Lash LaRue Western #35

Cowboy Cal shares some amusing news from his brother out in the city—turns out the fellow has landed himself a rather unusual job feeding fish to pelicans. It's a lighthearted tall tale that lands squarely on a groaner of a punchline, the kind of frontier humor that made readers groan and grin in equal measure.

A slick con artist poses as a Hollywood talent scout and tricks Dusty out of his hard-earned wages with promises of stardom and acting lessons. When the scheme falls apart and Dusty demands his money back, the hustler learns a costly lesson about picking the wrong mark—one who knows how to fight back.

Windy, the ranch paymaster, spots an easy mark in a cowpoke named Franks and decides to have some fun when Franks honestly returns an extra dollar from his pay envelope—by interrogating him as though he's a dangerous criminal. What starts as Windy's playful needling spirals into increasingly absurd accusations of espionage and murder, complete with painful "tests," until Franks decides he's had quite enough of being the joke.

When miners strike gold and ask Lash LaRue to file their claim in town, the roving marshal discovers that the newly elected Mayor Tom Tyson is using his office to steal the deposit for himself. Lash must expose Tyson's corruption and remind the townspeople that their neglect of civic duty—failing to vote—is what allowed a crook to seize power in the first place.