Most likely not in the arms of a tall, burly cowboy like Cheyenne Bodie, they haven't.
He draws a crowd when he rides into Hermanos with a baby, the lone survivor of a stagecoach attack. The sheriff has his hands full trying to find out who's responsible, and that leaves Cheyenne in charge of the baby. Looking for saloon boss-turned-respectable rancher Blake Holloway about a ramrod job, he goes to the saloon and meets Amy, a cheeky piano player in the tradition of bar singers of the period. He also encounters relentless mocking by a loud-mouthed cowpoke; with a neat bit of well-deserved payback, Cheyenne is able to put the wiseacre in his place, but it's a move that will cost him later.
As it turns out, that baby is heir to the very ranch that Blake Holloway has acquired, and he's not ready to give it up after going to all the trouble of having Juan Pilar, the child's father and the rightful heir, killed in the stagecoach. But Holloway makes a good case for legal ownership and, of course, Cheyenne doesn't know about his underhanded schemes. The lawyer who was to meet with Pilar has all the paperwork to prove the baby's identity, but he's dispatched in a brutal way that's made to look like an accident. The only thing left for Holloway to do is make sure the baby isn't around to make any claims on the ranch. Pancho Mendariz, a charming notorious Mexican bandit who claims to be the baby's godfather, complicates things and gives Bodie a hard time, especially when he senses something between Cheyenne and Amy. The resolution comes in the last few minutes, which often happens, and in this one the primary antagonist ends up gambling for the last time.
The principal characters are all well written and acted. Douglas Kennedy makes a believable Blake Holloway, with just the right amount of self-confidence laced with cunning. Hal Baylor was one of Cheyenne Bodie's most ubiquitous foes; he seemed to enjoy taking on the Big Guy. Anthony George is sufficiently amiable as the flirtatious bandito with sketchy motives. Peggie Castle is just as appealing here as she was in "Fury at Rio Hondo," playing much the same character, a sassy ("What now, Daddy?") and worldly-wise bar girl with a soft but cautious heart. She and Clint Walker have real chemistry onscreen; I would like to have seen them together again. This episode has so many nice touches, both of humor and of drama, with a really interesting story line that gives Clint Walker a chance to show Cheyenne Bodie's range of emotions, from anger and determination to compassion and indulgence. He might be a tall, burly cowboy with vast experience in his travels, but he's still awkward around pretty women who unselfconsciously undress practically in front of him. True to his character, though, he spends his night with Amy and the baby in a chair on the other side of a curtain. Although Amy says she's learned "to stay away from men like him," she might have wished he'd stayed around a little longer.
He draws a crowd when he rides into Hermanos with a baby, the lone survivor of a stagecoach attack. The sheriff has his hands full trying to find out who's responsible, and that leaves Cheyenne in charge of the baby. Looking for saloon boss-turned-respectable rancher Blake Holloway about a ramrod job, he goes to the saloon and meets Amy, a cheeky piano player in the tradition of bar singers of the period. He also encounters relentless mocking by a loud-mouthed cowpoke; with a neat bit of well-deserved payback, Cheyenne is able to put the wiseacre in his place, but it's a move that will cost him later.
As it turns out, that baby is heir to the very ranch that Blake Holloway has acquired, and he's not ready to give it up after going to all the trouble of having Juan Pilar, the child's father and the rightful heir, killed in the stagecoach. But Holloway makes a good case for legal ownership and, of course, Cheyenne doesn't know about his underhanded schemes. The lawyer who was to meet with Pilar has all the paperwork to prove the baby's identity, but he's dispatched in a brutal way that's made to look like an accident. The only thing left for Holloway to do is make sure the baby isn't around to make any claims on the ranch. Pancho Mendariz, a charming notorious Mexican bandit who claims to be the baby's godfather, complicates things and gives Bodie a hard time, especially when he senses something between Cheyenne and Amy. The resolution comes in the last few minutes, which often happens, and in this one the primary antagonist ends up gambling for the last time.
The principal characters are all well written and acted. Douglas Kennedy makes a believable Blake Holloway, with just the right amount of self-confidence laced with cunning. Hal Baylor was one of Cheyenne Bodie's most ubiquitous foes; he seemed to enjoy taking on the Big Guy. Anthony George is sufficiently amiable as the flirtatious bandito with sketchy motives. Peggie Castle is just as appealing here as she was in "Fury at Rio Hondo," playing much the same character, a sassy ("What now, Daddy?") and worldly-wise bar girl with a soft but cautious heart. She and Clint Walker have real chemistry onscreen; I would like to have seen them together again. This episode has so many nice touches, both of humor and of drama, with a really interesting story line that gives Clint Walker a chance to show Cheyenne Bodie's range of emotions, from anger and determination to compassion and indulgence. He might be a tall, burly cowboy with vast experience in his travels, but he's still awkward around pretty women who unselfconsciously undress practically in front of him. True to his character, though, he spends his night with Amy and the baby in a chair on the other side of a curtain. Although Amy says she's learned "to stay away from men like him," she might have wished he'd stayed around a little longer.
