01x11 - The Way to k*ll a k*ller

[bunniefuu]

And you should see the work they're
doing with scientific cross-breeding.

Is fantastic. They've got
a couple of Brahma bulls-

Easy, boy. You're
on vacation from college.

- You haven't stopped yammering since you got off that train.
- Sorry.

Ah, don't pay any attention to him.
He's just jealous...

because he knows absolutely nothing
about scientific animal husbandry.

Poor ol' Nick.
Just a poor ol' cowpoke.

Mariano Montoya!

Nick Barkley, four years ago
you gave me a calf.

This is not the same calf,
but neither am I the same man.

I now repay you with deep thanks.

Muchas gracias.

All right, college boy,
take him outside and tie him up.

Scientifically.
Come on, git.

Mariano, you old bandit.

Oh, I'm sorry.
You know my brotherJarrod.

- Senor.
- Mariano, good to see you.

- My brother Heath.
- Hello. How are you?

Where have you been?
What are you doing in Stockton?

I'm an owner now. I have a herd.
I drove them all the way from Mexico.

- A herd?
- Sí. That calf you gave me was the beginning.

- Now I have 93 head.
- Well, then, 92 must be stolen.

You were no good when you left, amigo.
No reason to believe you've changed.

Oh, now, come on.
That was pretty unfair, Sheriff.

Well, maybe, Nick.
Maybe it was.

We'll see.

Hey, Mariano.

Les ride out and take
a look at that herd, huh?

Hey, I wanna see
the herd. Come on.

Okay.

Come on, Jarrod, Heath.

Buddy.

All right, college boy,
les go take a look.

- Hyah! Hyah!
- Yes, sir, cowpoke.

Well, I might have done
something very bad to that sheriff...

if your brother Nick
hadn't stopped me.

He's a good man,
your brother Nick.

Well, that sheriff called you a thief.
Thas a pretty hard word.

Yeah. He called me a thief
once before, a long time ago.

He caught me with
a Barkley calf, that sheriff...

and he brought me to your brother Nick
and asked him to press charges against me.

But Nick-
You know what he did?

He looked at me a long time,
and then he said...

"Did you steal it?"
And I said...

"No, I found it in some wire.
I was bringing it back. "

And he says, "I believe you. "

Then he bends down and picks up the calf
and hands it to me and says...

"Here. Now you have one calf.
Go and build it up into a herd. "

Then he turns around
and walks away.

Didn't he ever tell you about it?

No. No, he never mentioned it.

- Well?
- Fine. But you're gonna have to fatten 'em up.

Oh, yes. I- I drove 'em pretty hard.
Fifteen miles a day.

Fifteen? Thas movin'.
No complaints from your men?

Oh, my vaqueros and I,
we are all partners.

I couldn't afford
to pay them wages.

Besides, I hear the cattle ranches
are overstocked this year.

We wanted to be the first ones
to market to get a good price.

Well, you got here
with time to spare.

The market doesn't
open till next week.

Gives you a little time
to fatten up your herd.

All he needs is a good pasture.

He can have our north pasture.
We're not using it.

Ah, thank you, but I- I've already accepted
too many gifts from the Barkleys.

But would you consider renting
the north pasture to me for a week?

What should we charge?

You know, we really
could hold him up.

What would you say
to a penny an acre?

- What?
- Penny an acre.

Well, that... sounds reasonable.

You draw up an agreement.
I will sign it tonight.

Jarrod, you're the lawyer.

Bueno. And now,
on behalf of my vaqueros...

I would like to invite all of you and
the rest of the members of your family...

to a fiesta this evening
to celebrate the end of our drive.

We will roast a steer,
provide singing and music.

One condition:
We furnish the steer.

That is acceptable.

Well, you want to try it,
big brother?

Now that you ask,
no, little sister.

Ladies and gentlemen...

senoras y senores...

we are celebrating tonight
an end and a beginning-

the end of a long cattle drive...

and the beginning of a new life
for the men who made that drive.

My men and I,
we are, by profession-

To be honest,
we are just ordinary laborers...

braceros.

But we have earned,
by that long drive, a chance-

a real chance
to be true rancheros.

Those of you who have
wives and children...

know what this means to our families
who are waiting for us in Mexico...

when we return, God be willing.

A few of you recognize me
from four years ago...

when I left this beautiful
California valley where I grew up.

In those days,
you said to yourself...

"Mariano Montoya-
He will come to no good end.

He is a bad one. "

No. No.

Oh, sí, sí.
Is true. I was.

Well, if not- not a bad one,
then not such a good one.

Maybe a halfway-between one, huh?

Like the rest of us, Mariano.

No matter. You are looking
at a very lucky man.

I would be in prison tonight,
but I am not in prison.

I was given my chance.

And tonight I would like to express
my deep gratitude to one man...

and to the lady who raised him
to be such a man.

- Senora.
- Olé, senora.

- Amigo.
- Ah, Mariano.

- Gracias.
- Speech! Speech!

No speeches.
Mother, if you will, huh?

Friends, amigos, relatives...

first let me thank Senor Montoya
for a truly exquisite gift.

It will always remind me of the day he
came back to his hometown and made good.

And now, since I feel
is a sin to make speeches...

when we could be listening
to music and dancing, les-

Oh, unless Nick would-

The only time he makes
speeches is when he's mad.

Well, then, música, danza.

Senora, will you honor me
with this dance?

You call that dancing?
Is more like a steeplechase.

Why don't I show you around?

Your cattle are magnificent,
senora. Maybe someday-

Why not? You've made
a wonderful beginning.

Gracias, but-

: Majestuoso.!

Senor Montoya, I would like you
to meet Prince Oxford...

the sire of the Barkley herd.

Senora, tell me-This would be
an improper question...

but one day it might not
be an impossible dream.

Maybe I could own
such an animal.

- Tell me how much- - Oh, we've been offered
$10,000 for him, but we turned it down.

I dare dream of such an animal.

My husband had no more
than you when he started.

Sí, senora.
But your husband was not a thief.

- Neither are you.
- But I was.

- You knew I was stealing that calf.
- Mariano-

No, no. Perhaps Nick believed me,
but you always knew.

Now, you listen to me.
Do you know why I kept quiet?

Because it was plain you wanted to be
a man more than you wanted to be a thief.

All you needed
was a chance to prove it.

So you gave me that chance.

And you proved it.

Caporal. Senora.

- Can you come to the cattle?
- Why?

You are needed.

Will you excuse me, senora?

Thank you.
Thank you for your trust.

Ah, there you are.

May I have the honor,
lovely lady?

Of course.

Anthrax.

It is not anthrax.
It is trail fever.

Bury the animal
and say nothing to nobody.

- Morning.
- Morning.

You, uh, lookin'
for something to do?

Oh, I've got plenty to do.

Want to borrow this brush?

No.

You got somethin' to say?

Been out to Mariano's herd lately?

Not since I showed him
where to pasture. Why?

I don't know. There's something
funny going on out there.

Like what?

One of our hands counted
Mariano's herd this morning.

- What?
- I thought he was our guest.

All right, just how many
of our cattle has he stolen?

- Not a single one.
- I hope that satisfies the loyal hands around here.

Look, Nick, I like Mariano too.

- You wanna hear about this thing or not?
- Go ahead.

- Mariano came here with 93 head, right?
- Right.

Babies every one of'em.

Every one of those steers is an entry
in a bankbook to Mariano and his men.

- Is that it?
- Thas it.

This morning there was
only 91 head in the pasture.

Could be a break in the fence.

Rode around the pasture.
The fence is taut.

No breaks or slacks anywhere.

Here, this is the best I can do
with this. Heath, come here.

Another one?

Yes.

Caporal, it is anthrax.

Is in the pasture,
in the wind.

It is a miasma
which kills our cattle.

The men want to move out now
before more cattle are k*lled.

Who is caporal?
Is it he or me?

It is not anthrax!
It is trail fever!

There is always trail fever
after a long drive.

Look at the herd.
They are healthy. Look at them.

This is our entire future-
yours as well as mine.

The cattle buyers
do not arrive in Stockton till Monday.

Tell me, where? Where will you move
our cattle till Monday?

Where will we fatten them
for the market?

Caporal, you are wrong.
There is a miasma in this pasture.

It is giving anthrax to our cattle.

We must move them out at once
before they all die.

It is not anthrax.
You understand?

Not anthrax!

- You fellows going somewhere.
- Perdon, senor.

- No habla ingles.
- Donde está Mariano?

Ah, Mariano, caporal.

Pues, no está aquí.
Fue al pueblo.

Well-

Buenos dias, senores.
Buenos dias.

We've never had the honor
of having you visit us before, senor.

- How are you?
- We thought we'd drop by and see how you're getting along.

Fine. Thank you.
Everything's fine.

- Planning on leaving?
- Leaving, senor?

I saw one of your men
loading up bedrolls.

Oh.

Well, Mariano heard there was
a buyer in town early today...

so, uh, he went in to find out.

He gave me instructions
to have everything ready...

just in case he made a fast deal.

Haven't had much chance
to fatten up your cattle, have you?

No. That is true.
But we thought-

Mariano thought
that if we market early...

we would make up the difference
with a better price.

Whas that all about?

Who? Oh, Diego.

Can you imagine?
He actually believes...

that he's influencing the price
of cattle with all that foolishness.

You're sure he's not trying
to drive away evil spirits?

- Evil spirits, senor?
- Disease.

Rico, are any of your cattle sick?

Sick, senor?

Why, whatever gave you that idea?

Look at them.
Do any of them look sick to you?

Not the ones I can see, no.

What are you suggesting, senor?

Senores!

Senores, without Mariano's permission,
I cannot permit you to-

Anthrax.

Yeah.

It is not anthrax.
It is trail fever.

A few cattle die from it
after every drive. You know that.

Why didn't you tell us about it?

Why were you planning to move
your herd out before we found out?

I want to see Mariano
as soon as he gets back.

And don't move a single
animal through this gate.

I want you men to check every foot
of fence in that north pasture.

Don't let a single animal get out.

They're moving the cattle out. Now.

- All right, les go.
- Hadn't we better break out the r*fles?

All right, break out
the r*fles and ammunition.

Sure.

All right, boys,
les start moving them out!

All right, move them out!

Fan out.

Rico tell you
I wanted to see you?

You weren't gonna leave
without saying good-bye, were you?

Think I would do that?

- No, I don't.
- You're right.

I was going to stop by the ranch house
as I drove the herd into town.

Jumpin' the g*n a little, aren't you?
The market doesn't open till Monday.

Well, I figure jumping the g*n-

Thas a good way to get a good price.

Mariano, Rico musve told you
what we saw this morning.

I know that you've got-

You are wrong. I lost a few cattle.
Nothing serious. Trail fever.

- Long drive always gets a few that way.
- A few? How many?

Two, maybe three.

- You're not sure?
- Three.

You want to count them?

Companero,
you've always trusted me.

You started me in this business.
You think I would lie to you?

I'd hate to think so.

I'd also hate to think I was wrong
by giving you that first calf.

You were not wrong. Look.

Do they look sick to you?

Nick-

Nick, I am moving the herd to town.

Please don't try to stop me.

All right.

Maybe you're right.
Maybe we were mistaken.

Maybe it is just trail fever.

I'll tell you what.

I'll walk through the pasture
and see if your cattle are fit...

and if they are,
you can move 'em on out.

- Nick, anthrax is-
- I know what anthrax is, and so does Mariano.

He wouldn't take his cattle with anthrax
through our herd on his way to the market.

He knows that an anthrax epidemic will
spread through a ranch like a brushfire...

k*lling 2,000, 3,000 head
in less than a week.

Have to keep the herd
locked up in there.

- Nick, those cattle have to be shot.
- You're both wrong!

You have no right to hold us here!

It is this pasture
that is k*lling my cattle.

You! You have no right
to sh**t my cattle.

- Nick, if just one of those sick cattle get loose-
- Close that gate!

Mariano!

We have a right
to protect our cattle.

If you try to move your herd out,
we'll sh**t to k*ll.

I guess we'd all feel much better...

if you and your men'd
move into our bunkhouse.

You'll be much more comfortable.

We do not want your hospitality.
We're your prisoners.

Mariano, in a few days, we may
be able to let you move your herd out.

The anthrax may not spread.

It is this pasture of yours
that is giving us the fever.

There is a miasma here. Unless I can move
the cattle, they will all be dead.

Mariano, no one knows
how anthrax starts.

Sometimes it stops
as mysteriously as it starts.

Anyway, I won't allow 'em
to sh**t your cattle.

Thanks, gringo.

Thas what you
want to hear, isn't it?

I once thanked you a long time ago
for a calf you gave me.

Then again I thanked you for this
wonderful pasture at one cent an acre.

Let me tell you something, gringo.

I was stealing that calf.
I didn't find it.

Thas the only way to get
anything from the gringos.

The gringos run everything, and
all we do is say thank you, thank you.

Thank you for a right to breathe...

for the right to move about,
for the right to eat, to sleep.

If one of us gets a chance to get up
there where the gringos are...

to earn a decent place in life...

the gringos find a way
to knock you down!

I-

I guess I was wrong.

Heath!

Put all the men around this pasture.

Don't let a single steer loose.

sh**t anyone that tries to break out.

sh**t to k*ll.

I thought I saw you coming.
Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes.

Yeah.

Your mother says she wants everyone
at the dinner table right on time.

I'll be ready.

Silas, where's Nick?

- He's upstairs in his room.
- Thank you.

Don't worry.
Everything's gonna be all right.

I've seen anthrax come one day
and disappear the next.

I've seen it when it hasn't.

Heath.

Nick told me what happened
this afternoon.

- Yeah.
- Is just horrible that it had to happen to Mariano.

- That herd means so much to him.
- I know.

He drove them over a thousand miles,
all the way from Mexico.

All his dreams
are wrapped up in them.

- Everything he wants to be.
- Look, I know all about that.

And I know if he loses that herd,
he'll be right back to what he used to be.

Now, is there anything else
you wanna tell me that I already know?

No, I guess not.

I'm sorry, Audra.
I didn't mean it.

Silas, better make sure
there's plenty of coffee tonight.

I think we'll be doing a lot of talking.

I'll make sure.

Yeah?

- Can I come in?
- You're in.

Anything wrong?

- You know whas wrong.
- Get to the point.

Nick, those cattle have to be shot.

Thas the way is always done.

Thas the only way to do it.

I've given my orders.

I know you have...

and I've passed it on to the men.

But now if you'll just let me
say what I've got to say...

then I'll shut up.

I can understand your
wanting to help Mariano-

You know, I knew Mariano a year
before he was allowed to talk to me?

He was 10 years old.
So was I.

He used to sit in the corner
in my old clothes...

and watch his mother
scrub these floors.

Every day she came to clean
the Barkley palacio.

If Mariano opened his mouth,
she'd say, "Don't bother the senores!"

Finally he was allowed
to play with us- a little bit.

That is, uh-

That is, if he was respectful...

and, uh, called me Senor Nick.

Two 10-year-old boys.
Senor Nick.

Do you know what that herd
means to him? Do you?

What if it was yours?

Wouldn't you lie for it,
steal for it, even k*ll for it?

I'm sorry, Nick.

Like Mariano said...

my brother's a good man.

Whether they brought it up from Mexico
or caught it from some miasma in our pasture...

doesn't really matter, does it?

Either way, we can't let
Mariano move his herd...

without risking an outbreak
of anthrax among our own-

just like the one we had
five years ago.

How many head did we
lose that time, Nick?

Close to 3,000.

As I see it,
we only have two choices:

k*lling Mariano's cattle, which is
the traditional way of handling the problem...

or keeping them contained in the pasture
until they die by themselves.

They're both so drastic.
Isn't there something else?

Has anyone ever heard
of vaccination?

- Of what? Mm-mm.
- Vaccination.

Is a new technique they're
experimenting with at school.

It was developed by a Frenchman,
a Professor Pasteur. Is a new cure for anthrax.

Yes, I've heard of Pasteur and his theories.

- Anything to it?
- I don't know.

Most reputable scientists
seem to think is all a lot of nonsense.

At any rate,
is still just experimental.

But it works. I've seen it.

Professor Hawthorne at school
is experimenting with Pasteur's methods.

- He injects some of the anthrax
germs into healthy cattle- - Germs?

Yeah. They're tiny organisms
visible only under a microscope.

Pasteur says they cause anthrax,
and a lot of other things too.

And you can't see 'em?

- No.
- Hmm.

Hmm. Something
like elves and fairies.

I've seen it work.

- Gene, I'm sorry.
- Heath.!

Heath.

Gene. Gene, dear,
don't be angry with them.

If they seem intolerant, is just because
they're not used to feeling helpless.

Don't worry, Mother.
I'm not angry with them.

I'm going back
to the university tonight.

There's a train leaving
for Berkeley in about an hour.

So all of Mariano's cattle
will have to die...

one by one... by one.

Take your men and leave us alone!

Mariano, we don't want anybody k*lled!
Now, be sensible!

You be sensible!
We're taking our cattle out of here!

Mariano, we don't want
anybody k*lled!

But if you force it, we'll k*ll!

Caporal, les give up.

We will not give up!
We'll fight to the end!

Did you hear what he said?

Yeah, I heard what he said.
They're gonna die fighting-

for less than 90 scraggly steers.

- Mother.
- Gene.

Professor Hawthorne,
my mother, Mrs. Barkley.

- How do you do? How on earth-
- Madam.

I got to Berkeley at 4:00 this morning.
I persuaded the professor to come with me.


I'll get you some coffee.

Oh, is all right, Mrs. Barkley.

Eugene seemed to feel it was urgent.

Mother, Professor Hawthorne
has a cure for anthrax... right there.

- It can work.
- Can?

If the disease isn't too far advanced
in the animals, it will work.

Massive doses have cured anthrax before.
I've seen it happen.

Is it safe?

As I see it, Mrs. Barkley,
you have nothing to lose...

by letting me vaccinate those animals...
and everything to gain.

Mother, Professor Hawthorne has worked
directly with Professor Pasteur.

Have faith in him.
Have faith in me.

Follow me, please.

Mother, I can't ask Mariano
to go along with this-

some experimental vaccine
that nobody's ever heard of.

- I-
- Well, I can.

Mariano has no choice,
and neither have we.

Mariano!

- Mariano!
- I can hear you.

I can also sh**t you,
so be very careful.

I trusted you once.
Now you must trust me.

We may be able
to save your cattle.

- You will save my cattle?
- Is possible.

- You'll let us move out?
- Not yet. But if we can cure them, we'll let you move.

Cure them?
There is no cure for anthrax.

Professor Hawthorne thinks otherwise.

- Professor? What are you- a schoolteacher?
- Yes.

You expect me to believe a schoolteacher
has a cure for anthrax?

- Tell him how it works, Professor.
- Certainly.

You see, I inject the vaccine
into the animal with this syringe.

Now, is painless. From then on,
healthy animals are immune from anthrax.

- Immune?
- Yes, they won't catch it from other animals.

Catch it from other animals?
Why should they catch it?

They don't get it from other animals.
There is a miasma in that field.

If I can move out the healthy cattle,
they will be safe.

- You see-
- Look, you don't understand.

The professor's trying to tell you
that the disease is caused by germs-

tiny organisms too small
to see without a microscope.

- Ahh.
- Mariano.

What if we test it
with some of our own cattle?

Then we could see if it harms them.

Hmm. What difference
does it make to you, senor, huh?

If you lose one steer,
you have thousands.

All right, we'll pay you
top price for your cattle.

Now you have no risk
in vaccinating them.

No, senora. The money
is important to me, yes.

But there is one thing
more important.

I am the first one of my people
to drive a herd to the stock sale...

and that you can't take away from me.

However, there is one way.

- Prince Oxford.
- No!

Good faith, senor, huh?

Stick that needle into that
ten-thousand-dollar prize bull...

and then I will believe
in your good faith.

Heath, bring the bull out here.

I don't usually make a request twice.

- No, no.
- Why not? You agreed.

I'm sorry, senora. No.

Your bull is very strong.

That vaccine could be a needle
full of water, for all I know.

If you use it out here, and
the bull does not get anthrax...

it only proves that your bull is strong
enough to survive a needle full of water.

Put him in there... where
the miasma is k*lling my cattle.

Leave him in that part
of the pasture.

Then- Then we will see
if it works.

Well?

I'm sure ill work, Mother.

Muchas gracias.

Gracias, senora.

El toro es enfermo.

You really expect
that bull will live now?

Well, if we do lose him...

we can say we took a chance
to prove our good faith.

If the serum works,
how long will it usually take?

I have seen dramatic
recoveries within an hour...

but you can't tell.

Caporal?

The bull is dead.

Dead?

He is dead.

No!

- Mariano, what do you think-
- Let go! Please let go!

- Put it down!
- I have to sh**t my cattle. I cannot let them live.

- If you sacrifice your prize bull-
- Put it down!

Look at 'em! Look at 'em, Mariano!

They're not even listening to you.

They're not as ashamed
as you are. Put it down!

I'm sorry, senor.

You're the one man in the world
who ever treated me with respect...

and I have lied to you twice.

He moves.!

He moves! He is alive!

Did you see?

To Mariano and his next herd.

May it be as rewarding
as the one he sold today.

- Gracias, senora.
- To Mariano!

I thought maybe you'd like to start your
next herd with Prince Oxforïs newest son.

He's, uh, vaccinated, of course.

Oh, trouble.