10x29 - The Fence

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Bonanza". Aired: September 12, 1959 - January 16, 1973.*
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Set during and after the Civil w*r, "Bonanza" is the story of Ben and his 3 sons on the family's thousand-acre spread, known as the Ponderosa, near Virginia City.
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10x29 - The Fence

Post by bunniefuu »

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 k*lled
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 k*lling 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 w*r.

Lived there all during the
w*r, 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 w*r, 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 sh*t.

- 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 k*ll 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 g*ns.

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-w*r 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 w*r.

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 d*ed 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 r*fles.

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 d*ed."

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 sh*t for that.

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

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

k*lling 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 sh*t.

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 sh**ting
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 k*lled.

Oh, thank you.

Shh.

Shh, shh.

Stop! Stop!

Two sh*ts. Go see what happened.

- Right.
- And no k*lling.

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
sh**t me there for?

Well, if you hadn't tripped, I
wouldn't have sh*t 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 w*r 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 b*llet?

He's dead both ways.

And the first principle of warfare
is to k*ll 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 sh*t...

or be k*lled.

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 m*rder*r.

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 sh**t'?

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

and a man with a r*fle
is walking with them.

But it looks more like
talkin' than sh**t'.

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 w*r'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 k*ll 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 d*ed just before
the camp broke up.

There were many
memories I wanted to forget.

- This man is guilty of m*rder.
- 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 d*ed

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 d*ed inside the camp,

and his wife d*ed
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. k*lled 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.
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