Bill Boyd Western #8

Bill Boyd stumbles into Brook Hollow and crosses paths with Gray Gardner, a slick casino operator wanted for stealing ten thousand dollars from a bank back East—a crime Gardner has managed to hide behind. When a pair of crooks with their own score to settle against Gardner arrive to shake him down, Bill finds himself caught in the middle of a gunfight at the casino, forcing him to confront what Gardner's really after and why the wanted man suddenly wants to turn himself in to the sheriff.

Windy decides to land an easy job as a cook on Chuck's ranch by convincing him he's a culinary master, but his wild tall tales about his cooking credentials and ridiculous "specialties"—like saddle of lamb and his peculiar snacks—quickly expose the con and put the employment deal in serious doubt.

Bill Boyd rides into the Lazy T Ranch seeking work, but a snap judgment about a couple of suspicious cowhands sends him on a dangerous chase to uncover a cattle-rustling scheme. When an old drifter washes up claiming he was attacked for counting livestock, Bill risks his neck to gather proof—only to find himself trapped between trigger-happy thieves and a stampeding herd. With the sheriff summoned and accusations flying, Boyd must separate the real rustlers from those who merely look the part.

Bill Boyd stumbles upon a drifter's desperate gamble when he discovers Crowbait Clemson trapped in an outlaw's hideout—forced to cook a meal for Bolton's vicious gang to save his hide. What starts as a scheme to poison the killers with a concoction of chile, kerosene, and whatever else comes to hand quickly spirals into chaos, and Boyd arrives just as the situation reaches its breaking point.

A hard-working cowboy named Hammer-Head finds himself in quite the predicament when his arsenal of firearms demands more support than his wardrobe can provide. In this lighthearted western tale from 1950, he's rigged up an ingenious—if absurd—solution involving an impressive collection of belts, each serving a very specific purpose.

A man named Joe Nuisance responds to Moore's want ad seeking investment capital for a business venture, only to discover Moore's scheme is a miniature golf course—and that Moore expects Nuisance to put up all the money while Moore supplies the "brains." What unfolds is a rapid-fire battle of wits (and puns) as the two spar over golf terminology, past investments, and the true meaning of "capital," with each jab landing harder than the last.

Bill Boyd accepts a job offer at a neglected ranch, only to find himself caught up in the aftermath of a stagecoach robbery gone wrong—the man he's helping turns up murdered, and his gun vanishes in the chaos. With a gang of killers closing in and the stolen loot missing, Boyd must piece together who really pulled the trigger and recover the cash before someone else does.