Marshal Torrance is astonished when a dapper little man arrives on the stage and announces that he has come to kill Lucas McCain. When questioned, he explains that he wants to establish a reputation and can think of no better way to do it than to dispose of the Rifleman. Lucas at first flatly refuses to be drawn into a duel, but a notorious gunman arrives in town and complicates the situation. Lucas not only ends up in the gunfight, but finds himself defending the man who planned to kill him.