 Around God 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 story of the violence that moved West with young America. The story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. Oh, what's your rush, Miss Kitty? Come on, sit down and have a beer with us, Kitty. I love to, Matt, but I just stepped up with some threads. I gotta get back to work. Some thread? That sounds pretty domestic for you, doesn't it? Yeah, but it's an occasion. I'm making a wedding dress. Oh, no, Miss Kitty, not you. Oh, my, no. Well, that isn't for me, Chester. Worst luck. It's for artist Nash. It's gonna be beautiful. If I say so myself. Well, if I ever need a wedding dress made, I'll sure come to you for it. I'll be here, Matt. Let me know. See you later, boys. So long, Kitty. She's a fine girl, Mr. Dillon. Kitty? Oh, yeah, yeah, she's great. She's... Well, look who's back in town, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, Frank Craig. Hello, Marshal. Ah, Frank, I never expected you to come back. I, uh, don't know what to say to you. You might say welcome home. Yeah, I might. At least you're honest, Marshal. Sure. Where have you been for the last year? Out west. Wyoming, to be exact. My sympathy for the peace officers of Wyoming. Man can change, Marshal. Grow up and get over his wildness and start to think about settling down. Some men can. Well, I'm one of them. I don't aim to cause any trouble, Marshal. Came back here to marry artists and take her with me, that's all. You heard from her since she left? She's pretty as ever. She'll pass. The man in Dodge was crazy about her. She was my girl from start to finish. Things can change, Frank. She's still my girl, Marshal. Ben Martin might differ with you. Ben Martin. Mm-hmm. That bull-nick plow boy. He never had a chance in... What are you saying, Marshal? I didn't mean to cause any trouble, you say, and yet you just happened to roll into town three days before artists is due to marry Ben. You're claiming you didn't know about it, huh? Artists wrote me a farewell letter, Marshal. It doesn't make any difference. Like I said, she's still my girl. She's not marrying Ben or anybody else. Not while I'm alive. Like I said, Frank, Ben may differ with you. I used to chase him home crying when we were kids. I don't think he'll chase that easy now. Ben took over the circle bar B. He's got 25 boys writing for him. He's a big man around here. Swings a lot of weight. Marshal, I said I wasn't looking for trouble and I meant it. I came back here to get artists, that's all. If any man tries to stop me, I'll kill him. I'll see you, Marshal. Chester, see if you can find Ben Martin. Have you meet me over at the jail office? I thought he was a thousand miles away, Marshal. I didn't think you'd ever have the nerve to come back. Well, Ben, the two of you are bound to run into each other, so I figured you'd better know about it. What's he expect, Marshal? Artists forgot him a week after he left town. Does he expect to force himself on him? Maybe, you know, Frank. Well, my money is a crazy half-wild saddle bum who should have been hung five years ago. He says he's settled down, though, Ben. He's not going to settle down here. Look, Ben, I don't like killings, now hang on to that temporary yours. Sure, sure, I'll hang on to it, Marshal, just as long as Frank Craig stays clear of me and stays away from my girl. Otherwise, I tell you right now, Marshal, I... Ben, is that you? Artists. We're in here, Connie. Come on in. Someone said you were here at the jail. Evening, Mr. Billum. Miss Nash. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but Ben, you know who's in town? Yeah, Frank Craig. That's what we were talking about, honey. He says he's come back for me. Take me away with him. What do you mean he says, Miss Nash? He came to the house a while ago. He knew about Ben and me. We were going to be married. We came anyway. I sent him away. That does it, Marshal. All right, hold it, Ben. Now, there's no harm in him just talking to her. The man's got a right to protect what's his, Marshal. Protections my business, Ben, and as long as I'm Marshal here, it'll keep on being my business. Now, in three days, you've got a wedding coming up. I'd hate to see it ruined by you killing. I have nothing against Frank Craig, Mr. Billum. I wouldn't want him killed. Neither would I. Oh, good night, Miss Nash. Ben. All right. Think it over, Ben. Don't lose your head. Yeah, sure, Marshal. I'll think it over. How long are we going to have to keep on riding herd on Frank Craig, Mr. Billum? Oh, just till he and Ben meet face to face and have their say, I guess. My, that Frank Craig sure is a fancy dresser. Silver spurs, red silk handkerchief, yellow boots. Oh, well, now, here's the Marshal right on the job. Hiya, Doc. Hiya, Matt. Here we got ourselves a nice little killing coming up. You hope we have him. Oh, no, it's not the fee. It's a romance of the thing. Yeah, sure. Young man comes back in the West, sees girl, finds she's on the point of marriage. Chester, watch me for the play and keep me covered, huh? I don't know what you mean. Over there. Oh. Ben Martin and two of his boys, they just came in. I'm going to go over to the bar next to Craig. Keep your head up. Yes, Mr. Billum. You better give me some room, Doc. Well, how are you, Frank? Yeah, I saw him come in, too. You've been standing over there watching me for two hours. Now you come up and speak. I fight my own battles, Marshal. Frank, the way I'm playing it, there's not going to be a battle. Well, Ben, it's nice to see you. Marshal, I'd rather you weren't here. I guess you know that. Yeah, sure, I know that. Don't worry, Ben. The villain's neutral. That still gives you three-to-one odds. But more do you want. Frank, we don't need you in this town. You've gone for a year and we got along fine. So if you climb on that horse of yours and ride out again, we'll still get along fine. My girl won't, Ben. You haven't got a girl in Dodge City, Frank. Sure I have. And I want to thank you for looking out for her while I was away. As far as she's concerned, you're still away. I might as well warn you, there are a couple of my boys on guard at her house armed with rifles. Ben, I never needed a guard to hold her. If you come within 50 yards, they got orders to kill you. You'll be there from now until the wedding. Oh, yeah, at the wedding. Well, Fred, that's been called off, Ben. You see, Artis and I have other plans. We've got a wedding of our own coming up. Well, you dirty tharn! Now, if either one of you draws, he's drawn against me. I wouldn't draw on him, Marshal. I feel kind of sorry for him. So help me, Marshal. Now, you both had your say. And each knows how the other one stands. Well, here's my stand. If Ben wants to keep a guard at her house, it's all right with me. You've had a fair warning, Frank, so stay away. I wish he would try to bother her. But on the other hand, Ben, Frank's got as much right to the run of the town as you or me or anybody else. Sure, as long as decent citizens hide their valuables. You can't go by rumors, Ben. Nobody ever proved a case against him, you know that. A piece of stout rope would prove... I wouldn't try it, Ben. If you and your boys want a drink now, go on over to the Longhorn. Stay out of the Texas Trail here from now on. You, Frank, stay clear of the Longhorn. Quite an optimist, Marshal. Yeah, maybe so. How about you leave them, Ben? Yeah, I'll be seeing you, Frank. Come on, boy. Frank, you've got nothing to gain here and everything to lose. Miss Nash has made a choice and whatever was between you once is water down the river. Why don't you pull out? Because she's still my girl, Matt. I know and she knows too. You wait and see. You're a move, man. Let's see now if I move there. You'll move there. Jumping my king block the whole corner. But if I move here... Oh, no. Mr. Dillon, you can move. No, you don't, Chester. I'm playing Matt, not the both of you. Chester and I kind of run together, Doc. That's the law. That's fine. Playing checkers, no. Matt, it's still your move. Yeah, I know. All right. That's... Well, I'll be... That's the move I was going to tell you to make, Mr. Dillon. Thanks, Chester. Doc, you're beat. Let's call a game. Yeah, you sneaked up to me. That's what you did to snuck up on me. Oh, well, that's all right. It sure is a quiet night. I figured one of them, too, would make a play before this. Yeah. I don't know if we can get past noon tomorrow with Ben and Ardus married. I don't even pray, God, to know when he's beaten. I don't know, Matt. He never did when he was here before. Now, let me better learn. Trying to get a girl to change your mind is one thing. But I don't know. Married woman's another. Mr. Dillon, it seems to me Miss Ardus Nash is the one that could put a stop to all this. If she'd just speak her mind out plain... Matt! Matt! Oh, now what's the matter with you? Matt, if they want you over at the express office right away, you too, doc. Oh, what's wrong? Hold up, Matt. Somebody shot the clerk. He's dying. Oh, yes, let me through here, please. I'm sorry. One side, please. One side, please. All right, stand back now. Give us some room. Can you get through, doc? Yeah, Matt, I get it. Yeah, the stand back. Yes, sir. Will you move them back? Make them stand back. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. Yes, let me have a look now. Just let me have a look. How does it look, doc? There's a lot of bleeding, Matt. I don't know. I'll do what I can. Mr. Dillon. Easy now, fella. You're going to be all right. It was one man, Mr. Dillon, wearing a mask over his face. Red silk handkerchief. Oh, red silk handkerchief. Oh, Frank Craig's the only man who's here. Yeah. I know. We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, tomorrow night, Vaughn Monroe and his musical company settle down for an evening's melody making at Duke University. Eileen Woods is Vaughn's guest songbird, band leader Vaughn, the moon maids and the moon men, join in playing and singing the top tunes of the week. Enjoy every bit of it tomorrow night on CBS Radio. Now, the second act of gun smoke. Mr. Dillon, maybe he's not going to come back here. His bedrolls here, Chester. All his belongings. Man doesn't leave his stuff in a rooming house unless he's planning to come back to it. He might have got the wind up after he shot that Kirk. Maybe he just hit the saddle and let out. No, not Frank. That's one thing about him. I've never seen him scared. He'll be here sooner or later. I can't figure it, Mr. Dillon. He must have needed the money off of bad. Yeah, I guess so. This hiding out in the dark gets on a man's nerves, don't it? Yeah, it sure does. It helps some if we could just smoke. I don't suppose... Somebody's coming, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I hear him. That's him, all right. Now watch it, Chester. All right, hold it, Frank, and don't move. It's Matt Dillon. I thought it might be somebody else. I'd like to learn, Chester. Yes, Mr. Dillon. Frank, I understand you left the Texas trail right after dark. Nobody's seen you since. Where you been? Just friendly conversation, Marshal, or is this official? It's official. Then I guess you won't answer that. I see you're still wearing that red silk handkerchief. Any reason why you shouldn't be? Marshal, what's it all about? Murder. If that express clerk dies. I asked you, what's it all about? Where's the money, Frank? The way I seem to get it, somebody held up the express office and shot the clerk. You're accusing me. I didn't do it, Marshal. Where you been? Sorry, Marshal. You're under arrest, Frank. No, I'm afraid not. See, that would ruin all my plans. You better lay your gun on the table over there. I'm sorry, Marshal. Some other time. Grab him, Chester. Don't shoot, but grab him. He went through the window, Mr. Dillon. Never mind, Chester. Grab a blanket. Let's get this fire out before it burns the whole place down. Come on. Matt, don't look so sour. In an hour, it'll all be over. I kid you, I'd be a lot sure of that if I had Frank Craig locked up in jail. No trace of him, huh? Not a sign. Then forget about him, Matt. He could be halfway to Wyoming by now. Man, I wish I could think so. I wonder what artist Nash is thinking about him. What business has she got thinking about him when she's going to marry Ben in an hour? I'm afraid you'll just never understand women. Well, who does? Frank Craig's a born drifter. He'll never settle down. He's wild as a range, cold, never been broken, never will be. But sooner or later, he'll come home tight across his saddle. How any girl can get herself interested in a man like that beats me. Not me, Matt. I know exactly how a girl can get herself interested in a man like that. Why? I'll see you at the wedding. I got a health artist, Ben. Morning, Miss Kitty. Good morning, Doc. Good morning, Matt. You working up your courage? What for, Doc? I'm not getting married. How's the express clerk? Oh, he's bad. He's getting worse. I don't think he's going to make it. What about Frank Craig? Nothing, not a sign. I think he's still around town somewhere. Morning, Mr. Dillon. Well, Doc? Doc, look at that. Well, look, Ed. An alpaca coat, borrowed shirt, green galaxies, and the pink subtypes. Oh, well, Chester, I haven't seen you get up like that since I hauled out of Boston. Well, I figured it was only due respect to Brian. Uh, where's your gun, Chester? Oh, goodness gracious, Mr. Dillon, you can't wear a gun to a wedding. Well, at this wedding, even the bridegroom's wearing a gun, Chester. I'm wearing one, and so are you, so you better go get it. Meet me at the church. He is so pretty, I wish I was married to him myself. You better forget it, Chester. Ben's got enough worries as it is. He sure does look fidgety, all right. Yeah, he's got reasons. Room for me here, Matt. Oh, yeah, sure, kitty. Yeah, slide right in here. Here we are. It is the privilege of all of us to be gathered here together in the sight of the Lord, and in the presence of one another, for the purpose of uniting this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. It won't be long now, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, that's sooner than better. Barbara Hardish-Nash, and Benjamin Martin. There is, I am sure, known as the solemn and sacred nature of the great institutions into which they are about to enter. I never heard all of it before. You still want to marry her, Chester? Beyond and above the decay and corruption of the flesh and the devil. Your manifest presence as you come here together and forsaking all others stand hand in hand to have to have Frank Craig. He's just standing there, Mr. Dillon. Just standing there and looking. Slide out to the side aisle, Chester. Maybe we can get to him quietly without breaking up the meeting. I think it's already broken up. I understand you, Mr. Dillon. She fell right on the floor. Yeah. Come on, Chester. Pardon me. Would you let me through, please? I'm sorry, lady. One side, please. He was right here by the door. Outside, Chester. Hell, no sign of him. Matt, did you find him, Matt? Not yet, Ben. Put that gun away. You want to kill some bystander in the crowd. There's only one man I want to kill. I should have done it three days ago. Yeah, I know, Ben. What'd they do with Ms. Nash? They carried her into the minister's study. That dirty look. Walking right into the church. Scared her out of her wits. I'm Marshall Dillon. Oh, over here, Reverend. I'm Marshall. A terrible thing is happening. He forced his way into my study. He pushed me out the door. Craig? Yes. He had a horse tied behind the church. He's gone and taken her with him. He's kidnapped her, Matt. He's kidnapped. Save your breath, Ben. Get your horse. Come on, Chester. Let's ride. I never did think we'd get back to town, Mr. Dillon. I'm saddle, sore, and beat. Yeah, Chester. A hundred men hunting him and he slipped past all of them. I swear I just can't figure it. Is that a man? Not a sign, Kenny. Some of the boys are still beating the riverbed soft, but I don't know. Guess he kind of made fools of us, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I guess so, Chester. Hey, any luck? Yeah, sure, Doc. All bad. Yeah, mind you, man. That clerk died half all of them. So now it's murder, Mr. Dillon? Yeah. Come on, boy. Well, let's go into the office and get out of bullets. Not a good deal, though. Light the lamp, will you, Chester? Yes, sir. There we are. I mean... Hold it, Matt. You two, Chester, don't move. The only place nobody'd ever think of looking. Right here in the jail. Yeah. That's what we figured. Hell, Miss Nash, you seem to be in pretty fair shape for a kidnapped victim. I'm not a victim of anything, Mr. Dillon. Unless it's my own foolishness. I said most people would say, I guess. Maybe they're right. I only know this. When Frank came back to town, I knew then that it wasn't over and never would be. I'm Frank's girl, Mr. Dillon. We're better or worse, right or wrong. I'm going with him to Wyoming. He's wanted on suspicion of murder, Miss Nash. He didn't do it. He couldn't have. He was with me when it happened. What did you say? He slipped past Ben's guards and came to see me. That's why he wouldn't tell you where he'd been. He didn't want to get me in trouble. Just tell him the truth, Marshall. Yeah, maybe. Mr. Dillon, you might ask Ben Martin what happened to my red silk scarf. I missed it right after he came to see me that afternoon. Go on. He didn't do it for the money. It's a ruin me once and for all. If we were lying, we wouldn't have come here, Mr. Dillon. That makes sense, all right, but... Chester, who wrote up out there? It's Ben Martin, Mr. Dillon. I think he's coming in here. Where's your horse, Frank? The corral back of the jail? All right, go out the back way. Get it in the head for Wyoming. Take one of my extra horses and leave it at Bison Flatch. You can buy another horse from the Indians there. Matt, I don't know how we can ever thank you. Never mind that. Just get going before I change my mind. And good luck to both of you. Thanks, Mr. Dillon. Everybody here? Yeah, come on in, Ben. Right on. I figured you must be here. Can you sign up? What's the matter? The clerk died. Why'd you do it, Ben? I don't know what you mean. Where's the red scarf you stole from Miss Nash? I gotta arrest you for murder, Ben. I don't think so, Matt. I don't think I'm gonna let you do that. You better give me your gun, Ben. Don't do it the hard way. What you call the hard way, Matt, may be the easiest way of all. So win or lose, I guess... Something fell out of his pocket there. Yeah, his marriage license. Gun smoke under the direction of Norman McDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. Tonight's story was specially written for gun smoke by Les Crutchfield, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were Herb Ellis, Viffy Janus, Tom Tully, and Barney Phillips. Parley Bear is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. 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. As colorful as the Western Roundup and twice the fun, that's the Gene Autry Show which comes your way every Saturday evening over CBS Radio. It's one of radio's most distinctive programs, flavored to taste with songs of the sagebrush and melodies of the Mesquite Country. The Gene Autry Show is 30 minutes you'll enjoy, packed full of comedy, songs, and the genial personality of the one and only Gene Autry. The whole Melody Ranch gang is on hand to entertain you tomorrow night, every Saturday night. So tune in the Gene Autry Show and hit the pleasure trail over most of the same CBS stations. Clancy Cassell speaking. And remember Broadway as My Beat brings you startling mysteries Saturday nights on the CBS Radio Network.