Lash LaRue Western #22

Lash LaRue boards a train as a roving marshal to investigate a dope-smuggling operation, suspecting that a man in a green hat receives contraband from an accomplice somewhere aboard. When Lash spots baggage already planted in the suspect's private compartment, he knows he's onto something—but the criminals discover his cover and make a desperate move to silence him. With his quick wits and his trusty bullwhip, Lash turns the tables to catch both smugglers red-handed.

Dusty searches high and low for his cousin Willie, who made off with Dusty's prized fifty-dollar saddle—though the trail of logic leading him to the lake proves as tangled as his own thinking. With some reluctant help from a friend, Dusty sets out to track down the runaway and reclaim what's his, armed with nothing but determination and a rather creative understanding of how tracking actually works.

When a newly released convict named Myles begins distributing mysterious lamps to those he blames for his imprisonment, each recipient receives a cryptic note promising wishes—but the lamps are rigged with explosives meant for revenge. Lash LaRue, the Roving Marshal, must piece together the connection between a series of deadly explosions before the final victim falls, all while Myles executes his twisted plan of retribution.

Wagonwheels returns from a fancy dinner and tries to tell Lash LaRue about the elaborate spread, but a mix-up over what was served for dessert—trumpets versus crumpets—leads to a quick-witted punchline about just how grand the celebration really was. It's a tongue-in-cheek Western tall tale that proves even a frontier gathering can get a little too civilized for its own good.

When a persistent neighbor corners Tibbet seeking advice about his unemployed son, the clear-thinking westerner offers some unconventional wisdom that completely sidesteps the real problem. A quick dose of frontier humor that proves sometimes the best advice is the most literal.

Lash LaRue and his cellmate Duffy have spent six weeks locked up, and Duffy's convinced he can talk the warden into setting him free—no prison break needed. When he finally gets an audience with the warden, Duffy's sharp tongue and harsh critiques of the office soon put the official in a foul mood, leading to an unexpected twist on what freedom might mean.

Lash LaRue catches the thief Cowl in the act of robbing a gold mine office, but a rival outlaw gang springs a plan to force the marshal's hand—kidnapping his old friend Squinty to trade for Cowl's release. When the gang corners Squinty and his scrappy dog Mutt at his shack, the quick-thinking old prospector uses a clever trick to bluff his way free and send the gang scrambling. Now it's a race through the hills with Lash hot on the trail to catch Squinty and the gang before they can get far.