 Around Dodge City and in the territory on West, there's just one way to handle the killers of 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, 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. This is Frank Knight speaking for the world's most honored watch, Laund Jean. When the West was being won, Laund Jean was there. Old records show sales of Laund Jean watches in the silver mining towns of Colorado and Nevada, the gold mining areas of California. A fine gold watch, preferably a Laund Jean, was one of the first luxuries purchased by a lucky prospector, for then as now the name Laund Jean identified the world's most honored watch. Laund Jean watches won their first World's Fair grand prize in 1878, won grand prizes in Paris, Brussels, Philadelphia, and at many other places. Right now, Laund Jean watches are winning comparable successes in the accuracy competitions in European national observatories. Today, you'll needn't make a gold strike to own a Laund Jean. Many beautiful models for ladies and gentlemen are priced as low as $75. Visit your authorized Laund Jean with no jeweler. He will be honored to serve you. Get back inside. Close the door. I don't know. Be quiet. I'm free. Open the door. Let him in. Open the door. Hey, let me hide. Will you let me hide? Don't let him get me. Your boy, mister. You hurt? No, you's trying to hide, Rourke. I'm going to shoot him, please. You shot a dying man. He wasn't dying long. You shot him in the back. He was still dead. You're the right smart boy, ain't you? Where's your daddy? Dad. Let the boy talk. Where's your daddy, I said? He's dead. Hmm. You two living here all alone? We ain't scared. Of course you ain't. Too bad I had to have it right in your kitchen, ma'am. Rourke has had that coming a long time. What are you going to do, mister? Well, just nothing, ma'am. Nothing at all if you'll let me. What do you mean? You just remember this was my affair. Mine and Rourke's. And now I'll walk right on out of here. Forget about it. As long as you do forget about it. Marshall's going to come after you. You're not happy. Yeah, like I said, he's a real smart boy, ain't he, ma'am? I guess you're right, though. I guess he does talk a much too much. No, no, he don't talk. I don't. I'm glad to hear that. Because it'd be a shame for a bright boy like that to get his throat cut because he didn't know when to keep his mouth shut now, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? He won't talk. I promise. That's good. Real good. And both of you just stand quiet till I get away from here. Won't be no trouble. What about him? I forgot my manners. Well, I guess I'd better get him out of here. Foxy, in the world are you doing it? Oh, Doc. What are you digging there? Is that a grave? Grave? Oh, my goodness. Doc, don't talk like that. This here is a garden. A what? A garden. It looks more like a buffalo wallow. Does Matt know that you're doing this right outside of his back door? No, he don't. I'm kind of surprising him. Besides, I ain't hurting nothing, Doc. You're spading up the dirt. I can see that. Let me show you how my garden's going to be. Now, see, right here is where the beans is going. And here is the carrot. And yonder's pea. I don't see anything. Well, they ain't planted yet, but I got everything ready. All I need now is a seed. Now, where did this garden idea come from? You. Oh, what do you mean? Well, sure. Don't you remember that time you was talking, Mr. Dillon, about how people eat out here on the front here and how they might get scull-rich? Scullery. Yeah, from not eating enough greens and sardines. Oh, yeah. Oh, that scurvy chest. Not scullery, Dillon. Well, whatever it is, I got to thinking on it and decided to do something about it so I don't get that disease of me. Oh, I know. Well, that's fine, yes. But as I remember it, that talk we had was months ago. That's right. It was. And I've been worrying about it to everything. Oh, you're a man of action. The trouble is I'm broke. Plum. I can't buy no seed. Oh, a seed? Well, let me see. Oh, no, no, no, and I don't look at me. Well, now, Doc, you'd like a plate of greens every now and then, wouldn't you? Well, sure I will, but not enough to pay for the seed. You might get scullery, Doc. That scurvy chest, and I won't get it. Wouldn't pay very much by them seeding for Mr. Dillon. It's just a few pennies is all, Doc. And then none of us would never have to worry. Well, not just to now. Suppose you did get those seeds. Now, you think everything that you planned is going to bloom like a sunflower? Well, my gracious. Doc, this ain't no problem. You just kind of push him a little seed in the ground and for you know it, you got that. Oh, oh, my. You're quite a farmer. All right, now, Doc, ain't no need to smart off. All right. All right, Justin. All right, here's some money. There. Now, go and get your seed. Well, thank you, Doc. And from now on, you're half owner of this garden. You can have part of whatever I grow free. Oh, well, that's good enough, Justin. Pretty warm. It usually is in the sun. Must be near noon. Yeah, let me see. It's just about quarter to 12. Quarter to 12. My gracious, I'm going to be late. Late? Well, you're good. Or to meet Mr. Dillon at Del Monaco. Lunch, all right. What about our garden? I'll get to it, Doc. But after all, if Doc ain't had no green vegetables for all this time, it ain't going to hurt us none the way a little longer. I don't mind a man making money, Mr. Dillon, to buy jing I don't think he should be making it all off of me. Oh, what do you mean, Chester? Why that, Zach Holden? Charging 15 cents for a meal like that. I swear that steak still had a piece of the hide on it. Oh, prices are going up, Chester. You just got to face it. But it's getting so, the man don't hardly have nothing left after feeding himself a little, and that's a fact. What's the honor, Mr. Dillon? There's a lady going into the office. Uh-huh. Reckon what she wants. And if she's like most women, we won't be long and finding out. Uh, you wanted to see me, ma'am? You're, you're the Marshal? Yes, and that's right, Matt Dillon. Uh, this is Chester Proudfoot. How you do, ma'am? How did you? Uh, I'm Cora Meadows, Marshal. My boy and I live out west of town, the peace. Oh, won't you sit down, Ms. Meadows? Thank you. Uh, Mr. Dillon? Yeah, what, Chester? As long as you and Ms. Meadows is going to be talking for a spell, I believe I'll just go on back and see Zach Holden about charging that outlandish price for a meal. It's still sticking in my craw. All right, Chester, you do that. Excuse me, ma'am. Now, Ms. Meadows? Marshal, I don't rightly know what to do. Well, I suppose you just tell me what's the matter. Well, that's just it, Marshal. I'm afraid of what'll happen if I tell you not. I'm afraid of what'll happen if I don't. You need help? Yes, Marshal. I need help, all right. Uh-huh. Uh, just speak right out. Well, it's my boy. My boy, Tad, that he's missing. Oh. I think he's taken out after that man, and he'll kill the boy if he sees him, and he'll kill me if he knows I've been here. Oh, wait a minute. Uh, what man are you talking about? The one that shot that fella out to my place yesterday. He shot him down just like it was an animal. You were telling me there was a killing there yesterday and that your son may have gone after the murderer? Yes, Marshal, I am. Well, I think you better go back to the beginning and tell me the whole story. Did he tell you where the man was drugged from, Mr. Dillon? Yeah, out the kitchen door, Chester. The track should be along here somewhere. Yeah, sure. Ah, over here, Chester. See there? Looks like heel marks. Yeah. Beating over them bushes. Yeah, they sure do. Come on. I've taken much time with him. What do you mean, good? It took the trouble to bury him. And when a man shoots you in the back, he's not going to worry about your funeral, Chester. I've seen him before, Mr. Dillon. He was at the long branch a lot playing cards. Yeah, it's a gambler by the name of Rourke. I guess the bury ends up to us. Yes, sir. I came as soon as I got your message, Doc. Is there something wrong? Yes, Matt, there is. Come to the other room. Huh? It's this youngster, Matt. I found him by the roof. Oh, what's the matter with him? He's been beaten. Cruely, brutally beaten. I don't even know if I could bring him out of it for a while, eh? Do you say who he is? No, and that's a funny thing, Matt. He hasn't talked at all. He's been conscious most of the day, but he won't say a word. I guess you can blame him. The way we did this was trying to scare him to death, even if it didn't quite kill him. Is it okay if I try to talk to him? Well, I guess you won't hurt him if you don't talk. You know who he is? Yeah, I think so. Hello, Tad. Tad, I'm Marshall Dillon. Now, you don't have to turn your head away, Tad. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you and help your mother. Now, you want me to catch the man who did this, don't you? I can do it if you'll help me. Look, Tad, I promise you won't get hurt anymore, and I promise that your mother won't get hurt either. Tad, look, the only way to be sure that you're safe is to bring this man in. There's not gonna answer that. No, I guess not. All right, Doc, let's leave him alone. I think you're gonna keep him here, Jack. Oh, expect to be up by tomorrow if he's quiet. The boy recovers many fasts. Uh, would he be well enough to stay in town with the kitty for a few days? Sure, man, I guess so, but if you know who he is, why don't you take him home? Well, I'll tell you later, Doc, but, uh, there are a couple of people I want to see first. Oh, Marshall, get you a drink. No, thanks, Sam. There's Kitty around. She's upstairs, Marshall. I'll have you down in a minute or two. Oh, well, I'll go on up. Thanks. Sure. You looking for me? Ah, yeah, I'd like to talk to you, Kitty. I'm coming down. All right. Come on over to a table and sit down. No, no, thanks, Kitty. I haven't got time. I would ask you to do a favor for me. Well, sure, ma'am. What is it? I want you to take care of a small boy for me for a couple of days. A boy? Yeah. What is he, a runaway? No, not exactly, but, uh, I'd like to have you keep him around the long branch for a day or two and give him the run of the place. It doesn't sound exactly like the best surroundings for a young boy, man. You're going to have to trust my judgment, Kitty. Will you do it for me? Well, sure. I guess so. If you want me to... I do want you to. I'll explain later. Yeah. Thanks, Kitty. Sure, ma'am. Tad, is it about Tad? Yes, it is, ma'am. I'm pretty sure we found him. Well, where is he? Is he all right? He's at Doc Adams' office. Doc? He's all right now, Miss Meadows, but, uh... I mean, he's had a bad beating. Beat him? I think the killer beat him to keep him quiet. And it worked because Tad won't talk to anybody. I'll go get him, Marshal. I'll fetch him home. Well, that's what I want to talk to you about, Miss Meadows. I'd like to keep the boy in town for a few days. No, a sick boy belongs in his own home. I'll go get him right now. Now, will you listen to me for a minute, Miss Meadows? You've got to understand that as long as this man is on the loose, neither you or Tad is going to be safe. Well, we're not going to get mixed up in that no more, Marshal. Me and Tad will stay right out here and never say a word more. Yeah, but if the killer gets worried about you, it won't matter where you are, especially if he knows that you've been to see me. I shouldn't have come. No, you did right to come, Miss Meadows. And if you let me keep Tad in town for a few days, maybe we can get this man. Now, I'm pretty sure that he's a gambler, and he'll be back. You mean you want Tad to help you? Well, he won't know anything about it, ma'am. He'll be perfectly safe. Oh, no, Marshal. You've got no right. I'm not talking about rights, ma'am. I'm talking about... I'm talking about maybe saving your life and your boy's life, too. I want him here at home. Now, you just let him recognize that gunman for us, and he'll be home safe and for good. He's been hurt bad enough already. He won't be hurt, ma'am. Now, Chester or I will be watching him every minute. And as soon as it's over, I'll bring him right home. Tad's a good boy. He never had a beating before. Well, I want to see that he doesn't ever have another one. One thing about playing poker that you might well learn right off. It ain't so much what you've got in your hand as what folks think you've got. Do you understand that? I think so, Mr. Proffler. Some folks just has a face for it, and that's a fact. Now, you know, lots of folks call me poker because nobody don't never know what I got in my hand. Give me one card, please. All right. Now, don't you let on what you've got. Now, that's good. That is good. You ain't letting on one bit. Now, I'll take one myself. Hey! It wasn't like this wouldn't happen in six months of Sundays. But you take a hand like this, a six, and a seven, and a nine, and you can't last it on, Miss Kiddo. Mr. Done comes back. Well, he ought to be here pretty soon. He went out to see your mother, Tad. He wanted her to know that you've been doing just fine these last few days. Oh, yes. I hope she's fine, too. I should like to go home. Hello, Kitty. Oh, hello, man. Mr. Done, you know what I just did? How's Laura? Oh, she's fine, Tad. She said to tell you not to worry about anything, and she sent you some clean clothes. Did she say when I could come home? I ought to be soon. Why don't you take those clothes on up to the room, honey? Oh, yes, sir. And when you come down, we'll have Sam bring you some supper. Oh, thank you, Mr. Kitty. Mr. Done, do you know what happened just a minute ago? No. I was drawn to inside space. Oh, my God! What? What is it, boy? There he is. That's our man. Take the boy upstairs. Yes, sir, ma'am. Mission Marshall. A man walk in here for a drink. We've been waiting for you, Mr. The Boy, ain't I? Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I never saw that boy four in my life. You never expected to see him again, either. At least not alive. After that beating you gave him. Beat? Now, you listen, Marshall. You listen to me. That boy knows you. And so does his mother. She ain't here. She'll be here in good time. Marshall. You ain't taking me. You better look out, Mr. Because I'm not turning my back on you like Roark did. You got him, Mr. Newell? Yeah. Well, anybody can shoot a man, Shuster. That's that boy's mother what she did that took real courage. Come on, let's take Tad home. I think his mother's waited long enough.