IN BRIEF: Hoppy and California are enjoying a fishing vacation on the Big Chama River in New Mexico. They've bought a canoe from the Navajos and are looking for a likely spot to catch trout. "Hot diggety, trout look out. Did you hear that, Hoppy? I'm a poet," cackles California. Whitey Black, who has a 1000-acre ranch, says he's looking for his partner Andy Silman, who's been gone for two days, fishing. California's line snags the body; Silman's been shot. In town, Hoppy meets Miss Gladys, a bargirl at the saloon, and Jack Queen, owner of a neighboring ranch. Hoppy braces Queen for his ill-treatment of Gladys. Later, Queen makes a new offer to Black for his ranch, then knocks him down when he refuses. On the trail, the cowboys meet Jocelyn, who they'd met previously, under the weather, at the saloon. He's been shot, and utters something about "Queen, gold," then dies. The clues point to Queen, but Hoppy is doubtful. Jocelyn was a geologist working for Queen. At first it seemed there was gold on Black's ranch; then it turned out there wasn't. Black was the murderer, in partnership with Gladys. The ranch had value in its lumber, useful to a railroad coming through. Black gives himself away by giving Andy's rod to California; it should have been lost in the woods. Queen apologizes to Hoppy for his belligerence. California smokes a cigar Black gave him, and chokes, "Hoppy, I think I'm gonna die."
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