The television Western series Have Gun – Will Travel traditionally opened with the first few bars of Bernard Herrmann’s atonal music and a close-up of Paladin’s right hand as he takes his pistol out of his holster, points it at the camera and actor Richard Boone’s voice is heard issuing an ultimatum (normally a line of dialogue from the episode).

The opening of the Christmas episode The Hanging Cross (originally broadcast on Dec. 21, 1957) is different. This time Paladin unbuckles his gunbelt and the camera goes to a close-up of his face as he says to the audience: “With this gun, I could have stopped murder tonight. But I've taken it off. That's my present to you. In all my life I've only seen a dozen real killers, but I've seen ten thousand people that would stand by and let it happen. Which is the greater evil?”

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (who directed almost half of the series’ episodes) and written by Gene Roddenberry (best remembered as the creator of Star Trek), The Hanging Cross begins on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Paladin arrives at the ranch of his latest client and is puzzled when his greetings of “Merry Christmas” are greeted with apathetic stares. Soon, it becomes clear why when he sees that ranch owner Nathaniel Beecher (Edward Binns) is a bitter, frustrated tyrant who mistreats his employees. (No, thank goodness, this is not yet another variation on A Christmas Carol. It actually owes more to John Ford’s The Searchers.)

Beecher had sent for Paladin to search for his nine-year-old son Robbie who had been kidnapped by Sioux Indians six years earlier. He now claims to have found his son already with a tribe of Pawnee Indians and tries to send Paladin on his way without any compensation. Beecher’s foreman Tater (Don Beddoe) points out that the boy doesn’t speak English and that Paladin speaks Pawnee, so Beecher reluctantly allows him to stay.

Talking to the boy (Johnny Crawford best remembered as Chuck Connors’ son on another TV Western The Rifleman), and finding out that he was taken by force and is a prisoner on the ranch, Paladin is intrigued enough to seek out the Pawnees who are camped on the outskirts of the ranch. He speaks to Chief Cah-le-ta (Abraham Sofaer) and learns that the boy was purchased from some Sioux so the chances are very likely that the boy is indeed Robbie. Paladin returns to Beecher and tries to convince him to work things out with the Pawnees who are tired and starving after months of wandering the plains, but Beecher refuses to listen to reason. He has his men build a gallows in the shape of a cross as a warning to the Pawnees.

Later that night, the townspeople gather at the local church for a Christmas Eve dinner and celebration. As they are singing carols, news comes that the Pawnees have reclaimed the boy. Beecher orders his men to come with him as he threatens to massacre the Indians. Deciding to set an example, Paladin hangs up his guns and goes to the camp to see if a bloodbath can be averted without resorting to violence. Beecher and his men arrive armed, bringing the hanging cross with them. They are prepared to open fire, but, all of a sudden, the townspeople show up with food for the Pawnees...

Have Gun – Will Travel: The Hanging Cross is available from Netflix (Season one, Disc Three) and Amazon.