A recent plague has decimated virtually all the crops in a farming community. The only rancher whose crops were spared is Max Bruckner (Morris Ankrum), a wealthy, peace-loving Mennonite. When Bruckner is threatened by ill-tempered merchant Milo Culligan (Karl Swenson), he turns to Paladin (Richard Boone) for help--on condition that Paladin use no violence to defend Bruckner's family. This task proves doubly difficult when it is revealed that Culligan's top gun Polk (Brad Dexter) harbors a deep-set grudge against Paladin. Appearaing as Bruckner's mother is Adeline deWalt Reynolds, who at age 96 was the oldest working actress in Hollywood at the time this episode was filmed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi