 into the territory on West. There's just one way to handle the killers in the spoilers and that's with the U.S. Marshal on the spell of gun smoke. Gun smoke. Starring William Conrad. The transcribed story of the violence that moved West with young America. The story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. We'll make camp, Mr. Dillon. We'll ask whoever's living in that cabin up ahead if there's any water around here, Chester. Most likely there ain't. Settlers put up a cabin just anywhere and then start praying for rain. Oh, we could have camped back on Smoky Hill River. No, sir. I'd rather go dry. Just long as we make doggie by tomorrow night. We'll make it. I never seen such place as that Fort Wallace, Mr. Dillon. A man could go plumb out of his mind living there. Well, they don't build army posts for pleasure loving people like you, Chester. I've been in the army. Uh-huh. Uh, like it? Well, sir, we didn't always see eye to eye me in the army, but at least I didn't get killed. Well, that helps. I'll bet you look pretty bold in the uniform, Chester. Oh, my yes. I surely did. I don't want to present anybody home here. Place looks deserted, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, I'll hold my horse, Chester. I'll take a look. Ain't nobody home? There's a man in here, Chester, lying on the floor. What? He's dead. Somebody killed him. Not now, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, we'd better get started. Looks like rain this morning. Yeah, it's too early to tell, for sure. Too bad we don't know that poet's name, Mr. Dillon. Sure do hate to bury a man and not even put a marker on his grave. I'd rather know the name of the man that killed him. It's awful easy to get by with killing the man way out here. Yeah, too easy. Say, look over there, Mr. Dillon. Yonder comes a couple of riders. Yeah, I see them. Well, you suppose they're carrying rifles for? Stand over there, Chester, about 10 feet from me, huh? Yes. And keep the hair out of your eyes. Yes, I will. What's the man doing here? Do you own this place? I wouldn't live in a shack like that. We got a real house over on Turkey Bend. But that don't answer my question, Mr. What are you doing here? We found a dead man in the cabin there last night, so we stopped to bury him. A dead man? That must have been Riley. What happened to him? He got shot. Who just shot a nice fellow like Bob Riley? Maybe they'd done it, Deaver. Probably did. You think we ought to hang him? It'd be easier to shoot him and leave him here as a kind of a warning. Good idea, Giles. You move that rifle one inch, Mr. And he'll die for it. Now go ahead, Mr. Your columnist. It ain't with a chance. All right, Mr. Whoever you are, you and your friend get mounted right out of here. You're Giles, huh? And Deaver? That's right. We don't want people around here. Might get an idea to settle down. You two start riding and right now. Uh, Chester. Yes, sir. That coffee you made this morning was weak as well, Water. Get that fire going again and build some more, huh? Okay, sir. George got a lot of nerve, Mr. He don't even blink, Deaver. Look at him. We'll be by here later, Mr. We won't ride up so close next time. You better be no wayers around. Come on, Giles. Stop breathing, Mr. Dylan. It was two against two, Chester. We'd have made out all right. Yes, I know, but it's the waiting that chills me. Say, you know something? I'll bet anything it was them that killed the fella that lived here. Maybe. I'm not sure I could know more about those two. But right now, we better get started for dodge. There's Rob. We'll get to horsey. Chester and I got mounted and rode maybe a mile and a half when we came across a sort of a camp. There was a man there, a tall man with long, yellow hair and bright blue eyes that seemed always to be looking into the distance. He had a mule and a low wagon and some hogs that he kept in a well built, partly covered pin. But he hadn't put up a shoulder of any kind for himself. And it didn't look as though he was about to. We got down and walk over to where he was standing by a small fire. Sit down, man. I got no coffee, but you're welcome. That pot of chicory. There's a spoonful of molasses in it. Well, thank you, but we just stopped to say hello. No need to hurry off, mister. My name's Obi Ridges. Glad to know you, Ridges. I'm Matt Dillon. This is Chester Crawford. How you do? I don't meet many people out here. Are you raising hogs? All my life. Not here, though. Where do you live, Ridges? You got a house somewhere? Ain't lived in a house since I was nine years old. I like it outside. I need a breeze. Well, you're outside here, all right. I ain't gonna move no matter what they say. No matter what who says. Them two fellas up on Turkey Bayon. Giles and Deaver? Them's the one. Tell me, Ridges, there's a cabin about a mile and a half north of here. You know the man that lives there, Riley? He comes by here now, man. Oh, we buried him last night. Somebody shot him. That's bad. That's real bad. You better tell the law about it if you're going anywhere, mister. I don't hold with murder in a man. Well, I'm a U.S. martial, Ridges. That's a fact. Well... Don't you ever get into the dodge? I never have, but I'm going today. Well, in that wagon, it'll take you a week. No, sir. I'm going horseback. Well, I swear I don't see no horse. Right out there, fella. Here he comes now. There's Jim Branch leading him. Jim talked me into going to dodge with him, but I know I won't like it. I'm just doing it for Jim's sake. Kind of coddling him along, making him feel good. What is this Jim Branch living? He's got a little place over west of here somewhere. Jim's nothing but a cowboy, Marshal. He'll be drifting on one of these days, kind of like me that way. Oh, got company, Jim? Who? Who? You ready to go, Obi? I'm all dressed up like a sore thumb, can't you see? What'd you do? Change your socks? This here's the U.S. Marshal, Jim. I forget his name. My name's Matt Duller. I'm glad to know you. I'm just proud of you. Well, how did you do? You heading for dodge, Marshal? I will ride in with you, if you like. Good. It's a big day. I've been talking Obi into going to town for three months. He claims he don't like towns. He's waiting to see his dodge. I'm happy right here with my hogs. I don't need no town. Your hogs won't miss you. Well, let's get started. I gotta be back in three days, Jim, like you promised them hogs will starve if I ain't. You'll be back. Oh, thanks. What? The Marshal here tells me Riley got shot. No. There's Giles and Diva done. Now, wait a minute, ridgers. It looks like they did it. But if I could prove it, I'd be taking them in for trial right now. Well, it's too bad you can't, Marshal. There are no good then, fellas. Well, I can wait. They'll make a mistake, similarly. But we better get going at 60 miles to dodge. Good evening, Kitty. Sit down, Marshal. Want a drink? No, thanks. I just had dinner. That reminds me, fella brought me a dozen quail that day. I could cook them for dinner tomorrow if you're going to be around. That sounds great. I'll be here. They ought to be ripe enough by then. You know, I never saw as many quail as there are this year. Right then yesterday, we put up clouds up. That Jim Branch seems like a nice fellow. I'll be ridges, too. Yeah, they are, Kitty. I sure make a funny bear. Maybe. But still, they're kind of like brothers. Look at them over there at the bar. Old peace getting spookier every minute he's here. Obi likes it outdoors, right out on the ground. I doubt he'll ever come into town again. Jim told me he still hasn't been able to get him to take a meal in the restaurant. He has to bring it outside for him so he can drink inside, but that's all. Well, maybe we'd all be better off if we lived that way, Kitty. Not me. I don't want to live like an animal. Don't you? Hello, Miss Kitty. Hello, Jim. Marshall, something bad's happened. What, Jim? Well, this fellow here just rode into town from up north. We come by Obi's camp. Marshall, somebody shot Obi's mule and burned up his wagon and killed all his hogs. That's right, Marshall. Oh, no. Giles and Diva again. But Obi, I'm worried about. I never should have made him come down, Marshall. He'll kill him, fellas. Now I know you will. I'll ride out with you, Jim, right now. We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, this coming Tuesday night on most of these stations, CBS Radio turns John Lund loose on his latest case of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. In the Woodward Manila matter, Dollar launches a search for a missing man and a missing fortune. And when the chips are all totaled up, the missing man and the missing money, each somewhat depleted, are accounted for. Don't forget, this Tuesday night at the Star's Address, yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Now, the second act of gun smoke. I wanted to ride out to Obi Ridger's camp that night, but Obi insisted on staying in Dodge. He even tried to have a good time for Jim's sake. Next day, however, on the ride up where he just sat his horse and stared straight ahead and never said a word. We reached his camp after dark and we could see his mule and his hogs lying there in the moonlight and the remains of his wagon charred and ghostlike. Now, there was nothing we could do then, so he lay down on the ground and went to sleep. But that was our worst mistake as I discovered when Chester woke me next morning. Obi had disappeared and he'd taken his rifle with him. We settled up and rode for a turkey bend. How much farther is it, Jim? Just beyond then, trees, Chester. I told you Obi was going to kill these fellas, Marshall. Maybe they're not here. If they're not, he'll find them. Let's pull up. I don't see no cabin. It's right in there. There it is, see? It's off the draw. Wait a minute. Look over there. Behind that log. Hey, Obi. We better walk over. What are you doing, Obi? All right, let's run for it. I got him trapped. Look, Obi, I'll handle this. You can't kill these men. I don't kill giles already. That's him laying right by the door over there. Oh, Obi, you blew the top of his head off. Obi, I got to put you under arrest. Now, give me your rifle. Wait till I kill Dever. I can't hang twice. Give me that rifle, Obi. Now. You mean it, don't you? I do. All right, I won't fight you. But I'd sure like to kill Dever. Chester, take this rifle and keep an eye on him. I'm going after Dever. He'll kill you, Marshall. No, he'll be too curious at first. I'll walk over there with my hands up. But you wait here till I yell. Dever, don't shoot. I want to talk to you. That's part of it. Come outside. Obi's under guard. He won't shoot. I'm a U.S. Marshal, Dever. You're the feller we run into the other day up on Riley's cabin. I am. Now come on out. I thought there was something about you. I got Obi under arrest, Dever. He admits killing giles here. He killed him. Did you and Giles slaughter his mule and his hogs? There's no reason to murder him, man. No. But tell me about you. Did you murder Riley? Well, wait a minute, Marshall. You're going back to dodge with us, Dever. Well, no, not me. Keep your hand away from that gun. Let's see how good you really are, Marshal. No! Not good for you, Marshall. Good. You're killing me. Now they're both dead. Yeah, and they're both dead. But you murdered one of them, Obi. I can't go to jail, Marshal. I'd go crazy. I'd go crazy in jail, don't you understand? I can't go to jail. It was a hard thing to do, but I had no choice. And I took Obi back to dodge and locked him up. A few weeks later, he went on trial. And after a long deliberation, the judge sent us into life imprisonment. Obi stood up and said he'd rather be hung than I took him back to jail. And I sat there with him for a while. I thank you for everything you said, Marshal. You didn't have to do that. I just tried to get the judge to believe you went crazy and you didn't know what you were doing, Obi. I knew what I was doing. I told him I did. Yeah, I know. Why wouldn't he let him hang me, Marshal? He did what he thought was just, Obi. He didn't think he deserved hanging. I don't know how I stood at this long in jail. I'm sorry, Obi. I wish I could help you. They got winders in the penitentiary, Marshal? Sure. Sure they have. I'll be around later, Obi. That's pretty hard on him, Chester. Where's Jim Branch, anyway? Oh, my. I ain't seen him since the trial was over. Maybe you'll come around later. I'm going to suffer with Doc, Chester. We'll be at Del Monica's. All right, Chester. A man like that could go crazy. Locked up, man. That's happened before. There's nothing I can do about it, Doc. Well, I know. I didn't mean it that way. Pass me the beans, will you? These are peas, Matt, but you're welcome to... All right, peas. Peas, then. Why don't you take a vacation, Matt? You know, go back east somewhere. We'll kind of like St. Louis or Kansas City or something like that. Maybe I don't like Tom's either. Well, that's just what I mean. You don't need a vacation all right. Yeah? Well, if I were a rich croaker, maybe I could take one. You're a rich croaker. Croaker? Oh, man. Oh, croaker. Man, how could you say that? All right, Doc. Would you go to... Take it easy, Doc. You'll bust something. It's a fine thing when a mere policeman can insult a noblest profession on demand. I was insulting you, Doc, not the profession. Oh, croaker. Oh, I might have known what it would be like having suffered with you tonight. I'll buy you a drink after. How's that? Well, I don't know. Well, I'll think about it. Dylan? What's the matter, Chester? Well, we read your... He's dead. What? I heard a shot out back and I run into his cell and he was laying there dead. There's a gun on the floor. I don't know where he got hold of it. You better come look. You think he killed himself, Doc? Well, the gun was held right close to his head. Maybe somebody called him over to the window and shot him. Maybe. But he could have done it himself. The bullet ended right here. Yeah. Now, you're saying it could be either murder or suicide. That's right. Well, why would anybody murder him if Dylan didn't make sense? Well, it could be somebody who understood how well he felt about being cooped up the rest of his life, Chester. And somebody who liked him. A good friend. You mean Jim Brang? I don't know who used that gun, but Obi's dead. And I'm going to find Jim. Jim Branch wouldn't talk one way or the other. So I charged him with both murder and abetting his suicide. And he was brought to trial. The trial didn't last long. due to lack of evidence and Jim was freed. He left the country soon after. And I never heard of him again. And as Kitty had said, he and Obi were kind of like brothers. Gun smoke transcribed under the direction of Norman McDonnell stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall. 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 Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin, Jack Krushen and John Daener. Parley Barris Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc. And Georgia Ellis is Kitty, Roy Rowan speaking. Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in gun smoke. From all corners of the globe comes the news. Edited and reported for your listening pleasure on CBS Newsroom Sunday Desk every Sunday afternoon on most of these same CBS radio stations. Three top reporters bring you the latest up-to-the-minute news in their specialized fields. Dick Joy tells you about news at home and overseas. Tom Harmon handles sports. And George Fisher reports the movieland news. That's CBS Newsroom Sunday Desk tomorrow at the stars address. Eve Arden as our Miss Brooks teaches you how to laugh tomorrow on the CBS Radio Network.