Gunsmoke (1955) s04e15 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Hey, it's kind of cooled off, Mr.
Dillon, after all that hot weather.
Yeah.
Yeah, it'll probably heat up again, Chester.
How do you know? Well, I'm part Indian.
Didn't I ever tell you? Oh.
Looky there, Mr.
Dillon.
You know, I wish I had me a dog like that.
You know, if he doesn't get out from under those horses, he's liable to get his head kicked in.
Get away, you mutt! Mr.
Dillon, that dog wasn't hurting a thing.
Hey, Moorman.
Well, now, what's your trouble, Marshal? I want your gun, mister.
- What? - You heard me.
Well, I ain't done nothing.
I'm not going to argue with you.
- Here, Chester.
- Yes, sir.
I want yours, too.
Sure, take it, Marshal.
All right, now, what's your name? Name is Walt Moorman.
What's this all about? And yours? Hakes, Jod Hakes.
What do you aim to do with them guns, Marshal? I ought to bend them over your skull.
But you can pick them up at my office just before you leave town.
Well, we ain't planning on leaving town.
Well, your plans have changed.
You finish your business and get out, both of you.
I don't see why we got to Oh, come on.
Don't pay no attention to him.
Why that Moorman he sure is a mean one, ain't he? Yeah.
Shooting a dog like that.
Probably belonged to some kid around here, you know.
Maybe I ought to take him behind the jail there and get him buried.
All right, fine, Chester.
I'll see you back at the office.
Could I help you, mister? You got him buried, eh? Is that your dog? Yeah.
Fella told me what happened.
Said he seen you bring him back here.
Oh, yeah, it was just terrible.
Of course, I didn't know who he belonged to, so I thought at least I could get him buried.
I'm going to miss that little dog.
I'm sorry.
Sure was good company.
Yeah.
Here, uh, you mind if, uh if I throw in the rest of the dirt, eh? Oh, no, no.
A fella ought to bury his own dog.
Yeah.
Maybe I could get a marker for you to put up there.
No, no, no.
Don't believe in markers.
Best to let things just disappear like nature intended.
Yeah, yeah.
Could I ask maybe what your name is? - Poney Thompson.
- Poney Thompson.
All my life.
Yeah, well My name's Chester Goode.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Thank you, Chester.
Well, now, that's all right, Poney.
I, uh, just done what I could, you know.
Oh, Mr.
Dillon, this here is Poney Thompson.
This is this is the marshal, Mr.
Thompson.
Oh, I ain't no mister.
Poney's good enough.
How do you do? This was his dog that got shot, Mr.
Dillon.
We just finished burying him.
Yeah, well, I'm sure sorry about that.
I shouldn't have brung him.
Towns is bad enough for humans.
Where you from? I don't think I've seen you around Dodge before.
I don't seek out no town but once a year.
I move around the prairie, Marshal.
Yeah, sometimes I go up in the mountains.
Well, I don't like to be closed in.
Can't stand four walls and a roof.
Well, it's it's like being in jail, I guess.
Well, what are you doing in town here now for, then? Well, once a year, I I get drunk.
I see.
Who shot my dog, Marshal? Oh, just a couple fellas that rode into town.
I'll have to have their names.
Why, you want them to pay for the dog? No, it ain't money I'm after.
I got me a heavy old rifle down at the stable with my gatherings, and I figure to go kind of beat them half to death with it.
Well, now, that wouldn't do much good, would it? You ain't going to tell me their names, are you? No, I don't think so.
Well Where you going? Well, I can't get drunk unless I start drinking, can I? But I'll find out who shot my dog.
And, uh, don't you worry, Marshal.
By golly, Mr.
Dillon, he means that.
He's going to find them fellas.
Oh, he'll probably get drunk, forget all about it, Chester.
You think so? Well, I don't know.
Hello, Kitty.
Hello, Matt.
- Marshal.
- Sam.
Have a drink? No, I don't think so, not right now.
Well, just holler when you're ready.
All right.
Well, what are you doing prowling around here so early? Well, to tell you the truth, I was kind of interested in him.
Old Poney Thompson? Yeah.
Yeah, Chester was in, told me all about it.
Well, he seems sober enough so far.
What, you want him drunk? Well, it's all right with me as long as it keeps him out of trouble.
Well, that's his second bottle he's working on.
His second bottle? Mmm.
Well, he does all right for an old prairie wolf, doesn't he? Well, Chester says he only gets around to this about once a year.
And come to think of it, I think that's a good idea for just about everybody.
I don't know about that.
If everybody did that around here, you might be out of business.
Yeah, well, then I can open some other kind of business, you see? Something that isn't so much trouble.
Miss Kitty, can you come here for a minute? Mmm.
I'll be right back.
That fella sitting over there by himself Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
gave me this IOU.
Hey, Hakes.
Look at that one over there.
Yeah.
She's right pretty, ain't she? Yeah, it's all right, Sam.
I've taken them before.
Ah, don't rush off there.
My name is Walt Moorman.
I'm going to buy you a drink.
No, thanks.
I said I'm going to buy you a drink! I said no.
And I said yes.
Come on, honey, loosen up.
Now, just what would you do if I don't? Shoot me like you did that dog this afternoon? Hey, she's got a lot of fire.
- Ain't she? Yeah.
Must take a real man to do something like that.
You want me to smash in your face? Hold it! That's enough.
Oh, it's you again.
Take your friend and get out of here.
You sure do like to have your way in this town, don't you, Marshal? You better go while you still can.
Come on, Moorman, let's get out of here.
All right.
I sure am getting a bellyful of you.
You don't have to take it.
Come on! Get your hands off me! What a hero.
Yeah.
Hello, Poney.
Hi, Marshal.
Moorman is the name, huh? Yeah.
Got a mean face, ain't he? Now, Poney, I'll take care of him.
Oh, I ain't going to follow him, Marshal.
I got me a bottle to finish.
I'm getting drunk tonight, remember? Well, I guess it's like you say, Matt.
Poney's had enough to drink that those two don't seem to matter.
Well, I don't know.
I'm not so sure anymore.
Maybe I'll just have that drink with you.
On the house this time.
Eh, morning.
Hello, Doc.
Had your breakfast? Well, I'm just on my way over there now.
Oh.
Well, Chester know about it? Yeah.
Yeah, he just stopped off to Moss Grimmick's to pay him some money before he loses it.
Oh.
Lose it? What is it, women or gambling? You know Chester, Doc.
He can lose money just standing around in the shade.
Hey, golly, that's the truth.
Hey, you're up kind of early for an old man, aren't you? Well, I go to bed early.
I don't fritter away my nights in saloons pretending to be working.
- You mean keeping the peace.
- Oh, yeah.
- Protecting honest citizens - Mm-hmm.
so they can get their rest? Yeah, I know.
Oh, there he is right now.
Mr.
Dillon? Mr.
Dillon.
What is it? - There's been a killing.
- What? Yeah, that fella, Walt Moorman he got his throat cut.
Moss Grimmick found him in one of his stalls this morning.
You know who done it? - Who? - That Poney Thompson.
Poney Thompson? How do you know? Well, he was right there.
Uh, he still is, as a matter of fact, 'cause we tied him up.
'Course, he was passed out drunk when Moss found him, but he come to when we slew some water on him.
Well, if he was as drunk as all that, how could he have killed anybody? Well, I don't know, but he was covered with blood, and he had his knife right there by his hand.
You better come along, too, Doc.
He's right back here, Mr.
Dillon.
Where's Moss? Well, I don't know.
He was here.
Maybe he went out looking for you, too.
Marshal! Marshal, make him turn me loose.
Get me loose, Marshal.
I can't stand this.
This your knife, Poney? Yeah.
Yeah, sure, it's mine, but I didn't use it on Moorman or nobody else.
Well, it was laying right there by his hand.
Then, somebody put it there.
Marshal, cut me loose, please.
All right, Poney.
Don't you try to run, now.
Thank you, Marshall.
Thank you.
Why should I run? I ain't done nothing.
Well, I wouldn't say things look too good for you.
- Doc? - Yeah? What do you think? Well, not very much I can tell you, Matt.
He's been dead about four or five hours, the way I figure.
Throat cut, all right.
Took a knife in the back, too.
Marshal, I wouldn't do a thing like that.
Well, I wouldn't have thought so, Poney.
It's true.
Sure, I did find him in the street later after I left the Long Branch, but, well, I only swored at him a little for shooting my dog.
What did you come to the stable for? To get some sleep.
Moss told me I could use an empty stall.
Well, Poney, I I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to lock you up.
Jail? Mm-hmm.
No, Marshal.
No.
No, please don't do that, Marshal.
Please don't.
I got no choice, Poney.
Marshal, I'll go plumb out of my head.
You put me in jail, I I told you how I am.
I I couldn't stand it.
Chester? Take him down, will you? Yes, sir.
No, Chester.
No.
- Now, Poney.
- Not jail.
Please, Chester.
Well, now, Poney, you ought have thought about that before you went and killed Moorman Chester, I tell you, I'll go plumb out of my head I'd rather die, Chester.
Well, it ain't all that bad, Poney.
By golly, Matt.
You know, I feel kind of sorry for him.
So do I, Doc.
Just hard for me to believe he could do that.
Yeah.
You got to lock him up, though, I guess, huh? Oh, yeah, you know.
Well, maybe Moorman's partner knows something about it.
I'll have to look him up.
I ain't got no money or nothing, but I'll get some, and I'll send it to you.
You sure don't want to go to jail, do you? Being in jail?! I can't stand four walls even.
Well, Poney, I'm just sorry for you.
I'm just as sorry as I can be, but well, I just can't take no money.
It wouldn't be right.
Poney! Poney! Poney! Wait.
Poney! Poney! Poney! W-Wait! Wait.
Poney.
Poney, you come back here! Mr.
Dillon! Well, I guess that's about all we can do, isn't it? Yeah.
Gosh, we've had our share of killings here, Matt, but nothing like that for a while.
Yeah.
That was a bad one.
Hey, Marshal! Been looking for you.
Oh? Just ran into Moss Grimmick a while ago.
Told me about Moorman.
This is Jod Hakes, Doc.
He's, uh, Moorman's partner.
- Hey.
- Howdy.
Well, do you know anything about this? Uh, no more than Moss Grimmick told me.
That old devil, Poney Thompson, murdered him.
And weren't you with Moorman last night? Well, yeah, I was with him till about midnight.
Then I went up and went to bed.
Sure wish I hadn't.
He was pretty drunk by then.
Where is that old man, Marshal? I'm going to get him.
Mr.
Dillon? Mr.
Dillon, it's Poney Thompson.
He got away.
He got on a horse, and he rode out of town.
What? Yeah.
Well, uh, you see, he got in between a couple of wagons there, and I lost him.
Well, let's get the horses.
Yes, sir.
Wait a minute, Marshal.
I want to go with you.
I'm going to shoot that old man on sight.
No, you're not going to shoot anybody, mister.
But you're coming with me, all right, because I don't want you around here trying anything on your own.
Now, get going.
- See you later, Doc.
- Yeah.
He went this way.
Well, he angled off over here.
That old man sure led us a chase.
It's going to get dark pretty soon, too.
Let's get going.
Mr.
Dillon, you ought to go dunk your face in that river there.
Sure feels good.
I'd like to dunk my face in a big plate of beef stew.
That's what I'd like to do.
Well, I'll tell you, Hakes, you ain't the only one that's hungry.
You know that.
I still don't why we couldn't have caught that old man before dark.
We were pretty close to him when we stopped.
And we had to stop.
Otherwise, we'd lost him for sure.
I ain't arguing about that.
Well, from the looks of the tracks, I'd say his horse was starting to sull.
He couldn't have got far.
Well, he must be around here someplace.
Well, did you think you could follow his tracks in the dark? No, I couldn't follow him in the dark! I just don't want him to get away.
That's all.
Now, suppose you let me worry about that, huh? Chester, you better get some sleep.
I'll take the first watch.
All right.
What are you standing watch for, Marshal? Well, let's just say I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning and find that you'd gone hunting with one of these rifles here.
So, that's it, huh? Yeah, that's it.
Now, why don't you get some sleep? Oh, Mr Mr.
Dillon, it's me.
You scared me to death.
Oh, sorry, Chester.
Well, I-I just thought it was daylight enough that we could really start tracking again.
Yeah.
You know, if we run Poney Thompson down early enough, we can go hunting.
I sure can taste me some meat right now.
Hey, Marshal, I've been thinking.
Why don't you let me have one of those rifles today? You're sure anxious to shoot him down, aren't you? No, I'm just anxious to see he don't shoot me down.
He's probably got him a gun by now.
Oh, yeah, he could find a gun anywheres out here on the prairie.
You're awful smart, ain't you? Yeah.
Mr.
Dillon, maybe while you's a-saddling up the horses, I could make us a fast pot of chicory.
Well, all right, Chester, as long as it doesn't take too long.
Well, I'll get some dry wood so it won't make too much smoke.
- All right.
Hey, you could have kept it going for us, couldn't you? Well, yeah, Hakes, I could have.
I could have kept it going, but if you're so cold, why don't you get up on your feet, move around? Might stir your blood up.
Might even go out and get some wood for us.
Don't get lost out there, sonny.
Why don't you keep quiet? That voice of yours itches my ears.
You ought to have your ears knocked off.
All right, let's go get the saddles on.
Come on.
- Marshal? - Yeah? You going to let me have one of them guns today, or ain't you? Hakes, I wouldn't trust you with a buggy whip.
You ain't got no cause to talk to me like that.
I want Poney Thompson alive.
He's no good to me dead.
Ah.
What do you mean? I want to have a little talk with him, for one thing.
Poney Thompson told you that he didn't kill Moorman, huh? Yeah, that's right.
Marshal, I don't understand you sometimes.
You got the best case against him of anybody I ever heard of.
That right? Mr.
Dillon! Mr.
Dillon, come here quick! Let's go.
It's Poney Thompson, Mr.
Dillon, in the cave.
Huh? Oh, he's dead, ain't he? Yeah.
Oh, look.
His face is all swole.
Lookit here.
Fang marks.
Must have been a big rattler.
Rattler? Well, Mr.
Dillon, he-he must have knowed that we was close by here.
Oh, when he got bit, why didn't he yell out to us for help? Poor little fella.
I guess he figured it was better to die than spend the rest of his life in jail.
That's awful.
Just awful.
Well, I don't feel sorry for him a bit.
He stuck Moorman in the back, and he cut his throat, didn't he? He got just what he deserved.
Chester, did you tell him about Moorman being stuck in the back? No.
No, I didn't say nothing to him.
All Moss Grimmick knowed was that he got his throat cut.
Well, that's not so.
Moss Grimmick told me all about it.
Moss Grimmick didn't know about it.
Nobody did.
Not until after Doc had examined him.
Hakes, I don't know why you killed your partner, and I don't particularly care because you're going to hang for that.
But right now, you're going to dig a grave.
You're going to dig it with your bare hands.
And you're going to dig it deep.
The old man deserves that much from you.