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Bonanza Bitter Water
Transcript
00:00Todd McCarron. I wonder what he's up to now.
00:14Well, there's only one way to find out, let's ask him.
00:31Why the surveying, Todd?
00:33Any law against surveying my own property line?
00:36Ever any doubt in our mind about its location?
00:38Well, maybe there will be in the mind of the new owner.
00:41You mean your father's selling out?
00:43Not my father, me. To lend Keith.
00:46Lend Keith?
00:47I thought he only bought mining property.
00:49That's what he thinks this could be.
00:51Todd, we have a water rights agreement with your father on the use of this stream.
00:55If Keith uses it for mining, it'll poison out some of our best bottom land.
00:59Seems that's your worry, Ben, not mine.
01:02Now, just a minute. Let go.
01:04You cartwrights have shoved us around for the last 20 years.
01:07You're a liar.
01:09Wait a minute.
01:11A better way is to settle this.
01:14As I see it, it's already been settled.
01:29THE END
01:59THE END
02:25Hey.
02:26Where you two been? Old Hobson had a real good meal fixed for you.
02:29And you decided not to let it go to waste and ate it all, huh?
02:32How'd you know that?
02:33What are you doing reading a book?
02:35The care and training of dogs.
02:37Oh, a little old stray pup wandered in here,
02:39and I've been trying to figure out how to take care of it.
02:41I thought you were an expert on things like that.
02:43Oh, Pa, there's a dang many new scientific ideas that natural know-how just ain't no good no more.
02:48Well, as far as I'm concerned, you can say that about Todd McCarron, too.
02:52I thought I knew him pretty well.
02:54Why? What's the matter, Todd?
02:55Oh, I don't know. Growing pains, likely.
02:57Where's that pouch of Virginia tobacco I got?
03:00Don't look at me. I didn't smoke it.
03:02I thought you were saving us tobacco for Andy McCarron's birthday.
03:05I was, but no reason a man can't have a birthday a few days early.
03:08I gotta ride over to Andy and have a talk with him about Todd.
03:11Pa, wish Mr. McCarron a happy birthday for me, too, will you?
03:14I will.
03:23Who is it?
03:24It's Ben, Andy.
03:25Oh, come on in, Ben. The door's not locked.
03:30Doggone, it's good to see you.
03:31Doggone, it's good to see you, too, Andy.
03:33Been a long time.
03:34It has been. How are you feeling?
03:36Oh, I'm practically stuck to this chair, but what's the difference?
03:39Good to see you.
03:40I brought you some of that good southern tobacco. Take the bite out of your pipe.
03:44Thanks, Ben.
03:47Hey, smells good.
03:50This fire of yours feels good.
03:54Ran into Todd today.
03:56Yeah, I turned the running of things over to him.
04:00I had to face up to it.
04:01I'm just not up to handling things anymore.
04:05Todd was saying you're thinking some of selling out.
04:08You know how kids are.
04:09Always trying to get ahead fast, but I figure when it comes to selling,
04:14he'll want to stay on this land as much as I do.
04:17Well, I hope you're right, Andy.
04:21I guess I got a little upset when he told me he was thinking of selling out to Len Keith.
04:27Well, I'd be surprised if he mentioned any other name.
04:29He's so sweet on Len Keith's daughter that, well, he doesn't know his own name half the time.
04:34She's a fine girl.
04:36Todd seemed pretty determined to sell.
04:39That he is.
04:40Ben, you have boys your own.
04:43A man's got to let his son grow up, even if he doesn't always agree with him.
04:47You're right there.
04:49I was just thinking that if Keith ever did start mining operations on your property,
04:53it would pile up the water in that stream to where it would poison half the cattle in my range.
04:58Oh, it won't come to that, Ben.
05:00I've got cattle of my own using that stream.
05:03Well, we're getting older, Andy.
05:06We are, that.
05:07I remember when you brought your family here.
05:10I figured that plan to share the water in that stream would outlast both our lifetimes.
05:15It's the truth. So did I.
05:19Well, I see you didn't waste any time, Mr. Cartwright.
05:22Todd, is that a way to behave?
05:24I don't like people talking behind my back.
05:26Ben came here to talk, not fight.
05:28It won't hurt you to listen.
05:29What for?
05:30I know what he's going to say.
05:32We're just one big happy family as long as he's the boss and we do what we're told.
05:36You've been listening to that all of your life, Pa.
05:38Todd, I've never known your father to back away from me or any other man,
05:43long as I've known him.
05:45What's he doing?
05:46Talking over old times so that you won't forget the little things you might owe him
05:50so you'll feel ashamed to let me sell out?
05:52Todd!
05:53He's been doing that to some of the others around here,
05:56only they haven't had the belly to stand up to him.
05:58That's enough!
05:59Ben Cartwright's the best friend we ever had, and you know it.
06:02He's no friend of ours.
06:03You apologize!
06:04Andy, never mind.
06:05No, Ben.
06:06This is still my house, and I won't have it shamed.
06:09Your house, your land.
06:11This wonderful land that killed Ma before her time
06:13and crippled you so you can hardly walk.
06:15All right, keep it!
06:16Love it!
06:17Rot on it for all I care!
06:33Andy, I'm afraid I have to go.
06:38Andy.
06:41I'm afraid I'll have to apologize to you myself, Ben.
06:47I figured that if I come by, it might help.
06:59I guess it hurt more.
07:03Andy.
07:05We don't have too much ready cash in the Ponderosa this time of year,
07:09what with it being tied up in the herd and all,
07:11but if it's selling out that Todd is so concerned about...
07:14Ben, you know how Todd would feel about any offer coming from you.
07:19I suppose he'd just think I'd been waiting for the opportunity to buy you out.
07:24Pretty sad thing when two old friends can't discuss business
07:27without their motives being questioned.
07:29It's much steeper than that, Ben.
07:31Len Keith has no intention of using this land for ranching.
07:34He's offered Todd a partnership.
07:36He's got the boy all fired up with ideas of becoming another silver baron.
07:42Andy, do you believe deep down in your heart
07:47that there's any chance of silver on this land?
07:49No, Ben, no more than you do.
07:51But Len Keith is a mining man and he thinks there may be silver
07:55and he's got the boy thinking it too.
07:57Doesn't Todd realize that Keith is just speculating?
08:00That's what he always does.
08:01Buys up as much land as he can possibly get hold of
08:03in the hopes that some of it will pay off.
08:05Ruins the land.
08:06He's ruined much more than land, Ben.
08:08He's ruined many men with him on his way up.
08:11And this time, it could be my son.
08:15I wouldn't want that to happen, Andy, any more than you do.
08:18Thank you, Ben.
08:27I'll be back in a moment.
08:45Todd!
08:46I didn't expect you till this evening.
08:49I have to see your father.
08:50Is something wrong?
08:52Yes.
08:54Hello, Todd.
08:55Oh, well, come on in. Tell me about it. Maybe I can help you.
08:58What is it?
09:00Mr. Keith, I can't sell out to you.
09:02Oh, why not?
09:04Does your father feel that I didn't offer you enough for the property?
09:06Oh, it's not that.
09:08He made a water rights agreement with Ben Cartwright 20 years ago.
09:11I see. The Cartwrights, eh?
09:14What's the matter with them?
09:16They feel that we're going to muddy up their pretty little stream?
09:19It's getting to be you can't make a move in this country without Ben Cartwright's permission.
09:23Well, I suppose you can't blame a man for looking out after his own interests.
09:28What about my interests? Mine and Virginia's?
09:31Where are we going to get the money to get married?
09:33Todd, you know money isn't important to me as long as we're together.
09:36My mother felt that way.
09:38She died when she was 26 years old,
09:40helping my father try to make something of this land.
09:43Todd, I can always find a job for you in one of my mining companies.
09:47A man has to make it on his own, Mr. Keith. You ought to know that.
09:50It's what you did, isn't it?
09:52I certainly did.
09:54That's the way I like to hear you talk.
09:56Now, don't worry about it. I'm sure we can get your father to see it our way.
10:00Not if Ben Cartwright's doing his thinking for him, we won't.
10:03But the Cartwrights have always seemed like reasonable people to me.
10:06You just know them in a social way, Virginia.
10:08You've never dealt with them on a business level.
10:10Don't worry.
10:12I'm not going to let Ben Cartwright stand in the way of the happiness of my two children.
10:22Come on, Shorty. Come on, boy.
10:24Here, Shorty. Come on, boy.
10:26Come on, puppy. Come on, Shorty.
10:29Come on, Shorty.
10:39Nice puppy.
10:41Come on, puppy.
10:43Come on, puppy.
10:45Come on here, Shorty. I'm going to give you a bath.
10:47Get over there in that tub.
10:49Come here to me.
10:53Come on.
11:08You're going to get a bath whether you want it or not.
11:10Come on here, pup.
11:12Come here to me.
11:14Come here, pup. Here, Shorty. Come on.
11:16Nice puppy.
11:18Nice puppy.
11:20Nice puppy. Come on, Shorty.
11:22Here you go, Shorty.
11:33If you ain't the meanest dang dog I ever seen all morning,
11:36I've been trying to catch you just to put you in that bucket.
11:40Poor little old outfit. Don't you know this is for your own good?
11:43You're loaded down with them dang kicks,
11:45and I'm just trying to get them off of you, that's all.
11:50Poor little old outfit, you.
11:52Hi, brother.
11:55Are you still playing nursemaid to that little dog you found?
11:57Well, I can't hardly help it none, can I,
11:59if this poor little critter hangs around?
12:01Yeah.
12:03You smell something?
12:05Oh, it's me.
12:07Yeah, I was setting some traps for the wolves that were bothering the cattle.
12:09Caught a skunk in one of them.
12:11You sure did.
12:13Look here, when I get through with old Shorty here, why don't you jump in?
12:15That's going to take a lot more than soap and water to get me clean.
12:17Well, this here ain't ordinary soap.
12:19It's got sulfur in it.
12:21I was over at Baker's flat the other day talking to that storekeeper,
12:23telling him about old Shorty's wood ticks,
12:25and he told me that stuff would take anything off.
12:27Huh? Yeah.
12:29It'll probably take my skin off, too.
12:31Yeah.
12:39Hi, Pa. You talk to Andy?
12:41Yeah. Oh, Andy is going to honor that water agreement we had with him,
12:44just as I thought he would.
12:46I just can't figure out what got into Todd.
12:48I can't either. Seems like he just doesn't want to get along with anybody.
12:50Yeah.
12:52But you two know what's wrong with Todd.
12:54He's in love.
12:56Well, I wish it were that simple.
12:58Anybody smell skunk?
13:00Oh, that's me, Pa.
13:02I caught a skunk in one of the wolf traps.
13:04Well, if you're going to go to that social with us tonight,
13:06I think you better start getting cleaned up now.
13:08Yeah.
13:10Oh, you think somebody will mind?
13:12Yeah.
13:14Tell Adam if Todd is at that social,
13:16and I think he will be.
13:18Try to have a talk with him, you know, as a friend.
13:22Shorty, I know you ain't going to never believe this,
13:24but this here is real good for you.
13:32Hey, now.
13:34Once I have anything to do with it,
13:36we sure going to have us a time tonight, ain't we?
13:38Yeah, but you just remember what I told you.
13:40You stand on your own feet, not the ladies.
13:42Well, you're a good one to be giving advice about the ladies.
13:44Went with Jenny Key for three years,
13:46and now old Todd's marrying her.
13:48Well, I guess I just never got around to asking her.
13:52He sure is a slow worker, ain't he, Pa?
13:54Three years.
13:56You deal with that brush?
13:58You expecting somebody?
14:00No.
14:06Oh, hi.
14:08Hello, Ben.
14:10Not interrupting anything, am I?
14:12No, no, not at all.
14:14Just getting ready to go to the dance.
14:16I'm taking Virginia in later myself.
14:18I wonder if I could have a private little talk with you.
14:20Yeah, let's go get the horses ready.
14:24Well, sit down, man.
14:26Thanks.
14:30What's on your mind?
14:32Well, Todd McCarron came to see me,
14:34and he's all upset about what happened
14:36between him and his father.
14:38Well, I was a little upset myself.
14:40I'm very fond of Todd.
14:42He's got a lot of character.
14:44He's extremely ambitious.
14:46Len, sometimes ambition can drive a young man
14:48in the wrong direction.
14:50But I don't think that's true in Todd's case.
14:52I consider him practically a member of the family.
14:54I'd be pretty careful
14:56of whatever opportunities I put in his way.
14:58Matter of fact,
15:00I wanted you to help me.
15:02In spite of what's happened,
15:04Todd's got a great deal of respect for your opinion.
15:06Well, perhaps that used to be so.
15:08Well, of course,
15:10he's a little high-strung,
15:12but you and I can understand that.
15:14We were young once, too.
15:16We saw what we wanted in life,
15:18and we went out and we took it.
15:20Nowadays, a young fella needs help to get started.
15:22I'm doing what I can for Todd.
15:24I thought you'd want to help, too.
15:28That was a very nice speech, Keith.
15:30Now,
15:32what did you really come to see me about?
15:36Well, I don't want anything for myself.
15:38I'm only here to help Todd.
15:40But old Andy McCarran does pretty much
15:42what you ask him to, now, doesn't he?
15:44Now, hold on.
15:46Andy McCarran has a mind of his own,
15:48and he's very capable of using it.
15:50Yes, but you've got to make him understand something.
15:52By holding on to that land,
15:54he's jeopardizing his son's future.
15:56Now, your, uh,
15:58your interest and concern with Todd's future
16:00is most commendable.
16:04I've watched you over a period of years, Len,
16:08making quite a lot of money
16:10and ruin
16:12quite a bit of land
16:14and quite a few people in the process.
16:16I'm not going to help you
16:18ruin Todd McCarran.
16:20Can I always try to reason with you?
16:22I'm not going to help you ruin Todd McCarran.
16:24Can I always try reasoning first, Ben?
16:28If that doesn't work,
16:30I guess I can find some other way.
16:48Boys.
16:52Little Joe, you sure do smell better
16:54than you did this afternoon.
16:56Well, thanks a lot.
17:00If you gentlemen will excuse me.
17:02Oh, yes. Of course.
17:04Well, I'm going to see if I can't rustle me up
17:06on them little fillies.
17:10Have you had a chance to talk to Todd yet?
17:12No. He's danced every dance with Virginia.
17:14Excuse me, Adam.
17:16I think I've just found my filly.
17:22Oh.
17:34Oh, Todd.
17:36You've danced my feet off.
17:38Well, I wouldn't want to do that.
17:40I can't spare any of you.
17:42How about some more punch?
17:44I'd love it.
17:46Adam, you're not dancing.
17:48I'm having too much fun watching you two.
17:50You look very beautiful tonight, Virginia.
17:52But thank you.
17:54I'm glad you approve of my future wife.
17:56You're lucky you proposed to her when you did.
17:58When are you two getting married?
18:00When your father decides to let me run my own business.
18:02Todd, that was a rather unpleasant thing to say.
18:04No, he didn't mean anything by it.
18:06Didn't I?
18:08Todd, let's dance.
18:10Yes, I think that's a good idea.
18:12Don't turn your back on me, Cartwright.
18:14Look, if you're set on starting a fight,
18:16this isn't the place for it.
18:18I think it is.
18:20Todd!
18:22Dad, Mr. Cartwright's dancing.
18:24They're waiting.
18:26Adam!
18:28Hold it.
18:30All right, you two.
18:32Todd, we don't want to fight you, boy.
18:34And stay away from me.
18:36All of you.
18:38Dad, take me home.
18:40All right, Virginia.
18:48Come on, forget it, Adam.
18:52Well, let's have a little music.
19:02Dad, I shouldn't have walked out on Todd like that.
19:04I ought to go back.
19:06Well, this isn't the time, Virginia.
19:08My advice is to just let him calm down a little.
19:12Dad, sometimes I wonder if your advice for Todd and me
19:14is the same as mine.
19:16I wonder if your advice for Todd and me
19:18is really any good.
19:20Virginia, what have I ever told you
19:22that hasn't worked out for you?
19:24I'm not talking about something
19:26you can put your finger on.
19:28I'm talking about the way Todd has changed.
19:30The way he looks at me.
19:32The way he acts.
19:34Well, of course he's changed.
19:36And all for the good.
19:38He's turning into the kind of a man
19:40I'd be proud to have as a son-in-law.
19:42But would I be proud to have him for a husband?
19:44Oh, Virginia.
19:46If I've done anything at all to hurt you,
19:48believe me...
19:50I'm glad you're still here.
19:52I'd like to apologize.
19:54It wasn't your fault, Adam.
19:56Well, I'm glad you feel that way.
19:58I don't think there's anything to be gained
20:00by discussing it any further. Let's go on home.
20:02Dad, I'd like to talk to Adam.
20:04Not tonight, honey.
20:14Excuse me, Mr. Keith.
20:16I've got to talk to you.
20:18Well, can't I wait till morning?
20:20No, sir, I can't.
20:22Well, go on in, honey. I'll be right in.
20:24All right.
20:26What is it, Tucker?
20:28It's about the cattle you just bought.
20:30The sun's come up. You'd better handle it.
20:34Oh!
20:36Oh!
20:38Oh!
20:40Oh!
20:42Oh!
20:46That's enough, Roy.
20:48After what he done,
20:50he could have poisoned half the men in your mine with them diseased cows.
20:52Where's the beef now?
20:54I put them up in the North Corral.
20:56I figure tomorrow I'll have them killed and buried.
20:58Him along with them, if I had my way.
21:00Take him outside, Roy.
21:02And, Roy, not a word about this to anybody.
21:08I suppose he claimed he didn't know the cattle were sick.
21:10What do you think? He probably rustled them 20 head to begin with.
21:12All of them diseased, huh?
21:14Well, you can't have one cow with Texas fever
21:16without them all getting it.
21:18They're crawling with ticks.
21:20In other words, you put those sick cattle in with a healthy herd...
21:22It spreads like wildfire.
21:24I see.
21:32Tucker, I want you to ride that man out of town tonight
21:34and make sure that he never comes back.
21:36Sure.
21:38Well, Mr. Keith, there's, uh...
21:40There's only one way I know of to make sure.
21:42I'll leave that up to you.
21:44And, Tucker,
21:46don't kill off any of those sick cattle
21:48until I tell you to.
21:50Well, what can you do with sick cattle?
21:52Well, I thought I might get big hearted
21:54and make a present of a couple of them to Ben Cartwright.
21:56Well, you know what Cartwright would do
21:58if he ever caught us at it.
22:00Well, don't let him catch you.
22:02There's big stakes, Mr. Keith.
22:04Yeah, the biggest.
22:06Cartwright's always had everything his way.
22:08Let's see how he acts
22:10when he finds cattle being added to his herd
22:12instead of rustled away, huh?
22:18I know he took the first swing at you,
22:20but I don't know if that's the way to handle Todd.
22:22I've watched both of you grow up,
22:24and I have just as much confidence in him as I have in you.
22:26No, you have,
22:28but I don't have Glen Keith telling me what to do.
22:30Oh.
22:32Virginia is Keith's only daughter.
22:34I suppose you can't blame him for looking after her interests.
22:36Look, Glen Keith never made a move in his life
22:38that didn't benefit Glen Keith first.
22:40And I'll tell you something else.
22:42It isn't just a little piece of land he's after.
22:44He's an ambitious man.
22:46There's no question about that.
22:48The way he's extending his mining interests
22:50looks as if he wants to take over the whole Carson Valley.
22:52Including the Ponderosa.
22:54Adam, you and I both know
22:56that the Ponderosa is one piece of land he'll never get.
23:04Dead bull.
23:06Looks like Texas fever.
23:08Texas fever?
23:10Yes, sir.
23:12We've bought Texas cattle before.
23:14They've always been clean.
23:16You check the other stock?
23:18A few more heads showed signs of sickness.
23:20We cut them out of the herd.
23:22Probably have to destroy them.
23:24There's no probably about it.
23:26That tick fever plague could kill every head.
23:28Not only in our range,
23:30it could kill every herd in the territory.
23:32Poor critters, they don't even know what ails them.
23:36Get out of here.
23:38Get out of here.
23:40Dang fool dog will have them ticks all over him.
23:42Hoss,
23:44you remember that sulfur soap you used to wash down that dog?
23:46Yes, sir.
23:48I'm thinking that if that sulfur soap could wash the ticks off a dog,
23:50why not off cattle?
23:52We can't scrub down every steer.
23:54No, but we can dig a pit
23:56between the two corrals.
23:58Put in some water and a lot of sulfur, like a bath.
24:00We could wash the herd through one at a time.
24:02That would take a powerful lot of sulfur.
24:04I reckon I ought to have it up at Baker's flat.
24:06You want me to ride up there and see?
24:08You take the buckboard and haul as much as you can carry.
24:10Joe, you better get back to the herd.
24:12Have the men cut out every head that even looks sick.
24:14Right, Pa.
24:16Adam, you and me better get started digging those pits.
24:22They're up to something.
24:24Nothing they can do but start killing cows.
24:26Yeah, maybe.
24:28We better stick with them and make sure.
24:30Come on.
24:56Virginia, you shouldn't be in here.
24:58Neither should you.
25:00Todd, I looked all over town for you.
25:02Everybody's staring at you. Come on.
25:08Todd, what's happened to us?
25:10This just isn't like you, that fight with Adam.
25:12What are you doing?
25:14Taking sides with the Cartwrights
25:16like everybody else in this country?
25:18Sides? What sides, Todd?
25:20Don't you see what they're doing to us?
25:22Your father made me a good offer on that land.
25:24Three times as much as it was worth.
25:26Well, if I knew it was going to mean this much trouble,
25:28I'm sorry he did.
25:30That's easy to say, but it's not so easy to live with.
25:32Virginia, I want to amount to something.
25:34I want you to be proud of me,
25:36the way you are of your father.
25:38Todd, I'm proud of the man I fell in love with.
25:42A ranching man trying to build something for the future.
25:44He isn't mine.
25:48Now, if he starts hitting people and getting drunk
25:50the first time things don't go his way,
25:52I'll still love him.
25:54I'll still love him because I can't help myself.
25:58But I won't be proud of him for it.
26:00I've had enough speeches, Virginia.
26:02Please go on, honey.
26:04I'll see you after a while.
26:19It's wonderful to see you, Virginia.
26:21Now that you're practically a part of the family,
26:23I never get to see you anymore.
26:25Well, I've been meaning to get out to see you for a long time.
26:27Oh, I know how it is,
26:29planning the wedding and everything.
26:31You know,
26:35it means a lot to me, having you for a daughter.
26:39Virginia,
26:41are you and Todd having trouble?
26:43Yes, we are, Mr. McCarron,
26:45and I just don't know how to handle it.
26:47Now you know that all lovers have their little quarrels.
26:49That's just the trouble.
26:51That's just the trouble.
26:53It isn't just a lover's quarrel.
26:55It's something that involves you and my father
26:57and a lot of things I just don't understand.
26:59Oh, so that's it.
27:01It's about Todd selling this place, isn't it?
27:03Why shouldn't he sell it?
27:05Why should such a simple little business transaction
27:07stir up so much trouble?
27:11It isn't a simple thing, Virginia.
27:13It involves two different ways of looking at life.
27:17It involves the cartwrights too, doesn't it?
27:19Well, that's not the point I want to make.
27:21I'm talking about the land
27:23and a man's attitude towards it.
27:25Now, is this something to be torn up
27:27and cast aside?
27:29Or is it a place with a future?
27:31I mean a home for you and Todd and the children.
27:33I told Todd
27:35that's all I wanted.
27:37I wish my father could see it the way you do,
27:39but he never will.
27:41It's Todd that we must
27:43both be concerned about.
27:45Now we must have faith in him
27:47and believe that he will do the right thing.
27:49You're right.
27:51And I do have faith in Todd.
27:59He's coming.
28:01Did he see you?
28:03I circled around.
28:05He's got that buckboard loaded down with bags of sulfur powder.
28:07What for?
28:09I asked the storekeeper at Baker Flat.
28:11He said that cartwright fellow
28:13talked about washing his cows down with sulfur water.
28:15I don't know what good that would do,
28:17but we better see to it that it don't happen anyway.
28:23You stay here.
28:25Get your rifle and keep Don out of sight.
28:45Get out of here!
29:09Put down your gun
29:11and crawl out of there!
29:15Come on!
29:35Boss, are you all right?
29:37Yeah.
29:39I'm all right now
29:41thanks to you coming along.
29:43Hey, come on up and give me a hand.
29:55The guys round up some strays and I heard the shots.
29:57Figured I'd better check on it.
29:59Looks to me like I've seen that fellow before.
30:01Have you?
30:03Yeah, I think he works for one of the mining camps.
30:05We better get that sulfur in,
30:07there's two more cows flopped over dead.
30:09And they're not from the Ponderosa.
30:11Them sick cows ain't ours?
30:13No, looks like it's not.
30:15There's going to be a lot of sick ones from our place, Al.
30:17Let's get him in.
30:19I'll get his horse.
30:21I tell you, Roy's dead.
30:23Did they see you?
30:25Yeah, but they couldn't recognize me.
30:27I can't take any chances.
30:29You saddle up my horse and get back to the bunkhouse and stay there.
30:31Keep out of sight.
30:33Dad, your supper's getting cold.
30:35I'm sorry, honey, something's come up.
30:37I've got to go into town.
30:40Do you have to go right now?
30:42I've got to, it's important.
30:44I just heard that a plague of Texas fevers
30:46hit the cattle around here.
30:48I've got to warn Todd and the other ranchers.
30:50I'll be right back.
30:53Come on, let's go here.
31:10Are you drunk?
31:12Virginia sent you to...
31:14No, she didn't, but something pretty important came up.
31:16I thought you ought to know about it.
31:18You want a drink?
31:20Now listen to me, will you?
31:22I just heard that the plagues
31:24infected every head of beef on the Ponderosa.
31:26Plague?
31:28Texas fever.
31:30Cartwrights are working right now to try to save every head they can
31:32before anybody finds out about it.
31:34Texas fever?
31:36How did it get started?
31:38Who's the only outfit around here who trails in Texas cattle?
31:41The Cartwrights.
31:43That's just what I figured.
31:46Something like this could be pretty dangerous, couldn't it?
31:49It could kill every head of cattle in Carson Valley.
31:52Is there any way of stopping it?
31:54One way.
31:56Kill the sixth stock.
31:58There's no other way of protecting ourselves?
32:00None that I know of.
32:04Unless we kill off all the Cartwrights' cattle.
32:07They'd never stand still for that.
32:09No, I guess not. They showed that pretty plain.
32:12What do you mean?
32:14A couple of my boys went up there yesterday
32:16to see how bad it was and try to help them out,
32:19and the Cartwrights shot one of them down.
32:21Shot him? Why?
32:23That's pretty obvious, isn't it?
32:25They're trying to keep word of the plague from spreading.
32:27Does the sheriff know about the shooting?
32:29The sheriff? What good would that do?
32:31He's afraid of the Cartwrights, just like everybody else around here is.
32:34Yeah.
32:36Well, not me.
32:38I'm not gonna stand by and watch my cattle die like flies.
32:40Listen, don't do anything foolish.
32:42You can't stand up to the Cartwrights all alone.
32:44I won't have to. Not this time.
32:46No cattleman's gonna stand by and watch his herds die off.
32:49Cartwright or no Cartwright.
32:52Well, if enough of the other ranchers went in with you to stand up again...
32:55They'll go in. I'll see to that.
33:07I've been waiting for you. I've been wanting to talk to you.
33:09Well, I'm in a hurry. I'm sorry I hit you.
33:11There was no call for it. It doesn't make any difference.
33:13But it does make a difference. I want to talk to you.
33:15Well, later.
33:17What are you doing?
33:19We got trouble.
33:21What kind of trouble?
33:23I can handle it.
33:25Don't turn your back on me. Tell me about it.
33:27I haven't got time. I've got work to do.
33:29Does it involve the Cartwrights?
33:31Doesn't everything in this country involve the Cartwrights one way or another?
33:33I have a right to know what it's all about.
33:35There's tick fever on the Ponderosa.
33:37I've got to get to the other ranches and warn them...
33:39So we can stop it from spreading to our stock.
33:41Tick fever? How did it get started?
33:44It must have come in on one of the herds the Cartwrights brought up from Texas.
33:47Did you talk to Ben Cartwright?
33:49One of Len Keith's men tried to.
33:51They shot him down. I don't believe it.
33:53I didn't expect you to.
33:55Todd, you're declaring war.
33:57Ben Cartwright did that when he brought in that sick herd.
34:02I'm not going to let you do it.
34:04Pa, I've got to.
34:34This is that bushwhacker's horse we brought back.
34:37Take a close look at him.
34:48He's got ticks all over him.
34:50This horse was with tick-infested beef before it got here.
34:53Then that dead man could have told us how this plague got here.
34:56I don't know.
34:58I don't know.
35:00I don't know.
35:02He could have told us how this plague got here.
35:05Did you find out who he was?
35:07He had a letter on him addressed to a Roy Wilkins.
35:10Don't forget there was another man with him.
35:12Adam, maybe you'd better get to Virginia City.
35:15See if you can track this other man down.
35:18If you can, bring him out here.
35:20Todd.
35:22Clean him up, huh?
35:24Come on, let's get back.
35:27All right, Frank.
35:29Let him through again.
35:53Hello, Adam.
35:55Give me a whiskey, Cosmo.
35:57Yes.
36:02Deal me out.
36:04I'll give you a chance to get even later.
36:07Something on your mind?
36:09You know a man named Roy Wilkins?
36:11Roy Wilkins? Sure, I've seen him in here.
36:14Who does he work for?
36:16I don't know.
36:18Hasn't been around here very long.
36:20As a matter of fact, the only times I've ever seen him,
36:23he's always been with a fellow named Tucker.
36:25Tucker? Works for Len Keith.
36:28Len Keith.
36:31Thanks.
36:54Adam, I thought it was my father.
36:56Evening, Jenny. Isn't he here?
36:58No, he's in town.
37:00Listen, you know a man named Roy Wilkins?
37:02Wilkins? There's a man named Roy I know.
37:04He's a friend of Tucker's.
37:06Who's Tucker? He's Pa's foreman.
37:08He lives in that shack on the other side of the storeroom.
37:11Adam, what is it?
37:13Well, there's Roy Wilkins and one other man.
37:15Maybe Tucker, I'm not sure.
37:17Tried to kill my brother this afternoon.
37:19That's impossible.
37:21Those men work for my father.
37:24Excuse me.
37:35Hello, Tucker.
37:37You're one of them Cartwrights, ain't you?
37:39That's right.
37:41You know a man named Roy Wilkins?
37:43What do you want here, Cartwright?
37:45I want the man who was with Wilkins
37:47when they tried to ambush my brother.
37:50I don't know anything about it.
37:52Then you wouldn't mind coming back to town with me
37:54and telling that to the sheriff, huh?
37:56No.
37:58I wouldn't mind.
38:05I thought you missed him.
38:07Dad!
38:09Adam, is he...
38:12Yeah, he's dead.
38:14I wanted him alive. I was hoping you could tell me something.
38:17Tell you what, Adam?
38:19You think fast, Mr. Keith.
38:21Just like you shocked fast a while ago.
38:23But when this plague trouble is settled,
38:25we're gonna have a talk.
38:28I wish you hadn't seen this, Virginia.
38:31I'm sorry I had to see as much as I did.
38:34I had to protect Adam. Tucker would have killed him.
38:37Tucker had already dropped his gun.
38:39You killed him deliberately.
38:41Oh, you're all upset.
38:43Now go on into the house.
38:45You can't send me away like a little girl, Dad.
38:47Don't try to understand it, you hear me?
38:49Now go on back into the house!
38:57I'm right and you all know it.
38:59If it was one of us had a sick herd on the range,
39:01the Cartwrights would be the first to yell, burn him out.
39:03That ain't so!
39:05The Cartwrights should have killed off his whole herd
39:07without us having to meet and talk about doing it for him.
39:10You can't expect him to kill off healthy beef.
39:12Who's to say what's healthy and what's not?
39:14Now the Ponderosa's rich.
39:16It's got timber and enough money to restock its range.
39:19Most of us live on the beef we raise each year.
39:22Now if we lose our herds, where's the money coming from
39:24to pay off the bank loans, to feed our families,
39:26to even get started again?
39:28You really aim to ride against the Ponderosa?
39:30If I didn't fight for my land and what's on it,
39:33I wouldn't hold myself much of a man.
39:35Anyone else feels the same way is welcome to ride with me.
39:39We're with him, ain't we, men?
39:41Not me.
39:44All right.
39:46We'll meet at the north end of town, just after sunup.
39:50Every man bring a rifle and be ready to use it.
39:53That's it, then.
39:55Come on.
40:09Todd, what are they going to do?
40:11Todd, what are they going to do?
40:13Well, the Cartwright cattle are diseased.
40:15They're a danger to the whole range.
40:17So we're heading out to the Ponderosa in the morning
40:19to settle it one way or another.
40:21You mean to fight the Cartwrights?
40:23It looks that way.
40:25Do you know how this plague got started?
40:27It doesn't matter how it got started.
40:29We just can't risk a plague spreading throughout the whole territory.
40:31Todd, I think my father brought that plague
40:33to the Cartwright herd deliberately.
40:35Did he tell you that?
40:37Adam thinks so, too, only he can't prove it.
40:39I told you, it doesn't matter who started the plague.
40:41Todd, it does matter.
40:43The Cartwrights aren't at fault.
40:45They've been your friends for years,
40:47and what they need now is help, not threats.
40:49Virginia, we have to look after our own interests.
40:51That's what my father tells me.
40:53For years, that's what he told me.
40:55Every time he was doing something, he was ashamed of.
40:57You're beginning to sound just like him.
40:59I know what I have to do.
41:01Yes, you do.
41:03But don't pretend it's to help those poor ranchers.
41:06It's just a fast way to make Todd McCarron a big man.
41:09Virginia, I don't like what you're saying.
41:11Then stop this before it goes any further.
41:15It's too late now.
41:22Pa, is this dipping doing any good?
41:25It's funny, I was just thinking about that.
41:27I certainly hope so.
41:29You know what our cash situation is?
41:32If we were to lose any of our herds right now,
41:34it wouldn't wipe us out.
41:37Ride on out and see how the boys are doing
41:39with that herd in the north quarter.
41:41I'll give Harsin and Little Joe a hand with the other herd.
42:00Hey, bring him up!
42:04Come on in!
42:08Well, we got more trouble than plague, Pa.
42:10What now?
42:11Todd McCarron and Len Keith have got everybody around here stirred up.
42:14There's a bunch of them riding this way and they're all armed.
42:16Don't they realize we're doing everything we can?
42:18Pa, it's a mob, they're not going to stop and think.
42:20They claim they're going to kill every head of cattle on our range.
42:23Then we'd better make them stop and think.
42:26Ride over to the house and get our rifles.
42:35Who is it?
42:36Virginia.
42:37Oh, come in, Virginia.
42:39Well, what are you doing away out here, lass?
42:43Mr. McCarron, you've got to do something. Todd...
42:45What's he up to?
42:47He didn't come home last night.
42:51They're riding on the Ponderosa, Mr. McCarron.
42:53Todd is leading them. You've got to stop him.
42:55Stop him? How can I?
42:57He's a grown man.
42:59He's got to make himself heard.
43:01How can I? He's a grown man.
43:03He's got to make his own decisions.
43:06Mr. McCarron, I have no place else to turn.
43:08I love Todd.
43:10I thought you loved him too.
43:12Unless you do something, we're both going to lose him.
43:15An old man like me.
43:17How can I help him now?
43:19Now is the time that counts, Mr. McCarron.
43:22Now is when he needs your help more than any other time in his life.
43:31Come here.
43:43Good. Keep moving.
43:49Water men.
43:51Get your guns.
43:56Remember, boys.
43:58No shooting unless I say so.
44:00How do we know they want to talk?
44:02We want to talk.
44:11Morning, Todd.
44:13You suddenly become a rancher, Mr. Keat?
44:15I don't owe you any explanations, Cartwright.
44:18You're the one to do the explaining, Ben.
44:20You brought the Texas cattle in.
44:22They're no ticks on the ones we dipped.
44:24You want to ride in peaceful and see, you're welcome.
44:26Saying a lot of wet cows don't mean they won't all fall over tomorrow.
44:29No, it doesn't.
44:31But if any of them come down with a fever, I'll kill every head that gets it.
44:34That may be too late, even if you do what you say.
44:37You doubting my Paul's word, mister?
44:39Easy, Hoss.
44:41You men try to take over my herd, you know there's going to be fighting.
44:44Men on both sides.
44:46Men we've known a long time.
44:48Could get hurt. Maybe even get killed.
44:50That'll be on your head, Cartwright.
44:52Now get out of the way.
44:54Todd!
44:55You know better than trying to bluff me down.
44:57This is no bluff.
44:59Don't anybody else move.
45:10Shoot him down, Todd. We'll back you up.
45:21Todd, stop it!
45:24You stay out of this, McCarron.
45:26Keep away, Pa. This is between Adam and me.
45:29If you're going to make a killer of yourself, you better start with me.
45:34Your son picked his side, McCarron.
45:36Now you've got no right to be here.
45:38Pa, don't you know everything we've got is at stake?
45:41I know that better than any other man here.
45:44Jameson, I passed by your spread coming here.
45:47Your stock's down with fever.
45:49Some of the others are also.
45:51Son, you better go home and take care of our herd.
45:54They're coming down with it fast.
45:56I told you what would happen.
45:58And you can blame the Cartwrights for it.
46:00Let's finish what we come here for.
46:02Yeah.
46:03Wait a minute.
46:05You can kill off every head in the Ponderosa, but what good will that do you?
46:09I tell you that sulfur dip's working.
46:11It's saving our beef. It can do the same for yours.
46:14It's the only chance any of you have. You better take it.
46:16You still handing out orders, Cartwright?
46:18Don't back down from me.
46:20Don't back down from him.
46:22Make up your mind, Todd. Whose side are you on? Ours or the Cartwrights?
46:25You don't have a side, Dad, except your own.
46:28He doesn't care about your cattle.
46:30He's only trying to destroy you so he can take your land.
46:33We're not talking about land. We're talking about plague.
46:36So am I, Todd. My father started it.
46:39Virginia, you don't know what you're talking about.
46:42She knows what she's talking about, all right.
46:45Her father killed Jim Tucker just to keep him quiet.
46:48Adam!
46:55Dad?
47:00Virginia, I...
47:06Dad?
47:18Dad?
47:30That offer still goes.
47:32Bring your healthy cattle over here and we'll...
47:34we'll run them through that sulfur dip.
47:39Does that go for the McCarran family too, Ben?
47:42Of course it does.
47:44If it's all right with you, Todd.
47:48All right.
48:04Yeah, get that one turned around.
48:09That's it.
48:11Well, that's the last of the McCarran steers, Todd.
48:15Well, I'd kind of like to stay and help with the rest.
48:19Hey, what do you say we take a break for some coffee?
48:21Good idea.
48:22Hey, Hoss, come on. Coffee.
48:27You two are gonna make mighty fine neighbors.
48:29Thanks, Ben.
48:45¶¶
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