The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Page #4

and get it back there.

Gold ain't like stones in a riverbed.

It don't cry out to be picked up.

You got to know how to recognize it.

The finding ain't all. Not by a long shot.

Got to know how to tickle her

so she'll come out laughing.

Yeah, it's mighty rich. It'll pay good.

DOBBS:
How good?

HOWARD:
About 20 ounces to the ton.

- That's $20 an ounce.

- How many tons can we handle a week?

Depends on how hard we work.

We better pitch our camp

down the mountainside.

Why, when the digging's here?

Anyone comes by, we say we're hunters,

and get away with it maybe.

CURTIN:
Isn't it easier to file a claim?

HOWARD:
Not so profitable.

An emissary from a big mining company

would be here soon...

with a paper in his hand

showing we had no right to be here.

- Yeah.

- Well?

How does it feel to be men of property?

[Slow instrumental music]

The tanks'll leak some at first...

until the boards begin to swell

and close the seams.

I sure had some cockeyed ideas

about prospecting for gold.

It was all in the finding, I thought.

I thought you just had to find it,

pick it up, put it in sacks...

and carry them off to the nearest bank.

HOWARD:
You're learning.

Soon I won't be able to tell you a thing.

HOWARD:
Tank full yet?

CURTIN:
Right to the top.

Open the sluice gate.

[Ominous instrumental music]

CURTIN:
How much do you figure it

to be now?

About $5,000 worth, I reckon.

When are we going to start dividing it up?

Anytime you say.

CURTIN:
Why divide it at all?

I don't see any point.

We're all going back together

when the time comes.

Why not wait till we get paid

and then divide the money?

Either way suits me. You fellows decide.

I'm for dividing it up as we go along.

Make each guy responsible

for his own goods.

I'd just as soon have it that way.

I don't like the responsibility

of guarding your treasure.

Who asked you to?

That's right. You never asked me.

Only, I thought I was the most trustworthy

of the three.

You?

[Scoffs]

How come?

I said the most trustworthy. As far as

being the most honest, no one can say.

I don't get you.

Suppose you're charged

of taking care of the goods.

One day I'm deep in the brush

and Curtin's on his way to get provisions.

That'd be your chance to pack up

and leave us in the cold.

Only a guy that's a thief at heart would

think me likely to do a thing like that.

HOWARD:
Now, it wouldn't be

worth your while...

but when the pile's grown to 300 ounces,

think of such things you will.

How's about yourself?

I'm not quick on my feet any longer.

You're a lot tougher

than when we started out.

By the time the pile's grown

to be really tempting...

I won't be able to run half as fast as you.

You'd catch me

and string me up in no time.

That's why I think

I'm the most trustworthy.

CURTIN:
Looking at it that way,

I guess you're right.

Maybe it'd be a good idea...

to cut the proceeds up

three ways every night.

It'll relieve you of a responsibility

you don't like.

Swell by me.

After we got a couple of hundred ounces...

it'll be a nuisance

carrying bags around our necks.

Each of us will have to hide his share

from the others.

And after that, he'll have to be forever

on watch that his hiding place's not found.

What a dirty, filthy mind you've got.

Not dirty, baby.

Only I know what kind of ideas...

even supposedly decent people get

when gold's at stake.

All right.

Here she goes three ways.

[Tense instrumental music]

[Dramatic instrumental music]

[Grunting]

[Crashing]

[Tense instrumental music]

Dobbs!

[Somber instrumental music]

[Sinister instrumental music]

[Sentimental instrumental music]

CURTIN:
Dobbs!

[Victorious instrumental music]

CURTIN:
Howard!

[Tense instrumental music]

Howard, come quick!

HOWARD:
He's coming around.

Lay still a minute

till you get your senses back.

What happened?

Part of the mine caved in on you.

[Groaning]

Got a knock on the head.

HOWARD:
No bones broken?

DOBBS:
I don't think so.

DOBBS:
Who pulled me out?

HOWARD:
Curtin did.

I owe my life to you, partner.

Forget it.

CURTIN:
What'll you do

with your hard-earned money...

when we get back and cash in?

I'm getting along in years.

I can still hold up my end...

when it comes to a hard day's work,

but I'm not the man I was once.

Next year, next month, next week,

by thunder, won't be the man I'm today.

I think I'll settle down in a quiet place...

get a little business, hardware,

grocery store...

spend the better part of my time

reading comics and adventure stories.

One thing's for sure.

I won't go prospecting again...

wasting time and money

trying to find another gold mine.

How about yourself?

What plans have you, if any?

I figure on buying some land

and growing fruit. Peaches, maybe.

How did you come to settle on peaches?

One summer, when I was a kid...

I worked as a picker in a peach harvest

in the San Joaquin Valley.

Boy, it sure was something.

Hundreds of people, old and young.

Whole families working together.

At night, after a day's work...

we used to build big bonfires

and sit around and sing to guitar music.

Till morning sometimes.

We'd go to sleep, wake up and sing,

and go to sleep again.

Everybody had a wonderful time.

Ever since then I've had a hankering

to be a fruit grower.

It must be grand

watching your own trees put on leaves...

come into blossom and bear.

Watching the fruit get big

and ripe on the boughs, ready for picking.

What's all that about?

We're telling each other

what we aim to do when we get back.

Now me, I got it all figured out

what I'm gonna do.

CURTIN:
Tell us about it, Dobbsie.

First off, I'm going to a Turkish bath

to sweat and soak...

till I get all the grime and dirt

out of my system.

Then I'm going to a haberdasher and

gonna get myself a brand-new set of duds.

Dozen of everything.

Then I'm going to a swell cafe...

order everything on the bill o' fare

and if it ain't just right...

or maybe even if it is,

I'm gonna bawl the waiter out...

and make him take the whole thing back.

What's next on the program?

Well, what would be?

If I were you, I wouldn't talk

or think about women.

It ain't good for your health.

Yeah, maybe you're right,

seeing how the prospects are far off.

You know what?

We ought to put a limit on our take,

agree between us...

when we get so much

we pull up stakes and beat it.

- What do you think the limit ought to be?

- Say $25,000 worth apiece.

$25,000, small potatoes.

How much do you say?

$50,000 anyway,

$75,000 would be more like it.

That'd take a year if the vein held out,

which wouldn't be likely.

What's a year more or less

when that kind of money is to be had?

$25,000 is plenty as far as I'm concerned.

Enough to last me the rest of my lifetime.

Well, sure, you're old, I'm young.

I need dough and plenty of it.

$25,000 in one piece...

is more than I ever expected

to get my hands on.

DOBBS:
Small potatoes.

There's no use making hogs of ourselves.

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