 There's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the US Marshal and the smell of gun smoke. 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. There's no note anywhere. You sure of that, Chester? Nothing, sir. I looked again all over. Well, it's two days now. This isn't like Doc. Well, I still think he's just gone off on an emergency, hot in the country somewhere. It may be, but he's always left word before. Well, what do we do, Mr. Dillon? I don't know. I might start asking people, Chester. Try the saloons in the store and maybe the depot, huh? All right, Mr. Dillon, I'll go right now. All right. Well, I do, Declare. What? Riding right up front street as big as life. Askal getting us all worried about him. For the land's sake, you sure are a sight for sore eyes, Doc. Chester? Matt? Well, you had us worried, Doc. That's all? You've been gone two days. I know. Next time, leave word, Doc. I will. I surely will. If I can. Well, it'd sure save us a lot of pressure. No, wait a minute. What do you mean, Doc, if or you can? Just that. If they let me, I'll leave word. Come on inside, Doc. You want to tell me about it? I can tell you part of it, the least important part. I made a promise about the rest. You know how it is, Matt. No, but you tell me. Well, the other night, Wednesday it was, I was peacefully asleep on my couch when a couple of riders tromped right into my office. They said a man was hurt somewhere out past Fort Dodge, so naturally I got up and I went along with them. Well, then why didn't you leave a note and say so? They didn't tell me exactly where we was going, Chester, but they sure told me not to leave any note. They told you what? Let him talk, Chester. Now, of course, I figured in. There must have been a shooting, but my job is to take care of everybody, sinner and save the like. And so when finally we got to this place the next day, that's part of what I promised not to tell you, Chester. But like I was saying, there was a young man there who'd got himself shot in the back. The bullet lodged right in his spine and I dug it out and I did all I could for him. And then I just sat there for quite a spell. And then I put my things away and I walked out into the other room. How is it? I did what I could. What do you mean? He's dead. The shock of extracting that bullet was too much for him. It's a bad place to spy on them. You killed him, huh, Doc? No. No, I didn't kill him. He's dead, ain't he? Look, mister, doctors don't kill people. Murderers do. Watch your mouth, Doc. That boy wouldn't have lived more in a couple of days with that bullet where it was. And whoever put it there, murdered him. He want me to shut him up. Not yet. Doc, tell me something. You know that boy in there? I do. Sure. And the three of us here, you know any of us? Him. I've seen him around somewhere. Dodge, I guess. Well, that settles it. He ain't walking out of here. Shut up. Know his name, Doc? No. No, I don't. Of course, it might come to me. Let me think. Now, you don't understand, Doc. He wants to kill you already. Now, you're trying to remember his name. That's just going to make it worse. You can't kill a doctor for following his oath. Oh, no. I shot that boy and he tried to get away. And I shoot you just as- Don't be a fool. I'm a doctor. Since there's nothing more I can do here, I've got to be available to other patients. I've been away too long. No, what are we arguing about? How soon do we shoot him to bed? What kind of a man are you, anyways? Don't you know I'm the only doctor within a hundred miles of Dodge? Right now, it's one too many. Now, wait a minute. I'm kind of thinking that Doc's right. He ain't like an ordinary man. But, Doc, it's almost like he ain't quite human somehow. He's human enough to tell what he knows that hard-headed, marshally-gutten Dodge. Then we'll have him on our tail and we'll never get our 20,000. Uh-uh. I figure it's us or the Doc. I'm not interested in what you figure, mister. Right this minute, there may be some woman having a baby and needing me real bad. There may be several folk needing me for help. He's right. We can't kill him. I can't. You'll do what I say and nothing else here. Doc, listen to me. If I let you go, will you promise not to tell about anybody you recognized here? And if I don't? Then doctor or no doctor, I'll kill you myself. Well, I suppose you would. All right. I'm here as a doctor and nothing else. I promise. Word of honor, Doc? That's my word of honor. Okay, get out. One other thing, Doc. What? You break your word. You tell anybody where this place is or who you saw here and we'll get to you. We'll kill you no matter where you try to hide. I gave him my word, didn't I? Sure, but don't forget what I said anyway. Don't forget for one minute. We'll kill you or die trying. That's quite a story, Doc. And you played it right smart if you ask me. Who were they, Doc? We'll tell us. Well, I only recognized one of them, Chester. Besides the man they'd shot. Sure you said. Have you thought of his name yet? No, Chester, you don't understand. And I gave him a word I wouldn't tell. Yes, but that was just so you could get away. Well, they shot me for sure otherwise, but still I gave my word. It don't matter how or why. But Doc, they're just a bunch of killers. I know. Leave him alone, Chester. But Mr. Dillon... Yes, sir. Matt. Yeah, Doc? Wouldn't you do the same if you were in my boots? I'd be a hard choice, Doc, but... Yeah, I suppose I would. Why any man would? At least why is any man a honor would? I guess I wasn't really thinking about it that way. Yeah, well, I'm going to get some sleep. Matt. That was a good boy they murdered. I hope they hanged for it. Oh, Dad blasted him. How are we ever going to find him, Mr. Dillon? I don't know, Chester. We don't even know who they killed. It's funny we haven't heard about it. Maybe nobody's missed him yet. Just think. Doc could lead us straight to him right now. That isn't making the Doc happy, Chester. No, sir. It sure isn't. I'm going over to the Texas Trail, Chester. I'll be back later. Yes, sir. Hey, Sam, bring me over a bottle and a glass, will you? Oh, how you kidding? You want some help for that bottle? Yeah, sure. I'm only going to have one. You can finish it. Sit down. My reputation's bad enough without my trying to get around carrying a bottle of whiskey in me. There you be. Oh, thank you, Sam. Here's to luck. Yeah, I could use some. Well, you didn't come here to drink a bottle of rye, Matt. What's on your mind? Well, Kitty, I was sort of wondering if maybe you'd heard any talk about anybody being missing lately? Missing? Who? Well, just a point. I don't know who. Well, you're sure not on much of a trail, are you, Matt? Well, a man was shot and he's dead. And I don't know who he was or who did it or where. All I know is that it happened. Well, I'll be darned. Well, Matt, I don't know a thing I've heard that had helped. I'm sorry. Yeah, it was just a chance. You know, it's not often a man gets shot around here without everybody knowing about it. Well, I'm glad for that much anyway. Well, thanks, Kitty. Well, good luck, Matt. Yeah, take it easy with that bottle. Yeah, I'll save it for you. So long. See you, Matt. I've been asleep for six straight hours. Mr. Dillon, he sure must have been tired. Yeah. Here, Chester, take these letters down to the depot for me, will you? They've got to be in Washington next week. Santa Fe pulls out in an hour, sir. I'll put them right in the mail car. Why, Jake Worth, why, you haven't come into dodge in the last six months, and I know of it. I'm here now, marshal. Huh? Trouble, Jake? I'd call it that. Well? You know that cottonwood, the big one down at Brandy Bend? Yeah. There's a hole cut down by the roots at the north side of it. I put a sack in that hole this morning. It's got $20,000 in it. That's a lot of money, Jake, even for you. It isn't if Hank gets back all right. Hank? That's your youngest boy, isn't it, Jake? Yeah, 18 last month. Yeah. And that's ransom money here. Boy's been kidnapped, huh? He didn't show up the other night, marshal. Next morning, I found a note tacked on the corral said to leave the money or they'd kill him. Oh, come on, Jake. We'll try to get there before they pick up the money. No, marshal, I won't take any chances. They'd shoot him sure if we did that. You should've told me before you left the money. You should've come here first, you know. You didn't hear what I said, marshal. I won't take the chance. All I want now is for you to watch for anybody who turns up rich around here. Jake, I want you to listen to me. Now you listen to me, marshal. Nobody is going to do a thing till Hank's back safe on the ranch. Not one dang thing. Jake, if they killed Hank, you'd want him hung, wouldn't you? I'll hang him myself if it comes to that. I'll hunt him down like wolves. All right, then let's go. Let's get on to Brandy Ben and wait for him. No. I already told you no. Hank's dead, Jake. He's shot him. And he's dead. What are you talking about? Where is he? I don't know. And how come you know he's dead? I can't tell you. Marshal, I've had about enough of this. We're wasting time here. Come on, Jake. I'll tell you what I can on the way to the river. Are you better by heaven or one of a saint never going to get to the river? Jake Worth was known as a hard, hot tempered man, but he was straight as they come. He'd made one fortune in Texas cattle and another in buffalo hides, and now all he wanted was his ranch and his three sons to work it with him. The worst were good men. They didn't cause any trouble, and they worked hard. It was hard to tell, Jake, but without mention in dark, I said what I could. And when we reached the Arkanses, we hit our horses in the clump of bush and worked our way on foot up to the big cottonwood, and I stood up and walked out into the open. What are you doing, Marshal? You going crazy? Come on, Jake. You used to hide now. That's him there, isn't it? That's Hank. I'm afraid so, Jake. He's a young boy and his whole life to live yet. Why did they do it? They gave him the money. Why did they do it? I'm sorry, Jake. Marshal, I've been kind of confused by all this. I swallowed your story on the way down here, but I want the truth now, every bit of it. That's all I know, Jake. Hank tried to break and went up and shot it, but we'll get him. I'll hear myself soon as you tell me who they are. I don't know who they are. Don't lie to me, Marshal. You know a lot you're not telling me. What's going on with you? I've told you all I can, Jake. That's my boy lying there, Marshal. He's been murdered. And if I didn't know you so well, I'd begin to think maybe you had something to do with yourself. Not just a minute, Jake. I know you're upset. Then why don't you tell me? Because the man who told me about it had to promise not to name anybody. That's why. What man? Who is he? Get it out of him if I have to cut it out. Yeah, I know. That's why I can't tell you who he is. What kind of a lawman are you, anyway? I've told you all I can, Jake. No. No, you haven't. Marshal, I don't believe your story about nobody. He promised nothing. You know who done it. And you're going to tell me or I'm... Don't try it, Jake. You can't kill me and you know it. No. I can't. Me and my boys can. And I'm giving you 24 hours to name those men and then we're coming to Dodge. There'll be blood spilt, Marshal. Jake, I give you my word. I don't know who did it. I don't believe you. I'll help you take your boy home now. Go on back to Dodge. I'll manage here. That's a bad mistake, Jake. 24 hours, Marshal. We'll find you wherever you'll be. Jake, I won't. So long, Jake. He will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, 300,000 volunteers are needed for the Ground Observer Corps. This spare time activity serves as a vital supplement of the Air Defense Command radar network, which has certain unavoidable blind spots due to the curvature of the earth. Men and women from Teenage Up are urged to become ground observers. Get in touch with your nearest Civil Defense Center. Now for the second act of gun smoke. No use arguing with him. The man's grief had destroyed his reason. And the worst of it was, I knew his sons would do whatever Jake told them to do. Unless I could stop it somehow, I'd have to shoot it out with three good and perfectly innocent men for no reason at all. I thought about it all the way back to Dodge, and by the time I got there, I had an idea. I went up to Docs and talked it over with him. All right, man. I'll do whatever I can. It might not work, Doc, and you'll be exposing yourself to a lot of danger. Have you thought about that? I have. I've also been thinking about the men who killed Hank with. Well, we could wait till they start spending their money, or one of them gets drunk and maybe talks too much somewhere. We could, but meantime, you and the Wursel have a gunfight. Oh, man, it'd be a terrible thing to let happen. All right, then, Doc, let's go. I want to get to the ranch before dark. Yeah, maybe Jake's cooled off by now. Enough not to start shooting on sight anyway. Yeah, we'll soon find out. Come on. Out here since Mrs. Worth died. Oh, that must be four or five years ago. Well, the place sure has changed, hasn't it? Yeah. I don't see anybody around, do you? Maybe they saw us first. Maybe they're hit out. I hope not. See, Matt, I got an idea. Why don't you take your gun off and hang it around your saddle horn? Then they'll know you're come peaceable. I can't take a chance like that, Doc, not with Jake in his state. But I won't shoot unless I have to. He who lives by the sword. Look, Doc, I'm doing everything I can to avoid this thing. I'll kill all three of them if I have to. All right, Matt, I understand. It's far enough, Mark. Watch him, boys, if he makes a move, shoot. Yes, Mark. Jake, I came here to stop a shooting, not to start one. You can stop it, Marshall. Just tell me who killed my son. If I knew, I'd be on his trail, Jake. I'm not sure of that at all. What's Doc doing here? Tell him, Doc. I took the bullet out of Hank. He died soon after. What? That's right, Jake. Now come down here where we can talk like friends, and I'll explain it to you. Stay where you are, boys. Let's hear it. Well, they got me out of bed. Jake and they led me out into the country. Hank had been shot in the back, and I extracted the bullet. But it was no use. He'd have died anyway. There were three men there, and I recognized one of them. Who was he? Well, I had to promise I wouldn't tell, Jake. Or they'd have killed me. That don't matter. Now think about it a minute, Jake. Doc gave him his word. And you're asking him to break it. Now think about it for a minute. I'm thinking. Thinking about my boy, too. Hank's dead. You can't help him now. Shot in the back, and a coward who did its run free. You want to help get him, Jake? Don't ask fool questions, Marshall. Of course I want to get him. Listen to me. Those men told Doc if he talked, they'd kill him. Yeah, and they meant it, too. All right, so I got an idea now, Jake. We'll spread it around. But Doc has identified the killer. The news will reach him soon enough. In the meantime, I'm going to lay low. And I'll have Chester tell everybody that I've ridden out after them. Go on. Then we'll just wait. One or two, or maybe all three of them will come into Dodge to kill Doc some night soon. They still might get away. And I'll deputize you and your boys right now and you can wait for them with us. You'll have to stay hidden like me, of course. We won't mind that. Now that we get a chance at them, we won't. All right, good. Funny thing, though. What? A man like Doc here, rather than break his word, he'll make himself a target for those killers. Yeah. Look, Jake, Doc and I are going to go back to Dodge now. I'll see that the story gets started, and then the day or two, you and your boys can write in. But separately, though. Otherwise, it might cause talk. I understand. And come straight to Doc's. We'll get there. A few days, Doc never left his office. I figured that it'd make him look scared and draw the killers right into our trap. The rest of us sat around in his back room and waited. Chester kept us supplied with food and coffee, but he began to get pretty restless cooped up like that. And by the fifth night, we were being real careful with one another and over-polite. But on the sixth night, about midnight, we got our game. Mr. Dillon? I think it's them. They just rode up on the street, three of them. They're tying up outside right now. They acted too deliberate like for ordinary writers, so I run up the back way to tell you. Doc, come on in. What do you want me to do, Matt? Take cover in here and stay out of sight. Yeah, whatever you say, man. Let's go downstairs and meet them, Marshal. No, we might just scatter them that way. Now, listen. One of them will probably stand guard on the street while the other two come up here to get Doc. Chester, you and the two boys go down the back way. Jake and I'll wait in the Doc's office. But don't jump that man. We'll be going to action up here. Do you understand? I got it, sir. All right, then move fast. Come on, Jake. Now what? Well, we'll just wait here in the dark. Good. I'll fix Doc's blanket on the couch here so they don't think he's in it. Get back in the corner, Jaker. We'll be shooting each other. Get out of here. What? Wait. He ain't here. What? Get your hands up. You're under arrest, both of you. It's a trap! Got one of them. Doc, I'm all right. Doc, you can come on out now. Light the lamp, will you, Doc? All right. Yes, you're right, Matt. I'd like the lamp. Okay, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, come in, Chester. Hey, Mr. Dillon. He tried to get away when he heard you up here, but he ran smack into one of the worth boys. He's dead. Yeah. Well, I don't know either one of these men. Doc, you can tell us now, is one of these the man you recognize? Uh, let me see here. This one here. I remember later I treated him for a broken nose sometime back. I never didn't know his name, though. He came up on the, uh, up the trail with a herd, I think. I don't matter now long as you're all dead. Oh, well. Bring the other bodies up, Chester. I'll do the autopsies quick, and I'll get them out of here. It's about time I got something out of all this. Okay, Doc. I'll fit you. Well, Jake, uh... I'm satisfied, Marshal. I mean, the boys will be getting back to their ranch now. Sure. Marshal, I... Yeah? I doubted you. I'm sorry for that. Forget it, Jake. No. Now, it's best I remember a man shouldn't make mistakes like that. Well, there was no harm done. The way it worked out. Uh, I'll... buy you a drink before we leave, Marshal. I think I'd like that, Jake. Come on, let's go. Gun smoke under the direction of Norman MacDonald's stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. Tonight's story was specially written for Gun Smoke by John Meston with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were John Daener, with Lawrence Dobkin and Harry Bartell. Parley Bear is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. Gun smoke 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 Gun Smoke, taking over the CDS Radio Network.