- Al Denton: I was good. I was real good. I was so good that once a day, someone would ride into town to make me prove it. And every morning, I'd start my drinkin' a few minutes earlier. Until one morning, the guy who asked me to prove it turned out to be sixteen years old. I left him there on his face. Right there in front of the saloon. I left him there bleedin' to death with my bullet in him. I guess it'll start all over again, now. Every fast and fancy man who owns a gun will come riding in down that street. Only this time it'll be me face down, bleedin' to death. I think I'll go in and get a shave. I wanna look proper on the day I die.
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Closing Narration] Mr. Henry Fate, dealer in utensils and pots and pans, liniments and potions. A fanciful little man in a black, frock coat, who can help a man climbing out of a pit - or another man from falling into one. Because, you see, Fate can work that way - in The Twilight Zone.
- Leader: Tall man. Doesn't usually wear his gun. Blond hair.
- Al Denton: Who does that describe?
- Leader: It describes a man named Al Denton. Supposed to be top gun here. Would that be you?
- Al Denton: That'd be me.
- Leader: I got a message for you, Denton, comes from Pete Grant.
- Al Denton: Well, let's hear the message.
- Leader: Pete will be in town tomorrow night at 10:00. He'll meet you over in the saloon.
- Al Denton: Look, you tell him there's no call...
- [realizes what would happen if he backed off]
- Al Denton: Tell Mr. Grant I'll be there tomorrow night. I'll wait for his pleasure.
- Leader: That's just what it'll be.
- Al Denton: [after getting his sharpshooting skills back, Dan Hotaling stands in his way in defiance. Denton slaps Hotaling in the face] And don't call me Rummy anymore!
- Dan Hotaling: [notices Denton holding a gun] Wait a minute, Denton. Hey, Gunner! Hey! Where did you get that artillery?
- Al Denton: I found it... I found it right over there in the street.
- Dan Hotaling: Is that a fact? Heh! Bet it's a long time since you used one of those, isn't it, rummy?
- Al Denton: Yeah, a long time.
- Dan Hotaling: Well, maybe you could use it now. Yeah. Maybe you could even outdraw me.
- Al Denton: No, I wouldn't know how to use it anymore.
- Dan Hotaling: Well, let's see you try. Come on. You and me will draw.
- Liz: All right. All right. Dan, cut it out. It's not funny anymore.
- Dan Hotaling: Go on. Get away, Liz. The gunner and me, we're gonna have a showdown here. Come on, Gunner. Let's lift it up...
- Liz: Oh, Dan, stop it!
- Charlie: Come on, Dan. Liz is right.
- Dan Hotaling: GO ON BACK TO THE BAR, CHARLIE! Can't you see we got private business here?
- Charlie: Listen, Dan...
- [Dan kicks the bar door, sending Charlie tumbling backward]
- Dan Hotaling: Come on. Come on out here. Come on, rummy. Come on!
- [Denton walks a few steps forward]
- Dan Hotaling: I'm gonna give you a break, rummy. I'm gonna do it left-handed.
- Al Denton: Miss Smith, tell him. Please tell him. Please. Miss Smith, please tell him...
- [after waving his gun in his hand, he shoots Hotaling in the left wrist]
- Al Denton: Miss Smith, please tell him it was an accident. I don't want any trouble. Mr. Hotaling...
- Charlie: That was shooting, Al.
- Al Denton: Mr. Hotaling, listen...
- Charlie: Come in and get a drink. It's on the house.
- [Charlie escorts Denton into the bar]
- Charlie: Did you get your eye back, Al? You been practicing or something? We ain't seen shooting like that since I don't know when. Against Hotaling, too.
- Al Denton: It isn't even mine.
- Charlie: Drinks on the house!
- Dan Hotaling: HEY, RUMMY! Face me, Denton!
- Al Denton: [the bar patrons scatter] It was an accident, Mr. Hotaling.
- Dan Hotaling: I'm gonna get this right in your stomach!
- Charlie: Dan, give him a break.
- Al Denton: I didn't mean to... I didn't even mean to... I didn't even mean to...
- [as he's waving his gun, Denton fires again. This time, it causes a lamp to fall on Hotaling's gun]
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Opening Narration] Portrait of a town drunk named Al Denton. This is a man who's begun his dying early - a long, agonizing route through a maze of bottles. Al Denton, who would probably give an arm or a leg or a part of his soul to have another chance, to be able to rise up and shake the dirt from his body and the bad dreams that infest his consciousness.
- [Shot of Henry J. Fate]
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Narration continues] In the parlance of the times, this is a peddler, a rather fanciful-looking little man in a black, frock coat.
- [a six-gun materializes beside Denton]
- Rod Serling - Narrator: [Narration continues] And this is the third principal character of our story. Its function: perhaps to give Mr. Al Denton his second chance.