Gunsmoke, brought to you by Chesterfield, America's most popular two-way cigarette.
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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 a U.S. Marshal and the smell of Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke, starring William Conrad, the transcribed story of the violence that moved west with
young America and the story of a man who moved with it.
I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they
want to meet.
It's a chancy job that makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
You.
You there.
Oh, you talking to me?
What's it look like I'm doing?
I guess I pretty much fell asleep sitting here.
Hot today, ain't it?
I didn't come to Dodge to talk about the weather.
A stranger here, ain't you?
Looking for the sheriff.
Where do I find him?
You won't find him.
Why?
There ain't no sheriff in Dodge.
Maybe I can help you, I'm Chester Proudfoot.
Well, I'm real pleased to know you, Chester.
Now, if you quit lying to me and tell me...
Don't snap your teeth at me.
I ain't lying.
But if you're looking for the law, there's a U.S. Marshal here.
U.S. Marshal?
That's even better.
Where is he?
Inside.
Follow me.
This fella here is looking for the law, Mr. Dillon.
I come in.
You the U.S. Marshal?
Yeah, that's right.
Well, my name's Break Marshal.
I'm from Mingo.
Mingo?
That's way north of here, ain't it?
It's a couple hundred miles.
And I rode all the way down here on the tail of a man called Hank Springer.
I thought he'd come to jump to Santa Fe for St. Louis, but I tracked him right into that
place up the street there, the Dodge house.
He's got him a room and he's holed up in it.
Is that so?
I almost caught him this morning.
At least, wise, I got close enough to put a bullet in his leg, but it didn't stop him.
He's dangerous, Marshal, and I want your help taking him.
What do you want him for, Break?
Murder.
How?
I killed a fella called Dobie on his ranch near Mingo.
Well, here.
Here, Marshal, I got a warrant for him.
Let me see.
Ah, so you're a deputy, huh?
That's what the sheriff made me.
He wanted somebody to go after Hank Springer and not took the job.
Now, that's one way of doing it.
Why didn't the sheriff come after him himself?
Well, he didn't want to bother, I guess.
Anyway, he's going to give me $50 when I get back with Hank, dead or alive.
Uh-huh.
So the sheriff up at Mingo pays somebody, most anybody, $50 to do his work forever.
That's his business, Marshal.
Well, then why don't you go arrest this Hank Springer?
You got a warrant, you're a deputy.
Oh, he's laying up in that room armed and hurt and he ain't going to take easy.
You're a U.S. Marshal and you got to help me.
Well, maybe there'll be less trouble if I do.
Chester.
Yes, sir?
Go get Doc Adams.
One man's already been shot.
What room is he in, Brick?
Second door down there, 14th.
Ah, Doc.
I'm here, Matt.
You better stay where you are.
We won't need you till the shooting's over.
I'll wait.
You stay back too, huh, Chester?
Yes, sir.
All right, Brick, sing out.
But let's make sure that your man Springer is in there.
Hank?
Hank Springer, we got you a trap.
Come on out.
Who's that?
It's Bill Brick from Mingo.
I've been deputized to take you back.
What for, Brick?
You know darn well what for, for murdering Dobie.
I didn't murder Dobie, nor no one else.
Then why'd you run?
I heard the sheriff was trying to stick me with it.
You go ahead and leave me alone or I will kill somebody.
Wait a minute, Brick.
Springer, this is Matt Dillon.
I'm a U.S. Marshal.
I want to talk to you.
Marshal, huh?
What are you doing there?
Well, I brought a doctor along to take that bullet out of your leg as soon as you open
this door.
No, don't you try opening that door, neither.
Listen to me.
Fighting the law won't help you.
But if you didn't kill Dobie, all you have to do is go back and prove where you were when
it happened.
I didn't kill him, Marshal.
I swear I didn't.
Oh, that liar.
Shut up, Brick.
Springer, if you didn't do it, stop acting like you did.
Nothing's going to happen to you if you're innocent.
They can't hang you without you proving you did it.
Well, maybe you're right, Marshal.
Of course I'm right.
One thing, though, I won't go back no handcuffs.
What?
I won't go back in handcuffs.
But there's a warrant up for you.
You're going back under arrest.
Not in handcuffs.
Not like no chained up Dob.
It's the one thing I couldn't stand.
I'll die fighting first.
Brick, you can take this man back without handcuffing him, can't you?
Well, sure.
Sure.
I...
Springer, Brick says he won't handcuff you.
Let's hear him say it.
All right, tell him, Brick.
I won't handcuff you, Hank.
That's a promise?
That's a promise.
You swear?
I gave you my word.
You say you got a doctor with you, Marshal.
He's standing right here, Springer.
Okay.
All right, Springer, put your hands out that door empty.
I ain't gonna fight, Marshal.
Hold your gun on him, Marshal.
He might try something else.
Get out of the way, Brick.
No, I'm not.
Okay.
Now, take your gun, Springer.
Yes, sir, sure, Marshal.
All right, now go lie down on the bed.
Doc, come out of here, huh?
Coming, man.
Now, let me take those pants off, young fellow.
Let me have a look at that leg.
Here's his gun, Brick.
Sure.
I didn't think he'd have the guts to use it.
Match.
Now, how does it look, Doc?
There's no bullet in him.
It went right through the flesh, here and out here.
I'll just clean it up a little bit and take a few stitches.
How soon will he be able to travel, Doc?
Well, he ought to wait a couple of days.
A couple of days?
I want to get back to mingle.
This man will leave when I say he's ready and not before.
He's my prisoner, ain't he?
You heard him, Brick.
And another thing, you made a promise you wouldn't put handcuffs on him.
See that you keep it.
Why?
Sure, Marshal.
Of course I will.
Now, Chester.
Yes, sir?
I'll be over at the O.K. stable for a couple of hours.
I told Kitty I'd look at a horse she's thinking about buying.
Okay, sir.
You better keep an eye on things here for a while, huh?
You know where to find me if there's any trouble.
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What do you think of him, Matt?
He's a good horse, Kitty.
You've been on him an hour.
Is that all you got to say?
Should I buy him a nut?
A nut for $40, Kitty.
What's wrong with him?
Nothing, I can see.
But he's not worth $40.
You can buy a lot of horse for that much money, Kitty.
I like this one.
Hello, Marshall.
Hello, John.
Look, Kitty, you don't get time to ride very often.
Why don't you rent a horse when you want one, huh?
Because I want to own a horse.
What's the point of working if you can't own something now and then?
Okay, Kitty.
All right, now start at 25 and don't give him a dollar more than 30.
You mean I got to get into one of those horse trading affairs where you spend a whole day
sitting on your heels and scratching up the dirt with a straw?
Trying to think of a million ways to avoid coming right out with what you're really there
for?
No, thanks.
I can make $10 faster than that.
All right, all right, Kitty.
I'll try to make the deal for you.
Oh, wait a minute.
After all, I'm a woman.
Maybe I can get him a little confused, you know?
I'll bet I can buy that horse for $20.
Hey, Chester, how do you like my new horse?
Fine, Miss Kitty, fine.
But I don't have time to look at him now.
Oh, what's the matter, Chester?
Well, it's Hank Springer, Mr. Dillon.
What happened?
You see, I went downstairs to cool myself off with a couple of beers.
When I got back to his room, he was gone.
Gone?
Yes, sir.
Doc had already left, and I was only away for about an hour.
I had a feeling something was going to happen.
Well, where's Brake?
Wasn't he watching him?
Well, that's the bad part of it.
Brake's there all right, but he's dead.
What?
I took a good look at him, Mr. Dillon.
There's no bullet hole in him, but his neck's all swollen.
Well, Hank Springer choked him to death with his bare hands, that's what.
Oh, no wonder he wanted Brake to promise not to handcuff him.
And another thing, Mr. Dillon, when I asked the clerk, he remembered seeing Hank run out
and grab a horse from the hitching rail.
Well, he's got a good start on us.
See you when we get back, Kitty.
There was no way of telling how good a horse Hank Springer had stolen from the hitching
rail, but Chester and I had mounts that we'd trained for this sort of a ride.
And about dusk, the sign on his trail told us that we were getting closer to it.
It was just after dark when we spotted a campfire in a cottonwood grove.
We slowed down as we rode up to it.
Hey, those trees would make an awful good ambush, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
I don't see nobody around that fire.
Let's spread out a little, Chester.
OK, sir.
All right, that's far enough.
Start shooting, Chester.
You can't get both of them.
I ain't shooting no more.
All right, then throw down your gun and move up to the fire while we can see you.
I am.
I'm doing it.
I've got my hands up.
Right in, Chester, but keep separated.
There he is.
I can see him.
Don't shoot me.
I didn't know who it was.
Why, that ain't Hank Springer, Mr. Dillon.
No.
My name's Jones.
I'm a buffalo hunter.
I thought it was him coming back.
Who's him?
I don't know.
I don't know who he was.
Step over this way, mister.
Out of the fire light.
I don't want to get shot at any more tonight.
It was a mistake, I tell you.
I wouldn't have shot at you if I could have seen who it was.
You can't blame me.
Not with a man like that running loose.
Look, mister, I'm on the trail of a murderer.
Man named Hank Springer.
He's a young fellow.
He's got a bad leg.
That's him.
He's a murderer, sure enough.
He killed my partner not over an hour ago.
What?
My partner's lying in them bushes over there.
I wrapped him up in his saddle blanket so as I could bury him tomorrow.
Well, how did it happen?
Well, sir, we was cooking something to eat, and that fellow rode up and wanted to trade
horses.
My partner said no.
But Springer got down and said he'd take the horse anyway.
And my partner tried to stop him.
Well, he got shot that way, and now he's dead.
Springer rode north, didn't he?
Yes.
And I tell you something else.
The horse he took ain't going to carry him far.
That horse got his lungs frosted last winter.
Well, that'll help.
There's a cabin five miles straight ahead, the way he was going.
He can't get no further than that.
All them people got there is a balky old mule.
Good.
And I'm sorry about your partner, mister, but we'll try to catch Springer before he
kills anybody else.
Come on, Chester.
There was no moon that night, and it was pitch dark.
So we had to guess at right and straight.
But we managed pretty well.
And in about an hour, we saw the lights of a cabin off to our left.
We rode over, left our horses a hundred yards from it, and then went the rest of the way
on foot.
We could hear voices inside, so we sneaked up to the window.
I tell you, lady, I can't wait much longer.
Are you sure you ain't lying to me?
It's Hank Springer, Mr. Allen.
It's him right now.
There ain't no reason why I should lie to you.
My husband should have been back before this.
But it won't do you no good when he does come.
You won't get far on that mule of ours.
Why, what's wrong with your mule?
Nothing, except for being ornery and stubborn.
I'll get him over that fast enough.
You can have the mule, Mr. I don't care about that.
But don't hurt my husband, please.
Lady, I don't want to hurt nobody.
Listen, they get in my way like some has done lately.
You're an outlaw, ain't you?
Never you mind.
Look when your husband walks in here, don't you give me away.
All I ask is you don't shoot him.
Chester, come over here.
I won't shoot him unless he starts it.
But I ain't going to get shot, neither.
We better do something quick before her husband gets back,
should we?
Look, I got an idea, Chester.
If that woman's at all smart, it might work.
What?
You get out there in front of the cabin, but far enough away so nobody can see you.
And then you yell for her.
Yell for her?
Pretend you're her husband.
Tell her to come out and give you a hand with a mule.
Yeah, but what'll I call her?
I don't know her name.
Call her wife or woman, anything like that.
It doesn't matter.
She'll know it isn't her husband.
Where'll you be at?
Flat against the wall by the front door.
He won't trust her to come out alone.
And when he comes out, I'll take him.
All right, get going.
Okay.
You're gonna have to wait, and you might just fix me some bread and some meat to take along,
ma'am.
Bread and meat?
Pork fat and beans is all I got around here, mister.
Well, I could eat some of that.
Hey, wife.
Come on out of here and give me a hand.
Who is that?
Woman.
Get on out of here, I said.
This mule won't take another step.
That's your husband.
No.
Don't try to fool me.
Open that door.
Now, wait a minute.
Put the light out.
All right, now open it, or else you'll think something's wrong.
What is taking you so long?
I gotta sit out here all night?
Well, answer him.
I'm coming, Jack.
Now, go on.
I'll walk right behind you.
Go on, now.
All right.
You're gonna have to open the door.
I'll go on.
All right.
I'll go on.
All right.
I'll go on.
All right.
I'll go on.
All right, come on in, Chester.
Who are you?
Where'd you come from?
I'm Marshal Dillon from Dodge, man.
You got nothin' to worry about.
Hank Springer's killed his last man.
Who's this?
I knew it wasn't Jack.
Boy, it worked fine, didn't it, Mr. Dillon?
He walked into it like a lamb to slaughter.
Good evening, ma'am.
Hello?
Get his gun, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Is your husband really coming back tonight?
Yes, he is, Marshal.
Well, we'll spend the night here if you'll let us.
But I'd like to borrow that mule in the morning.
Hank Springer wanted to ride him up to Mingo.
And I'm gonna see that he does.
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We started out next morning, and it took us two days to get to Mingo.
But not so much because of the mule as because of Hank Springer's leg.
I was willing to stop and let him ease it for a day or so, but he said no.
He'd rather get the ride over with.
Beyond that, however, he didn't say anything until we rode into town.
Mingo was a small place and out of the way of the cattle trail,
so it was as quiet and peaceful as any frontier town could be.
There's the sheriff's office across the street.
Okay.
No use to stop there, though.
Why not?
Sheriff don't use it much.
Most of the time he's gambling over to the golden girl.
That's it. The golden girl down the street there, see?
Well, I'm not turning any prisoner over to a sheriff at a gambling table.
You ride on ahead, Chester, and tell him to come outside.
All right, sir, I'll do it.
Springer?
Well, there's still time to tell me. There's something I'm sure curious about.
You can ask me, Marshal.
Why in the world did you head back up here?
I'm Jim Powell.
Who's Jim Powell?
I figured it out, Marshal. It was him that killed Dobie.
Ah. Well, you can tell him that in court, I guess.
Here we are.
Let's get on.
All right.
Marshal.
Yeah.
You still think I'm lying, don't you?
Well, I don't know, Springer.
But it doesn't matter much what I think, does it?
Oh, I guess not.
But I can prove I didn't do it.
Then why did you run in the first place?
Well, I knew he was after me. I got scared.
I shouldn't have, but I did.
And there's a sheriff.
Marshal Dillon?
I'm Sheriff Bradley.
Hello.
The man here told me all about what happened.
I'll take charge of Hank Springer now.
Look, I'm going to get a fair trial. Ain't I, Sheriff?
I don't talk to murderers, Hank.
I don't care about that buffalo hunter,
but killing breaks a different matter.
He was my deputy.
Well, if you hadn't have picked a coward for a deputy,
I wouldn't have had to kill him.
What do you mean, a coward?
He was a coward and a liar.
Wait a minute.
What are you saying, Hank?
Break promised me he wouldn't put no handcuffs on me.
He swore he wouldn't, didn't he, Marshal?
He did.
Well, he got scared and he busted his word.
I went crazy when he put them things on me, Marshal.
And I choked him.
And then I got the key.
I took them handcuffs off and threw them away.
Well, I had to run, then.
You're a fool, Hank.
If you'd have come back peaceful with break,
you'd be a free man right now.
You mean you found out it was Jim Powell that killed Dobie?
Of course I did.
Jim Powell got real drunk the other day and started bragging.
Me and a couple other fellas got him in jail,
and he confessed as soon as he sobered up.
I knew you didn't do it, Hank.
I knew it all along.
Well, then why was you saying I did?
Why'd you come looking for me?
Well...
You just had to stick it on to somebody, didn't you?
I should have figured that knowing you.
You're gonna hang now, anyway?
What difference does it make?
Well, oh, you'll be glad to see me hang, won't you, sir?
I never did like you, Hank.
That's why I picked you in the first place.
Hank.
What, Marshal?
I, uh, I've changed my mind.
About what?
About turning you over to this rotten, worthless sheriff.
You can't talk like that.
Shut up!
Hank hasn't committed any crime around here,
so I'm taking him back to Dodge for trial.
He's my prisoner, Marshal. You can't cheat me out of him.
I got a right to him.
You got nothing!
And sheriff or no sheriff, I'll bend a six-gun across your head
if I hear any more out of you.
Well...
All right, let's go, Hank.
Thank you, Marshal. I'd like that just fine.
But first, Marshal, I want to go over to jail there.
I want to tell Jim Powell I don't bear him no grudge
for letting him chase me before he talked.
Because he might feel bad about it,
especially the trouble I'm in now.
Well, that's decent of you, Hank.
Now, that's your jail, sheriff, so take him.
We'll wait outside.
Come on.
Bet you sure ain't losing credit for bringing me to trial,
don't you, Sheriff?
That's enough, Hank. Stop needling it.
I did hate you, Hank.
Stop it, I said!
All right, Marshal, I will.
All right, take him in, sheriff, but don't be long.
We got to get started for Dodge.
Come on, Hank.
You walk in front of me.
Mr. Dillon, a sheriff like that makes a man kind of ashamed,
don't it?
I mean, it makes people think the law don't amount to much.
Ah, the law is bigger than any one man, Chester.
Mr., I guess so.
What?
Hey, that come from the jail.
Yeah, it sure did.
Hank, Mr. Dillon, he's been shot.
All right, put the gun up, sheriff.
He started to run.
Run where? Into a cell?
No, he jumped me first. I had to shoot him.
Well, he's dead.
It was his idea coming in here and trying to get away.
He wanted my gun.
So he jumped you, huh?
He swung around, grabbed for my gun. I had to shoot him.
In the back?
I don't know where I shot him, Marshal.
What difference does it make?
Hand me your gun, sheriff.
What?
Your gun!
Give it to me.
You're forgetting I'm the sheriff in this town, ain't you?
You're the sheriff, but I'm arresting you for murder.
No.
No?
Get away from me, Morgan.
What?
He was just about to draw, Mr. Dillon.
No, he wasn't, Chester. But I wish he had.
I'd rather have ridden back to Dodge without him.
He's gonna make mighty poor company.
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Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Weston, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Jack Crouchon, John Danaer, Joe Forte, and Irene Tedrow.
Harley Blair as Chester, Howard McNair as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
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.
Remember next week at this same time, Chesterfield will bring you another transcribed story of the Western frontier on Gunsmoke.
This is the CBS Radio Network.