Monte Hale Western #87

Monte Hale arrives for a reunion with old friend Jim Holt, only to find the homesteaders under siege—Bull Driscoll's cattle are trampling their crops, and when Monte intervenes in a tense standoff, he finds himself slapped with a crushing $10,000 peace bond that could wipe out the farmers if he breaks it. Now Monte must outwit Driscoll's hired gun Ace Randall, who's bent on provoking him into forfeiting that bond, all while keeping his famous quick draw in check.

When a wave of violence suddenly erupts between Cheyenne warriors and white settlers in the timberlands, Monte Hale sets out to uncover what's driving the conflict—only to discover a ruthless trader named Dirk Barter is secretly fueling the uprising. With the help of Gray Fox, a young Cheyenne who becomes his blood-brother after Monte saves his life, he infiltrates the tribe's camp to confront both Barter and the Cheyenne chief, leading to a desperate test of truth that will determine the fate of the fragile peace.

When a cowpoke named Carey recovers from rheumatism, his misunderstanding of the doctor's prescription for "hot springs" leads him to set his mattress on fire—and that's just the beginning of his troubles. Trading quips with his friend Harry, Carey regales him with tales of spectacular bad luck, from smashing a buckboard belonging to his only friend in court to getting fired from a fire insurance job for trying to sell policies to fireflies. This two-page humor tale captures the comic misadventures of a perpetually hapless character in the Old West.

When a wanted poster bearing Monte Hale's name and face goes up in Gold Dust City, young Bob Drews refuses to believe the great western hero has turned outlaw—until he encounters the man himself holding up a stagecoach. Determined to prove Monte's innocence and bring him to justice, Bob sets out in pursuit, only to discover that Monte has been playing a dangerous game all along as a Wells Fargo agent. The truth about a gold-shipping swindle unravels at the El Dorado Mine, where Monte and Bob must face down the real criminals behind the scheme.

Dusty finds himself stuck minding his boss's eccentric brother Goofy while the boss is away—and keeping those false teeth safe from the icebox raider proves to be the least of his problems. Between Goofy's hair-brained schemes (feeding nightmares hay, wanting his horse in bed) and the chaos that follows, Dusty's patience wears thinner by the minute, though a chance for peace might just be within reach.