 Gunsmoke. Brought to you by L&M, the modern cigarette that lets you get full exciting flavor through the modern miracle of the pure white miracle tip. Live modern. Smoke L&M. Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. Marshall and the smell of Gunsmoke. Starring William Conrad, the transcribed 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 Marshall, 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. The old doc ain't too far wrong. Well, he claims winter's coming early this year. He claims we'll have snow for the end of the month. He's just passing along Indian talk, just so they're all clean. Miss Cobb? Evening, ma'am. Do you declare Mr. Dillon that that ain't the most dilapidated old buggy I've ever seen any worse? Ah, Jezra believes in getting full value out of things. Make him do, as he calls it. Yeah, let's get something to eat, huh? Well, now, eating is something I get full value out of. I know. Well, let's sit over there for the winter. That team of Jezras could do with some eating. The way their bones are sticking out. Ah, Jezra figures fat on a horse is a sign that grains be in wasted. Well, you're short of me, Marshall. Okay. I figure the same thing about women. Miss Cobb's bones are sticking out something, too. He probably works her half to death. Has to run a farm that size without any hard help. I sure do keep to their selves. Ah, people just don't take to Jezra much. He's got a pretty cool way about him. That is hard to say what she's like. That poor lady don't even open her mouth less than he tells her she can't. Plain mouth. See, that's what she's like. What do you figure to eat, gents? Well, what do you got? A stewed beef and boiled greens. Well, I guess that's what we'll eat. All right, I'll bring it right out. Boiled greens. Boiled gyms and we'll eat more. What? That was up in the street. Yeah, come on, Chester. Sit, Matt, it's spooky. Lots of trouble, Chester. Marshall, you've allowed this town to become a stink of iniquity. Now, why did it supple her? How's that so? A town of painted Jezebel scoundrels and murdering assassins. The names should be changed to Sodom or Gomorrah. You all right, Miss Cotton? Somebody tried to kill us, Marshall. They were standing right over there in the shadows. Minerva, you'll kind of remember a woman's place. Marshall asked. Silence. I'm sorry, Jezebel. Did you get a look at him? We did not. The coward struck in the darkness. It was only a miracle we escaped. Any of the rest of you see who fired those shots? You're the law here, Marshall. I demand an accountant for this outrageous assault. Jezebel, do you know anybody who might think they got a reason to kill you? I never had an enemy in my life. Well, it looks like you got one now. Tell yourself of old-fashioned ideas. Why don't you let it freshen up your taste? Smoke an L&M. Why are more people changing to L&M than to any other cigarette? Because only L&M lets you enjoy full, exciting flavor through the pure white miracle tip. L&M draws easy. Taste richer. Smokes cleaner. So, free up. Freshen up your taste. Get full, exciting flavor. Live modern. Smoke L&M. Make your day your big red letter day and start to live the modern way. Live, live, live modern. It's America's fastest growing cigarette. You've got to make this prescription look real authentic. Oh, what do you mean? These are fooling pills. I've got nothing in them but sugar and some chalk and a little gum arabi to bind them. So that's the kind of medicine folks get from you. Oh, no. It's the kind of medicine Mrs. Prudlin gets. As long as she figures they help her. That's all that's necessary, at least they don't do any harm. Nothing wrong with her, anyhow, except in her mind. Oh, there you are. Well, let that sit a while and dry. Oh, so you found out yet who fired those shots at old Jezrecombe? No, Doc. Not a hint. That's a funny thing, man. I don't think I know a soul and dodge that likes old Jezrecombe. Yeah, no, Doc. Nobody really hates him either. They just stay clear of him as far as they can. Yeah, that's just it. He just isn't the kind of a man to rouse up strong feelings in anybody. Good or bad. He must have roused some and whoever tried to kill him or kill her, I don't even know for sure which one they were after, him or his wife. Are you busy, Doc? Huh? Well, come right in, Kitty. Hello, Kitty. Matt, what are you doing here? Well, he's hiding from Jezrecombe. What? Don't mind, Doc. I'll step outside, Kitty. Oh, no, no, don't go, Matt. I just wanted to get something for a headache, Doc. Oh, it's too bad. Dip yourself some water there. Here are some pills I just made up, Kitty. Oh, not, Doc. Formulate him straight from Boston. Well, then take care of this headache. They're medical pills. That's exactly what they are. Here you are. You swallow a couple of those. Thanks, Doc. I personally guarantee those to stop the world's worst headache in one minute flat. Yeah, they've done wonders for Mrs. Prudlin. Mrs. Prudlin? Pay no attention to him, Kitty. He's all upset over that shooting. Well, I could name a few people who aren't upset over it. Oh, which people? Some of the girls at the long branch. He drops in about three times a year. Jezrecombe at the long branch? Old self-righteous Jezre. And every time it means trouble, he always drinks too much. He bothers everybody. What bothers him, huh? I try and to reform him. And it's the girls who always get the worst of it. He... now, who'd have thought it? He calls them painted Jezrebells. He says he means the curing of their transgressions. Of course, the only cure, he seems to know, is to grab a cane and beat the daylights out of any of them he can get his hands on. I didn't know Jezre was that bad. You asked some of the girls, Matt. Daisy or Billy Bell. Yeah, I will, Kitty. Doc, could I have some of those pills to take with me? Oh, look, Kitty, Doc, would just point... They're real good, Doc. My headache's all gone. What'd you start to say, Matt? Uh, nothing, Kitty. Nothing. The eight hours, Marshall, and you've accomplished nothing. I demand legal action. You haven't helped things, any, by lying to me, Jezre. Lying to you? You told me you never had an enemy in your life, but two or three young ladies over at the long branch disagree with you. Ha-ha, dance, old girl. Maybe soon. But I sure hate to have them looking at me over a set of gun sights. Abandoned, painting their faces, devoting in public to the devil's music. And stay away if you don't like it before you get a bullet in your back. Wasn't a woman who fired them shots? A woman wouldn't have to fire them, Jezre. She could get a man to do it for her. Then why don't you jail them girls if they're plotting to kill me? I don't have any proof of anybody plotting anything. You're in league with the adversary, Marshall. You're aiding and abetting the forces of evil. Let me tell you something, Jezre. I'll aiding abet anybody's right to live his own life according to his own lights. As long as he's within the law. Yeah, what is it? Could I see you a minute? Yeah. Yeah, what's the matter, Chester? Well, it's Miss Kitty. She wants you over at the long branch, right away. Oh, what for? Well, see, there's a fellow there that's been drinking real heavy, Miss Dillon, talking to my... Oh? And Miss Kitty heard him say he'd been offered $300 to kill old Jezre. Self of old-fashioned ideas, freshen up your taste. Smoke and L&M! Today, all over the country, more people are changing to L&M than to any other cigarette. And it's all because only L&M gives you full, exciting flavor through the pure white miracle tip. L&M draws these tastes richer. Smokes cleaner. So, free up, freshen up your taste. Live modern, change to L&M. Make today your big red letter day and start to live the modern way. Live, live, live modern. It's America's fastest growing cigarette. He's playing poker over here with a house dealer and a couple of tall boys. Have you been in here before? Yeah, just during the last week. He's a drifter, I guess. Goes by the name of Puggy Rado. There. That's him, Matt, on the far side of the table. It looks like a saddle bump. He was making out real braggy for a while. Fastest gun in Texas, that kind of talk. But I guess he knew he'd gone too far when he said that about Jezre Cobb. He shut up tight right after. All right, Kitty, I'll try to get him away from that table. Wait, Matt, I think he's coming over here. I reckon you're the marshal. That's right, yeah. I reckon she heard what I said. Sent for you. That's just what I figured she was doing. Don't you follow me! Hold it, hold it, marshal. And move toward that gun. And I'll put a bullet right in her back. You got your hands off me. Check it easy, Kitty. You tell her, marshal. Tell her me and her leave and now. And if anybody lays a hand on a gun, there's gonna be a pretty corpse on the floor. I told you to let go! Take him out! Drop that gun, Redo! Not a chance! I'm all right. Thanks, Matt. I had to kill him now. There was no time for anything else. Marshal, was that the man? Yeah, it looks that way, Jezre. He was claiming somebody had offered him $300 to kill you. Well, that's the fella who... Who what, Jezre? Well, he stopped in at my place last week, and he gave me a hand out. Did you say $300? That's right. Well, I've got to be getting on home, marshal. I've got to stop to attend to it. I've got a lot of things to attend to. Well, for evermore, come over here, Mr. Sudden. I don't know, Jezre, but I think I can guess. There's a light on them now. I knew you were such a poor built house, ain't it? Yeah, it sure is, Miss Cobb. All right. I do, Marshal. Chester. Miss Cobb. Your husband got home yet, Miss Cobb? He's out there in the barn. Won't you come in and set a spell? Yes, we will, thank you. As a matter of fact, Miss Cobb, you're the one we wrote out here to see. That's right, kind of you, Marshal. Now, you two sat you down there at the table. Just this minute took a wild plum pie out of the oven. Well, no, no, thank you, Miss Cobb. I don't often get to feed collars. You ain't going to deprive me of the chance. Maybe we could just taste it a little bad, Mr. Jones. I always had the impression that you were opposed to visitors. Miss Cobb? Oh, I love to have folks come. Jezra ain't never been one to encourage it. Oh, I see. The righteous must turn their faces from the world. For the world is the cradle of sin. That's what Jezra always said. There you are, piping hot. Well, gracious, that smells good. Well, eat hearty. There's plenty more. It'll just go to waste. Jezra's never cared too much for plum pie. Miss Cobb, how long have you and Jezra been married? Twenty-seven years, Marshal. Twenty-seven years. Uh-huh. I know with those years, Miss Cobb, how many times did he beat you? Hundreds of times. For my transgressions, he told me. He used to read me from the good book that a husband's got a right to do that. I ain't never learned to read myself. But last month, I asked Reverend Blouse, and he said there weren't nothing like that in the good book. Jezra's got his own version. He lied to me. That's what he done. And if he'd lie about that, then, well, I reckon you know, don't you, Marshal? Yes, ma'am. You offered money to that drifter who rode through here last week that you hired him to kill Jezra. Yes, ma'am, I guessed it. Jezra did, too. Well, I figured he did the way he acted in town. He'd come home and told me about you having to shoot the man. Then he asked me for our savings. And I got it for him. He sat down here and counted it. And when he seen it was the same as that fella had been talking about. $300. Then he knowed for sure. What did he say? Nothing much. He just sat here a while, smiling at me kind of in that cold way of his. His glory smile, I always called it. Then he got up and went out to the barn. And, of course, I knowed what he was going for. What do you mean? He was aiming to fetch a hickory stave. He always keeps some out there to mend fences. I didn't clear it, Mr. Dillon. A man like that ought to be woe. I think, ma'am, maybe I better go have a little talk with Jezra. Won't be no use, Marshal. Just won't be no use. I think it will, Marshal. Listen to me, Marshal. You're wasting your time. I'm trying to tell you. When he went to fetch that stave, I knowed what he was aiming to do. And I followed him out to the barn. Yes. I stood real close, Marshal, so I wouldn't miss. And I pulled the trigger four times. I put the gun there in the cupboard. I figured you'd be wanted. Jezra ain't never gonna beat me no more. And you sit right back down there and it's your pie. In a moment, our star, William Conrad. If your daily routine never varies, chances are you're heading for a great big case of monotony. Everybody needs a break once in a while, and sometimes a vacation just once or twice a year isn't enough. But a break once a week would more than fill the bill. What could you do with that leisure time? Here's the answer to that. You can vary your routine with a fascinating and vital pursuit, spotting planes for America's Ground Observer Corps. It's exciting, it's interesting, and just two hours a week of your spare time is all that's needed to keep up the 24-hour schedule of the GOC. Men and women from Teenage Up can help the Air Corps cover the blind spots in our radar system by volunteering for the Ground Observer Corps, a civilian component of the Air Defense Command. You'll be trained and supervised by officers and airmen of the Air Defense Command to spot planes in your area. Find out from your local civilian defense office how you can be a civilian Ground Observer. This has been a public service message by CBS Radio. And now, William Conrad. You know, when a Batman riding a good horse came into Dodge looking for trouble, a likely as not, he got a bullet hole placed in him. And the horse went to the man who did it. And that was the West. Gun Smoke. Produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. The script was specially written for Gun Smoke by Les Crutchfield, with editorial supervision by John Meston. The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns by Ray Kemper and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg, Ralph Moody, Don Diamond and John Daener. Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story on Gun Smoke.