Slaughter's my name.
Luke Slaughter.
Cattle's my business.
It's a tough business.
It's big business.
I got a big stake in it, and there's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to take
it from me.
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone.
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, Civil War cavalryman turned Arizona cattleman.
Across the territory from Yuma to Fort Defiance, from Flagstaff to the Wachukas, and below
the border through Chihuahua and Sonora, his name was respected or feared, depending on
which side of the law you were on.
Man of vision, man of legend, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone.
Like a violent storm or an earthquake, you can feel a lynching coming on long before
it arrives.
And there was lynch in the air that afternoon in Tombstone.
Well, if you gents are so uncommon concerned over a few rustlers, why don't you catch
them same as I do?
Hello Sutton.
Afternoon Slaughter.
Yeah, I got me one in jail right now.
My boys picked him up red handed last night.
You wanted to see me?
Yeah, we may be in for trouble.
Listen.
There's only one thing good enough for rustlers, I say, and that's hanging.
I caught me one and that's what's gonna happen to him.
McCardle!
I say.
Huh?
Well, looky here.
Two stalwarts of the cattleman's association.
You gents gonna come around to the courthouse and see the fun?
What fun, McCardle?
What fun?
Why, ain't you heard?
My wranglers caught a rustler on my spread last night.
Caught him red handed, butchering the yearling.
We're gonna hang him this afternoon.
It's not up to the judge.
The judge?
Why, this is a plain case of out-and-out law breaking and I aim to see justice done.
When is the trial?
The trial.
Oh yeah.
The trial is gonna be at two o'clock and all you gents is invited.
Come on, everybody, let's go to the...
See what I mean, Slaughter?
Yeah, I do, Sutton.
We'd better go to the courthouse and see to it that McCardle doesn't do something we'll
all have to answer for.
The court will now come to order.
The deputy will bring in the prisoner.
Say, Sutton.
What is it, Slaughter?
I think I know that man.
What's your name?
Yancey Bell.
I do know him.
You know the charge, Cattle Russell.
Now, how do you plead?
Guilty or not guilty?
Neither one.
Well, you gotta plead one or the other.
Well, I don't.
Well, who's the plaintiff in this case?
Why, you know dang well I am, Judge.
And he pleads guilty.
My men caught him butchering the yearling with my brand on it and my property.
Now, come on, let's get this over with.
Hold your horses, McCardle.
I ain't holding no horses.
You make your decision so us law-abiding people can string this hombre up.
Well, a man's entitled to a fair trial.
Well, he's getting it.
Now, come on, say it.
Your Honor.
Slaughter, you stay out of this.
Your Honor, I know this man.
Hello, Yancey.
Luke.
Luke Slaughter.
It's been a long time since Vicksburg.
I recognized you even without the cavalry uniform.
What is this?
I'll tell you what it is, McCardle.
This man and I soldiered together in the Illinois cavalry during the war.
Unless he's changed a lot since those days, he's not a thief.
You're butting into my business, Slaughter.
This is a public trial, McCardle.
And I'm taking on the job of this man's attorney.
Any objections, Your Honor?
I don't... No.
Tell the court, Yancey.
Did you butcher that yearling?
Yes.
Yes, I did.
Why?
Because... because I was hungry.
I don't know this part of the country and I didn't know I was so close to town.
You intend to pay for it?
Well, I would have if there'd been anybody to pay.
Do you have any money?
I had $500 Mexican until last night.
What happened to it?
The men who jumped me took it.
That's a lie!
A lie!
You're gonna take the word of a stranger against my man?
Being a stranger doesn't make him a liar.
He's not a stranger to me, McCardle.
Now, what do you figure that yearling was worth?
What's that got to do with it?
I'm gonna pay for it and request the court to release the accused.
What?
$15.
That ought to cover it.
You can't do that!
I am doing it.
If the court so pleases.
Well, uh... well... well...
Well, yes, under the circumstances, restitution having been made and motive explained.
What?
Are you gonna let this Steve and Rustler go?
Yes.
Yes, I am.
I put you on that bench, Judge, and I'm gonna take you off of it.
You can't get away with this.
And this is a court of law, Mr. McCardle.
You cannot intimidate the bench with threats.
Case dismissed.
Thank you, Luke.
Thank you.
I'm staying down at the San Jose house, Yancy.
Let's get your stuff and go down there so we can talk in private.
You'll pay for this slaughter.
I already have.
$15.
Come on, Yancy.
Oh, this feels good.
I haven't been on a bed in over two weeks.
You weren't on a bed for two years during the war.
Yeah, that's right.
You realize it's been nearly 15 years.
Yeah, we were kids then, Yancy.
Greenhorn kids.
What have you been doing since?
Went east for a while, New York.
Big Don was too much for me, though.
Finally went home to Quincy a couple years back, and I got married.
That too much for you, too?
She died six months ago in childbirth.
The kid died, too.
I'm sorry, Yancy.
So that's why I come out here.
Starting all over again, you might call it.
How about you, Luke?
Cattle's been my business since the war.
Kansas, Texas, tombstone.
You must be mighty big in these parts.
That was quite a show you put on in the courtroom.
No, you were getting a raw deal.
You mind if I take my boots off?
Feet are kind of swelled in.
Oh, go ahead.
Stretch out.
You're welcome to anything I've got till you get organized.
That's mighty nice of you, Luke, especially since I've been cleaned.
Yeah, it's the least I could do.
I remember a sniper one night about four weeks into the siege of Vicksburg, and what you
did about him.
That's long ago, Luke.
Forget it.
Man doesn't forget things like that.
You've lost a spur.
Yeah, those jaspers weren't very polite when they jumped me last night.
Took 500 Mexican silver, huh?
Yep.
I aim to get it back, though.
Well, I'll handle that for you.
You just take it easy.
I got some work to do over at the cattle association office.
Nancy, you aren't leaving anything out on this yearling butchering, are you?
When I get ready to lie to you, I'll let you know in advance, Luke.
Yeah.
Well, you'll get some rest.
I'll be back about supper time.
Hold it, Sutton.
I was just closing the office.
Well, I'll close up later.
I want to check on the bills of sale on that last herd I brought up from Texas.
All right.
See, that was quite a stunt you pulled in court today.
Well, the way I figured it, Nancy Bell was being railroaded.
I would have stopped that even if I didn't know him.
The boy thought you was taking a little too much into your own hands.
Wasn't that just what McCardell was trying to do?
Yeah, I suppose so.
But how do you know he's innocent?
He says so.
Yeah.
Well, think out of town of feedback.
See you later.
So long, Sutton.
Slaughter!
He's slaughtered!
Slaughter!
Wait!
Slaughter, wake up!
Wake up!
Oh, Sutton.
I must have dozed off.
Say, what time is it anyway?
Time?
It's almost eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock.
I forgot all about supper.
Slaughter, listen to me.
What are you so all fired up upset about?
There's been a shooting at the Crab Tree livery stable right next to the San Jose house
where you're staying.
Who got shot?
Drake McCordell.
In a moment, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone returns.
A trio of rough and ready prospectors make trouble for our frontier gentleman, J.B. Kendall,
in his next dramatic exploit on CBS Radio.
The trouble starts when a young hitchhiker, whom Kendall has picked up, discovers gold.
For more western thrills, stay with us on CBS Radio right after Luke Slaughter, as most
of these same stations bring you another exciting adventure with our frontier gentleman.
Right now, Act Two of William M. Robeson's production of Luke Slaughter of Tombstone.
Excuse me.
Let me through.
Let me through there.
Hello, Slaughter.
Hello, sir.
I've been wondering if you'd show up.
Let me see your gun.
What for?
It seems to me you'd know the answer to that.
There was bad blood between McCordell and you, wasn't there?
Here.
Look at it.
Uh-huh.
Well, it ain't been fired.
Or it's been cleaned awful fast.
That gun hasn't been out of its holster all day.
All right, all right.
Now, you know anything about this?
I only heard about it five minutes ago, Sheriff.
When did it happen?
About an hour ago.
Where's the body?
Inside the livery stable there.
Is that where it happened?
You're asking an awful lot of questions, Slaughter.
Now, let's get one thing straight, Sheriff.
I'm as interested in who committed this murder as you are, maybe even more so.
If I get him before you do, I'll turn him over to you.
All right, all right.
Why, you cattlemen can't leave things to the law.
Where did it happen?
Right here in the alley in front of the livery stable.
Anybody see it?
Jack Crabtree, the owner of the stable.
Hey, Jack.
Yes, yes, Sheriff.
You come here.
Yes, gent wants to know what you seen.
All right, I'll tell him.
I sure will.
Oh, hello there, Mr. Slaughter.
Missed a fun, didn't you?
Well, during this thing I ever saw, I was telling the sheriff and the boys here...
Just tell me what happened, Jack.
Well, I was sitting back there by the harness rack working on a snaffle bin, and I heard
somebody singing out here in the alley.
You know how a man will sing when he's had a couple of snorts.
Appeared from the sound that he was a-coming in.
About that time I looked up, but I couldn't see very well, because it was dark and I was
back inside there under the lantern, you see.
Then the scene stopped and somebody said, Drake, I'm going to kill you.
Then it was a shot and McCarter fell right here.
Of course, I didn't know it was McCarter then.
You know who made the threat?
No.
No, I don't.
I doused the lantern in a hurry, because I was a setting duck, you see.
Then I got down behind a bale of hay and waited.
Did you hear anything else?
Just one thing.
A man a-sobbing.
Oh, it's an awful thing to hear a man sobbing.
It's just...
Well, I got up then, come out here, and looked around real cautious like.
There was nobody in the alley except in Drake McCarter's body.
That's when I ran to get the sheriff.
Thank you, Jack.
You reckon you know who did it?
That's my job, Jack.
You just give me the information.
I'll take care of finding the killer.
Well, sure, sure, sure.
Well, that's all I know.
Jack, would you recognize that voice if you heard it again?
Well, now, that's a good question.
A good question, because when a man says, I'm going to kill you, he don't use a voice
like he was saying, give me a glass of beer.
It's a real, real strange, strange, if you know what I mean.
It makes you shiver kind of.
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean.
Slaughter was that friend of yours, that rustler you bought out of jail this afternoon.
He's not a rustler, Sheriff.
I don't know where he is right now, but I'll find him.
And if I think he did this, I'll turn him over to you.
Where are you going?
Up to my room.
Wash up and get some supper.
Any objections?
Don't try to leave town.
Don't worry.
Hello, Luke.
You missed the excitement.
You know about it.
Couldn't very well help it.
Quite a commotion out there in the alley.
Well, come you didn't go out and join the crowd.
Well, I look at it this way.
I'm new here and none too popular with the law and some of the people.
They might jump to conclusions.
Figured I'd just stay out of it.
See you cleaning your gun, Yancy.
Mm-hmm.
You mind if I take a look at it?
Yes, Luke, I mind.
Why?
Because a man's gun is his own business.
Unless he's done something wrong with it.
Have you?
Depends on how you look at it.
Yancy, I want to see that gun.
Then you'll have to take it away from me, Luke.
Give it to me.
No.
I said give it to me.
This gun's been fired recently, Yancy.
I didn't say it hadn't.
Did you kill Drake McCardell?
It isn't the question you're asking, Luke.
It's the way you're asking it.
I'm not gonna answer you.
I'm trying to help you, Yancy.
I'm trying to help you.
Then you'll have to find some other way to do it.
I told you when I get ready to lie, I'll let you know in advance.
You crazy fool.
Well, Slaughter, I thought you was going out for some supper.
You're changing my mind, Sheriff.
You have anything new on the killing?
I'm working on it, Slaughter.
I'm working on it.
Ain't very much to go on so far.
What about McCardell's enemies?
Oh, he had lots of them.
He was a pretty bullheaded man.
If he couldn't get his way by asking for it, he got it by force.
I know that.
You know of anything that happened today that'd make somebody want to shoot him?
Well, you're about the best man to answer that question.
You beat him out in court, and he didn't like it at all.
Did you turn up any clues in the alley next to the body?
Clues?
Well, empty cartridges, footprints, anything like that.
Yeah, there were some cartridges, but there was old ones.
For footprints, with all them people milling around afterwards.
There was lots of them.
Nothing at all, hmm?
One thing might not mean nothing at all.
Again it might.
This.
Broken spur.
Yeah.
Well, I see you got both yours, so that lets you out.
But when I find the man who's missing one, I sure want to talk to him.
Can I borrow that for a little while?
What for?
I saw a man with one spur missing today.
This might make two missing.
Just point him out to me.
No, Sheriff, this is my play.
I'll make it alone.
We had one killing, we don't want another.
There won't be.
If I can help it.
Yancy.
Now what?
Hey, Pop.
Oh, yeah, Mr. Slaughter.
You been on duty all evening?
Oh, yeah, ever since supper.
That man I brought in with me this afternoon, Yancy Bell.
Did you see him go out?
About 10, 15 minutes ago.
Did you say where he was going?
Well, he asked me what was their place to get drunk.
Good and drunk.
I told him he could do that most anywhere, but the Crystal Palace was the biggest saloon
in town.
Did he go there?
Well, I can't say.
He just headed out the door.
Say, he looked awful, like he'd been in a fight or something.
He had.
He may be in another one.
Where'd you get the money to buy that liquor, Yancy?
Hello, Luke.
Can I have a drink?
Where'd you get the money?
I got it.
Where?
From the people who owed it to me.
Here, help yourself.
Did you take it by force?
You might say that, but it was mine in the first place.
Let me see your spurs, Yancy.
Spurs?
What for?
Just let me look.
Sure.
You were missing one this afternoon.
Now you're missing two.
Here I am.
Does that one fit where the left one's broken off?
Can't tell without trying, can we?
Let's see.
Yeah, it fits.
Where'd you find it?
In the alley, back of the San Jose house near Drake McCardell's body.
I guess it must have broken off there.
Then you were in the alley.
Luke, it's customary for a man to put his horse up at the stable nearest to his hotel.
Sure I was in that alley.
Yancy, let me have your gun.
I'm gonna turn you over to the sheriff.
You're going too far, Luke.
A man's entitled to his privacy and his pride, and you're going too far.
I'm taking you in.
No, you're not!
Drop your gun, Val Yancy.
I'm warning you, Luke.
I'll shoot.
Now make your play.
You want to know who killed McCardell?
I'll tell you who killed him.
It's the judge.
Drunkard Mahouda.
You can't push a man around forever, I told him.
The man's got some rights the man can be pushed so far and I
Did his dirty work for him?
I was covering up for his rustling and the first decent thing I do
Letting that fellow off he he has his riders jump me and beat me now. I told him I I said
I said him Drake. I'm gonna kill you and he didn't think I could do it
But I did I did it just like this
He was mean and and he deserved it
Easy judge it's all over now. I'll take him slow. All right sheriff. Come on judge
Yancy yeah Luke
I made a mistake a man can't always be right Luke I understand thanks
now about my gun and this money no you don't have to tell me like you said the man's entitled to his
Privacy I want to tell you I was out east of town late this afternoon practicing on rattlesnakes
When one of the hands that jumped me last night came along I guess I got a little mad
He had $20 on him so I took that on deposit why we are practicing shooting because no man living
can call me a cattle rustler if the judge hadn't gotten him first I'd have killed McArdle
Was it that important to you? Pride's a real funny thing Luke I guess I don't have to tell you that
No I guess not can I buy you a drink Yancy? Now that would make me right happy Luke and then
I'm gonna buy you one
Luke Slaughter of Tombstone starring Sam Buffington was written by Alan Botzer with
editorial supervision by Tom Hanley and directed by William N Robeson supporting Mr. Buffington
were Lou Merrill Howard McNear Barney Phillips Sam Edwards Junius Matthews and Norm Alden music
composed and conducted by Wilbur Hatch next week at this time we return with Slaughter's the name
Luke Slaughter when we meet up again you can call me that Luke Slaughter I'll stay tuned for Frontier
Gentlemen which follows immediately over most of these same stations this is the CBS radio network