Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 14, Episode 2 - Heritage of Anger - full transcript

The following program is

brought to you in living color
on NBC.

John.

I came just as soon as I got the wire...
saying you would be released today.

Sorry I'm late.

I'm just wondering why you bothered.

Well, Meg came to see me last year,

made me promise
I'd bring you home in one piece.

You think you can do that, Ben?

I figured you'd be ready to go home.

Ben.



I owed you that.
You promised me a fair trial.

I didn't get it.

Now I owe you one.

You ready to go now?

I'm ready to start, Ben.

Hi.

- Pa, how you doing?
- Hey.

Move ahead, John.

Well, you know, uh...

You know Joe, Candy.

- Howdy.
- How you doing?

And this is Jamie.
Jamie, this is Mr. Dundee.

- Hello, sir.
- How are you, Jamie?

John, let me put your horse up.



Expecting a dry season, then?

Oh, you can never tell.

We'll be ready for it if it comes.

I'm getting
so I can lay down those rocks

- just as fast as they can.
- Oh, yeah?

- Oh, listen to him.
- You are, huh?

All right, son, let's see
how fast you are. Come on.

- Did you see that?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I saw it.

Don't just stand there.
Get back to work.

Where's the new man?

With Jamie, after some trout
for our breakfast.

He sure has taken
a shine to him, hasn't he?

How long's he staying?

Well, I thought I'd give him
a few days,

let him get a little confidence back.

I don't think he's suffering
from a lack of that.

You still gonna deliver him?

I made a promise.

I think one of us ought to go with you.

He's liable to get home
and decide to get even with folks,

you're going to be right in the middle.

He hasn't said anything to indicate
he's looking for trouble.

That's the point,
he hasn't said anything.

I think he's already decided
what he's gonna do,

and I don't think it's friendly.

Is that why you're riding
such a tight herd on me?

I'll tell you what, Ben...

Why don't you just advance me
enough money to get my wife

a nice little coming-home present,

and I'll be on my way.

Why should I do that?

Well, that would save you
a nice long trip, wouldn't it?

I promised your wife
I was going to deliver you,

and I'm going to keep that promise.

What about the loan?

No loan.

But I can give you a chance
to earn what you need.

People who call me a hardhead
just don't know him, do they?

Hey, wait...

On the shoulder.

That rock slipped
right out of my hands, Joe.

- Yeah, on to my foot.
- Mmm-hmm.

Do you think it's busted?

Ah, it's just bruised a little bit.

Well, sorry, old buddy.

Don't worry about it.
It's not your fault. It's Dundee's.

We're lucky we don't have
broken backs.

He's still at it.
Going like a steam engine.

I wish somebody would tell him
it's not a race.

We're not trying to prove anything.

I don't know. Maybe he is.

You got $18 coming to you.

That's about twice
a regular week's pay, isn't it?

Don't do me any favors, Ben.

A man does the work of two men,
he gets double wages.

All right,
that kind of talk makes sense.

You tagging along the rest of the way,
that doesn't make sense, though.

Nobody asked you.

I suppose it wouldn't do any good
to ask you for the loan

of a gun either, would it?

That's right, it wouldn't do any good.

You take care, all right?

Yes, Mr. Dundee. I...

I hope I see you again
one of these days.

Yeah, one of these days.

Well, you boys finish up
as soon as you can.

- We'll see you next week.
- If you're not back by then,

we're going to come looking for you.

Take care, Pa.

A man forgets what it's like
to be on the outside.

What did happen that night?

Just exactly
what I said at the trial.

A man I'd never seen before
picked a fight with me.

And you killed him.

Well, the worst anybody can say
was that it was a fair fight.

Well... the judge didn't think so,

neither did the sheriff.

Yeah, but the sheriff
was a friend of his.

Whose friend are you, Ben?

I've known Meg since
she was knee high to a grasshopper.

Her father and I were friends
years before that.

Well, I guess that answers
my question.

Yeah.

Five stinking years.

For Meg, too.

Don't forget that.

I figure a...
woman who waits for a man

who's in prison for five years...

And then sends someone
to get him back home...

Making sure that his wild temper
doesn't get him into trouble again...

I figure that woman
has, uh, done her bit, too.

And now it's my turn, right?

Isn't it?

We only had three months together.
Did you know that, Ben?

Yeah. I knew that.

I wonder how she's going to
take to me now.

I've changed.

I wonder if she's changed.

Well, we've got a long,
hard ride ahead of us.

It'd be a real favor
if you'd just shut up

and let us both get
a little shut-eye, huh?

We can ride around the town.
We don't have to ride through it.

No, no, I got some business here.
Watch it.

What kind of business?

I've got to buy a present
for my wife, remember?

Come on.

You see many friendly faces, Ben?

Welcome home, John Dundee.

Hello, Mr. Sangster.

Uh... Mr. Dundee.

Yeah. I thought I'd, uh,
buy Meg a little present, Mr. Sangster.

Oh, why... Why, sure.

Sure, Mr. Dundee. Sure. Here.

Here's some very nice things.
Yes, sir, they are.

- These combs now, they're imported.
- Uh-huh.

Um...

What about that shawl
over there, Mr. Sangster?

Well... Why...

Oh, that's a real beauty.

Art Fancher's wife's been wanting that
for a long time and...

Art Fancher's wife wanted it, huh?

How much is it?

Well, seeing as it's imported
and, um...

I guess maybe, uh, $4.

All right, I'll take it.

Mr. Sangster...

One of those...

And one of those.

Mr. Sangster?

Yes, sir.

It's a pleasure doing business
with you again.

Thank you.

- All set?
- No, one more stop.

You got your present.

I know, but I want a bath, Ben,
with plenty of hot water and soap.

I'm going home in style.

Hey, come here.

He looked right through us.

Well, what'd you expect him to do,
get off his horse and kiss you?

Hyah!

Meg?

Meg?

She's not here.

Meg?

Meg.

I just didn't expect you
for another day or two.

I mean, there was no way of knowing
just when you'd get here.

Meg, uh, thank you.

What am I doing?

You always had beautiful hands, Meg.

I've tried to keep busy. I...

I guess working around the place
doesn't keep my hands lady-like.

Well, that's right.

Fixing plows and rebuilding barns

kind of makes for calluses
and blisters, doesn't it?

I've... tried to keep busy.

I think I'll just have
another look around the place.

Ben, you've been with him
for a while now. Has he changed?

Well, he's still...

He's still angry inside,
if that's what you mean.

Now, Meg...

Meg, when you came
and asked me to bring him here,

why didn't you tell me
you were doing all the work?

Before John went away,
he made certain arrangements

and they just never
worked out, that's all.

What kind of arrangements?

With his business partners in town.

Uh, Bartlett and Fancher,
the fellas that were at the trial?

They said that
they'd look after the ranch

and try to keep things up
until he got back.

This is all he needs.

Meg, why didn't you come to me?

Oh, Meg.

Meg, you know,
you two need time alone together

to get reacquainted.

Ben, you're not leaving?

Well, of course I am.

I brought him here,
just as you asked me to.

Oh, please, Ben, don't go.

Meg, what's the matter?

I don't want to be alone with him.

He's your husband.

Ben, I'm afraid of him.

Welcome home, John Dundee.

What do you mean?

Well... of course I'll...

I'll stay on for a few days...
if you want me to.

I think I'll go out and see
if I can give him a hand.

Did you see her hands, Ben?

Yeah, I saw them.

You know, folks around here
weren't too happy

when Meg chose me for her husband
because they figured that...

my bad temper had always
got me into trouble

and always would get me into trouble.

They figured she was just
buying her share.

So you went out
and proved them right.

Look, Ben, you've been
her friend for a long time.

I figure that gives you
a right to say that,

but I cut this farm
right out of the raw dirt,

and I did it for her.

Yeah, I know.

Meg told me about your friends
and the promise they made.

We'll see she suffers no want,
that's what they said.

What kind of business
were you in with them?

Uh, we pooled our money
and we bought horses,

then when the price was up,
we sold them to the Army.

You have papers
and all that sort of thing?

Yeah.

Yeah, we had partnership agreements
and contracts

when we sold the stock.

Ben, her hands were
as white as snow when I married her.

There wasn't a mark on them.

Not when I left here.

We'll see she suffers no want,
that's what they said.

That's what they said.

That's not the answer,
and you know it.

This isn't your affair anymore.

You've done your good deed,
now we're quits.

Not quite.

Meg asked me to stay.

What for?

She wants me to.

I'm telling you stay out of it.

I know how you're feeling.

Maybe I feel a bit that way myself.

That gun's brand new.

You've had revenge in mind

long before you ever saw
Meg's hands.

I owe you one, remember?

I saw that storekeeper
walking on eggs.

I thought it was respect.

He was just plain scared.

I'll have the gun.

You're on parole.

You walk off this ranch with a gun

and those fellas from town
will shoot you full of holes

or put you in prison
and throw away the key.

For what I've got in mind,
it just might be worth it.

- Now give me the gun.
- What about Meg?

Yes, John, what about me?

Do I have anything to say
about what's left of my life,

or do you claim that privilege, too?

I brought you a present.

Where'd you get it, John?

Uh...

In town. I just bought it.

That was thoughtful of you.

I wanted you to have something, Meg.

Thank you.

Aren't you going to open it?

Do you like it?

Meg, you like it?

It's beautiful.

So are you.

You...

You think this is the way
it's going to be?

Huh?

You walk back into my life...

And into my bedroom after five years.

You hand me a present,
and that's all there is to it?

Wait a minute, Meg.
What are you talking about?

I'm talking about five years of waiting
and working...

And doing without things.

Five years of sleeping alone and...

Crying in the night.

Well, what do you think
I was doing, Meg?

Paying for something you did, John.

Meg, you're my wife.

You married me.
That makes you my wife.

All right, I am your wife, and...

I waited for you, and I...

I worked for you all these years.

Now you're going to
have to do the same thing.

You're... You're going to
have to prove that...

You're able to be a good husband.

Hold on, are you telling me

I haven't got any rights
in my own bedroom?

Not till you earn them.

Just how am I supposed to do that?

By... By courting me all over again.

Why, just like you did
before we were married.

Well, where am I supposed
to sleep in the meantime?

Anywhere but in here.

If you want anything, ma'am,
I'll be out in the barn

with the rest of the animals.

He's sure going at it
hard and early, isn't he?

When he works like that,
there's something eating him inside.

I've seen it before.

Meg... do you really think
I should stay on?

I mean... this should be
between just the two of you.

If you leave, Ben, so do I.

All right.

As soon as I telegraph the boys
I'll be staying on

for a couple of more days...
I'll be back.

Thank you.

Are you the telegrapher?

Only one in town.

Well, I'd like you to send
this message for me, please.

- Virginia City, huh?
- Yeah.

Ben Cartwright.

Haven't I seen you before?

Maybe.

Yeah.

You rode in with
John Dundee yesterday.

- That's right. How much will that be?
- Fifty cents.

There you are. Thank you.

Didn't Dundee have any friends
in this town?

You ever try to cozy up to
a grizzly bear, Mr. Cartwright?

You, uh...

You rode in with John Dundee.

Yeah.

You know him pretty well, do you?

About five years.

I was at the trial.

Well, then you know he's got a temper
like a scalded bobcat.

He proved that in that, uh, fistfight.

Yeah, a fight which he didn't start.

Well, the, uh...
The jury thought otherwise,

- but that's all gone and forgotten.
- Yeah.

I was hoping that he'd come back
a changed man,

but, uh, it doesn't look like it.

He wasn't in town an hour
before he bought himself a gun.

No law against him having a gun.

Well, I thank you
for explaining the law to me.

But something maybe you don't know
is the conditions of his parole

forbid him from wearing
or carrying a gun

anyplace except on his own property.

Oh, I think he was told all that.

Well, I want you
to tell him something for me.

If he gets in any trouble, at all,

he's going to go back to prison,
and that is a fact.

I'll tell him that.

Excuse me.

Uh, by the way, Sheriff, uh...

Is there any law
which forbids an ex-convict

from defending himself?

Nope.

But it better be ironclad
that it was self-defense,

you understand me?

Oh, yes, you made it perfectly clear.

Well, I want to make
something else perfectly clear.

I'm the law around here,

and I'll decide what's self-defense
and what isn't.

Well, that's very clear as far as
the first decision is concerned.

Of course, Sheriff, you know
that you can be overruled

by higher authority,
such as the, uh, U.S. Marshal,

the attorney general,
or the governor.

You might think about that.

So they're just waiting for him
to make one wrong move.

Mmm-hmm.

Ben, what are we going to do?

Yeah.

Meg...

Did... Did John have
any problems with his, uh...

With his partners before the trouble?

At first it was all right,
until he got suspicious of them...

Started accusing them
of juggling the accounts,

of taking more than
their share of the profits.

How... How long
before the fight was this?

Why, uh, not long.

Hmm.

Has, uh, John ever been known
to avoid a fight,

ever in his life?

You know the answer to that, Ben.

What are you getting at?

Well, suppose, uh...

Suppose his suspicions were, uh...
Were right?

I mean, suppose he had
enough information

about those partners of his

to make a lot of trouble for them,
put them behind bars?

Now, if you were them...

What would you do
with a man who had a quick temper?

You mean he was set up?

Well, according to
John's own testimony,

a man whom he'd never known,

never seen in his life before,
picked a fight with him.

Why?

To kill him?

Fancher wouldn't care
who got killed.

Worked out fine for them
either way, didn't it?

I mean, they got...

That nice, fine office in town.

Now they own military contracts.

Everybody's making money.

John, let's move away somewhere.

Start over again somewhere else,
please.

Man and wife?

Yes, man and wife.

That's a very tempting offer, Meg,

if I was the kind of man
who bought his wife's favor.

I didn't mean it like that.

John, what are you going to do?

I don't know, Ben. I don't know.

I think maybe first
I'd just better figure out

what kind of a man
this woman wants for her husband.

Ben?

Ben... have you seen John?

He said he had some work to do
over at the well.

He's not there,
and his horse is gone, too.

Ah.

Well, all right.

Don't worry, I'll find him.

It's Dundee.

He's not wearing a gun.

I'll handle him.
Get some of the boys and stand by.

Right.

Hello, Art.

Nice fancy layout you got here.

We were wondering when you were
going to get around to dropping by.

Seems like you've prospered some,
huh?

We've worked hard.

So's my wife.

You remember my wife,
don't you, Art?

Meg? Sure.

Well, I'm your partner, Art.

You forgot to send her
my share of the profits.

Profits.

There weren't any for a while.

Things were tight
right after you went away.

That partnership
was a limited agreement.

Had to be renewed every 90 days.

You weren't here, you didn't sign,
so you weren't a partner anymore.

I've got all the papers in the file.

I can show you.

Sure, sure.
All legal and proper, huh, Art?

You can bet it's legal.

Get a lawyer and I'll prove it.

No, no, there wouldn't be
any need for that.

Look, Art, I did some figuring.
I figured it all out.

I figured about $1,000
for each year would be fair.

Not for me, for her.

Not a dime.

Not ever.

$5,000 tomorrow,

or you and Bartlett are going to be

looking over your shoulders
every day and every night

because I'm coming to collect.

Maybe you had better
look out in the street.

Art, it'd take a dozen like him,

and even that wouldn't
keep me away from you.

Now I think it would be better
all the way around

if you'd just sort of paid it out.

You're not getting a penny out of us.

$5,000 tomorrow, Art.

Tell your partner.

All right, all right. Hold it!

Back off there, mister.

Everybody having a good time?

Enjoying yourselves?

I never raised a hand in anger, Ben.

Well, Sheriff.

He'll be back.

He promised me that.

Not if we move first he won't.

What do you want?

- My husband is...
- In the barn.

Been there for an hour.

Cartwright rode out early.

Bedroll and canteen in his saddle,
going home.

That did it.

Here he comes.

Just the way we figured,
as soon as you rode out.

Where is he?

His horse is still tied
to the hitch rail.

Well, he won't be needing it.

John, where is he?

He's right there.

I don't make the same mistake
twice, Ben.

Let's talk to him before
his friends get here, huh?

Yeah.

What do you three want?

You. I've got a warrant for your arrest
for the murder of Jim Anders.

Anders?

Anders.

How did you know
he was out here, Sheriff?

That don't matter.

We got his body and his horse,

and we got you
before you could get rid of him.

Now put your hands up.

You afraid of an unarmed man,
Sheriff?

Maybe you'd better take a look first.

Whoa.

This the murdered man
you're looking for?

You sent him out here
to be killed, didn't you, Sheriff?

Then came out here to arrest
Dundee for his murder.

What are you talking about?

Well, the judge
and the governor call it

complicity and attempted murder.

They'll also want to look into the fight
that sent Dundee to prison

after they hear what Anders
had to say about it.

You don't know what
you're talking about.

Look out!

Headed for the barn.

Come on, let's go.

I knew they were coming.
I should have gotten you out of here.

No.

No, this is where I belong.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Go keep your eye on that house.

- Ben...
- Hmm?

I think them fellas
are really trying to kill us out there.

I get the distinct feeling
that you're right.

Well, that makes it
come down to self-defense, Ben.

I think we ought
to smarten up, don't you?

I was just waiting for you to say that.

- I'll... I'll cover you.
- All right.

John.

Hyah! Hyah!

Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!

Whoa.

You let him get away.

We get out of this,
you're gonna be sorry you said that.

Another one, down here.

Where?

Over by the corral, but I don't see him.

Hold it.

Get up.

Move. Come on.

All right, gentlemen.

We'll ride into town
and see the U.S. Marshal.

Higher authority, Sheriff,
in case you've forgotten.

Move.