Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 4, Episode 23 - Sky - full transcript

Young Billy flees Dodge in fear after being suspected of shooting dead an older saloon girl whose sexual advances he had been resisting.

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

No, now you put your finger,
this finger right up there

on that string there.

- Right, right here.
- Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, now try that.

Oh, that was wonderful.

Good. I'm glad you found it.

Well, Mr. Dillon,

it ain't too easy to put
your fingers where they belong,

even though you know
where they go.

Now just try that whole thing
all over again



just one time, Miss Kitty.

Well, I might as well.

Anybody who hasn't been
driven out of here yet

isn't gonna leave, I guess.

- Is that right, right here?
Yeah.

That's it.

The green grove

Is gone from the hill

Maggie

Where once

The daisies sprung

But I love you the same

As of old

Maggie



When you

And I

Were young

Oh, that was wonderful.

Kitty, you know,
you could sell out this place

and buy a half interest
in the opera house.

Well, now I'll tell you
something, Mr. Dillon,

a little more practice
and Miss Kitty could be every bit

as good as Lillie Langtry.

Well, I don't know whether
the Jersey Lillie would like that or not,

but I thank you anyhow.

Just a little practice, see?
Let me hold that.

- Hello, Billy.
- Evening, Marshal.

- Howdy, Chester. Miss Kitty.
- How are you, Billy?

- Billy, why don't you sit down?
- Much obliged, Marshal.

What's the matter, Billy?

Well, it's that woman...
Frogmouth Kate.

Whenever I come to town,
she won't give me a minute's peace.

Oh, well, maybe that's 'cause
she's sweet on you, Billy.

Sweet on me?

Look at her.
She' s old enough to be my ma.

She would have had
to marry awful young, Billy.

Well, anyway,
she looks old enough.

No wonder, too.
The way she drinks all the time.

Billy!

Billy, baby,
why didn't you tell me you was here?

Give me a chance
to catch my breath first.

You can catch your breath
with me, honey boy.

Kate, take it easy,
will you?

Oh, sure, I'll take it easy, baby doll.
We'll both take it easy

- once we get to St. Louis.
- I ain't going to St. Louis with you

- and no place else.
- Sure you are, Billy lover.

I bring you. Got enough money saved now.
Another week...

Kate, take it easy
before I bust your head open.

Ain't he cute, Marshal?

- Treats me just like a man ought to.
- For the love of Mike.

Come on, lover,
I'll buy you a drink.

I'll buy my own drink.

Sure is a caution.
Billy lover, wait for me.

Now, Kate,
you stay away from me.

- Aw, come on.
- Keep your hands off me.

Get away, Kate!

If you ask me,

she's the one
that's the caution.

Well, things seem
pretty quiet around here.

Guess I'll head for bed.

- Yeah.
- Good night.

Good night, Matt.

Kate, oughta pick on somebody
her own age.

She's not gonna get
anywhere with that boy.

Well, I wouldn't bet on that,
Miss Kitty.

Mr. Dillon!

Mr. Dillon, wake up!

Who is it?

It's me Chester.
Open the door, will you?

Mr. Dillon!

- Mr. Dillon.
- Yeah, yeah, I'm coming.

Mr. Dillon,
you better come quick.

- There's been a shooting.
- Who got shot?

Frogmouth Kate.

- Frogmouth Kate?
- Yeah, over at Ma Torvet's place.

Me and Doc was watching them
play a poker game

down at the Long Branch.

Somebody come to get him.

He went all over there,

and I come up here to get you.

Yeah, sure would be nice
to get a good night's sleep sometime.

- Yeah.
- Is it fixing to rain?

I just think a little
thundershower is all.

How is she, Doc?

She's bad, real bad.

Is there any chance
of talking to her?

Good heavens.
She hasn't been conscious at all.

Now what about later?

Well, I wouldn't count on it.

Ma, how'd this happen?

The shot woke me up, Marshal.

And I grabbed my bathrobe,
and I came running down,

and she was here laying
on the floor.

And that window there,
it was standing wide open.

You got any idea
who might have done it?

I'm coming to that, Marshal.

I went to the window
and I looked out,

and there was a fella
standing under the trees.

And when I started yelling
for somebody to grab him, he lit out.

Did you recognize him at all?

Well, it looked like that young
fella Billy Daunt.

Billy Daunt?

Are you sure?

No, no, I ain't sure.

I just said it looked like him.

I'm afraid she's right, Matt.
It did look like Billy.

I was just getting home,
and I heard Ma yelling,

and just then, Billy came running
out from behind the house

and headed straight
down Front Street.

I saw him in a flash of lightning.

Well, if there were
any tracks there,

the rain's washed 'em out by now.

Matt.

Oh, I don't understand all this.

He had no real reason to kill her.

It was the money she saved.

That's why he killed her.

She kept it in a box
under a mattress.

It's gone.

I've already looked for it.

That's just awful hard to believe.

Billy seemed like such
a pleasant fella and all.

Yeah, well, we better
get started looking.

You're gonna have
a tough time in the rain.

Yeah, we'll find him.

Luke! Hey, Luke!

Luke?

Luke!

- Who is it?
- It's Matt Dillon.

What are you doing
out here, Marshal?

We're looking for Billy Daunt, Luke.

Is he still riding for you?

He was.

He ain't anymore.

What happened to him?

Why, the darn fool kid,
I don't know what got into him.

I've never seen him like this before.

Come riding in here
just before daybreak,

all spooked up like as if
the devil himself was after him.

Said he's lighting out.
Wanted to take my saddle horse.

When I told him he couldn't,
he picked up a running iron

and knocked me down with it.

He's gone, huh?

Yeah, he took the horse
and rode out.

- Which way did he head out?
- West.

Rode around the corner
of the barn there.

Hadn't oughta be too much trouble
picking up his trail.

That rain we had last night
washed out the ground pretty good.

Well, yeah, except he's got
a five or six-hour head start on us.

Yeah, and he's got a good horse.

- Take care of that eye.
- Sure, sure.

Good luck, Marshal.

Think Billy stopped to make camp
last night, Mr. Dillon?

Well, if he did,
its up ahead somewhere.

Well, seems to me like he had stopped
and rest his horse once in a while.

It's better for us
if he doesn't, Chester.

Can't keep up that pace forever.

Well, if he rode all night,

he must be pretty far
ahead of us by now.

We couldn't help that.
You can't track very well in the dark.

Tracks lead right
to that cabin, Mr. Dillon.

Yeah, that horse looks like
he's been rode might hard, too.

Better get your rifle out.

- Is he in there?
- No.

Well, this is Luke's horse,
all right.

It's his brand down there.

Mr. Dillon, look here.
This horse has gone lame.

Yeah, rode him right
into the ground, looks like.

Took his saddle off of him.

He must have stole
another horse and rode off.

Well, it looks to me
like he's on foot, Chester.

See these tracks?

There's two sets
of boot prints there.

Yeah, he's got somebody
with him all right.

Let's water the horses
before we move on.

When do you think
he left, Mr. Dillon?

Well, I'd say it was about sunup
according to the looks of these tracks here.

Well, he won't get too far,
not on foot he won't.

No, not unless he finds
another horse,

but that's probably
why he took that saddle along.

I just can't imagine anybody
riding a horse until it goes lame.

I tell you, I'm just about to lose
all sympathy for that boy.

Well, he's running, Chester.

A man starts to run,
he loses all the sense he ever had.

Well, he sure enough
done that, all right.

Frame of mind he's in now,
it's hard to tell what he's gonna do next.

What do you mean?

Well, he's scared.
He's scared stiff.

A scared man is the most
dangerous man in the world.

Well, I just can't understand
what gets into people

to make 'em do
what he did.

Well, maybe it doesn't get
into 'em, Chester.

Maybe it's always there just that
most people don't ever turn it loose.

Let's get going, huh?

- How do, ma'am?
- Who are you?

- You a lawman?
- My name's Dillon.

I'm the marshal over at Dodge City.

We're looking for a fella
that escaped the other day.

You seen any strangers
around here?

You're too late, Marshal.

- He's gone.
- What do you mean?

Take a look over there.

By that fence there.

Go on, look.

Both of you.

Killed with a knife.

A knife?

Your husband, ma'am?

Yes.

The boy did it?

Yes.

Well, I'm sorry.

But if it's any comfort to you,
we'll find him.

It don't matter now, Marshal.

No, I guess not.

There was somebody traveling
with him carrying his saddle.

That wasn't your husband, was it?

No. It were Clabe.

Clabe?

Lives yonder,
across the ridge.

He were pert near dead
when they got here.

I got 'em inside there.
Been trying to fix him up.

Clabe's pert near
75 years old, Marshal.

And that's too old
to be used like an animal.

- Who are these men?
- It's all right, Clabe.

It's Marshal Dillon from Dodge City.

They're after the boy.

Poor fella.
We've known him for 10 years.

Ever since we've been here.

He ain't never brought a hurt
to a living thing in his whole life.

How do you feel, Clabe?
Can you talk a little?

I'll be all right, Marshal.

Just wore out, that's all.

15 miles carrying a saddle
in this weather.

Fast, too.

Made me walk fast.

I ain't used to that no more.

Huh? I doubt if
I could do that myself.

Comes a day a man's
gotta admit he's getting old, Marshal.

You're not too old to be
a lot of help around here, Clabe.

How long ago
did the boy leave here?

Two, three hours, I reckon.

He took our mule.

But he won't get very far on it.

Why not?

'Cause that mule's too old.

Five, six miles maybe.

It just quits.

What happened?

Was your husband
trying to stop the boy?

Was that it?

No, he got mad when he seen
what happened to Clabe here.

That boy knifed him...

without even giving him a chance.

He's crazy,

wild, killing crazy.

And scared, too, Marshal.
I never seen nobody

in my whole life
scared as that boy is.

Yeah, I know.

What I can't understand is the part
about killing him with a knife.

It doesn't make sense.

Well, that's all he had.
That's why.

- He didn't have a gun?
- No, just a knife.

When he first came to your place,
he didn't have a gun then?

No, sir, he didn't.

He took our rifle.

But it won't do him any good.

Weren't any shells for it.

We'd run out.

Well, I sure can't understand
him being unarmed.

I mean, Kate was killed
with a pistol.

I can't see him
throwing it away.

I guess we'll just have to find
that out when we catch him.

Ma'am, if you'll show us
where you'd like the grave,

we'll help you
with your husband.

That's kind of you, Marshal.

I want you to know
I ain't unfeeling.

He was my man.

But out here,
a body can't afford to have feelings.

Just living is hard enough.

Get your hands up,
both of you.

That gun's not gonna
do you any good, Billy.

It isn't even loaded.

It's been a long trail,
but it's over for you.

You ain't taking me, Marshal,
not unless you shoot me.

Get your rope out, Chester.

I'll cut you, Marshal.

- Drop the knife, Billy.
- Don't come near me. I'll cut you.

I said drop it.

You'll never get me back.
Not alive you won't, never.

I didn't kill her,
and I ain't going back.

You can drag me,
but I ain't walking.

Don't tell me what
you're gonna do.

I'm tired of fooling around
with you.

You're gonna ride back,
and you're either gonna go

sitting up in the saddle
or tied across it.

Now get up.

Hello, Mrs. Torvet.

Mr. Dillon.

Hello, Chester.
How's the prisoner this morning?

He's just about the same.
Still won't eat.

Still says that
he didn't kill Kate.

Yeah, well, looks like
maybe he didn't.

What?

- That's Billy's six-shooter.
- Where'd you get it?

- Over at the gunsmith's.
- Amos Green?

Yep, Billy brought it in there
two days before Kate was killed.

Something was wrong
with the cylinder, I guess.

It's been in there ever since.

Well, Mr. Dillon,
that's probably the reason

he didn't have no gun out there

at Clabe's place
or at Luke's place.

But if he didn't have one out there,
he couldn't have very well had one

the night Kate was killed.

Kind of looks that way,
doesn't it?

Why don't you put that
in the safe?

Yeah. Yes, sir.

Billy, I'd like to talk to you.

Billy, I want you to tell me again
what happened that night.

I told you 10 times already.

I didn't kill her.

I want to hear it again,
the whole story.

Now what's the use?

It might help, Billy.

All right.

I took her to the rooming house
and left her.

And I stood out front
for a few minutes,

trying to decide whether to go
to the stable and get some sleep

or go to the Long Branch
and get in a poker game.

Yeah, and what did you decide?

I cut around the side
of the rooming house

and started for the stable.

When I got to the trees,
I heard this shot.

I was trying to figure out
where it come from,

when Ma Torvet shoved open
Kate's window and started screaming

for somebody to stop me,

that I'd killed Kate.

I started running
and then I got scared.

Are you sure that Ma Torvet
opened that window?

She told me it was already open
when she came into the room.

I don't care what she said, Marshal.
She opened it. I seen her.

He's right, Marshal.

She said that she had
to talk to you and see you.

Billy's telling the truth.

I opened the window.

Why?

My conscience has been
killing me inside.

Couldn't let Billy take
the blame any longer.

I see.

Well, suppose you tell us
what happened, Ma.

It was the money she saved.
I knew where it was,

and I knew how much.

That night I couldn't sleep

thinking of it.

I went to her room to get it.

I didn't know she'd come in.

She caught me.

It was her gun laying
on the dresser.

I picked it up and fired,

before I even thought,

and then I seen Billy outside.

I thought I could lay
the blame on him.

I'd thought he'd run away

and wouldn't be caught.

Here's the money, Marshal.

That's what caused it all.

You see?
I told you I didn't kill her.

I'm glad it's over.

It's been on my conscience too long.

Well, you know now, Marshal.
So you can let me out of here.

I'm afraid it's not quite
that easy, Billy.

You're forgetting something.

There's a new grave
about 40 miles west of here.

I dug it.

And the man in it is there
because you murdered him.

You and Ma Torvet here.

If only you hadn't run, Billy.

If only you hadn't gotten scared.

I'm sorry for you.

Real sorry.