Original subtitles

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Been hanging on...

hoping somebody'd see my fire.

How did this happen?

I was taking a prisoner to Alcatur.

"Unlock my hands," he says, "so's I can eat."

Kindness always been my undoing.

Well, just lie easy.

He jumped me.

Shot me with my own gun.

Laughing to beat all.

You got to go get him.

Take my badge.

What's your name?

Thad Greenwood.

Wes Kester.

Raise your hand.

I swear you in, Greenwood,

and order you to do what you're told.

Give me your word.

All right, I give it.

Good.

He's about six feet, mustache.

Heading west.

Maybe about two hours.

Now, creep up on him carefully.

Take your gun out,

sing out his name, Fred Bateman.

Be sure.

Then shoot him.

Mr. Kester, I just can't kill a man like that.

I'm dying, boy.

You gave your word.

That's sacred.

You kill him.

That's a real good boy.

Fred Bateman?

Off the horse.

Come on, get off the horse.

Now drop the gun.

Drop it.

All right, now put the hands up.

You got to be crazy.

You know I could have shot you back there.

Whoever heard of the flies

killing the honey?

You ever hear of the Mountain City mail robbery?

Sure. About three years ago?

Yeah, I recall something about it.

Me and a couple others

made over $54,000 out of it.

Thayer got killed fighting the posse,

and they beat me and Lou up so badly in prison

trying to get the money,

he died of pneumonia.

Leaving me as the only one

who knows where that money's hid.

I thought you knew.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have jumped you.

Well, the deputy didn't say anything about it.

Well, now you know.

Let's go.

Where to?

Dodge City. Come on.

Make me.

You aren't about to kill off $54,000.

And beating me...

isn't gonna get it for you.

Come on, I'll put you on a horse.

No, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Thad, how does $5,000 sound to you?

Hard cash.

Come on.

You don't believe me, do you?

If you were me, would you believe it?

Hyah.

Hyah.

Now there goes our water.

Yeah.

You want to get me to Dodge City,

you're gonna have to carry me.

I'm just going to tie you up and leave you here,

and you can just hope that I get one of those horses back

before you just dry up and blow away.

The shape you're in, you might not make it.

I'll walk.

Offer still holds.

You're just using up time.

You haven't asked yourself why, if...

if I've killed as many men as Kester said I did,

they didn't hang me,

instead of putting me in jail.

Well, ask yourself.

Dying deputy wouldn't lie to me.

Kester... he'd lie.

Kester paid $400 for the privilege

of escorting me alone to Alcatur.

That's a fact.

Sort of a speculation he could beat

the whereabouts of the money out of me.

Well, he sure tried.

But he got careless.

And I got his gun away from him.

He was gonna beat me to death.

I had to kill him.

Well, it's not up to me to decide.

Just by taking me to Dodge City you're deciding.

They'll hang me for certain.

And I don't deserve it.

What you're doing is wrong.

Plus, you're...

throwing away $10,000.

The truth isn't in a person's looks, Thad.

That deputy, dying or not,

can be telling a lie,

just the same as I'm telling you the truth.

$12,500.

Isn't that worth a chance that I'm telling you the truth?

Let's go.

I thought so.

That rib is busted.

It's just a bruise.

No, I know better.

It's busted.

Come on.

I don't believe I'll be making you any more offers.

Come on.

Come on.

Oh.

It's a bit chewy.

Why'd you save me?

No good reason I can think of.

Well, thanks.

Well, I've done all I'm gonna do.

You lay up here awhile,

get some water into you until it cools off.

Your best bet's in that direction.

You might make it.

I wasn't gonna give you the money anyhow.

♪♪

Lie down.

I'm gonna tie you up.

Lie down.

There's a wagon track over there.

If somebody comes by in time, you can holler.

If they don't...

Well, I warned you not to follow me.

Whoa, whoa.

Thank you.

How you feeling, Fred?

What's the matter?

Sounded like you said Fred instead of Thad.

Why would I call you anything but Fred,

Mr. Bateman?

Well, how about a beer?

That'd be fine.

Sounds good, Kitty.

Carl Torgeson's been looking for you, Matt.

Oh, is he concerned about Thad?

He seems to think that Thad sold his horses

and skedaddled with the money.

Oh, for heaven's sakes,

Thad would never do anything like that.

What's the matter with him?

Well, you know that, and I know it,

but Carl doesn't know it.

Well, I'm not concerned

with what Carl Torgeson thinks.

What concerns me is that Thad should have been back

a couple of days ago, Matt.

How much money was he carrying, Matt?

Oh, close to $600, I guess.

Well, that's an awful lot of money for a young man

to be carrying around with strangers.

Well, it might not have been in cash, Doc.

It could have been a check or money order.

What does it take to worry you, Matt?

Well, Kitty, I'm worried,

but, you know, when you're Thad's age,

you don't want somebody tagging around after you

every five minutes.

I thought I'd give him another day or so.

You know, an awful lot of things could happen to him

down in that Gardner country.

A lot of bad folks down there.

Yeah, I suppose you're right, Doc.

Well, I'll get Festus,

and we'll start out looking for him in the morning.

He's Bateman.

He killed Kester yesterday.

They get pretty good at lying.

What I suggest is you telegraph

the warden at the state penitentiary,

or the sheriff at Alcatur.

They'll verify I was taking Mr. Bateman, here,

to Alcatur to testify.

There must be at least three dozen people

in Dodge City who know me by sight.

Unfortunately, neither suggestion is very practical.

The nearest town is our settlement at Dothan Springs,

and we have no telegraph.

Also, we need these supplies.

Benjamin, I don't see that we have

any great difficulty here.

These are just two strangers that need our help.

But one of them is a convict and a murderer.

Well, neither of them is liable to be much danger

to anybody for a few days.

In the meantime, we can keep a close watch on them

until we get word to the authorities.

That suits me.

Well, if that's the best you can do.

We'll leave it at that.

Supper is about ready.

If you need anything, Mr. Kester, Mr. uh...

Greenwood.

Just call out.

They don't believe you.

Now you know what it's like.

Morning.

Where's Bateman?

My name is Thad Greenwood.

And I'll prove that to you, sooner or later.

To all of you.

Now where's Bateman?

He went outside a few minutes ago.

You mean you let him walk out of here by himself?

We're not animals.

We don't keep people in chains.

Then will you listen to me a minute?

You've got a right to think about me whatever way you want,

but there's something you folks haven't figured out yet.

That as long as you keep believing

I'm Bateman, you won't be looking at him,

and that's exactly what he wants.

Now, hasn't it occurred to you that he's killed once already?

That he just might kill again?

He has no gun.

He doesn't need a gun.

All he needs is a knife or a stick,

- or a... - Rock?

Now, look,

the first chance he gets, he's gonna take it.

And no matter who gets in his way, it won't worry him at all.

Why are you telling me this?

Well, you've got to warn your father.

My father's not stupid, Mr. Bateman,

and neither am I.

Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my work.

Well, no matter who you think I am,

a little common politeness wouldn't hurt.

Besides, that's not who I am.

Mr. Ellis.

What would you do if he was to run off?

Or me?

You mean, since we are Quakers and opposed to violence?

How would you stop him?

He would need a horse.

In this country, a man couldn't go five miles without one.

Yeah?

But there are only four riding horses in Dothan Springs,

and we have hidden them.

Well, I guess we don't have much to worry about.

Blood.

There has been a scuffle.

Maybe yesterday, maybe earlier.

I swear he could track a feather over a tin roof.

Buster's got Apache blood, you know.

Yeah, yeah, I know, you keep telling me.

That girl of yours sure can cook, Mr. Ellis.

Thank you, sir.

That there is the best meal I ever had, Miss Ellis.

You know what they always say, boy,

you can't fool dogs and children.

They always know a bad man when they see one.

I know you're gonna try and make a break for it

as soon as you're able to,

but don't, because I'll be right behind you.

Keep your distance, boy.

Well, it seems you're not the only one

who thinks I'm Fred Bateman.

Go home, both of you.

I'm sorry.

You can't blame them for being curious.

Besides, I-I'm the one that should be apologizing to you.

I don't see why.

Well, I was very rude to you this morning.

You had good reason.

No, no, that's not true.

After all the things that have been said about me,

I can understand you feeling the way you did.

And I've thought about it all day,

and I am sorry.

I've thought about it, too.

You're a guest in this house,

and you gave me no cause to be sharp with you.

You folks haven't been here long, have you?

Uh, we settled here last spring.

Well, where are you from?

Ohio.

Really?

Well, I'm from Oklahoma.

And you know that that starts with an "O", also?

They both have two "O" s in them.

So they do.

That's pretty remarkable.

Why'd you folks leave?

There were 11 families planning to...

come out here to Dothan Springs

to form a congregation.

Um, my mother died nearly three years ago,

and, uh, they were all friends.

My father thought it would be a good idea

if we joined them.

Oh, my mother's dead, also.

And my father died about a year ago.

We used to have this little store together, and...

Well, anyhow, I wound up in Dodge City,

and I've been there ever since.

Well, that can't be true, can it?

'Cause I'm supposed to have been in prison,

and you're probably sitting there thinking,

there's no end to the lies that I can dream up.

No, that's not true.

Well, that's good.

You know, I think you need a little help, there.

No, there's no need.

No, really, I think, uh,

if we can get it arranged, it might be faster, and, uh...

somehow, it might be easier.

Uh, don't hold your h-hands so far apart,

and lower them a little bit.

Why?

That's it.

Is there anyth... okay.

Mr. Ellis, Mr. Thenly.

There's somebody camped up there a mile or so.

I'm sure I saw some light.

Well, if they... anybody got that close,

you'd think they'd come on down here.

Maybe they got a good reason for not coming down.

There's a lot of people know about Bateman and the money.

Might be a good idea if you didn't tell

just everybody that passed by

about him being here.

Might save you some trouble until you get to the law.

Now, that makes sense.

I'll tell the other families.

Good.

A pretty girl like that, and a good cook, too.

It's a crying shame

you're such an untrustworthy character, Mr. Bateman.

Howdy.

Good day.

Just got some fresh supplies, huh?

Yes, we were in Dodge City yesterday.

I'm looking for a couple of men.

Maybe you saw them.

What do they look like?

Well, I don't know.

One of them's a deputy,

and the other one is called Fred Bateman.

This here's old Thad's horse, ain't no doubt about that.

Take a look in the saddlebags, Festus.

Well, here's a whole passel of money.

It couldn't have been no holdup.

Maybe that's the $600.

Whoa, looky here.

Deputy sheriff's badge?

Where you reckon he got a hold of a thing like that?

Well, he could have got it in Canyon City.

That'd explain these handcuffs here.

You thinkin' Dan Kerstead might have deputized him

to bring in a prisoner?

Well, he could have.

I can't imagine Thad taking on a deputy sheriff's job.

Not when he knows he was due back in Dodge City yesterday

with $600 of Torgeson's money.

No, sure ain't.

Well, maybe he just plain old got throwed.

Yeah.

Well, if he did, the nearest water's in Dothan Springs.

You know, these are pretty good.

Don't worry, uh, there's more than enough here

to fill the baskets.

I know your father told you not to talk to me,

but I don't think it'd hurt any

if maybe you were to nod your head at me once in a while.

What do you plan to do with them?

Make some grape jelly?

How about, uh, grape tarts?

I'm about running out of dishes.

I know what...

grapes and cream.

You didn't see that.

I'll do it again.

I know that may seem a bit pointless to you.

You'd be surprised what it does to the flavor.

Gives you sort of a sense of accomplishment

as it's going down.

Of course, it takes a bit of catching on to.

See, I spent the better part of my childhood

in the vineyard learning how.

Well, that's pretty good for a girl.

I bet I could do it with my eyes shut.

You all right?

It went down my Sunday throat.

As long as you've said that much,

why don't you go a little bit further,

and talk to me some more?

All right.

Well, say something.

You say something.

Are you unhappy?

No.

It's just that I...

I think something very serious is happening.

Me, too.

And very important.

I'm coming back, Cora.

Once this is all over, I'm coming back.

What's wrong with that?

I'm not gonna choose a husband

because of what I know about him,

but because of what I feel.

But when we discover the truth,

they may take him away to prison

or to be hanged.

I don't believe it.

Can you honestly say

you know anything about this young man?

You feel, therefore you believe.

Isn't that the nub of it?

I suppose so.

And therefore, you could be wrong.

Poor child.

Have I ever withheld anything from you willfully?

No, Father.

I'm not going to now.

I believe this young man

will disappoint you bitterly,

so I counsel you to restrain yourself.

There's no need to make a decision now...

To build hopes and plans,

to commit yourself.

Just wait a bit.

All right.

Is this one of them?

Yeah.

You're a liar, friend.

Here now.

He's the other one, come in on the wagon.

You're a liar, too, old man.

You can go on out there if you want to.

Do you know who they are?

No, only the breed.

Remember, whatever they do out there,

you're carrying the wrong name.

Get back, get back, Quaker.

Stay where you are, chico, and you won't get hurt.

And that goes for the rest of you, too.

Stay where you are.

Let her go.

You're all right.

I know you picked up two men on the road

between here and Dodge.

And one of them fella's name is Fred Bateman.

I think you've got him hid somewhere until you can find

the whereabouts of that money out of him.

That is not so.

Well, if it ain't you, somebody's got him.

I'll give you half an hour.

Work it out any way you want to,

but if you or somebody don't come up with him,

we're gonna start busting up things.

But good, huh, patrón? But good.

Go, fetch the other men.

All right.

Don't nobody try to sneak out of town,

or we'll burn the place down.

Whichever one of you is Mr. Bateman...

You have been sheltered here and taken care of,

and now we face an hour of trial on your account.

I call upon you to step forward,

and make yourself known to these men.

It is perhaps too much to expect.

Well, then, could we pick the one we think it is

and send him out?

No.

No, I don't feel that would be proper at all.

Certainly.

Not until we know what these men intend toward them.

It's very simple.

If he doesn't tell them where the money is,

they'll take him out,

they'll torture him,

and then they'll kill him.

We cannot allow that.

These men are strangers among us,

we owe them such protection as we can give.

But, Benjamin, we must do something.

These men will burn the town.

We could rush them all together

and take their guns away from them.

You'll just get yourselves killed.

That is a chance we must take

if it comes down to protecting the women and children.

Are there any further thoughts from anyone?

Then I believe it is the sense of the group

that there is nothing we can do for the moment.

I suggest you all return to your families

and pray for strength and guidance.

Time's up.

A little more.

I cannot help you.

Dave, let's go.

Take your hand off me, Quaker.

Stop it, stop it.

That's all the food we've got till we make a crop.

Seems you were telling the truth about the money.

It wouldn't have made any difference to you anyhow,

would it, boy?

Does it ever occur to you that everything

these people have worked for is being destroyed?

What's the matter with you?

You think this is some kind of game

where everybody plays by the rules?

Those people out there saved our lives.

Well, you go out there and stop them.

All you have to do is tell them you're the one they want.

Of course, it will upset your girlfriend a little,

but we can't have everything, can we?

You know I can't do that.

All they want's the money, and I don't know where it is.

That's true.

Well, the way I look at it, boy,

sooner or later something's got to give.

Why don't we wait and see what it is?

That give you some idea, old man?

We're gonna start down at that end,

and set fire to one house every ten minutes

until somebody comes up with Bateman.

Now you've got until dark to think it over.

Do you know where they've hid the horses?

Well, I want to try and leave this place,

ride to Dodge City and get Marshall Dillon.

Now can you get me a horse?

No, I can't.

Why not?

I can't be sure.

About what?

That you will truly go for help.

Cora, what's come over you?

Did you really try to kill that other man with a rock?

Where'd you get that idea?

My father; he saw you.

Yes, I had a rock in my hand.

And Bateman had a gun in his,

and he'd already taken a shot at me,

and all I was trying to do

was to knock the gun out of his hand.

Now, according to your rules,

I am allowed to protect myself, aren't I?

Yes.

I know you set a big store on being peaceful.

And I don't think you and I differ that much.

In fact, I don't even think I've been in a fight

that I could get out of,

but that's not important right now.

You still have got to trust me.

You've got to feel that I'm telling you the truth.

Cora, you felt something this afternoon.

I still feel the same.

I'll get you a horse.

Now, try and give me as much time as you can.

As soon as you see them setting the first torch...

No!

I cannot let you run away.

I'm not running away, Mr. Ellis.

I'm just trying to get some help.

But they will burn the town.

They won't burn the town down if they see me.

They'll come kayaying after me.

I cannot allow it, Mr. Bateman.

Oh, for Pete's sakes.

They're gonna burn you down one house at a time

unless you let somebody do something about it.

No.

You're wrong, Mr. Ellis, now give me the reins.

No, I will not let you leave.

No!

No!

Easy does it, mister.

Well, a couple of faces we ain't seen before.

And a horse all saddled up.

I think we've got it narrowed down considerable.

Let's take a crack at both of them, patrón.

Do you hear that?

We might.

We might just do that.

Now whichever one of you is the deputy

can save yourself a lot of pain and misery,

if you just hold up your hand.

We'll let you go on about your business.

I promise you.

No point in being noble and trying to protect

a piece of trash like Fred Bateman.

'Cause we're gonna get to him anyhow.

Somebody knows.

Somebody will speak up.

You picked them up.

Which one was he?

You heard him.

I don't know.

You better tell me who he is, old man.

Leave him alone.

He kin of yorn?

He's my father.

Well, Buster, go to work on her.

No, wait, wait.

There's no need.

I'm Fred Bateman.

You know where that money's hid at?

That's right.

Well, now, you stepped up just like a little soldier

and saved the girl, didn't you?

Let's get on with it.

I will. I will.

From what I hear, Bateman wants this money something fierce.

You were sentenced to 20 years in prison,

and I don't know how many beatings.

And he ain't give it up yet.

Of course, if I had that much money

I'd hold on to it pretty tight, too.

I don't think you are Fred Bateman.

I think you're a fine, noble lawman.

No.

He's the one.

Ain't he?

Ain't he? Ain't he?

Yes.

I figured it.

Get him.

Andele, amigo.

Andele. Come on.

All right, go home.

You heard me, go home.

The poor boy passed out.

I'll go get some water to pour on him.

What in the tarnations went on here?

Marshal, Marshal.

Marshal, can you help?

Can you do something?

Now, suppose you tell me what this is all about.

There are three of them.

They're hurting another man.

Where?

At the Ellis's.

In the stable.

Here.

Pour some of this on him.

Mighty fine.

Dave, now,

keep a close watch on them.

How much longer?

I don't know.

Hold it.

All right, throw your guns down and come out of there.

Check the side.

Hold it.

Don't shoot.

Just drop your pistol.

Now get up.

Let's see how really rotten you are.

You don't look near so mean no more.

I have him.

Go over yonder, turn around.

Put your hands behind you and sit down.

Matthew killed the other one out in the barn.

What about Bateman?

Lord.

He's the one who started this whole thing.

He killed a deputy,

and I was trying to bring him in when these...

Hold it.

You know who I am?

Fred Bateman.

Then you know I can make it worth your while, Marshal.

No, you can't.

I'm the only who knows where that money's hid.

Keep your hand away from that gun

or there won't be anybody that knows.

I guess you're right.

I'll just take this.

The odds are on your side.

Guess you win after all.

You know, he could have left me out there to die, Matt,

but he came back for me.

You're a bad influence on me, boy.

Even got me to admit as to who I was

trying to save all those nice people.

You trying to pretend you didn't know what would happen

when you said you were Bateman?

Well, I guess we'll never know, will we?

I'm sorry, Bateman.

Well, I wouldn't feel too badly, boy.

It's a long way to Dodge City.

Thad, it's not always easy to figure.

No... I guess it isn't.

Well, good night, Kitty.

Good night, Matt.

- Sam, good night. - Good night, Doc.

Hello, Thad.

Howdy, Matt.

How's fishing?

Huh?

Fishing, huh?

Oh, it, uh, went fine.

- Fine, Doc. - Oh, that's good.

Good, well see you in the morning.

All right, good night, Doc.

Hello, Kitty.

- Hi, Thad. - Sam, how are you?

Fine.

It's nice to see you back.

Well, I saw the lights on when I rode by.

We, um, were all wondering what happened to you.

Well, it took a little time to clear some smoke away.

Dothan Springs?

Matter of fact, yeah.

Took a bit of time for my coming around to it,

but I had the thought that if something's really right

most times it will be.

Most times.

And if it's not,

I mean, if something's missing,

like a trust, or...

Well, it... it could be very disappointing for a while.

It passes.

If you let it.

And I felt that Cora should know that also.

So I, uh...

Well, anyways, uh, things are much better now

than they were before.

Stay tuned for scenes from next week's Gunsmoke.