Rawhide Kid #2
Hangman's Justice
The Rawhide Kid and Randy Clayton are riding along the range when they witness a man being kidnapped. The Kid and Clayton are shot at when they rush to the man's rescue and although they kill one of the kidnappers the other escape with their victim. They ride into the nearby town of Hondo and explain the situation to the local sheriff, who sends out some men to recover the dead body. When it turns out the dead man was a reputable resident named Jess Spencer, the sheriff accuses the Rawhide Kid of killing a man in cold blood, disbelieving the Kid's story and has him locked up.
The Kid believes that he is innocent however when he is brought to trail he is railroaded through the trial and is sentenced to hanging for the murder of Spencer, despite his pleas of self-defence. Left in his cell over night, the Kid witnesses as some outlaws rob the local bank and then light it on fire. As the bank burns to the ground, Randy comes to the Kid's cell window and helps him escape by getting the Kid's horse Apache to pull the bars off the window and follow after the outlaws.
The criminals arrive at a cabin outside of town where they have the judge prisoner and take him outside to execute him for their employer Jarad Ketchum. However before they can kill him the Rawhide Kid saves his life. The Kid learns from Judge Homer that Ketchum was his partner in the Hondo Bank and after owing the bank a fortune he sought to destroy the records, kidnapping Homer and taking his place in disguise.
Riding back into Hondo, the Rawhide Kid arrives just as Ketchum, still posing as judge Homer, tries to blame the bank fire on the hero. The Kid attacks Ketchum, exposing his disguise and turning him over to the proper authorities, clearing his name.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
Smokey
Six-Gun Scholar
While riding across the range, the Rawhide Kid is shocked when a pair of men rope up Randy off his horse with a lasso. The Kid shoots the rope free and learn that they are truant officers who then try to use strong arm tactics to find out why Randy isn't in school. The Rawhide Kid easily disarms them and sends them fleeing but realizes that Randy does need a proper education and decides to take him into the town of Tumbleweed to register him for school, despite Randy's protests.
There, the Rawhide Kid is unimpressed to have to pay $50 to register Randy in school, unaware that this is a scam by the two men who seek to get back at both the Rawhide Kid and Randy for the humiliation they suffered. When Randy reports to class for the first time, one of the administrators sons tries to bully Randy, but the boy easily defends himself. When the administrator tries to pull Randy away, the Rawhide Kid is there to defend his ward, ordering them to leave Randy alone. However, they plot to eliminate the Rawhide Kid so that they can torment the young boy some more.
However their plans are spoiled when the bully tells Randy about the attack and the boy skips out of class in order to warn the Rawhide Kid. With Randy's warning, the Rawhide Kid manages to stop the ambush, shooting the two crooked administrators dead, and then helps Randy sneak back into class before the teacher notices that he is missing.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
Smokey
Ambush Gang
On his way home from school, Randy is ambushed by a group of men who then take him prisoner for their boss. When the Rawhide Kid learns that Randy went missing after class, the Kid searches for the boy, learning he was bushedwacked but cannot find the trail. At the local saloon shortly thereafter, the Rawhide Kid is approached by one of the gang with a note written by Randy. He then tells the Kid that he is to assist them in robbing the coach coming in from Sweetwater Gap with a load of gold in exchange for Randy being set free.
Not trusting the outlaws, the Rawhide Kid decides to help them but quickly formulates a plan to foil their plan. The Rawhide Kid is sent to rob the coach himself, he tells the coach driver to pretend he was shot and open the sand box on the read of the coach as he falls off the coach. He then turns the coach over to the outlaws and they leave unaware that the coach's sand box is leaving a trail for the Rawhide Kid to follow. The trail leads him back to the outlaws hideout where he easily disarms and captures the outlaws, frees Randy and returns the stolen coach to the driver who was amazed at how the Rawhide Kid fooled the criminals.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
Smokey