 The boy is offering $10,000 for your property. Whether you sell it or not, I'm here to see that he doesn't get robbed. Have gone. Will travel. Starring Mr. John Daener as Paladin. San Francisco, 1875. The Carlton Hotel. Headquarters of the man called Paladin. Over here, hey boy. Awesome. Why, you look very comfortable. Yes, I was very comfortable, but I really didn't think it would last too long. What do you want, hey boy? A gentleman wants to see you. About a job? Maybe so. Hey boy, I'm not looking for a job today. I'm tired. See if you can get rid of him. Too late? Why? Ma'am, follow me over here. See? Oh, no. Ah, there you are, Mr. Paladin. Yes? You don't remember me, do you, sir? No, I'm afraid not. It's been quite a few years, but I remember you. My name's F. Milton Gardner. F. Milton Gardner? Yes, sir. Roger Gardner, son? That's right. Well, you've grown two feet since I saw you last. Sit down, sit down. Oh, thank you. Ah, you don't need me anymore, Mr. Paladin. No, thank you. That'll be all, hey boy. You saw. Well, F, what brings you into San Francisco? I'm looking for advice, Mr. Paladin. And my father always said you were the man to come to if I ever needed help. Yes, I was sorry to learn your father had died, F. What have you been doing since? I finished school. I promised him I'd do that, but... Well, I'm afraid I haven't accomplished too much since then. Well, sometimes it takes a while to find the right niche. You see, father left me quite a sum of money, and I've tried to follow in his footsteps, but I haven't been too successful. I've invested in a number of schemes, expecting to make a profit. But it's not easy, is it? No, sir. Mr. Paladin, I need your advice in what could be a final investment. What is it, F? Well, I've got a newspaper clipping here. Read this, sir. Ah. For sale cheap, oil-producing property must sell. Chance to make a fortune. Yeah. Contact Claude Spicer. Reward California. Reward California. Where's that? It's in the Joaquin Valley. There have been a lot of oil discoveries there. Well, now, F, I don't know much about the oil business. But maybe you could see that I don't get swindled again. If you could go with me to reward, and things work out as I hope they will, I'll give you a share, a royalty, I believe they call it. It could be worth a fortune. Sounds tempting. Then you'll do it? Only on certain conditions. Anything you say. That you'll take my advice, even if I tell you not to buy the land. Oh, I'll leave the negotiations entirely up to you. And you must not hand out any royalties, even to me. If this turns out as well as you expected to, I'll send you a bill. Fair enough? Fair enough, Mr. Paladin. From San Francisco, F. Milton Gardner and I journeyed south aboard the Schooner Alley, May. Along the coast, we stopped at Santa Cruz, Monterey, and finally San Luis Obispo. There, we met a little man by the name of Cobb Watson. He was taking a wagon load of pipe into reward and said that we could ride along. We traveled in silence most of the way and eventually passed through a steaming valley that showed a slimy surface which looked like black mud to me. But Cobb assured us it was surface evidence of oil. Later, we pulled up on the main street of reward. Oh, oh, oh, oh, there. Well, this is it. End of the line. Thanks very much, Mr. Watson. Anytime, Sonny. Thank you, Cobb. I suppose you'll be looking for some mild property at least. Don't nobody come to reward for nothing else. The fact is, we've come to see about some land that's for sale. For sale, huh? Yeah. Who you dealing with? His name is Spicer. Claude Spicer? Yeah. You know him? Sure, I know him. Everybody does. There he sits over there. Oh, where? See them two fellas sitting over there in front of the general store? Yeah. Well, the big fat one whittling on the stick, that's Claude Spicer. The fellow with him is Doc Belden. They're kind of a corporation. How's that? Well, Doc Belden is an old retired horse doctor. Claude's on his last legs, and Doc keeps him alive the day at a time. What's the matter with him? Well, too much fat, if you ask me. But that don't keep him from being clever as a fox. You just watch your step with Claude Spicer. Thanks for the advice. Well, I got to get these pipes delivered. Good luck to you. You've been very helpful, Cobb. Oh, say, if you should find some good oil in, look me up. I'm an expert at hand drilling. Now, come on there, hurry up. That's so long. Watch our step, huh? Yeah. Well, let's go find out why. Come on. Hello. You know? Uh, we're here to talk to Mr. Spicer. I'm Doc Belden. This is Claude Spicer. So we were told. Somebody say my name's Doc. Ah, yes, he's Claude. He's a couple of strangers around here to your left. Well, you men... men come around front so I can see you. Hmm. That's better. Where from San Francisco, Mr. Spicer? Whoa. Seen the ad, did you? Yes, sir. I'm F. Milton Gardner and this is Mr. Paladin. We've come to buy your land. Good, good. Mr. Spicer, is there somewhere we could go and talk over this business? Oh, right here. It's good. It's good enough with Doc. It's Murphy in town today. Yeah, I've seen him hanging around the blacksmiths. Don't let him get away. Uh, truth is, Mr., uh... What's your name? Paladin. Truth is, I think you're too late. Got another party looking at it. Hey, I got to take it easy, Claude. There's another party, so if you want it that quick, you get down to the livery stable and ask for Spicer's horses. Where's the property? The stable, boy. Uh, yeah, well, all right, if that's the way you do business. Come on, F. No, no, you go, Mr. Paladin. I don't want to influence your decision in any way. I'll go check into the hotel. All right. I'll talk to you when you get back. I hope you brought your money, Paladin. That's the boy who's buying. I'm here to see that he gets a fair deal. Oh, good, good. Well, I'll let you know how good it is after I see the property. Yeah, yeah, bye. Claude, what do you think? Get Murphy, dog. Get Murphy. Oh, you ain't gonna need him for these two? Yeah, my said. Tell him to get right out to the well and do the usual. I'm going over to the hotel and talk to that boy. Why? Oh, he's the one that's doing the buying. Didn't you hear him? City dudes. Suckers. What's more, Flashbulbs work with any film, any time, day or night, anywhere, with any camera. So, hurry. Now's the time to ask for Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulbs, the world's largest selling brand. And when you do, also ask for Sylvania's 32-page free flash guidebook. This year, when the kids start coming to your door, don't make the mistake of saying, gee, I wish I had some bulbs so I could take pictures of them. Make sure you have plenty of Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulbs ready and waiting, right along with the candy, nuts and pennies. That's Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulbs. At delivery stable, I thought I detected an expression of amusement from the stable hand as he saddled Mr. Spicer's horse. Following his instructions, I found the property in a desolate, abandoned area, completely away from the choice-drilling sites pointed out by Cobb Watson when he wrote into reward. An over-a-forbidding-looking hole in the ground perched a dilapidated drilling platform with a sign proudly proclaiming this as Spicer's number one. I dismounted and proceeded to take a closer look. No, you don't. Add enough. Answer me, or I'll shoot again. You have to stay away from that well you are. I'm firing the line for me, sir. Maybe not. Come down here and talk this over, or I'd rather you shoot it out. You're supposed to run. Run your rifle and walk towards me. You're not playing fair, you are. You do it. Now walk. This is an unfair advantage you've taken. Unfair. You started shooting at me. You're supposed to run tail when I shoot. All the others did. The others? I ain't supposed to tail, but you got me dead to rights. I might as well tell you the whole story. Murphy's my name. What's yours? Paladin. Glad to meet the likes of you, Paladin. You sure know how to handle a gun. Start talking, Murphy. Well, Spicer pays me to come out here and shoot at them what's come to buy the property. I'm to keep them from getting a good look at this dry hole. When I holler, said I want the land for myself, it makes them greedy. I see. Then they rush back to Spicer to buy the land, is that it? That way he gets their first money, the down payment. You know, lad, you're the first one to shoot back. I like you for that. Here, let me show you something. Come here. What is it? Look in the hole. See the aisle? Yeah, I saw that before you started shooting at me. That is the teaser. Now look closer. You see that pipe? There's a plug in the end of it. Kind of hard to see for the oil. When we pull that plug, there's lots more oil. This is a dry hole. How does he manage that? I store on a thousand barrels of oil on Yonder Hill. He just pipes it over to this spot. I see. Did you pull that plug in the pipe? No. In it's busted. Look at the oil oozing out of there. Yeah. See, you don't suppose there's any chance... It couldn't be not out here. Old Spicer must be getting desperate. Yeah, it is another of his tricks. You can be sure of that. Maybe. Murphy, I think I'd better get back to town. I remembered Cobb Watson said he knew how to use a hand drill. I needed him now. Finding him was a fairly simple matter. He agreed to go out with me to inspect Spicer's number one. When he saw what was coming out of the ground, he became very excited and nervously paced the area, scanning the horizon for signs known only to himself. Occasionally he would stoop in sift handfuls of dirt through his fingers. Finally he took off his hat and filled it to the brim with the black substance that oozed from the hole. It could be good. This is liquid S. Fulton. The ground shows sulfur remnants. We might even hit lubrication crude if we drill deep enough. Cobb, if you owned this land, would you drill on it? I would, and if I didn't do it, I'd try to buy it. Well, if I get this land, would you boss the drilling job? I ain't much on bossing, but I can drill that hole deeper in any man in these parts. I'll do it for you. Good. Think you can get tidal to the land? That'll be the easiest thing we'll have to do. Let me get this straight, Paladin. You want this boy to buy the land? That's right. Here's a draft on my bank in San Francisco for $10,000, Mr. Spicer. Well, there's a lot of money, boy. What are you stalling for, Claude? Take it? No. Hold on, doc. Paladin, the boy tells me you're a gun fighter. Only when I have to be. What about old Murphy? You run into him out there? Yes, I did. Murphy must have thought a tornado hit him. You didn't kill him. No, he's all right. Good. What about him, Mr. Spicer? You selling? Of course he's selling. No, hold on. I ain't so sure I'm gonna sell this boy. I like him. But he's offering $10,000, Mr. Spicer. I know, but I wouldn't want to see him robbed. He's earned a chance. You're thinking of swindling this boy, Paladin? He's my friend, Mr. Spicer. You can't ever be sure, boy. Look, Spicer, you sent the property was for sale. We've come all the way from San Francisco to buy it. All right, all right. I'll take the check. But tell me something. What makes you think it's such a goodbye, huh? Like you said, the well is already producing. Producing? Oh, boy. That's right, it is. Why, you know I'll bet you you could get a thousand barrels out there. Your first day! Lucy, if anyone phones me tonight, I'm not home. Oh, dear, all week you've been coming home like this, cross and tired. If you'd had my nagging backache with restless, sleepless nights, you'd feel worn out, too. But why just complain of backache? Do something? What? Try Dones pills. Right. Dones pills are an analgesic and mild diuretic to the kidneys. Nagging backache, also headache, dizziness, and muscular aches and pains, may come on with overexertion, emotional upsets, or everyday stress and strain. Dones pain-relieving action is often the answer, and they also offer mild diuretic action through the kidneys. So if nagging backache is making you feel worn out, tired, and miserable, with restless, sleepless nights, don't wait. Try Dones pills. Use successfully by millions for over 60 years. See if they don't bring you the same welcome relief. Get Dones pills today to save money by Dones' big economy size. For six weeks, F and I helped cob Watson construct a drilling rig. And every morning, Claude Spicer and Doc Belden would drive out on the buck board to watch his work, and it'd stay all day, with Spicer sitting in a pile of blankets in the wagon bed. Occasionally, he'd break into uncontrolled laughter, and Doc would drive him off a ways to settle him down. Afterwards, they'd come back and take up their vigil once again. Finally the day came. I was leading the horse, pulling the cross piece on the drill, while Cobb and F handled the drill pipe at the hole. Come on, come on, boy, come on. Come on, keep moving. Halitin, wait! What's the matter? Come here. What's going on? Listen, what does it mean, Mr. Watson? It means we've hit it, boy. Halitin, get that horse on the hitch and hurry. I've got to get these tools, Luce, if it ain't too late. All right. Easy, boy. Easy now. It's all right. Hurry up, Halitin. We'll have to leave the tools. She's going to blow up. Hurry! Come on, run! Come on, come on, come on. Come on. This will be fair enough. I've never seen you. Congratulations, boy. You finally did it, brought in by well. You're... aren't you a little mistaken? Don't get yourself all worked up. Come on now. I've been waiting a long time. Halitin, help me. Give me a hand. Halitin, quick. I've got him. Get some water up. Yes, sir. Never mind, boy. Water won't help now. That's a shame, Mr. Halitin. I know this was going to happen. I tried to tell him. He just wouldn't listen to me. Doc, what did Mr. Spicer mean when he said it was his oil? Oh, this was... this was Claude's last joke. Joke? Sure. Son, you know that bank draft you give him? Yeah. Well, it's down in my safe. He gave it to me to keep. He never banked it. He didn't want to cheat you none. And that title he gave you, that was a fake. A fake? You mean the boy doesn't own this land? It was his last big joke. Claude was like that, you know? Yeah. He didn't want to cheat the boy, liked him. Oh, Claude was just having fun. Mr. Halitin, what are we going to do? I don't know. Looks like old Claude had the last laugh on both of us. All we can do now is go back to San Francisco and find you a new advisor. Mr. Paladar... Yes, I know Ms. Wong. I foolishly left my windows open during that gale we had this morning. Gale? Wind, Ms. Wong. What is that? Wind in San Francisco. You're quite right, Ms. Wong. Forgive me, I've forgotten. You forgive me. Come in. Mr. Paladar, I have a letter for you from a funny place named Reward. Reward? It's been six months since I was there. Let me see. Ah, it's from F. Milton Gardner. F who? F. Milton Gardner, Ms. Wong. You remember my telling you about him? Oh, I remember now. Well, what's this? Oh, it looks like Chuck Money, Mr. Paladin. It is. A check for $5,000. Oh, let me see. Let me see. And when Doc Belden found Mr. Spicer's last will and testament, he sent for me. And what do you think? Mr. Spicer had left all that property to me, lock, stock, and barrels. Oh, very nice. Why'd he do that, Mr. Paladin? Well, he goes on to say Mr. Spicer did it because F provided him with the biggest laugh of his life. That's too bad. Oh, quite too bad if a man laughs. Well, Ms. Wong, I've seen a lot of men die. But that was the first time I'd ever seen a man die laughing. And it was that last laugh that killed him. Tonight's story was specially written for Have Gun Will Travel by Tom Hanley and Jack Moyles. Featured in the cast were Bill Idleson, Ralph Moody, Frank Cady, Jack Moyles, and Marvin Miller. This is Hugh Douglas inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents Have Gun Will Travel.