Ride the High Country

Come on, kids, out of the street. Come on, kids, get back there.

Hey, you. Get out of there!

Get out of the street!

Get out of the street! Clear the street!

Get away from there!

Get out of the way, old man. can't you hear?

can't you see you're in the way? Get out of here!

- All right. - Out of the way!

Watch out, old-timer.

You got a good horse, but not good enough. I'll have that dollar.

I'm beginning to figure these races smell bad.

That thing never loses.

- You had your chance. - Well, let's just say I'm a poor loser.

So if you want this dollar...

...you just come right on over here and get it, sonny boy.

Right this way, folks. Come one, come all.

Step right up and try your luck. Everybody welcome.

See the Oregon Kid in person.

Right this way, folks. Come one, come all.

Step right up and outshoot the famous Oregon Kid.

The last of the Western town-tamers.

Fatten your wallets and be a hero to your family. Everybody welcome.

Step up. Try your luck. All you gotta do is hit the plates, and you win the money.

- Quit the sermon and turn her loose. - One dollar on the yellow.

Shooting against you is like sneaking licorice from a baby girI.

Care to try again?

Mister, could I make a 10-cent bet?

A whole dime? You're a plunger, sir.

Well, I ain't so altogether sure I could hit a moving target without buckshot.

I used to be fair with a scattergun...

...but then that was when the bird wasn't too far away or flying too fast.

Them plates, I just don't see how you manage.

Well, I'll be damned.

- How are you, GiI? - No great complaints.

How long has it been? Lordy, I'd hate to say.

Quite some time.

Where you been all these years?

Here and there. Quite a little enterprise you've got.

Well, Steve, it's easier than punching cows...

...and it pays off with free drinks when I walk into a saloon.

Would it surprise you that the Oregon Kid is the envy...

...of every small-minded ribbon clerk and shirttaiI towhead from here to Pocatello?

Well, why not? All these single-handed exploits.

Tell me, GiI, who was the Omaha gang? I don't seem to recollect them fellers.

Flagstaff, Monterey, Hondo, I remember we worked them places.

Dodge City and Wichita. Did you ever run with the Earp boys, GiI?

You gotta allow for exaggeration. That's part of playing the game.

That's not much of a game. A blind man couldn't miss using buckshot.

It must be something important to bring you here.

Looks like you've been riding a long time but not getting far.

Job.

You mean you're still at it? FederaI marshaI?

No, working for the bank.

You, a bank guard?

I'm transporting gold from the mining camp up there to the bank down here.

Gold bullion, $250,000 worth, the way the letter put it.

A quarter of a million.

And I could use some help. Can you recommend anyone?

- I'll give it some thought. - You do that, will you?

- And let me know. - I will, Steve. I surely will.

What do you figure we're gonna do?

Drink champagne, kid, and only the best.

About $250,000 worth.

- I'd like to see Mr. Samson, please. - He's busy.

Would you tell him it's Mr. Judd. Stephen Judd.

Just one minute.

Excuse me, sir.

Mr. Judd.

Have him come in, Abner.

Mr. Samson will see you.

Thank you.

How do you do, Mr. Judd?

I'm Luther Samson, and this is my son, Abner.

- He's the vice president. - I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Judd.

Well, I must say, Mr. Judd, I expected a much younger man.

- Well, I used to be. We all used to be. - Yes. Yes, of course.

Mr. Judd, we're more than familiar with your reputation.

But that was made many years ago, and we're dealing in the present, not the past.

What's the problem?

The Coarsegold strike is on the crest of the Sierras.

There's only one traiI. One in, one out.

Six miners have been killed trying to get their gold to us.

Six miners killed and robbed, Mr. Judd.

SeveraI weeks ago we petitioned for a marshaI, but nothing happened.

The only law there is too drunk to hit the ground with his hat.

The man we send must be completely reliable, to say nothing of being honest.

We're speaking of gold, Mr. Judd. Twenty thousand dollars worth.

Twenty thousand?

Why, I thought your letter said 250,000.

Our originaI estimate was overly enthusiastic.

The strike isn't a mother lode, but it's productive. Slow and steady.

- And we intend to get our share. - The days of the forty-niners are past...

...and the days of the steady businessmen have arrived.

My usuaI fee is $20 a day. I'll have to charge you 40.

- Forty dollars a day? - For what?

For two extra men. I don't intend to go four days without sleeping.

- The question is- - Can I do it?

I can't answer that by talking, only by doing it.

If you two wanna talk about it, you go ahead, and I'll read the contract.

Well, I guess that'll be all right.

- In private, if you please. - Well...

...you can go in there.

Well, the contract's all right. How about me? Any doubts?

If not, I'll sign it.

Well, I guess it's all right.

That old man is Steve Judd? He don't look like much to me.

Son, I wore a star for six years with that old man.

I was his deputy most of the time. Once he was mine.

Don't ever play him short.

I just don't figure him to be any trouble, that's all.

I hope you're right, boy. I surely hope you're right.

I'll be at the lion. You demonstrate how impressed you are, with your mouth shut.

- Hi, Mr. Westrum. - Evening, honey.

Hello, Heck.

- Stop that! - What did I do?

Never mind what you did. Don't do it in here.

- Can I pick you up in an hour? - I think so.

Too bad, because Heck won't be there.

- Why not? - Because if I can't, you won't.

- Still keeping records, eh? - You know me. Creature of habit.

Somebody else wants to know you. My partner, Heck Longtree.

You'd blush to hear the way he admires you.

- How do you do? - Howdy.

Have a chair.

Showing your age, aren't you?

Interfering in a young man's love life.

He's got more important things on his mind. Haven't you?

Haven't you? Yes, sir, and so have I.

Been considering your problem. Think I can solve half, perhaps the whole thing.

I know a fellow who's got an overwhelming hankering...

...for a little old-time activity.

A man would have to be pretty hard up to want to risk his life for $ 10 a day.

Ten dollars a day?

Not hard up. Just fed up.

Outshooting rubes for nickels and dimes. Takes free drinks to put me to sleep.

My partner feels the same way.

- Don't you? - Yeah.

- I don't think I'd wanna hire a boy. - What do you mean, a boy?

Steve, this boy's a good deaI less than green.

- He can't have much behind him. - That's where you're wrong.

He's been dogging after me for better than three years.

Pretty.

Too bad he can't keep it clean.

Boys nowadays. No pride. No self-respect.

Plenty of gall, but no sand.

- Now, you take that race today- - What about that race?

Well, at that distance, no horse in the world could beat a cameI.

Are you calling me a cheat?

Well, if he don't, I will.

Go get them, tiger. You're doing fine. Just fine.

- What do you think, Steve? - I think he's wonderfuI.

He'll do. He'll do just fine.

What's the matter, partner? Your rheumatism bothering you?

I'm used to working with my brain, not my backside.

- You think you can talk him into it? - One way or another.

I'd just as soon we'd split it two ways instead of three.

Kid, you've got an awfuI lot to learn.

- Good afternoon. - Good afternoon.

Joshua Knudsen's the name.

This is GiI Westrum and Heck Longtree.

My name is Judd. Stephen Judd.

- I've heard the name. - We're on our way to coarsegold.

Could you furnish accommodations for the night?

I've got no room in the house, but I won't object if you wanna stay in the barn.

Thank you, sir. If you could spare us a few eggs, we'd be glad to pay for them.

Well, one you can have. Because the Lord's bounty is not for sale.

- The rest are a dollar each. - A dollar each?

How do those short-legged chickens lay eggs so high?

Levity in the young is like unto a dry gourd with the seeds rattling around.

My daughter, Elsa.

- How do you do? - Pleased to meet you.

- Likewise. - Go start supper.

- And change that dress. - Change it? What for?

For the good reason I told you to. Did you hear what I said?

- I think it's a reaI pretty dress. - Thank you.

Put your horses in the corraI yonder.

Supper will be ready in an hour. No charge. The Lord's bounty-

- Is not for sale. - Thank you, sir.

Think of all that going to waste up here.

Like the fellow said, gold is where you find it.

And if it's not yours, don't covet it.

Don't worry. The Lord's bounty may not be for sale...

...but the deviI's is, if you can pay the price.

There's a lot of truth in those words, Heck.

Yeah?

- Yeah. - Supper's ready.

Gentlemen.

Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the food on this table.

Teach thy children to be gratefuI for thy goodness...

...to walk in thy path...

...that they may not suffer thy wrath and thy vengeance.

Bless us, O Lord, and these our guests...

...and forgive them the mercenary desires which brought them here.

Amen.

Thanks for entering a plea on our behalf, but what's this about mercenary desires?

You're on your way to coarsegold. Them that traveI there do so for one reason.

To traffic in gold.

Which to possess is to live in fear, to desire, to live in sorrow.

But we're not trafficking, sir. Merely transporting.

It says in the Book, Gold is a stumbling block to them that sacrifice to it...