 I don't need a gun for you, Mr. You're all eaten up with fear and hate. The most you can hope for now is a fast death. Have gun. We'll travel. Starring Mr. John Daner as Paladin. San Francisco, 1875. The Carlson Hotel. Headquarters of a man called Paladin. Mr. Paladin? Oh, yes, Miss Wong. You want light for a cigar? Oh, I didn't realize I hadn't lighted it. Thank you. I noticed you've seen me a long time study item in newspapers. So turn back the clock. This is the Hammond Sentinel, last week's edition. Now, read the item. Deathbed confession clears Ed Stacey. Starring of gunshot wounds suffered in a futile attempt to rob the overland stage. Joe Barnes, a former driver, confessed to another holdup two years ago and exonerated Ed Stacey, who had been convicted of the crime and sentenced to a long-term imprisonment. Oh, so? See, Miss Wong, two years ago I brought Ed Stacey back for trial. Oh, you have pain from conscience, but you only do job, Mr. Paladin. That's what I've been telling myself. Now, at the same time, I don't like to feel that I've been responsible for taking two years out of an innocent man's life. Oh, but it's hardly over now. I'm not so sure. Here's the rest of the newspaper report. Will Stanhope, president of the Overland Line, announced he would personally arrange for Stacey's release and expressed profound regret at the miscarriage of justice. Oh, it's a pleasure. Sounds fine, doesn't it? Oh, it's fine. Well, that telegram you delivered to me half an hour ago was from the same Will Stanhope. Now, what can I do with it? I don't know. Oh, now, here. Listen. Need you. Life in danger. Come at once. Mike, how unfortunate. Oh, what do you plan, Mr. Paladin? Well, he says at once. At once. I guess I'd better get started. Hello, this is Marvin Miller with another page from your American heritage scrapbook. In the 17th and 18th centuries, newly discovered America offered breathing space for the cramped peoples of Europe. But no one could guess how rapidly the vast unsettled wilderness could be tamed. Englishmen arriving in Jamestown and Plymouth were beset by famine, disease, and hostile Indians. They were lucky to survive at all. Populating the colonies was a slow and arduous process. But due largely to the great puritan migration from Europe, by 1641, some 50,000 English settlers had reached North America. 75 years later, this continuous migration from Europe and the British Isles had brought the colonial population to 435,000. On the eve of the revolution in 1775, two and a half million people inhabited the 13 colonies, approximately one-third of the population of all Great Britain. The first federal census in 1790 disclosed that less than 3% of the population were in towns of more than 10,000. Most immigrants lived on the land. But cities were beginning to flourish. Revolutionary Philadelphia with its 40,000 inhabitants was the first colonial city in size. New York was second with 25,000. Boston with 16,000 third. Charleston, the largest city of the South, numbered 12,000. America was growing. And in spite of all adversity, America was destined to continue its growth. Why? Possibly because America was a dream for freedom-loving people, then as it is today. The trip to Hammond wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Before I reached town, my horse found her. I walked the last three miles carrying my saddle and bag. I was exhausted, but the matter seemed urgent and I'd already wasted time, so I went directly to the Oberlin stage office. Except that he appeared to have shrunk a bit and his skin seemed to be drawn even tighter over his thin, sharp face. Will Stanhope hadn't changed much in the two years since I'd last seen him. I recognized the man with him as Sheriff Clyde. Hello, Paladin. Paladin, glad you got here. Sit down. I'm tired. So whatever it is you've got in your mind, Stanhope, let's get started on it, shall we? Paladin, he's come back for revenge. He just came home back to his ranch. What else would he do? You talking about Ed Stacey? You know about Stacey? Read it in the paper. Be gunning for him. Boy's got a right to be sore considering what happened. If I say if we try to make it up to him, show him we're glad he's back, he'll cool off. I agree. Let's wait and see, huh? Wait for him to kill me, I suppose. Well, all I know is I can't arrest the man for what he's thinking. Better get back to the office. Now, do you know why I sent you that wire, Paladin? I need someone to protect me. Just what do you want me to do, Mr. Stanhope? There's $3,000 in this envelope. If Stacey could be persuaded to leave Hammond for good. $3,000 is a lot of persuasion. Use whatever you have to and keep the rest. I wouldn't even care if you kept it all. As long as I never had to worry about Stacey again. That kind of deal is out. I'll find Stacey and talk to him in the morning. Maybe if you saw him tonight. I assure you I'll be much more persuasive after a night's sleep. I was just settling down to get that night's sleep. When I heard someone in the hall outside my hotel room, and a splintering sound as the flimsy door gave way to pressure, I made a try from my gun, but it hung just out of reach. Paladin. Who are you? My name is Ben Stacey. You and me are going to have a little talk. Ben Stacey. You're going to have a little talk about the way you and Stanhope railroaded my brother. Admiral. I wasn't his judge and jury. I did the job I was paid for. You're wrong, mister. You ain't been paid yet. I'm taking care of that right now. Hey, don't we just... Ben. Ben, stop it! Stop it, you fool! You want to kill him? We're only trying to help you, Ed. I know, but you go on, then. Go on. All right. But we're only trying to help you. Yeah, I know. Paladin. Paladin, you all right? Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. Oh, God. I was close. I was too close. I heard you were in town. I was afraid. You see, Ben, he gets an idea of somebody's trying to do me harm. It's hard to shake the idea out of him. Why don't you let him finish the job and might have saved you some trouble? I don't see there's any trouble between us. There's going to be. If you don't leave Stan Hope alone. Me leave him alone? That's right. You've got things backwards. Why don't he leave me alone? You say Stan Hope is after you. Tell me about it. When I came back, I made up my mind to forget what had happened. I didn't expect any favors. I just wanted to start from scratch. But we're the fair shake. You aren't getting a fair shake, huh? I made this trip into town to get supplies my ranch needs. I'm going back tomorrow. My wagon is empty as it was when I came. Not a merchant in Hammond will extend me credit. The pressure's been put to him. Stan Hope carries a lot of weight around here. Here. What's this? It's from Stan Hope. $3,000. I don't get it. I think I do. You're his conscience. You bother him. His conscience? Why the price tag on it? There's a condition. What? You're going to leave Hammond. How come? Stan Hope believes you're going to kill him. Oh, I thought about it. I was going to make him pay for every rotten second. And now? Now, he's just a sniffling, scared little man he's not worth going to prison for. Now, I take his $3,000 back to him. His conscience is going to stick around and bother him for a long time. The next morning, I went to make my report to Will's Stan Hope. There was a crowd gathered in front of the Overland Office. Debris littered the street. The windows were broken, and the door was ripped off its hinges. As I walked in, it sounded as though somebody were tearing the place apart. Somebody was. Big Ben's face, he was on a ramp. Sheriff, stop him. He's going crazy. Sheriff! Ben, I order you to stop. Ben! Don't cry. You better get the cups on him, Sheriff, before he comes too. Yeah. Phew. That boy really went to Loco. Hey, he'd have killed me. What happened? Somebody told me... Ben. You'll be all right, Ed. Sorry, Ed. Gonna have to lock him up. Ben, do this? Yeah. Ben's a simple guy. Easy going is a rule. Only one thing sets him off. It's always been that way ever since we were kids. Easy. Ben don't like seeing anybody shove me. All right, what started him off? Well, I gave him a letter. A letter? It was for you. He read it and busted loose. Well, what was in the letter? It was a delinquent tax notice on Ed's ranch. You're threatening foreclosure? For $3,000. Taxes haven't been paid for two years. Well, you know why they weren't. Couldn't you have waited? It's routine business, Paladin. I'll handle it my way. You're handling it Stanhope's way. Everybody in town's handling things his way, and I'm up to here with it. Easy there, boy. I was willing to forget that Stanhope in this town cost me two years out of my life. I just wanted a chance to start over, but you won't let me. You're pushing me around, treating me like I was really a criminal. Ed, this isn't done. A man can take just so much pushing around, Paladin. You gonna take my brother to jail? I have to, Ed. All right. Stanhope, we'll play this your way from now on. Since I've already put in two years for nothing, I got something real big coming right out of your hide. Yeah, you heard him, Sheriff. He threatened me. I demand protection. You'll get it when I say that you need it. Paladin? You didn't play straight with me. You didn't tell me you were trying to crowd Stacey out. I gave you that $3,000 for him. After setting him up so he'd have to take it and leave town or lose everything. I had to do it, Paladin. He would have killed me. He didn't want any part of you. But whatever happens from now on, you can blame yourself, Stanhope. Here. Your money. Hire an army with it. I had enough of him. Without a horse, I was at the mercy of Will Stanhope's stage line and I had to wait over. It was just before dawn when I was awakened by the commotion outside on the street. I got out of bed and opened the window. Sheriff, up here. Yeah? What happened? It just was that Ben Stacey out of jail. Did Ed do it? Ah, it wasn't Ed. It was Dan and Floyd. They worked for Ed. It's like they're fixing for real trouble. He said it, Sheriff. Said what? The man can take just so much pushing around. Morning, Sheriff. Your men bring in Stacey? Ah, clean getaway. You leaving on the stage? Yeah. Do you know you'll be sharing your seat with a shotgun rider? Shotgun guard riding inside with something new? Stanhope's orders. Oh. The trap. He figures now that Ed and Ben Stacey will hit one of the stages sooner or later once it'll look easy for them. Mr. Stanhope has a talent for conniving. Eh, he wants to get them real bad. He even offered a reward. Before they've done anything? Well, it says for catching or killing anybody who tries to hold up an overland stage. Guess we know what he means. $3,000. At the three-forks station, we had a 10-minute stopover to change teams. I went inside to have a glass of rye. The place was empty, except for the bartender with his hands high. And Ed and Ben Stacey with their revolvers leveled. Don't try anything, Paladin. Using up your two years in a hurry, aren't you? Didn't figure them as any more than a deposit. Why waste them on me? Not you, Paladin. The stage. Dan and Floyd are taking care of it right now. I'm just making sure nobody bothers. Hey, Ben. Yes? Watch from the door back here. Sure. You bartender, keep your hands up and your mouth shut. Driver and shotgun are out of the way. Stanhope had you pegged. He pegged me two years ago. Do you ever hear the one about if you have the name, you might as well play the game? You don't have the name yet. It won't be long now. Well, this time there'll be no mistake about it. This time he'll serve out your sentence. You forget me. Well, it'll get you sooner or later. That's where I make Stanhope sweat. You going to make a fugitive out of Ben, too? Don't you shut up. Big, simple Ben, whose only concern in life is protecting you. When a posse comes after you, do you figure him to stop the slug meant for you? Ben, you've got a big mouth. And you've got a small brain, taking this risk for some stupid idea of revenge, revenge against a man who isn't worth it to begin with. Hey, yeah, Floyd and Dan, they're coming, they got it. Well, let's go ahead. We've got the strongbox. Put it back, Dan. What? Put it back, I said. You gone crazy. You think we went through this whole thing for nothing? For the last time, put it back and cut out. We'll cut out, but we're taking the money with us, huh, Floyd? Listen, you want to stop us. If I have to, don't try it. We're showing up, men. This won't take long now. This is the deposition of the bartender at Three Forks Station, witnessed by Mr. Paladin here. Now, according to this, these men, Floyd Smith and Dan Angus, tried to rob the stage, and Ben and Ed Stacey stopped them. Shot them down. That right, Mr. Paladin? Um, yeah. Nice work, Ed. Ben. Thanks. Now, you hold on, Sheriff. These men are liable to arrest. Wreck in my office, jailbreak. That's right. I find you both $25 for disturbing the peace. Fine. I'm the sheriff here, Mr. Stanhope. I hand out the sentences. What about the damages to my office? Well, I suggest that you deduct the repairs and the reward you posted. Reward? For the capture or death of anyone who attempts to rob an overland stage. That's the way it read, didn't it, Sheriff? Sure did. $3,000. Thank you, Mr. Paladin. Oh, well, thank you, Miss Wong. Oh, thank you. Nice to have you home. You see, a cause of justice was served. Well, I think so, Miss Wong. Of course, there are those who might question. Oh. You see, there was a little matter of convincing a certain bartender that he didn't see what he thought he saw. Uh, for a certain sum of money, you understand? Oh, Eesa. I understand. Privory. Now, Miss Wong, at any rate, I believe I can truthfully say that I... Truthfully say that... I have no pain from conscience. Have gone. Will travel. Created by Herb Meadow and Sam Rolf. He is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald and stars John Daner as Paladin with Ben Wright as Hayboy. Tonight's story was written by Albert Alley and adapted for radio by Ann Dowd. Featured in the cast were Harry Bartell, Jack Moyles, Ken Lynch, Barney Phillips, Lou Krugman, and Virginia Gray. Hugh Douglas speaking. Join us again next week for Have Gun, Will Travel.