Kid Colt Outlaw #13
The Magic of Manitou!
Kid Colt spots some wagons rushing toward a nearby army fort in a hurry. Curious he catches up and asks them what the hurry is and learns that the local tribe of Mandan Native Americans are gearing up to go to war. He goes into the fort and gets confirmation from the captain that Flying Cloud, the chief of the Mandans is gearing up for a warpath. Since Kid Colt is a friend of Flying Cloud, he decides to go to the camp and find out what's going on. Seeing smoke signals putting out a war call, Kid Colt sneaks into the camp and finds his friend Three Bears to find out what is happening. Three Bears tells him that some renegades have killed Flying Cloud and taken over the tribe and are preparing to go to war against the fort. Three Bears tells him that the tribe has no choice but to fight. Suddenly they are caught by some of the renegades, who kill Three Bears. Kid Colt tries to fight them off, but he is knocked out by a blow to the head.
Thinking that the Kid is dead, the renegades put Kid Colt's body in a tent where they have also stored the body of Flying Cloud. Coming out his coma some time later, Kid Colt checks Flying Cloud and finds that he too is still alive and uses Native medicine tricks to revive the chief. The two men then come up with a plan to use Native superstitions to convince his people to turn against the renegades. That night Flying Cloud reveals that he is still alive and tells the renegades that he has been endowed with magic from Manitou himself. When they disbelieve, he makes a row of skulls disappear (actually blasted to pieces by Kid Colt's guns) and then "summons" Kid Colt from "beyond the grave". Kid Colt rides through the campfire on his horse Steel, convincing the tribe that Flying Cloud has gained magical powers. When the renegades try to fight back, Kid Colt guns them down, insuring peace among the tribe. In the aftermath, Kid Colt returns to the fort to inform the army that there will be no war.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
Steel
Code of the Outlaw!
In a small town, Kid Colt comes across a man trying to whip a boy and orders him to stop. When the man tries to whip him instead, Kid Colt blasts his whip to pieces. Kid Colt demands to know what happened, and the boy tearfully tells him that he wanted a horse so bad that he tried to steal the one the man was riding. Inspecting the situation closer, Kid Colt notices a Circle Lightning brand on the horse and realizes that the man is no better than the boy, as he stole the horse from the Circle Lightning ranch as Kid Colt knows it's owner Old Pete Craig does not sell his horses. But Kid Colt leaves it be and rides the boy away.
When they are on their own, Kid Colt questions the boy and learns that the boy is an orphan and that he wanted a horse real bad, and that he took to stealing one since he could not find a job working as a ranch hand given his young age.
Kid Colt decides to help the boy out and they ride out to a valley where there are a number of wild horses grazing. When the boy picks out a black stallion, Kid Colt rides out and manages to leap onto the stallion's back and then tames the bucking beast. With the horse broken in, Kid Colt then gives it to the boy who thanks Kid Colt for giving him his fondest wish.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
Steel
Murder by a Dead Man!
Kid Colt is trying to escape a posse after him along the Arizona plane. Kid Colt manages to give them the slip near a plateau and then begins cutting through the brush to get away. He comes across a man camping out who tells Kid Colt that he is not after him and offers the outlaw to sit down and eat with him. Kid Colt gets to talking about how he has been trying to dodge the law since he rode out of Culver City where he tells the man he had tangled with the hand of death. This interests the man, and so Kid Colt tells his story:
He tells how a few days prior he rode into the Culver City area and spotted some masked outlaws circling a ranch house. Kid Colt runs them off and the ranch owner invites him in. The rancher tells the Kid that a local man named Butt Madison has been trying to drive him off his land. The man decides to go into town and confront Masterson. Kid Colt believes that the rancher is in for trouble and decides to follow after him. As he expected, as soon as the rancher hitches his horse, some of Masterson's men attempts to bushwhack him. Kid Colt is faster at the draw and shoots them dead. The rancher thanks Colt for his help when Butt Masterson suddenly sneaks up behind him. Kid Colt shoots Masterson dead, however when the rancher is thinking him for his help, Masterson's dying hand pulls the trigger of his own gun, shooting the rancher dead. Seeing this, some of the locals accuse Kid Colt of shooting the rancher and draw on the outlaw. Kid Colt shoves them aside and then blazes out of town, he had been on the run ever since.
Finishing his story, Kid Colt tells the man at the fire that it was the hand of death herself that made Masterson fire his gun after he was killed, and that since then US Marshall Bulldog Sutton has been after him relentlessly ever since. Kid Colt is shocked when the man at the fire reveals himself to be Bulldog Sutton. After hearing Kid Colt's story, Sutton tells the Kid that the rancher was killed with a .44 slug, and that he is convinced Kid Colt is not the killer since he carries .45 caliber pistols. Bulldog then pulls out his arrest warrant and rips it up, telling Kid Colt that he can leave. Kid Colt thanks the lawman for letting him go.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
Steel
