 Gun smoke brought to you by L and M filters. This is it. L and M is best. Stands out from all the rats. A round-dodge 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. Starring William Conrad. The French blood story of the violence that moved west with young Americans. 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. So will you take this stuff down to the depot and see that it gets in the mail for me, huh? Yes, sir. Now, what's he doing? Huh? What's who doing? What's he doing anyway? Well, you're the one who's looking out the window, Chester. Well, you ain't up to no good. Look at him. Well, I guess I'd better or I'll never find out. Oh, he's jumping on his horse. There he goes. Well, what was he doing, Chester? Pulling around that wagon team there. He was messing with the traces for some reason. Well, let's go have a look. Billy McCready always was a wild one. Now, he's young, Chester, and he's only got his old man to bring him up. I'm sure he'll probably grow up to be just as mean as old man is. Well, I hope not. What a whose wagon this is, anyway. I don't know, Mr. Dillon. Ain't much wagon, though, is it? Must belong some starving sodbusters. Chester, come here. Well, he's got them traces half-cut, Mr. Dillon. Yeah. They'll still hold for quite a few miles, though. Enough to leave whoever's driving this wagon a long way out on the prairie. Well, now, why would Billy do a thing like that? What are you fellas doing with that harness? Oh, is this your wagon, Mr. Dillon? It's our wagon. Me and my wife here. What are your men doing with it? Oh, your traces have been cut, ma'am. Cut? What do you mean? Come here, take a look. Where? Who done that? Billy McCready. I told you, Jim. I told you something was going to happen. What's Billy McCready got against you people? Don't you tell him nothing, Jim. Ain't none of their business. Look, I'm a U.S. Marshal, ma'am. Maybe I can help you. You, Marshal Dillon? That's right. Tell him our name, Jim. It's Gabriel. I've got a quarter-section near Sky Mountain. Oh, that's on the way to McCready's ranch, isn't it? Marshal, McCready can have all the land he wants, except mine. I filed on that land eight months ago, and I've been living on it like the law says, and I've been proving it up. It's mine, and he ain't going to get it. Has McCready got enough land for his cattle out there without needing yours? Take the land so much as the water, Marshal. I've opened me a spring, and I've dug a well. The water he wants. They're trying to hunt us off there, Marshal. Yeah, like Billy cutting our traces. They figured we'd lose the team on the way home, I guess. Who's there? The old man and Billy? The old man don't come around. It's Billy and one of them riders, Bart, a real honor-looking fella. They're the ones. But it's McCready telling them what to do. They're going to start plaguing us real bad now. And I'll fight them. Me and the boy will stop them. Oh, you got a son? Down by and green. We're picking him up on the way out of town. Ah. Well, you better mend those traces first. Yeah. Look, Gabriel, I think Chester and I better ride out with you, huh? Maybe we can find out what Billy had in mind. This is it. Allendam is best. Stands out from all the rest. This is it. Allendam filters. Perfect gift for Christmas too. Light and mild. Allendam filters. Holiday cotton. Just for you, just for you. For the filter tip smokers on your Christmas list, this is it. Allendam is best. Stands out from all the rest. Allendam stands out for flavor. The miracle tip draws easy. You enjoy all the taste. Allendam stands out for effective filtration. No filter compares with Allendam's miracle tip. King size or regular. Allendam is best. Stands out from all the rest. It's got everything. It was dark by the time we got to the Gabriel place. And when we did, we saw lamps burning inside the house. At first, Gabriel thought his wife's sister and her family had arrived from back east. But then we noticed three horses standing outside. Families came west by wagon, not horseback. So I told the boy to take their team around to the shed while Gabriel and his wife walked into the house as though they suspected nothing. They left the door open. Chester and I got down and sneaked up to where we could hear what was happening. I hope they don't get hurt, Mr. Dillon. And Gabriel seems like good people. Quiet, not Chester. You get back here so soon, Gabriel. Same way we got the dog in our wagon. That's old man McCready, Mr. Dillon. Hey, you been lying to me? No, Pa. I've done what you told me. Honest I did. You shut up about what I told you. Don't matter none, Mr. McCready. Nobody's gonna believe nothing that Gabriel say. Why don't you give up and go back east wherever you come from, Gabriel? There's too many people out here already. And there's more coming right here, too. What? My wife's sister and her husband. And they're bringing the little girl with them. One more man to fight, huh? All right, Gabriel. I'll tell you something. You must have noticed your harness being cut and fixed. Otherwise, you'll be out on a prairie somewhere learning your first lesson. And when you did get home, you were gonna find this place wrecked. We've been sitting here resting some before we got to work on it. It ain't too late, Mr. McCready. Cure, Pa. Let him watch us wreck it. Might be more instant that way. Maybe you're right, son. Maybe that'll learn it. Okay. Get over there in the corner, Gabriel. You're ready, Justin. Right over there. Evening, McCready. March or move your hand any closer to that gun and I'll shut it off. I ain't doing nothing. What are you doing out here, Marshal? Same thing I'd be doing if I was in Dodge, McCready, enforcing the law. What do you bother us for? Can we drop in here for a neighborly visit without everybody making a fuss? You're bad as Gabriel. You've been talking real wild. You ought to hear him. I did hear him, McCready. I heard you, too. Well, that don't mean nothing. You can't jail a man for talking. You're sure shy of the idea of going to jail, don't you, McCready? When I first came out here, there wasn't no jails. Gabriel tells me that you've stayed out of this business so far. You've let Bart and Billy do the talking for you. What they do, I'll take the blame first. You'll bet you will. And the first thing that goes wrong out here, any trouble at all. You're the one that's going to jail first, McCready. All right, now you get out of here. All three of you. Come on, boys. Stinks in here, anyways. Ma'am, you sure made the old man tuck his tail, Marshall? Don't you be so sure, Jim. McCready's as smart as he's mean. I'm afraid you're right, ma'am. You'll think of something. But as soon as you find out what it is, you'll let me know. Come on, sit down. Unless you're in a hurry to get to your hospital. My hospital? Oh, my, oh, man. My hospital. Oh, well, if the day comes when I'm in a hurry to get to my hospital, you'll be warden of the Dodge City Penitentiary. Well, that sounds like a nice warm inside job, Doc. I hope you get it, too, man. And when you do, I hope old man McCready there is your first customer. McCready? Oh, no, I see him. He sees you, too. I guess he wants to talk to you. Well, like he says, I can't jail him for talking. Good morning, Marshall. Doc? Hello. Well, what can I do for you, McCready? Nothing, Marshall. Can a man stop and say hello? Sure. All right, what's on your mind? All right then, I'll tell you. I've been thinking about it all week. So I went over to the land office to see if Gabriel's claim is filed proper. Mm-hmm. Now, does it? Maybe. Maybe not. But I'll find a way, Marshall. Look, McCready, you've got plenty of grass out there. You've got the whole prairie. Sure, but Gabriel's camping on the only piece that's got good water. Oh, go look for some springs yourself. That's what he did. Marshall! Hey, Marshall! It's Gabriel. See, he sure got that horse and a ladder. Yeah. You stay right here, McCready. I ain't done nothing to him. Oh, Doc. Doc, it's you I was looking for. What's wrong, Gabriel? It's my boy. He's sick. He's awful sick. You've got to come, Doc. Well, what's the matter with him? I don't know. But my wife's sister, she got here a few days ago from back east, and their little girl was sick the same way, and she died the first night before I could even get started for Doc. Oh, well, what's it like, Gabriel? How's he showing? Well, he gets awful clamps in his legs, mostly, and he turns kind of blue all over, and he can't talk much. Turns blue? Does he stomach hurt? Something terrible. He's always yelling for water, but it don't seem to do no good. And this is the same thing a little girl died of? It's just like it. He ain't going to die too, is he, Doc? I'll do what I can for him, Gabriel. What is it, Doc? Some kind of a poison? I hope I'm wrong, Matt. Their symptoms are pretty plain. Sounds like cholera to me. What? Cholera? That little girl and her family must have brought her from back east. Gabriel, you're right back home right now. I'll tell your wife to burn all the clothes and the blankets and anything the little girl touched and make everybody keep away from your boys as much as possible, you understand? And whatever you do, don't get anything you feed him out of, mixed up with yours. Keep it separate. Cholera's mighty contagious. You can all catch him. I'll tell him. I'll tell him you were coming. I'll hurry. Well, ain't no business of mine going on out to the ranch. Goodbye, gentlemen. My creedee wouldn't care if they all died. No, I guess he wouldn't, Doc. Uh, I'll walk you down to your office, huh? It's gonna take me a little time to get ready. It's bad, Matt. Cholera's real bad. You're worried tonight, Matt? No, it's just that I can't help thinking about the Gabriel's kitty. That's a terrible thing. Those poor people. Look, uh, don't say anything about it around here, though, huh? I wouldn't want to get a panic started. Oh, of course I won't, Matt. But do you think there's any danger of it spreading to Doc? Well, Doc says not as long as the family stays out of town. But they might catch it from each other. They ought to burn everything Mrs. Gabriel's sister brought with her. Well, that's what Doc said, kitty. Well, but once I'm right. Because it makes sense, I guess. Yeah. I, uh... I've never been around cholera. Have you? No. No, but I've heard a lot about it. It seems to me in this job I've heard a lot about tightly everything there is. And a lot there isn't, too, I'll bet. Oh, I'll say. Hey, Marshall! Marshall! What are you doing here? I'm looking for Doc. Where is he? Doc? He never showed up, Marshall. And I just can't find him. No place. Well, he should have been there this afternoon. Well, that's what I figured. And then come Doc, I got worried. My boy's worse, Marshall. I've just got to find him. Even if it is the middle of the night. Well, he left here. What could have happened to him, Marshall? Well, I got a pretty good idea. Come on, Gabriel. I'm riding back with you. Your place is right on the way to where I'm headed. Where's Ed? McCready's. Well, he came horseback, Gabriel. I doubt if he's here, though. Yeah, it must be eight, nine o'clock already. Well, it was after two when we left Dodge last night. We made good time, though. Oh, there's your wife. Doff will find it. Boy, Jenny, couldn't find Doc. I have an idea of where he is, Miss Gabriel, and I'm riding on to find him. I know where Doc is, Marshall. You do? I figured it all out after my husband left for Dodge last night. It's easy. There's nothing in the world would keep Doc from coming when someone's sick. Except one thing. What, Jenny? Somebody stopped him from coming. Oh, well, that's what the Marshall figured, but I didn't want to worry you about it. Miss Gabriel, if McCready's holding Doc somewhere, he isn't going to hold him long, I promise you that. He wants us all dead, and he'll keep Doc till we are. Except I got him beat. Well, what do you mean? I'll tell you in a minute. Look what's coming behind you. Hey, it's McCready and that fellow barb. I'm going to get my rifle. No, Gabriel. No, wait. They're not going to start any trouble. Yeah, they better not. Doc, you help, Marshall. I thought we'd ride over and see if there wasn't anything we could do. Now, mean it. I'm trying to be neighbor. Get back on your horse, McCready, and show me where you got Doc head out. What? Doc's here, ain't he? What are you talking about? I said get back on your horse. Bart, you're tense one more muscle, and I'm going to take it you're going for your gun. All I'm doing is breathing. Now we're wasting time, McCready. Now wait, Marshall. I don't know nothing about Doc. Listen to me, you men. The Marshall's right. We're wasting time. But I can save some. How? Where's your boy, McCready? He's at the ranch. You don't feel good. Why? He come by here yesterday. Late after my husband started for Dodge. After I got everything figured. Said he'd been away on the prairie a couple of days. He told me he was here. He didn't cause you no trouble. No, he didn't. It's not much trouble to bring a man a cup of water. Well, that's all he wanted. I suppose you wouldn't give him any. I gave him some. I went in the house and got it for him. And what are you complaining about? Didn't he thank you pretty enough? My son's in there, McCready. And he's been drinking water, too. Lots of it. He and Billy, they used the same cup. Doc said don't let nobody touch what your boy used. My husband told me what Doc said. Billy ain't feeling good. He's got it. He's got cholera off in that cup. I suspect he has. Cholera. Now I reckon you'll turn Doc loose. Billy'll die. Sure he'll die without Doc. No. It's up to you, McCready. All right, I admit it. We're holding, Doc. Where is he, McCready? In a cabin I got five, six miles from here. We took him, me and Bart. We put on bandanas and we didn't say nothing so he wouldn't recognize us. He's there, locked in tight. Like I said, McCready, get on your horse. Sure, sure, but let's hurry. Filter tip smokers, this is it. L&M is best. Stands out from all the rest. Yes, L&M is best. Stands out from all the rest. L&M stands out for flavor. The miracle tip draws easy. Let's you enjoy all the taste. L&M stands out for effective filtration. No filter compares with L&M's miracle tip for quality or effectiveness. L&M stands out for highest quality tobaccos, low nicotine tobaccos, L&M tobaccos, light and mild. L&M's got everything. King size or regular. It's America's best filter tip cigarette. Yes, L&M stands out from all the rest. I expected to find Doc fighting wild when we reached the cabin, but instead he was pale, sober and as calm as I'd ever seen him. And when McCready demanded that he go take care of Billy first, Doc didn't even answer him. He just mounted his horse and quietly asked me to lead him to the weight of Gabriel's. When we got there, McCready sent Bart off to see how Billy was doing and then sat down with Chester and me in the dirt outside the cabin and waited. It was a long late in the afternoon when Doc finally came out and he walked over to us. How is he, Doc? Any bear? He's dead, Chester. Dead? Died about a half an hour ago. I've been telling the family what they've got to do to keep them catching it themselves. You know, Gabriel went back and dodged, Doc. Haven't they done what you said? No. I didn't think they would without my coming out here and prodding them. It's hard for people to burn what few clothes and things they have, man. Yeah. Come on, Doc. Now the boy's dead. Let's get over to my place. We're wasting time, John, here. McCready. Hey, look. Ain't that Bart coming? Yeah, that's Bart. Guess he got tired waiting for us. Shouldn't have left Billy alone, though. That's taken it, Doc. Hard to say, Matt. They aren't talking much and they aren't crying at all. That's about what I'd expect. They're pretty ringin' people. It's a good thing they are. What are you doing here, Bart? Why didn't you stay with Billy? We're about to leave now. Mr. McCready. But what is it, Bart? What are you tryin' to say? Billy's dead. Died right there in his bed. I couldn't do nothin' for him. I didn't know what to do for him. Got all blue, real cold. I should've made him go. It's your fault, Doc. Chester? Yeah, Doc? Go into the house and tell the Gabriel's to come out here. All right, Doc. And tell him about Billy McCready. I don't want to see them, Gabriel's. I don't ever want to see him. If they'd never come here, my boy'd be alive now. He's too young to die. Billy's too young. It ain't right. This ain't right. I don't know all I could, Mr. McCready. I put blankets on him. I straightened him out when he cramped up. I poured a lot of water into him. I think it's your fault, Bart. You ain't a doctor. How would you know what to do? You didn't kill him? That's enough of that talk, McCready. Why don't you shut up? Wasn't your son the dyed marshal that was mine? Mr. Gabriel's, their son died too, you remember? What do you want, Doc? I want to explain something to you and to Mrs. Gabriel. Now, don't you start preaching, Doc. I ain't no mood to listen to your talk. You'll listen, McCready, if I have to ram a stick in your mouth and tell you against that tree over there. All right, go on, Doc. First, I want to ask Mrs. Gabriel something. Chester told me about Billy, Doc. Looks like I killed him. You only wanted him to get sick so as McCready had to turn me loose. You thought he'd do that right away so I could save your boy and Billy, too. Could have saved Billy. He hadn't come here first. No, that's where you're all wrong. What do you mean? Medicine's still a pretty crude science, Mrs. Gabriel. Someday, maybe they'll know, but right now I've got no more idea how to treat cholera than I do insanity. There's absolutely nothing I know to do for it. Is that true, Doc? It's true. And I did kill Billy. Killed him with my own hand. No, Mrs. Gabriel. If you'd known I couldn't help him, you'd never let him touch that cup. No. Well, of course I wouldn't. Oh, I never would have. It's McCready that's the murderer. He hoped keeping me away from here would see you all dead. That's what he wanted. But all McCready's going to get for his murder in ways is the death of his own son. So you think about McCready the rest of your life. And remember what it says in the Bible? The Lord does have his way of vengeance. After all. Doesn't he? All right. Come on, everybody. Let's get to work. So you've written due to keep anybody else from catching us. You know, I'd like to pass on an idea that will help you with your Christmas shopping. Go down your list and check all the filter tip smokers and then buy them all gift cartons of L&M's. They'll appreciate it because L&M is best. Stands out from all the rest. And L&M sure make a beautiful gift in their handsome holiday carton. King size or regular. L&M, America's best filter tip cigarette. 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. Hi, everyone. This is Perry Coleman. I'd like to remind you that we're on for Chesterfield with all the top tunes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. This coming week we'll be doing our new RCA victory release home for the holidays. A song that we all feel really expressed in the spirits of the season. We hope that you'll join us. And don't forget those Chesterfields. Pick up the cartons of the weekend. You'll enjoy them. We'll be back next week for another story of the western frontier when Marshall Matt Dillon, Chester Proudfoot, Doc and Kitty, together with all the other hard-living citizens of Dodge will be with you once more. It's America growing west in the 1870s. It's drama. It's gun smoke. Brought to you by L&M Filters. This is the CBS Radio Network.