 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. Gun smoke, starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved west with young America, the story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. I didn't see it. You'll get shot someday, walking around in days like that. You'll get sunstrokes sitting out here in the heat and the dust. I don't see people in the daylight very often. Wanted to find out if they're any different. Sit down. Are they? Any different? Yeah. I don't know. But I've spotted a few I think might be sober. That's different. Yeah, for you maybe. And I was just thinking, Kitty, there's hardly a man comes to dodge that isn't looking for trouble of some kind. They call it fun. Yeah, sure. But part of their fun is beating somebody up or shooting them. I've heard of places where the men have to check their guns when they come to town. That never works. They can always hide a gun or a knife. You ought to go fishing, Matt. What? Have some fun yourself. Quit worrying for a while. I'm not worried, Kitty. You know, if it wasn't for all these men stalking each other, I'd be out of a job. There are other jobs besides keeping the peace, Matt. Yeah, I've tried most of them in my time. Hey, Mr. Dillon. Hello, Miss Kitty. Hello, Chester. Doc sent me to find you. There's an old man up in his office. Oh, what does he want me for? The old man's been shot. Shot? Yes, sir. Claimed somebody tried to kill him. You mean he was ambushed? I guess he was. Anyway, it hit him in the neck. All right, Chester, I'll go back with you. He's got a friend with him, but there are both strangers around here. Now, you see what I mean, Kitty, young or old, they're all looking for trouble. I'll sit and help if we burn this place down. I'll sit here and think. See you about it later, Matt. Where's the doc? Somebody come for him. Oh, what do you mean? Somebody come for him. That's what? Said somebody else we stick. You're the man that was shot, huh? We don't need you, Marshall. We'll handle this. What's your name, Mr. Peavey. John Peavey. John Peavey. My partner's name is Rives. Milligan Rives, Marshall. You ain't never here to boss. Where are you from? Hap North. Well, sodbusters don't usually wear six guns. What are you doing in Dodge? We quit the land, Marshall. We're going to enjoy ourselves with change. We ain't never going back. Well, you're a little old to be making a move like that, aren't you? I ain't hardly 60 meters, Rives. Well, I didn't take you long to get into trouble, did it? We ain't in trouble. Maybe you're not Rives, but Peavey here's just been shot. I told you we'd handle this, Marshall. Ain't nobody going to sneak up on John Peavey and shoot him. I don't care if he is a woman. A woman? What woman? Oh, you always did talk too much, Peavey. You might as well tell him now. I ain't going to tell him. I'll fix her myself. You'll tell me or I'll throw you in jail till you do. I'm not going to have any women killed around here. Now, do you understand that? Hey, go on, tell him. You already started. Well, all right. She, she come up the alley, Marshall, next to our sleeping room. And she shot right through the window. Rives seen her, running around the corner after. I'm going to fix her good. She's been fixed, and you, Marshall, are here to do it. Who is this woman? What's her name? Hey, she's one of them girls. She works at the Texas Trail, Marshall. Name a kitty. What are you doing here? I'm sorry to bother you, kitty. Come in. Come in. My room's a mess. I wasn't expecting any college. Well, it's important, kitty. Of course. What's the trouble, man? You know a man called John Peavey? Peavey? Yeah, I know him, old fool. But did you threaten to shoot him? Don't tell me he's come and complained to you about that. No, not exactly. Well, I told him I'd shoot him, and I will, too, if he doesn't leave me alone, the old goat. He's been shot, kitty. What? He wasn't hurt very bad, but he and his partner claim a woman did it, and they said it was you. Do you think I did it, Matt? Well, kitty, if you got Matt enough and you had a gun in your hand, I'd be one of the first to hide, but to sneak up on somebody in cold blood. No, you didn't do it. When did it happen? No, an hour or two ago. I've been right here alone. I guess I couldn't prove it. Well, you don't have to, kitty. Thanks, Matt. Well, the reason I came was to tell you about it and see if you had any ideas. Well, I know about P.V. and his friend Rive's is that a couple of old men have been acting like schoolboys, like they've run away and are having her last fling. And I don't want anything to do with either one of them. Well, I don't blame you. But Rive's claims he saw a woman down the alley after the shooting. You, uh, any idea who it might have been? No, it's probably Lyon, dreaming. Yeah, maybe. Well, if you hear anything, let me know, kitty. And if P.V. gives you any more trouble, send for me. I sure will. I ain't been up this early in the morning since I can remember, Mr. Dillon. Oh, how about last Sunday, Chester? Last Sunday? Yeah. Oh, well, last different. That was still Saturday night, sort of. Hey, look, there comes Miss Kitty. What in the world is she doing up at this hour? She's in a hurry, whatever she's doing. Matt? Hello, Chester. Morning, Miss Kitty. What's the trouble, Kitty? Matt, somebody tried to shoot me. What? In my room just a while ago. I had a pillow down by my feet. Guess they thought my head was there. They put a bullet right through it. What, did you see anybody? No, it came from outside. I didn't dare look out right away. It kind of the same as happened to P.V., Mr. Dillon. Yeah, maybe it was P.V.. He threatened something like this. I'm scared, Matt. Well, you should be. Chester, you stay with Kitty. Don't let her out of your sight. I'm going after P.V. and Rives. We will return for the second act of gun smoke in just a moment. But first, every Tuesday, Pam and Jerry North prove that solving a murder is a family affair. And on the same evening, John Lund, as yours truly, Johnny Dollar, brings us the thrilling details of his latest insurance fraud investigation. Now the second act of gun smoke. By noon, I'd searched the whole town, and there was no sign of P.V. or his friend Rives. They disappeared. And until I found them, I didn't dare leave Kitty where they could get at her. So I had Chester drive her out to a friend's place a few miles from Dodge, and she was happy to go. Now, we didn't have any luck until the next afternoon. Cowboy happened to mention to Chester that he'd come across a couple of drunks camped about a mile up the Arkansins. I decided that it was worth riding out and taking a look. And it was. It's him, all right. Yeah, and they've seen us. Keep your head up now. Do you think they'll fight us? No, you never know. What are you doing out here, Marshall? Looking for you. Well, you found it. You don't have a drink. What you got there? Car and liquor. Only about half a jug left, though. What that other jug killed that yesterday? Here. Have a swallow. We'll say now that's right kind of chester, but of course I don't drink before sundown, at least not very often. Why'd you come out here if you don't want to drink? How long have you been here? Today is for yesterday. He's neck is bothering him, and I figured a couple of days in camp like this might ease it off some. I get the feeling better. I'm going back and teach that gal to the lesson, though. I swear I am. Somebody tried that this morning. What do you mean? She got shot at. He'd be the same way you did. That don't make no sense. While he's just thinking, you done it, Peevee. How could I do it? I've been laying here drunk for two days. Anyway, I wouldn't shoot no woman, Marshal. I'd beat him up a little, that's all. You know, knock him around. What kind of men you think we are? I don't know. Why did you leave home in the first place? Home. Men don't live forever, Marshal. You've got to enjoy yourself all you can. It rives. Rives. You tell him what you told me about them graves. Well, I was in the graveyard once, a long time ago. And I noticed something I never forgot. No sir, never. Yeah, tell him where I was. You know, Marshal, I looked around and I seen that there were there's many graves, shorter than me, as there was graves longer. And that got him to thinking about dying, Marshal. So one day we decided to enjoy ourselves and quit working so hard. Hey, hey, hand me that jug, Rives. Yeah, help yourself. Hold it a minute, P.V. I want to tell you something. What? I'm going to leave you here. But if I see you around Dodge, either one of you, I'll throw you in jail. What for? We ain't done nothing. You have it in mind to beat up Kitty. And if you did that, I might kill you. So stay out of town. Come on, Chester. We left them there, passing the jug back and forth across their fire on the riverbank, talking of death, probably, and of the hard, empty lives that they'd had. The prairie often left men a little too hungry and a little too dry. Chester and I were talking about it when we spotted a woman up ahead. She was walking after a saddle horse which we figured must have thrown her and got loose. She was an old woman and dressed for a Sunday with a long black skirt and a big hat with a fancy pin stuck through it. I sent Chester to catch the horse while I rode up tour and dismounted. My friend will bring your horse back, ma'am. Are you all right? I'm all right. Well, how'd he get loose? Main critter, he ran off. Oh, I see. You live around here? No. You've been down by the river, ain't you? I just came from there. Why? See anybody? A couple of men lying around a fire, that's all. Drinking? Yeah. Yeah, they were drinking. You know them? I might. Are you looking for somebody? I might be. Well, maybe you'd like us to ride back there with you. I don't need nobody to ride nowhere with me, Mr. Oh, what's your name, ma'am? What's my name? I don't take the scallywag cowboys asking me my name. Well, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you. You didn't? No, ma'am, of course I didn't. What's yours? Matt Dillon, ma'am. Dillon, I heard that name somewhere. We won't be introduced proper unless you tell me yours. My name's Sabina Peavey. Ms. Peavey? I've been married 35 years, Dillon. Here he is, Mr. Dillon. Seems gentle enough. I'll hold him while you get back on, ma'am. I can manage. Hey, look what you've got tied to her saddle, Mr. Dillon. On them old calvary pistols. Yeah, grab it and put it in your belt, Chester. What? You heard me. Yes, sir. Can you put that back, you thief? What are you anyways? Suppose you'll steal my horse next time. I'm a US Marshal, Ms. Peavey. Everything's going to be all right. A Marshal, eh? I want you to come back to Dutch with me. Chester will bring your husband in. Is she Peavey's wife? You can't stop me, Marshal. Chester, go back to that camp and shoot a hole in their jug and when they're sober enough, bring them to town and don't say anything about Ms. Peavey. Yes, sir, I'll do it. You're going to be all right with me, ma'am. Well, you stole my gun and you're stronger than me. I guess I'll have to go. Well, shall I make another cup of coffee for us, ma'am? No. No thanks, Dillon. They ought to be here pretty soon. It's nearly evening. You'll tell that girl Kitty how sorry I am. I tried to shoot her, won't you? I'm sure Kitty will understand. Imagine me being blind jealous after 35 years. You, uh, told me you were up to kill your husband. If that's true, why would you be jealous? You can be jealous even if you hate a man, Dillon. You hate Peavey? I didn't know how much I hated him until a day that old fool arrived, come by, and the two of them rode off together. He'd come into the house and took the money and left just like that after 35 years. How, uh, how'd you know they'd come here? They was always talking about dodge. They was always talking about laying on the bank of the Ark Kansas and drinking corn liquor too. I knowed where they was. You're mighty dressed up for a woman riding out to shoot a man. Well, it seemed fitting somehow. Only good clothes I ever owned, Dillon. Warm when I left home, St. Louis. Well, I'm glad I ran into you, Miss Peavey, before it was too late. I'll talk to him. I told you I would. But I ain't never going back to him. He's had his fun. Maybe he'll settle down now. Not with me, he won't. Dillon, I bore that man 13 children. 13? 11 of them died, and he beat me. Every time we lost one. Every time, Dillon. I see. Well, uh, where are the other two? He ran them off. Don't know where they are. Oh, here comes your husband. Looks like Chester's got him pretty sober. I don't want to talk to him in here in front of everybody. Well, you could go out back there and one of their cells, if you don't mind. What difference it make? My hat on straight, Dillon? Yeah. Yes, ma'am, you look fine, ma'am. I'll wait out back. Here they are, Mr. Dillon. Sober is leaking. What's this all about, Marshall? Where do you want his proof? We ain't bothered nobody. Peevie, you go out back through that door. There's somebody who wants to see you. Who? Get moving. No, you stay here, Rives. Go on, Peevie. Well, all right. Who's out there, Marshall? His wife. You, what will it do with their guns, Mr. Dillon? I'll throw him in a drawer, Chester. OK, sure. Hey, what's that? He's beaten her. Come on. I'll tell you what to do. Look at Peevie. She knocked him out. I think I killed him, Dillon. Killed him? He sure looks dead. He has stabbed him. I had been. He beat me for the last time. Said he was going to kill me. I put it right in his heart. Well, you little devil, I'll get you. No, you won't, Rives. Miss Peevie, you come with me. Chester, lock up Rives and another cell. Work for her. You can't lock me up. Oh, you ain't even armed, Rives. Get moving. Come on, get your arms in, some man. All right. Come into the office, man. He was going to kill me, Dillon. I know he was. Well, I shouldn't have let him be alone with you. You didn't know. What are you going to do with me now? You mentioned St. Louis, Miss Peevie. Yeah, you have any people there? My sister. She's all that's left. Well, how'd you like to see her? You ain't holding me? I was self-defense. Then I can go. I'll hold Rives here till you're out of town. Oh, but I can't get to St. Louis. Took all her money when he run off. It's all spent, I know it. Miss Peevie, would you think I'm a scallywag cowboy if I offered to stake you to St. Louis? Thanks, Dillon. Where did I tell my sister about you? Gun smoke 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 John Daner, Ralph Moody, and Helen Cleave. Harley Bear is Chester, and George Ellis is Kitty. 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. Bill Silver, star of the Broadway and film versions of Top Banana, visits Mike Wallace on stage struck tomorrow over most of these same stations. George Walsh speaking. Stay tuned for gangbusters which follows in a few minutes over most of these same stations. This is the CBS Radio Network.