Gunsmoke (1955) s02e02 Episode Script

ANNOUNCER: Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Somebody got shot out here.
Who is it, Buddy? I don't know who he is.
I don't know.
Anybody see who done it? No.
No, nobody.
I better get Doc.
Probably better go for the marshal too.
Let me through here.
That's Ben Williams.
Anybody see this thing happen? Well, I guess Miss Kitty saw it about as good as anybody.
She was watching out the window.
Well, I did everything I could for him.
Oh, it's a shame.
A nice fella like Ben Williams.
Never hurt anybody in his whole life.
Was he conscious at all, Doc? Well, no, not really.
Hewas shot up pretty bad inside, Matt.
I didn't even dare to try to move him.
Huh.
Did he say anything at all? Well, he mumbled something.
He was talking about some feller named Elkader- Elkader, something like that.
Elkader? Well, that's the name of a town.
Oh, it is? Well, that's what he was talking about, but I couldn't- I couldn't make out what he said.
Elkader.
You sure, Doc? Well- Sh- Course I'm not sure, Matt.
When a man's dyin', you got all you can do to try to save his life.
You don't strike up a conversation with him.
And I'm not blaming you, doc.
It's just that I don't have much to go on here.
I know exactly how you feel.
I feel the same way.
Ben Williams was a mighty fine man.
Yeah.
Chester.
Yes, sir? Saddle me a fresh horse, will you? And get one for yourself.
We'll be ridin' out in a few minutes.
One of you fellas lend me a hand here.
Pick him up and carry him up to my office here.
I hope you catch that skunk, Matt, whoever he is.
So do I, Doc.
He's dead? Yup.
Was a no-good thing, Matt.
Ben Williams didn't deserve that.
How'd it happen, Kitty? Well, he was in here most of the evening.
He seemed like he wanted to talk to somebody.
Reminiscing, you might say, about things that happened a few years back.
Just ordinary things, up near Elkader.
Yeah.
Well, it seems like he used to own a little ranch up there somewheres.
But, you know, Matt, the whole time he was talking, he was as jumpy as a cat.
I asked him about it, and he finally told me that there was some fella here in town that used to have it in for him.
Well, did he say who it was? Yeah.
Somebody by the name of Lou Shippen.
Shippen.
Do you know him? Never heard of him.
Oh, what else did he say, Kitty? That's all.
He left right after.
You know, I just had a feeling.
I- I guess that's why I went to the window.
Matt, he didn't even give Ben a chance to draw.
Yeah, I know.
Shot in the back.
Well, did he- Did you get any kind of a look at this man? This Shippen.
I couldn't even tell you what color his horse was.
Hm.
Well- But you get him, Matt, you hear me? Because you know what he did the last thing before he rode off? He leaned out of the saddle and he shot Ben again, while he was lying in the street.
You find him, Matt.
Yeah.
It's like Doc said.
Ben Williams was a good man.
Sure ain't much of a town, is it, Mr.
Dillon? No, just a two-minute stop on the Cimarron spur line, Chester.
Couldn't be more than a couple hundred people.
Well, at least that makes it easier to find out man.
Yeah.
They got a nice café though.
Did you notice that back there? Yeah.
Well, we'll eat later, Chester.
Come on.
Let's get the horses stabled first.
Yeah.
Howdy.
Howdy.
Got room for a couple of horses? I reckon.
Good.
Well these have been pushed some, they'll be wantin' grain.
Might scare up a little.
Cost you extra though.
All right, we'll pay it.
Sure could use some rain.
Mighty dry around here.
Yeah.
Same way south of here.
Where'd you say you was driving from? Dodge.
Dodge? You wouldn't be Marshal Dillon, would you? Yeah, that's right.
Why? Oh, nothing.
I- I-I just thought marshals traveled alone, that's all.
Sometimes they do.
Well, I-I tell you, marshal, I guess I got a little mixed up.
I was just sleeping.
You woke me up.
I-I-I plumb forgot.
Forgot what? I can't keep your horses here.
I ain't got no room.
Them's all spoke for.
Stable's full up.
Mm-hm.
Well, I can't help it if the stable's full.
Now, look here, mister.
Those horses are going in there, and you can find stalls for 'em, you understand that? But- I told you, I ain't got no room.
And my friend and I will be back directly to see if they've been watered and grained.
Believe me, they'd better be.
Come on, Chester.
Mr.
Dillon.
It sure looks like a nice place in there.
Well, let's eat later, Chester.
We'll get a room first.
Well, too much later, and there won't be any use.
You'll survive.
Good afternoon, gentlemen.
Howdy.
Howdy.
We'll be needin' a room.
Oh, you mean two rooms, huh? All right, two rooms.
'Cause one room would be cheaper.
Yeah, it'd be noisier too.
My friend here snores.
Snores? Who snores? Oh, God, you're always sayin' that I snore.
I never heard myself snore.
If I thought you were awake snoring, I'd ram my gun barrel down your throat.
Oh, you don't mean that, Mr.
Dillon.
You're just foolin', ain't ya? Dillon.
Marshal Dillon.
Yeah, that's right.
Why? Nothing.
Nothing.
Oh, I see.
So you were expecting us too, huh? No.
Never heard of you before.
Yeah.
Well, that's one lie.
I suppose you'll tell me another one.
You never heard of Lou Shippen.
Shippen? Not around here.
Never heard of him.
No, of course not.
All right, then suppose you, uh, show us those rooms, huh? Rooms? Well, the fact of the matter is, there aren't any rooms.
What? Oh, that's right.
I made a mistake.
Heh.
You see, the- There- There are so many people coming in here tonight, every room is taken.
I just forgot about it, that's all.
Hm.
Well, you just go on forgetting about it, mister.
And suppose you give me a couple of keys before I lose my temper.
All right.
Room 46.
They're connected.
Thanks.
Come on, Chester.
I'm gonna send up some water too.
Water.
That's a poor excuse for a steak.
I know.
My golly, these rooms ain't too bad, are they? No.
At least it beats sleepin' on a lumpy cot.
Heh.
How much you think they're gonna cost us for 'em? I mean, you know, for the night.
Oh, 50, 75 cents maybe.
Really? That much? Yeah.
I only make $8 a month.
I couldn't get too long of a stay, could I? Ha-ha.
No.
Say, I thought you said you were hungry.
Oh, yeah.
Well, the way people here have been treatin' us, I doubt if they're gonna sell us anything to eat anyway.
Beginnin' to feel like a frothy dog.
Like a what? Frothy dog.
One of them slobberin' kind that goes around biting people and making everybody sick.
Oh.
Heh.
I never been treated so bad in my whole life.
Well, don't let that bother you, Chester.
That proves that Lou Shippen's in town.
He got everybody protecting him.
But why? I can't understand why they'd even care.
Well, the way I figure it, Chester, Ben Williams probably wasn't the first man he shot down that way.
Without giving him a chance, you know? A man just doesn't get that mean all at once.
These people in town know him.
They know him, and they're afraid of him.
Well, I don't see how we're gonna find him, knowing as how we don't know what he looks like.
Nobody here'll tell us, or point him out to us.
Or even admit that they know him.
Well there's one lucky thing anyway, Chester.
Yeah, what's that? They got a telegraph office here in town.
Yeah, they got a telegraph office.
So? Remember a man by the name of, uh, Jebel Rainsey? Ran a feed store in Dodge last year.
He went to Wichita.
Oh, yeah.
I couldn't very well forget him.
He used to live here in Elkader, didn't he? That's right.
Well, you mean that you can get a description of this Lou Shippen from him.
Well, at least he's, uh far enough away so that he shouldn't be scared to.
Yeah.
Well Aren't you ready? Ready? I'm so hungry now I could eat a whole cow raw.
Hmm.
We'll eat later, Chester.
I wanna send that telegram first.
Later? What can I do for you, gentlemen? I'd like to send a telegram.
All right, that's what I'm here for.
Now, who's it to go to? It's going to, uh Mr.
Jebel Rainsey.
Jebel Rainsey.
Say, is that the Jeb Rainsey who used to live here? Yeah, same one.
Nice fella.
Always wondered whatever happened to him.
Well, he's in business over in Wichita.
That's where this telegram's goin' to.
Rainsey Seed and Feed Company.
Wichita, Kansas.
Doing good, is he? Well, I don't know.
I haven't seen him for quite some time.
All right.
Now, what do you want to say? Tsk.
Uh As a personal favor to me, Mm-hm.
please wire full description Mm-hm.
of Lou Shippen.
Something wrong, Mr.
, uh Hinkle.
Will Hinkle.
All right, Mr.
Hinkle.
What is it? What's your name? Does it make a difference? Well, I've got to put it down here.
All right.
You just sign it Matt Dillon, U.
S.
Marshal.
Are- Are you sure you want to send that telegram, marshal? So he's got you buffaloed too, huh? I don't know what you mean.
Oh, no, of course you don't.
But the man's got half this town scared to death of him.
About time I made a few people around here scared of me.
And I might as well start with you, mister.
I- I don't want any trouble, marshal.
All right, then you get busy and send that telegram.
All right, marshal.
I'll send it for you.
Come on, Chester.
Ain't you ought to make sure about that telegram? Oh, he's not gonna send that wire, and I can't make him.
He could be putting anything on that wire.
I don't know Morse code.
Come on.
Let's go eat.
Eat? You mean now? You mean it? Looks like we're gettin' frothier all the time.
Yeah.
I'm afraid everybody in town knows we're here by now.
Sure don't make you feel easy knowing that any man around might be him.
Just waitin' for a chance to shoot you in the back.
Yeah.
I guess we'll have to smoke him out in the open, Chester.
How you figure on doin' that? By telling a few lies.
Come on, let's go have a drink.
Yeah, if they'll serve us.
They'll serve us.
Evening, Marshal Dillon.
Well news gets around fast in this town.
It's a small town.
Yeah.
Small and scared.
I don't know what you mean.
No, of course you don't.
And I don't suppose you know Lou Shippen either, do you? Lou Shippen? Never heard of him before, marshal.
And I never heard of a town so overrun with cowards.
Maybe you'd better do your drinking someplace else.
We'll do our drinking right here, mister.
You just bring us a bottle of rye.
You can't come in this place and start pushing people around.
All right.
Rye it is.
That bartender got a signal from one of those men at that table, Chester.
Did you see which one it was? No, I wasn't looking.
I was watching him.
Well, one of those five men is Lou Shippen.
Let's have another glass.
Mr.
Hinkle's gonna have a drink with me.
Mm, no, I- I don't want a drink.
Why, sure you do.
No, I've- I've got to be leaving.
You mean you're afraid to have a drink with me? No, it's just that I don't want any more to drink, that's all.
Shippen.
Tell him it's all right, Shippen.
He can have a drink with me.
How about it, Shippen? He'll never have a better chance.
Right now you've got a split-second advantage.
I can't tell which one you are.
But you're gonna lose that advantage at 10:00 tonight.
Am I right, Hinkle? No.
I-I-I didn't send that telegram.
So help me I didn't.
You've got a pretty short memory.
I was standing right beside you, remember? No, I- I didn't send that one of yours.
I made one up.
You tried to until you found out I knew Morse code from the Army.
It's a lie.
That's not true.
Then what am I wasting my time here for? He's lying.
I didn't send it.
Sure you did, Hinkle.
To Wichita, remember? Request full description of Lou Shippen.
And they promised an answer by 10:00 tonight.
No, I swear I didn't.
I'm much obliged to you, Hinkle.
Only man in town who gave me any help.
Thanks.
Come on, how about a drink? No.
See you at 10:00 tonight Shippen.
Psst.
Marshal.
Mr.
Hinkle, I'm sorry I had to put you on the spot in there, but it was the only thing I could do.
I have to find out who Shippen is.
I can't tell you.
He's a devil with a gun.
He could kill you.
Then where would I be? Marshal, you gotta help me.
Well, that's what I'm trying to do, Mr.
Hinkle, but you've gotta tell me who he is.
I can't.
I don't dare.
All right.
Now, look, I tell you what I want you to do.
You go back to your office and stay there, do you understand? Yes, but I- Look, that's all you have to worry about.
I'll take care of everything else.
Now, you get going.
Come on.
He's peeking out again, Mr.
Dillon.
Yeah, he's probably getting a little fidgety.
Well, I can't say that I blame him none.
I'm gettin' a little fidgety myself.
Well, maybe Shippen won't come, Mr.
Dillon.
Tsk.
He'll come.
Well, not if he figured out you was lyin' to him.
Yeah, but he can't take the chance on that, Chester.
Maybe he hit the trail and won't even try to.
Yeah.
Hold it! Shippen.
You outsmarted me, marshal.
You outsmarted yourself, mister.
There wasn't no telegram? Nope.
So I lost on a bluff.
Why'd you kill Ben Williams? I never did like him much.
And that was your reason? Good enough reason for killing a man as any, marshal.
Well, I never heard of nothin' like that.
He's just plumb crazy.
A mad dog.
Marshal.
Well, hello, Mr.
Hinkle.
You can come out now.
He's dead.
I just want you to know, marshal, that I was on your side all along.
Yeah.
Sure you were, Hinkle.
Why don't you go tell your friends that too.
Tell 'em whose side they're on.
Tell 'em they can crawl out from under their rocks now.
Come on, Chester.