Eight Hours to Die

"Eight Hours to Die" is the 6th episode of The Rifleman Season One and the 6th episode overall. Directed by Arnold Laven and written by Palmer Thompson, it aired on November 4, 1958.
==Synopsis==
Judge Zephiniah Burton seeks "justice" against the hangman who hanged his son; the judge who sentenced his son; and Lucas, the man who caught his son.
==Watch==
==Plot==
The episode opens with public execution by hanging in the town of Towners. After the hanging is done, the hangman is shot dead by a man with a "Justice" badge on his boot, who declares, "Judgement is mine, for I am the true judge of all things."
In North Fork, Lucas receives a letter with a newspaper clipping and the same ominous quote. Similar letters are sent to Judge Martin Harlow in Claypool, Wyoming, who is then killed by the same man. 
Lucas learns from Micah that these letters are from Judge Zephaniah Burton, who seeks vengeance for his son Ephrem. Ephrem had shot a man to death, and was captured by Lucas, tried by Judge Harlow, and hanged by the hangman. Fearing that Burton will come for him next, Lucas prepares for trouble.
After Micah leaves, Judge Burton arrives at Lucas's ranch and overpowers him, knocking him out. Lucas wakes up tied up, and Burton is preparing a hangman's noose for Lucas’s son Mark to deliver his judgement - "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son." Lucas pleads with Burton to spare Mark and punish him instead, but Burton remains resolute. 
Lucas agonizes at the site of the noose as Burton waits for Mark to return home. A classmate soon arrives with news that Mark is being kept at school for detention. Burton goes to fetch Mark from school, and tells the teacher that Lucas has been injured in order to make her let Mark go with him.
Meanwhile, Lucas manages to free himself by burning the ropes with hot coals. On the way back to the ranch, Burton is thrown from his horse, hits his head, and mistakes Mark for Ephrem in his delirium. He confesses his strictness was for Ephrem's own good and asks him to call him "Pa" to show he never did evil to deny him.
Mark reluctantly calls Burton "Pa" before Burton passes out, and when Burton regains consciousness, he thanks Mark. As Mark is fetching water for him, Lucas arrives and sees Burton aiming and firing his shotgun at Mark. Lucas runs to Judge Burton and starts strangling him in a rage until Mark runs up completely unharmed, holding the body of a rattlesnake that was going to bite him but Judge Burton had shot to save Mark's life.
Burton explains that he saved Mark to atone for his past sins, but he soon collapses and dies from his injuries.
==Characters==
===Main===
*Lucas McCain - Chuck Connors
*Mark McCain - Johnny Crawford
*Micah Torrance - Paul Fix
===Recurring===
*Hattie Denton - Hope Summers
===Guest===
*Willard/Henry DentonThe post office worker is referred to as "Henry Denton" by Micah in the episode, but the end credits list him as "Willard Denton." - Russell Collins
*Judge Zephiniah Burton - George Macready
*Judge Martin Harlow - Irving Mitchell
*The Hangman - Bud Osborne
*The Boy - Bobby Crawford
*Miss Adams - Marilee Phelps
==Footnotes==
Category:Episodes
Category:Season One episodes
Category:Episodes where Mark gets kidnapped
Category:Episode pages with completed plot sections
Category:Episodes where the plot involves someone coming to get revenge on Lucas