The Cartwrights come to the aid of Leta Malvet when she is ostracized by the community after her father and brother are hanged by a lynch mob for killing two men while trying to rob the stagecoach that they thought carried the Ponderosa's payroll. But Adam is sure that the gang will try again when they find out that the Malvets came up empty-handed and suspects that it's no coincidence when Leta's beau, bad boy Clay Renton, comes back to town. 

On a cattle buying trip to Texas, Hoss and Little Joe are mistaken for a pair of hired killers recruited by a feuding family in their bid to wipe out a rival clan. Their efforts to convince the town otherwise are hindered by the fact that the Cartwrights are dead ringer for the gunfighters in question - Big Jack and Shorty Jim Slade. Written by David Bassler