"Is he with the Peaceful crew?" the driver asked.
"I reckon," Nevada said.
"They're just over the hill."
At the crest of the hill, Nevada paused and looked down.
A little below was a knot of people.
"Roll 'em, they're coming!" a heavy voice shouted.
Suddenly a stagecoach came roaring along the dirt road below him.
Just as it took the curve, Nevada saw the driver jump off and roll to the side of the road.
A moment later, the horses broke free of their traces and the coach tilted off the side of the road and went tumbling down the hill.
The dust had scarcely subsided when a voice shouted,
"Cut! Cut!
God damn it, Russell.
You jumped too soon. The stage didn't go over the hill for a full forty frames after you!"
The driver got up from the side of the road and walked slowly toward the group of men, dusting his jeans with his hat.
Nevada started down the hill. He searched the crowd for Pierce, but didn't see him anywhere.
A man walked past, carrying a can of film.
"Is Dan Pierce around?" Nevada asked.
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno. Ask him," he said, pointing at a young man wearing knickers.
"Is Dan Pierce around?"
The young man looked up. "He had to go up to the front office for a phone call."
"Thanks," Nevada said. "I’ll wait for him." He began to roll a cigarette.
The stentorian voice was shouting again.
"Is Pierce back with that goddam stunt man yet?"
"He went to phone him," the young man said.
A startled look came to his face as he looked at Nevada again. "Wait a minute, sir," he yelled and started toward Nevada. "You the guy Pierce was expecting?"
"I guess so."
"Come with me," the young man said.
Nevada followed him into the group of men clustered around a tall man next to the camera.
The young man stopped in front of him.
"This is the man Pierce was expecting, sir."
The man turned and looked at Nevada, then pointed at a cliff on the next hill.
Below the cliff flowed a wide stream of water.
"Could you jump a horse off that cliff into the water?"
Nevada followed the pointing finger.
It was about a sixty-foot drop and the horse would have to leap out at least fifteen feet to land in the water.
"We have the stream dug twenty-five feet deep right there," the director said.
Nevada nodded.
That was deep enough. "I reckon it can be done," he said.
The director broke into a smile.
"Well, I'll be goddamned!" he roared.
"We finally found us a man with balls." He clapped Nevada on the back. "You go over there and the wrangler will give you the horse.
We'll be ready just as soon as we get this shot here."
He turned back to the cameraman.
Nevada tapped him on the shoulder.
"I said I reckon it can be done," he said. "I didn't say I'd do it."
The director stared at him curiously.
"We're paying triple the stunt rate; isn't ninety dollars enough for you?
O.K., I’ll make it a hundred."
Nevada smiled.