Among the passengers in a westbound stagecoach are gunslinger-for-hire Paladin (Richard Boone) and a Philadelphia girl named Christie Smith (Marian Seldes). It turns out that Christie is a mail-order bride, en route to the husband she has never met. Descending from the coach in the middle of nowhere (actually Lone Pine, California), Christie anxiously awaits her husband's arrival--accompanied by Paladin, who has decided to provide escort and protection to the girl whether she likes it or not ("Someone has to take care of small children and stubborn women!") A pre-Mannix Mike Connors figures prominently in the episode's grimly startling climax. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi