The Law and Jake Wade

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1

Don't turn around.

Keep your hands to your side.

I'll move with you while you get

those keys off the desk.

Come on, move.

Alright, now open

that center cell.

What if I don't?

If you don't, I'll kill you,

take your keys,

and open it myself.

Yeah, I guess you could.

Well, who'd have thought?

Don't dawdle, Fred.

I know this man.

He gets kind of

jumpy in a crisis.

How far do you think

you'll get, Clint?

I'm not going to ask you

once more, mister.

Yes, sir, who would've thought?

Turn around.

Now, Fred, about them runny eggs

you've been giving

me for breakfast...

Sure couldn't have

picked a worse time

to come walking in, could they?

Hope I haven't woke

the whole town.

That's enough

shooting for today!

Mind if I get down and stretch?

Help yourself.

You, you living somewhere

around here these days, Jake?

Nope.

Then how'd you know

about my little predicament?

I was just riding through,

heard about it.

Lucky for me.

Yeah, isn't it?

Hay!

There they go.

How come you didn't

let them hang me, Jake?

You think we got time to talk

this all out now, Clint?

Just the same, I think

you'd have been way ahead

if you'd let them hang me...

Although I won't pretend

I was looking forward

to it too much.

When I was the one

they wanted to hang,

I got downright resentful.

Well, this is where I leave you.

Which way are you heading, Jake?

Maybe we could ride

together a ways.

Not a chance, Clint.

Hey, you know, this is a real

nice little horse.

Gonna take him with you?

The horse is yours.

No kidding?

Well, thanks, Jake.

Thanks very much.

That's real generous of you.

'Course, I don't suppose...

I don't suppose

even you'd suggest

that he was worth

anything like...

Oh, say, $20,000?

I didn't keep that money, Clint.

You didn't?

What did you do with it, give

it to some deserving family?

I buried it, and after I did,

I never went back there again.

As far as I know,

it's still there.

Now, that seems a peculiar thing

for you to do, Jake.

Whatever come over you

to do a thing like that?

You wouldn't understand, Clint.

I might.

I kind of doubt it,

but... I might.

I guess you figure this

squares us up?

You pulled me out of

exactly the same spot one time.

Now I've done it for you.

To me, one cancels the other.

But if you don't feel

that way about it...

You know, Jake,

you could save yourself

a lot of sleepless nights

if you just tossed me a gun

and we had this out

right here and now.

Not a chance.

What's the difference

whether it's now or later'?

A lot of difference, Clint.

In the first place, I don't think it

has to be now or later or anytime.

But if it does...

I'll pick the time

and the place myself.

No, you won't, Jake.

Don't try to follow me, Clint.

If you remember,

I'm pretty good

with one of these.

Yeah. Yeah, I remember.

But you're not as good as me.

Just... Just pretty good.

Glad to see you back, Jake.

Hi, Jake.

Hello, Luke.

When did you get here?

Just now. Hi, Avery.

Hi, Jake. Get all your

business attended to?

Yeah, I sure did.

Anything important

happen while I was gone?

Well, nothing much around here,

but did you hear what happened

to Clint Hollister?

No. What about him?

Well, you knew he'd

been tried for murder

and convicted

over in Morganville.

Some of his gang broke him out.

Shot up a couple

of men pretty bad.

How bad?

Well, they're going to live.

Haven't caught him yet?

No, and they ain't

gonna, I'll bet.

He's probably 5 states

away by this time.

Well, the old town wasn't

the same without you.

It's always nice to be missed.

Thanks, Avery.

Say, what happened to that

little gelding of yours?

The one you took with you.

I sold him to a fella.

See you later.

Want to get caught up on this?

No, that can wait till tomorrow.

Look, do you mind hanging around

a little while longer?

I'll relieve you early tonight.

Why, sure.

Say hello to Peggy for me.

Who's the young fella

holding up the post?

Just a kid who

drifted in yesterday

looking for a job

on one of the ranches.

I'll say one thing for him:

He's not looking very hard.

See you later, Jake.

Right.

The, the rig I rented from

the livery stable.

The suit's mine.

I'm overwhelmed,

but what's the reason

for all this elegance?

You've already proposed.

And I'm glad I accepted.

Dinner ready?

Ready and getting cold.

Where's your uncle?

He had to go into town

late this afternoon

for some supplies.

How come every time

I come out here

that's the day he has to

go into town for supplies?

I hope you don't think

it's easy to arrange.

Jake?

Peggy, did you

find it a big wrench

when you pulled up

stakes in Philadelphia

to come out here?

No, not nearly as much

as I thought it would be.

Why?

Suppose the same thing

might apply again?

I mean, if we suddenly left here

and moved on further west.

If we left here?

Why should we, Jake?

We've built a real place

for ourselves, both of us.

And, you know, the job

you've done as marshal here

in the last year, why,

it can lead to anything.

We could do the same

thing somewhere else.

Yes, we could,

but why should we?

We're here, and

we've already done it.

Don't you have any curiosity

about what it's like

further west?

No. And I don't think

basically you do, either.

Oh, Jake, you're not a drifter.

You love it here.

You couldn't have fooled

everyone about that.

No, and I wouldn't have, anyway.

Then why do you want to leave?

Supposing it wasn't that

I wanted to leave,

but that I felt

it might be better

for both of us to get a fresh

start somewhere else.

Well... then I'd say that since

this concerns me so much,

I should know why so that

I can judge for myself.

And if I couldn't tell you?

Then I'd say you were

asking an awful lot.

Alright... I'm asking a lot.

Jake, I never ask you anything

about your past life

because I didn't care

about anything that happened

before we met each other.

But what you're asking me

to accept on faith now

concerns our future,

and I just can't be

casual and haphazard

about a thing like that.

Alright, forget I

said anything about it.

Forget it?

Oh, Peggy...

Peggy.

I'm... I'm sorry, Jake.

I know.

It's just that

the way you talked,

it sounded as if

you'd already decided.

That's not true.

You're only guessing

when you talk like that.

Well, what else am Ito do

but guess when you won't

tell me anything?

Oh, Jake, can't you tell me?

No, Peggy, I can't. Not yet.

Alright.

Well, when you can,

you let me know.

Marshal Wade'?

Yeah.

I've been kind of waiting for

you to get back to town.

Is that so?

I've been trying to find

me a job around here,

and then Al the bartender

over at the saloon

said that you might be able

to steer me onto something.

Where are you from?

Kansas.

Well, I sure haven't

got anything for you,

but I can give you a letter

to somebody who might have,

if you don't mind hard work.

Well, well, I ain't exactly

crazy about it.

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