15 Western Short Stories

This issue of Western Short Stories (June 1955, Vol. 10 No. 6) contains fifteen western fiction stories. The cover feature is "Tough, He Said He Was" by Clayton Fox. Bob Smith, a hardened young drifter placed on John McLeod's ranch two years prior to avoid reform school, plans to leave after bringing in the final cattle gather. When the count falls short—McLeod loses three cows and faces financial ruin—Bob prepares to depart. However, McLeod is thrown from his horse and mortally injured. Before dying, McLeod urges Bob to pay off the ranch debt to banker Tom Washburn. Bob honors the request and gathers the cattle to drive down. Discovering unshod horse tracks suggesting the Glidden brothers (wanted for theft and post office robbery) may have stolen the missing stock, Bob pursues answers. Additional stories include "Gold Bullets" (Joe Chadwick, Jr.), "The Quiet Kid" (Howard Ozmon), "The Girl in the Jail" (Johnston McCulley), and eleven others, mostly featuring classic western themes of lawmen, outlaws, and frontier conflicts.