Bill Boyd Western #5

Bill Boyd stumbles upon a dead man at the base of a mining operation and brings the grim news to mine owner Jadmore—but the mystery deepens when Jadmore insists the victim couldn't possibly have fallen from the mine's top, since there's only one way in or out, and he never left his post. To make matters stranger, a shipment of gold has vanished from the premises, and Boyd agrees to stand guard while Jadmore fetches the Sheriff. What Boyd doesn't know is that a gang of thieves has been working a hidden route above the mine all along, and they're counting on him not discovering their secret before they make their escape with the rest of the loot.

Brainy Buster has just received a ventriloquist's dummy in the mail and is eager to practice his new craft, but his plans hit a snag when the perpetually dim-witted Dopey Oscar shows up wanting to learn ventriloquism himself. When Oscar suggests he'd make a fine ventriloquist too, Brainy Buster delivers a zinger about what kind of dummy Oscar would actually need—one capable of thinking for itself.

A prairie wanderer seeking fortune stops by Professor Mystic's tent for a palm reading, but finds the fortune teller's wisdom more ridiculous than revealing—with jokes about manicures, soap, and a prophecy involving a cheese factory. This lighthearted western romp plays every bit of comedy gold from the encounter, leaving the customer wondering if he got what he paid for.

In "The Ominous Door," a dying rancher makes one final, cryptic move—locking a suitcase full of money inside a forgotten house and posting a warning on the door: behind it lies a surprise of fame, fortune, or death. The story unfolds in the stark, sun-baked world of the frontier, where curiosity and danger walk the same dusty trail.

Bill Boyd tracks a killer through town after witnessing a brutal hotel robbery—but the trail goes cold until he spots a telltale mark on a horse. With the help of an accidental clue from the blacksmith, Bill pieces together the identity of Brad Allen and corners him in a saloon for a reckoning that will bring a murderer to justice.

Windy Whopper spots a movie crew on the prairie and pitches himself for a role, but the director isn't impressed—until Windy offers to swap a story for a part in the picture. What follows is a hilariously absurd yarn about a laundry, an eagle, a polite mosquito, and a bee with a sense of humor, delivered with pun after pun that tests the director's patience in this 1951 western-comedy romp.

When Hammerhead volunteers to hang wallpaper in the Boss's living room while he's out tending to chores, the eager helper is confident he can make quick work of the job. But what the Boss discovers upon his return proves that good intentions don't always lead to smooth results on the frontier.

When a gold strike brings fortune-seekers to Mount Peak, Bill Boyd teams up with Sheriff Tone to guard the claims against outlaws—but Wild Bill Banks and his gang have their own plan to claim the riches. As masked bandits strike under cover of darkness, Boyd must stay sharp to stop the theft, even as the criminals prove more cunning and ruthless than expected.