Hopalong Cassidy #77

Old Cap Clawsen's distrust of modern conveniences sets the stage for trouble at the Star Plus Ranch, but the real mystery unfolds when Jim Owen, a young man studying to become a doctor through correspondence, makes a desperate decision that puts him in grave danger. After a heated confrontation with a rival over his sweetheart, Faith Webb, Jim's secret acquisition becomes the center of a deadly misunderstanding that threatens to destroy everything he's worked toward. When suspicious hotel guests discover what they believe to be evidence of murder, Jim must race against a lynch mob to prove his innocence before tragedy strikes.

When Whitey Whiskers spots some fellas fishing, he smells an opportunity to part them from their dollars—first by selling them a dubious fishing secret, then by challenging them to a contest for the heaviest catch. But when his suspiciously small fish weighs in as the biggest, the boys get wise to his scheme and decide to teach the crooked buckaroo a lesson he won't soon forget.

When banker Jodkins learns that Hopalong has secured funds to save his old friend Harvey Harris's ranch from a tax sale, he hatches a desperate scheme—surrounding the spread with gunmen to trap Harris inside until the deadline passes. Now Hopalong must fight his way through to town, deliver the tax payment before time runs out, and settle accounts with the corrupt banker and his hired guns. It's a race against the clock as Topper proves why he's the fastest horse in the West.

When a shiftless drifter named Peters asks Pistol Packing Pattie for help landing a job, she reminds him of his dubious track record—every position he's ever held, he's been responsible for something going wrong. A quick comedy lesson plays out as a hillbilly misunderstands "trigonometry" as "trigger-nometry" for his poor-shooting son, leading to another punchline about marksmanship. Meanwhile, in the Hopalong Cassidy story "The Fatal Formula," a professor's valuable snakebite antitoxin formula becomes the target of theft when the lion tamer from a visiting circus learns of its worth and sets a dangerous plan in motion.

Hopalong Cassidy and Pistol Packing Pattie size up Big Jim Blabber, a politician making speeches all over town in his bid to become mayor—and Pattie's got a sharp take on what kind of candidate he really is. It's a quick, witty look at campaign promises and political hot air in the Old West.