Intruder in the Dust (1949)

[bunniefuu]

INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Sam, am I going to have my shoes shined?

Not today, mister.

Where's the shine boy?

Where they’re all at?

Seems to me I ain’t seen one
darky one since yesterday.

Ain't you heard?

No, heard what?

-One of the Gowrie boys.
-Been shot dead.

A Gowrie? Now, who would
do a fool thing like that?

Shot in the back by a n*gg*r!

-It's him. It's the sheriff!
-Bring him in?

-Can’t tell.
-I never thought he'd do it!

He's here! The sheriff’s got him. Come on!

Knock it off again, sheriff.

Knock off his head next time.

Don't bother the sheriff.
The Gowries will do it for him

Get out of here.
Get back to the barbershop.

Got a flat tire, sheriff.
Somebody tries to slow you?

Maybe. Somebody that don't know me anyhow.

You, young man!

Tell you uncle I wants to see him.

Wanna see who?

Lawyer Stevens, John Stevens,

He wants to see a lawyer.

Lawyer? He ain't even gonna
need an undertaker.

I told you to go at once.
Get on out of here.

I ain't gonna tell you again.

Why, Chick! You're perspiring.
You're wet through.

Where you been?

You missed Sunday-school and the
picture show doesn’t start till 6:00.

Perhaps there are other attractions.

Gosh, I’m hungry!

Is that a proper way to behave?

Coming in here without a word of greeting?

No, sir.

This is your home...

Well?

Hello, Mum.

Hello, father.

Hello, uncle John.

Paralee !

Bring the chicken in again.

I don’t know if there’s any left.

Paralee's upset today.

I don't see why.
She's not related to that m*rder*r.

Or is she?

No. Neither is Chick.

Now, Chick, suppose you
explain where you been.

Nowhere in particular.

Nowhere in particular
is a mighty large place.

I reckon you can do better than that.

May I please have the salt?

More coffee, Paralee.

You waited outside the jail
with that riffraff

from the pool hall and
the barbershop, didn't you?

Did you see what you expected to see?

They didn't do anything.
They just stood there, that's all.

I want you to stay home until this is
cleaned up, over, finished and done with.

It's happened before
and it's bound to happen again.

Nothing for us to get excited about.

I have to run up to Memphis for a couple
of days. Business being the way it is,

I don't want to have to worry
about you too, you understand?

That applies to Aleck too.

I told him but he don't listen to me.

He listens to Chick. I ain't
no friend of his, I'm just his mum.

Everybody's gonna stay right here at home.

All this fuss and nonsense
is simply because...

...your friend Lucas Beauchamp really
seems to have done it this time.

Yes, they're gonna make a n*gg*r out
of him once in his life, anyway.

Why, Chick!

Let me talk to him.

What in heaven's name...

Why, he hasn't even finished!

It's terrifying, I know,
but we've got to face it.

He just doesn't like his napkin up here.

It makes him feel as though
he's not quite grown up.

But he isn’t.

- He'd better not be.
- Let me go up and talk to him.

Tell him I said to come down finish
his dinner! Whether he's hungry or not!

Tell me what happened?

Why did he have to go and
do a thing like that?

Who knows?
We'll never really know.

Your friend Lucas Beauchamp...

He's not my friend!

Chick, you mustn't take this so seriously.

I’m not.

Can't help it.

Why? Tell me why?

I don't know.

You must tell me, Chick.

I don't know if I can.

Try... You're old enough to try.

And maybe I'm old enough to understand.

It's quite a while ago...

I went hunting with Alexander.

On the old Edmonds’ place?

It was November, pretty cold.

We were hunting rabbit.

We hadn't jumped on all morning.

My g*n!

Get the pole out of his
way so he can get out.

That was just about the first time

I saw Lucas Beauchamp.

Come on to my house.

Take his g*n.

Then I realized we were
hunting on his land.

I remember you told me the story -
his grandfather was a sl*ve.

He got this land as a gift.
You told me why.

‘cause his grandfather was first
cousin to the man that owned him.

So grandfather to father to son
came to Lucas Beauchamp.

It was 10 acres all his own, smack in
the middle of the whole plantation.

It was Lucas Beauchamp’s land

and Lucas Beauchamp
proved it every step he took.

His land and his house.

Strip off.

Strip off.

There was something else,
just what I'd expected.

He made eat me the dinner
that was cooked for him.

What's that for?

Pick it up!

Pick up this money.

Give it to him.

I was so angry.

I was so awful ashamed.

He knew what I didn't know.

What I didn't have sense
enough to understand.

He knew all the time, and I didn't,
that I was his guest in his home.

Now go on and sh**t your rabbit.

And stay out of that creek.

Then I could hardly
wait of Christmas.

I went downtown and bought Lucas
Beauchamp for the best cigars.

A package of snuff for
his wife Molly.

That was to pay him his
70 cents with interest.

But the next day he made
me take it back again.

A batch of homemade molasses.

A gift from him to me.

It was worse this time.

Because he had a white
boy bring it to me!

This time it had to be
finished, once and for all.

Out of what you've paid me
I saved a quarter a week

till finally there was enough.

Enough so he couldn't pay me back.
Enough so he wouldn't even if he could.

Mother helped me.

We bought a dress,
good enough to wear on Sundays,

and had it sent to his wife Molly.

I thought Lucas would
have to come now.

Take off his hat and say,
“Thank you, Mr Mallinson”.

But he didn’t.

I saw him in town just
once after that.

He didn't even see me.
I wasn't there.

He didn't even see
I was out there.

I thought, “Now it's
finished, it's all over”.

Then I heard you say
his wife was dead.

Been dead when I sent her the dress.
He was grieving.

I reckon you can be sad or
proud or even lonely...

inside a black skin too.

I went to see him. Not to his house,
I wasn't gonna be caught that way.

I picked neutral ground
this time, Fraser's store.

He came by there any
Saturday afternoon.

They were watching him.
Two of the Gowrie boys.

One of them was Crawford Gowrie...

The other was Vinson,
a younger brother.

You crummy bigoted n*gg*r!

Get out of here, Lucas !

Get the blazes out of here, you fool!

I didn't go after him.
I couldn't.

I don't know why.

Maybe because Vinson Gowrie
was white and I was white.

And Lucas Beauchamp was not.

Right in these woods, on a Saturday
afternoon, a few weeks later,

he k*lled Vinson Gowrie.
Shot him in the back.

Yet he thinks I'm his friend.

Well, go on.

He wants a lawyer.

Is that all?

He asked for you.

Uncle John, can't you go right now?

What's the hurry?

Chick... nothing's going to happen.

They never start anything in the daytime.

They'd be ashamed to see
each other's faces.

Suppose they're not.

They'll wait for the Gowries.

They won't do a thing without the Gowries
and the Gowries have to bury Vinson

before they do anything about
anybody that isn't a Gowrie.

Then they'll come and drag him
out of jail and hang him up?

The Gowries are not much
good except to fish and fight.

And raise enough corn
to boil up some whiskey.

But it's Sunday, even for a Gowrie.

And they'll wait until Sunday's
past until midnight at least.

Suppose they don't?

Then there's a steel door and the
sheriff Hampton. It's his job.

Not yours and not mine.

But you are gonna see him,
aren't you?

-There isn't much I can do for him now.
- Uncle John!

All right, I'll go.

I want to go with you.

All right. After supper.

- But suppose they come?
- What then?

Lucas should have thought of that
before he shot a white man in the back!

Come on. Finish your dinner.

Good evening, Mr Liley.

You’re early, aren’t you?

The Gowrie folks got chores to do
before they can get into town.

Maybe they'll decide to stay
at home on a Sunday night.

Sure not.
It’s not their fault it's Sunday.

He oughta thought of that before taking to
k*ll a white man on Saturday afternoon.

I agree.

My wife ain't feeling well tonight,
but if they need any help...

I expect they know they can
depend on you, Mr Liley.

You see he has nothing against Lucas.

He'll probably tell you likes him
better he does a lot of white folks.

All he requires is that
Lucas act like a n*gro,

which he believes is what
mustn’t have happened.

He m*rder*d the white man.

Now the white folks are gonna
take him out and burn him.

No hard feelings on either side.

In fact Mr Liley will probably
be one of the first

to contribute cash money
to Lucas's funeral.

and to support of his widow
and children if they had any.

- What’s that?
- Some of Mr Liley's friends.

Good evening.

So you had to get mixed up in it too.
Seems like you can't let well not alone?

I'm his lawyer.

Will here won't even shut the front door!

Well I'm doing just what the sheriff said.

He's paying me five dollars a night to
resist and that's just what I'm gonna do.

Does the sheriff think that doing
funny papers gonna stop the Gowries?

Oh, I don't expect
stopping them by myself.

I've got you and you've got a p*stol.

Me? Me get in their way for $75 a month?

Better for everybody if afternoon folks

had took him as soon as
they laid hands on him yesterday.

But they didn’t and I
don't think they will.

Oh, don't mind me!
I'm gonna do the best I can.

I've taken an oath of office too.

How am I gonna live with myself

if I let a parcel of no-good Gowries
take a prisoner away from me?

And don't think nobody's gonna
make me admit I like it.

I got a wife and two children.

What good am I to them
if I get myself k*lled?

Look at that.

They ain’t asleep. Not one.

And I don't blame them when a mob
of white men are gonna bust in here

with pistols and cans of gasoline.

It won't be the first time that
all the blacks look alike.

- He’s in a cell ?
- Yes, it’s orders.

I don't know what the next white
man gonna think about it!

I've taken the blanket off the cot though.

Maybe because he won't be here long
enough to have to go to sleep.

Well, old man, you played
the devil this time!

Then you can take my case?

Take your case? What do you mean?
Defend you before the judge?

I'm gonna pay you.
You don't have to worry.

I don't defend murdereres who
sh**t people in the back.

Let's forget the trial.
We haven’t come to it yet.

Now I wants to hire somebody.
Don't have to be a lawyer.

To do what?

Is you or ain't you gonna take the job?

I'd already taken your case
before I came in here.

I'm going to tell you what to do as
soon as you've told me what happened.

Never mind...
What I want is...

You tell the Gowries never mind it
when they bust in here tonight.

- So you don't want the job?
- No.

But I'll do it just the same.

Now tell me exactly why
you k*lled Vinson Gowrie.

Was it on acount of that trouble
on Fraser’s store two months ago?

I was there, uncle John.
I'd be your witness.

That's Lucas’s trouble now.
He's got too many witnesses already.

There was two white folks,
partners in the sawmill.

Leastways they was buying
lumber at the sawmill.

Who were they?

Vinson Gowrie was one of them.

Lucas, has it ever occurred to you that,
if he just said “Mister” to white people,

you might not be sitting here now?

So I'm to commence now?

I can start off by saying “Mister”
folks that drags me out of here

and builds a fire under me.

Nothing's gonna happen to you. Nobody
takes liberties with sheriff Hanson.

Sheriff Hamson’s home in bed.

He’s appointed Will Legate to
sit downstairs with a shotgun.

Will Legate?
I don’t know Will Legate.

The deer hunter. The man that hit a
running rabbit with a 30-30 r*fle.

The Gowries ain't no deer, it
might be catamounts and panthers.

Ain't no deer.

All right,

I'll stay here with you till morning, if
it makes you feel any better. Now go on.

Vinson Gowrie was part in the lumber deal.
Who was the other man?

Vinson Gowrie is the only
one that's public yet.

And he got public by being shot
in the back in broad daylight!

Well, that's one way to do it!

All right, who is the other partner?
What was his name?

Some other man...

He was stealing a load of
lumber every night or so.

- How do you know?
- I've seen him!

All right. Then what?

Now you answer me some questions.

Is you or ain’t you gonna take the case?

You haven't got a case.

You Lucas Beauchamp took a p*stol

and went to straighten right or
wrong between two white men.

What did you expect?
What else did you expect?

You don't want justice. You want mercy.

Well?

Well what?

The rest of it. What happened?

That's all.

Then I'll tell you.

You went to Fraser’s store
and met Vinson Gowrie.

You told him somebody was robbing him.

He cursed you and called you a liar.
Whether it was true or not.

Naturally he would have to do that.

Maybe he even knocked
you down and walked on.

And you shot him in the back.

Never nobody knocked me down!

So much the worse!
It's not even self-defense!

Now you listen to me.

I'm gonna get you tried in another county.

Persuade the district attorney
since they don't know you

that you're an old man, never
been in trouble before.

You'll plead guilty and ask for mercy.

I hope they'll send
you to the penitentiary,

where you'll be safe.

I made this offer once
and I'll make it again:

do you want me to stay with you tonight?

I reckon not.
They kept me up all last night.

I will try to get some sleep.

if you stay here you’ll talk till morning.

How do you expect to get me help anybody?

I don't want help. I pays my way.

You won't pay your way out of this.

It’s broken.

You might bring me a can of tobacco.
Them Gowries leaves me time to smoke it.

Tomorrow. We don’t want to
keep you awake tonight.

You're gonna help him, aren't you?

Of course I am.
Whether he wants me to or not.

Ask for a change of venue,
plead him guilty.

Then maybe he'll tell you
what really happened.

I know what happened.
He k*lled Vinson Gowrie.

No matter what the provocation
and he probably had plenty.

Nevertheless he's k*lled a man.

But there was something he
wanted to tell you.

I know the answer to that too.

He was going to tell me a lie
he knew I couldn't believe.

And being his lawyer
I'd have to pretend I did.

No. I know what happened and
I know the only cure for it.

Come on, let's go home.

Am i taking that tobacco?

It can wait for the morning.

Your father told me before he
left to see you didn't go anywhere.

I know!

Then you get home just as fast as you can!

What again?

- I forgot something.
- Let it rest till morning.

Let him get it tonight.

I'm afraid if he leaves it for the
morning he might get in trouble.

Don't open the door.
I can attend to it through the bars.

All right, what do you want me to do?

Go out there.

Out where ?

Where the Gowries bury. It's at a chapel.

That's nine miles out to the
bridge, turn up into the hills.

All you got to do is go and look at him.

Me? Why should I do such a thing?

Come here!

Because my p*stol is a 41 Colt.

All right, suppose it is. Then what?

He wasn't shot with no 41 Colt.

What was he shot with?

What g*n was he shot with, Lucas?

I’m gonna pay you. Name a price
within reason and I’ll pay you..

But why me?
What can I do about it?

Because you ain’t cluttered.
You can listen.

But a man like your uncle he ain't
got time, he's too full of notions.

Tell me what you want me to do.

Them buries at Caledonia Chapel.

Up in that part of the county?
Up in midnight?

Even the sheriff won't go up there unless
they send for. And you want me to.

Anyway I have to be back by
midnight, or the Gowries...

I know it's about the Gowries.

Even midnight will be too late...

Don’t see how I can make it.

I'll try to wait.

Wait!

What did he tell you?

Nothing, Mr Gowrie.

You've been up to see him twice.

Why not? Why shouldn't I?

He k*lled my kid brother.

And I'm here to see that don't
nobody sneak him over the county line

where we can't get at him!

Now you tell me what
you went up there for?

He asked me to bring him some tobacco.

Tobacco!

We buried Vinson this morning.
You know how he was k*lled?

Tell me what he told you.

He said it wasn't his g*n.

He's a smart n*gg*r.
I'd say the same thing.

So he told you it wasn't his g*n?

If I were Lucas, or any
other ignorant m*rder*r,

I’d claim exactly the same thing myself.

- That's just what Crawford Gowrie said.
- Where?

Outside the jail.

The Gowries are there already...

And you come to me and I say no
more than what a Gowrie says.

Well, it's true. In matters of life and
death a man's vocabulary is mighty small.

Oh, excuse me.
Good evening, Miss Habersham.

Good evening.

Whereas, in the matter of
Miss Haberham's truck,

in dreadful collision two hours ago
with a worn-out rooster,

but your neighbor Mr Winston

swears and contends is a sign
of high pedigreed stock,

worth at least seven dollars,

there are all the words in the world!

Why if he had to sh**t a white
man did he do it up there?

He couldn't have picked a worse place
for himself in this whole county!

Maybe not in the whole world...

If he had to do it there,
why did he pick a Gowrie?

And if he picked a Gowrie why did
he have to sh**t him in the back?

Maybe he didn't?

Maybe we might find out if we
went up to where he was buried.

Now tell me. What did Lucas ask you to do?

Maybe the sheriff could do it.

Do exactly what?

Dig him up.

What?

To get the b*llet out and look at it.

- Why in heaven's name?
- To see that it come from a 41 Colt.

Dig up Vinson Gowrie out of ground
he's been prayed and consecrated into?

Violate the Gowrie’s grave to save
a black from punishment?

I'd rather tell old man
Gary I wanted to exhume

his boy's body to get the
gold out of its teeth!

Even if Lucas's story were true,
even if every word of it were true,

even then we couldn't do it.
Not you not you and not me...

and not sheriff Hampton

or not not the governor, not the
President of the United States!

It’s Chick !

- Aleck, you cannot go nowhere tonight.
- I didn't say I was.

It’s Chick.

Leave it be.

Go ahead if you want to!

That Lucas thinks he’s so smart!

Why do you have to go and
do a thing like that?

Do just what you wanna do!

I ain’t going nowhere.
At least, I ain’t going far.

Where you going?

- Far enough.
- Where is that?

Where I don't have to see or hear
anything that ever happens tonight.

I ain't had enough feed to go that far!

What did Lucas tell you?

- He said it wasn't his p*stol.
- I know. But then what?

He wants me to dig up the body..

Well?

I can’t! Even if i could,
what would uncle John say?

I’ve got a flashlight in my car.

Can you get some tools?
A pick and a shovel?

Gonna do no good.
He’ll be burned just the same.

Just exactly the same before you get
to digging anything about any place.

How far?

Caledonian Chapel.
It's on the hill beyond the bridge.

Then we do need the horse.

We?
You expect to come?

We’ll park the truck
at the bottom of the hill.

Then we must ride downhill.
We’ll make less noise.

Can you drive?

I ain’t supposed to go!

I know.

Neither's Mr Stevens.
Neither is the sheriff,

or the governor, or the
President of the United States.

For that matter neither am I.
But somebody’s got to do it.

Don't go cross the bridge.
Makes too much noise.

We’ve got to cross the creek.

- What’s the matter with him?
- He smells quicksand.

A mule coming down the hill.

Who's that on the mule?

I couldn't even see it was a mule.

I couldn't see anything!

Suppose he saw us.
Suppose he comes back and catches us.

Maybe he had something to hide.

Here it is.

This don't need any pick.

So much the better.

Get a plank and help him.

All right, Aleck. Get out.

We need a crowbar.

And a rope. We forgot the rope.

It’s empty.

You wouldn't come here at 4:00 a.m.
with a tale like that if wasn't so.

Looks he might be innocent.

He could have k*lled Vinson
Gowrie, but he never dug him up.

Because Vinson wasn't
buried to Sunday afternoon.

By that time Lucas had been locked up
in that cell for almost six hours.

Vinson isn't in that grave.

But officially is, by the
county records he is,

So you want me to dig him
up again officially?

A Gowrie grave in Gowrie ground.

Who's gonna get the permission?

Aren't you the sheriff?

But you're the lawyer. You're the talker.

And tell him what?

That we're trying to save
the black skin of a man

who was found with a fired p*stol
over a dead Gowrie?

It'll take more than a lawyer to do that.

Well, we're going up to that
graveyard without permission,

but we'll wait it's broad daylight.

We didn't.

And what's gonna happen to
Lucas in the meantime?

That's an iron door, Miss Eunice.

There's the key to it.

Meaning Mr Tubbs is only a man.

Legate has a 12-gauge
shotgun, ain’t only a man.

If there aren’t enough Gowries and their
kin, enough workers and their kin!

She means that if enough
of them get together,

they'll pass even with Legate
and his 12-gauge shotgun.

- Oh, we'll be back before then.
- And if you're not?

He's doing the best
his judgment tells him to.

You can't ask more than that.

If you mean these two children and
me, we're not asking anything.

It's Lucas you've got to account for...
or account to.

Miss Eunice, ain't none of us up to doing
anything before we've had some breakfast.

Drink your coffee. That's the quickest
way to get Mr Hampton started!

What I'd like to know is how the same
Lucas could convince me he was guilty

and convinced you he was innocent.

And you too.

What I would like to know
is what Chick and his buddy

would have done if there had
been a body in that coffin.

I don't know. I hadn't thought about it.

I did.

Oh, put some sugar in it.

You were out there too, helping to
dig up a white man’s grave! Why?

Was it because Miss Habersham made you?

Never nobody made me.
I didn't even know I was going to.

All of a sudden there I was!

Why didn't I believe Lucas?

Why didn't he trust me as
a lawyer with the truth?

You're a white man.
Worse than that, you’re a grown white man.

Oh yes. I've heard that before too.

I heard Aleck’s grandfather
tell Chick and Aleck that once:

"Do you want to get anything done?
Don't bother the men folks with it.

They're too cluttered up with facts.

Get the women and
children to working on it."

Is that what you meant?

Why don't you drink your coffee
yourself, so we can get started?

It's more than that.
There's a wall growing up between us.

Lucas can't see through it and I won't.

Well, maybe that's wrong.

We're the ones who can't see through it,
because we're the ones who are blind.

Will Legate !
What are you doing here?

Morning, Miss Habersham.

It's about daylight. I've got two miles
to walk before I can feed and milk!

You see? Who's on guard?

I'll wake Tubbs and
give him the shotgun.

Oh, it's all quiet over there.
I wouldn't left if it hadn't been.

Now, Miss Eunice, let's finish
breakfast and get started.

Mr Hampton is right, miss
Eunice, and so are you.

They will pass Will Legate sooner or
later when it was enough of them.

But there's one thing that would
stop them. Long enough anyhow.

And that's somebody without a g*n.

A lady...

A white lady.

All right.

But I'm not gonna sit there
all the morning doing nothing,

so the jailer’s wife will
think she has to talk to me.

I'll go home and get some mending
to do and feed the chickens.

Maybe Aleck’ll drive me.

You’ve gone this far and you can go
a little further. You and me both.

I reckon so...

Who can eat more than two eggs?

Well, there's one half the county had
sense enough to stay at home: the darks.

We're too late. They're gonna get him!

No, not these people. I haven't seen
any of the Gowries. Not yet anyway.

They're just going to town
to see if something happens

and to wait for the Gowries.
Wait, that’s all.

The best way to stop
supposing or denying either

is to get out there and
do what we have to do.

All right, boys, jump to it.

Let's get the work done get out of here.

What's going on around here, sheriff?

I'm going to open this grave, Mr Gowrie.

No, sheriff, not that grave.

Yes, Mr Gowrie. I'm going to open it.

Get back to the car, boys!

Never mind, boys. I ain't gonna hurt you.
I'm talking to the sheriff here.

Your boy ain't in that grave.

Don't tell me the name of the fellow that
ptoved my boy ain’t there, sheriff.

It's empty.

I saw it last night.

Grab those shovels, sons.

They belong to the county.

If we bust one, ain't nobody's
business but the grand jury’s.

What have they done with my boy?

I think you knew last night
that something was wrong.

You knew Lucas would have been
dead sometime after midnight

or as soon as you could gotten
to town, but you stayed home.

Why?

Why, Mr Gowrie?

I found some tracks. Come on!

Here! I found them again!

Here's where the animal was tied.

There is where he stopped.

Aleck said it was a mule.

Aleck who? Oh, sure, the other detective.

But did he say who it was?

Somebody who couldn't or
wouldn't let Vinsom rest.

Had to take him out and
hide him somewhere.

Anywhere, so we couldn't look
at the b*llet and name a g*n.

Somebody who knew that Vinson was never
shot with Lucas Beauchamp's 41 Colt.

It’s Vinson's partner in the
lumber deal, whoever that is?

Lucas won't tell,
at least not to his lawyer.

So you think his partner...

Who was Vinson's partner?

- We ain't found Vincent yet.
- Set your dogs to find him.

Never mind the dogs.

They'll trail and they'll catch anything
that ever ran or walked either.

But my boy never walked away from here.
And never left no trail.

Hush, now, Mr Gowrie!

The man that carried him walked
all by himself from here on!

In a dreadful terrifying hurry!

Before two boys and an old
woman discovered him at work.

So he had to do it.

Hide what he had to carry, and
do it fast, sure and quiet.

Where there would be no trace not
for a long time. A well or a river.

- Or sand!
- What sand?

Right there by the bridge.
My horse wouldn't cross last night.

- Quicksand.
- No, lawyer.

Put a man in quicksand?
My boy in quicksand?

A man who'd do a thing like that would...

Nub, give me a hand!

Get the rope off the hound dogs.

You! Cut the branches!
Anything to get him out of there.

Look out, boys!

Hurry with that branch!

Give me your hand, Nub !

I found him!
I'm standing on him!

Give me the pole.

Take it easy, boys... now.

My boy. Get my boy out of there!

All right, boys. Pull now.

Put him right here.

That’s Vinson all right.

Let's get him away from the road.

Let’s get him back in the woods
where they won't see him.

Steady. They've all passed by now anyway.

They're all in town by now.

That’s too hard. Just a 3 and a 5.

Well, Mr Gowrie.
When do you reckon you’ll get started?

He's got to wait on his dad and brothers!

Do they plant corn this morning?

Don't say that.
They're waiting to be called for juries.

Get out of the way, Miss Habersham.

I'm very comfortable where I am.

There’s one way - take and move
her and a chair out in the yard.

Or else I could do this.

Can you step out of the light
so I can thread my needle?

Miss Habersham, I won’t touch you now.

You're an old lady,
but you're in the wrong.

You're fighting the whole county.

But you're gonna get tired. And when
you do get tired, we gonna go in.

I'm going for eighty
and I'm not tired yet!

Go home.

Everyone of you!

Go home!

You ought to be ashamed!

I never see no man sh**t Vinson Gowrie.

But you must know who shot him.

Don't you realize you'll never be safe?

Not till we know who
he is and we find him.

Not till we put him right here in your
place, on this bunk, in this cell.

You’re a lawyer, you know the law.

Can they put a man in jail if
they never see him fire no shot?

Your case is slightly different.

Can you take him out
of jail and maybe burn him

if there are only suspicions that maybe...

You were standing over a dead man,

with a recently fired p*stol.

Do you call that just suspicions?

- It was Saturday...
- But why did you carry a p*stol?

Mr Carrothers sold it to me.

He always carried it on Saturdays.

But he was a white man.

So that's why.

When you dressed up on Saturday

you’d wear the p*stol
exactly like old Carrothers did.

Just as simple as that.

Downstairs in the office
they got my p*stol,

and my hat in the toothpick.
Does I get them now?

Last night I was wrong.

You were right and Chick
was right and I was wrong.

Today I'm trying to save your life.

Not for your sake, but for my own sake.

So I won't have to carry
it on my conscience.

All right.

What will you be satisfied with?

The truth. Nothing more.

There was two white folks,
partners in a sawmill...

And one was Vinson Gowrie. And the other?

I don't sleep much at nights.
So I’ve taken to walking.

Not because you suspected
anything, of course.

I’ve taken to walking...

And in the dark I come
near the sawmill.

and then I seen a light
coming straight at me.

Just like I told, there was two
folks partners in the sawmill.

And one of them was
stealing lumber every night.

Or every night he could.

And he's seen me.
So I know that weren’t the end of it.

Then I hear the mule.

This your lumber?

Who drove that truck?

You seen who drove that truck!

I knew that wouldn’t end neither.

Next Saturday afternoon,
on my way to Fraser’s store,

I seen my Saturday supper.

But I missed him.

Two miles later, when it comes
in sight of Fraser's store,

there was Vinson Gowrie.

He wanted to know before he beat me
just who’d been stealing the lumber.

And I told him I
ain't decided yet.

He told me he reckoned he'd
have to beat it out of me then.

He never did.

I don't know if it was a r*fle.
It could have been a r*fle.

But I never seen who fired it.

He could've picked me up and shot
me up, but he picked Vinson.

You know why? Because the m*rder*r
watched you every step of the way.

He saw you fire at the rabbit and
miss, so here was his chance

to m*rder the man from
whom he stole the money

and to see you lynched for
the same m*rder.

So he'd be safe and you
and Vinson would be dead.

The scheme should have worked

by every reason of
geography and psychology

and the past 200 years of
this county's history.

In fact it did work.

except that once a long time
ago, and partly by chance,

a white boy fell into the
creek on your property.

I don't know how it’s with Lucas,

but we got something
out of Vinson Gowrie.

Right up against the
back of his breastbone.

And fired out of some kind of r*fle.

Who fired that r*fle?

You forget I'd seen no r*fle.

But certainly you must know
or suspect or even guess.

Not personally. I don't wanna send
no man in jail I ain't seen personally.

- Lucas, why don't you trust me?
- Ain’t no need to it.

Listen to me. It wasn't your p*stol, true.

You didn't move the body
down to the creek, true.

But try to explain
the truth to the mob

waiting there all night
for something to k*ll.

Don't you see you'll never be
safe till we catch the m*rder*r?

All right. I'll show you how to catch him.

Put the right bait in the right trap.

How do you propose to do that?

Give me my hat and let me go home.

Can't do that.

Sure we can. On the strength
of this he's a free man now.

But you walk out this jail and
you won't be alive 10 minutes.

And you'd be lucky if it were less.

Shall I ask the sheriff to get your hat?

And my p*stol and the toothpick.

I think I got a better idea.

Well, you won't have to
stay here much longer.

We're gonna get this
thing settled before dark.

Oh, I don't mind.
I've had lots of company!

So I see.

Lawyer!

That's the second time
you've been to see him.

- What are you going to do for a lawyer?
- Save his life.

You ain't been paid
enough money, lawyer!

I've been paid nothing. There are
things you don't do for money.

I'm going up to phone
the district attorney

and get him to release this man.

Today, so he can go home
and finish his planting.

Wait!

So you're taking the case and
gonna defend him? Talk to get him out?

And you call yourself a white folk?
My brother was k*lled by that n*gg*r?

Lucas Beauchamp is innocent.

Not in this Court.

I've seen a piece of evidence unearthed
that might convince even you.

They don't believe you.

One of them does.
The question is which one?

- But he could clear out of the county.
- He might.

But there's one thing
he's bound to do first.

He was frantic last night when he had to
dig out the body of the man he shot,

carry him downhill and find
a place to bury him again.

All by himself, furiously in the dark.

One man against the whole
weight of the earth.

What a horror that must have been!

And now today every hour
must be a t*rture to his brain.

They don't know it out there,
but he does.

He's lost, he's finished.

He's running through his
last few pennies of freedom.

And I reckon he's gonna spend
it in the only way he knows.

On revenge.

You don't have a 30-30
r*fle, do you, Mr Gowrie?

No.

Do you know anybody that does?

Sit down, Mr Gowrie.

Don't sit down if you don't care to, but
at least get away from that window.

You sent for me.

You phoned me. You said if I
wanted to see who k*lled my boy.

He’ll be here.

Sooner or later before the day’s over,
he'll come to k*ll Lucas Beauchamp.

I don't see Lucas Beauchamp neither.

Now you do.

That his wife?

It was his wife. She's dead.

Two years now. Maybe three.

Mine’s been gone 25 years.

The day the twins was born.

Raising boys by yourself is hard.

Five boys.

That wasn't shot with no 41 Colt.

Come on out here, n*gg*r!

Wait a minute.

- Get out of the way.
- You'll need help.

I don't want no help.

I'll do it myself.

Pa, you ain't got no business here.

Pa, get out of the way.

Put down that g*n.

Is this the g*n that k*lled
your brother Vinson?

Is he the one, sheriff?

That’s right, he’s the one.

The man who k*lled his brother.

Ask him.

That's right, Nub ?

That’s right. He k*lled him

They're running away.

It's more than that.

No, that's all.

There's nothing left to
do than admit they're wrong,

so they're running away.

It's worse than that.

Then they're running
from Lucas Beauchamp.

They won't even wait to
buy him a can of tobacco

so they forget all the trouble he caused!

Then what's the hurry? They know they
got the rest of their lives to do that.

From Crawford, then.

So they won’t have to burn him.
They're running away from Crawford.

Not from Lucas and not from Crawford.

Well they're running.
You can't change that!

No, I can't change that.

They're running away from themselves.

Hi, Miss Eunice what's the hurry?

I got to feed my chickens.
If you're in trouble again, let me know.

You see?

We were in trouble, not Lucas Beauchamp.

It's all right, Chick...

Is it?

It it will be all right
so long as some of us,

you, Miss Habersham, Aleck...

and maybe me...
or even so long as one of us,

some one of us doesn't run away.

Uncle John.

Chick, it's a fine Saturday afternoon.
Why don't you go to a ballgame?

Lucas is coming here.

Well, he's a gentleman.
He won't remind me to my face I was wrong.

Come in, Lucas.

Well, young man, you ain't fall
to no more creeks lately, has you?

I'm waiting till you
get some ice on yours.

You’re welcome, whether
it's frozen enough.

Have a seat, Lucas.

I believe you got a
little bill against me.

Not me. I didn't do anything.

That boy is the reason why
you're walking around today.

All right, I’ll pay him.

You can't. It would be practicing
law without a license.

Well, I’ll pay you expenses, then.

The only expense I had
was having this fixed.

- How much?
- $2.

$2? That don't seem like much to me.

But I'm a farming man.

And you’s a lawyer man.

I don't reckon it's my business
to try to learn you yours.

That makes a $1 and four bits.

Never mind that.

That makes it out. Four bits in pennies.

I was aiming to take him to the bank
but you could save me the trouble.

You want to count them?

Yes, but you are paying. You count.

There's 50 of them.

This is business.

As long as you paying your debts,
go and see Miss Habersham.

I ain't much of a visit man.

You can bring her some flowers.

I ain't had no flowers to
speak of since Molly died.

Chick’s mother'll cut you some out of the
garden. You owe her that much, Lucas.

She's the only lady anywhere that ever
held a jail with a 20-gauge thread!

All right. Anything else to satisfy you?

Just one thing more.
Why didn't you tell me the truth?

That night in the jail.

Would you’ve believed me?

What are you waiting for now?

My receipt.

They don’t see him.
As though it never happened.

- They see him.
- No, they don't even know he's there.

But they do. The same as I do, and
I always will as long as he lives.

Proud, stubborn, insufferable.

But there he goes, the
keeper of my consience.

Our conscience, Uncle John.