 Around Dodd 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 transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America. The story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. Come on, if I sit here a while, Marshal. Of course not. Sit down, Billy. You look worried, Billy. A boy like you shouldn't look worried. I'm 21. That's a man's age, isn't it, Chester? Oh, sure. 21. Pretty old, Billy. Old enough for frogmouth Kate, anyway. Every time I come to town, that woman won't give me a minute's peace. Well, maybe she's sweet on you, Billy. Sweet on me. Look at her at the bar over there. She'll come to and miss me pretty soon. Old enough to be my mother. Why do you stay here? Why don't you go over to the Longhorn or someplace? Oh, Kate's all right when she's sober. Just when she gets drunk, she's such a nuisance. Well, she sure looks drunk now. She is. And when she's like this, there's no worse woman in the whole world. I could kill her when she gets like this. Somebody's always going to kill somebody around here. Oh, that's just a way of talking, Marshal. Yeah. I hate to tell you, Billy, but I think frogmouth Kate has spotted you. Yeah, I knew she would. She gets lonesome awful fast, that woman. So that's where you went, Billy? Leaving me all alone? Shame on you, honey. I gotta catch my breath once in a while, Kate. You can catch your breath with me, honey. Not with Marshal Dillon and Chester and all the rest of them. No, Kate, take it easy. I'll take it easy? You and me will take it easy in St. Louis, Billy Boy. And quit talking about St. Louis all the time. I ain't about to go to St. Louis. I'm broke right here in Dodge. I got some money, Billy. Almost, I got it. Almost enough. You and me, huh, baby? Oh, Kate. Why don't you pick on somebody who can at least buy you a few drinks? They've been buying me drinks. I don't care about them, anyway. I'm married, Billy. Boy, what do you say, huh? You and me. See what I mean, Marshal? Ain't she awful? She likes you, Billy. Sure. We're a couple of real love birds. Yeah. Now stop that. Let go of me. I'll break your head open. Ah, you're cute, Billy. Love her, boy. Don't cut it out. Well, if you'll excuse us, we'd better be moving on. Uh... Chester. Well, all right, Chester. Yes, sir. So long, Billy. Kate. Now you never mind them, Billy, boy. They're just a couple of crooks like everybody else except you, sweetie. You and me, huh? Poor Billy. Well, he's got to learn somehow. I suppose. The town seems pretty quiet, Chester. I think I'll go to bed. Good idea, Mr. Dillon. I'll sleep in the office tonight. All right, I'll see you in the morning. Good night, sir. Chester, sir, open up. Oh, oh, well, just a minute, Chester. What is it, Chester? They've been a-huting, sir, in that room in-house next to the Alpha Gamza. What? Oh, well, I'll get dressed. Come on inside. It's been raining a little, Mr. Dillon. Oh, good. I'll light that lamp there. Will you, Chester? Yes, sir. They sent for Dawkins. He woke me up on his way out. He know what it was all about? No, sir. He just said it was in that room in-house. Yeah. What time is it, anyway? Oh, it'll be daylight soon. Must be about 4.30. 4.30. It's pretty late at night for a gunfight, isn't it? Yes, sir. That's what I thought. There. All right, Chester, I'm ready. Blow the lamp out. Yes, sir. Rain sure helps. Wouldn't it be fine if it stayed this cool all day, Mr. Dillon? No, you'd be lost if you couldn't complain about the heat, Chester. Well, I'd be willing to think of something else. Yeah, I suppose. Mark Torvitz just still runs this room in-house, don't you? Last I heard she did. Come here, Marshal Dillon. Yes, ma, Torvitz, you're all right. Right in here, Marshal. Who was it, ma? Well, ma, Kate. She got shot. Kate? It's no use, ma'am. She hasn't said a word, and she's not likely to know. Who did it, ma? I was asleep, Marshal. Heard a shot and come right down. I sent everybody else back to bed and told him to stay there. You don't know who did it, do you? He must have jumped out that window right there. You go get him, Marshal. He's got a head start already. Oh, ma. Well, that kid, Billy, don't. Must have been. Why do you think it was Billy? Because he was drinking with her all night over at the Alephreganza, that's why. Then with her all yesterday, I heard, too. Couldn't be nobody else. He stole her money, too. How do you know he did, ma? Well, she showed me once. She kept it right under the mattress there, and it's gone. She had quite a lot of it saved up, too. Everybody knew that. She's planned on going back to St. Louis with it. She wanted Billy to go with her, but I guess they couldn't wait, the little rat. I sure hope I see him hung. Uh, just to start looking for him, I'll join you in a few minutes. Yes, sir. I'll walk back for you. She's dead, ma'am. Oh, that poor girl. It's a wonder she lived this long, being shot so close up. She didn't say anything, not a word. Not a word, ma'am. She was unconscious the whole time. Yeah. Well, I, uh, kept in toward Barry and her doc, seeing as how she was sort of broke when she died. Nonsense. Kate was a good girl, and I'll be responsible for her getting a fine burial. Fine as there is, but you catch that devil, Billy, don't, Marshal. Don't you let him get away. We'll find him, ma'am. Well, you sure are better. Well, let me know if you hear anything. I'll see you later, doc. Sure, Matt. Chester and I spent the next couple of hours looking for Billy Daunt, but nobody had seen him since he and Kate had left the Elephoreganza together the night before. We did learn, however, that he'd been riding for Luke Atkins, and since it was our only lead, we decided to go out to the ranch and have a talk with Luke. It was mid-morning when we rode up to the main house, and at first, the place looked deserted. Anyway, it's cool here under the cottonwood. Maybe Luke's out on the prairie somewhere. Well, if he's smart, he's keeping away from the sun right there in the house. Oh. Oh, leave the horses, Chester. They'll stand. All right. What's that? It's Matt Dillon, Luke. Oh, just resting, little Marshal. Hello, Chester. Hello, Luke. It's cooler out here. Sit down. My gracious, what happened to you? Does it look bad? Bad enough to skip church this Sunday, Luke. Black eye, huh? I ain't got a mirror. Your jaw's swollen, too. Who could have never saw him like that before? He must have been drunk. Billy Daunt? He's been spending his pay in guards the last couple of days, and say, is that why you're here, Marshal? Billy getting trouble there? Maybe. What did he beat you up for, Luke? Why, he just rolled in here this morning early and said he needed a better horse than his and wanted my buckskin jolting. He was all excited, and I started to argue with him. He jumped me before I knew what was happening. Let me out for a minute, I guess. He's gone, man, huh? Sure he's gone. I came up to the house here and got my rifle and watched him go. Funny thing though, he didn't leave right away. So what do you mean? He fooled around down there in the barn for most an hour. I don't know what he was up to, but I just sat here on the porch with my rifle in case he got any more crazy ideas. He finally rode off though, headed west. Well, we're after him, Luke. Billy in bad trouble, Marshal? Yeah, it looks like it. I'm sorry to hear that. He's always been a pretty good boy. Why the rest of your men, Luke? Still in dodge, Marshal, spending their pain. Well, you take care of that eye, so long. Goodbye, Marshal. Bye, Luke. Well, there's not much question about Billy now, is there? Yeah, there sure isn't. Start looking for tracks, Chester. Yes, sir, I have been. The ground's still damp from the rain last night. We ought to cut this trail easy. I don't see anything. Now look there, over there. Those are fresh tracks. Yeah, they're fresh, all right, but they lead toward the ranch, not away from it. Yeah. Let's follow them anyway, Chester. What? Come on, let's ride. Chester figured either Billy was riding backwards or I was crazy, but he stopped arguing after a couple of hours, and we rode in silence the rest of the day. Long about dusk, I figured we were catching up with him, but we couldn't afford to lose the trail. And when night came, we made camp. Next morning at daylight, we went on. By noon, it was clear Billy hadn't taken any rest at all. A couple of hours later, we began to wonder how much longer his horse could hold up. This is the dog's dumbest hunt I was ever on. Billy just isn't very smart, that's all. Well, he must be half crazy, beating up Luke Hopkins like that. When a man's in a panic, he'll do almost anything, Chester. Well, you'd think he'd at least have sense enough to rest his horse now, man. That'll be easier for us if he doesn't. Chester, look up ahead there. Hey, by heaven, it's a horse. That's a buckskin. It's not saddled. There isn't a thing around, sir. This side of that bluff, anyway. The bluff's too far away for an ambush. The horse doesn't look very good, does he? He's not even eating. He may never be any good again, a fool kid. Well, he can't be very far away unless he's found another horse. Look at the buckskin's hooves, Chester. Why, he isn't even shawed. Yeah, Billy pulled his shoes when he left him. He sure made a mistake, though. What do you mean? That's what he was doing in Luke's barn, putting the shoes on backwards. Now he's pulled them. He wouldn't fool anybody. All it did was help where his horse out even more. He had me fooled for a while. Anyway, we'll catch him pretty soon now. Well, his tracks lead toward the bluff there. Probably into that clump of trees. Well, if that's where he is, he can see us. All right, we'll ride in from different directions. He can't get both of us. Oh, okay, sure. A half hour later, Chester and I had reached the trees about the same time and without being shot at. There was a spring there and a tiny cabin deserted. One set of footprints led up to the place and two sets led away from it. Billy had taken whoever lived there along with him, figuring there wasn't too much hurry now. We watered our horses and let them breathe for a while. The way I figured, Mr. Dillon, Billy was here about dawn this morning. Well, he won't be far away, not more than 15 or 20 miles at the moose. Unless he's found a horse. Well, that's why he's carrying this saddle, isn't it? Yeah. Only Billy isn't carrying the saddle. What? He's saving his strength. Whoever was in this cabin is doing the hard work. You mean Billy took him along just to carry his saddle? Yeah, he found himself a pack horse, Chester. Mr. Dillon, I'm getting to have less use for Billy dawned every minute. Come on, let's ride him down. Before it's too late for this poor fella, whoever he is. All right, Chester. Those are in good shape. We ought to catch him in a few hours. I sure hope so. You take the side of the trail, Chester. Track about 10 yards behind me. All right, sir. All right, let's go. Don't bother to watch the trail anymore, Chester. It's headed right for that nester's shack there. So keep your eyes open. You think Billy might still be there? He might be. Maybe he's inside, Mr. Dillon. Yeah. Let's spread out a little. Now, wait a minute. The door. Who are you? Are you alone, ma'am? You the law? I'm Marshal Dillon from Dodge. You're too late, Marshal. You mean he's gone? He's gone. Take a look around at the side, Marshal. Right around there. Go on. Look. Both of you. Oh, my goodness, Mr. Dillon. Yeah. He was killed with a knife. I'm not sure he sure was. That's your husband, ma'am? Yeah. I'm sorry it happened, but if it's any comfort to you, we'll catch that boy. I promise you that. Don't matter now. Uh, he had another man with him. Where's he? I've been trying to fix him up. It was near dead when they got here. Poor old Clabe. Clabe? He's 75 years old, Marshal, and that's too old to be used like an animal. Rotten kid. I'd like to talk to him, ma'am. Come on inside. It's all right, Clabe. Marshal Dillon from Dodge. We've known Clabe for 10 years, Marshal, ever since we've been here. Never hurt nobody. Sure. Can you talk a little, Clabe? Uh... I'll be all right, Marshal. I'm just kind of wore out 20 miles packing a saddle in this weather. Fast, too. Had me walk fast. How long to go to the boy leave here? Three, four hours, Marshal. Took our mule, but he won't get far. Oh? He was too old. After 10 miles, just quit. Your husband tried to stop him, is that it? Yeah. Got mad when he saw what the boy had done to Clabe and the boy knifed him. Never gave him a chance. He's wild, crazy. You sure he is, Marshal? Scared, too. I never saw anybody so scared. He's in a real panic, Clabe. But how come he used a knife? That doesn't sound right. Man, it's all he's got, that's why. What? He ain't armed except for that knife. He doesn't have a gun? He took our rifle, but there's no ammunition for it. We'll run out. Took it anyway. But when he came to your place, Clabe, didn't he have a six gun? No, sir. Just that knife. That's all he had. I got an old Navy pistol, but it's busted. I ain't been able to get it fixed. I sure don't understand it, Mr. Dillon. He's like a wild animal. That's what he is. He oughtn't to be loose. He won't be for long, ma'am. Clabe, I hope you'll be all right. I'm... I'm just plum war out. Clabe's going to stay right here, Marshal. Too old to be living by himself anyway. Good. Well, we'll be gone now, ma'am. But, uh... We'll bury your husband first now if you'll just show us where you'd like to have the grave. Thank you, Marshal. The woman wanted her husband buried right where he'd fallen. So we dug the grave there and laid him into it. She watched, straight-faced, without a tear. Then she said goodbye and went back into the house. It was just after Sunday, when we caught up with Billy. Just as the woman had said, the mule had gone 10 miles and quit. Billy saw us coming. Started running across the prairie on foot. His panic had made him as nearly brainless as a man could get. Look at him, Mr. Dillon. Did you ever see anything like this? He's still got a knife, Chester. Hold it, Billy. You can't get away. Right up on the other side of him, Chester. Yes, sir. You've run far enough, Billy. You have to shoot me, Marshal. No, we won't. Take your rope down, Chester. Good idea, sir. All right, Chester, let's rope it. Keep your rope tight. I'll touch you, Marshal. Let's go the night. All right, Chester, slack up a little. All right, drop your rope, Chester. I'll tie him up with it. You're a wild one, Billy. You'll never get me back. I think we will. Let's make him walk back, Mr. Dillon. Come across your horse, Chester. You and I can ride double till we make camp. Maybe that'll calm him down. That Billy won't eat a thing, Mr. Dillon. He's just been crouched over there looking like a cornered animal ever since I woke him up this morning. Still pretty spooky, huh? He sure is. Let's go talk to him. There's some bacon over there, Billy, if you want it. Aren't you hungry, Billy? I didn't kill her, Marshal. Oh? I think you've been running awful hard for an innocent man. I didn't kill her, I tell you. Well, we'll let the judge decide that, Billy. I was waiting for her outside, and I heard the shot. And I went around, and her window was open, and she was lying there. I didn't kill her. Then why did you run, Billy? I knew you'd be after me. I had to get away. I ain't going back to Dodge. I ain't going. Yeah. All right, let's get packed up, Chester. How is he, Chester? He just keeps standing there looking up cell bars, but he did drink some of the coffee last night. I don't know, Chester. Sometimes I think just the act of running itself makes a man afraid. The more he runs, the more panicky he gets. Anyway, getting you healthy, a young boy like Billy? Well, maybe you'll come out of it in time. Morning, Marshal. Yes, sir. Morning, Mr. Green. Now, you're up early, Mr. Green. I heard you brought Billy Donning last night, Marshal, so I figured I'd better turn this over to you. A six-gun? Who's this is? Billy's gun, Marshal. I've been fixed it for him. Billy's gun? That's right, Mr. Dillon. Billy didn't have a gun, remember? How long have you had it, Mr. Green? Well, he brought in the first day he came to town, Marshal. The cylinder was loose, been shaving lead. It's OK now. I fixed it fine. You've had it all the time? Yes, sir. I was just keeping it for him because I heard he'd been arrested. I see. Well, thanks, Mr. Green. I'll see that you're paid for your work. Oh, sure, Marshal. That's all right. Goodbye. Oh, goodbye, Mr. Green. Looks like Billy was telling the truth. Yeah. Are you sure can't convict a man of a shooting if he didn't have a gun? No, sir. But there's that nester he killed. Oh, for nothing. Yes, sir. Alchester, it's pretty hopeless now, but... let's see if we can find out who did kill Kate. Probably just some thief. Heard about her money. Yeah. The direction of Norman McDonnell stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Harley Bear is Chester, Georgia Ellis is Kitty, and Howard McNeer is Doc. Gunsmoke has been selected by the Armed Forces Radio Service to be heard by our troops overseas. 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.