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, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
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Oh, bother me now, boy.
Gotta get these nails in solid.
I come looking for the Marshal.
Well, that's his office right there.
He ain't in there.
Well, you'll just have to wait then.
I got a message for the Marshal.
Look, I already told you.
It's on his paper.
Let's see it.
I'm supposed to give it to the Marshal personally.
Well, you ain't gonna give it to him if he ain't there.
When will he be back, mister?
Well, boy, I got enough to tend to without fretting about where Mr. Dillon is every minute.
You want me to give the paper to him?
I ain't to let loose after nobody else.
Well, it'd be all right to let me see it.
I'm the Marshal's assistant, his right-hand man, you might say.
I ain't to let up loose.
Yeah, forevermore.
Just quit bothering me about it then.
I got enough to do.
You're quite a handy man, aren't you, Jester?
Well, Mr. Dillon, this board just had to be fixed before somebody broke his...
Oh, this board's been looking for you.
I got this paper. It's for the Marshal.
He wouldn't let me so much as look at it. I can't make nothing out of it.
Never mind, Jester. You can give it to me, son. I'm the Marshal.
Oh, here.
Thank you.
Hey, boy. Hey, wait a minute.
I'm just supposed to give it to the Marshal, actually. I'll just give it to the Marshal.
Look at him go, Mr. Dillon. You want me to go after him?
No, never mind, Jester. Let him go.
All right.
Uh, what's it say?
Jester, I, uh... I'm gonna write out a ton of ways.
Well, kind of sudden, ain't it?
Does that note say something I should know about Mr. Dillon?
No. I'll be back as soon as I can.
All right, then.
It don't matter to me none that folks won't tell me nothing about nothing.
Seems like there's only one thing around here I'm fit for in that Tuesday.
I'm fit for in that Tuesday in a hammer.
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Hey! Oh!
Doc!
Doc! Doc!
Matt? Met you?
Yeah, Ed.
I knowed you'd come.
The boy brought me the message.
You hurt bad?
Bad enough. In the back.
Here, let me take a look at it.
All right.
Yeah, that's bad enough.
I don't even lie in here, Ed.
Just since yesterday, Matt.
I figured to make it to Dodge, but I couldn't sit my horse no longer.
Lucky for me, that boy come by hunting rabbits.
How'd this happen?
On the trail up from Texas. Two, three days.
Ambush, Matt. Stinking ambush.
You know who did it?
It's hard seeing who shoots you in the back.
Yeah. Matt?
Yeah, Ed.
I ain't gonna make it without help.
You got help. You'll make it.
I'm gonna get you the doc.
Pour some water into that basin for me, will you, Matt?
I want to wash my hands.
Yeah, sure, Doc.
Thank you.
How about Ab, Doc? Is he gonna make it?
Well, I don't know, Matt. He's badly hurt.
There's no question about that.
I'll go get him.
Yeah, he's badly hurt. There's no question about that.
Getting the bullet out will help, won't it?
Oh, yeah, it will. At least he wouldn't have had a chance
if it's still in there.
He's weak. He's weak. He's lost a lot of blood.
Yeah.
He must have been shot two or three days ago, at least.
Yeah, it does look like that.
But he's built like a horse. It wouldn't have lasted this long.
No, we'll just have to wait and see.
Matt?
Yeah, Ab.
What's my chances?
You're doing fine, Ab.
Matt, don't fool with me. You know me too long.
Am I gonna make it?
Well, um...
Doc says you got a chance.
Well...
I got to stay here, Matt.
Who's after you, Ab?
I can't talk.
But you'll come looking, though, huh?
Just as long as I'm breathing.
I got to stay here, Matt.
All right, Ab.
Doc.
Yes, Matt?
Can you keep him here for a spell?
Oh, yes, Matt. I was planning to. I want to keep an eye on him.
Better put him in the back room.
Well, I don't like to move him any more than necessary.
Well, he thinks it is necessary.
Well, well, why will you...
Pick him up carefully, Matt.
I just got that bleeding stopped.
All right.
Okay, careful now.
That's it.
He'll be out of sight in here, Ab.
Yeah.
Just lower him gently, Matt.
Just gently.
Thank you, Matt.
Yeah.
You...
You won't say nothing.
I won't say anything.
I'm looking on you later, huh?
Well, he'll be all right in there...
If he makes it at all.
Thanks, Doc. You'll do everything for him you can.
Of course I will.
He means something special to you, Matt?
He's an old friend, Doc.
Just about the oldest friend I've got.
Oh, I see. Well...
Well, he has a chance.
That's about all I can say.
He seems to be in bad trouble.
He's in trouble, all right.
I wonder if the trouble's with the law.
I don't know, Doc.
But I'm not sure I want to find out.
I'm sorry.
I declare, Mr. Dillon, it seems like we're eating our supper in the middle of the day, don't it?
The next day's light a lot longer this time of year.
Just don't set right with me.
Oh, what's that?
Why, eating supper in broad daylight that way.
Well, nobody's forcing you, you know.
What do you mean?
You can wait to do your eating till it's dark.
Oh, no, no. I couldn't do that.
Oh, why not?
Why, my stomach won't let me. That's why not.
It's nagging at me to feed it by mid-afternoon no matter what time of year it is.
Mr. Dillon?
Yeah?
You know that fella, that one in the dark list, down over there in front of the Dodge house?
No, I don't think I do. Why?
Well, I just wondered if he was maybe some kind of a lawman or something.
You've been asking so many questions around town.
What kind of questions?
Well, mostly it seems like he's trying to track down a fella named Hob or Abe or Ab Butler or something like that.
Oh.
He's asking all over about him.
Ab Butler.
You know him?
Yeah. I better have a talk with that fella.
Oh. Well, is it something I ought to know about Mr. Dillon?
No, Chester. I'll handle it.
I'll gun it. Nobody in here wants to.
I'll see you at the office.
Oh, yes, sir.
Afternoon. I'm Matt Dillon.
That badge mean you're the Marshal?
Yeah, I'm the Marshal. Who are you?
Well, now, Marshal, my name's Joe Leeds.
I hear you've been asking a lot of questions.
The word sure gets around, doesn't it?
You're looking for Ab Butler?
You sound mighty interested. You know him?
It's my job to be interested.
I ain't in the habit of asking help from the law, Marshal.
What do you want him for?
Well, like I said, there ain't no concern of the law.
It might be. What are you wanting for?
Why, it's a personal matter.
Just a personal matter.
No need for you to interest yourself.
Sometimes these personal matters interest me very much.
I'll tell you something, Marshal.
This ain't gonna be none of your business one way or the other.
When I find Ab Butler, and I will find him,
it'll be strictly between him and me. That's all.
It won't last long, neither.
I'm gonna tell you something.
You can make it my business in an awful hurry, Leeds,
and I'll be around just in case you do.
Well, now, I sure do admire a man who cottons to his job the way you do.
But I'm gonna tend to this.
I'm gonna find Ab Butler, and I'm gonna tend to it.
And there won't be nothing for you to do at all.
I wouldn't count on that.
Well, Sam, just a short beer.
I gotta get back to the office.
Sure thing, Doc.
I tell you, Sam, I sometimes think beer will be as important
to civilizing the West as anything.
Thank you, thank you.
Goes down good, don't it, Doc?
It goes down good, and it doesn't heat up a man like whiskey does.
It gives him a little time to think while he's drinking it.
And it's about as good a remedy for dust in the throat as I know it.
You sound like you're making a speech, Doc.
What is going on about how good the beer is?
Now, now, wait a minute, wait a minute, Sam.
I didn't say this beer.
I was talking about beer in general.
Oh, come now, Doc. This beer's not so bad.
Oh, no, but it could be a lot cooler.
What couldn't?
Well, I guess you're right, Kitty.
It's better than nothing.
Thanks very much.
Why don't you come over to the table, Doc, and sit down?
No, I can't, Kitty. Thank you. Just the same.
I got a very sick man up in the office,
and I don't want to leave him alone too long.
Really, I know.
I don't think so, Kitty.
I've never seen him before.
What's the matter with him?
He was shot in the back.
And he's been in bad shape, real bad shape.
So, ah, yeah, well, I got to get back.
I'll see you later, Kitty.
Sure, Doc.
I'll tell you one thing, Kitty.
If I ever got me a bullet in the back or anywhere else,
I'd sure want Doc around to dig it out for me.
Yeah, Sam, he's an awful good doctor.
He's more than that.
Yeah, he sure is.
Yeah.
Taking such close care of a fellow I never even saw before.
Staying up there in his office with him in all this heat.
You know, I bet he doesn't get paid a cent.
Doc's a fine man, all right.
Another drink, mister?
No more.
Here.
Oh, thanks.
Where's Doc's office?
Why, it's right down at the end of the street, mister,
and up some side stairs.
There's a sign hanging there.
Hey, mister, you got some change coming?
Well, I don't know what put him into such an all-fired hurry
all of a sudden.
He's been standing here drinking beer most of the morning.
Funny he didn't ask Doc when he was standing right next to him.
Yeah, it is funny.
Hello, Kitty.
Hi, Sam.
Hello, Martha.
Hello, Matt.
You want a beer?
Kitty.
You know that fellow who just went out of here?
Will you ever talk to him?
No, Matt, I haven't.
Something wrong?
Well, I'm not sure.
I know one thing, Marshall.
What's that, Sam?
He can't be feeling too good.
He just asked me where the Doc's office was.
He seemed to be in an awful hurry to get there.
What?
And that's where he's headed right now?
That's what it seemed like.
He didn't even wait to pick up his change.
I'll see you later.
Matt?
Oh, don't worry.
Are these letters just coming?
Not now, Chester.
Well, my lamb, I might as well not be here.
Ladies, stay where you are.
I told you this was my affair, Marshall.
Don't come after me.
Come down those stairs, Leeds.
You're not stopping me now.
Leeds, you...
You should have let me tend to it.
You tried to tend to it once,
with a bullet in the back.
He had it coming.
He ran off with the money.
You all right, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, Chester, I'm all right.
What money, Leeds?
From that bank down in Texas.
We robbed it together.
We shot the teller and Butler ran off.
He had it coming, Marshall.
You better be telling me the truth, Leeds.
Ain't no us for me to lie.
The shape I'm in.
You find the money, you'll see.
Yeah, I'll see.
He's dead, Mr. Jones.
Yeah.
You know what he was talking about?
Yeah, Chester, I'm afraid I do.
And your engine has more pep and power.
Remember, you get results with K-Side 3C
or double your money back.
Get it at your service station, garage, or car dealer now.
Only $1.50.
Well, of course you may be right, Mr. Jones,
but it just don't make sense to me
for a fellow to run off and leave his gold
after he's went through all the trouble
to get shot up for it.
Well, it's better to leave it behind
than to lose it all together, Chester.
Maybe so.
I swear I ain't turning up no more.
I'm going to go get the money.
I'll see you later.
I swear I ain't turning up nothing but dirt, though.
Let's try over there, Chester, under that tree.
All right.
I thought you said Ab Butler was laying under this one
when you rode out here and found him.
Well, he was, but he could have dragged himself over it.
Guess he could have, all right.
Sure is a sighted digging attack to the marshal's office,
ain't they, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah.
I'm sure I must have dug as many graves as an undertaker.
Probably do a better job of it, too.
Maybe that's what you're cut off for, Chester.
How's that?
Maybe you ought to be an undertaker.
Oh, no, sir, Mr. Dillon.
I admit I dig a nice, deep grave,
but I ain't got no desire to make a career out of it.
I'll get...
Well, now.
What is it?
Well, there's something under here that don't belong to be here, Mr. Dillon.
I can't quite make out what it is.
Let me see.
Yes, sir.
There it is.
It's Saddleback.
Yeah, get him here.
There you are.
Now, look there.
Gold.
Lots of it.
Phew.
My, Dillon, they sure is.
What you done?
That Leeds fellow was right.
And you was right, too.
Yeah.
At this time, I'd just as soon have been wrong.
Oh, hello, Matt.
Come in, come in.
How about Doc?
And I finally got some good news for you.
Oh, is that so?
Yes, I can tell you now, Matt.
Ab's gonna make it all right.
Oh, that's fine.
Yeah, I was pretty sure yesterday that I wanted to be positive.
And the way he feels today,
and having a hard time keeping him in bed.
Oh, he has a remarkable constitution. Remarkable.
Can I see him, Doc?
Sure you can.
Now, don't get any rustling, Matt, with him.
He might look it.
Well, Matt.
That's Dillon, you old sheep herder.
Hello, Ab.
Glad to see you.
Doc says you're gonna be all right.
Yeah, he fixed me up fine.
He's a good Doc.
Yeah, he is.
And I'm beholden to you, Matt, for bringing me to him.
That's all right.
I'll be holding to you for a lot more, Matt.
Doc told me how you handle leads.
Now, that's my job.
Yeah, cuts more ice than that.
He was aiming to kill me.
Yeah, he told me.
Well, I ain't surprised you took care of him for me.
You always could outdraw any man I ever know.
Listen, Ab, I ain't surprised, but I thank you.
You don't have anything to thank me for.
I don't?
Carry me in half dead, see I get patched up,
keep that coyote off of me.
Now I'm gonna lock you up.
You're gonna what?
As soon as you're able.
I'm gonna take you to jail.
I remember now, your face always was poker straight when you told a joke.
I'm not joking, Ab.
You're not joking?
I found the gold.
Leads.
He told me.
Well, all right, all right, Matt, so I robbed a bank.
You shot the teller.
Well, yeah, he got in the way.
But you ain't gonna turn me in for it, are you?
You ain't a man to forget a friend.
I'm not forgetting.
I got a job to do.
You got a job to do makes you forget them days of riding and fighting
across the whole of Texas.
We didn't rob any banks at all.
But we...
The way it's gotta be, I'm a U.S. Marshal.
Well, you're a U...
Well, sure, you're a U.S. Marshal.
I'm your friend, ain't I?
Yeah, you're my friend.
Well...
I've gotta lock you up.
You really mean that, don't you?
I mean it.
Well, I got something to tell you, Matt.
You may wear a Marshal's badge, but you ain't nothing.
You ain't nothing but a Judas sheep.
You can take your time getting well, Ab.
There's no hurry.
I'll be around.
Well, I'm sure you will.
To collect the reward.
Shut up, Ab!
You rob a bank, you shoot a man.
I don't need a reward to tell me what to do.
I'll be back in two or three days.
Doc'll let me know when you're ready.
I bet he will.
You ain't the Matt Dillon I once knowed.
You ain't any Matt Dillon I ever want to know.
You're sure changed.
Yeah.
Was everything all right, man?
I don't know, Doc.
What's wrong?
Well, sometimes you wonder just what friendship means and how binding loyalty should be.
And you wonder just who that loyalty is to be given to.
Well, I don't understand, Matt.
Never mind, Doc.
I'm going to go back to the office.
Well, you want me to walk along with you?
No, thanks, Doc.
I think I'll just soon be alone.
You're the happy driver of a shanty.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Marion Clark, with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
Featuring the cast were Richard Beals, Lawrence Stockin, Barney Phillips, and Joseph Kern.
Harley Bear as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents another story on Gunsmoke.