The Big Trail Page #4

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Mr. Thorpe,

why you came here instead of

returning to your plantation.

I've told you why I came.

I induced Captain Hollister,

an old friend of mine,

to put back to shore,

and I followed you.

Yes, I know that's

what you told me.

But I'm afraid

you're a flatterer.

Oh! On my honor, no.

You got a chew of tobacco?

Hey, Lopez! Tobacco's gonna

be mighty scarce later on.

Boy, I'm goin' back to old Windy

Bill and get a slug of "come on."

Your name's Lopez, eh?

Uh, Lopez, that's me.

You and Flack good friends,

he tells me.

Ah, Flack and me

been friends 12, 15 years.

You were out wolfing

together last winter, eh?

No, no, no. Wolfing, she not

good business. No money.

Then you didn't get many?

No, not much.

Funny. Wellmore said

you sold him

more furs than any other

half dozen outfits.

No. He must have been talking

about someone else. Not me.

Well, no matter.

See you often.

Ah, you rascal.

Flack.

Got a good bunch

of bullwhackers, Flack.

That, uh, Lopez

strikes me as a good hand.

Ah, you bet.

Lopez can pound them along.

You and him old friends, eh?

Who? Lopez and me?

Nah. I never see'd him

till he signed on this trip.

My mistake.

Ah, Lopez.

I don't like

this man Coleman.

Yeah?

If he asks after me, you

tell him you never see'd me,

till you signed on this trip.

You're too late.

Why?

He just speak to me, and I

tell him we was old friends.

What?

What do you use under your

hat instead of brains?

You need no brains

if you got this.

Ahh.

Now you're talking sense.

Come on, you.

Come on. Giddyap.

Pick your partner

and a-promenade back.

First couple out to the right

and follow the ca...

Prepare to promenade back.

First couple out to the right

and follow the call.

Now right in circles.

Take your partner

and a-promenade back.

First couple out to the right

and follow the call.

Maybe she won't, uh,

talk with him,

but she'll dance

with him, eh?

It's a lovely dance.

On with the next

and follow the call.

And a lovely night.

And a lovely girl.

Now's your chance. Go in and

snag her away from him.

I claim the favor.

With pleasure, Mr. Thorpe.

Well, Zeke.

Hello, boy.

Thorpe just stole my partner and

left me dancing with myself.

Yeah?

Say, boy, it just come to me

a minute ago,

where I seen that

there Thorpe before.

Where?

Camped on the Cimarron with

Flack and Lopez. They're old friends.

Are you sure of that?

Dead certain.

So keep your eye

peeled on him, son.

Oh, I'm tired. I think

I'll go to my wagon.

Why, certainly.

Let me take you there.

And to think this

same moon is shining

on my old plantation

in Louisiana.

All it needs is a lovely

woman to preside there.

Someday you'll find her.

I have found her, Ruth.

Oh, please, Mr. Thorpe.

Look, I've told you before

that there can be

no happiness without love.

But love will come.

Ruth... I'm really

tired, Mr. Thorpe.

Do you mind if I go to bed?

Good night.

Good night.

We're getting into

dangerous country, Flack...

So I'll be riding to the Pawnee

villages to pick up some Injun scouts.

Yes? Well, you're likely to

lose your scalp out there.

I'll bet you a couple of wolf

pelts I bring it back with me.

How long'll you

be gone, Coleman?

Three or four days,

a week maybe.

Oh, back so soon?

I thought maybe you wouldn't

be coming back at all.

And just why did

you think that?

Well, after I sort of took the

dark-eyed beauty away from you,

I thought you

might be decamping.

Listen, Thorpe. I never quit a

job in the middle of the road.

Oh, quite so.

Quite so.

But after the girl quit you

in the middle of the road...

Say that again, Mr. Thorpe!

I know who you are now,

and I know why you quit

the Cimarron country too.

Oh, well. No necessity to

have quarrels among friends.

Friends?

You threw too wide a loop.

Remember this,

the three of you...

I'm not your friend.

Yeah. Well, you let him

scare you stiff.

Not at all.

Only an idiot, you know,

presses a quarrel,

when the other man has a knife

pressed against his middle.

Yeah. Good excuse.

Wolf pelts, eh?

What does that mean?

Don't mean nothin'.

It doesn't to me,

but it does to you.

Yeah? Where'd you get

that notion?

When he mentioned

wolf pelts, you looked

as though he'd rammed

a knife in you.

Not exactly

what I'd call a poker face.

Yeah?

Well, what of it?

Oh, nothing.

Only I'm beginning to understand

why you don't like Coleman.

Bye, Windy.

And, Zeke, I'll be seeing you in the

happy hunting grounds if not before.

Good luck, boy.

Bye.

Well, Miss Ruth, I got

some good news for you.

What?

I'm gonna be away for a while.

I'm going scoutin'.

Well, isn't that dangerous

in the open country?

Lord, no. I love it...

Especially now that it's spring

and everything's so happy.

Why, there's trees

out there, big, tall pines...

Just a-reachin'

and a-reachin'...

As if they wanted to climb right

through the gates of heaven.

And there's brooks, too, with

the water smiling all day long.

But the part I like best

is the night...

Lying out there beneath

a blanket of stars,

with that old moon

smiling down on you.

And every time you look up,

there she is,

sort of guarding over you, like

a mother minding her young.

Sometimes it's so beautiful that

I just lie there, listening.

Birds singing,

brooks laughing,

and the wind sort of

crooning through the forest.

Like some great organ.

Oh, I've always loved it.

But I reckon I'm gonna be

lonely this time.

You know, you can get sort of used

to having somebody not like you.

And when they're not around,

you miss them not liking you.

That's why I reckon

I'm gonna be lonesome.

But I'll be thinking of you.

Good-bye.

And you just take care

you don't lose your scalp!

Zeke, is he leaving

the train?

Yes, miss. He's riding out

to Pawnee villages.

Well, how far are they?

Oh, nigh on a hundred mile.

Well, isn't that dangerous?

Well, he's likely to lose his

scalp afore he gets there.

But once in the villages,

he's safe.

So don't you

worry about him, miss.

What... Why should

I worry about him?

I don't know, miss.

I don't know.

But seemed like as

if maybe you was.

Oh, not at all.

He means nothing to me.

No. No, in course not.

Good night.

Good night, Zeke.

Hey! You got back

here at last, eh?

Yeah. There's plenty of

buffalo sign out here,

so I'll be riding out

to pick up fresh meat.

Ah, well, who's keeping you?

I'll see you at

the river crossing.

Lopez! Lopez! Thorpe!

Pull up here. Come here.

You two have been waiting

for your chance. Here it is.

Go out on a buffalo hunt.

Me? Nah.

I kill hundreds of buffalo.

Why should I go?

Ah! Get them cobwebs

out of your brain!

He means, Lopez,

we might find better game.

Watch him till

he leaves the Pawnees,

and then give it

to him in the back.

Go on.

Hey, you pilgrims!

Come here! Come here!

Bascom?

Yes!

Bascom!

Yes.

I'll shove the horses and

the cattle right on through.

Leave only the wheelers

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