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, the 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.
Well, morning Doc. Kitty. Oh, you finished breakfast? Yeah, but sit down. Have some coffee with me. Thank you. To what do I owe this honor? Eh? Why aren't you having breakfast with Matt or Justin?
Well, I would, but they're out of town. Well, that's flat, huh? Oh, no, Kitty. Where are they? Oh, they went fishing. They left last night. Said they'd be back this morning sometime.
Well, you should have gone with them. Did the man invite you? Yes, but I couldn't go. I promised old man Bass I'd have some powders ready for him last night when he came into town.
Old man Bass? Who's he? Oh, I don't think you know him, Kitty. He lives out near the little Barton place. It's just him and his wife. They don't come into town very often. Oh, they're nice people. Salt of the earth.
More coffee? No more than a few, thank you. That's good, thank you. Yes, Hannibal and Della Bass are quite a couple. They've been married about 45 years. Fine people.
You selling marriage, Doc? There's nothing wrong with it, is there? I don't know. Never had much chance to find out. You're not telling me you've never been asked?
Yeah, I've been asked all right. But not by the right person? Maybe that's it. Look, this is pretty heavy talk for eight o'clock in the morning.
Yeah, I guess it is, is that. Let's get back to, what were their names? Bass. Hannibal and Della Bass. Oh, you'd like them, Kitty. I tell you what, I'll take you out there one of these days, huh?
I like that. Good, then we'll go. Yeah. What's the matter, Doc? You know, I was just thinking about those powders I made up for Hannibal. I'm afraid I might have leaned a little heavy on the soda.
Well, that won't hurt him, will it? Oh, no, no, no, it won't hurt him. Of course, he might feel a little bubbly for a day or so.
Come on, Doc. Take your coffee.
I heard you come back from Dodge last night, Hannibal. Didn't figure you'd be up in time to do the chores, late as it was. Here you are.
Thank you, Della. I ain't missed doing the chores in 20 years. Didn't get to bed till past 10. Did you get your powders from Doc Adams?
Yeah, yeah, I got them. Funny thing, ever since I started taking them, I felt kind of bubbly.
That's good, ain't it? I mean, that's what them powders are for. Sure, that's what them powders are for. You're a good doctor, that Adams fella. Hey, well.
Sounds like one of the chutes got himself caught up. Could be, or could be a wolf.
Shotgun's loaded. It's right behind the door there. I got it. See you later.
All right, hold on there. Don't shoot, mister, don't shoot. Stealing pigs, huh? Please, mister.
I'll put him back. And easy. Ah, young fella, I reckon I got the right to shoot you.
Hannibal, what's going on here? I caught me a pig thief, but I aim to shoot him. You do no such thing. Who are you, son? Ain't seen you around here before?
We're nester people, about 20 miles north of here. Huh? What's your name? Dunge Hezpeth.
Suppose your whole family's out marauding through the countryside instead of working and making out on it. Now leave him be, Hannibal. Poor boy's half-starred.
Ah, he ain't no boy. Nothing gives him the right to steal my pigs. I ought to have paid you back sometime when we were making out better, maybe.
Thieving ain't no way to make out for no man. Hannibal, you hitch up the wagon, take this boy home. You tell his people what he done, they'll punish him.
His people's any good, they'd have brought him up right to begin with. Well, you take him out there and you see.
Oh, I swear, Della, you're treating him like he was canned in. You do what I say, Hannibal, you take him home.
Eh, well, all right. You know something, boy, you was mighty lucky she come out when she did. All right, let's get walking.
And now here are Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Say, Charlie, isn't that your French girlfriend coming into the service department?
Yeah, Bergen, isn't she a doll?
Pardon me, monsieur. I don't wish to bother you.
Oh, think nothing of it. Beautiful women always bother me.
This is my automobile. She has a squeak.
Oh, poor thing. It probably needs one of our quality guardian maintenance lubrications.
Fantastic. How did you know that?
Specialized training, ma'am.
Specialized training?
Oui. The servicemen at all Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsville, Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, and GMC truck dealers get special training.
That's what makes them guardian maintenance servicemen. They're trained to know your GM product best.
You are so wonderful. Oh, I must kiss you gladly.
Oh, la, la. How did you learn to kiss like that?
Specialized training, ma'am.
This ain't much of a place you've got here, Dunk.
It's poor, but we've only been here a month.
Well, it won't improve by itself, you know.
Ma? Hey, Ma, we got company.
Who is it, Dunk?
This here's Hannibal Bass, Ma.
How'd it do?
Oh, ma'am. Is your husband around?
He's been dead five years. What is it you want, Mr. Bass?
Well, I brung Dunk home so as his pa could whoop him for stealing pigs.
Dunk?
Well, I didn't figure he'd miss one little old pig.
I'd rather starve than have my boy thief.
No, Ma.
Things ain't gone too well with us, Mr. Bass.
It's hard being a widow woman, all alone, poor.
Well, I didn't know you was a widow woman.
That's what I am.
Boy, why didn't you tell me about this?
Well, all you wanted to do was shoot me.
No, I wasn't going to shoot him. I just wanted to scare him.
Well, you could still have the law down on him, though.
No, no, I don't have to do that. Maybe he's learned his lesson.
No, you're a good man, Mr. Bass, and kind.
I could see that right off.
Well, I ain't one to hold grudges. I'm just trying to be fair.
What a shame there ain't more men around like you.
He's a real gentleman, ain't he, Dunk?
You ought to see their place, Ma. You wouldn't believe it.
Nice, huh?
Oh, I worked hard on that place.
Mr. Bass, won't you stay for a cup of chicory?
Oh, well, I... No, thank you, but I'd better be getting back.
Mr. Bass, if you're ever through this way again, we'd be proud to have you drop in.
Oh, well, thank you, ma'am. Yes, I'll do that.
Oh, it gets awful lonesome out here, especially for a woman.
Oh, yes, ma'am. It surely must. Well, good-bye.
Bye, Mr. Bass.
Mr. Bass, what's up with him, Dunk?
You sure calmed him down, Ma. I think he's forgot about the pigs.
Yeah, and he'll be back.
Oh, yeah, Mr. Bass. What you got there?
Another surprise for you, Dunk.
For me?
Yeah, you and your ma.
This is for us? All this stuff in the widen?
All for you.
Now, where's your ma?
Inside, pretty enough. We seen you come, and she didn't have to go to no fuss.
She said you'd be back.
Oh, did she?
I told her what a fine place you got. The house and the barn and all.
Oh, Mr. Bass.
Ma, look what he brought us.
Oh, now, Mr. Bass, you shouldn't have done that.
Nothing, ma'am.
My gracious, my... Oh, my goodness. Gracious, my... Oh, we couldn't accept all that.
Just a few little things.
A few little things. Chickens and pigs and corn and coffee and... Oh, goodness knows what all.
Now, the way I figured them that's more fortunate ought to share what we got.
Oh, you're too good.
I'm just doing what I see is right, like I told Della when I loaded up this morning.
Oh, you're a fine man.
Maybe I should start unloading.
Oh, look at there. Pure coffee. Why, we ain't had coffee in over a month. Oh, my.
You sure made us happy today, Mr. Bass.
Now, you come on in the house and I'll fix you a cup.
Oh, well, there ain't hardly time.
Oh, please stay. It'd be good to talk to someone.
I need a man to talk with, Mr. Bass.
Now, just for a little while and maybe...
You get that stuff unloaded. Now, Duncan, we'll be inside.
Okay, ma'am.
Mr. Bass, you've got to remember we ain't very fancy here.
But it's what's in the heart that counts.
You come along now.
Oh, God.
Oh, Gondella, where are all my shirts? I can't find a one.
There's plenty in the bedroom.
Not good ones.
Your good ones is all dirty, Hannibal.
That dog gone it anyway.
I'm getting we had six Sundays this past two weeks.
What?
The way you've been dressing.
What's wrong with a man cleaning up once in a while?
Nothing, nothing at all.
You know, you're getting mighty sour, Gondella.
You're always on me about something.
Matter of fact, I don't know if I ever pleased you.
Not from the day we got married. I don't think I could ever please you.
Don't you try to turn this around on me, Hannibal Bass.
Oh, you just don't understand me, Gondella. You never did.
That's it. That's what I've been waiting to hear you say.
What?
I bet the widow Hedgepeth understands you fine, don't she?
I bet she even told you she did.
Now, you leave her out of this.
Not likely I'll leave her out.
Hannibal, I've been mighty patient with you these past two weeks,
but my patience is gone.
Well, so is mine. I'm through, Gondella.
Through?
I'm going to marry Elsie Hedgepeth.
Why, you old fool.
Now, don't you call me that.
You poor old fool.
Now, Gondella.
I love you, Hannibal. I always have.
But my gracious, you can be a great...
Oh, I don't have to stay here and listen to this.
Yes, you do, don't you?
Budge out of this house.
Why not? What are you going to do?
I'm going over to talk to Elsie Hedgepeth.
Your what?
That woman may be too smart for you, Hannibal, but she ain't too smart for me.
You looky here, I won't stand for this.
I won't stand for it, all right? There ain't nothing else you can do.
You're just going to make a fool out of yourself.
We'll see who the fool is.
The
Hello.
Anybody home?
Yes.
You Elsie Hedgepeth?
That's right.
I'm Mrs. Hannibal Bass.
Yeah, I kind of figured that.
You going to get down out of that wagon?
I'll say what I have to say from here.
Go ahead.
I just wanted to see what a husband stealer looks like.
I ain't stole your husband.
No, and you ain't going to.
Not that you ain't trying.
He's a grown man. He can do what he wants.
You're a bigger fool than he is.
Is that all you've come here to say?
I've been married to Hannibal Bass for 45 years.
And I've loved him that long too.
I ain't about to quit now.
Well, maybe you ain't got much choice.
I bet Hannibal told you he's going to marry me.
He also told me I didn't understand him.
Well, that's sure true enough.
Mrs. Hedgepeth?
I didn't come here to ask nothing of you.
I came here to tell you something.
Go ahead. Talk all you want.
Won't change nothing.
You don't want my husband.
All you want is his house and his worldly goods.
You admit that?
I ain't saying nothing.
Well, I want him.
And I don't care if he's rich or poor.
Now, there's a difference there, ain't there?
Just jealous because you can't hold him no more.
All right.
Ain't no use talking to you.
I'm going to have to show you.
Here now. What are you doing?
You put down that raffle.
Maybe you'll understand this.
You murderer!
You shot the heel off of my shoe.
Maybe you understand now.
Don't shoot! Don't shoot again!
Next time it won't be your heel.
You think about that, widow hedgepeth!
That's peaceful enough looking, ain't it?
Yeah, from here anyway.
You reckon that's her standing out there?
Yeah, it must be. Come on.
This the Hannibal Bass place, ma'am?
It is.
Then you must be Miss Bass.
That's right.
I'm Marshal Dillon from Dodge.
You mind if we get on?
You're welcome, Marshal.
Thank you.
Uh, who's Chester Proudfoot, Miss Bass?
How do you do?
Proud to have you here. Both of you.
Come inside and I'll fix you some coffee.
I think I better tell you what we came here for first.
Oh?
Hannibal ain't in some sort of trouble, is he?
No, ma'am.
I'm afraid you are.
Me?
Uh, Judge Blint issued a warrant for you.
The complaint says you tried to shoot a Miss Hedgepeth.
Oh, that.
Marshal, I'm too good a shop to try and shoot somebody.
You sure convinced her.
She wrote all the way to Dodge to tell the judge about it.
Did she say anything to him about how she's been trying to steal my husband?
To run off with him?
Uh, no, ma'am.
Well, she is.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get this milk inside of you some.
Uh, can I help you, ma'am?
Oh, thank you. I can manage.
How can you let her go like that?
Every stone she'll most likely get back out of that house with a gun.
I don't think so.
Why on earth not?
She's a pretty strong-minded lady.
Yeah, but I don't think she's a murderer.
Maybe the judge got taken in by that Miss Hedgepeth a little bit.
Here she comes.
Miss Bass, uh, where's your husband?
Over to the widow woman's.
Like he's been every day lately.
Oh, I see.
Marshall, let me tell you something.
This is a good farm.
Took Hannibal and me a long time.
And a lot of hard work to get that house and barn up.
Five years, in fact.
You got some good stock out here, too. Hogs and all.
We do for a fact.
And that's why the widow Hedgepeth is after Hannibal.
This place, she wants it.
It's still against the law to go around shooting at people, ma'am.
I guess you're right.
It don't seem to have made no difference, anyway.
I just wish there was some way to bring Hannibal to his senses.
Miss Bass, you said your husband was over at the Hedgepeth place, huh?
Yes.
How do you get there?
Straight north.
Just follow the trail you come here on. Why?
Maybe just for now right up there. I'd like to have a talk with your husband.
That's kind of you, Marshall. But it won't do no good.
Well, we'll try anyway.
He's going to marry that woman, Marshall.
And so far I haven't been able to think the thing to stop it.
Well, let's see what we can do, Miss Bass.
We'll see you later.
That must be Hannibal Bass sitting on the stoop there.
Looks kind of like an old turkey, don't he?
I wouldn't let him hear you say that.
Hello.
Hello?
You Hannibal Bass?
Yeah. How'd you know my name?
Who are you talking to, Hannibal?
I'm Marshall Dillon, Miss Hedgepeth.
Oh, Dodge. Well, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place, Marshall.
You must have rode right by the Bass farm.
What are you talking about? What is this?
I went in to Dodge the other day, Hannibal, and I got the judge to issue a warrant for her arrest.
Whose arrest?
Your wife, Della. You didn't expect me to do nothing about her trying to murder me, did you?
You ain't going to put Della in jail, are you, Marshall?
No, I'm not.
What's this all about?
Well, I'll make this real simple, Mr. Bass. This business has gone far enough.
It's got to stop before somebody gets hurt.
Now, you're coming back to your place with me right now.
Oh, no, he ain't, Marshall. He's staying right here.
You're going along, too, Miss Hedgepeth.
What?
And once we get there, everybody's going to lay their cards on the table, and I'm going to be there to see that they do.
Now, let's get ready.
I ain't going alone. I'm going to take my boy, Dunk.
I don't care who you take, but we're starting back as soon as you get your team hitched. Now, let's get going.
You know, Bass place will be right around that bend, Mr. John.
Uh-huh.
It'll be good to get in out of this hot spot.
Ooh, up you there.
Yeah, I see it.
Burnt to the ground, the whole place.
Come on.
Hello there, Marshall Dillon.
What happened here? You all right?
I'm fine, Marshall.
That Hannibal coming?
Yes, they're right behind us in the wagon.
Who are they?
Your house and the barn. How did it happen? Both of them at the same time? I swear I don't understand it.
I think I do, Chester. Just wait.
Della!
Evening, Hannibal.
Oh, Della!
You brought her home a little too late, didn't you?
I didn't bring her. The Marshal did.
Ask her what she thinks now, Hannibal.
You, you done this, didn't you? You set fire to the whole place.
I said ask her what she thinks.
I think you're crazy. I think you're both crazy.
You still want to marry him?
Don't. Turn this wagon around and drive me home.
Sure, Mom.
Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go.
Well, Hannibal?
You was right, Della. I'm just an old fool.
We're going to have to start from scratch again.
Well, we've done it before.
Hannibal, I fixed your favorite supper. Bean hole beans.
Oh, Della. Oh, you're some woman.
Now, Hannibal, you stop this.
We've got guests.
Oh, yes.
Marshal, if you and Chester care for bean hole beans,
we'd be proud to have you stay for supper.
My goodness, I ain't eaten none of them in years.
Be mighty please, ma'am.
You'll have to sit on the ground to eat them.
I saved a few plates and things out of the house.
I'll get them.
Oh, no, you won't. I'll get them.
You've done enough work today, Della Basch.
Gunsmoke. Produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Messon
and adapted by Mr. McDonald.
Featured in the cast were Joseph Kerns, Virginia Gregg,
Peggy Weber, and Sam Edwards.
Harley Baer is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week
when CBS Radio presents another story on Gunsmoke.