 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. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke. Gun smoke, starring William Conrad, the 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, the 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. Late Wednesday or early Thursday? Well, don't you worry about nothing. I think it should be pretty quiet with the prisoner going. Might even have time with a little housekeeping around here for a change. Well, no, I set this place out from front to back just yesterday. I know. Now, maybe you ought to use that mop and bucket standing out back before Washington declares them surplus equipment. No, Mr. Dillon. Never mind. All right, come on, Skaglow. We've got to get started. I ain't no hurry. Maybe you're not, but I am. I promise to sheriff in a haved city I'd have you there by noon tomorrow. All right, let's go. Mount up. Aren't you going to take the cuffs off? Uh-huh. At noon tomorrow, and I'll get up in that shuttle. And Chester, don't take things too easy. Oh, yes, sir. No, sir, I won't. All right. Bye, Mr. Dillon. Was that the marshal just rode off? Yes, it was. Oh, what time will he be back? What time? Well, if you'd asked me what day, it'd be a better question. This is serious, young man. How long will the marshal be out of town? Well, I expect him back of a Wednesday or Thursday. Oh, I'll probably be dead by then. Dead? Uh, look, Mr. I'm Mr. Dillon's assistant, and if you're in trouble... Are you good with the gun? Well, sure. Oh, I mean, I'd be as good as Mr. Dillon, but I do all right. I'm not sure if you're better telling all this to the marshal. Oh, what? You ain't told me nothing yet. I have to trust you. Can we talk inside? Well, of course. You can come in. Oh, what's this about? Here's my card. Professor Albert Cramston, doctor of M-E-T-A-L-L... Well, that sounds pretty important, but it don't sound very dangerous. Well, believe me, son, it is dangerous if the syndicate has put a price on your head. Syndicate? The silver syndicate in San Francisco. You know, all those millionaire fellas who own the mines. Oh, them fellas. Well, why should they want you dead? I don't want to tell you too much because it'd be dangerous information for you to have, but I will tell you this. They've hired eight killers to track me down, and the one who catches up with me gets $10,000 for the job. Well, is any of them eight men in dodge now? I don't know. I don't know who they are or what they look like. I just know they mean to get me. Well, man, there's anything I can do. Professor Albert, thank you, son. And I just want to say keep your gun close by because the welfare of your country and mine may be resting in your hands. Robert, somehow I never thought I'd see you two drinking at the same table. Sit down, Miss Giddish. Join us for a farewell drink. I'd love to. I'll let the long brand stand this round. Sam, two whiskeys, one beer. By the way, Miss Giddish, I understand Mr. Durgan bought out your shop, Wilbur. That's right, for $1,500. And you're leaving dodge in the morning? You're right again for San Francisco. And to be perfectly honest about the only thing I'll miss is dropping in here to the long brand. Here's your drinks, Miss Giddish. Thanks, Sam. Miss Giddish. See that little old fella by the bar there? The kind of fussy looking little man? Yeah, yeah. What about him? He keeps borrowing dimes from the customers. Sam, you know we don't allow panhandling in here. Well, he pays them back. What? Yeah, three times now, I've seen him. He borrows a dime, he leaves, comes back, buys a drink with a silver dollar, takes his chains and pays back the dime. Well, you worry about it, Sam. I'm going upstairs for a while. I've got some bills to go over. Excuse me, boy. Sure, Miss Giddish, sure. And if I don't see you before you leave, Wilbert, good luck. Well, thank you, Miss Kitty. Did you hear what Sam said about that little fella? Yeah. Sure sounds crazy. Why would anybody do that? I think we're going to find out. Excuse me, gentlemen. I wonder if either of you would be so kind as to let me attend Cent Peace. Why, I think that could be arranged, don't you, Wilbert? Yeah, I think so. Here you are. Oh, thank you. I'll return it shortly. I wonder where that little geezer's going. I don't know. Well, Sam said he keeps coming back with a silver dollar. Maybe we ought to follow him. Maybe we ought to. Janet, I'm worried about the church supper, Mother. I promised I'd make the chicken pies, but the way I felt lately with headache and muscular aches and pains, I don't feel up to it. I don't wonder what that does comfort. Better do something about it. Try Don's pills. Good advice. That's Don's pills, 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. Don's 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 Don's pills. Use successfully by millions for over 60 years. See if they don't bring you the same welcome relief. Get Don's pills today to save money by Don's big economy size. Is that him? Yeah. Don't follow too close. Your shop? Need a lot? What for? There's nothing in there. I hold every last speck over to your place. My own stuff's already in my wagon. What are you supposed to be doing in there? Well, I'll go in and ask. No, no way. Let's sneak up on him. He might find out something. I didn't board up the side window between the buildings. Maybe we can see him through there. The lantern. You suppose he's planning to sleep in there? I don't know. What's that thing on the back counter? I didn't leave nothing like that. Taking cover off. Looks like some kind of machine. There's something crooked here, and we're going to get us a reward. Let's get the front door grabbed when it comes out. You get on that side, and I'll stay here in a week for him to come out. That's Chester. We've got to get rid of him. Why? Because if he is in on it, there won't be no reward. Oh, you know what? There's him and got me. Chester? Yep. Chester, just taking a last look at the old shop. Oh, yeah. That's right. You're leaving town tomorrow. I sure do wish you luck, Wilbur. Thank you, Chester. Well, Chester, I suppose you have to get on with your rounds, be in a peace officer and all. Ah, things are kind of quiet tonight, so mostly what I'm doing is getting me a little exercise before I go to bed. Well, good night, Chester. Good night. Good night, Chester. We grab this fella. Try to cover his mouth so he can't hear. He's coming. Get ready. Hold him. I got him. I got him back into the shop. We got him, Chester. Come on in. He gets the reward. Let him go, Wilbur. Don't you do it, Wilbur, till he agrees about the reward. There's a reward. You can have it. You shoot him. You shoot him. Whose side are you on, Chester? No, no, no. Look, Professor, these two fellas ain't killers. They ain't from that Seneca thing. They're just Mr. Durgle and Mr. Gatsby. Oh, well, that's certainly a relief. Well, what about him? Who's he? Professor Albert Cramson, gentlemen, late of San Francisco. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Howdy. Howdy. We were watching through the window there, and you sure looked suspicious to us. Oh, well, I can certainly understand that. And since you've stumbled on a part of my secret, I guess you're entitled to know the rest, if you want to. I sure do. Me, too. I'm kind of curious about this myself. But first, I have to ask you, are all of you natural-born citizens of the USA? Well, of course. And are none of you or in the employ of a foreign government? You mean like Europe or France or one of them towns? That's what I mean. Well, now that's silly. Well, I won't even have nothing to do with foreigners, me neither. Well, I've got to ask those questions. And one more. It's the good of our duly constituted government depended on your keeping a secret. Would you die instead of revealing it? Sure. Yeah, of course. All right. Now, I want you to watch this carefully, gentlemen, so you'll be convinced in your own minds of the importance of this little device. I'll explain it to you step-by-step as I go along, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate. You just speak right up. Well, man, this is awesome. It's like, what does that thing do? You won't believe your eyes, Mr. Proudfort. Would one of you contribute a dime to this demonstration? I got one. I got one. I'll take all three of them. And then you each have a permanent memento, a reminder that you were among the first to witness the results of my discovery. I'll use your dime first, Mr. Proudfort. Chester. Oh, all right, Chester. Now, put the dime in this funnel here at the top. Now, you count to three slowly. One. Two. Three. Fine, fine. Now, I give the crank four complete turns. Turn this little spigot to admit three drops of mercury. That's quick silver. And turn the crank one more time. And there we are. Now, you see that lever there, Chester? On the bottom toward the front. Yes, sir. What am I? I'm going to reach over and pull it. Well, now, I ain't sure if there's a way. You just pull it. Well, I know, but... No. Well, I don't think that's a silver dollar. I told you, you wouldn't believe it. You can take that cartwheel to the bank tomorrow and they'll tell you it's real. Oh, it's real enough, but I... But how is it done? It's really very simple once you understand the physical principle. It has to do with what I call induced porosity. Once you make that dime porous, like a sponge, all you have to do is introduce a little quick silver to fill in the holes and the chemical process of expansion is automatic. Well, that's clear enough. Oh, yeah. Sure. But why do you have to use dime? I'm glad you asked that question. You see, the ratio of the weight of one dime to three drops of mercury produces an expansion of exactly 10. Well... Follow me. That means this particular formula in this machine extends silver in size and weight in multiples of 10. Oh. Hello. The logical raw material is the little thin dime. If you used half dollars or even quarters, the end product would be clumsy, large, and bulky. Besides, you ever heard of a five-dollar silver piece? A couple of those would weigh you down like a pack. Oh, you're sure right there. No, you couldn't have any bigger than that. Why, anybody can see that. Now, anything else you don't understand? Oh, no. How about you, fellow? No, it's real clear to me. Me too, but... But what? I would like to see that thing work again. So would I. All right. But this time, you turn the crank, Mr. Gatsby. Four times? Yes, but not till I tell you who. You ready? Yep. All right, now put in the dime. One, two, three. Now. What? Now, turn it, turn it. Oh. All right, that's right. Now three drops of quick server. There. And I turn the crank once more. Right. Well, you boys catch on fast. Is it ready now? It should be. Well, whatever. Oh, God, I did it. Well, that sure is surprising. It sure is. It sure is. Can I try it? Now, I haven't had a turn. Can I try the whole thing? Well, I'd like to accommodate you, but I think I'd better cover it up and put it away before someone trustworthy person finds out what we're doing in here. Well, why don't you come have a drink with us, Professor? Yeah, we'd be proud to have you at our table. Well, that's very kind of you gentlemen, but I do have a few little things I must do. If I finish in time, I may join you at the long branch. Well, whatever you say. Anyway, a pleasure meeting you. Yes, it was. Good night, sir. Good night, gentlemen. Good night. Good night. And the pleasure was all mine. Hi, this is Dennis James. Say, remember way back when this melody was popular? There's something very special about a longtime favorite, isn't there? Well, folks feel the same way about one of Kellogg's favorites, Kellogg's Allbrand. Going on 41 years now, it's been America's most popular good food way to fight irregularity from lack of bulk. Because it's whole brand, Kellogg's Allbrand gentles away irregularity safely and reliably. And because it's deep toasted for extra crispness, it never gets mushy in milk. There's only one Allbrand, Kellogg's Allbrand. That's A-L-B-R-A-N. Kellogg's Allbrand. I just can't get over it. Neither can I. You know, if a fella could just own one of them machines or maybe even rent it for just a month, what think all the good you could do? Yeah, well, you could build churches and help the poor people. That sure would be wonderful. Then after you did all those things, you could even take a little for yourself. Well, there's no reason not to. If a fella didn't get greedy, that's right. You suppose he would sell it? Well, I doubt that. I couldn't do nothing about it even if he would. You don't suppose he'd consider $1,500? $1,500 would be more like him. Anyway, I don't think so. Gentlemen, I can't tell you how glad I am that you're still here. What's the matter? Something's come up. May I sit down, please? Of course. Go right ahead. What's the matter? I just got word that they know where I am. The Silver Syndicate? And their killers are closing in. How many are they? I don't know. Could be just one. Could be all of them. Oh, I sure do wish Mr. John was here. But he isn't. So I've had to come to a decision. I'm taking the train east early tomorrow, 8 o'clock. But I need your help, all of you. What do you want us to do? I want you gentlemen to destroy the Silver Extender. Destroy it? You mean bust? I mean blow it to bits. So there isn't the slightest chance of anyone piecing it together and figuring out how it was made. That would be a terrible thing. Sure it was. Just a minute gentlemen. I understand your concern, but it's not quite as bad as it sounds. How's that? Well if I get to Washington alive, I can build another. If I don't, not only will I be dead, but my discovery will be lost to the government. I'll begin to see what you mean. Oh yeah. If you can make up another and when you get there, you'll be an awful lot safer traveling without this one. Then I can count on your help. Oh sure. In what way? Well I've told you I want to destroy the machine. But when you're dealing with Washington, you can't do things just like that, no sir. Now see if you can understand my problem. Now let's say you're the government. You know I have this machine. I've told you I'm bringing it to you, then I show up without it. You ask me where it is and I say I blew it up and you say to me, prove it. Prove you didn't sell it to somebody, but I can't prove it. So you convict me of treason, coming up against a wall, facing a fire, that's the end of Professor Graham's story. Well that'd be awkward, it's sure a word, but what can we do? You can be witnesses. Witnesses? If three honest citizens signed an affidavit that they saw the machine blown up, they'd have to believe me. Would you be willing to do that? I certainly not asking very much. No, especially since you were so nice about sharing your secret. I was planning to pull out early tomorrow, but there ain't no reason I can't wait to witness that. Now there's one other thing. What's that? Well I've got it all created, and only the four of us know where it is, so I'm sure it'll be safe there till morning. Can I count on you? Of course you can. We'll do it just like you said. I don't know how to thank you gentlemen, but when I tell the government what you've done for your country, you can be sure the U.S. Treasury will find some way of rewarding you for your services. Well, I'll be at the Dodge House if any of you need me. This ought to be far enough in town. Just pull off the trail there and we'll unload it. All right, Chester. Yup. Hope it will, Burton. I'll slide the crate back to you. Just a minute. Let me help you fellas. Far enough. You and me can lift it down, Chester. So we can move it under the sea here. Yeah. Now look, we can just pop up one end of this rock and slide the bundles right underneath. Here. Well, that should work just fine. Yeah. Oh, it's real nice and snug and all. If you want to uncoil a roll of fuses, Wilbert, I'll turn wagon round and drive back down the trail. All right. I figured 20 feet of this would give us plenty of time to get out of the way. Oh, sure. String it out. We'll light it and keep right on moving. That guess is far enough for a wagon? Yeah, that's good. That's all over it, Chester. You ready to move? Anytime. All right. All right. All right. You ready to move? Anytime. Here it goes then. Come on. I'm coming. Plenty of time. Oh, you keep a good hold on them horses. There's good five feet left before she blows. That did it. All right. Jim ain't nobody going to get the professor's machine now. Oh, he sure won't. Well, all we have to do is get back on the dodge and sign that paper. Get on up on the wagon, Wilbert. We'll get going. Come on. Let's go. All right. Alongside you fellas, we can stop by the office. The professor sure will be happy. It all went so good. Yeah. I sure hated to do it, though. That machine. Here, buddy. Keep it up. You see where that comes from? Cut barrel on that rise. I'm here. You fool. You get Wilbert into dodge. All right after he hits you. You'll never catch him. I can try. You get going. I'll meet you in town. Blame it yet, Chester. The professor is taking in people a lot brighter than you are. If he'd have tried to sell that machine, I would have got suspicious, but he didn't. I don't know a thing like this. People sell themselves. And you can be sure he got through to somebody. Or Gatsby and Durgan wouldn't be laying up in docks office with each other's bullets in them. It all went over my head. Machines like that have been fooling people since the first day men stopped trading buckskins for flour and started using money. And as long as there's a man alive looking for something for nothing, it'll go right on working. Exposed? Matt. Yeah, Doc. If you want to talk to Durgan, you better do it now. All right. Come on, Chester. What about Gatsby? He never came out of it. He died a half an hour ago. You sure doesn't make much sense, does it? A few killings do. Well, if you, Marshall, you're not laughing at me, are you? No, I'm not laughing. It's something you want to tell me. Not much to tell. The stakes were big, but I lost. So what were the stakes? Didn't Chester tell you? And he told me about the silver extender. He said, you blew that up. That's what Chester was supposed to think. That's what I was supposed to think. But I knew better. But it wasn't on that crank. No, it was just scrap iron. Gatsby had the machine. What? Sure. In fact, we left the long brains last night. Gatsby snuck back and made a deal with the professor. He bought that machine with my money. Wouldn't go partner. Use the money I get and wouldn't go partner. Why, Marshall, a hundred men could have got rich with that thing just using it an hour a day. He had to have it all. Couldn't share. Or is it not? If I tell you, will you promise to blow it up? Is that what you want? That's what I want. It's under the work counter in the back of my store. You know, a thing like that may be all right for the government, but it ain't for the people. The professor should have known that. I think maybe he didn't. What do you mean? Nothing. Anything else you want me to know? That's about all except about the gunman on the hill that hit Gatsby. What about him? I didn't hire him. Gatsby did. To shoot me. He just picked a man with a bad aim. So Gatsby got it in the shoulder. I think that's kind of funny. Gatsby tell you this? He did. When? Soon as Chester rode off after the gunman pulled his own gun to do the job himself. Then you shot himself in the face. You might say that, yeah, but I'll be honest with you though, Marshal. Yeah. I was planning to kill Gatsby anyway. You won't forget your promise. No, I am. I'll blow up the machine. You want me to send Doc back in? No reason to. So long, Marshal. How long make you doing it? About the silver extended. You know, Chester doesn't have the heart. I don't think I would either. You know, even when he's wrong, if a man has to die, likes to feel he's died for something, and if he dies for nothing, I don't want to be the one to let him know. Get the really light refreshment. This is where I talk, Kay. Get the really light refreshment. That's Pepsi Cola, of course. I just wanted to say be sociable, Charlie. Of course, Kay. Be sociable. Have a Pepsi on the road or at home. It always refreshes without filling. Charlie. Pick up extra cartons now. Pepsi is so delicious, it goes fast. That's why you should keep plenty of Pepsi on hand. Maybe I'd better sing. Be sure to say keep Pepsi handy. Yes, Charlie. But the song says it sociably. Be sociable. Long story. What Kay means is, get plenty of Pepsi next time you shop. Oh, yes. Gun smoke. Produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall. The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Vic Perron with editorial supervision by John Messon. Featured in the cast were Joseph Kearns, Vic Perron, Harry Bartell, and Jack Moyle. Farley Baer is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents another story on Gun Smoke. This is WBT Radio in Charlotte, North Carolina.