Texas Kid #3
A House Divided!
In Tamaulipas, Mexico, the Federales are forced to release notorious outlaw Mesabi Pete as he has served his sentence, although they worry that he will return to go back to his criminal ways and have him escorted back across the Rio Grande into the United States. There, Mesabi pulls out the guns that have been hidden in his horse gear since he was arrested and guns the Federales down. Once well into Mexico, Mesabi gets a new horse from a rancher that he also shoots dead, and then begins collecting together a posse of his old outlaw buddies so that he can get revenge against the man who put him away: Zane Temple. After breaking a gang of men out of a prison in San Antonio, Mesabi Pete leads them to the Temple ranch outside of Caliber City.
There Mesabi learns that his old foe is now a blind old man and decides to get back at him another way: After lighting the Temple ranch on fire, he decides to go after Zane's son Lance, luring the boy out by taking Zane prisoner. When Lance returns home he finds the ranch in flames and is informed by their house keeper Lucinda what happened to his father. Getting Lucinda to safety, Lance then changes into the Texas Kid to track down Mesabi Pete and his gang of outlaws. The Texas Kid follows the trail to the town of Conception where a gunfight breaks out between the hero and Mesabi's men. In the cross-fire, Mesabi Pete escapes to do in Zane Temple. The Texas Kid learns the location of Mesabi's hidden cabin from one of the dying outlaws and follows after him.
The Texas Kid gets there first by taking a shortcut and finds his father alive. Making no pretense to disguise his true identity from his father (who can't see the Texas Kid outfit) Zane orders his son to continue to follow his promise not to use a gun against a man so long as he has the family name. Lance gives little protest and turns the guns over to his father. When Pete enters the cabin and announces his entrance by expressing his surprise that the Texas Kid beat him there, the outlaw unintentionally tips Zane off to his position and the blind man shoots him dead. With Mesabi Pete dead, Zane tells his son to leave such dangerous work to him or the Texas Kid and the reunited family members return home.
Recurring Characters
Texas Kid
Zane Temple
Thunder
Riot at the Rodeo!
Lance Temple has taken Belle to the local rodeo and are both disgusted by the short handed tricks that Luke Spandrell is using to win the competition. Luke completes all the competitions and is to be named the champion unless someone challenges him in the next five minutes. Belle wonders who could defeat Luke, but Lance feigns disinterest and leaves, upsetting Belle. In reality, Lance is not leaving at all, only changing into his alter-ego the Texas Kid in order to challenge Spandrell and beat him fare and square.
Spandrell agrees to the challenge and the Texas Kid beats him out in shooting by being able to shoot two quarters tossed into the air and later uses a bullet to split an arrow in half as it sails in mid-air. They next take the challenge to a Bowie knife toss at a ear of corn stuck into the side of a log. Luke succeeds in throwing his knife and striking the ear of corn down the middle. The Texas Kid one-ups him by striking the ear on the side, but only clearing off two rows of corn. Beaten in a fair fight, Luke Spandrell loses the competition to the Texas Kid. The Kid then rides off to change back into Lance Temple and returns to Belle who is exasperated at him for missing the competition.
Recurring Characters
Texas Kid
Thunder
Man Who Didn't Exist!
Lance Temple watches as the Las Vegas stage rolls into town and sees that the man riding shotgun has been killed. Going in for a closer look, Lance overhears how single masked outlaw somehow knew their coach was carrying a load of gold and robbed them. Lance then returns home to his father to tell him the news. As usual, Zane tells Lance to let the danger of hunting down the outlaws responsible for other men, reminding his son that he is sworn never to use a gun against another man so long as he uses the name Temple.
However, the bandits continue to rob coaches riding into Caliber City prompting Lance to begin investigating as the Texas Kid. After the most recent coach robbery, the Kid investigates the tracks and learns that the coach rider has been telling a lie since the coach was not approached by a lone rider, but a whole gang of them. Suspecting that something is up, Texas Kid rides into Los Crucas to question the banker who ordered the gold shipment. However, when the Texas Kid meets with Banker Boggs, Boggs dismisses the notion of a gang, insisting that his rider was only robbed by a lone man. However, as the hero leaves Los Cracus, he spots the coach riders from Los Vegas and the Yuma Express who were robbed earlier hanging out in town. Finding something suspicious, the Kid decides to try a trick to catch the crooks responsible.
Riding back to Caliber City and changing back into his civilian identity, Lance goes to the Wells Fargo office with a bag full of rocks, pretending that he struck a large load of gold. Despite the warnings of the Wells Fargo employee and over the listening ears of a lone occupant in the office, Lance asks the "gold" to be shipped to St. Louis.Sure enough once the coach is out of town, the coach rider turns on his shotgun man and shoots him dead then calls the outlaws. When they pull the "gold" out, they realize that they were tricked when they find nothing but rocks. The Texas Kid gets the drop on the outlaws, learning that their leader is really Banker Boggs. The Texas Kid then guns down the gang members, but then captures Boggs who confesses to masterminding the whole plan and turns him over to the authorities. Lance later returns home where he listens with amusement as his blind father Zane tells him all about how the "quick-triggered galoot" the Texas Kid captured the thieves.
Recurring Characters
Texas Kid
Zane Temple
Emilio Diaz
Red Hawk
Thunder
