Around God's city and in the territory on West there is just one way to handle the killers
of the spoilers and that's with a US Marshal and the smell of guns smoke. Guns 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 chance a job and it makes a man
watchful and a little lonely.
Nice morning, ain't it, Mr. Dillon? For this time of year you just couldn't ask for no
better weather. My golly, even the horses like it. I think they're more interested in that
water trough than they are in the weather, Chester. Oh, there's old Buffalo Mary filling
their wash bucket. I sure hope she's cleared up all the sludge off the bottom. Oh, sludge
doesn't bother the horses. Well, it does me. It's warm enough this morning. I figured I
might wash up a little. You know, you've been saying that every morning for two weeks until
you find out how cold the water is. I know, but I got my courage up better today. Yeah,
sure. Good morning, Mary. Good morning, Miss Mary. Come on, sir. Mr. Pratt. Mr. Pratt.
Oh, it's good to see you. It's good to see you, too. Good morning, Mary. Good morning.
Oh, it's so hot. I didn't hear you at all. I reckon my fat body's just starting to go.
No, you were just too busy that's all. Well, don't worry, it's still pretty cold. I figured
it would be. How's the world been treating you, Mary? I reckon I don't see much of the
world, Marsha, getting this dirty clothes. Yeah, I get the same feeling sometimes. Are
I'd still be short of time.
Oh, that sucks.
And...
It ain't washing the man and it's packing water for the tub.
I cut him firewood to heat him.
Oh, it's a tired full night.
Sometimes I could just drop right in the track.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I've been aiming to come by the dale and get them shirts of yours.
The past two days.
Now I'll do it right now, Marsha.
I'll leave my buckets here.
No, no, no, Mary.
Just so I can drop them off this afternoon sometime.
Well, it would be kind of a help if it ain't too much trouble.
Oh, it ain't no trouble at all, Miss Mary.
That's mighty kind of you, Mr. Proudfoot.
Oh, I'm glad to do it.
Truth is, I'm...
Well, I'm a little put out today.
Piece of bad luck, as you might say.
But I'm much obliged to you.
It's as good as done, man.
What kind of bad luck, Mary?
Oh, nothing at all, Marsha.
I wouldn't even bother your mind with it.
Has that bruise on your jaw and that black eye got anything to do with it?
I'd rather you just forget I said anything, Marsha.
What happened, Mary?
He said he'd come back and do for me, if I was to tell.
Well, for the land's sake.
Who said he'd come back and do for you?
It is Reb Sutter.
Well, I bet no count bully's been in more mean than you can take a stick at.
Why did he do it, Mary?
What reason did he have?
It was my savings, Marsha.
Oh, my great Mary.
I had him buried in my cabinet.
I wouldn't tell him where.
He made me tell him before he was through.
It took me two years, 48 dollars, ever since I got.
How do you think he ought to be home?
I wouldn't go on to say nothing, Marsha.
Even if he hadn't threatened me, I want Aiman to put you to no bother.
It's not me who's going to be bothered, Mary.
Well, if he had gotten something big and important.
It's big.
It's important.
By the time I get through with him, Reb Sutter's going to realize it.
Yes, the fellow sure has a dog down in his luck, Mr. Dillon.
You'll find him.
I think he can take a little buckle in there.
He's saving his heart as he works for...
My blood just starts to froth up.
Marsha!
Oh, Miss Kitty.
Oh, Marsha!
Hello, Kitty.
I've been looking all over for you.
Oh?
There was a job for you in the Long Branch.
Oh, it's a trouble.
We got one of those mean ones tonight.
Drinking too much, pushing people around.
Trying to get a fight started.
All right, I'll go have a look.
Who is it?
Reb Sutter.
Reb Sutter?
Yeah.
I know we've found him, Chester.
Come on.
Oh, yellow.
That's what's the matter with you.
And a team on it.
I just stood up here and told you all I can whip any man in this room.
There ain't a one of you got the blood and gumption to say me no on it.
Maybe they're just going easy on you, Sutter.
Well, now, if it ain't the Marshal, some lily-liver come after you, I reckon.
As a matter of fact, I came after you.
Law against talking, is it?
There's a law against beating people up and stealing their life savings.
She's a liar.
I wasn't even near her last night.
And if she says it, I mean...
She?
What do you mean, she?
Who says, Sutter?
Near where?
I didn't mention any details.
I don't know nothing about it.
Well, maybe it'll come to you.
You're under arrest, and I'll put out your wrists.
I reckon I could put handcuffs on a man, too.
I was wearing a gun, and he wasn't.
You've always played it safe that way, haven't you, Sutter?
Never wearing a gun.
If you had somebody, they'd have killed you a long time ago.
Ain't nobody got much taste for going at it my way, though, or noticing.
Well, maybe it's time somebody didn't.
I offered, Marshal.
Nobody took.
That's all.
Cheser, may I take my gun with you?
All right, Chief.
All right, Reb, I've already told you you're under arrest.
I heard you.
And I'm going to put these handcuffs on you one way or the other.
They ain't never been handcuffed yet, Marshal.
I don't reckon I'm starting tonight.
Uh-huh.
Cheser?
Yes, sir?
I'll hold these handcuffs for a couple of minutes, huh?
Yes, sir.
You're a dang fool, Marshal, if you think you're...
I'm ready for one bottle of fries, young sir.
Why, you?
I'm going to kill you for that, maybe.
Now, you can stop at any time, Sutter, for just sticking out your ribs.
I'll break every bone in your body.
At any time, Sutter, one way or the other.
You're wearing those cuffs for jail tonight.
Oh, no, I...
Cheser, give me the handcuffs.
Well, I guess that's it, Mary.
84 cents, Marshal.
That's all they had left out of you.
Yeah, I'm afraid so. He managed to get almost every soul in town.
Two years of hard work, and he'd drunk it all up in one day.
How he's going to jail for it, Mary, if that's any satisfaction.
Well...
Judge Bentz says the case against him is solid.
He hasn't got a chance of getting off.
Seems like there ought to be a better way, somehow.
Something that's got more justice in it.
I mean, him going to jail ain't going to get me my money back.
You may be right, Mary, but...
I'm sorry, Mary, but I guess that's about all I can say.
Oh, I ain't blaming you, none, Marshal.
Maddie Oblides has been grateful to you for letting more important things stand by
while you took time to help with nobody like me.
Now, Mary, don't...
Oh, I mean it, Marshal.
It's Maddie good out here, and you too, Mr. Pridefoot.
Oh, well, I'm glad to do what I could, Miss Mary.
I'm getting on now.
I'll have your shirt before your third.
There's no hurry.
Well, good night, all.
Good night.
Don't know if she's right, Mr. Dillon.
Just sending Red besetter to prison ain't going to help her none.
Something harder ought to be done about it.
Just as something is going to be done first thing in the morning.
Oh, I'm glad to do what I could, Miss Mary.
Oh, man.
What is the matter with you, Doc?
Oh, if you think that cow found a chair or mutter, so help me understand.
You mean like this?
That's a blast.
Oh, darn you, Jack.
You mean a little noise like that will never get you all pecky?
A little noise like that's enough for me to cut your throat to keep it up.
You've got bad nerves, Doc.
Old Chief Thunder Bull makes up a kind of a tonic they say is supposed to cure that.
Old Chief Thunder Bull doesn't know any more about medicine than you,
a bad nerve in a tonic.
Lots of people get it from him and take it right there.
And a lot of people are fools, too.
I know. They claim it does them good.
Oh, look at you. My nerves are all right in that tonic of Thunder Bulls.
It's 60 percent hogwash and 60 percent rock-gut whiskey.
Well, now, look here, you can't have no 120 percent and nothing.
I can have 100,000 percent of a bottle.
That's about it.
No, I'm just shifting my weight, Doc.
Then don't shift it. Leave it where it is.
Folks who take that tonic regularly don't stir up no big rucous
just because somebody happens to lean back in their chair once in a while.
Folks who take that tonic are dead from the neck up before they take it
and from the neck down after.
Oh, how are you, Doc?
Anything out of the ordinary, Chester?
No, sir. Not a thing, Mr. Jones.
I'd better begin to figure you was going to spend the whole day over there at Judge Bant.
What are you up to there, Liz? Playing fast and loose with the law, are you?
No, not according to the way the judge sees it.
Chester, you'll get a rep to sutter on it, so would you?
Oh, Chester.
Doctor Man can't get out of the chair without squeaking his term, can he?
I swear I never see you at the gall dune to do more of Piggy and his little old noise.
Oh, that boy. Thunderbolt honey. Bad news.
You, uh, can't on the prod today?
I am not on the prod.
You know, sometimes a person's blood gets thick during the wintertime
and come spring he needs a good tonic.
Oh, is that my...
May I try?
I'm getting up out of this chair, Matt.
I'm going to walk slowly and carefully to the door.
I'm not going to lose my temper.
I'm going to keep my voice down.
I'm going to open the door, step outside, and say, goodbye.
Goodbye, Doc.
You left me?
Yeah, I just left.
Oh, come on in, Sutter. I want to talk to you.
Yes, sir.
Whatever you say, Marshal.
Glad you've had two days in the jail cell to think it over.
You probably realize how things stand against you, don't you?
Uh-huh.
Being good, I reckon.
Now, if you've got to try, are you going to be convicted?
There's no doubt about it.
You can't afford to be dead, Marshal.
The least sentence you'll get off with is two years, and it may run to five or seven.
Unless we can work something out.
What do you mean?
As I said, the penitentiary will satisfy the law, but it won't help Buffalo Mary very much.
You stole $48 from her, and you spent it.
You can't pay it back to her, Marshal. I ain't got one red cent in my name.
But you have got a good strong back, though.
What's that got to do with it?
Judge Bent can postpone your trial and leave you in my custody for the time being.
What are you saying, Marshal?
Now, if you agree, we can work it out this way.
First thing every morning, you'll pack enough water over to Mary's place to run her for the day.
Then you'll spend the rest of the day cutting firewood and stacking it behind her cabin.
Now, you'll sleep in your cell and you'll be fed at the jail table.
How does that sound to you?
How long do I have to do it, Marshal?
Well, let's say until everybody agrees that you've done enough.
What happens then?
If you stick to it and play it square, the case will be dismissed.
Yeah, but now, Mr. Dune, if you turn him out to pack water and carry wood, he'll run off.
I don't think he will, Chester.
You're right, Marshal. I ain't going to run away.
You see, I've been doing a lot of thinking these last two days.
It ain't nice to know the only reason people know your name is because you beat up a old woman.
There's other things too, Marshal.
I don't have to tell you that.
Oh, what do you say?
Where's the woodpile?
Oh, here it is.
It's a good woodpile.
It's a good woodpile.
It's a good woodpile.
It's a good woodpile.
It's a good woodpile.
Well, fool, old Mary's coming down the street there, Mr. Jones.
Oh, is that so?
Come on in here, it looks like.
I haven't got anything for her. I thought she was supposed to pick up those shirts tomorrow.
She might have forgot what day it is.
Oh, good morning, Mary. Come on in.
I ain't upset. Nothing important, am I?
No, of course not. Nothing but a morning cup of coffee. Would you like to have one?
Oh, how much you blad, Marshal, but I don't have mine.
How things going, Mary? Is Reb keeping out at study?
Well, that's what I come to see you about.
Oh?
I never believed it, Marshal, but that boy's just been a working fool.
He sees the devil over his shoulder.
In these two months, I've been able to take extra work enough to save $56 already.
Well, that's good.
And not only that.
He's got enough wood stacked up over at my place to last me for the next three years.
That's what I wanted to see you about, Marshal.
I told him that he's filled his bar with now that he could quit.
That he keeps on working. Maybe you should tell him.
Hmm. Yeah, there's a funny thing about justice, Mary.
Sometimes it's all bound up with a person's conscience.
I guess I don't quite understand, Marshal.
Well, I think in this case Reb has to feel that he's paid his debt not only to you,
but a lot of other people, too.
So let's let things go on for a while, huh?
I'll just wait till Reb comes to us and says he's ready to quit.
You know, frontier cattlemen felt a kind of sympathy for a cow whose calf straight away got lost and in trouble.
The cow is a real beauty.
But next week, God feels no pity for a woman whose son gets in real trouble and dies.
And that is the West.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Villard, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Huckfield, with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey, sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Bill James.
Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg and Vic Terren.
Harley Bayer as Chester, Howard McMear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
Join us again next week for another story of the Western Frontier,
when Matt Villan, Chester Todd-Flip, Doc, and Kitty, together with all the other hard-living citizens of pride, will be with you once more.
It's America growing west in the 1870s.
This is Gunsmoke, over to CBS Radio.
Thanks for watching!