Vaudevillian Goes West, Part 4

 

cover art by Paul Stahr

Read/Watch 'em In Order #147

"The Diplomancy of Henry," by W.C. Tuttle was published in the July 6, 1935 issue of Argosy.

Can Henry be tempted away from being sheriff of Tonto County? His old agent sends him a telegram, offering him bookings. But the pay is low and the bookings would be in "picture houses," meaning he would do his act in a movie theater just before the movie began. Henry is distainful of the offer.

At least at first. A herd of sheep approaches the area and it looks as if there will be a shooting war between the sheepherders and the cattlemen. Henry's duty, it seems, would be to stand between the two factions and prevent bloodshed. It is not an appealing job and Henry is soon scrambling to find that telegram, especially after he learns that one man has already been shot.

But in the end, his sense of duty reluctantly sends him (along with the Judge--his deputy--and Oscar, his perpetually sloshed jailor) on a trip to speak to the owner of the sheep herd. 

This involves a journey in the pouring rain, which ends when two of the sheepmen take their horses and force them to walk home. This brings us to the meat of the story. Henry, the Judge and Oscar slog through the pitch dark in the rain, have an encounter with rams who like to... well, ram people, and end up taking shelter under an outcropping of rocks. They are wet, cold and hungry. It's also hilarious slapstick fun.

Henry doesn't get to do any Holmsian-level deductions this time. In fact, the rules of comedy trump the rules of drama this time and Henry stumbles upon information he needs to identify the killer and stop the range war while hiding in a loft--just before he crashes through the floor of the loft and lands on the chief bad guy. And the story is constructed in such a way that this is completely acceptable. 

I'm afraid that, once again, I could not find this issue online. The story can be found in THIS BOOK.