?? >> here's adventure. ?? here's romance. here's o. henry's famous robin hood of the old west, "the cisco kid." oh, you got yourself a new haircut, didn't you, huh? >> well, he cut a little bit off the top, but that don't make no never mind. hey, cisco, when you get a letter, does that always mean bad news? >> not always, pancho. why?

thinking, something goes wrong. what are you hiding there? >> well, i ain't hiding nothing. >> come on, come on, give it to me, whatever it is. >> well, it's something i pick up downtown for you today, cisco. who's in trouble now, huh? >> nobody's in trouble, pancho. >> cisco, don't try to fool pancho. every time you get a letter, that means trouble. always you are sticking your nose where a bullet is waiting to say hello to pancho. >> always we chase the banditos, and the banditos chase us, and along come the sheriff and he chase us both. we don't get no time to eat. >> will you stop worrying, pancho? this letter is from a very good friend of mine-- jim stark, in apple valley. >> oh, now we're going to protect the apples, huh? >> no, pancho, we're going to eat them. jim has invited us to spend a few weeks there and relax. >> let me see this letter. look, loco, what the letter say. no more banditos, no more

all we got to do is to eat apples and sleep, and eat some more apples. no, cisco? >> right, pancho. (chuckles) >> here she comes. pull up! >> what's the meaning of this?

this is apple valley. >> hey, cisco... what are those men doing down there? >> they're not picking apples, pancho. come on! >> okay? >> yeah. what about her? >> do you have to ask that, you nitwit? shoot her. >> that runaway team will kill her for sure. >> head for the hideout, boys.

are you all right, miss? >> i'm just a bit shaky. >> sit down. >> oh, thank you, uh, mister... >> i'm known as cisco. >> cisco? you mean you're cisco kid? >> at your service. >> oh, my uncle told me a lot of stories about you. he knew you quite well-- jim stark. >> well, well, what a surprise. you are jim's niece? my friend pancho and i were on our way to visit your uncle. impossible. >> impossible? why? >> uncle jim's dead. >> dead? when did that happen? >> three weeks ago. murdered. >> who did it? >> i wish i knew. but uncle jim's lawyer wrote to me and said the law was still looking for the killer. i was on my way to see the lawyer when those outlaws robbed me and killed the driver. >> they stole all your money? >> yes, and my papers too. >> papers? were they very important? >> well, it consisted of my birth certificate and other documents to establish my

my uncle left me his entire estate, that i should bring proof of my identity when they probate the will. >> oh, i see. it will be very hard for you to prove who you are without those papers, won't it? >> no doubt. but i'm mr. holden will vouch for me. you see, i met him back east several years ago with my uncle. >> get those papers? >> sure did. >> good work, nebraska. well, stella, by this time tomorrow you'll be back in st. louis and $5,000 richer. >> i wish it was all over with. this waiting around to play the part of mary stark is giving me the jitters. >> stop worrying. with these papers in our hands, nothing can go wrong. get rid of the girl? >> well, no. the horses ran off with her. they bolted when larry shot the driver.

up. maybe it didn't crack up. keep your eyes open just in case. it wouldn't do to have her show up at the probate hearing. >> cisco, cisco, hurry up. i followed those banditos. they are in a shack not very far from here.

>> get your hands up! get over there! pancho, throw their guns away. >> with pleasure. >> drop your guns.

>> you know se?or, i like you. cisco, these banditos don't look so happy, don't they? >> pancho, there were four of them. did you see where the other one went? >> no, i just follow these three. cisco, what are you looking for? >> some of the papers the girl lost. >> maybe the other bandito-- maybe he got 'em. >> pancho, take them to the >> bueno. >> i'm going after the girl. >> what's the matter? >> that stark girl, she's heading this way with a couple of strangers. >> so nothing could go wrong, eh, george? well, this is where i'm clearing out. >> shut up!

good morning. what can i do for you folks? >> well, don't you recognize me? i'm mary stark, jim stark's niece. well, we met back east several years ago. don't you remember? >> i'm sorry, i don't. however, won't you sit down? >> thank you. these are my friends, the cisco kid and pancho. >> we're also the friends of jim stark, mr. holden. >> yeah, and the sheriff has told us he didn't catch the killers yet. >> but he will, restur murder will out, i always say. >> so do i. >> won't you be seated? >> no, thank you. >> so you're mary stark. >> that's right. >> you have proof of identity with you, i presume? >> no, i haven't. you see, all of my papers were stolen from me this morning. if it hadn't been for cisco and pancho, why, i wouldn't be here. >> the three men who robbed her are in jail. >> and locked up good and tight. >> i see. well, i'm afraid that without proof of identity it's useless for you to lay claim to the

your word for it that i'm mary stark. >> there's more than $250,000 involved. now, you can hardly expect me to say i know you when, frankly, i don't. >> mary, don't you have friends back east who can prove who you are? >> yes, i have. >> well, then, we'll send for them. >> when they get here, everything will be hunky-dory, just like that, huh? >> but what if the judge arrives before my friends do? >> then pancho and i will try to persuade the judge to postpone the hearing a while, eh, pancho? >> yes, we will go and see, and i will talk to him good and sweet-- ooh, the judge! the judge and the sheriff and-- oh, frijoles and tamales. gee willikers! >> don't mind pancho, he always is making jokes. come, mary, we'll get you a room at the hotel. good-bye, mr. holden. >> good-bye. be sure and keep in touch with me, miss.

>> i don't like this. that cisco and pancho are bad medicine. >> and i, for one, want no part of them. i'm leaving. >> oh, no, you're not. i brought you out here to do a job, and you're not leaving until it's finished. >> but we'll never get away with it. >> oh, yes, we will. nebraska, you're gonna get the boys out of jail. >> right under the sheriff's nose, eh? >> no, not exactly. i'm gonna take him out to the stark ranch with me to check over a few things. >> what then? >> i want you to take care of the girl. but first get cisco and pancho.

>> hey, cisco. >> yes, pancho? >> look, those mens across the street.

>> look out, pancho! (gunshots) >> come on, let's get out of here. >> cisco, look! they trying to get away.

>> did they get away, cisco? >> yes, pancho. we'll never find them around here. >> did you know who they were? >> i think they were the men we put in jail. >> yeah, but hombres are locked up tight in the jail. >> they could have escaped.

let's get back to the hotel. >> vamoose. >> wait here for me, pancho. >> well, see you later, sheriff. >> you find her, cisco? >> no, pancho. >> you mean she disappear like a tortilla when pancho is hungry?

get her again? >> maybe. >> hey, cisco, i just see that lawyer man go over to his office. >> good. let's have a talk with that lawyer. where's miss stark? >> you mean the girl who calls herself miss stark. how should i know? i'm not her keeper? what's more, i don't like your attitude. >> you don't, eh? >> no, i don't. and furthermor- >> you think he grab her, cisco? >> not only that, pancho, he's responsible for those men getting out of jail. and for the attack on us, too. >> well, what are we waiting for? hit him one for me. >> we don't want any trouble, pancho. now, look, tell me where the girl is. >> i told you i don't know. >> don't you? >> hit him for me, cisco! >> aw, you're out of your minds, both of you. i tell you i don't know where

>> now, tell me where mary stark is or i'll beat it out of you. >> what in thunder is going on around here? don't make me shoot, boys. get your hands up. >> they were trying to kill me, sheriff. arrest them. arrest them, do you hear? >> he's not ing the truth, sherif >> peabody, i'm throwing out warrant for assault and batter and attempted murder. now, lock 'em up othis county ll have a new shiff. >> all right, head towarthe jail. >> b, sheriff, i didn't did nothing. i was only looking. (knock on door) >> hey, boss, what happened to you? >> oh, just a little memento from the cisco kid. how'd you and the boys fall down on the job? >> well, we just couldn't help it. >> oh, well, no matter. with cisco and pancho safely in jail, everything is under control. how'd the girl take it. >> what do you mean? >> you got rid of her, didn't you? didn't you?

else.

>> cisco! >> but, sheriff... >> mary. how did you manage to escape? >> escape? >> yeah, from the banditos. >> what banditos? >> the ones that took you prisoner yesterday. >> i wasn't taken prisoner. >> then where were you? >> well, i went down to the railhead tnd to some of my friends, to help establish my identity as mary stark. >> well,hy didn't you told before you goed? >> i guess i just didn't think about it. when i got bac you weren't around, so i came over here to talk to the sheriff. >> she was telling me what holden was up to when you boys got into that scrap with him. >> well, you believe her, don't you, sheriff? >> why, of course. >> then why did you arrest us? >> why, you're not under arrest. here are your guns. i just brought you boys over here because miss stark was waiting for you. >> you know, cisco, this is the

>> (chuckles) say, sheriff, when will the probate judge arrive here? >> he's already arrived. as a matter of fact, he's going to hold a hearing on jim's will in about an hour. >> cisco, the evidence i wired for won't arrive for at least a week. >> don't worry, mary. look, i found this woman's cigarette case on holden's desk. it has the initial "s.j." no doubt he'll try to pawn off the owner as you. >> if that is try, how you gonna stop him? >> the sheriff can do that much easier, pancho. it's more important that we prove that holden is responsible of the driver. i think i have an idea. hmm, it will be quite a surprise for mr. holden. >> any sign of the stark girl? >> not yet. >> whatever happens, don't let

>> cisco, this i don't understand. why didn't we shoot that man in front of the hotel, and then go tell the judge about mr. holdens? >> because, pancho, we don't have actual proof against him. we have got to make him expose himself. >> i will do what you told me, but it's much more easy to expose him to a bullet.

and i'm prepared to declare you sole and legal heiress to your uncle's estate as soon as the necessary documents are drawn up. >> your honor, i've already drawn up the necessary papers for your signature. i believe you'll find them in order. my client would appreciate your prompt attention. (alarmed cries) >> don't move, anyone! >> what is the meaning of this outrage? >> your honor, many years ago i stark and his family. he is dead. but one member of the family remains-- mary stark! she, too, will be dead, in one minute. i'm gonna kill her! >> no, no, don't shoot! don't let him shoot me. i'm not mary stark. i'm not her. please, don't kill me. >> don't lie to me. if you're not mary stark, then why are you claiming to be an heiress to jim stark's estate? >> i don't. i'm not her. he can tell you that i'm stella jackson. >> oh, she's lying, your honor. she gave proof to me that she was mary stark.

>> that's not the truth, your honor. he's lying. he's also responsible for the murder of jim stark and the driver. >> something must have gone wrong, come on. >> hey, you two... drop your guns. mr. judge would like to see you inside. andale! >> well, everything will be all right now, miss. >> i'm sure it will. and thank you for everything, cisco. >> what's the matter, pancho? >> cisco, why they call this plac"a i find this tired-looking old wrinkled apple. >> it's not the season for apples, pancho. >> well, pancho will enjoy it. >> well, go ahead and enjoy it. >> how i can enjoy it when somebody live in there? (laughter) hey, pancho, he don't like apples anyhow. >> oh, pancho! >> oh, cisco!

?? >> good-bye, amigos. >> see you soon, ha!

what'd they make off with? those men! the two that-- i don't know what you're talking about sheriff. they just stopped in to cash this bank note. bank note? it's uh, made out for twenty. they wanted silver. now listen, i didn't short change 'em. ?? ?? trackdown

oren croft had been sheriff of coleman for thirteen years. before that: ranger, scout, bar fighter, soldier. ask him two days ago, and he'd have told you proudly, there was nothing he hadn't seen, but this. riding into town, just when i'm coming out from breakfast, flanking me so i go no move. and the way they placed their guards so perfect, covering every door and window open and on the street. i tell yah gilman, i never seen anything to match it. and them a bunch of old men, not one under fifty. you say all the did was go into the bank and cash this bank note? mhm i know how it sounds. well from the way you lay it out, they could have walked away with the bank.

well now, do you think i'd ride over here, twenty miles in this heat if i knew? somethin' did. yeah. sure. somethin'. but it sure wasn't me. well what about this fella you thought is the head man? you say you got a good look at him? yeah, well, he was a queer lookin' bird. over sixty. white mustache, gray hair. anything else? yeah he walked with a limp. now i'm not sure about that, but i think so. well what about the others? nothing. moth eating, saddle cramps. r leg? who? well you know the clowns in your area, i don't. i never saw one of them before in my life. ah well, still they could have been. well then somebody wasted some first rate planning on a lousy two minute joke. i don't know what else to tell you, croft. now i can make out a report, and send it into orison. sayin' what? well what else? what you just told me. well, that would sound kinda silly, wouldn't it? well i'll level with yah,

? yeah, i know. well, maybe you're right. maybe it's just some old mules out on a rankypoo. but if you'da been there, if you'd a seen 'em yourself, gilman. i know. anything else i can ever do. yeah, sure. i mean it croft. i know yah do. eh, i guess i'm just getting old and don't know it. take care. thanks. ?? good morning jed. morning mr. gilman. is mr. phillips in? lunch. if i can help? well, i'm interested in bank notes today. yes sir.

but i'd say rarely. well what about this one? morgan city union, twenty dollars. hardly ever anything that small, it wouldn't pay the book keeping. well it was just a thought. morgan city. uh wait a minute. morgan city. morgan city i should have remembered. why, what is it? that new law went in just six months ago. giving the convicts twenty dollars when they're released from the state penitentiary. aw these notes on that bank. well that doesn't necessarily mean that this is one of them, does it? no. no, not a bit. but if it was, they'd be able to tell yah about it by that serial number. that's one record they do keep. well thanks jed, thanks a million. oh, my goodness. excuse me, sir. alright son, ain't no bones busted here. young fellas all alike these days, rushing and hurrying from here to there, and back to here again. ha-ha. my name's morgan.

lunch? why, it's only half past eleven. he eats early. he'll be back at twelve. i see. well yah see it's like this, i got a little money i want to invest, and i wanted to talk it over with 'em. well you're free to wait. thank yah, i'd like that. can i sit down? have a chair. oh thank yah, thank yah. ?? ?? ralph! afternoon, hoby. would you happen to be passing by the station? close enough. you wanna do me a favor? you name it. i'm expecting a telegram. you wanna see if it's come in yet?

yes sir, mr. morgan. always glad for new blood in porter. well i ain't got much capital to invest you understand, just a small business-- well it'll grow with the town. you think that? oh no question. take me for a case, opened here four years ago, capital assest thirty-five hundred. today, it's twenty-seven thousand. twenty-seven thousand dollars? that's a heap of money, ain't it? so you just let us know when you made up your mind. i'll do that mr. phillips, you can count on me, sir. i'll do just exactly that. ?? oh, mr. gilman? yes sir. my name's morgan. zachariah p. morgan. oh yes, the bank.

m considering opening a little business here in town. nothing much, you understand. little, little masonry business. course i don't figure to make enough out of it to buy no railroads. just wanna get enough to ease my sun down years. well it sounds like a reasonable notion. yes, course i, i'm a cautious man mr. gilman. especially when it comes to new towns. i don't quite follow you. yea, well yah see course i don't reckon no body would be fool enough to try to rob this here town. but if somebody was fool enough, and they should come after my place... is that right? well i'm always here in town. mostly in the office. the window gives me clear view of the street. if there's anything unnatural goin on, i'll see it. well you know i'm glad to hear that, yes indeed. here hoby, just come in. thanks ralph. 'scuse me sir. well he's dead. something wrong? is henrietta in her office? far as i know. keep an eye on the place. sure will.

e never seen a young man in such of a hurry. he's always rushing from here to there, and back here again. he's kinda busy, ain't he? yeah, no grass grows under his feet. well maybe we're not talking about the same ben moss. the one i remember was killed when i was a kid. and that was twenty years or more. there was a big shoot out over dragon wells. and the story was he dropped six men before they finally got him. well, that's one. one what? of the legends about him. and the third is that he supported an orphanage somewhere in kansas. well he did all of those things, didn't he? well some maybe. maybe a few. but not for the reasons you think. well, why then? headlines. you know once while he was robbing a train, he stopped for ten minutes to take a splinter out of a child's hand. but, it got him the front page for three weeks.

oh i'll admit, in a left handed way, he did some good. but the truth of it was he was a diabolically clever thief. banks mostly. there wasn't a bank in west texas that he and his men were afraid to try. well what finally stopped him? numbers. too many men on his trail. the others gave up. but ben, no, no, he tried to shoot it out. i'll say that for him. he had courage. that and the fact that he never shot a man. unless he had to. well he's been in prison all this time. yeah. twenty years. yeah. could have been him over at coleman. from what you say the sheriff told yah. i wonder 'bout all those others. older men, all over fifty? well, well it could have been his gang. well it's a guess. well what were they doing? nothing.

?? well it's a pretty good notion that old fella had opening a masonry shop. well everything alright? huh? oh, yeah sure. beets me how he figures to make a go of it though. man that age. must be over sixty. he can't lift all that weight that bum leg of his. it's tough enough when you're young. what did you say? said it's tough enough when you're young. a bum leg over sixty. you saw him. white mustache and gray hair. yeah, he's quite a character. where is he? well he's gone. but where? well i don't know where, it was right after you left.

: now here's the lay out.

there's windows here. ben. yeah? this porter citizens bank. we ain't up to anything like that. what do you mean we ain't up to it? we did alright in coleman, didn't we? well that was just practice. practice or not, it went off perfect, didn't it? but porter ben. well there's two hundred people in that town. yeah, there's twenty-seven thousand dollars in this bank. i know ben, sure. but we was kinda planning on something...well, on something a little less. little, little less than what? well, me and the boys was talking, and, ah the truth, we guess maybe that stage top over there to benton. stage top? yeah, they're carrying full load these days. five, six passengers a run. they say you can clear about a hundred dollars if yah pick the right day. stage stop. (scoffs) you're a fine kettle of fish, ain't cha? i send for yah, i pull yah out of flop houses, and swamps, i work my heart out to get yah back on top again, just like we used to be,

the moss gang, in all the newspapers from here to chicago. and all you can think about is stage stops! boy if i had ever suggested a thing like that to you in the old days-- but ben, this ain't the old days. not for twenty years. no, you can forget a lot in twenty years. turn slow. it ain't that we're scared, ben. just older. we ain't up to what we used to be. now you fellas listen to me. walt, hold up your head. t me when i'm talking to you. the best you'll get with me is a new start in life. the worst, you already got. now tomorrow morning at eleven forty five we ride into that town. ?? yeah, i know that. that's his look out now. what about you, connor? anything over your way?

frale? he's not in my town. not that i know of. mhm. and there's nothing new over at coleman? (shouting coming from jail cell) joe will you shut that drunk up? (shouting for water) why these drifters always pick on me, i don't know. hey what do you want? a bucket of water on yah? pipe down! and then there's nothing over at coleman huh? uh just that one fake raid. well then that's it. just that one fake raid, and this looking the town over here last tuesday. you figure he's setting you up for a raid? what happened over at your place i'd say yes. but i'll admit to yah, i just can't figure it. only that it's going to be in this area if he's up to something. and that means me, and you croft, and your two towns. (screams from cell again) and i don't know when he's gonna turn up, or where, or what he's after. but there's no sense in just waiting around and-- (louder screams) until he-- (screaming and banging)

alright, alright. hey! hey! oh! belly's on fire. burning up with furry. give the old man some charity, and give me some water quick. alright, alright. oh! oh i'm dying. ah! hurry up and give me some water. water! ah i'm burning. oh i'm dying! ah give me some water, quick, please. ah bless yah, young man, bless yah. n't know what pain. alright. lead out. fast. ?? hold it! keep your hands where i can see 'em. what is this? i'll tell yah. unbuckle your gun belts. slow.

do what he tells yah. let 'em fall to the floor. kick 'em away from yah. you. lock the door. key is over there. yeah, i know. the keys. no one comes out, and no one comes in. throw it to me. throw it!

pick it up. pick it up! ?? give me. ?? all of yah. back in the cells. now you stay right where you are. you're digging your grave. you give me that. and the rest of yah, when i give the word you go for your guns. you'll be a dead man. and you'll be right on top of me. alright. get him.

lock him out back. (gun shot) ?? moss! come out, you're surrounded. we was wrong to try this bank. i said it-- ah shut up! any other way out of here beside them front doors? you scouted the place. i asked you a question. just them doors. you hear me, moss? i hear yah. there's four of us out here. then there's me in here with that bank teller friend of yours. and he's not gonna do you any good, and you know it. ben? let me go?

it's just that, i guess i forgot how. alright go on, get out. you mean it ben? i said it didn't i? you're no good to me, go on get out. thank you ben. i'm coming out! here's my gun. ?? the teller's next, moss. not on your life. he stays with me. if you're thinking he's your ticket out of here, you're wrong. that's just exactly what i'm thinking. it's no good moss, i can't let cha do it. huh? he's a dead man if you don't. three minutes. is that what you want people to remember you for? the death of an innocent man? it'll make quite a story in the headlines from here to st. louis.

be everybody would be better off knowing the truth about you, what you really are. moss? moss? come out moss! moss? (gun shots) ?? what made him try a thing like that?

lf why ben moss had done what he did. because he was a brave coward, or a strong weakling. hoby didn't know. he was only sure that the legend of ben moss was still growing. you're the ranger, i'm ben moss! no you're not. you're the ranger. i'm ben moss! ah, all over texas tonight little boys refusing to eat their spinach, unless mama tells him that ben moss ate his spinach too. that so bad? ah, making a hero out of a man like this. well, you know.

yeah but we both know why he didn't, huh? well i wonder. what? well i wonder if uh, you judge somebody like ben moss, for his reasons or uh, for what he actually did. child: bang bang moss! you're dead. child two: blah!

howdy. what are you doing on this range? just passing through. running these ponies up to montana. not across my land, you're not. i didn't know this was ranch. looked like open range to me. - be glad to. - that way. you've gone far enough across my land. you want me to double-back? i don't like saddle-tramps that drive herd across my range. - 'now get moving.' - you heard mr. storm. [dramatic music] scatter 'em. [gunshots]