The Play's The Thing
CODY IS BITTEN MORE THAN BY JUST THE ACTING BUG WHEN HE JOINS A TRAVELING ACTING TROUPE...
A play is performed at the neighboring town of Randsburg and Cody, infatuated with the young and pretty lead actress, goes to see it several times. One night, he works up the courage to see the lovely star but meets the proprietress of the acting troupe instead. While Mr. Herrick dismisses Cody as just another of Miss St. Clair's admirers, Mrs. Herrick recognizes a fellow entertainer in him and encourages his admiration of Jenny St. Clair. Cody tours the inside of the theater but he misses one important part of the scenery -- a dead officer.
In
Sweetwater, Jimmy gets embarrassed when Noah laughs at his choice of reading
material and decides to quit learning. Noah, however, told Jimmy that "not
reading is stupid." Kid arrives from his run and tells the other riders
about his encounter with an army detachment. Apparently, General Freeman's
chief of staff was killed in a theater in Randsburg. Rumor has it the general
is next. The riders observe that new like that make the war feel closer
each day.
Cody is bitten by the acting bug and is imagining himself as an actor. While practicing a line from the play -- "only the good die young" -- he hears gunshots. He finds the acting troupe in the midst of a gun battle with a man using a fancy gun. Cody shoots the man on the shoulder but before he reaches him, he hears another shot. Cody finds Margaret Herrick and his troupe near the body of the dead man. Margaret explains that she shot the man again after he went for his gun.
Cody takes the troupe to Sweetwater and shows Teaspoon the gun. The Marshall recognizes it as a Henry lever-action repeating rifle and says that whoever owned it must have been a criminal or a government agent. When Teaspoon asks the actors if they could think of a reason why someone would go after them, they showed surprise and were also shocked to hear about the murder of the army officer in Randsburg.
The actors try to rehearse for a performance in Sweetwater but their male lead complain about his wounded leg. Mrs. Herrick wonders who they can get as replacement and finds an eager substitute in Cody.
Meanwhile, a man named Eastman reports to his superior that his colleague has failed to show up for a rendezvous. His boss blows up and tells him that they are in the middle of a political bombshell. He is ordered to do whatever it takes to bring the Herricks or to "bring them to hell." The man is later shown arriving in Sweetwater bringing one of those fancy repeating rifles with him.
On opening night, all the riders and Rachel show up to support Cody. Backstage, Cody is sweating profusely but Mrs. Herrick tells him that nothing stands in the way of what he believes. He goes out on the stage and begins to "act" but he is still visibly nervous and gives his "co-star" extra kisses to calm his nerves, much to the amusement of the riders. Against all odds, Cody pulls through.
Later
that night, the Herricks are celebrating. Mr. Herrick toasts the play's
success while Mrs. Herrick toasts the success of the confederacy. She then
tells her husband that General Freeman was due in Fort Laramie in two days
despite their previous unsuccessful efforts to kill him.
At the bunkhouse, the other riders tire of Cody's absence and complain about doing more than their share of work. When they berate Cody, he tells them of his decision to quit the Pony Express and join the theater full time. The next day, the other riders go to town to bid Cody good-bye. Their farewells are interrupted by a gunshot, though and Teaspoon finds Mrs. Herrick standing over an unconscious Mr. Eastman. He wasn't dead, however, merely wounded.
Later that night, Eastman wakes up and tells Teaspoon that he is a government agent out to get the Herricks who are spies for the confederacy. Though they said they were going to Apple Creek, Buck found out that the actors were actually going to Fort Laramie where General Freeman is. The riders arrive just in time to save the good general and apprehend the criminals.
IN THEIR WORDS: Buck to Ike after seeing Mrs. Herrick pretend to shoot Cody with a loaded gun: He's going to learn [acting] real fast with a teacher like that.
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