WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.540 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:05.130 align:middle line:84% Well, McDonald said, "you had your hunt." 00:00:05.130 --> 00:00:06.780 align:middle line:90% "Yes sir." 00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:09.900 align:middle line:84% "And you lost your tail just like I said you would." 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:12.750 align:middle line:90% Andrews did not speak. 00:00:12.750 --> 00:00:14.310 align:middle line:84% "That was what you wanted wasn't it?" 00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:16.590 align:middle line:90% McDonald asked. 00:00:16.590 --> 00:00:18.720 align:middle line:84% "Maybe it was in the beginning," Andrew 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:22.500 align:middle line:90% said, "part of it at least." 00:00:22.500 --> 00:00:26.460 align:middle line:84% "Young people," McDonald said, "always wanting 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:27.810 align:middle line:90% to start from scratch. 00:00:27.810 --> 00:00:30.840 align:middle line:84% I know you never figured that someone else knew what 00:00:30.840 --> 00:00:33.480 align:middle line:90% he was trying to do, did you?" 00:00:33.480 --> 00:00:35.850 align:middle line:84% "I never thought about it," Andrew said. 00:00:35.850 --> 00:00:37.440 align:middle line:84% "Maybe because I didn't know what 00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:39.535 align:middle line:90% I was trying to do myself." 00:00:39.535 --> 00:00:42.060 align:middle line:90% "Do you know now?" 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.700 align:middle line:90% Andrew moved restlessly. 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:48.150 align:middle line:84% "Young people," McDonald said contemptuously, 00:00:48.150 --> 00:00:52.560 align:middle line:84% "you always think there's something to find out." 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.480 align:middle line:90% "Yes sir," Andrew said. 00:00:55.480 --> 00:00:58.140 align:middle line:84% "Well, there's nothing," McDonald said. 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:00.540 align:middle line:84% "You get born, and you nurse on lies, 00:01:00.540 --> 00:01:04.019 align:middle line:84% and you get weaned on lies, and you learn fancier lies 00:01:04.019 --> 00:01:05.400 align:middle line:90% in school. 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:07.560 align:middle line:90% You live all your life on lies. 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.090 align:middle line:84% And then maybe when you're ready to die, 00:01:10.090 --> 00:01:13.860 align:middle line:84% It comes to you that there's nothing, nothing but yourself, 00:01:13.860 --> 00:01:15.840 align:middle line:90% and what you could have done. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.330 align:middle line:84% Only you ain't done it because the lies told 00:01:18.330 --> 00:01:20.725 align:middle line:90% you there was something else. 00:01:20.725 --> 00:01:23.100 align:middle line:84% Then you know you could have had the world because you're 00:01:23.100 --> 00:01:25.500 align:middle line:84% the only one that knows that secret. 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:29.910 align:middle line:84% Only then it's too late, you're too old." 00:01:29.910 --> 00:01:32.370 align:middle line:90% "No," Andrew said. 00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:35.700 align:middle line:84% A vague terror crept from the darkness that surrounded them 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:37.470 align:middle line:90% and tightened his voice. 00:01:37.470 --> 00:01:40.223 align:middle line:90% "That's not the way it is." 00:01:40.223 --> 00:01:41.640 align:middle line:84% "You ain't learned then," McDonald 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:43.170 align:middle line:90% said, "you ain't learned yet. 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:46.230 align:middle line:84% Look, you spend nearly a year of your life in sweat 00:01:46.230 --> 00:01:48.720 align:middle line:84% because you have the faith and the dream of a fool, 00:01:48.720 --> 00:01:49.770 align:middle line:90% and what have you got? 00:01:49.770 --> 00:01:50.640 align:middle line:90% Nothing. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.330 align:middle line:84% You kill 3 to 4,000 buffalo and stack their skins neat 00:01:54.330 --> 00:01:56.880 align:middle line:84% and the buffalo will rot wherever you left them, 00:01:56.880 --> 00:01:59.280 align:middle line:84% and the rats will nest in the skins. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:01.020 align:middle line:90% And what have you got to show? 00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:03.720 align:middle line:84% A year gone out of your life, a busted wagon with it, 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:05.880 align:middle line:84% a beaver might use to make a damn with, 00:02:05.880 --> 00:02:11.039 align:middle line:84% some calluses on your hand, and the memory of a dead man." 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:15.615 align:middle line:84% "No," Andrew said, "that's not all, that's not all I have." 00:02:15.615 --> 00:02:18.240 align:middle line:90% 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.880 align:middle line:90% What does he have? 00:02:20.880 --> 00:02:26.100 align:middle line:84% In an effort to obliterate the memory of this bitter winter 00:02:26.100 --> 00:02:30.360 align:middle line:84% and probably in an effort to reaffirm 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:34.230 align:middle line:84% his sense of his own existence, young Andrews 00:02:34.230 --> 00:02:40.590 align:middle line:84% has taken up with a dancehall lady named Francine. 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:45.060 align:middle line:84% He encounters Charlie Hogue on the street 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:48.120 align:middle line:84% and discovers to another of his horrors, 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:53.910 align:middle line:84% that Charlie Hogue, a fundamentalist drunkard 00:02:53.910 --> 00:02:54.705 align:middle line:90% has gone mad. 00:02:54.705 --> 00:02:58.030 align:middle line:90% 00:02:58.030 --> 00:02:59.920 align:middle line:84% "Miller is looking for you," Charlie Hogue 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:02.710 align:middle line:84% went on in a high monotonous voice. 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.260 align:middle line:84% "Miller says we're all going somewhere to kill the buffalo. 00:03:05.260 --> 00:03:07.240 align:middle line:90% He knows a place in Colorado. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.790 align:middle line:90% I think he wants to see you." 00:03:09.790 --> 00:03:11.260 align:middle line:90% "Charlie," Andrews said. 00:03:11.260 --> 00:03:14.260 align:middle line:84% His voice trembled and he clutched his hands hard 00:03:14.260 --> 00:03:16.990 align:middle line:84% around the glass to keep from them shaking. 00:03:16.990 --> 00:03:19.280 align:middle line:90% "Charlie, get hold of yourself." 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:20.950 align:middle line:84% "We're going on a hunt," Charlie Hogue 00:03:20.950 --> 00:03:22.750 align:middle line:90% continued in his singsong voice. 00:03:22.750 --> 00:03:24.490 align:middle line:90% "You and me and Miller. 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:26.830 align:middle line:84% Miller knows a skinner we can get an Ellsworth, 00:03:26.830 --> 00:03:28.060 align:middle line:90% it'll be all right. 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:32.170 align:middle line:84% I'm not afraid to go up there anymore, the Lord will provide. 00:03:32.170 --> 00:03:34.450 align:middle line:84% He smiled and nodded and continued 00:03:34.450 --> 00:03:37.870 align:middle line:84% nodding toward Andrews though his eyes had turned downward 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:40.690 align:middle line:90% to his glass of whiskey. 00:03:40.690 --> 00:03:42.040 align:middle line:90% "Don't you remember Charlie?" 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:44.230 align:middle line:90% Andrews voice was hollow. 00:03:44.230 --> 00:03:47.200 align:middle line:84% "Don't you remember anything about it?" 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:48.130 align:middle line:90% "Remember?" 00:03:48.130 --> 00:03:50.110 align:middle line:90% Charlie Hogan asked. 00:03:50.110 --> 00:03:52.907 align:middle line:84% "The mountains, the hunt, Schneider." 00:03:52.907 --> 00:03:54.490 align:middle line:84% "That's his name," Charlie Hogue said. 00:03:54.490 --> 00:03:56.720 align:middle line:84% "Schneider, that's the skinner in Ellsworth 00:03:56.720 --> 00:03:58.930 align:middle line:90% that Miller's going to get." 00:03:58.930 --> 00:03:59.950 align:middle line:90% "Don't you remember?" 00:03:59.950 --> 00:04:04.720 align:middle line:84% Andrews voice cracked, "Schneider's dead." 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:08.950 align:middle line:84% Charlie Hogue looked at Andrews, shook his head, and smiled. 00:04:08.950 --> 00:04:11.440 align:middle line:84% A drop of spittle gathered on his lower lip 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:16.839 align:middle line:84% swelled and coursed into the gray stubble around his chin. 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:21.235 align:middle line:84% "Nobody dies," he said softly, "the Lord will provide." 00:04:21.235 --> 00:04:23.830 align:middle line:90% 00:04:23.830 --> 00:04:25.600 align:middle line:84% For another moment, Andrews looked deep 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.940 align:middle line:90% into Charlie Hogue's eyes-- 00:04:27.940 --> 00:04:30.220 align:middle line:84% dull and blue, they were like bits 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:33.460 align:middle line:84% of empty sky reflected in a dirty pool, 00:04:33.460 --> 00:04:35.170 align:middle line:90% there was nothing behind them. 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:40.030 align:middle line:84% Nothing to stop Andrews gaze from going on and on. 00:04:40.030 --> 00:04:43.750 align:middle line:84% With almost a sense of horror, Andrews drew back and shook 00:04:43.750 --> 00:04:47.470 align:middle line:84% his head with a sharp movement, he got up from the table 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:49.030 align:middle line:90% and backed away. 00:04:49.030 --> 00:04:51.730 align:middle line:84% Charlie Hogue did not change his empty stare 00:04:51.730 --> 00:04:55.090 align:middle line:84% or give any sign that he saw Andrews movement. 00:04:55.090 --> 00:04:58.330 align:middle line:84% Andrews turned and walked swiftly out of the bar. 00:04:58.330 --> 00:05:02.140 align:middle line:84% On the sidewalk, in the bright sunlight, the sense lingered. 00:05:02.140 --> 00:05:05.470 align:middle line:84% His legs were weak and his hands were trembling. 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:08.590 align:middle line:84% Swiftly, unsteadily, he went up the street, 00:05:08.590 --> 00:05:12.310 align:middle line:84% turned and took the stairs that led up the side of Jackson's 00:05:12.310 --> 00:05:16.600 align:middle line:90% saloon to Francine's room. 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:19.510 align:middle line:84% He opened his eyes wide to the dimness of the room, 00:05:19.510 --> 00:05:21.550 align:middle line:90% he was still breathing heavily. 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:24.850 align:middle line:84% Francine lying on the bed raised herself on an elbow 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:26.170 align:middle line:90% and looked at him. 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:28.690 align:middle line:84% With that movement, her loose greater wrapper parted 00:05:28.690 --> 00:05:30.940 align:middle line:84% and one breast drooped toward her forearm 00:05:30.940 --> 00:05:33.640 align:middle line:90% pale against the gray material. 00:05:33.640 --> 00:05:36.550 align:middle line:84% Andrews went quickly to the bed almost roughly, 00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:38.710 align:middle line:84% he pulled the wrapper away from her body 00:05:38.710 --> 00:05:42.640 align:middle line:84% and let his hands run swiftly, desperately over her. 00:05:42.640 --> 00:05:45.640 align:middle line:84% A small smile came upon Francine's face, 00:05:45.640 --> 00:05:48.610 align:middle line:84% her lids dropped, her hands came to Andrews 00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:54.580 align:middle line:84% fumbled with his clothing, and pulled him down upon her. 00:05:54.580 --> 00:05:59.230 align:middle line:84% Later, as he lay beside her, the tumult within him quieted. 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:02.170 align:middle line:84% He tried to tell her of his meeting with Charlie Hogue 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:04.930 align:middle line:84% and of that sense of horror that the meeting had 00:06:04.930 --> 00:06:06.640 align:middle line:90% released in him. 00:06:06.640 --> 00:06:09.160 align:middle line:84% It was not, he tried to make her understand, 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:11.620 align:middle line:84% so much a result of his recognition 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:13.480 align:middle line:84% that what Charlie Hogue showed him 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.810 align:middle line:84% in a blind and enveloping stare was something 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:20.380 align:middle line:84% that each of them, Miller, Charlie Hogue, Schneider, 00:06:20.380 --> 00:06:22.000 align:middle line:90% and even himself. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.870 align:middle line:84% That each of them had had inside them all along. 00:06:25.870 --> 00:06:28.390 align:middle line:84% It was something, he tried to tell her, 00:06:28.390 --> 00:06:30.880 align:middle line:84% that McDonald had spoken of by the flickering 00:06:30.880 --> 00:06:34.090 align:middle line:84% light of the lantern in the great empty sleeping house 00:06:34.090 --> 00:06:37.450 align:middle line:84% the night they had returned to butcher's crossing. 00:06:37.450 --> 00:06:40.450 align:middle line:84% It was something that he had seen in Schneider's face 00:06:40.450 --> 00:06:44.140 align:middle line:84% as he stood stiff and upright in the middle of the river 00:06:44.140 --> 00:06:48.440 align:middle line:84% just after the horse's hoof had split his skull. 00:06:48.440 --> 00:06:51.040 align:middle line:90% It was something. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.500 align:middle line:84% The faint after lift of a smile hung 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:56.410 align:middle line:90% on Francine's full pale lips. 00:06:56.410 --> 00:07:00.460 align:middle line:84% She nodded, her hand moved softly, soothingly 00:07:00.460 --> 00:07:03.910 align:middle line:90% over his bare chest. 00:07:03.910 --> 00:07:07.090 align:middle line:84% It was something he continued speaking in broken phrases that 00:07:07.090 --> 00:07:09.100 align:middle line:90% did not say what he intended. 00:07:09.100 --> 00:07:11.920 align:middle line:84% It was something that he had felt even in himself 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.000 align:middle line:84% from moment to moment during the long trek across the plains 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.460 align:middle line:84% and in the kill of the buffalo at the instant 00:07:18.460 --> 00:07:21.640 align:middle line:84% the great animal shuddered and crashed to the ground, 00:07:21.640 --> 00:07:25.150 align:middle line:84% and in the hot smothering stench that came with the skinning 00:07:25.150 --> 00:07:28.330 align:middle line:84% and in the vision of whiteness during the snowstorm 00:07:28.330 --> 00:07:32.650 align:middle line:84% and in the trackless view of the aftermath of the storm. 00:07:32.650 --> 00:07:34.240 align:middle line:90% Was it in everyone? 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.150 align:middle line:84% He asked without using the words. 00:07:37.150 --> 00:07:40.960 align:middle line:84% Did it lurk hidden in everyone waiting to spring out 00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:43.960 align:middle line:84% waiting to devour and rend until there 00:07:43.960 --> 00:07:48.250 align:middle line:84% was left only the blankness he had seen in the blue stare 00:07:48.250 --> 00:07:52.480 align:middle line:84% that Charlie Hogue now had to give the world? 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:55.480 align:middle line:84% Or did it wait without crowds like a timber wolf 00:07:55.480 --> 00:08:00.810 align:middle line:84% behind a rock to spring suddenly and without reason upon anyone 00:08:00.810 --> 00:08:02.880 align:middle line:90% who passed it by? 00:08:02.880 --> 00:08:06.420 align:middle line:84% Or beyond one's knowledge did it seek it out the shape of terror 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:09.750 align:middle line:84% and pass it by in an obscure perverse hope 00:08:09.750 --> 00:08:11.820 align:middle line:90% that it might spring? 00:08:11.820 --> 00:08:13.830 align:middle line:84% At that swift moment in the river, 00:08:13.830 --> 00:08:17.220 align:middle line:84% did the splintered log seek the belly of Schneider's horse 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:20.250 align:middle line:84% and the hoof Schneider's skull, or was it 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:22.290 align:middle line:84% the other way around Schneider passing 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:27.060 align:middle line:84% by a precisely in search of the gray shape and finding it? 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:28.140 align:middle line:90% What did it mean? 00:08:28.140 --> 00:08:29.670 align:middle line:90% He wanted to know. 00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:33.510 align:middle line:90% Where had he been? 00:08:33.510 --> 00:08:35.610 align:middle line:90% He turned on the bed. 00:08:35.610 --> 00:08:38.880 align:middle line:84% Beside him Francine dropped into a light sleep. 00:08:38.880 --> 00:08:41.580 align:middle line:84% Her breath came gently from her parted lips 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:45.270 align:middle line:84% and her hands lay loosely curled at her sides. 00:08:45.270 --> 00:08:47.940 align:middle line:84% He got up quietly, went across the room, 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.660 align:middle line:84% turned the wick of the lamp down and blew into the chimney 00:08:51.660 --> 00:08:53.820 align:middle line:90% extinguishing the light. 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:56.580 align:middle line:84% Through the single curtain window across from him, 00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:59.940 align:middle line:90% a last gray light flickered. 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:02.910 align:middle line:90% Outside it was growing dark. 00:09:02.910 --> 00:09:06.150 align:middle line:84% He returned to the bed and lay carefully next to Francine 00:09:06.150 --> 00:09:09.930 align:middle line:90% on his side looking at her. 00:09:09.930 --> 00:09:11.310 align:middle line:90% What did it mean? 00:09:11.310 --> 00:09:13.800 align:middle line:90% He asked himself again. 00:09:13.800 --> 00:09:17.670 align:middle line:84% Even this his-- he hesitated to call it love. 00:09:17.670 --> 00:09:22.230 align:middle line:84% His hunger after Francine, what did it mean? 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:24.180 align:middle line:84% He thought again of Schneider and suddenly he 00:09:24.180 --> 00:09:28.800 align:middle line:84% imagined Schneider in his place alive lying beside Francine. 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:32.010 align:middle line:84% Without anger or resentment, he saw him lying there 00:09:32.010 --> 00:09:35.730 align:middle line:84% and saw him reach across and fondle Francine's breast. 00:09:35.730 --> 00:09:38.910 align:middle line:84% He smiled for he knew that Schneider would not 00:09:38.910 --> 00:09:41.250 align:middle line:84% have questioned as he was questioning, 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:43.410 align:middle line:84% would not have wondered, would not 00:09:43.410 --> 00:09:46.980 align:middle line:84% have let a look from Charlie Hogue loose within him 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:50.040 align:middle line:90% these doubts and these fears. 00:09:50.040 --> 00:09:52.800 align:middle line:84% With a kind of rough and sour friendliness, 00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:55.650 align:middle line:84% he would have taken his pleasure from Francine 00:09:55.650 --> 00:09:57.960 align:middle line:84% and would have gone his way and would 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.240 align:middle line:84% not in any particular manner have 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:04.890 align:middle line:84% thought of her again as Francine would not 00:10:04.890 --> 00:10:07.920 align:middle line:90% have thought of him again. 00:10:07.920 --> 00:10:11.520 align:middle line:84% And he added suddenly as Francine probably 00:10:11.520 --> 00:10:15.840 align:middle line:84% would not think again of him, Will Andrews, who 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.810 align:middle line:90% now lay beside her. 00:10:18.810 --> 00:10:22.620 align:middle line:84% In her sleep, in a whisper, Francine mouthed a word 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:24.540 align:middle line:90% that he could not understand. 00:10:24.540 --> 00:10:28.170 align:middle line:84% She smiled, her breath caught, she breathed deeply 00:10:28.170 --> 00:10:32.220 align:middle line:90% and moved a little beside him. 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:34.600 align:middle line:84% Though he did not want the thought to come to him, 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:38.040 align:middle line:84% he knew that he too like Schneider, would leave her, 00:10:38.040 --> 00:10:40.080 align:middle line:90% would go his own way. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.390 align:middle line:84% Though unlike Schneider, he would think of her, 00:10:42.390 --> 00:10:46.710 align:middle line:84% remember her in a way that he could not yet predict. 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:50.260 align:middle line:84% He would leave her and he would not know her. 00:10:50.260 --> 00:10:52.740 align:middle line:90% He would never know her. 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:56.280 align:middle line:84% Now the darkness was nearly complete in the room. 00:10:56.280 --> 00:10:58.830 align:middle line:90% He could barely see her face. 00:10:58.830 --> 00:11:01.410 align:middle line:84% With his eyes open in the darkness, 00:11:01.410 --> 00:11:04.920 align:middle line:84% he slid his hand down her arm until he found her hand 00:11:04.920 --> 00:11:07.500 align:middle line:90% and lay quietly beside her. 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:10.170 align:middle line:84% He thought of the men who had known her appetite 00:11:10.170 --> 00:11:14.940 align:middle line:84% and flesh, as he had known them and had known nothing else. 00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:18.000 align:middle line:84% He thought of those men without resentment. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.360 align:middle line:84% In the dark, they were faceless and they did not speak, 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.650 align:middle line:84% and they lay in their breathing like himself. 00:11:25.650 --> 00:11:29.370 align:middle line:84% After a long while, his hands still loosely clasping 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:33.050 align:middle line:90% Francine's hand, he slept.