The Great Man's Lady Page #6

The dog, mind you.

One day

Hank caught a squirrel

all by himself.

It was a pretty miserable

little old squirrel,

but it was a squirrel

just the same,

and I needed

a piece of its fur

to finish a hunting cap

I was making myself.

That poor squirrel

was no good at all to Hank

because he didn't know

what to do with it.

But do you think

he'd let me have it?

No, sir.

He just growled and barked

and kept it all to himself,

till it was no good

to anybody,

not even himself.

That's what Hank Allen

is trying to do.

I founded this town.

I and others.

But the time has come

when we must face the facts.

Hoyt City is nothing

but a jumping-off place

for nowhere.

The railroad would put

Hoyt City on the map.

I came back here

a month ago

to live in the same

little cabin I built here

21 years ago in 1847.

I am one of yourselves.

True enough, I own

a great deal of land here.

I don't deny it.

But most of this land

I shall have to deed over to

the railroad, the same as you.

I shall be poorer, not richer.

Hank Allen to the contrary.

My friends, I take my stand

for the Western Railroad

Company and progress.

And now for Mr. Frisbee.

As for you Ethan Hoyt,

guilty conscience, huh?

No wonder you thought

you saw her

there in the crowd.

Hank Allen was right.

"Silver-tongue Hoyt."

Remember

the moonlight, Ethan?

Hannah.

What a strange,

lovely night.

And we rode away,

you and I.

All the wide, bright way

to the Pacific sea.

Then it was really you

this afternoon.

Yes.

Yes, I didn't die.

I was bringing you

our babies.

They were as tiny

as kittens.

Little twin kittens.

Steely found them

after the flood.

He thought I was dead, too.

And after he came back

from Virginia City, he...

He told me about you.

And then I went away

with him.

Oh, God.

Forgive me, Hannah.

Forgive me.

I failed you.

I've always failed you.

Oh!

Oh, my goodness, Ethan.

Get up off the ground.

There are no Indians

to stalk around here.

I remember.

And then I...

And then I went away with you

for 12 glorious years.

It's chilly.

Come inside, Ethan.

Light your candle

again, Ethan.

I'm like

a blind man, Hannah.

A man in the dark.

That's why

I came back.

You'll see again, Ethan.

You'll see

what Hank Allen sees.

What you yourself

used to see better

than any man on Earth.

A fine, bright world.

We started

to build it once.

But it's not as simple

as all that, Hannah.

I've changed.

I came back here alone

and tried to build

what we dreamed together.

You and I.

But it was no good

alone, Hannah.

The heart was

gone out of me.

Oh, I don't want to make

any excuses, not anymore.

I guess I just took

the easiest way.

Just like I've always done,

except when you've been around

to keep me straight.

I'm in this thing

just as deep

as the rest of them.

Corrupting judges

and legislators

to get what we want.

Money is a great

power, Hannah.

And my money is tied up with

the Western Railroad Company.

So, you see,

if I fight Dawson

and those people,

I'd really be

fighting myself.

But that's right.

That's what you must do.

Then you've got

to help me, Hannah.

I can't do it alone.

Without you

I've been lost.

You're not alone, Ethan.

You have a family.

Yes, a little boy

and a little girl.

But there's

you, too, Hannah.

I'm all mixed up.

No, you're not.

I've divorced you.

When?

Before I came here.

Not because I don't love you,

because I always will.

But because our marriage

was the only weapon

they could use against you.

But I can't

let you do this.

You've got to

do it, Ethan.

Speak for all the things

we dreamed together.

Speak for the truth

and fight for it.

Speak for

all the people to hear.

Help them to

build something

fine and free.

A country that

your little boy and girl,

that all our children

will be proud

to inherit and live in.

I'll do it.

I know you will, Ethan.

If only we were

beginning all over.

Spring never comes

again, Ethan.

Perhaps in the Indian summer

we'll meet once more.

Now, go.

Go, Ethan.

And don't look back.

Good luck, Ethan.

And so he rode away

on his horse.

Just like he rode

into my life on one.

Right straight down

that hill.

Well, where there

used to be a hill.

He rode down it

into greatness

and glory. Yeah.

The other man in my life

turned out pretty well, too.

Poor old Steely.

I guess I must be

the only person

in the whole world

who really

remembers him.

He died the same year

as Ethan, in 1906,

in the San Francisco fire.

He died the way

he always lived.

Helping other people.

Help me down

the steps, girl.

I get a bit creaky

at night, it seems.

Do you mind

if I say something?

No. Speak ahead, girl.

I think the wrong person

is on that horse

in the square.

It ought to be you.

Oh. Nonsense!

Girl, I'm nobody.

Just an old lady

who talks too much.

Fum-de-diddle.

What was I saying now?

Mmm... Oh, yes.

I wanted you to know how

men like Ethan climb a long,

hard road to greatness.

They need help, mind you,

and then all of a sudden,

there they are.

Up there on their own.

You see, Ethan's light

never went out again.

He used it like a torch

against all the dark,

unscrupulous things

that men like Dawson

and Frisbee do.

He used it like a beacon

to give men hope,

men building

a place of their own.

Hoyt City and

a thousand other places

all over the 48 states.

Yes. That's what

he did, girl.

And he did it

all alone.

Taxi!

I never saw him again

until he came back home

to die in 1906.

Then he was all alone

again in the world,

like I was,

and he came back here

to die,

a bright spring day.

His truth is marching on

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

His truth is marching on

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Come out of that.

Haven't the likes

of you newspaper cubs

any shame at all?

Oh, let me go, Murphy.

I want the news.

Is the senator dead?

What's he doing

in Hannah Sempler's house?

The public must know.

I want to get

at the bottom of things.

The bottom of it, is it?

Sure, and I'll be glad

to help you along.

Come on,

get along with you.

And let a great gentleman

die in his own proper time

as he likes.

Hannah.

How'd I do?

Fine, Ethan. Fine.

You gave me

the strength.

And the courage.

But you did it

alone, Ethan.

All alone.

No, Hannah.

Not alone.

You were with me

every step of the way.

I...

I wanted you to

be proud of me.

I am proud of you, Ethan.

Prouder than a cat

with a dozen kittens.

Hannah?

Yes, Ethan.

Come closer, girl.

Just...

Just one thing more.

A kiss.

And now, there he is.

Up there on his horse.

And nobody is ever

going to change it.

He stirs the heart

like a challenge.

That's it.

That's what

he always did.

Wherever

there were people

trampled by life,

wherever men

wanted to rise up in all

the bright glory of hope,

he lifted them up.

He still does.

He always will.

I...

I'm kissing

my biography goodbye.

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