Red Dust Page #6

Of all the people in the world!

Miss Van never been in love?

Hoy thought one time

you and Mr. Denny...

- Never mind about that!

- Yes, Miss Van.

What you been eating? Cement?

- Mrs. Willis, clean clothes.

- Come in.

- Where Hoy put this?

- Any place over there, Hoy.

All right.

- Hoy!

- Here, Mr. Denny.

Did you put that new lamp

in Mrs. Willis's room?

Yes, Mr. Denny.

You'll find a couple more pheasants

hanging up in the back shed.

Fix them for dinner tonight.

You know, the way

Mrs. Willis likes them.

Yes, Mr. Denny.

Can I come in?

Wait a minute.

All right, come in.

I...

Did you get the lamp all right?

Yes, thanks so much.

Does it light up all right?

Lights up perfectly.

I heard you order the pheasants.

Well, I thought you might

like a little change.

Yes...a change.

I'm glad.

You're glad?

I never thought this could happen.

What?

I'm afraid I'm pretty

crazy about you.

Always? For keeps?

And after that too.

We'll get out of

this rotten country.

I've always known that some day...

We'll have a swell time, Babs.

Don't call me Babs, dear.

Do you mind?

Why not?

Oh.

Say, look...

I've got to go down river today.

They're having a little

trouble with the coolies.

- You'll see him?

- Yes.

Are you gonna tell him so soon?

Sure. Might as well

get it over with.

Now?

No, can't we just...

- Oh, Dennis maybe...

- Want to back out?

Oh, no.

But he's so...helpless.

Well, it's just a tough break.

Oh, Dennis, you'll come back to me?

Day after tomorrow.

- I'm frightened.

- What of?

Say, at that,

it might be better if...

Did Gary leave you a gun?

- It isn't that.

You do love me, don't you?

Want it in writing?

Goodbye, kid.

It's only for a couple

of days, and then...

Goodbye, dear.

Now listen.

I'm going down river and probably

won't be back till morning.

If you can't be pleasant to her while I'm

gone, just keep out of her way, understand?

Oh, that's too bad!

She and I could have had

such a lovely day.

Just two girls together

with so much in common.

You heard me.

I thought we might run up a few

curtains and make a batch of fudge,

while we were planning what to wear to

the country club dance Saturday night.

Just remember, Lily:

All those lame cracks

won't help you any

if I come back and find out you've

been annoying her in any way.

Oh, I wouldn't touch her with

your best pair of rubber gloves!

Hey!

Hey, Denny!

Here's the boss!

Hello, boys!

I hear you're having

a little cat trouble.

Yes, he's a big tom tiger! The first

bullock was chewed up last week.

Same old story. I can't convince

them he isn't a man-eater.

Can't haul any more

lumber for his bridge.

The brave fellows won't

go in and cut it out.

All like that.

If you can't get them back

to work, Denny, nobody can.

The quickest way to fix that is to

put a little lead in the friendly cat.

Did the runners spot it? - He was

over the rim of the hill last night.

Let's have a look.

We'll put up some blinds, and

stake out a few bullocks tonight.

Babs didn't feel like

coming down, huh?

- Why, no...

- You see, I was...

I was sort of expecting it.

It's a long hard trip, you know,

bad weather and all.

She...

She didn't send a note or anything?

No, as a matter of fact,

she didn't have time.

I came right away, just yelled in that I was

going as they brought the horse around.

She...sends her love of course.

She couldn't send very much...

I brought most of it along with me.

How's your work been coming?

I'll take you over everything I've done

tomorrow. I think you'll be pleased about it.

I've worked night and

day to rush the job, I...

I sure want to get

back to the house.

- Hey, Mac

- What?

We'll each take a blind tonight,

you take Gary in with you.

Okay Denny.

Couldn't I stick along with you?

Mac and I have been cooped

up so long together

we haven't got

a new joke between us.

- Sure, if you like.

- Then we can talk things over.

That cat'll be good

and hungry again.

He'll start stalking one of the

baits soon after sundown.

Yeah.

- That's a mighty nice lad, Denny.

- I guess he is.

But just as you thought,

he'll never make the grade.

Poor lad.

He wants to make good, too.

His fever came back on

him a little bit yesterday,

but he sat up all night

going over his charts.

And say, to hear him

talk about you,

he'd cut off both his legs

if you gave him the word.

- Better stake out that

other bullock. - Okay, Denny.

Say...Can I have first shot at him?

If you guarantee you won't miss.

Well, you'll be right there.

I'd give anything to be able to

take the hide back to Babs.

Let's get up.

It's something like spearing

sunfish with a lantern.

Only not so easy.

Nothing's easy down

in this country.

That's what makes the life

worth living, I say.

What are you going to do

after you leave here?

Oh, I don't know.

That's a little far ahead

to think of now, I guess.

I always thought I'd like to

go on doing this sort of thing,

go to South America,

you know, expeditions?

That was B.B.

- B.B.?

- Yeah!

Before Babs.

Oh.

You must think I'm an awful ass,

to keep talking about Barbara

this way all the time.

No.

Here's your gun.

I always feel a fellow can talk about

things that are close and intimate to him

when he's with a guy who...

well...who understands.

That's why I'm not at all

ashamed to tell you,

I'd fold up without Babs.

Just being away from her

this long has proven that.

This would be a bad country to

raise children in, wouldn't it?

- Oh, I don't know.

- See...

Babs and I were going

to have children right away,

and this job came up.

Kids.

First a couple of boys,

and then a girl perhaps.

Will I walk down the main street!

I guess we'll wait until

we get back home.

Before we left, we bought a piece

of property outside New York

up on the Hudson.

We're going to build

and settle down there.

It's only 35 miles from New York,

and it's real rural country.

A guy can commute...

Babs will be right there with all the

people she's known and grown up with.

All our closest friends

have settled there too.

And it'll be a swell place

for the children.

And when their Uncle Dennis

comes up from the tropics,

he can tell them about the

time their dad shot a tiger

as he charged ruthlessly through

the... - Keep quiet, will you?

What's the matter?

I thought you said we could

talk until it got dark?

Well, we won't talk anymore.

Better not.

Yay! You got him!

Gee, that was a swell shot.

He was too fast for me.

Gee! Look at it!

Gee, what a thrill that was.

I'm going home tonight,

Mac. Get my horse.

But it's a rotten ride

this late, Denny!

I have to go, I tell you.

All right!

Feel like you could

eat some supper?

Not particularly.

I guess you must be

pretty well done in at that.

You take my cot, and

turn in right after chow.

I got the most comfortable

cot in the outfit.

No, I'm going back right now.

- Going back?

- Yeah.

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