The Fighting Kentuckian Page #5

Mr. Paine, you're wonderful.

We're going to a party!

Yah!

Uh-uh. Fiddling gentlemen

through the side door, please.

- Good evening, Charles.

- Evening, sir.

- Good evening, Charles.

- Good evening, Colonel.

How do you do, gentlemen?

I'm Knox Brown from up Tuscaloosa way.

I'm Willie Paine from Kentucky,

and my friend here...

Abner Todd's about to introduce us.

Get your fiddles out.

- Well...

- We're all gonna play this first.

- No...

- Don't worry. Shh!

What I'm trying to tell you...

Ladies and gentlemen,

for a starter, the whole kit and caboodle

is going to warm up on Devil's Hiccup.

- I've gotta get out here...

- Don't worry.

That happens to everybody the first time.

Ready?

I'd like to get you all a dancing.

Extra men, help clear the chairs, please.

Monsieur Breen,

you are to go to the summerhouse, sir.

Thank you.

This'll be might different.

You'll soon get the swing of it.

Pair off - lady and gent - four pairs

together in a square, with room for dancing.

Good evening.

Oh.

Yes, I sent for you,

to tell you Mademoiselle Fleurette and I

are going to be married tomorrow.

You forced your way into

this house tonight.

That's between you and your host.

Any further attempt on your part

to contact Fleurette, however,

is a personal affront to me.

- Is that clear?

- Quite.

At the same time I'll be just as frank.

I'm not only contacting Fleurette

the first possible moment

but I'm gonna do my darnedest

to keep you from marrying her.

You know, I wondered about you -

a solider one day, a surveyor the next.

You're upsetting a very delicate situation

in Demopolis, Mr. Breen.

I'll have a little to plainer than that.

That's plain enough.

Just don't crowd your luck too far.

Just a minute, Mr. Randolph.

We haven't settled anything, have we?

I honestly didn't think we would.

We could, mighty easy.

I don't threaten good.

Looks like you're one shot up on me.

I'll concede that.

Now...

any time you're ready,

just grab for that gun

or the one you've got in your pocket.

I don't carry a gun, Mr. Breen.

Well, then, that makes it what we call

a Kentucky stand-off.

Let's see how lucky you are.

I, uh, never trust to luck.

I'm a businessman.

- That's bad business.

- If it's bad for you, it's good for me.

But you won't press your advantage.

You see, Mr. Breen, you're a hero.

In the heroic tradition,

you wait for me to make the first move.

Personally, I think that's rather foolish.

In your position, I wouldn't hesitate.

Strange, isn't it?

The very thing that makes you a hero

is the very thing that makes you vulnerable

to a man like me.

You and I never will understand each other.

That's too bad, in a way.

Together we could... Oh, well.

I was prepared to offer you a year's

contract, to leave immediately,

for more money than Geraud is paying you.

- Geraud?

- Yes.

I should have known

you'd be heroically obstinate.

Too bad, soldier.

Who were you gonna shoot?

The winner.

By the way, whose side are you on?

Mine.

Good luck.

- Thank you, Major.

- My pleasure, mademoiselle.

- May I have a cool drink, please?

- Certainly.

Come on out here.

I wanna talk to you.

Now, you're not marrying Blake Randolph.

You're marrying me. Is that understood?

Yes, John Breen, now it's understood.

I have been waiting for you to come for me.

You know I've been trying to see you.

Why didn't you send word?

Did you need word?

Supposing I hadn't shown up.

Then I would have been wrong in waiting.

We're gonna get out of here tonight.

I'm coming back for you after the party.

Where are we going?

Does that matter?

No, I... I thought perhaps my mother...

- Are you frightened, Fleurette?

- A little.

Don't be.

Forget old times and traditions.

This is a new country,

a new world for you.

That's better. Now you're smiling.

Yes, John Breen.

I'm thinking about a funny little hat.

Good evening, Mr. Breen.

Good evening, sir.

That is a good-looking team.

Yes, sir. Borrowed.

Of course. Geraud always had

an eye to good horseflesh.

And then, a cavalryman - why not?

One of the first paragraphs

of the Emperor's Field Service Regulations

went something like this -

"In the absence of reliable information

to the contrary,

"always assume that the enemy will act

with good judgment."

And though you and I are not enemies...

No, sir, of course not.

I feel that we should be better acquainted.

- I'd like that, sir.

- Good.

I have a small cabin over there

where I spend a great deal of my time.

- Would you care to see it?

- I'd appreciate it, sir.

Thank you.

By the way,

your General Andrew Jackson

has translated the Emperor's

Field Service Regulations into English.

Yes, sir. I know the quotation, sir.

The bust you recognize, of course.

My favorite study of the Emperor.

I used the stump of the

first tree cut down.

This is the first cabin built.

We call it the sanctuary.

Some member of every family in the colony

had a hand in the building

or contributed to its furnishing.

That was wielded by a Cossack hetman

at Borodino, Russia.

Ugh! Makes me cold to think of it.

Moscow - a frozen, bloody retreat.

The beginning of the end.

Then Elba, Waterloo followed

in quick succession.

That was the symbol of revolt.

Hundreds like it were worn by the people

of Paris during the French Revolution.

Well after Waterloo, Saint

Elena for the emperor

Exile for his followers.

So you find as here banded together

In a last desperate effort to live.

I say desperate

because we have so much to learn.

Land-hungry men are watching us with envy

as we try to raise grapes and olives

in this rich soil.

Ever thought of other crops?

Cotton or tobacco?

Of course, but we don't know anything

about cotton or tobacco.

Our only chance to last

long enough to learn

is by cementing relationships

with influential American friends.

Which brings us,

in a rather roundabout way,

to you, John Breen.

I'll do everything I can to help, sir.

Then don't run away with my daughter.

Sit down, please.

Two weeks ago, you didn't know her.

Hadn't even heard of her, nor she of you.

You want to ruin my plans

and jeopardize the happiness of people

who are looking to me for guidance.

Im sorry general. But I

try to see you to tell you

It was necessary I saw you with her

the night of the festival

You let her marry Blake

Randolph after that?

Im not only let her. I

do my best to force her

Where is your home Mr. Breen?

Kentucky

And your parents?

My mother died when I was born

My father passed away, well I was

in New Orleans with Jackson.

Was he also a Surveyor?

No Sir, he hadend worked in years

As a young man he spend a hard winter

At a place called Valley Forge.

Never recovered

If you worried about my prospect

there the same as any man in this times

I just came from 5 years in the army.

You're a soldier you know what that means

I do indeed

That's why I'm appealing to you.

Look at it as I see it.

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