And the performance of Mr. Frank Lovejoy.
Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in...
...SALS SPENCE!
I've done a lot of living for a kid 18 years old.
And right then I could feel time beginning to run out.
That was the night thing had us holed up in the old McSween house.
The place burning all around us, an old man McSween sitting there reading his Bible.
And me and Charlie both were knowing we had to make a break.
Fire's getting hot all the time, Billy. When's it gonna be?
Still got time for only a good smoke, ain't I?
There's ain't hardly no time to be smoking cigarettes, is there?
No, we've been a tighter ones than this, haven't we, Charlie?
Maybe you have, but I haven't.
You realize we gotta run within 10 feet of them fellas out there...
...before we can make it to the woods?
If we make it to the woods, we'll make it.
Some of us have a doubt for who came this far.
Now ain't that convenient. Just what I need to light my smoke.
Ready to go, Charlie?
I guess so.
Good luck.
Charlie Fowler, get him!
He made it, Mr. McSween, he made it.
I shall go now, then.
All right. Hey, wait a minute. Where's your gun?
I've never carried a gun yet, Billy.
And I do not intend to now.
I shall carry my Bible.
It stood me in good stead for many years.
A Bible against them?
Say, it might work. It might just work at that.
You step out there where they can see you holding it...
...and I won't fire when you start a cross.
All right. Now.
Here do I walk in the valley of the shadow of death.
Mr. McSween!
I will be an OEVO...
...without what we think.
I am on a nice journey.
They shot him.
Nothing but a Bible in his hand, they shot him.
All right, kid. You're next.
Well, here goes nothing.
Oh, come on, I'm waiting.
Let's go get him. Get him in one.
I'll be.
I'll be seeing you fellas around.
And when I do, watch out.
Ha ha, the Lincoln County War, they call that one.
Just a feud between two cattle kings...
...and me, nothing but a working hand.
But seems like they blamed the whole thing square on to me...
...just because it was Billy the Kid.
I'm not going to let them get away with it.
It seems like they blamed the whole thing square on to me...
...just because it was Billy the Kid.
A tough little vile that had killed 16 men.
From then on, it was me running and them closing in...
...and just a matter of time.
That was when I first met Pat Garrett.
Me and Charlie was hit out in the mountains.
I'll never forget the first sight I had of all Pat.
Hey Billy, looky here.
What is it?
The fellow riding up the trail.
Oh, a lanky cuss, ain't he?
Likes putting that drag on the ground over that poor little pole.
Lanky or not, I don't like it.
What's he doing up here? You know him?
No.
Howdy.
You mind if I pull up a spell?
It's a free country up on these parts anyway.
We just passing through?
Not exactly.
You're Billy the Kid, aren't you?
Keep your hands in plain sight, mister.
You'll get down off that horse really soon.
All right.
That's better.
Ah, was you looking for Billy the Kid?
That's right.
What do you want with him?
I got a message for him.
You're from the law?
No, but my message is...
Well, if you made the kind of law like Bob Olinger and that bunch in Lincoln,
I got no time for him.
And you are the Kid, huh?
That's right.
Now what do you want?
I got a message from General Lou Wallace.
He wants to talk to you.
Who's General Wallace?
New governor of New Mexico.
President Hayes just appointed him.
He's waiting for you, Don Lincoln.
No.
You crazy, mister?
You think either one of us is right back into that town after what's happened?
Ah, wait a minute, Charlie.
You see...
What's your name in here?
Pat Garrett.
You say this man was sent all the way out here by the President?
He wants to talk to me?
That's right.
But if it comes from the President of the United States,
I don't see how I can very well say no.
Billy, you ain't going.
I'm going.
He'll guarantee you safe conduct.
As far as he can.
I know what you mean.
Billy, you know Bob Allens, he'll never let you get out of that town alive.
Yeah, I'm kind of curious about that myself.
By the way, Mr. Garrett, whatever made him send you?
You're a stranger out here, ain't you?
I guess that's the reason.
Seems they couldn't find nobody else in Lincoln that took much to the notion
of tracking down Billy the Kid.
Well, there's your town of Lincoln.
That's her.
And if there ain't Bob Olinger and the rest standing out in front of Murphy's store,
just like they were waiting for somebody.
They are.
Word got around even before 11.
I guess it would have been.
You're on your own now, kid. I'm staying here.
So, now are you scared?
No.
I'm just staying on my side of the wall.
What's that supposed to mean?
Well, if I was to ride in there with you and Bob Olinger and them started shooting,
the next thing you know, I'd be shooting back.
And the next thing you know, I'd be in the same sorry sort of shape you are.
That's good enough, Nancy.
I'll be seeing you around.
Hi, Billy.
Hi, Bob.
I hear you're the law around here now.
I'm a deputy, huh?
Looking for the law?
When I come looking for you, Bob, you'll know it.
Right now I'm looking for General Wallace.
Smart kid.
You know where I can find the General?
He's sitting down there on the porch of the old house.
Thanks, Bob.
I don't want no thanks for you.
Nothing.
General Wallace?
Yes?
You wanted to talk to me. I'm Billy the Kid.
What? What's with you so young?
What?
Shall we go inside, Billy?
All right, General.
I'd like to talk to you privately.
Sit down.
Thanks.
A lot of paperwork you got on that desk, General.
Well, to tell you the truth, I'm writing a book.
Then?
It's about ancient Rome.
I never had much school.
I know you didn't.
I know quite a lot about you, Billy.
But not if you listen to the way they tell it around here, you know.
I've heard both sides.
I know you didn't start the Lincoln County War single-handed.
But frankly, Billy, the whole country has been shocked by the lawlessness and bloodshed out here.
And some people seem to think you had quite a lot to do with it.
I fought for my side just like the others did for theirs, that's all.
That may be.
The point is, I've been sent all the way out here by the President of the United States to put a stop to it.
Billy, I want you to take off your guns now.
And I want you to stand trial.
I don't mean to be disrespectful, General, but do you see that bunch of men standing in front of Murphy's store?
Yes.
Think I could walk past that store without my guns and get past it alive?
You've got past it just now.
That's because I had my guns.
And as for standing trial, I couldn't get any kind of a trial in New Mexico.
All right, Billy. I'm going to make you a proposition.
If you stand trial and you are convicted, I personally will promise you a full and immediate pardon.
Full pardon? And then what?
Start a new life. Settle down.
General, when Mr. McSween walked out in front of that mob, he was a man that never carried a gun in his life.
All he had in his hand was a Bible.
They shot him down in cold blood.
Ah, General, I got a few scores to even up before I settled down.
Maybe it was fate.
I don't know, because Pat Garrett and me got to be real good friends after that.
I was hanging around Fort Sumner and so was he, and we used to see a whole lot of each other.
And then I didn't see him around for quite a while.
Until one day I walked into Jose Valdez's saloon.
Pat! Pat Garrett, you old son of a gun!
Hello, Billy. Long time no see.
That's right. How about a drink on me?
All right.
Whiskey for two, Jose.
Sure thing, Billy.
Why, you've been keeping yourself lately, Pat.
Oh, I've been here and there.
Yeah, I've been hearing about some of those places you've been.
Have you?
Hey, is that Billy the Kid?
Yes, that's right, you.
Who's that heading over here?
Joe Grant from Texas likes to think he's a pretty hard case.
Hope I ain't gonna have that kind of trouble again, Pat.
You know, Billy the Kid ain't you?
That's right, and you're Joe Grant.
Oh, you hear about me, have you?
Oh, sure, I've heard of you.
Tell you what, Billy, I bet I'll kill a man today before you do.
I don't aim to kill a man today or tomorrow or anytime.
You think I don't mean it, huh?
Well, there's $25 cash money right on the bar.
Jose will hold the stakes.
Now, what would I want to make a bet like that for?
You scared of losing it?
All right, Joe, there's my $25.
Just see that you don't kill nobody that don't deserve killing.
Don't you worry none about that.
I expect he'll sweep it off before he can do any damage.
Where was we, Pat?
Yeah, we was talking about the places you'd heard I'd been.
Yeah, I heard you've been talking to the Cattlemen's Association.
And I heard they've been talking about making you sheriff.
That's right, Billy.
I hate to see that, Pat.
This territory is going to be a state someday, Billy, someday soon.
And the state's got to have some law.
For instance, you've been living off other men's cattle for the last two years.
That's the kind of thing you're going to have to start.
And if you was the law, you'd have to start.
Yeah, I would.
Billy, the Joe Grant's coming back up here.
Thanks, Jose.
Here he comes now.
I was afraid of something like this.
Don't worry, I'll handle it.
Hello, Joe.
Hello, sir.
Can I help you?
I'm collecting that back from you, kid.
Shit!
You seen he drew first?
You all seen that, didn't you?
Sure, sure.
Let's hold along, Pat.
All right.
The rest of you fellas just take it easy.
That way there won't be no trouble.
Where's your horse at?
Right alongside yours.
Let's you and me take a little ride.
That would be a bad idea.
Hey, you know what, Pat?
I clean forgot to collect that $25 bet.
Pat, tell me something.
What?
You gonna take that sheriff job?
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Frank Lovejoy in the shooting of Billy the Kid.
Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, South Spence.
Say, Harlow, what do you like to do on a fine spring night like this?
Why, Hab, I like to press the starter of my car and experience that engine snapping alive
thanks to the potent and persuasive power of my Auto Light Stay Full,
the battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use.
And when you get started, Harlow?
Why, Hab, when I get started I can't stop talking about the fiberglass retaining mats
that protect every positive plate of the Auto Light Stay Full to reduce shedding and flaking,
and that the Auto Light Stay Full gives longer life,
as proved by tests conducted according to accepted life cycle standards.
But, Harlow, we were talking about spring.
Why, Hab, spring to your telephone and call Western Union by number.
And ask for me, Operator 25.
I'll gladly tell you the location of your nearest Auto Light battery dealer
where you can get an Auto Light Stay Full.
And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage Mr. Frank Lovejoy
and Louis's production of The Shooting of Billy the Kid,
a true story well calculated to keep you in suspense.
The Shooting of Billy the Kid
After Pat Garrett got to be sheriff, the cards was dealt,
nothing now but to wait for the showdown.
And I guess I knew it too.
But somehow I couldn't bring myself to leave the country,
and that's how we happen to be holed up at the old sheep herders' hut at Stinking Springs.
It was early the next morning.
When you figuring to move out, Charlie?
Most any time, I guess, Charlie.
Well, I better feed the horses then.
Yeah.
All right.
Off your hands, Charlie, we're not your comers.
Get that carrot!
Charlie, you hit bad.
I tried to draw on him.
Lie down here.
Give me your eyes.
Oh, man, don't.
Don't talk like that.
Billy, I want a parse.
A parse?
I've done some pretty bad things in my life.
I'd like to get him off my chest before I die.
How are we going to get a parser out here?
Talk to Pat Garrett.
Ask him to take me into town.
We'd be at ease.
All right, Charlie.
Pat Garrett.
John Billy.
I want a parley. Will you come in?
I won't hurt you.
I'll give you my horse.
Charlie.
Charlie's dying. He wants a priest.
Will you send him back to town?
I'm sorry about that.
Will you?
Billy, you can take this as a compliment or not,
but I don't dare spare the men.
I'll send a couple of new ones to get away.
Are you trying to bargain over a dying man's last wish?
No.
There's been too much already about you and me being friends.
That's all over.
Maybe.
I wish you'd give yourself up.
If you don't, we're going to kill you the night or tomorrow or the next day.
I don't want that to happen.
Billy, is he there? Is Pat there?
I'm here, Charlie.
You were the one who hurt Pat.
Charlie.
All right, Pat. Here's my gun.
Tell your men we're coming out with our hands up.
So they caught me at last.
And the trial was just like I said it would be, short and sweet,
and me sentenced to hang on the 13th of May.
And they took me back to the jail in Lincoln.
Handcuffs and leg irons and two deputies to guard me day and night.
And who were they?
Jack Bell and my old friend, Bob Olinger.
Know what day it is today, kid?
28th, unless I miscount.
You didn't miscount.
You counting the days just the same as I am.
Why don't you lay off the kid, Bob?
Oh, let him have his fun, Jack.
15 more days for you, kid.
Then you'll be a dancer on the end of the world.
That'll make you mighty happy, wouldn't it, Bob?
If you want to know the truth, it'll be the happiest day of my life.
Well, maybe it will, maybe it won't.
Lots of things can happen in 15 days.
You figure I'll make it rain.
I just hope you try.
You see this double barrel shot here?
Yeah, I see it.
And I've seen it before.
It's loaded with 18 bucks.
If there's anything I want more than seeing you hang,
it's a chance to kill you yourself.
Morning, gents.
How's that?
Everything all right up here?
Just fine and dandy.
The boys treat me right, Billy.
Everything a condemned man could want,
including Bob's daily lecture on the fine art of hanging.
I thought I told you to cut that out, Bob.
Ah, just ragging on that?
Well, I've got to go to White Oaks today.
Won't be back till tomorrow, so I want you two to take good care of my boy.
You worry about that?
I'm going home for lunch.
You got him like it back, Jack.
Then I'll sped.
All right, Bob.
Sorry about Bob.
I want your Billy.
I know he's a mean devil, but he's my deputy
and I had to put him on a job.
Oh, I don't mind.
Fact is, I'm kind of glad it's him.
I don't know.
What does that mean?
Nothing much.
Well, Pat, you...
What are you going to White Oaks for?
His business.
I heard about that business.
You're getting a man to build the gallows.
I'll be going long, sir.
Hurry back with the gallows, Pat.
It'd be a shame if you never got to use them.
Ha ha ha.
How about a little game of blackjack till Bob gets back?
True to me.
I've got the cards right here.
Do you want a bucket or a bank?
I'll bank it.
I feel lucky today.
Let's go up to the table.
Not too close, Billy.
I wouldn't want you to go making a grab
with this gun in my belt.
Now, how could a man in leg irons and handcuffs
do a thing like that?
I can hardly make out to play my cards.
Deal.
I wish I was playing for money instead of matches.
I feel real lucky.
Doug.
I'm sorry I dropped the card on the floor.
I'm sorry.
That's all right. I'll get it.
Hey, you got my gun.
I sure have, Jack.
I'll use it on you if I have to.
What are you going to do?
Just don't make any wrong moves
and you'll be all right.
I'm going to lock you up in a safe place
and then I'm going to wait for good old Bob.
I'll open that door and start marching down that hall.
Jack, stop!
I hated to do that one, but I couldn't help it.
I had to move fast now.
I slipped the cuffs.
I'd always known I could do that easy.
I started back for the front of the building.
Then I seen Bob Olinger's shotgun
leaning there against the wall.
I grabbed it up and went over and hit by the open window
that looks out on the street.
And sure enough, the next thing I see is old Bob
hurrying down the street with his six gun in his hand.
Jack, everything all right up there?
Hello, Bob.
Really?
That's right.
And looking at you right down the barrel of that shotgun of yours.
Oh, wait!
I had a blacksmith cut off my leg irons
and that was when I should have left the country for sure.
But still I couldn't do it.
Fade again? Maybe.
But then there was a girl in Fort Sumner,
never mind who, but there was a girl.
Who is there?
It's me.
Oh, Chiquito.
It was so late I didn't think you were coming.
I said I would.
Come quickly.
Chiquito, it's so good to see you.
You too, darling.
Billy, you mustn't stay long.
They say Pat Garrett is in town.
Pat? No.
Old Pat's down around Viscosa.
He thought I'd head south.
Well, I don't know, but I think...
Chiquito, what are you going to do?
You can't hide and run like this forever.
I'm not going, oh, darling.
I want to settle down like they always said I should.
I'm going to Mexico.
You're going with me.
Will you?
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
We'll start in the morning.
We'll be over the border in a couple of days.
I'm half-starved.
You got anything to eat?
No, only a little bread and some
But Pete Maxwell killed us two today.
I'll go borrow some meat from him.
No, Billy.
Let's just next door and pizza and all that.
Billy, be careful.
Don't worry.
I'll be right back.
Nice, ain't you?
Who is it?
You're one of them out-of-town sheepherders, ain't you?
Who is it?
You need to be some nerves.
Pete, hey, Pete.
Is Billy asleep?
No, Billy.
It's so dark I can't see nothing in there.
Who's that fella out on the porch?
Pete.
He's with me, Billy.
Pat.
I'm sorry, Billy.
I'm sorry it had to be me that shot you.
Suspense, a true story presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Mr. Frank Lovejoy.
This is Harlow Willcox speaking for Auto Light.
And here once again is our star, Frank Lovejoy.
Thank you, Harlow.
And ladies and gentlemen, may I thank you for the many wonderful letters you wrote following
my appearance on Suspense and the wreck of the old 97.
We of the Auto Light family are happy when you enjoy the show.
And may I urge you to listen next week where I know you'll especially enjoy Frankie and
Johnny, a Suspense story starring Dinah Shore.
Right you are, Frank.
And friends, remember, Suspense is presented by the Auto Light family of 98,000 distributors
and dealers, the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great Auto Light plants from coast to
coast, and the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in Auto Light.
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That's why you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week, the radio dramatization and song and story of a woman.