Albuquerque Page #3

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I tell you there's somethin' goin'

on over there. Oh, I know all that.

What I want to know is,

what do they got in the fire?

What their contacts are? What their bids

are? I want a report from the inside.

How you gonna get it?

The party who's gonna attend to that

is on the way here now-

so stop worrying...

and get off my desk!

Gonna run all night

Gonna run all day

Bet my money on a bob-tailed nag

Somebody bet on the bay

Hey, wait a minute!

What are you tryin' to do, scald me

tender enough to pick my pin feathers?

Listen, you, you're having

supper with nice folks...

and you don't to want to

smell like a mule, do you?

Well, I ain't aimin' to stay

after vittles anyhow.

I gotta meet Pearl when she closes

her Tonsorial Parlor. Yeah.

What are you lookin' at me

like that for?

Juke, there's a sheriff looking

for you somewhere. Where? Where?

Ah, what'd you say that for?

Nobody'd hide behind that foliage you're wearin'

unless he was playing hooky from somebody's jail.

Now ain't that a nice thing to say.

Here I agree to work with you fellas,

take you into my home and-

Say, how do I know how many sheriffs

is chasin' you around the country?

I'm gettin' that look again.

What does it mean this time?

This time it means

I'm gonna cut your hair.

No, sir! You ain't gonna

do no such a durn thing now!

Stay away from me with them

sheep shears. Go on now.

Hey, who's this

awful-looking character? Huh?

Character? Why, doggone it, that's

me without my whiskers. Yeah.

Cole, this is gonna be a secret

just twixt you and me, huh?

You fellas ought to be

ashamed of yourselves.

That costs plenty of money. Oh, I don't

know what you fellas are worrying about.

You got wagons, mules, men, money enough

for wages and feed till you get goin'.

I guess that ought to show John Armin you mean

business, eh, Cole? I reckon you're right,Juke.

But I'm just realizing how much I gotta

learn about this ore-freighting business.

Ted, where is that Half-High mine

you're talking about?

It's a lot easier to show you

on the map. Come on.

That'll give you a better idea.

Uh-huh.

Now this is the road to the mine. Yeah.

It's the only way up.

That looks like

a tough place to get to.

Oh, gettin' up ain't the problem.

It's gettin' down with 10-mule wagons.

Yep. Well, that's the only way

you can make it pay,

Those big wagons with trailers on that

steep and narrow road? Sure looks dangerous.

Oh, of course it's dangerous, but

if Armin can do it, you can. Armin?

He's got Huggins, the owner, by the throat.

Nobody else in town would touch the haul.

So he gets his own price. Can't

we underbid him and make it pay?

Enough to keep us goin',

that's about all.

But if we can save money for Huggins,

other owners will line up on our side.

Why, it seems like to me

we ought to pay Mr. Huggins a visit.

Listen, you men, you come and eat this

supper right now or I'll feed it to the mules.

Yeah, go on. Get over there.

Go on, go on. You too. You too.

You fellas ought to be

ashamed of yourselves.

Here Miss Celia's been slavin'

over a hot stove all day...

mixin' fancy vittles

for you galoots.

Ah, quiet,Juke.

You talk too much.

That's his association

with Damon and Pythias.

Hey, wait a minute. If that road isn't

wide enough for two wagons to pass,

what do you do when you meet one

coming down? You don't pass anybody.

You see, there's a flag on top that's raised

as a warning if somebody's comin' down.

We do the same thing

at the bottom if we're goin' up.

Eat your supper, boys!

Evenin', Sheriff.

Wait a minute, Harvey.

Leave it here. I'll take

it in to him. Suits me.

ThatJackson don't look none too tame to

me anyway. He needs a lot of watchin'.

Yeah. Good night, Sheriff.

Good night.

Here's your supper,Jackson.

Now listen, when I leave,

I'm gonna forget to lock you in.

That door's open.

There's a horse waitin' for you.

You get aboard

and out of Albuquerque, fast.

Well, you must of

got my message to Armin.

When I come back in five minutes, I

don't wanna find anybody here, understand?

What's the matter, Sheriff?

What happened?

You can see, can't you? This fella

Jackson broke out of jail and I shot him.

I reckon trouble's over for him, but it

might just be startin' for some folks.

What do you mean by that?

Nothing. Only sometimes

dead men leave ghosts behind 'em.

That's an awfully good supper,

Miss Celia. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Uh-oh. I'm warning you now. You can't

hold me responsible for any casualties.

This is my first experience

in an apron.

Uh-uh!

Huh? Oh.

You're doing fine.

Uh-oh.

I think I spoke too soon.

Well, at least this is one

less dish to dry. I'm sorry.

It was Ted's fault.

He said you could do anything.

Hmm. You know, that, uh,

brother of yours is all right.

He's all the family I have left.

When Ted came out West

and got started in this business,

I sold the home back East

and joined him.

I reckon he found

the goin' pretty tough.

He found your uncle

running the whole town.

Riding herd on the

little fella, huh? Yes.

I hope you won't be sorry

you joined us against him.

There's a fella in jail I'm figurin' on

takin' the jingle out of my uncle's spurs.

I'm sticking to my deal, Celia.

I thought you'd feel like that, Cole.

Cole? Cole?

Where is everybody here?

The sheriff just shotJackson

makin' a getaway on a horse. What?

Yeah. I'm afraid your uncle's

spurs are still jingling.

Now I agree with Ted here.

We have the equipment and drivers and can guarantee

the delivery of paying loads to the mill...

at a price attractive to you

and profitable to us.

Experience is more important

than equipment, Mr. Armin.

When a wagon train leaves our mine,

we've got to know it'll get to the mill.

I can answer for that.

I drove the haul for Walton.

I know every foot and every hazard.

And now we've gotJuke with us. Yes, sir.

Ted'll be on the lead wagon. I'll be

right behind him with Damon and Pythias.

Why, I could make that run

with a piano on the back of every mule,

pail of water in each hand

and another on my head.

Mr. Clark, what about a deal?

Well, now wait a minute. Mr. Huggins,

our manager, feels you're new here.

He wants me to show you what

you're headin' into. Come here.

I saw it.

I rode up here, you know.

What's that mine up there?

Angel's Roost.

Angel's Roost, huh? But I wouldn't

get too ambitious, Mr. Armin.

It's the richest strike

in New Mexico,

but the road up there

is just plain murder.

Who's got that contract?

Nobody. They're afraid to try it.

Why'd you work the property

if you couldn't get the ore down?

Well, Huggins had a deal

with John Armin.

He agreed if we sunk a shaft he'd get

the ore to the mill. What happened?

Well, we like to broke our company

digging in up there.

And when we were ready to go,

Armin welshed.

Tried to hold us up

on the hauling price.

I reckon he figured on breaking us

then takin'it over himself.

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