 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. Government spend any money up there? Tell me about Dodge, Chester. Anything been happening here this past week? Nothing much. One fella kindly got killed last night, but outside of that it's been dull as winter. Oh, who got killed? Why, I don't know. Some wandering cowboy. Who killed him? There's a man called Pape to tell me. You have a self-defense mist done pure and simple. Did you see it? Well, no, sir. Well, who did? Well, I believe the only man who's seen the whole thing was that gambler, Ben Sissel. Sissel? He's new here the last few days. Been playing cards throughout the long brand. You don't seem to know a whole lot about it, do you, Chester? No, sir, I don't, but I was just starting to find out I want to see you riding up the street. Uh-huh. And where were you last night, Chester? I wouldn't be no gentleman to tell, Mr. John. All right, I hope you had a good time. Oh, yes, sir, I had a fine time. Just fine. All right, you can put my horse up if you want. I'm going to go with the long brand. Yes, sir, I'll come along when I'm through. I'll wait for you there. When did you get back? I just rode in, Kitty. What's it on? Thank you. Out the tip. Yeah, pretty good. Tell me something, Kitty. Were you here all last night? Oh, you're thinking of a killing we had. Yeah, I was here. Where did you see it? Most of it. I was standing there at the bar, and Pate and Ben Sissle and the cowboy were at a table in the back. Chester heard that it was self-defense. Oh, a cowboy drew a first map, but I don't know that you'd call it self-defense. Oh, why not? He wasn't after Pate. He was after Ben Sissle. What? Yeah, he wasn't even looking at Pate's map. He was looking at Sissle. Even so, when he started to draw, it was Pate that killed him. Pate caused that self-defense? Well, he claims he thought the cowboy was drawn on him. Besides, he said the cowboy knew Sissle wasn't even on him. Wasn't he? He never was. I see. Tell me, Kitty, is this Pate always around when Ben Sissle was dealing? He sure is, Matt. Always. And he's pretty handy with a gun, is he? Too handy for an ordinary man, Matt. Yeah, I thought so. Ben Sissle's another crooked gambler using a hired gunman to protect him when he's caught. I don't know how you can prove it. Why would I find Ben Sissle now, Kitty, you know? Yeah, standing at the bar over there on a long black coast. Oh, good. I'll see you later. Ben Sissle? That's me. My name's Dylan Sissle. I'm the U.S. Marshal here. Oh, I thought you were out of town. I was. Well, what do you want, Marshal? For your prom, Sissle. Oh, all over, Marshal. You know how gamblers are? Yeah, I know. Where'd your gamble last? I, uh, back east. Why? How long's Pate been working for you? Working for me? Mm-hmm. What are you trying to say, Marshal? I'll make it real simple. The way you operate has already led to one kill in here, and I'm not gonna have any more. I didn't kill anybody, Marshal. There are plenty of witnesses to that. Where's Pate, Sissle? I don't know where he is. Why should I? I want to talk to him, and I want you with me when I do. Getting kind of pushy, Marshal? I can get a lot worse. I suppose we go outside and wait for a friend who's coming here to meet me, and then we'll go talk to Pate. Shall we get moving? Today ends the country's 100th anniversary observance of National Boys Club Week. This great organization dedicated to juvenile decency looks back on a century of progress in building the nation's youth into better citizens in replacing hopelessness with guidance and accomplishment wherever boys clubs serve. But looking ahead is more important to today's youth and tomorrow's. New boys clubs must be built to serve whole new areas of the country. As former President Hoover, chairman of the Boys Clubs of America for 25 years, has said, the boys clubs are the greatest cure for delinquency in our country today. 175 individual clubs serve over 600,000 youths in 383 communities. These groups work actively to promote religion in the home, brotherhood throughout the community, community beautification, and many more valuable programs. A word of gratitude now from the CBS Radio Network and all its affiliated stations to the Boys Clubs of America, entering their second century of service to youth. Pate's room's up here, Marshal. I don't know if he's in. If he is, would you start thinking of someplace he might be? Sure. Sure. I wouldn't blame you for not being here, Mr. Dillon. This is the worst hotel in Dodge. That's the room. This is it. All right. Knock on the door. Tell him you want to talk to him. Okay. I bet you're going to wish I hadn't knocked. These two. This is Marshal Dillon, Pate. Marshal Dillon? What's he doing here? We'll come inside and tell you, Pate. Now wait a minute, Marshal. Get out of the door. Now you look, Marshal. If you come here over that cowboy last night, it's no use. Everybody saw it, knows I killed him in self-defense. Of course he did. There's plenty of witnesses to that. You're a smart sizzle, but you're a coward. That's why you need a hired gun to help you when you're caught dealing crooked. You'd better watch what you're saying. Why? I don't carry a gun, Marshal. But Pate does. He happens to be a good friend of mine. Sure. But right now, Pate's gun belt is hanging on that chair over there. You see it? Hey, shut up. Now, Marshal, I ain't afraid of you, but you're armed and I'm not. Chester. Yes, sir? Go get his gun belt. Yes, sir. That's pretty brave of you, Marshal. Arresting an unarmed man. I'm not arresting you, Pate. I wish I could. And what are you doing? Chester unbuckle that belt and hand it to him. Here you are. All right. Put it on, Pate. Put it on? That's right. All right. You got your gun on now. Yeah. Get out of dodge. What? I said get out of dodge right now. I ain't done nothing, Marshal. I got no quarrel with you. What kind of gunman are you, Pate? You afraid of him? The kind of gunman that can be hired isn't the kind that's going to take any real chances, Cecil. I said I got no quarrel with you. I don't like this. You know, you let me out of here. Out of dodge, Pate. Yeah, sure. It's no good town anyway. The door's open. Marshal's right, Cecil. This job don't pay enough. Do you win, Marshal? You won't find any gunman here who'll hire out to you now, Cecil. So you might as well learn to deal straight. Well, I always do, Marshal. Come on, Chester. Let's get out of here. Yes, sir. There's a lot of dodge, too. I'd rather he stay, Chester. Maybe next time I can arrest him and see him hung like he deserves. It didn't take Pate any longer to leave dodge than to find his horse and get mounted. And for the next week, there was no trouble from Ben Cecil. He went on dealing cards, and although everybody was watching him pretty close, nobody found any reason to complain about him. He didn't win much money, but I began to think maybe he decided that being honest had some value anyway. Doc and I were talking about him in my office one noon. Yeah, yeah. A man like Ben Cecil doesn't change, man. He's a crook, and he'll always be one. He's worse than a crook. He's practically a murderer. He's also a coward, Doc. That's why I think maybe I got him stopped. Well, the way I got him fixed now in order to stay free, he's got to stay honest. Oh, that must be a hard choice for a man like that. Hey, Mr. Gilliam. Oh, oh, Doc. Oh, Justin. Mr. Gilliam. I just seen the doggone staying out on the street there. Yeah, what was that? Well, sir, who would you say is the last man in dodge you'd ever expect to start carrying a sixth gun? I am. Yeah, no, no. Besides of you, Doc. I can't think of anybody except Doc who doesn't carry a gun now, Justin. Well, what about Cooter Smith? Cooter Smith? If I hadn't saw him, I wouldn't believe it neither. Oh, what's he doing with the gun? Just leaning on a post down the street there. He shouldn't be allowed to wear a gun to a man like him. No. It's time to go bring him in here. I want to talk to him. All right. I'll get him. Things will get mighty bad around here when even Cooter Smith decides to arm himself, man. Oh, Cooter's pretty harmless, Doc. Well, you never know. A man like that could be harmless one day and dangerous the next. What's the matter with Cooter anyway, Doc? Well, I don't know for sure. I did examine him once and it looked to me like he got kicked in the head by a horse at one time. He won't say so for some reason, but maybe he doesn't even remember. Whatever it was, it sure made him half simple. I've seen men worse off. Hey, Mr. Jones. Hello, Cooter. Come on in. Hello, Cooter. Oh, Doc. Why, come here like Chester said, Marshall. Good. I wanted to talk to you, Cooter. Well, you never told me to come here before. You never wore a gun before, Cooter. Oh, that. Well, that's for my job, Marshall. Your job? What job of work I got. What kind of a job is it? Well, I don't rightly know yet, Marshall. Well, can you tell me what you do know then, like who hired you? Well, the fella that gave me this gun and he hired me for an awful lot of money, he said. And who was that? Ben, something. Ben Sissle? Yeah, that's him. He's going to pay me for wearing this gun. He is. He'll tell you why. This afternoon. What? Well, that's why he's going to tell me everything I got to do. He's going to talk to me some more this afternoon. He sure talks a lot, that fella. Yeah. Okay, Cooter, you can go on now. But I hope you don't let Sissle talk you into any trouble. It ain't that, Marshall. Why don't you don't try to make a fool out of me? Sometimes people do. I don't like that. Yeah, sure, Cooter. I think I'll go talk to him now and make sure. Goodbye. Bye, Cooter. Well, what in the world do you make of that? I think maybe Sissle's crazier than Cooter is, just... I'm going to be at the long branch tonight to make sure. When humorous Sam Levinson switched careers, the teaching profession lost one of its most amusing school masters to show business. Tomorrow and all next week, smile on Sam serves as guest host of the CBS Radio Network's Arthur Godfrey time, a duty he's been known to carry off in high style before. He'll be introducing you to some fine guest entertainers too. Be listening for Sam and his friends tomorrow and throughout the week on Arthur Godfrey time. Just as every weekday, tomorrow the CBS Radio Network will shuttle from shore to shore to bring you top stars of the broadcast entertainment world. Beginning in New York with Arthur Godfrey time, the network then takes you to Hollywood for Art Link Letters House Party. Then back to Manhattan for the Gary Moore radio show. Again, a return trip to the coast for the Bing Crosby-Rosemary Clooney show. There are stops in between, of course, for CBS News from everywhere. Be listening for them all tomorrow and each Monday through Friday. Right where you've got your dial set now at the Star's Address. Evening, Kitty. Hello, Matt. What are you doing around here so early tonight? I'm looking for Ben Sissle. Over there. Is there trouble, Matt? Yeah, maybe. Hello, Marshall. Sissle. Cooter Smith told me you were talking to him this morning. Yeah, I was. And he'll be here in a minute. You can talk to him some more. Fine. Oh, I don't know, Marshall. Maybe it won't be so fine. Oh. Cooter's not as easy going as most people seem to think. He hasn't. No? Ah, for example, you tie a gun on him, it kind of changes his whole character. Makes him mean, Marshall. You'd be surprised how mean. Yeah, I guess I would. You, uh, you don't believe me, huh? I'll show you. I'm going to draw on you, Marshall. I'm going to shoot you. What? I'm going to kill you. Now look, Cooter, you know better than that. Is this what you've been putting under his head, Sissle? Don't, don't you look at him, Marshall. You look at me. Just, don't you look at him. You just look at me. Oh, so that's it, huh? Okay, Cooter. Go ahead. I'm going to. You look out, Marshall. I sure am. No, you're not, Cooter. You haven't got a chance. Now watch this! See, you're too slow. I got my gun out and you haven't even touched yours. No, I, I haven't touched mine. Your gun pointed at me. I, Ben, Ben. He's not going to help you, Cooter. Yes, he is. He is, too. It's him that's going to shoot you. It's him. You think so? Ben, Ben, he's going to kill me. Ben, you, you guys shoot him. I, I can't stand that. I, I can't. Good devil. Now, Sissle, you ought to be real proud. I, I didn't do nothing, Marshall. I wasn't going to shoot you. I don't even carry a gun, you know that. Yeah, sure. But Cooter didn't know it. You told him to make me start for my gun and then you'd shoot me from the side where I couldn't see you. You told him he'd be safe. That ain't so, Marshall. But what you planned was to make me kill him. It wouldn't look so good for me to kill a man like Cooter. But if nobody had stand for that, they'd laugh me right out of town. That's what you were figuring on, wasn't it? I, I, I had nothing to do with it, Marshall. I wasn't thinking on nothing. You're not as smart as I thought you were. Leave in town, Sissle. I'm going to give you one hour. And I hope you take longer. But what you made me do to Cooter is going to be a real pleasure to drag you out of town. This will leave yet, Mr. Dillon? He's still saddling up in the stable over there, Chester. I'm going to give him about one more minute. What did Doc say about Cooter? Oh, Cooter's fine. Doc gave him some powders and stuff. He's real calm now. Where is he? I don't know. He left Docs quite a little bit ago. You explained to him what Sissle was trying to do. Oh, yes, sir. I made it real plain like you told me. You think he understands now? He understands everything, Mr. Dillon. You know, it's funny, but like Doc said, getting scared so bad he fainted to help Cooter think straighter, at least about what happened. He ain't near as a fuzzy as usual. Sissle's time is up. I'm going on that stable now and run him on. He won't give you no price. Now he won't, but I kind of wish he would. You could have run him on a large long time ago. I wanted to catch him, Chester. I wanted to bring him to try. That's inside the stable, Doc. Come on. It's done. It's Cooter. He's killed Ben Sissle. All right. Drop the gun, Cooter. I ain't gonna shoot no more, Marchel. Shut him right in the head, Mr. Dillon. He lied to me. He made a fool out of me. Why did you have to kill him, Cooter? I was running him out of dodge. Don't you shoot me, Marchel. I wasn't gonna shoot you. Honestly, I wasn't. I like you. Sissle told me I wasn't doing anything bad. I wasn't gonna shoot you. Sissle wasn't gonna shoot you. I like you. All right. All right, Cooter. I know that. Now just calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you. You're pointing that gun at me? No. The gun's back in my hole, Chester. Look at it. See? I am looking at it. And I can't stand it. No, I... Cooter. Cooter! Ain't you going after him? That's scary. I'm even worse. That's bad enough now. But he killed a man. He murdered him. He won't run far, Chester. I'll find him when this trial comes up. Done enough to Cooter for one day. Well, it ain't your fault, Mr. Dillon. No, that doesn't make me feel any better about it. The personal message about cancer is author Godfrey. Thank you. Cancer is a subject I know something about, but for the grace of the good Lord and some wonderful, courageous doctors, I'm here to talk to you about it right now. I want to do everything I can to help save other people. Let me pass on to you the best advice the American Cancer Society has to offer, and that is to see your doctor at least once a year for a health checkup. It could mean the difference between cure and tragedy, and we almost do even more than that. We've got to help our scientists conquer this thing. Dig deep, my friend. Remember, this is cancer we're fighting. We've all got to give that much more. Thank you, author Godfrey. Remember, when an American Cancer Society volunteer, your neighbor calls on you, give generously. Gun Smoke. Produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by John Messon. Featured in the cast were Frank Cady, Barney Phillips, and Vic Perron. Parley Bear 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. Don't ask her Godfrey every weekday on the CBS Radio Network.