Only the Valiant Page #5

Sergeant Murdock.

- Yes, sir.

- Form the men.

All right, pick up your equipment.

- Rutledge. Rutledge.

- Yes, sir.

- Hurry it up.

- Be right down.

Fall in.

All right, look alive.

Get in there.

When we get back,

consider yourself under arrest

and remain in your quarters.

Look out!

Come down here.

A thousand pardons, effendi.

The rock fell.

It might've kill you.

It must've been the will of heaven.

You can see for yourself.

No man can move that rock.

Get it out of the way.

Alone, effendi?

Get it out of the way.

Get it out of the way

or I'll have you shot.

Now take your place.

All right, straighten it up.

You did that on purpose.

It was the will of heaven.

Detail, atten-hut.

Right face.

Forward... harch.

Jerry.

Thanks.

Go to the devil.

More, effendi.

I'm big man.

That's not my fault.

Hey, that ain't enough to wet my teeth.

You old enough to have teeth?

Yeah, I'm old enough.

Then you're old enough to get up

in the pass and relieve Gilchrist.

- Right now?

- Right now.

He's done two hours.

He'll tell you what to do up there.

You don't look thirsty.

Rebs don't need water anyway.

Give me some of that horse water.

Yeah.

Come to think of it,

it ought to suit a deserter.

What about the extra canteens?

Captain's saving them for tomorrow.

Sure ain't saving us.

Don't it seem funny to you

there's no news of Joe Harmony?

Nothing seems funny to me.

It's because you got no imagination.

- Maybe you got enough for both of us.

- Maybe I have.

Got enough to be nervous anyway.

- How's the Lieutenant?

- How do I know?

He put me out there to die.

That's why he gave me the carbine.

Stay where you are.

What's the trouble, Captain?

Somebody fired a couple of shots in here.

It was not I, effendi.

I have no carbine.

Are all the others accounted for?

As far as I know, sir.

Well, check on it.

Yes, sir.

I came to watch over you, effendi,

see no harm come to you.

That was very thoughtful of you.

Everything all right up at the pass?

Yes, sir.

Saxton's on guard.

You better tell him what happened.

He's liable to get jumpy

hearing those shots.

And check on this man's story.

Yes, sir.

All right, Arab, get moving.

Captain Lance!

Captain Lance!

Joe.

It's him that took

those shots at you, Captain.

I guess he got scared

when he seen Joe there,

and I can't find Rutledge.

Worry about that later.

Come on, on your feet.

On your feet!

Dick, can you hear me?

Yeah, I can hear you, Joe.

You should have let me shot him

when we had a chance.

Now it's too late.

He's coming, Dick.

Yeah, I know, Joe.

You better let me help you.

Listen.

You remember that something

I couldn't catch hold of?

I finally got a hold of it.

Tucsos knows everything.

He's in no hurry, Dick.

It makes no difference

if the relief column does come.

Yes, Joe?

Because he knows

the whole relief column

was made up of only 31 men.

Just 31... men.

All right, Kebussyan.

For the moment,

I think we can assume

that by this time tomorrow

some of us will be dead.

I never permitted men to risk death

in a combat detail under my command

without explaining why.

Also, I'd like to straighten out

any misapprehensions you may have

as to why you were picked for this detail.

In each case, my only consideration

was the defense of Fort Winston.

The fort is under-manned,

and I picked the men that I thought

could best be spared.

I'm prepared to give you

my individual reasons

if you want them.

If not, the detail is dismissed.

Very well.

Sergeant Murdock.

As for you...

your record as a noncom is full of nothing

but bullying and brutality.

That's why you haven't been

offered your commission.

The result is you're a malcontent.

Your absence from Fort Winston is no loss.

Yes, sir.

Trooper Onstot,

a man who will desert once

is a man who will desert again,

given the slightest opportunity.

Here there won't be any opportunity.

The desert would be

a much worse enemy for you

than any Apache

you might have to face.

Trooper Rutledge,

you came 2,000 miles

to serve under my command

with only one motive: Revenge.

With your intelligence

and your training,

you should have been

promoted many times.

But your record shows

nothing, good or bad.

At Winston, they need men

who are more than adequate.

Yes, sir.

Trooper Kebussyan,

the reason for your

presence on this detail

won't be found on any record book.

It's impossible to transcribe the feelings

that a man carries in his soul.

Here the dark thoughts that you carry

will be less harmful.

I don't think any other

explanation is necessary.

No, sir.

Trumpeter Saxton,

you have long and publicly

made known your wish

to trade your trumpet for a carbine.

Last night I gave you one.

However, both you and I know

that you're a coward

and have no such wish.

No, sir.

Corporal Gilchrist,

yours is a record

of drunkenness, brawls,

and destruction of Army property

that is unequaled

in the United States Cavalry.

Somehow you've managed

to keep your stripes.

But in the event of an attack on Winston,

the proximity of the fort's whiskey

would see you end up inevitably

in front of the firing squad.

You've omitted me

in your analysis, Captain.

Your rank entitles you

to privacy, Lieutenant.

I wish to know why

I was included in the detail.

Very well.

You're here, Lieutenant,

because you're an extremely ill man.

I needed an officer.

There was nothing to lose

by selecting an off...

You see what I mean.

Any questions?

Yes, sir.

What is it?

I'm sure we all appreciate having

our little faults and weaknesses

pointed out to us, sir.

But I imagine the captain

has a reason for being here, too.

You think so?

Yes, sir, I think so.

We all think so.

And just to even things up a little bit,

I'd like to have the pleasure

of telling the captain

what I think that reason is.

Go ahead.

You were supposed to take

Tucsos up to Fort Grant,

but you had the orders changed.

Lieutenant Holloway went out

and got himself conveniently

killed in your place.

Then you began to feel guilty about it,

so you figured out a suicide mission

and fixed it so you could take

every one of us that you hated

along with you.

That's all, Captain.

That's the way it is.

So that's the way it is.

Yes, sir.

Detail. Ten-hut!

Dismissed.

Rutledge.

Yes, Captain.

You disappeared for a while last night.

Where were you?

I went down to the corral

to take a look at the horses.

You're lying, aren't you?

That's an enlisted man's privilege, Captain.

Any sign from Onstot?

No, sir. He hasn't showed himself

for about 15 minutes.

You better go out there

and see if he's all right.

Yes, sir.

You think you can handle a carbine now

without getting careless?

I think so, sir.

Here.

Thank you, sir.

Captain.

Don't I get any?

No. Do you want to know why?

No.

Indians are on the other

side of the wall, Corporal.

Why didn't you shoot, you fool?

I thought better of it.

Shoot him, we'd all be done for.

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