 With action and suspense out of the Old West comes the most famous hero of them all, Hopalong Cassidy, starring William Boyd. The ring of the silver spurs harrows the most amazing man ever to ride the prairies of the early West, Hopalong Cassidy. The same hoppy you cheer in motion pictures, and the same California you've laughed at a million times. Raw courage and quick shooting have built a legend around this famous hero. Hopalong is a name to be feared, respected and admired. For this great cowboy rides the trails of adventure and excitement. William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy and Andy Clyde as California. Well Hoppy, what about our story? This one we call the Frightened Town. It was a day of heat, it was hot as an oven. In the town of Bledsoe there was no movement out in the open. Even the door to the saloon hung limply, sagging on its hinges. There was hatred here and violence in the making. Embedded in the brains of men who faced one another from opposite ends of the dusty street. There were dozens of them, rivals in a range war. And on the porch of the hotel, a woman shed tears and spoke bitterly to a man who held in his hand a small black bag. And I say you have to think of me and the baby. I'm a doctor. Down the street there's a man who's been hurt. I'm obliged to go here. But you'll never get there. You've been told to be shot at his death. I'm a doctor. I'm obliged to go. Even though it means making a widow out of me. Saxon might not have meant what he said. Saxon always means what he says. He'll shoot you down like a dog the moment you set foot off the porch. Just the same. Morning, doc. Hello, Cassidy. And good morning to you, ma'am. Or maybe I should say good afternoon. I slept so late I got no idea what time it is. We rode practically all night to get here. California and I, uh... Say, am I interrupting something between you two? No, Cassidy. I have a call to make. That's all. I'm going to make it now. Oh, John, wait! There is something wrong, isn't there? There's something wrong with the whole town. Yes, there's a lot wrong. The town has split apart. Stuart Saxon and his riders are holding one end and the Lane Brothers and their men are holding the other. Now, how did that ever come about? Both outfits rode in about two hours ago. That means they've finally decided to fight it out. It means more than that. It means my husband is going to lose his life just because he insists on going over to Clement's barn. I have to go, Cassidy. Ralph Lane is over there with a bullet in his chest. No reason why you shouldn't go, is there? There's every reason. Stuart Saxon was here when John got the message. He promised John he'd be shot if he sets foot in the street. So lest we've talked enough, Ralph Lane could die just because of delay. I'm going right now. Wait a second, doc. Wait, Stu Saxon hates the Lane. He's likely to carry out that threat if you walk right down the middle of the street. I've got to get to that barn. There's a more sensible way of going about it. We can climb over the side of this porch and slip through Bradshaw's door. Then we'd only have a short dash across the street. You mean you'll go with my husband, Mr. Cassidy? You'll help him? Well, Ralph Lane is sort of a friend of mine. Maybe I'd be helping him a little too. Come on, doc. This thing seems a little funny to me, doc. Those two outfits never seem to want to show down before. I wonder what got into them all of a sudden. Festering sawers have to come to a head sooner or later. Here, doc, through the door. Well, if it ain't hop along Cassidy and he comes sneaking in my side door... Well, let down be that's the only safe way to go moving around this town right now, Marty. That's right. That sure is right. Still lifting those heavy sacks, Marty, huh? I warned you about that. I'm not gonna hurt myself, doc. I can lift a pony without hurting myself. Well, what can I do for you, gents? Nothing right now, Marty. We're just passing through to Clemens Barn. You mean you're gonna try crossing that street? That's it. Well, it's your next, I guess. Range Wars. Why don't they fight them out in the grass somewhere? Look what it does to me. I get in the first shipment of flour I've had in months. And there ain't been a soul in here to buy any. Everybody's scared. Except them sweat-lathered galutes that think they have to shoot something out. All set, doc. All set, Cassidy. What's the plan? We'll make a run for it, but not together. I'll go first to that corner by the barber shop. I'll cover you from there. But don't start till I signal. It ought to be one of us sitting in this bar butchere. Don't you think, Mr. Saxon? Make it look, uh, natural. Never mind that. Keep watching. Ralph Lane is hurt, and I intend to see that he stays that way. If that doctor shows himself, I want him gunned down. Mr. Saxon. What is it? Man, fixing to come across. It's Cassidy, bar 20. Let him come. I don't care about anybody but that doctor. You men wait for him, and then don't miss. Now back to Hop along Cassidy and our story, The Frightened Town. Hop, he crouches a moment along the side wall of the barber shop, his breath a little hurried from his dash across the street. He looks up and down, is about to lift his arm in a signal to the doctor, when a voice reaches out to him from halfway down the alley. What do you think you're doing? California. What you come from? I've been kicking around, and I know something that maybe you ought to know. Yeah? What's that? This is a mad dog's town, and you've got no business sashaying across the street like that. I've got a job to do, and I'd better be taking care of it. Now hold it, Hoppy. Well, now what? Before you do anything, maybe you ought to know that Stu Saxon's in this here barber shop, with three of his gunslingers. California? There are times when you're a right-handy fella to have around. Yeah, yeah. What's your plan now, Hoppy? Well, my hair isn't too long, but I could use a haircut. So I think I'll step inside and see if I can get one. Oh, Hoppy, Hoppy, wait! All right, Cassidy, what do you want? Well, if it isn't Doad Wintrum. Who are your friends, Doad? Stranges around here, aren't they? You've heard of them, Cassidy. Jeff Ennis, Maveline Kansas, and Reb Maxwell from Texas. Sure, I've heard of them. And I don't figure Stu Saxon hired them to punch cattle. Where is Saxon, by the way? He was here, but he left. Why? Nothing important. Where's the barber? He left, too. Doad. The doc? Yeah, I think he's going to make a run for it. We got our orders. What kind of orders, Doad? Stay out of this, Cassidy. I wouldn't want anything to happen to Doc Morgan now or at any other time. Like I said, we got our orders. I'd say it was too hot to worry about orders. We are working for Stu Saxon, Cassidy. If you're smart, you'll back out of here while you're still on your feet. I'm staying, Doad. I got a personal interest in Doc Morgan's welfare. Doc, Doad, he's going to start. Let Ennis take him with his rifle. I'll watch Cassidy. I'm warning you, Doad. Don't try to stop us. Why you... Watch it, Maxwell. I ain't making no more. Puffy, yeah. I'm all right, California. Yeah, yeah, you're all right. But winter meets are good and that other fella... What about the doc? He came running across the street and ducked over to Clemens Barn. Why was this all about him? They were going to kill him. He's all right, Mrs. Morgan. Oh, John, they shot him, didn't they? Your husband's all right, Mrs. Morgan. And where is he? He's over at Clemens Barn, ma'am. I've seen him go there. Oh, I want to go to him. I never should have let him come along. But I get so afraid. We can go to him, Mrs. Morgan. I get so afraid. Why can't these men do their fighting away from town? Away from our homes and children. That's a good question, Mrs. Morgan. Maybe we should ask them. Let's go over to Clemens Barn and see what Leif Lane has to say about it. Get that jerk. And hop along Cassidy. Well, let him in. My husband here, Mr. Lane. Is he all right? He's here, ma'am, and he's all right. He's working on my brother. What was that shooting a while ago? Some men tried to kill my husband. Hop along Cassidy stopped him. And I'll bet he did it permanent. Glad to have you around, Hoppy. Leif, how's your brother? Better ask the doctor. That's a bad wound. But he's going to be all right. I'm relieved to see you still alive, Cassidy. And I heard those shots. What kind of a play was it, Hoppy? It's all the same to you, Leif. I'd rather talk about something else. Such as what? You like this town, don't you? Sure, I like it. Why? And why didn't you arrange to fight Saxon's outfit somewhere else? Why didn't I hold now? Hold on, Hoppy. You talk as if I planned this kid together. Tuesday happens to be my regular day to come to town. Do you always bring 20 riders with you? If my men want to come, they come. It's up to them. But if you think I want them to get shot up, you're crazy. Why, Ralph and I need every hand we have to drive beef to Abilene. If we don't make that drive in a few weeks, Ralph and I are going broke. Then leave town right now. Get your outfit out of here. You know I can't do that, Hoppy. I'd be called Yeller from here to Rio Grande. Anyway, I'm here to buy food. Why, Marty Bradshaw's got a new shipment of flour. It's the first we had in weeks. We need bacon and coffee. Why, my boys have been eating beef even for breakfast. Would you agree to a truce, Leif? Truce? Sure. I'd agree to a truce if Saxon would. Those don't sound like the makings of a truce to me. It's Marty Bradshaw, boss. Yeah, yeah, it's Marty Bradshaw, and I've got trouble for you, Leif. You can't bring me any more trouble than I already have. That's where you're wrong, because it's up to you to decide what's going to happen to this town. What are you talking about? I've got a message for you. Fella just came into the store with it. It's two Saxons sore about hop along Cassidy, gunning down two of his men. He says you've got to turn Cassidy over to him inside of an hour. It'll be 45 minutes from now. And if I don't, then Saxon says he's going to set fire to the whole Galdurn town. Now back to hop along Cassidy and our story, The Frightened Town. A message has just been delivered to the camp of Leif Lane and his riders. A demand that Hoppy be turned over to Stu Saxon to answer for the shooting of two of Saxon's gunmen. You can't do it, Mr. Lane. It would be downright murder. I have no intention of doing it, Mrs. Morgan. Hop along Cassidy stays right here. Ah, wait a minute. Let's talk this over sensibly. How can you be sensible with a mad dog? That's just the point. Stu Saxon is all riled up. You cross him on this, he might do like he says. Set fire to the town. Let him burn it up. I'm not turning you over. But I know what I am going to do. Chuck, get the boys all together in a bunch. Mind telling me your plan, Leif? Well, Saxon said he'd wait an hour. Well, he's going to get something inside of an hour. I'm taking my boys up the street, right at him. You'd be wiped out. Just the same. Just the same? Why don't you listen to me? Well, the weedlanker than not Saxon has to have his way. Oh, now listen, Hoppy. And he's going to have his way. He's going to see me. But I'm not going to be delivered to him. I'm going in under my own power and in my own way. Hoppy, you can't do it. I don't aim to let you do it. Well, Hoppy's got a plan, Leif. Sure I've got a plan. I want a chance to talk to Stu Saxon. I'm not going to let you do it. Quiet down, you old coyote. What I do with my own time is my own affair. Right now I'm paying a visit on Stu Saxon. Where's he staked out, Marty? Am at Saloon. Fine. I'm thirsty. This will give me a chance to get a glass of char spirella. I'm coming with you, Hoppy. Let's get going, then, California. Hoppy, what is it, California? I don't think you're playing it smart, walking along here this way. Why not? Saxon said he wanted to see me and I'm obliging him. Well, maybe, but I think I saw him. California, I see what you mean. It seems to me that delivering myself into the presence of Stu Saxon isn't going to be as simple as he made it sound. I'm going to talk here and I can't hear myself think. Where's Maxwell? I hear you, Saxon. There's something about you I can't quite figure out. Yeah? What's that? You let Cassidy plant slugs in both Winterham and Jeff Ennis. You don't do anything about it. Saxon, it's like I told you before. I wasn't wearing a pistol, and I stood three jumps from my sharps. We ride into this town for a showdown fight, and you go around with nothing but a rifle. I've been faving a sore leg. That's why I've been leaving off my gun belt. Ah, see, you got it on now. That's right. And the next time Cassidy and me come together, it'll be different. Why make anything different? Cassidy! Why not keep everything calm and peaceful? I'm wearing a gun too, Maxwell. I'm wearing two guns. But I won't grab for them if everybody will stay relaxed. How did you get in here? I heard you wanted to see me. So I came up an alley and over a fence. Then I climbed in a window. California? Climbing back at your company. That's what I wanted to know. Maxwell? Yeah? You just said that the next time you and Cassidy come together, it'll be different. That's right. I did. This looks like the time. That's right. It does. And now you're wearing a pistol. That's right. I am. We're waiting, Maxwell. All right, Cassidy. Make your play. I came here for talking, not gunfighting. Make your play, Cassidy. Don't be foolish, Maxwell. There's no need for us to kill one another. All right. If you won't take your chance, I'll take mine. No! You see, Saxon, I told you it'd be different. You push a lot of power, Saxon. Not the force of man to go to his death. Webber, Barney! I got guns in my hands and I'm going to keep them there. You don't think you're going to get out of here alive, do you, Cassidy? I said I came here to talk. I still feel the same way. All right. Talk. You had no call to force the lanes into a fight. They haven't been crowding you. Me? Me, force them into a fight? You don't know what you're talking about. They set up this showdown. They came into town to get food. That's the only reason. And read this note I got from Leif Lane. They got California. Sure, sure, but I ain't so good at the cycle. You do all right. What does it say? Let's see. Stu Saxon, I dare you to bring your outfit into town for showdown. I'll be there with my boys on Tuesday. Leif Lane. That's right. He'd come to me sealed up as fancy as a valentine. Now, what do you say to that, Cassidy? I can't believe it. Leif Lane said he wanted no part of a fight. And he's a liar. And there's the proof in black and white. Suppose someone else wrote this letter. Someone who wanted you on the lanes to have a showdown. Why would anyone want to do that? I don't know. I'm going to try to find out. Would you make a bargain with me? I'm not bargaining with anybody. Let me make a point, Saxon. It'd be all wrong to force a big fight in this town. There are too many women and children here. That can't be helped. It can be helped by calling off the fight. That's impossible. Suppose Leif Lane didn't write this note. Would you be willing to call it off then? What for? Running to some kind of a trick? Lane has never pulled a trick in their lives and you know it. I'm not making any bargains. All right. Now, what's the idea of putting away your guns? I'm putting them away to give Saxon the same break Max was willing to give me. Go off your gun, Saxon. You're crazy. I'm waiting, Saxon. I'll say it again, Saxon. I'm waiting. I don't stand a chance with you. Every man here knows that. Then bargain with me. All right. What's your play? I'll take this letter to Leif Lane. If he gives his word that he didn't write it, you're to call off the fight. All right. I agree. You hear them two shots from up the street? Yeah, I hear them. I'll give odds that was hop along Cassidy getting a dose of lead poisoning. Maybe. Two shots. One for Cassidy and one for his pal. I don't know. We ain't gonna take that land down, are we, boss? Cassidy has my promise not to do anything till he gets back. You heard them shots. Cassidy ain't coming back. First it's your brother and now it's Cassidy and his pal. Now that Saxon hombre is chipping us off one by one just because we stayed hold up in here and don't do nothing about it. Now take it easy, Chuck. We've been taking it easy for almost half a day. You've got us all with you, boss. Let's move in and take that Saxon outfit apart. I promise, Cassidy, I'd wait for him. You heard them shots. What more do you have to know? Give us the word. That's all I'm asking. Well, let me take a look outside. Come on. If you think you're gonna see Cassidy again, you're wrong. Cassidy didn't want the town shut up. Cassidy is dead. It's either the town or us. Take a look up that street. You don't see him there, do you? No, I don't see him, but I... Oh, Chuck, I'm here. Curly, Ben, give me a hand. What happened? Hey, get laid. Let's get him inside. Come on, swing that door, Curly. Where's the dock? I'm right here, Chuck. Put him down on that pile of hay. Hold him easy, Ben. Easy. Oh, John, he's badly hurt. One of you men put a fire under some more water. Ask your wife to do that, will you, Doc? Me and the boys, we've got another job on tap. We're gonna tie into Saxon and his gang. No. No, that's just what Mr. Cassidy didn't want. Begging you pardon, ma'am. I'm boss now, and I say we fight him. They've hurt Ralph and Leif Lane. They've killed Hopalong Cassidy. Oh, I wouldn't say that, Chuck. Mr. Cassidy. Oh, thank heaven. What's been going on? I heard a shot on the way over. They've plugged the boss. Plugged him bad. What about it, Doc? The bullet on it up her arm. Went into his chest. Wasn't similar to his brother's. Can he talk? Not now, Cassidy. He's unconscious. Hoppy, me and the boys are going after Saxon. I was thinking you might want to join us. Leif wouldn't want you to go after Saxon. Leif ain't gonna hold anybody to that now, Hoppy. After Saxon, gun them down. Brad Shaw's right. We're calling for a showdown. What was Leif doing when he was shot? Standing outside with me, looking up the street toward Emmett Saloon. And it doesn't look as though Saxon's outfit did it. What do you mean? The doc said the bullet went through Leif's arm and into his chest. What are you getting at, Hoppy? Leif was shot from the side, the right side. Which means the shot couldn't have come from up the street. But it could have come from one of the stores. Maybe even yours, Marty. My store? Yeah, I guess it could. When a Saxon's boys must have taken themselves out there. Where were you when Leif was shot? In here. I've been here ever since you left. Why? What, Mrs. Morgan? Nothing, I... I just thought Marty left for a few minutes. Oh, no, Mrs. Morgan. This barn is so dark you just didn't see me over at the other end. Mind if I have a look at the inside of your store, Marty? I'd be glad to have you take a look at it. Come on. What do you expect to find in my store, Cassidy? Well, if the Lane Brothers were shot from one of your windows, there might just be a rifle lying around that did the job. I sure would like to get this cleared up. It isn't helping my business. This feud has to be stopped quickly before more people have led in them. After you, Cassidy. Hey, what is this? Don't try to pull away, Cassidy. Or I'll break your arm. And I've got the power to do what you ought to know that. You ain't gonna do so well without your guns, are you, Cassidy? What do you expect to gain with this, Bradshaw? Time to get away. Let him pound out there. This place was built to keep people out when I didn't want them in. And right now it's locked up from cellar to roof. You'll never get away, Marty. Won't I? Tie you up with some of this rope, set this place a fire, and I'll have all the excitement I need. All I need to cover me. You're a strong man, Marty, but right now you're taking on too much work. You still feel powerful, Marty? What? Yeah, come on in, boys. Marty Bradshaw's holding open house. Back to Hop along, Cassidy. Hello, Cassidy. How's Leif doing, Doc? Oh, he's conscious now. Here, I'm looking around again, Hoppy. Thanks to the doc. What's doing? I just talked with Stu Saxon. He's taking his boys out of town. And it might be that if you got together with him sometime, the pair you could patch up your argument. You done a great job, Hoppy. Now, there's something I wish I could figure out. What's that, Chuck? Why Marty Bradshaw would want to start a fight. Well, I still don't know how right I am, but I've had the feeling that if things went wrong with Elaine Ranch, Marty Bradshaw stood the profit by it. I sure he did. Marty's been holding a short-term note of ours. That's why he's been so worried about getting that beef to Marty. Oh, so that was it. Marty figured that by prodding us into a showdown with Saxon, he could mess up everything and make the ranch go broke. Yeah, yeah, but how'd you happen to know it was Marty Bradshaw, Hoppy? Well, California was that note he sent the Stu Saxon all sealed up fancy like. You know what it was sealed with? I'll be dog-combed. You don't mean... That's right, flour and water. And nobody else has had any flour around here for weeks. Marty Bradshaw told us that himself. And so Hoppy brings to an end another exciting story. Hoppy is called his next story, The Killer in Black, and he warns us that it's quite a mystery. So be sure to be with us, won't you? Hoppilon Cassidy, starring William Boyd, is transcribed and produced in the West by Walter White Jr. The Frightened Town was written by Buckley Angel. All stories are based upon the characters created by Clarence E. Mulford. This is a Commodore production.