Paladin is relaxing in his room with his current girlfriend, Reeva, when Hey Boy brings him a letter from Beauregard Crommer.
Beauregard informs Paladin that his grandfather, General Crommer, is on
his deathbed, and would like to meet with Paladin on a matter of
financial benefit. Reeva wonders if the letter is bad news and Paladin
tells her that he has to meet with a dying man. They share a last kiss
and then Paladin has Hey Boy make his travel arrangements.
Later, Paladin arrives at the Crommer manor and the butler lets him in.
Beau greets Paladin and complains briefly about how Paladin smells after
several days of riding. He has the butler escort Paladin to the stables
to clean up. When Paladin returns, he hears cheerful conversation from
the parlor and discovers that all of the General's relatives are
gathered there. Beau comes out and tells Paladin that grief is for the
poor. The butler arrives and informs Paladin that the General will see
him now.
When Paladin confronts the General in his bed, the man
dismisses his greedy relatives as idiots and fools. Paladin,
uninterested, puts his derringer to the General's head, only for the
General to reveal his own hidden revolver. However, he admits that the
revolver isn't loaded and Paladin takes it. Paladin points out that the
General had him court-martialed after he saved his life, and the General
says that he doesn't like owing any man a debt that he can't pay. Still
furious years after the incident, the General complains that Paladin
defended himself at the court-martial and got the General cashiered out
of the Army instead.
The General tells Paladin that since he's
dying, he's decided to forgive and forget. He wants to make amends to a
man named Caterall, who he cheated in a gold mine deal years ago. They
shot and wounded each other, and Caterall left the General for dead.
Paladin isn't interested in helping the General, but the dying man says
that he's left Caterall and Paladin in his will. He wants Paladin to
deliver the news to Caterall, claiming there's no telegraph in his town.
As for Paladin, the General wants to receive something in return for
the money he's leaving him and expects Paladin to deliver the message.
Disgusted, Paladin says that he'll do it but only if the General writes
him out of the will. He demands $5,000 in cash instead. The General says
that the inheritance is worth much more and Paladin tells him to leave
the difference to charity. Angry at being thwarted, the General
nonetheless calls Beau in and tells him to pay Paladin the $5,000. Once
the two men leave, the General smiles in smug satisfaction.
Paladin is soon back on the trail and arrives in Caterall's town. He
goes to the saloon and the bartender says that Caterall lives out in the
country. The bartender advises Paladin to wait until Caterall comes in
and Paladin joins a game of poker. A man who has been listening in
goes to find Caterall, who is walking down the street, and tells him
that another man is looking for him. Caterall asks him to find Ronson
and set up a meeting for that night, and then goes into the saloon and
confronts Paladin, claiming to be Caterall's foreman. Paladin hands him
his card and Caterall says that Caterall won't be back for several days.
Unperturbed, Paladin says that he'll wait and Caterall leaves.
That night, the older Ronson meets with Caterall, who says that the
General kept his word and sent another man to town, just like he said in
the telegram. He warns Ronson that Paladin looks tougher than the other
men, and Ronson demands an extra $150. Ronson assures Caterall that
he'll handle Paladin just like he did the other three men that the
General sent, and collects half of his payment upfront.
The
next, day, Ronson rides his mule into town and goes into the saloon. The
townspeople see him and scatter, and Ronson confronts Paladin over his
breakfast. He puts a gun to Paladin's head and tells him to leave town
or else. Paladin calmly continues eating and says that he's only there
to deliver a message to Caterall, but Ronson warns that he'll kill
Paladin rather than let him get to his employer. When Paladin refuses to
give Ronson an excuse to shoot and claim self-defense, the hired gun
pours his tobacco in Paladin's breakfast and then throws it in the
gunfighter's face. Paladin refuses to let Ronson rile him and the
frustrated man tells Paladin to get out of town in 30 minutes.
As soon as Ronson leaves, Paladin watches in amazement as the
townspeople start betting on his chances of living. A gambler is
collecting the money and Paladin tells him that there won't be a fight,
but the gambler warns that Ronson is a hardened killer. Ronson killed the
three previous men that the General sent, businessmen all, and Paladin
realizes that the General set the whole thing up. The gambler tells
Paladin that Ronson prefers using a sawed-off shotgun and only wears a
gun belt to trick his opponents. When the gambler tells Paladin that he'd
be best off bushwhacking Ronson, the gunfighter tells him to mind his
business and leaves.
Paladin goes to the general store and
rents the owner's shotgun with the longest barrel, and then buys two
shells. The 30 minutes are up and Ronson calls Paladin out. Wise to the
old man's ways, Paladin steps out on the street and warns the man off,
pointing out that he has the range. Rather than back down and lose his
reputation, Ronson keeps coming despite Paladin's warning, and the
gunfighter reluctantly shoots back as Ronson opens fire. The old gunman
goes down and Paladin takes a wound to the shoulder, and the
townspeople rush out to cart Ronson's body away.
The town
doctor bandages Paladin's wound and admits that Ronson was a frightened
fool who couldn't afford to back down. Caterall sneaks in behind Paladin
and says that he's there to finish him off before Paladin guns him
down. Paladin irritably insists that he didn't come to town to kill
anyone, and Caterall realizes that the General is pitting them against
each other. He tells Paladin that the General sent telegrams to warn him
each time before sending a man, and Paladin realizes that the whole
thing is a setup.
Later, Paladin rides back to the General's
manor. Beau confronts him, angry at some imagined slight, and Paladin
knocks him out. He then goes upstairs to the General's room and the
General figures that Caterall is dead. Realizing the General's one
weakness, Paladin tells him that Caterall has been forgiven. He and
Caterall both know that the General was sending men that he held grudges
against in the hopes that Caterall would kill them or one of them
killed him. The General would rather see them all dead than admit that
he had wronged them. Disgusted, Paladin tells the General that he's
decided to give him the one thing that he hates the most: his
forgiveness. The General literally chokes on Paladin's words, dying in
his bed, and Paladin leaves the room.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 19, 2018