 Gun smoke brought to you by L and M filters. This is it. L and M is best, stands out from all the rest. A round-dog 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. William Conrad, the France-Grogg story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with him. 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. It was a 90-mile ride from Dodge to where Chester and I were taken cover behind a small knoll just beyond the Smoky Hill River. In front of us, hidden behind a horse, he'd ridden to death covering those miles was a stranger called James Nation. Nation had killed his man back in Dodge and then jumped on his horse and run north. It was a rough ride and we'd caught up with him the hard way. My horse was dead from a rifle bullet and Chester was standing on three legs crippled with a slug in the shoulder. Something Mr. Dillon, he's in as bad a spot as we are. Now watch him Chester, he's moving. Now wait a minute, don't shoot. He's got his hands up, he's giving up mighty easy. Oh maybe. Let's go meet him. Better not try nothing. He'll die if he does. Come on Nation. My hand's down. Put him down. I come here to shoot it out. I don't like killing. He killed a man in Dodge. Self-defense Marshal. Not according to the witnesses. It was all friends of his, they tell you that. I heard him say it. A man looks guilty when he runs Nation. You don't believe me. It's not up to me. You'll get a trial. I'm still alive but a long way from Dodge. My god that's right Mr. Dillon. How are we going to get back anyway? Now we haven't crossed the Overland Express route yet. We'll walk on till we find it and then wait for a stage. We can get to Fort Donner, we can borrow some horses from the army. Maybe the stage won't pick us up. Now that sure won't pick us up here. Marshal. What? You don't owe me no favors Marshal. I'd like to ask something of you. Yeah. I've never been arrested before. Never in my life. Kind of ashamed of it. That's not my worry. I know. It's only a little thing I'm asking. Won't make no difference to you. Would you, when we get on that stage and all, would you not say nothing about your taking me in? Don't let him know I'm a prisoner. You've got a lot of guts to ask for any kind of a favor. I'd be powerful, grateful to you Marshal. It doesn't matter any. But you make one bad move and you'll go to Dodge in a sack. I won't give you no trouble. I swear I won't. You'll get a fair trial. Well if it is a fair trial, I'm going back to California. I don't know why I ever left. Justin. Go finish off your horse. He stood there long enough. I'll go with Nation get his guns. All right. I'll gun you anyway Nation. That was a mighty good horse you shot. I'm sorry. All right. Come on. Let's get going. They got a long way ahead. Miracle tip. Much more flavor. Ellen M best. Ellen M is best. Stands out from all the rest. Ellen M's got everything. Everything. Everything. Best flavor. Ellen M stands out for flavor. The miracle tip draws easy. Let you enjoy all the taste. Best filter. Ellen M stands out for effective filtration. No filter compares with Ellen M's pure white miracle tip for quality or effectiveness. Best tobaccos. Highest quality tobaccos. Low nicotine tobaccos. L and M tobaccos. Light and mild. Every way. Ellen M is best. Stands out from all the rest. How easy they draw. How mild they are. Ellen M is sweeping the country. It's America's best filter tip cigarette. That stage is headed right for us. We have to keep walking. I never heard of a stage driver who'd leave the road 10 feet for anybody. I guess you're right, Marshal. You sure must be mighty proud of that coach. Look how he's gone and painted it bright red. What if he won't stop for us? Road agents don't carry their saddles. The driver will notice that. If he's awake. Driving six horses ought to keep him awake. Yeah, but not sober. Where'd they come? Not bandits. Where's your horse? Remember, Marshal, what you said. Oh, they lost him. I think the one in the middle ain't even armed. Pick them up. Okay, Wells. It's your treasure box. 60 miles to Donner. You're crowding us some. So that'll be 10 cents a mile. Six dollars, huh? Six dollars a piece. Second advantage of a man doesn't seem to bother you very much, does it? 17, 17, 18. For a couple more in here. A shot to be made to walk. There's room for two if we jam up, but we sure can't handle three. No. You can see that for yourself, Mr. Yeah, you're right. Chester. Oh, no. Now, don't go on at all. I have to climb. I don't want nation on top. So you got up there. Yes, sir. Come on. They aren't charging less if I got a ride on top like a dog on carpet bag. Company guarantees a ride, Mr. Comfort. Your problem. Get on it. Get off. The bell is up long enough. All right. Get in, nation. Son, just we now probably fall over here and bust open on your side and say, but it's dulling. Oh, I'm simmer. This old goat here calls himself fly. My name is fly. I don't give a hoot what any crusty old devil ain't it? Well, at least he's sober. Look at their mother too. They only wake up long enough to pull on that jug of poison they got. Get drunk enough to go back to sleep. Uh, what business are you in, Dylan? Questions, questions, questions. Zimmer, you got the manager of a pool. Nobody's talking to you, old man. And I don't have to listen to your problem. I'll shove my boot in your face in a minute. Oh, shut up. You can't scare anybody who's lived as long as I have. 85, Dylan. Would you believe it? No, sir. I sure wouldn't. I knowed Mary Wether Lewis, Dylan. Met him in St. Louis when he and that Clark fella came back from the West Ocean. West Ocean? Listen to him. Why don't you leave him these, Zimmer? Oh, don't pay him no mind, Dylan. He's been nervous about something the whole trip. What are you talking about? You got ants all over you, Zimmer. I can see him from here. Yeah, if you weren't so doggone old, I'd squeeze you out of your skin, fly. Ain't gonna talk to you no more. And Dylan? Yeah. We'll be at Cherokee Station in about an hour. Spend the night there. Grub's terrible old. The last time I was there, all I had was fat pork. One pilgrim claimed to store belly. Said he couldn't eat fat pork. Didn't even know what the old woman there in the cookin' told him. Real polite like she said, well, then you just help yourself to the mustard, my friend. Cherokee Station was a long, low mud hut with a flat roof, thatched and linsotted. The one room served as an eating place in the daytime and a bunkhouse at night. It was hot and stuffy inside. And after a dinner of fat pork and mustard, an old fly hadn't been lyin', Chester and Nation and I went up to the corral for a breath of air. I hate to think of spending the night in that place. Well, if I look a drowned in that air, I'll bet that stuck dinner ain't washed since the day he was baptized. Ain't it awful? Don't worry about it. We'll sleep outside. Good. But half the night you're gonna stand guard over Nation, Chester. Well, I ain't gonna run away, Marshal. You run once. All right. I'll tell you something. Then maybe you'll trust me a little. What? Want to know who Zimmer is? I mean, who he really is? John. Name's Art Carp. How do you know? I've seen it under his picture. It was tacked on a pole out in California. I think the reward was five hundred dollars, but I ain't certain about that. But you're sure it was his picture? Of course I'm sure. Everybody was talking about him for a time out there. He's real clever, that carp. Now, how's he clever? Well, I heard that one time he rode in a stage as a passenger, and then some fellas on horses, they stopped the stage in a canyon somewhere. And this carp pulled a gun on the people inside the stage and held them there. And when the boys outside got the treasure box unloaded, he got out, climbed on a horse they had for him. They all rode off. And that's pretty clever, ain't it? Yeah. Yeah, that's real clever. Seems to me you went through a lot of trouble. They could have helped it up without it. Passengers sometimes give bandits more fight than the driver and messenger, Chester. They feel safe because they're inside the stage. You gonna arrest him, Marshal? I think you're telling the truth, Nation. But I'm not going to arrest him. Not yet. Oh, there's that poor, miserable old woman. Oh, yeah. But she can do something for me. You keep an eye on Nation, Chester. I'll be back. Yes. Evening, ma'am. Evening. I wanted to ask you to do a favor for me, ma'am. Yep. The messenger Wells, he's inside there drinking some of your husband's whiskey. I'd like to talk to him alone and without the others knowing it. You want me to fetch him out? Well, I'd be grateful to you. Yes, ma'am. I'll do it for you. Thank you. Okay. What's the trouble, mister? Come outside, will you? Okay. Say something about whiskey for me, Hank. This'll do. Tell me something, Wells. How long you been riding shotgun? Two years? Not that it's any business of yours. What'd you do before that? Oh, I mean, that's the last question I answered. And I'm just trying to find out if you can handle yourself. You keep nosing around. You'll find out. Look, Wells, I think you're a good man and I sure hope I'm right. Who in Thunder are you, anyway? You know, my name is Dullin, Matt Dullin. I'm a U.S. Marshal, Wells. A U.S. Marshal? Prove it. Now, I'm traveling light. I got nothing on me to prove it. You talk right out, don't you? All right. What do you want? How much are you carrying in your treasure box? Say, you really do move in, don't you? Are you either trust me or you don't? $50,000, Marshal. Good. Now, what's the best place for a hold-up between here and Fort Downer? What? It'll be Willow Crick, I guess. What is this? You think we're going to be held up? I don't know, but tomorrow you make the driver go through Willow Crick like he was on fire. Chester will be on the roof to help you and I'll sort of organize the passengers inside. How do you know all this, Marshal? Well, I'll tell you when we get to Fort Downer. And, by the way, don't say anything about this or me to anybody. All right. I guess you're the boy's sister, Marshal. Thanks, Wells. Good night. Good night, Marshal. I sure hope I ain't made a mistake about you. Oh, Wells. Yeah? Take it easy with that wagon-yard whiskey you're drinking in there, huh? I've heard of that stuff freezing solid on a cold night. Ellen M. I've got Ellen M. I've got Ellen M. And Ellen M. got everything. Best filter. Notice the color of the miracle tip. It's white, pure white to give you the purest and best filter. Best flavor. You get a rich, good-tasty, fully satisfying smoke. And that's what every smoker wants. Best tobaccos. Highest quality tobaccos. Low nicotine tobaccos. L and M tobaccos. Light and mild. Today, by Ellen M. It's sweeping the country because it's America's best filter tip cigarette. Yes, today, why don't you get Ellen M. Because Ellen M's got everything. This is it. Ellen M. filters. Ellen M's got everything. It's the best. Next morning, Wells told me it was 10 miles to Willa Creek and another 12 miles to the next change of horses at a small swing station run by a lone stock tender. We went through Willa Creek flying. Had no trouble at all. But trouble was waiting for us in the swing station. It was a small one room adobe hut with a usual corral at the rear. But as we pulled up, I noticed there wasn't a horse in sight and out of the two windows facing us was pouring thin streams of white smoke. Everybody jumped down and ran up to the half-open door where two arrows were embedded in the frame. It's Comanches. Look at them arrows. Stand back there. Let me take a look inside. Let's all take a look, Simon. Look at that. Three men killed. This man's still alive. That's the stock tender, Dylan. Wait a minute. I thought he was alone here, Wells. He's always alone here. I'm wondering who these other two men are. Never mind them. They're dead, ain't they? Yeah. They're dead. Maybe he can tell us what happened, Dylan. The stage is here. As Indians, I never even heard them. Who were the other men? The white men. I'll even be, Dylan. The man's dying. Ain't you got no decency? Shut up, Simon. Who were they, fella? What were they doing here? Road agents. Tell me up. They're gonna hide here and hold up the stock. Pardon the stage. What else? Did they say anything else? Put my head down. Turn him loose, Carp. There are too many of us here. Take it easy, Dylan. This fool's nervous. You come closer, I'll kill him. He means it, Dylan. All right. What are you gonna do now, Carp? How'd you know my name? I know my name. I know my name. How'd you know my name? I know more than your name. Oh, don't matter. I want you men to walk out that door one by one. As you pass by me, I'm gonna take your guns. Get started now. What do you think, Dylan? We better do it, Wells. All right, men. Let's do what he says. That's better. You first, Dylan. Sure. Get outside with Dylan. Marshall? You're the only man who can stop this, National. What? Pretend to join him. Do you trust me that much? I have to. All right. You men line up there. Fly, stand in front of me. I want to tell you something. Say it fast. You know why I wasn't armed? No. Because of him. Dylan, I'm under arrest. What? Dylan's a Marshall. Bringing me in for killing a man in Dodge. I've got a better chance together than you have a lot of you. I'm warning you, National. You do that, and I'll run you down if it takes a year. You won't even know where to look, Marshall. You will be standing around here till tomorrow while we're riding off on them stage horses. How about it, Carp? That's your name? I heard the Marshall say it. That's my name. Okay, Nation, grab a gun there and get over here. Sure will. Now don't you try nothing, fly. I'll shoot you as quick as Carp would. Carp. Stay where you are, Marshall. I want your gun, Carp. Crazy? No. He ain't crazy. Don't turn around, Carp. I'll shoot you if you do. What is this? Drop that gun. Go on, drop it. He means it, Carp. Shoot him and I'll put a slug in your spine, Carp. Might be worth it. Make up your mind. You're awful willing to die, Marshall. What about you? How do you think I'd die? No. I ain't gonna die. I'm never gonna drop that gun, Marshall. You dirty lion dog. I'm not a murderer, Carp. I hate your kind. You did fine, Nation. I'll remember it. Now give me the gun. You still gonna take me in? Sure. Well, that don't seem fair. You know I have to. Why could a road off with Carp? I'll be at your trial, Nation. I promise you. I'll tell him what happened here. I'm standing here with a gun. You ain't even armed. No, it's like you told Carp, Nation. You're not that kind. Here's a gun, Marshall. I feel kind of like a fool. Do you? Well, then I've got an idea how you might get over that. What? Go over there and pick up another gun. What for? You're gonna be the first prisoner I ever trusted to wear a gun, Nation. And besides, you'll need it to guard Carp till we get to Fort Donner. William Conrad. You know, Father's Day is June 19th. And if the old man's anything like me, he'd sure welcome a carton or two of L&M's. They're mild and plenty quick on the draw. And L&M's pure white miracle tip, well, no filter stacks up with it for quality or effectiveness. Believe me, L&M's got everything. 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Listen to Gunsmoke again next week, transcribed for L&M Filters.