Gunsmoke (1955) s02e24 Episode Script

ANNOUNCER: Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Hello, Adams.
What are you doing in town? Why shouldn't I be in town? Boys tell me they saw some of your cows near my south watering hole yesterday.
I can't watch them all the time, can I? I don't like it.
A man starts moving in on my land.
I only got 20 a head.
You own half of Kansas, Adams.
They ain't hurtin' you.
It's my land.
Keep off it.
You've got no cause to do that.
Nobody cheats me, even for pennies.
Hold on here.
What's the matter with you anyway? He's not even wearing a gun.
If the law won't stop him from moving onto my land, we will.
But I ain't.
His few cows aren't hurting you, Adams.
Well, now, look here, marshal, You staying in town long? For the week maybe.
Why? Then you keep your hands off people.
Marshal- Shut up and get out of here.
And take your friends with you.
You've had your warning.
Marshal, he knows I can't keep watch of my cows every minute.
No, I know.
Of course you can't.
But I'm afraid that this kind of man is gonna keep on causing you trouble too.
I know.
Well, I'll do whatever I can for you, Pritchard.
Thanks, marshal.
Oh, the rabbit run The rabbit flew The rabbit Come sailin' through Mr.
Dillon.
What are you doing? You have to raise that much dust? Well, cleanliness is next to godliness.
Well, yeah, I know, but, uh, all you're doing is getting it off the floor and into the air here.
All right.
Well, I'll- I'll do it later then.
Good.
My ma's the one that taught me that.
Taught you what? That cleanliness was next to godliness.
She's a fine woman too.
Well, yeah, that's a good saying.
It's probably true and all that, and I got no objection to your mother, but, uh, she should've taught you how to sweep.
Well, maybe she didn't have time.
All the kids, you know, what with all the ague and the colic and the busted bones and all.
Hm.
He's been sweeping.
Oh.
Come on, I'll buy you a drink.
What'd you say? Said I'd buy you a drink.
He say he's gonna buy you a drink? Well, that's- That's what I thought he said.
Well, are you coming or not? I'll get my hat.
Not you.
You owe me for three already.
Come on.
I wasn't going anyway.
Well, what are you two up to? Sam, let's have a bottle up here.
Sure, Doc.
Doc here needs somebody to talk to.
You wanna help him out? Well, I sure do.
I'm a good listener and I've had lots of practice.
What are we gonna celebrate, Doc? Well, sir, we're gonna drink to a fella that you two don't even know.
Name of Cain Vestal.
Cain Vestal, here's to him.
He's gonna be dead in a couple of months.
What? That's what I had to tell him.
Who is he? Strangest little fella.
Came in on the Santa Fe last night, came up to my office.
Says he's going to Arizona tomorrow and that's where he's gonna die, Arizona.
But what's he gonna die of, Doc? Heart.
Got an awful bad heart.
Says I'm the last doctor he's gonna ask about it.
Hm.
Poor fella.
Wants to see the desert before he dies.
I don't know.
He's an awful sad little fella.
That's a tough thing to have to do, Doc.
Tell a man he's gonna die.
I know what that's like.
Well, but this Cain's different.
He's an awful nice fellow.
He's- Well, he's a musician, for one thing.
He's, uh- He's got a guitar, he sings songs, and plays, and- A guitar? Yeah.
Is that him over there? Where? Right there.
Sure is.
Say, would you mind if I ask him over, huh? Of course not.
No.
Go ahead.
I'll tell you, let's get a table, and, uh, well, you go sit down and I'll get him.
All right.
Sam, may I have another glass? Cain? Oh, hello, Doc.
How are you? Fine, thanks.
Say, couple of friends of mind over here, and I'd like to have you come over and join us, meet them.
Well, why don't you sit down, have a beer? Well, no.
I'd like to have you meet these two friends of mine here.
Won't you come over and join us? I don't want to impose on- Oh, you won't be.
Now, you just come on over here.
Bring your guitar along, come on over.
I want you to meet these folks.
Thank you.
Mr.
Vestal, I want you to meet two very good friends of mine.
This is Miss Kitty Russell.
Cain Vestal.
Pleased to meet you.
Miss Kitty.
Marshal Matt Dillon.
How do you do? How do you do? You sit right there.
Thank you.
Can I get you a whiskey instead of that, uh, beer? No thanks, Doc.
That's fine.
Well, now.
Well, is it your first trip west, Mr.
Vestal? Yes, marshal, it is.
Where are you from? Well, I guess I spent most of my life on the Mississippi River, Miss Kitty.
I understand you're a musician.
Yes, ma'am.
I was hired to ride the riverboats and play for the passengers.
Well, with a job like that you sure get a constant change of scenery.
Well, I'll tell you, after 20 years of riding up and down that river, it gets pretty familiar.
Say, you know, I used to know a fellow there in St.
Louis, young fella before the war there.
Uh, he was learning to be a river pilot.
And you just might've run into him someplace.
His name was Clemens.
Sam Clemens.
Did you, uh? No, Doc, I don't believe I did.
Well, he was a very amusing fella.
By golly, he'd tell the doggonest stories.
Well, so you're leaving for Arizona tomorrow, huh? No reflections on Dodge, marshal.
Say, I wonder if you'd do us a favor.
Certainly, Miss Kitty.
Anything you want.
Would you mind playing something for us? Ha.
Had an idea that might be what it was.
Anything in particular that you'd like to hear? Oh, no, just play something you like.
Another girl I knew used to like this one.
Oh, that was wonderful.
Just wonderful.
Thank you, Miss Kitty.
More, more! Later, maybe.
Cain, that was mighty nice.
Thank you, marshal.
Well, I gotta be getting back to the office.
It was very nice to have met you.
Thank you, sir.
Good luck out in Arizona.
Well, I gotta- Goodbye, Kitty.
Bye.
I gotta be running along too.
There you are, Kitty.
Oh, thanks, Doc.
Cain, you drop up to the office before you go now.
Sure, Doc.
Bye.
See you both later.
Whiskey.
Maybe you could teach me to play like that.
It'll be my pleasure, Miss Kitty, but I'm afraid I just don't have much time.
Anything wrong? What's the matter? What's his name? Well, it's Joel Adams.
Why? Do you know him? No.
I never even met him.
But I will.
I sure will.
Oh.
Ha, ha.
Sorry.
Morning, Mr.
Dillon.
Morning? What do you mean? It's noon.
You, uh, keeping banker's hours now? Well, you kept banker's hours yesterday with Doc.
I figured I had a little time coming to me today.
Well, depends on how you spend it.
Well, I didn't do no gambling or nothing like that.
Well? I was helping a fella learn to shoot a six-gun.
You mean to say there's somebody in Dodge that doesn't know how? Yeah, well this fella don't.
He's a musician.
Musician? Yeah.
Plays the guitar.
That's what he told me.
His name wasn't Cain Vestal, was it? Yeah, that's his name.
How'd you know? He's supposed to leave on the stage this morning.
What's he doing with a six-gun? Well, I don't know.
Uh, I run into him at breakfast and he had asked me if I'd show him, and There something wrong? Where's he staying? Well, he's staying at the Dodge House, but he ain't gonna do nothing wrong, Mr.
Dillon, he ain't the type.
You put a six-gun in a man's hand, Chester, you never know what's gonna happen.
Seemed like such a nice fellow to me.
Yeah, he did to me too.
I think I'm gonna mosey up there and have a talk with him.
Uh, if you don't mind watching the office.
Come on in.
Door's not locked.
Well, hello, Cain.
Hello, marshal.
I thought you were leaving Dodge this morning.
I changed my mind.
You know how it is.
Well, sure.
Glad to have you stay.
Thank you.
Tell me, uh, this doesn't have anything to do with your staying, does it? Heh.
Chester told you.
He's a good teacher.
Yeah, he's a good teacher, but that still doesn't answer my question.
Do I have to answer it? Well, Cain, I'd- I'd like to help you.
I appreciate that, marshal, only I'm afraid there's nothing you can do.
Cain, you're new out in this country.
Now, a man like you can't expect to come out here and put a gun on and call himself a fighting man.
Not and live through it.
Oh, I- I lay no claim to being a fighting man.
Well, uh Well, then what'd you buy the gun for? There's no law, is there? Well, no, there's no law against it, but, uh, you see, out here when a man puts on a gun, he's expected to use it when the time comes.
I just think you'd be safer without one, that's all.
Being safe doesn't mean a whole lot to me, marshal.
I'm sure Doc told you.
Yes, he told me.
What's it about, Cain? Talking about it is not gonna help anything.
Well, I can't force you to talk.
It's a long story, marshal.
Has to do with Joel Adams.
Joel Adams? I'm gonna kill him.
You what? I heard he was out here somewhere.
That's one of the reasons I came.
Now, what are you talking about? What do you mean? That's part of the long story I mentioned.
Now, if Joel Adams went after you, why, he'd kill you before you ever got that gun out of your belt.
Maybe.
And if you shot him any other way, you'd hang for it.
You're forgetting something, marshal.
What's that? I'm gonna die soon no matter what I do.
You must hate him a lot.
I wouldn't kill a man unless I hated him, would I? I didn't figure you to be the kind of man that'd kill anybody.
Only Joel Adams.
You know, I'm gonna have to warn him about you.
Oh, I understand.
That's all right.
He doesn't know me anyway.
He never even saw me till yesterday.
But you're gonna kill him? Oh, yes, sir.
You know, I've never met a man like you before, Cain.
Maybe I ought to just, uh, tie you up and throw you on that stage, huh? Well, I'd come right back.
Yeah, I expect you would.
Well, I'm through trying to convince you.
So long.
Bye, marshal.
Marshal, I never heard of Cain Vestal, and I never saw him before yesterday.
You must know something about him, Adams.
You trying to make me out a liar? I'm trying to save Cain's life.
And yours too, maybe.
He isn't gonna shoot me.
I'll kill him the first time he looks sideways.
Yeah? Well, maybe you won't see him.
Oh, shoot me in the back, huh? Well, in that case In that case what? Nothing, nothing.
Forget it.
And if Cain Vestal's shot in the back, you're the first man I'm gonna bring in.
I don't even know him.
Why should I shoot him? I'm just warning you.
Ah, just leave me be, marshal.
I can look after myself.
Yeah.
Well, you see that you do.
And only yourself.
Sure.
Only I don't much like the idea of a stranger gunning for me.
Makes me kind of uneasy.
You must know the reason, Adams.
Let's not start that again, marshal.
There's no reason.
Sure, you've led a blameless life, haven't you? Never hurt anybody.
I told you twice.
Adams, there's men around this town that'd shoot you on sight if they thought they could get away with it.
I don't think you ever were any good, so don't tell me that Cain's got no reason.
I don't believe it.
You're pushing me, marshal.
I'm tired of your talk.
Now, maybe you don't know him.
But, mister, he sure knows something about you.
And he'll wish he didn't, is all I can say.
Keep out of his way.
Give it a little time, and maybe there won't be any killing.
Sure.
All the time in the world.
All right, Adams, I've done all I can.
Just don't worry about me.
I'm not.
Bye, marshal.
That's him.
Just a minute, Cain.
You ain't in no hurry, are you? We wanna hear you play.
Later, maybe.
We wanna hear it now.
No.
Help! Unh! Help! Help! Well, I swear, Mr.
Dillon, I was beginning to think you'd never get back.
Well, I guess next time I go out of town I'll have to tell you where I'm going, Chester.
Wish you would.
Well, now, where have you been? Well, I've been up river at the immigrant camp.
I got him here just as soon as he got back.
Well, you picked a fine time to leave town.
Well, at least he isn't dead, is he? Well, no, but I- Here, I want you to see something.
Look at this.
They took a shot at him.
They heard some fellas coming and they ran off, and the bullet went right through there.
Now, Cain, guess you're pretty lucky.
It was dark.
They pulled my coat half off anyway.
Well, they must think you're dead then.
They didn't have time to beat him to death.
They took a shot at him.
I imagine they think he's dead.
So Adams made the first move, huh? Didn't even give you a chance to use that gun, did he? I didn't have a gun on me.
But it wasn't he.
You recognize him? Well, I don't know many folks around here.
You know Joel Adams.
It wasn't Joel Adams.
Think you could pick him out if you saw him again? No, I don't believe I could.
Well, you must've gotten some kind of a look at them when they grabbed you.
It was too dark.
Too dark.
Down there in the street? Well, it was by an alley, and they- They pulled me into it so fast I didn't know what was happening.
Well, they must've had awful long arms.
You know how it is, marshal.
Yeah.
I know how it is.
So you're gonna fight this out all alone, huh? Yes, ma- Yes, marshal, it's my own affair.
Not anymore it isn't, Cain.
You've been assaulted and you've been shot at.
It's the law's business now.
I won't prefer any charges.
You don't have to.
I've seen you.
I know who did this or hired it done just as well as you do.
Please, marshal, I've got to handle this my own way.
Cain, there's a law that says you cannot murder a man.
And that same law says that he can't murder you.
Are you so full of hatred you can't get that through your head? I guess that's it, marshal.
All right.
You do what you have to do.
And so will I.
Goodbye, Doc.
I've been looking for you, Adams.
It's late, marshal.
Can't you see me tomorrow? Late? It's not even midnight.
That's early for you.
Always trying to put me on the prod, ain't you? You're pretty rough.
It's your hired men that are rough.
Meaning? Didn't they tell you? Tell me what? What they did to Cain Vestal? They didn't kill Cain Vestal, marshal.
And you can't prove it.
No, except for one thing.
He's not dead.
What? Did you think he would be? Well, no, I Somebody said he got hurt.
Go on.
Mr.
Dillon.
You set this up, marshal? You know I didn't.
What's he want anyway? Hello, Joel Adams.
No, you don't know me.
Who are you? Cain Vestal.
What are you haunting me for? I never saw you before in my life.
That's true.
You never did.
We had a friend in common once.
A friend? Who? Julie Travers.
What about her? You were a riverboat gambler then.
You had a lot of money and fine clothes, a way with women.
Especially young girls like Julie.
Never mind all that.
She went away with you, to be married, you told her.
Oh.
I can guess the rest.
You wanted to marry her, but I got her instead, is that it? That's it.
That's exactly it.
I thought you really had something on your mind.
Look, uh, why don't you get out of here and stop bothering people, while you can still walk? Take it easy, Adams.
Julie's dead.
She killed herself.
Oh? You didn't know that, did you? It's got nothing to do with me.
It was just about a year after you abandoned her in New Orleans.
I'd say it had quite a lot to do with you, Mr.
Adams.
What are your plans, mister? I'm gonna kill you.
There'll be no shooting here, Cain.
Only wanna say something, marshal.
One thing I always promised myself, Adams.
Someday I'd find you and: Nobody spits in my face and gets away with it.
Adams, put the gun on the table.
You saw what he did, marshal.
He wanted to kill me.
You heard him.
Adams, you're under arrest for murder.
What? Murder? He was unarmed, remember? Unarmed? You don't think I'm gonna hang for this? He wanted you dead, Adams.
That's the only way he could do it.
You mean, he planned? River gamblers used to say: "Don't matter how you win, as long as you win.
" He should've been a gambler.
Maybe he was.
Let's go.