Gun smoke brought to you by L and M filters. This is it. L and M is best. Stands out from
all the rest. 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 gun smoke.
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the French broad 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
chance a job and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Hey, Mr. Dillon.
Hello, Chester.
Well, how's things up in Slina?
Real peaceful. That town constable's all they need, Chester. I'm not going to recommend
the government spend any money up there.
Tell me about Dodge, Chester. Anything been happening here the past week?
No, sir, nothing much. One fella got killed last night, but outside of that, he's just
been dull as winter.
Oh, who got killed?
Oh, I don't know, some wandering cowboy.
Well, who killed him?
A man called Pate that told me, give us self-defense, Mr. Dillon, pure and simple.
Why, did you see him?
No, sir.
Well, who did?
Well, I believe the only man who saw the whole thing was that gambler, Ben Sissel. He's
new here the last few days. He's been playing cardo at the Long Branch.
You don't seem to know a whole lot about it, do you, Chester?
Well, I was just starting to find out when I seen you riding up the street.
Chester, where were you last night?
Well, one thing and another, I was pretty busy.
All right, I hope you had a good time.
Oh, I had a fine time. Just fine.
Yeah? Oh, you can put my horse up if you want. I'm going over to the Long Branch.
Yes, sir, I'll come along when I'm through.
I'll wait there for you.
Hello, Matt. When did you get back?
Just rode in, Kitty.
Sit down.
Thank you.
You've been moving around a lot lately, Kitty. What are you doing in the Long Branch now?
Oh, I've been giving it a try the last few days. I kind of like it. Maybe I'll stay here
a while.
Yeah? Kitty, were you here last night?
You're thinking of the killing we had. Yeah, I was here, Matt.
Oh, did you see it?
Most of it. I was standing there at the bar. Pate and Ben Sissel and that cowboy with a
table in the back. I happened to be looking around for some reason.
Chester heard it was self-defense.
The cowboy drew first, Matt, but I don't know if you could call it self-defense.
Why not?
He wasn't after Pate. He was after Ben Sissel.
What?
He wasn't even looking at Pate, Matt. He was looking at Sissel. But even so, when he started
to draw, it was Pate who killed him.
Pate calls that self-defense?
He says he thought the cowboy was drawing on him.
Why did he think so?
Well, he claims they'd been arguing all evening about one thing or another. And besides, he
said the cowboy knew Sissel wasn't even armed.
Wasn't he?
He never is.
I see. Tell me, Kitty.
Is this Pate always around when Ben Sissel is dealing?
He sure is, Matt. Always.
Pretty handy with a gun, is he?
Too handy for an ordinary man.
Yeah, I thought so. Ben Sissel's another crooked gambler using a hired gunman to protect him
when he's caught.
I don't know how you can prove it.
Well, I can't prove it. But I can do something about it.
Where would I find Ben Sissel now, Kitty? You know?
Yeah, he's standing at the bar over there in a long black coat.
What? Oh, yeah. Good.
Now, Kitty, I'm sure glad you were here last night.
I'll be here tonight too, Matt.
Huh? I do owe you a drink, don't I?
Yeah.
Okay, I'll come by.
Anytime.
So long.
Ben Sissel?
That's me.
My name is Dillon Sissel. I'm a U.S. Marshal here.
Oh, I thought you were out of town.
I was.
Well, what do you want, Marshal?
Where are you from, Sissel? I mean, where's the last place you're from?
Well, I've been all over, Marshal. You know how gamblers are.
Yeah, I know. Where'd you gamble last?
Why, back east. Why?
I didn't think you'd tell me.
How long's Pate been working for you?
Working for me?
Mm-hmm.
What are you trying to say, Marshal?
Well, I'll make it real simple.
The way you operate's already led to one killing here, and I'm not going to have any more.
I didn't kill anybody, Marshal. There are plenty of witnesses to that.
Where's Pate, Sissel?
I don't know where he is. Why should I?
I want to talk to him, and I want you with me when I do.
You're getting kind of pushy, Marshal.
Well, I can get a lot worse.
I suppose we go outside and wait for a friend who's coming here to meet me, then we'll go talk to Pate.
Now, all right, get moving.
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They've got a room up here, Marshal, but I don't know if he's in.
Well, if he isn't, you start thinking of someplace he might be, huh?
Sure. Sure.
I wouldn't blame him for not being here, Mr. Dillon. This is the poorest hotel in Dodge.
Now, you and I run the poorest hotel in Dodge, Chester.
What? Oh, you mean the jail? Yes, you're right.
What are you hitting at, Marshal?
I was talking to Chester. Is that the room?
That's it.
All right, knock on the door. Tell him you want to talk to him.
Okay, but you're going to wish I hadn't.
Knock.
Who is that?
Ben Sissel.
Ah, Sissel, I'll have you. Where are these two?
This is Marshal Dillon, Pate.
Marshal Dillon? What's he doing here?
We'll come inside and tell you.
Oh, wait a minute, Marshal.
Get out of the door.
You come here over that cowboy last night, it's no use. Everybody saw it and knows I killed him in self-defense.
Of course you did. There are plenty of witnesses to that, Marshal.
You're smart, Sissel, but you're a coward. That's why you need a hired gun to help you when you're caught dealing crooked.
You'd better watch what you're saying.
Now, why?
I don't carry a gun, Marshal, but Pate does, and he happens to be a good friend of mine.
Sure, but right now Pate's gun belt is hanging on that chair over there, you see it?
You blasted fool.
You didn't tell me who was with you when you knocked. What do you expect?
Supposing they had told you, Pate.
I ain't afraid of you, Marshal, with your arm, and I'm not.
Chester.
Yes, sir?
Go get his gun belt.
All right, sir.
Pretty brave of you, Marshal. Arresting an unarmed man.
I'm not arresting you, Pate. I wish I could.
Then what are you doing?
Chester, unbuckle that belt and hand it to him.
Here you are.
Now put it on, Pate.
Put it on?
Get out of the way, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Well, put it on, I said.
Okay.
All right, you got your gun on now.
Yeah?
Get out of Dodge.
What?
I said, get out of Dodge. Right now.
I ain't done nothing, Marshal.
Don't stand there, Pate. Shoot him.
He isn't even going to try to shoot me, Sissel.
You don't pay him enough for that kind of work.
I'm not some half-drunk cowboy, am I, Pate?
I got no quarrel with you.
What kind of gunman are you, Pate? Are you afraid of him?
The kind of gunman that can be hired isn't the kind that's going to take any real chances, Sissel.
I said, I ain't got no quarrel with you.
I don't like this. Let me out of here.
Out of Dodge.
Sure. To no good town anyway.
That door's open.
Marshal is right, Sissel. This job don't pay enough.
I guess you win, Marshal.
You won't find any gunman here who'll hire up to you now, Sissel, so you might as well learn the deal straight.
I always do, Marshal.
Come on, Jester. Let's get out of here.
Yes, sir.
Now, you stay here and think about it for a while.
Now, Sissel.
I'm already thinking, Marshal.
You sure pull Sissel's teeth, Mr. Dillon. He's a ruined man.
No. He lost his gun, Jester, but he's still got his head.
And I'm wondering how he's going to use it next.
Maybe you should have run him out of Dodge, too.
I'd rather he stayed here. Maybe next time I can arrest him and see him hung like he deserves.
It didn't take paid any longer to leave Dodge than to find his horse and get mounted.
Then for the next week there was no trouble from Ben Sissel.
He went on dealing cards.
And although everybody was watching him pretty close, nobody found any reason to complain about him.
He didn't win much money, but I began to think maybe he'd decided that being honest had some value anyway.
Doc and I were talking about him in my office one noon.
A man like Ben Sissel doesn't change, Matt. He's a crook, and he'll always be one.
He's worse than a crook. He's practically a murderer.
He's also a coward, Doc. That's why I think maybe I've got him stopped.
Well, the way you've got him fixed now in order to stay free, he's got to stay honest.
Oh, that must be a hard choice for a man like that.
Hey, Mr. Dillon?
Oh, hello, Doc.
Hey, Dr. Chester.
Mr. Dillon, I just saw the darnedest thing out on the street there.
What, Chester?
Well, sir, who would you say is the last man in Dodge you'd ever expect to start carrying a six-gun?
Oh, man, oh, I am.
Oh, no, outside of you, Doc.
I can't think of anybody except Doc who doesn't carry a gun, now, Chester.
What about Cooter Smith?
What? Cooter Smith?
If I hadn't saw him, I wouldn't believe it either.
Oh, what's he doing with a gun?
Well, he's just leaning on a post down the street there now, Mr. Dillon.
He shouldn't be allowed to wear a gun, a man like him.
No.
Uh, Chester.
Hmm?
Go bring him in here, will you? I'd like to talk to him.
Okay, sir. I'll get him.
Huh.
My goodness, things are getting mighty bad around here when even Cooter Smith decides to arm himself, man.
Now, Cooter's pretty harmless, Doc.
Well, you never know, man. A man like that could be harmless one day and dangerous the next.
Yeah.
Doc, uh, what is the matter with Cooter anyway?
Well, I don't know for sure, man, but I examined him once and it looked to me like he got kicked in the head by a horse at one time.
You won't say so for some reason, of course, but, oh, poor fellow. Maybe he doesn't even want to remember that.
Well, whatever it was, it sure made him half simple.
I've seen men worse off.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Here he is, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, hello, Cooter.
Oh, come on in.
Yeah. Hello, Cooter.
Hello, Doc.
I come here like Chester said, Marshal.
Good, good, Cooter. I, uh, I wanted to talk to you.
You never asked me to come here before.
Well, that's because you never wore a gun before, Cooter.
Oh, that. That's from a job, Marshal.
Your job?
A job a worker got.
Oh. Well, what kind of a job is it?
I don't rightly know yet, Marshal.
Well, can you tell me what you do know? Who hired you?
The fellow that gave me this gun. He hired me. For an awful lot of money, he said.
Who was that?
Well, I know what he looks like, but I don't remember his last name. Ben something.
Ben Sissle?
That's him. He's going to pay me for wearing this gun.
He is, huh?
Did he tell you why, Cooter?
This afternoon.
What?
Well, that's when he's going to tell me everything I got to do.
He's going to talk to me some more this afternoon.
Sure talks a lot, that fellow.
Yeah. Oh, okay, Cooter. Fine. You can go along now.
But look, I hope you don't let Sissle talk you into any trouble.
Oh, it ain't that, Marshal. As long as he don't try to make a fool out of me.
Sometimes people do. I don't like that.
Yeah, sure. Sure, Cooter.
I think I'll go talk to him now and make sure.
Bye.
So long, Cooter.
Don't pray ever more.
What in the world do you make of that, Mr. Dillon?
I think maybe Sissle's crazier than Cooter is.
And I'm going to be at the Long Branch tonight to make sure.
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Evening Kitty.
Hello, Matt. What are you doing around here so early tonight?
I'm looking for Ben Sissle, Kitty. I don't see him.
He ought to be along soon. He's generally here by now.
What's Chester doing over there by himself?
He's waiting for Sissle, too.
He must be expecting trouble.
Yeah, maybe.
Well, here it comes.
Yeah?
You won't mind if I get out of the way. See you later, Matt.
Yeah.
Hello, Marshall.
Sissle.
Cooters Smith tells me you were talking to him this morning.
I was.
Well, he'll be here in a minute. You can talk to him some more.
Fine.
I don't know, Marshall. Maybe it won't be so fine.
Oh?
Cooters is not as easygoing as most people seem to think.
He isn't?
No. For example, you tie a gun on him, it kind of changes his whole character.
It makes him mean, Marshall. You'd be surprised how mean.
Yeah, yeah, I guess I would, Sissle.
You don't believe me? I'll show you.
Cooter! Hey, Cooter!
Go ahead, Cooter. I told him, go ahead now.
Marshall?
Yeah, Cooter?
I'm going to draw on you, Marshall.
What?
I'm going to shoot you and I'm going to kill you.
Now look, Cooter, you know better than that.
Is this what you've been putting into his head, Sissle?
Don't you look at him, Marshall. You look at me.
Don't you look at him. Not for a second.
Oh, so that's it, huh?
Okay, Cooter. Go ahead. Draw.
I am. I'm going to...
You look out, Marshall. I sure am...
No, you're not. You haven't got a chance.
Watch.
There, you see? You're too slow, Cooter.
I got my gun out and you haven't even touched yours.
No. I haven't touched mine.
Your gun's pointing at me.
I... Ben? Ben?
He's not going to help you, Cooter.
Yes, he is. Of course he is.
It's him that's going to shoot you. It's him.
Ben, the Marshal's going to kill me.
You've got to shoot him. I can't stand no more.
I can't. I...
Poor devil.
Oh, Sissel, you ought to be real proud.
I didn't do anything, Marshal. I wasn't going to shoot you.
I don't even carry a gun. You know that.
Sure, but Cooter didn't know it.
You told him to make me start from my gun out and you'd shoot me from the side where I couldn't see you.
You told him he'd be safe.
That isn't so, Marshal.
What your plan was to make me kill him, huh?
Wouldn't look so good for me to kill a man like Cooter, would it?
Nobody would stand still for it. They'd laugh me out of town.
That's what you were figuring on, wasn't it?
I had nothing to do with it, Marshal. I wasn't figuring on anything.
You're not as smart as I thought you were.
Now you'll leave in town, Sissel.
I'll give you an hour.
And I hope you take longer.
Over here, Chester.
Oh.
Sissel leave yet, Mr. Dune?
He's still settling up in the stable over there.
I'll give him about one more minute.
What did Doc say about Cooter?
Oh, Cooter's fine. Doc gave him a Dover's powder. He's real calm now.
Good. Where is he?
I don't know. He left Doc's quite a while ago.
You explained to him what Sissel was trying to do?
Yes, sir. I made it real plain, like you told me.
You think he understands now?
Oh, he understands everything, Mr. Dune.
It's funny, but like Doc said, getting scared that bad seems to have helped him think straighter.
At least about what happened. He ain't near as fuzzy as usual.
Good.
Well, Sissel's time's up. I'm going to that stable now and run him out.
He won't give you no fright, Mr. Dune.
No, he won't. But I kind of wish he wouldn't.
You could have run him out of Dodge a long time ago.
I wanted to catch him, Chester. I wanted to bring him...
Take what's that.
Come on.
Look there, Mr. Dune. It's Cooter. He's done killed Ben Sissel.
All right, drop the gun, Cooter.
I already dropped it.
I ain't going to shoot no more, Marshal.
He shot him in the head, Mr. Dune.
He lied to me. He made a fool out of me.
Well, why did you have to kill him, Cooter? I was running him out of Dodge.
Don't you shoot me, Marshal.
I wasn't going to shoot you. Honest, I wasn't.
I like you.
Like Sissel told me, I wasn't doing bad.
I wasn't going to shoot you.
Sissel was going to shoot you. I like you.
Yeah, I know that, Cooter. I know that. Now calm down, will you?
I'm not going to hurt you.
You're pointing that gun at me.
No, look. Look. My gun's back at my holster now. Look at it.
I am looking at it. I can't stand that.
No.
Cooter. Cooter.
All needs going after him, Mr. Dillon.
That didn't scare him even worse. Oh, that's bad enough now.
But he killed the man. He murdered him.
He won't run far. I'll find him when his trial comes up.
Now I've done enough to cooter for one day.
Boy, it ain't your fault, Mr. Dillon.
No, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it.
Music
Now our star, William Conrad.
Thank you, George.
You know, I'd like to pass on an idea that will help you with your Christmas shopping.
Go down your list and check all the filter tip smokers,
and then buy them all gift cartons of L&M's.
They'll appreciate it because L&M is best, stands out from all the rest.
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L&M, America's best filter tip cigarette.
Music
Gunsfolk, transcribed 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.
Sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Ray Kemper.
Featured in the cast were Vic Perrin, John Danaer, and Harry Bartel.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is 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.
Music
Hi everyone, this is Perry Cormon.
I'd like to remind you that we're on for Chesterfield,
with all the top tunes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights.
This coming week we'll be doing our new RCA Victor release, Home for the Holidays,
a song that we all feel really expresses the spirits of the season.
I hope that you'll join us, and don't forget those Chesterfields.
Pick up a carton for the weekend. You'll enjoy them.
Music
Remember, listen again next week for another story of the Western Frontier,
when Marshal Matt Dillon, Chester Proudfoot, Doc, and Kitty,
together with all the other hard-living citizens of Dodge, will be with you once more.
It's America growing west in the 1870s.
It's drama. It's Gunsmoke.
Brought to you by L and M Filters.
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Music