Gun smoke brought to you by L and M filters.
This is it.
L and M is best.
Stands out from all the rest.
In the 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 scribe's 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 chancey job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
That's funny, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, what is, Justin?
Look up the street there.
What?
Coming out of the Long Branch.
Yeah, come on.
I don't understand it.
I didn't hear no gunshots.
Well, that man they carry him got hurt somehow, Justin.
He'd only passed out drinking.
They'd probably left him under the bar and stood on him to improve their reach.
Oh, I've seen that happen, Mr. Dillon.
I've really seen it.
Now look, there's Doc with him.
He's got better ears than I have if he heard any gunfire.
Now, there are other ways of killing men, Justin.
Oh, yes, sir, that's true, Mr. Dillon.
I saw a man killed with a bullfist once.
Oh, that was bad.
You didn't carry him up to my office.
The door's open.
I'll be long as soon as I talk to the Marshal.
Matt, you'd better get into the Long Branch or there's going to be more of this.
What happened, Doc?
That's Bill Zant they're carrying.
I don't know him.
Neither do I.
That's what they said it is.
Well, it doesn't matter what happened to it.
He's been cut bad with a bowie knife.
Who did it?
That big drunk buffalo man, Noly Meeker.
Noly Meeker, huh?
Is he still in the Long Branch?
Yes, he is, Matt.
And you watch out for him.
He's in a mighty dangerous mood.
You see it?
Well, I saw part of it.
I was in there having a beer when it happened.
Zant had a knife too, but Noly Meeker knocked it out of his hand.
Oh, then Noly did this himself.
No, he didn't.
Everybody says Noly started it.
I've got to go and take care of Zant before he dies.
Now, you watch out for Noly, Matt.
Nobody can get anywhere near him.
Come on, Chester.
I saw Noly Meeker drunk once, Mr. Dillon.
He sure does get me.
Mean enough to start killing people?
Yes, sir.
But when he's sober, he always seems fairly calm.
I just don't know what happened to him.
That's what happens to other people I don't like.
And then drugs, no excuse for murder.
No, sir, it sure ain't.
See what he can do.
Oh, look at him.
He's got the whole bar to himself, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, that bloody knife in his hand.
How are you going to take him?
You stay here.
Evenin', Noly.
Get away from me, Marshal.
Why don't you drop the knife, Noly?
You're in enough trouble now.
I killed Zant, didn't I?
I'll kill you next.
Zant isn't dead yet, Noly.
Then I'm going to have to keep you in jail till we find out if he's going to live.
I ain't going to jail.
Not if I have to cut me a path all the way out of Dodge.
If Zant dies, you murdered him.
You're not leaving Dodge.
Now, you can't be so drunk you don't understand that.
Come on, Marshal, let's fight.
If you brought my six-gun against your boy, you wouldn't have a chance, Noly.
Now, why don't you calm down before you get hurt?
You go get yourself a knife.
No, I'm not going to go get myself a knife.
Okay, we'll fight this way.
Forget about fighting, Noly.
I can cut good with this knife, Marshal.
I can throw it, too.
Stop it, Noly.
Didn't know that, did you?
Watch.
Noly.
Hell, you don't throw too good when you're drunk.
Noly.
This is it.
L&M is best.
Stands out from all the rest.
This is it.
L&M filters.
Perfect gift for Christmas, too.
Light and mild.
L&M filters.
Holiday cotton just for you.
This Christmas, why not give the very best to all the filter tip smokers on your list?
This is it.
L&M is best.
Stands out from all the rest.
L&M stands out for flavor.
The Miracle Tip draws easy.
You enjoy all the taste.
L&M stands out for effective filtration.
No filter compares with L&M's Miracle Tip.
King size or regular, L&M is best.
Stands out from all the rest.
It's got everything.
Feel pretty good today, do you, Noly?
I feel well, huh?
I got a head like I've been sleeping under a buffalo.
Yeah.
Well, you don't deserve it, but I brought you some coffee.
I put it right there.
I'd do better on a Pi to triple X.
You sure learn hard, Noly.
Go away.
Let me sleep, Chester.
Hmm.
Last time I scalded my thumb bringing in coffee.
You didn't great.
Well, how's our prisoner this morning, Chester?
Well, I don't think it's the liquor so much as the way you hit him, Mr. Dillon.
Well, he had it coming.
He sure did.
That knife couldn't have missed you more than an inch.
I still don't know why you didn't shoot him.
Well, how would it look for me to shoot somebody that didn't have a gun?
Besides, I don't think Noly really knew what he was doing.
I ain't sure he knows yet.
Good morning, Mac.
Hmm, Chester?
How's Zant coming along, Doc?
Well, that's what I came to tell you, Mac.
Zant's going to live.
Huh?
He's going to be awful thin for a while, but he'll live.
Bring Noly in here, will you, Chester?
Yes, sir.
Nothing vital was cut, Mac, but the man bled so much.
It took me over an hour to get it stopped.
For a while there, I thought he'd surely die.
You know, it's too bad there isn't some way to get blood back into a man when he loses that much.
Well, I don't know how you could do that, Doc.
Oh, if I could.
I'd save twice as many lives as I do.
Well, I'm going to go to bed now.
It's been a long night.
Thanks for coming down, Doc.
That's all right.
Quit complaining about sweet Noly.
You just escaped years and years of it, whole centuries.
I'll take that on any time, Chester.
What do you want, Marshal?
You're sober enough now to tell me why you took your knife to Zant last night, Noly.
Personal matter?
Well, maybe you'd better tell me whether it's personal or not.
I'm not going to turn you loose to go stab him again.
Turn me loose?
You didn't kill Zant. He's going to live.
Now, what were you fighting about?
A woman? Is that all?
You got something against women, Marshal?
That's not what I meant.
I've known you for a long time, Noly, and you never seemed like the kind of a man who'd try to kill somebody over a woman.
When I'm drunk, I get mean, Marshal. I'll fight over anything.
Even a woman, huh?
Now you're fogging me up again, Marshal.
Okay. Why did you know Zant?
We've both been working for Ezra and Marcy.
Collecting buffalo bones?
We gather them up off the prairie and bring them back to Dodge and sell them to Marcy, and he ships them back east on the railroad.
Beyond me, huh? They can make fertilizer in China and stuff out of them little buffalo bones.
Noly.
You and Zant work together, is that it?
No. I got my own wagon. He's got his. But I still don't like him.
You going to leave him alone?
Marshal, I wouldn't hurt nobody, less than I was crazy drunk.
You tried to kill me too, do you know that?
I did? Marshal, I don't believe that.
You threw your boy knife at me. And you're lucky I didn't shoot you.
I shouldn't have done that.
Well, you start drinking again and I'll throw you in jail as soon as I see you.
All right, you can go now, Noly. But you came awful close to hanging. You just remember that.
Well, my Pa always said I'd hang.
I won't cause no more trouble, Marshal.
So long. So long, Chester.
Goodbye, Noly.
Mr. Dillon, you believe that about them fighting over a woman?
There might be more to it than that, Chester.
Why don't you ask Zant about it?
I'll if Noly's lying, Zant will lie too. But whatever they were fighting about, I doubt that it's over.
He hurt Zant too bad for that.
Morning, Matt.
Well, hello, Kitty.
You waiting for the stage to come in?
No, no, I just got tired sitting in my office.
That's the funny thing about your job.
You're either doing nothing, sitting in your office or standing around the plaza like some bum.
Or you're the most violent man in Kansas.
Although it's a good thing I don't get paid for the job, isn't it?
You'd starve.
Oh, hello, Marshal.
Hello, John.
But still nobody could ever pay me enough to go against Noly Meeker and his knife the way you did a couple of weeks ago.
Well, I could have shot him, Kitty.
No, you couldn't. Not you.
It's just what'll get you hurt someday, Matt. Or worse.
Look, Kitty, I'll die when my time comes, just like everybody else.
Matt, I'll feel better when I get some breakfast.
Oh, haven't you eaten yet?
I don't get up as early as some people.
I'll go with you, Kitty. I could use a cup of coffee myself.
Wait, here comes Mr. Marshal. Looks like he wants you.
Morning, Miss Kitty. Marshal?
Hello, Marshal.
I got a job for you, Marshal.
Oh?
I wish I'd never made a deal with them men. Neither one of them.
You mean Sant and Noly Meeker?
Damn. They've been complaining and fighting more than they've been gathering buffalo bones for me.
Why don't you deal with somebody else?
Most men would rather hunt for hides and bones, Marshal. It pays better.
I buy both, so it don't matter to me, but even so, Sant ain't been much use since Noly cut him up.
Now he ain't no use at all.
Why not?
Noly's got a shack down past the opera house at the edge of town, Marshal.
Let's go ask him. He got drunk again last night.
I thought you were talking about Sant.
It's about Sant I want to talk to Noly.
Why do you need me?
Noly killed him, Marshal.
What?
Sant was due in with a wagonload of bones this morning, and he was late.
So I rode up the river to look for him, and I found him sitting on his wagon with a hole through him like a sharp spiffy he'd make.
You think Noly did it?
Well, Noly tried to kill him before, didn't he?
He come in with a load of bones yesterday, and I paid him off, and he went and got drunk.
Of course Noly killed him.
Does Noly have a sharp spiffy?
He used to be a hide hunter until he got tired of it, and it was a sharp that killed Sant.
Anybody can tell that.
Yeah, I guess they could.
That Noly meeker's a murderer, Marshal. You go arrest him.
Did you leave Sant at the river, Marshal?
I ain't gonna bury him.
Come along and show me where he is.
All right, I'll send somebody out to bury him, but let's go find Noly.
I don't want no murderer to get away.
I'll talk to Noly later.
No. No, we'll get him first.
We're going to the river, Marcy. Now.
I went by the office and picked up Chester, and he and I followed Marcy up the river.
Zandard stopped in a little cottonwood grove.
Apparently the water is oxen, a couple of miles above Dodge.
We found him there.
Slumped over the seat of his big Studebaker wagon, shot in the back.
The wagon piled high with sun-bleached buffalo bones was headed toward the river.
But the oxen had stopped when Zand was hit, and were standing patiently, waiting for their next command.
We laid Zand's body onto the sand, and then I had Chester lead the oxen down to the water.
A few minutes later he was back.
You gonna bury Zand out here, Mr. Dillon?
Alex has got a place as any.
While we're fooling around here, Noly's probably on the run.
I'll find him, Marcy, but I don't know how I'm gonna prove he did it.
Well, you got all the proof you need.
What if he's got a good alibi? What if he can prove he was someplace else when this happened?
Marshal, now I ain't gonna miss Zand, but I ain't gonna watch a murderer go free, neither.
I'm kinda against murder myself, Marshal.
You're awful slow showing it, wasting time coming out here and now all this talk about proof and such.
I'm telling you, Marshal, if you don't see Noly Meeker hung for this, I will.
Lynch talks something I won't stand for, Marshal.
Now don't make it around me, and don't start making it around Dodge.
You're threatening me, Marshal.
I don't threaten people. I warn them.
Now you know me. You know what I mean.
We'll go find Noly and see what he has to say.
Tester.
Yes, sir?
We'll send somebody out for the wagon and those oxen, they can stand here a while longer.
They've had their water.
Well, you know, that's the funny thing, Mr. Dillon.
Them oxen didn't drink no water.
They didn't?
No, sir. And they hadn't been to the river, neither.
There wasn't no tracks between where they were standing and the river.
Then why was Zant heading them toward the river?
I don't know. But you'd think Zant would have known if they wasn't thirsty.
Of course they would.
Well, I guess it don't matter much, Mr. Dillon.
I'm not so sure, Chester. I'm not sure at all.
And let's go find Noly.
Filter tip smokers, this is it.
L&M is best. Stands out from all the rest.
Yes, L&M is best. Stands out from all the rest.
L&M stands out for flavor.
The miracle tip draws easy.
Let's you enjoy all the taste.
L&M stands out for effective filtration.
No filter compares with L&M's miracle tip for quality or effectiveness.
L&M stands out for highest quality tobaccos.
Low nicotine tobaccos.
L&M tobaccos. Light and mild.
L&M's got everything. King size or regular.
It's America's best filter tip cigarette.
Yes, L&M stands out from all the rest.
This is it, Marshal. Right here.
I just hope Noly ain't awake and watching us out of one of them cracks.
You can ride back if you like, Marshal.
No, no. I want to be here when you talk to me.
Okay.
I want to talk to you, Noly.
What's Marcy here for?
You're still drunk, ain't you?
No, I ain't drunk. I done slept it off.
Were you drunk last night, Noly?
I didn't cause no trouble last night.
Were you drunk?
Of course I was.
I didn't see you in any of the saloons.
I was out here, sitting on the ground.
I was sitting right there against the wall, me and a friend of mine down to jug of corn whiskey.
Took us most all night.
What did you want to know for?
You had a friend with you?
He was here till about an hour or two ago.
Who was it?
Well, you don't know him. He's an old Indian, a Cheyenne.
Where is he now?
He's on his way home.
Where?
Absaroka Mountains.
Absaroka Mountains in Wyoming?
That's what you're doing here.
Looking for him cause he run off the reservation down south.
Well, you won't find him, Marshal.
That old Cheyenne's traveling alone and he lives like a wolf. You'll never find him.
Now, I don't expect we could.
Well, there goes his alibi.
Alibi? What are you talking about?
About Zant's murder.
Zant's murder?
You'll hang for it now.
Wait a minute, Marcy.
Zant was shot in the back with a sharps 50 this morning over a couple of miles up the river.
Marshal, you're thinking I did it?
Well, you tried to do it once before.
I didn't kill him, Marshal.
If I was to kill a man, I wouldn't do it that way. I ain't no coward.
Arrest him, Marshal. He can do his talking in jail.
I didn't do it, I tell you.
You know I ain't that kind of a man.
I ain't a good man, but I ain't like that.
Okay, Noly. I believe you.
I couldn't prove it anyway.
Now, look here, Marshal.
Shut up, Marshal.
And you remember what I told you.
And I don't want to hear any talk out of you.
Come on, Chester. There's something I want to do in town.
What are you after down here to the depot, Mr. Dillon?
Well, I want to talk to Sam Vestal. Just...
Just hope he's in.
Hello, Marshal. Chester. Come on in.
Hi, Sam.
Fine, Chester. What can I do for you, Marshal?
Sam is agent for the Santa Fe Railroad.
I figured that you might know something about Ezra Marcy's bone shipments out of here.
Well, what is it you want to know, Marshal?
Well, I want to know if there's been any trouble about them.
There sure has. But how'd you know?
Marcy told me not to say anything about it.
Tell me about the trouble, Sam.
Well, the buyers back east have been calling Marcy a crook.
But I know he ain't, Marshal.
I weigh them loads myself, and I'll personally guarantee they ain't short on weight when they leave here.
But they are short when they arrive back there.
Some of them are.
Zantz.
How'd you know that?
I guessed it.
Well, you're right.
I checked on it for Marcy.
And it's the loads Bill Zantz brings in that come up short back east.
Marcy pays Zantz by the load, doesn't he?
Sure, sure. But it made Marcy terrible mad being called a crook like that when he ain't one.
If you ask me, maybe it's them fellas back east. They're the crooks.
All Marcy wants is to be paid for the weight of the bones he ships out of here.
They come up short back there. Ain't his fault.
Uh-huh.
Oh, thanks, Sam. I'll go talk to Marcy about it.
I, uh...
I think maybe I can straighten this whole business out now.
The
Marcy's coming, Mr. Jones. I found him in the Texas trail.
You know what he was doing?
What, Chester?
Stirring up a bunch of men in there about how they gotta go get an old meeker.
He was telling them you ain't gonna do nothing about it.
I'm gonna do something about it.
Here he comes.
It's no use, Marshal. You can't stop me now.
I already got ten men in there on my side.
Well, that's 11 to 1 against Nolly, isn't it?
We shouldn't have much trouble taking him.
Except for one thing.
You ain't gonna stop us.
I'm stopping you right now.
All I gotta do is yell.
Now be out here, Marshal.
Marcy, I had a talk with Sam Vestal down at the depot.
What?
The bone zant's been hauling in. They've been losing weight on their way back east.
All right.
So I told you.
That's my trouble, Marshal. I'll handle it.
You've already handled it.
What? What are you talking about?
You're scared to death, aren't you?
I don't know what you're saying.
Those oxen weren't thirsty at the river.
Zant wasn't headed for water because of them.
It was to soak those sun-dried buffalo bones.
You figured it out too, didn't you?
Waterlogged they weigh in heavy here, but by the time they're weighed again back east, they're dried out.
Zant was a crook.
Yeah, sure he was.
But you shouldn't have murdered him, Marsy.
Me?
Murder him?
I'm arresting you for it.
Oh, no. Oh, you ain't.
I'm gonna take your gun, Marsy.
No.
He shouldn't have tried that, Mr. Dillon.
He's about the poorest gunfighter I ever saw.
He was slow, Chester.
But he'd have killed me if I'd let him.
Why'd you try it?
I don't know how you could have proved you murdered Zant anyway.
I couldn't.
But Marsy was feeling so guilty and so scared he didn't stop to think.
If he had, he might have bluffed the whole thing out and gone free.
Now it was his own guilt that did him in, Chester.
And now our star, William Conrad.
When you're choosing Christmas gifts for filter tip smokers,
you can figure a carton of L&M's will please them most of all.
Filter tip smokers know that L&M is best, stands out from all the rest.
And L&M's come in just about the handsomest Christmas carton you ever laid eyes on.
Give king size or regular L&M's.
And you're giving America's best filter cigarette.
Gunsmoke, transcribed 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 Messon,
with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey,
sound patterns by Bill James and Ray Kemper,
featured in the cast were John Danaer, Herb Ellis, and Frank Cady.
Marley Bear is Chester, Howard McMear 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.
Tuberculosis can attack at any age, and it can invade any home, rich or poor.
But Christmas seals fight tuberculosis.
Help protect you, your family, and all of us from our country's number one infectious killer.
This year, use Christmas seals on your cards and packages.
Why not go home for the holidays with Perry Como?
That's the title of Perry's new RCA hit record, and he'll sing it for you next week,
when Chesterfield brings you all the top tunes on radio.
Perry invites you to be his guest every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,
and reminds you to get a carton of Chesterfield for the weekend.
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.