A Man Called Sledge

Don't anybody move.

Back.

I'm gonna have to call you.

Looks okay.

My two pairs aren't good enough. It's all yours.

Now I'm gonna try to get my money back with a little five card draw.

What'll it be?

- Two bottles of whiskey. - You must be staying for a while.

Well, long enough for him to buy the second round.

- That'll be $10. - Cowboy...

...you looking for something?

Oh, shut up, Liz.

Hey, I never did see what happened.

How did the driver get his head blown off?

- Pure accident. - They'll blame it on us.

I just hate to see a man get it like that.

- No reason. No reason at all. - Let's have another deck over here.

Yeah, might change my luck.

Ain't gonna help much.

Get another bottle of whiskey over at that table.

Looks like a big game.

Big game.

I think I'll go over and take a look.

You never just look and you never win.

You're the worst poker player I ever saw, Mallory.

Well, not tonight, because tonight I feel lucky. You'll see.

- Mind if I sit in? - Sit down.

Yeah, sit down, stranger.

- May be just the man we're looking for. - Come on, I feel real lucky tonight.

Sledge, you made it.

- Ria. - Sledge.

I been waiting here so long.

I thought...

I thought you'd never show up.

Will three sixes do it?

Not unless you can pair them up with a couple of ladies.

You gave me the jack I needed. That makes three.

Well, that lets me out.

I'm out.

Elizabeth, how about you and me going upstairs.

I just made a killing.

It came from downstairs.

Don't go down.

Sledge.

Hold it.

Now, you leave that gun in its holster and come down here slow and easy.

Looks like the only way he's gonna make it is to fall down.

Your friend had some bad luck.

Unless you want to join him, you'll ride out of here right now.

You heard him, get.

Well, look at that. Lover-boy ain't finished yet.

I seen it, mister...

...murder and self-defense.

Hey!

What...?

- No. - Get inside.

Wait.

- Why are you following me? - I wasn't. I swear I wasn't.

You know who I am, don't you?

There's only one name comes to my mind...

...after what I saw there at the 3 W's...

...and that's Luther Sledge.

And you say you wasn't following me?

I've done a lot of things in my time, mister...

...but getting the price on a man's head ain't one of them.

Well, we'll just make sure of that.

What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?

Old man, you stink right now...

...so I'm gonna see to it that you don't turn me in.

I'm gonna hang you up and age you some more.

You gotta believe me, it's the gold I've been following...

...about $300,000 worth.

In that prison there is where they keep it overnight.

Open the gates!

Open her up. Open her up.

- What's that about? - It's the gold. They're here, I told you.

Now cut me down. Come on, I gotta see it!

They're here. I gotta see it. I...

I missed it.

I missed it.

How much gold did you say they carry in that wagon?

Enough for a man to die on, more than that, maybe.

Old man, how long has it been since you've had a hot meal...

...some whiskey and a woman?

All in one night?

Not for a long time.

Well, if your heart'll stand it, you're coming with me.

Come on, girls, sing out.

- Get me out of here! - Here, I'll give you a hand, Jade.

Can't even stand on your own two feet.

Give me a hand, Millie.

Wait'll I get my hands on whoever did that.

Sledge, Sledge, Sledge, you're just in time to see...

...what these animals have done to my house.

I can't take it anymore. I just can't take it.

Oh, calm down now, Jade, honey. What'd they do?

They made a hole in my floor and my organ fell through.

- Your organ fell through? - That's right.

Like animals. They burrow under my house trying to steal my liquor.

You're gonna have to do something.

Don't you worry about it, Jade, I'll take care of it.

Well, you're gonna have to do something about it.

- Look. Look at that. - Now, you just leave it to me.

Sledge, you see?

Well, you're right. Your organ fell through.

All right, come on, get that thing out of there.

Where's Mallory?

- Got killed in a card game. - Was two of them...

...but Sledge killed them back, both of them.

Who's he?

Don't know much about him, but he may be able to help.

I'll let you know. Give me a bottle of whiskey and two glasses...

...and get him whatever kind of soup you got back there.

Come on, old man.

Come on, sit over there.

Tell me about the gold.

Well, I'm the one that can tell you about it.

They put it next to me in that prison, those men guarding it.

Not more than six inches away. Cell right next to me.

Where does that gold start from?

Comes from a group of mines up there in Big Rock Canyon.

They take a lot of gold out of there. A lot of gold.

They've got themselves 40 U.S. Army men...

...just to make sure that gold gets to the clearing-house.

Forty soldiers, armed to the teeth.

They're all handpicked.

Those fellas guarding that gold...

...they don't like to travel at night. It's too tempting for people like you.

At night they stop in that prison you saw.

And that ain't just a prison, it's a fortress.

It's the only place where that damn gold is safe.

They got a real special cell for it, with a big old safe built into it.

Nobody's ever tried taking it.

It's been 10 years now.

Them gold riders know their business.

You gotta be loco if you think you can take it.

What makes you think that shipment they brought in was worth 300,000?

Well, nothing makes me think. I know.

I never could sleep when that gold was next to me.

You know, gold gives off a scent.

It's like an animal or a man.

Paper money...

...don't throw off a scent.

Paper money don't whisper to you...

...like gold does through six inches of steel.

Did you follow that gold all the way?

From the mines to the clearing-house?

Yeah.

Hey, I reckon you're gonna try and take it.

Who knows? Maybe you'll get a little closer to that gold than just six inches.

- We're onto something. - Yeah?

Make sure everybody's ready to move out.

Right.

So you're gonna try and take it.

Well, you're mighty stubborn, because you can't, you just can't.

Ward, Hooker.

- We're gonna split up here. - Going into Rockville?

- No way out of it, we need supplies. - It's a hard town. They know your face.

They won't see it unless there's trouble.

- Hey, old man. - Yeah?

- They know your face in Rockville? - In prison, about 20 years' worth.

But not in the town.

Dorothy, Millie, stay on the buckboard. Old man, Toby, Hooker...

...we're going into Rockville to do some buying.

The rest of you follow Ward up to the old Coaltrain Mine.

Beetle, you know where the 3 W's is?

- Where you was with Mallory. - There's a girl there named Ria.

You tell her I want her. Let's go.

Giddyup, there.

- Yeah, you gonna be finished soon? - It's your turn next, okay?

What can I do for you, sir?

Well, Mother, I guess we'll be gone for a long time.

Let me see, let me have 10 boxes of .45 Colt cartridges...

...and two boxes of shotgun shells to go with it.

- And a case of Winchesters. - A long time?

With all that ammo, you could be gone forever.

Well, should we die before our journey's through, happy days.

- All is well. - Amen.

- Put that on the buckboard, please. - Right.

- Let me on one more time. - No.

- Business pretty good today, Simms? - I'd say so now.

I feel like one of them Eastern war profiteers.

- Oh, yeah, who's warring? - Some old man in there.

Bought himself enough firepower to save Custer.

Dolgh, come here.

Excuse me. I'm the sheriff here in Rockville.

Sorry to bother, but I'd like to ask a few questions.

Well, go right ahead, sheriff.

You been buying a lot of ammunition. Could I ask you why?

Well, we got a family, sheriff, big family going west...

...and them Indians had a dry year.

I don't wanna get caught short with them being hungry.

- Ever been in Rockville before? - No, sirree, sheriff.

Seems to me I've seen you before.

Would you mind stepping outside for a moment?

If you can stand the sight of this old-timer's face in the light of day...

...I'll gladly accommodate you.

You make one sound and you'll be all over the ceiling.

And you, put your hands on the counter and keep your mouth shut.

Old man.