Dapper little Wade Randall appears in North Fork, enchanting the youngsters with his knowledge of firearms and his hair-raising tales of gun battles with notorious bad men. Lucas suspects Randall may be more talk than truth, and when Randall is challenged to a shootout by the friend of a man Randall claims to have killed, Lucas notes his reluctance to accept the challenge. Lucas' friendly sympathy brings out the true story—Randall is only a poor railroad cook who has never been in a gunfight in his life. He's brave enough, however, to resist the temptation to sneak out of town and tells Lucas he's going to go through with the fight. Lucas solves the problem with an ingenious idea that prevents bloodshed on either side.