- Ben and Adam are locked in jail, about to hung for a crime they didn't commit. Joe and Hoss must find out why the witnesses to the alleged crime have perjured themselves before the execution takes place. They receive help from an unexpected source, a drifter called Lassiter who is searching for the men who committed a lynching in Kansas years ago.—David Bassler
- Ben and Adam have been convicted of murder and are scheduled to die at 6:00 in the evening. Hawkins' men are in town to make sure it happens.
Hoss and Joe ride up to the jail and tell Ben that they found Duece Martin, a witness. He's dead. He fell or was pushed from a cliff. Sheriff Hansen (Robert Griffin) reminds them that Duece gave a statement immediately after the murder. Joe counters with the fact that Duece then left town and now he's dead. Ben tells Hoss and Joe to do three things: 1. Go talk to the only surviving witness Sally Byrnes (Jean Allison). 2. Stop by the paper. Mr. Baxter (Ian Wolfe) is running a special edition that will make people think. 3. Find Barney Arden (Robert Brubaker) and help him get names for the petition to the governor.
A stranger rides into town. He takes his horse to the livery. The liveryman, Zeke Jackson (Dan White) asks where the man is from. He says he's from Lassiter, Kansas. Zeke recalls that was the town attacked by raiders and burned. Lassiter (Vic Morrow) merely asks about the hanging scaffold. Is the hanging coming or been. Zeke tells him it's set for 6:00 that night. After Zeke takes the horse away, Hoss and Joe come through and Joe bumps into Lassiter. Joe's ready for a fight, but Lassiter won't take the bait and Hoss calms Joe down. After Lassiter leaves, Hoss and Joe take out their hidden rifles and hide them in the stable.
Lassiter goes to the cafe for supper. Only the owner, Sally Byrnes is there. While she's getting his dinner, he notices her calendar. The days up to today are crossed out and today, April 26, is circled. When she returns he asks why the town is so empty. She says the people are afraid to see the Cartwrights hang. He says he noticed she was counting the days. Hoss and Joe come in. They tell Sally that Duece is dead and now she's the only witness against Ben and Adam. She isn't intimidated and says she told what she saw at the trial. Joe grabs her and calls her a liar. Lassiter is immediately there to push Joe off even as Hoss is pulling Joe back. Joe apologizes and says he only wanted Sally to tell the truth. Sally remains determinedly silent and Joe leaves. Hoss asks one more time, politely. Sally tells him that she's not going to lie for him and Hoss leaves resigned. Sally then thanks Lassiter for standing up to the Cartwrights. The only other person she's seen do that is Cy Hawkins. Lassiter asks about the murder. She says Ben and Adam came claiming that her father bought stolen Ponderosa horses. They were out back with Duece. She heard arguing and then the shooting. She's upset and asks him to understand that it was a crazy way to die. Lassiter says he knows the feeling very well.
A young boy, Jimmy (Eugene Martin) comes into the cafe. The sheriff sent him to get stew for the prisoners. Sally's not happy about it, but goes to get it. While they wait, Jimmy notices the way Lassiter sits and wears his hat and gun. He tries to mimic the man. Lassiter plays along for a bit, then goes back to the kitchen. He asks Sally if Lassiter, Kansas means anything to her. It doesn't. He asks if Ben Cartwright is a tall man. She says Ben is big, but wouldn't Lassiter know the name of the man he's looking for. Lassiter says he'll know him when he sees him and heads over to the jail.
When Lassiter looks at Ben, he's disappointed. Ben asks if Lassiter thought the hangman would be doing him a favor. Lassiter says yes and apologizes for bothering Ben. As he's about to leave, Hoss comes in. He tells Ben and Adam that Sally won't change her story. Joe's gone down to the mines because they figure that's where Barney is getting signatures for the petition. Ben's glad to hear it, but reminds Hoss to go to the paper too. Adam recommends he stop at the telegraph office. Maybe Barney's already wired the governor. Before Hoss leaves, Ben makes him promise to do what he can, but to stay within the law. And no matter what, not to take up arms. He doesn't want Hoss and Joe fighting the law and their friends. Hoss promises and leaves. Lassiter overheard all this and returns to the cell area. He says Ben couldn't be more opposite of the man he's looking for.
Lassiter goes to Gil's Saloon and orders a whiskey. Most of Hawkins' men are there. Bert (Harry Swoger) notices the odd way Lassiter wears his gun and teases him about it. Lassiter ignores him, refusing to be provoked. Fred (James Anderson) the leader, asks if Lassiter is a friend of the Cartwrights. Without looking at him Lassiter says he is. Fred asks how long? Lassiter says, "Maybe ten, fifteen minutes." Fred says it's a short friendship. Bert wants to make sure that Lassiter doesn't get in their way and gives him a warning. Lassiter ignores him again, which just makes Bert mad and Fred sends him outside to cool down. Lassiter merely asks the bartender (Bern Bassey) if the Cartwrights have any friends. "Not many," he says.
Jimmy is walking back to the jail with his pail of stew when he bumps into Bert coming out of the saloon. When Bert and his buddy Hoag (Bill Catching) discover the meal is for the Cartwrights, they start dumping dirt and a cigar into it. Jimmy's cries bring Lassiter running. He knocks both men aside. Bert falls to the ground and loses his gun. As he reaches to pick it up, Hoss steps on his hand. Fred calls an end to the fight and the men return to the saloon. Jimmy's upset about the stew and Hoss tells him not to worry about it. But Lassiter sends him back to Sally's telling him to finish what he started. Hoss asks who's side Lassiter is on. Lassiter says he thinks the wrong people are in jail in this town. Hoss explains that things couldn't have happened the way Sally said they did. He doesn't think she's lying, but must be mistaken. Ben and Adam were firing at the murderer. Duece could've been coerced, scared or bribed, for his statement. Lassiter asks about the petition and the newspaper. Hoss assures him they'll get enough signatures, especially with the newspaper coming out. Fred overheard this.
Joe runs up. He's suspicious of Lassiter, but Hoss vouches for him. Joe says Barney never went to the mines for signatures. They're going to go look for Barney at his house. Before they go, Lassiter asks, if all else fails, are they planning a small revolution. Hoss just says, "Yup." Lassiter asks them to hold off for as long as they can.
Sally is getting Jimmy some more stew and promises that Mr. Hawkins will take care of the men who did this. Jimmy doesn't believe that. Sally explains that Mr. Hawkins can't be responsible for the actions of his men. Lassiter has returned and hears this. He disagrees. "As a rule, you can usually tell a man by the men around him."
Fred and Bert go to the newspaper office. The threaten Baxter with cutting him and pouring hot lead on him to stop the printing.
Hoss and Joe find Barney sitting in his dark parlor with his wife and daughter. He says he had to stop getting signatures because Hawkins men threatened his family. Joe accuses him of running and hiding in a house he wouldn't even have if not for Ben. Hoss asks how many signatures he did get. Barney only got five and Hawkins men made him scratch his own name off. Hoss and Joe are disgusted with the cowardice and take the petition themselves. But everyone they approach refuses to sign. They're all afraid of Hawkins and Hawkins men are tailing Hoss and Joe just to add to the fear. Hoss and Joe even go to the saloon. The bartender won't sign either. Joe promises to protect him. Gil knows they mean that, and he knows they will. Every day but one. Bert teases that he'll sign it, but Hoss is in no mood and shoves Bert across the room. He and Joe start to leave. Lassiter bursts in, gun drawn and ready to fire. Hoss and Joe turn to see Bert, still on the floor, but ready to shoot them in the back. All three back out of the saloon and Joe thanks Lassiter for the help.
Next, Hoss and Joe go to the paper, but they find Baxter frozen in fear. They know their time is up and head back to the stables to get their guns.
Hawkins (Richard Devon) finally arrives and checks in with Fred in the saloon. Fred says they put a stop to the petition and the paper. Hawkins notices Bert's bandaged hand and asks about it. Both Fred and Bert wave it off as nothing. There's a stranger in town, but nothing to worry about.
Lassiter goes back to Sally's. Jimmy comes in depressed. He didn't get the stew to the jail in time. They were tying Ben's and Adam's hands and it was too late. Sally consoles him saying he tried. But Jimmy wanted to do something nice for the Cartwrights. Now he'll never get a chance to pay them back. When his parents were sick and nearly died, Mr. Cartwright brought him a horse and said it was a Christmas present, even though it was June. He just wanted to pay Ben back and now he can't. Lassiter assures him that Ben knows and sends the boy home promising everything will be alright. Then he looks out the door and tells Sally she'll have a good view of the hanging. She says she wants them to hang, but that doesn't mean she wants to see it. She goes back to the kitchen. Lassiter says the sound will carry and that's almost as bad as seeing it. He describes it to her and looks out the back window she says she saw the shooting from. It's so dirty she couldn't have seen anything. He thinks Duece told her what happened and she believed him. She argues that she's lost enough. Her pa was killed. "I thought you were my friend!" Lassiter says he is her friend and that's why he won't let her do this. He once saw an innocent man hanged and now he's looking for the men who did it. He believes she knows in her heart that the Cartwrights didn't kill her father. She runs from the room.
Ben and Adam are brought out to the scaffolding. They bravely climb the steps. Joe and Hoss are at the stables, rifles ready. Joe wants to start, but Hoss holds him back. They promised to wait to the last minute.
Lassiter is describing things to Sally as he looks out the door. Finally she comes to look too and can't stand the sight of Ben and Adam with the ropes around their necks. She admits that she didn't see it happen. Lassiter tells her to hurry and tell the sheriff. She runs across the street calling to him, calling out the truth. Hawkins tells her to stay out of it. Lassiter realizes that Hawkins is one of the men he's looking for. He asks if Hawkins remembers him from another hanging in Lassiter, Kansas. Hawkins goes for his gun, but Lassiter is faster. A gun fight breaks out and Hoss and Joe shoot some of Hawkins men to protect Lassiter. The sheriff ends it and releases Ben and Adam, then takes the surviving Hawkins men away.
Ben gives Hoss' and Joe's arms a squeeze and Joe teases, "Aren't you glad we didn't wait til the last minute."
The next day, as Lassiter is leaving, he meets Sally. She thanks him for not letting her do the wrong thing. "You made it right" he tells her. Then he meets the Cartwrights. Ben thanks him and offers him a job on the Ponderosa, now that he's found the man he was looking for. Lassiter says Hawkins was only one and there are more he needs to find. After Lassiter rides away, Ben tells the boys he wouldn't want to be one of the men Lassiter is after.
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