Rawhide (1959–1965): Season 6, Episode 16 - Incident of Midnight Cave - full transcript
Wishbone is driving his chuck wagon by a dangerous steep cliff. That scares him and causes him to get dizzy. After a minor fall from the cliff, he awakens blind! Favor takes him to the nearest town doctor who finds Wishbone to be superficially in good health -- no bruises to his body or eyes. The doctor, though, gives Favor a pamphlet describing Wishbone's possible condition -- being emotionally traumatized by an event that psychologically causes an impairment such as being crippled or blind. The pamphlet describes a case where an emotional emergency forced the patient to "forget" her impairment and to swing into action. Wishbone recalls a terrifying childhood experience where, as a prank, other kids tied him up in a high ringing bell tower. Wishbone is taken back to the cattle drive, where he fumbles about as a blind cook. However, a forest fire engulfs the drovers' camp endangering both Wishbone and Rowdy. Rowdy is knocked unconscious, leaving Wishbone alone to save them.
Keep them moving.
Don't let them run.
Cut them down.
Keep them strung out.
- You know what I think it is?
- Afraid so, electric storm.
- If it catches us up here...
- Yeah.
Those beef will be pushing
off from every cliff they see,
no chance to turn them back.
Keep them moving.
If we're still alive,
we should get down
to the flats by sundown.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's wrong?
Oh, well, it's this wheel.
I think it's coming loose.
It doesn't look loose to me.
I said it's loose. You some
kind of an expert or something?
Okay, say it's loose,
then. I don't care.
But you can't stop
up here on this cliff.
What's the matter? Are
you sick or something?
Oh, no, it's this high trail.
Ever since I was
a kid, looking down
on something like
that makes me dizzy.
If anything happens to
this wheel, it'd come loose...
The wheel's not gonna
come loose now, forget it.
What's holding
things up back here?
You two gonna stand here all day?
- No, look...
You want a conversation, talk your
heads off when we get bedded down.
- But right now, let's get moving.
- Look, Wish ain't feeling too good.
I thought I'd have one of the boys
maybe drive the wagon for him.
I need every man in the saddle.
Now, are you gonna
start moving or no?
- Look...
- If this freak lightning breaks loose,
we're all gonna be
a lot worse than sick.
If you need any
help, just holler, huh?
Should be bedded
down in a couple of hours.
You'd be all set up
by then. Now, let's go.
Been in high places before.
Rowdy! Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Oh, Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy! Help!
- He passed out.
- Better get some water.
All right.
- He hit his head?
- I don't know. Not a scratch on him.
No lumps on his head.
His breathing's even.
More like scared
to death you mean.
Wish, you all right?
Here, take a drink of that.
I'll send Mushy back
to pick up the wagon.
That's right. Make sure the
herd doesn't get slowed down.
Send Quince back
to him give a hand.
I'll stay and give him a hand.
You hurry back and make
sure nothing serious happens,
like a cow fallen over.
How is it coming?
Well, fine, Mr. Favor. I'll
dish it up before you know it.
I'm afraid I'll
know it, all right.
Still unconscious.
He keeps coming to
and passing out again.
I don't like it.
If he doesn't come around
by the time chow's over,
we'll take him in to a doctor.
Okay.
You feeling better?
I feel fine. Get back to work.
We've nothing to worry about.
Mr. Wishbone is feeling fine.
Wish, how you feeling?
I'm feeling fine.
Haven't you got eyes?
- You give us a scare, Wish.
- I'm gonna give you a real one
if you don't back off
and give me some air.
- Mushy, get on that stew.
- Sounds pretty normal to me.
Wish, what is it?
I can't see.
I can't see.
I can't see a blooming thing.
Hey Soos, hitch up the wagon.
Si, senor.
Well, the retina seems clear.
Now look to the left.
Very high.
Now to the right.
Higher.
All right. Once
more to the left.
Now, back.
All right, Mr. Wishbone,
you can relax now.
Did he strike his head
in any way when he fell?
Look, doc, I still got a tongue.
You got any questions, ask me.
No offense,
Mr. Wishbone, but did you?
- Did I what?
- Hit your head.
No, I just rolled over the edge and
hung on to that bush for dear life.
Picked up a few aches is all.
How long did you hang like that?
It couldn't have been a minute,
doc. We got to him pretty fast.
Mr. Wishbone, have you ever had
any trouble with your eyes before?
Well, not so as
you could notice.
Of course, I've seen a
few things I wish I hadn't.
I see.
Now, you just sit
like that for a minute.
What's wrong, doc?
I wish I knew.
Muscles of the iris
responded properly.
No inflammation.
No injury to the optic
nerve that I can see.
His eyes seem to be as
good as yours and mine.
Well, how come
he can't see, then?
That's like asking
what makes the colors
in a rainbow,
Mr. Yates. I don't know.
You said something
about his being sick.
Maybe he could
be running a fever.
Not now, he's perfectly normal.
No, I meant being sick, he
was dizzy, afraid of falling.
Of falling? ROWDY: Yeah.
Mr. Wishbone, have you
always been afraid of falling?
No, just high places
make me a little dizzy.
Well, that goes back to...
Nothing important.
It might be very important.
Well, when I was about hip high,
some older fellas thought
they'd have some fun,
so they strung me
up on a church belfry.
They told me when the sexton
rung the bell, I was gonna fall.
Then they ran off and
left me there dangling.
When I looked down and
saw that sexton come in
and reach for that rope, I was
so scared, I could hardly holler.
Then when he did yank
on it, I just plain passed out.
I can still hear
those bells ringing.
Ringing and ringing.
Well, what's that got
to do with my eyes?
Well, you just sit quietly
and let those drops wear off.
There have been cases like this.
Not a very well-defined
field of medicine.
There's a doctor in
Chicago making a specialty
of treating people who
should see but can't.
Now, there's an article in here by
one of General Grant's surgeons,
describes half-a-dozen
cases of soldiers
who went blind
from mental shock.
Mental shock?
Fear, really.
Understand I'm no authority,
but when your friend
was hanging over that cliff,
it might be that he thought
he was seeing that church bell
and that sexton all over again.
You might say that Mr. Wishbone
was looking death in the face.
When you pulled him up, his
mind was still hanging over the edge.
No man wants to look at death.
He'd rather be
blind than see it.
Don't you think this
sounds a little far-fetched?
Like that rainbow,
Mr. Yates, it happens.
People go blind from things
they see or understand,
like measles or scarlet
fever, an old blow in the head.
Do these people see again?
Some do, some don't. Depends.
Depends on what?
On the person who can't see.
They have to be shocked
out of their blindness,
just as they were
shocked into it.
In other words,
their desire to see
must suddenly become
stronger than their fear of seeing.
You sound like you're a
real specializer in eyes, doc.
Hardly, Mr. Yates.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Wishbone
is the first case I've ever seen.
Do you mind if I keep this?
No, not at all.
Only hope it helps.
Hey, if you're having a drink
in there, you can include me.
We can do our
drinking later, Wish.
Well, what's the
prescription, doc?
Anything you say,
salves, ointments.
Anything at all. The
sooner the better.
How long is it gonna take?
Now, Mr. Wishbone, you should
know that trying to pin a doctor down
is worse than
trying to fry smoke.
Your friends, well,
they know what to do.
All right. Fair enough.
- What's the damages?
- Oh, forget it.
Just sorry I couldn't
do more for you.
A couple of weeks getting used
to my nose is gonna be interesting.
See you later, doc.
Be seeing you, Mr. Wishbone.
All right.
We've had our
little medical lesson,
we got all the answers
and the time for fun
and games is over.
- Where's the hotel?
- What are you talking about?
End of the line is
what I'm talking about.
Just figure up my
time and pay me off.
You know by now we don't
pay off till the end of the drive.
Hell, it isn't gonna work.
I've been my own man too
long to start taking free handouts
with just the right mixture
of pearly white smiles
and deep knee bows.
No, I gotta find my
own way out of this.
Look, this doctor here admitted he
didn't know what he was talking about.
Now, a stage to Denver
runs right through this town.
Why don't I just take
Wishbone up there?
That way we'll get
him to a specialist.
He'll get a specialist
if he really needs one.
Right now, it seems
like the best medicine
is getting him back to the
herd and among friends.
Also among several thousand
steers, he's liable to get hurt.
Look, I hate to break
up a good argument,
but since this is on me,
I hope you don't mind if
I slip in a word edgewise.
Look, it's all been said, you're
coming with us and that's final.
- But, but...
- And no more buts.
Get up there and you try one
of those big pearly white smiles.
Okay? Now let's get going.
Unless you got
something more to say.
No. I think you're wrong,
but I got nothing more to say.
Yes, sir, Mr. Favor,
there's one thing these cows
and I sure have in common:
I don't like lightning either.
I'm doubling the night
guard. Keep them bunched.
How's Wish doing?
I don't know. I just
don't know, Toothless.
Wishbone, give me...
Let me do this, Wishbone.
You picked the toughest
piece of meat in the wagon.
Now I gotta soak them
all night in vinegar and oil
in order to have
them for breakfast.
And your coffee is boiling over.
Do I have to do
everything around here?
I said, blind or not, I
still gotta do everything.
I'll get it for you,
Mr. Wishbone.
Now what have you done?
I spilled the coffee.
I might have known it. You
haven't done anything right today.
I'll get some fresh water.
Never mind, I'll get it myself.
You just stir the stew.
Just stand over
the stew and stir it.
Don't move around any and
maybe you won't spill anything else.
You could have had dinner
ready an hour ago, Mush.
I'm not worried about that.
He could have tripped and
burned himself in the fire.
Well, I'll make sure
he doesn't do that.
How are you gonna keep him
from getting his thumb cut off?
Ask Mr. Favor if there's
something else he could do.
No. How could I do that?
Cooking's his whole
life, that's all he knows.
It's important to keep
him alive, Mr. Rowdy.
Every time you turn your back,
well, he might fall in here
and scald himself to death.
Yeah.
Well, I'd almost rather see him do
that than lose the feeling he counts,
that he's the only one in the
world who can cook a stew right.
Yeah, I'll keep an eye on him.
All right, here's your water.
You think you can
pour it without spilling it,
or am I gonna
have to do it for you?
I won't spill it again,
Mr. Wishbone.
Well, just see that you don't.
Yes, sir.
Come and get it.
Well, we're ready to eat.
All right, come on,
come on and try me.
All right, Wishbone, how
about the pancake skillet?
Hey, that's not
bad for a beginner.
Beginner?
All right,
Mr. Omnipotent-Quince,
why don't you put some
money where your mouth is?
- Say, about $5.
- You're on.
We do the picking now.
First miss, you
lose. Fair enough?
About as fair as taking
candy from a baby.
Mushy, you hold the stakes.
Sure will, Mr. Wishbone.
All right, name away.
Let's start easy. The sugar can.
- All right.
- All right.
How about the pickle jar?
Muy bien, Senor Wishbone.
Come on, let's make
a contest out of it.
All right, let's just do that.
Let's make a real
contest out of it, huh?
You remember that old watch of
mine, the one with the broken hand?
Why don't you look around
and see if you can find it, huh?
Well, what's the matter?
Stakes aren't high enough?
Ten, $20?
Go ahead, you name it.
It isn't that.
You know I can't
find that watch.
No, and you ain't never
gonna find nothing either,
as long as you're enjoying
practicing to stay blind.
- Look, Mr. Favor...
- If you are through playing games,
you'd better give the herds
some of your attention.
All we were
trying to do is to...
That lightning comes any closer,
this herd's gonna be
scattered all over the prairie.
Hate to do it the
hard way, Wish.
Don't you realize you're
doing the worst thing possible?
Throwing in the
towel, you've given up.
Walking into a closet and
shutting the door on yourself.
What would you have me do?
Juggle a few plates
while I turn cartwheels
and sing a few
choruses of "Dixie"?
I'm blind. All I got left is my
ears and my nose and my hands.
And what about your eyes?
They're right there in your
head, right where they belong.
That doctor says that there's
nothing physical wrong with them.
All you have to do
is try and use them.
It's true, Wish.
You don't have to stay this way.
You just got scared blind.
You're still that little
kid trying to climb down
from up in the
belfry on that rope.
Well, you climbed down
from that all right, didn't you?
By the same token, you
can climb down from this
and you can see again.
But nobody else
can do it for you.
You got to do it yourself.
Oh, it's easy as that.
All I gotta do is snap my
fingers and say the magic words,
and there it is, daylight.
Comes easy to you,
don't it, trail boss?
Big talk. Head them
up. Move them out.
Push and keep pushing.
You can walk through a wall
and don't even break stride.
Rest of us, we stub
our toe, we're hurt.
We bleed a little.
Sure, I can see.
I can see just because my
almighty trail boss tells me I can.
Meantime, while I'm trying
to push a little sunshine
past the end of my nose,
I hope you don't mind
if I use your trail drive
to prepare myself for
a more permanent job.
Like, maybe at the cow
house on Horn Street
as a flunky hash man
to their beef slinger.
Might come in handy
just in case you're wrong.
Mr. Wishbone, here's your money.
It isn't mine.
You heard the man, I lost.
Trying to cure Wishbone's
eyes or your conscience?
What happened would
happen sooner or later.
I just made it happen sooner.
It's got nothing to do
with me or my conscience.
Well, it's easy for
you to say that, isn't it?
What if Wishbone's got something
that isn't caused by fear, though?
Something that could be treated
like an injury or an infection.
After all those tests that doctor
took, you sure would have knowed it.
He admitted himself he
didn't know all about it.
I don't buy that.
Not from some half-baked
sawbones in some nothing town.
All right, all right,
here, you read this.
It's all right in there.
Wishbone can be cured.
There's a case in
there, for example,
of a woman who was
an expectant mother.
And doctor had given
her orders to stay in bed,
but she disobeyed those orders
and she went down to the well.
Now, on the way, she
tripped and she fell,
that baby was born dead.
And from then on, she was
crippled, she couldn't walk,
not for any physical
reason at all
but because she blamed herself.
Now, she stayed a cripple
until one day, a little 5-year-old
boy had fallen in the pond
and started hollering for help.
There was nobody else around.
As quick as that, she
got up and she ran out
and she saved that boy.
Oh, it's got something to do
with how you're feeling
inside, in the mind.
One shock can help
overcome another one.
Now, this is what we
gotta try and do for Wish,
to get him over this fear.
Gotta get him to climb
down from that belfry.
Now, that's where we come
in, that's where we can help him.
Wrong, you started this thing,
you go ahead and finish it.
I can't do it.
Mr. Wishbone.
Mr. Wishbone, you all right?
I was dreaming.
Must have been the
thunder, woke me up.
Can't seem to get
much rest anyway.
I keep dreaming I'm in a cave.
Mr. Favor grabs me
by the hand and says:
"Come on, Wishbone, I'm
gonna get you out of here."
But he don't. He can't.
It wasn't right the way he
judged you, Mr. Wishbone.
Oh, I understand
why he did that.
You don't suppose for a second
I don't want to see or don't try?
It just don't make sense that
a man can scare himself blind
and, if all this, can't scare
himself back into seeing again.
Mr. Rowdy's probably right.
All you need is a good doctor.
No.
You know, I once knew a man,
he was walking down
the street one day
and all of a sudden,
he went blind in one eye.
Just like that.
About three months later,
happened in the other eye.
Doctor said something
shook loose in his eyeballs.
I think that's what
happened to me.
Only with me, it was
both eyes at once.
You're only guessing.
No, I'm facing facts
and it's time I did.
There's lots of worse
things than being blind.
As long as there's a chance...
Go to sleep, Mushy.
- Yes, sir.
- I don't wanna talk about it anymore.
No, sir.
I need a lantern.
This way, Wishbone.
I can't see you.
Take hold of my hand.
Come on, I've found the way.
Careful now. Watch your step.
Lots of holes.
Don't want to slip, drops
off a hundred feet in places.
I don't want to fall.
You won't, Wish.
I won't let you.
Just keep going,
one step after another.
Just hang on now.
I won't let you fall.
Steady.
We gotta cross an
underground river.
Slow and easy, Wish.
You'll make it.
Slow and easy,
one step at a time.
I'm afraid to go any further.
Don't be afraid.
Wish, you can see.
Rowdy! Scarlet!
Easy.
Easy, easy, easy.
Easy.
Easy.
- What happened?
- You all right?
- Where am I?
- You're down by the water.
You just walked
out on those logs.
I had a dream. I must've
been walking in my sleep.
Well, dream or awake, you couldn't
have walked out on those logs
unless you could see, Wish.
Yeah, looks like
he did just that.
Well, we better get you
out of this wet stuff, Wish.
You're shaking so much you're
gonna rattle the wheels off your wagon.
It isn't the cold. I'm scared.
From the bone out, I'm scared.
Dark all night, dark all day.
Nightmares, walking in my sleep.
It's no use.
Trying, hoping,
praying, it's just no use.
You're wrong, Wish. You've
beaten it. Don't you understand?
When you walked out there
on those logs, you could see.
Pardon, senor, a man who
walks in his sleep needs no eyes.
That might be true
in a man's own house,
but not out here, not in
the middle of nowhere.
Look, I can prove it. All I got
to do is blindfold anyone of you.
Hold on, you said it
yourself, no more games.
No more large, important-sounding
words out of small books
that none of us understand.
All right, but one thing I do know,
one thing you've got to admit,
awake or asleep, Wishbone
couldn't have walked out on that log
unless he could see.
Maybe so, maybe not.
But this ain't gonna
happen again, I'll tell you.
Come first light, I'm taking him back,
we're gonna take a stage to Denver.
We'll have a doctor look at him,
a real good one and knows
what he's talking about.
And you ain't gonna do
nothing about it, I'll tell you.
What's making them so jumpy?
It's in the air.
I can almost smell the
fire and the brimstone.
What's that?
Foxfire, called Saint Elmo's.
It won't hurt them, but
what's coming up sure will.
What's coming?
You can smell it. Electricity.
The next bolt that hits
will bounce for 50 miles
and them steers know it.
I'll get the boss.
Nice cows.
Are you sure you're warm
enough, Mr. Wishbone?
Maybe I'll get you
another blanket.
Leave him alone. He's all right.
Saint Elmo's, Mr. Favor.
It's got the herd on its tiptoes.
Once it breaks through,
won't be no holding them.
All right then, everybody
on, into the saddle.
You too, Mushy,
we'll need everybody.
- But Mr. Wishbone.
- Come on, Wish.
Into the wagon. You stay put.
Sorry, but I can't spare
anybody to stay with you.
Don't worry about
me, I'll be all right.
Good boy.
Mushy, forget your
chaps, come on.
The light of the black angel.
I've heard of the blue fire,
but never thought I'd see it.
Quince, Scarlet, you get on
the flank and pass the word.
If they start to run,
we'll let them go for a bit
until we can pick out
the lead and start a circle.
The rest of us
will get on point...
Let's go!
Hey!
Hey!
Mr. Favor!
Rowdy!
Mr. Favor!
Mushy!
Anyone!
I gotta get to the water.
Onto the lake.
Now keep them milling!
Keep them milling!
Boss, the camp!
- The camp.
- Wishbone.
Quince! Scarlet!
Wishbone!
Wishbone!
Wishbone's gone.
He's not around here.
All right, he couldn't have
gone too far. We'll spread out.
You work from the ridge down.
Rowdy, you go down to
the water. Let's go, come on.
Wishbone!
Wishbone!
Nothing on the ridge. Fire
is turning back on itself.
Wishbone?
Wishbone!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, by the lake!
Wishbone!
Rowdy!
Rowdy! Rowdy!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, by the lake!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here!
Wish!
Wishbone?
Rowdy!
Easy boy, easy boy.
Come on, boy, back
where you came from.
Wishbone!
Over here, Mr. Favor!
Over here!
Over here, Mr. Favor!
Over here!
Come on, Rowdy.
You're all right,
boy. Come on, boy.
Come on, Rowdy.
It's Wishbone. Come on, Rowdy.
Oh.
What happened to me?
A tree fell on you, that's all.
Bumped his head.
Nothing to worry about.
And how about you, Wish?
Huh?
I don't even know
when it happened.
I didn't feel a thing.
It's like you've just climbed down
from that belfry rope again, huh?
Got over being scared
and you climbed down
again, all by yourself.
Hey, get out of that.
Haven't you jaspers got anything
to do but stand around and stare?
Oh, we're just glad you're
all right now, Wish, that's all.
Oh, this spread doesn't
have anything to do with it.
Well, it is more than
we had to eat all month.
Get out of my way. Give it!
I just can't hardly
stand it, Wish.
Well, you're gonna have
to. Now, get out of here.
All I'm doing is just finishing
cooking what that fire started.
Now you keep turning that,
or we're gonna fatten
up on pan-fried Mushy.
Would you mind telling
me what's going on here?
You should've had this mess
cleaned up and ready to roll.
No, sir, I'm not gonna
move one foot, not today.
It isn't gonna do you any
good to bellow about it
because it won't change a thing.
Wishbone, I think you ought
to do like the man here says.
Look at the both of you,
skinny as broom handles.
And look at them.
Bone and frazzle
and bad disposition.
And why? Because they've
been working too hard.
And they hadn't
been eating right.
No, sir, they're not gonna
move a foot today either.
Wishbone...
Look, we've been through an
electrical storm, a stampede,
a fire and a miracle,
all in one night,
and all you can think
of is "head them up."
No, sir, they're not gonna move,
not until I spread
around some eating fat
where it'll do the most good.
Now, you don't like it, you just
go back out and tell your cows
because I'm not interested.
Don't look at me,
you're his doctor.
Why?
Head them up!
Move them out!
Don't let them run.
Cut them down.
Keep them strung out.
- You know what I think it is?
- Afraid so, electric storm.
- If it catches us up here...
- Yeah.
Those beef will be pushing
off from every cliff they see,
no chance to turn them back.
Keep them moving.
If we're still alive,
we should get down
to the flats by sundown.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's wrong?
Oh, well, it's this wheel.
I think it's coming loose.
It doesn't look loose to me.
I said it's loose. You some
kind of an expert or something?
Okay, say it's loose,
then. I don't care.
But you can't stop
up here on this cliff.
What's the matter? Are
you sick or something?
Oh, no, it's this high trail.
Ever since I was
a kid, looking down
on something like
that makes me dizzy.
If anything happens to
this wheel, it'd come loose...
The wheel's not gonna
come loose now, forget it.
What's holding
things up back here?
You two gonna stand here all day?
- No, look...
You want a conversation, talk your
heads off when we get bedded down.
- But right now, let's get moving.
- Look, Wish ain't feeling too good.
I thought I'd have one of the boys
maybe drive the wagon for him.
I need every man in the saddle.
Now, are you gonna
start moving or no?
- Look...
- If this freak lightning breaks loose,
we're all gonna be
a lot worse than sick.
If you need any
help, just holler, huh?
Should be bedded
down in a couple of hours.
You'd be all set up
by then. Now, let's go.
Been in high places before.
Rowdy! Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Oh, Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy!
Rowdy! Help!
- He passed out.
- Better get some water.
All right.
- He hit his head?
- I don't know. Not a scratch on him.
No lumps on his head.
His breathing's even.
More like scared
to death you mean.
Wish, you all right?
Here, take a drink of that.
I'll send Mushy back
to pick up the wagon.
That's right. Make sure the
herd doesn't get slowed down.
Send Quince back
to him give a hand.
I'll stay and give him a hand.
You hurry back and make
sure nothing serious happens,
like a cow fallen over.
How is it coming?
Well, fine, Mr. Favor. I'll
dish it up before you know it.
I'm afraid I'll
know it, all right.
Still unconscious.
He keeps coming to
and passing out again.
I don't like it.
If he doesn't come around
by the time chow's over,
we'll take him in to a doctor.
Okay.
You feeling better?
I feel fine. Get back to work.
We've nothing to worry about.
Mr. Wishbone is feeling fine.
Wish, how you feeling?
I'm feeling fine.
Haven't you got eyes?
- You give us a scare, Wish.
- I'm gonna give you a real one
if you don't back off
and give me some air.
- Mushy, get on that stew.
- Sounds pretty normal to me.
Wish, what is it?
I can't see.
I can't see.
I can't see a blooming thing.
Hey Soos, hitch up the wagon.
Si, senor.
Well, the retina seems clear.
Now look to the left.
Very high.
Now to the right.
Higher.
All right. Once
more to the left.
Now, back.
All right, Mr. Wishbone,
you can relax now.
Did he strike his head
in any way when he fell?
Look, doc, I still got a tongue.
You got any questions, ask me.
No offense,
Mr. Wishbone, but did you?
- Did I what?
- Hit your head.
No, I just rolled over the edge and
hung on to that bush for dear life.
Picked up a few aches is all.
How long did you hang like that?
It couldn't have been a minute,
doc. We got to him pretty fast.
Mr. Wishbone, have you ever had
any trouble with your eyes before?
Well, not so as
you could notice.
Of course, I've seen a
few things I wish I hadn't.
I see.
Now, you just sit
like that for a minute.
What's wrong, doc?
I wish I knew.
Muscles of the iris
responded properly.
No inflammation.
No injury to the optic
nerve that I can see.
His eyes seem to be as
good as yours and mine.
Well, how come
he can't see, then?
That's like asking
what makes the colors
in a rainbow,
Mr. Yates. I don't know.
You said something
about his being sick.
Maybe he could
be running a fever.
Not now, he's perfectly normal.
No, I meant being sick, he
was dizzy, afraid of falling.
Of falling? ROWDY: Yeah.
Mr. Wishbone, have you
always been afraid of falling?
No, just high places
make me a little dizzy.
Well, that goes back to...
Nothing important.
It might be very important.
Well, when I was about hip high,
some older fellas thought
they'd have some fun,
so they strung me
up on a church belfry.
They told me when the sexton
rung the bell, I was gonna fall.
Then they ran off and
left me there dangling.
When I looked down and
saw that sexton come in
and reach for that rope, I was
so scared, I could hardly holler.
Then when he did yank
on it, I just plain passed out.
I can still hear
those bells ringing.
Ringing and ringing.
Well, what's that got
to do with my eyes?
Well, you just sit quietly
and let those drops wear off.
There have been cases like this.
Not a very well-defined
field of medicine.
There's a doctor in
Chicago making a specialty
of treating people who
should see but can't.
Now, there's an article in here by
one of General Grant's surgeons,
describes half-a-dozen
cases of soldiers
who went blind
from mental shock.
Mental shock?
Fear, really.
Understand I'm no authority,
but when your friend
was hanging over that cliff,
it might be that he thought
he was seeing that church bell
and that sexton all over again.
You might say that Mr. Wishbone
was looking death in the face.
When you pulled him up, his
mind was still hanging over the edge.
No man wants to look at death.
He'd rather be
blind than see it.
Don't you think this
sounds a little far-fetched?
Like that rainbow,
Mr. Yates, it happens.
People go blind from things
they see or understand,
like measles or scarlet
fever, an old blow in the head.
Do these people see again?
Some do, some don't. Depends.
Depends on what?
On the person who can't see.
They have to be shocked
out of their blindness,
just as they were
shocked into it.
In other words,
their desire to see
must suddenly become
stronger than their fear of seeing.
You sound like you're a
real specializer in eyes, doc.
Hardly, Mr. Yates.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Wishbone
is the first case I've ever seen.
Do you mind if I keep this?
No, not at all.
Only hope it helps.
Hey, if you're having a drink
in there, you can include me.
We can do our
drinking later, Wish.
Well, what's the
prescription, doc?
Anything you say,
salves, ointments.
Anything at all. The
sooner the better.
How long is it gonna take?
Now, Mr. Wishbone, you should
know that trying to pin a doctor down
is worse than
trying to fry smoke.
Your friends, well,
they know what to do.
All right. Fair enough.
- What's the damages?
- Oh, forget it.
Just sorry I couldn't
do more for you.
A couple of weeks getting used
to my nose is gonna be interesting.
See you later, doc.
Be seeing you, Mr. Wishbone.
All right.
We've had our
little medical lesson,
we got all the answers
and the time for fun
and games is over.
- Where's the hotel?
- What are you talking about?
End of the line is
what I'm talking about.
Just figure up my
time and pay me off.
You know by now we don't
pay off till the end of the drive.
Hell, it isn't gonna work.
I've been my own man too
long to start taking free handouts
with just the right mixture
of pearly white smiles
and deep knee bows.
No, I gotta find my
own way out of this.
Look, this doctor here admitted he
didn't know what he was talking about.
Now, a stage to Denver
runs right through this town.
Why don't I just take
Wishbone up there?
That way we'll get
him to a specialist.
He'll get a specialist
if he really needs one.
Right now, it seems
like the best medicine
is getting him back to the
herd and among friends.
Also among several thousand
steers, he's liable to get hurt.
Look, I hate to break
up a good argument,
but since this is on me,
I hope you don't mind if
I slip in a word edgewise.
Look, it's all been said, you're
coming with us and that's final.
- But, but...
- And no more buts.
Get up there and you try one
of those big pearly white smiles.
Okay? Now let's get going.
Unless you got
something more to say.
No. I think you're wrong,
but I got nothing more to say.
Yes, sir, Mr. Favor,
there's one thing these cows
and I sure have in common:
I don't like lightning either.
I'm doubling the night
guard. Keep them bunched.
How's Wish doing?
I don't know. I just
don't know, Toothless.
Wishbone, give me...
Let me do this, Wishbone.
You picked the toughest
piece of meat in the wagon.
Now I gotta soak them
all night in vinegar and oil
in order to have
them for breakfast.
And your coffee is boiling over.
Do I have to do
everything around here?
I said, blind or not, I
still gotta do everything.
I'll get it for you,
Mr. Wishbone.
Now what have you done?
I spilled the coffee.
I might have known it. You
haven't done anything right today.
I'll get some fresh water.
Never mind, I'll get it myself.
You just stir the stew.
Just stand over
the stew and stir it.
Don't move around any and
maybe you won't spill anything else.
You could have had dinner
ready an hour ago, Mush.
I'm not worried about that.
He could have tripped and
burned himself in the fire.
Well, I'll make sure
he doesn't do that.
How are you gonna keep him
from getting his thumb cut off?
Ask Mr. Favor if there's
something else he could do.
No. How could I do that?
Cooking's his whole
life, that's all he knows.
It's important to keep
him alive, Mr. Rowdy.
Every time you turn your back,
well, he might fall in here
and scald himself to death.
Yeah.
Well, I'd almost rather see him do
that than lose the feeling he counts,
that he's the only one in the
world who can cook a stew right.
Yeah, I'll keep an eye on him.
All right, here's your water.
You think you can
pour it without spilling it,
or am I gonna
have to do it for you?
I won't spill it again,
Mr. Wishbone.
Well, just see that you don't.
Yes, sir.
Come and get it.
Well, we're ready to eat.
All right, come on,
come on and try me.
All right, Wishbone, how
about the pancake skillet?
Hey, that's not
bad for a beginner.
Beginner?
All right,
Mr. Omnipotent-Quince,
why don't you put some
money where your mouth is?
- Say, about $5.
- You're on.
We do the picking now.
First miss, you
lose. Fair enough?
About as fair as taking
candy from a baby.
Mushy, you hold the stakes.
Sure will, Mr. Wishbone.
All right, name away.
Let's start easy. The sugar can.
- All right.
- All right.
How about the pickle jar?
Muy bien, Senor Wishbone.
Come on, let's make
a contest out of it.
All right, let's just do that.
Let's make a real
contest out of it, huh?
You remember that old watch of
mine, the one with the broken hand?
Why don't you look around
and see if you can find it, huh?
Well, what's the matter?
Stakes aren't high enough?
Ten, $20?
Go ahead, you name it.
It isn't that.
You know I can't
find that watch.
No, and you ain't never
gonna find nothing either,
as long as you're enjoying
practicing to stay blind.
- Look, Mr. Favor...
- If you are through playing games,
you'd better give the herds
some of your attention.
All we were
trying to do is to...
That lightning comes any closer,
this herd's gonna be
scattered all over the prairie.
Hate to do it the
hard way, Wish.
Don't you realize you're
doing the worst thing possible?
Throwing in the
towel, you've given up.
Walking into a closet and
shutting the door on yourself.
What would you have me do?
Juggle a few plates
while I turn cartwheels
and sing a few
choruses of "Dixie"?
I'm blind. All I got left is my
ears and my nose and my hands.
And what about your eyes?
They're right there in your
head, right where they belong.
That doctor says that there's
nothing physical wrong with them.
All you have to do
is try and use them.
It's true, Wish.
You don't have to stay this way.
You just got scared blind.
You're still that little
kid trying to climb down
from up in the
belfry on that rope.
Well, you climbed down
from that all right, didn't you?
By the same token, you
can climb down from this
and you can see again.
But nobody else
can do it for you.
You got to do it yourself.
Oh, it's easy as that.
All I gotta do is snap my
fingers and say the magic words,
and there it is, daylight.
Comes easy to you,
don't it, trail boss?
Big talk. Head them
up. Move them out.
Push and keep pushing.
You can walk through a wall
and don't even break stride.
Rest of us, we stub
our toe, we're hurt.
We bleed a little.
Sure, I can see.
I can see just because my
almighty trail boss tells me I can.
Meantime, while I'm trying
to push a little sunshine
past the end of my nose,
I hope you don't mind
if I use your trail drive
to prepare myself for
a more permanent job.
Like, maybe at the cow
house on Horn Street
as a flunky hash man
to their beef slinger.
Might come in handy
just in case you're wrong.
Mr. Wishbone, here's your money.
It isn't mine.
You heard the man, I lost.
Trying to cure Wishbone's
eyes or your conscience?
What happened would
happen sooner or later.
I just made it happen sooner.
It's got nothing to do
with me or my conscience.
Well, it's easy for
you to say that, isn't it?
What if Wishbone's got something
that isn't caused by fear, though?
Something that could be treated
like an injury or an infection.
After all those tests that doctor
took, you sure would have knowed it.
He admitted himself he
didn't know all about it.
I don't buy that.
Not from some half-baked
sawbones in some nothing town.
All right, all right,
here, you read this.
It's all right in there.
Wishbone can be cured.
There's a case in
there, for example,
of a woman who was
an expectant mother.
And doctor had given
her orders to stay in bed,
but she disobeyed those orders
and she went down to the well.
Now, on the way, she
tripped and she fell,
that baby was born dead.
And from then on, she was
crippled, she couldn't walk,
not for any physical
reason at all
but because she blamed herself.
Now, she stayed a cripple
until one day, a little 5-year-old
boy had fallen in the pond
and started hollering for help.
There was nobody else around.
As quick as that, she
got up and she ran out
and she saved that boy.
Oh, it's got something to do
with how you're feeling
inside, in the mind.
One shock can help
overcome another one.
Now, this is what we
gotta try and do for Wish,
to get him over this fear.
Gotta get him to climb
down from that belfry.
Now, that's where we come
in, that's where we can help him.
Wrong, you started this thing,
you go ahead and finish it.
I can't do it.
Mr. Wishbone.
Mr. Wishbone, you all right?
I was dreaming.
Must have been the
thunder, woke me up.
Can't seem to get
much rest anyway.
I keep dreaming I'm in a cave.
Mr. Favor grabs me
by the hand and says:
"Come on, Wishbone, I'm
gonna get you out of here."
But he don't. He can't.
It wasn't right the way he
judged you, Mr. Wishbone.
Oh, I understand
why he did that.
You don't suppose for a second
I don't want to see or don't try?
It just don't make sense that
a man can scare himself blind
and, if all this, can't scare
himself back into seeing again.
Mr. Rowdy's probably right.
All you need is a good doctor.
No.
You know, I once knew a man,
he was walking down
the street one day
and all of a sudden,
he went blind in one eye.
Just like that.
About three months later,
happened in the other eye.
Doctor said something
shook loose in his eyeballs.
I think that's what
happened to me.
Only with me, it was
both eyes at once.
You're only guessing.
No, I'm facing facts
and it's time I did.
There's lots of worse
things than being blind.
As long as there's a chance...
Go to sleep, Mushy.
- Yes, sir.
- I don't wanna talk about it anymore.
No, sir.
I need a lantern.
This way, Wishbone.
I can't see you.
Take hold of my hand.
Come on, I've found the way.
Careful now. Watch your step.
Lots of holes.
Don't want to slip, drops
off a hundred feet in places.
I don't want to fall.
You won't, Wish.
I won't let you.
Just keep going,
one step after another.
Just hang on now.
I won't let you fall.
Steady.
We gotta cross an
underground river.
Slow and easy, Wish.
You'll make it.
Slow and easy,
one step at a time.
I'm afraid to go any further.
Don't be afraid.
Wish, you can see.
Rowdy! Scarlet!
Easy.
Easy, easy, easy.
Easy.
Easy.
- What happened?
- You all right?
- Where am I?
- You're down by the water.
You just walked
out on those logs.
I had a dream. I must've
been walking in my sleep.
Well, dream or awake, you couldn't
have walked out on those logs
unless you could see, Wish.
Yeah, looks like
he did just that.
Well, we better get you
out of this wet stuff, Wish.
You're shaking so much you're
gonna rattle the wheels off your wagon.
It isn't the cold. I'm scared.
From the bone out, I'm scared.
Dark all night, dark all day.
Nightmares, walking in my sleep.
It's no use.
Trying, hoping,
praying, it's just no use.
You're wrong, Wish. You've
beaten it. Don't you understand?
When you walked out there
on those logs, you could see.
Pardon, senor, a man who
walks in his sleep needs no eyes.
That might be true
in a man's own house,
but not out here, not in
the middle of nowhere.
Look, I can prove it. All I got
to do is blindfold anyone of you.
Hold on, you said it
yourself, no more games.
No more large, important-sounding
words out of small books
that none of us understand.
All right, but one thing I do know,
one thing you've got to admit,
awake or asleep, Wishbone
couldn't have walked out on that log
unless he could see.
Maybe so, maybe not.
But this ain't gonna
happen again, I'll tell you.
Come first light, I'm taking him back,
we're gonna take a stage to Denver.
We'll have a doctor look at him,
a real good one and knows
what he's talking about.
And you ain't gonna do
nothing about it, I'll tell you.
What's making them so jumpy?
It's in the air.
I can almost smell the
fire and the brimstone.
What's that?
Foxfire, called Saint Elmo's.
It won't hurt them, but
what's coming up sure will.
What's coming?
You can smell it. Electricity.
The next bolt that hits
will bounce for 50 miles
and them steers know it.
I'll get the boss.
Nice cows.
Are you sure you're warm
enough, Mr. Wishbone?
Maybe I'll get you
another blanket.
Leave him alone. He's all right.
Saint Elmo's, Mr. Favor.
It's got the herd on its tiptoes.
Once it breaks through,
won't be no holding them.
All right then, everybody
on, into the saddle.
You too, Mushy,
we'll need everybody.
- But Mr. Wishbone.
- Come on, Wish.
Into the wagon. You stay put.
Sorry, but I can't spare
anybody to stay with you.
Don't worry about
me, I'll be all right.
Good boy.
Mushy, forget your
chaps, come on.
The light of the black angel.
I've heard of the blue fire,
but never thought I'd see it.
Quince, Scarlet, you get on
the flank and pass the word.
If they start to run,
we'll let them go for a bit
until we can pick out
the lead and start a circle.
The rest of us
will get on point...
Let's go!
Hey!
Hey!
Mr. Favor!
Rowdy!
Mr. Favor!
Mushy!
Anyone!
I gotta get to the water.
Onto the lake.
Now keep them milling!
Keep them milling!
Boss, the camp!
- The camp.
- Wishbone.
Quince! Scarlet!
Wishbone!
Wishbone!
Wishbone's gone.
He's not around here.
All right, he couldn't have
gone too far. We'll spread out.
You work from the ridge down.
Rowdy, you go down to
the water. Let's go, come on.
Wishbone!
Wishbone!
Nothing on the ridge. Fire
is turning back on itself.
Wishbone?
Wishbone!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, by the lake!
Wishbone!
Rowdy!
Rowdy! Rowdy!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, by the lake!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here, Rowdy!
Over here!
Wish!
Wishbone?
Rowdy!
Easy boy, easy boy.
Come on, boy, back
where you came from.
Wishbone!
Over here, Mr. Favor!
Over here!
Over here, Mr. Favor!
Over here!
Come on, Rowdy.
You're all right,
boy. Come on, boy.
Come on, Rowdy.
It's Wishbone. Come on, Rowdy.
Oh.
What happened to me?
A tree fell on you, that's all.
Bumped his head.
Nothing to worry about.
And how about you, Wish?
Huh?
I don't even know
when it happened.
I didn't feel a thing.
It's like you've just climbed down
from that belfry rope again, huh?
Got over being scared
and you climbed down
again, all by yourself.
Hey, get out of that.
Haven't you jaspers got anything
to do but stand around and stare?
Oh, we're just glad you're
all right now, Wish, that's all.
Oh, this spread doesn't
have anything to do with it.
Well, it is more than
we had to eat all month.
Get out of my way. Give it!
I just can't hardly
stand it, Wish.
Well, you're gonna have
to. Now, get out of here.
All I'm doing is just finishing
cooking what that fire started.
Now you keep turning that,
or we're gonna fatten
up on pan-fried Mushy.
Would you mind telling
me what's going on here?
You should've had this mess
cleaned up and ready to roll.
No, sir, I'm not gonna
move one foot, not today.
It isn't gonna do you any
good to bellow about it
because it won't change a thing.
Wishbone, I think you ought
to do like the man here says.
Look at the both of you,
skinny as broom handles.
And look at them.
Bone and frazzle
and bad disposition.
And why? Because they've
been working too hard.
And they hadn't
been eating right.
No, sir, they're not gonna
move a foot today either.
Wishbone...
Look, we've been through an
electrical storm, a stampede,
a fire and a miracle,
all in one night,
and all you can think
of is "head them up."
No, sir, they're not gonna move,
not until I spread
around some eating fat
where it'll do the most good.
Now, you don't like it, you just
go back out and tell your cows
because I'm not interested.
Don't look at me,
you're his doctor.
Why?
Head them up!
Move them out!