Sergeant Hawk is a U. S. Calvary officer on the trail of some Apache renegades. His pursuit takes him near the Clifford ranch where Dave and Phoebe Clifford live with their two children, Rachel and Amos.
Phoebe Clifford has been harboring a secret for many years. When she was 16 years old, Apaches attacked the home where she lived with her parents. They brutally murdered her parents while she watched, and they took Phoebe into captivity where she was apparently raped and enslaved for two years. She bore a child during this time, and that child is the man known as Hawk.
Hawk stops at the Clifford ranch to see the mother he has never known, but Phoebe understandably wants nothing to do with the young man she has tried to completely forget.
Hawk rides on to Dodge City where he meets with Matt Dillon and Festus Haggen to inform them of his pursuit of the renegades. The Marshal asks Festus to assist Hawk. Once the pair manages to get close to the Apaches, a fight ensues, and Hawk is shot.
The injury is serious enough that Festus cannot take Hawk back to Dodge. He leaves Hawk at the Clifford farm. When Mrs. Clifford discovers the wounded man is in her house, she is extremely upset. When the house is surrounded by the renegades demanding Hawk be turned over to them, the situation becomes desperate.
Louise Latham portrays the Phoebe Clifford character. Latham appeared in a total of six different Gunsmoke episodes. In fact, her Phoebe Clifford character is remarkably similar to the Polly Cade character she played in Season 14's "Waco" episode. Latham's big acting break came when she was cast in Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film Marnie. Latham often played caustic, unlikeable characters, but here it is easy to sympathize with her situation.
Brendon Boone appears only once in a Gunsmoke episode in this story as Sergeant Hawk. He is clearly a talented actor. It is surprising that his entire career has been relegated to smaller roles in television and films. His portrayal of Hawk in this story is excellent.
Robert Brubaker guest starred in various Gunsmoke roles about as much as any other actor over the years -- a total of 29 times. He only appears briefly in this episode as Dave Clifford. Familiar television actors Hilarie Thompson and Michael-James Wixted play the two Clifford children. Wixted was later a member of the cast for the short-lived television show The Smith Family, which starred Henry Fonda and Ron Howard.
This is a unique story with some excellent performances. It is one of the highlight episodes of Season 15. For a more detailed, historical perspective of the events in this episode, I highly recommend checking out the review written by kenstallings-65346.