Western Tales of the Black Rider #28
The Spoilers
Ace Darcy and his gang have come to Leadville intending to set up a gambling hall in town. The Black Rider refuses to allow them in, as gambling has been outlawed in the region. However, the hero is shocked to find that Sheriff Ben Yarby is allowing it. When he refuses to believe it, the Black Rider beats on Ace and tells him and his men to check out before dawn or face his wrath. However, when the Black Rider goes to talk to Yarby he learns that Yarby has allowed Ace to build a gambling hall in the area, but tearfully tells him that he cannot explain why.
Changing into his alter ego of Dr. Matthew Masters, the Black Rider wonders if this sudden turn of events has anything to do with Yarby's son being ill. Returning to his medical practice, he and Marie Lathrop continue caring for the boy. Learning that the medicine needed to treat the boy has been stolen in a recent coach robbery, Masters returns to his practice and sees that Ace has set up his gambling hall on his way back. With no means to save the boy, Masters laments over the situation when suddenly Sheriff Yarby arrives with the medication. The sheriff reveals that Ace and his men stole the medication needed to cure his son and forced Yarby to allow the gambling hall to be built in exchange for it. Shamed, Yarby takes off his sheriff's star he goes off to face Darcy alone.
Fearing for Yarby's fate, Masters leaves Mary to administer the medicine to Yarby's son and slips away to change into the Black Rider. The masked hero is there to help Yarby cut through Darcy's gang. When Ace attempts to blow up the gambling hall with explosives, the Black Rider shoots the wick off the explosives and apprehends Ace. Later with Yarby's son expected to recover, Matthew Masters gives Yarby back his sheriffs star.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Marie Lathrop
Sheriff Ben Yarby
Satan
The Return of the Spider
White out riding, the Black Rider spots Bobby Lathrop fleeing in a panic on foot. He catches up with the boy and calms him down with a sedative and Bobby explains how he was exploring Ghost Canyon Cliffs when a madman tried to attack him and chased him away after scaring his horse. The Black Rider then returns Bobby to his father and sister then goes back to investigate who Bobby might have seen. He finds the long abandoned cave dwellings of a Native American tribe that used to live there including a skeleton left among the remains of a recently made camp.
Meanwhile in the town of Fiesta, the town jailer is shot dead by the Spider, the Black Rider's old foe who had survived their last encounter. He has come to free the remaining members of his gang, freeing those who agree to go with him and killing those who don't and flee town. The next morning Dr. Matthew Masters is visited by the sheriff of Fiesta who asks him to examine the dead bodies at the jail. There he finds the mark of the Spider on the dead prisoners and realizes his old foe had survived their last encounter. Just then the Spider and his minions race through the town, but the sheriff and his men gun down the gang, but the Spider manages to escape.
Slipping away to change into the Black Rider, Masters follows after the Spider, and is led to back to Ghost Canyon Cliffs. There he is confronted by his old foe, who explains that he was saved from the fire by a Mandan medicine man who nursed him back to health in the cave, after healing the Spider murdered him. The two fight it out until the Spider lunges at the hero, but the Rider dodges out of the way. The Spider is sent flying over the cliff and falls to what the Black Rider believes to be his final death.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Bobby Lathrop
Marie Lathrop
Jim Lathrop
Spider
Satan
Continuity Notes
This story states that the Spider burned alive in the town of San Pedro. This is not correct as seen last issue where he appeared to be immolated in Leadville.
Death Leaves a Card
Spotting a stampeding herd of buffalo, the Black Rider stops them from running off a cliff. He is then confronted by an outlaw named Skinner and his men who were planning on killing the buffalo in order to sell their hides. The Black Rider easily out guns them, shooting their guns out of their hands and orders them to leave. Skinner and his men grudgingly do, but Skinner becomes determined to learn the secret identity of the Black Rider and intends to use that to eliminate the hero. He sends one of his men to follow the Black Rider to find out where he goes. The outlaw follows the Black Rider back to the home where he lives in his alter ego of Matthew Masters. Seeing the Black Rider enter Masters barn and then Masters exiting, Skinner's man returns back to their hideout to report back to his boss. Unsure if Dr. Masters is really the Black Rider, he orders the doctors capture.
The next morning, Matthew Masters is running a routine check up on Bobby Lathrop, the only person in Leadville who knows Master's double identity. Bobby tells Matthew how he spied someone watching Matthew as he returned home as the Black Rider. Suddenly some of Skinner's men come bursting in demanding that Masters comes with them to "heal" one of their men. Masters refuses to fall for the ploy and is taken prisoner at gun point. He is taken back to Skinner's hideout unaware that Bobby is following behind.
As they interrogate Masters regarding the Black Rider's secret identity, Masters refuses to talk, telling them that he doesn't know who the Black Rider is. Suddenly, Bobby bursts into the door with a rifle intending to save Masters. However, Bobby is quickly disarmed and learning that the boy is a friend of the Black Rider, they let Masters go in the hopes of the Black Rider will come to rescue the boy. Masters quickly changes into the Black Rider and bursts in on Skinner and his men before they can prepare a trap for the hero and guns them all down, saving Bobby's life.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Bobby Lathrop
Satan
