Emperor of the North Page #2

settled down in the empty.

Had him beat all to hell too.

Well, this sorry lookin' bo...

...come draggin' his

ass through the transom,

got us both locked in.

So I had to burn my way out.

He's cinders now. That's for sure.

Leach, like I told ya.

You're gonna get a Christmas present

in October.

Damn.

Well, we're bettin' on a sure thing.

Let's put it to 'im.

What time does Shack's train pull out?

7:
00 in the morning.

I wouldn't miss this. I've

been waitin' for years.

You ain't alone.

Hey, don't forget Cracker.

He oughta be good for an easy 20.

You're tellin' me.

- [Man Laughs] Yes, sir.

It's like money in the bank.

I don't know.

Somethin' ain't right.

[Man #2 Chuckling] Stop worryin'.

You said it yourself.

We're bettin' on a sure thing.

[Laughing]...

...[Man]

Yeah-like bettin on yesterday's horse race.

You keep your mouth shut...

...till we've had our fun

and we collected our money.

And you get your ass down to that junction.

You tell your bo friends...

...that we got a new king of the road.

[F.D.R. On Radio] My friends, the most

effective means of preventing such evils...

...in this work relief program...

- [Snoring]

Will be the eternal vigilance

of the American people themselves.

[Continues Snoring]

I call upon my fellow citizens everywhere...

...to cooperate with me

in making this the most efficient...

...and the cleanest example

of public enterprise...

...the world has ever seen.

- [Knocks]...

Smile?

- It is time to provide a smashing answer...

...for those cynical men

who say that a democracy...

...cannot be honest,

cannot be efficient.

If you will help,

this can be done.

I therefore hope that you will watch

the work in every corner of the nation.

Feel free to criticize.

Tell me of instances

where work can be done better...

...[Chicken Flaps, Squawks]

Or where improper practices prevail.

Neither you nor I want criticism...

...conceived in a purely fault-finding

or partisan spirit.

But I am jealous of the right

of every citizen...

...to call to the attention

of his or her government...

...[Snoring]

Examples of how the public money

can be more effectively spent...

...for the benefit of the American people.

Never since m- [Switches Off]...

Smile.

- [Stops Snoring]

A-#1.

[Laughs]

I heard ya comin'.

Y-You beat the Shack.

Rode in on 19, eh?

- Well, that's not exactly it.

Mmm. Say, it figured.

You had to try him sometime.

Twenty miles in an empty stockcar

ain't exactly tryin' him.

That's just coppin' a feel.

- Ah, you're still A-#1.

Ah.

- [Chuckles] Wha-

Ohh.

Ho-ho-ho-ho.

It's only a week old.

Ah, ha-ha.

Ah, it's a sweet-thinkin',

fast-truckin' man ya are.

Shack hurt ya?

Never laugh at the devil.

- I ain't laughin'.

Fine.

[Chuckles]...

...[Strains]

Well, now- now you beat the Shack...

...climbed the sky, slept with the stars,

why the hell don't ya settle, huh?

Like me. Look.

I talked with F.D. R...

I fought with Pershing,

slept with Harlow- [Chuckles]

Tamed tigers, drunk poison...

...seen the elephant and gone over the falls.

I've been on the road and with it...

...and haven't moved my ass

more than a foot from here in the last year.

That ain't a question.

- Got an answer.

Oh, I, uh, lost my bindle

to a couple of road kids.

Well, shall we go among 'em?

Let's go among them.

[Clanging Metal]

- [Smile] Quiet, all right. That's right.

Listen all of you guys.

Come this way.

Gather ye round.

I got the news.

I got the message. [Laughs]

- [Continues Clanging]

Come on. Open up, you stew bums

and alkie stiffs. Get in here.

Open up, ya shovel bums,

fakirs, mushers and gray cats.

Ya think you're the road, do ya? Ha-ha.

Well, he's the road.

He's the Emperor of the North Pole.

He came in on a 19.

[All Cheering, Chattering]...

...[Smile Laughing]

Come on. Come on.

[Chattering Continues]...

...[Man] I saw the Shack

throw Casey Shine under the wheels.

I once saw a shovel bum he got close to.

Why he used his hammer or somethin'.

Some say he's finished off 11 boes.

Sixteen.

How close were ya to him?

Close enough to ride.

[Others Laugh]

- I got one eye and one question:

Did he use his hammer?

Hmm, the hammer's mostly for show.

Scares some.

It's the hands you gotta watch out for.

And the brain.

No tramp ever rides with the Shack.

It ain't never been done. Never.

Well, you're lookin' at the man.

- [Man #2] See what we tell ya?

Well, you're lookin' at the man.

- [Man #2] See what we tell ya?

We play it right,

we can get a month's pay outta Cracker.

Well, you better keep this.

You're better lookin' than me.

Hey, A-#1.

Come on over and have

some of my mulligan.

Oh?

I've been brewin' it for three days.

You never tasted the like.

Hey, that's a good idea.

Boiled garbage is all it is.

You'd do better on a plate of hot cow chips.

What do you think it is, your birthday?

- [Smile] Take it easy, Gink.

He beat the Shack.

He rode the empty in on the 19.

Aw, the hell he did.

Some punk kid beat the Shack.

They got him down at the yard.

[Man] Kid?

He screwed it up.

- What kid?

No one 'cept A-#1 could take the Shack.

What about it, A-#1?

Careful. He carries a knife.

- [Smile] You ain't tellin' him...

...nothin' he don't know.

Son of a b*tch is gonna do it.

- He's gonna do it.

[All Chattering]

- [Man] Good luck, A-1. Good luck.

[Train Chugging In Distance]...

Give 'em somethin' to remember.

- Hey, bo.

Where to?

A-#1 to Portland on the 19.

But- But that's Shack's train.

Mark it.

[Smile] That's the way, boy-[Laughs]

In great big letters.

[Chuckles]

Sure sounds pretty fishy to me.

I- I just can't believe that.

You mean, you're tryin' to tell me

that nobody's ever ridden on Shack's train?

Nobody.

- Aw, come on.

I just don't believe nobody.

- Nobody?

Nobody.

- Aw, somebody.

[Yardlet] Who?

- Skysail Jack. He made it.

Huh. Your butt, he made it.

- Sure, he made it.

Huh. Ask him.

- What?

Go on. Tell him if Skysail Jack

ever rode Shack's rails.

Skysail Jack? In a coffin.

[Laughs]...

...[Other Join, Laughing Loudly]...

...[Laughing Continues]...

...[Screams With Laughter]...

...[Laughing Continues]

Oh, every train can be beat.

That's all.

No, no. Not Shack's- not these guys.

See, it no more than you can whup

Jack Dempsey.

[All Laughing Loudly]...

...[Laughter Fades]

Somewhere there is a bo

than can or has done it.

Oh, yeah?

Well, five says there ain't.

Ten says there is.

[Chuckling]...

...[Giggling]...

...[Bills Rustling]

Fifty dollars. Match it, or eat it.

You're covered.

- [All Chattering]...

...[Chattering Stops]

Yeah. Well, get to work, you guys.

Cracker'll want an extra man.

- [Shack] I got my crew. No students.

Was tryin' to see

you don't take on company.

I don't take on company, yardlet-

not even you, if you ain't got a ticket.

Who you lookin' at, mister?

I learned my trade on a tough road,

and that's a fact.

You ain't no bo.

- The hell I ain't.

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