Ep 14. The Reluctant Gun

The Reluctant Gun is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of Death Valley Days. The episode is set in the mid-1800s and centers around a man named Bill Longley. Bill Longley is a cattle rustler who is notorious for his quick temper and his deadly aim with a gun.

As the episode begins, Longley is in jail for his crimes. However, his behavior in jail is so violent that the townspeople fear for their safety. The local sheriff, who is a friend of Longley's, comes up with a plan to get Longley out of jail and put him to work as a deputy sheriff. The hope is that if Longley has a job and a purpose, he will be less likely to cause trouble.

At first, Longley is reluctant to take the job. He has always been a loner and doesn't want to be tied down to a regular job. However, the sheriff convinces him that it's the best way for him to avoid going back to jail.

Longley starts out as a reluctant deputy, but he soon proves himself to be one of the most effective lawmen in the territory. He has a natural talent for tracking down criminals and his quick draw with a gun is legendary. The townspeople come to respect him and even begin to like him.

However, Longley's newfound reputation as a lawman doesn't sit well with some of the local rustlers. They see him as a traitor to their cause and plot to get rid of him. Longley becomes the target of a series of assassination attempts, but is able to use his skills as a deputy to stay one step ahead of his would-be killers.

Meanwhile, Longley's relationship with the sheriff's daughter begins to blossom. They have always been attracted to each other, but Longley's outlaw ways had kept them apart. Now that he is working as a deputy, they are able to spend more time together and their feelings for each other deepen.

In the climactic scene of the episode, Longley faces off against the leader of the rustlers. It's a tense gunfight, with both men firing simultaneously. In the end, Longley emerges victorious, but is badly wounded. As he lays there dying, he confesses his love to the sheriff's daughter and asks her to marry him. She accepts, and Longley dies with a smile on his face.

The episode ends with the townspeople mourning Longley's passing, but also celebrating the fact that he was able to redeem himself in their eyes. They erect a statue in his honor and the sheriff's daughter raises her children to remember the man who had once been a reluctant gunfighter, but had become a hero.