Rawhide Kid #8
Powder Keg
The Rawhide Kid comes a cross his ward Randy Clayton and his friend playing with sticks of dynamite. Just as Randy throws one the Kid catches it and then gathers up all the sticks scattered around and douses them in a nearby river. Suspecting that a passing stage might have dropped them, the Rawhide Kid takes the boys into town to talk to the sheriff about it. In town, the Kid is told that a stage was due in town with a load of explosives, however the Kid believes that the coach will not get into town and goes to hunt for its trail. The Kid is unaware that a man named Clem has been overhearing and intends to stop his meddling.
The Rawhide Kid tells Randy and his friend to stay back in town as his mission is potentially dangerous and rides off. However Randy decides to follow anyway, figuring if he stays far enough away he won't get into danger. Out on the range, the Rawhide Kid is jumped by Clem and his men who tie him up and take him to a nearby cabin. There Clem reveals that he intends to use the explosives to blow up a nearby rail bridge in the hopes of forcing the rail road to buy passage rights through his land. They then leave the Kid alone in the cabin while they go off to complete their job.
However the Rawhide Kid is freed when Randy and his friend arrive and the Kid rushes out to the rail bridge. There he shoots the match out of Clem's hand and then forces his gang to stand down before the next train passes across the bridge unscathed.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
The Raiders!
The Rawhide Kid rides into town to find that Sheriff Pack Tilford has been replaced by a man named Wildcat Garney who has put out an ordinance demanding that all citizens of Shotgun City turn in their guns. Believing in his Constitutional right to bare arms, the Rawhide Kid refuses to turn over his guns. He clashed with Wildcat and his men, but despite his efforts he is outnumbered and quickly overpowered and taken prisoner. That night while the Rawhide Kid stews on a jail cell, a gang of masked outlaws rob the Shotgun City bank.
However the Kid is not incarcerated for long as Randy comes and helps break him out of jail. Recovering his guns, the Rawhide Kid and Randy flee back to their cabin where he teaches the boy the importance of protecting the Second Amendment. They then go out and find the Wildcat's shack where the find Pack Tilford tied up inside. Freeing him they learn that he still has a key to the gun and powder room of the sheriff's office. They break in and take the guns and arm the citizens of town and run Wildcat and his gang out of town. With Tilford reinstated as sheriff, the confiscated guns are given back to their owners.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
The Little Avenger!
The Rawhide Kid just narrowly fails to stop a gang of outlaws who have just robbed a stagecoach carrying ten thousand dollars in gold bars. Soon after, while the Kid's ward Randy Clayton is out for a ride he comes across the outlaws burying their stolen loot in the ground. Thinking that it is a food cache, Randy decides to go down and satisfy his curiosity after they leave. However the outlaws return and catch Randy just as he unearths the golden bars. They decide to take the boy with them as a hostage and force him to do menial labour around their camp.
Unafraid of the outlaws, Randy becomes trouble to them: putting salt in their drinking water, pepper in their food, cutting the ropes holding their tents up and tossing their ammunition into their fire. Unable to get rid of the boy the outlaws finally give up and turn themselves in, anything to get away from Randy whom the Rawhide Kid calls the "Little Avenger".
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
Rawhide Kid
The Rawhide Kid returns to the home he shares with Randy Clayton to find a wounded man pointing a gun at him. Randy calms the man down and introduces Rawhide to him, explaining that he was wounded. Rawhide welcomes the man, Waco Pardee, into his home and treats his bullet wound. Deciding to push on, Waco thanks them for their help and give Randy a gift: a new saddle before leaving.
Later, Rawhide goes over wanted posters and realizes why the man was so familiar to him: Waco Pardee was once a member of Barrel Kane's gang. That night while the Kid and Randy sleep they are awoken by Kane and his men who have come looking for Waco after he went straight. When Rawhide and Randy refuse to tell Barrel where Waco went he decides to force them to assist him in his robbery of the Shotgun City bank instead.
However as the robbery is about to commence, Waco passes through town and spots Randy's horse with Barrel's and realizes there is trouble. Rushing into the bank he gets the drop on Kane's gang and the Rawhide Kid helps subdue the gang until the sheriff arrives to take them away.
Recurring Characters
Rawhide Kid
Randy Clayton
Apache
King
