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Changed quite a bit in the last couple of years, hasn't it?

Looks about the same to me.

Yeah. Seems like there was more people here the last time we came through.

Well, maybe the cold's keeping them inside.

I'm gonna get inside in about a half minute myself.

If that snow'll hang off, we can get to that mine before noon.

Whoo!

- A lot warmer in here. - Yeah, that coffee smells good.

- Help yourself. - Thank you.

- Thank you. - OK.

How about a little stick of this fair whiskey?

- Hey, that sounds good. - Good idea.

Thank you.

Ha-ha! Yes, sir.

- Don't run off with that. - Ah.

Tell you, the older a man gets, the colder the winters become.

Have you noticed that?

No, I can't say I have.

You know the Sam Masters' mine?

Yeah, the Yellow Girl.

Yeah. How's the road up that way?

Well, it's been snowing on and off,

but so long as it don't blow and drift shut, it'll be passable.

One more of those drinks and some more of this hot stove

and I ain't gonna wanna leave here.

Well, we'd better be on our way, Hoss.

May I ask... what your business with Sam Masters might be?

Well, it's a personal matter.

I have a reason for asking that question.

Well, sir, you tell me your reason and I just might give you an answer.

It's a personal matter.

How much do we owe you?

Oh, no. I never charge strangers for the first drink.

- Well, thank you, friend. - Yeah.

Thank you much.

You know, what this world needs is more fellas like that bartender

and fewer like that guy at the stove.

Yeah.

See what your foolish delays have cost me, Tyler?

- I'm sorry, Colonel. - Yes.

Now the forces against us have doubled. Doubled at the very least.

Looks like we got the best snow pack in years, Pa.

Yeah.

- Should be great for the spring grasses. - Yeah.

Because Mr. Tyler insisted on wasting so much time,

we have to move with some haste.

- Now, Colonel Hudson... - Two more men have gone up to the mine.

Who they are, what their purpose is, I don't know.

I do know they looked very capable.

How many men does that make altogether now?

Depending on how many miners are still there,

between six and a dozen, as nearly as I can determine.

Stiff odds.

You weren't hired to count, Sawyer.

You were hired to fight as I tell you to fight.

Did I say I wouldn't?

No, you did not.

I don't need that, Sergeant.

It's getting cold in here, Colonel.

Now, I don't want anyone killed if we can help it, understand?

All I want is to take Thomas Andrews prisoner.

- He calls himself Sam Masters now. - My main...

My main concern is that we don't add to crimes already committed.

I don't see how we're gonna get Andrews out of there without killing him.

We'll force him to give himself up, or the others to surrender him.

Yeah, but, Uncle Jim, if there... if there's six or a dozen of them

and only four of us, five including Mr. Tyler,

I don't see how we're gonna do it.

It's not how many you are in guerilla fighting, Teddy.

It's how many the enemy thinks you are.

Saddle up.

Ben, Hoss. Good to see ya.

Sam, good to see you.

Well, you might as well get these on up to the corral.

Now, you're gonna stay till tomorrow, that's sure?

Well, we were hoping you'd ask.

Run into much snow?

Just enough to make the trip enjoyable.

It's sort of quiet around here, Sam. Is your bunkhouse empty?

I've shut down the mine, Hoss.

There's just my daughter and I. We're all that's left.

- Well, I'll get the horses... - Here, I'll take care of 'em, Pa.

- You go on in. - All right.

See you all in there in a minute.

Come right in, Ben. Take your coat off.

Thank you.

You remember my daughter, Ellen.

Hello, Mr. Cartwright. Nice to see you again.

Hello, Ellen. It's lovely to see you. And you're as lovely as ever.

The image of her mother.

You men, always flattering.

We've been waiting the noon meal, hoping you'd get here. Hungry?

Starved.

Or would you rather look at the mine first?

Well, knowing my son, Hoss, I think we'd better eat first.

If you men will sit down for a few minutes, I'll dish up the food.

All right.

Would you... Would you like something to thaw the frost?

Well, I think that would be just right to warm the insides.

I honestly think that ore from the south shaft

will assay better than anything yet.

- Best color I've ever seen. - Yeah.

I know there's still a lot of paying ore in the Yellow Girl.

Yeah, I think so.

Well, shall we go in?

Oh, I didn't expect you back so soon.

Ellen, put the pot on.

I think these gentlemen would like a cup of tea.

Anything you say.

Unless Hoss would like something a little stronger.

Don't mind if I do, Sam. Thank you.

It's right over there on the sideboard.

Sam, I sure hate to see you sell out.

There's still a lot of money to be made in that mine.

You're going to stand by your agreement to buy it back?

Oh, of course I am.

It's just that I think it's more valuable to you now

than when I sold it to you.

You told me when I bought the mine from you that you'd take it back...

Now, Sam, Sam, look, I brought the money with me, I got the cash.

If you wanna go through with the deal, that's fine.

I wanna go through with it.

- Here, let me help you, Ellen. - I can manage, thanks.

Oh, Ellen.

I've sold the mine, Ellen. We're going to San Francisco.

I'm glad for you.

Now, you want to go, don't you?

I wanna settle down. I wanna stay in one place.

But it doesn't matter what I think or want.

It's... It's been rough on her, traveling the way we have.

Really haven't settled down for long

since I picked her up at her grandmother's after the war.

Lived there all during the war, nice home, sheltered.

But, no, I guess I'm just not cut out to be a miner.

Well, some people aren't.

I been restless ever since the war, you know, footloose.

Tried my hand at several things, successful at most,

but after a year or so...

You know what I mean.

Yeah, sure, I... I guess I do, Sam.

When you're the wandering kind, I guess you just gotta keep moving.

Why don't you tell them why you're the wandering kind?

Ellen, please.

Tell them why we're moving, Father, and tell me.

- Now, hush, hush. - I won't hush.

I've explained the best I can.

I haven't believed you, Father.

I'd like to know the truth. Why did you change your name?

Why have you been running and running and running?

Please, Ellen, not in front of company.

You promised me when we came here that we could stay here,

that I could have a home and friends,

and now we're running again, and I wanna know why.

Hey, Pa, the horses.

Get them, Hoss.

Take cover!

Can't see anybody.

I'll take another look.

Sounds like a dozen of 'em.

Yeah.

That's enough, Sergeant. Hold your fire.

Yes, sir.

They must be getting tired.

- You know what's happened, don't you? - What?

We're prisoners in here.

I'm gonna ride out of here.

You try to ride out of here, Lieutenant, you'll be shot.

- I filled my part of the bargain. - I don't think so.

I was to lead you to Andrews and you were to let me go.

- Wasn't that the agreement? - It was.

Well, from here on, it's up to you.

I don't see any reason I should risk my neck now.

I don't know Andrews is in that house. I haven't seen him.

I only have your word for it.

He's there, calling himself Sam Masters.

I'll know soon enough.

Meanwhile you'll stay here until I am sure.

And for another reason.

I think Andrews has the right to confront the man who betrayed him.

Colonel said nobody gets out of there, so stay alert.

How many you think are down there, Sergeant?

No way of knowing for sure. Could be half a dozen.

All right, what's it all about?

What can I tell you? They... ran off with our horses.

- Thieves? - Oh, Sam, stop it.

Those men out there,

they're the reason that you're willing to sell a paying mine.

The reason you changed your name.

The reason you've been running.

Isn't that right?

- Ben... - Hello, the house!

There, behind the rock. See him?

Yeah, I see him.

Hudson.

Who's Hudson?

Colonel Hudson.

What does he want?

He wants to kill me.

Why?

Ask him.

I will.

- What do you want? - A parley.

All right. Come on down here with your hands up.

No, we'll meet halfway. No guns.

All right, halfway it is.

Well, we meet again.

Yes.

My name is James Hudson.

Ben Cartwright.

The man in that house that calls himself Sam Masters, I want him.

- Why? - His real name is Thomas Andrews.

He commanded a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp

and was directly responsible for the deaths of many Union soldiers,

in particular, ten of my men.

I'm going to take him as a prisoner back to the site of that camp.

He'll be tried there and punished there.

On whose authority?

An authority vested in me by my dead comrades.

- No, not enough. - Don't worry.

He'll be tried by the proper authorities.

He wasn't forgotten by the Union forces after the war.

He's just a loose end that hasn't been picked up.

It's all cut and dried, isn't it?

For you, not for me.

There are two sides to every argument,

and I'll have to hear Masters' side before I can make up my mind.

All right, but don't take too long.

I'm prepared to break in.

Try it. There'll be dead men in the snow.

I might have known it would finally be Hudson who'd come after me.

He's not a man to forget.

Well, I've known you a pretty long time.

I just can't believe you're guilty of the crimes he described.

I'm guilty, Ben.

Now, Hudson says that there were an awful lot of people

who died in that camp needlessly.

Well, I just can't believe you're capable

of allowing a single person to die without at least trying to help.

I tried.

There were 500 men behind that fence.

500 to provide for.

Couldn't you do that?

No.

Well, you... you couldn't just let 'em go.

I could only keep them there with rifles.

I couldn't give them enough food, water, medicine.

But there must have been some food.

Some. Not enough.

Takes a powerful lot of food to feed 500 men.

I'm not trying to deny my guilt.

I was given the task of providing for those men.

Well, the way I see it, you've been running because... you failed.

Isn't that it?

I just wanted to find someplace where nobody knew me,

knew what I'd done.

No matter where I settled,

it wouldn't be long before somebody'd recognize me, point me out,

whisper, "That's Thomas Andrews,

the man at Camp Stanley where all those men died."

Pa, come here, take a look.

If I can catch that horse, I can get out of here and get help.

We can't stand them off alone.

It is a little dangerous, Hoss.

Too dangerous.

That's a poor animal at best.

You're gonna have to catch him and bridle him and saddle him.

The odds are too long against you.

Pa, the way I see it, we ain't got no choice.

I'll make it. Don't worry about me.

I hope he makes it.

Dang fool.

Hope he does too.

Uncle Jim. I mean Colonel. The... The big one just came out of the house.

He got a bridle on a horse and he just rode off.

Stop him.

Did you hear that?

Yes, I did.

That'd be foolhardy.

Yeah.

Yes, it would be.

Mr. Cartwright.

Oh, thank you.

My father says he hasn't seen or heard a thing.

Well, that's good.

I... I hope your son is all right.

Thank you. I hope so too.

Mr. Cartwright?

What, Ellen?

Is my father really guilty?

Well... he was ordered to command that camp.

Could he have turned the men loose,

once he saw that he couldn't take care of them?

No.

No, then... then he would have been disobeying orders

and he could have been shot for that.

But why, if he did it to save their lives?

'Cause then the men would have gone back into the lines,

killing Confederate soldiers.

Yes, I suppose they would have.

It's awfully difficult to...

to know how to... look at a man.

I... I mean, here's a man who's put in charge of a prison camp.

He's responsible for everybody inside it.

He's gotta take care of them. They die.

There's nothing he can do about it.

On the other hand, can you fault a man for obeying orders?

I wish I knew what to think.

So do I.

You warm enough, Colonel?

Maybe I should... Maybe I should warm that blanket for you.

Confound it, Sergeant. Will you quit your fussing?

I could make the fire bigger.

The fire is big enough.

- Is he hurt? - No, sir.

He fell off his horse when I shot.

I got the drop on him, tied him up.

It's been a long walk up that hill.

Move over to the fire. Warm yourself.

For a man who goes around shooting at folks, you got a mighty kind heart.

I've no wish to harm you.

All I want is Thomas Andrews.

You ain't gonna get him.

You stay on the alert. Do you hear? Keep your eyes open and your ears open.

There's no telling what they're liable to do next.

Maybe I could sneak down there, peek in some windows or something.

- See how many there are in there. - You stay here.

You go sneaking around, you'll get yourself killed.

Oh, thank you.

Shh.

Shh, shh.

Stop! Stop!

Two shots. Go see what happened.

- Right. - And no killing.

You're just a boy.

- It hurts, mister. - Come on, get up.

Now, get in the house. Come on, move.

What'd you have to shoot me there for?

Well, if you hadn't tripped, I wouldn't have shot you there.

Anyway, you're not hurt. You're just branded.

I'm hurt. I'm hurt something fierce. I can't even move.

Well, maybe that's just as well.

Take care of our prisoner.

I don't think he'll move, but if he tries to get away, you just call out.

The boy's all right. He's only scratched.

His pride is hurt more than anything.

But he did tell me that they've taken Hoss prisoner.

He's not hurt, though.

I'm thankful.

We're not out of the woods yet.

The boy says his uncle's determined to take you back.

How many of them are there?

Well, he says a lot, but I think he's lying.

They don't know how many we are.

That's what he came down here to find out.

That's why they're holding off.

What are we gonna do?

I don't know. Do you have any ideas?

I got there in time to see one of 'em help Teddy into the house.

- Was he hurt? - Some. Not real bad.

I gave orders to stay away from that house.

I know that.

- Did you try to help him? - Well, you said no killin'.

- There's nothing I could do. - Now you've got one less man.

They've got three miners, Masters, Cartwright.

You're outnumbered. You'd best give this whole thing up.

You might ought to listen to what he says.

Seems to me like it makes a lot of sense.

I don't believe in those three miners.

Well, there's only one way you can find out.

Go in there and try to get him.

Thanks.

What I'm trying to say is

I don't see why you'd wanna get mixed up in a thing like this.

It's the colonel. He's my uncle. He's kin.

But his old grudges aren't your grudges.

Why'd you wanna go gallivantin' after him?

I didn't go gallivantin'. I went soldierin'.

- Soldierin'. - Listen, a lot of men go soldierin'.

Where'd the world be if there weren't soldiers?

Well, it'd probably be a lot better off.

You're the limit. I got an older sister just like you.

She doesn't understand nothin' either.

You know, it takes a lot of hatred to bear a grudge like you do, Colonel.

If you'd spent a year behind a fence watching your men die,

you'd bear a grudge too.

But there was a war on. You keep forgetting that.

There are rules by which civilized men fight wars.

Rules to die by.

What difference if a man dies from hunger or a bullet?

He's dead both ways.

And the first principle of warfare is to kill the enemy, isn't it?

I spoke of civilized men, Tyler. You don't qualify.

Colonel, you're still a prisoner.

You're imprisoned by a fence of hatred

as much as you were ever imprisoned by a fence of wire.

But this time there's a difference.

Here I'm on the outside, he's on the inside.

Tomorrow morning, that fence comes down...

if I have to tear it down with my bare hands.

Where are you going?

Ben, I'm gonna give myself up.

You're what? Why?

There's only two of us, a lot of them.

Just one way it can end, one or both of us will be shot...

or be killed.

And there's Ellen.

Yes, there is Ellen. What about her?

I don't want harm to come to her.

You don't want harm to come to her?

But you're quite willing to go out and give yourself up

so that she has no father.

That doesn't make any sense.

You've got me guessing.

- Guessing? - Yeah.

Colonel Hudson's absolutely certain that you're guilty.

And you're acting so guilt-ridden,

you're willing to go out and give yourself up.

For fighting on the wrong side?

Ben, I just wanna put a stop to the fighting.

Do you want the fighting to go on?

No. No, I don't.

But there's a whole lot of difference between not fighting

and total surrender.

There's a middle ground somewhere and we're going to have to find it.

Now, take off your coat.

I'm going to have to leave you tied up here.

I figured you would.

What about him?

Well, he's going with us.

He ain't no fighter.

No, he's a Judas.

He was Andrews' adjutant at the prison camp, and his close friend.

To save his neck, he agreed to lead us to Andrews.

Hey, you up on the rock!

That's close enough. What do you want?

A parley with Colonel Hudson.

All right, come on up. I'll tell him.

Colonel Hudson, sir.

That man, Cartwright, he wants a parley with you.

- Stay here. Keep a close watch. - Yes, sir.

- Sawyer. - Right behind you.

What kind of man do I seem to you?

A decent man, one standing in my way.

Between decent men, there must be room for discussion.

I'll listen.

There's something to be said for your side of the story.

There's something to be said for Masters'... Andrews' side.

I don't know what that could be.

I've got documented proof. He's a murderer.

Come to the house. Tell your story. Then listen to Masters' story.

If we can't reach some kind of agreement,

perhaps we can reach some kind of understanding.

And if we reach neither?

Then nothing has been lost but time.

But if we find one or the other, perhaps lives can be spared.

All right.

- Here they come. - Is there gonna be shootin'?

Your uncle, Mr. Cartwright and another man are walking together,

and a man with a rifle is walking with them.

But it looks more like talkin' than shootin'.

Oh, gosh almighty.

Now what's the matter?

Get my pants.

You can't get up.

Uncle Jim and Tom Andrews coming face to face after all these years.

Well, I'm gonna die if I'm not there to see it.

Get my pants.

Please, get my pants.

Major.

Colonel.

Well, gentlemen, the... the war's been over a couple of years now.

It's ex-Major and ex-Colonel now.

I suggest we use our last names.

Will Tyler? What are you doing here?

- I didn't want to, Tom. I... - He told me you were here.

He brought me here.

My friend, you did that?

- You told him? You brought... - He threatened to kill me.

There was nothing else I could do.

Well, gentlemen, we came here for a purpose.

I suggest we get started.

Uncle Jim, I... I was wounded.

- Yes, so I understand. - Well, not seriously.

Branded is more the word, on his backside.

And who's the young lady?

Mr. Andrews' daughter.

No need to look, mister. No one else here.

All right, gentlemen. Let's begin.

Now, you two have not seen each other since the prison camp broke up.

Is that correct?

I spent almost a year in a hospital getting over that camp.

Meanwhile, Andrews had disappeared.

My wife died just before the camp broke up.

There were many memories I wanted to forget.

- This man is guilty of murder. - I don't deny there were conditions...

Now, please.

Mr. Hudson, let's... let's hear your story first.

He kept us like rats in a cage,

in a pestilential hellhole

under conditions too terrible to describe.

No food. Polluted water.

No medicine to treat the diseased.

I watched men who had served under me die one after another.

And I promised each man before he died

that this man, I would make this man this Thomas Andrews,

pay for his crimes with his life... and I shall.

Well, I... I've heard of the conditions that often prevailed,

and I know that what you're saying is true.

But there are two sides to every story.

And there were problems outside the camp.

Mr. Andrews, would you tell us about them?

I did my best... failed.

Couldn't provide medicine, clean water, food.

But you did search the countryside for them?

I did. I sent my foragers out 24 hours a day.

There was so little food anywhere.

Mr. Andrews,

what was the cause of your wife's death?

The same thing.

She saved so much of her food for the children in the area.

She had no strength. Disease came from the bad water.

No medicine.

Well, Mr. Hudson, you see, some of your men died inside the camp,

and his wife died outside the camp.

He didn't go for a week at a time without food.

Neither did you... or your men.

You made that charge in camp and I denied it. I deny it now.

We went for as much as a week at a time without a bite of food, not one morsel.

I know for an absolute fact

that your men were given a ration every single day.

It wasn't much, but that much I could...

Andrews, you lie.

I do not, sir!

Please, please. Mr. Hudson, please sit down.

Now, who was in... who was in charge of the actual distribution of the food?

Were you in charge of that?

Will Tyler was.

He was my adjutant, my provision officer.

He'll verify it.

Tell 'em, Will.

Will?

Well, Mr. Tyler?

Well, I... carried out orders.

I did all I could.

According to Mr. Andrews, food was provided for the men in the camp.

According to Mr. Hudson, the food never reached them.

- Is that true? - That's not true.

Well, I have no reason to disbelieve either of these two gentlemen.

But I tell you it's not true.

What happened to the food that was not delivered to the men in camp?

Well, I gave it to 'em, all of it.

- You gave it to them? - Mm-hm.

- All of it? - Mm-hm.

Gentlemen, isn't it true that in those days...

a wagonload of food fetched a very fine price?

No, I didn't. I didn't do anything like that.

You never sold any food outside the camp at any time?

No.

- At any time? - Well, I don't know. I...

You don't know? Or you... you don't remember?

Or did you indeed sell food outside the camp?

Mr. Tyler, did you sell any food outside that prison camp?

Did you?

I...

Did you?

Mr. Tyler?

Answer, Tyler.

Sawyer, stop him.

- I missed. - He got away?

Missed his legs. Killed him.

- You take good care of this young man. - I surely will.

- Ted. - I'm getting well fast.

Good for you, kid.

Hudson, are you gonna stay around these parts?

No, Hoss.

I'll leave my nephew here till he gets well,

but I've urgent business in the east.

Mr. Hudson, I hope life will be easier for you from now on.

Well, thanks to you, I think it will.

- Bye. - We'll be seeing more of you, I'm sure.

Thanks, Hoss.

It's been a strange... few days here.

I... don't quite know...

Well, Sam, if the color in that mine continues to improve,

you're gonna need more capital.

You see me before you talk to anybody else, you hear?

I'll do that, Ben.

Take care.

- Take it easy, Sam. - Hoss.