Gunsmoke (1955) s04e04 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
You can look all over Kansas In every Kansas town You'll not find another pair Like her eyes of brown She's got them big eyes She's got them big eyes She's got, she's got She's got them big eyes of brown You can look Ooh! What's going on? Well, uh it was that durned old damper there.
It got stuck.
It-it's all right now.
I was I was just trying to red up the place a little.
Ah.
Well, uh how's the how's the prisoner this morning? - Huh? - I said, how's the prisoner? Oh.
Well, the last time I seen him in there, he was still asleep.
Well, maybe you'd better go in and bring him out, Chester.
- Huh? - I said, maybe you better go in and wake him up bring him out, will you? Oh.
Well I'll just I'll All right.
All right, Adams! Come on, let's let's get up! Get out! Time to own up to your dark and evil ways.
What am I doing in here? Well, repentin' is what you ought to be doing.
- For what? - Well, never mind for what.
Come on, let's go.
You just about set out to drink the town dry last night.
I must've been drunk if I let you throw me in jail.
Yeah, and it wasn't me, it was Mr.
Dillon.
- Let's go.
- Thought he was out of town.
Well, he come back late.
Let's go.
Oh, hi, Marshal.
How do you feel, Adams? Marshal, if my head was any bigger, I'd have to roll it instead of carry it.
Well, why don't you go get yourself some breakfast.
Maybe that'll make you feel better.
You turning me loose? Well, you didn't commit any crimes last night.
You were just about to.
You were about to start taking the Long Branch apart.
Oh, Marshal, I'm much obliged to you for stopping me.
I can't remember much what happened.
Too bushy-tailed from selling out, I guess.
Selling out? You mean you sold your freight line? Mm-hmm.
Both wagons.
And the whole string of mules.
Just like everybody else did.
Everybody else? This feller named of lvy come from St.
Louis, and he just bought out every freighter in town.
Paid us a good price for 'em, too more than they was worth.
Uh, th-there ain't nothing wrong, is there, Marshal? Well, I don't know.
It certainly doesn't make much sense.
Your name lvy? Yes, it is.
You're Marshal Dillon, aren't you? That's right.
I've been wanting to meet you, Marshal.
Come in.
Thank you.
Have a seat, Marshal.
Dodge City acquired a new citizen while you were gone.
That's what I understand.
Yes, sir.
I'm in the freight business.
In fact, in Dodge City, you might say I am the freight business.
At least I will be as soon as I buy out this Joe Trimble.
You paid awful high prices for those outfits.
A lot more than they're worth.
Well, didn't want to start out with a bad name, people saying I cheated anybody.
Besides, I learned a long time ago, the best way to handle competition is to buy it up.
Well, I'm afraid you may have made a mistake this time, lvy.
Nobody's ever made much money hauling freight around here.
It's like any other business depends on the way it's run.
Oh, you've had a lot of experience at it, have you? Nope.
None at all, as a matter of fact.
But I can learn.
Country's moving west, Marshal, and I'm moving with it.
St.
Louis is getting a little too civilized for my taste.
Well, you won't find it that way around here.
Good.
I have belief in your frontier, Marshal; faith in its future.
Come in.
Morning, Cam.
I'd like you to meet I already know him.
Cam Speegle, isn't it? About five years ago, Wichita? You got a pretty good memory, Marshal.
Shooting a man in the back's a pretty hard thing to forget.
You never had any proof of that, Marshal.
If I'd have had proof of that, mister, you'd be in jail now or buried.
Now, wait a minute, gentlemen.
I hired Cam Speegle as my bodyguard, Marshal.
I brought quite a lot of cash with me from St.
Louis.
Well, then you better keep it from him.
Now, I'm sure you'll agree that a man can change.
How about that, Cam? Have you changed? Sure I've changed.
I don't run so easy now as I used to.
I'm sure there's no need for trouble.
I've hired Cam as my bodyguard.
If he goes further than that, I'll fire him.
By that time, it might be too late.
You better think about that.
Marshal! Marshal Dillon! Marshal Dillon? Whoa! Marshal? Marshal Dillon! Oh.
Hello, Joe.
Sorry to call you out that way, Marshal, but I had to keep an eye on my mules.
What can I do for you? Well, I just came in from a haul, and somebody left this piece of writing for me over at the livery stable.
Oh? What is it? Well, uh, I don't rightly know, and, uh, I didn't want to ask just anyone.
I was wondering if you'd mind.
You see, Marshal, I, uh well, I ain't never learned to read.
Sure, Joe.
Oh, yeah, this is for lvy.
- Who's that? - Well, he's a new man in town.
He wants to see you over at the Dodge House on a matter of business.
Well, if it's something he wants hauled No, no, it isn't that, Joe.
Well, then what is it? Well, I'll let him tell you himself.
This is him coming.
That's his bodyguard he's got with him.
Bodyguard? - Hiya, Marshal.
lvy.
You're Joe Trimble, I'm told.
That's right, mister.
Well, uh, I've been waiting for you, Trimble.
My name's lvy.
I understand that you own three freight wagons and a dozen mules.
I do.
Well, I'll come right to the point.
I've bought out every other freighter in Dodge.
I'm ready to give you a thousand dollars in cash for your outfit, right now.
Is that the truth? They've all sold out, Joe.
Guess he offered 'em too much money to turn down.
Well, I ain't selling out, mister.
I been hauling freight over that trail for nigh on ten years, and I ain't quittin' now.
$1,500, Trimble? Look, Mr.
Ivy, I got me a little house just outside of town.
Now, my woman's there waiting for me right now.
I built that out of money I made hauling freight, and someday, maybe I'll build me a better one.
But if I sold out to you, why, in a year or so, I wouldn't have nothin' left.
No, Mr.
Ivy I ain't sellin'.
Why don't you think it over before you decide, hmm? I've already decided.
You're real stubborn, ain't you, Trimble? All right, you made him an offer, lvy, he turned you down.
Far as I can see, that puts an end to it.
Course, Marshal.
I'm sure I can stand one competitor in a town this size.
Well, there's plenty of business, lvy.
Exactly.
Very well, gentlemen.
Good day.
Yes, sir, real stubborn.
What's this all about, Marshal? Well, Joe, I wish I knew the answer to that question myself.
- I'll see you later.
- Uh-huh.
By golly, the only time this town's fit to live in is after dark, Matt.
That's just 'cause you're a night owl, Doc.
No, it's not that.
It's just when it's dark, you can't see it so plain.
You know, I'd think anybody that hates this town as much as you claim to would just up and leave.
By thunder, I would, you know it, if I could just save up railroad fare somehow.
Well, looky there.
Hello, Chester.
Oh, hey, uh Hi, pookie.
How have you been? Oh, I'm good.
I just uh See ya.
Chester, now, I don't think that ruffled one's gonna look a bit good on you.
You think that you're smart, don't you, Doc? You do.
Well, let me tell you something.
I promised Miss Kitty that I'd bring these over for her.
And I don't know about you, but to me, a promise is a promise.
Well, your petticoat's showing.
My what? Oh.
I got him that time.
Hey, how about a game of checkers, huh? All right if you don't mind losing.
Oh, I'll beat you alive.
Marshal.
Hello, Joe.
- I talk to you for a minute? - Sure.
Well, then I'll just go on up to the office and wait for you.
All right.
I'll be there.
What is it, Joe? Do you know what that man lvy's gone and done? - What? - He's doubled all the regular prices for hauling freight.
- He has? - That's why he wanted to buy everybody out.
All the merchants are madder than wet hens about it.
They want me to do all their hauling.
Of course, I can't unless I can get some more wagons and hire some drivers.
- They been to see you again? - Just now.
What'd they want? He said if I doubled my prices, too, everything would be just fine.
And if I didn't, it'd be unfair competition for him.
What are you gonna do? Well, I'm an honest man, Marshal.
All I want is what's due me.
The prices we been chargin' are fair and right, and I told him so.
Joe, when are you making your next trip? Loading tonight and going to Sand Creek - in the morning.
- Mind if I go with you? Course not.
But why? I'll tell you in the morning.
Uh-huh.
Well, I guess the trip's kind of a waste of time for you, Marshal.
So far.
Hey, maybe lvy was just figurin' to bluff me.
Well, I'm afraid he didn't hire Cam Speegle just to run a bluff, Joe.
Sure riding like a big wind, whoever it is.
Well, it's Chester.
By golly, so it is.
Sure prodding that horse, isn't he? There something wrong, Marshal? Well, there has to be to get him going that fast.
I was sure hoping to find you close by, Mr.
Dillon.
What's the matter? Well, something terrible happened.
And we had a big fire in Dodge this morning.
Trimble, I-I hate to tell you this, but Tell me what? Well, it was your house that burned down.
It It burned clean to the ground, Joe.
My wife.
What about my wife? Well, now, uh, Doc is with her, and she's still alive.
She's all right.
She was burned kind of bad, but she's still alive, though.
Chester, let Joe here use your horse, will you? You take the wagon on in? Yes, sir.
You got any idea how it happened? No, sir.
Nobody seems to know.
See you in town, Chester.
Doc.
Doc.
Yeah.
Joe.
Joe, I'm so sorry.
I did everything I could.
She she must have fallen asleep or something.
Didn't get Well, she didn't suffer.
Asleep.
Yeah, she must have been asleep.
But But how did? Nobody knows about it, Joe.
Nobody.
Doc.
You got any idea who saw this fire first? Well, no.
Way I heard it, some cowboy did, and-and he went to get help.
He didn't know there was anybody in there, I guess, and when they got back, it was too late, see? I didn't think they'd go this far.
You mean you think somebody set that fire? Terrible thing, Marshal.
Terrible thing.
Where were you when it happened? I was in the Long Branch saloon.
I was there all night, as a matter of fact.
You were, huh? There must be a dozen people that can verify it.
I'd had a bad run with cards.
I was trying to get even.
Oh, I'd learned earlier that there'd been a fire, but it was only just now that I learned it was Joe Trimble's place.
Trimble? Trimble? You have my deepest sympathy.
If there's anything at all that I can do No.
There ain't nothing.
Speegle? Where were you when the fire started? I don't know when the fire started, Marshal.
Where were you when you heard about it? I was asleep out back at the Long Branch.
Who woke you? Nobody.
Just heard some people yelling, so I got up.
Anybody see you? I wouldn't know, Marshal.
And if you're getting any crazy ideas, go ahead and prove it.
Just like Wichita, huh? You're not trying to imply that Cam had anything to do with this.
Mister, you better find yourself a witness, and he better be pretty reliable.
- Now, wait a minute, Mar - Shut up! And in the meantime, don't try to leave town.
Leave? I ain't gonna leave, Marshal.
Like I said, I don't run so easy as I used to.
Well, I'd sure hate to be the man that did it, whatever he did.
Take this.
There's $300 there.
$300? What is it? I want you to take it and give it back to Cam Speegle.
Cam Speegle? He gave it to me in the Long Branch.
I was afraid he'd beat me to a pulp if I didn't take it.
I'm supposed to tell you that he was sleeping off a drunk out back of the Long Branch.
He said you'd believe it if I told you.
Can't you stuff that in a shotgun and give it to him that way? Good thing you're not a man, Kitty.
Well, I suppose if I were, I'd be just as bad as the rest of you.
Did Cam have anything to do with setting the fire at the Trimbles? I can't prove it.
Well, does Joe know that Cam might have started it? He'll find out soon enough.
I always liked Joe.
Poor little fella.
That wife of his was the whole world to him.
- He's like a man broken in half.
Mr.
Dillon?! Mr.
Dillon.
Up at the Long Branch, Mr.
Dillon.
Joe Trimble.
Cam Speegle just shot and killed him.
You two better stay here.
Did you kill him? Sure, I killed him.
I wouldn't want to lie to you, Marshal.
Besides, everybody here seen it happen.
You're real brave, aren't you? It was self-defense.
He come in here, and he drawed on me.
Ask 'em.
They all seen it happen.
Go ahead, Marshal, ask 'em.
It's quite true, Marshal.
I don't know what come over him, Marshal.
Must have been clean out of his head.
Come in here, trying to kill me that way.
He had a pretty good reason to.
What are you talking about, Marshal? How about that alibi? You got one? Yeah.
I got one.
If it comes to that.
You're wrong.
She's not gonna lie for you.
What are you trying to do, Marshal? You got no proof in that fire.
Besides, this here was self-defense.
Ask 'em.
They all seen it.
Maybe you can convince the jury.
What are you talking about, Marshal? You're going to jail.
I told you, I don't scare so easy anymore.
I want your gun.
Ain't that easy, Marshal.
I said I want your gun.
It just ain't that easy.
That's good, Matt.
I don't think a jury'd have ever convicted him.
Well, I guess it doesn't make much difference now.
That was one of the fastest draws I've ever seen.
He asked for it.
You were right, Marshal.
I just didn't understand the type of man I was dealing with.
Didn't you? No, I didn't.
If nobody minds, I have some business to attend to.
lvy? You got some business right here.
Here's something that belongs to you.
I'm afraid I don't understand this.
The money Cam tried to bribe Kitty with.
Kind of a waste, wasn't it? What of it? I didn't have anything to do with it.
Why give it to me? I kind of figure it belongs to you.
Oh, no.
No, that isn't true.
Cam worked for you, didn't he? Well, I didn't tell him to burn him out.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
No, that isn't true.
I I didn't do it! It was Cam.
All right, boys.
Break it up and get outside.
Go on.
I'm closing the bar.
Go on.
Get moving.
Do your drinking down the street.
The Trimbles had a lot of friends, lvy.
You might just get out alive, if you're lucky.
You got to protect me, Marshal.
Protect you? If I had any evidence on you, mister, I'd see you hang.
Now, you better get yourself a horse and get out of here.
- Now, look, Marshal - Fast.
The sight of you makes me sick! My wagon's my business.
I'll be ruined! You should have thought of that before you hired Cam Speegle He's the one that did it, not me! It was your money.
You bought him.
You're a hundred times worse than he ever was.
A man like you belongs under a rock! Now, you better crawl out that back door, mister, while you still can.
Wait a minute.
You forgot something.
I can use a drink.
Doc, you know, one of these days, I'm gonna start saving up railroad fare with you.