One of this episode's highlights is a verbal joust (?) between Paladin and a Franciscan Priest, during a meal in a Mission where Paladin has elected to spend the night. The Priest, while not exactly approving of Paladin's avocation, recognizes in him a man who resorts to the gun only as a last resort, and even promises Paladin sanctuary --should the time ever come that he needs it. (The shrewd Priest's bluntness prompts Paladin to recite a quatrain from the British Statesman, and brief Prime Minister, George Canning, in which Canning admits he would rather assail a bold enemy than face "a candid friend"!)
The Mission already has one sanctuary-seeker: a morose lad who is anxious to dodge a prospective date with the hangman, a date that some well-armed gentlemen waiting outside are equally anxious to have him keep. In accord with his own moral code, the Priest has not asked the young man what he is supposed to have done -- or even if he actually did it. The "posse" plans to storm the Mission the following dusk, and Paladin must find a way to spirit the youth safely away.
He comes up, of course, with a brilliant strategy to do just that. And the Priest is eventually forced to admit that even those who "occasionally" live by the sword may still be entrusted with doing God's work!
The Mission already has one sanctuary-seeker: a morose lad who is anxious to dodge a prospective date with the hangman, a date that some well-armed gentlemen waiting outside are equally anxious to have him keep. In accord with his own moral code, the Priest has not asked the young man what he is supposed to have done -- or even if he actually did it. The "posse" plans to storm the Mission the following dusk, and Paladin must find a way to spirit the youth safely away.
He comes up, of course, with a brilliant strategy to do just that. And the Priest is eventually forced to admit that even those who "occasionally" live by the sword may still be entrusted with doing God's work!
