Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers
and the spoilers and that's where the US Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun smoke starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved west with young
America, the story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
Hey Gorse.
Yeah?
There's no moon tonight.
What of it?
It's spooky when there's no moon.
You afraid of something, Moller?
Of me?
You?
What are you afraid of?
Of course I ain't been much afraid of anything since the second battle of Bull Run.
That so?
No.
I took my first bullet and manassed a gap.
I thought sure I'd die, but I didn't.
That's nothing.
When I got shot on the Chattahoochie River over in Georgia, I knew I wouldn't die.
How'd you know?
I just knew that's all.
Weren't you afraid?
Afraid of what?
Dying.
I never been afraid to die.
Well, I'm not afraid.
Not anymore.
Not since Bull Run.
And what's all this about there being no moon, Arlo?
I said I'm not afraid to die.
I didn't say I'm not afraid of anything.
Oh, shut up.
Okay.
Hey, Gorse.
Yeah?
Wish we could stop and light a fire.
Why?
I got some pork to cook.
Listen here, Arlo, you trying to tie the rope around your own neck?
No.
And eat your meat raw, you hear?
Raw meat gives me the belly ache.
You needn't worry about that, Arlo.
Those people back in Dodge, they got a cure for belly ache.
They have?
You they have.
A lariat rope over the limb of a cottonwood tree.
Oh, they ain't going to catch us.
They will if you go building bonfires all over the prairie to cook your dang pork with.
Well, I'll just build a little bitty Indian fire, Gorse.
Oh, shut up.
Arlo?
Look over there.
Where?
Over there.
At the foot of that little ride.
I don't see nothing.
That cabin, you do too, see?
Oh, that.
What about it?
There's no light in it, you fool.
There's no smoke.
It's deserted.
Well, that's good, ain't it, Gorse?
I wanted to tell the posse which way we went.
How do you know they got a posse?
Well, they should have.
Anyways, we'll sleep in that cabin.
If somebody does come along, we can fight them off from there.
Come on.
It's big, ain't it, Gorse?
Big enough for us anyway.
Come on, maybe there's some food inside.
Hey, wait.
There's a horse in here.
He must have got in and the door blew shut, poor thing.
Well, get him out.
Yeah, easy, boy.
Easy, now, son.
Easy, boy.
I got him.
Now, outside, fellow, outside.
Come on.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's funny.
What's funny?
That horse.
He's all wet with lather.
Lather?
Hold it right there.
Hey, there's somebody in there.
Get your hands up.
You're framed in the door and you'll die if you make a wrong move.
Now, turn around and stand there.
Now, take your guns.
Who are you, mister?
All right, get outside.
Slow.
All right, that's far enough.
Now, you can turn around.
All right, you, what's your name?
Orlow.
Orlow what?
Just Orlow.
And you?
William Goss, but I don't use the William.
I'll remember that.
Look, mister, we don't mean no harm.
We just thought your cabin was deserted and we could sleep in there tonight.
It's deserted, but you won't be sleeping anywhere tonight.
Now, mister, you got no right to...
You'll sleep in Dodge when we get there.
Oh, no.
No, we can't go back to Dodge.
No?
Why can't you?
Well, you see, we shot a man that day.
This morning it was.
Orlow, you shut up.
But Goss, you know we can't go back.
I'll shut you up.
Hold it, Goss.
Well, he always did talk too much.
The war made him like that, mister.
He was all right before the war.
So they say anyway.
Now, listen to me, both of you.
This isn't my cabin.
It isn't?
Then why'd you put us out of it?
I'm trying to tell you why.
I'm a United States Marshal.
What?
Oh, Goss, we got caught.
You're both under arrest for murder.
Well, I'll be.
So that's why his horse was hot.
He'd been chasing us, Goss.
How could he have been chasing us?
He was in front of us.
I've been on your tail ever since you ran out of Dodge.
The trail you were following led right here,
so I made a circle and waited for you.
Does that explain things?
Hey, that's pretty smart, isn't it, Goss?
We was riding too slow.
Yeah.
But if I'd known what I was falling,
I think I'd have just ridden up behind and yelled at you to stop.
We'd have run.
Now explain something to me, will you?
What are you, men?
We're just friends.
Yeah, me and Goss been friends for a long time.
No, no, no, that's not what I meant.
Look, you shot that store clerk in Dodge and you killed him.
But you're sure not gunman.
You're not bandits.
Now what are you?
We're broke.
We needed some money.
But he wouldn't give it to us.
He grabbed a gun instead out under the counter,
and he'd have shot us with it too, or we had to kill him.
That's all there is to it, Marshal.
Not quite, I'm afraid.
You killed a man and I'm taking you in for murder.
They gonna hang us?
Not they, the law maybe.
But you'll get a fair trial.
Won't matter.
We done it. We'll hang.
Yeah.
Are you right, Goss?
We'll hang, sure.
I don't know.
I suppose you'd have killed somebody sooner or later.
All right, get your horses.
Ain't you gonna handcuff us enough?
Why?
Oh, no reason, Marshal.
I was just asking.
I thought so.
All right, come on.
It's a long ride to Dodge.
It took all night to ride back to Dodge,
but I didn't have to watch my prisoners any more
than if they'd been a couple of riders I'd thrown in with on the trail.
Maybe it was all their years in the war in the Army
that made them do whatever I, as a Marshal, told them to do.
The idea of not obeying me never occurred to them.
Next morning I had Chester lock them up,
and then I went off to get some sleep.
About noon I got up, ate something, and dropped into the Texas Trail.
Sit down, man.
Yeah, sure, Kitty.
I hear you brought in those murderers.
Yeah, yeah, I did.
Well, aren't you glad?
Yeah, sure, Kitty. I'm glad.
Well, they're the ones, aren't they? You got the right men.
Yeah, they're the ones. They did it.
Matt, sometimes I don't know...
Kitty, they're just a couple of not very bright men
who've had too much war.
I guess they just got used to killing.
I don't think it means anything at all to them.
They're not mean, and they're not vicious.
They're just kind of local.
Well, that's what makes them dangerous, I guess.
Marshal Dillon?
Yeah, I hear you brought in two men this morning, Gorse and Orlow.
Now, how do you know their names?
Everybody does by now.
Yeah, I suppose so.
They didn't do it, Marshal.
What?
They were innocent. They didn't kill that clerk.
Who are you, mister?
My name is Blaine, George Blaine.
All right, Blaine, what's this all about?
What I said, Marshal, they're innocent.
You see, I and Ned and Lou, well, over there at the bar,
we saw them just leaving Kelly's stable when that shooting took place.
Would you swear to that in court?
Why, sure, Marshal.
How come you arrested them anyway?
Well, I'll tell you, Blaine, they shot a man.
Nobody saw that killer.
Look, I don't know who you are or what your interest in this is,
but they admit killing that clerk.
So why don't you just go back and join your friends at the bar
and forget about it, huh?
No, Marshal, we won't forget about it.
You shouldn't have arrested those men.
And what's more, we're going to see to it they don't stay arrested.
How?
You want to see to it right now, Mr. Blaine?
No, no, there are other men around here interested in justice, Marshal,
and I think we'll talk to them first.
Don't do it, Blaine.
Don't get anything like that started here in Dodge.
See you later, Marshal.
Who is he, Kitty?
I don't know, Matt.
He and his two friends came in on a Santa Fe from St. Louis a couple of days ago.
That's all I know.
I wonder what they got in mind.
Oh, they've been drinking.
Let's just talk, Matt.
Yeah, maybe.
I'll see you later, Kitty. So long.
Hurry back, Matt.
We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment, but first,
tomorrow night, CBS Radio's Escape dramatizes a romantic conflict titled El Guiterado,
which means the guitarist.
It concerns a Mexican woman who is in a coma.
CBS Radio's Escape dramatizes a romantic conflict titled El Guiterado, which means the guitarist.
It concerns a Mexican musician who resorts to traditional and some surprising methods
to protect his marriage when an American poet tries to steal his wife.
Remember, it's tomorrow night on Escape, presented on most of these same stations by CBS Radio.
El Guiterado.
Second act of gun smoke.
Notice, Mr. Dillon, that fellow come here, but I wouldn't let him talk to Pritzker.
Was he alone, or did he have his two friends with him, Chester?
Oh, he was alone, sir.
But I did notice a couple of men waiting around outside, and I had to mention it.
You haven't heard anything about this Blaine or his friends the last day or so, have you?
No, sir. Nobody's mentioned them around me, anyway.
Well, it sure stumps me.
You think maybe they're going to cause trouble, Mr. Dillon?
I don't know, Chester.
They might try, but it would be easier to stop if I knew what was behind it.
Yes, sir.
Yeah, mobs have tried to open this jail before, but to lynch somebody, not to turn them loose.
Mighty curious, all right.
Now, Chester, I'm going to have a talk with the prisoners. Maybe they might know something.
Well, it's worth a try, sir.
Yeah.
Hey, Gorse. It's the marshal.
Hello, marshal.
Hello, Orlo. I'm Gorse.
How are you, marshal?
Well, is Chester treating you all right?
Well, it wasn't much of the bait we had this morning, but the noon meal was fine.
Marshal?
Hmm?
We get supper, too?
Of course you do.
When are they going to hang us, marshal?
Well, Orlo, you haven't been tried yet. Nothing's going to happen until you have a trial.
How long will that take, marshal?
Well, what difference does it make, Gorse, as long as we get fed every day?
Listen, you man, I want to ask you something.
Sure, marshal.
Have you ever heard of a man named Blaine? He's tall, has black hair.
I've heard he's... wasn't that the fellow's name who was here this morning, Orlo?
Yeah. That's right, Blaine.
Here this morning? Chester said he kept him out of here.
Oh, he'd come around back, outside, talk through the window, though.
He seemed like a nice fellow. Sort of crazy, though.
Now, why do you say that, Orlo? What do you want?
Oh, he kept saying he had witnesses and all like that. He said we're innocent, and we shouldn't be in here.
Well, what'd you tell him?
Well, we told him how you caught us and what we did and all.
We told him there wasn't any witnesses we could see, just us.
And that clerk, but we killed him.
Sure, but Blaine was saying him and his friend saw us down by some corral or something.
I don't know. He was all mixed up.
Tell me, have either one of you ever seen this Blaine before?
Oh, no, Marshal. Never laid eyes on him, and that's the truth.
That's right, Marshal. Me, Gorse, we never tell lies.
Yeah, I know. Did Blaine tell you what he's going to do, what his plans are?
Nair word, Marshal.
Except he did say for us to set up a holler that we didn't kill that fellow.
Oh, he's crazy, that Blaine. I couldn't get his drift at all.
Well, I'll tell you what it is, Orlow. For some reason that I don't know, Blaine wants you two out of jail.
He may come here with a mob and try and get you out.
Well, he can't do that. We're under arrest here.
Yeah, I know. But he might try.
Hmm. What'll we do about him, Marshal?
Nothing, Gorse, nothing. I'll handle it.
You sure, Marshal?
Uh, let me know if you need anything, huh?
Oh, we're fine, Marshal. Thanks just the same.
Sure. Okay. I'll see you later, then.
Ah, hello, Doc. What are you doing here?
I heard there might be some excitement, Matt.
Oh, you did, huh?
Yeah, right here at the jail, too.
Give Doc a gun, Chester. We can use another man.
Name your preference, Doc. Shotgun or rifle?
You sit right where you are, Chester. I'm not a gunfighter.
My work begins when you fellas leave off.
Well, you may have a busy evening, Doc. But I hope not.
You never can tell, Matt. But I take things as they come.
Yeah, I know.
I'd better go get my office cleaned up.
If anyone gets shot, you send them right up there.
It doesn't improve a man's temper to spend the afternoon sitting around
and waiting for a mob to form.
A mob that's gonna head his way when it gets its spirits high enough.
Chester and I didn't talk much. We just sat and waited.
Long about dusk, we saw a couple of dozen men gather in the middle of the plaza.
Then Blaine appeared.
And he began haranguing them. And the crowd grew.
In a little while, it started moving down Front Street, down toward the jail. And us.
Looks like everybody in Dodge is taking an interest, Mr. Dillon.
Well, use shotguns, Chester.
I never saw a mob yet that was eager to jump a shotgun.
Yes, sir.
Here's yours, Mr. Dillon.
Thanks.
Well, let's go meet them outside, Chester.
All right, sir.
Here, this is good enough.
Pretty big crowd coming, Mr. Dillon.
Maybe most of them are just curious.
I sure am, anyway.
What do you mean, sir?
Well, I haven't got this Blaine figured, that's all.
Sure.
Well, that's time and time.
All right, all right, hold it, man.
Hold it, man. I'll see if I can talk some sense into the Marshal first.
Well, Marshal, I was right.
There seemed to be a lot of men in Dodge interested in justice.
We want Orlow and Gorse out of that jail, Marshal. We want them freed.
Aren't you going to say anything, Marshal?
I don't see your two partners, Blaine, whatever their names are.
Don't you worry about them, Marshal.
Now, you tell us, you going to turn those prisoners loose, or do you want us to do it?
Well, speak up, Marshal. Which way is it going to be?
Come on, let's go.
All right.
Now, you've all heard Blaine's story.
He claims he and his friends saw Orlow and Gorse at Kelly's stable when the shooting took place.
Now, that's pretty good evidence that they didn't kill that clerk.
And it could be true.
I'm going to go inside and I'm going to talk to him about it.
I'll give you my answer in half an hour.
Now, is that fair enough?
Half an hour will just about do it, Marshal.
I think it will, Blaine.
But no matter what you decide, we're going to turn them loose.
Isn't that right, man?
Chester, keep an eye on Blaine.
Don't let him leave here if you have to shoot him to keep him around.
Yes, sir, but I don't understand why you're...
Just do as I say, Chester.
Yes, sir.
What's going on, Marshal?
I don't know, Gorse, but I just might find out.
This dodge is a mighty strange place, wanting to turn prisoners loose.
Yeah, I'll be back soon.
Matt, what do you want to?
You're going to break my window with those rocks?
Get on here, Doc. I need you in a hurry.
Huh? Oh, why, sure, Matt.
Stand over the window here and I'll climb down on top of you.
It's only a few feet.
Okay.
All right, come on, hurry.
Yeah, well, what's this all about, Matt?
Where are we going?
We're going to the express company first.
What for? It's closed.
Maybe not. It's not quite six.
Everybody in Dodge is out there in the street.
I was watching from my front window.
Not quite everybody, Doc.
Blaine's two friends, aren't they?
Yeah, right.
I'm working on a hunch, Doc.
If I'm right, I want you as a witness.
And we'll go back and show that mob what fools they are.
Whatever you say, Matt.
But I haven't got a gun.
Don't worry, I'll do the shooting.
We reached the rear of the express company and I took a quick look through the window.
The single room was deserted.
And the only other place would be the bank, if I was right.
And I was. Two horses were tied to a tree outside the back entrance,
the door of which was a jar.
I made Doc get around the corner of the building where he'd be safe.
And I stood close to the door and waited.
About five minutes I heard him coming out.
Let's get that mask off.
We'll hide this stuff in the stable, go down and join Blaine.
Hurry, Lou, we're late now.
Get your hands up. This is a shotgun.
Don't use it, you got us? Don't shoot.
Well, you're not the fightin' us men I ever saw.
All right, I'll take your guns now and don't try anything.
And yours?
Doc.
Well, what do you know, Blaine's partners.
You sure guess right, Matt.
Now who's inside?
We didn't hurt him, Marshal, just tied him up.
Who, I said?
Well, that old man, the banker.
All right, go take a look at him, Doc.
Take those money bags with you.
Quick, we haven't got much time.
I'll have company for you shortly, gentlemen, so you just sit quiet, huh?
Blaine's gonna be mighty surprised at this.
Come on, Doc.
My gracious, I thought you was never gonna come out, Mr. Dillon.
Well, Marshal, are you going to be smart?
Are you gonna turn him loose?
You're under arrest, Blaine.
What?
Marshal, don't be a fool.
You aren't arresting anybody, is he, Matt?
Tell him who I just locked up, Doc.
That's right, man.
Marshal just arrested Blaine's two friends.
What?
You make one move and I'll cut you in half, Blaine.
All right, go ahead, Doc.
I was right there with him.
Caught him up the street, right in the bank.
They're locked up, inside, right now.
Well, they're no friends of mine.
We've been drinking together, that's all.
Besides, I wasn't anywhere near that bank.
I was right here.
Yeah.
You men saw me here.
And you got nearly everybody else in town here, too, Blaine.
So your partners could work unmolested.
Take his gun, Chester.
Yes, sir.
All right.
All right, you men.
Now, you've made fools enough of yourselves for one evening.
Go back where you came from and stay there.
Now, go on.
Let's go back inside.
Inside, Blaine.
Your friends are waiting for you.
I never did find out just who Blaine was.
He kept his mouth shut all through the trial.
It could be that he'd never been arrested before.
But anyway, he and his partners got five years.
That's better than Harlow and Gorse made up.
They stood up and told their whole story as straight as I'd told it myself.
I guess telling the truth was about the only sense of right and wrong.
The war had left them.
They weren't bad men, but they were dangerous.
And early one morning, a month later, up in Hayes City, on the order of the court, Harlow and Gorse were hung.
Gunsmoke under the direction of Norman MacDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were John Dana and Harry Bartel with Lawrence Dobkin and Lou Krugman.
Marley Bear as Chester, Howard McMear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
Gunsmoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service.
Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gunsmoke.
This Monday evening, Dan Daly and Deborah Padgett are the stars in Deadline USA,
a dramatic thriller adapted from the movie and presented by Your Luxe Radio Theater.
It's an action-filled story of a newspaper man's struggle against hoodlum elements in his community,
one that leads to dangerous reprisals on the part of the mobsters.
Remember, this Monday night over most of these same stations, CBS Radio offers Deadline USA on Your Luxe Radio Theater.
George Walsh speaking, America is cooking with 14 million kitchen radios and listens most to the CBS Radio Network.