Rocky Lane Western #17

Rocky Lane rides through sheep country at night, startled by the eerie sound of a wether bell leading a flock in the dark. When he stops at a ranch, the owner reveals that ghostly rustlers have been stealing flocks without a trace, leaving dead men at Devil's Tower—prompting Rocky to chase the mysterious trail before the stolen sheep vanish into the tower’s shadow.

In a humorous Western showdown, Dimwit and Gopher Face argue over who is the dumbest cowpoke around, leading to a lighthearted debate about their schoolyard mishaps. Each tries to outdo the other with increasingly absurd stories of academic failure, leaving the onlooker exasperated by their antics.

Rocky Lane races to stop a Kiowa war party from attacking a frontier town, unaware that a gang of outlaws is manipulating events to steal furs from Quincy’s trading post. As tensions rise, Rocky must confront both the desperate Kiowa chief and a hidden enemy working to incite violence.

Slim Pickens runs a struggling general store, drowning in debt and surviving on wallpaper nuts, until a customer returns a defective hat he claimed was genuine Australian beaver skin—only to reveal it’s been ruined by a bad sea crossing. When the customer demands a replacement, Slim tries to trade him a one-sleeved hunting jacket, leading to a series of increasingly absurd mishaps that leave him trapped in a comedic spiral of his own making.

Rocky Lane, the famed marshal, is targeted by a ruthless gang of road agents who’ve sworn to kill him. When a mysterious rider named Tom joins him on a dangerous stagecoach journey, Rocky soon realizes the man’s true purpose isn’t just travel—it’s protection. As ambushes, dynamite traps, and a perilous river chase unfold, the line between guardian and guarded begins to blur.

Perplexed Pete claims he’s no jackass—despite having a hole in his head—by recounting an absurd tale of surviving a fire by jumping six stories in rubber boots, only to bounce for a week before being shot down by a doctor who charged him a hundred dollars. Burt, skeptical but amused, listens as Pete’s wild story spirals into increasingly ridiculous claims, from a doctor who “skinned” patients to a buckboard incident where Pete refused to move from a penny. The humor lies in Pete’s deadpan confidence and Burt’s growing disbelief, all set in the quirky, exaggerated world of a frontier comic.

A young woman at the 2 N C Ranch plays a clever prank on her companions by pretending a sudden drop in temperature is due to their thermometer, Arthur, being "very low." The joke unfolds with exaggerated reactions and playful tension, all centered around the thermometer's chilly reading.

Rocky Lane investigates a suspicious hermit’s cave after the local sheriff notes odd activity there, including two strangers entering and exiting despite the hermit’s deadly warning sign. When Rocky discovers the hermit tied up and the cave hiding a secret, he realizes the outlaws using the hideout may be planning to frame the hermit—or worse.