Gunsmoke (1955) s02e20 Episode Script

ANNOUNCER: Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Hey, come on in.
I was just cleaning it.
Well, there something I can do for you? Are you Marshal Dillon? Yeah, that's right.
My name's Parker, I just rode in from New Mexico.
Oh, you're a long way from home.
Marshal, I'm a special deputy with the Stock-Raisers' Association.
I've got a warrant here for the arrest of Jim Glass.
Jim Glass Glass? I never heard of him.
Did you, Mr.
Dillon? You mind if we let the marshal handle this? Well, I was only trying to be helpful.
You don't have to get so uppity about it.
It's all right, Chester.
Who issued this? We had Judge Blent from Santa Fe issue it.
You had him issue it? Well, what I mean is, we signed the complaint.
I see.
I'm sure you'll find everything in order.
What makes you think this Jim Glass is in Dodge City? I didn't say I thought he was here.
Now, look here, Mr.
Parker, you're the one came begging for help, you know, not me.
No offense.
The fact is, we think he might be in or near Tascosa.
Tascosa? Well, that's two days hard ridin' from here.
Can't you get anybody closer than that to deliver it? I was told to bring it to you.
Why me? Glass is fast with a gun.
And lawmen differ.
Some of them sidle away from the tough jobs.
A lot of them might camp out a week and then come back and say they couldn't find him.
We don't figure you to be that kind.
You want him pretty bad, huh? He's guilty of rustling, murder and banditry.
Guilty, you mean, he's already been tried? No, but when he is tried, he'll be convicted all right.
We'll see to that.
"We"? The Stock-Raisers' Association.
And a lot of people around Santa Fe.
He used to ride with Billy the Kid, isn't that proof enough he's guilty? Not necessarily, no.
We hold every man equally responsible along with the Kid.
We've gotta break up that gang, marshal.
New Mexico's an armed camp till we do.
You say he used to ride with the Kid.
According to Pat Garrett, he left the gang just two years ago.
Well, Garrett's word is usually pretty reliable.
That's hardly the point.
Glass is wanted and you're a U.
S.
marshal and that's a legal warrant.
I didn't come here to argue the merits of the case, that's up to the court.
Yeah.
The court and this, uh Judge Blent, huh? All right, Mr.
Parker, we'll ride out to Tascosa with you.
Oh, no not with me.
It's your job to bring him in, mine's to take him back.
Sure.
Well, I'm not a regular lawman.
I work for the association.
Is Glass maybe using a different name now? What's he look like? He's around 6 feet, I understand.
Black hair, 180 pounds.
Oh, and he's supposed to have a knife scar across his ribs on the left side.
All right.
You make yourself nice and cozy in Dodge, and we'll ride out to Tascosa for you.
Well, I hardly think that's called for.
Good day, Mr.
Parker.
Think that Jim Glass is gonna give us any trouble? I don't know, Chester, he rode with the Kid.
"Tascosa House.
" I sure could use a drink, Mr.
Dillon.
Yeah, well, I guess we've earned one all right.
Maybe we can ask a few questions in there too, huh? Howdy.
Howdy.
What'll it be, gentlemen? Oh, beer, I guess.
Yeah, you better make it two.
Heh.
As tall as you got.
Oh, that's the nicest thing I've seen in this town yet.
Here's to your health.
Right.
Things kind of changed around here.
You been here before? Oh, a long time ago.
Hey, what's that new building they're putting up down the street? It's gonna be a schoolhouse.
Schoolhouse? In Tascosa? Yeah, it's like your friend here says: there's been a lot of changes around here.
Got a few families here now and the young'uns will need a school.
Nate organized things and we're getting one built.
Nate? It's Nate Timble, he's the owner here, I work for him.
Well, I'd like to talk to him, is he- Is he around anywhere? Out back.
All right, thanks very much.
See you later.
Howdy.
Mr.
Timble? Yeah, I'm Nate Timble.
Uh, my name is Dillon, this is Chester Goode here.
Hi.
How do you do? Barkeep told us we'd find you out here.
Mike Postil.
He's a good man.
Well, if there's anything I can do for you.
Well, Mr.
Timble, I'm a U.
S.
marshal over from Dodge City.
Oh? We don't see the law down this way often.
Just passing through? No, as a matter of fact, I'm looking for a man.
A man by the name of Jim Glass.
Jim Glass? You know him? Nobody by that name around here.
Well, he, uh- He probably changed his name.
He's a tall man, about 6 foot.
He's 180 pounds, black hair.
A lot of men would fit that, marshal.
This man had a knife scar across his ribs.
On the left side.
It isn't often you see a man without his shirt.
I was hoping you might know him.
What's he wanted for? Used to ride with Billy the Kid.
He quit the gang a couple years ago, as I understand.
So, uh, probably be somebody who's moved in here since then.
Well, I wish I could help you, marshal.
If he quit the Kid two years ago, why are you after him now? The New Mexico court issued a warrant for him.
It's my job to serve it.
Slow courts they got out there.
There's a new Stock Raisers' Association.
They're pretty powerful.
I guess they're trying to clean up the loose ends.
Hey, uh, this barkeep you got in there, how long's he been around Tascosa? Mike? Just a little under two years.
I see.
He come here with Harry Gunter.
Gunter? Got an outfit west of town.
Calls himself a rancher.
But he spreads a mighty big loop.
What, you mean, you think he's a rustler? Nobody's been able to prove it.
Mostly on account of Mike.
What do you mean? Mike's pretty fast with a gun.
That was his job with Gunter.
Well, what's he doing tending bar, then? Well one night about a week ago, Mike told me he'd half-decided to quit working for Gunter.
Well, you might say I helped him decide the rest of the way.
So then he needed a job, I needed a barkeep and there he is.
Well, that was good of you.
I hope it works out.
But being a lawman, I suppose you don't think it will.
A man like that doesn't often change.
With a little help he can.
Maybe.
A lawman can arrest Mike Postil right now for what he done while he was working for Gunter.
You think that'd be the right thing to do, marshal? Lawman can't arrest everybody.
If it was me doing it, I'd skip Mike Postil and go after the head man, Gunter.
They don't seem to think your way over in New Mexico.
Oh, some do.
Pat Garrett's after the Kid right now I hear.
With any luck at all, he should get him.
Pat's a good manhunter.
He's one of the best.
But they still want this fella, Jim Glass, along with the Kid, huh? There's a legal warrant for him.
Issued and signed in Santa Fe.
And any lawman would be proud to serve it.
Lawmen aren't all bone, Timble.
Well, wish I could help you, marshal.
What do you aim to do? Well, I guess we'll just have to find some place to hole up and stick around for a few days.
Oh, then you might as well stay at my house.
We got a couple clean rooms we let once in a while, and the wife's the best cook west of K.
C.
Oh, that so? Well, looks like I'm gonna like Tascosa after all.
Sure you are.
It's, uh, just down the street there.
Mr.
Timble, how long you been in these parts? Just under two years.
Sure was nice of Mr.
Timble to put us up, wasn't it? Yeah.
He wasn't givin' out no information though about that Glass fella though.
Did you notice that? Yeah, he was pretty close-mouthed.
The way he acted, somebody would think that he was the one, you know? Well, I'll be doggone.
What's the matter, Chester? Well, that there description, Mr.
Dillon, that 180 pounds, that fits that Mr.
Timble exactly.
Yep.
Well, hadn't we ought to do something? Don't ya think? Well, it also fits that bartender.
Oh, yeah, I guess it does.
It might even fit that fella Gunter out west of town.
All three of 'em rode into Tascosa about the same time.
Yeah, well, I guess you're right.
It was just a thought.
What are you gonna do, Mr.
Dillon? Well right now, I'm gonna go inside and see if her cookin' is as good as he said it was.
Oh.
Can I give you some more spuds, Chester? Oh, no, no.
Miss Timble, I think if I was to have another helping, I'd- I'd bust.
Well, you might just give me just a smidgen, I mean, if you got 'em to spare.
To spare and welcome.
Oh, I'll tell you, I don't know when I've ever eat so good.
Kind of you to say so.
You have some more, marshal? No, thanks, ma'am.
But you're a mighty-fine cook.
Well, all I got to go on is Nate.
He did a lot of drifting when he was young and it made him kind of finicky about his eating.
So when he cleans up his plate, I figure it can't be too bad.
How long you and Nate been married, if you don't mind my asking? Be a year the fourth of next month.
We come through in a wagon, my folks and me.
We was headin' for the Panhandle, camped here ten days to rest up the horses.
Folks went out and I stayed.
But I've never been sorry, not once.
There ain't a finer man than Nate ever lived.
I guess he's pretty well-thought-of hereabouts now that he built that new schoolhouse, huh? Well, he sure ought to be well-thought-of.
Not many men could've prodded this shiftless town onto its feet.
Yeah, I remember this town a few years back.
And the schoolhouse ain't the end of it.
We'll get a town hall started and dig some deeper wells so as we won't run short of water every summer.
Nate's even got a plan for bringing a spur line of the railroad in.
That so? Heh.
Before you know it, this town is gonna be as big as Saint Louis.
Or at least as big as Dodge.
It might be at that, Chester.
You know, uh, that's a pretty nice thing your husband's doing for this Mike Postil.
Oh, you heard about it, huh? Yeah, Nate was telling me.
Well, Mike's not really bad.
He'd be all right now if Harry Gunter would just leave him alone.
All Mike needed was a chance and Nate's given him one.
You know, it's that way with a lot of folks that's made mistakes in the past.
They'd go straight and keep out of trouble if- If there was just somebody to help 'em and believe in 'em.
Yeah.
Maybe you're right.
I reckon it don't fit in with your way of thinkin' though, you being a lawman.
A lawman's got feelings, ma'am.
He was asking about my anniversary, marshal.
I wanna show you something.
Mr.
Dillon, would you aim to finish? No, go ahead.
It's a kind of remembrance I'm makin' for Nate.
I'm keepin' it a secret from him.
That's real buckskin, marshal.
A Pawnee squaw showed me about tannin' the hides.
Well, that's mighty nice.
You think Nate will like it? Well, if he doesn't, you send it to me, will ya? Well, I sure do hope, I- Oh, my goodness, here comes Nate.
Is something wrong? Don't worry, Martha, it's all right.
I'll tell you about it later.
What's the trouble? Gunter, with two of his men, just rode in.
Well, I better go with you, I guess.
It's not your fight, marshal.
Might turn into mine.
Want me to go with you, Mr.
Dillon? No, finish your dinner.
I'll see you later.
What'll you have, gentlemen? Hear that, Ace? Postil is asking us what we'll have.
You'd figure he'd know without asking.
Yeah You here for a drink? Uh-uh.
Then state your business, Gunter.
Postil, you're the first man that ever walked out on me.
Quit on his own hook.
I don't like it.
And I don't aim to tolerate it.
Is that all, Gunter? I figure it's enough.
Then you're wasting your time, I'm through selling my gun to you or anybody else.
You've already sold it.
You're bought and paid for.
You're coming back out to the outfit.
Which one of you is figurin' to take me? We ain't any one of us fool enough to go against you.
Not alone.
You're a brave man, Gunter.
You can't get all of us.
I can sure try hard.
Then you'll die trying.
Get out, Nate.
Stay clear of it.
Shut up, Mike.
If the pot's open, Gunter, I'm dealing myself in.
Nate Seems to me you're dealing in around here pretty often lately.
Maybe it's time somebody stopped you.
It's your move.
Name's Dillon, in case you're interested.
I'm a U.
S.
marshal.
Marshal? What's the law got to do with this? Nothing so far.
I don't want any trouble with the law.
Well, I don't think you'll be havin' any unless your name happens to be Jim Glass.
I don't know what you're talking about.
He's wanted over in Santa Fe, I'm lookin' for him.
He used to ride with Billy the Kid.
I never heard of him.
Well, then you might as well go ahead and finish your business.
It's already finished.
Gunter, take your wolf pack and get out.
You got until sunup tomorrow to be back out there in that bunkhouse.
If you're not, we're coming in and drag you out.
I'll be here, Gunter.
He won't be alone, Gunter.
I ought to stay clear of both of you.
It's my fight, not yours.
A man that's trying to go straight needs all the help he can get.
Look, you got a wife to think of.
She feels the same as I do.
I told you I'd stick by you, Mike, and I meant it.
I don't exactly know how the marshal figures in it.
Well, I left a meal half-eaten over there.
I think I'll go back to it.
Marshal? I heard part of it, I can guess the rest.
Well, I wouldn't worry about it, ma'am.
I don't think it'll come to anything, just a lot of talk.
Gunter saw he had more than he bargained for, he'll back down.
You don't know him.
Ever was a man that's evil, Gunter's him.
He'll see Mike Postil back or else dead if it's the last thing he does.
Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, ma'am.
Your husband's able to take care of himself pretty well, I imagine.
What do you aim to do about it, marshal? Well, it's not really my fight, ma'am.
I came here to serve a warrant.
To arrest a man by the name of: Jim Glass.
Harry Gunter's a worse man a hundred times over.
That may be.
Tell me, marshal, do you think Nate's doing the right thing standing up for Mike Postil? Believing Mike has a right to his chance and willing to die for it? Do you think he's right? I think he's right, ma'am.
And so do I.
I just don't want him killed.
I need him, and the people here need him.
I don't wanna raise a son without a father.
Well, I didn't know you and Nate had a son.
Nate doesn't even know.
I haven't told him yet.
Got things on the stove, marshal.
I'll be gettin' back in.
Well, I reckon that's them, Mr.
Dillon.
Yeah.
You don't have to do this, Chester.
You mind if I use a rifle? There's no rules in this game.
I'd feel a lot cozier behind a Winchester.
Hold on, Gunter.
Get off the trail, marshal.
You got no business with us.
I'm makin' it my business.
Mike Postil decided to stay in town.
Now you men turn around and head back.
Don't you think the odds are a little against you? I'm satisfied with 'em.
Now, let me tell you something else, from now on, you stay clear of Tascosa, or I'll get up a posse and come after you.
We don't need no lawmen down here.
Look, boss.
Well, looks like we don't have to go into Tascosa to settle this.
You've had your last warning.
Missed you this morning, marshal.
I kind of figured we'd find you hereabouts.
Looks like the odds are down, Gunter.
Timble, you're responsible for this.
And proud of it.
Get him and Postil.
Get him first.
Hold it! Run! Gunter's finished and so are you, now get out of here.
Mr.
Timble, let's see how bad that is.
No, no, no, it's all right.
It's not bad.
Gunter's dead.
Why didn't you tell me that Gunter was Jim Glass? You had no call to protect him.
No, marshal.
No call at all.
You better get back and get that arm fixed, huh? Martha will fix this up, she's good at these things.
I'll get somebody out from town to bring Gunter in.
Mike, stick with him.
You'll never find a better man to pattern yourself after.
I know that, sir.
Thank you, marshal.
Thank you.
See you later.
Mr.
Dillon, why did you say that Gunter was Jim Glass? You know, when I opened up Timble's shirt there- Chester? Yeah? You know, in a gunfight a man can get excited sometimes.
He can imagine things that aren't really so.
Well, yeah, I reckon so.
Why? Well, I think that, uh, Gunter fits the description of Jim Glass pretty good.
He's a rustler, killer, a bandit He's 180 pounds, about, uh, 6 foot tall, black hair.
I think we can just assume that he, uh, had those scars on his ribs.
You know, Mr.
Dillon, I think you're right.
There ain't no reason to go pokin' around on him like you would a yearling at a sale.
You gotta have some respect for the dead.
All right.
Jim Glass died in a gunfight.
Mile and a half from Tascosa, There ain't the least doubt about it.
Let's ride.