Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there is just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the 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, the 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.
Here's the water, Doc. It's hot.
Thank you, Sarah. Put it down on that chair.
Doc?
Yeah?
Doc, you can heal him, can't you? You can make him live.
He's bad hurt, Sarah. Awful bad hurt.
But he's so young. Don't that help, being young?
Bullets, sir, no respect is of age. I could have seen him sooner, maybe.
They sent him home like that, Doc. My boy, tied to the back of his horse like a butchered hog.
Hand me that cloth, sir.
Here, Tiff. He was brutal, whoever they was.
You don't know?
He never said who he was seeing. But I know why they shot him.
Oh? Why?
Because he was through with him. He told him he wasn't going to ride with him no more. Oh, Lemmy, Lemmy.
Ah, there's the bullet.
He's coming too, Doc.
Lemmy, Lem, who did this to you?
Tell me, Lemminger. Don't be afraid. Tell me who hurt you.
Oh, I can't see.
Try, Lemminger. Try to speak. Who shot you?
He's gone, Sarah. I'm sorry.
Oh, Doc. Maybe if you hadn't been at him so.
Sarah, you know I wouldn't hurt your boy. I've known him since he was a child.
But we should know who did this terrible thing. They should be made to pay.
There's no paying for Lemmy.
I know, Sarah. I know. But someone's got to answer for it.
Think now. Are you sure you don't know who did it?
No, Doc. I swear I don't. This is one thing Lemmy didn't talk about.
And I know he wasn't proud of it. I know that.
And you went to them this morning to call it quits?
That's what he said. He told me. He told me I wouldn't have to worry about his writing off no more.
Oh, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. You've just got to believe that he's all right now.
Lemmy. Lemmy.
I'll arrange things in town, Sarah. I'll be back in a little while. Will you be all right until then?
Yes, Doc. I'll be all right.
The Last Supper
Doc, will you sit down? It isn't going to help you any to tramp back and forth across the floor all day long.
I guess you're right, but I tell you, man, it was terrible.
It doesn't sound very pretty.
Shot in the back and sent home tied to his horse. Young boy like that.
You think his mother was telling the truth about not knowing anything about it?
Yes, man, I do. The boy was evidently trying to get out of some kind of trouble.
You think he'd been mixed up in something?
Yes, that's the way he looks to me. He wasn't really a bad boy.
And I figure when he found out what he was in for, he wanted no part of it.
Whoever it was, he killed it to keep him quiet.
I think that was it, man.
It seems funny, though, that they'd send him home then.
Whoever it was thought he was dead. There was barely a sign of life in him when I got to him.
He might have been sent home as a warning to his mother in case she did know anything.
Yeah, you could be right.
I'd give her a lot to know who did that.
Well, I'll write on out there this afternoon, Doc.
Whoever it was, it'll be hard to trace, though, with a boy not saying a word.
Well, I suppose so. I wish that...
Say, Matt.
Yeah, Doc?
How would it be, do you suppose, if the killer thought the boy did talk?
What do you mean?
I mean, suppose word got around that the boy had talked to me, that I'd know who the killer is.
You'd be a bigger target than a buffalo.
Well, no, I think that...
Now, you're thinking crazy, Doc. If the killer got the idea that you know anything, your life wouldn't be worth a nickel.
It'd flush them out, wouldn't it, Matt?
Well, maybe it would, but if they thought that you knew about it, they'd kill you.
Now, you listen to me, Doc. This is my business. You stick to trying to keep folks alive.
You and me take care of the other.
Well, I'd sure like to take care of this one.
Just forget it, Doc. You've already done all you could for Lemmy and his mother.
Now, I'll write out there.
Mr. Jones?
Oh, Doc.
Oh, Chester.
Mr. Jones, there's been a killing out in the woods, please.
Yeah, Chester, I know. Doc was there when the boy died.
Oh. Well, that's a shame, Doc, a nice boy like that.
It's a terrible shame.
How'd you find out about it, Chester?
Well, I was passing by Mr. Jones' store and I heard about it.
I ordered the coffin there, Matt.
Oh, I see.
Matt, I don't think you'll find much to go on out at the woods place.
I looked around, but there weren't any unusual tracks.
You was doing some tracking?
Well, I mean, I'd be a bloodhound like you are, Chester, but I can read, son.
That's all right, Doc. All right, get my horse, will you, Chester?
Yes, sir.
Uh, Doc, you, uh, you want to come with me?
No, Matt, thank you. I've been there twice today.
You tell Sarah I'll drop by to see her tomorrow.
Yeah, I'll do that.
Uh, Doc.
Yes, Matt?
Now, don't you get any fancy ideas about making up a story.
We'll, we'll get this man.
He'll make a mistake.
They all do.
I just hope I'm around when he does.
Yes, sir, I've seen a lot of killings since I came to this misbegotten town, but I do believe this is the worst.
Sounds awful, Doc, shooting a boy in the back.
That poor kid didn't even have no chance to see who'd done it.
Oh, he saw who did it already.
Oh, yes, yes. He knew who killed him.
I thought you said he was already out when you got to him.
Well, he was, yes.
But he roused himself just before he died. Enough to say a few words.
And you heard him, Doc?
I heard him on it.
Who done it then?
Not so fast. Not so fast.
I'll do my talking at the proper time and not before.
Seems to me you're doing an awful lot of talking right now.
Oh, hello, Kitty. He's telling us he knows who killed the woods boy.
Oh, that's so. Why don't you come over to my table, Doc, and talk to me for a while, huh?
Yeah, well, yes, all right, all right, Kitty. You bet. Sam, another round of beer over here.
Yes, yes.
I'll see you later.
Yeah, sure.
Sure, Doc.
You ever hear anything like that?
Yeah.
All right, Kitty.
Now, Doc Adams, what are you up to?
Well, just, just have a beer, Kitty. You've, you've seen me drink beer before.
I never seen you buy it for the whole crowd before.
Well, I...
Here we are now. Sit down, Doc.
Thank you, Kitty.
And you were gossiping like an old woman.
Bend in the ear of anybody in the place that listened.
Well, there's always a lot of talk about a killing.
A killing isn't usually your favorite kind of talk.
Is it true you know who killed the boy?
Well, yes, Kitty. I was there when Lemmy died.
Does Matt know this?
Well, not exactly.
Does Matt know that you're spreading the word around that you know who the killer is?
No, Kitty, he doesn't know.
I'll bet he doesn't.
Are you trying to get yourself killed, Doc?
Oh, now stop worrying about it. This is a man's work.
You mean you're doing this on purpose?
Now, Kitty, you listen to me. I'm not anxious to get myself hurt.
But whoever did this must be brought in.
So you've been telling this story all over town.
What's the best way I know of flushing him out?
He'll kill you, Doc. Here's you sitting here.
Well, then we'd know who did it, wouldn't we?
Doc, you're a stubborn old fool.
I just hope you get a chance to grow older.
All right, all right, I'm coming.
Yes?
You're Doc Adams, ain't you?
That's who I am, son.
Well, I'm supposed to fetch you out to the Witter Woods place.
Oh, something wrong with Sara?
Reckon so. You're supposed to come.
Sara sent you, did she?
You're supposed to come because she's sick.
I see.
Well, now you just wait here a minute while I get my bag and you can ride out there with me in the buggy.
No, thanks, Doc. I'd rather go home by the creek.
I don't want to ride with you.
All right, son. Yes, all right.
Perhaps I'd better go alone at that.
Okay. So long, Doc.
My, jingyard. Woman's work, sweeping and dusting and keeping things in order. Ain't that so much of a dump?
What was that, Chester?
I say ain't reading up a woman's job.
Well, you have to find the woman first.
Well, that wasn't cut out for it, I can tell you that.
It makes me a man hard to stick to what he is cut out for.
You take old Doc now. He'd sure be better off if he'd stick to his life.
You ain't been down the street this morning, have you, Mr. Jones?
No, Chester. I've been trying to get through this pile of stuff that came in the mail and I'm still trying.
Well, he's just a caution.
That old busybody had been covering the town telling his story about the way the woods boy got killed.
What's that, Chester? Will you put that broom down?
Oh, my.
Now, what were you saying?
Well, I was telling you about how Doc should stick to his own business.
Mr. Jones is bragging around about how much he knows about the shooting.
I tell you he ain't missed nobody in the saloon.
You mean he's saying he knows who killed Lemmy?
That's what he's been saying ever since it happened. I thought you told him to keep his mouth shut.
I did, Chester, and I guess I'd better go tell him again.
Well, he ain't up to his office.
You know where he went?
Yes, sir, I do. I seen the whole thing.
Rag-tailed boy came in a little bit ago and pitched him out to the widow woods.
How do you know that?
Well, of course. The kid came flying down the stairs from Doc's office looking like somebody was after him and I grabbed him.
I thought he might have stole something.
Well, go on, Chester. What did the boys say?
Well, he just said they sent him to get Doc out to the widow woods. That's all. Then I seen Doc drive off in his buggy.
Come on, let's get our horses.
What?
Looks like Doc tucked himself into a trap. Come on.
Ain't that coffee hot yet? Bring it over here.
I'm fixing to.
Splash some milky in the morning.
You just keep looking out that window, Rube. Doc Adams ought to be just beginning here.
It'll do you no good when he does come.
Not alive, maybe. There was plenty good dead.
I'll make him forget what he knows about us mighty quick.
He don't know anything, I tell you. Not anything at all.
Well, that ain't what he says.
Bragging all over Dodger, he knows about us.
Well, I was here, wasn't I? I was here the whole time, every minute after you sent my Lemmy home.
And he didn't say anything, I tell you.
Oh, he tried, Lemmy did. He tried, but he couldn't.
He couldn't speak. You'd butchered him up too bad.
Shut her up, Mort. She makes me feel crawling.
It's as soon as Doc Adams walks in here.
Here he comes.
Mort, there's his buggy.
Stay low now till he gets in here.
No, Doc, no, don't come in.
You stupid shite.
Hey, you heard her shout. He's heading for the barn.
Come on, we gotta get him sure.
Hey, that woman, she won't cause no trouble, Mort. I hit her a good night.
There's the buggy.
Come on.
Let's go in after him.
All right.
Inside now.
He's mighty quiet.
We'll get him.
I'll go down the stairs.
You stay here, keep your eyes open.
Maybe he ain't got a gun.
I don't think he's that crazy.
You cover me now.
Okay.
Ain't in this stall.
No, this one neither.
Mort, he's in the law.
I seen something moving up there.
You get it, Rope.
He ain't shooting back.
Oh, he sure ain't.
Maybe he hasn't got a gun up there.
Or maybe you hit him.
He could be trying to fool us.
He ain't got that kind of time.
I'm gonna go up after him.
You shoot anything that moves.
All right, drop your gun.
It's a mortar shot. Get him.
Shoot.
They're both down, Mr. Doan.
That big one fell off the ladder.
Go over and get his gun, sister.
This one's dead.
Yes, sir.
He dead too, Mr. Doan.
Yeah.
Doc, Doc, you all right?
Well, certainly I'm all right.
Well, come on down then.
Gladly, man, gladly.
Not too comfortable up there.
Now, where's your gun?
Ah, well, to tell you the truth, man,
I guess I must have left it in the buggy.
Well, if that don't just beat all,
you make your brag around town to get yourself in the fix.
We have to come all this way out here to save you,
and then you don't even carry a gun.
Of course, it probably don't make no difference.
You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn anyhow.
Well, I got a society match.
She tried to warn me.
They may have hurt her.
All right, then.
Well, that's better.
It's about time you start doing what you're supposed to do,
taking care of folks,
instead of kiting off on a wild goose chase.
Yes, well, maybe you're right, Chester,
but it, uh, it wasn't exactly a wild goose chase now, was it?
No, Doc, I guess it wasn't.
Yeah, well, explain that to Chester, will you?
I got work to do.
Yeah, I'll say one thing, Mr. Dillon.
Doc maybe wasn't too smart about the way he handled things,
but he sure has got heart.
Yeah, he sure does, Chester.
Oh, Doc's got a lot of heart.
Gun Smoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Marion Clark,
with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
Featured in the cast were Helen Plee by Reen Anders and Sam Edwards.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week
for another story on Gun Smoke.
This is the CBS Radio Network.