sheriff when they took my husband.
And he never even showed his face
and raised a hand to stop 'em!
That was another time and another man.
A thing like that can't happen now.
It can happen now!
As long as men like killin'.
Now, Danny ain't killed nobody.
And you get out of here, Sheriff...
before I start killin'.
Ma, let me have the shotgun.
No, you just get behind me, Danny!
Ma, listen to me! I ain't lettin' go
until them men get out of here!
Go on!
Get out, Sheriff!
Danny!
( Mrs. Flood sobbing )
It's gonna take me a few minutes to get ready, Sheriff.
Why don't you go on to the McCallums'
and I'll meet you on the way back.
All right, Danny.
I'll be lookin' for you.
Thanks.
You hear me, Sheriff--
I say no.
I ain't ridin' out with you.
Neither is my boy.
I wish you'd go in the house, Mrs. McCallum.
TUCKER: You've got a hangin' in mind.
I can smell it.
You got Pingree with you.
He's the one that fixed the rope that hung Paul Flood.
That's a lie. You can't prove a word of it.
I don't need no proof. I heard it said often enough.
This is a posse, Tucker.
There'll be no lynching as long as I'm here.
The least you can do
is tell us why you want my men to go with you.
Sam Hicks was shot and killed about 1:00 this afternoon.
I'm takin' in everybody that might have a reason to want Sam dead.
Tucker, Bruce, Dan Flood.
You think one of us done that?
Ohh!
Oooh!
Doc said no excitement.
If this don't kill her, it ain't your fault.
What can I do, Tucker?
Just keep out of the way!
I knew Sophie was sick.
I was afraid something would happen.
I can tell by the look on your face
you know about Sam.
Yeah. Petey rode out and told me.
I was coming to tell you myself
as soon as I had Tucker and Bruce
and Dan Flood safe in jail.
I know how much Sam meant to you.
He was a good man.
More than that, Stan, he was a good friend.
Well, I've got to take 'em in,
but I can't do it today.
Not in the shape Sophie's in.
If I even tried, somebody else would be dead.
Tucker, Bruce, Sophie, one of us.
No, I'll have to come back tomorrow.
You won't have to do that.
I'll see that they get to town
first thing in the morning.
Undamaged?
That's a promise.
SOPHIE: Husband?
I've got to know.
Sophie, I didn't kill Sam Hicks.
From dinner on, I was cuttin' firewood.
You could've heard the hammer on the wedge
if you'd have listened.
It was in my mind I'd heart it.
But I couldn't rightly recollect just when.
Bruce killed him, Tucker.
No.
You're hiding from it, Tucker.
Dan Flood could've done it.
He was set on marryin' Tabby.
You're a coward, husband.
Sophie...
Bruce is our last young one.
A blight was on me, husband.
I gave you children of the devil.
Don't say that, Sophie.
I could've put Tabby straight, given time.
And I can straighten Bruce.
Not the devil's children.
For Bruce...
it's got to be...
a hangman's rope
or a lawman's bullet.
No.
No, Sophie. No.
Don't be a coward, husband.
Don't be a coward.
I was...
waitin' to hear how Ma was.
You killed her, boy.
Oh, no. No, it wasn't my fault they come yesterday...
and scared the life out of her.
They shouldn't have done that to her.
You shouldn't have shot Sam Hicks.
How was Tabby gonna rest easy
with him walkin' around?
Her old man, too, yellin' to do what had to be done.
It didn't need doin'.
Now it's done, you ain't runnin' away from it.
I ain't stickin' around to let them string me up, that's for sure.
You're stayin'.
I'm handing you over to the sheriff.
First, I'm takin' the hide off you
for what you done to your ma.
You murderin' whelp!
What happened, Tuck?
Bruce.
Cracked me over the head with his rifle,
run off.
Know where he went?
He'd head out for Montana.
We got kin up that way.
I'm goin' after him.
You'd better let me.
Killin' him is the only thing that'll stop him now.
It's up to me to do it.
No, Tucker.
I could've killed him yesterday if killin' was the answer.
But all this is...
not for me and you to decide.
It's got to be done.
Tucker! Tucker, look out!
I've got to go on.
You can't. I've got to.
It's God's will, Tuck.
You weren't meant to kill your own son.
I'll go on and bring him back for the law to look after.
God's will.
Maybe.
It is.
The horse--
I just put new shoes on him.
He'll be easy to track.
There's no need to hurry. Why not?
He's riding my bay gelding.
He's got a split hoof.
He'll pull up lame before he goes ten miles.
Well, I'll get on, then.
You get back and tell the sheriff about this as soon as you're able.
( gunshot )
BRUCE: You get on back!
I got you outgunned!
Do you hear me?
I can pick you off with this here rifle
before you'd get halfway close enough
to take a shot with that there pistol!
I don't want no trouble from you!
You get on back!
If you leave me be...
I'll leave you be!
Do you hear me?
( gunshot )
( gunshots )
Don't kill me! Don't kill me!
Don't!
Come on out of there.
( coughing )
Don't shoot.
On your feet. We're headin' back.
Dan? Yes, sir?
You can come out of there, son.
All right, Ken, take him in.
I was beginning to wonder
when people in this part of the country
were gonna understand what the law was for
and stop trying to settle things themselves.
You feel a little surer of us now, Stan?
Can't say I feel easy about the boy's father.
You can go, Dan.
I wouldn't worry about Tucker.
He'll hold his peace.
We'll see.
**
Here!
Oh, thanks.
Well, it looks like somebody's playin' favorites.
I wouldn't say that.
Just rewarding great ability.
Oh, come on. I can paint more by noon Monday
than any other man can all week long.
You know, I'm glad to hear you say that.
Here, now you can really get goin'.
That's my trouble. Everybody believes everything I say.
Look.
( music stops )
I've come to help, if you'll let me.
( theme music playing )