Western Hero #81

Cactus Brain finds himself out of work after parting ways with the Double Circle Ranch, but a tip at the general store sends him to Hank Hankum's Warehouse in hopes of landing a new job that suits a man of his particular talents. What unfolds is a humorous frontier tale about second chances and finding your place.

Benjamin Sweeney—a ruthless outlaw with a reputation built on the gun he owns, the legendary pistol that once belonged to Wild Bill Hickok—has eluded justice through sheer firepower and superstition. When Monte Hale sets out to prove that a killer's aim counts for nothing against rangeland justice, he devises a cunning plan to shake Sweeney's confidence in the very weapon that's kept him alive. What follows is a deadly game of wits and bullets on the frontier, where a man's faith in his gun may be his greatest vulnerability.

Gabby Hayes finds himself in a pickle when he devours the cake his wife Hester baked for bank robber Rocky Brand—part of her well-meaning plan to rehabilitate the prisoner—and must scramble to cover his tracks before she discovers the theft. When Gabby's friend Plug steps in with a replacement cake, he secretly bakes the escape tools inside, setting off a chain of events that leads Gabby to stumble directly into the middle of a criminal scheme and ultimately recover the stolen bank money.

Lil Buck shows off his comedic talents when a neighbor asks for an imitation act—and the youngster's punchline proves he's got a natural gift for turning expectations on their heads.

Cowboy Cal boasts he can train a dog to carry a glass of water on its back—right on the spot—and proves it with a trick that delivers exactly what he promised, though perhaps not quite in the way anyone expected. It's a quick dose of frontier humor from Western Hero #81 (1949) that shows why Cal's confidence might be warranted after all.

When Tom Mix arrives at the governor's house for a surprise party thrown in his honor, he interrupts a theft in progress—criminals have targeted the governor's wife and her valuable diamond pendant. Tom works with the local jeweler to create a convincing imitation, planning to swap it before the evening celebration, but the thieves have their own scheme in mind. As chaos erupts during the festivities, Tom must track down the culprits and recover what's been taken.