The Curse of Gold

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Sheriff Magpie Simpkins has little patience left for a town that thinks he's not stopping crime fast enough, and even less for the trouble that arrives when the notorious Piegan Kid rides in during a gunfight and leaves the sheriff's office in shambles. With his quick-witted sidekick Ike Harper suddenly deputized, Magpie charges after the outlaw into the hills, launching a fast, rough-country pursuit full of bullets, bad luck, and improvised heroics. What follows is a comic Western chase where Ike borrows a horse, the pair split up to trap their quarry, and confusion turns every advantage into a calamity. Ike fires at a hat on a stick, then believes he has killed the Kid—only to discover he has accidentally shot Magpie, who is very much alive and furious. Even so, the pair stumble onto two stolen sacks of cash, only to have their triumph spoiled by sabotaged horses, missing gear, and a mocking note from the escaped outlaw. Fast-paced, deadpan, and full of frontier mayhem, this is a chase story as funny as it is dangerous.