Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers
and the spoilers and that's with 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.
What'd you say your name is, soldier?
Gallagher, that's my name.
All right, Gallagher, now don't you think you've had enough?
It isn't even night yet.
I'll never have enough.
You plan to show up at the fort this drunk?
Lady, maybe I won't show up at the fort at all.
Now what do you think of that?
Gallagher, you better start worrying about what Captain Shaw's going to think, not her.
Aye, what are you doing here, Spare?
I've been an hour looking for you all over Dodge.
How'd you get that drunk in an hour anyways?
Drinking!
Are you responsible for this?
Oh, sure.
The Indians pay me to keep you soldiers drunk.
That ain't funny.
He's a grown man, isn't he?
That's not the point.
What's the point?
You shut up, Gallagher.
It'll be an hour late now and that's all Captain Shaw needs to fix this.
Captain Shaw can go high.
You wasn't so drunk, I'd leave you and just ride out alone.
Yeah, that'd be just like you, Spare, just like you.
Come on, get up out of that chair, I'll drag you out.
Oh, leave me be.
Come on.
I ain't have started here yet.
Get your peaches, gal.
Thunder ain't rain.
Shut up, Gallagher.
Why don't you listen to your friend?
You're just going to get into trouble here.
Who's kissing your hand anyway?
That's no way to talk.
I'll kill you for that.
You're a piece of junk.
All right, you want the same treatment, soldier?
I had nothing to do with it, Marshal.
What?
He was drunk.
And you're cold sober.
Of course I am.
It's true, Matt.
He just came in looking for him on the floor there, Gallagher.
I'll take your gun, soldier.
You can't do this, Marshal.
All right, now pick up your friend.
We're going to jail.
Matt, listen to me.
Gallagher started it.
He was only trying to get him out of here.
Back to the fort.
He can take him back tomorrow.
Fighting's against the law in Dodge.
No, Matt.
Come on, let's get going, soldier.
Pick him up.
The past week we'd had nothing but trouble in Dodge.
Everyone had fought and gouged and knifed and shot each other, but I began to wonder
if they gave a thought to anything else in the world.
It had set my temper on edge, and I suppose I'd become as bullheaded as they were.
Anyway, I threw the soldiers in jail and went off to supper and forgot about them.
For some reason, the town was reasonably peaceful that night.
The change sort of took the edge off of me.
This morning I felt half human for the first time in days.
I turned that cowboy loose early, Mr. Dillon.
He seemed tolerably repentant.
Well, he should be, Chester.
But those two soldiers look pretty glum.
What are you going to do with them, sir?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, you'd better go back and let them out, huh, Chester?
We'll have the Army in here looking for them if we don't.
Yes, sir.
You've done your time, men.
The law has forgiven you.
Out you go.
Free your little birds.
Oh, that sunlight'll blind me this morning.
We ain't about done our time, mister.
In real trouble now.
Oh, why do you say that?
Because it's true.
We were sent to Dodge to pick up supplies and have to go to jail.
Now, you're not the first soldiers who've camped here overnight.
Colonel Dobie's a just man.
Captain Shaw's in command right now, Marshal.
Colonel went to St. Louis for a time.
Well, I don't know, Captain Shaw, but I'm sure...
He's just about as reasonable as you are, Marshal.
Just about.
You're a spear, aren't you?
And I was as sober yesterday, remember?
I locked you up for fighting, not drinking.
You locked yourself.
That's all that matters now.
Spear's right, Marshal.
I guess I deserve what I'm gonna get, but spear don't.
Nobody was killed.
You're not gonna hang.
You don't know Captain Shaw.
He can be awful hard.
A little extra duty won't hurt you.
First off, we'll be fined $10 by court, Marshal.
One month's pay.
Yeah, that's a little high, I agree.
There's nothing to what the Captain might do on top of it.
He's old Army.
They say one time he gave a man 10 days' provisions and had him drummed out a camp with a straw
hauler around his neck and his coat turned inside out.
And that was Indian country, Marshal, not around here.
Why, the man's a scoundrel, that's what he is.
Say, how'd the fellow make out, anyway?
You'll have to ask Captain Shaw about that, if he knows.
Hell, the man must have done more than get drunk and fight.
You won't get that kind of punishment.
No, but close to it.
Captain's dead-sit against liquor.
Not a man in the company's been a lot of drop since Colonel Doby left.
Is that so?
Sure is.
Look, Marshal, I got it coming, but Spear here, all he done was try to get me back to
the fort.
You, you gotta try to do something about it.
Never mind, Gallagher.
He won't do nothing.
Spear, I guess I was a little hasty locking you up.
I, I'm sorry about it.
So am I.
All right, what can I do?
Ride out and explain it to Captain Shaw.
I don't like interfering in Army matters.
But, all right, I'll do it.
You will?
I can't today.
Well, tomorrow won't be too late.
I'll be out there tomorrow afternoon.
I don't know whether to trust you or not, Marshal.
Then you'll have to find out if you can, Mr. Spear.
Yeah.
You can't blame me much, Marshal, but I sure hope you do.
All right, boys, you're late enough now.
You better get going.
Come on, Spear.
While you're talking to Captain Shaw, I think I'll go see the Suckler, Mr. Dillon.
He's an old friend of mine.
All right, Chester.
Name's Larson.
I've been selling goods to soldiers for ten years that I know of.
Say, I'll eat with him, too, in case you should get asked to supper.
Oh, fine, fine.
Say, doesn't that look like Spear there?
Where?
Just outside the fort there, the man with the shovel.
Oh, yeah.
Say, what's he digging, anyway?
Come on, let's ride over there.
Hello, Spear.
You're too late, Marshal.
Why?
What's happened?
We've already been tried, that's what.
Well, what'd they give you?
Two months' pay and a month's punishment.
What punishment?
I don't know, Marshal, the Captain will work on that from day to day.
He's got lots of ideas.
Is this one of them, digging that hole out here?
It isn't exactly a hole, mister, it's a grave.
A grave?
Whose grave?
Mine.
Oh, now wait a minute, Spear.
Well, it's for me or somebody like me, that's what he said.
Ask him about.
There comes the guard.
I've got to keep busy.
All right, I'll talk to you later, Spear.
I won't be hard to find.
And that's the whole story, Captain.
I locked Spear up, too, and for no justifiable reason at all.
He was fighting, wasn't he, Marshal?
He was trying to get Gallagher out of there, that's all.
I have already decided Gallagher's punishment will be the more severe.
Yeah, but Spear doesn't deserve any punishment at all, don't you see that?
If I may ask, Marshal, what is your interest in this case?
Look, I made a mistake, Captain.
If I hadn't thrown Spear in jail, he'd be all right now.
The man's been done an injustice.
Not exactly.
He'd be an hour late in any case.
What?
He and Gallagher had orders to report here to Lieutenant Adams at six o'clock.
But at six o'clock, they were arrested in Dodge.
If they had not been arrested, it would have taken them an hour to ride to the fort.
Therefore, they would have reported in at seven o'clock, one hour late.
But Captain, Spear spent that hour trying to find Gallagher.
A soldier must learn to take care of himself, Marshal.
Evidently, Spear hasn't learned.
So it's my duty to teach him.
Ah, this just doesn't make sense.
I am a soldier, Marshal.
You are a civilian.
I wouldn't expect you to understand.
Anybody can understand what's just.
The Army has its own justice, Marshal.
Like making a man dig his own grave?
Oh, you're sorry.
Of course.
Gallagher's digging one behind the fort.
Why?
Sentimental reasons, I suppose.
Of mine, to be sure.
What does that mean?
It goes back a long way, Marshal.
You see, I served under General Winfield Scott at Veracruz in 47.
And I remember an order he once sent down, and it concerned soldiers who'd been found
drunk.
Now, don't tell me General Scott had them shot.
No.
His idea was to impress upon the command that such a grave would be wanted sooner or later,
either for the drunken man or for some drunken companion.
And did the soldiers understand that?
Soldiers understand orders, Marshal.
Or they can be made to.
Tell me, Captain, what do you think Colonel Dobie would do about this?
In Colonel Dobie's absence, I am in command of this company.
Then Speer will be punished even though he's innocent, huh?
This is an Army matter, Marshal.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, Marshal.
Marshal Dillon.
Yes.
I'm Lieutenant Adams.
How do you do, Lieutenant?
I'm the officer Speer and Gallagher were to report to you that night before last.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, the Captain mentioned that.
Tell me, how'd you make out in there?
Well, I don't think Captain Shaw and I understand each other completely.
I knew it was hopeless.
Thanks for trying, Marshal.
Tell me something, Lieutenant.
What's the matter with Captain Shaw?
I couldn't say, Marshal, but he's been 30 years in the Army.
So?
Colonel Dobie's been in 10.
Oh, I see.
Will you join us at mess, Marshal?
We eat in about 10 minutes.
Oh, thank you very much.
I'd like to, if you don't mind.
Sorry, I can't offer you a drink.
Captain's order.
Yeah, I know.
Lieutenant, when does Colonel Dobie get back from St. Louis?
We haven't heard.
Soon, I hope.
Yeah.
You see, Gallagher can take it.
He knows he's guilty, for one thing.
The spear I'm worried about.
Already, he's not the same man he was.
Yeah, I suppose he's lost faith in people.
He was always a fine soldier.
I just hope he can hang on long enough.
No?
Long enough for what?
Oh, let's say long enough for Colonel Dobie to get back before Captain Shaw drives the
spear to something like...
Come along, Marshal.
We'll wash up.
We will return for the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment, but first, this Monday night,
here's CBS radio Suspense starring Herbert Marshall in The Man Within by Graham Greene.
Also Monday night on most of these same stations, Deluxe Radio Theater presents Betty Hutton
and Gene Barry in a delightful musical comedy, Somebody Loves Me.
Now the second act of Gunsmoke.
I was pretty busy the next few days and there wasn't much time to think about Spear.
But when I did think about him, I got to wishing I'd never let myself be hired for this job.
I was totally awake past and then one day about noon I went to the office and found
Kitty waiting there with Chester.
I told her you'd be along any minute, Mr. Dillon.
That's nothing serious, I hope, Kitty.
Well, it could be, Matt.
She wouldn't tell me a word about it.
I offered to help, but no, she said.
She'd wait and bring you out here and then...
All right, Chester.
Well, Kitty.
Matt, this morning, about eight o'clock it was, I was...
Wait a minute.
Lieutenant Adams.
Hello, Marshal.
Chester.
Hello, Lieutenant.
This is Miss Kitty, Lieutenant.
Oh, yes, of course.
I didn't recognize you, Miss Kitty.
I mean that.
That's all right, Lieutenant.
I'll be brief, Marshal.
It's about Spear.
He's deserted.
What?
Last night, just before chow.
How'd he get away?
Well, Captain Shaw hasn't had those men guarded very close.
They're still digging graves with only one guard for the two of them.
Spear took off when the guard was at the back of the fort near Gallagher, and so...
What, have they found him yet?
No.
But the captain has the whole company out after him.
I just posted a couple of men at the depot.
Most everyone else has fanned out over the prairie horseback.
You think maybe the captain wanted him to run off, Lieutenant?
Maybe that's why he made it so easy, huh?
A lieutenant doesn't judge his captain, Marshal.
But I'm worried about Spear.
He might do anything now.
Yeah.
I knew you'd be interested, so I just dropped by to let you know what's happened.
Oh, thank you, Lieutenant.
There's something else, Marshal.
What?
Captain Shaw has ordered me to search the town.
Huh?
He's sending me two more men.
I hope you won't object.
Ordinarily, I would, but I understand.
Thank you, Marshal.
Goodbye, Miss Kitty.
Goodbye.
Chester.
Goodbye, Lieutenant.
Matt, that's what I came to tell you about.
Spear is hiding in my room.
What?
Since when?
This morning.
He showed up about 8 o'clock.
Said he has to hide during the day.
He promised to leave tonight.
But why did he come to you?
Well, he remembered I tried to keep him from being arrested that day, and he said I was
the only person he could trust.
Oh, I see.
I don't know what to do, Matt.
Is he armed, Kitty?
Yeah.
Yes, he's armed.
And he said if anyone but me tried to get in the room, he'd kill him.
He's awful desperate, Matt.
Yeah.
He's got to turn himself in, Kitty.
After the way he's been treated?
He'll catch him anyway, sooner or later.
He's got to face this thing on his own free will.
If he doesn't, it'll ruin him inside.
He won't be any good again.
You understand what I mean?
Yeah.
I think I do.
All right, then go tell him.
I can't, Matt.
I'm not a man.
He wouldn't listen to me.
All right, I'll go.
You can't.
He'll shoot you as soon as you open that door.
Well, look, you'll have to help us trick him, Kitty.
No, please, Matt.
He trusts me.
You want to help him, don't you?
Yeah.
All right.
Chester, go out and buy a big bag of groceries and hurry.
Groceries?
Yes, Mr. Dillon.
We'll wait for you here.
Stay off of your heels, Chester.
Quiet.
All right, you go ahead, Kitty.
We'll be there when he opens the door.
All right, Matt.
It's me, Kitty.
Open the door.
I can't hold all these groceries much longer.
All right, come on in quick.
Take this.
My arm's breaking.
All right, I got it.
All right, close the door, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Come over here and take his gun away from him.
I got it, sir.
All right.
All right, now get up.
I said get up.
Now sit in that chair and don't try anything.
I hope you're real proud, Kitty.
Now wait a minute, Spear.
Nobody's betrayed you.
We're trying to help you, that's all.
Why don't you just shoot me, Marshal, and have it over with.
Spear, you've got a bad deal all around, but the trouble you're in right now is your own
doing.
You're the one put me in jail.
I'm talking about your desertion.
Well, what about it?
I'm just telling you, you're responsible for that yourself.
And you're the only one who can square it.
Give yourself up.
Give myself up?
You mean you're not taking me in?
I got nothing to do with it.
This is between you and the Army.
Please, Spear, do it.
He's right.
You mean I can walk out of here right now?
And you won't stop me?
That's right.
Why are you doing this, Marshal?
Spear, I've been told that you're a good soldier.
But right now you're in trouble.
And you and I are both responsible for it.
I shouldn't have thrown you in jail and you shouldn't have deserted.
Well, so?
I'll do my part and I think you'll do yours.
You'll do yours by turning yourself in.
I don't know, Marshal.
Yeah, what, Chester?
Down there in the street, Lieutenant Adams and two soldiers and they're headed right
in here.
You're going to give myself up, huh?
You got it planned pretty neat, Marshal.
Maybe the Army will give you a reward for this, huh?
Maybe the Army...
Adams said he was going to search the town.
That's all I know about it.
And followed you right here, didn't he?
You sure trust me?
All right, shut up a minute.
Kitty, is that a closet there?
Is it empty?
No, well, almost, yeah.
All right, Spear, I'll prove that I trust you.
They won't find you until you're ready to give yourself up.
Now get in that closet and hurry.
You mean it?
Here, take my gun with you.
Now do you think I mean it?
Your gun?
Go on, take it.
But I didn't...
All right, hurry up, get in there.
Mr. Dillon, are you sure you are to take a chance like that?
Open the door, Kitty.
Come in, Lieutenant.
Wait here, man.
Yes, sir.
Well, hello, Marshal.
How are you, Lieutenant?
Can't see.
Hello.
Sorry to bother you this way, Miss Kitty.
We're searching the town for Spear, like I told you.
Well, I know, but how'd you get here so fast, Lieutenant?
Just a hunch.
Guess it was a bad one.
It sure was.
Miss Kitty'd never hide a fugitive of any kind in this world, no matter what he might have done.
Chester.
Yes, sir.
I hope you'll excuse me for bothering you, Miss Kitty.
Oh, that's all right, Lieutenant.
Well, goodbye.
Goodbye.
Bye.
So long.
All right, Spear, they've gone.
You can come out now.
Well?
Here's your gun, Marshal.
Thank you.
We'll leave you here, and I'll send Lieutenant Adams back alone.
That is, if you've decided.
Okay, Marshal.
None of that's fine.
You're doing the right thing, Spear.
Chester, give him his gun.
Yes, sir.
Here you are.
Thanks.
Come on, Kitty.
Chester.
So, Marshal.
Yeah?
I'll be all right now, Marshal.
No matter what that captain thinks up.
Sure you will, Spirit.
Good luck to you.
Thanks, Marshal.
I thank you.
There's Lieutenant Adams right across the street, Mr. Dillon.
You and Kitty go on into the Texas Trail, huh?
I'll join you later.
All right, sir.
Hurry back, man.
Lieutenant.
Lieutenant Adams.
Yes, Marshal.
Where are your men?
Oh, they're scouting the Alaproganza there.
I don't think they'll find him, though.
You don't?
No, I don't.
I see you got your gun back, Marshal.
You don't miss much, do you?
I kind of wondered at first why you didn't have it upstairs, eh?
And?
Well, I don't suppose Captain Shaw would much appreciate an officer who searched a room.
Didn't even bother with the closet, would he?
Captain Shaw might not, Lieutenant, but I think Spear will.
You'll be waiting for me, Marshal?
Mm-hmm.
It was a mighty long chance you took.
Yeah, it was worth it.
Let me know how he makes out, Lieutenant.
He sure will, Marshal.
Especially seeing as how you kind of got a stake in him now.
Well, so long.
Goodbye, Lieutenant.
I heard later that Spear was treated rough for the next few days, but that he took it fine.
And then Colonel Doby returned to his command and he decided that Spear had been punished enough.
Two weeks later, Lieutenant Adams, accompanied only by Spear, was ordered on a scouting mission down toward the Cimarron.
It may have been Indians or it may have been the river, but neither man was seen or heard of again.
Yesterday I received a message from Colonel Doby.
A formation is to be held at Fort Dodge honoring those two good soldiers.
The Colonel thought I might want to be there.
Gunsmoke under the direction of Norman McDonald 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 Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartel, Paul Fries, and Vic Perrin.
Parley Bear is Chester and Georgia Ellis is 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.
Sunday's in the daytime, CBS Radio now brings you a full hour of fun and melody with Arthur Godfrey and all the little Godfrey's.
It's 60 minutes of the best features from Arthur's shows heard during the week.
Remember Arthur Godfrey, Frank Parker, Jeanette Davis, Holly Loki, the Mariners, Julius LaRosa,
and all the rest of the gang are yours on most of these stations for a full Sunday hour, presented by CBS Radio tomorrow.
George Walsh speaking, and remember, Amos and Andy are here every Sunday on the CBS Radio Network.
.