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.
He'll be all right, Matt. The fever is broken.
Thanks, Doc. What do you think you'll be able to travel?
Oh, day or two, or three, I'd say. He'll pick up fast. Tom's strong, and he's very young.
Yeah.
He's been a mighty sick boy, though. Mighty sick. He must have been in terrible shape all through the trial.
Hell, he's in worse shape now.
Now, Matt, I just told you, he's going to be all right.
That's not what I mean, Doc.
Oh, well, yes, of course.
Not much future for him, is it? No matter how well you fix him up.
No, I guess not.
See, Matt.
Yeah?
Do you really think he did it?
The court found him guilty.
I know, Matt, but he seems like such a nice boy. It's hard to believe.
I'm not supposed to believe, Doc. All I'm supposed to do is what the law says.
I guess you're right.
When do you deliver him to Hay City?
As long as he's able to travel.
Funny thing.
How's that?
Getting the kid in shape so that he can ride to his own hanging.
Hello.
Mr. John?
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
Well, that fellow's outside there. He wants to see you.
What fellow?
That Romy Hawkins, the one that spoke up again young Morrie at the trial.
All right, Chester, tell him to come in.
I'll be going along then, Matt. I'll look on him before the morning.
Yeah.
Mr. Doon says you can come in.
You want to see me, Hawkins?
The doctor's been here, hadn't he?
You just saw him leave, didn't you?
Something wrong with the prisoner?
Is that what you came to see me about, Tom Morrie's health?
Well, no, Marshal, it isn't that.
What is it then?
Well, Marshal, it was my understanding that you were to deliver the prisoner to justice without delay.
That's what the law says, yeah.
Then, sir, I find it hard to understand why Tom Morrie is still here.
Are you in a hurry to see him, hon?
He's a condemned man, Marshal. I take the citizen's responsibility.
Your responsibility ended at the trial, Mr. Hawkins.
No delay is justice.
Now, you listen to me. Your part in this ended two days ago when you testified in court. Tom Morrie's in my charge now.
It's my duty, man.
Not anymore it isn't. The boy will get to Hayes City all right and he'll get to his hangin'.
But how he gets there and when he gets there are up to me. You understand that?
I have the citizen's right.
And I've got work to do. Chester, open the door for Mr. Hawkins. I think he's leaving right now.
Yes. Now, Marshal.
I said you're leaving, Mr. Hawkins.
Had enough breakfast, Tom?
Yeah, thanks.
Feelin' better this mornin', are ya?
Some, I guess.
What day is this? What's Thursday?
I don't know.
Oh, I don't wonder you lost track. Not your head with the fever, no?
Yeah, that's what Doc Adams told me.
Uh, is the Marshal here this mornin'?
He's out to breakfast right now.
He ought to be back for a long while.
I'd like to see him.
Sure, I'll tell him.
Ah, it's probably him now. I'll fetch him. You wait here.
I ain't goin' no place.
Oh.
Oh, Mr. Dunn, I was just comin' to fetch ya.
Ah, somethin' wrong.
No, sir. These ways I don't think so.
Tom wants to see ya.
Is that so, Tom?
Yeah, Marshal, if you've got the time.
Sure, what's on your mind?
Mr. Dunn, I'll just take these beer dishes out.
All right, Chester.
Now, what can I do for you, Tom?
Marshal, uh, we'll be ridin' up to Hayes City pretty soon.
Yeah, that's right. Tomorrow, Doc says you're able.
I'm all right.
I don't have to be in very good shape for that trip.
I'm not takin' ya up there, Tom, till, uh, you can stand straight.
Thanks, Marshal.
I'd like to ask you something.
Sure, go ahead.
You think I did it? You think I killed that man?
Well, the court says you did, and I'm bound by that.
But you yourself, Marshal, do you think I did?
I'll admit I don't want to think so, cause I like you.
But in my job, Tom, a man can't afford to like people.
But I didn't shoot him. I swear I didn't.
And I've got to remember that Romy Hawkins stood up in court
and swore that you did, that he saw you do it.
Romy Hawkins, he's a man with a lie in his belly.
He couldn't have seen me, Marshal. I wasn't even there.
You're a convicted man, Tom, and I got to do what the law says.
Yeah. Yeah, I know.
Well, anyhow, I want to thank you for treating me decent
and getting Doc Adams and acting like I was at least human.
It seems to me you've got very little to thank anybody for, Tom.
Marshal, I got a letter here. I wrote it to my dad.
He's over in Missouri.
You want me to mail it to him?
I'd be obliged if you would. But not till it's over.
Sure.
I'm hoping he don't hear about it till then.
We had some plans about the planning.
I wanted to write him about. And there's a little money.
Yeah, sure, Tom. I'll take care of it for you.
Well, I guess that's about all.
And, Marshal?
Yeah?
I didn't do this thing.
But like you said, I'll try to stand straight.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, Matt, it's just awful.
Yeah, I know, Kitty.
I wish the witness hadn't been a little weasel like Romy Hawkins.
He seems to enjoy it so much.
Has he been in here?
Oh, sure. A couple times a day.
He doesn't look like a drinking man to me.
Oh, he doesn't take a drink, Matt.
He just comes in to make sure everybody remembers he was the key witness at the trial.
I don't think he ever felt so important in his life.
Hawkins should have been born a buzzard feeding on another man's killing.
Oh, there's Doc, Kitty.
Hey, Doc, over here.
Yes, Matt, hi.
Hello, Kitty.
How are you today, Matt? I thought maybe I'd find you here.
How are you, Doc?
Sit down, Doc.
Oh, thank you.
What's on your mind?
I've just been at the jail, Matt.
Checking Tom Mori over.
Oh, how is he today?
I'm sorry to say he's all right.
Able to ride?
Yes, Matt, he is.
Well, I guess I can't put it off any longer.
I'll leave tomorrow morning with Sonny.
Oh, Matt, can't you do something?
Kitty, it's a sorry thing, all right, but there's nothing anybody can do about it.
Not since Romy Hawkins spoke his...
Hawkins was a legal witness, Kitty.
Oh, no.
You know, it's a funny thing about him, Matt.
I keep thinking I've seen him someplace before, but I can't remember where.
Now, you take my advice, Doc.
How's that?
The only thing to do about Romy Hawkins is to forget him.
Hi, well, Mr. Dillon.
I didn't see you riding.
No, welcome back there, Matt.
Hello, Chester.
Doc.
We thought you were never going to get back.
Have you two been sitting here in front of the office playing checkers ever since I left?
No, sir, I've been tending things, just like you said.
Oh, thank you.
Well, I'm glad you're here.
I'm glad you're here.
No, sir, I've been tending things, just like you said.
You've been advising him, I suppose, haven't you?
Well, now, Matt, it seems to me that you'd be the last man to speak up against a little relaxation in the middle of the day.
I was just keeping your chair warm for you.
Oh, I could use a chair. Thanks.
Hard trip?
Yeah, trips like that are always hard, Doc.
Oh, I know, Mr. Dillon, I surely do.
Did everything go off all right?
Oh, I mean...
Yeah, it went off all right, Chester.
The boy was hung.
Oh, dear goodness.
Marshal Dillon?
What do you want now, Hawkins?
I see you've returned from Hay City, Marshal.
I just wanted to know if everything had been carried out all right.
I told you it was my responsibility.
Now, if you want the details, why don't you ride up to Hay City and get them?
But you were gone so long, Marshal.
Really longer than necessary. I couldn't help wondering why.
Well, it's done, Hawkins. The boy's dead.
Well, it was just that I didn't know it takes so long.
Well, it takes a while to hang a man, even if he's only a boy.
Now, look, Marshal, I'm an important witness, and you're a public servant.
I'm not your servant, Mr. Hawkins, and don't you forget it, and the trial's over.
Now, can't you get that into your head? You're not an important witness anymore.
Well, now, Marshal, why don't you get away from here?
Right now.
My, he's a nasty little fella.
Bores in just like a chigger. He sure is a creepy one.
You better do his creeping somewhere else from now on.
Say, Matt.
Yeah, what?
I think I remember now where I saw that fella before.
Hawkins?
Yes.
Yes, I'm sure of it.
You remember when I took that trip down to Meade to take care of Mars Grimmick's sister?
Yeah, it was a Euro-circle, wasn't it?
That's right. Well, Matt, I was there at the same time Judge Wharton was there on the circuit.
He was holding court.
Oh?
Yes. And that Romy Hawkins, and I'd swear it was the same man.
He was there, too.
Well, what was he up to that time?
Well, it's not very nice to think back on this, but he was a witness, Matt.
Just the same as he was here.
You mean he was testifying against somebody?
That's right. And his testimony got the man hung.
I'm glad you're taking a little time off, Matt.
I haven't seen much of you since your trip to Hay City last month.
Hell, I haven't been around much, Kitty.
I guess not.
Anyway, I enjoyed the ride.
I enjoyed it, too.
I won't count on anything, you understand, but maybe we can do it again, huh?
Yeah, maybe.
Wait a minute, I'll help you.
All right.
There, you got your dog.
Thanks.
Hey, Moss. Moss?
How are we, Marshal?
Yeah, take care of our horses, will you, Moss?
Sure thing. Enjoy the ride, Miss Kitty?
Yeah, sure, Dad. It was great.
Good. Oh, same, Marshal.
Yeah.
Doc just brought his buggy and been out south of town.
He was asking if I'd seen you.
How did he say what he wanted?
He didn't exactly say.
Something about Ned Miller.
Ned Miller? Well, what about it?
I'm not sure, Marshal, but I think he's bad off.
Anyway, Doc wants you to go out there.
Yeah, I will. Thanks, Moss.
Sure.
Come on, Kitty.
It'd be too bad if anything happened to Ned.
He's a good man.
Yeah, well, we'll stop on the docks and find out.
Marshal? Marshal Dillon?
I thought I told you to stay away from here.
It's about Ned Miller. I saw it. I know who did it.
Who did what?
Well, who shot him? He was a big man with a scar on his cheek.
I'd know him anywhere. Riding a white-footed rolling...
Now, wait a minute. Are you sure about this, Hawkins?
Course, I'm sure. I was riding by and I heard the shots.
Saw the man right away. I could identify him easy.
All right, come on.
Where are we going?
Up the docks. I want to find out how Bat Miller is hurt.
Sure, Marshal. Anything you say.
Kitty, you'd better go on down to the long branch.
I'll let you know about this later.
All right, come on, Hawkins.
On up there.
Certainly, Marshal.
Oh, hello, Matt. Come on in.
Now, just a minute, Doc. I want to ask you something.
I want you to listen very carefully.
Have you told anybody but Moss Grimmick about Ned Miller?
Well, no. I guess I told Chester.
Oh, and why did you do that?
In the long branch. I was looking for you.
Took time to have a beer. Hawkins here, tell you. He was there, too.
I wasn't listening to their conversation.
All right, Hawkins. All right. Now, what about Ned, Doc?
Well, he's in awful bad shape, Matt.
Asked if you'd come out to see him.
Oh, what's the matter with him?
I saw who did it all right.
You saw what?
What's the matter with him, Doc?
It's his leg, Matt. He cut it on the side.
I don't think I can save it. He'd be lucky to pull through it all.
And he wasn't shot?
Shot? Why, no. I told you he cut his leg three or four days ago.
By the time he called me, he was badly infected and terrible-looking thing.
Yeah. Well, Hawkins here says that he saw who shot him.
He says he could identify him.
Oh.
And that means you could testify against him, too.
Couldn't you, Hawkins?
Well, Marshal, I guess I made a mistake.
Yeah, you bet you did.
You weren't even out at Miller's place, were you?
Well...
Were you?
Well, no, Marshal, but you don't understand...
And you didn't see that boy Tom Morey shoot anybody either, did you?
Well, don't just stand there. Why don't you answer me, did you?
Did you?
Somebody had to pay for the crime. Somebody had to pay. I just...
Hell, I'm...
Matt, he's crazy.
You can't say that to me. I'm a witness.
And you didn't see that man and me doing any shooting either, did you?
But you see, Marshal...
Oh, sure I see. Just so you could stand up there and testify.
You didn't care. You didn't care if it was a truth or if it was a lie or if innocent men died.
Just so you could stand up there with everybody's eyes on you
and speak your peace.
Your lie and murder and peace.
That man has a right to be important, Marshal.
Afterward, they noticed me.
They really took care of me.
Yeah, well, I'm going to see that they take care of you for the rest of your life.
Marshal...
As far as I'm concerned, you're as guilty as if you'd shot those men in cold blood.
And believe me, you're going to pay for it.
Marshal, what'll they do to me?
I think they'll hang you, Hawkins.
But you shouldn't mind that.
Because you'll be the most important man there.
Gunsmoke.
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Marion Clark, with editorial supervision by John Mester.
Featured in the cast were Harry Bartel, Sam Edwards, and James Nusser.
Harley Bair as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week for another story on Gunsmoke.