Cowboy Page #4

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- He's grabbing someone's gal.

- No reason for us to get hurt.

If a man picks a fight,

he's gotta fight it.

The fun's in the picking,

not the fighting.

Doc, you gotta help.

Charlie's in bad trouble.

Four guys in the saloon

are gonna jump him.

- Four of them?

- Yeah. What do you say, Doc?

I don't like the odds.

- What do we do? Let him get killed?

- All right.

We heard about Charlie.

Now shut up and go to bed.

- What'll you do about him?

- Go to bed, same as you.

What happens to him?

Man's old enough to get in trouble,

he can get himself out of it.

I got cows to worry about.

A man's life means nothing to you?

All you care about

is your herd of cattle!

You're the most miserable bunch

of men I ever saw in my whole life.

Not one shred of decency

in the lot of you.

I thought I'd be living with some men

on the trail.

Not just a pack of animals.

I'm sorry we don't measure up

to your way of thinking.

But get one thing straight:

Nobody cares what you thought

it would be.

You wanted to play cowboy.

Didn't realize it's rough.

I'm gonna help Charlie.

Is anyone going with me or am I alone?

Nobody's leaving.

You start trouble, we'll lose men.

The whole town will be on our hands.

Why don't you forget

about what's really bothering you?

Starting a fight won't help you

get that girl back.

That doesn't work, either.

I'm going back and there's nothing

you can do about it.

- The fire!

- I see it.

- You had enough?

- No!

Enough!

- You don't even fight like a man.

- Fighting's no game with me.

I'll remember that.

Next time I'll use a crowbar.

You just do that.

Peggy...

...I want some hot coffee.

All right. Move them out!

How's the arm, Charlie?

It's my drinking arm,

not my loving arm.

He got cut up a little, is all.

Not enough to teach him a lesson.

Harris will make a good cowboy.

You think I've been rough on him.

That's what my father

said to my mother.

He always treated me too hard,

my father.

But he liked me very much.

Capper!

Just leave it for the coyotes.

- He can't keep up with the herd.

- See if you can get a cow to feed him.

I don't want it on my saddle!

- It's worth $20 in Chicago. And you?

- Take him back to the herd.

Get on, cow, cow!

You're learning.

That a cow means more than a man?

I play your rules,

but that doesn't mean I like them.

I've been meaning

to talk to you about something.

What?

That girl back there.

Those things can be pretty rough.

But a deal like that

never works out in the long run.

You got too much going against it.

So you just mark it off,

and figure it's a part of growing up.

Nobody asked me,

but I think you're better off.

You do, huh?

Maybe it's not my business...

That's right.

It's none of your business.

Curtis. Look, Indians.

Been following us for three hours,

hoping to pick up some strays.

We'll bed the herd

here for the night...

...and make camp up there.

Paco!

- How many men are with the herd?

- Two, just like always.

Better put a couple more on tonight.

- Where's Harris?

- He went after strays. 40 of them.

There's Indians. Why send him?

I didn't. He went by himself.

I want two more men

down there tonight.

- Harris back yet?

- Not yet.

Hey, Reece.

Indians.

Comanches.

Hold your fire till they get in range.

- Must make you feel hungry, Joe.

- Shut up, will you?

They're not even heading this way.

They're after something else.

Harris must be down there.

They'll hit him and take the strays.

How come they passed us by?

They got a better deal down there.

Kill one man

and get 40 head of cattle.

We wouldn't stand a chance.

He picked a fine time to play cowboy.

While they're busy with him,

we can get away. He's a goner.

Paco.

We'll stampede the herd into that

arroyo and drive the Indians off.

We'll never get the cattle back

in this country.

I, too, like this boy.

But we have to think about the herd.

It's my herd, isn't it?

It's all right.

It's all right.

You won't be able to ride.

You scattered our herd all over!

Why are you bellyaching?

I could've fought them off one by one!

I wish I'd let you try.

Reece's knee is shot up.

I'm taking over the herd.

Mendoza's taking over.

I'm the partner, not him.

Doc and Capper,

take Reece to the wagon.

We work straight through

till we get that herd rounded up.

- I ought to tear him apart.

- You'll tear yourself apart.

He's young. What can go wrong?

I'll keep an eye on things.

- We'll cut him some splints.

- Come on.

Let's keep moving, men.

We can't rest now.

Come on, it's nearly dawn. Mount up.

Get off my bedroll, Curtis.

I've worked day and night.

I ain't moving.

Move or I'll teach you manners.

You do and you'll

learn more than you teach.

Cut it out!

Now we'll see

what you had for breakfast!

Get back up the hill.

You better slack off.

The boys are getting pretty mean.

We rounded up all the herd

we could find.

- How many head did we lose?

- Just over 200.

- That's a lot.

- Yeah, it's too bad.

- It's too bad for you.

- Why?

We found all my cows.

Seems it was yours that ran off.

That's interesting.

How did you separate yours from mine?

It was easy.

I used a crowbar.

Okay! Move them out!

- How far is it into town?

- Just over the hill.

I'd like to draw my time when we

get in town. Stay a while.

I thought you weren't going back.

I figure if I wasn't marshal,

I could live here peaceful.

There's a fellow in town, Sam Hacker.

A no-good cuss.

But we were good friends.

- I miss the old son of a gun.

- You're getting old.

It ain't that.

A man has to have something

besides a gun and saddle.

You just can't make it by yourself.

I wish you luck.

I hope it all turns out peaceful.

Maybe I'll see you next time.

- Railcar's loaded.

- Twelve cars!

Keep them moving. We've gotta go!

Did you hear about Doc Bender?

He's dead.

- He killed himself.

- You're crazy.

He was in the saloon drinking

with a friend of his, Sam Hacker.

Hacker got real mean and pulled

a gun on Doc. Doc had to kill him.

- What happened to Doc?

- He hung himself.

In the livery stable.

Nobody knows why.

- Thirteen cars loaded.

- Right, 13.

Doc won the fight.

Why'd he want to kill himself?

Nothing we can do about it.

Mendoza!

Get to work. We got cattle to load.

We need that next string of cars

right now!

- You just don't give a damn, do you?

- You're a fine one to talk.

You buried a man once. "In the long

run, it doesn't make a difference."

Maybe watching you

made me change my mind.

If you had anything inside

worth saving...

...Id beat you down,

but you'll never learn.

You haven't gotten tough,

you've just gotten miserable.

Boss, we're gonna lose some cattle.

We got three down steers

in one car and two in the next.

Harris, give Capper a hand.

- There's four down now, see them?

- I see them.

Are you crazy? Those cows

will rip your belly open.

- I wouldn't go in there.

- They're not your cows.

I have to laugh. You made him tough.

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