Masked Raider #16

The Masked Raider rides into an ambush set by two thieves guarding $60,000 in stolen money, but his companion eagle Talon turns the tables and sends the would-be killers fleeing into the desert. Desperate for water and cash, the robbers—Tequila Lopez and Tupper—are forced to return to the only spring for miles, where the Masked Raider and Talon wait to settle accounts. It's a tense game of wits and nerve played out under the desert sun, with an eagle's talons deciding who walks away.

The Masked Raider's loyal eagle Talon goes missing, and his search leads him to a dangerous confrontation with the fraudster Lyons, who's holding the injured bird hostage to force the Raider into a desperate bargain. With time running out and his secret identity at stake, the Masked Raider must outwit a cunning criminal without revealing who he really is—all to get his faithful companion back safely.

Young Jim Dawson returns to Wild Cat Junction as the town's new sheriff—armed with nothing but his wits and a radical conviction that moral authority can overcome the violence plaguing the frontier. When he refuses to wear a gun and faces down Hank Tolliver and his ruthless gang, Jim's unshakable resolve is tested in ways no college education prepared him for. Will this idealistic lawman's unconventional stand transform a lawless town, or will it cost him everything?

Les Wilcox suspects a swindler named Hurdman of cheating Uncle Tone Reilly out of a thousand-dollar bet on a horse race by riding a ringer—a faster horse masquerading as his own. When Hurdman tries to pull an even bolder con, Les arranges a rematch under the original bet's terms, planning to expose the fraud once and for all. The Masked Raider takes the saddle on White Star for a final race that forces Hurdman's hand and brings the truth to light.