At the beginning of the episode a young man enters the Long Branch in somewhat of a rush. Kitty talks to the young man and discovers that a group of cattle hands are on his trail and want to lynch him. Kitty befriends him and locks him in her room. She then goes after Marshal Dillon to tells the cattle hands that they would be no lynching in Dodge and that the young man, Steve Elser, would get a trial if a complaint is filed.
This does not set well with the cattlemen but they know it will only be a matter of time before Elser makes another false move so they wait for him. In the meantime, due to Matt being helped when he was younger, decides to befriend the young Elser and hope he changes his lifestyle. But when he teams up with a local criminal Bill Hander, Matt knows that there is no place in Dodge for the young man. Elser has this chip on his shoulder against the entire world.
There is nothing really remarkable about this story other than the kindness shown by Matt. Elser was a person that you wanted to like but he would not give you a chance. Not a blockbuster episode by any means but it did mildly hold the viewer's interest.