The Tin Star Page #3

See anyone laughing at me?

Do as you please.

What else have I gotta learn?

Stop acting so mean

and surly all the time.

I know why you do it. You figure

it makes you seem older and tougher.

People gotta like a sheriff,

or they'll look the other way

when he needs them.

You think I'm cheating?

How's this for a few drinks?

- Sit down.

- Look, I gotta...

Sit down.

The first thing you should have noticed

is they weren't wearing guns.

Learn what to stay out of.

If you step into a fight,

make sure you're the better man.

Me and the old lady put on

a better fight than that one.

Have you ever been

up against a better man?

If you live long enough,

which isn't likely,

you might be the better man.

I only wanna be good enough

to keep this badge.

Then study men.

Paste this in your hat:

A gun's only a tool.

You can master a gun

if you got the knack.

Harder to learn men.

There's one you're gonna have to lick

before you're through.

Well, let's call it a night.

- See you in the morning.

- Afraid so.

Thanks, Morg.

I'm not sure I'm doing you a favor.

What's keeping Morg?

You've been stalling me for an hour.

Go to bed now.

Can't go to bed till Morg comes.

It's impolite.

I don't think he'll mind.

- Morg!

- Hello.

Look, Morg! I'm a sheriff.

- Your shirttail's hanging out.

- Don't I look like a sheriff?

You look more like the sheriff

than the sheriff does.

- Bed. Come on.

- Can I ride your horse tomorrow?

Sure.

- Hope I haven't kept you up.

- No.

I wanted to talk to you.

I was wrong about you last night.

You sure?

Well, maybe I was right last night,

but not today. Not now either.

I shouldn't have gotten mad. I'm just

so used to everybody hating Indians.

We're raised that way.

Well, I wasn't.

My father was an Indian agent.

He respected Indians and liked them.

So did I. I grew up with some

who were really fine men.

When you grow up hating them,

you don't get rid of it easy.

I know.

They say the only good Indian

is a dead Indian.

When they find one with a man's pride

and courage to stand up as an equal...

...they kill him.

And it isn't called murder.

They've just made him

a good Indian.

And it doesn't even end there.

Not when there's a boy to hate

and a woman to take it out on.

It's Kip I'm thinking of.

He's worth fighting for.

How come you've stayed on

in a town like this?

Because of a friend. One friend.

Kip was sick when we got here,

and I didn't have a penny.

The doctor saved him. Not only that,

he found this place for us

and got some ladies in town

who wouldn't speak to me

- to let me do their sewing.

- That old fellow, McCord?

Dr. Joe.

I don't care what any of them say.

The more they're against me,

the more I'll stand up for Kip.

Can you understand that?

Same with me, only it's not a boy,

it's something inside me,

pride maybe.

When they try to run me out,

I gotta stay.

- How long will you stay?

- Till I'm paid what's owed me.

Maybe it'll make things worse for you,

my staying here.

You're welcome as long as you like.

Kip's a lucky boy.

Any of you seen Ben Owens?

There he is,

coming to town with Morg Hickman.

I thought Ben Owens had sense.

He's been out with him four days.

Keep an eye on him.

I'll fetch the mayor.

Sheriff? Ben?

I wanna see you a minute.

Wait for me in my office.

- What's the matter, doc?

- Go inside. I wanna talk to you.

- What happened?

- Keep that in your mouth, Millie.

- I told you, Dr. Joe, I don't want to...

- You keep that in your mouth.

- She's running a fever.

- I was merely walking by when he...

Who is the doctor here,

you or me?

Keep that in your mouth

so I can get a reading.

Well...

Know what day tomorrow is?

It's your birthday. It'll be the biggest

birthday you ever had.

The whole town's turning out.

See all the kids you ever delivered,

including me and Millie.

Won't mean a thing

if I don't get my birthday present.

What's that?

- I want you two to get together.

- So that's what you're up to.

You were a sweet little thing

when you were born.

Now, behave yourself.

This big lummox of a sheriff here

was mean as all get-out.

Bit my finger when I spanked him.

But he's grown up to be all right.

I wanna see you two McCord babies

get married and raise more babies,

like God intended.

Why don't you marry him?

You know why, and so does he.

He can't run away from responsibility

any more than you can.

- Women.

- She hates this badge, doc.

- She wants me to take it off. I won't.

- You will if they take it away from you.

The whole town's stirred up about you

hanging around with that Hickman.

- Every day, you're together, nights too.

- I know what I'm doing.

He's a bounty hunter.

You're a sheriff.

He used to be a sheriff.

- Who said so?

- He did. He told me.

You believe him?

Well, he wouldn't lie to me, doc.

Fifty years of my record.

History of the town's

written down here.

Here we are.

I won't read the year and the date.

You know it.

"Heavy snowfall. Had to go horseback

to get to the Owens' place.

"Delivered to Elizabeth Owens,

a healthy 8-and-a-half-pound boy. "

Now I'm gonna add

a postscript, as follows:

"Baby grew up to be a good sheriff

with one bad fault.

"He believes everything he's told. "

You think he lied to me?

Well, let's just say I'm skeptical.

And Mayor King's no fool.

I want to see you keep that badge.

Thanks, doc.

- Morg, did you lie to me?

- What's that?

You told me you wore a badge once.

- That's right.

- How come you took it off?

None of your business.

I gotta know, Morg.

How come you quit?

- I found out I was a fool.

- You think I'm a fool?

Any man that wears that badge is.

I know why you like it.

Everyone slaps you on the back,

tells you how important you are.

Decent people look up to you,

they're all your friends.

I've seen it before.

Sheriff I knew in Kansas years ago

had it bad like you.

Always took his prisoners alive.

Proud of it.

Finally, his wife had a baby, got sick.

Doctor said they'd die

if they didn't move to a drier climate.

They had to have a thousand dollars.

So he went to his friend at the bank,

but it seems like money

and friendship didn't mix.

He said he was sorry, but this was

business, had to have collateral.

Well, he didn't have collateral.

Already owed money, doctor's bills,

but he had a lot of friends,

businessmen around town.

He figured they'd put up the collateral.

Same story.

And how'd he pay it back

if he quit and moved west?

What did he do?

Well, there was a man wanted.

Big reward, dead or alive.

So he went after him.

Took a long time.

Took him a long ways from home,

but he tracked him down.

The fellow tried to shoot it out,

so he killed him. Brought him in,

collected the thousand dollars.

By that time,

his wife and baby had died.

Never had much use

for that tin star after that.

Well, here they come.

- You're waiting to collect your reward?

- Right.

We telegraphed the freight company.

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