Old Yeller Page #2

Most creatures will steal

when they're hungry enough.

All right, but I still don't want him!

Now, Travis, you're not bein' fair.

You had a dog when you were little,

and Arliss has never had one.

He's too little for you to play with.

He gets lonely.

After breakfast, you can take

to the woods and get us a deer.

And, Travis, do some thinkin'

on what I said about Arliss

and that old yeller dog.

Come on, boy.

Jumper, you jug head!

A bunch of bobwhites, and you act like

you ain't got the brains...

of a blind goose in a hail storm.

Arliss, get that dirty, old dog

outta our drinkin' water!

Aw, mind your own business!

Get outta there!

You quit rockin' my dog!

Quit chuckin' them rocks at me!

Ow!

Stop it, Arliss! Stop it!

- You rock my dog again

and I'll bust your head open!

- Arliss!

Arliss!

Travis, what are you doin'

to your little brother?

- Him and that dirty, old yeller dog

were wallowin' in our drinkin' water.

- He was rockin' my dog!

Look here, young rooster.

If you wanna keep outta trouble,

you start minding your big brother.

- You mean I gotta mind him?

- Mm-hmm.

- He ain't my papa.

You start mindin' him just the same.

Now go inside and take off

those wet clothes.

What I oughta do is get me a sprout

and give him one good thrashing.

Take it easy, son.

He's only a little boy.

Papa wouldn't want that old dog

in our drinkin' water.

Papa wouldn't have started a rock fight

with Arliss either.

I never started

no rock fight. He--

Arliss rocks me.

Mama blesses me out.

And you.

You get off scot-free.

What I oughta do is run you

clean off this place.

You touch a bite of this meat

and come mornin' I'm gonna shoot you

right between the eyes.

I'll be dogged.

Mama? Did you feed

that old dog anything?

Well, no, I forgot to.

Been so long since we had a dog.

Well, he's sure gone

and rustled up some grub somewhere.

He ain't touched

a bite of that venison.

You might know

he'd be too smart for that.

You could've put it on the ground

and he wouldn't have touched it.

You better get dressed if you want

an early start cuttin' fence posts.

Yes'm.

Come on, Yeller boy! Get him!

Get him, Yeller!

There he is!

There he goes, over there!

Missed him.

That's got him!

Good for you, boy!

Mama! Mama, look at the fish

that I caught! Ain't he a whopper?

Oh, Arliss!

You're all wet and muddy again.

- But, Mama, I had to.

- Had to?

Had to dive way down deep under

to catch this fish.

He was way down deep under

where there was this cave...

and it was real dark and muddy.

And there's about a million other fish,

and they all tried to eat me.

And I had to throw rocks at 'em. And

then there's these two big snakes and--

- Sounds like that cottontail

you roped this mornin'.

- But I did rope him.

Didn't I, Mama? He came runnin' by,

and I roped him right by the ears.

Well, you certainly brought home

a rabbit, and now this big catfish.

- You're gettin' to be

as good a hunter as Travis.

- Here, Mama.

Come on, Yeller!

Come on, boy!

Mama, you know them is just

big windies Arliss is tellin'.

Now, Travis, let him tell his stories

the way he wants to.

But, Mama, I just seen

that old yeller dog catch this fish.

Arliss is just a little boy

with a big imagination.

Won't hurt him to let him use it.

We keep that old yeller dog much longer,

and it's gonna make Arliss

the biggest liar in Texas!

Here, boy,

Come and get some bread.

Here.

Come on.

A little closer.

Come on.

I'll give you some more bread.

Come on.

Come on. Come on.

Come on.

What's that?

Come on, boy.

Arliss, turn it loose!

Arliss, watch out!

Turn it loose!

Go on, ya old fool,

before she kills ya.

Oh, you crazy, wonderful dog!

He acts like it's a great big romp,

doesn't he, Travis?

Crazy as a bull bat.

But he's a heap more dog

than I ever had him figured for.

Just listen to those

songbirds this mornin'...

singin' their heads off.

It's like the year

your papa and I settled here.

We meant to build over

at the Salt Licks settlement...

where it would've been safer

from the Indians, but...

that last day,

we camped by the spring.

And the bee myrtle

was in blossom and...

full of singin' birds, like now.

And it was all so pretty,

I just couldn't go on.

And I said to your papa,

"Jim, this is it.

This is home.''

Hello, the house!

It's Bud Searcy and Elizabeth too.

You might know he'd land

right at mealtime.

Howdy, Miss Coates. Howdy do.

Howdy, boy. How's everybody?

- Hello, Mr Searcy.

- Slide down, child.

- Hello, Elizabeth.

Just dropped over to see if there's any

little thing I could do for you folks.

Travis, boy, take this old pony

down to the corn crib

and strip the saddle gear off him.

- Yes, Mr Searcy.

- Uh, might feed him a bit

of corn while you're at it, boy.

- Won't you come and set a while?

- Well, I believe I will

shade up for a spell, Miss Coates.

Come on, Elizabeth.

Hot, ain't it?

We don't get some rain pretty soon,

this country's gonna burn up bad.

Corn crop ain't gonna be worth

nothin' more than a whirlwind nubbins.

Some folks'll be scrapin' the bottoms

of their meal barrels come wintertime.

This here's hanged too long. Elizabeth,

honey, run down to the spring...

and fetch your poor old pappy

a bucket of fresh water.

I'll tell you, Miss Coates,

it's a heavy responsibility...

ridin' herd on the settlement

while the menfolks is gone.

Wears a man right down to a frazzle.

But I ain't complainin', though.

I was chose for this job

and I'll get her done.

I, uh, kinda figured to head up

that cow drive to Kansas myself.

But when man after man called me

all spoke private like...

beggin' me to stay behind

and look out after you womenfolks

and the young ones, I seen my duty.

Knowed I was bein' called on

for a bigger job.

Jim said you were gonna stay

and protect us all.

It's a mighty lucky thing I done it too.

You know what happened the other day?

That fool kid of Jed Simpson's

shot at a bunch of javelina hogs

and wounded one of'em.

Set it to squealin'. Be dogged that

the rest of them didn't tree that boy.

Kept him up there too

till I happened along

and see'd what a pickle he was in.

Of course I couldn't chase

them pesky javelinas off.

But I did go tell that boy's mama

where he was, so she could rest easy...

till the varmints left out

and give him a chance to climb down.

Yep. Lookin' out

after you womenfolks...

and the young ones

sure keeps a man a-hoppin' around.

Biggest bother I've had

though lately is the thievin'

what's been goin' on at Salt Licks.

Meat stole out of smokehouses.

Hen's nests gettin' robbed.

- Mama, I'm hung--

- Hush, baby. Mr Searcy's talkin'.

Womenfolks losin' bread

what they set out in

their " winders'' to cool. Terrible.

- Sounds like some varmint.

- There ain't no varmint

that clever, boy.

- Mama, I'm hungry. When we gonna ea--

- Arliss.

I told you, don't butt in.

Mr Searcy's talkin'.

That's all right, Miss Coates.

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