Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 14, Episode 5 - Slocum - full transcript
Gunsmoke, starring
James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Whoo-ee. Look
at that old wolf dog.
Look at him. Here,
dog. Here, doggie.
- Ain't he somethin'?
- Yeah, he's somethin' all right.
Somethin' to steer clear of.
- You don't know dogs like I do.
- Is that right?
There ain't never been a
dog wouldn't take to me.
I had me a wolf dog once.
Best dog a man could ever own.
Here you go, wolf dog.
Built for travel, a wolf dog.
- Hey, amigo.
- Hmm?
This old wolf dog belong to you?
- No.
- Ah.
We got us a dog.
Come on, old wolf dog.
That dog belongs to hisself.
Be a world of charm if only
everybody belonged to themselves.
Still, all in all, Dooley, you could
have been a mite more friendly.
Well, what'll it be, mister?
I want a bottle.
I'm leaving this and my gun barrel
for security until the banks open.
Miss Kitty, please.
Miss Kitty, this gentleman would like
to leave his saddlebags and his gun...
As security for a
bottle of whiskey
till I can do some fur trading
business in the mornin'.
We'll trust you. That
won't be necessary.
- I said it won't be necessary.
- I don't hold no truck with credit.
Let him have a bottle, Sam.
Excepting some women, of course,
there just ain't nothin'
prettier than a full bottle.
Obliged, mister.
Do you have a hardnose
named Matt Dillon
still marshaling
around this town?
All and every part.
Find him. Tell him Ben C.
Slocum is looking for him.
Now, I'd say this here is
one of the peacefulest nights
that I've ever saw in Dodge.
Course, that don't perspire
your business none, I'd say.
Oh, you'd say, you'd say. With
a mouthful of melon you'd say.
Now, here. That's my move,
and you got one way out of that.
If you concentrate, you
might be able to find it.
Why, that there's gonna be easier
than scrambling eggs in a hat.
What?
- What?
- What? What?
What you said.
Scrambling eggs in a hat.
- Well, of course.
- On a fire?
Well, how else is there?
Well, now, wouldn't that...
wouldn't that burn the hat?
Well, no, it ain't gonna
burn the hat if it's did right.
All you gotta do is hold the
hat off from the fire enough
so you ain't gonna burn it,
and close enough to the
fire so it'll cook the eggs.
- Don't you see?
- Your move. Go on and move.
- Louie.
- Howdy, Louie.
- The marshal about?
- No, he's out checking the street.
- Why?
- Oh.
Would you tell him, Doc,
down at the Long Branch
there's a fella by the name of
Ben C. Slocum looking for him?
- Ben C. Slocum.
- Right.
- Name is Ben C. Slocum.
- Fine, Louie. I'll tell him.
- He'll get the message.
- Good.
All right, there you here. Let
me see you jump out of that.
- Where'd you move? Right there?
- Yeah, right there.
Hmm.
You know, it's just pure old
amazing how you can change
from peacock proud when you
think you got me checker whupped
to a grumpy old scutter when
you know I've got you whomped.
You ain't got me
whomped. I'll move.
Well, just wait till you
make that next move.
Get your hand out of there
and shut up. I'll move here.
Hello, Matt.
- Things quiet, are they, Matthew?
- Oh, quiet enough.
Well, they're just
about to explode here.
Oh, Matt, Louie was here. A fella down
at the Long Branch wants to see you.
- Yeah, fella named Clancy Yoakum.
- Ben C. Slocum.
- Ben C. Slocum?
- Clancy Yoakum.
It was Ben C. Slocum. Shut up.
Well, I don't know any Clancy Yoakum,
but I sure know a Ben C. Slocum.
Is he a troublemaker, Matthew?
Well, depends on
how you look at it.
Howdy. Name's John Riker.
Good.
You put that lightning down
real fine. Play cards as well?
Got us a little old
game of draw over there.
Like for you to
join us if you want.
- Can't.
- Oh, I trust you.
Just put up an IOU agin what
you got in them saddlebags.
Can't. Can't do
it. Too many odds.
Odds? It's draw
poker. Ain't no odds.
It all depends upon
who's doing the dealing.
What do you mean?
Well, you got more up
your sleeve than your arm.
- What you getting at?
- Cards.
You pull out that handkerchief
and shake that sleeve.
You calling me
a cheater, mister?
Mmm... Mm-hm.
You should have thought twice
before saying something like that.
Now, get out of here.
Yeah.
Yeah, I done thought
about it more than twice.
But you didn't.
Riker.
Oh, my God!
- Howdy, Matt.
- Howdy, Ben.
I reckon I owe you.
Ben, how'd all this get started?
Mr. Slocum here
called him a cheat.
- Was he cheating?
- He asked me and I told him.
Just pull out that handkerchief
from his left sleeve.
He was cheating all right.
You know, Ben, one of these
times you're liable to be wrong.
Maybe, but not
about fellas like him.
Festus, get him over to Percy's.
All right, get a
hold of him there.
All right, boys, take
back your losings.
The house is buying.
Wasn't Mr. Slocum's fault none,
Marshal. The truth's the truth.
That man Riker had his gun out and
Mr. Slocum here weren't even armed.
That's right, Matt.
But, like you said, Matt,
trouble always follows.
I just come by to say how are
you? It's been such a long time.
I'd like to stick around
if you've no objections.
Got no objections, Ben.
Louie, take him over to Hank's.
Yes, sir, Marshal.
You come right
along, Mr. Slocum.
Miss.
- See you come first light.
- All right, Ben.
You known him long, Matt?
We go back quite a ways, Kitty.
What I wanna know is, do
you know who it was you shot?
- Yeah, I know, Doc.
- Who?
- Well, he's one of the Riker boys.
- Riker?
Yeah, there's a whole family
of 'em. Been here a few months.
I'll tell you something, they're
gonna come riding into Dodge
and they're gonna ask
you a lot of questions.
I'm gonna save them
that trouble, Doc,
because I'm gonna take
the boy's body out there.
Well, why you wanna
do a fool thing like that?
'Cause I don't want them in the
same town with Ben C. Slocum.
Yonder goes a man, Dooley,
leastways he was once.
Let's go see what's left of him.
Yip! Yah!
Yip! Yip, yip, yip, yip,
yip! Yipee! Ya-ooh!
Howdy, Marshal Matthew Dillon.
Howdy, Ben C. Slocum. Dooley.
- He hasn't changed, has he?
- No.
I watched him down Little High
Mountain Meadow this morning
catch a rabbit.
He must have run off
two pounds catching one.
Hard notion, a life like that.
- His notion, though.
- Yeah, it seems to be all right.
Ben, what brings you
out this way this morning?
Why is it every time
I come into a town,
sooner or later I'm looking
down the front of a gunsight?
You don't like all these
people much, do you?
Well, I can't understand why they're
doing what they are doing to this land.
- It's called civilization.
- Mmm. Why has it got to be like that?
Why can't it be like when you
and me was meat hunting together?
We used to winter with the same
Sioux that we fought, come a time later.
Now they're all gone.
Why is that, Matt?
- Well, times change.
- It's people that change 'em.
- Same thing, Ben.
- Mmm.
You're heading right now into some
troublesome, worser changin' times.
- What do you mean?
- Them Riker boys.
It's my fault what
you got back in there.
- Ben, you didn't kill him.
- As good as. Now, I am riding with you.
No, no. I don't want
you to do that, Ben.
You saved my
life, Matt. I owe you.
Even if I didn't take to
you, I... I'd still owe you.
That's Injun. You forgot?
No, I haven't forgot, Ben.
But it's like I said,
see, that was then.
This is now.
Now, Ben, I want you to
keep out of my way on this.
I want your word.
You got it.
Good. I'll see you back in
town. We'll turn over a few logs.
Huh!
Yeah, I give you my
word... that I owe you.
- Mark?
- Yeah, Pa?
Let Paul give you a
hand with that meat.
- We're gonna eat this meat, Pa.
- Do like I say, Mark.
He just whops the sideways
out of it just to be whopping on it.
Do you hear me?
Come on, take your licks.
Come on.
Talk at him. Talk at him.
Now, just... just
easy to it. Easy.
Ain't gonna be long, he's
gonna have it all in the dirt.
Well, you can cook stew.
It eases him.
Eases him.
The Good Lord always has a
way of balancing things, son.
Now, you take your brother Paul
there. He was born short-brained.
But he can whup you at rassling
and he's two years greener.
Well, if you call kicking and
gouging and scratching rassling.
Well, it's the
devil's tool, son.
If the Good Lord wants
you to fight the devil,
he gives you the
devil's tools to work with.
I learned him myself,
at the Lord's calling.
I learned all you boys
myself at the Lord's calling.
Are you sure old Tom Fuller
didn't see you take that beef?
Oh, Pa.
That's right. That's right.
God helps them who helps
themselves. Says it plain.
And old Tom's got aplenty.
You get going with
supper, you hear?
How'd she turn,
boys? Batch sound?
Whispering whiskey, Pa. There
ain't a fight in the whole barrel.
Best batch we ever
done, Pa. Taste it.
Level as a table.
Why, this ought to
sell onto $3 a jug, Pa.
Yeah, there ain't a man red or
white won't be tailored for winter
with the bloom of that in him.
Go on, Pa, try
another sip. Go on.
Level. Your ma sure'd
be proud of you boys.
Amen, Papa. Amen.
When brother John
get back with supplies,
we'll head out for Jetmore
and Spearville and all over!
You boys get to
jugging. Get to jugging.
Hey, Pa, go on, go on. Try one
more sample before we leave.
Level. Level.
Pa. Come out here, Pa.
Quick.
Oh, howdy, Marshal.
Almost time for supper. This
home would be most honored.
Well, thank you, Mr. Riker, but
I'll have to be getting back to town.
I... I brought your son back.
Brought him?
John?
John?
John?
How'd it happen, Marshal?
A man accused your boy
of cheating in a card game.
Your boy took offense.
- And he was shot?
- That's right.
Who done it?
I'm sorry to have to tell
you, Mr. Riker, that I did.
But your boy didn't give me any choice.
He was gonna kill an unarmed man.
And he was cheating?
He was caught red-handed.
- I see.
- Do you, Pa?
This 'un said he killed John.
You boys come over here
and... take your brother John
and carry him in the shade.
You hear me? You hear me?
I'm sorry it had to
happen this way, Mr. Riker.
Obliged, Marshal.
Good day to you.
We had him, Papa. We
could have killed him.
An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
It says it plain.
But it weren't
the time or place.
But we'll find that
time and place
and there... we'll kill him.
Why not shoot him now?
'Cause there's somebody up on
that hill and he wants us to know it.
Pure. Pure. Get a heathen
to heaven, I do believe.
Pa. Pa.
I done told you once.
- I ain't gonna tell you again.
- Rider coming, Pa.
Rikers.
Took you quite a while to fall in
around behind the marshal, didn't it?
- You'd be the one on the hill?
- I'd be.
Well, I gotta ask you the
meaning of your interest, friend.
I ain't your friend. I'm Ben C.
Slocum. And I killed your boy.
It was the marshal put the lead in
him, but I was the cause of the killing.
You just leave that
horse stay right there, son.
And you rode out
here to tell us what?
Marshal Dillon saved
my life and I owe him,
and I don't aim to see him
haylofted, roofed or dry-gulched,
and that's what
you aim, ain't it?
Ain't it?
And justly so.
Many are the cause of death and
suffering in the house of the Lord.
Hallelujah to the high.
Hallelujah to the high, Pa.
- Amen.
- That's from the Good Book, Slocum.
Amen. You turn
around or I'll kill you.
That's Shoshone, Riker.
- There's five of us.
- Well, there won't be.
Now, I ain't aiming
to tell you again.
- We'll turn around, boys.
- Oh, Pa.
Pa, come on.
Yah! Yah! Yah!
Come here.
I feed you, don't I?
Hey, Dooley. Dooley, get up.
Get up, Dooley.
It's all in your head.
Dooley.
We got some trailing to do, Dooley,
and some shooting at the end of it.
It was a week ago
Thursday. That's when it was.
And that there just proves what kind
of stuffing you got in your brainpan...
It just proves that memorable
dates are not that hard to forget.
Memorable my foot.
Well, I can count on the
fingers of my two hands
the times I've seen you
buy a round of drinks.
Well, if that ain't a pretty
thing for you to be saying.
All right, I'll take it
back. I'll take it back.
Count on the fingers
of my one hand.
Well, that's better.
I knew you couldn't read, but
by thunder you can't count either.
All right, Mr. Smart Alecky.
You're grinning like a
possum eating persimmon.
I'll tell you, there's a heap more
knowledgeableness in my head
- than you will ever know.
- It's empty.
- All right, Doc, just one more time.
- Oh, stop that. That wagon, it's empty.
Nobody's driving that team.
Oh. Yeah.
Whoa. Whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa.
If that ain't the limit.
Well, that's Noah Riker and
one of his boys, ain't it, Doc?
Matthew.
How are they, Doc?
Well, I'd like to have half the
luck either one of 'em have got.
That one there got a bullet
high in his left shoulder,
but it went right through.
What about Noah?
Well, Matt, I know an awful lot of folks
benefit from reading the Good Book,
but, right there, that's the
most good it ever did Noah.
The bullet slowed down just
enough to keep from killing him.
Now, you'd have to call that luck or
else guidance from the Almighty one.
Well, knowing the ways of this old
yahoo, a fella'd have to call it luck.
- Where am I?
- You're in Dodge City.
Where are my boys?
One of 'em's right
over there, Mr. Riker.
But we don't know
where the others are.
Now, I wanna know
what happened out there.
He dead? Is he dead?
No, he's all right.
Where's my Bible? My Bible?
Well, it's right here. A
bullet ripped it up some.
It saved your life though.
My blossoming faith.
Bullet's still in you. Gonna
have to take that out.
- I ain't got no money.
- I didn't ask you for any.
Saved my life.
Saved all our lives.
Mr. Riker, what
happened out there?
Well, I don't see
how I could forget it.
We was riding along,
rapture of a new day,
Mark playing the mouth organ,
my thoughts a world
away with our John,
all our thoughts a world
away with our John.
And then from some salt cedars
comes a man with a dog riding hard
and shooting something fearsome.
- A dog?
What happened then?
Well... I don't know.
I... I guess I got hit.
And Paul too.
I don't remember any more.
All right, Mr. Riker. Thank you.
Noah, you go ahead and
rest there and then we'll...
we'll get to that bullet.
I ain't got no money.
I know. You said that.
Sounds like Ben
Slocum, don't it, Matthew?
Well, it does, yeah, except
the facts don't add up to Ben.
He wouldn't shoot anybody without
warning like that, in the first place,
and, in the second place, he could
have killed 'em all if he'd wanted to.
- Yeah, but somebody shot 'em.
- Well, Matt, he did mention a dog.
Well, I don't have any doubt that
it might have been Ben out there,
but the circumstances
had to have been different.
Well, I'll tell you this. If you're
going out there, I'm going with you.
- No, Festus. I want you to stay here.
- Matthew, you'd have...
Matt, there's
something else here.
You can't believe a
thing that this Riker says,
a man that quotes the
beauty of the Lord's work
for his own special deviltry.
You don't know whether you're going
after Ben Slocum out there or who.
You don't know what you're gonna
run into when you get out there, do you?
No, I don't.
There ain't no doubt about it,
Doc, he does protect his own.
He's a hunter.
We took to streams and cold
rock and still he come on. Hunter.
He won't scare much.
I told you boys you was
wasting lead and powder.
Well, it's that...
it's that dog of his.
Well, no matter, now.
We got him fetching
right up that little basin.
Good a place as we're gonna
find, the way he's staying after us.
Amen, brother. Amen.
He gonna get fetched now.
Come too far, old Mr. Hunter has.
What if he flanks us?
You got yourself
a point, brother.
What if you was to go
up on that hill yonder?
Peter, you get yonder a way.
I'm gonna hunker down here.
Well, go on, get, boy.
The rocks are barer
than a skinned mule.
There's tracks right
up the middle, though.
Now, if they was
Shoshone, Dooley,
why, I would... head over in
that direction, the one over there,
and t'other over yonder.
Huh, Dooley?
Don't make no difference.
We'll just wear 'em
out, make 'em nervous.
Then we'll show 'em how... how
clear a Shoshone can think, huh?
There. Oh, Kitty, just
put that there. It'll be fine.
Mr. Riker, here you are.
- Hey, Doc, I ain't...
- Yeah, I know, you ain't got any money.
Paul.
Paul.
Thank you, dear Lord, for providing
this curing food and bounty. Amen.
Now, if'n that marshal of
yours is following my boys,
which I hope he ain't, I
can't swear on his life.
- What do you mean, Mr. Riker?
- My boys are scrapping boys.
And they're carrying the torch
of the Lord in the time of blood.
I learned 'em myself,
at the Lord's calling.
Let me tell you
something, Mr. Riker.
If your boys have done anything
wrong, Matt Dillon'll bring 'em in here,
one way or another,
you can count on that.
- Is Matt really in trouble, Doc?
- Well, I'd say so.
You can't raise kids to be hellcats
without having 'em fight like hellcats.
Mark! Luke! It's him
who killed brother John!
- Any shooting been going on?
- Some, up yonder.
I never could figure out
why them sod stompers
think that just shooting a little lead in
the air'll keep a man from coming on.
- Ben, how'd all this get started?
- Well, I'll tell you.
I knew they was aiming
to back-shoot you,
so I stopped 'em in
the road and I ask 'em,
and the old man, he started
quoting some scripture on me
and then he pulled
out his gun and started.
Why, he's slyer than a
lynx cat, that old man.
- You know I don't lie, Matt.
- No, I know you don't lie, Ben.
But I also know you
promised to keep out of this.
I promised you that I owed you.
I figured that we'd just outwait
'em and Injun in on 'em later.
Where are they at now?
- There.
- Uh-huh.
Well, that looks to be a
good deal over 300 yards.
I... I don't think they're gonna
be hitting much from that distance.
I don't think they'll be shooting
much from up there to down here.
Well, now, wait a minute.
Depends on how you look at that.
You keep your eye out there,
see if you can spot any smoke.
Maybe I can draw a
shot or two out of 'em.
All right, up there. This
is Matt Dillon, US marshal.
You old dog, you.
That be like that time with Black
Feet Injuns up on the Cheyenne park,
you know, keyed up
soldier boys, that time.
Jerky?
- Thank you.
- Just like old times, huh?
Now, what you doing back here?
I don't like the feel of
it, brother. I don't, now.
Nothing's moved down
there close to an hour.
I know, I know.
Now, if we was to sneak to 'em,
and to hole up, ain't
nothing can swing in on us.
OK, brother.
Matt. Matt, you're right.
There's one of them sidewinders
coming down that ridge
of rocks to the west there.
Yeah. That's his brother
coming down over here.
Yeah.
About an hour, them
rackers'll wear themselves out.
You don't chew, if I recall?
Ben, there isn't
much you don't recall.
It helps a body think.
And I'm thinking, Matt, you know, a body
could get himself get killed out there.
It's possible.
And it won't make
much difference to me.
I just bum around here with my
dog Dooley, here and there and such.
But you got responsibilities.
Now, I could go out there
and take care of things myself.
Ben, I appreciate that, but I'm
gonna be with you all the way on this.
You know, there's
one other thing, Ben.
If and when we
get out of this alive,
I'm gonna have to take you back
to Dodge to stand trial for assault.
Trial? Assault? I told you
that old man pulled first.
I know, and I believe you too.
But he's accused you
of attempted murder
and you're gonna have to
stand trial by a people's jury.
That's the law.
Law. People. Juries. You're
gonna drive me crazy with that law.
Dooley, he's gonna drive
us crazy with that law of his.
I'll tell you what, Matt.
There's one thing don't change.
That gun of yours. You
just take care of that.
That don't change.
You know, Ben,
you're right about that.
Matt, what'll it be like if that
jury don't stand to favor me?
Well, Ben, then
you'd have to go to jail.
I'm thinking I... I don't
favor going back to Dodge.
I don't think there's any jail that
I could stand the living size of.
I know, Ben.
Now, remember,
Ben, alive if you can.
Alive if you can.
Dooley.
You got one of 'em, old fella.
Go. Go get him. Go get him.
Drop that fool thing,
Dooley. Go help Matt.
All right, you,
hold it right there.
Get up.
Throw the gun down.
All right, now turn around
and come down here.
- Where's your brother?
- I wouldn't be knowing that, Marshal.
Dooley. Dooley.
I got him!
We got our'n, brother
Mark! We got our'n!
Do like Pa says
and dot his eyes.
Matthew Dillon.
You...
That's the lot of 'em.
Oh, you're hit.
Well, Dooley,
thanks for the help.
Yeah, you sure are. Gone
clean through the other side.
The bone's all right, though.
But you're gonna do a
consideration of bleeding.
You could make porridge
out of this here rag,
but it's the best
thing I've got.
I'm obliged to you.
Ben, I don't think I can make
it back to Dodge unless...
That's the first
thing I thought.
If you wanted to take off right
now, I probably couldn't stop you.
Second thing I thought.
And if you do come back, I
can't promise you anything.
- That's the third thing I thought.
- What's the answer?
The fourth thing I thought,
I'd be a fool if I did go back.
But in all our times, this is
the first time that you owe me.
I already done swore
on your Bible, Judge.
Evidently the marshal
has his reasons, Mr. Riker.
In order for this inquiry to continue,
would you please do as he asks?
All right, Noah. Go on, take it.
Now, I want you to tell the
judge here exactly how it was
that Slocum started that
fight on the Dodge road.
Uh-uh. No, you hold onto that.
Was standing in the road, he
was... barring our going to town.
That's not what I asked you. I
asked you how he started the fight.
Four of my boys cut down in
the springtime of their years.
Noah, who was it that
started the shooting?
I already done told
you that, Marshal.
I want you to tell us again.
Do I gotta sit here and be...
Just answer the marshal's
questions, Mr. Riker.
Lived my whole life according to
the words in this here book, I have.
That's right, Noah.
Going home.
Going home to pray
and read the book.
Taking my boy Paul. Going home.
The case against
Mr. Slocum is dismissed.
Oh. Well, what does
that mean, Matt?
Well, Ben, that means
you're a free man.
- What'd I tell you?
- Well, thank you kindly.
I'm much obliged
for all your help.
- You know what I am fixing to do?
- What's that?
I'm fixing to go way off and
build me a fire, shoot me an elk,
cook a steak and think
over some deep thoughts.
About what?
If'n you knew all along that old
Noah wouldn't blame me for the killing
if'n his own hand
was on his own Bible.
What do you figure?
Means we're even.
Sounds about right, Ben.
Well, best way to unwind
proceedings, go have some drinks.
There ain't no better
way to get unwinded.
Well, come along.
The first one is on me.
Dooley! Come here.
- There he goes.
- Let's go, boy.
- The second round's on me.
- I'll buy the next one.
What are we waiting
for? Let's get started.
Stay tuned for scenes
from next week's Gunsmoke.
James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Whoo-ee. Look
at that old wolf dog.
Look at him. Here,
dog. Here, doggie.
- Ain't he somethin'?
- Yeah, he's somethin' all right.
Somethin' to steer clear of.
- You don't know dogs like I do.
- Is that right?
There ain't never been a
dog wouldn't take to me.
I had me a wolf dog once.
Best dog a man could ever own.
Here you go, wolf dog.
Built for travel, a wolf dog.
- Hey, amigo.
- Hmm?
This old wolf dog belong to you?
- No.
- Ah.
We got us a dog.
Come on, old wolf dog.
That dog belongs to hisself.
Be a world of charm if only
everybody belonged to themselves.
Still, all in all, Dooley, you could
have been a mite more friendly.
Well, what'll it be, mister?
I want a bottle.
I'm leaving this and my gun barrel
for security until the banks open.
Miss Kitty, please.
Miss Kitty, this gentleman would like
to leave his saddlebags and his gun...
As security for a
bottle of whiskey
till I can do some fur trading
business in the mornin'.
We'll trust you. That
won't be necessary.
- I said it won't be necessary.
- I don't hold no truck with credit.
Let him have a bottle, Sam.
Excepting some women, of course,
there just ain't nothin'
prettier than a full bottle.
Obliged, mister.
Do you have a hardnose
named Matt Dillon
still marshaling
around this town?
All and every part.
Find him. Tell him Ben C.
Slocum is looking for him.
Now, I'd say this here is
one of the peacefulest nights
that I've ever saw in Dodge.
Course, that don't perspire
your business none, I'd say.
Oh, you'd say, you'd say. With
a mouthful of melon you'd say.
Now, here. That's my move,
and you got one way out of that.
If you concentrate, you
might be able to find it.
Why, that there's gonna be easier
than scrambling eggs in a hat.
What?
- What?
- What? What?
What you said.
Scrambling eggs in a hat.
- Well, of course.
- On a fire?
Well, how else is there?
Well, now, wouldn't that...
wouldn't that burn the hat?
Well, no, it ain't gonna
burn the hat if it's did right.
All you gotta do is hold the
hat off from the fire enough
so you ain't gonna burn it,
and close enough to the
fire so it'll cook the eggs.
- Don't you see?
- Your move. Go on and move.
- Louie.
- Howdy, Louie.
- The marshal about?
- No, he's out checking the street.
- Why?
- Oh.
Would you tell him, Doc,
down at the Long Branch
there's a fella by the name of
Ben C. Slocum looking for him?
- Ben C. Slocum.
- Right.
- Name is Ben C. Slocum.
- Fine, Louie. I'll tell him.
- He'll get the message.
- Good.
All right, there you here. Let
me see you jump out of that.
- Where'd you move? Right there?
- Yeah, right there.
Hmm.
You know, it's just pure old
amazing how you can change
from peacock proud when you
think you got me checker whupped
to a grumpy old scutter when
you know I've got you whomped.
You ain't got me
whomped. I'll move.
Well, just wait till you
make that next move.
Get your hand out of there
and shut up. I'll move here.
Hello, Matt.
- Things quiet, are they, Matthew?
- Oh, quiet enough.
Well, they're just
about to explode here.
Oh, Matt, Louie was here. A fella down
at the Long Branch wants to see you.
- Yeah, fella named Clancy Yoakum.
- Ben C. Slocum.
- Ben C. Slocum?
- Clancy Yoakum.
It was Ben C. Slocum. Shut up.
Well, I don't know any Clancy Yoakum,
but I sure know a Ben C. Slocum.
Is he a troublemaker, Matthew?
Well, depends on
how you look at it.
Howdy. Name's John Riker.
Good.
You put that lightning down
real fine. Play cards as well?
Got us a little old
game of draw over there.
Like for you to
join us if you want.
- Can't.
- Oh, I trust you.
Just put up an IOU agin what
you got in them saddlebags.
Can't. Can't do
it. Too many odds.
Odds? It's draw
poker. Ain't no odds.
It all depends upon
who's doing the dealing.
What do you mean?
Well, you got more up
your sleeve than your arm.
- What you getting at?
- Cards.
You pull out that handkerchief
and shake that sleeve.
You calling me
a cheater, mister?
Mmm... Mm-hm.
You should have thought twice
before saying something like that.
Now, get out of here.
Yeah.
Yeah, I done thought
about it more than twice.
But you didn't.
Riker.
Oh, my God!
- Howdy, Matt.
- Howdy, Ben.
I reckon I owe you.
Ben, how'd all this get started?
Mr. Slocum here
called him a cheat.
- Was he cheating?
- He asked me and I told him.
Just pull out that handkerchief
from his left sleeve.
He was cheating all right.
You know, Ben, one of these
times you're liable to be wrong.
Maybe, but not
about fellas like him.
Festus, get him over to Percy's.
All right, get a
hold of him there.
All right, boys, take
back your losings.
The house is buying.
Wasn't Mr. Slocum's fault none,
Marshal. The truth's the truth.
That man Riker had his gun out and
Mr. Slocum here weren't even armed.
That's right, Matt.
But, like you said, Matt,
trouble always follows.
I just come by to say how are
you? It's been such a long time.
I'd like to stick around
if you've no objections.
Got no objections, Ben.
Louie, take him over to Hank's.
Yes, sir, Marshal.
You come right
along, Mr. Slocum.
Miss.
- See you come first light.
- All right, Ben.
You known him long, Matt?
We go back quite a ways, Kitty.
What I wanna know is, do
you know who it was you shot?
- Yeah, I know, Doc.
- Who?
- Well, he's one of the Riker boys.
- Riker?
Yeah, there's a whole family
of 'em. Been here a few months.
I'll tell you something, they're
gonna come riding into Dodge
and they're gonna ask
you a lot of questions.
I'm gonna save them
that trouble, Doc,
because I'm gonna take
the boy's body out there.
Well, why you wanna
do a fool thing like that?
'Cause I don't want them in the
same town with Ben C. Slocum.
Yonder goes a man, Dooley,
leastways he was once.
Let's go see what's left of him.
Yip! Yah!
Yip! Yip, yip, yip, yip,
yip! Yipee! Ya-ooh!
Howdy, Marshal Matthew Dillon.
Howdy, Ben C. Slocum. Dooley.
- He hasn't changed, has he?
- No.
I watched him down Little High
Mountain Meadow this morning
catch a rabbit.
He must have run off
two pounds catching one.
Hard notion, a life like that.
- His notion, though.
- Yeah, it seems to be all right.
Ben, what brings you
out this way this morning?
Why is it every time
I come into a town,
sooner or later I'm looking
down the front of a gunsight?
You don't like all these
people much, do you?
Well, I can't understand why they're
doing what they are doing to this land.
- It's called civilization.
- Mmm. Why has it got to be like that?
Why can't it be like when you
and me was meat hunting together?
We used to winter with the same
Sioux that we fought, come a time later.
Now they're all gone.
Why is that, Matt?
- Well, times change.
- It's people that change 'em.
- Same thing, Ben.
- Mmm.
You're heading right now into some
troublesome, worser changin' times.
- What do you mean?
- Them Riker boys.
It's my fault what
you got back in there.
- Ben, you didn't kill him.
- As good as. Now, I am riding with you.
No, no. I don't want
you to do that, Ben.
You saved my
life, Matt. I owe you.
Even if I didn't take to
you, I... I'd still owe you.
That's Injun. You forgot?
No, I haven't forgot, Ben.
But it's like I said,
see, that was then.
This is now.
Now, Ben, I want you to
keep out of my way on this.
I want your word.
You got it.
Good. I'll see you back in
town. We'll turn over a few logs.
Huh!
Yeah, I give you my
word... that I owe you.
- Mark?
- Yeah, Pa?
Let Paul give you a
hand with that meat.
- We're gonna eat this meat, Pa.
- Do like I say, Mark.
He just whops the sideways
out of it just to be whopping on it.
Do you hear me?
Come on, take your licks.
Come on.
Talk at him. Talk at him.
Now, just... just
easy to it. Easy.
Ain't gonna be long, he's
gonna have it all in the dirt.
Well, you can cook stew.
It eases him.
Eases him.
The Good Lord always has a
way of balancing things, son.
Now, you take your brother Paul
there. He was born short-brained.
But he can whup you at rassling
and he's two years greener.
Well, if you call kicking and
gouging and scratching rassling.
Well, it's the
devil's tool, son.
If the Good Lord wants
you to fight the devil,
he gives you the
devil's tools to work with.
I learned him myself,
at the Lord's calling.
I learned all you boys
myself at the Lord's calling.
Are you sure old Tom Fuller
didn't see you take that beef?
Oh, Pa.
That's right. That's right.
God helps them who helps
themselves. Says it plain.
And old Tom's got aplenty.
You get going with
supper, you hear?
How'd she turn,
boys? Batch sound?
Whispering whiskey, Pa. There
ain't a fight in the whole barrel.
Best batch we ever
done, Pa. Taste it.
Level as a table.
Why, this ought to
sell onto $3 a jug, Pa.
Yeah, there ain't a man red or
white won't be tailored for winter
with the bloom of that in him.
Go on, Pa, try
another sip. Go on.
Level. Your ma sure'd
be proud of you boys.
Amen, Papa. Amen.
When brother John
get back with supplies,
we'll head out for Jetmore
and Spearville and all over!
You boys get to
jugging. Get to jugging.
Hey, Pa, go on, go on. Try one
more sample before we leave.
Level. Level.
Pa. Come out here, Pa.
Quick.
Oh, howdy, Marshal.
Almost time for supper. This
home would be most honored.
Well, thank you, Mr. Riker, but
I'll have to be getting back to town.
I... I brought your son back.
Brought him?
John?
John?
John?
How'd it happen, Marshal?
A man accused your boy
of cheating in a card game.
Your boy took offense.
- And he was shot?
- That's right.
Who done it?
I'm sorry to have to tell
you, Mr. Riker, that I did.
But your boy didn't give me any choice.
He was gonna kill an unarmed man.
And he was cheating?
He was caught red-handed.
- I see.
- Do you, Pa?
This 'un said he killed John.
You boys come over here
and... take your brother John
and carry him in the shade.
You hear me? You hear me?
I'm sorry it had to
happen this way, Mr. Riker.
Obliged, Marshal.
Good day to you.
We had him, Papa. We
could have killed him.
An eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
It says it plain.
But it weren't
the time or place.
But we'll find that
time and place
and there... we'll kill him.
Why not shoot him now?
'Cause there's somebody up on
that hill and he wants us to know it.
Pure. Pure. Get a heathen
to heaven, I do believe.
Pa. Pa.
I done told you once.
- I ain't gonna tell you again.
- Rider coming, Pa.
Rikers.
Took you quite a while to fall in
around behind the marshal, didn't it?
- You'd be the one on the hill?
- I'd be.
Well, I gotta ask you the
meaning of your interest, friend.
I ain't your friend. I'm Ben C.
Slocum. And I killed your boy.
It was the marshal put the lead in
him, but I was the cause of the killing.
You just leave that
horse stay right there, son.
And you rode out
here to tell us what?
Marshal Dillon saved
my life and I owe him,
and I don't aim to see him
haylofted, roofed or dry-gulched,
and that's what
you aim, ain't it?
Ain't it?
And justly so.
Many are the cause of death and
suffering in the house of the Lord.
Hallelujah to the high.
Hallelujah to the high, Pa.
- Amen.
- That's from the Good Book, Slocum.
Amen. You turn
around or I'll kill you.
That's Shoshone, Riker.
- There's five of us.
- Well, there won't be.
Now, I ain't aiming
to tell you again.
- We'll turn around, boys.
- Oh, Pa.
Pa, come on.
Yah! Yah! Yah!
Come here.
I feed you, don't I?
Hey, Dooley. Dooley, get up.
Get up, Dooley.
It's all in your head.
Dooley.
We got some trailing to do, Dooley,
and some shooting at the end of it.
It was a week ago
Thursday. That's when it was.
And that there just proves what kind
of stuffing you got in your brainpan...
It just proves that memorable
dates are not that hard to forget.
Memorable my foot.
Well, I can count on the
fingers of my two hands
the times I've seen you
buy a round of drinks.
Well, if that ain't a pretty
thing for you to be saying.
All right, I'll take it
back. I'll take it back.
Count on the fingers
of my one hand.
Well, that's better.
I knew you couldn't read, but
by thunder you can't count either.
All right, Mr. Smart Alecky.
You're grinning like a
possum eating persimmon.
I'll tell you, there's a heap more
knowledgeableness in my head
- than you will ever know.
- It's empty.
- All right, Doc, just one more time.
- Oh, stop that. That wagon, it's empty.
Nobody's driving that team.
Oh. Yeah.
Whoa. Whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa.
If that ain't the limit.
Well, that's Noah Riker and
one of his boys, ain't it, Doc?
Matthew.
How are they, Doc?
Well, I'd like to have half the
luck either one of 'em have got.
That one there got a bullet
high in his left shoulder,
but it went right through.
What about Noah?
Well, Matt, I know an awful lot of folks
benefit from reading the Good Book,
but, right there, that's the
most good it ever did Noah.
The bullet slowed down just
enough to keep from killing him.
Now, you'd have to call that luck or
else guidance from the Almighty one.
Well, knowing the ways of this old
yahoo, a fella'd have to call it luck.
- Where am I?
- You're in Dodge City.
Where are my boys?
One of 'em's right
over there, Mr. Riker.
But we don't know
where the others are.
Now, I wanna know
what happened out there.
He dead? Is he dead?
No, he's all right.
Where's my Bible? My Bible?
Well, it's right here. A
bullet ripped it up some.
It saved your life though.
My blossoming faith.
Bullet's still in you. Gonna
have to take that out.
- I ain't got no money.
- I didn't ask you for any.
Saved my life.
Saved all our lives.
Mr. Riker, what
happened out there?
Well, I don't see
how I could forget it.
We was riding along,
rapture of a new day,
Mark playing the mouth organ,
my thoughts a world
away with our John,
all our thoughts a world
away with our John.
And then from some salt cedars
comes a man with a dog riding hard
and shooting something fearsome.
- A dog?
What happened then?
Well... I don't know.
I... I guess I got hit.
And Paul too.
I don't remember any more.
All right, Mr. Riker. Thank you.
Noah, you go ahead and
rest there and then we'll...
we'll get to that bullet.
I ain't got no money.
I know. You said that.
Sounds like Ben
Slocum, don't it, Matthew?
Well, it does, yeah, except
the facts don't add up to Ben.
He wouldn't shoot anybody without
warning like that, in the first place,
and, in the second place, he could
have killed 'em all if he'd wanted to.
- Yeah, but somebody shot 'em.
- Well, Matt, he did mention a dog.
Well, I don't have any doubt that
it might have been Ben out there,
but the circumstances
had to have been different.
Well, I'll tell you this. If you're
going out there, I'm going with you.
- No, Festus. I want you to stay here.
- Matthew, you'd have...
Matt, there's
something else here.
You can't believe a
thing that this Riker says,
a man that quotes the
beauty of the Lord's work
for his own special deviltry.
You don't know whether you're going
after Ben Slocum out there or who.
You don't know what you're gonna
run into when you get out there, do you?
No, I don't.
There ain't no doubt about it,
Doc, he does protect his own.
He's a hunter.
We took to streams and cold
rock and still he come on. Hunter.
He won't scare much.
I told you boys you was
wasting lead and powder.
Well, it's that...
it's that dog of his.
Well, no matter, now.
We got him fetching
right up that little basin.
Good a place as we're gonna
find, the way he's staying after us.
Amen, brother. Amen.
He gonna get fetched now.
Come too far, old Mr. Hunter has.
What if he flanks us?
You got yourself
a point, brother.
What if you was to go
up on that hill yonder?
Peter, you get yonder a way.
I'm gonna hunker down here.
Well, go on, get, boy.
The rocks are barer
than a skinned mule.
There's tracks right
up the middle, though.
Now, if they was
Shoshone, Dooley,
why, I would... head over in
that direction, the one over there,
and t'other over yonder.
Huh, Dooley?
Don't make no difference.
We'll just wear 'em
out, make 'em nervous.
Then we'll show 'em how... how
clear a Shoshone can think, huh?
There. Oh, Kitty, just
put that there. It'll be fine.
Mr. Riker, here you are.
- Hey, Doc, I ain't...
- Yeah, I know, you ain't got any money.
Paul.
Paul.
Thank you, dear Lord, for providing
this curing food and bounty. Amen.
Now, if'n that marshal of
yours is following my boys,
which I hope he ain't, I
can't swear on his life.
- What do you mean, Mr. Riker?
- My boys are scrapping boys.
And they're carrying the torch
of the Lord in the time of blood.
I learned 'em myself,
at the Lord's calling.
Let me tell you
something, Mr. Riker.
If your boys have done anything
wrong, Matt Dillon'll bring 'em in here,
one way or another,
you can count on that.
- Is Matt really in trouble, Doc?
- Well, I'd say so.
You can't raise kids to be hellcats
without having 'em fight like hellcats.
Mark! Luke! It's him
who killed brother John!
- Any shooting been going on?
- Some, up yonder.
I never could figure out
why them sod stompers
think that just shooting a little lead in
the air'll keep a man from coming on.
- Ben, how'd all this get started?
- Well, I'll tell you.
I knew they was aiming
to back-shoot you,
so I stopped 'em in
the road and I ask 'em,
and the old man, he started
quoting some scripture on me
and then he pulled
out his gun and started.
Why, he's slyer than a
lynx cat, that old man.
- You know I don't lie, Matt.
- No, I know you don't lie, Ben.
But I also know you
promised to keep out of this.
I promised you that I owed you.
I figured that we'd just outwait
'em and Injun in on 'em later.
Where are they at now?
- There.
- Uh-huh.
Well, that looks to be a
good deal over 300 yards.
I... I don't think they're gonna
be hitting much from that distance.
I don't think they'll be shooting
much from up there to down here.
Well, now, wait a minute.
Depends on how you look at that.
You keep your eye out there,
see if you can spot any smoke.
Maybe I can draw a
shot or two out of 'em.
All right, up there. This
is Matt Dillon, US marshal.
You old dog, you.
That be like that time with Black
Feet Injuns up on the Cheyenne park,
you know, keyed up
soldier boys, that time.
Jerky?
- Thank you.
- Just like old times, huh?
Now, what you doing back here?
I don't like the feel of
it, brother. I don't, now.
Nothing's moved down
there close to an hour.
I know, I know.
Now, if we was to sneak to 'em,
and to hole up, ain't
nothing can swing in on us.
OK, brother.
Matt. Matt, you're right.
There's one of them sidewinders
coming down that ridge
of rocks to the west there.
Yeah. That's his brother
coming down over here.
Yeah.
About an hour, them
rackers'll wear themselves out.
You don't chew, if I recall?
Ben, there isn't
much you don't recall.
It helps a body think.
And I'm thinking, Matt, you know, a body
could get himself get killed out there.
It's possible.
And it won't make
much difference to me.
I just bum around here with my
dog Dooley, here and there and such.
But you got responsibilities.
Now, I could go out there
and take care of things myself.
Ben, I appreciate that, but I'm
gonna be with you all the way on this.
You know, there's
one other thing, Ben.
If and when we
get out of this alive,
I'm gonna have to take you back
to Dodge to stand trial for assault.
Trial? Assault? I told you
that old man pulled first.
I know, and I believe you too.
But he's accused you
of attempted murder
and you're gonna have to
stand trial by a people's jury.
That's the law.
Law. People. Juries. You're
gonna drive me crazy with that law.
Dooley, he's gonna drive
us crazy with that law of his.
I'll tell you what, Matt.
There's one thing don't change.
That gun of yours. You
just take care of that.
That don't change.
You know, Ben,
you're right about that.
Matt, what'll it be like if that
jury don't stand to favor me?
Well, Ben, then
you'd have to go to jail.
I'm thinking I... I don't
favor going back to Dodge.
I don't think there's any jail that
I could stand the living size of.
I know, Ben.
Now, remember,
Ben, alive if you can.
Alive if you can.
Dooley.
You got one of 'em, old fella.
Go. Go get him. Go get him.
Drop that fool thing,
Dooley. Go help Matt.
All right, you,
hold it right there.
Get up.
Throw the gun down.
All right, now turn around
and come down here.
- Where's your brother?
- I wouldn't be knowing that, Marshal.
Dooley. Dooley.
I got him!
We got our'n, brother
Mark! We got our'n!
Do like Pa says
and dot his eyes.
Matthew Dillon.
You...
That's the lot of 'em.
Oh, you're hit.
Well, Dooley,
thanks for the help.
Yeah, you sure are. Gone
clean through the other side.
The bone's all right, though.
But you're gonna do a
consideration of bleeding.
You could make porridge
out of this here rag,
but it's the best
thing I've got.
I'm obliged to you.
Ben, I don't think I can make
it back to Dodge unless...
That's the first
thing I thought.
If you wanted to take off right
now, I probably couldn't stop you.
Second thing I thought.
And if you do come back, I
can't promise you anything.
- That's the third thing I thought.
- What's the answer?
The fourth thing I thought,
I'd be a fool if I did go back.
But in all our times, this is
the first time that you owe me.
I already done swore
on your Bible, Judge.
Evidently the marshal
has his reasons, Mr. Riker.
In order for this inquiry to continue,
would you please do as he asks?
All right, Noah. Go on, take it.
Now, I want you to tell the
judge here exactly how it was
that Slocum started that
fight on the Dodge road.
Uh-uh. No, you hold onto that.
Was standing in the road, he
was... barring our going to town.
That's not what I asked you. I
asked you how he started the fight.
Four of my boys cut down in
the springtime of their years.
Noah, who was it that
started the shooting?
I already done told
you that, Marshal.
I want you to tell us again.
Do I gotta sit here and be...
Just answer the marshal's
questions, Mr. Riker.
Lived my whole life according to
the words in this here book, I have.
That's right, Noah.
Going home.
Going home to pray
and read the book.
Taking my boy Paul. Going home.
The case against
Mr. Slocum is dismissed.
Oh. Well, what does
that mean, Matt?
Well, Ben, that means
you're a free man.
- What'd I tell you?
- Well, thank you kindly.
I'm much obliged
for all your help.
- You know what I am fixing to do?
- What's that?
I'm fixing to go way off and
build me a fire, shoot me an elk,
cook a steak and think
over some deep thoughts.
About what?
If'n you knew all along that old
Noah wouldn't blame me for the killing
if'n his own hand
was on his own Bible.
What do you figure?
Means we're even.
Sounds about right, Ben.
Well, best way to unwind
proceedings, go have some drinks.
There ain't no better
way to get unwinded.
Well, come along.
The first one is on me.
Dooley! Come here.
- There he goes.
- Let's go, boy.
- The second round's on me.
- I'll buy the next one.
What are we waiting
for? Let's get started.
Stay tuned for scenes
from next week's Gunsmoke.