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In Zod 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 squad 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.
Shucks.
Gone to luck.
Cuss it.
Oh hello, sister.
Oh hello, John.
Gone to luck anyway.
Mr. Dillon?
Well, how are you, Justin?
How long you been standing here?
Oh, not long.
I'm waiting to go to dinner with Doc if he ever comes out of his office.
Well, have you been here a half hour?
No, not that long, I don't think.
Why?
Well, I thought maybe you'd seen Miss Kitty out here in the street somewhere.
No, I haven't seen her.
She's got to be someplace.
Well, I expect she is, Justin.
Well, there's no place I know of.
I can't find her.
How'd you try the Longhorn?
Oh, no sir, she's never in there before afternoon sometimes.
Oh, what about her room?
That's where I was supposed to meet her, Mr. Dillon.
But she ain't there and nobody saw her.
Nobody I talked to anyway.
Well, she'll be around.
Yeah, but it ain't like Miss Kitty not to be where she says she'll be.
I don't get so worried, Chester.
It can't be that important.
Well, it's pretty important to me.
Oh?
Yes sir, I got a date tonight with a little girl who worked over at the Alapaganser.
What's that got to do with Kitty?
Well, my only pair of good pants got busted, Mr. Dillon, and Miss Kitty was patching them
up for me.
She told me to come pick them up today just before noon.
Now, what are you worried?
Is this a new girl that you got, Chester?
Yes sir.
Well, she's new to me.
Little southern gal with a mouthful of honey, Mr. Dillon.
Honey, huh?
Mm-hmm.
That's a good bait for old bears like you.
Oh, Mr. Dillon, I ain't no bear.
Not really.
Hello, Matt.
Hello, Doc.
Doc, how are you?
Oh, I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, Matt.
Oh, that's okay, Doc.
Now, I won't have to worry if I'm the one that's late next time.
Huh?
I'm not the one that's late.
Oh, you're not?
No.
Kitty is.
Kitty?
Yes, she said yesterday she'd be in at noon.
Wanted me to look at the tooth that's been bothering her, and I promised I'd be there,
but I can't wait forever.
Ah, it seems like Kitty's late all the way around today, doesn't it?
I was supposed to see her too, Doc, but I can't find her no place.
Well, it doesn't matter.
She's probably sleeping in for a change.
No, she ain't.
I've been to her room.
Nobody saw her around there at all.
Is that so?
She said she'd be there.
Well, come to think of it, it's not like Kitty.
When she says she'll be there, she's there.
And kindly worries me.
Now, you two are getting all worked up over nothing.
Kitty isn't that clock-like, and you know it.
Well, then where is she, man?
I don't know where she is.
Kitty's a big girl.
She can take care of herself.
Now, stop worrying about her.
Hey, here comes Sam Noonan.
Maybe he knows where she's at.
Well, how would he know?
Well, Miss Kitty works for him at the Long Branch, don't she?
Sure, but Sam doesn't keep her on the string.
Her time's her own.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Hello, Sam.
How are you, sir?
Hello, Sam.
You're not seeing Miss Kitty around today, have you?
No, Chester, I ain't.
Another few men standing here thought I'd come ask you.
You mean that you're looking forward to?
Well, she was going to come to the Long Branch about 10 o'clock.
Went down early to meet her, and she ain't showed up yet, Marshal.
Oh, 10 o'clock's pretty early for Kitty, isn't it, Sam?
Sure, but she was doing it as a favor to me.
I want to get started repainting the place, and she was going to give me some ideas about
making it real fancy.
She said she'd be there.
I got a man waiting to go to work on it this afternoon.
You know, it beats me.
Kitty takes one morning off, and everybody in Dodge is out looking for her.
Well, I don't know about everybody else, Marshal, but I do know when Kitty says she'll do something,
she does it.
That's just what we've been saying, Sam.
Where do you think she's got to, anyway?
I ain't gone looking for her, Chester.
I've just been waiting.
Matt.
Yeah, what, Doc?
Kitty might miss one appointment, but she'd never in the world miss three.
Who saw her last, you, Sam?
What time did she leave the Long Branch last night?
It was early, Marshal, it was real early.
Oh, why?
Where did she go?
Well, she was talking to some dude from back east.
I never saw him before, and they both disappeared about 10 o'clock.
I don't know where they went.
She didn't come back?
That's the last I seen of her.
Who is this dude?
Do you know his name?
No, I don't.
He was a tall, thin fella, and had fancy clothes.
That's all I know.
I don't trust them dudes.
I never did.
Well, maybe we'd better find him and talk to him.
Well, where are we going to find him?
The Dodge House, Chester.
A man like that wouldn't stop anyplace else.
Look, Doc, you'd better go ahead and eat.
I'll join you if I can.
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Say, maybe this fella got her outside and knocked her in the head and robbed her, Mr. Dillon.
Kitty doesn't carry money on her chest.
Well, she wears jewelry.
She's also over 21 years old and she's got enough sense not to let anybody knock her
on the head.
And if he did, I suppose somebody would have found her by now.
Yeah, sure.
Hey, look, there's Mr. Dobie himself at the desk in there.
Oh, good.
Well, hello, Marshal.
Mr. Kester.
Hello, Mr. Dobie.
Hiya, Dobie.
Now, don't tell me the Dodge house has taken in another gunman and you're going to shoot
the place up again.
Well, that wouldn't happen so often if you'd make your guests check their guns, Dobie.
The kind of people come in here to take the army to do that.
That's a poor rule anyway.
A man can always hide a gun.
Or a knife.
It's not that kind of a man I'm looking for this time, Dobie.
It's an Easterner, some dude.
What's his name?
Well, I don't know his name, but he's tall and thin and he's a sort of a fancy dresser.
He's new to Dodge.
Might be that fella Rackmill.
Rackmill?
That's your description.
But he sure didn't look like no troublemaker to me.
What's he done?
I don't know, Dobie.
I don't know.
Maybe nothing.
Is he in his room?
No, no, he ain't.
Funny thing, now you mention it.
Clerk told me this morning that Rackmill didn't come in at all last night.
He didn't?
I didn't think nothing about it till now.
Oh, you know how some fellas are.
They get to play in cards or something.
He ain't up to no good, Mr. Dillon.
I just know him.
Dobie, what do you know about him?
I told you all I know.
He come here day before yesterday.
Said he was traveling around, seeing the West.
I don't think he's working.
He don't act sharp enough to be a gambler.
Okay, Dobie, thanks.
Thanks very much.
Look, if he does come in, don't say anything about my being here, will you?
Not a word, Marshal.
But I'll send somebody after you, if you want.
Good, good.
I gotta go find that clerk.
I ain't paying him for me to stand here all day.
Well, what are we gonna do now, Mr. Dillon?
Uh, look, I tell you, Chester, you go down and check the stage, huh?
I'm gonna go over to the depot and I'll see you back at the office.
You think he might have kidnapped her?
Well, we'll know when we find her, Chester.
Did you find anything, Chester?
Oh, hello, Doc.
Oh, hello, Matt.
Nobody ain't seen him at the stage office, Mr. Dillon.
There's only one stage out today and that left this morning and they wasn't on it.
Yeah, Matt, I didn't think there would be.
What about the train?
Did they leave on that?
Uh, they remember Rachmel when he came in the other day, but, uh, he hasn't bought any
ticket to leave.
Then he must be somewhere in Dodge, Matt.
I stopped by Miss Kitty's room on my way back, Mr. Dillon.
She ain't been in yet.
You know, they tell me back in New York, some policemen do nothing but look for people that
are missing.
That's how many disappear all the time.
Do they find them, Doc?
Sometimes, yes, of course.
They always check the city morgue first.
Oh, that's where they find a lot of them.
People that got killed, you mean?
Well, some just fall down and die on the streets.
Heart seizure, you know, something like that kind of hits them.
But, of course, a lot of them are victims of murder or killing of one kind of, you know,
fights and things like that.
Yeah, it must happen a lot.
They got so many people living there.
It does, but it can happen anywhere, Chester.
Many in New York, they're better organized to locate people that are missing and don't
come home when they should.
Always check the morgue first, huh?
Yeah, oh, that's the best place.
It saves a lot of time and trouble.
Hey, we ought to have a morgue here in Dodge.
Oh, whatever.
Oh, Jeb, we don't need one.
Dodge isn't big enough for a morgue.
Oh, I guess it ain't.
And besides, people don't come up missing here very often.
Well, if you two well-wishers have got the morgue problem settled, I'd like to say something.
Why, surely, Matt, go ahead.
If Kitty was in Dodge, we'd have heard from her by now.
I'm presuming she's alive, of course, Doc, if that doesn't go too much against your theory.
Oh, of course she is, man.
Of course she's alive.
I was telling Chester about things back east, that's all.
And if she's left Dodge and she didn't go by stage or by train, then there's only one
other way that she could have gone, isn't there?
You mean she walked?
Let it be about as likely as you walking somewhere, Chester.
I don't know why I didn't think about it before.
Let's go down to the stable.
I don't know why I didn't think about them going horseback either, Mr. Dillon.
I guess maybe it's because I say that fellow Racknell's a dude.
Horses don't seem his style.
We don't know that much about him, Chester.
What if he went alone?
What if he didn't take Miss Kitty with him after all?
Hell, he can go anywhere he wants to.
Alone.
Well, I don't see Moss Grimmick nowhere.
Hey, Moss.
Moss Grimmick.
Hey.
Here now, here now.
Who's doing all that howling?
He's laying in that stall over there, Mr. Dillon.
He's been sleeping.
Yeah.
Oh, it's you, Marshal.
Chester, you woke me up.
I'm sorry to bother you, Moss, but I got to talk to you.
Trouble, Marshal?
Well, I don't know.
But if there is, maybe you can help me.
Always willing to help, Marshal.
Tell me, have you rented out any horses lately, Moss, last night or today?
No, I haven't.
Business has been mighty slow all week, Marshal.
Oh, you haven't.
You sure?
Well, you mean saddle horses, don't you?
Yeah, yeah, sure.
I thought so.
No man can make a getaway in a buggy, is he?
In a buggy?
Whether you rent buggies?
Not often, but I did last night.
By golly, I'm glad you reminded me.
He ain't brought it back yet.
That fellow's still got my buggy, Marshal.
Who was it, Moss?
Oh, some stranger.
I never saw him before.
Was he an Easterner?
He ain't from around here, not in them clothes.
Did he have anybody with him?
Yeah, yeah, he had a girl.
She went outside for him.
I didn't pay no attention to her.
It was a good moon last night, and it was going for a little drive.
But I want my horse and buggy back, Marshal.
You think they went and stole it?
What tell me, Moss, did he say where they were going?
He said something about Indian Spring.
He asked me how far it was.
I told him 20 miles.
He figured I was too far, but he said maybe they drive down the highway.
What do I do, Marshal?
Oh, what time was it when they took the buggy?
Ten o'clock, maybe.
You know, there's nothing down toward Indian Spring I know of, Mr. Dillon.
There's hardly even any ranches down there.
They must have run into trouble of some kind.
Maybe that did, Marshal.
I'll tell you, I didn't bother to mention it since they wasn't going far, but one of
the iron rims is off the left wheel on that buggy.
Could be they hit a rock and the wheel busted.
Yeah, maybe.
But it doesn't take all night and half a day to walk 20 miles.
But don't worry about your buggy, Moss.
You'll find it soon.
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There was no trail going to Indian Spring, so all we could do was start out in the general
direction and then ride back and forth across the prairie till we found the buggy tracks.
That took an hour, but from then on it was easy.
We covered the first 10 miles fast, so fast that we almost missed where the buggy had
stopped and a woman's footprints led away from it.
We followed these for a mile or two, and then up ahead we suddenly saw puffs of smoke coming
from a clump of box elder, Indian style.
That must be Miss Kitty in there, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
At least she's signaling or what?
Well, it looks like it.
And she must be in trouble.
Maybe.
That Rack Mill fellow must have put her out and just left her to starve.
Now why would he do a thing like that?
Well, he's not going to get far enough in that buggy for me not to ask him personally,
trust him.
But first we'll take care of Kitty.
There she is.
She sees us.
She's waving.
Hi, Miss Kitty.
She's all right, Mr. Dillon.
She ain't hurt.
Oh, look.
Oh, forever more.
She's been using a petticoat to make them smoke signals.
Where is she?
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, there she is.
Can you see my smoke signal?
You found me?
No, we tracked you, Miss Kitty.
I'm sure it is good to see you.
What's the matter with your ankle, Kitty?
Oh, boy, I turned it.
It's not that swollen.
How'd you know?
Well, I could tell by your tracks back there that you were favoring it.
Well, I never noticed that.
Well, that's why I had to stop walking that.
I knew it'd get worse and I'd never make dodge on it.
I figured I was better off here than out in the prairie where I couldn't even build a fire.
Well, I was smart of you, Kitty.
Look, you can ride on one of our horses back and we'll go double, huh?
In this skirt?
Huh. Well, one of us can wait here with you while the other one goes and fetches a buggy, okay?
No, that'll take too long.
I'll make it.
I can ride side saddle if we don't go too fast.
Okay. You must be hungry.
Oh.
You know, we didn't think to bring anything to eat.
I'm starved. At least I've had water.
There's a tiny little spring under that rock over there.
Yeah.
You're lucky you had matches, too.
Oh, I wish I'd had a gun. It's alive with rabbits around here.
Well, you could have trapped some if you had stayed here long enough.
Uh, I'll show you how someday.
Thanks, but I hope I never need to know how.
Oh, Chester.
Huh?
Well, you go get our hat and stuff and then throw some sand on that fire.
All right, sir.
And I'll have me a drink of water while I'm at it.
Then we'll get started for dodge, Kitty.
Yeah, the sooner we get there, the sooner you can eat.
A side of beef and a sack of potatoes would make a good start.
And I come to think of it, I missed dinner myself.
I'll join you.
I'm sorry I'm so much trouble, Matt.
Ah, as long as you're safe.
You know, you had everybody worried.
Me and Chester and Doc, Sam Noonan.
I know. I've been thinking about it.
Matt?
Yeah.
Well, I turn up missing, so you scout around and finally track me down clear out here in the prairie.
And find me standing around on one foot in a bunch of little trees, playing Indian.
And you don't even ask me how I got here.
I know how you got here.
Well, sure, of course.
With Jim Racknell and that fool Buggy.
Partway anyhow.
But that's not what I mean, Matt.
Well, if he'd been out to kidnap or murder you, I guess you'd have mentioned it before this, wouldn't you?
Oh, for silly. I feel like a fool telling that...
Well, go ahead, say it. It can't be that bad.
Racknell's an Easterner. He's never been out here before.
We got to talking. He said he'd like to see the prairie and the moonlight.
It was my idea. We ran a buggy and take a drive for an hour or so.
Anything to get out of that smoky saloon for a while. So we did.
And he tried to hold your hand. And you got mad. And you slapped him.
And you jumped down and you started walking.
How'd you know that?
I know you, Kitty. You know, sometimes you've got a terrible temper.
Well, I paid for it this time.
Honest, Matt, that's all he did. Tried to hold my hand.
I believe it.
You know, but you'd have been smarter if you'd just slapped him and let it go at that.
You could have ridden back to dodge in style.
Why'd I have to act like a schoolgirl, Matt?
I don't know, Kitty. Some people grow up slow.
But I'll tell you one thing. It's a lot better than growing up too fast.
Well, thanks for that anyway, Matt.
Hey, look how yonder, Mr. Miller. Look what's coming.
What? It's Rackmill and the buggy. I forgot all about him.
Where in the world's he been all this time?
Well, looks like we ain't gonna have to run him down after all, don't it?
Well, he didn't do anything, Chester. He tried to hold my hand.
Well, he sure looks wild now.
Now, listen, you two. You stay out of this. Leave Rackmill to me. I'll handle him.
Uh, come on, Chester. Let's ease up those saddles, huh?
Yes, sir.
Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty, are you all right?
Am I all right?
I've been going crazy trying to find you.
It was dark and you disappeared so fast, and then I finally saw the smoke a while ago.
You did, huh? How'd you know that smoke wasn't Indian?
Well, I didn't know. In fact, I thought it must be. I had to make sure, Miss Kitty.
Well, dude, you're a pretty brave man, Mr. Rackmill.
Oh, I knew it wasn't Indians as soon as I saw them.
Have they been bothering you, Miss Kitty?
What?
Come on, Miss Kitty. Get in the buggy.
Aren't you forgetting I got out of that buggy once?
We'll talk about it later. Take my arm. Take it.
Well, I'll say one thing, Mr. Rackmill. You're sure right about going crazy.
Please, Miss Kitty.
No. I like it here. I've been real comfortable. I'm gonna stay. Learn how to trap rabbits.
I may decide to live here, Mr. Rackmill.
No, no, no. You don't understand. Miss Kitty, we're all alone way out in the prairie.
I don't like the looks of those men. I've got to get you out of here.
You've got to get me out of here. You!
Please be sensible before it's too late.
It's already too late. Now, get in your buggy and go on back to Dodge if you can find it.
I can find it all right. I promise you I can. Come, Miss Kitty.
Which way is Dodge?
Well, why, it's right back there.
You're pointing towards Texas.
Well, it doesn't matter. We'll find it. I won't leave you here, Miss Kitty. I don't care how mad you get.
Oh, I'm getting mad again, huh?
It doesn't matter. I don't blame you for last night. I apologize. I shouldn't have tried to hold your hand.
I just lost myself for a moment. That's all. It won't happen again. I promise you. But I am not going to leave you here.
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Rackmill. I've been unfair. I do have a bad temper, you know.
Yes, I know.
And you're right about those two. They are a pretty tough-looking pair, aren't they?
They're coming back.
As a matter of fact, they do look more like desperadoes than lawmen.
Lawmen?
Mr. Rackmill, this is Marshall Dillon of Dodge City, Kansas.
Marshall Dillon?
And that's Chester Padfoot.
How do you do?
Oh, how do you do?
That's okay, Rackmill. We're not after you.
Oh, I didn't know that she knew you. I mean, I thought you were strangers.
No, no, we're not strangers. In fact, we rode out here to find Kitty.
I've been trying to find her, too. All night and all day, I've been driving around, around.
Now, wait a minute. You men aren't going to make all this my fault. I only did what any lady would do.
Kitty, you'd do a lot better if you got something to eat.
Eat? What are we standing around here for?
Matt, will you and Chester ride along with us?
Sure we will, Kitty.
Mr. Rackmill, when we get to Dodge, maybe you'll have supper with us.
That's very kind of you, Miss Kitty.
Good. Now, if you'll hold my hand, you can help me into the buggy.
And now our star, William Conrad.
Thank you, George. Speaking for all the folks who make and sell Chesterfields, as well as L&M filters, Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company,
their 1,300,000 retail dealers and more than 6,000 wholesale distributors,
I sincerely hope this is the merriest Christmas ever for you and those close to you.
Gunsmoke, produced and transcribed under the direction of Norman McDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Our story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston,
with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Ray Kemper.
Featured in the cast were John Danaer, James Nusser, Barney Phillips, and Vic Perrin.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear 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.
What keeps a family happy?
You'll agree if you look at the happiest families you know,
that it takes more than dads paying the bills.
Mostly it's doing things together, a family outing, a backyard barbecue,
or games together in the evening.
These are the precious moments of family life, the shared moments.
Going to worship each week is another of the good things in life for the family to share.
Enrich the lives of your family.
Worship together.
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.