Strange Cargo Page #2

if you went at things in a nicer way.

It'd be a nice gamble if a guy could win,

wouldn't it?

All right, we'll try things your way.

Where do we begin?

Well, I've got a number coming up,

and a date

with one of the prison directors.

And he should be downstairs now.

Yeah, but I'll tell him

I've got a headache or something.

Take off your beard, sweetheart.

Okay. If you want him to find you here,

it's no skin off my teeth.

That's right.

So when they start yelling for me

to come down and sing my song, I'll...

You'll stay here and sing it.

Sure, sure, what do we care?

We'll take what we've got right now.

Who cares about later?

Let them come and get you.

You're too tough

- and too smart for them all.

- I'm not exactly a cluck, baby.

No, you figure here we are,

this is the beginning and the end.

Only a cluck would think of tomorrow.

Well, I'm a cluck.

You're no good to me in a cell.

I'm going down to stall them off.

You wait here.

It's nice of you to try things my way.

- But, monsieur, I assure you...

- He's here some place.

There must be some mistake.

No prisoner would dare come in here.

He was seen climbing

in an upstairs window.

You. We're looking for...

If you're looking for a loose convict,

come and get him.

All right, Verne, we've got you.

Don't try anything.

So, you outsmarted me, huh?

That's what happens, they tell me,

when smart people get together.

One of them winds up ahead.

And I lose. Only what happens

when I catch up with you?

And I will catch up with you, baby.

The law here denies convicts

the privilege of associating with women.

The same law applies to women.

Women are not allowed to associate

with convicts, on the penalty

of expulsion from the colony.

Don't tell me I'm going to be kicked out

of this paradise of yours.

All right, come on, give me my ticket.

I'll be on my way.

Well, we don't give out tickets.

Oh, what do you expect me to do,

ride out of here on a cloud?

Make it a cloud for two, baby.

We didn't send for you.

You can get out the way you got in.

But, Grideau, it wasn't my fault.

He spoke to me on the dock,

and I warned him to keep away from me.

When he didn't,

I told him I'd call the guard,

and he said if I did,

he'd throw me overboard.

How about that, Verne?

Some women would rather drown

than talk to a guy like me.

- How did you come to be in her room?

- I told her I'd be there, didn't I?

Why didn't she turn me in

before I made good?

Because I didn't believe he would.

He broke into my room, and as soon

as I could, I called the guards.

They'll tell you. Go on, tell him.

So, she ran into the boys.

She was in a spot.

She turned me in to save her own hide.

You're a liar.

You're not going to take the word

- of a slimy convict against mine, are you?

- I might.

But the facts speak more convincingly

than either of you.

He was found in your room.

I've got to act accordingly.

Okay. So that's that, and I'm on my way.

But no matter where I go,

or no matter how low it is,

I'll know that you're no better than me,

Monsieur Grideau,

or any of the rats in your zoo.

You said you'd catch up with me someday.

Well, I just hope you do.

- And what's going to happen then, baby?

- Here's what.

Take Verne to a dormitory.

I'll deal with him in the morning.

You've got 12 hours to leave the colony.

If you're not gone,

you'll be put under arrest.

I got an idea, Grideau.

Give me 12 hours to get out,

and put her in the dormitory.

That way everybody's happy.

Let go of me. You heard what he said.

I'm going out the way I came in.

- Send the Pig in.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, monsieur.

But I wonder whether this time

instead of paying me the reward,

you would grant me a small favor?

Well, what is it?

Well, Julie's not a bad girl.

This business was none of her fault.

And will I let her remain in the colony?

And what makes you think

I deal in women, you miserable...

Take your money and get out of here.

Wouldn't have to rely on vermin like him

if you men filled your uniforms.

Have you discovered how Verne

managed to remain outside the walls?

There's no way of explaining it, sir.

36 men were counted through the gate,

and 36 men were counted back,

and double counted, sir.

Well, if you're sure of that, then,

it certainly is odd.

Isn't that the Bible you're reading?

With the exception of me, this room

is filled with men who have forgotten God.

Blasphemers, infidels, atheists.

And God, too, has forgotten them all.

All except me.

I will be forgiven for my sins.

The rest will burn in hell,

but I will be forgiven.

- So, that's why you read the Bible?

- Why else?

- There might be many other reasons.

- And there might be none at all.

Look at this pathetic little worm,

lulling the ache of his conscience

with spiritual aspirin.

I can't think of anything more practical

than removing that particular ache.

I can. Removing the conscience.

And you have none, Hessler.

How do you know my name?

I've never seen you before.

That doesn't mean

I've never seen you before.

And to look at him

is to look at the devil's spawn, senor.

Then pray for me, Telez.

And pray for my father, the devil, too.

You'll burn in hell where you belong.

You'll burn for the evil that you've done,

for the lives you've taken.

He has poisoned women for their money.

He deserved the guillotine.

Though I had wretched wives,

I had an excellent lawyer.

You were never meant for the scaffold,

Hessler, nor for a jail.

Did you hear that, Telez?

I am to be immortal.

That is, if your friend here

knows what he's talking about.

He's not my friend.

Perhaps he's yours. Perhaps he's the devil.

Poor Telez. I pity him.

Pity? I don't understand you.

Never having received any pity

or pitied anyone, let me plead ignorance.

- I don't know what it is.

- Have you no feelings at all?

For these men?

How can one feel kinship with the dead?

Look at them. Rotting in their graves.

Waiting for their bodies to die.

Perhaps before that happens,

they'll get out of their graves.

Not these.

They've dug them too narrow

and too deep. They can never climb out.

- Too weak, perhaps?

- To be weak is to be dead.

- Then to be strong is to live.

- Hasn't it always been so?

It seems to me the mighty have fallen

from time to time.

We must talk again, monsieur. You

have a brain. That makes two of us.

Hi, Superman.

How's the poison holding out?

Always a little left for friends, Verne.

But he can't take that bunk.

Pardon me, but this bunk

belongs to someone else.

That so?

But you don't understand.

This bunk belongs to Moll.

Moll, huh?

And right here in the same dormitory.

That's going to be cozy.

What does that rat mean

by taking my bunk?

But he's always had this bunk.

Then he might've known

I'd be around for it.

Friend of his?

- Why, yes, we're friends. Why not?

- Yeah, why not?

Because he's a maggot, see.

Tell him that I said so.

Tell him that Verne says

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes