Santa Fe Page #5

...to give the gorge to the Rio Grande.

- What?

The office rushed me out

with this copy.

Those men must know that.

- I get it.

- Get what?

It was a trick to hold me here,

to keep us away from Raton Pass.

The Santa Fe couldn't be there yet.

You could still beat them.

Joe. Joe. Round up

those graders again. Quick.

We're going on to Raton.

- Where's Mr. Wootton?

- There on the end. Fiddler.

- Hold your horse. What you doing?

- Business. Important.

Ain't nothing as important as Uncle

Dick winning that fiddling contest.

I got $ 18 bet on him.

Eighteen dollars. And we've got

700 miles of railroad on him.

How long does this last?

Till two of them fiddlers wear out.

- Why, it might take all night.

- Sure.

Keep it up, Pete, you old buzzard.

Oh, so you're from the Santa Fe.

Well, I got two brothers

working on the Santa Fe.

And when they're out of jobs,

I gotta feed them.

- Then let me through.

- No, you don't, mister.

Not till the fiddling's over.

You're all right, Uncle Dick.

Mr. Wootton. Hey, Mr. Wootton.

My name's Canfield.

I'm from the Santa Fe Railroad.

Canfield? Santa Fe?

What do you...? What do you want?

A railroad starts through here tonight,

ours or Rio Grande.

Ours by prior construction...

...if we can make a deal now

to buy your toll road.

Yep, I've been running this toll road

for many years now.

Hacked the whole 27 miles out

with my own hands.

The Santa Fe will do right by you.

Give you $50,000.

Fifty thousand?

What do you think I am?

You...? You want more?

Do you know where I got the money

to build this road with?

Back in '52,

I drove a herd of sheep...

...8900 of them, up to California...

...and sold them out

to the starving miners.

All the way from Taos

to Sacramento in 107 days.

Got back in 38 days

with a sack full of gold.

And a big sack. Yes, sir.

Now you'll get another sack.

Oh, I guess my riding days are over.

But I'd like to finish it out in style.

Just give me a free pass to ride

on them there steam cars.

It's a bargain, Uncle Dick.

It's a bargain.

And the $50,000.

All right. Men, $ 10 to everyone

who can handle a spade tonight.

- Ten dollars?

- Yeah.

- Count me in.

- Me too.

I'll grab an Irish banjo

and pick up a 10 myself.

Come on!

Uncle Dick, from the start

of this roadbed...

...we head straight for Raton Mountain,

where we'll tunnel through.

Raise the gate.

All right, men, get busy.

Come on. Some on this side.

Is this as fast as this thing will go?

Yep. Them horses

don't run by steam.

Old Dick Wootton's toll house

is close by now.

There they are, digging up the road.

- Let's get them and run them off.

- Shut up. Stay where you are.

Keep back. Until I tell you.

Smart trick.

To outwit the Rio Grande.

I have more men here than you have.

We could drive you off this mountain.

Go ahead and try it.

No. I don't want any bloodshed.

Neither do you.

We're both railroad builders.

It only matters to us,

not the people out there...

...whose railroad they use

as long as they have one.

That's the important thing.

So since you got here first,

let it be the Santa Fe.

Good luck.

Sure, you did a fine job, me boys.

But don't be strolling away too far.

The train for Dodge City will be

leaving in a few minutes.

When do we get our pay?

Don't you be worrying about that.

You'll get it.

- Yeah, you'll get it.

- Yeah, I hope we do.

Clint, there's Britt.

But if it weren't for him, l...

I know, I know, Terry,

but don't say anything.

You know how embarrassed

he gets when you thank him.

- Hi, Britt.

- What are you two doing out here?

- Were you at Royal Gorge?

- Sure.

When we heard you needed some

extra hands back in Dodge, we joined.

Why don't you sign up

for a steady job with us.

No, no. We'll be going back.

Fighting is one thing...

...but working regular hours is

something I wasn't cut out for.

This way, I'm my own boss

and not some Yankee.

And I thought you were

getting over that.

Hello, Britt.

Your chest must be puffed out

a foot after what you've done.

Naturally I feel good...

...but you made the winning

of Raton possible.

- I?

- By letting me go.

You know about us Canfields,

don't you?

Yes.

Will you believe me if I tell you

it was in self-defense?

Hotheaded southerners

and drunken northerners?

And we couldn't have proved

it wasn't murder?

Can you believe that?

I must have already, don't you think?

Yes, you... You must have, Judith.

But I'm glad you told me yourself.

For me, I'm getting sick of

this no-pay-on-payday business.

I've been out of money

for two weeks.

The road always comes through,

sooner or later.

Well, they can't pay

if they haven't got it.

They got it.

Santa Fe wouldn't be

the first railroad to go busted.

I read in the paper

about one of them eastern roads.

Yeah, there are rusty rails

and rotting ties...

...all over the United States

to prove that.

It's none of my business...

...but if I had pay coming,

I'd ask them about it.

I'd find out just when that pay train

was going to get here.

Fella's right.

Let's go find out about it right now.

All right, let's go. Come on.

What's the guy's name?

- Oh, Mr. Baxter!

- Hey, Mr. Baxter!

- What's the matter?

- We want our money.

- Yeah, how about our money.

- It'll be here before long.

Promises won't buy anything.

What we want is the cash.

- That's right.

- That's right.

Has Dave Baxter ever lied to you?

He says you'll get your money soon.

I say so too.

And I ought to know,

because I'm the one who'll pay you.

That still don't tell us

when the money's coming.

- Yeah. Where is the money?

- When's it coming?

I'll tell you when the money's

gonna get here, if it'll satisfy you.

There's a pay shipment leaving

Dodge City at midnight tonight.

It'll be here in the morning.

That's different.

That's all we're asking.

See how easy it is to find out

what you wanna know?

Board! All aboard for Dodge City!

Get this over to the telegraph office

right away.

Dave.

I wonder, Dave, was it wise

telling those men...

...when the pay train

was leaving Dodge?

- What do you mean?

- Suppose there's another holdup?

We'd lose the New Mexico extension.

The Wells, Fargo contract too.

- I hope there is a holdup.

- What?

There'll be no money aboard,

only 20 of Bat Masterson's deputies.

I just sent him a wire.

- A trap?

- Yes, a trap.

And if my way of thinking is correct,

it'll work.

You hope someone who heard you

out there will take the bait?

Very possible.

Catching these men makes a great

deal of difference, doesn't it?

The difference between

success and failure.

If we want the Wells, Fargo contract,

we've got to get rid of these outlaws.

He's made a fool of me,

and you helped him do it.

- Dave, you can't believe that.

- What else can I believe?

- Britt's done nothing wrong.

- They're brothers.

They've been in trouble before.

They killed a man.

Maybe they had to.

Maybe it was the soldier's fault.

They're southerners.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes