Phantom Thunderbolt

A stranger rides into the town of Coyote Gulch warning that the Thunderbolt Kid is coming and scares the townspeople with tales of the Kid's past. The people vacate the street and watch from buildings when the Kid arrives, carrying an old man who has fainted. Thinking that the man must be hungry, the Kid takes him to the Little Gem Restaurant. After the man revives and gets away, Judy Lane, the owner, orders the Kid out. Just then, "One Shot" Mallory, an outlaw with a reputation for toughness, rides into town and orders raw meat from Judy. When she also tells him to get out, One Shot pulls a gun on her, but the Kid fights him and throws him into a horse trough outside to the amusement of onlookers. The Kid apologizes to Judy for destroying everything in her restaurant during the fight and offers to wash dishes to pay for the damage, but Judy, in tears and enraged, points out that he broke every dish. When Judge Tobias Wingate and two other leading citizens offer to settle for the damages and pay the Kid a bonus, he listens to their proposition. Their town, the judge explains, is dying but will be saved if the railroad runs a line through it, whereupon the county seat will be moved to the town. The nearby town of Spotted Horse, also wanting the railroad, has hired an outlaw gang run by Red Matthews to disrupt Coyote Gulch, and the gang has succeeded in closing many stores. Eaton, the railroad president, is about to visit, and Wingate wants the Kid to keep the Matthews gang out of town during his stay. The Kid agrees for the fee of three kisses from Judy: one now, one anytime he feels like it and one when the job is done. Although she is reviled by the proposition, Judy goes along to save the town and gives him his first kiss. The Kid goes to the Red Dog Saloon and orders that no more drinks be served until after Eaton's visit. Matthews and his gang arrive and take the Kid's guns, but with the help of his pal Nevady, the stranger who earlier announced the Kid's arrival into town, the Kid disarms the gang and makes them leave town without their boots. He warns that next time he will peel them down to their underwear. As the Kid and Nevady watch the road into town, One Shot rides up and says that he wants to hook up with them, then informs the Kid that Matthews is going to try to sneak some of his men into town on the stage. When the stage passes by, the three stop it, and the Kid makes the two indignant passengers strip down to their underwear and walk to town, not realizing that one of them is Eaton. At night, as Nevady serenades with his guitar, the Kid tries to make up with Judy. When one of the gang holds up Nevady, he smashes the guitar over the outlaw's head, but he is shot. The Kid escapes on a horse and leads the gang on a chase, then jumps onto a tree, tackles the last gangmember and takes his horse back to Nevady. He carries Nevady to Judy's house, and she calls a doctor. The next day, the Kid is lassoed off his horse by Matthews' gang and tied up in a shack. Eaton and the other man come into town indignant about the hold up. When Wingate assures them that the Spotted Horse outfit was behind it, Eaton vows they will never get the railroad. The Kid manages to maneuver himself to a window and whistle for his palomino Tarzan to untie his ropes. After jumping into a barrel, the Kid has Tarzan roll it down a hill away from his guards and he escapes. As the Matthews gang disrupts Eaton's speech, the Kid jumps Matthews, and a big brawl ensues. Worried for the Kid's safety, Judy runs to him and kisses him after he subdues Matthews. Eaton proclaims that he has not had as much fun since he was a kid and says that he would be willing to have the railroad in Coyote Gulch if the Kid is going to stay. When Judy tells him that she wants him to stay, he proclaims that he is practically a citizen now and shakes hands with Eaton.