Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 8, Episode 10 - Ballad of the Ponderosa - full transcript
ANNOUNCER: The following program
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(fanfare plays)
♪♪
Howdy, stranger.
Howdy.
You, uh... Where you heading?
That's my business, mister.
Well, I guess it's
my business, too,
seeing as how
this is my property.
This is your spread, huh?
That's right.
Well, I didn't mean to
be short with you, mister.
I've been riding a long way.
I guess this dust has just
dried out my good nature.
Well, it's, uh...
it's not too cold, but it's wet.
Help yourself.
Thanks, appreciate it.
This the way to Virginia City?
Yeah, just over the
hill, you pick up the road.
You come to the
fork, you bear right.
How far is it?
Oh, about an hour's ride.
That's about all me and
my horse got left in us.
You planning on
staying in Virginia City?
Yeah, I plan to stay there.
Long as it takes me to
get done what I've got to do.
Didn't mean to be trespassing.
That's all right.
You rest your horse just
as long as you want to.
Good luck.
Same to you, mister.
♪ I sing a song ♪
♪ Of pain and blood ♪
♪ The ballad of the Ponderosa ♪
♪ I sing of a man,
dead in the mud ♪
♪ 'Neath the blood
tree of the Ponderosa ♪
♪ Doug Preston
died in innocence ♪
♪ Swingin' broken,
against the skies ♪
♪ Not a word of truth
for him was spoken ♪
♪ Oh, damn Ben Cartwright ♪
♪ Damn his righteous eyes. ♪
(theme song playing)
(laughing)
Judge, you learn
something new every day.
Now, as long as we three
have been having lunch together,
this is the first time I knew
our prosecuting attorney
had a sense of humor.
(laughing)
It looks like I'm going to
need a sense of humor.
If this town stays as
peaceful as it has been,
there won't be any need
for a prosecuting attorney.
Don't worry, Dave.
Maybe Ben or one of
his boys can arrange
to get into a little trouble,
and then you can become
the public defender.
(laughing)
How soon before Roy Coffee
gets back from his vacation?
Oh, about a week or so.
You know, I practically had
to file out a warrant against him
to get him to take
this month off.
That old hardnose.
He thinks Virginia
City just can't get along
a day without him.
Well, let's not tell
him what a good job
Deputy Simms has
been doing, huh?
(chuckling)
Well, entertainment
at lunchtime.
This town's getting more
and more like San Francisco.
Well, come on over
here, young man.
I see you made it
without too much trouble.
Yes, sir, I did,
no trouble at all.
What's your pleasure, gentlemen?
Judge?
Well, just about anything
is all right with me.
Well, in that case, I'll
do a favorite of mine.
♪ I sing a song
of pain and hate ♪
♪ Of a town full
of death and lies ♪
♪ Doug Preston was lynched ♪
♪ 'Cause they couldn't wait ♪
♪ Oh, damn Ben Cartwright ♪
♪ Damn his righteous eyes ♪
♪ Frank Stanley was
murdered on a lonely night ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright
called the truth a lie ♪
♪ Doug Preston was
the only one in sight ♪
♪ Dave Sinclair
said he had to die ♪
♪ Judge Borman
sat with icy eyes ♪
♪ Doug Preston
would not go free ♪
♪ No justice under
frowning skies ♪
♪ Just blood on the
roots of the hanging tree. ♪
(murmuring)
I'm sorry, gentlemen.
I seem to have picked
an unpopular tune.
Who are you?
Colter's my name,
Colter Preston.
Preston.
That's a pretty famous
name around here, ain't it?
Boy, that was a long time ago.
It's forgotten by now.
Well, I ain't forgot it.
You see, I'm Doug Preston's son.
You all seem mighty
interested in my song.
How about you, Cartwright,
you want to hear some more?
I-I apologize, gentlemen.
All right, young man,
this is quite enough.
I run this hotel, and
you're disturbing my guests.
Wait a minute.
Mr. Simpson,
I think Mr. Sinclair, Judge
Borman and I would like
to hear this young man out.
Well, well, what do you know?
All three together.
The three men responsible
for my father's death.
I don't have to listen to this.
That's right, Judge, you don't.
Why don't you just lynch
me like you did my pa?
No one condoned that lynching.
But they still claimed he
was guilty, and that's a lie.
Another man
killed Frank Stanley,
and that man went free,
while my father was
lynched by a mob
for a crime he didn't commit.
Would an innocent man break
jail before his trial was over?
My father tried to get
away because he knew
he didn't have a chance,
with a so-called eyewitness and
a hanging judge waiting for him.
I'm sorry, Ben, I have
had just about enough.
That's all right, Judge,
you just run along.
But just remember, I'm
gonna keep singing that song.
I got my rent paid
up at this hotel,
and there ain't no
law against singing.
Why are you doing this?
Justice, in the memory
of an innocent man.
And don't you try and stop me.
A guitar ain't no gun,
and singing ain't no crime.
Good day, gentlemen.
♪ Doug Preston
ran to save his life ♪
♪ The innocent must be free ♪
♪ His frightened cries
stopped late that night ♪
♪ When they lynched him
on the great blood tree ♪
♪ Frank Stanley was
murdered on a lonely night ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright
called the truth a lie ♪
♪ Doug Preston was
the only one in sight ♪
♪ Dave Sinclair
said he had to die ♪
♪ Judge Borman
sat with icy eyes ♪
♪ Doug Preston
would not go free. ♪
What are you doing up here, Pa?
Oh, thinking.
Is something wrong?
I don't know.
Remember yesterday I... told you
I met a young man out here
when I was on my way back home?
You mean the
one with the guitar?
Yeah.
Yeah, the one with the guitar.
That boy is Doug Preston's son.
Yeah. Doug Preston, huh?
I knew he had a boy.
He left here years ago.
Yeah, he did. His aunt took
him away right after his...
right after his father died.
But he's back.
And he's grown to be
a very bitter young man.
Oh, not that I can blame him
after what he's been through.
He believes his
father was innocent.
Well, I guess it'd be pretty
rough for any boy to...
accept the fact that his
father was a murderer.
It's a lot more than that, Joe.
A whole lot more.
He blames his father's death
on Judge Borman,
Dave Sinclair, and me.
That don't make sense.
You three did more
than anybody else,
tryin' to stop that lynching.
Yeah, I know.
But there was a lynching.
If he thinks his father was
innocent, doesn't he know
you saw his pa run out of the
barn the night of the murder?
He refuses to believe it.
If he won't believe the truth,
there's nothing you can do.
Well, I was thinking
maybe there is.
If one of you boys
believed in something
as strongly as he
does, I sure hope
there'd be someone that
you could talk to about it.
I think I'm gonna ride into town
and... see if I can't get
through to that boy somehow.
See you tonight.
Be careful, Pa.
Oh. Good evening,
Mr. Cartwright.
Mr. Simpson.
Is the Preston boy in his room?
No, he's not. He's...
he's probably still
running around town,
singing that song
and raising a fuss.
He's been at it all day.
I guarantee you, Mr. Cartwright,
that I'll have him
out of this hotel
just as soon as he gets back.
Why?
Has he broken any laws?
No, but...
He, uh, do any
damage in the hotel?
No, Mr. Cartwright.
(door opens)
- Get him onto the chair.
- Yeah.
What happened to you, boy?
Somebody jumped me in the alley.
I'll get a doctor.
SHERIFF: And you don't have
any idea who beat you up, huh?
Already told you, Sheriff.
It was too dark to see.
Somebody hit me from behind,
then started working me over.
It could have been anybody.
I don't have very many
friends in this town, Sheriff.
You have any ideas, Ben?
Well, the boy's right.
He doesn't have too
many friends around here.
He's caused an awful
lot of unrest since coming,
but I can't think of anybody
who'd get angry
enough to do this.
I know somebody
that'd be angry enough.
Well, who's that?
The man that
murdered Frank Stanley.
SHERIFF: Oh, now,
just a minute, boy.
You ride into town
and sing a ballad
that makes a lot
of loose charges
and doesn't offer
proof of one of them.
Oh, come on, Sheriff.
You think somebody beat
me up just for practice?
Uh-uh. I think
somebody in this town
thinks I'm getting
pretty close to the truth
and they're trying to stop me.
I've waited 15 years to
clear my father's name.
The only way anybody's
gonna stop me now is to kill me.
There's a bitter young man, Ben.
Yeah.
Well, he has a right to be.
Oh, that lynching
was 15 years ago.
It was wrong, the
whole town knows that,
but it's over and done with now.
The boy's father would have
hung anyway, he was guilty.
(sighs)
Yeah.
I guess he was. I...
I sure thought so then.
Well, but, Ben, the
evidence... Yeah.
The evidence.
Do me a favor.
Ask Judge Borman
and Dave Sinclair
to meet me at the hotel.
Well, it's awful late, Ben.
(sighs)
Yeah, it is late.
Maybe 15 years late.
Gentlemen.
Good evening, Ben.
Thank you for coming
out so late at night.
It's real friendly of you.
Yeah, friend or no friend,
it'd better be important, Ben.
Well, I think it's important.
Somebody beat up
the Preston boy tonight.
Yes, the sheriff told us.
But frankly I'm
not surprised, Ben.
The boy was looking for trouble.
Well... it's only
human nature, Ben.
People don't want to be
reminded of the lynching,
so they strike out at whatever
brings up the memory.
That's one possibility.
What's the other?
(sighs): Well, I got a...
Maybe it's crazy, but...
I got a strange
notion that maybe...
somebody's trying
to keep the boy quiet,
to protect themselves.
Judge, I'd like to go
back over the trial records.
But it was an
open-and-shut case, Ben.
You yourself saw Doug Preston
come out of the
barn after the killing.
You had no doubts 15 years ago.
I know I didn't.
I know.
But that boy was
beaten up tonight.
Judge...
maybe we missed
something at the trial.
I think we owe it to ourselves
and to the Preston boy
to make sure that
nothing is overlooked.
Well... if you feel that
strongly about it, Ben...
I do.
I do, Judge.
I'll stay in town.
We can start going
over the records
first thing in the morning,
if that's all right with you.
All right.
Good night, Ben.
See you in the morning.
♪♪
(sighs)
Oh, Mr. Simpson, I'll
be staying here the night.
Could I have my usual room?
Why, certainly, Mr. Cartwright.
There you are, sir.
Hope there's no trouble.
Sure hope not.
Night.
Harold.
What are you doing
up this time of night?
Mother couldn't sleep.
She was sitting by the window,
saw you come in the hotel.
She wanted to talk to you.
About the Preston boy?
Yes.
Does she know who he is?
No, but she heard him singing.
Look, if you could just
go upstairs and talk to her,
tell her everything's
all right...
I'm sure she could sleep then.
(quietly): Yeah, sure.
Mother, Ben
Cartwright's with me.
Ben!
Thank you for coming to see me.
Sit down.
Thank you, Lisa.
BEN: Well... I hear
you've been a bad girl.
You haven't been resting
as much as you should.
Oh, I will, I will.
I just wanted to talk to an
old friend for a few minutes.
Well, it's good to see you.
Who is that boy?
The one with the guitar.
Who is he, Ben?
Well... just a
boy with a guitar.
No reason for you
to bother about it.
I keep telling her
that, Mr. Cartwright.
There's every reason.
Doug Preston was hanged
for the murder of my husband.
Ben, who is that boy?
BEN (sighs): Well, you seem
determined to... know about it.
He's Doug Preston's son.
Doug Preston's son.
BEN: Yep.
I guess the town
forgot about that boy.
Yes, I imagine most
of the town did forget.
You, uh... you
heard him singing.
He's convinced that...
that his father
didn't kill Frank.
And, uh...
he's just come here to
find whoever it was that did,
if anybody else did.
Do you think it
was someone else?
No, I find it hard to believe
it was anybody else, but...
(Ben sighs heavily)
Well, somebody beat
up that boy tonight.
BEN: Why?
Now, you see what
I've done by telling you?
No, you've-you've
helped by telling me.
It's worse wondering
and not knowing.
One imagines so many things.
Yeah, that's true.
It sure is true.
Now, Lisa, you get
yourself a good night's rest.
Thank you, Ben. I will.
- Night.
- Good night.
(guitar playing softly)
♪♪
I don't like that guitar player.
You're not the only one
who don't like him, Hank.
He's got no right
singin' about the posse.
I don't care if he
is Preston's kid.
It was a good posse.
We did what we had to.
I was in it.
In fact, you were,
too, weren't you?
Yeah, I was in it, all right.
♪♪
Hey, you.
We don't want to hear
no more of your songs.
As a matter of fact, we don't
want you 'round here no more.
You look at me when
I'm talking to you!
♪♪
We don't want the son
of a stinkin' murderer
hanging around this town!
BARTENDER: Now
get your fight outta here!
Hold it... uh, here,
stay away from the bar...
Will you take
your fight outside!
Take your fight out...
(knocking on door)
Sorry I'm late, gentlemen.
It's all right, Ben.
This may all be unnecessary now.
What does that mean?
The sheriff was in to
see us a few minutes ago.
He had to lock up the
Preston boy last night.
Seems he got into
a fight in the saloon,
and did a pretty good
job of smashing it up.
Yeah, he couldn't pay the
damages, so the sheriff's
gonna let him cool
off for a few hours,
and then escort him out of town.
And that'll be good riddance.
(Ben sighs heavily)
Well, whether the
boy leaves or not
isn't gonna change
anything for him or for us.
We've got to make the boy see...
See what? Uh, see that
the evidence is right?
Ben, Preston was
guilty as charged.
We all agreed on
that 15 years ago.
Yes, Dave, we did agree.
But maybe we were
just a little anxious.
If you remember, the
man we were trying
had already been executed.
Well, I'll go over
to the sheriff's office
and see what I
can do for the boy.
Meanwhile, will you fellas
start going over the evidence?
We've been doing that, Ben.
- We'll get back to it.
- Thank you.
All right, boy, your
bail's been paid.
You're free to go.
Who paid it?
Mr. Cartwright.
Son, there's work for you to do
and a place for you
to stay, if you want it.
You're offering me a job?
Why not?
There's always room for an
extra ranch hand at the Ponderosa.
And you look like you've
been around cattle, son.
(scoffs)
You think I'd be fool
enough to accept?
I'd ride out to the
Ponderosa with you,
I might never ride back.
Why don't you just let
me lock him back up, Ben?
Leave me alone with him
for... a minute, will you?
Son... (sighs)
Son, I'd like to be your friend.
But I reckon you don't
believe that, do you?
You're right, I don't.
But you do want to know
about your father, don't you?
Whether he was
guilty or innocent?
I've got the judge and
the prosecuting attorney
working on the evidence,
just in case they missed
something 15 years ago.
You're doing that?
I want the truth
as much as you do.
I don't believe you.
All right.
Wait a minute.
I'll go with you.
But don't expect any
thanks for what you're doing.
This town still
murdered my father,
and you're part of this town.
♪♪
What's your son's name?
Adam.
Oh, yeah, Adam.
He play the guitar much?
Oh, yeah.
All the time.
We kind of miss it.
You're welcome to use
that one while you're here.
Thanks a lot.
I never had one this good.
Where you learn to play?
Just picked it up.
I used to listen to my father
a lot, when I was real young.
He was a fine guitar player.
Made up songs by the hour.
You, uh... you seem
to have the same gift.
Oh, no.
All my father's songs
were happy songs.
I bet you could make up
a happy song, if you tried.
Well, there's one thing
I'd have to find out first.
What's that?
What it's like to feel happy.
Well, uh... look, you
get yourself cleaned up.
I'll see you at supper.
Hop Sing, that was delicious.
You've outdone yourself again.
Young man no like.
He eat less than bird.
It was fine. I just
wasn't very hungry.
Don't worry.
Mr. Hoss, he
finish it all anyway.
He only one who eat good.
Hop Sing stand
over hot stove all day.
Nobody eat.
Pretty soon now, Hop Sing quit.
- (speaking Chinese)
- (Little Joe and Hoss laughing)
Here, don't let
him down. (laughs)
Mr. Cartwright,
you said something
about going over
those records again.
Yes. Matter of fact, uh, Judge
Borman and Dave Sinclair
have been working
on them all day.
I'm going to join them tomorrow.
I certainly would like
to see those records.
I think that'd be
a very good idea.
Tell you what, we'll
go to town together,
first thing in the morning.
Pa, I sort of figured on going
into town tomorrow anyhow.
Is there anything I can do?
Yeah, you can ask
Dave Sinclair to bring out
a copy of the records
with him, out to the ranch.
Hey, I'll go with you,
so you don't get lost.
- BEN: Mm-mm.
- LITTLE JOE: Hmm?
Plenty of work for you
to do here tomorrow.
And don't try to get out of it.
Well, in that case,
I think I'll turn in.
I'll see you in the morning.
I think I'll hit it, too, Pa.
Night. G'night, Colter.
- BEN: G'night.
- Night, Hoss.
I guess I better turn in, too.
I didn't get much sleep
in that jail last night.
Uh, Colter... there's
something that I...
(sighs) I'd like to ask you.
Don't quite know how to put it.
(sighs deeply)
Well, I suppose the
best way is flat out,
man to man.
What has made you so sure...
all these years...
that your father was innocent?
Because he told me.
And my father wouldn't
lie to me, Mr. Cartwright.
He said he was innocent,
and I believed him,
deep in my heart.
(sighs deeply)
Well... one of us
has to be wrong.
Has to be.
And... that one
is gonna have to...
face the truth... and accept it.
Yeah, I know that,
Mr. Cartwright.
I know.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
What time you think they'll
be here, Mr. Cartwright?
Oh... figured they'd
be here by now.
Around 11:00, I guess.
That's really a nice piece.
Yeah, you've got a
good eye, young fella.
You know who gave me that?
Sam Colt himself.
That's a beauty.
I've never seen a
collection as nice as yours.
Yeah, it's a pretty good one.
This is an interesting piece.
That's a Belgian blunderbuss.
And, uh, that middle one there,
that's, uh, those are two
English carriage pistols.
Those are buccaneer's
pistols up there.
Yeah, pirates used to
stick them in their sashes.
Oh, I think they're coming.
(hoofbeats approaching)
(gunshot)
- Let me look at that...
- (grunts)
Pa!
BEN: In here!
Pa, what happened?
Colter shot himself by accident.
Only creased his side,
but I think we better get
him in to see Doc Martin.
- Get some hot water, will you?
- You won't be able
to lie your way out of
it this time, Cartwright.
He tried to kill me!
You hear? He tried to kill me!
Hank... What happened?
What's all the excitement?
They got Ben
Cartwright in there.
He tried to kill
that singin' feller.
Ben Cartwright?!
You heard me.
The kid's accusing him
of attempted murder.
Hey, Hoss, wait a minute.
What's going on?
They lock him up, Joe?
Look, boys, we can't
say anything. It's, uh...
Well, we just asked
a simple question.
What's the difference?
It'll be in the paper, won't it?
If it's in the paper,
you can read about it.
Mother, I don't understand
why you're getting so excited.
Now, I've already told
you for the tenth time...
I'm not trying to keep
anything from you.
For 15 long years, I've
sat at the window, Harold,
watching the street down there.
I've seen things that
nobody else has ever seen.
I know things about this town
that nobody else will ever know.
This afternoon, I
saw Ben Cartwright
and his two boys ride into town
with Doug Preston's
boy and Dave Sinclair.
I saw them go into the jail.
But I didn't see Ben
Cartwright come back out.
Tell me, Harold.
Mother, you know
what the doctor said
about you getting upset.
Tell me, Harold.
All right.
Doug Preston's boy has
accused Ben Cartwright
of trying to murder him.
Thank you, Harold.
I was just trying to
spare you the upset.
It'll all blow over.
Yes, of course.
Hey, don't you think you
ought to go to bed now?
No, no.
You go on to your room.
I just want to sit
here for a while.
(humming)
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh... ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ The truth was lost ♪
♪ For 15 years ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright rode ♪
♪ Tall and free ♪
♪ But now his sons ♪
♪ Will know my tears ♪
♪ As their father swings ♪
♪ From the hangin' tree ♪
♪ I sing a song ♪
♪ Of pain and blood... ♪
(guitar continues)
(Colter stops playing)
You're gonna die...
Mr. Cartwright, you're gonna
die just like my father did.
You saying just because it's
Ben Cartwright, it couldn't happen?
I didn't say it couldn't happen.
I just said I
don't think it did.
Well, what the kid says
makes a lot of sense to me.
Ben beat him up
to scare him off,
and when that didn't
work, he tried to shoot him.
HANK: What do you think you
are, the judge or something?
CHARLIE: I got a
right to say what I think.
Now, not everybody
around here thinks
the Cartwrights are
as pure as you do.
To get that big, you got to tromp
on somebody along the way,
and that's a fact.
(sighs) Shh, shh.
(quietly): How come he
took the kid out to the ranch?
Can you explain that?
Hush up, will you?
And then,
Mr. Cartwright, you, um...
you not only posted
bail for this boy
but you went even
further and, uh,
invited him out to the ranch.
Can you explain
why you did this?
Well, I... I felt
badly for the boy.
He was, uh, it seemed
to me, a bitter young man
who was destroying
himself, I thought,
because of a mistaken idea
he'd been living with for 15 years.
I didn't make any mistake.
I've already proved what
I came here to find out.
Go on, Mr. Cartwright.
(sighs) I... I
figured if I could...
get through to Colter,
get through to his mind,
have him live with a family,
something which I guess
he didn't have a
chance to do before,
have people around him who...
who weren't filled with hatred.
You say, uh, "have
people around him."
Your sons, is that
what you mean?
Yes, that was...
that was my intent.
Well, on the day in question,
were your sons present?
No, sir, they were not.
And, um, you and Colter Preston
were alone at the Ponderosa?
Yes, sir, that's correct.
He even sent Little Joe
on a wild goose chase
to the other end of the ranch,
and he sent Hoss into town
on some kind of errand and...
and there wasn't even
a hand on the place.
Young man, you will remain
quiet until you are questioned,
or I shall instruct the deputy
to remove you from the
courtroom and hold you in contempt.
Now, Mr. Cartwright,
on the night of the
previous assault
you admit then that, um...
that you were in town,
that you were in the
vicinity of the assault
and at exactly the
time it happened?
That's right.
SINCLAIR: Then, um,
you could have been the man
who gave Colter Preston a beating?
If you're referring to
the time and place,
yes, I could've
done it, but I didn't.
But he could have.
He's answered the question.
Well, what kind
of hearing is this?
Are you just gonna listen
to what you want to hear?
Is this the kind of trial
you gave my father?
Order! Order!
(gallery murmuring)
(gallery quiets)
Lisa.
She insisted, Judge.
I couldn't stop her.
You don't miss a bit,
do you, Cartwright?
Bringing in the widow
of the murdered man
to get sympathy for you!
Sit down!
I have a right to have my say!
What's the matter,
Cartwright, afraid of the truth?
Did you see my father comin'
out of the barn that night,
or did he see you?
- (gavel bangs)
- JUDGE BORMAN: Deputy,
you sit this boy
down in that chair.
Isn't that the
truth, Cartwright?
Go ahead!
All right, come on, boy...
Come on. Sit down.
- I'll sit down.
- Sit down and behave yourself.
JUDGE BORMAN: If he gets
up or opens his mouth again,
take him out of
here and lock him up.
(sighs) Doggone it, Dave, it...
it just don't make sense.
If Pa intended to shoot Colter,
why'd he wait till me and
you got there to see it?
The witness will please
answer the prosecutor's question.
SINCLAIR: I repeat...
as soon as we arrived,
we heard a gunshot.
We ran into the house.
Ben Cartwright was there.
Colter Preston was
gripping his side.
He'd been wounded by a gunshot.
Well, Hoss?
Speak up, Hoss.
Wasn't that the way it was?
(quietly): Yeah,
that's... that's right.
You'll-you'll have to speak
up so the court can hear.
(louder): I say,
ye-yes, that's right.
Your Honor, in
view of the evidence,
I ask that Ben Cartwright
be charged with
assault and battery
and with assault
with a deadly weapon
with intent to kill.
Ben... if you have
anything to say...
if you have another
line of defense...
Ben, your only defense, so
far, has been your conviction
that the boy's lying.
He is lying, Judge.
He may not know
he's lying, but he is.
- (gallery murmuring)
- HAROLD: Please...
JUDGE BORMAN: Order!
HAROLD (quietly): Please...
How can you be so sure, Lisa?
Because my son and I have
lived with a lie for 15 years.
Mother, I'm not
gonna let you do this.
You'll let me, Harold.
In a way, it'll be like
getting out of prison.
Should have been
said 15 years ago.
It should have been said the
night my husband was killed.
I was in the barn
that night, Ben.
That's what you didn't see.
Doug Preston and I were in the
barn and my husband came in.
My husband was a violent man.
You knew that, Ben.
But for my sake,
you-you tried to ignore it.
But you knew it.
There were other
women, a lot of drinking...
I was terrified what
he might do to my son,
in one of his drunken rages.
I needed someone
that would understand,
give me sympathy.
We didn't mean it to happen,
but we fell in love
with each other.
We planned to run away together,
take our two sons with us.
- She's lyin'!
- Deputy.
Listen, my father was
takin' me away with him.
He would've told me if he
had an interest in that woman.
You're a liar, woman!
Frank began to suspect us.
We were in the barn that
night, and Frank came in.
There was a horrible argument.
Doug Preston drew
his gun and fired.
No! That's not so!
Doug ran out of the barn.
That's when Ben saw him.
I hid in the loft, and I
saw Ben come in and...
look down at my
husband, lying there dead.
Doug was afraid.
He was guilty,
and he was afraid.
He told me he was gonna
try to break out of jail,
and I-I enc... I encouraged him.
We'd meet someplace.
I told him I'd take
care of his son, Colter,
but he wanted the boy with him.
If he hadn't stopped that
night to pick up the boy,
the posse might
never have caught him.
Don't lie, Colter.
Please don't lie.
Haven't enough lives
been ruined by lies already?
(sobs)
Do you have anything to
say for yourself now, Colter?
I did lie.
I shot myself.
And that other
beating, in the alley?
I did that, too.
I just beat my head
against the wall,
pretending I was beatin' my
head against Ben Cartwright,
beatin' the truth out of him.
I had to know the truth.
I had to know the truth.
Well, you know it now.
The charges against Ben
Cartwright are dismissed.
The court stands adjourned.
My father lied to me.
He said that he was innocent.
And... if I hadn't
really believed him, I...
I wouldn't have caused
anybody this much trouble,
especially you.
He lied to you because
of his love for you.
Forget the lie.
Remember the love.
That's what I remember.
That's what I was
trying to protect.
I think Lisa told him
what would happen.
Someday the hatred
will be gone and...
he'll remember only the love.
(chuckles) You know,
he once said to me that he...
he'd never sung a happy song,
'cause he didn't know how.
Maybe he will now.
I sure hope so.
Come on. Let's go.
ANNOUNCER: This has
been a color production
of the NBC Television Network.
is brought to you in
living color on NBC.
(fanfare plays)
♪♪
Howdy, stranger.
Howdy.
You, uh... Where you heading?
That's my business, mister.
Well, I guess it's
my business, too,
seeing as how
this is my property.
This is your spread, huh?
That's right.
Well, I didn't mean to
be short with you, mister.
I've been riding a long way.
I guess this dust has just
dried out my good nature.
Well, it's, uh...
it's not too cold, but it's wet.
Help yourself.
Thanks, appreciate it.
This the way to Virginia City?
Yeah, just over the
hill, you pick up the road.
You come to the
fork, you bear right.
How far is it?
Oh, about an hour's ride.
That's about all me and
my horse got left in us.
You planning on
staying in Virginia City?
Yeah, I plan to stay there.
Long as it takes me to
get done what I've got to do.
Didn't mean to be trespassing.
That's all right.
You rest your horse just
as long as you want to.
Good luck.
Same to you, mister.
♪ I sing a song ♪
♪ Of pain and blood ♪
♪ The ballad of the Ponderosa ♪
♪ I sing of a man,
dead in the mud ♪
♪ 'Neath the blood
tree of the Ponderosa ♪
♪ Doug Preston
died in innocence ♪
♪ Swingin' broken,
against the skies ♪
♪ Not a word of truth
for him was spoken ♪
♪ Oh, damn Ben Cartwright ♪
♪ Damn his righteous eyes. ♪
(theme song playing)
(laughing)
Judge, you learn
something new every day.
Now, as long as we three
have been having lunch together,
this is the first time I knew
our prosecuting attorney
had a sense of humor.
(laughing)
It looks like I'm going to
need a sense of humor.
If this town stays as
peaceful as it has been,
there won't be any need
for a prosecuting attorney.
Don't worry, Dave.
Maybe Ben or one of
his boys can arrange
to get into a little trouble,
and then you can become
the public defender.
(laughing)
How soon before Roy Coffee
gets back from his vacation?
Oh, about a week or so.
You know, I practically had
to file out a warrant against him
to get him to take
this month off.
That old hardnose.
He thinks Virginia
City just can't get along
a day without him.
Well, let's not tell
him what a good job
Deputy Simms has
been doing, huh?
(chuckling)
Well, entertainment
at lunchtime.
This town's getting more
and more like San Francisco.
Well, come on over
here, young man.
I see you made it
without too much trouble.
Yes, sir, I did,
no trouble at all.
What's your pleasure, gentlemen?
Judge?
Well, just about anything
is all right with me.
Well, in that case, I'll
do a favorite of mine.
♪ I sing a song
of pain and hate ♪
♪ Of a town full
of death and lies ♪
♪ Doug Preston was lynched ♪
♪ 'Cause they couldn't wait ♪
♪ Oh, damn Ben Cartwright ♪
♪ Damn his righteous eyes ♪
♪ Frank Stanley was
murdered on a lonely night ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright
called the truth a lie ♪
♪ Doug Preston was
the only one in sight ♪
♪ Dave Sinclair
said he had to die ♪
♪ Judge Borman
sat with icy eyes ♪
♪ Doug Preston
would not go free ♪
♪ No justice under
frowning skies ♪
♪ Just blood on the
roots of the hanging tree. ♪
(murmuring)
I'm sorry, gentlemen.
I seem to have picked
an unpopular tune.
Who are you?
Colter's my name,
Colter Preston.
Preston.
That's a pretty famous
name around here, ain't it?
Boy, that was a long time ago.
It's forgotten by now.
Well, I ain't forgot it.
You see, I'm Doug Preston's son.
You all seem mighty
interested in my song.
How about you, Cartwright,
you want to hear some more?
I-I apologize, gentlemen.
All right, young man,
this is quite enough.
I run this hotel, and
you're disturbing my guests.
Wait a minute.
Mr. Simpson,
I think Mr. Sinclair, Judge
Borman and I would like
to hear this young man out.
Well, well, what do you know?
All three together.
The three men responsible
for my father's death.
I don't have to listen to this.
That's right, Judge, you don't.
Why don't you just lynch
me like you did my pa?
No one condoned that lynching.
But they still claimed he
was guilty, and that's a lie.
Another man
killed Frank Stanley,
and that man went free,
while my father was
lynched by a mob
for a crime he didn't commit.
Would an innocent man break
jail before his trial was over?
My father tried to get
away because he knew
he didn't have a chance,
with a so-called eyewitness and
a hanging judge waiting for him.
I'm sorry, Ben, I have
had just about enough.
That's all right, Judge,
you just run along.
But just remember, I'm
gonna keep singing that song.
I got my rent paid
up at this hotel,
and there ain't no
law against singing.
Why are you doing this?
Justice, in the memory
of an innocent man.
And don't you try and stop me.
A guitar ain't no gun,
and singing ain't no crime.
Good day, gentlemen.
♪ Doug Preston
ran to save his life ♪
♪ The innocent must be free ♪
♪ His frightened cries
stopped late that night ♪
♪ When they lynched him
on the great blood tree ♪
♪ Frank Stanley was
murdered on a lonely night ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright
called the truth a lie ♪
♪ Doug Preston was
the only one in sight ♪
♪ Dave Sinclair
said he had to die ♪
♪ Judge Borman
sat with icy eyes ♪
♪ Doug Preston
would not go free. ♪
What are you doing up here, Pa?
Oh, thinking.
Is something wrong?
I don't know.
Remember yesterday I... told you
I met a young man out here
when I was on my way back home?
You mean the
one with the guitar?
Yeah.
Yeah, the one with the guitar.
That boy is Doug Preston's son.
Yeah. Doug Preston, huh?
I knew he had a boy.
He left here years ago.
Yeah, he did. His aunt took
him away right after his...
right after his father died.
But he's back.
And he's grown to be
a very bitter young man.
Oh, not that I can blame him
after what he's been through.
He believes his
father was innocent.
Well, I guess it'd be pretty
rough for any boy to...
accept the fact that his
father was a murderer.
It's a lot more than that, Joe.
A whole lot more.
He blames his father's death
on Judge Borman,
Dave Sinclair, and me.
That don't make sense.
You three did more
than anybody else,
tryin' to stop that lynching.
Yeah, I know.
But there was a lynching.
If he thinks his father was
innocent, doesn't he know
you saw his pa run out of the
barn the night of the murder?
He refuses to believe it.
If he won't believe the truth,
there's nothing you can do.
Well, I was thinking
maybe there is.
If one of you boys
believed in something
as strongly as he
does, I sure hope
there'd be someone that
you could talk to about it.
I think I'm gonna ride into town
and... see if I can't get
through to that boy somehow.
See you tonight.
Be careful, Pa.
Oh. Good evening,
Mr. Cartwright.
Mr. Simpson.
Is the Preston boy in his room?
No, he's not. He's...
he's probably still
running around town,
singing that song
and raising a fuss.
He's been at it all day.
I guarantee you, Mr. Cartwright,
that I'll have him
out of this hotel
just as soon as he gets back.
Why?
Has he broken any laws?
No, but...
He, uh, do any
damage in the hotel?
No, Mr. Cartwright.
(door opens)
- Get him onto the chair.
- Yeah.
What happened to you, boy?
Somebody jumped me in the alley.
I'll get a doctor.
SHERIFF: And you don't have
any idea who beat you up, huh?
Already told you, Sheriff.
It was too dark to see.
Somebody hit me from behind,
then started working me over.
It could have been anybody.
I don't have very many
friends in this town, Sheriff.
You have any ideas, Ben?
Well, the boy's right.
He doesn't have too
many friends around here.
He's caused an awful
lot of unrest since coming,
but I can't think of anybody
who'd get angry
enough to do this.
I know somebody
that'd be angry enough.
Well, who's that?
The man that
murdered Frank Stanley.
SHERIFF: Oh, now,
just a minute, boy.
You ride into town
and sing a ballad
that makes a lot
of loose charges
and doesn't offer
proof of one of them.
Oh, come on, Sheriff.
You think somebody beat
me up just for practice?
Uh-uh. I think
somebody in this town
thinks I'm getting
pretty close to the truth
and they're trying to stop me.
I've waited 15 years to
clear my father's name.
The only way anybody's
gonna stop me now is to kill me.
There's a bitter young man, Ben.
Yeah.
Well, he has a right to be.
Oh, that lynching
was 15 years ago.
It was wrong, the
whole town knows that,
but it's over and done with now.
The boy's father would have
hung anyway, he was guilty.
(sighs)
Yeah.
I guess he was. I...
I sure thought so then.
Well, but, Ben, the
evidence... Yeah.
The evidence.
Do me a favor.
Ask Judge Borman
and Dave Sinclair
to meet me at the hotel.
Well, it's awful late, Ben.
(sighs)
Yeah, it is late.
Maybe 15 years late.
Gentlemen.
Good evening, Ben.
Thank you for coming
out so late at night.
It's real friendly of you.
Yeah, friend or no friend,
it'd better be important, Ben.
Well, I think it's important.
Somebody beat up
the Preston boy tonight.
Yes, the sheriff told us.
But frankly I'm
not surprised, Ben.
The boy was looking for trouble.
Well... it's only
human nature, Ben.
People don't want to be
reminded of the lynching,
so they strike out at whatever
brings up the memory.
That's one possibility.
What's the other?
(sighs): Well, I got a...
Maybe it's crazy, but...
I got a strange
notion that maybe...
somebody's trying
to keep the boy quiet,
to protect themselves.
Judge, I'd like to go
back over the trial records.
But it was an
open-and-shut case, Ben.
You yourself saw Doug Preston
come out of the
barn after the killing.
You had no doubts 15 years ago.
I know I didn't.
I know.
But that boy was
beaten up tonight.
Judge...
maybe we missed
something at the trial.
I think we owe it to ourselves
and to the Preston boy
to make sure that
nothing is overlooked.
Well... if you feel that
strongly about it, Ben...
I do.
I do, Judge.
I'll stay in town.
We can start going
over the records
first thing in the morning,
if that's all right with you.
All right.
Good night, Ben.
See you in the morning.
♪♪
(sighs)
Oh, Mr. Simpson, I'll
be staying here the night.
Could I have my usual room?
Why, certainly, Mr. Cartwright.
There you are, sir.
Hope there's no trouble.
Sure hope not.
Night.
Harold.
What are you doing
up this time of night?
Mother couldn't sleep.
She was sitting by the window,
saw you come in the hotel.
She wanted to talk to you.
About the Preston boy?
Yes.
Does she know who he is?
No, but she heard him singing.
Look, if you could just
go upstairs and talk to her,
tell her everything's
all right...
I'm sure she could sleep then.
(quietly): Yeah, sure.
Mother, Ben
Cartwright's with me.
Ben!
Thank you for coming to see me.
Sit down.
Thank you, Lisa.
BEN: Well... I hear
you've been a bad girl.
You haven't been resting
as much as you should.
Oh, I will, I will.
I just wanted to talk to an
old friend for a few minutes.
Well, it's good to see you.
Who is that boy?
The one with the guitar.
Who is he, Ben?
Well... just a
boy with a guitar.
No reason for you
to bother about it.
I keep telling her
that, Mr. Cartwright.
There's every reason.
Doug Preston was hanged
for the murder of my husband.
Ben, who is that boy?
BEN (sighs): Well, you seem
determined to... know about it.
He's Doug Preston's son.
Doug Preston's son.
BEN: Yep.
I guess the town
forgot about that boy.
Yes, I imagine most
of the town did forget.
You, uh... you
heard him singing.
He's convinced that...
that his father
didn't kill Frank.
And, uh...
he's just come here to
find whoever it was that did,
if anybody else did.
Do you think it
was someone else?
No, I find it hard to believe
it was anybody else, but...
(Ben sighs heavily)
Well, somebody beat
up that boy tonight.
BEN: Why?
Now, you see what
I've done by telling you?
No, you've-you've
helped by telling me.
It's worse wondering
and not knowing.
One imagines so many things.
Yeah, that's true.
It sure is true.
Now, Lisa, you get
yourself a good night's rest.
Thank you, Ben. I will.
- Night.
- Good night.
(guitar playing softly)
♪♪
I don't like that guitar player.
You're not the only one
who don't like him, Hank.
He's got no right
singin' about the posse.
I don't care if he
is Preston's kid.
It was a good posse.
We did what we had to.
I was in it.
In fact, you were,
too, weren't you?
Yeah, I was in it, all right.
♪♪
Hey, you.
We don't want to hear
no more of your songs.
As a matter of fact, we don't
want you 'round here no more.
You look at me when
I'm talking to you!
♪♪
We don't want the son
of a stinkin' murderer
hanging around this town!
BARTENDER: Now
get your fight outta here!
Hold it... uh, here,
stay away from the bar...
Will you take
your fight outside!
Take your fight out...
(knocking on door)
Sorry I'm late, gentlemen.
It's all right, Ben.
This may all be unnecessary now.
What does that mean?
The sheriff was in to
see us a few minutes ago.
He had to lock up the
Preston boy last night.
Seems he got into
a fight in the saloon,
and did a pretty good
job of smashing it up.
Yeah, he couldn't pay the
damages, so the sheriff's
gonna let him cool
off for a few hours,
and then escort him out of town.
And that'll be good riddance.
(Ben sighs heavily)
Well, whether the
boy leaves or not
isn't gonna change
anything for him or for us.
We've got to make the boy see...
See what? Uh, see that
the evidence is right?
Ben, Preston was
guilty as charged.
We all agreed on
that 15 years ago.
Yes, Dave, we did agree.
But maybe we were
just a little anxious.
If you remember, the
man we were trying
had already been executed.
Well, I'll go over
to the sheriff's office
and see what I
can do for the boy.
Meanwhile, will you fellas
start going over the evidence?
We've been doing that, Ben.
- We'll get back to it.
- Thank you.
All right, boy, your
bail's been paid.
You're free to go.
Who paid it?
Mr. Cartwright.
Son, there's work for you to do
and a place for you
to stay, if you want it.
You're offering me a job?
Why not?
There's always room for an
extra ranch hand at the Ponderosa.
And you look like you've
been around cattle, son.
(scoffs)
You think I'd be fool
enough to accept?
I'd ride out to the
Ponderosa with you,
I might never ride back.
Why don't you just let
me lock him back up, Ben?
Leave me alone with him
for... a minute, will you?
Son... (sighs)
Son, I'd like to be your friend.
But I reckon you don't
believe that, do you?
You're right, I don't.
But you do want to know
about your father, don't you?
Whether he was
guilty or innocent?
I've got the judge and
the prosecuting attorney
working on the evidence,
just in case they missed
something 15 years ago.
You're doing that?
I want the truth
as much as you do.
I don't believe you.
All right.
Wait a minute.
I'll go with you.
But don't expect any
thanks for what you're doing.
This town still
murdered my father,
and you're part of this town.
♪♪
What's your son's name?
Adam.
Oh, yeah, Adam.
He play the guitar much?
Oh, yeah.
All the time.
We kind of miss it.
You're welcome to use
that one while you're here.
Thanks a lot.
I never had one this good.
Where you learn to play?
Just picked it up.
I used to listen to my father
a lot, when I was real young.
He was a fine guitar player.
Made up songs by the hour.
You, uh... you seem
to have the same gift.
Oh, no.
All my father's songs
were happy songs.
I bet you could make up
a happy song, if you tried.
Well, there's one thing
I'd have to find out first.
What's that?
What it's like to feel happy.
Well, uh... look, you
get yourself cleaned up.
I'll see you at supper.
Hop Sing, that was delicious.
You've outdone yourself again.
Young man no like.
He eat less than bird.
It was fine. I just
wasn't very hungry.
Don't worry.
Mr. Hoss, he
finish it all anyway.
He only one who eat good.
Hop Sing stand
over hot stove all day.
Nobody eat.
Pretty soon now, Hop Sing quit.
- (speaking Chinese)
- (Little Joe and Hoss laughing)
Here, don't let
him down. (laughs)
Mr. Cartwright,
you said something
about going over
those records again.
Yes. Matter of fact, uh, Judge
Borman and Dave Sinclair
have been working
on them all day.
I'm going to join them tomorrow.
I certainly would like
to see those records.
I think that'd be
a very good idea.
Tell you what, we'll
go to town together,
first thing in the morning.
Pa, I sort of figured on going
into town tomorrow anyhow.
Is there anything I can do?
Yeah, you can ask
Dave Sinclair to bring out
a copy of the records
with him, out to the ranch.
Hey, I'll go with you,
so you don't get lost.
- BEN: Mm-mm.
- LITTLE JOE: Hmm?
Plenty of work for you
to do here tomorrow.
And don't try to get out of it.
Well, in that case,
I think I'll turn in.
I'll see you in the morning.
I think I'll hit it, too, Pa.
Night. G'night, Colter.
- BEN: G'night.
- Night, Hoss.
I guess I better turn in, too.
I didn't get much sleep
in that jail last night.
Uh, Colter... there's
something that I...
(sighs) I'd like to ask you.
Don't quite know how to put it.
(sighs deeply)
Well, I suppose the
best way is flat out,
man to man.
What has made you so sure...
all these years...
that your father was innocent?
Because he told me.
And my father wouldn't
lie to me, Mr. Cartwright.
He said he was innocent,
and I believed him,
deep in my heart.
(sighs deeply)
Well... one of us
has to be wrong.
Has to be.
And... that one
is gonna have to...
face the truth... and accept it.
Yeah, I know that,
Mr. Cartwright.
I know.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
What time you think they'll
be here, Mr. Cartwright?
Oh... figured they'd
be here by now.
Around 11:00, I guess.
That's really a nice piece.
Yeah, you've got a
good eye, young fella.
You know who gave me that?
Sam Colt himself.
That's a beauty.
I've never seen a
collection as nice as yours.
Yeah, it's a pretty good one.
This is an interesting piece.
That's a Belgian blunderbuss.
And, uh, that middle one there,
that's, uh, those are two
English carriage pistols.
Those are buccaneer's
pistols up there.
Yeah, pirates used to
stick them in their sashes.
Oh, I think they're coming.
(hoofbeats approaching)
(gunshot)
- Let me look at that...
- (grunts)
Pa!
BEN: In here!
Pa, what happened?
Colter shot himself by accident.
Only creased his side,
but I think we better get
him in to see Doc Martin.
- Get some hot water, will you?
- You won't be able
to lie your way out of
it this time, Cartwright.
He tried to kill me!
You hear? He tried to kill me!
Hank... What happened?
What's all the excitement?
They got Ben
Cartwright in there.
He tried to kill
that singin' feller.
Ben Cartwright?!
You heard me.
The kid's accusing him
of attempted murder.
Hey, Hoss, wait a minute.
What's going on?
They lock him up, Joe?
Look, boys, we can't
say anything. It's, uh...
Well, we just asked
a simple question.
What's the difference?
It'll be in the paper, won't it?
If it's in the paper,
you can read about it.
Mother, I don't understand
why you're getting so excited.
Now, I've already told
you for the tenth time...
I'm not trying to keep
anything from you.
For 15 long years, I've
sat at the window, Harold,
watching the street down there.
I've seen things that
nobody else has ever seen.
I know things about this town
that nobody else will ever know.
This afternoon, I
saw Ben Cartwright
and his two boys ride into town
with Doug Preston's
boy and Dave Sinclair.
I saw them go into the jail.
But I didn't see Ben
Cartwright come back out.
Tell me, Harold.
Mother, you know
what the doctor said
about you getting upset.
Tell me, Harold.
All right.
Doug Preston's boy has
accused Ben Cartwright
of trying to murder him.
Thank you, Harold.
I was just trying to
spare you the upset.
It'll all blow over.
Yes, of course.
Hey, don't you think you
ought to go to bed now?
No, no.
You go on to your room.
I just want to sit
here for a while.
(humming)
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh... ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ The truth was lost ♪
♪ For 15 years ♪
♪ Ben Cartwright rode ♪
♪ Tall and free ♪
♪ But now his sons ♪
♪ Will know my tears ♪
♪ As their father swings ♪
♪ From the hangin' tree ♪
♪ I sing a song ♪
♪ Of pain and blood... ♪
(guitar continues)
(Colter stops playing)
You're gonna die...
Mr. Cartwright, you're gonna
die just like my father did.
You saying just because it's
Ben Cartwright, it couldn't happen?
I didn't say it couldn't happen.
I just said I
don't think it did.
Well, what the kid says
makes a lot of sense to me.
Ben beat him up
to scare him off,
and when that didn't
work, he tried to shoot him.
HANK: What do you think you
are, the judge or something?
CHARLIE: I got a
right to say what I think.
Now, not everybody
around here thinks
the Cartwrights are
as pure as you do.
To get that big, you got to tromp
on somebody along the way,
and that's a fact.
(sighs) Shh, shh.
(quietly): How come he
took the kid out to the ranch?
Can you explain that?
Hush up, will you?
And then,
Mr. Cartwright, you, um...
you not only posted
bail for this boy
but you went even
further and, uh,
invited him out to the ranch.
Can you explain
why you did this?
Well, I... I felt
badly for the boy.
He was, uh, it seemed
to me, a bitter young man
who was destroying
himself, I thought,
because of a mistaken idea
he'd been living with for 15 years.
I didn't make any mistake.
I've already proved what
I came here to find out.
Go on, Mr. Cartwright.
(sighs) I... I
figured if I could...
get through to Colter,
get through to his mind,
have him live with a family,
something which I guess
he didn't have a
chance to do before,
have people around him who...
who weren't filled with hatred.
You say, uh, "have
people around him."
Your sons, is that
what you mean?
Yes, that was...
that was my intent.
Well, on the day in question,
were your sons present?
No, sir, they were not.
And, um, you and Colter Preston
were alone at the Ponderosa?
Yes, sir, that's correct.
He even sent Little Joe
on a wild goose chase
to the other end of the ranch,
and he sent Hoss into town
on some kind of errand and...
and there wasn't even
a hand on the place.
Young man, you will remain
quiet until you are questioned,
or I shall instruct the deputy
to remove you from the
courtroom and hold you in contempt.
Now, Mr. Cartwright,
on the night of the
previous assault
you admit then that, um...
that you were in town,
that you were in the
vicinity of the assault
and at exactly the
time it happened?
That's right.
SINCLAIR: Then, um,
you could have been the man
who gave Colter Preston a beating?
If you're referring to
the time and place,
yes, I could've
done it, but I didn't.
But he could have.
He's answered the question.
Well, what kind
of hearing is this?
Are you just gonna listen
to what you want to hear?
Is this the kind of trial
you gave my father?
Order! Order!
(gallery murmuring)
(gallery quiets)
Lisa.
She insisted, Judge.
I couldn't stop her.
You don't miss a bit,
do you, Cartwright?
Bringing in the widow
of the murdered man
to get sympathy for you!
Sit down!
I have a right to have my say!
What's the matter,
Cartwright, afraid of the truth?
Did you see my father comin'
out of the barn that night,
or did he see you?
- (gavel bangs)
- JUDGE BORMAN: Deputy,
you sit this boy
down in that chair.
Isn't that the
truth, Cartwright?
Go ahead!
All right, come on, boy...
Come on. Sit down.
- I'll sit down.
- Sit down and behave yourself.
JUDGE BORMAN: If he gets
up or opens his mouth again,
take him out of
here and lock him up.
(sighs) Doggone it, Dave, it...
it just don't make sense.
If Pa intended to shoot Colter,
why'd he wait till me and
you got there to see it?
The witness will please
answer the prosecutor's question.
SINCLAIR: I repeat...
as soon as we arrived,
we heard a gunshot.
We ran into the house.
Ben Cartwright was there.
Colter Preston was
gripping his side.
He'd been wounded by a gunshot.
Well, Hoss?
Speak up, Hoss.
Wasn't that the way it was?
(quietly): Yeah,
that's... that's right.
You'll-you'll have to speak
up so the court can hear.
(louder): I say,
ye-yes, that's right.
Your Honor, in
view of the evidence,
I ask that Ben Cartwright
be charged with
assault and battery
and with assault
with a deadly weapon
with intent to kill.
Ben... if you have
anything to say...
if you have another
line of defense...
Ben, your only defense, so
far, has been your conviction
that the boy's lying.
He is lying, Judge.
He may not know
he's lying, but he is.
- (gallery murmuring)
- HAROLD: Please...
JUDGE BORMAN: Order!
HAROLD (quietly): Please...
How can you be so sure, Lisa?
Because my son and I have
lived with a lie for 15 years.
Mother, I'm not
gonna let you do this.
You'll let me, Harold.
In a way, it'll be like
getting out of prison.
Should have been
said 15 years ago.
It should have been said the
night my husband was killed.
I was in the barn
that night, Ben.
That's what you didn't see.
Doug Preston and I were in the
barn and my husband came in.
My husband was a violent man.
You knew that, Ben.
But for my sake,
you-you tried to ignore it.
But you knew it.
There were other
women, a lot of drinking...
I was terrified what
he might do to my son,
in one of his drunken rages.
I needed someone
that would understand,
give me sympathy.
We didn't mean it to happen,
but we fell in love
with each other.
We planned to run away together,
take our two sons with us.
- She's lyin'!
- Deputy.
Listen, my father was
takin' me away with him.
He would've told me if he
had an interest in that woman.
You're a liar, woman!
Frank began to suspect us.
We were in the barn that
night, and Frank came in.
There was a horrible argument.
Doug Preston drew
his gun and fired.
No! That's not so!
Doug ran out of the barn.
That's when Ben saw him.
I hid in the loft, and I
saw Ben come in and...
look down at my
husband, lying there dead.
Doug was afraid.
He was guilty,
and he was afraid.
He told me he was gonna
try to break out of jail,
and I-I enc... I encouraged him.
We'd meet someplace.
I told him I'd take
care of his son, Colter,
but he wanted the boy with him.
If he hadn't stopped that
night to pick up the boy,
the posse might
never have caught him.
Don't lie, Colter.
Please don't lie.
Haven't enough lives
been ruined by lies already?
(sobs)
Do you have anything to
say for yourself now, Colter?
I did lie.
I shot myself.
And that other
beating, in the alley?
I did that, too.
I just beat my head
against the wall,
pretending I was beatin' my
head against Ben Cartwright,
beatin' the truth out of him.
I had to know the truth.
I had to know the truth.
Well, you know it now.
The charges against Ben
Cartwright are dismissed.
The court stands adjourned.
My father lied to me.
He said that he was innocent.
And... if I hadn't
really believed him, I...
I wouldn't have caused
anybody this much trouble,
especially you.
He lied to you because
of his love for you.
Forget the lie.
Remember the love.
That's what I remember.
That's what I was
trying to protect.
I think Lisa told him
what would happen.
Someday the hatred
will be gone and...
he'll remember only the love.
(chuckles) You know,
he once said to me that he...
he'd never sung a happy song,
'cause he didn't know how.
Maybe he will now.
I sure hope so.
Come on. Let's go.
ANNOUNCER: This has
been a color production
of the NBC Television Network.