Mrs. Cantrell:
You're no good, Will.
William Cantrell:
I've killed men for saying less than that!
Mrs. Cantrell:
You've killed a lot of men for saying nothing at all!
[
she holds a rifle on her son, William, to prevent him from going upstairs after his wife]
William Cantrell:
Say, what's the matter with you? What's that gun for?
Mrs. Cantrell:
It's for you, Will. I thought I'd borned a man-child when I first hear'd you squallin'. But I didn't. I borned a dirty murderin' snake that's broke my heart to see it crawlin' along. You're no good, Will.
William Cantrell:
I've killed a lot of men for saying less than that.
Mrs. Cantrell:
You've killed a lot of men for sayin' nuthin' at all! Kansas is red with their bleedin'. I curse the day I ever had you.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
You know that girl I was staring at when all the ruckus started?
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Yeah.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Well, who is she?
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Well, her name is Mary McCloud. Why?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Well, I'll tell you. I think maybe I'll marry her.
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
What ?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Course if she'll have me, I mean. Fella wouldn't wanna marry anyone that didn't want him, naturally.
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Oh, naturally. Uh, you know her well?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Naw, just seen her once or twice. Once she was on a horse, and...
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
...next time she was with a jackass.
[
referring to Cantrell / Walter Pidgeon]
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
He is, huh? Makes it easier, don't it?
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Practically a cinch. Say, you do things kinda sudden don't you?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
No, not exactly. But you see I got 'er figured out this way. If you LIKE someone - and you don't tell 'em right off - well, maybe all that time you wasted, she liked you, too. So... well, all that time's wasted, ain't it?
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Well, it IS the way you put it.
William Cantrell:
I know what I'm doing, Ma. I'll be running Kansas yet. I'm going clear up to the top. But I'm not going for the climb or the view.
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
That'll be four and half
[
dollars]
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
. Two for the tooth, two-and-a-half for the whiskey. You got another swig coming.
Judge Buckner:
Come on, Doc! Your job is pulling teeth out of people's mouths, not putting words in 'em. Let him speak for himself!
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
You knock 'em loose and I'll pull 'em out. Maybe, I'm just saying maybe, you know; if you was more promiscuous with your punching, we might make a little more money.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
What do you mean - promiscuous?
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
Well, ah, you got strange ideas about justice. You don't want to hit nobody unless they deserve it. Now, that's all right, but we're in business. And business is different!
Mrs. Cantrell:
You're at the end of the road and the devil is beside ya... waiting.
Miss Mary McCloud:
I thought they bred men of flesh and blood in Texas. I was wrong. You're made of granite!
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
No, Mary, just common clay. It bakes kind of hard in Texas.
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
You know, you could make something of yourself if you tried.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Yeah?
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
Yeah. You could run for marshal.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Me being a marshal? Are you loco?
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
Well, you could try. It's better for a young fella like you to be working for Uncle Sam than against him.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
I can't even read or write. You know that!
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch:
Listen, you don't read or write a man into jail.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Folks, it's true. I don't know much about the law. Ain't had much book learning. But the good Lord gave me a nose for smelling a horse thief a mile off. And what you need in these parts is a marshal that's better at smelling than spelling.
[
Cantrell has been defeated by Bob Seton in the election for marshal]
William Cantrell:
Learning, studying, working like a dog... and what did it get me? The first chance I have to be somebody, I'm beaten out of it by an ignorant cowhand who can't even write his own name! Well, I can write mine... and I'm going to write it across the territory in letters of fire and blood if I have to! I'm going to be somebody in this country! Somebody big!
Miss Mary McCloud:
Now, will you please get to the point and tell me what you want?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
I want to marry you.
Miss Mary McCloud:
You what?
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Well, I ain't got no job right now, but I figure to get one. And outside of a snort of hooch now and then, I got no bad habits.
Miss Mary McCloud:
I'd say asking a perfect stranger to marry you is a very bad habit!
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud:
Well, I guess Lawrence is burned to the ground.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton:
Yeah. Well, we got a saying down in Texas: that it takes a good fire to burn down the weeds... to let the flowers grow.
Angus McCloud:
Four killings in a week! It's got to stop!
Judge Buckner:
Four! Did you say four? That's right, four! Well, we're going to be quite a town, ain't we? I doubt that they have that many in Dodge City. No, I don't think so.
Angus McCloud:
We aim to compete with any city in size, but not in lawlessness!
[
repeated line]
William Cantrell:
You have families and futures. When you vote, think of them!
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