Rocky Lane Western #53

Bricky Deel, a young man new to the J-Bar-J ranch, takes on the role of foreman despite skepticism from owner Old Man Jerrigan. When a group of vigilantes begins hanging suspected outlaws without trial, Bricky finds himself caught between enforcing the law and preventing a mob from taking justice into their own hands.

In "An Unsafe Proposition," a young man named Sagebrush visits Banker Finley seeking a loan, only to be stymied by the need for collateral—until he boasts about his father’s legendary wealth, claiming he has so many gold teeth he sleeps with his head in a safe. The story takes a humorous turn when Sagebrush and his brother enlist the wisdom of Old Smoky to settle their dispute over dividing their late father’s farm, leading to a clever, if cheeky, solution that leaves the outcome up in the air.

In a humorous Western tale, a desperate farmer begs Dee Dickens for help against a swarm of relentless bugs, only to be tricked into paying twenty-five dollars for a fake bug-killing device—a wooden mallet and block. Dee, smugly confident, plans to enjoy his ill-gotten cash, unaware that the real bug he once defeated in a legendary way might still be very much alive.

Rocky Lane arrives at a railroad construction camp after a mysterious explosion, where he learns that the previous Trouble Boss, Tom Cates, has been killed under suspicious circumstances. With the camp plagued by unexplained accidents and stolen dynamite, Rocky takes on the role of the new Trouble Boss, confronting a crooked gambling hall owner and uncovering a rigged roulette wheel before setting out to search for the missing explosives in the surrounding hills.