Gunsmoke: "Billy the Kid" – The Killer Was 12 Years Old

When a notorious wanted criminal named Clay Richards turns up dead — draped across his saddle and delivered to Dodge City by a German farmer named Pete Ziglar — Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself standing at the centre of a storm he never saw coming. Ziglar had every reason to want Clay dead: a $400 bounty on the man's head, and a bank mortgage about to swallow his farm whole. The town doesn't need much convincing. 

But this episode of Gunsmoke refuses to end where you expect it to. Doc's autopsy delivers a chilling revelation: Clay Richards wasn't shot. He was stabbed through the spine with a small blade — the kind you'd find on a Barlow knife. The real killer is Bob, a 12-year-old runaway from Cottonwood who idolised the romance of gunfighters and dreamed of filling his gun handle with notches. His mother arrives at the final, devastating moment — only to reveal she'd given him a Barlow knife when he begged her for a real gun. Bob vanishes before Dillon can catch him, leaving the marshal standing in the dust with a truth too dark to shake.

Episode Highlights & Quotes

"You don't keep scores, son. It's something you try to forget." – Marshal Matt Dillon, 

"He wanted a real one. That boy's just gun crazy. I swear. I got him a nice Barlow knife instead." – Miss Bonnie, unknowingly revealing her son is the true killer

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

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SPEAKER_13 0:30

Around Dark City and the territory on West had just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_10 1:12

The story of the man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, the United States Marshal.

SPEAKER_13 1:28

Wanted for murder. Wanted for murder. Clay Richards. Clay Richards. Age 31. Height's six feet. Eyes brown.

SPEAKER_12 1:40

Hair red. Eyes brown, hair red. Hey, how'd you like me to print his picture on these notices? I got a woodcut. Let me show you. Ernie! That's your marshal a copy of that front page. Interviewing Clay's wife yesterday, I noticed a tin type on the mantle, their wedding photograph. So, first thing you know, I snitched it.

SPEAKER_13 2:02

That's very thoughtful.

SPEAKER_12 2:03

Yeah. Oh, I'll take it, Ernie. And then I propped it up in front of me and carved me this woodcut. Ain't she prime? Ain't she just elegant? Real elegant. Good likeness, don't you think? Of course, he was seven or eight years younger with the tin type.

SPEAKER_13 2:17

Yeah, it's a good likeness. That's his hair short and doesn't show what makes a law-abiding man like him try to rob a bank. Doesn't look like a man who murdered an old cashier and a Chinese cook who just happened to be there. But it's a good likeness.

SPEAKER_12 2:32

Yes, sir, it is. A picture like this sure dresses up the front page, don't it?

SPEAKER_13 2:36

Yeah, it's a little masterpiece, Mr. Hightower. A notable contribution to the culture of Dutch City.

SPEAKER_12 2:41

Well, thank you, Marshal. Does fetch the eye, don't it? I'm printing an extra 500 copies of the weekly, and I bet I sell them all. Too bad the cashier's shot went wild. If he'd managed to kill Clay or even wing him, why, I bet I could sell a thousand extra copies. We must be thankful for the blessings we do receive, Mr. Hightower. Oh, I am, Marshal, I am. Why, just before it happened yesterday afternoon, I didn't know what I was gonna fill my columns with, and then, like manna from heaven, two murders and the bank robbery.

SPEAKER_13 3:10

Attempted bank robbery, Mr. Hightower. He turned and ran before he got his hands on so much as a dollar. Yes. Still, as you say, like manna. Dillon, I'm talking business. What is it, Chester?

SPEAKER_12 3:25

Well, it can weed, I guess, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_13 3:29

Yeah, print Clay's picture on those notices, Mr. Hightower. Oh, where were we?

SPEAKER_12 3:34

Uh eyes brown, hair red.

SPEAKER_13 3:36

Oh, yes. Also known as red, bricktop, and sorrel. He uh didn't answer to no other nicknames, did he? No, that's what they called him. All right, Tenant Big Letters,$400 reward. Dead or alive. And at the bottom, apply Matt Dillon, Marshall, Dodge City. Print 200 copies. How soon, can you send Chester over for him? This afternoon. Good morning, Mr. Hightower. Chester.

SPEAKER_12 4:15

Think those posters will do any good? Richards is probably over the line into Oklahoma or Colorado, but now.

SPEAKER_13 4:21

That strawberry room of his is the fastest in the county. He has no money. He panicked and ran out of the bank before he got a penny. I think he'll try to get help from his wife or brother or a friend the first chance he has. Maybe tonight. I say he's around here somewhere. I, uh. I'm sorry I turned on you like that, Chester. Why, that's all right, Mr. Dillon. Out all night with a posse, no sleep. Man's bound. You touch it? No, it's not that. It's the way. It's the way people use a thing like this. The men riding Posse last night, they enjoyed it as though they were hunting fox or possum. Hightower back there. He acts like it was a birthday treat, specially gotten up for him. Everybody finds a way to use it. Uh, what was it you wanted to tell me?

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Hmm?

SPEAKER_12 5:15

Oh, I got a kid, uh, a little boy locked up in the cell. Run away from home, back in Cottonwood. Ed's late turned him over to me when he came through on the stagecoach just now. Kid about 12 years old. Whose is he? Wid woman. Miss Bonnie. She runs a boarding house in Cottonwood. Ed says kid's always running away a little while, I guess. He flagged Ed for a ride on the road, halfway between there and here. Soon as Ed seen him stand there with his bundle on his shoulder, he knew what he was up to.

SPEAKER_13 5:42

So he told the kid he'd help him and then turn him over to us when we got there. All right, we'll send a telegram to the mother to come fetch him. Well, come on in, Chester, and shut the door. Mr. Dillon? You're letting in every horse fly in Kansas. Mr.

SPEAKER_12 5:55

Dillon, I think you better cancel the order for them notices.

SPEAKER_13 5:58

What?

SPEAKER_12 5:59

The Dutchman's coming up the street, and he's leading a strawberry roan, and Clay Richards is draped across his back.

SPEAKER_13 6:08

Like a sack of wheat across the saddle. Last time I saw him, two days ago. He was standing at the bar laughing his head off. A sack of wheat across the saddle. And followed by half the saloon bums and loafers in town. All right, Chester, make him keep back.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

All right, now stand back, you fellas. Come on now, back. Stand back.

SPEAKER_13 6:33

Siegler. How did it happen, Zigler?

SPEAKER_11 6:36

My goat, my old Billy Road, he pushes open the fence last night and runs away.

SPEAKER_13 6:41

Forget your goat. What about Clay?

SPEAKER_11 6:43

Yeah, I tell you. This morning I go to look for a goat. I walk here. Near the river, I see Clay. He sits there. I say, hello, Clay. Veget.

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Dirty Dutchman. You know the dog? Clay was your best friend. He helped you buy your farms and you kill him.

SPEAKER_11 7:08

Clay? Me? My brother, he was like. We must in the war together. But listen. I can know about it. Not since he's ever gonna find him. I don't even own a pistol.

SPEAKER_13 7:32

Give me a handle, please. I will not tolerate a disturbance. You know me. How gunning, Chester, take this leave.

SPEAKER_04 7:57

All right, kick the door. Shut.

SPEAKER_11 8:00

Marshall, I don't care. Clay. On this table, Chester.

SPEAKER_13 8:08

What'd you do with Clay's gun? His holster's empty.

SPEAKER_11 8:11

Gun? Clay's? I ain't got it. I don't even own one.

SPEAKER_13 8:14

Chester, see if it slipped off, holding it.

SPEAKER_14 8:16

His holster was empty coming up the street. First thing I noticed. Maybe it's over on the. Another customer? Well, it's three and less than a day. Oh, bountiful harvest. My fees this month will keep me in luxury.

SPEAKER_13 8:28

In luxury. Doc, I want to have an inquest as soon as possible.

SPEAKER_14 8:32

Well, as soon as I finish the autopsy, shouldn't take long with a practice I've had this week, huh? No. Late afternoon, all right with you? I'll take him up to my office right now. Nick. No, thank you, Chester. I can carry him all by myself here. You just open the door there like a good fella. Oh, oh, oh, oh, uh, uh, yeah. Yeah, Marshal, tell the city fathers I'd like to make a deal when the corpses are as famous as this one. Back in 53 in San Francisco, the fellow I knew earned a fortune, exhibiting the head of Joaquin Marietta. Tell them if they'll let me keep the remains, I'll do the autopsies for nothing.

SPEAKER_13 9:10

Shut the door, Chester. Ziggler, where is it you met Clay on the river? By the fort. This side by the fort. Ride out there, Chester, and see if you can find Clay's gun. Maybe he dropped it when he was shot. I did not shoot Clay. Sure. I did not? I had no reason to.

SPEAKER_11 9:29

I did not. I did not.

SPEAKER_13 9:30

Now you listen to me. Maybe you think Dodge has got so big I don't know about everything that goes on here. Well, if you do, you're wrong. If you think I don't know about the bank having an overdue mortgage on your farm, you're wrong.$400 is reason enough for a struggling farmer like you.

SPEAKER_11 9:44

No. I couldn't do such a thing. I am a human being.

SPEAKER_13 9:48

To a peace officer, Ziegler, that's enough grounds for suspicion. But whether you did it or not will be decided at your trial. In the meantime, you just stop yammering about it. Trial? Me? Even when I shoot somebody, I stand trial. If they find it's justifiable homicide, then they probably will. Clay being a wanted man, then he'll let you off. And if not. Please, I am permitted to go now. Go?

SPEAKER_11 10:13

Are you crazy? I found this stock. I must look after him.

SPEAKER_13 10:17

You sit right down. You want to be lynched? You're trying to get yourself murdered if you've forgotten about Clay's brother, Adam.

SPEAKER_11 10:23

Adam would not believe I shot him.

SPEAKER_13 10:25

What difference does it make whether he believes it or not? His brother's been killed. Everybody's looking to him to do something about it, and he knows it. You want me to guess where he is right this minute? He's in one of them saloons, lapping up courage to come in here and ask me to give you to him for a present. You want to know who's with him? Ever loafer, ever bum, ever slob in town. Slapping him on the back and telling him what a shame it is. Taking him on to kill you so that they can have some excitement and some fun. Well, maybe you deserve killing, but it's my job to uphold the law, and I'm not letting you out of here. What?

SPEAKER_11 10:58

I tell you.

SPEAKER_13 10:59

You might spend your time trying to think up a better story. That is, if you intend to stay in this town. All right, now think back. Didn't Clegg offer his gun before you shot him?

SPEAKER_11 11:09

I tell you, I didn't. If I'm not under arrest, you have no right to keep me here. I got to look after my farm. I go. All right, Chester. Lock him up.

SPEAKER_12 11:19

Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. Come on now, Ziegler.

SPEAKER_13 11:26

Step out, sonny. This cage is bespoke. Who's in there, Chester? That little old runaway from Cottonwood. Oh. Come over here, son. Come over here to me.

SPEAKER_06 11:41

I know who you are.

SPEAKER_13 11:43

You do, do you?

SPEAKER_06 11:44

You bet. You're Matt Dillon.

SPEAKER_13 11:47

Gildy.

SPEAKER_06 11:48

I know you right off. He was pointed out to me one day back home. Filler says you was the fastest gun thrower in Kansas.

SPEAKER_13 11:55

Wyatt Earp wouldn't be awful interested to hear that, I'm afraid.

SPEAKER_06 11:59

Filler says you was faster than older. Faster than Wild Bill Hickcock in Hay City and Bat and Masterson or any of them. How many fellows have you killed?

SPEAKER_13 12:08

You don't keep score, son. It's something you try to forget.

SPEAKER_06 12:13

Not me. Someday I'll be famous like you, and for every filler I kill, I'll put a notch on my gun. People see those notches and they'll know they better not try to.

SPEAKER_13 12:24

Why'd you run away from home, Bub? Don't you know your mother's likely to worry about you?

SPEAKER_06 12:29

Oh, she won't worry. She's too busy working. You ain't gonna make me go back, are you? You wouldn't do that, would you?

SPEAKER_13 12:34

Well?

SPEAKER_06 12:35

Because it wouldn't stop me for long. I'd only run away again.

SPEAKER_13 12:37

Oh, where are you off to in such a sweat?

SPEAKER_06 12:39

Oh, Texas, California, Mexico. Fellow can accomplish things there, not like living in old cottonwood. If you let me go, someday when I'm famous, you can tell people you helped get me started.

SPEAKER_13 12:53

Well, that's that's a pretty strong inducement. Um, I'll have to think about it for a while. And uh look, uh, while I'm making up my mind, I want you to give me your word. The word of a man who'll be famous someday that uh he won't try to run away from me. Otherwise I'll have to have Chester lock you up again.

SPEAKER_06 13:11

Oh, I'll shake on that.

SPEAKER_13 13:13

Good. Good. Uh, Chester, I want you to go look for Clay's gun. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. And uh, on the way, stop off and send that uh telegram. You know? Oh, that telegram. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Where's Siegler?

SPEAKER_13 13:30

It's all right, Chester. Go ahead. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_04 13:35

Where's that murdering dog? Oh, there you are.

SPEAKER_13 13:38

You know, not a single step further.

SPEAKER_04 13:42

I want him, Dylan. He murdered Clay, shot him down without giving him a chance. How do you know? Because Clay wouldn't have let anyone catch him off guard except a friend. A friend. Now, Dylan, gimme that Dutchman. Try to take him. It's like that? It's like that. It's true what the fellas say. You made a deal with the Dutchman to give him the reward and to protect him if he'd killed Clay for you.

SPEAKER_13 14:10

That was the deal, was it?

SPEAKER_04 14:11

Yeah. The fellas say why I'd make such a deal. Dylan, it ain't no longer a secret around town that you and Francie warned each other. But Clay was in the way. You had him killed so you could get his wife. Do you deny it?

SPEAKER_13 14:24

No. No. It'll serve as well as any other crazy story.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

It'll work you up. You think you're safe behind that star, don't you? Well, Clay have friends, lots of them. I'm coming back with them friends, and we'll get the Dutchman and you and anyone else who tries to stop us.

SPEAKER_13 14:43

All right, Adam. I'll be waiting.

SPEAKER_04 14:47

Yeah. You wait.

SPEAKER_06 14:54

I almost seen something pretty just then, didn't I, Mr. Dillon?

SPEAKER_13 14:58

Yeah, almost. I don't know that pint of whiskey ought to do it.

SPEAKER_10 15:18

We will return for the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment. But first, many radio shows win high popularity with the prizes and cash they give away. But there's one show that stops because the headman gives away as little as possible. What other radio program could it be but the Jack Benny show? So be listening. And now, William Conrad stops as Miss Dylan. Here's the second act of Gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_13 15:59

Son?

SPEAKER_06 16:00

You say something, Mr. Jones?

SPEAKER_13 16:02

Uh, yeah. Open my drawer in front of you there, or you'll find a small bottle of oil in there. No, no, the one to the right. Yeah, that's it. Now, bring a little brush, too, huh?

SPEAKER_06 16:11

Here it is.

SPEAKER_13 16:12

Thanks, Bub.

SPEAKER_06 16:13

It's a right nice gun you have.

SPEAKER_13 16:15

Yeah, it's not bad, but a little stiff. Just a little stiff.

SPEAKER_06 16:19

Do you want to have a trigger? I never seen no gun without a trigger before.

SPEAKER_13 16:23

Oh, you remove the trigger or uh tied back against a guard. And all you have to do is uh thumb hammer. Yeah, like that. It's faster. Yeah, that's better now.

SPEAKER_06 16:34

Remove the trigger. I remember that.

SPEAKER_13 16:37

What in the world for?

SPEAKER_06 16:39

Oh, I remember everything you told me about the Texas holster and the spring holster and the double roll and filing off the site.

SPEAKER_12 16:45

It's just me, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_13 16:47

Oh, any luck, Chester? No, sir. Not any. I went to the store first and asked Mr.

SPEAKER_12 16:51

Denton what kind of ammunition Clay Richards used to buy, and he told me Clay had a double action 44. I scoured that riverbank a half mile each way from the ford, and not a sign of it. I got that telegram off. You know who ought to be here pretty soon. Only seven, eight miles from a fire in town?

SPEAKER_13 17:10

Funeral services from Mr. Grinnell, the cashier. So soon. It's awful hot weather. Yeah. Um any of your guns need oiling, Jessica? I don't think so. You sure? When Adam left, he said he'd be coming back with some friends.

SPEAKER_12 17:28

I know. I stopped at the alopaganda just now to rinse out my mouth. Adam was there talking mighty ugly and mighty big. He's got a size we'll follow him.

SPEAKER_13 17:37

Yeah. When do you think?

SPEAKER_12 17:40

Any minute now, Mr.

SPEAKER_13 17:41

Dillon.

SPEAKER_12 17:42

Want me to take Bob out of here to one of the hotels, maybe? I want to see her.

SPEAKER_13 17:46

Yeah, I think you'll be safer here, Chester, behind stone walls and dodging about the streets rubber-necking.

SPEAKER_12 17:51

You keep your head down, sonny. You hear? There's a Matt!

SPEAKER_08 17:53

Matt, I gotta talk to you.

SPEAKER_13 17:55

She ought to be in mourning. If she cared for Clay at all anymore, she ought to be in black.

SPEAKER_08 18:00

Matt.

SPEAKER_13 18:00

Oh, Lord, I find her more beautiful all the time.

SPEAKER_08 18:03

Matt! Have you heard what they're saying?

SPEAKER_13 18:06

What are they saying, Francie?

SPEAKER_08 18:08

That you and me that. That you made Pete Ziggler kill him because of.

SPEAKER_13 18:12

I'm sorry that got back to you, Francie.

SPEAKER_08 18:14

It's all over Dodge. Adam almost strangled me before they dragged him off.

SPEAKER_11 18:18

Francie, I didn't shoot late. Francie, I beg you believe me. Shut up, Ziggler. Shut up, bro. Put you to death!

SPEAKER_13 18:27

Francie is just one of those crazy stories. They needed one and they made one up.

SPEAKER_08 18:32

But Matt, everyone believes it. On my way down here, people were pointing, whispering. Old women clucking their tongues at me. They believe it.

SPEAKER_13 18:40

They'll forget it as soon as this is over. They'll remember that even if we once did go with each other, it was finished and done with even before the war ended. Before you even met Clay.

SPEAKER_08 18:52

No, they won't forget it. For the rest of my life. As long as I stay here.

SPEAKER_13 18:57

Hold it a moment, Francie. Yeah, Doc, what is it?

SPEAKER_14 19:01

Oh, well, uh, am I uh interrupting?

SPEAKER_13 19:03

What is it, Doc?

SPEAKER_14 19:04

Autopsy's finished. I examined his liver and lights as well.

SPEAKER_13 19:08

This is Mrs. Richards, Doc.

SPEAKER_14 19:10

Oh. Oh, I beg your pardon, ma'am. I'm sure I haven't no disrespect for the departed. Well. Well, Clay was shot, all right, but from the nature of the wound and the coagulation of the blood, I'd say it happened sometime yesterday. I'd say the cashier's bullet didn't go wild after all.

SPEAKER_13 19:24

How could a dead man gallop away?

SPEAKER_14 19:26

Well, the wound wasn't what killed Clay. The ball hit the ribcase and bounced off. 22 caliber it was. What did kill him was the stab in the back, right through the spine, inflicted sometime this morning. Now, near as I can judge by a small blade, oh, two or three inches long. It could have been a Barlow knife. Thanks, Doc. Please accept my condolences, Mr. Richie. You call the inquest. Anytime you're ready, Marshal.

SPEAKER_13 19:50

Chester, close the door.

SPEAKER_14 19:53

You see? You see, I didn't do it. I didn't shoot him.

SPEAKER_13 19:56

All right, then you stabbed him, maybe. You said you never carried a gun. Look, Francie, go home and uh give matters a chance to simmer.

SPEAKER_08 20:06

Matt, I'm going to ask you for something.

SPEAKER_13 20:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 20:11

Turn, Pete, take your out into the street.

SPEAKER_13 20:18

Francie, they're itching to get their hands on him.

SPEAKER_08 20:20

Let him have him. It'll prove that story's a lie. That you didn't make a deal with him. Things matter. I have to live here. Tony, I have to live here. Don't look at me like that.

SPEAKER_13 20:42

Go home, Francis. Go home or leave town or hang yourself or anything you like. Just go away. Away. Right now. I bought me a bottle at the Alpha Gandhi, Mr. Dillon. Would you care for drink? No. Guess the funeral's over. There'll be others. Honey. Now I miss that bell. Awful quiet, ain't it? It's just what. Just about on schedule. Are you ready, Chester? Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. I'd use a shotgun if I were you. It's more effective when there's a mob to be dealt with. Oh, yes, sir. I ain't. Ziggler. And you too, son. If trouble starts, lie down flat on the floor and keep your head down all the time. Don't gawk to see what's happening. You understand me?

SPEAKER_05 21:39

Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. All right.

SPEAKER_13 21:47

Jester, I want you to stand here in the doorway after I go out, or you can cover the back door and me at the same time. Yes, Mr. Dillon. All right, Chester. Open the door. It's my duty to warn all of you that you're in the breach of the peace. I've sworn to uphold the law. I've killed men in order to do it, and I'm prepared to do so again.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

You're a doctrine, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_13 22:22

I ask you to be sensible and to leave quietly. But if you refuse to listen to reason, if you insist upon being fools, if you've already decided to act like wolves instead of humans, then there's nothing I can say to make you change your minds.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

Oh, Mick, you want Peter Ziegler? Well, he's not going 20 feet behind me, so come on and get him, any of you. One at a time or all at once. Come on. Which one of you wants to die first?

SPEAKER_05 22:52

You, Adam?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Well, what do you say, Adam? You let him here. Don't let this star on my coat stop here. Come on. There, I'm not wearing it now.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

Well, come on, draw, Adam. Draw Adam!

SPEAKER_12 23:21

You all right, Mr. Dillon?

SPEAKER_13 23:23

Yeah. Get his gun. Man alive. I couldn't even see your hand move.

SPEAKER_14 23:31

Marshal! Oh, don't tell me. Don't tell me.

SPEAKER_13 23:34

Doc, you make one single funny remark, and I'll knock you down. You just take him to your office and get to work.

SPEAKER_14 23:39

Well, I. I never do mean to offend Marshall. In my line of work, well, bodies, they're just so much lumber.

SPEAKER_13 23:46

Make all the jokes about them you please, but not to me and not in my hearing. In my line of work, there's nothing humorous about that. Give him a hand, Chester.

SPEAKER_14 23:55

You know, I can handle the Marshalls. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 23:57

Thank you. Just the same. Can you direct me to the Marshal's office?

SPEAKER_13 24:01

Uh yes, ma'am, right here. I'm Marshal Dillon.

SPEAKER_07 24:05

Well, I left Cottonwood as soon as I got your telegram. I'm Miss Barney. Where's my boy?

SPEAKER_13 24:09

Oh, we have him, man, safe and sound. Here, let me help you down. Hitch that horse, Chester. Right this way, ma'am.

SPEAKER_07 24:17

Oh, I'm so sorry he put you to all that trouble, Marshal. The truth of the matter is, he's a wild one and all mistakes. Takes after his father, one scrape after another.

SPEAKER_13 24:28

He was no trouble at all. I enjoy children. I like to have them around. Bub? Bub, your ma's here. Son? Chester, where's the board? Did you let him slip past you? No, sir, Mr. Dillon. He never got past me. Look, the back door's open.

SPEAKER_07 24:46

He seen me and he hightailed it, the devil.

SPEAKER_13 24:49

We'll round him up for you, ma'am. Don't worry.

SPEAKER_07 24:51

Oh, I don't know why I bother hauling him back. If he's run away once, he's run away a thousand times. This time he ran because I wouldn't buy him a gun. He wanted a real one. That boy's just gun crazy, I swear. I got him a nice barlow knife instead. Barlow? I reckon it didn't signify, and off he runs. Barlow knife?

SPEAKER_13 25:12

A kid. Chester finds a kid.

SPEAKER_07 25:16

Marshal, has he done something bad with it? I told him to use it carefully. He promised he'd use it carefully.

SPEAKER_13 25:24

No, never mind, Chester. He's got quite a strawberry ruin we'd never catch up to.

SPEAKER_09 25:28

Oh, try to bring him up, right? Tell him to be good, but he don't listen. He just don't listen.

SPEAKER_13 25:35

Now calm yourself, ma'am. Just calm yourself. Here's his little bundle, Mr. Dillon. What? Give it to me. That's pretty heavy. Here, you're better at knots than I am. Open it, will you?

SPEAKER_09 25:47

The moment he was born. He's been nothing but tribulation.

SPEAKER_13 25:50

Now, please, ma'am. What's he got in it, Chester? Uh-huh. Shirt. Stocking. Piece of sausage. And this. 44 double X. Yes, Mr. Dillon. That's Clay's gun.

SPEAKER_12 26:07

And he didn't manage to keep it long. Did he?

SPEAKER_13 26:10

Well, if he wants a gun that bad, he's bound to get hold of another one somewhere, somehow. Chester, call Mr. Hightower over.

SPEAKER_03 26:23

Hey! Hey, Mr. Hightower! Oh! Come on over. Mr. Dillon won't you?

SPEAKER_11 26:28

Marshal, couldn't I have at least a drink of water?

SPEAKER_13 26:31

What? Oh, Ziegler. I forgot all about you. Uh Chester, where are the keys? Yeah, right there on the desk. There we are. It'll be safe for you to go home now. Uh I can go back by the phone. Yeah, that's right. I'll send for you for the trial.

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Oh, Duncan. Duncan, watch where you're going, you dumb. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_13 26:57

Yes, Marshal. Mr. Hightower, it appears that we can do business after all. Get some paper and a pencil. I want some notices printed.

SPEAKER_12 27:05

Fire away.

SPEAKER_13 27:07

Wanted for murder. Wanted for murder. Uh, what's the boy's name?

SPEAKER_07 27:12

Barney. William Barney.

SPEAKER_13 27:15

William Bonnie. William Bonney. Age 12. Height about five feet. Hair light, eyes blue. I don't suppose he's known by any other name.

SPEAKER_07 27:28

No. Everybody just called him Billy. Or the kid.

SPEAKER_13 27:33

Also known as Billy. The kid.

SPEAKER_10 27:54

Gun Smoke, under the direction of Norman MacDonald, stars William Codrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall. Tonight's story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Walter Newman, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in tonight's cast were Don Diamond, Harley Bear, Harry Bartell, and Howard McNear, with Richard Beals, Paul Dubov, Georgia Ellis, and Mary Lansing. Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gunsmoke. Those longtime favorites, Amos and Andy, are rising to new heights in their CBS radio series on Sunday nights. Heard on most of these same stations, Amos and Andy find trouble as constantly as ever and make it just as funny and as human as they have for more than 20 years. Be sure to hear Amos and Andy this Sunday, won't you? Right after the Jack Benny Show. This is Roy Rowan speaking. And remember, there's fast, funny quizzing on the Bob Hawk Show every Monday evening. This is the CBS Radio Network!

SPEAKER_00 29:41

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