Hopalong Cassidy #77

In the quiet town of Twin River, Jim Owen, a young man studying to be a doctor through correspondence, secretly arranges to obtain a corpse from the cemetery caretaker for his studies. When a mysterious wagon crash and the sudden disappearance of Bart Kirk spark suspicion, the townsfolk grow alarmed—especially after Jim is seen sneaking a trunk into the hotel late at night. As rumors swirl and the townspeople prepare to confront him, the truth behind the trunk remains hidden, leaving the community on edge.

Hopalong Cassidy and his friends are duped by the scheming Whitey Whiskers, who claims to have a foolproof method for catching fish using molasses and bees. When the ruse is exposed, they challenge him to a fishing contest, only to find his tiny fish mysteriously the heaviest—leading to a hilarious reveal when Hopalong discovers it’s stuffed with buckshot.

Hopalong Cassidy rides to Cactus Gulch to deliver a loan to his old friend Harvey Harris, who faces losing his ranch to back taxes unless the money is paid by week’s end. When he arrives, he finds Harris trapped on his property by a gang of hired men loyal to the local banker, Jodkins, who plans to seize the land after the deadline passes. With the ranch surrounded and no way out, Hopalong must find a way to break through the blockade and deliver the funds before it’s too late.

In a lighthearted western tale, a lazy townsman named Peters begs Pistol Packing Pattie to find him a job, only to be mocked for his lack of reliability—especially when he insists he’s “a very responsible hombre.” The story takes a comedic turn when the schoolteacher, frustrated by a father’s reluctance to send his son to school, challenges him to prove his son’s worth by enrolling him in lessons, leading to a humorous exchange about trigonometry and shooting skills.

Pistol Packing Pattie and Hopalong Cassidy are amused by Big Jim Blabber’s endless political speeches, with Pattie calling him a politician who only works his gums before elections and then forgets his promises afterward. Their banter turns into a lighthearted critique of empty campaign rhetoric, all set against the backdrop of a frontier town where politics are as colorful as the cowboys.