Barnyard Comics #18

Barney Rooster finds a wallet stuffed with real money and thinks his luck has turned around—until his conscience shows up to spoil the fun. What follows is a string of schemes to keep the cash, each one more elaborate than the last, as Barney tries to outsmart everyone around him, including himself.

Hucky Duck desperately needs fifty cents for a circus ticket, and when his mother tells him to earn it, a friendly rooster named Barney offers him the cash if he'll do the crowing at dawn—but staying awake through a long, exhausting night proves to be Hucky's real challenge. After a series of mishaps leaves him voiceless by morning, Hucky stumbles through the day so tired and silent that he accidentally wins a circus ticket at school for being the best-behaved pupil, though he's too worn out to enjoy it.

A young beaver who can't seem to build a dam to save his life finally catches a break when a stranger offers to help—only to have their repeated construction disasters lead to an unexpected twist. When a fleeing criminal uses their failed project in a way neither of them intended, our frustrated builder discovers that sometimes the worst luck can turn into the greatest fortune. Ken Champin's "Bridge Work" is a clever reminder that in the animal kingdom, failure and success are sometimes just a matter of perspective.