Hopalong Cassidy #64

In "Murder Pays the Price," a corrupt lawyer orchestrates a deadly scheme to steal from two outlaws, using a doctor to alter their faces after a staged jailbreak with dynamite—setting a twisted game of deception and survival in motion.

Hill Billy and Abner take a break on a steep climb, joking about the difficulty of reaching the top of Piker's Peak. Abner struggles to remember which way the letters "d" and "b" face, prompting Hill Billy to explain with a playful stomach-based trick. The duo reaches the summit, only to find a gum stand waiting — and the reward for their effort is a satisfying chew of Dubble Bubble.

Whitey Whiskers tries to win five dollars from Mr. Crabtree by spinning an outlandish tale about surviving a shipwreck and enduring weeks without food, claiming he uttered the immortal words "I'm hungry!"—only to be exposed as a liar when the editor refuses to believe his story, leaving Whitey both broke and disgruntled.

At the Travers-Jones Copper Mine, Hopalong Cassidy investigates a dangerous cave-in that may not be an accident, uncovering a plot by the greedy Jones to silence miner Travers. As tensions rise and the mine’s unstable structure threatens everyone, Hopalong must outwit Jones, who tries to kill him to cover up the murder—only to be trapped when the mine collapses around them. With the mine crumbling and no clear escape, Hopalong faces a desperate race against time to survive the wreckage and find a way out.

Pattie finds Sloppy Joe’s messy eating habits so revolting that she declares she’d rather buy a refrigerator than eat with him. When Sloppy Joe asks why, she quips that it’s to keep the food on his shirt from spoiling — leaving him stunned.

Hopalong Cassidy arrives in Twin River to check on ranch books for the ailing Sewell, only to find Ed Doaks and Len Wills acting suspiciously. When Trigger Barton shows up in town, the cowpokes hatch a plan to frame Hopalong’s death by hiding a dead hog in a sack, but their scheme unravels when Hopalong returns and exposes their lies.