Honest to Doughgod

Hen Peck, Muley Bowles, and Telescope Tolliver are a hard-riding trio of cowpunchers whose banjo picking, poetry, and song are matched only by their talent for trouble. In this lively, tongue-in-cheek Western, a stolen-cattle scrape, a fake rescue scheme, and a string of outrageous bluffs turn outlaw panic into unexpected profit, setting the tone for a story that treats frontier crime as comic improvisation. When the men meet the stranded schoolteacher Miss Adamson, their swagger gives way to awkward admiration, and a ludicrous courtship ritual begins: compliments, boastful name-arguments, and a drawn-from-a-hat schedule for who may call on her each night. As romance, rivalry, and wounded pride tangle together, Muley's self-doubt, Hen's banjo-worn sincerity, and Telescope's ambitions drive the tale into slapstick chaos, from disastrous serenades and corral mishaps to feigned sickness, broken rails, and violent misunderstandings. Debt, honor, and masculinity are all satirized as the men improvise lies, loans, and hideouts to protect one another. Sheriff McFee's arrival finally reveals the deepest joke of all: Muley's supposed outlaw downfall is really a comic confusion over forty dollars owed and repaid. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.