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Don's TV Gunsmoke
Story by John Meston
Henry Huckaby is tired of his life.
He finds there aren't many get-rich-quick jobs
in Dodge. But a professional gambler with some time to kill shows Henry how
to deal from the bottom of the deck. When he joins his first poker game he
is so nervous he can barely shuffle the cards.
A fight breaks out in town. Henry watches a young man get the better of his larger opponent and has an idea. He asks the young man, Otto Gundlach, if he'd be interested in making some money by participating in a prize fight that he will arrange. Otto agrees. Henry goes to Fort Dodge to hire his opponent - Trooper Johnny Towers, who is about to get his discharge. By charging the audience $2 a head, Henry is sure he will make his fortune as a prize-fight promoter.
Price wants his $200 back from Otto. The
fighter calmly produces the money, then hands half of it to his opponent. He
never did agree to throw the fight. Price declares he is going to kill him
and pulls his gun.
Henry has no choice but to return back to his
farm and his wife.
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Henry Huckaby: Vic Perrin
He works hard all
day on his farm and never has anything to show for it. He is going to go
into Dodge and find a way to make his fortune. His wife tells him he won't
last two weeks but Henry is determined.
Another professional
gambler, Price, (Don Collier) is impatient. Teasing Henry, he announces to
the card players that Henry is no doubt a card sharp. Henry tells him
angrily to shut up and reaches for something that Price thinks is a gun.
Price fires and shoots Henry in the arm. Henry was merely reaching for his
handkerchief to dry his sweaty hands. Quint (Burt Reynolds) tells Marshal
Dillon (James Arness) that it did look like Henry was going for his gun so
Price is not charged. Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) treats Henry for his small
wound.
Price
has a way he can make a big profit on the fight. He goes to Otto and offers
him $200 to throw the fight. Otto accepts the money without saying a word.
Price leaves, saying that if Otto crosses him, he'll kill him. Then Price
goes to the Long Branch Saloon and announces that he's backing the Trooper
and lays out the odds.
The two
opponents are evenly matched. The fight is in its 40th round when Marshal
Dillon arrives and puts a stop to it - prize fighting is against the law.
Henry has to pay a fine of $50. Then he has to pay the men who helped him
organize the fight, as well as Otto and Johnny.
But
Marshall Dillon is faster, wounding the gambler in the arm. Price is
arrested for attempted murder.
All
he has to show for his attempt to get rich is five dollars. He is now home to
stay.