11x28 - A Matter of Circumstance

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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11x28 - A Matter of Circumstance

Post by bunniefuu »

Little Joe! Mr. Hoss
ready go any minute now.

All right, horses'll
be ready in a second.

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Take it easy. Easy.

That's it.

Come on.

Come on, let's go.

- There you go, Pa. All set.
- Oh, good.

Here comes the angel of mercy.

You notice every time
we have a cattle drive,

Hop Sing has a sick cousin
he has to take care of?

Yeah, just lucky, I reckon.

Hey, you ain't got another sick
cousin you could loan me, have you?

What I'd like to know is
how do you get your cousin

to send the telegrams
just at the right time?

Just lucky.

Maybe Hop Sing get
job in Sacramento,

find boss not yak-yak
all time when cousin sick.

There you go, brother.

Hey, by the looks of this weather,
we're liable to get a little wet.

Well, we've been wet before.

Joe, I hope this new cook, this
Griffin, I hope he's dependable.

Well, he swears he is. Told
him to put the supplies on our bill.

He said he'd be here six
o'clock tomorrow morning

with a wagon
provisioned, ready to go.

Well, that should put you in
Beaver Flats before sundown.

- Be a lot of us there ready to eat.
- We'll be there.

Just make sure you
got a hot supper for us.

Don't worry about it. If you're
not there, I'll eat it myself.

- Yeah, I bet.
- Let's go!

Take care.

Hop Sing, you take it
easy. Have a good trip, huh?

You be good boy, Little Joe.

Don't worry. Say hello
to your cousin for me.

All right.

Easy, easy.

Easy, now. Easy. Easy, easy.
Come on. Whoa, now. Easy.

Easy.

Easy, easy, easy.

Easy. Easy,
girl. It's all right.

That's all right. Just a little
lightning and thunder. Come on.

That's it. Come on.

Whoa. That's it. Easy, easy.

Easy.

No, easy. Easy.

Come on.

Herd looks smaller this year.

'Cause they're not all
there. Least not yet, anyway.

You mean to tell me you fellas
ain't got most of 'em rounded up?

It's the weather. Made 'em
stick a little deeper in the brush.

Mainly, though, I figured we ought
to save some chasin' for you and Joe.

It figures.

Better get back to camp
before that storm breaks.

Well, I think I'm gonna try
to get me some shut-eye.

Another cup of coffee in
the pot. You want some?

Nah. Postponin' it ain't gonna
make this bedroll any warmer.

Sounds like you're losin' your
taste for the great outdoors.

I ain't never had no taste for the
outdoors and never claimed I did.

That's my little brother. He
just thrives on cold weather.

Oh, is that so? I
didn't know that.

Yeah. He'd probably go
barefooted in a blue norther.

A blue norther?

That's hard to believe.

No harder to believe than most of
the sour grapes I've been listening to.

Well, sour grapes
it is, all right.

Yeah, sure... sure
sounds good to me.

I'm dog tired. I'm gonna
get me some shut-eye.

I wish I was the one back
there waitin' for that cook.

A warm fire and
a hot toddy. Huh.

Be laughin' like a
grub eatin' burrs.

Tarnation, boy! What
did you do that for?

Couldn't get you awake.
You had too much to drink.

Well, there ain't nothing wrong
with havin' a drink with a old friend.

Not if it's one drink.

You cost us six hours, likely
that job with the Cartwrights.

Blast you, boy. You
talk just like your ma.

If I ever get myself dry, you're gonna
wish you never seed no more water.

- But, Pa, I...
- Don't "But Pa" me.

You get that team hitched up, you're
so all-fired anxious about this job.

Whoa, team.

Hello in the house!

There ain't nobody here.

Well, they... they may just have
gone on ahead of us, that's all.

You see? I told
you we'd be too late.

Cut out your jabberin' and get
on down and check the barn.

Whoa.

Nobody here, Pa.

We better hope they
didn't b*at us to the flatlands

and get somebody
to take our place.

Gee up, team.

Easy, now. Whoa.

Easy.

Whoa.

Whoa. Whoa.

Go on.

This is a hell of a day.

Whoa.

What are you stopping here for?

'Cause this here's the flats and this
is where we're supposed to meet 'em.

- Ain't nobody been through here.
- That's right.

Appears like we made
it in plenty of time.

You mean to wait here?

Why not?

'Cause the longer that
drive is without hot meals,

the likelier they're gonna find
someone to provide them, that's why.

Boy, you are bound and
determined to rile me, ain't you?

Pa, there ain't no way
we can miss a whole herd.

All we gotta do is move north.

Chances are they'll
be so glad to see us,

they won't even be
mad over you bein' late.

So help me, if we miss
that herd, ma or no ma,

you're gonna stay
home next time.

Giddap!

Four o'clock and all's well.

It's cold.

Go and make a fire.

I'll get a little fire goin'.

A nice fire.

That'll teach you not to
bring in the wood at night.

Hey! Hey!

Have me a nice
warm cup of coffee.

- Want some?
- Yeah.

What's for supper?

Jerky, same as breakfast.

Oh, shuck it, man.

- Coffee?
- Yeah.

You sure were right,
Candy. It's slow goin'.

Well, they keep at it, we should
be able to move 'em out before dark.

Mmm... Ah, never mind. We'll
get an early start in the morning.

Hey, hey, what happened
to that wagon, anyhow?

Well, I mean, if we're
gonna be here all night,

I'd sure like to
start the day out

on something a little
more substantial than jerky.

I mean, like steak and eggs.

Well, Joe knows we're late.
He's probably on his way.

He's liable not to
come all the way.

I think I'll go ride and
see if I can find him.

All right.

Hey, I'm not too fond
of this jerky myself.

Hey, this wagon's
a sight for sore eyes,

that is if you're the cook
my little brother hired.

You see? I told
you we'd find 'em.

Hush up, boy. Well, I am
if your name be Cartwright.

That's right, Hoss.
You must be Griffin.

Yeah, Abram. This
here's my boy, Tim.

- Hi.
- Hi. How are you, young man?

Where's Little Joe, anyhow?

Well, we... we kind of
missed connections, you know,

so I come on without him.

Well, he'll catch up
with us sooner or later.

Let's get you rollin' right now. I
don't wanna be late for supper.


All right.

Take 'em out.

Ooh.

You want some more
of these ham hocks?

- Oh, no, no, no.
- There's plenty more in the pot.

No, thanks. All filled up.

Uh, Mr. Cartwright?

Oh, no. No more
for me, thank you.

- Thank you.
- Sure was good.

Boy, my little brother made no
mistake when he put you on the job.

Thank you.

- Here you go.
- Watch it, now. It's hot.

- Yeah.
- He made a mistake somewhere.

He's not here. Sorry
you missed connections.

Oh, no, sir. We
didn't miss anything.

- When we got to the house...
- Hush up, Tim.

I didn't know you'd
gone by the house.

Well, Pa didn't want
you to know we was late.

Just... We was only a
couple, two or three hours late.

Your... Your boy just went
on ahead of us, that's all.

You sure about that?

That's all he had to do, was
hang around there and wait for you.

Well, now, there weren't nobody there.
I mean, the boy even checked the barn.

- You can ask him.
- That's the honest truth, I swear.

Well, stop worrying
about it. He'll be along.

- Thank you.
- Yeah.

Hmm. I wonder what
happened to him.

I get the feeling Little Joe thought
that Griffin wasn't gonna show up,

so he went into Virginia
City to look for a new cook.

- Could be.
- Yeah.

Gangrene. Gangrene.

"The infection of gangrene
runs its course more severely,

much quicker in some cases.

Swelling and dusky redness.
Deep-seated burning pain.

In the course of a few hours,

deep... discoloration which
spreads through the tissues.

Death...

Any attempt to
save part of the...

may be hopeless.

Patient's only
chance lies in amp...

ampu... tation."

"The ampu... The
amputation is necessary...

The...

The amputation is
nec... necess... ary..."

No.

"A p... A poultice of tea and
tobacco is sometimes valuable."

A poultice of tea and tobacco
is sometimes... valuable.

You stay awake.

Just keep the poultice on.

Stay awake.

It says in the book.

It's a good book.

"A poultice... of tea
is sometimes valuable.

Hold the throbbing wound."

The mare was so silly.

Scared of a door
and some lightning.

I can't blame her.

Maybe I blame the
door and some lighting.

This is a good book, though.

It's got everything.

No one... has yet
explained why the infection...

runs the course more severely...

or much quicker in some cases.

When Hop Sing
sees his kitchen...

I can hear him now,
yelling out in Chinese.

Oh, God, I don't... I don't...

God, please.

It's gonna be all right.

It's gonna be all right. It's...

Follow the book. The
poultice'll keep you alive.

Come on, young 'un.

You two better hurry up.
We're ready to move out.

- Yeah, that's all right. You go ahead.
- What's wrong?

Pa just figured somebody
ought to ride back and warn Joe

so he don't come followin' after
us with an extra chuck wagon.

Go ahead, Candy.
We'll catch up with you.

Whatever you say.
Give my best to Joe.

All right, let's go.

Not like Joe to leave
his horse untied like this.

Dried blood.

That book that Joe
read was entirely correct.

Joe's diagnosis was correct
too, even though a bit premature.

Amputation is a harsh remedy,

but, fortunately, due to the infection,
he didn't have the strength to do it.

But he's young and he's strong.

It'll take a while,
but he'll be fine.

You know, making a decision
like that takes more courage

than just lettin' go
sometimes, Ben.

He's quite a boy.

He'd do anything to get out
of a roundup, wouldn't he?
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