Lash LaRue Western #42

Sheriff Barney Dancer tracks the Canyon Kid to the Apache Falls Gambling Casino, where he confronts the slick proprietor Graham about a murder charge. Meanwhile, a mysterious note delivered at the opera house implicates the publisher Bard Presston in a deadly scheme, drawing Lash LaRue into a web of deception and danger.

Trader Tom sells a mouse trap advertised as "wonderful for mice," but when a customer demands a refund after it fails to catch any mice, Tom points out the irony—his trap is so effective, it's wonderful for the mice. The customer, a man named Wagon Wheels, then arrives at the store, revealing he used to work for the notoriously hard-hearted Huck Flint, whose cruelty is exaggerated in a humorous anecdote.

Dusty, the newly hired chef at the Gopher Hole Restaurant, confidently claims his cooking skills are top-notch—though he admits he forgot to light the oven and hasn’t even started roasting the chicken. When his boss suddenly arrives and demands the meal be ready, the panic sets in, especially when the oven starts knocking from within. As the situation spirals into chaos, Dusty’s brief career as a chef comes to a sudden and dramatic end.

Silly to Have Asked! A young woman, flustered and out of breath, bursts into the sheriff’s office, demanding to know what’s going on. The sheriff, calm and unimpressed, replies with a dry remark that leaves her flustered all over again.