I was tired of hiring hands part-time.  I thought I'd go into North Fork and talk to Micah about letting Henry Trumble out of jail.  Henry's a good worker, if you can keep him sober.  I thought if he worked out I'd hire him on steady.  Henry was pleased that I thought of him.  He figured nobody had any use for him anymore.  Micah told him that I was only doing it for him, he was tired of locking him up.  Just then we heard some shooting over at the Last Chance.  We went to see what was going on.  Everybody came running out of the saloon except for the three cowboys who were doing the shootin'.  "Marshal, you gotta stop them," said Sweeney.  Sweeney, the bartender,  didn't know who they were.  "They came in about two hours ago and started drinking, I mean really drinking!"  "When I asked for some money, they started shooting up the place."  Micah and I started to head in.  They were throwing and smashing everything their could get there hands on.  "All right, that's enough," said Micah.  They didn't pay him no mind.  "Alright," shouted Micah and shot his shotgun in the air.  That got their attention.  They laughed and said that we wanted some shootin' trouble.  Stump Malakie started shootin' his pistol into the air, at the mirror, bottles, anything he could.  I shot his pistol out of his hand and that made him mad.  He started towards me, his brother Ben was aiming for me but accidentally shot and killed Stump.

Micah threw Ben and his brother Jud in jail.  They just kept going on about when their Pappy got into town what he would do to us.  That it was my fault he shot his brother, because he was aiming for me.  Jud said he saw it all and their Pa ain't gonna like it.  That Micah was makin' a mistake, no jail was holding them.  They were the Malakie's, their Pa was Daniel Malakie.  We never heard of any of them before today, but was curious to what Pa was going to be like.  I offered to stay and find out but Micah assured me he could handle it.

 Just as we we're riding out, Pop Malakie rode in.   Micah saw him ride in, he was pretty sure this was Pop Malakie.  He went into his office to get his shotgun, then headed over to the saloon.  Pop was there looking for his boys.  As he was leaving Micah was entering and asked Pop if he was looking for the owners of those three horses.  Pop told him he was and extended his hand to shake.  Micah just kept talking.  He told him what had happened and if he wanted to pay for the damages he'd let Ben out.  He paid for the damages.  Micah took him over to see his boys.  They told their Pa about me, the sodbuster who made Ben shoot his brother.  Pop tricked Micah into letting him think his boys had done wrong, how ashamed he was of them.  Pop told Jud, he didn't care what happened to him and was taking Ben with him.  He caught Micah off guard, knocked him out and then they ruffed him up.  Pop laughed and said "he wouldn't shake hands with me."

Pop wanted to find out where  I lived.  He tricked Sweeney into telling him.  He wanted the money back that he paid for the damages with.  He took three bottles of whiskey and knocked Sweeney out.  The Malakie's wanted revenge and headed out to my place. 

 "Them's mighty fine vittles."  I can't remember eatin' like this in a month of Sunday's," said Henry.  "There's plenty more where they came from, Henry.  Three time a day, as long as your working for me."   "Pa always said if a man feeds his soul with good thinking and his stomach with good food, then he's never got anything to worry about," said Mark.  Henry told Mark that no truer words were ever spoken. "That's all a man needs is some faith and a chance," said Henry.   He was glad for the faith that Micah and I had in him and a chance to prove himself. "I'm gonna work good for you Lucas," said Henry.  "Fine, let's get started, there's a pile of harnesses that needs soaped up in the barn."  He was raring to get started.  I left Henry in the barn and I went out back to wash down the bridle bits.   When Pa Malakie and his boys saw Henry working in the barn they thought it was me.  They shot and killed Henry with Micah's rifle.  Mark was drying the dishes when he heard the shots.  He dropped the plate and ran out.  He thought that I was the one lying dead in the barn.  When I heard the shots I ran to the barn.  Mark was lying on the ground crying.   I didn't see a thing.  I figured whoever did this, was after me, not Henry.  I went and got the buckboard ready so we could take Henry's body into town.  I thought we could track the Malakie's together.

When we got into town we went straight for Micah's office.  Something wasn't right. Micah wasn't there and the jail door was wide open.  Just as I walked out of the Marshal's office, Sweeney was calling to me.  His head was bandaged.  He told me about the Malakie's and what they had done to Micah.  I rushed over to the Doc's office to see Micah.  I asked him how he felt.  "Well I'll tell ya', itdon't hurt so much, the inconvenience ain't so bad, but the aggravation of being so stupid is unbearable," said Micah. He was glad to see that Mark and I was okay.  I told him about Henry and how they must have thought it was me that they killed.  Micah was going after them.  The Doc and I tried talking him into taking it easy.  "Harry Trumble was a simple sole Lucas, but I liked him.  Even with all his faults, and nobody, nobody's gonna go and kill him and get away with it.  No sir, nobody's gonna come into my town and do what those swamp rats did and live to tell about it.  I'm goin' after 'em," said Micah.  He didn't want a posse, there wasn't time and Micah felt this fight was personal.  I told Mark to stay with the Doc and I went with Micah.  Like he said, this was personal. 

They left my place pretty fast, so they shouldn't be hard to follow.  We went back to my ranch and found their tracks.  They were headed north and so were we.  We rode for a while, Micah wanted to hold up a bit, he wanted to make sure when we caught up to them he would be worth something.  We could see ole' Tim Cassidy's salt mine ahead, but he had left sometime ago.  There shouldn't be anything there.  Just then we heard some laughter come from that area.  We then went the rest of the way on foot.  It was them alright.  They were having their own fun.  Pop Malakie was laughing about how he stuck his gun in the bartenders nose and took the whiskey.  Ben wanted to go back and take care of Micah.  Pop laughed and told his boys they might just do that someday when they don't have anything better to do.  He went to take another drink, when I shot at Pop hitting his bottle of whiskey.  They were surprised when they found out I was still alive. We exchanged fire and they ran into the mining shack.  I wounded Daniel and killed Jud.  They didn't see us sneak up along side of the shack.  I broke the glass and started shooting.  They ran into the mine so we took that time to reload our rifles.  We took time to reload our rifles.  Micah ask me if I had a knife.  I gave him my knife and asked Micah what he was gonna do.  "I want those two alive Lucas, just long enough to see them hang.  Don't want to have to kill 'em.  Lucas, that's salt.  It's all over the place.  The mine in there was full of this stuff.  Do you know what happens when salt gets into a powder burn?  I'll just tap them down lightly with some of this stuff.  Shouldn't take long."  He was putting salt into his shells.  We started down after them.  I covered Micah while he moved in.  I was just shooting, not really aiming, Micah wanted them alive and I respected him for this.  Micah got close and fired.  You could hear them yell.  Micah was pleased with himself as he took aim again. This time he really gave it to them.  They were really hurtin.'  They were moaning and saying to call a doctor. 

When we road into town Mark and Doc Burrage was waiting on us.  They came running out of  Doc's office.  "Got 'em huh," smiled Mark.  I got Ben and his Pa off of their horses and dumped them into the watering trough.  Doc wanted to know what happened to them.  Micah said, "we took some of the starch out of them and replaced it with salt."  We said good night to Micah and headed on out way.  Micah told them they would feel better when they got the salt washed off of them.  He hoped they enjoyed their last bath!

piddlin stuff.....Denver Pyle played Henry Trumble in this episode.  He's the one that the Malakie thought was Lucas when they killed him.  He appeared in five episodes all together.  Besides 'Bloodlines' he appeared in 'The Legacy' as Seth Mitchell ~ 'The Hangman' as Harold Tenner [he was 'The Hangman']―'The Clarence Bibs Story' and 'The Decision' as Frank Hazlitt, he was mean in this one!  He wanted Lucas to lie in court to say his son.
He appeared with Chuck Connors in "Geronimo." 
He appeared with Johnny Crawford in "The Lone Ranger" ~ 'The Cross of Santo Domingo' in 1956 [before "The Rifleman"] He was Mark's "Pa" before Lucas.☺Ever see this?  You just gotta see this one!
I would say he is best know for his parts on Uncle Jesse Duke on "The Dukes of Hazard."  He appeared in several "Gunsmoke" episodes and also appeared with him in "How the West Was Won."
Remember when he was on "The Andy Griffith Show?"  One of his most memorable was in Bonnie and Clyde as Sheriff Frank Haimer, the handcuffed hostage who spits in Bonnie's face after she poses with him for a camera shot.
He has done oodles and oodles of things!  I tip my cowgirl hat to you!

Warren Oates appeared in five episodes episode of  "The Rifleman."  'The Marshal' as Andrew Shelton  ~  'Bloodlines' as Jud Malakie  ~ 'The Prodigal' as Santos ~  'Miss Milly' as Marty Ryan ~ 'Day of Reckoning' as Will Breen. 
Another guest star that was on "The Untouchables".  He was a regular on "Stoney Burke."  He is credited with many things such as "Stripes," "Return of the Magnificent Seven," "Ride the High Country" & "In the Heat of the Night."

Christopher Dark played Ben Malakie in this episode.  I was really surprise that he only appeared in this episode of  "The Rifleman." I thought he was really good.  He also appeared in "The Untouchables" several times.

John Durren played Stump Malakie in this episode.  He was the one brother/son who got killed in the saloon in the beginning.  He also appeared in the episode of  'The Challenge.'  He was Davey Pardee, Jake's brother.

Last but never least ~ Buddy Hackett ~  I thought he was excellent in this part!  I remember when I first saw him in this role, I couldn't believe my eyes.  Buddy Hackett being a bad guy, yeah right!  He did great!  He was also in 'The Clarence Bibs Story.' Remember him?  He was a slow witted handy man who gets himself into trouble when he accidentally kills a skilled gunfighter.  Denver Pyle and Buddy Hackett both appeared in 'Bloodlines' and 'The Clarence Bibs Story.'  Reversed roles.
Buddy was offered, but turned down, the role of "Curly" in "The Three Stooges".
Best known as a great comedian.
I got this e-mail from a friend/fan.....I wrote to Buddy ...it musta been at least four or five years ago....and I told him how I liked him and I commented how he played such a good rat on The Rifleman...he did write me back and said he had a lot of fun doing that part...and that he had kept in touch with Chuck Connors.
*If anybody has any information on any of the stars, and would like to share it, please get in touch with

Doc Burrage played by Rhys Williams.

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