- The Cartwrights discover an old enemy killing steers on the Ponderosa. Their camp has a sickly woman who needs to get to the high desert country. When an innocent man is killed, Ben decides to boot them all back to California but he gets resistance from the others in the camp and some local miners who now believe Ben is hiding gold.—DrDOS / edited by Rob
- The Cartwrights find a small group of people crossing their land. One of the members of the party is McCall, a man they ran off their property earlier. The other members include McCall's fiance, Emily, and her brother (also his business partner) John Pennington. Ben is familiar with Pennington's work. They use hydraulic mining and it destroys the land by uprooting trees and removing top soil. Emily is sick and John says they're just trying to get her to the high country for her health. Ben is adamant that they leave. The next day, to ensure that the party goes, Ben has Hoss escort them off. As they make their way, McCall and one of his men, Krug, make plans to take Hoss. They've noticed his concern for the livestock and pretend to have a horse come up lame. When Hoss checks the animal, they knock him out. John and Emily are against this and they too find themselves captives of McCall. McCall kills the Cartwrights' foreman for guns and ammunition and dumps the body at the Ponderosa's front door. While they're gone, Hoss breaks free and, at John's urging to be left behind, Hoss escapes with Emily. The Cartwrights are now tracking McCall and his men who have also enlisted the help of local miners. Hoss and Emily have made their way some distance and see that Ben, Adam and Joe are about to walk into an ambush. He draws McCall's attention to himself and takes on the gang singlehandedly. He's doing well when the Cartwrights arrive and shoo everyone else off. Hoss is explaining things when he realizes Emily is very sick. They rush her back to the Ponderosa. She's dying and knows it. She asks her brother to take her back to San Francisco. She doesn't want to be a bother to anyone and she doesn't want Hoss to know how sick she is. Hoss makes arrangements for her to go with a wagontrain and tells her he'd like her to stay. He describes his favorite glade and says he'd like to take her there. She tells him to go there in the spring and she'll be there. She tells him she loves him, caresses his cheek, and leaves. Hoss can't believe it, he's getting married! He's so excited that he can't understand why no one else is excited too. Now that Emily's gone, they break the news to him. Hoss runs out of the house. Joe tries to follow to console his brother, but Ben stops him. Having lost three of his own wives, he tells Joe, " For a while it's a hurt you have to bear alone." Hoss spends his time alone by the water begging God to help him. Eventually, he returns to the Ponderosa. He still can't talk about it or explain things, but Ben understands and encourages him to go on by simply going back to work.
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