Gunsmoke (1955) s03e33 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Miss Bell.
Yes? I'm Jim Buck.
I'm driving the stage from here on in to Dodge.
What happened to the other driver? Oh, I always spell him here in Pawnee.
He told me to look out for you.
Thank you.
But I'm quite able to take care of myself.
You're awful young to be traveling all alone.
I'm 17.
Well, now, I I-I take it all back.
We about ready to leave? Soon as I get that fella out of he saloon yonder.
Well, uh, they told me I was going to be alone for the rest of the trip.
Well, now, miss, uh, I don't know this fella.
Says his name's Bassett.
But if he's too drunk, I promise you he won't be riding along with us.
I don't frighten easily.
I sure don't aim to frighten you, miss.
Something wrong, miss? Well, that's all right.
Hello, Marshal Dillon.
Hello, Jim.
I been waiting for you.
Is something the matter? Well, I'm, uh, I'm afraid you frightened this young lady.
She didn't expect to see anybody.
Oh, I see.
Miss Bell, this is Marshal Dillon.
How do, Miss Bell.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to scare you.
How do you do.
Don't see you around Pawnee often, Marshal.
Well, I've been up this way on business, Jim.
Want to get back to Dodge.
You got any room? Sure have.
We can get going as soon as I round up that Bassett fella.
All right- and Jim, drive easy, will ya? I wore out a horse getting here.
I need some sleep.
Sure thing.
We can leave in about five minutes.
All right.
Ma'am.
Nice day.
The lawman is asleep.
It's you I'm talking to, missy.
I said it's a nice day, ain't it? Yes.
That's better.
As long as we're riding to Dodge together, it's best we get acquainted.
My name is Joe Bassett.
How do you do.
You staying in Dodge? Well, that's fine.
Please, I'm very tired and if you'd just- You are, uh? You a dancing girl or something? Well, you're too young for that, ain't ya? Ain't ya? Please.
I know- I've got a bottle.
Go on, have a drink.
No! No! Mister What do you want? You're making it kind of hard for me to sleep.
I am, huh? Yeah.
Now this is going to be a long trip.
Why don't you just sit back there and look out the window.
'Cause I'd rather look at this pretty little girl here.
Come on, honey, have a drink.
Jim.
Jim, pull up.
What for? I said pull up.
Okay, Marshal.
Hah! Hah! What's the trouble, Marshal? No trouble, Jim.
This passenger here wants to ride up on the box with you.
What? He wants somebody to talk to.
You crazy? He's waiting for you, Bassett.
I'm staying right here.
You're holding us up.
Now get moving.
You like to broke my arm.
All right, Jim, open the door.
Now get out.
I'm going but you're going to be sorry you ever seen me.
I'm sorry already.
Hey, driver, give me a hand; my arm's all numb.
Well now maybe I can get some sleep.
Where you from? I'm from St.
Louis.
St.
Louis.
You've come a long way.
It'll be worth it once I reach Dodge.
That so? I'm meeting my fiancé there.
Oh, maybe I know him.
Well, he hasn't been there very long.
His name's Lou Paxon.
Lou Paxon No, I don't think I know him.
What's he do? Well, I-I don't know, really.
I met him in St.
Louis.
I haven't known him terribly long.
Oh, I see.
I'll tell you something, Marshal, if you promise to keep it a secret.
All right, that's a promise.
I ran away from home.
My parents think I'm too young to get married.
Well, uh, how old are you? I'm 17.
Do you think that's too young? Well, it's kind of a hard question to answer.
I guess that probably depends on you and this fella Paxon.
Oh, he's a wonderful man.
Mm-hmm.
You'll see, when you meet him.
Sure.
Miss Bell.
What's the matter? We're here.
It's Dodge City.
Thank you.
Well, do you see him anywhere? No, I don't.
Don't worry, we'll find him.
Welcome home, Mr.
Dillon.
Hello, Chester.
Well Well, it-it, uh it sure is good to see you back.
Yeah, I declare, y-you sure are looking good.
That so? Oh, my, yes.
Miss Bell, Miss Bell, this is a friend of mine, Chester Goode.
How do you- how do you do, ma'am.
How do you do.
Miss Bell is meeting somebody here, Chester.
Oh, uh-huh.
I think it's time you called me Linda, Marshal.
Oh, Linda- that's a pretty name, Linda is.
Like, you know, I always say about names- if they're for a pretty girl, they oughta Oh, there he is, Marshal.
Lou! Oh, Lou! Hello, Linda.
Well, how-how come that she knows him? You know him? No, I well, I seen him around is all.
Linda! Oh, Linda, you look mighty good.
I made it.
I never thought I would.
Might have been bad, too, except for Marshal Dillon here.
Marshal, I'd like to have you meet Lou Paxon- my fiance.
How do you do.
So you're Marshal Dillon.
This is Chester Goode.
Hello.
How do you do.
That man, Lou, over there My bag, please.
He was trying to get me to drink with me and everything.
Drink with you? Oh, forevermore.
His name's Bassett, Lou.
He was bothering me.
Don't worry about him, Linda.
So this is who the little girl was coming to see.
She's my fiancée.
Oh? She didn't say she was coming here to get married.
Well, she is.
Sure.
What do you want, Bassett? You got my gun in your belt.
You aim to steal it? You aim to sell it? What do you mean by that? Where you from? Wichita.
What are you gonna do about that? You handle a gun pretty good when you're sober.
Well, what are you prodding me for, Marshal? You aim to stay here long? No, not long.
Good.
Marshal, I want to thank you for taking care of Linda.
Sure.
I don't know who that man is, but, well, he shouldn't have been bothering her.
Well, Linda, I'll get your bags.
They've got a room for you over at the Dodge House.
Marshal, I hope I see you again.
Sure, Linda.
You too, Chester.
Oh, thank you.
Well, Mr.
Dillon, what happened on that stage with Bassett? You know, there's something I can't figure here.
Wh-What do you mean? I got an idea those two men know each other.
You do? Yeah, but they don't want anybody to know it.
Well, why? You don't know anything about that Lou Paxon, huh? Well, no, I don't know nothing about him.
He just come to town little over a week ago.
Mm-hmm.
Say, there's a seat open over that the game now.
Hello, Kitty.
Well, stranger, welcome home.
Thanks.
I heard you got in this morning.
Yep.
Been gone almost two weeks.
Seems longer than that to me.
Well, how are you, Marshal? Glad to see you back.
Hello, Red.
How about a couple of beers here? Coming right up.
I, uh, I also heard you had a little trouble on the stage, coming in from Pawnee.
Who told you that? Linda.
Linda?! How come you know her? What's she doing in here dressed like that? She works here.
Works here?! Lou Paxon brought her in this afternoon and asked me to give her a job.
Kitty, she's only I know it.
I know it.
Well, Kitty, you must have given her the job in here.
Couldn't you have kept her out of this place? Sure, but she'd be working at the Lady Gay or the Texas Trail.
What do you mean? Lou Paxon said that she had to be working somewhere, and she'll do anything he says.
At least if she's here, I can try and keep an eye on her every once in a while anyhow.
Look at her.
She looks half scared to death right now.
Hey, uh, how about a little drink? No! Matt? Hmm? Oh, now, wait a minute, Kitty.
What, I mean, you can't expect me to interfere in something like this.
Why not? Just because nobody's been killed, or nothing's been stolen? Just because there doesn't happen to be a law against it? Well, no, but Do it, Matt.
All right.
Go bring her over here.
Hello, Linda.
Kitty says you wanted to see me about something.
Won't you sit down for a minute? It's all right, Linda.
You don't have to look so scared.
I'm not really.
My goodness, everybody keeps treating me like a child.
Like I was afraid all the time.
Aren't you, Linda? Yes, I guess I am.
Well, then, why do you feel as though you have to stay here? Lou says I've got to.
Why? He says it's to keep me out of the way.
Well, uh, out of the way of what? No.
Really.
He says if I'm working somewhere, that he knows where I am, and he can always come and find me.
Linda, I'll tell you what I'd like to have you do.
I'd like to have you go back to your room and stay there.
But I can't, Marshal.
Lou'd be angry.
You don't even have to tell Lou about it.
But he'll find out.
Yeah.
He'll find out, all right.
Number 12.
Now, wait a minute, Bassett.
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
That there's that Bassett fella, Mr.
Dillon.
Yeah.
Well, he come out of number 12.
Now, look, I told I thought it was somebody else.
Yeah.
Bassett's gone.
What do you want, Marshal? I want to talk to you.
What do you want to talk to me about? Why did you pretend you didn't know Bassett this morning? I don't know him.
He just walked out of here.
Well, I meant, I didn't know him this morning.
What's your business with him? I got no business with him.
He was talking, that's all.
Look, Marshall, what's this all about? I'll tell you what it's all about.
I think Bassett's a gunman, and I think you've hired him for a job.
I got nothing to do with him, I tell you.
All right.
I don't know who it is you're after, but this time, I'm gonna stop the trouble before it gets started.
What time does the next stage leave? Oh, well, there ain't another stage until day after tomorrow.
Santa Fe's out in the morning, though.
All right.
I'm gonna be down there to see that you're on it.
I ain't about to leave, Marshal.
You got no right to make me.
You're leaving, and you're leaving without Linda.
What? Putting an innocent to work in a saloon is about the lowest thing I can think of.
Now, I got her out of there, Paxon, and she's staying out.
You're interfering in something where you got no right, Marshal.
You just be down at the depot in the morning.
And your friend Bassett is gonna be traveling with you.
You're making a mistake.
Well, if I am, you can stop it.
What do you mean? Just start talking.
No.
Hey.
Oh, hello, Doc.
Well, you still up? My golly, it's after midnight.
Well, now, since when did I start going to bed before midnight? Well, maybe you ought to once in a while.
Then you wouldn't have to sit out here on the porch in your chair, in the daytime, your hat pulled down over your eyes, half asleep.
Get a little sleep at night, you'd be a lot better off.
Government pays you a pretty good salary, the way I figure.
Listen, you old horse doctor.
I'm wise to you.
Huh? You know, you're getting worse all the time.
You're just not happy anymore unless you've got somebody to argue with.
What? Me.
Yeah.
All right, I'm your man.
Just pull up a chair and start arguing.
Somebody beat us to it.
Well, that sounds like it came from the Lady Gay.
Yeah.
Mr.
Dillon! Mr.
Dillon! It's Lou Paxon.
He tried to rob the saloon, and he got shot.
Well, is he hurt bad, Chester? Well, I don't know, Doc.
I been Well, here, let me take a look.
Oh, let's-let's get him up to the office; come on.
You know, it's-it's a funny thing, Mr.
Dillon.
He didn't even try and-and shoot back.
Oh, uh, look, why don't you give him a hand, will you, Chester? I'll be along in a few minutes.
Well, where you going? Somebody here I want to talk to.
Oh Hello, Marshal.
What are you doing here, Bassett? Watching.
Watching for what? Not for anything.
Just watching.
You're working with Lou Paxon, aren't you? Was that him they carried up there? You know it was.
Dead? Why don't you go find out? It ain't nothing to me, Marshal.
You know, I was gonna run you out of town, but I think I'll keep you around now till I find out what's going on.
I ain't done a thing.
No.
And you're not going to.
I'm gonna lock you up.
I ain't never been in jail in my life, Marshal.
Well, you're going now.
No, I ain't.
Get your hands up.
Not likely.
Is he dead, Mr.
Dillon? Yeah, he's dead.
Oh, I just knowed there'd be trouble; I knowed it.
Look, would you go get Kitty and tell her to bring Linda up to Doc's? Linda up to Doc's? Yeah.
Hello, Matt.
Doc.
How is he? Well, he's not very good, Matt.
He got one in the stomach and a bad one in the chest.
I I can't do anything for him.
Mm-hmm.
Linda Linda? Linda? Linda's on her way up here, Paxon.
That poor little gal.
What made you think you could get away with robbing that saloon? Was Bassett supposed to help you? Him? No, he wasn't gonna help.
He was just waiting for the money.
What do you mean? It don't matter now.
I can tell you.
That's what he came here for.
We robbed a stage up north.
I run off.
Spent the money in St.
Louis.
He followed me here.
He found me.
He-He was gonna hurt Linda if I didn't get the money so I-I figured she'd be safe safer where there was a crowd around.
You don't have to worry about Bassett.
He's dead.
Is he? So am I.
Just about.
Well, I better go get Linda, I guess.
What for? What are you gonna tell her? Well, tell her the truth.
Tell her the whole story.
Well, that'll be awful hard on her.
Finding out what kind of a man he was.
Can't you spare her that? Well, Linda got off easy, Doc.
Think of the trouble she'd have been in if she'd have married a man like that.
But none of this is gonna do her any good at all unless I can send her home a whole lot smarter than she was when she came.
Yeah.
That's what I got to do.
Come on, Linda.
I'll walk you back to Dodge House.