 around Dodge 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. Praying William Conrad. The story of the violence that moved West with young America. The story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. Hi, it's a cold morning, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I'm ready for spring just till the tail end of winter always gets on my nerves. Well, it shouldn't be long now, the worst of it bound be over. I hope so. Here, let's try some Delmonico's here. I'm always ready to eat, Mr. Dillon. And Matt, Chester. Oh, how are you, Kitty? How about you and me? Well, thank you. Pull up a chair, Chester. Yes, sir. You're up early this morning, Matt. Usually you don't even start breathing till noon. It's too cold to sleep, Kitty. A jail stove always burns itself out about five o'clock in the morning from then on, you just have to. Well, what is it, Matt? Chester, that second table from the window over there. Those three men there, you know them? No, sir, I don't think you do. Well, I do. Ran into them about four years ago out in Arizona territory. That's the Pueblo gang. Never heard of them coming this far easy before. Well, you want some help, Mr. Dillon? No, just sit tight, Chester. Matt? Order me some sausage and buckwheat cakes, Kitty. We're going to be right back. I don't want to stay in this town. I don't like it at all. Let's go ahead and do it. Morning, boys. It's the Parks Brothers, isn't it? Ed and Rio and Chuck Evans. Well, what about it? Easy, Rio. It's still in the US Marshall, the one I told you about. Yeah, I bet you did. What'd you tell them, Chuck? Look, Dillon, our food's getting cold. You got something on your mind or not? Nothing important, Rio. I figure it's quite an honor to have the Pueblo gang in town. I just thought I'd drop over and tell you how I felt about it. And how do you feel? Well, that depends, Ed. Are you boys here on business or pleasure? Does it make a difference? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it makes a difference. I know your reputation was to hear. After a stage hold-ups in the last five years in Colorado, the California border can be laid right at your door. As far as I know, you're clean in Dodge City so far. All right, you just keep it that way. You make one move here and your time's up. Right then, you're short, and I'll take you, all three of you. You understand? Sure, we understand. We'll think it over, Dillon. Let you know what we decided to do. Rio, you talk too much. Now, see you around, boys. You can put the gun away, not just it. All right. I'm just going to be ready in case. Ma'am, I thought I'd tell you those boys are mean. They were in the Texas trail last night. They're just downright mean. Yeah, I know. What do we do, Mr. Dillon, run them out of town? Not unless they give us some reason to, Chester. Yes, you're right. The law doesn't say you can hang a man because he might steal a horse. He'll forget it. Let's see, huh? Our old train just about ready to pull off looks like. Yes, on time, it's three o'clock. Be in St. Louis tomorrow night, Chicago the next day. If the engine holds up. They don't break down so much anymore. They're getting them worked out so they're pretty dependable. Yeah, I guess so. You ever get a hankering to take a trip back east, Mr. Dillon, just to see how things have changed? Not me, Chester. I've been on the frontier too long. I'd be lost back there. I wouldn't know how to act. I guess man could get his rope kinked over which fork to use or what to do with it. Oh, how you well? You down watching your competition pull off? LB stagecoach running for a long time to come here. Railroad's not bothering me any. Oh, I'm glad to hear that. Something else is, though. No? Not the stage from Buckeye is more than two hours overdue. I'm getting a little worried. Why, it's usually late, isn't it? Not on this particular day of the month. What's today particular? Gold dust. This is the day those plaster mines out there always shift their cleanup. Charlie's never miss getting it here at three o'clock on time for the eastbound Santa Fe, not once. Who's riding shotgun, Will? Houston Jack? He's a good man. I doubt if there's any cause to worry. That shipment runs $80,000 or $100,000 sometimes, Matt. Never been laid before. Oh, Charlie will probably roll in any minute now. We'll see you later, Will. So long. What do you think, Mr. Dillon? Same as you do, Chester. Let's ride off and meet that stage. I heard a horse went in, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I thought I heard it, too. We must be an hour and a half from town the way the stage runs. I'm sure it is late, all right? I hope late as all it is, Chester. I hope it's not. There. There it is again, Mr. Dillon. I came from that draw over there, somewhere on that sumac ticket. Come on. Come on. Look, Mr. Dillon, wheel tracks meeting off the trail. Yeah. Running of the dead gallop, not a control. Well, Chester, there's the stage. I don't see any sign of life, Mr. Dillon. Well, let's take a look. There's tracks all around. Must have been three or four horses here. Three, the way I'm figuring it. I'll lay any odd you want, if this is some of the... That's Houston Jack, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, shot in the back of the head. And it didn't take any chances. He must have ridden up behind the stage and fired without any warning. That's probably what spooked the horses and started the runaway. Yeah, they shot the lead horse. It's an old trick. Charlie's still up here on the box. They got him, too. Strong box has been forced open. It's empty. All right, Chester, let's cut these horses loose and get them out of the traces of them. Come on, now, boy. It's the same way they used to work it out west. Shoot the guard in the back and let the team run until they're far enough off the trail and then kill the lead horse to stop them. Do we have a little gang? Yeah, who else? That's a good thing I want any passengers. They'd have got the same treatment. All right, there you go, boy. I think there were some passengers, Mr. Dillon. One, at least. What? There's a couple of trunks tied on top and a carpet bag of some kind inside the stage. There, let's have a look. They're the only bodies of the guards and the drivers. Say, maybe one of the gang was riding his passenger. They wouldn't leave trunks behind it. What is it? There's stuff in the carpet bag. It belongs to a woman. There's no woman here? Yeah, I know. I don't know. And they must have taken her. Yeah. It's almost dark. Come on, Cheshire, let's try to pick up their trail. Just no use going any farther, Mr. Dillon. It's too dark to tell what we're doing. Oh, they were heading towards the river here. Let's take a look through these woollies, and if we don't find anything, then we'll ride on back to town. All right. I still keep getting a faint whiff of wood smoke from somewhere. I sure wish we would find the fire getting colder than they can. Wait a minute. Look over there. Well, I swear. It's fire, all right. Our horse left the one, Mr. Dillon. You suppose you're still there? I don't know. Let's leave the horses here and go up on foot, huh? All right, check. There's nothing moving. No signs of life. They couldn't have left too long ago. That fire would have burned itself out. I'd say we're too late, Mr. Dillon. I think they've gone. Yeah, it looks that way, all right. Yeah, a half hour an hour ago. Made a fast camp, stayed long enough to warm up, and then they went. What was that? They're over here, Chester. There's somebody lying on the ground. Help me. Help me, please. Throw some brush on the fire, Chester. Yes, sir. No, it's all right, miss. It is all right now. Three of them robbed the state, killed the driver and the guards, brought me with them. Anything I can do, Mr. Dillon? No, Chester, I'm afraid not. I love it. Chester, get some light over here. Grab one of those branches that's caught fire. I'll let you down in just a second. Easy now, ma'am. Just easy now. It's going to be all right. I plead it with them. Beg them to let me go. Here. Just help him. Yeah, hold it over here. But they wouldn't. They wouldn't let me go. That one's forward. And when they left, they drew their guns and shot me. Easy now. They shot me. You know who they were? One. One named Rio. One called Chuck. They sat on their horses, shot me, then they left. She's in awful bad shape, Mr. Dillon. We ought to get her to dodge. Shot me. And last, but it didn't matter. Not second. It's too late now. Yeah, it's too late. I'll carry her back to Dodge. Get me your saddle blanket, we'll get Chester. You knew her, Mr. Dillon? A long time ago. Then things happened the way they do. Later she married Bill Ford and went out to Colorado. A long time ago. I didn't expect I'd ever see her again. It's a bad thing, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I'm gonna see him hang for it. We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, everybody's got a heart. That's a plenty solid reason for everybody to support with generous contributions to the annual fund drive of the Heart Campaign. Don't forget what your money pays for is aimed at making the sick well and keeping the well from getting sick. Support the Heart Campaign again this year. Now for the second act of gun smoke. Over here, Chester, we'll check the livery stable first. They could have pulled out a course, but I'll lay out as they came straight back into town. You won't take long to find out. Let's go in. Who's there? Who is it? Matt Dillon, is that you, Mr. Calvin? Oh, yeah, sure is, Marshal. Hey, let me get a lantern lit. Just fixing to lock up the stable and go over and grab myself a bite to eat. Running things alone again tonight. Confounded boy didn't show up. That like is not drunk and clean. There. Oh, come on, Marshal. We've got a fire going back in the office. Come on back. Set us up. I'd like to, Calvin, but we don't have time. I'm looking for some horses. I got a Marshal. You want to buy, trade, or hire? Adjust the look. There are three fellas stand over at the Dodge House. They've been there about a week. Ed and Rio Park some Chuck Evans. They keepin' their horses here. There they are, right back here. And if I ever saw a ruination of good horse laces, this is it. There, take a look there. That one belongs to the oldest parks boy, Ed, and the one next to it's Rio's. They've been rode, Mr. Dillon. They've been rode plenty. Yeah, what time they come in, Calvin? About an hour ago, more or less. Gone since four noon, just come back a little while ago. Look at that horse, been rubbed down twice. He's still wet. They didn't say where they'd been today. No, not them, they ain't the talking kind. Just left their horses and went on over the hotel. Wherever they was, though, they must've been ridin' like the devil himself was chasin' them. Well, maybe he was. Well, thanks, Mr. Calvin. Yeah. You're welcome. Well, I guess there's not much doubt of it, Chester. No, sir. It was them, all right? And I could've stopped it before it happened. A man shouldn't be jailed on suspicion, I figured. That's because he might do something wrong. Well, my... Everybody has to play it the way he sees it. Only sometimes you can see it a lot cleaner afterward. What are we gonna do? Go get him, that's all. Well, where do we start lookin'? The Texas Trail. One thing, Chester, before we go in. Now, you leave the play on this to me, huh? Just keep me covered, that's all. Mr. Dylan, what was her name before she was married? Marlowe. Helen Marlowe. All right, come on, let's go. Wow! Well, it was a real dull evening up until now. Hi, you man, Chester. Hi, Miss Kitty Kitty. Uh, I'm lookin' for the Pueblo gang, if any of them been in here. Oh, yeah, one of them's here now. Real talk, she's over there at the ferro table. Well, what's wrong, Matt? What happened? They held up the Buckeye stage, killed Charlie and Houston Jack, and a passenger, a woman, Helen Ford. Ah, no. All right, Chester. Be careful, Miss. Yeah, sure, Kitty. Just cover me, Chester, that's all. Yes, you. 500 says I've got the car. That's too much of a name. Are they gonna cover me or not? What's the matter, you all a bunch of pikers? Maybe they haven't been out robin' stagecoaches, Rio. What do you mean by that? Maybe they don't make that livin' by killin' women. Dillon, the man could get in trouble shooting off his mouth that way. You're already in trouble. All right, boys, Rio's checkin' in his hand, the game's over. You can slide out at the end of the table over there. You're under arrest for murder, Rio. I know what you're talkin' about, Dillon. Murder. A murder that you're gonna hang for. Now, where are the other two? Go find them if you want them. There's no one to as soon as I finish with you. I said you're under arrest, Rio, and I get your hands up. Oh, isn't that dull? You're not gonna make any play. You don't have the guts. Shootin' a man in the back is more your line, Rio. You're killin' a woman. I'll get your hands up. That's better. All right, Chester, get his gun. Seems like it's gettin' colder, Mr. Dillon. Clear as a bell, though. Look at that moon. Where do you suppose they are? You've been in nearly every saloon on Front Street. I don't know, Chester, but wherever they are, we're gonna find them. And you know something, Mr. Dillon? When we do arrest the other two, they're as good as hung with the evidence we got on them. I haven't arrested them yet. Maybe their mother, too, won't be takin' as easy as Rio. That's up to them. If they want to surrender, they can. I've never shot a man with his hands up. Ben's barber shop over there. The man that he's shavin'. It's kinda hard to tell, with all that lather on it. No, I said, Parks, come on. And there's just him and Ben in the shop. Wonder where Chuck Evans is. We'll worry about him later. Just help yourself, Susie, gentlemen. Be ready for you just to see the whole evening, Marshal. How you been? I didn't know you were in the habit of shavin' outlaws. Well, maybe you're mistaken, Marshal. You just have a seat there. No, I recognize him, all right. It's Ed Parks. Well, it looks like you got the advantage of me, Dillon. No, we can't have that, Ed. Like the lather of his face, Ben. Yes, sir. Sure thing, Marshal. Just a second, now, Mr. Parks. There you are. It's too bad you have to leave that shave half-finished, Ed. But they'll give you a free one just before they hang you. What are you talking about, Dillon? Now, gentlemen... Get your under arrest for murder. Get your hands up. Your brother's waiting for you at the jail. You arrested real? What about the hands, Ed? Are you gonna put them up? Don't dirty kiddo! Huh? That was a fast move for a barber, Ben. I knew he had a gun under the towel, Marshal, but, of course, he couldn't say anything about it. Oh, thank you, Ben. And if you'll send the bill for your shaven mug to the stage company, they'll probably take care of it for you. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. Chester, spill some water on him. I want him to walk to jail. I'll bet Chuck Evans got clean away, Mr. Dillon. The word must've got to him. Well, he had to do it awful fast. I'll tell him in less than ten minutes. Kelvin? The light must hurt his eyes. He never keeps a lantern burning. I'm afraid of fire, maybe. Kelvin? Are you there, Kelvin? Yes. What's wrong? Who is it? Matt Dillon. Strike a light a man could pull over something this stable and break his neck. All right, all right. I just don't get excited. I'm used to it myself. I don't know who just for everything he is and don't see any point in wasting oil. Now, what's on your mind, Marshall? Chuck Evans is his horse still here. Indeed, he most certainly is. As a matter of fact, he's back there, saddling up right now. Good. I told him it seemed like a full time of night to start out on a trip back. You can't reason with anybody that treats horses the way that bunch does. I guess not. Kelvin? Go on answering. Yes? Give me a hand back here, will you? Tell him yes. All right. I'm coming. What's this all about, Marshall? Nothing to get yourself worked up about. Just stay right here and stay out of the way. All right, Chester. Yes. We've got a lantern back there at the stall. Yeah. We'll write about one thing, Chester. He's trying to leave, Tom. Give me a hand with this, Kelvin. I can't seem to get the... You've gone somewhere, Chuck. Now look, look, Dylan. You've got nothing on me. Lay off. The Parks boys are in jail. I don't know anything about it, Dylan. You can't prove a thing and you can't shoot me. I'm not even wearing a gun. It's hanging there on the saddle horn. Yeah. So I see. If the other boys did something, I don't know anything about it. You're a liar, Chuck. And you're a coward. You've got no call to talk like that. Now you're under arrest. Chester, get his gun off the saddle. Look out, Mr. Dylan, he's got another gun. I'll kill you, Dylan. Help me. You're scared, Chuck. You're too scared to shoot straight. Help me. Well, I guess that does it, Chester. Come on. Well, where is it, Marshall? What happened? Evans is dead. The Parks boys are going to hang your short three customers, Kelvin. Well, who's going to pay the stable bill? The stable bill? You got their horses, sell them. Oh, yeah, I never thought of that. Well, it serves them right. Anybody that would treat a horse, weigh that bunch. I guess it's over, Mr. Dylan. Yeah, it's over, Chuck. And it's just as well. This country would be a lot better off with them fellas dead than alive. I guess so. Even the moon looks brighter. Yeah. Mr. Dylan, you're still thinking you should have jailed him on suspicion, aren't you? You know, I'd have half a dodge in jail if I started that. No, Chester, it's a kind of a chance a lawman has to take. Yes, sir. Whether he likes it or not. Yes, sir. But I'm not liking it much right now. In the morning, I'm going to have a talk with a preacher about holding a service for Helen. It's about all I can do for her now. Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. Tonight's story was especially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Tom Tully, Paul Dubov, John Boehner, Harry Bartel, and Louise Lewis. Parley Bear is Chester, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. Gunsmoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. 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. More Godfrey. Yes, starting tomorrow on most of these same CBS radio stations, there will be more Arthur Godfrey and his gang presented by CBS Radio for our Sunday listeners. Folks who are regular Arthur Godfrey fans know there's been a 30-minute roundup of Arthur Godfrey time Sundays at the Star's Address, but starting tomorrow, there'll be 30 minutes more with Arthur Godfrey and all the wonderful Arthur Godfrey gang. This is Roy Rowan speaking. And remember, Lionel Barrymore is your host on the Sunday Night Playhouse. On the CBS Radio Network.