‘Til Death Do Us | Gunsmoke (10-21-56)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "‘Til Death Do Us" | Gunsmoke (10-21-56)

Podcast: Old Time Radio Westerns
Host: Andrew Rhynes
Episode Air Date: October 21, 2025 (originally aired October 21, 1956)

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Episode Overview

In this restored classic episode of Gunsmoke, Marshal Matt Dillon investigates the attempted murder of Jezra Cobb, a harsh, self-righteous farmer known for his severe treatment of his wife, Minerva. The episode unravels the tensions and dark truths hidden behind the Cobb marriage, ultimately revealing a tale of desperation, long-term abuse, and tragic justice set against the gritty backdrop of Dodge City. The story exemplifies the complex moral dilemmas and human depths that characterized Gunsmoke's approach to frontier drama.

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Key Discussion Points & Major Plot Beats

1. Introduction to Jezra and Minerva Cobb

• [03:45] Marshal Dillon and Chester encounter Jezra and his wife, Minerva, in Dodge City.
• Jezra is depicted as a miserly, cold man; Minerva appears oppressed and frail.
• "You do declare, Mr. Dillon—is that ain't the most dilapidated old buggy I ever seen anywhere." – Chester (04:12)
• Townsfolk avoid Jezra; Minerva is quiet and submissive.

2. The Shooting Incident

• [05:31] A shooting in the street targets the Cobbs as they arrive in town.
• Jezra rails against Dodge City’s morality:
  "You’ve allowed this town to become a sink of iniquity. A whited sepulcher." – Jezra Cobb (05:52)
• Minerva tries to speak but is shouted down by Jezra.
• No one gets a clear look at the shooter.

3. Insight from Doc Adams and Kitty

• [08:39] Doc Adams reveals his method of giving harmless placebo pills to soothe troubled townsfolk, highlighting the gentle, caring side of Dodge’s medical staff.
• The discussion turns to Jezra’s reputation:
  "He just isn’t the kind of a man to rouse up strong feelings in anybody. Good or bad." – Doc Adams (09:17)
• [10:41] Kitty describes Jezra’s aggressive attempts to “reform” the women at the Long Branch Saloon, revealing he’s not just disliked, but abusive: "He calls them painted Jezebels… the only cure he seems to know is to grab a cane and beat the daylights out of any of ‘em he can get his hands on." – Kitty (11:00)

4. Tensions Escalate: Jezra’s Enemies

• [11:47] Jezra demands legal action, but Dillon confronts his dishonesty about having enemies.
• Jezra shows contempt for the “dance hall girls,” refusing to believe they could present a threat.

5. A Possible Hitman

• [12:59] Chester tells Dillon a drifter at the Long Branch claimed he’d been offered $300 to kill Jezra.
• [14:55] The man, identified as Puggy Rado, is confronted by Dillon and, after a tense standoff, is killed when he draws his gun.
• "If anybody lays a hand on a gun, there’s going to be a pretty corpse on the floor." – Matt Dillon (16:18)
• Jezra remembers Rado had previously begged for a handout at his farm.

6. The Truth Revealed: Minerva’s Story

• [18:16] Dillon and Chester visit the Cobbs’ farm and speak with Minerva.
• She warmly serves them pie, revealing her own loneliness and routine hospitality—elements long suppressed by Jezra.
• [19:56] Dillon confronts Minerva about Jezra's abuse: "And over those years, Ms. Cobb, how many times did he beat you?"
  "Hundreds of times. For my transgressions... Last month I asked Reverend Blouse and he said there weren’t nothing like that in the Good Book." – Minerva Cobb (20:05–20:33)
• Minerva confesses to hiring the hitman to end her suffering: "Yes, I did, too." – Minerva Cobb (21:03)
• She describes giving the $300 to Jezra, who realized her intent after the sum matched the drifter’s claim.

7. Justice, Tragedy, and Resolution

• Minerva explains calmly but heartbreakingly her decision to kill Jezra herself after she realized he was going to beat her again: "When he went to fetch that stave, I knowed what he was aiming to do. And I followed him out to the barn... I stood real close, Marshal, so I wouldn’t miss. And I pulled the trigger four times..." – Minerva Cobb (22:21)
• Dillon quietly instructs her to finish her pie, a somber gesture acknowledging the complexity of justice: "You sit right back down and finish your piece." – Matt Dillon (23:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Jezra’s Hypocrisy & Reputation:

  • "So, Town of Painted Jezebel, scoundrels and murdering assassins. The name should be changed to Sodom or Gomorrah." – Jezra Cobb (05:57)
  • "He just isn't the kind of a man to rouse up strong feelings in anybody. Good or bad." – Doc Adams (09:17)
  • "He calls them painted Jezebels… tries to cure them with a cane." – Kitty (11:00)

• On Minerva’s Quiet Strength:

  • "Hundreds of times. For my transgressions… But last month I asked Reverend Blouse and he said there weren’t nothing like that in the Good Book." – Minerva Cobb (20:10–20:33)
  • "Jezra ain't never gonna beat me no more." – Minerva Cobb (22:21)

• Dillon’s Laconically Just Worldview:

  • "Let me tell you something, Jezra. I'll abet anybody's right to live his own life according to his own lights. As long as he's within the law." – Matt Dillon (12:35)
  • "You sit right back down and finish your piece." – Matt Dillon (23:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:45] – Introduction of Jezra and Minerva Cobb
• [05:31] – The shooting attempt in town
• [08:39] – Doc Adams and Kitty discuss Jezra’s reputation
• [10:41] – Jezra’s abuse of Long Branch girls described
• [12:59] – A drifter claims $300 hit on Jezra
• [16:18] – Deadly standoff in the Long Branch
• [18:16] – Dillon and Chester visit the Cobb farm
• [20:05–20:33] – Minerva’s confession about years of abuse
• [21:03–22:21] – Minerva reveals she hired and then killed to protect herself
• [23:00] – Dillon’s quiet, bittersweet acceptance

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Tone & Style

The episode is somber, atmospheric, and morally complex. The language is plainspoken, often dry or laconic, laced with the wry wit and understated empathy typical of Gunsmoke. Dillon’s steady calm contrasts Minerva’s quietly tragic resolve, and Jezra’s unyielding harshness is revealed layer by layer.

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Conclusion

"‘Til Death Do Us" encapsulates the melancholy, morally tangled spirit of radio’s greatest Western. The narrative brings frontier justice face-to-face with domestic anguish. At the heart lies a rare, powerful portrait of abuse—and the lengths to which a desperate woman will go to reclaim her peace. For listeners, the episode is a stark reminder that, behind the rough exterior of the Old West, there were stories of quiet suffering, bitter dignity, and, sometimes, grim deliverance.

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Transcript

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[Chester]

Foreign.

[Andrew Rines - Host]

Welcome to the Old Time Radio Westerns. I'm your host, Andrew Rines, and let's get into this episode. This episode is going to be Gunsmoke. Original air date is October 21, 1956 and the title is Till Death Do Us.

[Narrator - Heat Pump Water Heater Ad]

Do you know what happens when you replace your regular old electric water heater with a new electric heat pump water heater? You boost your savings a lot. In fact, Energy Star estimates that a family of four will save an average of $550 a year on their electric energy bills. And your new heat pump water heater can pay for itself in as little as three years. Level up with a heat pump water heater. Go to levelupmywaterheater.com to learn more.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Gun Smoke Brought to you by L M the modern cigarette that lets you get full exciting flavor through the modern miracle of the pure white miracle.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Tip.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Live modern Smoke. L m around Dodge City and in the territory on west. There's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with a U.S. marshal and the smell of gun smoke. Gunsmoke starring William Conrad. The transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job and it makes a man watchful and a little lone.

[Chester]

That's a Nice clear evening, Mr. Dylan.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

It'll be cold before morning, though.

[Chester]

Maybe old Doc ain't too far wrong.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, what about?

[Chester]

Well, he claims winter's coming early this year. He claims we'll have snow before the.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

End of the month.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

He's just passing along Indian talk, Chester. They're all clean. Stinks.

[Jezra Cobb]

Evening, Marshall.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, how are you, Joseph? Ms. Cobb.

[Minerva Cobb]

How do, Marshall?

[Chester]

Evening, ma'.

[Andrew Rines - Host]

Am.

[Chester]

You do declare, Mr. Dillness? That ain't the most dilapidated old buggy I ever seen anywhere.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Jezra believes in getting fired whole value out of things. Making do, as he calls it. And let's get something to eat, huh?

[Chester]

Well, now, eating is something I get full value out of.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I know. Let's sit over there by the window.

[Chester]

That team of Jesuits could do with some eating. The way their bones are sticking out.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Jezer figures fat on a horse is a sign that grains being wasted. Well, you're sorry to me, Marshal.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Okay.

[Chester]

You must figure the same thing about women. Ms. Cobb's bones were sticking out some too.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

He probably works her half to death as to run a farm that size without any hired help.

[Chester]

They sure do keep to their selves.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Ah, people just don't take to Jezra much. He's got a pretty cold way about him, but it's hard to say what she's like.

[Chester]

That poor lady don't even open her mouth less than he tells her she can. Plain mousy, that's what she.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

What are you figuring to eat, gents?

[Chester]

Well, what do you got?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Stewed beef and bile greens. Well, I guess that's what we'll eat, huh, Jester?

[Doc Adams]

All right, I'll bring it right out.

[Chester]

Boiled green, boiled jimson weed. More.

[Jezra Cobb]

That was up there in the street, Mr. Dill.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah. Come on, Chester. Open up here. Let me through, will you, please? Will you let me through?

[Jezra Cobb]

Hang on to that horse. It might as spooky.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

What's trouble?

[Jezra Cobb]

Jesus, Marshall. You've allowed this town to become a sink of iniquity. A whited sepulcher.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

How's that?

[Jezra Cobb]

So, Town of Painted Jezebel, scoundrels and murdering assassins. The name should be changed to Sodom or Gomorrah.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You all right, Mezcot?

[Minerva Cobb]

Somebody tried to kill us, Marshall. They were standing right over there in the shadows.

[Jezra Cobb]

Minerva, you trying to remember a woman's place?

[Minerva Cobb]

Marshall asked.

[Jezra Cobb]

Silence.

[Minerva Cobb]

Sorry, J.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Did you get a look at him?

[Kitty]

We did not.

[Jezra Cobb]

The coward struck in the darkness. It was only a miracle we escaped.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Any of the rest of you see who fired those shots?

[Jezra Cobb]

You're the law here, Marshal. I demand an accountant of this outrageous assault.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Jezra, do you know anybody who might think they got a reason to kill you?

[Jezra Cobb]

I never had an enemy in my.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Life, and it looks like you got one now.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Free yourself of old fashioned ideas.

[Doc Adams]

Why don't you live modern?

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Live modern, live modern Free up, freshen up your taste Smoke an element. Why are more people changing to L M than to any other cigarette? Because only L M lets you enjoy full exciting flavor through the pure white miracle. Tip. L M draws easier taste richer smokes cleaner. Sulfria. Freshen up your taste get full exciting flavor. Live modern smoke L and M. Make.

[Jezra Cobb]

Today your big red letter day and start to live the modern way.

[Doc Adams]

Live, live, live modern.

[Jezra Cobb]

Smoke and L.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

It'S America's fastest growing cigarette.

[Doc Adams]

It put a little more sugar in here. That should fool Mrs. Putney. Hand me that pill mold, will you, Matt?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Is this what you mean, Doc?

[Kitty]

That's it.

[Doc Adams]

Thank you, thank you. Well, I got to make this prescription look real authentic.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, what do you mean?

[Doc Adams]

These are fooling pills. Got nothing in them but sugar and some chalk and a little gum araby to bind them.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

So that's the kind of medicine folks get from you? Oh, no.

[Doc Adams]

It's the kind Mrs. Prudlin gets long. She figures they help her. It's always necessary. At least they don't do her any harm. Nothing wrong with her anyhow, except in her mind.

[Minerva Cobb]

There we are.

[Doc Adams]

We'll let that sit a while and dry and then. Oh, so you found out yet who fired those shots at old Jezra Cobb?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

No, Doc, not a hint.

[Doc Adams]

That's a funny thing, Matt. I don't think I know a soul in Dodge that likes old Jez.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, I know Doug. Nobody really hates him either. They just stay clear of him as far as I can.

[Doc Adams]

Yeah, that's just it. He just isn't the kind of a man to rouse up strong feelings in anybody. Good or bad.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

He must have roused some. And whoever tried to kill him or kill her. I don't even know for sure which one they were after, him or his wife.

[Kitty]

You busy, Doc?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Huh?

[Doc Adams]

Well, come right in, Kitty.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Hello, Kitty.

[Kitty]

Matt, what are you doing here?

[Doc Adams]

Well, he's hiding from Jezreel Cobb.

[Kitty]

What?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Don't mind, Doc. I'll step outside. Kitty.

[Minerva Cobb]

Oh, no, no, don't go, Matt.

[Kitty]

I just wanted to get something for a headache, Doc.

[Doc Adams]

Oh, it's too bad. Well, dip yourself some water there. Here are some pills I just made up, Kitty.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Not Doc, you're not.

[Doc Adams]

The formula came straight from Boston.

[Kitty]

Well, they take care of this headache.

[Minerva Cobb]

They're miracle pills.

[Doc Adams]

That's exactly what they are. Here you are. You swallow a couple.

[Minerva Cobb]

Thanks, Scott.

[Doc Adams]

I personally guarantee those to stop the world's worst headache.

[Chester]

In one minute flight.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, they. They've done wonders for Mrs. Prudlin.

[Minerva Cobb]

Mrs. Prudlin?

[Doc Adams]

Pay no attention to him. He's all upset over that shooting.

[Kitty]

Well, I could name a few people who aren't upset over it.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, which people?

[Kitty]

Some of the girls at the Long Branch. He drops in about three times a year.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Jezra Cobb at the Long Branch.

[Kitty]

Old self righteous Jezra. And every time it means trouble. He always drinks too much. He bothers everybody.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Bothers him, huh?

[Kitty]

By trying to reform him. And it's the girls who always get the worst of it. He.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Now who'd have thought it?

[Kitty]

He calls them painted Jezebels. Says he means to cure them of their transgressions. Of course, the only cure he seems to know is to grab a cane and beat the daylights out of any of me get his hands on.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I didn't know Jezer was that bad.

[Kitty]

You asked some of the girls. Matt, Daisy or Billy Bell.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, I will. Kitty.

[Kitty]

Doc, could I have some of those.

[Minerva Cobb]

Pills to take with me?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Look, Kitty, Doc was just playing.

[Kitty]

They're real good. Doc. My headache's all gone. What'd you start to say, man?

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Nothing.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Kidding? Nothing.

[Jezra Cobb]

48 hours, Marshall, and you've accomplished nothing. I demand legal action.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You haven't helped things any by lying to me, Jezer.

[Jezra Cobb]

Lying to you?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You told me you never had an enemy in your life. But two or three young ladies over at the Long Branch disagree with you.

[Jezra Cobb]

Dance hall girls.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Maybe so, but I'd sure hate to have them looking at me over a.

[Jezra Cobb]

Set of gun sights abandoned, painting their faces, devoting in public to the devil's music.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

And stay away if you don't like it. Before you got a bullet in your back.

[Jezra Cobb]

Wasn't the woman who fired them shots?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

A woman wouldn't have to fire them, Jezer. She could get a man to do it for her.

[Jezra Cobb]

Then why don't you jail them girls if they're plotting to kill me?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I don't have any proof of anybody plotting anything.

[Jezra Cobb]

You're in league with the adversary, Marshal. You're aiding and abetting the forces of evil.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Let me tell you something, Jezra. I'll Aidan. Abet anybody's right to live his own life according to his own lights. As long as he's within the law. Yeah, what is it?

[Chester]

Could I see you, Minnie?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, sure. Yeah. What's the matter, Chester?

[Chester]

Well, it's Miss Kitty. She wants you over at the Long Branch right away.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, what for?

[Chester]

Well, seems there's a fellow there that's been drinking real heavy. Mr. Dillon talking too much. Oh, and Miss Kitty heard him say he'd been offered $300 to kill old Jas.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Free yourself of old fashioned ideas why.

[Doc Adams]

Don'T you live modern? Live modern Live, live, live modern Free.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Up, freshen up your taste Smoking lnm today. All over the country, more people are changing to L, M than to any other cigarette. And it's all because only L and M gives you full, exciting flavor through the pure white miracle tip L, M draws easier, tastes richer, smokes cleaner. So free up, freshen up your taste. Live modern Change to L and M.

[Jezra Cobb]

Make today your big red letter day and start to live the modern way.

[Doc Adams]

Live, live, live modern.

[Jezra Cobb]

Smoke and L.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

It's America's fastest growing cigarette.

[Kitty]

This way, man.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Right, Kenny. Come on. Chester. Yes, sir.

[Kitty]

He's playing poker over here with a house dealer and a couple of cowboys.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You've been in here before, you know.

[Kitty]

Just here in the last week. He's a drifter, I guess. Goes by the name of Puggy Rado. There. That's him, Matt. On the far side of the table.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

He looks like a saddle bum.

[Kitty]

He was making out real braggy for a while. Fastest gun in Texas, that kind of talk. But I guess he knew he'd gone too far when he said that about Jezu Cobb, who shut up tight right after.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

All right, Kitty. I'll try to get him away from that table.

[Kitty]

White man. I think he's coming over here.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah. Reckon you're the marshal, ain't you? That's right. Yeah, I reckon she heard what I said, sent for you. That's just what I figured she was doing.

[Jezra Cobb]

Call it Martial oak.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You make one move toward that gun and I'll put a bullet right in the back.

[Kitty]

You got your hands off me.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Take it easy, Kitty. You tell her, Marshall.

[Chester]

Tell her me and her leaving now.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

If anybody lays a hand on a gun, there's going to be a pretty corpse on the floor.

[Kitty]

Told you to let go. Take him out.

[Jezra Cobb]

Drop that gun right out.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Not a chance. You all right, Kitty?

[Kitty]

I'm all right. Thanks, Matt.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I had to kill him then. There was no time for anything else.

[Jezra Cobb]

Marshall. Marshall. Was that the man?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, it looks that way, Jezer. He was claiming somebody had offered him $300 to kill you.

[Jezra Cobb]

Why, that's the fellow who.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Who what, Tessa?

[Jezra Cobb]

Why, he stopped in at my place last week, begging a handout.

[Doc Adams]

Did.

[Chester]

Did you say $300?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

That's right.

[Jezra Cobb]

We're high. Gotta be getting on home, Marshall. Got stop to tend to got a lot of things to tend to.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Oh, forevermore.

[Jezra Cobb]

What come over him so sudden?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I don't know, Chester, but I think I can gu. Come on, Justin. Yes, sir.

[Chester]

Kind of quiet, Mr. Dylan. Maybe Jez ain't home yet.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

There's a light on in the house.

[Chester]

That's a real proud barn yonder. To be with such a poor built house, ain't it?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yeah, it sure is. Good evening, Ms. Cobb.

[Minerva Cobb]

How do, Marser? Chester.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Ms. Cobb, your husband get home. You must come.

[Minerva Cobb]

He's out there in the barn. Won't you come in and set a spell?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yes, we will. Thank you. As a matter of fact, Ms. Cobb, you're the one we rode out here to see.

[Minerva Cobb]

That's right kind of you, Marshall. Now, you two, set you down there at the table just this minute, took a wild plum pie out of the oven.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Well, no, no, thank you, Ms. Cobb.

[Minerva Cobb]

I don't often get to feed collars. You ain't gonna deprive me of the chance.

[Chester]

Maybe we could just taste it. A little dab, Mr. Dillon.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

All right, sir. I always had the impression that you were opposed to visitors, Ms. Cox.

[Minerva Cobb]

Oh, I love to have folks come. Jezra ain't never been one to encourage it.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Ah, I see.

[Minerva Cobb]

The righteous must turn their faces from the world. For the world is the cradle of sin. That's what Jezra always said. There you are. Piping hot.

[Chester]

My gracious, that smells good.

[Minerva Cobb]

Well, eat hearty. There's plenty more. It'll just go to waste. Jezra's never cared too much for plum pie.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Ms. Cobb, how long have you and Jezra been married?

[Minerva Cobb]

27 years, Marshall. 27 years.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

And over those years, Ms. Cub, how many times did he beat you?

[Minerva Cobb]

Hundreds of times. For my transgressions. He told me he used to read me from the Good Book. That a husband's got a right to do that. I never learned to read myself. But last month I asked Reverend Blouse and he said there weren't nothing like that in a good book.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Well, maybe Jezree's got his own virtue.

[Minerva Cobb]

He lied to me, that's what he done. And if he'd lie about that, then, well, I reckon you know, don't you, Marshall?

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Yes, ma'.

[Doc Adams]

Am.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

About you offering money to that drifter who rode through here last week. That you hired him to kill Jezreel. Yes, ma', am, I guessed it.

[Minerva Cobb]

Yes, I did, too.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

Well, I figured he did, the way he acted in town.

[Minerva Cobb]

He come home and told me about you having to shoot the man Then he asked me for our savings and I got it for him. He sat down here and counted it. And when he seen it was the same as that fellow had been talking about. $300. Then he knowed for sure.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

What did he say?

[Minerva Cobb]

Nothing much. He just sat here awhile, smiling at me kinda in that cold way of his. His glory smile, I always called it. Then he got up and went out to the barn. And of course, I knowed what he was going for.

[Chester]

What do you mean?

[Minerva Cobb]

He was aiming to fetch a hickory stave. He always keeps some out there to mend fences.

[Chester]

I declare, Mr. Donnell, a man like.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

That ought to be.

[Jezra Cobb]

Well.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I think, ma', am, maybe I better go have a little talk with Jezor.

[Minerva Cobb]

Won't be no use, Marshall. Just won't be no use.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

I think it will, ma'.

[Doc Adams]

Am.

[Minerva Cobb]

Listen to me, Marshall. You're wasting your time. I'm trying to tell you. When he went to fetch that stave, I knowed what he was aiming to do. And I followed him out to the barn. Yes, I stood real close, Marshall, so I wouldn't miss. And I pulled the trigger four times. I put the gun there in the cupboard. I figured you'd be wanted. Jizzer ain't never gonna beat me no more.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You sit right back down and finish your piece.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

In a moment. Our star, William Conrad. If your daily routine never varies, chances are you're heading for a great big case of monotony. Everybody needs a break once in a while. And sometimes a vacation just once or twice a year isn't enough. But a break once a week would more than fill the bill. What could you do with that leisure time? Here's the answer to that. You can vary your routine with a fascinating and vital pursuit. Spotting planes for America's Ground Observer Corps. It's exciting, it's interesting. And just two hours a week of your spare time is all that's needed to keep up the 24 hour schedule of the GOC. Men and women from teenage up can help the Air Corps cover the blind spots in our radar system by volunteering for the Ground Observer Corps, a civilian component of the Air Defense Command. You will be trained and supervised by officers and airmen of the Air Defense Command to spot planes in your area. Find out from your local civilian defense office how you can be a civilian ground observer. This has been a public service message by CBS Radio. And now, William Conrad.

[Matt Dillon - U.S. Marshal]

You know when a bad man riding a good horse came into Dodge looking for trouble, Likely as not, he got a bullet hole placed in him and the horse went to the man who did it, and that was the West.

[Narrator - L&M Cigarette Ad]

Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman Macdonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, US Marshal. The script was specially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield with editorial supervision by John Meston. The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey, sound patterns by Ray Kemper and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg, Ralph Moody, Don diamond and John Dana. Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story on gun smoke.

[Narrator - Heat Pump Water Heater Ad]

Do you know what happens when you replace your regular old electric water heater with a new electric heat pump water heater? You boost your savings a lot. In fact, Energy Star estimates that a family of four will save an average of $550 a year on their electric energy bills and your new heat pump water heater can pay for itself in as little as three years. Level up with a heat pump water heater. Go to levelupmywaterheater.com to learn.

[Doc Adams]

Foreign.

[Andrew Rines - Host]

This has been a presentation of OTRwesterns.com and we hope you enjoyed. Please take some time to like and rate our shows in your favorite podcast application. Follow us on Facebook by going to otrwesterns.com Facebook subscribe to our YouTube channel by going to otrwesterns.Com YouTube and send us an email podcasttrwesterns.com you can call and leave us a voicemail 707-986-8739 this episode is copyright under the Attribution Non Commercial Share Like Copyright for more information go to otrwesterns.com copyright have a great day and thanks for listening.

[Doc Adams]

Sam.