Gunsmoke (1955) s03e38 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Go on back! Want to get yourself shot? I can see better here.
Not if Jim Nation puts a bullet in ya.
Where's your horse? He took a bullet in the shoulder.
It ruined him.
So I finished him off.
He's got us in a spot, Chester.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Your horse dead, mine dead.
I didn't think we were this close to him.
I figured him about ten miles ahead.
Well, he ain't.
Well, I'll be.
Looks Looks like he's giving up, don't it, Mr.
Dillon? Yeah, yeah, it looks like it.
He's still wearing his six-gun, though.
I wonder what he's up to.
I don't know.
We'll soon find out.
Come on.
Turn around.
Get his gun, Chester.
Can I put my hands down? Yeah.
How come you didn't shoot it out, Nation? I guess I didn't want to kill nobody.
You killed a man in Dodge.
Self-defense, Marshal.
That's not what the witnesses say.
Witnesses, sure.
All friends of his.
I heard them say what they was gonna tell ya.
A man looks awful guilty when he runs, Nation.
You don't believe me, do you? It's not up to me.
You'll get a trial.
Well at least I'm still alive.
You're alive, all right, and 90 miles from Dodge.
By golly, that's right.
How we gonna get back, anyway? How's your horse? Road-foundered.
He ain't worth nothing.
Well, let's go get our saddles, Chester.
Come on.
Doggone you, Nation, them were durn good horses that you shot.
When a man gets to running, he'll do most anything.
Yeah, he sure will.
Well, the Great Western Express route's about 20 miles north of here.
Guess we'll have to walk up and wait for a stage.
Well, one thing, Nation's gonna have to walk, too.
I'll get mine first, Chester.
Keep an eye on him, will ya? Yeah.
Hey, Marshal? Yeah? Marshal, uh, you don't owe me no favors, but I never been arrested before, never in my life.
I feel kinda ashamed of it.
Well, I can't help that, Nation.
Oh, I know, I know, but Well, would you? I mean, when we get on a stage and all, would you not say nothing about me being a prisoner? Marshal? Well, doesn't make that much difference to me.
I'd be powerful grateful to ya.
All right, but if you try any false moves, you'll go to Dodge in a sack.
Come on.
Let's go.
Nation? Well, here she comes.
Huh? The stage is coming.
Yeah.
Uh, Mr.
Dillon, h-how you know that they'll stop for us? You know, you lost your badge.
Maybe they'll think we're road agents.
Well, road agents don't usually carry saddles, Chester.
I hope the driver will notice that.
Well, he will if he's awake.
Driving six horses ought to keep him awake.
Yeah.
Sure looks good at that.
Marshal? Yep? Remember what you said? You won't tell 'em, will ya? About me being a prisoner? No, I'm not gonna tell 'em.
But just don't forget what else I said.
If this is some kind of a game, you're going back to Dodge with a hole in ya.
Get your saddle.
Whoa! This shotgun's got two barrels, mister.
We're passengers, not bandits.
Where are your horses? Ran away last night.
Ran away? You don't look like greenhorns to me.
Well, uh, wolves got after 'em.
That can happen to anybody.
All right, let 'em on.
Okay, Wells, it's your strongbox.
You can pay later.
But I don't know how them people in there are gonna like this.
Well, we'll sure find out.
Thanks a lot.
You got room for a couple more in there? Any man ain't got sense enough to hold onto his horse ought to be made to walk.
Well, we've had our walk, old timer.
Darn fools.
We ain't crowding the three of you in here.
Well, yeah.
Chester, you, uh? You mean Do I have to? We can't have Nation up there.
No, I reckon not.
They sure can't charge much if I gotta ride up here like a carpetbag.
The company guarantees a ride, mister.
Comfort's your problem.
And hurry it up.
We're late now.
Sun, dust, wind.
I'll probably fall off and bust open like a bag of oats.
Hyah! You must be a real big spud, mister.
You order these men around like you was a general or something.
What'd you say your name was? I didn't say.
The name's Dillon.
Well, I'm Art Carp.
And this old goat here calls himself "Fly.
" My name is Fly! And I don't give a hoot what the rest of you call yourselves.
Crusty old devil, ain't he? You run cattle or something, Dillon? Hey, you got the manners of a blind mule.
Nobody's talking to you, old man.
Good! Then I don't have to listen to your gabbing anymore.
I'll push my boot in your face if you don't shut up! Yah Hold on, Carp.
Now wait a minute.
You may boss these other men, but don't you start pushing me.
Nobody's pushing you.
Don't pay no heed to him, Dillon.
He's been nervous about something the whole trip.
What? Yeah, you got ants all over you, Carp.
If you weren't so old, I'd squeeze you out of that scrawny hide of yours.
You would, huh? You know something? I ain't even gonna talk to you no more.
Dillon, did I ever tell you I knew Meriwether Lewis? Yep, I met him in St.
Louis with that Clark fella when they come back from the West Ocean.
Whoa! Oh, boy.
Well, I guess there's no use asking you if we could borrow three horses, is there? Nope.
Them's for the stages.
Where you bound for? Dodge.
Well, the stage will be moving on tomorrow.
Yeah, I know, but I'd rather be on horseback.
You cowboys is all alike, ain't ya? Supper will be ready directly.
Dried beans and sow belly.
Eh Well, you can eat it or starve.
Chester? Oh, yeah! Oh, I tell ya, I'd hate to spend the night in there.
That-that air, it could drown a person.
Well, I bet you wouldn't mind eating in there, would you? Well, no, no.
I You know, I can stand it for that long.
I didn't mean I thought so.
Well, look, we'll sleep outside.
Oh, good, fine.
Yeah, but you're gonna have to stay up half the night and guard him, you know.
No, I ain't gonna run off, Marshal.
You ran once.
All right, I'll tell you something and maybe you'll trust me a little.
Yeah? Tell me what? Come on over there, Marshal.
All right.
I'll wait here for you.
When they get the supper ready, I'll call to you.
Well? Marshal, I've been in California the last five years before I hit Dodge.
Nation, you should have stayed there.
Well, you listen to me.
It's that fellow Art Carp.
I seen his picture, Marshal.
It was tacked on a pole out in California.
I think the reward was $500, but I ain't certain about that.
You telling me he's wanted? He sure is.
Everybody was talking about him out there.
He's real smart, Marshal.
How do you mean? Well, what he does he rides the stages inside, I mean, as a passenger.
Then his partners hold it up somewhere.
Then this Carp pulls a gun on the people inside the stage and keeps 'em from getting into the fight, you see? Then when his partners get the strongbox down, Carp jumps out and joins 'em on an extra horse that they've brought.
Now that's pretty smart, ain't it? Yeah.
Yeah, that is pretty smart.
What I don't understand is why he ain't even bothered to change his name.
Well, we're a long ways from California.
Yeah.
Well, you gonna arrest him? Nope.
Well, you believe me, don't you? Maybe.
Well, then why not arrest him? 'Cause I'll just wait and take his partners at the same time if what you're telling me is true.
All right, boys, wake up.
Chester.
Oh.
Don't want to sleep all day, do you? All day? The sun ain't even up yet, hardly.
You wouldn't want the sun to get up before you did, would you? Well, it wouldn't ruin me forever, if that's what you mean.
Nation.
Doggone you, Nation.
I was up half the night guarding you.
You's always doggoning me for something or other, Chester.
Well, you got it coming.
Slept outside, huh? Yeah.
Wells, I'd like to talk to you for a minute.
What for? Come here.
What's on your mind, mister? Wells, how long you've been riding shotgun? Two years.
Not that it's any of your business.
I'm just trying to find out if you can handle yourself.
You keep nosing around, you'll find out, mister.
I figure you to be a good man, Wells.
I hope I'm right.
Who in thunder are you? I'm a U.
S.
marshal.
A U.
S.
marshal.
Prove it.
I can't prove it.
I lost my badge, and I got nothing else with me.
Say, you speak right out, don't you? All right.
I'm a fair judge of men.
What do you want? How much money you carrying in your strongbox? Say, you really do move in.
Either you trust me or you don't.
$20,000, Marshal.
All right.
Now, what'd be the best place between here and the next road station for a holdup? Oh.
Oh, I see.
Well? That'd be Willow Bend, I guess.
It's about 20 miles down the road.
All right, I'll tell you what I'd like to have you do.
When we hit the bend, you have that driver go through there like he was on fire.
Chester will be up on top to help you.
I'll be inside, kind of organizing the passengers.
How come you think there's gonna be a holdup? We'll find out when we get there.
Come on, let's go and see if breakfast's ready.
What'd you go and kill the jug for last night? I'll die if I don't get a drink.
You could die anyway, friend.
What'd you say? He said you could die anyway.
Oh, he did, huh? Forget it.
I was just talking.
You're always just talking, mister.
He sure is, always talking, talking about nothing.
Nothing at all! He don't know nothing.
Why don't you shut up? Yeah! Hey.
I know this place.
We've come 20 miles, What place is it? Willow Bend.
Ever hear of Willow Bend? Yeah, yeah, I have heard of it.
Whoo-ooh Whoo-ooh Whoa! Hey, driver, what are we stopping here for? What's wrong? Wheel's stuck.
Uh-oh.
Rear wheel won't turn.
Run out of grease.
There ain't nothing here.
No, no, or they'd have jumped us by now, if they'd been here.
But keep your eyes open anyway.
Okay.
It's froze solid.
That fool boy at the station forgot to grease this one last night.
Ought to take a bullwhip to him when I get back there.
Well, you can grease it now, can't ya? Could if I had any grease.
You mean you haven't got any? Not unless I render you down and make some, mister.
Who do you think you're talking to? Now hold on a minute, Carp.
Look, can't we take some long grass and wrap it around that spindle? Won't last very long, but if we can keep doing it we'll get to the next station.
Next station's We'll be all day doing that.
Why don't you greenhorns ask a real man how to fix it? Okay, pop, suppose you tell us how to fix it.
Cheese.
Don't even listen to the old fool.
Why, cheese would do just fine.
You know, it might, at that.
And I suppose you brought some along just in case, pop? I brought some along to eat, you young'un, but I'll let you have it.
It's in my carpetbag up there.
Son, throw down that carpetbag, will ya? How far are we from the station, old man? What's the matter, you got a woman waiting for you there? Tell me! Oh, not that far.
You can see it right around this bend.
Hey, hey, looky there! They're having trouble up there.
They're burning.
They've been attacked.
Yeah, their horses are gone.
Look at them arrows.
Indians.
Indians has done this.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Comanches.
That's a Comanche arrow.
Look at that.
Well, better take a look inside, I guess.
No need.
I already looked.
Somebody throw some water on that blanket.
Well, looky here.
Look at that, they killed three men.
This one's still alive here.
Hey, that's the station man.
You're gonna be all right, fella.
Just don't move.
The stage is here.
It was Indians.
Indians.
What about these other two- these white men? Who are they? Road agents.
Held me held me up.
Gonna hide here.
Got a partner on on the stage.
Anybody touch a gun, I'll kill the old man.
Get that gun out of my back.
Shut up.
You're a dirty coward.
I knew something was wrong with you.
What are you going to do now, Carp? I want you men to go out this door one by one.
I'm gonna take Fly outside with me.
And we're gonna watch you drop your guns in a pile as you come out.
You can shoot me anytime, any one of you, but you'll be killing the old man.
Start coming out.
What-what are we going to do, Mr.
Dillon? We're going to do what he says.
You boys drop your guns and get outside.
Go on.
Well, Marshal, I guess you believe me now, don't ya? Nation, you're the only one that can stop this.
What? There's no time to talk.
I want you to go out there and pretend to join him.
You mean, you trust me that much? I have to.
Yeah, yeah, I guess you do.
Drop it, Dillon.
I'm telling you to drop it! Now move.
Move! Move! Hold it.
Where's your gun? I ain't got any.
All right, get over there with the others.
You heard me! Well, I-I want to tell you something.
Important.
Tell it quick.
You know why I ain't armed? Too yellow, maybe.
He took my gun- Dillon.
I'm under arrest.
He's a marshal, Carp.
He's bringing me in for killing a man in Dodge.
I might have guessed it.
I just know'd he was something.
Keep still.
They're going to hang me if they get me to Dodge, Carp.
You bet we are.
We're gonna hang you high.
Now look, look, Carp, you and me, we can work good together.
Better than alone.
Now I'm throwi'' in with you.
What do you say? I'm warning you, Nation, I'll track you down if it takes a year.
You ain't gonna track nobody down.
You're gonna stand here till tomorrow, while we ride off on them stage horses.
Ain't that so, Carp? Yeah.
Yeah! Grab yourself a gun.
I sure will.
Don't do it, Nation.
I'm sorry, Marshal.
I figure I'll live a little longer this way.
Making a fool out of you, ain't he, Marshal? Yeah, you're all a bunch of fools, if you ask me.
Shut up! Let's make one of them unhitch them horses.
Yeah.
Uh, let's get the marshal to do it.
Yeah, I'd like to see that.
Go ahead, put him to work.
Oh, you ought to get some pleasure out of this, Carp.
Go ahead.
I'll hold him.
Just in case anybody gets any smart ideas.
Yeah, you're one as bad as the other.
Shut up! Go ahead, I got him.
All right, Marshal, go over there and unhitch them horses.
Hurry up! I'm not gonna do it.
You want me to kill you? You wouldn't dare.
What's the matter with you? I'll shoot you like I was swatting flies.
You don't mean nothing to me.
Don't move, Carp.
I got a gun on your back.
It'll make an awful big hole.
Drop it.
You crossed me, huh? That's right.
I can still shoot the marshal.
You'll get a bullet in your spine if you do.
Maybe it's worth it.
Well, make up your mind.
You seem awfully willing to die.
No more than you.
Come on, Carp, drop it.
I'm tired of waiting.
You dirty, lying dog! You're nothing but a murderer, Carp.
I hate your kind.
All right, get moving.
Chester, take care of him.
I'll take my gun now, Nation.
What for? You're still under arrest.
I don't know about that.
It's kind of up to me now, ain't it? Yeah, I guess it is.
I don't understand you.
Don't you? You know I could have rode off with him.
I could still ride off.
Yeah, yeah, I guess you could.
I got a gun in my hand.
I could kill you easy.
Carp sure would.
It's like you said- he's nothing but a murderer.
Feel kind of like a fool.
Nation A man like you- I'll testify in court he only shoots in self-defense.
Thanks, Marshal.
'Course, you'll still have to stand trial to get clear, but you can wear that until then.
Yeah, not taking me in as a prisoner, ain't you taking a chance it'll make trouble for you? I I take chances every once in awhile, Nation.
Yeah, yeah, like you just did with me.
Sometimes it pays off.