Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 6, Episode 11 - A Man to Admire - full transcript

ANNOUNCER: The following
program is brought to you

in living color on NBC.

Thank you very much,
gentlemen, for your kind attention.

Now, to continue
with the demonstration

you must remember one thing.

Pocket billiards, sometime
commonly referred to as pool,

is a gentleman's game.

Uh, it should, uh, be a very good
game, uh, for you, ahem, gentlemen.

[CHUCKLES]

[CLEARS THROAT]

Now, for my next shot, I
would like to demonstrate one



that requires all the science
and skill of this wonderful game.

It's called the bank shot.

[ALL CHEERING]

That fellow there
sold me the table.

He's gonna be staying in town a
couple of weeks to demonstrate,

and give some lessons.

- Hoss, why don't you give it a try?
- Oh, no, Sam, I'm all right.

- Looks a little fancy for me.
- Oh, come on, Hoss, try it.

You heard him, Sam.

Besides, didn't you hear the
man say, it's a gentleman's game?

Big game back east.
That's where they invented it.

Um, your pardon, sir, heh.

For your information, the
game of pocket billiards

is not only the most honorable
one but a very ancient one to boot.



Certainly, it was known
in Shakespeare's age.

- Is that a fact?
- Oh, yeah.

Wasn't it Antony and Cleopatra

act two, scene five,

where Shakespeare
has Cleopatra say,

"Let us do billiards:
come, Charmian."

[CHUCKLES]

To Shakespeare and you, sir.

My name is Cartwright,
Hoss Cartwright.

Uh, Mr. William Shakespeare
and Mr. Hoss Cartwright.

My name is Parker,
Whitney Parker.

At times, my
friends call me Whit.

Upon other occasions, my legal
opponents call me, heh, Half-Whit.

[CHUCKLE]

You...

You're a lawyer.

Hmm, that's what it
says it in my diploma, yes.

You, uh, figuring on
hanging around Virginia City?

Maybe.

[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]

I kind of like the looks
of things around here.

Now, that, gentlemen,
is called the break shot.

That starts off the game.

Now, which one of you gentlemen
would like to try to take this cue

and put some of those
balls in the pocket?

Well, now, really, gentlemen,

I'm offering you a great
opportunity here to learn this game.

It's an awful lot of fun,
won't cost you one cent.

I'm sure, gentlemen, that you...

What, don't I have any takers?

[ALL LAUGHING]

I'm giving 2-to-1 he doesn't
even hit that little ball with the stick.

How about it, Cartwright?

You, uh, got your big
brother's permission to bet?

Never mind my brother.
How much do you wanna bet?

Oh, make it 25 against
your 50, you got a bet.

Sure.

I think I'd better show
you how to hold the cue.

Um, ahem, this is the cue, ahem.

[ALL CHUCKLING]

[CLEARS THROAT]

[ALL CHUCKLING]

[HOSS WHISTLING]

You, sir, are a magnificent instructor.
You have my highest recommendation.

Fifty dollars, Mr. Durfee.

You and this tinhorn
are in cahoots.

You're nothing but a
dirty swindler, Cartwright.

The bet's off.

My compliments, sir,

a beautiful break shot with
nature's own cue stick, heh.

If you should ever need any
legal advice, Mr. Cartwright,

please feel free to call on me.

For you, my good man.

Keep the change.

Gentlemen, good day.

Let's hope you never need
a lawyer that bad, Hoss.

Hi, Benjie.

Hi, Mr. Cartwright. I haven't
seen you in a long time.

Well, I've been busy the last
couple of weeks at the ranch.

Hey, uh, Benjie, you
wanna do me a big favor?

Take a look at that right
foreleg on that horse, man.

He's been limping
something fierce.

You got such a good
way with animals.

Sure, just as soon as I...

Here, here, here. Ain't no use in
you fooling around something like this,

when there's something important
to do, like taking care of my horse.

Can't find nothing wrong
with him, Mr. Cartwright.

I'll be doggone.

Well, the old son of a gun
is kind of moody, Benjie.

I reckon you just done
and moved the limp.

I'll walk it out of him.

Ah, look at him.

I tell you about it being moody.
See, now, he's in the mood to walk.

Mr. Cartwright, you think I'll
ever be big and strong like you?

I don't know, Benjie, that sort of
depends on how big your folks was.

Well, my pa sure
ain't big. My grandpa,

he was a real big one
they say, monstrous.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, in that case, Benjie,
you concentrate on it real hard,

I'd bet you one of
these days you'll make it.

I'll sure try, Mr. Cartwright.

I'll bust my britches trying.

- Well, I gotta go now. Bye-bye.
- So long, Benjie.

Watch this one, boys.

And now I shall demonstrate

a shot executed in the most
difficult manner possible.

Watch carefully.

Gentlemen, thank
you for the game.

Why don't you fellas divvy
these up between you?

BOY: Oh, God.

How're you doing,
Mr. Cartwright?

Howdy, Mr. Parker.
How are you, sir?

- Pretty, uh, fancy shooting there.
- Huh? Oh, well, uh.

I see you putting out
your shingle already.

Yes, yes, I thought I'd
stay around for a while.

Oh, by the way, that offer
of mine still holds good.

I think I can always manage
to squeeze in another client.

Oh, good. I, uh...

I'm in need of a little
advice, a matter of fact.

I've just been called as
a witness in a law suit.

Is that so? Come on
in. Tell me about it.

You know, Hoss,
since I last saw you,

I've been pretty busy
handing out free legal advice

in between shooting
some pocket billiards

and, uh, heh, playing marbles
with some future clients.

You don't even keep the marbles.
That ain't no way to get rich.

Oh, no, no, no. Hold on.
All my advice isn't free.

Besides, I got a
big case coming up.

HOSS: "To Whit Parker, a
companion of the Illinois 8th circuit.

From his friend, A. Lincoln."

- Yes, I was proud to be his partner.
- Another lawyer, huh?

Not just another lawyer,
that's Abe Lincoln.

The Abraham Lincoln,
leader of the Illinois Bar.

[CHUCKLES]

Oh, not the kind of bar that
I've been frequenting lately.

In old back east, there's some
talk of him running for president.

Oh, he's a great man,
first rate marble player too.

[CHUCKLES]

Ain't never heard of a President of
the United States being a marble player.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, he may be the
first, if he's nominated.

Yeah, he just loves
to play marbles

with those two boys
of his, Willie and Tad,

you know, and their friends.

Bowls a good game of tenpins too,
with those long arms of his, you know.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, what else is he good at,
besides marbles and tenpins?

Well, one thing, he'd tell you a joke
make you split your sides laughing.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

Well, take it from me.

A man like that ain't gonna never
be President of the United States.

He ain't serious-minded enough.

President's got to
be serious and smart.

Oh, he's smart, all right.

He's smart. Just that the...

Oh, he uses a joke,
maybe to illustrate a point,

you know, like, uh, when
he and Mr. Stephen Douglas

was having those
debates back in Quincy,

when they were both running
for United States senator.

Heh, I remember one time
he said, "Mr. Douglas..."

He says, "That argument of yours
is about as thin as the soup you'd get

from boiling the shadow of a pigeon
that's been starved to death." Heh.

Heh, that is a good one.

Hoss, I brought you in
here to talk about your case

and here, instead, I'm
talking about Mr. Lincoln.

I'm afraid that's an
old habit of mine.

Sort of nasty business.

It involves the Durfee brothers.

- The Durfees?
- Yeah.

Remember that fellow that tried
to welch you on that bet with me

- that day when me and you first met?
- Yeah. Yeah, I know the Durfees.

- What about them?
- Well, that one's Ev.

Now, he ain't
nothing but a bully.

But his brother, his brother,
Flint, he's the smart one.

Sometimes a
little bit too smart.

For years, he's been trying
to wrangle the water rights

off of old Nat Sheldon.

And those water rights
are about the only thing

that was worth leaving
that Nat left his family.

And now Flint Durfee is
trying to steal them from him.

Steal them?

Heh, that's a pretty
strong statement, Hoss.

Well, not in this case, it
ain't. See, I know Flint Durfee.

Flint Durfee has hired
me to be his lawyer.

You got yourself a pretty
rotten case then, Mr. Parker.

I'm not the kind of lawyer who's
gonna get mixed up in anything shady.

You have now.

Well, now, you, uh, seem to
know more about this case than I do.

Yeah, I probably do.

Look, Mr. Parker,
about three weeks ago,

I rolled out to Nat
Sheldon's place.

Nat's been sick
for several days.

I found him laying there
on the sofa in his parlor

with a pen still in his hand.

And Flint Durfee,
pocketing a piece of paper

while his brother Ev looked on.

That piece of paper

signed over the water
rights to the Sheldon place

to Flint Durfee
for nearly nothing.

He'd been sick. He
was clear out of his head.

Now Nat's dead

and Flint Durfee is watering
his herd on the Sheldon place.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna be in court

backing up young Nat
Sheldon's case against that fraud.

[DOOR CLOSES]

I've never asked you to use
what little brains you've got,

only your muscles.

- You can't even use those.
- But, Flint...

All you had to do was throw
those squatters off our land.

That's all, just throw them off.

But, Flint, they had guns. You
want me get shot or something?

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Come in.

- Have a drink?
- No.

No, thank you. I'd, uh, just
like to have a little talk with you.

Well, talk away.

I had a visit from Hoss
Cartwright a while back.

He tells me that old Nat
Sheldon was out of his head

when he signed that agreement.

You're not gonna believe Hoss
Cartwright over me, are you?

Was he out of his head
when he signed that?

Oh, what's the difference?

I got the paper with
his name on it, see.

And my brother Ev here
and me were witnesses.

You haven't got a
thing to worry about.

Now would you like
to have that little drink?

I'm not the kind of lawyer
you evidently think I am.

FLINT: You'll be well
paid, like I promised.

That's all that matters.

You go buy yourself
another lawyer.

You walk out on me, I'll see you
never get another case in this here town.

- You want me to stop him, Flint?
- Shut up, you fool.

I'll tell everybody I
threw you off the case

because you were
too drunk to handle it.

Do you hear me? Drunk!

Drunk! Drunk!

WHIT: Hoss.

Nope.

No, thank you. I've temporarily
lost my taste for whiskey.

Beer, if you please.

Unfortunately, Hoss, you
were right about Mr. Durfee.

Pity, would have
been a nice fat fee too.

- Here, I got this.
- Thanks, Hoss.

Flint, hmm,

hard name, hard man.

Reminds me of a fellow in
one of Mr. Lincoln's stories.

A rattlesnake bit
him on the chin.

Well, the fellow recovered,

but the snake died.

Whit, what's wrong with
a fellow like Flint anyhow?

I remember Mr. Lincoln walking
down the street in Springfield one time.

He had his two boys, Tad and
Willie, one tucked under each arm, heh,

crying fit to bust.

So I asked Mr. Lincoln
what the matter was.

"Whit," he says to me, "the same
thing that's wrong with the world."

Says, "I got three
walnuts in my pocket,

each of them wants two of them."

[CHUCKLES]

Sheer greed, that's what's
wrong with Mr. Durfee.

And that brother of
his, he is sheer ornery.

Be mighty careful, Whit.

His bite is worse
than a rattlesnake's.

Now, Hoss, come on,
you making me nervous.

[CHUCKLES]

I take it he lost the case.

Look, Whit, why did you let them
two buffalo you like that just now?

Buffalo me?

[CHUCKLES]

My friend, it is better to
yield your path to a mad dog,

than to be bitten by him in
contesting the right of way.

Besides, killing the dog wouldn't
cure the bite now, would it?

That sounds like some more of
that talk from your friend, Mr. Lincoln.

Fact of the matter, it is.

Well, you don't back
down from a man.

Hoss, you don't think

I took that childish performance
of Durfee's seriously now, do you?

Look, Whit, Flint
Durfee ain't no child.

You can't be afraid or weak.
Not gonna survive, not out here.

- I'll see you. I gotta be running.
- Oh.

How about you and me
playing a little pocket billiards.

Come on, I'll teach
you the game.

I got a bunch of business
I gotta take care of, Whit.

Tonight?

I'm gonna be busy tonight too.
I'm leaving town in the morning.

- I'll see you.
- All right.

Hi, Benjie.

Hi, Mr. Cartwright.
Mind if I walk with you?

No, enjoy the company.

You don't wanna stay up too late,
though. Might stunt your growth.

Well, I just had
to stay up late,

fixing up these
packages for Mrs. Gentry.

Usually, I get to bed
pretty early though.

I think I just grew some
since last week, don't you?

Yes, matter of fact, I think,
you grew some right then.

[CHUCKLES]

I gotta deliver these
packages now, Mr. Cartwright.

- I'll see you in the morning, Benjie.
- All right. Good night, Mr. Cartwright.

Let me by, Durfee.

FLINT: The street's plenty
wide. HOSS: Get out of my way.

I'll take care of him, Flint.

[GRUNTS]

FLINT: No! Ooh!

[HOSS GRUNTS]

[GUNSHOT]

MAN: Hey, what's all
that shooting about?

Hurry, sheriff. Hurry!

MAN: Somebody get the doctor,
looks like somebody's been shot.

He shot my brother.
Hoss Cartwright killed him.

He killed him in cold blood.

- Here you are, Ben.
- Thank you, Roy.

How's the head?

Well, it's feeling a whole lot bigger
but not whole a lot better, I'm afraid.

BEN: Hmm.

Hoss, I, uh...

I'm not gonna be able
to get you out on bail.

Ev Durfee made
it hard all around.

He even got him to get an
outside prosecuting attorney.

Who?

Byron Evans of Carson.

Oh, boy.

Tsk, a real hanging prosecutor.

He's never failed to convict.

Yeah, well,

let's hope that, this time,
we can spoil his record.

Yeah, I sure hope so.

That's why we need the best man,

we can possibly get,
no matter who, Hoss.

Pa, I already got a
lawyer, Whit Parker.

That's what I'm
trying to get at, Hoss.

Nobody knows him.
You hardly know him.

He's a stranger whose
best friend is a bottle.

Well, that's one that
Ev Durfee started.

Look, Hoss, now
you know very well

that it's hard enough for a lawyer
to try a case when he's sober.

And Mr. Parker
is a hard drinker.

Isn't he?

Pa, all I know is, Whit Parker ain't
gonna let drinking get in the way

of doing a best
job he can for me.

Pa, he's smart, he's real smart.

If I had listened to his
advice I wouldn't be here now.

Hoss, I'm talking
about your life.

- We can't risk this man.
- That's right, Pa, it is my life.

That's why I need to have the choice
in deciding who's gonna defend it.

Look, Pa, he's heard my side of
it. He says we got an easy case.

Easy case? No murder case is
easy, it needs intelligent handling.

- It needs a man...
- Pa.

Whit Parker ain't a
nobody like you think.

Back in Illinois, he was
a very important lawyer.

One of his best friends
is Abraham Lincoln.

- You heard of him, ain't you?
- Yes, yes, I've heard of him.

If Mr. Parker was such a big
and important man back in Illinois,

why did he leave
there to come out here?

Why?

BEN: Would you
send that off, please?

"Mr. Abraham Lincoln,
Springfield, Illinois.

Do you know lawyer Whitney Parker?
If so, please telegraph this city collect

your judgment of Parker, as
defense attorney in murder trial.

He is defending my son.
Signed, Ben Cartwright."

Meanwhile, let's make sure
this Mr. Parker doesn't get drunk

and lose the
case, not this case.

ADAM: Whit.

It's Byron Evans, the
special prosecutor.

I'd, uh, you know, like get to meet
him over a game of pocket billiards.

Never does any harm to
get to know your enemy.

Your enemy's inside all
right, but it's in a bottle.

Adam, I don't need a nursemaid.

Let's just keep walking, huh?

BYRON: Your Honor,

gentlemen of the jury,

this is a crime so heinous,

so dastardly as to freeze
the very marrow of your bones.

The prosecution will prove

that the defendant,
Hoss Cartwright,

did, without provocation,
with malice of forethought,

and with premeditation, shoot
and murder an unarmed victim,

the unfortunate Flint Durfee,

a person so ill-treated by fate

that he had to use a cane to
support his poor, crippled body.

We will show that, when
Flint Durfee's heroic efforts

to fend off his brutal
assailant with his staff,

his cane, his crutch,
as it were, failed,

the end was
merciless, cold blooded,

a black-hearted murder

by the miserable
assassin sitting there.

I ask...

I demand that Hoss
Cartwright pay the penalty

for that murder.

That he be hung by the neck

until he is dead, dead, dead!

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

He sure paints a
pretty picture, don't he?

Any words from Mr. Lincoln?

No, not a word. I just came back
from the telegraph office, nothing.

Probably thinks the
whole thing's a hoax.

- He's never heard
of Parker. BEN: Hmm.

Just try to convince
Hoss of that.

If we don't hear pretty soon,
I'm gonna get another lawyer,

whether Hoss likes it or not.

WHIT: Your Honor,

gentlemen of the jury,

I should like to compliment

the prosecuting attorney on
his fine display of eloquence.

Indeed, one might
say of Mr. Evans

as has been said of the
great Daniel Webster,

that when he speaks
he just shines his eyes,

throws out his arms,

and twirls his tongue
around a couple of times,

opens his mouth,

and leaves the
consequences to heaven.

[ALL LAUGHING]

[GAVEL BANGING]

And now,

if you'd be gracious enough to
overlook my lack of eloquence,

we shall prove that since my
client Hoss Cartwright is innocent,

the only other person
at the scene of the crime

other than the
deceased is guilty.

Ev Durfee.

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[GAVEL BANGS]

Mr. Durfee, will
you please tell us,

in your own words,

what happened the tragic night
your brother was shot down?

Well, sir, as Flint and I turned
the corner and we're walking along,

we met Hoss Cartwright.

Let me by, Cartwright.

The street's
plenty wide, Durfee.

Out of my way, Cartwright!

What are you gonna do?

You're gonna hit me
with that cane, Flint?

It's about time somebody's
teaching you a lesson.

I'll take care of him, Flint.

No! Ooh.

[GUNSHOT]

EV: He shot my brother.
Hoss Cartwright killed him.

And that's the living truth.

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[GAVEL BANGS]

He's a living liar.

Your witness, Mr. Parker.

Uh, Mr. Durfee,

is it not true that, for years,

your brother used you
as, uh, a sort of protector?

If you mean protecting him from
murderers such as Hoss Cartwright,

yes.

Except that you didn't finally
protect him from murder, did you?

You loved your brother?

Yeah, sure.

Hmm, why did you love him?

Huh?

What was there about him
that made you love him?

I can't answer such a
dumb question as that.

Very well, then. Tell me,
why did you hate him?

What?

What did you hate more,

that he was rich and paid you
off in a cow hand's measly salary,

or that he was smart and he was
contemptuous of your ignorance,

that he commanded
and you groveled?

- What did you hate most? Tell me.
- Now, you see here!

Your Honor.

That is an unfair
question, Mr. Parker.

The witness need not answer.

- No more questions.
- What?

Call Hoss Cartwright
to the stand.

And then?

Well, then I did sure enough
meet up with Flint Durfee,

just like his brother said.

But I wouldn't let Flint Durfee
buffalo me like he did Mr. Parker.

Let me by, Durfee.

The street's plenty wide.

Get out of my way.

I'll take care of him, Flint.

FLINT: No!

HOSS: When Flint
hit me with his cane,

my gun went off in the air
and I almost blacked out.

My head cleared and I saw
that Ev had shot his brother.

- That's the way it really happened.
- Thank you, Hoss.

- Your witness.
- No questions.

Very well, Hoss,
you may step down.

Your Honor,
gentlemen of the jury,

we now have one man's
word against another.

But there was a third
witness to the murder.

And that is Benjie Lane.

And it's just like
Mr. Cartwright said.

I saw Skinflint Durfee hit
him with his big old cane,

and Mr. Hoss was
hurt something awful,

and his gun went up in the air.

- Thank you, Benjie. BYRON:
Just a moment, Benjie.

Yes, sir.

You and Hoss Cartwright
are great friends,

aren't you, Benjie?

We sure are.

Hoss Cartwright's a hero to you,

someone you want
to grow up to be like.

Now, isn't that so, Benjie?

Yes, sir.

Just how much do
you really like him?

Like I told you, a whole lot.

Enough to lie for him,
if it would save his life?

Heh, I object, Your Honor.

JUDGE: Objection is overruled.

Answer the question, Benjie.

Well, sure, I'd
lie to save his life.

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[GAVEL BANGS]

But, Benjie, when you told your
story on the stand here just now,

you didn't lie then, did you?

No, sir, I told
exactly what I saw.

Good boy. Good boy.

Dr. Kleiser, you performed the autopsy
on the deceased, Mr. Flint Durfee?

I did, sir.

BYRON: Using yourself
as a model, doctor,

would you show the course
taken by the fatal bullet?

Yes, sir.

The bullet entered an
inch above the navel, here.

And it lodged an inch to the right
of the fifth lumbar vertebra, here.

About five inches lower.

Note that, gentlemen.

Then what direction did
the bullet take, doctor?

Why, downward, of course.

Cartwright and his victim
were both in an upright position.

The gun was slanting
down when fired.

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

I object, Your Honor. That
is an opinion of the witness.

On the contrary, it is
incontrovertible evidence.

If, as counselor contends,
Mr. Ev Durfee shot his brother,

the course of the bullet would
have had to have been upwards.

But it didn't go up.

It went down, down,
gentlemen, down.

Proving that Hoss
Cartwright is not only a liar,

but guilty of unprovoked
attack and cold-blooded murder!

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

JUDGE: Order!
Order in the court!

[GAVEL BANGING]

Order. Order!
Order in the court!

Order! Order!
Order in the court!

Order! Order in the court!

Hoss, your father wants
me to withdraw from the case.

Now, look, Pa...

Don't you realize the
dangerous situation you're in?

Do you realize that if
something doesn't happen

before that court
re-opens this afternoon,

the jury will go out
with a foregone verdict?

Pa, I'm sure that Whit...

Mr. Parker doesn't seem to
have one notion of an idea.

That's right, Hoss. Right
now, I don't have one idea.

Mr. Parker, I seem to recall

that you told my son this
would be an easy case.

Well, what happened?

How come you haven't the
same information Evans had?

Because I believed what your
son told me, Mr. Cartwright.

- Whit, don't you still believe me?
- Yes, Hoss.

But maybe when Flint struck you,

you fired at him
without really knowing.

No.

No, I was dizzy but
I wasn't that dizzy.

My gun went off in the air.

Well, maybe a new lawyer will
be able to come up with something.

- I don't want a new lawyer.
- Hoss.

Stick with me.

Maybe it's time I told you what
happened with Mr. Lincoln and me.

He...

He was traveling the Eighth
Judicial District, you know.

He shares his cases in different
towns with different lawyers.

I was his associate
in Clinton, Illinois.

We were trying
an important case.

Mr. Lincoln had to leave town before
we finished so I took over on my own.

And then some trouble
had come up at home.

I went out and got roaring
drunk, first time ever,

you know, while I was working.

That is, I made a spectacle
of myself and lost the case.

I was afraid to face my
client and Mr. Lincoln.

Mostly Mr. Lincoln.

So I decided to run off,
headed for California,

wound up this far.

Look, Whit, do me a favor.

Don't run away this time.

Hoss, believe me,

you'll be much better off
with some other lawyer.

[CELL OPENS AND CLOSES]

BENJIE: Oh, Mr. Parker.

Hey, heh, Benjie.

How's my friend, Mr. Hoss?

- He gonna be all right?
- I hope so, son, yes.

Gee, I don't know why they
don't believe Mr. Hoss and me.

We wouldn't lie
about a thing like that.

I know that. I
know that, Benjie,

but you see the
medical testimony...

But it was as plain
as day, Mr. Parker.

I know.

I know that's what you
testified in court, Benjie,

and we appreciate it.

Well, you tell Mr. Hoss

I'll do that testifying again,
any time he wants me.

I'll tell him so.
Thanks, Benjie.

Mr. Parker.

Uh, whiskey.

Mr. Parker, are you sure?

I'm sure.

Of course.

- Your Honor?
- Yes.

Your Honor, I'd like
to make a request.

Well, what is it,
Mr. Cartwright?

I would like to request a little
time to hire a new attorney.

WHIT: Mr. Cartwright.

Benjie.

Mr. Cartwright,
will you please...

Would you postpone that request?

Well, Mr. Parker, you
voluntarily withdrew from...

I know. I know, sir,
but I have an idea.

I realize your
son's life is at stake,

but do you think you could
give me one more chance?

All right.

Your Honor, I
withdraw the request.

- Very well.
- Thank you, sir.

Your Honor, I have a request

that I believe essential
to the defense.

What is it, Mr. Parker?

I request that the billiard
table in the Silverado Saloon

be brought into this courtroom.

[ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

I object, Your Honor,
at this indignity.

This is a trial, not a circus.

Your Honor, Hoss Cartwright
has more than mere dignity to lose.

I beg that you grant my request.

I now call Mr. Byron
Evans to the stand.

BYRON: Your Honor...
- Mr. Evans,

I don't think it necessary
that you be sworn in,

but as a fellow
enthusiast of the ancient

and honorable game
of pocket billiards,

may I ask you
please to demonstrate

your expert technique for
the gentlemen of the jury.

Mr. Parker, is this
relevant to your defense?

I assure you, Your
Honor, it is most relevant.

Mr. Evans, if you please.

- By all means.
- Thank you, sir.

Uh, now, would you straighten
up, please, Mr. Evans?

Please observe very
carefully, gentlemen.

That the point here on the front

where the cue touches
Mr. Evans' chest,

now that he has straightened
up, is higher than the back portion

of the cue where it
would touch him here.

However, before,
when he was bent over,

the point here in front,

which is higher now was
lower than the point in back.

Now, just for the moment,

let us imagine that the
billiard cue held in this position

represents the line
of fire of the bullet.

Now, is this the way
you saw them, Benjie?

Yes, sir, old Skinflint was bent
over his brother just like you are.

Can't you do anything
right, you bumbling fool?

[GUNSHOTS]

Now, the bullet hit Flint
Durfee in the stomach,

ranged upward and
lodged in the lower back.

Now, observe.

This represents the
line of fire of the bullet.

It looks as though it
was fired downward.

But, as you've
just seen, it wasn't.

No, it was fired upward

by Ev Durfee.

That's a lie!

Lying on your back as the
brother you hated bent over you,

trying to strike you with this cane,
just as he had struck Hoss Cartwright,

knocking him
temporarily senseless,

so that he didn't see
how you shot your brother.

A lie!

I think the jury will decide
who is lying, Mr. Durfee.

- Thanks.
- Good job.

- Thank you very much.
- It was nothing.

Pa...

Pa, what did I tell you? I
tell you I had a good lawyer?

Yeah, you sure did.

- I was wrong and I'm sorry.
- Ah.

Mr. Parker, again I...

I just don't know how we
can thank you, all of us.

You'll get your chance,
Mr. Cartwright, when I send you my bill.

[ALL CHUCKLE]

Mr. Cartwright! Mr. Cartwright!

- Mr. Cartwright!
- Yes, Benjie.

This telegram just came for you.

- Oh.
- Mr. Bartlett asked if I'd give it to you.

Thank you, Benjie.

Parker, maybe,
you better read this.

"Just returned from out of
town. Replying to your inquiry,

my friend Whitney Parker
is a first rate attorney.

I would still trust
him to defend my life.

Tell him I have some cases
needing his rare talents.

A. Lincoln."

Mr. Parker, you probably
have more cases in this town

than you can shake a shingle at.

We'll sure be happy
to have you around.

Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.
Thank you very much, sir.

[CHUCKLES]

I'm kind of curious about
some of these cases

that Mr. Lincoln may have
tucked up that long sleeve of his.

You know, besides I've never
been able to trim him at anything.

- Now, he can beat me bowling...
- Marble shooting?

Marble shooting, yes.

I'd like to get him into one game
that I know I can beat him, like...

Like pocket billiards.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, it did save an innocent
man's life, didn't it, Hoss?

Seems to me that would be
one argument he couldn't resist.

Benjie, where's that
Mr. Bartlett friend of yours, huh?

I gotta send me a telegram.

Hyah!

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