Outlaws
My Friend, the Horse Thief

 

Jim Whipple:  Brian Keith
Francisco:  Anthony Hall
Pete:  John Astin
Written by Clair Huffaker

 

In the old Oklahoma Territory, most men were willing to go all the way for a friend.   Deputy Marshal Chalk Breeson was one of them.  Before the week was out, Chalk learned there was a place where you had to draw a line, even for a friend.

Jim Whipple has come to Stillwater, and Chalk is absolutely thrilled to see his old friend.  But, Whip does not know chalk is a deputy marshal, and he invites Chalk to join him in a nefarious scheme he is brewing.  Before he can tell Chalk what it is, Chalk interrupts to tell Whip that he is speaking to a lawman.  Dropping the outlaw talk, the two friends mosey over to the saloon for a cool beer.

Will Foreman finds them in the saloon sometime later, and Whip gets introduced as Chalk's "unofficial half-brother."  It is very obvious that the two friends are very close, so Will gives Chalk some time off.

Over in Connie Master's cafe, Francisco wants to be a rider on Pete's ranch, rather than work as a waiter for Connie.  Chalk sends him out, and Francisco is hired.   All seems to be going well for everyone.

Suddenly, local ranchers began complaining to Will about stolen horses from their herds.  It is always the best stock which is rustled, and it always happens at night, so no one ever gets a good look at the rustler.  Will decides to set a trap, but it misfires, and he is shot in the back and left for dead.

Chalk gets Will to the doctor's office, where the bullet is removed, and Will is confined to bed.  When Will then instructs his deputy to take a close, hard look at all strangers in town, Chalk is peeved to learn that Will means to include Jim Whipple.  Chalk resigns, refusing to believe that Whip had anything to do with the horse thefts of Will's injury.

The next night, Francisco is killed in a horse stampede started by the horse thieves.   Before he dies, he tells Pete that he saw one of the rustlers and that it was Jim Whipple.  Pete tells Will Foreman, and Will gets off his sick bed to go after Whip.  This totally unnerves Connie, and when she sees Will struggling down the street, she hunts out Chalk and reads him the riot act.  Chalk goes in search of Whip.

The confrontation comes in the livery stable.  As Will marches down the street with his shotgun, Whip begins firing his rifle at Will.  Chalk has no choice.   It is either his friend Will or his friend Whip, but one must die.

"Someone once said that the right thing is the easy thing to do. Whoever said it was wrong. A lot of the time, it's hard just seeing what's the right thing. Sometimes, just doing what's right, what has to be done, is the hardest thing in the world."

                                                                                              

 

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