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 US Marshal and the smell of Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved west with young
America.
The story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
You know, Chester, a morning like this makes a man glad to be alive.
Oh, it's a fine one, all right, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
A little nippy maybe, but just fine.
Indian summer hanging on and winter holding off.
You know, Chester, this time of year, I wouldn't trade western Kansas for everything east of
the Mississippi.
Oh, good.
Pedro's got a fire going on.
I built the fire, Marshal Dillon.
Oh, good morning, Caleb.
I've been waiting in his jail office for a full two hours.
What time do you start work, Marshal?
You know Caleb Andrews, don't you, Chester?
Oh, yes, indeed.
Hi, Mr. Andrews.
Marshal, I have an order here from the US District Court.
I believe it's your job to serve such orders.
Yeah, it is.
I don't get them often, though.
Order of foreclosure and eviction on Ed Blake.
Why are you doing this to Ed, Caleb?
The man borrowed money from me.
He gave me a mortgage on his farm and household effects.
He can't pay it.
Why do you think I'm doing it?
It only came due three days ago.
You sure didn't waste any time.
I'm not interested in your opinions, Marshal Dillon.
The amount of the mortgage, $420.
What do you need with $420?
You own half of Ford County now.
Marshal, it's not your place.
You know as well as I do why Ed Blake can't pay this off.
His horse rolled on him last spring and broke his leg.
And his wife and kid nearly broke their backs trying to get a crop up.
I didn't come here to listen to you.
If you let this ride on for the winter, you'll get your money out of it.
If you go ahead and foreclose now, you'll wipe him out.
Marshal, I already have foreclosed.
You would break a man for $420 you don't even need, huh?
As I said, your opinions don't interest me.
All I expect from you is to serve these papers.
All right, I'll serve them.
You'll notice they'll be served today.
I said I'd serve them.
Now get out.
What?
Your office belongs to the United States government.
As far as I know, that's one thing you got no mortgage on.
So get out.
You may find I have some influence in Washington, Marshal Dillon.
Then see if you can get me a decent salary for this rotten job of mine.
It sure was a fine morning, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, it was.
All right, Chester, let's saddle up.
This is one job I surely wish we didn't have to do, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
My.
This sure is a nice farm.
Ed and Martha have put in a lot of work here the last four years.
We don't have any choice, Chester.
Yeah, sure, I know.
It's a downright shame, though.
Hey, Marshal!
Oh, boy.
Wow.
Hi, Jimmy.
Look at here where I got, Marshal.
Wow, looks to me like a mighty dead coyote.
Sure, that's what it is.
He's been killing my chickens, so last night I hid off behind the barn.
Yeah?
I got one shot, Mr. Dillon, and there wasn't even a full moon.
Well, that's fine, Jimmy.
Matt Dillon, how are you?
Oh, good morning, Martha.
And Chester, too.
Miss Blake?
Well, I'm glad to see you.
Get down, come on in.
Oh, thank you.
Jimmy, now that you've showed that thing to Mr. Dillon, take it away somewhere.
All right, Mom.
He sure is a big one, ain't he, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, about the biggest I ever saw it, Jimmy.
He's real proud of those chickens of his.
He's done fine with them.
Well, here I am, though, chiseling.
I'm going to go and get some food.
I'll be right back.
I'll be right back.
And you're just in time.
Your favorite dish, Matt?
I was about to take it out of the oven when you rolled up.
Cornbread, buttermilk cornbread, huh?
That's right.
Ed's not here, but you will say, won't you?
Well, Martha, I'd like to, but, well, we just can't.
That's all.
The thing is that, uh, uh, you say Ed's away?
Yes, he's in town.
Matt, you're not yourself.
What is it?
Well, I suppose I ought to talk to Ed about this, but maybe it'll be better if he hears
it from you.
Hears what?
Well, Martha, I, I got a court order here.
It has to do with that mortgage of Caleb Andrews.
It's an order of foreclosure and eviction and sale.
No.
Oh, no.
Here it is.
We were so sure he'd extend it.
He knows what happened and why we couldn't pay it.
We were sure he'd extend it.
Well, he won't.
I talked to him.
Matt, uh, how long before we have to get out?
Five days.
So soon.
You were right, Matt.
It is better that Ed hears it from me.
Coming on top of everything else, it'll, well, I can't let it break him.
I just can't let it break him.
Martha, if there's anything I can do, you, you let me know, huh?
Matt, I, I don't blame you for this.
I understand.
Well, come on in now and have some cornbread with it.
Well, I, I couldn't.
I'm sorry.
Thank you anyway, Martha.
But, well, I just couldn't.
Matt, you look low all week.
Oh, it's just things in general, Kitty.
Sometimes you get to wondering if it's all worth it or not.
The Blakes, huh?
Huh?
Chester was telling me.
Ah, Chester talks too much.
It's not your fault, Matt.
Somebody had to serve the order.
Somebody has to be hangman, too.
Life's never all good, Matt.
There's always a little bad in it.
Well, in my job, it's more than a little.
Try making a living sometime as a dancehall girl.
Yeah, I guess.
But when you gotta go out and boot somebody like the Blakes off their land and out of
their home, then you start wondering what's right and what's wrong.
Well, if you find out, Matt, let me know.
I've always...
Oh, there you are, Marshal.
I stopped by the jail.
Well, all right, Caleb.
What's on your mind?
That Blake family, Marshal, they were supposed to vacate today.
Well, they haven't done it.
I rode by there a little while ago.
According to the court order, they got until sundown.
But they haven't made the slightest preparation to...
Marshal, I believe I'd prefer to discuss our business elsewhere than in the presence of
this, um... this...
Easy, Caleb.
Matt, I'll go.
Caleb.
You're gonna apologize to Miss Kitty right now.
No.
Apologize?
If you think I'm going to apologize to this cheap little baggage who's in the...
Matt, you shouldn't have done that.
Matt, I'm sorry.
Pentagon, take him outside and throw some water on him.
Yes, sir, Marshal.
Why not, Kitty?
He had it coming to him.
He'll do everything he can to hurt you now.
He'll take it out on the Blakes, too.
Yeah, maybe.
Look, Kitty, I...
I just got an idea.
Uh, I'll see you later.
All right, Matt.
But, Matt, the mere fact a man runs a bank doesn't always mean he's got a free hand in
everything he does.
A bank has stockholders aboard and directors.
I've got to listen to them.
I think they'd approve the loan, Clem.
The other thing, Caleb Andrews is the biggest accountant I've got.
Or if I crossed him by taking this loan, you suggest?
Matt, he'd break me.
I see.
All right, Clem, forget it.
Matt, I...
I realize I'm under obligation to you.
You saved my life that time the James brothers held me up.
Saved the bank, too, in fact.
But that was part of my job, Clem.
There's no obligation.
I...
I was just asking you as a friend to help out another friend.
Matt, I'd like to do it, but I just can't.
Don't you see it?
Yeah, sure, Clem, I see it.
Just forget it.
I've got to think of my wife and the two girls.
Yeah, of course you have to.
It's not that I don't want to...
I understand, Clem, I really do.
Forget it.
There.
That ought to hold it awhile.
That fire feels kind of good, Mr. Dillon.
It's getting chilly shouting tonight.
Yeah, I guess we'd better have Pedro lay in some more wood.
Yes, sir.
When winter sets in, it always makes you feel good to know you've got a warm place to hold
up.
It'd be mighty rough not to have a...
Not to...
Yeah, I was thinking of the same thing, Chester.
You suppose they vacated this afternoon?
I don't know.
We'll ride out there in the morning and find out.
Sure is a shame.
It's just too bad that...
Come in.
Can we bother you, man?
Ed!
Oh, come in, come in, Martha.
Well, hiya, Jimmy.
Well, come on up to the stove, folks.
Come on.
Matt, the fact is that we'd kind of like to impose on you for tonight.
We haven't got any place to go.
No money.
I wondered if we could sleep in the jail tonight.
Oh, sure, Ed.
Chester, would you get a fire going back there?
All right, Mr. Dillon.
And dig up some blankets out of the store room, huh?
Yes, sir.
Want to come help me, Jimmy?
Jimmy?
No, you...
You go along with Chester now, boy.
Go on.
All right.
He, um...
He doesn't understand all this, Matt.
He...
He...
Uh, Ed, we may as well get your stuff out of the wagon, I guess.
Well, there ain't any wagon, Matt.
We walked into town.
Six miles with that leg.
I know, but that wagon, the horses, all the household goods,
they're all covered by that mortgage.
We didn't take anything except the clothes and our backs.
So help me, Ed.
So help me if I could...
It's all right, Matt.
We know how you feel.
But after all, we started with nothing before.
We can do it again.
But there's no reason you should have to.
We do have to, though, and that's that.
Ed and I can accept it.
We're not bitter any longer.
Jimmy can't understand.
He's been carrying on pretty bad, but he's just a boy.
And in time, he'll be able to...
Miss Dillon?
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
It's Jimmy.
He grabbed a rifle from off the rack and took it out the back way.
I couldn't stop him.
What?
Where on earth is he going?
I think I know where he's going.
Heaven help Caleb Andrews if we don't catch him.
We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment.
But first, that widely traveled man of music, Mr. Vaughan Monroe, will land in Potstown, Pennsylvania this Saturday night.
The Moon Maids, the Moon Men, and the Monroe Ensemble will be on hand to enliven the session.
Remember, tomorrow night and every Saturday evening, it's Vaughan Monroe and his musical caravan on most of these same CBS radio stations.
Now, the second act of gun smoke.
That's Mr. Andrews' house here on the corner.
It looks dark, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, you may not be home.
I sure hope he isn't.
No sign of the boy around.
Reckon he broke in the house, Mr. Dillon?
Maybe.
Any hots 10 to 1, this is where he headed for.
His mother said he was real upset about it and it's just like a kid to...
Chester?
Hmm?
There's somebody back of that tree up there on the left.
Hmm. Yeah.
Think it's him?
I don't know. Just keep on walking.
Yeah, it's him, all right. I can see the moonlight on the rifle barrel.
Will we try to rush him, Mr. Dillon?
Not unless you're thinking of suicide.
I'm going to talk to him, Chester.
Jimmy? It's me, Matt Dillon.
Go away, Mr. Dillon. Better go away or I don't follow you.
I can't do that, Jimmy.
You're a friend of mine and I figure you're waiting here to do something that you'd be sorry for and I...
I can't let you do that.
Nothing you can do about it, Mr. Dillon.
I got a gun here and I'm going to kill him.
You go away now and leave me alone.
Jimmy, I know how you feel.
I don't like Caleb either, but killing him's no answer.
Your folks feel bad enough already.
Think how it would hurt him if you did.
Stop, Mr. Dillon. I'll stay where you are.
Don't come any closer.
I have to, Jimmy. It's my job.
So if you're going through with this, I guess you'll have to kill me first.
No, Mr. Dillon. I'll stay back.
I'm sorry, Jimmy. I don't have a choice.
But you do.
No. No.
I couldn't shoot you, Mr. Dillon. You know that.
Sure.
I knew you couldn't.
I kept waking up nights and I'd hear a mom crying.
Dad would sit up all night without the lamp lit.
No fire. Not saying anything. Just sitting.
Easy now, Jimmy.
What am I doing to do it, Mr. Dillon?
Jimmy, listen to me.
Will you do something for a friend?
Yeah, if you say so.
All right. Then take that rifle back to the jail and put it in the rack.
And go to bed.
Now, you promise?
Yeah. I promise, Mr. Dillon.
I'm sorry. I'll do like you say.
You're all right, Jimmy.
Good night, son.
I could have told you Clem Bates wouldn't do anything, Matt.
He wouldn't dare. He'd be scared Caleb would take his money out of the bank.
Yeah, that's about what he said. I don't know, Kitty. I've done everything I could possibly think of.
All the worst of it is everybody in town's just as scared of Caleb as Clem is.
I doubt if they'll even have the nerve to bid against him at the sale.
Yeah, I know. He'll probably get the place at not much more than the amount of the mortgage.
Four hundred and twenty dollars.
Matt, I've seen more than that change hands across a poker table here in one deal.
I think that's all it takes to get...
I beg your pardon, Miss Kitty.
Oh, of course, Jack.
I'm not used to one eavesdrop on people, but I have been listening to you, too.
Jack, have you met Marshall Dillon?
No, I haven't had the time.
The reason I butted in, Miss Kitty, I heard you talking about these people losing their home.
I don't know this fellow Blake. He's never done any business over my table and probably never will.
No, I don't think he's ever been in here.
And I don't know if this will make sense, but the thing is I left home when I was ten years old and I've been drifting ever since.
When I see somebody like this Blake that sticks it out and works and fights and then gets a raw deal.
Well, what I'm getting at, here's fifty dollars, if that'll help money.
Oh, Jack.
Well, this is awful decent of you, Jack.
Matt, I said a while ago that nearly everyone in town was afraid of Caleb.
Yeah?
Well, there's some who aren't, like Jack here and me and the rest of the dealers and the gamblers and the girls and the bartenders.
That's right, Miss Kitty.
Because we're drifters. We've got nothing to lose.
Matt, I'll raise four hundred and twenty dollars right here in the Texas Trail.
By heaven, Kitty, I think you could.
Well, I can't do as well as Jack, but he is twenty for me.
Boys! Everybody!
Now listen to me for a minute. I've got something to say.
He's sure taking his time getting here, Chester.
Well, I told him what you said, Mr. Dillon.
Well, that ought to bring him on the run, if anything, Will.
Anytime Caleb figures he's about to lose a dollar or two, it's hitting him where it hurts.
The Blake's turned in for the night?
Yeah, I guess so. It's been quiet back there for the last few.
Marsha, what's this all about?
Well, shut the door, Caleb. We're trying to keep it warm in here.
Would you mind telling me why I've been called over here at this time of night?
Yeah, sure. Here's four hundred and twenty dollars. The Blake's want to pay off the mortgage.
They do, do they?
The court costs up to now probably run about ten dollars. I'll pay that myself.
That's mighty generous of you.
Well, good night, Marshal.
Is it a day you'll win?
I am not the least bit interested in having that mortgage paid off, Marshal Dillon.
The Blake farm is worth about two thousand dollars now, and in five years it'll be worth three times that much.
Land's going up in Ford County. That's why I'm grabbing every piece I can get.
So I don't want the money. I want the farm.
And when it's put up for sale, I'll get it at my own price.
The foreclosure still goes.
I see.
Good night, gentlemen.
Well, I guess that's that, Mr. Dillon.
I don't know why I even thought he'd take the money.
If Blake's won't get a cent out of the sale, he'll scare everybody off and bid it in a few dollars over the amount of the mortgage, and nobody in town will even try to...
even try to...
Try to what, Mr. Dillon?
Chester, I'm going over and wake up Clem Bates. I got an idea. And if it works, we'll hold that sale at noon tomorrow.
That's pretty short notice to find an auctioneer.
I don't need an auctioneer, Chester. This one I'm gonna run myself.
Alright everybody. Alright.
Now, all of you know what we're here for.
This is a foreclosure sale of the property and household effects of Edward and Martha's.
And we're going to have a good time.
And I want to thank Mr. Dillon for his help.
Thank you, Mr. Dillon.
And I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm going to take the money.
And that's what we're here for. This is a foreclosure sale of the property and household effects of Edward and Martha Blake, ordered by the court
at the request of that fine-spirited, good-hearted public benefactor and friend and neighbor of us all, Caleb Andrews.
Marshal Dillon, I refuse to tolerate this, Mr. Blake.
Caleb, I think we better get one thing straight right now.
The law tells me I've got to conduct this sale, but the law doesn't tell me what I've got to say while I'm conducting it.
Get on with it. Get on with the sale.
Alright.
Now, the first item I'm offering is a breadboard.
Miss Blake tells me she's used this for nearly ten years.
That's a lot of loaves of bread, a lot of years.
As you can see, it's pretty badly battered up.
I doubt if it'd be worth much to anybody unless they were used to it.
Suppose we started at 50 cents.
Is there anybody here low enough to bid 50 cents for Mrs. Blake's breadboard?
How about you, Caleb?
I'm not interested in the item. Get on with the sale.
Anybody else?
No? Alright then. The second item. It's a crib.
Now, you'll notice it's handmade. Rough construction.
Never been painted. And it's been well used.
Ed built it himself 12 years ago, just before Jimmy was born.
There are teeth marks all over the slats here, but that doesn't really hurt anything.
Marshal Dillon, may I suggest you lump the household effects together and offer them as one bulk item?
I'm sorry, Caleb. I'd rather offer them one at a time.
Unless, of course, you'd care to waive all claim to the household effects and withdraw them from the order of foreclosure.
I waive the claim. The household goods are withdrawn. Now, get on to the house and land.
So ordered.
Now, the item offered is 160 acres of tillable land, a four-room house and a barn.
I won't read through the description. You all know the property.
It's a good farm. The amount of the mortgage is $420.00.
Held by Caleb Andrews.
Alright, the bidding's open. What am I offered?
$450.00.
I have $450.00 from Cable Andrews. Do I hear another bid?
Oh, the farm's worth $2,000.00. You're going to lay them have it for $450.00. How about another bidder?
Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
Well, I've been thinking some lately. Get me a little place like this and settle them down. I'll bid $1,000.00.
I have $1,000.00.
Do I hear another bid?
It's a trick. He doesn't want this place.
$1,000.00 going once.
$1,200.00.
Caleb Andrews bids $1,200.00. What do you say, Chester?
Well, sir, I think I kind of like this farm. $1,500.00.
This is ridiculous.
The bid is $1,500.00 going once, going twice.
$1,600.00.
$1,600.00 from Mr. Andrews. Chester?
$8,420.00.
Did you hear what he said?
He never had that much money in his whole life.
Do I hear another bid?
Well, what do you say, Caleb?
Do you think I'm a fool?
Going once, going twice. So, the Chester crowd put for $8,420.00.
The buyer will come forward and complete the sale.
Don't you worry none about me, Mr. Andrews. I got it right here.
There's $8,500.00 in bills, and here is the $420.00.
Where did you ever get that much in cash?
Well, I save my pay, Mr. Andrews. And of course, I drink just mostly beer.
It adds up after a while.
Caleb, I guess $420.00 of this is yours. And that takes care of the money.
Well, Ed, looks like you made a pretty fair profit on the place.
Here's some better than I expected. Here's your money.
Thank you, Ed. But I tell you, I'd still rather have the farm than the money.
Well, now, I've been sort of thinking it over, Mr. Blake. Maybe I kind of lost my head.
But when you come right down to it, I don't know what I'd ever do with a farm.
So, if you'd like to buy it, I'll take a $420.00 loss and sell it back to you for $8,000.00 cash.
Don, here's your money.
This is unheard of. They can't do it, Marshal.
Well, as far as I know, there's no law against a man selling his own property.
Now, the way I see it, Mr. Andrews, is right this minute you're a trespasser on my property.
Come on, let's go.
Who do you think you're laughing at?
Chester, you better get that $8,000.00 back to the bank.
Clem Bates is probably worrying himself into a breakdown.
Prevures somebody will find out that he let us have it.
All right, Mr. Dillon, I'll see you in town later.
Oh, Matt, Matt, I don't know how we can ever thank you for what you've done.
Not me, Martha.
Thank the bunch that work at the Texas Trail.
You know, they're bums and drifters, most of them.
But when Kitty told them the story, they really came through.
We'll pay it back, Matt, every cent of it.
And, well, that girl Kitty, I guess I've said some hard things about her in the past, but...
Matt, will you ask her to come out to dinner some afternoon?
What?
I'd like to thank her myself.
Sure, Martha, I'll ask her.
And I think she'll appreciate that more than you'll ever know.
Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were Harry Bartel, Paula Winslow, and Richard Beals, with Joe Duval, Lawrence Dobkin, and Jim Nusser.
Parley Bayer as Chester, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
Gunsmoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service.
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.
Here's a suggestion for Saturday listening.
Fun for all, starring Bill Cullen and Arlene Francis, and John Reed King's great show, Give and Take.
Hear them tomorrow on CBS Radio.
Clancy Cassell speaking.
And remember, you'll find Western adventure and music with Gene Autry Saturday evenings on the CBS Radio Network.
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