no, thanks.
whiskey -- like you'd pour it for yourself.
not till after the first one.
what kind of whiskey was that?
another rye.
i'm a stranger everywhere.
listen, soldier. i know that one, too. got a job, stranger? no? why don't you join the army? three meals a day, a place to sleep, a nice warm uniform --
yeah, it has one thing more, and that's what i could never take -- it's got second-lieutenants.
i don't make it anything, soldier. you tried to sell something and i didn't buy it -- so why don't you just beat it?
if you could teach me anything, you wouldn't be in a uniform.
i could, but i'm not.
that was my first impression.
i don't doubt it, but his mouth is too big -- like your ears.
what?
it's all right -- try it.
only with second lieutenants.
i wouldn't know --
i know what you mean, but i'm afraid i'll have to come back. i like the way you sing.
i seem to finally get everywhere.
thank you, captain.
we use it as sparingly as possible.
very possibly.
because two soldiers have been murdered.
they merely know you haven't.
i'm not the war department.
is escorting gold a function of your command?
i have no illusions about anything.
what's happening to the gold?
what do you do next?
captain, you're in a bad way. wells fargo won't convoy gold. you tried and failed and two men are dead. the gold is piling up on the post and you can't move it. your post is under-manned. you want the quartermaster at platte to replace seventy uniforms sent to the freight office at west rim city --
that doesn't concern me either.
the killing of two soldiers.
so will i.
perhaps i can get some help from the sheriff.
you make it sound very difficult. why don't you just wrap up your flag and take it back east with you?
i'll let you know from time to time.
but i don't want to visit the army post.
only if it meets with hers.
i think so.
i see.
he's a man who can sure keep a secret.
only if you have some too.
thank you.
what mine did the two soldiers try to convoy the gold from?
that brings me to a question i decided not to ask.
i can understand that.
i do now.
how much.
who is doing all this?
i might find out.
that's why i'm here.
don't worry about it. trouble and i are old enemies. we understand each other. goodnight.
you didn't tell me your husband's name.
ben.
you must know everybody in town.
what's your name? you seem to be a pretty clever fellow.
have you got a vacant room?
i don't always know. and the way you talk a man couldn't be very sure.
no -- i always put down where i'm going next -- so i won't forget.
thanks a lot for the key. i'll be back later.
how about eating alone? is that a bad habit too?
it's only money. i've changed my mind since i left here awhile ago. i don't want to pick a fight -- or break the bank -- or --
that's what i came back to find out.
no, it wouldn't.  i looked.
that man in ape's clothing -- could he be charlie?
his eyes follow you around like a couple of flies.
only strangers?
first, you're beautiful. then i like the way you sing -- and now you're a woman of mystery. champagne?
i don't want to be a stranger, so i'll have to be foolish.
if i feel lucky.
i'd rather get lucky here.
i could be your cousin from waxahatchio. i could be cousin john, a missionary on his way to china.
he seems to be a lot of man.
it's a very small town. you could get it all in this saloon.
so charlie probably runs the town.
i'm going to spend some time here. i want to know who winds the clock.
from waxahatchie.
a friend to all is a friend to none.
ask her?
you want to correct me or just bleed at the mouth?
don't miss so much. you'll got tired.
thanks.
cream.
so would i.
like a million dollars.
do you always get sweet with the men who fight over you?
tell me something --
that fellow might have killed me -- where do you bury the losers?
what do you want -- the next dance?
thanks.
the way you run this dump i knew you must be good at something else.
like i crawled here from kansas city.
who?
that's nice.
charlie?
you seem impressed.
the stage line too?
when you get the next verse i'd like to hear it.
carrion.
hello, mrs. caslon.
captain.  lieutenant.
i came here to return mrs. caslon's call.
it's the army register.
to almost anybody.
what would you like to know?
those things can become very vague.
that is a question i prefer not to answer.
perhaps, but there's one thing, captain iles.  we had an arrangement that we wouldn't meet -- you and i -- except through mrs. caslon.  i think it's important to keep it that way.  and i like it better.
doesn't he ever stop playing?
where do i find the boss?
mick been around?
you wanted to see me?
they said charlie --
you're charlie?
you mean with his equipment?
you surround yourself with very affable characters.
you're not that sinister. last night with the wet towels you were florence nightingale in silk stockings. have you got a match?
there's one in my pocket but i hate to reach for it.  thanks.
now you're florence nightingale again.
i thought you did.
you could have insisted i was your cousin.
ouch!
where did you get the name of charlie?
i like that better.  charlene.  this'll be the first time i ever worked for a woman.
you sent for me.
beautiful.
i wouldn't.
that's not the job i want. i don't intend to start at the bottom. i've been there. it's too crowded.
with the money.
anything -- except hang. how did you get -- all this?
such as --
i can't see myself behind a counter.
why?
i'll take that job.
i mean run the line.
today i'd hate to tangle with a butterfly.
a commission on all the gold i get through.
glad to get it.
who steals the gold?
give me a letter of authorization.
i'm working for you now. you can ask me anything.
you don't.
only with money.
okay, boss?
are you the manager?
my name's haven.
i'm the new boss.
wait a minute. you're not fired.
two can loaf as easy as one.
hello, boys.
glad you enjoyed it.
let's not talk about it. right now it hurts my hands to listen.
what happened to you?
did you get a look at them?
i think i'm going to need you and not on one leg. so sit down and give it a rest.
i'm coming back later and sit behind your desk. i'll need the keys.
i might depend on something besides luck.
well the fact that they don't seem to shoot too straight.
what's this?
who's it for?
where do you drive her?
i think i'll give you this afternoon off.
stand there a second.
every time i see you, you look different, but you always look beautiful. why is that?
take my hand -- but don't squeeze it.
my work. i'm the new transportation boss. you hired me.
i presume you're going shopping?
at this hour?
the way you say it -- he may need a lawyer.
no?
like a doctor in a graveyard. where is this unlucky man?
shall i take the horses back and rub them down?
i haven't.
i wonder if you'd do me a favor?
it's a big favor, and i wouldn't blame you if you refused.
i want to haul some gold from your mine.
i know it seems impossible to you, but that's one reason why i'm here -- to find cut what makes it impossible.
that's why i couldn't go to anyone but you.
you know what he'd say. he'd advise against it -- but if it works my way, it may clear everything up -- for all of us -- and for iles too. the war department doesn't like all that gold around an army post.
we're working too much in the dark. this may be the only way to see something. it's a risk -- but someone has to take it.
just us. that'll be all who know -- and that's the idea.
don't look so grim. it's only your gold and my skin. and smile when you walk away as though we'd been talking about what a dry summer it's been.
you know, you remind me a little -- back there -- of a character i once read in a book.
simon legree.
i don't think i'd want to owe you money -- even if i was honest.
when i was seven i robbed my own piggy bank.
i was very fat and ate a lot of candy.
no.  i robbed it to run away from home.
yeah, but i had to go back.
it got dark.
what?
they probably envy each other.
i know it.
nobody is any good. you mean respectable.
respectable people are very useful -- but they bore me.
like who?
i thought we might get to that.
i knew her husband.
considering what?
meaning i'm not?
then why would she be interested in me?
flattery will get you nowhere.
with whom?
what are the odds i hit the leaf?
pass -- what's the army got to do with mrs. caslon?
iles?
if you're going to frighten me, the least you can do is hold my hand.
this is where you ought to slip -- and i should catch you and kiss you.
you finish that song?
why not?
maybe it's just as well.
it will?
and, naturally, you didn't do anything about it?
you could have called the sheriff.
i paid my rent and i think i'm entitled to know who stole my clothes.
hey!
i lost my shirt.
where did i move?
when can you get my things back to the hotel, charlie?
because that's not how they got here.
no.
this hotel is no good. the service is bad. the clerk's a poet, and the mattress is not quite as soft as a marble slab. but i'm beginning to like it.  and if i open this window, and hear you singing.
that's the way.
what brings you here?
yeah?
why?
don't they go with the job?
how crazy?
then what happened?
all right -- you've been some help. now you can go back to sleep and i'll finish the dream for you.
you are?
you got more than your leg hurt, didn't you?
and if it does?
i was just thinking -- a nice guy like you probably has a nice girl somewhere -- or a wife.
some other time -- let's go -- out the back gate.
what makes you so anxious to take this chance?
i'm on commission. with me it's a matter of money.
i can't think of anything else -- except curiosity.
take it easy. they hang you just the same.
who sent you?
you're a goner, brother -- you can talk.
hello, jerry. what's the haul?
want to ride my horse back to town?
i'll finish the haul.
any excitement in town?
take him easy. he's tired.
nope.
haven't even seen a lizard. where do i put this stuff?
i never did. i'm a new driver. i think it's grub.
you the cook?
it don't matter to me, brother. i just haul this grub. i'd just as soon haul it back.
look -- you want me to say i saw a rider? i'll say it. i'll say i saw a ghost. it don't make any difference to me.
yesterday.
it's the system. if i don't work i don't eat. i never been able to find any way to beat it.
mr. haven.
same fellow.
who?
any man who gives me a job is my friend. look, i'm working, i haul this stuff out here. nobody wants to tell me where to dump it. everybody wants to know what i'm doin' and what i haven't seen. i don't know. i get thirty cents an hour. how smart does that have to make me?
i ain't hot. i'm just mixed up.
sure.
well, i haven't eaten anything but dust since sun-up.
how about a handout?
you cook pretty good.
where was that?
this used to be my mother's special dish. she made it right out of the world.
who's boss around here?
i mean the whole works.
real tough-looking fellah.
mick come out here?
how's that?
i had bad luck with a crate of cauliflower.
mick? do i look like i would?
comin'.
not many of the hands here, are there?
much obliged. that was real fine mulligan.
sure.
nope.
sure.
i got it.
draw those blinds, bristow.
all right -- light it up.
i can -- but it quiets my nerves.
no.
who?
yeh.
i'm glad you got your voice back.
somebody must have wanted me saved.
i don't know. maybe a rainy day. only it might never rain.
i'm going to make a statement, which you will write and notarize.
yes -- except that you put it away where it can't be stolen or tampered with.
i can see you have.
i do -- but i don't think you trust yourself.
mrs. caslon has a safe -- a nice fat one.
all right -- here's the statement.
i solemnly swear that on thursday last, about eleven p.m. the stagecoach in which i was riding was held up by five armed bandits. the gold i was hauling was stolen and james goddard, the guard, was murdered in cold blood.
i trailed the bandits, caught up with one and -- killed him.
put it down. i then followed the horses bearing the gold to a sawmill --
after i left there, i opened the crate. the gold was in it.
that's all.
no.
i came to the conclusion that i finally had enough money to need a lawyer.
i've heard about him, and i still came to you.
i didn't come here for advice.
it makes me more valuable to somebody alive than dead.
i don't know.  yet.
i thought they might.
i was. i just came in the back way.
you finish that song?
keep it a couple of days -- may be you can still use it.
i have to be. i live a careless life.
what about the deposition?
good.
we call on charlie.
is it?
then she'll have to believe you.
you're sure of that?
that's it. you're a lawyer and you're not sure. then how can she gamble on it, either?
no, she isn't. we're the gamblers, mark. lot's go.
for what?
i've heard about you. you don't appear to understand the functions of your office. you've missed the whole point of your profession. even your gun isn't loaded. i suggest that you start all over again, with this point in mind: the duty of a peace officer is to arrest the culprit of a crime -- not the victim.
two.
the bourbon is just as bad.
you want to leave?
that's right.
we're doing something.
waiting for something to happen.
see?
can you make it?
i see you found the difference.
looks like a board meeting.
i thought i might need a lawyer.
i can realize how seldom legal technicalities annoy you -- but i have one that might. besides, he knows all about it.
about a gear box i failed to deliver.
mark is right. he doesn't know anything. he just knows what i dictated to him in a deposition.
it was just a story. about a man who got murdered, a thief who got shot, and a gear box that got lost. probably nobody would believe it -- . unless i got killed for it.
no one. mark i had to have. he's a witness and a notary. he makes it stick. he stands it up in court.
a cut.
i ran one on you.
he can't think very clearly in the presence of a gun.
no, it doesn't.
if you did see how, i'd never get there, would i?
so it boils down to this: we can make a deal, and all be happy together.
unless you also have something on me.
when i deliver the gold to you.
i can even forget i looked inside. so i stole a gear box.  i'm still a thief.
he gets even with you.
it was all right when he lost his money.
i guess i didn't realize it.
i think she was talking to me.
you know, i think he will.
the poorhouses are filled with careful men.  . and so are the graveyards.
you've got a nice perfume.
so would i.
and too long.
all of them.
i was always in the doorway when i said it.
let's go over to the doorway.
isn't that your business.
like goddard?
i think i better bring you that gold.
don't tell me you're still recruiting?
and how's that?
that's what i like -- the best thing for me.
dumb luck.
is that why i'm under arrest?
if you consult the army blue book it might enable you to be more definite.
how far is that?
i see you did what i expected.
not quite.
i need more.
for the reason i came here.  to get the murderers of two soldiers -- not to save somebody's gold. that's a mistake you made. i still don't know who killed them, but i'm going to find out. and when the net is hauled in, they're all going to be in it. that's my fish -- and you can have the minnows.
that's a matter between myself and mrs. caslon.
it won't be deliberate.
where does it leave me?
from the beginning.
what's the good word?
i don't know how you can know so much and move so little. i think i'll try it myself.
that's very nice of you.
when you're sure everybody in town is in bed -- call me. and if anybody asks for me -- i went to jail.
is this a hold-up?
yes.
i trailed one of the bandits here where they cached it. i couldn't haul it on horseback, so i came here with the wagon.
some of it's true.
i'll try it again. i cached it here myself. i was going to turn it over to them. i wanted to buy a membership in their club. this was the initiation fee.
well, you see, i thought it was worth it.
what you're doing may get me into serious trouble.
i talked my way out.
up to a certain point.
a gun. champagne.
you know, the first time i talked to you we had champagne. i think i should have been a missionary and gone to china after all.
no.
no.
it's easy to explain. it's just a little hard to believe.
i can't. i went to get it, and it was there. but so was somebody else.
mrs. caslon.
no.  she had a gun with her.
the one she had was in her hand.
this could be that slip you mentioned.
it's like saying i got robbed at sunday school. it's no good, is it?
i even had to walk back to town. i think that may be one of the longest walks i ever took.
he makes it sound very silly.
my word doesn't seem very good around here.
is that all i've got?
you want me to fatten you up before you kill me? is that what you mean?
i once knew a guy who stole a dime tip from a lunch counter and parlayed it into fifty thousand. i might try that -- but not in two hours.
you're sweet.
i took a walk in the country.
no. sorry.
you want to listen?
i can't deliver it because i no longer have it. it was taken away from me by mrs. caslon. i've told charlie, and she's very unhappy. i have two hours to produce the loot. you haven't any idea where a man could raise fifty thousand quickly, have you?
i thought not.
nothing, mark. the boat just sailed.
you'll have to think of something very good.
go ahead, mark. go ahead and do it.
who is it?
you going to shoot me, mark?
i did?
they want you to, mark.
and it may be your only out, if you do. but i doubt it. you know why? because even if you took them my scalp, it wouldn't buy your life. you're in debt and you're broke and you're scared -- and you know far too much. there isn't any way they use you -- alive. can you think of one?
us, mark.
this must be hers.
she's sweet.
there's one thing, mark.
you might get out of town.
if there's one in a million, it's the only one you have.
i'm not going.
i have to stay.
if you must do this, go straight to your horse. don't stop for anything.
you haven't got anything important left, mark -- except your life, and very little time to keep it. you do it very fast and you might be lucky.
you didn't throw away that verse?
you won't have to change it much.
not much, is it?
no -- i won't.
yeh?
naturally.
that's nice. a hobby?
this is all i seem to have.
what do you want for -- yeh? a very good question.
i might even know. i think i'll try to go and find out.
you loaded your gun for this?
no, you're not. you're going to listen.
you lost some uniforms? you thought they were burned?
no, they weren't, but they are now because i just set fire to them.
they're smouldering right now in the warehouse at the sawmill, and there are about seventy men down there who were ready to wear them.
what other reason? to get in the post and take the gold from you.
you were taking a detachment up north on an indian scare?
well, that scare is a fake. a ruse. so you know where to send them now.
correction.
you better get down to that sawmill, captain. they may try it anyway.
i'll take it.
only fifty thousand.
there is. you can give me back my gun.
and you can give this one back to the sheriff.
i always try to forget.
not with them.
yeh.  but i finally brought you something.
you didn't really think mark would use it, did you?
maybe.
it's pretty late.
i have to arrest you.
murder.
who did?
you know.
almost.
army.
i wish i had too.
some men don't believe that.
only there wouldn't be any women on my jury. and that's why you're not as bad off as you might think.  i could find twelve men who might think you capable of almost anything -- but i wouldn't bet they'd vote that way after staring at you through a trial. mick is dead for the murders and prince can be hung for the rest of it.
i'll get someone --
sure.
no.
all the time.
from the first night and the first time of the song. i tried to get away from it, but every time it came back. every time i tried to get it out of my brain i just pushed it deeper into my heart. it had to be either you or me.
i love you.