Rawhide (1959–1965): Season 6, Episode 14 - Incident at Ten Trees - full transcript

- Evening, Mr. Favor.
- Evening, Newton.

- How goes the reading?
- Slow, Mr. Favor.

Very slow. Started learning
late and it's hard to catch up.

Yeah. Huh.

- Rowdy ain't back yet?
- No, sir, no sign of him.

He should have been
back by yesterday.

Well, I hope he finds water.

Them steers have been living on
their own sweat and that's a fact.

In my opinion, this sure ain't
no country to be pushing cattle in.

When you come up with a fact
about how to get around that country

instead of an opinion, then I
will listen you to a fare-thee-well.



Wishbone, how's
the water holding out?

We got one full barrel
and one half empty.

Well, ah, squeeze it.

We're gonna need
all the water we can.

We got a lot of
desert to go through.

All right, Mushy,
bring me an iron.

Tell him drink
it while it's hot.

Mr. Wishbone fixed this for you.
He says it's prime for your quinsy.

Ain't no liquor
in it, Mr. Newton.

My body is a temple.

It ain't fit to contaminate
a temple with hard liquor.

No, sir, it surely ain't.

What's in it?

Mr. Wishbone said there
ain't nothing but pepper tea.



Pepper tea, huh?

You tell Mr. Wishbone
I'm mighty grateful.

How far are you in
that book, Mr. Newton?

As far as the begats.

There's a sight of begats
to get through, Mushy.

A mortal sight of begats.

Well, did he take it?

After I told him there
ain't no liquor in it.

There's a man that's drunk enough
whiskey to fill the Rio Grande.

And stole enough
cattle to fill all of Texas.

When it come to just plain ordinary
sinning and general hell-raising,

Jeb Newton's name
belongs right at the top.

Now he's gone and
got himself salvation.

And won't take a little
potion for the sake of his body

for fear it will put
a spot on his soul.

Tell you, boy, there's nothing
worse or more unreasonable

than a retired sinner.

It's a hooty owl.

Be quiet.

Something wrong, Mr. Wishbone?

Well, it ain't no
real owl, Mr. Favor.

Douse that fire.
Come on, Quince.

Take it easy.

Let's go.

Tsk, who are you?

Well, who are your people?

Well, Mr. Favor, those moccasins,
they're Cheyenne, all right.

But, well, she don't
look Cheyenne on to me.

- Could be a slave.
- Well, I don't think so.

Well, you see, it's that paint.

They use that for
ceremonial burnings

and there ain't a savage
kicking who would paint a slave.

Heh, she's a witch, that's
why they want to burn her.

Mr. Favor, get rid of her, turn around.
She'll just bring evil on all of us.

Don't matter what she brings.

Leastways, not
now. Look at that.

She's no more Indian than I am.

There was an
owl, lived in an oak

Whiskey, whaskey, wheedle

The only words he ever spoke
Were, "Fiddle, faddle, feedle"

A hunter chanced to pass that
way Whiskey, whaskey, wheedle

And said, "I'll shoot
you, stupid bird"

Fiddle, faddle, feedle

Ah, that's hot enough. Pour it
in the basin and take it in there.

You can come on now.

- Now, you get out of there.
- Oh, yes, sir.

All right.

Uh...

Here's soap to wash yourself.

Well, you just take your
time and it'll come to you.

I brushed off your
dress as good as I could.

Where have you been? I've been
looking for you since yesterday.

Scouting. You're
the one who sent me.

All right.

I, uh, ran into a band of dog
soldiers. Had to swing West.

- Any trouble?
- No, no trouble.

I just wasn't looking
for any, that's all.

Well, what did you find?

Oh, by end of the rainbow, good
graze and water a few days north of here.

If keep that up, you know,
I'm gonna give you a raise.

- What's that?
- A raise...

Oh, you mean that?

Well, that's Wishbone's
bathhouse for stray females, I guess.

Females?

White woman we
come across last night.

Yeah, she's been delirious,
still in a state of shock.

Seems like she escaped
from the Cheyenne.

Okay. Coming out.

There was

an owl lived in an oak

Whiskey, whaskey, wheedle

All the words he ever spoke

Were, "Fiddle, faddle..."

You mind telling me
what that's all about?

Beats me. Been like
that since we found her.

Boss. FAVOR: Hmm?

Uh-uh.

Cheyenne. They the ones you saw?

- Yeah, looks like them.
- They want to parley.

Tell them to come on in.

- What is it you want?
- I am Running Horse.

- I am here for woman.
- I heard about that Injun.

He's big timber.

Where is there a woman
belonging to the Cheyenne?

That is woman.

Where are Running Horse's eyes?

Anyone can see that she is
not of the Cheyenne nation.

- She belongs with us.
- It is you who cannot see.

She is mitchi manitou.

Look in her eyes.
She has witch's eyes.

Hmm, she has fooled
you like she fooled us.

When we found her, we
thought spirits protected her.

That was why we
did not kill her then.

- Where did you find her?
- That way.

Four days towards sun.

- Who was with her? RUNNING
HORSE: She was alone.

We take her along with
us. We give her food.

We keep her in our lodges.

Bad things happen.
Buffalo went away.

People were hungry.
Much sickness. People die.

Other things happen.

We hold council, talk much.

Say this woman witch
must die. That law.

All right, I'll tell
you what I'll do.

We'll take the woman with us.

We will take her far
away from the Cheyenne.

Then she will not
bother them anymore.

There is only one way

destroy the evil spirit that
this woman brings among us.

She must die. Then
evil in her will die also.

What if there is no evil spirit?

What if this mitchi manitou is
only a sickness, easily cured?

No cure mitchi
manitou, only death.

Give her to me.

She stays with us.

Then we will take her.

That Running Horse,
he don't bluff none.

He said he's gonna take
that woman, he'll take her,

even if he has to take us.

Well, that's his problem then.

The Army can settle it
when we get to Bent Fort.

Wishbone, she'll ride with you.

The rest of you, get out to
the herd and keep it tight.

And no shooting unless
you absolutely have to.

Let's get rolling.

How many have you
made out, Quince?

Uh, ten, maybe 12.

- And more coming.
- Uh-oh.

Looks like half the Cheyenne nation
will be visiting us before this is over.

How far ahead is
that water, Rowdy?

- Well, we'll make it by tomorrow night.
- Yeah, if them Cheyenne let us.

Mr. Favor, FAVOR: Hmm?

I was just thinking, there
are 25 men on this drive.

Twenty-five men.

Yeah, so?

Uh, I was wondering,

is one woman worth 25 men?

- You better get some sleep, Newton.
- No, that ain't no answer.

I'll tell you straight. That
witch is gonna cost us.

Witch? Look, Newton,

banshees, goblins and
witches belong in fairy stories

or the ashes of
some Salem cookout.

Now, the Cheyenne
don't know no better,

but you do. Leastways
you're supposed to.

It says right here in this book

that hell sends out its
imps in many disguises

to bring about the
damnation of man.

And as far as I'm concerned,

imps and witches are the
same thing, servants of Lucifer.

All right, all right. Calm down.

Now, look, use what little
good sense you've got.

Do you really think the devil
is gonna be that concerned?

Is he gonna waste that
much time on a cattle drive?

Drovers are known as good sinners
all by themselves without any help.

And I swear, last time I looked
around, I didn't see one little old halo.

Well, that's because they don't
work on their salvation like I do.

Please, Mr. Favor,
don't let them get me

till I finish the book
and earn my salvation.

Now, you ain't gonna
get your salvation

by bringing back the Dark Ages.

Now, get this straight.

That girl is not a
witch, she is sick.

And she's gonna stay with us,

leastways until we
can get her to a doctor.

Now, if you don't like that,

you can get on your
horse and ride out of here.

Is that plain enough?

How far do you think
I'd get by myself?

It ain't me that's gonna go.

No, sir. Not me.

How many you figure
are out there now?

Uh, 20 that I can see.

That means there must be twice
that many hidden in gophers holes.

- And there's 25 of us.
- Worried?

Man's only got a certain
number of years to live.

I don't feel like
hurrying up the dying.

Everybody's gonna die sometime.

Seems to me you've
had your share of years.

I can't afford to die. Not yet.

I got too much sinning to
make up for, way too much.

What's wrong?

It was an accident, Jason.

You have to believe that.

You shouldn't
have left me alone.

I was frightened.

I didn't mean to kill
you. I couldn't hurt you.

You haven't hurt me.

Sure you're not just
having a bad dream?

Dream.

That's what it is.

I was dreaming.

It was all a dream.

This isn't a dream.

It's now.

It's real.

Maybe you'd better get
some sleep, don't you think?

No.

I never want to sleep again.

I'm awake now.

The dream is over and
you're not dead at all.

You're right here. With me,
Jason, where you belong.

It's Abbie, Jason.

Your Abbie.

Abbie, huh?

Where is Jason, Abbie?

Heh, right here with me,
where he'll always be.

I'm not Jason.

For better or worse.

You mustn't go out.

Don't listen to the owl.

The owl?

It's only an owl, Jason.

Nothing but an owl.

You mustn't go out.

Not by the ten trees.

Please. Stay with me.

No, don't go. Don't
go. I won't let you go.

- What's the matter?
- Oh, not again.

Not again. It's
starting all over again.

- See if you can do something for her.
- I'll give her a dose of laudanum,

the best I can do.
All right, come along.

- No.
- Everything will be all right.

You just come with Wishbone.

She woke me up and
kept calling me Jason.

Said she had a
dream that I was dead.

She told me her name was Abbie.

And mentioned that
I shouldn't go out

when I heard an owl hoot,
and something about ten trees.

It's that owl. It's what
always seems to tip her off.

Here, you go ahead
and swallow this.

It will make you feel better.

Abbie?

- You are Abbie, aren't you?
- No.

No. Abbie died with Jason.

They died together
under the ten trees.

What about the owl?

How come you're
so afraid of an owl?

There was an
owl, lived in an oak

Whiskey, whaskey, wheedle

And all the words he ever spoke

Were, "Fiddle, faddle, feedle"

You know, they got
pickets out all around us.

Doggone there stepped on
a couple before I got back.

- How far did you go?
- Well, clear up their main camp.

There's 50 or 60 of them up there.
And there's more coming in too.

Well, I sure hate to say it,

but I don't think we're gonna
push that herd much further.

But we will push it.

Yeah, but it might be
easier if we had a little help.

You know, I can get to Bent Fort and
be back here by sundown tomorrow.

You could be in heaven
by sundown tomorrow too.

Not with that dun horse of mine,

there ain't a Cheyenne pony
around here that can out-run him.

Beside, Mr. Favor, it
might be our only chance.

I'm afraid you got a point.

You'll have to
be riding full out

when you hit those
flats, get to the ridges.

After you hit the high ground, stay
down in the draw till you get clear.

- I'll do it.
- And, Jim.

No strain, Mr. Favor, I always
did have a little greased pig in me.

Look for me night after next.

I might be wearing a
blue coat for you, heh.

We're doing better than I expected.
They're making it easy for us.

Yeah, much too easy though.

I'm afraid they know
something we don't.

And whatever it is,
it's all bad news for us.

Well, there's our answer.

They've been waiting for us.

Didn't even wanna risk hitting us
out in the open, just doubled ahead,

picked their own spot where
they could really nail us.

- Looks like the end of the line.
- Yeah.

- I'll bed them down.
- Right.

Hold up. Don't
fire, it's Quince.

Oh, my God.

- Ease him down.
- Mushy,

put me a bedroll
behind the wagon.

All right. Let him down easy.

Don't let that pole hurt him.

Let's get the pole out of him.

Sorry, I guess I just
ran out of grease, boss.

There's more than a
hundred dog soldiers up there.

And Running Horse says to
give him the woman by sun up

or by sundown tomorrow,

he says his dogs
will be feeding on us.

All right, back
on your stations.

You can't let us die
for an Indian witch.

I ain't gonna die,
no, sir, not yet.

I ain't gonna die.

Mushy, hurry up with that hot water.
- Coming, Mr. Wishbone.

Now go get me that pot of axle grease.
Best thing in the world for his back.

Right away.

He's gonna die, girl.

And you've done it.

His blood is on your head.

All of us, we're
all going to die.

And for you. Is
that what you want?

The souls of 25 men
on your conscience?

Twenty-five men suffering
the burning fires of perdition.

Turn the devil out. Burn
Jezebel out of your heart.

It's the only way you
can save yourself.

The only you can save all of us.

Now you do like I say.

You hear?

Do just like I say.

If I didn't know better, I'd say those
Cheyenne pulled out completely.

- You check the herd?
- I checked with the nighthawks.

They haven't seen any signs.

Mr. Favor.

- The girl, she's gone.
- She's what?

I told her to sit quiet in the
wagon while I fixed up Quince

and when I got
back, she was gone.

Like the night had
swallowed her up.

Senors, Senor Newton, he's gone.

And two horses were
taken from the picket line.

Newton.

He said he wasn't
ready to die yet.

You don't suppose he's taking
that little girl back to those savages?

I'm afraid that's it. That's the
reason the Cheyenne have pulled out.

They got what they come for.

Consumption and a burning
ague shall consume the ages

and cause sorrow of the heart.

Death is upon me.
I don't see the light.

I look, but I don't
see the light.

And nothing more to do it.

It's late and there
is no salvation.

Newton, what happened?

They lanced me.

I took them the woman, told
them she was theirs to burn.

I thought they'd let me
be and they lanced me.

Like I was a dog sick with
her evil spirit, they lanced me.

I did it for you,
Mr. Favor, for all of you.

- Don't you see?
- Yeah.

I was only trying to get saved,
and I misdoubt I'd done right

and that's the worst sin of all.

She won't feel much,
it's the best thing for her.

You hear me, girl?
It's the best thing.

Please, don't let it hurt.

It's the best thing.

It's the best thing.

It's...

Poor old man.

He never did get to them begats.

It's all over. Nothing
more to be done.

We can go after the girl.

There is no chance.

Can't you realize that it'd take a
whole regiment to bring her back?

- Look, I still say we can...
- I say it's done, that's final.

Mushy, get a shovel,
spade Newton in.

Wishbone, break camp,
get ready to get rolling.

The rest of you, get out to the
herd. We're moving out right now.

- Didn't you hear me?
- Yeah, I heard you.

Hey Soos,

I may be gone
for a little while.

Saddle up my horse.

- But you told us...
- Yeah, well,

there just might be an
outside chance for one man.

That's no more idiotic
than the whole bunch going,

it would be the same chances.

But, look, you make sure my
orders stand whether I get back or not.

Comprende?

All right.

- What are you doing here?
- Oh, nice day for a ride.

Me, I just had to get away from
the smell of cooking for a while.

You see, uh, Quince and
Scarlet got them all stretched out.

They're running nice and easy.
- Mr. Favor,

you know very well that I'm
the one who can handle that girl,

- and Rowdy...
- What he's trying to tell you

is that we're gonna
go along with you,

and there's not really too
much you can do about it now.

Yeah, you can just
make the best of it.

Uh, you coming?

Well, they haven't started yet.

They're dancing and
hollering and celebrating.

My guess, it will be daylight
before they start burning.

- What about the woman?
- She's right in the middle of them.

I suppose when they
get celebrating real good,

we might be able
to sneak around...

Wait, Running Horse.

Wait.

Burn me first.

Look, it doesn't matter to you.

But I must die before the woman.

Don't you understand?

Don't you realize what will
happen when you kill her?

The evil spirit will
come out of her.

It will come out of her in
the smoke of the burning fire.

And that smoke will
fall on everyone around.

That smoke will fall on me
and the evil spirit will get into me.

Please, Running Horse. Please.

You say many things.

Some things may be true,
other things may be lies.

Can evil spirit be driven from
woman by white man's medicine?

Well, I can try, Running Horse.

But the woman will have to be taken
back to where the evil spirit took her,

where you found her.

I will take you there.

If you do not drive evil
spirit from white woman,

there will be no
more talk, only fire.

No more talk, only fire.

Just what do you
hope to gain by all this?

Yeah, what happens
when we reach this place?

Place of evil spirits
or whatever it is.

I don't know, Rowdy.

I just don't know.

Those trees,
there's ten of them.

Found there, sitting
on rocks of dead.

You, till sun once more.

Then I send braves.

No doubt about
it. This is the place.

Who is buried there, Abbie?

You mustn't go too far, Jason.

The owl, you mustn't go too far.

Mighty heavy caliber
made that, at least a .50.

Rowdy, bring her along inside.

Yep, here it is.

- Sharps .50 caliber.
- Hmm.

Hmm.

Rowdy, come here
and look at this.

Holy.

Now I know why she
kept calling me Jason.

"Abigail and Jason
Bartlett, June 10th, 1865."

Look, Abbie,

you know these
people, don't you?

Jason and Abigail.

Jason is dead.

But Abigail isn't, right?

Shh.

Jason.

Who let the clock stop?

That clock should
never stop. Wind it.

It mustn't strike.

That clock must never strike.

Why mustn't it strike, Abbie?

That's when the owl
hoots and Jason comes.

Poor Jason.

A clock strikes, owl
hoots, Jason comes.

A hunter chanced to pass
this way, I said, "I'd shoot you..."

Boss, it makes sense.

Yeah.

That is what
happened, isn't it, Abbie?

You were alone here.

It was night and you were scared

and Jason was out
hunting, wasn't he?

Jason.

Yeah, he'd left you
alone, you remember?

No.

Jason would never leave
me alone. Not in the dark.

And then you heard the owl.

It was night.

And you heard
the owl, didn't you?

Jason.

Then the clock struck.

That's it.

It's late at night,
you're frightened.

Then you hear the owl,
and then the clock strikes.

No!

Abbie, what happened?

Jason's gone.

It's dark, the clock
kept striking and striking.

Then I heard the owl.

Owl.

Do you hear it?

The owl?

Yes, Abbie, I hear it.

What does it mean?

Whiskey, whaskey, wheedle

A hunter chanced
to pass this way

They're coming.

It's dark, and Jason's
gone, and they're coming.

The rifle. Where's the rifle?

Jason?

Jason.

Jason.

Jason.

Jason.

Please, forgive me, I'm sorry.

Abbie. Abbie,
it's all right now.

I killed him. I killed him.

Just put it out of
your mind. It's all over.

- Who are you?
- Friends.

We just happened
by, Mrs. Bartlett.

I remember.

It happened and I
started this and...

I can't remember.

You've been a little sick.

What did happen?

There was a report of Indians.

Jason was afraid
they'd run off the stock.

So he went out to gather
the cattle and hide them.

He didn't come home
and I got frightened.

I hadn't been out
here very long.

I guess I started
hearing things.

But I thought they were real.

Then I think I fell asleep.

I woke up.

The cabin was dark.

The clock was striking.

Then I heard an owl. I remembered
Jason telling me about Indian signals.

I got the rifle,
then I heard steps.

I remember firing the gun.

Then I saw who it
was, stood there.

His eyes looking so surprised.

And I started to scream
his name and I tried...

But it wasn't any use.

I loved my husband very much

and I wanted to die
with him right then.

Maybe that's just sort of
what you did, Mrs. Bartlett.

You died for a little while.

Rowdy, you might as well
go get those Cheyenne.

Tell them there's nothing
to be afraid of now.

That evil spirit, it's buried.

Right.

Wishbone will see
you into Bent Fort.

The Army will provide
transport to your home.

Thank you for everything.

Goodbye, Mr. Favor.

Mrs. Bartlett.

I'm grateful to all of you.

She didn't even remember me.

She forgot a lot of things,
maybe that's just as well.

Head them up!

Move them out!