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In 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 transcribed 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.
Mr. Dillon?
Hello, Chester.
I sure am glad you're back.
I've only been gone a couple of hours.
Well, that's all it takes, a couple of hours.
Only Becker's been shot.
Huh?
Only Becker?
You know him, that little sodbuster who lives out near Clearspring.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
He's up at Doc's.
You want to see him?
Yeah.
Well, tell me about it, Chester.
Well, sir, all I know is he was gambling this morning over at the Texas Trail.
He left there a little afternoon and then some fellas found him laying in an alley with
a bullet in him.
Well, can he talk?
No, sir.
He's been unconscious the whole time, but Doc's working on him in here.
Oh, hello, Matt.
How is he, Doc?
He's dead, Matt.
About 10 minutes ago.
Oh.
Oh, Nate Becker.
Now, who'd have shot a harmless little man like that?
Harmless is right.
He didn't even have a pocket knife on him.
And besides, he was shot in the back.
Maybe it was an accident of some kind.
Accident?
Chester, I once tried to save a man who had pulled a scythe across the back of his neck
by accident.
Yes, and I remember a boy who fell between the slats of a fence and got hung.
But I never heard of a man shooting himself in the back by accident.
Well, I meant maybe somebody else done it.
Of course somebody else did it.
I know that.
I meant by mistake.
Oh, Chester.
Chester, are you sure you've been keeping your hat on when you're walking around in
the sun?
Oh, you're just mad because only Becker died on you, Doc.
There was nothing I could do to save him.
He bled to death inside.
Oh, you did what you could, Doc.
Yes, well, I think I did.
Did Annie say anything, anything at all?
No, Matt.
He never even opened his eyes.
Well, he was shot in the back, so it wasn't anybody he was fighting with.
Well, I don't know, Mr. Duhan.
Only was fighting or at least having an argument over a card this morning with that gambler,
what's his name, Al Clovis, over the Texas Trail.
He was.
Well, I didn't just say so before, Chester.
I never heard of this Al Clovis.
Oh, he's only been here about a week, Doc.
Chester, you wait here.
I'm going over the Texas Trail.
Oh, is that you?
Oh, hello, Marshall.
Hello, John.
Looking for somebody, Matt?
Oh, hi, you kidding?
Is Al Clovis here?
I was wondering when you'd get around to him.
Oh, what do you mean?
I heard about only Becker and Al Clovis threatened him this noon just before he went out and
got shot.
It almost seemed like Al was trying to start a fight with him, Matt.
Where was Clovis when it happened, kidding?
He wasn't in here.
Kiddie, you know Al Clovis better than I do.
Would you say he's the kind of a man who would murder only Becker because of an argument
over cards, you know, shoot him in the back?
I don't know him that well, Matt.
Well, maybe he had another reason to kill him if he did it.
Shooting little only Becker is like shooting a pet deer.
Makes about as much sense.
Yeah, but usually when a man gets murdered, there's a reason of some kind for it.
You mean it'd take more than plain anger to follow a man down an alley and shoot him
in the back?
Other than early, it wouldn't.
Al Clovis must have wanted only dead for some special reason, Matt.
Maybe he only had something on him.
Yeah, maybe.
He was in here a while ago, but he left.
Well, I'll find him.
He might be at the depot, Matt.
What?
At the depot?
He said something about going to St. Louis now everything's been taken care of here.
I didn't know what he meant at the time, but he said it loud and I know the train leaves
at 4.30.
That's about that now, isn't it?
Maybe he said it just to throw you off his trail.
Well, I'll find out.
I'll see you later, Kitty.
Better hurry, Matt.
This is George Fenelman.
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One more cart go, Mr. Dillon.
Val Covis ain't in there, he ain't on this train.
Well, he might have fooled us after all, Chester.
Yes, sir.
He could be riding west while we're heading east.
We'll never find him if he is.
Well, let's take a look into this car before we walk in, huh?
Yes, sir.
Well, I sure don't see him.
Not in there, though.
Ah.
Unless that's him down there, lying back with his hat pulled over his face.
Well, it could be.
Well, it better be.
Now, come on.
Okay, sir.
Hey, wake up, mister.
Mmm.
Come on, come on, wake up.
Mmm, quit bothering me.
Who do you want?
Marshal Dillon.
What are you doing here?
Keep your hands on your knees, Covis. Tight.
What's this all about, Marshal?
You carrying a gun?
Why should I carry a gun?
Stand up, Covis.
Come on, stand up.
Okay.
What for?
All right, search him, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Now, keep the one side of him out of my way.
Don't you try nothing, Covis.
Why should I? I told you I wasn't armed.
Now, ain't nothing on him.
All right.
Okay, you can sit down, Covis.
I don't understand this, Marshal.
What are you looking for?
I'm looking for the man who murdered Ony Becker this afternoon.
Oh, you mean you followed me and got on this train because you thought I killed Ony?
About 100 miles to Great Bend, Covis.
We'll get off there and take tomorrow's train back to Dodge.
Oh, you're making a big mistake, Marshal.
While you were riding up and down on this railroad, whoever did kill Ony Becker
is leaving the country for good.
You'll never catch him now.
What you're trying to say is that you don't admit killing him yourself, isn't it?
I'm not a murderer, Marshal.
No, we'll see.
Oh, I know what you're thinking.
You heard Ony and I had a little argument this morning.
Didn't you?
Sure.
That doesn't prove anything.
I argue with lots of men.
You threatened to kill him.
Oh, I was just to scare him.
He was being kind of stubborn about it all.
You know what those farmers are like.
I suppose it takes a stubborn man to grow potatoes.
Well, if you're so innocent, why did you announce everything had been taken care of
and that you were going to St. Louis?
Did I say that, Marshal?
You know, Covis, I can always kick you in the head and take you back to Dodge in a sack.
Now, why did you run?
I'm not running.
There's no reason why I should.
That's the truth, Marshal.
Where were you when Ony Becker was killed?
I was wondering when you'd ask me that.
I suppose you got an alibi.
You know Mr. Botkin, don't you, Marshal?
I ought to.
Botkin's run the Dodge Bank ever since it was an old whiskey barrel.
Well, I was with him in his office at the bank, Marshal.
I suppose you'll take his word for it.
Yeah, sure I will.
Well, we were discussing the money I placed in the bank when I arrived in Dodge a week ago.
Five thousand dollars, Marshal.
But your Botkin is going to transfer it to St. Louis for me.
Duster.
Yes, sir?
Go up and tell the engineer to stop the train at Jane's Crossing.
Stop the train?
There's a ranch about a mile from there where we can borrow some horses.
I thought you said we were spending the night at Great Bend, Marshal.
I changed my mind, Covis.
Your story doesn't make much sense, and I want to get back to Dodge and find out why.
It must be about midnight.
Sure is, and I'm tired. I haven't been on a horse in years.
Oh, well, why didn't you say so, Covis? We'd have borrowed a wagon for you.
Never mind, Chester.
Now, you take him on down to the jail and lock him up, huh?
I'm going to stop here at Mr. Botkin's house. His light's still on.
Want me to go in with you, Marshal?
I'll let you know what he has to say, Covis.
I'll be along a little while, Chester.
All right, sir.
Who is it?
Matt Dillon, Mr. Botkin.
Oh, I see.
Well, Marshal, come in. Come in.
I wouldn't have bothered you this late, Mr. Botkin,
but I saw your light was on, and I figured you were still up.
Up? Of course I'm up.
How could I sleep tonight?
Why? What's wrong?
Where have you been, Marshal?
The whole town of Dodge have been looking for you.
Fine time for you to be up riding off somewhere, as I must say.
Well, tell me what happened.
What happened?
Don't you know even yet? What are you doing here at my house?
Well, if you'll calm down, I'll tell you.
You'll tell me? I'd better tell you, Marshal.
Well, you're out gallivanting around in the prairie somewheres.
My bank was held up.
What?
About five o'clock, just as we were closing.
Three men, they got away with over $25,000.
Every cent of cash I had in that vault, Marshal.
Oh, didn't anybody try to follow them?
No, they tied me and them cashiers up so tight
they were miles out of town before we could get loose.
A few men saw them leave, but they were afraid to do anything about it.
And, of course, the United States Marshal, he wasn't even in town.
Did you get a look at them?
No. No, they were masked.
Nobody I found can even identify their horses.
They're just gone, Marshal, with $25,000.
Look, Mr. Botkin, I came here to ask you a question.
It might have something to do with your bank being robbed.
Oh? Well, what is it?
Was Al Clovis with you in your office about noon today?
Clovis? Yes, he was for a couple of hours. Why?
He had some money on deposit?
Yeah, that $5,000 cash.
Of course, that's gone, too.
That's part of the money they took.
I'm afraid Clovis is broke now,
along with me and a lot of other people.
Maybe he isn't as broke as you think.
Oh, he's broke. Unless you can get that money back, Marshal.
Look, I got an idea. I might find it for you, Mr. Botkin.
And it won't take very long, either.
Well, I got Clovis all locked up, Mr. Dillon.
He won't be taking no more trains for a while.
Good. What'd you find out from Mr. Botkin?
I'll tell you and Clovis at the same time, Chester.
Well, he's right in the first cell.
Well, Marshal, come to turn me loose?
Mr. Botkin says your alibi is good, Clovis.
If you'd have believed me in the first place,
you'd have saved us all a lot of trouble.
Yeah.
Well, let me out.
I don't want to spend the night here.
You'd better get used to it, Clovis.
You're going to be spending a lot of nights in here.
What?
At least a month or two of them.
No. You can't keep me here, Marshal. It's illegal.
Is it?
Of course it is.
Well, maybe you know more about the law than I do, Clovis,
but I run this jail, and you're going to stay here a long time.
Now, what's more, I'm going to tell the whole town where you are.
Come on, Chester.
Marshal, I demand to be released at once.
Now, come back here.
It'll cost you your job if you keep me here.
Marshal! You can't do this!
Marshal!
You really going to keep him locked up, Mr. Dillon?
I am.
Well, he ain't done nothing.
I mean, if Mr. Botkin said he is with him...
Well, Clovis didn't kill only Becker, if that's what you mean.
Well, then why don't you turn him loose?
Chester the bank was robbed at $25,000 today.
It was?
Yeah, just after we got on the train.
Looks to me like only Becker was murdered
just to get me to follow Al Clovis out of town.
Well...
We'll find out in a few minutes.
I don't think Clovis can stand the idea of sitting in jail
while his partners ride off with all that money.
You mean he was supposed to get out of here
and meet them as soon as his alibi was made good, huh?
That's the only way it makes sense to me.
Marshal!
Marshal Dillon!
Well, it didn't take as long as I thought.
Come on.
Marshal, I...
I've got to talk to you.
All right.
Go ahead.
You really gonna keep me in jail here?
You mean that?
That's all you want? Don't bother me again.
No, no. Don't go, Marshal.
What do you want, then? It's late, Clovis. I want to get to bed.
Eh.
Marshal, I'll make you a deal.
About what?
If I help you get back whatever was stolen from the bank today,
can I keep my 5,000 out of it?
How did you know the bank was robbed, Clovis?
You're smart, Marshal.
I can tell you got this all figured,
holding me in jail and all,
but I'm smart, too.
Are you?
Smart enough to know you need me as much as I need you.
You'll never find those men without me, Marshal.
But I can take you to where they are,
and I'll identify them for you.
Why?
All I want out of it is my 5,000 dollars.
Now, that's mine.
You can do what you like with the rest.
The court will have to decide about your 5,000, not me.
Will you think there's a chance I might get it?
Well, I don't know.
But you're a gambler, aren't you?
It'll help my showing you where they are, Warner.
Yeah, it'll help.
Okay.
I'm supposed to meet them tonight or early tomorrow, Marshal.
They won't wait longer than that.
All right, who are they, Clovis?
They're not friends of mine, Marshal.
I never saw them before two weeks ago in St. Louis.
And they're all hiding behind summer names.
How far's away the meeting place?
It's an old cabin, about 20 miles from here.
Are they there now?
Nobody stopped them here, did they?
No, thanks to you.
But I'm helping you now, Marshal.
If I find your partners, you are.
Chester, go get our horses.
We going out there tonight, Mr. Dillon?
Would you rather try it in broad daylight, Chester?
No, sir.
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You sure you can find this cabin, Clovis?
I made the right otter one night just to be sure.
I swear I can't hardly see nothing.
I wish that moon wasn't all scutted up with clouds.
Chester, you still don't understand that if you can see them,
they can see you.
Chester, I know you're right, Mr. Dillon.
It sure looks like rain, though.
We're almost there.
Good.
Marshal.
Yeah.
How are you going to take them?
Three men.
What's the matter, Clovis?
You getting scared?
You know what they'll do to me if you don't take them, Marshal.
Like I said, you're a gambler, aren't you?
Look, why don't you give me a gun? I'll help you.
We'll manage.
You can trust me, Marshal. I'm on your side.
Clovis, I wouldn't trust a man like you if you were in church,
praying.
Wait.
Somewhere over there.
Yeah, there it is.
A little clump of elder.
The cabin's in there.
See the light?
Yeah.
Are you sure that's it?
Of course I am.
Okay, let's get out.
Justin.
I'm going to go up on foot and have a look.
You stay here with Clovis.
Okay, Chief.
What if they hear him and come out and shoot him?
Mr. Dillon ain't exactly green at this game, Clovis.
They wouldn't kill me.
They'd burn me or something.
First...
Can't blame them much.
I wish I'd stayed in jail.
I wish I'd let them keep the money.
Something's sure to go wrong here.
Unless maybe I outsmart them.
You ain't going to outsmart nobody, Clovis, so forget about it.
Okay, okay.
I declare I never seen a darker night than this is.
No.
Near to die.
Here, get off.
Get off.
What's the matter?
It's my horse.
He's standing on my foot.
Well, push him off.
I can't.
Come on, help me, Chester.
No, for pity's sake.
Come on.
Give him that.
That's all you got to do.
Back.
Here.
What are you doing?
Clovis?
I got your gun, Chester.
Now shut up.
Don't move.
You give me that gun.
Shut up, I said.
That's better.
What's that?
Thunder, Clovis.
You'll be hearing a different kind when Mr. Dillon gets back here.
He's not coming back here.
We're going to him.
And if he shoots anybody, it'll be you, because you're going to be right in front of me.
Like this.
All right.
Start walking, Chester.
Go on.
That's far enough.
Stop here.
We'll pick up the Marshal now and go on to the cabin.
Now call him and tell him how you're fixed.
Go on and call him.
Mr. Dillon?
He ain't nowhere around here.
Yes, he is.
Tell him.
Go on.
Clovis got my gun, Mr. Dillon.
Tell him if he doesn't walk over here with his hands up, I'll shoot you.
He's going to take us both to the cabin, Mr. Dillon.
He says he'll shoot me.
You heard him, Marshal.
I'll kill him sure if you try anything.
He ain't close enough.
I tell you, he's probably clear up there at the cabin.
Okay.
Start walking, Chester.
Now straight ahead.
Once I get you inside the cabin, he'll have to give up.
Unless he wants you dead.
You hurt, Chester?
No, sir.
His gun just went off when you hit him.
All right, get the gun quick.
Come on, come on.
Got it, Mr. Dillon.
All right, let's get up to that cabin.
They know we're out here now.
They're getting away, Mr. Dillon.
They're gone.
Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
I just don't know what to say.
Then don't say anything.
Let's try to find our horses.
We'll get Clovis later.
We'll never find them horses in the dark this way.
Ah, rain.
Well, that's it.
There won't be a track left now.
There go three killers and $25,000.
Dillon, I just feel awful about this.
How'd he get your gun away from you anyway?
Well, he said his horse was standing on his foot.
So you walked up and let him pull your gun right out of the holster, huh?
Yes, sir.
That's about the way it happened.
Dillon, you should have let him take me into that cabin.
It would have killed me, but you could have caught them.
They wouldn't have got away like they did.
I know.
I was close enough to hear what Clovis said.
Well, then why'd you save me?
Everything would have been okay.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Everything would have been okay.
Almost everything, Chester.
Well, let's just don't stand here in the rain talking about it.
Come on.
My, what a terrible mess.
Ah, it was my choice, Chester.
Not yours.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Dillon.
Would you like a pour hound drop?
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Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonnell, 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.
Featured in the cast were John Danaer and Lawrence Dobkin,
Harley Bear as Chester, Howard McMear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as 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.
Remember next week at this same time, Chesterfield will bring you another transcribed story of the Western frontier on Gunsmoke.
This is the CBS Radio Network.