Original subtitles

[theme music]

NARRATOR: "Gunsmoke," with Milburn Stone as Doc, Ken

Curtis as Festus, Buck Taylor as Newly, and starring

James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Looks likes old Ru's slipping a little, Festus.

Appears like it, Matthew.

It's like he's dinged and swolled up after resting

a day or two.

All right, Dixon, get down.

Marshal.

Hello, Sheriff.

See you ran them down.

Yep, yeah, I sure did.

This my deputy, Festus Haggen here.

How are you?

Howdy, Sheriff.

He'll be handling the transfer papers.

I've gotta head back to Dodge.

Well, that was a good ride.

Looks like you could use a little rest.

Yep.

Well, I'd like to, but I've gotta

testify at a trial tomorrow.

Uh-huh.

Festus, I'll see you later.

Take care of yourself, Matthew.

So long, Marshal.

It's been an interesting ride.

FESTUS: Come on.

Get in.

Rope's all ready, Dixon.

Tomorrow we start working on the gallows.

Sure am tickled to get shed of him.

I come within a whisper of shootin' him twice.

Well, I'm glad you didn't deputy.

I think it's gonna cost the taxpayers,

but it's going to be welcome as rain.

He killed Hector Sims, the bank clerk.

Folks here liked Hector.

Well, since you're gonna be in town for a while,

Deputy, I'd-- I'd like to buy you a beer.

I could sure use me a cold beer, I'll tell ya that.

Deputy.

It could've been you and me on that trail out there alone.

You'd be crow bait by now.

This here's one hanging I'd sure like to see.

Don't count on it!

After you've, uh, stabled your mule, Deputy,

I'll meet you in the Union Bell.

It's the only saloon in town.

FESTUS: I'll find it.

Plus I just got an eye for saloons.

SHERIFF: [laughs]

All right, Dixon, get back there.

Come along.

Come on.

Get! [groans]

Come on.

Come on.

[groans]

[coughs]

[groans]

Come on.

Come on.

I told you no hanging.

He's escapin'!

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

Stop him!

[gunshot]

[woman screams]

[gunshots]

Where's the sheriff?

Sheriff.

He-- he just shot me.

[horse neighs]

All right, boy, let's go.

Come on. Come on.

Move!

Let's go.

Marshal, I've been looking all over for ya.

Barney said that was urgent.

Burke, get a hold of Newly.

Tell him to pack for the trail and meet me at the stable right

away, will ya? -What's this all about?

I haven't got time to tell you right now.

See that they saddle my horse too, will ya?

Oh, and put on a badge, and take care of things

here in town while I get back.

Yes, sir.

Marshal, Burke said it was important.

Gard Dixon killed the sheriff over in Cottonwood and escaped.

Festus has gone after him.

Well, Festus has always been able to handle himself.

Well, as a good a man as Festus is,

I'm worried about him this time.

This Gard Dixon, he's about the closest thing

to a vicious animal I ever saw.

Come on!

Come on.

Come on!

[gunshot]

[horse neighs]

Your turn to sweat, Deputy!

[echo]

[inaudible]

[echo]

You're a dead man, Deputy!

You're dead!

I told you you'd end up crow bait!

[echo]

Marshal Dillon.

That's right.

Sheriff Lipon, glad you got my wire.

This is my deputy, Newly O'Brian.

Hi, how are you, Newly?

I come over from Yates.

Uh, kind of hold things down until I appoint a new sheriff.

Can you tell us what happened?

Well, from the pieces I can put together,

somehow Gard Dixon got the jump on Sheriff Grimes,

killed him, and rode out of town with your deputy riding

after him.

No sign of either one of 'em since?

LIPON: No.

But I'm sure glad you got here.

Something happened this morning you should know about.

Seems your deputy's mule wasn't fit.

So when he took off after Dixon, he was riding a stable horse.

A little after sun up today, an Indian

came into town trying to sell a saddle and a rifle

that he found in the desert.

What's that got to do with Festus?

Well, it seems that saddle was on the horse

that your deputy got from the stable.

What about to rifle?

Come on inside.

I'll let you take a look at it.

Here it is.

You know it?

It's his all right.

Checked the hammer a month ago.

This Indian, where'd he find it?

He claims he found it on a dead horse

in the desert near Rim Rock.

How far is that?

Mm.

It's a good 60 miles or so, but there's

no water out there, Marshal.

There's not a tree or a blade of grass.

Why, hell's got nothing to what it's like out there.

We rode our horses pretty hard getting there.

You suppose they'd have a couple fresh horses down

at the stable?

You goin' after him?

Got no choice.

Them badlands just ain't no place for a man, Marshal,

not even the likes of a man like Gard Dixon.

[buzzards cawing]

[laughs]

Who are you?

[laughs]

Who am I?

[laughs]

Who am I?

[laughs]

It's been a while since I heard a voice 'sides my own.

Go, go on.

Say something again.

[laughs] [coughs] Go on.

We talk later.

Come on, boy.

Let's get you on your feet and out of the baking sun.

Come on, boy.

Hang onto me.

We'll get you out of this place in the sun.

[hums]

Mhm, come on.

Come on.

Come on up here.

Some-- some palace.

[sighs]

[groans]

Bit more water.

Open that up.

Go on.

Say somethin' again.

[laughs]

How'd you get me here?

[laughs] I dragged ya.

I could've toted you if I had to.

Saw buzzards circling.

That's how I found you.

My name is Snow, Ben Snow.

Who am I addressin'?

Festus.

Festus Haggen.

Festus Haggen. [laughs] Festus Haggen. [laughs] [YELLING]

Festus Haggen!

[echo]

How'd you get in this fix?

Hm?

Hey, no wonder you don't feel like talking.

Appears like you've been grazed by a bullet real good.

Just get sleep.

I'll fetch you some food, and we can talk later.

I've been storin' up lots of talk.

I want to hear what it's like out there.

Festus Haggen. Mhm.

[laughs]

[groans]

I-- I cleaned up that wound of yours,

but it's gonna heal on its own.

Uh, don't, don't, don't pick at it.

Obliged to you.

Are you hungry?

Powerful hungry.

It won't be long.

You're a law man.

Out of Dodge City.

Dodge City.

I was chasin' this here feller, and he bush whacked me,

left me out yonder to die, I reckon.

Did you come through Ten Strike.

Ten Strike?

I don't know where that is.

I was coming from Cottonwood.

Cottonwood.

Cottonwood.

Whereabouts is that from here?

Well, from wherever it was that you found me,

it's three hard days' ride southeast.

Now walkin', it's six, six days or more.

Ten Strike is 80 miles due north of Cottonwood.

You're a Godsend, Festus Haggen. That's him.

You know, the Lord figured that he'd fight ol'

Ben Snow's brains out by now.

But I still got enough sense to spit downwind.

Been out here so long, just talking to myself,

you know, talky talks, just to hear the sound

of my own [YELLS] voice!

[echo] It's a habit you don't break right off.

Oh, come on.

Come on down here.

Supper's on.

Figured that this here desert had no water no place.

Only critters and the few injuns

knew it was here until I come along.

Festus, you are the only human animal

I've seen in this desert, except for a few Indians, hatchet,

I think.

Whenever one of them comes around, I hide.

Figure less [inaudible] to injun, better.

But the worst is being alone.

How long have you been here, anyhow?

Well, so long, but I've lost track.

You ain't never went back to Ten Strike at all?

BEN: I couldn't I didn't know where I was.

I'm stuck here, Festus, like a man closed in by the sea.

You sittin' there telling me that you're lost?

Like I hollered for help in a big wind.

You know, I had a friend once.

He died.

I think he had whisky.

But he told me about a glory hole that he found.

Well, I needed a [inaudible], so I got myself a partner.

And we come into this desert looking for gold.

We found.

We was headed back and run into the worst

sandstorm I ever seen.

It blew like fury for six days with no let up.

When it was over, I lost my partner.

I lost my horse.

I lost my pack mules.

I was out of food.

I was out of water.

I was out of luck.

It's no way to be in this desert.

Well, how did you come onto this here place?

A miracle.

When I was crazy with thirst, I saw a wild burra.

And I knew that if he was living in this desert,

there had to be water.

And he knew where it was.

So I followed him, walking and crawling and clawed back.

And that little old burra led me right through that passage.

Here this was.

Well, what do you do for eating biddles?

Lizard, goat, once in a while a deer, critters.

You're looking at the only water for 100 miles.

Everything that moves, well, it comes

in here at one time or another.

Oh, cactus apples keep me from getting scurvy.

And they ain't bad in lizards too, either.

Oh, what--

Prairie dog.

It ain't the Ten Strike hotel, but it fills the ribs.

I reckon I have taste worse prairie dog.

BEN: Hungrier than a starved dog.

You know, Ten Strike would've been a good place

for the likes of you.

[laughs] Run all over with rats.

[laughs] A good rattin' dog was worth his weight in gold there.

Yeah.

Ten Strike was some pal, especially Fandango houses.

Women.

[laughs] Some of them was dancin' partners,

and some of them was a good deal more.

[laughs] One night, Ben Snow still got hisself good

and [inaudible], hit every gambling palace on Cedar Street

from one end to the other.

[laughs] Woke up the next morning,

holdin' onto the lady's corset.

[buzz] [laughs]

It's no good.

Nothing's inside it.

[laughs]

Still hungry, are ya?

Hey.

Here you go, boy.

[laughs] Oh!

[rattling]

Sorry, did I wake you, Festus?

Homer!

Homer!

Festus here is a guest.

You just pull them fangs in and get.

[laughs] Look at-- he's apologizing for his behavior.

[laughs] He don't come out less he's hungry.

I've been fetching him mice for quite a spell now.

[laughs]

I know what you're thinking.

Man making a pet out of a rattler like he's a dog.

I recall a saying, "Man gets lonely enough,

he'll make up to a snake." [sighs] Festus,

you're lookin' at a man that's been alone too long.

Homer, you're coming to depend too much on me.

I ain't gonna be here forever!

With Ben Snow gone, you're gonna have

to start peddlin' for yourself!

[rattling]

Either that Indian was lying about where

he found Festus's horse, or we're headed the wrong way.

Maybe.

But if we find the horse, we can backtrack

to where he dumped Festus.

Otherwise, we can ride around this desert forever

trying to pick up a trail.

How much water have we got left?

Enough for two, three days maybe.

If we haven't found Festus by then, there

won't be much point in lookin'.

Mornin'.

You're up early.

To tell ya the truth, I slept with one

eye peeled last night after seein' that friend of yours.

Homer.

Hmm.

Cold night.

He come lookin' to curl up with ya.

Sleeps with me all the time.

How ya feeling?

Feels like it's still festering some,

but ain't gonna be long I'll be able to get after that feller.

Festus, you're lucky that feller

didn't put a wind in your head.

You need-- ah, time to get your strength.

Besides, don't worry about that outlaw.

Desert will take care of him.

Aimin' to go back to Cottonwood and pick me

up a horse and some supplies.

No.

From what you say, it's six days on foot to Cottonwood.

Toting one canteen, that's a good way to end up a cinder.

Could be right, but I've gotta try.

You are a fool to be going out there the way you feel.

I know this desert, and I know--

[howling and crying]

Did you hear that?

It's injuns up in those rocks.

Maybe they don't mean no harm.

Yeah, maybe they're in a scalpin' mood.

Come on.

Do you what to lose your hair?

[howling and crying]

[non-english speech]

Look at 'em.

Worse than a bunch of pack rats.

Got no respect for a man's goods.

Wha-- Put that down!

[laughter]

Put down my personals!

Here, here, here!

[gunshot]

[shouting]

[gunshots]

[laughs] Run, run, you scalp-lifting red rump trash!

If you hadn't stopped me, I might've dropped them.

You standing up and scrawling like that,

it's a wonder they didn't cut your blamed head off.

Naw.

They wouldn't have killed me.

They had plenty of chances before now.

It might've been different if they'd seen you though.

What do you mean by what?

They think I'm Tex, you know, loco.

Bad luck for Apache to kill crazy man.

Yeah, and them injuns could just be dead right.

Festus.

Obliged.

It's an commonly poor meal.

Real mean pickings.

[sighs]

Took a lot of lizards, eh?

When they get old, they get--

Stringy.

I don't know how many times I think of big, juicy beef steak.

[laughs]

Well, ain't you never tried leaving this here place at all?

I've tried walking out of here as many directions

as you can point.

I made earthens out of mud so I could carry more water,

go a few miles, bury one of these

under a marker, each time going a little bit farther,

a little bit father, never saw nothing but sand

and more sand ahead of me.

I didn't know where I was or which direction to Ten Strike.

Pretty soon it got too risky to meander too far.

Besides, my legs start acting up on me.

What is [inaudible] like?

Well, I owe that to a fella by the name of Sam Bristle.

He's in Ten Strike right now, living respectable

off my sweat and my blood.

Remember the glory hole I told you

about, needing the grub stake?

Sam Bristle put up the money.

And the sandstorm I told you about?

When it was over, we was down to, oh, half canteen of water.

That's when Sam Bristle shot me.

Kept the gold, took the water.

Left me on the desert to die.

I'm lucky I still got a leg.

[laughs]

Dug the bullet out myself.

[laughs]

I reckon that must've smarted some, huh?

Well, Ben, I reckon it's time for me

to be moving on, ever so much obliged to you for everything

you did for me.

But first light, I'm settin' out for Cottonwood.

I'm fixin' to glum onto that mangy yahoo.

Festus, what is so important about a bushwhack?

Makes you risk your life goin' after it.

Ben!

I done told you that.

He killed that sheriff in Cottonwood

just as coldblooded as you please,

and that there ain't the onliest one he's killed neither.

And I'm fixin' to catch him and see that he gets hung.

Festus, you and me together could get to Ten Strike a lot

easier than you goin' it alone.

Cottonwood's closer, Ben.

Now when I get there, I'll send somebody back here to fetch ya.

You've, uh, seen my gold, ain't ya?

Yeah, I've seen it.

I know you did.

But you ain't all of it.

I've got a lot more hidden around here,

enough to bend a pack mule.

Now, I told you how I got it here, didn't I?

Yeah, followin' in that old burra.

Mhm.

Wouldn't you know, when I took my first breath,

right over there, I seen something shining in the water.

It was gold, Festus, more gold than any glory

hole I ever seen, more gold than Bristle's gold farm.

Festus, the whole bottom of that there pond

was inches deep in the little bitty nuggets of gold

[inaudible].

All comin' down from those hills up there.

I've got a fortune, Festus.

If you help me get to Ten Strike, I'll buy you a horse.

I'll buy you supplies.

I'll buy you anything you want.

Ben, Ben!

It's just too blame far!

No, seven to eight days at the most.

Oh, totin' all that gold and water?

It's closer to 10.

No sir.

Cottonwood's the closest, and that's why I'm going.

I'm gonna go.

I've got to get to Ten Strike.

$300 or $400 worth.

10 more just like it if you help me get to Ten Strike.

Well, go on. Put it in your poke.

I'll send somebody to fetch you, Ben.

No, no need for that.

I'll think of a way.

I'll think of a way.

[snoring]

I'll cut you, Festus.

I'll cut you good.

I'll take the gun.

Pitch me the manacles right there.

Key.

Figure you owe me, Festus.

Weren't for me, you'd be dead by now,

buzzards picking at your eyes.

If we get to Ten Strike, I'll figure us even.

When we get to Ten Strike, just don't you

forget I'm a deputy marshal.

I'm gonna throw you in jail.

You ain't the law out here.

Till we get to Ten Strike, you're a mule.

You'll pack like a mule.

You don't, I'll shoot ya like a mule gone lame.

Go on.

Snap it on.

Let me hear it click.

You'll have a lot better chance packing my gold than laying

here with a shattered knee.

Wolves get the scent.

Won't be nothing left to bury.

You're crazier than a broom tail on a loco weed.

Crazy or not, don't change the fact that I got this here gun

and I'll use it.

I thought you's just taking enough gold to buy a supply.

It's gonna take a lot of gold to break Sam Bristle.

And that can't wait.

All right.

Load up.

[grunts]

I just wanna tell you one thing.

You better not get too close to me,

or I'm just liable to wrap this chain around that scrawny neck

of yours.

I'll keep a tolerable distance.

You know, it could have been done so easy, Festus,

you, me working together, and you ending up

with a share of the gold.

Jump it, boy.

Just keep going along there.

[grunting]

It'll get a little easier when we get down in the flats.

Careful, mule.

We're gonna need every drop of that water

if we're gonna get to Ten Strike.

Just keep goin' along, sir.

Quit you jobbin' me with that stick.

[SINGING] Ten Strike girls are fat and sassy, red

dyed hair and mighty blassy.

Dee dee dee dee aye dee dee dee.

Smiles and sleep talk, just like honey.

Pick your pocket for your money.

Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee do do.

Dee dee do do do do.

Dah dee dee dee dee dee dee dee.

Ah, ah, ah, ah.

Keep movin'.

Quit your jabbin' me with that blame stick!

And I mean it.

Don't you never do that again.

Here it is hot enough to fry a horse shoe.

To be toting a load like this.

I gotta have me a drink.

Ah, ah, ah, ah.

What do you think you're doing?

I ain't goin' one more step without some water.

I'll say when.

Get movin', you.

[panting]

[SINGING] Ten Strike girls don't give a holler,

long as you give them a dollar.

Doo doo doo doo doo.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo.

He must've been following Dixon for two days

to have come this far.

Looks like somebody went down there.

Whoa.

It's blood stains.

Think they belong to Festus?

Or Dixon.

Nobody else'd have any business out here.

Gonna mark some tracks.

Maybe they belong to that Indian the sheriff

was talking about.

I don't think so.

That horse dropped a long ways from here.

And where'd they come from?

Well, they came from over this way and went back that way too.

'Cept going back, he wasn't alone.

If those boot tracks belong to Festus,

that means he's still alive.

Let's go.

[panting]

Oh, oh my-- my--

What, your little leg get ouchy near something, is it?

No, it ain't hurin' me at all.

Keep movin'!

[panting]

Get up!

Get up on your feet!

Get move.

I ain't takin' me another step till I get me a drink of water.

[pants]

I reckon when you had yourself a mule, you gave him a drank,

or did ya?

All right.

But just two swallows!

That's enough!

Enough!

Get me a drink for myself.

All right.

Let's move out.

You sure are in a powerful hurry to get to Ten Strike,

ain't ya?

What do you figure to do to Sam Bristle once you get there?

Well, I've had a long time to think about that.

I ain't gonna kill him.

That would only get me hung.

So I ain't gonna do anythings harsh and direct as that.

Gold can build or buy the devil.

That's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna buy and sell and finagle Sam Bristle till

he's ruined, till he's nothin'.

And then once he's down to the land,

I'm gonna see that he's tarred and feathered

and run out of town on a [inaudible].

Gonna be somethin' when Ben Snow comes back to Ten Strike.

Move out.

Come on, move out!

NARRATOR: Stay tuned for exciting scenes

from our next "Gunsmoke."

[theme music]