"An offworlder. We grew up together, he and I, though you'd not know it to see him now, for his road here's been longer and harder than mine. But if there's even an atom left in him of the man I know, he'll help you." That's their duty as gunslingers, he figures, if anything is. Although hard-learned lessons remind him that it isn't always possible to save those who most need saving. It's their duty to try, nonetheless. Roland will surely see that.